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The NatWest Series eventually got underway today at Edgbaston – well, almost.Like the opening match, the second one, between New Zealand and West Indies, was abandoned, but at least there was some action today. After a quickfire innings by Brian Lara boosted West Indies to 122 for 4 from their reduced and interrupted quota of 21 overs, New Zealand were cruising towards their revised target of 140 when the rain returned after 13.4 overs to force the umpires to call the match off at around 7.20pm.It was a stop-start day all along. When play finally began at 2.15, Stephen Fleming won the toss and unsurprisingly chose to bowl first. West Indies progressed to 39 for 0 from 10 overs before another lengthy rain-break, and then added 82 more runs afterwards. New Zealand then reached 97 for 2 from 13.4 overs before the rain had the final say.West Indies’ innings was one of two parts. Before the showers returned in the afternoon, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was wearing two black anti-glare stickers under each eye similar to an American football player, made a solid start as the New Zealand attack failed to take advantage after winning the toss. However, in keeping with the series so far, the rain came back and the covers were whipped back on.Play resumed a little under two hours later, and New Zealand immediately hit back as the batsmen struggled against the seaming ball. Scott Styris struck with his first delivery when he trapped Chanderpaul lbw for a sluggish 14 from 42 balls (56 for 1). Dwayne Smith then clipped a wide one from Styris behind to Brendon McCullum for 1 (59 for 2), and Gayle edged Jacob Oram to McCullum for 30 (59 for 3).Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan got things back on track for West Indies. Sarwan cut and hooked Oram for four, and Lara clipped Oram past fine leg for his first boundary. Then came the improvisation from Lara, who smacked Oram for 22 runs in one over. The first three balls he shuffled right across to the off side and whipped him past fine leg for four, then smacked the next two over the off side for a four and a six.Lara was then out in bizarre circumstances. He again moved over to the off, and after he hit Chris Cairns to leg, his bat swung right round and touched the stumps (115 for 4). Sarwan then squeezed Cairns past fine leg for another boundary, and West Indies had given themselves a sporting chance of victory.Ravi Rampaul, though, had a nightmare first over, bowling four wides and two no-balls as it went for 18. However, Ricardo Powell helped to forget that bad start with a wonderful diving catch at backward point to dismiss Fleming for 12 (20 for 1), and Jermaine Lawson then took his second wicket when Nathan Astle edged him to Gayle at first slip for 12 (50 for 2).As the skies darkened and the drizzle returned, Styris and Hamish Marshall progressed with few scares towards New Zealand’s target. But as the rain became heavier, the umpires had no choice but to go off, allowing the weather eventually to win the day. West Indies – and England – will be hoping for more luck tomorrow at Trent Bridge.

Andrew Leipus, the physiotherapist of the Indian team, may get a two-year extension to his contract instead of the one year that he has been offered so far. Sources from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told Rediff.com that the abrupt departure of Adrian Le Roux had shaken up the management, and they were keen to make sure that Leipus stayed with them for the long term.Leipus has been on an annual contract since he began working with the Indian team in 1999. The BCCI had extended it by another year after the World Cup. But after Le Roux’s exit, the BCCI decided to preempt the possibility of Leipus quitting by offering him a two-year extension.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the BCCI, was the brain behind the idea, arguing that a longer contract would elicit more commitment and loyalty from the physio. BCCI sources said: “He [Dalmiya] has informally spoken to Leipus, and the proposal should be ratified by the working committee soon.”It was unclear if John Wright, the coach, would also be offered a two-year contract. Wright was given a one-year extension after the World Cup.

