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Any hopes Hampshire Hawks had of gaining promotion to Division I of the Norwich Union League were thrown into disarray as they suffered a fifth successive defeat away to Northamptonshire Steelbacks, to languish well away from the top three.Being put into bat on the slow wicket and overcast conditions, Hampshire lost three early wickets to the seam of Darren Cousins, including that of Mascarenhas who suffered a first-ball dismissal for the second day running.The conditions were not ideal for fluent strokeplay and the sides came off for 20 minutes after a heavy shower, which meant that again Duckworth/Lewis would have a say in the matter.Three overs were sliced from the innings as John Crawley and John Francis shared 40 runs together before Crawley, playing his last match before joining the England team in Nottingham, stretched forward to the off-spinner Jason Brown and was well stumped.Nic Pothas, as he had done the previous day held the innings together but only Will Kendall offered him any support with 14 as the innings fell apart.The Steelbacks started well despite a few scares with Alan Mullally being particularly difficult on the track. But they had survived to 20 without loss after eight overs before more rain descended on the County Ground.Five overs were lost, leaving the home side to score a reduced 122 to win. But they had reached 52-0 halfway through the 15th over before the heavens opened once more and there was no further chance of play.It was not too difficult to surmise that the Steelbacks had won on a Duckworth/Lewis countback, although the 16 run D/L result flattered Hampshire.

Otago Cricket will utilise an unchanged selection panel for the 2002/03 State Otago Volts side.Volts coach Glenn Turner will again convene the panel and he’ll be joined again by the Invercargill-based Chris Taylor and former Otago representative Michael Austen.That trio will enlist the services of Otago’s coaching director Mike Hesson in selecting the Otago A side, Hesson to coach that team, and all four will play a part in the naming of the Otago Development XI, which will be coached by Taylor.

Tamworth:
Bedfordshire 364-5 and 45-0
Staffordshire 192 and 215
Bedfordshire won by 10 wicketsDean Park:
Dorset 339 and 101 (S Rintoul 57, C Shreck 5-60)
Cornwall 300 and 142-2 (B Price 74)
Cornwall won by 8 wicketsSouth Wilts:
Devon 368-8d and 181-6 d
Wiltshire 222-8d and 142 (MAE Richards 6-46)
Devon won by 185 runsLuctonians:
Herefordshire 291-9 and 243-4d (PS Lazenbury 119)
Cheshire 276-8d
Match drawnGrantham:
Lincolnshire 375-7d
Buckinghamshire 165 and 298-8d (AJ Ward 63, AJ Lock 52, PD Atkins 51)
Match drawnWelwyn Garden City:
Cambridgeshire 297 and 201-7d (A Akhtar 62*, PJ O’Reilly 5-34)
Hertfordshire 247-9d and 166 (SG Cordingly 61, PM Such 5-28)
Cambridgeshire won by 85 runsLamphey:
Wales 273 and 199-9d
Berkshire 153-1d (TD Fray 57*, FS Patel 78*) and 16-0
Match drawn

An unbeaten half-century from debutant Vikram Atri gave Nottinghamshire theupper hand on the first day of their tour match with West Indies A at Trent Bridge. Atri made a patient 57 as the home side reached 149-3 before the weather closed in.The 19-year-old is a good example of Nottinghamshire’s excellent record inrecruiting British Asians. England batsman Usmaan Afzaal plays for the club,while pacer Nadeem Malik and talented batsman Bilal Shafayat are making their way in the game. Notts also gave debuts to teenagers Samit Patel, and Will Smith in an experimental line-up.Whilst Notts cannot be blamed for fielding the majority of their second team, West Indies A deserve some sympathy. The public reaction to their tour has been non-existent, and playing (and frequently losing) against average teams is not the ideal preparation for the international cricket that must surely be the ultimate aim of the squad. Perhaps a system of England A, Under-19 and Under-21 teams would provide a more stimulating opposition though this would, understandably, be challenged by counties not wanting to lose their stars mid-season.After winning the toss on a cloudy morning, acting captain Wayne Noon opted to bat. Atri, along with Guy Welton (43) – who oozes potential – looked confident against the visiting openers. Marlon Black and Tino Best looked lacklustre, though Best extracted a little pace from a bland strip.Welton cruised into the forties with a succession of front-foot boundaries. His fluency was countered by a more dogged effort from Atri. Welton eventually fell, bowled by a quick one from Best, but Atri and Shafayat saw the Midlands county through to lunch without further alarms.Shafayat (27) and Kevin Pieterson (1) fell soon after lunch. Jermaine Lawsonpicked up both wickets, trapping Shafayat lbw before bowling Pieterson, whofaced only two balls in nearly three quarters of an hour at the crease.Atri opened up a little after he was joined by Patel (11*), stroking ninegraceful boundaries. The West Indian bowlers again looked weary, clearlymissing the steadying influence of giant left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn. Reon King had been left out, with Ryan Hinds making his first appearance on tour.With the weather forecast for tomorrow a little more promising, Notts will probably be content with more batting practice. Trent Bridge was soulless today, with rippled applause echoing through empty stands. It was hardly the stuff of dreams, though it is a day that Atri should remember for the rest of his life.

