Scorecard

Ashley Noffke starred with five wickets as Queensland drove Victoria out of contention for the Pura Cup final. Needing 224 for victory, the Bushrangers collapsed to 122 to end their season and severely tarnish their reputation as a team that can chase any total.Noffke started and finished the devastation, taking the first two wickets and the last three. Grant Sullivan chipped in with 3 for 40 and Andy Bichel took 2 for 32. Victoria had themselves to blame for several of the dismissals, though, with David Hussey, Rob Quiney and Andrew McDonald all caught trying to pull.Each of them, plus Cameron White (26), who was caught at point, contributed to a string of promising but insufficient partnerships. Victoria lost 4 for 11 at the end as Noffke finished with 5 for 50, which along with his second-innings 53 earned him the Man-of-the-Match award for the second time against Victoria this season.So unthreatening were Victoria’s efforts of 165 and 122, Daniel Doran, the Queensland legspinner, was not required to bowl during the game. It was a disappointing end for Victoria, who in January looked a realistic chance of winning the Twenty20, FR Cup and Pura Cup titles – only the Twenty20 prize eventuated.”It could have been a mighty season but now it’s probably just an ordinary season,” White told . “As for a batting plan we had one but we didn’t stick to it.” The Bushrangers opened the door for both Western Australia and New South Wales, one of whom will take on Tasmania in the Pura Cup final.

World Cup organisers have warned of potential chaos at Super Eight matches in Guyana next week because the Providence Stadium is still not ready despite years of planning. The local organising committee and World Cup chiefs are already at loggerheads over the US$25 million venue.On Friday, World Cup organisers relieved the local organising committee of control of the ground, with a British company taking charge in an effort to salvage the project ahead of the match between South Africa and Sri Lanka on March 28. Amongst the myriad problems at the venue, which is the only one on the South American mainland, are failures to provide security and crowd control turnstiles, poor accreditation facilities and video boards. Power shortages are also expected to blight the Indian-built venue.Local media have also reported that Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, which hosted first-round games, and Jamaica’s Trelawny Stadium, where warm-up matches were played, are on stand-by to stage the six matches planned for Georgetown. “We are objecting to them invoking the Host Venue Agreement because we think it was unwarranted and while I cannot prevent them, we are co-operating with them fully,” Karran Singh, chief executive of Guyana’s local organizing committee, told AFP.In a strongly worded e-mail to Singh, and Frank Anthony, the Guyana Sports Minister, Derek Jones, the World Cup’s senior legal counsel, said the decision to take over responsibility for completing remaining aspects of the venue followed concerns that were raised during several weeks about their “failure to proceed satisfactorily or effectively” in relation to the Host Venue Agreement (HVA).”Your failure to deal adequately with these and other areas has resulted in Cricket World Cup 2007 being unable to have confidence in your ability to deliver a fully functional operating Super Eight venue in accordance with your contractual obligations.”Singh assured World Cup organisers that they were working to ensure that the matches go ahead. “We have done what we believe in our opinion is the best we can do to host the World Cup… we will have the World Cup matches here in a few days,” he said. Jones, however, said the World Cup organisers had “lost confidence in the ability of the local organising committee to provide proper site management for the project up to and through the tournament period”.

