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England XI 274 (Hussain 86) beat University of West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI 119 (Harmison 4-17) and 70 (Hoggard 3-10, Giles 3-23, Jones 3-3) by an innings and 85 runs
Scorecard

England needed just two days to race to a comfortable and thoroughly convincing victory in their warm-up match in Kingston. After a fit-again Graham Thorpe had helped England to a respectable 274, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones tore into the batting as the University of West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI was blown away for a meagre 70 in their second innings.It was another productive day all round for England. Thorpe reassured themanagement that he had fully recovered from yesterday’s back spasm with a stylish 55, and the bowlers made light work of some tame batting.But, considering the inexperience of the opposition batsmen, Thorpe’sperformance will be the most pleasing aspect for England. After NasserHussain was squared up by a Jermaine Lawson pearler for 86, and PaulCollingwood, the other overnight batsman, was caught at midwicket off Jason Bennett, Thorpe took centre-stage. He made a cagey start, but soon got back into his groove, signalled with a confident pull for four off Ryan Nurse, followed by some of his trademark square-cuts. And that was just as well for England, as wickets tumbled at regular intervals at the other end.Andrew Flintoff was on the wrong end of a dodgy decision. After the ball hit Flintoff on his back pad, Bennett, the bowler, mouthed a mutedappeal. The umpire then surprisingly whipped up his finger, even though the ball was clearly slanting down leg side. Flintoff wasn’t a happy bunny, and he let the umpire know, standing his ground and giving him theeye. The sound of “Another One Bites the Dust” from the ground speakers didn’t help matters either.Chris Read flashed Dwayne Bravo to Dave Bernard at gully for a duck,then Giles was plumb lbw to Lawson for 2. But Thorpe proved what a vital cog he will be for England in the Tests. He conjured up the shot of the day, an elegant cover-drive off Lawson, and continued to build his side’s advantage with some dashing strokes all round the wicket. He finally fell midway through the afternoon, when he slapped a short one from Tonito Willett straight to Jason Haynes at midwicket.The new batsman Jones was positive from the outset. He smacked Ryan Cunningham back over the main stand and into the refreshment tents, and cut him for four next ball. But Jones was later bowled going for another big shot, and Steve Harmison lasted only a couple of balls as England’s innings petered out for 274, a lead of 155.The Vice-Chancellor’s XI made a sleepy start to their second innings, butEngland’s bowlers woke up after tea. Kennedy Otieno scoopedHoggard to Collingwood at mid-off, then Giles ripped one like a legbreakwhich gated the left-handed Haynes. Bravo was then torpedoed by a Hoggard grubber, and Bernard edged Giles to Flintoff at first slip.And they kept on coming … and going. Hoggard cleaned up Darren Sammy, Willett was lbw to Giles, and Jones provided the final flourish with three wickets as the innings lurched to 70 all out. Steve Tikolo, the Kenyan captain, was unable to bat as he was suffering from a dose of flu.More good news for England was that Mark Butcher came through a net session in the morning with little trouble. Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, rated his chances of making the first Test as 40-60. Fletcher reckons the top seven batting positions for the Test are sorted, assuming that Butcher makes it – but he admitted that he still needs to finalise the bowling combination, with Jones now back in the frame. “I’m pleased to have Jones back with us,” he said. “He was under a lot of pressure in the first innings, but he bowled well with good lines.”Freddie Auld is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo in London. He will be covering the first two Tests of England’s series in the Caribbean.

The final practice session of the Pakistan cricket team for Sunday’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 match against Namibia will be held on Saturday at 1000 hours at the De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis will later hold a pre-match press conference at the Stadium at approximately 1200 hours. All the journalists are invited to attend the press conference. There will also be an opportunity for vision and pictures during training (1030hrs – 1200hrs approx).Samiul Hasan
Media Manager
Pakistan Cricket Team
Mobile + 27 83 5065 828

1st day of 3High Wycombe:
Buckinghamshire 191 (S Chapman 4-36)
Northumberland 76-1Truro:
Oxfordshire 100 (CE Shreck 4-47; JCJ Stevens 6-23)
Cornwall 144-6Bury St Edmunds:
Staffordshire 315-4 (L Potter 158*, PF Shaw 95)
SuffolkCardiff:
Wales Minor Counties 293-9 dec (JPJ Sylvester 87, JH Langworth 54no)
Devon 7-1

