An unbeaten century by Mukund Parmar helped Gujarat draw withMaharashtra in the West Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Shri ShivajiStadium, Karad on Tuesday.Gujarat ended up on 324 for five in 110.1 overs. Resuming on 73 fortwo, Niraj Patel (58) and Tejas Varsani (64) made patient halfcenturies in the second innings. But the star of the day was MukundParmar, who scored 102 off 229 deliveries, including 14 hits to thefence. Parmar and Pathik Patel (52 not out) put on an unbeaten 83-runpartnership for the sixth wicket. Iqbal Siddiqui bagged two wicketsfor 53 runs.Maharashtra earned five points on their first innings lead, andGujarat picked up three.

There was music, fanfare, the opening of a new stand and an exciting match. In the end, however, it all drew out to one predictable result.The West Indians were beaten again on this tour, this time in a carnival one-day match against the Prime Minister’s XI here at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. The tourists lost by four wickets with nine balls to spare. This, after their young Australian opponents started over number forty-six needing twenty-seven runs off twenty-four balls.Fittingly, the heroes for the Prime Minister’s XI were two local boys – Anthony McQuire and Mark Higgs. McQuire (57), who turns twenty-eight in a couple of weeks, gave himself and the team an early birthday present with a clean-hitting innings that included four boundaries. After a slow start, he found his rhythm against the Windies’ quicks before being brilliantly run out by a substitute English fielder.Yes, the Windies camp is so depleted that they required their fielding coach, Julian Fountain, to take to the field, and he duly obliged with the direct hit from deep cover to effect the run out. In fact, Fountain’s fielding – as well as that of Roger Harper – provided an entertaining edge to the match. With six players out injured (Brian Lara: hamstring, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Mahendra Nagamootoo and Mervyn Dillon: rolled ankles, Shivnarine Chanderpaul: stress fracture in foot, and Nixon McLean: ‘flu), the coaches were forced on to the field to make up the numbers. Fortunately, though, most of the absentees should be ready by the time next week’s Third Test starts in Adelaide, and replacement Marlon Samuels is also due to arrive tomorrow.As for McQuire, whose taste of big-time cricket before today had extended to just six matches with the Canberra Comets in Australia’s domestic one-day competition, he was pretty happy with his efforts against an international attack.”It just took a little bit of time to adjust, they were a little bit quicker and I just had to take my time and realise the longer I was there the better I was going to hit them. So I just wanted to be patient and do the job that I had to do,” he said.Higgs starred as a genuine all-rounder, conceding only thirty runs from his ten overs before notching up a quick fire forty-nine not out from just forty balls. He brought up the winning runs when he slogged a Courtney Walsh (1/36) delivery over mid-wicket for four. In the previous over, it was Colin Stuart (2/53) who was the unlucky one, being smashed for three boundaries.The Windies sadly failed to consolidate their fairly satisfactory batting with bowling of the same standard. As captain Jimmy Adams pointed out last week after the Test loss in Perth, the team is still struggling to make the two coincide. The bowlers were carted all over the ground today, with Stuart receiving the most severe punishment.The bowling performance generally took the shine off the fine innings played by Daren Ganga (97) earlier in the day. However, Adams’ decision to bat first did pay off in one sense, allowing the batsmen some much-needed batting practice.Although their opposing bowlers perhaps did not perform as well as they would have liked, with the fast bowlers going for a few runs, the match was a fun and positive experience. Don Nash (1/31) bowled well, captain Adam Gilchrist (31) contributed a typically flamboyant innings, and Martin Love (56) was the second batsman to score fifty.The only low point was the injury to Tasmanian all-rounder Daniel Marsh, who rolled his foot trying to field a ball in this third over. But even that incident had its fun side, allowing Gilchrist to have a rare bowl.”That was unplanned, although I must admit the Prime Minister last night did tell me I had to bowl at some stage. So, when Dan twisted his ankle, I saw the window of opportunity open up and had to jump in there. Initially it was only going to be one ball, but when that was a maiden, I (thought I) better back up myself here. So I was disappointed when my slower slower ball came out and the batsman hit it into the corporate tents!” he said.The biggest talking point after the match, though, was whether the ‘keeper would feel comfortable taking on the Australian Test captaincy next week in Steve Waugh’s absence as is widely expected. Gilchrist, who did not don the gloves today, said he fielded at mid-off for most of the day because he wanted to give young Tasmanian Sean Clingeleffer a go, not because it would be too much for him to captain and keep at the same time.”The hardest part I found about captaining today was not keeping. That may sound a bit weird but whenever I’ve fielded in a game, I find it very hard to judge angles and field positions and then to know how the bowlers are bowling, what line they’re bowling, whether I’ve got the right field. That’s personally for me because I’ve grown up a keeper,” he said.”I enjoyed the run today, and the chance to captain. Get myself thinking more like a captain. I think a lot of the guys in the Test team do think like captains anyway and we’re all contributing to Stephen and he’s always asking us. Today was planned long before Stephen was injured so the fact that it’s coincided with that if I am named captain next week I’ll be thankful for the hit out today. It was good. Hopefully if I captain the Test, I’ll have the gloves on,” he said.The would-be captain also had some kind words for his opposition.”They played really well. They’ve had a tough time, their batsmen. All credit to them for continually working hard. The one thing that can be said about it is that they’re not giving up; their spirit’s still good. They’ve put in a good fight today and took it to the wire so all credit to them for continuing to fight on,” he said.Of course, being on the winning side, he could afford to be magnanimous. One thing was for sure, Gilchrist clearly relished the chance to lead today.”I really enjoyed it. Had a great day. It’s not the Frank Worrell Trophy that we’re playing for today but I must say all the same it was nice to win,” he said with a smile.

