The West Indies will leave for their tour of Sri Lanka on October 30 as planned, despite the September 11th atrocities in the United States and subsequent military action in Afghanistan.Parliamentary elections soon to be held in Sri Lanka have also raised concernsabout player safety, but no changes to the team’s plans are currently envisaged.The President of the WICB, Wes Hall, will speak to the players about safety and other tour matters on Monday.The West Indies have concerns about the fitness of several key players. One of them, Brian Lara missed training at Sabina Park yesterday with a strained hamstring. Shivnarine Chanderpaul has had an MRI scan on his back, although it is not thought to be a serious concern.

Nashua WP recorded a convincing 73 run win over the luckless Highveld Strikers in a Standard Bank match at Newlands on Friday.Batting first, after captain HD Ackerman won the toss, WP totalled 227/7 in their allotted 45 overs. WP started and ended well but did experience a middle order batting slump. Graeme Smith and Andrew Puttick gave WP a flying start with an opening stand of 80. Jonathan Trott and Smith then added 56 for the second wicket. Smith went on to score 80 which included seven sweetly timed fours.The WP middle order failed to fire and in the end Ashwell Prince had to guide them to 227/7 with a fine knock of 41 not out. Gauteng captain Clive Eksteen ably assisted by Johnson Mafa and Azeem Mohamed applied the brakes to the Province middle order surge.At their turn at bat Gauteng never mastered the Province spin attack of Claude Henderson and Graeme Smith after Roger Telemachus claimed the prize wicket of Adam Bacher. Smith’s batting and bowling performance earned him the man of the match award.The full scorecard;Standard Bank Cup, 2001/02Western Province v GautengNewlands, Cape Town (day/night)23 November 2001 (45-over match)Result: Western Province won by 73 runsPoints: Western Province 4, Gauteng 0Toss: Western ProvinceUmpires: M Gajjar and S WadvallaTV Umpire: LL MatroosMan of the Match: GC SmithWestern Province innings (45 overs maximum) R M B 4 6GC Smith c Masingeni b Mafa 83 146 107 7 0AG Puttick b Mohammed 34 58 46 3 0IJL Trott st Masingeni b Eksteen 27 54 43 2 0*HD Ackerman c Masingeni b Mafa 10 21 18 0 0AG Prince not out 41 54 33 4 0+TL Tsolekile c Otto b Mohammed 8 11 7 1 0AC Dawson c de Bruyn b Mafa 7 15 8 0 0R Munnik b Mafa 6 10 6 1 0CW Henderson not out 2 4 3 0 0Extras (b 3, w 5, nb 1) 9Total (7 wickets, 45 overs, 188 mins) 227DNB: R Telemachus, CM Willoughby.FoW: 1-80 (Puttick, 14.6 ov), 2-136 (Trott, 28.4 ov),3-160 (Ackerman, 34.4 ov), 4-171 (Smith, 36.5 ov),5-184 (Tsolekile, 38.5 ov), 6-201 (Dawson, 42.2 ov),7-223 (Munnik, 44.1 ov).Bowling O M R WMafa 9 0 49 4 (1nb)Fusedale 9 0 43 0 (3w)Mohammed 8 0 46 2 (2w)de Bruyn 3 0 15 0Eksteen 9 0 34 1Trainor 7 0 37 0Gauteng innings (target: 228 runs from 45 overs) R M B 4 6AM Bacher c Henderson b Telemachus 16 48 31 1 0NJ Trainor c & b Henderson 56 112 83 6 0GD Elliott c Prince b Henderson 8 18 17 1 0DJ Cullinan c Ackerman b Henderson 4 10 10 0 0JM Otto c Tsolekile b Munnik 11 12 12 1 0Z de Bruyn c Tsolekile b Dawson 9 22 16 0 0+S Masingeni b Henderson 11 34 24 1 0*CE Eksteen st Tsolekile b Smith 16 35 32 2 0NA Fusedale b Dawson 4 24 16 0 0JT Mafa c & b Smith 0 5 2 0 0A Mohammed not out 11 13 12 2 0Extras (w 7, nb 1) 8Total (all out, 42.2 overs, 172 mins) 154FoW: 1-43 (Bacher, 12.5 ov), 2-59 (Elliott, 17.1 ov),3-66 (Cullinan, 19.6 ov), 4-83 (Otto, 22.6 ov),5-107 (Trainor, 27.6 ov), 6-107 (de Bruyn, 28.1 ov),7-134 (Masingeni, 36.3 ov), 8-140 (Eksteen, 37.5 ov),9-140 (Mafa, 39.1 ov), 10-154 (Fusedale, 42.2 ov).Bowling O M R WDawson 7.2 0 23 2Willoughby 9 1 33 0 (1w)Telemachus 8 0 26 1 (1nb)Henderson 9 0 33 4 (2w)Munnik 3 0 20 1 (1w)Smith 6 0 19 2 (3w)

