Division Two

Andy Bichel’s stunning batting form in England continued as he picked up a career-high 148 against Nottinghamshire as Essex dominated in Chelmsford. Before the break for the Twenty20 competition Bichel posted 102 against Middlesex in his opening first-class outing of the season, and in his second appearance he thumped 18 fours and three sixes from 152 balls to help Essex to an intimidating 700 for 9 declared.Bichel also picked up the first breakthrough as Nottinghamshire reached 191 for 2 in their reply. James Foster’s double-century and a 78-ball hundred from Graham Napier had also contributed heavily to Essex’s strong position as the team scored at more than six an over during the day. Foster and Bichel extended their seventh-wicket stand to 254 and Napier was the heavy hitter as he and Foster added 195 for the eighth wicket in 26 overs.Paul Nixon marked his first game as Leicestershire’s Championship captain with a vital century as he and HD Ackerman led an impressive fightback against Glamorgan at Grace Road. The pair added 213 for the sixth wicket after three early wickets for James Harris put Leicestershire on the back foot at 88 for 5. Ackerman’s second hundred of the summer took 166 balls while Nixon’s first came off 128. Mansoor Amjad continued to extend the advantage and by the close it was 111. Harris was the pick of the attack with four wickets, leading the way ahead of his more experienced colleagues.The Twenty20 fortnight has done nothing to slow Tom Lungley’s Championship form as his fine season continued with 5 for 33 to put Derbyshire on top against Middlesex at Southgate. Lungley broke the opening stand by trapping Billy Godleman lbw then wrapped up the innings with four quick wickets as Derbyshire gained a valuable lead of 82. Ed Joyce offered the main resistance with 81, but he was seventh out as Middlesex slipped from 166 for 3. Andrew Strauss, in need of some runs ahead of the Test series against India, reached 38 with some fluent shots before being caught at midwicket off a mistimed pull. An early finish prevented Derbyshire building on their advantage.Chris Taylor hit an unbeaten 112 to keep Gloucestershire afloat against Northamptonshire at Northampton. The visitors fell to 52 for 5 against the new ball with Johan van der Wath doing the damage before the recovery began. Steve Kirby batted three hours as nightwatchman, but it was a seventh-wicket stand of 102 between Taylor and Steven Adshead which brightened Gloucestershire’s day. Taylor took 148 balls over his hundred, but despite his efforts they still conceded a lead of 60 while Monty Panesar wrapped up the innings with three wickets. Northamptonshire steadily extended their lead to 152 during the final session.

Division One

Events at The Oval continued to move along rapidly as 17 wickets fell on the second day to follow 16 on the first. However, a result is still too close to call as Durham began defending 152 with three early Surrey wickets. Steve Harmison ripped into the top order and removed Jon Batty, Mark Ramprakash – victims of sharp lifters – and Scott Newman before bad light ended play. The vital factor could yet be the 52-run lead Surrey managed during the morning session before reducing Durham to 132 for 7 second time around. Four middle-order wickets went for six runs against Chris Schofield and Neil Saker before stubborn efforts from Will Smith (41) and Liam Plunkett (33) gave Durham’s attack something to bowl at.Thunder showers and hailstorms restricted play at The Rose Bowl to 28.4 overs as Warwickshire built a strong total against Hampshire. Darren Maddy could only add two to his overnight score before being caught off Chris Tremlett, but Alex Loudon and Tim Ambrose put on 60 for the fifth-wicket. Hampshire’s wicketkeeper Nic Pothas has been ruled out of action for up to three weeks after being hit in the eye when a delivery from Michael Carberry bounced off Jonathan Trott’s pad on the first day. His deputy, Tom Burrows, took the catch to remove Maddy.Two heavy showers put paid to any chance of Lancashire and Yorkshire getting their Roses clash started at Old Trafford. Puddles formed on the outfield and the umpires called play off in early afternoon. The lack of cricket made Darren Gough, Yorkshire’s captain, feel he would have Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard available for next week’s game against Warwickshire as they searched for match practice ahead of the first Test against India. “The decision was always dependent on how much part they could play in the game here,” Gough said, “so both of them will probably be available next week, as far as I’m concerned.”It didn’t take long for the inevitable abandonment at New Road as Kent continued to be frustrated by Worcestershire’s decision to play at their headquarters. Any hopes of a start vanished when a heavy shower made the outfield like a mud bath. Kent have lodged an official complaint with the ECB and it will look into it urgently.

