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Leaders Surrey reached 191 for five on the rain-delayed first day of their Frizzell County Championship Match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. After rain prevented play until 1200, Dougie Brown gave the hosts an excellent start, with three wickets as Surrey slipped to 59 for four. But Mark Ramprakash (67*) and his skipper Adam Hollioake (66) shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 88 before Hollioake was dismissed just before the close.Carl Crowe took three wickets for second-placed Leicestershire as they bowled out third-placed Hampshire for 311 at Grace Road. Nic Pothas (63) and John Crawley (60) shored up the hosts, while there were also two wickets for Academy hopeful Matthew Whiley.Kent’s Amjad Khan (six for 56) broke the back of the Sussex batting after the hosts were put in at Hove. Martin Saggers and David Masters shared the remaining wickets as Sussex were turned over for just 145, with only Michael Yardy (33) passing 20. At stumps Kent were 152 for five, with Ed Smith unbeaten on 63.At Scarborough, Peter Bowler gave Somerset the backbone Sussex lacked. Bowler (84), Piran Holloway (65) and Keith Parsons (59) helped the visitors to a healthy 299 for five at stumps against bottom-of-the-table Yorkshire. Off-spinner Richard Dawson took two wickets for the hosts.Division Two leaders Essex had a bad day at Southend. Worcestershire’s off-spinning all-rounder Gareth Batty garnered six for 71 as the hosts crumbled to 197 all out. Veteran John Stephenson (44) led a praiseworthy rearguard action, and Andy Flower made 41. At the close the visitors were 20 for no wicket in reply.Another veteran, Kim Barnett, scored his 61st first-class century to hold second-placed Middlesex at bay at Southgate. Barnett (119*) was assisted first by Craig Spearman (46) and then by Mark Alleyne (45) as Gloucestershire closed on 270 for four.A two-day finish looks possible at Darlington between third-placed Derbyshire and bottom-of-the-table Durham, who were bowled out for 191 by Derbyshire, for whom Kevin Dean took four for 65. At one point Durham were 108 for seven before Graeme Bridge (49) led a minor revival. Derbyshire fared even worse as Neil Killeen (three for 27), Mark Davies (two for 18) and Marc Symington (two for 12) shot them out for just 96, with only Michael Di Venuto (57) and Lian Wharton reaching double figures. At stumps Durham were 63 without loss in their second innings, 158 ahead.Paul Franks (four for 46) and Andrew Harris (four for 70) combined to bowl Glamorgan out for 213 at Trent Bridge, with only Ian Thomas (76) playing an innings of substance. Notts ended the day on 133 for two, with Guy Welton on 55 and Usman Afzaal 53.

Doug Cowie and Brent Bowden will be New Zealand’s two automatic nominees to the International Cricket Council’s international panel of umpires.They will be part of a 20-strong group whose international duties will be largely confined to standing in One-Day Internationals, although some panel members could be called in to help the elite panel of eight when there are unavailabilities.The international panel is due to be announced by the ICC in the next few days.Cowie, 55, has stood in 22 Tests since making his international debut at Napier in 1994/95 when New Zealand played Sri Lanka. He has also stood in 63 ODIs.Bowden, 39, has stood in three Tests and 19 ODIs.Their reserve is Tony Hill, 50, and unless one of either Cowie or Bowden is overseas doing other games, his main duties will centre on TV umpire work.There is also the possibility that international matches in New Zealand won’t have an overseas umpire in them in which case the matches would have the top two standing together.The two other members of the former international panel, Dave Quested and Evan Watkin drop back to the A panel where the prospects of covering international matches are largely confined to tour games involving international sides.Meanwhile, Bowden and another Auckland umpire, Phil Jones, will be doing games at the Pacifica Cup being played in Samoa later this month and in early-June. Among other umpires from the region in attendance will be Bob Parry and Rod Tucker from Australia and Tony Cooper from Fiji.New Zealand Cricket’s umpiring manager Brian Aldridge will be the tournament umpires’ manager.

