Pakistan captain Waqar Younis and vice-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq willrepresent National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in the Patron’s Trophyfirst-class competition starting Sept 21.The two have agreed to play for NBP after being convinced by old palMushtaq Ahmad who will skipper the side.A NBP spokesman confirmed the participation of the two players, addingthat it would be a great honour for the establishment.”We were approached by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) if we couldaccommodate Waqar Younis and Inzamam-ul-Haq. The matter was taken tothe highest authorities who gave the thumbs up,” the spokesman said.Waqar and Inzamam are without any departments. However, it was notimmediately known at what financial package the two players willrepresent NBP.Squad: Mushtaq Ahmad (captain), Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, ImranNazir, Sajid Ali, Shahid Anwar, Mohammad Javed, Akhtar Sarfraz,Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Hanif-ur-Rehman(wicketkeeper), Imran Javed, Naeem Tayyab, Qaisar Abbas, Naumanullah,Aleem Moosa, Athar Laiq, Khalid Latif, Salman Butt, Aurangzeb Khan,Zafar Iqbal, Naeem Khan.Mohammad Jamil (manager) and Saeed Azad (coach) will be officials ofthe team.

Nashua Western Province star, middle order batsman, Ashwell Prince is set for a comeback this weekend when he represents the Western Province Bowl side against Natal Inland in a three day bowl match and a one day limited over match.Prince has not played competitive cricket since undergoing a shoulder operation in July. Last week he batted in the nets for the first time this season and although Western Province top the Supersport Series log, Prince is a vital cog in the one-day side and Western Province are hoping Prince has recovered and will be available for the full Standard Bank Cup Series that kicks off next week. Western Province start their Standard Bank Cup program against Easterns in Johannesburg on the 16 October. Western Province and Boland clash in their annual challenge encounter on Wednesday 14 October and if Prince comes through this weekend, unscathered, it is likely that he will play on the 14 October.Details of the Bowl match are as follows;

MEMORANDUM*********************MATCH  : NASHUA WP BOWL vs KWAZULU NATAL INLANDCOMPETITION : UCB BOWL COMPETITIONVENUE  : NEWLANDS CRICKET GROUNDDATE  : 9 – 12 NOVEMBER 2001NASHUA WP BOWL SQUAD:WARREN WYNGARDRYAN MARONASHWELL PRINCEJONATHAN MCLEANSEAN ACKERMAN (CAPT)RENIER MUNNIKWESLEY EULEYMARC DE STADLERQUINTON FRIENDPAUL HARRISANTONIO MULLINSGARETH BERGRYAN TEN DOESCATESIRAAZ ABRAHAMSNASHUA WP BOWL MANAGER/COACH:PETER KIRSTENNASHUA WP BOWL PRACTICE SESSION:NETS – TUESDAY 6 NOV  15H00  NEWLANDSWEDNESDAY 7 NOV  16H30  NEWLANDSTHURSDAY 8 NOV  16h30  NEWLANDSKWAZULU NATAL INLAND SQUAD:J. BULLOUGHM. MARILLIERM. HAMPSON (CAPT)M. BADATT. ESSACKA. VAN VUURENM. NDLOVUS. DORASAMYA. NDOVELAP. LANDMANP. ANDERSONL. ADENDORFFG. STEWARTKWAZULU NATAL INLAND MANAGER/COACH:B. ROBERTSHOURS OF PLAYStart of Play   : 10h00Morning Session          : 10h00 – 12h10Lunch    : 12h10 – 12h50Afternoon Session  : 12h50 – 15h00Tea    : 15h00 – 15h20Late afternoon session         : 15h20 – 17h30UMPIRESMR M. JAMIESONMR K. VAN TONDERMR R. MACINTOSH  – 3RD UMPIRE

