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New Zealand’s domestic one-day competition for the State Shield moves into the day/night era in the new summer.Five games are scheduled in the day/night format, with one full round on Friday, January 24 having all three games played as day/night matches.The development of WestpacTrust Park in Hamilton as probably the best-equipped venue with lights in the country will see three of Northern Districts’ games played under the lights while Christchurch and New Plymouth will join the party on January 24.Television coverage of Shield games will consist of five preliminary round matches and the semi-final and final.No new venues feature, although Canterbury Cricket is going to make more use of Hagley Oval with two of its five home matches there.The final of the State Shield, which starts on Saturday, December 28, is to be played on February 1.The season will begin with the now regular State Max tournament to be played this year at Auckland’s Lloyd Elsmore Park on the weekend of November 16-17. The six teams have been divided into two zones – Northern (Northern Districts, Auckland, Central Districts) and Southern (Wellington, Canterbury and Otago) – and the final will be between the two zone winners.On Saturday, Auckland and Northern Districts will play one of the games at 11am and Canterbury and Wellington the other.At 3pm, Canterbury will play Otago and Central Districts will play Northern Districts.On Sunday, Auckland will Central Districts and Wellington will play Otago. Both games are at 10am. The final will be played at 2pm.The traditional four-day programme for the State Championship starts on November 23 with a match between Central Districts and Otago at Victoria Park in Wanganui. The game is out on its own as it was originally in the second round of games, but on that date the CD team will be hosting India.Otago has signalled its choice of playing more first-class cricket at its new base at the University Oval. It will host three games at the ground starting from February 25, the time that it could expect to have faced scheduling problems at its traditional home at Carisbrook during rugby’s Super 12 tournament.The Championship is to finish on Thursday, March 20.The State League, for New Zealand’s women is spread from Saturday, December 7 under the competition final on Saturday, February 22. Part of the reason for that is the cessation of games during the staging of the women’s international quadrangular tournament.

The second day of the UCB Bowl match at Constantia was characterised by dramatic swings of fortune. By close of play, Western Province B had extended their lead to 141 but had just three wickets in hand.Border got off to the worst of starts, losing nightwatchman Siyabulela Nelani to a superb piece of fielding in the covers by William Hantam in the first over of the day. Wickets continued to tumble, and by the first drinks break the visitors were still 264 runs behind with half the team dismissed.Enter Abongile Sodumo. Showing no inhibitions despite the desperate position, he raced to his fifty off just 53 balls. He was fortunate to be dropped in the deep when on 33. The diminutive Michael Matika was slightly more restrained, but also played some sparkling shots as the pair added 126 for the 6th wicket in 123 minutes. Losing his partner with his own score on 72, Sodumo slowed down marginally, his second 50 coming off 78 balls. He nevertheless shared another useful partnership of 52 in 56 minutes with Geoff Love before the bottom fell out of the innings as Hantam and Bailey claimed the last 4 wickets in the space of 5 overs despite the stylish efforts of last batsman Benett Sekonyane.Western Province had 37 overs to face before the close of play. First innings centurion Derrin Bassage failed this time, hitting tamely to cover point. Rashaad Magiet worked hard to compensate for his first innings failure, but Sodumo produced a direct hit when Magiet was sent back by his partner. Jonno McLean was just getting into his stride when he was caught behind, but the real drama was still to come.With the pitch starting to crumble, visiting captain Justin Kreusch introduced his spinners in tandem. Four wickets fell in the space of eight balls as they caused havoc with the WP batting. Jean-Paul Duminy was one of Love’s victims after he had played some elegant strokes against leg-spinner Warwick Hinkel in particular.Wesley Euley and Hantam saw off the last 16 balls of the day with fielders clustered around the bat, and much pressure will be on them as they will need to get the lead to about 200, which could be a winning score as the pitch takes more spin.

