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Nick Knight frustrated Surrey’s hopes of wrapping up their third County Championship title in four years as Warwickshire secured a battling draw at Edgbaston. Knight, batting with a runner because of a hip injury, added 109 with Jim Troughton (63) and another 73 with wicket-keeper Tony Frost, who made 20 after taking 53 balls to get off the mark. Knight was eventually bowled by Ian Ward for 133, and the game ended when Warwickshire declared on 404 for nine, 205 runs ahead. They remain the only county with a mathematical chance, albeit wafer-thin, of overhauling the leaders.Middlesex enhanced their Second Division title hopes with a six-wicket win over Worcestershire at New Road. They were left needing 190 to win the match after Steve Rhodes (47) helped extend the hosts’ second innings total past 400 after they followed on yesterday. Andy Strauss and Sven Koenig set Middlesex on their way with an opening stand of 56, and after a brief wobble as they lost three wickets for 14 runs, Ed Joyce (46*) and Paul Weekes (40*) saw them home.Usman Afzaal made a century as Nottinghamshire settled for batting practice on the final day of their Second Division clash with Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay. Afzaal finished unbeaten on 104 as the game was drawn with the visitors on 274 for five, a lead of 243. Afzaal shared in a stand of 143 with Nicky Boje (70) for the fifth wicket; Dean Cosker finished with three for 101 for Glamorgan.

BRISBANE, Oct 18 AAP – Batsmen Matthew Phelps and Michael Clarke settled into the trenches at the Gabba today as NSW inflicted a rare day of pain on Queensland in a grinding Pura Cup cricket match at the Gabba.Phelps and Clarke were celebrating centuries and thanking their luck after leading the Blues down the slow road to first innings points, reaching 4-343 at stumps on the third day, still 165 runs behind Queensland.Phelps batted through the day for 137 not out from 353 balls while Clarke confirmed his reputation as a rising star with 134 in front of national selector Trevor Hohns.The Queensland attack probably deserved more wickets but they couldn’t find the edge of the bat against the determined Blues pair and the contest remains as muddy as when the coin was tossed on Wednesday.The Blues are in a strong position to take some overdue points from the three-time champions but Phelps wasn’t expecting a miracle as the players prepared for temperatures of 33 degrees tomorrow.”If I keep batting at the same pace, we’ll probably get there after tea,” the 30-year-old Phelps joked.”I had never batted through a full day before so this is the most rewarding innings I’ve played and it’s against the best attack in Australia.”Phelps described his career as “chequered” after playing 10 first-class matches in five seasons but he has shown plenty of grit against the Bulls, lasting 481 minutes.A patient Clarke battled cramp and lower back stiffness during his 289-minute stay at the crease.The right-handers were given little width by the Bulls’ pacemen, who conceded 16 runs from 15 overs after lunch, but the batsmen tucked in to Stuart Law’s part-time leg-spin after tea.Their 233-run partnership ended when a weary Clarke chipped tireless Ashley Noffke (1-70 from 32 overs) to Andrew Symonds at backward point, and the Bulls were revived when all-rounder Grant Lambert was then dismissed for a duck.”The Queensland guys bowled really well and we really had to be patient,” Clarke said.”They were getting pretty frustrated at one stage and so were we because we kept playing and missing.”We were lucky not to nick one but we stayed there and finished with centuries so I’m thrilled.”Noffke was the pick of the Bulls’ pacemen, at one stage bowling 44 consecutive balls without conceding a run, while Joe Dawes (2-42) was sharp in his 21 overs.Michael Kasprowicz (1-72) struck the first blow when he outwitted former Test teammate Michael Bevan during a tough first hour.Bevan (23) did not add to his overnight score in 25 balls, eventually falling during a smart three-ball burst from Kasprowicz.He struck Bevan on the helmet, sent down another short ball and then lured Bevan into a pull shot which the left-hander edged to wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe.But it was uphill for the next five hours as the Blues gave Queensland some of its own medicine.

