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Indian seamer Javagal Srinath is included in the Leicestershire squad and is all set to play in the floodlit Norwich Union League match against Kent at Canterbury on Wednesday, and the Championship game which starts the following day.Srinath has signed on as Leicestershire’s overseas player until the end of the season in place of Michael Bevan, who has now joined up with the Australian one-day squad.The debut of Srinath coincides with the debut of Steve Waugh for Kent, and a big crowd is guaranteed at Canterbury for the clash.Srinath will come into the side in place of fellow Indian star Mohammad Kaif, who joined Leicestershire on a five-day contract last week and played in the County Championbship defeat by Surrey and the Norwich Union League win over Yorkshire.Leicestershire also hope to have their captain Vince Wells back in action after he was ruled out for the two games last week by a groin injury. He will have a fitness test on Wednesday before a decision is taken.Fast bowlers Devon Malcolm and Matt Whiley are not in the squad for the Norwich Union League match, but will return for the Championship game in place of Charles Dagnall and Jamie Grove.

Southland all-rounder Jeff Wilson provided some encouraging signs on Saturday that he should be ready to join the Otago side in their next State Championship match, against Canterbury starting at Carisbrook on Friday.Wilson suffered a side strain two weeks ago and was ruled out of Otago’s opening match, but he returned to his Appleby club side with a vengeance. They recorded a five-wicket win over Invercargill-Old Boys with Wilson taking five for 48 from his 10 overs while he scored 34 when batting with two fours and two sixes during his side’s first innings, before backing up with 48 not out with another two sixes and two fours, in their second innings.And just to show there were no ill effects from his injury he gave a fine display in the field, taking four catches during the opposition’s first innings, then took another in their second innings.There was encouragement also for Shayne O’Connor in the Vincent competition in Central Otago.His Alexandra team rolled Queenstown for 19 on Saturday. However, O’Connor wasn’t one of the main beneficiaries. He took one wicket for eight runs, but Brendon Domigan with four for seven and Jason Orr three for two were the wicket-takers. Eleven extras, made up of seven wides and four leg byes made a significant contribution to the Queenstown total.Meanwhile, in Christchurch club cricket Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan had powerful effects for their respective clubs.Cairns scored 116 not out for the Lancaster Park-Woolston second grade team against East Shirley on Saturday, and then, in a first grade one-day game, against High School Old Boys yesterday he scored 92 not out in his side’s win. He took two for five from seven overs in his Saturday game and one for 16 in seven overs yesterday.McMillan scored 106 off 77 balls for his East Christchurch-Shirley club on Saturday against Marist He hit three sixes and 17 fours in his innings.In Auckland, Lou Vincent scored 91 in a two-day match for his Grafton United side while in Wellington, Paul Hitchcock took four for 26 as Eastern Suburbs beat Hutt Districts while Mark Gillespie played a fine hand in his North City club’s win over Taita. He took four for 11 and then his 54 not out to confirm a victory.The Hutt Districts second team had a day to forget in the Hazlett Trophy when dismissed for 24 by University.

Hampshire select from the same 12 that travelled to Taunton for a one day friendly, for their opening Division I, Frizzell County Championship match against Kent at Canterbury on Friday-Monday 19th-22nd April 2002.Both John Crawley and Nic Pothas are expected to make their debuts for their new county.Hampshire Twelve: Robin Smith (captain), Will Kendall, Derek Kenway, John Crawley, Neil Johnson, Nic Pothas, Adi Aymes (wicket-keeper), Shaun Udal, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Alex Morris, Alan Mullally and Chris Tremlett.

