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Sussex 373 for 9 (Naved-ul-Hasan 69, Hopkinson 62, Wright 59, Goodwin 55 ) v Middlesex
Scorecard

Last summer at Lord’s, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan destroyed Middlesex almost single-handedly, smashing a hundred with the bat and then taking seven wickets.On that occasion, he rescued Sussex from a parlous 199 for 6 to set up a rousing innings victory. He arrived at the crease at Horsham with Sussex again wobbling on 231 for 7 and launched a stinging counter attack which helped propel the Championship leaders to 373 for 9 at the close. His 64 off 51 balls, largely off the innocuous offspin of Jamie Dalrymple, turned a match in which Sussex had largely been the architects of their own problems.On a slow and soft pitch with the ball not really coming on to the bat, Sussex nevertheless struggled against some ordinary seam bowling, and until Naved-ul-Hasan’s arrival the run-rate had hovered under three-an-over all day.Five of the top six got starts. Carl Hopkinson looked assured for his 62 until he cut straight to backward cover shortly after lunch, while Chris Adams’ breezy 31 was ended by a ball from Ben Hutton which kept low. All the time Murray Goodwin was playing a solid anchor innings, but he had just begun to show signs of opening up when he was well caught by a diving Chad Keegan at wide mid-on.

When Robin Martin-Jenkins, whose 37 had included some delightful drives, perished to a juggled return catch by Mohammad Ali, Sussex’s batting, not their strongest feature this season, was again threatening to let them down. But Naved-ul-Hasan and Luke Wright laid into Dalrymple, smashing him for 38 off three overs before Middlesex’s seamers at least stemmed the avalanche of runs, even if they failed to break through. Although Chris Silverwood removed them both shortly before the close, the damage had been done, and with runs hard to come by there is a feeling that Middlesex are already in trouble.At the weekend, John Emburey, Middlesex’s coach, talked of Keegan as being a potential England player. On the evidence today he looked anything but, and this has to be as weak an attack as Middlesex have fielded since the dark days of the 1960s. While Silverwood has some pep, it looks very unlikely that the likes of Johann Louw and Ali will get enough wickets to heave the county off the bottom of the table. It is going to be a long summer for the Londoners.

May 1997 – At 20, makes his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka at Hyderabad. Scores 10 as a fragile New Zealand batting order falls 53 short of its target.November 1997 – Has more success in his Test debut, scoring 54 against a strong Australia at Brisbane. Would prefer to forget the second innings, when Glenn McGrath trapped him lbw first ball.February 1998 – Takes advantage of a weaker opponent, Zimbabwe, to score his maiden Test century at Wellington in his fourth match. Displays the style he will become known for by bringing up the milestone with a six over long-on and finishes with 139.May 1998 – Strikes a blistering 142 from 179 balls in a Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo, launching six sixes and helping New Zealand to a comfortable victory.August 1999 – Scores an unbeaten 107 in the third Test against England at Old Trafford. He struggles through the rest of the tour but New Zealand register an important 2-1 series win.December 2000 – Joins with Nathan Astle to set a New Zealand Test record fifth-wicket partnership of 222 against Zimbabwe at Wellington. McMillan’s contribution is 142 and he earns the Man-of-the-Match award.February 2001 – Scores his first ODI century in crunching style, belting five sixes on his way to 104 from 75 balls against Pakistan at Christchurch. He equals Chris Cairns’ record for the fastest ODI hundred by a New Zealand player.March 2001 – Breaks the record for most runs in a Test over when he clubs 26 from Younis Khan’s part-time legspin at Hamilton. McMillan makes batting look ridiculously easy, hitting five fours – including three reverse- pulls and scoops – and one six.October 2003 – After being dropped from the tour of Sri Lanka earlier in the year, McMillan returns with a superb fighting 83 not out against India at Ahmedabad to save New Zealand from what looked like a certain defeat. In the second Test at Mohali, he is one of four batsmen to score a century, but his unbeaten 100 is his last Test hundred.

November 2004 – McMillan clashes with Adam Gilchrist in a Test at Brisbane when the two disagree over the etiquette of walking. Gilchrist, a self-proclaimed walker, gives McMillan a spray because he does not walk after Steve Bucknor turns down an appeal for caught behind.June 2006 – Loses his national contract after a poor run of ODI form. Considers taking up a career as a salesman to help pay the bills.December 2006 – Is recalled for the home one-day series against Sri Lanka. Has little impact but keeps his spot for the CB Series in Australia.February 2007 – Caps off his comeback with the fastest century in an ODI by a New Zealand player. Blasts 117 from 96 balls – the century comes from 67 deliveries – as he overshadows Matthew Hayden’s 181 and steers New Zealand towards a successful chase of 347 at Hamilton. In typical McMillan fashion, he brings up his hundred with two successive sixes off Adam Voges.September 2007 – Proves that the frenetic Twenty20 format suits his destructive style as he finishes the World Twenty20 as New Zealand’s leading run-scorer. He makes 163 at 40.75 with an impressive strike-rate of 181.

