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Mark Richardson is the sort of batsman you don’t really travel miles to watch, but want in your side when the going gets tough. On a scorching day at Rajkot he held one end up in a manner that would have made Gary Kirsten proud, defying all manner of pace and spin. Forget Kirsten, it would have made John Wright proud, and that means a great deal to Richardson.”He [Wright] probably doesn’t know it but he is my role model,” said Richardson, pouring buckets of sweat after his marathon 381-minute stint at the crease. “I know when I was a kid and when I was playing backyard cricket, I wanted to be John Wright. Once I started batting, he’s the guy I tried to model my game on a little bit. I admire the way he played and if I could go half as well as him, I’d be pretty pleased.”But it could not always have been Wright as a role model, for Richardson began his first-class career as a left-arm spinner. When that began to fail, he put his head down and re-invented himself. “The fact was that I lost my bowling. I couldn’t bowl and I wanted to play first-class cricket. I started to play as a batsman and I would get very nervous waiting to bat so the best way to overcome the nerves was to bat first. I like the lifestyle of a first-class cricketer and I didn’t want to work in a factory or anything. I had to find a way of performing so I just put my head down and really self-taught my batting,” he said, as though it were a matter of snapping his fingers. Few people in the history of the game have gone from batting No. 11 to opening with such aplomb. Ravi Shastri springs readily to mind, but he again was a tough cookie mentally.”Ninety percent of batting today was mental, wanting to survive the whole day. This is my first bat in a game for probably three months since we returned from Sri Lanka,” he admitted. “We have done a lot of work in the nets but you can only do such much in the nets. I was desperate to get time in the middle and didn’t want to throw my wicket away cheaply but I hope I haven’t used all my luck up.” People who watched him bat will tell you there was hardly any luck involved in the course of Richardson’s unbeaten 128.Then again, there’s little reason to be surprised. Richardson had success in Sri Lanka on similar wickets. He puts his success down to a sound gameplan. “I just graft away. The wickets over in Sri Lanka were pretty flat. I put my head down and did what I know best. I don’t struggle overly with the heat. I find it tough but I’ve never had trouble with heat stroke or anything like that. I was just sticking to my gameplan, and it hasn’t changed in the last four years. I just stuck to that and hoped it would get me through.” He admits, though, that his technique against spin needs working on. “I am not overly happy with the way I play spin but I have got a technique that sort of works. I have had a bit of success with it and I just stick with it.”There’s so much talk of planning in this New Zealand camp that you might get the impression that the rest of the cricket world just walks out to the middle and has a whack. Pre-tour jousting began with talks of New Zealand’s special training camps where the accent was on mimicking Indian conditions. After scoring a century the good old-fashioned way, Richardson did the world a favour by debunking some of these myths. “We’ve done a lot of work about being accountable for our gameplans. We’ve only really had nets so we have tried to make the nets as close to game scenarios as we can and I think that does help when you go out to the middle rather than just treating net time as a bit of a hit. I don’t know if we are overly innovative but what we have worked on is being really, really dedicated in the way we train.”For some strange reason, that approach almost always seems to work.

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Marvan Atapattu’s 11th Test century gave Sri Lanka the upper hand on the first day of the first Test – the inaugural match at the Beausejour Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia. Sri Lanka had reached 250 for 4, with Atapattu still unbeaten on 108, when rain forced a slightly early close after 87.1 overs.Atapattu was his usual steady self, hitting 13 fours in his 242-ball stay. He put on 108 with Kumar Sangakkara (56), then added 68 with Mahela Jayawardene – still battling with his form after a run of low scores – who made 45.The first man to go was Sanath Jayasuriya, the former captain, who has been struggling for his best form on this tour (he didn’t manage a half-century in the three one-day internationals). He hade made only 8 when he chopped a wide delivery from Corey Collymore straight to gully, where Omari Banks took a good sharp catch (19 for 1).West Indies’ only success of the afternoon session was the dismissal of Sangakkara, shortly after a heated exchange with Brian Lara, who accused him of deliberately scuffing up the pitch by running on the danger area. Sangakkara, who had raised the tempo of the Sri Lankan innings in the morning after Jayasuriya went, cracked six fours. But eventually he was trapped leg-before as he shouldered arms to a Chris Gayle offbreak (127 for 2).Jayawardene regained some sort of form before he edged Banks’s offspin to slip, where Lara plunged to take a fine catch (195 for 3). Then, as the clouds that eventually brought an early finish closed in, Sri Lanka’s captain Hashan Tillakaratne misjudged one from Collymore and inside-edged it into his stumps (228 for 4).The pitch is already beginning to take spin, which would have pleased the watching Muttiah Muralitharan. If Atapattu can keep going tomorrow, Sri Lanka will be strong favourites to lift the first match of this short two-Test series. It already looks an uphill struggle for West Indies, who gave a debut to Jerome Taylor, a 18-year-old fast bowler from Jamaica. He was sharp, but a tendency to send down one bad ball an over meant he proved rather expensive – 76 runs came from his 18 wicketless overs.

