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The Hutt Valley Junior Cricket draw for November 22 is:All games start at 8.30 amUnder 14: Hutt Cutters v Petone Sellwood, Petone 4; Hutt Doolan v U H Goodwin, Te Whiti 1; U H Ingham v Taita, TMP 1; U H Whiteford v Petone Goldsbury, Petone 3Under 12: U H Walklin v Hutt van Baarle Construction, Te Whiti 2; Petone Walker v U H Cole, Petone 2; S V Thompson v U H Morris, TMP 2; Tokelau v Hutt Richardson, Te Whiti 6; Wainui Sharks v Naenae, R Prouse 1; E’bourne Bodie v Hutt St P & P, WellesleyColl; Hutt Vodafone v Hutt Narasy, Trafalgar; S V Red v Hutt Shaw, Delaney 3AUnder 11: U H Blue v Hutt Patterson, TMP 4; U H Red v Hutt Pawson, Fraser 6A; Hutt Spiers Finance v Wainui Steelers, R Prouse 2; Taita v Hutt Hilligan, Fraser 2; Hutt Mackie v E’bourne Withers, Te Whiti 4; Naenae byeUnder 10: Hutt Coyle v Wainui Gold, Fraser 5A; Naenae v S Valley, Naenae 2; Hutt Laing v E’bourne Hampton, H W ShorttUnder 9: E’bourne Bielby v Hutt Classic Hits 90 FM, Bishop 1; Hutt Serci v Petone Panthers, Fraser 4; E’bourne Gordon v Petone Lawrence, Fraser 7A; Hutt Ravi v E’bourne Simon, Hutt 2; Hutt Green v Taita, Fraser 3Under 8: Hutt Red v Hutt Baird, Hutt 5; S Valley v E’bourne Healy, Bishop 2; Tokelau v Hutt Webster, Bishop 3; Naenae Ryan v Wainui Royles, R Prouse 4; Taita v Naenae de Jonge, Naenae 1; Hutt Gandhi v Wainui Tigers, B Heath 1Kiwi: Hutt AyJay v Hutt Azad, Hutt 7; Petone Tigers v Hutt Neutrons, Petone 1; Hutt Borthwick v Wainui Broadhurst, B Heath 2; E’bourne Skene v Hutt Stirling, Hutt 6; E’bourne Barrett bye

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Michael Clarke was the unlikely star-turn with the ball, after Damien Martyn’s superb hundred had put Australia on course for victory. Ultimately, even fine knocks from Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were nowhere near enough as India became the latest team to fall prey to the Wankhede jinx-under-lights. Once Tendulkar and Dravid departed, India folded quickly, to finish 77 runs, and a bonus point, short of Australia’s 286 for 8.But credit where it’s due. Clarke had been a peripheral figure with the bat, run out for just two in a frenetic final over where Ajit Agarkar, the pick of India’s bowlers, picked up three wickets. When he came on to bowl the 25th over of India’s reply, after Brag Hogg and Andrew Symonds had been blunted, and occasionally whacked for fours, by Tendulkar and Dravid, few knew what to expect – a tally of one wicket in six previous games was hardly intimidating.Tendulkar, who had eased into his stride after a hesitant start when he could have spooned three catches, was the first to depart, bowled after he had made room for a drive through cover (137 for 3). Yuvraj Singh then made just nine before he was too early into the sweep, and the ball ballooned off the glove to Adam Gilchrist (153 for 4). Suddenly, Clarke was on a roll, and India were staring at defeat.

