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In a warm-up game for their forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy campaign, England beat Bangladesh by 77 runs in Colombo with significant contributions from their all-rounders. Ronnie Irani scored exactly 100 and Ian Blackwell 58 as the pair shared a fourth wicket partnership worth 115.England reached 265 for seven in their innings, despite losing openers Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight had gone cheaply. Trescothick was captaining the side while Nasser Hussain rested, and with Alec Stewart suffering from a stomach bug, Owais Shah filled in behind the stumps. Shah made 45 before being run out.Neither Irani nor Blackwell played a chanceless innings, but they would have been pleased to get scores under their belts at this stage in proceedings. Irani is very much a confidence player, while Blackwell is venturing into the unknown in this company and will have benefited enormously from the experience.There was little chance that Bangladesh would be able to reach such a total and what chance they did have was snuffed out by Dominic Cork who took two for ten in a six over spell and England could contemplate their first match in the competition on Wednesday against Zimbabwe. This match against Bangladesh did not count as an official one-day international.

PERTH, Oct 22 AAP – All-rounder Kade Harvey today demolished the England bowling attack, leading the Australian Cricket Board Chairman’s XI to 7-301 off 50 overs in a one-day tour match at Lilac Hill.With temperatures topping 30 degrees celsius, the West Australian put paid to the tourists’ bowling attack, smashing 114 off just 88 balls,He and captain Michael Hussey (69) put on 152 runs for the sixth wicket to set up the hefty total for the visitors.Harvey hit 10 fours and six sixes in his 97-minute knock.The tourists started poorly with quick Matthew Hoggard opening the match with two wides.Young quick Stephen Harmison set an early scare through the England camp after appearing to injure his knee trying to stop a four in the second over.He left the field but returned just two overs later only to bowl 16 wides for the innings.Left-handed West Australian opening pair Chris Rogers and Marcus North had a 57-run opening partnership before Hoggard had North (22) out lofting a simple catch to England captain Nasser Hussain at cover.Just 12 runs later, Glamorgan speedster Simon Jones made an instant impact with his first ball of the tour, forcing Rogers (30) to prod a simple catch to John Crawley at gully.England spinner Ashley Giles then put the brakes on the innings with three wickets as the home team slumped to 5-122.Giles picked up Ryan Campbell (14) and Brad Hogg (0) in the one over before having former Test batsman David Hookes caught on the boundary after the Victorian coach had hit him for six in the same over.Hussey and Harvey resurrected the innings before Hussey became Jones’ second victim.After bringing up the 300 for the invitation team, Harvey was caught on the boundary by Marcus Trescothick.

MELBOURNE, Nov 2 AAP – The master and his apprentice gave Victoria the outright win today in the Pura Cup cricket match against Tasmania at the MCG.Leg-spin genius Shane Warne and young wrist spinner Cameron White took seven wickets between them, bowling Tasmania out for 206.That gave Victoria a 159-run win, having declared at 9-353 and 2-236 and dismissing Tasmania for 224 yesterday in its first innings.Victoria went to the top of Cup ladder with the result and will do the same tomorrow in the ING Cup if it can beat Tasmania again.This was the first time Warne had watched White bowl in a match and he liked what he saw.”Cameron White was very good this game, both with the bat and the ball … he’s got a big future,” Warne said.”He’s a pretty switched-on kid, he knows exactly what he’s doing, he knows how to bowl.”Warne bowled for the whole morning session and snared 3-54 for the innings, while White took two wickets in three balls on the way to 4-51.White first had Michael Dighton caught at mid-off for 41 and then trapped Graeme Cunningham lbw for a second-ball duck.It was a nightmare Pura Cup debut for Cunningham, who also dropped a difficult chance off Arnberger when he was yet to score in the first innings.Arnberger went on to anchor the innings with 172no, while Cunningham also made a first-ball duck in the first innings when he was the second victim of Shane Harwood’s hat-trick.White made a crucial 56 in the first innings in a partnership with opener Jason Arnberger, who made unbeaten centuries in the two innings.While White and Warne starred today, part-time spinner Brad Hodge made the first breakthrough.Resuming at 0-50, Tasmania had added 39 without loss when Hodge had Jamie Cox well-caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Darren Berry for 26.Berry became Victoria’s most-capped player in this game and he marked the milestone today with some great work behind the stumps, taking two catches and effecting a stumping.Tasmania was two down at lunch when Warne bowled opener Michael Di Venuto for 55 and from there the Tigers were struggling.They lost five wickets in the middle session and lasted only 22 minutes after tea.It could be the last Pura Cup match Warne plays for Victoria this summer and he will miss tomorrow’s one-dayer, flying to Brisbane instead ahead of the first Ashes Test.He badly wanted Victoria to win this match, saying the side could lose as many as five players to national commitments.Apart from himself, there is also the Australia A game against England later this month in Hobart.”If feels pretty good to be top of the table after two games – you can’t do much better than that,” Warne said.

