India in South Africa

For the second consecutive day no play was possible in India's four-day game against the South African 'A' team at Buffalo Park in East London on Sunday.

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Sehwag, who last week celebrated his Test debut in style with a splendid century, did not have much by way of compliments for the redhead from Uitenhage, Mornantau Hayward.
"He is the fastest bowler I've ever faced, but apart from that he is fairly mediocre."
"He has very little variation in his bowling and his skills left me unimpressed. You can't mention Hayward in the same breath as the Australian pace bowler Glen McGrath. McGrath's ability to swing the ball both ways is unbelievable."
The 23-year old did have some compliments for Shaun Pollock though. "He is an excellent bowler. It is very difficult to determine to which side he will swing the ball. He got me like that in the second innings in Bloemfontein. I was unsure to which side the ball was going to swing and was just trying to get my bat out of the way."
"Because I hesitated for a fraction of a second the ball flew off the bat onto the stumps."

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The Indians, according to Daryll Cullinan, have only themselves to blame that their Test preparations rained out for the second time over the weekend. He says it is poor planning on their side rather than misfortune that put them in the position they find themselves in.
"I also don't want to be hypercritical, but I doubt whether enough attention was paid to the smaller details," Cullinan said about the fact that India have lost five playing days due to poor weather.

New Zealand in Australia

Australia set New Zealand a target of 284 runs to win the first cricket Test after a series of sporting declarations on the final day on Monday.

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New Zealand all-rounder Dion Nash has been ruled out of the rest of the Australian tour with a torn abdominal muscle.
Nash will be replaced in the squad by Canterbury fast bowler Shane Bond

Zimbabwe in Bangladesh

Rain prevented any play on the fourth day of Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Test.

Miscellaneous

Joe Hussain, father of England skipper Nasser Hussain is excited about the prospect of his son leading the side in his native India against cricketers who are worshipped as "Gods" in their country.
"It couldn't get better", said Joe, who scored a hundred for Madras University against Hyderabad before he came to England in 1960, of the Indian tour.
"It will be such a challenge for the lads. To bowl against Sachin Tendulkar, to bat against Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in their own country is a terrific test.
"No one here can imagine bow big Tendulkar is in India. Far bigger than (David) Beckham or any sportsman is over here. He and the others aren't just stars, they're like Gods," Joe said in an interview published in the Sunday Telegraph.

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Allan Border is ready to serve cricket as an administrator, which strongly suggests the traditional gulf between the game's governors and practitioners, is finally being bridged.
News that Border is a candidate to replace the late Peter Burge as a director of Queensland Cricket, will be enthusiastically received by the Australian cricket community and comes at the start of Mark Taylor's third year as a director of Cricket New South Wales.

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Former captain Kepler Wessels has implored South Africa's selectors not to bring Shane Warne's bunny Daryll Cullinan to Australia.
"He has proven over and again that psychologically he is not equal to the task of facing the Aussies. If the selectors take him to Australia, they run a big risk."

Obituary

Denis Atkinson, the former West Indies captain who was the senior partner in the largest seventh-wicket partnership in Test history, has died at the age of 75.
Atkinson hit his only Test century, a mighty 219, as he and Clairmonte Depeiaza (122) rescued West Indies from 147 for 6 (in reply to 668) with a partnership of 347 in the fourth Test against Australia at Bridgetown in 1954-55.

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