Glamorgan travel to Worcester for Sunday`s Norwich Union League game knowingthat victory in the match would clinch not only a move up to Division One,but also the Division Two title as well.The top three teams in the Division will be promoted, and should teams finish on equal points, the positions are decided by firstly the number of wins, and then run rate.As the table shows, Glamorgan have a far superior run rate and at the moment they also have a greater number of wins. A win at Worcester would give Glamorgan 46 points and 11 victories, and even if Durham win their two remaining games they would have 46 points but only 10 victories.Glamorgan travel to Worcester with the same 12 that did duty on Wednesday night at Cardiff, plus Steve James, and they will be hoping that the weather forecasters, who are predicting a rainy day at the New Road ground are wrong, and that the Welsh county can win both the game, and the Division Two title.

P W Pts Net Run Rate1st Glamorgan 13 10 42 +17.662nd Durham 14 8 38 + 2.293rd Worcs 13 8 34 + 8.044th Hampshire 14 8 34 + 3.38

Australian Jamie Cox could not conceal his delight at ending 18 barren years at Somerset by picking up the C&G Trophy following their 41-run defeat of Leicestershire.The Tasmanian said: “Everyone keeps telling us about the era when we last wona trophy.”The names of Botham, Richards, Garner will never be forgotten, but hopefullypeople will start remembering the names of Parsons, Turner, Blackwell, Dutch.”We were really conscious to try and create our own history today. We had achance to do it in 1999 but messed it up for a number of reasons. Keith Parsons(60 not out, man of the match) played one of the innings of his life.”It’s the proudest day of my cricketing life, I’ve got no hesitation insaying that. I’ve played in finals at home in Sheffield Shield and it was agreat moment playing for my home state.”But to do it as captain of your adopted club is something I’ll never forget.I’ll treasure this for the rest of my days.”I’ll never have a better day in cricket than this. Now we’ve been here, nowwe’ve won, it’s such a good monkey to have off your back.”To realise how to do it, how to win, how to come to these big days and justcope with the nerves, the uncertainties of what’s going to happen on the day…we coped beautifully with that.”Leicestershire captain Vince Wells said: “Probably the extras were the bigthing. We gave away 23 more than they did.”Realistically we thought it was a 240-250 pitch. We thought we could chase80 off 10 overs but to do that you need wickets in hand.”Leicestershire gave away 34 extras against Somerset’s 11 and conceded 15 wides, eight in the fourth over of the match by Scott Boswell.Was it nerves? “I think it probably was,” added Wells.”We feel sorry for him; he’s bowled beautifully for us and got four for 44against Lancashire (in the semi-final).”Unfortunately it didn’t come out for him today. I’m sure everyone felt forhim.”

It is with regret that the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lankainforms the cricket loving public that the proposed tour to Pakistan willnot be going ahead due to concerns over the safety of our players.The Pakistan Cricket Board extended an invitation to the BCCSL for the SriLankan team to play three One Day Internationals, following the cancellationof the New Zealand tour of Pakistan.Despite the uncertain global security situation which could especiallyeffect conditions in Pakistan, the Interim Committee of the BCCSL agreed totour in principle, keeping in mind the long history of friendship betweenSri Lanka and Pakistan, both in the game of Cricket and between the twoNations. This was provided that adequate measures would be available for thesecurity of players, as well as the Pakistani players, officials andspectators.”Our first concern was the safety of our players. We requested the PakistanCricket Board to make arrangements to evacuate our players by air, shouldthe need have arisen. However, despite the efforts of the PCB, it was notpossible to arrange the logistics for this and after a series of discussionsbetween the PCB and BCCSL, it was desided that the tour be called off,” saidVijaya Malalasekera, Chairman of the Interim Committee of the BCCSL.Both Sri Lanka and Pakistan, together with Zimbabwe, will next beparticipating in the Sharjah Champions’ Trophy in the UAE, which begins onthe 26th of October.

