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Close England 163 for 4 (Vaughan 52) trail Sri Lanka 382 (Dilshan 63, Fernando 51*, Giles 5-116) by 219 runs
Scorecard

Sri Lanka moved into a dominating position on the second day of the Kandy Test, finishing with a lead of 219. After Sri Lanka’s tail again wagged to great effect, adding 112 for the last three wickets to reach a total of 382, England wasted a rollicking start by the openers to falter to 163 for 4 by the close.England are still in the game, thanks partly to a brave stand between Graham Thorpe and Paul Collingwood towards the end of the day. However, the news that the Sri Lanka team management have allegedly filed an official complaint to Clive Lloyd, the match referee, after Nasser Hussain called Muttiah Muralitharan a cheat and a chucker won’t have done their camp any favours.Quick wickets were the order of the day for England when play started, and their prospects were looking up when Andrew Flintoff broke through with his 12th ball of the morning. Bowling with great pace and hostility, Flintoff surprised Hashan Tillakaratne with his extra bounce, and Mark Butcher took a well-judged catch just inside the fine-leg boundary. Sri Lanka had added just one run to their overnight score at this stage, and with James Kirtley zipping the ball every which way, England had hopes of a quick finish to the innings.But they had reckoned without Dinusha Fernando and Kumar Dharmasena, who added 76 for the ninth wicket. Fernando batted with great style and composure, playing a succession of sweetly timed drives and pulls. Dharmasena, meanwhile, provided important ballast to the innings, playing more carefully in his watchful knock. Ashley Giles had three good shouts for lbw turned down as the umpiring continued to raise eyebrows, but the real issue was England’s inability to blow away Sri Lanka’s tail – yet again. Their four bowlers did well on the first day, but Vaughan’s lack of options were starting to tell.Giles finally broke the frustrating partnership soon after lunch with the scalp of Dharmasena, who was trapped in front heaving across the line (354 for 9). But England’s agony didn’t end there. Murali provided his usual end-of-innings entertainment, twice swatting Kirtley through midwicket for four, and Fernando then signalled brought up his half-century with a confident swing of the bat over extra cover.Murali flicked Giles for a straight six, and it seemed that even the umpires wanted him to continue his torment of the England attack. He gave himself room to cut Giles, and although the ball clipped the top of off stump, Aleem Dar initially gave him not out, presumably thinking that Chris Read had knocked off the bail with his glove. However, after a slight delay and some badgering by Vaughan, the umpires consulted the third umpire, who correctly gave Murali out.Vaughan and Trescothick rushed to the pavilion to put the pads eager to make up for lost time, and they made a blistering start. While Chaminda Vaas was his usual steady self, Fernando was all over the shop. Perhaps he was feeling the effects of his batting heroics, but he produced a mixture of no-balls and long-hops. He overstepped three times in one over, and was also smashed to the rope three times by Trescothick.Vaughan stroked a brace of elegant drives past extra cover as the run rate raced to over five an over, and the fifty partnership was posted off only 55 balls. Vaughan cracked two successive short ones from Vaas to the square-leg boundary, and even clubbed Murali past midwicket for his sixth four. But you can’t keep Murali down, and in the final over before tea he dented England’s progress. Trescothick propped forward and got an inside edge which flew via the pad to Tillakaratne Dilshan at short leg (89 for 1).That dismissal then started a slide of four wickets for 30 runs to put England firmly on the back foot. Butcher got off the mark with a cracking four past long-on – but that was as good as it got. He came down the track to Dharmasena, was beaten by the turn and easily stumped by Sangakkara (100 for 2).Vaughan notched up his half-century with a crunching sweep, but Murali got his revenge in the next over. He sent down a peach of a doosra which caught Vaughan’s outside edge and was well taken by Mahela Jayawardene at first slip via Sangakkara’s glove (119 for 3).

