Hawke Cup cricket for the new season will start in the Zone 4 area of Otago on November 24 when North Otago meets Central Otago in Oamaru.Two rounds of two-day games on a home-and-away basis will be played between the three eligible teams in the zone, North and Central Otago and Southland.The Hawke Cup challenger for the zone will be known by January 6 at the end of the Southland-North Otago game in Invercargill.The zone challenge against holders Hamilton will be from January 26-28.The draw is:All games are weekend matches.November 24-25 -North Otago v Central Otago, Oamaru.December 1-2 – Central Otago v Southland, Queenstown.December 8-9 – North Otago v Southland, Oamaru.December 15-16 – Central Otago v North Otago, Alexandra.December 22-23 – Southland v Central Otago, Invercargill.January 5-6 – Southland v North Otago, Invercargill.January 26-28 – Hawke Cup Zone 4 challenge, v Hamilton.

Zimbabwe’s recently-appointed captain Brian Murphy will probably miss the remainder of the tour to Bangladesh with a broken finger.Murphy, who succeeded Heath Streak as skipper three weeks ago, has returned to Zimbabwe for specialist treatment.David Ellman-Brown, managing director of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, said: “Brian has sustained a broken bone in his left hand, it is a straight break and he will be operated on tomorrow, when the injury will be pinned.”He will undertake his rehabilitation here in Zimbabwe and he is expected tobe out for four to six weeks, after which he will return to the nationalteam.”Stuart Carlisle, 29, will take over the captaincy in Murphy’s absence with Streak as his vice-captain. Streak resigned in October saying he wanted to recover his playing form.Zimbabwe face Bangladesh in the second and final Test in Chittagong tomorrowbefore playing three one-day internationals.Meanwhile David Ellman-Brown has decided to resign his position as Managing Director of the Union with effect from 31 January 2002.A successor will be recruited as soon as possible.

Heavy rain overnight and this morning caused the abandonment of the fourth day of the State Championship match between Northern Districts and Canterbury at the Harry Barker Reserve, Gisborne.Canterbury take two points for a first innings win and remain on top of the State Championship.ND required a further 29 to make the visitors bat again with six wickets remaining, but on a good pitch a Canterbury victory was not inevitable. Nevertheless, it was the South Islanders who were the most disappointed that the game could not be played to a finish.Of the ND players only Scott Styris shared their opponents’ disappointment. He needed just two runs to achieve his second first-class century. Three would have given him a career-best score. With 4-33 as well as his unbeaten 98 Styris has reminded that selectors that he is back in form in good time for the one-day series in Australia and against England.The way in which ND came back on the third day, recovering from a first-innings deficit of 286, encouraged coach Bruce Blair, who had told his team to play with more discipline and to take the game to the opposition.The result was ND’s strongest batting display of the season. For several players, notably the Marshall brothers, James and Hamish, the performance could set the tone for the rest of the campaign.Most of the individual stars wore the Canterbury uniform. Chris Harris made an unbeaten 155 that changed in tempo according to the needs of the team. Harris has scored 418 runs at 139 this season, a forceful reminder that he is much more than a one-day specialist.Opening batsman Shanan Stewart made a stylish debut 57. He showed that the class which he has demonstrated for the national under-19 side is transferable to first-class level.But the impression that most onlookers took away with them was the pace and aggression of Canterbury fast bowler Shane Bond. In the case of some of the ND batsman that impression is in the form of bruises sustained as they attempted to duck and weave out of the way of the fastest bowling seen in New Zealand domestic cricket for some time.Bond took a career-best 5-37 in the first innings and gave Styris a memorably torrid time in the closing overs yesterday. Canterbury coach Michael Sharpe remarked that Bond was a “new player” since returning from service with the Black Caps in Australia.Bond agrees. “Competing against the best has been great for my self-belief,” he told CricInfo shortly after today’s play had been abandoned. “I came back with the attitude that I was going to bowl fast and dominate in domestic cricket.”He has been named in the Test squad to face Bangladesh in Hamilton next week. Though he played against the Bangladeshis when they toured New Zealand two years ago, he doesn’t know much about their current line-up.”The Auckland boys playing against them today will tell us more. I do remember that they didn’t like it short.”The WestpacTrust Park pitch is one of Bond’s favourite venues. “It is one of the best wickets in New Zealand and is a good place to watch.”A little over a month ago, Bond was a police officer and a part-time cricketer. His call up to the national side has changed his life completely.”It’s all been a bit of a blur. My police career is on hold and I haven’t seen much of my wife. The exposure is new. People who come to the cricket know who you are. It’s all been good for me.”Bond is looking forward to playing a Test in New Zealand. “In Australia we weren’t really aware of the huge interest at home. It’ll be great to have the public support against the Bangladeshis.”Chris Martin is also in good form going into the Test series, with match figures of 3-61 from some hostile and accurate spells. He will probably remember his heroic, two-hour 25 in partnership with Harris for longer.This game has been a vindication of the policy of taking matches away from the main centres. It was an occasion for the Gisborne cricket community, who prepared an excellent pitch worthy of a first-class fixture.A pity that the rain deprived them of an exciting climax, but that is cricket’s oldest story.

