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Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s captain, has insisted his side are not in the VB Series to simply make up the numbers. He is aiming to qualify for the finals, despite injury worries over Craig Wishart and Stuart Carlisle.On their one-day tour of Australia so far, Zimbabwe scraped home by eight runs against Australia A last week, but went down to Western Australia by 70 runs at the weekend, and were comfortably beaten by Australia A today.Their preparation hasn’t been helped by Wishart’s knee injury he suffered against WA, and by Carlisle’s blow to the thumb while fielding today. However, Streak is still confident Zimbabwe can make an impact. “We haven’t come here to be a third playing nation, we’ve come here to make the finals,” he told . “We’re going to be all out to win every game.”Streak also had a word to say regarding the Australian team, claiming that they were right to be introducing younger players into an ageing squad. “When you look at the Australian team, you know, they’re not the youngest now,” Streak said. “Some of them are getting a bit long in the tooth.”Someone told me that the Australian bowls team is a younger average age than the cricket team. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s good for them to have a look at the youngsters.”Obviously they’re being looked at and I think it’s a wise decision by the Australian selectors to start blooding some of the youngsters. I was very impressed with a lot of the youngsters. Obviously Shaun Tait had a good outing against us and we are very impressed – he’s got pace.”Zimbabwe’s first game of the VB Series is against Australia on Sunday, January 11, at Sydney. The opening game, between Australia and India, starts on Friday at Melbourne.

Richard Scott got his eye in for tomorrow (TUES) evening’s Southern Electric Contracting Cup final showdown with Havant at the Rose Bowl by hitting a boundary-strewn century in Bournemouth’s one-sided draw against Bashley (Rydal) at Chapel Gate.Scott, who will open with Australian Adam Voges in the SEC final, hit 109 to push Bournemouth towards 236-9.Having profited on some wayward bowling and reached 44-0, Bashley suffered a humiliating collapse, losing six wickets for just three runs in 15 balls to Matt Mixer (4-23) and Jo Wilson (3-28).Kevin Nash and Neil Taylor salvaged a draw at 117-7.Scott dominated the Bournemouth innings after Nick Park and Voges had been snarled behind by Andy Sexton.He added 81 with third-wicket partner Charlie Holcomb (26), but had to remain watchful as Bournemouth dipped from 124-2 to 154-5 when Nash (2-47) returned to the attack after lunch.Scott powered his way to 109 before falling to Neil Taylor (3-49), but his departure let in Martin Miller, whose 46 not out swept the hosts to 236-9 after 66 overs.Andy Sexton (17) and Neil Thurgood feasted on some untidy Bournemouth bowling and had posted 44 in barely eight overs before tea.Bournemouth’s bowlers caught a tongue lashing from captain Scott at tea and proceeded to rip out Bashley’s top order in quick succession.Sexton and Thurgood perished at 44, while Brad Thompson, Richard Knowles, Ben Nolan-Stone and Neil Sexton departed with the total anchored at 47.When Andy Neal became a seventh victim at 53-7, it appeared all up for Bashley.But Nash (34 not out) and Taylor (20 not out) denied Bournemouth further success and clung on for a draw at 117-7.Havant’s match with South Wilts ended in a bore draw after the Salisbury club finished 30 runs adrift of their hosts total with five wicket in hand.Simon Barnard’s unbeaten 103, supported by Simon Greenfield (38), dominated Havant’s 199-5 off 66 overs.South Wilts progressed to 68-0 (Paul Draper 26) before losing three quick wickets to off-spinner Matt Cox (4-33).Alex Senneck carried his bat through the innings and finished with 81 not out as South Wilts closed at 170-5 (Russell Rowe 29).Similarly, once Portsmouth had piled up 300-7, all interested faded from the game as Andover finished with 218-5.A double strike by Richard Taylor checked Portsmouth’s initial progress, but Matt Keech (56), Michael Barnes (61) and Lee Savident (75) all cashed in as Portsmouth put the game beyond sight.Andover dipped to 79-3 but comfortably reached 218-5 through Toby Radford (67) and Roger Miller (53).

