Glamorgan`s 51 run defeat of Hampshire last night in their floodlit Norwich Union matchat Cardiff means that the Welsh county are almost certainly guaranteed promotion, and withfurther games to come this weekend, Glamorgan could clinch not only a move up to Division One,but also the Division Two title as well.As the table below shows, the victory over Hampshire gives Glamorgan a four point lead overDurham, in addition to a game in hand over the north-eastern county, and fourth place Hampshire.

P W Pts Net Run Rate1st Glamorgan 13 10 42 +17.662nd Durham 14 8 38 + 2.293rd Worcs 13 8 34 + 8.044th Hampshire 14 8 34 + 3.38

The top three teams will be promoted, and should teams finish on equal points, the positions are decidedby firstly the number of wins, and then run rate. As the table shows, Glamorgan have a far superior runrate and at the moment have a greater number of wins.A win at Worcester would give Glamorgan 46 points and 11 victories, and even if Durham win theirtwo remaining games they would have 46 points but only 10 victories.

Glamorgan v Worcestershire at Worcester on Sept. 2ndv Sussex at Hove on Sept. 4th (floodlit)v Middlesex at Cardiff on Sept. 16thDurham v Essex at Chester-le-Street on Sept. 2ndv Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street on Sept. 9thWorcestershire v Glamorgan at Worcester on Sept. 2ndv Durham at Chester-le-Street on Sept. 9thv Essex at Worcester on Sept. 16thHampshire v Middlesex at Southampton on Sept. 9thv Sussex at Hove on Sept. 16th

Yorkshire paved the way for an exciting climax to the season by making a surprise declaration against Essex at Scarborough when trailing by 146 runs on the first innings.As soon as Yorkshire had reached 104 for five and avoided the follow-on, skipper David Byas injected much-needed life into the rain-hit game by making his declaration and by the close of the third day Essex were 48 for three and leading by 194.Essex, who resumed their first innings in the morning on 99 for three, collapsed after lunch to 250 all out, the last four wickets going down for 19 runs in six overs.Star of the show for Yorkshire was Matthew Hoggard who warmed up for his winter tours with England by capturing career-best figures of six for 51.He was far more accurate than his new ball partner, Steven Kirby, who went for 81 runs in 15 overs, sending down 15 no-balls and failing to claim a wicket. In one over, Graham Napier smashed him for 18 off three consecutive deliveries with a four and two sixes, one of which was hit off a no-ball.Ashley Cowan and Justin Bishop both picked up a couple of early wickets as a number of poor strokes reduced Yorkshire to 37 for four but Anthony McGrath helped stage a recovery with a solid 29 before being trapped lbw by Napier.The brightest of Yorkshire’s batting came from Byas who middled the ball well and he had advanced to 41 when he hit the boundary which brought the declaration.Hoggard struck a further blow with his second ball which dismissed Darren Robinson lbw and it became nine for two when Richard Clinton was caught at point off Kirby.Former Yorkshire all-rounder Paul Grayson batted well but after making 33 he mistimed a pull at Kirby and was caught by Vic Craven but soon afterwards the last four overs of the day were lost to bad light.

