Despite half-centuries by Yousuf Youhana, Sohail Jaffar and AsifMujtaba, PIA made a modest 267 in their first innings on the openingday of the Patron’s Trophy Grade-I fixture against National Bank atSheikhupura Stadium Thursday.National Bank openers Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal safely an over eachby Wasim Akram and Azhar Mahmood to close the day on three for nowicket, according to details available here.Generally, it was a disappointing day for PIA. They were on course formassive score after National Bank skipper Mushtaq Ahmed had elected tofirst. But once the 99-run fourth wicket partnership between AsifMujtaba and Yousuf Youhana was broken, PIA lost their last sevenwickets for 67 runs.Opener Sohail Jaffer made 65 off 77 deliveries in 106 minutes and theleft-handed Mujtaba contributed a sedate 50 off 161 balls in 217minutes.Youhana, the ever reliable Test right-hander, went past the 50-runmark for the fourth consecutive time in as many innings. He made 54and 52 in the opening match against Allied Bank at Sialkot last week,preceded by that unbeaten century against Bangladesh in the Asian TestChampionship clash at Multan last month.Wasim Akram, in his first match for a month, scored just seven off 15balls before falling to leg-spinner Mushtaq. PIA captain Moin Khanmade 20 off 49 balls until he too was dismissed by the discarded Testspinner.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis terminated PIA’s innings by taking thescalps of Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Malik to finish with three for 38.Mushtaq also claimed three wickets but conceded 86 runs in 25 overswhile lanky speedster Shabbir Ahmed captured two for 44.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announces that MarcusTrescothick, Craig White and Ashley Giles have confirmed their intention totour India next month. Robert Croft and Andrew Caddick have made themselvesunavailable for the tour.This means that 14 players of the original party of 16 will tour, subject tothe proviso that they and the Professional Cricketers’ Association aresatisfied that appropriate security arrangements will be in place.Replacement players for Croft and Caddick will be named later this week.John Carr, ECB Director of Cricket Operations, said: “The ECB is delighted that the players have now made their decisions and thanks them for respecting the ECB’s urgency on the matter. Tim O’Gorman and I are travelling to India tomorrow to confirm all the security arrangements for the tour. The Indian authorities have a great deal of experience in implementing appropriate security measures and we look forward to undertaking a successful tour both on and off the pitch.”Ashley Giles said: “I am very grateful to the ECB for allowing my family and I extra time to come to my decision and, subject to my passing a fitness test on 7th November, I now look forward to flying to India with the rest of the touring party.”Marcus Trescothick said: “The additional time provided has enabled me to make my decision in the right frame of mind. I would like to thank the ECB and all concerned for their patience.”Craig White said: “I am undergoing a fitness test on November 7th and if passed fit I confirm I will travel to India with the England squad next month. I am very grateful to all concerned for their patience while making a very difficult decision.”Andy Caddick said: “My decision to opt out of the touring party was extremely difficult. My choice does not reflect any lack of commitment to English cricket and, had circumstances been different, I would love to have toured India.”Turning down the opportunity to represent my country is something I would never have believed possible. I needed to be 100% confident that my family were happy for me to tour, unfortunately that is not the case. I have two children, Ashton who is three and Fraser, born only on the 12th October – for them and my wife I have made the very personal decision not to go to India.”My family and I did appreciate the additional time provided by the ECB and my very best wishes go with Nasser and the team.”Robert Croft said: “It has been an immensely difficult decision to make butafter further discussions with friends and family I could not guarantee fullcommitment to the England Team, knowing that my family would worry about mysafety.”I would like to thank the ECB for allowing me more time to reach my decision and assure them that I am fully committed to the New Zealand Tour.”I have many Indian friends and for all concerned I am very disappointed.Extraordinary circumstances have led to my decision and I would like to takethis opportunity to wish Nasser and the guys a successful tour.”David Graveney, Chief Executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association and Chairman of Seclectors, said: “I realise that it has been a very difficult decision for all concerned. I would like to reiterate, in my selectorial capacity, that the statements made regarding players who understandably have opted out of the tour remain true relating to their future selection.”Nasser Hussain, England Team Captain, said: “I am delighted that Craig, Marcus and Ashley have made their decision to tour. On behalf of all the players I would like to thank all concerned for their understanding in what has been an incredibly difficult period for the team. I fully respect and appreciate both Andrew and Robert’s decisions.”

