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England v South Africa, second Test, Lord’s, Day 1

English batting collapses are supposed to be a thing of the past. According to his recent eulogies in the national press, Nasser Hussain had brought a new steel and determination to their game. English cricket was no longer a world-wide joke. Well, the rest of the world was smirking today, as England produced a nightmarish performance straight out of their Ashes scrapbook.Today was supposed to be the start of a brave new era, but it was more like a trip back to those dark days that Hussain inherited and then banished. Barring the Ashes, he just about turned things round, and Vaughan will now have to try to turn this game around. Like Hussain’s mission of four years ago, it already looks a lost cause.To be fair to Vaughan, the 73 England captains before him can’t have had such short notice to prepare for their first Test in charge, but not many have had a worse start either – not even Chris Cowdrey in his only Test against West Indies at Headingley in 1988. Despite captaining this summer’s one-day internationals, Vaughan has been thrown in the deep end, just as he was on his Test debut in 1999.At least England didn’t plumb the depths of 2 for 4 today, but similarities will nonetheless be made with that infamous day in Johannesburg. It was against South Africa and Vaughan made 33, the second-highest top score. But the difference this time is that Vaughan is not a blameless subaltern, but England’s field marshall.Whatever he says will not excuse a dismal performance. Admittedly there was a bit in it for the bowlers early on, but that’s nothing new. There was simply no plan. Alec Stewart, Andrew Flintoff, Vaughan himself, and to a lesser extent, even the top-scorer Darren Gough, were all to blame for their dismissals. The dressing-room may now be a more relaxed place without Hussain reading the riot act at every interval, but today’s poor display will not be lost on anyone in it.It was a big day for the (latest) ex-captain too, and unfortunately, he had a stinker. Hussain lost his middle stump to a loose drive, and his fortunes were summed up by a dolly of a drop at cover, where Vaughan himself would usually be fielding. Ironically, the lucky recipient was the other captain, Graeme Smith, who has so far proved himself to be a clear-thinking and brave leader.It took a lot of guts to bowl first after such a batsman-dominated first Test, and the gamble paid off beyond his wildest dreams. Smith, it was assumed, would be cowering in Hussain’s mere presence during this series? That has turned out to be a joke too.Click here for today’s bulletin

Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) needs 85 runs to complete 9000 ODI runs
Virender Sehwag (IND) 103 runs to complete 2000 ODI runs
Dinesh Mongia (IND) needs 96 runs to complete 1000 ODI runs
Javagal Srinath (IND) needs 118 runs to complete 1000 ODI runs
Anil Kumble (IND) needs 158 runs to complete 1000 ODI runsZaheer Khan (IND) needs 5 wickets to join the 100 ODI-wicket club
Harbhajan Singh (IND) needs 10 wickets to join the 100 ODI-wicket clubMarvan Atapattu (SL) needs 96 runs to complete 500 World Cup runs
Hashan Tillakaratne (SL) needs 117 runs to complete 500 World Cup runsSanath Jayasuriya (SL) needs 10 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-clubAravinda De Silva (1028) needs 56 runs to become the second leading WorldCup run-getter, current record holder is Javed Miandad (1083)