New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart is not concerned about the apparent lack of time his players have to prepare themselves for the forthcoming Test series against India.The main thing he wants is for the players to fully utilise the time available in the two rounds of the domestic four-day competition before the first Test of the National Bank Series starts in Wellington on December 12.”They need some good cricket, time in the middle for both batting and bowling.”There’s always enough time, a couple of good innings and they will be ready for the Test match,” Aberhart said.However, Aberhart did admit that his side would have to be at their best to compete against an Indian side that is playing some fine cricket at the moment.After the players went through a fitness test at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln early this morning he was confident they had been maintaining the schedules they were set at the end of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament.This week’s three-day camp was to check that fitness and to make any changes that might be necessary to individual plans.While the distraction of the players’ strike had been a problem for the organisation of the side for the summer, the time had been put to use for the planning side of New Zealand’s approach.Aberhart said the side would be trying things out against India ahead of the World Cup.”We’ve been looking at a few things and checking on the opposition, but the key thing is we have to improve. Our batting through the middle of the innings is one thing and we have to be more consistent with our bowling.”

Leicestershire opening batsman Trevor Ward has agreed a new one year contract at Grace Road.The 34-year-old who joined Leicestershire from Kent three seasons ago,has put pen to paper after protracted negotiations and general manager Kevin Hill said: “I am very pleased that Trevor has agreed to sign the new contract.”He is a player with an abundance of natural talent and I know that he is fully committed to helping the club achieve success in 2003.”He is a very experienced player who I am sure will pass on his wealth of knowledge to some of the younger players who have joined the playing staff.”Trevor did not have the best of seasons last summer but is determined to reproduce the exciting form he displayed in 2001.”In that season Ward hit four Championship centuries, scored 872 runs and averaged nearly 46. But last summer he managed only 554 runs and averaged 23.08.