FULL NAME: Neeten Chouhan
BORN: At Harare, 3 April 1983
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland A (2000/01), CFX Academy (2001/02). Present club side:Universals
KNOWN AS: Neeten Chouhan. Nickname: Chewy
BATTING STYLE: Left Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Leg Breaks and Googles
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy studentFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 23-25 March 2001, Mashonaland A v Midlands, at Kwekwe SportsClub
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (March 2002)Neeten Chouhan, the often dogged opening batsman for the CFX Academy in 2002, may have an equally bright future as a leg-spinner, in the opinion of Academy coach Dave Houghton. Neeten has a tendency to bowl inaccurately, which Houghton puts down to lack of practice over the last few years, but he has the ability to spin the ball sharply and bowl the odd virtually unplayable delivery.Neeten has the benefit of a keen cricketing parent, as his father Nick has been a Mashonaland Cricket Union administrator for years, having been a player himself in the past at social level. Other members of the family, according to Neeten, have been enthusiastic as spectators rather than players. Nick first introduced Neeten to the game in the back yard of their home when he was very young, and this was reinforced at junior school. He first played for Selborne Routledge Primary School colts in Harare when in Grade 3, but then moved to Sharon School.At the age of about 10 he remembers scoring 64 in one match, and in another taking six wickets, although this was bowling seamers rather than leg-spin. He only turned to leg-spin at high school, when his conversion was by accident: he says his team was short of a spinner, so he gave it a try and picked up five wickets.He played for the Harare primary schools team in the national inter-provincial festival before graduating to Prince Edward High School. He was in the A team for each age-group until graduating to the first team in Form Four, where he finished his school career as captain. He was selected for the national Under-16 team, and Mashonaland sides at all age levels, captaining that side in his final year at school. He also went on a Zimbabwe development tour to Kenya in 2000. He played primarily as a batsman, usually at four or five, but he was moved to open the batting during his last two years at school. He did not enjoy great success in these matches.His best batting performance was 104 not out for the school first team against Watershed School, followed by 101 against Eaglesvale, and took nine wickets with his leg-spin in a match against Plumtree. While still at school he made his first-class debut for Mashonaland A against Midlands at Kwekwe, but without success. He left school at the end of 2001 and won a place in the CFX Academy.He started playing club cricket for Sunrise, the predominantly Indian sports club in Harare, but they were in the third league and he had set his sights higher. He moved to the Prince Edward old boys’ club, Old Hararians, for two years, but was unable to break into their first team regularly, so he moved again to Universals `to get a better chance’.He opened the innings for the Academy in the Logan Cup, although he prefers the middle order. He showed the ability to concentrate and play a long innings, but has not yet found the freedom to develop his strokeplay. He feels his straight drives are his best strokes. As a bowler he feels his main strength is in his ability to spin the ball sharply, and he has the googly and top-spinner to add to his normal leg-break. He usually fields in the cover area, although the Academy also uses him at short leg.He feels the coaches who have had the greatest influences on his career have been George Lee-Bell, coach at Prince Edward during his time there, and Bill Flower.Cricket heroes: Damien Martyn and Neil McKenzie, as he enjoys their style of play. "Obviously Shane Warne."Toughest opponents: Bowler – Henry Olonga.Personal ambitions: "Obviously to play for Zimbabwe, before the age of 23. Battingwise I want to average around 45 in Logan Cup."Proudest achievement so far: "Becoming Mashonaland A captain and getting into the Academy."Best friends in cricket: Conan Brewer.Other qualifications: A-levels, degree in computers.Other sports: Tennis for Mashonaland at Under-12 level, hockey for Mashonaland in 2001.Outside interests: "Watching TV!"

Worcestershire County Cricket Club have announced the release of five Players at the end of the current season in addition to the previously announced retirements of Paul Pollard and Stuart Lampitt.Matt Rawnsley, Duncan Catterall and Depesh Patel will not have their contracts renewed for 2003. 2nd XI Players Nathan Round and Gurdeep Kandola will have their registrations released.Chief executive, Mark Newton, said “We have decided to reduce the size of our squad from 23 Players to either 19 or 20 next season. We wish all five Players well for the future and thank them for their services to the Club.”

