A sedate 247 ball century by opener S Badrinath helped Tamil Nadureach 284 for 6 on the opening day of their South Zone Ranji Trophymatch against Karnataka at the IIT-Chemplast Ground in Chennai onWednesday.Opting to bat, Tamil Nadu suffered a setback at the very beginning.Off the first ball of the day Dodda Ganesh trapped Rajat Bhatia legbefore. But recent India cap, Hemang Badani (76) joined Badrinath(100) and made an excellent recovery, adding 125 runs for the secondwicket in 36.5 overs. Badani was the next to be dismissed when heoffered a chance to Sujith Somasundar off Ganesh.Then Badrinath was accompanied by S Sharath (43) till the 72nd over inwhich they accumulated 95 runs for the third wicket. Dharmichand thensent back Badrinath, after a 295 minute stay at the centre. Hisdismissal triggered a mini collapse as Sharath, R Sathish (11) andReuben Paul (12) departed in quick succession. Skipper Robin Singh(25) and S Mahesh (4) saw the team through to stumps. Seamer DoddaGanesh (4 for 70) was the pick of the bowlers.

Haryana were bowled out for 463 in 154.2 overs, shortly before the teainterval on the second day of the Cooch Behar Trophy final againstMadhya Pradesh at the Deccan Gymkhana grounds, Pune on Thursday. Inreply, MP weathered the fall of two early wickets to end the day at 86for two.Haryana resumed on a healthy overnight score of 316 for three. Themiddle order batsmen failed to capitalise on it and the remainingseven wickets fell for the addition of 147 runs. Skipper Ajay Ratrawas the first to be dismissed. He was adjudged leg before wicketgiving Omprakash Yadav his first wicket of the day. Ratra could addonly one run to his overnight score and fell to the last ball of thefirst over.Sumeet Sharma (71) soon followed and was in the pavilion, adding sevenruns to his overnight score. The fall of both the overnight batsmentriggered a collapse in the middle order. Haryana lost five wickets inthe first session of the day and went to lunch on 387 for eight off125 overs. The post lunch session saw a revival in the batting thanksto Amit Mishra and Gaurav Vasishta. Mishra and Vasishta added 49 runsfor the ninth wicket off 22 overs. Their stay at the wicket ensuredthat Haryana passed the 400-run mark. The partnership ended one shortof the fifty mark when Mishra edged an outswinger from OP Yadav tostumper Naman Ojha. Amit Mishra scored 31 off 87 balls with four hitsto the fence.Nitin Agarwal joined Vasishta at the fall of this wicket and the duoadded 50 runs for the last wicket off 16.4 overs. Gaurav Vasishtaplayed a fighting knock scoring 56 off 113 balls, hitting six of themto the fence. He was dismissed shortly before the tea interval. NitinAgarwal was unbeaten on 15 off 52 deliveries. OP Yadav picked up threewickets for 127 runs, Maninder Singh and Jitendar Likhar each baggedtwo wickets each for 93 and 74 runs respectively.MP were happy to have restricted Haryana to less than 500 runs buttheir joy was short lived. They lost Sachin Dholpure in the secondover. Dholpure flicked a delivery off his pads and called for thesecond run but was caught short of his ground by an excellent throwfrom the fine leg boundary by Joginder Sharma. The sad tale for MPcontinued when Nitin Agarwal penetrated the defences of Naman Ojhacastling him on 15. The tenth over saw both openers in the pavilionwith 35 runs on the board. One drop Mohnish Mishra (31 batting) andJatin Saxena (20 batting) prevented any further damage. They added 50runs for the unbroken third wicket off 16.2 overs.

