From gentle touch to brute force
It took New Zealand 17 balls to find their first boundary, but when itcame, it was a delightful clip through midwicket by Brendon McCullumoff Mohammad Asif. McCullum used the pace of the bowler and barelyleaned on the ball sending it racing to the boundary. While McCullumshowed that grace can still work in Twenty20, Lou Vincent thenreverted to the more common theme – sheer power. Sohail Tanvir droppedthe ball fractionally short and Vincent latched onto a pull, launchingthe ball in the now familiar direction of deep square-leg, over thestand and out of the ground.Fulton flops
Peter Fulton was brought back for this match, but it didn’t appear thewisest decision as he limped to 10 off 15 balls. It hasn’t been thehappiest tournament for Fulton, 77 runs at a strike-rate just above arun-a-ball after he’d been touted as a part of New Zealand’s top-orderpower. His fall summed things up: a full toss from Umar Gul was steered straight to extra cover.Late arrival
The Twenty20 party is almost at an end, but it is still attractingsome late guests. Fawad Alam was handed his first game of thetournament as a replacement for Salman Butt and took the chance. Withhis fifth ball he clung onto a sharp caught-and-bowled chance toremove Vincent, although even the bowler seemed surprised at the endresult. His second scalp was the key one: Craig McMillan, who has beenNew Zealand’s leading batsman. Two balls after he was dispatched for a six,Alam had his revenge when an attempted repeat found long-off.Gul’s menace
Gul proved Pakistan’s trump card after once again being held back forthe second half of the innings. New Zealand were building a platformto allow their middle-order to make the charge, but Gul snuffed outtheir hopes. He removed Fulton, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram andconceded only one boundary in his four overs – an edge tothird man – at a time when the ball is meant to be flying everywhere. But, as OsmanSamiuddin said, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Gul has impressedin Twenty20.Kiwi lapses
With early wickets the order of the day, New Zealand had their chancebut let it slip. Imran Nazir flashed at Mark Gillespie’s second ballonly for McCullum to pull out of the catch and leave it for ScottStyris at slip. Styris barely moved a muscle and the ball raced to theboundary. By the end of the over, Nazir had added two more boundariesand the momentum was with Pakistan. Another shocker was to follow andNazir was again the beneficiary when he lofted Jacob Oram to long-ononly to for Ross Taylor to drop a dolly. That was the moment NewZealand heads also dropped.Out, but staying in
Nazir called for a runner at the end of the first over and, becausePakistan hadn’t lost a wicket, someone from the middle had to do thejob and so Shoaib Malik, the captain, took it upon himself. This resultedin an usual sight when Mohammad Hafeez was dismissed by Scott Styris,as Malik made his way off while Hafeez stayed in the middle and tookover the running duties.Taking out a team-mate
Keep your eyes on the ball – it’s a basic all cricketers are told from ayoung age, but not normally to prevent injury from a team-mate. JeetanPatel collected the ball at long-off and hurled a powerful throw backtowards the stumps, only for Vincent’s head to get in the way. He wentdown like he’d been shot, to the immediate worry of everyone near him.Thankfully, after taking a few minutes to recover he was back on his feet,but probably wished he’d had one of the hard hats handed out to the crowd.