For some people, it is akin to a pilgrimage, an annual-or-so journey undertaken with near-reverence to just imbibe their share of the action. For others, it is the greatest second-hand thrill they can experience, an escapist hiatus from day-to-day drudgery. For yet some others, it is a chance to breathe the same air as the heroes they worship.Sadly these days, it also appears that for some more, a cricket match is the window into 15 minutes of fame as the sweep of the television camera catches them hooting, waving, sporting hideously ungrammatical banners, and generally making fools ofthemselves.Three consecutive one-day internationals between India and the West Indies have been marred by crowd trouble, the last of which had to be abandoned with more than 20 overs to play. Puzzlingly enough, when the crowd stepped into the fray – with a well-aimed bottle that struck Vasbert Drakes – India were 200 for one from 27.1 overs, nicely on their way to chasing down the target of 301. Latest action hero Virender Sehwag, moreover, was winding up to set pulses racing faster than they already were, unbeaten on an 82-ball 114. Why on earth, then, would an Indian supporter want to wreck a game poised at this delightful stage?Admittedly, to stretch the point a little, there are few things people will eschew in an effort to hog the limelight. And so cricket coverage has seen its share of freaks in the crowds; from wearing women’s dresses (by men, obviously!) to dressing up as SantaClaus to shaving the names of television channels into designer hairdos, nothing seems too absurd. Perhaps, then, the simple act of hurling a half-filled water bottle onto the field is only another manifestation of this publicity-seeking phenomenon.Sociologist, writer and long-standing cricket aficionado Mukul Kesavan agrees that this might just be the case. “I think the difference between crowds now and crowds earlier (circa 1970, say) is that then you were watching a game for which you hadbought a ticket and for which you had risen at five in the morning to get a decent place in the cheap seats. Watching a game was a rare and precious experience, and if you did riot, it was because your cricketing passions got the better of you,” he says.Going one step further, Kesavan adds, “Now the rowdiness seems to be more pastime than passion. My guess is that this is an extreme manifestation off the TV disease. People who come to watch cricket matches today come to watch an entertainment that they have previously seen on TV. Watching cricket on television is on par with watching other kinds of popular entertainment, such as game-shows, where the programme is as much about the studio audience as it is about the stars.”That crowds have always been on air for surprisingly long is indisputable, right from the days when Henry Blofeld discoursed at embarrassing length on the sizes, shapes and colours of jewelry sported by women in the stands, down to the modern phenomenon of cricketers-turned-commentators vainly reading out banners that fans scrawl about them. One-day cricket, thus, has not only changed the way fans view the game, but the manner in which they watch it as well.While Indian grounds certainly have no monopoly over crowd trouble, there are several facets that are unique to them. The most relevant, probably, is the fact that the percentage of people who actually pay for their tickets at venues is an absurdly low figure.Take the case of the recent India-West Indies Test match at Chennai. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) gives out complimentary tickets under various heads. Every player who has ever represented Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, for example, gets two tickets. If the cricketer has played for India, the count usually rises. Every umpire – and there are an estimated 200-plus such registered umpires under the auspices of the TNCA – also receive their freebies. Every member of the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) gets a ticket, as do members of the Madras Race Club, which is affiliated to the MCC. In all, just these minor categories would account for several thousand tickets.Secondly, every district association – and there are 28 such – gets a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 75 tickets, based on their relative importance. In addition to this, tickets from specified stands, sold commercially at Rs 300 are made available to them for Rs 75. Add to this the fact that every registered club – over 100 such in the five divisions that constitute the TNCA league – and you’ve accounted for a little more than 10,000 complimentary tickets.Only then do the heavyweights enter the picture. Every government agency ­ the police, the municipal corporation, the water-works, you name it – gets a slab of tickets. By and large, there