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The Eastern Province Jumbos went to the top ofthe Standard Bank Cup log with a thrilling six-run win over the Border Bearsat Buffalo Park on Wednesday night.It was a victory which looked for muchof the game as though it would go the other way, as Border appeared to havejudged their tough run-chase perfectly. Once again, though, their frailtyunder pressure eventually told.Chasing a daunting target of 261, Border appeared to have laid thefoundations for vicotory as they reached 228 for four, with less than arun-a-ball required over the closing overs. But a couple of dubious shots,an unlucky run out and Mornantau Hayward’s slower ball proved decisive forEP, as Border lost their last six wickets for just 22 runs.Three timesHayward picked up wickets with his well-disguised slower ball, although hesaved himself some acute embarrassment after putting down two caught andbowled chances in the same over.It was a waste of some fine batting higher up the order from openersLaden Gamiet and Ian Mitchell who saw off the impressive Mfuneko Ngam andMeyrick Pringle before taking apart the rest of the EP attack in a stand of85.Gamiet’s demise for 57 only cleared the stage for Craig Sugden whose 84looked to have put Border on the brink of victory. But when he was part of amiddle-order collapse which featured a duck for Mark Boucher, the gameturned decisively in EP’s favour.With seven runs needed off eight balls,Makhaya Ntini skied Hayward to bring down the curtain on a compelling game.Earlier, man-of-the-match Carl Bradfield struck a fine 91 as EP builtwhat turned out to be a winning total after being put into bat by theirhosts. That the score was eventually as imposing as it was was also theresponsibility of the veteran Dave Callaghan, who struck an unbeaten 37 offjust 17 balls as the overs ran out.Callaghan and Justin Kemp combined totake 19 off the penultimate over from the otherwise impeccable West Indianpaceman Vasbert Drakes.

Everton Weekes, the legendary West Indian batsman, believes Brian Lara should be reinstated as Windies skipper despite his two lean spells in charge.”I would think that Brian Lara would be the one to captain the side at this stage with his experience and so on,” Weekes told the Trinidad Express. “Frank Worrell was captain of the side when he was 36, 37 or even older and he is still accepted in the view of many as the best West Indies captain we’ve ever had.”And Brian Lara can do that chore I believe. He’s an intelligent player, he’s an intelligent person, and if I were the selectors, I would offer him the job. You’ve got be a thinking player to perform like he does.”Lara, 36, was West Indies captain twice before but was replaced as skipper earlier this year by Shivnarine Chanderpaul who has so far won one Test match and lost seven in 11 games. Lara has also fallen foul of the West Indies authorities in 2005 after sitting out last July’s tour to Sri Lanka as well as the first Test in South Africa in March after a row over sponsorship.Lara, who is the top run-maker in Test history with an aggregate of 11,187 runs at an average of 54.04, has hinted that he wants to play in the 2007 World Cup before he calls it a day.

Maurice Odumbe, Kenya’s former captain, has enlisted the services of one of Kenya’s top criminal lawyers as he attempts to prove his innocence in the case filed against him by the International Cricket Council. The inquiry into allegations of match-fixing is due to start in Nairobi on May 19, and will be presided over by Ahmed Ebrahim, a Zimbabwean judge.Ishan Kapila, who will defend Odumbe, is the son of Achhrro Kapila, who represented Jomo Kenyatta in a famous pre-independence trial in 1953, after he was accused by the British government of being one of the chief instigators in the Mau Mau freedom movement.The ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit will serve Odumbe the papers within the next week. He is alleged to have received payments from at least one Mumbai bookmaker in 2002, so that he could coerce his team-mates into underperforming in matches. If found guilty, Odumbe – who has been the face of Kenyan cricket, along with Steve Tikolo – faces a life ban.

