Canterbury demolished Otago in Ashburton today by 91 runs to take the five-game southern Shell Super Max series into a decider in Westport on Sunday.Both teams are tied on eight points and the stage is set for a thrilling finale on the West Coast.Today’s game was played on a grass pitch, the first and only one of the series.It proved Otago’s downfall as Canterbury made first use of the pitch and compiled the match-winning innings of 136-3. It was by far the highest innings of the match with Otago failing to coming to grips with the conditions.Shane Bond’s first innings 36 was the best score of the day, an indication of how hard it was to get into scoring rhythm. Cleighten Cornelius carried his bat in the first innings for 35 while Otago’s highest score was 35 by Craig Cumming.Where the real difference came was in the quality of the Canterbury bowling. It was an outstanding display under Max conditions with Warren Wisneski bowling his four over entitlement in the second innings and taking 3-33.Stephen Cunis went one better in his four overs, spread over two innings to take 4-33.But the economy of the Cantabrians, who didn’t have to use left-arm spinner Danny Bulman until the last over of the game, was the telling feature of the game. To have Cornelius bowl two overs and take 2-7 and Mark Hastings 2-16 was a tremendous boon for the home team.However, the fact the final game is being played on an artificial pitch, on which the Otago batsmen have been so effective, has set the scene for a tremendous final game.All hopes are that a very strong cricket community which has been developed in the Buller region will get the reward of a genuine final as both teams vie for the right to play in next weekend’s semi-finals.The only doubt for Canterbury may be the condition of fast bowler Ryan Burson who left the field during the game after pulling up in the field with a leg injury.

Boland were just 82-runs from victory at the end of the third day’s play in their Supersport Series match against Griqualand West in Kimberley on Sunday.It was largely thanks to left-arm seam bowler Neil Carter who took career best figures of six for 63 to reduce Griquas to 205 all out in their second innings and an overall lead of a paltry 112-runs.At the close of play Boland were easily in control on 31 without loss. Henry Davids was on 25 while Jonathan Trott had scored a much more sedate four.Earlier Boland had been bowled out for 230 having started the day at 190 for eight. Justin Ontong advanced his overnight total from 60 to 68 before being caught by Craig Tatton off Dion Kruis.Carter smashed a quick 21 to give the visitors a useful lead and set up a win that will mean little as they will not carry the points of the match through to the Super Eight phase of the competition because Griquas will not be involved.But even so, the approach was clinical and professional and on a wicket that assisted the seamers, Carter took full advantage of the situation.He removed opener Willie Dry (6) and Grant Elliott (1) to have the hostsreeling at 27 for two. A 39-run partnership between Martyn Gidley and Pieter Koortzen stemmed the flow of wickets.He later claimed the tail to put his side in a position where defeat will be as unbelievable as a seven-foot dwarf.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), earlier this week announced that it was in a good financial position despite experiencing a financial loss of US 5.4 million dollars for the fiscal year ending 30th September, 2000.The increase in the Board’s positive cash flow (US 2.03 million dollars), was due mainly to a new television rights agreement with BskyB during the year under review, which included an upfront signing advance of US 5 million dollars.According to the Board, the losses experienced were due mainly to the expansion of the development programme (an expanded Under-15 and Under-19 tournaments, along with the hosting of two West Indies “A” tours). The loss was further compounded by an unprofitable tour of England last summer along with the television production expenses for the home tours of Pakistan and Zimbabwe. These productions did not earn the commensurate revenue from those weaker television markets.The Board accepted that the change in the tour guarantee system implemented by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) revised payment terms, which emanated from it, led to last year’s unprofitable tour of England.It was also accepted that while the WICB was committed under the existing television contracts to produce television for every home series, there are losses in some years. These are however, compensated by the substantial revenues from television rights when the West Indies plays England, India and Australia at home.The Board also agreed to continue its efforts to increase revenue sources and reduce costs so that funds can be made available to meet the developmental needs of the WICB and its member territorial boards.