In 2006-07 Victoria nearly made the Pura Cup final, but not quite. They nearly won the FR Cup decider, but not quite. Two of their best players nearly established themselves in the national one-day team, but not quite. In many ways it was a frustrating summer for the Bushrangers as the major honours teased and then eluded them.Greg Shipperd, the state’s coach, does not see it that way. “All in all we thought we had a very good season,” he says. “Until the last day of our last Pura Cup match we were still in with a chance to make all three finals.”That disheartening conclusion – the 101-run loss to Queensland handed New South Wales a place in the decider – meant their only prize was a second consecutive Twenty20 title. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t win more that we qualified for,” Shipperd says. “From a one-day point of view, we were very happy with our seven wins and hosting the final [against Queensland].”Their success was impressive considering that all eight of their contracted fast bowlers were out injured at one point early in the season. Victoria scoured Melbourne’s club cricket and displayed their depth when Clinton McKay and Darren Pattinson filled the gaps admirably.Things are looking better for 2007-08. Pattinson will miss the first couple of games with an ankle injury but the key strike bowlers should be ready from day one. There were fears that Shane Harwood’s latest shoulder problem could require major surgery but Shipperd now expects that will not be the case. Andrew McDonald also has a shoulder injury and might initially be unable to bowl, but he will be chosen as a batsman regardless.The legspinner Bryce McGain, 35, took six seasons to register his first five Pura Cup games as he waited patiently behind Cameron White and Shane Warne. With Warne’s retirement and White seemingly focusing more on his batting, McGain will be an important part of the Bushrangers’ attack.The batting remains a strength – four players scored more than 700 Pura Cup runs last year – and Shipperd expects strong competition between Lloyd Mash, Michael Klinger, Aiden Blizzard and Rob Quiney for what could be only one vacancy. Jon Moss has gone home to New South Wales and another Sydney signing, John Hastings, may fill that gap when he recovers from ankle problems.

There will also be a healthy rivalry between the incumbent wicketkeeper Adam Crosthwaite and Matthew Wade, who Victoria recruited from Tasmania during the off-season. Wade, 19, is highly rated as a batsman and Shipperd hinted Crosthwaite would have a challenge on his hands.”We’re not locked into thinking one keeper will do all forms of the game,” Shipperd says. “We’ll give opportunities to whoever’s in the right place at the right time. Crosthwaite started last season well and dropped away a bit, but he was an aggressive and innovative one-day batsman. He has some credits on the board.”Shipperd hopes White and Brad Hodge earn more national call-ups this summer and he believes the selectors cannot keep overlooking the prolific David Hussey, who made 911 Pura Cup runs in 2006-07 followed by 1259 at 83.93 for Nottinghamshire. “I would be bemused if he’s not given a chance, he’s in a rare streak of form,” Shipperd says. “If we can get one or two other players apart from Brad Hodge into a good, strong Australian team it would be a massive plus for our group.”Captain Cameron White
Coach Greg Shipperd
Squad Aiden Blizzard, Adam Crosthwaite, Gerard Denton, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Nick Jewell, Michael Klinger, Mick Lewis, Lloyd Mash, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clinton McKay, Dirk Nannes, Darren Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade, Cameron White, Allan Wise. Rookies Grant Baldwin, Aaron Finch, Michael Hill, Jon Holland, Peter Nevill, James Pattinson.2006-07 results Pura Cup 3rd, FR Cup 2nd, Twenty20 1st.

Kenya 302 and 161 for 2 (Ouma 63, D Obuya 70, C Obuya 14*) beat Bermuda 281 (Hemp 97, Varaiya 5-56) and 178 (Hemp 68*, Varaiya 5-77) by 8 wickets
ScorecardKenya knocked off the final 79 runs to beat Bermuda in their Intercontinental Cup match at the Nairobi Gymkhana, easing to an eight-wicket win.Maurice Ouma brought up a slick fifty from 49 balls, but he couldn’t replicate the blistering strokeplay of yesterday afternoon, scooping Malachi Jones straight to mid-off for 63.But David Obuya, the slower of the two yesterday, opened his shoulders – clubbing Jones over long-on before dispatching Rodney Trott over the same boundary for six. Trott got his man, however, when Obuya stepped to the leg-side and was beaten by a quicker delivery. Obuya’s namesake, Collins, together with Tony Suji knocked off the required runs with the minimum of fuss to inflict yet another defeat on Bermuda.Kenya now top the Intercontinental Cup table with 40 points, six ahead of Netherlands. Bermuda, though, have won just a single game on their forgettable tour of Kenya, beating Uganda in their opening match. They now travel to Sharjah to face UAE on November 8.

