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Merv Dillon has been rested for the third and final one-day international against Sri Lanka at St Vincent on Wednesday, following a lacklustre performance in West Indies’ four-wicket defeat in Barbados on Sunday.His place has been taken by the Jamaican fast bowler, Jerome Taylor, who burst onto the scene against Trinidad and Tobago, taking ten wickets in only his fourth first-class match, including a matchwinning 8 for 59 in the second innings.West Indies squad Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-capt), Omari Banks, David Bernard Jr, Corey Collymore, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hurley, Ridley Jacobs, Daren Powell, Ricardo Powell, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

South Africa barely raised a sweat at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Sunday, coasting to a seven-wicket win over Kenya in the second match of the Standard Bank triangular one-day series.With the Kenyans managing only to reach 159 for seven in their 50 overs, only an act of God seem likely to keep the South Africans from winning. With the weather perfect and the ground comfortably, but not completely filled, there was no divine intervention to save Kenya, and South Africa won with more than 16 overs to spare. In doing so, they earned themselves a bonus point for scoring 1.25 times faster than their opponents.It might have been even worse for the Kenyans who lost a wicket to the first legal delivery of the match and never quite recovered. That they reached three figures was due almost entirely to Steve Tikolo, who was unbeaten on 68 when the innings closed.As well as he played, though, the Kenyans were unable to get him on strike often enough, particularly in the closing overs. As a result, the usual flurry of late runs did not materialise. Only 15 were scored off the last five overs of the innings.In this regard the Kenyans were out-thought by the vastly experienced South Africans, as Maurice Odumbe was willing to concede afterwards.The South Africans bowled with characteristic discipline, giving the Kenyans very little to hit. Shaun Pollock was the pick, earning the Man of the Match award with figures of 10-1-19-2.On Friday at the Wanderers, South Africa had been set 280 to win and got there with some balls to spare. By comparison, 160 was scarcely a challenge even though the home side lost both openers, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs relatively cheaply, for 17 and 20 respectively.But then Jacques Kallis and Neil McKenzie settled things down with an 88-run stand for the third wicket as Kenya were clinically batted out of the match. Kallis seemed a little taken aback by the leg break from Collins Obuya that kicked at him and took the outside edge for his dismissal after making 54, but McKenzie and Jonty Rhodes picked off the remaining runs with no further alarms.McKenzie ended not out on 49, denied his half-century by another leg break that beat the wicketkeeper and scurried away for two byes to end the game.South Africa and India are clearly a class above the Kenyans, but the East African side are in South Africa to learn ahead of the 2003 World Cup. And whatever their shortcomings in terms of international experience, they are cheerful and charming cricketers. If they do burgle a win against either of their opponents at some stage during this triangular, a lot of South Africans will be delighted for them.

ScorecardJake Lehmann made the only 50-plus score of the game•Cricket Australia

Critical contributions by Daniel Worrall and Jake Lehmann allowed South Australia to squeeze past Victoria in another low-scoring Matador Cup encounter at Bankstown Oval.Chasing 198 to win, the Bushrangers were rounded up for 181, having never established their innings due to Worrall’s early dismissals of Aaron Finch and Cameron White.No Redbacks bowler claimed more than three wickets, but a very even contribution in the field was enough to shut out a vastly more experienced Victorian XI, of which only Scott Boland had never been chosen in an Australian squad. Kane Richardson and Joe Mennie were exceptionally stingy, while Callum Ferguson chimed in with the important wicket of Peter Handscomb.A late stand of 59 between John Hastings and James Pattinson had threatened to take the Bushrangers to victory, but the left-arm spinner Tom Andrews tempted Hastings to loft a catch to Richardson in the deep, with the Bushrangers tail unable to muster the remaining runs.The Redbacks had been in trouble early after James Pattinson’s swift yorker had Travis Head lbw in the very first over, but the left-handed Lehmann added vital lower-order runs with Adam Zampa and Mennie. Those partnerships ensured that the Redbacks would have something near 200 to defend, and on a sluggish pitch they defended it grandly.Redbacks’ third win in five games mean they are one win short of qualifying for the competition finals, and face the fledgling Cricket Australia XI in their last qualifying fixture.

