As Sri Lanka took on Pakistan in Sharjah and the West Indies limbered up intheir first practice session of a seven-week tour, Sri Lanka’s first classcricketers began another season.This years tournament has been revamped, with the better sides not having toplay against the weakest teams and slightly less cricket all round, but eventhe best spin doctor wouldn’t be able to look you in the eye and say that anew, exciting, high quality domestic tournament is now underway.Nevertheless, for journeymen and ambitious young prospects, the importanceof the tournament is not measured in media hype. The stadiums may remaineerily quiet, apart from a few soggy arrack drinkers in the pavilion, butthis is still first class cricket and a vehicle for selectorial recognition.The top four sides – NCC, BRC, Colts, and SSC – have already qualified for aSuper League stage. They will play each other until the remaining 12 teamshave completed a qualifying round in which six sides proceed to the SuperLeague.NCC, last years champs, started disastrously today. They were bowled out for134 by SSC, who were boosted by the availability of left-arm fast bowlerNuwan Zoysa, making a comeback from an ankle injury, and Suresh Perera, whograbbed four wickets.At Havelock Park, last years runners up, BRC, took on Colts CC. Leg-spinningall-rounder Suranjith Silva, making his debut for the club after a move fromSSC, helped bowl out Colts for 281 as he grabbed six wickets.

A convenient memory is of great help to cricketers as long as they are aware of their shortcomings as well. This is the situation that the Indians are in, on the eve of the second Test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. They can conveniently remind themselves of their comebacks in the second match in a Test series against Sri Lanka and Australia. Yet they would do well to be aware that solid batting led to their success. It was Laxman at the Eden Gardens and Ganguly and Dravid at Kandy who played the stellar roles.

Unfortunately, Laxman has been hard up for runs and his method of batting is compounding his problems too. Dravid has been thrust into the opening slot and Ganguly has been off the boil in Test matches for the best part of this year.This has meant that though the batting line-up runs deep and appears solid on paper, it has flattered to deceive when required. The captain has to take decisions and own them up even if eventually proved wrong. The most important decision relates to the opening slot. In my opinion, Dravid should be batting at the one-drop position. He has done well abroad batting at that slot and sending him in earlier than necessary will be detrimental to the side.

The team management has to think hard about their bowling options too. The left-arm duo of Khan and Nehra failed to make any impact on the South African batsmen in the first Test. That they were not fully fit is not the point here really. The pitch at St George’s Park does encourage seam bowlers a lot but it is not quick by any standards. As there will be a lot of lateral movement available for the seamers, Venkatesh Prasad must figure in the plans strongly. His experience will come in handy and his natural outswingers will be of great advantage. In fact he is capable of getting wickets by the bagful on pitches such as these. Over and above all these factors, Prasad and Srinath make a good combination and they do better bowling in tandem.Agarkar or Nehra can be the options for the third seamer’s slot but the one major factor against either of them will be their fitness. Between Nehra and Agarkar, it would make sense to go in for Agarkar for two reasons. One is that he has been in the thick of things right from the start of the tour. Secondly, he has bowled to the South African batsmen and is aware of what not to do while bowling at them.

Harbhajan Singh opted out of the first Test with an injury and now that he is fit, conditions may not allow two spinners to play in the eleven. While Kumble is a seasoned performer, Harbhajan has proved to be a real force to reckon with in Kumble’s absence. The young sardar also bowled well in the one-dayers and it was quite clear that the South Africans were all at sea against the off-spinner.All in all, Ganguly is in an unenviable situation, having to take the bull by its horns both with the bat and with his decisions. He has no room for any dilly-dallying and it is a must-win situation for the visitors. The pressure is really on Ganguly’s gang to stay in the series. They will not be encouraged by the fact that St George’s Park has definitely not been a successful venue for the Indians in the past.The Indians though have exceeded expectations under Ganguly in the past and they may put it across the South Africans. But in order for that to happen, the batsmen will first have to put up runs on the board.

