As the West Indies start their current tour of Sri Lanka,Tony Cozier, who will cover the Tests and One-DayInternationals for THE NATION newspapers, provides a playerby-player assessment of the team.Carl Hooper: As he has immediately shown, he, morethan anyone, is the key to success. Already a quality, butenigmatic, all-round cricketer, his promotion to thecaptaincy has revealed a changed character, a leader lookedup to by the young brigade. A master against spin, he cangive the lead in countering the menace of Muralitheran.Ridley Jacobs: A damaged finger might have kept someother keepers at home but Jacobs has repeatedly proved he’smade of much sterner stuff. There is no more valuable memberof the team, on the field or in the dressing room, and, ifhe’ll find Murali’s spin more of a puzzle than some of theothers, he won’t be intimidated by it.Chris Gayle: No recent young batsman has scored asheavily or consistently or punched the ball harder. Hisappetite for runs and will to improve were evidenced in asuccession of hundreds in Zimbabwe and Kenya and then on hisreturn home. Now comes a different challenge in newconditions against one of the finest off-spinners of alltime on his own patch.Daren Ganga: Yet another overseas assignment tofollow previous tours of South Africa, New Zealand,Australia, Zimbabwe and Kenya. On the latter trips, therewas a growing confidence, more purpose to his strokes and adeveloping opening partnership with Gayle.Leon Garrick: Small, right-handed and compact, he andGayle formed an effective, right-handed/left-handed, Muttand-Jeff opening combination for Jamaica last season. Adebut Test against South Africa (with a first-balldismissal) and limited opportunities in Zimbabwe and Kenyahave left him with still a lot to prove.Wavell Hinds: Once his broken nose is mended in timeand he manages to make it on to the field, there is plentyof lost ground to make up. A promising start that includedan innings of 165 against the powerful Pakistanis in hisfifth Test has been followed by inconsistent returns. InChanderpaul’s absence, the No.3 spot is vacant but the onlyway back is by regular scores.Brian Lara: As always, there are more questions thananswers to the game’s most mercurial personality. Is he fitenough? Is he eager enough? Does he still care? Is he pastit? Not all will be answered in the coming six weeks but, inthe mood, the incomparable left-hander remains a potentialmatch-winner.Ramnaresh Sarwan: Still only 21, he is at the startof what could be a long and prosperous career. In his shorttime, he’s had Tests against five opponents in fourdifferent countries and now comes another. His nimblefootwork, quick eye and flexible wrists are marks of aspecial batsman, yet not more so than runs. But is No.3 hisideal position?Marlon Samuels: It’s less than a year since, aged 19,he was pitchforked into the tough Test series in Australiaand handled it with the aplomb of a seasoned campaigner.Things come easily to an obviously talented cricketer but heshould appreciate by now that Test cricket is not an easygame, not least in Sri Lanka. The time is now for a maidenfirst-class hundred and a few more besides.Neil McGarrell: A captain’s pick during last season’sseries against South Africa, he has delivered his left-armspin capably in his three Tests, with four wickets in aninnings three times out of six. A streetwise cricketer, heis always competitive and his attitude is clearly valued byHooper.Dinanath Ramnarine: Just when he seemed to havesecured a settled place in the team, with 20 wickets in thehome series against South Africa, a back strain sent himhome from Zimbabwe. If pitches encourage turn, as they oncedid, his leg-breaks and googlies should be a significantpart of the West Indies’ strategy.Merv Dillon: Out of the Test XI for more than a yearand-ahalf, Dillon’s 39 wickets (at 27.72) in his last nineTests on return, against the might of Australia and SouthAfrica, seemed to mark him as the one to lead the attack onCourtney Walsh’s retirement. A knee injury sidelined him forthe Tests in Zimbabwe in July but he remains the frontrunner in the fast bowling stakes.Pedro Collins: Since first coming into the Test teamover three years ago against Australia as a sharp leftarmer, he’s had a patchy time of it. Mainly through a backproblem, there was a break of more than three years betweenTests before he played against Zimbabwe in July. Fit again,his form has been good, his enthusiasm obvious. He could bea surprise packet.Colin Stuart: Aged 28 and around for some time, hestepped in to fill the breach left by Walsh’s retirement andinjuries to Dillon and Cameron Cuffy in Zimbabwe. He bowledfast and straight and never stopped trying. They areattributes he will need against batsmen of higher qualitynow.Reon King: A couple of years back, he looked thegenuine article, distinctly quick with good control and theability to move the ball. He hasn’t been the same sincedamaging his foot on the tour of England last year but, onhis day, is the likeliest wicket-taker.Marlon Black: Fast with a nice outswinger, he hadfour good Australian wickets in his first bowl in Testcricket last season. By the fourth Test, he was out of theteam and later so badly mugged in a Melbourne street he wassidelined for over two months. His future in West Indiescricket probably depends on how he goes here.

