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Andover have boosted their Southern Electric Premier League strike force by snapping up economical seamer Jeremy Ord from Old Tauntonians & Romsey.Ord frequently conceded less than 20 runs from 12-over new ball starts in Premier Division 2 last season and is a more than useful addition to the Andover attack.Roger Miller continues to skipper Andover’s Premier 1 team and is optimistic that Toby Radford, who has just taken up a coaching position alongside ex-England spinner John Emburey at Middlesex, will keep fit this summer after breaking his arm playing for the Hampshire Cricket Board last year.Mark Miller, Jeremy Hayward, Ian Langdown and the skipper are likely to fill the top five batting places, while Richard Taylor will spearhead the attack.Little Cille van der Merwe replaces Gosport-bound Lee Wateridge behind the stumps while the spinning places are likely to go to Matt Hooper and South African Gareth Tate. Dean Woodhouse, who will miss most of the season due to work commitments, is likely to be replaced by his bother Stuart, who has joined Andover from Rowledge.Tim Keighley captains a young second team, with Paul Funnell and Marc Kavanagh heading up the batting alongside teenagers Steve Williams and Rob Palmer. Luke Graham and Mike Adams will head a strong bowling line-up as the side pushes for promotion from Hampshire League, CD1.Director of Cricket Andy Hooper will help with first team coaching, but the left arm spinner will be sorely missed as his contribution on and off the field has been second to none.

Getting away from the cricket side of touring can be fun occasionally, just to break the pressure that develops.With that in mind our social club in India, Chris Nevin, Mark Richardson and myself arranged a Tuktuk (a rickshaw-like thing that seats two passengers and a driver and which is powered by a motor about the size of a lawn mower) race down to the Pizza Corner (like Pizza Hut) establishment about three kilometres down the road from our hotel in Chennai.We were having our usual team meal there after winning our second game in the Buchi Babu tournament.As part of our touring strategy we divided our tour party of 16 into four teams of four. But for this event we were divided into eight pairs after we managed to arrange eight Tuktuk drivers.It was a bit like Le Mans at the start as each of the drivers had to hold up a number which corresponded with one each team had been given. Once you had found your Tuktuk you had to encourage the drivers to get you to the Corner first.This all happened about 7pm which corresponds with peak hour in Chennai and we found ourselves trying to go against the traffic.It got quite scary at times but it was a lot of fun.The eventual winners of the Chennai Tuktuk championship of 2001 were Ashley Ross and Matt Horne. Paul Wiseman and Brooke Walker got themselves into a right spin and were a distant last as the Tuktuk ran out of petrol.We made a disappointing start to our semi-final. We batted first, and poorly, against Indian Railways and were all out for a paltry 129. Mark Richardson batted the entire innings to be 62 not out. The Railways side were 114/4 at stumps but we wrote a script for the next two days, working out what we had to do in the remaining phases of the game.We were inspired by coach Ashley Ross and his vision of a pre-mortem instead of a post-mortem. He believed we could win the game on the last day with three overs to spare. We all brought into the idea.The phases were to bowl the Railways side out in the morning session. Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve this until halfway through the second session which left us exactly 150 runs adrift.The second phase was to boldly go about restoring a lead so that we had enough runs to give ourselves a chance of bowling them out.We ended the day about 60 runs in front but with only four wickets in hand. It was hard work as they used six/three leg-side fields and speared the ball into our pads.This made scoring difficult and the lads improvised very well, adopting the reverse sweep on many occasions. Mark Richardson batted well for a nice double of half centuries and Lou Vincent looked good by stumps on 50 not out.We completed the second phase of our plan 20 overs into the day’s play with Lou Vincent scoring his first century of the tour. It was a fine knock and one that gave us an outside chance of winning as we had a lead of 163.We knew from the first innings that their batsmen did not like the short-pitched bowling. Shane Bond expolited their inability to cope with the short ball in three great spells in which he collected seven for 45 from 14 overs.Shane and Lou were the heroes for us and their efforts, backed up by some brilliant fielding helped us win the match.The script had been played out and we actually won the game just after tea with 40 overs still to spare.It was an astonishing game of cricket and the team showed a lot of character to come from behind and win convincingly in the end.

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced an overhaul of domestic cricket, which features three city-based tournaments that will be launched in the upcoming season.