So Steve Waugh may play on into his 40th year?Followers of Australian cricket have become well acquainted with Waugh’s unrivalled resilience over the years. But now it seems they may have to prepare to acknowledge new yardsticks for endurance too.If the current national captain honours his surge of interest in another tour of the subcontinent in 2004, it means he will be well past his 39th birthday at the very least before he cedes to the prospect of retirement.In signalling his desire to reverse Australia’s unhappy set of results in India in recent decades, Waugh is thus theoretically poised to alter the record books in at least one other form too.Though it was not uncommon for Australian Test players of the 1920s and 1930s to play on into the fifth decade of their lives, longevity of that kind has generally not extended to include their modern counterparts. Any such move by one of the country’s current practitioners would therefore represent a distinct break with recent practice.Among the last 265 men to have played Test cricket for Australia, only Bob Simpson had reached his 40th birthday by the time that he played his final match. And even that development was fashioned by a unique combination of circumstances. Simpson had last seen Test action ten years earlier when he made a shock return to lead Australia in the wake of the crisis caused by the advent of World Series Cricket in 1977-78.In recent times, the mid-30s have instead qualified as the general entry point for passage to cricket’s version of a retirement home. Among the recent greats to have pulled the pin on their Test careers while they still remained fixtures in the national team, Allan Border was the oldest – at 38. Mark Taylor, David Boon, Ian Healy and Craig McDermott were all well short even of that mark, and eminent predecessors like Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee were similarly not much closer to their 40th birthdays than their 30th when they played for the last time.At 50 years and 327 days, Bert Ironmonger was the oldest player ever to take the field for Australia in a Test match. Off spinner Don Blackie was just shy of his 47th birthday when he graced a Test field for the last time; celebrated leg spinner Clarrie Grimmett was in his 45th year; and wicketkeeper Sammy Carter and batsman Warren Bardsley were each about to celebrate their 44th birthdays.But none of these men played Test cricket beyond the 1936-37 season.In all, only 14 players in Australian Test cricket history have played on after reaching the age of 40.It’s almost possible to visualise that famous glint in Waugh’s eye as one contemplates the thought that he is poised to defy conventional wisdom yet again.Whatever the case, any extension of his career beyond the previously speculated end point of the 2003 World Cup certainly represents one way of offsetting the suggestion that there are very few young players ready to replace him in the national team over the next few seasons.

Hampshire’s ambitions of staging International Cricket matches at The Rose Bowl has been given a boost.England Under 19s will play India Under 19s in a four day Test Match at West End from Wednesday 7th August to Saturday 10th August.Since the club first opened its new state of the art stadium, Rod Bransgrove the club’s chairman has made representations to the ECB to stage International Cricket.The staging of the Under 19s Test match is a first step, and in an open letter recently sent via the Clubs Newsletter, Rod Bransgrove, Chairman of Hampshire CCC stated “I think this will provide us with an opportunity to ‘audition’ for full International recognition. Let’s show the ECB how Hampshire supporters can rally behind our National Teams and turn out in force to watch the Test stars of the future in action.””It goes without saying that our progress with the development of the rose bowl this winter will also significantly affect the potential for Senior International Cricket at our stadium.”

