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Hyderabad coasted to a comfortable innings and 46 run victory beforelunch on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy South Zone league matchagainst Kerala. Seamer NP Singh did most of the damage, mopping up5/39 in the visiting team’s second innings to finish with a match haulof 9/109. The win lifted Hyderabad to second place in the zonal pointstable, with 11 from two games, while Kerala remained at five points,also from two games.At the NFC Ground in Hyderabad, Kerala resumed on the fourth morningat 210/4, still needing 114 to make the hosts bat again. In the day’sthird over Kerala suffered a major setback when Kanwaljit Singhcastled Sunil Oasis for 43. B Ramprakash (26) and skipper KNAnanthapadmanabhan (24) led a brief fightback, adding 45 for the sixthwicket. But that was to be the extent of their resistance. Kerala losttheir last five wickets for 18 runs, being bowled out for 278 in the86th over. All rounder Parth Satwalkar ended the match, trapping TinuYohannan leg before to return figures of 3/64.

Auckland gathered in several Shell Trophy records as they annihilated Northern Districts by an innings and 275 runs before lunch on the fourth day of the Trophy match on the Auckland Outer Oval today.Auckland opened the match with a first innings of 547 for eighth wickets declared, their biggest against ND, and Northern Districts were removed for 195 yesterday and 77 today.This was the biggest innings defeat suffered by a team in the Shell Trophy competition, if still below several first class margins when the Plunket Shield (which included Hawkes Bay for a time) was the championship trophy.The only bigger post-war innings margins were by Australia against Otago in 1949-50 (an innings and 356) and West Indies against New Zealand in 1994-95 (an innings and 322 runs) This was also a record Auckland defeat of ND, but the big Auckland first innings, while their best in trophy matches and post-war, was only sixth on Auckland’s list, topped by the 693 for nine declared against Canterbury in the 1939-40 season.In contrast ND’s 77 was their ninth worst – bottom being their 32 against Auckland in 1996-97.For an awkward moment or two there seemed the possible that the number of lbw decisions, as ND tried to survive on a difficult pitch, might also reach a record.There were two given, in consecutive balls, by Test umpire Brent Bowden last evening as ND slumped to 20 for three in their second innings. Kevin Manley, the umpire in his first big match, added two more lbw decisions soon after the start of play today, and followed up with two more as the ND second innings stuck on 59 while four wickets fell.Manley was often in the spotlight, for the Auckland bowlers and fieldsmen, sensing a quick and decisive victory, appealed vigorously for lbws and catches, and seemed most unhappy when two appeals for catches were turned down by Manley.It was a rigorous introduction for Manley, but afterward common-sense prevailed, neither camp would be drawn into comment about the umpiring, and Grant Bradburn’s apparent comment to Manley when given out lbw was not followed by any official action.The ND players showed similar poise when they accepted the nasty tricks the wearing pitch played on them.There had been the occasional low bounce yesterday while Bradburn and Matthew Hart tried in their 119-run to rescue the ND first innings. The bounce became more uncertain the longer the match went on in sunny weather, and the Aucklanders were quick to make the most of this ample assistance.Basically they needed only to bowl at a brisk pace, aim for the stumps or near the off-stump, and before too long the ball would hit the seam and zero in on the stumps, or would scuttle a little and beat the defensive stroke.Andre Adams, who took two quick wickets last evening, was again the most dangerous Auckland bowler, and ended with the remarkable figures of 13.1-6-12-4. Adams had Matthew Hart caught, bowled the No 11 Graeme Aldridge (top-scorer with 14), and had all the ND batsmen on tenterhooks.With his stocky build and whippy action, Adams’ bowling style was perfectly suited to get whatever low bounce was available.In the end Auckland rejoiced with their first Trophy points for the season, and the chance to keep within sight of the leaders going into their game against the early favourites, Wellington, next week.

