Debutatant Arijit Bose’s century and a swashbuckling innings of 128 byskipper Devang Gandhi placed Bengal in a commanding position in theirRanji Trophy tie against Tripura at the Eden Gardens today. Bengalfinsihed the day at 333 for the loss of three wickets in reply toTripura’s first innings score of 170. The aim of the Bengal team is topile on another 150 runs by lunch tomorrow and then put Tripura intobat again.However, Devang Gandhi played a more cavalier knock, the talk of theday was Bose’s innings. The 22 -year cricketer, who started playingthe game quite late is incidentally the son of the former India openerGopal Bose. Gopal Bose had played a couple of unofficial Tests for thecountry. Arijit, however, is quite different from his father in thesense that he is a left hander. More than the runs he scored it wasthe way he played the innings. The Tripura bowling had nothing reallyto offer. But even then Arijit Bose played with a lot of composure.The hallmark of his innings was the amount of time that he had to playhis shots. His innings of 101 was marked with lovely drives throughthe cover. At times, he showed that he was ready even to hit the ballover the fielders. He finally fell, caught at point by Gourpada Banikof the bowling off medium pacer Rajiv DevBurman. He tried to drive aball away from his body and as a result spooned it to point. But bythen he had scored 101 in 184 balls with 15 fours. After the end ofthe day’s play Bose said, “On Sunday, when I first went down to bat, Idid not feel any pressure. Today however, pressure got to me. As Idesperately wanted to reach three figures.”Gandhi’s innings on the other hand was expected. He has changed hisstance and now does not straighten up as he used to do last year.Against a mediocre Tripura bowling, it was expected that he wouldscore runs. He reached his 100 cutting off-spinner Sujit Roy to thepoint boundary. At the end of the day he was unbeaten on 128 with 16boundaries and three sixes. The last one was the best as he hit ChetanSachdev for huge blow over mid wicket.Rohan Gavaskar however, disappointed. He looked very patchy. Maybe,the slowness of the pitch affected his batting as he has been used tobatting on harder tracks in Mumbai. He holed out at cover after beingbogged down for quite sometime off Sachdev. At the end of the day,Saba karim, was keeping Devang company on 11.