A century from skipper Yuvraj Singh saw Punjab take the upper hand intheir Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana at Gurgaon.Haryana, winning the toss, could not take full advantage of it, beingbowled out for 204 in their first innings. Only Jitender Singh came toterms with the wicket and the bowling, making 89 off 244 balls andforming the anchor for Haryana. He finally fell as the last wicket,unable to extend his side’s total due to lack of support.Punjab, in their own batting effort, lost their openers early. YuvrajSingh and Ankur Kakkar put on 140 runs for the fourth wicket, however,stabilising the innings. Yuvraj, making his runs faster, got to hiscentury first and then fell with the score on 191.At the close of play on Day Two, Punjab were 258/7, with Kakkar stillat the crease on 81. For Haryana, Sumit Narwal took 5-69.

And so it has come to pass.Lou Vincent will be required to overcome the sadly predictable ineffectiveness of New Zealand’s opening partnership on the tour of Australia.New Zealand was always going to be fighting history on this point, and it has succumbed to that history.This situation is of no particular joy to anyone.Last summer when it seemed Mark Richardson and Matthew Bell had provided an answer to New Zealand cricket’s open and weeping sore, the opening positions, there was genuine hope that this was going to be a partnership that would genuinely flourish.It wasn’t an instant fix however, and was something that needed to be worked on.There was no reason why, when the New Zealand team was named to tour Australia, that the pressure the selectors were keen to place on the middle-order by selecting Vincent, could not be extended to the vulnerable opening position.The selectors decided not to include Matthew Horne and they said at that time that if there were problems at the top of the order, Vincent would be the player asked to do the job.As stated earlier the situation is of no joy.It is difficult for the replaced Bell who demanded inclusion in the New Zealand team by virtue of the sheer weight of runs he scored in domestic cricket last year. But with his change of batting stance in the earlier stages of this year’s tour and his reversion to the style he used last year for the second Test, he is clearly a player down on his confidence.His replacement Vincent may have opened the batting at earlier stages in his career, but the point remains that the niche he has carved for himself has been in the middle-order and that is what attracted the national selectors to consider his case.His selection achieved its aim of putting the pressure on the middle-order, who have generally had a much more consistent series, but it is sad that his Test debut will not be in that comfort zone.Napoleon’s claim that those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them are borne out here as yet another tour of Australia throws up the problems experienced by opening batsmen.While Vincent’s competitive nature is such that he could well make a good fist of the job required, and he has had some experience opening, it has not been on a consistent level by comparison with his middle-order batting.Had Horne been on the tour, perhaps in place of one of the bowlers, the openers might well have felt the pressure of competition for their places with the resultant application competition usually provides.Now the situation facing the selectors when they return to New Zealand for the National Bank Series against Bangladesh is whether they recall Bell, or give Horne the chance against the lesser Bangladesh attack with a view to ensuring this problem is not a factor in New Zealand’s series against England.

