West Indians 404 for 5 dec and 343 for 6 (Samuels 147, Ganga 69*) drew with Zimbabwe A 242 and 246 for 9 (Evans 59, Taylor 6 for 58)
ScorecardA devastating spell of reverse-swing bowling by Jerome Taylor almost broughtthe West Indian tourists an unexpected victory over Zimbabwe A after thematch had looked dead and buried at tea, but the determination of GavinEwing, dropped from the Test team, denied them at the death. Zimbabwe Afinished with 247 for 9.Despite their lead of 408, the West Indians decided on more batting practiceon the final morning, presumably for the benefit of Daren Ganga, 25overnight after a century in the first innings. This decision was to costthem a chance of victory. Ganga and Marlon Samuels found it easy going until Samuels drove a ball from Stuart Matsikenyeri down the throat of long-on to depart for 147. The declaration came at drinks, with Ganga unbeaten on 69 and the target a token 506.The lbw curse soon struck Zimbabwe A again, with Vusi Sibanda adjudged infront to Taylor for 4, with the total on 9. Then came a long period ofattrition as Dion Ebrahim and Craig Evans, both playing for their Testplaces, dug in and withstood the West Indian assault. Ebrahim finally fellin mid-afternoon for 41, caught off bat and pad off the bowling of RamnareshSarwan, but Evans reached his fifty. He clearly set his eyes on a century,playing safe instead of employing his usual buccaneering style and penchantfor massive sixes, especially when the spinners were bowling.By tea it seemed as if the West Indians had accepted that the match wasmeandering towards a draw, with a score of 132 for 2. However, Taylor returnedimmediately after tea and his first ball kept low to shatter Evans’s stumpswith a ball that kept slightly low, bowling him out for 59. After a fourand two singles off the next three balls, Taylor gave the same treatment toMatsikenyeri, bowled for 5. Two overs later, it was the unfortunate EltonChigumbura’s turn, yorked by Taylor to complete a pair.Travis Friend scored just 4 before being caught at bat-pad, again offTaylor, who had now taken four wickets in four overs since tea, and ZimbabweA were 157 for 6. Drakes in the first innings and now Taylor had shattered themiddle order with their sharp reverse swing, a problem that the top playerswill need to confront in the Test next week.Barney Rogers, like Matsikenyeri in the first innings, stood firm through itall and appeared to bat without undue difficulty. But he fell just as heappeared to be making the match secure, driving uppishly at Drakes and beingcaught low down at short extra cover for 45.The last hour began with the West Indians needing three more wickets to winthe match. Alester Maregwede (5) became another lbw victim as Taylorreturned, but Gavin Ewing, who clearly felt he had a message for thenational selectors, and Blessing Mahwire were determined not to give ineasily. At this point the West Indians began to show boredom in the fieldand indulged in some quite ridiculous and pointless time-wasting – a problemwhich the ICC still does not have the guts to tackle effectively.Mahwire (10) fell to a slip catch by substitute Brian Lara in thepenultimate over, bowled by Drakes, but Ewing, unbeaten with 42, played outthe final over from Ravi Rampaul to ensure the draw. Taylor finished withsix wickets.

Ashish Nehra has been included in India’s one-day squad for the next two matches of the TVS Cup. Nehra, who has not played competitive cricket since undergoing surgery on his ankle just after the World Cup, replaced L Balaji in the 14-man squad.Sourav Ganguly was not named in the line-up, but might play against Australia at Bangalore on November 12 if he clears a fitness test. Ganguly was forced to pull out of India’s first three matches after surgery on an abscess in his thigh. Speaking on his recovery, Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, who heads the six-member medical board treating Ganguly, said: “No final decision has been taken about Sourav’s fitness, but we are happy with the progress and we hope that he will be able to play the Bangalore tie.”Announcing the Indian squad, SK Nair, the board secretary, also stated that the Indian squad for the tour to Australia would be announced on November 13.India play their last league match of the TVS Cup, against New Zealand in Hyderabad, on November 15. The final is slated for November 18.Indian squad for next two ODIs
Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Hemang Badani, Parthiv Patel (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Murali Kartik.

