Nottinghamshire’s left-arm spinner Richard Stemp has suffered more injury woe and will miss the rest of the season.After being sidelined for over a month with a broken right thumb the 33-year-old broke his left thumb during a comeback match for the county’s second string.Stephen Randall, who has covered in the first team during Stemp’s absence, is likely to be considered for the final CricInfo Championship match of the season, at Trent Bridge, against Hampshire beginning on 12th September.

It’s debatable if major implications can be extracted from the first game of a season that spans close to six months. But, if there are any clues to be gleaned from New South Wales’ crushing 123-run win over Victoria at the Bankstown Oval today, then they might point to the possibility of the onset of déjà vu.This was last season’s Australian domestic one-day champion against last season’s wooden spooner. And, it has to be said, it looked a reflection of those respective standings all over again.In fairness, Victoria’s head-to-head record against the Blues has not been at all shabby in recent times. Before today, four wins had come in the sides’ last five meetings.But, as they did many times last season, the Bushrangers simply did not look sufficiently equipped to make an imposing score in a one-day innings.After a disappointing start – when they conceded 44 runs inside the first six overs of the match – the visitors’ bowlers and fielders performed their job stoutly enough in limiting New South Wales to a total of 9/256 in the opening session.But, on a ground that offered a true pitch, a fast outfield and short boundaries, their top and middle order batsmen soon became the subjects of a dismal collapse. Moreover, it was a slide that left them embarking on another familiar custom from last season – namely, handing over a bonus point to their opposition.Undone by pace bowling trio Don Nash (3/31), Stuart Clark (2/30) and Glenn McGrath (1/22), the visitors subsided to scores of 3/38 and then 6/69 at different stages of a chase that never seemed to move beyond first gear.The state’s new one-day captain, Matthew Elliott (4), has signalled there will be a more proactive approach in Victoria’s limited-overs cricket this summer, but was instead forced to play reactively as he edged a ball of impeccable length from Nash low to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin’s left. The rot soon set in.Disconcerted by the early disappearance of their leader, Jason Arnberger (21) then flailed wildly at a Nash outswinger to balloon a catch to third man; Brad Hodge (8) was the victim of a brilliant low catch at first slip by Shane Lee off McGrath; and Michael Klinger (4) picked the wrong ball from Nash to seek to drive off the back foot.Clark’s accuracy ensured there remained little respite even after the new ball pairing had been parted.A breezy cameo from Ian Harvey (24) ended when he spooned a slower ball to cover and Ben Oliver (0) was defeated by a classical yorker just two deliveries later.Jon Moss (25), Shane Warne (25) and Darren Berry (17) prolonged the life of the match but there was no doubting the identity of its winner by then.Earlier, New South Wales adopted something of a wasteful approach after the blazing start to its own innings, frittering wickets away at regular intervals.The pattern was established when openers Haddin (21) and Mark Waugh (21) each fell to miscued attacking strokes in the space of three deliveries.Lee (83) later mistimed a swipe at a waist-high full toss from Harvey (3/38); Michael Slater (35) lost patience after a watchful innings and hammered a catch to mid on; Michael Clarke (11) fished at a ball that seamed away; and Nash (10) dragged his back foot out of his crease in attempting to drive. To compound the spendthrift trend, there were also three run outs.In Lee, though, they had a player capable of producing a sparkling and sustained innings. From early in his hand, the New South Wales captain was in command; a display peppered with shots into and over the boundaries on both sides of the wicket, his was the defining individual performance of the match. His effort was a study in concentration too, given that he was forced to devote himself to the task of holding the Blues’ innings together from an early point in his stay.Though he activated the possibility on two separate occasions by clubbing sixes early in an over, not even the lure of the competition’s new million dollar jackpot (on offer to a batsman capable of swinging an accompanying six into one of four signs on the ground’s square boundaries) swayed him from the job at hand.That was one area in which Victoria did assume dominance.The Bushrangers’ chances of winning the match had long gone, but Warne raised the prospect of a big finish nonetheless when he pummelled a Stuart MacGill (2/32) full toss only a few metres over a sign at square leg that would have delivered the million dollar bounty.ING’s directors might, at that moment, have felt their hearts collectively skip a beat as they considered the prospect of giving away the prize in the very first match of the season.Ultimately, though, they were spared a bad end to their day. The Bushrangers, by contrast, were not nearly so fortunate.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was the man in the line of fire after his side’s 46-run defeat against South Africa in a crucial match of the Standard Bank tri-series at Buffalo Park on Friday.He was the Man of the Match for his 85 off 95 balls, with six fours and four sixes, yet he had to spend a better part of his time explaining his team’s inexplicable collapse rather than reaping the praise for his own brilliant run with the bat. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:Q: Time and again, India make a mess of a winning situation when they are chasing a target in a one-day international. Why do you think this happens?