North Zone need an almost improbable 378 runs on the final day to win their Duleep Trophy encounter against West Zone at the Nehru Stadium, Pune.On Thursday, West Zone’s two bowling stars, Irfan Pathan Junior and Sairaj Bahatule, removed the remaining two North Zone first innings wickets for the addition of just seven runs. The visitors eventual total of 238 gave West a healthy 158-run first innings lead. Pathan claimed four wickets while Bahatule claimed five.The West second innings got off to a steady start; openers Wasim Jaffer and Connor Williams (29) adding 68 before the latter was out. Jaffer celebrated the news of his inclusion in the Indian squad for the West Indies with a second successive 50 before being dismissed for 58 off 84 balls. Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar also made a significant contribution, toting up 45 off 97 balls before falling to Ashish Nehra, another man who was savouring the news of his re-admission in the Indian Test squad.The other top-order batsmen, however, struggled before Nayan Mongia gave vent to his anger at being dropped yet again, by making a fiery 76 off 76 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. West Zone, then, declared at 273 for nine, leaving North 432 to seal an outright win. Ashish Nehra, who claimed 4-55, was the most successful bowler for NorthNorth, made a steady start, reaching 54 for no loss in the 12 overs before stumps with Akash Chopra batting on 25 and Vikram Rathour on 26.

The Tasmanian Cricket Association is pleased to announce that young South Australian batsman, Luke Williams, will be joining the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers for season 2002/2003.Williams who has been a prolific run scorer in underage competitions and ACB Cup level is 22 years of age.He toured England with the Australian Under 19’s in 1998 and held the record for the highest individual score for South Australia at Under 17 level, of 225 not out with an aggregate of 530, achieved in the 1996/97 season carnival. This record was his for four seasons until it was eclipsed by Callum Ferguson during last season’s Under 17 competition.Williams made his first-class debut for South Australia in late 2000/2001 but had limited success in the two games he played.Cascade Tasmanian Tigers Coach, Brian McFadyen said, “Luke is a long term investment for Tasmanian cricket taking into consideration his age and his prolific record at underage and ACB Cup level.”He added, “Williams is an ambitious, modern cricketer and we are excited about adding him to the other young players within the squad who we envisage will be the core players for Tasmania in the future.”

Piran Holloway and Richard Johnson rescued a modicum of pride for Somersetbefore they succumbed to an innings defeat by Lancashire at Taunton. Resuming their second innings on 106-6 after the third-day wash-out, the home side still required 68 runs to make Lancashire bat again.This time there was no assistance from the weather. And when Keith Dutch fell lbw to Peter Martin’s loosener without adding to his score of 12 a one-sided opening Championship fixture looked to be heading for a quick finish.But Holloway can be a gritty competitor in such circumstances. The littleleft-hander was soon in obdurate mood and found a willing eighth-wicket partner in Johnson as the pair added 55 in 21 overs. Johnson hit 4 fours in his 37 and can reflect on an encouraging Somerset debut, which saw him take five wickets in the Lancashire innings, despite the disappointing result.Just when it seemed the partnership might spare Somerset the indignity ofdefeat by an innings, Johnson attempted a forcing shot off Andy Flintoff’sfirst ball of the day and edged to wicketkeeper Warren Hegg. Steffan Jones was soon struck on the helmet by a Martin delivery and then played over the top of a fuller length ball to have his stumps shattered for four.The game ended with the opening delivery of Flintoff’s next over as Holloway lost his leg stump, having made 74 off 197 balls, with 6 fours and a five.Somerset had been bowled out for 170 to lose by an innings and four runs.Flintoff’s remodelled action brought his 2-7 from 5.1 overs, while Martin’stwo final day victims left him with 3-55 from 21 overs. Lancashire took 19 points and Somerset four.

