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For the West Indies, the first one-day international at Chittagong was a curious dichotomy of both shabby and scintillating cricket, the division occurring not so much because of the failures of a few as because two players staggeringly outperformed the rest.That certainly wasn’t expected when the tourists were put in to bat; with the top order in a fine vein of form, it looked like a bad decision from Khaled Mashud, even if he did look to the hard pitch and the gloomy conditions as defence. When Wavell Hinds began systematically taking the attack apart four overs into the innings, old-timers may have recalled WG Grace’s remark about batting first: “If you win the toss, choose to bat. If you’re doubtful, think about putting the other side in and then choose to bat.”But Mashud’s gamble paid off – at least initially. Hinds was caught at long-off trying to smash a Manjural Islam slower ball over the border into India. Twenty-six runs later, a frustrated Marlon Samuels lashed out at a flighted Mohammad Rafique delivery only to find sweeper cover. By now, spin was operating at both ends, and the West Indians started to struggle.Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle, both immensely successful in India, sweated to work the leg-spin of Mohammad Ashraful, the left-arm spin of Rafique and the off-spin of Naimur Rahman off the square. The singles dried up, the pressure built palpably, and when Gayle (38, 70b, 5×4) was finally run-out looking for a non-existent single, it was hardly a surprise.Flown in as a replacement for the injured Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Daren Ganga was, unlike his teammates, clearly new to the subcontinental conditions. Stroke after stroke found only the fielders, and considering that he found Ashraful in particular difficult to pick, it was perhaps an aberration that Sarwan (39, 66b, 1×4) fell to the leggie instead, uppishly driving to extra cover.The arrival of Ricardo Powell to the crease signalled the turn. Rotating the strike with deceptive ease, Powell upped the run-rate almost immediately, even inspiring enough confidence in Ganga to smite two big sixes. An intended third found long-on, but Ganga (44, 56b, 2×6) had done his share of reconstruction.Powell then came alive. Boundaries flowed regularly as the big-hitting batsman muscled the ball as many as six times over the ropes, and seven more times just short of it. Two sixes came off one Rafique over, and when he fell off the penultimate ball of the innings – trying, perhaps, to do a Youhana and get to three figures off the last ball – he had powered his way to 88 off just 50 balls. More importantly, he saw the West Indies to a total that – at 145 off 37 overs – looked near-impossible.The deep quality chasm continued into the West Indian bowling. At one end, Vasbert Drakes did everything but make the ball talk, using the pitch and the new ball to get bounce and sharp movement either way. At the other end, however, short balls, over-pitched deliveries and other run-scoring opportunities were generously sent down by Jermaine Lawson and Corey Collymore.Of the openers, Hannan Sarkar was the first to fall, caught behind as the extra bounce took the edge. Al Sahariar followed 19 runs later, a peach of a delivery nipping off the pitch between bat and pad to clip middle stump.Meanwhile, Mohammad Ashraful, Test cricket’s youngest centurion, was occupying himself at the other end by throwing the bat at virtually everything. Starting with a mighty pull to midwicket off his very first ball, he added a top-edged six to fine leg and three more pulled fours later on.He lost Habibul Bashar in the ninth over – when the batsman tried to cut too hard and presented Jacobs his second catch of the innings – but was was soon back in the pavilion himself. Drakes pitched the ball just outside off and moved it away a shade, drawing the batsman forward. The ball took the shoulder of the bat and flew rapidly to the right of Gayle at slip, who took a fine, gangly-looking, diving catch. That gave Drakes all four of the Bangladeshi wickets to fall.As Drakes was taken off – and bowlers such as Mahendra Nagamootoo and Gayle started to operate – the innings steadied. Sanwar Hossain and Alok Kapali made identical scores of 18 off 21 balls and added 38 runs for the fifth wicket when rain interrupted proceedings with Bangladesh on 90 for four. It never let up, and after the umpires waited in vain for it to clear up, they were forced to abandon the game, leaving it to the remaining two day-nighters in Dhaka to decide the series.

