Despite being 2-0 on the tour of South Africa so far, New Zealand are not without their share of injury concerns. Scott Styris (hamstring), Jacob Oram (back) and James Franklin (heel) are all causes of worry for Stephen Fleming, their captain.Fleming hopes that they will be fit to play in the international Pro20 match against South Africa at the Wanderers on October 21. “Our bowling is a concern, with Franklin, Styris and Oram all probably underdone. We want some selection dilemmas, we don’t want injuries to play a part in this series, it happens too much to us,” Fleming was quoted as saying by .Styris, who missed both warm-up games against South Africa A, bowled and batted at the Wanderers nets on Tuesday, and should bowl in Friday’s match. Fleming, however, will look at Styris to contribute with the bat as well, given the top order’s erratic batting form. Fleming has led from the front on the tour, scoring a fine century in Potchefstroom on Sunday, but the only other batsmen with scores over fifty have been Craig McMillan and James Marshall.However, Fleming maintains that it is too early to be worried about the batting, saying that his players had not had much game time recently. “We’re pleased that we’ve got a couple of hundreds on the board, we could so easily have gone through these games with none of us in any nick at all. We do want the others to fire and they’ve got to do the work during the week to get up to speed.”He added that New Zealand would treat the Pro20 international the same as any other big match. “We put a lot of importance on it. It’s certainly not a hit and giggle. It plays an important part in the tour. We are looking forward to it and we want to win it.”

Scorecard

Ben Hilfenhaus and Adam Griffith took four wickets apiece and scuttled Victoria for 167, giving Tasmania a 180-run first-innings lead on day two at Bellerive Oval. Tasmania resumed on 5 for 299 and their hopes of making 400 received a severe double blow when Scott Kremerskothen, who was trapped leg before by Gerard Denton for 32, and Sean Clingeleffer (44) went without adding a run.Damien Wright, the allrounder, hit a quick 41 but after he fell Mick Lewis, who was later charged with using an obscenity, quickly wrapped up the tail and ended with 4 for 73. However, Lewis’ efforts were wasted when Victoria immediately lost 2 for 2 and they failed to form any significant partnerships as Hilfenhaus and Griffith chipped away at regular intervals. Nick Jewell top scored with 43 in the first innings and after following on Victoria were 0 for 7 at stumps.”Obviously tomorrow’s a fairly big day for us to try and roll them again and prove it wasn’t a fluke,” Hilfenhaus, a 22-year-old bricklayer in his second Pura Cup match, told . “I’ve just got to try and bowl well and keep my spot. That’s my goal at the moment, just go from there.”

The ICC has told international cricketers to cut down on their verbal sparring or risk disciplinary action. In a release issued on Sunday, they singled out Australia and South Africa after a prolonged “war of words” ahead of their upcoming Test series.They issued the statement from their Dubai headquarters, and warned that umpires and match referees would not allow the spirit of the game to be compromised. The ICC added there had been a “spate of code of conduct reports” and that the “war of words” in the lead up to South Africa’s series with Australia had raised concerns that the high standards expected of international cricketers were at risk of being eroded.The code of conduct governs players and officials on and off-field behaviour and, if broken, it can lead to both fines and suspensions. The ICC’s Australian chief executive, Malcolm Speed, added he was also concerned by the way off-field comments might adversely influence player behaviour and said what he wanted was more of the much-praised sportsmanship witnessed during the recent Pakistan-India and England-Australia Test series.”Unfortunately, since the Ashes there has been a spate of code of conduct offences committed by players which have resulted in a series of penalties being applied, including suspension,” Speed said. “There have also been a series of comments by players and former players ahead of the Australia v South Africa series that I believe make it necessary to remind the players of the importance of playing within the spirit of the game ahead of this series.”Since the start of November, eight players and officials have been found guilty of ICC code of conduct breaches, twice the number of guilty verdicts in the same period last year. This year 38 players and officials have already been charged with offences as the game heads into what is traditionally one of its busiest periods with a number of Tests and one-day internationals remaining before the end of the year. This compares with a total of 37 charges in the whole of 2004.Speed said that while verbal exchanges between players were part of the game any player who crossed the line faced action under the code. “Players should be under no illusions. Cricket is a game that expects high standards of behaviour from its players, Umpires will report code of conduct breaches and where a breach occurs, it will be dealt with.”South Africa have upset Australians by claiming the Aussies use hostile comments known as “sledging” to upset and distract their opponents. Australia leg-spin great Shane Warne, renowned almost as much for his ‘sledging’ as his bowling, hit back on Sunday.Told that South Africa were employing a psychologist, he said: “They might need one by the time we’ve finished with them.” The first Test of a three-match series starts in Perth on Friday.