Whatever else Hansie Cronje has said and done over the past couple of years, one contradiction keeps slithering through: if the former South African captain really loves cricket as much as he professes, then why does he persist in putting the game through such agony.Cronje’s High Court challenge to his life ban in Pretoria this week is a case in point, if not the case in point. In none of the arguments presented by Cronje’s legal team is there an acknowledgement that his behaviour over a long period was antithetical to the spirit of the game.This was never more the case than when he offered Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams money to underperform in a one-day international in India. Cronje’s contrition for this has extended to expressing regret for his actions but genuine remorse has been somewhat more difficult to find.He has persisted to characterise his actions as a "mistake", worse, perhaps, than playing a rash shot in a tight moment, but nothing so serious as to warrant a life ban from the game.On the face of it it is a harsh punishment, but he has not been quite so hard done by as he likes to pretend. There is nothing in the United Cricket Board ban to prevent him writing a newspaper column or giving his views on a game or a series in a television studio. The UCB don’t want him in their grounds at least until after the 2003 World Cup and, let’s be honest here, who could blame them.A recurring nightmare for the UCB, Ali Bacher’s World Cup Policy Committee and the International Cricket Council is the thought of two captains stepping out onto the Wanderers in 2003 for the toss for the World Cup final to be conducted by – Hansie Cronje.The arguments of Cronje’s lawyers in Pretoria were based on South African labour and constitutional law and, who knows, they may have found a loophole for him to slip through. Judgement has been reserved and both sides have been wary of predicting an outcome.But at its heart, the Hansie Cronje affair is far less about South African law than it is about the spirit of the game. At least one school of thought believes that Cronje’s only concern at the moment is with money (and he has not been slow to tell anyone who cares that his lawyers have cost him a packet. The irony that this is the consequence of his own behaviour appears to escape him).At the same time, it cannot be denied that he has substantial support inside South Africa. Quite possibly a substantial portion of this support comes from those who were first drawn to the game by the glamour and drama of the 1992 World Cup. Certainly, they seem to believe that contrary to the cliché, Hansie Cronje is greater than the game.Cronje’s challenge suggests that this is what he thinks – it might be worth recalling that Cronje was but a few months old in 1970 when South Africa played its last pre-isolation series. Whatever the case, if Cronje has his ban overturned it will be a tragedy for all cricket and South African cricket in particular.The ramifications are almost too ghastly to contemplate. Sanctions against South Africa could include suspension or expulsion from the ICC or the loss of the World Cup. All or any of these would change the form and the shape of cricket in the 21st Century.Does Cronje really want this? Is there no one close to him capable of telling him as much? Has his sense of grievance or his desire for money and recognition warped his better judgement to a point where self-interest has taken over completely?Banned or not, though, some things will not change. Cronje betrayed his team, his country and his sport when he allowed himself to be seduced by bookmakers. The best lawyers in the world can’t alter that fact.

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes is in contention to be part of the England Lions coaching set-up during the squad’s tour to the UAE.Rhodes would join former England head coach Andy Flower, now the ECB’s technical director of elite coaching, and the ECB’s lead batting coach Graham Thorpe in working with the squad which will be named later this week. Thorpe will act as batting coach, with Flower overseeing the squad more generally.England Lions will spend much of the winter in the UAE. The squad have a training camp at a similar time to the main squad’s visit, and will then play five T20 fixtures against Pakistan A in the lead-up to Christmas, before returning to the UAE in January to play five 50-over matches.Unsurprisingly given their location and recent English shortcomings, there will be a focus on how the batsmen play spin bowling. It is also likely that a group of fast bowlers will spend time training in South Africa later in the year.Former England wicketkeeper Rhodes started his playing career with Yorkshire before moving to Worcestershire in 1985, where he played for 20 seasons. He joined the club’s coaching staff in 2005 and became director of cricket in 2006. He played 11 Tests for England in 1995 and 1996 and nine ODIs between 1989 and 1995.Under his watch, Worcestershire have yo-yoed between Divisions One and Two, and are likely to be relegated this season, their first back in the top division. Rhodes is highly respected on the county circuit for what he has achieved with limited resources and his ability to nurture young players. A number of the latest batch, such as Joe Leach, Ben Cox, Joe Clarke and Tom Fell, will be in contention for a place in the UAE. Rhodes is the latest in a line of highly rated county coaches to be introduced to the Lions set-up, such as Mark Robinson of Sussex.The most high-profile names in the squad are likely to be Gary Ballance, whose pair for Yorkshire against Middlesex has come at a terrible time, and Sussex’s Chris Jordan. Tymal Mills, the left-arm fast bowler, is likely to take a place in the squad for the T20 leg of the tour, while Lancashire’s left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan will return to the national set-up and Essex’s Tom Westley – who impressed with a century against the touring Australians this year – is set to be called up for the first time.