An important win at the toss, an impressive all-round performance with bat and ball, and poor batting from its opponents, has helped Tasmania into a commanding position after just one day’s play of the Pura Cup clash against Victoria here in Hobart today.By stumps, the Tigers were within a single run of claiming first innings points, having reached 3/139 on the back of a fine unbeaten half century from Michael Dighton (63*), in response to the visitors’ paltry total of 139 all out.The Tasmanians claimed their first win at the toss of their entire first-class season, and used it to maximum effect on a Bellerive Oval pitch that supplied its traditional early assistance to the seamers. Though it wasn’t a wholly auspicious start, with many deliveries bowled too wide on either side of the wicket, the locals made up for lost ground in the middle session, sealing a collapse which saw nine of their opponents’ wickets tumble for the addition of just 79 runs.The Victorians had been 1/60 only 14 minutes before lunch but completely lost their way with a mixture of poor strokes and lapses in judgement. Pacemen Damien Wright (3/53) and David Saker (2/30) were the destroyers-in-chief, though debutant left arm spinner Xavier Doherty (2/23) was also impressive in his first outing, perhaps never more so than when his very first touch at the elite level brought the run out of Jason Arnberger (1) with a brilliant one handed pick-up at mid wicket and direct hit at the bowler’s end.Doherty went from hero at that moment to villain within 40 minutes when he grassed a regulation catch as Matthew Elliott (29) drove to him at mid off with his score at 22. And then back to a starring status again when he took the last two wickets to fall with flighted deliveries that deceived a pair of Victorian tailenders.Only Elliott and Matthew Mott (30) genuinely stood firm for Victoria.A disciplined Victorian attack hit back quickly when it dismissed Jamie Cox (2) padding up and followed it with the wickets of an aggressive Scott Mason (30), also ostensibly trapped in front without playing an authentic stroke, and Shane Watson (4) to a feathered hook down the leg side.But Dighton, together with a patient Daniel Marsh (28*), defied the visitors in an unbroken 54-run liaison. His play was near-flawless on a pitch still offering significant seam movement.The news simply went from bad to worse for the visitors. Key bowler Damien Fleming (1/15) tore his hamstring in just his sixth over and looks like doing no more bowling in the match. Colin Miller, forced to substitute for him, didn’t look best pleased by events either after being made twelfth man at the outset of what proved a dismal day for the Bushrangers.

The Victorian Bushrangers today included Damien Fleming in a squad of 13 for Sunday’s ING Cup clash with the Western Warriors at the MCG. The match will be Fleming’s first since straining a hamstring during Tasmania’s first innings of the Pura Cup match at Bellerive Oval two weeks ago.BUSHRANGERSMatthew Elliott (c), Brad Hodge (vc), Rob Bartlett, Darren Berry, Simon Dart, Damien Fleming, Ian Harvey, Shane Harwood, Ian Hewett, Michael Klinger, Michael Lewis, Jon Moss, Cameron White

The last time a Queensland team played a one-day match in Hobart, it suffered a crushing loss that effectively ended the state’s limited-overs season. Today, circumstances were reversed as the Bulls’ 76-run walloping of Tasmania served as the springboard for a likely appearance in the ING Cup Final this summer.The Bulls lost the toss, suffered a middle order collapse, and were under-strength – with their captain unavailable and three other top-line players missing.They also registered no more than a moderate-looking total of 8/203 upon being invited to bat first here at the Bellerive Oval.Yet they never seemed under threat once new ball bowlers Joe Dawes (3/26) and James Hopes (1/16) had each made incisions at the start of a flimsy Tasmanian reply. Ashley Noffke (4/32), backing up a valuable unbeaten 21 with the bat, then guaranteed the home team’s demise by wrecking its middle order with skilful pace bowling.Impressively, the visitors didn’t seem perturbed by the absence of national representatives Andy Bichel, Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden and captain Stuart Law – at home for the birth of his son. The loss of paceman Michael Kasprowicz, who left the field after feeling slight soreness in a hamstring, was easily overcome as well.Young all-rounder – and former Queensland junior – Shane Watson (53) offered the illusion of a Tasmanian revival with an accomplished innings amid crisis. With errors being committed all around him, though, there was little he could do to help avert a slide that saw seven wickets fall for the addition of just 65 runs.”It probably wasn’t the sort of total we were after with the bat but ‘Joey’ (Dawes) and ‘Hopesey’ started us off brilliantly and the rest of us were lucky to get a