Hussain usually thrives in these backs-to-the-wall situations, but he wasn’t up to the task today. Instead, he was more interested in mouthing off Murali. Like Butcher, Hussain opened his innings with a four, but he was then trapped lbw for no further score. Vaas pitched one on a good length which straightened a fraction and caught him in front of off stump (119 for 4).England were on the brink of disaster, and in danger of throwing away all of yesterday’s hard work, but Thorpe and Collingwood – the master nudger and his apprentice – prevented a landslide with a steady 44-run stand. As usual, there were no frills, just ones and twos and the odd boundary. It was just what England needed to calm the nerves.The clouds slowly rolled over the ground and seeped a steady stream of drizzle, but it wasn’t hard enough to let England leave early and regroup. Collingwood and Thorpe certainly saved a tricky situation, but there is still plenty for them to do tomorrow.

Chasing a target of 339 to beat Worcestershire at New Road, Jimmy Maher scored a pugnacious 84* asGlamorgan ended the third day`s play on 174/4. Much will depend on the steadfast Australian as Glamorganrequire a further 165 with 6 wickets in hand on the final day on a wicket where the bounceat times is still capricious.Jimmy Maher and Jonathan Hughes launched Glamorgan`s run chase with an opening stand of 51 in 15 overs.It was only the second time this season that the county`s openers had shared a stand in excessof 50, but it came at a most valuable time, as both Maher and Hughes adopted a positive approachagainst Worcestershire`s new ball attack. However, their purposeful partnership was ended whenKabir Ali got a ball to rear up from a good length, causing Hughes to spoon a catch into the gully.Four overs later, Matt Mason dismissed Ian Thomas, as the young Glamorgan batsman edged a driveinto Graeme Hick`s hands at second slip. Michael Powell and Maher took the score to 72-2 at tea,but with the first ball after the interval, Kabir Ali bowled Powell. However, Matthew Maynard was soon intohis stride, driving Mason to the cover boundary and then pulling Kabir over the ropes at deep square-leg.Maher reached his half-century with an off-driven four against Kabir – his tenth boundary – and theAustralian continued to play watchfully, adding 47 in 11 overs until Maynard hit a full toss fromNantie Hayward straight to cover. But this was the final wicket of the day, as Mark Wallace droppedanchor at the other end, and together with Maher, watchfully added a further 55 in 19 overs to setup the prospect of an enthralling final day.A steady innings of 87 by Worcestershire captain Ben Smith was the cornerstone of his team`ssecond innings total of 257, and without Smith`s patient efforts, Worcestershire mightnot have set Glamorgan such a challenging target. Smith enjoyed his share of good fortune, with edgesjust dropping short of fielders or in between the slips, but all credit to Smith for ruthlesslypunishing anything off line or over-pitched. However, there were not too many bad balls on offer as Glamorgan`s bowlersstuck to their task, with Robert Croft taking 4/69 and Alex Wharf 3/38.The day began with an accurate spell from Wharf at the New Road end, during which hebowled David Leatherdale for 15. When Wharf came off, Michael Kasprowicz switched fromthe Diglis End and soon trapped Gareth Batty l.b.w. Smith then added 53 in 20 overs for theseventh wicket with Stephen Rhodes either side of lunch, before David Harrison in another fine spellfrom the New Road end bowled Smith.Rhodes` defiant innings was ended by a good diving catch by Hughes at leg slip, as the Worcestershirewicket-keeper tried to sweep Croft. The Glamorgan captain claimed his fourth wicket as Mason holedout at long-on, but then some lusty slogs from Kabir took the total past 250, before Kasprowiczended the innings by uprooting Hayward`s off stump.

At the gathering of over 150 Australian cricketers in Sydney much of the talk was about former players in general, and Don Bradman in particular.”He’d be averaging 99 these days, believe me,” said Arthur Morris, who played under Bradman after the war and was a member of the 1948 Invincibles. “He might even get himself up over the 100 because he was a unique batsman. He had tremendous determination and concentration and he had all the shots. He was amazing. We really can’t compare anyone with him. Nobody comes close.”There have been very good fast bowlers over the years but there were very good fast bowlers in his day, too,” Morris continued. “Bodyline was impossible to bat against. If you had all the fast bowlers of today, bowling straight at the head with six fellas on the leg side, how would they go? Bradman had to play against that, and he didn’t have a helmet.”Steve Waugh agreed that Bradman would have stood out in the modern game. “If he dominated his era, I think it’s fair to say he’d dominate any era, including ours, to a similar degree. A genius is a genius. That’s probably the most simple way you can put it.”Bill Brown, at 90 the oldest surviving Australian player and a colleague of Bradman’s on the 1934, 1938 and 1948 tours of England, had no doubts that Bradman was in a different class. “He would have been successful whenever he played, one-day cricket, anything,” said Brown. “He was just the complete player who seemed to be able to bat as long as he wanted to. He would just go on – 100, 200, 300 and on one occasion 400. That’s just unbelievable to the average bloke.”Australia honours past and present cricketers

Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has called for the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) to take firm action against Shane Warne as the worldwaits to hear the outcome to the biggest drugs scandal in cricket history.Ranatunga, famously outspoken during his playing career and now as atelevision commentator and politician, warned the world’s governing body(ICC) that the Asian world would be watching carefully what action would betaken against Warne."What interests me more is how the ICC will treat the case,” Ranatunga isquoted as saying by the Times News Network. “If Warne was an Asian he wouldhave been buried for sure by now. Whenever an Australian or a white guy doesa crime, he is found to be innocent… This one will be tough for the ICCbecause he’s an Aussie."Warne left the World Cup in apparent disgrace after drug samples revealedthat he had consumed a banned diuretic normally used to aid fluid loss or asa masking agent for performance enhancing drugs.The spin legend, who claims he popped a single pill on the advice of hismother Bridgette, apparently to improve his appearance for a pressconference, will discover his fate on Saturday morning when an ACBAnti-Doping committee announce their decision after an eight-hour hearing onFriday.Warne faces a maximum two years ban if found guilty although he could bereprieved under “exceptional circumstances” according to a clause in the ACB’s anti-doping policy. A two-year ban would almost certainly end the careerof the 33-year-old spinner.Ranatunga, a longtime foe of Warne ever since the leg-spinner claimed thatthe game would be better off without him prior to the 1999 World Cup,apparently believes that authorities have protected Warne, suggesting acover-up over his role in the match-fixing scandal."It’s ridiculous to say that a bookie paid Warne thousands of dollars for aweather report or some information on the wicket,” said Ranatunga. “Thenewspapers have the weather report every day and why should a bookie payWarne dollars for pitch information.”The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) warned Warne after it had emerged that hehad accepted cash for pitch and weather information from an Indian bookmakerduring Australia’s 1994 tour of Sri Lanka”In Sri Lanka, he just has to stuff a grand into the curators pocket and hewill tell you what he has done with the wicket in the whole of last week,"added Ranatunga scornfully.

Somerset Second XI got their one day season off to a flying start yesterday when they travelled to Neath and beat their Glamorgan counterparts by two wickets in the 2nd XI Trophy.Batting first the hosts were all out for 231 in the 45th over. In reply Somerset hit the winning runs for the loss of eight wickets with overs to spare.Skipper Wes Durston top scored with 56 to add to the two wickets that he had taken earlier and Piran Holloway scored 54.The Seconds are next in action when they take on Worcestershire in the 2nd XI Trophy at North Perrott next Monday.

In the last league match before the finals on Thursday, Delhi won their tie against Karnataka by 20 runs in the HSBC National Cricket Tournament for the Blind at the Southern Railway Ground in Chennai. Oddly enough, though, tomorrow’s final will also be contested between the same two teams.Winning the toss, Delhi opted to bat first and racked up 274 runs in their 39.2-over essay. The extras, all 112 of them, overshadowed any individual batting performances, but Ramesh Kumar (47 off 42 balls) and wicket-keeper M Singh (39 off 37 balls) managed to make their presence felt.Chasing 275, Karnataka managed only 254 in their reply. Vishal Kumar at the top of the order made 57 off 56 deliveries, but his only support came much lower down the order, from S Nayak (40 off 25 balls) and N Mahesh (46* off 40 balls).For Delhi, Inder Singh and S Gaur took two wickets apiece, and 78 extras were conceded in the second innings, a factor that probably took the game away from Karnataka more than anything else.The game, however, was played for the most part in the firm knowledge that it was a dress rehearsal for the final of the tournament on Thursday. In the other match, Gujarat beat Bengal by five wickets.

