Nashua WP scored a convincing 10 wicket victory over Easterns in a Supersport Series match which ended at Newlands on Monday.Easterns who had a deficit of 100 runs on the first innings succumb to the WP seam attack and the leg spin of Paul Adams in the pre-lunch period on Monday. Man of the match Adams served notice that he is far from finished as he claimed four Easterns second innings wickets to set-up victory on Monday. He was well supported by vice-captain Alan Dawson, Charl Willoughby and Roger Telemachus. Easterns who at one stage like suffering an innings defeat were all out 40 minutes prior to the tea interval for 141. Adams ended with 4 for 54 in 15 overs. Willoughby claimed 3 for 15 in 21 overs and Alan Dawson claimed 2 for 24 in 19 overs.Graeme Smith(30 not out) and Rashaad Magiet(11 not out) hit off the required runs as WP recorded their first victory of the season. Full scorecard available at;https://www-rsa.cricket.org/link_to_database/NEW/LIVE/frames/WPR_EASTNS_SSS_05-08OCT2001.html

Nashua WP play Gauteng at the Wanderers starting on Friday.

It’s a long way from Pakistan but Blacks Caps cricketers Mark Richardson and Shayne O’Connor will undoubtedly enjoy their time in Alexandra this weekend.Molyneux Park will host the pre-season State Otago Volts ‘practice/trial’ match on Saturday and Sunday giving new Otago coach Glenn Turner his first opportunity to view the value of an extensive winter programme. Fellow selectors Chris Taylor and Michael Austen will also be in attendance.Richardson heads one team with former Otago skipper Robbie Lawson in charge of the other. For Lawson the match presents his first step back having missed last season through injury.Turner has named two strong sides although he is naturally frustrated with the number of players unavailable – due to injury, duties elsewhere or not yet having returned from overseas commitments.Twenty-three players have been named for the weekend’s match, with this number to be trimmed to 14 for matches against the New Zealand Academy at Lincoln in early-October and against Canterbury in Christchurch in mid-November.The teams for the ‘practice/trial’ match are:Lawson’s team: Andrew Hore, Mike Hesson, Robbie Lawson, Jordan Sheed, Martyn Croy, Nathan Morland, Shane O’Connor, Bradley Scott, Shoruban Pasupati, Kerry Walmsley, Jamie Brundell.Richardson’s team: Mark Richardson, Shaun Haig, Anthony Wilkinson, Hayden Anderson, Simon Beare, Scott Waide, Tony McEntyre, James McMillan, Neil Rushton, David Sewell, Dick Quirk, Daryl Reddington.Unavailable are: Craig Cumming, Craig Pryor, Lee Germon (all injured), Nathan McCullum, Brendon McCullum and Warren McSkimming (all involved with the New Zealand Academy) and Chris Gaffaney (not yet home from playing duties in England).

New Zealand’s Cricket Academy was 160/6, a lead of 199 at stumps on the second day of their match with the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy of Australia.The Australians staged a lower order recovery to reach 169 after play resumed late on the second day following overnight rain.Cameron White (41) and Xavier Doherty (36) were the picks of the Australian lower order.Canterbury fast-medium bowler Wade Cornelius picked up five Australian wickets at a cost of 55 runs while Sam Whiteman took three for 59. All-rounder Chris Cairns, in his last match before joining the CLEAR Black Caps in Australia took one for 28 from his 11 overs, the last five spent bowling into the wind.New Zealand got into early trouble in their reply when Jamie How was out for 18, with the score on 24, when trapped leg before wicket without playing a shot.Luke Woodcock, who opened the innings with How, was in good form and played some sparkling back foot shots. Cairns scored 34, with 32 of his runs coming from boundaries.

