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50 overs India A 324 for 4 (Mongia 116, Sriram 92) beat England A 269 for 9 (Napier 61, Bahutule 3-49) by 55 runs
Scorecard

Dinesh Mongia survives an lbw appeal on his way to 116 © Getty Images

Despite a public roasting from their coach, Rod Marsh, England A crashed to their third tour defeat in a row, as India A overwhelmed them by 55 runs in Bangalore.After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, England were filleted by a 209-run second-wicket partnership between Sridharan Sriram (92) and India’s World Cup finalist Dinesh Mongia, who top-scored with 116. When Mithun Manhas followed up with a brisk 42 not out, India had posted a formidable total of 324 for 4 in their 50 overs.In mitigation, England were without two of their key players. Simon Jones continues to ease his way back to full fitness and missed the match with a sore knee, while their captain Alex Gidman was also forced to look on from the sidelines, after injuring his hand prior to England’s arrival. In his absence, the captaincy passed to James Tredwell.There were few silver linings in England’s fielding performance. Although Sajid Mahmood claimed the wickets of both openers, Mongia and Gautam Gambhir, his 10 overs disappeared for 58 runs. And the back-up bowling was flogged – Bilal Shafayat and Kevin Pietersen bowled five overs between them, and conceded 46.In response, Essex’s Graham Napier top-scored with 61, and Tredwell – primarily a bowler – rose to the occasion with 48 not out, but it was a forlorn pursuit. The pair added 75 for the eighth wicket after Sairaj Bahutule had grabbed three early wickets to reduce England to 175 for 7.Although England had started promisingly through the efforts of Ed Smith (30) and Matt Prior (41), the middle order fared poorly with Pietersen, Michael Lumb and Kadeer Ali contributing 21 runs between them. There was little but pride to play for by the end, as they were restricted to 269 for 9.

A wicket apiece for Australia’s trio of fast bowlers consolidated their position of dominance at the end of the second day of the Melbourne Test. Justin Langer eventually reached a career-best 250 and Steve Waugh 77, while an unbeaten 62 from Martin Love contributed usefully to another awesome total of 551 for six before Waugh’s declaration. By the close England had reached 97 for the loss of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher.Glenn McGrath made Australia’s first breakthrough when Vaughan, after reaching 11 without apparent difficulty, got a bottom edge onto his stumps as he tried to force a delivery of the back foot.Brett Lee then accounted for Trescothick, and was unfortunate not to dismiss Nasser Hussain as he reached 97 miles per hour in a hostile spell. Trescothick had made 37 and was threatening a major innings when he tried to avoid a short ball which brushed his glove on the way through to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.Hussain survived a concerted appeal in Lee’s next over when a delivery brushed his shoulder. The England captain also survived trial by television when he drove Stuart MacGill to mid-on, where Jason Gillespie appeared to take a low catch. Hussain was ruled not out when replays were inconclusive. However Gillespie had his own slice of good fortune when he removed Butcher lbw despite an inside edge.Earlier Langer moved past his highest Test innings of 223 against India in Sydney three years ago. He would not have done so if Vaughan had held on to a straightforward catch at short extra cover off Craig White, allowing Langer to move on to 224. Eventually after hitting a six and 30 fours, he was dismissed two overs before the declaration, caught at short third man by Andrew Caddick off the expensive Richard Dawson.England’s first success of the morning was the wicket of Waugh, who had added 15 runs to his overnight total when he edged a lifting White delivery to JamesFoster. Martin Love was missed on 25 when he drove Mark Butcher to Vaughan at point, who again spilled the catch. Love had added 151 runs for the fifth wicket with Langer when he was finally dismissed. Gilchrist was then bowled heaving at Dawson to trigger the declaration.

