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Scorecard
Another day, another victory for West Indies who remain unbeaten in all matches this European tour. Their latest win, by 80 runs, came in the third ODI against Netherlands, leaving them 3-0 up with one to play.Stefanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin’s strong opening partnership of 105 swung things West Indies’ way from the moment they were inserted. Taylor ended with 70 and Dottin 66 as West Indies climbed to 235 for 7 at Deventer. West Indies’ batting has not always fired as a unit this tour – they have recently relied on the efforts of various lone hands – but on Monday they worked well together to build a total well beyond Netherlands’ reach. Lotte Egging took a consolation four wickets, her best haul in one-dayers.Chedean Nation gave eight of her bowlers a go and it was Stacy-Ann King who was the most successful with 3 for 33 from 7.3 overs. Caroline Salomons gave Netherlands’ total some respectability but her unbeaten 70 of the 155 once again pointed to some batting vulnerability; they have not yet topped 180 this series.The sides meet again on Wednesday for the final ODI where Netherlands will have the task of salvaging some pride. West Indies will be looking to be on the right side of another whitewash – as opposed to their men, who lost 5-0 to Australia on Sunday.

SHARJAH – Australia is considering axing a batsman and playing fivebowlers to cope with extreme conditions in the second cricket Testagainst Pakistan starting in Sharjah tomorrow.Australian captain Steve Waugh acknowledged the tactic was a way ofcoping with the heat and humidity which marks this desert venue as oneof the most toughest places to play Tests.Waugh, while emphasising he was no longer a selector when on tour, saidhe would discuss the make-up of the side with chief selector TrevorHohns.The captain admitted the balance of the side had been upset by the calfmuscle injury which ruled out paceman Jason Gillespie.However, the extreme conditions had to be taken into consideration andAdam Gilchrist, with a Test average of over 60, was good enough to beused as a specialist batsman.”Yeah, that’s an option,” Waugh said of moving the West Australianwicket-keeper up to No.6.”Playing five bowlers in a Test match like this when it’s going to behard work for the bowlers in a lot heat – that’s one option that’s beentalked about.”But he gave only a wry smile when asked if it was a likely outcome.If so it would mean Andy Bichel and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz cominginto the side to replace Gillespie and at the expense of one of thebatsmen, possibly Mark Waugh.It would be a bold decision but it’s one the selectors have contemplatedin the past – notably in India last year when they wanted to play threepace bowlers but also wanted to use off-spinner Colin Miller.The downside is that it puts a lot more pressure on wicketkeeperGilchrist.Waugh said playing two spinners and two pace bowlers was an equallytough decision.”We’ve done it before but it’s going to be a bit harder in theseconditions.”Obviously the part-time bowlers would have to do more work because youcan’t be bowling 10-over spells in this heat as a quick – you’d getcarried off.”The conditions make the side more difficult to pick than normal.”In the end, there’s every likelihood Australia will stay conservativeand bring in Bichel for Gillespie, whose absence is the biggest problem.”It’s going to be a big loss without him.”He’s a strike bowler and as a captain I can always rely on him to bowlin the tough stages, he always puts his hand up – he always thinks ofthe team, he’s a big loss.”But we’ve got excellent people to cover – Andy Bichel is great team manand we’ve got Brad Williams flying in.”We’ve got plenty of options – I just don’t know how we’re going toline-up on Friday morning.”Pakistan’s team was more obvious, he said, with legspinner DanishKaneria certain to come in for Mohammad Sami after Pakistan took alopsided attack into the first Test, which Australia won by 41 runs inColombo.Waugh said the biggest threat came from paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who took5-5 in 15 balls during Australia’s second innings to give his side anoutside chance of victory.”We have to come up with a plan to nullify Shoaib Akhtar and his reverseswing,” Waugh said.”We think there is a way but we’re going to keep that to ourselves.”We’ve tossed around a few ideas and there’s one or two plans we’ve comeup with.”He said Shoaib’s ability to swing the ball severely at speeds of 150kphand land it in the right spot was “pretty unique stuff”.”The spells he bowls – I can’t imagine anyone else bowling them.”Shoaib has already proved himself at the venue, taking 10 wickets in thetwo-match series against the West Indies here in January which Pakistanwon convincingly.Waugh warned “there was nothing neutral” about Sharjah, which heconsidered as a home away from home for Pakistan.Australia: Steve Waugh (capt), Justin Langer, Matt Hayden, RickyPonting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, BrettLee, Andy Bichel, Nathan Hauritz, Glenn McGrath (12th man TBA)Pakistan: Waqar Younis (capt), Taufeeq Umar, Imran Nazir, Abdur Razzaq,Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faifal Iqbal, Rashid Latif, Saqlain Mushtaq,Shoaib Akhtar, Danish Kaneria.