Queensland had its top three to thank for first innings points after a middle order collapse on day three of the Pura Cup cricket match against Western Australia at the WACA today.At stumps the Bulls were 7-474, a lead of 42 runs, courtesy of opener Jimmy Maher’s 174 and hefty contributions from Martin Love (91) and Jerry Cassell (86).Queensland claimed first innings points, but not before the WA attack had breathed new life into a game that had seen 501 runs made for the loss of just five wickets in the preceding five sessions to tea on day three.Maher sparked the collapse when he fell to a controversial LBW decision on the last ball before tea when the score was 3-374, just 59 runs away from first innings points.He was out on the third ball of Warriors captain Simon Katich’s (1-21) first over after having defied the WA attack for 319 deliveries and striking 23 fours.The classy left hander was well down the wicket when the ball wrapped his pads and he looked up in astonishment when he was given out by Ian Lock.Maher came to the wicket when opener Cassell delivered a full blooded cut to Matthew Nicholson at gully off Brad Williams (3-103).He reached his 150, and completed a 150 run partnership with Love, with a straight drive past Jo Angel (1-94) to the boundary.The pair continued to compile runs until Love fell agonisingly short of his ton when Sean Cary (1-60) accepted a sharp chance off his own bowling to send him back to the pavilion after 188 minutes in the middle.Then, in a fiery opening 40 minutes after the break, Williams had Andrew Symonds caught at third man by Nicholson for one and Stuart Law played ontohis stumps for four.Nicholson (1-95) then chipped in to remove Clinton Perren, LBW for 11, to make the score 6-392 and the Bulls’ tail was left to find the 41 runs needed for first innings points.James Hopes contributed 14 before he became Angel’s first wicket when he skied a drive to Scott Meuleman at point.Wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe (37no) then survived a missed chance by his Warriors counterpart Ryan Campbell when he was on 15 and the score 7-425.From there he and Ashley Noffke (33no) steered the Bulls safely to stumps.

