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Hampshire spent a day in the warm sunshine at Riverside near Chester-le-Street as Durham posted their highest ever Innings score agaist their visitors, and Martin Love the highest individual score in contests between the two sides. Paul Terry the watching manager saw his record of 162 against Durham at Portsmouth in 1994 swamped by the Aussie.Robin Smith, Nic Pothas and Alan Mullally all returned to Frizzell Championship action against Durham after various absences, with Chris Tremlett rested, and James Tomlinson replacing James Bruce in the line up.The day started brightly for Hampshire, despite losing the toss when Alan Mullally, James Tomlinson and Dimitri Mascarenhas each took a wicket to reduce Durham to 73 for 3 wickets, but that is where their early success ended as Australian Martin Love and Gary Pratt got together as the shine and bounce of the new ball faded.Together they shared 161 runs for the fourth wicket, before the latter fell lbw to Mascarenhas. Ashley Thorpe joined in and with Love added a further 81.A day of toil ended with the admirable Mascarenhas taking three of the seven wickets to fall, and Alan Mullally playing his first championship match for 4 weeks taking two.

A record third wicket stand of 191 by Chris Bassano and Andrew Gait saw Derbyshireto a comprehensive seven wicket victory over Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in their fourthround tie in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.The day had begun well for Dominic Cork as he won the toss, and elected to bowl first on a wicketthat was slightly damp. Any thoughts that Cork may have entertained of claiming early wickets werequickly erased as Robert Croft, the acting Glamorgan captain, and his partner Ian Thomas prosperedagainst some wayward new ball bowling.The introduction of Tom Lungley and Graeme Welch slowed Glamorgan`s progress, with Welch alsotaking the wickets of Croft and Powell. When Ian Thomas was run out for 34, Glamorgan were85-3, and in the absence of David Hemp who had a stomach virus, 22 year old batsman Jonathan Hughesjoined Matthew Maynard at the crease.The young tyro lost his partner when Maynard edged Shahid Afridi into the gloves of Derbyshirewicket-keeper Luke Sutton, but Hughes remained level-headed and reached his maiden one-day fifty. Withthe help of the lower order, they added 57 in the final ten overs and saw Glamorgan to a quiterespectable total of 248-9.Mike Kasprowicz raised Welsh hopes by dismissing both Shahid Afridi and Michael Di Venuto in his firstsix over burst, but Bassano and Gait then began their match-winning partnership. They kept the scoreboard ticking overby astutely rotating the strike and milked the bowling with a series of well judged singles.Bassano was also quite severe on any loose deliveries, and despite being handicapped by stomach cramps,Bassano reached his second century in the competition after hitting 9 fours and three huge sixes, all of whichwere struck high over the Taff Stand from the bowling of Dean Cosker. He was eventually bowled by Kasprowicz fora career-best 121, but opening batsman Andrew Gait remained resoloute and was unbeaten on 87 when Derbyshire reachedtheir target with 49 balls to spare, and inflict upon Glamorgan their first one-day defeat of the season.

CBC will be airing a documentary on the Canadian team on “Sports Journal” Originall scheduled for March 24, Newsworld 7.30 and 11.30 Eastern Time it has been pre-empted by war coverage. It will now be shownon CBC Sports Saturday March 29, 12.30 p.m. The CBC write-up for the show follows:-“An unlikely group of cricketing amateurs overcomes controversy and bad financing and manages to avoid global humiliation at the World Cup of cricket in South Africa. It’s a story of impossible achievement; it’s also a story that reflects a new Canada. “”The Canadian cricket team is a micro mosaic that includes a dread locked Jamaican-Canadian street sweeper, a Grenada-born Toronto grocery clerk, a business student born in India, and an over-the-hill Australian phenom whose tenuous claim to Canada is that he was born in a B.C. logging camp and stayed five weeks until his parents moved away. There is only one born and bred Canadian on the whole team. “”The very first national team ever to win a game at the World Cup was source of both amazement and amusement to the millions of cricket fans around the world. No one expected the Canadians to do well; they were under-resourced, had poor training facilities, had lost their coach at the last minute. They weren’t given a chance. But a scrappy team with lots of heart turned the stuffy world of cricket on it’s ear for a couple of weeks, surprised them all, and made Canadian Cricket history. “”With unprecedented behind the scenes access to a World Cup team producer Robin Benger follows the agony and ecstasy of the teams’ exploits in South Africa. “

