Never expect the expected in India. As the one-day international series gets under way in front of some 100,000 people in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, tomorrow, there is no knowing how it will turn out.Even the Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly has said that England will be faced with “an astonishing experience” once they enter the field or, as it will seem to the tourists, the bear-pit of Eden Gardens. The noise, the atmosphere, is like nothing to be encountered anywhere in the rest of the cricketing world.Ganguly, who will be playing in front of his home, adoring crowd, believes that it is impossible to prepare for such an experience.”You won’t be able to hear yourself think because the crowd is so loud. It is something they will never have experienced before.”It becomes a bit of a problem captaining in one of these games because the other players cannot hear you. You have to rely on hand signals, and it’s the same when you’re batting.”Ganguly has been under pressure himself because of a lack of runs and criticism of his captaincy as India struggled to hold onto their lead in the last two Tests of the recently-concluded series. But one-day cricket is a different matter and he is expected to be back at the top of the order to open the innings with Sachin Tendulkar.”I will open with Sachin as usual,” he said. “We have been together for six years, and I think our style of batting means we complement each other.”Sachin is a class act. I sometimes just enjoy being down the other end and watching him bat and I think we rotate the strike very well.”Meanwhile, Ganguly’s opposite number, Nasser Hussain, sees the game and the series as part of the continuing build-up to, eventually, the World Cup in South Africa in 2003. Like a football manager who is keen to play down his side’s chances he says, “We will only learn from the experience. This is why we play the game, big games like this, and we’re all lookingforward to it immensely.”I’d rather be playing in front of a big crowd like this than in front of one man and a dog on a Monday in Chelmsford. Those with strong characters can come through tomorrow and show people that this is what they play the game for.”You have to use it as a positive and the Indian crowd during the Test series were very appreciative of good cricket. They are a knowledgeable crowd and they enjoy their cricket and we have no problems with it.Hussain, born in India himself, is not adverse at putting some pressure back on the home side in the war of words that always precede encounters like these. “There is also a lot of pressure on the Indian team. They have a few young players coming in, they are expecting to win this game in front of a big crowd and we’ve got to make sure we put them under the cosh in front of their home crowd.”The England camp admits that it is struggling to match other countries when it comes to experience of one-day international cricket. There are only four players in this squad who have played in excess of 50 such matches – Hussain himself, Darren Gough, Nick Knight and Graham Thorpe. This is an opportunity to test out not only the techniques of some of the younger players, but also their temperament.”This side is not playing catch-up, this side is starting on its road,” explained Hussain. “It’s got some very young players and it has opportunities that maybe previous sides haven’t had and it’s up to them to take those opportunities.”By that I mean not only learning from your victories but learning from your defeats, learning from the opposition, learning about pressure situations and learning about playing under lights.”I fully believe this side will do well like we did in the Test matches, but that will come from heart and ticker tomorrow night. In a pressure situation with a lot of people watching it will be all about what they have inwardly rather than how many games and what talent they have.”Before they can bother about the mental and cricketing preparation, England have some last-minute physical matters to consider. Marcus Trescothick in particular suffered during yesterday’s warm-up game with a ‘flu-like virus, and Paul Collingwood is another who is not exactly in prime health after going down with a stomach bug.Both, however, were able to train under the Eden Gardens lights in the final practice session and England will probably be prepared to go into the game with some players who might not be 100 per cent fit, but fit enough.It is one of those things that happens in this part of the world, even with modern medical science on hand. It could well be that Trescothick and Collingwood wake up feeling great – and four other members of the team are struck down.Rather than never expecting the expected, perhaps everyone should expect the unexpected. How, for instance, could anyone have forecast that there would be an attempt by a local to prevent the match taking place at all?Kolkata resident, Mr. Subhas Dutta, made a plea in the High Court to the effect that to play under floodlights was a “malicious waste of electricity” while West Bengal suffers with an energy crisis. But the application for an injunction was thrown out. Thankfully – especially for Mr. Dutta, one suspects, in this cricket-crazy city – the game is on.

