A sublime 83 from 23-year-old Pierre de Bruyn guided Easterns to a first innings total of 222 for eight when bad light ended play on the first day of their Supersport Series match against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Friday.De Bruyn was promoted up the batting order in the absence of Mike Rindel, who was ruled out of this match by a finger injury, and relished the opportunity to prove his worth.Under overcast skies, the talented youngster peppered the boundary rope with his 15 fours and one six.De Bruyn was also involved in two significant partnerships.”Pierre would’ve batted further down the order, probably at six, seven or eight. But we decided to move him up the order and he took the chance well, especially on a pitch as unpredictable as this,” said Easterns skipper Deon Jordaan.Dolphins captain Dale Benkenstein won the toss and sent Easterns in to bat, with the hosts limping along at 21 for two after 13 overs.That brought in De Bruyn, who together with Brad White stabilised the innings with a 72-run stand for the third wicket.White departed on 33 when caught behind by Errol Stewart off the bowlingof Benkenstein.Derek Crookes then entered the fray against his old team-mates in his first Supersport Series outing for Easterns.With De Bruyn leading the way, the duo combined for a fourth-wicket partnership of 61 runs as Easterns showed signs of early domination.De Bruyn was certainly the dominant force after lunch.But the very shot that had earned him so many runs was to be his downfall.The partnership ended when De Bruyn was caught brilliantly by Eldine Baptiste at deep third man after trying to execute his square cut off a ballfrom John Kent.That took Easterns into the tea break at 163 for four.Crookes was the first to go shortly after tea, scoring a mere 24 runs that stood out amidst a shaky Easterns middle-order.The collapse was rapid after that, with the Easterns tail flicking ever so briefly as the innings went through its final death throes, sparked by Kent’s figures of 4-66.A solid 30-run partnership between Albie Morkel (14 not out) and Kenny Benjamin (11 not out) took the Easterns total to double Nelson when the batsmen took the option of bad light 20 overs before the scheduled close.

Even on one leg, there’s clearly still life in Brian Lara yet. But the second day of the tour match against Australia ‘A’ in Hobart represented yet another occasion on which its champion batsman and its line-up as a whole only limped and sputtered into action for West Indies.Still waging a losing battle against a persistent hamstring injury, the brilliant left hander was compulsorily demoted to number seven in the batting order. And, by the time that he arrived at the wicket, his team had already crashed to 5/80 and was staring another debilitating defeat squarely in the face.It was just as well, perhaps, that the defiant Ridley Jacobs (30*) was the man at the other end when his turn eventually came. For, in the doughtywicketkeeper-batsman, he found an ally at least capable of resisting for a long period the excellent line and length being maintained by a trio of wholehearted fast bowlers.Initially, Lara (62*) scratched, scraped, hobbled, and looked vulnerable to another early dismissal. But he then did something he has rarely seemed close tomanaging on this troubled tour – purposefully built a first-class innings littered with a brace of flourishing strokes. Every exertion appeared painful as he began; a state of torment not assisted by some high class bowling from Don Nash (3/37), Andy Bichel (1/52) and Mathew Inness (1/24) that tested the star player’s capacity to use his inconvenienced feet.With Jacobs there to help him and his own confidence growing noticeably all the while, though, he added an important unbroken stand of ninety-two to help lead amini-recovery at the end of the day. And, while it brought the tourists no closer than 267 runs to their opponents’ imposing 9/439 declared, the liaison at least delivered something in the way of optimism to the West Indian camp.Coach Roger Harper conceded that he would have preferred to have allowed his most accomplished batsman to recover from recent pain-killing injections for theentirety of the day. Necessarily, though, potential disaster in the West Indians’ fate in the match became the mother of Lara’s afternoon reinvention.”He had a course of injections in Perth and he’s still a bit sore,” confirmed Harper.”There’s still some time before the Third Test starts in Adelaide and we hope that he’ll be fully recovered.””The soreness in his leg, the stiffness; he was having some treatment in the dressing room,” said Harper of the decision to bat him so low in the order. “He wanted to rest it for a while and give himself as much time as possible prior to going out there. Ideally, we were hoping that he’d be needed tomorrow.”Lara’s pain was eased, and his need to run hurriedly between the wickets negated, by his capacity to strike ten boundaries and a five in a hand that spanned only 103 minutes. He also seemed to experience more freedom when spinners Brad Oldroyd (0/29) and Simon Katich (0/29) were asked to bowl the closing twelve overs of the day.Earlier, Australia ‘A’ had rocketed its way toward its lunch time closure with some highly spirited batting of its own. The in-form Katich (46) and Brad Hodge (14) disappeared in the midst of accurate spells from Marlon Black (1/71) and Kerry Jeremy (1/85) respectively. But wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin (37),Nash (30 from fourteen ferociously played deliveries) and Bichel (20) maintained the tempo of the innings sweetly.Perhaps mindful of the possibility that any of them might be called up to their country’s Test team in the wake of the injury-enforced absence of Brett Lee, pacemen Nash, Bichel and Inness then forced the West Indians to endure a torrid start to the reply. Sherwin Campbell (9), Daren Ganga (18) and Wavell Hinds (40) all succumbed to miscued, and unwisely attempted, hook shots while Jimmy Adams (0) and Marlon Samuels (9) were beaten by deliveries of fuller length.

