It was a tale of two centuries, an exciting game in glorious September sunshine, everything except a Hampshire victory. Their third in a row leaves them a nail biting visit to Derby in their attempt to gain the last promotion spot in Division Two of the National League.Nic Pothas and Simon Katich gave Hampshire a superb start after being invited to bat when losing the toss. The pair put together 144 for the first wicket, the Hawks highest opening stand in the competition for 7 years.Pothas was first to be dismissed when he lofted a catch to deep mid-off, but not before he had struck a run a ball 78 with 10 fours, his highest one-day score for the county. Derek Kenway played a brisk innings of 22 before he too mistimed a drive and was caught.Katich shortly after reaching his century played on to a ball from Paul Weekes, who struck again next ball by having John Crawley bowled to a ball that hardly left the ground.Will Kendall back in the side for the absent John Francis played a cameo innings, sharing a 43 run stand with Dimitri Mascarenhas, including pulling Weekes for six almost falling over in the process. Mascarenhas also struck a six, and Hampshire finished with their highest ever total against Middlesex.On a good Lord’s wicket, Middlesex got off to a flying start, Paul Weekes shared in two speedy stands of 77 with Andrew Strauss and 80 with Chad Keegan, and suddenly 277 did not seem quite enough.Weekes finally fell when Mascarenhas caught him on the long off boundary from the bowling of Prittipaul, and for a while the home side seemed to be getting behind the clock.Owais Shah the young England prospect however brought them to the brink, leaving the Crusaders requiring 9 runs to win off the last over.Mascarenhas who had not been at his best was entrusted with the task of bowling the 45th over. He was immediately pounced on by Shah for a huge six and ensure victory was almost theirs. Shah fell next ball, well caught by Shaun Udal to give Mascarenhas the new Hampshire record of 32 wickets in a NL/SL Season, a record taken from Udal himself.With 3 to win from 4 balls, Dalrymple drove straight to Katich but was dropped and they scampered a single, Joyce then brought the scores level, before a hurried run with the fielders enclosed to save the run, won it for Middlesex and give the Hawks a nervous week.For the statistically conscious Hampshire’s 277 runs was their highest ever losing score, defeating the 276 they scored in a losing cause against Surrey in 1997.

The forgotten princes
In many ways, Rajkot is the unlikeliest city to have a thriving cricket culture. It is prohibitively hot throughout the year, boasts no thriving tourist attractions and is pretty much a dustbowl. In many ways, though, the city has been linked with cricket in the most curious ways.Not a long way from the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium is the little-known Rajkumar College. A misnomer to start off, for it is a school, the college was once the exclusive domain of the princes. The most famous of them all, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, Ranji to the cricket-viewing public, studied here. More recently, Ajay Jadeja, a descendant of the big man, has been linked with the college.If too many people are not aware of the cricket history of Rajkot, the Saurashtra Cricket Association must shoulder some of the blame. There lives in the city Vijay Singh Nakum, son of the once-feared fast bowler Amar Singh. Famous for his exploits bowling alongside Mohammad Nissar in the 1932-33 tour of England, Amar Singh has since passed away. His son, hale and hearty, is very much around. Sadly, though, the Saurashtra Cricket Association seems to have forgotten about his existence. Every time a match comes to Rajkot, Vijay waits for tickets, complimentary passes or some gesture from the association.It came as a pleasant surprise when Raj Singh Dungarpur sent Vijay an invitation to attend a felicitation function at Mumbai. The Cricket Club of India is honouring Indian cricketers who have taken five wickets or scored hundred runs at Lord’s. Vijay will be in Mumbai on September 19, accepting a piece of Lord’s turf on behalf of his father. Small compensation, but something is certainly better than nothing, and perhaps this will serve as a wake-up call to associations who forget people who have rendered yeoman service to state or country.Rajkot meets Bradman
One person who has put Rajkot on the Indian-cricket map, and retains a solid sense of history is Niranjan Rasiklal Shah. Most people know him as the former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but he has worn many more hats. A first-class cricketer himself, Shah was a batsman and former captain of Saurashtra.The fact that he played just 12 first-class matches hardly rankles him. “At that time the selection process was not so organized. We had to also think about academics and a career outside cricket. You hardly got three or four matches a year,” he began. “I have no regrets at all about how much I played. That time we were just playing for the fun of it. We wanted to enjoy ourselves. That was a different time. I had played with Sunil Gavaskar, Farrukh Engineer, Chandu Borde and other greats from West Zone. At that time West Zone was ruling Indian cricket. So I have no regrets at all.”When you go to Shah’s office, though, you realize immediately that this is a man who knows his history. Behind his desk is a large framed photo of himself with Sir Don Bradman. Meeting Bradman is an experience Shah can never forget. “He is a legend. I had heard and read so much about him. At that time there was no television so you read a lot more in newspapers and things like that. You hardly got a glimpse of what great cricketers were like. It was the second or third day of the Test match at Adelaide. We were all sitting around a lunch table and I had the chance to ask him some questions.”One wonders what the two spoke about, but Shah prefers to keep that memory to himself. “Oh, this and that,” he says, with a twinkle in his eye.More Roving Reporter
From a watery mess to dry heat