Ruthless Queensland finished off a stunned Tasmania in record-breaking time at the Gabba today before victorious captain Stuart Law rubbished any thoughts of hometown advantage.The Gabba wicket came under fire after Queensland cruised to a 10-wicket win in just 569 minutes – the shortest completed match in Australian domestic four-dayhistory.It was finished 27 minutes before tea on the second day when the Bulls reached 0-51 against a Tasmanian team which had been skittled for 100 and 82 in the PuraCup match.Former Test batsman Dean Jones – who watched from the commentary box – unloaded scathing criticism on the Gabba ground staff.But his was a lone voice as both teams insisted the greenish wicket was not responsible for the record.”Deano never scored a run here (for Victoria),” Law said.”People are going to be pointing the finger at the pitch but I don’t think it contributed to any dismissal.”It’s a result wicket – you don’t want a flat track where every team gets 400.”(Test opener) Matthew Hayden has batted here all his career and he averages 60 at the ground.”Maybe Queensland batsmen are better than people give them credit for.”The points table reflects that, with the defending champions charging to a 10-point break at the halfway stage of the season.Tasmanian skipper Jamie Cox – whose match returns of 20 and 21 stood out like skyscrapers for the Tigers – said the wicket made batting tough.The Tigers didn’t help their cause with some poor shots today, leaving them in tatters at 5-28.”It was bloody hard work and it got quicker today which made it even tougher,” Cox said.”But I looked at the wicket yesterday morning and I wanted to lose the toss.”I wasn’t at all unhappy to bat first on it.”There is no excuse for us to lose 19 wickets with a top score of 28. That’s not acceptable.”The Tigers struggled with an illness to batsman Michael Di Venuto, who retired hurt for four.But the game was gone by then, with the Tasmanians losing three wickets in the first three overs of the second day.Michael Kasprowicz took all three on the way to 4-22, while Joe Dawes collected 3-28.The record-keepers began watching the clock when it became apparent the teams wouldn’t need the tea break.The record for the shortest domestic match was set in 1975-76, when Dennis Lillee and Mick Malone helped Western Australia thump Victoria in 10 hours at the MCG.Curator Kevin Mitchell Jnr defended his wicket, putting the record down to “one of those games”.”We’ve been struggling since this ground was rebuilt (two years ago) to get pace and bounce – I think we’ve got it,” Mitchell said.”The conditions helped the ball swing and seam but I’ve seen livelier wickets here.”Queensland has won its three home matches this summer and, with two first-innings wins away from home, leads the points table with 22.Law admitted the Bulls could “relax for a few weeks” over the Christmas break but said they must regain focus for the return clash with Tasmania in Hobart onJanuary 17.

Welcome returns to form for Boeta Dippenaar and Shaun Pollock were followed by the continuation of a golden run for Michael Bevan as South Africa and New South Wales continued to engage in a run-feast in their tour match here at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.After Dippenaar (115) and Pollock (53) had combined to lift the tourists to an imposing first innings tally of 498, it was again the left handed Bevan(60*) who shored up the locals’ defences to leave this high-scoring match in the balance after two days of near-complete batting domination.New South Wales was at 3/170 by stumps, still needing 179 runs to avoid the prospect of following on. Yet it appears in little danger for as long asits captain continues to occupy the crease.Rain interrupted play for close to an hour, and there was watchful batting throughout the closing two sessions of the day as Bevan and a string of toporder batting partners played with vigilance.To that end, most of the day’s highlights came early.Under pressure to retain his Test place ahead of next Wednesday’s meeting with Australia in Melbourne, Dippenaar had produced one of thebest-timed innings of his career in crafting an excellent unbeaten 78 yesterday. And there was little to detract from it today as he made rapidprogress toward and beyond three figures. Five glorious boundaries even came in successive deliveries from medium pacer Shawn Bradstreet(1/132) in the third over of the day as his combination of shots through the leg and off side continued to be near perfectly balanced.It wasn’t until he had struck an amazing 23 boundaries in total that he was finally conquered – a lifted straight drive presenting paceman Jamie Heath(3/72) with a sharp caught and bowled chance.”It is always nice to spend some time out in the middle … you get the confidence back,” said a relieved Dippenaar of the boost in confidence his11th first-class century had afforded him after scores of just 0, 4 and 0 earlier on tour.”There is nothing like spending some time in the middle.”Pollock also celebrated his return to batting form with a half-century, hooking and pulling impressively before playing the shot once too often atHeath and top edging. He and Dippenaar added 101 runs together for the seventh wicket.Steve Elworthy (31) and Claude Henderson (11) also chimed in before hitting catches to Stuart MacGill at mid off. On a morning when he had littlechance to add to five wickets yesterday, it proved MacGill’s best way of keeping his name on the scoresheet.There were wickets for both Elworthy (2/34) and Pollock (1/22) in the New South Wales reply. Brett van Deinsen (1) hit a catch straight toHerschelle Gibbs in the gully off Pollock; Corey Richards (37) slashed at Elworthy to present the same fieldsman with a brilliant one handed catch tohis right; and then obdurate opener Greg Mail (54) succumbed to a classical inswinging yorker from Elworthy just before the end of an extendedfinal session.But Bevan, backing up an unbeaten 562-minute innings that had helped his team to save a Pura Cup match against Western Australia on Monday,was not nearly as easy to shift. An early stumping chance came from the bowling of Henderson (0/68), and there were a few miscued strokes, buthis bat was generally impassable.Mail’s obstinacy, in an innings spread over more than three and a half hours, also proved infuriating.Further problems were caused by a stiffening afternoon breeze on a muggy but cloudy day in Sydney, and to no bowler more than paceman AllanDonald (0/23). The 35-year-old had looked to be regaining his rhythm at times during a total of 12 overs but was forced to bowl seven of them intothe breeze and looked to be so frustrated by it that he even had to abort his run-up more than once.