Having some of Australia’s World Cup heroes in town for the first Test to be staged in Darwin has its advantages for local schoolchildren.On Tuesday next week, Andy Bichel, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer, Brett Lee and Brad Hogg will host 150 pupils from three primary schools, Durack, Casuarina Street and Nightcliff, at the Northern Territory Cricket Association (NTCA) No 1 Oval for a MILO Cricket superclinic.Darwin’s first Test match, between Australia and Bangladesh starts at Marrara Oval on Friday week.The schools were selected from a competition run in the local newspaper, the Northern Territory News. The two-hour session in the afternoon will feature several modified games and skill-building activities and will be co-ordinated by NTCA development officers.Gilchrist acknowledged the chance the Test match provided to pass on some knowledge and tips to local youngsters. “The MILO Cricket programs, with its emphasis on participation fun and learning, are the ideal ways to introduce young players to the game. Cricket is Australia’s only true national sport, and it’s particularly exciting to be able to take the MILO Cricket program to the Top End. It’s the second time I’ve been involved in the program in Darwin and I know the kids are going to get a lot of enjoyment from it.”Under the sponsored-Superclinic program, more than half a million young Australians are exposed to cricket each year. Eight Superclinics are being held around the country this year.The programs include: Have A Go a cricket club-based program focused on introducing five to 10 years old to the game;Kanga Cricket – a school based program that is now part of 90% of Australian schools syllabuses; and Super 8s – a modified game played by more than 4400 teams from secondary schools and cricket clubs around the country.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Rawalpindi completed the semifinal line-up in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship after rain badly disrupted play in their respective matches.The fourth and final day of the quarterfinal between KRL and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was abandoned without a ball being bowled after rains in the wee hours of Friday’s morning had left the pitch square inundated.In fact, strong winds had blown off the tarpaulins from the entire area. As a result, pools of water were visible around the match pitch, which incredibly remained dry.Umpires Islam Khan and Athar Zaidi together with match referee Ilyas Khan supervised the operation to make the area playable. But the desperate efforts of the diligent NSK ground staff was of no avail and the match was officially abandoned as a draw at 4.00pm.KRL qualified by virtue of their slender 16-run lead on the first innings. They meet Faisalabad, who beat Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) inside three days on Thursday, in the semi-final here at National Stadium from Feb 3.Rawalpindi, meanwhile, went through by a sheer stroke of luck at Arbab Niaz Stadium. Sargodha had batted themselves into a strong position by amassing 365 for three on day one and a bit. But then rain in Peshawar spoilt the show, allowing further play only after lunch on the final day.According to playing conditions, Rawalpindi were required to bat for a minimum of 35 overs to decide the qualifiers. Rawalpindi, who actually needed 122 to qualify, reached 170 for four in 38 overs thanks to an unbroken partnership of 104 between Shiraz Khalid (69 off 102 balls with seven fours and two sixes) and Junaid Zia (45 off 60 balls with nine fours).Meanwhile, PCB’s Cricket Management Committee, taking into consideration the uncertain weather conditions in Punjab and NWFP, decided on Friday to shift the second semifinal, now to be played on Feb 6-9, from Peshawar to UBL Sports Complexand the Feb 17-21 final, originally planned for Gaddafi Stadium, to National Stadium.Our Sports Reporter adds from Rawalpindi: PIA went through to the semifinals on a better run rate after the last day of their quarterfinal against Wapda was washed out.Water seeped through the Rawalpindi Stadium covers after Thursday’s heavy rains that had also prevented play on the third day.The Airliners had a better run rate of 3.710 as against Wapda’s 2.816 by virtue of which they advanced to a semifinal with Rawalpindi.ScoreboardSARGODHA (1st Innings) 365-3 declared (Mohammad Hafeez 106, Majid Saeed 105 not out, Atiq Ahmed 83).RAWALPINDI (1st Innings):Babar Naeem lbw b Hayat 29Saqib Naqeeb lbw b Sami 16Pervez Aziz c and b Hayat 2Shiraz Khalid not out 69Nauman Aman c Shahid b Hayat 1Junaid Zia not out 45EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-1, NB-3) 8TOTAL (for four wkts, 38 overs) 170FALL OF WKTS: 1-22, 2-23, 3-58, 4-66.DID NOT BAT: Asad Khan, Nadeem Abbasi, Jawwad Hameed, Mohammad Akram, Mohammad Fayyaz.BOWLING: Ahmed Hayat 10-0-35-3 (2nb, 1w); Mohammad Sarfraz 6-1-26-0; Samiullah Niazi 9-0-39-1; Jibran Khan 7-1-35-0 (1nb); Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-19-0; Usman Arshad 1-0-4-0; Atiq Ahmed 1-0-8-0.RESULT: Match drawn. Rawalpindi qualify for semifinal on better run rate.UMPIRES: Iftikhar Malik and Iqbal Butt.MATCH REFEREE: Farrukh Zaman.Summarised of other quarterfinals:At National Stadium, Karachi (no play on final day):Match drawn, KRL qualify on first innings lead.KRL 267 (Mohammad Ramzan 110 not out; Shabbir Ahmed 5-93) and 169-4 (Misbah-ul-Haq 70 not out, Saeed bin Nasir 44; Zahid Saeed 3-39)NATIONAL BANK 251 (Naumanullah 67, Kamran Akmal 49; Yasir Arafat 5-74)*At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (no play on last two days):Match drawn. PIA qualify on better run rateWAPDA 307 (Atiq-ur-Rehman 67, Hasan Adnan 61; Asif Mujtaba 4-74;PIA 144-2 (Yasir Hameed 49 not out).Semi-finals :Feb 3-7: KRL v Faisalabad at National Stadium, Karachi.Feb 6-9: PIA v Rawalpindi at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi

Sri Lanka’s team management is mulling over the final makeup of their Test team, weighing up whether to play a seventh batsman or a third fast bowler, according to Duleep Mendis, the team’s interim coach.Mendis, speaking after Sri Lanka’s drawn three-day warm up match against a West Indies Cricket Board Presidents XI, expects the pitch for the opening Test at St Lucia on Friday to suit West Indies’ pace bowlers.”We have kept our options open till we see the pitch,” said Mendis. “We have to decide between playing an additional batsman or a fast bowler. Looking at the team that West Indies have picked for the first Test we’ll probably get a wicket which will seam about a bit.”Sri Lanka used the practice match to assess their bowling options, resting Chaminda Vaas and Prabath Nissanka, who will share the new ball, and Muttiah Muralitharan, who will lead the spin attack. Dharshana Gamage, Thilan Thushara and Dinusha Fernando – all young uncapped fast bowlers – are competing for the third fast bowler’s slot.Thushara, a left-armer, is the frontrunner with his extra pace and nip, but Dinusha Fernando’s ability to swing the ball means that he too is a serious contender.But Mendis was not overly impressed by their performance as the WICB XIscored 296. ” I expected us to get them out for a much smaller score,” he said. “At one stage we were doing ok but they got too close to our total. I am not satisfied because they shouldn’t have got anything more than 250.”Regardless of the conditions – unless, that is, the St Lucia pitchresembles a paddy field – Sri Lanka will play two spinners: Muralitharan and either Kaushal Lokuarachchi or Kumar Dharmasena.Should they decide against playing a third fast bowler, they would then have the chance to bolster their batting. Considering that this has been the weakest department of their game in recent months, this is a likely strategy.Romesh Kaluwitharana could then slip down to number seven to make way for Tillakaratne Dilshan or Thilan Samaraweera. Dilshan’s case for inclusion is excellent after a gritty return to the one-day side that has eased doubts over his temperament.But Samaraweera, an offspinning allrounder, has a fabulous Test record.Currently averaging 83 after 10 matches, having already scored twocenturies, he has just recovered from a hand injury that kept him out of the last series against New Zealand.Mendis, although pleased that Kumar Sangakkara (41), Marvan Atapattu (59) and Hashan Tillakaratne (40) all got useful practice in the first innings, would have preferred to have seen more of both Dilshan and Samaraweera.”I would have been much happier if the others had also got some runs before the first Test,” said Mendis. “But it was good that Sanath [Jayasuriya] got a good knock in the second innings.”