It was a long time coming but India finally broke a fifteen year oldbarren sequence outside the subcontinent by sealing a crushing 8wicket victory against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.That should offer some balm for a wounded national psyche sufferingfrom the cumulative baggage of a grim history that has yielded 15 winsin 158 overseas Tests, a success rate of only 9.4 per cent. Here is acomplete wrap-up of India’s 15 away victories:* vs New Zealand at Dunedin, 1967/68India’s first away victory came in their 105th Test and 44th outsidethe country. Making a maiden trip to New Zealand on the back of a 4-0whitewash at the hands of their Trans-Tasman neighbours, India won thefirst Test at Dunedin. It halted a gloomy run of seven consecutivedefeats. Erapalli Prasanna engineered a Kiwi second innings collapseand chasing a target of 200, the Indians held their nerve to win byfive wickets. Ajit Wadekar’s twin efforts of 80 and 71 left a hugeimpact on the final result. [Scorecard]* vs New Zealand at Wellington, 1967/68After the hosts had evened the score in the second Test, India wentahead again at the Basin Reserve. Ajit Wadekar who had fallenagonisingly for 99 in Melbourne on the Aussie leg of the tour twomonths earlier, made 143. It was his first and last Test hundred.Pursuing a meagre 59 in the fourth innings, India won by eight wicketswith more than a day and a half to spare. [Scorecard]* vs New Zealand at Auckland, 1967/68At Auckland’s Eden Park India wrapped up their first ever seriesvictory abroad, by the convincing margin of 3-1. More than eight hourswere lost to the weather on the first two days. Rusi Surti sufferedthe misfortune of being dismissed on 99; he would never make a Testcentury. Prasanna was again the chief wrecker with eight wickets totake his series tally to 24 as the Kiwis collapsed to 101 in thefourth innings. [Scorecard]* vs West Indies at Port of Spain, 1970/71Sunil Gavaskar made 65 and 67 not out (including the winning boundary)on his Test debut as India clinched a historic seven wicket triumphinside four days. Vice captain S Venkataraghavan grabbed 5/95 in thesecond innings although the decisive blows were delivered by left armspinner Salim Durrani who removed Lloyd and Sobers in the same over. [Scorecard]* vs England at the Oval, 1971Five months later Ajit Wadekar’s men completed an astonishing doubleby toppling England in the final Test at the Oval for a 1-0 serieswin. Trailing by 71 on the first innings, Chandra’s bewitching spellof 6/38 saw off the hosts for 101. Despite early hiccups, India wasnot to be denied, Abid Ali square cutting Luckhurst to the fence for the winning runs even as the crowd surged into the playing arena. [Scorecard]* vs New Zealand at Auckland, 1975/76Bishen Bedi pulled a leg muscle on the eve of the contest, leaving hisdeputy Sunil Gavaskar in charge for the first time. Sunny duly strucka century as did debutant Surinder Amarnath who emulated father Lalain the process. The deadly Prasanna ripped through the New Zealandsecond innings with pickings of 8/76 to leave India a target of just68 which they polished off for the loss of two wickets. [Scorecard]* vs West Indies at Port of Spain, 1975/76This was the apogee of India’s overseas victories as they chased downa victory target of 403 with six wickets to spare. Having outplayedIndia for three and a half days, Clive Lloyd believed that his threeman spin attack of Jumadeen, Padmore and Imtiaz Ali could bowl India outon a wearing track. He was proved horribly wrong. While Amarnath heldone end up with the tenacity of a limpet, Gavaskar and Viswanathproduced centuries as the chase heated up and finally boiled over inIndia’s favour. [Scorecard]* vs Australia at Melbourne, 1977/78Having gone 2-0 down to a depackerised Australian team led by veteranBobby Simpson, India struck back at the MCG with a 222 run victory.Sunil Gavaskar made his third successive second innings century in theseries but the win owed most to BS Chandrasekhar who did not allow themortification of making a duck in each innings (his fourth Test pair)distract him from taking identical figures of 6/52 twiceto finish with 12/104 for the match, still the best away haul by anIndian bowler. [Scorecard]* vs Australia at Sydney, 1977/78One week later India knotted up the series at 2-2 with an even moreconvincing rout at the SCG. For the first time in 23 years, Australiasuffered two successive Test defeats at home. It remains the onlyinnings victory by an Indian team in an overseas Test, but only barelyso, by an innings and two runs. [Scorecard]* vs Australia at Melbourne, 1980/81India came back from a first innings deficit of 182 to level theseries 1-1 in a thrilling climax. Defending a target of just 143 inthe fourth innings and operating with two bowlers nursing discommodinginjuries, the tourists scuppered their hosts for 83. Kapil Dev, whobowled with a pulled thigh muscle, cut through the bottom half of theAussie batting to close with 5/28. This was after skipper Gavaskar,enraged by an lbw decision against him off Dennis Lillee, cameperilously close to forfeiting the match by walking off with hisopening partner. [Scorecard]* vs England at Lord’s, 1986Kapil Dev had never won a Test as captain in 20 previous ventures,dating back to Kingston in 1983. On the final afternoon, Kapil hoisted PhilEdmonds over midwicket for six to bring up a five wicket triumph forIndia, their first ever at the game’s HQ. Dilip Vengsarkar’s thirdsuccessive Lord’s century was the meatiest effort with the bat andwhile the seamers grabbed 15 wickets between them, Maninder Singh’ssecond innings effort of 3/9 from 20.4 overs was a splendidexhibition. Incredibly it was the first time India had won a Testafter inserting their opponents following 18 failed attempts. [Scorecard]* vs England at Leeds, 1986Mike Gatting was greeted in his debut Test as captain by a 279 rundrubbing an hour and a quarter into the fourth morning. Vengsarkargave another virtuoso performance, collecting 61 and 102 not out on acapricious wicket when none of the other 21 batsmen could cross 36. [Scorecard]* vs Sri Lanka at Colombo, 1993/94Vinod Kambli made 125, following up on scores of 224 and 227 in hisprevious two innings. And Sidhu and Tendulkar struck second inningstons as India set the hosts an unreachable target of 472. There wereconcerns voiced by the visitors over the decisions of the two umpires but it was Anil Kumble who proved the most decisive figure in the game with eight wickets. [Scorecard]* vs Bangladesh at Dhaka, 2000/01The Indian team invited considerable chaff after conceding 400 in thefirst innings to Test babes Bangladesh, the second time they allowed adebutant nation the benefit of such munificence. India huffed andpuffed their way to a first innings lead but Bangladesh had alreadyreached the full extent of their defiance. They collapsed for 91 inthe second knock as India ran out nine wicket victors late on thefourth evening. [Scorecard]* vs Zimbabwe at Bulawayo, 2000/01Buoyed by the inspirational series victory over Australia at home,India went to Zimbabwe with the unfamiliar tag of favourites. Theyfully justified that appraisal with a crushing eight wicket victory atBulawayo that was harder than the margin suggests. It took a tailendassault in the first innings fashioned by Harbhajan Singh and SamirDighe to hand India a decisive advantage and although the bowlers thenmade heavy weather of dismissing their opponents a second time, afinal target of 184 was always going to be a canter, given the benignnature of the wicket. [Scorecard]

