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The national team returned home on 22 March after a month-long tour of India where they played two Tests and three one-dayers. Captain Stuart Carlisle reviews the tour.In the First Test we were in good positions in the first innings but we lost far too many wickets in the middle. I thought we bowled relatively tightly, especially in the second innings, but at the end of the day in the First Test they basically outplayed us and deserved to win that match.The Second Test: I feel that we were very unfortunate, very unlucky. I think it could have certainly gone our way but it didn’t. The great thing about the SecondTest is that we put up a very good fight, especially in the second innings. We had them at 116 for six, where they needed six more runs and we could have had them 116 for seven. One of their batsmen couldn’t bat as well so they could have been eight down and we could have snatched a victory.Our batting in the second innings was a bit disappointing. We should have got, I think, another 40 runs and we should certainly have won that Test but the reason was that the pitch had broken very badly and it was turning a lot and bouncing. They had two world-class spinners so it was very difficult to bat in the fifth day and hard to face both Harbhajan and Kumble.With at least 40 more runs I guarantee we could have won. We knew that even with 120 runs we had a chance of winning.There were some positive individual performances. Dion Ebrahim batted really well and he got a good 90. Andy Flower – it’s good to have him back to form, and he had 90 as well, and of course Raymond Price. We had asked for him to come to Sri Lanka but he was unable to do that, so I am really glad that he really showed a lot of promise as a genuine spinner. He took five or six wickets and played very well. He had world-class batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar in a bit of trouble, showing great promise for us.We had just one spinner, Price, who took ten of the 20 Indian wickets to fall in the two matches, while India had two spinners, Harbhajan and Kumble, who took 28 of the 37 Zimbabwean wickets and I have absolutely no doubt that if we had two spinners we would have done better. But it’s not our fault or the selectors’ fault at all because the other spinners we have were all injured, like Brian Murphy. Paul Strang had just resigned for his own reasons, so we only had part-time spinners. That’s why it’s important that we start looking for some really good spinners to back up Raymond Price because whenever we go to the subcontinent there is always a lot of turn.In future if we get another spinner to go on those tours it will definitely make a great difference to our performance. What was also pleasing from the Test series was that our fielding improved tremendously.The one-day series:The first match: of course, who can forget the incredible innings of Douglas Marillier? That was a very innovative innings and I think we were in a very good position early on in that match. We were 185 for three with good innings from Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell who had a good partnership. I got into a 50-run partnership as well and then we suddenly lost about five wickets from 190 to 220. Dougie pulled us out with a tremendous innings and that was really important as we went one-nil up.The second match: Geoff Marsh and I told the guys that it was good to be confident but not to be over-confident or complacent. But I don’t know whether it was nerves from the bowlers, but they bowled 35 extras and that was inexcusable. That made a difference between us chasing between 290 and 320.Once again our batters came out. Travis Friend did really well, Alistair had really good knocks in the first three matches and was consistent. We were on track but, once again, chasing seven or eight, or even nine to ten an over from as early as the 40th over is always going to be quite a hard task for the batters.The third game: Douggie Hondo had a fantastic game. It’s good to have him in the team. He just kept things very simple and the wickets came to him. And then that good batting partnership between Grant Flower and Alistair as well to make sure that we got close to that 190 and winning by six wickets. Being two-one up in the series was really good.Andy Flower was injured and, although young Charles Coventry would have been the natural replacement, we instead settled for Douggie Hondo because in the previous game we had conceded 35 extras. As captain I wanted an extra bowler and so we pushed for Douggie to play. Also we thought that the players up front likeAlistair, Grant and myself were good enough players to take the pressure to bat and get runs, and we settled for an extra bowler as opposed to an extra batsman.The second thing about Charles was that we already have a young side as it is. There are a lot of youngsters coming through and the selectors had decided to send another youngster. I told him during the tour, "You are welcome to the side. It’s good to have you. I hope you learn a lot because that’s the primary objective. You learn just as much off the field as on the field when you are on tour as a young guy. If you get a game that will be fantastic, but if you don’t, don’t worry aboutit.’ He is only 18.Unfortunately in Zimbabwe young players sometimes they bypass the first-class structure and some guys don’t actually play in the leagues but are just put in the national team, which I don’t think is the right thing for a young person. I think it can actually damage a young person’s career if he is pushed too fast.Then the fourth game. Again it was a pretty good game for both sides and it was very close for both teams. Some said maybe we should have had 15 or 20 more runs but I still think that 240 was a competitive score. Yuvraj Singh has been in tremendous form on the domestic scene and that’s why he came back to the Indian side. He batted really well and stole the game from us, otherwise we could have had won the series three-one.And the fifth game. Again our bowlers just completely lost it and I don’t know whether it was pressure or inexperience. It was sad but the good thing is that the guys showed a lot of fighting spirit and our batting was always consistent throughout the series.Before this series, like in Sri Lanka, we had been managing 190, 200, 210, but now we are getting 240, 260, 270, so the batting is getting better and better with time. The fielding has been excellent and the bowling has been really good in spells but just inconsistent.So overall I think in the one-dayers we are still struggling with the opening position with Alistair and we have to work on that. Alistair had three good knocks but he needs to get bigger scores. He needs to start getting hundreds now because I think he is now maturing as a player and he is experienced enough to start doing it.Andy Flower of course has been really innovative. He can win matches from any position. I think Grant Flower batted really well in the middle order. TatendaTaibu I thought he kept very well. He’s got good energy. I know he had one or two mistakes but then it is very difficult to keep in India. I think he had some great catches and that one great stumping.Travis Friend surprisingly did better with the bat and struggled a bit with his bowling but he is also young and coming up. After the tour I think we are basically heading forward in the right direction.

