Chris Liptrot playing his first County Championship match took 5 for43 for Worcestershire against Warwickshire at New Road. Warwickshireended the day at 140 for 8 in 51.2 overs in answer to Worcestershire’s338. The rookie fast bowler took the first three wickets inthe space of 10 balls and then returned to consume Mike Powell (75) andKeith Piper.Resuming the day at 231 for 5 with Vikram Solanki on 113 and wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes on 20, Worcestershire reached 338, Solanki making160 in 241 balls and Rhodes making 46 in 137balls. Their partnership was worth 112 runs in 34 overs. Ed Giddinsended with figures of 4 for 75.Solanki when dismissed was 20 runs shy of 1000 first class runs in theseason. “I didn’t know I was 20 runs short. That’s pleasing, but Iwould have liked to have gone past the 1,000 already. Let’s hope Iscore a few more and get past it pretty soon”, Solanki said. He alsoadded “It’s nice to score runs at any time, but when you go in to batin a situation like that it’s always good to get a few” referring tohis team’s position of 8 for 3 on the opening day.It was the first time Worcestershire had passed 300 in a first inningsat New Road this season.

Having put the Governor’s XI into bat, England did well in taking five wickets for 113 until an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 60 revived the innings in the last session of the day.In conditions more akin to England than to the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan (the cool day was shortened by a rain-delayed start and bad light after 56 overs), a partnership between Yasir Hameed and Mohammad Hussain took the Governor’s XI to 173 for 5 when stumps were drawn early.From 21 without loss at lunch after only a thirty-minute morning session, the Governor’s XI total had advanced to 101 for two at tea.Both wickets fell to catches behind the stumps. Craig White struck first dismissing Imran Farhat for 42 with the total on 58, and two runs later Andy Caddick found the outside edge of Taufeeq Umer’s bat.Wajahatullah Wasti, who got married yesterday and is having a local, traditional reception tonight, would not have taken too kindly to Darren Gough for striking him on the left hand and breaking a finger. He did not resume his innings after lunch.Farhat had provided some entertaining batting in his 54-ball innings of 42 but was given a ‘ life ‘ when Graham Thorpe, at third slip, failed to hold onto a straightforward catch off Caddick with the total on 17.The bowler would have been more than a little disappointed. He had been hit for two boundaries by Farhat at that stage. The first was a pull and then, two balls before the dropped catch, Farhat played a beautiful square cut.England made an excellent start after tea with Ashley Giles taking two wickets in three balls in the first over, without addition to the tea total.Twelve runs later Gough had the captain, Rashid Latif, caught at third slip. But then followed an attacking partnership during which Yasir Hameed reached his half-century from 107 balls, and hit five boundaries in his unbeaten 34.Both batted with confidence, with Yasir Hameed fluent in his stroke-play, and Mohammad Hussain hitting the ball hard.England used six bowlers of whom the two spinners, Ian Salisbury and Giles got a little turn from the grassy pitch, but the pace bowlers found plenty of early life and bounce.The England bowling coach, Bob Cottam, declared himself satisfied with the English bowling performance.”It was the first time the opening bowlers had bowled in the middle for a while and they were a little bit rusty,” Cottam admitted. “Goughie ran in a little bit quickly to begin with because he hasn’t had a new ball in his hand for a while.”As the day went on, they settled in and did well and I talked to all the bowlers at the end, and they are all happy with what they’ve put in, and that’s all you can really ask for.”As we know, fast bowlers hunt in pairs and both the spinners like having another spinner at the other end, it’s good for them. They have got to get over some of their rustiness, and they feel it is coming out nicely, and they’re happy.”

