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Andre Adams bowled Auckland to the top of the table with a ten-wicket match haul against Northern Districts in Auckland. Adams has been in devastating form this summer and has 29 first-class wickets at 8.27, adding relevance to his decision to make himself unavailable to play ODIs for New Zealand under the national team’s current administration. Auckland are the beneficiaries of that decision, however, and they beat last year’s champions Northern Districts by an innings and 16 runs. Adams collected 4 for 30 in Northern Districts’ first-innings 169 and 6 for 28 in their second effort of 101. Despite the low scores, Adams said the pitch at the Eden Park Outer Oval was flat. “The new ball seams here, that’s all there is to it,” Adams told the . “If you get through that then you stand a chance. If you don’t, you are in deep.” The result might have been much closer and Auckland could easily have trailed on the first innings when they crashed to 85 for 8, but a 151-run ninth-wicket stand from Reece Young (114) and the 18-year-old debutant Greg Morgan (83 not out) pushed them to 286.Matthew Bell kept up his push for attention from the national selectors when he made 265 in the draw between Central Districts and Wellington in Napier. Bell now has 722 runs from four games this season at the remarkable average of 103.14 and will be considered when the squad for the Test series against Bangladesh is chosen. His effort against Central Districts was his highest first-class score and the third highest of all-time for Wellington, behind innings of 296 and 283 by John Reid. Bell’s blitz did not help his side gain any points, though, as Central Districts led on the first innings thanks largely to Greg Hay, who made an unbeaten 164 in their 486. Neal Parlane top scored with 134 in Wellington’s first innings of 373 before Bell and Luke Woodcock (104) combined for a 253-run opening stand in the second innings. Wellington finished at 468 for 5 and lost their top spot on the State Championship table.Rain ended any chance of a result in Christchurch, where Canterbury had to settle for first innings points against Otago. A 187-run stand between Peter Fulton, who made 126, and Johann Myburgh (105) set up a strong 397 after Otago sent Canterbury in. Otago replied with 365 but while most of their batsmen made starts, they needed somebody to post a century. Instead, Derek de Boorder top scored with an unbeaten 71. Canterbury were 54 for 1 at the close of the third day but rain prevented any play on the final day and left Canterbury third and Otago fourth on the table.Player of the Week Andre Adams
A minor technical adjustment to his bowling action has clearly been an excellent move for Adams, who at 32 is in the form of his life. He finished with match figures of 10 for 58 in Auckland’s convincing win over Northern Districts, giving him his second ten-wicket match in a decade-long first-class career. He now has three five-wicket hauls this summer and his 29 wickets have come at a remarkable 8.27 as he continues to enjoy the seaming Auckland conditions. He has said he will not play ODIs for New Zealand under the team’s current administration but he was non-committal on whether that extended to Tests as well. If he keeps up his form, New Zealand fans might soon find out.

ScorecardA five-wicket haul by Kerry Jeremy, the medium pacer, was the highlight of the second day of the seventh round match between Barbados and Leeward Islands. Jeremy finished with 5 for 53 and Carl Simon, another medium pacer, snapped up 4 for 53 as Barbados were dismissed for 204 in reply to the Leeward’s 195. Early in their innings Barbados were wobbling at 52 for 3 when Kurt Wilkinson and Ryan Hinds, who both top-scored with 41 each, added 71 for the fourth wicket and staged a recovery. But once they were seperated, Jeremy and Simon wrapped up the lower order. Barbados, though, gained a slender lead of nine and struck back late in the day as Leewards finished on a precarious 64 for 3.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago were tottering at 219 for 8 as Windward Islands stood on the verge of gaining the first-innings lead in the seventh round of the Carib Beer Series. Jean Paul, the Windards fast bowler, snapped up four wickets and was supported by Rawl Lewis, his captain, with 3 for 41. T&T lost wickets at regular intervals with only Lendl Simmons and Denesh Ramdin crossing 30. Earlier, the Windwards extended their score to 346 as Deighton Butler, the allrounder, produced a plucky 66.
ScorecardThe second day of the top-of-the-table seventh round match between Guyana and Jamaica was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Guyana were set to resume at 221 for 3 but persistent showers prevented any play.

Scans on Matthew Hoggard’s injured knee have revealed no cartilage damage, and he will play in a warm-up game next week as preparation for the Test series against West Indies, which starts at Lord’s on July 22.Hoggard injured his right knee in Yorkshire’s National League game against Middlesex on Sunday, and limped out of the attack after bowling just three balls.At the time there were fears that Hoggard had damaged the cartilage in his knee, but today Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB’s chief medical officer, announced that: “The scan revealed no damage to Matthew’s cartilage and he will continue to undergo treatment from the Yorkshire physiotherapist over the next few days. This is the same knee that Matthew injured last year and we decided to scan him as a precautionary measure.”Subject to fitness, Hoggard and Simon Jones, who suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, will now play for MCC against West Indies in a three-day match at Arundel, starting on July 13. Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher will also play in that game for MCC, who will be captained by John Stephenson, the former Essex allrounder who recently started work at Lord’s as MCC’s new head of cricket.MCC team to play West Indians (Arundel, July 13-15)
1 Alastair Cook (Essex), 2 Sven Koenig (Middx), 3 Mark Butcher (Surrey), 4 Graham Thorpe (Surrey), 5 Dale Benkenstein (South Africa), 6 John Stephenson (Essex, capt), 7 Riki Wessels (Northants, wk), 8 Min Patel (Kent), 9 Simon Jones (Glamorgan), 10 Charl Willoughby (South Africa), 11 Matthew Hoggard (Yorks).