Railways steamrolled Vidarbha in their Central Zone Ranji one-day encounter at Indore on Thursday, but despite the five-wicket victory margin, they could not pick up the bonus point.Asked to bat first, Vidarbha racked up 241 for nine in their allotted 50 overs, with RS Jadhav top-scoring with 73 (80b, 9×4, 1×6). He was given some support by HV Shitoot’s quickfire 42 (43b, 3×4, 2×6), but no other batsman could really contribute significantly. For Railways, Jai P Yadav picked up four for 51.Railways experienced a few setbacks to get to 81 for three, but then Yere Goud and Raja Ali added 110 runs for the fourth wicket, virtually sealing the game in their team’s favour. Raja Ali made 67 (76b, 8×4, 1×6), while Goud made an unbeaten 85 (108b, 7×4, 1×6) that saw Railways home in 48.3 overs.Gagan Khoda ton spurs Railways winA sparkling 121 from opener Gagan Khoda saw Rajasthan register a 33-run win over Uttar Pradesh at the Daly College Ground in Indore on Thursday.Winning the toss, Rajasthan opted to bat first, and when 85 runs came for the first wicket, the decision proved sound. Uttar Pradesh were further tormented when Khoda and RJ Kanwat added 108 runs for the second wicket, the latter scoring 51 off 87 balls (2×4). Khoda himself hit his 121 off 133 balls (11×4, 1×6). Skipper PK Krishnakumar’s whirlwind 29 off 10 balls (4×4, 1×6) spurred Rajasthan to 276 for six in 50 overs.Despite battling scores of 56 apiece from Jyoti Yadav and R Shamshad, Uttar Pradesh were never in the hunt, and Kishan Choudhary scalped four for 61 off nine overs to send UP tumbling to 243 all out in 47.5 overs.Punjab crush Haryana at RohtakPunjab chased down Haryana’s total of 132 for the loss of only two wickets at Rohtak’s Maharaja Agarsingh Stadium to register a comfortable win. Haryana could not capitalise on winning the toss, and only Joginder Sharma at number seven could register a significant score. Sharma made 44 off 62 balls with a four and three sixes before his side was bowled out in 39.1 overs.Punjab cruised to their win largely on opener Manish Sharma’s sedate 53 (127b, 5×4, 1×6). Ravneet Ricky at number three then hit an unbeaten 42 to guide Punjab to victory in 43 overs.Services humbled by Himachal Pradesh and Aashish KapoorA solid batting performance from Himachal Pradesh saw them register a thumping 116-run win over Services at Gurgaon, garnering them a bonus point in the process.Winning the toss, Himachal started poorly, at one stage stumbling at 64 for three. But Amit Sharma and Nischal Gaur then added 137 for the fourth wicket, with the former making 94 (109b, 5×4, 2×6) and the latter 64 (82b, 2×4, 1×6). A dazzling 40 off just 19 balls (3×4, 3×6) from Aashish Kapoor then enabled Himachal to surge to 269 for eight in 50 overs.Kapoor was not content with that. Bowling his off-spinners, he took five for 38 off eight overs to hasten Services to a paltry 153 all out in 34.5 overs. Only one batsman – Yashpal Singh – managed to cross 20 before Jaya Krishnan hit out at number 11 to make 26 off 13 balls in a vain cause.Akash Chopra guides Delhi to eight-wicket winDelhi opener Akash Chopra hit a responsible 87 (100b, 7×4) to steer his side to an eight-wicket win over Jammu & Kashmir in their Ranji one-day tie at Faridabad.Batting first after winning the toss, Jammu & Kashmir could only reach 170 all out in 49.3 overs, with opener W Majeed top-scoring with 48. The target of 171 proved inadequate by far as Chopra and Mithun Manhas (53, 52b, 6×4) took their team from 59 for two to victory in just 31.5 overs, garnering a bonus point in the process.

