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Sri Lanka glide easily into the Final in Sharjah

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Sri Lanka’s impressive start to the Coca Cola Champions Trophy continued tonight at the CBFS Stadium in Sharjah, with an overwhelming victory over a lacklustre Zimbabwe side. Indeed, the Southern African team was so convincingly outplayed, that the game became a rather drab affair. Sri Lanka eventually bowled out Zimbabwe in the 49th over, to win the match by 123 runs.Sanath Jayasuriya snatched the initiative from Zimbabwe in the first fifteen overs of the match with a swashbuckling half-century, which brought back memories of the heady days of the 1996 World Cup. Jayasuriya, who was reinstated with his erstwhile opening partner, Romesh Kaluwitharana, blazed 88 runs from just 66 deliveries.However, Zimbabwe’s fate was sealed after a penetrative spell of fast bowling by Nuwan Zoysa and Chaminda Vaas. Requiring 277 runs to win the match the Zimbabwean opening batsmen, Douglas Marillier (11) and Alistair Campbell (20), were given no freedom to play their strokes, and, in contrast to Sri Lanka, the innings stagnated in the early overs.The pressure eventually told. Marillier, who had crashed the ball to the boundary the previous ball, was surprised by some extra bounce from Chaminda Vaas and was caught in the gully. Stuart Carlisle (0) was trapped LBW next ball.Nuwan Zoysa, somewhat unlucky to not have already claimed a wicket, induced a faint edge from Andy Flower (0) five balls later and a thick edge from a frustrated Campbell (20), which was brilliantly caught by Mahela Jayawarden at slip.Zimbabwe had crumbled to 35 for 4 in the 14th over. Worse, the ever-eager Mutiah Muralitharan couldn’t wait to loosen his spinning fingers, and, with the type of glee normally associated with natural predators, set upon his opponents. Within two overs he had induced a daft reverse sweep from Guy Whittall (1) and had pushed Grant Flower right back on to his stumps.The Zimbabwean cause now hopeless, the innings meandered on without direction, the batsmen torn between the desire to win the match and the need to protect their net run rate.Earlier in the day, Zimbabwe had won the toss and elected to field. To their credit they fought back valiantly after Sri Lanka had raced to 105 from the first fifteen overs. When Kaluwithrana (25) was run out and Jayasuriya had his leg stump uprooted, the middle ordered faltered; Jayawardene (5) was bizarrely run out after straying from the crease unaware that Flower had the ball in his grasp, Sangakkara (4) misjudged the length and was clean bowled, and Russel Arnold (18) celebrated his birthday with a top edged sweep.Were it not for some pyrotechnics from Chaminda Vaas (23) and Kashalya Weeraratne (14*) in the last three overs, and a typically measured half-century from Marvan Attapattu (58), Sri Lanka would not have scored in excess of 250.Zimbabwe’s hope will now rest in the mathematician’s calculator. They have to beat India tomorrow convincingly and pray that Sri Lanka don’t take the pedal off the gas when they play India on Friday.Sri Lanka will take much pleasure from their performance, but know that there are issues to be addressed. Firstly, what to do about the third seamer, Kaushalya Weeraratne, who has proved expensive and one dimensional on the flat Middle Eastern tracks. Secondly, the inconsistency of the middle order

Umar Akmal, Kevin O'Brien re-sign for Leicestershire

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Leicestershire have continued the processing of strengthening for the 2016 season by confirming the returns of Umar Akmal and Kevin O’Brien. Both will feature in the NatWest T20 Blast while O’Brien will play in the Royal London Cup as well.Akmal and O’Brien enjoyed successful T20 spells at Grace Road this season. Akmal, signed as short-term cover for Grant Elliott, topped the club’s averages by scoring 133 runs in three innings for once out, while O’Brien made 160 runs at a strike rate of 139.13 to go with five wickets in his seven appearances.The signings follow news that experienced batsmen Paul Horton and Neil Dexter will join from Lancashire and Middlesex respectively. Allrounder Wayne White has also returned to the club.Leicestershire’s chief executive Wasim Khan said: “We saw the positive influence that Umar and Kevin had during their time at the club this year. They are exciting cricketers to watch, have experience at the highest level, and are both matchwinners with their clean, powerful striking of the ball.”They showed their ability by both having an immediate impact with Kevin batting beautifully in his first game at Lancashire and Umar playing our best innings of the tournament at Nottinghamshire on debut. I know our members and supporters enjoyed watching them play and we are excited to welcome both players back to Grace Road.”Leicestershire, in their first season under a new management team of Khan, coach Andrew McDonald and captain Mark Cosgrove, started the Blast season well, winning four of their first eight matches, before tailing off to finish seventh in the North Group.

