Victories for both league sides last weekend have given Manicaland their best start in several years. In Harare the first team defeated Old Georgians by 21 runs and although the margin seems small were never in danger of losing.Grateful to be put in to bat on a good pitch by Old Georgians skipper Lance Malloch-Brown, Manicaland made 229 all out in 49.5 overs. Richie Sims top-scored with 51 whilst Kingsley Went made 47. Leon Soma smashed 31 off 16 balls (including 17 off one Gus Mackay over) and Tafadzwa Madondo added 29. Best bowlers were Mackay (3/48), Quentin Steyn (2/25) and Brad McCoun (3/37).Old Georgians never came to terms with the run rate, reaching a flattering 208 for nine after a few late overs of friendly spin. Barney Rogers (67), W. Mwayenga (31) and Malloch-Brown (31) were the main scorers, whilst Alistair Campbell (3/54) with some slow and slower off-spinners and Guy Whittall (3/27) were the best bowlers. Whittall knocked over danger men Mackay and Craig Evans in a tight mid-innings spell which took the game away from OGs.Young Manicaland captain/wicket-keeper Neil Ferreira is benefiting from having former Zimbabwean captain Campbell in the slips where advice and explanations are given freely on field placements and general captaincy. This weekend when Manicaland play the powerful Harare Sports Club team in Mutare, Campbell and Whittall will be away with the Zimbabwe Board X1 in Potchefstroom.Richie Sims can consider himself unlucky not to be in the team having scored three fifties in four knocks this season, whilst Barney Rogers, who has made the side, has only scored one in four. Both are useful off-spinners.In Mutare Manicaland seconds had an equally emphatic win over Universals seconds. Winning the toss, Manicaland captain Deon Yatras sent the visitors in to bat with Mutare Sports Club outfield wet from overnight rain. The bowlers struggled to grip the ball, restricting Manicaland’s options and allowing Universals 50 more runs than were merited. They were finally dismissed for 223 in the 44th over with K. Taibu (younger brother of national player Tatenda) top-scoring with 43. Yatras took 3/36 and schoolboy leg-spinner Keegan Taylor a long-awaited return-to-form 5/33.After some early alarms Manicaland coasted home in the 31st over with Nayim Sheth (53), Alec Taylor (31 not out) and a majestically calm unbeaten 100 from 17-year-old Andre Soma. The second of three talented cricketing brothers, Soma has the goods to go all the way – the biggest threat to his success is his innate humility in the competitive arena of cricket brats and super-egos.Apologies to Adiel Kugotsi who was incorrectly identified as Adiel Makota in last week’s report.In Mutare in the early part of the week was Worcestershire and England wicket-keeper Steve “Bumpy” Rhodes. Under contract to the ZCU, the engaging 37-year-old Yorkshireman held a number of coaching clinics at schools and clubs around Mutare with CFX Academy coach Shane Cloete. Totally unfazed at his lack of celebrity locally, his drills and enthusiasm soon won over pupils and coaches alike.

England fast bowler James Ormond and all-rounder Jon Dakin have both leftLeicestershire.Ormond turned down a new deal at Grace Road while Dakin has been released from his contract two years early at his own request.Leicestershire secretary James Whitaker said: “Jon asked if he could lookaround for another county and we agreed. His opportunities were going to be morelimited here next season and we decided not to stand in his way.”The club’s former wicketkeeper Phil Whitticase is to be head coach next season, succeeding Jack Birkenshaw who is to become coaching consultant.Leicestershire have signed Jamie Grove from Somerset and are on the verge of a deal with Charles Dagnall, who has been released by Warwickshire at his own request.

