The ECB National Academy XI finished on 374-4 from 103 overs at the end of the first day’s play in their four-day game against their Australian equivalents, the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, in Adelaide.Kent’s Robert Key (177) and Middlesex’s Andy Strauss (113) both madecenturies after the ECB National Academy had lost the toss and been put into bat at the Henley Oval. Warwickshire’s Ian Bell (49*) and Hampshire’s Derek Kenway (13*) were the not out batsmen at stumps.The ECB National Academy is funded by Sport England and sponsored byVodafone.

Victorian Cricket earlier this week lost a fine player and administrator with the passing of former Victorian and St Kilda batsman Gordon Tamblyn.Gordon, the father of current VCA Chairman and ACB Director Geoff Tamblyn (also a former Victorian and St Kilda representative) played 21 matches for Victoria, scoring 1324 runs at an average of 40.12 with 4 centuries (highest score 136 v QLD in 1940/41). For St Kilda, Gordon who was a fine opening batsman, scored 5504 runs @ 47.80 with 19 centuries.Gordon was also a former long serving Secretary of the St Kilda Cricket Club.

Man of the match Jesse Ryder doesn’t normally do a lot of bowling but he proved the man for a crisis for New Zealand in its three-run win over England in the Super League round of the ICC Under-19 World Cup today.Ryder had earlier hit a whirlwind 54 for New Zealand, but was called into the attack in the 43rd over as England looked like knocking off the 206 required to win the game.However, Ryder and Iain Robertson, Richard Sherlock and Peter Borren bowled outstandingly at the death to have England 202/8 off the last ball of the game, three runs short of their target.”I wasn’t expecting to have to bowl. Our skipper was keeping us motivated and telling us to go hard until the last ball,” Ryder said.”I just wanted to get the ball up there and hoped to bowl to the field.”I did my little bit for the team,” he said.His ‘little bit’ earlier included his innings which he analysed as having started a little slowly and he had played ‘a few rash shots’.New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch admitted his side didn’t get enough runs and felt the side had been a little too quick with their decision-making when batting. Their bowling plan had centred on slowing things down.”England fought hard and got partnerships going. With 90 balls left and only 70 to get, it didn’t look good for us but I was pleased with the way the boys fought back.”These are death matches. You need to keep winning if you want to keep progressing through. If you lose games you have to fight back,” he said.Greatbatch said New Zealand captain Ross Taylor had changed his bowlers well in the last stages and it kept the English batsmen thinking when they saw different bowlers running in.He wasn’t surprised when Taylor threw the ball to Ryder to bowl.”He’s our option when things don’t go right, he’s got a bit of a Midas touch,” he said.Greatbatch had not sent messages out to the team during the tight finish.”The reality is they need to learn for themselves. As much as you would like to tell them that is what this tournament is about, learning from these situations,” he said.Greatbatch was also concerned with the number of wides bowled, 15 in total, but said there was a reason because the players had not had a lot of experience with the white ball.”They are still very young in that area, they are getting a bit better but the wides could have hurt us today,” he said.England coach Paul Farbrace said it was a strange thing after the team had not played well during the earlier stages of the tournament, they had played very well today and were that close to winning the game.”You have to say that they [New Zealand] bowled well at the end and credit to them.”It was a close game. It was pretty similar for both teams throughout,” he said.Both sides had lost wickets are regular intervals. It was difficult to praise a side after it had lost but he said considering the way England had played in this game it had been a phenomenal effort.”I still don’t think we are out of it,” he said.He was delighted with the way Mark Pettini batted, it was his first game of the tournament, and felt that the promotion of Samit Patel had been worthwhile and after the start he had he should have been able to go on and get 75 or 80 that could have won the game.”He’s a young man and will learn from this. He is eligible to play in the next (Under-19) World Cup and will learn. That is what it is all about,” he said.

