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Otago took the opening honours in the first match of this year’s shield on Saturday, beating Canterbury by a mere three runs at Alexandra.Derek de Boorder topscored for the home side with 52 not out as they reached 225 for 8. Canterbury got off to a slow start but were given hope through half-centuries from Kruger Van Wyk, Andrew Ellis and Chris Harris but ultimately came up short.Sunday saw a record-breaking match at Eden Park. Rob Nicol and Richard Jones both struck centuries in an Auckland record stand of 242 to take the state to its highest one-day score of 342 for 5. Jones and Nicol came together in the 12th over to boost the total Northern Districts were gutsy in reply, reaching their second highest score of 306 for 8. BJ Watling and Mark Orchard both made fifties, but were ultimately unsuccessful.Stephen Fleming and Neal Parlane put on a century stand to register a comfortable six-wicket win forWellington against Central Districts in Wellington.Fleming reached 88, while Parlane was 94 not out as Wellington went past the visitors’ 256 with ten overs to spare. Geoff Barnett topscored for CD with 75.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Wellington	1	1	0	0	0	5	+1.409	259/39.4	256/50.0
Auckland	1	1	0	0	0	4	+0.700	341/50.0	306/50.0
Otago	1	1	0	0	0	4	+0.060	225/50.0	222/50.0
Canterbury	1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.060	222/50.0	225/50.0
Northern Dis	1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.700	306/50.0	341/50.0
Central Dist	1	0	1	0	0	0	-1.409	256/50.0	259/39.4

Titans 178 (Myburgh 60, du Preez 4-46) lead Eagles 82 for 3 (Jacobs 48*, Steyn 3-34) by 96 runs
ScorecardAfter a break of a month, the SuperSport series resumed with the Eagles bowling the Titans out for 178 in 61 overs after winning the toss at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein. When bad light ended play early on the first day, the Eagles had moved along to 82 for the loss of three wickets.Johannes van der Wath and Dillon du Preez, making his first-class debut for the Eagles, caused the early damage as the Titans struggled to recover from a weak start. Wickets fell at regular intervals with Johann Myburgh, 60, and Andre Nel, 36 not out, the only two batsmen able to contain the rampant Eagles bowlers. They added 49 for the eighth wicket while du Preez finished with 4 for 46.Jonathan Beukus and Davey Jacobs gave the Eagles innings a brisk start by putting on 53 in 13 overs before Dale Steyn bowled Beukes for 21. Jacobs continued with his normal aggression, but Steyn’s fiery spell grabbed him two more wickets, those of Boeta Dippenaar and Ryan Bailey.With Jacobs having just struck two consecutive boundaries, it was something of a surprise when the umpires offered the light to the Eagles. But Morne van Wyk had only just arrived at the crease so they accepted, finishing on 82 for 3 with Jacobs not out on 48.Lions 300 for 2 (Bacher 140*, Motaung 80) v Dolphins
ScorecardAdam Bacher made light of his one-day disappointment against Zimbabwe to continue his fine domestic form, as the Lions took full advantage of winning the toss on a batting paradise at the Wanderers. They closed on 300 for 2 after the first day of their match against the Dolphins, with Bacher himself unbeaten on 140.He added 178 with William Motaung as the Dolphins bowlers struggled on a lifeless pitch. Motaung was first to go as he edged to the keeper Duncan Brown for 80 off the bowling of Ugasen Govender, who was making his first appearance for the Dolphins. The same pair then got rid of Justin Ontong for 41 after a second-wicket partnership of 93.Bacher, on 140, and Neil McKenzie, on 14, will continue for the Lions when play starts on day two.Western Province Boland 305 for 5 (Puttick 141*, Tsolekile 72) v Warriors
ScorecardThe Warriors will regret asking Western Province Boland to bat first on a good-looking pitch at Mercedes Park in East London, as WPBOL closed on 305 for 5.Derrin Bassage and Andrew Puttick started the proceedings with an opening partnership of 64, which was eventually broken by Tyron Henderson, who had Bassage caught behind for 31. Two more wickets fell in quick succession to bring Thami Tsolekile out to join Puttick, who took the score to 213 before Brent Kops trapped Tsolekile lbw for an excellent 72.The day belonged to Puttick as he batted through to the close for a magnificent 141 that included 19 fours and a six. He will start day two alongside Vernon Philander, who was not out on 24.

The Tasmanian selectors have today named an unchanged Cascade Tasmanian Tigers team to play the Redbacks in the ING Cup match to be played at Bellerive Oval on Saturday 1st November 2003.