I write as Zimbabwe have just started the First Test against India, at Nagpur, inexplicably the same venue where they played just over a year ago. I have not noticed anybody else mentioning the fact that their task is much harder this year than it was at the end of 2000, because last time they did not have Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the opposition.Kumble missed that last series with a shoulder injury, while Harbhajan had not yet come into the team to work his wonders against Australia. India’s leading spinner then was Sunil Joshi, who was felt to be disappointing by most critics. Zimbabwe did not have the greatest of tests against the Indian spinners then, but they will this time. Again it is realism rather than pessimism to suggest that they will do extremely well to avoid two overwhelming Test defeats.But it is how they lose, in such circumstances, which is important. This rolling over against the opposition from time to time was not a regular phenomenon of Zimbabwe’s Test cricket until recent years; in fact, I would say the first evidence of it came in New Zealand in 1997/98, when the team were mentally shattered after being robbed in their previous Test in Sri Lanka. Until then, even in Sri Lanka, there had always been something good to bring out of a Test – even if the batting had failed, at least our bowlers had been able to keep the opposition fighting for runs.Yet the slaughters we suffer at times nowadays bring us little or nothing to be proud of, and suggest a lack of the same spirit that we had in our earliest Test days, when we had little talent or experience but great hearts. When we first toured Pakistan in 1993/94, for example, with Wasim and Waqar at their peak and only four previous Tests behind us, we feared annihilation. Yet our gallant little team came out of the three Tests with great honour, leading on first innings in two of them, and our limited attack, spearheaded by Eddo Brandes and David Brain, and with Heath Streak in his first series, never allowed the potentially brilliant Pakistani batting line-up dominate them.We hope to see the same sort of spirit in India. The going will be tough, especially with two great spinners bowling in tandem. We hope to see the tough get going, and at the very least make India fight to the very end for victory.*****More sad news for Zimbabwe cricket this week is that Paul Strang has been released from his contract, at his own request, and is now in India to commentate on the current series. It is not clear whether he is in effect retiring from all cricket in Zimbabwe, as his brother Bryan has done. The truth is that he has not been bowling well recently, with his recurring arm injury, and has been overlooked by the selectors for the tours to Sri Lanka and India.It would be very sad if this was to be a total retirement, as he still has much to offer. Even were he never to bowl a ball again, he is still a good enough batsman to be worth his place in a Logan Cup team, where he would make an excellent player-coach, and he has played one-day internationals as a batsman only.Besides both Strangs, Zimbabwe cricket has also this season lost Everton Matambanadzo (married and emigrated to the United States) and Ian Engelbrecht, while it seems Greg Lamb and Andrew Stone have chosen to remain overseas. Some may have reasons other than cricket for leaving the country, but perhaps the administrators here need to look carefully into reasons why players who should still be in their prime, and some with their best yet to come, should choose to walk out of Zimbabwe cricket.*****Defeat to Border B last weekend, in both the three-day and one-day matches. Without Alistair Campbell to hold them together, our Board XI has lost its chance of winning the one-day Bowl competition, as Border B now have an unassailable lead after playing all their six matches. They could still win the three-day competition, with everything hinging on this weekend’s match against KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.The pressure is on – but our players are not renowned for handling pressure well. This is their chance to break the mould. Considering the talent and experience of our team, though, it is difficult to call them anything but perennial under-achievers against the B sides of South Africa provinces that are already weakened by the absence of their Test players.Dave Houghton, who in this issue also talks about the Academy’s Logan Cup victory over Manicaland, presents his argument for withdrawing from South African competitions altogether, so as to strengthen our own cricket at first-class level. Guy Whittall, in a recent interview, believed that Zimbabwean players are simply not competitive enough when compared to South African cricketers.Last weekend saw quite a few records and remarkable events in the two Logan Cup matches, where CFX Academy beat Manicaland and Mashonaland beat Matabeleland. In both matches a young player, Glen Barrett of the Academy and Gavin Ewing of Matabeleland, scored a century on his first-class debut; Greg Strydom of Matabeleland became the second-youngest scorer of a first-class century in Zimbabwean history. In Bulawayo also, Gus Mackay of Mashonaland hit the fastest first-class century recorded in Zimbabwean history off just 45 balls, and we include an interview with him about that innings and the match in general.In our occasional guest column, we have a preview of the India-Zimbabwe Tests by Trishna Bose, of Trans World International.In one way it is good to see Tatenda Taibu playing in the Test in India, as he is a superb keeper and a batsman of great promise. On the other hand, Andy Flower was keeping wicket without any ill effects on his batting and without any desire to relinquish the gloves.To include Taibu means that we either have to play with a batsman or a bowler short; we chose to play only four bowlers. If one of them breaks down, we are going to be in serious trouble. Perhaps a better plan would have been to keep Taibu at home for the Logan Cup and concentrate on improving his batting in first-class cricket so that he can be worth his place in the Test team for his batting as well as his keeping.

