South African all-rounder Justin Kemp missed the opportunity of emulating Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri when he hit the first five balls he received from off-spinner Morne Strydom for sixes, but could manage only a single off the last ball. He was playing for Eastern Province against North West in the SuperSport Series match at Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
In all likelihood India's proposed tour of Sharjah to play Pakistan and Bangladesh to raise funds for the devastating earthquake in Gujarat will be called off. Union Sports minister Ms Uma Bharti rejected the proposal outright. She stood by the government's policy of not playing cricket against Pakistan. "If the BCCI want to organise matches in aid of the Gujarat earthquake victims, they can do it in other ways in India itself," "There is no need to play matches against Pakistan in Sharjah or anywhere in the world." She however welcomed the cricket officials' initiative to collect funds for the quake victims. She further confirmed that she had conveyed her decision to the foreign office, which was the final authority in clearing international sporting tours.
India's latest refusal raises serious doubts about the tri-series between India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka scheduled to be held in Sharjah in April. India has twice rejected the team's participation in the annual one-day matches against Pakistan in Canada, and last month cancelled a scheduled Test tour of Pakistan. The Indian government's decision is due to Pakistan sponsoring terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the meanwhile the BCCI is likely to appeal to appeal to cricketers to donate generously towards the Gujarat earthquake fund. International umpire AV Jayaprakash from Karnataka has already donated Rs 25, 000 - his match fee for officiating the recent Cuttack one-dayer against Zimbabwe.
Englishmen David Shepherd and Peter Willey and South African Rudi Koertzen will be the ICC panel umpires for the forthcoming India-Australia Test series. Shepherd would officiate the first Test match at Mumbai with former Indian captain S Venkataraghavan while Willey would partner AV Jayaprakash in the second Test at Kolkata. Koertzen will officiate in the third match at Chennai with SK Bansal. West Indian Cammie Smith is the match referee for the series.
The Pakistan selectors has retained Moin Khan as captain for the forthcoming New Zealand tour, ending speculation he would lose the position due to a reported row with the coach. Moin said he was relieved at the decision and would concentrate on the tour, which begins on February 17 and ends in March. Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been recalled for the tour despite being out of competitive cricket for almost a year. Youngster Mohammad Sami, considered the fastest bowler in Pakistan is one of the new comers in the side.
Such has been Australia's domination in the recent times that they can afford to drop a player of the calibre of Darren Lehmann for today's match against Zimbabwe in the tri-nation Carlton Series at Perth. Incidentally Lehmann averages 197.00 in this series! Australia has also dropped Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds for the last inconsequential match.
New Zealand captain Shephen Fleming will be new overseas player for Middlesex during the coming English season. He replaces Australian left-hander Justin Langer, who is likely to be touring England with the Australian team. Fleming's team all-rounder Chris Cairns was the county's first choice. However Cairns knee injury ruled this out.
The Surrey leg spinner Ian Salisbury who was dropped from the England squad for the tour to Sri Lanka after taking one wicket in three Test matches against Pakistan believes he was not given the opportunity to prove himself during England's tour to Pakistan. He felt he was not given the opportunity to perform by captain Nasser Hussain at key moments in the Tests. "I was not given the chance to perform in a pressure situation," Salisbury told in an interview with BBC 5 Live. However he does not believe it need signal the end of his England career.
Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh is confident that his side could beat India on any type of wicket during their tour of India later this month. He however expressed concern over reports that the Indian cricket officials had instructed groundsmen across the country to produce lifeless wickets to thwart his team.
Former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell was fined 25% of this match fee by South African match referee Dennis Lindsay for criticising the umpires. Campbell, speaking to the press, was critical of the umpire's (Steve Davis) decision in the Hobart one-dayer when the Zimbabweans felt that Andrew Symonds was caught behind of the first ball off the bowling to Heath Steak. Campbell's comment "everyone except the umpire knew he was out" landed him in trouble.
Scores at a glance…
Duleep Trophy (3rd day)
At Pune (West Zone vs East Zone)
West Zone: 656-7 decl (HH Kanitkar 42, SR Tendulkar 199, VG Kambli 117, J Martin 39, S Bahutule 62, R Powar 113 not out, A Agarkar 32 not out)
East Zone:132 (SS Das 38, A Agarkar 5-22) & 161 (RR Parida 41; S Bahutule 6-49, including a hat-trick)
Result: West Zone won by an innings and 363 runs
Mumbai leg-spinner and all-rounder Sairaj Bahutule becomes the second bowler after Kapil Dev (North Zone v West Zone at Delhi, 1978-79) who claim a hat-trick in the Duleep Trophy tournament.
West Zone win by an innings and 363 runs was the biggest margin of victory in Duleep Trophy history. West Zone in 1991-92 had beaten East Zone at Bombay by an innings and 355 runs.
At Panaji (South Zone vs Central Zone)
South Zone: 141 (V Bharadwaj 50; DS Bundela 4-58, Jai Prakash Yadav 3-46) & 204-4 (S Sriram 102 not out, V Bharadwaj 40)
Central Zone: 550-7 decl (G Khoda 300 not out, A Khurasiya 51, M Kaif 69, Y Goud 85; V Raju 3-133)
Rajasthan's Gagan Khoda became the only second batsman in Duleep Trophy history to record a triple hundred. The table below has the details of the highest individual scores in the Duleep Trophy:
320
300*
292
287
278
275
274
264
250
|
Raman Lamba
Gagan Khoda
Surinder Bhave
Arun Lal
Sanjay Manjrekar
Lalchand Rajput
Virendra Shewag
Ajay Jadeja
WV Raman
|
North Zone v West Zone
Central Zone v South Zone
West Zone v South Zone
East Zone v West Zone
West Zone v Central Zone
West Zone v Central Zone
North Zone v South Zone
North Zone v Central Zone
South Zone v West Zone
|
Bhilai 1987-88
Panaji 2000-01
Rourkela 1994-95
Pune 1986-87
Nagpur 1987-88
Nagpur 1987-88
Agartala 1999-00
Baroda 1993-94
Rourkela 1994-95
|
Note:
The previous highest score in the Duleep Trophy by a Central Zone batsman was the unbeaten 240 by Pravin Amre against North Zone at Visaphapatnam in 1989-90
2nd ODI match at Wellington
(New Zealand v Sri Lanka)
New Zealand: 205-8 in 50 overs (C McMillan 37, C Harris 56, A Parore 35; N Zoysa 4-28)
Sri Lanka:
206-7 in 48.3 overs (S Jayasuriya 38, A deSilva 37, R Arnold 78 not out)
Result: Sri Lanka won by 3 three wickets and with three balls to spare (Sri Lanka are up two-nil in the five match ODI series)
Man of the match: R Arnold (SL)
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"I am happy with the BCCI's suggestion that Rs 20 crores can be raised through the Sharjah matches. But, Rs 200 crores can be raised of our team plays matches with the film stars in the country."
- Ms Uma Bharati, Union Sports minister.
Yesterday's News
News Roll archive
Compiled by: Mohandas Menon