Blue skies, blue hair, more blue times for West Indies. At stumps on the second day of the Fifth Test against Australia here at the Sydney Cricket Ground, anothermatch between these teams is beginning to carry an ominously lopsided look. At their first innings of scoreline of 4/284, the Australians have a twelve-run lead, havesix wickets in hand, and have the tourists looking down the barrel of more misery.The presence of those crisp blue skies, a warm reading on the thermometer, and the roll-up of another healthy crowd, all helped to put encouraging precursors inplace at the start of the day. When Colin ‘Funky’ Miller removed his cap in preparation to bowl the opening over – to reveal a head of Denis Rodman-style brightblue hair – there was no doubt that there would be plenty of early colour.Number eleven Courtney Walsh (4) joined with Colin Stuart (12) in typically inimitable style to survive twenty-five deliveries of probing spin from Miller (2/73) andStuart MacGill (7/104). And then, when the Australian reply began, Michael Slater (96) underlined the point that his batting is rarely dull either.Until he carved an unfortunate place for himself in the Test record books, Slater played a characteristically cavalier innings. He lost Matthew Hayden (3) and JustinLanger (20) early to edges outside the line of off stump. But typically and thrillingly, he was not discouraged and decided to live dangerously.He experienced a particularly good slice of fortune with his score at fifteen when Mahendra Nagamootoo was unable to hold an overhead catch at mid wicket after amistimed pull had been played at Walsh (1/60). He forced another stroke toward Wavell Hinds at cover on fifty-seven off Jimmy Adams (0/38) and that half-chancewas missed too. He also played a number of loose shots outside the line of off stump. He appeared to set off willingly for a single when Mark Waugh (22) eased astroke toward backward point, only to stop in his tracks and watch as his by now stranded partner failed to come anywhere near to beating a Sherwin Campbellreturn back to the striker’s end.But he then did what successful batsmen are told to do – capitalise upon their opponents’ corresponding misfortune. Some brutal shotmaking off both the front andback foot ensued, with his driving down the ground a particular feature. In the shadows of lunch, his aggressive play brought him the reward of a half-century. And,after the break, he looked inexorably headed for the fifteenth century of his Test career.Instead, another milestone came back to haunt him. Four short of raising three figures, he fixed his gaze upon an innocuous-looking, wide Nagamootoo leg breakand tried to hoist it over cover. He failed. Dismally. Without appropriate movement of the feet, the ball was instead planted high in the air toward point where MarlonSamuels completed a straight-forward catch. Slater’s frustration was palpable as he trudged dejectedly from the field.”To me, it was a full, lofted delivery that deserved to go to the boundary,” said a philosophical Slater.”It was there to go (at) and I’d been playing good, positive cricket all day. That, to me, was right in the groove … I thought it had ‘four’ written all over it.”To accentuate his annoyance, the dismissal allowed him to claim a share of a world record for the most nineties – nine in all – in a Test batting career. The nervousnineties have also been the final resting place for nine of Steve Waugh’s innings, but the current Australian captain has been undefeated on two of those occasions. Tothe extent that criteria for such a record can genuinely be said to exist, it is Slater who therefore now probably has the dubious honour of having his nose in front.West Indian Alvin Kallicharran is next ‘best’ with eight.”For me, I don’t look at the hundred as being ‘the bar’,” revealed the new record-holder.”No longer is one hundred satisfying enough for us (the batsmen in the Australian team) individually; we want to go on and make big hundreds to two hundreds.Ninety-six, to me, is just another figure. Whether it was 101 doesn’t mean a whole lot different to me. I would have been just as disappointed to get out at 101 and120 given that I was in and I should have gone on to get two hundred.”On a surface which continues to favour spin over pace, the West Indian slow men were bowling accurately at around this time. But, tellingly, they were also provinglargely ineffective. Nagamootoo enjoyed a moment of glory when Slater’s innings met its end. Otherwise, the batsmen were never under the same sense of watchfulobligation that MacGill and Miller had impelled in the strokemaking yesterday.There was still some sense of balance, and certainly some evidence of optimism in the West Indian camp, at the time of the pugnacious New South Welshman’s exit.If anything, Australia actually even looked a touch vulnerable at 4/157. But, from a West Indian point of view, the match assumed a far more colourless air after that.Perhaps the exertions involved in removing Slater contributed to a sense of weariness. Perhaps the haunting memory of Steve Waugh finding gaps at will in agenerally tightly set field in Melbourne last week was the major influence in encouraging Adams to revert to some overly defensive field settings. But whateverthe cause, the tourists laboured badly during the closing two hours of the day, conceding 127 runs to Waugh (82*) and Ricky Ponting (51*) in the course of anassociation for the fifth wicket that assumed crucial importance.The West Indians were unlucky in that two close decisions involving Waugh went against them. The first of these came in the form of a very close lbw appeal fromthe lionhearted Walsh when the Australian captain had only seven runs alongside his name. The second came a little later as he drove away from his body at anotherconventional Nagamootoo leg break which either took an outside edge or, as Umpire Darrell Hair ruled, merely spun viciously on its way to Brian Lara at slip.In an era in which even half-opportunities need to be converted against the Australians, they were the chances that got away.