Somerset paceman Andy Caddick was the hero in England’s resounding victory over the old enemy Australia in the final Test match in the Ashes series at Sydney.The Ciderman’s 7 for 94 off 22 overs, makes him by far the leading English wicket taker of the series with a total of twenty at an average of 34 .50, which is almost certain to mean that the thirty four year old remains an important part of the Test attack for the foreseeable future.At the end of the match he said: "Even though the Ashes series was lost before coming into this match it’s still nice to beat the Australians, not too many countries do that over here. To have played a leading part in that will be a special memory for me."He continued: "I was feeling a bit down and wondering where my international career was going. Hopefully I’ll draw inspiration and rejuvenation from this performance."The Somerset player’s fine performance earned considerable praise from the first team coach and the chief executive back at Taunton.Kevin Shine told me: "It was a great return and thoroughly deserved It was so pleasing to see Andy back at the top of his game and bowling so well. When the first innings ended almost level it could have gone either way, but he ran in and gave it all he had, and on the last day won the match single handed."Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "Before Christmas the coach and I were getting quite excited at the prospect of Andy Caddick’s international career looking likely to be over and therefore him being available for Somerset. We should have known never to write him off and today he has reminded just what an outstanding bowler he really is."The Somerset boss continued: "His exploits in the series have been overshadowed by the media hype referring to Darren Gough’s wicket taking exploits who he has now overtaken. Andy is not a natural showman in the style of `Dazzler’, which was why the media probably find him less interesting as a player."Regarding the England victory at Sydney overall, Peter Anderson told me: "Three interesting aspects have come out of this. Firstly there is a huge question mark over an Australian side that is shorn of two gems- Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and secondly there is also a big question mark over the leadership of Steve Waugh, who is still a fierce competitor master batsman.""Thirdly, are we really sure that the way forward for English cricket is to play on the benign wickets that the ECB want to play on at county level. The Aussies were decidedly vulnerable when the ball swung and had an uneven bounce."He concluded: "Why then don’t we play on these types of wickets in England which always occurred in the past and let the Australians see if they can compete on that."

New Zealand 630 for 6 dec drew with India 424 and 136 for 4 (Laxman 67*, Chopra 52)
Scorecard

