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Although the English media welcomed the innings victory in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Lord’s, they were united in their disappointment at the weakness of the opposition. The win, which came inside three days, was tempered with the knowledge that it had been achieved against what more than one correspondent described as the worst side to have toured England for many years … if not of all time. This is how the newspapers reviewed Zimbabwe’s performance:”There was a familiar feel to the cricket for those of us who wintered in the Antipodes, namely a dull inevitability about the outcome. But this time, for Australia read England and for England read Zimbabwe. The gulf between the two sides is as wide as the one we witnessed in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth last year – maybe wider. But here some of the tourists have looked overawed, others out of their depth.” Vic Marks, The Observer“The batting is woeful and the bowling short on experience and length, the former irreparable, the latter needing more than a single match against Middlesex to rectify. Only their ground fielding, which was superb in execution and commitment throughout the England innings, can have lent any satisfaction. It stands to reason they should be able to take wickets and make runs against a side that would languish somewhere in the lower reaches of the Second Division of the County Championship. Goodness knows what the Australians would do to them.” Mike Selvey, The Guardian“Not so much a new dawn for England, real or false, as another dark day for Zimbabwe. Their young cricket team lived up to their label of being the worst batting side to tour England as they were overwhelmed. Zimbabwe were there for the taking. With their quirky techniques, dominated by the bottom hand, they were sorely troubled by the outswing even of Mark Butcher, who started the day with the grand total of ten Test wickets, and Anthony McGrath, who had none.” Scyld Berry, The Sunday Telegraph“It sounds an awful thing to say, but they cannot have a worse game. They will look at their performance, work hard, and aim to move forward from the wreckage.” Andy Flower, The Daily Telegraph“The fact, however, that Zimbabwe allowed two occasional medium-pacers to take eight wickets in the day between them put matters into a truer perspective. Mark Butcher had a Midas touch throughout the match and McGrath justified his selection as a part-time bowler no less than he had as a batsman. Good luck to them both, but even they will know it was a case of making hay while the sun shone.” Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Times“The figures from Lord’s so far in this match obviously do not tell much of a story for Zimbabwe, but, nonetheless, they have shown that there is plenty to hope for. If the present group of players can keep the game going until times change and prosperity returns to Zimbabwe, they will have ensured that there will then be a solid and presentable base to build upon.” Henry Blofeld, The Independent on Sunday

