Unbeaten Slimline Sports Club beat Colts Sports Club by 68 runs in an anti-climax final of the Women’s Cricket Association Challenge Championship Tournament to retain the title at the Moors SC grounds, Braybrooke Place.The encounter was expected to be a thriller with the two teams being tipped to come out with improved performances after their first round encounters.Chasing a victory target of 176 runs to win in 38 overs Colts lost wickets at regular intervals and were nowhere in contest for the trophy being bowled out for 107 runs in 31.2 overs. Their wickets tumbled mainly due to poor cricket, with three players succumbing to run-outs and two to stumpings.Colts were also at a disadvantage of having being penalised two overs in the 40-over final for slow over rate.Sudarshani Sivaratnam top scored with 25 with Hiroshi Edirisinghe(22) and Michelle Pereira (19) chipping in with valuable knocks.Ramani Perera (2/14) and Champa Priyangika (2/25) spearheaded the bowling attack to take two wickets a piece.Early in the day, Slimline electing to bat first scored 175 for nine in 40 overs. Only Ganga Silva (46) and Kalpana Liyanarachchi (41) batted well against the Colts bowling. Silva struck four boundaries while Liyanarachchi had five fours. Four players were run out bringing the total number of such dismissals to seven in the match.Sudarshani Sivaratnam (3/26) excelled in the bowling too.Vanessa Bowen (1/25) and Lalani Priyadarshani (1/26) were the other wicket takers.

With the first two days of the East Zone Cooch Behar under-19 Trophy matchbetween Bengal and Orissa at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta being washed outdue to rain, the encounter petered out into a draw on the final day onSunday.Play started only at 12.10 on the third and final day. Put into bat, Bengalscored 130 for 4 off 49.2 overs in their first innings. Openers AmitavaChakrabarthy (10) and Arindam Das (5) departed early,Subhamoy Das (30) and Ayan Nandi (27 not out) put on 39 runs for the thirdwicket in 7.1 overs when Bengal lost two quick wickets. Then Ayan andAvishek Jhunjhunwala (32 not out) added 56 runs in an unbroken fifth wicketstand in 19.2 overs.Play was suspended at 3.55 pm and officially called off at 4.20 pm. Sincenot even the first innings was completed, the teams shared threepoints each.

Arvind Mann was the man of the moment for Rajasthan with an excellentall round display as they beat the host Madhya Pradesh by 7 wickets atCaptain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior on Sunday in the Vijay MerchantTrophy Central Zone League for the under-22.Being put in to bat first MP batting fell like a house of cards to thehostile bowling of V Yadav 5/31 and P Tiwari 5/29 and finished at 75all out in 25.1 overs. Wicket keeper B Ranjan took 5 catches behindthe stumps. There were as many as four ducks in the MP innings asShadab Khan top scored with 22. Rajasthan got off to a terrible startas three of the first five wickets to fall were run outs and one wasdismissed ‘handled the ball’. Rajasthan were 96/5 at that stage. Thelower order of Rajasthan batting chipped in with useful runs as theirfirst innings came to an end at 188 in 83 overs. V Bhatt was the mostsuccessful bowler with 3/46.MP had conceded a 113 runs first innings lead and got off to a goodstart in their second knock. An opening stand of 82 between ManasPisolkar and P Bhand came to an end when Bhand was dismissed for 26.Pisolkar made amends to the dismal batting display by the whole MPside in the first essay with a superb ton of 113 in 187 balls whichincluded 13 boundaries. Rahul Bakshi 29, Gagandeep Bhatia 33 andKirti Kapoor 26 helped MP score 285 all out in 96.4 overs. Arvind Mann4/76 and Vibhore Mathur were the pick of the bowling. Requiring 173for a win, Rajasthan went about their task with some finesse thanks toan unbeaten 96 (8 fours) by opener Arvind Mann. Mann was wellsupported by Vinod Chanwaria 27 (5 fours) and Sanjay Bharti 26 not out(3 fours) as Rajasthan cruised to 175/3 in 70.4 overs. Rajasthan tookhome all eight points leaving MP with none.

