Ryan Sidebottom (5-40) – the fifth time he has taken five wickets or more inrecent weeks – put runners-up Yorkshire in a strong position against Division One championship leaders Surrey at The Oval.England recruit Matthew Hoggard (4-70) supported him in bowling out the host county for just 226. The situation would have been even worse if Martin Bicknell and Ian Salisbury had not put on 73 runs for the eighth wicket.Opener Ian Ward did not score until the tenth over, by which time his partner, Mark Butcher, had been caught at the wicket off Hoggard. Nadeem Shahid (36), quite new to the first team, batted with confidence until Sidebottom’s yorker uprooted his off-stump.At lunch Surrey were quite comfortable at 77-2. Ward was out soon after the interval, as was Ally Brown, caught by David Byas from a Chris Silverwood delivery which bounced higher than expected, who had no opportunity to repeat his high scoring against Leicestershire earlier in the week. Surrey’s position was precarious at 148-7 but captain Adam Hollioake made 48 and then Bicknell, whose allround championship form has been more than just useful, dominated his stand with Salisbury.Batting in uncertain light Yorkshire almost lost Michael Vaughan to a slip chance to Brown from Bicknell. Then the openers settled down and seemed to have played through to the close when Byas steered the penultimate ball of the day from Salisbury to Adam Hollioake at silly point.

Hrishekesh Kanitkar notched up a strokeful century to give Maharshtratheir first victory of the Ranji One-Day West Zone League againstSaurashtra at the Alembic ground in Baroda. Saurashtra skipperShitanshu Kotak won the toss and decided to chase a target. Maharshtrapiled up a healthy 280 for 8 in their 50 overs.Kanitkar (133) and Abhijit Kale (56) piled up a 166 run partnershipfor the fourth wicket. Shitanshu Kotak (4/58) and Rajesh Garsondia(3/26) shared the wickets.Saurashtra in their reply lost their way early and were dismissed for182 for 9 in their 50 overs. Mukund Parmar (69 not out) put up a lonebattle. Sameer Shaikh walked back with bowling figures of (4/38).Maharashtra registered a 98 run victory and picked up their firstpoints of the tournament.