New Zealand gave it a go, but without a steady top order contribution it was always going to struggle to score the 223 needed to beat England and prevent the National Bank Series being tied up 2-2 going in Tuesday’s last match.Two rain showers, one of which halted play for an hour and a quarter, denied New Zealand the chance to repeat the shutdown of England’s batting they managed in the first match in Christchurch and, it has to be said, denied England the chance to have a late-order fling with wickets in hand.As a result, New Zealand may be forced to rejuvenate their squad for the last game. They need a bowler who can contribute for 10 overs of accurate bowling and while Ian Butler offered speed, that is not likely to be a significant factor on the outstanding pitch that will be on offer at Carisbrook on Tuesday.It could be that James Franklin will be the man New Zealand look to in place of Butler while Brendon McCullum, who allowed the situation to get the better of him in Auckland tonight may just hold on as 12th man.It was a mixed up day in a lot of ways, the rain interruptions cut short a highly-productive England innings. They recovered well after losing Marcus Trescothick for a duck off the third ball but what might have been the crucial moment in the innings was the senseless run out of Nick Knight for 40.The situation was entirely of his own doing as Graham Thorpe had played a shot square to Daryl Tuffey and always seemed to be aware that it was only worth a single, but when he turned at the bowler’s end, he found Knight almost back at the same end, and Tuffey’s through to Daniel Vettori was thrown on to Chris Nevin with Knight already taking off his gloves and heading for the pavilion.However, the incident was not as costly as it might have been because Michael Vaughan did take great advantage of his first chance for a bat in the series and he played a priceless inings of 59 before he too was run out. Apparently something of a bad luck merchant, Vaughan was out when he played a ball back to Vettori, advanced a little down the pitch only to see Vettori rifle a return back to the stumps.Vaughan turned and looked to make his ground, but as he did the ball broke the wickets at about the same time as he dropped his bat and he was out for 59 off 53 balls. He and Thorpe put on 89 off 87 balls in a highly-effective partnership.His misfortune with the bat was compounded after he took two catches in the field and then, when looking for a third, but eventually realising he could only field the ball, he fell on the turf and in the process he injured his shoulder and had to leave the field. He will have a scan tomorrow and is doubtful for the Tuesday match, but not for the rest of the tour.The second rain shower meant Thorpe was denied 10 overs in which to cart the bowling with wickets in hand.The score of 193/6 was more than enough for England to apply the screws as under the Duckworth/Lewis system, New Zealand were required to score 223 in the 40 overs.Drop-in wickets are proving great for New Zealand’s opponents. Firstly Pakistan in last summer’s Test match at Eden Park, and now England here. Perhaps ignorance really is bliss and New Zealand players are reading too much into the pitches.The New Zealanders had to contend with a fine opening spell from both Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard. The brace of maidens they bowled at the start of the innings seemed to put the pressure on New Zealand even more, and they did not respond well.Nevin edged a ball moving across him to Trescothick on eight while McCullum showed bad judgment in attempting to hit out and was easily caught by Vaughan off a skied chance for five.Stephen Fleming hit straight to Vaughan at point for eight while Craig McMillan was caught by Knight off Andrew Flintoff for 10. When Lou Vincent went for seven, the batting had been decimated, the chance for victory gone and 38 runs being the contribution of five of the top six batsmen in the side.Nathan Astle scored 23 but at nowhere near his usual pace and it was left to Chris Cairns (58 off 56 balls), Chris Harris (23 off 28) and Andre Adams (26 off 14) to keep fans from walking out the gate.As it was Flintoff came back with Gough and they finished off the innings, Flintoff taking four for 17 from seven overs, his best One-Day International figures, and Gough two for 33. Hoggard had earlier taken two for 27.Hoggard applied the pressure well to the top order while Flintoff did a fine mopping up job.The stage has been set for a tremendous finale to the series. The crowd of 36,278 had plenty of entertainment. England are on a roll, New Zealand have to do what they do best, scrap all the way back from the position they are now in, and Dunedin awaits with the perfect finale on their back door step.For all concerned it is now a case of Carisbrook or bust.

