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As fleetingly as the English resistance appeared, it went away just asquickly. Unable to build on the foundation, Michael Vaughan had laid forthem, a score of 342 had to be settled for after 450 had seemed a possibility.Losing seven wickets for 47 didn’t do anything to dispel the perception of a brittle Englishlower-order line-up. Warne and Gillespie ripped through them without too muchfuss.There is not enough consistency for England if they wish to compete againstAustralia. They require sustained periods of excellence both with bat andball. Not glimpses of it.Vaughan basically played a lone hand as no other English player passed 50.Are England playing like the West Indies were a few years ago when all youhad to do was dismiss Brian Lara and the innings would unravel before youreyes?Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer knocked off 100 runs in the blink of an eyewith 342 looking more inadequate by the second.England can still lose this game by an innings. Something which lookedhighly unlikely when they were 2/240, but cricket is a game made up ofperformances by individuals within the fabric of a team.Superb efforts by Warne, Gillespie and McGrath dragged Australia back intothe game. They bowled tirelessly to restrict the Englishman and after thebreakthrough was made, homed in on the lengthy English tail.There is no doubt that cricket is a batsman’s game but it is the differencein class between the bowlers of the two sides which will decide this series,England do not have the same resources in the field that Steve Waugh cancall on. Not one of the English bowlers looks as though he is a constantthreat of taking wickets. They wait or pray for an Australian mistake asopposed to being able to force one.Losing three of their starting bowlers from the original tour party hasn’thelped matters either. The field placings must pay some attention to savingruns which allows the Australian batsmen even more freedom.The shortcomings of the bowlers comes back onto the English batsmen. Theyare then required to bat out long periods of time or do somethingextraordinary if England are to hope to have even a modicum chance ofsuccess.Different times to when England could boast class bowlers such as John Snow,Bob Willis, Derek Underwood, Ian Botham, Graham Dilley, John Emburey and Phil Edmonds.Facing bowlers such as these, the Australians didn’t have the carte blanchethey seem to have done.So where to for England from here? -Defeat in Adelaide means basically theend of the series and another long summer with the only point of interest beingwhether England can snatch a win in a dead rubber like they have on their last twotrips down under.

Crowd favourite: Half an hour before the first semi-final, the Wankhede was only about half full. An hour into the game the crowd, now packed to the rafters, was screaming “Watson, Watson” as he smashed Delhi’s bowlers to all parts of the ground. Mumbai has been known to cheer only their own but two neutral teams contesting the semi-final meant that the fans could cheer for the excellent cricket, irrespective of who was playing it.VIP treatment: The union railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav arrived for the match surrounded by a throng of commandos who wanted to sit next to him to guard him. However, the MCA officials, owners of the VVIP box that sits atop the Garware Pavilion, objected and tempers had to be calmed by Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI chief operating officer. Lalit Modi was obviously irritated and was seen shaking his head.Walking wounded: Graeme Smith was struggling with his leg and his footwork was severely restricted. Glenn McGrath tried to capitalise on the weakness but Smith countered by using his bottom hand to lift two consecutive deliveries for four to deep midwicket. McGrath then replied with a yorker which swung into Smith. Forgetting his injury for a moment, Smith punched hard at the ball, sending it racing to the long-off boundary before hobbling away to the side in pain.Catch it right: The pull from Swapnil Asnodkar came in flat, fast, and above chest height towards Farveez Maharoof at deep fine leg. The thumb rule for catching at that height is to take it with hands cupped in front of the chest – the conventional way. Maharoof tried to catch it Aussie style – with fingers pointing upwards – and spilled it. The ball bounced off his hands, hit his face and went over the boundary for four.Gambhir plays into Watson’s hands: With the asking-rate climbing steadily, Gautam Gambhir, Delhi’s best batsman, decided to force matters but failed repeatedly. He charged out of his crease to pull but was beaten by Watson’s quick bouncer. He then tried to slash through covers but was beaten yet again. A second attempt at pulling also failed and when Gambhir finally connected with a fierce cut, he saw Taruwar Kohli dive to his right to pull off a stunning catch at cover.