As the West Indies were coasting to their 3-1 victory in the Testseries in England in 1963, the critics in their analysis wrote inglowing terms of the victors being a superbly balanced outfit. TheWest Indies line-up was made up of five batsmen, two all-rounders, awicketkeeper and three bowlers. And with one of the all-rounders beingGary Sobers, it was no wonder that the side remained the top team ofthe sixties.Glance at any all-conquering team in history and it will be seen thatit has been graced by the presence of at least one, preferably two allrounders. Warwick Armstrong’s formidable Australian outfit of the1920s had the omnipotent presence of Jack Gregory. One of the reasonsbehind the success of the great Australian side of the late 1940s andearly 1950s was the presence of the dynamic Keith Miller whose greatrival Trevor Bailey was England’s No. 1 all-rounder during thatcountry’s heyday in the midand late-1950s. And as has been mentionedbefore, the incomparable Gary Sobers provided substance and style tothe superbly-balanced West Indies side of the sixties.

Over the last quarter of a century however there have been exceptionswherein the outstanding Test sides of the period have run roughshodover opposition without the presence of a genuine all-rounder. TheAustralians of the 1970s, the West Indians of the 1980s and early1990s and the current Australian side are all examples of this. But inthe cases under study, it will be observed that the batting andbowling have been so strong that even the non-availability of theubiquitous all-rounder has scarcely been felt.Indian cricket has generally never been blessed with so formidable abatting and bowling line-up and so have always depended on their allrounders to lend a helping hand. And fortunately there have been quitea few players who have displayed their skill with both bat and ball.CK Nayudu played an admirable role in the formative years in the1930s, and in the 1940s and 1950s, India had the good fortune ofhaving in their ranks, Vinoo Mankad, Lala Amarnath, Dattu Phadkar andGulabrai Ramchand. In the 1960s, fulfilling this utility role wereChandu Borde, Salim Durrani, Bapu Nadkarni and Rusi Surti. And in the1970s, India could depend on the all-round skills of Abid Ali,Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal and Karsan Ghavri.In the late 1970s, Kapil Dev burst upon the scene and for a decade anda half, he bestrode the scene like a colossus. By the time he retiredin 1994, he had run up an all-round record fit to be ranked with thebest of all time. And through the 80s and early 90s, even under theshadow of Kapil Dev, all-rounders like Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri andManoj Prabhakar did make their presence felt.India’s all-round problems commenced with the summary banishment ofPrabhakar in 1996. Over the last half-a-dozen years, the team hassearched in vain for an all-rounder. The lack of a player withomnipresent qualities has worked to the detriment of the team’sfortunes. They have been forced to field six batsmen and four bowlers.And while four bowlers may be good enough to win matches in India, aquartet is just not enough to repeat the trick abroad. The moreattacking policy of five batsmen and five bowlers was tried out for afew matches in the late 1990s but this involved playing wicketkeeperNayan Mongia as an opening batsman. In any case, a more defensiveoutlook took over in the 21st century and for some time now it hasbeen back to six batsmen and four bowlers. There is a crying needright now to fill the breach with a genuine all-rounder.For some time, Sunil Joshi looked to be filling this role. Given hisbig break in England in 1996 following a tremendous domestic season in1995-96 when he became the first player to complete the double of 500runs and 50 wickets in one year in the Ranji Trophy, he did reasonablywell initially but somehow could never consolidate his position asillustrated by his career figures of 41 wickets at 35.85 apiece and abatting average of 20.70 over 15 Tests. This, despite a splendid allround show of eight wickets in the match and a top score of 92 in thevictory over Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2000.Robin Singh then looked to be a candidate but he was tagged as a oneday cricketer and this limited his Test appearances to just one. Thencame Ajit Agarkar towards the end of the 1990s and he seemed to be theanswer to our prayers. But after 11 Tests, he has taken only 26wickets at an average of almost 42 and with a number of ducks to hisname, has a batting average of just 7.81. So, obviously he too hasn’tfitted the bill.At the end of another disappointing campaign in the Caribbean, theexperts are divided whether the batting or the bowling failed us most.In the ultimate analysis, it was perhaps the lack of an all-rounderthat saw India fail in yet another overseas campaign. There is littledoubt that Indian cricket’s most urgent requirement right now is thepresence of an all-rounder. Besides strengthening the batting andbowling, he could also lend stability to the side. With some luck, hecould even help solve the problem at the top of the order, if one goesby the record of players like Mankad, Shastri and Prabhakar. The huntfor such a player has been on for some time but the situation hasnever been so desperate as it is now.