Scorecard

Dan Marsh stood up at a crucial time to collect two first-innings points for Tasmania, who had to fight off a superb performance from Ryan Harris at Adelaide Oval. Harris captured a career-best 7 for 108, but his batting team-mates failed to offer the necessary help and they ended the third day on 6 for 196.The home team has a lead of 157 and the Tigers will be desperate to clean up the last four batsman on the final morning of what could be a tense tussle. Brett Geeves continued Tasmania’s dominance when he picked up the first three wickets, but the Redbacks recovered through useful contributions from Daniel Christian and Callum Ferguson.Christian was nearing his second half-century in consecutive games when he was caught by Marsh for 47 off Chris Duval, the former South Australia bowler. Ferguson reached his fifty but fell soon after when caught-and-bowled by Geeves for 54. The Redbacks’ troubles had already increased with the loss of Shane Deitz for 8, but Graham Manou, the captain, prevented any further damage and was 22 not out at stumps.Tasmania started the day at 5 for 228 and Marsh cautiously navigated them past the home team’s 344 with help from Tim Paine, who picked up 57. Paine fell to Harris 16 runs before the total was overhauled, but Marsh stayed until his off stump was taken by Harris.He was 109 and the century, which contained 11 fours from 192 balls, was the third of a fine season. Harris’ final wicket came when he bowled Geeves for 0 and he continued an excellent day by being 6 not out at the close.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Two magnificent innings by Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, and a late strike by Brett Lee, allowed Australia to loosen the stranglehold that South Africa had imposed on the third Test at Sydney, leaving the game intriguingly poised after three days. Ponting struck a glorious 120 while Gilchrist roared back to form with 86 to help Australia recover from 7 for 226 to 359. Then, Brett Lee struck in the last over of the day as South Africa closed on 1 for 4, an overall lead of 96.Eight wickets fell and 309 runs were scored in a day which produced some frenetic and compelling action despite a gloomy start, when an hour’s play was lost in the morning due to rain. Fortunes swung wildly too: resuming at a precarious 3 for 54, Australia took the honours for the first couple of hours, thanks primarily to a superb knock from Ricky Ponting, who became only the sixth batsman to score a century in his 100th Test. Then, South Africa fought back strongly just before tea, taking three wickets for four runs. A huge deficit seemed on the cards when Adam Gilchrist was joined by Brett Lee.Gilchrist’s start didn’t inspire much confidence either. He squirted a couple of edgy drives through gully, and it was only Graeme Smith’s strangely defensive strategy – there were fielders protecting the boundaries right from the start despite Gilchrist’s last eight innings fetching him a sum total of 105 – that allowed him to get over the early jitters. The start was entirely uncharacteristic, with Gilchrist’s first 25 runs coming off 60 balls, but there were signs – a sweetly struck off-drive, a well-timed pull – that the golden touch was gradually coming back.After Lee left, the ominous signs became full-fledged warning signals, as Gilchrist latched on with a flourish that has made him the most-feared batsman in Test cricket. The line and length of the balls made little difference to the outcome – fractionally short balls were flat-batted to the midwicket fence or carved to point with ferocious power, length balls were dismissed over long-off with a swagger and a sashay, and, just to show he wasn’t all about power, a deft upper-cut off Andre Nel over the slips left both batsman and bowler amused.For the South African bowlers, who had suffered at the hands of Mike Hussey at Melbourne, it was a case of déjà vu. Graeme Smith spread his fielders all over the park, yet the rate of boundaries only increased in frequency. And the bowler who fared the worst was the one with the most experience – Shaun Pollock’s 36 balls to him disappeared for 39 as Gilchrist smashed 66 from his last 48 balls. With MacGill swatting away fours at the other end in his 20-ball 29, the SCG crowd had plenty to cheer before the party ended with Nel nailing Gilchrist to return with richly deserved haul of four wickets.Gilchrist’s blitz overshadowed a classy century from Ponting, who ensured that the South African seam attack was on the back foot despite overcast conditions which should have favoured them. He began the day with a sumptuous drive wide of mid-on off Charl Langeveldt, and that set the tone for the day. Langeveldt bore the brunt of the onslaught: in his attempt to get the ball to swing he often pitched it up, and Ponting accepted the challenge, crunching drives through cover or crashing them down the ground. And when Langeveldt shortened the length, he was carved through point and then magnificently pulled over square leg for six.At the other end, Michael Hussey played second fiddle perfectly. In a rich vein of form so far this season, this was hardly his most fluent innings – he was extremely lucky to survive an lbw shout on 9 off Nel – but he hung in and helped Ponting add a crucial 130 for the fourth wicket. Hussey was finally done in by a straighter one from Johan Botha which gave him his first Test scalp. Ponting, then on 97, quite fittingly brought up his 27th Test century with his staple shot of the innings – a flick wide of mid-on, but soon after, the South Africans hit back.Ponting had been lucky to survive an lbw shout off Langeveldt when on 95, but his tendency to fall over and force straight deliveries through the on side finally proved to be his undoing as Jacques Kallis trapped him in front. On a day of iffy umpiring decisions, more of them followed soon – Andrew Symonds first survived a couple of close shouts, and then was sent on his way by Aleem Dar off a Nel yorker that was clearly sliding down the leg side. When Shane Warne fell first ball, Smith would have been eyeing a 200-run lead. However, Gilchrist cut that figure down drastically, and with Lee unleashing a super quick delivery to trap AB de Villiers in front, Australia will go into the fourth day with more hope than seemed likely.How they were outMike Hussey c Boucher b Botha 45 (4 for 184)
Ricky Ponting lbw b Kallis 120 (4 for 222)
Andrew Symonds lbw b Nel 12 (6 for 226)
Shane Warne c Boucher b Nel 0 (7 for 226)
Brett Lee c Smith b Kallis 17 (8 for 263)
Stuart MacGill c Nel b Pollock 29 (9 for 322)
Adam Gilchrist c Boucher b Nel 86 (all out 359)
South AfricaAB de Villiers lbw b Lee 1 (1 for 3)

