Brendon McCullum’s impact on the wicket-keeping records in One-Day Internationals continued against India in the third National Bank Series match at Jade Stadium in Christchurch today.McCullum, who, in only his second ODI wearing the wicket-keeping gloves, equalled Adam Parore’s record of five dismissals in an innings, did that again today, but claimed a world record for most dismissals in consecutive ODIs.His 10 bettered the nine achieved by South Africa’s Dave Richardson in 1995/96 and Ridley Jacobs in 1999.He became the eighth player to make five dismissals in an ODI innings twice. The esteemed company he joined were: Mark Boucher, Andy Flower, Adam Gilchrist, Jacobs, Moin Khan, Nayan Mongia and Richardson.The Indian innings also represented the 25th time extras have been the top score in an ODI innings and the fourth time it has been achieved by India.Daryl Tuffey’s bowling, of two wickets for 11 runs off 10 overs was New Zealand’s most economical against India, surpassing Ewen Chatfield’s none for 13 at Adelaide in 1985/86.It was the fourth most economical against all countries by a New Zealander and the second most economical performance by all countries against India. Glenn McGrath holds the record with four for eight off 10 overs in 1999/00.Paul Hitchcock also achieved his best figures of three for 30 in his eighth ODI.

Former Guyana and West Indies spin bowling legend Lance Gibbs has been contracted by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to be the technical advisor at a five-day camp for orthodox spin bowlers (sometimes called finger spinners) in Antigua, starting next Monday.Gibbs once held the world record for most Test wickets (309) and was the first spinner to pass 300 wickets in Tests."The aim of the camp is to provide some of the region’s most promising orthodox bowlers with the fundamentals of a good bowling action and to examine and analyse techniques of effective spin bowling," said Dr Michael Seepersaud, the WICB’s chief cricket development officer."It also continues our programme of involving outstanding former players more and more in the development of our cricket."We believe that greats like Lance and Andy Roberts, who recently conducted a training camp for our fast bowlers, has much to offer and you will see more of this."Another former West Indies off-spinner, Clyde Butts, who holds the record for the most wickets in the regional first-class championship, will be the coach at the camp.Critical areasThe young spinners will cover a number of critical areas identified by Gibbs, including: the grip, run-up and delivery, effective use of height and body, detecting and exploiting errors of batsmen, field-setting strategies, flight, loop and spin, and improving the spinner’s armoury."We have targeted a number of promising spin bowlers but a few had prior territorial commitments and could not make the camp," Dr Seepersaud said."The camp has been timed to coincide with the beginning of the West Indies first-class championship and it is hoped that a number of these bowlers will be given an opportunity during the championship to expose their talent."Even if this opportunity is not available now, they would have learnt from the best and would have acquired skills that will serve them well in the future."Seepersaud noted there was another strategic reason for the camp. He said the idea for the camp came out of a casual analysis of the weaknesses of the Australian team.Australia are due to arrive in the Caribbean in April for a series of four Tests and seven limited-overs internationals."We noticed that as far back as the 1950s, the former great England off-spinner Jim Laker was effective against the Aussies and then the wiles of Lance troubled them in the 1960s and Harbhajan Singh destroyed them recently in India," Seepersaud said."We thought, therefore, that this was a good opportunity to provide our promising finger spinners with the skills and techniques that would improve their efficiency and effectiveness and, hopefully, enhance their chances for selection."The invitees:Ryan Austin, Anderson Sealy, Jason Smith (Barbados); Kevin Bazil, Zaheer Mohammed (Guyana); Chaka Hodge, Orson Nurse, Larry Joseph (Leeward Islands); Lorenzo Ingram, Philip Keating, Wayne Simpson (Jamaica); Amit Jaggernauth, Rodney Sooklal (Trinidad and Tobago); Dwayne Leverock (Bermuda); Shane Shillingford (Windward Islands)