New Zealand gave India a frightful scare on the morning of the final day. They played a session of magnificent cricket, but did not have enough firepower to go all the way and win. The only victories in this series were the moral ones that either side might claim. When play was called off late in the day, with India on 136 for 4, they were still 70 runs short of New Zealand’s first-innings total of 630 for 6. The post mortems will no doubt follow, there will be fallouts, and yet it was, for the best part, a series that will be forgotten in the wake of more spectacular matches.For Stephen Fleming, though, thoughts of entertainment were far from the top of his list of priorities. After putting India onto the back foot early in the game, he kept them there till the very end. New Zealand will take heart from the fact that they dictated terms to India through the course of this match, never more so than when Daryl Tuffey decided to take matters into his hands.India began the day 41 runs adrift of the follow-on and under pressure. VVS Laxman sealed one end with the kind of authoritative batting that has won him respect from opponents the world over. Anil Kumble was the most likely of the tail to hang around and help Laxman push the score on. That was the idea, anyway, until he set off for a single after driving Daniel Vettori to mid-on. Tuffey swooped on the ball and, while diving full-length, flicked a back-handed throw onto the stumps. A stupefied Kumble had to return to the pavilion (396 for 7). That one moment gave New Zealand the inspiration they needed – the belief that they could still make India follow on.Harbhajan Singh followed soon after, when Ian Butler deflected a Laxman straight-drive back into the stumps with Harbhajan well out of his ground. Tuffey then had L Balaji and Zaheer Khan caught behind in identical fashion off successive balls. The Indian innings had been ended by a brace of perfect deliveries, pitching just on the off stump and deviating enough to catch the edge. At 424 all out, India had fallen a tantalising seven runs short of saving the follow-on.When India came out to bat a second time, Tuffey (3 for 30) was once again the wrecker-in-chief. A sharp burst of seam bowling reduced India to 12 for 2 at lunch. Virender Sehwag, who pounded 130 in the first innings, had a big swat at a full delivery outside off and edged it to Fleming, one of the safest slip fielders in the business (6 for 1). Soon after, Rahul Dravid capped off a forgettable first Test as Indian captain when he too fell to the Tuffey-Fleming combination (12 for 2). Tuffey had taken an amazing 4 for 14 from 10 overs in the action-packed morning session. After just 12 wickets had fallen in the first four days, New Zealand had given India a right royal scare, taking six wickets in one session. The match was alive again.And soon after lunch, the balance swung in New Zealand’s favour when Tuffey removed Sachin Tendulkar (1) with a peach of a delivery. It pitched just short of a length on a line that Tendulkar had to play at, and darted back in to slip between bat and pad and rattle the stumps (18 for 3). New Zealand sensed that they were in the hunt.From then on, though, Laxman and Akash Chopra made sure that New Zealand were kept at bay. Laxman, who had ended the first innings unconquered with 104, picked up from where he left off. He saw off the dangerous Tuffey and settled in to combat the wiles of Vettori and Paul Wiseman. The two spinners wheeled in, sending down over after over, but were unable to breach his defences. Laxman found an able ally in Chopra, and pushed the score on to 128 before Wiseman struck.Chopra tried to work the ball to the on side, but edged it to short leg via the pad. He saw off 160 balls for his 52, and struck eight boundaries in the process. He was visibly disappointed, both with the fact that he had played a false shot and because he might have believed that he did not get a touch to the ball.In the end though, it did not matter. Laxman remained not out on 67, Yuvraj Singh faced 30 balls for five runs, and the game was drawn. New Zealand’s cause wasn’t helped by Butler missing the second session with a pulled muscle in his side, but Fleming will take plenty of comfort from the manner in which they dominated this game, and emphatically stymied any Indian hopes of revenge for the 2-0 loss in New Zealand last year.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo in India.

Cricket remains a remarkable game. At 5.24pm this afternoon Central Districts were sitting on 154/0, needing just 89 runs to beat Otago in 33 overs in the State Shield one-dayer in New Plymouth.CD openers Craig Spearman and Jesse Ryder had scored at over nine runs an over, the wicket was apparently perfect, and no-one even considered the possibility of an Otago comeback.In fact, just when the bonus point (win in 40 overs) would be achieved was just about the only topic of discussion.Some 100 minutes later, the red faces around the Central Districts team were not caused by the blazing sun. The side had gifted Otago the victory with a desperately bad batting performance which deserved all of them, Spearman and Ryder aside, being made to walk back to the hotel – and quite possibly to the team’s next venue.CD were dismissed for 234, losing the match by nine runs. The last eight wickets went for 39 runs, on a perfect batting wicket and with plenty of time left to win the game.The reasons for the collapse were inexplicable. Batting had appeared so easy, and the Pukekura Park wicket has not had the reputation for breaking up and turning into a beast.Neither did it, but by a series of ill-advised messings around by batsmen who should have done better, and with the help of a couple of big front-foot lbws given by Auckland umpire Barry Frost, CD managed to manufacture a disastrous collapse out of certain bonus point victory.Former international Shayne O’Connor, who went for 28 in his first five overs, took four for 13 in his last five. Kerry Walmsley, who went for 47 in his first four, came back with three wickets for 65 – including breaking the leg stump of Michael Mason.The problems started after Ryder was dismissed. CD No 3 Peter Ingram, totally out for form, scratched around for 27 balls before getting off the mark and altogether batted 39 balls for his five. With Glen Sulzberger, replacing Spearman at the other end also hitting the stopbank, CD’s headlong plunge towards victory became more akin to lemmings jumping off a cliff.Before the last pair of Andrew Schwass and Lance Hamilton came together at 221, with 23 runs wanted, seven wickets had fallen for only 31 runs.They carefully grafted their way towards victory, helped along the way by the odd wide from Otago’s bowlers. The crowd, which had been cruising towards victory with its team, loudly cheered every run.But then Hamilton ended the match the way CD had batted. Why a No 11 should suddenly charge Walmsley is anyone’s guess. But Hamilton did it, had his stumps smashed, and CD could take their red faces away to sulk in silence.Otago’s bowling heroes were hard to find. All had been mangled by Spearman and Ryder, but they did keep fighting. And with CD self-destructing, along came a most unexpected victory.Earlier in the day Mohammad Wasim (46), dominated Otago’s early batting before the side collapsed to 149/7. Then Nathan Morland (54) and Warren McSkimming (34) saved Otago’s face in getting through to 242.CD’s innings was a direct contrast. Otago was made to look second-rate for the first half, CD got cocky and blew it.Quite terribly in fact.To make matters worse, joint leader Northern Districts also lost. CD could live to rue this day before the competition ends.