BAT Sports are within touching distance of the Southern Electric ECB Premier League crown.A crushing nine-wicket win over Andover means they require a maximum of five points from next Saturday’s final match at Calmore to lift the championship.But Havant, last season’s champions, don’t intend letting go of the title lightly.They took a 22-point maximum from a six-wicket win at South Wilts and predict more of the same in the final match against Burridge.At the opposite end of the table, Liphook & Ripsley confirmed Hungerford’s relegation with a four-wicket victory.Bashley (Rydal) trimmed Calmore Sports by 13 runs, while Bournemouth ran up 241-7 before skittling Burridge for a dismal 73.Champions-elect BAT took on Andover without the injured Richard Taylor and had key left-armer Dan Goldstraw nursing an inter-costal (side) injury.But they made relatively short work of the visitors – off-spinner Richard Dibden (5-15) and Goldstraw (3-27), bowling off a short run-up, shooting Andover out for 125.Only Mark Miller (55) put up much of a fight as Andover’s batting collapsed all around him.BAT skipper Dave Banks, a near certainty to win the SPL wicketkeeping award after taking his season’s tally to 33 victims, praised his side’s out-cricket.”Our fielding was outstanding,” he said. “We must have saved 40 or 50 runs in the field – even the bad balls we bowled weren’t allowed to be punished.”BAT polished off the target in just 28 overs – Damian Shirazi (33) the only batsman to be dismissed after taking his season’s individual run tally past the 600-mark.Richard Kenway (48) and Dave Carson (43) steered BAT to the target – and to within five points of the championship.Havant aren’t completely out of the race – mathematically, at least – after notching a comfortable six-wicket win over South Wilts at Lower Bemerton.But skipper Paul Gover acknowledges that Havant need Calmore Sports to do them a massive favour at Loperwood Park on Saturday, if the title race is to be turned on its head.”It’s out of our hands now,” Gover said. “But we’ll be giving it our best shot – you never know what might happen in this game.”Havant were certainly too good for South Wilts – only 791-run opener Russell Rowe (61) getting to grips with things as the defending champions continued to make inroads amongst his team-mates.Shawn Gillies (3-32) struck the early blows, while Jo Cranch (21) and Rob Wade (37) were the only batsmen to offer Rowe much support.A total of 177 was never likely to be enough as South Wilts struggled to contain Andy Perry (67), who got Havant off to a fine start.Perry eventually became one of three victims for Rowe (3-32), but Paul Gover (40 not out) and Gillies (35) were able to guide Havant to a comfortable win.Neil Thurgood arguably suffered the SPL’s most bizarre dismissal of the season when he was run out in the early stages of Bashley-Rydal’s 13-run win over third-placed Calmore Sports.Thurgood departed after Hampshire’s Andrew Sexton, his opening partner, over-hit an intended straight drive on to the overhead electricity cables which straddle the Bashley ground.The ball dropped down just behind the stumps at the non-striker’s end – by which time Thurgood was already two-thirds of the way down the pitch, looking for what appeared an easy single.Sexton saw what had happened and stayed his ground … leaving Thurgood stranded and run out by some 20 yards !”I’ve seen the ball hit the wires before, but never drop down just by the stumps. Neil didn’t have a prayer,” chuckled Bashley captain Neil Taylor.Sexton (57) held things together as Bashley fell to 147-8 (Andy Neal 27) against spin duo Mark Boston (3-26) and Paul Draper (2-23).Last pair Shaun Lilley (17) and Matt King (17 not out) added crucial runs before Bashley were dismissed for 189.When Draper (22), Paul Cass (22) and Jez Goode (24) steered Calmore to 108-3, the visitors were in the box seat.But Dale Middleton (3-21), Neal (2-28) and Taylor (2-28) got amongst the wickets – six batsmen being dismissed for 36 runs – to put Calmore in trouble at 144-9 (Stu Bailey 22).Allan Hurst (17) and John Shepherd (15) rallied, but Calmore were eventually all out for 176.Kristian Wilson (4-25) snapped up a late hat-trick as Bournemouth waltzed to a thumping 168-run victory at Burridge.He removed the last four batsmen without conceding a run as Burridge collapsed to 73 all out (Jo Dixon 34) after Bournemouth had piled up an impressive 241-7.South Perth bound Tom Webley (86) led the way, sharing an aggressive 70-run opening partnership with Matt Swarbrick (47) before Julian Cassell (37) joined in.Paul Jenkins (3-52) created inroads into Bournemouth’s middle-order, while Dorset left-armer Dave Kidner (3-13) triggered off the Burridge collapse after tea.Hungerford, who won back-to-back Southern League championships in the late 1990s, are certain to be relegated after suffering a four-wicket defeat at Liphook.Only stand-in skipper Neil Rider (70) as first Tim Wheatley (3-34) and later off-spinner Duncan Berry (5-28) carved through the brittle Hungerford batting.Hungerford’s 165 was overhauled in 42 overs – Chris Wright (30) top scoring in Liphook’s win.