few wickets in the middle,” said Noffke in the wake of a win that gave the Bulls maximum points and a vital five-point buffer at the head of the Cup standings.”We came down here (wanting) to concentrate on the basics of the one-day game. We did that well and it was great to come out of it with a bonus point.”No matter what position we’re in, we believe that we can win. That we’ll get ourselves out of a bad position. It’s all about belief and trusting our ability.”It’s a superb position for us to be in (on the table) now but we still want to win every game we go into obviously.”With only one win from 11 previous outings this summer, the odds were arguably stacked against Tasmania from the start. They lengthened when Brendan Nash (63) and Jimmy Maher (31) joined in a composed opening stand of 62 after the latter, in his temporary role as skipper, had experienced defeat at the toss.The match tightened as the Tasmanian bowlers lured a succession of middle order batsmen into over-ambitious strokes. Only an intelligent unbroken liaison of 40 for the ninth wicket between Noffke and Nathan Hauritz (18*) quelled the Tasmanians’ determined fightback.But the gulf in the two teams’ confidence and self-belief was re-defined almost as soon as the Tasmanians began the chase.On a pitch that captain Jamie Cox later described as being over-generous to the bowlers, eight of the Tigers’ top nine batsmen added further complexity to the task by falling to the strokes of millionaires.”We’re playing terribly; simple errors are turning into catastrophes,” lamented Cox after the match.”We’re embarrassed, disappointed and upset.”My head’s a bit of a muddle (after that) but we’ve just got to figure out a way forward.”Openers Michael Di Venuto (6) and Michael Dighton (1) offered catching practice to Maher at second slip. Cox (15) drove a catch straight to mid off; Sean Clingeleffer (0) spooned another to cover; Shaun Young (4) heaved across the line; and Daniel Marsh (8), Scott Kremerskothen (4) and Graeme Cunningham (2) all chased deliveries they would have been well advised to leave alone.It was a tame display – to add to a rapidly swelling collection of them this season for the last-placed Tigers.They continued to prove that the limited-overs game is not easy when confidence is low and when the next win seems a mile away.Though they only had to look across a passage way, to the opposite dressing room, to note that reversals can sometimes come in a hurry.

A defiant NSW put a dent in Western Australia’s ambition of making the Pura Cup final by digging in for a thrilling draw at the WACA Ground today.The Blues were outplayed for the entire match but the pesky duo of Mark Higgs and Nathan Bracken (8) survived 56 minutes to help foil the Warriors’ plans.Bracken fell in the third last over leg before to Brad Hogg (1-49) but Higgs (18no) and Stuart Clark (0no) were able to negotiate the final 14 balls.Hogg thought he had Higgs with the third last ball which just scraped over the off stump.The result left the Warriors in third place on the Pura Cup table on 18 points. Queensland leads with 28 then South Australia has 20 with fourth-placed Tasmania(16) and Victoria (12) currently battling it out at the MCG.NSW finished 9-311, some 95 runs short of its victory target, but remained anchored to the bottom of the standings, and winless in the four-day game sinceNovember.A three-hour plus stand between Michael Bevan (72) and Michael Clarke (81) earlier looked like leading the Blues to safety but three wickets in eight balls around tea turned the game WA’s way.Part-time bowler Marcus North (1-30) had Bevan caught on the long on boundary by Hogg after the left-hander strained his hamstring running a second in theprevious over.And Clarke fell lbw to Kade Harvey (2-36) in the next over but not before he’d reinforced his position as one of the hottest prospects in Australian cricket with an effortless display.Team officials didn’t expect Bevan’s hamstring strain to be a problem ahead of Sunday’s ING Cup final against Queensland at the Gabba.Brett Van Deinsen (0), who is carrying a back injury, lasted just four balls after the interval before Harvey trapped him in front for his second wicket.Shane Lee (28) and Graeme Rummans (12) both fell chasing quick runs after it became a tempting option with 151 needed off 23 overs and five wickets in hand.Don Nash made an entertaining 24 before Brad Williams (3-78) had him caught behind for his third scalp of the innings.But after losing the eighth wicket the Blues dug in for the draw.The Warriors earlier looked like running through the Blues line-up with openers Grant Lambert (11) and wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin (41) back in thepavilion within the opening hour.Haddin threw away an enterprising start by continuing to sky the ball through cover and was caught by Chris Rogers to hand Jo Angel (2-74) his 400th first-class wicket for Western Australia.