Ronnie Irani was keen to accentuate the positives after England’s six-wicket defeat to a Sir Donald Bradman XI at Bowral today.Needing 280 to win, the home side were led to the target by the former Australia batsman Mark Waugh, who made an unbeaten century as England were beaten with 21 balls to spare.England’s innings was built around a maiden international hundred from Owais Shah and a rapid 53 from Adam Hollioake, which boosted the innings in its latter stages.Irani, who was leading England for the first time, said: “The honour was great and more than anything I believe we have got some talent in the one-day set-up.Adam Hollioake has come in there and I thought he did extremely well, he’snot been with us all winter but it didn’t show.”It’s a small ground but the way he hit the ball cannot be taken away from him, he got the runs on the board. Owais Shah did well and it’s all about character at this level. And if you were picking on character then Adam Hollioake and these guys would be in your side.”That’s how I looked at it today, it was disappointing in that it was anotherEngland loss at this stage but there are a few guys back in Sydney who turnedthe Aussies over in the Test match and you have to look at the positives alittle. But I am not kidding myself, the result is disappointing.”Bradman XI captain Mark Waugh said his team had half an eye on the deteriorating weather in the early stages of the chase.”It looked very dark out the back so we wanted to make sure we had the rightscore at 25 overs,” said Waugh. “After that it was back to normal cricket and some fun.”(Bowral) has got a special feeling about it. Don Bradman played his cricket here and so there is that tradition about it and it’s a great little ground. I would love to see New South Wales play some ING Cup games here. It’s actually got that English village cricket theme about it.”

Any team containing both Flowers is virtually unbeatable in Zimbabwean cricket, certainly over the long haul. Midlands, if they had ever forgotten it, found out again to their cost at Kwekwe Sports Club, where they lost to Mashonaland, by eight wickets and with almost five overs to spare, after running up a total of over 300.Craig Wishart, with 121, led the way when Midlands batted first, finally turning useful small innings into something substantial. He received good support from the top order, with Terry Duffin scoring 28, Travis Friend 49 and Doug Marillier 18. After his departure Sean Ervine hit a lightning unbeaten fifty, scoring 54 off just 28 balls, and the final total was an imposing 306 for five.Grant Flower alone of the regular bowlers conceded less than five an over, but Mashonaland were handicapped by the loss of captain Brian Murphy, able to bowl only one over before injuring his hand.Midlands began their fielding spell well, dismissing both Mashonaland openers for just 31. But a match is never won until both Flowers had been dismissed, and Midlands were unable to remove either. Both hit unbeaten centuries, at better than a run a ball, and tore the bowling attack to ribbons in an unbroken partnership of 279. So dominant were they that they still had 28 balls to spare when the winning runs were scored.With Manicaland losing in Bulawayo, Mashonaland were crowned the inaugural Faithwear One-Day Series champions, winning five of their matches, against three each by Matabeleland and Manicaland.

Hampshire Under-19 captain Steven Snell has just returned from a two-week World Cricket Academy trip to Mumbai, where he was coached by Indian left-arm spin legend Bishen Bedi.Snell, 19, spent a gruelling fortnight in the nets at the Cricket Club of India, concentrating on improving his batting against spin and keeping wicket.”We had five or so former Indian Test cricketers coaching us and working with Bedi was quite phenominal,” Snell said.”We trained every morning and afternoon, and I did pretty well in the two games the WCA team won.”I got 36 off 29 balls against Bombay Gymkhana and managed a 33 not out against the Cricket Club of India.”Snell, who played in Havant’s ECB Southern Electric Premier League championship winning side last season, hopes his overall game will have benefitted when he returns for his second year on the MCC Young Cricketers staff at Lord’s.”I believe my game has improved by at least 20 per cent for the experience.”Playing on wickets that had so much spin was certainly an eye-opener,” he added.

