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Day One report: Weston hundred highlights Zimbabwe’s inadequaciesClose Middlesex 516 for 6 dec. (Weston 129, Weekes 102*, Brown 98) lead Zimbabwe 176 for 2 (Vermeulen 59, Carlisle 39*) by 340 runsMark Vermeulen and Stuart Carlisle went some way to restoring a bit of national pride – not that there’s been much of it on this tour – as Zimbabwe finished the second day’s play at Shenley on 176 for 2, 340 runs behind Middlesex. Paul Weekes and Michael Brown had earlier subjected Zimbabwe – whose bowling looked as bankrupt as their country’s economy – to long and fruitless day-and-a-half in the field.At a sun-baked Denis Compton Oval, Zimbabwe failed to take a wicket throughout the morning session, in which Weekes and Brown tucked in to some wayward bowling. Brown started the morning with no score to his name, and it surprisingly took him a further 15 minutes to get off the mark – to the 35th ball he received. This was more through nerves than good bowling, though, as the Zimbabwean seamers again produced their regular assortment of the good, the bad and the ugly. Brown soon started to gain in confidence to the extent that he began to outscore Weekes, and set the tone of his innings by smashing all of his first 36 runs in boundaries.Brown, aged 23 and making a rare appearance in place of the rested David Alleyne, smashed 18 fours and one six in all during a partnership of 184 with Weekes before, aiming for his century with another boundary, swung at Grant Flower and was caught on the long-leg boundary by Sean Ervine for 98. He quite rightly deserved a standing ovation from the 1000-strong crowd, and he also received a smattering of applause from the Zimbabwe bowlers, who were relieved at finally taking a wicket. The total was exactly 500 when Brown departed – the first time Zimbabwe had conceded a total that high in England.And after Weekes brought up his century – off 209 balls with 16 fours – halfway through the afternoon session, Middlesex declared on 516 for 6 – their highest ever total against a touring team. None of the Zimbabwean bowlers returned figures they would want to remember, with Ervine, Travis Friend and Raymond Price all conceding unwanted centuries.However, in the Zimbabwe reply, the Middlesex bowlers were none too clever at finding their line either, and openers Dion Ebrahim and Mark Vermeulen got things under way with a series of easy singles mixed with an occasional powerful cover-drive. Vermeulen, in particular, then stepped up the pace in the evening session to reach his fifty off 65 balls, while Ebrahim, though, was a little too impatient in trying to keep up, and he paid the price when he chipped a catch to Chris Peploe at mid wicket off the bowling of Weekes. Ebrahim departed for 30, ending a promising opening stand of 96.And Vermeulen did not last much longer either, playing all over a yorker from Thos Hunt to be bowled for 59. Stuart Carlisle then maintained his reputation for taking an age to get off the mark before finally pulling a boundary, and with the help of another grafter, Flower, the pair saw Zimbabwe to the close. They did, however, have a little good fortune as both snicked balls over the slips to the boundary, but they and the rest of the batsmen are going to need some more fortune tomorrow to keep in touch with Middlesex’s huge first innings.

Pakistan wicket-keeper Rashid Latif has been reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a racial slur on his Australian counterpart Adam Gilchrist.The incident occurred during Pakistan’s innings in Tuesday’s World Cup match at the Wanderers when Latif turned around to Glichrist and reportedly shouted an obscene racial remark.Gilchrist informed his team management about the remark, which in turned reported the matter to the ICC’s match referee Clive Lloyd.A hearing into the matter is expected to take place again later today.Latif’s abuse of Gilchrist came a few hours after Pakistani captain Waqar Younis was ordered out of the attack for sending down a vicious beamer at Australia’s century-maker Andrew Symonds.

THE Western Australian Cricket Association today announced a Western Warriors squad to play Victorian Bushrangers in an ING Cup match at the MCG on Friday, January 10, 2003.Australian Test team opener Justin Langer returns to captain the Warriors. Australia `A’ team pace bowler Brad Williams is also in the squad.Young spinner Beau Casson has been selected to make his limited-overs debut. He captured a match haul 10-176 against the Southern Redbacks in Adelaide in only his second first-class last month.The Warriors ING Cup team is:Justin Langer (captain), Michael Hussey, Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Shaun Marsh, Chris Rogers, Callum Thorp, Brad Williams and Paul Wilson.