CAPE TOWN, Feb 21: Prediction of the outcome of a one-dayer especially when there is not much difference between two teams is risky business. Taking this factor into account, no one here is sticking out his neck to foretell the result of Saturday’s crucial Group ‘A’ clash between Pakistan and England at the Newlands.The match is equally important for the survival of both Pakistan and England if they harbour aspirations to make it to the Super Six stage.It is more vital for England who can not afford to lose any points, after having forfeited four against Zimbabwe by refusing to play in Harare citing security fear in the politically unstable co-hosts. And above all, their next two matches are against all-conquering Australia, already assured of a place in Super Six with the added satisfaction of taking points into the next stage, and India who revived their challenge for the next stage with a comprehensive victory over Zimbabwe in midweek.A loss for Pakistan will be a disaster but not catastrophic as they could still squeeze into the next round by winning all the remaining three matches. However, their position could become precarious if the weather plays tricks in their remaining matches.Yet instant version of the game is not all that teams likely to win should succeed as things could go wrong as the unfancied New Zealand and West Indies proved against the hosts and second favourites South Africa that had left Shaun Pollock and his colleagues at the mercy of their opponents and the real possibility of an early ouster from the tournament.The Pakistanis for the past two days have been taking nets very seriously and every player seems to mean business and Waqar Younis’s boys were determined not to repeat the mistakes made again Australia.There are no injury problems and the Asian giants are in a happy position to field their strongest lineup unlike England, who are troubled by niggling injuries to skipper Nasser Hussain – who missed the Namibia match – Ashley Giles and Ian Blackwell.But England coach Duncan Fletcher, hopes that the trio were getting better and expected to be considered for the vital encounter.”We have had few injury problems but I am confident the players will be fit” he told a press briefing on Friday.Well aware of the potential of Pakistan team the Zimbabwean-born coach admitted that they were a side to fear and capable of beating the best when on song. “Pakistan are a real threat to any team. They have class players but we are not overawed by the occasion” he added.Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis appeared more confident that the boys had learned from the past mistakes and were keen not to repeat them against England as a slip could prove fatal.”We did not do well against Australia especially in the middle overs and threw the early advantage. We have to bowl better besides the batting has not clicked. I am hoping our premier batsmen Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana to strike form tomorrow which will definitely put them on right track in the competition,” Waqar hoped.Waqar said England were always a competitive side as they have some good all-rounders and warned that opener Marcus Trescothick was a dangerous batsman who could turn a match on its head.Teams (from):ENGLAND: Nasser Hussain (captain), James Anderson, Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, Nick Knight, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Craig WhitePAKISTAN: Waqar Younis (captain), Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umar, Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq.Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling (both South Africa).TV umpire: Steve Bucknor (West Indies).Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).

Manicaland secured three easy victories in Mutare last weekend. OnSaturday Manicaland Under-16s defeated Midlands Under-16s in a firstever encounter. Drawn from schools in Gweru, Masvingo and Chiredzi,the visitors tried hard but were well beaten by a local side selectedfrom Mutare Boys High and Hillcrest College. Tino Mawoyo hit a fluent49 as a warm-up for his trip to East London this week to captainZimbabwe Under-16s in the Nuffield week.On Sunday Manicaland (now called Mutare Sports Club) handed a 162-runhammering to the once mighty Old Hararians. Weakened without nationalteam absentees Gary Brent, Trevor Penny, Dirk Viljoen and Conan Brewer(Zimbabwe Under-19s), Old Hararians proved easy meat. UnlikeManicaland, who has good reserves, other sides in the national leagueare vulnerable to withdrawals.Batting first, Manicaland hit 237 for seven off 45 overs. 33-year-oldMark Burmester set the tone with a bruising 63-ball 52 (6 fours, onesix). Pulling the opening bowlers in front of square a la Jayasuriya,his combative personality kept Old Hararians out of the game all day.Richie Sims added 51 but the innings of the day came from Leon Soma whorevelled in an unexpected promotion in the batting order. Cracking 61off 53 balls (4 fours, 4 sixes), Soma launched into everything beforefalling to Paul Strang trying one heave too many.Recently back from an expensive 10-day (12-over) visit to Bangladesh,Strang (three for 47) tried hard but was unable to win the match on hisown. With four schoolboys (two 15-year-olds) and too many uncommittedfielders, the cheerful ex-Manica was left to smile ruefully as chancesbecame half-chances. Academy player Ryan Butterworth (three for 51)was the only other successful bowler. Strang top-scored with 18 butonce he had gone Old Hararians bombed to 75.Burmester took two for 4, Sims two for 6, and Justin Lewis with threefor 8 off seven overs simply wasted his time. No one was good enoughto touch anything. The Denyer brothers Terry and Noel – latereplacements for missing players – took three hot catches between them,exemplifying the gap between Old Hararians’ and Manicaland’s reserves.The Manicaland second team provides good back-up and despite theoccasional blip is far too good for the rest of the second league.This week they mauled Old Georgians II by seven wickets at HillcrestCollege.OGs managed just 101 in 26 overs (Chinoro 2/17, Sheth 2/38, Yatras3/20, Malvern 2/20) which Manicaland II picked off in 17.3 overs(Yatras 41 not out).Sadly it seems many first league clubs in Zimbabwe are teetering onbankruptcy; playing numbers are down and senior players de-motivated.League cricket is in crisis as traditional powerhouses find theirfeeder systems hijacked by academy transfer quotas. Morale is affectedwhen cricketers are unable to play with their mates. There is talkthat Eddo Brandes has approached Manicaland to return as a player.Following the premature retirements of Adam Huckle, Andy Whittall andBrett Robinson, it now seems out-of-contract Bryan Strang will also belost. He intends plying his trade in the Lancashire Leagues. Seniorplayers who once envisioned coaching careers in Zimbabwe findthemselves sidelined by fast-track.This Sunday Manicaland play Kwekwe at home whilst Manicaland II playBSC II at Alex (Harare).