are no stipulated quotas, but the tickets awarded are inproportion to the clout that each of these institutions wields with the TNCA. Of course, staff from all these departments “on duty” at the venue may number another several thousand. (The Kolkata Test against Australia, to cite an example, had as many as 22,000 policemen on duty at the Eden Gardens.) Throw in the comparatively trivial numbers that make up pressmen, vendors, ball-boys, hospitality staff, and one would then hardly be surprised to find that a huge proportion of the 50,000 seats at the TNCA are just given away.Where, then, do the paying public figure? In just a small minority in the stands. It goes without saying that people in general are infinitely more careful with their money than other peoples’. When the power blinks out in a cinema theatre, impatient audiences holler out only the choicest invective at the management until the show resumes. When someone orders a tomato-less burger at a restaurant, only to find it teeming with tomatoes, it is immediately returned with a demand for a replacement.Would it not be logical, then, to extend these analogies to cricket? Would someone who paid of their hard-earned for a ticket be likely to throw a bottle and bring a screeching halt to the entertainment? “No spectator has any financial stake in watching the match,” observes Kesavan. “The solution is selling tickets to individuals, not giving them away as freebies. Once people who want to watch cricket badly enough to pay for their tickets fill stadiums (or even half-fill them) you won’t have a tenth as much trouble,” summarises Kesavan.One cannot help but think that this might be the one of the few genuine solutions to the problem. More policing, closed-circuit cameras, heavy frisking and other ad-hoc strategies to tackle the problem would be like taking an aspirin to fight the flu. The pain may ebb, but the root cause has hardly been tackled. If the authorities are serious about resolving this issue, the only way to do so is to bring the genuine cricket fans streaming back into the cricket grounds.

SYDNEY, July 31 AAP/Reuters – Glenn McGrath’s lack of ability in wielding the willow may eventually affect his career, new research reveals.McGrath is one of the world’s worst Test batsmen, with an average of 6.52 an innings, even less in one day internationals where his high score is 11.Now researchers including Dr John Orchard of the University of NSW say McGrath’s lack of time in the middle with the bat, especially if his team bats first, makes him a prime candidate for injury.In a report released in The British Journal of Sports Medicine this week, Orchard said the chances of suffering hamstring strains, groin injuries and damage to the wrists, hands and back are greater according to the batting/bowling order.”Bowlers are more likely to be injured when undertaking big workloads and when bowling second (after batting),” said Orchard.Fast bowlers in cricket have the highest risk of being injured but bowling first and batting second increases the odds even further, the report said.About 14 per cent of fast bowlers receive injuries, compared to four per cent of spin bowlers and batsmen, and two per cent of wicket-keepers.The scientists suspect bowlers may be more susceptible to injury when their team bowls second in a match because they warm up in the nets at the start of the first innings but in other innings they are more likely to start bowling immediately after batting.McGrath is usually the last man out, and then the man to bowl the first over when Australia takes to the field.Overall, cricket is a relatively safe sport. But after studying the type and number of injuries to Australian first class cricket teams during premier and one day international matches the researchers believe it could be made safer.The scientists said the average injury rate for the 20 matches played in a season in Australia was 19.2 injuries for every squad of 25 players. One day internationals resulted in the highest number of injuries.If a bowler bowled more than 20 match overs in the week before a game, he had almost double the risk of injury and bowling second after batting first raised the injury risk to 60 per cent.The fastest bowlers had the greatest risk of injury and players colliding with the boundary fence while fielding were a major cause of injury.”The most important potentially reversible risk factor is bowler workload. The sporting activity most similar to bowling is pitching in baseball, for which workload is monitored much more closely than bowling,” said Orchard.The biggest injury concerns for fast bowlers were accelerated degeneration of the lumbar spine over the course of their career, as well as disc degeneration, shoulder injuries, foot and ankle injuries, knee tendon injuries and side strains.

