The war of words behind them Worcestershire settled quickly to the task ofproving themselves to be the better team when their replayed NatWest Trophythird-round match began at New Road. Within 16 overs the visitors had stumbled to 43-3 with Rob Cunliffe, Jack Russell and Kim Barnett out.In his opening over Glenn McGrath, given his International Cricketer of theYear award in London the previous evening, trapped Cunliffe in front before the scorers had been troubled. He was supported well by some tidy bowling from Duncan Catterall. For Gloucestershire much now depended on the experience Barnett and his did disappoint Worcestershire had won the initial contest by three wickets but the England as he took boundaries from both bowlers.A double-bowling change worked wonders for the home side. Russell (8), whohad benefited from a snicked boundary between the slips, was Stuart Lampitt at 41 in the 13th over. Two runs later Barnett (26 from 44 balls) cut a ball from Leatherdale into Graeme Hick’s hands after almost doing the same thing the ball before. At this stage Worcestershire seemed to be the more fired up by the ECB ruling that this match, in which they had beaten Gloucestershire earlier, had to be replayed because they had included an ineligible player in 19 year-old quick bowler Kabir Ali.Mark Alleyne’s continued absence through an back-injury led to Jack Russellacting as Gloucestershire’s captain, and for their hosts spinner Richard Illingworth had not recovered fully from the thigh problem sustained in the weekend’s National League game against Leicestershire.

There is a huge portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the founder of thenation atop the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka. It is my imagination ofcourse, but I am sure I saw him smiling down benignly on theBangladesh cricket team playing their inaugural Test against India.However there was no mistaking the real-life smile of his daughter andthe current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was very much present atthe stadium to watch her team in action before leaving midway throughto lead her country’s delegation to the Organisation of IslamicConference in Doha. For the second successive day, the Test debutantsperformed admirably. First, they notched up a first innings total of400 which was a bonus considering that they started the day at 239 forsix. Then, when the Indians batted they broke an opening stand whichwas looking ominous and at close the visitors were 81 for one after 26overs.On Friday, Aminul Islam shared the spotlight with Habibul Bashar.Today the 32-year-old former Bangladesh captain had the spotlightturned fully on him. In scoring 145, Aminul not only went into therecord books but also earned a new respect for his side. Bangladesh isa one day team and not fit for Test cricket, the critics said. Thebatsmen can bat for 30 overs but can they bat for six hours, theyasked. They got the answer today. Aminul batted 535 minutes andcompiled his runs off 379 balls. The fact that he hit 17 fours wasalmost incidental.Aminul was the rock on which the Bangladesh innings was built. Playingthe sheet anchor role to perfection, he was ninth out at 385 late onSaturday afternoon after having come in at 44 for two in the pre-lunchsession on Friday. He displayed all the qualities of a top class Testbatsman – dedication, determination, concentration, strokeplay andsoundness of technique and temparament. The fall of his partners atregular intervals did not deter him from his main task – that ofhelping his team post a challenging total. True, the pitch remainedbatsman friendly and the Indian bowling looked pretty innocuous butthis should not in any way detract anything from Aminul’s performance.It must not be forgotten that this is Bangladesh’s first taste of fiveday cricket and if the others had not yet