Northamptonshire were able to shrug off the challenge of the county’s own Board XI by nine wickets at Wantage Road, despite a magnificent century from Academy batsman David Paynter.The 20-year-old great-grandson of 1930s England stalwart Eddie Paynter cracked 17 fours in his 104 off 106 balls, posting 159 for the first wicket with his opening partner Tim Coleman (68).But although the Board team’s total of 277-6 exceeded all expectations, it was not enough as the full-timers breezed to their target at 278-1 with 8.4 overs to spare thanks to man-of-the-match Mal Loye’s unbeaten 124 from 122 balls.Paynter, Cornish-born but Yorkshire-raised, laid into the county attack with relish at the start, and received excellent support from Coleman who scores heavily in the Northants Championship league for Finedon Dolben.Even with the openers gone, the Board XI pressed on purposefully thanks to David Roberts – released by Northants midway through last summer – who thrashed 40 off 27 balls, and another Academy batsman Jamie Wade (38).But the Board’s bowlers then struggled in vain to restrict Loye and Mike Hussey (59), the pair picking off runs easily on their way to a stand of 125 in 20 overs.Hussey holed out off Martyn Dobson before Loye, who hit a six and 15 fours, and Russell Warren (70 not out) made the match safe by adding an unbroken 153 for the second wicket – a new Northants record in the 38-year history of the competition.

Much of Hampshire’s CricInfo championship success apart from their excellent bowling prowess, has been their tail end batting in the 2001 season.Hampshire best opening partnerships this year have been 62, 61 and 59, whereas down the order there have been century partnerships for the seventh and ninth wickets, two partnerships in the 90s for the ninth, and a high of 80 for the last wicket.Taking each partnership seperately, the following table shows some interesting facts.

