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Namibia is finding the going very hard in the Standard Bank Cup domestic one-day competition. Having been beaten by Western Province on Wednesday evening, they followed it up on Sunday, with another loss against Free State in Bloemfontein.Winning the toss Namibia asked Free State to bat first and did well to restrict and bowl out a strong team for 216 after Free State squandered the chance of setting a big target.After a solid start and reaching 145/2 in 29 overs, thanks to 48 from Morne van Wyk, 50 from Johnathan Beukes and 30 from Boeta Dippenaar the hosts collapsed to 216 all out in the 45th over.Bjorn Kotze in taking 3/41 in his nine overs was instrumental in causing the collapse, getting rid of Van Wyk, Beukus and Jimmy Adams. Nineteen wides however put a damper on the Nambian bowling, and not having the best batting team it is runs given away that they can ill afford.After scoring 44 in Cape Town, Daniel Keulder, with an undefeated 51, was again the mainstay of the Namibian batting scoring the majority of the 116 run total.Free State will be happy with the form of Nicky Boje, returning from a finger injury, who ripped the heart out of the Namibian batting taking 4/29 in his nine overs. Gaining the bonus point Free State now move to the top of the Pool B log.In Potchefstroom North West continued on their winning ways, this time beating neighbours Northerns by 25 runs and going to the top of Pool A.Winning the toss and batting North West never got on top of the bowling. Arno and Davey Jacobs did put on a 56 run third wicket partnership, but it was left to a quick 24* from Alfonso Thomas to get the boys from Potchefstroom to 215/5 at the end of the 45 overs.Northerns could only reply with 190/5 with Jacques Rudolph undefeated on 98. The second loss in two games leaves them at the bottom of the table, sharing the spot with KwaZulu-Natal.

Steve Massiah, the USA captain, has said that his side’s lack of preparation was the reason they did not reach the final for the ICC World Cricket League Division Five event in Jersey last month. Had they done so, then they would have gained promotion to Division Four and, theoretically, would have still been in with a chance of qualifying for the 2011 World Cup in India.”We had one weekend together in Florida where it was only net sessions, and where four players were missing,” Massiah told dreamcricket.com. “Those other teams were preparing for months and weeks and had warm-up games in Pakistan and India.” USA faced unfamiliar conditions in Jersey where the pitches were green and there was tremendous help for the bowlers.”I think if I had three months of competition under my belt, there was no way I could see ourselves failing,” he said “We would beat those teams easily.” Undoubtedly, the USA’s suspension from international cricket because of the internal squabbles which dogged USACA in recent years made the players’ task all the harder.Questions have also been asked about the national selectors who, unlike almost every other country, remain unknown. Ostensibly this is to prevent undue pressure being put on them, but it has led to accusations of unfairness and secrecy.There has also been disquiet over the appointment of former West Indies and USA batsman Clayton Lambert as the national coach, despite his having no obvious outstanding credentials for the post. “His selection came as a surprise,” one player admitted, ” and it’s hardly the message to send out when other Associates we should be competing against are getting named coaches.” It is unclear who made the appointment.