Lancashire have signed New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent as their replacement overseas player for the upcoming Twenty20 Cup.Vincent has been playing for Ramsbottom in the Lancashire League and had recently participated in the unofficial Indian Cricket League. His signing is still subject to a work permit and registration. “I’m delighted to get the opportunity to play in the Twenty20 Cup for Lancashire,” Vincent said. “Twenty20 is a format which suits my game, and I can’t wait to play my part in a successful campaign for the club.”Lancashire’s original overseas player Brad Hodge will be on international duty with Australia until the end of their tour of the Caribbean (July 6) while Mohammad Yousuf is with the Pakistan national team for a tri-series in Bangladesh.”We are about to start a very important Twenty20 competition and we have bought in a player with a great reputation in the format who will add firepower to our top order,” Lancashire’s cricket manager Mike Watkinson said. “He is an exciting player and excellent fielder, just what we need for Twenty20 cricket.”Vincent has played 23 Tests and 102 one-day internationals and has also had a county stint with Worcestershire in 2006.

The likelihood of New Zealand’s three-ODI tour of Pakistan later this month looks to be receding after Heath Mills, the chief executive of the NZ Players’ Association, said that he doubted the team’s security.The ICC announced that its security team, who will be assessing the situation ahead of the Champions Trophy, would not arrive in Pakistan until August 10, leaving little time for them to report back and then, assuming they give the all-clear, for New Zealand’s selectors to pick a side.”The task force security advisors do not include any of our security people and in our view I don’t see anything that will have changed,” Mills said. He is expected to be in constant touch with Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, who will be part of the ICC team.New Zealand Cricket has declined to make any comments relating to the Pakistan until the ICC report is finalised.

After Australia had established a first innings lead of 271 on the second day of the third Test in Perth, England had to face a daunting examination of technique and temperament against the extreme pace of Brett Lee and the probing accuracy of Glenn McGrath. They lost Marcus Trescothick to a Lee rocket, but Michael Vaughan and nightwatchman Richard Dawson held out to close on 33 for one – still 238 runs short of making Australia bat again.The day did not start well for England with the news that Chris Silverwood had damaged ankle ligaments and had been ruled out of bowling for the remainder of the Test. That put an extra workload on the remaining bowlers, but off-spinner Dawson was only required to bowl five overs.There was no lack of effort from the England bowlers, but little inspiration as the Australian batsmen relished the conditions and the situation. There were runs and partnerships all down the order as they moved to a total of 456 based on a succession of individual contributions rather than one or two dominant innings.Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn extended their overnight partnership to 74 – the highest of the innings – by adding 33 runs in the first 11 overs of the morning. Ponting had gone to his fifty and reached 68 when Nasser Hussain replaced the pacy Steve Harmison with Craig White. Ponting will rue the lack of foot movement as he edged the ball from just outside off stump into his wicket.Darren Lehmann has yet to establish himself in the Australian side, but he got his opportunity to bat at number five when Steve Waugh was unwell with a stomach upset. He played with more assurance than previously in the series and was audibly upset with himself when he took on White on the stroke of lunch when he had 42. He hooked uppishly and cried "Oh no" as the ball sailed to Harmison at long leg.Martyn had been a study of concentration, taking 120 balls to reach his fifty, but he was having the effect of wearing down the depleted England bowling resources. He moved forward to become the top scorer in the innings with 71 when he played a somewhat loose shot outside the off stump to edge Alex Tudor to the wicket-keeper.As one Western Australian left the crease, another, Adam Gilchrist, arrived to an expectant welcome from the WACA crowd. It was the captain Steve Waugh who moved serenely to his fifty and Gilchrist, with characteristic gusto, who blazed his way to 38 from 28 balls with seven fours and a six. Gilchrist’s blood was running and England would have been delighted to get him when they did as he hooked White to long leg where Tudor did well to keep just inside the boundary rope as he held the catch.The new ball was taken to account for Waugh who fell to Tudor, just as he did on the bowler’s debut four years ago on this ground. The Australian captain played across a full length delivery and was bowled. However, the departure of the last of the recognised batsmen did not signal the end of England’s torment. The last three wickets added 108 runs in 18 overs.Shane Warne was enjoying himself immensely in partnership with Lee who was getting a bit of a working over from the English pace bowlers. Lee was not unduly perturbed as he unfurled some rasping shots that took the score along at a steady rate.The partnership of 68 was only ended when Warne took on Harmison’s arm at long off when going for a greedy third and he was run out for 35. Lee slashed White to Robert Key at third man for an enterprising 41, before a clubbing innings from Jason Gillespie came to an end when he was yorked to give White his third five-wicket haul in a Test innings.England could do with White adding to his one Test hundred in their second innings. Left with a tricky 11 over session to face before stumps, opening batsmen Trescothick and Vaughan had to be at their most trenchant as Waugh gave the new ball to Lee. With the wind at his back, Lee bowled at a furious pace.Unusually for him, Trescothick was hopping around as he had to in order to avoid Lee’s thunderbolts, while at the other end McGrath was plugging away with scarcely a hint of a loose ball. It was in the seventh over of the innings that Lee delivered a hammer-blow to England’s hopes by going wide of the crease and forcing Trescothick to fend off the ball lifting rapidly into his body. It took the batsman’s glove before lodging in the glove of the leaping Gilchrist and Trescothick – reluctantly – was forced to go.Dawson played with great courage and no little skill to keep his Yorkshire colleague Vaughan company to the close. Waugh introduced Gillespie for the last over of the day and with the last ball very nearly claimed another wicket. Dawson had an agonising wait after the ball had flown off his pad to short leg before umpire Steve Bucknor turned down the various appeals and called time. A broad smile burst upon the batsman’s face as he realised he had survived to face another day. It is sure to be a testing one for him and all his colleagues.