Greg Mail has delivered the runs but he believes Stuart MacGill can deliver victory for NSW over South Australia in its Pura Cup match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.With two full days to play, NSW lead by 451 runs after finishing the second day at 9-415.Mail was unbeaten on 142 – his second first class century – anchoring a Blues attack which smashed 399 runs in the day.It was a remarkable turnaround from the first day when 20 wickets fell as NSW made 188 and the Redbacks replied with 142.Mail expected captain Shane Lee would declare in the morning, depriving the opener of being the first from NSW to carry his bat since Alan Turner 32 years ago.”I’d hope 450 will be enough runs,” Mail said.”The pitch is starting to crack up a little bit and there’s some variable bounce.”Peter McIntyre was turning the ball quite a bit today and I’m sure Stuart will turn it a lot – he can turn it on anything.”NSW resumed this morning with Mail on one and Michael Slater on 15. Throughout the day, Mail focused on building partnerships with some of his more illustrious team-mates.”The plan was for me to bat for a long time and to have other guys score runs around me.”A lot of our guys score quickly and pile on the shots – I just try to play to my limitations.”The tall 23-year-old formed significant partnerships with Slater (49), Mark Waugh (51), Mark Higgs (53) and MacGill (53). In each of those stands, Mail played the steady hand while his team-mates blazed quick half-centuries.And no half-century was faster than MacGill’s. He brought up his 50 off 26 balls, with seven fours and a six over midwicket off Darren Lehmann.In terms of time – 29 minutesit was the equal second-fastest half-century on record for NSW.Tibby Cotter took 18 minutes to score 50 in 1911-12 while the great Victor Trumper also took 29 minutes to reach the mark in 1905-06. No record of balls was available for those players.It was a wonderfully improvised knock by MacGill, who really had just one shot – an unorthodox swat which he could hit anywhere in the arc from cover-point tomidwicket.”I saw he was up there with Victor Trumper – no doubt we’ll be hearing about that for a while,” Mail said of his brash batting partner.In contrast, Mail took 202 minutes to bring up his half-century while his ton came up in a shade under five hours off 241 balls.His innings wasn’t without its mistakes – he survived a strong lbw appeal from Mark Harrity early in the day – but his edges all flew safely.He showed great concentration and judicial shot selection mixed with compact defence against an attack which struggled to create chances.He batted for 395 minutes and faced 299 balls, hitting 16 fours.Part-time spinner Lehmann was the leading wicket-taker for SA, with 3-42.

India has yet again lost the first Test of an away series. It comes as no surprise then to see Sourav Ganguly and his men being roasted by all and sundry. Rahul Dravid opening the Indian innings, meanwhile, has also figured prominently in many dinner-table discussions across the country.According to present indications, Dravid might continue at the top of the order in the second Test too, despite his failures at Bloemfontein. Ganguly said in the post-Test conference that it was Dravid who volunteered to take up the job. If that indeed was the case, there was very good logic behind having him, and not the untried Connor Williams, do the job. As for those saying that Dravid was being treated as a sacrificial goat and that we would have been better off making an offering of a lesser player, say Deep Dasgupta, is that not taking a tinted and very negative view of the whole affair?A lack of a stable opening pair has been the bane of Indian cricket for a long time. In fact, since Sunil Gavaskar’s glorious leave-taking at Bangalore, which saw him break up with long-time partner Krishnamachari Srikkanth, there has been no pair that has offered either stability or hope. Shiv Sunder Das’ arrival on the international scene last year has meant that we now have at least one opener of potential. But the problem of a proper opening partner for Das has persisted.

Sadagoppan Ramesh, his partner during the Sri Lankan tour, for instance, has so many technical flaws that, based on them, you can probably write a best-seller, photos and all, on how not to open a Test. Connor Williams, the latest in the list, is another opener whose technique has not yet been fully tested at the highest level.So, considering all this, Dravid being promoted to opener can only be seen as a good move with the future in mind. The 28-year-old has an excellent defensive technique and has scored tons of runs against the new ball. In fact, as a No. 3 batsman, home and away, he has scored 2,931 runs with seven hundreds and 15 fifties at an average of 56.36. If we narrow our search down to his innings as a one-down batsman on foreign soil, his record is all the more impressive – 1,405 runs, including four hundreds, at an average of 58.54. No Indian batsman across the eras has done better. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the few other Indian batsmen to do well abroad, for instance, has an average of 54.52 in comparison.On most of the above-mentioned occasions, Dravid would have, considering our opening stands in recent times, walked in during the first 10 overs of the innings. That he has scored so many runs at such an excellent average indubitably proves that he has the technique to open the innings. Moving to his perceived lack of comfort in the opener’s slot, that is an argument best stowed away if Ganguly used volunteered in the sense that all dictionaries use it. And knowing Ganguly and his straight-talking ways, it could not have been otherwise.