Queensland’s batsmen survived on the Gabba tightrope for long enough today to edge their noses in front of New South Wales during a difficult start to the Pura Cup match.The Bulls were closing on first innings points when stumps was called on a long first day, which had the batsmen second-guessing on a Gabba wicket which regained some of its old zest.It was green and the skies were grey, leaving New South Wales to scratch together 146 in its first innings before the Bulls reached 4-109 when bad light stopped play.Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but there should still be time for a result if the Gabba maintains the tricks which prompted Bulls captain Stuart Law to ask the Blues to bat.Frontline Blues batsmen Michael Slater (15) and Michael Bevan (three) were among the casualties, but the conditions had nothing to do with their departures against a Queensland attack underpinned by professional quick Michael Kasprowicz (5-44).Slater tried to pull Kasprowicz in the fifth over of the morning, edging one of seven catches to wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe.Only Bevan knows what he tried to do to the first ball from medium-pacer Andrew Symonds (3-30), but the result was an off-balanced looping catch to cover.Symonds struck again with his next ball, claiming Michael Clarke for nought to leave NSW 3-38.”I’ve played on worse wickets here but I’m not about to say anything bad about the batsmen who go out there and play their shots,” Lee said.”Bevo rarely plays a shot like that and he looked like he was going to bat for a long time but that shot was very uncharacteristic and sometimes that happens.”It was a wicket where you never really felt ‘in’ as a batsmen and where bowlers always thought they were a chance.”But this is going to be a six-point game so if we can get a couple of nicks tomorrow morning then we’re really in with a chance.”The Blues got plenty of nicks after a 74-minute rain delay today, but every one of them flew over or short of a frustrated slips cordon.Paceman Stuart Clark (3-31) showed plenty of anguish as he was edged to third man, but he was clearly the best NSW bowler, claiming Jimmy Maher (10), JerryCassell (12) and Martin Love (12).Clinton Perren (37 not out) diced with the slips early before finding his feet for one of the more convincing efforts of the day, outside the usual hasty knock of Symonds.His 23 from 27 balls ended with a run out, slipping as he turned back, to give the Blues a vital wicket before the umpires offered the light to the Bulls batsmen, despite the blazing Gabba floodlights.”The red ball does get tough to see and it’s different from the white ball, but we would have loved to keep going with them four-down,” Lee said.

West Indies women’s tour of Sri Lanka has been abandoned due to safety fearsin the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.But Pakistan have come to the rescue of the Women’s Cricket Association ofSri Lanka when they agreed to replace the West Indies at short notice.The tour schedule remains the same with three One-Day Internationals and oneTest to be played in Colombo.Pakistan will arrive on 18 January.

As sure as night follows day the dismissal of Brian Lara singled the end forWest Indies as they slipped towards their third consecutive defeat to giveSri Lanka their first ever series whitewash in their 19 year Test history atthe Sinhalese Sports Club on Monday.Caribbean hopes, faint as they were, had largely rested on the Trinididianman of the series, who has performed with astonishing consistency throughoutthe series, scoring 688 runs, the second highest aggregate ever in athree-Test series after Graham Gooch’s 752 against India in 1990/1.But although he scored 130, his third hundred of the series and second ofthe match, he eventually fell – to widespread shock – when Nuwan Zoysaslipped an inswinging yorker through his defenses.Thereafter, it was just a matter of time before the inevitable, as ChamindaVaas scythed his way through the West Indies in a supremely skillfulexhibition of reverse swing bowling on a bone dry pitch offering fastbowlers scant assistance.West Indies, who had started the day on 145 for two, were bowled out for262, as they lost five wickets for 18 runs after the dismissal of Lara. SriLanka’s openers knocked off the 26 runs needed for victory in 5.3 overs.Vaas finished with career best figures of seven for 71 in the innings and 14for 191 in the match, which were the second best figures by a Sri Lankanafter the Muttiah Muralitharan’s 16-220 at the Oval in 1998.Vaas bowled heroically throughout much of the morning, taking the other keywicket of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who also ended the series with an average inexcess of 50, with a full-length outswinger that veered away sharply to takethe edge of his bat, to end a stubborn 141 run partnership (161 for three).Carl Hooper – who may be now pondering the wisdom of coming of retirement asWest Indies losing run overseas extended to 21 losses in 25 games -supported Lara for 39 minutes before he missed Muttiah Muralitharan’sstraighter ball and was stumped (203 for three).Marlon Samuels became one of five tourists to be dismissed for a duck whenhe propped forward and was caught at bat-pad by Mahela Jayawardene secondball.Then, just before lunch, Zoysa, who had replaced Vaas, showed just how hardthe Sri Lankan’s have worked on reverse swing as he unlocked Lara’s defensewith a 70-over old ball.Mervyn Dillon and Ridley Jacobs survived for 24 minutes after the interval,despite incessant appealing, before Dillon was caught at mid-off off theleading edge (258 for seven).The innings quickly folded as only two further runs were added: DinanathRamnarine had failed to score a single run all series and it was not much ofa surprise when he was trapped lbw without scoring, whilst Pedro Collins andMarlon Black were also trapped lbw in Vaas’s next over.The beaming smiles on the faces of the Sri Lankan players said it all. Eightmonths ago they had watched glumly from the same balcony, as the Barmy Armycheered Nasser Hussain’s team for their unexpected victory. But since thenthe team has discovered greater self-confidence and have won six out oftheir last seven games.Sri Lanka now move into an equal third place with England in the ICC TestChampionship. It’s not quite like winning the world cup, but it’s SanathJayasuriya’s greatest moment of his captaincy.For President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka’s success couldn’t have come at a better time, with just two days remaining till the generalelection, and she has organised an impromptu banquet to say thank-you to theplayers for boosting the spirits of the nation. It is only deserved.

