All matches day three of four
A career-best 86 from Luke Woodcock, painstakingly compiled in 303 minutes, was the basis of a fine Wellington recovery at Eden Park’s outer oval, which left Auckland needing 348 to win. Woodcock added 116 with James Franklin (61) while lower-order support rounded out their efforts with Chris Nevin scoring 29, Matthew Walker 62 not out and Andrew Penn 47. Auckland’s bowlers faced much more subdued pitch conditions. Craig Pryor, making his first appearance this year, took 3 for 63, Kerry Walmsley 3 for 87, and Paul Hitchcock 3 for 88. Tim McIntosh and Shane Singe made a determined start when Auckland started their chase.Northern Districts 121 and 41 for 1 trail Otago 305 for 8 dec (McKenzie 74, Lawson 69) by 143 runs
Rain again marred the match at Carisbrook but by stumps Otago had played themselves into a strong position against Northern Districts. Otago, thanks largely to 69 scored by Robbie Lawson and 74 by Marcel McKenzie, declared at 305 for 8, a first-innings lead of 184. Conditions demanded hard graft, with Lawson was at the crease for 228 minutes, and McKenzie only seven minutes less. It seemed that ND would reach stumps without losing a wicket, but in the last over, offspinner Nathan Moreland’s fourth ball went straight through James Marshall’s defences to bowl him for 25. Northern Districts were effectively a wicket down before they started as Matthew Hart had to retire hurt in their first innings with a back injury and is unlikely to bat.Canterbury 190 and 97 for 3 need another 228 runs to beat Central Districts 196 and 318 (Sulzberger 59, How 53, Sinclair 52)
A similarly tight finish is in prospect at Palmerston North as Canterbury attempt to defy the odds to beat Central Districts, which they will have to do if they are to retain their lead in the championship. Central Districts, who had a six-run first innings lead, scored 318 second time around to leave Canterbury with a stiff target of 325. Mathew Sinclair scored 52 while Glen Sulzberger continued what has been a fine match for him by scoring 59. Ross Taylor chimed in with 44 while Regan West scored 29. Chris Harris proved the most effective of the Canterbury bowlers, taking 4 for 37. Harris found himself at the forefront of his side’s hopes with the bat as well as the ball. He was 12 not out at stumps as Canterbury were precariously placed at 97 for 3. With Neil Broom also at the crease, Canterbury have only Gary Stead and Aaron Redmond of their recognised batsmen remaining. Lance Hamilton took 2 for 25 in the Canterbury innings as Brendon McCullum fell for 21, Michael Papps for 25 and Peter Fulton for 22.

World Cup spinner Nathan Hauritz will be a sidelight to the Shane Warne show next week when the Queensland Academy of Sport travel to Junction Oval to play the Victorian 2nd XI.Hauritz was included today in the QAS team to play in Melbourne from Monday after making a request to the Queensland selection panel for an additional bowling stint under match conditions.Queensland Chairman of Selectors Ray Phillips said Hauritz would play the first three days of the Cricket Australia Cup match, which marks Warne’s return from his 12 month drug suspension."Nathan didn’t get a lot of bowling during the Pura Cup game against NSW due to the weather and asked us whether he could get some more bowling under his belt prior to our game against WA," he said."He’ll come back after three days so he can take part in the Bulls’ final training session before they play their ING Cup game against the Warriors on the Friday," he said.Hauritz will be joined in the QAS team by Bulls batsman Lee Carseldine, who is hoping he has overcome the back problems that have plagued his season so far.The QAS team also includes allrounder Chris Simpson and pace bowler Damien Mackenzie who have shared twelfth man duties for the past month for Queensland, and fellow Bulls squad members Scott Brant, Chris Hartley, Steve Farrell and Shane Jurgensen.While Hauritz and Simpson will enjoy the chance to bowl their off-spin, 20-year-old Redlands leg-spinner Ryan Leloux will have a first-hand view of how Warne fares in his return to cricket.Queensland Academy of Sport v Victorian 2nd XI, Junction Oval, Feb 9-12:Aaron Nye (c), Ryan Broad, Chris Simpson, Lee Carseldine, Steve Farrell, Chris Hartley, Ryan Leloux, Scott Brant, Damien MacKenzie, Grant Sullivan, Shane Jurgensen. Coach: Richard Done

