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Barbados 422 for 7 dec and 8 for 0 beat Guyana 108 and 321 by 10 wickets
ScorecardBarbados started their defence of the title in style – and in some controversy – by routing Guyana by 10 wickets at Bridgetown. They needed just eight runs for victory, after dismissing Guyana for 321, and Kurt Wilkinson wrapped it up in the first over, by lofting Esuan Crandon over extra cover for four. Barbados’ win was clouded by their five-run penalty for ball-tampering, though. On the third afternoon, the umpires reportedly decreed that the ball had changed appearance, and immediately changed it. The board are deciding whether to take any further action on the matter.Trinidad & Tobago 335 and 255 drew with Leeward Islands 324 and 58 for 3
ScorecardThe rains returned to curtail Leeward Island’s run-chase against Trinidad & Tobago, with 25 overs of the day remaining. The highlight had earlier been Ricardo Powell’s hard-hitting 77 to set up the declaration. The Leewards never threatened to pursue 266 in 47 overs, once Alex Adams had fallen to the first ball of the innings.Jamaica 266 and 296 for 8 dec drew with Windward Islands 273 and 233 for 5 (Smith 118*)
ScorecardDevon Smith hit a sparkling century, but Windward Islands were forced to settle for first-innings points against Jamaica at Beausejour. Set 290 for victory, Windwards finished on 223 for 5 with three of the final 15 overs remaining leaving Smith undefeated on 118. Jamaica, who trailed by seven runs on first innings, earlier declared on 296 for 8.West Indies B 97 and 149 beat Kenya 149 and 85 by 12 runs
ScorecardJason Bennett grabbed a hat-trick and Dwight Washington picked up three wickets of his own, as West Indies B pulled off a dramatic 12-run victory over Kenya from an apparently hopeless situation. Set 98 to win, the Kenyans crumbled to 85 all out midway the final session at Edgar Gilbert Park. Bennett removed Collins Obuya (1), Martin Suji (0) and Peter Ongondo (0) with consecutive deliveries to finish with figures of 3 for 23 off 12 overs, and a match haul of 8 for 68.

Hussain- reflective in defeat Photo Photosport

England’s fielding, and their batting in the last 15 overs, are areas of their one-day game that captain Nasser Hussain would like to see improved.He was commenting at the end of his side’s five-game National Bank Series with New Zealand which ended in New Zealand winning the series 3-2 last night.Hussain said that right throughout the winter tours, England had not been batting well in the last 15 overs.”Even today we didn’t hit enough boundaries, even when we kept wickets in hand, we’ve not hit enough boundaries, there is a point in the innings where we have to take on these short boundaries.”You saw Nathan Astle today, there was a lot of sixes hit and you watch a series from Australia, people like Brett Lee, various people, hitting sixes and it’s an area we haven’t quite mastered yet. It’s a technical thing, it’s a confidence thing.”There’s a lot of areas we have improved on. That’s another area we’ve just gone and identified. I don’t mean slogging the ball for six when you’ve got to take the risk and every time this winter when we’ve just tried to progress and take the risk, we’ve found ourselves losing wickets and that’s something we’re going to have to look at,” he said.England’s fielding did not really improve during the series. They dropped catches regularly and again tonight put down century-maker Astle twice, once when he was on 15 (Nick Knight at short cover) and on 108 (Ashley Giles, a caught and bowled chance).Knight had an horrendous series, especially given the reputation he had as a catcher before the tour.”We are still a little bit sloppy in the field, we have good days and bad days, we take good catches and we drop some catches.”So that’s an area we’ve got to improve on if we’re going to compete against South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, very good fielding sides, and the last 15 overs is an area we have to work on,” he said.Hussain still felt that the failure to capitalise on the situation created in the opening game in Christchurch had an effect on the final outcome of the series.England were 150/2 and dismissed for 196.”That doesn’t take anything away from New Zealand. They got the wickets, they bowled us out but if we look that’s where we lost the series 150/2 and if we’d got 250-260, we’d have won that game,” Hussain said.