Riding on the good form of Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Abijit Kale and Kaushik Aphale,Maharashtra piled up 320 runs while losing four wickets at the close of play onthe opening day of their last league match of the West Zone Ranji trophy matchagainst Mumbai at the Shivaji Stadium in Kolhapur on Friday.Opting to bat, Maharashtra lost veteran opener Surinder Bhave (0) caught behindoff Sameer Dighe off Swapnil Hazare in the sixth over of the innings. But thisushered in the Maharashtra skipper Kanitkar (61) to join the other opener DhirajJadhav (31). The two added 100 runs for the second wicket in 21.5 overs. Jadhavwas the next to depart giving a return catch to Ramesh Powar.Abijit Kale (87) then replaced Jadhav but four balls later Kanitkar returned tothe pavilion after giving a catch to Sachin Sawant off Powar. During a 105-minute stay at the crease, Kanitkar faced 82 balls and found the boundary ropes10 times. Then Maharashtra recovered well from the double blow as Kake andKaushik Aphale (69) forged a 111-run partnership for the fourth wicket.Aphala, who fell for a catch by Sawant off Powar, had stayed at the centre for106 minutes and faced 106 balls and hit eight fours and two sixes. Thereafter,Kale found able company in Sagar Shah (43 not out) to take the home team tostumps without any further hiccups. The unbeaten partnership was worth 99 run.Ramesh Powar was the most successful bowler for Mumbai with figures of 3 for 79in his 15 overs.

The Western Australian Cricket Association is pleased to advise and confirm that two more players have been added to its list of WA State Contracted players – with the inclusion of Sean Cary and Geoff Cullen.Geoff Cullen has been given a contract in recognition of outstanding performances with the bat for Claremont Nedlands, at first grade level in the Sunsmart league. Last season Cullen scored 852 runs at 56.8 in the Sunsmart League, to add to his 164 runs at 27.33 for the WA BGC 2nd XI, in the ACB Cup. Cullen also played one Pura Cup game for WA late last season against Victoria at the WACA ground.Cullen said, “I’m very excited about being a part of the Western Warriors squad next season, but realistic too, about my ranking position. I know that I’ll need to continue scoring runs heavily for Claremont Nedlands, before I can get a game for WA, and am looking forward to the challenge.”While Sean Cary is already a highly experienced player for WA, he too has been rewarded for his outstanding form in first grade cricket last season. Cary took 52 wickets at 17.77 in the Sunsmart league to confirm his swing bowling abilities. So far in his career, Cary has 99 wickets at 34.28 from 36 Pura Cup and Sheffield Shield games for WA.The WACA intends to add two more State Player Contracts and two more Rookie Contracts to its overall list. The ACB’s deadline for states to sign off on final contractual appointments is the end of September.This season sees the inclusion of the Rookie Contract into the State Contract system. The rookie system allows each state to contract between two and five players under the age of 23, over and above their senior list. Players deemed rookies receive an annual retainer of $10,000 and are automatically upgraded to a state contract upon Pura Cup or Mercantile Mutual Cup selection.

Zimbabwe ‘A’ will play West Indies in a one-day warm-up match atHarare Sports Club on 26 June 2001 and the following will represent Zimbabwe ‘A’:

• PAUL STRANG (CAPTAIN)
• GARY BRENT
• DONALD CAMPBELL
• GUY CROXFORD
• HAMILTON MASAKADZA
• STUART MATSIKENYIRE
• DAVID MUTENDERA
• MLULEKI NKALA
• GAVIN RENNIE
• BRIGHTON WATAMBWA
• CRAIG WISHART
• BARNEY ROGERS (12TH MAN)
• KISHORE GOKAL (MANAGER)
• BRADLEY ROBINSON (PHYSIOTHERAPIST)