June 7th has been the date on the lips of every politician in this country.In the years to come, Darren Thomas will have other reasons forremembering June 7th, 2001.In the morning session of the Championship match at Chelmsford, Darren Thomascreated a piece of cricketing history for himself by making the highest everscore by a Glamorgan number eight.Yesterday, Thomas scored his maiden first-class century, hitting 119*and shared in a 7th wicket stand of 163 with fellow centurion AdrianDale. This morning, he subsequently extended his overnight score to 138,and past the previous best by a Glamorgan number eight – Malcolm Nash`s 130,scored in the opening match of the 1976 season against Surrey at The Oval.There were certain parallels between both of these innings. Thomas came tothe crease yesterday with Glamorgan lurching at 128-6, whilst Nash started hisinnings in 1976 with The Oval scoreboard reading 65-6. Nash then shared ina stand of 171 for the 7th wicket with Mike Llewellyn, with Nash mauling theSurrey attack by hitting two sixes and seventeen fours.Thomas was equally aggressive, with nineteen fours and a six in his career best score. But there the comparisons end, as the 1976 match finished in a draw,with Glamorgan`s last pair stoutly defending the last 21 balls on the finalafternoon to draw the game.Thomas` career best 138 may prove to be a match winning innings, asGlamorgan made 370 in their first innings. By tea on the second day,Essex were already following on after being dismissed for 193 withDarren Thomas taking four wickets.This is the third year running that a Glamorgan player has established a recordscore for a batting position, and as the table below shows, in the past two years it has been Steve James who has rewritten the record books, with the highest scores at number one and two in the order:

HIGHEST SCORES FOR EACH POSITION IN THE BATTING ORDER BY GLAMORGAN1 259 S.P.James v Nottinghamshire Colwyn Bay, 19992 309* S.P.James v Sussex Colwyn Bay, 20003 223 A.R.Lewis v Kent Gravesend, 19664 243 M.P.Maynard v Hampshire Southampton, 19915 280* R.G.Duckfield v Surrey The Oval, 19366 165* D.Davies v Sussex Eastbourne, 19287 151* C.C.Smart v Sussex Hastings, 19358 138 S.D.Thomas v Essex Chelmsford, 20019 124* M.A.Nash v Leicestershire Swansea, 197810 101* J.C.Clay v Worcestershire Swansea, 192911 73 S.A.B.Daniels v Gloucestershire Swansea, 1982

