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A masterly innings of 197 by Michael Vaughan, his third Test hundred this season and the highest score of his burgeoning international career, was the centrepiece of an entertaining England reply to India’s 357. It was the highest individual score in Tests between England and India at Trent Bridge, and the best of Vaughan’s first-class career. When bad light ended play nine overs early, England were on 341 for five, just 16 runs behind.Vaughan’s innings included an array of off-side strokes of characteristic elegance. He was missed once, on 30, off Harbhajan Singh in the last over before lunch, a difficult, leg-side chance to wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel. Otherwise he utterly dominated on both sides of the wicket, pulling both Ashish Nehra and Sourav Ganguly to the rope at mid-wicket with real ferocity.Nehra took the first England wicket, when Robert Key tried to pull a short ball that lifted less than he expected. All he got on it was glove, and to his dismay the ball then bounced back on to the stumps. Key (17) had put on 56 with Vaughan. It was India’s only wicket of the afternoon session. Mark Butcher, also strong on the off-side, was missed by Harbhajan – a difficult return catch as the batsman played too soon.Butcher survived a confident appeal for a catch by Wasim Jaffer in the gully off Nehra, when replays didn’t confirm whether the ball had carried. He had reached 53 (115 balls, eight fours) when he edged a turning delivery from Harbhajan straight to Rahul Dravid at slip. Butcher and Vaughan had added 165 for the second wicket. Nasser Hussain then encountered a rare failure in recent outings; sweeping at Harbhajan, he presented Patel with his first Test scalp as the ball ballooned up off his glove.John Crawley, after looking secure for three quarters of an hour, had made 22 when he got an inside edge on to his pad to be caught in the gully off Zaheer Khan. But the arrival of Alec Stewart upped the tempo again, as two crisp boundaries through mid-wicket off Harbhajan hoisted England’s 300. Vaughan was within just three runs of a double century when he drove a trifle tiredly at Ajit Agarkar, for Patel to pouch a thin deflection. His 197 had included 23 fours and came off 258 balls.Earlier India kicked on to their total of 357 thanks primarily to a rumbustious half century by Harbhajan, who provided tremendous entertainment while adding 61 off 62 balls with Zaheer. Coming off just 33 balls, Harbhajan’s was the second-fastest fifty in Indian Test history; only the great Kapil Dev, who reached the landmark off 30 balls against Pakistan at Karachi in 1982/3, has got there quicker.The fun ended for India when Harbhajan got a leading edge to Steve Harmison, to be caught by Hussain running in from extra cover. Matthew Hoggard, switching ends, then found Nehra’s outside edge with a perfect outswinger.

Somerset County Cricket Club licensee and bar manager Mike Smith has rounded off his season in style by winning the Courage Golf Day.Whilst Somerset have struggled out on the pitch this season and been relegated in both the County Championship and the NUL National League Mike has enjoyed considerable success on the golf course in 2002.His latest triumph came at Royal North Devon which is one of the oldest golf courses in the country and is situated near Westward Ho on Northam Burrows.Mike who is a member of Minehead Golf Club where he plays off a handicap of twelve won the stableford competition with a score of 35 to head the field of well over forty entrants.The bar manager who has become a popular member of staff since joining Somerset in April 1994 still lives in West Somerset and before joining the club he ran the Egremont Hotel in Williton and the Bicknoller Inn.He swept the board at Royal North Devon by coming first in the individual competition, being a member of the winning three man team and also won the nearest the pin contest, to come away with a number of prizes including a cut glass Dartington Glass ice bucket, a Dartington Glass tankard and some golf balls.One of his most memorable shots of the round came on the eighteenth when he drove towards the green with his six iron but when he approached the putting surface could’nt find the ball. After lengthy searching and momentary panic because he needed a par to complete a good card, a sheep that had strayed onto the green stood up to reveal Mike’s lost ball!At the County Ground Mike told me: "I am absolutely delighted with the way that I played in the competition. It’s good to have something to celebrate at the end of a disappointing season for the club."