Zimbabwean captain Stuart Carlisle tried to look on the bright side after his team crashed to an innings defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening Janashakthi National Test on Monday but admitted that they needed to think long and hard at how to counter Muttiah Muralitharan in the second Test.Zimabwe lost by an innings and 166 runs in four days as Sri Lanka extended a winning run to six consecutive Test matches – a record for a sub-continental team."There were stages where we showed a bit of fight today but on the whole it was a disappointing Test match," Carlisle said afterwards during a post match downpour that came twenty minutes late for the tourists."But we still had some positives. The batsmen got 20s and 30s and did all the hard work. Its just that they didn’t go on to make the big scores, which we have to do if we are going to save games."He added: "I wouldn’t say the morale is so down. Every one knows that we were unlucky and that certain things went against us. I don’t want to make excuses but if decisions don’t go your way, the game can change."There are still two Tests and there is plenty of scope for improvement. The guys have got to sit down and have a look at their games."Muralitharan took eight wickets on a pitch that offered him little assistance. In Kandy, where the next match starts on Friday, the master off-spinner will be looking forward to greater bounce and pace in the wicket."We have got to have a re-think on how to play him. He is obviously a world-class bowler and very difficult to score off. We played him pretty well in stages, especially Travis Friend today."From a team point to view we will have another game plan and then each and every individual has to work out how to best play him. Travis (Friend) showed that the trick is to relax at the wicket, use your pad, be patient and work him for ones and twos."Sri Lankan captain praised the all-round efforts of his side and hoped on a personal note that he would soon covert a half-century into a big hundred."Credit to should go to all the members of the team," he said. "It has been a terrific team performance starting against India in August."It was difficult to get them out today because the wicket was so good for batting. The bowlers had to work really hard."Special praise for Muralitharan, once again: "Even Murali found it hard to get wickets on this pitch. But he works so hard – every time you give him the ball he tries his best. His attitude makes me really happy."And for Kumar Sangakkara, the man of the match: " It is not an easy job to keep wicket and bat in the top order. As a batsman he has been really patient and occupied the crease well. We only hope he can continue to perform like that for the country."Personally, I am disappointed with myself for getting out in the 80s and 90s all the time. When you get set you must go on and get a big one.He now hopes that the team can win the next two matches too: "We are trying our best to get a clean sweep, but to do so we have to continue performing at this high level."

