It was largely a struggle for the Uttar Pradesh batsmen on the opening day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Monday. Winning the toss and electing to bat, UP took 94 overs to score 196 for six at stumps.Medium pacer Shamsher Singh wrecked the top order by prising out Manoj Mudgal (6), Rohit Prakash (for a first ball duck) and Rizwan Shamshad (10) with only 25 runs on the board. A fourth wicket partnership of 61 runs off 31 overs between Jyoti Yadav (34) and skipper Gyanendra Pandey (40) helped UP to stage a recovery of sorts. Both batsmen however fell in quick succession but a sixth wicket stand of 68 runs off 26.4 overs between Mohd Saif (52 not out) and Parvinder Singh Singh (28) boosted the UP total somewhat. At close Saif and AW Zaidi (17) were at the crease. Saif has so far batted three hours, faced 162 balls and hit three fours. Shamsher Singh, who caused all the early damage, finished the day with the splendid figures of 12-9-9-3.

North Zone were more than happy to take the five points and leave South Zone with three as a result of the drawn match between the two, in the Duleep Trophy match that ended at the IGMC stadium in Vijayawada on Sunday. Pace bowler Surendra Singh who picked up 5/115 for the North, stole the limelight from all the batsmen who made merry on a batting paradise.Resuming on 372/6 on the final day, South had to virtually give up the run chase as they lost the remaining wickets quite cheaply. Surendra Singh claimed his fifth wicket of the innings by dismissing VST Naidu for 11. Robin Singh blasted 67 in just 51 balls smashing 3 sixes and 8 fours before he was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan also accounted for Venkatpathy Raju (7), the last man to be dismissed. Sunil Joshi remained unbeaten on 22 as Ashish Kapoor did not come out to bat due to the injury. North could have enforced the follow on as they had a lead of 231 runs lead after having dismissed South for 477. They decided to go in for batting practice, as it is these days in the domestic cricket in India.North Zone had a party time with the bat second time around as no result was possible. Akash Chopra hit an unbeaten century of 125 in 187 balls. Chopra hit 18 boundaries and a six in his 251 minute stay at the crease. Vikram Rathour smashed 69 in 51 balls including 10 fours and 2 sixes. Dinesh Mongia who made a double century in the first innings missed out in the second as he was dismissed by Joshi for 4. Harbhajan who got promoted up the order scored 38 and fell to Sriram. In came Yuvraj Singh who has been through a lean patch and took the opportunity with both hands as he blasted 3 sixes and 9 boundaries in his unbeaten innings of 80 off 58 balls. North Zone were 326/3 in 58 overs at close of the match.On January 11th North will meet West at Mohali and Central will meet East at Kanpur.

Trevor Ward smashed his first Championship century for four years and Vince Wells, Iain Sutcliffe and Ben Smith hit their best scores of the season to put Leicestershire in a strong position at Grace Road.When rain swept in to bring an early finish to the third day of the CricInfo Championship clash with Somerset, the home side had reached 348 for six in their second innings to lead by 361 runs.But on what is an excellent pitch for batting, skipper Wells may feel he still doesn’t have enough runs on the board to declare immediately on the last day. Somerset would be more than capable of chasing that target.The third day, however, belonged to Leicestershire. They began it by claiming Somerset’s last four wickets for 50 runs to dismiss them for 374 and gain a first innings lead of 13. James Ormond took three of the four wickets, while Neil Burns held two more catches to make it seven in the innings – a new wicket-keeping record for Leicestershire.Then the batsmen took over, with Ward completing his rehabilitation after three miserable years by following up his first innings score of 93 with a sparkling century.It took him just over two hours, came off 127 balls and contained 20 fours. He was eventually out driving to mid-off after scoring 119 out of an opening stand of 182 – Leicestershire’s biggest for two years.Ward’s opening partner Sutcliffe made his first-half century of the season before being dismissed for 58 and, after a mini-collapse, Smith and Wells hammered 132 in 24 overs for the fifth wicket.Wells was in explosive form, hitting 86 off 63 balls with 10 fours and three sixes while Smith made 66 off 128 balls with eight fours.On such a pitch Leicestershire are likely to find it difficult to bowl out Somerset in the day, although they will be encouraged by the fact that left-arm spinner Keith Dutch has claimed three of their six wickets.

