Natalee Scripps: nine wickets in two matches against Wellington

Auckland qualified to defend their State League title despite a last-round loss to Wellington yesterday.They will meet Canterbury in the final at Redwood Park on Saturday.Details of the defending champions’ last two games were:On Monday Auckland medium-fast bowler, Natalee Scripps ended the Auckland Hearts’ vital State League match against the Wellington Blaze on Monday with the competition’s second-best figures.Scripps took six for 19 and bowled her side into Saturday’s final where the Hearts will defend their title against the Canterbury Magicians.The best bowling figures are held by another Auckland pace bowler, Munokoa Tunupopo, who took 7-19 against Central Districts in 1999/00.Earlier, TelstraClear White Ferns captain Emily Drumm top scored with 34 of the Hearts’ total of 145, their lowest total against Wellington. However, Scripps’ second five-wicket bag saw Wellington dismissed for 110.Yesterday, an unbeaten record-breaking sixth-wicket partnership of 144 by Wellington Blaze’s Maia Lewis and Megan Wakefield took their side to a five-wicket win over the State Auckland Hearts.It was the second match of a double-header played in Auckland and the home side looked set for a win after Scripps had the visitors six for three in the seventh over.But Wakefield (76 not out) and Lewis (74 not out) consolidated the innings and overhauled the Hearts’ score of 198 with 15 balls to spare.In the Auckland innings, Kelly Brown top scored with a hard hit unbeaten 43 off just 47 balls. Seventeen-year-old Ros Kember compiled 37 and captain Michelle Lynch 23.Despite the loss, the State Auckland Hearts will travel to Christchurch to defend their title in the final on Saturday.

JOHANNESBURG, March 4 AAP – Shattered Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie is in doubt for the rest of the World Cup.Ravaged by injuries throughout his career, Gillespie was taken for scans today to determine whether his right Achilles tendon injury would force him out of the tournament.”It certainly hasn’t improved since the problem initially occurred, which isn’t ideal,” said coach John Buchanan.Gillespie’s fate will be known within 48 hours.He initially felt pain at a net session before last week’s match against Namibia at Potchefstroom. He re-aggravated the problem at training before last Sunday’s clash with England.He missed both those matches and Buchanan rated him “extremely doubtful” for Australia’s first Super Sixes game at Centurion’s SuperSport park on Friday.Physiotherapist Errol Alcott has been briefing selectors on Gillespie’s worrying condition in case a replacement fast bowler needs to be brought into a squad already missing first-choice spinner Shane Warne.”The selectors are probably on the case there,” said Buchanan.”I know Errol’s been talking to them. They’ll be looking at all the options at this stage but this final scan will be the determining factor.”Before the World Cup, a fully fit Gillespie had said: “I can’t forsee myself having a problem … you always get emotionally affected when you get hurt.”I’d be more upset if I got injured and hadn’t done the work previously. If I hadn’t done the work and got injured I’d be dirty. I’m human, I get down and it’s disappointing and it’s happened to me a lot of times but you just have to think,’ What have I got to do to get back in the team?'”Gillespie was firing on all cylinders before he broke down, taking eight wickets at 12.25 against India, Pakistan, Holland and Zimbabwe.”The heel problem hasn’t gotten any better over the past few days,” he said today.”I’ll continue to work with Errol Alcott over the next few days and hopefully come good.”On a more positive note it was fantastic to see a fellow fast bowler in Andy Bichel stand in and do so well against England.”Bichel, coming off his 7-20 against England, is a ready-made replacement, but Buchanan hoped Gillespie would be able to return later in the tournament, which ends with the final on March 23 – less than three weeks away.”At this stage it’s a concern for sure because the injury hasn’t actually gone away,” said Buchanan.”He wants to be out on the field like anybody. For him it’s just another injury in a litany of injuries.”He’s always managed to get through that, he’s a pretty tough sort of bloke in that regard.”Asked how Gillespie was coping with his latest enforced absence, Buchanan said: “Obviously he’s disappointed. He’s part of the World Cup squad and wants to play every game.”It just seems that there’s always a little hurdle somewhere along the line.”He faces up to that pretty well. It’s the initial period that is always quite disillusioning and it’s almost like, ‘Here we go again.'”But he’s resilient, he’s a great kid and he works hard and whatever comes of this I expect him to get through it and be back in that team as soon as he can be.”