Central Districts achieved a $67,991 surplus in its financial performance this year, a turnaround of $143,209.In his annual report CD chief executive Blair Furlong said the surplus had been possible as the result of the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) grant to the association.Sponsorships, donations and grants were worth $1,173,767, up $67,103 on last year and almost the amount of the surplus.Like most associations CD had an increase in coaching and development costs for the year, up from $139,578 to $151,627.Administration also increased from $151,333 by $24,259. Women’s cricket (up $11,282) and junior cricket (up $8851) were also areas of increased costs.Furlong said that in addition to increased NZC funding the England One-Day International at Napier contributed to the income in several areas.”The dinner prior to the match was the largest we have hosted with 850 patrons attending. People who attended the function are still talking about how good the event was,” he said.Furlong marked Dipak Patel’s contribution in five years of coaching with the side.”Dipak coached the team with success in winning both the one-day and four-day competitions, a win over India and a very competitive draw against Australia.”Dipak managed to get a number of our players recognised at international and New Zealand A level and he improved significantly the competitiveness of the Stags at all levels,” he said.At the annual meeting held last weekend in Palmerston North, chairman John Fluker of Horowhenua Kapiti was challenged for his position by Graham Sherlock of Nelson but retained his position.A change did occur on the CD board when sitting member Bob Rankin was defeated by Taranaki’s Graeme Reardon. Other board members elected were, Sherlock, John Smith (Nelson), Trevor Smith (Taranaki), Viv Stephens (Hawke’s Bay) and David Townend (Manawatu).John Cunliffe (Marlborough) succeeded Dermot Payton (Wairarapa) as president of the association.Ian Colquhoun remains CD’s patron.

World-class New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns told the audience at the launch of his book ‘Chris Cairns’ last night that he regards bowling as his trade, and batting as his enjoyment.Speaking at the function organised at the Christchurch Casino, Cairns said getting a five-wicket haul when bowling was the most satisfying aspect of the game.Cairns, who missed the last part of New Zealand’s international season when needing more surgery on his troublesome knees, said he was feeling very good.”My rehabilitation has gone well but it is all in the lap of the cricketing gods,” he said.Cairns said he wasn’t motivated by statistics in the way that Sir Richard Hadlee had been during his career, nor was he blessed with the superb bowling action that Hadlee enjoyed.”I have to work harder on my bowling, I’m not as gifted with my action as he was,” he said.A video presentation of some of the highlights of his career was shown during the evening and inevitably resulted in questions to him about some of the notable moments. He recalled the occasion in 2000 when hitting Australian fast bowler Brett Lee out of the Basin Reserve in the second Test of the series.The Australians had been getting frustrated with the way New Zealand were batting when Lee bowled a short ball to Cairns which he swung at, although his eyes were closed when he connected with the ball, which he hooked over fine leg and into the gardens outside the ground.”I walked down the pitch and Flem [Stephen Fleming] said to me ‘What have you done?’ and I said ‘I just wanted to have a whack at it.’ Flem described it as ‘a moment of clarity.'”Cairns did say that managing to get Australia’s leg-spinning maestro Shane Warne away at times during the last few years had been satisfying.”Warnie made me look so stupid during the first part of my career.”For me to have played alongside a bloke like that was a privilege. I remember at one stage during the Test in Hamilton I took a single with a hit to long off and as I ran by him I heard Warnie say: ‘Thank God for that’, and that was one of the highlights of my career to hear that he was pleased I was down the other end, because so often I had been trying to get down to get away from him in the past.”Asked who were some of the hardest bowlers to hit, Cairns said Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan was ‘quite hard’ to hit, as were bowlers who didn’t put any pace on the ball.Among the speakers at the function were his New Zealand team-mates Chris Harris, Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan who poked fun at Cairns over some of their experiences with him during their careers.Others to speak were former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe and former chief executive of New Zealand Cricket Christopher Doig.Crowe recalled the morning of Cairns’ first Test, against Australia at Perth in 1989, when he travelled down in the hotel lift with Cairns.”He was white with fear, a broken man, he was too young at 19 and suffered a stress fracture to his back in that game.”But I also remember when he came back and took a six-for against England and then he went through the most hopeless cricket regime I’ve ever seen in 1995/96.”It took an Aussie, finally, after seven years to sort him out,” he said.Steve Rixon had told Cairns to go out and express himself and as a result for the last five years he had blessed New Zealand with his skill and had made commentary for Crowe a great joy.Crowe said that Cairns’ feats with bat and ball put him in a statistical club whose only other members were Keith Miller, Gary Sobers, Ian Botham and Imran Khan.Doig said it was fair to say that there was nobody who had given him more pleasure, nor greater concern, than Cairns.But there had been no doubt that the “Black Caps walked a little taller, played with greater self-respect when a fully-fit, focused and fizzing Chris Cairns walked onto the paddock with them.”Doig said when a fully-fit Dion Nash was also available the pair were formidable, bringing out the best in their respective games.”It was one of the great tragedies that it was so infrequently that they played together.”Chris had a fierce individual determination to carve out his niche in New Zealand cricket. He was passionate about doing well, and New Zealand cricket doing well,” he said.There were times when his frustrations would boil over and end up inappropriately in the media but he had grown to understand the processes needed to advance his own, and New Zealand’s game.”He emerged from the shadow of his father [Lance] and was the greatest all-rounder in cricket today,” Doig said and it was with huge satisfaction that Cairns had matured into an outstanding individual in his own right.