Michael Di Venuto appeared to have put Derbyshire incontrol of the match at Derby with one of his mostaccomplished innings for the county.The Tasmanian left-hander batted for 228 minutes totake Derbyshire’s lead past 250 after Durham hadfought their way back into the game.After the tail-enders cut Derbyshire’s first inningslead to 58, they had the home side in trouble at 35-5shortly after lunch.But Di Venuto played with patience and restraint andwith Rob Bailey, added 70 in 24 overs to swing thegame back towards Derbyshire.But Bailey drove wildly to mid-on and Graeme Welch wasbowled by Ian Hunter to put the game back in thebalance again until Karl Krikken made his secondcrucial batting contribution of the match.Although he had some luck, he helped put on 87 in 26overs and the lead had climbed to 263 when Di Venutowas caught down the legside for 86 by Martin Speight,deputising for Andy Pratt who was off the field withsore knees.Krikken reached his second fifty from 105 balls afterspending 26 deliveries on 47 and at the close,Derbyshire were 214-6, 272 in front with every chanceof recording their first Championship win since theybeat Durham at Derby in August.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India expects to get in the next10 days a proposal from the Asian Cricket Council regarding the AsianTest Championship tournament and would then write to the Governmentseeking permission for the Indian teams’ tour to Pakistan.”We expect the proposal from the ACC in the next 10 days – either bythe end of this month or in the first week of the next month,” BCCIsecretary Jaywant Lele told PTI on the phone from Baroda. “Once thedetailed ATC programme is received, we will send the tour proposal tothe Sports Ministry,” he said.According to the tentative ATC schedule, India is expected to clashwith Pakistan in Karachi from September 13 to 17.The sending of the proposal by BCCI to the Government is likely tocoincide with the visit of Gen Parvez Musharraf, who has just takenover as the President of Pakistan.Asked whether the two months time left for the Septemberto-Februarytournament would be enough for the clearance to be obtained from theGovernment, Lele said “It is not a simple invitation that we wouldreceive from the ACC.”The proposal will contain details of the match fee, guarantee money,the venues where the matches are to be played. It is not a simpleinvitation. It has to contain all details of the matches,” he saidadding “We have to send the proposal to the Government 45 days beforethe start of an overseas tournament.”Asked whether he expected the Government to clear the tour in view ofthe recent stand not to play against Pakistan in bilateral matches,Lele said “We will send the proposal once we receive the detailedinvitation. The rest of the decision is for the Government to take.”The Sports Ministry had recently taken objection to BCCI’s unilateralstatement that India would participate in ATC. It had said it wasGovernment’s prerogative to decide whether India would participate inthe tournament or not and the Board could only make a formal requestin this regard.However, the Government had allowed Indian teams to play againstPakistan teams in other disciplines on both sides of the border.Meanwhile, the ACC accepted the Indian demand that the final of theATC be played in one of the two countries figuring in that match andnot in Dhaka as originally scheduled.”The Indian Board made a categorical demand that the ATC final shouldbe hosted by one of the two contesting countries and Dhaka could holdit only if Bangladesh was a finalist,” Lele, who had just returnedafter attending the three-day ICC Executive Board meeting in London,said.The Indian demand was discussed at the ACC meeting which was held aspart of the ICC Executive Board meeting.

WES Hall is heavily tipped to be elected unopposed as the newpresident of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Nominations for theWICB’s two top vacant posts closed yesterday and sources toldWEEKENDSPORT that the former West Indies fast bowler, manager andchief selector was the only nominee for president.There were also reports that Guyana Cricket Board president ChetramSingh might present himself as a candidate.It was understood, however, that the long-standing WICB member mighthave been persuaded not to challenge for the presidency.The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), which officially announcedyesterday it was nominating Hall for the top spot, also said it wouldbe seconding the nomination of Leeward Islands Cricket Associationpresident Val Banks as vice-president.Hall, Cabinet minister between 1986 and 1994 and now an ordainedChristian minister, is also significantly receiving the backing of theTrinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control, which has seconded hisnomination.It almost certainly means Willie Rodriguez, a former West Indies legspinner and current president of Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Cricket Club,will not be a candidate.A couple days after the WICB’s top spots became vacant following thedramatic resignations of president Pat Rousseau and vice-presidentClarvis Joseph, Rodriguez expressed an interest in succeedingRousseau.Rousseau and Joseph resigned with effect from June 4 after fellowdirectors overturned their decision to sack manager Ricky Skerritt.The following day the WICB appointed a five-man interim managementcommittee to make decisions until a new president and vice-presidentwere elected on July 21.In endorsing Hall, BCA president Stephen Alleyne said thedistinguished personality had been adequately prepared for the job.We are proud to be associated with such an outstanding Barbadian andWest Indian cricketer and personality, he said in a BCA releaseyesterday.We are confident that, should he be successful, he would giveoutstanding service to the board and indeed to the Caribbean, bringingto bear all his experience and skills to the task at hand.