By the start of the 1990 season, England were fast losing groundin international cricket, particularly on their woeful record athome. In successive summers since 1986, England had lost toIndia, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and Australia. And eventhough they narrowly defeated New Zealand in the first half ofthe 1990 summer, the series against India in the drier secondhalf, had all the makings of a close contest.The Indians, in the process of rebuilding under a new captain inMohammad Azharuddin, had a number of exciting new players,including 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar and 19-year-old AnilKumble and this was nicely balanced by the experience of thecaptain, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Navjot Sidhu,Manoj Prabhakar and Kiran More.Few, however, could have bargained for what was in store. By theend of the three-Test series, the contest was being hailed inglowing terms by : “The theatrical impresarios ofLondon’s West End would have been proud to have put on aspectacle like this. The patrons went away delighted by what theyhad seen. The show was a winner.”The batting in the series was spectacular. Centuries, a neardouble century, and even a triple century, flowed in a seasonthat was marked by excellent weather. In the dry conditions, theIndians matched the home team in every department. Not for thefirst time, though, the tourists lost the series through onebatting collapse – in the second innings of the first Test atLord’s. But even in defeat, the Indians shone and in theremaining two Tests, their batting was as sparkling as England’s.The bowling, however, was another matter but then England’s waslittle better. Under the circumstances, the batting provided theglorious aspect of the rubber and for the spectators there wasmuch to savour.The feast started early. By the second day of the series, theEngland captain Graham Gooch had made 333 in the first innings,the first triple hundred in Test cricket since 1974. For goodmeasure, Gooch in the midst of his ,scored 123 in the second innings. The total of 456 was the mostany batsman had made in a Test. Allan Lamb and Robin Smith toogot hundreds in the first innings when England declared at 653for four.On the face of it, India would have been hard pressed to replywith anything substantial. But the visitors did, thanks to RaviShastri’s 100 and Azharuddin’s 121, during which he exhibitedoriental artistry at its best. Audacious, wristy strokeplay gothim to three figures off only 88 balls. But the most dramaticentertainment was yet to come. Despite these heroics, India were430 for nine, still needing 24 runs to avoid the follow on in thepre-lunch session on the fourth day.Narendra Hirwani joined Kapil Dev and survived the last ball ofAngus Fraser’s over. Kapil faced Eddie Hemmings and records the sequence of events that followed: “Kapil played thefirst two balls of the following over of Hemmings defensively,then ripped into the next four and drove each one for six. Threeof them were enormous, clattering the scaffolding, one was simplybig; all were magnificent. With the very next delivery Fraser hadHirwani leg before.” Kapil who went from 53 to 77 during thispurple phase became the first to hit four successive sixes in aTest.After such heroics, it does seem unbelievable that India lost thematch by 247 runs but credit must be given to Fraser, who with amatch haul of eight wickets, in rather trying circumstances, wasalmost as much a hero as Gooch.More spectacular batting followed in the second Test atManchester. Gooch got a third successive three-figure knock,shared an opening partnership of 225 with Michael Atherton (131)while Smith got his second century in as many Tests.England led off with 519 but again India made a fitting reply.Sanjay Manjrekar got 93 and Tendulkar 68 but it was Azharuddinwho again provided the razzle dazzle with a superb 179 with 21fours and a six. Between lunch and tea on the third day, hescored 100 runs, in the process becoming the first Indian toscore as many in a single session in a Test.India’s reply was a fitting 432 but Lamb now got his secondsuccessive hundred in Tests and England declared early on thefinal morning at 320 for four. A victory target of 408 was neverreally on the cards though a draw was. But India faced defeatwhen they were 183 for six. There were 2-1/2 hours left asPrabhakar joined Tendulkar. However, Indian supporters need nothave worried. For the little man and the gritty all-rounder, someten years his senior, figured in an unbroken seventh wicketpartnership of 160 runs to take India to a honourable draw.Wisden records: “Tendulkar remained undefeated on 119having batted for 224 minutes and hit 17 fours. He looked theembodiment of India’s famous opener Gavaskar and indeed waswearing a pair of his pads. While he displayed a full repertoireof strokes in compiling his maiden Test hundred, most remarkablewere his off-side shots from the back foot. Of the six centuriesscored in the fascinating contest, none was more outstanding thanTendulkar’s. At 17 years and 112 days, he was only 30 days olderthan Mushtaq Mohammed was, when against India at New Delhi in1960-61, he became the youngest player to score a Test hundred.Tendulkar held the attack at bay with a disciplined display ofimmense maturity."In the final Test at the Oval, it was India’s turn to put somepressure on England. Batting first, India piled up their highestever total against England 606 for nine declared. Shastri ledthe way with 187, Azharuddin this time was restricted to 78 butKapil came up with 110 at No 8.England’s reply of 340 was not enough to avoid the follow on butin the second innings, in conditions that remained ideal forbatting even on the last day of the series, they scored 477 forfour. Gooch with scores of 85 and 88 took his tally to 752 aneasy record for a three-Test series. Atherton got 86 and DavidGower remained unbeaten with 157. The bat’s dominance over theball was complete but no one was complaining.As only to be expected, the Indian batting figures made for eyepopping reading while the bowling figures had to be gone throughwith a great deal of sympathy. Azharuddin, who was named as oneof Wisden’s cricketers of the year, topped the Test averages with426 runs at 85.20 and Shastri, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Manjrekarwere not far behind. On the tour, Azharuddin again headed theaverages (770 runs at 77.00) but it was Tendulkar who scored mostruns (945) and not far behind was Manjrekar with 814.This time Vengsarkar’s scores in the Lord’s Test were restrictedto 52 and 35 but the veteran did reasonably well with 158 in theTests and 576 runs in first class games. In bowling, Hirwani tookmost wickets both in Tests and on the tour but like all thebowlers, had to pay out heavily for them.Outside the Tests, the Indians did have a fairly successful tour,winning both the Texaco Trophy one-day games and finishing with arecord of one win, two losses and 10 draws in 13 matches. But theentertainment they provided in the Tests was all pervading.

