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India and South Africa have not played each other a lot in recent times; unlike say India and England.However, the Indians will want few changes to the script that was followed during their convincing win over England when they take on South Africa today in the semi-final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2002.For starters, it’s almost certain that India will play an unchanged side. However, that is something that could easily change with the Indians. It’s not entirely unusual for the Indian think tank to make a change to the side just as the captain walks out to toss. The one change that is possible, if you stretch the imagination a bit, is that Ajit Agarkar could come into the side in place of VVS Laxman. The Mumbai medium-pacer could be brought in to bolster India’s bowling, given that neither Dinesh Mongia nor Laxman have contributed anything special batting at No 3.The bowlers Ganguly used to fill in as the ‘fifth bowler’ in the game against England went for 66 off 11 overs. The Indian captain however, on the surface, is not worried about this aspect of India’s plans, “Our bowlers just have to bowl better. I have full faith in (Virender) Sehwag, Sachin (Tendulkar), Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) and myself,” said Ganguly.There is a school of thought that believes in the philosophy, “never change a winning combination,” but one is not sure whether Ganguly and John Wright subscribe to this or not. There will surely be no change in the winning philosophy though.”We’ll have to play well to beat South Africa. They’re a good side; they’re a good one-day unit,” began Ganguly, overstating the obvious. The Indian skipper went on in the same vein, “Whoever plays well on the day will win,” he said.The bowling, however, will not be central to India’s strategy. It’s the explosive batting line-up that will have to do the lion’s share of the work as the wickets get progressively lower and slower. Nasser Hussain spoke at length on the way India’s batting came at you early on and wrested the initiative.”I don’t think we attack from the start. It’s just that Sehwag plays that way in all forms of the game; that’s his game and we don’t stop him from doing that. It’s just that he kept hitting the ball into the gaps,” Ganguly observed.It will not, however, be as easy for Sehwag to go after Shaun Pollock or Allan Donald. Pollock, in particular, should be regarded a threat as he lands the ball on the right line with such unerring accuracy. Sehwag’s tendency to fish and flash outside the off stump could work against him if he is not extremely careful in his shot selection.And it is in such a situation that the key component of this Indian batting line-up would come into the picture. The middle-order will have a lot of work to do if the openers fall early. Sachin Tendulkar, who has spent very little time at the wicket in this tournament, will have to be at his peak. The South Africans are masters at creating pressure after the fall of a wicket and this will be a key factor and bring the lower middle order batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif into play.That said, India, though, would love it if this game were only about batting as their bowling department leaves plenty of room for worry.While Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled a fiery spell to kick things off against England, the former has often struggled to be a hundred per cent fit and this is a worry. Zaheer Khan for his part has come forward in leaps and bounds, showing exactly the aggressive attitude that you look for in a fast bowler. Ganguly backs his two spinners to the hilt and it’s only a matter of time before they get their act together and make a mark on this tournament. Some of the South African batsmen struggled against quality spin early on and Ganguly will be aware of this fact.India got past South Africa in the semi-final of the last edition of the Champions Trophy at Nairobi in 2000 quite easily. Ganguly, Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh – the first four batsmen then, added 279 of the 295 runs India made. The captain then used as many as eight bowlers and shared the workload around.Don’t be surprised if you see exactly the same sort of thing happening at the Premadasa Stadium.Well, with one minor difference – the man they call the butcher of Najafgarh – Virender Sehwag.South AfricaHerschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Dale Benkenstein, Justin Ontong, Mark Boucher (wk), Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock (capt), Nicky Boje, Alan Dawson, Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini, Steve Elworthy, Robin Peterson.IndiaSachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly (capt), Dinesh Mongia, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Jai Prakash Yadav, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Just at the time when Leicestershire thought they were putting their problems behind them, they have received a serious blow to their rebuilding plans. Things were looking up with the announcement on Tuesday that long-serving administrator Kevin Hill is to take over as general manager and yesterday’s re-signing of Paul Nixon. So it will be a disappointment that Iain Sutcliffe has today turned down the chance of becoming county captain.Left-handed opening batsman and vice-captain Sutcliffe was offered the post when Vince Wells was stripped of the captaincy. Furthermore, the 27 year-old has declined the offer of a new three-year playing contract which will leave a substantial hole in their resources. Last season in first-class cricket he scored over a thousand runs at an average of 41.84 as well as eight hundred runs in limited overs cricket at 38.47.Hill accepted Sutcliffe’s decision with sorrow. “I am obviously disappointed that Iain has decided to pursue his career elsewhere. I had hoped that he and I would work closely together and share the same aspirations to achieve success for the club. I would like to thank Iain for his contribution to the club in recent years and I wish him every success in the future. We have to accept this and move forward. I will be discussing the situation with the club’s management in the near future.”There will be no shortage of offers to Sutcliffe for his services, with Lancashire thought to be among the leading contenders for his signature.