Injured McLaren to miss rest of tri-series

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South Africa allrounder Ryan McLaren has been ruled out of the remainder of the tri-series in Zimbabwe after suffering a hairline fracture on his right forearm. He picked up the injury while batting against Australia on Tuesday and will return to South Africa on Thursday morning.”Ryan was taken for X-rays this afternoon after complaining of severe pain following a blow to his right forearm yesterday,” South Africa team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee said. “The scans revealed a hairline fracture to the bone in the right forearm, which rules him out of action for the next three weeks.”McLaren was hit on the arm by a short and quick delivery from Mitchell Johnson in the 29th over which is likely to have caused the injury. Earlier this year, too, McLaren was hit on the head by a bouncer from Johnson in the Centurion Test which had ruled him out of the second Test.South Africa will now need a replacement for McLaren for their last league match, against Zimbabwe on Thursday. Their options lie in Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell and Mthokozisi Shezi. McLaren played all three matches in the series and picked up six wickets, and scored 30 runs in two innings.

Trott and Chopra secure second place

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ScorecardJonathan Trott’s late-season surged continued with another hundred•Getty Images

Warwickshire have secured a second-place finish in the County Championship and with it and top-two finish in all three competitions.Centuries from Varun Chopra and Jonathan Trott helped them accrue the bonus points they required to ensure that – excepting the unlikely event of a points reduction for slow over-rates or similar – they cannot be overhauled by Sussex. It means Warwickshire’s players will add £159,000 – the reward for second-place in the Championship – to the £45,000 they won as runners-up in the Royal London Cup and the £175,000 they won for lifting the NatWest T20 Blast trophy.They also earned themselves an excellent opportunity of finishing the season with a victory. With the first-innings lead over Durham already well over 200, they retain hopes of batting just once in this matchWhile there may be a temptation to look at isolated moments – such as the poor weather that robbed them of victory at Old Trafford in April – and dream about what might have been in this Championship campaign, the result of head-to-head meetings with the champions should produce a sobering effect. Yorkshire crushed Warwickshire by innings margins both home and away this season and are, without doubt, the deserved champions. Warwickshire have some improvements to make if they are to challenge them next season.With that in mind, though, the return to form of Trott and Chopra is heartening. Both players, the senior batsmen in this side, endured tough starts to the season with Trott coming close to retirement after his abortive comeback against Sussex in April.Thanks to the support of the club, the England set-up and the highly-respected sports psychologist Steven Peters, Trott has returned to something approaching his best and has been in prolific form in recent weeks.This was his second Championship century in successive innings, his third in eight innings and his fifth century in all competitions dating back to July 21. He also finished the Royal London Cup as the highest England-qualified run-scorer. Had he started the season in such form, there is little doubt he would have been in the England ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour.It might still prove unwise to discount him from future squads. While the England management are, wisely, keen not to feed any speculation that could burden him with undue pressure at this stage, they have kept in touch with Trott and reassured him that the door has not been shut on him.”Trott has done brilliantly well,” James Whitaker, the national selector said when announcing the ODI squad. “He’s been through some tough times in the last 12 months and he’s worked himself into a position, with help from ECB and other people around him, to feel comfortable enough now to play for Warwickshire.”Not only that but perform exceptionally well. So he’s now in a position where we’re looking at him as someone who could be considered again in the future.”But let’s take each stage at a time. We’ll be having conversations with him in the future and seeing what the best way forward is for him next year. Well done to him but slowly, slowly. Let’s see how the winter goes. It’s a delicate situation and we respect the way he’s come back into consideration. We have a duty of care towards him.”By Trott’s own reckoning, he is playing at his best when the straight drives only just miss the stumps on their way to mid-on. So to see him here, leaning into those familiar cover drives, flicking off the legs and easing the ball down the ground imperiously was to see a class act somewhere near its best. Perhaps even more reassuringly, Trott was furious with himself after his dismissal, spooning a long-hop to midwicket; a sure sign that the insatiable hunger for runs had returned.But, bearing in mind the state of mind in which Trott found himself in Australia and, again, after that match against Sussex, it might well be considered a triumph that he has simply returned to the game. Many in these parts are content to see him back on the field, with a bat in his hand and a smile on his face. The rest is a detail. Besides, if England do not recall him, Warwickshire may benefit from Ramprakash-esque feats on run-scoring over the next few years.It may be that Chopra now has the more realistic chance of an England call-up. Certainly the position of opening batsman has yet to be nailed down in either Test or ODI cricket and, after a modest start to the season, he has returned to the sort of form that renders him a serious contender.He has a wider range of stroke than either Sam Robson or Alastair Cook and, if a propensity to fence outside off stump remains a concern, it has been overcome to the effect that he was the only Warwickshire batsman to reach 1,000 first-class runs in each of 2011, 2012 and 2013 and will once again finish this season as the club’s highest first-class run-scorer.After failing to pass 52 until July 21, he has now made two centuries in his last four Championship innings and looks as if the burden of captaincy sits easily on his shoulders. He may, in time, even be considered an alternative captain of England.With Warwickshire racing to claim the fifth batting bonus point, and with it the second-place finish, they sacrificed a few wickets in the final session. Sam Hain, who bats so like Trott you wonder if a paternity test should be taken, played across a straight one, Rikki Clarke was bamboozled by a slower one and Tim Ambrose was adjudged to have edged a pull. By the time Keith Barker steered one to the cordon, Chris Rushworth had another five-wicket haul and his 20th first-class victim in 10 days.His batsmen will have to offer equally strong support, if his success is not to go to waste.