Not for the first time, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has opted for another experimental exercise by deciding to put departments and associations together in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship which starts on Saturday with 24 outfits in action.This season’s premier first-class competition, which will be played until Feb 10, features 10 departments and 14 associations divided into four groups of six teams each. Originally, 25 sides were to compete but owing to lack of players, Cricket Management Committee (CMC) the body that runs domestic tournaments, scrapped the PCB XI altogether.With leading players busy on international assignments in South Africa and subsequent camp for World Cup, the championship as usual lacks interest among fans.National Bank, winners of the Patron’s Trophy – the last first-class tournament for departments in the previous season – are expected to be a dominant force once again. They are further boosted by inclusion of Saeed Anwar, the seasoned Pakistan opening batsman, as a guest player.Saeed is unemployed since he parted company with Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) – now renamed as Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) – some time ago. Over the years, pressing international commitments hardly allowed the left-hander to play for his former employers.But with the World Cup in southern Africa beckoning, Saeed is eager to prove his critics wrong and fight his way into the Pakistan squad. Therefore, National Bank’s first two matches against Sargodha and Faisalabad in Group-I will be vital for Saeed before the 15-man World Cup squad is announced on Dec 31 – the deadline set by International Cricket Council.This season will see, for the first time, pre-quarterfinals being staged so that unfancied teams, mainly associations depleted by absence of top players who will turn out for their departments, stand a chance of playing at least an additional game.Four teams from each pool will qualify for the last 16 round. One department and two association teams will be relegated to play in the Kardar and Cornelius Trophies, respectively next season.Karachi Whites, the reigning Quaid Trophy champions, are fielding an inexperienced and young side, led by Khalid Latif who skippered the city to double triumphs in the National Under-19 Grade-I competition this season.The five-round preliminary matches, featuring 60 four-day ties, conclude on Jan 17, the pre-quarterfinals are scheduled for Jan 20-23, followed by quarterfinals on Jan 26-29. The semifinals are slated to be played from Feb 1-4 and the five-day final from Feb 6. In all, a total of 75 matches are to be played over a period of 52 days.PCB has furthermore enhanced prize money this season with the new champions to pocket Rs 200,000 and half of that amount going to the runners-up. Besides there will be other cash awards for outstanding individual performances.First round schedule (Dec 21-24):Group-I: Sargodha v National Bank at Sports Stadium, Sargodha (Umpires: Islam Khan and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Khalid Niazi); Wapda v Servis Industries at Gymkhana Ground, Okara (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Aleem Dar. Match referee: Abdul Sami); Lahore Blues v Faisalabad at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: M. Akbar Khan and Jamil Kamran. Match referee: Musaddeq Rasool).Group-II: Karachi Whites v Bahawalpur at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Athar Zaidi and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Shaukat Mirza); Pak PWD v Dadu at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Masroor Ali and Khalid Mahmood. Match referee: Sadiq Mohammad); Multan v Allied Bank at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Tasaddeq Jamil. Match referee: Ilyas Khan).Group-III: Habib Bank v Pakistan Customs at Lahore Country Club, Muridke (Umpires: Asad Rauf and Mian Aslam. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed); Lahore Whites v Sheikhupura at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Junaid Ghafoor and M.H. Dars. Match referee: Pervez Akhtar); Sialkot v Gujranwala at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot (Umpires: Tariq Cheema and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Azhar Khan).Group-IV: KRL v PIA at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi. Umpires: M. Nazir Jr and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Khateeb Rizwan); Rawalpindi v ZTBL at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Waqar A. Mughal and Sajjad Asghar. Match referee: Ehteshamuddin); Peshawar v Karachi Blues at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Zafar Iqbal Pasha and Kaukab Butt. Match referee: Farrukh Zaman).