Belief – that’s the new found quality New Zealand will be taking into tomorrow’s first National Bank Test against Bangladesh at Hamilton’s WestpacTrust Park.After the competitive series against Australia, and with key players back into their games after injuries, captain Stephen Fleming has a much more settled unit to work with.Their confidence is on a high and that doesn’t spell good news for the Test newcomers from Bangladesh.Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash and Chris Cairns had increased the mental depth in the side, and Fleming especially singled out Vettori saying that despite his youth at 22 the level of attitude he brought to the side was impressive.”Having them back is huge and they breed belief among the other players. Some of them who may have had mediocre 12 months will rise with the others back,” he said.With the pitch looking to have the usual greenness associated with Hamilton, Fleming’s inclination a day out from the toss being made at around 11.30am tomorrow for the 12 noon start, was to bowl first.Given the Bangladesh inexperience in the conditions, and in Test cricket, that is an option he could easily afford.”It’s very unusual for a New Zealand team to be in this position,” he said.New Zealand would be looking to continue the work done in Australia and would not be looking to beat Bangladesh quickly, rather it would be looking to do the job professionally.”We respect these guys and we won’t go out of our way to push things.”I have no doubt they will be a force in a number of years, we respect their position and where they are at.”We want to win our 48th and 49th Test victories and have 50 on the line against England,” he said.It had been a difficult 12 months for New Zealand, especially with the injury situation, but that had allowed a new group of players to be introduced to international cricket and that would have benefits of depth in selection but also in improving the all-important first-class scene in the country.There was a chance New Zealand would look to rotate players in the side and implement a policy of picking a team that would best do the job for it.The mood in the New Zealand side was very good, the anticipation for the Test matches was very good and the side was delighted to be at home again.The match would also be a good test for Mathew Sinclair who was under pressure more than at any time previously in his career.”Mathew is a quality player but he is going through something every player goes through.”He has the mental strength but he has to cope with outside pressures as well as those out in the middle,” he said.Fleming said he was happy with the role Cairns played in Australia and he acknowledged that he was under done but there had been nothing more he could do to get himself ready for Australia.He had picked up a five-wicket bag in the first Test in Brisbane but got frustrated afterwards.”We expect high standards and so does he,” he said.Cairns would keep working until everything was right and the work he had done to get into shape had been superb.The game is starting at 12 noon, a time that recognises the likely appeal to office workers able to catch the last session of the day when their work is complete, and also the longer hours of light available at this time of year.

Opener Sridharan Sriram took Tamil Nadu to a five-wicket win in their Ranji one-day match against Kerala at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Kerala opted to bat first. A 53-run opening stand seemed to have justified captain Sunil Oasis’ decision, but things then started to go wrong. Three quick wickets saw Kerala reeling at 56/3 before Oasis and SR Nair took matters into their own hands.Oasis top-scored for his side, making 66 off 84 balls. After Nair departed, he was given good support by K Chandrasekhara, who scored 56 off 71. The two shared a 106-run fifth-wicket partnership and took Kerala past the 200-run mark. Their side ended on 238/7.To score 239 for a win, Tamil Nadu benefited from a 91-run second-wicket stand between Sriram and S Suresh. Suresh made 40 off 63, while Sriram scored 76 off 94, his highest in the competition. He was the fourth wicket to fall, at 146, but useful knocks from Robin Singh, SV Saravanan and J Madanagopal took Tamil Nadu to their target in 47.4 overs.

Day three scores from the Southern Zonal Boys’ Under-15 tournament in Dunedin yesterday were:Canterbury Black 303/4 dec (Mitchell Shaw 127, Adam Coleman 91; Tim Riley 1-12, Brayden Hill 1-30) met Otago Gold 101/4 (Michael Higgins 34, Ben Munro 31; Mitchell Shaw 3-20) at Culling Park, Dunedin.Otago Blue 177 (Shaun Fitzgibbon 35, Thomas Cooney 31 not out; Todd Astle 3-58, Chris Gleeson 2-15) met Canterbury Red 82/3 (Todd Astle 21 not out, Chris Bartholomeusz 20; Kieran Parker 1-3, Thomas Cooney 1-28) at Bayfield Park, Dunedin.