Scorecard
Sri Lanka A secured a tremendous advantage by putting up 335 for 2 against Bangladesh A on the opening day of their first four-day match at the Colts Cricket Club in Colombo. Malinda Warnapura and Thilan Samaraweera struck unbeaten hundreds in a partnership of 313 for the third wicket.After choosing to bat, Sri Lanka A got off to a disastrous start, losing both their openers for 22. Fast bowler Nazmul Hossain removed Mahela Udawatte in the third over for 5 and then had Michael Vandort caught for 10 in the seventh.However, if Bangladesh thought they would seize the day, they had another think coming.Once Warnapura, the nephew of Sri Lanka’s first Test captain Bandula Warnapurna, and captain Samaraweera got together it was all one-way traffic. Warnapura struck 177 off 291 balls with 11 fours and a six. Samaraweera last played a Test for Sri Lanka against England in 2006 and today he accumulated 129 off 232 balls.Bangladesh used seven bowlers but only Hossain met with any success. Khaled Mashud, one of Bangladesh’s most experienced Test cricketers, was playing for Bangladesh A after being dropped from the World Cup squad.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A couple of Sri Lanka batting collapses turned a potentially cracking contest into a one-sided affair, as Australia wrapped up a comprehensive seven-wicket win. The move to rest Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan weakened Sri Lanka’s bowling but it was the unchanged batting line up that faltered on a true surface in Grenada.Australia were clinical, seizing the openings without fail and stamping their authority when it counted. They lost the toss but made full use of the early swing before witnessing a well-crafted 140-run stand between Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Silva for the fourth wicket. Nathan Bracken gave little away, ending with 4 for 19 from 9.4 overs, and received good support from Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg. With the stage set, Australia’s batsmen thrived as Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds sealed the contest with emphatic half-centuries.Sri Lanka’s batting has followed a familiar pattern in this tournament: top-order fumble followed by revival followed by late-order stumble. At least two batsmen have managed to pass 50 in every match, yet rarely has there been a powerful all-round effort. Against South Africa, they slid from 195 for 5 to 209 all out and it cost them. Against England they slipped from 175 for 3 to 235 all out and it so nearly cost them. Today, the decline was from 167 for 3 in the 38th over to 226, a collapse that effectively ended the contest.The fine partnership between Jayawardene and Silva was lost in a rash of poor strokes by the rest. On a good batting track, with the Australian spinners unable to extract much purchase, they stabilised the innings. They had little trouble in rotating the strike and kept the rate close to four an over at the 30-over mark.But with their dismissals, both to Hogg’s wrist spin within two overs, Sri Lanka lost their way. Between the 40th and 45th overs they could muster just 13 runs for the loss of three more wickets. The slump that followed was never really arrested and it was only thanks to a 34-run stand between Farveez Maharoof and Malinga Bandara, in the side for Murali, that lifted them past 200.

Bracken led the bowling effort with an outstanding spell. He removed both the left-handed openers early, one with an away-swinger and another with a ball that jagged back in, before returning towards the end to stifle the lower order. Sanath Jayasuriya couldn’t counter a Bracken in-dipper. Replays suggested the ball might have been a tad high but Bracken must be complimented for keeping a tight line. He delivered a peach of a delivery soon after, inducing an edge off Upul Tharanga that flew straight to first slip. Ponting started to go for the catch but stopped just in time for Matthew Hayden, at first slip, to pouch a controlled take.Hayden set the tone for the chase, using his feet against the medium-pacers and biffing them over cover and midwicket. A pace attack comprising Dilhara Fernando, Maharoof and Nuwan Kulasekara made an honest attempt to keep things tight, and even forced an airy waft from Adam Gilchrist early on, which was dropped by Russel Arnold at short extra cover. However, they couldn’t sustain the pressure and Hayden’s 41 contained five fours and two big sixes while Gilchrist was a bit more circumspect during his 49-ball 30.Arnold made amends with the ball, snaffling both openers in quick succession, forcing Hayden to under-edge before trapping Gilchrist lbw. Ponting, though, controlled the rest of the innings and didn’t have much to worry about once Symonds began imposing himself. Ponting’s was a finely constructed innings, angling the spinners behind the wicket and nudging the singles.His sensible partnership with Michael Clarke, with both using their feet confidently, allowed them to shrug off the loss of the openers. Symonds arrived with 101 needed and crashed five fours and two sixes in his power-packed 63. None of the Sri Lankan bowlers was allowed to settle and even the half-chances (close run-outs and stumpings) didn’t go their way. Ponting eased to his fourth 50-plus score of the tournament and finished it off with a lofted straight six, a record 29th in World Cups. The stamp of authority that the shot carried told the story of the day.