Sussex have signed Jason Voros, a 26-year-old seam bowler, on a one-year contract. Although Vroos is Australian, he has Hungarian parents and so is eligible to play as a non-overseas player from May 1 when Hungary joins the European Union.”It’s a fantastic opportunity for me,” he said. “To be joining the County Champions is awesome. If you’re going to play County cricket then you might as well join the best and I’m looking forward to the challenge. My signing with Sussex shows that all club cricketers can aim at the top.”Voros was born in Canberra and has played one-day cricket for Australian Capital Territories. Last season he played for Sussex’s 2nd XI, taking 14 wickets in four appearances.

Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has signed a two-year deal with Northamptonshire.”We are delighted Monty has committed his future to us,” said chief executive Steve Coverdale. “We believe he is one of the most promising spin bowlers in the country. He will be given every encouragement to progress his career here.”Panesar will not be available for all matches as he is still a full-time student.

Toss
Scorecard

With the dust just starting to settle after such a remarkable start to theseries in Dambulla – a week of full of bizarre controversy and thrillingcricket – Sri Lanka won the toss in the third one-dayer against Australia, andelected to bat first on a what appeared to be a typically flat Premadasa pitch.Although the surface, once again, is bound to suit the spinners, a muggyatmosphere and overcast conditions promises more assistance for the swingbowlers. Sri Lanka therefore bolstered their pace bowling resources,recalling Nuwan Zoysa for his first international game in 18 months.Zoysa replaced Romesh Kaluwitharana, who was run out for 12 and 0 in thefirst two games. Kumar Sangakkara takes over the gloves for the first timesince the 2003 World Cup.Australia made one change to the team that lost to Sri Lanka by just one run last Sunday, resting Brett Lee to give Michael Kasprowicz his first game ofthe series. With three games scheduled for the next five days, the changewas motivated purely by Australia’s rotational selection policy.Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Kumar Dharmasena, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Australia1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (Capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Michael Bevan, 8 Ian Harvey, 9 Brad Hogg, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11 Jason Gillespie.

The final of the Standard Bank Cup will be between Gauteng and Easterns next week at the Wanderers. Gauteng booked their place today by passing Northerns’ total in the last over of their match at Johannesburg.PointsTableGauteng 234 for 4 (Cook 88, Bacher 96) beat Northerns 233 (de Villiers 99, Crookes 4-49) by 6 wickets
ScorecardA big crowd of nearly 8000 at the Wanderers watched as Gauteng overhauled Northerns’ total with two balls to spare, to set up a home final next week against Easterns. Gauteng’s triumph was all but sealed by a big opening stand of 176, in 32.3 overs, between Stephen Cook, who stroked 12 fours in his 88, and Adam Bacher, whose 96 included 14 spanking fours.Two wickets for Gerald Dros, and a wicket and a run-out for Justin Kemp, set Gauteng back, but they squeaked home in the final over. HD Ackerman played out two dot-balls from Alfonso Thomas, then managed a risky single to midwicket. Derek Crookes, the bowling hero earlier on with four wickets, squeezed the winning run to short third man and Gauteng were home.Earlier AB de Villiers had dominated Northerns’ innings, with 99 from 113 balls, including six fours and two mighty sixes. The next-best score was Dros’s 32. Gauteng’s experienced bowling attack kept the pressure on: David Terbrugge, the former Test fast bowler, conceded only 22 runs in his eight overs, and Crookes’s accuracy at the end meant that Northerns failed to bat out their 45 overs.

Oxford’s Amit Suman and Paul McMahon added 39 unbeaten runs for the ninth wicket, as Surrey were denied victory in The Parks. After being set an improbable 350 for victory, Oxford slipped from 98 for 2 to 115 for 8 as Ian Salisbury and Jimmy Ormond tore through the middle order, but they were unable to seal the win.At Chester-le-Street, Durham’s students also pulled off an improbable draw with two wickets in hand, after Gavin Hamilton had picked up his first three wickets since his move from Yorkshire. Their captain – the man in white, Will Smith – was at the heart of their resistance with 48, and at 127 for 5 with time running out, they were in control of their own destiny. Three quick wickets caused a panic in the dressing-room, but Durham left their push too late.And there was another draw down at Taunton, where Loughborough and Somerset batted each other to a standstill. Jamie Cox’s 172 gave Somerset a first-innings lead of 75, but the students batted resolutely in their second outing. Richard Clinton was forced to retire hurt, but Chris Nash’s unbeaten half-century secured the stalemate.No such luck for Cardiff, who slumped to defeat by an innings and 224 runs against Worcestershire at New Road. From 5 for 2 in their second innings, there wasn’t much hope of salvation, and they duly folded for 164. Cambridge fared slightly better at Fenner’s. Their second-innings 245 included eight scores in double figures, including Chris Wright’s 57, but they couldn’t avoid a 153-run defeat against Essex.And at Headingley, Yorkshire crushed Bradford/Leeds UCCE by 481 runs. Jonathan Siddall contributed a brave unbeaten 75, but he couldn’t find lasting support from his team-mates, as Bradford/Leeds were bowled out for 172.