Indian advisor to their side at the ICC Under-19 World Cup Dilip Vengsarkar has taken a swipe at the organisation of the event and criticised the choice of New Zealand’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University as the venue.Vengsarkar has also criticised the food arrangements for the Indian players, and he said one player Maninder Bisla lost about five kilograms and lived mostly on milk and fruit.Vengsarkar said the location of the event 20kms outside Christchurch made it difficult for teams to get into the central city for more ethnic dining, this being in spite of the fact that dining was available at the Lincoln township half a mile away from the University campus.Vengsarkar said the tournament should have been played at New Zealand’s major grounds.He missed the bus with his comments.The tournament was an age-group tournament and its location was assessed as ideal by the International Cricket Council.The fact remains also that the tournament would have been lost being played at New Zealand’s major grounds, because very few people would have turned up to watch.His complaints about food matters also preclude the efforts that were made to accommodate the requests of all 16 sides competing in the event.As for other complaints Vengsarkar also seems to have forgotten the advice that “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” That is a fact of life in international cricket. That is why cricket is different in the various countries of the world. Everyone has its own flavour, and just as New Zealand teams adapt when going to India so other teams are expected to adapt when coming here.Tournament organiser Tim Murdoch said changes were made to the dining times for the Indian and Pakistan sides at their requests and there was a 90-minute window for all sides to have their meals.Murdoch said he did not know about Bisla’s problems with food but there were lots of food options available to all sides and many of the other teams had taken advantage of them.Murdoch said the Indian response had not been reflected by other sides in the evaluations that had been received on the running of the tournament.As far as the use of major grounds, Murdoch said this comment failed to appreciate that New Zealand’s domestic competition, the State Shield, was being played at the same time as the tournament and that the grounds would not have been available, nor would the organisers have had the staff to move around the various venues.”The ICC approved the grounds and felt they were entirely appropriate for the level of cricket being played,” he said.Vengsarkar also criticised the ICC for not dealing with throwing during the tournament.”Junaid Zia, their medium pacer, threw the ball blatantly while bowling and would have put Shoaib Akhtar to shame,” he said.Vengsarkar said Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva had reported Pakistan fast bowler Junaid for throwing but had not heard how he should be treated.Murdoch said it had been agreed among the match officials before the tournament that players thought to have a suspect action would be reported under the accepted process and unless there was a blatant throwing episode, the players would not be called.He said Junaid had been reported from a couple of games and two others were also reported, a player from Nepal and one from Scotland.Murdoch had written to the ICC and alerted them over the reports.He said de Silva had been aware of the system before the tournament started.

You have to give the England cricketers full credit, they do have faith in themselves.But Andrew Caddick is testing the limits in his Independent On Sunday column this weekend. He said: “On paper, player for player, we are a better side. We have better individual players. We have allowed them to beat us.”Now, New Zealanders by their very nature are reasonable people. Caddick should know this, he lived here for long enough.And perhaps he is using his column as a vehicle to gee up his lads. So you have to take that into account.But really, it is time to acknowledge that when it comes to performing, New Zealand is doing it more than a little better at the moment.England talk a good game but when it comes to walking it, it’s a little different in reality.And when claiming that England are a better side, he needs to recall just who won the last Test series between the two sides.New Zealand.By a margin of 2-1 which had they not let the first Test out of their grasp could just as easily have been 3-0.And when the teams last met in a one-day series back in 1996/97, a much stronger England team than this one in New Zealand at the moment, were held to a drawn series by a young New Zealand side.On paper it is possible to claim a lot of things. And if you do try hard enough you could believe that England “player for player” is the better side. It could also be easy to claim that England possesses “better individual players”.But how do you measure that?By performance on the field in One-Day Internationals?By performance in international