Otago Cricket’s sponsors’ golf day looks set to be a bonanza for those lucky enough to be playing.Dedicated exclusively for sponsors of Otago Cricket the Anngow Motors $50,000 Golf Classic will offer a prize list like no other seen in the area.Top billing goes to a 2.3 litre Mazda6 Sport, valued at $47,000, and supplied by Anngow Motors in Dunedin. This will be on offer as a hole-in-one prize on the St Clair course’s tough fourth hole, a par three with an unforgiving reputation.However, a significant number of aces have been scored at the hole in recent years and Otago Cricket’s Events and Fund Raising manager Steve Davie is hoping the car will be won.”Our sponsors are vital to Otago Cricket’s continued progress and it’s exciting we’ve been able to organise this tournament for them,” Davie said.”It would be great to see the car go.”If the Mazda6, which won’t be launched internationally until late-August, early-September, isn’t won a $1000 cash prize will go to the closest to the pin.The other par threes will also attract plenty of interest with golf clubs and air travel to be won by those finishing closest to the pin. In total more than $55,000 worth of prizes will be on offer.A number of holes have already been sold for the tournament, to be played on November 15, and Davie expects a sell-out by the end of July. Hole sponsors will have automatic entry rights.

The County are also pleased to announce the Award of the Holsten NUL EssexPlayer of the Match in the recent floodlit game against Middlesex Crusaders as James Middlebrook. This is James’ consecutive award, achieved by bowling figures of 3-40 in the defeat against the Crusaders.James will be presented his award at Essex Eagles v NorthamptonshireSteelbacks at the Colchester Festival on Sunday 25th August.

England’s selectors have named the 18 player training squad, from which a final 14 players will be chosen to represent their country in the inaugural women’s international one-day triangular tournament against India and New Zealand this summer. England will also play two test matches against India in August.Charlotte Edwards (Kent) and Claire Taylor (Berkshire), England’s most prolific batsmen in recent years, return to the squad following injuries. Edwards, England’s leading run-scorer, has been out since the World Cup in December 2000 following cruciate ligament damage to her knee.21-year-old Caroline Atkins (Sussex) and 20-year-old Arran Thompson (Lancs) will pair up again following their World Record opening test partnership of 200, against India in Luknow in January.With stability returning to the England batting order, England’s most experienced player, Clare Taylor MBE (Yorkshire) will resume international bowling duty this summer with a career total of 99 wickets. One more will make her the first English woman to take 100 international wickets and only the third player in the world to do so.

