Ireland and the West Indies qualified to compete in the next Women’s World Cup in South Africa after finishing on top of the International Women’s Cricket Council tournament in the Netherlands yesterday.The Netherlands, who have played in the last four tournaments missed out on a fifth tournament. Ireland has played in the four previous tournaments also, while the West Indies, who last played in 1997, will be making their third appearance in 2005.Ireland were unbeaten during the tournament and finished by beating Scotland by 132 runs. They scored 228 for 5 in their 50 overs with Clare Shillington scoring 45 and Emma Beamish 40 in only her second international match. Scotland were all out for 96 in 31 overs with Kari Anderson top scoring with 46. The only other score above three was Alison Ramsay’s 26. Isobel Joyce took 4 for 31 in nine overs and Catherine O’Neill 3 for 27.The West Indies romped to victory in only nine overs against Japan. All out for 59 in 49 overs as Phillipa Thomas took 3 for 5 from eight overs, the West Indies lost no wickets as Nadine George finished 35 not out and Nelly Williams 18 not out.The Netherlands were too strong for Pakistan. Batting first the home team scored 169 in 49 overs thanks to Maartje Koster’s 49, Caroline Salomons 39 and Debby Kooij’s 34. Shaiza Khan took 3 for 21. Pakistan were nine wickets down for 105 in their 50 overs as Salomons took 2 for 15 off 10 overs and Sandra Kottman 2 for 17 off 10.Final standings were: Ireland 10, West Indies 8, Netherlands 6, Pakistan 4, Scotland 2, Japan 0.

Grant Bradburn has returned to the Northern Districts fold, but not as a player. Bradburn has been appointed as the Community Cricket co-ordinator for the Waikato Valley region.Bradburn has been one of the great stalwarts of Northern Districts cricket with a playing career spanning 17 years. In all he appeared in 115 first-class and 121 one-day matches for Northern Districts, both of them records. He is the third highest runscorer, and the second highest wicket taker, and has the most catches by a non-wicketkeeper. He played seven tests and 11 one-day internationals for New Zealand.Bradburn will be working in the newly-constituted Waikato Valley region. A boundary review has seen the trial amalgamation of the Thames Valley and Midlands senior District Associations for the 2003-2004 season (with the exception of the Taupo sub association which has returned to the Bay of Plenty).His responsibilities will involve working closely with the senior District Association and the Midlands and Thames Valley Junior Cricket Board’s to promote the game at all levels (primary school, secondary school and clubs) and to elevate the profile of cricket in the greater Waikato region. He will also be responsible for the national development programme in the region.He will be attached to Sport Waikato, as well as Northern Districts, as a member of the Sportsforce team. Dave Richardson, previously Sportsforce cricket development manager for the whole Waikato region will now focus on Hamilton and becomes Hamilton Cricket development manager. Bradburn will continue his ownership of Grant Bradburn Sports which operates as a shop at Westpac Park. Grant will be based at the Northern Districts office at Westpac Park.

Although Ashish Nehra is definitively ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand, he should be back on his feet in time for the one-day triseries, said Andrew Leipus, the Indian team’s physiotherapist.When questioned about Nehra’s chances of playing the triseries, Leipus said: “That’s the goal at the moment – one day cricket. But not Test matches”.Nehra’s ankle injury has kept him out of competitive cricket ever since the World Cup earlier this year.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken a serious line on the behaviour of the team management for their in-house squabbling, as well as Shoaib Akhtar for his remarks about the board in a recent interview. The PCB did not impose any sanctions on the guilty party, which consisted of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Javed Miandad, Aamir Sohail, and Shoaib, but warned them to play by the rules or “pack your bags and go home”.Ever since Inzamam, the captain, and Miandad, the coach, revealed that they hadn’t been consulted about the choices made by Aamir Sohail for the squad for the forthcoming New Zealand series, there has been an uproar. Inzamam and Miandad were reported to be livid about their snub from Sohail, who publicly criticised the performance of the coach on TV commentary.However, in an attempt to bring the feud to an end, Lt Tauqir Zia, the PCB chairman, today said in a statement: “I am utterly disappointed with a series of statements issued by the team officials and the chief selector. I am sad that such big names of cricket representing a responsible organization have indulged in mud-slinging.”He continued: “I have met all the four officials and have conveyed my disappointment to them. I have warned them that the PCB will not tolerate any further statements from them against each other. They have also been informed that the PCB will be forced to ask them to pack their bags and go home if any further statements are attributed to them. They have been advised to sort out their problems in the PCB offices rather than going to the press and making a mockery of their status and stature.”A PCB spokesman added that as far as they’re concerned, the case is closed and they will not make any further statements on this issue.Meanwhile, Shoaib was reprimanded for criticising the ICC and the PCB in an interview in a local Urdu newspaper. On that matter, the same spokesman said: “He has been told in no uncertain terms to refrain from statements that are against the ICC and PCB policies.” The board did, however, did later receive an apology from Shoaib.Other matters discussed in the two-day meeting included a review of the Bangladesh and South African series and the management of the forthcoming one-day international series against New Zealand – which is now under threat due to security reasons. They also discussed the tour of New Zealand, the junior teams to go to India and Bangladesh, the hosting of the Asia Cup, India’s tour to Pakistan, and the domestic competitions.Ramiz Raja, the chief executive, said a proposed itinerary had been sent to the Indian board consisting of three Tests and seven ODIs, with the venues yet to be decided. It was also revealed that Pakistan would bid to host next year’s Asia Cup, even though Bangladesh have currently got the rights to hold the competition.Ramiz said: “We will bid for the tournament to be organized in April and May. We have decided to bid for the tournament after New Delhi allowed BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to resume cricket activities with and in Pakistan.It was also decided that the probables for next year’s Under-19 World Cup and the Pakistan A team’s tour to India in December will be announced on Monday.