If former South African coach Graham Ford wishes his successor Eric Simons anything, it is mostly that his bowlers stay fit. "It helps if you’ve got a settled attack," reflected Ford this week. "It helps quite a lot."Ford, who is weighing up his future options as he negotiates a settlement with the United Cricket Board, is as well-placed as any to understand the pressures and demands that will now placed on the shoulders on the 40-year-old Simons as South Africa head into a summer that includes the 2003 World Cup."I’ve spoken to Eric about coaching quite a few times," said Ford this week. "We have similar views on a number of things. I think he’s a quality coach and I wish him everything of the best. But it will be important to him to stick to his principles and the methods that got him the job in the first place."He’s going to experience a lot of pressure from the outside, from ex-players, the media, the public and administrators as he steps up into the spotlight and the simple truth is that you can’t please all these different people."In a sense it’s a bit like the things you tell young players when they make the step up: you’ve got where you are now by doing things a certain way so don’t try and make yourself a different player. Stick to what you know and what works for you," said Ford.In one respect, Simons may a significant advantage over Ford. "The way I understand it from what I’ve read, Eric’s role has been much more clearly defined. He’ll play a significant role in planning strategy and he’ll be working with knowledgeable people. If he can get the right strategy and the selectors give him the players to implement this strategy, South Africa will have an excellent chance of winning the World Cup."Also in Simons’ favour, suggests Ford, will be the relationships he already has with the Western Province members of the national team."I know I was criticised at times for being `too friendly’ with the Natal players. I think it was unjustified. If you come out of a provincial set-up you have those relationships and you use them to build relationships with the other guys in the team. I can assure you, and it will be the same for Eric, that when you’re in the job, the last thing you think about is petty provincialism. You just want the team to win."Ford believes that notwithstanding the results against Australia during the past summer, South Africa have to be counted among the favourites to win the World Cup.""Look at our record at home. You have to go back to when Australia were last here, back in 1997, for a defeat at home. And over the past few years, we haven’t just been beating other countries, we’ve been hammering them."Apart from ourselves and Australia, I’ve always admired the way Sri Lanka play one-day cricket, but a lot will depend on how well the adjust to our conditions. Pakistan have the firepower to use the new bouncer rule in our conditions, but they’re always an enigma. They often seem divided among themselves and you don’t know how their problems at home, with tours being cancelled, will affect them. Maybe they’ll be a little short of cricket, maybe the problems will pull them together."New Zealand are very much a team and their success is always a team effort. They have a game plan and they stick to it, but I’m not sure they have the individual players capable of taking games away from teams like South Africa. India have fantastic batsmen and if they progress in the World Cup they’ll be fantastic to watch because it will mean their batters are firing, but I don’t know if they have the attack to win the World Cup in South African conditions."In a different way I don’t know that England could go all the way. They’re an improving team, but I don’t know about winning the World Cup."South Africa’s prospects, though, could depend on how well the attack functions."I think that’s where we fell short last season. If you look at how settled the Australian attack was compared to how many guys we used, there was quite a big difference. We had injury problems, of course. Someone like Mfuneko Ngam was not available while when we got to Australia guys like Allan Donald and Nantie Hayward had been troubled by injury and they, along with someone like Steve Elworthy, weren’t quite sure what roles they were expected to fill."We batted well enough a lot of times, but our bowling often couldn’t contain the Australians. If we can get the bowling settled and firing, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t win the World Cup."

Gloucestershire is playing host to Lashings on Sunday 11 August and is trying out the new 20 over games format. There will be two 20 overs matches with the first game starting at 12 Noon. Coloured clothing will be worn and a white ball used.Representing the Lashings XI will be
Richie Richardson – captain, Jimmy Adams, Stuart Williams, Junior Murray. Sherwin Campbell, Shoaib Akhtar, Grant Flower, Stewart Carlisle and Chris Harris

DURBAN, South Africa – Ricky Ponting will begin his one-day captaincycareer against Shaun Pollock on Friday after the South Africanallrounder declared himself fit for the seven-match series againstAustralia.Pollock has bowled at full pace without a problem for the first timesince he suffered a side strain last month, ruling him out ofAustralia’s 2-1 Test series win.Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher led the Proteas to a five-wicket win in thefinal Test in Durban yesterday before selectors announced Pollock’sreturn for the one-day series along with Lance Klusener and JontyRhodes.The experienced trio, especially Pollock, will ensure Ponting has atesting series after taking over the Australian leadership from dumpedcaptain Steve Waugh.”I started bowling at about 60 per cent in the nets at Kingsmead onFriday, then I worked up to full speed on Sunday and Monday,” Pollocksaid.”I felt absolutely fine. I’ll continue with the bowling tomorrow beforeheading up to Johannesburg.”Pollock and Klusener give South Africa genuine batting depth even thoughKlusener has been told his bowling is the main priority after he wasoverlooked for the Test series.”Lance is now a bowling allrounder and we are looking for him to bowlfast,” convenor of selectors Rushdi Magiet said.”Since being dropped from the Test team he has apparently redoubled hisefforts. We know Lance is a very good allrounder – he just went off theboil.”The Australian squad will train at the Wanderers tomorrow with selectorsyet to decide on the team to play the opening match.Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden will open the batting while selectorsmust decide when to introduce new faces Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritzduring the 10-match tour through South Africa and Zimbabwe.Ponting is leading a 15-man squad in the first serious step towards theWorld Cup defence in South Africa next February.

The Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) is pleased to announce that Western Power will renew its partnership with WA Cricket next season, as the major sponsor of the Western Warriors and of the Western Power regional junior cricket program – Australia’s largest regional junior cricket program.The Western Power – WACA partnership continues for another 12 months the powerful four-year association between two successful, high profile WA-based organisations capable of delivering world class performance.Western Power is the leading electricity provider in WA and the Western Warriors are a dominant force in Australian cricket – having won the domestic first-class competition (Pura Cup) 15 times and the Australian domestic one-day competition (ING Cup) 10 times.Through their sponsorship of the WACA, Western Power has rights to the Western Warriors and naming rights to the regional junior cricket program which benefits tens of thousands of children across regional WA.Western Powers’ sponsorship of the Western Warriors ensures that a WA company continues to support one of the State’s leading ambassadors.WACA Chief Executive Kath White said the WACA was pleased Western Power was continuing its support of State cricket and regional junior development."Western Power has stepped up again to support something that involves the entire WA community, right across the State," said White.Western Power Managing Director David Eiszele said the community partnership with the WACA formed part of the corporation’s commitment to the WA community."The WACA is part of the sporting and cultural fabric of WA.""The Western Warriors have an outstanding record of on field success that makes them proud and consistent competitors.""Our experience of the WACA’s commitment to regional junior development continues to impress us. Our backing of this program complements our role as a prominent service provider to people throughout regional WA."Warriors’ captain Adam Gilchrist echoed the sentiments."Western Power’s support for State cricket is very important especially in country areas at the junior level where kids need to be given every opportunity to grow as individuals and develop their skills," he said.Gilchrist added that having a Western Australian organisation involved was a real positive."All the players feel great pride playing for their State and having Western Power there again to help is really good news."Western Power has been the major Warriors sponsor for the past four seasons and sponsor of the regional junior development program since the 1997/98 season.As well the Western Power – WACA community partnership also allows the State under-17s, 19s and colts to compete at a national level further helping Western Australia to maintain its premier position in the Australian cricket competition.

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Lt Gen Tauqir Zia onSunday defended the inclusion of former captain Wasim Akram in thesquad for next month’s tour to England.”There is no loss if a player of his (Wasim Akram’s) class, experienceand calibre has been included,” the general told newsmen.He added: “He had to be included in the second half of the Englandtour for the one-day tri-nation competition.”Zia, using his veto power, had added the former captain as the 17thplayer against the wishes of skipper Waqar Younis.The PCB boss, who was in a relaxed mood after a morale-boosting visitby Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf, said the announcement of the teamwas delayed to give little time to the mediamen to comment on thecomposition of the squad.The announcement of the team, for the crucial tour of England had beendeferred till Sunday, however it was abruptly announced at 10.30pm onSaturday night, something which has happened for the first time in thehistory of Pakistan cricket.The general explained that the team was released to allow the peopleconcerned to “sleep comfortably”.

India’s loss against Zimbabwe at Faridabad was not the first timethat they snatched defeat from the very jaws of victory. India’spoor one-day record at the Nahar Singh Stadium now looks evenworse after the stunning win that Zimbabwe pulled off in thefirst match of the five-game series on Thursday.