David Terbrugge has been recalled to the South African Test squad after an absence of 17 months, as cover for Shaun Pollock who has sustained a groin injury.Terbrugge, 27, took 5 for 46 in his most recent match, against Bangladesh at East London in October 2002, and has played six Tests and four ODIs. “I am naturally over the moon," he said. "It has come as a surprise and it is wonderful to win a recall to the senior side.”Terbrugge took 2 for 31 for Highveld Strikers in their Standard Bank Cup final win over Easterns at Johannesburg on Sunday, and will fly out to join the South African squad in New Zealand at 5pm on Tuesday."He will serve as an extra bowler who will provide depth,” said Omar Henry, the convenor of the National Selection panel. “There will be a tremendous workload on the bowlers, since three back-to-back Test matches will be played.”The first Test begins at Hamilton on March 10.

Until the end of the Indian tour of Pakistan, we will be running a daily Paper Round of what newspapers in India and Pakistan, and from around the world, are saying about this series. This is what the media had to say today:The Board of Control for Cricket in India has reserved the right to abort the tour of Pakistan at any time, in the event of crowd trouble. This comes to light in a report appearing in Pakistan’s The News. The report quotes a senior PCB official as saying, “The Indian board had in the MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] put a clause that even if any crowd trouble takes place at any venue — be it Karachi or Lahore — they have the right to abort the tour for security reasons.”Rameez Raja confirmed that the MoU had been signed by the Pakistan Cricket Board. “Apparently, their players have the fear of the unknown while venturing on this tour and we can understand that. Their players have asked for certain security assurances from their board which in turn put the clause in the MOU which we signed and sent back today.”Raja assured readers that the PCB spared no effort in the quest to ensure the players’ security. “We are taking all possible security measures to ensure there are no incidents on this tour which is so important for all of us and relations between the two countries. The government is also taking keen interest in the security arrangements. We are very confident that the security and administrative measures we are putting in place for this tour, it will go off smoothly. But no one can predict the future.”* * *An agency report appearing in The Times of India says that Imran Khan will have a brainstorming session with the Pakistan team on February 29 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The theme of the session will be preparation needed to take on India. Imran was captain of the Pakistan team when the two sides last met for a full series in Pakistan, in 1989. He was also captain of the victorious team that toured India in 1987.* * *Javed Miandad, Pakistan’s coach has fired several warning shots in an interview with Kolkata’s Telegraph newspaper. He began on a conciliatory note, saying, “Frankly, agar waisa nahin hua [if it didn’t happen like that], then we shouldn’t be playing at all. Be it your Prime Minister or our President, everybody has linked cricket to the improvement of relations… Therefore, both teams have to set the perfect example… They certainly won’t be at war…”He has a word of caution for Rahul Dravid, who was so successful in India’s recent tour of Australia. “He’s good… But, when he takes guard for the first time, he is going to start on zero… In fact, each innings will be a fresh beginning… Whatever Dravid’s reputation, he has to prove himself in Pakistan.”He also refused to compare the current Indian or Pakistani teams with their counterparts from the past. “I doubt if comparisons serve much purpose. Bottomline is how a particular side plays, how it absorbs pressure. Greats have been known to flop. At the same time, unheralded players have done wonders… Yeh sab cricket ka kamaal hai.”* * *Playing Pakistan is not as much of a challenge as playing Australia. At least that’s what Reuters quotes Sourav Ganguly as saying. “Pakistan is a challenge, but I am sure it is not going to be as big as Australia. Australia are definitely a superior side. We are pretty confident after our tour of Australia,” he said. “To be honest, we are going to Pakistan in a much better frame of mind.”Ganguly also brushed aside the suggestion that security concerns will be a serious distraction for India’s cricketers. I don’t think the boys should have any problem in focusing on cricket. They know their performances will be watched all over the world.” He also thought India and Pakistan should play each other more often. “It will definitely help to reduce tension and hype over cricket,” he said. “I don’t think the crowds and tension in Pakistan are going to be that bad.”* * *Erapalli Prasanna remembers the 1978-79 tour of Pakistan well. It was his last in an Indian cap. Now in Kolkata, Prasanna told The Indian Express some very interesting things about that series.”We didn’t bowl as well as we could have, and that decided the series. It seemed surreal at times and our manager Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad was so bent upon creating goodwill that we forgot at times we were there to compete against arch rivals. He kept emphasising it was a goodwill tour, we needed to be pleasant and we were sucked into that atmosphere,” he says. “We couldn’t summon the ferocity which was needed to quell Pakistan’s advance in a historic series. Gaekwad did what he needed to do in his capacity and created a lot of goodwill in Pakistan but cricketwise it softened our edges.”Some of the Pakistan cricketers who played that series may not warm to Prasanna’s comments. Zaheer Abbas, who scored 583 runs at an average of almost 195, will take particular exception. “It was a Zaheer Abbas series — he made many runs on that tour. But I don’t have the slightest doubt we could have contained him effectively. He was a very good batsman but we made him appear a master batsman by not bowling as well as we were capable of. We allowed him to run away with big scores.”* * *Tickets for the India-Pakistan series are now being sold online. Click here to book yourself a ringside seat.