The 18 players are:Player England Caps Date of birthClare Connor (Sussex) Captain 64 01.09.1976Clare Taylor (Yorks) Vice-Cpt 92 22.05.1965Caroline Atkins (Sussex) 9 13.01.1981Jane Cassar (Notts) Wicket Keeper 83 24.12.1972Sarah Clarke (Surrey) 3 28.03.1982Sarah Collyer (Lancs) 19 03.10.1980Charlotte Edwards (Kent) 35 17.12.1979Mandie Godliman (Sussex) 3 05.04.1973Laura Harper (Somerset) 11 21.01.1984Jackie Hawker (Somerset) 3 21.02.1981Dawn Holden (Notts) 29 09.10.1980Hannah Lloyd (Somerset) 2 25.08.1979Laura Newton (Cheshire) 21 27.11.1977Lucy Pearson (Staffs) 41 19.02.1972Laura Spragg (Yorks) 0 16.06.1982Claire Taylor (Berks) 26 25.09.1975Arran Thompson (Lancs) 17 23.11.1981Helen Wardlaw (Yorks) 3 11.10.1982*includes full England ODI and Test Match capsEngland coach, John Harmer said: “Although the winter tour to India wasdisappointing, the players are improving all the time and it was great to see two young players take the world record in India”.This season also sees the introduction of ‘Super Fours’, a new domesticcompetition for elite women players across the country, which takes place in April and May. Harmer confirmed: “Super Fours provides an opportunity for someone on the fringe of the squad to break into the England team if they play well”.England’s Chairman of Selectors, Patsy Lovell said: “It was difficult to choose 18 players as we welcomed back many talented cricketers either from injury or the university commitments which kept them at home this winter. It will be harder to chose the final 14, especially if Super Fours proves as competitive as we think it will.”The triangular tournament will be a first for both women’s cricket and theisland of Jersey, which has never before hosted international cricket.The itinerary for Women’s international cricket this summer is as follows:

The ODI Triangular Tournament:10th July England v India Granville Ground, Jersey11th July New Zealand v India Granville Ground, Jersey12th July New Zealand v England Granville Ground, Jersey16th July New Zealand v England Racecourse Ground, Durham17th July New Zealand v India Racecourse Ground, Durham19th July *India v England Riverside Ground, Durham20th July *FINAL Riverside Ground, Durham* Matches televised on Sky SportTEST MATCHES:8th-12th Aug 1st Test: England v India Shenley Cricket Ground, Hertfordshire14th-17th Aug 2nd Test: England v India Taunton County Ground, Somerset

The Women’s County Championships will take place on 27th-31st July atUniversity Grounds, Cambridge.