A: Well, the team is short on allrounders and a wicketkeeper/batsman who is effective under pressure. When there is no pressure, anyone can score runs but it is when you do so under pressure that it really counts.Q: Could you please elaborate?
A: Well, if you look at the teams around the world, only those who are blessed in these two respects seem to do consistently well. Look at Australia, they have Adam Gilchrist and Ian Harvey. Or Pakistan who have Rashid Latif and three allrounders in Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood and Abdur Razzaq. South Africa too have Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Jacques Kallis supported by Mark Boucher. That’s why they are top sides.Q: What is the answer then?
A: We have to look at a wicketkeeper who is really good with the bat in a pressure situation. And also find an allrounder who can chip in at critical moments.Q: Youngsters like Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag do well in a match and then don’t seem to perform in the next 10 games. How do you drill the importance of consistency in them?
A: Well, you can talk and talk but what matters is how you perform in the middle.Q: But surely there must be a way of telling them that the team expects more from them?
A: Well, what alternatives have you got? (Hemang) Badani, for instance, is such a talented cricketer but he had a prolonged lean run.Q: The team is unable to bat the full 50 overs…
A: What can you say? If you do not do so regularly, you are in trouble. It is almost criminal.Q: Do such failures by the batsmen who follow upset you to a point where you also lose focus on your own batting?
A: There is no point in doing so. If your performance goes down, then the team tends to suffer more.Q: Sehwag has just one innings but a succession of failures in his one-day career. Isn’t it time he was told his career is on the line?
A: The problem with youngsters is they play one good innings and they are compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Class must be proved over a period of time.Q: Don’t you think Jacob Martin deserved a chance because he had batted well in the last game?
A: Shiv Sunder Das has been the first choice on this tour only because he has such a fantastic Test record. He is a quality player and deserved his place ahead of Martin.Q: And what about our bowling options? Are you happy with our bowling strength on this tour?
A: Look at it this way. In this game against South Africa, I needed to employ four spinners in the middle overs. You can make your own judgement from that.Q: What are your impressions about this South African side?
A: They are a very good one-day side. They have some quality fast bowlers. They really never let you take it easy. The pressure is always sustained.Q: You seemed to be at the receiving end of a verbal assault from Andre Nel…
A: If he said something, I didn’t listen. He is a young boy and at his age you do tend to get excited.

Himachal Pradesh negated in part the advantage that Services gained byvirtue of their sizeable first-innings total in their Ranji Trophyleague match at Una.Services, winning the toss, made 329 in their first innings, withJasvir Singh top-scoring with 81 off 238 balls. He received goodsupport from Sanjay Verma (73), and their partnership formed the spineof the total. For Himachal Pradesh, Shakti Singh picked four for 67.Himachal Pradesh, responding to Services’ total, lost an opener early.Sandeep Sharma and Rajiv Nayyar put on 101 runs for the second wicketbefore the former fell with the score on 119, having made 80.At the close of play, Himachal Pradesh were 142/2, with Nayyar (50*)and Sangram Singh (3*) at the crease.