Wkt Innings Not Outs Runs Best Average1 15 1 392 62 28.002 12 1 534 131 48.543 12 0 523 147 43.584 12 0 435 134 36.255 12 1 377 106 34.276 11 0 169 81 15.367 11 1 290 142 29.008 10 1 481 130 53.449 9 0 368 95 40.8810 9 0 204 80 22.66

The Executive and Board of the Canadian Cricket Association thank the fans,players, officials, umpires, referees, management subcommittee, volunteers,organizing committee and the ICC and IDI staff for their outstanding support,commitment and contributions.ICC Trophy 2001 is the largest cricket tournament in the world. ICC Trophy2001 was on preliminary reports one of if not the best of all the ICC TrophyEvents to date. Congratulations to all who contributed to make the Eventsuch a resounding success.The Regal Constellation Hotel did a fantastic job in meeting the needs of ourguests. Congratulations to them and we wish the management and staffcontinued successes in the future.We were saddened by the absences of our friends from Italy and from WestAfrica. We hope that no such problems will be repeated in the future.Canada and the Canadian cricket community must now carry the torch into theworld Cup in 2003 in south Africa. This requires even more herculean effortsin preparing our players for battle. Support is needed to ensure that ourbest team can be allowed to take the field. Contributions to the CanadianCricket Association World Cup fund are welcome and Federal tax receipts areavailable for any contributors who so wish.How can you help? Sponsor a player, coach a junior team or help to provide acoach, be a manager of a junior team? The avenues are endless.Call your M. P., M. P. P., City Councillor for their support for betterrecognition for cricket. All such lobbying is needed to allow us to becompetitive in 2003 at the World Cup.We have turf wickets in Toronto, Ajax, King City and Mississauga. They mustbe maintained to allow our junior and senior players to become familiar withturf games of 1 to 4 day duration. We thank all municipalities and hostingclubs for their stellar performances and also to Mike Corley, his associatesand his professionals for their contributions.Finally, to the International Cricket Council members and staff, thanks forthe opportunity to allow Canada to host ICC Trophy 2001, especially in thetrying financial circumstances of the devastating loss of vitally neededfunding from the Pakistan India Sahara Cup series. Such funding is ofcourse, even more critical now.We trust that Canada will get another opportunity to see and play againstsuch great players from any of the Full Members and top notch Associates,where funds permit. All FM’s have assisted in the past and we need that helpin the future. To the WICB and to the BCCSL, we especially thank you foryour assistance especially in the last year. Those tours and competitionmaterially enhanced our chances of qualifying. We greatly appreciate yourfriendship and your selfless contributions.Take time out to visit other parts of this magnificent country, the best inthe world next time out.’Dr. Geoff EdwardsPresidentCanadian Cricket Association

The Australian “Downunders” won the second match of their three-week tour of England on Monday when they defeated a Kent XI by 143 runs.The team, consisting of a selection of the best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cricketers in Australia under the age of 21, is following partly in the footsteps of the 1868 tour of England by Aboriginal players – the first tour of England by any Australian cricket team.According to a press release issued by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) yesterday, the Australians batted first and scored 7/227 in their fifty overs. The Kent side was bundled out for just 84 in 37 overs.Captain of the Aboriginal youth side, Barry Firebrace from Victoria, shared a 77-run opening partnership from eleven overs with WA batsman Jayden Bennell. Firebrace was top scorer for the innings with 56.The bulk of the Kent wickets was shared by leg-spinner Ryan Bulger and medium-pacer Kevin Thomas. Bulger, who played for the Canberra Comets when they participated in the Mercantile Mutual Cup, took 4/27 from nine overs, and was named man-of-the-match. Jackson took 4/15 from his nine overs, which included four maidens.Among Bulger’s four victims was nineteen year-old all-rounder James Tredwell, who is a member of the England Under-19 team currently engaged in a test series with their West Indian counterparts. Tredwell made 5.Monday’s victory was their first win of the tour, having lost their opening game to an MCC side at the Lord’s Nursery Ground on Friday.The three-week nine-game tour, organised by ATSIC, aims to put indigenous cricket back on Australia’s cricketing map, and to make it possible for more young aborigines to not only play cricket, but also make careers out of the game. In the 124-year history of Test cricket, Jason Gillespie is the only male Australian international player known to have an aboriginal heritage.

