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Hampshire’s Charlie van der Gucht is back playing cricket – just 13 months after suffering horrific injuries in a road accident last summer.And he even celebrated with a wicket as he helped the Hampshire Academy take another step towards the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 championship with a 32-run win over Old Tauntonians & Romsey.Van der Gucht, 22, broke both his legs and was on a life support machine after being hit by a taxi in Twickenham last July.But, little more than a year after his accident and after courageously battling his way back – and landing a 2.1 history degree at Durham University in the process – the left-arm spinner took his first positive step towards a comeback in the professional game.Van der Gucht bowled a full 12-overs and finished with satisfying figures of 1-34."I was really pleased with the way things went, but it was obviously very tiring, particularly the fielding aspect," he confessed."It was the first time I had stood around for three hours and I came off from fielding totally drained – but nonetheless pleased."Playing again was an important physiological barrier to overcome, but I’ve done it and now I’m looking forward to next week’s match (against United Services) with the Academy team."The Hampshire youngsters certainly had their work cut out beating a tenacious OTs side.Although three of the top order failed, Irfan Shah (55) gave the innings momentum before becoming Max Smith’s third victim at 94-4.Martin Bushell (60) shared key middle-order partnerships with David Wheeler (31) and Tom Burrows (34) as the Academy advanced to 233 all out, Nick Wood (3-56) and Jeremy Ord (3-59) sharing the spoils.There was even an opportunity for Van der Gucht to bat, but he was run out for four."Batting really was weird. It was the first time I’d held a bat for some time and I got myself run out when I fell over after my spikes got caught in the pitch," he laughed.Charles Forward (60) fired OTs’ response and with Smith (49) his partner, took the reply to 104-3 before Wheeler’s direct-hit throw ran the latter out.Van der Gucht bowled his 12 overs in mid-innings, having Keith Trodd caught by Luke Merry."The first eight overs were fine, but the last four were a physical drain."But it was something I had to get through," he said.The Academy gradually chipped their way through the batting after that, the Romsey club finishing with a creditable 201-8 … and van der Gucht returning home knowing that he had taken his first positive step on the comeback trail.Second-placed Easton & Martyr Worthy kept in touch with a five-wicket win over Winchester KS at Cockets Mead.Mark Stone (4-25) and Shaun Green (3-36) took the credits as WKS were bowled out for 118 (Raj Naik 28) – a total Easton passed after losing five wickets in an unconvincing run chase.Simon Williams (96) and Mario Mohamed (72 not out) shared a 169-run opening partnership as Trojans trounced weakened United Services by eight wickets at Stoneham Lane.But the victory had little significance as fellow strugglers Rowledge and Hungerford also won.Zimbabwean Warren Gilmour hit 52 of the US total of 184-7 (Jamie Donaldson 3-33), but with only one recognised front-line bowler in their ranks, the visitors were never able to curb openers Williams and Mohamed.Newly promoted Rowledge boosted their hopes of survival with a 20-run win at Lymington, who lost their way after Danny Peacock (76) and Aaron Heal (39) were parted.Chasing 195-9, Lymington were cruising at 90-1and still in the driving seat at 132-3 when Peacock was bowled by Chris Yates junior, who finished with 3-28.Apart from Matt Molloy (26), Lymington’s middle-order fell apart against the three-pronged Yates attack and slumped to 175 all out.Earlier, Nick Morant (48) and Chris Yates jnr (37) produced a useful third-wicket stand for Rowledge, whose 195-9 owed much to Jeff Anning (30) and Chris Yates senior (26).Peacock’s off-spin yielded 4-30, but no other tangible reward for Lymington.Sparsholt are not entirely out of the woods after losing by six wickets to second-from-bottom Hungerford.Despite a useful new-ball spell by Paul Warren, Tim Richings (26), Larry Cook (25) and Ollie Kelly (21) eased Sparsholt into a useful position at 93-2.But only Tim Simmonite (41) of the later batsmen made an impact as Alistair Tuttle (3-36) and Jason Williams (3-57) reduced the visitors to 171 all out.Former Sussex batsman Nick Wilton (35) fired Hungerford’s response and set up Danny Williams (54) and Steve Wyatt (57) for a century partnership which settled affairs.