Former Western Australian Test batsman Ross Edwards is taking time out from a visit to Perth to pass on the value of his Test experience to some of Western Australia s brightest cricketing prospects.Edwards, in Perth for two weeks en-route to the UK from his adopted home of Singapore, offered his services to the Western Warriors at the request of Coach Michael Veletta.The timing of Edward’s visit coincides with the return to Perth of Beau Casson, Craig Simmons, Chas Keogh and Wes Robinson on break from the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide.Edwards will speak to the Western Warriors Winter Squad at 4.00pm today, prior to training, as well as conduct a training session with the Academy Rookies and Shaun Marsh at 11.00am tomorrow in the WACA’s indoor centre.A veteran of 126 1st class games and 20 Test matches, Edwards scored 1171 runs in his 20 Tests at an average of 40.37, with a highest score of 170 not out. He is renowned for the quality of his cover fielding and was batting at the other end when Doug Walters hit six off the final ball of the session to register 100 runs in a session at the WACA Ground.

Just under an hour’s play was lost at the start of the second morning of the third npower Test at Headingley, but the Indian batsmen more than made up for lost time with a spectacular display of batting skills while the England bowlers laboured in conditions that should have helped them. Rahul Dravid went on as surely as ever and, when he was eventually out, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly raised individual hundreds in a fourth wicket partnership worth 249.When play did get under way beneath slate-grey skies, there were the expected examples of the bat being passed but without taking the edge, and increasingly Dravid and Tendulkar imposed themselves. As ever in these conditions, there was encouragement for the bowlers, but there were numerous instances of frustration that were seized upon rather than the consistent inspiration that was required.Matthew Hoggard even induced Tendulkar to drive uppishly through the covers for four, and when the next ball was whipped off his legs for another boundary, Nasser Hussain switched Andrew Caddick to bowl down hill, without any more success. That was just one of a number of changes made to the bowling, but all with the same result. Just before lunch, Hussain even resorted to trying the occasional medium pace of Mark Butcher who was undoubtedly short of bowling since his knee operation. He also gave one over to Michael Vaughan.The batsmen, meanwhile, were quickly giving momentum to the innings. The first ten overs of the morning produced 41 runs, with seven fours. Dravid went to his highest score against England while Tendulkar passed fifty with an exciting pull off Tudor.The batsmen continued to make healthy progress after lunch with Tendulkar in particular showing a range of shots that should have been closed to mere mortals in these conditions. The bowlers did get a boost, however, when the third wicket partnership had put on 150.Ashley Giles drew Dravid down the pitch, beat him in the air and Alec Stewart did the rest. Dravid’s innings had lasted just over seven hours, he had faced 307 balls and hit 23 boundaries. He had been bruised and battered about the hands but had never flinched and the value of his innings in the circumstances cannot be overstated.Ganguly settled quickly to his task after what is now the traditional greeting from Andrew Flintoff in particular who delivered a considerable number of balls in his own half. Meanwhile Tendulkar was in imperious form. He went to his century with an exquisite on-drive off the bowling of Giles for his thirteenth boundary after facing 171 balls. It was his sixth hundred off the England attack in 15 matches and his 30th Test century in all. Only his great hero, Sunil Gavaskar, has scored more.It became evident during the extended afternoon session that England stood little chance of bowling India out and it became a question of when Ganguly was likely to make the declaration. He was in no hurry to do so while there were rich pickings to be had and England could be batted out of the match.While Tendulkar went on remorselessly, Ganguly brought up his fifty with a six off Giles. A spectator tried to do what England’s fielders had been unable to do, namely catch Ganguly. Unfortunately for the man in the stands, his moment of glory became somewhat tarnished when the ball crashed into his head and he was led away for treatment from the medics. Robert Key did not receive the same attention when he dropped Ganguly off a straightforward chance at slip when the Indian captain had 62. Certainly the bowler, Caddick, did not appear to be inquiring after Key’s health.Perhaps the fielder was inconvenienced by the light, or lack of it, for it was shortly afterwards that the umpires offered it to the batsmen who declined to go off. Memories went back to Trent Bridge when, with fewer than the four lights showing on the board here, England’s batsmen had scurried to the pavilion in similar circumstances.Tendulkar and Ganguly took no notice of the gloom (there were now five lights shining brightly) as they clattered the bowling to all parts. They added 47 from three overs before Tendulkar reached 150 and Ganguly went to his hundred from 156 balls with 12 fours and a six. He then smashed Giles for a six over mid-wicket, changed his bat, and proved the new one was just as good by hitting another six next ball and then a one-bounce four in an over that cost 23.The 11 overs with the second new ball cost 96 runs, including five sixes and nine fours, when Ganguly swung and missed at a straight ball from Alex Tudor and was bowled for 128. It was a thrilling innings that could be allowed to be run its course because a declaration would have inevitably brought a close because of the light.VVS Laxman made his way to the middle and then returned to the pavilion as the gloom was overwhelming. Grinning broadly, he followed Tendulkar in with 185 not out to his name. It seems a very short time ago that questions were being asked about his continuing mastery. This was the perfect answer.

