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A fine unbeaten 142 by Amit Pagnis and his unfinished third wicket partnership of 147 runs off 57.4 overs with skipper Abhay Sharma (61) helped Railways score 267 for 2 wickets in 90 overs at the end of the first day’s play in the Central Zone Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi today.Abhay Sharma won the toss and decided to bat. Pagnis, who joined Railwaysfrom Mumbai this year, opened the innings with Sanjay Bangar. The two put on 91 runs before Bangar was caught by debudent wicket keeper Gurucharan Singh off the bowling of JP Yadav. Bangar scored 41 off 64 balls with the help of 4 fours and a six. Murli Kartik was out for 8 off JP Yadav.Pagnis completed his century in 4-1/2 hours off 218 balls with the help of 15 fours and 2 sixes. By close he had batted six hours, faced 308 balls and hit 20 fours and two sixes. Sharma had faced 162 balls, hitting six of them to the ropes. Not even the new ball taken at 260 for two after 84.5 overs, made any impression on the two batsmen.For MP, medium pacer JP Yadav took both the wickets conceding 65 runs off25 overs.

Pakistan’s highly-controversial women’s team joined Ireland and the Netherlands in the winner’s circle on the first day of the International Women’s Cricket Council Trophy tournament in Amstelveen and Leiden yesterday.The Pakistan side is taking part, despite the intentions of the Pakistan Cricket Board which has tried to block the side from using their country’s name. The right to represent Pakistan women’s cricket is being contested by the PCB and the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Control Association, which has its team at the tournament.Pakistan met Japan, who were making their first international appearance, and gave them a harsh introduction to this level of women’s cricket, which is just below the full international tier.Batting first, Pakistan scored 181 for 6, which included 65 extras. Kiran Baluch scored 31, Shaiza Khan 30 while Japanese captain Kaori Kato took 2 for 25 from 10 overs for Japan.However, Japan withered with the bat and were all out for 26 in 34 overs. Only eight of their runs came from the bat as seven batsmen were dismissed for ducks. Fifteen-year-old Sajjida Shah, who became the youngest player in the international game when making her debut against Ireland aged 12 in 2000, claimed what will be the best figures in women’s one-day internationals, if these matches are classified as full ODIs.She took 7 for 4 which bettered the 7 for 8 taken by Joanne Chamberlain of England against Denmark in a European Championship match at Haarlem in 1991. Kursheed Jabeen didn’t miss out on the records either as she took 3 for 2 off 10 overs, which equalled the record for the most economical spell in women’s ODIs. She shares the record with Netherlands turned New Zealand player Nicola Payne who took 0 for 2 off 10 overs for the Dutch against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 1997-98.Japan did avoid the ignominy of the lowest score in women’s ODIs – 23 scored by Pakistan against Australia at Melbourne in 1996-97 – although Pakistan had only 10 players. The lowest score by a full XI is 24 by Scotland against England at Reading in 2000.Ireland’s game with West Indies started three hours late due to a strike at London’s Heathrow Airport. Batting first Ireland scored 78 in 44 overs, extras top scoring with 22. Verena Felician was the most successful of the West Indian bowlers taking 2 for 13 from 9 overs. West Indies were humbled in their reply, being dismissed for 50 in 24 overs as Barbara McDonald took 4 for 13 off 8 overs and Catherine O’Neill 4 for 15 off 6 overs.The Netherlands made good use of batting first against Scotland, scoring 300 for 5 off their 50 overs. Pauline te Beest hit 138 to become the first Dutch woman to score 1000 runs for her country while she added 224 in a second-wicket partnership with Debby Kooij (78). Scotland were then dismissed for 74 in 46 overs. Birgit Viguurs took 3 for 7 off 6 overs and Sandra Kottman 2 for 4 off 9.The top two teams after the round robin phase will qualify for the Women’s World Cup to be held in South Africa in early 2005. If two teams are level on points in second place, a playoff match will be held to determine who advances.