Alec Stewart will walk out on his favourite ground tomorrow to become England’s most-capped Test cricketer. The first Test against India at Lord’s will be Stewart’s 119th for England, beating the record set by Graham Gooch.At the start of this season few would have backed Stewart to equal Gooch’s record, let alone beat it, after James Foster was named as England’s centrally-contracted wicket-keeper. But Foster’s misfortune in breaking an arm in the nets in April reopened the door to the 39 year-old from Surrey, who has taken full advantage.Stewart is now likely to enjoy a final tilt at the old enemy in this winter’s Ashes series, and the World Cup that follows in South Africa next February.”The first (Test) is always your biggest cap because every schoolboy wants to play for their country,” Stewart said. “I’ve never been as nervous as when I went out to bat in Jamaica on my debut, but once you get that you then want morebecause you enjoy the occasion.”There’s a thrill about playing for England and a thrill about testing yourself against the best from other countries and that almost spurs you on to want more of it.”Some people get intimidated but others seem to thrive on the full houses andthe big occasions and fortunately I put myself in that category – the morepeople watching and the bigger the occasion the more I like to respond.”He rates that debut among the highlights of his career, along with the Test in Barbados in 1994 when he became the first England player ever to score centuries in both innings of a Test against West Indies, and leading England to a series victory over South Africa four years ago.World Cup campaigns feature among the low points, including the final defeat in 1992 and the campaigns in 1996 and 1999, alongside his failure to come even close to winning the Ashes.Stewart’s parents, Micky and Sheila, will be at Lord’s for the occasion, which will be marked by a presentation to him from captain Nasser Hussain before play starts.”I’ll be trying to treat it like any other Test match, but when you see the list of people I’ve gone past like Gooch, Gower, Geoff Boycott, Ian Botham andColin Cowdrey they are England cricket legends and that’s quite an achievementto have done that,” he said.With the squad beset by injuries to Andrew Caddick, Marcus Trescothick, Alex Tudor and Darren Gough, England coach Duncan Fletcher said Glamorgan’s Simon Jones has “a strong chance” of making his Test debut, although Yorkshire’s ChrisSilverwood is on standby in case of further injuries.Meanwhile, the Indian tourists had the day off yesterday, following their win over Hampshire at Southampton, but the touring party attended an award dinner last night in which star batsman Sachin Tendulkar was named as the fans’ choice for Indian cricketer of the century.The official cricketer of the century was named in Wisden Asia’s ceremony asall-rounder Kapil Dev, but Tendulkar, 29, who equalled Sir Donald Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries earlier this year, came out on top in the voting polls.Tendulkar came out ahead of Sunil Gavaskar, who holds the record number of centuries in Test cricket, 34 in 125 Tests.Tendulkar said: “It’s a great honour to receive this award. Travelling with the team is like a home-from-home for me and they offer me tremendous support in what I try to achieve as a cricketer.”