Sri Lankan physiotherapist, Sean Slattery, expects injured fast bowler NuwanZoysa to be fully fit before the three-match Test series against WestIndies.Zoysa, 23, suffered a stress fracture of his ankle in July, forcing him tomiss the Coca-Cola Cup, the Indian Test series and Sharjah.Presently, the left arm seam bowler has started bowling in the nets, butSlattery feels there’s no need to rush him to play competitive cricket:"Zoysa is alright now. There’s no pain, no swelling and he has startedbowling in the nets. But he has to wait for another two weeks before takingpart in any competitive cricket."Even if he is fit to play the selectors may prefer to wait until he has morecompetitive cricket under his belt. A comeback during the triangular serieswith Zimbabwe and West Indies is the most likely option.Slattery will be with the Sri Lankan squad for a short while until AlexKontouri returns from his study leave in Australia.

*Vidyut stars for Haryana at GurgaonS Vidyut scored an unbeaten century to help Haryana to a draw againstPunjab in their Ranji Trophy league match at Gurgaon on Tuesday.Unbeaten on 23 overnight, Vidyut made 105 off 143 balls with littlesupport from other batsmen, spurring his side to an unforseen secondinnings total of 309. For Punjab, Sandeep Sanwal picked 3-67.Set a target of 196 runs to win, Punjab lost quick wickets in themiddle to put all thoughts of an outright win right out of theirminds. Although Ravneet Ricky made unbeaten 41 off 62 and Yuvraj Singhslammed 24 off 27, three wickets fell within the space of 12 runs,forcing the batsmen to opt for a draw. 108/5 at the close of play,Punjab picked up five points from this encounter, while Haryana pickedup three.*Delhi notch up massive victoryDelhi won their Ranji Trophy league match against Jammu & Kashmir by amargin of 200 runs, picking up eight points at the Feroze Shah Kotlagrounds in Delhi on Tuesday.Set a target of 469, Jammu & Kashmir never looked to go after it andcould only hope for a draw. When their in-form batsman, KavaljitSingh, fell after making 90 with the score on 193, having spent 310minutes at the crease, Delhi sniffed a chance to bowl their rivalsout.They did not mess it up. Sarandeep Singh (4-60) and Amit Bhandari(3-76) combined to destroy Jammu & Kashmir’s lower order, bowling themout for 268. Some resisting efforts from the lower middle-ordernotwithstanding, Delhi finally won in a canter.*Himachal Pradesh pull off shock winLittle-rated Himachal Pradesh pulled off a shock victory over giantsServices in their Ranji Trophy league match at Una on Tuesday.Shakti Singh (5-80) and Vishal Bhatia (4-40) rudely unseated Servicesfrom its comfortable overnight position of 25/0 to bowl them out for179. Brushing aside scores of 44 and 42 from K Chawda and YashpalSingh respectively, Himachal Pradesh’s bowling attack took only 54.3overs to work its magic.Set a target of 46 to win, Himachal Pradesh were never going to betroubled too much. They reached the score with only one wicket lost in11.3 overs, with Sandeep Sharma making 27 off 25 balls.*Goa tail wags furiouslyGoa’s tailenders batted resolutely to deny Tamil Nadu a shot atvictory in their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai on Tuesday.Despite a five-wicket haul from L Balaji, Tamil Nadu could not bowlGoa out for less than 158 to notch up an innings victory. Batsmen likeKiran Powar (57) and skipper Amitabh Velaskar (23) used up valuableminutes in their knock.Further down the order, Avadoot Amonkar used 50 minutes and 40 ballsto score one run, while Avinash Aware spent an unbeaten 57 minutes and48 balls without getting off the mark.Tamil Nadu, by virtue of a first-innings lead, pick up five pointsfrom this drawn match, while Goa pick up three.*Andhra Pradesh draw with KeralaSet a target of 177 to win the match, Andhra Pradesh hung on to drawtheir Ranji Trophy league match against Kerala at Cochin.Kerala, reeling overnight at 131/7, miraculously made it to 259, withKN Ananthapadmanabhan making a sterling unbeaten 74, coming in atnumber 10. Sreekumar Nair, the other overnight batsman, made 83 off390 minutes and 279 balls. For Andhra Pradesh, Mohamad Faiq picked uphis second five-wicket haul of the match.Andhra Pradesh never looked to go after the target, preferring insteadto pick up their five points by virtue of a first-innings lead. At theclose of play, Andhra Pradesh were 78/2, with skipper MSK Prasadunbeaten on nine off 102 minutes and 66 balls.