Sussex CCC are pleased to announce the appointment of 32-year-oldKeith Greenfield as its inaugural ECB-linked Academy Director.Greenfield brings a wealth of experience to this position having been along-term staff coach with Sussex as well as being 2nd XI Coach/Managerfor the past four seasons.Keith also played 78 first-class matches for the county.The vacant 2nd XI coaching position will now be filled by theexperienced Mark Robinson. Whilst Robinson’s playing days are notnecessarily over, his appointment signifies the next phase of hiscricketing career.Commenting on the two appointments Chief Executive, David Gilbert said:”The county is indeed fortunate to have people such as Keith and Markentrusted with the development of our elite young cricketers. We knowthat the futures of these players are in very good hands.”

* Fergusson confirms on Tendulkar’s successful treatmentThere is good news on world’s premier batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s toeinjury. Dr Mark Fergusson, who treated Tendulkar at the JohannesburgSports Clinic over the past four days, said some adjustments had beenmade to his boots and the cricketer was feeling comfortable. Heconfirmed that Tendulkar will have “no problems” once he startsplaying again, reports the Press Trust of India.”We have made adjustments to the boots he will be wearing and alreadyhe has shown no signs of pain,” Fergusson said. Fergusson, anarthroscopic surgeon who has earlier successfully treated Anil Kumbleand Javagal Srinath, said the boots which are manufactured in SouthAfrica, have been approved by Tendulkar’s doctors in Mumbai.”With the changes to his boots he will have no problems. The right toewill not be troubled,” he said. Tendulkar should be able to practiceand play some matches in a couple of days and would be able toparticipate in a charity match in London scheduled for September 18,Fergusson said.”By the time the tour to South Africa starts, he would be ready toplay in all Tests,” he said. However, Tendulkar may have to undergoregular tests to ensure that he was in a fit condition, the doctorsaid.According to a PTI report on Friday, Tendulkar sounded positive abouthis rehabilitation, “my injury does not need treatment as such. Butthat part (right toe) has to be rested for some more time. Now thepain has reduced but I will have to continue wearing the newlyprescribed shoes which cushions the injured part.”* Imran Khan demands penalty on IndiaPakistan’s cricket celebrity Imran Khan turned politician todaydemanded India be penalsied for withdrawing from the Asian Testchampionship, reports the Press Trust of India.”Once a country agrees to play it must honour its commitment or elseshould be fined by the International Cricket Council,” Khan told AFPon Thursday.”Pakistan should boycott India until they come and play against us inPakistan,” said Khan, who is a former skipper of the national cricketteam and now heads his own political party, Movement for Justice.India were to play Pakistan in Lahore in September in what would havebeen the first Test match in Pakistan between the two rivals for morethan a decade.Imran Khan said”We toured India in 1999 and allowed India to mintmillions of dollars and now they have deprived us of huge money.”India competed in the inaugural Asian championship in 1999-2000, whichwas won by Pakistan. “I was thinking that both countries would moveforward after the summit and cricket was one front from where theycould have moved forward,” Khan said referring to the talks betweenIndian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President GenPervez Musharraf in Agra last month.* Twenty-two teams for Moin-Ud-Dowla Gold Cup Cricket TournamentThe MRF Buchi Babu Tournament winners New Zealand ‘A’ are amongst thetwenty two teams that would participate in the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold CupCricket tournament here from September 2 to 16. Shivlal Yadav, theHon. Secretary, Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), revealed this tothe reporters in Hyderabad on Friday.The tournament, to be played on a league-cum-knock out basis, hasattracted Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) led by Test star AjitAgarkar, New Zealand ‘A’, besides newcomers Assam Cricket Association(ACA) and others, reports the Press Trust of India.The teams would be divided into four groups and two toppers from eachgroup would enter the quarter finals knock-out pace. The semi-finalswould be played on September 14, while the finals would be a day andnight affair on September 16.The winner would be richer by Rupees One Lakh besides the coveted GoldCup, while the runner-up would get Rupees 50,000. The event is beingsponsored by Coromandal King, Yadav added.Teams: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hyderabad Cricket Association(HCA) XI, Karnataka, Chemplast, All India Association of Bankers(AIAB), Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), India Cements, Railways,Canara Bank, District-XI, Goa, Hyderabad, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB),Indian Bank, Vidarbha and Indian Airlines (IA) are among the teams totake part in the tournament.