Peter Robinson who has been part of the Somerset cricket scene since he joined the Cidermen from Worcestershire back in the mid 1960’s has just taken on the role of coach to the Somerset County Ladies team.The appointment was announced at the A.C.Mole Somerset Ladies League Presentation Night that was held recently at the County Ground in Taunton.The ECB South West Women’s Club Development Officer Jackie Summers presented the league batting trophy to Lisa Quick and the bowling trophy to Sam Evans who both play for Weston super Mare. The Indoor Six a-side trophy was presented to Roadwater CC.Shortly after his appointment, Peter Robinson who played in 180 championship games and was first team coach during the `Glory Years’ at the club told me: "I am happy to be involved with coaching cricket at any level, and delighted to accept the post. I hope that I will be able to help the team to be successful."Somerset are holding trials for Under 15 and Under 17 Girls on November 23rd and December 14th between 2 and 5pm at the Centre of Excellence at Taunton and it is hoped that in 2003 there will be more teams taking part in the women’s cricket competitions.Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding told me: "Any girl who is interested in playing cricket is invited to go along free of charge. All comers are welcome."

Stuart MacGill has announced his retirement from international cricket and the current Test against West Indies in Antigua will be his last. MacGill, 37, has struggled to have an impact in the Caribbean, where he is playing his first Tests since having surgery on his right wrist in December to deal with carpal-tunnel syndrome. At the time of making his decision, he had 207 wickets at 28.43 in 44 Tests.MacGill was the man Australia turned to after Shane Warne’s retirement and although he celebrated his comeback to the international set-up with his 200th Test wicket, achieved against Sri Lanka in November, he battled with hand and knee problems during that series and was forced to re-evaluate his future. Despite a reasonably successful Pura Cup return in early 2008, he was unable to translate that to Tests and is yet to decide whether to continue playing for New South Wales.”Over the past six months I have experienced enough highs and lows to fill a lifetime,” MacGill said. “My 200th Test wicket couldn’t have been scripted any better. I will never forget the happiness I felt when my family welcomed me at the hotel that night, yet the very next week I was filled with the pain and disappointment of injury.”Although I considered retirement at the time, I decided to prove to myself that I could rise again and trained privately harder than I have done in years. When I bowled Brad Hodge in the Pura Cup final I knew that despite the often suffocating public scrutiny, I loved my job. I also knew that I was ready to play Test cricket again.”Unfortunately now my time is up. One of the treats for a bowler playing Test cricket is that you have a champion bowling up the other end. Bowling with some of cricket’s all-time greats such as Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee has made my job a lot easier. I want to be sure that exciting young bowlers like Mitchell Johnson enjoy the same privilege.”As I said many times last summer, there is no way I will ever walk on to a cricket field unless I can guarantee that I can dismiss top-order batsmen consistently. The prospect of letting myself and the team down is simply not an option. I have worked way too hard for too long to sabotage my achievements by playing Test cricket for the wrong reasons.”His return to the Test scene in Kingston was marred by long hops and full tosses, and he struggled to threaten a West Indies line-up that had been rattled by Lee and Stuart Clark. Australia will not send a replacement player to the Caribbean for the third Test, as they already have a back-up slow bowler, Beau Casson, in the squad. MacGill’s unexpected departure may provide Casson with a Test debut in Barbados.”Some people may worry about the future of spin bowling in this country, but I am not one of them,” MacGill said. “My game improved exponentially with each step up I made, and I am sure that any of the young spinners playing state cricket will thrive given the same opportunities. I am very excited for Beau, another Western Australian boy who made a very good move east.”While Casson is in the box seat for an immediate call-up, Australia’s selectors will be forced to make some tough decisions on the future of their spin stocks before the Test tour of India later this year. They had hoped MacGill could remain the No. 1 slow bowler for at least a couple of years while the younger men developed, but the likes of Casson, Dan Cullen and Victoria’s 36-year-old legspinner Bryce McGain will suddenly be vying for an important role.MacGill, one of Australia’s most successful slow bowlers of the modern era, suffered from being a legspinner at a time when Warne was mesmerising the world. His appearances were usually limited to when Warne was unavailable, although the pair did bowl together on occasions with some success. His Test debut came in early 1998 in Adelaide, when he outperformed Warne against South Africa.An old-fashioned one-dimensional cricketer – he was one of the few men who sometimes batted below McGrath and was less than athletic in the field – MacGill’s huge legbreak and excellent wrong’un made him a handful for batsmen the world over. His best efforts included a 12-wicket Test against England in Sydney in 1999, and he had an outstanding 2003-04, when Warne was out with a drugs ban.MacGill reached 200 Test wickets in his 41st Test – only Clarrie Grimmett, Dennis Lillee and Waqar Younis took fewer games to get there. While the end was not as he had hoped, MacGill will be remembered as an example of Australia’s incredible depth during the Waugh and Ponting eras, and as one the best contemporary spinners.