Dissatisfied with the way the Barbados Cricket League (BCL) has beenmanaged in recent times, general secretary Carl Chapman has quit withimmediate effect.BCL president Glyn St Hill, however, has responded by saying Chapman’sperformance in the job could have been better.Chapman, an experienced cricketer and a former BCL Division 1 captain,submitted a resignation letter to St Hill last Friday.In the letter, he stated that recent events led him to believe thatthe board of management made decisions without any ideological orphilosophical concepts."It is my belief that members, void of independent thought, also makedecisions based not so much on the issue but moreso on the personputting forward the issue," Chapman said.This is quite sad, as their opinion on the same matter can fluctuatefrom side to side and time to time, dependent on the personnel who putforward the issue at the time.When contacted, St Hill said he was amazed by Chapman’s charges."Whenever we make a decision, it is always a majority or unanimousdecision," St Hill said. "There is always discussion and it is nevera unilateral decision."In his letter, Chapman also expressed disappointment in the manner theboard of management handled some constitutional matters and the choiceof the BCL First XI captain this season.Chapman, an all-rounder who performed with some distinction for theBCL Division 1 side in the early and mid-1990s, said he was constantlyreminded of the scenario between the smart and the powerful."It is simply a case where the smart put forward brilliant ideas butthese ideas are always opposed by the powerful and labelled as stupidand unable to work," Chapman said.Later, when it pleases the powerful, they reintroduce and implementthe same ideas so as to make it seem like an original of the powerful.Chapman took over general secretary in 1999 after unsuccessfullycontesting the post of president against St Hill.St Hill said he immediately told Chapman he was willing to work withhim, but he said that over a period of time he was not happy withChapman’s output."I have tried my best to bend over backwards to co-operate with him,but I don’t think he expected the workload that was involved," StHill said.While Chapman is no longer interested in serving in office, he stillremains a member of the BCL."I would like to wish the members all the best in their futureendeavours and pledge my undying support for the teams of the leagueand the management of the league," he said. "I will continue topractise in the hope of gaining selection to the senior team at somepoint in time."

Rangers’ Joe Aribo failed to make the desired impact in the Old Firm derby on Sunday, according to official club media partners Heart & Hand.

The lowdown

The Gers lost 2-1 against their arch-rivals in a result which could prove to be decisive in the title race.

Celtic are now six points clear at the top of the Premiership with six games to play after Tom Rogic cancelled out Aaron Ramsey’s opener and Cameron Carter-Vickers then scored the winning goal.

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Giovanni van Bronckhorst selected Aribo in the right attacking midfield role in his 4-2-3-1 shape, with Ramsey central and Ryan Kent slotting in on the left.

The Nigerian is one of the most trusted players at the club, starting 28 of the Light Blues’ 32 league matches so far this season.

The latest

During the first half of the game at Ibrox, Heart & Hand tweeted that Aribo was actually landing Rangers in trouble against Celtic.

They made the damning assessment that the 25-year-old was ‘causing us more problems than them’ on Sunday afternoon.

The verdict

What do the stats say about Aribo’s performance?

His SofaScore rating was a rather underwhelming 6.7/1o, the lowest of Rangers’ attacking foursome. The £9m-rated gem wasn’t able to fashion a chance for his team-mates and he didn’t have a shot of any description until the 89th minute of the match.

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Furthermore, he lost possession 14 times and came off second best in four of the five aerial duels that he contested, which makes the criticism from Heart & Hand understandable.

Aribo is largely enjoying a fine season, with seven goals and eight assists under his belt, but this was perhaps a day to forget on a most unfortunate occasion to have it.

In other news, Rangers could be hit with a £5m fine

	Lou Vincent: the latest loss to New Zealand cricket © Getty Images

Steve Waugh has said that England and New Zealand stand to lose the most from the rise of India’s official and unofficial Twenty20 leagues, as well as voicing his concern over the power of India’s administrators.Waugh was speaking shortly after Lou Vincent became the latest player to turn his back on New Zealand and sign for the ICL. “They have lost five or six players to the rebel Twenty20 and they can’t afford to lose their players,” Waugh said. “They haven’t got the depth. England are up and down, I’m not sure where they are going. Again, if they lose players to that rebel league it’s going to affect them.”You can’t have one or two sides dominating … no-one’s going to turn up and watch. If the rebel league continues, you are going to lose a lot of players from Test cricket and probably from county cricket as well because they are going to get offers, and that is going to affect English cricket.”With regard to India’s administrators, Waugh said they have power “because they have money and they have influence and they can determine what is being played where and against who. Whoever is running Indian cricket has a big responsibility to make sure the traditions of the game are kept as well.”