The Semi Finals of the Champions Trophy Limited Over Tournament will be held on Saturday, the 19th of January 2002, with Lankan CC meeting Moratuwa SC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, and Badureliya CC playing Police SC at Bloomfield. Play is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m.The winners will meet in the Final the next day, Sunday, the 20th of January, at the SSC.The Match Referee for the semi final at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium will be S. Illangaratnam, with Umpires being K.M. Kottachchi, G. Hallalarachchi, and M.R.A. Fernando (Standby).A.C.M. Lafir will be the Match Referee for the match at Bloomfield with Umpires being S.P. Chandakumar, Lalith Kapugedera, and K.C. Fernando (Standby).The champions will be awarded the Championship Limited Overs Tournament Challenge Cup and a cash prize of Rs. 100,000/=, with the runners-up receiving Rs. 75,000/=. The Man-Of-The-Final, Best Batsman and Best Bowler will each be awarded Rs. 10,000/=. The Match Referee and Adjudicator will be former Sri Lanka player Mahesh Gunetilleke. The awards would be presented after the final.Umpires for the final will be M.S.K. Nandiweera, B.K.D.K. Sumanasekera, and A.S. Hettiarachchi (Standby).

Work has started on the new Sir Vivian Richards Gates which are being built at the Priory Bridge entrance to the County Ground in Taunton.The new gates will replace the old wooden structures and will also incorporate new pedestrian turnstiles, which will be the main point of entry from the River Tone end of the County Ground.It is expected that the new gates will be officially opened and dedicated to the honour of one of the county’s greatest players during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Day on May 12th.This is the next phase of a considerable programme of work that is being undertaken at the County Ground during the winter which is costing in excess of £250,000.Work has already started on providing turnstiles and replacing the old walls at the St James Street entrance, and a new toilet block has been built behind the Old Pavilion along with improvements to the toilets at the Coal Orchard side of the ground.Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding told me: “We applied to Sport England for a Lottery Grant under the safer sports ground programme, which covers making grounds more safe for members and spectators, and addresses public health improvements.”This has included drainage work, fitting safety barriers, replacement toilet blocks, new access arrangements and trunstiles into the ground.We have replaced corrugated asbestos roofing, and are rebuilding the dangerous boundary wall in St James Street. We are also making safety improvements to the Ridley Stand and resurfacing much of the ground.”Overall the cost of the work is in excess of £1/4 million, which has been part grant funded by the safer sports ground scheme.”It is expected that all of the work will be completed in time for the Cidermen’s first home fixture of the season on April 30th when they entertain Glamorgan in the Benson and Hedges Cup.