Sri Lanka’s three-day warm-up game with the British Universities petered out into a draw at Wantage Road on Saturday as the tourists opted for some batting practice in their second innings.Sri Lanka’s seamers started to show signs of adjustment to English conditions – although Chaminda Vaas failed to take a wicket during the day – and British Universities were bowled out 102 in arrears.Ishara Amerasinghe, the only uncapped player in the tour party, who came into the squad as cover for the injured Dilhara Fernando, had the best figures of three for 46.Charitha Fernando, favourite to partner Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa at Lords, and Eric Upashanta proved expensive, but picked up two wickets each after the Universities had resumed on 37 for twoSri Lanka then faced 24 overs in their second innings, establishing a trivial 230-run lead before stumps were taken, with Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya both scoring fifties, their first runs of the tour.The tourists have two further matches against Durham and Middlesex before the first Test starts at Lord’s on 16 May.

Easton & Martyr Worthy sit proudly on top of Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 after ending United Services’ unbeaten start.They bowled the Portsmouth side out for 130 at Cockets Mead before a half-century by Dave Birch completed an accomplished six-wicket victory.The Easton bowles dominated the afternoon session after Mark Toogood (21) and James Robson (26) had eased US to 50-2.US lost five middle-order wickets for 38 runs, with Francis Gill, Trevor Yates, and the Green brothers all taking a brace of wickets.Kelson Brooks had Easton worried at 12-2, but Birch’s half-century and a key 38 not out from Shaun Green took the undefeated Winchester side home.Enigmatic Lymington caught the Hampshire Academy side on a Sports Ground “turner” and celebrated a 27-run Premier Division 2 win over the county hopefuls.Spin trio Glyn Treagus (4-17), Aaron Heal (2-33) and Danny Peacock (2-37) reduced the Academy from a threatening 98-2 to 146 all out on a drying surface.Laurie Prittipaul (44) and David Wheeler (37) had previously eased the Academy to within striking distance of Lymington’s 173-9.But after Prittipaul had been brilliantly caught at slip by the diving Ben Craft, the youngsters crumbled in the difficult conditions.Peacock (63) and Ben Craft (46) had earlier repaired an initial double strike by James Schofield (2-13) to take Lymington to 114-2 before three-wicket David Griffiths (3-41) created inroads and knock the Linnets score off course.Sussex pace bowler Billy Taylor helped Winchester KS to their first win – a thumping 111-run success against Trojans at Stoneham Lane – but Chris Wheeler was the winners’ hero.Wheeler smashed six 6s and six fours in a blistering 88 which helped WKS reach 202-7. Martin Taylor (3-11), Billy Taylor (3-14) and Andy Pryce (3-35) bowled Trojans out for 91.Sparsholt’s visit to Rowledge was cut to 25 overs due to pre-match rain – but that was sufficient time for Tim Richings (65), Rob Savage(36) and Ollie Kelly (32) to post a useful 166-5 for the visitors.Jeff Anning (50) carried Rowledge to 80-1, but Andy Lang (4-28) and Ian Ellis (3-35) ripped through the middle-order to leave Rowledge 117-8.Hampshire’s Jason Laney struck a classy 90 as Hungerford reached 197-8 (Nick Wilton 32) before pegging Old Tauntonians to a gallant 192-9 (Max Smith 79).

