Eagles 185 for 5 (Bosman 84*) beat Dolphins 181 for 5(Sugden 50, Klusener 63*) by 4 runs
ScorecardAfter losing the toss and being asked to bat first in front of 8,025spectators at Kingsmead, the Eagles smashed the highest total of the Standard Bank PRO20 Series. Thanks to Loots Bosman’s undefeated 84, they racked up a total of 185 for 5, with the last 100 runs of the innings coming off 8.1 overs.Boeta Dippenaar and Nicky Boje set the tone of the innings, with both batsmen scoring at better than a run-a-ball. Bosman came to the crease at 55 for 2 after eight overs and a high total was already onthe cards. But he took the bowling by the scruff of the neck, smashingsix fours and six huge sixes, two of which ended up on the roof ofthe stadium. His 84 was scored off only 44 deliveries and he wasinvolved in a 78-run partnership, in six overs, with Benjamin Hector,who madde 29 off 17.In reply, the Dolphins needed a solid start, but disaster struck when they lost two wickets in the first two overs. Craig Sugden, back in Durban after a stint with Border, picked things up with 50 from 35 balls, before holding out to long-on. Lance Klusener thenstrode to the crease with the Dolphins’ hopes squarely on his shoulders.His 50 came up in 26 deliveries, but needing 24 off the last six balls was always going to be a big ask. Jon Kent managed two fours and a single in the first three balls, and Klusener two fours and a two thereafter, but he finished stranded on 63 from 30 balls. The Dolphins should have got him in earlier.

Abhijit Kale, the Maharashtra batsman who was accused last year of offering bribes to two national selectors, has been banned by the Indian board (BCCI) until December 31 this year. Kiran More and Pranab Roy, both members of the national selection committee, had complained that Kale had offered them a bribe last year to ensure himself a place in the Indian squad to tour Australia. Kale had denied the comments.However, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) is planning to ask the Indian board to reconsider the decision. Speaking to Wisden Cricinfo shortly after the announcement, Dynaeshwar Agashe, the chairman of the MCA, said: “If he has not given any bribe this is a very harsh decision. He has already lost one season of cricket and suffered last year. So we are going to request the BCCI to reconsider the decision. If the evidence is inconclusive, this punishment is too much.”Agashe also said that the Maharashtra selectors would not hold this against Kale, and would continue to pick him if he is fit and can find a place in the side on the merit of his consistent performances.A BCCI enquiry was then instituted, which completed its investigation recently and submitted its report to the board. According to the television channel, NDTV, Kale has given a letter of apology to the BCCI, in which he admits that he tried to “influence the selectors”, while insisting that he had never tried to bribe them.Kale’s letter said: “The entire episode has unnecessarily tarnished the image of the board. I accept that it was wrong on my part to influence the selectors by approaching them directly or through my parents. With regard to the issue of offering money to the selectors, I wish to state that I was misunderstood and I assure you that I had no such intention. I tender [an] unqualified apology for my said act.”The BCCI, not having enough evidence to hand Kale a harsh sentence, has, thus, decided to ban him for a year, with the sentence beginning retrospectively, and thus running till December 31 this year. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the board president, justified the punishment, saying: “The disciplinary committee unanimously felt that although a strong case of offering money was made out against Abhijit Kale, no extreme or severe punishment should be given to him in the absence of direct proof.”However,” he continued, “there [has] been cogent proof of Kale trying to influence the selectors directly, or through his parents, which he has admitted in his unconditional apology letter. The disciplinary committee held Kale guilty of gross misconduct and indiscipline. Taking into account Kale’s personal future career and his unconditional apologies as well as the suspension that he had undergone since November 21, 2003, the disciplinary committee decided that he should remain suspended till December 31, 2004.”Dalmiya also had a word about the complainants. “In addition to this,” he said, “the disciplinary committee also felt that the two national selectors, More and Roy, should have intimated Kale’s attempt to influence them forthwith to the board, instead of delaying it. The committee recommended to the board [the idea of] framing a code of conduct for the selectors in the future.”More, one of the selectors who accused Kale, said that he welcomed the decision and respected the board’s judgment.