In what appears to be a climbdown of sorts, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering introducing a central contracts system once again linked to the seniority of players.A senior board official told Cricinfo that a number of different models were being examined and would be presented at the next ad-hoc committee meeting on June 17. The options include giving weight to seniority and using a similar grade system to the one that was in use under the previous administration, where greater experience equalled greater reward.This seems to be a contradiction of the board’s earlier plans, outlined in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan’s World Cup exit, when chairman Nasim Ashraf said that all existing central contracts stood suspended and new ones would be performance-based only.Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer, told Cricinfo, “We are looking at various models and options and considering an ABC graded system. One model is where the player’s pay will be based on a 20% weightage to seniority, 40% to last year’s performances based on a ranking system, 20% to discipline and 20% to fitness. But as far as discipline and fitness go, it might be unfair to include it this year as a proper system has to be put in place first to measure discipline and fitness.”Naghmi confirmed that basic match fees for all players, regardless of experience, will remain the same (though an increase on previous years according to Ashraf) and only the actual monthly retainer is likely to vary. Other options include doing away with gradations of players based on seniority altogether but it appears unlikely that the model will be approved.A group of senior players met the board yesterday to discuss the options available, Naghmi revealing that they were keen for the old system to be put in place again. “Any new model can potentially be more lucrative for players. We are going to introduce for example, fielding-based incentives, where players will be rewarded for fielding achievements like run-outs.”Once a system has been approved by the ad-hoc committee, the contracts will be handed out to 20 players from July 1.

Mitchell Johnson will use a trip to India’s pace foundation to prepare for Australia’s seven-match one-day series in the country starting in September. Dennis Lillee, a part-time coach at the facility in Chennai, and Troy Cooley, the Australian bowling mentor, will monitor Johnson’s progress as he plans a return to the starting XI after not being called on during the World Cup or Ashes.A bowling vacancy has been created by Glenn McGrath’s retirement, but with Brett Lee recovering from an ankle problem Johnson must move ahead of Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark or Nathan Bracken to play. “Learning to bowl in those conditions is pretty timely with the matches coming up in India, which hopefully I will be involved in,” Johnson, who left on Tuesday, told AAP.”I did a lot of bowling at the World Cup in the nets and I am keen to develop the knowledge that I got there a bit further. It’s obviously great to be working with ‘DK’ again and to have Troy there as well. The knowledge that will be at my fingertips will be exceptional.”Johnson will spend a week in Chennai and will be joined by the Queensland bowler Grant Sullivan and local fast men. “I have only just started gym work,” he said. “I’ve had a fair break so this will be the first time I will be really getting into bowling again since the World Cup.”

Chandigarh’s regional administration has ruled out hosting matches organised by the Indian Cricket League (ICL) at the Sector-16 Stadium. The administration, which controls the ground, had earlier seemed amenable to hosting the ICL’s matches but decided against it after the BCCI had directed all its affiliates to stay clear of the ICL.Although the ground does not come under the purview of the BCCI, a report in said the administration was keen to continue its renewed association with the Indian board.”Kapil Dev brought up the topic [of having ICL matches at the Stadium] and we informed him of our intent; the stadium has got an ODI after 14 years [the India-Australia match on October 8], and we don’t want to go against the BCCI. We will be corresponding with only the BCCI on cricketing matters,” I. S. Sandhu, Chandigarh’s sports director, told the paper.Meanwhile, Kapil Dev, who is on the ICL’s executive board, has challenged the BCCI to remove him from his position as chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for associating with the ICL.”I have not done anything unethical by aligning with the ICL. However, if I am stopped from teaching cricket, they [BCCI] would be doing an unethical thing,” Kapil, who is from Chandigarh, said.”If they want to remove me they are free to do so” he said. “Matches should be played here [the Sector-16 Stadium] more often, both of the BCCI and the ICL tournaments. When you hear that it’s getting to host a match after 14 years, I feel ashamed.”Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, in a recent television appearance had said “We have decided not to recognise ICL in our Working Committee meeting as no State Association was in its favour. We don’t want to promote anybody who wants to be a parallel body. We have a policy and there will not be any re-think on this.”The ICL was launched by the Essel Group a few months ago and intends to organise a Twenty20 tournament in October.