Stuart MacGill is undecided whether to quit state cricket and make way for a younger generation of spinners, however he does believe Australia’s slow-bowling stocks are already strong enough to cope with his departure from the Test scene. MacGill thinks Beau Casson is so ready for international cricket that a five-wicket haul is possible if he makes his debut in the third Test in Barbados on Thursday.”It’s great that if selected, Beau makes his debut offshore, the time difference is pretty extreme, so there’s not going to be the same sort of scrutiny,” MacGill told upon returning to Australia. “He’s not replacing me, I haven’t been dropped for him, so there’s no pressure to out-perform anyone.”He can just go onto the field as Beau Casson and bowl as well as he can and he’s bowling unbelievably at training. Historically the West Indies have played left arm wrist-spinners really, really badly, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a five-for in his Test.”The surprise retirement of MacGill during the second Test in Antigua left questions over Australia’s spin future following the decisions of Shane Warne and Brad Hogg to also give up international cricket in the past 18 months. But MacGill believes those concerns are unfounded.”I look to the time when I started playing first-class cricket and then Shane [Warne] started playing first class cricket, I think we are in really good shape,” MacGill said. “We don’t have anyone dominating state cricket, neither did Shane before he was picked [for Australia]. I think you only really find out what people are made of when they get an opportunity.”One of the most exciting ones for me is [the legspinner] Daniel Doran and he only gets a game on and off for Queensland, and his best balls are as good as anybody going around in world cricket I reckon. Cullen Bailey, Daniel Cullen and you’ve got Jason Krejza and Xavier Doherty in Tassie and a left-arm orthodox [Aaron Heal] in Perth, who does a pretty good job.”I really think we’ve got lots of spin bowlers, anyone of whom could do a job. Let’s not forget New South Wales, we’ve got Nathan Hauritz and a bunch of young bowlers – Stephen Smith. I can’t believe that anybody would even question for one second that nobody is putting pressure on Beau.”However, if MacGill continues to play for New South Wales the first-class opportunities for Hauritz and Smith might be limited and that has prompted Terry Jenner to call for MacGill’s retirement from state cricket. MacGill said Jenner’s argument was fair but he was still uncertain whether to continue with the Blues.”Sure, I’m prepared to accept that sort of comment, I think it’s pretty clear though I’ve got a lot to offer the New South Wales team,” MacGill said. “I think it would be valuable for them to have me around off the field and my statistics prove that I’m pretty handy on the field from time to time too.”While MacGill thinks he could have up to two years of first-class cricket left in him he realises that will depend on whether his body can cope. Ongoing knee problems have been a major worry and he also had surgery on his right wrist to deal with carpal-tunnel syndrome in December.”Once the ball gets past me it takes me slightly longer than the Queen Mary to turn around, so that’s not a good thing for a professional athlete,” MacGill said. “I guess the next couple of months will be pretty much finding out whether or not I can continue to keep playing at all.”I think we’ve got the best cricket physio on the planet in NSW in Pat Farhart and obviously in consultation with the Cricket Australia medical staff I will sit down and I guess we will do a status report and see where I’m at. There’s certainly no motivation issues, I’m dying to play. I’d like to play Test cricket but unfortunately the travel involved with Test cricket and the rigorous schedule is just prohibitive.”

Scorecard
An entertaining half-century from Billy Godleman set up a comfortable 38-run victory for Middlesex at Lord’s, where Sussex were never really in the chase after losing a couple of early wickets. Godleman’s 58 gave Sussex a challenging target of 178 and although Murray Goodwin tried his best with 52, the Middlesex bowlers, led by Dirk Nannes, were too tight and accurate.It was a clash between the division’s top and bottom teams and they played appropriately for their positions. Middlesex, who entered the game undefeated, got away to a strong start batting first, posted a challenging 177 for 7, and then put in a disciplined bowling display that backed up the efforts of the batsmen.Sussex, who had not won a match in this year’s tournament, relied on a part-time bowler to do most of their damage and could not find a reliable partner for Goodwin in the chase. Once they fell to 30 for 2, the required run-rate ballooned and despite a calm and assured innings from Goodwin, they were never likely to catch up.Another fast and dangerous spell from Nannes, who took a Twenty20 hat-trick four days ago, ended any vague hopes Sussex might have had of making a late dash for the points. Nannes, who bowls genuinely quick, proved that the best method is sometimes simply to aim for the stumps, bowling Matt Prior for 3 and Goodwin for 52 within one over, before also rattling Andy Hodd’s stumps to finish with 3 for 19.His initial strikes left Sussex at 76 for 5 in the 13th over, and the Lord’s crowd of 16,500 had little to do but cheer Middlesex to the inevitable victory. There were some memorable moments for the home team, however, and after doing the job with the bat Godleman nearly provided the catch of the season.In the third over of the chase, Goodwin pulled Tyron Henderson deep to the midwicket boundary where Godleman stretched his hands above his head and almost gained control of the ball, but felt himself being propelled over the rope. Thinking quickly, he lobbed the ball back up into the field of play and after regaining his footing, dived for a second grab but just could not hang on.Still, Godleman had provided enough entertainment earlier in the day. His 58 from 34 balls got Middlesex away to a flyer and he took a liking to the legbreaks of Will Beer, hammering him for three consecutive fours including a vicious pull when the bowler dropped short.After a week when Kevin Pietersen’s switch-hitting made headlines it was somehow fitting that Godleman brought up his half-century with a more conventional reverse sweep – if that’s not an oxymoron – that ran away for four off Rory Hamilton-Brown. Eoin Morgan took the theme of innovation a step further, setting up to reverse sweep Dwayne Smith, but instead reverse-flicking him over his shoulder and the vacant slip cordon for four.Both Morgan (28) and Godleman fell to Michael Yardy, whose 3 for 24 from four overs was all that kept Sussex in the match after their strike bowlers were fodder for the top order. Middlesex’s fast men did not let the same thing happen to them, and they now sit two games clear on the South Division table.

