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Mashonaland’s disaffiliated clubs met last week to map the way forward for a new breakaway national league that will lead to a cricket association opposed to Zimbabwe Cricket. Five clubs attended the meeting, with a sixth, Takashinga, whose position on the league was not clear earlier this week, reported to have come out in support of the independent league.The club members who attended the meeting said the league was aiming to introduce three or four-day first-class competition, backed with a Twenty-20 competition. “The league will not be about officials, it will be about players,” he said. “The league will do everything to sustain the standards of Zimbabwean cricket. Basically we need to improve cricket from a players’ point view.”This leaves ZC in a difficult position as it now has little support among the country’s major clubs, who provide the bulk of players in the domestic leagues. The hemorrhaging of cricketers in recent years has led to a major reduction in standards in the first-class competitions, and it seems unlikely that without the support of these clubs ZC could run either the Logan Cup or the Faithwear Cup.Local sources claim that Zimbabwe Cricket’s interim board called for a meeting to try to persuade the clubs to rejoin the Mashonaland Cricket Association, but the talks stumbled when they were asked to reapply in writing and confirm their recognition of the MCA. Only two clubs – Takashinga and Old Hararians – are believed to have attended the meeting. One club official described the request as “desperation by the ZC interim board to seek legitimacy.”One member of the technical committee was subsequently reported to have asked a Takashinga official to accept the “olive branch” without the other clubs. One observer claimed that such a move by Takashinga would have enabled the authorities to claim that this was a racially-motivated split by the other five.Cricinfo asked Zimbabwe Cricket to comment but no response has been received.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Photo galleryBulletin- Pakistan run away to series win
Pakistan View – A memorable series
Indian View – Sorry end to a flat season
On the ball – Opening salvos
Plays of the day – Timber falling
Roving Reporter – Anything’s possible in Delhi
Dravid quotes – ‘Our one-day performance has not been good’
Inzamam quotes – ‘The more you captain, the more you learn’Preview package
Preview- Gripping series reaches climax
Stats- A happy hunting ground for Tendulkar
Quotes- Naved’s first spell will be crucial – Dravid

Sachin Tendulkar: going back where he began for the biggest battle of all. No wonder the sponsors are excited © Getty Images

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) expects to earn about US$20 million in revenues from India’s forthcoming tour of Pakistan. Speaking to the Press Trust of India, Rameez Raja, the chief executive of the PCB, said that this was the first opportunity in a decade for the board to make handsome profits.”The interest in the series is already very high," Raja said, "and we are getting regular offers from companies in India and Pakistan including leading banks and international consumer brands. But we still have to market it carefully and in a transparent manner. We would like to strike a balance while selling title and co-sponsorship, advertising and other rights of the series."Raja said that major Indian companies have already expressed interest in the series. "But we would like to have a neutral title sponsor for the series. We can’t allow the series to be completely dominated by Indian brands. We have to ensure Pakistan companies are able to match Indian offers and we don’t lose money.”The Indian board has already confirmed that it will play three Tests and five one-day internationals during the series, in March 2004. This will be India’s first tour to Pakistan since 1989, when one Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut.