Sir Donald Bradman, as anyone even remotely associated with the game of cricket is aware, ended his Test career with an average of 99.94. But that is not the highest Test career average of all time. In a freak case, a relatively unknown West Indian batsman going by the name of Andrew Gordon Ganteaume has an overall batting average of 112. A right handed opening batsman and wicket keeper, Ganteaume played just one Test against England in 1947-48 when he scored 112 in his only innings. For some obscure reason, he never played in another Test andthat explains the reason for his freak average, which remains the highest in the annals of Test cricket.A lesser known, but still rare, feat is to average 100 against any one country. It is possible that a batsman may have a specially good record against a particular country and there have been cases when a batsman has even averaged over 100 in such cases. Against India, for example, there are three cricketers who have an average of 100 plus and to avoid freak cases, I have maintained a minimum of five Tests as a benchmark.Batsmen from many countries have relished Indian bowling. Players like Walter Hammond, Gary Sobers, Ken Barrington, Zaheer Abbas, David Boon and Sanath Jayasuriya all have averages ranging from 70 plus to 80 plus in Tests against India. But the three who have topped the century mark against India are Sir Donald Bradman, Everton Weekes and Andy Flower.Bradman of course played only one series, in 1947-48, against India. In the five Tests, he had scores of 185, 13, 132, 127 not out, 201 and 57 (retired hurt). He finished with 715 runs at an average of 178.75.Weekes played ten Tests against India, five in an away series in 1948-49 and five in a home rubber in 1953. In the first contest, the West Indian right hander punished the Indian bowlers to the tune of 779 runs from seven completed innings. Four years later he was still at his ruthless best, knocking up 716 runs from eight innings (one not out). The carnage gave him a tally of 1495 runs at an average of 106.78.After this, many batsmen had a splendid record against India but fell short of averaging 100 plus. Sobers for example scored 1920 runs from 18 Tests at an average of 83.47. That obdurate English professional Ken Barrington always had a special taste for Indian bowling, particularly on our featherbed pitches at home. He ended up with 1355 runs from 14 Tests at an average of 75.27. In the seventies and eighties, Zaheer Abbas was the scourge of Indian bowling – but only on home turf. The elegant Pakistan right hander had a nightmarish tour ofIndia in 1979-80 and only a modest one when he led the side out here four years later. But in three successive series in Pakistan, Zaheer Abbas averaged 100 plus each time. But the poor record in India brought his overall average against this country to 87 from a tally of 1740 runs in 19 Tests. Burly, beer loving Australian opening batsman David Boon followed Zaheer Abbas as the scourge of Indian bowling. In 11 Tests, from 1985-86 to 1991-92, Boon scored 1204 runs at an average of 70.82.Walter Hammond, in the 30s and 40s and Sanath Jayasuriya in the 90s both threatened to top the 100 run average mark against India but they fell short. Hammond had successive innings of 167 and 217 in the 1936 rubber but a modest run in the three Test series ten years later saw his overall average slip to 79.28 from a tally of 555 runs in six Tests. Similarly, Jayasuriya had successive scores of 340 and 199 in two Tests in Sri Lanka in 1997. But his other scores were modest and his overall average stands at 78.20 with a tally of 782 runs from seven Tests.In the last few years, however a rather unfancied cricketer from Zimbabwe has taken heavy toll of the Indian attack. Andy Flower, the pugnacious left hander and wicketkeeper took little time in displaying his relish for Indian bowling when in the inaugural Test at Harare in October 1992, he scored 59 and one not out. A few months later in the return Test in India, he top scored in both innings with 115 and 62 not out. In the only Test back home in 1998, he had rather modest returns of 30 and 41 not out. But last year in the two Test series in India he really blossomed with successive scores of 183 not out (topscore), 70 (top score), 55 and 232 not out (top score). As the Indian team prepare to take on Zimbabwe, they are aware they will face an enormous obstacle in the 33-year-old former captain who currently has a tally of 848 runs from five Tests. Five not outs in ten innings have boosted his average to 169.60. close behind the Don’s figures. The coming two Test series in his country gives Flower the opportunity to go ahead.

