Waqar Younis will continue as captain of Pakistan for the home series against New Zealand and the Asian Test championship.Waqar led Pakistan to a drawn series against England and the final of the NatWest Series involving England, Pakistan and Australia.”The Pakistan Cricket Board is satisfied with Younis’s overall showing as captain and he has set a good example with his leadership,” Tauqir Zia, the PCB chairman told the BBC.

Lymington’s hopes of finishing runners-up in Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 were dashed when an unfit pitch at Grasmere Road led to the abandonment of their last day visit to Cove.Umpires called a halt to play after 12 overs, with former Cove captain Ian Crompton repeatedly struck by balls lifting off the surface.Play was delayed an hour to give the ground more time to recover from the previous afternoon’s heavy downpours.But a wet surface, lying on top of the hard unsoil, made batting conditions precarious – Cove reaching 31-2 before play was halted.The abandonment left Cove in the runners-up position behind champions Portsmouth, who rounded off their campaign with a 98-run win at relegated Hambledon.Matt Keech (26), Paul Dew (25) and Geoff Pike (22) top scored in Portsmouth’s 170 – former Hampshire left-arm spinner Ian Turner (4-18) successful in his farewell game for the village club.Raj Maru (4-19) and Pete Hayward (3-6) bowled Hambledon out for 72.Olly Kelly hit a six off the fourth ball of the final over to give Sparsholt an unexpected two-wicket win over Easton & Martyr Worthy at Locks Lane.Sparsholt were staring defeat in the face at 72-6, in reply to Easton’s 179 (Steve Green 58), but a late order rally turned the match around.Malcolm Ball must have thought his creditable 5-49 return was to have little effect when, Rob Savage (31) and Kevin Foyle (23) apart, Sparsholt’s top order was blown away.But Bill Gunyon (27) and Will Mariner (36) doubled the total to 148-8 before Kelly’s crucial 29, which included 12 runs off Mark Stone’s final over, gave Sparsholt a remarkable victory.South African teenager John Geoghegan took six wickets for nine runs as Trojans were skittled for 85 and comfortably beaten at United Services.Playing his last game before returning to his native Johannesburg, Geoghegan clean bowled five of his victims, while only Simon Williams (21) made aworthwhile impression for Trojans.Paul Douglas and Tim Subnaik took two wickets each before Chris Williams (42) eased US home.John Barnard carried his bat for 93 and Max Smith hit 66 as Old Tauntonians & Romsey piled up 256-5 before beating relegated Old Basing by 80 runs.Charles Forward (39) shared an 85-run opening partnership with Barnard, whose subsequent 125-run stand with Smith put OTs in a winning position.Only teenager Ben Thane (75) made his mark as Old Basing tumbled to 176 all out against Nick Wood (4-31) and two-wicket pair Stuart Tulk and Max Smith.