While much of the attention was focussed on the Board of Control forCricket in India’s crackdown on players who have aligned with the IndianCricket League there was another significant development that took place.In order to ensure continuity the BCCI has announced a president-elect tosucceed Sharad Pawar. That office will most likely be held by Chirayu Amin, presidentof the Baroda cricket association, for three months, and then, probably, by ShashankManohar for three years through to 2011.Pawar will become vice-president of the International Cricket Council inJuly 2008, and will then have to relinquish office at his home board. An interim president will hold office for the three-month period from July tillSeptember 2008, when the elections are set to take place.Once the ICC announced that David Morgan of the ECB, and Pawar from theBCCI, would take up office as ICC president in 2008 and 2010 respectively,the BCCI decided to do something similar at home, whereinthe president elect will be chosen a year in advance. This suggestion camefrom Inderjit Singh Bindra, former president of the BCCI and currentpresident of the Punjab Cricket Association. It was suggested that such apractice would ensure that the president elect had a good workingknowledge of the board, and that elections would proceed in a smoothmanner.According to the procedural changes being suggested, the interim president forthat period will be someone from the same zone as the existing president -West Zone – which in this case is Amin. By rotation the next turn, whichwill be for a full three years, from September 2008 till 2011, goes toCentral Zone. The front-runner here is Shashank Manohar, who is thepresident of the Vidarbha Cricket Association and vice-president of theBCCI, apart from being a close aide of Pawar. What this will mean, ineffect, is that there will be no elections for the post of president in2008 and the current regime will continue, unchallenged, till 2011.It is understood that Lalit Modi, the man behind many of the financial andbusiness aspects of the board, suggested that a similar procedure beadopted for other office bearers of the board, apart from the president,in order to ensure some sort of continuity. However, this did not come upfor discussion in the course of the two special general meetings held inMumbai on Tuesday.

ScorecardSean Ervine produced a fine all-round performance as Hampshire continued their push for the Pro40 title with an eight-wicket win against Warwickshire. Ervine and Michael Lumb rushed the home side towards the target of 197 after Warwickshire collapsed from a promising position following Jonathan Trott’s 90.Lumb and Ervine batted to within six runs of the target, adding 147, as Hampshire cruised to the win with more than 10 overs to spare. Lumb faced 73 balls for his 82, striking 12 fours and a six, while Ervine also moved along at better than a run-a-ball.Ervine’s bowling had also been crucial in causing a Warwickshire collapse from 134 for 1 to 195 for 8. Kumar Sangakkara chipped a catch to midwicket to start the slide and Shaun Udal removed Trott and debutant Vaughn van Jaarsveld in an economical eight-over spell.Trott, who was recently dropped from the Warwickshire side, was never particularly fluent during his innings and struggled to increase the tempo before being bowled. Warwickshire managed the meagre total of 10 boundaries and a six in their 40 overs; Ervine and Lumb managed more on their own.