Chris Cairns has been ruled out of New Zealand’s crucial TVS Cup match against India at Cuttack. Cairns failed to recover from a hamstring injury which forced him to leave the field midway during their match against Australia at Pune on November 3. “Cairns hasn’t come through,” confirmed Ashley Ross, the New Zealand coach, after Cairns failed a fitness test.Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid has asked for an improved performance from the Indian middle order. Speaking to reporters on the eve of their match against New Zealand, Dravid said: “The middle-order batting is an area that needs work. We have to do better while batting second. I don’t know of any plans to change the batting order, but we have to be as flexible as possible.”He also called for a better display from Zaheer Khan, especially with the new ball. “Our bowlers are capable of doing better, particularly Zaheer. He did well in Gwalior, but something went wrong in Mumbai. He is working hard and should do better in the first 15 overs, because that is a key time.”The Indian team will be without Anil Kumble, who opted out of the match due to his father’s death. Sairaj Bahutule has been included in the squad, but Ashish Nehra – who has recovered from his ankle surgery – or Murali Kartik are the frontrunners to replace Kumble.

When Steve Waugh said Australia would come hard at India, he wasn’t kidding. A team scoring 400 for 5 in a single day was not something the Adelaide Oval had experienced before. Australia went on a run-riot and overtook the 387 they scored against West Indies on the second day of the fourth Test of the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1968-69.A closer look at the scoring pattern lets slip an interesting ploy.

Australia played to put India on the defensive as soon as the game began, and once the pressure was on, the batsmen could step off the gas, play a relatively safer game, and still end up with a huge total on the first day.

Ricky Ponting was unbeaten at the day’s end, with a score of 176 in 246 balls with 24 boundaries. His strike rate of 71.5% suggests a poor bowling performance, but on closer inspection, it was Ponting’s frame of mind and the pitch’s true bounce that attributed more to his final score. Ponting had an in-control percentage of 87.4, compared to the team total of 84%. His back-foot strokeplay was authoritative, and the number of runs he scored off the front foot reveals how consistent the bounce was.

When Ponting reached his hundred, he achieved the rare distinction of scoring all 16 of his boundaries on the offside. It had a lot to do with the line the Indians bowled.

For a large part of the day, India bowled a good length, and just short of a good length. The arrival of Steve Waugh, unsurprisingly, brought a change in tactics. Of the nine bouncers bowled in the day, five were directed at Waugh. Ironically, it took a half-volley – just the delivery the bowlers were trying to avoid – from Ashish Nehra to dismiss him.

PointsTableWestern Province 155 for 4 (Kallis 74*, Puttick 39*) beatKwaZulu-Natal 154 (Kent 40, Henderson 3-29) by 6 wickets
ScorecardWith a small target to chase Jacques Kallis helped himself to an undefeated 74 and Western Province maintained their unbeaten record as KwaZulu-Natal in their Standard Bank Cup clash at Newlands in Cape Town. KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins won the toss and decided to bat first on what appeared to be a perfect batting strip.It soon became apparent that not too many drives were going to be played off the front foot. Struggling to come to grips with the pitch the Natal batsmen all battled, with only Jon Kent able to work the ball around, scoring an undefeated 40 off 60 balls. Much was expected from Lance Klusener, but he fell cheaply, caught and bowled by Graeme Smith, after spending an unusually unproductive 25 balls at the crease.Claude Henderson again suggested that he is the best spinner in South Africa at the moment, taking 3 for 29 in his nine-over spell, to leave KwaZulu-Natal all out for 154 in 43.2 overs.Western Province made an uncertain start, losing Neil Johnson in the second over and Gary Kirsten in the sixth. This brought Kallis to the crease, who, with a lot of time on his hands, stroked the ball around nicely for an undefeated 74. Together with Andrew Puttick he saw Western Province home in the 41st over for an easy six-wicket win.

Shahryar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that the match-fixing claims that came out to the open in recently leaked letters have been investigated and laid to rest. In a press conference held at the Gaddafi Stadium on February 9 he made it clear that the PCB would be taking no further action on the issue in question.”My attention has been drawn to two leaked letters from the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit to the former PCB Chairman and former PCB Director. The only comment I have on these letters is that the first was sent on September 29, 2002 and the second on March 22, 2003,” he said. “In both the letters, there is a clear indication that the letters were based on information that needed to be confirmed before action was to be taken. Since then, no further correspondence is available with us on this issue and to the best of my knowledge, the issue did not feature at the ICC meetings.”To dispel further speculation, Khan added, “Accordingly, since the matter has not been raised since March 2003, the PCB will not be taking any further action on this issue. There will be no further comment from PCB on this matter.”