UCB Bowl Tables 2001/02as at 21 February 2002Zimbabwe Board XI are in Pool BPool AThree-day P W L D Bat Bowl PtsEastern Province B 6 2 1 3 22.02 21 63.02Free State B 6 2 0 4 22.28 20 62.28Namibia 6 2 3 1 19.10 21 60.10Western Province B 5 2 1 2 18.80 18 56.80Boland B 6 2 0 4 16.60 18 54.60Griqualand West B 5 1 2 2 17.04 18 45.04KZN Inland 6 0 4 2 13.22 13 26.22Points deducted for slow over-rates:NoneBonusOne-day P W L Tied NR Pts Pts NRRFree State B 6 4 1 0 1 3 21 1.52Western Province B 5 4 0 0 1 0 18 0.33Boland B 6 4 2 0 0 0 16 0.19Namibia 6 3 3 0 0 1 13 0.44Eastern Province B 6 3 3 0 0 1 13 -0.40Griqualand West B 5 1 4 0 0 0 4 -0.44KZN Inland 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 -1.26Pool BThree-day P W L D Bat Bowl PtsKwaZulu-Natal B 5 2 0 3 16.36 17 53.36Zimbabwe Board XI 5 2 1 2 16.82 12 48.82Northerns B 5 2 0 3 17.70 11 48.70Border B 6 1 2 3 11.56 19 40.56Easterns B 5 1 1 3 13.08 13 36.08North West B 5 0 1 4 15.28 12 27.28Gauteng B 5 0 3 2 13.68 13 26.68Points deducted for slow over-rates:NoneBonusOne-day P W L Tied NR Pts Pts NRRBorder B 6 4 1 0 1 2 20 0.25Zimbabwe Board XI 5 3 1 0 1 0 14 0.13Northerns B 5 2 1 0 2 1 13 0.77North West B 5 2 2 0 1 0 10 -0.07Easterns B 5 2 3 0 0 1 9 0.08Gauteng B 5 2 3 0 0 1 9 -0.13KwaZulu-Natal B 5 0 4 0 1 0 2 -0.92Supplied by Andrew SamsonOfficial Statistician of the United Cricket Board of South Africa

It was the result the National Bank Series has been crying out for and it was a genuine thriller at Eden Park as India got home over New Zealand by one wicket with one ball of the game to spare tonight.New Zealand have already won the seven-game series but India wanted to win the last three to claim something of a moral victory.They are well on the way to achieving that but New Zealand have once again been able to expose themselves to another potential World Cup situation in a series they have already won.Virender Sehwag had set India up brilliantly with a fine innings of 112 off 139 balls. He was dismissed off the last ball of the 42nd over, and because India were docked one over for slow over rate, they had seven overs available in which to score the 18 remaining runs.But India almost blew it, and that was without New Zealand being able to call on fast man Shane Bond, who would have been ideal in the situation.He was off the field suffering an infection of the middle ear, which started to hinder him when he was bowling.Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif pottered around attempting to get used to the pace of the pitch but found it a struggle and they came up against the unlikely, but wily, bowling combination of Chris Harris bowling seamers and Andre Adams.Yuvraj was out when caught in the slips by Stephen Fleming off Harris for eight in the 46th over.In the next over Sanjay Bangar was trapped leg before wicket by Adams for one.Agit Agarkar came out to be run out for a duck after Fleming changed fielding position and took the ball at mid on to lob it to Harris who lifted the bails.India went into the last over needing four runs to win.Kaif was bowled by Adams for seven. Then off the next ball Javagal Srinath swung hard at a leg-side ball from Adams, and when he recovered from the exertions of his shot he found Zaheer Khan standing at the crease beside him. By this time wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum was firing the ball back to the bowler’s end where Adams ran out Khan.Umpire Daryl Harper heightened the tension by awarding a wide from the dismissal ball.Srinath then ran a leg bye from the next ball and last man in Ashish Nehra faced up to the penultimate ball, with the New Zealand field right up. He slashed at the ball and ran the single to claim the victory for his side.It was some overdue tension and while the loss was hard to take for the home team, they learned some invaluable lessons about their own indisciplines which cost them dearly.Poor fielding, Sehwag was dropped twice, a hard chance by Harris off Kyle Mills’ bowling on 36 and on 63 by Fleming off Daryl Tuffey saw them punished. Several run out chances also went close.As exercises go it was as good as it could possibly get in a match situation.That any cricket was played at all was a wonder given the conditions 12 hours before the scheduled start