Double impact
One of Sreesanth’s gifts as a fast bowler is his ability to move the ball both ways and he showed off his skill with great effect in the first over of the match. He seamed the first two balls away from Wasim Jaffer, brought the third back into the right-hander, and then took the fourth away once again. The mixture left Jaffer addled and he poked inside the line at the fifth delivery, which moved away from him and took the outside edge to the wicketkeeper. Cameron White was perhaps expecting an outswinger the very next ball and drove away from his body, Sreesanth threaded the bat-pad gap with the inswinger and uprooted middle stump.Not quite Jonty
Both teams were abject in the field today with several lapses resulting in boundaries but there was one offender who stood out prominently. Punjab’s VRV Singh began the match with two poor throws from the deep, one of which conceded overthrows, but his fielding was about to get much worse. Later on he let a cut from Dravid slip past him at short third man, a lapse which prompted Yuvraj Singh to move him to short fine leg. Later in the over a leg side delivery slipped past the wicketkeeper and VRV was unable to run quickly enough to save the boundary.Communication breakdown
A seaming pitch and two early wickets meant that the situation was tailor-made for the steady styles of Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. While Dravid responded with a gritty innings, Kallis was a victim of an awful mix-up. He was sent back to the non-striker’s end by Virat Kohli after he had nearly completed the single and was hopelessly stranded.Duck hunting
There were as many as five zeroes in Bangalore’s innings. The first three wickets were all ducks – Jaffer and White falling off successive deliveries before Kallis was also run out before he could score. Praveen Kumar was the next duck, edging his second ball off Piyush Chawla to Uday Kaul while Zaheer Khan lasted one delivery, getting bowled through the gate a Chawla googly.Many times bitten, never shy
Ramnaresh Sarwan has lost his wicket several times in the past – in Tests and ODIs – to the miscued hook or pull. Today he resisted the urge when Praveen Kumar bounced him the first time and just about managed to sway out of the way. When faced with a second bouncer the very next ball, Sarwan went for it, aiming for the deep-square leg boundary. He didn’t get on top of the bounce and edged a catch to the wicketkeeper.A fitting end
One run to win, several balls remaining and Anil Kumble ends Bangalore’s misery with a wayward delivery down leg side. It summed up his, and Bangalore’s, night. Kumble had begun well, conceding three off his first over but finished with 0 for 36 off 3.2. Bangalore were shoddy in all departments: they failed to assess the conditions quickly while batting, ran shoddily between the wickets, and bowled and fielded poorly while defending a below-par total.

Eleven first-class players have been named in the Australian Academy squad that is aiming to win the Emerging Players Tournament for the first time. The 17-man outfit, which begins its campaign with two Twenty20 games on the Sunshine Coast on Monday, has been boosted by the inclusion of Mark Cosgrove, the former one-day international, and Luke Ronchi and Brendan Drew, who are in Australia’s 30-man preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa.Cullen Bailey, the Cricket Australia-contracted legspinner, has been selected with New South Wales’ opening batsman Ed Cowan and the Western Australians Luke Pomersbach and Aaron Heal. The coaching contingent is also impressive with the national bowling mentor Troy Cooley working alongside the fielding expert Mike Young and assistant Dene Hills to back up the head coach Brian McFadyen.The World Cup winner Darren Lehmann is also part of the squad’s management and he will help prepare the players for the three Twenty20 and seven one-day fixtures against teams from South Africa, New Zealand and Karnataka in India. McFadyen said the tournament would test his men after they completed a 12-week preparation phase at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.”Many players have looked to expand their skill sets during the high-density training programme and we are excited about the prospect of improvement,” he said. “There is no doubt that they are all fitter and more advanced in all areas of their games than last year, so they enter this tournament with great confidence.”A side from India won the inaugural Emerging Players Tournament in 2005 while South Africa were successful last year. The event begins on Monday and finishes with the finals in Brisbane on July 28.Australian Academy squad Craig Philipson (Qld), Matthew Wade (Vic), Ben Cutting (Qld), Brendan Drew (Tas), Aaron Finch (Vic), Shawn Gillies (WA), Aaron Heal (WA), Luke Pomersbach (WA), Luke Ronchi (WA), Grant Sullivan (Qld), David Warner (NSW), Ed Cowan (NSW), Moises Henriques (NSW), Cullen Bailey (SA), Mark Cosgrove (SA), Michael Hill (Vic), Phillip Hughes (NSW).