Former Test cricketer Haroon Rasheed, in charge of thePakistan Junior team headed for next month’s World Cup inNew Zealand says that fielding is one of their strongpoints.Haroon told Dawn that his boys had fared exceptionally wellin the field in the recent series against the Sri LankanJuniors whom they beat 4-1.”Good fielding was an essential part of our success over theSri Lankans, and I am now quite confident that the boyswould continue in the same vein in New Zealand,” saidHaroon. But Haroon pointed out that it was not just thestrong fielding they were banking on. “We have all theelements of a good one-day side and this squad does not inany way lack in competence.”The party of 14 named by the Pakistan Cricket Board, hasthree all rounders, as many pacers, two spinners, fivebatsmen and a wicketkeeper batsman. “All of them are quitetalented and keen on faring well in the tournament.”Haroon rates all his players equally, however when pressedas to who could hold the key in the World Cup, he namedpacers Najaf Shah, Junaid Zia and Umer Gul and captainSalman Butt.The coach however refrained from making predictions on theoutcome of the tournament. “At the under-19 level it istough to say who’ll achieve what because no side has beenwinning continuously in the World Cup.Pakistan have been drawn with England, Nepal and Papua NewGuinea in a group they should not face much difficulty inclearing. Still Haroon was not one bit complacent. “No sidecan be under-rated so we would consider Nepal and Papua NewGuinea as tough as England.”Meanwhile the first phase of camp which was set up at theRawalpindi Stadium has now come to a close and the playerswould reassemble at the same venue again after Eidul Fitr.The pre-Eid training, according to Haroon focussed onweaknesses identified during the Sri Lanka series. “We havebeen working on removing the flaws that came to the foreduring that series.”Also, target bowling and batting formed part of the playerstraining who were made to practice on seaming wickets.”We are training on seaming wickets because these are thekind of pitches we are likely to play on in New Zealandwhere the ball moves a lot.”The players would now also be able to benefit from theexpertise of former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd who isset to arrive in Islamabad on January 4 on a six-daycoaching assignment.

Hampshire have announced a 12-strong squad of promising youngsters from whom they will choose their Academy team to play in the Southern Electric Premier Cricket League this summer.County Second XI coach Tony Middleton plans to field three or four young professionals alongside the fledgling youngsters in the 50-over Premier Division 2 matches, which begin on May 4.Middleton, who scored over 5,000 First Class runs for Hampshire prior to his retirement in 1995, will initially lead a raw, but talented Hawks team.It will include the five Academy students Tom Burrows, Martin Bushell, Luke Merry, Mark Mitchell and highly rated New Milton all-rounder David Wheeler.Also selected are King Edward VI all-rounder Alex Richardson and Sarisbury Athletic’s Peter Hammond, who became the youngest-ever player to hit a Hampshire League century last summer."Some of the youngsters are very inexperienced, but the Premier League promises to be a vital breeding ground for them; an arena in which they can develop their skills," said Middleton.The Young Hawks, whose home matches will be played on the Rose Bowl Nursery ground, are likely to include several youngsters who helped the West win last year’s ESCA Bunbury Under-15 Festival.Hampshire have made contingency plans for any of the youngsters not selected for the Academy team. "We have an agreement with the Southern Premier and Hampshire Leagues, the lads not selected on a particular Saturday will be able to turn out for their clubs in the normal way, so they won’t miss any cricket."The Hampshire CCC Academy squad is : Tom Burrows, Martin Bushell (Finchampstead), David Griffiths (Sandown), Peter Hammond (Sarisbury Athletic), Ian Hilsum (Ventnor), Kevin Latouf (Millfield), James Manning (Andover), Luke Merry (Thame), Mark Mitchell (Ventnor), Alex Richardson (Locks Heath), Mitchell Stokes (Basingstoke & North Hants), David Wheeler (New Milton).