Indian captain Saurav Ganguly on Wednesday gave the go-ahead topaceman Ashish Nehra, who was stopped from bowling in the first Testagainst Zimbabwe, for the second Test but opener Sadagoppan Rameshcontinued to be a doubtful starter having not recovered fully from aback injury.”He (Nehra) would play,” Ganguly said with a finality after a look atthe wicket at the Harare Sports Club where the second Test starts onFriday.There were doubts over Nehra’s inclusion in the team for the secondTest after the umpires stopped him midway in his 27th over of theZimbabwe second innings in Bulawayo and disqualified him from bowlingfor the rest of the innings for damaging the pitch in his followthrough.Nehra, whose boots damaged the pitch near the non-striker’s wickets inhis follow-through, was warned twice by the umpires and on the thirdoccasion he was stopped from bowling.Coach John Wright too supported Nehra’s cause saying the bowler hadperformed very well in the Bulawayo Test claiming five wicketsincluding the prized wicket of Andy Flower in both the innings.However, Ramesh, who struggled with the bat in the first Test, has notrecovered from the injury he sustained while fielding in Bulawayo, andis not sure of playing here. “His back has not improved much,” saidGanguly. “We would have to keep a close watch on his fitness.”Ramesh took two outstanding catches in the second innings of the firstTest, the second being an air-borne one-handed catch to dismiss dangerman Andy Flower during which he injured his back.If Ramesh has to sit out, his state mate Hemang Badani may make hisdebut and asked to open the innings with Shiv Sunder Das.Meanwhile, Ganguly looked pleased with the pitch at the stadium whichseemed a bit more spinner-friendly than the one at Bulawayo.Zimbabwe coach Carl Rackemann said the pitch here would be verydifferent from the first Test. “This is a different track. It willhave a lot of pace though there might not be as much sidewaysmovement,” he said.”Having said that, I think the track in Bulawayo was outstanding andeveryone, be it a batsman or a bowler, had a chance in the middle,” hesaid.Rackemann felt had his bowlers performed a little better the fate ofthe first Test would have been different. “I have no doubt on thisscore. I think we didn’t bowl as well as we should have to Harbhajan(Singh). We allowed him to get away with easy runs. We would make sureit doesn’t happen here.””If we bowl with discipline and bat the way we did in the secondinnings, we could spring a surprise on the Indians,” he said.Zimbabwe are fancying their chances here with Travis Friend, whomissed the first Test with a thigh injury, recovering fast and lookingalmost a certainty for the Test.The paceman bowled at full tilt for 45 minutes in the practice sessiontoday and was confident of playing here. “I have missed out on fiveTests in the last season because of injuries. I don’t want it tohappen here again,” Friend said.Friend, who has a special ability to bounce on any surface, said hestill feels a niggle in his thigh. “Hopefully it will come right intime,” he said.

Having failed to clinch the Test series, India will look to reasserttheir supremacy over Zimbabwe when they take on the hosts in theiropening match of the triangular one-day series at Harare on Sunday.With a 26-6 win-loss record, India obviously have an edge over theirrivals and start favourites against a home side devoid of thecharismatic Andy Flower and with a new captain at the helm.Grant Flower took over as the new captain of Zimbabwe after HeathStreak stepped down just ahead of the opening match against WestIndies today.That the Indians have left the setback of the four-wicket loss in thesecond Test far behind was in evidence in the thumping ten-wicket winover Zimbabwe A in a practice match yesterday.But probably the most important reason for the Indians to feelconfident about their prospects would be the absence of Andy Flower,the most prolific Zimbabwean scorer against India.For the same reason, Zimbabwe would be a bit worried, for it is theinspirational Andy Flower around whom the entire innings of the teamrevolves. He has played the sheet anchor role on so many ocassionsthat it has become almost impossible to think of a Zimbabwe sidewithout him.The Indians have some more reasons to cheer about. The four playerscalled especially for the one-dayers looked in fine touch in thepractice match yesterday with Virendra Sehwag making a blisteringunbeaten 75 off just 53 balls. Sehwag is a certainty for tomorrow’smatch along with Hemang Badani who too has been quite consistent inthe limited overs matches.Captain Sourav Ganguly must be feeling a little better after scoring afew runs yesterday and the team would be hoping his bad run with thebat finally gets over here.Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid have all looked goodhere though the big innings has eluded them. They have got accustomedto the conditions though they need to adhere to Streak’s advice ofexercising a bit more patience while batting.All-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi and middle-order batsman DineshMongia, who joined the one-day team along with Sehwag and fast bowlerHarvinder Singh, would find it difficult to make it to the teamconsidering they are yet to have a feel of the conditions here.It would be interesting to see the bowling composition of the team.With Delhi seamer Ashish Nehra being asked to stay back afterperforming exceedingly well in the Test series, India have four paceoptions and at least three of them are certain to play considering theseamer-friendly wickets here.For Zimbabwe, 17-year-old schoolboy Tatenda Taibu, who makes his debutagainst West Indies today, has been entrusted with the job of keepingthe wickets in the place of Andy Flower.In the absence of Andy Flower, his brother and new captain GrantFlower, who had a tremendous Test series against India, will have toshoulder the major responsibility. Stuart Carlisle and Dion Ebrahimhave shown their hunger for runs and Alistair Campbell is long overduefor a big innings.In the bowling department, David Mutendera and Mluleki Nkala form aformidable combination in the company of Streak and Andy Blignaut.Grant Flower and Brian Murphy will take care of the spin department.The teams (from):India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, RahulDravid, Hemang Badani, Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder SinghSodhi, Samir Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Debasish Mohanty,Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Harvinder Singh.Zimbabwe: Grant Flower (capt), Alistair Campbell, Dion Ebrahim, StuartCarlisle, Guy Whittall, Heath Streak, Brian Murphy, Mluleki Nkala,Andy Blignaut, Tatenda Taibu, Dirk Viljoen, David Mutendera.