Kevin Pietersen has settled his differences with Nottinghamshire and will play for them at least until the end of the 2004 season. Pietersen, 23, who was one of the few players to make an impression on England A’s recent tour of India, had been planning to sue the club for unfair dismissal – after assuming he had been sacked following a row last season. But has now kissed and made up.”We are delighted Kevin will play,” said Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket. “He is a player with great potential and it is our aim to provide Kevin the best possible opportunity to play for England as well as helping Nottinghamshire win competitions.””I raised a number of issues with the club last season," said Pietersen, "and since I returned from the England A tour it has become clear to me the club has made a significant number of improvements during the winter. I will be sitting down with Mick Newell and Jason Gallian [the captain] in the very near future to discuss some key issues so that we can move forward in what I hope will be a great summer for cricket.”

This was a day as historic for India as it was disappointing for Pakistan, and predictably it led to a chaotic and emotional press conference, attended by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad. All manner of speculation on Shoaib Akhtar’s injury, his disruptive influence in the team, the ineffectiveness of the bowling, the poor fitness levels of the team and everybody’s favourite chestnut, the need for specialist coaches came in for questioning.

Inzamam-ul-Haq
On the series defeat
After Multan we came back well to win at Lahore where, for the first time, the bowlers performed close to their potential. But injuries to our bowlers really wreaked havoc with the line-up. Umar Gul’s loss in particular was a crucial blow.On the non-performance of big players and the line-up for Pindi
If a player does not perform he should not be playing for the Pakistan team. It is as simple as that. I wanted to change the team for this game but in the end I had no choice at all, because there were so many injuries. Even some of the players in the team were not 100% fit. Changing the bowling attack made the difference for us.On the bowling
Our bowlers didn’t perform at all and they have been generally poor throughout the series. We had bowling pitches to help us but to let the Indians pile up 600 runs on this track was a very poor effort. No bowler could take more than 7 wickets over the series for us. Bowlers win you Test matches and it just didn’t happen for us here.On the excessive injuries
There were too many injuries in the camp for such a crucial series, and the bowling attack was never settled at all. It is worrying that our fitness has been so poor and I have identified this before and do so again now – we simply have to work hard and concentrate on this aspect.On the batting in Pindi
It just wasn’t very good. We should have been much more responsible. Even though the ball was seaming around on the first day, we could have scored above 300 if we had batted a bit more cautiously .On the pitches
The pitches that offered some help to the bowlers, as the Indians showed, throughout the Test series. We just didn’t bowl well on them. We all believed that the bowling was our strength and even the media hyped our attack up.On Shoaib Akhtar’s injury and differences between him and Inzamam
There is nothing wrong between us, but I was also surprised at the way he batted today.On Shoaib Akhtar’s alleged phone call to Rashid Latif regarding differences with Inzamam
If something like this has happened then we will take action against it. This sort of behaviour can cause disruption within the team. I think this series has highlighted the lack of professionalism in our side and action will be taken against something like this. There will be an inquiry into the matter and action will be taken.On reports that the team doctor was not happy with the excessive bowling in the nets
There were contradictory reports about this but I will say one thing. Over the last two or three series none of my fast bowlers have been able to complete a whole series. They keep breaking down at some point. And there was a big fuss everywhere about the number of no-balls and wides that they were bowling in the one-day series. Now if I am not going to fix that during the nets then when I am going to do it? In their rooms while they are sleeping?