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) today extended its deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of former Australian Test bowler Ernie Toshack, who passed away on Sunday night, aged 88.Toshack, who made his Test debut for Australia against New Zealand at Wellington, in 1946, played 12 Tests for Australia between 1945-46 and 1948, taking 47 wickets at an average of 21.04.A valued member of the Don Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles, Toshack also enjoyed a successful career with NSW, making 48 first-class appearances between 1945-46 and 1949-50 when a troublesome knee forced his retirement.ACB Chairman Bob Merriman today extended his condolences to the Toshack family.”On behalf of the ACB, I would like to express sincere condolences to the Toshack family, including Ernie’s wife Cathleen and daughter Maria,” Mr Merriman said.”Ernie will be remembered for playing an important part in an unforgettable era of Australian cricket as a member of the late Sir Donald Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles.”

Matabeleland seem to have given away their Logan Cup match against Midlands as they were hit by another batting nightmare on the second day of play at Bulawayo Athletic Club. The home side lost five quick wickets to end on 80 for five at the close of play, still needing 81 runs to make the visitors take a second innings.This was after Midlands scored 353 all out in 99 overs in their first innings in reply to the 192 scored by the home side on the first day. Midlands resumed at their overnight score of 107 with Terrence Duffin and Sean Ervine resisting the pace in the early overs of the day. However the two did not last as the Matabeleland bowlers fought back.Ervine was the first to leave the field of play when he edged a Norman Mukondiwa delivery weakly to second slip where an alert Tawanda Mupariwa took a diving catch to send him back for 20 runs, meaning that the Zimbabwean international added only one run to his overnight score of 19. Duffin followed in the next over when he was dismissed by Gregory Strydom, caught at leg gully by Mike McKillop for 74, which included 13 fours.Midlands lost captain Dirk Viljoen for 55 when he was given out leg before wicket to spinner Mecury Kenny, and they went to lunch on 241 for five. After lunch the Matabeleland bowlers tightened the noose and that worked well for them as they manage to restrain most of the Midlands batsmen. Right-arm spinner Gavin Ewing grabbed the wicket of Kornford, bowling the middle-order batsman for 49. John Vaughan-Davies fell to McKillop a few overs after lunch, trapped leg before wicket for 10 runs.Ewing finished off the Midlands batting line-up when he grabbed two wickets.He removed Paul Reilly leg before wicket for a duck and went on to bowl Campbell McMillan for 59 to finish off the visitors. Ewing proved to be thetoast of the disappointing Matabeleland bowling attack, with the spinner taking five for 80 in his 28-over spell, with seven maidens. Pace bowler Strydom took two for 72 with one maiden in 19 overs, while Mukondiwa, Kenny and McKillop took a wicket apiece.In their second innings Matabeleland changed their batting line-up, with Wisdom Siziba, who scored 103 in the first innings, opening with Keith Dabengwa. That ploy however did not yield any results as Dabengwa could score only 13 runs before he was bowled by Viljoen. Kenny was trapped leg before wicket by McMillan for only two runs, with Siziba failing to regain his terrific form of the first innings, scoring only 28 runs before being bowled by Vaughn-Davies.Gregory Strydom had managed only five runs when he skied a ball from Kornford and saw McMillan take a brilliant catch at third man. Norman Mukondiwa, who was also brought up the order, could not stand the pressure piled on by the Midlands attack, and was trapped leg before wicket by McMillan for a duck. King and McKillop were left unbeaten with 19 and 0 respectively.Matabeleland manager Derrick Townshend admitted that his boys were having abad time but said the match was far from over. He was disappointed with thebowlers who he said should have restricted the visitors to a score of lessthan 300.

