Centuries by JP Duminy and Lloyd Ferreira put Nashua WP in the driving seat against Free State in a 3 day friendly match in Bloemfontein.Summarised scores at lunch on day 2 are as follows;Nashua WP 284/3 dec after 72 overs vs Free State in Bloemfontein.Lloyd Ferreira 100* (retired), JP Duminy 100* (retired), Derrin Bassage 32 and Andrew Puttick 28Free State 220/6 dec (75 overs)Charl Willoughby 2/30 in 18 oversNashua WP 2nd inns – 10/1 (Puttick out)Nashua WP return to Cape Town on Thursday evening. All players are eligible for the opening series of WPCA club fixtures on Saturday.WP play Boland in a pre-season friendly in Paarl starting next Tuesday.

After last week’s heavy loss, North West came back strongly to beat neighbours Gauteng in the Bull Ring and in so doing moved ahead of both Northerns and Gauteng as round four of the SuperSport Series was completed yesterday.Career bests from Ryan Bailey (80), James Henderson (143) and Francois van der Merwe (5 for 45), together with another five wicket haul from Garth Roe saw North West winning by 169 runs. First-innings efforts from Derek Crookes (82), back from injury, and Garnett Kruger (5 for 82) was all in vain as Gauteng capitulated in the second innings.Excitement in Paarl saw Easterns, chasing 100 in 14 overs, nearly hand the game to Boland as they lost the plot, ending on 95 for 9 with a wicket falling on the last ball. Easterns scored 558 for 8 declared in the first innings – taking a first-innings lead of 317 – with Zander de Bruyn following up on his 266* last week with another hundred, and a maiden century from Godfrey Toyana. Following-on, Boland fought back with 416, Gerhard Strydom cracking a career-best 151, and Con de Lange making 109. Easterns’ left-arm spinner, Jacob Malao, returned career-best figures of 5 for 50.Pool A leaders KwaZulu-Natal ended their winning run with a tame draw against bottom of the table Eastern Province. Robin Peterson gave Eastern Province a polished allround performance scoring a hundred and taking 5 for 136 with Doug Watson scoring another hundred and Imran Khan taking 4 for 73 for the visitors.Free State made light work of neighbours Griqualand West, finishing the game off inside three days, Morne van Wyk scoring 122 and the veteran Allan Donald taking another five-wicket haul.A hundred for Mark Bruyns, playing his 100th first class game, was not enough for Border as Western Province ran away with a 176 run victory making ground on Border leading Pool B of the table.SuperSport Series Pool AFree State beat Griqualand West by an innings and 16 runs. Griqualand West 215 (Bosman 86, van der Wath 4-35) and 195 (Bosman 52, Donald 5/40); Free State 426 (van Wyk 122, Beukes 69, Liebenberg 52).Eastern Province drew with KwaZulu-Natal. Eastern Province 326 (Bradfield 99, Tucker 67, Khan 4-73) and 281 for 6 dec (Peterson 108, Bryant 69*); KwaZulul-Natal 305 (Watson 134, Brown 84, Benkenstein 64, Peterson5-136) and 241 for 5 (Benkenstein 73*).Boland drew with Easterns. Easterns 538 for 8 dec (Z de Bruyn 174, Toyana 113, Hall 89, P de Bruyn 80) and 95/9 (Albertyn 4-29); Boland 241 (Ontong 102, Malao 5-50) and 416 (Strydom 151, de Lange 109, Sanders 57).SuperSport Series Pool BWestern Province beat Border by 176 runs. Western Province 239 (Puttick 64, Henderson 4-74, Langeveldt 4-61) and 304 (Kirsten 78, Duminy 70, Henderson 4-62); Border 217 (Bruyns 101, Kreusch 59, Telemachus 4-59) and 150 (Henderson 4-59).North West beat Gauteng by 169 runs. North West 369 (Bailey 80, Rowley 69, Kruger 5-82) and 300 for 4 dec (Henderson 143, Grace 64); Gauteng 375 (Crookes 82, Ackerman 73, Nkwe 51, Roe 5-108) and 125 (van der Merwe 5-45).Pool A and B Log Tables.

