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Cricket Wellington exceeded their budgetary expectations for the 2001/02 year and achieved a surplus of $59,000 which was $50,000 more than expected, and representative of a $123,000 turnaround.Cricket Wellington (CW) chairman John Hunn said in Wellington’s annual report that revenues from New Zealand Cricket-funded programmes increased by $150,000, indoor training centre revenues increased by $50,000 and Pub Charities revenues increased by $100,000. However, these were offset by a decrease in membership income of $56,000.Hunn said that membership decline was attributable to competition from memberships at the WestpacTrust Stadium and other inroads into revenue generation were coming from other events on the Wellington entertainment market.”We have identified as a short-term priority the need to improve our outcomes in profiling of CW and our main brands, and in communications in general,” he said.In its business development, Hunn said business income had increased by about 25% in each of the last two years and this was despite the lack of continuity in the position of business development manager.”The organisation has embraced the latest data and web technologies and staff are rapidly gaining proficiency at information management via these mediums.”Our academy facilities are building a strong income base and it is planned to reshape the Wellington Cricket Trust to provide another link in our revenue generation chain,” he said.The work of CW’s operations committee had been successful in achieving a number of goals.”Delivery of services to club cricketers has improved markedly in the last 12 months and is subject to continued review and refinement. There appears to be growing levels of satisfaction with progress in this area among our stakeholders,” he said.A significant area of improvement is anticipated in women’s cricket while there was a much closer working relationship with local ground authorities in the region.In coaching and elite player development, Hunn said there had been a drive to increase the base level of elite players and this had resulted in a zonal trial system which concludes with the selection of representative and development squads from Standard Four to Form Three age groups.”This effectively doubles the platform on which our elite programme is built,” he said.”Improved use of technology is allowing tracking of player performances and development. Synergies between our Academy and the High Performance Centre and Otago University Sports Medicine Centre at the Stadium are being explored and utilised.”CW teams are experiencing great success in domestic competition from Under-17 level to first-class and there is a real drive in this area to expand the boundaries of what can be delivered in the Elite Player area.”Coaching systems and structures have been developed from a small informal base with the aim of providing 30 new coaches per year. We are on target to exceed this measure in 2002,” he said.Hunn expressed some frustration in the inability to achieve medium-term financial planning support from NZC.”John Hood in his second report to NZC in December 1998, ‘A Path to Superior Performance Revisited’ highlighted the priority which Associations must give to 3-5 year strategic planning as the basis of their operations.”CW is now strongly committed to this approach as the base for its operational planning but is still pressing for a similar level of commitment from NZC. In last year’s annual report we noted that ‘the Board has sought a review of its funding arrangements with NZC as the present business model forces CW to share in the trading risks of NZC each season to a degree which inhibits sound long-term planning and prudent financial management.'”Regrettably we cannot yet report success in these discussions although we are pleased to report that NZC substantially increased their annual funding to Associations this year.”Recent indications are that NZC is becoming supportive to the concept of a medium-term financial commitment to Associations to provide some in their planning,” he said.Wellington’s chief executive Ervin McSweeney said the year’s performance had been rewarding in many areas.”However, as we look ahead we cannot afford to ‘rest on our laurels'”We may not win major competitions every year but we are determined to set new benchmarks in delivery of cricket services, and to show initiative and leadership in all aspects of the game.”From a financial perspective the next period is going to be very challenging, but we are fortunate to have high quality facilities, an inspirational working environment and hopefully continued support and goodwill from many quarters,” he said.