For much of the day, Justin Langer played second fiddle to the batsmen at the other end, but he came into his own later in the day. Especially impressive was the manner in which he handled Harbhajan Singh. Of the 68 runs that Harbhajan conceded, 47 came from the bat of Langer, most of them through sweeps – Langer attempted that stroke 19 times, and it fetched him 26 runs.

Harbhajan seldom looked threatening, but on a first-day pitch, the onus of taking wickets clearly lay on the three seamers. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar bowled a few good deliveries, but it was largely a case of serving up far too many four-balls – the three seamers bowled 28 half-volleys, which were creamed away for 45 runs. Agarkar was the worst offender, bowling 15 of those.

If Agarkar bowled plenty of tripe, he also came up with an extremely incisive second spell of seven overs – most of which he bowled to Ponting – in which he conceded just 19 runs, quite a contrast from his first spell of five overs for 40, including one over when he was smashed for three fours by Ponting. During his second spell Agarkar beat the bat seven times, and achieved a not-in-control percentage of almost 29 – that’s nearly three times in ten deliveries. The Australians survived that spell, though, and are now in a position to force the issue on the second day.

A medley of both traditional and modern carols will be resounding in The Rose Bowl’s glass-roofed Atrium on Sunday, 14th December when the Concert Party of Hedge End’s New Music Makers will be entertaining visitors, staff and players at Hampshire Cricket’s Christmas Carol Concert.The choir, accompanied by pianist Di Heathorn, will be singing around The Rose Bowl’s 15ft Christmas tree from 1pm until 4pm during which coffee and mince pies will be available.For those wishing to enjoy some traditional fare before the 25th December, a one, two or three course Christmas Carvery will also be served in the first-floor Long Room overlooking the main cricket ground. Table reservations can be made on 023 8047 1525."The Rose Bowl is one of the most exciting new entertainment venues in the South and our spectacular glass Atrium provides a wonderful backdrop for the Christmas choir and carols," said Alexis Tusler, who is organising the event. "We anticipate a fantastic atmosphere for the Carol Concert which we hope will become a firm favourite in the pre-Christmas festivities each year."Further information on the Carol Concert is available on 023 8047 2009.

For the third time this season KwaZulu-Natal had to be content in sharing the points with the opposition as rain washed out any chance of a result, while the Border Free State match could not be started, as the second round of the Standard Bank Cup got underway. The rain also ensured that the three teams now have virtually no chance of making the semi-finals.PointsTable
ScorecardIn Durban, the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins and Northern Titans match had to be abandoned after rain interrupted the Northerns innings. Only seven overs were bowled before the rain sent the players running for cover.After winning the toss and batting first, KwaZulu-Natal had their innings interrupted three times but managed to recover from 49 for 3 in the 11th over to score a formidable 251 for 5 in the 45 overs allocated.Dale Benkenstein (62) was first invloved in an 82-run partnership with Hashim Amla (52), and then put on 75 runs with Jon Kent (57*), which allowed Lance Klusener the freedom of smashing a quick undefeated 25 off 11 balls. The Dolphins scored 72 runs in the last six overs to set a competitive target. Reon King had the best bowling figures for Northerns, taking 2 for 42 in his nine overs.Boland 208 for 5 (Davids 75*, Coetsee 3-41) beat North West207 for 6 (Henderson 108*, Jacobs 46, Carter 3-38, Albertyn 2-42) by 5wickets.
ScorecardIn Paarl, Boland recorded a close 5-wicket win after restricting North West to 207 for 6.James Henderson, with wickets falling around him, batted through the North West innings to score an excellent undefeated 108. Davey Jacobs scored 46 and put on 97 runs with Henderson, adding substance to the innings. For Boland, Neil Carter took 3 for 38, while Wallace Albertyn bagged two wickets.Boland, thanks to an undefeated 75 from Henry Davids and a swing of the bat from Wesley Euley, scoring 15 runs off the penultimate over, reached the target in the last over, but after plenty of hard work. Werner Coetsee, a 20-year-old right-arm offbreak bowler, returned career best figures of 3 for 41 for North West.