Sadagoppan Ramesh must be feeling the heat. The left-handed opener from Tamil Nadu is under pressure to perform and would be under keen observation during the first Test against Zimbabwe starting in Bulawayo on Thursday.After a poor performance in the tour-opener against Zimbabwe A,Ramesh did score 42 and 52 in the three-dayer against CFX Academy but his effort in the first innings in Harare was at best scratchy.The latest threat to his opener’s slot has come from his statemate Hemang Badani who made the best use of the opportunity provided to him in the match against CFX Academy.Badani, also a left-hander, scored an unbeaten 112 in the first innings and retired after making an attractive 35 in the second when he was tried as an opener.Badani is yet to play in a Test and should Ramesh not deliver the goods in the first Test, the team management might be inclined to let him make his debut in the second Test as an opener.Ramesh’s opening partner Shiv Sunder Das too failed in the tour-opener at Mutare with scores of 4 and 12 but learnt his lessons quickly, making a stylish unbeaten century against the Academy boys. By deciding not to field Das in the second innings, the team management has almost cleared his name for the first Test.Such is not the case with Ramesh though he is most likely to play the first Test during which his performance will be critically examined.Coach John Wright has a very clear mind regarding what he expects from his openers. “We need a bit of consistency in that position. I would be very happy if we could go to lunch with only one or two down in the first session,” he said. “Just get through this session and see the new ball off and we have got the middle order to take advantage of that situation.”Ramesh has generally struggled outside his off-stump and has this in-built habit of pushing at deliveries. On wickets with bounce and a bit of seam movement, it is suicidal. He also appears uncomfortable against short, rising balls. But Wright said he was not worried about his style as long as he delivered.”Everyone has his own style. At the end, it is runs on the board whichcount. If he has it on the board, he has done his job for the team. I am not the one to object. People can play their own game and as long as they are consistent in their own way, and have done their job, that’s okay,” he said.Ramesh has so far aggregated 1125 runs from 15 Tests and 29 innings at an average of 40.18. He has two centuries and seven fifties to his credit but in the three Tests this year he has tallied just 61 runs.His partner Das, who made his debut against Bangladesh last year, has 396 runs from six Tests averaging 39.60 with a hundred and two fifties.The two are just beginning to find their feet in Test cricket and share a good understanding between themselves, a factor which Ramesh emphasises is very important for opening partners.”Unlike any other batting pair in the team, the openers start their innings together all the time. They need to spend good time with each other to develop a good understanding. We are doing it and it is beginning to reflect in our batting,” says Ramesh.”We start with the basic advantage of a right and a left-handed opening pair. There is another advantage which comes with our batting techniques. While Das is defensive, I tend to go for my shots. It doesn’t allow bowlers to quite settle down.”Off the field too, the differences arising out of the different regions they come from, are fast disappearing. They had shared the room during the Kolkata Test against Australia earlier this year and Das says he is quite happy being together with Ramesh.Wright conceded it were still early days for the pair and they had been working very hard. “Both are very talented and are the ideal left and right-handed pair. Yet it is early days, particularly for Das. Ramesh has impressive performances but it will be important how he does overseas, particularly in South Africa and England where the ball moves around and that’s a bit of a challenge, for both of them.”Indeed, Ramesh should treat it as a warning, what with Badani breathing down his neck now. Badani has proved himself a dependable bat in the one-dayers and is waiting for an opportunity in the Tests. What is more, he can also roll over his wrists and is a brilliant close-in fielder, certainly an asset to a team that goes into a Test with only four frontline bowlers and is at best an average fielding side.

Nottinghamshire go into the fourth day needing only 91 to reach their highest-ever winning total in a fourth innings.Set 458 to beat Worcestershire, they exceeded all expectations by reaching 367 for 2 after a launch-pad of 94 in 106 balls by John Morris, a century by Darren Bicknell and an unbeaten 99 from Greg Blewett.Notts have never made more then 419 to win a match – a target achieved against Leicestershire in 1926 – but it would now be a surprise if they failed to register their first CricInfo Championship win of the season.Morris gave them the impetus with a trail-blazing innings of 18 boundaries but the former Derbyshire and Durham batsman missed a deserved century when Stuart Lampitt held a stunning catch at short extra cover.Worcestershire’s relief at breaking up a stand of 157 was quickly snuffed out when Bicknell reached 104 while putting on 102 for the second wicket with Blewett.The left handed opener was caught behind off Lampitt when Notts required 199 and this whittled down as Usman Afzaal settled into the third century partnership. Blewett will have to wait until the morning to complete his third hundred of the season as he closed with 12 fours from 179 balls.Worcestershire’s front-line seamers bowled too many bad balls on a pitch which had become totally docile after the loss of 20 wickets on the first day. Even worse they lacked a specialist spinner in the absence of the injured Matt Rawnsley.In all nine bowlers were used in what became an increasingly forlorn attempt to turn Philip Weston’s 192 into a match winning innings. The opener was ninth out in the morning when Andrew Harris took the last two wickets in five balls.

We have been appraised of certain statements circulating in the media concerning the safety of the West Indian Cricket Team touring this country.We categorically refute the allegations that they represent the view of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.It is our position that the streets of Zimbabwe are among the safest in the World and that Zimbabwe remains the safest of all havens for visitors. This is the message that we always propagate to all our visiting teams and the approach was no different as regards our current touring teams.It also remains our policy to advise our visitors on the laws of this country on aspects in which they are likely to encounter during the course of their visit. In keeping with this policy all our guests are advised of the currency regulations pertaining to this country and the need to observe these laws.Any mischievous suggestions that the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has followed a contrary policy in this instance is therefore without foundation.