Rain washed out the third play`s play in the County Championship matchbetween Glamorgan and Kent at St.Helen`s in Swansea.After a morning of mist and persistant drizzle, the early afternoon saw morecontinuous and heavy rain sweep in from Swansea Bay. A lull in mid-afternoonled to umpires Ken Palmer and Jeremy Lloyds calling an early tea, and aninspection at five o`clock. But just as drying-up operations began inearnest out in the middle, the “Mumbles mizzle” returned and the umpiresabandoned play for the day at half-past four.The game therefore enters the final day with Glamorgan still in their firstinnings, 75 runs behind Kent, with two wickets still standing. With thewicket increasingly giving some assistance to the spin bowlers, there could,in theory, be a positive outcome to this match, especially as Glamorgan`sRobert Croft will be eager to get in some match progress before travellingup to Old Trafford to join up with the rest of the England party for theSecond Test at Old Trafford.Today`s washout leaves Glamorgan rueing the elements for the secondsuccessive Championship game, as last week they had all four days of theirmatch against Lancashire at Old Trafford washed out by rain. So far thisseason, the Welsh county have lost over 50 hours of play and today`s totalwashout is the seventh full day that Glamorgan have lost out of a possibletotal of fifteen day`s play.The wet Swansea weather was also a huge disappointment for the St.Helen`sBalconiers, the famous supporters organisation, based at the historic groundin Swansea which over the years has been the scene of many famous days inthe club`s history, including Glamorgan`s victories against the Australiansin 1964 and 1968, as well as Sir Garfield Sobers` six sixes in an over in 1968.During the last four years, the Balconiers have invested £45,000 infirst-class cricket at the Swansea ground, and have been instrumental inorganising this year`s Swansea Festival which continues on Wednesday withGlamorgan`s Championship match against Yorkshire, and ends next Sunday withthe National League game against Sussex.All of Glamorgan`s loyal supporters will be hoping that the weather improvesfor the rest of the week.

West Zone, scoring 496, took a decisive first-innings lead of 204 runs over South Zone in the Duleep Trophy league match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. Batting for the second time, South Zone were 8 for one at close of play on the third day.Resuming on their overnight score of 181/3, West Zone batsmen Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Kaushik Aphale piled on the runs. The two batsmen added 145 runs for the fourth wicket, but with the scores level on 292, Aphale (76) was bowled by Hemal Watekar. Aphale faced 136 balls and struck nine boundaries in 176 minutes at the crease.Test discard Nayan Mongia started off by cracking a couple of boundaries, but he did not last any longer, caught by MR Shrinivas off the bowling of left-arm spinner Sridharan Sriram for just nine. Kanitkar was then unlucky to miss out on a double hundred, caught by Venkatesh Prasad off the off-spinner Watekar. The former India all-rounder made 192 runs off 295 balls, striking a huge six and 29 fours.Ajit Bhoite (9) too fell to the guiles of Watekar, and West Zone looked like losing the initiative at 366/7. Ramesh Powar and Sairaj Bahutule, however, added 101 runs off 27.4 overs to add to the woes of the home side. Bahutule struck five fours and three sixes to make 68 runs off 107 balls. Powar made 54 off 95 balls, striking nine fours.Another discard Venkatesh Prasad picked up the wickets of Powar and Ajit Agarkar (4) to finish with figures of 25-10-53-3. The young off-spinner Watekar was the most successful bowler, picking five wickets in a marathon spell of 48.3 overs.South Zone had an inauspicious start to their second innings, losing the wicket of skipper MSK Prasad for a duck, cleaned up by Ajit Agarkar. With one full day’s play remaining, West Zone look well on track for an outright victory on Friday.

The Highveld Strikers ended the limited-overs portion of their season of discontent with another defeat, their seventh in 10 Standard Bank Cup outings, although they mounted a courageous attempt to reach a target that rain had seen revised to 220 off just 31 overs.In the end, they needed three off the last ball and number 11 David Terbrugge was unable to beat the field, hitting it back to the bowler, Garth Roe, on the bounce, to leave the Strikers on 217 for nine, three short of their victory target.The match was a meaningless one, with both sides long out of the semi-final frame, but turned out to be a thriller, with rain adding to the frenzied nature of the encounter. First it reduced the match to 41 overs a side before it had even started and then it shaved a further 10 overs off thevisitor’s innings by returning during the supper break, after the home side themselves had gone at more than six an over in setting a challenging 249 for nine.Gary Outram, with an unbeaten 46 off just 32 balls, gave North West a flying finish after contributions down the order, including a swashbuckling 41 from Mark Lavine, whose West Indian counterpart, Ottis Gibson, was flayed for 67 off just seven overs.Clive Eksteen, the only Strikers bowler to get a full nine overs, was all that stood between North West and an even higher score as he took three for 24.It was a similar situation in the Strikers’ knock, with occasional offspinner Craig Light, the one man to bowl seven overs, taking one for 24. The visitors’ run-chase pivoted around one man, their find of the season, Marthinus Otto, who belted 70 off just 59 balls before perishing in thefinal run-in.Eksteen could manage just six off 11 balls at a time when eight an over were needed, but Nicholas Mataboge, with 10 off six, and Sonnyboy Letshele, who finished unbeaten on 26 off 27 balls in only his second innings at this level, almost got the visitors home before the former was run out. But it was always going to be asking too much of Terbrugge to come in and hit a boundary off his only delivery.