Can the hill country folk of Kandy have ever been so richlyentertained? For the first half of the day the Indian fast bowlersscythed through the Sri Lankan batting and in the afternoon, hometownhero Muttiah Muralitharan thrashed a comical half-century that put hisside firmly in the box seat at the end of the third day of this secondTest.It was an astonishing day. Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad bowledtheir hearts out, taking nine wickets between them, as Sri Lankaslumped from 52 for one to 124 at lunch and then lost four wickets in33 balls in a postprandial slumber to leave them on 157 for nine, witha lead of just 199.In 76 crazy minutes, however, Muralitharan and last man Ruchira Pereraswung the game emphatically back towards Sri Lanka with a 64-runpartnership for the last wicket, which was a record for the wicketagainst India and the equal highest of the game. Sterile statistics,though, do not tell the real tale.It was the manner in which Muralitharan scored his first ever firstclass fifty, 67 runs off 65 balls, which included three sixes and fourfours, that brought the crowd, which swelled to nearly 8000 as news ofMuralitharan’s heroics spread through the town, to hysterics andIndia’s players to their knees in frustration.He strutted to the wicket to a standing ovation and then taunted thetourists like a chief clown. His strokeplay mixed outlandish heaves,full-blooded pulls and exaggerated defense ­ he even padded up toGanguly eight yards down the pitch, much to the bowlers verbaldisgust. In between balls he rehearsed a startling array of innovativestrokes and in between overs he exercised his novel right to requestrefreshment and a rub down from the 12th man.When Ruchira Perera walked in to bat, Muralitharan was only on 11, buthe took firm command of the situation as Ganguly bizarrely pushedeight fieldsmen back onto the fence, surely the first time that theLankan spin ace has been handed such respect while he was batting.Psychologically and tactically the plan backfired as Muralitharancleverly farmed the strike. He refused to take ones until the finaltwo balls of the over, but managed to scramble the odd two and belt anoccasional boundary. When he was finally caught on the long offboundary India needed 264 runs for victory.It is a testing target. England only limped home by three wickets whenasked to chase 160 in Kandy last March and Sri Lanka lost to SouthAfrica by seven runs when they were bowled out for 169 here last year.This pitch has not crumbled like those two surfaces, however, whichshould give India hope.India’s openers survived the new-ball by the skin of their teeth,especially Shiv Sunder Das (19), who looked fortunate not to beadjudged leg-before wicket by Chaminda Vaas on two occasions before hehad scored. He was also bowled off a no ball of Vaas, who bowledsuperbly in his seven over burst (7-5-6-0).Das and Sadogoppan Ramesh (13*) had added 31 for the first wicketbefore Sanath Jayasuriya threw the ball to Muralitharan. Das pullswept him to the mid-wicket boundary, but the off spinner deceived theright-hander with his straighter delivery in his third over to leaveIndia on 42 for one.They lost no further wickets before bad light stopped play at 6.05pmwith India on 55 for one with 209 still required, but Muralitharancreated enough problems to suggest that he holds the key to this matchtomorrow.Were it not for top scorer Muralitharan then Sri Lanka would in allprobability have been heading towards their third successive defeat inKandy, as the Sri Lankan top order crumbled under the pressure exertedby Zaheer Khan in the morning and Prasad in the early afternoon.Khan struck with his third delivery of the day, which brushed theoutside edge of Kumar Sangakkara’s (13) bat and was neatly taken bywicket keeper Sameer Dighe.Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu, who scored 45 from 88 balls,added 32 runs for the third wicket, before Prasad had Atappatu caughtbehind to leave Sri Lanka on 84 for four.Ganguly bowled a short two over spell without success, but quicklycalled back Khan who then dismissed first Test centurion MahelaJayawardene (25) in the slips and trapped Russel Arnold (4) leg-beforewicket with a ball that nipped back off the seam.Hashan Tillakaratne (16) and Suresh Perera (15), both of whom arefighting for their places after an unsuccessful series thus far, alsoput up some resistance for 50 minutes either side of lunch, adding 21further runs.Venkatesh Prasad then took over the mantle from Khan. Swinging theball away from the right handed Perera he caught the edge of Perera’sflashing blade and Hemang Badani redeemed himself for an earlier misswith a sharp left handed catch at second slip.Tillakaratne had been shuffling across his stumps throughout hisinnings and had survived several close leg-before appeals beforePrasad trapped finally trapped him in front with an inswinger. Prasadthen quickly followed up with the wickets of Dilhara Fernando andChaminda Vaas to secure his seventh five-wicket haul in his 32nd Testand set the stage for Muralitharan’s theatrical performance.

Following a difficult season on the field membership rates at Derbyshire have been slashed for 2002 with £30 being lopped off the Full Member price and substantial reductions on most categories.A member now pays only £60 for a full season’s cricket while the Senior Citizen price has been pegged back to the 2000 rate of £45. Prices for Executive tickets have also seen a reduction.The Patron membership, which included one full ticket, a transferable guest ticket and a car-park pass, is now no longer available along with their own seating area on the ground. However, a member’s ticket, plus a new category called Member’s Guest at the same £60 price, plus a car-park pass would still mean an overall reduction of £15.The Country Patron at £120 will still remain but only for renewals.In addition to these reductions a 10% discount is available for members on purchases made in the Club Shop.If you have any enquiries regarding the new rates or joining the Club call John Grainger on 01332 388 106.

Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee will sharpen their knives for the New Zealand batsmen after the tourists’ top order again wobbled at the end an eventful day against Queensland in the tour match at the Gabba today.The Australian pace bowlers would have enjoyed watching the Black Caps crumble to 3-9 in their second innings, and it would have been 4-25 if Martin Love had clung to a catch at first slip from Craig McMillan.The Black Caps crawled away from the top order collapse to reach 3-53 at stumps on the third day, leading the Bulls by 150 runs with just one day to play.New Zealand still took confidence from the day following the performance of Chris Cairns, who began slipping into a groove with 5-71 as Queensland’s strong batting line-up was dismissed for 347.It was the first real sign of life for the Black Caps bowlers, with Cairns attempting a hat-trick during a fall of 7-76, on a wicket that gave very little help to the bowlers.”Getting two wickets on this deck was a bag (of wickets) but it was nice to be progressing and bowling some tighter lines,” Cairns said.”On a wicket like that you’re not going to blast people out. It’s a matter of being patient and waiting for batsmen to make a mistake.”Cairns is returning from knee surgery and his performance today, along with the news that spinner Daniel Vettori is likely to play the first Test on Thursday, should boost New Zealand’s hopes.But the Black Caps’ top order now has some questions to answer after another shaky innings, rescued only by the patience of McMillan (20 not out) and Mathew Sinclair (17 not out).It took just three balls for Michael Kasprowicz (1-9) to knock over Mark Richardson with a regulation catch behind before Test squad member Andrew Bichel claimed the wickets of Matthew Bell (four) and captain Stephen Fleming (zero) in three balls.Richardson and Bell came to Australia with a solid reputation but the pair has managed partnerships of zero, 10 and nine in its most recent outings, leaving them with the prospect of a short life-span in the Tests.It won’t get easier on Thursday when Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell Jr is expected to produce a wicket which will contain the typical Brisbane spice on the first day.It has been missing throughout this match, enabling Queensland’s top six batsmen to build solid starts.Matthew Hayden went on to make 97, falling to a leading edge off Chris Martin (1-66), but the rest were dismissed between 34 and 48.Cairns orchestrated a collapse with the second new ball, taking the wickets of Clinton Perren (34) and Wade Seccombe (one) while left-armer Shayne O’Connor (1-43) was rewarded for his consistency with the wicket of Andrew Symonds (48).The New Zealand bowlers can look forward to another workout tomorrow with Fleming expected to set Queensland a run chase.

West Indian captain Carl Hooper admitted that his side had been beaten fairand square by Sri Lanka in Galle but promised that the team will come outfighting in the second Test starting on Wednesday.The tourists lost to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets on Saturday despite havingscored 448 in their first innings.”We didn’t play as we could have done, but I don’t think we were disgracedin any way,” he said. “We are disappointed we lost but we’ll come outfighting again in the second Test.””We knew it was going to be tough. They have a world-class spinner inMuttiah Muralitharan and he is going to put you under pressure.”I was very hopeful when I saw the way Sarwan and Ganga played in the firsthour. They were fairly comfortable it was unfortunate to lose Ganga and thenSarwan immediately afterwards.”West Indies were cruising at one stage on 423 for four, but following thedismissal of Brian Lara, they capitulated, losing their remaining fivewickets for just 23 runs. Sri Lanka then rattled up 590 to set themselves upfor victory on the final day.”When we were 423 for four we should have made 550,” said Hooper. “Weallowed them back into the game and then bowled too short and wide on thefirst day. As a result they got away.”We made a big effort in trying to pull them back on the third and fourthday, but we were obviously up against it.”Hooper defended the decision to play two spinners: “It was a dry wicket fromday one we knew it was going to turn. Ramnarine bowled well, whilstMcGarrell didn’t bowl as well as he should have, but if we had to do it allagain we would picked two spinners.”Muttiah Muralitharan picked up 11-169 in the match, the third time he hastaken ten wickets in consecutive Tests.”When you play against a world class bowler like Muralitharan, it’sdifficult to have a plan,” he said. “It’s not as if he has one particularstrength. He bowls virtually everything: he’s got a straighter ball, aflighted ball and a flat ball, so, basically, you’ve got to play what yousee.”We will now have a day off, before coming and working in the nets again. Wewill discuss where we went wrong and how we can tackle them in the secondtest.”

Y Venugopal Rao hit an unbeaten 74 to hold the Andhra Pradesh innings together in their Ranji Trophy league match against Karnataka at Kurnool on Monday.Winning the toss, Andhra Pradesh elected to bat but lost one opener early. There were, however, a string of significant scores all through the batting line-up. GN Srinivas made 39, and Fayaz Ahmed scored 48.At the close of play, Andhra Pradesh were 251/5, with Venugopal Rao batting on 74 and RVC Prasad not out on 2. For Karnataka, Dodda Ganesh was the best bowler, picking up two for 46.

