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England A 283 for 9 (Joyce 85, Clarke 58, Solanki 47) beat West Indies A 226 (Joseph 45, Richards 39, Mahmood 4-37, Batty 4-40) by 57 runs
ScorecardSajid Mahmood and Gareth Batty grabbed four wickets apiece to bowl England A to a 57-run series-leveling win over West Indies A under the lights at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia on March 11.Rikki Clarke spurred England with an allround effort: he rattled a breezy 44-ball 58 to lift the visitors to 283 for 9 and then strangled the hosts, after they had run away to 95 for 1 in 15 overs, with a miserly 10-over spell – conceding only 26 runs and picking up Dale Richards’s (39) wicket in the bargain. Richards’s wicket opened up the gates for Batty and Mahmood to barge through, and the duo kept striking at regular intervals: seven wickets fell for 94 runs as West Indies folded up for 226.Ed Joyce, who top-scored for the second successive match, and Vikram Solanki, who missed the first game, got the visitors off to a great start, racing away to 97 in only 15.4 overs. However, their march was halted by Ryan Hinds, the left-arm spinner who bowled his 10 overs on a trot, grabbing 4 for 38. Hinds got rid off Solanki in his first over and removed Alex Loudon and Ravi Bopara cheaply before nailing Joyce to leave the visitors at a wobbly 168 for 5.It was then that Clarke stepped in, counterattacking his way out of trouble. Gavin Tonge came in for special attention from Clarke who hit him for four fours in succession in the 48th over. However, Tonge soon got his revenge, removing Clarke off the last ball of the over.The battle will now resume in Barbados on Tuesday where the final three matches of the series will be played.

Pakistan A 239 for 3 (Faisal 102*, Aamer 65*) beat England A 125 by 114 runs
Scorecard
Points tableEngland A’s winter ended with a whimper, as they crashed out of the triangular tournament after a crushing 114-run defeat to Pakistan A at Moratuwa. While Ian Bell’s side head home, Sri Lanka A will now face Pakistan A in the final on Tuesday, but they will face a stern test: Pakistan have won all four of their group matches.Faisal Athar and Aamer Bashir set up Pakistan’s latest triumph, their unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 168 lifting their side to 239 for 3 after a stodgy start from the top order, who were limping along at little more three an over. But Faisal and Aamer floored the accelerator when the dismissal of Ashar Zaidi – who made a painstaking yet painful 17 from 69 balls – brought them together in the 21st over. Faisal struck an unbeaten 102 from 133 balls and Aamer joined in the fun, bashing 65 not out from 79 balls.England’s batsman struggled from the outset and the writing was firmly on the wall at 25 for 4, the opening pace attack of Mohammad Asif and Abdur Rauf taking two wickets each. Imran Tahir then helped himself to the next three wickets to kill off England’s slim hopes (71 for 7).Richard Dawson and Paul Franks gestured at revival, putting on 38 for the eighth wicket, but it was far too little, far too late and England slumped to 125 all out.

ScorecardDay 5Bulletin – New Zealand win despite defiant RudolphDay 4Bulletin – Martin spell pushes South Africa to the brink
News – Tuffey to miss third TestDay 3Bulletin – Cairns sparkles in a run-fest
Day 2Bulletin – Styris and Martin make it New Zealand’s day
News – Pollock becomes South Africa’s leading wicket-takerDay 1Bulletin – Smith and Gibbs make it South Africa’s day

The Tasmanian Cricket Association in conjunction with the Office of Sport & Recreation and the Indigenous Sports Unit of the ACS are pleased to announce the Tasmanian Indigenous X1 to compete in the Imparja Cup to be held in Alice Springs from 28th February to 2nd March 2003.All states and territories will be represented at the championship, with all teams playing four (4) preliminary matches. The two leading teams will then play off in the final in a 40 over a side match to be held at Traeger Park under lights.The Tasmanian team has a blend of youth and experience and will be keen to improve on its second place at last year’s event.The team will be captained by Colin Lamont, an experienced player who has played many seasons of first grade cricket with the South-Hobart Sandy Bay club in the TCA grade competition.The team will be coached by Ali de Winter and managed by Don Gardiner.The team is;Colin Lamont (Captain), Greg Medcraft, Sean Gower, Selwyn Deverell, Adrian Jones, Daniel Williams, Darren Jones, Jamie Green, Guy Grey, Bernie Lamont, Wayne Hogan, Shane Brown, Brian Summers.Coach: Ali de WinterManager: Don Gardner