Far from being cricketing weather at Taunton, there is sleet in the air at the County Ground and Marcus Trescothick, glowing after a workout with his personal trainer, is eager to board Tuesday’s plane to Mumbai and get back to warm weather and his chosen profession.Less than 18 months after he was first picked for England, Somerset’s burly left-hander has made phenomenal progress through the ranks. Michael Atherton’s retirement has left him as England’s senior opening batsman, and such is his standing that, at 25, he was captaining England in Bulawayo last month after Nasser Hussain decided not to risk aggravating a calf injury. It went well too -the toss won, a rapid 50 and an England win.”Playing for England was my main thing, but to be captain was something different,” Trescothick recalls. “It was a fantastic chance for me. England 3-0 up in the series, with the team playing really well. You couldn’t have asked for much more than that.”It was also a boost to morale after a desperately difficult summer for England. “This was our chance to turn it around completely. Zimbabwe have had a difficult time of late – we almost understood how they were going, and how they were thinking. That’s the time you’ve got to nail teams down – when they’re in that situation.”Amid England’s traumas during the Ashes series, it went almost unnoticed that Trescothick was their second-highest run scorer. And although his appearances with Somerset were strictly limited, his team finished as runners-up in the CricInfo Championship – their highest-ever position – and Trescothick was in the side at Lord’s for the Cheltenham & Gloucester triumph.”If you win one trophy in a summer you class it as a good year,” Trescothick said. “But to be runners-up in the Championship is quite an achievement. It’s going to take a lot more hard work to get to first – it’s going to mean strengthening the squad, and the existing players improving their performance by another ten per cent.”As he prepares to put on his England shirt again, Trescothick is particularly wary of India, whom he rates as the best of the sub-continental sides on their own patch. “Their batting is so strong. They can dominate games, as they did when they beat Australia 2-1 last year – a great series to watch. We’ll obviously have videos, and try to read situations before they arise, but it’s going to be very tough, and we’ll have to play at our best to beat them.”

And the batting challenges? Spin and heat come high on the list. “There are good spinners throughout that part of the world. You’ve got Murali, Saqlain, Harbhajan and Kumble. I’ve faced Kumble a bit in county cricket, but Harbhajan is obviously different. He’s a bit like Saqlain, but with a tricky action – one of those who can be difficult to pick up. He’s had a good time of late, so hopefully the tables will turn and we’ll be able to dominate him.”Trescothick scored his first international century on the sub-continent, in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka at the start of the year. His first at home followed against Pakistan at Old Trafford, but on both occasions he ended up on the losing side. A match-winning ton in Mohali next month? That would set up a series to savour.

