Taking advantage of the absence of South African stars, two Province young guns Rashaad Magiet(115 not out) and Andrew Puttick(85) gave their side a solid start on the opening day of the 3-day friendly against North West in Potchestroom on Thursday.WP were asked to bat after captain HD Ackerman lost the toss in cold and grey conditions. When bad light ended play some 13 overs before the scheduled close close WP reached 270 for the loss of Graeme Smith(55) and Puttick who made a well struck 85. Considering that this was WP’s first outdoor session of the season credit must go to the Province batters who seemed on form from the start.The match continues on Friday and Saturday.

Full scorecard;R.Magiet not out 115G.Smith ct Bula b Mazibuko 55A.Puttick ct Bula b Dreyer 85J.Mclean not out 7Extras 8Total 270/2

National champions Old Hararians look set to continue their domination of club cricket this season after a comfortable four-wicket win over rivals Old Georgians in the third week of the Mashonaland Vigne Cup. Both teams went into the match at Old Georgians Sports Club with unbeaten runs and the arrival of national team players from Bulawayo made the encounter even more interesting.Holders Old Georgians were dismissed for 218 in 49.3 overs with Craig Wishart top-scoring with 60. National team seamer Gary Brent finished with two wickets for 29 off his 10 overs. Sean Ervine also took two wickets off his 10 overs but was more expensive, conceding 56 runs. The OH bowling was wayward at times and they conceded 38 extras with Nyasha Chari bowling 11 wides in his eight overs.Old Hararians reached their victory for the loss of six wickets with eight balls to spare. Richard Sims made 55 while Ervine weighed in with an unbeaten 42. Travis Friend finished with almost the same bowling figures as Brent, taking two wickets for 29 off 10 overs. However, Friend bowled six wides while Brent had five wides.Harare Sports Club condemned Universals to their third successive defeat in the tournament with a crushing nine-wicket victory. Dion Ebrahim played his first domestic match and finished with an unbeaten 91 batting at number three as Universals made 252/5 in their allotted 50 overs.Harare Sports Club needed just 39.3 overs and three batsmen to reach their victory target. Opener Mark Vermeulen was the only wicket to fall after making 67. Fellow opener Trevor Gripper and Stuart Carlisle were unbeaten on 76 and 92 respectively.The other match was at Alexandra Sports Club where Alex beat winless Takashinga by three wickets in a low-scoring match. Takashinga made 185/9 in their allotted 50 overs with Hamilton Masakadza top-scoring with 34.Opener Doug Marillier led the Alex reply with 45 runs as the hosts reached 186 with 17 balls to spare. National reserve wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu took his wicket tally to seven in two matches as he finished with three for 43 off his 10 overs. In the previous match against Old Hararians Taibu took four for 35 off 10 overs.

Veteran fast bowlers Allan Donald and Steve Elworthy have both been included in the South African squad to tour Australia at the end of the year, but there is no place for Daryll Cullinan.Donald has not played in an international match this summer, but has been included on the basis of his vast experience and, as selection convener Rushdi Magiet put it, "he’s a great motivator". South Africa’s senior fast bowler missed the two-Test tour of Zimbabwe in September after being struck down with flu and was then kept out of the Indian tour after straining a stomach muscle, but, according to Magiet, has now been passed fit to tour.Elworthy, meanwhile, forced himself into the squad by sheer weight of wickets in domestic cricket this season. The 36-year-old "crashed the door down, said Magiet who added that the experience of both Donald and Elworthy would be an asset to the side.An experienced player not going, however, is Daryll Cullinan who has played only one-first class match this summer after undergoing knee surgery. Magiet said Cullinan’s lack of cricket together with his poor record against Australia had precluded him. Magiet added that there were "other factors" in his exclusion, a reference, presumably, to the rivalry that emerged between Cullinan and Shane Warne during South Africa’s last two tours of Australia.Jonty Rhodes has also not been included for the Test section of the tour, but he will join the squad for the one-day series. Although Rhodes has a full contract with the United Cricket Board, he has repeatedly said that he is not available for Test cricket and it appears to be the case that the selectors have chosen not to force the issue. Why this should be the case is not known.Magiet did confirm, however that the selectors had spoken to Rhodes "about three to four weeks ago", but had not been able to persuade him to change his mind.A minor surprise is the inclusion of Justin Ontong who has previously been regarded as a one-day player. He has been included, said Magiet, as an extra batsman.The 15-man squad will be supplement by Rhodes, Justin Kemp and Charl Langeveldt for the on-day series with the players to be sent back to South Africa being announced at the start of the third Test in Sydney.SquadShaun Pollock (capt), Mark Boucher (vice capt), Nicky Boje, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Steve Elworthy, Herschelle Gibbs, Nantie Hayward, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Neil McKenzie, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Jacques Rudolph.Jonty Rhodes, Justin Kemp and Charl Langeveldt to join the squad for the one-day series.