A moment of unforgivable thoughtlessness slackened a tightening West Indies stranglehold late on the opening day of the fifth, decisive Cable & Wireless Test yesterday.Wavell Hinds’ wanton stroke that ended an innings of flawless quality and aggression for 113 breathed new life into an Indian team that was then barely registering a heartbeat.Their supposed advantage of bowling first on the well-grassed Sabina Park pitch had long since disappeared at 264 for one as Hinds followed a commanding opening partnership of 111 with his fellow Jamaican left-hander Chris Gayle with another of 135 for the second wicket with the stylish right-hander Ramnaresh Sarwan.All day, the 10 000 or so in the stands had celebrated the powerful strokeplay of the two Jamaicans and the touch of Sarwan.They were prepared for more when, with 22 overs remaining and a fielder pointedly stationed on the long-off boundary three overs earlier, Hinds stepped out to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and aimed for his third six in the same direction.This time, the ball settled in Wasim Jaffer’s lap ten yards or so short of its intended target.Sabina’s din was transformed into stunned silence. It did not return until fading light brought a premature end with three overs scheduled. By then, Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan had gone as well and the West Indies were 287 for four.If Hinds did not, everyone knew that he had the Indians at his mercy. For almost five hours, he had not made a single mistake confident drives, sweeps and strokes off his legs accounting for the 14 fours he added to his two sixes.As he trudged back to the pavilion, the remorse etched all over his face revealed that he knew he presented an unearned wicket.On the way in, he passed Lara heading in the opposite direction.This was the right time for the premier West Indies batsman to put an unsatisfactory series average of 30 behind him and to play as only he can. But Lara has been a pale imitation of himself since the four-month lay-off necessitated by his elbow injury in December.Once more, he scratched around, eking out nine unconvincing runs in a half-hour. His dismissal seemed likely any ball and came off his 25th, an edge to the keeper as he felt for one outside off-stump from the left-arm swing bowler Ashish Nehra.When Sarwan was caught at leg-slip from a thin inside-edge onto pad off Harbhajan’s off-break in the next over for 65 his fourth score between 50 and 65 in the series the spring that had been squeezed out of the Indian step from early in the day suddenly reappeared.Had Shiv Sunder Das held on to captain Carl Hooper’s driven catch at extra-cover off Nehra 14 runs later, India’s fightback would have been nearly complete.It could be an expensive error. Hooper, ten at the time, has made the most of his several chances in the series, so that he came into the match with three hundreds and 556 runs in the previous four Tests.He saw out the day at 14. His partner is the left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has also had three hundreds in the series and with whom he has shared stands of 293 in the first Test, 215 in the third and 186 in the fourth.It requires something similar if the total is to reach the heights of 500 that did not seem far-fetched when Hinds, Gayle and Sarwan were in full flight.As Hinds and Gayle shared the best opening stand of the series, for either side, and Hinds built on it with Sarwan, the Indians became increasingly frayed at the edges and ragged in the field.They seemed clueless as to where their next wicket would come from as captain Sourav Ganguly swung his changes and shifted his fielders. At one point in mid-afternoon, he trundled his unthreatening medium-pace to seven defenders on the off-side.Seduced by the greenery not even the oldest locals could remember covering a Sabina pitch, Ganguly chose to bowl on calling heads and winning the toss for the first time in the series.But the veteran Javagal Srinath and his two young left-arm accomplices, Nehra and Zaheer Khan, sprayed the new ball in all directions except where it was likely to create any damage.Gayle spent 30 balls over his first three runs, carefully assessing the situation and he and Hinds saw out six successive maidens in the first eight overs.Once they were convinced there were no devils in either the pitch or the bowling, they opened their shoulders and put the bat to the loose stuff on offer.By lunch, they had accelerated to 88, Gayle moving from three to 55 at run-a-ball rate, Hinds carrying 32 runs into the interval.On resumption, the cramp that occasionally hobbles Gayle in the middle such as in the second innings of the second Test when he had to retire brought trainer Ronald Rogers onto the field.It is impossible to assess the effect it had on Gayle’s mobility. But he added only 13 on resumption, including two spanking off-side fours off Zaheer, before he steered the same bowler to gully.Gayle’s 68 from 105 balls had 13 fours as the main scoring strokes but it made no difference to the West Indies’ deliberately aggressive approach.Sarwan was quickly out of the blocks with deft leg-glances and wristy off-side strokes, while Hinds intentionally went after Harbhajan, stepping out to twice clout him over unprotected long-off for sixes and through mid-wicket for fours.For variation, he also swept him for a couple of boundaries.He arrived at his 100 at 227 in the 65th over, justifiably rejoicing as he completed the relevant run.He has gone through difficult times since he came into the team as Man Of The Series against Pakistan two years ago and, if the manner of his dismissal was immature, he has batted with distinction on his return, both in Antigua and now here.It was only a pity that his ambitions didn’t extend to a double-century, for it was surely not out of the question.