Glamorgan could have two representatives at the first Test against Pakistan, starting at Lord`s next Thursday – spinner Robert Croft and scorer Byron Denning.Byron Denning has already accepted an invitation to act as England`s scorer in the opening Test of the 2001 series. The long serving Glamorgan scorer will be in the scorer`s box alongside Tony Kingston of Northamptonshire as the two teams take the field, and after the announcement this morning of the England squad, it is not inconceivable that `Dasher` will be recording the efforts of spinner Robert Croft.Croft is one of thirteen names in the England squad, which includes uncapped Surrey batsman Ian Ward and Yorkshire`s Ryan Sidebottom. Croft is the only full time spinner in the squad, with Ashley Giles still recovering from a Achilles tendon strain.Many pundits are suggesting that Ward will get the nod in the final eleven, rather than the Glamorgan off-spinner, but Chairman of Selectors David Graveney has not discounted the fact that Croft could figure in the match. “Everyone seems to think Crofty is simply coming along to make up thenumbers, but with the weather being so unpredictable, we believespin could still play a part in this Test.”

They had clapped in the Premadasa media room after Darren Sammy finished his pre-final press conference on Saturday. They clapped in the Premadasa press box on Sunday after West Indies took the last Sri Lankan wicket to win the World Twenty20 2012. They clapped in the Premadasa media room after Sammy finished his post-final press conference. So rare have such occasions been for West Indies cricket after their decline that Sammy called this victory “the best moment for me”.The West Indies captain sauntered into the media room draped in the maroon West Indies cricket flag. He kept the World Twenty20 trophy proudly in front of him on the table. “My trophy is so big I can’t see you,” he joked with the first questioner.He spoke about treasuring the achievement for the rest of his life. He was asked whether his performance with both bat and ball in the final was an answer to the critics who had questioned his place in the side all along. He said when even Christ was crucified without fault, he himself was nothing. It was a much-criticised, large-hearted man speaking from his heart, and Sammy didn’t hold back tonight.”We will definitely cherish this moment. I will for sure,” Sammy said. “We’re going to relive it every day of our lives. This is the best moment for me in any cricket. This here (the trophy) is for the Caribbean people. West Indies fans all over the world have been craving success. I know they’re partying from Jamaica down to Guyana. And we know how to party. I think they’ll need a lot of bartenders.”Sammy said while the critics had a job to do, he had always believed in playing for the Caribbean people. “The commentators get paid to speak. The media get paid to write stories. I get paid to play cricket,” Sammy said. “Critics will always be there. Someone might find something wrong I did today even though we won. That does not worry me. The most important thing is that the team did well.”And I always say I live my life one way. Christ came to this earth, did nothing wrong and yet was crucified. I’m nowhere close to that man.”Anybody could have an opinion about me. I like it. My shoulders are broad enough. It’s been like that from the time I started cricket. Once I wear this [West Indies] crest (pointing to his shirt), I wear it on my heart. That’s what matters. If I turn up and don’t have a good day, I suck, I’ll come the next day and try and put in a better performance. I don’t play for glory. I play for the Caribbean people.”Sammy was asked what had won the game for West Indies, after they had been 32 for 2 at the halfway stage of their innings. He spoke about belief, and he spoke about God. “We have a strong belief in God. He works in mysterious ways. He performs wonders,” Sammy said. “Like I kept saying in every press conference, there’s a belief we had in the team. Yes, we expected them (Sri Lanka) to give us a good fight and they did.”Throughout the last year or so, we’ve been showing that never-say-die attitude, but we’ve not been winning games. In this tournament, we’ve won games. Every man believed that whoever was out there could do the job. Today, it was Marlon Samuels and (Dwayne) Bravo steadying the ship. In the end, every run counts. The bowling discipline was just brilliant, and the fielding. I said we needed our A-plus game, this here is proof of it.”After Marlon Samuels’ 78 had carried them to 137, Sammy said West Indies believed they had a chance. “The coach was saying that if we get the score we got in Pallekele (129 for 5 against Sri Lanka) on this wicket, we’ll win the match,” Sammy said. “The momentum we had from our batting carried through to our bowling. It was Dwayne Bravo’s birthday, so in the huddle, I gave him the chance to say the last words before we went on the field. He said, ‘let’s go out there and give it our all. If we do that and play how we can play, these runs are going to be a fighting total’. Ravi (Rampaul) started it off with his first ball, and we never looked back from there.”We have some of the most experienced Twenty20 players. Once we play the way we can, we’ll always be a force to reckon with. We didn’t brag about it but we believed we could go out there and take it one game at a time. I said hurdle by hurdle, and today was the final one. The coach said we’re climbing to the top of a mountain, and that’s where the prize is. We’ve got to go and take it. Today, we did that. We had different persons coming up with performances in different matches. The team has gelled well in this tournament. Signs of progress have been there, but this is the icing on the cake.”There have been questions raised about the unity of the squad in the past, and the board and the players have had numerous disputes, but Sammy hoped this victory could be the start of something new for West Indies cricket. “This is the moment here,” he said. “Issues done and buried. Twenty20 World Cup, 2012, Sri Lanka – West Indies champion.”And Sammy held the trophy up. And there was another round of applause.

