MELBOURNE – Victoria may have forced Queensland to follow on today but the Bushrangers remain far from certain of claiming a first Pura Cup win in five years against their chief tormentors.The Vics last recorded an outright win over Queensland at the MCG in 1995-96 with the past 10 matches resulting in six Queensland wins and four draws.When the Bushrangers forced Queensland to follow on, shortly before lunch on day three today, that drought looked certain to end.However by stumps, due to a combination of a tired attack, stubborn batting and poor fielding, the Bulls had reached 1-136 in their second innings, still requiring another 64 runs to make Victoria bat again.Queensland began its second innings trailing by 200 runs after being bowled in the first session for 184 in reply to the Vics’ 9-384 declared.Victorian skipper Paul Reiffel took three of the five wickets to fall in Queensland’s first innings today after they resumed at 5-135 and then wasted little time ripping into the visitors’ batting again.In just the seventh over of the Bulls’ second innings he produced a tremendous leg cutter to Jerry Cassell which the young opener spooned to Matthew Mott in the gully.At that stage the Vics looked a chance to claim victory inside three days.But the turning point of the day came nine overs later when Brad Hodge dropped a sitter at first slip off Ian Harvey to give Jimmy Maher a life on six with the Bulls precariously placed at 1-20.Maher took full advantage of his luck and by stumps had reached 59 after occupying the crease for 274 minutes.The left-handed opener received tremendous support from Martin Love, not out 68 in 247 minutes, with the pair combining for an unbroken 130 run stand as the Victorian attack began to tire.The Bushrangers weren’t helped by the failure of Damien Fleming to again bowl today due to a neck injury and the former Test paceman is unlikely to be fit for tomorrow’s crucial last day.That will leave a big burden on Reiffel, Matthew Inness, Colin Miller and Harvey, who have already been in the field for 165 overs.But the Vics will be boosted by the knowledge that if they can get through the top order in reasonable time tomorrow, the Bulls’ tail is unlikely to offer much resistance given its performance this morning when the visitors lost four wickets inside the first 45 minutes.