ScorecardDawid Malan’s impressive England Lions form continued with a century•Chris Whiteoak

Dawid Malan continued his productive few months for England Lions as his 114 set-up a 69-run victory against Pakistan A to put them 2-0 up in the series.Malan’s hundred led a complete batting performance, anchored by a succession of solid top-order partnerships then given a final flourish by Ross Whiteley’s 30-ball fifty as he and Joe Clarke, his Worcestershire team-mate, pummelled 66 off 31 deliveries for the sixth wicket.Pakistan A reached 172 for 4 in the 31st over after Fakhar Zaman hit 61 off 69 balls to give them a chance of making an impression on the target, but they fell away despite Mohammad Nawaz’s 51. Toby Roland-Jones and Liam Dawson picked up three wickets apiece.After being put into bat, Malan and James Vince – who added 103 in the first match – provided another solid start with a stand of 50. Malan and Sam Billings (31) then added 70 for the third wicket followed by a fourth-wicket stand of 69 alongside Dawson (33).Malan’s century came from 103 deliveries as he continued to make his case for consideration in England’s white-ball sides, most realistically the upcoming World T20 in India. He was the leading run-scorer in the T20 leg of this tour before Christmas when he made 253 runs in five matches. He fell shortly after launching his second six, but that did not prevent England from making a strong finish.Whiteley, the Worcestershire left-hander who plundered county attacks in limited-overs cricket last season, showed off his striking power as the final four overs of the innings included five sixes between him and Dawson.Roland-Jones, who was wicketless in the opening game of the series, found success early in Pakistan A’s chase when he had Sami Aslam lbw and Jake Ball struck with his first delivery when Khurram Manzoor dragged on a pull.Zaman and Umar Siddiq scored at a good tempo for the third wicket before Dawson, with his left-arm spin, made a telling contribution by removing both to leave Pakistan A 129 for 4 in the 24th over. A sharp piece of work from Billings from behind the stumps ran out Fawad Alam then it was back to the seamers as Roland-Jones and Tom Curran worked through the lower order.

Patrick Ochan and Jimmy Okello have been banned for life by the Ugandan Cricket Association (UCA), after the duo went missing at the end of the ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Darwin.The bans are unlikely to have a significant impact on the duo – it has been reported that they have now taken up residence in Adelaide after applying for, and successfully obtaining, working visas.”By the rules of the association, we dissociated ourselves from the act [their disappearance] and banned them from playing cricket for Uganda ever again. They would have no cause to come back to us at all,” William Kibukamusoke, the chairman of UCA, told Cricinfo on telephone from Kampala.Ochan and Okello, who are multi-talented sportsmen, have also been barred from representing Uganda in any other sport. The duo have played in the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF’s) circuit. Ochan, who was the more successful of the two, had a career-best ranking of 428 in the ITF’s junior level, and represented Uganda in the Davis Cup.”They will never [represent Uganda in any international sport]. We passed this information around all our sister associations. Their talent is now wasted,” Kibukamusoke said. “That [their banning] was the statement we made to the police in Darwin. We had to leave the case clear, and there was no use moving out without making a police case.”Interestingly, Ronnie Kintu, a sports journalist with the , a Ugandan newspaper, also went missing with the two after Uganda defeated Argentina in the final of the tournament on June 2. “He [Kintu] wasn’t grabbed but the other two were grabbed – wherever they were staying in the neighbourhood, they were uprooted and apprehended,” Kibukamusoke said.Though Ochan and Okello were found in Sydney by Australia’s Immigration Department on June 12 – no action was taken as their visas were valid till July 28. The had reported that Ochan and Okello were staying with Ken Skewes, a South Australia player who they befriended at an Under-19 tournament. Skewes had contacted the authorities when he realised that the two were being sought.Meanwhile, Ochan and Okello are enjoying life in their adopted country. “We got the visas last week and I’m even going for official cricket practice with my new club tomorrow,” Ochan told on August 1. Jimmy [Okello] is currently playing soccer with the Africa Stars Club and scoring goals for fun. Our ability to play most of the games here has made us very popular.”