Eleven days after he was hit on the face by a Shahid Nazir bouncer and a day after Jagmohan Dalmiya termed him a , Sourav Ganguly is in the eye of another potential storm. Speculation is rife about his possible rehabilitation, even though partial, in the form of a place among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy.It all originated from a quote from an unnamed national selector who said Ganguly, who hasn’t played for India after being dropped following India’s tour to Pakistan last year and whose last appearance in an ODI was in last September, was very much in the frame for the long list. Since then, the story has already aquired layers of intrigue.Giving credence to the rumours is the talk of a bargain struck between Ganguly and the Indian cricket bosses. Ganguly wrote a dramatic email to his brother, which was made public in a press conference, accusing Jagmohan Dalimya, among other things, of having played with “my career”. The timing of the letter was significant: it came about a week before the CricketAssociation of Bengal election, in which Dalmiya was facing a tough challenge from Prasun Mukherji, the police commissioner of Kolkata, who was being publicly backed by the West Bengal chief minister.In return for his support to Dalmiya’s rival, Ganguly, it was suggested, had been offered a passage back to the Indian team. A charitable view is that having experimented with newcomers, the selectors were now ready to finalise the squad for the World Cup. Twenty-nine year-old Dinesh Mongia, who has not played for India since been found wanting in the last World Cup, has been recalled, and Anil Kumble is back in the fray for the Champions Trophy. So why not Ganguly, who has more than 10,000 runs in one-day cricket?Mongia of course has been recalled on the basis of solid performances in county cricket, and with Kumble, it is only a question of age and agility in the field. With Ganguly, there is a serious question of form. He managed 71 in the only one-day game he’s played so far for Northamptonshire and averaged 27.5 in nine Twenty20 matches. One can point to the fact that he snapped up 11 wickets in the Twenty20 but can’t discount the economy rate of 8. And from sixfirst-class innings, he has totalled a mere 24 runs.As expected, there has been a flurry of reactions. Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, has insisted that there is no order from “anywhere to consider or drop anybody”. Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, has dismissed the report as a piece of “kite-flying”. And Raj Singh Dungarpur, the former board president, termed it as “retrograde” and “disgraceful”.However, one selector, speaking to Cricinfo, felt that the whole speculation was triggered off by a section of the Indian board, “a political move rather than anything based on cricketing logic”.

The morale of the Indian cricket team as it bids to win the upcoming tri-nation Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka would be low in the absence of Sourav Ganguly, according to Syed Kirmani, the former wicketkeeper and chief selector. Unless he’s granted a dramatic reprieve by the ICC, Ganguly will sit out the tournament, serving the last four games of a six-match suspension while Rahul Dravid leads the side.”The six-match ban on Sourav (Ganguly) by the ICC is harsh,” said Kirmani. “But a rule is arule. His absence will affect the team’s morale to a certain extent. After all, he has been the most successful captain of India.”Speaking at a public function, Kirmani reckoned that Greg Chappell, the new coach, was one of the great players of the game, and someone who could inspire the team to perform well. He added that Sachin Tendulkar’s absence “would not have any adverse impact”, while also pointing out that “the team had a bad series against Pakistan at home but the players would like to stabilise and do well.”Kirmani rejected any suggestion that Virender Sehwag, named vice-captain for Sri Lanka, would have to shoulder a greater batting burden. “Every player is capable of scoring runs,” said Kirmani. “A few players could run in to bad form or the entire team could have a bad patch. That is cricket. On the whole, we have an established batting line-up.”Asked whether India had no option but to pick a foreigner as coach, he replied in the negative. “The players and the BCCI wanted it,” said, adding that John Wright, the former coach, had infused professionalism and improved the team’s fielding considerably.”Greg will provide great inspiration to the team, but the fact that the Indians had won the 1983 World Cup without any coach or a physio or a trainer will remain,” said Kirmani, who was an integral part of that legendary team led by Kapil Dev.Kirmani, a former Karnataka stalwart, also pooh-poohed the idea that captaincy would take the sheen off Dravid’s batting. “Rahul has a mature mind and I am sure he will not be under any extra pressure as captain.”

The Pakistan A squad for Kenya has been announced and, contrary to prior expectations, no big names are part of it. Earlier, it was reported that senior players who did not make the cut for the senior squad for the Asia Cup might be chosen for the A team tour.But while the Pakistan team is devoid of stars, the India A team is expected to contain a few players who have represented India in one-day internationals.Pakistan A will play a four-day game against Kenya before a triangular series involving the hosts and India A.Pakistan A Taufeeq Umar, Babar Naeem, Asif Zakir, Naved Latif, Nomanullah, Shahid Yousuf, Usman Tariq, Naveed Qureshi, Shadab Kabir, Shoaib Khan, Afaq Rahim, Naseem Khan, Faisal Ather, Qaiser Abbas, Salman Qadir, Junaid Zia, Bilal Asad, Mansoor Amjad, Azam Husain, Zulqarnain, Nasir Khan, Irshad Mohammad, Mohammad Khalil.