One-day cricket at its best. A last-ball four gave Canterbury victory and Gary Stead a century as earlier heroics by Adam Parore were not enough to keep the visitors at bay in the second-round State Shield match at Eden Park Outer Oval today.First Stead, arriving in the sixth over when Canterbury were 35 for two, played an equal role in a 113-run third-wicket partnership with Michael Papps (65). Then he held the innings together as wickets fell at regular intervals. Finally he controlled the last rush to victory with just the tail-enders to keep him company.His undefeated 101 was a mixture of punishing boundaries and smartly taken singles and it was all about keeping the scoreboard ticking over. The innings was a textbook lesson in adjusting to changing circumstances while maintaining a steady run rate.Auckland gave up plenty of loose balls early, allowing the Canterbury innings to progress through regular fours. But, when Andre Adams, Brooke Walker and Mark Haslam tightened the line, singles became the productive means of maintaining the run rate that was always ahead of Auckland’s at equivalent stages of the innings, coming down to just three required off the last over.The drama came in the effort to ensure Stead was at the striker’s end, Carl Anderson sacrificing himself in a run out to ensure his captain was on hand to score the winning runs and complete his century. It did not happen until the last ball, a classic off drive bringing Stead his just reward in personal and team terms.Auckland’s bowlers had been loose at times; tight at times. Kyle Mills (three for 60 off 10) and Walker in a captain’s effort (three for 41 off 10) took the wickets when it mattered to keep Auckland in the match. But they could never stem the flow of runs.Earlier, the Auckland innings had hardly looked likely to produce a challenging target. Despite useful contributions from Matt Horne (33) and Lou Vincent (47), Auckland at 177 for seven with 10 overs to go looked hardly likely to post a total that would worry a Canterbury side with the likes of Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan and Chris Harris on hand.However, an innings from Parore that was disciplined when wickets were falling around him but burst into action at the end saw Auckland through to 251 for nine. With the help of Haslam as last man in, he took the score from 205 for nine at the beginning of the 46th over to the final total, Parore himself contributing 38, including a couple of towering sixes.The Canterbury bowlers spread the wickets and runs among them, Harris with two for 35 the pick. McMillan (one for 46 off 10) and Cairns (two for 43 off 10) suffered the most when Parore went on the rampage at the end.Even given the bigger than expected task, Canterbury were never greatly troubled by the target – it was losing wickets that gave them problems. But in the end they had enough runs in hand to ensure a much-deserved century for their captain.Auckland weather, pitch (despite the occasional low ball that did not amuse McMillan), Outer Oval surroundings and crowd combined with the teams to ensure a second day of thoroughly entertaining cricket. This time Canterbury took the points, going home with nine from the northern raid, while Auckland were left to rue being on the wrong side of another ultra-close finish.

Punjab sure have thrown up some impressive debutants in their Ranjipre-quarterfinal against Assam played at the Punjab CricketAssociation Stadium, Mohali. If it was Ishan Malhatra who impressed onthe first two days, Friday found his new-ball partner Harish Puriwarming the cockles of the discerning. The fast bowler claimed 5 for66 in the Assam second innings as the tourists slumped to a ten-wicketdefeat in under three days. Punjab now move into the quarter-finals ofthe premier domestic tournament in the country.In the morning, Assam, resuming at 53 for two, lost opener Parag Dasalmost immediately. A 47-run fifth wicket stand between wicketkeeperSyed Zuffri (40) and Sumit Ranjan Das (31), and a 32 from GautamDatta, were the only bright spots in an otherwise pathetic Assamreply. These cameos ensured that the visitors at least avoided theembarassment of an innings defeat. This though was replaced by thenone-too-pleasurable feeling associated with a ten-wicket thumping asthe Punjab openers duly notched up the 14 runs required to seal theirteam’s quarterfinal berth.

England lost the first match of their National Bank New Zealand tour in Hamilton, beaten by three wickets by Northern Districts, with five balls to spare.A spectacular piece of pinch-hitting by former Test swing bowler Simon Doull launched ND on their pursuit of a formidable target of 289, after Nick Knight’s century had formed the core of an impressive England batting performance.

