Tasmanian captain Ricky Ponting posted his highest domestic one-day score to lead the Tigers to a bonus point victory over Western Australia at the WACA tonight.Ponting continued his gluttonous start to the summer by smashing 102, helping the Tigers to 5-196 one ball into the 40th over.Shaun Young (28no) and Jamie Cox (2no) steered the Tigers past WA’s 6-195 with five balls to spare before the cut-off for the bonus point.Ponting’s previous best was an unbeaten 87 against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 1995-96.His knock included 13 fours and two sixes and came off just 98 deliveries.Ponting’s impressive early season augurs well for the upcoming Test and one-day series against New Zealand and South Africa.But an injury to Australian team mate Damien Martyn has given the national selectors an anxious wait with the Test series just two weeks away.Martyn hurt his thigh during a gutsy 108 run knock for WA.He struggled for 190 minutes before holing out to Jamie Cox off David Saker in a bid to chase quick runs, needing a runner for his final six overs.The Australian number six played a lone hand in the Warriors’ innings of 6-195 and faces a fitness test tomorrow before being considered for selection for the Pura Cup clash between the teams starting here on Friday.Despite centuries to the two internationals, Tigers paceman Damien Wright earned man of the match honours for a controlled ten-over spell that netted 2-22.The Warriors looked set to make a massive total when Adam Gilchrist and Martyn clubbed twenty off the first two overs.But that’s as long as the blazing start lasted before Tasmania struck back.Wright removed Simon Katich and Adam Gilchrist for five each and Saker also claimed Justin Langer for one.Ponting praised Wright’s efforts after the match describing it as the ideal one-day spell.”I thought our bowlers were brilliant today, Wright and Saker early were pretty good,” he said.”Damien Wright bowled as good as he basically can bowl.”He bowled a lot of balls to Marto (Martyn), whose a world class player and a lot of those were dot balls.”Ponting also admitted it was good to have finally notched a century in domestic one-day cricket.”I’ve got a pretty ordinary record in domestic cricket actually,” he said.”That was my first hundred tonight so that was pretty satisfying.”

England XI had a good outing today at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.On the second and final day of the two-day match against MumbaiCricket Association President’s XI, played on Monday, England XIamassed 370/3 in 90 overs, in reply to MCA XI’s 373/5. The match endedin a predictable draw.England got off to a solid start in the morning. Marcus Trescothickwas as always in an attacking mood, pulling the medium-pacer AavishkarSalvi for a six. Trescothick played some cracking shots to the fenceas the bowlers erred in line and length. In contrast, Mark Butcherfound the attack not to his liking. He made batting look a difficulttask and inched forward as if treading through a minefield.Trescothick was the star of the morning’s play, using his feet totackle the spinners and showing positive approach. He walked down thetrack and smacked two huge sixes over long-on off the bowling ofNilesh Kulkarni to move from 48 to 60. The Somerset opener lost hiswicket to aggression, going for a sweep of Ramesh Powar and top-edgingthe ball to Kambli at square leg. Trescothick made 60 off 68 ballswith the help of three sixes and six boundaries.Michael Vaughan didn’t do any better than Butcher; he was verytentative in his brief stay in the middle. Vaughan (2) pushed forwardat a delivery from Kulkarni and the faint edge was well taken bywicketkeeper Abhijit Shetye.Nasser Hussain walked in to join Butcher at the score of 91/2 andimmediately made his intentions clear by lofting Kulkarni for four.Soon after the luncheon break Butcher (33 off 104 balls) put an end tohis misery by running himself out. Thorpe joined Hussain and the twomost experienced batsmen in the side went on about their task withoutany fuss. There was nothing in the bowling to suggest that they werethreatening to take a wicket.Hussain and Thorpe punished the bowling all around the park. Hussainwas the aggressive of the two, smashing his way to 70 retired hurt off125 balls, which included seven boundaries and three huge sixes.Thorpe was keen on gathering the runs, waiting for the ball till thelast moment to play it on both sides of the wicket. The amount of timethat is this stylish left-hander from Surrey has to play the strokesis amazing to see.Thorpe made 45 off 83 balls, striking four boundaries and took EnglandXI to 232/3 at the tea break. Thorpe too retired hurt to pave way forCraig White and Mark Ramprakash to have a go after the tea break.England XI scored 138 runs off the 28 overs, which was also the fourthwicket partnership between the two batsmen. Ramprakash remainedunbeaten on 58 off 96 balls, striking five boundaries. The highlightof the session’s play was the explosive batting by Craig White.The Yorkshire all-rounder struck five huge sixes and seven boundariesin his whirlwind unbeaten knock of 79 runs off 73 balls. White wassimply superb against the spinners, using his feet to smack the ballhigh and over the fielders. Ramprakash too played a fine hand, showinggood technique against the spin trio.England can take heart from the performance of their batsmen, whichwill be crucial in the Test series. Trescothick, Hussain, Thorpe,Ramprakash and White are all in good form. Unlike many visiting teamswho struggle in the tour opener, England showed lot of resolve andcharacter on a hot Monday afternoon, giving away nothing to the homeside.