Northern Districts ended the first day of their sixth-round State Championship match with the advantage over the hosts, having elected to bat on an even green Eden Park Outer Oval pitch and finishing with a satisfying 301 for six.The Northern score was built on the back of, first, a controlled 85-run partnership by James Marshall (55) and Michael Parlane (31) after the first-over departure of Matthew Hart and, second, a superbly constructed 73 from the all-rounder Scott Styris batting at number four.Styris applied a judicious leave, a solid defence and a brutal demolition of anything loose, in the process hitting the leg spinner Brooke Walker out of the attack after just two overs.On a pitch that was offering a little movement off the seam, his departure at 225/5 might have signalled difficulties. Instead the Auckland bowlers – Chris Drum excepted – failed to apply pressure and first Grant Bradburn (44) and then Robbie Hart (27 not out) and Joseph Yovich (18 not out) ensured Northern ended the day in a position from which they could dictate proceedings.Drum ended with two for 61 from 21 overs. Richard Morgan, his opening partner, failed to find a consistent line. He ended with one for 52 from 23, figures that flattered through the number of balls the batsmen did not need to play.Sanjeewa Silva, the Sri Lankan medium pacer playing his first first-class match in New Zealand, ended with two for 55 from 19 – more consistent in line than Morgan but also consistently too far outside off to trouble the batsmen. He also contributed eight no-balls to the total.In fact the total of 16 no-balls and three wides added to Auckland’s bowling woes, not least because they went 25 minutes past the scheduled close.Northern will start the second day intending to build on a solid base; Auckland will be seeking to find a tighter line to cut short their oppositions’ progress.

Remarkable as it might appear, Australia took the result but England took heart from the last session of the fourth Test. Needing just 99 to win on the fifth morning, Australia lost five wickets in reaching the target with moments of stirring batting, intense excitement, umpiring controversy and, yes, heroic efforts from England’s two bowlers.If England had been disappointed by their failure to take wickets at the close of the fourth day, they had to wait no time at all for success at the start of the fifth. Matthew Hayden hooked at a short ball from Andrew Caddick and substitute fielder Alex Tudor took the catch.While Justin Langer was content to settle in after that blow, Ricky Ponting took the attack to England. He went for his considerable array of strokes from the off and had hit three fours and a six as he raced to 30 from 35 balls taking full toll off bowling that was a little too short. Having said that, it was a short ball from Steve Harmison to which Ponting played something of a half-hearted pull that touched the glove on the way through to James Foster.Three balls later, Harmison produced a beauty to Damien Martyn that took a faint outside edge on its way through to Foster and suddenly Australia were 58 for three. They needed only another 49 runs to win, but there was still time for drama.It came in the 12th over of the morning, bowled by Harmison to Steve Waugh who had four unconvincing runs to his name at the time. The fifth ball climbed past the outside edge and went through to Foster who looked inquiringly but said nothing. Marcus Trescothick at first slip raised his arms, but there was no more by way of an appeal until the fielders saw a replay on the big screen. Then Foster appealed, but umpire Dave Orchard said not out.Next ball, Waugh drove off the back foot low into the covers where Hussain clutched the ball and threw it up in a celebration that was only cut short when he noticed that Orchard had signalled a no ball. Waugh did not notice and had to be called back when well on his way to the pavilion. He returned to crash the last ball of the over back past the bowler to the boundary.After some more uncomfortable moments, Waugh tried to leave a ball from Caddick that looped off the glove wide of Mark Butcher at second slip who took off to hold a spectacular catch. Four balls later, Langer was hit on the pad by Caddick, everyone went up and Russell Tiffin pointed his forefinger to the sky. Langer out for a calm 24, but a replay showed that the ball had pitched outside leg stump.It was extraordinary entertainment, especially bearing in mind the fact that England had just two fit fast bowlers. Both Caddick and Harmison gave their all but Australia had the depth of batting to reach their objective. There was still time for a few moments of excitement before Gilchrist hit the winning runs and for once in the series there was a real contest.It took a long time in coming and the result was as expected, but at last England have something positive to remember as they go to Sydney for the final Test. Australia needed their steadiest nerve to head north with the chance of a whitewash still very much on the cards.