Sourav Ganguly is set to continue as the skipper of the Indian team for the home series against Zimbabwe, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported.The PTI quoted a highly-placed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source as saying, “The team under Ganguly beat England 1-0 in the Test series and squared the six-match One-day series 3-3. He regained his batting form at the end of the series and he will be the right choice to lead against Zimbabwe.” This though isn’t the official announcement – that will be made only on February 14.Ganguly did do well in the recent one-day series but his form continued to be patchy in the Tests. He made just 68 runs in the three Tests at a very modest average of 22.66. This marks a continuation of very long and woeful run with the bat that has seen the Indian captain score just 874 runs in his last 21 Tests.Opposing bowlers have continued to exploit his weakness against the short ball with alarming regularity and consequently, it is a familiar sight these days to see a nervous Ganguly scrath around for runs.One of Ganguly’s earliest fans, the legendary Geoffery Boycott, recently joined the chorus of observers who feel that the Indian captain has a definite technical problem.”I have observed him closely of late and I am convinced that a few minor faults have crept into his technique. His wrist is not straight when he is meeting the ball and his right shoulder is falling forward”, Boycott wrote in a foreword to a book on the Indian captain – . “There is only one cure for his ailment. Practice, practice and more practice. He should spend hours before the mirror and in the nets ironing out these flaws. Watching videotapes of his earlier innings should also help.”What has saved Ganguly from facing the axe, despite his obvious failings as a Test batsman in recent times, has been his heroics in the one-day arena. It looks like his strong performances in the six one-dayers against England might bail him out yet again.

Australia’s tour of South Africa squelched soggily to a halt in Potchefstroom on Monday with only 36 overs play possible on the second day of the three-day match against South Africa `A’. When play was abandoned for the day at 4.30pm, the tourists had lifted their overnight score from 218 for three to 351 for eight.The good news for Australia, though, was a century for Ricky Ponting and an unbeaten 91 for captain Steve Waugh. Given the conditions, this was probably about as much as the tourists could have hoped for ahead of the first Test match which starts at the Wanderers on Friday.There may be a chance for the Australian bowlers to have a run on Tuesday’s final day, provided the weather holds off. Ideally, Australia would have liked the chance for their attack to reacquaint themselves with the Highveld bounce, but in the circumstances it was obviously more important for their batsmen to spend time in the middle.Ponting spent most of it on Sunday, but he moved quickly to his hundred on Monday morning with a couple of cracking boundaries and then a single off Andre Nel, put on standby for Shaun Pollock in the Test squad.Ponting moved on to 120 before he fell, caught at the wicket cutting at left-arm wrist-spinner Gulam Bodi at 271 for four and Damien Martyn went soon afterwards for 1, top-edging a sweep against Claude Henderson.Adam Gilchrist could, perhaps, have done with runs ahead of the Test match, but he made only 16 before Andrew Hall had him caught at slip. Hall had taken the first two wickets to fall on Sunday and he proceeded to make it five for the innings by trapping Shane Warne leg before for a duck as he shouldered arms and then having Brett Lee caught at slip for 6.Lee’s wicket fell during a brief nine-over interlude after lunch and when the rain started falling again, the players disappeared for the rest of the afternoon.It has been a frustrating couple of days at one of South Africa’s best-equipped venues. There could still be time enough on the final day for the Australian bowlers to stretch themselves and, from a South African point of view, for the likes of Daryll Cullinan, Jacques Rudolph and Graeme Smith to make a point to the selectors. Any such point might be too late for the first Test, but it is a racing certainty that the 11 chosen by South Africa for first Test will not go unchanged throughout the series.

On 27 December the 15 names will be announced to represent Zimbabwe in the World Cup. Naturally there is much speculation as to who will make the final cut.Ten years ago, when Zimbabwe first started in Test cricket, there were about 12 or 13 names who were automatic selections, and then the question was, "Who else can we put in to make up numbers?" Nowadays we have about 20 players all pressing their claims, so it is more of a question of who to leave out. Ironically, though the quantity may have increased, the quality has somewhat diminished, certainly at Test level. Our players need to rediscover the passion and commitment our team had during its first two or three years of Test cricket.There are perhaps nine players who are definites for the World Cup (if fit). Recent selections and current form seem to show that the selectors have decided on them already. They are as follows:Andy Blignaut, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas Hondo, Henry Olonga, Heath Streak (captain), Tatenda Taibu, Mark Vermeulen.That leaves six places. There are another nine who can be regarded as possibles:Gary Brent, Alistair Campbell, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Craig Evans, Doug Marillier, Brian Murphy, Mluleki Nkala, Guy Whittall, Craig Wishart.Several other players have represented Zimbabwe recently who probably will not be considered. This excludes Pommie Mbangwa and Raymond Price, both of whom would still be in my short list, but were not even included in the 30 announced by the selectors. If any of them do make the final side, it will be a major surprise. They are:Stuart Carlisle – lack of form. If the selectors were still considering him, they would surely have given him a chance against