Simon Jones limped out of the tour of India last March © Getty Images

Pre-season friendlies are normally no more significant than batsmen getting time in the middle and bowlers building miles in their legs. However, Glamorgan’s early season warm-up match against Sussex at Hove marked a milestone for Simon Jones, the England paceman, who is completing his recovery from yet another knee injury.Since his starring role in the 2005 Ashes, Jones has barely set foot on a cricket field, and when he has it has usually resulted in him limping off. His comeback for Glamorgan during the 2006 season, following his aborted return on England’s tour of India, lasted four matches before he broke down against Ireland in the C&G Trophy.Now he is trying again, following a winter spent working on his knee at Loughborough, Glamorgan and latterly a warm-weather stint in Cape Town. Statistically the first results have been modest, eight overs for 27 spread over two spells not a full pace, but at this stage it is about the small steps.Ahead of his comeback, Jones said he was feeling confident: “I’m back to bowling at full pace occasionally. I hit 79mph off three steps last week and I’ll be back bowling at 90mph soon; I’m confident now as my knee feels strong. I’ve no negative demons. I’m probably in the best nick of my life.”However, despite the problems England’s pace attack has suffered in Jones’s absence the selectors will be wary of rushing him back into the side especially with the first Test against West Indies starting on May 17, only four weeks into the season. Glamorgan have two Championship matches and a University fixture during the opening stages of the summer, which will give a better indication of Jones’s long term prognosis.

Kerry Packer at the height of World Series Cricket in 1977 © The Cricketer

Kerry Packer, the man responsible for World Series Cricket (WSC) and the explosion of the one-day game, has died in Sydney aged 68. Packer, a media mogul billionaire, was behind the damaging split from the Australian Cricket Board in 1977 in a fight over television broadcasting rights.Packer realised that cricket was in need of an image overhaul, and crucially that while the game was generating huge amounts of cash, little of that was going to the players. It meant that recruiting around 50 of the top cricketers was relatively straightforward. While WSC only last two years, it changed the game forever, and many of the things we now take for granted – coloured clothing, day/night matches – were Packer innovations. The other knock-on was that for the first time, players were paid a decent amount. And when peace was achieved in 1979 his Channel 9 coverage led the way in broadcasting innovation.A minute’s silence was held before the start of the second day of the Australia-South Africa Test and Cricket Australia said he was one of the most “influential men in its history”.Packer, who had a kidney transplant in 2000, had a history of serious illnesses and suffered severe health problems over the past couple of years. But until then he lived life to the full, and was renowned as one of the world’s largest gamblers, on occasion winning and losing millions in a day. Forbes magazine valued his wealth at $5 billion earlier this year. His interests also included mining and property.A statement from Channel 9 said he died “peacefully at home with his family at his bedside” on Boxing Day.

Ricky Ponting says his team’s focus will be on New Zealand rather than England© Getty Images

Ricky Ponting is certain that the upcoming Ashes series will not distract Australia during their six-week tour of New Zealand. The one-day squad left for the five matches today and Ponting made sure that his teammates knew the tournament was their priority.”We know that we have got this very big and vital series to play first,” Ponting said at Sydney Airport. “New Zealand are a very good side and they are hard to beat in Australia and a lot harder to beat over there.”Ponting said “a lot of media are talking about the Ashes”, but interest in the game’s oldest Test battle is not limited to holders of pens or microphones. The players have been lining up to discuss the series, which starts in July, since the end of the Pakistan Tests in the first week of January.Glenn McGrath yesterday pinpointed Andrew Strauss and Michael Vaughan as his focus this winter while overlooking any New Zealand batsmen for next month’s three-Test series. “It was intimidating enough when McGrath was naming his target, but this has got to be the ultimate insult – he hasn’t even bothered,” Adam Parore, the former Kiwi wicketkeeper, told the New Zealand Herald. “It’s a new low-point in Trans-Tasman relations.”