Pakistan’s three day match at Derby ended in a drawbut not before Yousuf Youhana suffered anotherfailure.Youhana, who scored two centuries against England inthe winter, made only four after Dominic Cork declaredto set the tourists an improbable victory target of152 in 20 overs.The right-hander, who is regarded as one of the topbatsmen in the world, was lbw when he aimed to playTrevor Smith to leg.Youhana has now scored nine runs in three inningsfollowing his first ball duck against the BritishUniversities at Trent Bridge and five on the secondday at Derby.Pakistan’s other top batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq played nopart on the final day after slipping in the showeralthough they are confident he will be fit for nextThursday’s Test at Lord’s.Shoaib Akhtar is unlikely to play against Englandafter he failed to take a wicket in Derbyshire’ssecond innings which was dominated by Mathew Dowmanwho made his highest score for the county.His 145 not out came off 203 balls and included twosixes and 20 fours and won him the Man of the Matchaward.Dowman profited from some undemanding bowling aftertea but the majority of his runs were made againstPakistan’s frontline attack when Derbyshire couldstill have lost the match.Overnight thunderstorms delayed the start until 12.20but Pakistan had a chance of forcing victory if theycaptured quick wickets.Dowman and Luke Sutton denied them and although Suttonand Chris Bassano fell after lunch, Derbyshire were 75runs on at tea with six wickets in hand.Dowman dipped his bread at the start of the finalsession and Cork’s decision to declare gave Pakistansome batting practice and at the close, they had made63-1 although skipper Waqar Younis admitted hisplayers needed more match practice.”We more or less got what we wanted out of this gamebut we still have a lot to do before we get toLord’s,” he said.”We didn’t get enough batting; we need more time outin the middle for players like Yousuf and Inzamam.”Waqar also admitted that Shoaib was running out of timeto stake a claim for the First Test.”He needs more time to get his rhythm but it’s veryhard to say if he’s got enough time to do that beforethe Test.”

Match facts

October 2, 2012
Start time 1530 local (1000 GMT)Will Shahid Afridi stay up the order for Pakistan?•AFP

Big Picture

One poor showing, against India no less, has suddenly thrown Pakistan’s World Twenty20 campaign onto far less certain ground than it had occupied solidly since day one of the tournament. Another loss to Australia, the competition’s most assured and dominant team so far, and the Pakistanis will be highly unlikely to make the semi-finals. It is a harsh scenario, but a reflection of the competition’s format, calling for consistent results. The hesitance and doubt evident against India must quickly be shed from the minds and limbs of Pakistan’s cricketers, but the looming possibility of elimination may not aid the return of a state of focus.By contrast, Australia know they do not even need to win to progress, for they will qualify for the semi-finals unless Pakistan can inflict the sort of thrashing George Bailey’s men have commonly dealt out so for, and a similar margin unfolds in India’s match against South Africa. So far led with exceptional poise and power by the irrepressible Shane Watson, the Australians have not had their depth of batting tested. Nevertheless, the likes of Michael Hussey and Cameron White have shown decent touch in their brief stays at the crease, and the confidence of all players has benefited from Watson’s show of strength.These two sides are very familiar with one another, having contested T20 and ODI series in the UAE as a prelude to this event. Australia began that T20 series floundering, and ended it with growing confidence. They have gone up another notch or three since, while Pakistan have been shaken by the India defeat. Mohammad Hafeez’s team will hope to regain the confidence they showed in Dubai, or risk elimination from an event they looked in with a chance to win a few days ago.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW
Pakistan LWWWL

Watch out for

The outstanding display by Xavier Doherty on his recall to the team has placed some pressure on Brad Hogg for his spot in the XI, should Australia wish to revert back to a one spinner policy against teams better versed at slow bowling than South Africa. Hogg has bowled tidily enough during the tournament, and offered plenty of energy in the field. But he has only two victims at a cost of 53.50 so far, and will need to provide a greater impact on the wickets column as the tournament reaches its pointy end.

