England Under 19 captain Bilal Shafayat, who was totally confident of success for his side on their tour of Australia, led by example on day one of the first Test against Australia Under 19s in Adelaide. He scored 108 out of the first innings total of 331.Nottinghamshire’s Shafayat won the toss, chose to bat first and then took charge. He stroked 17 fours and two sixes in his 140-ball innings which was the cornerstone of the England innings.No other batsman reached a fifty, although Luke Wright, batting at number eight, was the next highest contributor with 48. There were several other useful innings, with thirties from Andrew Gale, James Pearson and Samit Patel while opening bowler Trent Kelly had the best return for the Australians with four for 63.Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan, who had been left 27 not out at the end of the England innings, then took the wicket of Australian batsmen Matthew Harrison with his third ball to ensure that England finished the day in good heart.For connoisseurs of cricket trivia, the day began 11 minutes later than the scheduled start – because of a lost ball!

NEW DELHI, Feb 18 AFP – The Indian parliament today called for security for the country’s cricket team which is facing the ire of fans after a poor showing at the World Cup.The subject came up for discussion in the lower house after disgruntled fans threw oil and paint at the house of batsman Mohammad Kaif on Sunday in the northern town of Allahabad.Members of his family, who were asleep during the incident, have requested security.The protest came after India lost to world champions Australia on Saturday and are now struggling to keep their place in the tournament.Security has also been stepped up around captain Sourav Ganguly’s sprawling residence in Kolkata, with pedestrians barred from walking on the pavement in front of it, witnesses said.Opposition Congress MP Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi demanded full security for top cricketers and their relatives.He said instead of fans deriding the team, “we should collectively pray for victory in the remaining matches.”Speaker Manohar Joshi agreed.”They should be given fullest protection so that their minds are free and they do better. We wish them good luck,” Joshi said.”We should send a message from this house telling them ‘cheer up boys’,” said communist party MP Roopchand Pal.Former cricketer and ruling BJP MP Kirti Azad said the heated debate on whether batsman Virendra Sehwag should open with Sachin Tendulkar instead of Ganguly who appears out of form, should be left to the cricketers.”Nothing should be done to put players under pressure,” Azad said. “The issue of who should open the innings and who should bat lower down should be left to the team management.”On Monday, President Abdul Kalam, in his session-opening speech to parliament, wished the cricket team every success – a comment which was met with derisive laughter from some MPs.

A sterling effort by the groundsmen, administrators and a willing Netherlands team saw Australia run out winners in a rain-affected match at the North West Stadium in Potchefstroom.Continuous rain in the area and water that had seeped under the covers of thepitch had at one stage thrown any thoughts of play out of the window. Using anymeans at their disposal the ground staff used sacking under the rollers, power blowers and even the police helicopter to help dry the wet patches on one side of the pitch.The Netherlands team held meetings and would have been quite happy with the two points for a no-result had it not been for the fact that they had come to the World Cup to play cricket and learn from the opposition. As captain Roland Lefebvre commented: “We cannot learn anything from sitting in the changing rooms.”The match started an hour late, with the Netherlands winning the toss and askingAustralia to bat first in a reduced 47-over innings.Two further breaks, in which three and then eight overs were lost, made itdifficult for both the fielding and batting sides, with the ball having to bedried and batsmen having to re-focus.Some excellent bowling, especially from Lefebvre, 0/19 in eight overs, and Jacob-Jan Esmeijer, 0/16 in five overs, saw the Dutch restrict Australia to 170/2 in the 36 overs.The four Australian batsmen spent good time in the middle but were never in a position of dominance. Apart from the first over they were pinned back to below five runs per over for the whole innings.Matthew Hayden played a subdued knock before being caught at deep mid-wicket for 33, after Jimmy Maher was caught behind for 26. Their 50-run partnership had come up in 68 balls.Hayden was also involved in a 50-run partnership with Damien Martyn, who went on to make an undefeated 67 after giving a caught and bowled chance early in his innings.”I had a bit of luck out there but in the end it was good to spend some time in the middle after it appeared as if we would not play at all today,” Martyn said after receiving the Man-of-the-Match award.Martyn was involved in the third 50-run partnership, the quickest of the innings (57 balls), with Darren Lehmann who ended not out on 29.In the final eight overs the Australians seemed to misinterpret the Duckworth-Lewis system by trying not to lose any wickets, not knowing that wickets lost at that stage of the game would not have a major impact on the final target.The recalculation meant that Netherlands would require 198 to win in the 36-over allocation.Losing wickets at regular intervals, the Netherlands never made any serious attack on the target, and with the introduction of Andy Bichel and Ian Harvey into the attack, any thoughts of a win were wiped away.Both mixed up their pace well to be rewarded with three wickets each as they mopped up the tail. Bichel finished with 3/13 and Harvey with 3/25 as the Dutch were bowled out for 122 in 30.2 overs.Luuk van Troost tried to go after the bowling, scoring 23 before splicing Lehmann to Bichel at deep mid-off, and Tim de Leede scored 24 fluent runs,including the first six of the game off Lehmann.The total of 122 may have been the lowest at the ground, and it may also have been Netherlands’ lowest in their World Cup history, but they were not disgraced by the number one team in the world.”We played well and it was most enjoyable. We had all looked forward to playing against and learning from the best, and are proud that we managed to restrict Australia to 170,” Lefebvre said after the match.Ricky Ponting was very happy with four points, which he never thought they would take after arriving in the rain.