Ricky PontingOn the turnaround
We were really struggling. I thought we did a pretty good job with thebat, to tell the truth. It wasn’t the easiest conditions to bat in. Wedidn’t think it was till Shiv [Chanderpaul] came out and played the way he did.[laughs]. That was probably the best way to play on that wicket, to justback yourself and try and make use of the Powerplays. As I said at thetoss, I always thought it was going to be hard batting second. In thesesort of humid conditions, I thought it would seam around a bit more atnight time. Once we got those couple of wickets, we got on a bit of aroll. I don’t know what it was in the end – something like a 9 for 20-odd. Itwas a pretty amazing comeback.On McGrath’s return
He was a little bit frustrated early on. He was actually swinging it,which is very unlike him, so I told him halfway through his first spellnot to worry about swing and get back into hitting a good area. I thoughthe was excellent in the second spell. It was a pretty important time tocome back on and take a wicket and keep things pretty tight. He’ll onlyget better with bowling. We all know that. That’s the reason he’s here, toget some bowling under his belt.It’s his first game in 12 months, and he’d have been disappointed withbowling as many wides as he did in his first spell. As I said to all theplayers last night, it’s going to be difficult for us just to get thetempo again. I think Glenn was just trying a bit too hard in his firstspell. It’s a matter of getting his body in the right shape to do what hewants to do.On whether they might have experimented too much with team composition
We’ve managed to win by 78 runs so I didn’t think we experiemented toomuch. Coming here with 18 guys, we were always going to mix and match, andwe’ve done the best job we can. As I said yesterday, some guys will gettwo games, some will get three and only one player in the whole squad willget all four games. That’s the ‘keeper [Brad] Haddin. That’s just the way we’redoing it.On Mitchell Johnson taking two key wickets in his second spell
At that stage of the game, I got Glenn and Mitchell back because I thoughtthey’d be our best wicket-taking chances. Mitch copped a bit of stickearly but to be able to come back and get those vital wickets was great.It won’t do his confidence any harm at all. It was a pretty amazing gameactually. We haven’t had the chance to sit back and think about it.On Johnson getting Lara for the second time in two games
That sort of wicket tonight, it was very suited to seam-up bowling. Oncewe got a bit of a sniff, I told our bowlers to attack the stumps. We’llhave to make sure we play Mitch in the next game against the West Indiesif he’s got that sort of record against Brian [Lara].On what went through his mind as Chanderpaul and Gayle cut loose
It can be really hard to stop that sort of batting at times, no matter whoyou bowl or what fields you set, when you’re on a roll, as Shiv was, andwith Gayle joining in. But once you get two wickets, you expose newbatsmen to those conditions,On what he thought of the pitch
It wasn’t a great batting wicket. We made 280 batting first but there wasenough variation there to make it difficult.On Watson and Johnson
Man of the Match and 4 for 40, I think Shane deserves to answer somequestions. It’s terrific to see blokes that work so hard on their game getsome reward. Shane’s been around for a while now, and played someexcellent cricket for us of late. Mitch is in the same boat, and justkeeps improving game by game. We need to keep exposing these younger guysto the international game. Until you’ve done it a few times at the highestlevel, you’ll always have a few doubts in the back of your mind.Shane WatsonOn bowling in those conditions
Our batters did an extremely good job to get us to 280 and set us up. Ireally enjoyed bowling out there. One-day wickets are usually extremelyflat, and geared towards the batters. When there’s a little bit ofmovement there, it’s always handy to bowl.On his tactics when the ball was being flayed everywhere
My thinking was to try and change it up a little bit. I was trying to bowla few yorkers, a few bouncers and a few slower balls to stop the batsmengetting into a rhythm against me.On missing a hat-trick
I’ll take four wickets any day of the week. It would’ve been nice, but I’mextremely happy to contribute to a really good fightback.