The Pakistan team is on the way for their campaign in Africa, the final opportunity to get their act together before the World Cup. The timing of these tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa could not have been more opportune and is an ideal chance to get acclimatized to the conditions. One can hope this will give them a head start over other teams in the competition. The downside is the fact Pakistani cricket is currently in total disarray with the selectors and management struggling to find the ideal balance between youth and experience.The two teams named for the Test series and One-Day Internationals look to be brilliant on paper, but unfortunately the game of cricket can only be won on the field. That is the problem that has been plaguing the side, while having no shortage of talent, they just can’t seem to deliver the goods consistently. Inzamam and Youhana will definitely add some stability to the very fragile batting order, but Saeed Anwar’s exclusion is mind-boggling. He is still the best opener Pakistan has, and deserves to be given the opportunity to play in the World Cup, most likely his last as age catches up with this great player. Saleem Elahi has made yet one more appearance right out of the cold, and one really wonders what thought process went in behind that decision? Kamran Akmal in preference over Moin Khan as a reserve wicket keeper is also very strange, as these tours are too crucial to be testing new players.To preserve Wasim Akram for the One-Dayers exclusively was a very sensible one, as the last thing we need is to have him unfit during the World Cup. It will most certainly be his last World Cup campaign, and one hopes that this great servant of Pakistan cricket will bow out in style. The inclusion of speedster Mohammed Zahid is most heartening and must actually be ‘allowed’ to play rather than again sit on the bench as one of the reserves. There is little doubt the bowling attack looks in great shape and has been the only solace for Pakistani fans for quite some time.That leaves us with only one problem and that is, very obviously, the batting line up. The batting order has not been established with any degree of certainty; with many players unsure of what role to perform. Shahid Afridi, if played in the ODI’s must be assigned a specific role which must be to play his natural game and take the opposition apart early. He is likely to fail on more occasions than one, but asking him to curb his aggressive instinct and play cautiously is a waste of his abilities. In Test matches, Taufeeq Umar and Saleem Elahi are a better proposition at the top of the order. The one-down slot has been experimented with too long with Abdul Razzaq too often being asked to be the sacrificial lamb. Razzaq is a far better player against the old ball, and this position ought to be reserved for Yousuf Youhana. Inzamam, Younis Khan and Faisal Iqbal must be the other sureties in the middle order. Hasan Raza too showed quite a lot of character in his last two knocks and deserves to be given a fair chance to prove his mettle against Zimbabwe.The team management needs to give all the young batsman a full go in Zimbabwe, and then pick the most proficient ones for the highly important tour of South Africa.With little time at hand and a lot of hard work to be done, one can only hope the Pakistanis can turn around their form in the twin series to enter the World Cup on a high note. It will be an uphill task after the extremely poor showing against the Aussies. The Board and team management must go all out to help this young team show guts and grit if they are to get things back on track.

Somerset ended the first day of their county championship match against Leicestershire at Taunton in a strong position.Havingwon the toss and batted all day the Cidermen closed on 376 for 3 and look well set to continue to build an even larger score tomorrow.Jamie Cox (176) was the star performer with the bat today, and shared in an opening partnership of 184 with Matthew Wood, and then put on 114 with Mike Burns (52).The Somerset skipper was eventually dismissed by Darren Maddy shortly before the close of play, leaving Peter Bowler unbeaten on 45 and Keith Parsons on 7.After the close of play Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This was an excellent professional batting performance today. Jamie Cox is a class act and batted as well as I have ever seen him, and Peter Bowler is looking good."Earlier in the day the Somerset skipper had shared an opening partnership of 184 with Matthew Wood, who was playing in his first championship match this season. Referring to the young opener the coach said: "Woody batted well, he scored at a good tempo and looked to be in good nick"What were the plans for tomorrow I asked the coach. He told me: "We will bat as long as we can tomorrow, we can’t let go of a position like this."