Natal got off to a flying start on the first day of their three-day game against Zimbabwe at the Bulawayo Athletic Club. After losing the toss and being sent in to bat by the home side, the visitors scored 416 for three wickets declared. Captain Hashim Amla led his team from the front, scoring an unbeaten 178 off just 168 balls.Their opening pair of Victor Xuxu and Wayne Madsen struggled in the early overs owing to the wet conditions and the pressure applied by the home bowlers. They finally settled in when the pitch dried and started to chase the runs. Their partnership was finally broken when Madsen was dismissed by Stewart Marisa, caught at mid-on by Conan Brewer to depart for 46 in the 27th over.Marisa struck again when he trapped Xuxu leg before wicket to send him back to the pavilion for 41 in the 29th over. Natal went to lunch at 121 for two off 38 overs. Afterwards they lost one further wicket, that of Imran Khan who also played an outstanding innings, scoring 120 runs before he was caught by Seager off the bowling of Shah. That ended an outstanding display that saw him share a third-wicket partnership with Amla that produced 299 runs.The visitors finally declared their first innings closed at 416 for three at 15.45 with the captain still unbeaten, together with East Springer on 19. The home side in reply was 94 without loss at the close of play with Charles Coventry on 73.

During the press conference at the close of play of the first day of the Sydney Test, it emerged that England wicket-keeper Alec Stewart went into this match with suspected chicken-pox. He underwent tests before the start of play and it was then confirmed that he had contracted the infection.Surrey team-mate Mark Butcher said: "We heard just before we got on the coach this morning that he thinks he’s got chicken pox and he actually has got chicken pox.”Stewart was 20 not out at stumps and is expected to continue his innings when play resumes on the second day of what is widely expected to be his last Test. He missed out on the Melbourne match because of a bursa on his finger and his deputy, James Foster, put on a very competent display behind the stumps.Stewart will be 40 in April and, despite being in possession of a 12-month central contact, he could bid farewell to international cricket in the forthcoming World Cup in South Africa.On the 1994/95 tour of Australia, Stewart missed three Tests with a broken finger, while his county colleague Joey Benjamin contracted chicken pox and played in only four first-class matches on the entire tour. The same illness also struck the England A tour of New Zealand in 1999 when Ronnie Irani – now in the one-day squad in Australia – and Durham’s Michael Gough were confined to bed in Christchurch when the touring party moved on to the North Island.

It could be said New Zealand Cricket got itself into quite a ‘State’ today.The worst-kept secret in New Zealand sport is out today, State Insurance has become the sponsor of domestic cricket.It will have naming rights for four competitions, State Max, the State Championship which is the men’s four-day competition, the State Shield which is the men’s one-day competition and the State League which is the women’s one-day competition.All of New Zealand’s major associations are also under the State banner now that Canterbury has joined.Teams will be known as: (Men’s) State Auckland Aces, State Northern Knights, State Central Stags, State Wellington Firebirds, State Canterbury Wizards, State Otago Volts; (Women’s) State Auckland Hearts, State Northern Spirit, State Central Hinds, State Wellington Blaze, State Canterbury Magicians, State Otago Sparks.New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said the sponsorship would give a much-needed fillip to the domestic game at its top level.”For the past five years New Zealand Cricket has concentrated much of its effort on strengthening the elite level of the game and appropriately resourcing the CLEAR Black Caps and CLEAR White Ferns.”This investment has paid off with the winning of the ICC KnockOut and CricInfo Women’s World Cup respectively.”However, it is now time to focus on revitalising the domestic game,” he said.The sponsorship would allow NZC to provide a comprehensive domestic programme which was the key to producing strong international teams.”It is interesting to note that there has been significant improvement in the standard of the women’s game since the sponsorship of State allowed the introduction of a national league three summers ago,” Snedden said.”Strengthening our senior men’s domestic cricket competitions is an immediate priority for NZC.”State’s chief executive David Smith said domestic cricket helped New Zealand’s largest insurer to reinforce its presence in communities nationwide through a direct association with the premier sport for both men and women.”It gives us the opportunity to support and develop up and coming young talent throughout the regions where we’ve always had a strong presence and loyal customer base,” he said.

