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North Zone piled up a massive 708/8 declared on the second day of theDuleep Trophy match against South Zone at the IGMC stadium in Vijayawada onFriday. South Zone bowlers had no clue about stopping the North Zone runflow. Dinesh Mongia hit a double century and Virender Shewag blasted aquick-fire hundred to add to South Zone’s misery.Resuming on 336 for three, North kept playing aggressively as Mongia andShewag sent South Zone on a leather hunt. Their fourth wicket partnershipwas worth 178 when Shewag was dismissed for 108 by Sridharan Sriram in the119th over with the total on 507. Shewag’s powerful innings contained 18strokes to the fence and came of a mere 113 balls. Sharandeep Singh joinedMongia in the middle and made 28 before he was dismissed by Laxman. Mongiawho enjoyed the run feast went on to complete his double century and wasthe next batsman to be dismissed for a masterly 201 made off just 266balls. He was at the crease for a little over six hours and smashed 30boundaries and a six in his innings. At that stage the North Zone scoreread 631/6 in the 152nd over.Harbhajan Singh played a little cameo that earned him a run a ball inningsof 41. Singh’s explosive knock included four boundaries and a six before hewas dismissed by Sunil Joshi, who also accounted for the next wicket tofall, that of SV Ghag for 9. Rahul Sanghvi remained unbeaten on 33 withSurendra Singh on 4 as North Zone declared at the end of the 167th over.The South Zone bowlers had to do a lot of work without much reward. Joshiwas the pick of the bowling with figures of 42-3-167-3.When South Zone batted, Sadagopan Ramesh was caught by wicketkeeper Rathouroff the bowling of Ghag for 8 in the fourth over. South Zone sent in ThiruKumaran as the night-watchman, but more disaster was to follow as Sriramwas dismissed caught by Rathour of the bowling of Surendra Singh for 11 tothe last ball of the day. South Zone were 41/2 in 11 overs with Kumaranunbeaten on 21 (4 fours) at the close of play.

It is encouraging to see South Africa’s youth showing a keen interest in thegame of cricket. PPC Cement and Barloworld, are proud to be associated withcricket development as sport lies in the heart of a winning nation.The PPC Cement Pitches Programme was launched in 1997. It is a jointinitiative between PPC Cement, its holding company – Barloworld – and theUnited Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA). The objective of thisProgramme is to develop winning, local, regional and national teams of thefuture.The PPC Cement Pitches Programme is well on track to reach the goal ofcompleting 1000 concrete pitches and 23 ovals by the 2003 Cricket World Cup,which should ultimately boost cricket development throughout the country.To date, the PPC Cement Pitches Programme has been responsible for theconstruction of 722 concrete pitches and practice nets, eleven ovals and twoclubhouses throughout South Africa’s provincial cricket regions.As part of PPC’s commitment to uplift the communities in which it operates,all these facilities were built by contractors drawn from the localcommminities. In addition, these contractors were trained in basic concretetechnology and provided with technical assistance, in an effort to enhancetheir future prospects through the skills that they have acquired.

For the third consecutive weekend, Glamorgan`s batsmen produced some exhilarating strokeplay, as they compiled a record 305-6 in Sunday`s National League game against Worcestershire at Cardiff. It was Glamorgan`s highest ever total in Sunday League format cricket, and was the highest total by any county side in the National League competition which began in 1999.It also continues their sequence of remarkable innings during the past few weeks. A fortnight ago in the Championship match at Chelmsford, Glamorgan`s batsmen scored 367 in 80.5 overs on the final afternoon to defeat Essex, and then followed this up the next day with an astonishing 254 in just 31.5 overs to win the National League game against Essex.Last weekend at Maidstone, Glamorgan were set a target of 377 in 108 overs to beat Kent. Rain then intervened to halt the run chase, and after a three and a half hour delay, Glamorgan finished on 203 without loss in just 44 overs, as the match was drawn. Had the weather stayed fine, a different result was on the cards, with the Welsh batsmen well on course for another famous win, only to have their hopes dashed by the heavy rain.Yesterday`s total against Worcestershire was Glamorgan`s highest score in theSunday competition, passing their previous best of 294-4 against Surrey at Pontypridd in 1999. It was also only the fourth time they had passed 300 in a limited overs game against first-class opposition, and their score of 305-6 is the second highest in all games against first-class teams.For the record, the table below lists Glamorgan`s highest totals in one day games:

373-7 v Bedfordshire at Sophia Gardens, 1998 (NWT)345-2 v Durham (m/c) at Darlington, 1991 (NWT)344-5 v Lincolnshire at Swansea, 1994 (NWT)333-4 v Dorset at Bournemouth, 2000 (NWT)328-6 v Wales MC at Sophia Gardens, 1998 (F)322-5 v Oxfordshire at Swansea, 1993 (NWT)318-3 v Combined Universities at Sophia Gardens, 1995 (B&H)318-4 v Staffordshire at Sophia Gardens, 1989 (NWT)316-8 v Essex at Sophia Gardens, 1994 (NWT)314-2 v Combined Universities at Cambridge, 1996 (B&H)312-4 v Wales Minor Counties at Sophia Gardens, 1997 (F)305-6 v Worcestershire at Sophia Gardens, 2001 (NL)304-8 v Hampshire at Southampton, 1997 (NWT)302-6 v Combined Universities at Sophia Gardens,1988 (B&H)301-8 v Essex at Chelmsford, 1997 (NWT)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths, who have been askedto trace alleged bookie Mukesh Kumar Gupta by the InternationalCricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption commissioner Sir Paul Condon,will visit the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office inMumbai on June 25.BCCI executive secretary, Sharad Diwadkar, told PTI in Mumbai onWednesday that the CBI officials would visit the BCCI office on Mondaybut “I don’t know the reason behind their visit.”When queried whether any of the ICC investigators would accompany theCBI sleuths, Diwadkar said he had not received any informationregarding ICC investigators’ visit and added that “we would get aclear picture only on Monday.”According to a CBI spokesman in Mumbai, the main purpose of the visitis to try and get as much information as possible which could helptrace Gupta who has gone into hiding after he met the ICCinvestigators twice, the last time in March.

West Indies captain Carl Hooper said today that the victory againstZimbabwe in the Coca Cola Cup triangular series had given a lot ofconfidence to his side and he was now looking forward to defeatingIndia in the next game to be able to go into the final with a positiveframe of mind."We need a confidence booster before the final and hope to win againstIndia at Harare," Hooper said after his team clinched a five-wicketwin over Zimbabwe in a nail-biting finish to confirm their place inthe final. "The final against India would be a good match. Zimbabwepushed us real hard," he said after pipping Zimbabwe with just a ballto spare.Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak said it was unfortunate to sufferanother loss. Patting the middle order for the splendid recovery,Streak said "After the quick loss of the three top order batsmen,Wishart, Flower and Whittal chipped in with good scores. I thought 250was a competitive score."Grant Flower who won the man-of-the match for his superb 94 wasdisappointed to end up on the losing side. "What can you say," hesaid.On the repeated collapse of the Zimbabwe top order in this series,Flower said newcomer Dion (Ebrahim) was a quality opener and hoped hewill come good soon. "He is a new guy and he will come good, though hedid not have the best of series."

Ranji Trophy champions Baroda and former champions Mumbai would play atriangular limited overs cricket tournament in Kenya, with the hostsbeing the third team, from September 10 to 24.The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint secretary, Mayank Khandwalatold PTI in Mumbai today that the Mumbai team would play Baroda andKenya three times each in the league phase. The final is slated forSeptember 24. Mumbai will also play a three-day match against Kenya.”The main intention of touring Kenya is to give exposure to Mumbaiplayers and help them get accustomed to staying together which in turnwould help them knit well as a team,” he said.”An invitation from the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) was receivedby the MCA and the newly formed Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC)sanctioned the tour immediately. The MCA selectors will meet here inthe third or fourth week of August to pick the team for the tour,” headded.Kenya had invited Mumbai last year as well but the tour was cancelleddue to non-availability of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was busywith the Indian team’s conditioning camp for the International CricketCouncil’s (ICC) Mini World Cup.

