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Scorecard

Saurashtra’s new-ball bowlers Sandeep Jobanputra and Sandip Maniar were the stars with the ball as Uttar Pradesh were bundled for 188, but by stumps, one of them was batting and the other – the last man – was padded up, as UP had Saurashtra tottering at 116 for 8.On a day when eighteen wickets fell – including four occasions when two fell in the same over – Saurashtra will rue letting UP recover after having them at 69 for 7.Saurashtra’s decision to field seemed to have paid off, with Maniar using the early morning freshness and the life in the wicket intelligently. He struck with the first ball he bowled, as Rohit Prakash opened the face and edged to wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani. A loose drive from Suresh Raina resulted in another edge to Jogiyani, before Amir Khan, playing in the absence of Tanmay Srivastava, was done in by one that pitched on the stumps and moved away. The first three dismissals had all come in similar fashion – caught Jogiyani bowled Maniar – as UP were reeling at 15 for 3.Mohammad Kaif and Ravikant Shukla then put together a sensible partnership, lifting the total to 69 in quick time. Kaif got a reprieve on 20 when he drove uppishly to wide mid-on; Rakesh Dhurv was late in moving and only got his fingertips to the ball. Shukla scored 29 off 28 balls with six cleanly struck boundaries, before he was out shouldering arms to Jobanputra off the first over after drinks.Piyush Chawla, promoted to No. 6, was caught on the crease to his first ball and Rahat Elahi didn’t stay long, edging a widish delivery off Maniar to Jogiyani. Praveen Kumar hit two fours before missing one from Kanaiya Vaghela as UP were reduced to 110 for 7 five minutes before lunch.The Moti Bagh wicket has a reputation for assisting the bowlers in the first and third sessions, and the first day’s play followed the script, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his third first-class match, hung around with Kaif after lunch. He stuck to his task of playing second fiddle to Kaif: his first run came off the 17th ball he faced, the second off 29th, and the third from the 38th. The two put together 28 runs as Saurashtra let the game drift, allowing Kaif to take singles even off the fifth or sixth ball of the over.Kaif top scored with 80, and the lack of a third seamer hurt Saurashtra as Jobanputra and Maniar operated for the majority of the innings. Kaif, the UP captain, finally fell to a good diving catch by Jaydev Shah, his Saurashtra counterpart. They were lucky to nail him immediately after he had been reprieved: off the previous ball, Firoze Bhambhania had spilled a chance at mid-off off Maniar. The eighth-wicket partnership cost Saurashtra 49 crucial runs, with Bhuvneshwar contributing 14. UP were finally dismissed for 188, with Bhuvneshwar unbeaten on 33. Maniar took 6 for 88 and Jobanputra 3 for 60.Saurashtra were on top after bowling out UP for a low score, but it was now their turn to struggle with the bat. Praveen and Sudeep Tyagi took three wickets each while Bhuvneshwar took two. Praveen struck first in the third over, when Kanaiya Vaghela edged one which moved away.Shitanshu Kotak, who had batted for 796 minutes without getting out against Mumbai in the previous match, spent only two minutes and two balls in the middle this time. He was superbly set up by Praveen: the first ball moved away, and Kotak let it pass, but the next one straightened and trapped him plumb in front. Sudeep Tyagi then scalped the big wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, who played on to one that was quicker and rose more than expected. Saurashtra were reeling at 7 for 3.Shah, who in a surprise move opened the innings and was the best batsman of the day, then began to rebuild the innings. He played with soft hands, and didn’t miss out on any scoring opportunity.With Jogiyani, Shah added 31 for the fourth wicket before Praveen struck again as Jogiyani missed an offcutter. Shah dominated another brief partnership but Bhuvneshwar took two in two to pull Saurashtra down again. Soon after Shah reached his half-century, Mohammad Kaif brought Tyagi back into the attack and he delivered, removing Shah and Kamlesh Makvana off successive balls. Jobanputra survived the hat-trick and hit a few lusty blows in an unbroken 29-run ninth-wicket stand with Dhurv, who was not out on 21 at the close.