Mark Garaway Somerset’s new assistant coach and Director of the ECB Reginal Academy recently started his new job at The County Ground.Mark, who is twenty eight years old is no stranger to Somerset since he sent several years of his childhood living in West Somerset.His family then moved to Ventnor in the Isle of Wight where Mark played for the age group teams.Whilst playing for the Under 16’s he was spotted by Hampshire County cricket Club, and made several appearences for the county Under 19’s and Second Eleven in the same season.Mark, who was a wicket-keeper batsman, made his first team debut for Hampshire in 1996, but because of the presence of Adie Aymes his first team appearences were limited so he started to develop his interest in “coaching and managing players” he told me.He played his last game for the county in 1999, and in January 2000 took up the post of Cricket Development Officer with Hampshire. Somerset Coach Kevin Shine rates his new assistant very highly.”Mark is a skilled developer of young players, a good communicator and a talented coach in his own right. He will fit in very well with the environment that we have created here at Somerset” the coach told me.

Peter John Parnell Burge was born 17th May 1932 in Queensland Australia and died at the age of 69 in Brisbane. His cricketing career spanned 11 years and included 42 test matches. The highlight of his successful career was scoring of four centuries against England in successive Test series: 181 at the Oval in 1961, 103 at Sydney in 1962-63, 160 at Headingley in 1964 and 120 in his last series at Melbourne in 1965-66.A class attacking batsman
Burge was an attacking batsman of the highest calibre and displayed a tremendous ability for nonchalant ease in cutting and hooking, a rarity against such top-class fast bowlers like Statham and Trueman in those days. He had earlier started his career for Queensland in 1952-53 and had captained the state side until he retired in 1968. In fact he was a strong candidate for Australian captaincy, when Bobby Simpson was absent for two tests against England in 1965-66 series, which was ultimately awarded to Brian Booth. His highest score of 283 versus New South Wales at Brisbane in 1963-64 is still the highest individual score for Queensland.Centuries in four successive series helped Australia retain Ashes in the 1960’s:
Peter Burge scored a masterly 181 in the fifth and final test at the Oval in 1961 series to ensure Australia retained the Ashes. In the next series against England in Australia 1962-63, once again he contributed with significant scores of 103 & 52 not out in the fifth and final drawn test at Sydney to again deny England snatching the Ashes. Still more memorable was his knock of 160 at Headingley, Leeds in 1964 that earned Australia victory in the only decisive test of this hard fought series. This performance earned him inclusion in Wisden’s five cricketers of the year in 1965.Visits to India and Pakistan:
Burge had visited Pakistan and India thrice (1956-57, 1959-60, and 1964). His notable scores during these visits were 83 at Bombay and 58 at Calcutta in 1956-57, 60 at Calcutta in 1959-60, and again 60 at Madras and 54 at Karachi in 1964.Contribution in the final Test against West Indies, 1960-61:
He was also instrumental in bringing victory to Australia over the West Indies in the fifth and final test at Melbourne in the famous 1960-61 series by scoring 68 and 53 in the two innings. Two seasons later, he scored 91 at Adelaide and 56 at Sydney in one of the most competitive test series of that era between Australia and South Africa in 1963-64.Victim of unusual dismissal:
Peter Burge was the third casualty in Australian First Class cricket history of being out handling the ball while playing in a match for Queensland versus New South Wales at Sydney in 1958-59. It was the first such event since the last in 1894-95.There is no doubt amongst cricket lovers he was a tremendous player and a respected match referee, the world of cricket will certainly miss him.Career Record: 1954 – 1966