In the very onset of this year, the Common Wealth Cricket Academy of Australia toured Bangladesh and, to our surprise, the juvenile cricketers of that prominent training institute trounced us in almost every match-both in one-day and longer version. BCB made an experimental effort to play their combined sides to take on CBCA in different stadiums. These matches were exhibition ones and though did not have any record book value, were enough to locate the gulf of differences between our cricketers and those Australians. I have used the term “differences” in a wider. Wyane Philips, the coach of the CBCA squad reveals the truth and it should be called “hard reality” than to call “truth”.What is the hard reality that tops the Australians over all cricketing nations during these years? Why our national cricketers could not make any impression in all those matches they took on CBCA? The answer is plain and simple as closing your eyes. There is difference in “attitude” and there is difference in “physical fitness” too.Let us define the “attitude” first. In Philip’s opinion, our cricketers do not lack skill or quality. The thing that is absent in them is – the willingness to overcome nervousness and the eagerness to beat opponents, no matter how strong they are. This outlook is inherent among the Australians and we are short of it. This is the secret of the twenty-year old Australian cricketers to defeat the semi-national sides of BCB-11for several occasions. The match temperament comes up with the experience but “approach” has to be within by born. I saw some of the player’s from the visitors, got hurt by the ball but they were giving their best to conceal it-not to show in front of their opponents so that they could take an advantage of it.Professionalism is stick upon the name of any Australian cricket squad. They are professionals and all through. They realized it long before that the days are in front are the days of “power cricket”. One can’t simply survive by skill these days. Physical fitness is now an integral part of cricket. All the CBCA members were terrific in their vigor and fitness-absolutely eye catching. This is the second decisive factor that not all of our cricketers could make up. Definitely, you have to have a chiseled shape and a hard enduring body to fight with them.We have learnt it late, and now we can see a gym set in BCB that is only for the cricketers. Weight training builds up stamina and power and these things are the prerequisites to play in international level. Perhaps our cricketers apprehended it more than ever in this Zimbabwe tour.

A brilliant maiden 100 by all-rounder Virender Shewag in the crucialone-day league match of the Coca-Cola Cup tri-series against NewZealand, was not enough to earn him a place in the Test squadannounced by the selectors in Mumbai today.Even as Shewag blazed away to the 68-ball century, the sixth fastestin one-day internationals, the selectors did not pick him in the 16-member team for the three Test series against Sri Lanka starting onAugust 14 at Galle.”One-day cricket is entirely dfferent from Tests,” reasoned BCCIsecretary and selection committee convenor JY Lele when contactedlater.”Shewag was included in the Indian team purely as a one-day player. Atany cost this century is not going to help him make it to the Testsquad,” he said.

* Bharadwaj amasses 158 as KSCA XI post huge totalA star studded Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) XI posted astrong total of 365/9 off their allotted 90 overs. On winning thetoss, KSCA XI skipper Anil Kumble promptly elected to bat first. Whileyoungsters Mithun Beerala (23) and Barrington Rowland (29) posted anopening partnership of 48 for the first wicket, it was India discardVijay Bharadwaj who stole the limelight with a mammoth 158.Overshadowing every other batsman, Bharadwaj struck 12 boundaries and4 sixes in his patient knock. Spending over four hours at the wicketBharadwaj faced 245 balls in his stay at the crease. On the back ofBharadwaj’s innings, the KSCA XI amassed a huge 365/9 off 90 overs. Itmust be said that the KSCA XI are in an extremely strong position withinternationals like Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble and David Johnson to dothe bowling tomorrow.* Rathour leads India Pistons to 295The Coromandel Cup semi-final clash between India Pistons XI andRoofit XI at Bangalore saw the side from Chennai take the honours onthe opening day. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, theIndia Pistons side notched up 295 in their 84.5 overs. In responseRoofit were 21/0 off four overs when the day’s play ended.Earlier in the day, the opening pair of Vasanth Kumar and VikramRathour got India Pistons off to a rollicking start. The pair put up apartnership of 111 runs at the top of the order before Vasanth Kumar(58 runs, 91 balls, 7 fours) was dismissed. The skipper went on to topscore, making 75 from 132 balls with 8 boundaries and a six. R Sathish(39) and S Mahesh (37) propped up the innings in the middle order andthe India Pistons side made it to 295 before being all out in 84.5overs. Anand Yalvigi with 3/38 was the most successful of the Roofitbowlers. In response, the Roofit openers both remained unbeaten andtook the score to 21/0 in four overs.