Consider this for a statistic: in six previous tours to Australia, SouthAfrica have never won a Test series. In 1952/53 (under Jack Cheetham), in19963/64 (under Trevor Goddard) and in 1993/94 (under Kepler Wessels) SouthAfrican teams returned with a share of the spoils. The other three sides,most recently in 1997/98 under Hansie Cronje, all lost.So should it be any different this summer. Bluntly, the head says no. Evenordinary Australian teams are formidable opponents at home and this is aparticularly good one, well-organised and confident. By contrast, SouthAfrica have included two veteran fast bowlers, one of whom has barely bowleda ball in anger this summer, there are at least four batsmen in the side whoeither have questions to answer or are unproven at this level and SouthAfrica do not possess a spin bowler likely to win matches on Australianpitches.So, should Shaun Pollock’s side bother to get on the plane on Saturday. Theanswer is an unequivocal yes, if for no other reason than this is anopportunity for the current South Africans to make history. For some it willbe a last chance, for others perhaps the only chance.During the 1993/94 tour South Africa played dismally to lose a one-day gamein Hobart. Afterwards a grim-faced Wessels noted that Australia “makes orbreaks players”. The message got home and the team returned with thatamazing win in Sydney and a share of the series. The point, however, remainstrue.Wessels has again been connected with Australia this week when the UnitedCricket Board turned down a request for him to accompany the team as aconsultant. This was probably the right decision, if for no other reasonthan to give Graham Ford and Corrie van Zyl a chance to succeed or fail ontheir terms. Neither knows a great deal about Australia and both prefer to stayin the background, but they will never face a sterner test of their methodsand strategies than on this tour.The one asset they do have is the captain,Pollock. If the three can lift the side when the bad moments come – and theywill – then South Africa will have at least a fighting chance.Briefly, then, these are the question marks against the South Africans: canNeil McKenzie, one of Jaques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar and, to a lesserextent, Justin Ontong survive against an attack more disciplined thananything they have faced before and which includes the world’s best spinbowler? Can Allan Donald produce it once more for his country and, if not,can Steve Elworthy step in the breach? Has Makhaya Ntini got it out of hishead that he is an automatic selection and that he, more than most, needs tocompensate for his lack of variety by putting one ball after another forhour after hour? Can Lance Klusener quell the suspicion that he’d prefer toavoid the new ball if possible?Most importantly, can this South African side find the mental resolve tocope with all that Australia will throw at them over the next two months(and when I say all, I mean everyone – taxi drivers, waitresses, customsofficials, barmen – all of whom will be saying in one way or another: “Wait’till Warnie gets ya”).If the South Africans can find answers to these questions, then this verygood team could be remembered as a great one.

*Goa canter to eight-wicket winGoa chased down the highest total of their Ranji Trophy league matchagainst Kerala at Panaji to win the game by eight wickets on thefourth day.Chasing 213 for victory, Goa’s opening bats put on 113 runs for thefirst wicket before Sudin Kamat fell, having made 71 off 143 balls.When Kiran Powar also fell, for the addition of just one run, acollapse looked in the offing.Tanveer Jabbar and opener Vivekanand Kolambkar, however, played wellto see their side through to victory without any more losses.Kolambkar remained unbeaten on 74 off 209 balls, striking 11 fours anda six. Jabbar made 57 off 80 balls, with eight fours and a six. Goapick up eight points by virtue of this outright win.*Karnataka draw with Andhra PradeshFaced with a target of 352 off seven overs, Karnataka could only playfor a draw in their Ranji Trophy league match against Andhra Pradheshat Kurnool.Andhra Pradesh’s first innings ended on Day Two, with Y Venugopal Raomaking 151 and holding the innings together. For Karnataka, NSCAiyappa was the most successful bowler, taking 5-112 off 40 overs.Karnataka, batting in their first essay, managed only 293, builtlargely around KMA Aiyappa’s 62 and 49 apiece from Barrington RowlandVijay Bharadwaj. Andhra Pradesh relied mostly on KS Sahabuddin, whotook 5-92.Venkatesh Prasad was the destroyer-in-chief in the second innings,taking 6-35 off 21 overs and almost single-handedly reducing AndhraPradesh to 228 all out, with only RVC Prasad (78) making a significantscore. Karnataka played out seven overs for their draw, from whichAndhra Pradesh pick up five points, while Karnataka pick three.*Tamil Nadu ensures first-innings pointsTamil Nadu played analytical cricket on the fourth day of their RanjiTrophy league match against Hyderabad at Chennai, picking up fivepoints by virtue of a first-innings lead.With the match destined for a draw, Tamil Nadu batsmen TR Arasu (78off 268) and MR Shrinivas (28 off 154) made the required runs with adisplay of grit and resolution. Arasu fell with the score on 290, butShrinivas and R Ramkumar (37 off 60) took Tamil Nadu past Hyderabad’sfirst-innings total of 336.Bowled out for 351, Tamil Nadu then reduced Hyderabad to 150/2 by theclose of play, with Ramkumar picking up both wickets. Daniel Manoharwas unbeaten on 65, while Arjun Shivlal Yadav was unbeaten on 38.