It took until the penultimate day of the series, and relied on the inspiration of two players who have barely figured through its duration. But, at last, the sight of WestIndies refusing to yield to Australia arrived. As a result, we finally have a contest too; at stumps on the fourth day of the Fifth Test here at the Sydney CricketGround, Australia is at 2/44 chasing a target of 173 to win.The excellent form of Ridley Jacobs (62) has been a constant throughout this summer so it represented little surprise to see him at the heart of a mid-afternoonrecovery which transformed the complexion of this match. But to spot the sparingly used Mahendra Nagamootoo (68) and previously horribly out of formRamnaresh Sarwan (51) also applying themselves earnestly in its midst was certainly unexpected.What made the revival even better still was that it came on the heels of another disastrous morning session for the West Indians. The loss of Jimmy Adams (5), Sherwin Campbell (54) and Marlon Samuels (0) in thespace of five deliveries only half an hour into the day – a surrender which saw them slide to a mark of 4/112 in their second innings – was a grave development giventhat as many as 180 runs were required to even make the Australians bat again. And the miserable predicament was then exacerbated when a defending Brian Lara(28) failed to capitalise on an earlier reprieve and lost his wicket to a beautifully pitched ball from off spinner Colin Miller (4/102) half an hour before lunch.Until Sarwan finally lost concentration after close to two-and-a-half hours of unflinching resistance and sparred away from his body at a Glenn McGrath (3/80)delivery, he and Jacobs added eighty-five runs for the sixth wicket in enterprising style. In the process, they ensured not only that the match would enter a fourthinnings but added a genuine touch of spine to the West Indian performance as well. It was difficult to believe that the former had entered this innings with a bare threeruns against his name in total for the series and with his confidence and demeanour at apparent rock bottom. For that sorry record counted for little today; hesurvived a hat-trick ball from Jason Gillespie (2/57) first up, imperiously thumped the second delivery that he faced to the cover boundary, and then barely lookedback.Although well renowned in the Caribbean for his all-round skills, Nagamootoo was also something of a surprise packet. His hand was predominantly attacking – afeature perhaps best exemplified by a number of straight, lofted blows – but contained a nice mixture of defensive shots as well. His maiden Test half-century broughta completely contrasting response to the far more relieved and reserved one offered by Sarwan; an extravagant series of waves of the bat and some fist-pumping forgood measure ensuing as he reached the mark only a few moments before tea.”I always bat like that,” said Nagamootoo. “I never put myself down; when the bad ball comes along, I always (try and) put it away.””In the beginning, it was really tough. I thought that I would just try and bat for as long as I possibly could.””I’ve not really been in and out,” he replied to the suggestion that he has been unluckily overlooked on this tour. “I was injured and have been doing as much as I canto get into the team. One step at a time in practice and I (just try and) take my opportunities when I can get them.”Nagamootoo’s innings might never have blossomed; his own stand of seventy-eight with Jacobs might never have transpired; and the position of the match mighthave been completely different too, if Umpire Darrell Hair had not denied what looked an excellent McGrath lbw appeal against him when the left hander had onlytwo runs on the board. But, in an ironic way, it seemed appropriate that the decision went the West Indians’ way, if for no other reason than it finally permittedJacobs the sort of support that his form has commanded all the way through this tour. It also helped lay the platform for this to develop into by far the best and mostcompetitive day of the series.Ultimately, the trio’s batting helped swell the West Indian second innings tally to a mark of 352. It also had the crowd of 14728 in an appropriately deferential moodby the time that number eleven and 127 Test veteran, Courtney Walsh, entered an Australian arena for the very last time with a bat in his hand. The Australiansformed their own on-field guard of honour to salute the champion too. In the middle of the most intense battle of the summer, it was lovely stuff.That the out-of-sorts Matthew Hayden (5) and Justin Langer (10) each fell inside the first seven overs of Australia’s pursuit of their victory target – to leave the hostslooking a touch vulnerable for once – emphasised the extent of the fightback. Michael Slater (18*) and Mark Waugh (3*) ultimately held firm but each had narrowescapes along the path to stumps. They, like a reinvigorated West Indian team, will be back to do it all again tomorrow.