International cricket player power has resulted in an impasse being reached over player contracts for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, to which the recently-formed New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association is affiliated, has recommended to its members that they refuse to sign the International Cricket Council’s World Cup contracts.NZCPA chairman Heath Mills told CricInfo today that the international group was concerned with matters regarding the commercial rights of players.The issue is being dealt with by the FICA administrators where former Australian off-spinner Tim May is one of the co-chairmen of the association, and the ICC.FICA is arguing that the ICC has sold players’ rights to the Global Cricket Corporation that it was not entitled to.This could result in contracts that individual players have with different sponsors being compromised for the duration of the World Cup.The Cricketers’ Associations and the ICC are hoping to resolve the issue within the next two weeks.Players’ issues are something relatively new in New Zealand and first raised their head with the naming of the side to tour the West Indies.The announcement of the side was delayed while discussions with the Players’ Association regarding the tour contracts were resolved.At the same time, the backing for the World Cup has undergone a significant change. The Global Cricket Corporation, which won the right to market the World Cups of 2003 and 2007, and all other ICC events, including the recently-staged ICC Under-19 World Cup, and the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy, is to be fully acquired by News Corporation, the Rupert Murdoch-owned organisation.News Corp had a 5.8% share of World Sports Group, and 50% share of Global Cricket Corporation which owns the marketing and media rights.As a result News Corp will have full financial control for the World Cup.The change in ownership is reflective of the decline in value of television rights especially for major sporting events which has resulted in the collapse of several rights companies overseas.New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden had no comment to make on the issues.

After months of speculation, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has terminated the services of its chief executive officer, Gregory Shillingford. In a media release, the WICB said that Shillingford’s termination “followed consideration of a report on his performance conducted by its Review and Assessment Committee…and comments from each board member.”Shillingford’s position has never been secure since he became embroiled in a controversy surrounding the firing of West Indies team manager Ricky Skerritt via email last year. Skerritt was subsequently rehired following a review of the method of his dismissal.As early as June last year, Shillingford expressed uncertainty about his future involvement with the WICB since he was part of the Select Committee that had fired Skerritt. Reports published earlier this year also hinted that a WICB director had ‘advised’ two members of staff at the WICB secretariat in Antigua that the CEO’s days were numbered. When news of this broke, it was quickly dismissed. As recent as two weeks ago, there was talk of a ‘separation agreement’ being in place, but this too was dismissed by the regional body.The WICB said that the decision to fire Shillingford was unanimous. Roger Brathwaite, the newly appointed chief marketing executive, will act as CEO until a replacement is appointed.

</tableBen Hollioake's death at the age of 24 robs Surrey and England of an all-rounder who was showing signs of doing fuller justice to his enormous potential.Hollioake was marked out as a potential superstar at the age of just 19, when he scored a rapid 63 for England against Australia in the third ODI in 1997. He followed this with 98 in his next match at Lord's, the B&H final, which won him the Man of the Match award. It came as no surprise when he was voted Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers' Club.Such was the impression made upon the England selectors that Ben, along with brother Adam, was included in the England team for the fifth Test against Australia at Nottingham in 1997. It was the only time two brothers made their Test debuts together in the 20th century. At 19, Ben was the youngest England debutant since Brian Close in 1949.Such exciting potential took time to develop, and by the start of the 2001 season Hollioake had still only played in two Tests and seven ODIs. He was recalled for the NatWest Triangular Tournament against Pakistan and Australia, and although he ended the series wicketless, he impressed with the bat on two occasions. He made an unbeaten 37 against Australia at Bristol, contributing to a rapid end-of-innings stand of 70 with Owais Shah, and a mature 53 in an otherwise forgettable England batting performance against Pakistan at Headingley. He went on the short tour of Zimbabwe last October, and played in the one-day series in India in the New Year. After that, a knee injury kept him out of the New Zealand series.Hollioake's exploits for Surrey will leave saddening, but heart-warming memories for many supporters. On hearing of his death, one remembered three sixes in an afternoon at The Oval, one of which broke tiles on the roof of the Apollo pub over the road. Hollioake opening the bowling with Alex Tudor, pitching full of length and swinging the ball both ways. Hollioake in partnership with Ali Brown, the two outdoing each other with drives. Hollioake diving at point, just failing to take a catch scarcely five yards from the batsman after covering twice the distance to attempt it. And last summer, practicing with his brother during a rain break, and thinking, yes, he's putting in the work that will make him the best all-rounder in England since Botham.Fleeting glimpses of a tragically shortened career.