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will face a disciplinary committee on April 1 and could be handed a life ban for breaching the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Code of Conduct. Legspinner Danish Kaneria will also face the committee after his criticism of the board’s central contracts policy.”I can confirm that the hearing will be conducted in Rawalpindi on April 1,” head of the five-man committee, retired lieutenant-general Muneer Hafeez told . Shoaib has also reportedly confirmed he would appear before the committee to present his case.Shoaib is on a two-year probation and if found guilty of violating the PCB code, could face a life ban. Last month he accused the PCB of double standards over the awarding of central contracts to players and criticised the facilities provided during a first-class match. He was not offered a central contract after a year plagued by injuries.In October last year, Shoaib was fined Rs 3.4 million (US$52,000 dollars) and banned for 13 matches for hitting his team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat, just days before the start of the ICC World Twenty20.He was also dropped from the 16-member squad to face Bangladesh in a five-ODI series at home, starting April 8.

We received a large number of complaints about the organisation of the England v Sri Lanka match at the Rose Bowl last Friday and Saturday. This letter, from Richard Seeckts of Alton, summarises the points raised in many of them:

The Rose Bowl is not capable of successfully hosting England matches. Several journalists mentioned the long queues for buses to the park-and-ride car park on Friday afternoon, but that was not the half of it.Last Friday morning, the M27 was blocked solid as thousands of spectators sat in their cars for up to two hours queuing to get in to the official park-and-ride (price £7) which had only one gate. There was no traffic control and chaos reigned on every roundabout. To add to the frustration, we listened as the Test Match Special radio commentators remarked that the ground was only filling up slowly.When I finally reached the ground – 16 overs into the game – the seat numbers printed on my tickets did not exist. I was helpfully told they had been reissued, but then I had to find the right steward with the replacement tickets. I eventually took my seat two hours after I started queuing on the M27. An hour later play was washed out for the day.Before the long wait for the bus back to the park-and-ride, there was ample opportunity to queue for toilets, overpriced bars and food outlets, all of which were far too scarce for a crowd of 16,000. Shelter from the rain was non-existent.With Saturday dawning sunny, and big Freddie at the crease, I drove to Southampton again, knowing the crowd would be smaller and more manageable. I arrived at the park-and-ride to be informed that it was not in operation, and that parking was at the Rose Bowl (in the acres that had been mysteriously unused on Friday). Nobody had thought to announce this on Friday, or put notices up, or print it among the information sent out with tickets. The ICC preferred to focus on stern warnings about which fizzy drinks could not be taken into the ground.The big screen for replays and information was gone by Saturday, short-changing spectators again. A reserve day was set aside for the match, but not the spectator facilities! Fortunately the portable toilets were still in place, but the stench from them was nothing next to the whiff from the administrators. The ICC, Hampshire CCC and the ECB all had a hand in the disorganisation of this fixture, which will conveniently allow them to create a smokescreen as each denies responsibility for such poor planning.Leaving the ground by car in Saturday’s rain was a breeze. It took just under one hour.We have asked the Hampshire authorities to reply to the complaints raised in this letter. If you have any comments please email us.

New South Wales 7 for 373 (Haddin 154, Katich 78, Krejza 57*) lead Victoria 235 by 138 runsScorecardBrad Haddin blasted a career-best 154 from 162 balls in a brutal display to earn New South Wales first innings points against Victoria at the Junction Oval. Haddin, batting at No. 7, hit 22 fours and four sixes in a stunning counter-attack that lifted the Blues from 5 for 105.Haddin, who dominated a century stand with Simon Katich, was dropped by Matthew Elliott on 52 and by the time he departed New South Wales had a lead of 105. While the offspinner Jason Krejza moved to his maiden first-class half-century, Haddin added his third fifty from only 38 balls.New South Wales lost 3 for 7 before lunch, including the nightwatchman Nathan Bracken, who was lbw to Cameron White. White ended day two with 3 for 102 from 25 overs.