COLOMBO – Steve Waugh is not entirely sure whether he will know some ofthe players who turn out for Pakistan in the first cricket Test startinghere on Thursday.Pakistan has been hit by withdrawals and injuries to senior playerswhile others have been dumped, meaning a bevy of young and unprovenPakistanis will take on the world champion in the first of three Testsat neutral venues.”I’m not even sure who’s in their team to tell you the truth,” Waughsaid.”The young Pakistani players have got a lot of talent and I’m surethey’ll pull out someone who does very well at Test cricket without useven knowing about them.”With other countries you know what you’re going to get but withPakistan, half the time they don’t even know what they’ve got.”The changes include openers Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar, middle orderbatsmen Hasan Raza and Faisal Iqbal, leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and fastbowler Mohammad Zahid, who have all played for Pakistan in Tests orone-day internationals.Those six have played only 28 Tests between them. Uncapped allrounderRana Naved-ul-Hasan also makes the squad.Waugh said the injuries to middle-order batsmen Inzamam-ul-Haq andYousuf Youhana were a big blow.”Inzamam’s a big loss, particularly on the flat, low Sharjah wicketswhere he likes to dominate.”And Youhana’s probably one of their better batters as well so thatleaves a big hole in their batting.”Waugh said Australia’s line-up had not been discussed but said the pitchconditions would dictate whether young Queenslander Nathan Hauritzplayed his first Test.”I think you’d have to consider two spinners if the wicket’s like it wasfor the (Champions Trophy) semifinal the other night, you’d be silly notto look at it – but the word is the Test wicket will have a bit of grasson it.”

ScorecardIt was far from Roses tradition, but Yorkshire’s 8749 spectators went home very happy after a thrilling match that swung from one side to the other with almost every over, and ended with the result that most of them wanted. With two balls and two wickets to spare, Yorkshire were triumphant as Darren Gough showed he still has that match-winning quality.With powerful hitting Gough slammed three fours off his first four balls, 13 coming off an over from Dominic Cork, and six were needed off the final over, bowled by Tom Smith. Adil Rashid took a single and then, crucially, came four byes, the keeper perhaps handicapped by the now enveloping gloom. Gough slashed the next ball to the point boundary, and Yorkshire had won a thriller in the darkness.Yorkshire avoided the usual practice of batting on winning the toss and put Lancashire in; they may well have preferred to lose the toss, because the light was poor and the conditions damp. As they had the previous evening, Lancashire enjoyed a good second-wicket partnership between Mal Loye and Stuart Law, the former as unpredictable and the latter as forceful as ever. They showed little respect for Matthew Hoggard, whose three overs cost 25 runs for the wicket of opener Lou Vincent, caught at backward point for 3.Yorkshire’s key bowler was Richard Pyrah. Before he came on, Lancashire were going well, but he immediately yorked Law for 23. By the end of his four overs he had also accounted for Faf du Plessis (10) and Steven Croft (2), caught at long-on and bowled respectively. He did not remove Loye, but the dangerous opener again fell a little short of a major innings, scoring 43 off 33 balls before lofting a ball from Anthony McGrath to Pyrah at long-on.With Lancashire 91 for 5 in the 15th over, Yorkshire had recovered the initiative, but then Gareth Cross and Kyle Hogg swung the balance again with a dashing stand of 45 at ten an over. Cross finished with an invaluable unbeaten 42 off 24 balls, including three successive boundaries off the last three balls of the innings, bowled by Darren Gough. Lancashire were glad to close on 150 for 6, thanks to his fine work.Despite the loss of Andrew Gale in the first over, Yorkshire set off at a cracking pace. The instigator was Michael Vaughan, who played a masterly little cameo at number three of 21 off 12 balls. Eschewing the exotic strokes of so many batsmen in this competition, he stuck to skill and orthodoxy, hitting three fours and an effortless driven six over long-on from a slower ball from Hogg. He galvanized Gerard Brophy (28) into action and Yorkshire raced to 45 off the first four overs. So commanding did he look that it came as a surprise when he played over Smith’s first delivery and was bowled.After this, and with Yorkshire ahead on Duckworth-Lewis – an important factor with rain always threatening – the innings began to stagnate. Jacques Rudolph tried to take command before being stumped for 16; Anthony McGrath was still there, but biding his time. Again the balance swung as McGrath started to open out, and with four overs left Yorkshire needed 32.But there were still more twists to come. Saj Mahmood, economical earlier, was lethal now, dismissing Pyrah and then the key man McGrath, yorked for 46 off 39 balls. At 121 for eight in the 17th over it was all but Lancashire’s match now. But then Gough stood up to be counted.