England selectors have today announced that Lydia Greenway, the Kent andEngland U-19 batsman, has been called into the women’s Test squad to faceAustralia in a two Test Ashes Series later this month.The England women’s team are currently in Christchurch, New Zealandcompeting in the women’s cricket World Series against the host nation,Australia and India.Lydia has already enjoyed a successful tour to Australia this winter withthe U19 team, where they dominated the Australia U19 state tournamentwinning six games out of six.Speaking on her selection, England Assistant Coach and Head Coach of theWomen’s U19 side, Jane Powell, said “we can add one player to our existingone-day squad for the Test series and we have chosen to give Lydia a furtheropportunity at international level. She is a talented young player and weare looking to the future by introducing her to the senior squad at thistime”.Lydia said “I’m delighted to be called up and to be returning to Australia.It’s the ultimate challenge for any English cricketer to play an Ashesseries, and to get a chance like this so early in my career in just awesome.I’m very excited about the trip”.England play two Tests against Australia, at The Gabba, Brisbane 15th-18thFebruary and at the Bankstown Oval, Sydney 22nd-25th Feb.

SYDNEY, March 8 AAP – New South Wales will go into next week’s Pura Cup final with the psychological edge over Queensland after crushing the defending champion by 241 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.Man of the match Stuart MacGill, who took the new ball in Queensland’s second innings and finished with 4-76, said the experienced Blues line-up was set to win its first final in nearly decade after bowling out Queensland for 190 and 148.The Blues didn’t bat so well themselves in the first innings, making an abysmal 102, but they corrected that with a second innings of 8(dec)-477 with Steve Waugh (138) and Michael Clarke (120) making masterful centuries.MacGill, who took nine wickets for the match, set up the win when he opened the bowling and took four wickets in the session from lunch to tea to spin Queensland out of the contest.He said the experienced Blues – with Test players like the Waugh brothers, himself and Michael Slater – would take an edge to the Gabba next week.”Queensland’s been a very good team for the past five years (but) I guess the edge we have the moment is experience – there’s a lot of inexperienced players in the Queensland side because they have so many representatives in the national set up.”MacGill was expecting a Gabba pitch which wouldn’t suit him as much as the SCG but said Queensland’s inability against the turning ball would still be a factor.”It would be silly to write these blokes off as far as spin goes – they’re just learning that’s all.”Blues captain Steve Waugh decided to give MacGill the new ball when he saw Clinton Perren – a known MacGill bunny – coming in to open the batting.”When they changed their batting order by opening with Perren – a move to get him away from the spinners – I thought I’d put the pressure back on them straight away,” Waugh said.Perren was the first to go and he went with a child-like send-off from MacGill, who put his hands to his cheeks and wiggled his fingers while pulling a face.MacGill said it was just a tactic to let his long-time friend know who was boss.”I’ve dismissed Clint a number of times now and sometimes players let their minds get involved … and while I’m on top I want to stay there.”I didn’t swear at him. I don’t think saying boo to somebody qualifies as anything too nasty.”Clint and I have been friends for a number of years and we’ve been having a friendly rivalry for years – I don’t know if there’s anything significant there but if there is I want to be the one on top.”Queensland, while inexperienced, will go into the final with its bowling stocks replenished.Captain Martin Love said the injured pair of Joe Dawes and Adam Dale were “definite” starters next week but that all-rounder Lee Carseldine was in doubt after hurting his back taking a catch in this match.The defending champion will also be sweating on the health of Stuart Law, who has a bruised wrist which kept him out of this match.Love said the conditions in Brisbane would be a major factor in his side’s favour in the final.”Next week will be different – we’re playing at the Gabba not the SCG and it’s going to be a completely different game.”

At the beginning of the 2003 World Cup, few would have thoughtthat Kenya was going to be the pride of African cricket in thetournament. More congratulations, then, to the Kenyans forbecoming the first non-Test-playing nation to make it to thesemi-finals of a cricket World Cup. They have certainly achieveda feat that none of the other “minnows” could even have dreamedof, and the success of the Kenyan national team is going to be amajor boost for the game in that country.As things stand now, Kenya may very well get steamrolled by themighty Australians in the very next game, but they have stillshown an exemplary quality to learn quickly and well. Unlikeother detractors, I do not wish to take anything away from thisKenyan team and their coach Sandeep Patil, for the discipline andenthusiasm they have shown is quite remarkable. With the rightkind of leadership and assistance from the ICC, I am sure Kenyahas the potential to be a major force in world cricket in a fewyears. Watch out especially for Collins Obuya, for the young legspinner is improving with every game.The prize-money in itself could help Kenya to invest greatly atthe grassroots level. The board, I hope, will be able to somehowcobble together a first-class league, giving their players moreexposure in the longer version of the game, before they eventhink of applying for Test status.