Garth Roe returned career best figures of seven for 47 as Free State lost the initiative on the first day of their SuperSport Series match against the North West Dragons at Goodyear Park.At 183 for four and 251 for five, the Eagles looked capable of posting the kind of first innings score to dominate the match. But in the space of six Roe overs that all changed. The seamer got the breakthrough by having Gerard Brophy lbw for 33 to end a threatening 68-run partnership with Kosie Venter.In the next over Roe followed up with the wickets of Venter (57) and Rasjeed Lewis for a duck to reduce the home side to 254 for seven. Four overs later he struck again to end any hopes of a wagging tail by dismissing Bakkes for a hard-hit 34 from 41 balls and, in his next over, he completed his afternoon rout by having Mpitsang caught for eight.Roe had started the ball rolling in the morning session when he took the only wicket to fall. Immediately after his introduction as first change bowler he castled Andrew Gait, but that was to be Free State’s only success before lunch.Gerry Liebenberg steered his team to the break in the relatively healthy position of 80 for one. His 68-run partnership for the second wicket with Louis Wilkinson, was ended shortly after the resumption by Dreyer, and although Wiaan Smit and Liebenberg (60) fell to Dreyer and Roe respectively, there was no hint of Roe’s coming dominance.Instead Morne van Wyk (38) and Venter put on 56 for the fifth wicket and then Brophy joined Venter to suggest Free State were about to take a telling grip on the match. That was before Roe got hold of the ball though.

Glamorgan beat Essex by eight wickets with a magnificent batting display as they successfully chased a daunting target of 254 under the Duckworth/Lewis system with 13 deliveries to spare.Keith Newell played the lead role, hitting a belligerent 97 from just 53 deliveries that included five sixes and 10 boundaries as he destroyed the home attack with a series of pulls and drives that tilted the balance firmly in favour of his side after Essex had reached a formidable 243-6 in 34 overs despite three rain interruptions.Newell ensured the perfect start for his side as the first 50 took less than seven overs and then he maintained the momentum with his continued onslaught of the hapless bowlers on a batting paradise. Although Jimmy Maher was dismissed with the score on 59, Newell continued his savage assault showing a particular liking for Mark Ilott from whom he thrashed 27 from one over.Matthew Maynard accompanied Newell in a forceful second wicket stand that produced 100 runs in 10 overs before Newell was caught driving to mid-off. By that time, his side had utilised only 17 overs and upon his departure, Maynard took control in a perfectly executed display of timing that saw him reach his half-century from 45 deliveries before continuing to oversee the victory with an unbeaten 87.Earlier, Ronnie Irani had delighted the crowd with a superlative, scintillating unbeaten 108 having faced only 61 balls with 17 boundaries that included four sixes, an innings that appeared to have put his side on the winning path but then came Newell’s display to upstage the Essex captain.