That became a certainty a couple of over later when Clarke tempted Dravid into a reverse sweep, straight to Andy Bichel at backward point (171 for 5). Nathan Bracken then picked up Mohammad Kaif, Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh – Clarke took a fourth by bowling Kumble – to give the victory an emphatic touch that hadn’t appeared likely when Tendulkar and Dravid were stroking their way towards the target at a run-a-ball.In truth though, the victory had been set up by Martyn – aided by Gilchrist, Symonds and Michael Bevan – earlier in the day when India’s slow bowler failed to make optimum use of a surface where dust clouds were glimpsed as early as the tenth over.Zaheer Khan nailed Matthew Hayden – caught by Yuvraj at point, fending off a bouncer – early in the piece (9 for 1), but the rest of the time, he was creamed all over the park by the irresistible Gilchrist. He romped to 41 from 30 balls, before cutting one from Harbhajan into the path of a sprinting Kaif at square-cover (55 for 2).Dravid had opted for Virender Sehwag to be Zaheer’s new-ball partner, but once he got some stick, Harbhajan and Anil Kumble were quickly into the action. The run rate slowed momentarily, but once Ricky Ponting got into the groove, things perked up again. It took a poor decision from Neil Mallender, who gave Ponting out leg before to Agarkar as the ball was spearing down legside, to give India another look-in (93 for 3), but Martyn and Symonds soon consolidated with some thumping strokes and quick running.

Symonds eased smoothly to a 59-ball 48 before he smacked Yuvraj straight into Harbhajan’s hands at deep midwicket (171 for 4), as India glimpsed an opening. But Martyn, the picture of circumspection en route to an 84-ball 50, and Bevan, playing his usual scampered-singles game, took the game away with a superbly paced partnership that extended all the way to the final over.Martyn’s second 50 took just 34 deliveries and included a huge six over long-on off Kumble, apart from some deft strokes off a disappointing Zaheer. With the exception of Agarkar, who bowled with unusual control, the rest of the attack was desperately disappointing in conditions that were loaded in their favour.India’s reply started in the worst possible fashion, as Sehwag offered no stroke to one that Bracken got to move back, and VVS Laxman soon followed – after a patchy 21 that included a lucky escape after a first-ball lbw appeal, classical strokeplay and crude attempted hoicks – as the pressure mounted. Tendulkar and Dravid did their utmost to alleviate it, until Clarke’s seemingly innocuous left-arm spin caused the innings to unravel. So much for Australian frailty in these conditions, so much for criticism of this second-string attack.

Auckland’s batting line-up, studded with international players, made the most of the chance to spend some time in the middle against Otago at Eden Park’s outer oval before New Zealand’s side is selected for the first Test against Pakistan next week. But most would have been disappointed not to have had even more time at the crease. They all made significant starts, but continued to show early seasonitis by getting out too soon.Mark Richardson was the early figure in the innings, scoring at a much faster clip than his usually more attacking partner Lou Vincent. It was only after Richardson got out that Vincent upped his scoring rate, but he paid the price for loosening up as he fell victim to Jeff Wilson. Matt Horne dominated the middle stages of the day with some attacking strokeplay while the up-and-coming Tim McIntosh was unbeaten at stumps on 54, as he continuing to build on the outstanding promise he has already shown in his brief career.Wilson demonstrated just how much better prepared he is for this second summer after his retirement from his international rugby career, and bowled with good accuracy and control to take 3 for 54 from 25 overs. Brad Scott, the left-arm medium-fast bowler, complemented Wilson well. Scott had 1 for 46 from 26 overs.Central Districts may have a side laden with batting potential, but the failure to put a significant innings together resulted in their facing a formidable first-innings deficit against Northern Districts at Gisborne’s Harry Barker Reserve.Central Districts were all out for 191, with Glen Sulzberger, the captain, the last man out for 43. It was the side’s highest score. Mark Orchard troubled the batsmen most, and most of the fellow bowlers were also among the wickets as Central Districts were guilty of poor shot selection.By contrast, apart from the first-over dismissal of Nick Horsley in their reply, the Northern Districts batsmen seemed well set for the long haul with James Marshall, the side’s acting captain in the absence of the injured Robbie Hart, unbeaten on 57 at stumps.