cricket overall?By performances in first-class cricket – county play for England, State Championship play in New Zealand?As we’re playing ODIs at the moment, let’s get down to some brass tacks.Based on the last teams to play in Wellington, here are some comparisons.NATHAN ASTLE v NICK KNIGHTKnight has 2731 runs from 73 ODIs at a strike rate of 70.45. Four centuries and 19 half centuries.Astle has 4857 from 147 ODIs at a strike rate of 72.52, with 11 centuries and 29 half centuries. Astle also has 89 wickets with an economy rate of 4.61.Astle wins. Not only does he score with the higher strike rate, he also takes wickets.CHRIS NEVIN v MARCUS TRESCOTHICKTrescothick has 1202 runs in 34 games at a strike rate of 83.64. Is a part-time wicket-keeper.Nevin has 367 runs in 15 games. His strike rate is 87.17. Full-time wicket-keeper.A tie.STEPHEN FLEMING v NASSER HUSSAINHussain in 62 games has 1619 runs at a strike rate of 66.46, no centuries and 11 50s.Fleming in 167 games has 4524 runs at a strike rate of 69.67, three centuries and 29 50s.Fleming wins.CRAIG McMILLAN v GRAHAM THORPEMcMillan in 106 games has 2450 runs at a strike rate of 72.18, one century and 13 50s. He’s taken 36 wickets with an economy rate of 5.24.Thorpe in 76 games has 2215 runs at a strike rate of 70.36, four centuries and 23 50s.On strike rate McMillan leads but Thorpe has greater consistency in scoring, even allowing for the fact that he doesn’t do anything other than bat.Thorpe wins.BRENDON McCULLUM v OWAIS SHAHTwo relative newcomers. McCullum in five games has 80 runs at a strike rate of 55.55 while Shah in seven games has 111 runs at 57.51.A tie.LOU VINCENT v PAUL COLLINGWOODVincent in 29 matches has 589 runs at a strike rate of 60.47. He’s also a lethal fieldsman.Collingwood in 15 games has 319 runs at a strike rate of 79.15. He’s take three wickets at an economy rate of 5.59.Collingwood has the better strike rate but will he still be there when the English grand plan emerges? Vincent is a crucial part of New Zealand’s future mix.But on the facts of the moment, Collingwood wins.CHRIS CAIRNS v ANDREW FLINTOFFCairns’ 148 matches have produced 3549 runs at a strike rate of 81.45 and 146 wickets at an economy rate of 4.7. Flintoff has played 36 games and hit 634 runs at 82.33 with 22 wickets at an economy rate of 4.79.The figures make for interesting comparisons, but Cairns’ proven match-winning ability cannot be denied.Cairns wins.CHRIS HARRIS v CRAIG WHITEHarris in 200 games has 3603 runs at a strike rate of 68.05 and 183 wickets at 4.28. In 39 games White has 348 runs at at a strike rate of 52.01 and 50 wickets at an economy rate of 4.42.Harris wins.ANDRE ADAMS v DARREN GOUGHAdams in nine games has 108 runs at a strike rate of 120.0 and 11 wickets at an economy rate of 4.47. In 103 games Gough has 162 wickets at an economy rate of 4.27.Again the experience factor comes into effect. But Adams’ batting makes this a very close call.Gough wins.DANIEL VETTORI v ASHLEY GILESIn 74 matches Vettori has 75 wickets at an economy rate of 4.44 and Giles in 14 games has 15 wickets at an economy rate of 4.81.Vettori can bat, and, more importantly, he can field. No race.Vettori wins.DARYL TUFFEY v MATTHEW HOGGARDTuffey in 21 games has 27 wickets at an economy rate of 4.65 while in nine games Hoggard has 17 wickets at an economy rate of 4.57.Hoggard wins.On individuals New Zealand wins 5-4 with two ties.Missing from the England team was Caddick himself and he is throughout the 38 games of his career, the most economical of England’s bowlers with 48 wickets and an economy rate of 3.91. New Zealand is without Shane Bond but if his figures were put alongside Caddick’s they would show he had 21 wickets in nine games and an economy rate of 4.17.”Man for man the best team” – the evidence would suggest New Zealand have much the greater right to make that claim.And “man for man” the New Zealanders have more dimensions to their play, especially with the fastly higher quality of their fielding.But there is one other factor – the combination of elements that make up a team. And there is no doubt that in the one-day game it is the ability to consistently perform as a team that will bring a team success.That team in this series has so far been New Zealand, as witnessed by its recovery to halt England’s potentially runaway batting in the first game in Christchurch, and its performance to overcome a collapse to still head off England.Then it was the combination of partnership building that created such a huge difference between the two sides in Wellington.Evidence so far at least would suggest Caddick is well short of substantive fact to back his claims.

Redbacks batsman, Chris Davies, will undergo surgery on January 7, to repair a ruptured ligament in his left elbow.The injury worsened during the recent Pura Cup game against the Western Warriors, and Chris and SACA medical staff decided, following that game, to proceed with surgery.It is likely that the surgery will rule Chris out of the rest of the 2002/03 season.