The Interim Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka will have to wait to bring in Barry Richards as batting coach.The board’s initial plan was to bring Richards in ahead of the three match Test series against Indian and then to follow it up with two other stints ahead of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.With the busy domestic cricket schedule many of the leading players are taking part in the Mercantile Cricket Tournament and, with the imminent Pakistan A tour, the plan will not be realized before the Indian trip.A member of the Interim Committee, Sidath Wettimuny, confirmed that the South African great will only be coming in October or November. CricInfo also learns that the board has not yet signed the contract with Richards.

During his post-match press conference following the victory over Burnley, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was full of praise for midfield general Ilkay Gundogan. 

The lowdown: A Pep favourite

Signed for £21million from Borussia Dortmund (Sky Sports), Gundogan was the Spanish manager’s first signing when taking over at the Etihad.

Since then the experienced German has made an astonishing 244 appearances for the Citizens, scoring 43 times and providing 33 assists in that time.

Therefore, it’s perhaps of little surprise that Guardiola would hold the midfielder in such high esteem after he became the highest-scoring German in Premier League history on Saturday.

The latest: record-breaking exploits

Gundogan volleyed home City’s second goal on the afternoon, overtaking Mesut Ozil’s previously tally of 33 English top-flight strikes.

Speaking after the comfortable 2-0 success at Turf Moor, Guardiola sang the praises of the 31-year-old’s display.

As quoted by City Xtra on Twitter, the Spanish boss stated: “Wow! He’s an exceptional human being first. So intelligent, you can talk with him about everything, and it’s nice to have players like him. I’m so glad, happy he could make this record.”

The verdict: High praise indeed

Receiving such high praise from any manager, let alone Guardiola must be music to the ears of any player.

In truth, goal aside this was another performance right out of the top drawer from the £31.5million valued Gundogan (Transfermarkt), who completed 5/5 long balls, 50/55 passes and made one successful tackle in an all-important victory for the Sky Blues (Sofascore).

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This latest strike took the German to eight goals for the season, combined with another six assists from 34 appearances across all competitions, as the once defensive midfielder continues to defy conventional wisdom with his goalscoring prowess in recent seasons.

In other news: Man City linked with move for La Liga star. Find out more here.

	Matthew Hayden scored 124 and 47 on what Ricky Ponting rated the hardest pitch to bat on of any of his Tests in Australia © Getty Images

Australia are determined to avoid mentioning a record that is taking on the he-who-must-not-be-named characteristic of the villain Lord Voldemort. With the four-day crushing of India, Ricky Ponting’s team is only one win from equalling the world record of 16 consecutive Test victories.Like any potential naming of Voldemort in the books, it seems that anyone in the team who dares raise the milestone is greeted with loud shooshing and terrified looks over shoulders. The players insist the record, which was set by Steve Waugh’s sides between 1999 and 2001, was not talked about during the Sri Lanka series last month and Ponting said it wasn’t discussed in the lead-up to Melbourne and won’t be in Sydney.”We didn’t speak about it all – there was not one mention going into this game – which is the way I prefer it,” he said. “There’s no doubt it is something we could all be really proud of if we achieve it, but there’s a lot of hard work and great play before that.”We played well here and hopefully we can go to Sydney and play even better. If we do that record will be even closer.” Ponting will have to wait a week to see if there are any repercussions for breaking the in-house ban.However, after the 337-run demolition at the MCG, Australia’s prospects of another win in Sydney are strong. Anil Kumble was not sure what went wrong for India, which makes it hard for the team to recover before Wednesday’s second Test.”It hurts, not just as an individual but as a team, that we haven’t put up a good show and I can tell you we will address that and try to put up a better show in Sydney,” he said. “It’s important that as a collective unit we come out there and do the job. Everyone is equally disappointed.”Kumble said the problems were “mainly a mental thing”, but he was also confident a more friendly pitch at the SCG would help his batsmen against the restrictive Australian bowling. Cluttered fields were set to wear down the Indians on an MCG wicket offering slow, low bounce.”You have to give credit to the way they bowled,” Kumble said. “They put pressure on the batting and I’m sure Sydney will be a better wicket in terms of stroke-making. We have stroke-makers and I’m sure the ball will come on to the bat better in Sydney.”Ponting knew how difficult the chase of 499 would be after seeing his batsmen grind in the second innings. When he declared late on day three he had no doubt India would fail to achieve the target, but he was surprised by the ease of the success.”I expected it to be really hard work, we knew it was going to be hot,” he said. “I felt with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who have been known to bat for long periods on wickets like that, that it might have been really tough.”He believed the 135-run opening stand on the first day, which was the largest of the match, set up the victory on a pitch he rated the hardest to bat on of any of his Tests in Australia. Matthew Hayden, the Man of the Match, was responsible for carrying the first innings with 124, but he also picked up a back problem.Hayden said it was “nothing a Panadol wouldn’t fix” and was not worried about backing up at the SCG. Australia’s comprehensive performance means only injury will force changes and by sealing the win so quickly they have another day to recover from any niggles. India appeared to need a much longer turnaround to sort out their troubles.

