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Ramesh Nagdev, the former Gujarat player, died in the United States on Sunday aged 60.Nagdev, an attacking batsman who was born in Karachi and lived in San Jose, California, opened the innings with Sunil Gavaskar for Indian schools against the London schoolboys team in 1965-66.Nagdev represented Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy, opening the innings regularly with Nari Contractor, after playing for Bombay (now Mumbai) against the visiting Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) team in 1965 at the Brabourne Stadium. He also played for West Zone against the Australians, led by Bill Lawry, in a three-day tour match at Pune’s Nehru Stadium under the captaincy of Chandu Borde, another ex-India captain.In his career stretching from 1964-65 to 1969-70 Nagdev, who still holds the Bombay Schools record for the highest individual score in the Giles Shield tournament for senior boys (427, made in 1963-64), played 21 matches and accumulated 1164 runs at 36.He and Gavaskar also opened for Bombay University in the Rohintan Baria tournament and both played for the same college – Mumbai’s St Xavier’s. His highest first class score, 111, came in his last match against Baroda in Vadodara during February 1970.He is survived by his wife and two children.

David Sheppard, the former England batsman who became an ordained minister and rose to become the Bishop of Liverpool, died yesterday, the night before his 76th birthday.A graceful driver, Sheppard came to the fore on Cyril Coote’s pluperfect batting pitches at Fenner’s. For the strong Cambridge University side of 1950 Sheppard (227) and John Dewes (183) shared an opening stand of 343 against the West Indian tourists – in response Everton Weekes hammered an unbeaten 304 out of 730 for 3 after Cambridge declared at 594 for 4. Later, in front of Sheppard’s home-county crowd at Hove, he and Dewes (212) improved on that with a stand of 349 against Sussex.Such form won Sheppard a place in the 1950 Test Trial, a match rather ruined by Jim Laker, who found the Bradford pitch to his liking and bowled out The Rest for 27 before lunch on the first day, taking 8 for 2. Sheppard only made 4, but he did escape Laker’s clutches (Trevor Bailey got him instead). But he was in the selectors’ thoughts, and made his debut in the final Test of the summer, scoring 29 and 11 at The Oval as England lost again to go down 3-1 to West Indies.Sheppard toured Australia that winter, with Freddie Brown’s young but outgunned side, and played in three of the Tests with little success. He fell out of favour for a time, but returned in 1952 with 119, his first Test century, in the final Test against India at The Oval.The following year he captained Sussex, and spirited them up to second in the table, equalling their best performance until that long-awaited first Championship triumph in 2003. He also led England in two Tests in 1954, but Len Hutton returned to take charge of the Ashes tour in Australia.It was two years before Sheppard, by now an ordained minister, returned to the Test side, scoring 113 in Laker’s Match at Old Trafford. It was the middle one of an impressive hat-trick of hunches from the selectors – Cyril Washbrook (who actually was one of the selectors) was brought back for the third Test, his first for five years, and scored 98 after England had been 17 for 3; then in the final Test at The Oval Denis Compton made a comeback after a knee operation and made 94.Sheppard continued to make occasional appearances for Sussex, but his Test days appeared to be behind him – until 1962, when there was some debate about who should captain England on that winter’s Ashes tour. Ted Dexter was the man in possession, but Colin Cowdrey captained in one Test against Pakistan that summer, and the waters were further muddied when Sheppard emerged from semi-retirement. He scored 112 for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord’s and then, in his next match, 83 in the fourth Test. He was heavily tipped for the captaincy in Australia – but in the end it went to Dexter.