Kenya.Hamilton Masakadza – struggling to find quality cricket at the University of the Free State, and considered a specialist Test player at the moment in any case.Stuart Matsikenyeri – opened against Wasim and Waqar, struggled, was perhaps unlucky with at least one umpiring decision, and dropped after two matches without being resuscitated against Kenya.Waddington Mwayenga – promising but too inexperienced; given only one game against Pakistan.Barney Rogers – had two chances against Pakistan but still not quite ready for top international cricket.Richie Sims – same as for Rogers. If the selectors still had them in mind for the World Cup, they would surely have given them another run against Kenya to build their confidence.To return to the possibles. One position I hold is that experience and consistency are important qualities at all times, but even more so in the World Cup. In 1999 our players choked more than once in matches, finding the pressure too hot to handle and lacking self-belief – this is Dave Houghton’s view as well as my own. We need a strong backbone of players who can both perform and who have played enough at the most intense level to be able to handle it and hold the side together. Hopefully those who went through the 1999 World Cup will be stronger and wiser players for that experience. The World Cup is not a place for raw youngsters who have still to make their mark on international cricket.Alistair Campbell has many calling for his head, and may well have been dropped from the team already had he not been named captain for both recent series. He has reached double figures twice in his last ten one-day international innings. I feel he must still go, though with a strong warning that he must produce the goods. Dave Houghton believes Campbell plays best under this sort of pressure. His experience is much needed; form is temporary but class is permanent, even if it doesn’t show in Campbell’s averages. I don’t believe we have so much experience that we can afford to drop him altogether.I personally would promote Doug Marillier to the definites, but I’m not sure the selectors agree. Douggie is a match-winner, as he showed in India earlier this year, and almost did in Australia last year. We have few enough of those. He is also a useful and economical bowler.Guy Whittall is another whom I would definitely send. He has the experience, he can hammer the ball around in the middle order when quick scoring is urgently needed, and his medium-pacers can take vital wickets as well as contain the opposition. But he should do as little bowling as possible between now and the World Cup to try to keep his legs working properly.The others are harder to select. I would reluctantly omit Dion Ebrahim, as he has not shown enough form against the top teams in one-day cricket. Exclude a century and a fifty against Bangladesh, and his top score is 42, in 36 matches.Sean Ervine is another I would reluctantly leave out. He is certainly a player for the future and he has great potential as both batsman and bowler. At the moment, he is not quite consistent enough with either, in my view, if more experienced players like Whittall and Marillier are available.Mluleki Nkala really has no credentials on current bowling form; he has just lost it. Geoff Marsh and Alistair Campbell believe they are putting him back together again, but he has no chance to show it before the 15 are announced. He does score useful runs, but unless he can bowl well he will not be worth his place. He is certainly part of Zimbabwe’s long-term future in the game and I suspect the selectors might just include him for that reason. On recent form, though, it would be a major surprise.That leaves four players for three places – batsmen Craig Evans and Craig Wishart, seamer Gary Brent and spinner Brian Murphy.Evans and Wishart are both potential match-winners, although they do not do it very often. But which Zimbabweans do? Aggressive middle-order players, they can tear apart any weak links in a bowling attack. Evans, on his return to international cricket, played one superb innings, but did not follow it up and was soon dropped. Wishart played against Kenya, but only briefly had a chance to show he could bat, when he did all that could be expected of him. Could we take them both? I suspect the selectors will not, but I would be inclined to try.So far we have Blignaut, Friend, Hondo, Olonga, Streak and hopefully Whittall in the side who bowl seam. Bearing in mind our injury record, is this enough? Gary Brent has not been quite at his best this season, and the selectors have tried him briefly and discarded him. He has the virtue of accuracy, but I’m not sure the selectors are thinking of him any longer.For spinners we have Grant Flower and Doug Marillier, both of whom have good fitness records. Spinners do not generally prosper in South Africa. Brian Murphy is still not quite in his best form and confidence, though he looked more assured against minnows Kenya. For most places in the world I would want a specialist spinner – which would have to be Murphy, since Raymond Price is regarded as unfit for one-day cricket. But, with reluctance, I would leave him out of my side for South Africa.My World Cup 15, then, would be: Blignaut, Brent, Campbell, Evans, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Friend, Hondo, Marillier, Olonga, Streak, Taibu, Vermeulen, Whittall, Wishart.I am not, though, privy to inside information that the selectors and players might know, so I do not set myself up as an expert! I suspect the selectors may want to include Ebrahim, Nkala and Murphy, but to do so would go against their recent records. I doubt whether they will take both Evans and Wishart, and we wait to see whether they will heed calls to get rid of Campbell and Whittall. They may decide in favour of Ervine’s potential.Only seven of the players in my 15 have played in the World Cup before: the Flowers, Campbell, Streak, Whittall, Evans and Olonga. I think we will need all of that. Will any of them still be around in four years’ time for the next World Cup in the West Indies?