Plenty of chatter has surrounded Mohammad Hafeez’s surprisingly halting display with the bat and in the field against India. While there is some understanding at the occasion getting the better of Hafeez and his team, Pakistan’s captain must show greater steel against Australia in order to push his team to the next phase. Hafeez should be helped by a return to the top of the bowling attack, for his spin has troubled David Warner in the past.

Team news

Pakistan can either make changes in reaction to the heavy defeat against India or keep faith with the XI that had previously looked so poised at this event.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Nasir Jamshed, 4 Kamran Akmal (wk), 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Raza HasanXavier Doherty will be very difficult to drop from Australia’s XI following his exceptional 3 for 20 against South Africa.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Mike Hussey, 4 Cameron White, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Xavier Doherty

Pitch and conditions

As expected, the Premadasa Stadium surface is growing more sluggish and spin friendly with each passing match. It will not be too far removed from the Dubai surface on which Australia and Pakistan last met.

Stats and trivia

• A win for Australia would equal their longest winning streak in T20Is, a span of six matches at the 2010 World T20 in the Caribbean
• Defeat for Pakistan would have them miss the semi-finals of the World T20 for the first time. They were finalists in 2007, winners in 2009 and beaten semi-finalists in 2010

Quotes

“Things are just falling my way at the moment, I suppose. Things can turn and your form can go against you so you’ve got to make the most of it while you can.”

Match facts

October 10, 2012
Start time 1330 (1130 GMT)Hampshire are coming off a sparking limited-overs season in England•Getty Images

How they qualified

Hampshire won the Friends Life t20 by beating Yorkshire by 10 runs in the final at Cardiff.

Big Picture

Hampshire are making their Champions League debut and on paper are a force to reckon with thanks to their limited-overs form this season, winning the Friends Life t20 and the CB40 competition. Led by Dimitri Mascarenhas, the county doesn’t have any England stars, but have a couple of exciting overseas picks like Shahid Afridi – although not in the best of form – and Glenn Maxwell. This will be their only chance to make an impression here since English teams are likely to be absent from the next season. They didn’t get off to a good start in the warm-ups, losing to Uva Next by six wickets.One thing that will be in their favour is that their opponents Auckland played the late game on Tuesday, and will have to turn up for the first game on Wednesday. Auckland’s new-ball bowlers were in top form against Sialkot Stallions, strangling the top order – No. 3 Haris Sohail took 13 deliveries to get off the mark as Kyle Mills bowled his way to the most economical figures in CLT20 history. Their batsmen were also canny in playing out the dangerous left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, while taking on some of the less threatening bowlers. The big win over Sialkot also means auckalnd’s net run-rate gets a healthy boost, which could prove pivotal in deciding who qualifies for the tournament proper.

Players to watch

Dimitri Mascarenhas was Hampshire’s leading wicket-taker in the T20 competition in England with 15 wickets in 11 games and fifth best overall. What made his performance more commendable was the fact that he battled the pain of twice tearing tendons in his shoulder. He played a vital role in the knockouts, taking 2 for 11 in the semi-final and 2 for 20 in the final. His big hitting will be a plus for Hampshire.Martin Guptill didn’t have a productive World T20 for New Zealand, scoring 75 runs in four games. However, Auckland will need him to provide strong starts at the top of the order. Guptill was in spectacular form in the domestic HRV Cup 2011-12, scoring 504 runs in ten games, including a century. He found his touch against Sialkot as well, top scoring with a fluent 70 before picking out deep square leg with a powerful pull.