Before the knockout

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Sohail Tanvir has been Rajasthan’s main weapon (file photo) © AFP
 

Rajasthan Royals

Most valuable player
Sohail Tanvir, who cost Rajasthan only US$100,000, is the most successful bowler in the competition thus far. His 21 wickets have made him the tournament’s highest wicket-taker and they have come at a strike-rate of once every 10 balls. He etched his name in record books when he took 6 for 14 against Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur, the best-ever figures in Twenty20 cricket.Top performers
Graeme Smith is the rock of Rajasthan’s batting; he’s scored 416 runs at an average of 52 (second-best among batsmen with more than 300 runs) with a high score of 91 off 51 balls against Chennai. He has formed a formidable opening combine with Swapnil Asnodkar: the duo average 58.83.Shane Watson is arguably the best allrounder of the tournament with 392 runs at 49 and 13 wickets at 26.46, thrice becoming the Man of the Match.Yusuf Pathan announced his arrival by reaching fifty off only 21 balls against Deccan Chargers, the fastest half-century in the IPL, before destroying the same team with a 37-ball 68 in a home game. His third Man-of-the-Match award came when he blitzed 48 not out off 18 deliveries against Kolkata Knight Riders.Captaincy
The dual responsibility of leadership and coaching has not fazed Shane Warne, and he has been inspirational. He’s backed unfancied performers from the Indian domestic circuit; Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Siddharth Trivedi, and come out in praise of fellow legspinner Dinesh Salunkhe, whose only cricketing credentials coming into the tournament was winning a cricket-based reality show. Experiments such as opening with Asnodkar have been successful (244 runs at 34.85 including a match-winning 34-ball 60 against Kolkata), while Yusuf has been used as a floater according to the match situation. Warne’s has also kept up his personal form; his 17 wickets make him the team’s second highest wicket-taker, and he has starred with the bat as well, taking 16 runs off the last over bowled by Andrew Symonds in a close win over Deccan.Strengths and weaknesses
The main reason for Rajasthan’s consistency is that different players have turned in match-winning performances. Watson, Yusuf, and Smith may have grabbed headlines, but even Jadeja and Niraj Patel have come good, helping their team knock Mumbai Indians out of the tournament. They have a well-settled bowling line-up with experienced hands – Warne, Tanvir, and Watson – receiving adequate back-up from Trivedi and Munaf Patel, who have taken 23 wickets between them.One concern is that most of their players don’t have big-match experience, something which could affect them in their first knock-out match, when they take on Delhi in the semi-final tomorrow. They have made the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur their fortress, winning all their matches there. With all their three losses coming away from home, it remains to be seen whether a neutral venue for the semi-final – the Wankhede Stadium – will affect them.Stats and trivia

  • They have hit the most fours : 228
  • They also have the best overall bowling average among the teams in the last four, conceding 22.90 runs per wicket.