Ten current and former Kenyan players have refused to meet representatives of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit in Nairobi next week, claiming that they haven’t been given enough notice.Martin Hawkins and Alan Peacock had been set to travel to Kenya on November 30 to speak to 15 members of the Kenyan side from 1999 and 2000, including team officials, over continuing allegations which stem from the banning of Maurice Odumbe in July.But Alan Kosgey, a laywer speaking on the players’ behalf, told reporters that his clients had “respectfully declined the summons due to the very short notice but they are happy to be interviewed at a future appropriate time.” Two of the ten are out of the country – Steve Tikolo is in Bangladesh and Collins Obuya in South Africa.”The rest have also said they need enough time to prepare for the exercise because they do not know the nature of investigations the officers will take.” The Kenyan board (KCA) is powerless to intervene as none of the ten has a contract with it. “They aren’t expected to sit around and wait for ICC summons,” Kosgey added. Sammy Obingo, the KCA’s general manager, said that Hawkins and Peacock would still visit but could only talk to “whoever is available.”The players who have declined the summonses are Tikolo, Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Obuya, Martin Suji, Tony Suji, Jimmy Kamande, Peter Ongondo, Josephat Ababu and Francis Otieno. Three others – Alpesh Vadher, Hitesh Modi and Brijal Patel – have not indicated that they would not be available, although Modi is in Mauritius on his honeymoon.

Scorecard
Points table

Shane Warne’s five wickets sparked a Victorian recovery as he and Matthew Hayden completed ideal warm-ups for the South Africa Test series. Queensland, who will seal a spot in the Pura Cup final if they win outright, were in perfect shape with a 153-run opening partnership between Hayden and Jimmy Maher before Warne upended the top order and they wobbled to 7 for 286.Warne added Maher (67), Martin Love (11) and Clinton Perren (7) in 28 balls before tea – each batsman was caught at slip by Cameron White – and he collected Hayden lbw after the break for 89. Hayden had scored only 38 at lunch, but he moved freely in the second session, hitting Warne for six to mid-on and finishing with 11 fours, and will head to South Africa next week in good touch for the opening Test at Cape Town on March 16.Hayden’s dismissal was immediately followed by the departure of James Hopes, who was caught and bowled by White, leaving Queensland flapping at 5 for 182. The second-placed Victoria, who want a victory to overtake their rivals at the top of the table, struck again with the wickets of Brendan Nash (25) and Chris Hartley (40) before stumps to conclude an impressive second half of the day. Warne was strong through 27 overs and was rewarded with 5 for 71, his first major haul for the Bushrangers in five years.