ScorecardFile photo – Niroshan Dickwella lifted Sri Lanka A with 128 at a strike rate of 88.88•AFP

The first unofficial Test between New Zealand A and Sri Lanka A in Christchurch saw four centuries, with the match ending in a draw. Chasing 342, Sri Lanka A lost their openers early as Neil Wagner produced a double-strike in the tenth over. Five overs later, No.3 Minod Bhanuka was dismissed by Colin Munro but a 137-run partnership between Kithuruwan Vithanage and Roshen Silva propped their team up. Roshen struck 14 fours and one six and remained unbeaten on 120 when stumps were called on the final day with the Sri Lanka A score reading 274 for 6.Having been inserted, New Zealand A began strongly and ran up 470 on the back of centuries from opener Jeet Raval (152) and Henry Nicholls (144). Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay sparked a middle-order wobble and claimed figures of 5 for 107.In reply, opener Udara Jayasundera ensured that Sri Lanka A had a solid start of their own, though the opener opener Dhananjaya de Silva and Bhanuka were out off successive balls. Niroshan Dickwella then struck 128 off 144 balls to reduce the first-innings deficit to 112.Nicholls followed up his unbeaten century with 88 as the hosts declared at 229 to set Sri Lanka A a target of 342. Wagner, who took 1 for 80 in the first innings, had better returns in the second innings, taking four wickets including that of Vithanage and Nickwella.

A 142-run opening stand between Akil Mizra (54) and SPonnappa (95 not out) helped Karnataka stamp their supremacyover Goa as they ended the first day at 178 for 1 in theirfirst innings of their P Ramachandra Rao Trophy tournamentmatch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Earlier Goawere bundled out for 80 in their first innings.Opting to bat, Goa were rocked by the Karnataka seamers SteveLazarus (4 for 43) and Chaitra (2 for 18) who ran through thetop order. Only two batsmen skipper A Jadhav (17) and S Jakati(17) were able to reach double figures. Then Karnataka’sspinner Dharmichand (4 for 10) brought the innings to a swiftend by cleaning up Goa’s lower order. The innings lasted just36.1 overs.In reply, Mizra and Ponnappa forged their splendid centurypartnership off 39.2 overs. Goa had a lone success in the formof the wicket of Mizra when he offered a return chance toJakati. During his 148-minute stay at the crease, Mizra faced120 balls and hit four boundaries. Then Amith Kumar (15 notout) and Ponnappa remained unbeaten when stumps were drawn.Ponnappa has so far faced 158 balls and found the boundaryropes nine times and cleared it once.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGeorge Munsey struck 11 fours during his 36-ball 62•ICC/Donald MacLeod

Offspinner Michael Leask and left-arm spinner Mark Watt claimed three wickets apiece, as Scotland opened the World T20 Qualifier with a resounding nine-wicket win over Scotland in Edinburgh. The spinners rolled over UAE for 109 inside 19 overs, before George Munsey’s boundary-laden 62 off 36 balls helped the co-hosts ace the chase with ten overs to spare.After being inserted on a tacky wicket, UAE had a quick start, reaching 21 in two overs. Faizan Asif, who was reprieved on 12 by Josh Davey at mid-on, added five more before Alasdair Evans struck. Davey would then drop Shaiman Anwar in the seventh over, palming it over the deep-midwicket boundary but redeemed himself three balls later, having Shaiman caught at deep cover off Leask.The dismissal of Shaiman sparked a collapse; UAE lost six wickets in as many overs before folding for 109. Leask and Watt dismantled the middle and lower order with combined figures of 8-0-48-6. Besides the top three, only Umair Ali and No.10 Mohammad Naveed managed to move into double-digit scores.The stage was later ceded to Munsey and Kyle Coetzer, who began the small chase with a gallery of boundaries as Scotland shaved 76 runs off the target in six overs. Coetzer, who had been drafted into the squad following batsman Freddie Coleman’s withdrawal due to personal circumstances, laid down the marker for the chase, taking five fours off Manujula Guruge’s second over. Munsey soon took charge and reeled off six fours and a six in the next two overs. He raised his fifty off 29 balls and stayed there till the end alongside Callum McLeod even as Coetzer was bowled for 39. MacLeod put the seal on the chase with a muscled pull and a carve through backward point. With the exception of Naveed, all the UAE bowlers were left nursing economy rates of over 11 an over.Eventually, UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir was left ruing his side’s reckless strokeplay, calling for more responsibility.”This was a 150-plus wicket and we need to be more responsible, especially in the batting department. We had a bad day and we need to move on,” Tauqir said.

Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC’s chief match referee, has requested Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting to get together for a “cool-off” session in Perth on Monday. Madugalle has been appointed by the ICC to act as a mediator between the two sides.The relationship between Australia and India plummeted after Harbhajan Singh was found guilty of making a racist comment to Andrew Symonds on the third day of the Sydney Test and was slapped with a three-Test ban by Mike Procter, the match referee. Brad Hogg, the Australian spinner, was also charged with making an offensive remark to Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the second Test and will have his hearing on Monday.While Kumble stressed the need for both captains to sit down and settle the differences, Ponting did not feel the same way. However, he too has softened his approach and declared that he would ask his team-mates to assemble in Perth and review a “few things they had done during the Sydney Test”. Ponting had also mentioned that he was not happy with his own conduct when he stayed put at the crease in the first innings after being given out.Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, has offered his services to defuse the situation and act as a peacemaker between India and Australia. A highly respected figure in India due to his cricketing feats as well as charity work, Waugh, however, feels there is no need for such a move right now.”If they needed that, I would do it,” Waugh told the . “I really don’t think it is at that stage, but if it was seen as something that had to be done, yeah, I would do it. I have already spoken to some players from both sides, and I really don’t think there is a need [to mediate].”Anything in sport can be sorted out. It might be nothing more than a few players putting their personal opinions aside and being committed to going forward.”

Ireland 279 for 3 (Carroll 100, J Bray 89, E Morgan 43) beat Eastern Province XI 219 (Wessels 62, J Smuts 60, T Johnston 4-34, D Langford-Smith 3-39) by 60 runsTwenty-three-year-old Dublin postman Kenny Carroll has given Irish coach Adrian Birrell a selection headache, after the Railway Union opening bat scored a marvellous century in a 60-run win over Eastern Province.The batting disappointment of yesterday was quickly erased as Carroll and Jeremy Bray shared an unbeaten opening stand of 183 in just 34 overs, before both batsmen retired to give the others practice ahead of the World League which gets under way on Monday. Carroll struck 13 fours and one six in his score of 100, while Bray was just a little slower, taking 117 deliveries for his 89, which included 12 fours.The only batsman to be dismissed was Eoin Morgan of Middlesex, who looked in supreme touch in his knock of 43 off just 30 balls. He struck three sixes and the same number of fours being being caught off the bowling of Newton. Northants new signing Niall O’ Brien scored 24 not out, while Andrew White also finished unbeaten on 9, as the Irish racked up a formidable 279 for 3 in their 50 overs.However, Eastern Province set about the total in positive fashion, and thanks to a 104 run stand for the second wicket between Jan Smuts (60), and Rikki Wessels (62), were well placed at 157 for 1 in the 30th over. Ireland’s most capped player, Kyle McCallan made the decisive breakthrough, having Smuts caught by Andy White at backward square leg. When skipper Trent Johnston then had Wessels caught at midwicket, again by White, in the next over, it sparked a dramatic collapse.Johnston took 4 for 34, while Dave Langford-Smith came back well to finish with 3 for 39. The other wicket takers were Boyd Rankin, 2 for 37, and McCallan, 1 for 35 in his 10-over spell. Easter Province finished on 219 all out in the 48th over, giving the Irish a welcome win.Coach Adrian Birrell was delighted with the performance, “We batted superbly, with everyone taking advantage of the fantastic batting conditions on offer. Carroll continues to impress, and I’m delighted for him. It’s the result of hard work put in over the last few years, and his time at the ICC Training Camp has taken his game to a completely new level. It gives me plenty of options both at the top and in the middle of the order.”He also had special praise for both Johnston and McCallan. ” The two guys bowled extremely well at a time when Eastern Province looked like they were getting on top. They tightened things up, applied the pressure, and got their rewards as the run rate increased. The fielding has been sharp, and it’s something I’ve worked on a lot over the winter. I’m hoping for more of the same in the day/night game tomorrow.”