SYDNEY, March 7 AAP – Steve Waugh, cricket’s patron saint of hopeless causes, today answered the prayers of the New South Wales’ faithful, scorned the “doomsday prophets” and heralded the new messiah in the form of Michael Clarke.With NSW needing an outright win in the Pura Cup match against Queensland at the Sydney Cricket Ground to secure its first state final in almost a decade, Waugh and Clarke scored emphatic centuries to put the home side well in control.At stumps on day two, the Blues were 3-343 with Waugh not out on 107 and Clarke unbeaten on 106 after raising his ton from 87 balls in an even 100 minutes.With a lead of 255, seven wickets in hand and two days to play, NSW is primed for a win which looked implausible 24 hours earlier when it trailed on the first innings by 88 runs after being bowled out for 102 before dismissing Queensland for 190 in return.With Victoria grinding its way to first innings points against Western Australia to take the edge in the race for the final against the Bulls, the Blues know an outright win will be needed if they are to play their first final since winning the old Sheffield Shield in 1993-94.Things looked grim for that prospect when Michael Slater (4) went in the second over and when Waugh came in at 2-96, the score was effectively 2-8.”There was pressure on, we had to get something happening,” Waugh said.Waugh responded by hitting his first two balls to the boundary and his early strokes had an aura of irritation about them – as if he was swatting away a horde of annoying flies.But he soon settled down to play a typically grafting innings, making his century in three hours off 158 balls with 17 balls.”I’ve been hitting the ball well – all those doomsday prophets weren’t right were they, I’m still playing OK,” Waugh said, referring to those who were calling for his Test career to end earlier this summer.While he was playing “OK”, Waugh said Clarke was something else all together.”It was a great innings, outstanding, the people who were here today will remember that for a long time.”Someone in the crowd said `he’s the new Doug Walters’ and he’s probably not far away from that.”While Waugh’s 73rd first-class ton was desperately needed by his floundering team it was set in the shade by Clarke’s afternoon assault on the tiring and injury-depleted Bulls attack.Clarke’s half-century came off 56 balls, with six fours and a six and his second 50 took only 31 balls, many of his late boundaries coming after Michael Kasprowicz and Ashley Noffke had taken the new ball.Clarke, with fabulous aggression, deft footwork and a flashing blade pounded every bowler and at one stage earned a backhanded compliment from Kasprowicz, who mimicked a defensive shot – non-existent in Clarke’s repertoire today – after yet another good ball had been smote to the boundary.Clarke said he’d been nervous when he came out to bat, mainly because he’d made ducks in his previous two innings.”All I wanted to do was get off the mark,” he said.Clarke said Waugh gave him the green light to attack once NSW was in a strong position.”I asked Steve Waugh what he wanted me to do and he said “you’re hitting them well, keep going”.”I felt comfortable so I just went for my shots.”The twin centuries from the master and the apprentice give the Blues a strong chance for a win, with the dual wrist spin of first innings destroyers Stuart MacGill and Simon Katich likely to be dangerous when Queensland bats again.”We were always pretty optimistic we’d be in a good position at the end of the day,” Waugh said.”We batted terribly on the first day – they bowled well but that was as bad as we could possibly bat and we know that Queensland is going to bat last on a wicket that’s going to suit us.”

Somerset County Cricket Club held their press day at the County Ground in Taunton on a bright but rather chilly Friday morning.The main news of the morning was the announcement made by Andrew Caddick that he would retire from International One Day cricket, a decision that will be disappointing to those involved in the England camp.However whilst the decision to retire from the one-day scene by the thirty four year old probably came as no great surprise, the likely outcome is that he may well now be available on more occasions during the season to play for the CidermenAfter the decision was announced Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "Assuming that Andy Caddick is available for us during the triangular one day series an opening attack of Caddick, Nixon McLean and Richard Johnson is a mouth watering prospect. Back that up with the batting of new signing James Bryant and Neil Edwards who performed so well on the England Under 19’s tour to Australia and we are well equipped to achieve our overall goal which is to win a competition and get promoted."The coaches words were echoed by chief executive Peter Anderson who said: "Our aim this season is to get promotion and Andy Caddick’s decision to retire from One-Day internationals means that he will be available more for Somerset which is very good news for the county."Caddick’s England team-mate Marcus Trescothick was equally upbeat about Somerset’s chances this season. He said: "I’m hoping that we will get promotion in both leagues in 2003. With the players that we have at the club we’d expect to be in the top flight "New skipper Mike Burns was also in buoyant mood and told me: "The boys have all looked very impressive indeed over the last four days when we have been outside practicing on the grass. Aaron Laraman, who joined us in the winter from Middlesex