HOBART, Jan 26 AAP – Jason Gillespie made an eye-catching return from injury today but his presence failed to save South Australia from another batting embarrassment in its ING Cup match against Tasmania in Hobart.Just over a week after being routed for 83 in Brisbane, the Redbacks again reset their state’s lowest total in domestic one-day cricket as they were skittled for 51 to hand Tasmania a whopping 140-run win.It was also the smallest team score in interstate limited overs history, wiping out Western Australia’s mark of 59 in 1969/70 from the record books.”There are no excuses for being bowled out for 51,” lamented South Australian captain Darren Lehmann after the match.”We were totally outplayed. Our play was pathetic really.”In a match that was slow to take shape after Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox won the toss, the home team’s total of 191 had initially looked inadequate.But new ball bowlers Adam Griffith (3-14 from 10 overs) and Damien Wright (2-14 off 7 overs) quickly stepped in to ruin the contest and prolong an unbeaten record for Tasmania that stretches back to mid-December.Assisted by attacking fields, fine catching and a Bellerive Oval pitch that supplied sufficient variability in bounce to displease both sides, the pairs’ line and length proved irresistible.But they were also helped by impatient batting in a display that saw seven wickets tumble for the addition of just 12 runs in the middle stages of the innings.None of the Redbacks batsmen stumbled on the mix of graft and craft necessary for the situation and Greg Blewett’s 13 represented the only score in double figures.Gillespie, returning to action for the first time since damaging elbow ligaments three weeks ago, earlier claimed 1-28 from 10 outstanding overs as the South Australians made a promising start.His bowling was both economical and hostile and dispelled any lingering doubts about his readiness for next month’s World Cup tournament.But he was ultimately upstaged by his own batsmen whose meek surrender allowed Tasmania to rocket into second place on the ING Cup points table.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) official hinted last night that a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) request to have Marlon Samuels reinstated in the team for the imminent World Cup could be ratified."It’s outside the current provisions to allow a player who has been taken out of the squad to come back into it, but it’s not to say the procedures wouldn’t be flexible," said media manager Mark Harrison.He was speaking by telephone from Cape Town while confirming the ICC’s receipt of the formal WICB application.He said the letter from WICB acting chief executive Roger Brathwaite was with David Richardson, the former South African wicket-keeper who is the ICC’s cricket manager."We’re considering the position with some urgency, given the imminence of the tournament and that the West Indies play the first match Sunday, and obviously will let the WICB know as quickly as possible," he said.Harrison pointed out that the matter would go to the World Cup technical committee for the final decision but said it did not require a full meeting of the committee.The WICB set out their position in Brathwaite’s letter and telephone communication between president Wes Hall and Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive who also heads the World Cup technical committee.Samuels, the 22-year-old right-handed batsman and off-spinner, was an original choice in the squad of 15 but was withdrawn by the selectors January 25 and replaced by left-handed all-rounder Ryan Hinds following a report on his injured knee by Dr Askhai Mansingh of the WICB’s medical panel.He was passed fit to participate in the tournament last Monday night after subsequent examinations in the United States by specialists Dr Ainsworth Allen and Dr Michael Mount.The WICB’s appeal noted that the memorandum setting out the technical committee’s policy on player replacement had not been issued until January 28, two days after Samuels’ original withdrawal."It is entirely conceivable that had the full rules of the engagement been available at the time when the WICB had to make the decision on Marlon Samuels, a different conclusion may have been reached," it stated.Citing the ICC’s reference to Clause 5.4 of the memorandum in answer to an earlier inquiry on the matter, the WICB stated: "We submit that no West Indies player has yet competed in the tournament and, therefore, the reference in the clause to taking further part in the tournament, is not applicable."The WICB also alluded to the "leeway provided to other teams in the World Cup who have experienced difficulties in meeting deadlines and requirements in what is a new and evolving environment".India submitted their final team two weeks after the ICC’s stated deadline following disagreements with its players over segments of the ICC World Cup contract.Even if the ICC agrees to allow Samuels back in the team, it would be virtually impossible for him to get to Cape Town and be match-ready for Sunday’s contest against South Africa that inaugurates the tournament.Hall has already said that if Hinds is replaced he would be given the option of remaining on as a fully-paid, non-playing member of the squad or returning to the Caribbean to play for Barbados in the current regional Carib Beer Series.