Rain followed Auckland’s cricketers home as just 17 overs were possible in their match against Northern Districts on Eden Park’s outer oval. Northern got through to 47 for 1, with former Aucklander Nick Horsley the only wicket to fall, leg before to Chris Martin for 18. The desperately out of form James Marshall battled through to be 13 not out off 47 balls when play was called off. Auckland’s round two match against Canterbury in Christchurch was ruined by rain.Bowlers dominated proceedings at the Basin Reserve as high-flying Wellington hosted bottom-of-the-table Central Districts. James Franklin, who struggled for form against Australia recently, decimated the Central batting, taking 7 for 30 off 16.5 overs. Only Mathew Sinclair (31), Jacob Oram (41) and allrounder Ewen Thompson (47) got starts as Central stumbled through to 181 in conditions tailor-made for swing bowling. When Wellington batted things didn’t improve. Michael Mason, Lance Hamilton and Oram ripped through the top order with Luke Woodcock offering resistance with 35. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, was caught behind off Oram for just 6. At stumps Wellington were 102 for 7 with Franklin on 27.The bowlers also held sway in Dunedin as Otago hosted a star-studded Canterbury side. Otago slumped to 146 all out, with Shane Bond, New Zealand fast bowler, picking up 4 for 13 off 12.4 overs. Wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins top scored with 40. Canterbury’s top order fared no better. The out-of-form Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan posted just one run apiece as the visitors slumped to 72 for 5. However Brendon McCullum launched a vicious assault on the bowlers, in particular Jonathan Trott, to score a half-century off just 35 balls. At stumps Canterbury were 147 for 5. McCullum finished 53 not out and Chris Cairns 22 not out.

Faced with a deficit of 290, Jamaica staged a spirited rearguard action as they ended the third day at 310 for 8 against Barbados at the 3Ws Oval. Resuming their overnight score of 11 for 1, an innings defeat seemed inevitable for Jamaica with the score at 68 for 4 until Wavell Hinds, the captain, started the fightback. He put on 85 for the fifth wicket with Tamar Lambert, who was later dismissed for 54.Carlton Baugh, the wicketkeeper, gave solid support to his captain as the two added a further 117 for the sixth wicket. Baugh scored at a healthy strikerate, his 75 coming off 94 balls. The two threatened to build a challenging lead until Ian Bradshaw took two wickets in quick succession with the second new ball.Hinds, who was dropped on 61 by Alcindo Holder off Edwards, added another 21 runs to his run tally but his untimely dismissal marked the end of Jamaica’s resistance on day three. Jamaica are leading by 20 runs with only two wickets remaining. Barbados would be looking to complete the formalities as soon as possible and claim their first win of the competition.

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.”

Rory Kleinveldt tore through the Warriors’ line up with a career-best 8 for 47 as the Cape Cobras put their six-wicket defeat against the Dolphins in the last round behind them. The match was moved from Boland Park to Stellenbosch after problems with the original pitch and the Cobras enjoyed the new location. Kleinveldt’s figures were the best since the franchise system was introduced and he took the first six wickets to fall, before Charl Willoughby chipped in with two of his own. The clatter of wickets continued when the Cobras began batting, with Derrin Bassage falling lbw first ball. However, sanity was restored by a unbroken stand of 75 between Andrew Puttick and JP Duminy, which left the Cobras insight of a healthy first innings lead.The Lions made the most of Potchefstroom’s batsmen-friendly surface on the opening day against the Titans. Neil McKenzie led the way in a powerful batting display with 109, his second hundred of the season, while three other players passed fifty. Justin Ontong fired a boundary-filled 77 off 90 balls, adding 134 with Stephen Cook, whose 60 was from a more measured 154 deliveries, then McKenzie and Vaughn van Jaarsveld then added 109 for the fourth wicket. Although Paul Harris nipped out a couple before the close, including Werner Coetsee caught at slip off the last ball of the day, the honours were certainly with the Lions.Nicky Boje continued to press his claims for an international recall by taking 3 for 49 as the Eagles enjoyed the better of a shortened first day against the Dolphins at Durban. The Dolphins were handily placed on 106 for 1, with Hasim Amla showing some of the form that brought him his unbeaten 153 against the Cobras last week, when he was caught behind off Ryan McLaren for 30. Boje then snared his three scalps, including Ravish Gobind and Jon Kent in two balls. Dale Benkenstein will carry the hopes of the Dolphins on the second day after finishing unbeaten on 23.

New Zealand’s team manager, Lindsay Crocker, has been admitted to hospital with an infection on his knee.Crocker, 47, was taken to hospital by ambulance from Willowmoore Park in Benoni, where New Zealand are currently playing the Rest of South Africa in a four-day warm-up match.Crocker complained of the pain in the knee following the team’s arrival in Johannesburg on Wednesday. When the pain persisted today, he was taken to hospital for further tests.