World Vision (Australia) have pledged $500,000 to Sri Lanka Cricket’s fundraising appeal called Cricket-Aid, which will provide emergency relief to 1000 tsunami victims in the short term and also house 200 families in four `Cricket Villages’ in the long term.World Vision, the ICC’s official charity for their tsunami appeal, was approached by Sri Lanka Cricket and agreed in principle to the donation pending the receipt of a full proposal. The funds are being raised from television rights, gate receipts and memorabilia sales.Cricket-Aid, supported by Sri Lanka’s cricketers, was launched on Wednesday by the cricket board with a $25,000 donation from the Emirates Cricket Board. The aim is to raise $2 million over the coming weeks.Relief camps are being set-up in Dambulla, Matara and Badulla to provide shelter to those displaced by the disaster. Plans are also underway for the development of four `Cricket Villages’ in Killinochi and Ampara in the east, Matara in the south and Kalutara in the west.But Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya have appealed for even more donations to help rebuild their devastated country. Muralitharan, who will make his comeback from shoulder surgery in the fundraising match at the MCG, told reporters on Sunday: “There are millions of people homeless. [Their homes] need rebuilding – that’s the most important thing. If they don’t have houses, they can’t live.”Jayasuriya lost his family home in Matara – one of the designated Cricket Villages – which is 60 miles south of Colombo. “People who were there at the market: most of them died,” he said. “The house, the walls have gone, inside things have gone. We will have to rebuild again. People have lost their houses, lost their loved ones. It’s a very sad thing for our country. We need help from the international community coming and giving choppers and getting the food to the people.”

Saurashtra and Maharashtra played out a draw on Friday in a CoochBehar Trophy contest in the West Zone league, with the latter gainingfive points by virtue of their first innings lead.At Rajkot’s Municipal Stadium, Maharashtra won the toss and werebowled out for 273 late on the opening day. The top ten batters allreached double figures, AS Bhosale top scoring with 58. Saurashtra’sskipper Uday Karavadra, a National Cricket Academy graduate, picked up5/73 with his off spinners.Saurashtra fell away to 200 all out, notwithstanding opener and wicketkeeper AK Dawda’s 75. Maharashta’s own offie, Kashinath Khadkikarbested Karavadra’s figures with a haul of 6/69. The visitors showedno inclination to force an outright result, batting out the third dayto finish on 289/7.

Australia’s Test team appears increasingly uneasy about playing cricket against an understrength, predominantly black Zimbabwe side, with Adam Gilchrist, the vice-captain, revealing that he is “really confused” about whether or not the tour should be abandoned.In his unghosted column for Fairfax newspapers, Gilchrist wrote this morning: “I’m confused. Really, really confused … Having arrived in Zimbabwe several days ago and having had the chance to experience first-hand the mood of the country, I’m no more certain as to what is a right or wrong decision.”The revelation represents a significant turnaround from Gilchrist’s previous forthright insistence that the tour should proceed. It comes only four days before the first Test is scheduled to begin in Harare.”The moral question has been presented to us over and over again, and I guess we’ve made public our answer by fronting for the tour,” he writes hesitatingly. “We feel we can tour Zimbabwe, or any country, and not be seen to be supporting the local political regime. It’s a game of cricket.”But Gilchrist then issues what could be interpreted as a cry for help: “If those in the game of politics want to overrule, please go ahead as that is your mandate, and I’m sure we would follow your lead.”He says the Australian players have spent “many hours thinking of the people of Zimbabwe who have reportedly suffered. The knowledge of alleged heartache and pain felt by many has registered deeply with the members of our team and has only made our decision-making more difficult.”Meanwhile Darren Lehmann, the only Australian player until now to have hinted publicly at serious concerns within the team, said he decided not to boycott Zimbabwe after speaking with Andy Flower, their former champion batsman. “I had a good chat with him before coming and he thought it was good to come for the people, that they’d certainly get a kick out of seeing the Australian team here,” said Lehmann. “He said: ‘You’re not political pawns, you’re a cricket side.’ That sort of confirmed my thoughts, and I’m here now.”Until today, that was Gilchrist’s position too. In his column of three weeks ago, the day after Stuart MacGill announced his conscience-based decision to make himself unavailable, Gilchrist wrote: “I believe I can do more good by completing the tour … I’m sure that our presence will be welcomed by local Zimbabweans.”Back then, he said Zimbabwe had been a “competitive” side and it would be “a shame” if they were lost to world cricket. Today he seems less than upbeat about the country’s cricketing future. He notes that Zimbabwe’s national newspaper, preoccupied with South Africa’s successful bid for the 2010 soccer World Cup, devoted only “one small column of match reports” to this week’s second Test slaughter by Sri Lanka’s cricketers.”It’s no secret that soccer is the most followed sport in these areas,” Gilchrist writes, “and now … I suspect cricket will be under even more strain to survive.” He concludes his column with the words: “Call me a fence-sitter if you like, but please don’t call me neglectful or naive, as some have, about what’s taking place around us. Perhaps just really, really confused.”As the minutes count down, and the realisation sinks in that Australia are poised to play a Test match against a team seemingly chosen primarily on the basis of skin colour, it would seem that doubts, fears and tensions that have previously lain dormant can no longer be shrugged off.

