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Trinidad & Tobago Development XI 62 for 3 beat Canada 85 for 5 by 3 wickets (D/L method)
Canada women’s tour started with a loss to Trinidad & Tobago Development XI at the National Cricket Centre in Couva on Sunday but they put up a respectable showing. The Development XI went on to win by 3 wickets under Duckworth/Lewis during a storm-affected game, which started late through rain.Amid the showers, Canada advanced to 85 for 5. Captain Mona Persaud top-scored with 24 not out, while Joanna White and Monali Patel each scored 14 runs. T&T’s Amanda Samaroo, who starred for the T&T Under-17s in Canada last August, took 2 for 11 from six overs.Eleven overs into the reply, with T&T on 42 without loss, a storm sent the players rushing for the pavilion. When play resumed, T&T needed 20 more runs off 10 overs. Persaud took two wickets, both bowled and although Canada took one more wicket, T&T ended on 63 for 3, the game ending on a wide.Despite the rain, the players of both sides enjoyed the experience and are set to meet again next weekend. By that time, Canada will hope to have much more practice and acclimatisation.

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, described his team’s thumping innings and 234-run victory over Bangladesh in the first Test as a brilliant effort under tough conditions.”The important thing for us was to make sure we go very hard at them,” said Jayawardene after Sri Lanka had wrapped up the Test half an hour into the fourth morning to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. “We hadn’t played Test cricket for a while and we needed to back into things pretty quickly and maintain our standards. That’s the challenge we had.”The batsmen, the guys who got in made sure they made big hundreds. Everyone chipped in especially the lower middle order. The fast bowlers were brilliant. They were very aggressive in creating opportunities. Overall it was a brilliant performance but there are areas we can still improve. Our ground fielding was brilliant but we dropped chances.”Sri Lanka weren’t able to wrap up the innings on the third day and Jayawardene’s request to bring on the fast bowlers in the fading light was denied by the umpires. “I knew the light would be a concern and I asked them whether it was alright for me to bring on Lasith Malinga. The answer I got was that it was okay. After a couple of balls they changed their minds. That was the disappointment because if there was the slightest indication that it was not ideal, I wouldn’t have brought Malinga.”He praised the efforts of Prasanna Jayawardene and Chaminda Vaas who both scored their maiden Test hundreds.”For Prasanna I think it’s been coming for a while. He’s been very consistent with the bat for us and he knew the responsibility as a wicketkeeper that he had to make runs for us. It was good to see him getting those runs. It gives him a lot of confidence to build the batting line up around him.”For Vaas it was his dream to get a hundred in Test cricket for quite some time. When I saw he had the opportunity I had no hesitation in allowing him to go and get it. It’s always good to see that our lower order with the kind of determination we have is a very solid set up now.”Once again it was offspinner Muralitharan who picked up the Man-of-the-Match award when the consensus of opinion was on Prasanna with his hundred and six dismissals behind the stumps.”On a placid track the way Murali created opportunities especially on the first day to take five wickets actually changed the whole game for us,” said Jayawardene. “From that moment onwards we knew the Test was in our hands unless we made some silly mistakes. It’s brilliant to have a guy like Murali. Now we’ve got a bowling line-up which creates opportunities among themselves with Lasith, Dilhara [Fernando] and Vaas. Murali has less pressure now to run through teams.”For Mohammad Ashraful it was a tough beginning as Bangladesh captain. He admitted that he had a lot to learn sitting in the hot seat and also cited his side’s limited opportunities at the Test level as the reason for the defeat. He also took heart from the team’s improved showing in the second innings, posting a more respectable 254 after they were bundled out for 89 in the first.”I wouldn’t have played those irresponsible shots if I had a little bit of experience,” he said. “I will learn with every game. Our second innings performance proved that if we concentrate hard it is possible to play quality bowlers. For most of the second innings we actually stuck to our game plan and it came out pretty good. That is the confidence we will take going into the rest of the series.”When asked whether they missed the services of their former coach Dav Whatmore, Ashraful replied: “It’s very natural to miss someone like Whatmore because he has helped Bangladesh cricket a lot. The team hasn’t had any problem with the new management and the coaching staff.”

Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies board, says the region acted in its best interests in throwing its support behind the Asian bloc’s bid to secure the International Cricket Council’s 2011 World Cup.Furthermore, the 76-year-old administrator said the West Indies did not sell their vote at the April meeting in Dubai and defended allegations of a deal with India that helped a joint bid with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh gain approval.”We live in the real world and we must understand that when people want to achieve an objective, they try to get support for that objective. Clearly, the India Board of Control wanted to have support for their objective and we did speak. We made it clear that our position was that we were interested in building a relationship with India,” Gordon told CMC’s Cricket Plus Friday.”We didn’t have a vote for sale. We were interested in building a relationship and they indicated that they would like to do the same and our position as far as the vote was concerned was, ‘look if your bid is a fully competitive bid and if it is on par with all things being equal, we will support your bid because friends support each other’.”Other people in other parts of the world support each other as well but [we said] ‘if your bid is not in our view, comparable, we cannot support you because we don’t think that would be acting in the interest of cricket’.”Reports following the ICC meeting in Dubai in April indicated the West Indies had thrown their support behind the Asian bloc’s vote, in return for a lucrative financial arrangement.The WICB’s vote helped the Asian bloc beat out a joint bid by Australia and New Zealand to host cricket’s major showpiece. Gordon said their decision to support the Asian bloc, once the bid was in the best interest of cricket, was communicated to Australia before the voting process.”That was the position we took. We made that clear to India before the vote was taken [and] they understood our position and they said they respected it,” Gordon continued.”We also made that position clear to the Australian side before the vote was taken. We said, ‘we feel we want to develop a relationship with India and there are lots of reasons for that, including our impecunious state and if we can work together, it would be a good thing’.”‘If the bids are competitive and we see everything being equal, we will vote for India. If they are not, we will vote for you’.”He added: “That’s our position, so all this talk about deal and so on, if you call that a deal, that’s fine, but as far as I am concerned we acted in the way that anyone who is concerned about their self-interest, would want to act.”The WICB recently announced they had signed a bilateral deal with India which would see the staging of a three to five-match One Day Internationals series in United States and Canada later this year.With the West Indies experiencing dire financial problems, India is expected to fund the series with the understanding that this would be repaid out of the WICB’s share of the profits. While not revealing financial details of the arrangement, Gordon said it was a move that would help the West Indies financially.”I am very cautious about a financial boost for the moment. I know positively there will be a financial boost but until we have completed our negotiations on the terms of the arrangement, I would rather not go there,” Gordon said.”What I would say is that it is going to be a positive factor in terms of taking us forward. Our Indian friends have indicated that they have a strong desire to assist wherever they can and we will try to ensure that happens. “The bottom line is that I am optimistic.”

For the fifth consecutive year, another West Indies series is shrouded in controversy as the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) wrestle over the contentious clause in the match/tour contract that covers players’ individual endorsements and central team sponsorships.Only three of the 13 players chosen for the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Daren Powell, the fast bowler, and Denesh Ramdin, the new wicketkeeper – had signed their contracts by the WICB’s deadline of last Monday, the reported. The WIPA said last week that the contract did not sufficiently protect the individual’s property rights “as presently drafted”.The WICB’s executive committee is scheduled to meet today to decide its response to the latest crisis and there are three options in front of them: Advise the Sri Lankan board of the situation and cancel the tour, which comprises two Tests and a tri-series; look for replacements from the A team that is currently in Sri Lanka for a series against the Sri Lankan counterparts presuming that those players are willing to sign the contract; or change their stance and accept the WIPA’s position that the matter be submitted to Justice Adrian Saunders of St.Vincent for a binding settlement for the Sri Lanka tour only.Saunders had earlier arbitrated in a similar situation last year and that allowed the West Indies tour to Australia to go ahead. In the event of the tour being cancelled, it would be an extreme and costly measure and may involve compensation to Sri Lanka and censure from the International Cricket Council.

The Sri Lankan selectors have recalled Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner,in place of Kumar Dharmasena for the second Test against Australia which begins at Kandy on Tuesday.Herath, now 26-years-old, last played for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in June2000. He has played three Test matches, including two Tests against Australia on their 1999 tour to Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka are expected to abandon their one pace bowler strategy on a pitch that is expected to offer greater assistance to the fast bowlers. Nuwan Zoysa is tipped for a return after his impressive performances during the recent one-day series.Sri Lanka have also drafted in Saman Jayantha, the uncapped opening batsman,as a standby for Sanath Jayasuriya and Thilan Samaraweera.Both Jayasuriya, who needed one stitch after splitting the webbing on his righthand, and Samaraweera, who tore a groin muscle in Galle, hope to be fit for the crucial Test and will try to train on Sunday afternoon after the team’s arrival in the hill-country capital.Squad1 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Sanath Jayasuriya, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 8 Avishka Gunawardene, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Nuwan Kulasekara, 12 Muttiah Muralitharan, 13 Rangana Herath, 14 Upul Chandana, 15 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 16 Saman Jayantha (standby)

FOLLOWING the unscheduled early conclusion to the Western Warriors Pura Cup match against Tasmania, the Western Australian Cricket Association selectors have revised the ING Cup squad for Sunday’s one-day game against the Tigers.The original 14-man squad has been reduced to 12 players for this important match at Bellerive Oval.The team is:Justin Langer (captain), Mike Hussey (vice-captain), Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Shaun Marsh, Chris Rogers, Callum Thorp, Brad Williams and Paul Wilson.Two members of the Pura Cup team, pace bowler Michael Clark and batsman Marcus North will return to Perth tomorrow, Friday February 7, 2003.