ScorecardA one-innings tussle has developed at Lord’s after Ben Scott hauled Middlesex into an unlikely, narrow lead following a collapse from the top order. Scott and Shaun Udal took Middlesex from the prospect of having a significant deficit to an advantage of 18. Two quick wickets in the final hour left the home side in a position of strength that appeared a long way away during the morning session.Vernon Philander claimed the key wicket, Chris Rogers, with one that bounced on off stump and took the edge through to Owais Shah at slip. Rogers is the rock around which Derbyshire build, and when he goes early there is always a more brittle appearance to the order. Steve Stubbings also has the ability to build long innings, but he edged behind off Tim Murtagh as the importance of Scott’s effort grew.It was touch-and-go whether Scott would play this match. David Nash is fit again, but the decision was taken that he wasn’t quite match-ready so Scott held onto his place and more than justified the call. He’s typical of many wicketkeepers at the crease, slightly idiosyncratic and a frustrating batsman to bowl to. He cut and drove strongly as the Derbyshire attack slightly undid their impressive earlier efforts.Udal has rescued Middlesex’s batting more than once already this season and again contributed vital runs. They were still 72 behind when he joined Scott, but he batted with more freedom than some of his colleagues. The ninth-wicket partnership was progressing with such ease that Rikki Clarke, who is unable to bowl due to a broken thumb, had to give his men the second new ball. This did the trick, although Scott was unfortunate to get a thin edge down the leg side and he didn’t appeared pleased with the decision. The innings ended next ball when Dirk Nannes lost his middle stump as Kevin Dean ended with 4 for 28.Middlesex’s innings was a mirror-image of Derbyshire’s; weak at the top and stronger at the bottom. Charl Langeveldt did the early damage, knocking out Danny Evans’ middle stump then claiming Shah, who aided his own demise with an ill-judged pull which sent a top edge spiralling skywards. Since his century in the opening Championship match against Leicestershire, Shah hasn’t built on his starts, but here he didn’t even give himself a chance to settle.Derbyshire’s 244 was looking even more substantial when Jonathan Clare – an allrounder worth keeping an eye on – trapped Ed Smith lbw and had Philander well caught in the slips off a loose drive. Clare, 21, hails from the same stomping grounds as James Anderson in Burnley, but couldn’t push himself into the Lancashire set-up. This season he has taken his chances, averaging 57 with the bat and 25 with the ball in the Championship, and bowled with good pace from the Nursery End.At 60 for 5, Middlesex were in a deep hole, but they were steadied by a pair of Irishman as Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan added 66. Joyce was batting at No. 7 because of a migraine that kept him off the field yesterday, but still looked the most in-form of the top-order. His driving was in good working order and he was quick onto anything short with his favourite pull shot.Morgan was neat and compact during the partnership until he pushed forward at Dean and got a thin outside edge. He knew he’d nicked it and was off before the umpire raised his finger. Joyce went to his half-century off 71 balls and he needed to stay with the lower order. However, Graham Wagg, replacing Clare at the Nursery End, had him lbw as Joyce played around a straight ball. Derbyshire sniffed a first-innings lead, but had reckoned without Middlesex’s resilient lower order as a close match continues to unfold.

Hursley Park polished off a 252-run target to knock Paultons out of The Cricketer National Village Cricket Championship.James Lush was their hero, taking three wickets and then scoring a century.Paultons were confident after Andrew Collins (82) and Kevin Cresswell (68) helped post a formidable 252-6.But led by Lush’s 107 and a supporting knock from Matt Harvey (55), Hursley Park galloped to a six-wicket win.The victory gives Hursley Park a third round trip to Flamingo’s, who beat Amport by seven wickets at The Holt.John Anstee (73) top scored for Amport, but a total of 177-9 (Kevin Brewster 3-36) was overtaken as Mike Foster (56) and Stu Shapland (49 not out) saw Flamingo home.Tim Richings (79) and Carl Nichols (61) guided Sparsholt to victory over Crown Taverners (181-5), while Martyn Cheyney’s unbeaten 79, coupled with a half-century by Nick Gerrad (50), carried Tichborne Park to a five-wicket win over Hambledon.Leckford moved into the third round without bowling a ball in anger – Penton withdrawing because of a shortage of players.The third round ties on Sunday week, May 26, include:
Bramshaw v Sparsholt, Flamingo (Upham) v Hursley Park, Leckford v Rowland’s Castle, Tichborne Park v Appleshaw.