Should the ICC take action or is it right to stand aside? Send us your views

Despite coming under pressure from the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Britain, the ICC is expected to ignore requests to take action against Zimbabwe when it meets this week in Dubai.The three governments have called on the ICC to ban Zimbabwe because of the country’s dreadful human-rights record which culminated in the controversial slum clearance programme Operation Murambatsvina – which translates as “drive out rubbish” – which has left 700,000 people homeless.Last week, Jack Straw, Britain’s foreign secretary, wrote to Ehsan Mani and Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s president and chief executive, urging them to take action, but yesterday Speed hinted that nothing was likely to change.”For the past three years at least, we’ve been asked that players be allowed not to comply with their agreements with Zimbabwe, or that cricket not be played in Zimbabwe,” Speed said. “The ICC position has been consistent: we say to governments that we don’t take decisions based on political judgments. We expect governments to do that.””We do respect their views, but we don’t make decisions on political grounds and neither are our decisions on playing cricket based on the human rights record of a country. I haven’t had a chance to speak with our president [Ehsan Mani] but our stand on such matters is pretty clear. It’s up to the teams to decide whether they honour the commitments. If the countries want to play it’s fine and if they don’t we don’t interfere in the foreign policy of any government.”Speed added that the 10 ICC members – which include Zimbabwe – were “comfortable” with play proceeding in the absence of an outright government ban.Such bans, however, are not likely because the three countries who have raised concerns would have to change their laws to enable them to prevent their own nationals from traveling to Zimbabwe. New Zealand, however, have indicated that they will refuse Zimbabwe’s players entry to the country should they try to fulfill their scheduled tour in December. Despite New Zealand Cricket announcing that the tour had been cancelled, as recently as the weekend, Zimbabwe Cricket officials claimed to know nothing about that.The ICC’s position is unlikely to be changed on cricket grounds either, even though Zimbabwe’s on-field performances of late have verged on the embarrassing. Yesterday’s humiliating defeat against New Zealand was the latest in a long line of drubbings which many have claimed is tarnishing the integrity of the international game.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It was a tough and tiring return from the summer break for South Africa, but it wasn’t a fruitless day. Their bowlers, led by the magnificent Shaun Pollock, restricted Sri Lanka to 279 for 7, rather better returns than they would have hoped for after losing the toss and being asked to field on a bare and grassless pitch. Sri Lanka’s batsmen were shown the way by Mahela Jayawardene, who played a polished, elegant knock to finish unbeaten on 116, but apart from useful contributions from Kumar Sangakkara (58) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (33), it was a largely uninspiring performance from the rest of the cast.Jayawardene made amends for his duck in the Asia Cup final, playing himselfin carefully in the morning and blossoming in the afternoon. Sharing usefulstands of 86 with Sangakkara, 37 with Thilan Samaraweera, 44 with Tillakaratne Dilshan and 85 with Kaluwitharana, he manoeuvred Sri Lanka into a comfortable position before South Africa struck twice, including a wicket off the last ball of the day. Jayawardene’s 249-ball innings included 15 fours – most of them sweetly timed drives and flicks – and one gorgeous straight six.Just how good Sri Lanka’s score is won’t be clear until their spinners are let loose some time on the second day. Worryingly for South Africa, Nicky Boje, a left-armer renowned for his allround skills but not for the power of hisspinning finger, turned the ball square at times on a pitch that the curator(the former Test offspinner Jayananda Warnaweera) predicted, with a glint in his eye, will not last the distance.It promised to be a long day in the field for South Africa after they lost the toss – the South Africa media sighed in unison as the TV cameras turned to Atapattu after the flip of the coin. But fortunately for them, the South Africans struck early. Sanath Jayasuriya, in one-day mode, flicked an innocuous leg-side delivery straight to Lance Klusener at square leg (13 for 1). Pollock then produced a far better delivery in the next over; it curved away gently from Atapattu’s off stump, took the outside edge, and nestled in the wicketkeeper’s gloves (22 for 2).But Sangakkara, relieved of the gloves in this game so that he could concentrate on his batting, started to flow. Meanwhile, Jayawardene gritted his teeth and played himself in, contributing just nine of the first 50 runs in their stand. At the other end, Sangakkara whizzed off at nearly a run a ball. A couple of his eight fours were streaky, flashed through an empty-looking slip cordon, but some were classics: his signature square-cut and checked cover-drive worked beautifully. They added 86 in 117 balls either side of an early rain-induced lunch.