Mervyn “Pee Wee” Wong, a cricket scorer and statistician, died aged 75 on Wednesday night after complications from a stroke in St Augustine.Wong’s most noted piece of work was a collaborative effort with Jimmy Richards, a Jamaican editor, on the “Book of West Indies Cricket Records 1880-1989”, which recorded first-class and Test statistics for West Indies cricket during that period.Brij Parasnath, a cricket commentator and statistician, said Wong had left an indelible mark. “He has left a great legacy for all of us [statisticians], in terms of West Indies records which are updated and accurate, and which have helped us to promote West Indies cricket in a better way through the print and electronic media,” said Parasnath. “We commisserate with his family and wish them all the best in this period of sadness.”

Shaun Tait will use the three one-dayers against New Zealand in his bid to get back into the Test frame. Tait dropped out of the Test squad for Sri Lanka with an elbow injury, and had to watch Mitchell Johnson bowl credibly in the third fast bowler’s slot.But he says he will target the Chappell-Hadlee Series, which starts at his home ground in Adelaide next Friday, to push for selection for the India Tests, which begin on Boxing Day. He also has Tuesday’s Twenty20 in Perth to further his claims, which have already been boosted by a ten-wicket match haul against Queensland in the Pura Cup, including 7 for 29.”It’s in the back of my mind,” Tait told . “I can’t lie, I suppose, but at this stage I’m just stoked to be back in the one-day side. Last time was the World Cup so it’s exciting. I’ll concentrate on that for the next couple of weeks.”Tait said he enjoyed the edge of competing for a Test spot with Johnson, saying that when he gets his chance he wishes him all the best. “It’s healthy competing. We’re all mates,” Tait said. “It’s fantastic and likewise with myself. In this day and age there’s so many good players around you’ve just got to accept it.”Brad Haddin is similarly happy to be in the one-day squad, but he has a different aim – to nail a spot as a batsman in his own right, rather than a back-up keeper to Adam Gilchrist. This has always been his target, he says, but he’s moving ever closer to achieving it after he was included in the one-day squad for his batting, following on from the one-dayers in India in October when he batted in Ricky Ponting’s absence while Gilchrist kept.”It’s something I’ve been working on for a long time now to be considered in the team on my own merits while Adam is still in the squad,” he told . “It’s been probably a four to five year process and it’s finally come about.”Haddin’s recent one-day form is impressive. He made 200 runs at 66.66 against India, with two half-centuries in four innings, and he has 239 domestic runs at 79.66 so far.He will be concentrating on Australia’s bid to reclaim the Chappell-Hadlee trophy after New Zealand took the series 3-0 last season. “We really want that trophy back,” he said. “We don’t want our little cousins to be holding it for much longer, we’d much rather have it in our trophy cabinet.”

Warren Deutrom, the CEO of the Irish Cricket Union, has hit back at reports that the game in Ireland is in crisis following a year where they will struggled to break even despite their success at the World Cup.The ICU needed a grant of £250,000 from the Irish Sports Council to stabilise it during the season after extra costs associated with the World Cup, and the predicted windfall from a series of high-profile ODIs with India and South Africa was undermined by poor weather. But Deutrom says Ireland’s difficulties are similar to those faced by other nations.”First, it is important to say that you are correct that it has been a difficult financial year for Irish cricket – that is a recognised fact and no-one disputes that,” he said. “In that regard, we are probably no different to many other small national governing bodies that struggle to make ends meet. The World Cup was certainly not a ‘cash bonanza’ as you described it, and we have experienced tough times this year.”It was a tough year financially for us, but we will get through it to the point whereby our new commercial structures will bear fruit, we will have an agreement for media rights in place, and significant monies from the ICC will flow down in 2009. These things take time, but we will get there through hard work, passion and dedication.”Deutrom added that there were a huge number of people working tirelessly to try and make Irish cricket a success. “We certainly do not claim to be perfect or infallible, but there is nothing but hard-work and passion for the sport in the ICU, whether it is the handful of employees or the army of enthusiastic volunteers who have put the sport where it is today.”And, Deutrom said, the fact that the Irish Sports Council and ICC were willing to help the ICU with its finances shows that the board has developed a sound footing which could be trusted and that people should be “applauding Irish cricket for developing these relationships to the extent whereby they are prepared to have confidence in us to manage this properly.”He pinpointed the awarding of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 qualifiers to Belfast next year as a sign as to how highly Ireland are regarded. “ICC does not award such prestigious events to poorly-managed, inefficient administrations,” he said.In relation to the lack of a sponsor since Bank of Ireland withdrew earlier this year, Deutrom said these large negotiations take time and added that the board “are in the middle of talks with a major brand,” and as such it is at a very delicate stage and can’t be discussed in public.