Somerset had worked their way into a strong position by the end of an incident-packed second day of their Cricinfo Championship match with Yorkshire at Headingley.They stood on 101 for one in their second innings, giving them an overall lead of 127.The situation could have been much worse for Yorkshire, however, because a three-wicket burst by Andy Caddick in the morning left them reeling on 35 for four.In addition, Darren Lehmann was struck on the right index finger by Caddick and had to go to hospital for a precautionary X-ray which showed bruising but no break. The Australian later returned to the fray and hit a dashing 38 from 37 balls with eight rasping boundaries.The main repair work for Yorkshire, however, was done by Michael Vaughan and Gary Fellows in a positive fifth-wicket stand of 125, Fellows completing his first Championship half-century before falling lbw to Graham Rose for 63 off 119 balls with eight boundaries.Vaughan’s innings was a blend of careful concentration and fine strokes and it ended on 79 when his drive at Caddick was well caught low down at cover point by Michael Burns. He had received 180 deliveries and hit 12 fours.The Yorkshire innings closed on 231 to trail Somerset by 26, Caddick taking five for 81 and receiving sound support from Steffan Jones with three for 37.Piran Holloway and Marcus Trescothick began Somerset’s second innings at a rattling pace, the pair including ten boundaries in their first 50 runs together, but when Trescothick had contributed 31 out of 63 he hit back a left-handed catch to Lehmann in the slow bowler’s second over.Soon afterwards, Trescothick was back in the middle as a runner for Holloway, who was limping badly. The batsman was still able to move to his 50 off 95 balls with ten boundaries and at stumps he was unbeaten on 58.

It was interesting to note the state of the pitch this morning as a resultof concerted effort by Mr. T. Savoury, the Midlands groundsman, to recoverthe quality after the heavy season prior to the end of the National One-DayLeague. The new patches of grass are growing very nicely and the square looks in superb condition. The pitch was the usual Kwekwe wicket, with the exception of a slight damp patch at the edge of the square. This was easily rectified when some grass cuttings were spread over the damp area.Midlands won the toss and Dirk Viljoen had absolutely no hesitation in putting Mashonaland A into bat. The Midlands bowlers settled into their stride by bowling a good line and length.Mashonaland A scored 209 runs all out in 97.5 overs with the last wicket falling off the penultimate ball of the last over of the day, when Ray Pricemanaged to squeeze a ball through the defences of Amos Maungwa. Highlightsof the Mashonaland A innings included a charmed 45 off 130 balls by MarkVermeulen, who survived two early chances. Firstly he edged a ball throughthe slip cordon and later he drove uppishly into the covers. Both of thesechances came off the bowling of Campbell Macmillan. Vermeulen was finallybowled by Ed Rainsford in the 66th over. Brendon Taylor made 32 off 78 balls, Elton Chikumbura made 34 off 53 balls, and Rangarirai Manyande made 22 off 60 balls.The partnership between Mark Vermeulen and Elton Chikumbura was the onlypartnership to exceed 50 runs. They added 63 runs off 112 balls and stayedtogether for 74 minutes.All ten of the Mashonaland A wickets were shared amongst the Midlands bowlers. Campbell Macmillan took three for 54 off 30 overs and Ray Price took two for 24 off 26.5 overs. They were the pick of the Midlands bowlers. Ed Rainsford was fairly expensive, conceding 58 runs off 13 overs, but this was easily forgiven when he cleaned bowled Mark Vermeulen. Sean Ervine who was returning from injury took one for 8 in 7 overs, while John Vaughan-Davies was also fairly expensive, conceding 37 runs off 12 overs while taking one wicket. James Cornford and Dirk Viljoen both took one for 8 off four and five overs respectively.Colin Delport was exceptional behind the stumps today, taking four catches.Midlands will come out in the morning hoping to emulate their recent battingform against Matabeleland.