adapted themselves fully tothe intricacies of the longer version of the game, Aminul did sonobly.When Bangladesh resumed this morning, 400 looked far away. But certainresilient qualities of the tail who supported Aminul admirably sawthem get a total which was the second highest made by a debutant Testnation – next only to Zimbabwe’s 456 against India at Harare in 1992.Aminul himself passed quite a few statistical landmarks. Getting tohis hundred bracketed him with Charles Bannerman of Australia in 1877and Dave Houghton of Zimbabwe in 1992 as the only batsmen to haveachieved this feat in their country’s first Test. After getting pastHoughton’s 121 he had Bannerman’s 165 (retired hurt) in sight. But hewas finally out to an uncharacteristic stroke, a mistimed heave on theleg side ending up in Srinath’s hands at mid on. He returned to astanding ovation from the flag waving, cheering crowd and withinminutes the rewards were announced. Sheikh Hasina announced three lakhtaka for him and this was followed by a two lakh taka reward from theSports Minister and chairman of the National Sports Council ObaidulQader. In addition, there was an announcement of a gold medal toAminul from the Bangabandhu Parishad, an association of cricket fans.Incidentally, Obaidul Qader also announced a reward of one lakh takafor Habibul Bashar for his 71 compiled on Friday.Aminul would be the first to admit that his feat would not have beenpossible but for the staunch support he received from the latter halfof the batting today. First, vice captain Khaled Masud (32) helped himin registering the highest partnership of the innings – 93 runs forthe seventh wicket off 41.5 overs. In fact, no wicket fell during thepre lunch session. Then the left handed Md Rafique (22) used the longhandle to good effect in adding 30 runs for the eighth wicket withAminul. And finally, fast bowler Habibul Hussain (28 not out) andAminul added 31 runs for the ninth wicket. All this prolonged theagony for the Indians who were in the field for almost eleven hours.That the Indian bowling is over dependent on Anil Kumble was provedbeyond doubt today. Srinath after a long lay off failed to impress andin fact looked pretty tame, bowling in tandem with Zaheer. Agarkar andMurali Kartik were just about passable. The tireless Sunil Joshi,suddenly elevated to the status of spin spearhead, shouldered hisresponsibility well enough and was rewarded with career best Testfigures of five for 142 from 45.3 overs. It was just as well theIndians took the field with five bowlers. What the position would havebeen with only four frontline bowlers is too frightening tocomprehend.In the face of an unexpectedly challenging total, a good start forIndia became imperative. Openers Sadagopan Ramesh and debutant ShivSundar Das provided it with a partnership of 66 runs off 19 overs.Both batsmen played confidently against both seam and spin and theylooked set for a long partnership when suddenly Das was bowled byNaimur Rahman. He shouldered arms to a ball that pitched outside theoff stump and to his horror found it turning sharply and hitting thetop of the off and middle stumps. Das had looked in good nick. Heplayed a few elegant drives and rasping square cuts and looked goodfor a long innings. But the 23-year-old Orissa opener had to becontent with 29 off 67 balls with four hits to the ropes.Das matched Ramesh in strokeplay and run production. The 25-year-oldleft hander from Chennai was in pleasing form and came throughunbeaten with 40 compiled off 67 balls and inclusive of fourboundaries. Keeping him company is nightwatchman Murali Karthik onseven. India have the perfect springboard to take off for a fittingreply to the Bangladesh total. The pitch, which is still a sleepingbeauty, and the long line of illustrious strokeplayers and insatiablerun getters are strong factors in their favour.