Darren Lehmann spared Yorkshire’s blushing by steering them to a four-wicket victory over Bedfordshire at Luton in the third round of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.The Australian held the batting together with a faultless 88 off 98 balls with seven boundaries and he was only out when Yorkshire were nine runs short of their target.But it could have been a much different story without Lehmann’s expertise because Yorkshire were rocking on 62 for four at one stage and looked like plunging to a humiliating defeat at the hands of the plucky Minor Counties side.The man to do the early damage was paceman Shaun Rashid who took the first three wickets with only 41 scored and he later rounded off an excellent performance by clean bowling Lehmann.Yorkshire’s revival started when Lehmann found a reliable partner in fellow left-hander Vic Craven who helped him add 62 in 14 overs for the fifth wicket.When Craven was caught at mid-wicket off Will Sneath in came another left-hander in Gavin Hamilton who continued to ease the pressure with some well-executed shots.Lehmann’s 50 came when he cut Sneath for his third boundary and he increased the tempo until he went for a heave at Rashid and was bowled.Winning the toss, Bedfordshire chose to bat on a good pitch and played well for their 211 for nine but they were greatly assisted by a lot of inaccurate bowling which cost Yorkshire 24 runs in wides and 12 in no-balls.Skipper Andy Roberts and David Clarke laid a solid foundation with a 51 stand for the second wicket and James Knott and Andy Trott boosted the total later on with 48 in nine overs for the seventh wicket.Top scorer, with 34, was Oliver Clayson who was stumped going down the pitch to Lehmann while Ryan Sidebottom was Yorkshire’s best bowler with four for 39, despite sending down two legside wides which both sped to the boundary.Chris Silverwood and Lehmann each captured two wickets and there was a tidy 10 over stint from off-spinner Richard Dawson who went for just 39 runs in only his second competitive match.Yorkshire now look forward to a testing encounter with Surrey at Headingley in the next round.

Leeds United continue to be linked with a summer swoop for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who is becoming extremely likely to move on from Rubin Kazan.

The 21-year-old winger is currently playing in his home country for Dinamo Batumi, thanks to FIFA’s ruling to allow players to leave Russia or Ukraine outside of a transfer window if they wished.

He has since seen his contract terminated by the Red-Greens.

According to Italian outlet Il Mattino, the Yorkshire outfit are among the leading candidates to secure him during the off-season, where he will be looking for a new club.

Serie A outfit Napoli and Premier League rivals West Ham United are also mooted with interest by the report.

Whilst Raphinha may be on his way out at Elland Road, the potential arrival of Kvaratskhelia could spell trouble for Dan James as his struggles following a club-record £30m move from Manchester United continue.

If the Brazil international does depart, the Welshman is in line for more game time in his natural right-wing position but given his form and the interest in the Georgia international, he could well be axed by manager Jesse Marsch going forward.

Once described as being “headless” with his decision-making in the final third by Darren Bent, the £16.2m-rated dynamo has only delivered four goals and four assists across 30 appearances but only one of those goal contributions have come in their last seven outings, via Transfermarkt.

Kvaratskhelia is an exciting young talent and one that had been one of the most dangerous attackers in the Russian Premier League this campaign – on top of two goals and five assists from only 17 starts, the Georgian leads the division for successful dribbles per 90 (3.14).

That ability has seen him earn quite the praise indeed, with former Russia U18 coach Denis Bushuev likening him to two greats in his position.

“Naturally. He is from the same galaxy of players as Ribery or Robben. He could play in the top five clubs in the Bundesliga – he has crazy technique.”

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By comparison, James only manages 0.9 successful dribbles per 90 in the Premier League and whilst the quality of the two leagues is like chalk and cheese, he ranks as low as 13th in the current Leeds squad, even behind the likes of Tyler Roberts, Junior Firpo and all three of his positional peers.