JOHANNESBURG, March 3 AFP – Among the millions of cricket enthusiasts following the progress of Sourav Ganguly’s Indian team at the World Cup, the identity of two caught even the players by surprise.India’s deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishan Advani and army chief General Nirmal Vij were the first to call Ganguly’s team after the six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan at centurion last Saturday.Advani spoke to team manager Jyoti Bajpai on the phone from New Delhi and later made separate calls to Ganguly and man-of-the-match Sachin Tendulkar who hit 98 off 75 balls to lead India’s charge of Pakistan’s 7-273.General Vij asked Bajpai to convey his congratulations to the entire 15-man squad, a team official said.”The boys were mighty proud when they were told that the Deputy Prime Minister and Army Chief had called,” the official said.”Both congratulated the team and then asked them to keep up the good work.”The Indians have received thousands of calls since Saturday from fans around the world for maintaining their unbeaten streak against Pakistan at the World Cup.”We have only made it to the Super Sixes. Wonder what awaits us if we win the World Cup?” the official said.Seamer Javagal Srinath and Tendulkar are the only players in the current team who have featured in all World Cup wins against Pakistan in 1992, 1996, 1999 and now.”It’s a terrific feeling, but we have a lot of hard work ahead in the tournament,” said Srinath, looking forward to the start of the Super Sixes on Friday.The Indians, whose only loss in the league came against Australia, will carry forward eight points into the Super Sixes – four gained against the third-placed qualifier and four more from the non-qualifiers.Their opponents for the three matches in the Super Sixes will be known only on Tuesday when the Group B league ends.Kenya are the only ones from the other group assured of a place in the next round, while Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand battle for the two remaining spots.India will play the second-placed team from Group B in their first Super Sixes match under the Newlands lights at Cape Town on Friday.They then clash with group B winner at the Wanderers on March 10 before returning to SuperSport Park in Centurion for the last match against the third team from Group B on March 15.It will be India’s third game in Centurion, having lost to Australia there on February 15 before defeating Pakistan on Saturday.