Sri Lanka A 301 for 3 (Arnold 96*, Jayantha 92) beat India A 300 for 8 (Gambhir 113) by 7 wickets
Scorecard
The things confidence can do. Sri Lanka A, buoyed by a gritty victory in the recent third Test, ran all over India A at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in the first one-dayer of the Kenstar Tournament, which also involves Pakistan’s A team. A target of 301 was achieved with two overs – and more emphatically, seven wickets – to spare.Russel Arnold (96*) and Saman Jayantha (92) could not quite reach centuries, but they scored rapidly, and helped the team achieve a monumental target with ease. Naveed Nawaz, who captained Sri Lanka A in the Tests, highlighted the inadequacies of the Indian attack, slamming 57 in 44 balls with three sixes and four fours.An early breakthrough by Sanjay Bangar – dismissing Shantha Kalavitigoda – when Sri Lanka A were on 39 was an encouraging start, but it all went downhill from there. Jehan Mubarak came out and toyed with the bowling, putting 25 on the board before Sairaj Bahutule struck him on the pads in front (76 for 2). Jayantha and Arnold then went about scoring runs as if they were going out of fashion until, 126 runs later, Jayantha fell to Dinesh Mongia’s part-time left-arm spin (202 for 3). Then came Nawaz, and there went the game.The Sri Lankan innings, from start to finish, was one continuous assault and nothing anyone did could stop the flow of runs. Consider this: Amit Bhandari bowled six overs for 41 runs, and his replacement, Munaf Patel, gave away 49 in five. Bangar went at five an over, and Bahutule’s legspin close to that. Even Sarandeep Singh went for 54 in 10 – no matter who bowled, the runs wouldn’t stop.Earlier Gautam Gambhir had scored a sparkling century to power India to 300, but even that was a below-par total considering the phenomenal start. With 11 hits to the fence, and one beyond it, Gambhir stamped his authority on the bowlers, while Mohammad Kaif (71) ran a lot, not bothering too much about the boundaries. The rest of the batsmen didn’t do a great deal, though Mongia did hold the tail together and was unbeaten on 23 at the end of the innings.Nuwan Zoysa, opening the bowling for Sri Lanka A, took the wickets of Hemang Badani and Bahutule, but gave away 81 runs, 24 of them through extras (18 no-balls and six wides). Rangana Herath was the hardest to get away, going for only 45 in 10 – very economical in the context of such a high-scoring game – and dismissing Kaif in the process.Sri Lanka A take on Pakistan A at Kolkata tomorrow in the next match of the series.

On February 10, 2002 during the second Test match (no. 1588) betweenPakistan and West Indies played in Sharjah, Waqar Younis became the 13th bowlerto claim 350 wickets when he captured the wicket of Ryan Hinds. By achievingthis landmark in just 78 matches he became the fastest Pakistani to reach 350wickets in Test cricket. In this regard, Imran Khan, who achieved this featin 79 matches in 1989-90, held the previous record.

Waqar took just 14928 balls to take his 350th wicket. This places him at thetop of the list, above the late West Indian fast bowler Malcolm Marshall whoneeded 16340 balls to reach his 350 wickets in his 75th Test in 1990-91. Waqarbettered him by 1412 balls.

Waqar Younis who made his Test debut against India at Karachi took 12 yearsand 87 days to achieve this milestone at the age of 30 years and 86 days.

The following chart is a graphical representation of his career on a wicketsper match basis followed by detailed tabulations:

Waqar Younis Career Statistics 21-02-2002

Country-wise break-up of Waqar Younis’s bowling

Opponents	Mt	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Avg	Best	B/w	R/o	5w	10w
Australia	9	264.2	54	825	24	34.38	4/69	66.08	3.12	–	–
Bangladesh	3	54.2	8	181	18	10.06	6/55	18.11	3.34	1	–
England	11	404.1	70	1352	50	27.04	5/52	48.50	3.35	3	–
India	4	107	19	390	8	48.75	4/80	80.25	3.64	–	–
NewZealand	12	482.3	123	1313	68	19.31	7/76	42.57	2.72	5	2
SouthAfrica	5	23.90	149.2	30	478	20	6/78	44.80	3.20	1	1
SriLanka	12	330.3	51	1150	55	20.91	6/34	36.05	3.48	4	1
WestIndies	13	363.2	48	1283	55	23.33	5/46	39.64	3.53	3	–
Zimbabwe	9	332.3	66	1004	54	18.59	7/91	36.94	3.02	5	1
Home	31	997.4		3106	159	19.53	7/76	37.6	3.11	11	3
Away	45	1437		4674	185	25.26	6/34	46.6	3.25	11	2
Neutral	2	53.3	9	196	8	24.50	4/44	40.1	3.66
Overall(9)	78	2488.0	469	7976	352	22.66	7/76	42.41	3.21	22	5

Bowlers with 350 or more Test wickets (13)