As such, Marsch and co should look to sign the £14.4m-rated Kvaratskhelia for an absolute bargain price this summer. There’s little point in persisting with James just because he’s a club-record signing when a player like this is available.

AND in other news, Forget Raphinha: Marsch heading for Leeds nightmare over “explosive” £13.5m-rated gem…

Former Sri Lanka cricketers Aravinda de Silva and Guy de Alwis have been appointed to the Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee along with Asoka Pathirage, a leading mobile owner by sports minister Gamini Lokuge.The seven-member committee headed by former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga will expand to ten with these new appointments.de Silva is already heading the cricket committee of Sri Lanka Cricket and is presently a consultant coach of the Sri Lanka Under-19 team for the World Cup in Malaysia starting later this month.de Alwis was a former chairman of selectors and one-time coach of the Sri Lanka women’s team.It is assumed their appointments were pushed for by Ranatunga, who, since taking over the chairmanship of the interim committee last month, insisted that he would like more ex-players to be involved in cricket administration.Interim committee: Arjuna Ranatunga, Kangadaran Mathivanan, Sujeewa Rajapaksa, Sidath Wettimuny, Premasara Epasinghe, Lalith Wickremasinghe, Dian Gomes, Aravinda de Silva, Guy de Alwis and Asoka Pathirage.Cricket committee: Aravinda de Silva, Sidath Wettimuny, Hashan Tillakaratne, Ranjan Madugalle, Guy de Alwis, Michael Tissera, Roshan Mahanama and Graeme Labrooy.

Jacob Oram will play through the pain © Getty Images

Jacob Oram, the New Zealand allrounder, is expected to play in the World Cup and will seek treatment for his fractured finger only after the tournament ends, New Zealand Cricket has confirmed.Oram sustained the injury while taking the catch to dismiss Mitchell Johnson in the first ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee series against Australia at Wellington. He subsequently missed the next two ODIs and his availability for New Zealand’s opening match in the World Cup, against England on March 16, is in doubt. New Zealand play their second game, against Kenya, four days later.A specialist in Hamilton confirmed that the injury was indeed a fracture and that the scans also revealed some tendon damage. Oram will leave with the team to the West Indies with a splint to protect the ring finger on his left hand. He will be given pain relieving injections through the tournament, which ends on April 28.

Mohammad Asif has been Pakistan’s best bowler by a long shot, but the support staff has been shoddy © Getty Images

A batting masterclass from Sachin Tendulkar gave India the initiative in Lahore, and a 2-1 series lead. Having chased with such aplomb in the last two games, confidence clearly isn’t a problem in the Indian camp. Pakistan, bereft of Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, suddenly look vulnerable, but even a cursory look at the nation’s cricket history will tell you that it’s at such moments that they have dug deep and come up with some of their best cricket. India, at the receiving end after leading the corresponding series 2-0 last year, certainly won’t allow any trace of complacency to creep in. After the humiliation in the Test series, victory here would offer something by way of compensation.Better bowling?:
Pakistan’s superior bowling resources, ultimately decisive in the Test series, were expected to tilt the scales in their favour in the one-day games as well. But with Shoaib Akhtar not around to lead the line, India have piled on the runs at an astonishing rate of 6.29 over the first three games. With the exception of Mohammad Asif, who appears to get better with every outing, the rest have been caned by Indian batsmen ruthless against any waywardness in line and length. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, hugely impressive in Pakistan’s 4-2 triumph on Indian soil last year, was pulverised in the last game, while Umar Gul is only finding his way back from a long-term injury. Abdul Razzaq continues to snag Tendulkar, without ever looking likely to run through a side. With no Danish Kaneria in the squad, the slow-bowling options are also distinctly mediocre. India’s attack has fared little better, with the notable exception of Irfan Pathan, but the expected Pakistani superiority has yet to manifest itself.All change:
Two consecutive losses have forced the selectors’ hands, and Pakistan could see as many as four changes for tomorrow’s game. Salman Butt’s last two innings have lasted four balls, and Imran Farhat is likely to take his place. Faisal Iqbal has the onerous task of replacing Afridi, while Umar Gul’s back injury has resulted in a call-up for Rao Iftikhar Anjum. Mohammad Sami, in the cold since the Lahore Test, is another certainty provided he recovers from fever, with Rana likely to feel the cold shoulder. India have few such worries, with Ajit Agarkar having recovered from his back strain.Pitch perfect:
The last time India played here, Virender Sehwag thumped 228 on the opening day of a Test to inspire an innings victory in a Test match. Sehwag may be back in Delhi, resting his shoulder before taking on England, but another run-fest is on the cards. The pitch is the colour of caramel cream, and the smattering of dry grass on top won’t worry anyone. With the weather also perfect, sunny without being too warm, a batsman that gets set won’t be in the mood to leave in a hurry. In such conditions, the toss is unlikely to have much bearing either.Absent Afridi:
While he didn’t fire in the first three games, Afridi clearly preys on the Indian psyche. His 330 runs from just 272 balls in the Test series pretty much ensured that. His loss for the final two games is a massive blow, even if Pakistan can call on Abdul Razzaq and the relatively untested Iqbal for late-innings acceleration.The Malik factor:
Starting with his stunning innings against India in the Asia Cup of 2004, Shoaib Malik has pillaged the attack remorselessly. And while the bigger names like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan have yet to make an impact on the series, Malik already has 293 runs stashed away. He made the most of the reprieve that Gautam Gambhir granted him at Lahore, and India simply can’t afford such generosity towards a man who truly has the Indian sign on their bowlers.