South Australia have announced their squad for the 2004-05 season, and it includes three of the most promising players from grade cricket. Jack Smith and Dan Cullen (both Adelaide) and Matthew Weeks (Port Adelaide) have been offered senior contracts for the summer.Smith, a right-hand batsman who captained the Adelaide Buffalos to the A-grade premiership earlier this year, scored 739 runs at 49.27 during 2003-04. He is not only an outstanding batsman but has been identified for his exceptional leadership qualities.Cullen, a 20-year-old offspinner, had an impressive year, taking 41 wickets at 20.98 for Adelaide and contributing 17 wickets at 29.82 in five Cricket Australia Cup matches for South Australia.Weeks, a talented 21-year-old allrounder from Port Adelaide, enjoyed a successful season which saw him poll 24 votes in the tightly contested 2004 Bradman Medal – only four behind the winner Shane Deitz. Weeks made 572 runs at an average of 44 in his 11 A-grade matches for Port, and took 24 wickets with his fast-medium bowling.The SACA’s general manager, Harvey Jolly, said all three players have an appetite for success. “These three young players all have strived to be recognised by producing outstanding performances at grade level and have been rewarded with a state contract as a result,” he said. “We look forward to seeing them replicate their success at state level next season.”South Australia’s highest first-class runscorer in 2003-04, 19-year-old Mark Cosgrove, has also signed for another year. Cosgrove made 639 runs at 45.64 last season.Rookie contracts have been awarded to 2003-04 rookie and fast-medium bowler Chris Duval, the Sturt legspinner Cullen Bailey and Shannon Hurn, an up-and-coming 16-year-old batsman from Northern Districts.South Australia squad Greg Blewett, Ben Cameron, Mark Cleary, Daniel Cullen, Mark Cosgrove, John Davison, Shane Deitz, Jason Gillespie,Callum Ferguson, Andy Flower, Ryan Harris, Mark Higgs, Trent Kelly, Darren Lehmann, Graham Manou, Mick Miller, Paul Rofe, Jack Smith, Shaun Tait, Matthew Weeks.Rookies: Chris Duval, Cullen Bailey, Shannon Hurn.

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, has started training again following a minor operation on his stomach almost two months ago.”I am starting to push myself, but I might be a bit low on strength because I am behind on my weight-training schedule," Smith told in South Africa. "It was quite sore where they cut through the stomach muscles and I had to go slowly when I started training again. I’ve had to learn to eat more slowly, because the op has made my stomach smaller."Smith had the operation, at Kingsbury Hospital in Cape Town, to reconstruct a defective stomach valve. He has had the defect, which affects his body’s ability to filter stomach acids properly, since birth. While it is not debilitating, the faulty valve had caused him discomfort for several years, particularly during times of stress.”It got uncomfortable at times, especially when I was under a bit of stress. It got quite bad before and during our tour of New Zealand,” he said. “We have had a bit of a break so it seemed the best time to get it sorted out.”Smith will now join the South African squad at the Tukkies High Performance Centre in Pretoria on July 19 for a four-day training camp ahead of their five-week tour of Sri Lanka.

Thieves have stolen jewellery worth £70,000 from the home of Ian Botham, the former England allrounder turned TV commentator. The jewels were snatched during a party at his luxury home in Ravensworth in North Yorkshire, and police have confirmed that they are investigating a “high value” theft in the area between July 23 and 24.According to a report in , Botham’s wife Kathy discovered the jewellery was missing after guests had left a party they were hosting. Botham is not the first English cricket personality to fall victim to thieves this year – a burglar made off with Michael Vaughan’s watch and wallet, containing more than £1000, and £300 and 17 credit cards belonging to Darren Gough after sneaking into the England dressing-room during a practice session at Chester-le-Street at the end of June.Besides the money, Vaughan’s wallet contained a match ticket from the Antigua Test last April, autographed by Brian Lara, who broke the Test batting record with an unbeaten 400 in that game.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Indian cricket board, has blamed Zee Telefilms and ESPN-Star Sports, the opposing parties in the telecast-rights issue, for putting the Australian series in jeopardy. Dalmiya felt that the TV channels had placed their commercial interests ahead of the public interest for the game.Dalmiya’s comments came in the wake of the battle for TV rights to telecast international matches in India for the next four years. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Dalmiya revealed that the BCCI had been “pushed back to the wall” and had “no elbow-room” to arrive at a solution.”We need TV channels for the telecasting of the matches. But they are not ready to come to an agreement so that we can ensure the live coverage of the matches. We require TV channels, but cricket is supreme.”Dalmiya reiterated that the board was trying its best to ensure that the series was telecast live, and said that they had proposed four options to Zee and ESS. “We are making necessary arrangements. We will make an announcement within the next few days.”The first option was to submit fresh bids before the Mumbai High Court whereby rights could be awarded to the highest bidder. The second option was the division of the four-year telecast period into two parts. That would mean that the upcoming three cricket series will be segregated from the total period under consideration. Dalmiya added: “The four-year TV rights contract would then have commenced from May 2005.”As a third option, the TV companies were asked to submit tenders for the coverage of only these three cricket series. The final option was for the BCCI to produce the television coverage of these matches on its own.Dalmiya also said that the board had tried to convince the ICC about holding the series without TV coverage. “In a letter to the BCCI, the Australian Cricket Board even threatened not to come and play in India,” Dalmiya said. “If there was no television coverage. So, we had no option before us other than cancelling the whole tender process.”