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will host a two-day workshop beginning today, in Jamaica with members of its medical panel and other medical practitioners from the Caribbean. It will seek to review policies and develop strategies for the improved health and fitness of the West Indies team.Professor Peter Fletcher, chairman of the WICB medical panel, along with fellow panel members Professor Sam Headley, an exercise physiologist, Dr. Akshai Mansingh, an orthopaedic consultant, and nutritionist Terrence Forrester, as well as Dr. Llewellyn Harper, a sports medicine specialist, and Dr. Aggrey Irons, a sports psychologist, will all attend the workshop, along with observers from the medical fraternity in Jamaica.”We will look at the amount of cricket West Indies will have to play under the International Cricket Council’s 10-year Test programme and see how it will impact on the players’ health and fitness,” remarked Gregory Shillingford, chief executive officer of the WICB.”We will then decide the level of preparation that will be necessary and try to come up with methods for medical preparation and testing, medical protocols, fitness programmes and testing, as well as the implementation of a Medical and Fitness Policy and Procedures Manual.”Other WICB officials attending will be Michael Hall, cricket operations officer of the WICB; Ricky Skerritt, manager of West Indies team; and Ronald Rogers, sports therapist of the team.The workshop was one of the recommendations approved at last Saturday’s board of directors’ meeting in Antigua, where a report submitted by Skerritt on the high number of injuries the team sustained during the tours to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka last year was reviewed.The workshop arose out of Skerritt’s recommendation that a face-to-face meeting be held between team management and a panel of key sports medicine advisors as well as relevant WICB officials to discuss his report and other related issues.The WICB is advised by a panel of doctors drawn from the medical faculty of the University of the West Indies, who have outlined a medical protocol for the preparation of the team.The fitness of the senior West Indies team has been brought into sharp focus after the heavy casualty lists sustained on the visits to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka last year, and many Windies Cricket fans have expressed great concern.

Bangladesh showed some improvements in the one-day matches they played against Pakistan. If they seek a momentary solace throughout the series in the game’s both versions, they can put forward their good efforts in the limited over matches as evidence.As for Tests they couldn’t hang on to the crease for full three days yet. Many controversial remarks have been made on Bangladesh’s horrendous performance in the Tests already. Sometimes the top-order was blamed and sometimes the middle. An impartial observer would find a good number of incongruities in Bangladesh’s so called strong batting line-up and in the team selection as well.Selectors have been trying to make a good opener out of Al-Sahariar, undoubtedly one of the most gifted batsmen in the country. But sorry for Al-Sahariar that he couldn’t accomplish the duty he was given (I would rather use the word “Imposed”) as a makeshift opener. He is most likely the most unfortunate victim of the reckless decisions carried on by the selectors. He was tested in all slots from number one to number six. How it is possible for a batsman to go on well against such odds?It’s right that he couldn’t bat with the prudence of an opener, as he was repeatedly seen carried away with the nasty prods he made out side the off stump. But we must remember it side by side that Sahariar has been playing in the middle-order for years and he feels pretty relaxed there. The selectors shouldn’t gamble with Al-Sahariar against a team like Pakistan.Mohammed Ashraful, a prodigy without a shred of doubt, is obviously playing under pressure since his sparkling debut against Sri Lanka. They way he batted in the first Test leaves ample evidences that he was succumbing to that pressure he tried to improvise shots against the cunning Pakistani bowlers, who are at any rate more skillful and experienced to baffle such boyish efforts.Besides that he is yet to learn the patience needed to play the longer version matches. A century knock in the debut doesn’t make a fixed grade of a batsman. Instead of being pompous of what he achieved in the past Ashraful should develop skills to play judiciously against the better bowlers in the world.He was too aggressive against the prominent Pakistanis, tried to outplay them by his fiery efforts as he successfully did in Colombo last year. But little Ashraful has to discover that these efforts don’t have good snaps in them always. No matter how tough a cookie he is, he should be warned by his seniors and others over this matter. Otherwise, he might face set backs in his auspicious career.