It was a far cry from when South Africa and Sri Lanka last met at Galle,back in 2000 in the immediate aftermath of Cronjegate, when Jayasuriyabiffed 96 not out before lunch on the first day. South Africa’s bowlers weremurdered, Sri Lanka tucked into their chicken biryani on 146 for 0, and went on to win that game by an innings and 15 runs. For Pollock, the debut captain then, the memory hurt. But this time, thanks to his opening gambit, Sri Lanka were knocked to the canvas in the first round.Graeme Smith deployed his seamers in neat six-over bursts, protecting themon a day suited for air-conditioning and ice lollies, not for fast bowlingand fielding. But finally, after lunch, he tossed the ball to Boje, hissolitary spinner. Immediately, the ball turned so extravagantly that Smithmust have wondered why he hadn’t included Robin Peterson too. Boje brokethrough soon, as Sangakkara, who had scored his 58 from just 68 balls, wentback to cut and edged to Mark Boucher (108 for 3).Jayawardene, meanwhile, had long since settled and, apart from one missedpull off a low-bouncing short ball that left him doubled up in pain, lookedentirely comfortable. There was the occasional dangerous flirt – the dab tothird man and an airy swish or two – but also some fine strokes, includingone resplendent cover-drive off Klusener and a lofted drive for six off Boje that oozed quality.Klusener proved a little expensive, conceding 28 from his six overs after a flurry of fours, so Smith pressed Pollock into service again. With a 33-over-oldball, Pollock cut down his run-up and asked Boucher to stand up for a five-over spell of old-fashioned wobblers. It was a sensible strategy in the conditions and soon brought success, as Samaraweera (13) lost his balance and played all around an indipper (145 for 4).After tea, South Africa tossed the ball back to Nantie Hayward, their mostexpensive seamer. He was once again costly, conceding 27 runs in four overs,but he also conjured up a wicket as Dilshan, apparently in two minds as he prepared to punish a long-hop, dragged it onto his stumps (189 for 5). Then came the final twist to the day which tilted the scales in South Africa’s favour. First, Pollock produced a corker which pitched on middle and off, and straightened marginally, clipping Kaluwitharana’s off stump even as he attempted a flick (274 for 6). And finally Makhaya Ntini, wicketless until then, struck with the last ball of the day, bursting through Upul Chandana’s defences.Earlier, South Africa’s opening dilemma finally ended when Boeta Dippenaarwas named as Smith’s partner. Andrew Puttick, the opener called up after Herschelle Gibbs injured his ankle, was left out. Klusener made a comeback to the Test team after a two-and-a-half-year absence, while Hayward returned 18 months after turning his back on international cricket in frustration and packing his bags for Worcestershire.Sri Lanka, who seriously considered playing a solitary seamer, settled for a bowling attack with two fast bowlers, Chaminda Vaas and the allrounder Farveez Maharoof, plus two spinners, Chandana and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Mark Richardson is 148 runs and two innings away from becoming the fastest New Zealand Test batsman to reach 2000 runs.Richardson ended the tour of Sri Lanka on 1852 runs scored in his 24 Tests and 41 innings.The fastest New Zealander to the mark might surprise many, but the honour belongs to Andrew Jones who took 44 innings to score his 2000th run during the first Test against Zimbabwe played in 1992/93.Jones, an outstanding No 3 batsman who made a belated appearance in international cricket, scored six Test centuries and seven half-centuries in his first 2000 runs. This compares with the two centuries and 16 half-centuries that have been scored to date by Richardson.So well did he adapt to his role after being selected first for the abandoned tour of Sri Lanka in 1986/87, that Jones found himself included in the New Zealand Living Legends side selected as part of the Millennium celebrations.It was recognition of his often under-rated, and under-appreciated, performances for the side. When his career ended, he had scored 2922 runs at 44.27. During his career he achieved a highest score of 186, his share in the world-record stand of 467 for the third wicket with Martin Crowe against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in 1990/91.So well did Jones adapt to Test cricket, this despite being called an ugly duckling by Australians during his first Test there at Brisbane, that he beat Bert Sutcliffe’s record for reaching 2000 runs in the fastest time.Sutcliffe took 26 Tests and 46 innings, one less innings than Glenn Turner. There is a significant gap then to the fourth fastest to the mark, Craig McMillan. He took 31 Tests and 52 innings.Be comparison, no one comes anywhere near Australian Don Bradman who took 22 innings to reach 2000 runs and his average when he achieved the mark was the neat 100.00.West Indian George Headley was second with 32 innings and England’s Herbert Sutcliffe third with 33 while Australian Doug Walters and West Indian Brian Lara shared 35 innings.One concern that Richardson does have is his conversion rate from half-centuries to centuries. At the moment his two centuries and 16 half-centuries has him fourth equal with Farokh Engineer as the poorest conversion rate among those who have scored more than one Test century.At the moment Pakistan batsman Rameez Raja has the worst rate having scored a century once in every 12 times past 50. Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga is second with one every 10.5 times, Alistair Campbell of Zimbabwe has one in 10.(Statistics compiled by Duane Pettet)Fastest New Zealanders to 2000 runs (ordered by innings):