The main reason for not recommending the renewal of Aravinda De Silva’s contract was the comparatively small number of Test Matches involving Sri Lankathis season, one of the members of the selection committee has revealed.Sri Lanka’s contracted players’ names were published recently but SriLanka’s 1996 World Cup hero’s name was not among them.Sri Lanka will play only six Tests in the next six months and onlythe series against England has been confirmed until May next year but in that time there are many One-Day Internationals. Aravinda, the highestrun-getter for Sri Lanka in both forms of the game, has not been a regularmember of Sri Lanka’s one-day squad since Sri Lanka’s dismal performance inthe 1999 World Cup in England.Though he has not been contracted, Aravinda is among the pool ofplayers training for the Indian tour. That means if he plays in any of thegames, a payment will be made to him according to the number of his appearances.It is believed that Aravinda’s attitude has also counted against him. Last year when Aravinda was called to join the tour party in South Africa in place of the injured Upul Chandana halfway through the tour, he said he was not prepared to go due to lack of match practice. However, later he agreed to go and played in the last two ODIs and the the last Test in South Africa.This season he has played in just four Premier League games for his club NCC, scoring 197 runs at an aveage of 39.40.

Hemang Badani, the stylish left-hander from Tamil Nadu has come a longway since he started off as a medium pacer in the under-12competitions a decade ago. During his teens, one would have been hardpressed to call him a batsman since he hardly contributed with thebat. There was a stage at the junior level where he suffered from anidentity crisis in the sense that he belonged to no particularcategory. It was not until he came into the under-19 level did hediscover his potential as a batsman. Incidentally Anil Kumble startedas a medium pacer and Dravid began as a keeper but later on in theircareers they have reached their pinnacle in different departmentsaltogether.Badani made a scintillating hundred for Rest of India under-19 andthis earned him a slot in the India under-19 side. He scored twocenturies against the South African under-19 team which wasspearheaded by Hayward and Ntini. It was in this series that hedisplayed the rare ability of playing the faster bowlers with a lot oftime to spare. Madan Lal the then junior coach was vociferous thatBadani should be picked in the senior team. But still Badani had toprove himself at the senior level in order to convince the fraternity.In my opinion the transformation from junior level to senior level isthe most important phase in a cricketer’s career. Quite oftencricketers tend to lose their way and Badani also lost his way a bit.In his first two seasons in the Ranji Trophy, he hardly did anythingof note and doubts started creeping into the minds of Badani and alsohis mentors. It was during this phase of his career that he startedplaying for the same club that I did and this gave me an opportunityto help him with his game. One of the significant mistakes he wascommitting then was that he did not watch the ball right from the timethe ball was released and until he made contact. He watched the ballonly either in flight or after it pitched. As a result, his judgementof line and length was faulty and this resulted in poor shotselection. His willingness to learn came to the fore and he rectifiedthis flaw in a jiffy.The biggest turning point in his career came when he got a big hundredagainst Mumbai in the semi-final in the 1999-2000 season. That knockalone was responsible for bringing him into the Indian team. If I waspleasantly surprised about one thing in the case of Badani, it was thematurity that he showed when he played in the one-dayers. It wasreally astonishing to see Badani change temperamentally for the betterin a short span of time. Today he has made a mark for himself but hewould do better if he stops walking into the line of the ball, whichmakes him play across the line off fuller length deliveries. Thismovement is more pronounced early on in his innings which makes him anideal candidate to be trapped in front of the wicket. It will berelevant to mention here that his rightful place is in the middleorder and one hopes the team management will stop considering him forthe opener’s job.