Shayne O’Connor’s tour of Australia is over.The tall Otago left-armer has improved since injuring the patella tendon in his right knee during the first Test, but not enough to convince the tour selectors that he can make an active contribution to the remainder of the Test tour.Rest has been ordered as the best way to recuperate from the injury.The injury and the return home is a blow for O’Connor who has worked hard since last summer to get back into his best form.Just as he was looking to get a degree of permanence about his Test place he broke down last summer and his return was keenly awaited, especially with the left-arm swing that lent variety to the attack.Like all of the New Zealand bowlers in the first Test in Brisbane, he looked rusty after being off the scene for so long but there was hope that the exposure in that Test would bring them all up to the mark for the second Test starting on Thursday in Hobart.However, injury has provided another player with a chance and after Daryl Tuffey’s performances in Adelaide against South Australia he was the obvious replacement for Dion Nash who returned home earlier while the third pace bowling spot will be contested between Chris Martin and his fellow Cantabrian Shane Bond, who replaced Nash.Given his performances in Adelaide and his ability with the bat which will provide further length to the New Zealand order, Bond is likely to be the preferred option.

Tamil Nadu played analytical cricket on the fourth day of their RanjiTrophy league match against Hyderabad at Chennai, picking up fivepoints by virtue of a first-innings lead.With the match destined for a draw, Tamil Nadu batsmen TR Arasu (78off 268) and MR Shrinivas (28 off 154) made the required runs with adisplay of grit and resolution. Arasu fell with the score on 290, butShrinivas and R Ramkumar (37 off 60) took Tamil Nadu past Hyderabad’sfirst-innings total of 336.Bowled out for 351, Tamil Nadu then reduced Hyderabad to 150/2 by theclose of play, with Ramkumar picking up both wickets. Daniel Manoharwas unbeaten on 65, while Arjun Shivlal Yadav was unbeaten on 38.

If the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) had returned tothe bargaining tables, a decision could have been reached tosatisfy all the players in the lottery game.Steve Stoute, president of the Barbados Olympic Association(BOA), was reacting to the announcement of the cricketassociation’s lottery.After the BCA made their final decision, there has been noofficial dialogue since then between us. Certainly, if theBCA had come back to the table from the BOA perspective wewould have been receptive, Stoute said.My response would be one of regret that the sporting bodiescouldn’t respond to the Prime Minister’s plea to formulate alottery to finance sport in Barbados.The BCA recently announced they would be going ahead to joinwith the Leeward Islands Lottery Holding Company (LILHC) tohave their own lottery, independent of the merger betweenthe BOA, the Barbados Turf Club and the National SportsCouncil.Stoute stands firmly behind the view that the market is toosmall for two lotteries.I don’t think the market can really sustain two lotteries.We have two lotteries going right now and the revenues havebeen reduced substantially not in profitability. They arestill profitable, but for the various sporting bodies to beaggressively fighting each other for market share, it is inmy opinion a sad commentary, he said.The long-serving administrator said the pie had to bedivided among those four players and Government also wanteda fund for culture and the arts, but the offer to the BCAwas fair and equitable.

The draws have been made for the 2002 Thwaites Lancashire Cup/Shield Competitions. Cup Holders Tonge CC from the Bolton League visit Ribblesdale League outfit Blackburn Northern. Shield Holders Shadoos from the Greater Manchester Amateur Cricket League entertain Northern from the Liverpool Competition. Cronkbourne from the Isle of Man, victors over Wigan in 2001, although drawn at home, will visit Wythenshawe.LCB Assistant Secretary Neil Girvin said "The Board would like to thank Thwaites Brewery for their continued support of the LCB open-age Knockout Competitions."The full cup draw:Clifton v Woodbank, Prestwich v Tarleton, Freckleton v Denton West, Jinnah v Read, Rainford v Irlam, Shadoos v Northern, Baxenden v Ormskirk, Cronkbourne v Wythenshawe, Woodhouses v Longridge, Kearsley v Norley Hall, Golborne v Great Eccleston, Sefton Park v Hindley St Peters, Lytham v Bury, Cherry Tree v Burscough, Westhoughton v Skelmersdale, Blackpool v Rainhill, Thornton Cleveleys v Vernon Carus, Ainsdale v Swinton Moorside, Fulwood & Broughton v Wigan, Great Harwood v Bootle, Wavertree v Leyland, Farnworth v Dukinfield, Darwen v Monton & Weaste, Netherfield v Prescot Oddysey, Adlington v Atherton, Leigh v Chorley, Winton v Southport Trinity, Liverpool Manweb v Eagley, Walshaw v Little Hulton, Blackburn Northern v Tonge, Walkden v Astley Bridge, Padiham v Kendal.The Shield Draw:White Coppice v Withnell Fold, Old Trafford v Levenshulme Wesleyan, Daubhill v Werneth Freehold, Moston v Lee Lane Cong, Forresters v PCC, St Johns v East Lancashire Paper Mill, Whittle & Clayton Le Woods v Jay Hind, Karmad A v Blackley, Clayton Methodists v Ladybridge, Red Rose v Glodwick, Kashmir v Bharat, St Mary’s OPC v Coldhurst Vale, Haughton Green v Rochdalians, Walton-Le-Dale v Fothergill & Harvey, Brinscall v Rochdale Catholic Club, MSJ Combined v Greenfield.All ties will be played on Sunday 19th May 2002.For further information contact Neil Girvin at the LCB on 0161 282 4029 or Email: [email protected]