Shiv Sunder Das completed 250 as India extended their total to an imposing 516 before being bowled out at Chelmsford. In reply Essex reached 173 for three by stumps on the second day.Das’s marathon effort included four sixes and 32 fours, and came off 380 balls. This morning he extended his partnership with Sourav Ganguly to 105 before Ganguly was stumped by Barry Hyam off James Middlebrook for 74 (two sixes, 10 fours).Das added another 78 with Ajit Agarkar before he was stumped for 20 off Timothy Phillips, who immediately added the scalp of Harbhajan Singh for a duck. Das was finally dismissed by the last ball of the innings, caught by Mark Ilott to become Phillips’ third wicket of the day.Tinu Yohannan took the first Essex wicket after Darren Robinson and Richard Clinton had put on 55, bowling Clinton for 23. Robinson was then caught by Wasim Jaffer off Harbhajan for 59, and the same combination accounted for Ravinder Bopara for 29. Andy Flower ended the day unbeaten on 45.

Kabir Ali has rounded off a memorable week by completing a hat trick of prestigious awards at the inaugural Worcestershire County Cricket Club Awards Dinner.The 21-year-old picked up the Hewett Recruitment Player of the Year Award and the Apollo 2000 Young Player of the Year, adding to the PCA Young Player of the Year title he was awarded earlier this week. Kabir was the County’s leading wicket taker in first class and one-day cricket this season and earned selection for ECB Academy this winter.He took 71 First Class wickets at an average of 25.08, becoming the third leading wicket taker in the country. During the season he took 5 five wicket hauls and had two ten wicket matches with a best bowling analysis of 7-43 v Oxford University and he also recorded best first class score with the bat with 51 not out v Northants.The Hewett Recruitment Player of the Year is awarded to the player who performed to the highest level over the course of the season. Performances in every First Class and One-Day fixture voted on by members of the media and Director of Cricket.The Apollo 2000 Yong Player of the Year is awarded to the outstanding young cricketer who has developed their talent and reached a consistently high level of performance during the season, as voted by the WCCC Coaching Staff.Vikram Solanki won the Premier Letting One-Day Player of the Year Award after a fine season in the abbreviated game scoring 929 runs at an average of 42.22 including two 100’s and 7 50’s.The Dick Lygon Award presented to the player who has made an outstanding contribution to the Club both on and off the field during the season, as voted by the Captain, Director of Cricket and President went to James Pipe.