Sheppard did go to Australia for his second tour there, and scored 113 in the second Test at Melbourne, and 66 in the fifth at Sydney. In between, some fallible catching irked Fred Trueman, who reportedly advised him to keep his hands together a bit more often in the field. Another possibly apocryphal story has Sheppard eventually clinging on to a spectacular catch in the outfield, and showing the ball to the crowd who had been hooting his errors … only for Fred Titmus to run over from his fielding position and ask for the ball back “as it was a no-ball and they’ve already run five”.Sheppard wrapped up his first-class career with the three Tests that followed in New Zealand. He finished with 1172 runs (37.80) in 22 Tests, and 15,838 runs in all first-class cricket at the useful average of 43.51, with 45 centuries.Concentrating on the Church, Sheppard worked for a time at the Mayflower Centre in London, before becoming Bishop of Woolwich in 1968, and moving up to Liverpool in 1975. He retired in 1997, and was made a Life Peer in 1998. He wrote two volumes of autobiography: Parson’s Pitch in 1966, and Steps Along Hope Street in 2002.He kept in touch with cricket over the years, being one of the main voices opposing the South African tour in the apartheid days of 1970 (and being disappointed that previous friendships were ruptured by his views), while in 1995 he gave an entertaining speech at the annual launch dinner of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.His wife of 47 years, Grace, survived a skirmish with cancer early in their married life, but Sheppard himself contracted bowel cancer in 2001. The early signs were encouraging, but he eventually succumbed to the disease after a relapse.

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.

A potential race-relations disaster has been averted with the the news that the planned performance by former Test player Greg Ritchie of his Punjabi parody figure, Mahatma Cote, during next week’s second Test between Australia and India at Adelaide, has been cancelled.Rather surprisingly, Ritchie was booked by one of the South Australia Cricket Association’s (SACA) corporate sponsors to perform his routine during the first day’s lunch break. While the performance was intended purely for the commercial clients, it would have been be audible to sections of the crowd.As the story was picked up by the media, the SACA initially looked to distance itself from the potential backlash. “One of the sponsors has hired Greg Ritchie to perform,” said a spokeswoman. “We haven’t organised it. They come and hire the platform. We only provide the venue.”But, unsurprisingly, the sponsors began to have second thoughts and after talking to Ritchie, it was agreed that the plans should be scrapped.The show – widely condemned as culturally and racially inappropriate – risked causing offence to Indian spectators and players.Reactions in the press box had been mixed. Some visiting journalists warned that the use of the name Mahatma would likely offend many Indians, others said that the performance was likely to be "more amusing than offensive". One reporter summed up the act as being absurd. "No Punjabi could be called Mahatma," he explained, "and Cote is not an Indian name.”

Lancashire 0 for 0 trail Gloucestershire 311 for 8 dec (Hancock 61, Taylor 60, Adshead 52*, Keedy 7-95) by 311 runs
Scorecard

If, as now seems almost certain, Lancashire are relegated sometime in the next three days, no fault will be attached to Gary Keedy, whose career-best figures of 7 for 95 kept their outside chances of survival alive a little longer.Keedy bowled unchanged from the 11th over, taking the first seven wickets to fall as Gloucestershire, who won the toss, ploughed towards three batting points. When they declared on 311 for 8, shortly before bad light ended play early, they were within one point of safety. The ECB had warned them that any declarations made with a view to deliberately depriving Lancashire of bonus points would be penalised, but not even the harshest critic would claim that this one one made anything other than perfect tactical sense.Craig Spearman and Phil Weston gave Gloucestershire a sound start after Chris Taylor won the toss, adding 55 before Keedy struck twice. He had Spearman stumped by Warren Hegg for 34 and then bowled Weston for 19 (60 for 2). Gloucestershire reached lunch on a sedate 156 for 2, but shortly after the restart Keedy struck three times in as many overs.But after that flurry of activity, Tim Hancock and Steve Adshead put on a vital 97 for the sixth wicket, and in so doing almost extinguished Lancashire’s slim hopes. Keedy broke the stand, dismissing Hancock and Ian Fisher in quick succession, but Gloucestershire passed 300 – and earned another batting point – before, with the gloom enveloping Old Trafford, both in the skies and the pavilion, they declared.”Although it would obviously be a big disappointment, it wouldn’t be the disaster that being relegated from the Premiership has become in football,” Jim Cumbes, Lancashire’s chief executive, told the Daily Telegraph. “Financially, all counties receive the same central funding no matter which division they are in, and we wouldn’t be looking at a mass exodus of players or anything like that. But we see ourselves as one of the top four or five counties, which doesn’t square with being in the Second Division.”