Elite Championship teams

Colombo
Base: Khettarama
Catchment area: Western province
Major affiliated clubs: SSC, Ragama CC, Badureliya CC
Kandy
Base: Pallekele Stadium
Catchment area: Central Province & Sabaragamuwa
Major affiliated clubs: Colts Cricket Club, Moors Sports Club, Saracens Sports Club
Hambantota
Base: Hambantota Stadium
Catchment area: Uva Province and parts of Southern Province and Eastern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Burgher Recreation Club, Army Sports Club
Galle
Base: Galle Stadium
Catchment area: Part of Southern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Galle CC, Nondescripts CC, Lankan CC
Kurunegala
Base: Dambulla Stadium
Catchment area: Northwestern Province, North-Central Province, Northern Province, and part of Eastern Province
Major affiliated clubs: Tamil Union, Chilaw Marians, Navy Sports Club

The 2015-16 season will also feature a four-day, 50-over and Twenty20 tournament based out of five regional hubs, in addition to the club-based premier tournaments which will continue as usual. The new city-based structure, titled the ‘Elite Championship’ aims to decentralise Sri Lanka’s cricket from Colombo, and distill talent to ensure a sterner level of domestic competition.According to SLC officials, the plan for the Elite Championship was “spearheaded” by Mahela Jayawardene. The interim committee, which took over in early April, has made the overhaul of the domestic system a priority of their administration, which is set to end in January – before any of the new tournaments are played. It is hoped the new structure will help better identify and foster provincial talent.”Today, the bulk of our cricketers are coming from the outstations,” SLC chairman Sidath Wettimuny said. “We’ve got to encourage these cricketers to remain in their home territory and play. Everybody doesn’t need to come to Colombo. We’re taking cricket out to them and providing them with what they need.”The five Elite Championship teams will be based out of stadiums in Pallekele, Dambulla, Hambantota, Galle and Khettarama, and will take the names of the nearest major urban centre (Kandy, Kurunegala, Hambantota, Galle and Colombo respectively).”Historically and geographically, these are the cities that have brought cricket to the level it is now,” SLC cricket operations manager Carlton Bernardus said. “The advantage also is that the facilities in these regions cater to the game.”By fielding only five teams, SLC aims to concentrate the talent in its domestic pool, in order to better prepare domestic cricketers for the international level. The Premier League first-class tournament, which features 14 club sides, has been criticised by players and administrators for being bloated, and as such, producing relatively-low quality cricket.Each Elite Championship team will be assigned SLC coaches and support staff. Romesh Kaluwitharana, Nuwan Zoysa, Piyal Wijetunge, Roy Dias and Avishka Gunawardene have been identified as head coaches for the five teams. SLC said it was also in the process of advertising for managers, and assigning trainers and physios for each side. The Elite Championship support staff will be advised and overseen by the national coaches in Colombo.Existing clubs have also been given an administrative role to play in the Elite Championship. The top clubs have been split into five clusters, each of which has then been assigned an Elite Championship side. For example, Sinhalese Sports Club, Badureliya Cricket Club, Ragama Cricket Club along with several other clubs have been clustered with the Colombo team.”We will get the support of the clubs and the district associations to run the tournament,” Bernardus said. “The tournament will tap into the facilities and infrastructure which the clubs have.”A new player-payments structure has also been announced for the Elite Championship tournaments. Seventy-five players (15 per team) will be signed up for these tournaments, and those who play will receive 20,000 rupees per day for the Elite Championship four-day tournament, 25,000 rupees per 50-over match, and 15,000 rupees per T20 game.The Elite Championship T20 tournament is set to be the first of the city-based tournaments to be played: it is scheduled from January 26 to February 5 – ahead of the World T20. The Elite Championship four-day tournament is scheduled for March and April 2016. The teams are scheduled to play a round-robin, before two sides progress to the final.The club-based Premier League Tournament is still set to take the largest part of the domestic calendar. That tournament features seven three-day group fixtures for each of the 14 sides, before the top eight teams split off to play four rounds of four-day cricket, known as the Super Eights phase. Club-based 50-over and T20 tournaments are also scheduled.SLC has sought to persist with the club structure instead of doing away with it in favour of the new tournaments for two major reasons. First, the clubs control much of the existing domestic infrastructure and facilities, including coaches, equipment and grounds. Secondly, the clubs also wield substantial constitutional power, via SLC votes.Any moves to marginalise the clubs would have effectively killed the city-based tournament at its inception. At any rate, with SLC elections scheduled for January, the clubs would likely have elected candidates promising to return the club tournaments to their historical place – as the centrepiece of Sri Lanka’s domestic season. Playing the Elite Championship after the Premier League tournament is seen as a sort of compromise.SLC has previously held provincial tournaments that sought to concentrate domestic talent. However, those tournaments had been administered directly by SLC, from Colombo. The Elite Championship aims to herald a greater devolution of power. It is hoped that district associations and the club clusters will administer the week-to-week affairs of each team, and that these teams will only be broadly overseen by SLC. It is also hoped that this devolution of powers brings with it grassroots support from fans in the various cities, as well as organic development of cricketers at each hub.

	Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, hopes the forthcoming Test series would be “tough and uncompromising but played in the right spirit” © Getty Images

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, says he is “worried” about the addition of Paddy Upton to Gary Kirsten’s coaching staff for India’s home series against South Africa, since the mental-conditioning specialist possesses inside knowledge on his key players.Arthur hoped Kirsten, the retired South Africa opener and the team’s former batting consultant, would do well as India’s new coach “except against South Africa”, but suggested that he was not so sure about Upton.”I am worried about Paddy Upton,” Arthur told Cricinfo. “I hope that he will respect the confidentiality of his relationship with the players, which is similar to a doctor-patient relationship because he has worked on the mental approach of most of our top six.”Kirsten took over as India coach on March 1 and recommended Upton to the BCCI, which is finalising the paperwork for a full-time contract.Upton, closely associated with Kirsten’s academy in Cape Town, has worked with most of the current South Africa players, including Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. He was also South Africa’s biokineticist and fitness trainer in the mid-to-late 1990s, and a fitness trainer with the team from 1994 to 1998.”Gary is a genuine cricket man and I wish him all the best except against South Africa,” Arthur said. “Coaches analyse their opponents anyway so I not worried about his intimate technical knowledge of our players.”Arthur is currently in Bangladesh with his team for a two-Test series and three one-dayers. South Africa is expected to reach Chennai a few days after their Bangladesh tour ends on March 14, for the first of their three Tests against India.Asked to assess India’s performance during the recent Australia series, Arthur felt they had played particularly well. “They put pressure on Australia and seem to have developed a ruthless streak,” he said. Arthur, however, hoped that unlike in Australia, the forthcoming Test series would be “tough and uncompromising but played in the right spirit”.On the Indian Premier League, which follows the India series, Arthur said that while it was good for cricket, “there must be a window period for it in the international schedule.”

The two champagne bottles found in Bob Woolmer’s room were passed on to him by Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistan’s assistant coach, who had left them in his hotel room, according to Pervez Mir, Pakistan’s media manager during the World Cup.The possible significance of the champagne emerged earlier in the week with a report in suggesting that Woolmer may have been poisoned by weedkiller after traces were found in his stomach and on a champagne glass.Mir told the Pakistani TV channel ARY, with whom he is employed, that Talat Ali, the Pakistan manager, was a witness to the bottles being passed on to Woolmer in the team hotel in Jamaica.Mushtaq, in Lahore on a brief visit, reacted sharply to the development, explaining to reporters later that there was nothing in the incident and that he had already explained the position to the police. Mushtaq revealed that the the bottles were given to him by a friend for the team’s liaison officer. They were left in his room as the liaison officer was not around at the time.”In the meantime, Bob came to my room to inquire about my health since a ball had hit me in the face during nets on the same morning,” Mushtaq said. “Woolmer asked me for the bottles and I gave him since the liaison officer was not there and I am not fond of liquor at all. The entire incident happened in front of some players who were sitting in my room when Bob came.”Mir, who had been questioned by the Jamaican police along with members of the Pakistani team before they were allowed to fly back home, said that he had not spoken to the police about the bottles. He maintained that Mushtaq would have given the bottles to Woolmer in “the best of spirit and as a matter of goodwill”.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) refused to comment on Mir’s statement, saying that it had no official communication from the Jamaican authorities. When contacted, Talat Ali said that he could not understand all the speculation surrounding the case. “All I can say is that this is a police case and we all recorded our statements with the police in Jamaica. Saying anything on this issue will only add fuel to [the] fire.”Mir said he did not know who the guests of Pakistani origin were and was not sure whether Mushtaq knew them. He added that journalists were stretching the issue too far and reiterated that the police had not questioned him on this issue.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Muttiah Muralitharan was outstanding on the fourth day with figures of 8 for 70 as Sri Lanka stormed home © Getty Images