A farewell tea party was held at PCB headquarters, Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday for Dr. Nauman Niaz, the outgoing Cricket Analyst. Dr. Nauman, who had joined PCB as Media Manager during the tenure of Mr. Najeeb-ur-Rehman also served as Assistant Manager Pakistan team before being given the responsibility of setting up the cricket analyst wing.A few months earlier, he had expressed his desire to resume and pursue his medical career. This had been accepted by the Chairman then. Now he leaves after winding up his pending work.The tea out was attended by all the officials of the PCB.Director PCB in his brief remarks said that Dr. Nauman in his over two years with PCB had contributed significantly to many areas here, using his deep knowledge of the history of the game, and hoped he will carry fond memories of his stay. He wished him well in his chosen career of medicine, though we know his heart remains in cricket.

Khalid Butt
Media Manager
3 July 2001

Of 278 test matches played by Pakistan till now, 125 were home games while 153 have been played away. The 125 home tests were contested at 12 test centres, including Dacca (now Dhaka), which remained Pakistan’s regular test venue from 1955 to 1971. In fact, Dacca has the unique distinction of staging the country’s inaugural test match at home in 1955. The 153 away-tests have been played at 43 test centres, again including Dhaka, the neutral ground in Bangladesh where Pakistan won the final of the Asian Test Championship 1998-99 against Sri Lanka. Of the remaining 42 test centres where Pakistan have played test matches, 11 are in India, 6 each in England, Australia and New Zealand, 5 in West Indies, 3 each in Sri Lanka and South Africa and 2 in Zimbabwe. The most number of test matches at home have been played at Karachi (35). Lord’s is the test centre outside Pakistan, where they have played the most number of matches (11). Colombo (Sri Lanka), Mumbai and Chennai in India and Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi at home have staged test matches on more than one ground. Presented below is the complete break-up of Pakistan’s performance at each test centre:

Performance outside Pakistan

India

England

New Zealand

Australia

West Indies

Sri Lanka

Zimbabwe

South Africa

BANGLADESH

Note: Pakistan played one test match at neutral ground (Dhaka) – the final of Asian Test Championship against Sri Lanka in 1998-99.

Summary of results of away test matches

Pakistan Test Centres

Performance at home

Summary of results of matches at home

The England tour to Zimbabwe to go ahead as planned.Despite speculation that the tour may be affected by the current politicaland civil unrest in Zimbabwe, John Read, Director of Corporate Affairs atthe ECB, today explained that the ECB has no plans to cancel the tour atthis stage, but will continue to monitor events in the country closely.Read said: “We are still planning to go ahead with the tour but this isbeing constantly reviewed. We are in close contact with the government overthe matter and are taking advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.The tour is still six weeks away and we can not anticipate what is going tohappen between now and then, but we will continue to monitor the situationclosely.”A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are in close touch with thecricket board. The situation is being monitored.”England are due to play five One-Day Internationals against Zimbabwe, threematches in Harare and two games in Bulawayo. The squad departs on September26th, returning to the UK on 15th October.

