ScorecardIt will be nothing more than a formality for Trinidad and Tobago when they return to Guaracara Park to wrap up their Carib Beer Cup semi-final against the Windward Islands.Facing a mammoth target of 541, due to T&T’s second innings total of 416, a batting collapse saw Windwards tottering at 102 for 7 at the end of the third day. A sparkling 161 by Daren Ganga, the T&T captain, and late wickets for Amit Jaggernauth and Dave Mohammed made sure that T&T ended the day on the brink of an outright victory and a berth in next weekend’s final.Mohammed gave an impressive allround performance, scoring 43 not out in a 51-run ninth wicket partnership with his captain, before returning to rip the heart out of the Windwards batting with figures of 4 for 31 off nine overs.Devon Smith, the Windwards opener, looked formidable, slamming six fours in his 33, but when Mohammed had him trapped in front leg-before, the Windwards folded easier than fresh linen. Mohammed also removed Junior Murray, the hard-hitting wicketkeeper for 17 via a midwicket catch by Ganga, as well as Darren Sammy (4) and bowled Dennis George (4). Jaggernauth grabbed the important wicket of Craig Emmanuel (21), caught by Sherwin Ganga at leg slip, and gave Dillon a simple catch at mid-on to dismiss Alvin La Feuille.With T&T already firmly in the driver’s seat overnight in their second innings at 171 for 3, Ganga made sure there was no room for the visitors to claw their way back into the match, slamming a century that included 16 fours and a six. He and Jason Mohammed started slowly, pushing the score along to 185, before an impatient Mohammed, attempting to go over the top, looped Rawl Lewis, the Windwards captain, to Butler at mid-off to depart for 20.Denesh Ramdin joined his captain and, looking to make amends for his first innings duck, got off the mark with a cut to the left of gully that crashed into the boundary. In the first hour, T&T had only managed 36 runs, but Ganga stepped up the scoring after the drinks break, smashing George to the square-leg fence and Sammy over backward point for four.Ramdin survived an lbw appeal and Ganga had a close call with another appeal for a catch at silly mid-off. But he responded with successive fours off Smith, hoisting him over long-on and then driving to the cover boundary, before clouting Liam Sebastien for another boundary to move into the 90s.A miscued sweep from Ramdin gifted the visitors their fifth wicket, Lewis taking the catch off Sebastien at slip, with the score at 266. Richard Kelly joined Ganga at the crease and the pair took the score to 277 at the lunch break, with the captain needing just a single to reach his tenth regional century.After tea, Ganga pushed to mid-off to bring up his century as he and Kelly looked to accelerate. Sebastien was replaced by Lewis mid-way through the over, and immediately had Kelly caught at the mid-wicket boundary for 17. Reyad Emrit and Dillon fell soon after, and at 338 for 8, Mohammed took the attack to the bowlers. He was left stranded, seven short of his half-century, after Jaggernauth was bowled for three.

Division One

2nd day
While the actions off the field took most of the attention (click here for more), Sussex fought hard to stay in their clash against Nottinghamshire after their batting failure on the first day. Mushtaq Ahmed, at the centre of the incident with Chris Read, finished with six wickets while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan claimed three to take his season tally to 20. Mark Ealham, though, extended Notts’ lead to 86 with a fighting fifty and an important stand of 68 with Ryan Sidebottom. Sussex lost three crucial wickets before the close, but Carl Hopkinson was unbeaten with a determined half century.Hampshire continued to control their match against Warwickshire by chipping out five wickets after they’d extended their first innings to 406. James Bruce claimed two early wickets and Dimitri Mascarenhas also chipped in with a pair. Jim Troughton held the innings together, but Warwickshire are still some way short of the follow-on target. John Crawley had earlier fallen four short of a ton when he was trapped lbw by Alex Loudon.1st day
Darren Lehmann launched a superb Yorkshire recovery from 34 for 4 with an outstanding, unbeaten 176 against Kent. He formed a stand of 229 with Craig White, who made 79, and turned the innings around in dramatic style. The century continued Lehmann’s productive start to the season and he is now approaching 500 runs in just four Championship matches. After their initial success with the new ball, Kent struggled as Robert Key tried seven bowlers.Jimmy Maher struck his first century of the season, but Chris Silverwood claimed four wickets as Durham and Middlesex shared the opening day honours at Chester-le-Street. Other than Maher, the Durham top order failed to sparkle and it was left to Phil Mustard to take the innings forward after Maher fell. Mustard added 88 with Ottis Gibson, but Silverwood struck late in the day to keep Middlesex in the match.