Bengal won their Ranji One-Day encounter againstAssam at the Calcutta Football and Cricket Groundby 27 runs. A few people had criticised RohanGavaskar for his approach to the game last season.The junior Gavaskar, it seems is out to prove apoint this year. After a failure against Tripura.Rohan gavaskar has been playing in the form thathelped him to win the best cricketer of the yearaward in 1998. It was because of his brilliantall-round performance today that Bengal overcame astiff resistance from Assam in the first match ofthe one-day fixtures in the East.Gavaskar scored 78 and then took one wicket.However, the utility of the innings that he playedwas because he took the match away from Assam.After the hosts at won the toss at the CC& FCground here today, Assam had reduced Bengal to atotal of 181 for the loss of six wickets in the42nd over. They managed to reach a match winningscore of 264 because of the left-hander’s effort.He launched into a brilliant counter offensivethat demoralized Assam to such an extent that theyfailed to recover for it. Before him, all thebatsmen had settled down only to perish on a pitchthat has always been known to be a batsman’sparadise in Calcutta. The likes of Devang Gandhiand Srikkanth Kalyani had consumed quite a numberof balls before being dismissed when they were intheir 20s. It was Gavaskar who went on to play themost significant innings of the match.Gavaskar was ably supported by India discardLakshmi Ratan Shukla. The medium pacer scored abreathtaking 35 in only 23 balls with three sixesoff the former Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner SunilSubramanium. Gavaskar and Shukla added 69 in 46balls and that changed the complexion of thematch. Gavaskar’s innings of 78 came off 98 ballswith seven boundaries and a six. Earlier, NikhilHaldipur, who had been called back to the sideplayed a dashing innings of 48 in only 50 balls toset the tempo of the game. He had 10 fours and wasspecially severe on the left arm medium pacerJaved Jaman, whom he repeatedly hit through thecovers.When Assam batted, except for Subhradeep Ghosh,the others failed to contribute. Ghosh for his 61in 70 balls had three boundaries and three sixes.He showed that he had the ability to hit the ballcleanly. Two straight sixes off the veteran UtpalChatterjee, were really a treat to watch. However,he lacked the support from the others in the side.He was forming a partnership of sorts withSukhwinder Singh. However, Chatterjee’s directthrow from mid wicket to break the nonstriker’send and dismiss Sukhwinder Singh ended whateverhopes that Assam were building. However, forBengal it was medium pacer Shibshankar Pal andleft-arm spinner Shiv Sagar Singh who impressed.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today been having urgentdiscussions with Warwickshire County Cricket Club, other ground authorities,the ICC Match Referee Brian Hastings, and representatives of the respectiveteam managements, following the crowd incursions at Edgbaston towards theend of the England versus Pakistan NatWest One-Day International (ODI)match.Tim Lamb, Chief Executive of the ECB, said: “The crowd incursions on to the playing area last night were totally unacceptable and we are doing everything we can to ensure that there is no repetition during any of the other matches in the NatWest Series.”Our first priority is to protect the safety of the players, umpires and spectators, and we have therefore decided to act swiftly and implement a number of immediate remedial measures.”We reject the suggestion made by the Australian captain that the ECB does not regard the matter of crowd invasions as a safety issue.”The authorities at Edgbaston, who are ultimately responsible for safety matters at the ground, took the decision to double the number of police present last night and very considerable thought was given by Warwickshire to all aspects of the preparation for last night’s match.”The ECB is in close contact with other ground authorities at the venues for the remaining NatWest ODI matches.”The measures the ECB will be taking at the remaining ODI matches are:Stewarding – Ground authorities have already taken steps to increase levels ofstewarding at strategic points around the ground.Player Safety – Additional security and crowd control measures will be provided in the area around the players’ dressing rooms and in the pavilion area, whereplayers enter and leave the pitch.Suspending Play – Should spectators start to mass on the wrong side of the boundary boards and/or encroach on to the playing area whilst the match is still in progress (as happened last night), then the umpires will be given theauthority to suspend play immediately until the playing area is cleared ofall spectators.Appointment of an Urdu-speaking public address announcer – At matches involving Pakistan, an Urdu-speaking announcer will be appointed to make appropriate announcements, as necessary, in the Urdu language for the benefit of Pakistan supporters.Prosecution – Members of the general public who steal the stumps/bails and/or who cause wilful damage to the pitch will risk being prosecuted – at theinsistence of the ECB – by the police.

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.

Ben Hollioake may have picked up the man-of-the-match award for his sparkling 73 in Surrey’s Benson and Hedges Cup final win over Gloucestershire but his coach is warning him that he’s not yet the finished article.It was a great day for Hollioake in a season which is developing well for the 23-year-old following his selection for the England one-day side for the NatWest Series.It is four years since the younger of the Hollioake brothers burst on to the scene as a teenager with his 63 against Australia in the Texaco Trophy and 98 off the Kent attack in the 1997 Benson and Hedges final.After that he suffered a downturn in form and even struggled to hold his place in the Surrey side but now coach Keith Medlycott senses that Hollioake is ready to fulfill his potential.Medlycott told PA Sport: “Ben is as talented a player as anyone in thedressing room.”There are different ways of measuring talent. Mike Atherton can bat for tenhours in a Test Match and Ben plays some of the sexiest shots in the world. Theyare both talented players.”Ben burst through early in his career and it is a reality of life that thereare very few players who do well from 15, 17, 18 onwards who are a completesuccess straight away.”But he is maturing and working harder, although I’m sure he would admit thathe still has a lot to do.”England are very excited about him but we want to smooth him out. We don’t want a rough diamond. We want to turn him into a pearl.”He’s got the potential but you have to get your hands dirty. He’s doing itbut we want to get there quicker.”On the big occasions when Ben has put his hand up and played well, everybodyin the Surrey dressing room has expected that. He is a major player in asuccessful side.”But in one-day competitions this year, he is starting to turn in moreconsistent performances.”He is also averaging 80 to 90 in four-day cricket and his performancesare also getting better and better.”He is that bit older, playing more games and we at Surrey are now pleasedwith the progress that is now coming and the work that is being put in.”Understanding of how to prepare at the top level is another thing you haveto learn and Ben is filling that criteria – and performances are coming becauseof it.”Hollioake admitted: “It’s hard to put a finger on why my game has come on butI’ve worked hard this year and it seems to be going well.”I’ve been more consistent and getting more mature. I’ve got quite a lot ofgames under my belt now even though I’m still quite young.”Getting picked by England was great for me – for them to show that theythink I’m a player of talent and for me to get a 50 and 30 proved to me I canstill do it in pressure situations – like yesterday.”That gives you confidence that I didn’t have last year. Saturday’s situationis one I’ve been in a few times this year and I’ve come in and played that sortof innings.”