Division OneLeicestershire v Essex, Leicester
ScorecardOnly 23.1 overs were possible on the second day at Grace Road, by the end ofwhich Leicestershire had crept to within three runs of Essex’s first-innings188 for the loss of seven wickets. Darren Stevens top-scored with 65, whichincluded 11 fours. The main man with the ball was big Jon Dakin, a formerLeicestershire player himself, who took 4 for 54.Surrey v Warwickshire, The Oval
ScorecardAn hour and a half before the close at The Oval, last year’s championsSurrey were up against it, struggling at 121 for 4 in reply toWarwickshire’s imposing 413. But then came Adam Hollioake, fresh fromreceiving a leatherbound Wisden on Tuesday night as one of the famous FiveCricketers of the Year. While Alec Stewart nurdled his way to 27 not out,Hollioake blasted 88 in 87 balls, with 13 fours and a six. Unsurprisingly,he lived rather dangerously – Tony Frost missed a stumping when he had 49,and he was also dropped at 62. Surrey finished the second day at 237 for 4 -still 176 behind but breathing a lot more easily. Earlier Mark Wagh took hisovernight 91 to a fluent 136, which included a last-wicket stand of 70 withAlan Richardson (20*).Sussex v Kent, Hove
ScorecardSussex took the upper hand as wickets continued to tumble at Hove. Therewere 13 yesterday, and 16 more today, as Sussex moved to what should prove adecisive lead of 274 (mind you, we thought that in Sussex’s last match,which they ended up losing by three wickets to Middlesex). There was a lateflurry at the end of the second day, as Sussex declined from 166 for 4 to174 for 9, with top-scorer Murray Goodwin falling for 96 to the last ball ofthe day, one of three victims for the young offspinner James Tredwell.Earlier Kent stumbled to 185 all out – five men passed 20, but the top scorewas Greg Blewett’s 41 – conceding a lead of 94. James Kirtley and MushtaqAhmed grabbed three wickets apiece.Division TwoDerbyshire v Somerset, Derby
ScorecardSomerset took control at Derby, powering to a first-innings lead of 207after amassing 397. Jamie Cox, their former captain, weighed in with 126,with 15 fours, while Marcus Trescothick hinted at a return to form with 69.There were also 58 extras. Dominic Cork worked his way through the middleorder, ending up with 5 for 74 from 37 overs, but received precious littlesupport at the other end. Derbyshire started their second-innings brightly,ending the day at 38 for 0 from only six overs.Durham v Gloucestershire, Chester-le-Street
ScorecardDurham were struggling to avoid the follow-on by the end of the second dayat the Riverside, finishing on 128 for 7 in response to Gloucestershire’s341, which included 65 from Jack Russell, who put on 65 for the last wicketwith Mike Smith (17*). Durham were soon in trouble, slumping to 5 for 3 asGary Pratt and Vince Wells (first ball) both collected ducks. The captainJon Lewis, with a three-hour 54, and Nicky Peng (37) steadied the ship byadding 75, but two wickets from Mark Alleyne and two more for Smith, whofinished with 3 for 32, made it Gloucestershire’s day.Hampshire v Yorkshire, Southampton
ScorecardYorkshire took charge at the Rose Bowl, ending up 141 runs ahead after bowling Hampshire out for 175 … and even that was something of a recovery from 64 for 6. The wickets were shared around, with Steve Kirby returning the best figures of 3 for 19, including the important scalp of Robin Smith for 30. Nic Pothas, who has started the season well, top-scored with 44 not out. Earlier Yorkshire extended their overnight 174 for 7 to 293, mainly thanks to an eighth-wicket partnership of 126 between Michael Lumb, who ended up with an unbeaten 115, and Darren Gough, who spanked 72 from only 97 balls, with eight fours and three sixes.Worcestershire v Northants, Worcester
ScorecardOnly 32 overs were possible at New Road, during which Northants added 88 forthe loss of two wickets to finish up only 40 behind Worcestershire’sdisappointing 236. Mike Hussey was out for 45, and Jeff Cook made only 2,but Phil Jaques – a left-hander from Brett Lee’s home town of Wollongong inNew South Wales – romped to 86 not out by the close, with 14 fours and asix, and seems set for a maiden first-class century tomorrow.