Division Two

2nd day
Leicestershire piled on the pain for Glamorgan by extending their total beyond 500 in an innings where the run rate only just tipped three an over for 167 overs. Dinesh Mongia could only add 19 to his overnight total but John Sadler reached the seventies, as did Paul Nixon who was accompanied by some solid efforts from the tail. David Masters, removing the dangerous Mark Cosgrove, and Mohammad Asif claimed a wicket each during the final session to keep Glamorgan firmly on the back foot.1st day
Somerset’s re-jigged batting order produced a team effort to as Essex had to work hard for wickets at Taunton. James Hildreth struck 57 and Keith Parsons is still there on 78, while only Wes Durston failed to contribute. With Somerset 244 for 6, Essex could have taken the honours, but without Darren Gough they were unable to claim their next breakthrough. Parsons and Peter Trego have so far added 68.It was a day for the bowlers at Bristol as 14 wickets fell between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire. Ian Harvey, fit to bowl again, and Carl Greenidge took three apiece as Gloucestershire produced a much improved performance in the field after their abject effort against Surrey last week. Ben Phillips top-scored at No. 8 to highlight Nothamptonshire’s failings, but they hit back by dismissing the Gloucestershire top order in the final session.Graeme Welch played a captain’s innings to rescue Derbyshire from 132 for 6 against Worcestershire. He added 103 with James Pipe, who is playing against his former county, after Zaheer Khan had troubled the top order. Khan returned to wrap up the innings and finish with six wickets, his second such haul already this season.

Mushtaq Ahmed and Chris Read were involved in a confrontation off the field at Hove during the current Championship clash between Sussex and Nottinghamshire.The incident happened after Read was trapped lbw by Mushtaq for a duck, and he appeared to be angry at a string of appeals. Mushtaq had four lbws on his way to 6 for 72Read returned the pavilion but then reappeared on the boundary edge where Mushtaq was fielding and the two exchanged angry words. Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, left the field to speak to Read.At the close of play the umpires, Rob Bailey and Graham Burgess, met with the two players and their captains, following which Read issued a brief apology. “I wish to apologise for my involvement in the incident with Mushtaq Ahmed earlier today,” he said. “It was totally out of character and will not happen again.”The ECB could take action depending on the report from the umpires.Read, whose disappointment at getting out was increased by the fact that he was being watched by England selectors David Graveney and Geoff Miller, was out of order, but some eyewitnesses did endorse his view that Mushtaq’s appealing was excessive. “Although there were too many appeals that were fatuous,” observed the Daily Telegraph, “his bowling enlivened a slow day.”

Scotland’s search for a new chief executive had no sooner begun than it was over, with the vacancy filled by Roddy Smith, the man whose resignation started the process.Smith, who quit last month to take up a new job with the ICC, decided, for personal and family reasons, to turn down the offer of employment as the Development Programs Manager which would have involved relocation to the Middle East.”It was very flattering to be offered the chance to work for the world governing body,” Smith said. “On reflection in the last couple of weeks my family and I have, however, decided to remain in Scotland, where I feel there is considerable unfinished business which I would like to influence.”We are at an amazingly exciting period for the game in Scotland and I want the chance to continue the progress we are making at all levels. The World Cup is less than nine months away, our club and junior games are developing and our off field activities are growing. Above all, we need to focus on what happens over the next four years, in performance, development and financial terms.”The Board of Cricket Scotland has been supportive of my decision and I am committed to ensuring the continued development of our game and governing body.”Keith Oliver, the chairman of Cricket Scotland, commented: “It was a real blow to think we were losing Roddy and we fully understood his attraction to the post with the ICC. To welcome him back as our senior professional staff member is a real bonus for us at an important time in our development.”

ScorecardIndia A completed an easy 10-wicket win over Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI with a day to spare in their four-day match at the Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin. Tejinder Pal Singh, with a century and six wickets in the game, made the most of his opportunities.It was Siddharth Trivedi, the medimpacer, who got India A away, picking up four first-innings wickets as NTCM XI were bowled out for only 234. Then India A responded well with Venugopala Rao, the captain, scoring a 100. Tejinder Pal Singh, who batted at No. 8 made a century of his own, and India notched up 430, a lead of 196 runs.When it was their turn to bat again NTCM XI managed only 224, with Tejinder Pal Singh taking 4 for 75 and Shib Sankar Paul picking up 4 for 60. India A needed just 3.3 overs to score the 29 runs that took them to victory, and did so without losing a second-innings wicket. The game was not especially memorable for NTCM XI, with just two batsmen scoring half-centuries, and no bowler picking up more than 3 wickets in an innings.