Harold Stanley WEIR was born on 23 April 1904 at Croydon Junction, a suburb of Maryborough and later to be known as Baddow, the son of Margaret (nee Bryans) and James Weir. He was educated at the Central Boys State School in Maryborough and after he had completed the state scholarship examination he commenced working in the office of the Woocoo Shire Council, eventually reaching the position of Shire Clerk. On 21 November 1936 he married Dorothy Jean Stevenson and she pre deceased him. There were no children.A quite aggressive left hand batsman and a left arm bowler of a little above medium pace he played all of his club cricket in Maryborough with Tinana C.C. He twice visited Brisbane with country teams for the annual trial matches, the first in 1929-30 when he gained selection in the Queensland Colts team, and again in the following season. He performed quite usefully in these matches without doing anything outstanding, his top score being 55 for North against South in 1930.He was a regular Maryborough representative player for several seasons and in 1927 and again in 1931 appeared against the touring teams from New South Wales organised by EL (Gar) Waddy. He did not achieve anything of note in these matches but in 1931 he captured his only wicket in them, having Allan Kippax caught by Dr Otto Nothling in the first of the two matches played in Maryborough. In April 1928 he had one of his better matches when representing Maryborough against a Brisbane XI for he top scored in each innings scoring 27 out of 80 and 36 out of 106 and returned bowling figures of one for 19 and three for 27 in a match won by Brisbane.In his prime he retained a great degree of fitness and stood a little under six feet in height however in later years he became quite stooped. But he continued his daily walks around Maryborough and was well known to many in and around the city. As time passed his stoop became more acute and his walk became more of a shuffle. In May 2001 he walked into a moving motor vehicle and spent several months in hospital. On discharge he was not able to return to his home, a magnificent old Queenslander located on the top of a hill in Pallas Street, and spent his last days in Fair Haven where he passed away on 11 June 2002.Stan Weir was very much interested in the history of his home city and its surrounds and he was always a ready source of information when in the mid to late 1970s work was being carried out on the initial search for past Queensland cricketers. He also provided much information on those players who had represented each of Wide Bay and Maryborough in matches against the touring English teams in 1883, 1885 and 1887, as well as of players who had appeared against Victor Trumper’s XI in 1906 and in the various matches against Gar Waddy’s teams.

Sri Lanka’s wicket-keeper batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana and veteran batsmanAravinda de Silva have not been offered fresh contracts with the Board ofControl for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL).The BCCSL will offer 12-month contracts to 15 players this weekend beforeSri Lanka’s 10-week tour of England. Four players will be given their firstever contracts.Kaluwitharana, 32, played in three games of the recently concludedtriangular tournament in Sharjah, but he was not picked for the Test matchesin England, although he could still be added to the one-day squad.For De Silva, 36, it was the second consecutive year that he has not beenoffered a contract. When contracts were offered for 2001-2002, shortly afterEngland’s tour of Sri Lanka, officials had privately questioned thecommitment of De Silva and the value of providing a contract.De Silva spent the year on the sidelines before being recalled into thetraining in January and then the Test squad last month. He now needs toprove that he can still retains the hunger to perform consistently at thehighest level before he is awarded a new contract.Players who have not received contracts can still be picked to play for thecountry on a tour and match fee basis. Indeed, there are five non-contractedplayers in the England squad.The four new players to receive fresh contracts are Buddhika Fernando,Thilan Samaraweera, Hashan Tillakaratne and Avishka Gunawardene. The firstthree clearly gain their contracts on merit, after impressive performancesduring the past year, but Gunwardene’s contract was a surprise having beendropped from both the Test and one-day squad.That decision was apparently swayed by his young age (24) and the fact thatover 40 One-Day Internationals are scheduled over the next 12 months.One other surprise ommission is the talented Tillakaratne Dilshan. Just 25years old and now back in the one-day squad, he has clearly been told toprove his value before being offered a contract.Those that have been excluded still have a chance to secure a contract, asofficials have indicated that three more will be awarded over the comingmonths because of this year’s busy schedule.Officials were reluctant to reveal the value of the new contracts until theplayers have signed for them, but last year the top players received anannual fee of US $ 40,000 with provisions to go over US $ 50,000 by way ofbonuses and tour fees. Fringe players received significantly less.The contracted players:Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara Mahela Jayawardene,Russell Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas,Nuwan Zoysa, Buddika Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, DilharaFernando, Upul Chandana and Avishka Gunawardene.