Sri Lanka hope to avoid a Pakistani backlash in their firstouting at Tangiers on Wednesday after Waqar Younis’s side lost by54 runs in the opening match of the Morocco Cup.Pakistan will be desperate to comeback strongly after adisappointing performance, but Sri Lankan captain SanathJayasuriya is confident his side can make a victorious start totheir campaign.”Spirits are high, we know what we have to do and everyone islooking forward to the first game,” said Jayasuriya, adding, “wehave picked the best possible squad for this tournament and Ibelieve it’s a very good team.”During the last two Sharjah tournaments we have been winning thegroup games and then losing in the final – we want to improve onthat and perform consistently throughout this tournament.”Having seen how the pitch behaved on Monday, Jayasuriya hascalled for a special effort from his bowlers.”The wicket was quite flat and there will be a lot of hard workfor the bowlers,” he said. “They are going to have bowl verystraight like the South Africans did yesterday.”Sri Lanka are still to decide on their preferred bowlingcombination, but the absence of significant spin means that theyare likely to play three frontline fast bowlers and medium paceall-rounder Hasantha Fernando ahead of leg-spinner Upul Chandana.”The Pakistani batsmen are good players of spin and we have beendiscussing the best combination, looking at how many fast bowlerswe need – the issue is who to play at the number seven position,”said Jayasuriya.Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando are certain to play, withPulasthi Gunaratne, who impressed during the final ODI againstBangladesh, getting the nod for the final pace bowling berth.Sri Lanka will also be looking ape South Africa’s industrious anddisciplined approach in the batting department, which proved moreeffective than Pakistan’s more explosive style on a slow pitch.”There is a lot of responsibility on the batsmen,” saidJayasuriya. “If we get a chance to bat first, one of us has toget established and make a very good score like HerschelleGibbs.”Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya will open the batting, withKumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold in themiddle order and veteran Aravinda de Silva at number six.Match winner Muttiah Muralitharan will play despite only being90% fit having strained a hamstring in Sri Lanka’s first practicesession after arrival.After a disastrous tour of England, the mood within the Sri Lankacamp is increasingly upbeat with selection and injury problemsfading into the background.So far their greatest problem in Morocco has been their inabilityto communicate in French.”We have never been in this part of the world and the players areenjoying the experience, but the French language has been aproblem – it’s making it very difficult to order our food!” jokedJayasuriya.Pakistan, meanwhile, may consider changes to their bowling attackafter off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq conceded 80 runs in his allottedten overs.Saqlain could make way for fast bowling all-rounder AzharMahmood, a swap that have the additional advantage ofstrengthening the batting order.Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya(Capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jaywardene,Russel Arnold, Aravinda de Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, UpulChandana, Hasantha Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, Chamila LakshithaGamage, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, PulasthiGunaratne, Charitha Buddika FernandoPakistan:Waqar Younis (Capt), Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood,Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif, SaeedAnwar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shahid Alfridi, Shoaib Malik, WasimAkram, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana

A Nick Horsley century and an explosive hour before tea put all the permutations, calculations and mathematical intrusions surrounding the last State Championship match of the season to rest as Auckland first cemented its title.In a match of two targets, Wellington on the last day set themselves the task of, at best bowling Auckland out for 168 or fewer to win the Championship based on a net average runs per wicket calculation or, at worse bowl Auckland out for less than 242 to gain the solace of an outright win over the champions.But in 11-and-a-half overs from the afternoon drinks break to shortly before tea Horsley and Tama Canning plundered 79 to take the score from 81/3 to 160/4 and in the process buried Wellington’s hopes of achieving either target.Canning ended his spree with 43, characteristically caught on the boundary. Horsley went on to complete his maiden first-class century, a mixture of early defence that turned into an aggressive attack, his 100 coming from 186 balls and including three sixes and 14 fours.In the end, bad light saved Wellington from outright defeat, Auckland finishing on 217/4 with 22 overs in hand, a miserly 26 runs short, but not able to cast sufficient light on the increasing gloom.At the start of the day, Wellington, 10/1 overnight and facing an exceptionally defensive field, pushed the singles around to reach 48 without losing another wicket. At that point they declared, giving Auckland the relatively generous target of 243 runs from a minimum of 88 overs to win the match but at the same time giving themselves sufficient time to bowl Auckland out for fewer than the 169 that the calculators had decided would give the Championship leaders the title.Wellington had achieved a couple of Houdini escapes during the season; this was not to be one of them.For a time they had some hope. Tim McIntosh gone in the first over, beaten by Andrew Penn. Rob Lynch (20) and Sanjeewa Silva (15) gone by the middle of the afternoon with the run rate never much above two an over. But time was slipping away for Wellington.Then came the Horsley/Canning heroics and Wellington’s hopes were quickly buried. Bowlers who had kept the Auckland batsmen constrained suddenly looked easy pickings, no better demonstrated than by Horsley’s cracking three fours in an over from James Franklin to rush through the 90s and beyond.It was an anti-climax that a match worthy of a Championship final – albeit a de facto one – should come to an end prematurely through the intrusion of bad light.Wellington had done everything they could to try to bring off what was always an unlikely Championship victory – a big first innings total, restricting Auckland’s first innings and offering a generous declaration. But it was not enough. First inning points were little solace for the loss of a title that was never quite in their grasp.