Jonty Rhodes, the former South African middle-order batsman who developed into one of the greatest fielders of all time, feels that Sachin Tendulkar deserves a place in the Indian team purely on the strength of his batting ability, even if he is unable to give his best as a fielder. Rhodes had suggested that Tendulkar field in the inner circle, which would help protect his shoulder from the risk of injury.”Even if he can’t field from the deep, you have to have him at mid-off or mid-on and protect him. Because I don’t think it is going to take a whole year till the World Cup for him to be 100% fit”, Rhodes told PTI. “It is a confidence thing for him. If he is happy that his shoulder is fine, and if you have a guy like Sachin Tendulkar who is back in form, then you have to have him in the team.”Tendulkar returned to the Indian side for the tri-series in Sri Lanka after a four-month layoff, during which he underwent surgery in his right shoulder. He gained valuable match practice in England for a brief period, representing club-side Lashings, and was included in the Indian squad after being given the green signal by John Gloster, the team physiotherapist.Rhodes, who observed Tendulkar at the nets in Colombo, remarked that he was impressed with his disclipline. Javagal Srinath, the former Indian fast bowler, also recently concurred with Rhodes’s view that Tendulkar is good enough to walk into the team. “I have seen how he works as a batsman at the nets, he is very disciplined. And I expect him to do the same sort of rehab on his shoulders,” Rhodes said. “I would be inclined to have him in the team, just based on his past performance.”Rhodes, also the fielding coach of the South African team, had cited the throwing techniques of players nowadays as the main reason for the recurrence of shoulder injuries. “The problem with current players is that a lot of them are quiet for 5-6 overs and then suddenly they throw”, he said. “What happens is your shoulders are not warm, resulting in injuries. Today’s throwing technique is also not correct, which is what I am trying to work with the South African team.”Rhodes also acknowledged the rise in fielding standards in all countries and denied that South Africa had slipped in that department. “I don’t think we have lost it. It is just that every team has realised the importance of fielding. I would rather say that we have back-toed a bit while other teams have also caught up with us. It is also that we set really high standards for ourselves to maintain.”

Sourav Ganguly admitted to being disappointed after he was overlooked for the Champions Trophy but reiterated his commitment to find his way back into the national squad.Asked whether he was hurt by the non-selection Ganguly, currently playing in the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament in Hyderabad, told , the Mumbai-based tabloid, “Well, it’s more of a disappointment rather than being upset. But I know there is no use of thinking about it now. The Indian team is travelling to Malaysia while I am playing at Hyderabad. Yes, I have adjusted myself with these things now. But the hunger is still there and that is why I am continuing my cricket.”On whether he was expecting a call-up, he said: “There was news in the air that the team that went to Sri Lanka would be retained. And that’s what happened. So there was no hope this time.”Ganguly re-emphasised his intent to find a place in the national squad on the back of strong performances in domestic cricket. “When I was dropped from the team, I did not get many opportunities to prove myself in domestic cricket and make a comeback. It was the fag end of the season. If you go through the last year’s domestic cricket scorecards, you will see that I am the second highest scorer after Wasim Jaffer. The season is beginning again with Moin-ud-Dowla and my aim there would be to score runs and take wickets. I am only concerned about scoring runs and nothing else at this juncture.”Ganguly last played in the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament eight years ago and spoke about the similarities then and now. “When I went to play in the Moin-ud-Dowla 13 years ago, my target was the same as it is now – to get back to the national team. The difference is I was trying to be back for the second time. It is a coincidence, this time, I am trying to make a come back for the third time.”Playing for Bengal XI against Mumbai Colts, Ganguly put in a miserly spell on the first day, ending up with figures of 13 – 3 -13 – 2.

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, defended his side from the criticism they have received after a disappointing tour to England and said that forthcoming events will help them to be better prepared for the World Cup next year.Woolmer came in for criticism from former captains Imran Khan and Javed Miandad after the series. The former slammed Woolmer for not planning properly or having effective strategies set in place for the series.Woolmer told Karachi-based daily , “It is easy to be critical when you lose. The blame culture remains a factor in Pakistan sport. More importantly, constructive criticism is very rare. Of course, both Imran and Javed have a right to express their opinions as does everyone. Those of us who are responsible for the team’s performance have to deal with the problems as they come.”For example, on the point of strategy. Naturally, it is discussed well before the match but during the game players have to adjust to the conditions and inevitably strategies change. Whatever happens on the field is backed by the whole team. Reality suggests that if the opposition plays better than you then you, more often than not, lose. That the team worked extremely hard and were very disappointed in the final results is for everyone to see. But there were positives and we will take them and build upon them.”Pakistan’s fielding, to no one’s surprise, also came in for criticism and Woolmer acknowledged that it was a serious problem. “We have a good team and they are working very hard to keep themselves fit. Fielding is a problem and we work at it relentlessly. We have good days also which are never highlighted and only the bad days are quoted when we lose.”But he remained confident that the team would be well-prepared for the World Cup next year. “The forthcoming events give us the opportunity to build the team into a better and more effective unit. Preparations for the World Cup continue all the time. If we are satisfied now then we will never be competitive enough at the World Cup.”Woolmer hinted that the national squad would be undergoing special training, similar to those recently planned by Australia and India. “We will be discussing these and other plans and implementing them nearer the World Cup. I have seen and used techniques such as these with other teams and they do help a bit.”