On Saturday September 27th I went to investigate claims that a travelling Christian missionary had returned from his work in India a devoted cricket fan and endeavoured to start up his own club at `La Misión’, near the town of San Bernardo.I met the man in question, Miguel Angel Hernandez, at the recent AGM and was amazed by his passion for the game. To sit through a two hour meeting discussing the legalities of a cricketing association and financial implications of purchasing a `Flicx’ pitch in ones second language takes some serious character; and so afterwards I quickly arranged for a training session with him and his side to assess the situation at hand.Before journeying even deeper into the sticks than I currently resided, I fully expected to be confronted by some extraordinary hybrid of the glorious game, pieced together by memory and improvisation. However, as I soon found out, this was not to be the case.In true Chilean style the session started some two or so hours late, although to be entirely truthful the delay might have been perceived as my fault. I tried desperately to follow Miguel’s more than adequate directions but after some dubious `help’ from the local bus drivers I eventually had to be driven from the centre of the (wrong) town to La Misión by what turned out to be San Bernardo’s answer to Andrew Flintoff. Although this was before I had spent a good twenty minutes standing out sufficiently enough to warrant the attention of a young lady who obviously found the shorts-sandals-pouring rain combo endearing, inviting me as she did to a party that night and giving me her phone number. However, I digress…I met with Miguel Angel and we waited for the rain to stop before heading out to the ground (La Parcelina Arena), which Miguel had told me was not "100% grass". In tow was a troop of eight eager looking men and their kit, specially imported from India, of course.When I had found a patch, mostly of mud, to act as our wicket for the day, play got underway. I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of play that I was witnessing and was reluctant to switch from the role of umpire to that of coach. As should be expected there was the occasional chuck and some baseball-esque wild swings for the ball, but on the whole these guys knew what they were doing.When I did offer any advice on batting the players were keen to learn and soon put in to practice what they had been shown, driving, pulling and even leaving the ball. After half an hour’s training, the players split in to two teams of four (Miguel Angel appointing himself as scorer and spectator) and things started to get serious. The teams’ respective captains were talking tactics and I found myself explaining that, for me, it was sensible to bat first and take advantage of the relatively good condition of the wicket before it deteriorated.Owing to time restrictions we agreed to play eight over innings, with everybody bowling twice. This gave me a great opportunity to look at each player’s individual and, in my head, I had already chosen the opening bowlers, a batting all-rounder and a more than capable wicket keeper for their opening game against Viña del Mar.After the innings were up the team then showed me that they had not neglected perhaps the most important side of their game: the cricketing tea. And so we retired to the dinning room for a feast of mash potato where we discussed the finer points of faith, religion and leg spin.During my time in La Misión, Miguel showed me books on cricket that he had read, articles on the world cup that he had cut out and saved from Indian newspapers and playing cards of his favourite players. It was then that I realised he truly understood what it was to be a cricket fan.For Chilean cricket the creation of a side in San Bernardo is somewhat of a fairytale. Without any external help they have proven that miracles can and do happen and we can only hope that others can follow the pioneering example of this side from La Misión.

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Pakistan were left in no-man’s land when bad light and rain forced an early end on the third day of their first Test against New Zealand at Hamilton. They were still far enough away from the follow-on mark to get into trouble, but New Zealand may not have enough time to force victory.The highlight of the day was a fine 80 from Yasir Hameed, a consistent thorn in New Zealand’s side in the recent one-day series back in Pakistan. But bad light, and light showers, conspired to keep the players off the field for large parts of a day in which the Westpac Park floodlights stayed on for most of the time. Only 38 overs were possible in total.The lack of play was frustrating for all concerned. By the watery close Pakistan were still 137 runs from the safety of the follow-on with six wickets in hand, while New Zealand, who failed to put as much pressure as they would have wanted on the batsmen, know that one more wicket will get them in among a longish tail.Pakistan scored 109 runs in the time available, never batting with thefreedom that the centurymakers Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori had enjoyed, although with the number of loose balls sent down their scoring rate was still respectable. New Zealand did pick up two wickets, those of Hameed and Yousuf Youhana.Hameed demonstrated just why he has had such a fine start to Test cricket. He came into this game with a Test average of 55.87, and enhanced that with his 80. It seemed inevitable that he was going to score his third century in only his sixth Test, but – having looked unflustered, despite attempts to contain him with a leg trap early in the morning session – he lost his momentum after lunch and was out soon afterwards, when a slower ball from Daryl Tuffey trapped him leg-before.That leg trap almost accounted for Hameed early on, after which he took some advice from Youhana and took a single to reach the safety of the other end. instead it was Youhana who got out, chasing a wider ball from Tuffey and offering a low chance which Lou Vincent accepted in the slips (134 for 3).Hameed’s steady approach was crucial, because Inzamam-ul-Haq was very tentative during the early stages of his innings. He batted as if he was expecting some of the demons that he found in this pitch when Pakistan were last in town in 2001. But there were none this time, and Inzamam was delighted to be offered some short-pitched balls which allowed him to get onto the back foot and punch the ball through the arc from gully to extra cover.When lunch was taken, five minutes early, Pakistan were 205 for 3. When play resumed, Tuffey soon trapped Hameed in front (209 for 4). Scott Styris came into the attack, and his controlled medium-pace tied the batsmen down more and allowed Fleming to apply pressure in a way that had not been possible during the morning session.Daniel Vettori found some spin, although he didn’t manage a wicket in his 12 overs, which cost 29. Tuffey continued the growth in stature that he has enjoyed this summer, and had 3 for 60 from 18 overs by the close. Interestingly, after all the no-ball problems the Pakistanis suffered – especially Mohammad Sami, who was called 15 times in New Zealand’s long innings – the New Zealanders have been similarly afflicted. They have bowled 12 so far, with even Vettori contributing three. There’s still some way to go to match Pakistan’s overlal total of 33, though.Play on the fourth day will start 45 minutes early in a bid to make up losttime (1015 local time on Monday morning, 2115GMT on Sunday night).