CASCADE TASMANIAN TIGERS
Daniel MARSH (Captain)
Shane WATSON
Jamie COX
Michael DiVENUTO
Michael DIGHTON
Scott KREMERSKOTHEN
Sean CLINGELEFFER
Damien WRIGHT
Xavier DOHERTY
Brett GEEVES
Adam GRIFFITH
Andrew DOWNTON

The 12th man will be named on the morning of the match.Play will start at 10.00am with gates opening at 9.00am. Patrons are reminded this is their first chance to win a set of keys to the Ford Focus by supporting the Tigers and bringing their entry form from the Mercury to the ground on Saturday.

Jagmohan Dalmiya and SK Nair have been re-elected president and secretary of the Indian board. Among the other office-bearers elected on the first day of the two-day Annual General Meeting in Kolkata were Sunil Gavaskar, who got another term as chairman of the National Cricket Academy, while Brijesh Patel – who is recovering from a heart surgery in Bangalore – was elected its director.According to a report by the Press Trust of India, Ratnakar Shetty will take over as joint secretary of the BCCI, replacing Jyoti Bajpai, who has been elected treasurer of the board. Four of the five vice-presidents – Narhari Amin (West Zone), Kamal Morarka (Central), Ranbir Singh Mahendra (North) and M Ranga Reddy (South) – were re-elected, while Gautam Roy was voted in from the East Zone.A spokesman for the BCCI confirmed that all office bearers for the current year were elected unopposed.

Andrew Flintoff – rested as a precaution© Getty Images

Andrew Flintoff has been rested from Lancashire’s C&G Trophy quarter-final against Yorkshire, as he is suffering from an ankle injury. He is expected, however, to be fit for England’s one-day international campaign despite New Zealand and West Indies, which begins on June 24.”Flintoff experienced pain in the posterior of his left ankle during the third Test," said a Lancashire spokesman. "He underwent a X-ray on Monday which was clear.” The injury did not hamper Flintoff, however. He took four wickets and made a half-century in the first innings, as England completed a 3-0 whitewash, their first since 1978.

John Wright: will he stay or will he go?© Getty Images

India’s disappointing run in both Tests and one-day internationals this season has increased speculation that a change of coach might be imminent, and John Wright, the current coach, did nothing to quash those rumours when speaking to reporters in Kolkata before India’s second Test against South Africa.”I hope to be going to Bangladesh,” was all that Wright offered when asked about his future. “These kind of rumours gain ground when your team is not performing to its potential. I have had my chats with Mr Dalmiya about my stay and other stuff. But the BCCI itself is in a limbo. So you have to wait.”There were hints, though, that a change might be in the offing. “After four years as coach, I feel that it is very important for a team to be moving forward. I want to see the team constantly improving. If at any point of time I feel that I am not achieving anything for the team, then someone else can come forward and take my place.”Looking ahead to the second Test against South Africa, Wright indicated that the Indians could opt to go in with more balanced attack for the match. “We may play two medium pacers and two spinners. But that decision will be taken on the morning of the Test after consultations with the selectors and the captain.” If India do opt for two spinners, Murali Kartik is likely to miss out, while Irfan Pathan will come in to replace him.

Ashley Cowan: rewarded with a benefit © Cricinfo

Fast bowler Ashley Cowan has been awarded a benefit by Essex in 2006.Cowan, 30, who toured the Caribbean with England but failed to make an international appearance, made his debut for Essex in 1995 but his career has been blighted by injury.”I have received a lot of support from the Club and it is an honour to have been given a benefit,” Cowan said. “It’s been a frustrating period over the last three or four years with my knee injury resulting in such a long time out, coming back and getting a little bit involved last season but then this year has not been as successful as I hoped it could have been. But the club have stuck by me over the last few years and have awarded me a benefit.”David East, the county’s chief executive, added: “It is always a great milestone for any county cricketer and we are particularly pleased for Ashley because he has been troubled by some career-threatening injuries. We wish him well for next season and hopefully he will have a very good benefit to reward him for the service he has given us.”In 102 matches for Essex, Cowan has taken 280 wickets at 32.26 and scored 2231 runs at 17.84.