time of 2pm. But after the heavy rain of the two previous days, the day dawned fine and with a drying breeze blowing, the ground dried well enough for play to start 15 minutes later. There was no reduction in overs as time was taken off the dinner break.New Zealand struggled through all but the last three or four overs of the innings. In yet another example of pitches doing too much sideways, the boot was on the Indian foot for a change, and the veteran Srinath used his knowledge superbly.Of concern was the manner in which he dismissed Chris Cairns, batting at No 4, through the same gap between bat and pad that he was bowled in the previous game in Wellington. Srinath bowled 10 overs for three for 13 and moved to 297 wickets in One-Day Internationals.Mathew Sinclair opening again in Nathan Astle’s absence scored 18 off 54 balls to give the most graphic demonstration of how difficult it was to move the score along. Fleming had been the first to go off the third ball bowled by left-armer Nehra. The first two balls he had punished but then touched one behind.Harris’ time at No 3 was brief as he was trapped by Agarkar, leg before wicket for a duck.It was a struggle and by the time Cairns went for 13, New Zealand four 50 for four wickets.The first signs of recovery came from Scott Styris and Lou Vincent, who sensibly worked the ones and twos with some attacking running while they also took care of anything errant, with some vicious pull shots on Styris’ part.They added 80 in 20 overs before Styris, attempting to force the pace, was caught at mid-off for 42, scored off 52 balls.McCullum was run out without facing a ball and Mills followed in quick order, also for a duck as New Zealand slumped to 134 for seven wickets. Adams was unable to fire and was bowled by Khan for two while Tuffey was run out at 147 and it seemed it just required Vincent and the last batsman Bond to move the ball around to see out the 50 overs.They did better than that in what was the best clean hitting of the series.Bond was magnificent in hitting three sixes, two of them huge hits, one into the stand behind the bowler Sourav Ganguly and one into the upper deck of the West Stand, one of the biggest hits on the ground.Vincent joined the act and brought up his half century, his fourth in ODIs, with a six off Khan in the last over.By the time the innings ended at 199 for nine wickets, they had scored 52 runs off 23 balls.Khan and Ganguly had their previous tight bowling punished in their last two overs, Ganguly going for 18 off his last and Khan for 15 and 19 off his last two. New Zealand finished their innings with a hiss and a roar, and India started theirs in the same fashion with Sehwag and Ganguly enjoying their best stand of the series.They added 70 runs in 15 overs for the first wicket.New Zealand’s bowlers conceded 12 wides and nine no-balls which was too many under the circumstances and suggested a lack of focus to the levels that had served them so well earlier in the series.The stage has been set for a competitive finale in Hamilton on Tuesday.

Graham Ford is favourite to succeed John Bracewell as Gloucestershire’s coach, according to a report in today’s . Ford, who coached South Africa from 1999 until he was sacked last June, said: “There have been discussions with Gloucestershire, but with other counties as well. It’s at a sensitive stage right now, but there have been negotiations.”Ford was dismissed as South African coach after they lost five of their six Tests to Australia last year. He has since been running an academy in Durban and has served as a technical advisor to Natal, but he now fancies a move to county cricket. “The county scene has intrigued me since childhood, and I follow county cricket with interest,” he said. “Coaching over there is something I would really like to do.”If Ford does take over at Gloucestershire, his first task will be to find replacements for their two overseas players, Ian Harvey and Jonty Rhodes, who are both leaving at the end of the seaaon. Ian Ward is now available after he announced he will be departing from Surrey, although Somerset are reported to be following him with an offer of the captaincy.It is thought another name on the shortlist is Mike Gatting, but Ford is the front runner at present.