When Allan Border went almost four years without a Test century between 1988 and 1992, the phrase “not since Faisalabad” became an increasingly weary staple for radio commentators and touring correspondents. South Africa’s Test tourists in Australia are similarly accompanied by the words “not since Colombo”, but for altogether more auspicious reasons.Six long years have passed since the South Africans were last beaten in a series away from home, a 2-0 reverse in Sri Lanka in 2006. To quantify this achievement, it must be noted that in more than a decade of dominance between 1995 and 2008, the longest stretch of years Australia could manage between Test series defeats on the road was four, between 2001 and 2005.Given the garlands laid out for that Australian side, the South Africans deserve a certain level of reverence for their ability to keep confounding opponents in their own territory, most recently England during the northern summer. They may not be the Invincibles, but the squad that arrived in Australia on Sunday can most definitely be termed the Road Warriors.Their captain, Graeme Smith, believes the team’s ability to prosper overseas developed out of maturity and stability. In keeping a team together, the players learned to work with each other, becoming friends as well as team-mates, and going past any sense of fear or uncertainty about the unknowns of foreign climes to develop a sense of confidence and anticipation about any and every challenge that might be presented, whether it be a sharply turning pitch in Kanpur or the green-tinged seamer that is likely to greet them in Brisbane next week.”We started to get a team together that could adapt to conditions,” Smith said. “The maturity of the team in terms of growing as we’ve gone on … and the players are settled and able to adapt to conditions not only on the pitch but off the field. All the different challenges that you face on a tour now, I think we’re able to meet them. I think the team handles being away from home in a good space and in a mature way.Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten are in charge of a side that is not only No.1 in the world but has a reputation for winning away from home•Getty Images

“It’s about understanding how you’re going to be successful in the environment that you’re playing. We’ve got a few experienced guys around now that have toured a fair bit and hopefully we use that experience well. Certainly I think it’s the challenge that we look forward to, of winning in someone else’s backyard. It’s a tough thing to do and I think that challenge is something that excites us.”That excitement was never more palpable than during South Africa’s last visit to Australia in 2008-09. Helmed by the captain/coach duo of Smith and Mickey Arthur, the tourists wriggled out of dire positions in each of the first two Tests to secure a dramatic series victory, inflicting Australia’s first defeat at home since the West Indies in 1993. Those memories provide Smith with confidence about the matches ahead.”To beat Australia in those stadiums and those environments is something that I don’t think South Africans had dreamt of for a very long time,” Smith said. “For us to be able to achieve that and be there in those moments was incredible. It probably took us a little bit of time to recover from those highs but since that return leg from Australia we’ve been pretty steady and consistent in our performances and maybe that was the stepping stone for the success that we’ve had.”Winning here four years ago is something that you know you’ve done before. Certainly it does help in the self-belief factor knowing that you’ve overcome a hurdle before. I think the achievements the team has put together the last few years, with England just gone by, we obviously do arrive here with a self-belief that we can perform well.”While Arthur now mentors the opposition, South Africa have in Gary Kirsten a calm character and a calming influence, happy to inherit a team that was already well advanced in its quest to build a record that will stand alongside those of other great teams. His challenge is to go one better than Arthur had done, by keeping South Africa at No. 1 in the ICC’s rankings for a sustained period. That quest, and the maintenance of such an imposing record overseas, are both at stake over these three Tests in Australia.”It’s a well set team, it’s a well balanced team, there’s a lot of experience in it and I think they are hardened Test cricketers in the team so they’re familiar with the different conditions that they’re confronted with,” Kirsten said. “I was particularly proud of the guys the way they went about our business in England. There were some pressure moments throughout that series and we responded well to that.”