For the second time in the series Sri Lanka staged a Houdini-like recovery, as West Indies’s top-order watched in horror as the middle and lower order frittered away their hard-won advantage during a hapless morning session on the second day of this final Janashakthi National Test in ColomboDespite the heroics of Brian Lara, who scored 221, his third double centuryand the highest ever Test score by a touring batsman in Sri Lanka, the homeside finished the day with a bounce in their step thanks mainly to a careerbest seven-wicket haul from pace bowler Chaminda Vaas.West Indies started the day on 323 for three with Lara on 178 and captainCarl Hooper on 52. Both players had sagely warned last night that the jobwas far from over, but they could scarcely have imagined such a devastatingcollapse, in which their last seven wickets tumbled for 43 runs. Thetourists, looking for 500 plus according to Lara last night, were bowled outfor 390.Then, in front of a cheerfully vocal Poya Day crowd, the Sri Lankan batsmenresponded positively, with Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya scoringhalf-centuries, as the home team finished the day on 193 for three.It was carbon copy flop to Galle, where they had ended the opening day ofthe series on 316 for three, which they extended to 423 for four, beforelosing their last six wickets for 25 runs. The collapse paved the way for aSri Lankan victory and the home team realise they now have a similar opportunityhere.But the game is evenly balanced and the West Indies also know that early wicketstomorrow morning will secure them the initiative on a dry surface that looksset to deteriorate more markedly than a normal SSC pitch.Sri Lanka’s comeback was all the more remarkable for the fact that it wasnot instigated by Muttiah Muralitharan, who picked up one meager wicket inthe innings. Instead, it was his erstwhile support bowler and fast bowlingworkhorse, Chaminda Vaas, who cut through the West Indian batting.Bowling gun-barrel straight on a dry, flat pitch Vaas excelled with the newball, which was taken in the third over of the morning.Hooper was the first to go and probably the key dismissal, as he shuffledacross his stumps and was trapped lbw for 56 in the fifth over of theinnings. Marlon Samuels, who was lucky to survive his first over, fell in asimilar manner for four, though he clearly begged to disagree with SriLankan umpire Asoka de Silva.Lara had started a quiet morning with an efficient clip for four first ball,but then worked hard for his runs as the Sri Lankan new ball bowlers poundedthe ball in halfway down the wicket. But eventually he leg glanced NuwanZoysa off his hips to reached his third double century and his first sincethe 213 he scored against Australia in 1998/99 at Kingston.Lara’s problem, though, was at the other end. With the lower order exposedhe shifted gears, dancing down the track to loft Muralitharan for a raresix.But at 11.50am Ridley Jacobs was deceived by a slower ball from Nuwan Zoysaand bowled. Zoysa was replaced by Vaas minutes later and Mervyn Dillonbecame the fourth batsmen to be trapped lbw.At 12.20pm Lara’s seven-and-a-half hour vigil ended as a cleverly disguisedoff-cutter slipped through the Trinidadian’s defenses.Just before lunch Dinanath Ramnarine was caught at slip off Muralitharan andin the first over after lunch Vaas picked up his seventh wicket as PedroCollins offered a dolly catch to mid-off.Sri Lanka’s reply started badly as Marvan Atapattu pushed too eagerly atdelivery from Pedro Collins and was athletically caught by Chris Gayle atthird slip.Jayasuriya and Sangakkara and then buckled down to score 99 for the secondwicket. Sangakkara, who passed 1000 runs in Test cricket, was not whollyconvincing but he played some stylish shots and left the ball well outsidehis off-stump.He reached his sixth Test fifty with a flourishing square drive and followedit with a pull through mid-wicket, but then edged a good delivery fromDillon and was caught at first slip for 55.Jayasuriya played with unusually caution and eventually reached his 19thTest fifty, in nine minutes short of three hours. However, having reachedthe landmark and become the third Sri Lankan batsmen to pass 4000 Test runs,he shifted up the gears and looked set for a century before being deceivedby a slower delivery from Marlon Black.

The first Test series at a neutral venue in modern daycricket between Pakistan and the West Indies would be playedat Sharjah between Jan 31 and Feb 17, highly placed sourcessaid.The first Test has been slated between Jan 31 and Feb 4while the second Test will be played between Feb 7 and 11.The three one-day internationals will be played on alternatedays on Feb 13, 15 and 17, sources added, saying theitinerary would be officially released soon.The PCB Tuesday reluctantly agreed to host the West Indiesin Sharjah after the once mighty team but now the whippingboys of international cricket refused to tour citingsecurity concerns. Australia and South Africa last battledin a Test in a third country (England) almost 90 years agowhile Pakistan hammered Sri Lanka in 1999 Asian TestChampionship final at Dhaka.Meanwhile, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president WesHall has expressed his delight over the shifting of theseries to Sharjah.”This is great news. My prayers have been answered. I thankthe Lord for coming to our help, as he has done in agespast,” Hall was quoted as saying in West Indies newspapers.”This (series in Sharjah) is very OK with me. Bangladeshwould have been OK as well, but most of our players haveplayed in Sharjah more so than Bangladesh, so we should bemore comfortable in Sharjah,” Hall added. “I felt it wouldbe a nicer thing for all concerned if they were to acquiesceto our suggestion, taken a while ago, to play at a neutralvenue.”