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club are pleased to announce that Sanderson Recruitment plc are the Sponsors of the Gloucestershire Gladiators v Somerset Sabres Floodlit Match on Tuesday 17th July.This match is the highlight of the domestic season and takes place at Bristol on Tuesday 17th July. As defending champions Gloucestershire will be anxious to defeat local rivals Somerset in this clash of the one-day giants. The match will attract the biggest domestic crowd of the season with up to 8,000 Gloucestershire and Somerset fans expected in Bristol.”Sanderson has a well-established history in sports sponsorship, including rugby and football as well as cricket.” says company Chairman Mike Beesley. “Our clients and thousands of the IT professionals we place in permanent and contract positions every year take a great deal of pleasure from sport and we are very happy to support that.”This particular event between the Gloucestershire Gladiators and the Somerset Sabres promises to be an important and exciting match and we look forward to being involved in one of the highlights of the cricketing calendar.”Gloucestershire Commercial Manager Mark Kirton said “It is important that floodlit cricket continues to lead the way in English Cricket, and with support from Sanderson Recruitment plc, Gloucestershire can continue to deliver the most exciting form of one-day cricket to the Bristol public.”Sanderson Recruitment plc is one of the leading IT recruitment agencies in the UK, providing permanent and contract IT staff for clients across the UK including leading national companies such as Axa Sun Life, Zurich Financial Services, Hewlett Packard and Nationwide Building Society. It has in excess of l,100 working contractors on client’s sites and a database of more than 35,000 registered contract and permanent IT professionals. Parent company Resource Solutions Group was recently identified as the eighth fastest growing middle market company in the whole of the UK.

The International Cricket Council ban on players using mobile phonesis being “strictly” enforced during the ongoing one-day tri-seriesinvolving India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka here, sources say.Sri Lanka’s Cricket Board sources revealed they were also keeping alog of calls made and received by the players through the switch boardof the hotel where the three teams are staying.The measures were taken as part of attempts to prevent bookmakers fromcontacting players following the match-fixing scandal which rocked thegame recently.”What we are implementing is an ICC recommended ban,” Sri Lanka’s teammanager Ajith Jayasekara said. “We are enforcing it very strictly.”From the time the teams leave for the match venues and during play aswell as at practice, the players were not allowed to use mobilephones, Jayasekara said.A website reported there was “speculation” that six Indian bookmakershad checked into the team hotel a day before the Indian team arrivedhere on Monday.None of the three teams, however, is accompanied by a ecurity officeras recommended by ICC’s anti-corruption unit. But the players remainheavily guarded.The Taj Samudra hotel floors occupied by the players are guarded byarmed members of the elite Ministerial Security Division and onlyauthorised personnel are allowed access.

To say that the young cricketers on the Barbados Under-13 cricket teamare delighted to be heading of to England today would be a hugeunderstatement.The 25 youngsters are "on top of the world" in anticipation of thetour, which features 18 matches in a packed itinerary from August 12to September 1.The party has swelled to 40 – with family members, well-wishers andadministrators joining the players and team officials on the trip.Herein lies the future of Barbados’ cricket, said tour manager andveteran sports administrator Adrian Donovan."Cricket in Barbados was on the way down and we realised something hadto be done about it," said the senior administrator of the NationalSports Council.He said the format and idea for such a team came two years ago at apresentation ceremony of the Herman Griffith Primary Schools’Competition.The tour in many ways is a tribute to former Barbados and West Indiesfast bowling great Malcolm Marshall.Former West Indies batting greats Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes,former teammates and close friends of "Maco", were roped into theprogramme when they returned from overseas to work with the Gems ofBarbados Project.Joel Garner, the former pace partner of Marshall, is also workingclosely with the juniors and will accompany them."We felt when Gordon and Desmond came back they were the idealpersons. They readily came aboard and have been of great help,"Donovan said.He also hailed the efforts of coaches Thelston Payne, Milton Small,George Linton and Richard Straker, who all played with Marshall forBarbados."Exposure is the main goal, also the opportunity to play underdifferent conditions," said Donovan."These lads are seen as the most talented crop of cricketers for awhile."They were harnessed from very early and they are showing attributesof dynamism – eating, sleeping and drinking cricket."They are students of the game, a lot like Marshall was. They arereally studying their art," he added."It’s not only about cricket either. It is also about maintaininggrades in school, and this group has been doing well. Here we have awonderful mix between academics and sports."The manager added that the trip is costing over $120 000 and hepraised the efforts of parents, and thanked corporate Barbados fortheir support.It was 13 years ago when Marshall took a record 35 wickets in fiveTests in England at the amazing average of 12.65 per wicket.If we look ahead another 13 years it would be unrealistic to expectall the young players embarking on this tour to emerge as West IndiesTest cricketers of the future.But somewhere in there, a young Marshall is waiting for his chance toblossom in what is turning out to be a sunny, Caribbean-style summerin England.That would surely make "Maco" smile from beyond the grave.

Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh made a brilliant 63 in the practice match against a Sri Lanka Board XI leading up to the three Test matches, and at the end of the day’s play declared that it was a crucial innings.”It’s an important knock. Before going for the Test series it gives you a lot more confidence. It definitely helped me to get my confidence back for the Test series,” Ramesh said.The tall left-hander from Tamil Nadu was troubled by a back injury and missed the second Test against Zimbabwe, which India lost. Since then he hasn’t played any competitive cricket.But today he played well, and got some valuable match practice by staying in the middle for 165 minutes, facing 104 deliveries. He hit 11 classy boundaries.There were lots of complaints about the wicket at P. Sara Stadium. The game was delayed by 45 minutes today because of some patches in the wicket. It followed a 30-minute delay yesterday due to dampness.”It’s not a real batting track. It was a dicey track,” agreed Ramesh. “I am happy that I got stuck into it.”He was dismissed by a lifting Dinusha Fernando delivery. “It took me by surprise. I wanted to drive it to mid-off, but at the end the ball kicked up and I finished spooning a catch.”Ramesh was disappointed that he couldn’t go on to a big score. “I was seeing the ball well. I really wanted to go for a big one, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”The 25-year old is eagerly awaiting the Test series which starts next week at Galle. “It’s going to be one of the best. Sri Lanka have become a very formidable side. After the victory in the one-day series they’ll be pumped up to do well in the Tests too. I am looking forward to the challenge against Muralitharan as well. He’s a great bowler. I haven’t faced a single ball off him, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

It was Pakistan’s day right through. Batting the whole day and piling up a gigantic total of 546 for the loss of only 3 wickets was a fantastic performance. Four out of the five centuries were scored during the day and gave it a historical dimension. The Bangladesh bowlers and fielders toiled hard in the heat without any gains. Then Bangladesh lost 3 wickets for 55 and do not look to have a chance to survive the 3rd day.Pakistan batsmen gave such a superb display of batting that it was really difficult to single out one from the other. All the centurions, Saeed Anwar (101), Taufeeq Umar (104), Inzamam ul Haq (105*), Abdur Razzaq (110*) and Yousuf Youhana (102*) batted with such flourish that the Bangladesh bowlers and fielders looked totally ineffective. The batsmen made no mistakes, and took no chances and literally punished the bowlers around the ground.Out of all the century makers, it was an auspicious occasion for young Taufeeq Umar who achieved the distinction of becoming Pakistan’s 8th batsman to score a century on test debut. The only casualty of the day, Taufeeq, returned to the pavilion with glory and off course no regrets. Inzamam retired hurt (dehydration) but with a grand century in his bag in his home town.The Bangladesh bowling whether pace or spin made no impact on the batsmen. The bowlers were punished right, left and centre with a flurry of shots to the boundary as well as over the fence. A stage came when Yousuf Youhana and Abdur Razzaq achieved such mastery over the bowling that they were engaged in a race as to who would score his century first.At tea Pakistan was 492 for 3 with lots of speculation whether the skipper would declare or provide a chance to the two players to complete their centuries. Waqar chose the latter course to encourage the players and the race continued and both Youhana and Razzaq completed their centuries, bringing the team’s achievement into the record books.Certainly good experience for the Bangladesh bowling but they were unable to break the partnership. Pakistan declared at 543 for 3, enjoying a 1st innings lead of 412, a deficit considered impossible for the visitors to meet.Bangladesh started their 2nd innings to face 19 remaining overs but could muster no tangible strength to face the Pakistan bowlers. They lost 3 wickets for only 55 runs on the board. Even Pakistan’s young bowlers like Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Malik proving too good for them. The visitors do not appear to have a chance to survive beyond the 3rd day and an innings defeat is staring at them.