The focus in the last round of league matches in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship will be on Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Stadium from Monday.For both Peshawar and Sheikhupura it’s a do-or-die affair to qualify for next month’s all-important final from Group-II. With 60 points apiece under their belts, these two evenly-matched teams will be desperate to get the better of the other.Peshawar, of course, have the huge advantage of playing at home. But Sheikhupura, the only side in the 18-team competition to maintain an unblemished record, are no easy pushovers.Meanwhile, Karachi Whites, already through to the March 1-5 final from Group-I after a comprehensive win over Faisalabad Friday, are keen to gain some useful match practice against Sargodha at KCCA Stadium.At the other end of the table relegation battle rages on. Hyderabad are certain to be demoted into Grade-II next season irrespective of the result of their Group-I fixture against Rest of Sindh but the picture in Group-II is still not clear.The Pakistan Cricket Board, in their endeavour to promote the game in the remote areas of the country, will continue the experiment of fielding Rest XIs in Grade-I tournament next season.Islamabad, lying at bottom of Group-II, are the other side in danger of being relegated. They will be anxious to beat Sialkot in the match at Rawalpindi’s KRL Stadium and at the same time expect Rest of NWFP to complete an improbable double over Lahore’s other team.Lahore Whites, therefore, will be taking nothing for granted against NWFP, who caused the biggest upset when they scored a sensational one wicket victory over last season’s champions Lahore Blues last Sunday.Ninth round schedule (Feb 18-21):*Karachi Whites v Sargodha at KCCA Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Zamir Haider and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Fahimuddin Alvi).*Karachi Blues v Bahawalpur at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Waqar A. Mughal and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Munawwar Agha).*Gujranwala v Faisalabad at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Athar Zaidi. Match referee: Sultan Rana).*Hyderabad v Rest of Sindh at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Islam Khan. Match referee: Taslim Arif).*Peshawar v Sheikhupura at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: M. Nazir Junior and Sadiq Mohammad. Match referee: Ali Zia).*Lahore Blues v Rawalpindi at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Ehtesham-ul-Haq and Riazuddin. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).*Lahore Whites v Rest of NWFP at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Z.I.Pasha. Match referee: Azhar Khan).*Islamabad v Sialkot at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Mian Aslam and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Javed Akhtar).

HOBART, March 2 AAP – Last-placed Tasmania had little trouble ending South Australia’s slim final hopes in the Pura Cup with an eight wicket victory at Bellerive Oval today.Needing an outright win to stay in the chase for the title, the Redbacks had no answer to Tigers paceman Gerard Denton, who finished with match figures of 8-101 off 32 overs.”That’s it for us now unfortunately,” said Redbacks skipper Greg Blewett.”We had everything to play for this game, so to come away with a loss is disappointing. We have only got ourselves to blame.”The final day was almost a formality as South Australia resumed at 8-185, having been forced to follow on after a making just 122 in reply to the home team’s 285.Tasmania claimed the remaining two SA wickets to end the innings on 227, setting a target of 65.The Tigers achieved that goal before lunch for the loss of two wickets in 20.2 overs with Scott Mason unbeaten on 30 and Michael Dighton on 12.Tasmanian allrounder Dan Marsh was man-of-the-match for his 111 runs off 177 balls with 16 fours in the first innings.It was the 29-year-old’s fifth domestic first-class century.But he was rivalled by Denton, who took a career-best 5-40 off 15 overs to make a mess of SA’s first innings.The visitors improved in the second innings – thanks to Mark Higgs’ 96 not out – but were again battered by Denton, who has only recently returned to the side after an extended lay off through injury.Despite picking up six points, the Tigers remain on the bottom of the ladder.Their final match of the season is also against the Redbacks – this time in Adelaide, from March 6-9.”It’s just another cricket match we can win hopefully,” Tigers skipper Jamie Cox said.After their drubbing in Hobart, the Redbacks will no doubt be keen to redeem themselves.”We are sitting on 22 points, so we’d certainly like to finish with another outright on third or fourth (on the ladder),” Blewett said.