LUKE Ronchi was born to play cricket. One of the most exciting youngcricketers in Australia, the 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is a giftednatural athlete capable of playing every shot in the book.He underlined this by making 90 and 33 for Western Australia in hisAustralian Domestic First Class (Pura Cup) debut against Tasmania at theWACA Ground in December.His 90 in over three hours at the crease rescuing WA after a middle ordercollapse and underlined his growing maturity”I was pretty nervous sitting around in the change-rooms but as soon asI went out to bat and faced a few balls I was pretty relaxed,” the right-hander said.”I just tried to have fun and it went from there.”Ronchi handled the extra pressure like a consummate professional.”There was just constant pressure the whole way through the game, youdon’t get any let offs and you have to concentrate through four days ofcricket,” he said.”It was more disciplined than I’d faced before but the pace wasn’t aproblem.”His state is already home to the nation’s two best keeper-batsmen,Adam Gilchrist and Ryan Campbell. Ronchi said it can be frustratinghaving to wait in line but it also has its advantages.”It is also good in a way having those two in front of you as they canpass on a lot information, I’ve learnt a lot from Gilly and Cambo.”Ronchi expected to make his first-class debut this season”I knew Ryan Campbell was going to play a lot for Australia A and I’dalready worked out at the start of the season which games he was away forand I was aiming to play in those,” he said.According to Ronchi he has not had any offers, categorically denying hehad been approached by any other states seeking his services. With suchpotential the WACA will have to be on its guard if it is to secure Ronchifor the future. Gilchrist and Campbell are likely to play on for a numberof years and the talented right-hander may find his opportunities limitedin his home state.Ronchi debuted for WA in January 2002 against Victoria in an AustralianDomestic Limitted Overs (ING Cup) game at the WACA. But it was when hewent to England that Ronchi found the form that has catapulted him ontothe national scene.Ronchi played for Hampshire in the Southern Electric Premier League, oneof England’s third tier cricket competions behind County and Minor-Countycricket.”I played for three seasons and it really improved my game,” he said.”One year all of a sudden I just scored a whole heap of runs and it justsort of kept going from there.”One particular one-day game in England highlights why Ronchi isconsidered such an explosive batsman. Producing a hundred in 31 balls,including 12 towering sixes.Though Ronchi was born in New Zealand there is no question to where hisloyalties lie. The full-time professional cricketer is adamant that hisonly intention is to play for Australia, “definitely not” New Zealand.The gifted young man has a mature head on his shoulders and a work ethicthat will help him reach the lofty goals he has set himself. “Idefinitely want to play test and one-day cricket,” he said.There are a growing number of cricket fans who think Ronchi might justget his wish.

Former Victorian fast bowler James Sutherland has today been appointed the Australian Cricket Board (ACB)’s new Chief Executive Officer.ACB Chairman Denis Rogers announced Sutherland’s promotion to the post in Melbourne as the final step in an intensive three-month long recruiting process by the Board.He replaces outgoing CEO, Malcolm Speed, who won appointment in March as the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s new chief executive.Sutherland, 35, is already highly regarded as an administrator, coach and former first-class player. A qualified accountant, he has been the General Manager of the ACB’s Commercial Affairs division since the time of the much-publicised players’ wage dispute in November 1998.Previously, he had enjoyed more than six years’ experience at another prestigious sporting organisation as the Finance Manager and Company Secretary of Australian Football League club, Carlton.As a player, Sutherland was a regular member of the Victorian squad during the early 1990s. In four first-class and nine domestic one-day games, he captured 21 wickets for the state. He made arguably his biggest impression during his debut summer of 1990-91, which still remains the last season in which the Bushrangers claimed a domestic first-class title.Sutherland inherits the role at the end of an exciting period of growth in Australian cricket that has been overseen by Speed in his four years at the helm.Shortly after arriving in the job, Speed was confronted by the spectre of a tense dispute with the country’s players over their levels of remuneration and by the revelation that two of the country’s highest profile cricketers, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, had accepted money from an Indian bookmaker during a tour of Sri Lanka four years earlier.But he soon showed himself to be impeccably credentialled for handling the complexities of the position. He has skilfully reshaped the activities of a number of the Board’s administrative divisions, established outstanding working relationships with a range of key stakeholders, and ushered in a series of spectacular rises in the size of Australian cricket revenue during his tenure.Sutherland commences his work in the new position at the end of this month. Speed, in turn, will be departing for his new home base of London in mid-July.

Newcastle have a number of talented academy prospects who are currently fighting to make their way into the first-team at St. James’ Park.

The likes of Joe White, Dylan Stephenson and Elliot Anderson are just a few of the local lads making their way through the youth ranks at the moment, aspiring to emulate those who have come before them.

One of the club’s finest pieces of academy work to date came in the form of towering centre-forward Andy Carroll in the 2000s.

The striker broke through into the first team in the 2006/07 campaign, playing four times in the Premier League for the Magpies. He then spent half of the following season on loan at Preston in the Championship, before truly making his mark at St. James’ Park.

In his first two full seasons in the senior team, Carroll scored 20 goals and provided 13 assists in 53 matches across the top-flight and the second division. He then caught fire in the Premier League under Alan Pardew as he found the back of the net 11 times and produced eight assists in just 19 games at the start of 2010/11.

This incredible run of form caught Liverpool’s attention and they moved to snap him up in the January transfer window for a fee of £36.9m (Transfermarkt).

