South Africa in Zimbabwe

Andy Flower was unfortunately left stranded one short of a double-hundred as he led a lone battle against the visiting South Africans in the first Test at Harare. Following-on in their second innings Zimbabwe were all out for 391. South Africa were set a target of 79 runs that they achieved without much fuss to post an easy nine wicket win to go one-up in the series.

New Zealand in Pakistan

In view of the recent events in the United States, New Zealand Cricket Council (NZCC) has decided to delay the arrival of the New Zealand cricket team in Pakistan. The team is currently in transit in Singapore and was due to depart for Karachi this afternoon.
However, they will now remain in Singapore for at least the next 48 hours, which will give NZCC further time to determine whether there would be any risk to the safety of the team members if they were to continue as planned with the tour of Pakistan.
The NZCC also feels that the extended stopover in Singapore would be in order given the current upheaval in international aviation, and the heightened tensions in the Middle East and Pakistan's neighbour Afghanistan.

________________

Pakistan has meanwhile named a 16-member squad for the three match one-day series to be played against the visiting New Zealanders beginning on 19 September. Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who has broken down frequently due to injuries in recent times has been left out yet again.
Left handed opening batsman Taufiq Umar who made a century on debut against Bangladesh in the recently concluded Asian Test Championship matches has been rewarded with a place in the one-day side.
Vice captain Inzamam ul Haq who has been named in the side will however not play the first two one-day internationals following a ban on him for showing dissent against the umpires decision in the final of the Natwest Trophy Triangular held in England a few months ago.
The full team is as follows.
Waqar Younis (Capt), Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umar, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Rashid Latif, Naveed Latif, Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naveedul Hassan, Shabbir Ahmed and Shoaib Malik.

The Sharjah Champions Trophy

The schedules of the Sharjah Champions Trophy to be played in Sharjah in Oct-Nov this year have been released by CBFS. The tournament features Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
The dates are as follows.
26th Oct Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
27th Oct Pakistan v Sri Lanka
28th Oct Pakistan v Zimbabwe
30th Oct Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
31st Oct Pakistan v Zimbabwe
2nd Nov Pakistan v Sri Lanka
4th Nov Final

Zimbabwe to India in Feb-March 2002

The schedule for Zimbabwe's 36-day tour of India in February/March 2002. The visitors will play 2 Tests and five one-day internationals at various venues.
The following is the detailed itinerary.
Feb 12 Arrival of the team from Zimbabwe.
Feb 15-17 Three-day match (venue undecided).
Feb 20-24 First Test against India at Delhi.
Feb 28-Mar 4 Second Test at Nagpur.
Mar 7 1st ODI at Faridabad.
Mar 10 2nd ODI at Mohali.
Mar 13 3rd ODI at Guwahati.
Mar 16 4th ODI at Cochin.
Mar 19 5th ODI at Hyderabad.
Mar 20 Departure

Miscellaneous

Former Protean skipper Hansie Cronje could face a ten-year jail sentence once a new anti-corruption bill is enacted in South Africa. The new bill lists 17 different types of corrupt practices, including corruption in sport and the possession of unexplained property.

________________

Eight national teams will take part in the Hong Kong Sixes Tournament to be played on 10 & 11 November this year. The Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) is attempting to revive the once popular tournament after a four-year gap following Asian economic slowdown in the late nineties.
This year's event is sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airlines and Standard Chartered Bank. WSG-Asia will be the tournament organisers and will work with the HKCA. All matches will be played at Kowloon Cricket Club.
Total prize money for the tournament will be $HK two million (approx $US 256,000), with the winners getting $HK 623,000 ($US 80,000). Each team consists of six players who play two innings of five overs each.
Each member of the fielding side except the wicketkeeper bowls one over. Batsmen are forced to retire once they have scored 31. Meanwhile Sri Lanka's national cricket selectors have named an eight-member squad and will be captained by former Test cricketer Chandika Hathurusinghe.
The side has four other Test players and three promising youngsters. The last time the event was held was in 1997 and Pakistan emerged winners.
They also won the first such event in 1992, other winners being England (1993 and 1994), South Africa (1995) and West Indies (1996).

________________

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) yesterday announced the cancellation of the proposed quadrangular one-day tournament, which was to be jointly hosted by India and Pakistan and also featuring West Indies and Zimbabwe. Five matches were to be held in each country. Cancellation of the tournament is as a result of the continued denial by the Indian government to allow its national cricket team to have any cricketing ties with Pakistan.

________________

Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association's secretary Dr MP Bhargava will be the Indian team cricket manager on the tour to South Africa. Bhargava had earlier managed the team to Australia in 1999-2000.

________________

K Kaushik, a promising young bowler unfortunately lost his eye and most likely his vision after being hit by a full blooded drive from Railways' Ranji Trophy player Sudhir Wankhede.
A straight drive from the batsman slammed right into the face of the bowler who had no time to react. Kaushik was representing a Districts XI team in the ongoing Moin-ud-Dowla cricket tournament in Hyderabad.
The injured bowler was shifted to hospital where the doctors who operated upon the bowler were not very optimistic about the vision of the young player being restored.

________________

Dropped from the Indian team following a lackluster performance in Sri Lanka, Mumbai skipper and keeper Sameer Dighe has opted out of the Mumbai's tour of Kenya stating domestic reasons. Mumbai and Baroda are to visit Kenya later this month for a triangular tournament.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

Zimbabwe v South Africa (1st Test)
Played at Harare (4th day)
Toss:South Africa
South Africa:
555-5 (H Gibbs 147, G Kirsten 202 not out, J Kallis 157 not out)
79-1 (G Kirsten 31 not out, J Kallis 42 not out)
Zimbabwe:
286 (DD Ebrahim 71, A Flower 142, T Friend 30; A Nel 4-53)
391 (H Masakadza 85, A Flower 199 not out; S Pollock 3-67)
Result:South Africa won by 9 wickets
Man of the match: Andy Flower (Zim)

Yesterday's News .........................  News Roll archive