Denis St Eval Atkinson the former West Indies cricket team captain died from cancer at the age of 75 on 9th November in southern Barbados. He was born on 9th August 1925 in Barbados, Trinidad.The World Record:
Denis Atkinson whose cricket career spanned 1948 to 1958 playing in 22 Test matches is more remembered for his part in a world record stand in 1955. In fact his 347 runs seventh wicket partnership with CC Depeiza is still a world record. Leading the Caribbean team in that Test he scored 219 to save his team from a certain defeat. The West Indies were tottering at 156 for 6 and were facing a huge Aussie total of 668 when he associated with Depeiza (122) to produce the record stand which ultimately lifted the West Indies total to 510. Atkinson continued to fight back and returned to claim five Australian wickets for 56 runs in the second innings. This brilliant all round performance of scoring a century and claiming five wickets in a match until then was the fifth such instance in test cricket history.Successful home series against England, 1953-54:
Earlier, in the home series against England in 1953-54 he scored 53 in the second test at Bridgetown which the West Indies won by 181 runs and later went on to score 74 and 53 not pot in the fourth drawn test at Part of Spain.Led from the front in New Zealand, 1955-56:
Again his contribution was significant when he led the West Indies team in New Zealand in 1955-56. During the series he scored 85 at Christchurch, clamed 5 wickets for 56 and scored 60 at Wellington and then returned his best bowling figures in an innings, 7 for 53 in the fourth and final test at Auckland. Incidentally this valiant bowling effort went in vain as the Kiwis recorded their first victory in test cricket.Hanif-His most prized wicket:
Brothers Denis and Eric Atkinson became the first West Indian pair to play in the same test (against Pakistan) at Bridge Town, Barbados in 1958. It was during this match that Denis claimed the most prized wicket of his entire career when he dislodged Hanif Mohammad after the ‘Little Master’ had played a monumental and marathon knock of 337 runs consuming 970 minutes. It was a historical moment as Hanif was just 27 runs away from the then world record when he edged an out-swinger and was caught behind the wicket by FCS Alexander to the utter disbelief of the West Indians. His figures of 62-35-61-1 in Pakistan’s second innings total of 657 for 8 declared compared to other bowlers, including Roy Gilchrist, Eric Atkinson, OG Smith, Alf Valentine and Gary Sobers, were very respectable. This was his last test match.Test Career Record

Somerset all rounder Mike Burns is back in full training after undergoing an operation to rectify an ankle injury earlier in the New Year.The thirty two year old who joined Somerset from Warwickshire in 1997 enjoyed his best ever year in 2001, and played a major part in the county’s most successful season.At the indoor nets in the week Mike was showing that he has lost none of his batting ability and was striking the ball in the same way that earned him nearly nine hundred championship runs last season including a double century at Bath, which is still being talked about by those who were present.Head of injury prevention Darren Veness, who has been working closely with the player told me: “Burns is back with the bat in the nets for the first time since his ankle injury. He looked comfortable and next week he will be able to bowl flat out as well.”Mike Burns told me: “The ankle feels pretty good, and next week I’ll be back to bowling at full pace. I was batting with a new Gunn and Moore bat and it is a real belter.I’ve used their bats for nine years and now they’re available from Boundary Sports at the County Ground. Several of the others use Gunn and Moore as well.”The following morning Mike Burns was back at the County Ground, and after a session at the Indoor School was being put through his paces on the new weights that have been set up in a separate area , away from the Academy Fitness Centre.Daren Veness told me, “Mike is a natural athlete and incredibly fit.He’s a great example for the youngsters to follow. It’s good for them to see someone who is a number of years older than them working as hard as he does at training.”

Bashley (Rydal) could give BAT Sports a significant boost in the ECB Southern Electric Premier League title race by beating weakened Havant at the BCG tomorrow SAT, 11.30am.Havant, 17 points behind BAT, travel to the New Forest without Luke Sears and wicketkeeper Steve Snell, both key middle-order batsmen.And will find third-placed Bashley in a buoyant mood after three straight wins against South Wilts, the Hampshire Academy and the bottom team, Calmore Sports."Although we beat them in a 50-over game earlier in the season, Bashley have often been a thorn in our side in the past and will surely test us tomorrow," said Havant skipper Paul Gover, who is uncertain who his replacements will be.He will probably plump for 2nd XI captain Shane Ferguson and bring in medium-pace bowler Greg Benton.Another option could be to call up Mark Copping, who took 5-32 in Tuesday’s SEC Cup semi-final win over BAT.Bashley’s form has picked up dramatically since Western Australian Brad Thompson – fourth in the SPL batting charts with 389 runs in six knocks – returned from a broken finger sustained, ironically, in the previous match at Havant.Leaders BAT Sports go to struggling Portsmouth without in-form teenage left-hander Damian Shirazi who, like Snell, is on ground duty at the England-South Africa ODI final at Lord’s.Archie Norris will probably step in for Shirazi, with Richard Kenway expected to open alongside 451-run New Zealander Neal Parlane.Portsmouth, languishing in third from bottom position after a heavy defeat at Liphook & Ripsley last week, are keeping their fingers crossed that Hampshire’s Lawrie Prittipaul will be able to boost their dwindling resources.But Prittipaul may be required for Hampshire’s 45-over match against Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl on Sunday.Having been trounced by eight wickets by both BAT and Havant in recent weeks, Bournemouth are pinning their silverware hopes firmly on the Southern Electric Contracting Cup.They play Alton, the unbeaten Premier Division 3 leaders, in the second semi-final at BAT next Thursday evening (6pm). The winners play Havant in the final at the Rose Bowl on August 5.South Wilts expect former Hampshire batsman Jason Laney back in their line up for tomorrow’s visit to Bournemouth, who could have Dave Kidner (side strain) back in action.Calmore Sports bid for an unlikely double when they face the Hampshire Academy on the Rose Bowl Nursery ground.The Totton club’s solitary win this season came against the Young Hawks on May 10, since when Calmore have lost seven times.Paul Cass misses the match, but former Academy pupil Martin Bushell, who hit a fine 94 against Bashley last week, faces an intriguing test against his old team-mates.Jimmy Adams and Chris Benham will probably be the two contract players in a youthful Academy side, which has been hauled out of trouble by last man Giles White in the past fortnight.White has made 68 not out (v Bashley) and an unbeaten 67 at South Wilts in the past two matches … on both occasion coming in at number 11 !But the former Hampshire opener is uncertain whether he will play against Calmore."There are a lot of options and the object of the exercise is to play as many youngsters as we can," he said.Andover give Rob Atkins his first match of the season and are boost by Ian Langdown’s return for the visit of Liphook & Ripsley to London Road.Roger Miller’s side will be chasing a double, having beaten Liphook by 83 runs in a 50-over affair earlier in the season.