England Honours were even on Day 1 of the first Test between WestIndies Under-19 and their England counterparts. Having won the tossand put the visitors in to bat at Grace Road, the hosts will possiblyeven feel they had the better of the day.At one stage Devon Smith and captain Brenton Parchment lookedinvincible as Windies recaptured the form that saw them win the One-Day series 2-1. Smith (54) and Parchment (62) looked set to remainunbeaten and give the away side an important psychological advantage.As it was Windies suffered something of a slump and ended the day on188 for five after 52 overs.With the score on 107, Smith the Man-Of-The-Series in the One-DayInternationals was caught by Andrew McGarry off the bowling of JamesTredwell. Smith’s 67-minute knock contained 11 boundaries as heconfirmed his class once again.Parchment, who struggled in the One-Dayers, at last came good with aclassy innings of 62. His return to form was no less brutal than thatof opening partner Smith’s. Parchment hit ten fours and one huge sixto vindicate the faith shown in him by the team’s management.After the captain’s departure, West Indies lost their way. Instead ofbuilding on their highly promising opening stand, the Windies let agrateful England back into the game.Patrick Browne’s wicket was next to fall as England scented a chanceto get back into contention. Browne was dismissed for a quickfire andentertaining 25. There were four boundaries in his 60-ball innings butjust when the team needed him to carry on the previous good work,England bowler Gary Muchall made a mess of Browne’s stumps and leftthe score on 151 for three.Tonito Willett (12) and Vishna Arjune (13) lasted for 37 and 11minutes respectively.

Yorkshire crashed from the high standards of four wins in five Norwich Union League games when Warwickshire wrapped up a seven-wicket victory with 18.1 overs to spare at Edgbaston.The northerners’ improved form began with the dismissal of Warwickshire for 59 at Headingley in July, but there was never any danger of a repeat performance.Charlie Dagnall had Gavin Hamilton caught behind from the first ball of the match as Yorkshire toppled from the heights of a record one-day score against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough on Sunday.Darren Lehmann, the trail-blazer on that occasion with 191 out of 353 for six, went for 14 and Yorkshire only just managed to bat out their overs for a score of 137 for nine.The main damage was done by Mo Sheikh. A loose shot by Lehmann to mid-wicket put the medium-pacer on the way to a career-best performance with four for 17.Anthony McGrath, caught at cover, was his next victim for a top score of 38 and the only other double-figure innings were played by Craig White (21) and David Byas (17).Yorkshire, still not clear of relegation worries, needed something special in the field, but inspiration quickly ran out after Matthew Hoggard’s second-ball dismissal of Mark Wagh.Warwickshire reached 43 in the ninth over before Dougie Brown was caught at mid-on off Ryan Sidebottom, and Nick Knight carried on the charge with his first half-century of the season in the one-day league.David Hemp benefited from two missed chances in a stand of 64 as Warwickshire cruised home with time to spare. Knight went for 53, caught at long leg off Lehmann, but Hemp saw the job through with an unbeaten 43.

Match referee Colonel Naushad Ali tonight called a disciplinary hearing after England completed a series victory over Zimbabwe with a bad-tempered win in Harare.The hearing, involving England captain Nasser Hussain, young wicketkeeper James Foster and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower. followed an angry exchange between Foster and Flower, who refused to walk after an appeal for a catch behind the wicket.Foster walked up to Flower, who was on 99 at the time, and who feigned a head-butt in response.Both players could face fines, suspended sentences or even bans from the remainder of the series.Asked for his views about the incident, Hussain said: “I want to see people with a lot of heart and character because that’s what gets you through in the end.”You can be as nice as you want, play the game the right way and all that butyou want people with character in your side.”I’ll speak to James and we’ll see what happens, but I’d rather have someonewith a bit of character that you’re trying to draw in every now and then thanthe other way around when you’re trying to draw people out of their shells.”We’re still trying to play cricket in the right way, but things will happenin a heated contest occasionally and we’re trying to keep those down to aminimum.”Flower was also reluctant to criticise the young Essex keeper. “It was just one of those battles in the middle but nothing too serious,” he said.”It’s up to him how he wants to play the game and if he wants to play itaggressively like that and he can back it up then good luck to him.”