The Tasmanian Selectors have today announced the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers team to play the Southern Redbacks in the Pura Cup match from Thursday 6th March to Sunday 9th March 2003 at Adelaide Oval.CASCADE TASMANIAN TIGERS

Jamie COX (Captain)
Sean CLINGELEFFER
Michael DIGHTON
Michael DiVENUTO
Xavier DOHERTY
Andrew DOWNTON
Adam GRIFFITH
Adam POLKINGHORNE
Daniel MARSH
Scott MASON
Chris BASSANO
Gerard DENTON
Damien WRIGHT

The twelfth & thirteenth men will be announced on the morning of the match.Damien Wright has been added to the squad after missing the previous match through injury, while Scott Kremerskothen has been omitted.Kremerskothen was a late inclusion replacing Adam Griffith in the team that defeated the Redbacks at Bellerive Oval earlier this week. Griffith has recovered from the calf strain, which forced his withdrawal from that match.

JOHANNESBURG, March 22 AFP – International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray threatened India with suspension from world cricket here today in the wake of their players’ World Cup contracts row.Following a two-day ICC executive board meeting here, Gray said the world governing body was standing by its earlier decision to withhold World Cup payments worth $US 9 million dollars to India after its cricketers refused to accept the original players terms for the tournament.Gray also told reporters that if compensation claims made against the ICC as a result of India’s actions exceeded nine million dollars, drastic action would be taken.”If India are not forthcoming, the suspension of India from the ICC will be contemplated,” he said.In a fresh move, the ICC also decided to withhold payments to England and New Zealand for boycotting World Cup matches.England stand to lose $US 3.5 million dollars for forfeiting their match against Zimbabwe at Harare on February 13 on moral and security grounds.New Zealand will lose $US 2.5 million dollars for refusing to play their February 21 match against Kenya at Nairobi for security reasons.Sri Lanka too have had $US 500,000 dollars withheld because their players’ contracts were returned to the ICC after the official deadline.The payments will be withheld till compensation claims, likely to be made by official sponsors and broadcasters, are decided, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed explained.The amount of money witheld from England was more than three times what the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) estimated it would have to pay for boycotting its game in Harare.However, Gray pointed out that the figures involved for England and New Zealand simply represented “prudent financial management” on the part of the world governing body and were based on the commercial value of the respective games.Gray said this World Cup had been the most lucrative ever with proceeds in “excess of $US 200 million dollars”.He added that cricket, which had been “on its knees” two or three years ago because of the match-fixing scandal, was now “almost corruption free”.But the re-named anti-corruption and security unit will continue to be funded to the tune of one million dollars per year.Gray also said the board had received reports from its code of conduct commission regarding investigations into cricket in Sharjah, claims against former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal and allegations involving Brian Lara emerging from the testimony of Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta.He said that the ICC would be “drawing a line” under any further investigations, with Speed adding that the risk of libel meant they could not publish the reports.In a separate development, Speed said surprise World Cup semi-finalists Kenya would have their application for Test status considered a year ahead of schedule in 2005.The ICC also planned to refine its World Test championship to take account results of individual match as well as series results.The World Cup final takes place here at the Wanderers on Sunday between defending champions Australia and India.

Day One Verdict | Day Two BulletinIt took some time, but like a feature-length episode of Scooby Doo, Zimbabwe’s bowlers finally stopped ghosting past the bat and were exposed as an all-too-human outfit. They had never been given much chance of gettin’ away with it, even before that meddling kid, Anthony McGrath, got stuck in with a debut half-century, but while the clouds hung low over Lord’s, England were forced to toil for their clues.