The Indian board has warned against speculation on the identity of the player who tested positive for dope in the Indian Premier League. “Don’t jump the gun on any player because it is not fair until and unless the whole process is carried out,” said Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer.Shetty said the BCCI will follow the ICC’s anti-doping code, recognised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to deal with the situation and said the entire procedure make take a “few days”.He said the BCCI, which runs the IPL, had received a WADA notification from the ICC about a player testing positive but the identity of the player in question was still unknown at this stage. “We don’t have the name of the player yet. The code [given to each player during testing] is with the WADA, who will need to match it and give us the name after wich the IPL’s medical team will take over”, Shetty said.Last week, IDTM, a Sweden-based independent agency, attested by the WADA, carried out tests on samples it had collected during random testing during the IPL at the WADA-approved laboratory in Switzerland. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, confirmed on Sunday, that one sample was found “positive.”

Paul Terry, the Hampshire manager, has announced he will be leaving his role at the end of the season.”Results haven’t gone the way I or the club would have liked, I feel it’s the right time to stand aside and give them time to find someone else,” he told the BBC. “You get driven by results but they haven’t been good enough this year, we haven’t done all the disciplines well enough, particularly our batting and catching.”Things haven’t gone to plan with overseas signings, Shane Bond had a few injuries, Shane Watson had to pull out a week or so before he was due here but we’ve been lucky with our current one Imran Tahir.”But I’m of the belief that if you rely on your overseas players then you’re not going to be a particularly strong squad.”Hampshire have had a difficult summer in both the Championship, where they sit third from bottom of Division One, and the Pro40, where they are propping up the first division.

The High Court in London will hear from September 18 an injunction brought by Digicel against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regarding the Stanford Super Series. The injunction is the latest step in a dispute between the board and its official sponsor over commercial rights relating to the tournament, the first edition of which is due to be held in November.The injunction relates solely to the proposed match between England and the Stanford Superstars to be held in Antigua on November 1, part of the five-year, US$100 million series – which consists of one All-Star match per year against an England select team. Digicel is seeking to have the WICB withdraw all approvals for the Stanford Super Series; if it is successful, the fallout could disrupt the annual $20 million match.Digicel’s concern is that the deal between the WICB and Stanford encroaches on the Caribbean telecommunication company’s exclusive sponsorship rights. Reports suggest Stanford is close to signing on Cable and Wireless (Digicel’s competitor and a former sponsor of the West Indies team) as a sponsor for the series. Digicel’s agreement with the WICB says its sponsorship rights apply in respect of any match involving a team that “…represents, purports to represent or may reasonably be perceived as representing the West Indies….”.The WICB’s view is that Digicel’s case holds no water because the team playing the Super Series is not the West Indies team but the Stanford Superstars, over which Digicel has no sponsorship rights.The issue was discussed over three weeks of negotiations last month but, with no solution in sight, Digicel sought to take the matter into arbitration.