It must be stressed, however, that the record has nothing to dowith the ground, the weather or any external factors. India’sfailure to close the match in their favour was caused by someabject fielding and incompetent bowling that came to the forewhen it mattered most.The Indian captain did not do his team any favours through poorlythought out field placements and bowling changes. Sourav Gangulyneeds to readjust his thinking cap and seriously think about onfield strategy. Such matters will go a long way in determiningIndia’s fortunes in the 2003 World Cup.The real mettle of a player, captain or umpire shows only when heis under tremendous pressure. We saw, in the recent Delhi Testmatch, how a few individuals wilted under the pressure. It was nodifferent in Faridabad, with number 10 batsman Douglas Marillierplaying a do-or-die innings, even as Ganguly and his boysliterally stood benumbed by the onslaught.The body language of the Indian team in the last five overs ofthe match was that of a team trying to defend, when all theyreally had to was pick up two tail-end wickets to finish thegame. The pressure also got to the umpires, one of whom handedout a poor decision against Tatenda Taibu.Fortune is determinedly partisan to the brave; Marillier playedone of the most stunning one-day knocks in recent memory. I mustsay that the self-belief this Zimbabwe team has shown on the touris simply superb. I had mentioned this crucial element in myprevious column as well.Having said that, I thought Zaheer Khan bowled superbly. He wasby far the best bowler on the day, although he completely lostthe thread in his final two overs. In spite of the Marilliermiracle, I single out the 111-run partnership between Andy Flowerand Alistair Campbell as the one that laid the foundation of thesensational victory.Chasing a target of 275 was never going to be easy, especiallyafter Zaheer Khan had made early inroads by picking a couple ofwickets. The senior Zimbabwe batsmen, however, played with a lotof determination against the double-spin attack of HarbhajanSingh and Anil Kumble. If Andy Flower had not fallen to Kumble,attempting an ambitious shot, those two would have made it lookmuch easier for the visitors. Campbell also played an innings ofcharacter – the hallmark of the Zimbabwe team.I thought the Indian batting plan almost worked to perfection. Itwas a good idea to open with Dinesh Mongia, and the Indianbatting line-up had remarkable depth to it even without theservices of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. It wasparticularly pleasing to see Ganguly and Mongia make usefulcontributions, as also the responsible manner in which VVS Laxmanplayed.Ajit Agarkar seems to relish the slog overs, and the quick-firepartnership of 63 runs with Mohammad Kaif helped India to post animposing score of 274. Zimbabwe’s bowling looked a bit overenthusiastic, and it was, on the whole, a disappointing show bythe visiting bowlers. Instead of attacking on just one side ofthe wicket, they bowled on both sides and gave away many runs inthe process. Zimbabwe’s fielding was, as always, very good, butthey were made to look ineffective as the Indian batsmen calmlyexploited the gaps in the field.All credit to Zimbabwe, therefore, for a remarkable victory.India’s pride has been damaged with this loss at home, and theresult will make the next encounter at Mohali a truly engrossingaffair.

Michael Hussey has flown home from the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa for personal reasons. Hussey was a late withdrawal from the Chennai Super Kings’ match against the Mumbai Indians in Johannesburg on Saturday.The Super Kings cannot make the semi-finals and have only one dead-rubber remaining against Yorkshire. Hussey played only one match for the Super Kings during the tournament, their opening loss to the Sydney Sixers.Hussey missed Australia’s ODI tour of England earlier this year due to the premature birth of his fourth child.

Mark Lavine smashed 113 runs off 108 balls to temporarily keep North West’sheads above water in Potchefstroom on Friday.However, by the close Border were 86 for three in their second innings for alead of 102. Border were dismissed for 274 in their first innings onThursday, and ended North West’s reply at 248 on Friday.Glen Hewitt and Lavine held together an otherwise lacklustre North Westfirst innings in which the first three wickets fell in the space of 18deliveries with just 23 runs on the board.Vasbert Drakes bowled Riaan Niewoudt for 15, before Piet Botha had AndrewLawson caught behind for four and trapped Morne Strydom in front for afourth-ball duck.In fact, the home side dwinded to 68 for five before Hewitt and Lavineintervened. The next 33 overs belonged to them as they took on thepreviously rampant Border attack.Their partnership grew to 165 before Hewitt was trapped in front byoff-spinner Geoff Love for a 62 that included 10 fours.However, Hewitt’s dismissal was the start of another slide that claimedthree wickets in the space of five deliveries – the last of them Lavine’s,caught off Tyron Henderson for a sparkling 113 struck off just 108 ballswith 16 fours and three sixes.Henderson had Alfonso Thomas caught first ball and dismissed Lavine twoballs later on his way to figures of four for 53.Allrounder Botha then put on his other hat and featured in a solid-lookingopening stand of 57 he shared with Craig Sugden and then in scoring acompetent half-century.However, medium pacer Francois van der Merwe refused to allow Border to getgoing. He removed Sugden in the 23rd over and accounted for Botha and LadenGamiet, for a duck, in the space of four balls six overs later to head forthe showers with figures of three for 27.