Matthew Bulbeck is suffering from a strained muscle in his right buttock, which is not related in anyway to his previous back injury. He misses the CricInfo Championship match at Bath as a precaution but could well be in the reckoning for the Norwich Union match on Sunday.Keith Parsons is still suffering with his knee injury, but will hopefully play for the Second XI next week at Worcester on Monday and then against Gloucestershire, at Taunton on Tuesday.Graham Rose is recovering from his knee injury but is not 100%. He has started to bowl but not at full pace and it is likely that he will play for the second team next week.Joe Tucker is suffering from a suspected stress fracture of the foot and will be missing for a little while.Richard Johnson and Rob Turner both missed the National League match at the Oval after contracting food poisoning. Both have made a full recovery and are expected to play at Bath on Wednesday.

ECB Division One – Time games

Andover 169
Bashley (Rydal) 170-3
Bashley (Rydal) won by 7 wicketsBournemouth 142
B.A.T.Sports 143-4
B.A.T.Sports won by 6 wicketsHavant 272-3
Calmore Sports 195-7
Match drawnBurridge 218-6
Hungerford 220-4
Hungerford won by 6 wicketsSouth Wilts 282-7
Liphook and Ripsley 240-5
Match drawn

Division Two – Overs games

Cove 238-4
Trojans 133
Cove won by 105 runsEaston & Martyr Worthy 176-8
Hambledon 159-7 (reduced target)
Hambledon won by 3 wicketsO.T. and Romsey 224-9
Lymington 226-4
Lymington won by 6 wicketsU.S.Portsmouth 313
Old Basing 165
United Services won by 148 runsPortsmouth 302-5
Sparsholt 202-8
Portsmouth won by 100 runs

Division Three – Overs games

Lymington II 196-7
Alton 177-4
Lymington II won by 19 runsHursley Park 164
Bashley (Rydal) II 132-7
Hursley Park won by 32 runsGosport Borough 217-2
Havant II 218-3
Havant II won by 7 wicketsHook and Newnham Basics 219
Winchester K.S. 220-3
Winchester K.S. won by 7 wicketsNew Milton 248-8
Leckford 89
New Milton won by 159 runsPortsmouth II 239-7
Paultons 88
Portsmouth II won by 151 runsPurbrook 221-8
Flamingo 150-8
Purbrook won by 71 runsRowledge 253-6
United Services II 206-9
Rowledge won by 47 runsWaterlooville 197
St.Cross Symondians 199-6
St.Cross Symondians won by 4 wickets