Sri Lanka held their nerves to capture the Morocco Cup beating South Africa by 27 runs Wednesday. South Africa, chasing 236 for victory, looked dead and buried when they slumped to 91 for six in 26 overs. But a gritty 101-run seventh wicket partnership from 112 balls between Boeta Dippenaar and Mark Boucher brought the Proteas within striking distance.However, when 44 runs were required off 39 deliveries, Dippenaar tried one shot too many to hole out to Mahela Jayawardene off Pulasathi Gunaratne. But as always when one wicket leads to some more, the remaining three wickets fell in a space of 20 balls for the addition of 16 runs with Boucher being the last man out with nine balls remaining.While Dippenaar anchored the innings and scored 53 from 98 balls with two fours it was Boucher who threatened Sri Lanka’s control with busy innings of 70 from 65 balls with four fours and two sixes.The gutsy wicketkeeper swept the ball with perfection and played innovative pull shots to leave stand-in captain Marvan Atapattu bewildered.South Africa wrote their own demise when they lost six wickets inside 26 overs with the scoreboard reading 91.Muralitharan bowled Nicky Boje in his first over and then added the wicket of Roger Telemachus to finish with two for 35. But it was Gunaratne who picked up the vital wickets of Dippenaar and Boucher to end up with two for 38. Chaminda Vaas removed Herchelle Gibbs (6) and Graeme Smith (15) conceding 33 runs from his 10 overs.Gibbs was smartly held at mid-off by Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya. But, in the process, the left-hander injured his right shoulder.Jayasuriya, who was adjudged man-of-the-final, played his role to perfection when he first won the most important toss and then slapped 10 fours and a six in his run-a-ball 71 to provide his team another flying start. But Sri Lanka, who were 167 for two in 32 overs, failed to capitalize from the ideal platform and could add only 68 runs from the remaining 18 overs as they lost wickets at regular intervals.In the last 10 overs, Sri Lanka added 43 runs while between the 30th and 40th overs, they just added only 37 runs for the loss of three wickets.Lance Klusener, Allan Donald and Nicky Boje masterminded South Africa’s fight back when they equally shared six wickets between them. However South Africa’s strategy to not open the bowling with Donald or Kallis alongside Shaun Pollock proved disastrous.Roger Telemachus, who shared the new ball, allowed the Sri Lankan openers to settle down when he went for 36 runs in his four overs with Jayasuriya alone scoring 28 with five fours and a six.Besides Jayasuriya, who also picked up the Man-of-the-Tournament award, Kumar Sangakkara chipped in with a 54-ball 40, 47-ball 33 by Aravinda de Silva and 25 off 40 deliveries from Marvan Atapattu who put on 78 under 15 overs with his skipper.It was Sri Lanka’s second title since they beat Pakistan in Sharjah in April 2001.The Sri Lankans, who trailed 10-14 against South Africa before the start of the competition, also reduced the gap to 13 wins against 14 loses.Meanwhile Jayasuriya could miss next month’s ICC Champions Trophy after suffering an injury against South Africa.Jayasuriya scored an explosive 71 after winning the toss and batting first but dislocated his right shoulder after falling awkwardly taking a catch.Sri Lanka team physiotherapist Alex Kontouri replaced the dislocation on the field but later confirmed that the injury was serious following a scan at a local hospital.”There is ligament damage. He will have another scan when we return to Sri Lanka but at this stage I would say he is only 50-50 for the Champions Trophy,” Kontouri told reporters.