Darren Gough’s international career could yet be revived in the West Indies, despite his scathing criticism of the England selectors in a Sunday newspaper.In an interview in the Sunday Telegraph, Gough had made it known in no uncertain terms how disappointed he was not to be selected for the winter tours to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies. “I feel like I’ve been sh*t on, to be honest,” was his frank admission. But David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, has revealed that Gough remains very much in England’s thoughts.”Darren can blame us as much as he likes,” Graveney told the Daily Mail. “But we have had a perfectly legitimate concern about what has been a very serious knee injury. I would rather players get angry when they’re dropped, than take it lying down. What he has to do is show he’s fit.”Gough has taken 188 wickets at 24.96 in 121 one-day internationals, and was Man of the Match in his most recent outing, the NatWest Series final against South Africa at Lord’s last summer. That fact has not been lost on Graveney, who intends to add two fasting-bowling options to the 13 men already selected for the one-dayers in the Caribbean.”You look at fitness and who might be available,” added Graveney, “and you don’t have to go too far before you come to the name of Darren Gough.”

Scorecard

Matt Prior came to England A’s rescue with a vital innings of 82 not out as East Zone had the better of things on the second day of their Duleep Trophy match at Amritsar. England A were bowled out for 225, as Shib Paul took 5 for 61, and East Zone then extended their lead to 123 for the loss of three second-innings wickets.After their fightback in the field yesterday, England A’s reply could not have got off to a worse start. They lost Ed Smith without a run on the board, caught by Arindam Das off Debasis Mohanty. Scott Newman reached only 20 when he was bowled by Paul. However, Michael Lumb and Kevin Pietersen stopped the rot with a stand of 51 before Pietersen was out for 32, caught by Mohanty off the left-arm spin of Utpal Chatterjee. Paul struck again, trapping Lumb lbw for 33, and Kadeer Ali followed soon after in the same way.Prior and Graham Napier again demonstrated their value in the middle order, adding a valuable 65 to steer England A back to some sort of respectability before Napier was caught by Kiran Powar off Chatterjee for 28.Prior managed to add another 54 runs with the tail. He lost Graham Wagg for 8 and James Tredwell for just 1, but Sajid Mahmood hung around long enough to help his side past the 200 mark before he and Steve Kirby fell in quick succession.Mahmood then gave England A some heart before the close, removing both Deep Dasgupta and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kirby also struck to have Arindam Das caught behind, as East Zone closed at 65 for 3.

MCC 266 for 5 (Bell 88, Flower 76) lead Sussex 200 by 66 runs
ScorecardA combination of bad light and heavy rain meant that only 34.1 overs were possible at Lord’s today in the second day of the season-opener between MCC and Sussex. In that time, MCC progressed to 266 for 5, with both batsmen to fall – Ian Bell and Andy Flower – missing out on their hundreds.There was no play before lunch, and hence Bell and Flower were keen to make up for lost time, starting brightly as the Sussex attack took a while to warm-up in the damp and chilly conditions. The batsmen cruised along with little trouble until Mohammad Akram warmed his side’s spirits by removing Bell for 88, courtesy of a good catch by Michael Yardy (195 for 4).Flower, 40 not out overnight, continued his warm-up for the season ahead with Essex – as a non-overseas player this time – as he eased past his half-century, and gave MCC the lead. He added 59 with Alex Gidman before edging Akram, a county colleague last summer, behind to Tim Ambrose, the wicketkeeper, for 76 (254 for 5).Gidman was named as England A’s captain for their tour of India this winter, but had to fly home early with an injury. Today, though, he had his chance to put that frustration behind him, and he showed his credentials with five fours and a six on the way to 42 not out. Bad light inevitably forced an early close around 5pm, with MCC leading by 66 runs.