Scorecard
Auckland rocketed to the top of the State Championship table with another outright victory, this time within two days, after beating Canterbury at the Hagley Oval by an innings and 60 runs. The innings victory, though, didn’t give Mark Richardson a chance to score the six runs that he needed to reach 10,000 first-class runs. Instead he left with 9994.Auckland batted into the second morning with Lou Vincent staking a claim for a national spot with a patient 90. He was supported by Brooke Walker. Once Vincent was dismissed, Andre Adams spent some useful time in the middle and blasted 56 off 49 balls, including two sixes and six fours. Hayden Shaw and Chris Martin snapped up six wickets between them for Canterbury.Canterbury started their second innings 185 runs behind and were in trouble from the outset as both their openers, Tim McIntosh and Michael Papps, fell for zero. Things soon got worse for them and it was only lower-order defiance from Andew Ellis, who batted for 69 minutes, and Shaw that extended the game late into the day. Kyle Mills achieved the first 10-wicket haul of his career, and in the process notched up 100 first-class wickets to end the game with 10 for 82. Adams also chipped in with three fine catches toward the end of the Canterbury innings.
ScorecardNorthern Districts were in a deep hole at McLean Park as Central Districts batted into the second day to reach 479. Northerns still trailed by 225 with just two wickets standing at the end of the second day.After being kept on the field for 109.3 overs, Northerns’ poor fortune continued with James Marshall out for just 1. But Llorne Howell (35) and Mark Orchard(48) steadied the nerves with a 71-run stand for the second wicket. However, the middle order floundered after the solid platform. Several batsmen threw it away after getting starts and they were soon left with the danger of having to follow-on. Matt Hart made the only other sizeable score with 48. Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton were the most successful bowlers for Central Districts.
ScorecardWellington, the defending champions, were staring down the barrel at 49 for 4 in their first innings, thanks to some fine bowling by James McMillan and Jeff Wilson. But they were rescured by a fifth-wicket stand between James Franklin and Jesse Ryder. Ryder had to foresake his usually attacking instincts but handled the pressure well to score 72 off 121 balls. Franklin notched up 79 and Wellington were back on track.McMillan, though, who finished with 4 for 36, struck with the new ball and restricted them to 291, helping Otago gain a 36-run lead. By the end of the day, Wellington managed to snap up the wicket of Mohammad Wasim to leave Otago at 14 for 1 when stumps were drawn.

With the nation holding its breath ahead of next week’s Ashes showdown, the C&G Trophy final could be seen as an opportunity to escape the international frenzy. However, even as Hampshire and Warwickshire battle it out at Lord’s, thoughts will never be far away from The Oval.The final of the C&G Trophy (or its previous incarnations) used to be the finale to the season. However, with the international calendar now extending into September, it is invariably sandwiched between the last two Tests, or played in the shadow of another tournament, such as last year’s Champion’s Trophy.And with the most anticipated Test match in decades five days away, the final is again battling for attention. In the past, this final would be the last chance for a player to stake a claim for a winter tour. This year there is a much more imminent match to focus on.Chris Tremlett will have a last opportunity to hone his skills in case he is required to replace Simon Jones, while Shane Watson can put more pressure on the Australian selectors to consider him in a reshuffled team, following his career-best 203 not out against Warwickshire this week.Along with two potential Ashes stars, Hampshire can also boast the exuberant strokeplay – and hairstyles – of Kevin Pietersen. He has spent the summer showing his appetite for the big occasion on the international stage and now has the rare chance to put a county attack to the sword.Not that Warwickshire’s bowlers will be a pushover. In the shape of Makhaya Ntini they have someone who can easily match Pietersen in the enthusiasm stakes and also has an impressive history at Lord’s. When he toured in 2003 he became the first South African to take ten wickets in a Test on the ground and utilised the slope with similar success to Glenn McGrath.After Ntini, though, Warwickshire’s attack becomes a bit of a mix-and-match affair. Dougie Brown is as steady as ever and will provide a level head in the final having performed in many big matches during his career. The availability of Ashley Giles is a major boost and he will provide the main spinning option although Alex Loudon has impressed some good judges this season with his offspin.As well as having Giles available, Ian Bell is taking a break from national duty and returning to the stage where he made his first mark on the big stage. It was during the B&H Final in 2002 that Bell’s immense talents were first displayed to a wide audience as he guided Warwickshire home with an unbeaten 65, showing composure that belied his, then, 20 years.Bell has been the one English player to appear slightly overawed by the intensity of the Ashes. Apart from his brace of half-centuries at Old Trafford he has failed to contribute much to England’s wins and his second-innings hook at Trent Bridge was out of character. However, this final is the ideal scene for him to spend time in the middle and, crucially, it is still a pressurised situation – if not on the same scale as the Test series.Bell told BBC Sport that he is looking forward to the day at Lord’s and enjoying being back with his county: “The guys in the team have done well to get us to the final and it’s nice for a guy like me who has grown up there and who has a lot of friends in the area to have the opportunity to go out and play in a Lord’s final. It’s quite good to take the pressure away from the Ashes.””The guys at Warwickshire are massive England supporters and want us to do well. Everyone wants to know what’s going on out in the middle – these guys are no different – but hopefully on Saturday, Ashley [Giles] and me can just go out there and contribute and help the other guys.”Warwickshire’s batting, with Bell available, is an ideal blend of youth, experience, attack and consolidation. Nick Knight continues to be a run-machine in county cricket and a one-day trophy would be a suitable way for him to leave the Warwickshire captaincy – especially with the Championship crown slipping away. Jim Troughton – who also stared with Bell in that 2002 Final – and Jonathan Trott form a powerful middle-order alongside Loudon and Brown.But if there is a psychological advantage to be had heading into the final, then it must lie with Hampshire, following their comprehensive innings-and-86-run win in the Championship. Hampshire are also the more complete allround side as Andy Bichel, Sean Ervine and Dimitri Mascarenhas form a formidable attack alongside Tremlett and Watson.The evergreen Shaun Udal will relish leading the side and you can be sure that Shane Warne will be keeping tabs on the progress. It was Warne’s time at Hampshire which has given them a belief and confidence which now shows in their play. Everywhere you look in this final the Ashes are not far away.

