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Luck of the dayAndrew Strauss had yet to settle in an arduous first hour, and had inched along to 4 not out from 30 balls when he shuffled across his crease to clip Morne Morkel firmly off his hip … and straight into the hands of Ashwell Prince at leg gully. It was a perfect plan, perfectly executed – Prince had only moved to that position one delivery earlier – but Morkel’s galumphing front foot ruined the moment. He had overstepped by several inches, and as the moment went begging, so too did South Africa’s attacking intent.Single of the dayIt was a fairly unremarkable moment, which came 47 minutes into the day’s play. Another leg-stump delivery from Morkel, and another deflection off the hip from Strauss – although this time he managed to avoid any fielders. As he and Cook jogged through for a single, however, it was the first time in 66 deliveries that the two batsmen had switched ends. Up until that point they had traded exclusively in boundaries – three for Cook, and a solitary clip through midwicket from Strauss.Delivery of the dayIt wasn’t quite as high-profile as the one that Steve Harmison winged down at Brisbane, but the delivery was almost as awful. Bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Cook, Morkel pitched his delivery way outside off stump, found enough swing to take it even further out of the batsman’s reach, and Smith at slip cupped his hands to take a screamer high above his head.Statistic of the dayHe is renowned as a matchwinner, but Andrew Flintoff has been anything but in recent matches. In an injury-affected run that dates back to the third Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge in June 2006, he had taken part in eight consecutive defeats – including five in a row in that winter’s Ashes, and back-to-back reversals at Headingley and Edgbaston in this series.Shot of the dayIt was something of a cathartic moment, therefore, when Flintoff strode down the wicket to Paul Harris with five runs required for victory, and launched him high and handsome towards the pavilion for the 80th six of his 70-match Test career. It was a blow that brought him level with Matthew Hayden in fifth place on the all-time six-hitters’ table, and he’s now only four adrift of the Master Blaster, Viv Richards, in fourth place, with Brian Lara (88) and Chris Cairns (87) also in his sights. Adam Gilchrist’s record of 100 maximums might take a few more years to overhaul, however.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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!"

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.

Tamil Nadu piled up 287/3 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal against Delhi at the IIT-Chemplast ground, Chennai on Saturday. Hemanth Kumar was the toast of the day with an unbeaten 108.Tamil Nadu skipper Robin Singh opted to bat. Delhi medium pacers Robin Singh Jr and Amit Bhandari extracted pace and bounce on a flat track, troubling S Sriram and S Badrinath in the early overs. Badrinath had an early escape when he edged one from Bhandari that fell short of second slip.The opening pair put together 70 runs. Sriram (38) was the first to be dismissed, caught behind by Chawla off Bhandari. Sriram never looked too comfortable in the middle.Badrinath followed Sriram back into the pavilion in a hurry, caught by Shewag off left-arm seamer Amit Suman. The ball kicked up off a good length and popped up in the air after hitting the batsman’s gloves. Tamil Nadu were in some trouble at that stage, reduced to 74/2.Left-handed batsmen Hemanth Kumar and S Sharath took the attack to the Delhi camp, batting sensibly and accumulating runs. Sharath struck one massive straight six and five fours in his classy knock of 58 before being bowled of a big inside edge off the bowling of Suman.Hemanth and Sharath added valuable 106 runs for the third wicket. Rahul Sanghvi who was dropped from the national side after being smashed by the Aussies in the Mumbai Test, seemed to carry the blues into the match. He looked clearly a different bowler without any confidence to give the ball the loop to purchase wickets on a placid track.The off spin bowling of Harendra Chaudhury and Virender Shewag did not make an impression on the batsmen either as they kept on piling up the runs. Sharath’s wicket was the last success of the day for Delhi.The spotlight was on Hemant. He played with his usual lazy elegance, driving through covers and playing the pull shot with ,lan. He punished the loose stuff. Delhi relied heavily on their medium pacers to tie down Hemanth, who so far has played a chanceless knock. He got to his hundred by lofting a full toss from Amit Bhandari who was bowling with the second new ball, straight over the bowler’s head first bounce over the ropes. He has struck 12 fours and a massive six so far in his unbeaten innings.Giving Hemanth good company is JR Madanagopal who is unbeaten on 44 including three boundaries and a six. The pair have added 107 runs for the unfinished fourth wicket stand.Amit Suman was the best of the bowlers, extracting good bounce off the track. He has troubled all batsmen today, bowling left-arm and over the wicket. He did manage to move the ball either way off the seam to finish the day with 2/60 off 17 overs.Tamil Nadu will hope to pile on the runs tomorrow since, in Indian domestic cricket, most matches are decided on the first innings lead. With the likes of S Mahesh and Robin Singh to follow and Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan batting at number ten, it might well be another long day in the field for Delhi.Delhi is led by Vijay Dahiya, who till the other day was a contender for the India wicket keeper’s job. Dahiya is playing this match as a batsman while Pradeep Chawla dons the wicket-keeping gloves. Off spinner Nikhil Chopra is not playing as he is indisposed.