    Gautam Gambhir leads Delhi’s powerful batting line-up (file photo) © Getty Images
     

    Delhi Daredevils

    Most valuable player
    Gautam Gambhir, the second-highest run-getter with 523 runs at 43.58, is the main man in Delhi’s powerful top-order. He has scored five half-centuries but surprisingly, he is yet to pick up a Man-of-the-Match award.Top performers
    Virender Sehwag has struck gold in a format ideally suited for him, with 403 runs at 36.63, with a strike-rate of 186.50. He reserved his best for the southern teams, Deccan and Chennai, scoring 94 and 71 respectively.Shikhar Dhawan has contributed 335 runs with four fifties. He has also been a livewire in the field, among a host of agile Delhi fielders.Glenn McGrath has shown no signs of having lost his famed accuracy, and gave a lesson in seam bowling against Bangalore Royal Challengers, taking 4 for 29. His overall figures make impressive reading: 12 wickets from 13 matches at 17.91 with an exceptional economy-rate of 6.38.Captaincy
    Sehwag has led Delhi well, but he hasn’t given adequate opportunities to his foreign batting recruits – Shoaib Malik and AB de Villiers – which gives the lower order an unsettled look, and he’s been found wanting while defending totals. Against Chennai, he gave the last over to Malik and the visitors edged through on the last ball. His decision to give Rajat Bhatia a bowl against Kings XI Punjab proved to be costly when Jayawardene struck a six before the rains came, ensuring that Delhi lost courtesy the Duckworth-Lewis method.Strengths and weaknesses
    Delhi’s top three batsmen has been their biggest asset. They have accounted for an amazing 62% of their runs, and a majority of their wins feature significant knocks by Gambhir, Sehwag or Dhawan. Their right-arm seam attack is led by McGrath, and his apprentices, Yomahesh and Farveez Maharoof, have enhanced their reputations. Yomahesh, with 14 wickets at 22.85, is the team’s highest wicket-taker, while Maharoof has taken as many wickets as McGrath. Amit Mishra, the legspinner, has provided added depth to their bowling and took a hat-trick against Deccan to finish with 5 for 17.Delhi’s dependency on their top three has also been a drawback. Five of their six losses have come when either the first- or second-wicket pair failed to produce even a fifty-run stand. Also, five of their losses have come away from home, which indicates that the team may find it difficult even at a neutral venue.Stats and trivia</b

  • Gambhir is the highest run-getter from India
  • The top heavy nature of Delhi’s batting can be seen in their partnerships: the first-wicket stand has produced 519 runs at 39.92 while the second wicket has fetched 571 runs at 43.84.

    • Mark Waugh dropped but deserved better

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    This is what happens when you are so much better than everyone else, thebiggest challenges come from within.With no-one from world cricket, able to lay a glove on the Australians, theAustralian selectors have taken it upon themselves to challenge them.Their non-selection of Mark Waugh followed by his subsequent retirementthreaten to do more damage to the side than England could ever hope toachieve.In their cricket to date, England have suggested that they would struggle towin a game if they were playing in the Pura Cup. A side already hopelesslymismatched, is stricken with injuries.Australia will defeat England easily regardless of Mark Waugh.If they were to replace him, logic dictated that they do so with ayoungster. To get rid of a 37-year-old for a 32-year-old makes no sensewhatsoever.Mark Waugh was owed better. Only two players have scored more Test runs forAustralia. No-one in the world has more Test catches than him.He has been a stalwart of the side for the last 10 years, playing his last107 Tests in succession. The Australian side is one where the aggregate sumis greater than that of the individual parts.The side was winning well and so there was no case to drop Mark Waugh.From his century on debut against England at the Adelaide Oval, there wasnothing better in world cricket than watching him.His innings stand the test of time.