Let me then end by saying that we would do well if we avoid reading too much into Dravid’s first two dismissals. The Indian vice-captain has in the past bounced back spectacularly after failures in the first Test of a series; the previous South African tour, the 1998-99 New Zealand tour, and the recent series against Australia at home are all noteworthy instances. For all we know, if Dravid is left at peace to prove himself, he might well do that against what is the weakest South African attack in years. And Dravid’s success could consequently make a world of difference to the Indian team in the coming years.

In was nightmare for the sponsors, but a dream for Colombo’s policeauthorities, who were reportedly in a quandary as to whether to imposeanother post-election city-wide curfew in the afternoon, as Chaminda Vaasensured the first game of the LG Abans triangular ODI series was theshortest ever One-Day International.By midday, after just two hours, Sri Lanka had wrapped up a nine-wicket winhaving bowled out Zimbabwe for just 38, the lowest ever total in ODIcricket, surpassing the 43 scored by Pakistan against West Indies at CapeTown in 1992/3. They then knocked off the required runs in just 4.2 overs.For the second time in the week, it was Vaas who created the mayhem, asZimbabwe’s shocked batsmen wandered across their stumps like rabbits caughtfull-beam. The 27-year-old left-armer took the first eight wickets to falland looked to be heading for all ten before Muttiah Muralitharan took twowickets in four balls to finish off the innings.His eight for 19 was the best ever bowling analysis in one-day cricket’s31-year history, surpassing the seven for 30 taken by Muralitharan last yearagainst India at Sharjah.Vaas bowled well with the new white ball, which does swing more than the redone, and Sri Lanka had won a good toss in the morning on a greasy SinhaleseSports Club pitch, but there could be no proper explanation for such amiserly total. This was no minefield and Vaas has bowled better for lessreward – in fact he probably swung the ball more prodigiously in his lastTest match.But Vaas still deserves great credit for record-breaking spell, which wouldhave pleased no one more than his wife who was celebrating her birthdayalone at home today. Vaas has worked extremely hard during the past year,both on his fitness and skills. Coach Dav Whatmore praised his “focusedattitude to training” and believed that “performances like this don’t happenby accident.” His performance was a victory for the humble hard-workingmedium pacer, who success depends on the twin virtues of accuracy andmovement. Today he was spot on.Zimbabwean captain, Stuart Carlisle, called it a “freak result” and hopedthat his side could quickly flush today’s disturbing events out of theirsystem tomorrow, when they take on the West Indies. But the tourists will beconcerned that they struggled so much against the swinging ball; a weaknessthat cost them both practice matches against young Sri Lankan board XI’s.Vaas started his wicket-taking spree with the first delivery of the match; afull-length inswinger that curved onto the toe of opener Dion Ebrahim.Stuart Carlisle then added 11 runs for the second wicket with Grant Flower -a noteworthy partnership in the context – before Vaas severely dentedZimbabwean hopes by dismissing both Flower brothers in his third over: Grant(1) was bowled and Andy (0) was caught behind for a second-ball duck (11 forthree).Carlisle added a couple of boundaries with Craig Wishart in 25 minute stand,but Vaas’s sixth over singled the start of the end as the last seven wicketsfell for just 11 runs.Nuwan Zoysa has taken a Test hat-trick but no Sri Lankan had taken a one-dayhat-trick till today, when Vaas had Carlisle (16), trying to be positive,caught at third man, Wishart (6) and Tatrenda Taibu (0) trapped lbw withsharply swinging induckers (27 for six).Heath Streak (0) was dismissed in a similar manner and Mluleki Nkala (1)edged to Sangakkara behind the stumps (32 for eight).Sanath Jayasuriya then called up Muralitharan and the off-spinner zipped histhird ball through the defenses of Travis Friend (4) and had last man, HenryOlonga, caught at slip next ball.Sri Lanka started badly, losing Avishka Gunawardene in the first over, butstill cruised to victory as Marvan Atapattu stroked four fours in his16-ball 23 not out and Jayasuriya walloped 13 from seven balls.Zimbabwe now will play West Indies tomorrow and they will take some heartfrom the fact that the West Indies tour slipped further into disarray lastnight when their premier fast bowler, who would have been a real handful onthis SSC pitch, was sent home for disciplinary reasons.