Concerns over the form of Allan Donald and Lance Klusener were balanced by further encouragement from the batting of Boeta Dippenaar and Jacques Rudolph as South Africa’s tour match against New South Wales ended in a tame draw here in Sydney today.Three days ahead of the vital Second Test against Australia in Melbourne, the Proteas were left with major headaches after Donald and Klusener again failed to impress on the fourth and final day of the match.Veteran pace bowler Donald (0/27) was given a reduced workout, bowling just four overs after a late South African declaration left the match heading for only one possible outcome. But he was distinctly unthreatening, conceding 15 runs in an opening two-over spell before giving up another 12 runs in a later two-over stint as New South Wales ended at 2/135 in pursuit of an unrealistic victory target of 383 from just 39 overs.Captain Shaun Pollock later attributed the 35-year-old’s wicketless match to an ongoing battle with an injury sustained in Perth in an earlier game on tour, but conceded that there were doubts surrounding his readiness for a Second Test appearance.”I don’t know (about his chances); he is still battling with his foot so we will have to monitor that,” said Pollock.”It would have been nice had he have come through pain free.”Donald has claimed just one wicket to this point of the tour.All-rounder Klusener is another player without a guaranteed Test berth, after he completed a pair with the bat and claimed just one wicket in the match with the ball.More worryingly, he fell to a mistimed drive at a spinner for the third time in four innings today – this time playing all around a ball from left armer Mark Higgs (1/35) as the Proteas suffered a collapse that saw four wickets tumble for the addition of 11 runs shortly before lunch.”We haven’t selected the Test team as of yet but obviously it will be a discussion point,” said Pollock of Klusener’s hold on a berth for Melbourne.”We are aware of the fact that Lance is in the side as a batter and that’s how the number six position is decided,” he added.Pollock was understandably more upbeat about the readiness of batting tyros Dippenaar (31*) and Rudolph (28) after each had again looked composed in the midst of South Africa’s progress to a second innings score of 5/269 before a mid-afternoon declaration.”They’ve got a chance (of playing in the Test), though we discuss team selection only the night before,” he said.Both youngsters shone where others in the middle order failed, joining with opener Gary Kirsten (88) and Pollock (36*) to help the Proteas to their huge lead.They also looked comfortable for periods against Stuart MacGill (4/89), though the leg spinner was again the standout member of a New South Wales attack and reinforced his claims on a Sydney Test berth in just over a week’s time.MacGill had Kirsten sweeping off a top edge; Rudolph beaten down the leg side; and again mesmerised youngster Justin Ontong (0) into attaining a thin outside edge as he weaved his way to four wickets in the innings and nine for the match.”The wicket (for the Sydney Test) will not be massively different, it’s going to turn and the South Africans don’t play the spinners too well,” said New South Wales coach, Steve Rixon, in the wake of MacGill’s performance.”Unfortunately for us we had no one bowling down the other end … the other bowlers were not doing their job. He’s out-bowled everyone in this game.”Pollock also endowed MacGill’s effort with praise, and viewed the chance to practise against a top-class leg spinner as having been one of the great benefits of the match.There was less about which he could enthuse in the bowling as local openers Brett van Deinsen (61) and Greg Mail (54) batted through most of the lead-up to the game’s termination half an hour before its scheduled end.

New Zealand gave itself a boost yesterday when taking a 29-run win from Pakistan in their ICC Under-19 World Cup warm-up game at Lincoln.After all the frustrations with New Zealand’s poor summer weather, both sides were just happy to get some cricket.New Zealand batted first and scored 233/8 with Jesse Ryder scoring 74 off 67 balls as New Zealand scored 81/1 in the first 15 overs.In the next 24 overs, however, the side struggled while losing four wickets for 84, including two run outs. But then the lower-order responded by scoring 70 runs off the last 10 overs.Coach Mark Greatbatch said the side’s feeling before the game was that it should have been looking to score between 260/270 runs.While Pakistan opening batsman Salman Butt scored 56, his was the only innings that really troubled the New Zealand bowlers. The only other innings of consequence was 38 not out by No 9 batsman Arslan Mir as Pakistan were dismissed for 204 in 47.1 overs.Rob Nicol took three for 44 from his 10 overs, Ian Robertson two for 36 off 37 and Peter Borren one for 20 off 8.1 overs.