Another abject surrender by India saw them slump to their ninthconsecutive one-day final loss at Kingsmead, Durban, on Friday. ShaunPollock’s men, in sharp contrast, were magnificent in carrying outtheir game plan on the field and they rightfully walked away withevery award on offer.

I would lay the blame for this defeat squarely on the shoulders of theIndian batsmen. The overnight rain in Durban had meant that there wasdampness in the pitch and the ball was stopping with disconcertingregularity on its way to the batsmen. I felt then that a score of 230to 240 would have proved a challenging target for the South Africans,who had decided to chase. The Indian middle-order, however, for theumpteenth time failed to rise to the occasion following the earlydismissals of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and our final scoreof 183 was always going to be inadequate.The defeat has proved yet again our almost absolute reliance on Sachinand Sourav. Let me place a few facts to drive home the obvious. It wasSachin’s unbeaten 124 and Sourav’s unbeaten 63 that sealed India’slast win in a one-day final on 13 November 1998 against Zimbabwe inSharjah. India’s failure to win a one-day trophy since then has a lotto do with the fact that the two premier batsmen have managed to scoreonly a little over 350 runs among them in the last nine finals. This,incidentally, includes the ICC KnockOut final at Nairobi in October2000 when Ganguly made a brilliant hundred only to see Chris Cairnscome up with an equally superlative effort to guide New Zealand to afamous win.In all fairness to Sachin and Sourav though we cannot expect them todeliver on every occasion. The rest of the batting too has to pulltheir collective weight whenever the magnificent duo fails. The highsuccess percentage of top teams like South Africa and Australia has alot to do with the fact that their middleand late-order deliver evenwhen their openers fail. But sadly this has never been the case withIndia.

On Friday, all we needed was for someone to give Rahul Dravid company.Virender Sehwag looked good while making 34 but he perished when Indiawere expecting a long innings from him. Reetinder Sodhi also showedattitude while making a gutsy 22 but the others seemed to have thrownin the towel even before they made their way out to the middle. Theirbody language showed that they had no stomach for a fight and thismeant India couldn’t even play out the allotted 50 overs.What the performance proves is that we have not yet learnt to play asa team. If you ask me, unless that happens, we cannot seize the bigmoment and make it our own. Our batsmen will also have to learn toplay international-level fast bowling. As of now, with the honourableexception of Sachin, Rahul and VVS Laxman, I don’t see any of thecurrent lot succeeding against the South African quicks in the Tests.Our willow-wielders must also master the art of running between thewickets. On Friday, almost all of our batsmen ran at a pace that wouldhave been more in keeping with an early morning jog by the beach. Theymust also learn when to run and when not to, ensuring that they avoidthe kind of dismissal that befell Javagal Srinath. Every wicket andevery run counts in the international arena and this sort of laxrunning is truly unpardonable.I have held for long that the lack of a quality all-rounder has beenanother major reason for India’s poor performance in recent times. Ifyou look back, a lot of our success in our golden era in one-daycricket, the early 1980s, was due to the fact that we had quite a fewquality all-rounders. Reetinder Singh Sodhi, who currently fills theslot, has loads of attitude but he has to improve his batting andbowling in a big way if he is to be classed in the same bracket asthose fine cricketers with whom I had the honour of playing.It might be stating the obvious again but the fielding too has toimprove by leaps and bounds (tongue-firmly-in-cheek). At Durban, wesaw Laxman dropping Kirsten when the latter was on 23 and later Kumbledropping Kallis at third man. No team can afford such mistakes even inthe normal run of play leave alone when they are defending what was atbest a modest target.The Indian skipper has said in the post-match press conference that heis still looking for solutions that would end the almost three-yearlong one-day title drought. I can only empathise with Sourav. WhatDurban has shown is that even the darkest of clouds might suddenlydisappear; Indian cricket’s worries though will not.