Friday afternoon in Colombo was anything but normal, as a new governmentswept to power, a countrywide curfew was imposed and shop shelves werestripped bare after panic buying. But, whilst the country as a wholeprepares for a new era, the cricket team hopes to continue with business asusual.Sri Lanka’s one-day form during the past two years has been exceptional andwith a transitional period now completed a youthful, settled and experiencedside start the LG Abans triangular ODI series against Zimbabwe and WestIndies as overwhelming favourites.Sri Lanka have not lost a one-day competition at home for over three years,but captain Sanath Jayasuriya and coach Dav Whatmore warned today againstcomplacency."We cannot underestimate Zimbabwe and West Indies; both are good sides andZimbabwe have been having plenty of one-day practice during the past twomonths," said Jayasuriya.Whatmore added: "It is good to go into the series having won a Test series,but with the exception of Bangladesh and Kenya, I don’t think there are anyeasy games. And if you go out thinking it’s going to be easy, then you areasking for trouble."The home side are set to revert back to six batsmen, five bowler formation,with recalled fast bowling all-rounder Suresh Perera likely to bat at numberseven."Suresh (Perera) has rehabilitated pretty well and is in the squad on meritafter two good performances for the Board XI side against Zimbabwe," saidWhatmore. "He should be confidant of being successful. He gives us an extraedge with the bat if we need to accelerate in the middle order and greaterbowling options."Pace bowler Nuwan Zoysa will also play, ahead of Charitha Buddika Fernandoand Prabath Nissanka, who were both blooded in Sharjah and could still playlater in the tournament, especially if Sri Lanka qualify early for thefinal.Leg-spinner Upul Chandana comes back and will contest the second spinnersslot with Kumar Dharmasena. Sri Lanka may even play three spinners for thegames at Premadasa International Stadium, where the pitches tend to be slowturners.The unavailability of injured wicket-keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana gives KumarSangakkara an opportunity to stake his claim for a permanent place in theone-day team. He is expected to bat in the middle order, a position that heappears unsuited to, but Whatmore didn’t rule out the possibility of achance in the top order at some stage.Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka’s opponents in the first game at the Sinhalese SportsClub on Saturday, come into the tournament with three wins againstBangladesh under their belt, but two early tour losses during their warm-upgames.Captain Stuart Carlisle, though, was upbeat about his team’s chances: "Ithink we have a good chance of getting to the finals. Sri Lanka are going tobe very hard to beat: they are on top of the world at the moment and playinggood cricket. But we have had some good contests against the West Indiesrecently and it depends on who is going to play the best cricket. If we canget to the final then anything can happen."As always the touring batsmen have to mindful about Muttiah Muralitharan andCarlisle admitted that the 29-year old was uppermost in their thoughts."Everyone has got to develop their own game plan against Muralitharan," hesaid. "It is a matter of picking the straight ball. Some may sweep, some mayhit over the top; it depends on the individual concerned."But Zimbabwe’s chances were dealt a blow on Friday with injuries topromising all-rounder Sean Ervine (suspected stress fracture of the back)and seam bowler Gary Brent (shoulder). Brent still could play if he passes alate fitness test, but it looks like they will have to make a choice betweenMuleki Nkala and Trevor Gripper for the final slot.Sri Lanka:Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Avishka Gunawardene, MahelaJayawardene, Russel Arnold, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Suresh Perera,Kumar Dharmasena, Upul Chandana, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, NuwanZoysa, Charitha Buddika Fernando, Prabath NissankaZimbabwe:Stuart Carlisle, Grant Flower, Andy Flower, Dion Ebrahim, Craig Wishart,Douglas Marillier, Tatendra Taibu, Travis Friend, Henry Olonga, HeathStreak, Mluleki Nkala, Trevor Gripper, Gary Brent, Sean Ervine,