Dhaka 147 for 5 (Sanwar 52) trail Sylhet 331 (Tapash 59, Rezaul 56*) by 184 runs
ScorecardAn fine all-round show by Rezaul Haque gave Sylhet, the home side, the upper hand against Dhaka. Rezaul hit an unbeaten 56 and along with Tapash Baisya, who also hammered a fifty, added 93 valuable runs for the eighth wicket.Tapash his five fours in his innings while Rezaul’s 164-ball effort contained seven fours and a six. Rezaul then snapped up three of Dhaka’s top order batsmen with his left-arm medium pace which gave Sylhet he distinct advantage at the end of the day. Tapash and Nabil Samad, the legspinner, also chipped in with a wicket each. The two Hossain’s, Sanwar and Mehrab, added 72 for the third wicket and propped up the Dhaka total.Khulna 81 for 3 trail Chittagong 389 for 9 dec (Arif 107, Shabbir 57) by 308 runs
ScorecardArif Ahmed’s maiden first-class hundred enabled Chittagong to declare their first innings at 389 for nine at Comilla. Khulna were is a spot of bother at stumps when they were reduced to 81 for 3 by the close.Chittagong, who started the day on 272 for 5, got within a shade of 400 thanks largely to the 150-run sixth stand between Arif and Sabbir Khan. Arif belted ten fours in his 288-ball innings while Sabbir’s 57 came in 137 balls. Syed Russel, the medium-pacer, was the most impressive of the Khulna bowlers with 3 for 85.Barisal 266 (Imran Ahmed 152*) lead Rajshahi 190 by 76 runs
ScorecardImran Ahmed hit an unbeaten 152 as Barisal took a vital 76-run first innings lead after making against Rajshahi. Imran turned out to be a thorn in Rajshahi’s flesh and refused to yield even as all fell around him. His 282-ball knock was punctuated with 21 fours.Shahjada, the medium-pacer, was the most successful Rajshahi bowler pickingup 4 for 64 while Shafaq Al Jabir claimed three scalps.

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A century from Michael Dighton, his first in the Pura Cup for two years, along with a triumphant return to bowling by Shane Watson, helped Tasmania take the upper hand against Queensland on the third day at Hobart.Shattering the tedium of day two, Tasmania declared at 4 for 402 before tea to edge ahead of Queensland’s first innings of 8 for 400 declared. A hard-hitting Dighton was an unbeaten 127, his first ton since February 2002, while Dan Marsh was 80 not out. Their stand of 171 runs off 216 balls guaranteed Tasmania two first-innings points after they started the day on a sluggish 3 for 170 off 71 overs.Tasmania are second in the Pura Cup table with 20 points, with Queensland in third on 16.Watson, after a year-long rest from bowling, today took the coveted scalps of Queensland’s Martin Love and Stuart Law. Queensland were 4 for 140 in their second innings at stumps, leading Tasmania by 138 overall, with newcomer Craig Philipson unbeaten on 23 and James Hopes 30.Watson snared Love, caught at first slip by Marsh for 11 in his second over, and later bowled Law for 45 in his fourth over. He finished the day with 2 for 23 off six overs. Watson had been limited to batting only after suffering back-related stress fractures, and was forced to withdraw from the 2003 World Cup squad because of the injury.After the game, he admitted to being extremely nervous before sending down his first ball. “I am just glad the first ball came out on the wicket,” he said. “After the first ball, it was really good, I was really confident with everything. Every time I bowl, it feels a lot more comfortable.”Bagging a couple of wickets was a massive bonus. The plan was to try to bowl two five-over spells in one day, but because of the situation of the game I will probably bowl one more spell of five tomorrow” Watson added. “I was pretty happy with the pace that it came out today and hopefully I can keep progressing with that.”He was also confident Tasmania were up to the challenge of a run chase tomorrow. “I reckon, as we’ve shown before, we can chase at least 300 in a day,” he said. “We are pretty confident, if we are set that we will be able to achieve it.”Watson, meanwhile, was more philosophical about his future in the international arena: “I am trying not to set too many goals, that will look after itself in the long run.”