On Thursday, just two days before the Cidermen take on Yorkshire in the 2002 final of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy at Lords, the Somerset Board XI face Cornwall in the first round of the 2003 competition.The Board XI, who were unlucky to miss out against Norfolk at the end of last year will be hoping to beat the Minor County side, and if they are successful on Thursday they will play the Wales Minor County team.Success against Wales will ensure that Somerset Board XI a tie against a first class county in the third round which will be played next season.Board XI manager Peter Robinson has named team combining experience with youth for the match at Camborne, several of whom will have played earlier in the week for Somerset Under 19’s in their semi final against Essex at Uxbridge.The Board XI team will be; Tom Webley, Kevin Parson (capt), Wes Durston, Arul Suppiah, Michael Coles, Kevin Sedgebeer, James Hildreth, Alistair Garnsworth, Gareth Andrew, Matt Dimond and Michael Parsons.Peter Robinson told me: “We are taking a strong side down to Cornwall, and we will be hoping to win to progress to the next round. Over the next few days there are several big matches and my ideal way to end the season would be for the Under 19’s to win their semi final, the Board XI to win on Thursday, Somerset win the C and G on Saturday, and then the Under 19’s win their final at Bristol next week.”

Somerset Sabres will be looking to end their NUL National League season with a third consecutive victory when they take on Durham Dynamoes at the County Ground tomorrow.Both sides are already relegated, but since booking their place in the second division the Sabres have enjoyed an easy home victory over Kent Spitfires, who included Steve Waugh in their line up, and squeezed home to a last over win in a day night match at Grace Road against Leicester Foxes.A feature of the last three matches have played has been the introduction of some of the younger players, including all rounders Wes Durston, Arul Suppiah and seventeen year old bowler Michael Parsons.Looking ahead to the Sabres final match which gets underway at 12 noon Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "We will be going out there tomorrow determined to get a win from our final match of the season. We need to go away with a victory from our last match to give us that feel good factor to take into the winter."He continued: "We will be regrouping after our championship defeat on Thursday and will include some of the younger players on Sunday."With paceman Richard Johnson missing through injury the squad for the final match of the 2002 season is likely to be: Jamie Cox , Matt Wood, Piran Holloway, Mike Burns, Arul Suppiah, Keith Parsons, Pete Trego, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Matt Bulbeck, Simon Francis and Michael Parsons.