* Sports Minister finally approves Sri Lanka squadThe Ministry of Sports and Tourism has approved the same squadpresented by the Sri Lankan national selectors for the forthcomingCoca-Cola Cup. The Sports Minister, Lakshman Kiriella, had earlierrefused to approve the 15-man squad, questioning the omission of offspinner Thilan Samaraweera.Normally the players selected need the approval of the Minister ofSports and generally the names are approved by the Minister. But thistime the Minister controversially refused approval, insisting onSamaraweera’s inclusion.The Minister refused approval for two days but on Friday the Board ofControl for Cricket in Sri Lanka released the names of playersapproved by the minister, which didn’t contain the name ofSamaraweera.* Sri Lankan tour will be challenging, says DravidIndian vice-captain Rahul Dravid has said the coming Sri Lankan tourwould be challenging and that he was looking forward to it. “The tripwill be challenging. Sri Lanka has always been a challenging andinteresting venue. I am looking forward to it”, the 28-year-oldbatsman told reporters in Bangalore on Friday.India is scheduled to play in the limited overs tri-series, involvingSri Lanka and New Zealand, after which it would take on the islandnation in a three Test series.Dravid said he was disappointed with his batting in two crunch matchesin Zimbabwe during the recent tour, but expressed happiness that hewas among the runs. “I was disappointed with the way I played in thefinal of the tri-series tournament (against the West Indies)”, hesaid.

We are one and one after the first two games but I know everyone inthe team would have thought we are very unlucky not to be unbeaten at thisstage of the Coca-Cola Cup.But that is the way cricket goes and if you weremaking predictions at the half way point of each game I think most peoplewould have picked opposite results.The first game against the Lankans was a case of blowing the cobwebsout, and that was evident through the high number of extras.I was criminalin that regard, bowling four no-balls as a spinner is just wrong. I washaving a few interpretation problems with the umpire about some of hisdecisions but that is all part and parcel of playing in Sri Lanka.In saying all that, I thought Chris Harris and myself pulled them back well andI was pleased with my return from my first competitive bowl in five months. Welet ourselves down a bit with the bat making the task too hard at the end.We knew the second game was must-win as there is no worse a feeling thangoing into four days of rest winless.Nathan Astle batted superbly for his 10th one day international and proved yet again why he is New Zealand’sfinest one day batsmen. Although at the end of his innings he was startingto run out of puff, along with everyone else who batted with him, and ourinnings staggered to a disappointing 212.But at the dinner interval Stephen Fleming reiterated to us that we werestill well and truly in the game and that losing wasn’t an option.Our opening bowlers in Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills bowled one of the bestopening spells I have seen and that set the scene for the rest of the game.Dion Nash was back to his best in everything he did and it makes a hugedifference to the team when he gets involved in the game the way he did lastnight.So now we have got four days off and since the games in Dhambulla havebeen called off, due to no one knowing who owns the ground, yes you readthat right no one knows who own the ground, we are off to Kandy for a coupleof days, just to get out of the hotel.Three weeks in the same hotel and some of the boys would come down with a case of cabin fever.I think everyone in New Zealand has heard there is a bit of unrest inColombo at the moment and although it is not far away from us, it shouldn’tcause us any problems.We had to drive through a bit of a demonstrationthree days ago, and admittedly there was a bit of tear gas being thrown aroundbut all the protesters looked to have smiles on their faces, or maybe they werejust grimacing from the tear gas in their eyes.Four days off is almost unheard of on an international tour so we willbe making the most of it getting ready for the next ODI knowing howimportant it will be if we want to fulfil our goal of winning thistournament.