Marcus Trescothick returned to one day action in some considerable style at the County Ground, Taunton today, as Somerset recaptured their one day form to defeat Hampshire with overs to spare…Chasing a Hampshire total of 262, captain Marcus led from the front by making an impressive 133 to help the home side cruise to a six wicket victory.By the time that the England man and his opening partner Peter Bowler had rattled up 61 off the first ten overs the game was almost won, such was the domination of the Somerset batsmen over the Hampshire attack.Marcus stayed at the wicket until victory was in sight, sharing in an opening stand of 130 with Peter Bowler(41), before being caught at the wicket off Alan Mullally, who himself had dropped Trescothick just a few overs earlier.Earlier in the day Hampshire had looked set to post a formidable total themselves after Derek Kenway (30) and Neil Johnson (52) had put on 54 in the first ten overs, but were reined back by some tight bowling from Richard Johnson, who ended with 2 for 42, and a good fielding performance.Despite a quietly efficient display of batting from John Crawley who made 113, Hampshire failed to achieve their early promise, and set a total that was at least 40 runs short of what might have been a more challenging total for Somerset to chase.In the end it was left to Ian Blackwell (34) and Keith Parsons (21) to see Somerset home to a deserved victory at just after 5.45 pm with more that four overs to spare, and a lucrative home tie against Worcestershire in the quarter finals of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy next month.Hampshire’s Director of Cricket Tim Tremlett admitted that their innings had lost its way after a good start, they were a good 40-50 runs short of what we would have hoped for. John Crawley batted magnificently, but his partners failed to support well enough.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has criticized the Pakistan and England boards for limiting the upcoming series to only two Tests. Despite England’s victory in Pakistan last winter , Akram believes that his side merit a more extensive contest, especially considering the competitive feeling that has grown between the two sides.The talismanic paceman said: “I don’t know why we agreed to it or why the England and Wales Cricket Board offered it to us.”Although England won in Pakistan, we won the last three series here and we have more supporters here than anybody else, so it would have been a full house for a five-Test series,” he said in London shortly after the team landed on Wednesday on a two-month tour.The five-Test Ashes series is just around the corner and Akram feels his side have been reduced to being warm-up fodder before the Australians. Akram’s comments echo the doubts expressed by Pakistan legend Imran Khan, who recently told BBC Sport: “I don’t know why Pakistan accepted the tour in the first half of the English season and for only two Tests.”Akram added: “It is not an insult, but it won’t be any fun. The first game, you are just getting into it, the second Test you are just picking up and then there is no third match we will be on our way home. “That’s what I think, that is what everybody else is thinking.”Recent reports might suggest that Akram’s real concern is that two Tests will limit his chances of actually appearing during the series. Pakistan’s captain, Waqar Younis recently told reporters: “Wasim is a great bowler whose achievements are outstanding, but at the moment, I cannot assure him a place in the first Test line-up.”Rumours in the Pakistan media reported that Younis opposed Akram’s selection all week, delaying the announcement of the squad for more than five days. The relationship between the two became strained during the 1999 World Cup. On the subsequent tour to Australia then-captain Akram dropped Younis for the second Test, which Pakistan lost from a strong position.Despite the speculation, Akram is fully expecting to feature against England. He said: “I am not here just to be a passenger, but whether I am picked or not, I am going to support the captain, on and off the field, and the main objective is to win.”We have got to work hard to do well here. There is no problem between us we were just able to fly together for seven hours. But as for our relationship, everything is fine. I am reaching 35 next month and I feel I have another year or two in me. But even if I hadn’t been picked I would still have come here.”Akram may be handed that chance by the shock absence of Shoaib Akhtar from the touring party. But even without the pace whizz kid, Akram is sure Pakistan’s confidence has not been dented.He added: “Shoaib is the fastest bowler in the world and Pakistan are lucky to have him in the side. “Hopefully he will join us next week, but that is just my opinion. But even without Shoaib, morale is high especially as we did well on our last tour in England.” Akhtar did not travel because of a stomach problem.