West Indies has recalled fast bowler Darren Powell from the A-Team’s tour ofEngland and added him to the squad for the opening Test of two in the 2002Cable & Wireless Series against New Zealand, starting at Bridgetown’sKensington Oval on Friday.Powell is expected in Bridgetown on Wednesday and will be cover should any of the niggling injuries currently affecting the bowling staff of the teamprevent any one of them from playing in the Test.Leg-spin bowler Mahendra Nagamootoo and fast bowler Mervyn Dillon, who wassidelined with a back injury for Sunday’s thrilling limited-overs win over New Zealand in St. Vincent, were named as two changes to the squad that travelled on Monday from Kingstown.The 24-year-old Powell has never played Test or limited-overs internationalcricket, but gains recognition from the selection panel, chaired by former West Indies captain Sir Viv Richards, after he captured 25 wickets at 20.20 apiece in this year’s Busta Cricket Series for champions Jamaica.Nagamootoo returns to the side after being out of international cricket for the last two months recovering from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in April.He played in the opening Test of the 2002 series against India at the Bourda Oval in his native Guyana, but did not play in the second Test against theIndians at Port of Spain because of a leg injury.During the “down time” between the second and third Tests against the Indians, Nagamootoo suffered a number of injuries during the vehicular accident and was ruled out of the series.The second Test of the New Zealand series is to be contested at Grenada’s Queen’s Park Stadium, starting on June 29.Squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Brian Lara (vice captain), ShivnarineChanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Chris Gayle, RyanHinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Darren Powell, AdamSanford, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

The first finals of the Somerset Year 6 Girls Kwik Cricket competition were held at Millfield Prep School on Friday involving Martock, Ash, Ilchester and Kingsmoor (Bawdrip) Primary Schools.At the end of the day Martock won the final, beating Kingsmoor School, and both now go forward to represent Somerset in the south west regional finals that are taking place on July 15th at Kings College in Taunton.

Inzamam-ul-Haq’s massive innings of 329 recently at Lahore also set a new highest individual innings record, previously held by Javed Miandad – 280 not out against India at Hyderabad (P) in the 1982-83 series. However, Hanif Mohammad’s Pakistan record in away Tests and for that matter in all Tests has remained intact for the last 44 years. ‘Little Master’ Hanif Mohammad had then stunned the world by sticking at the wicket at Bridgetown, Barbados for 970 minutes and scoring 337 runs against the West Indies in 1957-58.A study how the highest individual innings for Pakistan has progressed in both, home and away Tests in 50 years is presented below:

Six Barbadians have been named in an All-Star 14-man squad following the conclusion of the West Indies Under-19 youth cricket championships.The squad was announced by chairman of youth selectors, Clyde Butts, at the tournament’s awards dinner and presentation ceremony on Saturday night at King’s House, the official residence of the Governor-General.Among the six Bajans is opening batsman Martin Nurse, who also won the trophy for emerging as the leading run-scorer in the three-day version of the championships won by Barbados.He is joined by captain Kenroy Williams, fellow batsmen Kirk Edwards and Ryan Wiggins, off-spinner Jason Smith and fast bowler Corey Edwards.Nurse passed 50 three times in the competition en route to 334 runs, while Williams, Wiggins and Edwards all scored centuries and Smith was the team’s top wicket-taker with 25 scalps.Pride of place at the awards ceremony went to Trinidad and Tobago fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, who walked away with three trophies, including the Most Valuable Player award for his record 45 wickets, which included a best-ever innings haul of ten wickets for six runs.The 14: Corey Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Martin Nurse, Jason Smith, Ryan Wiggins, Kenroy Williams (Barbados); Shawn Findlay, Xavier Marshall Krishmar Santokie, Jerome Taylor (Jamaica); Ravi Rampaul (Trinidad and Tobago) Zaheer Mohammed (Guyana); Gareth Matthew (Leeward Islands); Liam Sebastian (Windward Islands).