Scorecard

Rakesh Solanki kept Baroda in the run at the end of the third day of their Ranji semi-final against Delhi in Indore. Solanki anchored the innings with a fine 96 but it was Yusuf Pathan who helped Baroda seize the initiative with an unbeaten 61-ball 86. Delhi, though, removed Solanki in the last over of the day to ensure that they remained in the hunt.Baroda had struggled in the first session, losing three wickets but Solanki featured in two partnerships that swung the momentum. He was involved in a 79-run stand with Shatrunjay Gaekwad before adding a further 118 runs with Yusuf, who turned on the heat in the last session.Yusuf had walked in to face the second ball of the final session and immediately chose to counterattack. He drove, cut, lofted and swept merrily in an entertaining innings that had Delhi bowlers in complete disarray. Spin or seam made no difference as he plonked the front foot forward and knived through the line. He started off by driving the legspinner Chetanya Nanda to the straight boundary before flashing Amit Bhandari twice in succession to the cover boundary. Nanda went around the wicket and aimed at the rough but Yusuf continued to attack, hitting two towering sixes over long-on and sweeping a couple to the boundary. The new ball too didn’t make any impact on him as he repeatedly drove Sumit Narwal and Parvinder Awana.But the wicket of Solanki kept Delhi in the game. It was a marginal decision as Solanki played across to a full delivery from Rajat Bhatia and it appeared to be heading down leg side. By then, though, Solanki had played a stellar part in reviving the fortunes of Baroda.He started off uncertainly, playing and missing outside off, but hit a few punchy drives to get going. As the day wore on, he got increasingly confident and the nervous pokes were replaced by confident drives and cuts. Whenever the bowlers pitched short, he pulled them for boundaries. Solanki sealed one end during the final session of the day while Yusuf went berserk to charge Baroda towards a sizeable lead. Though Solanki was given a reprieve, on 93, when he cut to gully where Aditya Jain spilled a straightforward chance but he couldn’t capitalise.But it was Gaekwad who led the repair job in the second session with an assured knock of 46. He defended compactly and showed impeccable timing while attacking. The highlight of the knock was his successive boundaries of Amit Bhandari. The bowler had hit the full length from around the wicket – a line that had proved very profitable for him on the first day – but Gaekwad stretched well forward to drive him to straight boundary before producing the shot of the day – a gorgeous cover drive. Baroda had begun to break free.Solanki too found his stride and 78 runs came in the second session before Gaekwad fell to a soft dismissal. He closed his bat a touch early to a short-of-length delivery from Awana, only to see the leading edge carry back to the bowler.The first session had seen Baroda repeat the mistakes of the first day. The bat was pushed away from the body, the feet didn’t come in line and the reading of line left a lot to be desired. Awana kept the ball in the right areas to lure the batsmen to their demise. Connor Williams drove away from the body, Satyajit Parab dragged on a loose drive to the stumps and Azharuddin Bilakhia shouldered arms to a length delivery around off stump only to lose the off stump. Baroda were still trailing by 16 runs at that point but Solanki and Gaekwad started the fightback.The next setback for Baroda came in the first ball of the final session. Nanda got one to skid on straight and had Pinal Shah playing all around it. Nanda should have had the new batsman Yusuf early with another slider but the umpire turned down a confident shout for lbw. By the end of the day, Baroda had stretched the lead to over 200 but Delhi struck in the end to leave the game tantalisingly poised.