Marlon Samuels has made the World Cup squad despite the recent controversies © AFP

Marlon Samuels has been included in West Indies’ 15-man World Cup squad despite the ICC’s investigations into his links with an alleged bookie. The selectors have also sprung one surprise with Kieron Pollard, the 19-year-old Trinidad allrounder, beating off more experienced names for the final place.Much of the squad had been set in stone, but Pollard has kept out the likes of Darren Sammy and Runako Morton, while Rayad Emrit who played in the recent series against India didn’t even make the reserve list.Lendl Simmons has taken the final batting slot while Ian Bradshaw, Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Jerome Taylor are the four pacemen, leaving Fidel Edwards on the sidelines.West Indies open the World Cup against Pakistan, in Jamaica, on March 13.West Indies squad Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Denesh Ramdin, Devon Smith, Lendl Simmons, Daren Powell, Kieron Pollard

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club have elected Ray Parsons as their new chairman at a meeting following last week’s AGM.Parsons, a club supporter for 35 years and a member of the council for 14 years, takes over the role from Alan Haines, who is standing down after four years in the post.”Following a disappointing season in 2005 I hope that we can achieve promotion in 2006,” said the chief executive, Tom Richardson, “and that everyone will continue to support the Club.”

Titans 266 for 4 (Rudolph 96, de Villiers 62) beat Dolphins 254 for 5 (Watson 142) by 12 runs
Scorecard
A superb 122-run opening partnership between AB de Villiers and Jacques Rudolph set the Titans up for an exciting 12-run win over the Dolphins in the second semi-final of the Standard Bank Cup at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Doug Watson’s career-best 142 went in vain as the Titans qualified for next week’s final, where they will face the Eagles.In a surprise decision, Hashim Amla, the Dolphins captain, chose to field on a very good batting pitch. Both teams had key withdrawals through injuries, with Shaun Pollock unavailable for the Dolphins and Justin Kemp missing for the Titans.A confident start from de Villiers and Rudolph, two of the six internationals who turned out for the Titans, brought the hundred up in 128 balls. de Villiers capitalised on a reprieve given to him by Watson at third man when on 30, and raced to 50 in 56 balls, which included seven fours and a big straight six off Andrew Tweedie. Rudolph’s 50 was slightly slower, coming off 78 balls and including six fours.Imraan Khan got the breakthrough at 122 when de Villiers (62) drove back down the pitch and Khan got down low to take an excellent catch off his own bowling. Zander de Bruyn hit two fours in his 31 before being well caught at midwicket by Ashraf Mall after mistiming a pull off Lance Klusener.Rudolph had moved on to 96 when some good fielding at short fine leg found him slipping as he tried to recover his ground, only to be run out four short of the hundred.The 200 came up in 242 balls as Daryll Cullinan had a little flurry, clearing the ropes on three occasions. However he was found inches short of the crease by Amla at mid-on while he was attempting a quick single. He made 25 off 18 balls.Albie Morkel took over the hitting role, and Tweedie was given some serious punishment and disappeared for 76 from his nine overs. The Titans ended with 266 for 4, their highest Standard Bank Cup total, with Morkel undefeated on 29 off 15 balls and Alviro Petersen making a quick 12. The last six overs produced 69 runs as the Titans kicked on from a steady start.Three maidens and a wicket in the first five overs increased the pressure on the Dolphins batsmen as they set off chasing a big target. Khan flashed at Andre Nel once too often as he edged to de Villiers after scoring four. But Watson relieved some of the pressure with three boundaries as he and Wade Wingfield took 15 runs off Ethy Mbhalati and then seven off Nelin the sixth and seventh overs. A near run-a-ball 100-run partnership followed, with Watson bringing up his 50 in 59 balls.Two quick wickets tilted the scales in the Titans’ favour with Wingfield,having scored 40, edging Mbhalati to de Villiers who dived full-length to his right to take a acrobatic catch. An over later, the Dolphins were 120 for 3 when Pierre de Bruyn clean bowled Amla for 1.A fourth-wicket partnership of 50 between Watson and Jon Kent kept the Dolphins in the hunt. However, the required run-rate was steadilyclimbing to above nine an over, with only ten overs left to be bowled.Watson reached probably the best hundred of his career, which includedten fours and a flat six over square leg, in 116 balls. He had singlehandedly kept the Dolphins in the game. Pierre de Bruyn swung it back towards the Titans with a perfect yorker which spread the stumps of Kent, who made 37 off only 30 balls.Klusener came in with the Dolphins needing 83 off 50 balls. Somegood bowling, attacking his leg stump, kept him cramped him up at first. Ones and twos took the Dolphins to 220, still 47behind with three overs to be bowled. Nel gave away 11 in one over but Thomas, the best bowler on view, followed it up with another excellent over conceding only six singles.The Dolphins nearly pulled off an unbelievable win as they attemped to get 30 off the last over. Two sixes gave them a chance, but Watson’s dismissal, for a career-best 142, sealed their fate and they fell 12 runs short. The Titans’ exceptional fielding, Amla’s decision at the toss, and Klusener again coming in too late were the three main factors that decided the game.