India 523 and 233 for 6 (Dravid 72*) beat Australia 556 and 196 by 4 wickets
Scorecard

Rahul Dravid turned in his second heroic innings of the match, as India etched out a magnificent four-wicket victory at the Adelaide Oval to go 1-0 up in the four-Test series – their first win in Australia since their triumph at Melbourne in 1980-81. Following up his 233 in the first innings, Dravid remained undefeated on 72 – and hit the winning runs, a cut off Stuart MacGill – as India nailed their target of 230 just after tea on the final day.In the end, the win came easily enough, with VVS Laxman providing the impetus to the innings with a breezy 32 of 34 balls, but for much of the day, it was a struggle, as the Australians fought all the way despite being severely hampered by injuries to two of their bowlers. Jason Gillespie walked off with a groin strain midway through his tenth over, while Brad Williams showed plenty of heart in bowling despite an injured left shoulder.In an intense and tension-filled morning session, the Australian bowlers came at the Indians with plenty of fire. Williams gave Dravid a thorough working-over, and was desperately unlucky not to nail him: Adam Gilchrist dropped the chance after Dravid edged a delivery which pitched perfectly in the corridor. Dravid was on 9 then, and India, who had already lost Akash Chopra early, trapped in front by Gillespie for 20 (47 for 1), would have been 73 for 2.The second wicket did fall soon after, but it was Virender Sehwag who fell, after making an uncharacteristically restrained 47, from 81 balls. With the runs drying up, Sehwag charged down the pitch to MacGill, missed, and was comfortably stumped (79 for 2).Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid took India to lunch, and well past it, with a 70-run stand. After missing out in his first two innings of the series, Tendulkar was far more assured this time around. He started off with a paddle-sweep off MacGill for four, then unleashed some confident drives and pulls whenever the bowlers erred in length. Williams came back for a second spell, and, despite bowling at a reduced pace of about 130 kmph, tested both batsmen with his reverse-swing. The partnership threatened to shut Australia out of the match when MacGill, who had until then bowled mostly from round the wicket, changed angle, and struck. Tendulkar failed to read a straighter one which pitched on middle-and-leg, shouldered arms, and was trapped in front for 37 (149 for 3).When Sourav Ganguly departed soon after, scooping a drive off Andy Bichel to Simon Katich at point for 12 (170 for 4), India needed a further 60, and Australia were back in the contest.Laxman changed the momentum of the match in a flash, taking full toll of the loose balls that MacGill threw up. Dravid had missed out on a couple of full tosses earlier, but Laxman made every bad ball count, caressing drives through cover and midwicket, and then cutting a short delivery to the point fence, as three fours came from a MacGill over.Dravid grew in confidence too, dispatching a long-hop from MacGill through cover, as the pair added 51 in quick time. Laxman played a shot too many and was dismissed soon after tea, mistiming a hoick off Katich to Bichel (221 for 5), but by then, with victory only nine runs away, the issue had already been decided. Parthiv Patel contrived to delay the moment, when he was bowled round his legs by Katich, but that only allowed, fittingly, Ajit Agarkar and Dravid – India’s heroes in this Test – to be together when the winning runs were hit.

It is amazing how one good performance can transform attitudes and breed belief. While it is not lost on them that they will be faced with even greater resolve from their formidable opponents at the Adelaide Oval, there is a quiet confidence about Sourav Ganguly’s Indians. Having savoured Brisbane, they are not getting carried away by the moment, but “competing with the Australians” is no longer a mere platitude to be mouthed at press conferences. The Indians now believe that they can indeed compete. It is a sign of that belief that the team management is now contemplating playing two spinners in the second Test.The plans may still change if the weather gets heavy on Friday, but there are strong indications that the Indian strategy is veering around towards bringing Anil Kumble into the playing XI and retaining Harbhajan Singh despite his tepid performance at Brisbane. The man most likely to miss out would be Ashish Nehra, who was flat if inexpensive in the first Test.It is a plan fraught with grave risks. For the gamble to pay off, India will need to win the toss and bat first on what is considered to be the best batting pitch in Australia. It sported a tinge of green on Wednesday, but below it is a true surface, baked dry by the sun. It isn’t expected to break up, but if the weather holds good, it will dry further and the spinners could come into play on the last day if India bat well enough to take the match the distance. Ganguly admitted: “We need to score at least 400, preferably more, to give ourselves a chance of winning here.”Talk has centred on Harbhajan’s indifferent showing in the first Test, and Ganguly readily conceded that he was less than enamoured. But he is not ready to write off a bowler who he has turned to, by his own admission, every time he has needed a wicket over the years. “He’s been my matchwinning bowler. I know, and he knows, he has to bowl better than he did at Brisbane. But this is a test of his mettle. I have faith in him.”Kumble’s record in Australia is not inspiring, but he was at pains to point out yesterday that India must pick their four best bowlers in the XI, and he has a right to reckon he is one of them. The logic can be argued with, but not discarded outright. The Australians will come hard at the Indian bowlers at Adelaide, and if Kumble can stick to his line and length – no mean task against batsmen who back their intent to upset the rhythm of opposition bowlers with exceptional strokemaking abilities – he can expect to pick up a few wickets.Of course, the plan could backfire horribly if India have to bowl first and find themselves a pace bowler short even before lunch on the first day, or worse, Ajit Agarkar, who came back from a horrible start to bowl well at Brisbane, decides to have an off session. Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar can send down their little seamers, but for them to share 20 overs in a day is an unrealistic demand.But India’s thoughts have now moved from mere protection of dignity to sneaking in an upset, and if they believe their best chance lies in spin, they must take it.

Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe Test batsman now with Essex, has fractured his finger while playing for South Australia.Flower sustained the injury towards the end of December in a Pura Cup match against Queensland. It is hoped that he will be able to return in the match against Victoria on January 23.He had just been coming into some form before his injury with scores of 82 and 56 against Queensland. However, in the return fixture, he picked up his finger injury during an innings-defeat.Flower will be returning to Chelmsford in 2004 for his third season with Essex, and he is now an EU-qualified player, meaning Scott Brant and Danish Kaneria will play as the two overseas players.

For many years Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose maintained West Indies’ prominent place in world cricket. As the seemingly endless emergence of fast bowlers from the Caribbean reduced to a trickle, the two of them held the attack together, almost on their own in their twilight years. Now they are gone, and there has not been anyone even close to filling the void. And Walsh fears for the future.”Our bowling is a real concern,” he told the Independent’s Angus Fraser. “The potential is there but there has been a real lack of consistency. The word on the street is that Curtly and myself should come out of retirement.”In the 1980s and 1990s West Indies survived on raw talent and the legacy of the Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards years. But in-fighting within the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), coupled with chronic under investment, made the decline depressingly inevitable.There are steps being taken to remedy the situation but it is far too little, and decades too late. And remarkably, the board has not even asked Walsh, their last great bowler, for any advice. “I would like to think I could help the bowlers, but the WICB have not asked me. I try to help out the Jamaican team whenever I can. I have asked Curtly the same question and nobody at the WICB has asked him as well.”At this moment in time … we do not have anyone to lead the pack. I don’t know whether it is a lack of planning on our part or that we are expecting too much. We need to find out if this lack of consistency is caused by a lack of discipline or bad practice. It could be that this lot just don’t have it in them and we need to find a new crop.”I don’t believe this is the case. In Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor I believe we have two bowlers with the ability to go all the way. But …they have not yet learnt their trade. They need more help from the senior players.”Sadly for the youngsters, those the board see as capable of helping them don’t include Walsh or Ambrose.

Damien Wright, the Australian fast bowler, has been forced to pull out of his contract with Derbyshire next season because of a knee injury.Wright, who plays for Tasmania, will undergo surgery at the end of the Australian season, and could be out of action for up to nine months. “It’s obviously disappointing because we planned the team around him, but we’re not going to rush into replacing him,” said Dave Houghton, Derbyshire’s coach. “Whoever we get has got to be available for six months because we don’t want to have to replace him mid-season.”Houghton added that he is looking for another bowling allrounder in the mould of Wright, and could look again at Australia for a replacement.

England 154 for 3 (Hussain 41*, Thorpe 1*) trail West Indies 311 (Smith 108, Hinds 84) by 157 runs
Scorecard

Nasser Hussain and Mark Butcher had to call on every ounce of their Caribbean experience, as England grafted their way into a challenging position on the second day of the first Test at Kingston. Faced with a ferocious onslaught from West Indies’ two young firebrands, Fidel Edwards and Tino Best, Hussain and Butcher batted throughout the afternoon session to carry England to 154 for 3 at the close, in reply to West Indies’ 311.Had it not been for a tempestuous 20-minute mini-session, almost two hours after a heavy downpour had all but ended the day’s play at tea, England’s situation might have been even better. Instead, in the 3.1 overs that were possible, Mark Butcher was caught behind for 58 to give Edwards his third wicket of the innings, and West Indies had gained a unexpected reward for their wholehearted efforts.It might have been reward at a cost, however, as Brian Lara had to leave the field with a dislocated finger when he dropped Butcher at second slip, moments after becoming involved in a heated conversation with the umpires. Lara was taken to hospital for a precautionary x-ray on the little finger of his right hand, but is expected to be able to bat.Butcher’s wicket – caught behind by Jacobs two balls after his escape – brought to an end a 119-run third-wicket stand with Hussain, who battled through to the close with 41 not out. They had come together with the score at 33 for 2, and the reception they both received would have evoked memories of that tortuous morning at Kingston six years ago. With the speedometer nudging 94mph on occasions, Edwards used his low slingy action to whistle bouncers past half-formed hook-shots, and spear yorkers deep into the batsmen’s blockholes, while Tino Best – who has yet to take a Test wicket, but has several genuine scalps to his name already – made it his mission to cause the batsmen as much discomfort as possible.Edwards had already blown away both openers in the space of two overs: Marcus Trescothick, whose feet haven’t started moving yet on this tour, was bowled for 7 off the inside edge of his limp bat (28 for 1), before Michael Vaughan, with a casual flick and a crisp drive to his name already, was tempted to chase an outswinger and deflected a simple catch straight into Lara’s midriff (33 for 2).