Tamil Nadu, looking to build a large first-innings total and then bowlKarnataka out quickly, were thwarted by Vijay Bharadwaj in their RanjiTrophy league match at Bangalore on Tuesday.The visitors’ innings ended on 468, with Robin Singh (58) and AshishKapoor (44) making quick runs and boosting their side’s overnightscore. For Karnataka, Mansur Ali Khan Ludi picked 5-81, including adeadly spell of 6.5-0-19-4.Karnataka started badly, losing both openers for just 16 runs.Barrington Rowland, the first-innings centurion, and Bharadwaj thencame together for a 202-run stand for the third wicket. Rowland made69 off 150 balls and was dismissed with the score on 218.The day ended with Karnataka on 233/3 and Bharadwaj unbeaten on 125off 160 balls, with 22 fours. He was accompanied by Thilak Naidu oneight.

At 16, Martin Nurse is already living part of his life-longdream and making good on a promise he made to his motherwhen she was alive.He has put the early trauma of losing his mother at just 11years old behind him and moved on to become one of theyoungest players to be named to the island’s senior cricketteam.My mother always supported me and I know if she were stillhere she would be proud of me.From young I always told her that I wanted to play cricketfor Barbados and, hopefully, the West Indies, he said.The Deighton Griffith Secondary School student has beenraised mostly by his older brother, Mark, who, he said,really pushed him to go after his dream.I am really excited and happy to be playing with some of theolder members of the team and the guys have all supportedme, said the quiet youngster.I honestly didn’t feel I did that great during the trials,but I still felt like I had a chance of making the team.I was surprised but happy when I heard I had been selected.All of my friends and family said they were proud of me andhope I do well.My ultimate dream, of course, is to one day play for theWest Indies, said the left-handed opening batsman.Nurse has been on a high since hearing the news and,yesterday, the confidence showed as he strutted out on theEmmerton Playing Field next to Barbados captain SherwinCampbell in the Emmerton Tapeball Cricket Competition.The fifth-form student was the leading Division 1 batsmanthis season with 737 runs, including a century his second atthat level.The first was a match-saving knock for Combined Schoolsagainst Spartan in Queen’s Park on his debut.He was a late bloomer, never seriously taking up the gameuntil he reached secondary school. Even then, the residentof Foursquare, St Philip, was never a part of the nationalUnder-15 or Under-19 teams.But a strong will and determination has seen him leapfrogover many players who were elevated while he had to sit backand watch.He creates history by becoming the first player to make thesenior side while still a junior, without making theUnder-19 team.He will, however, not be in Barbados for the season-opener.He leaves on January 8 for a three-week stint in Australia,where he will attend the Bradman Coaching School in Sydney,and other camps in Melbourne.From there it’s all in his hands.

The South African international wicketkeeper-batsman Nic Pothas has joined Hampshire on a two-year contract.

Pothas, 28 from Johannesburg, qualifies as an EC player as he holds a Greek passport. He represented South Africa in three one-day internationals in Singapore in August 2000.Pothas, who had been chased by four other English counties, was classified only recently as an EC player and now plays for Gauteng, formerly Transvaal, as their overseas player. He made his Transvaal debut eight years ago and has a batting average of 36 with a top score of 165.”He is a quality player,” says Hampshire’s Director of Cricket Tim Tremlett, “and comes highly recommended by our South African coach Jimmy Cook.”

Heavy rain at the Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh has effectively washed away all hopes Orissa might have had of winning their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Punjab. With ten wickets in hand, the visitors now have to chase down a mammoth victory target of 442 runs on the last day in order to book a place in the semi-finals.Punjab had earlier posted 460 runs in their second innings. Ankur Kakkar, who began the day on 50 not out, went on to make 78 while fast bowler Vineet Sharma contributed his mite making 47. The two were mainly responsible in ensuring that Punjab added a valuable 103 runs to their overnight score of 357 for six. Medium-pacer Debashish Mohanty, who claimed four wickets, was the most successful bowler for the visitors.Orissa openers Shiv Sunder Das and Biswa Bijayee Mohapatra set off in hot pursuit of the almost-impossible-to-achieve target rattling 26 runs in 3.2 overs before rain had the final say.

The Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board is warning of the danger of burn-out in international cricket.Lord MacLaurin believes the number of centrally-contracted players, which currently stands at 12, may have to increase.”With the programme stretching out over the next four or five years, I would imagine that there may have to be more players contracted to the board,” MacLaurin told the BBC.”That would mean people are not obliged to go on each and every tour. Otherwise you will have burn-out,” he said.England’s programme over the next 12 months includes seven home Tests, a large quantity of one-day internationals, an Ashes tour and the World Cup in South Africa.”We want to prolong their cricketing lives as much as we possibly can,” MacLaurin said. “I think we have to be very sensible about it. These cricketers are married and have young families and are growing up.”We have to be very sensible about the way we care for our players and guardagainst burn-out.”

Ricky Pontings’ all-conquering Australians overpowered a beleaguered SriLankan outfit, winning a predictably one-sided contest by a massive 142runs at the WACA on Sunday night.During the afternoon the Australian batsman, led by stand-in opener DarrenLehmann, who scored his third one-day century, ran riot, setting theconfidence-short tourists a daunting 306 target.Their new bowlers, Glen McGrath with his metronomic accuracy and Brett Leewith his searing pace, who grabbed three wickets, then exploited the tourist’s well documented weakness against top class fast bowling on quick andbouncy pitches.Sri Lanka, whose preparations for the 2003 World Cup are going from bad toworse, were never in the hunt after another lacklustre performance by theirmiddle order and they were eventually bowled out for 163 in 43 overs.The win moved Australia into pole position in the VB Series table with 17points and a game to spare over England on 12 points.Australia, missing Shane Warne (shoulder) and Adam Gilchrist (groin) throughinjury, never looked like losing the game after a 162 run openingpartnership between Matthew Hayden and Lehmann.Lehmann, provided the vice-captaincy in the absence of Gilchrist, laid thefoundations for the mammoth Australian score, hitting a commandingrun-a-ball 119 that included 12 fours and one six.The 32-year-old left-hander, who normally bats in the middle order, madefull use of the early over fielding restrictions with a clever combinationof improvised deflections and brute force.Hayden, sedate in comparison but typically powerful, provided solid supportscoring 64 from 68 balls and Australia looked set for a stratospheric scoreat the mid-way point of the first innings.The tourists, however, clawed their way back during the second half of theinnings thanks to a spirited performance from fast bowlers Prabath Nissanka(three for 54) and Dilhara Fernando (one for 55).Nissanka grabbed the wickets of Ponting (17), Lehmann and Damien Martyn (7)in quick succession before Fernando chimed in with the wicket ofentertaining wicket-keeper batsman Ryan Campbell (16).Nevertheless, despite the mid-innings wobble that saw Australia slip to 253for five, one-day specialist Michael Bevan (40 from 41 balls) and ShaneWatson (25 from 22 balls) finished the innings strongly with an unbroken52-run sixth wicket stand.Sri Lanka clearly needed a lightening start if they were ever going tochallenge the Australian total but McGrath and Lee quickly crushed suchfaint hopes as the visitors slumped to 20 for three.Out-of-form opener Jayasuriya scored just three before chipping a catch tomid-wicket, Marvan Atapattu (15) was caught off an inside edge and youngJehan Mubarak (4) sliced into the gully.Mahela Jaywardene (21) and Russel Arnold (15) – the only two Sri Lankanbatsmen to perform thus far in the series – steadied the innings briefly,adding 35 runs in six overs.However, a brilliant catch by man of the match Lehmann off his own bowlingto dismiss Jayawardene was quickly followed by the demise of Arnold, who topedged a slog-sweep off rookie spinner Brad Hogg.With Sri Lanka having slipped to 62 for five in the 18th over, KumarSangakkara (40) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (35) were left fighting for prideonly as the contest petered out into another drab finale.Sri Lanka will, at least, be provided with an opportunity to regroup as thetournament breaks to allow for Australia and England to complete their AshesTest series. The tri-series resumes on Jan 9.By then Sri Lanka will have been reinforced by the arrival of batting legendAravinda de Silva and the return to full fitness of Muttiah Muralitharan,who has been out of action after a hernia operation.