Saleem Mukuddem, the Bermuda allrounder, is one of three injured players to be missing from Bermuda’s training week in Trinidad.According to the Mukuddem, the lone highlight of an otherwise forgettable tour of Kenya last year, has suffered a lower-back injury and will stay in the country to undergo a CT scan. The other absentees are Stephen Outerbridge, the opening batsman and Stefan Kelly, Bermuda’s fast bowler, who have foot and thigh injuries respectively. All three players, however, are expected to be fit for the World Cricket League in Nairobi at the end of this month.The squad, now reduced to 14, are training in Trinidad to prepare for key battles later in the month. They return home on January 19 before heading straight back out to Kenya, where they play a warm-up match against Uganda on January 28.

Five months have now passed since a BCCI-appointed committee announced, after two-and-a-half hours of deliberation, that Greg Chappell was India’s new coach. The announcement ended the most farcical of recruitment processes and heralded the beginning of Sri Lanka’s World Cup planning. Sri Lanka, forced to take second picks after their wealthier neighbour, were able to secure their first-choice selection: Tom Moody. Everyone was happy.Since then, though, the two Australian coaches have faced starkly contrasting fortunes. Moody settled in swiftly, immediately winning the respect and confidence of the captain and players. As coaching honeymoons go, it could hardly have been more blissful: 13 wins in 14 matches and hardly a murmur of discontent (apart from the normal grumbling about the hiring of foreign coaches from certain jingoistic sections of the media). Sri Lanka are settled, happy and riding a wave of confidence.Chappell, meanwhile, was plunged into controversy. During his first tour, the Indian Oil Cup, the first murmurs of dissatisfaction leaked out as some players privately indicated unease with his love of theory. Then a damaging rift opened up with Sourav Ganguly during the Zimbabwe tour that followed. The Ganguly Issue, a spat played out in the full glare of the Indian and world media, openly divided the team and uncertainly now lingers over both Ganguly’s and Chappell’s futures. Ganguly’s timely tennis elbow created a convenient opportunity for the selectors to appoint Rahul Dravid as captain, easing the tension, but the road ahead still looks rocky.Chappell’s troublesome start has highlighted just how fortunate Moody was to inherit a united team with a strong leader. Marvan Atapattu’s selection as the captain of a fantasy World ODI XI was just recognition for a man who has drawn the team closer together and laid solid foundations for the future. Moody took over a team that was already sailing in the right direction. While there remain serious problems in Sri Lankan cricket – a bloated first-class structure, declining standards of school cricket, and a frequently short-sighted and unprofessional administration – the national team is in good health.Moody’s tenure has already brought visible improvements with some of the younger brigade – Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof and Upul Tharanga, in particular – progressing quickly. John Dyson, the previous coach, was strong on match preparation and opposition analysis but lacked the hands-on approach in the nets that Sri Lanka’s players are used to. Moody, in contrast, who has the advantage a close connection and deep understanding of the modern game, has an imposing aura at the training ground, controlling proceedings tightly and ramping up the intensity with his own participation.