    • The 139 not out at Antigua in 1991 against the might of Ambrose, Patterson,Walsh and Marshall. [Scorecard]
    • His 126 at Sabina Park in 1995 which set up the winning of the Sir FrankWorrell trophy. [Scorecard]
    • His classic 116 at Crusaders, St George’s Park in 1997 which gave Australiaa famous two-wicket victory. [Scorecard]
    • The 115 not out against South Africa at Adelaide in 1998. [Scorecard]
    • The 153 not out at Chinnaswamy Stadium in India in 1998. [Scorecard]
    Mark Waugh was there for his fans and sadly they can’t be there for him.He should have been allowed to announce his retirement at the end of theAshes, thus giving Australian fans to express their gratitude to him.Fittingly, he could have played his last Test match on his beloved SCG andbowed out like the champion he was.

    Oram leaves England feeling blank

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    Jacob Oram: repelled England at the crucial juncture of the day © Getty Images
     

    For the fifth match in a row, dating back to the visit of Sri Lanka in May 2006, the Lord’s Test has finished in a draw. This possibly says more about the English weather than anything else, for each of the five has involved more than just a token delay for rain, yet this is a habit that goes to the heart of England’s failings since the summer of 2005.The Lord’s Test has been the launchpad for each new home series – a chance to stamp their authority at a ground that, as Michael Vaughan testifies, really does feel like home. Instead they’ve found themselves drifting away at the end of each contest, ruing an opportunity squandered.”We did have a shout,” said Vaughan after the match. “We bowled very well today and created opportunities, but the ball either went wide [of the fielders] or went fast, and we did drop a couple. To win on the day we were going to have to take all our chances and something special was going to have to happen, and we just didn’t do that.”A glance at the honours boards paints a clear picture of England’s apparent dominance in recent Lord’s fixtures. In the last five games, they have racked up 13 hundreds to the visitors’ three, and have outscored them two to one in five-fors as well. But when it comes to the crunch, the coup de grace has eluded them.”It’s always difficult to force a result in Test match cricket when you lose 150 overs,” said Vaughan, and he’s right of course. But England had their opportunity at 78 for 4, with Brendon McCullum on his way to hospital and the untested Daniel Flynn holding the fort. Jacob Oram’s response, however, was such a combination of guts and chutzpah that, by the time he spanked the new ball through the covers to bring up his fifth Test century, New Zealand’s 200-plus lead was not merely matchsaving, it had become a statement of intent in its own right.Oram’s effort was heroic in the fullest sense, because by his own admission, he has been found out by England’s attack, not least Ryan Sidebottom, who produced arguably his best ball of a stellar year to end his resistance shortly after he’d celebrated his hundred. It was the fifth time in a row that Oram had fallen to his nemesis, and he didn’t try to pretend that his innings had been anything other than a struggle.”It’s the proudest moment of my career, and it surpasses anything I’ve done before,” said Oram. “I rode my luck a bit, and there were only small periods of my innings where I felt in real control. Even scattered between the boundaries, there were some balls which snuck up on me, but I’ve battled through the tough times, and I’ve made some strides towards where I want to be in my game.”

     
     
    It’s the proudest moment of my career, and it surpasses anything I’ve done before – Jacob Oram reflects on his Lord’s century
     

    Oram’s rearguard began with New Zealand at their lowest ebb, with McCullum apparently out of the game, and disaster threatening to make an untimely appearance. Adversity, however, was just what Oram needed to put his form worries to one side. “There was a little bit of pressure coming on us, but it was a chance for me to get in at a time when the team really needed me,” he said. “I’ve died in a bit of a hole recently, so I rode my luck. Today wasn’t 100% technically perfect, but it was a great moment to bring up my hundred, because I knew that I wasn’t at my best.”Such a candid admission merely exacerbates England’s missed opportunity, although for New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, Oram’s form worries had no bearings on his standing in the side. “He’s first pick in our team,” said Vettori. “Whenever we don’t have him in our side through injury we have to decide whether to pick a batter or a bowler. Maybe his batting hasn’t been as good as he would have liked for a little bit but he came out today and played his natural game. There weren’t too many worries for him, and when he plays like that, he’s as good as anyone.”For Vaughan, there was little he could do by the end of the match except plan for the Old Trafford Test, which gets underway on Friday. With that in mind, he refused to concede that New Zealand had finished this encounter on top.”Full credit to Jacob Oram and Daniel Flynn, they adapted to the conditions and made it very difficult,” said Vaughan. “They played well but we knew we had to give everything today. We had to open up gaps for them to hit into, because we were trying to create opportunities. They’ll say they got out with a safe draw, but we’ll say we didn’t take our chances. I’d have liked to play five full days on that wicket because I thought it was a good cricket pitch.””Both teams will be happy,” he said. “New Zealand will say they got out safely, and very calmly in the end, and we’ll feel we created opportunities to maybe win the game today but we didn’t quite grasp it. But really the game hasn’t gone far enough for either team to say who’s come out further on top. All it proves is that both teams are very hard fought, and the series will be a tough one. Whoever plays the best cricket in the next two games will win.”

