Railways and Uttar Pradesh played out a draw in their Central ZoneRanji Trophy encounter at the Sports Stadium in Meerut on Thursday.Railways by the virtue of their first innings lead collected fivepoints and currently lead the zonal table with 18 points from threegames. Uttar Pradesh are languishing in fourth place with just threepoints in two games.Resuming the day at 125/6 in their second innings – an overall lead of202 – Railways lost both overnight batsmen, Kulamani Parida and S Sahucheaply to slide to 147/8. Amit Pagnis and Harvinder Singh puttogether an 82 run ninth wicket stand that frustrated the home team.After Singh’s dismissal for 37 (96 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes), Pagnisbatted on in the company of last man, Shahid Khan before skipper AbhaySharma closed shutters at 248/9. Pagnis finished unbeaten on 62 (126balls, 7 fours).The target for UP was 326 and with just over forty overs remaining inthe game, they understandably showed little inclination to step up thepace, meandering to 48/2 from 35 overs before stumps were drawn.Wicket keeper Manoj Mudgal was unbeaten on 33 while leg spinner Khantook the opportunity to add two more wickets to his kitty.

Gary Stead had a dream day as Canterbury took control of the second match against shell-shocked tourists Zimbabwe.Stead said it was “one of our better days’ performances over the whole season,” as Canterbury declared at 330/5, and reduced Zimbabwe to 112/4 at the close.In sharp contrast to Stead’s pleasure at his first century against an international team were the fates of teammate Nathan Astle and Zimbabwe’s Grant Flower.Astle, playing under orders from the selectors to find his batting form, edged a ball to the keeper after just three overs of the morning session. He again failed to move his feet and showed the weaknesses he displayed so often in the recent Test series in South Africa.Flower, a key man in the Zimbabwe team, looks set to be out for the Test which begins on Boxing Day, having fractured a finger while fielding off his own bowling. He did not return to the ground from hospital, suggesting a serious injury and a major blow to his team’s Test prospects.After play had begun half an hour late due to a sodden outfield, caused by an overnight electrical storm, Astle went early to Zimbabwe’s only potent bowler, paceman Henry Olonga, who finished with 3/78.Gareth Hopkins came in and with Stead saw the team through to lunch without further alarm at 258/5, with Stead 58 and his partner 24. After the interval the partnership exploded into action, with 72 runs coming in 16 overs of admittedly tame decaration bowling. It was during this period Flower left the field in agony, his finger a crumpled mess.Having reached 100 in 173 balls (the second 50 taking just 69), with Hopkins going to 50 (off 104 balls) in the same Viljoen over, Stead made a planned declaration.The Zimbabweans’ hoped-for batting practice was detonated by Shane Bond’s explosive opening spell of 2/8. Guy Whittall and Trevor Madondo were both caught at the wicket to make the score 11/2 after twelve and a half overs. Whittall was caught by James off Bond with the score on 007! Stead thought the team “bowled exceptionally well” on a pitch “with not much pace to it”.After tea, taken at 33/2, the ten-man tourists collapsed further, with Rennie holing out and Wade Cornelius taking his maiden first-class wicket, Dirk Viljoen being caught behind second ball. Earlier, Astle’s wretched match had continued when he dropped Gavin Rennie off Cornelius at second slip in the fifth over with only seven on the scoreboard.At last one Zimbabwean showed his true class when youngster Douglas Marillier took to the flighted spin of Redmond. He and the uncomfortable looking Mluleki Nkala saw off the fast bowlers, attacked for a while, then shut up shop, adding just 34 runs in 20 overs in the last hour.Although the game seems destined to be a draw, having been taken as no more than a particularly serious type of practice match by most players, Stead has done his chances of a Black Cap recall no harm. As he says: “All I can do is keep getting runs [he has 368 at an average of 90 this season] and trying to embarrass the selectors into picking me.”He expresses “no preference” to where he bats, preferring to “do what is best for the team”. Incidentally, he was never going to stand down for this game as he had never played against the Zimbabweans before and thus was keen to make the starting XI.What price, if Astle or McMillan fail again in the forthcoming test, he might make the next international starting XI?