Auckland begin their quest for a third consecutive State League women’s cricket title when they open their campaign with four home games at North Harbour Stadium and Melville Park this weekend.The State Auckland Hearts play the State Canterbury Magicians at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday and Sunday followed by the State Otago Sparks at Melville Park on Monday and Tuesday. It will be the first time a provincial women’s cricket match is played at North Harbour Stadium.The State League will be played over four rounds with the final taking place on February 3.Auckland captain, Kathryn Ramel says the team are greatly looking forward to the challenge of defending their title against the best of New Zealand’s provincial women’s cricket teams. The team are also the current holders of the Sport Auckland WestpacTrust Team of the Year Award for their efforts in winning the title in 2001.”Winning our third consecutive State League title is the primary goal, however, we will also be striving to achieve the high standards we set ourselves in batting, bowling and fielding during matches,” Ramel said.”We will be fielding a team with a mix of youth and experience. Some of the players will have their first experience of playing cricket at this level. In combination with the more senior players we have created a really committed and supportive team environment to work with,” she said.While top order batting is a strength for Auckland, a new and untested bowling attack is one of the areas being targeted for specific focus by Ramel and the team.CLEAR White Ferns Emily Drumm, Ramel, Rebecca Rolls and Helen Watson will all be in action for Auckland in the January/February competition.The Auckland team to play Canterbury in the first match at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday is: Kathryn Ramel (captain), Ingrid Cronin-Knight, Emily Drumm, Shelley Fruin, Paula Gruber, Kelly Hill, Michelle Lynch, Deb Ramsey, Rebecca Rolls, Natalee Scripps, Megan Tyler, Helen Watson.The full Auckland programme is:Saturday: Auckland v Canterbury, North Harbour Stadium 12 noon. Sunday: Auckland v Canterbury, North Harbour Stadium, 10.30am. Monday: Auckland v Otago, Melville Park, 10.30am. Tuesday: Auckland v Otago, Melville Park 10.30am.

Suresh Perera, the Sri Lanka fast-medium bowler, has been reported for asuspect bowling action by umpire Steve Bucknor to International CricketCouncil (ICC) match referee Cammie Smith, according to a Sri Lanka cricketboard release on Saturday.Perera, a right-arm bowler playing in only his second Test, sent down 12overs in the Indian first innings, but did not take a wicket. He was notused by skipper Sanath Jayasuriya in the second innings.He is the third Sri Lankan bowler to be reported for a suspect bowlingaction in the past six years. Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and KumarDharmasena were the others. Both of them were later cleared by the ICC andcontinue to play international cricket.This is not the first time that Perera has been reported by an umpire forhaving a suspect action. Two years ago umpire Asoka de Silva, who also stoodin the First Test, reported Perera to the Sri Lankan cricket board after adomestic match between Sinhalese Sports Club and Sebastianites.Perera, however, has been retained in the unchanged 16-member squad for theSecond Test against India starting at Asgiriya International Stadium, Kandy on August 22.According to the revised three-stage process adopted by the ICC for bowlerswith suspect actions, the ICC will now acquire detailed video footage ofPerera during the First Test and send to the Sri Lankan board, who arerequired to conduct an assessment of Perera’s action within a six-weekperiod. The BCCSL’s bowling advisors will review this report and work withPerera to make any necessary changes.If Perera’s action is reported again within 12-months then there is a stagetwo review process, which will involve an ICC advisor working directly withPerera. If he is reported for a third time, within the same 12-month period,the the ICC will appoint a Bowling Review Group to conduct a hearing andmake a judgment on the action’s legality.