It is unfair to expect any player to score a hundred every time he walks out to bat. Try explaining that, however, to the average cricket fan. You will find that logic exits speedily out of the window when it comes to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, in particular. Making an unbeaten 137 (275 balls, 18×4), Tendulkar entertained the swelling weekend crowd at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium and took India to 437/5 at stumps on the third day. Zimbabwe, for their part, found themselves yet again at the receiving end of a Tendulkar special.Minutes before tea, Tendulkar turned a full delivery from Travis Friend to square leg, scurried two, and reached his 28th Test hundred, going past Steve Waugh and Allan Border in number of Test tons scored. The little man from Mumbai is now just one century away from Sir Don Bradman and six away fromthe all-time leader Sunil Gavaskar. In the course of this innings, Tendulkar also passed the milestone of 7500 Test runs.So Tendulkar made a ton against Zimbabwe on a belter of a batting track at Nagpur – not too surprising. Perhaps less expected was the manner in which Sourav Ganguly batted. The Indian captain, who has been out of sorts for many Tests now, looked perfectly comfortable at the wicket. But just when it looked like he would emerge unscathed with a big score, he threw his wicket away. Let us face it – Ganguly has a certain contempt for left-arm spinners, and he simply cannot resist the urge to walk down the wicket and thrash them out of the park. It looks spectacular when it comes off, very silly when it does not.After knocking the ball around sensibly for 38 (99 balls, 7×4), Ganguly sauntered down the track and deposited a Ray Price delivery straight down the throat of Grant Flower at long on. With 344 on the board, VVS Laxman then walked out to the middle. And, from his performance today, one would have to conclude that VVS Laxman is fast becoming one of those enigmas of world cricket.The man who slammed 281 in the most trying of conditions against Australia in the second Test at Kolkata has since struggled to make a big score. The pressure of failure has turned a free-stroking batsman into a nervous prodder. The Hyderabadi stylist put his head down today, cutting out many of the shots in his repertoire and settling in – before falling tamely. Laxman, who prefers to use his bat rather than pad the ball away, gave Price a classical dismissal when the shoulder of his bat deflected a delivery to the close-in fielder on the off-side. Laxman made just 13 (47 balls, 2×4).Earlier, after adding eight runs to his overnight score, Rahul Dravid was dismissed on 65, chopping hard at one that kept low from Heath Streak. The ball kissed the inside edge and went straight back onto the stumps.Sanjay Bangar, in the side at the expense of Virender Sehwag, played his part well, batting sensibly and feeding his senior partner the strike. When the loose ball was on offer, Bangar was sharp enough to take full toll. Coming to the wicket to join Tendulkar with India on 376/5 in the 140th over, Bangar’s unbeaten 22 (87 balls, 2×4) helped Tendulkar take India through to stumps without further damage.For Zimbabwe, Price, the 24-year-old left-arm spinner playing in his seventh Test, stood out. Bowling with a fair degree of accuracy against batsmen who eat spinners for breakfast, Price returned figures of 4/130. Unfortunately for the visitors, though, the other promising young bowler, Travis Friend, was put out of action in the 149th over of the innings. Having bowled one “high full-pitched ball,” as the rules describe what is commonly known as a beamer, and being no-balled and warned for it, Friend repeated the mistake. Umpire S Venkataraghavan had no choice but to remove him from the attack for the course of the innings.It was an eventful day, but it will all amount to nought for the spectators if this game meanders into a tame draw. India will need to score quickly on the fourth day and give themselves enough time to bowl Zimbabwe out. With a lead of150 on the board already, India should be looking to force the pace first thing on the morning of the fourth day.