New Zealand’s Level III cricket coaches will be receiving their latest round of training over the next month.With about 70 Level III coaches spread over the six provincial associations, New Zealand Cricket’s director of coaching development John Howell and the director of player development Ashley Ross will be visiting each association to conduct the two-day courses.Coaches at this level are required to attend a new course every four years to maintain their certification.Among some of the Level III coaches are: Sir Richard Hadlee, Tony Blain, Allen McLaughlin, Matt Horne, Llorne Howell, Ann McKenna, Denis Aberhart, Gary MacDonald, Lee Germon, Michael Sharpe, Dave Hadfield, Mark Greatbatch, Scott Briasco, Alistar Jordan, Paul Unwin, Brendon Bracewell, Chris Kuggeleijn, Cliff Dickeson, Karl Treiber, Mike Wright, Grant Bradburn, Michael Austen, Julie Harris, Sarah Kelly, Vaughn Johnson, Kristy Van Dyk.Also taking part will be Lyn Kidman of the Christchurch College of Education who will be discussing the subject of player empowerment, the subject of a book she has recently written.This relates to players being more responsible for their own decision-making.New Zealand national coach David Trist will work with Howell on what is a team culture while Howell and Ross will also discuss the role of decision-making.They have just completed a course in Auckland which dealt with learning styles and Howell said the role of decision-making was becoming a big thing in cricket.It was an area with a lot of debate and said there was great interest in the type of decision-making that saw less orthodox batsmen like Nathan Astle and Andrew Jones play a ball a certain way and survive while more orthodox players played it another way and got out.”People in pressure situations often react differently to an event than they would in normal life,” Howell said.There would also be tactical and strategic discussions on things such as whether a spinner like Sri Lankan Mutiah Muralitharan should be played in front of the pad in the way Martin Crowe preferred or behind the pad as John Reid preferred.As part of the programme, regional under-19 high performance squads will be working with Ross at each venue on skills practices with the coaches observing.Another part of the course will involve Bruce Blair working on Digi-Cricket, the coaching programme designed by former Australian women’s cricket coach John Harmer, who is now the England women’s coach. Blair will also deal with what makes the tough, elite athlete.Ross will also discuss whether athletes should have their styles changed or should they be left alone?The first session will be held in Hamilton on June 27-28, the second in Wellington on July 1-2, the third at Palmerston North on July 3-4, the fourth on July 5-6 in Auckland, the fifth in Dunedin on July 9-10 and the final session in Christchurch on July 11-12.From August 1-3, development workshops will be held at Lincoln University with the first-class coaches and other invited coaches. The programme will be slightly different to that for Level IIII coaches.

Glen Motchall, Calmore’s lanky Australian left-arm pace bowler, took a career-best 8-87, yet finished on the losing side as BAT Sports turned a likely defeat into an improbable 35-run victory over their arch Southern Electric ECB Premier League rivals at Southern Gardens.BAT emerged from a gruelling morning session at 64-6, but revealed an abundance of character to turn a pulsating match, full of attacking cricket, around in quite dramatic style.Lower-order pair Adam Hayes and Dave Adams, relishing a rare opportunity to shine, were largely responsible as BAT advanced to 171 all out before Dan Goldstraw used his high trajectory to great effect and blew over Calmore’s top order.Calmore’s reply in many ways mirrored the BAT innings, with five wickets falling for 46 runs before teenage duo Paul Cass and Mark Archer launched a determined but ultimately unsuccessful bid to turn the tide again.The youngsters added 61 in a heartening sixth-wicket recovery, but when Cass toe-ended an intended pull into the deep, Calmore’s prospects disappeared back into the pavilion with him.They were eventually bowled out for 136 – 35 runs adrift of BAT, whose 21-point victory has nudged Havant off the top of the Premier One table.Motchall, who plays for the Carlton Grade club in Melbourne, described the dry Southern Gardens pitch as a "bit more like bowling back home.""I was able to get a lot more bounce than I’ve previously been accustomed to here. I certainly got a fair bit of movement, especially when the ball was hard and new," he said.The 6’5" Victorian had five wickets in the bag by lunchtime, but Hayes, whose unbeaten 42 would have been worthy of any ‘man-of-the-match’ tag, and Adams (35) gave the Australian notice of their fighting intentions.The pair added a precious 55 before Motchall ripped out Adams’s leg stump at 123-8.Realising how important another quick 20 or so runs could be, Goldstraw didn’t hang about – pulling Motchall for two huge sixes, and dumping the argumentative James Hibberd on to the adjoining railway track..Goldstraw’s cameo and Hayes’s carefully constructed innings lifted BAT to 171 all out – a testing total for Calmore to chase.Calmore made it to 21 before Richard Taylor (of local rock band fame) had Paul Draper taken down the leg side by Banks.Then Goldstraw, effectively using his height at the same end as Motchall earlier, had Tom Pegler caught by a diving Richard Kenway at second slip.And when the ex-Lymington in-swing paceman rearranged Jez Goode’s stumps and trapped Hibberd smack in front for a first ball duck, Calmore were neck deep in trouble.Then Rob Budd located the bucket hands of Mark Page, to become Taylor’s second victim.Calmore sagged to 46-5 …and were seemingly out for the count.But Cass and Archer, the two 17-year olds, showed maturity beyond their tender years to haul Calmore back into the contest.The pair showed an effective form of defence and produced a selection of fluent shots in a gutsy partnership of 59, which ended when Cass miscued a long-hop from left-arm spinner Dave Carson into Page’s waiting hands at deep square-leg.But Archer, using the occasion to give Hampshire YCs selectors a timely nudge, took Calmore’s reply on to 124-7 before he lifted Richard Dibden into the deep … only to be quite brilliantly caught by Carson, in front of an enthusiastic clubhouse gathering.Archer’s dismissal effective marked the end of Calmore’s challenge, Goldstraw ending the resistance at 136 to give BAT a hard-earned victory.Calmore skipper Tom Pegler, who alongside Dave Banks maintained his attacking options throughout, wasn’t overjoyed with the end result."We won the game wit the ball – then lost it with our batting," he groaned.