Simply put, it is amazing that a team that struggled to find 30quality players to make the preliminary World Cup squad findsitself in the World Cup semi-finals, and their success in thiscompetition is akin to Cameroon’s dream run in the 1990 soccerWorld Cup. As a country, Kenya now has more sportsmen tocelebrate than their world-champion long-distance runners. Thegame of cricket is alive and kicking in Africa; let the SouthAfricans choke and the clueless Zimbabweans break apart, forKenya has saved the face of the continent.Among the other teams, the Australians may look unstoppable atthis moment, but Shane Bond showed it that their batsmen cancrumble against incisive fast bowling. But the one team thatshould count itself to be very much in the running to win the Cupis India. The Indian team has not looked so good in recent times,and with Sachin Tendulkar batting in a manner only he can, andthe other batsmen also turning in crucial performances, India’schances look very bright. Hats off too to the Indian seambowlers; their performance in this World Cup has been a realrevelation.With three of the semi-final positions taken, I would plump forNew Zealand to take the fourth position. I am a big fan ofStephen Fleming’s captaincy, although some of his tactics may bebeyond my comprehension. New Zealand really did look like theteam to beat Australia, after the wonderful burst of fast bowlingby Bond. But however the planning is, a good skipper is at hisbest when he leads from the front in the field. Fleming shouldhave been ruthless and should not have let the opportunity tofinish off the Australians slip past.

New Zealand’s team selection is also, in my opinion, a bit awry.In their opening game against Sri Lanka, poor Daryl Tuffey shouldhave got Sanath Jayasuriya’s wicket in his fourth over, butumpire Neil Mallender denied him a clear caught-behind wicket.Tuffey subsequently conceded 16 runs in his fifth over, and itwas to be his last in this World Cup till date. It may be acompletely different issue that Jayasuriya hit a match-winninghundred on that day, but especially with Chris Cairns not bowlingin the game against Australia, Fleming should have played Tuffey.But all said and done, even without Shane Warne, Allan Donald,Jonty Rhodes, Wasm Akram and Brian Lara, we have seen somestunning cricket in the Super Six stage. Instead of ShoaibAkthar, it was Shane Bond who stepped up to compete with BrettLee. I still reckon that Cairns must now wake up and realise thathe is one all-rounder who could still make a lot of difference inthis World Cup – before it is all too late. In that light, then,the India-New Zealand encounter promises to be a real thriller.