Jimmy Maher’s maiden century for Glamorgan counted for nought as their CricInfo Championship clash with Kent petered out into a rain-affected draw.After three evenly contested days Glamorgan were set to chase 377 for victory on an excellent pitch at The Mote in Maidstone, but heavy rain throughout the morning limited play to just 32 afternoon overs.At least the Welsh could take pride in an unbroken opening stand of 203 between Maher (123) and his skipper Steve James (76), even though it had been against some particularly friendly Kentish bowling.Maher, who until this match boasted a modest top score of 38 against Essex, reached his first three-figure milestone from 108 balls and with 13 fours and a brace of sixes.The left-hander from Innisfail went on the counter-attack once play did start at 3.30pm and scored his 82 runs in the shortened session from just 74 balls.At the other end James took a more measured approach, scoring his runs from 133 balls and was happy to shake hands on a draw with his Kent counterpart Matthew Fleming come 5.30pm.Kent took ten points and Glamorgan nine from a game that both sides had aspirations to win going into the final day, but rain had the final say.

Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower has been ruled out for the triangularone-day series against India and West Indies with a dislocated thumbbone.Flower, who was injured while keeping wickets in the second innings ofthe second Test against India, has been advised rest for at least sixweeks.As such, the left-hander is also likely to miss the Test seriesagainst West Indies which immediately follows the limited overstournament starting on Saturday.However, there were strong rumours that Andy Flower was deliberatelymissing out on these tournaments as he wanted his fees to be raised.Sources in the Zimbabwe Cricket Union said the batsman’s injury wasnot that serious and he wanted his contract fees to be increased.Flower, in a recent interview to PTI, had lamented that Zimbabwecricketers were being paid a pittance and called for a minimum paystructure for international cricketers to be enforced by theInternational Cricket Council

Steve Waugh’s first-ever hundred at Edgbaston was one of the best Test centuries of his career – that’s according to the man himself.Waugh ended the day on 101 not out with Australia standing on 332-4, a lead of 38 runs over England. It was Waugh’s 26th Test hundred and his eighth against England.He had joined his twin Mark at the crease in only the second over of the day after Michael Slater had been bowled by Darren Gough.Such an early dismissal in the day might have concerned some captains but Waugh strode to the crease like a man on a mission and rarely looked in trouble despite the overcast conditions.He said: “The conditions were difficult out there. I thought Englandbowled pretty well, it was a bit up an down.”Technically I thought I played really well, but that’s going to happen onthat type of wicket.”It is definitely one of my better Test hundreds. England had their tails up andexpected to take a couple of early wickets.”I was more pleased with the runs I got in the situation. I’ve felt relaxedat the crease recently and tried to take that attitude into the Test, and enjoythe experience. The first 20 or 30 is as good as I’ve hit it for a long while.”It’s always great playing against England in a Test Match. The wickets overhere certainly suit my style play; you get a little bit more time, I tend toplay off the back foot.”I thought Darren Gough bowled superbly and troubled all the batsmen. Ithought England toiled away pretty well and we had a bit of luck.”It’s still in the balance. We’ve got to get some runs because it’s going tobe hard to bat last on that wicket. If we can get a lead of 150 we will putEngland under real pressure.”The game is still there to be won by both sides. We had a really good daytoday. At this stage we’ve got our noses in front but there is still a fair wayto go.”We are certainly not getting carried away – we’ve been in this position in thelast two Tests we’ve played and it didn’t work out for us, so hopefully we’velearned some lessons from India.”England have shown heart over the first two days and they’ve shown they’vegot some good skill out there.”England coach Duncan Fletcher said: “It was a very good start to get MichaelSlater, it would have been crucial for us to get another wicket, but the twoWaugh brothers batted really well, and Steve showed what a class act he is.”He plays an important role – he averages 50 in Tests, other bowlers havestruggled to get him out as well.”It shows that if you got in there and you’ve got the mental strength you canmake runs.”The bowlers have got to stick to the discipline and stick to the game plan.They bat all the way down, that’s why they are number one in the world,well-balanced, experienced, enthusiastic.”Strange things happen in cricket. We’ve got to make sure we get out there,show a lot of character and put up a good fight and you never know what mighthappen.”Four down and 38 ahead, we’ve got a hard job. You’ve got to take everychance that comes your way against a side like this.”