Muttiah Muralitharan wanted to make what might be his final Test in England one to remember. He achieved that in stunning fashion at Trent Bridge with a haul of 8 for 70 as Sri Lanka stormed to a 134-run victory to level the series, ripping through England with a mesmerising spell which brought back memories of his first Test in this country – when he took nine at The Oval in 1998.Muralitharan was on for all ten – having previously twice fallen one short in Tests – but that feat disappeared when Matthew Hoggard was run out. His third nine-for also went begging when the last wicket fell to Sanath Jayasuriya, but that will be of little consequence to Muralitharan who just beamed with pride having steered his team to a stunning result. Once he’d got started on England, breaking the encouraging opening partnership of 84 between Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss, there was no stopping him. He claimed six during the afternoon session as England went from hopeful to hapless.The target of 325 always left England a mountain to climb, although they started positively with Strauss and Trescothick making steady progress either side of lunch. Jayawardene went into a holding pattern for all his bowlers, apart from Muralitharan and it was surprising to see relatively defensive fielding settings. But Sri Lanka have had a gameplan and stuck to it during this match.The tactic of keeping England quiet worked in the first innings and Jayawardene was banking on the same method second time around. The plan came together in fine style. Muralitharan duly made the breakthrough when Trescothick played back to another perfect doosra that skidded through and clattered the offstump. He was unsure at first, appealing for lbw, but quickly joined his team-mates in celebration.Sri Lanka should have had another moment to enjoy when Alastair Cook, on 1, thin-edged Jayasuriya but Kumar Sangakkara couldn’t hold on. However, they didn’t have to wait long before Muralitharan created mayhem. Before the clatter, Strauss registered his first half-century of the series from 88 balls; but you sensed that something was about to give.

Marcus Trescothick is cleaned up as Muralitharan’s first victim of the innings © Getty Images

In a very similar manner to his first-innings dismissal at Edgbaston, Cook was trapped by the doosra then Strauss departed as his edge bounced off Sangakkara’s glove in the direction of slip. While England had Kevin Pietersen at the crease – damaged hamstring and all – there was still hope. Not for long. Pietersen won his battle with Muralitharan hands down in the first two Tests; here it has gone convincingly the other way.Pietersen sashayed down the pitch but only succeeded in getting a faint glove – via pad – to short-leg. It was the strike Sri Lanka wanted but more was to come when Andrew Flintoff fell to a thick inside-edge to complete a miserable match with the bat. Tillakaratne Dilshan made it a hat-trick of catches with the best of the bunch when Paul Collingwood jabbed down on the ball, got the bottom of the bat, and it bounced up from the toe of his boot. Dilshan lunged forward and to his right to get his hand underneath the ball to take a sharp catch. The wickets came in such a rush that each celebration hardly had chance to die down.Geraint Jones became No. 7 for Muralitharan and all eyes were turning to the magic complete set – achieved only twice before in Test cricket by Jim Laker and Anil Kumble. But it wasn’t to be when Hoggard was brilliantly run out by Chamara Kapugedera from midwicket with only a single stump to aim at. Jon Lewis quickly joined the procession back to the pavilion and it appeared that Muralitharan would finish how he started in England – with a nine-wicket haul.However, after some defiant and loudly cheered blows from Monty Panesar, Jayasuriya capped his comeback Test with the final wicket and Sri Lanka could celebrate one of their greatest triumphs. Panesar’s late boundaries – including a swept six off Muralitharan – completed an encouraging performance on a personal note after he’d earlier secured his first five-wicket haul. But the day was all about one man – who never knows when he is beaten – and a team that carries the same fighting qualities.