Cricket Australia has denied that the Australian government has put pressure on it to cancel Australia’s forthcoming tour to Zimbabwe. In a media release, James Sutherland, CA’s chief executive, emphasised that the decision of whether or not to tour Zimbabwe will not depend on what the government feels on the matter.”We welcome the government’s consistent position that the decision is ours to make,” said Sutherland. “Our long-standing position is that we are cricketers, and our visits have no other symbolism than that.” CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association are due to visit Zimbabwe to assess the levels of security there, and Sutherland insisted that a decision to tour would be taken solely on the basis of that.”We are aware of the difficult situation in Zimbabwe, just as we are aware that there are diverse political, social and economic issues in other countries we visit,” he said.Earlier in the day, Alexander Downer, Australia’s foreign minister, had said in an interview to 3AW, a commercial radio station in Melbourne, that going ahead with the tour would “send the wrong message” to Zimbabwe.”We’d rather it didn’t go ahead, obviously the Zimbabwe government would be pleased if it did,” he said. “It would send the wrong message to Zimbabwe and to southern Africa, that oh well, we are not too happy with President Mugabe but it’s not that bad and, you know, the games can go on. I think frankly that’s a bit of a pity.”

Group C
ScorecardSouth Africa scraped their way into the Super League by the narrowest of margins with a one-wicket win against England at Chittagong. England, though, still made it through as winners of Group C.South Africa had to win the match to qualify and they looked in control after bowling England out for 189. But they made hard work of the run chase, and it needed a nervy 20-run last wicket stand between Keagan Africa and Waylain September to secure the victory.Six different South African bowlers picked up wickets as Steven Davies, Man of the Match against Nepal, was the only batsman to reach 50. He was bowled for 63 after adding 83 with Ravi Bopara. England then lost their last six wickets for only 31 runs.The South Africa reply was anchored by opener Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who scored 76 to pave the way for Africa and Craig Alexander to edge the side to victory.Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, was relieved with the outcome. “The bowling and fielding departments are performing to expectations but our batting remains weak,” said Domingo. “The team’s performance will have to improve during the next phase of the tournament.”The result meant that South Africa and England will play in the Super League while Nepal – who beat South Africa two days ago – and Uganda go into the Plate Championship.

The stand-off between the 15 rebel cricketers and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union may be nearing an end, after it was announced by the ZCU that the players would be returning to training on April 30, and that they were back in consideration for selection. The possibility of a breakthrough had earlier been raised with the news that the players were prepared to accept the appointment of Much Musunda to act as mediator.Musunda, a prominent businessman, was the choice of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and Heath Streak. But despite rumours to the contrary, so far there have been no talks between any of the rebels and the board, and none will take place until the banned players have met with their lawyer.There are, inevitably, many stumbling blocks. Musunda is not in the country at the moment, and nothing will happen until he returns. Even when he does, the rebels are not holding out too much hope that the ZCU will offer any meaningful concessions. “We have to see what the ZCU come back to us with,” Grant Flower said. “And so far they have come back with nothing. If it’s not settled by mediation — and I don’t think it will be on an amicable basis — it would have to go to arbitration.” So far, the ZCU has ruled out arbitration.They rebels stated that they are all keen to play again – although an obstacle is that they clearly have no faith that the ZCU will honour any commitments, and so they will do nothing until they see actions rather than words. “The guys are only going to make themselves available for selection once that process has happened,” Flower told The Times. “If we did it the other way round, the ZCU wouldn’t take it seriously; they would draw it out, keep us playing while we were still in dispute with them and not resolve this until we are at the end of our contracts.”But the rebels are prepared to start training again as an act of good faith, and in the hope that the mess will be sorted out sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the ZCU has named an unchanged side for the fifth and final one-day match in Harare on Thursday.

Michael Kasprowicz, the Australian fast bowler, will be back on board for Glamorgan in their National League match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston tomorrow. He is due to fly in from Zimbabwe early tomorrow morning, in good time to make his first appearance for the county since the win over Lincolnshire on May 5.Glamorgan’s thoughts will still be with their six-wicket defeat to Middlesex at Lord’s yesterday, as well as their five-wicket loss to Lancashire in a league game last Sunday. Before that match, Glamorgan had won all four of their Division One encounters, beating Surrey, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Essex.”The important thing is that we are up and ready again for Warwickshire after Lord’s,” coach John Derrick told ic Wales. “All our thoughts have been on Middlesex, but Warwickshire tomorrow will be another hard game. The problem in the defeat against Lancashire was that we were poor in all three disciplines of batting, bowling and fielding,” said Derrick. “Hopefully that was a wake-up call”.Glamorgan
Matthew Elliott, Robert Croft (capt), Mike Powell, Matthew Maynard, David Hemp, Adam Dale, Mark Wallace(wk), David Harrison, Ian Thomas, Alex Wharf, Michael Kasprowicz, Andrew Davies, Dean Cosker