Lymington are backing their three-pronged spin attack to hold the key to Wednesday’s (August 1) Southern Electric Contracting Cup final against Andover at the Hampshire Rose Bowl (5.45pm).The Premier League duo are likely to be using the same strip on which Hampshire beat Australia on Monday – and Lymington skipper Neil Trestrail reckons it could be tailor-made for his spinners.”The pitch assisted the spin bowlers on the last day – and I fancy that could be to our advantage.”I know we haven’t got anyone of Shane Warne’s class in our attack, but Dan Peacock, Glyn Treagus and Wayne Smith are all quality spinners – and I’m going to back them,” he said.Two players who can’t wait to get into tonight’s action are workmates Glyn Treagus and Sam Miller, Andover’s Australian all-rounder, who will be on opposite sides.The pair work together making cricket bats for Jon Hardy, who runs Chase Sports, near Basingstoke.And, according to Hardy, the former Hampshire left-hander, the pair haven’t stopped talking about the final for the past ten days.”There’a a pretty fair chance Glyn and Sam will bat and bowl against each other, so there’s an enormous amount of personal pride at stake.”The problem is one of them is going to finish a loser – and probably ask for Thursday off sick !” Hardy smiled.Even tough the pitch is likely to turn, a run feast could be the order of the day this evening.Both sides are packed with batting, Andover having totted up 165-plus scores in each of the four previous rounds.Lymington are no slouches either with the bat, and will expect Glyn Treagus, Daniel Peacock, Ben Craft and Neil Trestrail to be among the prominent run scorers.With neither club having won the trophy before, a new name will be inscribed on the SEC Cup.Teams:Andover: Jerry Hayward (captain), Ian Langdown, Sam Miller, Roger Miller, Marc Kavanagh, Neil Staddon, Mark Miller, Stuart Clackson, Ali Fleming, Ian Gardner, James Manning.Lymington: Neil Trestrail (captain), Brian Clemow, Glyn Treagus, Daniel Peacock, Ben Craft, Ian Young, Dave Griffiths, Paul Allen, Trevor Phillips, Wayne Smith, Jason Carr, Christian Pain.Route to the finalRound 1 –
Andover 160-5 (Langdown 69, 51, Williams 4-44)
Hook & Newnham Basics 138-9 (Kaminski 64, Langdown 5-41)
Andover won by 22 runsOld Tauntonians & Romsey 75 (Treagus 4-17, Smith 3-21)
Lymington 77-1 (Clemow 38, Peacock 27)
Lymington won by 9 wicketsRound 2 –
Andover 199-3 (Langdown 69, Staddon 51, S Miller 35)
South Wilts 138 (Rowe 61, M Hooper 3-31)
Andover won by 61 runsPaultons 135 (Park 47, Smith 3-9, Treagus 3-31)
Lymington 139-2 (Craft 63, Peacock 53)
Lymington won by 8 wicketsRound 3 –
Andover 168-6 (S Miller 61, Kavanagh 42, Staddon 42)
Flamingos 166 (Manthorpe 49, Merkel 35, Brewster 32, S Miller 3-31, Langdown 3-46)
Andover won by 2 runsLymington 141-9 (Peacock 42)
BAT Sports 130-8 (Kenway 53, Treagus 3-26)
Lymington won by 11 runsSemi-finals –
Andover 176-6 (Kavanagh 65, Hayward 33, Loat 3-30)
Havant 161-6 (Hindley 60, Gillies 46)
Andover won by 15 runsRowledge 103-9 (Phillips 4-20)
Lymington 105-0 (Treagus 53, Peacock 44)
Lymington won by 10 wickets