England fast bowler James Kirtley had his involvement in the NatWest Series ended when he suffered a hand injury during a training session at Old Trafford prior to the match against Sri Lanka. He will be out for between four and six weeks after suffering a dislocation to his right hand when attempting to take a return catch from Jeremy Snape in the nets.He was taken to hospital for an x-ray that revealed the damage that brings another halt to Kirtley’s international career after he had played in all England’s matches in this series. He had just back into the side after having remedial coaching on his bowling action after being reported during England’s tour of Zimbabwe last winter.England will not call up a replacement at this stage, thereby opening the way for Alex Tudor to have his first game or giving Matthew Hoggard another chance after his mauling at the hands of the Sri Lankans at Headingley.

New Zealand’s selectors have not panicked after the loss of the first National Bank series Test for the William Jordan Rosebowl in Christchurch yesterday and have named two new players only in a 13-man squad for the second Test starting in Wellington on Thursday.Chris Harris, the Canterbury stalwart has been brought in as cover for Daniel Vettori while Northern Districts pace man Daryl Tuffey has been named as Chris Cairns’ replacement.Both Vettori and Canterbury fast-medium bowler Chris Martin are both subject to fitness tests.The chairman of selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee said: “Daniel is going to be examined to determine how severe the injury is, and we will make our decision based on the advice of our medical experts.”Chris gives us another useful bowling option, is a very experienced campaigner, and he has been in form with the bat as his very healthy average in the State Championship this season testifies.””Daryl was unlucky not to make the initial Test squad and he gives us another new ball option on what looks to be a green top at the Basin, should we decide to go with four seamers,” said Hadlee.Both Harris and Tuffey were part of the CLEAR Black Caps side which won the one-day series with England.Harris played the last of his 19 Test matches in Ahmedabad against India in 1999/00. He has scored 582 runs in Tests at 19.40 and taken 15 wickets at 66.93.The full squad is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Mark Richardson, Matt Horne, Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Chris Harris, Daniel Vettori, Chris Drum, Ian Butler, Chris Martin, Daryl Tuffey.Hadlee added that Andre Adams had not been considered for selection as he is suffering a niggling shoulder injury.

This was a great day’s play at the Wankhede, on a pitch that offered a little something for all the bowlers. And the highlight of the day came right in the middle, in just about 90-minutes either side of lunch. This consisted of the much-anticipated contest between the hometown boy Tendulkar and the Australian attack – primarily the two legends, McGrath and Warne.The early skirmishes had been won by Australia. After winning the toss and taking a self-proclaimed “gamble” by inserting the opposition, the Australians produced what they do best – excellent tight seam bowling backed up by immaculate fielding. Ramesh hooked and was caught behind, Dravid got a late away-swinger and edged it through to the keeper, and Shiv Sunder Das drove away from his body and was brilliantly caught by a diving Hayden at gully. Tendulkar emerged to a great ovation at 25-2, and was joined by his skipper at 31-3.Tendulkar looked in spectacular form from the start – his first ball was caressed past the bowler for two and the fifth whipped through square-leg for four. Both strokes had come against the bowling of Fleming, who was next driven for three – a little defensive push past the bowler that raced almost all the way to the fence. Gillespie was off-driven all along the ground for four, and Fleming pulled contemptuously over mid-wicket for another. Tendulkar had raced onto 18 with his skipper on four, India had progressed to onto 49-3 three-quarters of an hour before lunch, and the nerves were beginning to settle.That was when Steve Waugh made his move – a double change, turning to the two men who have done the job for Australia so often over the years, McGrath and Warne.At the most sedate of times an Indian cricket crowd is a lively group – drumming, chanting, keeping themselves in good humour with the odd Mexican Wave. There was none