Michael Vaughan: It seems he wasn’t positive enough © Getty Images

John Dyson, Sri Lanka’s coach, has turned around criticism of his team’s defensive approach during the second Test at Kandy by expressing his surprise that England did not try to win the game. Sri Lanka had caused widespread surprise themselves on the fifth day by their refusal to launch an all-out attack against England, despite a mammoth target of 368.Dyson, however, believed that it was England who were guilty of negativity. “It is very difficult to get people out when they are not playing any shots,” he said. “The English attitude surprised me given that it was a very fast outfield, and a very good wicket for the whole game.”He continued: “It was a very brave declaration, but England didn’t at any stage try to chase the runs. They decided they couldn’t get the runs very early on in the final day. They had to take the initiative at some stage. I don’t think they tried to push many singles and twos. It was a case of okay, if you guys give us the runs, we’ll take them. We are not too keen to get them. They had the whole of the final day plus an entire session on the fourth day to chase the runs. It was a hell of a lot of time. They must have been thinking that it was going to break up, but it didn’t.”Comparing the Australian and English batting line-ups, Dyson said the Australians would have looked at this as an opportunity to rewrite the history books, on an outfield that was fast and a wicket which was still good. England batted out 140 overs to finish on 285 for 7. “The pitch wasn’t turning viciously and I would have thought here was a chance to rewrite the record books,” Dyson said. “England settled for a draw. It was a staggering attitude.”He went on: “We’ve been the dominant team in the one-day game and in the two Test matches. We were extremely unfortunate at Galle because of the weather conditions. At Kandy, England batted 140 overs to get a draw. It was a fantastic effort by [Michael] Vaughan who batted beautifully. But I also thought that in the England top order was where their experience lay with tried and tested players. I find their attitude strange on such a good wicket that they played for a draw.”Dyson denied that Sri Lanka were not positive enough. “We attacked all day. We had a slip for everyone, bat-pad catchers all day, men in catching positions and a few fielders on the boundary,” he insisted. “England had four or five fielders on the boundary when they bowled. The other team has to take the initiative somewhere. They had to work for victory and we had to work for our wickets and extremely hard at it. You just don’t do all the hard work and hand them a victory.”Despite the two close draws, Dyson said that the team spirit was still good. “We have been on top of those games. We have been frustrated at times. But that had to be expected,” he said. “These games test your patience, and test your levels of coping with frustrations. But the spirit of the team is still very good. We’ve had the upper hand in both matches. We played the more positive cricket between the two teams.”Dyson was not yet sure about his strategy for the decisive third and final Test, which starts on Thursday. “I can tell you one thing, the boys will have to maintain their concentration, their focus and their patience.”