New Zealand will need to make a bowling breakthrough early on the third morning of the second National Bank Test if they are to achieve their goal of beating England in Wellington and going to the final Test in Auckland next week to decide the series.England finished a weather reduced first session of the Test in Wellington today on 92/2 having been put in to bat by New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.With post-rain ground preparations delaying the start of the match until 3.30pm on the second day, it was always going to be a tough task for New Zealand to get a win.However, they removed openers Michael Vaughan, caught at slip for seven by Fleming from Chris Drum’s delivery that moved away from him slightly while Marcus Trescothick got the speed wobbles, always a fatal condition against left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, and he departed for 37 after an attractive innings.But with two fine days forecast, the pitch is only going to get better so New Zealand have to make the most of it in the morning. There will be an early start, at 10am, in a bid to make up some lost time, and New Zealand will be hoping some sweating beneath the covers produces the spice that will enable them to capitalise and push for the wickets they need.Because as New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart said after play tonight, New Zealand only want to bat once in this match.There was encouraging tightness in the New Zealand bowling today in the absence of Chris Cairns. Chris Martin was named in the side as Cairns’ replacement, the only change in the two teams from the first Test, and was bowled as first change down wind.Martin produced some outstanding deliveries to the left-handers Trescothick and Mark Butcher but neither were able to get an edge to him.Drum bowled into the wind and was able to get some swing, although not outrageous by any means, and gained Vaughan’s wicket to continue the lean trot he has endured during the series.Ian Butler ratcheted up the speed and bowled several balls around the 140km/h mark but was used sparingly by Fleming. While he did beat the bat, he was slightly errant in line at times and also struck no-balling problems, possibly the result of shifty ground after the rain.England had to be encouraged by Mark Butcher’s seemingly painless batting after he just made it into the side after recovering from a cracked thumb suffered during the first Test in Christchurch. He was unbeaten on 24 at stumps and included among his run-scoring shots were two extra cover drives for boundaries from Vettori and Drum respectively.Hussain was also starting to open out, pulling at balls from Butler and Martin with effect while reaching 16.Trescothick said after stumps that the wicket square and the area surrounding the block had been very muddy early in the day and at the time the players went out they knew it wasn’t going to get too much better but they wanted to get things underway.There were pieces of the pitch coming out of the bowler’s foot marks and these represented a potential problem for batsmen later in the pitch, but the pitch itself had been fine and it played better than many anticipated during the 30 overs of play possible.”There is still a lot of cricket to play here, it just comes down to who wants it most,” Trescothick said.Aberhart said the pitch didn’t do as much as it was thought it might.”We thought they would be more helpful conditions,” he said.With the shortened duration of the match he said New Zealand only wanted to bat once and it was already apparent that Vettori was going to have to bowl a lot in the game but he was confident that having come through the pre-Test fitness testing that he would be capable of carrying that burden.”I thought Chris Martin bowled well and with a bit of zip and was a bit unlucky not to pick up wickets,” he said.