West Indian selectors are set to overlook batsman Chris Gayle and name alittle-known off-spinner from the tiny island of Anguilla for the secondTest against Australia in Trinidad on Saturday.Omari Banks, who played against the Australians in a tour match inGeorgetown last week, will become the first Test player from thenorthern-most Leeward Island if he makes the cut from an expected 15-manWindies squad.Anguilla measures just 25km in length and five kilometres at its widestpoint and has a population of about 10,000.Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan will be selected after recovering from afinger injury but Gayle may not be forgiven for missing Jamaica’sdomestic final against Barbados two weeks ago.Gayle opted to play in a lucrative double wicket competition in StLucia, claiming he had received permission from Jamaican cricketofficials when the final was scheduled for the previous week.But the final was moved back and Gayle stuck with the double wicketcompetition, ruining his chances of playing in the Windies’ nine-wicketloss in the first Test in Georgetown.Windies officials have since claimed he is eligible for Test selectionbut the left-hander is expected to miss out on the second Test, whileSarwan will almost certainly replace Marlon Samuels.Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs is expected to miss the Test because of agroin injury, enabling Carlton Baugh to make his debut.The 20-year-old Banks impressed the Australians during the tour match,dismissing Steve Waugh and Justin Langer for single figures, and theWindies need his spin to add some variety to an attack which was tooplain in the first Test loss in Georgetown.The four pace bowlers were ineffective against the Australians and Bankshas a strong chance of making his Test debut after playing 20first-class matches.Likely West Indies squad: Brian Lara (capt), Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith,Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carlton Baugh,Omari Banks, Vasbert Drakes, Merv Dillon, Jermaine Lawson, PedroCollins, Marlon Samuels, David Bernard Jr, Ridley Jacobs (three to beomitted, 12th man to be named).

Ricky Ponting has urged his team to adopt a full-throttle attitude – the same approach that has paid rich dividends on home soil – as they embark on a testing tour of Sri Lanka. “I want the team to be able to win more away from home,” he said. “I want us to play the same brand of cricket overseas as we do here in Australia. That’s the challenge that lies ahead of us now.”Australia’s record in the sub-continent has been the one blot on their reputation in recent times. They lost 1-0 in Sri Lanka on their last tour in 1999 – a series remembered primarily for the sickening on-field collision between Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie – and haven’t won a series in India since 1969-70. It’s a failing that Ponting is very much aware of. “I think it’s a huge challenge for us — anywhere in the sub-continent has always been a huge challenge for Australia,” he said.”There are conditions over there that looking back through the records, probably Australian teams haven’t performed that well in. But saying that, a lot of the guys in the side now have played a lot of cricket in those conditions.”Australia play a three-Test series which starts on March 8, but the first challenge will be five one-day internationals, the first of which will be played at Dambulla on February 20. “We’re playing really good one-day cricket at the moment, so we’re pretty excited about our prospects over there,” said Ponting.Ponting has led the one-day team since Steve Waugh was sacked in January 2002, and he was confident that he could also maintain Australia’s position as the world’s best Test team ahead of his first series as five-day captain.”I’ve got a better understanding now of how the team best operates. It’s worked out extremely well that I’ve had the chance to captain the one-day side before the Test team,” he said.The main threat to Australia will undoubtedly be Muttiah Muralitharan, the offspinner who has raced to 485 wickets from just 85 Tests. “I don’t think you will ever hit him out of the attack, but you can certainly put him under a bit more pressure,” said Ponting. “He’s had work wherever you play him and he’s going to be even harder in Sri Lanka.”As for Australia’s own spin wizard, Ponting refused to take Shane Warne’s inclusion in the Test squad for granted. “It’s just going to depend on what happens in the coming days, I think,” he said. “He’s got a game against Tasmania coming up in the next couple of days. I’m sure the selectors would be keeping a pretty close eye on him. You can’t take anything like that for granted.”Warne has 491 wickets in Test cricket, and his tussle with Murali – to see who becomes the second man, after Courtney Walsh, to break the 500 barrier – is likely to be one of the highlights of an engrossing series.

The Delhi police, which uncovered the match-fixing scandal when South Africa last toured India, and is still investigating it, has said that it would like to question Nicky Boje if it gets the chance. Boje and Herschelle Gibbs were the two current players who were involved in the controversy then, and Gibbs backed out of this tour over worries about whether he would be questioned.According to the Press Trust of India, a news agency, a senior police official has said that despite the South African board’s request for an assurance to the contrary, the Delhi police would still like to question Boje. This development increases the chances of Boje, who has been named vice-captain, backing out from this tour.

An Australian coaching delegation is in Beijing in a bid to fast-track China as a competitive cricket nation, Cricket Australia said today. CA officials and the coach John Harmer have organised a six-day course for 30 coaches from Shanghai and Beijing, who all work at university level in various ball sports.China, who were admitted as an associate member of the ICC last year, have ambitions to play international one-day cricket. CA joined forces with the Asian Cricket Council in 2003 to assist Asian countries develop their own coaching set-up to help with their talent identification structure.Ross Turner, CA’s international development program manager, said the delegation’s visit was to provide coaches the necessary skills, resources and capacity to build the game among the 1.3 billion population. “China, unlike Australia, is not a nation where cricket is an ingrained part of its culture,” Turner said. “Cricket is fresh and new in China and we have an opportunity to work with the Asian Cricket Council to help build the game from the basic foundations, and share our skills and knowledge in coach education.”Syed Ashraful Huq, the ACC chief executive, said it was China’s ambition to compete in a World Cup. “Developing a cricket culture takes time, but one thing we can be sure of is that China is now ready, willing and able to make the great leap forward into cricket,” Huq said. “China is the next frontier for the game’s expansion. Coaching, funding and facilities are in place to fast-track China into playing one-day matches against other ICC associates within the next few years.”