His big move did not go to plan as he scored 11 goals in 58 games before the flop was shipped off to fellow Premier League outfit – initially on loan – West Ham in 2012. With the London-based side, Carroll ended up playing 142 matches and scoring 34 goals in a whopping seven-year stint.

Hammers full-back Aaron Cresswell previously dubbed the forward as “unplayable” but that can, unfortunately, be used to describe him in more than one sense. Whilst the full-back was talking about the player’s quality on the pitch, it could also be used to sum up a large portion of his career as he was unavailable through injury.

Between his time with Liverpool, the Hammers and Newcastle, he picked up 23 separate injury problems that caused him to miss a stunning 198 games. He has proven to be unreliable throughout his playing days and that has been reflected in how his career has tailed off.

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His spell at West Ham came to an end in 2019 as he left on a free to re-join the Toon, but his second stint on Tyneside was nothing to write home about as he was released after two years and he now finds himself at West Brom in the Championship.

At the time of writing (31/03/22), Transfermarkt value him at a measly £720k. In fact, he has never been valued at more than £18m since leaving the Magpies in 2011 and has been valued at £9m or less since 2014, which shows that the Toon enjoyed a blinder with their decision to sell him to Liverpool fo a whopping £36.9m.

AND in other news, Body blow: Craig Hope “told” worrying NUFC update that’ll leave supporters fuming…

	Stephen Fleming will leave the game as New Zealand’s leading Test run-scorer, most capped player, and most prolific captain © Getty Images

Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s most-capped player, has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the upcoming home series against England. Fleming said it was better for his family if he quit the game ahead of the return tour of England in May and June.”I always indicated that I was likely to retire from international cricket at some point in the near future and the time is right for me and my family to do that now,” Fleming said. “Retiring before the tour to England will allow me to be with [my wife] Kelly for the birth of our second child.”Fleming, 34, will take part in the Indian Premier League, however, and said it was a good way to stay involved in the sport. “It is an exciting opportunity and one that I will be pursuing with the full support of New Zealand Cricket,” he said. “The IPL only takes a short amount of my time each year, and allows me to continue pursuing my new endeavours outside of the game.”One of those aims is to start his own marketing, media and sports management business but NZC’s chief executive Justin Vaughan hopes Fleming will play a part in the country’s cricketing future. “Stephen’s presence and leadership qualities had a tremendous impact on the team and he will be missed by New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps,” Vaughan said.”He has made a huge contribution to cricket in New Zealand and I sincerely wish him all the best. I’m sure we have not seen the last of him and we are working to ensure that he has a role within cricket in New Zealand in the future.”Fleming departs with a sackful of New Zealand Test records. No New Zealander has played as many Tests (108), scored as many runs (6875), taken as many catches (166), captained as many games (80), or led as many wins (28) as Fleming.Appointed at 23, he was the country’s youngest Test skipper and only Allan Border, who led Australia through 93 Tests, guided his team in more games. When Fleming retired from one-day international cricket last September he left with a similar bunch of records. At the same time as Fleming quit ODIs New Zealand handed the Test captaincy to Daniel Vettori, which disappointed Fleming, who wanted to see if separate captains could help New Zealand’s consistency.”I felt in New Zealand cricket whenever our one-day cricket was going well our Test cricket suffered and vice-versa,” he said. “One of the ways to combat that was to step aside as one-day captain. I would have liked the opportunity to be working away at our Test game, to be exploring how we could beat England in the Tests.”After the powers that be decided against splitting the captaincy, Fleming admitted he had contemplated his future and seriously considered a substantial offer from the Indian Cricket League. It became clear his time at the top level was drawing to a close.The only question was when in 2008 he would end his career. Would it be before the home series against England, after it, or following the return tour of England in New Zealand’s winter? Fleming, a man who avoids fanfare where possible, has opted for three final Tests at home with his last set to start in Napier on March 22.That will give local fans an opportunity to farewell a man who has defined New Zealand cricket for more than a decade. When he made his Test debut in 1993-94 it was immediately apparent the selectors had found an important player for the future success of the side. In a team led by Ken Rutherford against India in Hamilton, Fleming made 92 in his opening Test, and he followed it just days later with 90 in his ODI debut in Napier.