Baroda are the current Ranji Trophy champions after they beat Railwaysin a cliffhanger at Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation Ground,Baroda. Last year it was Mumbai who took the glory, defeatingHyderabad by 297 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on the 23rdApril.Mumbai and Hyderabad were at full strength, given the fact that allthe leading batsmen had got amongst the runs in the semi-finals.Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman were in brilliant form and it seemedthat the final match would be a high scoring one.Mohd. Azharuddin won the toss for Hyderabad and asked Mumbai to batfirst. It is not a practice in Indian domestic cricket to put theopposition in, given the nature of the wickets and the fact that mostmatches are decided on the virtue of the first innings lead.Mumbai did not have an ideal start, losing their captain Sameer Dighe(3). Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli got together at 72/3 and added104 runs for the fourth wicket. Tendulkar made 53 runs striking sevenboundaries and a six. Kambli (108) went on to reach his century withthe help of 15 fours. And, in the meanwhile he added 82 runs for thesixth wicket with Paras Mhambhrey.Ajit Agarkar (30) gave good support to Mhambrey and added 60 runs forthe seventh wicket. Mhambrey (75) played a crucial innings for Mumbai,punctuating his knock with seven boundaries. Mumbai were bowled outfor 376, with Venkatapathy Raju claiming 4/110.Hyderabad were bowled out for 195 in 64.4 overs, Ajit Agarkar (3/26)and Rajesh Pawar (3/44) doing most of the damage. VVS Laxman (46)riding on a triple hundred he made in the semi-finals was run out in atragic mix-up with Azharuddin (76). The two batsmen added 89 valuableruns for the third wicket. P Satwalkar (30) gave good support toAzharuddin, but the rest of the batting just caved in.Mumbai had a cracking start, scoring 103 runs for the first wicket.Wasim Jaffer (55), Dighe (46) and Jatin Paranjpe (42) all got amongstruns. The pitch was taking a lot of turn as the two Mumbai championbatsmen got together. Tendulkar and Kambli went on a run riot. Sixesand fours flowed in a hurry amongst a deluge of runs. Kambli (56) hitfive boundaries and three sixes as he went on to add 105 runs in just18.1 overs with Tendulkar.Tendulkar was not going to miss out on a big score in the secondinnings. He had the measure of the Hyderabad attack and went on doingwhat he does best, annihilating the bowling. He scored 128 runs off124 balls with the help of 13 strokes past the ropes and three hugeones over the fence. Mhambrey (30) again made a good contribution withthe bat. Mumbai scored 409 all out in the second innings, VenkatapathyRaju (5/123) and Kanwaljit Singh (4/136) toiled hard with the ball forHyderabad.Set an impossible target of 591 runs for an outright win in the finalinnings, Hyderabad had a mountain to climb. They lost an early wicketof Nandakishore (9) when the score was just ten. VVS Laxman and DanielManohar added 188 runs for the second wicket, as Mumbai struggled tomake a breakthrough. Laxman (111) was looking good for yet anothermassive score, but fell to the guiles of the left-arm spinner Pawar.His innings was decorated with two sixes and 13 boundaries off 192balls. Four overs later, Pawar bowled Manohar (71). He had struck 11boundaries in his patient knock.The young Mumbai spinner Pawar, spun a web with his left-arm orthodoxspin to pick up 7/103 to take his match tally to ten wickets. Agarkarbowled well to finish with three wickets giving away 46 runs.Hyderabad were bowled out for 293 runs in 98.2 overs. Mumbaicelebrated their 34th Ranji Trophy victory, adding one more triumph totheir glorious history.

ScorecardAn unbeaten century from Lions’ opener Stephen Cook helped his side defeat Dolphins by 89 runs at the Wanderers. After Cook’s innings led them to 246 in the shortened 37-overs-a-side game, Dolphins, after a decent start, lost six wickets for 29 runs to be bowled out for 157. Spinner Aaron Phangiso, who had a memorable Champions League T20, bowled an effective spell of 3 for 37 in eight overs.After a delayed start to the match, Cook and fellow opener Gulam Bodi started positively, scoring 80 runs in 13.2 overs to lay the base for a strong total. The middle-order batsmen provided fruitful support to Cook, and at the death, Cook and Jean Symes scored 41 runs in 21 deliveries to reach the total at a run rate of 6.64 runs per over. Twenty-nine wides bowled by Dolphins bowlers helped their cause.Dolphins lost opener Cameron Delport early in their chase, in the second over, but his partner Jonathan Vandiar scored 49 off 51 deliveries to keep them in the hunt. However, at 128 for 4, middle-order batsman Cody Chetty was stumped off Phangiso, and his dismissal led to a collapse. The lower order didn’t put up any resistance as Dolphins were bowled out in the 32nd over.Lions stay at the top of the table after the win.
ScorecardIn Centurion, another century by an opener, by wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn, led to Titans’ 81-run victory against Knights. Chasing 286, Knights slipped from 92 for 1 to 168 for 8, largely through bowlers Henry Davids and Roelof van der Merwe, who ended up claiming nine wickets together as Knights were bowled out for 204.After being put in to bat, Titans lost opener Davids in the fifth over, but a 127-run stand between Kuhn and No. 3 Mangaliso Mosehle shaped their side’s innings strongly. After the partnership was broken, Kuhn put on 121 runs with captain Martin van Jaarsveld, and at 258 for 2 in the 43rd over, had the base for a solid acceleration towards the end of the innings. They lost eight wickets for 27 runs to end at 285 for 9.Knights lost an early wicket in the chase, that of Ryan Bailey in the fourth over. But opener Reeza Hendricks, who scored a half-century, and Rilee Rossouw added 74 runs quickly to set their team on track. Once Rossouw got out, however, wickets started falling quickly as other than Johan van der Wath, none of the other batsmen put up a fight. The innings ended by the 37th over, as van der Wath ran out of partners. Spinner van der Merwe, who took the final wicket, achieved impressive figures of 5 for 26 in 8.3 overs.Kuhn was adjudged the Man of the Match for his century. Titans are second in the table now.