The first two days’ play of this Guyana Test match – and it can be called thus for more reasons than just the venue – threw up tremendous excitement from stylish batsmen. The third day saw a predictable end to the West Indian innings at a psychologically important 501 and an Indian reply that followed a script that the team seems to pick up from the Immigration and Customs officer every time it leaves the country. At the end of the third day’s play, India had stuttered to 237/4.The day began with a delay – yet another one of those things about the day that was oh-so-predictable. It was just one of those days, one could hear the old man in the stands at the Bourda Oval mutter. The name of that wise veteran Windies supporter (Gus, was it? Or possibly Les?) does not really matter. What does is the fact that there was little to the day’s play that would have worried the bookmakers. No surprises at all.To start off, the West Indies added precious little to their overnight score of 494 for seven. Sanjay Bangar, bowling his medium-pace with a markedly more reasonable field setting, picked up his first Test wicket. It may not have been that of the greatest batsman in the world, but Bangar would still have been pleased as punch when he trapped Mervyn Dillon in front of the stumps for a duck.Anil Kumble, who has toiled hard without much direction or result this match, removed debutant Adam Sanford. A low full-toss that appeared to be slipping down leg in rapping the pads was enough to satisfy umpire Asoka de Silva. A comedy of errors then saw last man Cameron Cuffy run out while Mahendra Nagamootoo remained unbeaten on 15. With 501 on the board, the West Indies licked their chops, took the new ball, and started to have a bowl at the Indians.And that licking of chops was not without good reason. Deep Dasgupta, cruelly dubbed Deep ‘Drop’gupta by some especially severe Indian fans, failed at the one task that is keeping him in supply of India Test caps. Opening the batting, the Indian stumper troubled the scorers merely in the sense that they had to mark out five dot-balls before neatly pencilling in (or typing, in the case of the more technology-savvy scorers) D Dasgupta lbw b Cuffy 0. Plumb in front too, for those who may be wondering if Dasgupta was somehow dealt a cruel hand by fate.Not five overs later, Dasgupta had his Bengal teammate at his side back in the cool confines of the dressing room. Sourav Ganguly, showing some bravado in climbing up the order to number three, failed to come good on a wicket that looks easier to bat on than many others the world of overseas Test cricket can offer.Tentative at best and confused at worst, the Indian skipper scratched around for five runs before committing what television commentator Geoffrey Boycott incorrectly refers to as ‘Hari-Kiri.’ Playing a pull with all the confidence and poise of a flat-footed, pimpled teenager picked to dance with the prom queen, Ganguly mis-hit Dillon to Nagamootoo at backward square leg.Then came that short man from Mumbai. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar put his fan following back home of a billion (incorrectly and conveniently assuming, of course, that every Indian citizen from infant to geriatric is a cricket nut) through a rigorous cardiac test. Playing half-cocked to the first ball he faced, Tendulkar missed edging the ball to the keeper by the finest of whiskers.After that, though, it was all mastery. Showing why he has more centuries, a better average, and basically truck-loads more of every conceivable batting record than any other Indian batsman playing today, Tendulkar dominated the bowling. Striking the ball through the covers as though it were his birthright and whipping the ball through midwicket with the felicity of a confectioner whipping cream, the star of the Indian firmament rose higher and higher.All the while, Nagamootoo and Co. had more than one trick hidden up their sleeves. What Anil Kumble can do with a packed Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore behind him, Nagamootoo can also do with his Guyanese fans sipping the finest Merlin Rum and belting out reggae from the stands. And let us not forget the air-horns that blared loud enough to make one ardent fan plead desperately, “Can’t we shoot that man operating the horn?” It was one of those air-horn special skidders that Nagamootoo trapped Tendulkar plumb in front of the stumps with, just minutes before tea.A crucial ball it was too. Whether it was the deft skill of Nagamootoo’s flipper or a mere deceptive whim of an otherwise placid wicket, Tendulkar’s shot deserved nothing less than the loss of his wicket. A cross-batted pull just minutes before tea on a wicket that kept low every now and then cost India the man who had scored 79 of India’s 144 runs. But one cannot be too hard on Tendulkar. Thirteen sensational boundaries had already dotted his 136-ball innings.As is often the case when India is abroad, Rahul Dravid is the backbone of stability when several others around him fail the test. Indian fans accustomed to run gluts on flat wickets at home often grow impatient with the Indian vice-captain, but his contribution can hardly be underestimated. A patient, painstaking 57 (182 balls, nine fours) in the company of a belligerent and intermittently sublime VVS Laxman (46, 91 balls, seven fours) saw India reach 237 for four when bad light stopped play on the third day.Laxman is a mercurial sort. Sparkling 30s and 40s flow off his blade like there is no tomorrow, but just when he looks classy enough for a big score that will push the opposition on the back foot, a careless heave or slash sends him on his way. Today, though, was a little different. Cutting out several strokes that are usually his strengths, an under-pressure Laxman spent quality time out in the middle. The wristy artistry was there for all to see, and the timing and placement were good enough to beat the field repeatedly.Indian fans will have on their lips that immortal line – “Keep that song playing” – when it comes to strokes at the wicket. And the Hyderabadi stylist will have to keep it playing, in the company of a reliable partner, if India are to somehow try and wrest back the initiative.