Stephen Fleming says his team must learn from this “hiding” and called it a performance that would send “tremors around the world”. He shared his thoughts at the post-match press conference where John Bracewell answered questions about criticism in New Zealand and the difference between his Test and one-day records.

Stephen FlemingOn the series result
It’s certainly disappointing. It’s a comprehensive display by Australia, one of the most comprehensive I’ve seen. They’ve gone up another level and some of the bowling during the series was superb. We lacked a bit of sting in our bowling.On his side’s performances
I’m absolutely concerned about some of them. We have deserved the criticism. There have been sessions that have been exasperating for us all. We knew we had to compete in every session. The first two days were fine, then the ante got lifted and we didn’t turn up for the next seven. A tough learning curve for the team.On whether any team can challenge Australia
Teams are going to have their days and have opportunities to win matches, but day-in day-out this team is by far the most superior around. Their displays have been as we expected, but there’s more developing to come. It’s scary.On teams to compete with Australia
England are licking their lips and deserve to be full of anticipation. Teams are comparing themselves against Australia and the standard is improving, but at some stage there’s going to be a group of guys who can match them. England will have to perform extremely well to compete, but they have the personnel to do that.On facing Australia
The pressure they created was pretty telling and there were mistakes made from players who normally wouldn’t make those mistakes. Every time they play this well they send tremors round the world. We’ve only got a short period before we have another crack at it and that’s exciting.On any positives from the losses
You’ve got to be professional and understand the hiding we’ve taken and walk away a better side for it. I look at how much the players have learnt. You’ve got to look at how well the Australians have played and try and learn something from it. We’ve got a group of young bowlers, and even in my situation I’m still learning from these players.John BracewellOn criticism of him in New Zealand
I must accept the fact, it’s an accountability process and we’ve lost two Tests in Australia in a row. We haven’t lived up to the standard of a wicket that is one of the best Test pitches I’ve ever seen.On the differences between his Test and one-day record
I don’t let it distract me from my core purpose to lift the side and the individuals within the side. It’s a side that has found Test cricket tough over the past 12 months and is endeavouring to put it right.On the game and mental weakness
We recognise that the third innings is something that has plagued us. Everyone wanted to win the toss here and 500 is what you wanted to get. In other games we competed whether we won or lost the toss and fell away as the game continued, particularly in the third innings. We’re looking at it, but it’s one of those things that the more you mention it, it can get to you.On playing Australia
The first time you play Australia is the best time to get them and Jacob Oram proved that. They toughened up on him and he will have to toughen up for the home series, realise where they are going to attack him and expand his game to counter that.

Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain, has received full support from the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) for the post of vice-president of the West Indies Cricket Board. Lloyd, who was originally contesting for the president’s post, lost the race to Ken Gordon, the former media manager from Trinidad. The annual general meeting of the WICB is scheduled to take place on August 6 and 7 in St Maarten.”Lloyd is highly respected and we decided to throw our support behind him,” Stephen Alleyne, the president of the BCA was quoted as saying in . “The general view is that with Gordon being the sole candidate for president, it was felt that the vice-president should be one with a strong cricketing background and experience, and would bring a cricketing outlook.”Alleyne also said that Barbados was the second country to support Lloyd, who was first nominated by his native Guyana. The other candidate for the vice-president’s post is Val Banks. “Lloyd has again shown his commitment to West Indies cricket by making himself available,” said Alleyne. “We believe strongly he would bring balance and coverage of all the issues of the game. His position as one of the finest West Indies skippers speaks for itself and his further involvement in other cricket development programmes and also as West Indies manager and ICC match referee demonstrated his appeal on the international stage.”

Australia will fulfill their commitment to tour Pakistan by going there twice in two years, a joint statement from both boards said. The two legs will straddle the return series hosted by Australia in late 2009.As expected, the five one-dayers and a Twenty20 will be played on the first trip starting next April, which will follow Australia’s visit to South Africa. Australia will then return to Pakistan in August 2010 to play three Tests, with the final dates and venues to be agreed depending on each nation’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) obligations.The schedule means those currently involved in the IPL may be forced to miss the competition. “Playing [in Pakistan] probably inhibits players playing in the IPL [next year],” Cricket Australia’s operations manager Michael Brown told the . “Under their contracts players have to make themselves available to play for Australia and so far we have not had any problems.”Australia, who haven’t toured Pakistan since 1998-99, were due to go in March, but postponed the trip due to security concerns. “Although disappointed that the tour couldn’t be completed as originally scheduled, the PCB is very pleased that the Australian team will come to play in Pakistan twice,” the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf said. “Our discussions with Cricket Australia showed both countries’ strong desire to ensure the postponed matches were played in Pakistan.” The PCB has also confirmed its tour to Australia at the end of 2009 for three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20.