ScorecardTim Bresnan made an impact after not being needed by England•Getty Images

It has taken only five matches into the Division One season for Yorkshire, rated as 10-1 outsiders by one bookmaker at the start of the summer, to confound expectations and turn into serious title challengers. After an impressive start, an innings victory at the home of the champions was their biggest statement of intent yet.A dismal opening round defeat to Sussex is now a distant memory after successive victories over Durham and Derbyshire and the better of a draw against Somerset, but their most complete performance so far was this emphatic triumph over a Warwickshire side unbeaten at Edgbaston since August, 2011.Despite being without England batsmen Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, they secured victory just after 5.00pm on the third day with Tim Bresnan, surplus to requirements for the opening Test at Lord’s, fittingly finishing off Warwickshire’s feeble resistance by having Tom Milnes caught behind to end with 3 for 41, having only arrived at Edgbaston at lunch on the second day.”After the first game, which was disappointing, a couple of questions were raised, but we’ve got faith in our lads, and we trust their preparation,” admitted Jason Gillespie, Yorkshire’s head coach. “We said to the lads after the first game ‘don’t lose sight of the fact that we’ve had five fantastic months of preparation and don’t let this game define your season’. Since that game, we’ve played some very positive cricket.”In the first game of the season against Sussex we didn’t perform well at all and we deserved to be beaten, but the way the lads have bounced back has shown the faith we have in our players. We have absolute belief in them and they are showing how good they are.”Having dismissed Warwickshire for 128 on the opening day, Yorkshire pressed home their advantage with Adil Rashid following his career-best 180 against Somerset last week with an unbeaten 110, having been bowled off a no-ball on the fourth ball of the day, to help establish a match-winning 279-run lead shortly before lunch.The catalyst for such an emphatic victory, though, was the five overs before the interval when any notion of Warwickshire saving the game was blown away. Bresnan dismissed Varun Chopra to the first ball of their reply, winning a straightforward lbw appeal, and Ryan Sidebottom dismissed Will Porterfield in almost identical manner to the first ball of the next over.Bresnan ensured Warwickshire trudged off for lunch on 9 for 3 by striking again with the final ball of the morning session, Darren Maddy edging low to Adam Lyth at second slip, one of five catches he took in that position during the match.After those early breakthroughs, the strength of Yorkshire’s seam bowling department became evident with Sidebottom and Steve Patterson both claiming three wickets, using a surface that was showing inconsistent bounce and bowling a fuller length than their Warwickshire counterparts.Only Jim Troughton, Warwickshire’s captain, showed the necessary discipline to survive and followed his unbeaten 65 in the first innings by batting for over two hours to score 37. Even his efforts, however, were not enough to prevent Warwickshire suffering their first Edgbaston defeat in the Championship in 14 games and only their second championship defeat in 26.”We’re a good side and hopefully this is just what we need, although we wouldn’t want to lose like that,” added Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, who kept his side locked in the dressing room for around an hour to conduct a post mortem of their performance. “This should help us re-focus and re-evaluate and understand what made us so successful last year.”