The 2002 Red Stripe Competition will now be played in St. Lucia atMindoo Phillip Park, and Beausejour Stadium.The teams are: Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada, Rest of the Leewards and the Windwards Champions.The Event in St. Lucia starts on August 14th and ends on August 25thTravel day is August 26thAugust 27th and 28th Rest & PracticeAugust 29th and 30th Semi Finals (Barbados?)Sept. 1st FinalsFurther details will follow.The Canadian Cricket Association wishes to thank the West Indies Cricket Board and the ICC for their generous support and their sterling efforts to have Canada participate in this year’s Red Stripe Event. The WICB has further assisted our preparation by sending a WICB `A’ team to Canada later this month. Come out and see the future and present WICB stars of cricket. See further details on this website.Canada needs top level competition and lots of it in order to compete successfully at the Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2003. The Red Stripe competition is just an appetizer for the tremendous amount of preparation needed by Canada.Canada’s preparation is compounded by the fact that the 2003 Cricket World Cup will be held in our winter or off-season.Canada desperately needs supporters and sponsors for our dedicated players and volunteers, all of who make tremendous sacrifices to promote the sport we love.Cricket World Cup tickets go on sale to the public on July 15th. Further information is obtainable from the websitehttps://www.cricketworldcup.com.Get your tickets and help support the Canadian team’s entry to this World Cup. Your support is needed to ensure that we shall also be qualifiers for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies and the Americas

Last Friday in Durban, Steve Waugh and Mark Boucher went out at Kingsmead for the toss at the start of the third Test. Just a week later, as the Standard Bank One-Day International Series gets underway at the Wanderers, a different pair of faces will watch the spin of the coin. Ricky Ponting takes over from Waugh as Australia’s now one-day captain, while Shaun Pollock returns after missing the Test series through injury."They certainly are big shoes to fill," acknowledged Ponting on Thursday. "Not having Steven or Mark around the side’s going to be different, but I think we’ve covered those guys pretty well. We’ve got a couple of young guys who’d added a bit different to the squad. We’ve trained well and I’m looking forward to tomorrow."Pollock missed the Test matches with a strained muscle in his side. He says he can bowl freely now and, given the fact that he only has to get through 10 overs in each match, isn’t expecting any ill-effects. But, he says, it wasn’t easy sitting on the sidelines."It was very frustrating," he said after South African complete their preparations at the Wanderers. "A big series only comes along once in a while. It’s hard not playing. As a player who’s been part of the set-up you’d love to be out there helping the guys. It’s difficult to offer advice off the field. You can only contribute in a certain way. I tried my best in the games to help out, but it’s much easier to be out there yourself."Both captains were understandably wary of drawing too much from the recent contests between the two teams. Australia have beaten South Africa 5-1 in Test matches this summer, but failed to reach the final of the VB Series in Australia, despite holding a 3-1 edge over South Africa in their head-to-head meetings."We played badly against New Zealand (in Australia)," conceded Ponting. "We didn’t play that badly against South Africa. Overall we played OK over there without setting the world on fire, but by our standards we played a fair way below them. We’ve got a fiar bit of improvement to do."Pollock said he felt it might take Ponting a while to settle into his new role, "but he’s got a lot of experienced players around him. I think he’ll turn to those players and they’ll help him through. One-day cricket’s the easier form of the game to captain".Neither captain was giving too much away by way of strategy ahead of the first of seven meetings, but Ponting said that with Mark Waugh missing Matthew Hayden was likely to get an extended run as Adam Gilchrist’s opening partner, and that for the first few games, at least, Australia would probably be fielding their strongest combination.South Africa, meanwhile, are having to do without Allan Donald at the moment which is likely to mean only one change from the side that played in the VB Series finals with Roger Telemachus replacing Donald.And while Pollock admitted that it had taken some time to fathom out what was going wrong in the Test matches, the shortened form of the game was easier to read. "We know what to expect," he said. "In one-day games you’re always trying to adapt and lead from the front. We’ve got a few ideas, which I’ll keep to myself for the moment, but we’ll be trying to lead from the front."