Following hectic parleys between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), a sixth one-day international match has been fitted into what was originally a five-match series between India and England in January-February 2002.The compromise reached by the two boards also involves a fourth Test match to be included when India tours England next summer. The amicable decision thus ends a disagreement that, at one stage, threatened the entire Indian tour of England.The one-day series is now due to start on January 19, with the first game to be played at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta. The second match is scheduled for Cuttack on January 22. The remainder of the itinerary is unchanged; Chennai on January 25, Kanpur on January 28, New Delhi on January 31, and Mumbai on February 3 will host the other four games.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has announced that West End Redbacks recruit Andy Flower has chosen the Sturt District Cricket Club as his Grade club for season 2003-04.Signed to play with the West End Redbacks for the next three seasons, Flower chose Sturt primarily for its close proximity to Adelaide Oval.Flower is the first international player signed to the Redbacks since England’s Gladstone Small played for West Torrens in 1985-86, to play Grade cricket in South Australia.The Sturt District Cricket Club approached Flower earlier this year and anticipates that he will be involved in supporting junior programs at the club.Expected to arrive in Adelaide at the beginning of October, Flower should be available to play his first game for Sturt on October 11, with the possibility of playing 12 out of 25 days of Grade cricket with the club.Although not a part of Flower’s decision-making, Redbacks coach Wayne Phillips played cricket for the Sturt District Cricket Club for about 22 years.The SACA’s cricket operations manager, Harvey Jolly, said the decision by Flower would be a real boost to the club."Sturt are a mature cricket club, with an impressive history and an excellent development program in place. I’m sure the club will take this opportunity to ensure Andy’s presence around the club helps to boost the enthusiasm of its players, particularly its younger cricketers.""There is no doubt that Andy’s participation will see an overall boost to the Grade competition in South Australia, and we would also expect to see the interest level in the competition grow."

It was a much-improved performance against Bermuda, but Canada are still the favourites to qualify from our group, after they beat us earlier in the year. In many people’s eyes, USA v Canada is the world’s oldest cricket international, and so we were all well aware of the historical significance of the match. The PA system announced details, and there were books and pamphlets available to the crowd.And it was a good crowd too, perhaps some 2000 people turned out for the second day’s play. Until John Davison’s intervention [he took 17 wickets in the match], it had been an evenly balanced contest, but on the third day the game finished early, so we held a 25-over match to keep the spectators happy.Cricket is slowly catching on in USA, ever since our success in the competition in Sharjah, there has been an increased publicity, and the folks back home are getting interested. Of course, it’s the one-day format that has more chance of success over here, and in Florida especially, there is a tremendous potential. New York and California have high levels of competitors as well, but unfortunately there aren’t many more centres where cricket has caught on.There’s not a huge amount of homegrown talent just yet either. Currently there are two American-born Caucasians in the squad, with the rest of Asian or Caribbean heritage, but the local politicians are very, very keen on developing the game further. In that respect, it was a huge blow that we missed out on hosting a match in the 2007 World Cup. We had all been anticipating a fixture, and though we’re disappointed, it won’t halt the process.And so our preparations have taken us to a training camp in Bermuda, and onto the Americas Cup, where we did pretty well, although unfortunately we lost to Canada again, which is becoming a bit of a habit! But all this is standing us in good stead ahead of the Champions’ Trophy in England in September. Victory is improbable over there, but our aim is simply to expose the level of cricket that we are capable of attaining. It’s not just another fixture for us – we have to be positive, and take away good memories of the tournament.Our Canadian nemesis, Davison, has played first-class cricket in Australia, so he is a bit of a taste of what we can expect against Australia and New Zealand in that tournament! We simply have to learn from his example – his professionalism was apparent in every facet of his game, especially when he won the match for them in Bermuda, despite suffering from a nasty stomach virus.The Pro Cricket 20-over competition has apparently begun reasonably successfully. It’s been decided that USA players cannot take part, which is a shame, but let’s hope the competition gets ICC and USACA recognition, and we can all take it on from there.