Ramnaresh Sarwan has praised Chris Gayle for the way he handled the leadership of the West Indies team in the recent series of limited-overs matches in England and Ireland. Gayle was appointed to lead the West Indies side after Sarwan injured his shoulder in a fall during the second Test against England and had to return home.”I think he was really outstanding, and you have to commend Chris for the way he handled the team during the ODI series,” Sarwan said at the launch of the Digicel youth coaching clinics at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies. “Obviously, he was under a little bit of pressure from the West Indies Cricket Board, and the way he came out showed his maturity, and I thought everyone supported him well which is really good to see.”Though the selection committee had picked Gayle to captain the limited-overs side, the executive committee of the WICB ignored his nomination, and instead chose Daren Ganga, who had led the Test side in the absence of Sarwan. An emergency meeting of all the directors of the WICB then overturned the decision of the executive committee, and Gayle responded by leading the side to a 2-1 series win over England and to the top of the table in a quadrangular series in Ireland.Sarwan noted that Gayle’s “super cool” demeanour more often than not belied the ability and qualities that his team-mate possesses. “When you look at Chris the individual, lots of people have a lot to say about him and his body language on and off the field,” Sarwan said. “But it just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover. I think he has shown his commitment to West Indies cricket and the public should not really judge an individual who has wholeheartedly supported West Indies cricket.”Sarwan joins Gayle and Denesh Ramdin in Barbados for the first in the series of Digicel coaching clinics that will take place throughout the region over the next three-and-a-half weeks.

Peter Moores, England’s coach, believes that stump microphones should be turned down during Tests so players can sledge each other without the audience hearing.”There must be some things that are left on the field to be fair to the players,” Moores said in response to criticism of England’s incessent chatter during the Trent Bridge Test. “They should be allowed to go out there and play the game without being worried that everything they actually say is going to be broadcast. It’s something we’ve discussed as a management team and we’ve spoken to the match referee about it.”The International Cricket Council rules that stump microphones be turned on whenever a ball is live – that is, when a batsman takes guard, between a bowler’s run-up to the time the ball reaches or passes a batsman, and from the time a fielder throws the ball back to a team-mate or onto the stumps.Matt Prior, the England wicketkeeper, was the loudest on the field but Moores stood up for him. “That’s how he usually operates, that’s what he does and that’s what he was selected for,” he said. “There’s an issue as to whether stump mics should be on quite as loudly at times, so people can play their sport. Sport is a battle and that’s what makes it so enthralling to watch. If people weren’t bothered about it or didn’t get so emotionally involved then it might become quite bland to watch.”Moores condemned the jelly bean incident, which chairman of selectors David Graveney termed “childish”, but tried to defend England’s conduct on the field. “Nobody would argue that a couple of lads put a couple of jellybeans down there,” he said. “It was meant to be a joke and now looks a bit silly. I think people will try and read things into it, but it has no meaning whatsoever.”

Ricky Ponting could become the first player to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy twice after he was shortlisted with three other players for the ICC’s major prize. Ponting will compete with Kevin Pietersen, Mohammad Yousuf and Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the Cricketer of the Year award, which will be announced in Johannesburg on Monday.The four players were selected from an extended list of 12, while the nominations for the Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year have also been cut to four. Ponting is the only man with a chance of winning all three titles, which was a reward for another superb year in which he made 1185 ODI runs at 51.52 and 576 Test runs at 82.28. He also led Australia to triumphs in the World Cup, Champions Trophy and the Ashes.Pietersen, Yousuf and Muttiah Muralitharan are also up for the Test player award, with Yousuf’s record of five centuries and 944 runs at 94.40 from his six Tests making him hard to beat. However, Muralitharan had a stellar year with 43 wickets at 11.60 and Pietersen scored 1255 runs at 57.04.The ODI title is an Australian-dominated affair with Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Jacques Kallis the four nominees. Hayden’s remarkable return to the Australian line-up brought 1368 runs at 62.18, Kallis scored 1149 runs at 60.47, while McGrath enjoyed his farewell year with 50 wickets at 19.34.
Cricketer of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Mohammed Yousuf (Pak)
Test Player
Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)
Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)
ODI Player
Matthew Hayden (Aus)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Glenn McGrath (Aus)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Emerging Player
Ravinder Bopara (Eng)
Shakib Al Hasan (Bang)
Shaun Tait (Aus)
Ross Taylor (NZ)
Captain of the Year
Mahela Jayawardene (SL)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Associate ODI Player of the Year
Ashish Bagai (Can)
Thomas Odoyo (Ken)
Ryan ten Doeschate (Neth)
Steve Tikolo (Ken)
Umpire of the Year
Mark Benson
Steve Bucknor
Simon Taufel
Women’s Cricketer of the Year
Jhulan Goswami (Ind)
Lisa Sthalekar (Aus)
Claire Taylor (Eng)