The BCCI has retained Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh among its seven-member support staff team for the three-Test South Africa, but dropped assistant coach Lalchand Rajput who had managed the team since the Bangladesh tour last May.Prasad, the former India new-ball specialist, will remain in charge of bowling while Robin will handle the team’s fielding. The South Africa series, starting March 26 in Chennai, will mark the debuts of Gary Kirsten as coach and his associate Paddy Upton as mental conditioning coach and physical trainer.Paul Close, the physio of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore will assist the team as its physiotherapist till the BCCI appoints a permanent candidate. “The BCCI will appoint a full-time physiotherapist for the Indian team by the end of April,” Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said.Prasad, Robin and Rajput have also signed up to coach IPL teams while Kirsten has shied away, saying he wants to focus on the Indian team. Prasad has tied up with the Bangalore franchise and Robin with Hyderabad, while Rajput will coach the Mumbai IPL team.Mumbai-based Ramesh Mane remains the Indian team’s masseur while Chennai’s Russell Radhakrishnan will continue to be the team’s travel assistant.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has refused to intervene in the tussle between the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the Indian board (BCCI), maintaining that national cricket boards should take their own decisions regarding the ICL.”The ICC Executive Board has taken a policy decision that the BCCI was the only competent authority to deal with the issue. It is up to the BCCI to decide whether to recognise the ICL or not,” an ICC spokesman told . “The executive board had told the BCCI that it was an internal matter and it was left to them whether to recognise the ICL or not. The ICC had told them that cricket should not suffer.”The Indian and Pakistan boards have come down heavily on players aligning with the ICL by banning them from playing for their country or in official domestic tournaments. The ICL has so far signed 51 players including several international stars, among them Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Lance Klusener, while Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Chris Harris have also been linked with it.

Kyle McCallan, the Ireland spinner, is fed up of hearing critics say they have no right to be in the Super Eights. After being the surprise of the group phase with a win over Pakistan and a tie with Zimbabwe, Ireland are now under increasing scrutiny to prove they should be in the second stage.”I am reading so many comments at the moment, saying Ireland shouldn’t be in the Super Eights,” McCallan said. “No matter what you do, people are trying to knock you down. They are saying we have qualified on the basis of one performance.”Hasn’t everyone? England lost to New Zealand. They are only in the Super Eights because they beat Kenya. They’re all motivating factors for us to go out and perform another upset.”Ireland get their chance to prove they belong in the second round when they face England in Guyana on Friday. It will be the second match between the teams in nine months after England won by 38 runs last June.”We were disappointed at how we bowled against England in Belfast,” McCallan said. “They haven’t got Marcus Trescothick, who got a big hundred against us, albeit they now have Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, but we didn’t disgrace ourselves in that match and we’ll take that experience into Friday’s game.”They’ve lost Harmison from that attack and while we cannot be overly-confident going into the game, we can realistically compete with them. Having heard what we’ve heard about the pitch here, apparently it suits the slower bowlers so I hope that they will play the pace bowlers. It will come on to the bat and make for faster scoring.”The guys have coped with the quicker bowling rather well and if we can hit the ball down the ground in the middle overs, we should get more runs. The batters know what they have to do.”

You have to envy VVS Laxman. Not for his sinuous wrists, not for his graceful movements, not for his languid batting style but simply for having the pleasure of standing at second slip when India’s pace bowlers are in operation. Standing between Sachin Tendulkar, at first slip, and Sourav Ganguly, at third, he is often the silent participant in some intense discussions, ones where the two on either side chirp away merrily.While they’re batting together, though, there’s no third party. Yet they rarely relent. During their 96-run stand this morning, the early parts of which were spent negotiating the second new ball, mid-pitch conferences raged along. Whether it was advice, tactics, or plans for the evening is anyone’s guess but they often resembled doubles partners on a tennis court. They’ve played together for about ten years, they’ve opened the batting for long in the one-day format, and they’ve played under each other’s captaincy. You’d think they would have exhausted all they had to say; it appears they’ve just got started.India’s biggest challenge today, with the sun out and the pitch playing true, was to negate the effects of the second new ball. Ganguly, usually circumspect in these conditions, flowed; Tendulkar, who you’d expect to be more solid, dug a small hole for himself. Almost every time Ryan Sidebottom beat Tendulkar’s bat, or appealed for a leg-before, Ganguly had a word with his partner.At the other end, Ganguly eagerly took on Chris Tremlett and James Anderson, cover-driving as if all was well. Ganguly’s statements about the ball doing “a bit in the morning” and Sidebottom bowling “well to Sachin” must go down as big under-statements. It was doing much more than a bit, and he did much better than well. “To get through the second new ball in the morning was important,” he said. “And we knew if we could get runs on the board, we’d be in a good position to win the match.”Both handled Monty Panesar expertly, using their bats more often than their pads. Tendulkar stepped out on a few occasions, crunching an aggressive cover-drive over the infield, while Ganguly took a few big strides forward and caressed him all along the ground. What was the plan then, did they have any specific targets? “There were no targets,” dead-batted Ganguly. “Just bat. It was just the third morning of a match and there was a lot of time left. We thought we’ll just bat and whatever comes, comes.” More like, just chat.