Jehan Mubarak has been named as Sri Lanka A’s captain for their tour of England at the end of this month. Mubarak, a graceful six-foot lefthander, will lead a squad of 16 picked yesterday for the one-month tour, starting on June 30, which will comprise 10 matches – nine against English county sides and a 3-day game against the touring West Indies.Mubarak, 22, has been on the fringe of international honours ever since he played against Bangladesh two years ago, and he has been a consistent member of the Sri Lanka A teams that toured South Africa, Kenya, India and New Zealand in the past nine months.Thilina Kandamby, a lefthander from Bloomfield, will be Mubarak’s deputy on the tour. Kandamby, 22, made his one-day international debut against Zimbabwe last month.The squad also comprises two hard-hitting batsmen in Saman Jayantha and Avishka Gunawardana, who have been included to give them some practice ahead of next month’s Asia Cup tournament in Sri Lanka. Ian Daniel, Bathiya Perera and Malintha Gajanayake are the other frontline batsmen in the squad.Prasanna Jayawardene, who lost his Test place to the veteran wicketkeeper, Romesh Kaluwitharana, for the short tour to Australia later this month, will be the No. 1 glovesman in the side. Charith Sylvester will be his understudy.The team also includes two allrounders, Ranga Dias and Gayan Wijekoon, two spinners and four fast-medium bowlers.Kaushal Lokuarachchi is one of the main spinners in the side, with Suraj Mohammad included as the second spinner. At 19, Mohammed is the youngest member of the team.Once again Michael Vandort misses out, and according to selection committee sources he is struggling to come to terms with the moving ball. To help him rectify that lapse in his batting he is to be sent to the Max Academy.Mubarak, Gunawardena, Jayawardene, Lokuarachchi and Thilina Thushara are players with Test experience, while Kandamby, Jayantha, and Nuwan Kulasekara have appeared in one-day internationals for their country.Sri Lanka A squad (subject to Sports Ministry ratification)
Jehan Mubarak (CCC, capt), Thilina Kandamby, (Bloomfield, v-c),Saman Jayantha (Bloomfield), Avishka Gunawardena (SSC), Ian Daniel(Bloomfield), Bathiya Perera (Moors SC), Prasanna Jayawardene (NCC), Charith Sylvester (Chilaw Marians), Ranga Dias (Tamil Union), Gayan Wijekoon (Tamil Union), Kaushal Lokuarachchi (Bloomfield), Suraj Mohamed (Matara), Nuwan Kulasekara (Galle CC), Dhammika Prasad (SSC), Thilina Thushara (NCC), Malintha Gajanayake (Tamil Union).