At last the Test match was on its way. We better call it a "three-day’ match and since the first two days were swept away with the rain. The match started when the tourists gave up all the hopes to fight against one of the better teams of the world on their home soil. It was an acid test for Bangladesh at the beginning, which now has turned out to be a lot easier task for them after the rain. But is it really easier?New Zealand have managed 306 loosing 5 wickets in a pitch like Hamilton where any skipper would like to field first. Khaled Masud was the luckier one to escape the batting thanks to the blessed "toss" he won. This is his first Test as a skipper and he is facing a real tough tour.Bangladesh’s tours to Zimbabwe did not upset the fans quietly. Though the two Tests they lost, they fought well. They managed to take the second Test to the fifth day and shunned the innings defeat. But the horror was waiting in Multan and Colombo. The giant Pakistan finished the match before the lunch of the third day. Though the wicket was absolutely batting-friendly, Bangladesh succumbed to kaneria’s not-so-harmful leg breaks. The match was awful.In Colombo the history almost repeated itself except a brave century from the most junior member of the team that helped the team to past three hundred. Murlitharan alone was enough to polish off the Bangladeshi line-up. The match ended at the last hour of the third day.So, in away, against stronger opponents Bangladesh has two valid records to be defeated with in the limit of three days. New Zealand, with its current form as we saw against Australia, is no less gigantic than Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Besides they are one of the most formidable powers in their home ground.Bangladesh went for six batsmen (Including Mohammed Ashraful) and four pace bowlers. The tail of the squad is weak. Left arm Enamul Haq was ignored. Mohammed Sharif is playing instead of him. Sharif was unsuccessful in the Test against Zimbabwe held in Chittagong. He bowled well but remained wicket less; on the other hand, Enamul bowled brilliantly and got a couple of wickets in that Test. He is a reputed all rounder too.All three tail-enders Mashrafe, Sharif and Manjural have little or no reputation with the bat. If Enamul would be taken instead of Sharif (gave 87 runs in his 16 overs) the line-up would have been stronger undoubtedly.As for bowling Mashrafe is playing up to his mark removing Vincent for a duck and capturing 3 wickets for 82 in his 23. Khaled Mahmood’s has been included for his batting capabilities. Once again his gentle medium pace proved unfruitful in the longer version. He bowled only 8 overs to concede 34 runs. Ashraful should not be tagged as an all rounder any more as he could not pull off any success with his harmless leg-break so far.So, two more days are waiting to see what happens in the Bangladeshi batting order. We should be optimistic but not pompous. There is no way we could be self-assured because we left records that say we could be beaten within three days!