of that for the next 45 minutes, though. In that time only 11 runs were scored – it was hard slogging, trench warfare. But then that is the essential beauty of Test cricket – it was as riveting a period of play as one could ever hope to watch.McGrath came on to face a rampant Tendulkar before his home crowd, and bowled with the metronomic precision of a Swiss Clock. For the next three overs, not a ball departed from the famed “corridor of uncertainty” – three consecutive maidens to the most explosive stroke player in the world in rampaging form. It was magnificent fast bowling, and a great batsman was willing to give a great bowler his due, going against his natural instincts and securely playing him out.At the other end was Warne, who started his Test match with a bouncer to Ganguly – seemingly a new weapon he uses to keep the batsman guessing. Ganguly stroked him to mid-off the next delivery, who misfielded and let through a boundary. And then Warne zeroed in – pitching the ball on a perfect length, getting monstrous and biting turn off the pitch, and tying the batsmen in knots. Ganguly was bottled up to the extent of playing two scoring strokes in 21 deliveries, before he edged to be brilliantly caught by Hayden.India went into lunch at 60-4, after a fascinating test of skill. Tendulkar in particular had been kept remarkably quiet, scoring just a single in that time.It all changed after lunch, for one glorious hour off cricket. And the portent was the first ball itself – Warne bowled it on the stumps and spun it away sharply, only to see Tendulkar savagely cut it to the fence. A pull for two and another cut for two followed immediately in the same over.Gillespie came on at the other end – he pitched up, and was beautifully off-driven for a boundary. He attempted an outswinger, and was promptly cover-driven for another.Warne adopted a leg-stump line, spinning the ball viciously across the face of the bat. He was clipped through mid-wicket off his toes for four, and pulled the next ball for four more. And Tendulkar followed that up with a little clip to fine-leg, to reach fifty. A vitally important knock that showed all facets of his batsmanship – the technique and patience against great pace bowling, the soft hands and immaculate defence against vicious spin, and explosive strokeplay to every ball that allowed it.There are, as I said, some periods when an Indian crowd is quiet. And then there are those other times – when the crowd is a living, breathing organism, a seething mass in a boiling cauldron of emotion. When the Wankhede resembles nothing so much as a Spanish bullring with a crowd thirsting for a kill with Tendulkar playing Manolete, driving the emotions higher with every thrust-and-parry.Steve Waugh responded as best he could by spreading his field, even placing a man at sweeper as cover. It was to no avail – Tendulkar went up on his toes and blasted Gillespie off the back-foot past the point and the sweeper for yet another boundary.In desperation, McGrath was brought back – and welcomed by Laxman with a four as he strayed with his first ball. His first delivery to Tendulkar brought only marginally better results – a beautifully timed back-foot defensive push ran away past cover and only a despairing dive kept it to three.Warne was replaced by Fleming, and welcomed by Tendulkar with a drive straight as a die – it crashed into the middle-stump at the bowler’s end thus resulting in no runs. But the little genius immediately re-adjusted the radar – the very next ball was dispatched inches wide of those same stumps down to the sightscreen. The next ball was punched off the back-foot past mid-on for four more. And the third was square-cut with regal authority to the point fence – once again out of the reach of the sweeper cover running around the fence.There was pandemonium at the Wankhede. These are the very conditions that make India such a hard place to win in – when an Indian crowd is in full-throated roar, things can crumble in a hurry. The bowling loses discipline, the fielding gets ragged, and before one knows it the game has run away from the touring side. It has happened time and again over the seasons.The Australians know this. And so, with the momentum speeding away from them with every flash of the Tendulkar blade, their Champion once again stood up to be counted. The very first ball of McGrath’s next over lifted and left Laxman, drawing an edge and an easy catch to Ponting at second slip.Message sent loud