Marcus Trescothick b Muralitharan 31 (84 for 1)
Alastair Cook lbw b Muralitharan 5 (104 for 2)
Andrew Strauss c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 55 (111 for 3)
Kevin Pietersen c Dilshan b Muralitharan 6 (120 for 4)
Andrew Flintoff c Dilshan b Muralitharan 0 (120 for 5)
Paul Collingwood c Dilshan b Muralitharan (125 for 6)
Geraint Jones b Muralitharan 6 (132 for 7)
Matthew Hoggard run out – Kapugedera (136 for 8)
Jon Lewis lbw b Muralitharan 7 (153 for 9)
Monty Panesar lbw b Jayasuriya 26 (190 all out)

Chamara Kapugedera c Cook b Plunkett 50 (287 for 8)
Lasith Malinga b Panesar 22 (320 for 9)
Muttiah Muralitharan c Strauss b Panesar 2 (322 all out)

Scorecard

Uplifting: Shane Warne and Michael Clarke celebrate victory© Getty Images

Australia romped to a thoroughly convincing victory, although later than expected on the final day, in the opening Test of the four-match series at Bangalore. An entertaining ninth-wicket stand delayed the inevitable, but with the skies completely clear, it was always going to be a matter of time. The end came 44 minutes after lunch as India were crushed by 217 runs.The Indian top order collapsed last night, and with just four wickets left, only the last rites were left. Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan batted in unfettered fashion and gave the Sunday crowd a lot to cheer. Both went about dismantling Shane Warne’s figures as his march towards the world record was halted. Warne went wicketless all morning, and will have to wait until Chennai for another chance to eclipse Muttiah Muralitharan’s tally.At the start of the day, though, the Indians waged a grim battle. Rahul Dravid faced only Warne while Pathan kept out Michael Kasprowicz at the other end. The only scoring shots in the first 12 overs were Dravid’s two fours off Warne and, like last night, he refused the singles. Pathan survived a large dose of fortune in the sixth over of the morning, edging an attempted drive off Kasprowicz, as Michael Clarke grassed a tough chance diving to his left at second slip. The rest of the time, though, Pathan got behind the line of the ball and blocked confidently.The Australians did their bit to break up the rhythm of the morning, and Adam Gilchrist’s juggling of bowlers and ends finally paid off when Kasprowicz nailed Dravid in the 14th over of the day. The ball pitched outside off, cut back in and trapped him lbw for 60 (118 for 7).

Irfan Pathan made an impressive half-century, showing solid defensive technique and prudent shot selection© Getty Images

With Dravid gone, the tailenders played with unrestrained freedom and delayed the inevitable by a few hours. Pathan blasted two massive sixes over midwicket as he shimmied down the track, the second of which was taken brilliantly on the pavilion balcony as one of the spectators leant over the railings and clung on. He also pulled off some delicate sweeps and smart nudges and padded away a few balls from Warne with calm authority.Harbhajan joined in the fun by slog-sweeping Warne over midwicket. They added 72 rapidly before lunch, and went on to break the record for the highest ninth-wicket stand for India against Australia.Jason Gillespie ended the revelry a few overs after lunch, soon after the new ball was taken, as Pathan (55) played back to one that pitched on a good length. The ball kissed the outside edge and Adam Gilchrist did the rest (214 for 9). Harbhajan swished around a little longer, smacking one off McGrath that landed inches in front of the extra-cover fence, before a top-edged hook went straight to long leg.The batsmen were also largely helped by the attacking fields that the Australians set, with a number of men in the catching zones, and there were a few edges that landed in vacant areas. This was the only time in the game when the Australians didn’t mind conceding a few easy runs, as they had choked the rest of the batsmen with their disciplined approach.

Anil Kumble loses his off stump© Getty Images

Glenn McGrath carried on from where he had left off in the tour game in Mumbai, and was near-impossible to score off, while Kasprowicz’s ability to vary seam, length and pace left several batsmen clueless. The Australians religiously practised bowling at one stump before the start of each day’s play, and that was exactly the line that they consistently achieved throughout the game.The batting in the first innings had helped Australia seize the initiative as Clarke, Gilchrist and Simon Katich handled the spinners with ease. They didn’t find it as easy in the second innings, though, with Harbhajan teasing them with a magnificent spell. That, apart from the lower-order batting, is something that India will take with them to Chennai. The other departments, though, need some serious oiling. These may be early days yet, but Bill Lawry’s team of 1969-70 may just be shuffling in their seats.