With Graham Grace hitting an unbeaten maiden limited-overs century, North West scramble to a one-wicket win over Border in a Standard Bank Cup match in Potchefstroom on Sunday.Grace, who went to the wicket with North West at 2 for one, stayed for the rest of the innings for his 111 not out, adding 21 with last man in, Jake Malao, to see North West home.Earlier, Border’s 205 for eight had been built around contributions of 54 from Stephen Pope and 42 from Craig Sugden.

In their ICC Under-19 World Cup Super League game at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, Australia beat South Africa by five wickets today.Australia remain the tournament front runner and provided another proficient all-round performance.Coach Wayne Phillips told CricInfo: “Mature is probably a very good word to use. These are capable, committed young men and their cricket reflected that.”Man of the match George Bailey, with 54 not out off 52 balls, was one of Phillips’ grown-up young men who played a key role today.”He’s one of our senior players, one of our ‘go to’ men and he’s just continued his development. We hold out high hopes for his future,” said Phillips.The Australians played like their senior team used to, with a varied bowling attack setting up a talented batting order that could hope for runs to at least No 8 Daniel Christian who was not needed to bat.”It’s always been in our planning to bat deep into the order,” Phillips continued.The top three, all left-handers, echoed Australia’s opening trio of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. Particularly convincing was the unruffled way the capable Australians chased the highest second innings total made in the tournament so far.Australia’s Craig Simmons scored 52 off 76 balls, fellow opener Jarrad Burke rode his luck for 31 and Shaun Marsh, watched by father Geoff, made 22 before pulling to Jimmy Cook’s son Stephen at deep square leg.Captain Cameron White kept the run rate required manageable with 36 off 46 balls, Mark Cosgrove chipped in with 19, then Bailey and Adam Crosthwaite calmly saw the impressive Australians home.South Africa made 237/7 total off their 50 overs. Both Cook and Ryan Bailey made 48, and both were run out by direct hits from Australian wicketkeeper Adam Crosthwaite.Ryan McLaren made an astute unbeaten 39, while Brendon Reddy belted 27 off 18 balls at the death.Right handed Bailey and left-handed all-rounder McLaren came together with South Africa struggling at 130/5, but added 55 in 53 balls with some sound hitting.The score may have been daunting to some teams, but the Australians worked the ball around the large oval, picking up the twos and threes, as Phillips targeted. “They’re spaces, not gaps,” he emphasised.The lack of a high score and a substantial partnership, as well as the run outs, was probably what cost the competitive South Africans the game.Australia meet England on Wednesday. “We had some quite competitive matches with them in Adelaide before both teams came to New Zealand,” said Phillips.As ever, the Australian was looking forward to the match, adding, with a glance across the Tasman to the form (up until recently) of the Australian senior team, “if they can play like their heroes then that’s pretty good for them.”