Duncan Fletcher was pleased with his team’s perseverance after they hadlost the toss and were asked to field first on the opening day of thethird Test at Newlands. Despite 74 from Graeme Smith and a serene 81 notout from Jacques Kallis, South Africa were restricted to 247 for 4 in the day’s 90 overs."We’re quite happy with our performance on that wicket," said Fletcher. "Ithink the guys have done a good job, because it’s quite a flat track and afast outfield and it’s not offering the bowlers anything. From our pointof view, we’d have looked to have scored over 300 if we were only fourdown on the first day, so it was pleasing to restrict them to around 250.I think if we can restrict them to around 350 or 400 that would be a goodeffort.”It was a tough ask for England’s bowlers to get back out into the field sosoon after their victory charge in the second Test was scuppered by badlight, but Fletcher conceded that the conditions here are much morepleasant than at Durban. “I don’t think the guys looked too tired at theend of the day, but it’s totally different to Durban and it’s a lot morepleasant playing cricket here temperature-wise.”It’s not easy and it would have been asking too much if we were playingin Durban today, but you have that cool breeze here which helps. It’sdifficult to maintain that intensity over two days, but we’ve playedback-to-back Tests in Sri Lanka and that is a hard ask – it’s not as hardplaying this one."England’s day began with a late selection drama, as Mark Butcher – who hadbeen under pressure for his place – was ruled out at the last minute witha troublesome wrist injury. "He felt a twinge while he was batting inDurban," explained Fletcher. "He saw a doctor yesterday, but when we goton the bus this morning, I thought he was playing." Butcher’s place hasbeen taken by Robert Key.

Simon Jones has been passed fit after recovering from a stomach bug, and is certain to play in the second Test at Durban, which starts on Boxing Day. Jones had withdrawn from practice at Kingsmead on Friday morning, complaining of a bug which struck overnight, but he made a rapid recovery on Saturday.The news was the perfect birthday present for Jones, who turned 26 today. It was Jones who sparked England’s recovery on the fourth day at Port Elizabeth, first grabbing a spectacular outfield catch to dismiss Graeme Smith, then taking four important wickets when he bowled.Probable England line-up for second Test
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Simon Jones, 11 Stephen Harmison.South African squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Hashim Amla, Andrew Hall, Shaun Pollock, Charl Langeveldt, Thami Tsolekile (wk), Nicky Boje, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn.

Scorecard

Mike Hussey and Perth’s oppressive heat combined to subject Victoria to another tough day in their Pura Cup match against Western Australia at the WACA. At the close, Western Australia were 6 for 414, a lead of 259, with Hussey unbeaten on 202.On a day when temperatures as high as 42 degrees were recorded in Perth, Victoria wilted. A brief shower during the tea break helped reduce some of the heat, and the 20-minute delay which ensued would have been welcomed most by Victoria’s bowlers. But is was temporary respite.The star was Hussey, who completed the second double hundred of his career shortly before bad light brought a premature end to the day. He smashed 31 fours, and moved to within 10 runs of 7000 in the competition, offering only one chance, when on 131, but Shane Warne spilt the slip catch.It was a day to forget for Warne, who ended with 1 for 84, although none of the bowlers seriously threatened to check Hussey’s progress. Resuming on 0 for 129, Justin Langer was caught behind by Peter Roach off Michael Lewis for 76 inside an hour, but Chris Rogers (40) carried on where he had left off before falling to an outstanding diving catch by Warne.Hussey and Ryan Campbell then combined for an 88-run sixth wicket partnership, Campbell taking on the aggressive role with a 62-ball 46.

Younis Khan, recently appointed Pakistan’s vice-captain, is upbeat about the Indian tour, and inspired by the memory of his father and the words of Imran Khan. Younis’s father had died last month, and he intends to dedicate this series to his memory.”Just a day before he passed away I spoke to him [my father] on telephone and he kept on telling me that I had a lot more to give to Pakistan," said Younis, speaking to . "That I should work harder on my game and be more responsible in my approach to life." Younis, who caught the first available flight home as soon as he learnt of his father’s death in Perth, has never played a Test against India.”It was my father’s greatest desire to see me always perform well when I went out on the field in the Pakistan colours," Younis continued. "He was a very patriotic person who didn’t like it whenever we lost or I failed to do well."Younis was appointed vice-captain in place of the experienced Yousuf Youhana. Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, had backed Younis to be the captain of the side after expressing disappointment over Inzamam-ul-Haq’s captaincy in Australia. “When a legend like Imran backs you publicly, it means something and it’s a big boost," said Younis. "I try to play my cricket like him [Imran] without taking too much pressure.”The Indian tour is a high-profile one and as the vice-captain I would like to see the team return home leaving a very good impression behind with the Indian people as good human beings and good sportsmen."