While there was frustration that yesterday’s rain caused all but one of the second round matches to be carried into what should have been a rest day, Nepal’s Mahaboob Alam was not complaining after taking 10 for 12 in 7.5 overs against Mozambique. Chasing Nepal’s 238 for 7, Mozambique managed a paltry 19 to slump to a 219-run victory. Click here for more.It was again a day for the favourites as, in addition to Nepal, there were wins for Afghanistan, USA and Jersey.Former West Indies batsman Clayton Lambert, coach of the USA team, hailed his side as they comprehensively beat Norway by 10 wickets but said that the players were not going to become over confident despite two comfortable wins. “We’re not going to underestimate anybody. We’re the ones who have played a higher level of cricket so everyone expects us to win so there is a lot of pressure on,” said Lambert.The USA bowling attack looked extremely threatening with the wickets shared around its pace attack. Khawaja Shuja, the 19-year-old right-arm fast medium bowler, was the pick with figures of 5 for 15, although Steve Pitter (2 for 24) and Imran Awan (2 for 36) were also looking dangerous with some aggressive short-pitched bowling.”Some of the short balls were the right length for the wicket and the guys did a great job of putting the balls on a correct length,” said Lambert. “Some balls bounced and Norway didn’t seem to have played against the bouncing balls a whole lot so it worked in our favour.” In reply, the USA coasted to their target in just 14.5 overs with Sushil Nadkarni (41*) and Orlando Baker (32*) looking in fine form.

Eighteen-year-old Gulbudeen Naib was the hero for Afghanistan as he took 5 for 7, including a hat-trick to close the innings, as Bahamas managed just 46 all out. And although they too suffered a batting collapse, Afghanistan secured victory by five wickets after 6.3 overs as they attempted to score quick runs to improve their run-rate, with Mario Ford claiming 3 for 5.”I was very happy to receive my Man-of-the-Match award for Afghanistan and I would like to pay tribute to my captain, team and coach who have helped me achieve this,” said Naib. “It was the first ever hat-trick for Afghanistan so I am very happy,” he added. “I am sure my friends and family back at home will be very proud.”Matt Hague produced a captain’s performance for Jersey in their eight-wicket win over Japan taking 4 for 26 with the ball and scoring 27 not out with the bat. He played his part in reducing Japan to 124 for 8 in 50 overs before helping Peter Gough, who made 59 not out, reach Jersey’s target with 15.5 overs to spare. “It was a really good performance. After yesterday when we got off to such a good start batting we wanted to get in a game today and get a win on the board,” said Hague.In the other game of the day, Singapore registered their first victory of the event with an exciting win by three wickets over Botswana. Buddhika Oshanka made 79 as Singapore reached a target of 184 with 2.3 overs to spare.

Warwickshire Bears will be aiming to consolidate their grip on the First Division of the Norwich Union League when they meet Somerset Sabres at Edgbaston this Sunday. The Bears made short work of Durham Dynamos on Jubilee Day, their third win out of three in the competition, and one that put them four points clear at the head of the table. The Sabres have hardly been rattling this season – they’re one of three Division One teams yet to get points on the board.Worcestershire Royals will also be aiming to build on Jubilee success. Full of confidence after their Headingley win on Tuesday, they have much travelling to do – first to Chelmsford for Thursday’s B & H semi-final, then to Oakham School for Sunday’s NUL game against Leicestershire Foxes, who were snared by Glamorgan Dragons at Grace Road earlier this week in their first defeat of the season.The Dragons themselves, like the Royals unbeaten in two matches, have home advantage on Sunday as they take on Kent Spitfires at Cardiff. The Spitfires’ own season took off on Jubilee Day as they secured their first NUL victory over Notts Outlaws at Tunbridge Wells.The Outlaws are in danger of becoming the outcasts, after three defeats off the reel in Division One. They have home advantage on Sunday, but Yorkshire Phoenix, with two wins out of three despite Tuesday’s defeat, aren’t likely to make it easy for them.In Division Two, the pick of the games looks to be at Northampton, between Northants Steelbacks and Gloucestershire Gladiators, both fresh from Jubilee Day victories. The Steelbacks (two wins out of two) top the table by virtue of their superior run rate, but the Gladiators (two out of three) are never to be under-estimated despite their quarter-final exit from the Benson & Hedges Cup.Second-placed Hampshire Hawks (also two out of two) will be hoping to take the sting out of Derbyshire Scorpions at The Rose Bowl. The Scorpions have lacked bite so far, although they have a win under their belts. An inferior run rate has left them second from bottom in the table.The bottom-placed club, Middlesex Crusaders, are still searching for their first success. They have just two points from an abandoned game as they meet Sussex Sharks (one win out of three) at Lord’s.