Australia are not expecting their Twenty20 group matches in Cape Town to be dominated by batsmen as the damp conditions could swing things back in favour of the bowlers. They are also still deciding on their starting line-up for the opening match against Zimbabwe, with concerns over Shane Watson and Michael Clarke.Tim Nielsen, the coach, said Australia’s warm-up games at Benoni and Centurion were useful but were not an accurate guide to how Cape Town would play in early-season conditions. The city had more than 100 millimetres of rain in August and showers were expected this week.”It’s going to be a heavy ground, heavy air and damp conditions,” Nielsen told . “You certainly notice how quick the ball comes off the bat up here [in Johannesburg] it just flies, so that will be different. And if it’s going to seam around and swing a bit it’s certainly going to put the balance in the favour of the bowlers so it will be a different game to what we’ve played over the last couple of days.”Australia beat New Zealand and lost to South Africa in their practice matches, although they were well below full strength with Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson only arriving on Monday, Clarke struggling with a lower abdominal strain and Matthew Hayden suffering back spasms. Although he is jetlagged Ponting is preparing to play against Zimbabwe early Thursday morning (Australian time) and Hayden is also expected to line up. Clarke remains in doubt and Watson’s hamstring injury might mean he is rested until the group stage is over.Nielsen said even in the shortest version of the game, all 11 players needed to be ready for action. “You’ve got to be ready for a couple of wickets to fall in succession,” he said. “Every now and again and you’ve got to be willing to hold your nerve and not panic at that time.”He said there might be advantages to batting second in Twenty20, although the key was keeping calm regardless of what stage the game was at. “It certainly gives you a clear idea of where you’re going when you’ve got a target to chase,” Nielsen said. “If you lose a few early wickets, you might overdo it a little bit when you’re batting first, thinking you need a bigger target.”

An injury to Morne Morkel during South Africa’s opening tour match might re-open the door for Shaun Pollock to play in the first Test against Pakistan, starting from Monday in Karachi.Morkel, who so impressed during the Twenty20 World Cup, only bowled two overs on the final day of the tour game, before going off with an injury to his left foot. Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, said that though an official prognosis from the team physiotherapist is pending, Morkel is a worry.”Morne picked up a niggle on his landing foot today and it is a little worry because he is an integral part of our plans. He will have a fitness test tomorrow [Sunday] before we take any further decisions,” Arthur said, before adding “Polly [Pollock] might come back into it.”The decision to drop Pollock, South Africa’s leading Test wicket-taker and most experienced bowler in subcontinent conditions, was a surprising one, not least to the man himself. It was the first time in hiscareer that he was dropped for any reason other than injury, South Africadeciding it was time to move forward and assess fresher talent. But asArthur was keen to point out, the decision is not the end of the road forPollock.”It is a new era in a sense. We are blessed with a lot of depth in ourfast bowling and it’s time we had a look at the younger guys. We have atough season ahead of us next year [series against India, England andAustralia away] and we need to have a settled squad in place by then. Sowe need to see if the younger ones are good enough.”We’ve got six good seamers on the scene and any can play at any time. Wecan rest one guy without damaging the team as we have variety. But at thesame time, Pollock is an integral part of our squad and who knows, hemight come back into it on Monday.”Pakistan has named two specialist spinners in their Test squad and murmursfrom the National Stadium suggest a spinning surface may be prepared.Rizwan Ahmed, the legspinning allrounder, picked up seven wickets againstthe South Africans in the tour game, but at considerable cost, and wasn’t the threatthat a Danish Kaneria is expected to be. Arthur was confident, however,that his side would cope.”Our batsmen are used to playing spin now,” he said. “We played AnilKumble and Danish on spinning wickets in South Africa and handled themfairly well and I am confident that our batsmen have the equipment andtechnique to handle that threat.”

Andrew Symonds wants to make it clear that he has not complained about his treatment from spectators during the one-day series in India. Symonds has been a target of sections of the home crowds, especially during the seventh match in Mumbai on Wednesday, but he insists he has not sought to make an issue out of the abuse and has only responded to questions when asked about the incidents.”Over the past couple of weeks, I have felt as though I have been put in a situation that is not of my making,” Symonds said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “I never made a complaint at any venue, but I did answer media questions asking whether I had heard the chants aimed at me in Vadodara.”At the time Symonds said he was not bothered by the treatment, but he was more upset that the abuse had been denied by local authorities. “I tried to defuse the original situation by interacting with the crowd,” he said. “I feel that the print and TV media have badly misrepresented my views at times over the past three matches.”Symonds, who is uncomfortable in the off-field spotlight, said he understood racism in all sports was a sensitive, serious and global issue. “It is pleasing to see the authorities here in Mumbai tackling the issue following the seventh one-day match,” he said in the Australian. “I would much prefer the focus be on the cricket and for the cricket to be played in an atmosphere where players and spectators can enjoy a good day out, full of excitement and go home having had a great day of sport.”Tim Nielsen, the Australia coach, was impressed with the way Symonds had coped with the unwanted attention. “The most positive thing from my regard is that he has been the Player of the Series under that sort of pressure,” Nielsen said. “That shows a strength of mind and a lot of support from his team-mates.”