Former Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad on Friday said that he would file a criminal and also a civil suit against the ‘Outlook’ magazine for ‘misquoting and misinterpreting’ statements made by him in an interview to the magazine.Gaekwad told PTI over phone from Baroda that he has spoken to his lawyer, Kaushik Bhatt, last week and decidedto file a defamation case for Rs One crore against the magazine this week for misquoting him.In an interview with the magazine, Gaekwad, was quoted as saying that many Indian cricketers, including Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Rahul Dravid, used performance-enhancing drugs when he was the coach of theIndian team.”I received a reply to our original notice from the publisher which contains nothing but the reconfirmation ofwhat they have published and hence we had no option but to file a case,” Gaekwad added.Gaekwad also said that he had written a letter to the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) saying that whatever appeared in the magazine were not his quotes. His letter will be discussed by the BCCI members during Saturday’s Working Committee meeting here.Gaekwad, who is one of the two candidates (the other being Dilip Vengsarkar), likely to replace chairman of selectors Chandu Borde in next month’s annual general meeting, also said he was prepared to help Indian cricket in whatever capacity.

Sandgate-Redcliffe opening batsman Jerry Cassell will captain the Queensland Academy of Sport team in their opening ACB Cup 2nd XI match against the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Brisbane next week.Cassell, fresh from a scintillating 177 for City in their win over Country in Biloela on the weekend, will take on the QAS captaincy for the first time.The right-hander, who made his Pura Cup and Mercantile Mutual Cup debuts for the XXXX Queensland Bulls last season, will lead a youthful QAS side into the clash at Allan Border Field at Albion.The match, from Monday through to Thursday, will also feature a return to action by left-arm spinner Matthew Anderson, who returned over the weekend from a playing stint in the United Kingdom.Anderson took 50 wickets on the way to helping Norwich win the East Anglia Premier League.The QAS team also contains Bulls squad members James Hopes, who scored 110 for City on Saturday, left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson, wicket-keeper Chris Hartley, allrounder Nathan Hauritz, left-hand bat Brendan Nash and Queensland Cricket rookie contracted players Damien Mackenzie and Craig Philipson.QAS v CBCA, Sept 17-20, Allan Border Field: Jerry Cassell (c), Matthew Anderson, Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Lance Kahler, Damien Mackenzie, Brendan Nash, Daniel Payne, Matthew Petrie, Craig Philipson.

Former West Indies fast bowler Ezra Moseley has again been ignored bythe Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), as it prepares to name juniorselectors for the 2001-2002 cricket campaigns.Investigations yesterday revealed that Moseley has been sacked aschairman of the youth selection committee just a week after he andformer West Indies batsman Alvin Greenidge were released from thesenior selection panel.An inside BCA source revealed that former Barbados captain RolandHolder, whose playing days on the national side seem to have come toan end, has joined the Youth Selection Committee.Later this weekAlso on the fresh list are former Barbados allrounder George Linton,Jeff Broomes, back after a year’s absence, Greenidge, and Clinton StHill as chairman. Broomes, like St Hill, is a member of the BCA boardof management.NATIONSPORT checked with the BCA office yesterday and was informedthat the list of selectors will be made available later this week.The office was not willing to comment on any changes to the selectionpanel. Holder, however, confirmed that he had been offered and hadaccepted the job.It’s a tough ride for `Moses’ (Moseley), said the source. He gave twoyears of good service and now he is no longer needed. It was quitesudden.He watches a lot of cricket at all level and is always willing to makea contribution. I hope he is not lost to Barbados cricket.Moseley’s sacking from the senior panel is quite surprising as he wasresponsible for the side which won last month’s West Indies One-Daycompetition in Guyana. From that side four players were selected tothe West Indies Under-19 training squad.He is also a member of the West Indies Under-19 panel.The elevation of St Hill, the manager of the Barbados Under-15 team,is somewhat surprising as this is the first time he has been a memberof any selection panel, but the source noted that his interest injunior cricket would be welcomed.