For the first time this season, Barbados’ bowling attack looked aboveordinary. It was not devastating by any means, but the quality wassuch that it left the Windward Islands struggling at the close of Day2 of their fifth-round Busta Cup match at Kensington Oval.With the knowledge that anything fewer than maximum points would denttheir chances of winning the Cup, Barbados effectively defended theirfirst innings total of 267 by reducing the visitors to 103 for sevenwhen stumps were drawn.Barbados can put themselves in a position to force their secondvictory of the tournament if they can knock over the last two wicketsthis morning before the Windwards get another 15 runs to avoid thefollow-on.Windwards, still without a point this season, badly lost their wayafter their teenaged openers were separated an hour into the inningsand never recovered against an attack that was mainly dominated bythree bowlers.Corey Collymore, Hendy Bryan and Dave Marshall shared the first 43overs in which the Windwards lost the cream of their batting throughmainly a lot of indecision and a few irresponsible shots.The first of those was an attempted pull from the left-handed DevonSmith that was not kept down and resulted in a catch to mid-wicket.For the 56 minutes Smith and Rommel Currency were together, the twoplayed solidly before they fell to Marshall.The Windwards have always been susceptible against leg-spin andMarshall would have been eager to get at them following his 12-wicketmatch haul against them in Dominica last year.Skipper Ian Bradshaw brought him into the attack after only six oversand he responded with two strikes in the space of 25 minutes.The second of those was from a googly that embarrassed Currency. Theright-hander shouldered arms and, as usual, umpire Steve Bucknor, tookhis time before sending the batsman on his way.In between the dismissals of the openers, Hendy Bryan removed thereputed shot-gun Kirsten Casimir with a delivery of fullish lengthwhich the batsman was guilty of playing across the line.Windwards, who started their reply 25 minutes after lunch, went to thetea interval at 35 for three with the experienced Junior Murray andJohn Eugene at the crease.They batted for a further 45 minutes before Collymore claimed twowickets in successive balls in an over which sent a buzz around theground. Eugene edged a catch to the keeper after nibbling at a balloutside the off-stump without moving his feet.Greg Wilson, on his debut first-class appearance, came out to replaceEugene, but the tall St. Lucian did not survive his first ball. It wasof fullish length and it earned Collymore a LBW decision in the faceof Wilson indicating the ball struck the bat.The double-blow left the Windwards 58 for five and in need of a majorpartnership between Murray and his fellow Grenadian, captain RawlLewis.They were moving nicely along and had put on 24 when their sixthwicket stand was ended by a run-out that caused the downfall of Murrayfor 24. It was the sixth time for the competition that he wasdismissed in either the 20s or the 30s.The demise of Murray came in an exciting over from Bryan. Lewis hadjust spanked the bowler through the covers for a four and played analmost identical shot from the very next ball that was brilliantlyintercepted by substitute Floyd Reifer.Murray, the non-striker, might have believed the ball had gone pastthe fielder and ran the full length of the pitch to join Lewis at thestriker’s end. It was merely left to Bryan to complete the run-out atthe bowler’s end.Until then, Barbados depended mainly on three bowlers and Bradshaw andoff-spinner Ryan Austin came on late in the evening for three oversapiece.It was enough for Bradshaw to claim the wicket of left-hander DeightonButler, who cut a short ball down the throat of backward point.Earlier, Barbados, resuming from their overnight 192 for six, added afurther 75 before they were dismissed 15 minutes after lunch. Most ofthose runs came in a seventh-wicket stand of 45 between Bradshaw andAustin.Austin, who played a key role in supporting Bradshaw with the bat inthe last match, made 26 in an hour-and-a-half, while Bradshaw hit 37before he was last out to a catch at long-on.By then, Barbados were trying to push on in light of the fact that thescoring rate was just over two runs an over throughout the innings.

Gloucestershire play Buckinghamshire on the 7th May 2003 – away. Reserve Day is 8th May 2003Away to the winner of Cornwall v Kent on 28 May. Reserve Day on 29th.Quarter Finals 10 or 11 Jun (Reserve Days 11 and 12 Jun).