England have good reasons to smile and feel happy – their star batsman Mark Ramprakash has run into tremendous form on this tour. He made a crisp unbeaten half-century in Mumbai and on Thursday at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad, the stylish Surrey batsman continued the good work while holding the England innings together with a well-compiled century.Ramprakash made 105 runs off 182 balls, with the help of nine boundaries and two sixes against an attack that included Sarandeep Singh and Murali Kartik. Nasser Hussain must have been mighty pleased with Ramprakash’s efforts though the latter’s dismissal, which saw him bowled when he tried to slog Kartik out of the ground, was not exactly copybook stuff.A happy and visibly relieved Ramprakash spoke to the media after the day’s play, “In these conditions you need a lot of patience with the spinners bowling long spells. It was a very slow and low wicket. You have to be patient and score runs whenever possible, score off the bad balls.””I thought they (the spinners) bowled very well and it was indeed a hard day for all our batsmen. I think it was a very good team performance, but it was a struggle, to be on 149/5 at one stage. We had to work hard, the lower order came in and did a good job. Nasser Hussain and Mark Butcher had time at the crease, which are good positives for the side. 297/9 is a competitive score.”About the positive and robust approach he has shown on this tour, Ramprakash said, “We saw England in 1993, they struggled a lot. Hick and Lewis scored the only two hundreds on that tour and both of them hit down the ground. Obviously you have to strike a balance; there is always the risk in trying to hit the bowlers over the top, so it is a good learning process for us. We still have one match to go in Jaipur and we are quite happy with the way things are going.”On the high-risk shots that have been played so far, he said, “It is really difficult; if you stay at the crease and poke, people will say you got to use your feet. If you use your feet and try to take the attack to the bowlers and if it doesn’t come off, people will then criticise, so there is a risk in any shot you play, each batsman has to have their own game plan and try to stick to that. We just work on the game plan, this has been a great match practice against a good competitive opposition.”England batsmen got to play 53 overs of high class spin attack and Ramprakash was quick to observe the obvious benefits. “That’s what we need, we are going to be up against class spinners in Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. I think he (Sarandeep Singh) bowled very well, some balls turned very sharply.”Ramprakash showered praises on the two spinners, Sarandeep Singh and Kartik, “They both seem to be consistent bowlers. They don’t go to pieces if you hit one or two over the top, they just keep coming back at you, perhaps a little slower, a trifle higher. The duo impressed me today.”When asked about his success while playing abroad, the stylish batsman said, “I have enjoyed playing abroad, I had been to Sri Lanka at a very young age on an ‘A’ tour. I have enjoyed the tours to West Indies and I suppose, when the sun is out it is very nice to play cricket.”Ramprakash admitted that all the media attention back home along with the pressure of expectation has had its negative effect in the past. He was quick to add, “I am pretty much happy with the way I have approached cricket during this summer.”Visiting India has already left a positive impression on Ramprakash. It was quite a pleasing experience for him to visit the Birla Temple on Wednesday. Ramprakash’s focus, meanwhile, is clearly on cricket for he will have to deliver a lot of runs in the Test series. That did not prevent the soft-spoken cricketer though from adding, “You come to India not only to play cricket but to experience a bit of life also.”

The Executive Committee of the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Control Association once again strongly condemns the so-called national trials conducted by the PCB at the Pindi Stadium for the forthcoming IWCC Trophy to be held in Holland.PWCCA also has objections against the statements made by the so-called selector of women’s cricket made on television that Pakistan women’s cricket team has no world standing. He also said that the girls are raw and not up to the international standards. It should be put on record that the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Team is rated number eight.PWCCA which is a full member of the IWCC has a bank of international women cricketers who have the experience of playing 28 One-Day Internationals, 2 Test Matches and a World Cup in India, 1997.PWCCA’s five players play cricket in England during the cricketing season since 1997. Three players are honored to be elected and accorded full membership of the MCC at Lord’s, England where the waiting period for membership is 27 years.Above all PWCCA’s team beat the Dutch women’s team, winning the series in Karachi in 2001.Women’s cricket like men’s cricket is not going through any refurbishing. Therefore it is protested that PCB should be restrained from carrying out lethal experiments with women’s cricket as it is doing with the men’s. The world is a witness to what happened to Pakistan at the World Cup 2003.Secondly, Ijaz Fakhi not showing up for the trials in Pindi also reflects how seriously PCB is taking women’s cricket. How can ONE selecter select 6 girls? Is this is how the World Cup men’s Team was selected?Mohd. Iqbal
Press Secretary
Pakistan Women’s Cricket Control Association
17 April 2003