On the day of his 38th birthday Hampshire captain Robin Smith led his side to the three bowling bonus points needed to secure promotion to next season’s County Championship Division One.Alan Mullally’s dismissal of Greg Smith at around 4.20pm on the second day ensured jubilant celebrations on the field and among the small band of visiting supporters.In something of an anti-climax rain, which has continually interrupted this match, returned shortly afterwards with Notts’ first innings still stuttering along at 212-9.Play re-started after an hour and Notts’ last-wicket pairing of Richard Logan and Nadeem Malik added another 33 before Logan lost his middle stump to Mullally for a career-high 29 out of an all-out total of 245.Just 12 overs were bowled during the first two sessions of the day, with Notts adding 34 runs for the loss of Usman Afzaal. The England tourist will look back on his dismissal with regret. Clean bowled by Alex Morris nine runs short of his century he is now stranded on 999 runs for the season. Just prior to his demise he ambled two runs when a comfortable three was on the cards with more purposeful running.In the first over after tea Chris Read drove Alan Mullally for the two needed to bring up the Notts’ 200, thereby securing the first batting point.The Notts’ `keeper didn’t hang around much longer, playing around the swing of Morris, whose fifth victim of the innings also took him to 50 Championship wickets for the season.Mullally snared his third victim soon afterwards as Stephen Randall’s lack of foot movement was a contributory factor in his thickish edge through to Adrian Aymes.Then came the dismissal of Smith which led to the fulfilment of a season’s dream for the Hampshire side. Umpires David Shepherd and David Constant watched the fielders celebrate before making a couple of riotously funny attempts at doing the `high-five’ themselves.Mullally joined Morris in claiming a five-wicket haul and the celebrations could begin in earnest with poor light preventing Hampshire from beginning their innings

Bashley had a double cause for celebration as both the first and second teams saw off their counterparts from New Milton in the latest round of New Forest Indoor League matches.Dean Miller’s fine unbeaten 47 had seen Milton reach a respectable 120 for 5 in their Division One clash. But Steve Latimore (21) and Shaun Lilley (22no) guided Bashley home to a two wicket victory with just three balls remaining.Meanwhile, in Division 3, Milton II fared little better. Their 102 for 3 was based around Jamie Snellgrove’s 36 not out. But thanks to 28 not out from Stuart Wait and 26 not out from Dave Morris, Bashley II wasted no time in knocking off the runs for the loss of just one wicket in the ninth over.Burley suffered a heavy loss at the hands of Esso. Only Paul Yates looked in any sort of form, scoring almost half the sides’ runs in a modest total of 85 for 5. Esso lost just one wicket in reply with Andy Parrott (25no) and Jason Ford (27no) taking them past Burley’s score in the penultimate over.An unbroken fifth wicket stand of 57 between Trevor Phillips (42no) and Ed Molloy (20no) resured Lymington from a potentially embarrassing situation against five-man Paultons. Lymington had slumped to 55 for 4 from 8 overs, but Phillips and Molloy batted sensibly to take their team to a much healthier 112.Wayne Smith then bagged two wickets as Paultons were dismissed for a paltry 56 with only Mark Weaver (21) making a score of any note.There was a high scoring match between north Forest rivals Ringwood and Godshill in Division 2. Godshill might have felt happy with their 129 for 3 (Gerald Pettley 28, Jim Harrison 28no, Alan Cousins 25no, John Hopkinson 25no), but Ringwood swept to a four wicket victory with seven balls remaining thanks to 26no from Neville Bush and an unbeaten 25 from Alan Gregory.Brockenhurst’s poor start to the season continued as they fell to defeat against Esso II despite a undefeated 47 from Dick Wickison. Brock totalled 105 for 4, but Wickison’s heroics were in vain as Jon Church (21) and Pete Miller (28no) ensured a three wicket win for the men from Fawley.