Six umpires will officiate in the Coca Cola Cup One-Day Tri series tobe contested by Sri Lanka, New Zealand and India in Colombo from July18 to August 5. They are Asoka de Silva, Peter Manuel, Gamini Silva,TH Wijewardene, LV Jayasundara and DN Pathirana.The following are the dates, fixtures and the umpires:July 18: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand at Premadasa stadium.Umpires. LV Jayasundara and DN Pathriana.TV Umpire: P. Manuel, Reserve: TH Wijewardene.July 20: India vs New Zealand at Premadasa stadium.Umpires. G Silva and DN Pathriana.TV Umpire A. Silva, Reserve: TH Wijewardene.July 22: Sri Lanka vs India at Premadasa stadium.Umpires: P. Manuel and TH Wijewardene.TV Umpire: G. Silva, Reserve: DN PathiranaJuly 25: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand at Dambulla.Umpires: Asoka Silva and LV Jayasundara.TV Umpire: P. Manuel, Reserve: Gamini Silva.July 26: India vs New Zealand at Dambulla.Umpires: P. Manuel and G. Silva.TV Umpire: LV Jayasundara, Reserve: A.SilvaJuly 28: Sri Lanka vs India at Dambulla.Umpires: A. Silva and P. Manuel.TV Umpire: G. Silva, Reserve: LV Jayasundara.July 31: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand at SSC.Umpires: TH Wijewardene and DN PathiranaTV Umpire: A. Silva, Reserve: LV JayasundaraAugust 1: Sri Lanka vs India at SSC.Umpires: A. Silva and G. SilvaTV Umpire: TH Wijewardene, Reserve: DN PathiranaAugust 2: India vs New Zealand at SSC.Umpires: TH Wijewardene and LV JayasundaraTV Umpire: DN Pathirana. Reserve: P. ManuelThe umpires for the final to be played on August 5 at Khettarama havenot yet been confirmed. The umpires for the Test series will bedecided on the performance in the Coca Cola Cup.

Nottinghamshire’s Australian batsman Greg Blewett had his hopes of completing 1,000 runs in first-class cricket this summer frustrated by rain in their CricInfo Championship game against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.Blewett, needing 93 runs to reach the 1,000 mark, was going well on 67 when bad weather caused a 24 over stoppage. He was sensibly content to avoid mishap in the final session – finishing four runs short of his personal target on 89 not out as Notts reached 164-1.Darren Bicknell fell early, lbw to Mel Betts, and Jason Gallian had to retire hurt on 23 when he was struck on the hand by Vasbert Drakes, but Blewett preyed on anything loose with consummate timing and seemed to have no trouble maintaining his concentration as the City of Birmingham Symphony went through a two-hour concert rehearsal in the adjoining Cannon Hill Park.The pitch did not appear to be offering much to assist either seam or spin and Warwickshire’s hopes of claiming a significant first innings lead were undermined when Betts went off with a side strain early in the Notts innings.England ‘A’ batsman Ian Bell had earlier written his name in the Warwickshire record books when his 103 made him the youngest Championship century-maker in the county’s history at 19 years and 115 days.This beat Richard Sale, who was 19 and 296 days when he scored his maiden Championship hundred in 1939, and enabled Warwickshire, who were 270-5 overnight, to take their total to 373.Bell, who was dropped when he had scored four, had another escape on 88 when a sharp chance off Kevin Pietersen was missed by Jason Gallian at slip and had batted for more than five and a half hours, hitting 15 fours, when he fell to a mistimed pull against left-arm-seamer Greg Smith.