has looked particularly good and I reckon that he will play for England in the next two or three years."New chairman Giles Clarke was in no doubt as to what he was looking forward to this season. "We have got a strong playing squad, membership is running at the same level as last year and we are expecting to be promoted in both competitions," he said.Meanwhile a few tickets still remain for the Appeal Year Opening Lunch that is taking place on Friday April 4th when former Somerset player and first class umpire Roy Palmer will be the guest speaker.The lunch is also being held to acknowledge the major contribution made to the club by former chairman Richard Parsons who stepped down just before Christmas after fourteen years of stewardship.The tickets are priced at £27.50 each and anybody who is interested should contact the main office at the County Ground on 01823 272946.Roy Palmer is one of well over five hundred players who have represented Somerset since they gained first class status in 1891, and the details of every single one of them has been recorded in a new book that is to be published in the very near future.The book which is entitled `Somerset County Cricket Club Players, Photographs and Statistics’ has been compiled by local author Eddie Lawrence, can be collected from the Somerset Cricket Museum by subscribers from the middle of April. The book will go on sale to the general public shortly after that date.All proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the Somerset Cricket Museum.

“Taj President. Call me anytime”, came the text message, minutes after I asked Hemang Badani if we could have a word before the Ranji Trophy final. With the big game starting only on May 4, Badani could have been at his Chennai home, putting his feet up, playing with his 10-month-old son Hrishit and enjoying a lazy May-day lunch. Instead, he was in Mumbai, impatient for the game to begin.You would expect Badani to be keen. The Wankhede Stadium has done more for him than for most Mumbai cricketers. It was here in 1999 that Badani first exhibited his hunger, and ability, to bat at the highest level. In a tense match that Tamil Nadu eventually lost, Badani drove, threaded and whipped his way to a career-best 162 in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. His captain, Robin Singh, made 183 and Tamil Nadu threatened to walk away with the game. Threats, however, don’t work when Sachin Tendulkar is around. Tendulkar played with passion and verve to carve out 233, and Tamil Nadu were beaten – by one man.This time around, though, there’s no Tendulkar to worry about – he’s away getting medical attention in America.”Even the last time,” says Badani, “we were so close to winning. It was always touch and go, even with Sachin [Tendulkar] batting so well. He stole the game away from us, but we did ourselves no favours with our fielding. He was dropped in the slips – a sitter – when he was just 34 and we also missed a few run-out chances late in the innings.””Even after all that, we were never too far away from winning. You know as well as I do that a few decisions went against us,” adds Badani with a rueful chuckle. Perhaps he is speaking of the time S Mahesh had Santosh Saxena trapped plumb in front, only to be denied by the umpire, when Mumbai still needed a run to take the all-important first-innings lead.But despite Tendulkar’s absence, there’s still plenty for this Tamil Nadu team to mull over. The brisk medium-pace of Ajit Agarkar and Avishkar Salvi, on a wicket that has been relaid recently, will ask a few questions of Badani and his team.”I’ve played with Ajit [Agarkar] since the Under-16 level and I know his game really well,” said Badani. “We first toured England together as teenagers for Star Cricket Club and we go back a long way. Salvi is another one to watch out for, with his height and the bounce he generates.””They’ll prepare a wicket that has something in it for the mediumpacers. Their best spinner is Sairaj [Bahutule] and he’ll be wondering how to bowl to all the left-handers in our side. So you would have to say that Agarkar and Salvi are the biggest threats. But we’re not scared, or worried about them,” a confident Badani says.You have to believe Badani when he says so. Despite being out of the Indian team in recent months, he has been discussed at every selection meeting. “The frustrating part about playing for India and then being dropped is the fact that you know you can perform at that level, and you still have to sit out. Whatever anyone might say, there’s a huge gap between playing domestic cricket and playing at the international level. You can make all the runs you want in domestic games but only when you make them at the highest level do you really know that you have it in you,” says Badani.Tendulkar certainly thought Badani had it in him. It was after that memorable 1999 Ranji semi-final that he marked Badani out for higher honours. “Sachin spoke to me after the game and told me one thing. You have a fantastic downswing and follow-through, he said. Whether you’re going through a bad patch or not, never change that. This will make all the difference at the highest level.”Badani will walk out to the middle on the fourth of May with those words in mind. “It could be a very big match for me. I feel this could be the best thing that happened to me – something that needed to happen. If I can make a hundred, and help Tamil Nadu win … ” he trails off. He doesn’t have to say more. You know what he means: this match could be the one that propels him back into the Indian team.