	Stephen Fleming will continue to be involved in the game and will play in the Indian Premier League © Getty Images

But triple-figures never quite agreed with Fleming, who ended up with nine centuries and 43 half-centuries in accumulating a Test average of 39.73. It took him 23 Tests to make his first hundred and a month later he was thrust into the captaincy when Lee Germon was unavailable for against England due to a groin injury. Germon did not return and Fleming began a ten-year reign during which he eventually became regarded as arguably the most astute leader in the game.Through it all runs kept coming for Fleming, though not in the proportions he or his country would have liked. He was sometimes accused of lacking concentration as he tried to build big scores and that trend looked set to continue in Colombo in 1998 when he absent-mindedly strolled to the crease without his box and had to rush back to retrieve it.A lazy shot brought his dismissal for 78, but in his second innings he displayed a rarely-seen resolve, batting for nearly eight hours to finish unbeaten on 174 and setting up a 167-run victory. It was his second Test century and New Zealand hoped it would be his turning point. He didn’t reach triple-figures again in a Test for nearly four years.A highlight eventually came in the same city five years later when he batted for nearly 11 hours to register an unbeaten 274 – it remains his highest score – and then made an unselfish declaration that left the door open for a result. He finished the match having been on the field in searing heat for all but the first 44 minutes of the draw and any suggestions that he lacked application were finally put to rest.As if to prove that his double-century was no fluke, he rattled off several more mammoth efforts in Tests: 192 against Pakistan, 202 in Bangladesh and 262 against South Africa. There were outstanding one-day innings along the way as well, and an unbeaten 134 against South Africa in a must-win World Cup match in 2003 was particularly important.But more than individual performances, Fleming was proud of the times he led his small country to big successes. Guiding them to a 2-1 Test win in England in 1999 was particularly special, although Fleming was also pleased with the 0-0 drawn series in Australia in 2001-02. Another highlight came in 2000 when he led New Zealand to their first triumph in a major tournament – the Champions Trophy in Nairobi.The one-day arena was also where Fleming experienced some of his biggest disappointments, and failing to get his team into a World Cup final was a regret. Following last year’s semi-final knockout at the hands of Sri Lanka, Fleming quit the ODI captaincy, which precipitated a chain of events that gradually led to his removal from the Test leadership. Fittingly, though, he has been afforded the right to end his playing career on his own terms.

Steve Harmison: ‘I won’t let the criticism get to me’ © Getty Images

The last time England played in the Caribbean a tall paceman from Durham grabbed all the headlines but, as the team prepares to head out to West Indies for the World Cup, Steve Harmison won’t even be on the plane.After the 5-0 Ashes whitewash Harmison announced his retirement from one-day cricket, saying he hoped it would extend his time at Test level. His last ODIs where in the Champions Trophy, when two wayward performances continued a poor run with the white ball, which Harmison struggled to control. In 2006 he took 14 wickets at 30, but that doesn’t tell the whole story as he went for almost six-an-over, include a 0 for 97 hammering by Sri Lanka at Headingley.His efforts in the Ashes will be remembered for one ball, his opening delivery of the series which went straight to Andrew Flintoff at second slip. After his one-day retirement questions were again asked about his commitment and passion, but Harmison is shrugging all that off.”I don’t think I’ve got to prove anything to anyone, my record speaks for itself,” he told , although others will beg to differ after a career that hasn’t lived up that 2004 West Indies tour.”What I want to do is enjoy my cricket again because I didn’t enjoy what happened this winter. The reasons for that are pretty obvious, but it’s behind me and I’m only looking forward. I won’t let the criticism get to me, I’ve got big enough shoulders to deal with that. If people think otherwise, they don’t know me.”All I’ll say is, I’ve learnt a lot about who my friends are and who was pretending to be my friend. That’s all I’ll say about it, but I know what I want out of life and I know I’m still a good fast bowler.”Harmison will have a handful of early-season Championship and domestic one-dayers to prove his worth to the selectors before the opening Test against West Indies, which starts on May 17 at Lord’s.