England have staged a remarkable revival on the second day of the first Test at the Gabba, dismissing Australia for 492 and ending the day in the relatively strong position of 158 for the loss of just one wicket. After Ashley Giles took four wickets for the tourists, Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher both completed unbeaten half centuries.Resuming at 2/364, Australia crumbled and their middle order failed. Only Shane Warne (57) provided any stability down the order. Matthew Hayden (197) was out early, caught behind off the glove as he looked to cash in on an Andrew Caddick (3/108) short ball. The left-hander looked tired after his marathon innings yesterday – it was probably his determination rather than his strokeplay that got him as close as he did to the double century.After the departure of Hayden, Damien Martyn (26), Steve Waugh (7) and Darren Lehmann (30) did nothing to cement their places in the team. Martyn needed runs to justify his promotion to number four. Waugh, under ever-increasing pressure to justify his place, was caught at leg gully off Caddick. Lehmann is returning to Test cricket after an absence of nearly four years. All three missed a chance to boost their confidence for the remainder of the series.With Adam Gilchrist out without scoring, Warne was the only contributor from the lower order. His rapid 50 included eight boundaries, but his team-mates were pinned down by the England bowlers’ improved line and length. They all bowled better than yesterday, particularly Giles (4/101) and Craig White (2/105), who changed the tempo of the match for their captain.After Warne eventually fell to Caddick, the stitching completely unravelled. Lehmann and Andy Bichel were dismissed by consecutive balls from Giles, and although Jason Gillespie denied the left-arm spinner a hat-trick. Glenn McGrath did not trouble the scorers and added the third duck to the Australian scorecard.The England openers Trescothick (63*) and Vaughan (33) got off to a flyer. Vaughan was particularly aggressive, smashing McGrath (1/57) out of the attack, taking 23 off his first four overs. Vaughan hit the lanky pace bowler to all parts of the ground, showing no respect for the number one ranked bowler in the world.Although McGrath got his own back when Vaughan nicked a ball that nipped back off the seam through to Gilchrist, that was the only joy for Australia, as England dealt confidently with Warne (0/46) and Bichel (0/40). Gillespie, apparently injured, bowled just three overs.Trescothick was dropped twice, by Martyn at slip and Hayden at point. It may cost Australia dearly, as both he and Butcher have gone on to post half centuries. The dropping of Mark Waugh has resulted in players shifting from their regular positions. Martyn has moved to second slip, with Ponting moving into third and Steve Waugh moving into the cover region.England’s recovery has set up what could be an enthralling third day, with Australia needing to regroup and focus on playing positive cricket, much as the tourists did today.

On a miserable, wet day at Isham only five overs were possible.When play finally got under way, the game had been reduced to 33 overs aside. Northants won the toss and fielded in far from ideal conditions with fielders and batsmen finding the conditions treacherous under foot.Two wickets were lost in the 5 overs of play possible, with batsmen trying to force the pace, before further heavy rain brought proceedings to a halt.