A partnership of 150 runs between Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq was thefoundation for a comfortable 108-run Pakistan win in the first game of the2001 NatWest Series, though the moment of victory was delayed by a pitchinvasion from over-enthusiastic supporters.By the time the floodlights came into full effect, the lights were alreadyout on England’s chances of success. They had been dealt a couple of blowseven before the toss; Andrew Caddick and Graham Thorpe both out injured with back and calf problems respectively, but such was the quality of Pakistan’s cricket that any team would have struggled to suppress them.Waqar Younis won the toss and elected to bat on a dry looking pitch.Unsettled by the chip and charge tactics of Shahid Afridi and the pure classof Saeed, the English bowlers were always on the defensive and supplied aliberal quantity of short balls and full tosses. Saeed’s innings was a gem.He began with an imperious pull off Darren Gough and found the gaps with ease topick off ones and twos. The flicked, seemingly effortless, six into the EricHollies stand, followed by a deliberate thick edge for four off successiveEalham deliveries illustrated his class eloquently.Azhar Mahmood weighed in with a quickfire 38 (in 24 balls) down the orderto compound England’s misery, but it was the third-wicket pair who alteredthe course of this match.England must be heartily sick of Inzamam’s batting by now. In form like thishe seems to possess all the time in the world and has the power to toy withany but the finest bowlers. It was an awesome display, mixing belligerentpower with deft flicks and placement perhaps typified best by the semi-sweephe played off Ben Hollioake the ball after blasting him over cover. Hebullied the bowlers; taking up from where he had left off at Old Trafford andif he hadn’t perished, well caught by Marcus Trescothick, running in at deep cover,300 may well have been attainable.In the 24th over, Dominic Cork, following through and attempting to kick the ballon to the stumps, had given Inzamam a little push out of the way in hisdesire to effect a run-out. This infuriated Inzamam, and Stewart had tostand between the two and apply admirable levels of diplomacy. It clearlyworked as batsman and bowler shook hands after the next delivery.Mark Ealham retained control admirably amid the carnage about him but it was achastening day for the young all-rounders given their chance in the absenceof Craig White and Andrew Flintoff; Paul Collingwood – two overs for 18 and two runs and Hollioake six runs to add to his return of six overs for 53. Alan Mullally showed his value, providing some options for his captain but England still have some work to do in rebuilding for the 2003 World Cup.From the moment that Trescothick got a leading edge to a Waqar slowerdelivery and skied the ball to Younis Khan at point, England looked doomed.The recalled Alistair Brown had already departed, caught behind attempting to guide the ball through point.The seamers did most of the damage, particularly a fiery, frugal spell fromthe all-rounders; Abdur Razzaq and Mahmood. Stewart, conscious of the danger ofbecoming bogged down with such a testing target, tried to pierce the offside ring with a lofted drive. A marvellously athletic catch by the substitute fielder, Shoaib Malik, flying parallel to the ground, sent himback for ten and England were 69-3. Vaughan followed in similar fashion,forced to accelerate before he was ready, and Collingwood was trapped lbw byRazzaq, playing around a straight one.Saqlain Mushtaq is quite a bowler to bring on when the score is 107-5, andhe soon dispensed with Hollioake, well held off his own bowling. ShahidAfridi rubbed salt in the wound, bowling Cork with his top-spinning firstball after a jaunty knock of 18, and trapping Gough lbw in similar style.This left only Knight, after a sticky start, to lead England to somethingnear respectability. His 93-ball 50 and a lengthy last-wicket stand withMullally were attempts to salvage something from a bleak day for the hosts.The game ended in something near farce as a disgraceful pitch invasiondelayed the finish. With England 159-9 after 43.3 overs several thousandsupporters converged on the pitch and stole the stumps and stumpmicrophones. People will moan if barriers are erected around the playingarea but there will be no option if this is to become commonplace.The sight of Waqar Younis walking around the boundary pleading with fans to keepoff the playing area had the desired effect: he told them that England wouldbe declared winners if the match was unable to resume after a 31-minutehiatus though it appears in light of regulations 10 and 11 of the playingconditions if the match had been abandoned Pakistan would have been awardedvictory under the D/L. Neither side’s run-rate would have carried forward tothe final table.Saeed Anwar had to come off the pitch to plead further with supporters whocaused further disruption after one more ball. Finally the game resumed andMullally was caught behind of Afridi to seal the second 108-run victory ofthe week for Pakistan over EnglandBut it would be a shame if this incident was to detract from the carnivalatmosphere that the game was conducted in. During a time of race riots inthe north of England, a crowd seemingly split equally between English andPakistan supporters thrived on each other’s enthusiasm and passion and apacked Edgbaston was the more colourful for it.Saeed Anwar won the man of the match award and Waqar paid tribute to him inthe post-match press conference, as well as his two all-rounders, Razzaq andAzhar, and Inzamam. He also thanked the passionate support his side receivedfrom the large Pakistan contingent in the crowd.With Waqar’s side just running into top form, and growing accustomed toEnglish conditions while Australia struggle against the English counties,Pakistan must now be favourites for this series. In today’s form they’llprove hard to beat.

Neil Fairbrother’s unbeaten half-century kept Lancashire in the box seat oftheir Championship game against Leicestershire after an action-packed secondday.Overnight rain delayed the start by another hour but the teams seemeddetermined to make up for lost time with wickets and runs flowing on anothergood Old Trafford pitch.First Leicestershire slumped from their overnight 83 for three to 202 allout, with only Darren Maddy’s battling unbeaten 57, his first Championshiphalf-century of the season, offering much resistance.Peter Martin and Glen Chapple each ended with three wickets but it was AndyFlintoff, bowling for the first time since he sustained a side injury inearly May, who did the most damage in a 10-over spell of three for 28.But James Ormond then fired out Mark Chilton, John Crawley and Flintoff inthe space of eight balls, and when Devon Malcolm bowled Mike Atherton for astylish 48, Lancashire were in trouble at 68 for four.Aussie-Italian Joe Scuderi then joined Fairbrother in a vital fifth-wicketstand of 111 in 23 overs, and although Scuderi was out for 46 just beforethe close as he went for a big hit off Daniel Marsh, Fairbrother ended theday unbeaten on 70 – with Lancashire 191 for five, only 11 runs behind.