Orissa secured the first innings lead after a grim tussle and thenbowled their way into a winning position at stumps on the fourth dayof their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Madhya Pradesh at theCaptain Roop Singh stadium in Gwalior on Sunday. After gaining afirst innings lead of 42 runs, Orissa dismissed six MP batsmen for153 by close of play.The keen duel for the lead was the highlight of the penultimate day’splay. Orissa seemed to be better placed to take the lead when theyresumed in the morning, having made 369 for five in reply to MP’s 437.But they suffered an early blow when they lost Rashmi Ranjan Paridaearly. Resuming on 159, Parida was leg before to HS Sodhi for 162. Ina stay of 505 minutes at the crease, Parida faced 372 balls and hit 19of them past the ropes. Then in one over Jai P Yadav put MP in thefavourites circle by dismissing both P Jai Chandra (40) and RR Das(7). At this stage Orissa were 386 for eight, still 51 runs behind theMP first innings total.Wicketkeeper Gautam Gopal and Jagannath Das came together and theyproceeded to bring Orissa back in the game with some purposefulbatting. Amidst a lot of tension and excitement, they took Orissa pastthe MP total. Finally, after the two had added 82 runs for the ninthwicket off 36.4 overs, Das gave former India leg spinner NarendraHirwani a return catch. Das batted 2-1/2 hours, faced 113 balls andhit two fours. The innings did not last long thereafter but Gopalremained unbeaten with 63. He batted 155 minutes, faced 123 balls andhit four boundaries and two sixes. Hirwani and Yadav finished withthree wickets for 121 and 112 runs respectively.A dispirited MP side put up a poor show in their second innings. Theylost three wickets for 51 before a fourth wicket partnership of 81runs off 17.2 overs between Abbas Ali (37) and Jai P Yadav (46) pulledtheir total into the realms of respectibility. However towards theend, MP lost three quick wickets and at close of play, were ahead byonly 111 runs with four wickets in hand.

Zac Morris, Hampshire’s 22 year old left-arm pace bowler will not forget his National League debut in a hurry: three wickets including that of Graeme Hick and then the winning runs with just two balls remaining.In a low-scoring match Hampshire scraped home by three wickets in front of a crowd of around 1,500 for the inaugural National League match at the Rose Bowl.Morris, younger brother of first team regular Alex, dismissed PhilWeston in his first over after Worcestershire had chosen to bat first and then bowled the dangerous Hick between bat and pad for 13 at the end of his first spell. Later he returned to get rid of Nick Boulton to finish with creditable figures of three for 31.Worcestershire were never able to accelerate after a shaky start but Vikram Solanki and David Leatherdale propelled them to respectability with a stand of 65 for the fourth wicket, Solanki hitting five fours in his 38 and Leatherdale making an innings top score of 41 before both were out to spinner Shaun Udal.At 133 for seven Worcestershire were in danger of not being able to set Hampshire much of a total to chase. But then the reliable Steve Rhodes and Stuart Lampitt added an unbroken 50 in nine overs so that Worcestershire’s 183 for seven was at least a test.When Robin Smith departed for 46 to leave Hampshire 95 for four a real battle was about to unfold. Will Kendall and promising newcomer Lawrence Prittipaul appeared to swing the match Hampshire’s way in a stand of 73; the best of the day, but still Worcestershire were not done.Kendall, Prittipaul and Dimitri Mascarenhas were all out with victory in sight so that seven were needed from the last over of the game from Alamgir Sheriyar. There were three balls remaining when Morris straight drove for four to provide Hampshire with a winning total of 186 for seven.

A century from captain Michael Vandort helped the Sri Lankan Academy XI draw their three-dayer against India A at the the Ranasinghe Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.On the final day, Vandort, who made an unbeaten 101, found an able ally in No. 5 Nimesh Perera, who made a quickfire 74 off 91 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. The 101-run partnership between the duo was the best of the home team’s innings. The Lankan team, then, made 261 for five in reply to India A’s first innings score of 474 for seven. Part-time medium-pacer Akash Chopra, who claimed two late wickets, was the most successful bowler for the tourists..Earlier, the first two days had seen the Indian batsmen thrive. Openers Akash Chopra (145), Gautam Gambhir (105), captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar (97) and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel (51*) were all among the runs. While Chopra and Gambhir put on 252 for the first wicket, Kanitkar and Patel put on 109 for the sixth wicket as their team posted a mammoth total after electing to bat.For the Sri Lankan Academy XI, off-spinner Ganganath Ratnayake, who claimed 3-96, was the most successful bowler.India A now move to the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo where they play the first of three unofficial Tests against a Tillakaratne Dilshan-led Sri Lanka team from May 16-19. The two teams will also play three one-day matches. The tour ends on June 6.