Quotes

“We haven’t yet had a team from New Zealand go into the main tournament in the CLT20. So, that’s something we want to prove to the world and to ourselves that we can do”
.”We’re not expecting a whole lot from him with the bat, whatever we get is a bonus but we know he can do it if he has to. We will use him more as a bowler who can bat a bit.”

David Warner has been handed a suspended one-match ban by New South Wales and ordered to play the next three grade matches for his club Randwick Petersham after skipping their most recent fixture for a private training session and an afternoon at the races.After meeting with the NSW chief executive Andrew Jones on Tuesday morning, Warner was informed that he had avoided the ignominy of another suspension – he was ruled out of the first two Ashes Tests earlier this year for punching the England batsman Joe Root in a Birmingham bar – but was reminded of the importance of grade competition by the instruction that he must play in the next three games, the Blues’ domestic limited-overs schedule permitting.Warner must also visit two other Sydney clubs to promote the state association’s anti-drink driving sponsorship message. Following the outcome of his meeting with Jones, Warner conceded he should not have defied NSW orders to play for his club. “I believed I was doing the right thing by focusing on my training and batting, but in hindsight I should have played,” Warner said. “I remain determined to score runs for NSW and Australia and am also looking forward to taking the field for Randy-Petes this round. “Jones levied the penalty after speaking with all parties concerned, including NSW team management, Randwick Petersham officials and Warner’s manager Tony Connelly. While another episode in Warner’s year of misadventure, the meeting was an early test of Jones as the state’s new CEO, having replaced David Gilbert.”This has been an unfortunate episode,” Jones said. “Like most cricket fans, I and all at Cricket NSW would like nothing more than to see David Warner achieve his potential on and off the field. However, in order to do this David needs to ensure that he is doing the right things and working closely with the organisation in all areas. We believe the suspended sentence demonstrates our good faith and gives David the opportunity to prove his commitment to NSW’s fans and stakeholders, including the Grade clubs. We are hopeful that this is the last incident of this nature so that David and Cricket NSW can focus solely on cricket for the remainder of the season.”Irrespective of his disciplinary record, Warner’s most pressing concern now is finding a way to return to strong run-making form, having recorded innings of four and a duck in the Blues’ two limited overs matches so far.

ScorecardRyan Sidebottom moved on to 597 first-class wickets, one more than his father, Arnie•Getty Images