Somerset went some way towards silencing those who have criticised their championship form when they reached 403 for 9 against Warwickshire by close of play at the County Ground in Taunton.One of the loudest cheers of the day was saved for Matt Bulbeck who edged the fourth ball of the penultimate over of the day bowled by Graham Wagg past the wicket-keeper to the boundary to bring up the 400 and gain what could be a vital fifth batting point for the Cidermen.Earlier Mike Burns had been unfortunate to miss out on what would have been a thoroughly-deserved century against his old county when he fell to a dazzling catch for 95, and there was a typical gutsy 110 from Ian Blackwell.Blackwell’s knock met with the approval of the large crowd who enjoyed the entertainment as he smote his way to his century off 86 balls, which included two enormous sixes and sixteen fours.On the way to his century `Blackie’ shared in a sixth wicket partnership of 115 with Rob Turner who continued his run of good form with a well struck 35.At the end of the day Somerset captain Jamie Cox, who earlier had scored 29 told me: “We played some good cricket today. Perhaps we were a bit disappointed when we lost those wickets after Blackie was out, but to post 400 runs in a day, and to score quickly now gives us the chance to win the game.”Mike Burns told me: “To get 400 is not a bad effort, and if we field and bowl well then we are in with a chance of getting on top. We have been on the back foot for a while so it’s nice to get on top for a change.”Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: “This was a much better day for us. There were some excellent contributions from some of the lads, especially Ian Blackwell.”We got five batting points which we haven’t done for a while which gives us something to bowl at. If we can push our score up to 450 tomorrow that will be a bonus.”

Somerset continued their build-up to the new season with an impressive batting display to score 365 from their 50 overs against a strong Hampshire side at the County Ground today before the rain set in mid afternoon to prevent the visitors commencing their innings, and the game was abandoned.Somerset got off to a solid start with an opening partnership of 91 in 19 overs between Peter Bowler (43), who was playing his first innings on grass this season, and Matt Wood, who made an impressive 76.Rob Turner, who was also playing his first match of the season, came in first wicket down and contributed a well struck 44, but the real fireworks of the innings came from Mike Burns and Ian Blackwell.Burns made 104 from 58 balls, including seven sixes and nine fours, and Blackwell made 62, which included four sixes and eight fours, and raced to his half century off just 17 balls.After the end of play Somerset assistant coach Mark Garaway told me: “It was a very pleasing day for us, and good that we had the chance to bat before it rained. I was very pleased with the way everyone batted, but especially Peter Bowler and Rob Turner who were having their first bat out in the middle today.”It was also pleasing that we scored the runs the way that we did against Hampshire, who have a first class bowling attack, Mike Burns and Ian Blackwell were so powerful when they batted. All the signs are looking good for our first match next week.”

It may well be that rain, which devastated the opening weekend of fixtures of the 2nd Americas Cricket Championship being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will have the last laugh on the final day of scheduled fixtures.Already denied a final, organisers had revised the schedule to include a round-robin league in order to determine the champion team. With an exciting three-way tie a possibility, rain has delayed the start in all three games, with the prospect of any play looking less and less likely as time marches on.If no play is possible today, and all matches are declared no results, the United States will automatically be declared winners by virtue of their unbeaten record in the first four games and they currently stand two points clear at the top of the table.However, should play be possible (before the 14h15 cut-off time to ensure at least 25 overs per innings), it would take a Cayman Islands win over the United States, and a Canada win over the Bahamas, to create a three-way tie at the top of the table. With each team having beaten one of the other two, and all teams having won the same number of games, if that scenario eventuates, the winner will be decided by net run-rate.At present the net run-rate race is being led by the Caymans (1.48) followed by the USA (1.24) and Canada (0.42).Ironically, the one game which appears to have the most chance of perhaps getting under way after violent storms ravaged the Argentine capital through the night, is that at Belgrano (where the final would have taken place) between Argentina and Bermuda.Although this game, if played, would have no bearing on the fate of the championship, it is a direct shoot-out for fourth place, and the Argentines would surely love a chance to try and put the traumas of the past week behind them and attempt to leapfrog from 6th into 4th place on the log. Likewise, Bermuda, after a last ball thriller loss against the USA, and having being upstaged by the Caymans earlier in the week, would like to hold on to the fourth position.The Bahamas, ecstatic after their fine victory over Argentina, will no doubt be content with their current and very creditable fifth position.