Central Districts kept their hopes alive in the Champions Cup tournament by beating Indian side Mumbai by 106 runs in Perth last night.CD will now meet the Australian entrant, the Western Warriors, tonight in Perth (NZ time) and will need to win if it is to be a chance of playing in the final on Wednesday.Mumbai ended the tournament winless, and it was well beaten last night.Mumbai asked CD to bat first, and must have been delighted when having the New Zealand Shell Cup champions 88/5, but a superb 108-run partnership between captain Jacob Oram and Glen Sulzberger got CD out of a hole and set up the winning margin.Oram showed some of the big-hitting form that made him such an important new figure in the New Zealand’s international one-day programme this year. He hit three sixes, each on of them memorable blows which gave the scoring a jolt at just the right stage.Sulzberger also moved the ball around, picking up the odd boundary to do his share in the stand.Oram brought up his 50 off 51 balls and went on to score 74 off 64 balls. The only criticism of his innings could be that he looked set to score three figures but got himself out, caught in the deep when he couldn’t get enough power into a skied shot to avoid a fieldsman at deep mid off.Sulzberger scored his 50 off 56 balls and the pair added the runs between 150 and 200 in 31 balls.Once they had departed, 18-year-old Greg Todd showed great maturity in his batting to keep the attacking momentum going by scoring 29 off 27 balls while Andrew Schwass chimed in with 22 off 16 balls.CD ended their 50 overs with 269/9 with left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni taking 3-38 while Santosh Saxena, who had taken out the top order finished with 3-39.Mumbai, facing a tough battle to keep their hopes alive, were unable to handle the early pressure, found themselves 11/3. But another 18-year-old in the game, Vinayak Mane kept Mumbai in the hunt with a solo hand with 53 runs.He found a suitable ally in Sairaj Bahutule but he was out attempting to hit off spinner Glen Sulzberger only to be caught in the deep for 38, scored off 46 balls.That came down to CD bowling pressure. There was a looseness at times, especially in the bowling of too many wides. But Brent Hefford bowled superbly, while Oram tied the batsmen down and after he was hammered earlier, with 35 runs off his first four overs, Andrew Schwass came back very well and was sitting on a hat trick at one stage.Schwass ended the innings the most successful bowler with three wickets for 43 runs while Sulzberger took two for 28.The CD success has left plenty of interest in the last game of the round robin phase of the tournament.Coach Dipak Patel said the side could not be over-awed by the job in front of them and was sure the young side would be ready for the big game.It was a chance for the side to be positive and for the players to learn where they were at in their game.Skipper Jacob Oram praised Sulzberger’s contribution to their partnership.”I was amazed the way he batted and came out and hit the ball in the middle from the start. He was the impetus we needed,” he said.Oram was delighted with his innings although he said that if there was a fault he should have gone on until the 45th over.He said the side would have to play a lot better to compete with the Wests side. The top order would have to contribute with the bat and the bowlers would have to be a lot more accurate and not concede so many wides. They bowled 19 wides and five no balls.

Who would have imagined that our national side would be leading the one-day series – against India in India, of all places – by two victories to one? It seems almost unbelievable, and their victory in the third match of the series was most convincing.It must be admitted that India were without their best batsman and bowler, in Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, respectively, as both are nursing niggling injuries in the effort to get fully fit for their coming tour of West Indies. Their absence would certainly have given Zimbabwe a great psychological boost, and we may well not have won the first match, at least, had either or both been present. It also appeared that India in this series have at times been suffering from overconfidence and have not played with the necessary discipline.Having said that, our most recent victory was won without Andy Flower, resting a thigh injury – the first official international match we have won without him since we beat Australia in the World Cup of 1983, if we want to check the records! The series has also come at a time when we would expect the team to feel distracted by the controversial elections going on back home, where their families were. In view of the results announced by the government, several of the players may well be thinking over their futures.And we did play with the discipline that India lacked, if we overlook the 14 wides bowled in the third match. We can now begin to suspect, with guarded optimism, that Geoff Marsh’s influence is beginning to pay off and the revival of spirit on a more regular basis is returning. One victory in the next two matches would see us win the series, an almost inconceivable thought, and on past experience that pressure may well be too much for our players to handle easily. But even if they are up to it mentally, the odds are still against them, because India have vast resources of talent and they will take the last two matches very, very seriously. Unless, in fact, their nerve has been broken, which would be a surprising state of affairs.It was great also to see two newcomers to the side play such a significant part in our victory. Pommie Mbangwa was playing his first international match for well over a year, and as usual bowled his accurate medium-paced line and length, a style which is at its most effective when the opening bowlers have made an initial breakthrough. And this had indeed been the case, the hero and Man of the Match being Douglas Hondo.Douggie has played one Test and one one-day international before, but on both occasions looked totally unready for it, pushed into international cricket by over-enthusiastic selectors. He had the talent, but it was still too raw. He has spent most of the past season playing club cricket in Australia, and we have published a couple of good reports in ZCO about his progress. On Wednesday’s showing he looked an unrecognizably better bowler.We have had players in the past who have surprised us with a remarkably good performance and then lapsed into anonymity again, but a first time always shows that the ability really is there and gives rise for hope.In this issue we are able to include some more articles by Trishna Bose on Zimbabwe in India, and also the updating of records. We have the new set of records for Zimbabwe v India in Test cricket and also the detailed Test career records of all the Zimbabwean players who took part in the recent Test series.Included also are biographies for three of the Academy players: Andre Hoffman, Innocent Chinyoka and Jordane Nicolle.