and clear – We aren’t going anywhere.Tributes can come in strange forms, sometimes. Tendulkar has received many over the years, but few could be as honest as Steve Waugh today – with India struggling at 130-5 against the might of the Aussie attack, the Iron Man of Cricket had one lonely slip for Tendulkar, with deep third man, sweeper cover, deep mid-wicket and deep fine-leg manning the boundary. The inference was clear – only half the side might be out, but you can have the single if you like. Just let us work on the rest.Tendulkar responded immediately – he smacked yet another straight drive down to the sightscreen past Fleming in the next over, the one spot on the field impossible to cover. The gauntlet thrown down once again.And yet again it was picked up, in the most emphatic way possible – McGrath produced a pearler, perfectly pitched outside off stump and moving away late, catching the edge of Tendulkar’s blade for Gilchrist to hold easily.The rest of the innings was anti-climactic, as it had to be after the afternoon pyrotechnics. McGrath bowled five more overs, conceding a single, solitary run. Warne returned to bowl 12 more overs, claiming three for 19. Akin to shooting fish in a barrel for the great bowlers – and to their credit they did it quietly and efficiently, with a minimum of fuss.India were dismissed for 176 on a first day pitch, and Australia had irrevocably captured the initiative – for the day, maybe for the match, and possibly for the series.

Owais Shah made the highest championship score at Durham’s Riverside ground before becoming a victim of Middlesex’s panic-stricken collapse in search of a fifth batting point.At 354 for three in the 118th over they still had 12 overs to reach 400. But 11 overs later they were all out for 386, with Shah sixth out for 190.In building so impressively on his seventh first-class hundred he added 50 to his own previous best, made against Yorkshire at Lord’s three years ago.Shah hit 18 fours and added three sixes once he had passed 150 before he swept his 330th ball to short fine leg as Michael Gough’s off-spin produced his first five-wicket haul in a spell of five for 12 in 29 balls.The previous highest Championship score on the ground was Michael Vaughan’s 177 in 1998, although Darryl Cullinan hit 200 not out for South Africa against Durham in the same season.Shah and Stephen Fleming put on 248 in 78 overs for the third wicket before Fleming fell for 114, clipping Nicky Phillips to square leg.There were ten balls left before the 130-over cut-off for bonus points when David Nash was last out, run out for 19.Durham had to bat for 18 overs in poor light and five warning lights were already shining when Gough was caught off bat and pad off Tufnell, prompting the umpires to call a halt 45 minutes early.

Deccan Chargers’ hopes of staying in the IPL despite the BCCI terminating the franchise appear to have improved after the Bombay High Court raised the possibility of passing an order that would retain the status quo if the owners could furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 100 crores. If Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd. (DCHL), who own the Chargers, could satisfy that condition then the “rights and wrongs” of the termination dispute, the judge said, would be referred in front of an arbitrator.Under the status quo, which was passed on September 17, the court had ordered the BCCI not to float a tender for a new franchise in Hyderabad. SJ Kathawalla, the judge hearing the case, concluded the hearing today but reserved his final judgement in the matter. He also appointed CK Thakkar, a former Supreme Court judge, as the arbitrator to find a solution to the dispute between the BCCI and DCHL. Thakkar’s name was finalised after consent from both counsels.”The matter was argued but the judgement has not yet been passed,” a BCCI official said. “There was a discussion between the judge and both parties that if there was an order passed in favour of status quo, whether DCHL would be in a position to furnish 100 crore as bank guarantee within ten days.”On Monday, Kathawalla had suggested that both parties adopt the arbitration route to resolve the dispute but the BCCI’s lawyers Rafiq Dada and Raju Subramaniam had sought an extra day to review the proposal. On Tuesday, YES Bank, one of the chief lenders to DCHL, filed an affidavit stating they would withdraw support to the franchise unless their conditions were met, including the one asking the BCCI to