On the Wantage Road outfield, the selection chairman Rod Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann exchanged frank words with Australia’s 2015 Ashes tourists. For around 15 minutes the two old salts spoke passionately, in the sort of team discussion that invariably follows the kinds of defeats endured at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge. The only response could be seen coming from Mitchell Johnson, now very much the senior man in the Test XI.The retiring captain Michael Clarke is in London, Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin have gone home. They leave a gulf in experience and knowledge, but also confidence arising from their long-time ability to get the job done for Australia.Marsh and Lehmann want Clarke to be suitably farewelled from international cricket at the Kia Oval, but they also want this team to take something from the series. They want this latest Ashes defeat in England to be the last for some time.Of those present, none of Johnson, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Fawad Ahmed or Shaun Marsh can reasonably expect to take part in another Ashes series on these shores. Lehmann and Marsh are unlikely to be around either. But among the more intent listeners was the young allrounder Mitchell Marsh, who was left out of the team for Trent Bridge but is determined to draw triumph out of the chaos of this trip.”As an Australian team you go out to win every Test match, and even though the series is over we’ve got a lot to play for in this match as everyone knows,” Marsh said. “To send our skipper out on a winning note is a big emphasis for us, so we’ll be doing everything we can. We’ve been working extremely hard off the field to try and get it right on the field and it just hasn’t happened for us. So we’ll be doing everything we can.”Marsh, who can expect to be recalled at the Oval, has always been a confident character, backing his ability against anyone. But his exposure to the harshest light of Ashes pressure gave him pause to consider his readiness for it, and by his own admission both his dismissals at Edgbaston were illustrative of a young player not quite knowing how to respond to a seaming pitch, a baying crowd and a tense match scenario.Asked whether the pressure of the occasion had weighed down on his batting, Marsh offered the following. “Missing straight ones is not what you want to do, and chasing one a foot outside off third ball is not what you want to do,” he said.” Read into that what you want.”It certainly was an eye-opener. When I first got picked in the Test team Justin Langer said from Australian first-class cricket the step up is not that much bigger. It’s more just the outside pressure and the pressure of being in a Test match. Edgbaston was certainly the first time I really felt the pressure of a whole Test match … but I enjoyed it and I loved it, not that I was out there for too long.”That’s what you play for, that’s what you work hard for, to try and combat those times. It was certainly a great experience and hopefully I’ll be better for that in big moments in future.”The future stretches out ahead of Marsh, with the calendar offering non-stop international cricket for those good enough to handle those aforementioned pressures. But there is also a question of priorities – the fame and cash presented by the IPL, or the more modest surrounds of English County competition and a rounded education in how to bat and bowl here. Marsh is eager to take the latter path. Six Tests over the past 12 months will afford him the visa qualification to do so.”That’s something I’ve wanted to do over the past few years,” he said. “Now that I do qualify over the next few years hopefully it gives me an opportunity to come over here and play as much cricket as I can to prepare for coming years. Hopefully over the next few years I’ll be playing for Australia and won’t get too much time, but when the time does come hopefully I’ll be able to get over here.”To be able to learn my trade in these conditions would be awesome. Everyone that comes over here says that it’s awesome for your cricket. Hopefully that’s the case for me. I’ve probably put IPL on the back stall for the past few years and I’ve seen the gains in my cricket from that. It will be a case of judging it when it comes and seeing what happens in the future.”Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann certainly had the future on their minds as they addressed the team at Wantage Road. The content of the exchange will remain between players and selectors for now. Only the years will measure whether this moment will be of great significance for Mitchell Marsh and other young players, or simply a show of passion too late to change the course of the summer of 2015.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has taken exception to the ICC’s assessment of the Nagpur pitch for the third Test between India and South Africa as “poor” and said the debate over the quality of pitches in the ongoing Test series between India and South Africa is “overhyped”. He has also expressed reservations over the views of Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president and ICC chairman, that India cannot dominate the world body by virtue of its financial clout.

Have written to MEA for permissions to play Pakistan – Thakur

Anurag Thakur was non-committal on the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan and said the matter was out of the BCCI’s hands, and that India’s Ministry of External Affairs would have to issue clearances.
“We play Pakistan in World Cup events. We played them in the 2015 World Cup, we’ll play them next year in the Asia Cup,” Thakur said. “We’ll play them in March in the T20 World Cup. So when you play them in multi-national tournaments, what stops you from playing them in a bilateral series?
“Mr Shashank Manohar met the PCB chairman in Dubai and both of them decided to play in Sri Lanka. For permissions and political clearances, we have written to the Ministry of External Affairs to give us the sanction. It is their call, whenever they take it.”
Thakur’s views now are markedly different to those in August when he had all but ruled out resumption of bilateral cricketing activity between the two countries.
Thakur, who is also a member of parliament from the ruling party, the BJP, said it was a tough decision for the government to make.
“When it comes to Pakistan, it’s not that easy to take calls,” he said. “Five years ago, social media didn’t play a role. Today you see a lot of reactions on social media, but you can’t go only by social media, you have to look at the interests of the nation,” he said. “I think diplomatic relations are also very important — whether you want to remain at loggerheads or you want to sit across the table and discuss things. We have been discussing cricket, trade, terrorism, PoK and Kashmir with Pakistan.”