It’s tough to spot similarities in their batting, or indeed their personalities. One is quiet, the other tends to be brash; one is a great batsman who struggled to lead, the other a great captain who sometimes struggled with the bat. Both had their innings sawed off with dubious umpiring decisions – one stood transfixed before trudging off, the other rushed off spewing venom, flaying his bat angrily. Tendulkar was spotted cooling off with an ice-cream; Ganguly was “alright”. “Some go your way, some go against”, said Ganguly who started the press conference with “I don’t want to speak about the decision” and ended it with “You have to live with it”. Simon Taufel, it seems, can breathe easy.Does he think India can pull off their first Test win at Trent Bridge? “I think 480 is still a big total. We were 280-290 ahead, and the wicket is going to deteriorate. On the third day of a Test anywhere in the world, the wicket is going to be good. It’s the fourth and fifth day it’s going to deteriorate.”But, crucially, what does he have to say about Tendulkar’s knock? “There’s nothing you can talk about Sachin, he produces it every time and hope he keeps doing the same.” If he does, and if Ganguly too keeps joining him, it’s time those stump mikes were shifted to the middle of the pitch.

Former England captains reacted with dismay at England’s spectacular defeat to Australia in the second Test at Adelaide on Tuesday. Duncan Fletcher’s team selections came under the microscope, especially his decision to play Ashley Giles ahead of Monty Panesar, who Fletcher hailed as the best finger spinner in the world earlier this year.A downcast Geoff Boycott, commentating for BBC Radio, feared the upbeat Aussies could “bury” England. “I personally don’t think they can pick themselves up,” Boycott said. “Australia are cock-a-hoop, they are in good form and are confident.”The batsmen are making too many mistakes. You can’t keep depending on Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell. Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones are not making enough runs. And I don’t see how England are going to get 20 wickets.”Alec Stewart also said England’s bowling attack was under-performing. “Flintoff and Hoggard have caused Australia problems but Steve Harmison has taken one wicket in two Tests while both Giles and Anderson have struggled,” Stewart said. “And we are not looking like taking 20 wickets. That is my biggest issue. Harmison has improved slightly but he has only taken one wicket in the series.Nasser Hussain said Fletcher’s men now faced the “biggest test” of his reign. “He will come under the immense pressure in the next week or so,” Hussain said, according to London’s newspaper. “His selections have let him down and let England down in Giles and Jones. There have been no runs and no wickets and Giles dropped a crucial catch.Ian Botham insisted Fletcher had to wield the axe ahead of the third Test in Perth, and wondered whether Panesar would finally be deployed. “I am asking questions,” Botham said. “A lot of people are asking questions. Is Monty Panesar here or has he gone home? I am totally confused. I was confused at the start of the series and I am even more confused now.”I am not taking anything away from Australia, they have been magnificent, but we have two players who have hardly played any cricket in a year – Jimmy Anderson and Ashley Giles, two key bowlers.”

Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, believes that Sachin Tendulkar is set to make a sparkling return to international cricket. “Sachin is well and truly on track to hit good form,” Chappell told AFP ahead of a seven-match one-day home series against Sri Lanka starting at Nagpur on October 25.Tendulkar, who is the world’s leading scorer with 13,642 runs in 348 one-day matches and a record 38 centuries, has been out of action with an injured elbow ever since India hosted Pakistan in April but played in a domestic one-day tournament earlier this month. “Sachin has been batting well and his presence is good for other players,” Chappell said at the end of a three-day conditioning camp at the National Cricket Academy in Banglaore. “We are happy that from the fitness point of view he was fine during the camp. I think that’s a very positive thing.”After the one-dayers against Sri Lanka, India play another five games against South Africa from mid-November. India, World Cup finalist in 2003, have slumped to number seven in the ICC’s one-day rankings, while Sri Lanka are second behind Australia, and South Africa fifth.Chappell, who took over as India’s coach in June, wants to pick those players whom he considers likely contenders for the next World Cup in the Caribbean. “The year 2007 seems a long way away but we need to start looking at it seriously from now, taking into account injuries, form and other factors,” he said. “We need to use our resources wisely as it’s easier for a youngster to come into an experienced side. Australia struggled in the 1980s because they did not bring in youngsters at the right time and we need to be careful in that regard.”India have played two one-day finals this season and lost both – to Sri Lanka in Colombo and New Zealand in Harare – and its batting also presents a vulnerable look with Sachin Tendulkar feeling his way back after an elbow injury. “We have been planning some different combinations and hope to put up a good show against Sri Lanka, who are a fine side,” Chappell said.The Indian squad for the first two one-dayers against Sri Lanka, which excludes former captain Sourav Ganguly, bears the Chappell stamp with a horde of youngsters rubbing shoulders with the veterans. Seven players in the 15-man squad have played less than 20 one-day internationals with S Sreesanth being a debutant. Notable omissions due to injury or poor form included Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble and Laxmipathy Balaji, four regular front-line bowlers, leaving the attack badly shorn of experience.Ajit Agarkar, with 217 one-day wickets, is the most experienced bowler in the squad. He is followed by spinner Harbhajan Singh with 127 wickets and Irfan Pathan (63). The four remaining bowlers, Sreesanth, Murali Kartik, Rudra Pratap Singh and Jai Prakash Yadav, have 24 wickets between them. These bowlers are expected to contain a strong Sri Lankan batting line-up that includes Sanath Jayasuriya (10,122 runs), skipper Marvan Atapattu (7,543), Mahela Jayawardene (4,739) and Kumar Sangakarra (3,371) on Indian wickets tailor-made for batting.

Six, six, six
Chennai, chasing 188, had lost two wickets in the space of five balls and the required rate was hovering near nine an over. Sixteen deliveries without a boundary wasn’t helping their cause, but the big-hitting Albie Morkel swung Chennai back by plundering 23 runs off the 14th over, bowled by Virender Sehwag. The first ball was heaved over midwicket for a massive six, the second biffed dead straight for the same result, and the hat-trick followed with another clout over midwicket. That spectacular comeback from Morkel made the difference when push came to shove.AB pulls off a blinder
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was threatening to finish the match himself, batting sensibly as wickets fell around him, but a stunning catch from AB de Villiers cut him short. Sehwag called back Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh to bowl the penultimate over and Dhoni skipped down to drill a full delivery towards long-on. The ball was dipping on de Villiers, harrying in from the boundary, but he dived forward and cupped it off the ground, refreshing memories of Ajay Jadeja’s similar stunner to dismiss Allan Border in the 1992 World Cup.Chamara surprise
Chennai seemed to have just four overseas players in their squad but everyone was caught on the wrong foot when Chamara Kapugedera, the Sri Lankan batsman, was named in the XI. Apparently he signed over the weekend and sneaked ahead of Makhaya Ntini, who hadn’t managed to get a wicket in three games. He didn’t have a great start, though: going for 15 runs in his only over. Things weren’t much better when he batted though his presence did play a part in Chennai moving towards the target.

Dubbing Sourav Ganguly a “baccha” (kid), Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), today said he was committed to helping all players including Ganguly.”He is a . It’s not right to talk about ,” Dalmiya said responding to persistent questions from journalists on whether he would still back Ganguly who had sent an email days before the CAB elections accusing the ruling faction of ‘playing’ with his career.As CAB president, Dalmiya said he was committed to help the players of Bengal. “I’ll definitely help him. [But] why only Sourav? As president and secretary of BCCI I stood by [Virender] Sehwag during the ball tampering controversy. I also supported Sachin [Tendulkar], Harbhajan [Singh] when the going got tough for them. I have always looked after players. It is a religion for me. And, I cannot compromise on this,” he told a media conference in the small hours after defeating Prasun Mukherjee, the Kolkata Police Commissioner .Asked whether he would fight for Ganguly’s return to the Indian team, Dalmiya said “Why not? I’ve always been optimistic about his return. I’ve always said that there is a lot of cricket left in him.”Dalmiya said, however, that if the CAB members wanted, there could be a discussion on Ganguly’s allegation that his [Dalmiya’s] faction had leaked Greg Chappell’s email to the Board last September. Chappell’s email, containing damning observations about Ganguly as a player and captain, had created a huge controversy.