As a child I can remember the headlines when Lance Gibbs passed Fred Trueman’s then world record of 307 Test wickets. In an era when sport was given a page – occasionally two – in most newspapers, and when saturation radio and television coverage was a generation away, the column inches devoted to the feat were the modern equivalent of a week of nonstop programming.There were few dissenting voices back in February 1976 when Gibbs overhauled Trueman – although Fred himself muttered that Gibbs, an offspinner, had bought many of his victims.On Saturday, Muttiah Muralitharan passed Courtney Walsh’s record of 519 wickets. The media coverage was extensive, the celebrations in Harare more exuberant than they were in 1976, but the overall reaction – outside Sri Lanka, anyway – has been more low-key. Lingering doubts regarding Murali’s action have led to a less-than-comfortable recognition of his achievement.In The Times, Tim de Lisle wrote that the reaction was “muted, hollow, underwhelming”. He continued: “There were two reasons for this. The first is that Muralitharan was playing the Zimbabwe 3rd XI. He would have faced stiffer resistance from Devon or Ireland. The second reason concerns Muralitharan himself and the legality of his bent arm. Until very recently, almost everyone in cricket, bar Bishan Bedi and a couple of Australian umpires, was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. But with his latest trick, the doosra — or offspinner’s legbreak — Muralitharan has tipped the balance of opinion against him.””Few world champions have divided opinion like Muralitharan,” wrote David Hopps in The Guardian. “For every person who proclaims him a wonder of the age, there is another lining up to condemn him as a cricketing pariah. It is best to adopt a position from the outset: Murali is a genius, a flawed genius perhaps, but a bowler who deserves to have his greatness universally recognised. Sadly, this will never be the case. His world record will forever be tarnished by the endless debate over his bowling action.”In The Independent, Angus Fraser admitted that the action might not be perfect, but added that “I turn up at cricket matches hoping to be entertained, and Muralitharan seldom lets me down. What if Muralitharan does throw the odd ball? Cricket is littered with bowlers with questionable actions, and he is not going to kill anyone. It still takes an enormous amount of skill and practice to bowl as he does, and if it was that easy, why is the game not full of similar bowlers?”Peter Roebuck espoused similar sentiments in the Indian Express: “Now Murali stands at once as a champion and an outcast. His record-breaking performance will provoke a mixture of congratulation and resentment. Even in triumph, Murali cannot command the respect sought by every man and craved by every performer. His head must be spinning as much as his sharpest offbreak. He has deserved better from the game than a mixture of hysterical support and abject condemnation.”And that theme was amplified by Kevin Mitchell in The Observer. “Whatever the earnest mien of some Test players, cricket is a game best played with a smile and a flourish. Give me Gower before Boycott, Sehwag ahead of Ganguly. And most definitely give me Muttiah Muralitharan above his army of mean-spirited critics.” And Mitchell dismissed those who accused Muralitharan of having an illegal action. “Why is chucking inherently wrong?” he asked. “Because the rule-makers, who have always sided with batsmen, say it is. Once, bowling roundarm was illegal. So, too, was bowling overarm. The action has evolved, not always smoothly and often with a lot of arguing. He is unquestionably a genius and should be cherished, not admonished.”The reaction in Sri Lanka was, quite understandably, whole-hearted and enthusiastic. Most major newspapers devoted their front pages to the feat. “Murali on top of the world,” proclaimed the Sunday Observer, which went on to add: “Had Muralitharan been a boxer like Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight champion, he would have proclaimed to the world in typical Ali style: 1I am the greatest’.” The Sunday Island‘s headline was “King Murali”, while Colombo’s Sunday Times echoed: “King Murali does it!”Meanwhile, the former Indian offspinner Erapalli Prasanna expressed happiness at Murali’s feat. Speaking to The Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata, he said: “I am delighted spinners can now be placed on a par with fast bowlers. That spinners are setting targets for pacers is highly satisfying. It caused a lot of pain to hear that spinners have no role to play in modern cricket. People started saying cricket lacks quality spinners. It’s a matter of great pride that Murali and Warne’s achievements will be widely talked about now.”If one person was unhappy about Murali’s achievement, and had no problems saying so, it was Barry Jarman, the former Australian captain and wicketkeeper. Jarman was the first match official to raise suspicions about Murali’s actions. “It makes a joke of the game – it makes me sick talking about it,” Jarman was quoted as saying in the Sydney Daily Telegraph. “Everyone knows he bowls illegally. I saw his photo in the paper the other day and put an old school protractor on his arm. It was bent at 48 degrees [the legal limit for spin bowlers is 10]. I put it up in the pub to show everyone. He is a lot worse than the University of Western Australia people reckon he is.”