Today during the Pura cup game v NSW, veteran Western Warrior’s pace-man Jo Angel reached another career milestone when he brought up his 400th first class wicket for Western Australia.Angel reached the 400 wicket milestone when he took the second wicket of NSW’s 2nd innings, having Brad Haddin caught by Kade Harvey at cover.It is the second time in the past six days that Jo Angel has achieved a significant personal feat for his cricket career. Angel became the all time leading wicket-taker in Australian domestic limited overs cricket during Wednesday night’s ING cup game v the NSW Blues.Speaking on his 400th wicket Angel said, “When I first started playing for WA I never really looked too far down the track towards these sorts of things. I really just want to thank all the guys I’ve played with over the years. I’m also really grateful that I’ve been able to play for the Western Warriors at a time when we ve had a lot of team success”.Chief Executive Officer of the WACA Kath White said, “Jo Angel has been a tremendous player for WA over the past decade. He thoroughly deserves all his success because he is such a fantastic team player. Jo’s willingness to work hard and get the best results for the team makes him a tremendous role model to all young people, not just young cricketers. The WACA is very proud to call him our own”.In recognition of Angel’s rare achievement, Kath White and Western Power Managing Director David Eiszele will present Angel with a special cake in the WA rooms at the end of today’s Pura cup game v the NSW Blues.The next major milestone looming in Jo Angel’s career is Terry Alderman’s record of 384, for the most wickets taken for WA in Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup competition.The next opportunity for Jo to break Alderman’s record is during the Western Warrior’s next 1st class game v the Victorian Bushrangers at the MCG, from Thursday 28 February to Sunday 3rd March 2002.In total, Jo Angel has taken 440 first class wickets since his first class debut v NSW at the WACA ground during the 1991-92 season. The total includestaking 400 first-class wickets for Western Australia. The difference in the total has come from taking 10 wickets for Australia, 3 wickets for Australia A and 27 wickets for the Young Australians.Jo is the second Western Australian to claim 400 wickets for WA, with Terry Alderman the leading wicket-taker with 433. Angel is the 6th bowler to claim 400 wickets for the one State. First-class career totals of other leading Western Australian bowlers include: Graham McKenzie 1219, Terry Alderman 956 and Dennis Lillee 882.

HASTINGS, Victoria, Dec 28 AAP – Muttiah Muralitharan bowled his first overs of the summer as Sri Lanka had its first win on tour, beating country Victoria by 80 runs at Hastings.But Wisden’s “best bowler ever” gave Geelong batsman Ben Patrick a story to tell for the rest of his life.Patrick, who top-scored for country with 41, hit Muralitharan for six.”It was all luck, it just hit the right part of the bat,” Patrick said.”I wanted to face him, it didn’t worry me if he got me out because of what he’s done. It was a great experience.”The off-spinner bowled three gentle overs for 0-13 in his first spell since a hernia operation in Melbourne last month.Muralitharan spent most of the day signing autographs and posing for photos, and his bowling further delighted the 8,150 gathered 70km south-east of Melbourne.His return put further gloss on the tourists’ break through win, after they made 7-219 from 40 overs and bowled out country Victoria for 139.Sri Lanka was hopeful of having Muralitharan return in early January but the off-spinner said his recovery was at too early a stage to predict a comeback date.”It’s coming along slowly, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to play (seriously),” he said.”Today was just for fun.”Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya said Muralitharan was given a bowl to determine where his recovery was placed.”He looked OK but straight away he can’t do much, he’s just started today,” he said.”We’ll have to see how he’s bowling and see how he goes.”Thilan Samaraweera (58) and Chaminda Vaas (15 not out) took Sri Lanka past the 200-mark with 20 runs off their last over.Samaraweera and Russel Arnold (41) put the tourists back on track after a slow middle stretch with a 54-run partnership.Arnold then took 3-44 to help Sri Lanka take 5-0 to clean up the country tail.The match was played in a carnival-like atmosphere, but Jayasuriya said a victory was vital.”Winning is very important at the moment because we haven’t done well and any win is very important for the confidence,” he said.”When you’re losing the confidence is down and it’s part of the game but I think the boys realise they can come back and we have to do well in the next game (Australia A on January 1 at the MCG).”Proceeds from today’s match went towards extending a cancer hospital in Colombo.