Contrary to popular belief, the daily grind of an intrepid Roving Reporter isn’t all beer and skittles. We get to the ground early and leave late. We work hard, slaving over a hot laptop. And yes, we pose the questions the others are too afraid to ask. While many are content to sit in the comfort of the press box, ruminating over statistics and contentious lbw decisions, we rovers are out and about, pen and paper in hand, attempting to infiltrate cricket’s dark places.Needless to say, when the suggestion of spending a day in the Trini Posse Stand arose, this particular rover accepted the challenge. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.For those not familiar with Queen’s Park Oval’s Trini Posse, here’s the lowdown. The stand is situated at square leg, and seats around 500 cricket fans. For the price of the US$30 ticket, punters receive a free T-shirt, a barrage of music, and all the food and alcohol they can consume. On designated match days, there are also local beer-sponsored dancing girls, who strut their semi-naked stuff between overs. Purists be warned. This is no place for the faint-hearted. The Trini Posse is brash, unadulterated gimmickry. But then again, that’s the plan.”Everyone has a wonderful time here,” said Nigel Comacho, a local dentist who, along with eight colleagues, thought up the idea in 1991. “Numbers for Test cricket were falling, so we thought we’d add some spice. We put in a sound system, employed a DJ, introduced the dancing girls and received sponsorship. It’s been building in popularity ever since.”If you’re thinking this is an unusual enterprise for a dentist, you’d be right. Nigel, however, is far from the average tooth-filler. Wearing only a pair of board shorts and a lorry load of gold jewellery, he’s acknowledged by all present as the Posse Stand’s “main man”. Even the locals appreciate his entrepreneurial spirit.”We’ve been coming to the Posse for ten years,” said Elone from St Vincent. “It gets a bit loud and out of control by the end of the day, but it’s all in good fun. Nigel has done a great thing for Trinidad.” Her friend Laverne agreed: “Today there are so many Australians, but even though we feel a bit outnumbered, we’re having a wonderful time.”And outnumbered they were. The Aussies were there in force, and by 11am the excesses of the night before were wearing off. By midday, the majority were imbibing as if a hangover was an alien concept. “Does life get any better than this?” asked Kip from Newcastle (NSW), as he jiggled along with the day’s 50th rendition of Rally Round The West Indies.Not to be outdone by the ear-piercing bursts emanating from the speakers, Edward from Sydney had brought his own music. “You could never bring this into a cricket ground at home,” he said, brandishing his trombone with pride. As Edward provided an almost recognisable version of the theme from F-Troop, the chants began. Cries of “Gilly”, “Stevie” and “Magilla” rang out around the stand, much to the amusement of the locals.”Australians can be strange,” said Sam, who’d come dressed as Trinidad’s answer to Rudolph Valentino. Swathed from head to foot in flags and scarves, he told all who would listen that counteracting heat-exhaustion was simple. “Go commando. Leave the underwear at home,” he yelled over the day’s 60th rendition Rally Round The West Indies.By 3pm, the chants no longer made sense. For those present, however, sense had long since ceased to be relevant. As DJ Chris pumped up the musical volume and pace, and the Aussies waved plastic chairs in the air and sang every Cold Chisel song in existence, the police moved in.”They’re here to watch for trouble,” said Port-of-Spaniard Peter Matthews, who’d successfully made wearing a blue-and-purple Dr Seuss hat a fashion statement as well as a sun-protection device. “Anyone who interrupts the flow of the game or stops enjoyment will be thrown out,” he added, keeping an eye on the lads in the front row who, bored with throwing ice, were attempting to scale the fence. After a few quiet words from the boys in blue, all was forgiven. Peter smiled. “When everyone behaves themselves we all go home happy.”Everyone did go home happy. By stumps, the Trini Posse Stand may have resembled a pop festival, complete with upended chairs and semi-conscious revellers, but thanks to the good humour of participants, there hadn’t been any need for the police to resort to strong-arm stuff. By 6pm, this intrepid reporter was back in the safety of the press box, slaving over a hot laptop and humming the day’s 70th rendition of .