Tasmania and South Australia are the two states with the smallest populations in Australia and they’re also often depicted as possessing two of the more unfancied teams among the six that are drawn together in Pura Cup competition.Yet, as they watched the Tigers defiantly plot their way to a mark of 5/236 by stumps, the few people on hand at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart for the opening day of this match could barely have wished for a more earnest struggle.The South Australians started well, securing an important victory at the toss and gaining first use of a green-tinged pitch that offered plenty of assistance to the bowlers. They claimed their first wicket just three deliveries into the match and there were another four to come before the total had even surpassed 122.But Tasmania, having started far more slowly, finished far more impressively.Without their three front-line members in Jason Gillespie, Paul Wilson and Brett Swain, it has to be said that the Redbacks’ attack produced a manful performance.Left armer Mark Harrity (2/50) was especially impressive early, even looking like the uncompromising firebrand of a few years ago when he peppered former state teammate Daniel Marsh (26) with a brace of superbly aimed short deliveries after lunch. And fellow paceman Paul Rofe (1/58) also bowled well, albeit that his end-of-day figures didn’t entirely reflect the consistency of his line and length.It was Harrity who made the opening breakthrough by dispatching Dene Hills (0), and he later claimed the most prized Tasmanian wicket of all when he tempted Jamie Cox (35) into mistiming a leg glance and feathering a catch to wicketkeeper Graham Manou.He was also a prime factor in consigning Tasmania to potentially desperate peril at 2/10, by which point Hills and Michael Dighton (6) had already edged deliveries into the slips.Cox, Shane Watson (32) and Marsh worked grimly to restore the situation on a pitch offering the variability in bounce and consistent seam movement that its green hue had suggested it might.But the innings then threatened to unravel for a second time when the trio perished in relatively quick succession in the middle session.Such an outlook didn’t figure on a sterling unbeaten association of 114 runs for the sixth wicket between two left handers of differing builds and at differing ends of their careers, though. Shaun Young (66*) and Sean Clingeleffer (55*) were joined shortly before tea but were still unparted by stumps, having based their liaison upon sensible accumulation, discerning punishment of bad deliveries and equally prudent running between the wickets.Young is already an adept hand at foiling opposition attacks and Clingeleffer, a wicketkeeper-batsman of such immense promise that his future Test prospects are already being talked up in Tasmania, showed he is rapidly coming to grips with the same art. Accordingly, theirs was a partnership that provided gross frustration for the Redbacks.More insult was added by the notion that an already lengthy South Australian injury list was extended to include a new casualty in Ryan Harris. After bowling less than ten overs on his first-class debut, Harris (2/26) strained a pectoral muscle and was forced from the field. Doubt already surrounds his capacity to bowl again tomorrow.