The cricket author Vijay Kumar has been jailed for ten months after being convicted of stealing cricket memorabilia worth thousands of pounds. Kumar, whose book “Cricket Lovely Cricket” was published last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the West Indies’ first victory in England, was sentenced to concurrent terms of nine months and one month at Middlesex Crown Court after being found guilty on two counts of theft.Kumar, 41, who counts several prominent West Indies players among his personal friends, had denied stealing a quantity of cricket memorabilia from the booksellers JW McKenzie of Epsom, and the theft of more cricket items from a friend, Dr. Khadim Baloch, at his home in Essex in 1999. The memorabilia included a number of Wisden cricket almanacks, and autographs of famous players going back to the 19th century.Vijay Priyadarsan Kumar, who was a Vice President of The Deutsche Bank in America, gave his address as Highland Avenue, Jamaica, New York. He was born in Guyana and has followed cricket since boyhood, paying particular attention to the fortunes of the West Indies team. His book “Cricket Lovely Cricket” included a foreword by Sir Clyde Walcott and appreciations by Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh. The former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding gave Kumar a character reference during the trial.Dr. Khadim Baloch befriended Kumar during visits to cricket grounds, and invited him to stay at his home in Colchester when Kumar asked for help with his book. Although Dr Baloch did not miss anything after Kumar’s first visit, he noticed after the second that items had gone missing. They included wartime Wisdens, autograph folders, signed photographs of players and books; a collection Dr. Baloch had taken many years to build up. Most of it is now lost.”I am sorry that he had to go to prison,” said Dr. Baloch. “Hopefully he will learn his lesson and not exploit people who show him kindness. The experience has left me feeling completely empty; it is a lifetime’s effort that has vanished.”

Mark Butcher carried his bat for his first century of the season as Surrey rushed to 281 all out on the first day of their CricInfo Championship match against Glamorgan at The Oval today.Butcher, 29 this month, dominated the rain-effected day, hitting 21 fours in 215 balls to record an unbeaten 145.Glamorgan’s seamers took Surrey wickets regularly, with nippy, chest-on right-armer Andrew Davies recording a career-best 3-76.It was the first time that a Surrey player had carried their bat against Glamorgan. Butcher told CricInfo: “I think we’re in a very good position. We managed to get a competitive total and with 280 we’re definitely in the game.”With regard to England he said: “I’ve been playing pretty well for the last one-and-a-half our two months. It was just a shame about the last Test.”The left-hander was the last player to carry his bat for Surrey, making 109* against Somerset in 1998.Surrey’s other four Ashes representatives, in a team of 10 Test players, failed to reach 30 as Darren Thomas (3-69) and season’s debutant Davies found bounce and pace in The Oval wicket.Butcher passed 50 in 65 balls and went in for lunch 69* with Surrey in trouble on 133-5.When on 70 Glamorgan’s captain, Adrian Dale, missed a difficult catch at second slip off Davies – the only chance that Butcher gave.Until a lengthy last wicket stand of six, Surrey had added 142 in 32 overs after lunch, with captain Martin Bicknell (replacing Adam Hollioake who had a stomach muscle strain), Ian Salisbury and Saqlain carrying on from where Tudor (27) had left off in support of Butcher.The 30-Test veteran passed 100 in 142 balls, recording his 16th first-class century.Glamorgan finished on 64-2, losing Jimmy Maher in Bicknell’s (who is to have an achilles operation at the end of season) third over.Three balls later Bicknell clipped Ian Thomas’ off bail for his 47th wicket of the season, which left Surrey on top at the close.