A Sanjay Bangar double-century has effectively scuttled Tamil Nadu’s chances of making it to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. The India all-rounder moved on from 78 not out to 211 not out as Railways reached 419 for nine in reply to Tamil Nadu’s modest 276 at stumps on day three.Bangar’s 610-minute vigil, which began along with the Railways reply, has seen him hit 19 fours and three sixes during the course of a 479-ball knock. Bangar’s 157-run eighth wicket stand with Murali Kartik was what turned the match in Railways’ favour. Railways were 237 for 7 when the two got together and needed another 39 runs to overhaul the Tamil Nadu first innings score. Kartik during the course of his patient 58 provided Bangar the ideal company to ensure that the Railway men did just that before shooting ahead.With two days left, Railways now are sitting pretty with a massive 143-run lead. Tamil Nadu have the near-impossible task of wiping out the first-innings deficit before setting a target and bowling out the Railway men for a paltry score in their second essay.

Mathew Sinclair is as well aware as everyone that his call-up for the New Zealand one-day side was unexpected, but he is determined to grasp the lifeline that has been thrown him for a resumption to his international career.Sinclair, the only member of the New Zealand squad with two Test double centuries to his name, can also claim two One-Day International centuries in his stop-start 23 game career.Given the setbacks that had occurred in his game he had set himself a goal of making the World Cup final 15. Now, in Auckland on Thursday, he has the chance to move himself a peg or two up the pecking order.Selection convener Sir Richard Hadlee said when announcing the team for the first two ODIs after which the World Cup 15 has to be named, that the selectors wanted to look at one or two players.Sinclair knows he is one of them.”I know there are positions available. I know it is a case of putting my hand up and taking it. I hope I can provide that opportunity to the New Zealand selectors and the public that I’m the man for the job,” he said.The sight of Sinclair in full and confident flight would be one that most cricket lovers in New Zealand would enjoy because there is no doubt that when he is on his game he can be a highly-attractive batsman to watch.He said he feels in good form, but the challenge ahead of him is to expose the form for all to see.”Everyone goes through those stages where you think you’re right for the job but you find that you’re not. I just wanted to put pressure on the batting order. Now I’ve been given that opportunity I’m keen to take it. And I think is the perfect time for it.”The pitch looks good so there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to get out there and do the job.He has had some reasonable form in matches played so far this year, the result of off-season work with Glenn Turner in Dunedin, and the early exposure to grass pitches as the result of his playing for Blenheim’s Celtic club in the Marlborough competition.”I guess to my detriment I haven’t been able to go on and get some big scores, but hopefully I can bring that sort of form into the one-day environment.”I know that I can do it. These two games are quite crucial. There is definitely a lot of pressure there for myself to perform, and a few others, who have been included in the team as well,” he said.Changing to one-day mode was no problem as he was already doing that in readiness for Central Districts’ State Shield campaign.He’s just delighted to be back in the national team environment and determined to get on with the job of gaining a place in the top 12. There’s nothing like a little competition to put the pressure on players.But Sinclair doesn’t mind. The pressure he is under with the two-match chance was exactly the same as he would face were he to find himself in South Africa with the World Cup side.For the record, Sinclair has played 23 ODIs and has scored 572 at 26.00 with two centuries and two half-centuries.