The 2nd Test between Pakistan and England at Old Trafford will surely be a high stakes game. While England will go all out to win five series in a row, Pakistan desperately need a victory to stay in contention as a viable cricket team. A win for Pakistan is an absolute must not only for the team’s rejuvenation but to regain some fighting spirit for the NatWest Triangular that follows. At Lords, Pakistan lost by an innings and performed miserably, well below their prowess and potential. Although they have the ability to bounce back but the way Pakistan crumble at the vital moment, one needs to think twice before declaring them favourites.Of immediate concern, however, is the Manchester weather – will it allow the match be held at all and then played for enough days for a result? According to reports, while elsewhere the English domestic cricket has been relatively unaffected by the weather since the Lords Test, only one day’s play has been possible at Old Trafford! Surely a dismal situation?Glancing at Pakistan’s previous ventures, one finds that all the three test matches played at Old Trafford in 1954, 1984 and 1992 were either interrupted or washed out by rain and drawn. So let’s hope the weather god shows generosity towards the two teams and a host of cricket lovers who are keen to witness an exciting contest.Sure of his team’s aspirations of a victory, England’s Chief Selector David Graveney has appealed to the English public to show up en masse to buck up their team. Injured skipper, sadly an armchair spectator, Nasser Hussain has also made a similar appeal to cricket fans of Asian origin.On relative strength, there is no doubt England are riding high in morale, spirits as well as performance. The absence of Nasser Hussain is not likely to make much of a difference because acting skipper Alec Stewart is considered fully competent to handle the side. Having successfully done so on previous occasions he is fully trusted to lead the team to success.As a batsman, Warwickshire opener Nick Knight replaces Nasser. Many think him to be a one-day specialist having scored only one century in 16 games and a test average of only 25. However, he has been selected for current prolific form in English domestic cricket, especially in one-day matches, scoring 4 centuries with an average of over 50.Another likely change in the team may be the entry of Matthew Hoggard in place of Ryan Sidebottom who failed to take a wicket on debut at Lords. The resurgent England attack, spearheaded by the deadly duo of Darren Gough and Andy Caddick who demolished Pakistan at Lords shall, however, remain the deciding factor. England plans to put in the field a force comprising 7 batsmen and 4 best bowlers, depending on the pitch and weather.Pakistan have suffered severe criticism after nose diving from 4th to 7th in international test rankings and now need to put in every ounce of energy to recover. The ten-day gap between the two tests must have been enough for a mental and physical shake up and rehabilitation as well as to make up for the ‘inadequate preparation’, cited as one of the reasons for the Lord’s defeat.It is said that success in a match largely depends on opening batsmen and opening bowlers. Unfortunately both failed for Pakistan at Lords. Clinching 5 wickets for 23 runs including a hat trick against Leicestershire, Waqar Younis showed devastating form with the ball. Similarly his new ball partner Wasim Akram claimed 4 wickets in this match as well. He is also on record having taken 5 wickets at Old Trafford during the 1992 tour. Possessing a thorough knowledge of the track he can be expected to keep the England batting in check or even help getting the side out for small totals.By scoring an unbeaten century after earning a disappointing pair of ducks in the Lord’s Test, opener Saleem Elahi must have regained his confidence. However, his place is at risk as there is talk of Abdur Razzaq as an opener and if selected, he needs a big score to justify his place in a future team. His partner Saeed Anwar is capable of bringing even the stars down but became the victim of poor shot selection. With a little more concentration he can turn into a match winner.Though pitch and weather conditions cannot be taken as a yardstick, it may be recalled that Pakistan scored 505 for 9 and 239 for 5 at this venue in 1992. At Lord’s Pakistan bought defeat by indiscriminately throwing away the wickets. If the batsmen manage to graft and play with responsibility, a big score could be expected.The actual playing XI would be a major factor. Though skipper Waqar Younis and Coach Richard Pybus justified the selection of an all pacer squad for the Lord’s Test, they came under burning criticism from the media and public for not including a spinner in the side. It may be great to play with all fast bowlers but variation is an important element that cannot be ignored. In Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed the team has two distinguished spinners. One of them is likely to make the team this time.Whom to drop to accommodate a spinner is the question worthy of debate. Shoaib Akhtar or Azhar Mahmood? Coach Pybus is of the opinion that Shoaib is regaining his confidence and is close to the form he enjoyed two years ago. I would, however, drop him for his uncertain physical fitness. Azhar being a useful all rounder deserves to be retained.Let us hope the uncertain weather does not jeopardize the Test. A decisive finish will be in the interest of both teams. It is expected to be a ferocious battle with the team not throwing away wickets and holding its catches to win.