Pakistan wicket-keeper Rashid Latif celebrated his inclusion in the World Cup squad by snapping up four catches as Allied Bank Limited (ABL) dominated the opening day’s play in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Group-II match against Karachi Whites.After being sent bat by Rashid, the ABL skipper, Karachi Whites failed to capitalised on a solid start provided by openers Agha Sabir and Maisam Hasnain on a placid track at the National Stadium.The reigning champions eventually capitulated for 195 in their first innings with former Test pacer Aqib Javed taking four for 51.The bankers then reached 70 for two in 14 overs at stumps with Bilal Asad (39) and night-watchman Arshad Khan (3) at the crease.Play was held up for 36 minutes in the first session by poor light after the match started in overcast conditions. But the time lost was covered up after tea in bright sunshine.Skipper Maisam and Sabir did quite well and almost survived the opening session against the pace trio of Aqib Javed, Tanvir Ahmed and Ata-ur-Rehman.Aqib struck on the stroke of lunch when he induced Sabir (27) to edge a delivery to Rashid with the total on 61. Soon after the break, Aqib trapped Wasim Naeem in front for four.Maisam also perished when he fell to off-spin of Arshad for 31.Asim Kamal, the dusky left-hander, batted doggedly for 147 minutes to top-score with a 108-ball 32.In between, Mohammad Masroor played some spanking strokes to score 27 off 38 balls before he was magnificently held by Rashid, diving low to right in front of first slip. Two balls later in the same over, Tanvir clean bowled Fahadullah for a duck. Thereafter, wickets fell at regular intervals. Aqib was ably assisted by by Tanvir who captured three for 53 and Ata, another ex-Test man, two for 45.ScoreboardKARACHI WHITES (1st Innings):Agha Sabir c Rashid b Aqib 27Maisam Hasnain c Wajahat b Arshad 31Wasim Naeem lbw b Aqib 4Asim Kamal c Rashid b Ata 32M. Masroor c Rashid b Tanvir 27Fahadullah b Tanvir 0Amin-ur-Rehman lbw b Tanvir 15Tahir Khan c Ata b Aqib 15Rizwan Saeed lbw b Ata 13Owais Athar not out 1Nasir Khan c Rashid b Aqib 5EXTRAS (B-4, LB-9, W-1, NB-11) 25TOTAL (all out, 57.3 overs) 195FALL OF WKTS: 1-61, 2-67, 3-81, 4-120, 5-120, 6-152, 7-167,8-181, 9-189.BOWLING: Aqib Javed 17.3-3-51-4 (5nb); Tanvir Ahmed 18-4-53-3;Ata-ur-Rehman 12-3-45-2 (6nb, 1w); Arshad Khan 10-2-33-1.ALLIED BANK (1st Innings):Usman Tariq lbw b Owais 5Bilal Asad not out 39Wajahatullah Wasti b Rizwan 16Arshad Khan not out 3EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2, NB-3) 7TOTAL (for two wkts, 14 overs) 70FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-65.TO BAT: Naved Latif, Ijaz Ahmed Jr, Aamir Hanif, Rashid Latif,Tanvir Ahmed, Ata-ur-Rehman, Aqib Javed.BOWLING (to-date): Nasir Khan 6-0-26-0 (2w);Owais Athar 6-0-24-1 (1nb); Rizwan Saeed 2-0-18-1 (2nb).Summarised scores of other Group-II matches:*At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan:PAK PWD 270-6 (Afsar Nawaz 116 not out,Riaz Shaikh 88 not out; Azhar Abbas 4-73) v MULTAN.*Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur:BAHAWALPUR 241 (Bilal Rana 65, Hasnain Raza 43, Maqsood Akbar 32, Ahsan Raza 31; Rizwan Ahmed 6-88, Athar Laeeq 4-58) v DADU.