George Winkles is a very special and treasured person within the Burridge Community, to be sat here writing his obituary greatly saddens me, for this was a gentleman in the prime of his life, with so very much to offer, who put back into cricket far more than he took out as a player.George joined Burridge in 1983 when the club was a mid table Hampshire League South East 1 club playing on a Council field with 2 Saturday sides. At the time of his unfortunate and premature death, Burridge reside in Southern Premier 1 and have 4 Saturday sides, and one of the top pitches in Hampshire. All of which are achievements that without George, would have been almost impossible.The intervening 18 years has seen George play a variety of roles within the club, from opening batsman, where he still holds with Pete Tugwell the club record opening partnership of 236 against Paultons, a more than useful offspin bowler, Colts manager for 4 years and Secretary for 4 years, but the legacy he leaves behind is of the untold hours he has put into our cricket field to make what was 15 years ago a farmers field into a superb cricket facility.George was the secretary when the opportunity to develop the ground arose and he was at the forefront as the levelling and laying of the square took place volunteering to take control of the maintenance of the square from the start, learning as he went along about the many intricacies of cricket square maintenance, of grasses, pests and diseases. George was a man who was always prepared to pass on his knowledge to any one who asked his advice.As people took notice of the growing reputation of the Burridge wicket, (winning the HCL ground of the year in 1996 and the Southern League Groundsman in 1999) so George was in demand, subsequently he joined the Hampshire League committee in 1993, and the Southern League in 1997 helping to set up the ground accreditation sub committee , and in 1999 when the Premier League was set up he advised on ground standards. He did over the past few years win many awards for the standard of the pitch, however he was always humble in receiving the credit that was so desperately deserved.His efforts within Hampshire didn’t go unnoticed at national level when in 1999 it was decided by the English Cricket board to set up a panel of pitch advisors to cover the country George was invited to become one of the initial group of 16, covering the central southern region. This was a great honour to bestow upon anyone, and George attacked this challenge as he did with anything else within his life.George was, and always will be a treasured and true friend to all of those who through the years were lucky enough to encounter him, he was funny with the ability to make anyone smile with a simple comment.It has been my privilege to have known George, and I know that I am not alone in that thinking, all those people who were lucky enough to encounter this extraordinary person were honoured.George Winkles will remain forever our true friend, and will remain in our thoughts and hearts forever.

* Gupte was the finest, says Sobers‘Blonde Bombshell’ Shane Warne might have his backers. For Sir DonaldBradman it might be Bill O’Reilly who was the finest of his tribe. Butas far as Sir Garry Sobers is concerned all arguments end with SubhashGupte.”(Gupte) had everything including two googles (googlies) that turned(one with a high arm action and one delivered more round-arm). Hisflight, length direction were magnificent,” go4cricket.com quotedSobers who was speaking at a function Cape Town in South Africa onFriday.The legendary all-rounder felt it was the amount of turn that Warneextracted that impressed people. “He never used to bowl the googly atfirst because he used to telegraph it and you could see it a mile off.His flipper was easy to pick up; there was always a little bit of achange (in his action).”Gupte played 36 Tests between 1952 and 1961 claiming 149 Test wickets.A wrist spinner who could turn it on any surface and one who possessedbaffling variety, he bowled an immaculate line and length. At hispeak, he bowled to batsmen of the calibre of the three W’s and AllanRae with a short leg, a silly mid-on and a silly mid-off! His bestTest figures were 9-102 against a West Indies side that also includedSobers in Kanpur in 1958.Sobers opinion about “Fergie” Gupte only echoes what many Indianobservers have been saying for a long time. The late Pankaj Roy, forinstance, while speaking to Cricinfo.com in September 2000 had said,”People, who are making such a statement (that Shane Warne was thebest leggie ever), have not seen Subhash Gupte. He had two googlies inhis armory. The first was quite apparent to the batsman, the secondwas the killer. Subhash Gupte would possibly accounted for morevictims if he had played the same number of Tests that Warne hasdone.”The 71-year-old Gupte is currently living in Trinidad where he settledafter marrying a West Indian. On Saturday, the Indian Board nominatedhim the 2000 CK Nayadu award.* ‘Deep’ in happinessThe new Indian wicket-keeper, the 23-year-old Deep Dasgupta was elatedto hear that he had been selected for India’s tour of South Africa.”My dad called me up from Kolkata and gave me the news. I cannotexpress what I felt,” Dasgupta told Press Trust of India.”It is indeed a great opportunity for a youngster like me to play forthe country. It is a dream come true. I have to make the best of it,”said Dasgupta, currently playing for Bengal in the Moin-ud-Dowla GoldCup.”I had been in contention for some time. But now that I have beenselected, it is a totally different feeling. In some way, I wasexpecting it.”Sameer Dighe, for all his commitment, was pathetic behind the stumps.The selectors were right when they decided that he couldn’t be trustedwith the important job of keeping wickets on the hard and bouncytracks in South Africa. Hopefully, Dasgupta who is said to be verygood ‘keeper, will hopefully measure up to the task and prove to be along-term option.* Das ready to settle for a slot in the middle-orderAnother East Zone man was also celebrating on Friday. Shiv Sunder Daswho has impressed as a Test opener, has also earned his first call-upto the one-day squad. The little man from Orissa feeels he might beable to gain a place in middle-order in the shorter version of thegame.”I will not change my game too much, I will play the same way. Thesethree weeks of practice will be very good and I will use a plasticball. Going early to South Africa will be good it will give us theconfidence,” Das told New Delhi Television.Something his long-time coach, Kishore Mania, fully endorsed. “Thesame technique – taking singles and not going for big shots and tryingand rotating the strike should work,” said Mania.Das, who is basically a backfoot player with a compact defence, is oneof the Indians expected to do well in South Africa. He is sure to gethis opportunity of facing up to the South African quicks in Tests. Buta one-day cap might be longer in coming.