A strong reply by the Mumbai Cricket Association XI ensured that theirMRF Buchi Babu cricket tournament first round match against the NewZealand A remained evenly poised at the end of the second day’s play at the Guru Nanak grounds, Chennai on Friday.With a day’s play remaining, the men from Mumbai, who were 198 forfour at close, need another 132 runs to gain the first innings leadand effectively win the match. Their hopes will be pinned on openerNilesh Patwardhan, who is batting on a patient 95 made off 210 ballsduring a relentless 330-minute vigil in the middle.In a well-paced innings, the Mumbai opener hit eleven fours.Patwardhan’s innings meant that his team made a fitting reply despitethe other top-order batsmen failing to get good scores against a fullstrength New Zealand A attack led by two former New Zealand new ballbowlers, Chris Drum and Kyle Mills.Patwardhan’s most significant partnership was with No.3 batsman SachinSawant who made 18 off 114 balls. The two added 62 runs for the secondwicket. The unbeaten 52-run fifth wicket stand between Patwardhan andSushant Manjrekar, who was batting on 21 off 80 balls, was the otherhighlight of the innings.Earlier, Paul Valthathy while making 22 off 63 balls had provided theMumbai innings the right direction by putting on 47 runs for theopening wicket with Patwardhan. Saket Adhikari, the No.4 batsman, wasout for a duck after scratching around for 16 balls while Kiran Powar,who followed him, made 17 off 29 balls.In the morning, the New Zealand A last wicket pair of Shane Bond, alast-minute inclusion, and Chris Drum added 54 runs to guide theirteam to a healthy 329 in their first innings.While Bond went ballistic, hitting six fours in his 45-ball innings of37, Drum was the steadying influence making 16 off 42 balls.The partnership ended when left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar, who playsfor Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, snared Bond. The wicket alsocompleted a five-wicket haul for Pawar. Paras Mhambrey who claimed twoNew Zealand A wickets and Nilesh Kulkarni and Aziz Shaikh, both ofwhom claimed one each, were the other successful bowlers. Indiadiscard Ajit Agarkar went wicketless despite bowling 12 overs.On Thursday, former New Zealand opener Matthew Horne, batting at No.3,made a stroke-filled 111 runs off 141 balls studded with 20 raspinghits to the boundary while guiding his team to 277 for nine at closeof play. Another New Zealand opener Matthew Bell who made 47 andHamish Marshall who made 33 were the other significant contributors.Horne and Bell added 144 runs for the second wicket off 47.4 overs butthereafter the New Zealand team lost wickets at regular intervals.* Batsmen make merry as MRF pile up big scoreCracking tons by Rajat Bhatia (151) and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (101) putMRF in a commanding position against Hyderabad Cricket Association inthe MRF Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournament first round tie atthe Southern Railway Stadium, Chennai, on Friday. MRF were 448/8 atclose of play in reply to the HCA first innings score of 256.Resuming on 65/2, Bhatia and Tanveer Jabbar went on accumulating runs,putting together a third wicket partnership of 231 runs off 64.2overs. Jabbar’s long vigil at the crease lasted 289 minutes and he wasdismissed by Vishnuvardhan after making 82 runs off 230 balls with thehelp of eight fours and a six. Rashmi Ranjan Parida (7) failed withthe bat.Bhatia’s big innings came to an end when he was caught by Ghouse Babaoff the bowling of Vishnuvardhan. His innings lasted 319 minutes inwhich he played 238 balls, striking 15 fours and two sixes. Kanitkarwas in no mood to give away the advantage as he went on to smash a runa ball hundred which included 14 boundaries and three sixes. ThiruKumaran (24) gave Kanitkar good support and added 55 runs for thesixth wicket. Kanitkar’s explosive knock came to an end when he wasbowled by the off spinner Noel David. At close of play, the tall TamilNadu player MR Shrinivas (16) was at the crease with Dinesh Kaarthick(4).* Stage set for keen first innings duelThe stage is set for a keen battle for the all important first inningslead in the MRF Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournament first roundmatch between Karnataka State Cricket Association XI and the TamilNadu Cricket Association XI at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Saturday.At stumps on the second day on Friday, TNCA XI were 248 for three inreply to KSCA’s 385.KSCA, who were 322 for seven overnight, did well to get to their finaltotal. RC Shanbal, who was 43 overnight, was out for 52. But formerIndian paceman David Johnson kept the innings going before he was lastout for a bright 47 off 55 balls. He hit two fours and three sixes.With last man U Chaitra (8 not out), Johnson added 29 runs off just3.5 overs. Off spinner Dhandapani took all the three wickets to fallon Friday morning to finish with six for 118 off 30.5 overs.TNCA XI were given a good start with openers B Attavar (18) and SSuresh (67) putting on 58 runs off 18.2 overs. Suresh and HemanthKumar maintained the momentum with a second wicket partnership of 69runs off 19.3 overs. At this stage, Suresh was out to Kumble for 67.In his stay of about 2-1/2 hours, he faced 123 balls and hit six foursand a six. Hemanth Kumar and JR Madanagopal were then associated in athird wicket stand of 85 runs off 21 overs before the latter fell fora well compiled 51 off 73 balls, inclusive of six hits to the ropes.The left handed Hemanth Kumar came through unbeaten with 88 at stumps.He has so far played 163 balls and hit ten fours and a six. Keepinghim company is Sridharan Sarath (7). Play was stopped 34 minutes earlybecause of bad light.* CAB take big lead, set to enter quarterfinalsCricket Association of Bengal batsmen did well to notch up 392 runs intheir first innings against Oil and Natural Gas Commission in the MRFBuchi Babu invitation cricket tournament first round tie at the SriRamachandra Medical College ground, Chennai, on Friday.Resuming on 118/5, CAB required another 71 runs to go past the ONGCfirst innings total of 188. CAB lost Saikat Mukherje (36) to the offspinner Sarandeep Singh and were in some trouble at 151/6. With thevital first innings lead still in balance, Sanib Sanyal and LaxmiRatan Shukla took CAB past their first goal.The two batsmen added 130 runs for the seventh wicket before Shuklagave a catch to Pradeep Jain at mid-wicket off the bowling of MohdSaif. Shukla’s whirlwind knock of 83 off 108 balls included nineboundaries and two sixes.Sanyal (68) was caught by Amit Sharma at mid-wicket off the bowling ofSarandeep Singh. Sanyal struck seven boundaries and a six in his 232-minute stay at the crease, facing 165 balls.Pradipta Mazumdar (39 off 74 balls) struck five fours in his knock andadded 73 runs for the ninth wicket with Sourashish Lahiri. SibsankarPaul (4) was the last man to be dismissed in the 115th over leavingLahiri unbeaten on 46 made in 74 balls with the help of half a dozenboundaries. Sarandeep Singh was the best of the ONGC bowlers, claiming4/83.After allowing CAB to accumulate a massive lead of 204 runs in thefirst innings, ONGC got off to a good start in their second essay.Gagan Khoda and Sandeep Sharma sent CAB on a leather hunt adding 115runs off just 12.3 overs. Khoda made 39 runs off 32 balls, strikingsix boundaries before falling to Lahiri. Mitun Minhas and Sharma added50 runs to take ONGC to 165/1 off 18 overs by close of play on secondday.Sharma is unbeaten on a whirlwind 86 off 58 balls, which includes fivesixes and eight boundaries. Minhas has struck two sixes and a four inhis unbeaten effort of 26 runs off 18 balls. In spite of thesepyrotechnics, CAB look well set to make the quarterfinals.* Balaji sends Indian Airlines crashing to 94 all outThe picturesque IIT-Chemplast ground played host to the MRF Buchi Babucricket tournament first round clash between Indian Airlines and JollyRovers Cricket Club. Boasting a number of stars including skipperVijay Dahiya and opening batsman J Arun Kumar, the Airlines team wouldhave hoped to put up a better showing than their eventual 94 all out,especially after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Cashingin on Indian Airlines’ plight Jolly Rovers notched up 171/3 in 57overs.In the recently concluded Coromandel Cement Cup, mediumpacer L Balajiwas in lethal form, taking 12 wickets in the final, which Jolly Roverswon. On Saturday, Balaji was once again in devastating mood, scalping6/34 from 13 scalding overs. The Indian Airlines team had no answer tohis mediumpace, with Arun Kumar (23), Ishan Ganda (35) and Dahiya (13)being the only three players to make it to double figures. In just35.1 overs, the Airlines side were dismissed for their sub-100 score.If there was some thought that the wicket had devils in it, SBadrinath dispelled it immediately. Coming to the wicket at the fallof Sujith Somasunder’s wicket with the score on 16, Badrinathproceeded to compile an unbeaten 82. Striking 11 of the 193 balls hefaced to the fence, Badrinath boldly attacked the bowlers. Ajay Kuduawith 25 provided some support to Badrinath, but at the end of the dayit was J Hariesh, unbeaten on 29 who was Badrinath’s best companion.The pair added an unbeaten 91 for the fourth wicket and Jolly Roversare well placed on 171 after 57 overs.