    Dyson urges players to curb aggression

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    ‘The first step is for the players to embrace the concept that we need to change some things about our game’ © AFP
     

    After slumping to a 5-0 series whitewash to Australia on Sunday, John Dyson, the West Indies coach, wants his players to move away from their way of playing cricket and instead adopt the style of the Australians.Dyson emphasised that his team would get no better unless they curbed their aggression and played with a more clinical approach. “The first step is for the players to embrace the concept that we need to change some things about our game,” Dyson said. “Up until now, I don’t think a lot of them have. We play the West Indies way. We bowl aggressively. We bat aggressively. We field aggressively.”When you analyse what all that means, you start to realise that every now and then you win doing that, but against the better sides that approach it more clinically, it’s not going to happen.”Dyson has enjoyed mixed results since taking over last year. The series defeat, including a massive 169-run loss in the final ODI, was among the lowest points in his tenure. In calling for his players to emulate the Australians, Dyson pointed to a few examples.”Teams like Australia build pressure by bowling many dot balls. They make it very difficult to score,” he said. “Since the South Africa tour, I’ve been told the West Indian way is not to do that. We are aggressive. We try and get people out. That’s fine, but you see the result of that. We have some good days and we have some shockers.”We have to accept that we need to change our approach to various things. The potential is there. We have some very talented players with lots of potential but to compete with teams at the top of the table, there are some changes that they need to accept they need to make to their game.”However, he cautioned that things can’t change overnight. “I am not a magician. I can’t just click my fingers and go . . . everything’s done. Take the Australian side, look at Luke Ronchi’s overall cricket CV and you will find that he had played a whole lot of good quality one-day cricket before getting here. He has been learning the basic skills for a long time. Unfortunately, we are getting players that have only played a handful of games in some cases.”

    Zimbabwe Cricket Online volume 4, issue 2, 20 September 2002

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    Most of the attention in Zimbabwe cricket this last week has been centred on their performances in the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.CONTENTS

    • International cricket:
      • Zimbabwe v India
      • Zimbabwe v England
    • Africa Cup
    • Provincial cricket reports – Vigne Cup
    • Interviews: Gus Mackay and James McMaster
    • Letters

    After a long break, we hoped the team would be fresh and ready to go, but unfortunately it didn’t work out like that. The engine is running in fits and starts, with the bowling being the most disappointing area. We have seen our team play brilliantly, but apart from a brave run chase against India – led of course by the incomparable Andy Flower – they did not play to the high standards we know they can obtain. Assessments of the matches against India and England are included in this issue.In one way I feel this tournament could have been organized better. That regards the fixture list. Long before the group matches were concluded, Australia and Sri Lanka are in the semi-finals, South Africa are virtually assured of a place, and the only match with any real significance is that between England and India for the remaining semi-final place.That means there are quite a number of meaningless matches, mostly involving the minnows Bangladesh, Kenya and Holland, remaining before the semi-finals start. The crucial matches between the two strongest teams in each group were played early on, when they should have been used as likely deciders, as England v India will be. Perhaps the fixtures were drawn up in this way to stimulate early local interest in the tournament, or perhaps it was done to put less pressure on the likely semi-final teams. Perhaps they just came out of the hat that way.In future, I would suggest that the weakest team in each group – which would include Zimbabwe – get their matches over with early. The likelihood is that the bigger guns will beat them, and each of the final group matches will be in effect a quarterfinal, with a semi-final place dependent on the result. This will sustain interest, which will otherwise be lost in a series of dead matches.Closer to home, this issue includes a report on the Africa Cup competition held in Lusaka recently, after an interview with manager Kish Gokal, and reports on the Vigne Cup and provincial cricket. Gus Mackay, recently appointed general manager of the Mashonaland Cricket Association, talks about his job in a major article. We also include an interview with Australian James McMaster, a strong ZCO supporter, who is visiting Zimbabwe for the first time and has some interesting observations to make.