Andy Flower, a giant among pygmies, again played the role of Horatius on thebridge, frustrating the might of South Africa as they attempted to wrap upthe First Test match against Zimbabwe in four days. Flower set severalrecords during the day and he was still there with 138 at the close, havingso far batted for 12-and-a-half hours in the match. His team finished 10 runs frommaking South Africa bat again, with three wickets in hand.As play began, a few quiet singles from Flower, 43 overnight, took him tohis fifty; this was the fifth time in his career he has scored a century anda fifty in the same Test match, and the fourth time in two years. It washis 11th fifty in his last 14 Test innings, and he has now played 15successive innings without being dismissed by a bowler for less than 40.An on-drive from his overnight partner, Hamilton Masakadza, off ClaudeHenderson for four brought him his fifty and also Zimbabwe’s first centurypartnership in four Tests against South Africa. Flower’s next landmark was200 runs in the match, for the fourth time in his career, all during thelast two years.Masakadza enjoyed a life on 56 when he cut Makhaya Ntini hard into thegully, and Shaun Pollock was unable to hold a sharp chance. Overall theSouth African fielding in this match was a little short of their usualstandard of near perfection, with Zimbabwe also benefiting in both inningsfrom several misfields. Another difficult but possible chance came on 70,when the same batsman edged a cut from Lance Klusener low past first slipJacques Kallis, who was unable to get a hand to it.Masakadza enjoyed another life on 79, immediately after lunch, missed offanother hard chance in the gully. Then Henderson settled into a tightleg-stump line that tied him down, and finally got his man, caught at shortleg off pad and bat for 85. It was a good decision by umpire Tiffin despitea comparatively muted appeal, after both umpires during the morning hadcorrectly, according to replays, given several close decisions in favour ofthe batsmen. The pair had added 186 for the third wicket.A reverse sweep for four off Henderson in the last over before the secondnew ball brought Flower his second century of the match, the secondZimbabwean to do so after his brother Grant, and the first wicket-keeper todo so in Test cricket. Nobody else has performed the feat against thestrong South African attack since readmission; in fact, not since AustralianJack Moroney in 1949/50.When South Africa took the second new ball, Andy retreated intowatchfulness. Grant, still battling with mental and technical problems,scored 16 before driving Ntini straight to cover just before tea, when Andywas on 115 and Zimbabwe still needed 65 more to avoid the innings defeat.On either side of tea the cricket developed into a war of attrition as SouthAfrica, unable to dismiss Flower, bowled a defensive line outside off stumpto restrain him. Flower occasionally broke through the field but GuyWhittall (3) never looked happy before being adjudged lbw to Henderson.Heath Streak (19) was brilliantly caught by Kallis at second slip offPollock, while Flower hung on, though visibly tiring after almost two fulldays keeping wicket followed by an even longer period at the crease. TravisFriend, though, looked like repeating his impressive defiance of the firstinnings and was unbeaten with 10 at the close.