Bowlers	Career	Tests	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Avg	Best	B/w	R/o	5w	10w
CAWalsh	1984-01	132	5004.2	1143	12684	519	24.44	7/37	57.8	2.53	22	3
KapilDev	1978-94	131	4623.2	1057	12867	434	29.65	9/83	63.9	2.78	23	2
RJHadlee	1973-90	86	3460.4	809	9611	431	22.30	9/52	50.8	2.63	36	9
SKWarne	1992-**	98	4563.1	1323	11493	430	26.73	8/71	63.6	2.51	20	5
WasimAkram	1985-**	104	3771.5	869	9777	414	23.62	7/119	54.6	2.59	25	5
CELAmbrose	1988-00	98	3683.5	1001	8502	405	20.99	8/45	54.5	2.30	22	3
MMuralitharan	1992-**	72	4025.2	1044	9510	404	23.54	9/51	59.7	2.36	33	10
ITBotham	1977-92	102	3549.3	788	10878	383	28.40	8/34	56.9	2.99	27	4
GDMcGrath	1993-**	81	3247.4	956	8297	377	22.01	8/38	51.6	2.55	22	3
MDMarshall	1978-91	81	2930.4	611	7876	376	20.95	7/22	46.7	2.68	22	4
ImranKhan	1971-92	88	3106	727	8258	362	22.81	8/58	53.7	2.54	23	6
DKLillee	1971-84	70	2834.1	652	8493	355	23.92	7/83	52.0	2.75	23	7
WaqarYounis	1989-**	78	2488	469	7976	352	22.66	7/76	42.4	3.20	22	5

**- players currently active in Test Cricket

Bowlersreaching 350 Test wickets in least matches

Bowlers	Mt	Balls	Runs	Avg	B/w	Vs	Test	Season
M Muralitharan(SL)	66	21633	8678	24.79	61.81	BD	1st	2001-02
RJ Hadlee(NZ)	69	17858	7874	22.43	50.88	WI	3rd	1986-87
DK Lillee(Aus)	70	18288	8405	23.95	52.10	Pak	5th	1983-84
GD McGrath(Aus)	74	17581	7449	21.28	50.23	Eng	4th	2001
MD Marshall(WI)	75	16340	7326	20.81	46.42	Aus	4th	1990-91
Waqar Younis(Pak)	78	14928	7976	22.66	42.41	WI	2nd	2001-02
Imran Khan(Pak)	79	18738	7953	22.66	53.38	Ind	4th	1989-90
SK Warne(Aus)	80	22419	8946	25.56	64.05	Ind	2nd	1999-00
Wasim Akram(Pak)	82	18534	7981	22.74	52.80	Zim	1st	1998-99
IT Botham(Eng)	83	18852	9332	26.51	53.56	WI	4th	1985-86
CEL Ambrose(WI)	84	18737	7442	21.26	53.53	SA	4th	1998-99
CA Walsh(WI)	96	20440	9093	25.76	57.90	Pak	3rd	1997-98
Kapil Dev(Ind)	100	20784	10140	28.89	59.21	Pak	1st	1989-90

Bowlers reaching350 Test wickets with least balls and best strike rate

Bowlers	Mt	Balls	Runs	Avg	B/w	Vs	Test	Season
Waqar Younis(Pak)	78	14928	7976	22.66	42.41	WI	2nd	2001-02
MD Marshall(WI)	75	16340	7326	20.81	46.42	Aus	4th	1990-91
GD McGrath(Aus)	74	17581	7449	21.28	50.23	Eng	4th	2001
RJ Hadlee(NZ)	69	17858	7874	22.43	50.88	WI	3rd	1986-87
DK Lillee(Aus)	70	18288	8405	23.95	52.10	Pak	5th	1983-84
Wasim Akram(Pak)	82	18534	7981	22.74	52.80	Zim	1st	1998-99
Imran Khan(Pak)	79	18738	7953	22.66	53.38	Ind	4th	1989-90
CEL Ambrose(WI)	84	18737	7442	21.26	53.53	SA	4th	1998-99
IT Botham(Eng)	83	18852	9332	26.51	53.56	WI	4th	1985-86
CA Walsh(WI)	96	20440	9093	25.76	57.90	Pak	3rd	1997-98
Kapil Dev(Ind)	100	20784	10140	28.89	59.21	Pak	1st	1989-90
M Muralitharan(SL)	66	21633	8678	24.79	61.81	BD	1st	2001-02
SK Warne(Aus)	80	22419	8946	25.56	64.05	Ind	2nd	1999-00

– balls calculatedto the end of that particular match in which the bowler took his 350th wicket
– All data updated to 21-02-2002