This was as emphatic a win as Yorkshire could have imagined over a Nottinghamshire side that ought to be higher in the table but the notion that the race for the title is as good as over can be dismissed as premature.Yorkshire have a 33-point lead as things stand, at least over Sussex and Middlesex, but the margin may well be cut by Durham before the weekend is complete, unless the weather has a major say at Chester-le-Street. Durham, with a match in hand, are next up for Yorkshire at Scarborough, followed by Sussex at Hove and Middlesex at Headingley. The title may be Yorkshire’s to lose – but one sub-standard performance might give the table a different look quite quickly.This is the thought in Martyn Moxon’s mind at least. “I think we’ve shown we’re capable of winning [the title],” Yorkshire’s director of cricket said. “If you take the first game of the season against Sussex out of it, we’ve played some fantastic cricket for the last 11 games.”But we have to close it out. We’re trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves. We know we have some tough games and we have Durham, Sussex and Middlesex – the top teams – all to play yet, and Surrey in the last game are going to be scrapping as well.”We’ve won nothing yet and over four games a lot can happen, with a lot of points available. We’re enjoying the wins as everyone does but the first words the captain said in the dressing room after the game were ‘let’s just keep doing what we’re doing and not get carried away’.”It might be an idea to summon Mick Newell to deliver a few words ahead of the Durham match if they want to give some context to this performance, impressive though it was at times, especially when Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Patterson were taking it in turns to make batsmen of international pedigree seem relatively ordinary.The two seamers shared 12 wickets in the match, with Sidebottom’s seven a painful reminder to the Notts director of cricket that his bowling resources need a fair amount of rebuilding yet to restore the standards that prevailed before Sidebottom left two years ago, in search of a longer contract than Notts were prepared to offer.”Over the first two days we were really outplayed by Yorkshire but our bowling in the first innings allowed Yorkshire to dominate the match,” he said. “We have not taken 20 wickets in a match since May and if you don’t take 20 wickets you don’t win. It is an area we need to strengthen.”We have been criticised in the past for not having a strong enough spin-bowling attack but when our seam bowling has been as disappointing as it has been in this match we have an issue there too, certainly since this is a wicket we would have wanted to bowl on.”Over the last few years we have lost Ryan, Darren Pattinson, Charlie Shreck and Mark Ealham and we have been trying to be competitive in Division One while having a big turnover, particularly of fast bowlers. In Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney we have two lads who have potential but are inexperienced, while Andre Adams is not quite on his game. So we looked a bit lightweight there compared to an attack like Yorkshire’s, full of experience, who have come down here and bowled very well.”There was never much doubt that Yorkshire would win from the moment Nottinghamshire slumped to 65 for 8 on day two, in reply to a Yorkshire total of 407 that can rarely have been bettered here by a side invited to bat first.They followed on 257 behind and while there was some improvement on the third morning, when Nottinghamshire progressed from 118 for 4 overnight to 217 for 7 at lunch, it was merely delaying the inevitable. Chris Read, whose lack of form with the bat this year has been another factor in his side’s modest season, completed his first half-century this year. Not since 2003 has the captain and wicketkeeper completed a first-class season without a century, or contributed between 700 and 1200 runs.In the event, they obliged Yorkshire to bat again, thanks to Read and another lively thrash by Adams, his second in the match, but three boundaries in five deliveries by Adam Lyth, whose 95 was the highest score in the game, completed the job without fuss.Sidebottom’s seven wickets neatly took him to 597 in his first-class career, one more than his father, Arnie, achieved and from 43 fewer matches.”I suppose it’s an honour and a privilege really to go past dad,” he said. “He had a fantastic career himself and to follow in his footsteps was something I’ve always wanted to do.”I’ll give him a buzz in a bit with a beer in my hand and I might buy him a bottle of whisky to say I’ve gone past him. But I’ve still got a few years left in me yet and I’d like to go way past him if I can. I think 700 would be nice before I finish. I don’t know if that will be achievable, but it would be a nice little swansong.”

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Isam: Sense of pride among fans that issue is being addressed

Former chief justice of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court, Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury, will chair the 10-member disciplinary panel that will help conduct the disciplinary proceedings against the nine individuals charged with alleged corruption during this year’s Bangladesh Premier League. Chowdhury’s appointment as panel chairman is the first step of the disciplinary process, according to Article 5 of the BCB’s anti-corruption code.Chowdhury, who was chief justice from March 2001 to June 2002, confirmed to the on Wednesday that he had agreed to take up the role. He will now pick the other nine members of the panel, from which the three-member anti-corruption tribunal that will hear the case – if it goes to trial – will eventually be picked.”I have given my consent to the BCB with regards to heading the panel,” Chowdhury said. “I will appoint the other members of the panel, but I have not reached any decisions yet. I have some names in mind but have not yet made any offers; it will take some time.”The nine persons charged have till August 27 to make their pleas – the tribunal will need to be formed and the case goes to trial only if they plead not guilty. In that case, the ICC will reply to them while Chowdhury picks the members of tribunal.While the case is under the BCB’s jurisdiction, ICC chief executive Dave Richardson had mentioned during Tuesday’s press conference that “the prosecution of the case and conduct of the hearing will be carried out on behalf of the BCB by the ICC”. A senior BCB official told ESPNcricinfo that the ICC will assist in an administrative capacity throughout the proceedings because of its resources and experience in the field. “BCB will only have to appoint the chairman of the disciplinary panel,” the official said. “The ICC will do everything else leading up to the hearing.”According to Article 5 of the anti-corruption code, the convenor of the tribunal could call a preliminary hearing with the anti-corruption officials and the persons charged before the hearing begins, “to address any issues that need to be resolved prior to the hearing date”. That date must be within 40 days of the accused having received the charge letters.If there are no exceptional circumstances arising during this time, the full hearing should begin within the third week of September.