That meddling kid: Anthony McGrath hooks for four © Getty Images

Zimbabwean affairs have always been a mystery to England, as one Test victory out of four and that World Cup business will testify. Whether on the field or off, they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, so it’s little wonder they took the cautious route to dominance. Still, by the time they had passed 450 for the seventh time in eight home Tests, with Ashley Giles and extras breezing towards their highest Test scores, they could be satisfied with a job well done.Given the baggage that most of this England side have accumulated over the winter, it was appropriate that the bulk of the work should be done by two men who, for various reasons, were spared the hours of soul-searching and the interminable security briefings ahead of that Harare no-show in February, McGrath and Mark Butcher.Butcher is fast becoming the forgotten man of the England middle order, which is no bad thing at all – the last man to hold that particular title was Graham Thorpe. Like Thorpe, Butcher has proved a classy and compact strokemaker, with a taste for low-key, but vital, contributions. His century was his second in consecutive Tests and his fourth in ten home matches, and in all but one of his previous efforts, that Headingley piece de resistance, he has played second fiddle to a more noteworthy performance.To think Butcher couldn’t force his way into Surrey’s team at the beginning of the summer. Still, being overlooked is nothing new to him – he is unique among modern England cricketers, in that he has played more than 50 Tests, but not a single one-day international. But since that 2001 reincarnation, he has shown a priceless ability to leave any fretting in the dressing-room, and get on with the job in hand. Amid all the talk of Nasser Hussain’s successor, it is a wonder that Butcher’s name has not been mentioned more often.Ahead of the day’s play, the smart money would have been on yet another Alec Stewart v-sign to the vultures, but The Gaffer’s main contributions were a brace of zealous shuttle runs to fine leg when England finally took the field. Instead McGrath took centre stage, becoming only the third specialist batsman in a decade, after Thorpe and Marcus Trescothick, to score a debut half-century for England.Raised on Headingley’s greentops, McGrath was at home against the moving ball, and his maiden innings would have been satisfying both to himself and to Duncan Fletcher, whose hunches have rarely failed him. As befits a Yorkshireman, McGrath required a Boycottian piece of running to get off the mark, but three fours in four balls off Andy Blignaut were Vaughanish in their quality. It was tough luck on Robert Key, who did his hard work Down Under, but was sawn off by a duff decision today.And by the end of the day, another debutant had proved a (rather more predictable) success. Apart from living up to the hype, James Anderson has managed a rare double – he has appeared from nowhere, while seeming to have been around forever. The only surprise was that it took him 20 balls to take his first wicket.Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden CricInfo.

Day 2 report
Frizzell County Championship Division One
Division One Table Lancashire 130 for 2 trail Kent 602 for 6 by 472 runs
Scorecard
Carl Hooper was Lancashire’s only source of hope as his former county Kent took absolute control on the second day at Blackpool. Ed Smith had been the star of day one with a superb 203, but Matthew Walker came close to matching him, easing to 150 with 19 fours before mistiming Hooper to long-on. Lancashire’s misery wasn’t over even then – Mark Ealham joined the rout with 95 as Kent declared on 602 for 6, their ninth-highest total in history, and the highest at Stanley Park. Hooper had already bowled 51 overs in the match, but his day’s work wasn’t finished. Rob Ferley grabbed two quick wickets with his offspin, and it was left to a pair of half-centuries from Hooper and Mark Chilton to prevent a bad day for Lancashire getting any worse.Middlesex 58 for 2 trail Warwickshire 496 by 438 runs
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Ashley Giles continued his annus mirabilis with the bat – and then took a wicket with his third ball – to leave Middlesex with it all to do at Southgate. Giles’s 96 from 139 balls made the difference between an average total and an excellent one, as Warwickshire’s last three wickets added 187 between the showers to reach 496 all out. Neil Smith and Melvyn Betts contributed a brace of 30s, and Giles had seemed set for a century until he holed out to Abdul Razzaq at long-on. Middlesex’s captain, Andrew Strauss, started brightly with 37 from 40 balls, but Giles had him caught at short-leg, before Dougie Brown cleaned up James Dalrymple for a duck. Sven Koenig was left clinging on at the close.Sussex 340 for 5 lead Leicestershire 320 by 20 runs
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Phil DeFreitas added three wickets to his first-innings century, but it was Sussex who finished the day in command thanks to an unbroken 125-run stand between Tony Cottey and Matt Prior. Cottey finished on 138, his third century in consecutive innings, and Prior on 68, as Sussex recovered from a jittery period to finish the day 20 runs ahead of Leicestershire’s first innings 320, with five wickets in hand. DeFreitas struck early in the day to remove Murray Goodwin, then returned with two wickets in three balls, whereupon Charlie Dagnall added a couple of victims of his own. At 215 for 5, the match was in the balance, but by the close the scales had tilted south.Frizzell County Championship Division Two
Division Two Table Derbyshire 163 and 27 for 4 trail Worcestershire 301 by 111 runs
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Kabir Ali overcame a family tragedy to put Worcestershire firmly in charge against Derbyshire at New Road. Kabir had been due to attend the funeral of his two-week-old nephew, who died at the weekend, but he was given the blessing of his father to continue playing and responded with a match-turning 68 from No. 9 and a trio of lbws in a rapid six-over spell with the new ball. Worcestershire had been teetering at 190 for 7 in reply to Derbyshire’s 163 when Kabir joined Steve Rhodes (84*) in adding 104 for the eighth wicket, and he then reduced Derbyshire to 27 for 4 in their second innings. Rain brought an early end to the day, by which stage Worcestershire well in sight of victory.Yorkshire 448 and 2 for 0 lead Durham 327 by 123 runs
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Craig White’s unbeaten 135 was the difference between the sides on a run-feast of a day at Chester-le-Street, in which 437 were scored. Shoaib Akhtar had threatened to tear through Yorkshire’s tail when he dismissed Andy Gray for his overnight 60, and Darren Gough and Ryan Sidebottom didn’t last too long either. But Steve Kirby hung around long enough for White to play a few shots, and Yorkshire’s total of 448 was more than satisfactory. Durham in reply managed a healthy 327, but a first-innings deficit of 121 may come back to haunt them. Three Durham batsmen made half-centuries, but none exceeded Gary Pratt’s 54, as Kirby followed his good work with the bat with 4 for 93. Gough, with a Test recall up for grabs, was lively in his 18 overs, but managed just the one wicket, that of his namesake, Michael. Hampshire 185 and 114 for 4 trail Glamorgan 437 by 138 runs
Scorecard
Hampshire surrendered 14 wickets in a single day’s play to leave Glamorgan in sight of an innings victory at the Rose Bowl. Mike Kasprowicz was the first-innings destroyer, with 5 for 48, as six Hampshire batsmen passed 20, but none exceeded John Francis’s 27. Hampshire followed on 252 runs adrift, whereupon it was Robert Croft’s turn to take centre stage. He picked up all four of the second-innings wickets to fall – to add to his two from earlier in the day. Simon Katich did at least reach a half-century, but he spoiled the effect by wafting Croft to Alex Wharf at long leg in the final over of the day. At 114 for 4, Hampshire were still 138 runs from asking Glamorgan to bat again.