After thrashing South Africa 5-1 in the one-day series, New Zealand go into the Tests – the first of which starts at Hamilton on Wednesday – believing that they can repeat their short-game success. New Zealand have never beaten South Africa in a Test series, losing seven and drawing two, but that statistic won’t worry Stephen Fleming – before this series, New Zealand had only won two of their last 18 ODIs against South Africa.The main talking-point on the eve of the Test, though, is not the form of either team, but the nature of the pitch. Torrential rain over the last month – 330mm of it was recorded in February, according to the Otago Times, five times the norm – has significantly damaged the square, forcing Karl Johnson, the curator, to discard the strip that he would normally have used, and opt for one at the far end of the square. The pitch to be used over the next five days is bare – all the grass has been killed by the inclement weather – and is expected to offer plenty of assistance to spinners, which is extremely unusual for a match at Hamilton.For one player at least, the drastically different conditions are a huge blessing. Daniel Vettori, so used to being reduced to a fringe bowler on some of the greentops which are so common in New Zealand, knows that this is a rare opportunity for him to play the lead role in a home Test. “Even the South Africans are talking about playing two spinners, so it must be a burner. It’s something to look forward to,” Vettori said. “It’s something that comes around once in a while, and that’s probably the biggest test for me in that I’ll be expected to perform and hopefully play a major part in winning.”South Africa have two spin options in Paul Adams and Nicky Boje, but neither did much to inspire confidence in the tour match against Central Districts. But Eric Simons, the South African coach, put on a brave front: “A lot is always made of us battling against spin, but we’re one of few sides who have won on the subcontinent,” Simons said. “There’s nothing there that frightens us too much.”What would worry Simons is the form of his main batsmen: Jacques Kallis mustered just 120 runs in the one-day series, while Herschelle Gibbs managed 144. Gibbs failed in the tour game as well, scoring only 18 and 26. The only encouragement was Neil McKenzie’s form – unbeaten knocks of 100 and 49 have made him a certainty in the starting line-up.New Zealand’s batsmen have been in much better form. Fleming has been in the runs all season, while Michael Papps – so impressive in the one-dayers – is a welcome addition to a side which has struggled to find a reliable opening partner for Mark Richardson. New ZEaland’s other debutant is Brendon McCullum, the wicketkeeper, who wins his first Test cap after playing in 48 ODIs.The Test should also be a battle between two allrounders, both on the threshold of significant landmarks. Chris Cairns needs three wickets and 136 runs to achieve the double of 3000 runs and 200 wickets, while Shaun Pollock, who already has 326 scalps in the bag, needs 132 runs to join the elite club which currently boasts only five members: Garry Sobers, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee.Meanwhile, Michael Mason and Ian Butler have been released from the New Zealand squad, and will join the A team for the game against Sri Lanka A on March 11. That leaves Chris Martin and Paul Wiseman to fight for the last place in the XI. Given the condition of the pitch, Wiseman should be a shoo-in.New Zealand 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Michael Papps, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Scott Styris, 5 Craig McMillan, 6 Chris Cairns, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Brendon McCullum (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Paul Wiseman, 11 Daryl Tuffey.South Africa (from) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Gary Kirsten, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Neil McKenzie, 7 Martin van Jaarsveld, 8 Mark Boucher, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Nicky Boje, 11 Paul Adams, 12 Andre Nel, 13 Makhaya Ntini, 14 Albie Morkel, 15 David Terbrugge.

North Zone 254 for 8 (Dharmani 73, Powar 3-56) v West Zone
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Dinesh Mongia won the toss on the opening day of the crucial Duleep Trophy tie at Dharmasala, but North Zone didn’t have much to cheer about thereafter. West Zone had the better of the first day’s play, restricting North to 254 for 8.Munaf Patel nailed Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir early, and reduced North to 21 for 2. Pankaj Dharmani held things together with a dogged 73 and stitched together some useful partnerships with the middle order. Dinesh Mongia (25), Mithun Manhas (21) and Sangram Singh (34) managed to get starts, but none kicked on to a sizeable score.Dharmani fell for 73, trapped lbw by Sairaj Bahutule, but the tail put up some good resistance with Joginder Sharma (33) and Sarandeep Singh (23) chipping in with valuable contributions. Apart form Munaf, West Zone depended on their spinners to do the damage. Bahutule finished with 2 for 45, while Ramesh Powar was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 56, enhancing his chances of being picked as a replacement for Harbhajan Singh on India’s tour to Pakistan.