Jacob Oram was delighted with his first major contribution with the bat inTest cricket on the third day of the second Test in Kandy.Oram scored a career best 74, sharing crucial partnerships with MarkRichardson and Robbie Hart, as New Zealand scored a respectable 305."It is nice to get a first milestone although I would have liked to got ahundred," he said afterwards. "It was tough against world-class bowlers indifferent conditions but I really enjoyed it."At 75 for 4 we were in a bit of trouble and it was a matter of getting apartnership going, so I was more than happy to just bide my time."Normally renowned for playing big shots, Oram believes he needed "to put hisend in the bin and put the shots away" to survive."I like to hit the ball hard and see the boundaries but you can’t do thatevery innings. I have been more consistent back home in first-class cricketbeing a bit more circumspect."Oram, 24, enjoyed the challenge of facing the world’s leading spinner,Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed 3 for 90 in 34 overs."I did not want to die in the hole to Murali, which can happen if you justsit and wait, because sooner or later he is going to bowl you an unplayabledelivery – I therefore used the sweep as an option."Oram said New Zealand were still hopeful of forcing a win: "It is a matterof us getting early wickets tomorrow and then trying to progress as much aswe can with the bat before a final day declaration."

The Cidermen travel to Cardiff later today to take on Glamorgan in search of their first win in the Twenty20 Cup.Having lost their opening match in the new competition Somerset will be keen to get a favourable result tonight, and nobody more so than Steffan Jones who played at Sofia Gardens for Wales in their One Day International against England last weekend.The Welshman from Llanelli told me: "Every game my bowling is getting better, and at last it’s going right for me this season. Just when everybody else is going down with injury I’m starting to get going."He continued: "It will be a bit strange for me going back to play against the team who I played for last weekend and I expect that I’ll get a few jibes but I’m looking forward to the match this evening."Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This is a competition that we think that we should do well in, and in our first game we played ourselves into a good position and then let it slip away.If we can get a grip of these situations then we can win this one tonight.With Aaron Laraman suffering from a side strain, all rounder Gareth Andrew comes into an otherwise unchanged team from the one that played on Friday evening.The full Somerset team will be – Jamie Cox, Mike Burns, Carl Gazzard, Ian Blackwell, Keith Parsons, Wes Durston, Keith Dutch, Simon Francis, Gareth Andrew, Rob Turner and Steffan Jones.

Frizzell County Championship Division OneNottinghamshire v Essex at Nottingham
ScorecardAfter the extraordinary events of yesterday, Aftab Habib restored some sort of normality to proceedings at Trent Bridge with a dashing 152 to put Essex firmly on top. Habib came to the crease with Essex in some trouble at 47 for 4 – not quite as bad as 7 for 4 though – but he and Andy Flower, who’s slowly blooming back to his best – started the rescue-act. And when Flower was out for 32, James Foster continued the good work for Essex, as he and Habib added 178 for the sixth wicket. Foster, who is developing into a handy wicketkeeper-batsman – England selectors take note – blasted 14 fours and one six before he fell 15 short of what would have been a second first-class century. But Habib had no troubles notching up the 19th ton of his career, including 26 fours, before being trapped lbw to the part-time offspin of Kevin Pietersen. And then the more recognisable bowler, Stuart MacGill, wrapped up the tail as Essex ended their second innings with a lead of 483. Jon Dakin and Scott Brant then didn’t find things so easy second time round, as Notts put their first innings nightmare behind them to reach a far more respectable 58 for 1, but still 425 behind.Kent v Lancashire at Canterbury
ScorecardGary Keedy spun Lancashire into a strong position against Kent at Canterbury by taking 5 for 99. Four of those wickets were bowled, including Greg Blewett for a duck, and when he dismissed Matthew Walker for 11, Kent were reeling at 91 for 5. However, another young wicketkeeper enjoying a good season with the batting gloves, Geraint Jones, came to rescue with a quickfire 92, and with the help of Mark Ealham (43), Kent recovered to 267 all out – just 80 behind Lancashire. And then Kent threatened to finish the day in pole position when Ben Trott and Martin Saggers struck early to remove both openers with only 19 on the board, but Mal Loye (52*) and Stuart Law (28*) weathered the early storm to make sure Lancashire took the day’s honours.