At a glance it would seem that the Barbados CricketAssociation (BCA) vs Barbados Cricket League (BCL) match wasa waste of time.That’s, of course, if you had to go by the result a smashing426 run win for the BCA team.Some blamed the defeat on the composition of the BCL squadwhich was virtually the same eleven that played in the BCA’sfirst division and placed second from bottom.Many believed that a new slate of players should have beengiven the opportunity to parade their talents.Honestly, though, I don’t know if that would have made toobig a difference but I wonder whether the fundamentalconcept of the game is still relevant.It was basically the re-enactment of an old tradition whichcame to an end in the early 1970s after the BCL was admittedto the BCA’s first division in 1969.The once annual match would give the stars drawn from thevarious BCL’s zones a chance not only to play against thecream of the BCA but the opportunity to press for a place inthe Barbados team.This match launched the regional and subsequentinternational careers of many a West Indian great. Playerssuch as like Seymour Nurse, Charlie Griffith, ClairemontDepeiza and the late Sir Conrad Hunte all made their way tothe top via this route.But, lest we forget, there were sociological reasons for theformation of the BCL in the first place.It was born out of a rigid class structure which at the timewould have prevented people from certain backgrounds frommaking certain leaps up the social ladder.Therefore, many of the BCL players at that time would havefelt they had a real chance to break social barriers throughcommanding performances. Some achieved it.There was a hunger to succeed because you wanted a betterlife, on and off the field.Today, of course, many of the social barriers that were anobstacle to progress are no longer there.The sacrifices made by others have made life a lot easierfor the present generation and I wonder whether this isfully appreciated by those to whom the baton has beenpassed.It is really in this context that I view the dismalperformance of the BCL in the recent match moreso than thecomposition of the team.Like everything else, if you don’t have any knowledge orappreciation of your history you will be incapable ofsustaining any gains made by those who suffered in the questfor change.The current crop of players may not see themselves in theforefront of social change because, let’s face it, if theywanted to and if they qualified, they could easily get intoa club for which their forerunners were once barred. What’sleft to fight for?If not social change surely the good name of the BCLdeserved a more determined defence.With scores of 86 and 80 the BCL players did not look asthough they were fighting for anything.And this is not to take anything away from the excellentperformances of people such as Ryan Austin, Sulieman Bennand Philo Wallace.To be frank, any further attempt to re-invent the past willonly make sense if those now entrusted with paving the wayof the future fully understand what was at stake then andnow.

Karnataka pulled off a three-wicket win against Delhi in the finals of the HSBC National Cricket Tournament for the Blind at the SPIC-YMCA ground in Chennai. The final was the obverse of the last league match between the same two teams yesterday at the Southern Railway Ground, a match that was won by Delhi. Shekar Nayak was the chief architect of today’s victory with a majestic ton.Delhi won the toss and decided to bat first, echoing yesterday’s decision. They scored 291 for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 40 overs. Delhi openers Ram Karan and Pratap Bisht batted splendidly and added a mammoth 177 for the first wicket before the former fell to a direct hit from Manjunath after making 65 (74 balls, 3×4). Bisht made 39 (110 balls, 1×4), but his effort contributed 78 runs to the team score as he was completely blind.Barring Sunil Kadyan, the rest of Delhi’s batsmen failed to impress; Kadyan remained unbeaten on 40 off just 36 deliveries with two hits to the ropes. The Karnataka bowlers continued with their habit of gifting extras, with 53 wides and 25 no-balls featuring in the 86 extras. Manjunath was the pick of the Karnataka bowlers with three for 33 from his eight overs. Mahesh had a good day in the field, picking up two wickets and also effecting two stumpings.Chasing 292, Karnataka reached the target with just 11 balls to spare. Shekar Nayak was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match for his mammoth 161 off 138 balls with 13 fours. He won the match singlehandedly for Karnataka today, with the extras (62) being the next highest individual score.Nethraj gave good company to Nayak and scored 20 runs and contributing 40 to the team total. Like the Delhi middle order, the Karnataka middle order too failed to score runs. In fact, towards the end, Karnataka lost wickets in a hurry. When even Nayak was dismissed, Ravikumar held his nerve and made an important run-a-ball 17 not out. For Delhi, Gaur, Ram Karan and Ramesh Kumar picked a wicket each.Nayak also won the Man of the Series award in the partially sighted category for his consistent performances through the four days of the tournament. Bisht was the Man of the Series in the totally blind category and Mahesh in the partially blind category.The awards ceremony after the match was presided over by Ashok Kumbhat, Honorary Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Prakash Kuruvilla, Senior Manager – South India, HSBC, was the chief guest, and he handed over the trophies and prizes. Badri Seshadri, MD, CricInfo India Pvt. Ltd., offered a speech of thanks at the end of the ceremony, bringing to an end a tournament that should go a long way in promoting the worthwhile cause of blind cricket.