Struggling Black Cap Craig McMillan completed a fairytale return to form today for Canterbury in their State Shield match against Wellington.McMillan, hopelessly out of form before today, answered his critics and should have appeased the New Zealand selectors with an unbeaten 122 off only 107 balls, to lay the foundation for his Canterbury team to complete a big victory and move to fourth place on the points table with three rounds of the State Shield remaining.McMillan’s 122 included four sixes and 13 fours. He played some superb shots all around the wicket and no Wellington bowler escaped his power and aggression. It was his fifth century in domestic one-day cricket.McMillan praised the pitch conditions, thankful he took his chance on a wicket that was batsman friendly.”I just wanted to be positive. I got a couple in the middle and I was away. I realised once I got in I just had to make hay.”McMillan’s innings totally overshadowed Chris Nevin’s century earlier in the day. Nevin had batted for all but the final three balls of the Wellington innings to score a patient 100, his third in domestic one-day cricket.Earlier, Wellington captain Matthew Bell won the toss and chose to bat first. And with the exception of Nevin (100 off 140 balls) they struggled.Canterbury’s bowling was tight and accurate, but Wellington also failed to display any real urgency as they limped to 212 for nine off 50 overs.The Canterbury bowling was led by left-arm spinner Carl Anderson and Chris Harris. Anderson bowled 10 overs for 36. This included 12 runs taken from his last over. Harris took four for 28 off eight overs, including three leg before wicket decisions.With his four wickets he has now moved to fifth equal on the all-time domestic one-day wicket-taking list with Gavin Larsen on 94 wickets. As three more matches remain before the New Zealanders head to the World Cup in South Africa there must be every chance of Harris becoming only the fourth player to pass 100 wickets in the domestic competition.Despite gaining the early wicket of Michael Papps, the Wellington attack never settled into any sort of rhythm and the Canterbury batsmen led by the belligerent McMillan took full toll.Canterbury, who earned a bonus point with this win, host Northern Districts in Timaru on Wednesday, while Wellington, who remain top of the points table, have a lot to work on before they travel to Auckland to play the competition cellar dwellers in round eight of the Shield.

Captain Sanath Jayasuriya admitted that the lack of match exposure for SriLanka’s middle order was a concern after they strolled to their thirdconsecutive World Cup win against Canada.However, he argued that it was imperative for Sri Lanka to boost their NetRun Rate (NRR), which has now spiraled to a healthy 3.17, to increase theirchances of qualifying for the second round of the competition.”We are aware that by finishing off matches so quickly we are depriving themiddle-order of batting but the situation is such that we need to keep theNRR up and have to use all options open to us,” said Jayasuriya afterwards.”It was a very good pitch to bat on and I never expected Canada to get outfor 36. What we wanted to do was to put them in and get them out quickly andscore runs as quickly as possible,” he added.He praised the efforts of his fast bowlers, especially rookie quick bowlerPrabath Nissanka, who played in place of the injured Pulasthi Gunaratne.”There was nothing wrong with the wicket, both (Chaminda) Vaas and (Prabath)Nissanka bowled really well. They pitched the ball in the right areas andbowled straight. We had so many lbw decisions in our favour because theybowled straight,” he said.”Prabath bowled very well and I am very happy for him. He has been a fastbowler whom we had faith on although he has been struggling in the last fewgames. He bowled wicket to wicket and was rewarded. He has a lot ofpotential and you will see him more of him in the future.”This performance was what we wanted from him because after Pulasthi(Gunaratne) got injured we were lacking an experienced bowler. If Prabathcan do the job, it is the best thing that can happen,” he said.Nissanka, who hails from Matara, the same southern fishing town thatproduced Jayasuriya, was delighted with his Man of the Match award.”I love bowling on this type of wickets. The captain and coach helped me alot to get my rhythm back at practices. I did a lot of hard work at the netsand it has paid off today,” said Nissanka.Canada captain Joe Harris said that he was disappointed the way his sideplayed and that they were capable of better performances.”We prepared for this tournament from six months ago and we knew it wasgoing to be tough against established nations. But we set our minds onplaying as competitive as possible against these countries. Today was a bigdisappointment,” said Harris.