Surrey v Sussex at The Oval
ScorecardAnother impressive display from the Surrey bowlers in the sun at The Oval today, plus yet another wag from their tail – well, if you can call it that – put Surrey firmly in control over Sussex. Resuming on 401 for 8, Ian Salisbury and Saqlain Mushtaq added a further 78 runs between them as Surrey were eventually all out for 480 – the sixth time they have passed 350 this season. And after James Ormond (who finished with 4 for 81) struck twice early in Sussex’s reply, another bullying display from Surrey was on the cards. However, Sussex did show some resistance as Murray Goodwin (60), Tim Ambrose (75) and Robin Martin-Jenkins (61) all rolled up their sleeves and showed they weren’t scared of Adam Hollioake and his gang by giving them a taste of their own medicine. And with the help of a cameo 41 from 43 balls from Mushtaq Ahmed, Sussex clambered to 307 all out. But Hollioake then chose not to enforce the follow-on as Surrey reached 22 for 0 from the last 10 overs of the day to lead by 195 runs.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoDerbyshire v Worcestershire at Derby
ScorecardWorcestershire’s South African contingent helped to set up a likely second consecutive win after a day of bowling domination over Derbyshire. When Michael Di Venuto and Andrew Gait were cruising along at 83 for no loss in reply to Worcestershire’s 374, no-one in the Derbyshire camp could have been expecting what was follow. It wasn’t quite on the same scale as the avalanche at Trent Bridge yesterday, but losing 16 wickets in one day is still a disaster. After Matthew Mason picked up the first three Derbyshire wickets, Nantie Hayward (4 for 53) and Andrew Hall (3 for 28) then ripped through the middle-order and tail, as Derbyshire crashed to 179 all out. Ben Smith then duly enforced the follow-on, and it didn’t get much better for them second time around. This time Kabir Ali was the hero with the ball, taking 3 for 60 as Derbyshire finished a day they’ll want to forget on 185 for 6 – still 10 behind.Yorkshire v Durham at Leeds
ScorecardAfter Chris Silverwood promptly wrapped up the Durham innings this morning – including Jonathan Lewis for 124 – his mind must have been on watching the rest of the day from the comfort of the Yorkshire balcony, admiring his fellow team-mates’ batting prowess – but it didn’t quite work out that way, thanks to Durham’s Liam Plunkett. After a steady start to Yorkshire’s innings, in which Michael Lumb starred with a patient 105 and Yuvraj Singh scored his first Championship fifty, Plunkett blew away the middle-order (including four England internationals) at an alarmingly quick rate. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Lumb, who was last man out, Yorkshire would have been in deeper trouble than their 220 all out. With a lead of 60, it was Lewis again who led the way in Durham’s second innings with 43 not out, as they finished the day on top at 99 for 3.Northamptonshire v Glamorgan at Northampton
ScorecardTwo late wickets from Ben Phillips tilted the match in Northamptonshire’s favour in an otherwise closely-fought battle. Rob White and Mark Powell earlier top-scored with 55 each as Northants were bowled out for 262 – only seven runs behind Glamorgan’s first innings. Michael Kasprowicz took 3 for 77, including dangerman Phil Jaques for a duck and Jeffrey Cook for a golden duck, and David Harrison also starred with 4 for 64. But it was Phillips who finished the day with a smile as he removed Mike Powell and Dean Cosker near the close to leave Glamorgan needing a big day with the bat tomorrow on 71 for 4.