Simon Jones: ready for his comeback © Getty Images

Simon Jones takes the final step towards his Test return on Friday, 16 months after his horrific injury on the opening day of the last Ashes series, as England begin their final warm-up match against a Vice-Chancellor’s XI at the Frank Worrell ground in Kingston.It has been a long painful road to recovery for Jones, who ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament while attempting a sliding stop on the sandy surface of Gabba at Brisbane in November 2002. It took a month for the swelling to go down sufficiently for surgeons to operate, and then he had to endure a further six weeks in which he was unable to move his leg.”When I first got injured I did think about whether I would play again,” Jones admitted to journalists on the eve of his comeback. “I had a horrible couple of months wondering what was going to happen, and after the operation I couldn’t even pedal a bike for six weeks so that was disturbing. There was nothing to do but sit around at home watching television all day and watching the boys out in Australia, which was very hard for me.”Jones made his comeback for Glamorgan 2nd XI towards the end of last summer, before proving his fitness for the Caribbean on the England A trip to India. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “I’ve worked hard at the Academy with Rod Marsh and I’ve worked hard in India. I even hit 100% pace a couple of times out there and didn’t feel any ill-effects from the knee, apart from being stiff the next day.”Jones’s rehabilitation programme has resulted in a remodelled action, and an arrow-straight approach to the stumps off an 18-yard run-up. The knee may be holding up fine, but the mental scars have not entirely dissipated, and it will be a while yet before he’ll be sliding in the outfield. “In time I will probably slide again, but the pitches out here are pretty sandy as well so it’s not worth it,” he said. “You’ll probably see me just running after the ball here, but everyone is saying don’t do anything stupid.”England are likely to field another 12-man line-up for Friday’s game, after Jeff Dujon, the former West Indian wicketkeeper and coach of the Vice-Chancellor’s XI indicated he’d like to give Jermaine Lawson another opportunity to push for a Test place. Lawson has been out of cricket since last May, after being reported for a suspect bowling action. He will be joined in the Vice-Chancellor’s XI by Steve Tikolo and Kennedy Otieno, who helped Kenya to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup, and have since been playing in the Carib Beer Cup, West Indies’ domestic competition.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Paul Collingwood, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Matthew Hoggard, 12 James Anderson.

Clare Taylor: ‘Now is a good time to go’ © Getty Images

Clare Taylor has called time on her international career after 17 eventful years. Taylor, 40, bows out on a high following the England team’s Ashes success.”All good things come to an end,” said Taylor. “For me it was a case of having a couple of injuries that were hard to shake off,” she added.Popularly called “Romper”, she is a medium-pace bowler who played 16 Tests and 105 ODIs since 1988. In a career of many highlights – she was made a Member of the British Empire in 2000 for services to cricket, and became the first woman to take 100 ODI wickets – her outstanding moment was winning the World Cup in 1993.She is a talented footballer too, having represented Liverpool Ladies and playing in the football World Cup.Her county side is Yorkshire. She has revealed that she will continue playing cricket, as well as coach, when she goes to New Zealand this November to pitch in for the Otago Sparks.She believes her decision to retire now has come at exactly the right time.”Looking around at the current squad, there are many promising youngsters coming through,” she added, “with the likes of Katherine Brunt, Isa Guha and Arran Brindle. I therefore feel that now is a good time to go, leaving the game on a high, having just won the Ashes for the first time in 42 years.”

A ‘green’ Brad Hodge may be tested by the West Indies, believes Shivnarine Chanderpaul © Getty Images

The West Indies will target Australia’s inexperienced players in the second Test at Hobart beginning November 17, according to a determined Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the opposing captain.Australia are likely to play Brad Hodge, the uncapped middle order batsman, Michael Hussey, the makeshift opener who debuted in the first Test, and Andrew Symonds, the hard-hitting allrounder who has only played two Tests. Speaking to , Chanderpaul maintained that his side will look to exploit this weak link in the second Test. “Obviously you have guys who are now coming into the side and they’re looking to make a name for themselves,” Chanderpaul said. “They don’t have as much experience as the other guys and will probably be a bit shaky in the beginning. Hopefully we can get it right come next game and sort these things out early.”Hodge, who recently stated that he was the most deserving Australian batsman in line for Test cricket, scored a fantastic 177 on day one of the drawn tour match at the Junction Oval and looked at ease against the West Indian attack.Chanderpaul, who scored 59 in the same match, took some positives from the rain-curtailed match. “As a batter obviously you would want to spend some time in the middle and I am happy that I got to spend some time out there,” Chanderpaul said. “We played two games, one before the Test match and in the Test match and not much happened for me and for some of the other guys. This was one of those games where you want to make sure you spend time in the middle and I think it has done some good for us.”His main advice to his batsmen was to be more patient. “It’s a Test match, so you need to go out there and settle,” he said. “We came off a one-day tournament. You need to get the balance right and go out there and put your head down and bat instead of going in and playing all these shots that can get you out.” His team-mates need not look further than Chanderpaul himself, who grafted a patient innings – he was at the crease for over four hours and faced just one ball less than what Hodge needed for his 177 on day one – even as wickets fell around him.Absent from the match against Victoria was Brian Lara, who struggled for runs in the West Indies’ 379-run loss at Brisbane. Commenting on Lara’s form, Chanderpaul was supportive of his team-mate. “Brian, I don’t think he’s struggling. I just think he needs some more time in the middle and he is stroking the ball well and it’s just one of those things. He could go out there tomorrow and just get runs on the board for us.”Chanderpaul also stated that Wavell Hinds, who was sidelined from the first Test owing to a hairline fracture of his finger sustained in a warm-up match against Queensland, would be considered for the Hobart Test, as would Dwayne Bravo, the allrounder.