The West Indies selectors yesterday named two changes to the currentteam for the upcoming triangular One Day Series, which starts onDecember, 8.Barbadian all-rounder, Ryan Hinds, has been elevated to represent thesenior West Indies, along with compatriot Corey Collymore, who makeshis return to the senior team.Hinds and Collymore, are the only two changes announced yesterday tothe West Indies team which have already conceded the Test series, andnow must try and salvage some pride during the remainder of the tour.Collymore, who was overlooked for the present Test series against SriLanka after coming highly recommended during the West Indies’ homeseries earlier this year against South Africa, returns to the seniorWest Indies team. His selection however, is sure to raise someeyebrows across the Caribbean. Collymore only represented Barbados intwo preliminary round matches of the Red Stripe Bowl, and lost hisplace because of lack of form and control. It is for this reason whyhis inclusion in the West Indies’ team for the triangular series issure to cause some unease and certain discomfort.The West Indies selectors however, have lived up to their widelyregarded reputation as “never failing to surprise”, and surprise theydid since their are obviously more qualified seam bowlers and allrounders available in the West Indies, especially at a time when theWest Indies bowling is depleted.Hinds and Collymore will replace Jamaican Leon Garrick and Guyanese,Colin Stuart in the West Indies squad, which is already in Sri Lanka.The two One-Day selectees are scheduled to leave the Caribbean onFriday and arrive in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning (Sri Lanka time).Twenty-year-old Hinds on the other hand, made his first-class debut in1999 against the Windward Islands and is widely regarded as one of thefew genuine all-rounders in the Caribbean. He last representedBarbados in the 2001 Red Stripe Bowl when he led the team, averaging75.20 runs with two half-centuries in the four matches he played. Healso captured five wickets in the tournament at an average of 26.20runs apiece.The triangular One Day Series begins on December 8.

Former captain Wasim Akram Tuesday said he was confidentthat this year would help him lead-up to next year’s WorldCup.”I am determined to perform well for myself as well as forthe team so that I am on top of my game for next year’sWorld Cup. This year is definitely important and I am takingthis as a challenge,” Wasim, 36, said at the NationalStadium.Wasim had a poor last year by his standards. In the threeTests, he picked up five wickets while in 12 one-dayersmanaged just 14.Wasim survived the axe by the skin of the teeth for the tourto England before he was overlooked for the training campfor the Asian Test Championship.He found a place in the Asian Test match against Bangladeshbut went wicketless while Waqar Younis returned with sixwickets.”I think I bowled my heart out in that match. But luckdidn’t go my way. At this stage of my career, I need someluck as well to keep myself geared up,” Wasim said.The left-hander admitted that it was difficult to keep onemotivated against team like Bangladesh who have lost sevenof the eight Tests since getting into the ICC fold in 2000.”Frankly speaking it is very hard to motivate yourself forseries against Bangladesh. But the coach and the captainhave done well to motivate the players.”Wasim hoped that his negotiations with Glamorgan were likelyto be finalized later this month. But he said he would signon his terms and conditions.”I will play on my conditions for Glamorgan because theycame to me for a contract. At 36 my body doesn’t allow me toplay in the gruelling cricket season in England. I want theoption of being selective,” he said.Wasim said Pakistan was the only team that can give thetoughest fight to Australia. “This year we have a series ofmatches against them which will prove where we stand andwhat is the difference between the two teams.”

South African fast bowler Nantie Hayward has been included in a 13-man Eastern Province Jumbos squad for the Standard Bank Cup first leg semifinal against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at St George’s Park on Wednesday.But whether Hayward will play remains to be seen. He is currently the subject of discussion between South African physiotherapist Craig Smith and the United Cricket Board concerning his rehabilitation from an ankle injury suffered in Australia.The Jumbos side will be captained by Robin Peterson.SquadRobin Peterson (Capt), Kevin Duckworth, James Bryant, Mark Benfield, Umar Abrahams, Dave Callaghan, Bruce Friderichs, Johan Botha, Lyall Meyer, Garnett Kruger, Meyrick Pringle, Mornantau Hayward, Clint du Plessis.