Daniel Vettori: on the up © Getty Images

Daniel Vettori was named The National Bank Player of the Year for the second consecutive time at the New Zealand Cricket Awards Dinner in Auckland on Thusday.”Daniel is a deserving winner having consistently delivered outstanding performances in both forms of the game throughout the 12-month period under review,” said Martin Snedden, NZC’s chief executive. “Daniel has been a dominant force in all facets of the game. He scored New Zealand’s fastest-ever Test century against Zimbabwe, and claimed 19 first-class wickets at an average of 17.47. His Test batting average was 51.2. In ODIs he maintained an ODI economy rate of 3.87 and took 23 wickets at an average of 30.17.”He also captained in this season’s Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series and was the only New Zealand player selected for the World XI which played Australia in last year’s inaugural Super Series. He also fitted in four State Shield wickets and four innings as an opener, averaging 53.25.”The other awards were:Redpath Cup
Awarded to the batsman whose performances in men’s First-Class cricket have been the most meritorious: Mathew Sinclair who scored 848 runs at an average 53 with four centuries and four half-centuriesWinsor Cup
Awarded to the bowler whose performances in men’s First-Class cricket have been the most meritorious: Chris Martin who took 50 wickets at an average of 23.98Walter Hadlee Trophy
Awarded for the most meritorious batting by a New Zealand player in one-day internationals: Nathan Astle who averaged 45 including two centuries and four half centuries.Walter Hadlee Trophy
Awarded for the most meritorious bowling by a New Zealand player in One-Day internationals: Shane Bond who took 36 wickets at an average of 18.11.State Medal
Awarded to the most outstanding player in men’s domestic cricket: Jonathan Trott, who scored 275 runs and took eight wickets in the State Championship for Otago, and made 455 runs and took 14 wickets in the State Shield.State Plate
Awarded to the most outstanding player in women’s domestic cricket: Aimee Mason, who took 16 wickets and scored 280 runs as she captained State Central Hinds to the State League title and played for the White Ferns in their series win over India.The Phyl Blackler Cup
Awarded to the bowler whose performances in women’s cricket have been the most meritorious: Louise Milliken, who took six wickets in the White Ferns’ series win over India and took 16 wickets for the Northern Spirit in State League play.The Ruth Martin Cup
Awarded to the batsman whose performances in women’s cricket have been the most meritorious: Emily Drumm, who made her 100th One-Day international appearance for the White Ferns this year, taking eight wickets and scoring 274 runs in the series against India, with a high score of 94*. She also scored 478 runs at an average of 53.11 for the State Northern Spirit in the State League.Sutcliffe Medal
For outstanding services to cricket: Peter Sharp“Peter Sharp is a deserving recipient of the Sutcliffe Medal, having made an extremely valuable lifetime contribution to cricket in New Zealand,” Snedden told the audience. “Peter represented Canterbury eight times during the mid 1960s before moving into the media where, for the past 40 years, he has been broadcasting cricket on radio and, at times, on television. He has held a number of important voluntary positions within cricket where he has made a valuable contribution to the game regionally and nationally.”Peter became a Level 3 coach in 1984 and has maintained a close involvement in cricket coaching since then, including spending three years as a Kiwi Cricket co-ordinator.As well as his involvement in cricket, Peter has served as a trustee of the Murray Halberg Trust and on the Assembly of Sport, The Hillary Commission, and the New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Council.”

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been named captain of a side that includes Brian Lara© Getty Images

The sponsorship imbroglio that threatened to rip West Indian cricket apart isseemingly over, but it has cost Brian Lara his captaincy, at least for themoment. Lara is among the four players involved in the sponsorship controversy to have been named for the second Test against South Africa starting April 8, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been retained as captain for the entire series.Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo are the other players who are back in the fold, at the expense of Daren Ganga, Donovan Pagon and Narsingh Deonarine who were part of playing XI for the first Test.Michael Carew, the convener of selectors, said he and his panel were pleasedwith the team’s overall performance in the first Test and he expected that the “team will go from strength to strength as the series progresses.”Coach Bennett King must be one of the happiest men in the Caribbean present,” Carew said, “given the talent that has been on display. He must also be quite optimistic with the cricket World Cup in mind and even beyond that.”Lara, who has captained West Indies in 40 out of his 112 Tests, had earlier declined an invitation to be part of first Test on the grounds that he wanted the selectors to pick the best possible West Indies team. Lara and six others were contracted to Cable & Wireless, business rivals to Digicel, the official sponsors of the West Indian cricket team. The matter was finally resolved with Cable & Wireless releasing Sarwan, Gayle, Bravo and Fidel Edwards.West Indies squad Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Daren Powell, Pedro Collins, Reon King, Dwight Washington.