Owais Shah, favourite to take the Young Cricketer of the Year Award, which is reserved for England-qualified players, has an Australian to thank for his huge breakthrough this year.Karachi-born Shah told CricInfo, “I’ve been working away in Perth with a guy called Wayne Andrews looking at my technique during the winter.”Whatever former Western Australia batsman Andrews did, it has worked for Shah this season. The 22-year-old has scored 996 first-class runs at 52, with three centuries, as well as 479 in one-dayers, with another hundred. A career-high of 203 came against Derbyshire at Southgate, and, most importantly for the former England Under-19 captain, a One-Day International debut brought good reviews and an extended run withEngland.”It’s up to the people in the ECB office to pick me,” the right-hander said. “All I can do is keep doing well for Middlesex and if they pick me – great. Otherwise I’ll try again next year.”Shah was phlegmatic regarding the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Player of the Year Award too.The 53 previous winners have won almost 1750 Test caps between them, and Shah’s Test debut seems just a matter of time. “If it comes that will be very nice. If it doesn’t I’ll try again next year. Awards are a bonus,” Shah reflected.Unfortunately he will be too old next season, but Shah’s maturity is admirable. He replaced Graham Thorpe in his first international, and, long-term, could fill one of England’s middle-order problem positions currently occupied by the aging and injury-prone Thorpe and Nasser Hussain.Since the six-footer’s debut aged 17 in 1996, Middlesex have shown unfailing confidence in the personable Shah, even awarding him his cap during 2000, when he scored a disappointing 489 runs at 24.Added responsibility from batting at first wicket down, along with the absence of senior batsman Stephen Fleming impressed David Graveney enough to “fast-track” Shah into the England set-up.But the promising batsman is predictably, and correctly, concentrating on the domestic scene.”We’ve got to knuckle down and try and win one of those games,” (against promotion rivals Warwickshire and Hampshire), he observed.And in the NUL, Shah optimistically thinks Middlesex could even “sneak third position” following their last over win against Lancashire that took them off the bottom.Shah hit an attractive 49, but as ever, if it all goes wrong, he is sensible enough to know, “we can try again next year.”