New Zealand Cricket’s clean-up operation in the player behaviour stakes has claimed another victim – Wellington captain Matthew Bell who has received a one match suspension.The decision was made by Northern Districts code of conduct commissioner Gerald Bailey.Umpires Mike George and Brent Bowden submitted a report claiming unacceptable behaviour of Bell after he was given out leg before wicket by umpire George.Bell was struck on the pad by Graeme Aldridge and as Bell ran down the pitch he received the decision from George.The umpires claimed that Bell then uttered the words “f… off” while facing George.The only doubt raised in the hearing was whether Bell had used the words “f… off” or, as he claimed “for f… sake”.Bailey commented that Bell agreed umpire George was entitled to assume the comments were directed to him.”If Bell’s intention had been simply and solely to chastise himself for playing a foolish shot, then he could have done so then or subsequently, without giving the umpire the impression that his comments were directed to him.”Bailey said a breach of the code of conduct had been established.”Even if Bell’s language was directed at himself, the fact that he used the crude language while looking directly at the umpire amounts in my view to ‘showing dissent’ as well as reacting in a ‘disapproving manner’.New Zealand Cricket will not appeal the sentence.

As Shane Warne was lying in agony at the MCG, the shock waves wereinstantaneously reverberating around world cricket. Make no mistake, interms of cricket news, this registers a 9.9 on the Richter Scale.Warne injuring the same right shoulder that he has injured before spellsbad news for him and the Australian side. Australia have lost theirtrump card. A player who every other nation in the world fears andrespects in equal measure. Him taking 500 wickets in the Ashes now won’thappen.And he is also highly doubtful to recover in time for the World Cup.This changes the complexion of the 15-man World Cup squad and will forcethe Australian selectors to reassess their position.Stuart MacGill should now go to South Africa. He is the second bestspinner in Australia – one of the top five in the world. He is a tadexpensive but he is a wicket-taker, which ironically is the best way tokeep the run rate down. That said, the Australian selectors have toldhim on many occasions that he has to bring down his economy rate ofaround five runs an over.Due to the technical deficiencies most players have facing quality spinbowling, Nathan Hauritz and Cameron White could still work in the World Cup but despite this, including them would be a gamble of massive proportions.Besides losing Warne the spinner, Australia also loses a handy fielder andtheir No 8 batsman. The thorny issue of the allrounder’s spot has then become a headache of massive proportions as MacGill weakens the Australian batting vis-a-vis Warne. Such being the case, Greg Blewett might win the nod ahead of the incumbent Shane Watson.Then there are the implications in the longer form of the game that needto be considered. In the Ashes, MacGill vs Warne is ‘six of one, half adozen of the other’. The English can’t play leg-spin regardless of who is bowling it. The real point of interest now is that if Australia decides to play two spinners at the SCG, will it be Hauritz or White who makes their Testdebut?As for Warne, regardless of how long it takes him to get back, he shall return – as good as he ever was. What makes him a champion is his heart and a work ethic that is second to none. You can bet on him returning and adding another glorious chapter to his much-celebrated career.

The England women’s U19 team has reached the semi-final of Australia’s Under19 Women’s State Championship, convincingly winning all four of theirmatches in the group stage.England defeated Tasmania by 8 wickets on 2nd January, followed by winsagainst Western Australia by 222 runs, Victoria by 5 wickets and SouthAustralia by 6 wickets yesterday and will play New South Wales in thesemi-final tomorrow (7th Jan).Captain, Sally-Anne Briggs (Yorkshire) has been in spectacular batting form,amassing 244 runs in the four matches, including 114* against WesternAustralia. Her performances have been matched by Isa Guha (Berkshire),England’s seam bowler who made her debut for the senior team last summer,who has taken 18 wickets, with an eight-wicket haul against WA.As the Under 19 State Championship is a domestic competition, England willnot be able to contest the Final but the competition provides some valuablematch practice ahead of two One Day International matches against AustraliaU19s on 14th and 15th January.This winter tour is a first for the England women’s U19 team which has beenrestricted to playing in English summers until now. Due to increasedfunding for the women’s game, the most talented players will have the chanceto tour with England before making their debut in the senior squad.Gill McConway, ECB Executive Director for Women’s Cricket said “It’s greatto see our U19s performing so well and I’m delighted that the dedication ofplayers and support staff is paying off. It’s a competitive winter for bothour U19s and senior England team against quality opposition, and this is thebest possible start”.