When Steve Waugh takes the field in Guyana for the first Test match of theAustralia-West Indies series, he will eclipse Allan Border and become the most capped player inthe history of the game.It is a remarkable achievement and testimony toWaugh’s endurance and durability.To play international cricket for 17 yearsmeans not only that you are incredibly talented over a vast stretch of timebut that you are also very lucky regarding injuries.Waugh made his debut against India aged 19 years and six months scoring13 and five. It was not until his 27th Test, against England, thathe posted his first century.After beginning his career as a bit of a dasher, Waugh restrained himselfand became a run accumulator. Many a time he was the backbone of theAustralian innings, especially when they were in trouble.One of Waugh’s most memorable knocks was quite apt as it was Brad Hogg’sone and only Test match, to date. After making aduck in the first innings, Waugh wanted to make amends in the second.Australia faced a 179-run deficit on the first innings and were four for 78 in thesecond when he strode to the crease.In four and a half hours, he fought andscrapped his way to an unbeaten 67 from 221 balls with just five fours. Hewatched six partners fall at the other end as he dug in tooth and nail forAustralia. In the oppressive heat and stifling humidity, Waugh had tosingle-handedly take on an Anil Kumble who was on top of his game.Waugh has been repeatedly knocked down but he has got to his feet and risenevery time. For 19 months; from April 1991 to November 1992 he was out ofthe Test team. Sounds like a long time but in reality it was just nineTests.He has also missed Tests through injury but for the better part of the last12 years, Waugh has been the heart and soul of the team, inspiring his teammates, wanting them to be better cricketers.With the bat, Waugh sits in the lower middle-order and is often the link betweenthe top and bottom halves of the batting line-up. Waugh has scored a record5997 runs batting at No 5 at 54.52 whilst he has compiled an equallyimpressive 3034 runs at 49.74 in the No 6 spot.His fielding in the gully-point-cover region is superb. Sadly,he has not done as much bowling in recent times but he has compensated forthat by being captain.Waugh cares about the heritage of the game. The culture and tradition of it.Under him, players are made to appreciate what number Test cricketer theyare for their country. They’re made to acknowledge the deeds of those whohave gone before them.For Waugh, this may be an incredible milestone and one which he will reflecton once he finally hangs up his whites but for the moment he will betreating it like every one of his 156 other Test matches – doing his darnedestto win it for Australia.

May 9 down the years1977
The day the world’s top cricketers turned pirate. That was the headline when the Australian TV magnate Kerry Packer’s plans for World Series Cricket were leaked. John Arlott called it “a circus”; EW Swanton ended his friendship with the England captain Tony Greig, Packer’s most significant signing and the man who persuaded a legion of stars to sign up, including Viv and Barry Richards and Dennis Lillee. In the end, World Series Cricket only went on for 17 months before Packer got his wish – the broadcast right for Test cricket in Australia – but the legacy lives on. Coloured clothing and floodlights revolutionised the game, and without Packer, one-day cricket as we know it today would not exist.1932
One of West Indies’ finest openers is born. Conrad Hunte was a fluid, silky batsman, especially off his legs – although he cut out many of the shots at the highest level -and got his Test career off to a storming start. He made 142 on his debut, against Pakistan in Barbados in 1957-58, and added two more hundreds in his next three Tests. That included a mighty 260 in Jamaica, when he and Garry Sobers added 446 and Sobers went on to make 365 not out. Hunte, a dignified and popular character, was crucial to West Indies’ success: he averaged 51 when they won, 27 when they lost. And to average over 45 throughout his career while opening the innings is impressive at the best of times; even more so given that Hunte had no regular opening partner. He later became an ICC match referee, and was knighted shortly before he died, of a heart attack while playing tennis, in Sydney in 1999.1959
A late bloomer is born. Andrew Jones’s unorthodox batsmanship was not seen in the Test arena until he had almost turned 28, when he made his New Zealand debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1986-87. Jones was a purist’s nightmare, but you can’t argue with an average of 44, particularly in a side that won only six of his 39 Tests. Jones loved a scrap, and was ruthless when set: five of his seven hundreds – all of which came in drawn Tests – were in excess of 140. That included his Test-best 186 against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1990-91, when he and Martin Crowe added 467, at the time a Test record for any wicket.1934
Having started Australia’s tour of England with scores of 206 and 65, Don Bradman met his match when he was bowled for 0 – against Cambridge University. The bowler was offspinner Jack Davies, who went on to have a decent career with Kent and was later president of MCC. For such an unbelievably brilliant batsman, Bradman could be a nervous starter: every one in ten of his Test dismissals was for a duck. For bowlers, the problem was when he got in: Bradman scored an amazing 29 centuries in only 80 Test innings.1907
Birth of the man who led West Indies to their first series victory. Jackie Grant’s last series as a Test player was in 1934-35, when his side famously and surprisingly beat England 2-1 in the Caribbean. Grant, who studied at Cambridge University, was a gutsy batsman and a brilliant fielder. He made 53 and 71 (both not out) on his debut against Australia, at Adelaide in 1930-31, but managed only one other fifty after that. His brother Rolph also captained West Indies. Jackie died in Cambridge in 1978.1901
Birth of the Lancashire and England wicketkeeper George Duckworth, who played 24 Tests between 1924 and 1936. He was best known for his extremely vocal style of appealing, and his dexterous keeping. In an era when wicketkeepers were not expected to deliver with the bat, more often than not Duckworth came in at No. 11. He died in Warrington in 1966.1943
Fourteen Tests for the Jamaican Maurice Foster, who was born today, but West Indies won only one of them, at Lord’s in 1973. Foster was a dogged batsman who never really got going at Test level, though he did make his only Test century on his home ground, against Australia in 1972-73. His flat offspinners were successful at first-class level, less so in Tests, as a strike rate of a wicket every 197 balls testifies.1959
Birth of the man who bowled Sri Lanka’s first ball in Tests. With his brisk outswingers, Ashantha de Mel toiled manfully in his country’s early years, but it was a pretty thankless task: they won only two of the 17 matches he played in. He had a hand in both of those, though, with five wickets against India in Colombo in 1985-86 and six more against Pakistan the same season.Other birthdays1907 Tom Killick (England)
1960 Iain Butchart (Zimbabwe)
1971 Roydon Hayes (New Zealand)