New Zealand’s domestic season kicks off on Monday when Northern Districts begin their State Championship defence without their leading run scorer from last summer. Hamish Marshall made 766 runs at 54.71 and was second on the competition run tally in 2006-07 but he will not be back at Hamilton this season after deciding to pursue his career in England.Predicting winners in New Zealand first-class cricket is a difficult task, but Northern Districts may fancy their chances again this year. They are one team that remains relatively unaffected by the loss of players to the New Zealand side, although they have suffered two big blows with Marshall’s departure and Daryl Tuffey’s decision to play a full season of club cricket in Sydney.Daniel Vettori would be a major loss to any team, but lately he has been the only Northern player to regularly wear national colours. The captain James Marshall has been overlooked recently but he will be aiming for a big season as he pushes hard for re-selection in the national team.On the bright side, the New Zealand A allrounder Mark Orchard is back in the Northern Districts line-up after injury. His abilities with bat and ball will be an important weapon as they look to retain the silverware they took possession of last summer.James Marshall told the the batsmen were aware there would be greater expectation on their shoulders without Hamish Marshall in the squad. “The bowlers form the real experienced part of our side now, but a lot of the batsman have had three to five seasons with us,” James Marshall said.Their opponents in last year’s final may have an uphill battle if they are to threaten again this summer. Canterbury have looked unbeatable over recent seasons. In the days when international players were available for most domestic cricket, they had a host of stars to call on, including Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan and Stephen Fleming (before he moved to Wellington).But lately with retirements and greater international commitments, the Christchurch-based team has not looked the same. The one thing that has held them together has been the presence of Chris Harris. He has been overlooked for national honours lately and has led his provincial team from the front. Not only have the younger players learnt from him, but he has also scored a host of runs. Last season he was named the domestic cricketer of the year.His decision to join the Indian Cricket League is a huge blow to his team. It will now be up to the younger players to put into practice what they have learnt during their brief first-class careers. The addition of the South African players Kruger Van Wyk and Johann Myburgh may help Canterbury this summer, but the team will find it difficult to repeat last season’s performance.Van Wyk will captain the team from behind the stumps and the coach Dave Nosworthy said he had not put any definitive time frame on van Wyk’s captaincy but would just see how things went. “Harry [Chris Harris] might be back later but there are no guarantees about that or whether he would even then return to the leadership,” Nosworthy told the . “You generally don’t want to be chopping and changing your captain.”The remaining four teams have all had their successes in different forms of the game over recent summers. Auckland are becoming known as one-day and Twenty20 specialists who can’t win a game in the longer version. Central Districts are often a surprise package who are written off early but confound the critics – they won the State Championship in 2005-06. Wellington have a number of solid players who are just outside the gaze of the national selectors, while Otago are always a chance because they are never badly hit by an exodus of players to international duties.All this shows that it’s impossible to predict who will be popping the champagne corks when the State Championship comes to an end on April 11 next year. The first four rounds of the four-day competition will be played before Christmas. It then takes a break as the shorter versions of the game take the spotlight and the business-end of the first-class season then commences in early March, culminating in the five-day final beginning on April 7.Notable squad changes
Auckland In: Gareth Hopkins.
Canterbury In: Kruger van Wyk. Out: Chris Harris.
Central Districts Out: Lance Hamilton.
Northern Districts In: Mark Orchard. Out: Hamish Marshall, Daryl Tuffey.
Otago In: Derek de Boorder. Out: Gareth Hopkins.