Javed Miandad
On his alleged statement about Irfan Pathan
I denied it at the press conference in Karachi [before the first one-dayer] and I am doing so now again. I never made any such statement.On the bowling
Most of the frontline bowlers have been performing well for us until recently. They just didn’t perform well enough here.On the lack of strategy and planning
Of course we always plan before we play a match and we keep to a strategy. But every player knows what type of wicket he is playing on and what he should do to benefit from that wicket, as a bowler or as a batsman. They are all Test players with a fair bit of experience now, and to tell them how to play all the time should not be necessary. We had a plan for Lahore and we went out and executed it well; in Multan and Pindi we didn’t. We just didn’t perform as well as we are capable of in any department.On the batting throughout the series
No one, and especially the media, expected our batting to do well, but it performed better than the bowling. Mostly the batting was okay – obviously when you are facing totals of 600-plus then the pressure plays a big factor and so we failed a couple of times.On the opening partnership and Imran Nazir’s non-inclusion
I don’t think Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat had that bad a series. Imran [Farhat] got a century so you couldn’t keep him out of the team and even Taufeeq looked good on a couple of occasions before getting out. Imran [Nazir] is still in our broader plans, obviously. Neither I nor Inzamam can exclude him from the team – if he performs, he will come in and if he doesn’t then his performance will take him out of the team.On comparing this Indian team to past teams
Past Indian teams have also been very good. But this team has played together for a couple of years and is doing really well now. They have a very mature batting line-up and their bowling, which sometimes let them down in the past, is now much better. They have six or seven batsmen who average over 50 in Test cricket so that says a lot about their team. They are not invincible but they are very good. Their attitude is good, but a true marker of any team’s attitude is when they are losing or not doing well.On specialist coaches
This is a matter for the board but I have no problem with it at all.

When the current academic year commences, children in government-aided schools in and around Delhi will study a rather special subject – the life and times of Sachin Tendulkar. The new textbooks for those in the 10-12 age group include an interview with Tendulkar, in which he talks about his own childhood and what it takes to be a special player.Krishna Kumar, an education official, said that the move to include a first-person account of Tendulkar’s life was part of an effort to make education “a more pleasurable experience”. “Sachin is an icon in India and kids draw inspiration from him,” he said. “So we thought that having a chapter on him will interest kids, and at the same time make them understand that dedication and determination make a successful person.”By all accounts, the kids think it’s all right. “I read the interview the day I got the book,” said Nikhil Sharma, who is only 10. “I learnt many things about his schooldays. I always wanted to know the things Sachin did as a kid, and the chapter is really interesting.”In the interview, Tendulkar, who was a cricketing prodigy long before he was out of short pants, describes himself as a mediocre boy and an average student. He also says that he was very naughty, always wanting to “escape to the playground”.The “mediocre boy” has already rewritten one-day cricket’s batting records, and is now just one behind Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 34 Test centuries. According to him, “strong determination, continuous practice, good understanding of the game, constant improvement of one’s abilities and courage to strike the ball with conviction” are central to his success. Something tells you that this is one lesson that will hold the kids enthralled, rather than reading comics under the desk.

32.2 overs
Scorecard