• It was the 1736th ODI in cricket history.
• It was India’s 470th and New Zealand’s 381st match – 59th betweenthese two sides. The record now reads : New Zealand 26, India 30,abandoned 3.
• Umpires DN Pathirana and G Silva were officiating in their 11th andeighth match respectively.
• Rahul Dravid was playing his 150th match. He became 56th playeroverall and tenth Indian to do so.
• Zaheer Khan became second Indian after Debabis Mohanty to claim awicket off the first ball of the match when he trapped MatthewSinclair LBW. Mohanty had West Indian makeshift opener Ridley Jacobscaught by Nikhil Chopra at Singapore (Kallang) on September 5,1999. Inaddition there have been four instances of an Indian bowler capturinga wicket off the first ball of the opponent’s innings (second inningsof the match).
• Nathan Astle (117) scored his tenth hundred in ODIs in his 135thmatch. The hundred was Astle’s third against India which equals thetally of Chris Cairns for New Zealand.
• The hundred was fifth for Astle in his 51st floodlit matchonly oneless than all other Kiwi batsmen have scored in floodlit matches.Others with hundred in floodlit matches for New Zealand are StephenFleming (2), Matthew Sinclair (2), Chris Harris (1) and Chris Cairns(1).
• Astle, on 26,completed his 2000 runs in `away’ matches for NewZealand. At the end of this match Astle has a tally of 2091 runs from77 matches. He became 62nd batsman in all and fifth New Zealanderafter Martin Crowe (2820 runs in 86 matches), John Wright (2752 in106),Stephen Fleming (2323 in 89) and Adam Parore (2032 in 90) to doso. Incidentally India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 6712 runs from 183appearances holds the record of aggregating most runs in a career in`away’ matches.
• India’s total (127) was its second lowest in all matches against NewZealand after the 113 (in 44.2 overs) at Perth on January 18,1986.

• India’s total was the joint sixth lowest total to include anindividual fifty (Laxman- 60). It was also the second lowest suchtotal for India. The accompanying table has the details :

• Laxman’s 60 represented 47.24% of India’s total – the fourth maximum byany Indian batsman in a completed innings.The details :

• Chris Harris by holding four catches equalled the record of mostcatches by a fielder in a match for New Zealand. Ken Rutherford hadtaken four catches also against India at Napier on February 16,1995.Harris also became 14th fielder in ODIs to take four catches in amatch as a fielder with South African Jonty Rhodes being alone inholding as many as five.
• India suffered its third worst defeat against New Zealand in terms ofmargin of runs. New Zealand had beaten India by 108 runs at Dunedin onMarch 1,1990 and by 99 runs at Nagpur on November 26,1995.
• Nathan Astle was winning his 17th Man of the Match award. He is nowonly three away of Martin Crowe’s New Zealand record of 20 MoM awards.