Sourav Ganguly has said that his forced exile from international cricket made him more determined to prove a point. He also said that he intends to play through 2008.”Not better, but probably more determined,” Ganguly told the Kolkata-based Telegraph. “I wish to add that the circumstances and the manner in which I got dropped just weren’t right. I don’t have an issue with being left out, that’s part of the game, but the manner wasn’t right.”Ganguly had differences with the then coach Greg Chappell and the issue snowballed after one of Chappell’s email to the board was leaked in September 2005. On November 22, the selectors ended his five-year reign as Test captain when they picked Rahul Dravid to lead the side for the series against Sri Lanka. Dravid had been handed the one-day captaincy a month before. Ganguly was dropped from the one-day side in October and the Test team in December and made his comeback in to both teams a year later in December last year.Ganguly, 35, is so far India’s leading Test run-scorer for 2007 with 932 runs following his double-hundred in Bangalore, and he has been growing from strength to strength. He squashed all speculations about his retirement, saying he intends to play next year. “Call it [his age] a driving force or whatever, but I want to continue being successful… The hunger hasn’t died… Form permitting, I intend playing through 2008.”

Anil Kumble is confident India can beat Australia in the upcoming series if the batsmen perform the way they did during the previous tour in 2003-04. Kumble, fresh from a 1-0 series win against Pakistan in his first assignment as Test captain, took heart from the manner in which Sri Lanka nearly chased down a target of more than 500 against Australia in the second Test in Hobart last month.”We have the potential to beat Australia because we have the batting line-up to put runs on the board,” he said during the shoot of a special television programme in Bangalore. “And once we have runs on the board, I believe we have the ability to get 20 wickets.”Kumble recently trumped Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the Test captaincy, after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar had turned down the job. “I thought the chance had passed me by, I thought there was a chance when I was vice-captain in 1996,” said Kumble, adding that he didn’t expect to be made captain even as recently as two months ago. “When I became captain was not in my control [but] I think it has come at the right time.”In front of an audience that included many of his school teachers and college professors, Kumble said being handed the reins of the Test side was a great motivation. The 37-year-old Kumble, whose career spans 17 years and 121 Tests so far, said he had contemplated retirement several times in the past and that Test captaincy was a “shot in the arm” .In a recorded message, Sourav Ganguly – India’s most successful captain – hailed Kumble’s leadership skills. “The first day in Delhi [ahead of the first Test against Pakistan], the team meeting summed up everything. Certain issues were addressed and from that point I knew things were going to turn out well.”In a freewheeling chat, Kumble picked Shane Warne over Muttiah Muralitharan as his favourite spinner, termed his maiden Test century (at The Oval against England in June this year) as one of his career highlights, and mentioned that, post-retirement, he would prefer coaching in Bangalore to touring as part of the media.

Yuvraj Singh has been found not guilty of breaching the Code of Conduct during the second day of India’s first Test against Australia in Melbourne.Yuvraj was charged with breaching Level 1.3 of the ICC Code which relates to showing dissent at an umpire’s decision by action or verbal abuse. The charge, laid by the four umpires on duty in the match, related to an incident on the second day when Yuvraj stood his ground after he was given out by Billy Bowden, caught behind off Stuart Clark.The hearing took place after the third day’s play. After considering the evidence, match referee Mike Procter decided Yuvraj had not stood his ground in protest. “It was evident that Yuvraj took more time than normal to leave the crease but it was due to the fact that he was shocked at the decision,” Proctor said. “At no stage he showed displeasure or dissent at the umpire’s decision.”The hearing was attended by the four umpires, India manager Chetan Chauhan, captain Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh. Video evidence was used. If found guilty, the penalties for a Level 1 offence range from an official reprimand to a maximum penalty of a 50% fine on match-fee.