England’s loss is county cricket’s gain. Following their elimination from the NatWest Series, England’s players are set for their first taste of Twenty20 cricket. The majority of the centrally contracted squad will be released in time to play in the final round of matches on July 15, while James Anderson and Ashley Giles will be allowed to participate in earlier matches as well.The decision, made by Duncan Fletcher, is another boon for a competition that has taken off in style over the past week, and Lancashire fans will be especially pleased to see Andrew Flintoff back in action for their Roses clash at Headingley on July 14. Flintoff, however, will not be taking on his captain and Yorkshire counterpart Michael Vaughan – Vaughan has been ordered to rest until the semi-final of the C&G Trophy, against Gloucestershire on July 17.Three centuries have already been scored in this season’s Twenty20 Cup, and Flintoff and Somerset’s Marcus Trescothick are among the likeliest contenders to emulate such a feat. Meanwhile, Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood will both be turning out for Durham, with Harmison eager to disprove the theory that the 20-over format is no place for a bowler.The first Test against West Indies begins at Lord’s on July 22, and with that in mind, four of the players who were not involved in the NatWest Series – Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard – are all scheduled to play for MCC against West Indies at Arundel from July 13. Hoggard and Jones, who are on the comeback from injury, will be assessed nearer the time.

While Gerald Majola, chief executive of the South African board, may have revealed his confusion over South Africa’s tour itinerary of India, the Indian board (BCCI) has shown a much more relaxed attitude.Speaking exclusively to Wisden Cricinfo earlier today, SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI, said that too much was being made of this issue, and that confusion over itineraries was not a new phenomenon. “There are always certain commitments that come in between,” said Nair. “This year we had the Pakistan tour that wasn’t initially part of the itinerary but finalised later, since the government permitted the tour to go ahead.”South Africa are scheduled to arrive in November and we are still in the month of June. There is still four to five months left and we have to decide the number of matches and the venues where they will be played. All this is part of a process which will involve negotiations between the boards.”He added, “It is a problem between the two boards, and this is something that usually happens while finalising a tour itinerary. The negotiations will happen soon and the final decision will be arrived at in about a week or so.”Nair also pointed out that there was no fixed time-frame for these decisions to be taken and made it very clear that the BCCI had no intention of rushing into any decision. Nair, though, wasn’t willing to comment on the possibility of the series being called off and only said, “Our president [Jagmohan Dalmiya] will be talking to the South African board president in the next few days and after that we will get a clearer picture.”There has also been widespread speculation about the BCCI wanting to get the South Africa series over quickly, with two back-to-back Test matches in order to squeeze in a short series against Pakistan, likely to include three one-dayers. But Nair was categorical in his denial, and said, “This is not related to the series against Pakistan. This is a regular series and that is something entirely different.”Yet, however cool an exterior the BCCI may portray, it is difficult to ignore the reports in the South African media regarding the whole issue. Colin Bryden, wrote in the Sunday Times, that the South African board is irked by the fact that, “The Indians appear to have pushed the tour low down on their list of priorities, even though the November date has been on the ICC Test calendar since a ten-year plan was approved by all participating countries three years ago.”Mark Smit of the Business Day was even more scathing, and wrote, “Clearly, the first prize for the Indians is the Australian tour. Everything else is ‘small potatoes’ as far as they are concerned … it is hardly surprising that the Indians are trying everything in the book to get their subcontinental rivals to their country. It’s all about money, money, money.”But Nair wasn’t prepared to react to these comments and just said, “We are not really bothered about what the media has to say. Unless we get anything in writing from the South African board, we are not willing to react to the media reports. As far as we are concerned, we are still negotiating.”