Nashua Titans, the current South African Standard Bank Pro20 Cup winners, have named their 15-man squad for the six-team inaugural International 20:20 Club Championship to be held in Leicester from September 15 to17.The squad will be led by Gerard Dros, the Titans middle-order batsman. The team includes Alviro Petersen, an explosive opener who has ripped apart the bowling in domestic competition, while the bowling line-up includes Pierre de Bruyn and Ethy Mbhalati, and the young Albie Morkel, the South Africa one-day player is also selected in the team.Delighted after having qualified for the first-ever Twenty20 club championship, Alex Balfour, director of strategy for investors in cricket, said: “The fact that five of the six teams participating in the inaugural International 20:20 Championship are current or recent domestic 20:20 champions gives this tournament real credibility. We will find out who really is the best team in the world at the 20:20 format.”Richard Pybus, the newly appointed coach of the Nashua Titans, said, “Although we miss some of our national players who are on duty with South Africa and South Africa `A’, we are looking forward to bringing a young and dynamic side. It will be a wonderful opportunity for the younger players in our squad to put down a marker for the rest of the season.”Other teams include Pakistan’s Faisalabad Wolves, Chilaw Marians, English Twenty20 Cup champions Somerset Sabres. Hosts Leicestershire Foxes, and the PCA Masters XI, which will feature a number of current and past England players, will also participate in the tournament.In the first round, teams will be awarded two points for a win and one for a tie with the top two teams in each group going through to the semi-finals. Winners of these will contest the final that evening.Titans squad
1 Maurice Aronstam, 2 Gulam Bodi, 3 Pierre de Bruyn, 4 Gerald Dros (capt), 5 Francois du Plessis, 6 Paul Harris, 7 Ethy Mbhalati, 8 Morné Morkel, 9 Johann Myburgh, 10 Alviro Petersen, 11 Aaron Phangiso, 12 Brendon Reddy, 13 André Seymore, 14 Kruger van Wyk (wk), 15 Albie Morkel

Glenn McGrath may have taken Brian Lara’s wicket 14 times in Tests, but the legendary fast bowler is deeply respectful of the the West Indian’s talents. McGrath’s dominance over Lara is almost double that of the next most successful bowler, Andre Nel, who has taken his wicket eight times.McGrath, who often nominates his batting “bunny” in the opposing team – for the Ashes this summer, he targeted Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss – but he chose his words carefully today before the second Test on Thursday at Hobart.”I think he is different now, he seems a little bit different to when I first played. I think there is more a mental aspect when I am bowling to him these days,” he said.”But once he gets set, he is still a great striker of the ball and can score very quickly, so I think a lot of times I have knocked him over, I have knocked him over quite cheaply. If I get him out early, then great, if not he sometimes goes on to make a great score.”Lara, who has scored 10,903 runs in Test cricket, needs just 25 runs to overtake the former Australian captain, Steve Waugh (10,927), and become the second all-time leading run scorer in Tests behind Allan Border.His form has been a concern, however, with a run of poor scores for the West Indies, and the World XI. However, it has been his determination to occupy the crease that has the Australians cautious of Lara.”I think on his day he still can be [as good as ever], it depends on how he is going, how much he wants it, and how things go out in the middle. He is still a dangerous batsman,” McGrath said.Lara’s Test record in Australia is 1,168 runs at 37.68, well below his career average of 53.45.West Indian opener Wavell Hinds, an outside chance of playing in Hobart after damaging a finger earlier in the tour, felt Lara was ready to produce a big innings.”Brian has been batting pretty well in the nets and is hitting them well, but he just needs some time at the wicket as he tried to do in the first Test,” Hinds said.”It did not come off, but I back him to come out and pull off a very good performance. Brian is obviously the best batsman in the world. He is a great motivator in terms of scoring runs and setting a platform for our team to follow.”