Nashua WP selectors have announced a squad of twelve players for Friday’s Standard Bank Cup final against KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. KwaZulu-Natal have gone with a 15 man squad.

NASHUA WESTERN PROVINCE Vs KWAZULU-NATALSTANDARD BANK CUP FINAL in DURBAN8 February 20021)Graeme Smith2)Lloyd Ferreira3)Neil Johnson (Capt)4)Ashwell Prince5)Andrew Puttick6)Jonathan Trott7)Thami Tsolekile (Wk)8)Alan Dawson9)Claude Henderson10Roger Telemachus11)Quentin Friend12)Renier MunnikCricket Managers: Vincent Barnes; Eric SimonsThe KwaZulu-Natal squad is as follows:The team will be chosen from the following squad:1. Doug Watson2. Gulam Bodi3. Ahmed Amla4. Dale Benkenstein (Capt)5. Ashraf Mall6. Jon Kent7. Duncan Brown8. Errol Stewart (Wk)9. Nixon McLean10. Andrew Tweedie11. Lucky Dladla12. Kyle Bender13. Ross Veenstra14. Gary Gilder15. Jon Bastow

The old adage that fast bowlers ran in off quite a few paces, let the ball fly and followed it up with some well chosen lip, and death stares towards the batsmen, is a simplication of the work that goes into being a quick.Well, no, perhaps not entirely. The lip, and the death stares are essential but the idea that bowling is as simple as running in and letting it gothat’s where the problem needs to be mended.And the old school thought that fast bowlers are dumb and lack the brain capacity it takes to think is batsman out is, well, wrong.To help unravel the mystery and techniques of fast bowling, Australia’s fastest pace man, Brett Lee, with the help of New South Wales high performance manager Alan Campbell and New South Wales rookie Doug Bollinger, who has played in the NSW 2nd XI and two games for NSW proper, will shed some light on pace bowling and add a few new dimensions to what it takes to be a fast bowler.To bowl at any speed you need to be fit, but especially when bowling at great pace fitness is essential. But being fit is a loose word. Campbell suggests the fitness needed is more specific than say being able to run 1.6 km.”You need to be fit. That includes flexibility, strength, core strength and an ability to carry out the skill and a fitness level, which tries to prevent injury.”But the level of fitness must be high so that you can work your way back from the injury,” says Campbell.Lee is a testament to the level of fitness that is required from bowlers to maintain their place in a side. Lee has had to remodel his action, and work his way back to full fitness from back, ankle, arm and side injuries.After all these injuries, Lee has taken on a new initiative upon himself to help guarantee fitness and help keep him off the injury list.”During last year’s pre-season, we [Australian fitness trainer, Jock Campbell and Lee] basically did a lot of extra work. I knew that if I was to get back to where I was prior to busting my arm or having a sore back…I would have to be at that top fitness level again.”We did some studies to find that if a person who plays sport and drinks are 10-15 times more likely to be injured.”I never ever was a big drinker but I thought I’ll give it a go because, I’ve had a few of them [injuries] in the past. I went a whole two months without having an alcoholic beverage and it is amazing how I felt- I felt so much better…It wasn’t a hard thing to do. It’s such a small sacrifice,” says Lee.So once the fitness side of the house is in order, a bowler needs to have what’s known as a “biomechanical sound action”.Campbell explains further: “They must have a biomechanically sound action, not only to prevent injury but so when they deliver the ball it will go where you want it to go for as many times as you like.”Bollinger agrees. While his action has never been under scrutiny, he had to improve and work on his follow through.”Before, I used to stop straight away and was jarring my pelvis because my action was not right.”Bollinger though agrees that everyone has a different action and just like a fingerprint it is unique.”Just because your neighbour or team-mate has a different action doesn’t mean that yours is wrong. Everyone has a different action, you just need to find what’s right for you,” Bollinger says.Even the run-up to deliver the ball is unique to each individual. Lee bowls off 24 paces or 23.30 metres whereas Bollinger takes 21 paces. The length of the run-up though is determined by an individual’s comfort level rather than a scientific answer.”I discovered my run-up by testing it out. I tried 20, wasn’t enough and then I tried more than 21 and that was too much, so it was more a process of trial and error rather than someone saying what I should bowl off,” says Bollinger.In the Australian camp these days, things are a bit more technical. Lee measures his run-up before the start of play with a measuring