pay the money due to the Chargers directly to the bank. The bank’s intervention forced the hearing to the next day. On Wednesday, however, YES Bank reversed its stance and told the court they would “unconditionally” lend support to DCHL.Notwithstanding the distraction, Kathawalla sought details from both parties, including consent from DCHL legal counsel Zal Andhyrujina, who said his client would raise the bank guarantee within the stipulated deadline. The BCCI counsel made it clear that they were not ready to any “consent order” and that the judge would need to pass a judgement.”One possible outcome is the judgement in favour of Deccan Chargers if they furnish the bank guarantee to satisfy the financial obligations,” the board official said. “In the meantime the matter with regard to the rightness or wrongness of the termination would be tested in the arbitration.”The official said Kathawalla was made aware of DCHL’s various financial problems, which had forced the BCCI to terminate the franchise. “He [the judge] has left all options open to us to again terminate in the event of there being an act of insolvency,” the official said.It is not clear by when Kathawalla will make his final judgement. “The DCHL counsel could even come and request for more time to get the bank guarantee,” the BCCI official said. “There could be even further twists. It is easy to speculate now.”There is bound to be talk about the Chargers’ ruling going on the lines of the verdict passed two years ago in the cases between the BCCI and IPL franchises Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, who were terminated by the board for breach of contracts. Both franchises challenged the order in the Bombay High Court initially. The matter was referred to an arbitrator who stayed the termination, and that decision was upheld by the Bombay High Court.However, according to the BCCI official, to assume the Chargers case was heading in the same direction was incorrect. “Simply because there was no financial instability in those two cases,” the official said. “The inability to garner funds to meet with their obligations is what separates the Chargers’ case. And the fact that there are winding up notices issued by some of the (DCHL) lenders. In the case of Rajasthan and Punjab, it was a simple case of shares transfer of the franchisee without the BCCI consent. The court prima facie held there was no such transfer and therefore the ground for termination was not correct.”

Natal claimed a consummate seven-wicket win to finish on top of the final standings and earn a semi-final against the fourth-place finishers. An inept North West were dismissed for 141 and Natal cantered to 142 for three to win by seven wickets with all of 12.5 overs to spare.Not for nothing do North West turn out in maroon, because on the night – and for much of this seaon – they performed as mournfully as the bedraggled West Indies themselves. Played 10, lost eight was Potch plodders’ lot in this competition this summer, and it wasn’t difficult to see why. They batted as if they knew something Natal didn’t, namely that the home side would not have many runs to chase, and their bowling and fielding fairly creaked with the resignation of impending defeat.All that was left to Natal was to get the basics right, and this they managed without undue fuss. First they kept it tight to scythe through North West’s batting, before building their reply around the composed Wade Wingfield’s 73 not out.Shaun Pollock was a late inclusion in the Natal squad following the early finish to the third Test against Sri Lanka and the South African captain plainly revelled in the relatively stress free conditions to take two for 10 off 8.2 immaculate overs against batsmen who didn’t even try and forget who he was.Left-arm wrist spinner Gulam Bodi was the other star, using flight and intelligent variations of pace to take two for 26 off his full quota. Burton de Wett scored 35 before being stunningly run out by Wingfield’s throw from cover point, Arno Jacobs’ 26 was sprinkled with five fours and Gary Outram fashioned 33 runs off 71 balls. The rest should and will be spared a mention.Natal knew they needed just one half-decent innings to claim the points, and they got rather more than that in the shape of man-of-the-match Wingfield’s fine effort. It lasted 78 balls and included 10 fours and three sixes. Most of his support came in a third-wicket partnership of 80 shared with captain Dale Benkenstein, who scored 20.