Opener Matthew Wood and left-hander Michael Lumb both plundered centuries at Headingley as CricInfo Championship leaders Yorkshire went on a run spree against third-placed Leicestershire after winning the toss on an excellent batting pitch.Scott Richardson, who used to play for Leicestershire Seconds, departed with only 12 scored but Lumb then joined Wood and the uncapped second-wicket pair savaged Leicestershire with a superb stand of 227 in 62 overs.Lumb, son of former Yorkshire opener Richard, was in tremendous form and he dashed on to his maiden first-class century off 165 balls with 16 boundaries.Wood completed his second consecutive Championship century from 193 deliveries, striking ten fours and a six, but five balls later he was bowled off his pads by Jon Dakin for 102.Yorkshire were 239 for two upon Wood’s dismissal and the score was kept moving briskly along by Lumb and Darren Lehmann, the Australian cutting a ball from Darren Maddy with sufficient force to kill a pigeon which was feeding at backward point, umpire Peter Willey putting the dead bird into the groundsman’s bucket to be taken away.Lumb had reached 122 with 20 fours when he played his first false shot, swinging round at Devon Malcolm to be caught down the legside by wicket-keeper Neil Burns.Captain David Byas and Lehmann moved Yorkshire on to 289 for three when rain lopped 20 overs out of the evening session and in the five remaining overs they added a further ten runs to leave Yorkshire needing only a single to gather a third batting bonus point.Matthew Hoggard was given permission to play in the match by England coach Duncan Fletcher in order to improve his bowling form but his Test colleagues Darren Gough, Craig White and Michael Vaughan were all sidelined.

Aftab Ahmed and allrounder Mahmudullah are the only changes in the Bangladesh squad for the three ODIs against Ireland. They replace Syed Rasel and Mosharraf Hossain, who featured in the recent one-day series against South Africa.Aftab has recovered from the injury he suffered after top-edging a Jacques Kallis delivery onto his face during the Chittagong Test earlier this month. “Aftab is a mainstay in our middle-order and one of the more experienced members of the side,” chief selector Rafiqul Alam said. “He has been declared 100% fit by the physio. His medium-pace bowling will also be useful.”Mahmudullah returns after having been discarded following a solitary ODI appearance against Sri Lanka last July. “He brings in a bit of variation as he bowls offspin. He is also a capable batsman,” Rafiqul said. “Mosharraf hasn’t done what we expected from him against South Africa and Rasel I would say was unlucky as we could only pick a squad of 14.”We have gone for a team that has a lot of options in bowling, especially with the spin attack. The fact that batsmen like Shakib (Al Hasan) and Mahmudullah can be considered as front-line spinners as well is an added advantage for us.”The Ireland series presents captain Mohammad Ashraful with a great opportunity to pick up his first win – Bangladesh have lost all his previous nine games in charge. The first ODI is in Mirpur on Tuesday.Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Aftab Ahmed, Nazimuddin, Shariar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Dhiman Ghosh (wk), Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Mahmudullah, Farhad Reza, Raqibul Hasan

The three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi has been postponed for at least one week. The opening match of the series was scheduled for May 9, 2007, but it is now uncertain when, or even if, it will start.According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the postponement of the series was requested by the Sri Lanka board after their team were delayed at Heathrow Airport on their way back from the Caribbean. However, newspaper reports suggest that the hastily-arranged series was struggling to find sponsors for the event and this is what has caused the delay.That was, however, denied by the PCB. “The series is very much on and the dates of the matches would be announced by the organisers in consultation with the Sri Lankans and the PCB,” Zakir Khan, PCB’s director of operations, told .Further reports suggest that the start date could be anytime between May 15 and May 18, but the PCB is yet to receive a Memorandum of Understanding from the hosts. Only then can the dates be confirmed.Pakistan players, in the wake of their early exit from the tournament, are already in action on the county circuit as well as a training camp in Lahore organised by the new selection committee.

New Zealand have recalled Kyle Mills into their side for the third and final Test against South Africa. In a must-win situation after losing the first Test at Centurion, New Zealand will be hoping that Mills’s presence beefs up the bowling attack in conditions expected to suit the seamers. Mills will replace Jeetan Patel, who performed creditably on debut on a flat batting pitch at Cape Town, taking 3 for 117 from 42 overs, but will miss out as the pitch at Johannesburg is likely to contain some moisture and assist fast bowling.The rest of the team is expected to be the same, unless Peter Fulton pulls out due to a back injury. Fulton has had a sore back since the second Test, and might make way for Jamie How, who has been included in the XII as cover for Fulton. Hamish Marshall will miss out again as he hasn’t yet recovered from a rib injury he sustained in the first Test.New Zealand were demolished by 128 runs in a low-scoring first Test at Centurion, while the second match ended in a high-scoring draw. Pitch preparations have been hampered by the cold conditions and lack of sunlight as the South African winter draws nearer, but Chris Scott, the curator at Johannesburg, has indicated that he is attempting to prepare a pitch which will be in between what was on offer in the first two Tests.