Gloucestershire’s coach, Mark Alleyne, will leave the club in February, prior to his contract ending in September 2008, after the club decided it was time for a shake-up in their structure.John Light, the chairman of Gloucestershire, said: “We have come to this agreement after much deliberation. We feel that it is now time for change and time to move towards a new director of cricket. I would like publicly to thank Mark Alleyne for his massive contribution which has been greatly appreciated by everyone associated with the club. We wish him every success in the future.”Alleyne joined Gloucestershire as a 22-year-old in 1986, and went on to fill the club’s allrounder slot with great skill and aplomb. In 1999, his efforts were recognised when he was selected for his maiden ODI against Australia at Brisbane, and he went on to make 151 runs and take 10 wickets in 10 England appearances.It was at club level, however, that Alleyne really made his mark. He became the most successful captain in the Gloucestershire’s history. Between 1997 and 2005, the team won eight one-day trophies, including three successive Lord’s finals and the treble in 2000. Alleyne became player coach in 2004, then moved up to head coach upon his retirement in 2005.”I reminisce with absolute pride about the last 22 years of my life,” said Alleyne. “All spent serving Gloucestershire CCC in the best way I knew how and now it comes to an end. Exciting memories from my very first ball at the Winget Ground in Gloucester to the very last ball in 2007. Every single ball will stay with me forever and I would like to thank Gloucestershire for allowing me that wonderful opportunity.”The time was made special by the tremendous support I received from the members and supporters alike,” said Alleyne. “For that I thank you all very much, but nothing will compare with the friendships and comradeship that developed with the players and coaches over the years. Those special moments made it all so worthwhile and now I look forward to embarking on something new. For Gloucestershire, I wish them the best of luck in their new direction.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sri Lanka beat themselves in their must-win game as India eased into the finals with an emphatic seven-wicket win in Hobart. In what was a pathetic batting display, Sri Lanka skid from a comfortable 1 for 72 to a perilous 7 for 93, blowing their chances on a flat deck. A composed fifty from Chamara Kapugedera avoided a debacle but couldn’t take away the one-sided nature of the contest.Chasing 180 was never going to be too much of a challenge for India, especially when Sachin Tendulkar started to cut loose. Gautam Gambhir added a polished fifty to what’s been a fantastic series, leaving Yuvraj Singh to add the final touches on a comprehensive win which got India a bonus point they no longer need. Sri Lanka travel to Melbourne for their final league match but that will now be only of academic interest.The conditions were overcast, and the bowling accurate but nothing could explain the batsmen pretending to be kamikaze artists. Praveen Kumar, a seamer relying on gentle swing, triggered the collapse before Ishant Sharma, a taller, pacier gunman, pierced the soft underbelly further. Kumar Sangakkara’s poor shot selection opened up the flood gates and the rest seemed more intent to catch the next flight out of Hobart. On a flat pitch, they saw their chances of entering the final up in smoke.The script could have easily changed, especially when Sanath Jayasuriya and Sangakkara were out in the middle. The duo had shrugged off the early dismissal of Dilruwan Perera, castled by a peach of a straightener from Ishant, by cashing in on a slightly wayward new-ball spell. Sangakkara, like he’s done all series, laced cover-drives with ease while Jayasuriya, who’s endured a struggle in Australia, crunched jabs through point to offer glimpses of his destructive best. The pitch appeared to have eased out; India, who picked five bowlers, seemed to have botched a great chance.Everything changed when Kumar was introduced. Playing only his third ODI, he showed why he’s so highly rated in the domestic circuit. Sangakkara paid the price for taking Kumar too lightly: he walked down the track and poked recklessly, only to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni pull off a fine catch diving to his left. Sangakkara telegraphed his intentions too early and couldn’t make allowance for Kumar’s subtle movement away from him.Kumar was ecstatic after