Unlikely as it might have seemed a month ago, the player who may be under most threat of missing out on the New Zealand team for the World Cup is Chris Harris.The most experienced player in New Zealand’s One-Day International history, Harris has played most matches 216, and scored 3955 runs with a strike rate of 67 while he has also taken 192 wickets with an economy rate of 4.31.An outstanding servant of the game, Harris has fashioned a superb record and has become known as a reliable performer under duress with many outstanding innings in the latter stages of New Zealand batting efforts.As legendary figures go in New Zealand ODI cricket, Harris is near the top of the pole.No-one has played more matches, taken more wickets or taken more catches than the 87 he has held. And probably no-one has made more run outs or saved more runs.But the quandary the New Zealand selectors face is the advance of several other all-rounders, with whom he is in competition for a place. Scott Styris and Kyle Mills are the obvious contenders because Jacob Oram has leap-frogged them both to claim his place in emphatic fashion over the last week. The call-up of Michael Mason as a replacement for Shane Bond is another indication of a possible line the selectors are taking.At best, Harris may be in the side but more of a bit player, dependent on conditions, for his opportunity than has been the case in the past.And if the selectors have been watching Harris closely in State Shield, they will have noted he was out for a duck and had 34 runs hit from his six overs in the first match and did better with 45 off 75 balls and two for 29 off 10 in the second game.Mills had a second chance for New Zealand in their second ODI at Napier. Styris was also out for a duck in Northern Districts’ match against Auckland while bowling he conceded only seven runs from his first seven overs. Then in ND’s game against Canterbury he scored the match-winning 91 off 105 balls to secure his place.Pressure has clearly been on Craig McMillan to do better than in the last few months, but he scored a century in Pakistan and had two scores of 83 and 69 in the West Indies so as an incumbent he has experience and performance on his side.For the rest however, the side picks itself.It seems Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle will open the innings. Mathew Sinclair has taken his chances at No 3. McMillan will be at No 4 with Lou Vincent at No 5 and Chris Cairns at No 6 should he prove to be fit. Oram shapes at No 7 and Brendon McCullum at No 8. That leaves room for Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey and Bond in the 11 of preference. Missing are Andre Adams and Styris who are likely to be in the touring party. Either one of them could replace Sinclair or Vincent depending on the preferences for matches. So that leaves two more spots to be filled. Fighting for them are Harris, Paul Hitchcock, Mills and now, it seems, Mason.Whether the selectors see the necessity for both Harris and Hitchcock will determine Mills’ fate, with Mason the genuine outsider.That is how close the call is going to be for the selectors.It is difficult to see anyone coming from outside this group of players but there has rarely been a World Cup selection without one surprise in it.This could be the World Cup side: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Andre Adams, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Paul Hitchcock.