Leicestershire skipper Vince Wells returned to haunt his former county by inspiring them to an innings and 149-run win over Kent inside three days in Canterbury.The Whitstable-born all-rounder, released from the Kent books in 1991, top-scored for the Foxes with a brilliant 138 and then bagged five for 36 with his medium-pace slingers to secure a 20-point win that moves Leicestershire to third.Despite a superb batting pitch and short St Lawrence boundaries, Kent were out-manoeuvred and out-fought by a shrewd and vastly experienced Leicestershire side who amassed 612 for eight declared before skittling Kent out twice inside five sessions.Resuming on their second day score of 155 for seven, Kent’s tail wagged first time round with Min Patel (34) and Matthew Fleming adding 50 for the eighth wicket before both went in quick succession enabling Wells to enforce the follow-on with his side 402 ahead.With Rob Key suffering with a stomach upset, Kent opened with David Fulton and Ed Smith second time around and looked solid in reaching 63 until Smith fell two balls before lunch.Kent’s leading scorer Fulton took his tally for the season to 958 with a 225-ball innings of 107, but his demise to Jimmy Ormond sparked a dramatic collapse as the hosts lost their last six wickets for seven runs in the space of nine overs.Other than Fulton, no other Kent batsman passed 35 in the match and had little answer to the wiles of experienced seamers Devon Malcolm and Phil DeFreitas who each claimed five wickets in the match.

Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya considers New Zealand to be histeam’s main rivals in the triangular one-day Coca Cola Cup seriesstarting in Colombo on Wednesday.The hosts will meet New Zealand in the opening match of thetournament, also featuring India. The teams will play each other threetimes in the league phase, with the top two qualifying for the August5 final.”They (India) are not really our main rivals, but they have beenplaying well,” Jayasuriya told a website last week.The Sri Lankan skipper has good reason to be optimistic aboutdefeating India: his men beat the team three times when they last metat Sharjah in October, including in the final.India are also without their star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who isnursing a foot injury.Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has conceded that the Sri Lankans willbe a tough unit at home, especially in one-dayers. “We will have toplay really well to beat them,” he has said.Forgetting the past, however, will put India in a better frame of mindfor the upcoming series. Last year they were on the verge ofcelebrating their resurgence after the match-fixing scandal when theywere thwarted by New Zealand and Sri Lanka.New Zealand were the first to ruin India’s party with a remarkablefour-wicket victory in the International Cricket Council knock-outfinal in Nairobi last October. Sri Lanka rubbed it in a few weekslater in a triangular series at Sharjah when they dismissed India fortheir lowest-ever total of 54 to run out comfortable winners.But India would not like to remember these defeats and are treatingthis tournament as a stepping stone to the 2003 World Cup in SouthAfrica.For this series, India has made three changes to the team that was inZimbabwe last month. Left-handed batsman Amay Khurasiya replacesTendulkar and middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh and left-arm spinnerRahul Sanghvi have been recalled.Sri Lanka has dropped several players from the team which had clincheda tri-series at Sharjah in April in a bid to find the right men forthe World Cup.Batsmen Avishka Gunawardene and Chamara Silva have been recalled alongwith fast-bowling all-rounders Suresh Perera and Dulip Liyanage.Fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa was ruled out of the series because of anankle injury and will be replaced by Dinusha Fernando, the chiefselector announced today.Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore has welcomed the importance given tomedium-paced all-rounders.”To be successful in South Africa, we need to have considerable fastbowling resources and some of those bowlers must be able to bat,” hehas said.New Zealand have also effected a few changes in the team which hadfailed to qualify for the Sharjah final in April.All-rounder Dion Nash and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori havereturned to the squad after passing fitness tests. There are sevenall-rounders in the team, described by chairman of selectors RichardHadlee as “strong and experienced” and “selected with Sri Lankanconditions in mind”.New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe said his team’s chances of winning thetournament here were pretty good.”We have come here fresh, without too much cricket and from our winterwith the batteries recharged,” he said. “The last time they (SriLanka) came to New Zealand they beat us in one-dayers. I think wewould like to return the favour this time.”