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.

Internal disputes have cropped up between the members of USA Cricket Association regarding the management of the association’s website, , as shown in emails obtained via sources by ESPNcricinfo. An email from USACA first vice-president Rafey Syed, the man who runs , was sent on September 17 to three members of USA’s management team at ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia to admonish them for not sending any information/content for him to post on the website. Syed left USACA executive secretary Kenwyn Williams and interim chief executive Nabeel Ahmed off the email but cc’d the rest of the USACA board.Williams responded by voicing his displeasure, not only at being left out of the chain of communication but that he had been denied access to manage the website in his role as USACA executive secretary.”I hope that my non inclusion on the below email was accidental,” Williams wrote to Syed while copying in Ahmed and the rest of the board. “I am definitely not defending Shelton [Glasgow, USA’s manager in Malaysia] here. But I do recall sending you a link to all the pictures and updates from the ICC. You never posted any of the pictures. Again – my call for access to the USACA website is resounding here. I don’t quite understand your insistence that you have control of our website. It’s clear that you do not have the time to upate [sic] the site. It’s obsolete.”Later that same day, a message appeared on the USACA Twitter feed, which is run by Williams, announcing that, “USA Cricket has just today become a new brand. In planning for the future – USA Cricket is developing a new website and establishing a new brand. USACA is now USA Cricket. Our new website is . The page is of course under construction and will be supported by social media until its unveiling in the very near future.”The front page of the new site declares that is, “The official web page of the future of cricket in the United States of America” and features an image of the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia. Other than links to USACA’s social media pages run by Williams, the website currently has no original content accessible from the home page.A day after was launched, Williams sent an email to Syed and the rest of the board on September 18 saying, “Usaca.org web site is moot. We are moving to a new direction and format. I will need the old USACA name servers to move to usa-cricket.org in the very near future!”In addition to the website conflict, several sources have indicated that Ahmed has grown dissatisfied once again with the direction the organisation is heading under USACA president Gladstone Dainty. Few if any of the goals, including the appointment of a permanent chief executive, earmarked in the USACA’s 100-day plan published in May have been reached.”It’s been months and we have no agenda in place and no one knows of the plans of said committee. A plan that was apparently ‘blessed’ by the ICC. A status on the progress, the members and the minutes of said committee meetings would be appreciated,” Williams wrote to the board in an email dated September 17.Meanwhile, the upstart American Cricket Federation is scheduled to hold its first ever National Twenty20 tournament from October 6-8 in Los Angeles at Woodley. Representative sides from leagues including the Southern California Cricket Association, Minnesota Cricket Association, Michigan Cricket Association and Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board among other leagues will be participating in the event. The ACF Twenty20 tournament fills the domestic tournament void left by USACA, which has not held a national tournament at women’s, men’s or junior level since July 2011.