Fast bowlers Ruchira Perera and Ravindra Pushpakumara have been recalledinto Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the forthcoming Asian Test Championshipmatch against Bangladesh at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo onThursday.Left arm pace bowler Ruchira Perera was a surprise omission from the SriLanka squad for the third Test against India after two reasonableperformances in the first two Tests matches in Galle and Kandy.Right arm Pushpakumara, 26, meanwhile, gets a recall after more than yearout of the squad. His last Test was against Pakistan in June last year. Hehas played in 22 Tests.Both Ruchira Perera and Puspakumara are likely to play in place of Dulip Liyanage and Dilhara Fernando, who is suffering from a groin strain.Although Fernando’s injury is not serious, the Sri Lankans selectors werekeen that the injury not be aggravated and are likely to rest him.Left-handed batsman Michael Vandort is tipped to make his debut in place ofthe out-of-touch Russel Arnold, who scored just 60 runs in four inningsduring the Indian series.The Squad:Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Michael Vandort, Mahela Jayawardene,Kumar Sangakkara, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas,Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Ruchira Perera, Russel Arnold,Avishka Gunawardene, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernando.

New Zealand’s advance to the semi-finals stage of India’s Buchi Babu tournament is not the only reason coach Ashley Ross is happy.A deliberate pre-tour scheme to develop the skill of reverse swing among the side’s bowlers has borne early fruit.”We worked on it at the pre-tour training camp, looking at the mechanics of what is involved and have worked on it here,” he told CricInfo from Chennai today.”None of this is about working on the rough side of the ball, it’s all about preparing the good side and looking after its shine,” he said.Chris Drum, Shane Bond and Kyle Mills have all been producing significant reverse swing but the most memorable efforts came from Jacob Oram yesterday.”Jacob bowled two amazing reverse swing deliveries within three overs, one of which the batsman left only to see the wicket knocked out of the ground. He hit the stumps twice at vital times in the game.”We have a new toy and we will be continuing to work on the skills,” he said.Ross said he would be passing on the information and strategy to new CLEAR Black Caps coach Denis Aberhart for New Zealand to consider when touring Pakistan next month.”We will have to make sure we execute the skill with accuracy. It is a huge change in bowlers’ mentalities.”Ross has been delighted with the way the players have adjusted to the conditions in the tournament.The first game, which ended as a close first innings contest, had been the first game of the season for most of the players involved and they had responded well, especially when under pressure on the last day.While the scores were very close, New Zealand was also under a penalty threat as a result of its over rate and for a time was in danger of losing the game as the result of a mathematical imposition due to the over rate.”We were very focused in what we had to do and under trying conditions the guys never faltered,” he said.Seeing Matthew Horne celebrate his return to top play by scoring a century was satisfying, although Ross said the side had probably not helped its overall batting performance by trying to score a little too quickly for the conditions.The last wicket stand between Bond and Drum had been the matchwinner.”Shane used his feet well and was hitting the spinners into gaps for twos and their 56 runs was the difference,” he said.That first game had been the hardest of the two the side had played because of the requirement to adapt but the side had taken on board the lessons from their Indian opponents and applied them in the second game.Team captain Matthew Bell had batted for long periods in both games. Ross estimated that of New Zealand’s total batting time in the two games, Bell would have spent 60% of the time in the middle.Hamish Marshall, who scored two centuries at the same ground in last year’s tournament, added a third in the most recent game to make it three out of three.”The interesting thing this time was that after both his centuries last year he suffered heat stroke but he had no problems this time,” he said.The spin bowlers had been doing well and Ross was pleased with the way leg spinner Brooke Walker bowled in the most recent game, while Glen Sulzberger with his five wicket bag yesterday had picked up eight wickets in the tournament to date.Ross wasn’t concerned by Test opener Mark Richardson’s failure to get among the runs in the two games.”He nicked two good deliveries and got out. I’m backing him to make a big contribution in the next two games,” he said.”It was nothing outside his game plan that caused the problem,” he said.Ross was pleased with the spirit that has emerged in the team. After the first game an optional training run saw 12 of the 14 players take part. He didn’t expect so many at today’s optional run.And the social committee’s suggestion of a Le Mans-style Tuktuk race to the team dinner about 30 minutes from the team’s hotel had produced some sensational driving from the drivers who were on a 100 rupee bonus to get their passengers first to the dinner.Ross reported the side had no injury or illness problems.