Both captains were in agreement as to the crucial difference between the teams as they reflected on the Second npower Test at Lord’s.”I think the fielding was the difference between the two sides,” Steve Waugh reasoned. “England missed a few chances and today we were pretty sharp. It makes a huge difference to the overall outcome of the match.”Mike Atherton agreed. “We dropped few chances and you can’t afford to give good players two or three lives,” he said.”We dropped three or four early chances yesterday and that could have produced a lead in the region of 100 and could have given us an opportunity to set Australia a smallish total.”But Waugh praised the English bowlers, and insisted that his team deserved credit for the victory, rather than England the criticism.”I know as a batsmen you have got to work hard out there, it certainly is not easy. They are a very competitive side and it (fielding) can be the difference. In a Test match you only get a couple of chances, but we are playing good cricket and putting England under a lot of pressure.””Lord’s has some great memories,” Glenn McGrath said as he was presented with the man of the match award. He, too, paid tribute to the Australian fielders, but acknowledged a couple of the other fast bowlers involved in the game too.”Jason Gillespie should also be commended on his effort and also Andy Caddick for continuing the attack,” McGrath praised. “With the slip squad we have there and Mark Waugh with his new world record, they help a lot because they seem to catch every one of them."Asked about the chances of Thorpe being fit for the Third Test the England coach Duncan Fletcher revealed that the batsman was to see a specialist tomorrow after an x-ray had proved inconclusive.”It would be a big disappointment if Graham was out,” admitted Fletcher. “He’s really played well for us, he looked good in the first innings and we need him in the side because he’s a very experienced and top class player.”Nasser Hussain will undergo a fitness Test next weekend when a decision will made about his availability for the next Test. Asked by Channel 4 if Hussain would be fit for Trent Bridge Atherton said with feeling “I hope so!”

Exactly seven days are left before Bangladesh is taking on the mightyPakistan in their home ground for the inaugural match of Asian TestChampionship. The ground of Multan is unfamiliar to both sides evenInzamam-Ul-Haq knows little or nothing about it. It is worth mentioning thathe was born here and Waqar’s hometown is not far away. A team like Pakistandoes not go for spinners when they have a bundle of match winning fastbowlers in their camp. So let’s think they are coming with their quickies inthe Multan field.Bangladesh’s performance against the quick bowlers is a suspect and it isevident in all three Tests they have played so far. Fast bowlers from Indiaand Zimbabwe caused the havoc on every occasion and they had claimed 39 outof 60 Bangladeshi wickets. Pakistan certainly has a stronger pace attackthan that of the other two rivals Bangladesh played against. Here, thequestion arises how far the Bangla Tigers will go against the hostility ofthe Paki quickies with a frail tail?The specialist batsmen of the country were seen struggling against therising deliveries of the Indian and Zimbabwean pacers. Think about thesecond innings of the Test against India when the side collapsed to 91 only.Most of them succumbed to the short pitch deliveries and were found quitenervous in facing such balls.Against Zimbabwe it turned out to be a more daunting task, as they had todeal with the pacers in alien tracks and the front line batsmen missed theassistance they should get from the tail enders. On an average the last fivewickets put 50 to 60 runs on the board, which brought a hasty finish in theinnings. Otherwise, it could not be stiff to take three of their innings offto 300 landmarks or more (257, 168, 254 and 266 are the four test inningsthey played in Zimbabwe and the last five wickets put 63, 39, 83 and 63respectively).The tail-enders of Bangladesh team can bat at least their averages make itclear. Mushfiqur Rahman, who batted at number eight, is an excellent batsmanbut failed miserably. Hasibul Hussain hits the ball hard and he made 28against India. Mohammed Sharif proved in the ODI that he could be helpful atthe end. Enamul Hoque’s ability to bat is indisputable (His average is 36.38in the First Class matches). The sole exception is Manjurul who bats atnumber eleven and much should not be expected from him.Instead of staying on the wicket and batting sensibly, these players wereseen carried away with their wild shots that cost their wickets eventuallyand brought the doom for their side.In Multan, we hope Bangladesh would show some signs of improvements here.