A responsible hundred from Baroda skipper Connor Williams brought Ranji champions Baroda within shouting distance of Maharashtra’s first innings score of 321 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy tie between the two sides at the Nehru Stadium, Pune on Sunday.Baroda, who finished the day on 294 for five, were given a strong foundation by Williams and his opening partner Satyajit Parab (74). The two put on 184 runs for the first wicket before Parab departed after having faced 142 balls and hit nine fours.Former India `keeper Nayan Mongia, who followed, kept his skipper company for a good while as the two put on 51 runs for the second wicket. But Mongia’s departure for a patient 22 saw Maharashtra stage a minor fightback; the visitors lost three more top-order wickets, including that of Williams for 137 off 199 balls with 21 fours, for the addition of just 30 runs. But veteran middle-order bat Tushar Arothe and Himanshu Jadhav ensured that Baroda ended the day without any further mishaps by putting on 28 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket.

Otago’s 18-run win over Canterbury in the State Shield match at Oamaru today became the battle of the bonus point.Otago scored 156/8 in their 37 overs and Canterbury, if unable to match that target, had to try and stop Otago picking up a bonus point, to achieve that they needed to reach 125, and they managed that but not before a fright or two.In their chase Canterbury lost their two openers Michael Papps and Stephen Cunis for seven, and then slumped to 46/6. Gary Stead, who else, and Paul Wiseman effected a recovery.Otago had to restrict the Canterbury scoring but some indifferent bowling from the usually miserly Craig Cumming and Craig Pryor produced a flurry of runs and Canterbury went to 80/6 from 24 overs – a partnership of 45 runs.In the 28th over Stead was bowled neck and crop by Cumming for 23. Canterbury were 93/7.Wiseman followed in the 29th trying to hit Nathan McCullum over square leg and was caught by Andrew Hore on the boundary for 22. Canterbury were 95/8.Consideration of the bonus point did add a different dimension to the game which would otherwise have been dead.The 30th over saw Warren Wisneski and Carl Anderson take six off Cumming to go to 101 but in the 31st over Hore again took a brilliant running catch to dismiss Wisneski on the square leg boundary for six. Canterbury were 103/9.The target for Canterbury was now another 55 runs but with only six overs left and one wicket in hand. The cry of ‘Otaagoo’ went around the ground. It looked very much as though they would defeat their old enemy twice in the one season.With 33 overs gone and Canterbury 115/9, Kerry Walmsley resumed the attack. He had to contend with a wet ball after a shower which lasted for two overs made the ball slippery and the fielders understandably make a couple of minor errors. He conceded five from the over. Canterbury 120/9 from 34 completed overs.The last Canterbury pair at the wicket were looking good,they were playing straight and collecting singles and Otago’s chances of gaining a bonus point were receding. Pryor conceded only three in the 35th over and the Canterbury total was 123/9 with two overs to go.Canterbury denied Otago the bonus point in the 36th over as Walmsley conceded two runs and then with nothing to lose the batsmen hit out in the last over to reduce the deficit to 18 runs. Canterbury had denied Otago the bonus point, but the satisfaction for Otago was huge as they claimed their second victory of the summer over their old rivals.Carl Anderson finished on 18 not out and Ryan Burson 14 not out.Bowling for Otago, Walmsley took two for 17 from eights, David Sewell three for 22 from five and McCullum two for eight from four.Earlier, Otago had built its position on a solid innings of 41 from 71 balls by Cumming while a lower injection was given by Lee Germon with 21 and Martyn Croy 26. Cunis did best for Canterbury by taking two for 18 from eight overs.