Though pages on this site do not normally come complete with warnings, the report of New South Wales’ hard-bitten 19-run win over Queensland in today’s ING Cup Final in Brisbane arrives with at least two in close attendance.Firstly, its tale of horror ensures that it be recommended to mature Queensland audiences only; secondly, it conveys the violent message that this was a match in which batsmen consistently lost their heads.Defending a moderate total of 204, New South Wales dropped a catch in the opening over of Queensland’s reply, then watched as Martin Love (53), Clinton Perren (36) and Lee Carseldine (29) pushed the Bulls inexorably closer to what seemed like becoming a regulation victory.Yet, for the second time in successive years, the Blues refused to let the occasion, a disappointing start, nor the experience of playing at a daunting away venue adversely affect them. Accordingly, they regained the upper hand – about as swiftly as they had surrendered it earlier in the day – when medium pacers Shawn Bradstreet (4/23) and Dominic Thornely (3/36) combined to wreck the home team’s middle and lower order.It represented a remarkable recovery after the combination of impatience and poor shot selection had laid waste to the Blues’ own innings, and it guaranteed that the overriding tale of this match was of batsmen being profoundly overwhelmed by the pressure of the big occasion.Upon winning the toss, the Queenslanders had been the first to take advantage of the curse of injudicious strokeplay, wresting a significant initiative when they dismissed the visitors for their unflattering total from the final delivery of their 50 overs. Though the Blues reached 0/82 at one point on the back of a controlled opening stand between Brad Haddin (45) and Corey Richards (34), they lost their way grievously as the accuracy of off spinner Nathan Hauritz (4/47) and pace bowlers James Hopes (3/33) and Ashley Noffke (2/24) overcame them.It had taken a brilliant running catch – replete with head long dive at the end of a 20-metre journey toward the fence from mid on – from captain Stuart Law to prise open the game for the Bulls.But, once he had intervened to intercept a mistimed lofted drive from Haddin at Noffke, his team swiftly assumed control.Matthew Phelps (31) and Thornely (20*) added late runs that ultimately proved critical. The Blues also benefited from a decision by umpire Daryl Harper not to refer a stumping appeal against Mark Higgs (22) to third umpire Peter Parker with the left hander’s score at 3. Yet it wasn’t until the match entered the afternoon session that New South Wales was genuinely able to find a way back.The visitors again wobbled on their feet when second slip fieldsman Michael Clarke grassed a low chance to catch Love before the talented right hander had scored. They inched forward remorselessly with the wickets of Jimmy Maher (10), Law (10) and Andrew Symonds (8), though, to put themselves back in the tug-of-war.Perren and Carseldine steadied Queensland’s innings with a 48-run sixth wicket stand on a `Gabba pitch that never seemed to pose particular terrors for the batsmen. But the former fell to a miscued slog-sweep at a Thornely slower ball and the latter mistimed a blazing cut at the same bowler to lash a catch to backward point. They were each ambitious strokes and they ensured that the sense of malaise that had marked much of the game’s batting returned in large measure. The match’s last five wickets crashed for the addition of only 36 runs as the hosts’ sorrow was aligned against the visitors’ jubilation.Mercifully, the immaculate length of Thornely and Bradstreet – together with the superb catching of Richards and Haddin – ensured that the conclusion was marked as much by excellence in the field as mediocrity at the crease.In flinging himself horizontally to his right, Haddin’s interception of a thick outside edge from the bat of Hopes (19) was a classic wicketkeeper’s catch. Credit likewise needed to be showered upon Richards for an outstanding catch at cover, as he dived forward to intercept a Hauritz (3) drive inches above the ground, that conspired to leave the Bulls just three wickets short of defeat.The video of this dramatic victory will presumably be a best seller in New South Wales in the weeks, months and years ahead. It will have a harder time finding its way beyond the restricted shelves in Queensland.