tape. This though has more to do with injury prevention and getting the run-up right rather than because Lee was told to run off 23.30m.”We [Australian cricket team] have a lot of things with run-ups lately. They did studies to say that a person who’s walking out their mark…if you think about it… if your hamstrings are tight and you try to pace out and then the next one you’re feeling a lot more flexible…each step could be two or three centimetres different and then that puts you out half a metre or so…we have just gone back to the old-fashioned tape measure,” says Lee.Although the physical aspects of a fast bowler are important so too is their ability to control the mental side of cricket. Cricket is very much a mental game and requires bowlers who are able to out-think their opponents.”There was the old school of thinking that fast bowlers are dumb. But this isn’t the case. They must have a mental capacity to work out a batsman,” says Campbell.”In fact, fast bowlers are fantastic thinkers. They must find the batsman’s weakness and then get them out.”But not everyone can spot the weakness and even if they can, they might not be able to sight and adopt a strategy to know how to get the batter out,” Campbell continues.From this mental capacity, the fast bowlers must have variation in their deliveries.”Variation in delivering different types of balls and not relying purely on pace.”Lee isn’t quite sure on how many deliveries he has due to variation.”There are slight variations and different techniques that can make one ball like 10 different types of balls. You’ve got your bouncer, yorker, slower ball, off cutter, leg cutter and then it comes down to different types of things with you – but it comes down to the big five I think,” says Lee.Bollinger, at 21-years-old, has not yet developed the range of deliveries that Lee has learnt. He relies on four major deliveries and the variations he can get from them. Bollinger’s four are the outswinger, inswinger, the leg cutter and he relies on the reverse swing with the old ball late in the innings.Along with all these components comes the nutrition side of things as well as adopting a healthy side to living. Campbell believes the Lee way thinking is correct.”As Brett Lee once said to a group of kids we had in here, `eat all things your mum tells you to eat, all the green things on your plate.’ But he also backed that up by telling them that MacDonalds and KFC should be eaten once a month not once a night.”Bollinger agrees saying decent sleep; lots of water plus all the fruit and vegetables can be of some benefit.Yet if they all had to recommend one thing out of all the components that go together to make a good fast bowler, they say it’s rhythm.Campbell thinks that rhythm and experimentation are the ways to becoming a good quick.Lee concedes the most important thins to work on is you rhythm and sometimes it something that cannot be taught.”The most important technique for bowling fast I would say is rhythm.”People think you have to have big muscles to bowl quick or you have to bench press 500 kilos. The most important thing about bowling quick is having a nice action, having a rhythmical action.”Bowling fast you have to have the momentum going to the crease and it’s a matter of controlled aggression. So I’d definitely put it down to rhythm.Bowling fast is an entirely personal experience.What is right for Brett Lee will not always be right for Glenn McGrath and so on. Being a quick comes down to hard work and dedication as well as an ability to want to learn and develop the techniques and skills that you have.

West Zone skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar led from the front as his team eased to a six-wicket victory over North Zone in a Deodhar Trophy encounter at the Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad on Sunday.Chasing 231 for victory in 50 overs, West cantered home to victory on the back of Kanitkar’s run-a-ball 80 and opener Robin Morris’ patient 74. The duo’s 128-run third wicket partnership was vital in smoothening West Zone’s path to victory. Abhijit Kale, who made an unbeaten 46 off 63 balls with four fours, was the other major contributor in the West Zone innings.Earlier, North after being put in by West had got off to an indifferent start, losing opener and star bat Gautam Gambhir early. The other opener Akash Chopra, meanwhile, got a start but failed to turn it into a substantial knock, falling for just 29.It was a failing that was to afflict almost all other North batsmen on a day when only Mithun Manhas 61 off 66 balls got past a half-century. With this being the case, Reetinder Sodhi’s men could only post 230/9 – a total that was to prove inadequate on the day.West Zone gained four points for the win.