An unprecedented triple in the history of regional cricket awaits Barbados’ seemingly unstoppable cricketers over the next four days.Under the astute leadership of Courtney Browne, they enter the Carib Beer International Challenge final against Jamaica today seeking to add the title to the Cup they won three weeks ago and the Red Stripe Bowl they secured last September.As they prepared to meet the weary Jamaicans, Browne and his men were contemplating this rare triple treat and what it will do for Barbados’ cricket.”Even before the tournament started, we were thinking about it,” Browne told NATIONSPORT during a practice session at Queen’s Park yesterday.”It will say a lot for us as a team. We have a lot of experienced players this year who have proven they can play at this level and even at the higher level.”The occasion presents something of a triple for the Jamaicans too. It is their third successive appearance in the international final and they are also trying to end the season by achieving some sort of silverware for the third successive year.The Jamaicans arrived in Barbados around 7:30 a.m. yesterday, having had little sleep the previous night.After spending the majority of the last two days in the field in their semifinal match against Guyana at Albion, they returned to Georgetown the same night and left their hotel in the capital city at 4 a.m. yesterday.They are bound to be tired, but it doesn’t mean they won’t be ready for Barbados.”We are ready, willing and more than able or capable,” said captain Robert Samuels.”We understood when we left home what this would have been like. We are prepared and we are happy to be in the final.”A change to the schedule which brought forward the final by a day and the strike action by the West Indies Players Association last Friday that led to the semifinals starting a day late, meant Jamaica will get just one day between matches as opposed to the usual three.Barbados did themselves a favour by disposing of Trinidad and Tobago inside three days, something which they have now made a habit. They, therefore, would have had more time to recover and were not subjected to travelling.”It is a mental thing for us. Once the bell goes, we are ready to play cricket,” Browne said.”We are not studying that we were out there for ten weeks.”Barbados’ victory against Trinidad and Tobago in the semifinals was the sixth time in eight matches they wrapped up a match well inside the distance.Browne, however, wasn’t prepared to stick his neck out and guarantee a repeat.”I don’t want to add fuel to the fire. I don’t want to give the impression that `oh yes, we are going to beat everybody’. Even if I feel that way, a team would take that as a motivator,” the Barbados captain said. “I don’t want to do that.”On the eve of the match, Jamaica were dealt a double-blow by the unavailability of two of their leading players, Chris Gayle and Darren Powell.Opener Gayle has opted to play in this weekend’s Double Wicket World Championship in St Lucia, to which he had given a commitment before the dates of the Carib Series final were changed, while pacer Powell has symptoms of chicken pox.Their places in the 13 have been taken by rookie Maurice Kepple and the hard-hitting Ricardo Powell, who, co-incidentally missed the semifinal because of chicken pox.”Chris is a big, big loss. I don’t think we could have compensated him with what he would have given up,” Samuels said.”We are very supportive of him. We’ll just dedicate this final to him.”Barbados took first innings lead over Jamaica in a drawn preliminary match at the North Stars Club ground seven weeks ago, but the visitors have since been boosted by the return of their five World Cup selectees.”Jamaica will be a serious challenge. They have some young batsmen and if they get in, they can get scores,” Browne said.”They are a very competitive team, but I know we have the bowling to defeat them and once we bowl the ball in the right areas, I am sure we will come out successful.”Samuels sees one thing in his side’s favour.”Every team usually loses one game,” the Jamaica captain said.”Barbados have been running away with everything so far. Hopefully this is the game they will miss out on.”The Cup champions have made one change to their line-up, with Kurt Wilkinson returning to the side in place of Dwayne Smith to bat at No. 5.MATCH DETAILBarbados v JamaicaVenue: Kensington OvalThe teams:BARBADOS – Courtney Browne (captain), Philo Wallace, Sherwin Campbell, Ryan Hinds, Floyd Reifer, Kurt Wilkinson, Ryan Hurley, Vasbert Drakes, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Tino Best. 12th man: Ian Bradshaw. 13th man: Dwayne Smith.JAMAICA (from) – Robert Samuels (captain), Leon Garrick, Brenton Parchment, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Ricardo Powell, Dave Bernard, Gareth Breese, Keith Hibbert, Jermaine Lawson, Jerome Taylor, Ryan Cunningham, Maurice Kepple.Umpires: Eddie Nicholls (Guyana), Basil Morgan (Montserrat). Stand-by: Halley Moore (Barbados).Man-of-the-match adjudicator: Wayne Daniel.Match referee: Dennis DePeiza.Playing times: 10 a.m. – noon; 12:40 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.; 3 p.m. to close (scheduled 5 p.m.)