The Super Fours champions of 2003 will be decided on Saturday 21st June when the four teams meet at The Parks and Radley College, Oxford.Super Fours is the domestic competition for elite women cricketers, now in its second year, aimed to bridge the gap between domestic and international women’s cricket.Currently topping the Super Fours table by just one point are The Super Strikers, captained by England batsman, Claire Taylor (Berkshire). They will face The V Team at Radley College, who have yet to win a match in the competition.Title contenders The Knight Riders, skippered by England’s leading run-scorer Charlotte Edwards (Kent), will face The Braves who won the title in 2002 and are led by England Captain, Clare Connor (Sussex).With bonus points awarded for attacking run-scoring and economical bowling, the Knight Riders could still steal the title if they win and individuals perform at their best.Both matches start at 12 noon.Berkshire and England bowler Isa Guha (The Braves) has the most wickets in the competition, leading the table with 14. She is closely followed by England team-mates Lucy Pearson (Knight Riders/Staffordshire), Laura Spragg (Super Strikers / Yorkshire) and Clare Connor who all have 13.England all-rounder Laura Newton (Lancs) is leading the batting averages with 85 for The Super Strikers; with Edwards on 82 and Taylor 57.5 completing the top three.This final round of matches provides England selectors with their last opportunity to see those players in England contention face each-other.Full tables and statistics can be found at www.super4s.play-cricket.com

There is justifiable pomp and ceremony going on up in Durham at the moment as the raring-to-go Riverside revs up for its first taste of Test cricket. A special clock at Chester-le-Street has been counting down the seconds till the match starts – possibly with Durham’s own Steve Harmison bowling the first ball, if the fates conspire to get the toss right.That clock was set in motion 101 days before the match. Why 101? Well, it has been 101 years since England last tried a new Test ground. That was Bramall Lane, in Sheffield, which staged the third Test of the 1902 Ashes series. Australia won by 143 runs, with Clem Hill scoring the only century – and England never played there again. It’s unlikely that Chester-le-Street will be such a one-cap wonder.The 1903 Wisden intoned that the defeat was "a severe disaster for England", but observed: "The match – the first of its kind ever decided at Bramall Lane – naturally proved a strong attraction, but a mistake was made in fixing it for the latter part of the week, Monday being always the best day for public cricket at Sheffield."Nowadays the Sheffield public can’t see first-class cricket on any day of the week, as Bramall Lane cannot stage it any more. Even in 1902 it was primarily a football ground – Sheffield United’s – and in 1973 a stand was built across what was the square to make the ground a proper four-sided soccer stadium. In case you’re wondering why England played there anyway, it’s probably because Yorkshire’s headquarters were at Bramall Lane until they moved to Headingley in 1903. (That didn’t stop them playing a Test at Headingley in 1899, though.)In fact, in 1902 they liked the new-ground idea so much they tried it twice. Three weeks before the Bramall Lane game, England and Australia kicked off the Ashes series in the first match ever staged at Edgbaston. We have some idea of the arrangements for that game, because Rowland Ryder, the son of Warwickshire’s secretary at the time, wrote about it in his book Cricket Calling (Faber, 1995). Ryder recalled that his father had no assistant and no telephone. The only help in counting the gate receipts came from the groundsman, and they toiled till 3am to do it. Fortunately for the dedicated duo, Tests at the time were only scheduled to last three days.The backroom staff at Chester-le-Street will number rather more than the secretary and a groundsman-cum-cashier. But some of them will still be awake at 3am before the Riverside’s Big Day – especially if rain is threatened.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden CricInfo.