Worcestershire openers Philip Weston and Anurag Singh went some way towards wiping out Gloucestershire’s first innings total of 222 on a busy opening day at New Road.When light rain stopped play with 16 overs to bowl, they had put on an unbroken 84 to make the most of paceman Andy Bichel’s second demolition job on the West Country side this season.The Australian followed up a career-best 6 for 44 at Bristol in May by taking 6 for 54 on a pitch with plenty of seam movement and some disturbing lift.Bichel went without reward in his new-ball spell, and despite losing early wickets to Kabir Ali and David Leatherdale, Gloucestershire looked well-placed after a measured 54 by Kim Barnett.But Bichel came back shortly before lunch to land a double blow. In successive balls, Barnett drove to backward point and Mark Alleyne edged to wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes.Chris Taylor, with 50 from 85 balls, promised a recovery in the afternoon until Bichel and Stuart Lampitt accounted for Jeremy Snape and Ian Harvey in consecutive overs.Taylor then went to an edge off Kabir and Bichel later removed Jack Russell and James Averis in the space of three balls as Gloucestershire approached terminal decline at 183 for 9.But last man Ben Gannon helped put on a useful 39 as Martyn Ball attacked Bichel and eventually reached 45 from 60 balls with nine fours.The final act was almost bizarre. Gannon was badly dropped at square leg and took a single to bring Ball back on strike but he fell to a catch at second slip from Bichel’s next delivery.

The CLEAR Black Caps’ efforts in Sri Lanka, before last night’s reduced overs match, could have netted them four wins out of four but for two tight finishes against the Sri Lankans where the home side came out on top.These results, in the face of some severe sickness that seemed to affect half the team, has the Black Caps still in with a chance to take their place in the tournament final.On what seem to be some very low scoring wickets, the toss has played a very important part in these contests as the team winning the toss has some clear advantages, but that is all well and good because then the team has to make the most of the advantage.The Kiwi boys need to win their last game to make the final and, in spite of last night’s loss, I really think they can take this tournament.Instrumental in the series so far has been Dion Nash.It’s great to see him back and leading from the front.He is a class player and his form considering he has been out of top cricket for some time, is tremendous. His aggressive style is well known throughout the cricketing world and opposition teams know they have a battle on their hands when the name D Nash appears on the score sheet.Along with his skill, his off field contribution is just as big, as his astute reading of the game will no doubt be helping Stephen Fleming. I hear that Flem was hardest hit by the bug going around and I hope he has recovered well because I reckon he is due for a big score.Along with Dan Vettori, and the ever reliable Chris Harris, New Zealand has some experience and quality to call on. Throw in excellent performances from the two young men opening up the bowling in Tuffey and Mills and the NZ bowling attack is looking very competitive.I have been following the Black Caps recently on my lap top from South Africa. Hooked up to CricInfo’s superb ball by ball coverage means I can follow the fortunes of the guys all over the world.The reason I am currently in South Africa is to aid in my recovery from the knee surgery I had in Febuary this year. Here in Johannesburg it is winter just as it is in New Zealand.But here there are a few differences that will allow me the best chance to get back to full fitness as fast as I can.Last week I had my first bat on a grass wicket since January 2 which was my last game for the Black Caps.This is what has brought me to Joburg, the ability to have a functional rehabilitation incorporating proper outdoor practice, not be confined to indoor training where the floors would be too unforgiving on my newly operated on knee.While, with Christchurch recording record low temperatures, that’s not really a place to be trying to practice cricket!!The temperature here is 20 degrees during the day and there is not a cloud in the sky. The South Africans are so lucky to have this weather and top rate training facilities available to them at this time of year. My commitment to getting my place back in the Black Caps has seen me source out the best possible facilities in the world to help in my rehabilitation.It is early days yet but things have gone very well and I am hoping to begin bowling this week and can’t wait. Along with information passed through to me on the Black Caps website from our fitness trainers it means my progress is monitored by our experts so I’m lucky to have the best of both worlds, communication from home and some of the best facilities in the world to train.