It says much for cricket’s resurgence in the West Country that England’s selectors have picked both their tour replacements for India from the same patch. Somerset, whose supporters must at times have tired of reminiscing about the glory days of Richards, Botham and Garner, have the first Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy in their Taunton cabinet. One of the primary architects of that success, fast bowler Richard Johnson, will be on the plane to Mumbai next week.For Johnson’s international aspirations, fate’s summer frown has mellowed into an autumnal smile. Three times he was called into the England squad during the Ashes series; three times he was rebuffed at the last minute. But he bore such rejection stoically.”Really it was my friends and family who were frustrated with the situation,” Johnson said. “I was just happy to be involved, and gaining experience of Test match grounds during the summer against the Aussies. It was great.”It is ironic that Johnson is going to India as a result of the withdrawal of his county team-mate Andrew Caddick. “I understand Caddy’s decision 100 per cent. I’m in a different situation. I’m 26 years old, and opportunities like this don’t always come round. I’m going to grab this one with both hands.”Johnson generates sharp pace off a relatively short run, with a vigorous delivery action. He can also swing the ball and move it off the seam, a key factor in winning him the selectors’ vote ahead of Chris Silverwood and Martin Bicknell. “In India as a seamer you’ve got to try and keep it tight, but if you can swing the ball you’ve got a chance of taking wickets, so hopefully if the ball swings out there I’ve got a chance.”With a haul of 62 first-class wickets in 2001, Johnson’s move from Middlesex to Somerset is plainly bearing fruit. “It was a very difficult decision to leave Middlesex. I’d been there since I was nine years old. In my heart of hearts Middlesex is my club, but I knew that Kevin Shine could help me at Somerset. My gut feeling was to move, and I knew it could help my career, and so far it’s proved right.”If the momentum continues over the rest of this year, at least three players from England’s westernmost county – Trescothick, Caddick and Johnson – will be vying for international honours in 2002.

Winchester’s eight-match domination of Southern Electric Premier League Division 3 was ended by Rowledge, who shot the previously undefeated leaders out for 145 to secure a weather-cut seven-wicket win at River Park.Australian seamer Craig Eichler (4-34) and evergreen Chris Yates (4-25) did the damage as Winchester were dismissed for 145, with only Institute batsman Paul Davies (34) making his mark in the middle-order.Requiring a rain adjusted 98 off 27 overs, in-form Rowledge overcame two early setbacks – Stu Marks (3-46) removed Darren Mitchell and teenager Chris Yates in quick succession – with David Lloyd (55 not out) and Eichler (25) securing a seven-wicket win.Second placed Alton had reached 145-6 (Gary Chalkley 39) when the match against United Services II was abandoned after 38.2 overs.Havant II, chasing a rain trimmed 221 in 47 overs, got in off the third ball of the final over against Paultons at Whitmoor Lane.Lifted by an opening stand of 91 between Duncan Park (76) and teenager Mike Weaver (35), Paultons totalled 235 (Phil Mist 4-57), with Tony Richman (31) averting a late-order collapse.Matt Ward (67) fuelled Havant’s bid, but Steve Mitchell (3-44) and Paul Wilde (2-49) regianed the initiative as the visitors slipped to 170-6.But Havant, requiring 51 runs from eight overs, got in after a late flurry from Dominic Harland-Jones (25), Simon Turner and Richard Openshaw.John Harris hit a crucial 70 as Hursley Park successfully chased an abridged target at Leckford, where the Test Valley club’s 180-7 (Martyn Isherwood 54) was trimmed to 154.A century second-wicket stand between Harris and skipper Rob Lowe (47) eased Hursley home.Hampshire YCs prospect Kevin Latouf (40) celebrated his Flamingos debut with a key 40 as last year’s Hampshire League champions chissled out an important six-wicket win at lowly Lymington II.Peter Tapper (77) and Mark Jackson (52) guided Lymington to 200 – Dave Wright (4-50) and Adie Heath (3-24) grabbed the lion’s share of the wickets – but, chasing a reduced 136 in 34 overs, Flamingos toasted only their third victory, with Gary Fenigan (23) and Richie Manthorpe (21) giving Latouf support.Latouf scored an unbeaten 150 for Flamingos Sunday XI, who won at South Wilts.Still in deep trouble are Waterlooville, who lost by 93 runs at Hook & Newnham Basics, where South African Jan Kaminski (100), Keith Lovelock (65) and Steve Shaw (50) laid seige to the visitors attack. Veteran Stan Ruder saw his eight overs hit for 81 runs !Facing a towering 321-7, Ville reached 228-9 (Matt Slater 41), with Kaminski taking 4-42.Paul Stringer, defying a long-term shoulder problem, returned for St Cross Symondians and took 4-26 in the eight-wicket win at Bashley (Rydal).