Shakib Al Hasan voiced his frustration at Bangladesh’s early exit from the World T20s saying that the team should have taken the match against Pakistan to last five overs from “where it could [have gone] either way. But it seemed we were never in the game.” Shakib also added the team’s failure to do “elementary” things was annoying.Pakistan reached the target of 176 runs with eight balls to spare. A few overs earlier, in the 16th, they completed the progress to the Super-Eights when they crossed the 139-run mark that gave them a better net run-rate than Bangladesh.He explained how, while fielding, the basics went missing; the lack of commitment too peeved Shakib. “I didn’t like the way we lost. We should have been lively after scoring 175, saved around fifteen runs while fielding. I’m talking about elementary things like standing 10 yards inside the boundary on the larger side of the ground. This is just a matter of common sense,” he told Bangla daily in Kandy.”These things annoy me because neither the captain nor I can tell this every ball. Then the fielder doesn’t put in the dive as the ball nears the boundary line. The dive may not work but at least the action inspires another fielder. The others will run beside the ball, without diving, seeing this,”.”This is what I expected from the team when I was the captain and even now when I’m not the captain. I think I will expect these things all the time. If we had done everything properly and lost, I wouldn’t have felt so bad. I would have thought, ‘they are a better team on paper and on the field and as a result we lost’. The disappointment would have been two out of 10, now it is six.”Shakib’s criticism of the level of commitment is significant and though he has landed in hot water in the past for giving a forthright point of view, this time it is quiet justified. Bangladesh have now failed to qualify to the second stage in all of their last four appearances in global events starting from the 2009 World Twenty20s. They had a long build-up to this campaign but it amounted to nothing after they were struck down by Brendon McCullum’s second Twenty20 international century in their first group game before giving it away to Pakistan.Their point of inspiration should have been the way Shakib bounced back after a poor day against New Zealand. His 54-ball knock put him on top of individual scores made by a Bangladeshi in T20Is, beating Nazimuddin’s 81.”I don’t normally plan anything when I go out to bat in a T20 game. After the first game against New Zealand, I realised that if I bat naturally I can have a 110-120 strike rate. I didn’t have to force things. So against Pakistan when I had gathered enough confidence, I started playing my shots,” he said, adding that he only thought of going for the hundred in the final over of the Bangladesh innings. “From a personal point of view, I had a good day. But the disappointment was to see the game being given away.”

Central Zone trounced South Zone by an innings and 14 runs on the final dayof the final round of Duleep Trophy matches at the Bhausaheb BandodkarStadium in Goa on Sunday. The win helped Cental Zone clinch the runner-upspot behind North Zone, who were crowned champions with a round to spareafter racing away to 23 points. Central finished on 19 to edge West Zoneinto third place with 17. East Zone’s tally of 13 placed them fourth whileSouth Zone’s second successive defeat consigned them to bottom of the heapon a measly eight points.South began the fourth morning at 204/4, needing 205 more to make Centralbat again. Lefthanders Sridharan Sriram and Sunil Joshi extended theirfifth wicket stand to 54 before the latter was thrown out for 45. TheKarnataka allrounder who used the long handle effectively struck four foursand two sixes in a 43 ball knock. Two overs later seamer Jai Prakash Yadavtrapped Aashish Kapoor leg before for a fourth ball duck.Javagal Srinath contributed a brisk 30 to a 45 run seventh wicket stand withSriram before he handed leg spinner Narendra Hirwani his first wicket ofthe match. Hemang Badani who had dropped down the order because of a stiffneck strode to the crease at No.9 to join his Tamil Nadu colleague and theytook South through to lunch at 297/7 with Sriram undefeated on 131.Sriram’s marathon innings had spanned 7 hours and 51 minutes when mediumpacer Devendra Bundela dismissed him a second time in the match, for adisciplined 150 (329 balls, 20 fours). Their stand was worth 57 and Centralwere frustrated further by a pesky 55 run ninth wicket association betweenBadani and Venkatesh Prasad. It ended when Badani was caught off Hirwanitwo runs short of his fifty.Hirwani, who did not get a bowl in the first innings when South werehustled out for 141, polished off the match with his third wicket, havingPrasad stumped. It gave the busy wicketkeeper Rohit Jhalani his eighthdismissal of the match as South were terminated for 395. Hirwani finishedwith 3/115 and the off spinner Rahul Kanwat earned two scalps but leftarmerMurali Kartik went wicketless in 23 overs to round off a disappointingtourney for him.