Australia v Bangladesh, second Test, Cairns, starts 0000GMT Friday

Adam Gilchrist practises ahead of the second Test at Carins

Surprisingly, given the ease with which the top-ranked Australians disposed of cellar-dwellers Bangladesh in their first Test match last weekend at Darwin, it is the home side who are under pressure to perform again in the second Test starting at Cairns on Friday.Victory is expected of the Australians, and sooner rather than later. While that is the case whenever the side takes the field nowadays, an acknowledgement of the outstanding record they have developed under leader Steve Waugh, who is now the most successful captain in Test cricket history, the fact remains that there was a rustiness about the Australians at Darwin.Given their own demands for excellence, the Australians can be expected to make the most of the faster pitch that is anticipated in this match. Already, the bowlers have made their mark on the tourists. Dismissing them for 97 in the first innings on a slow pitch at Darwin, they will only need to ensure that they remember the fundamentals of bowling on a quicker strip to test the tourists yet again.Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee will be the key players in this match as they attempt to utilise the conditions on offer and their control will determine how quickly the game is decided.At the same time, there are pressures remaining on the batsmen. One of the problems with being so dominant over the opposition as in this series, is that there is not the chance to have two innings in matches. For players like Martin Love, who has a rare opportunity for international play as Damien Martyn recovers from his finger injury, that reduces chances for what is a crucial step in his career.Love, dismissed first ball in Darwin, needs a score if he is to remain first cab off the rank in the event of other players suffering injuries or to force his way into the side if top players suffer a loss of form. While he is not batting in his preferred position of No. 3, where he has been such a significant operator for Queensland, the adjustment to No. 6 can only stand as an excuse for not playing to ability for so long.Matthew Hayden missed out in Darwin and can be expected to cash in this time around. That merely increases the pressure on the touring attack to contain and subdue the Australians, something the best opposing attacks in the world have struggled to do.Waugh has been very kind in his assessment of the tourists. In his newspaper column in today, he said: “Tempo, poise, purpose, intensity, body language, patience and self-belief are words that they need to use and put into practice. They have talent in all areas of the game, which will develop as they acquire match practice in pressure situations.”He cited Mohammad Ashraful as a player with a solid technique but lacking the knowledge of how to construct an innings, with the ability to understand the occasions when graft is required and when he can unleash the shots he undoubtedly has. That could describe all the batsmen in the side, who still seem to be getting out of the groove of batting in 50-overs matches. The ability to exercise patience and application to get through the hard phases of an innings still eludes the tourists and until that is realised the way is going to be tough for them.The Australians, have been free with their advice for the tourists, but tomorrow it is back into the game’s classroom, in the middle, for the toughest examination yet, in conditions more suited to the attacking Australian attitude. While there were some encouraging signs for the tourists in the first Test, not least the ability to get good batsmen out in the manner shown by fast-medium bowler Mushrafe Mortaza, it is certain that this is going to be a much more demanding experience for Bangladesh.Teams:Australia 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Darren Lehmann, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Martin Love, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11, Glenn McGrath.Bangladesh (from): Khaled Mahmud (capt), Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud (wk), Habibul Bashar, Hannan Sarker, Mohammad Ashraful, Al-Sahariar, Manjural Islam, Alok Kapali, Tapash Baisya, Mashrafe Mortaza, Sanwar HossainUmpires: Rudi Koertzen, David Shepherd (Peter Davis – 3rd umpire)Match referee: Mike Procter