Pakistan 78 for 2 beat New Zealand 77 (Anwar Ali 5-34) by eight wickets
ScorecardZimbabwe captain Sean Williams said before the tournament he was targeting England as a must-win game and he led from the front as his side secured a two-wicket win that ensured they topped Group D.They now face holders Pakistan in the quarter-finals while England have an equally daunting task against Bangladesh. Williams’ 3 for 35 was crucial as spin again dominated, and Zimbabwe knocked over England for 172 and then chased down the score for the loss of eight wickets with 2.5 overs in hand.”I feel relieved after what I said beforehand,” Williams said. “I am also very proud of my players because we stuck to our plans, worked hard and got our rewards.” That plan involved spin, spin and more spin as Williams used four slow bowlers, including himself, to get through 34.5 overs between them. And in the face of that trial by spin England were found wanting.They did reach 157 for 4 at one point but the pressure exerted by the spinners and the need to press on in the later stages of the innings prompted a collapse as their last six wickets tumbled for just 15 runs.The Zimbabwe spin quartet was led by Williams, who dismissed Rob Woodman (6), Rory Hamilton-Brown (47) and last man Andy Miller (4), but the other spinners – all of them legbreak bowlers – also played their parts. Ryan Higgins (2 for 33) picked up the important top-order wickets of Varun Chopra (31) and Ali (19) while Gary Balance (who bowled the last over in the win against Nepal) took 3 for 21. Balance mopped up the tail while Graeme Cremer, although wicketless, did an effective job of containment, conceding just 28 runs in his ten-over spell. Chopra and Hamilton-Brown were the only England batsmen to pass 30, although Ben Wright chipped in with a useful 27.”The pitch was one where the slower you bowled it the harder it was to hit so I told Gary (Balance) to slow things down,” said Williams. “It was important for us to top the group but now we have a tough game against Pakistan. They will be out to prove a point but maybe they will be complacent and we hope to use that against them.”Balance followed up his bowling exploits with a timely contribution with the bat. While wickets were tumbling around him he dug in to make a crucial 47 batting at No. 3 and pulled his side around from a precarious 29 for 3. Despite Balance’s Man-of-the-Match effort England were still favourites when they took Zimbabwe’s seventh wicket with 65 required but Cremer (29) and `Chamu’ Chibhabha, with a nerveless unbeaten 29, saw their side through that sticky period.England’s spinners were also excellent, with Graeme White (0 for 24), Nick James (2 for 25) and Ali (2 for 29) all impressing and pace bowler Andy Miller (2 for 28) also looking good early on.But in the end they did not have enough runs to play with. “The batting let us down again today,” said Ali afterwards. “Their spinners bowled really well but we did not play them all that well. The positive is that it is good to get a game like that out of our system.”England’s next opponents Bangladesh gave them a torrid time on a tour there in November and December and England returned home from that trip without winning a match. “All we can do is to go out there and give it everything and maybe Bangladesh might underestimate us. In some ways it was good to play like we did today because we can learn from that when we play tomorrow,” added Ali.England were without opener Mark Stoneman and seam bowler Huw Waters, both of them suffering from stomach upsets.

Mark Butcher could return to action in Surrey’s second County Championship game of the new season as he continues his recovery from the wrist injury that forced him home during England’s tour of South Africa this winter. April 27 is being suggested as Butcher’s possible return, when Surrey face Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens.Butcher will be keen to get back to full fitness quickly to enable him to have as many opportunities as possible to stake a claim for the No. 3 slot in the Test match side. Robert Key took his place when he was forced out of the Cape Town Test with his wrist injury, sustained during practice at the start of the tour. There is now increased competition for batting places in the England top six after the dramatic success of Kevin Pietersen and the fact that Ian Bell’s claims for an extended run can’t be ignored for much longer.It is unlikely that Butcher will force his way back for the two Tests against Bangladesh as the selectors will want to give Key another opportunity and Pietersen will also be in the mix, but his hardened Test experience could come in vital if England suffer any injuries during the Ashes series.