Nashua Dolphins Squad selected to play in the Discovery Knockout ChallengeThe team for the Discovery Knockout Challenge to be played at Newlands on 2nd January will be chosen from the following squad:-
THE TEAM WILL BE CHOSEN FROM THE FOLLOWING SQUAD:-
1. Doug Watson
2. Ashraf Mall
3. Ahmed Amla
4. Jonty Rhodes
5. Dale Benkenstein (Capt)
6. Jon Kent
7. Errol Stewart
8. Gulam Bodi
9. Nixon McLean
10. Andrew Tweedie
11. Jon Bastow
12. Rivash Gobind
13. Kyle Bender
COACH: E. BAPTISTE
MANAGER: D. CARLSTEIN
FITNESS TRAINER: A. SHEDLOCK
UMPIRES: R. KOERTZEN + B. JERLING
T.V. UMPIRE: W. DIEDRICKS
4TH UMPIRE: L. MATROOS
MATCH 1 (09H00) NASHUA DOLPHINS vs NASHUA TITANS
MATCH 2 (12H30) NASHUA WESTERN PROVINCE vs HIGHVELD STRIKERS

Zimbabwe cricket was reduced to anarchy for 15 minutes last Sunday at Mutare Sports Club by cricketers from the Harare team Takashinga. In a day of infamy a batsman refused to leave the crease on being given out – swore viciously at an umpire, accused him of cheating – then kicked and bat-swiped a set of stumps to the ground.This national first league decider was always going to be a fiery encounter, but few would have predicted farce on such scale. As the visitors bristled onto the ground to inspect the pitch shortly after arrival that morning, they were allegedly heard by ground staff to say, "Don’t greet anyone; umpire Barbour is going to cheat us today."25 overs into the match the powder keg blew when umpire Alan Walsh adjudged Gift Makoni LBW after stepping across his stumps. As the Manicaland players retreated to one side of the pitch to sit and wait for order, the inconsolable Makoni stamped, raged and circled the pitch for seven minutes. From the verandah Takashinga manager Mr Elvis swore and shouted at the umpires, "We didn’t drive all this way to be cheated." Test umpire Kevan Barbour’s attempted reasoning enraged Makoni further, ending with him scooping up the remaining stumps and removing them from the field.Protracted discussions and the prospect of forfeiture finally saw Takashinga resume their innings. It could be argued that in a normal society the game had long since been conceded. Any refusal to play constitutes a concession. The umpires have sent a report to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union disciplinary committee and cricket followers await their findings with interest.What cannot be denied is that Takashinga greatly embarrassed all spectators – including uniformed school kids from Dangamvura and Mutare Boys High – who arrived in numbers to watch the biggest match of the season. Spectators had driven from as far as Odzi and Nyazura – enduring an hour-long delay at the Christmas-pass roadblock for a chance to watch Test stars Flower, Campbell and Whittall turn out for Mutare. In the end the spectators were disappointed as Mutare crushed the opposition by nine wickets without needing the big names. Justin Lewis (10-2-46-5) destroyed the top order and again proved how useful he would have been at the Under-19 World Cup.Doubly embarrassing for the ZCU is that most of the Takashinga side have come through the system under its patronage. Makoni is a member of the Mashonaland Cricket Association whilst three other players are Academy-trained coaches. Most of the rest have received scholarships to cricket schools like Churchill -including captain Rangarirai Manyande.There have been warning signs for years that Churchill’s cricketers are out of control. They intimidate umpires, refuse to walk and generally run circles around their hapless teacher-coaches. Unlike their counterparts who play mostly for fun, Churchill’s kids play for future contracts. The fault lies with the ZCU for leaving them on their own to miraculously learn 150 years of cricket civilization. The future of ZCU-choreographed cricket was on display at Mutare Sports Club and despair was everywhere.A step in the right direction might be to employ a high profile role model – perhaps a West Indian – to play and cultivate acceptable standards at Takashinga. Andy Flower reports that in three years of intermittent captaincy he never experienced bad behaviour at the club. These days all sides dread playing them – a string of unpunished reports mark their files – whilst official paralysis increasingly emboldens them.

While Jagmohan Dalmiya was re-elected unopposed as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Chandi Ganguly – Sourav Ganguly’s father – was elected chairman of the CAB’s trustee board.Ganguly, who has been a member of the trustee board for some time now, replaces Biswanath Dutt, a former BCCI chairman . Dutt stepped down a few days ago to “pave the way for infusion of fresh blood,” the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.Dalmiya, who was challenged last year for the president’s post by Debdas Bannerjee, faced no competition this year. Indeed, none of the posts saw more than one candidate up for election, making the entire affair a tame one.