Worcestershire paceman Kabir Ali will miss the rest of the season after surgery on the dislocated collarbone he suffered in last week’s Norwich Union League win over Durham.

Cricket clubs, especially those with adequate financial resources,have been strongly urged to develop their facilities.Doing so would ensure that Barbados moves into a position to playfirst-class matches outside of Kensington Oval and also have enoughgrounds to quality for hosting regional tournaments such as the RedStripe Bowl, says Minister of Sports Rudolph Cappy Greenidge.He threw out the challenge to clubs in an address at the BarbadosCricket Association’s (BCA) 2000 awards ceremony at Kensington Oval onFriday night.I am going to appeal to clubs, especially those clubs with money to dowhatever is possible to upgrade their grounds, clubhouses and ourcricket generally, Greenidge told the small audience.There are clubs with money that are doing absolutely nothing to helpus. We are lagging behind places like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago andGuyana when it comes to having three or four grounds that we can playcricket at simultaneously in any particular tournament.Since the inception of the Red Stripe Bowl in 1997, Barbados havenever hosted a leg of the competition. Jamaica, which can boast ofhaving at least six grounds capable of staging such matches, will hosta zone for the fifth successive year next month, while Guyana, whichhas just as many grounds, will do so for the third time in five years.Whenever you are having a regional tournament now, the teams come intoone island and play at Ground 1, 2 and 3, Greenidge said. All of thosegrounds would have to be at a certain level. We do not have that leveland I believe that the time has come for us to move away fromKensington as being the only place that we have that we can playcricket like that.The Windward Club ground in Lucas Street, St Philip, was utilised lastyear for a first-class match between Barbados and South Africa A, butit was not used during this year’s Busta Cup when each of Barbados’six home matches was played at Kensington.Greenidge identified Windward, the North Stars ground in Crab Hill, StLucy, and the Cable & Wireless BET ground in Wildey as those withpotential to hold regional matches.We have grounds in Barbados that are up there and they are almostready but we need to spend some money to get us up to where Jamaica,Trinidad and Guyana are, he added.The sports minister also urged the BCA to try to have its annualawards ceremony no later than four weeks after the completion of theseason, as the celebratory effect could be diminished if it was heldwell after the season.He, however, commended the BCA for its innovations for this domesticseason, which included the introduction of covers and a new format inwhich matches were played over two successive days, starting at 10:30a.m. daily.No one can ever criticise the BCA for that. It is history that whoeveris president, whoever is responsible for those initiatives, especiallycovers, must at some time be regarded as a person or as a group ofpersons to have made a significant contribution to cricket inBarbados, Greenidge said.He observed that in an effort to attain outright results over the twodays, some teams were approaching batting in a rush and he suggestedthat half-hour could be added to the beginning and end of each day’splay, thereby extending the match by a further two hours.He also lauded the BCA for having a benefit match for Winston Reidearlier this year and said he hoped there could a chain of benefitmatches for those who have contributed so much to cricket.