Railways stormed into the final of the coveted Ranji Trophychampionship beating Punjab by 5 wickets at the PCA stadium in Mohalion Monday. This is the second entry of Railways into the title clashand comes after a gap of 13 years.Resuming at six without loss in pursuit of a target of 199, thevisitors began on a cautious note as they scored only 55 runs in thefirst session in which 36 overs were bowled. This was primarily doneto ensure that the Punjab team did not get an early breakthrough andrun through the Railways innings. The overnight batsmen Amit Pagnisand Sanjay Bangar successfully negotiated the opening spell ofGagandeep and Vineet Sharma.Spin was introduced as early as the 11th over to make use of thebowlers’ footmarks. The opening pair took the score to 47 runs beforePagnis, who struck two elegant boundaries of Sandeep Sawal, offered asimple return catch to the left arm spinner Babloo Kumar, as he triedto play the bowler towards midon.Tejinder Pal Singh who joined Pagnis, struck Sandeep Sawal throughcovers to open his account. A spanking straight drive by Tejinder offMunish Sharma was the shot of the day; none of the fielders budged asthe ball raced to the fence. The partnership between Tejinder andSanjay Bangar tilted the match in favour of Railways but with thescore on 110, Tejinder (34, 4×4) offered a simple catch to substituteDinesh Mongia, who was the lone fielder in the slip cordon.Yere Goud, known for his cool temperament proved to be an able ally toBangar as both of them kept the scoreboard moving by taking singlesand twos. They carried the total to 125 when Bangar needlessly chaseda wide delivery from Gagandeep only to be caught by wicket keeperVikram Rathore for an individual contribution of 47. Skipper AbhaySharma scored a boundary and a towering six off Sandeep Sawal.However, the bowler had the last laugh as he had Sharma caught in theslips by Mongia for 17 at the stroke of tea.At the score of 168, umpire S.Banerjee ruled Yere Goud leg before asthe batsman tried to play a full pitched delivery from Reetinder Sodhihalf cock. The usually dependable Goud had contributed 25 runs off 66balls including four hits to the fence. With 31 runs still requiredfor victory, there was a slight flutter in the Railways camp.But Raza Ali had other ideas, striking six boundaries in the course ofan unbeaten 32, with his winning shot coming off Sandeep Sawal.Shreyas Khanolkar remain unbeaten on 12 as Railways clinched the issuejust four balls before the mandatory overs were to begin. For PunjabGagandeep, Sodhi, Vineet Sharma, Babloo Kumar and Sandeep Sawalclaimed one wicket each.