Kensington Oval should provide a pitch for the first Test against New Zealand, starting Friday, similar to that lauded by West Indies captain Carl Hooper last month as the best in the preceding series against India.Pitch supervisor Richard Prof Edwards was confident yesterday that everything is ready, adding that preparation by head groundsman Hendy Davis and his staff had not been adversely affected by the current rainy weather.It should be very similar to the pitch for the India Test, he said. With the moisture around, it should have a little juice on the first day and gradually get better for batting.We’ve managed to prepare pitches at Kensington in recent years that are good for cricket, with something for both bowlers and batsmen, and we saw that in the India Test, he pointed out.Sent in, India lost a wicket to the first ball of the match and collapsed to 102 all out on the opening day, more through limp batting than devastating bowling. They never got back into the game as West Indies went on to win by ten wickets.Describing that pitch, Hooper said: If you put your back into it, you got something out of it. But batsmen who applied themselves were able to get some runs.The one for Friday is alongside that used for the Test and the One-Day International against India last month.With the traffic on those pitches, from batsmen running between the wickets, bowlers following through and close fielders, the eastern side has less grass than to the west but it’s not a problem, Edwards said.It looks good, there are no cracks visible, what with the moisture around, and I’d expect it to stand up well, he added. We’ll take some of the grass off before Friday and give it one light sprinkling on Thursday.On all past evidence, the captain who has the coin drop his way should choose to bowl first. The New Zealanders have found helpful first day pitches in each of their three previous Tests at Kensington.In 1972, Garry Sobers ignored a lush green surface and batted on winning the toss. The West Indies were 44 for five by lunch and dismissed for 133, mainly through the big fast bowler Bruce Taylor’s seven for 54.But conditions for batting improved so markedly, New Zealand replied with 422 and the West Indies saved the match by scoring 564 for eight in their second innings through Charlie Davis’ 183, Sobers 142 and their stand of 256.In 1985, a menacing West Indies attack of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Winston Davis made the most of the toss, undermining New Zealand at 19 for four on a first day shortened to 19.5 by rain.It became 94 all out next day and, although they batted better second time round to reach 248, they were beaten by ten wickets.It was the same margin by which they lost in 1996 after they were bowled out for 195 on the first day and Sherwin Campbell responded with 208 in West Indies’ 472. But it was not a feared fast bowler who created havoc on the opening day but Jimmy Adams, who claimed five for 17 with his optimistic left-arm spin.Nathan Astle, one of only three of the current team who played in that match (captain Stephen Fleming and Chris Harris are the others), attacked for 125 in New Zealand’s second innings but the effort was in vain.

Lancashire’s tentative batting gifted Glamorgan their first one-day successof the season, at the seventh attempt.It was Old Trafford’s first day of cricket this summer, but there waslittle for the home support to cheer as Glamorgan made easy work of their148 target.Matthew Maynard’s unbeaten 39 eventually helped them home with26 balls to spare, ending a miserable record of five losses in the Benson& Hedges Cup as well as another defeat in their previous National Leaguematch.Lancashire won the toss but quickly slumped to 9-2, and it could have beenan even smaller target without Neil Fairbrother.He survived a blow to the head from a ball from Alex Wharf, who had alreadyremoved Ryan Driver and Alex Flintoff, and then went on to make 62 from 107balls.Fairbrother and John Crawley put on 53 for the third wicket before Crawleyran himself out, and Lancashire never really recovered.Spinners Dean Cosker and Robert Croft conceded a combined total of just 43from their 18 overs to limit Lancashire to a final total of 147-6.Glamorgan, in contrast, marched to their 50 within ten overs, as AustralianJimmy Maher, with 19, and Keith Newell, who made 29, set the platform.Muttiah Muralitharan bowled his usual miserly spell, conceding just 14 runsfrom nine overs, but couldn’t remove Maynard, who helped the visitors tovictory with a six off Ian Austin.