John Crawley hit the fifth double century of his career as Lancashire made Northants suffer on the first day at Old Trafford.Crawley ended unbeaten on 208 from 326 balls with 32 boundaries out of a total of 444 for three after he had won the toss and chosen to bat.The Lancashire captain had only managed 19 runs from his last fourChampionship innings, but showed his class in a chanceless innings which exposed the innocuous Northants bowling attack.Crawley had played a supporting role in partnerships of 85 with MarkChilton, who made 46 before edging Tony Penberthy, and 76 with AndyFlintoff, whose 38 included a six over mid-wicket until Jason Brown bowled him through the gate in his first over after lunch.Neil Fairbrother then continued his consistent season with an 81-ball half-century, in the process going past 20,000 first-class runs in his career.He was trapped lbw by Graeme Swann but there was no end to the agony for Northants on a stifling day as Joe Scuderi came in to hit an unbeaten 89, his best score since joining Lancashire from South Australia last season.Scuderi, who does not count as an overseas player because he has an Italian passport, has faced 111 balls and hit 15 fours and a six off Swann.Northants captain David Ripley had turned to the occasional medium pace of Mike Hussey before lunch, and even gave Paul Taylor an over of left-arm spin – in which Crawley reached his 150 by clipping a full toss effortlessly for four.Lancashire have already made their highest total of the season and are well-placed to beat their record total against Northants of 528 for four at Old Trafford in 1928, with Crawley on course to beat Frank Watson’s individual record of 223 in the same game.But he and his team will be more concerned about ending a run of four defeats in five matches, and claiming a first win in seven which would ease Lancashire’s relegation fears.