Karachi Whites put themselves in driving seat in the Quaid-i-AzamTrophy Grade-I cricket championship final after obtaining a 102-runlead on the first innings against Peshawar at National Stadium hereSaturday.By close of play on day two of the five-day clash, the home team hadPeshawar struggling at 164 for four in their second innings with thelast pair of specialist batsmen at the crease.Peshawar’s slim hopes of setting a reasonable target for their bowlersrest squarely on the shoulders of Yasir Hameed, who is batting with acomposed 60, and all-rounder Taimur Khan (3). But with only 62 runs infront, Peshawar are in considerable trouble at the moment.Collectively, 287 runs were scored Saturday for the loss of ninewickets compared to opening day’s 295 runs with as many 15 wicketsgoing down. This generally suggests that the pitch is beginning toease out in favour of the batsmen.Karachi Whites lost their skipper Moin Khan in the day’s third overwhen Kabir Khan won a LBW verdict after just five runs were added tothe overnight 137 for five.All-rounders Imran Javed and Arif Mahmood were the main scorers forthe Whites with both hitting half-centuries. Imran, who was let off on32 late Friday, top-scored with 57 before being adjudged leg-beforewicket by Test umpire Mohammad Nazir Junior.Imran’s 96-ball knock in a stay of nearly two-and-a-half hours wasspiced with eight boundaries and his seventh-wicket stand with Arifrealized 46 runs in 57 minutes.Arif, a strongly built right-handed batsman, took heavy toll of FazleAkbar’s short-pitched deliveries by smashing boundaries with hooks,pulls and cuts. In all, Arif struck nine fours in his 73-ball 54 injust over two hours. His luck finally ran out when he flashed at awide delivery outside the off-stump but only succeeded in becomingwicket-keeper Zulfiqar Jan’s fourth victim.Tanvir Ahmed, who added 44 with Arif for the ninth-wicket in 43minutes, was left stranded with 25, which included four fours.Kabir bowled unchanged in the two-hour morning session to claim threefor 37 in 13 overs from the pavilion end. His final figures of threefor 65 were only bettered by his left-arm team-mate Waqar Ahmed, whofinished well deserved five for 74.Fazle Akbar, Peshawar’s spearhead, was extremely disappointingSaturday by spraying the ball all over the place during a forgetfulspell of six overs for 36.Peshawar’s second innings began shortly after lunch when the Whiteshad been bowled out for 260.Javed Iqbal hit a brace of attractive boundaries until he tried anambitious stroke and was brilliantly taken by Moin Khan behind thestumps.Zeeshan Mohsin, the other opener, was forced to come off the fieldwith a slight hamstring on his left leg one run after Javed was out.But he came at the fall of third wicket to share the most productivepartnership in the innings. Together with Yasir, Zeeshan put on 59before his exuberance got the better of him.In the penultimate over of the day, Zeeshan, attempted to lift DanishKaneria over mid-on but only found a grateful Tanvir holding onto awell-judged catch.Zeeshan stroked eight boundaries in scoring 40 off 64 balls in 102minutes. Otherwise, he really looks a fine prospect for the future ifproperly nurtured.In between, Wajahatullah Wasti, the Test discard, played an outrageousshot to get out when he cut Kaneria straight down Saeed bin Nasir’sthroat at point. Peshawar desperately needed Wajahat, who scored amatch-winning 135 in the final on the very same ground three yearsago, to bail them out.Aftab Khan, who led Peshawar to the Under-19 Grade-I title thisseason, can considered himself unfortunate to be given out LBW toImran Javed bowling from the edge of the crease. Aftab was well-set on20 when umpire Iftikhar Malik sent him on his way.

Baroda, with eight second wickets in hand, require another 163 runson the final day to win their Ranji Trophy tie against Gujarat.On Friday, Gujarat, who resumed their second innings at 26 for one,were bowled out for 211. Tejas Varsani and Kirat Damani engineeredtheir side’s recovery after coming together when the scoreboard read59 for six. Their 103-run partnership meant that Gujarat set Barodathe task of scoring the highest total in a low-scoring match. ForBaroda, Irfan Pathan and Shekhar Joshi claimed three wickets each.The defending Ranji champions, who lost both their openers, reached 72for two at stumps. Importantly for them, their first-innings topscorer Nayan Mongia was still at the crease. Atul Bedade on nine waskeeping him company.