Test matches in England may be forced to start at 10.30am next season, in a bid to keep the full day’s play live on television. The start of play has already been brought forward from 11am to 10.45am this year to suit the television schedulers, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are seriously considering a further change, after Channel 4 cut their coverage of the Lord’s Test at 6pm on the dot.”I’d be lying if I didn’t say we were disappointed,” said Tim Lamb, the ECB chief executive, “but we understand the constraints C4 are working under in terms of scheduling, particularly when they are trying to attract that important early evening 18 to 34-year-old audience.” Cricket fans missed the moment when James Anderson took his first Test wicket, because C4 had decided a dating gameshow should take precedence.”We are seriously considering their requirements,” added Lamb, “and we will be discussing a 10.30am start as from next year. It is very disappointing when we don’t see the end of play live on TV, but we are talking to C4 in an atmosphere of co-operation and consultation.”But the discussions will not be entirely one-way traffic. The ECB are also concerned that C4 have failed to live up to their promise to show early-evening highlights, one of the key factors that earned them the right to show Test cricket five years ago, and nor will they be providing live coverage of next week’s C&G Trophy quarter-final between Lancashire and Middlesex, merely a highlights package. “It’s obvious that there has been a moving of the goalposts,” Lamb said. “In our on-going dialogue we will keep reminding C4 of their obligations. We will try to recognise their priorities and we are very anxious to strike a balance.”

Hampshire return to Frizzell Championship action after two weeks of Twenty20 games, and retain the same team that narrowly failed to defeat Durham.The University boys, Chris Adams and John Francis (Loughborough) and James Tomlinson (Cardiff) return to the club next Monday, so pressure during the forthcoming Gloucestershire 4-day match starting this Fri 27th June (11.00am), will be on a number of the present team to perform.Hampshire who are languishing at the bottom of the Frizzell Division II table, albeit falsely following dreadful weather, will be keen to get off the mark with a victory.Shaun Udal who was left out of Tuesday’s Twenty20 match as a precaution over his shoulder problem, is fit.Hampshire team: Derek Kenway, John Crawley (captain), Simon Katich, Robin Smith, Will Kendall, Nic Pothas (wicket-keeper), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Wasim Akram, Shaun Udal, Alan Mullally, Ed Giddins.

Plans to resume cricket contact between India and Pakistan, even if below full international level, have been welcomed by the International Cricket Council.The two Asian countries have said Under-19 and A matches will be the first contact between the sides in either country.ICC president Ehsan Mani said he was hopeful the lesser matches would be a stepping stone to the resumption of full international contact between the side nations.”India and Pakistan on the cricket field is one of the world’s great sporting rivalries. When these teams met in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, the passion that the match generated, and its ability have a positive impact on people in both nations was apparent.”Cricket, like all sport, has the capacity to promote understanding and generate goodwill and I would urge the political leaders in both countries to allow the game of cricket to assist in building relations between these two nations rather than being used for a political purpose,” he said.