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Kenya pulled off the shock of the tournament with a remarkable 53 runvictory against the Sri Lankans at Nairobi on Monday.Sri Lanka, firm favourites after three straight victories, were bundled outfor 157 in 45 overs chasing the 210 for nine scored by Kenya early in theday.Cheered on by a capacity partisan home crowd, the Kenya bowlers and fieldersproduced an electric display in the field, bowling tightly and fieldingbrilliantly.Leg-spinner Collins Obuya was adjudged man of the match for a superb spellof bowling, running through the Sri Lankan middle order to claim fivewickets for 24 from ten overs, the best ever figures by a Kenyan.Only Aravinda de Silva, who scored 41 from 53 deliveries, provided anyresistance on a slow pitch.Earlier, Kennedy Otieno smashed an entertaining 60 from 88 balls,hitting eight fours and two sixes as Kenya cobbled together their moderatetotal.It was Kenya’s first win against Sri Lanka, their tenth ODI victory, and their greatest day since they defeated West Indies at Poona in the 1996 World Cup.The win leaves Kenya, who picked up four points after New Zealand forfeitedtheir game for security reasons, with a good chance of qualifying for theSuper Sixes.They now move into second position in the table with two matches to play,one of which will be against the out-of-sorts Bangladeshis.Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign may not lie in tatters but they now face afight to qualify for the second round with difficult matches to be playedagainst West Indies and South Africa.Jayasuriya (3) failed for the second consecutive innings after chipping acatch to wide mid on.Marvan Atapattu (23) started the innings in glorious fashion with a brace ofboundaries but eventually came unstuck as he played onto his stumps to giftThomas Odoyo his 50th ODI wicket.Hashan Tillakaratne (23), dropped in the gully when he had made eight,looked to have settled during a 32 run partnership with veteran Aravinda deSilva before hoisting a catch into the deep off Obuya.De Silva counterattacked in characteristically positive fashion, pulling asix high over square leg.Mahela Jayawardene (5), desperately looking for form before key matchesagainst West Indies and South Africa, could have been run out early on wereit not for a fumble in the covers.But the rusty looking right-hander did not make Kenya pay for a rarefielding slip, poking a catch straight back to Obuya off a leading edge ashe tried to flick a full toss through the leg-side.Kumar Sangakkara (5) was then athletically caught by a tumbling Otienobehind the stumps and when De Silva was caught behind whilst trying to forceObuya through the off-side Sri Lanka were in dire straits on 112 for six.Russel Arnold (25*), the last remaining specialist batsman, struggled tohold the innings together but he was unable to claim back the initiative aswickets continued to fall.Vaas (4) was caught and bowled and then Prabath Nissanka (2) and MuttiahMuralitharan (10) were well-caught on the boundary edge of the skipper SteveTikolo.When Dilhara Fernando missed a reverse sweep and was bowled the Kenyan’svictory was complete and the wild celebrations commenced.Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka had elected to field first against theKenyans, a surprise decision on an excellent batting surface that promisedplenty of runs.The move looked to have been justified when Chaminda Vaas grabbed a secondball wicket, trapping Ravindu Shah lbw with a curving inswinger.But Otieno reacted aggressively to the early loss, swinging Vaas for twotowering sixes and a flurry of boundaries, dashing Sri Lankan hopes ofanother early finish.Nevertheless Sri Lanka made inroads: Brijal Patel (12) edged an off-cutterbehind and Muralitharan trapped star batsman Steve Tikolo (10) lbw with asharply turning off-break.When Otieno was snared in the deep the innings then lost momentum withHitesh Modi and former captain Maurice Odumbe struggling against the SriLankan spinners, adding 40 runs in 10 overs.The left-handed Modi, dropped at fine leg on nine and missed again bywicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara behind the stumps on 11, scored 26 from 56deliveries before being bowled as he tried to reverse sweep Muralitharan.Thomas Odoyo (6) was then caught behind off Vaas after the left-armer waspulled back into the attack for his second spell of the day.Vaas, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, finished with three for 41 fromhis ten overs.Odumbe (26) was brilliantly caught by Russel Arnold at mid-wicket and TonySuji was bowled by Muralitharan to leave Kenya in trouble on 178 for 8.However, Peter Ongondo then finished the innings with a flourish scoring 20from 18 balls and adding 32 in 4.1 overs with Collins Obuya (11*).It appeared that Sri Lanka would stroll to victory but no one hadanticipated such and electric display from the Kenyans in the field.