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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.

It is appropriate that Bangladesh should be hosting the Under-19 World Cup in an Olympic year, because when the dust has settled and the 16 competing nations have gone their separate ways, the benefits to the country’s sporting infrastructure should be every bit as lasting as the memories of the tournament.The fifth U19 World Cup is officially launched tomorrow evening in an opening ceremony at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu National Stadium, before the show gets fully underway on February 15. For Bangladesh, who open their campaign against New Zealand in Dhaka, it is the second part of a hugely important month in their development, with a senior tour of Zimbabwe taking place concurrently.There had never been much doubt that public interest in the World Cup would be huge, but already ticket sales have exceeded demand. All the original 28,000 tickets for the group matches in Bogra sold out well in advance, including 10,000 for the opening fixture between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe on February 15. Even the less fashionable match-ups have attracted strong support, with 9000 tickets for Zimbabwe’s games against Australia and Canada having been snapped up.”I have been very impressed with the enthusiasm that cricket fans in Bogra have shown for these matches,” said Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the ICC. “I hope that the feats of these international players will inspire local youngsters to try and follow in their footsteps.” Their chances of following those footsteps will have been significantly enhanced by the creation of Bogra’s District Stadium, one of several Government-funded projects to promote the infrastructure of Bangladeshi cricket.”It is always exciting to return to a country where cricket is the No. 1 sport,” said Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, who was in Dhaka last November for the media launch of the event. “I know that there is a lot of interest in the U19 World Cup throughout the country and I look forward to witnessing this with my own eyes.”Mani and Speed will attend the opening ceremony, where the chief guest will be Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. All 16 competing nations will attend the show, before flying off to compete in four group stages in different parts of the country. Mani was enthusiastic about what lay in store, saying: “I am sure the opening ceremony will provide a spectacular start to what promises to be an intriguing event.”For England, the tournament provides a chance to emulate the class of 1998, who won the cup in South Africa by beating New Zealand by seven wickets in the final. In the two subsequent tournaments, however, they have managed a solitary victory over Test-playing opposition, but this time round have had the best possible preparation, with access to the new Academy in Loughborough, and a full fortnight in Malaysia to acclimatise to the heat and humidity. They are drawn alongside South Africa, Uganda and Nepal in the Chittagong-based group, and must be a safe bet to progress to the second round.This year’s defending champions, as befits their era of effortless dominance, are Australia, for whom the wicketkeeper Adam Crossthwaite is the only player to have taken part in the 2002 event in New Zealand. On that occasion, he kept wicket in all eight matches, claiming 11 catches – including two in the final – and four stumpings. He also scored 102 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 129.62.Future international cricketers will abound at the event, but there will also be a smattering of current stars. The West Indian fast bowler, Ravi Rampaul, is flying out directly from the senior tour to South Africa, while three of the Bangladeshi squad – Nafis Iqbal, Talha Jubair and Enamul Haque – have also played international cricket.With 54 matches crammed into three weeks, it promises to be a bustling tournament, and one which goes some way towards putting Bangladesh firmly on the international map.

Derbyshire CCC have today secured the signatures of Adrian Pierson as Club Coach on a one-year contract, and Pakistani international cricketer Shahid Afridi as replacement second overseas player for the period of April and May 2003.Afridi, an aggressive all round cricketer, has signed initially for the first two months of the season, given that Nathan Astle is presently contracted to Derbyshire between June and September 2003.However, Astle’s chances of joining up with the Club have been the subject of debate following his recent knee injury, and Derbyshire await a report from New Zealand Cricket before taking any further action on a potential replacement for Astle, or an extension of Afridi’s contract, should it be required."Being able to sign an exciting cricketer such as Shahid is a further boost to the Club, and evidence that high quality players want to join our promising squad,” said Derbyshire’s chief executive John Smedley.”As coach, Adrian Pierson will continue the good work as we seek to perform to a high standard in all competitions.”

There is a new row brewing at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) surrounding the unauthorised investment of US$3 million on the stock market. It appears that Chief Financial Officer, Richard Jodhan, along with Executive Secretary, Andrew Sealy, last year signed documents with a Wall Street brokerage company and invested the sum of money in high risk equity stocks without the board’s authority.A select committee, which was headed by Antiguan banker and former Leeward Islands batsman Enoch Lewis, reported to the WICB’s board that “after reviewing the documents provided by Merrill Lynch… we found no evidence of such authority and power being vested in these officers.”Former WICB president Pat Rousseau, in a statement last week, said: “I consider the appointment of Mr. Jodhan (to the interim management committee) improper and irregular.” In his statement Rousseau also suggested that action should be taken against Sealy, for allegedly “signing documents without authority for the investment of the money with Merrill Lynch”.The Lewis Committee document confirmed that both officers signed documents to Merrill Lynch and that the pair claimed they had full power and authority to enter this agreement.Former WICB vice-president Clarvis Joseph, speaking last night on State radio, confirmed that the WICB lost US$286,000 from these investments. Joseph said that in addition to not being authorised to play the equities market last year, it was a well-known fact that the stock market was very unpredictable ahead of presidential elections in the United States. Joseph, however, does not believe that the CFO acted to defraud the board, and said that even if the investment had paid dividends, it also would have been wrong, because the investment was not authorised by the board.Joseph said he found it strange that the board re-instated West Indies team manager Ricky Skerritt, because they “acted without the board’s authority and had exceeded their own authority”, but were not equally concerned about the investment of US$3 million without the said board’s permission.In a report dated 15 May, the Lewis Committee urged the WICB to “pull the plug on the investment and put its money into safer short-term instruments that made sense, given the Board’s cash-flow problems”. The report further went on to state “that the WICB borrowed US$2 million from the Wall Street bank Merrill Lynch against the investment portfolio”.Rousseau in his statement revealed that the executive committee in October 1999 received a proposal from Jodhan to invest US$100,000.00 with Merrill Lynch. But, Rousseau continues, “the recollection of the vice-president and myself is that the request was refused”. Rousseau goes on to say that “the Minutes of that meeting have not been produced”. Instead, the former WICB president claims that Jodhan invested US $496,000 with the Wall Street bank.In a budget proposal for the 2000 financial year, Rousseau said, Jodhan in May last year indicated an intention to invest US$3 million with Merrill Lynch “but makes it clear that he will seek the approval of the executive committee”. Rousseau insists that the approval was not sought, but the investment made.The Lewis Committee which also included Clarvis Joseph, Val Banks and Stephen Alleyne, reported that they found out that the fund in which the WICB had invested was for a long-term growth strategy, in which 65 per cent to 85 per cent of the exposure is in equities, thus carrying high risks. The report continues: “Given the potential high level of equity exposure and the specific nature for which the funds were acquired (i.e., reported coverage of short-term cash flow needs), this committee is of the opinion that the investment was ill-advised.”The Lewis Committee further concluded: “In reviewing the Merrill Lynch statements, we discovered that as at February 28 …WICB also has a current liability of US$2 million. We understand that these funds were borrowed and leveraged against the value of the portfolio to cover cash and understand that these funds borrowed leveraged against the value of the portfolio to cover cashflow shortfall arising from difficulties experienced in collecting funds from the Australia tour.”Jodhan has since verbally tendered verbally his resignation to the board at its recently concluded AGM, but did not offer any further details. Meanwhile Sealy, as part of the board’s restructuring process, will be leaving office at the end of June. His position with the board was made redundant along with the Director of Coaching, Reg Scarlett, in January.