According to , Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has indicated that the board is considering hiring specialised coaches to improve the national team’s performance."We are seriously considering hiring not only a bowling coach, but also a fielding expert and a physical trainer as well to overcome weaknesses in these departments," he said, with reference to a below-par performance in the last game. "But we cannot do it all of a sudden, as it would take some time to implement these decisions. Hopefully, we will be making some decisions after the India series."* * *Javed Miandad is not enamoured with the idea of a bowling coach, and says that the will to improve can come only from within, reports the Press Trust of India (PTI)."What can a bowling coach do when the player himself does not want to improve? A coach can only offer guidance from outside. It is up to the bowler to improve and overcome the flaw," said Miandad. "Bowlers like Imran, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis used to work hard at the nets and sort out their problems. The current lot of bowlers need to work harder and show some discipline."However, the The News quoted Miandad as saying, "We might have to think about seeking specialist help if this problem [of wides and no balls] is not contained soon."Earlier, Imran Khan had questioned whether a batsmen-dominated management team could help Pakistan’s bowlers, suggesting that a bowling coach would prove beneficial.* * *Omar Kureishi jumps on to Imran’s side of the bowling-coach bandwagon in his latest piece in The Indian Express. Writing about the lack of bowling discipline, he states that in their quest for wickets, the bowlers gave away too many runs.He suggests that Wasim Akram could be a bowling coach, but the PCB was uncomfortable with him around. And since Waqar Younis hadn’t yet given up hope of playing for Pakistan, that option was out. Instead, Aquib Javed made for a worthy bowling coach, as he had worked well at the junior level. But while Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmed could benefit from his experience, would Shoaib Akhtar care to listen?Kureshi reckons that Javed Miandad considers the appointment of a bowling coach a threat to his authority, and writes that Miandad would do well to reconsider, because his confidence – bordering on overconfidence – was blinding his judgement.* * *While Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif were building a partnership during the fourth one-dayer, superstitions were rampant in the Indian dressing room. The Indian Express found out that VVS Laxman could not leave his seat till the game was over, while Yuvraj Singh was ordered to stay horizontal on the massage table until the game was sealed. Amrit Mathur, the media manager, was persona non grata in the dressing room while the match went on, because of the belief that a wicket would fall if he were around.* * *Part of Rahul Dravid’s match preparations centre on visualising his success, according to The Times of India. Dravid’s biographer, Vedam Jaishankar, was quoted as saying, "He replays all the games that he has played against the opposition. He then keeps thinking of all his best moments and the shots that he has hit against them until he starts feeling good. I’ve seen Rahul since his school days. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a club game, a Ranji or an international match. He follows the same routine."* * *Sourav Ganguly had a night out after India beat Pakistan in Lahore, with two friends and a plainclothes security guard for company. Rediff reported that Ganguly stopped by Food Street, and gorged on kebabs and chicken. He then posed for photographs and signed autographs, and the crowd warmed to him, despite their team having been beaten just a few hours earlier.While much was made of the boredom the players would encounter due to a thick security blanket in Pakistan, a number of team members have gone shopping and sightseeing. However, Sachin Tendulkar fell victim to a more common danger – daylight robbery. He paid 1000 rupees for a pair of Peshawari slippers that were worth only 300 rupees.