Durham County Cricket Club’s Frizzell County Championship fixture againstWorcestershire on 14-17 May will be played at Grangefield Road, Stockton CC.The game will give Head Groundsman, Dave Measor, every chance to prepare aworld class pitch for the npower Test Match between England and Zimbabwe on5-9 June 2003.Durham County Cricket Club Chairman Bill Midgley said: “We are delighted tobe playing at least one of our games at an outground in the south of thecounty this season.”Tickets for the npower Test Match are on sale now priced at £25 for adultsper day for the first four days and £10 for U16s for the first three daysand £5 for the Sunday. Call the Ticket Hotline on 0191 387 5151 orTicketmaster on 0870 90 90 190 or visit www.CricketTickets.net.

The unexpected never happened as pathetic Zimbabwe were forthe second time put in their place by the unbeaten SriLankans who won by the comfortable margin of 79 runs Tuesdayto make sure of playing in Sunday’s final in the KhaleejTimes Trophy here at the Sharjah Stadium.Requiring 251 for victory to have an outside chance ofmaking the final, Zimbabwe, finished at 171 for eight intheir allotted 50 over. As it happened like in their twoprevious outings, Zimbabwe batsmen from the outset neverappeared to be with any chance of upsetting the applecart.Apart from the second wicket stand between Stuart Carlisle(37) and Trevor Gripper (26) that realized 61 runs,Zimbabwe’s batting woes continued as wickets fell at regularinterval.Although Doug Marillier, batting lower down, managed anunbeaten 52, hitting two fours off the last two deliveriesto reach the landmark, there was no resistance at the otherend.The Sri Lankans always looked in command and bowled tightlywithout ever looking menacing and were never threatened byan inept and out of depth Zimbabwe batting for whom thelosing streak extended to 15 and could become 16 Wednesdaywhen they face Pakistan unless the latter give a similarperformance as that which handed Bangladesh their mostmemorable triumph in 1999 World Cup.In an uninteresting tie that provided hardly any worthwhileindividual feat, Sri Lanka’s stylish batsman MahelaJayawardena was named Man-of-the Match for his 63 thatproved to the highest score of the match.Earlier, diminutive Jayawardena (63) and reliable RusselArnold (55) put on 111 for the fourth wicket to steer SriLanka from possible low score against the modest Zimbabwebowling resources.The two joined in the rescue act at the total of 62 for withthree skipper Sanath Jayasuriya (25), Avishka Gunawardena(14) and Marvan Atapattu (9) back in the dressing room.Slowly and gradually the two got on top of the Zimbabweattack and reached fifties before throwing their wicketswhen centuries were up for grabs. Arnold hooked straightinto the throat of Brent off Streak. Jayawardena holed outto Gripper off Marillier.For Arnold it was his first dismissal in three outings. Ofthe later batsmen, only Kumar Sangakkara made anysignificant contribution in his 35 before losing his stumpsaiming for a big hit off medium pacer Gary Brent, the bestof Zimbabwe bowlers.Although former skipper Heath Streak picked up four wicketsincluding both the openers he proved expensive and conceded59 runs from his quota of 10 overs, his first over costing14 runs.

Resuming at 218 for 4, Somerset 2nds lost their six remaining wickets for the addition of just 82 more runs on the third day of their game against Gloucestershire 2nds. For Gloucestershire Tim Hancock took 3 for 59 while Jon White ended with 3 for 66.Following on 303 runs behind, Somerset had reached 214 for 4 by close of play, with Michael Coles not out on 37. Earlier Chris Hunkin had made 77, Wes Durston 41 and Keith Parsons 31.Somerset require 89 to make the visitors bat again, and if they are to save the game will be looking for Coles, who has enjoyed a great start to the season with the bat, to go on and make a big score.