The complexion of this edition of the Champions Trophy changeddramatically when West Indies pulled off a sensational 10-run win overAustralia at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai yesterday. That game was played on athird pitch but no-one gave it a chance. Fair enough; how different canone 22-yard patch be from another on the same square? But when Sri Lankatake on New Zealand, there will still be a bit of wariness as no one isclear how the pitch will play when the first ball is bowled.When West Indies began their game against Australia they were playing thepitch more than they were the bowlers. Brian Lara’s master stroke – and itseemed like a terrible mistake at the time – of coming in at No. 6 ensuredthat West Indies could still go on to post a competitive total despitetheir early losses. But it may not be a blueprint for games of the future.Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s expert on pitches, arrived in Mumbai and did what he could to help the pitches at the Brabourne Stadium along. Word is that they’re using industrial adhesives – the stuff builders use – to help bind the pitch, giving it a chance tolast the full hundred overs with minimum wear and tear.But the two teams really didn’t have the pitch on mind when they preparedthemselves for the latest mini battle of the tournament. Sri Lanka havebeen the team in form coming into this event, and their early performancesindicated that they were hot favourites. But a loss against Pakistan, whohave been in utter disarray after losing most of their bowling, hasensured that nothing can be taken for granted in this tournament.For Stephen Fleming and his crew the opposite has been true. They beganthe tournament as unfancied contenders. New Zealand have never been athome on dry, crumbling pitches, and there was no reason to believe theywould be any different this time around. Fleming spoke of how his team wasnot rated outside New Zealand – and unfairly so – and backed that up witha solid performance in the first game, against South Africa. He battedwith such care and streetwiseness on a tough pitch that he virtually wonthe game for his side.

The only real concern for New Zealand was with injuries, and Shane Bondwas top on the list. With Scott Styris still not at his best, with ahamstring twinge bothering him, New Zealand have to make the most of theresources they have at hand. Understandably they’re taking a long-termview with Bond and believe they can still push the best in the world withthe squad they have. The contest promises to be a tough one, and if someof Sri Lanka’s flair comes to the fore, things could get reallyinteresting.New Zealand, who have won the tournament before, come to the party withthat confidence. “In 2000 we hoped we could win it,” said Fleming at apre-match press conference. “Now we have come here with a genuineexpectation as a contender. That’s the major difference. In the lastcouple of years we’ve been blooding new players and developing experience. Now we play in tournaments to win, that’s a big change from what it wasin 2000 in the ICC Knock Out.”Mahela Jayawardene, meanwhile, was quite relaxed about the position histeam was in. “For Sri Lanka basically it’s two semi-finals. We have beenpushed to the wall and we have to win,” he said. “It’s a very healthysituation though to be in. If destiny is in our hand we should be able tosteer it, rather than hoping for somebody else to do it for us. It’simportant not to think too far ahead, but think about tomorrow’s game.”Two teams that are more than competent at one-day cricket promise to putup a show worthy of the occasion.

Glenn McGrath believes he still has plenty to offer despite Australia’s selectors looking to the future by choosing Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait alongside him in the first-Test squad. Speculation over McGrath’s form after eight months out of cricket to care for his ill wife led some detractors to suggest his time was up.”We have a lot of good young bowlers coming through in Australian cricket and the time will come when I won’t be around or have to make way for someone like Mitchell Johnson,” McGrath said. “Obviously, I’m getting closer to the end of my career than the start, but I still feel I have a lot to offer the team. I still feel that I can contribute. Each game I’ve played, I’ve put a little piece of the puzzle back together. It’s feeling pretty good and I shouldn’t be too far off 100%.”McGrath said his own fitness could help Australia regain the Ashes. “England are not as strong as they were last year,” he said. “But Australia are a lot stronger. And I’m fit, unlike last time. Put it this way, in the three Tests I played in last time, we drew two and won one. I can still remember standing there on the final day and watching them celebrate. So that’s deeply ingrained in my memory and I’ll be drawing a bit of inspiration from that.”Although he was left eating humble pie last year after predicting Australia would take the Ashes series 5-0, McGrath was not backing away from a similar claim this year. “I reckon it will be 5-0 this time, as well,” he said. “To say anything else would be negative. If we’re going to win 2-1, or 3-2, which games are we going to lose?”