A winning cash prize of £6,000 is at stake as Bath Cricket Club, fromSomerset, and Bramhall Cricket Club, from Cheshire, contest the final of theNational Club Championship at Lord’s on Thursday 6 September.The prize-money has been donated by competition sponsors, play-cricket.com,the ECB’s recreational web-site partner, and guarantees the losing finalistsa £3,000 consolation.Of the two finalists, from a competition which featured 379 originalentrants, only Bath has ever previously made it to Lord’s – in 1998 when itlost to Yorskire’s Doncaster Town. This year it crept into the finalcourtesy of winning a low scoring semi-final at High Wycombe.In a rain affected match of 37 overs-a-side, High Wycombe batted first andposted a score of 117-9 with Stuart Priscott returning impressive bowlingfigures of 7-1-11-3. In reply, after being 67-6 at one stage, Bath wassteered home by an innings of 27 not out from Gregg Brown, winning by threewickets with 3.5 overs remaining.Bramhall Cricket Club, meanwhile, won its semi-final match by four wicketsover Scotland’s Ayr Cricket Club. Ayr’s captain, Albert Simpson, won thetoss, elected to bat, and scored an unbeaten 75 from his team’s total of216-6 in the alloted 45 overs.Bramhall’s victory, achieved with 2.2 overs to spare, owed much to youngopening batsman Paddy McKeown, who has had trials with Lancashire and Essexand who scored 105. Andy Hall also made a valuable contibution with 42runs.The 45 overs-a-side National Club Championship Final will start at 11.00am.

Routes to the final:

Bath CC

1st Round Bath 164 all out, Cardiff 159 all out
2nd Round Bath 195 for 6 Cheltenham, 110 all out
3rd Round Swansea 152 for 8, Bath 156 for 8
4th Round Bath 256 for 8, Lansdown 232 all out
5th Round Bath 174 all out, Bovey Tracey 162 all out
6th Round Bath 221 for 5, Havant 129 all out
Quarter-Finals Bath 194 for 7 Saffron Walden 176 all out
Semi-Finals High Wycombe 117 for 9 Bath 118 for 7

Bramhall CC

1st Round Bramhall 148 all out, Longridge 147 for 9
2nd Round Fulwood & Broughton 115 all out Bramhall 117 for 7
3rd Round Winnington Park 141 for 9, Bramhall 142 for 2
4th Round Wallasey 170 for 8, Bramhall 171 for 5
5th Round Bramhall 251 for 9, Kearsley 107 all out
6th Round Bramhall 161 for 9, Harrogate 134 all out
Quarter-Finals Bramhall 230 for 6, Wolverhampton 230 all out
Semi-Finals Ayr 216 for 6, Bramhall 217 for 5

Prolonged and steady overnight and morning rain prevented any play duringthe second day of the Second Test match between Zimbabwe and South Africa atQueens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe were 154 for two wickets at theclose of the first day.The rain finally stopped in mid-morning, but extensive mopping-up operationswere required and the sky remained heavily overcast. The umpires eventuallydecided that there was no alternative but to abandon play for the day and,if possible, to extend the hours of the subsequent days as provided for inthe laws of the game.A result would now appear difficult to achieve on a good, if slow, battingpitch. Zimbabwe’s bowling does not appear to have the firepower necessaryto bowl out South Africa twice in the time remaining, even if the batsmenshould get enough runs. South Africa would have a better chance if theywere able to break through the Zimbabwe batting quickly on the third day,which should prove crucial.