Stephen Fleming hits out on his way to an unbeaten 112
©AFPLocal predictions that New Zealand might wilt in harsh Sri Lankanconditions proved overly optimistic on an attritional opening dayof this two-Test series at the P Saravanamuttu Oval. The heatwas stifling, baking the smattering of spectators housed in themetal-roofed pavilion, but the pitch was pancake flat and SriLanka’s quartet of spinners made little headway against thevisitor’s stubborn pair of left-handers, Mark Richardson andStephen Fleming.Brought together by the early loss of Matt Horne, they profitedfrom some butter-finger catching and crawled along in the firsttwo sessions – scoring 66 in the morning and 73 in the afternoon- before turning the screws slightly in the evening.A breakthrough with the new ball by Chaminda Vaas – who hadotherwise had a relatively innocuous day, failing to swing thenew ball or reverse the old – immediately after the last drinksbreak pulled the home side back into the game, but by then,Fleming and Richardson had extended the partnership to 172 – ateam record for the second wicket against Sri Lanka, surpassingthe 141 by Bryan Young and Horne in 1996/97.Fleming, who prior to the match had called for his senior playersto shoulder responsibility in the absence of key middle-orderplayers, led from the front. During the first two sessions, he wasrarely fluent, content just to keep Sri Lanka’s spinners -especially the probing Muttiah Muralitharan – at bay. But duringthe final session, he started to assert himself, eventuallybringing up his fifth Test century with a cover-drive for four. Hefinished the day on 112 from 248 balls.”The aim is to get a big score tomorrow and definitely have a go at the SriLanka batsmen sometime in the afternoon,” Fleming explained. “Muralitharan was difficult to play as usual, but I have told my batsmen to watch him carefully. I am happy with my century, but a lot more needs to be done on the second day.”Richardson pulled his hamstring in the first session and battedthroughout the afternoon with a runner – meaning that poorHorne faced an evening of rehydration despite scoring just four -anchored the innings, carrying through his good form from thewarm-up matches when he had scored 106 and 93. He alsolooked set to reach three figures, although he had virtuallyground to a halt against the spinners.Patient and unflustered throughout – even after being rattled onthe helmet by a skidding Vaas bouncer in the afternoon – heeventually chopped one on to his stumps, having occupied thecrease 325 painstaking minutes for his 84 (192 for two).It could have been different for Sri Lanka, who were left to rueanother fumbling performance in the field. Richardson the chiefbeneficiary, was dropped first by Mahela Jayawardene at firstslip when he had made 34 – a regulation chance – and then on63 by Romesh Kaluwitharana, playing his first Test for two years.Fleming, too, had moments of alarm, edging between slip and thewicketkeeper in the morning and pulling within inches of a divingKumar Sangakkara at mid-wicket later in the day.In all, it proved to be a frustrating day for the new captain,Hashan Tillakaratne, who stamped his authority early on byensuring his players wore their traditional caps during the firstsession. Unfortunately, the dropped catches exposed the sameproblems faced by his predecessor: the lack of penetrativesupport for Muralitharan.The offspinner caused problems throughout the day but after 27overs of effort, he left the field wicketless. The other spinnerswere economical but far less threatening.Horne’s wicket was the only one to fall in the first two sessions,a first Test victim for Prabath Nissanka, the 22-year-old fastbowler with rickety knees and tree-trunk thighs, who bowled animpressive spell first up. Horne appeared to have weathered thenew ball, digging in for 44 minutes, before being surprised bysome sharp bounce from Nissanka. He fended off a sharp chanceto short leg, where Dharmasena clung on to a fine one-handeddiving catch (20 for 1).And that was pretty much all Sri Lanka had to celebrate for along while thereafter. Advantage New Zealand, after a day whenaggression was firmly pushed into the background.

Auckland Cricket chairman Don Hattaway is not seeking re-election at Thursday’s annual meeting.The popular Hattaway has been chairman for the last five and a half years and a member of the board for seven years.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a board member serving the interests of Auckland cricket.”I have always believed that the game of cricket is for playing and that administrators should never overlook that fact. To this end, the move to strengthen grass roots cricket and the positive development of the State Aces and State Hearts has been particularly worthwhile,” he said.Acknowledging the success of the Auckland Hearts in winning the State Insurance Cup for the second time, and the number of talented young players in the Aces side, Hattaway said Auckland continued to make a substantial investment in coaching and development.”It is pleasing to see this investment reflected in the development of elite players and the continuing growth of coaches in Auckland,” he said.The development of a career path for coaches had been helped by the requirement that all premier and first grade cricket club sides in Auckland have a coach attached to them.This also helped lift the standard of cricket.”Whilst the standard of cricket varies amongst the teams the standard is improving and the trend is in the right direction,” he said.”During the past year one of the main areas of focus has been to strengthen the grass roots level of the game by encouraging clubs to improve their governance structure.”A professional management scheme has been developed and it is pleasing to note that this has been embraced wholeheartedly by the major clubs in Auckland,” he said.Hattaway said New Zealand Cricket was committed to supporting grass roots cricket and funds have been allocated to provide the necessary financial resource.”Although the board of NZC has not yet determined the timing of payment and how much each association will receive, the clubs are preparing their business plans for review by Auckland Cricket.”By making good use of the time available to properly plan for the implementation of the professional club managers’ scheme, it is anticipated that when final approval is given by NZC that we and the clubs will be ready to implement the scheme,” he said.