Speaking at the earlier in the week, Thakur reiterated the observations of India team director Ravi Shastri and Test captain Virat Kohli that there were no problems with the pitches produced for the Tests against South Africa.”I think the debate on the quality of pitches is overhyped. When a match gets over in two days – maybe in some other part of the world, like Australia in three days – nobody raises that question,” Thakur said. “But when we see a lot of drawn matches, like in the last few years, we say nobody will come and watch Test cricket.”I have a question to ask about the Nagpur match. Ask any ex-cricketer, how many players from the two teams played a bad shot? Was there uneven bounce? No. Was there more turn than expected? Yes, maybe.”What is the criterion for a good pitch and bad pitch? Was the bounce uneven, were there injuries? The ICC has sent us a letter and we will soon reply to that. But I think there is nothing wrong if a Test match finishes on the fourth day or the third day. You should also look at the batting standards. Remember how [Rahul] Dravid, [VVS] Laxman played on these kinds of tracks?”Thakur maintained there was nothing wrong in exploiting home advantage and said the preparation of turning tracks wasn’t a worrying trend.”Nobody questioned the T20 and the ODI games. What about the pitches when South Africa won?” Thakur asked. “But when India won two Test matches, you start raising questions.”In many parts of the world such as Australia and South Africa, you will see much more bounce. In England, you will see more seam and swing. So how do you compare that? In India and Pakistan, you may see more turning tracks. That is the nature of our pitches, which we call home advantage.”Thakur also clarified that Manohar’s views on the ICC’s restructuring were personal. Manohar recently said the revamp was tantamount to bullying, and that he didn’t agree with the revenue-sharing formula that guaranteed India a significant chunk of the revenue. While his thoughts were endorsed by a section of the board’s members, there has also been considerable resistance. Thakur said there was nothing wrong in India receiving a larger slice of the financial pie.”The [BCCI] president said this in his personal capacity. He made it very clear that it was his personal opinion,” he said. “The Indian subcontinent contributes close to 70% of the ICC’s revenues. To take 21% of that is not much. That was the position with Australia and England earlier, and no one objected to it then. If this happens to India today, we shouldn’t object to it.”You have to understand that India plays a very, very important role in world cricket. It’s only India which has a stadium in virtually every state. The money we have been generating in the last so many years has been spent on the ground.”Thakur also said the larger interest of BCCI’s units would have to be looked into before arriving at a decision on Manohar’s proposals, which have already received support from boards like Cricket South Africa and Sri Lanka Cricket. The BCCI, however, will be keen to not ruffle the feathers of its own units. Senior administrator and Saurashtra Cricket Association president Niranjan Shah, who is known to be close to Manohar, had advocated a “middle path”, which would strike a balance between extending a helping hand to financially weaker boards and securing the monetary rewards the BCCI deserved.”We have to look at the overall picture and individual opinions could be different,” Thakur said. “I may disagree, but the final call has to be taken by the BCCI because it is not only in the interest of one association, it is in the interest of 30 units of the BCCI.”

Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq has joined Worcestershire for the remainder of the 2007 season as a replacement for Phil Jaques and Doug Bollinger who have returned to Australia for the A-team tour of Pakistan.Razzaq had announced his retirement from international cricket as a protest against his omission from Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Championship squad. He arrived in Worcester on Sunday and would join the squad for training before travelling to Canterbury for the Championship match against Kent starting on Tuesday.”It has been very difficult to find quality replacement overseas players because of the forthcoming Twenty20 World Championships and Abdul’s availability has come at just the right time,” Worcestershire chief executive Mark Newton said. “He has scored over 6500 runs and taken nearly 350 wickets at international level and will certainly give us the quality and experience we need during the last few weeks of the season, particularly in the Natwest Pro40 competition. We have received clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board but still need to complete the registration procedures with the ECB.”

Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, admitted that the tour of Sri Lanka was a disappointing one for the team, having lost the opportunity to square the two-Test series and missing out on valuable match practice in the shorter version of the game.Arthur said that the players were disappointed not to complete the tour, as the tri-series would have been an ideal warm-up for the Champions Trophy in India in October. “We could see the security situation was not great, but we were really looking forward to playing,” he said on Saturday after the team arrived home, having pulled out of the three-nation Unitech Cup which also included India. “The guys were really ‘amped’ up for the series. It was a great opportunity for some of the younger players to stake a claim for a place in the squad for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.”From a cricketing point of view, pulling out of the tour is a disaster. We need match practice. We will have to ask Cricket South Africa to see if they can schedule some matches for us.”South Africa pulled out of the one-day tri-series that was to follow the Test series citing security concerns after a bomb blast near the team hotel in the morning of their opening match against Sri Lanka. While Sri Lanka Cricket promised extra security for the teams, the South Africans decided to withdraw after a report from an independent security consultant to Cricket South Africa found the current risk to the team to be at an “unacceptable level”.”Missed opportunities cost us the second Test,” Arthur said, reflecting on the Test series. South Africa lost the first Test by an innings but fought back in the second, losing narrowly by one wicket. “We should have wrapped it up, and we didn’t,” he said.Despite the defeat, Arthur stated that there were a few positives gained from the series, given that the team was without senior players like Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. “Our guys played (Muttiah) Muralitharan very well,” he said. “Sure, he took 22 wickets, but he bowled more than half the overs. He told us that we had played him better than any other international side in Sri Lanka. He said that he normally took 30 overs to take five wickets, but with us, he needed 55. We were without some of our key players, but everybody in the team put their hand up and took responsibility.”South Africa have agreed to host Zimbabwe for two one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match in mid-September.

England 222 for 9 (Liddell 4-45) lead Australia 131 (Brunt 5-47) by 91 runs
Scorecard

England ground out a first-innings lead over Australia on the second day of the second Test at Worcester, but it was an affair for the diehards. In 101 overs, they reached 222 for 9 at the close, a lead of 91.Australia’s tail had wagged to great affect in the first Test at Hove, but it succumbed with barely a whimper in the opening overs today as their last three wicket added only five runs to their overnight 126 for 7. In 15 balls Katherine Brunt took all three wickets, giving her a Test-best 5 for 47.England’s innings was solid but never remotely spectacular, with the run rate struggling to stay above two an over for most of the day. Jenny Gunn (38) Clare Connor (37) and Claire Taylor (43) all played themselves in without ever accelerating, but in the context of the match it was important for England to build a lead, and they had the luxury of having the time to do so.Cathryn Fitzpatrick led the attack with typical fire, taking 3 for 76, while Emma Liddell took crucial late wickets, finishing with 4 for 45.

A British TV crew was ordered to leave Zimbabwe on Thursday night after the government claimed that they had entered the country illegally. According to officials, the two-member crew from Sky Television had “arrogantly” flown in, without government authority or permission from Zimbabwe’s mission in the UK.Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe’s information minister, said, “What makes the conduct of this crew appear deliberately contemptuous and thus reprehensible is the fact that before leaving Britain, the crew actually received a clear response from the department [of information] outlining the government position and expectation before its proposed visit.”Accordingly, the department requires that forthwith, the Sky News crew complies with our national laws … including the requirement that foreign media applicants secure permission to fly into the country for purposes of accreditation from their country of origin and work. Failure to comply would, naturally, trigger a decisive response from agencies whose duty it is to uphold the rule of law in the country.”That rule of law has been working overtime when it comes to foreign journalists. The BBC is already outlawed as a “terrorist organisation”, and forced to do their reporting out of South Africa. And in the past week, Mihir Bose of the and Telford Vice of the Reuters agency were both asked to leave the country. ‘s Andrew Meldrum is another to have fallen foul of the authorities.For their part, Sky denied that there had been any attempt to deceive the Zimbabwe government, saying that they believed that they had clearance to film a cricket-related story. “We are not sure that we are being thrown out,” said Adrian Wells, head of Sky’s foreign news. “We are just waiting to hear from the government to clarify what their attitude is. We are a bit surprised.”The Cricket Writers’ Club has already complained to the International Cricket Council about the draconian restrictions placed on journalists seeking to cover cricket in Zimbabwe. “Our members must be allowed to carry out their duties free from censorship, threats or bullying wherever they are working, and we call on the authorities to safeguard our rights,” said a statement earlier this week. “The International Cricket Council has a duty to ensure that our members, who promote and publicise the game of cricket, are treated with respect by all ten Test-playing nations.”