Sussex appeared to have made promotion a formality by batting Warwickshire out of realistic contention on a low-key third day out at Edgbaston.Needing only a draw to confirm First Division status next year, the south coast county established an imposing lead of 397 thanks to centuries by Richard Montgomerie and Chris Adams.They lost only two wickets in six-and-a-half hours while adding 312 and they may yet make the game watertight by building on their total of 324 for 3 on the last morning.Warwickshire had one success in the first hour when nightwatchman James Kirtley was caught at first slip but began to look a dejected side after missing an opportunity to run out Montgomerie when he had made 40.The opener made his native county pay by taking his second hundred of the season off their bowling and when he was out for 121, he had completed eight centuries in his summer of nearly 1,700 first-class runs.He batted for nearly five-and-a-half hours, hitting 15 fours from 258 balls, and after so much care and application, it was a disappointing conclusion when he hoisted a short delivery from Vasbert Drakes to deep square leg.A third-wicket stand with Adams had yielded 199 and his partner was then on 99 after reaching 1,000 runs in a season for the fifth time in his career.The Sussex captain safely chalked up his third century of the year from 196 balls but remained intent on locking up promotion by cautiously advancing to 132 not as his young partner, Tim Ambrose, made an unbeaten 41 out of 78 in the 26 overs.

Hampshire have released four players from their county staff following a meeting of the cricket committee on Monday.The most senior of the players is John Stephenson, 36, the former Essex and England all-rounder. He came to Hampshire in 1995, taking over as captain from Mark Nicholas. He did the job for two years before being replaced by the current captain, Robin Smith. His appearances for the First XI this season have been limited to just three CricInfo Championship and four Benson and Hedges matches. Stephenson is concluding his benefit year.Simon Francis, 23, has been troubled by injury over the past couple of years, and with the rise of young seam bowling talent at the club in the form of James Schofield, James Hamblin and Chris Tremlett, the club felt they had to release this likeable young man. It is ironic, as his brother John has broken into the first team as a batsman. Simon made his debut in 1997.Zac Morris, 23, came to Hampshire in 1998 with his brother Alex. He has played just two first-class matches for his newly-adopted county. He arrived as a left-arm bowler, and switched to seam with some success. But other problems within the club have led to his release.Andrew Sexton, 22, joined Hampshire from the MCC Young Cricketers in 1998 and showed early promise as an opening batsman, scoring a half century on his debut. But his progress since has been limited. He played in 11 Second XI games, averaging nearly 31, but a surplus of available players has led to his release.