Butcher, playing in his first match since he twisted his ankle against Jamaica, was especially sketchy early on. In fact, he very nearly registered his second golden duck in successive Tests at Sabina Park, as he fended Edwards away with a combination of bat and thigh, and watched the ball dribble inches past his off stump. And things got worse before they could get better. He was dropped when 4 by Ramnaresh Sarwan at forward short leg, and was sent to lunch with his ears ringing when Best clobbered him flush on the side of the helmet.Meanwhile Hussain was all grit and grimace, playing low and late and concentrating purely on survival. He too was extremely fortunate to survive his first delivery – a booming outswinging yorker from Edwards that just flashed past his off stump – and Best followed that up with a brute of a bouncer that clipped the elbow and cracked into the helmet. Some of Hussain’s body language implied that the pitch was beginning to misbehave, but as the shine came off the Kookaburra ball and the menace went out of the attack, he too began to take some liberties, clipping Collymore for four midway through the afternoon, before hooking Edwards to the fine-leg boundary.But Best was strangely ignored by Lara throughout most of the afternoon, and Butcher capitalised on his absence, bringing up his half-century with a clip for three through midwicket. Hussain reached tea on 40 not out, after picking up his scoring rate in the closing overs of the session, when he came down the track to drive Chris Gayle for four. Gayle’s introduction was a welcome change of tempo for England, and might have been influenced by the bank of menacing clouds that eventually swamped most of the evening session.Earlier, England had needed just 12 deliveries to wrap up the West Indian innings, without any addition to their overnight 311. In the second full over of the day, Andrew Flintoff grabbed a sharp left-handed chance low at second slip to remove Edwards for 1, giving Matthew Hoggard his third wicket of the innings. But West Indies needed just 19 balls, late, late in the afternoon, to get the breakthrough they deserved.Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Shoaib Akhtar, Moin Khan and Abdul Razzaq have appeared before a four-man medical commission. The commission includes Dr Riaz Ahmed, the Pakistan team doctor and Dr Sohail Saleem, a member of the PCB panel of doctors and two other leading doctors. The three players underwent a series of tests and were also given rehabilitation plans.The medical commission is expected to submit a report to the Pakistan Cricket Board in a week’s time. A spokesman of the cricket board reiterated that the commission had not been set up to find a scapegoat. “It has been constituted to find why so many players got injured and what can be done in future to prevent so many injuries. The other objective is to help the players get their names cleared from the general perception that they faked their injuries, if they were genuinely injured.”

A Sri Lankan government spokesperson revealed today that it had abandoned plans to sue the International Cricket Council for banning Muttiah Muralitharan’s doosra. After consulting its lawyers, the government has decided instead to appeal to the ICC, said Rohan Weliwata, spokesman for Mahinda Rajapakse, the prime minister.Speaking to a news agency, Weliwata said, “Even though lawyers felt there was sufficient grounds to sue, the first step will be to present an appeal on behalf of Muralitharan. The prime minister is getting the support of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in this.”Muralitharan is now the highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket, with 527 wickets, and last week, Rajapakse took the unprecedented step of meeting Nirupam Sen, an Indian diplomat in Colombo, to enlist India’s support for the campaign to allow Murali his doosra.The ICC had threatened him with a one-year ban if he continued to bowl it, saying that he straightened his arm far more than is allowed under the rules of the game. Last week, Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, had asked Rajapakse to stay out of the controversy and allow the ICC to find its own solution.Rajapakse’s threat to sue had come in the wake of remarks from John Howard, Australia’s prime minister, that suggested Murali was a chucker. Mani, however, had insisted that there was no basis for legal action. “I don’t know how we’d be sued, but all our regulations are fully supported by all our members.”