The flat track at the Antigua Recreation Ground meant that the fourthTest was always going to yield a high-scoring draw. The home team hadwon the previous Test in Barbados and leveled the series 1-1. Clearlythe momentum was with the West Indies, and one expected them to buildon it. It was then shocking to see a dry and docile track bereft ofgrass laid out for the Test match; a very negative move by the WestIndies authorities who denied their team a chance of gaining the leadin the series.

It is apparent that both teams misread the track and relied on pace inthis Test match. So much so that India decided to leave out HarbhajanSingh to bring in Anil Kumble. I have always maintained that theIndian team should play to its strength spin. Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh are world-class spinners and even if their recordwhile playing abroad is not very good, they would have proved a deadlyduo on this track.The toss didn’t make any great difference; I reckon that India wouldhave opted to bat first anyhow. So it was up to the Indians to cash inon Hooper’s generosity.The Indian innings though did not get off to the best of starts. ShivSunder Das is having a wretched time against the short-risingdeliveries. I feel sorry for the lad; he has to work on improving histechnique. His partner Wasim Jaffer looks to be a sound openingbatsman. He has the right technique and most importantly he alwayslooks to get behind the line of the ball.I was also delighted to see Ajay Ratra show a lot of application onhis way to his maiden Test hundred. It was an innings that put an endto the loose talk by some of the pundits. The game of cricket is easywhen played from a distance. The fact that some of these pundits werenicknamed `strokeless wonders’ in their playing days is something thatwe would do well to remember.Ganguly’s decision to prolong the innings after Ratra got to hishundred baffled me a lot. By doing so, the Indian skipper denied hisbowlers the chance of bowling a few extra overs that evening, whichmight have seen them grabbing a few more wickets. Remember, the WestIndies were under tremendous pressure that evening after Brian Larafell for a low score to Anil Kumble. Talking about Kumble, it washeartening to see him come out and bowl with a broken jaw. He bowledreally well, maintaining a good line and length, which is the key forsuccess on such docile tracks.With Kumble being injured, Tendulkar, who had to suffer themortification of being out for a gloden duck, was the one genuine spinoption India had. I was then surprised to see Tendulkar show a greaterinkling to bowl off-spin than leg-spin. I felt his leg-breaks woulddefinitely have proved more effective.I am sure that India really missed the services of Harbhajan Singh.The off-spinner would have been able to exploit the rough outside theoff-stump of the left-handed batsmen. Remember, the West Indies teamwas packed with five left-handed batsmen.The cricket from both the teams was defensive from the outset and itcontinued to be so, all through the five days. Never did I find anysense of urgency or purpose from either side. Such game-plans are notin the best interest of the game and are better forgotten.

As for India, the sight of Srinath struggling to generate pace must bea worrying. The senior fast bowler looked jaded and it is about timethe think-tank had a close look at their game-plan. I would still backIndia to win if they were to play two spinners rather than placeabsolute faith in pace.The West Indies bowlers will be going after the Indian batsmen atSabina Park. Our think-tank has to realise that it is no good tosettle for a draw. The boys should go out with a positive frame ofmind to win the Test match. This is indeed their last chance to returnhome wreathed in glory.

The unveiling of the Wilf Wooller Memorial Gates will take place on Friday, June 29th during the first day of Glamorgan`s County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Cardiff.The gates, at the entrance to the Sophia Gardens ground, will be formally unveiled during a short ceremony, attended by Glamorgan players of the past and present, club officials, and also Tom Graveney, the former England batsman.The ceremony will take place between 1.00pm and 1.20pm during the lunch interval on the first day of the Championship match, and the day of the Glamorgan Former Players` Association annual reunion.As a result of the official unveiling, the start of play on the first day of the County Championship match will therefore be brought forward by 15 minutes to 10.45am, with a slightly extended lunch interval, running from 1.00 until 1.55pm.

The thousands who thronged the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam to watch its first ever Twenty20, and Yuvraj Singh’s long-awaited comeback from cancer, had to go home disappointed as rain had the final say. Persistent rain in the evening meant that the toss was itself a non-starter. The match was called off without a ball bowled nearly an hour and 30 minutes after the scheduled 7pm start.There was some consolation for the crowd, though, as Yuvraj made an appearance to loud cheers when he was felicitated by the local association, despite the drizzle. The rain has been a continuing trend in this tour. The Tests at Hyderabad and Bangalore had weather interruptions, but India managed to secure wins in both. The teams will now head to Chennai for the second and final Twenty20 on Tuesday. From the teams’ perspective, the rain couldn’t have come at a worse time, given that the World Twenty20 is only a couple of weeks away. They will hope for better weather in Chennai, or risk going to Sri Lanka short on T20 practice.