The newspapers in the Caribbean treated the defeat of West Indies at Bridgetown rather like the death of an elderly aunt. Not unexpected, more with resignation than anger. But after a suitable – if brief – period of mourning, they have come out fighting.The editorial in the Jamaica Observer kicked off with an attack on the board. "The approach to the management and structure of our cricket is amateurish and is in need of new professionalism. With all due respect to new manager Tony Howard, the current management of the West Indies team seems inadequate for the job."Coach Gus Logie, for example, has made it clear that he should not be held responsible for what happens on the field – the implication being that Captain Lara is the one running the show. If the coach cannot assert himself enough to do his job, he surely does not deserve that job."Tony Becca in the Jamaica Gleaner agreed that change has to come from the top. "West Indies cricket has a lot of problems, including indiscipline and the lack of pride. They all lead to one thing, however – too many unprepared players, too many boys in a man’s game. The only way to stop it is to start at the bottom and the West Indies board has to come up with a plan to deal with the structure of West Indies cricket."That theme is echoed in a number of publications, most vehemently in another column in the Observer which calls for resignations. "We would recommend the principle [of resigning] to the other top officers of the WICB and the captain of the team, Brian Lara."It continues: "For frankly, in the historic, social and political environment of the Caribbean no West Indian, certainly no Caribbean nationalist, can easily swallow the drubbing being administered by the Englishmen. Cricket in this context, from a West Indian point of view, is a metaphor for geo-politics. The results of the matches are too much in keeping with the order of things between developed and developing states.”So try as we may, rationalise as we will, in the recesses of West Indian minds, particularly those of the early and middle generations, this is no mere sporting contest. As we have argued before in these columns, cricket is life and the rest is detail."