Sri Lanka’s veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva says he is confident of beating India in the forthcoming three-match Test series.”We haven’t beaten them in nearly 17 years,” he said. “I am looking forward to this series and confident that we can beat them this time around.”Sri Lanka’s famous victory in 1985 against India was the country’sfirst Test victory, and that’s been the only against India. In that gameAravinda made a fine 75 at the Oval in Colombo. He is also the onlysurviving member of that team, captained by Duleep Mendis.The national selectors didn’t recommend Aravinda when they werenominating players to be contracted by the Board. However, he is included in the pool of players which can be called upon to play if needed.De Silva says losing the lucrative contract didn’t bother him. “It’s only a monetary thing. Probably they looked at certain aspects when they were awarding the contracts, I’m not bothered. I am looking forward to the Indian series.”De Silva has relished playing against Indian attacks. Last time whenIndia were in Sri Lanka to play a two-match series, he made 392 runs in three innings. In all those innings he made hundreds and in the Second Test at SSC he made hundreds in both the innings.

The New South Wales and Australian quick bowler Brett Lee will warm up for this summer’s Ashes battle by playing in a Second XI Championship match for Nottinghamshire.After talks between John Buchanan, the Australian Coach, and Clive Rice, Notts Director of Cricket, it was agreed that Lee would play for the county’s second string in a match against Hants Second XI, to be played at Finchampstead between 19-21 June.Rice said: “It is not only an arrangement which will help Brett’s match fitness but also an opportunity for some of our younger bowlers to play alongside, and learn from, one of the great fast bowlers in the world today.”Lee will then re-join the rest of the Australia tour party ahead of this summer’s Test Series, which begins at Edgbaston on 5 July.

Surrey seemed intent on winning by as large a margin as possible, taking few chances and dropping the scoring rate as they gradually approached the modest target of 159. They eventually finished comfortably, with all their wickets intact, hitting the winning runs with 22.5 overs to spare.By playing almost their strongest side available – Mark Ramprakash and Graham Thorpe are still unfit – in this third round Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy match against the Surrey Cricket Board XI, consisting of players from clubs around the county, Surrey showed just how seriously they were taking this match at Guildford.The only change in their side today from the one that belted a record-breaking total of 361 two days ago against Nottinghamshire was Jonathan Batty, behind the stumps, with Alec Stewart resting.For Surrey’s left-handed pair of opening batsmen, Mark Butcher and Ian Ward, it was a second successive century partnership in three days. They batted entirely unperturbed against the Board’s bowling and scored at ease from the start when Butcher made his intentions known with two boundaries in the first over. They continued taking eight an over until the fifty came up.The game was hardly a contest. The bowling obligingly provided practice for the Surrey openers. Ward was the first to his half-century, from 55 balls, and five overs later Butcher reached his, off 68. Their innings progressed without a blemish as they averaged six runs an over.Finally, Ward took a boundary at wide mid-wicket to take his score to 70 off 81 balls and the total to 156. Butcher then drove the next ball, the first of the new over, to mid-off for the winning boundary. It took the total to 160 and him to 73 from 85 balls. He had hit 12 boundaries, as had Ward.Earlier, the amateurs of the Board X1, having been put in to bat on a cloudy morning, which did brighten later, began well with the left and right-handed combination of Tim Hodgson and John Wileman. Both these batsmen have had some experience of first-class cricket, Wileman with Nottinghamshire and Hodgson with Essex.They started briskly at more than five runs an over which dropped to four by the tenth over but with 46 on the board, Wileman, 15, edged to second slip off Martin Bicknell. That brought about a top-order collapse which saw four wickets go down for seven within four overs.Hodgson was run out for 25 and then, man-of-the-match Ed Giddens, claimed the next two in his fifth over. The fifth-wicket stand brought a recovery with 45 when once again the Board lost quick wickets.The left-handed Scott Newman, who had played confidently for the second highest score of 27, struck four boundaries before being fifth out, leg before wicket to Adam Hollioake. With the seventh wicket falling on 124, the home side had lost three in the space of 27 runs.Chris Bullen, formerly with Surrey as an off spinner, showed his capabilities with the bat as his top score of 36, from only 38 balls, greatly helped the Board to reach 158 before being dismissed with 4.5 overs remaining. He had hit the only six of the innings – off Saqlain Mushtaq over mid-wicket – before the wily off-spinner trapped him leg before with the next ball.

Graeme Hick nudged Dominic Cork out of the spotlight on his return to the Championship arena with the 115th century of his career as Worcestershire piled up the runs against a weakened Derbyshire attack.Hick scored 171 from 209 balls to condemn the Championship’s bottom team to another day of hard labour in steamy heat.With Vikram Solanki hitting 109, Worcestershire had reached 390-5 by the close to leave the home side fighting a rearguard action at the end of the first day.Derbyshire must have feared the worst after Hick won the toss and batted first on a pitch which was devoid of any pace or bounce.Cork claimed a wicket in his fifth over when he had Philip Weston lbw for 17 and he had what looked another good shout for leg before turned down early in Hick’s innings.Anurag Singh became his second victim when he top-edged a hook and was caught at square leg for 60 but Derbyshire had to wait a long time for their next success.Hick and Solanki picked off the bowling in the stifling humidity and although Hick miscued an attempted hook at Cork, there were few other moments of encouragement for the bowlers although Derbyshire did not wilt in testing conditions.Hick reached his hundred – his third in four Championship innings – with a lofted drive for four off Nathan Dumelow and he was well on course for a double century until Paul Aldred took a brilliant running catch at wide long on.David Leatherdale went for a duck but Solanki reached his first Championship hundred of the season when he drove Dumelow for his fourth six of what had been a brilliant innings.He was out in the penultimate over of the day when he pulled Dumelow hard and low to square leg where Lian Wharton took a good catch but Worcestershire are firmly in control.