Matthew Elliott doesn’t believe he has played a better one-day innings than the unbeaten 128 which carried Yorkshire to a six-wicket win in the C&G Trophy final at Lord’s.”I would have to say that is probably the best I have ever played in one-day cricket,” said the Australian left-hander.”I think the measure of a player is how well you can do in the second innings of a one-day match and I was very pleased the way I kept my head.””I had some great support from Anthony McGrath. He used the crease and played some good shots against the spinners and gave me a breather when I was struggling a little in the 90s.””To be honest, I harbour World Cup ambitions,” he added. “I have felt like I have played really well in one-day cricket in the Australian summer. But at the moment I am not even in the (Australian) third XI. That means I am not in the top 30 players in the country.”The defeated Somerset captain, Tasmanian Jamie Cox, was quick to heap praise on the Victorian.”I think he is one of two or three of the outstanding Australian batsman of my generation,” Cox said. “I don’t know why he has not played more Test cricket. If a guy like that has not played Test cricket for three years it says a lotabout our cricket.”I have seen a lot of him – but I have never seen him play as well as that. We bowled well in the first 15 overs. But he did not give us the sniff of a chance – and if they don’t let you in there is not much you can do.”Not surprisingly the victorious Yorkshire captain, Richard Blakey, was in full agreement. “He has been an absolute run machine for us. To come out of an off season and play like he has done is unbelievable – and today is the icing on the cake.”

Brian Lara flew out of Colombo yesterday morning, fit enough to endure the 11 hours flight to London on his way back to Trinidad but still unavailable for the imminent West Indies tour of India.The star left-handed batsman was stricken during his Man-Of-The-Match 111 against Kenya during the ICC Champions Trophy match nine days ago and hospitalised with an illness still shrouded in mystery.It was identified in an official media statement by the doctor who first examined him as suspected hepatitis, an infection of the liver. It was a public supposition that so annoyed Lara he reportedly sought legal advice.He subsequently told team manager Ricky Skerritt to make no further statements on his condition and Skerritt has since adhered strictly to the directive.The manager’s last release on Lara’s condition, on September 19, stated: Brian has been advised by medical specialists in Colombo that he will miss the West Indies immediate cricketing commitments. That will rule him out of the Indian tour and I have advised the West Indies selectors that a replacement will be needed for that tour.It ended: Out of respect for Brian’s privacy, the West Indies team manager will make no further public comment on this matter.Only when Lara was spotted at the Chinese restaurant in the Hilton Hotel here Tuesday night was it known he had been discharged from the ultra-modern Apollo Hospital here.Contacted yesterday morning, Skerritt confirmed that Lara had left a few hours earlier. He would make no further comment.An initial Associated Press report out of Colombo quoted hospital sources as stating Lara had contracted hepitatis, without naming the strain, and that he would remain in hospital for two weeks to be followed by four weeks’ rest.The fact that he left hospital after a week and was well enough to undertake such a long journey indicates that his condition is not as serious as feared.But that is only an assumption and might be construed as a breach of Lara’s privacy.

Runako Morton has been banned for a year after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute by the disciplinary committee of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the board said yesterday.In keeping with its promise to tackle isssues of discipline “head on”, the WICB was forced to apply sanctions on the temperamental Nevisian, who has on more than one occasion before found himself on the wrong side of the authorities.The 24-year-old has also been slapped with a fine resulting from charges of misconduct on the West Indies `A’ team’s summer tour of England and Canada.The suspension, with immediate effect, from all matches under the auspices of or involving the WICB, stemmed from Morton’s early departure from the West Indies team at the Champions Trophy series in Sri Lanka in September.In a release yesterday, the WICB said it was done under “false pretences, through methods to which the player has admitted, thereby bringing himself into disrepute”.”Morton must also seek and receive, as soon as is reasonably practicable, professional counselling as is necessary for him to correct the problems he is currently experiencing with requisite assistance coming from the WICB through the Leeward Islands Cricket Association,” the board said.At the end of the suspension period, Morton will have to submit to the WICB cogent evidence that he underwent the counselling and is fit to resume participating in WICB sanctioned matches.Morton was allowed to leave the Champions Trophy after informing West Indies team management that his grandmother had died.It has since been learnt that one of his grandmothers died 16 years ago, while the other is living in Antigua.Morton joined Barbadians Sulieman Benn and Tino Best in receiving a 10 per cent tour fee fine regarding matters of conduct and behaviour on the West Indies `A’ team’s tour.The trio was adjudged to have breached sections of the Code of Conduct.