The XXXX Queensland Bulls’ “department of youth” tonight welcomed itslatest admission with the elevation of 19-year-old left-armer pacebowler Scott Brant to the team for the Pura Cup match starting tomorrowin Adelaide.Brant was rushed into the twelve following a foot injury to allrounderJames Hopes at training in Adelaide today.The Bond University sports management student was called out of alecture and made the dash from the Gold Coast to Brisbane to catch thelast flight to Adelaide.Hopes will stay on in Adelaide to receive treatment and remains incontention to play for the Bulls in their vital ING Cup match againstthe Southern Redbacks on Sunday.The Zimbabwean-born Brant, who turned 19 on Australia Day, was set tomake his 2nd XI debut for the Queensland Academy of Sport later thismonth in Canberra before the SOS came from Adelaide.He bowled an impressive spell for Norths in the Final of the K&RPlumbing One Day competition on Sunday, taking 3-34 from 10 oversagainst Valley.A member of the Australian Under-19 train-on squad, Brant was unable toplay in the World Youth Cup won by Australia last week as he had not metthe ICC residential qualifications to represent his adopted country.Brant has played for the Australia Post Queensland Under-19 team for thepast two season after he and his mother, brother and two sisters movedto Brisbane from Zimbabwe three years ago.Brant is set to make his first class debut tomorrow if Bulls coachBennett King and captain Jimmy Maher opt to use him to fill the thirdpace bowling spot behind Joe Dawes and Ashley Noffke.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Southern Redbacks, Pura Cup, Adelaide Oval,Wed-Sat: Jimmy Maher (c), Jerry Cassell, Martin Love, Brendan Nash,Andrew Symonds, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, Nathan Hauritz, AshleyNoffke, Scott Brant, Joe Dawes, Matthew Anderson (12th man to be named).Southern Redbacks: Greg Blewett (Capt) Nathan Adcock, Chris Davies,David Fitzgerald, Ben Higgins, Ben Johnson, Brad Young, Mike Smith,Graham Manou, Peter McIntyre, Paul Rofe, Mark Harrity (12th man to benamed).

Brian Lara was included in the West Indies’ World Cup 15 only after he was given the medical all-clear by a London specialist last week following three months’ recuperation from the illness that struck him down during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in September.West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Reverend Wes Hall, disclosed Friday he had received the relevant reports from the London doctor who conducted tests on Lara late last month at the board’s behest and expense and instructed the selectors that he was available."Brian has done everything we have asked of him and it is good news that he’s now been cleared to start back playing again," Hall said.He added that he had been in touch with both Lara and the specialist on the matter "on a frequent basis"."Brian is very keen to get back playing," Hall said. "I think he realises that this may be his last chance in a World Cup and he wants to make his mark."Lara’s long history of keeping selectors guessing over his availability prompted suspicion over his latest condition and the lengthy silence that has accompanied it.It was fuelled by his participation in the Barbados Open golf tournament in mid-November and his absence from Trinidad and Tobago’s trial matches for the forthcoming first-class season.It brought an accusation from long-serving board president Alloy Lequay that he had turned his back on Trinidad and Tobago cricket and sceptical media comment.And on Friday, respected veteran cricket writer Tony Becca advised selectors to "bite the bullet" and drop Lara from the squad."In the interest of West Indies cricket, he (Lara) should be out," Becca wrote in his column in the Jamaica Daily Gleaner on Friday, a day before the team was named."There comes a time in the life of every man when he has to take a stand, and for the West Indies selectors the time has come," Becca wrote, calling into question Lara’s commitment to playing for the regional side."As a batsman Lara certainly, when he is fit and ready, is one of the best if not the best batsman in the world, and there is no question that in the West Indies’ bid to win the World Cup he would be an asset to the team," Becca said."Cricket, however, is a team game. No one is bigger than the game, and as brilliant as he has been, as great as he is, Lara is not indispensable."On top of that, he has shown little respect, not only for the game, but for its administrators and for the people of the West Indies."No one with respect for its administrators would treat them (Trinidad selectors) as he has done; and in a region where cricket means so much to the people, no one with respect for the people would treat West Indies cricket as he has done," Becca added."There are other reasons, however, why Lara should not be selected, and although it was due to injury, they include the fact that he has been out of action for some time, that he has not been training and practising, and that no one knows if he is fit enough, physically and mentally, to represent the West Indies or if he is in good form."Becca said the selectors had failed to act in the past despite grumbling about Lara’s attitude and its effect on the team."Hopefully, this set of selectors will stand up and be counted and say to Lara, enough is enough – win, lose or draw," he wrote.RecoveredHall noted that Lara could not return to full-time play until his doctor was certain he was sufficiently recovered from the illness, initially reported as "suspected hepatitis" but never officially identified.He said Lara had started training and practising over the past week under the "watchful eye" of West Indies selector Joey Carew.West Indies captain Carl Hooper had surgery on both knees in Adelaide, Australia, earlier this month. Fast bowler Merv Dillon came home following the tour of India in November with a back strain and Ryan Hinds with a foot injury."Carl wouldn’t be able to play right now but is on the way to recovery and should be back to full fitness well in time for the start of the World Cup (February 9)," Hall said. "Merv and young Hinds have been playing in trial matches."The squad of 15, along with five stand-by players, will participate in a preparatory two-week camp in Antigua prior to departure for South Africa February 1."I expect this will be our best-prepared team for any World Cup," Hall said. "We’ve done well in the One-Day game this year and I’m very optimistic over their chances."