Tests InningsAndrew Jones 24 44Bert Sutcliffe 26 46Glenn Turner 26 47Craig McMillan 31 52Martin Crowe 34 56Nathan Astle 34 60Stephen Fleming 35 60Graham Dowling 32 62Geoff Howarth 34 62Mark Burgess 36 64Jeremy Coney 39 65Bryan Young 34 66Bevan Congdon 35 67John Wright 39 67Mark Greatbatch 40 69John R Reid 38 70Chris Cairns 43 73Ken Rutherford 45 79Adam Parore 48 83Richard Hadlee 54 91

All countries:

Tests InningsDon Bradman 15 22George Headley 17 32Herbert Sutcliffe 22 33Brian Lara 22 35Doug Walters 22 35Viv Richards 21 36Frank Worrell 22 36Arthur Morris 23 36Everton Weekes 23 36Graeme Pollock 21 37Neil Harvey 22 37Denis Compton 23 37Walter Hammond 23 39Garry Sobers 23 39Michael Slater 23 40Rahul Dravid 25 40Alvin Kallicharran 25 40Dudley Nourse 22 41Jack Hobbs 23 41Ken Barrington 25 41Adam Gilchrist 30 41

Hampshire second XI clinched the ECB National Championship in the second day’s play against Warwickshire, with a typically high quality batting performance, to pick up maximum batting points.Needing eight points from the game to reach an unobtainable total at the top of the National pile ahead of Yorkshire, Hampshire passed 300 with just five wickets down to ensure they took the four points, having taken the full four points on the first day in bowling the opposition out for 213.The second team put together another fine display, eventually declaring on 446-9, with four batsmen passing fifty.Nightwatchman Irfan Shah was the star of the morning session; having survived the previous evening, he showed what a talented player he is, smashing 88 runs from 120 balls, but falling just short of his first century at this level, when he was out prior to lunch.Andy Sexton had played second fiddle to Shah, but compiled a very tidy 55, his sixth half-century on the bounce for Hampshire. He was out caught at second slip, with the score at 182-4, and this was soon 182-5 as Damien Shirazi got a good ball from Tom Mees.Skipper John Stephenson and Shah responded very well, though, putting on a further 60 before Shah’s dismissal. James Hamblin (37) replaced Shah after lunch and he played aggressively with his captain, taking the total to 332. Stephenson looked well set before he was brilliantly caught and bowled for 71.Iain Brunnschweiler (51*) and James Schofield (38) pushed the score passed the 400 mark and prompted the declaration.Simon Francis picked up an early wicket as the home side bowled 16 overs before the end of play. Warwickshire 40-1.