The contents of reports compiled for the UCBSA by the FitnessTrainer and Psychologist of the South African cricket team whichcompeted in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 have appeared inthe media today.Members of team management and specialists routinely compilereports after tours and tournaments to assist in assessing andimproving the team’s performance and preparation. Their reportsare regarded as confidential and are circulated only to membersof the relevant committees of the UCBSA. These reports werereceived after the World Cup and – in particular that of FitnessTrainer Andrew Gray – have been discussed at the meeting onApril 15 of the UCBSA’s Medical Committee. They are also due tobe discussed at the next meeting of the National CricketCommittee scheduled for the end of this month.”We are concerned about the issues mentioned in Andrew Gray’sreport in particular and they are being addressed as part of anongoing process to improve the team’s performance. Andrew’sown work with the team is also ongoing and we receive regularreports from him. He has already raised some of these concernsin a verbal report to the NCC at its last meeting on 27 March2003. Following that verbal report, the NCC recommended to theGeneral Council on 29 March 2003 that all player contractsshould stipulate specific fitness requirements and this will beaddressed by the Board of Directors of Cricket SA (Pty) Ltdwhich governs professional cricket,” said UCBSA CEO GeraldMajola.”In addition, certain players missed out on selection for theteam’s current tour because they did not reach the requiredfitness level. Other players were put on strict fitness regimes onAndrew Gray’s advice,” Majola said.”Andrew’s written report and the details contained in it are stillto be discussed by the NCC. Our discussions are informed by arange of documents and opinions, including the teammanagement and specialist reports, and are aimed at ensuring afrank and honest assessment of our squad’s strengths andweaknesses. We will obviously also be looking at building on thecurrent tour to Bangladesh, one of the hallmarks of which hasbeen the new spirit which has begun to emerge in the side,”Majola added.”I am concerned that reports containing confidential medicalinformation about players have been leaked to the media,particularly as they have not yet been fully discussed by theUCB,” Majola stated.Fitness Trainer Andrew Gray, who is currently with the team inBangladesh, said: “My observations about diet and lifestylementioned in my report were not made in the immediate run-upto the World Cup. I made observations through 2002 and thoseobservations were contained in letters to each player when theWorld Cup squad was announced at the end of December 2002.All the players in the squad reached their required fitness levelsin advance of the World Cup.”Media Enquiries:Bronwyn WilkinsonCommunications Director083-212-8255

Bermuda, Canada, Argentina, the Caymans, USA, and a Combined team (from Belize, the Bahamas and Panama) are contesting the Americas Under 19 championships in Bermuda this week. Halfway through the competition, Bermuda lead the table with two wins and a draw, closely followed by Canada and the Caymans.The first day of play was washed out completely, and Canada’s second match against the Caymans was also abandoned due to a wet pitch, although two other matches were completed on the second day. Bermuda scored a massive victory over the Combined squad in a match reduced to 32 overs. Bermuda totalled 286/3 with Dion Stovell making 122*, and the Combined squad (playing with kit loaned to them by the BCBC) could only muster 48 all out. Argentina beat the USA.Yesterday Canada beat Argentina by 136 runs. G. Roberts was top scorer with 31 but five others had scores of 24 or more. The Caymans defeated the Combined XI, and Bermuda had another convincing win this time over the USA squad.Friday’s matches pitted Canada against the Combined team, Bermuda took on Argentina, and the USA plays the Caymans. The final day of the tournament on Saturday will see what may be the tournament decider between Bermuda and Canada.The standings as of Thursday’s games

GP  W  L  D  PTBermuda   3  2  0  1  10Canada    3  1  0  2   8Caymans   3  1  0  2   8Argentina 3  1  1  1   6USA       3  0  2  1   2Combined  3  0  2  1   2