Mathew Sinclair might be starting to think about the task that awaits him in Pakistan next month, but his Yorkshire league club Cleethorpes will be looking for one more big performance from him before the end of their summer.Since returning from the Sri Lankan Coca-Cola Cup tournament earlier this month, Sinclair has struggled to regain the touch which saw him make an outstanding start to the summer, but he started to get his game back together during Cleethorpe’s three victories over the Bank Holiday weekend.His last game will be on Saturday for an important clash with York.On Saturday Cleethorpes scored 156/9 against Hull. But when defending that total left-arm slow bowler Nick White took six for 33 in a 19-over spell. Sinclair picked up a couple of late wickets as Cleethorpes took a 40-run win.Sunday proved a great day for Cleethorpes. It turned the form book on its head and Sheffield Collegiate were eliminated from the Yorkshire League Cup.Collegiate were hot favourites in the semi-final but the reigning league champions and current league leaders were met with a performance full of character and skill which took Cleethorpes through to a September final.The Meggies batted first in the 50-over contest and there was a welcome return to form for Sinclair who made 60 in a solid opening stand with Mike Smith who made 27. Cleethorpes scored 199/7.Some tight bowling resulted in Cleethorpes taking a seven run win with Sinclair again picking up wickets to take two for 41 from his 10 overs.Cleethorpes now advance to a September final against Hull or the Yorkshire Academy but Sinclair will miss the final.An outstanding weekend for the club was completed when a 74-run win was achieved over top club Scarborough.Sinclair scored 35 as his side reached 184/9.In reply, Scarborough were in trouble at 28/4 and were eventually all out for 110.Meanwhile, in the Lancashire league Tana Canning continued a late run of form with the Accrington club. On Sunday, the his club’s 24-run win over Enfield he scored 65 and then took five for 55.On Saturday, Burnley proved too good for Accrington. But of his side’s 119 runs, Canning scored 48 and took three for 53 in Burnley’s 163/8.On the previous weekend in the rain-affected game against Church he scored 47 of 155/9 and on the day before in another rain-affected match he scored 51 of Accrington’s 92 against Colne.

Somerset took total control of this match when they dismissed Essex for 172 to gain a first innings lead of 219 at Chelmsford before the home side safely negotiated the remaining 12 overs of the day. They will resume in the morning still needing 194 to make Somerset bat again with all their second innings wickets intact.This was the eighth time that Essex had been forced to follow-on this season and the perpetrators of their demise on this occasion were the contrasting Richard Johnson and Keith Dutch.Paceman Johnson took 5-40 to shatter the heart of the innings while his slow bowler colleague claimed four wickets including that of opener Darren Robinson who scored more than half his side’s runs in reaching 89 before turning a ball into the hands of short leg soon after the tea interval.Dutch had twice afforded his opponent a let-off having failed to complete a difficult catch at slip when the Essex batsman had scored 39 and then he failed to hold on to a powerfully struck drive off his own bowling when Robinson had added six more runs.Seizing on his good fortune, Robinson played aggressively, striking eight more boundaries and 17 in total before his dismissal.Johnson had undermined the home side’s response to a Somerset first innings total of 391 when he ripped out Paul Grayson and Richard Clinton with only 31 runs on the board before Stuart Law joined Robinson in a third-wicket stand worth 52. However, the Australian seldom looked at ease as he struggled with his timing and Johnson induced at least three false shots early in his innings.Law eventually fell to a mistimed square cut to be caught by Jamie Cox in the gully and although Ronnie Irani batted obdurately for 45 minutes in scoring six, from the moment he dragged a delivery from Dutch on to his stumps, the Essex innings capitulated in the face of some impressive and incisive Somerset bowling.The next three wickets fell in the space of four overs with Johnson and Dutch bowling in harness to inspire their side towards the runners-up position in the Cricinfo Championship.Earlier in the day, after the start had been delayed for 45 minutes because of rain, Somerset had lost their remaining five wickets for 87 runs in the chase for quick runs with Jamie Cox adding only nine to his overnight 175.There was some concern for the visitors when Rob Turner was hit on the forearm by a rising delivery from Ashley Cowan in the fourth over of the day and was forced to retire although he later returned. He failed to take the field when Essex began their reply but resumed his customary wicket-keeper’s role after the tea interval.