Eight players have been awarded central contracts by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a deal which could net each of them as much as £400,000 over the next year. The days of top cricketers being the poor relations of international sports appear to be long gone.For five of the eight – Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Mark Butcher, Ashley Giles and Marcus Trescothick – the contracts were just a renewal of the existing situation, but three – James Anderson, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff – receive one for the first time.Given that the original purpose of central contracts was to try to protect players from the daily grind of county cricket and ensure that they are at their peak when playing for England, it is a little surprising that only two – Flintoff and Anderson – are fast bowlers. The only other bowler on the list is Giles, a selection which owes more to his role as a utility Test and ODI player than any outstanding performances over the last 12 months.The terms of the contracts mean that the players are entirely outside the control of their counties and are under the fulltime supervision of the ECB.

Details of Hayden’s inningsMins      Balls    Balls for 50s50         167        107        107100        308        208        101150        343        242         32200        412        292         50250        463        321         29300        529        362         41350        588        402         40380        622        437          –

Highest Test scores380    Matthew Hayden     Australia v Zimbabwe    Perth          2003-04375    Brian Lara         West Indies v England   St John’s      1993-94365*   Garry Sobers       West Indies v Pakistan  Kingston       1957-58364    Len Hutton         England v Australia     The Oval       1938340    Sanath Jayasuriya  Sri Lanka v India       Colombo        1997-98337    Hanif Mohammad     Pakistan v West Indies  Bridgetown     1957-58336*   Walter Hammond     England v New Zealand   Auckland       1932-33334*   Mark Taylor        Australia v Pakistan    Peshawar       1998-99334    Don Bradman        Australia v England     Leeds          1930

Highest Test scores by Australians380    Matthew Hayden    v Zimbabwe   Perth         2003-04334*   Mark Taylor       v Pakistan   Peshawar      1998-99334    Don Bradman       v England    Leeds         1930311    Bob Simpson       v England    Manchester    1964307    Bob Cowper        v England    Melbourne     1965-66304    Don Bradman       v England    Leeds         1934

Highest Test scores for Australia at Perth380    Matthew Hayden    v Zimbabwe     2003-04219    Michael Slater    v Sri Lanka    1995-96200    David Boon        v New Zealand  1989-90197    Ricky Ponting     v Pakistan     1999-00176    Bob Simpson       v India        1977-78171    Ian Redpath       v England      1970-71

Hayden’s Test runs in last four calendar yearsRuns     Avge2000       267     33.372001      1391     63.222002      1160     72.502003       837     76.09

Most sixes in a Test innings12  Wasim Akram       Pakistan v Zimbabwe          Sheikhupura          1996-9711  Matthew Hayden    Australia v Zimbabwe         Perth                2003-0411  Nathan Astle      New Zealand v England        Christchurch         2001-0210  Wally Hammond     England v New Zealand        Auckland             1932-339  Chris Cairns      New Zealand v Zimbabwe       Auckland             1995-969  Inzamam-ul-Haq    Pakistan v New Zealand       Lahore               2002

Highest totals by Australia in Tests758-8d    Australia v West Indies     Kingston             1954-55735-6d    Australia v Zimbabwe        Perth                2003-04729-6d    Australia v England         Lord’s               1930701       Australia v England         The Oval             1934695       Australia v England         The Oval             1930674       Australia v India           Adelaide             1947-48668       Australia v West Indies     Bridgetown           1954-55

Jon Dakin has rejoined Leicestershire after two seasons with Essex. Dakin was awarded his County Cap with Essex last season after a promising start and ended with 40 wickets. Dakin, 30, also helped them to win the Division Two Championship medal in 2002.However, he has returned to Leicestershire, where he left at the end of 2001, and where he started his career in 1993.David East, Essex’s chief executive, said: “Jon made a valuable contribution in his time at Essex and we thank him for his efforts. We wish him all the best for his return to Leicester.”Meanwhile, James Whitaker, a former captain of the club, has also rejoined Leicestershire as the director of cricket, while Kevin Hill, the chief executive, has agreed to part company.Neil Davidson, the chairman, said: “James Whitaker’s loyalties lie firmly with Leicestershire. His track record when captain demonstrates that he has the credentials to get the best out of players."