An assured 140 not out from Mathew Sinclair put Central Districts in a commanding position on the first day of their sixth round State Championship match against Canterbury at Christchurch’s Village Green today.Central Districts was 267/4 at the close of the first day on a slow pitch with an even more lethargic outfield.Sinclair, the specialist converter of centuries into 150s and beyond, did it again today at QEII in front of the man who counts.Watching chairman of selectors Sir Richard Hadlee was noticeably impressed by the way Sinclair built his innings after coming in at 37/1 in the 12th over.Canterbury struggled to produce chances all day with Ryan Burson (2-52), who was not selected in Canterbury’s original XI, the only successful bowler in the morning session, trapping David Kelly (24) lbw on the crease.Kelly began with a couple of pulled boundaries, but the juicy outfield prevented several shots adding to the total of fours between the tenth and the 26th overs.Before the start Canterbury’s Stephen Cunis failed a fitness test on his injured thigh and Paul Wiseman was recalled. The former New Zealand off spinner was the day’s only successful bowler other than Cunis’ stand-in, Burson. Wiseman had promising newcomer Peter Ingram caught at slip for 35 shortly after lunch, which brought in Ben Smith, who scored 200 not out at New Plymouth when the sides last met in December, to join Sinclair, fresh from a score of 161 at Alexandra last week.By then Sinclair had deliberately and leisurely played himself in before reaching 50 off 97 balls and his twelfth career century in 180 deliveries.Characteristically, Sinclair’s smooth stroke play did not stop there.Since the right-hander scored his maiden century he has had innings of 166 not out against Auckland and 203 not out against Northern Districts in early 1999. He made 214 against the West Indies, 182 for the North Island and 102 for CD in 1999/00 then 100 not out against Zimbabwe President’s XI, 150 against South Africa, 204 not out for New Zealand against Pakistan as well as a score of 145 for CD last season.Sinclair’s recent 161 against Otago signalled the 26-year old’s readiness for England and the Test series. With today’s innings only twice has the Australian-born batsman been out between 100 and 150.Glen Sulzberger, his captain, told CricInfo: “When he gets in he just looks to keep going as much as he can. He was disappointed not to get 200 last week.”We dominated most of the last game against Canterbury,” he rued. Canterbury came back from conceding a double century to Smith to win when Aaron Redmond took four cheap wickets in CD’s second innings.Smith (41) departed to Burson in the 82nd over today, cutting late to Canterbury captain Gary Stead at gully.The score was then 222/3 and could have been more but for the outfield and Canterbury bowling some good lines in the middle of the innings.Sinclair and Sulzberger continued to stumps, quietly emphasising the CD advantage on a lethargic pitch that may take spin on the third and fourth days.”The pitch is starting to crack up a little, especially at one end,” said Sulzberger, rubbing his hands at the thought of bowling his off spin in the fourth innings. “Historically it doesn’t turn here,” he added, “but time will tell I suppose.”Canterbury, lacking hamstring-strain victim Warren Wisneski as well as their salvo of CLEAR Black Caps, struggled with the easterly wind all day. Quick bowlers Burson and Wade Cornelius bowled tight spells prior to lunch, but it may be the team’s spinners who decide the outcome of the match.Sinclair, the man who believes one hundred is never enough was reluctant to speak until the end of his innings.”See him on the third day,” joked a team mate. He might need to be taken seriously by Canterbury unless they can surprise him with the new ball tomorrow morning.