Zimbabwe were left facing an innings defeat at the Sinhalese Sports Club onSaturday after being forced to follow on 402 runs in arrears in the firstJanashakthi National Test.The tourists then suffered further damage in the second innings, asoff-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan plucked out two wickets to leave then on 64for two, still 338 runs behind with two days remaining.Zimbabwe’s second knock had started well enough, as the openers survived thefirst hour without loss. But teenage opener Hamilton Masakadza (28) then topedged a slog sweep and was well caught by Marvan Atapattu running back frommid-wicket.Minutes later his partner, Trevor Gripper (10), misread Muralitharan’sstraighter ball for the second time in the day to be given out caught behindby wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.Night watchman Travis Friend averted further damage by somehow surviving theremaining seven overs till the close with acting-captain Stuart Carlisle (22not out), despite frequent appeals from Sri Lanka’s hawkish close fieldersand some explosive off-breaks from Muralitharan.Muralitharan picked up six wickets in the day, to pass Malcom Marshall (376)and slip into eighth position in the all-time wicket-takers list, and posedthe greatest the threat to the batsmen on a wicket that is getting slowerand lower.He will surely continue to do so when play resumes on Monday morning after arest day forced upon the cricketing authorities by a government decree thatno sport be played on full moon (Poya) holidays.Zimbabwe will be none to pleased that the pitch will spend a whole day beingbaked by sun before their resume their apparently hopeless rearguard action.As it was skipper Carlisle showed frustration afterwards following a numberof dubious umpiring decisions that largely fell in favour of the home-side,starting with early let-offs for Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu onthe first day and continuing today in the Zimbabwean first innings.Gavin Rennie (35) was given out lbw sweeping Muralitharan when the ballwould have missed off-stump, Grant Flower (0) was dubiously adjudged caughtat silly point for a duck shortly after lunch, and Travis Friend (6)received a shocking lbw decision from umpire Riazruddin.The poor decisions did not all go in Sri Lanka’s favour. Andy Flower lookedlucky to survive two leg-before shouts on 34 when pinned to his stumps byswerving indippers from Chaminda Vaas and on the second day Kumar Sangakkaralooked unlucky to have been given out by the third umpire when televisionreplays appeared inconclusive.But Zimbabwe lack the talent to survive such misfortune and on balance theyhad the right to feel aggrieved.Carlisle, speaking with emotion but also trying to abide by ICC regulationsthat prevent direct comment on umpiring decisions, said: “As a fielding andbatting side we have been very unlucky on certain things and it really hasn’t gone our way. These important factors change games and make it difficultto lift the guys.”He had not given up hope of averting defeat though: “We sure are going totry our hardest to save this game. It is a pretty good batting pitch, but30s and 40s are not going to do it. Its up to the eight batters left to getreally stuck in and get some big partnerships.”Zimbabwe also had themselves to blame for their sorry predicament after somepretty ordinary shots in the morning and early afternoon, as they failed toconstruct any meaningful partnerships.Carlisle (10), who was dropped second ball of the day despite an acrobaticeffort from Sangakkara, was the first to go, as Jayasuriya held on to asharp chance at first slip (29 for two).Gripper (30) became Muralitharan’s first wicket when he was snapped up atfirst slip and with Rennie’s lbw decision Zimbabwe were left on 100 for fourat lunch.Grant Flower lasted just four balls afterwards before Craig Wishart (21) andAndy Flower (42) added 41 for the sixth wicket, the largest stand of theinnings.But Wishart then guided a short delivery from Nuwan Zoysa into the hands ofthird slip and Andy Flower cleaned bowled next over as he two-stepped downthe wicket to off-spinner Thilan Samaraweera (146 for seven).Heath Streak (26 not out) and Friend threatened a recovery but that nevermaterialised after Friend’s controversial decision and Zimbabwe were bowledout for 184.