Sachin Tendulkar has been in fine form, and the stage is set for more © Getty Images

Hometown hero:
The impressive Inzamam-ul-Haq enclosure dominated one sides of this superb venue, and much is expected from one of Multan’s favourite sons. His captaincy in the last game was bizarre at times, with a clearly crocked Afridi asked to bowl at a crucial stage, and Rana, who served up tosh all day, entrusted with two vital overs at the end. There have also been three successive failures with the bat, including the Obstructing the Field dismissal at Peshawar. The Indians know better than most though that when he’s good, he’s nearly peerless. That perfectly executed chase at Ahmedabad last year certainly won’t be forgotten anytime soon.Last but not least:
Such was the resplendence of his batting at the Gaddafi Stadium that it was easy to forget the pressure that Tendulkar had been under before the one-day series. The century at Peshawar was special in its own way, but it was the 95 at Lahore that showcased everything that’s best about his batting – the ability to gauge a situation, judgement of length and a range of strokes that most can only dream of. It remains to be seen now whether he can go on and magnify the purple patch, rediscovering the mind-boggling consistency that has eluded him for two seasons.Teams:
Pakistan (likely): 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 ShoaibMalik, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Younis Khan, 7 FaisalIqbal, 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Mohammad Asif.Super sub: Rao Iftikhar Anjum.India (likely): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 IrfanPathan, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Mahendra SinghDhoni, 8 Suresh Raina, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 S Sreesanth, 11 Rudra PratapSingh. Super sub: Ramesh Powar.

Andre Nel: ‘Our batsmen are going to have to play with a lot of patience, that’s the only way to bat on this pitch’© Getty Images

Andre Nel was upbeat about a South African victory in the second Test at Trinidad after the top-order batsmen began their reply in a strong fashion. Nel was confident that South Africa could take the lead in the first innings and dismiss West Indies again.South Africa ended the second day on 182 for 3, with Graeme Smith anchoring the innings with a composed 90 not out, in reply to the West Indies’ score of 347. “The pitch is going to get lower and perhaps a bit faster,” Nel told Reuters. “We’re going to try and bat once only, and I’m sure we can bowl them out again.”Dwayne Bravo, though, kept West Indies in the hunt with the crucial wicket of Jacques Kallis with the fourth ball before stumps were drawn. Nel termed that as “disappointing” but added, “but we have a lot of batting to come and I’m sure we can take the lead. Our batsmen are going to have to play with a lot of patience, that’s the only way to bat on this pitch.”Nel finished with three wickets in the West Indian first innings, including the prize scalp of Brian Lara. This was the sixth time that Nel had dismissed Lara in nine innings and deprived him of his first Test double century on his home ground. “I wasn’t sure what had happened,” Nel clarified, “because I didn’t see the bail fall off. Then I saw Boucher celebrating, and it hit me.”