It was an agonising day for the bowlers, spin and pace alike, at theMA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Monday. While MRF toiled hard,after having lost the toss and being put out on the field, the NewZealand A batsmen took their time milking the bowling. At the end ofthe day, the visiting team’s skipper Matthew Bell could be nothing butpleased, both for his 111 and for the side’s 303/4 off 101 overs.Having won a close first round encounter against Mumbai CricketAssociation, New Zealand A took no chances. On a wicket that can bestbe described as a featherbed, the spinners toiled ceaselessly withlittle reward. A look at the bowling analysis tells the tale – leftarm spinner Babloo Kumar 0/65 from 22 overs, Ashish Kapoor 0/68 from27 overs, Tanseer Jabbar 0/43 from 22 overs.Having said all this, it would be unfair to the extreme to takeanything away from the Kiwi batsmen. Having played out the best partof the day with extreme care, pushing, nudging and stroking the ballinto the gaps for ones and twos, the New Zealand batsmen really cashedin, just after tea, when the wicket was at its best and the bowlingtired.Earlier in the day, Mark Richardson (0) and Mathew Horne (4) missedout on a good chance to get some good scores as New Zealand A slumpedto 20/2. From there on however, the pair of Bell and Lou Vincent shutthe door on the MRF bowlers. Adding 156 runs for the third wicket, thepair blunted the bowling. Playing the sweep with aplomb, both Bell andVincent were positive without being aggressive. Bell in particular waskeen to play a long innings and outlasted Vincent (85 runs, 165 balls,11 fours). The departure of Vincent saw young Hamish Marshall have ago at the batting. Easily the most comfortable batsman at the crease,Marshall took the attack to the spinners, striking 11 boundaries andtwo sixes, one that clattered into the sight screen, on the way tomaking an unbeaten 84 (123 balls).It took a long while, 377 minutes in all at the wicket, before Bellwas dismissed on 111. Coming off nearly 300 balls, Bell’s knockincluded 11 hits to the fence. At the end of the day, Marshall hadJacob Oram (1 not out) for company.* Railways have a jolly good dayRailways are on track for a huge first innings lead at the end of dayone of their three-day MRF Buchi Babu tournament quarter-final againstthe National Cricket Academy at the Southern Railway Grounds inChennai on Monday. At close of play, the Railway men had reached 116-2after dismissing the NCA for a paltry 158.It was the left-arm spin of India discard Murali Kartik that played abig part in destroying the NCA wards in just 47.5 overs. An unbeaten81-run partnership between Dheeraj Sharma and Railways captain YereGoud then placed the Railways in a comfortable position at close. Goudand his team will be seeking to build on the solid foundations thatthey have laid when play resumes on TuesdayNCA got off to a good start with openers Vinayak Mane and GautamGambhir (21) putting on 59 runs off 14.5 overs. Thereafter batsmanafter batsman succumbed to Kartik. And those who slipped from hishands promptly fell to the two off-spinners in the Railways squad -Sanjay Satpathy and Kulamani Parida. Mane, who plays in the RanjiTrophy for Mumbai, top scored with 52 off 92 balls with seven foursand one six. Raza Ali who made 34 off 46 was the only other batsman tomake a mark in an innings that lacked direction.The 25-year-old Kartik returned impressive figures of 14.5-2-45-6while Satpathy and Parida claimed two wickets each.The Railways reply did not get to the best off starts with opener AmitPagnis guiding a delivery from left-arm seamer Salabh Srivastav intowicket-keeper Deep Das Gupta’s hands with just three runs on theboard. But No. 3 Dheeraj Sharma, who made a patient unbeaten 55 off139 balls, added 42 runs in the company of the other opener VineetSaxena before the latter was out.The arrival of 29-year-old Goud, the bulwark of the Railways battingfor many years now, then ensured that his team smoothly chugged alongto 116-2. Goud was batting on 38 off 63 balls with four fours and asix.* Bharadwaj ton rescues KSCA XIVijay Bharadwaj stood tall amongst the ruins scoring a defiant hundredfor Karnataka State Cricket Association XI in their quarter-finalmatch against the Cricket Association of Bengal in the MRF Buchi Babutournament at the Guru Nanak College Grounds in Chennai on Monday.KSCA XI were bowled out for 232 in 93.2 overs. By close of play CABhad scored six runs and lost the wicket of opening batsman Subhnoy Dasfor a duck.KSCA XI skipper Anil Kumble won the toss and elected to bat on a pitchwith some moisture in it. The start of the play was delayed by 30minutes because the umpires were not happy with the condition of thepitch.The tall and well-built 20-year-old fast bowler, Shib Sankar Paulcreated a flutter in the KSCA XI camp by striking two early blows. Thepace and bounce was what did the opening batsmen Mithun Beerala (4)and Rowland Barrington (8) in.Meanwhile, Laxmi Ratan Shukla claimed the wicket of Shyam Ponnapa (7).The young Deepak Chougule made just 12 before he was bowled by Paul.KSCA were in deep trouble at 64/5 when they lost Sunil Joshi (12), whofell to veteran left arm spinner Utpal Chaterjee.Bharadwaj and wicket-keeper batsman Rajashekar Shanbal set out torepair the innings and went on to play sensibly. Bharadwaj who playedwell to get to his nineties, played a couple of cut shots in the airpast the ropes at third-man fence to get to his hundred.Bharadwaj’s vigil came to an end when he chanced his arm against theoff spinner Sourashish Lahiri, to sky a catch to Shukla at deep midon. He made 105 runs off 237 balls with the help of 16 boundaries.Bharadwaj and Shanbal added 159 runs off 61.1 overs for the sixthwicket. In the space of 51 balls KSCA lost their remaining wickets,scoring just eight more runs. Lahiri was the pick of the bowlerstaking 4/52.CAB had to bat for the remaining 20 minutes in fading light as DavidJohnson and NC Iyyappa went hunting for early breaks. Iyyappagenerated good pace and beat the bat a few times. He had a confidentshout for lbw against Das turned down and claimed the wicket with thefollowing ball, given out lbw.The pitch is a cause of concern as it has started breaking up at thegood length area. Skipper Anil Kumble could prove a handful on thisunder-prepared pitch for the CAB batsmen led by Rohan Gavaskar.* Banks have a job on handA good performance by Jolly Rovers’ bowlers meant that All IndiaAssociated Banks could only score 247 runs in their first innings inthe MRF Buchi Babu tournament quarter-final between the two sides atthe Chemplast grounds in Chennai on Monday. Jolly Rovers were eightfor no loss at close of play.In the morning, Banks captain B Akhil won the toss and decided that hewould back his strong batting line-up to put up a huge total onboard, But things din’t go quite according to plan as opener DanielManohar, who also plays for Hyderabad, got out without troubling thescorers.The other opener Jyoti Yadav was in good nick and gaining inconfidence. After the loss of No.3 M Srinivas for 12, Yadav, who made52 off 135 balls and Pankaj Dharmani (39) began rebuilding theinnings. Next man Thilak Naidu smashed a quickfire 39 off 42 balls asthe Railways innings enjoyed their best period of the match.The rest of the batsman though couldn’t make any significantcontribution as the bankmen lost their way. Akhil made 25 off 79balls.For Jolly Rovers, opening bowler Ramkumar and Ganesh Kumar claimedthree wickets each.