After a dull first day, it was a stroke-filled and eventfulsecond day at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium whenPakistan amassed a mammoth 493 and proceeded to turn thescrews on the West Indies. Yousuf Youhana, who looked goodfor his second double ton, fell on 146, while surprise packageRashid Latif top-scored with 150 – his maiden Test ton. Yet,with all the clean hitting and sensible batting, there weretoo few pairs of eyes to witness the action. For a seconddisappointing day, the fans stayed away from the ground,leaving the thump of willow on leather to echo in hollowfashion from the rows of empty stands.In response to Pakistan’s daunting score, West Indies managed54/0 from 18 well-negotiated overs as the light faded, withChris Gayle (41, 7 fours) playing some pretty drives through the offside. Tomorrow, however, will require the West Indian battingto show a lot of character if they are to pull things back inthis match.Beginning the day on 78, Youhana moved from strength tostrength, driving magnificently back past the bowler. The inform middle-order bat, who came into this Test with over 2500runs at an average of 47 in 57 innings, capitalised on a goodopportunity and made those statistics look even better. In the107th over of the innings, Youhana slanted a full PedroCollins delivery outside the off-stump to the third-manboundary to notch up his ninth Test ton. It was an inningsthat made all the difference to the balance of the game.Youhana may have been the man who did most of the damage, butit would be an injustice to not put on the record thecontribution of Latif. Although he has always been a man forcrisis situations, Latif has seldom been viewed as a threat bythe opposition. The West Indies too seemed to make thatmistake and allowed Latif to get well-entrenched on a wicketthat, by the end of the first session on the second day, hadgot slower and lower. Pacing his knock well, Latif playedsecond fiddle to Youhana for the best part of his inningsbefore cutting loose when required.When Youhana finally made a mistake, it was already far toolate for the West Indies. Helping himself to 146 of the finestruns (276 balls, 18 fours, one six), Youhana made certain thatthe Pakistan bowling would have enough in the bank when theytook the field. Latif, however, remained unperturbed even ashe saw Cameron Cuffy clean-bowl Youhana. He had reason tomotor on without breaking a sweat, for the stand of 204 heshared with Youhana changed the complexion of the gamecompletely. Coming off just 57 overs at a rate of almost a runa minute, it took Pakistan to 382/6. Sadly for the WestIndies, there was more where that came from.Latif, who has made five half-centuries, including onetantalisingly close to the three-figure mark – 94 – againstBangladesh not three weeks ago, notched up his maiden hundredwhen he swept Hinds to fine leg in the 128th over of theinnings. Taking his helmet off, Latif sported a broad grin,waving his bat to the dressing rooms in the absence of anysizeable crowd.The stumper went on to make life increasingly dreary for theWest Indies, taking his maiden Test ton on to an even 150 (234balls, 18 fours, one six) before being bowled by part-timeoff-spinner Gayle. There was more success for Gayle, whomopped up 3/27 when the Pakistani batsmen gave the bowling thefull treatment in an attempt to score quickly and beginbowling. Skipper Waqar Younis (25*) and Shoaib Akhtar (20)clouted the bowling with gay abandon as 45 runs resulted inthe last 7.5 overs.Do spare a thought, though, for Mervyn Dillon. The 27-year-oldTrinidad fast bowler bowled his heart out, sending down 42overs that resulted in figures of 3/140 on a lifeless wicket.Then again, he can take heart from the fact that he is not thefirst fast bowler to think of his profession as thanklessafter a long stint out in the middle at Sharjah. And you canbe sure that he will not be the last either.

Looking out from his office overlooking the County Ground on a bright sunny morning earlier today, Somerset Chief Executive turned his thoughts to the new season which is only just over two months away.Mr. Anderson told me: “Structured practice is now underway, and the attention is turning to the make-up of our best side in all competitions.”The key to it rests on the unknown factors. On the batting front will Piran Holloway rediscover his form of two years ago, when he was the second-highest run scorer in the National League in the country, will Peter Bowler in the autumn of his cricketing life continue with the form that he displayed in 2001, and will Keith Parsons develop into a top order County Championship batsman?”Will our young bowlers Bulbeck, Tucker and Trego come through to fill what is perceived to be a bowling vacancy?”Further down the line the big question is will Caddick be discarded by England after the World Cup next winter, and be available for Somerset for the whole of the 2003 and 2004 seasons? This factor alone clearly has an impact upon the expectations placed upon Bulbeck, Tucker and Trego.Mr Anderson concluded: “The players as a group all feel that we are well positioned to challenge for one or more of the one day competitions, but in the Championship we really need the gaps to be filled by people in form.”

MELBOURNE, Dec 27 AAP – Australian opener Justin Langer was nearing his second Test double century at lunch here today on day two of the fourth Ashes Test against England at the MCG.But captain Steve Waugh fell for 77, missing the chance to equal Sir Don Bradman’s record for the most centuries by an Australian, as their side reached 4-445 at the break.Langer was 191 and Test debutant Martin Love had made 21.Australia resumed at 3-356 and the batsmen continued to have little trouble.English medium pacer Craig White had Waugh caught behind at noon, with the captain unwilling to walk after he gave a faint edge to a ball outside off stump.Waugh’s innings, which featured 15 fours, undoubtedly dampened some of the speculation about his playing future.But he would probably have removed any doubt had he equalled Bradman’s mark of 29 tons.He put on 129 for the fourth wicket with Langer, who has a highest Test score of 223.Love showed few nerves in his start to Test cricket and had put on 51 with Langer.