New Zealand’s selectors, tired of potential being unrealised in One-Day Internationals, have thrown down the gauntlet to players wanting to be part of the 2003 World Cup campaign today.Only 12 players have been named for the one-day side to Pakistan, with two more to be added by the end of the month.The 12 selected were:Stephen Fleming (c) (Wellington), Nathan Astle (Canterbury), James Franklin (Wellington), Chris Harris (Canterbury), Craig McMillan (Canterbury), Kyle Mills (Auckland), Dion Nash (Auckland), Jacob Oram (Central Districts), Mathew Sinclair (Central Districts), Daryl Tuffey (Northern Districts), Daniel Vettori (Northern Districts) and Lou Vincent (Auckland).Notable absences from the side are wicket-keeper Adam Parore and off-spinner Grant Bradburn.They have not been excluded from consideration but if players with the New Zealand A team in India for the Buchi Babu tournament can come up with the required performances, Parore and Bradburn may be left out.Selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee said, “We are not happy with the team and individual performances in Sri Lanka. We were in a position to win at least four games, and possibly five.”We expect more from our senior players.”If performances were not forthcoming in the near future some players may want to rethink their futures in the game, he added.Hadlee said Parore was without doubt New Zealand’s best ‘keeper and had given tremendous value to New Zealand over the last 10 or 11 years, but it was necessary to start looking ahead.The selectors also had to look at his workload.”He has been remarkably injury free over all that time and we can’t expect him to play in every one-day game, in every Test match and in every tour game.”He has got to have some breaks.”Disappointed as he may be, we have got to look after his career longevity,” Hadlee said.Holding two positions open added more sting to the performances of the A team and would allow for a fine tuning of the balance of the side.Hadlee said that incoming coach Denis Aberhart would have a game plan that he wanted to employ and the selectors would be looking to select a team to fulfil that plan.Aberhart reiterated the comments of previous coaches that it was up to individuals to provide the performances and he would be looking to work with them to achieve that.Having the killer instinct was about desire and having the mental attitude to compete.”Some are born with it, some aren’t. I want to make sure that everyone buys into it,” he said.Hadlee said there was concern about the failure to develop a bowling strategy at the death in games.The selectors had indicated their thoughts on that to the team management and have said that they would like to see Tuffey, especially, bowl more often at the death.”A key focus for us is the World Cup in 2003. We want to be fully prepared for that and the ideal situation for us would be to have 20-25 players to select from.”There are enough One-Day Internationals and tournaments over the next 18 months for us to look at various combinations. We want to have pressure for places because if there is competition the level of play will increase,” he said.”The players should make it as easy as possible for us by performing,” he said.Hadlee said the call was tough on Bradburn and was not necessarily a reflection on his performance in Sri Lanka as he had only bowled two overs in the one game he played. The selectors wanted to reconsider the composition of the side, he said.The retention of Franklin, who did not get a game at all in Sri Lanka, was to provide the option of a left-arm pace bowler to the tour selectors.There was no clear indication on what would happen at the top of the order as much would depend on the two players called into the team.If Chris Nevin could show the sort of form the selectors were looking for, especially with the bat, then he was likely to be the preferred choice.There was still the option of continuing to open with Sinclair, who had scored two centuries in Sharjah earlier in the year.Hadlee said there had also been an indication from captain Fleming that Vincent might be considered as an opening choice.Selector Brian McKechnie said New Zealand’s most successful ODI batsman Astle was a player who thrived on being able to keep the strike and other players used had not been able to get it to him often enough.

Veteran all-rounder, Graham Rose who has been missing from the Somerset team since very early on in the season, has been included in a squad of 14 that has been named by Kevin Shine for the all important final championship match of the season against Northants starting at The County Ground tomorrow.The full squad named is, Jamie Cox, Matthew Wood, Mike Burns, Mark Lathwell, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Richard Johnson, Jason Kerr, Steffan Jones, Jamie Grove, Graham Rose and Pete Trego.Earlier this evening the Somerset Coach told me: “The final line up will depend on what the wicket is going to be like in the morning.”So, will 37-year-old Rose get a recall for this vital match?”There is a chance that Graham will play. This is a difficult call for us, it’s important that we get the right seam combination. We want to win this one,” the coach replied.