Ian Thomas scored his first one-day half-century as Glamorgan beat Derbyshire by six wickets in their NUL clash at Cardiff.The 22-year-old left-hander, deputising for the injured Jimmy Maher, shared in an opening stand of 91 in only 14 overs with Keith Newell in their pursuit of 200 to win.Thomas’ 50 came up in just 40 balls, with a six and eight fours.Newell also went to a half-century as Glamorgan passed 100 in the 17th over and reached the winning post with 26 balls to spare.Glamorgan were indebted to a quick start, especially as they lost wickets at regular intervals on the way to victory.But a responsible 40* from Maynard guided Glamorgan to their fifth division two victory of the season to keep them in touch with the promotion race.Half-centuries from Steve Stubbings and Matthew Dowman were the mainstays of the Derbyshire innings after stand-in skipper Michael Di Venuto, deputising for Dominic Cork and the injured Tim Munton, won the toss.Derbyshire suffered a setback when Rob Bailey was dismissed to the fourth ball of the innings from Andrew Davies, but despite also losing Di Venuto, Derbyshire were indebted to Stubbings and Dowman, who contributed 109 in 24 overs.The spin of Croft and Cosker slowed Derbyshire’s progress, with Cosker taking three wickets, two in one over including a very sharp caught and bowled.Darren Thomas got into the action by dismissing Nathan Dumelow and Paul Aldred with consecutive balls as the Derbyshire innings rather tailed off with only 54 runs coming from the final 15 overs.

Trveor Ward scored his third century in nine innings as Leicestershiredominated a rain-interrupted first day of the CricInfo Championship clash with Glamorgan at Cardiff.Ward shared in an impressive 198 opening stand with Iain Sutcliffe with the visiting county taking full advantage of Vince Wells winning the toss.And when bad light caused an abandonment 15 minutes from the closeLeicestershire had reached the healthy position of 210-1 off 48 overswith Sutcliffe still there on 86.Heavy overnight rain and morning showers meant no play was possibleuntil 2.30pm with a total of 49 overs lost before and after lunch.But by tea Ward and Sutcliffe had put Leicestershire in a healthyposition at 118-0 in just 24 overs with both batsmen reaching half-centuries, taking advantage of some pretty average Glamorgan bowling.Leicestershire reached 50 from just ten overs and then carried on thescoring rate to go to 100 in the 21st with skipper Steve James forced touse five bowlers in a curtailed second session.Ward was first to go to his 50 off just 61 balls with Sutcliffe takingjust nine deliveries more.And Ward then took only a further 50 balls to reach his century out of189-0.Glamorgan’s opening bowlers found it difficult to find their length andline. Steve Watkin went for 37 off seven overs while Simon Jonesconceded 24 from his first five overs.Watkin eventually secured the breakthrough when Ward drove straight atcover to end an impressive two-and-a-half hour innings that had included14 boundaries.

England’s short tour of Zimbabwe in September and October has been thrown into doubt following the recent unrest in the African country. England are due to play five One-Day Internationals against Zimbabwe before they fly onto India and then New Zealand this winter.The unrest in Zimbabwe has seen more than 50 white-owned farms attacked and their houses looted, raising questions about the safety of the England cricket team.Gareth Thomas, the Labour MP and secretary of the all-party parliamentary sports group, told The Times: “To play cricket matches in a country where the Government is clearly condoning violence against its opponents must be questionable.”Unless the situation improves dramatically this tour should be cancelled.”John Read, the England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman explained that they were concerned with what is happening in Zimbabwe, but still insured that the England tour will not be postponed.He confirmed: “We are still planning to go ahead but this is being reviewed daily. We will be guided by the Foreign Office.”A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are in close touch with the cricket board. The situation is being monitored.”