At the County Ground this morning, Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson talked about his two England players Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick, who are currently both out in New Zealand.Mr Anderson told me: “I’m worried about Andy Caddick’s morale, as it seems that once again he is in and out of the England side. We all know that the trigger for Andy’s confidence level is to feel wanted.”I was surprised to read Duncan Fletcher comment that Andy missed “a bit of oomph” in his bowling because he hadn’t really played for six months.”That is true and reflects two things. Andy could easily have played in the last two Championship matches, and had there been any meaningful liaison between the England manager, Kevin Shine and the player, we could have put in a structured practice programme for him in November and December.”Andy is at the age now where even though he doesn’t like practice, to continue at the high level he has achieved he has to practice. Cricket history shows us that all the great bowlers of the past started to lose it in their mid thirties.”By practicing, Andy can probably extend his career beyond that if he wants to.Regarding Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset Chief said: “Everyone at the club is pleased to note Marcus’s continuing impressive performances for England, and looks forward to the day when he is the England captain.”It is ironic though that following on from all the hoo-hah over Alec Stewart opening the batting and keeping wicket that suddenly Marcus finds himself in the same position.”The only saving grace for the team is that by keeping wicket he doesn’t have to run around the field (slowly!), but if this is a defect in his athleticism it is more than made up with his multi-talents of batting, bowling and keeping wicket.”On a vote of Somerset players, Marcus is the worst five-a-side soccer player currently in the county squad, if not on the whole of the circuit, and he can’t even keep goal!”

New Zealand’s longest-serving international umpire Steve Dunne will become the first umpire in the world to stand in 100 One-Day Internationals when walking out for the National Bank Series decider between New Zealand and England in Dunedin tomorrow.Dunne was unavailable to discuss his career yesterday, as he wanted to prepare for the game without any distraction. But before he ended the call he did acknowledge that he was unaware of the fact that he will be the first to achieve the milestone.The top 10 list of most appearances in ODIs by umpires reads: Steve Dunne (NZ) 99, David Shepherd (England) 97, Steve Randell (Australia) 88, Tony Crafter (Australia) 84, Steve Bucknor (West Indies) 83, Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe) 82, Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) 77, David Orchard (South Africa) 77, Darrell Hair (Australia) 74, Dickie Bird (England) 70.The top five New Zealand ODI umpiring list is: Dunne 99, Doug Cowie 63, Brian Aldridge 45, Steve Woodward 30, Dave Quested 30.It started for Dunne back in the summer of 1988/89 when he stood in his first One-Day International, on the same Carisbrook ground he had graced during his playing career for Otago. New Zealand were playing Pakistan and the most notable feature of the game was that it was a replacement match for the first Test of the series that had been abandoned without a ball being bowled.New Zealand won a low scoring game.His list of appointments was slowed by the fact that he was not on New Zealand’s list of World Cup umpires in 1992, as Aldridge and Woodward were the preferred umpires. However, he was on the panel for the 1996 and 1999 World Cups.His first overseas appointments under the independent umpires scheme was at Sharjah in 1995/96 for a series involving Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies.Forty-six of his games have been in New Zealand, 24 in Sharjah, eight each in India and Canada, five in England, three each in Pakistan and Bangladesh and two in Sri Lanka.

With a wry grin on his face, Otago captain Craig Cumming commented late today that cricket is not a game that one should try to understand.Cumming’s men had just completed an unlikely victory over Central Districts, winning by nine runs after looking all over a well-thrashed team just an hour and a half earlier.Otago scored 243, and Central could only reach 234 after reaching 154 before losing a wicket. Cumming suggested it’s difficult to try to understand just what happens in cricket. Two games ago Otago blew what appeared a certain winning chance against Wellington.Now they savoured cricket from, the other side of the coin.”It’s the opposite feeling to what we had when we played Wellington. It was unbelievable how we could lose that – now it’s unbelievable how we could win this.”I suppose it was pressure. We managed to get a couple of wickets and put some pressure on, and our bowlers did a whole better at the end than they did at the start,” Cumming said, “and the ball started to reverse.”It’s a funny game. I don’t think you should ever try to work it out because I don’t think you can.”Cumming believed the loss of momentum by Central after Jesse Ryder (61) and Craig Spearman (97) were dismissed was vital in achieving Otago’s ultimate win.”We talk about keeping momentum going with our batting. When we put a stop to their momentum, it allowed us to claw our way back into it. Funny things happen.”