Unlike Chappell, Moody’s approach is not cluttered with complex theories and philosophies. His ability to simplify the game, clearly pinpointing areas where technical changes will bring the greatest results, has greatly impressed the players. His communication skills, with the players and the media, are excellent. He appears laidback and relaxed, but he’s also firm, prepared to speak his mind, and is very professional.To the credit of the cricket board – notwithstanding recent confusion surrounding the future of physiotherapist CJ Clarke, who was first led to believe he would be taking over fitness training, his professional strength, before the board changed their minds out-of-the-blue without prior consultation with Moody or Clarke – Moody has also been allowed to build a strong team management set-up that has great expertise.For the first time an assistant coach, Warwickshire’s Trevor Penney, has been employed. The appointment has created a stir because the board was expected to employ a Sri Lankan coach – Rumesh Ratanayake and Roy Dias were the frontrunners – to gain experience. But Penney’s farsighted willingness to take a pay-cut from a position within the ECB Academy to join an international team made him the ideal candidate for the job.In addition, a new physiotherapist, another Australian called Tommy Simsek who was recommended by Alex Kontouri, Sri Lanka’s physiotherapist for seven years, has been drafted in and a mental-skills expert was available from Moody’s first training camp with the team. Just over a decade ago Sri Lanka didn’t even have a full-time coach but they now have a first-rate backroom team.But despite a successful start, Moody is well aware that the real journey starts now. Recent series wins against second-rate West Indies and Bangladesh sides merely provided a gentle introduction to an exhausting and tough year ahead. Sri Lanka’s performance in the Indian Oil Cup was superb, but everyone knows that they are a very powerful force at home. Overseas success is the Shangri-La that Moody is looking for.Sri Lanka’s record in India is poor, although this is partly because there have been so few visits since 1996, when they graduated as a global cricketing power. They have not won a single Test in 11 matches spread over five tours, the last of which was a drawn series in 1997-98, and they have won only six of the 19 ODIs they have played on Indian soil – two of which were in the 1996 World Cup. So while India appear there for the taking, Sri Lanka are under no illusions as to how difficult a tour like this could be.However, this new Sri Lankan team do now have the talent and resources to improve their record in India. Not only are the internal dynamics healthy and the team management strong, but new players have strengthened the line-up, especially Maharoof, who adds valuable batting depth to the one-day team as a fast-bowling allrounder, and Tharanga, who has slotted in impressively at the top of the order.The continuing rise of Kumar Sangakkara, the rediscovered confidence of Mahela Jayawardene, the growing maturity of Tillakaratne Dilshan, the continued consistency of Chaminda Vaas and the return of a revitalised Muttiah Muralitharan, all provide further reasons for confidence. The only slight concern has been the inconsistent form of Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in recent months, but their class is uncontested and it just a question of when they rediscover their best touch.Moody is wise enough to realise that honeymoons can’t last forever, but there is every chance it might last a little longer. Sri Lanka are in fine shape.

Robert Key has been named as captain of a strong England A side for their four-day match against the Sri Lankans at Worcester, as the preparations for the first Test at Lord’s on May 11 step up another gear.The fixture represents a radical departure from the established pattern for touring sides’ warm-ups. In the past, visiting teams would often face second-string county attacks with key players rested, but the ECB has rightly taken the view that a chance for their reserve players to take on international opposition should not be squandered.”This is the first opportunity an England A side has had to take on a touring side in this country,” said England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, “and it allows players who are currently on the fringe of the international arena to press for places in our Test and one-day sides.”The team includes six players who were selected for England’s winter tours: Alastair Cook, Alex Loudon, Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett and Owais Shah, together with Chris Tremlett, who had to withdraw from the Pakistan tour through injury. Key himself might have been called up in India had it not been for shoulder surgery, while Middlesex’s Ed Joyce was mentioned in several dispatches after a successful season in 2005. Surrey’s allrounder Rikki Clarke, meanwhile, played two Tests against Bangladesh in 2003-04.Perhaps the most intriguing selection, however, is that of Chris Read – England’s former wicketkeeper who has already scored two hundreds this season, one for Nottinghamshire v MCC in the season curtain-raiser at Lord’s, and another in the rain-ruined match against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge last week.Read, the best gloveman in the country, was axed from England’s Test side two years ago after Duncan Fletcher voiced concerns about his batting, but another good show here and he could yet find himself pushing for Geraint Jones’s Test place, which remains in jeopardy after another mixed winter.A pace attack of Plunkett, Mahmood and Tremlett represents a three-way shootout between the likely lads of the next generation, and Sri Lanka’s batsmen can expect a hostile reception when the match gets underway. For Tremlett, it will be an important chance to test his problematic knee, which held together successfully in the C&G victory over Ireland on Sunday.Alex Loudon, the forgotten man of England’s winter, gets another chance to push his credentials in a match situation, an especially timely opportunity given that England’s leading spinner, Ashley Giles, is unavailable at least until the arrival of Pakistan.Graveney confirmed that these contests are intended to become an integral part of the English season. “We also look forward to England A hosting Pakistan at Canterbury later in the summer,” he said. “[They] will become an important yardstick for the selectors in measuring how our best young players shape up against top quality opposition.”England A Robert Key (capt), Alastair Cook, Owais Shah, Ed Joyce, Ravi Bopara, Alex Loudon, Rikki Clarke, Chris Read, Liam Plunkett, Chris Tremlett, Sajid Mahmood, Coach: Peter Moores, ECB National Academy Director