The applause can be heard, even if not seen. In this lies the fulfillment of their joy. Indeed, cricket for the blind has come a long way since its modest beginnings, and the first World Cup cricket tournament for the blind, held at New Delhi in November 1998, bears testimony to this. Seven nations ­ Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India ­took part in the successful event.The tournament was played on a league-cum-knock-out basis, with the top four teams qualifying for the semifinals. Ultimately, South Africa defeated Pakistan in the final, but it was not just South Africa who won. It was a victory for the game of cricket. As for George Abraham, the founding chairman of the Association for Cricket for the Blind in India (ACBI), the organisation of the tournament was a dream fulfilled. Prominent politician and former presidentof the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Madhav Rao Scindia and former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, by agreeing to be patrons, gave the tournament a major boost.Cricket lovers who keenly follow the feats of Sachin Tendulkar and Co. may sometimes wonder how the visually impaired are able to play the game and make a success of it. Sound forms the basis of cricket for the blind. The game is played with a white ball, weighing 90-100 grams, made of hard plastic filled with ball-bearings that rattle when the ball moves. The bowler has to call”ready” to the batsman when he is set to bowl, to which the batsman has to respond by calling out “yes.” Then the bowler will call “play” at the point of delivery. Failure to do so will result in a no-ball. The bowling has to be underarm, and the ball must bounce once on either side of the mid-pitch area before it reaches the batting crease. The stumps are made of metal and screwed together to ensure they are aligned, similar to the indoor cricket stumps. Thecolour of the wickets is generally fluorescent orange or yellow.Apart from these few rules that are adapted for the blind, all the regulations of ordinary cricket apply to the game. A match is played between two teams of 11 players, comprising a minimum of four totally blind players, three partially blind players, and a maximum of four partially sighted players. The totally blind player is distinguished on the field by a distinctive identification mark, such as a wrist-band or an arm-band of any colour other than white, while the partially blind players are required to wear a red band around their left arm to help identification. A totally blind batsman will have a runner, and a partially blind batsman has the option of a runner.The visually handicapped are among the millions of cricket-crazy people in India. But they also need an opportunity to play the game and show their worth. Fortunately in India, cricket for the blind has received good media response, as also the required corporate support and backing from institutions that care specifically for the handicapped. Regular tournaments have been conducted by SCORE, a voluntary organization, from 1990 on a national and zonal level. In 1996, the ACBI was established to handle the promotion and administration of cricket for the blind in the country.George Abraham was the prime mover in the formation of the World Blind Cricket Council. Its governing body is constituted of the seven founding member countries. The first World Conference saw the game being standardised via the formulation of a set of rules to govern future tournaments, and India was accorded the privilege of hosting the first ever World Cup.The global level that cricket for the blind has reached is an achievement considering its humble beginnings. It was first played among the visually handicapped in Australia in the 1920s, and a decade later, they played the game in England. By the 1950s, Sri Lanka took up the game, and, in India, the game caught on the early 60s. By this time it had already taken competitive form, and the Blind Cricket Carnival and other such tournaments were played on aregular basis in Australia, New Zealand and England.The visually impaired do not want charity or lip sympathy. They require support and encouragement, and cricket works wonders for them. Recognise their ability and their disability will be forgotten, as cricket for the blind is an obsession with the visually impaired in the country. Cricket is essentially about the spirit of the game, and this prepares them to face challenges in life with the discipline, dedication and drive to fulfill their dreams. By boosting the never-say-die spirit, it builds confidence and equips the blind to cope with life on their own terms. Cricket for the blind is also about physical development; the game does a world of good for the blind by helping to build mobility, boost stamina and impart confidence, reflected in better posture and stronger physique. The game also helps develop leadership qualities, a competitive edge and will power, elements that are the cornerstone of anyeducational process.