* Harbhajan has his strategy planned out against Andy FlowerIndian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is silently preparing for apersonal battle as India take on Zimbabwe in the first Test startingin Bulawayo on Thursday. Harbhajan will be up against Andy Flower,arguably one of the best players of spin in contemporary cricket andone who has troubled the Indians the most in recent times.Flower is in tremendous touch having just equalled a world record ofseven successive half-centuries, the streak getting broken when he wasrun out for 23 against Bangladesh in the Harare Test in April. He hasperfected the reverse sweep to deadly effect and has an awesome recordagainst India, aggregating 848 runs from five Tests at a remarkableaverage of 169.60. He remained unconquered in half of these 10 inningsand three hundreds and four fifties speak volumes about the ability ofthis left-hander.Harbhajan, who earned the title of ‘turbonator’ after destroying theAustralians by claiming 32 wickets in three Tests, has his strategyplanned out against Flower. “There is no point in bowling defensivelyto him – he usually clouts them to the deep field,” says Harbhajan.”He must be bowled up to and encouraged to drive all the time.”Flower is keeping his plans close to his chests but there is littledoubt he has noticed the big tweak Harbhajan imparts in his spin andthe kind of bounce he manages on the most dull tracks. Harbhajan hasalso developed a good drift and has struck form quickly on the tour,with a ten wicket haul in the three-day match against CFX Academy.* Indian players’ laundry bills problem solved: DiwadkarThe touring Indian cricket team’s laundry bills problem has beensolved on the eve of the first Test against Zimbabwe.BCCI President AC Muthiah had a lengthy discussion with the players onTuesday and the problem has been solved “once and for all,” BCCIexecutive Secretary Sharad Diwadkar told PTI in Mumbai on Wednesday.However, Diwadkar did not specify how the problem was sorted out andonly said the players have been asked by Muthiah to concentrate on theTest match starting on Thursday at Bulawayo.Soon after reaching Zimbabwe, the team had complained of insufficientdaily allowance provided to them by the Board. An allowance of $32(approximately $2000 Zimbabwe) was considered too inadequate by theplayers specially due the fact that laundry charges are very high inthat country

A Mumbai-based company has filed an appeal against a High Court orderrefusing to stay the decision of the Board to award a three-yearcontract for clothing sponsorship of Indian team in internationalmatches to International Management Group and Transworld Internationalcombine (IMG-TWI).The appeal was filed by proprietor of Gayatri Arts Sham Dhumatkaryesterday in the Mumbai High Court and is likely to be heard within aweek. Gayatri Arts had challenged BCCI’s decision to award contract toIMG-TWI by way of a petition in the High Court. The company claimedthat it had made the highest bid of Rs 90 crore through a legal tenderadvertised by BCCI in a newspaper. Yet, the contract was awarded toIMG-TWI combine.Justice D K Deshmukh, hearing the petition, had, in an ad-interimorder, refused to stay BCCI’s decision. Gayatri Arts filed an appealcontending that the Judge had failed to take cognizance of the bidmade by it which was higher than the one put up by IMG-TWI. Hence theaward of contract to IMG-TWI was bad in law, improper and unjustified.Gayatri Arts submitted that BCCI had confirmed the contract in aletter on May 3 and gave 48 hours notice to accept the offer.Accordingly, Gayatri Arts accepted the contract offer in a letter toBCCI, the court was told.On May 22, however, BCCI’s marketing committee held a second meetingin New Delhi where the contract awarded to Gayatri Arts was resiledand instead awarded to IMG-TWI after an open bidding and revelation ofprices.Gayatri Arts claimed that the contract was complete after BCCI wrote aletter to them making the offer of contract and the company acceptingit in writing. BCCI, on the other hand, claimed that its communicationto Gayatri Arts was not a confirmation letter of contract but a mere’query’.

The ECB is considering moving post-match presentation ceremonies indoors following yesterday’s incident at Lord’s after the NatWest Series final.Australian batsman Michael Bevan was struck on the cheek by a full beer can hurled from the crowd watching the presentation ceremony take place on the pavilion balcony.Bevan suffered only bruising, but the potential for a more serious incidentCould lead to the ECB moving all ceremonies during the forthcoming Ashes seriesindoors to prevent the occurrence of a possible “copycat” incident. Fans could then only watch the ceremonies on the giant screens at the grounds.The incident at Lord’s followed pitch invasions at Edgbaston and Headingley during the NatWest Series.”We’ll be having a full review of the NatWest tournament, which will includepresentation ceremonies,” explained Tim Lamb, chief executive of the ECB.”It’s too early to decide whether ceremonies should move inside closed doorsas the way forward, but we are certainly looking into it – it’s a shame everyoneshould suffer from the actions of one lunatic.”Lamb is hoping for a meeting with Sports Minister Richard Caborn and JohnDenham, the Minister of State at the Home Office, in the next week toinvestigate how English cricket can counter unruly crowds.Lamb said: “We don’t want to overreact here, but we have another situation when the players have again been made vulnerable and that should not happen.”We’ve never had a history of missile-throwing in English cricket and youcould say that one is too many and we are very concerned about what has beenhappening over the last few weeks.”If people see there are no effective sanctions at the moment, there could bea copycat incident. There are members of society who do look to take advantageof loopholes and make a name for themselves.”It is all a question of getting the balance right. We have to be able torely on people to behave properly but this is a social problem, not justcricket’s, and we have been caught up in a social issue.”He added: “I know the MCC and the police are studying television footage tosee if they can identify the idiot who did this and if that could be done, itwould be great if he was severely punished to send a message out to others thatthe penalties are severe for this sort of thing.”Australian team manager Steve Bernard is planning to meet Lamb during theirmatch at Arundel this week against the MCC when security issues will bediscussed for the Ashes series.But he has sympathy for the authorities, claiming: “The ECB have reacted asthings have evolved and the MCC put a lot of measures in place to avoid anydisturbances.”I feel sorry for the MCC and ECB because no one could have foreseen thatwould happen, but it has made us refocus a bit more about what has to bedone.”