North Zone leads the Duleep Trophy table with ten points from twomatches, thanks largely to the batting heroics of Virender Shewag onSunday in their match against West Zone at the Punjab CA Stadium,Mohali, Chandigarh.As the best part of the match was ruined by heavy fog, North werechasing the West score of 284 for the all important first inningslead. Resuming at 217/5 with Shewag and Pankaj Dharmani at the crease,the North innings got off a troubled start when Iqbal Siddiqui hadDharmani trapped in front on his overnight score of 28. North werereduced to 233/6 leaving the match even stevens. Shewag along withSharandeep Singh put on 48 runs for the seventh wicket as Singh wasdismissed for 17. At 281/7 came in Gagandeep Singh and before he wasdismissed for three at 285, North had gained the first innings lead.Both the batsmen were claimed by SR Saxena.Ashish Nehra was the next to go LBW to Bahatule for a duck at 292. Thelast batsman Surendra Singh hit three boundaries in his innings of 15before being dismissed by Siddiqui. The North innings came to an endat 331, leaving Shewag with an unbeaten 162 off 190 balls. One six andtwenty-four boundaries flowed from his bat in his four hours and fiftyminutes stay at the wicket. Siddiqui was the best of the bowlers with31-4-116-5.West were 50/1 at the close of the match in their second innings.Wasim Jaffer remained unbeaten on 29 with NK Patel on 11. West Zonecollected three points from the match and have an aggregate of sixpoints from two games.

It might not be at the forefront of the mind of anybody involved in the match, but New Zealand and England will be playing for important points in the ICC Test Championship when they begin their three-Test series in Christchurch on Wednesday.The concept of the championship is a good one, but it will not really command great attention until the full cycle of home and away series have been completed to give a true indication of relative positions. Having said that, should the Australians not manage to win the series currently taking place in South Africa and there is a change at the top, there will be a sudden surge of interest in the table.Australia and South Africa are almost in a league of their own, but the outcome of the New Zealand v England series will have interesting repercussions among what might be termed the also rans.England won the last series played in New Zealand in 1996/97 and, according to the way the calculations are made, they need to win again to retain the two points held in the current table. This is where it all becomes a bit complicated and far from straightforward. It is why India did not shoot upthe table when they beat Zimbabwe and why Australia need to win in SouthAfrica to retain first place.Because there have not been home and away series between all the countries,the system takes account of last series played and adds the points won then.Even though the teams did not know they were playing for ICC TestChampionship points at the time. So, a team with 10 points from 10 series has an average of 1.00. If, however, two points were gained from a series that is now superseded by one in which that team gets one point for a drawn series, their average is now 9 points from 10 series, or 0.90. It’s very simple. I’m told!Anyway, England lie fourth at the moment but, should New Zealand take the series, they would leapfrog not only England but also Sri Lanka in third place. The Kiwis’ average would be 1.19 as opposed to Sri Lanka’s 1.14. England, on the other hand, would drop down to fifth equal with the West Indies.Just to cover everything, a drawn series from which both sides take one point would see New Zealand move into fourth place while England would drop to fifth. So, while enjoying the cricket, all you have to do is arm yourself with a calculator and a complete record of Test series going back over the last decade or so, and you too can keep your neighbour informed of the exact state of play in the ICC Test Championship table. It might be safer to rely on CricInfo to tell you what happens when the series is all over!The table, as it stands, reads:

Team       Played   Won     Lost   Drawn   Points   AverageAustralia       13      9       2       2       20      1.54South Africa    16     11       3       2       24      1.50Sri Lanka       14      7       5       2       16      1.14England         15      7       6       2       16      1.07New Zealand     16      7       6       3       17      1.06West Indies     14      6       7       1       13      0.93Pakistan        16      4       7       5       13      0.81India           14      4       7       3       11      0.79Zimbabwe        16      3      11       2        8      0.50Bangladesh       4      0       4       0        0       –