Zimbabwe found themselves on 260/6 at the close of play of the first day of the second Test, a situation that may have seemed a letdown during a prolific partnership between Andy Flower and Dion Ebrahim but one that they would have settled for when they started batting on a pitch holding much promise of degeneration.The highlight of the day was a brilliant knock of 92 from Zimbabwe’s most reliable scorer – Flower – at a ground where, before this Test, he averaged more than 200 – the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Ebrahim, at the end of the day, was still fighting on with a hard-earned knock of 82; giving him company was Travis Friend on seven.Earlier in the morning, the big news was that of VVS Laxman being dropped in favour of Virender Sehwag. Zimbabwe too made one change: Ebrahim coming in for Gavin Rennie. Stuart Carlisle won the toss and did not hesitate to bat first on a track that has cracks running the length of it. The Zimbabwe skipper himself did not have much luck though; Javagal Srinath bowled him for a duck off the fourth ball of the morning.The other opening batsman, Trevor Gripper (8), was out-thought by Zaheer Khan. After letting the batsman pull a short-pitched ball for four, he followed up with one that seamed away, and Gripper duly nicked it through to Rahul Dravid at first slip.Zimbabwe were in dire straits at the time with just 11 runs on the board and two wickets down. The old firm of Flower and Alistair Campbell then proceeded to add 54 runs for the third wicket, steadying the boat against some purposeful bowling by Zaheer Khan and Srinath.Campbell (15) was caught by Rahul Dravid off the bowling of Zaheer Khan, brought on to bowl his second spell half an hour before lunch by skipper Sourav Ganguly. Ebrahim then joined Andy Flower, and the two batsmen went about repairing the faltering Zimbabwean innings.Flower, contrary to his displays in Nagpur, seemed in wonderful touch, striking the ball cleanly to all parts of the field. Going into this Test, Flower had an average of 104.60 against India. The more interesting statistic, though, was his record at the Feroz Shah Kotla. In four innings here before the start of this Test, Flower had scores of 115, 62*, 183* and 70, averaging a whopping 215.Today again he looked like getting to yet another century as he smashed 15 boundaries and a massive six over mid-wicket off Anil Kumble before falling eight runs short of the three-figure mark. He was caught bat-pad at forward short leg by Shiv Sunder das off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh after making 92 runs off 154 balls.The fourth-wicket partnership between Andy Flower and Ebrahim yielded 116 valuable runs. Grant Flower replaced his brother in the middle and had an early reprieve; Deep Dasgupta missed an easy chance, letting the ball go right between his legs after the younger Flower had edged a `doosra’ from Harbhajan Singh.Dasgupta, in fact, had a disastrous day in the field, and it would be very difficult for this youngster to keep his place in the team as a wicket-keeper. Both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were palpably frustrated by Dasgupta’s dismal glove-work.Grant Flower had made 30 runs and added 65 runs for the fifth wicket with Ebrahim before he was run out by a direct hit from Kumble. Flower sacrificed his wicket after Ebrahim called for a needless run; Kumble, fielding off his own bowling, had all three stumps to aim at, and he did not miss, throwing down the stumps at the striker’s end.Heath Streak came in to bat and immediately dragged a ball from Kumble onto his stumps without even opening his account. The dismissal of the former Zimbabwe skipper left the visitors in trouble at 246/6. Friend, as he showed at Nagpur, is no mug with the bat, and he played on bravely against the double spin attack of Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to remain unbeaten on seven off 38 balls.Zimbabwe will look to Ebrahim to carry on the good work tomorrow to put up a decent first-innings score. The hard-working diminutive batsman is unbeaten on 82 off 183 balls and has so far struck nine boundaries. Ebrahim has looked at ease especially against the spinners, using his feet to good effect.As for India, Zaheer Khan was easily the pick of the bowlers with the figures of 15-3-44-2. Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Srinath picked up one wicket each on a track that is breaking up even on the first day.