Sourav Ganguly’s suggestion for a best-of-three finals in one-daycompetitions betrays the depths to which his confidence levels haveplunged. A final offers the most capable assessment of the mentaltoughness of a team and how they react under pressure, because thereis no second chance. The ability to raise one’s game to suit theoccasion and peak at just the right time, is an essential ingredientof a good team. Ganguly’s remarks are a telltale sign that he knowsthe team is simply not good enough at the crunch. Rather then doinghis damnedest to resolve the problem, he’s suggesting means toavoid dealing with it. “We have to learn to win under pressure” headmitted immediately after the final, but that can be done only byplaying when the pressure is the maximum, not by diffusing it acrossthree matches.The defeat at the Harare Sports Club last Saturday was India’s seventhloss in a row in a tournament final. It all began with the Pepsi Cupagainst Pakistan at Bangalore in April 1999. The Indian bowlers letthe game slip away in the first session by allowing Pakistan to hoist291. Any hopes of making a match of it hinged on getting a decentstart but when the Indian top order collapsed to 63/5, there was noescape route. Against the same opponents in the Coca-Cola Cup inSharjah less than two weeks later, India won a useful toss but losttwo wickets in the first over without a run on board and were rolledover for 125 to gift the match on a platter.In the Coca-Cola Cup in Singapore in September the same year, Indiaposted a challenging 254 despite losing Tendulkar for a duck in thefirst over. The bowlers had West Indies on the mat at 67/4 and later128/5 but were clueless in the face of a ferocious assault by RicardoPowell. Precisely one month later India entered the LG Cup final inNairobi having swept all their matches in the round-robin league.After restricting South Africa to just 235, the batsmen fumbled agreat opportunity to succumb by 26 runs with two and a half overs leftunused.The next episode in the gloomy sequence also occurred at Nairobi’sGymkhana Club Ground in October 2000. It was the climax of the ICCKnockOut and India were delighted to be inserted after losing thetoss. Ganguly and Tendulkar added 141 for the opening wicket but themiddle order lost its way. Still, 264 was a competitive score and whenNew Zealand slumped to 132/5, the signs were propitious. A crucialrun-out miss relieved Chris Cairns who proceeded to shut India outwith a marvellously paced effort. Later in the same month, a 245-runthumping ensued at Sri Lanka’s hands in the Champions Trophy inSharjah, a collective abdication of duty of monstrous proportion.Looking at the pattern, India have conceded 290 or more on three offour occasions they’ve bowled first which puts the batsmen underenormous pressure rightaway. To have a ghost of chance, the cardinalrule is to keep wickets in hand even at the risk of falling behind theasking rate early on. But the top order has usually tried to do toomuch too soon, with negative results. This was exemplified againsta West Indies attack last week having just three specialist bowlers.The Indians had a gilt-edged chance to step up the ante in 20remaining overs of part time spin bowling but Sodhi and Dighe wereleft high and dry and just failed to close it on their own.Batting first, India erected the foundations of victory with 250 plusscores two out of three times. In each instance, they quickly prisedout the opponent’s upper half but threw it away in the last 25 overswith a combination of loose bowling, lax fielding and unimaginativecaptaincy. It’s been suggested that one reason the Indians freeze inlive match situations is because they don’t simulate situations ofcomparable pressure in the nets. But more alarmingly the Indians seemto be using defeat as a stepping stone for further defeat. Perhapsthey ought to take a leaf out of author Richard Bach: “That’s whatlearning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we loseand how we’ve changed because of it and what we take away from it thatwe never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curiousway, is winning.”