Local league resumed in Bulawayo and to start the new year a few shocks were evident. Queens, who has provided the bulk of the Logan Cup squad, lost to underdogs Bulawayo Sports Club by 10 runs. Although both sides were missing key players, Queens Mbangwa and Nkala and BSC Mahachi and Dabengwa, there should be sufficient depth to cover. The standard of cricket and the result were somewhat disappointing.Macdonald Club, who did so well last season, are struggling this season and lost to Crescents by 82 runs, while at BAC the home side beat the young Bulawayo Development side by three wickets in a match that was marred by some unsporting tactics by the Development captain Chris Phiri, which is a sad side of the game when a young side develops these habits. It will no doubt lead to disciplinary action by the MCA.Meanwhile the Logan Cup squad for the forthcoming Logan Cup has been announced and the squad contains no real surprises. Queens players dominate the 16-man squad which is as follows:Pommie Mbangwa, Mluleki Nkala, Ryan King, Greg Strydom, Neil van Rensburg, Gavin Ewing, Matthew Townshend, Warren Gilmour (all Queens), Keith Dabengwa, Clement Mahachi, Dash Vaghmaria, Mecury Kenny (all BSC), Jason Hitz, N. Mkondiwa, C. Williams (all BAC) and Wisdom Siziba (Macdonald Club).Ian Engelbrecht, who was the leading wicket-taker last year, was not considered as he is leaving shortly for the UK where he intends furthering his cricket career.

The AGM of the Board of Control for Cricket in India has alwaysattracted considerable attention all over the country. Weeks before themeeting, the battle lines are drawn and strategies and counterstrategies are planned in a manner that would be the envy of an armygeneral.

A lot of glamour has always been associated with the plum posts, giventhe power and prestige the game enjoys in the country and that is whysome of the leading politicians have contested for the post of thepresident. Why, in the last two decades, we have had such prominentpersonalities from this field as SK Wankhede, NKP Salve and MadhavraoScindia as board chiefs.But even given this background, the interest in the weekend’s meeting ofthe BCCI at Chennai was perhaps at an all time high. Chief attentioncentered around the high profile contest between the incumbent ACMuthiah and the challenger Jagmohan Dalmiya, a former president of theInternational Cricket Council, who interestingly had served earlier asthe BCCI secretary. Muthiah had been elected to the post in 1999 and wasexpected to win a third term, given his impressive record in tacklingamong other problems, the match fixing issue. But Dalmiya, a shrewdadministrator with a strong base, pulled off an upset by winning theelection by 17 votes to 13. Muthiah thus joined two others in recenttimes, Wankhede and BN Dutt who could not complete three years inoffice.There will be more than a few tears shed for Muthiah. His was adifficult two year period but he weathered the storm in his calm,assured, even dynamic manner, bringing to the post some of his businessacumen as a Chennai based industrialist. He had the image of a players’president and some of the projects like the graded payments scheme, thestarting of the National Cricket Academy, the rotation policy of hostinginternational matches, the appointment of a professional coach andphysio, the enhanced fee for players, and increased match fees and prizemoney for domestic tournaments were certainly positive developments. Inhis own inimitable manner, he emulated his father MA Chidambaram, whowas a popular president from 1960 to 1963.While there is cause to feel bad about Muthiah’s defeat, the positiveaspect is that the top post is now held by a person who has the image ofa dynamic, action oriented administrator.Dalmiya, a Kolkata based businessman, has already proved his skill invarious important posts during the conduct of the Reliance Cup in 1987,the Wills World Cup in 1996 and the Hero Cup in 1993. Perhaps hisbiggest contribution has been the aggressive manner in which the gamehas been marketed. He has been instrumental in selling TV rights andgetting sponsorship fees hiked many times over. Given the fact that thegame had been woefully undersold for years, Dalmiya’s bold approach waswidely welcomed and he brought into administration a refreshinglycontemporary air. The fact that he has been the ICC president is boundto have a positive impact on India’s image internationally.A well known figure in cricketing circles for over two decades now,Dalmiya, like Muthiah, is a suave gentleman who is media savvy and hasthe ability to get things done. He has certainly started his tenure onan encouraging note if his comments at the press conference at theconclusion of the meeting are any indication. One particularly liked theway he described match fixing as the “most heinous crime against one’scountry” while making it clear that there was no question of anyrelaxation of the ban on ‘guilty’ players.There will be few tears shed however for Jaywant Lele’s departure. Knownfor putting his foot in the mouth all too often, Lele lost out narrowlyon getting a fifth term as secretary. But the problem here is that hissuccessor Niranjan Shah was aligned with Muthiah and was none too happywith the latter’s defeat. But as Shah himself said “I will sit with thenew president and work in a cordial atmosphere.” That is the waydemocracy functions and it is good to see the board observe certaindemocratic norms. The picture of a smiling Muthiah congratulatingDalmiya said it all and one only hopes it points to encouraging timesahead for Indian cricket.