The launch of the new season of domestic cricket in New Zealand today heralded a new era in the game.While the players were competing in the first State Max tournament by virtue of the new domestic sponsorship, the executives of the six Major cricket associations were behind closed doors at the North Harbour Stadium at Albany knocking around their ideas to maximise New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden’s desire to have an impact with domestic play.The adoption of a new sponsorship arrangement was well-timed as it backed NZC’s desire to see more emphasis on the home grown content of the game as opposed to the more international outlook of the last five years.Snedden told the assembled players at a function last evening that NZC would be backing them to the hilt and he said that news had been received today that the State Shield final will be broadcast free-to-air by TV3 in January.The Albany tournament will produce the first winner of one of the new prestigious trophies up for grabs in New Zealand and Otago made sure it would have a chance when progressing to the second round by comfortably accounting for Northern Districts in today’s second game.ND was able to get a useful start with its score of 103/3 when batting first, but it needed more runs. Mark Bailey was the pick of the ND batsmen scoring 54 off 29 balls and timing some of his shots sweetly. But the remaining batsmen in the side were unable to kick on.Otago saw Andrew Hore depart to the first ball he faced. Brendon McCullum offered a glimpse of the talent he is about to unleash on the local scene with 31 from 17 balls and while Chris Gaffaney (17) and Craig Cumming (16) provided some useful support, Otago didn’t really make the most of their chances.Joseph Yovich gave the batsmen an especially torried time, bowling his three overs for only 26 runs while picking up three wickets. Scott Styris looked set to have a big role to play in the second innings after taking 2-12 from his first two overs.If ever it could be said that a match possibly turned on an individual piece of brilliance it may have been in this game when Cumming made a superb diving catch at backward point to dismiss Bailey in the first over of ND’s response. It was a lovely piece of cricket which gave Otago a real shot in the arm.Then when Matthew Hart was out with only four runs on the board, Otago had their in. After four overs ND were only able to reflect on 30 runs on the board. They were wedging themselves into a corner. Styris especially seemed unable to take as much control as he would have wanted, although just before his dismissal he added some quick runs, courtesy of the Max zone to end with 35 from 17 balls.Grant Bradburn helped boost the scoring with 27 down the order, but the 93 runs ND finished with were not enough.That was rammed home by Hore when Otago batted a second time. Making up for lost runs from the first innings, he tore into ND’s bowling, being especially severe on Graham Aldridge to hit a Max six off his first ball and an extra cover drive for six from the second. He brought up his 50 off only 15 balls and he went on to 63 from 20 with two boundaries from Bradburn, the second a beautifully-executed reverse sweep.He had given the innings such momentum that an Otago victory was never in doubt and it will now play Canterbury tomorrow morning to see who advances to the next stage, a playoff with whoever loses the game between the top seeds Wellington and Auckland.Otago achieved its victory with 13 balls to spare, a landslide in Max terms. The only ND bowler to bowl two overs in this innings was Styris, at a cost of 12 wicketless runs.An outstanding aspect of the Otago bowling was the performance of James McMillan. In both innings he maintained an accurate line which saw him take one for 14 from his two overs in the first innings and two for 11 in the second innings.Otago generally bowled well and it will have a fascinating contest with the naturally attacking Canterbury players in tomorrow’s game.