Sri Lanka 67 for 0 trail Zimbabwe 199 (Muralitharan 6-45) by 132 runs
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Sri Lanka predictably took the upper hand on the first day at Harare, putting the new-look Zimbabwe in on a beautiful batting pitch, and bowling them out for 199 shortly after tea. Sri Lanka’s openers then gave them a firm foundation, putting on 67 without being separated in 16 overs by the close.Douglas Hondo almost caused a shock with the very first ball of Sri Lanka’s reply, as Marvan Atapattu played it down defensively, and saw the ball bounce down and back over his stumps. Then, in Tinashe Panyangara’s second over Atapattu survived a very difficult slip catch, but after that he and Sanath Jayasuriya accumulated steadily and without risk at four an over until the close.The main virtue of Zimbabwe’s bowling is its accuracy, and there is no doubt that with maturity there will be some fairly dangerous Test bowlers in the current crop. Threatening they may not yet be, but they are for the most part more accurate than some of their predecessors who are currently at odds with the administrators. With developed skills and greater experience, they will do well.Earlier Muttiah Muralitharan’s 6 for 45, as Zimbabwe were dismissed for 199, gave him a share of Courtney Walsh’s Test record of 519 wickets. Few would bet against him annexing the record in the second innings. Today Zimbabwe’s inexperienced batsmen looked out of their depth, but there were a number of minor surprises and exceptions.The first was the determination of the new opening pair, Stuart Matsikenyeri – a veteran of three Test matches but opening the innings for the first time – and the debutant Brendan Taylor, who put on 30 in 69 minutes. They survived the new ball, seeing off a superb opening spell by Chaminda Vaas, who swung the ball almost from the start and bowled nine overs for only eight runs, without taking a wicket.Nuwan Zoysa was less impressive, and in the eighth over Taylor launched him through the covers to the boundary, a favourite shot. He was much more confident after that, but at 19 drove firmly back down the pitch for Farveez Maharoof – the one Sri Lankan debutant to Zimbabwe’s five – to hold a sharp return catch (30 for 1).This could in the circumstances be termed a good start, but then in quick succession Zoysa removed Dion Ebrahim for 1 and Matsikenyeri for 10, to a brilliant one-handed catch far to his right at second slip by Mahela Jayawardene. This reduced Zimbabwe to 35 for 3, which became 57 for 4 on the point of lunch as the inexperienced Elton Chigumbura was caught off a cramped hook for 14, also off Zoysa.Shortly after the break, Murali began to weave his familiar spell over the other batsmen, winning lbw decisions against the scoreless Alester Maregwede, beaten by that controversial doosra, and Mluleki Nkala (2), sweeping in desperation as he tried to fathom the bowler’s wiles. But Tatenda Taibu, who today became the youngest Test captain of them all – he’s still a week short of his 21st birthday – was still there, once again rising to the occasion and showing tremendous fighting spirit despite having one of the weakest of all Test sides under his command. And Prosper Utseya, fresh from a career-best knock in the previous match for Zimbabwe A against the Sri Lankans, joined him to make sure it was not all one-way traffic.Cautious at first, but later selecting his strokes well and taking advantage of any loose balls, Taibu battled his way to 40 before sportingly walking after a bat-pad catch off Murali. He looked like the boy stood on the burning deck at one stage, as one partner after another floundered and fell, until Utseya joined him. Utseya, who’s just 19, has often sold his batting skills short, but he has a fine calm temperament, and played Murali as well as anybody, even his captain. They put on 33 for the sixth wicket, the highest stand of the innings at that stage, before Taibu went (118 for 7). Utseya stayed, despite the third-ball dismissal of Blessing Mahwire, and hit the last ball of the session, from Murali, high over long-on for six.After tea, though, Utseya threw away the chance of a debut fifty with a swing across the line against Murali that cost him his middle stump after he’d made 45. At 149 for 9 the innings seemed as good as over – but then came Sri Lanka’s biggest and most unexpected setback.Hondo was joined by Panyangara, the last man, who had a dismal time with the bat in the recent one-day series. Immediately Panyangara showed his real talent, though, pulling Zoysa for four and shortly afterwards executing a perfect slog-sweep to hoist Murali, who was then one short of Walsh’s record, for six. With 32 not out he dominated the lively last-wicket stand, which realised exactly 50 before Murali finally produced a quicker off-stump yorker to bowl Hondo for 19.Murali’s record-equalling spell was the achievement of the day for Sri Lanka, although the more successful Zimbabwe batsmen were not afraid to hit him hard when the opportunity arose. Vaas’s later spells were much less threatening than his first one, while Zoysa, less dangerous than Vaas before lunch, finished up with three wickets.So far this match is following a predictable course and, barring something unusual, the Zimbabweans can expect a long, hard day in the field tomorrow, probably with more to come on Saturday. But they will keep trying.

Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has written to international and domestic umpires in the country, asking them to report bowlers with suspect actions. According to a report in The News, Shaharyar also provided umpires with a list of bowlers to observe, which included Shoaib Akhtar, Shabbir Ahmed, Riaz Afridi and Junaid Zia.In recent times, a number of Pakistani bowlers at the international level have been reported for a suspect action and advised to undergo remedial measures. In an attempt to avoid similar situations in the future, Shaharyar asked umpires to correct bowlers before it was too late, and to do their job without fear of criticism.While the ICC has put guidelines in place to define suspect actions, what has been notable is the reaction to umpires who report bowlers. In a recent case, Chris Broad, the match referee who reported Muttiah Muralitharan after Sri Lanka’s series against Australia, came under attack for socialising with Australian cricketers. While the accusation was on a different charge, it was widely perceived as an attempt to put Broad under pressure.