his first international wicket but he was to nab two more in quick time. Mahela Jayawardene was undone by a sharp catch by Rohit Sharma at point – reacting quickly to a fierce cut he pulled off a superb low catch – before Chamara Silva wafted at one that shaped away to watch Dhoni pull off another fine take. It was Dhoni’s 100th catch in ODIs. So smooth was the trajectory on that ball that it might have inscribed a perfect parabola, snicking the outside edge on its way through.Jayasuriya, watching all the mayhem from the other end, thought it was best to break the shackles. Faced with a short ball from Irfan Pathan he attempted a high-risk pull, kicking the ground as the ball ballooned into Dhoni’s gloves. Ishant returned to remove Tillakaratne Dilshan, with a peach that swung into his pads, before tempting Chaminda Vaas with an indiscreet pull. On a good batting pitch, with the bowlers doing nothing extraordinary, Sri Lanka were teetering on the brink.Kapugedera, though, was like a sane voice in a mad melee. Along with Lasith Malinga, he endured 12.2 overs without a boundary before he began to gradually open out. He showed he had all the shots – a smooth cover drive, a crackling straight drive, and an innovative pick-up shot in front of square.It was his highest ODI score but only delayed the inevitable. The sun was out by the time India’s openers walked in and the match was headed in only one direction. Shrugging off his failures in the CB Series so far, Tendulkar set the Bellerive alight with a dominant half-century. Cutting loose against an uninspired bowling attack, he provided Australia with an ominous signal ahead of the final.Reading Muttiah Muralitharan’s doosras from the hand, he waltzed down the track to loft over the covers. Ishara Amarasinghe’s dibbly-dobblies were never going to be a threat in these conditions and he was greeted with three successive fours in his first over: flicked delectably over square, cut savagely through point and spanked in the same direction.Gambhir enhanced his ever-burgeoning reputation with an assured knock. He read Malinga’s slower ones and didn’t spare his quicker ones too, especially when they were wide and within his striking zone. He handled Murali with ease, picking him off for singles, and ensured he was out there when the winning runs were struck. Sri Lanka won’t want to remember much from the CB Series but the sight of Gambhir cutting them to ribbons may be a tough one to erase.

Tim Southee, the 19-year-old quick bowler, has been added to New Zealand’s squad for the deciding Test against England, in Napier, on Saturday. He is the only addition to the party, which otherwise remains the same despite New Zealand’s 126-run defeat in Wellington.Southee made his international debut in the Twenty20 matches against England last month and impressed with his pace and control. He was then part of the New Zealand Under-19 World Cup squad where he was named Man of the Tournament after collecting 17 wickets at 6.64.His chance may come as a replacement for Kyle Mills, who is suffering from pain behind his left knee. Mills was due to be assessed on Monday afternoon, but the problem isn’t related to the one which kept him out of action last year and forced him to miss the World Cup.However, a New Zealand statement said that Southee will be considered for selection even if Mills is declared fit. He could replace Mark Gillespie as the third seamer because, even though Gillespie claimed six wickets in Wellington, he proved expensive while his fielding and batting added little to the cause. He dropped Paul Collingwood, on 0, during the third day’s play when New Zealand still had a chance of restricting England’s lead.Despite two unconvincing performances from the top order the selectors have retained the same batting line-up. Matthew Bell appeared well out of his depth but, after being handed a NZC contract, will be given another chance to open alongside Jamie How while Mathew Sinclair’s 39 in the second innings probably saved his place.Sinclair, though, could still come under pressure from allrounder Grant Elliott if New Zealand look to juggle their bowling unit. Jeetan Patel will come into consideration again on a surface which is expected to be a full of runs so Elliott would offer another seam option for Daniel Vettori.Squad Jamie How, Matthew Bell, Stephen Fleming, Mathew Sinclair, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori (capt), Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel, Grant Elliott, Tim Southee