More punishment from Jimmy Maher and Martin Love was followed by a long-awaited fightback as New South Wales finally produced some answers for Queensland in an otherwise one-sided Pura Cup match between the teams here in Sydney today.By stumps on the second day, a good start to the Blues’ first innings had seen the home team reach a mark of 0/95 in reply to Queensland’s mammoth 4/528.New South Wales has already tried five different opening batting combinations this season. The sixth brought it more joy:Matthew Phelps (48*) and Corey Richards (42*) playing with conviction as they launched the reply. Phelps benefited fromdropped catches by Stuart Law and Brendan Nash, and Richards survived a confident lbw appeal from the bowling of AshleyNoffke (0/20), but the duo were otherwise untroubled as the Blues’ innings began.Phelps’ score was 15 when Law, at short mid on, was slow to react and was forced to unsuccessfully grasp one-handed at a ballthat had ballooned toward mid wicket at gentle pace off inside edge and pad to a Joe Dawes (0/13) delivery.Nash’s chance at short leg – with Phelps at 46 – was lower to the ground and significantly more difficult.And another half-chance went begging when a frustrated Noffke failed to convince umpire Simon Taufel of the merits of an lbwappeal against Richards with the right hander’s score at 32.It still remained Queensland’s day, however.Though Maher (198) and Love (184) each fell despairingly short of double centuries before Law declared the visitors’ inningsclosed in the shadows of tea, the opening two sessions again belonged to the Bulls. The pair’s methodical 294-run partnershipwas an all-time Queensland record for the second wicket against New South Wales and helped ease the Bulls into a position fromwhich outright defeat seems an impossibility.Resuming at the overnight score of 1/325 and with their own partnership resting at 191, each of the two players again dominatedthe NSW bowlers as play re-commenced. They availed themselves of almost every opportunity to score and the Blues werebarely given so much as a whiff of a chance until a lapse in concentration finally saw Maher – just two runs short of his seconddouble-century of the season – cut off the top edge to a juggling Phelps in the gully.Love fell in the following session – and also to paceman Stuart Clark (3/106) – when wicketkeeper Brad Haddin divedspectacularly to his right to make a one-handed interception of an outside edged off drive.But, by then, both had made an indelible impression in plying their trade on a placid pitch. They must each remain a genuinechance of being included in the soon-to-be-named Australian one-day squad to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe.

ST JOHN’S – West Indies cricket team management is ensuring its players do not fall victim to drug-testing that will be carried out during the World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya next month.Manager Ricky Skerritt said seminars had been done with the players in the past and there would be a follow-up tomorrow at the ongoing preparation camp in Antigua to sensitise the players."We have already run two workshops on [drug-testing]," Skerritt said. "One in Sri Lanka [last September] and one in India [October/November]. For most of the tour in India we had Dr Akshai Mansingh [a member of the medical panel] – and he did some ground work with the players as a follow-up."We also have in our programme this Saturday one of our medical panel doctors flying in from Jamaica to spend some more time with the guys."Skerritt said the West Indies Cricket Board had already informed the International Cricket Council about the medical condition of two players whose names were not disclosed."We have also made declaration on two players who use prescription drugs relative to certain health conditions that they have as required by the system that is in place," Skerritt said."What it means is that in the event these two players get tested and the particular test shows positive for those ingredients, it would have been declared well in advance for medical reason. That’s what the system allows and that has to do with prescription drugs."These are private medical concerns. This kind of thing will be going on in all of the teams. This is not any big mystery. But it is obviously personal medical situations."The Kittitian businessman said the game’s governing body was falling in line with international practices adopted by other world sporting authorities such as the International Olympic Committee."The ICC is making a big step on what they perceived as the need to comply with world standards. It sends a signal to us that throughout the ICC territories we are going to have to look in terms of implementing it our own local level sometime in the future."The ICC has made it clear that all future ICC tournaments will involve the Olympic-style, which is where it originated, drug-testing."Skerritt said the Windies players had no reservations about drug-testing and all the players saw it as a necessary requirement. He said they were not worried."Our players are not out to cheat. This is a step designed to prevent cheating of some kind. West Indies cricketers have not been the type of players to set about to cheat. So anything that is going to eliminate and prevent these kinds of activities, West Indies are not going to resist it," he said."We have provided the relevant information. We have tried to put it forward in ways which players understand. We had professionals explain [it] to the players. We feel that it is important. It is something new."West Indies wrap up their camp on Sunday before departing for South Africa via Barbados. They will have two warm-up matches before facing South Africa on February 9 at Newlands, Cape Town, in the tournament opener.