Somerset Under-19’s drew their match against Warwickshire Under-19s at Taunton School yesterday. After the first day was washed out the game was played over 60 overs per side.Warwickshire Under-19s batted first and made 217 for 9, with Daryl Cox taking 3 for 28 and Sam Wadham 2 for 58.In reply Somerset Under-19s had reached 178 for 9, of which Michael Coles made 44 and Luke Stokes 31.The Under-19s travel to Abergavenny to take on Glamorgan on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

It was an agonising day for the bowlers, spin and pace alike, at theMA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Monday. While MRF toiled hard,after having lost the toss and being put out on the field, the NewZealand A batsmen took their time milking the bowling. At the end ofthe day, the visiting team’s skipper Matthew Bell could be nothing butpleased, both for his 111 and for the side’s 303/4 off 101 overs.Having won a close first round encounter against Mumbai CricketAssociation, New Zealand A took no chances. On a wicket that can bestbe described as a featherbed, the spinners toiled ceaselessly withlittle reward. A look at the bowling analysis tells the tale – leftarm spinner Babloo Kumar 0/65 from 22 overs, Ashish Kapoor 0/68 from27 overs, Tanseer Jabbar 0/43 from 22 overs.Having said all this, it would be unfair to the extreme to takeanything away from the Kiwi batsmen. Having played out the best partof the day with extreme care, pushing, nudging and stroking the ballinto the gaps for ones and twos, the New Zealand batsmen really cashedin, just after tea, when the wicket was at its best and the bowlingtired.Earlier in the day, Mark Richardson (0) and Mathew Horne (4) missedout on a good chance to get some good scores as New Zealand A slumpedto 20/2. From there on however, the pair of Bell and Lou Vincent shutthe door on the MRF bowlers. Adding 156 runs for the third wicket, thepair blunted the bowling. Playing the sweep with aplomb, both Bell andVincent were positive without being aggressive. Bell in particular waskeen to play a long innings and outlasted Vincent (85 runs, 165 balls,11 fours). The departure of Vincent saw young Hamish Marshall have ago at the batting. Easily the most comfortable batsman at the crease,Marshall took the attack to the spinners, striking 11 boundaries andtwo sixes, one that clattered into the sight screen, on the way tomaking an unbeaten 84 (123 balls).It took a long while, 377 minutes in all at the wicket, before Bellwas dismissed on 111. Coming off nearly 300 balls, Bell’s knockincluded 11 hits to the fence. At the end of the day, Marshall hadJacob Oram (1 not out) for company.

The technical committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI), meeting in Baroda on Saturday, will discuss the format forvarious domestic cricket tournaments as also the playing conditions inSouth Africa, chairman of the technical committee and former Indiancaptain Sunil Gavaskar said on Friday.”The report on playing conditions in South Africa has been receivedby the board and it will be discussed at the meeting,” Gavaskar toldPTI. He said due to different playing conditions in various countries,some difficulty was being experienced and there should be the sameconditions for the Tests and other three or four day matches.Gavaskar said that another topic for discussion is the format fordomestic matches and added that several members want changes in itwhile some cricket associations are opposed to it.Gavaskar, chairman of the selection committee Chandu Borde, formerBCCI chief Raj Singh Dungarpur, BCCI joint secretary Sharad Diwadkararrived in Baroda from Mumbai tonight.”Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and K Srikkanth, members of thetechnical committee will not attend the meeting,” BCCI secretary,Jaywant Lele told PTI. “Kumble is busy with some domestic matcheswhile Srikanth is on a tour of USA and Tendulkar is under treatmentfor a hairline fracture on his toe,” Lele said, adding that the othermembers of the committee are expected to reach the city by Saturdaymorning.

Central Districts cricket has been caught between a rock and a hard place.It has suffered a $75,218 loss this year, its worst performance in 51 years of existence.Yet part of the reason for that loss resulted from its success in winning the Shell Cup.CD executive director Blair Furlong said: “We spent more on the Shell Cup than we did last year, but at least we won it.”We also invested in our development programme which involved more costs and was lacked the international cricket to make the most of that.”As a result, CD will be taking the opportunity to discuss its situation with New Zealand Cricket at this week’s annual meeting at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University near Christchurch.Furlong said one significant emphasis in realising more from a financial perspective this year would be maximising the opportunity provided by the One-Day International against England this year.A number of tour parties are expected for the tour and CD will be looking to work in opportunities with the visitors.The charitable trust operated by Central Districts is in much better shape with $420,000 which it is hoping to boost to $500,000.Former New Zealand wicket-keeper and long-time CD identity Ian Colquhoun has been named the association’s patron after the death last year of Justice Joe Ongley.Former CD opening batsman Dermot Payton has been elected president while the management committee is: John Fluker – chairman (Horowhenua), Bob Rankin (Manawatu), Graham Sherlock (Nelson), John Smith (Nelson), Trevor Smith (Taranaki), Viv Stephens (Hawke’s Bay), David Townend (Manawatu). Scott Briasco and Graham Morrison did not seek re-election.