England v South Africa, third Test, Trent Bridge, Day 1

It has been a familiar sight on the first day of all three Tests in this series: a left-hander pinging the ball to all parts. The good news for England was that this time it wasn’t Graeme Smith bashing the boundary-boards, it was Mark Butcher.It was Butcher’s eighth Test century and, with the possible exception of his matchwinning effort against Australia at Headingley in 2001, his best. His hundred included 21 fours, a very high percentage, almost all of them solid and sure. He reached three figures by easing one off his legs to the midwicket boundary, in a carbon copy of so many of Smith’s runs so far in this series.Since that seminal knock against Australia, which came at a time when he was unsure of his place, Butcher has made five Test centuries – more than anyone for England except Michael Vaughan – and inked his name in for as long as that clunking off-drive remains well-oiled. It remains an oddity, both statistical and cricketing, that Butcher has not played a single one-day international to put alongside his 55 Tests.His partner in a saving stand today, Nasser Hussain, rode his luck to collect his 13th Test century. Hussain started scratchily, narrowly avoiding Marcus Trescothick’s fate of getting out to the innocuous-looking induckers of Andrew Hall: one wobbled past dangerously close to the bat on its way through to Mark Boucher.But later Hall felt the rough edge of the bat as Hussain also dealt in bountiful boundaries, smacking 17 in all. Any doubts about his hunger for Test runs were quashed when he celebrated his hundred in typical Nasser style: left-fist pumping up and down accompanied by some barking expletives to no-one in particular, but to anyone who would listen.Ed Smith had a nervy wait, and a longer one than usual for an England No. 5 these days. He followed his first-ball block off Shaun Pollock with a bashful anxious smile reminiscent of a young Prince William facing the media, but then grew impressively into his role as the form-horse in the England pack.There was a defining moment shortly before tea. Just after dropping onto one knee to cream Hall through point for four, Hussain top-edged obligingly between the back-rushing Boucher and the incoming Ntini. It just showed that, after all the heartache of Edgbaston and Lord’s, this really was England’s day.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden CricInfo.Click here for today’s bulletin

As the dust started to settle over recent allegations about Shane Warne’s off-the-field activities, a new allegation has emerged that will further damage his already tarnished reputation. Warne has, in fact, already withdrawn from a charity match after these allegations emerged.The London-based Mirror newspaper reported that Angela Gallagher – “a 38-year-old mother-of-two from Melbourne” – has claimed that Warne bombarded her with raunchy text messages after they met at a nightclub. “It wasn’t just text messaging,” Gallagher explained. “It was sex.”The allegations were made in an Australian television interview due to be screened tonight. Gallagher is reported to have taken a lie detector test, the results of which her agent described as “amazing”. He added: “A pass on a polygraph test is three-and-a-half. She scored 20.”Gallagher said that she met Warne in May at a Melbourne lap-dancing venue called The Men’s Club where she worked as a stripper, and that she gave him her mobile number after they chatted. “Ten minutes later, I got my first text message from him,” she explained. “They were extremely full-on sexual messages. He told me he had an open marriage. I asked him about his wife and he led me to believe they weren’t together.”I want Shane to apologise and I want him to get help,” Gallagher continued.”I expect awful things will be said about me after this, but everything that happened is true and I hold my head up high.”Gallagher revealed further details on Channel Seven’s because she was angry at public criticism against Helen Cohen Alon, a South African woman who had rasied similar allegations against Warne. “Hopefully with me speaking out that’s enough for him to go back to his family and do the right thing,” Gallagher said on the show.Gallagher added that she had seen Alon’s story and “said to my husband ‘That is the same message that was sent to me on my phone’ and I thought ‘This person must make a habit of doing this to women.'”A sexual relationship had apparently developed between Gallagher and Warne at a party. “We’d all had way too much to drink and were having a few more drinks, and I actually had to take some time out and went to the guest room to sleep because I wasn’t feeling that fantastic,” she said. “Shane came in about 15 minutes later … we had sex.”Gallagher claimed that she continued to receive explicit text messages from Warne after their sexual relationship ended. Paul, Gallagher’s husband of 16 years, from whom she was separated during the affair, saw one of the messages, as did her 11-year-old son. “I basically wanted to go over there and kill him,” Paul told .On Friday, Warne told reporters, “Any issues or allegations concerning my private life are exactly that – private, and will remain so.” Simone, his long-suffering wife, came out in support of Warne saying that she stood by him. “I always have and will continue to.”Warne would be well advised to stop using his mobile phone as a way of communicating with female friends. Earlier this month he was the target of accusations from Alon, a 45-year-old South African, who maintained that she had been pestered with text messages after the pair had met a club. Before that he was stripped of the Australian vice-captaincy following allegations that he had pestered a nurse with calls while he was in England playing for Hampshire.Australian View: Let Warne play … on the field that is