Doull – who England knew only as a Test opening bowler – hit a one-day best 80 from 47 balls. He announced his intentions early, with six, four and six off successive balls in Andy Caddick’s second over.Sixteen came off Matthew Hoggard’s fourth over, all in boundaries, the best of which was a back-foot cover drive. The first of them brought up the ND half-century.Darren Gough replaced Caddick at the City End. He bowled quickly, but inconsistently. He did not appreciate Paul Collingwood giving away four overthrows, throwing the ball over the head of the bowler and the back-up fielder as he attempted to throw the stumps down.Doull hit a a total of 11 fours and a six before he perished like a warrior, caught on the long-on boundary by Craig White off Collingwood. Doull’s dismissal left ND needing 174 at under five an over, a rate kept under control by sensible batting.Michael Parlane’s 79 from 100 balls was the most important factor. He batted with a mixture of circumspection and controlled aggression, hitting five fours and three sixes, an outstanding effort from a player who appeared to be drifting out of the first-class game just a few weeks ago.Grant Bradburn (43 not out) supported him admirably in a partnership of 90 for the fifth wicket. They made the decision to start the final charge immediately after the second drinks break, a decision that caught England by surprise.Three wickets fell quickly at the end, before Bradburn hit Jeremy Snape over long off for six to finish the match.With the exception of White England’s bowlers lacked control, some being carried away by the pace of the Hamilton pitch after India’s slow surfaces. The fielding was also suffering from a little jet-lag.Earlier, the batting had been more impressive, after they were put in by ND captain Robbie Hart.Marcus Trescothick got the innings off to a rousing start, taking six fours off the opening attack of Daryl Tuffey and Joseph Yovich as England set off at six an over. He dominated an opening partnership of 60 with Knight.The England skipper began to show signs of frailty with the introduction of 20-year-old pace bowler Ian Butler, whose speed induced two false shots from Trescothick in his first over.Unsettled, Trescothick fell to Graham Aldridge in the next over, caught low by Bradburn at first slip for 38.The impressive Butler struck in the 19th over having Michael Vaughan caught behind for 12 off a cracker that climbed and left him. This was the only period of the innings in which the bowlers contained the batsmen, with only 35 runs scored in 10 overs after the lifting of the fielding restrictions.At this point the third-wicket stand between Knight and Graham Thorpe gained momentum. Forty-two runs came from the next five overs.The partnership had reached 98 when Thorpe was out for 40, caught at deep square-leg by Matthew Hart to give Aldridge his second wicket. Thorpe scored 40 in 55 balls including three fours, putting on 98 for the third wicket with Knight.This brought Owais Shah to the middle, an event in itself. He has appeared in only one of the 11 One-Day Internationals that England have played in Zimbabwe and India over the past few months, despite being a member of the squad throughout.He made the most of his opportunity, scoring a fluent 31 from 32 balls including a towering six that scored a direct hit on a spectator sitting at deep square leg.But it was Knight who dominated. He moved from 90 to 96 with a hook off Aldridge, reaching his hundred in the 41st over. He celebrated with a third six, lifted effortlessly over midwicket.

Knight was out for 126 from 128 balls, including 11 fours and four sixes. It was an innings of a batsman in prime form. He displayed a great range of shots, some from the textbook, some improvised.White, playing his first innings since rejoining the tour, was run out for a duck from his first ball. Snape and Collingwood scavenged sensibly at the end of the innings.England’s 288 seemed likely to be more than enough against an ND side that has batted inconsistently this year, but that was to reckon without a whirlwind called Doull.England’s acting captain Trescothick, was not too disheartened at the end of the match.”Our bowlers didn’t bowl as well as they can, our fielders didn’t field as well as they can, but it wasn’t dreadful.”Were the bowlers over-excited by discovering a pitch with genuine pace?”There’s probably something in that. It cheers the bowlers up to see a bit of pace. We did bowl a bit short and that was one of the reasons.”Trescothick shouldered the burdens of captaincy and keeping wicket in this match.”It was difficult doing both, but I was excited about being captain and excited about keeping wicket.”He dropped a hint that he might continue behind the stumps in the forthcoming ODI series.”I enjoy keeping wicket, though I haven’t done it for years. If I’m going to do it a bit more, there’s a lot of practice to be done.”ND skipper Robbie Hart was jubilant when he spoke to CricInfo. He always believed that victory was possible, even chasing a score as big as 288.”It’s a great deck here, but it needed special innings’ from Doull, Parlane and Bradburn. Simon Doull has such a great eye.”He praised Parlane and Bradburn for taking responsibility and going flat out for the target straight after the second drinks. Hart smiled broadly as he talked about what the place of the victory in his career.”Every time I play for ND I’m proud, but its great to beat England.”The two teams meet again in a day match on Sunday.