The ECB National Academy XI has been defeated by the South Australia 2nd XI in Adelaide in the most recent match of the winter programme. The state side won by 7 wickets after being set 189 to win in their second innings.The Academy were in trouble from the outset, being bowled out for just 214 on the first day of a match that was scheduled to last four days. Only the captain made a sizeable contribution to an inadequate total when Yorkshire’s Matthew Wood scored 94, opening the batting. Four other batsmen got to 20 or more, but none exceeded 35 to provide Wood with suitable support.As a contrast, three South Australian batsmen recorded fifties with Nathan Adcock leading the way with 67 batting at number seven. Darren Dempsey scored 64 and there was an innings of 58 from Daniel Harris. There were three wickets apiece for Alex Tudor and Ryan Sidebottom.Batting again with a substantial first innings deficit of 80, the Academy did better thanks to a partnership of 120 for the seventh wicket between Nicky Peng (75) and Tudor (70). Graeme Swann scored a useful 36 at number nine, but although a total of 268 represented a major recovery from 88 for 6, it was not enough to stretch the home side who completed their victory on the third day.

The Kenyan tour is in full swing, with two one-day internationals completed out of three; the final match will be played in Bulawayo on Sunday, weather permitting. The Harare match was rained off with Zimbabwe chasing a none too challenging total, while the Kwekwe match resulted in a comfortable victory for Zimbabwe using the cricketer’s old friend Duckworth-Lewis.CONTENTS

• One-day internationals, Kenya in Zimbabwe
  • First ODI, at Harare Sports Club: Scorecard | Report
  • Second ODI, at Kwekwe Sports Club: Scorecard | Report
• Alistair Campbell on the tour by Pakistan Interview
• 10 Years Ago: the First Test match between Zimbabwe and New Zealand, 1992/93 Report
• Vigne Cup cricket Report
• Letters

So far Kenya’s batting has not been as successful as it might have been, although the loss of their major batsman Steve Tikolo through illness for the first match was certainly a handicap. They could come through in the final match to give Zimbabwe’s errant bowlers a hammering. Brijal Patel, who took Tikolo’s place at number three in the first match, looked a batsman of considerable potential, and he batted well again at Kwekwe. Martin Suji bowled a very impressive spell, ten overs without a break, in Kwekwe, for just 17 runs, but the rest of the bowlers have so far made no impact on the Zimbabwean batsmen.But I repeat my assertion of last week, that Kenya urgently need more first-class cricket. It would be good if Zimbabwe could consider ways to help them out, within the strict limits of finance. Ideally a Kenyan team might, as some readers have suggested in the past, be included in the Logan Cup competition, but at the moment that hardly seems possible for financial reasons. Tours are also expensive and a certain financial loss as the television companies are not interested. Perhaps the ICC might put their money where their mouth is and help out here.For Kwekwe their first official one-day international was a major event, and a successful one. They were very fortunate, for a start, to avoid rain until late in the afternoon, as that day most of the country had a lot of rain. The officials, led by provincial general manager Ken Connelly, who himself representative Midlands in their first Logan Cup season in 1999/2999, spared no effort to ensure that all went smoothly and in order. The local population supported the match well, and there were several corporate tents along one side of the ground. ZCU have declared their intention to make Kwekwe the third ground in the country and, financial constraints permitting, it will be exciting to see what developments take place during the next two or three years.In this issue we also feature a major interview with Zimbabwe’s acting captain Alistair Campbell, who discusses the recent tour by Pakistan and analyses the performances of players in both teams.We have become aware of one omission: during the Pakistan and Kenyan tours, the Vigne Cup has been continuing quietly – so quietly that only recently did we remember it, and are now trying to access the scorecards. Our apologies for the omission, and we hope to catch up in the next week or two.

The Warwickshire all-rounder, Graham Wagg, has been ruled out of theremainder of this winter’s ECB National Academy programme through injury.Wagg, 19, was named in the original ECB Academy squad back in September, butwas unable to take up his place due to a back injury.He has recently undergone a scan which has revealed signs of a stressresponse in his back but no fracture. Following discussions with the ECBChief Medical Officer, Dr Peter Gregory, it has been decided that Wagg willcontinue his rehabilitation in the UK and not fly to Australia with the restof the Academy Squad tonight (Friday).Wagg’s Warwickshire colleagues, Jim Troughton (shin splints) and Ian Bell(back injury) have both been passed fit and will join up with the NationalAcademy in Adelaide ahead of their forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Nodecision has yet been taken on a replacement for Wagg in the Academy Squad.