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The ongoing dispute within the Mashonaland Cricket Association (MCA) looks set to end up in court after Tawengwa Mukuhlani, the deposed chairman, and three other sacked board members told a local newspaper that they were taking legal action action to try to overturn their dismissals.The four were sacked during a heated special general meeting just before Christmas after members accused them of not taking a firm stand against the running of Zimbabwe Cricket. Now Mukuhlani is claiming the meeting was unconstitutional. "The board did not agree on the meeting," he told the Zimbabwe Independent. "We just decided that since clubs had said they wanted to go ahead with the meeting, we did not want to be a stumbling block … we had agreed to set the agenda for the meeting which was to discuss the change of logo and name. We were very surprised that people did not stick to the agenda item."Mukuhlani said that the new board had fuelled the dispute with ZC, choosing confrontation ahead of negotiation. "Before the dispute broke out ZC approached MCA to discuss several issues affecting cricket. MCA agreed to discuss everything apart from the re-branding, and indication that they were rearing for a fight."The legal maneuvering was dismissed by Cyprian Mangenge, the new MCA chairman, who said that the constitution had been adhered to.It is believed that Mukuhlani was recently told in no uncertain terms by Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman, to reassert his authority over the MCA. The aggressive attitude of the new board has led to some bitter discussions and casued further unease within Zimbabwe cricket at a time the board are keen to be seen as united.

South Africa A 245 (de Bruyn 100*) lead Sri Lanka A 16 for 1by 229 runs
ScorecardSouth Africa A’s allrounder, Zander de Bruyn, scored an undefeated 100 but his team could only muster 245 all out in the opening day of a four-day match against Sri Lanka A at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground (NCC) in Colombo.After being asked to bat first, South Africa reached lunch on 89 for 2 as the two left-handers, Andrew Puttick (41) and the captain, Jacques Rudolph (28) set the platform. There followed a 63-run partnership for the sixth wicket between De Bruyn and Justin Ontong (40) to keep them in the hunt for a bigger total. But the South Africans lost their way and reached tea on 187 for 6.The left-arm spinner, Weerakoon took six wickets as he turned the tables on the South Africans. When bad light stopped play, Sri Lanka had reached 16 for 1 in reply, having lost Avishka Gunawardene for a duck, caught in the slips by Johan van der Wath off the bowling of Monde Zondeki.”We got starts but we couldn’t capitalise,” said coach Vincent Barnes. “The harsh lesson on the sub-continent is to make a good start like we did and not take advantage. However, I need to commend Zander for keeping us in the game with his hundred. He played exceptionally well. We must learn for the next match not to repeat the same mistakes.”

Michael Clarke has regained his fitness and could open the batting for Australia in their first match of the VB Series against West Indies at Melbourne on Friday (January 14). Clarke, who was a doubtful starter for the match due to a foot injury, showed no signs of discomfort during training on the eve of the game and has been tipped to partner Adam Gilchrist at the top of the order.Ricky Ponting stated that Clarke or Damien Martyn would take up the slot. “Clarke wants to open as well and has done it before, he got a hundred in Zimbabwe doing that, so we’ve got a couple of options there,” Ponting said, according to ABC Sport. “Damien’s done extremely well when he’s had the chance to open before. So we’ve got the two options, but probably leaning towards Clarke at the moment.”Earlier, the spot left vacant by Matthew Hayden’s omission was expected to be filled by Simon Katich, but Katich himself is a doubt for the game due to a throat infection which forced him to miss practice on Wednesday. Ponting indicated that Katich only had a 50% chance of playing. “He has improved a lot and we’ll have a look at him later today and then again tomorrow morning before we name the team.”

Wally Langdon, an early giant of West Australian cricket and one of the unluckiest batsmen never to play for Australia, has died in Perth at the age of 81.A classy left-hander, Langdon was judged by the legendary Test opener Arthur Morris to possess "an ideal temperament for big cricket". He hailed from the gold-mining town of Boulder, and stockpiled his runs most effectively in the summer of 1952-53, when centuries against Queensland and the touring South Africans were not enough to win him Test selection.WA fans, suspecting yet another eastern-states conspiracy, were miffed. Their sense of injustice rankled further when Langdon missed out on Lindsay Hassett’s 1953 Ashes squad behind Graeme Hole, from South Australia, and the New South Welshman Jimmy de Courcy – "and Wally Langdon," his old team-mate Ken Meuleman noted last night, "was a long way better than Jimmy de Courcy."Meuleman told The West Australian newspaper: "There is no question that had he played for Victoria or New South Wales he would have played Test cricket. If he had played today he would be the equal of Justin Langer or Damien Martyn."Langdon’s lack of baggy-green recognition did little to diminish his legend in WA. He was an integral member of their inaugural Sheffield Shield-winning side of 1947-48 when WA, to widespread bewilderment, pilfered the prize at their first attempt. Twenty years went by before they repeated the feat, in 1967-68 – and Langdon was again at the forefront, this time as coach.A schoolteacher by profession, Langdon went to war in 1944, flying over Germany in a Lancaster Bomber. Returning home, he was 25 and considered an automatic selection when WA were at last granted Shield status. He starred against Don Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles when they detoured to the WACA en route to England, hitting 112 – and so impressing The Don that he was invited to play in Bradman’s testimonial match the following season.Batting in front of around 60,000 people, hordes undreamed of by a young man from the WA bush, Langdon distinguished himself with 60 and 42. He went to India in 1949-50 as part of the Commonwealth team led by Jock Livingston, playing in two of the five unofficial Tests. In 1952-53 he was put in charge of the WA side, despite never having captained even his club team. Alan Edwards, another Langdon contemporary, described him last night as "a helluva fighter".Despite his latish entry to first-class cricket, Langdon scored five hundreds for WA and averaged in the mid-thirties. A useful left-arm medium-pacer, he also played two seasons in England for Burnley in the Lancashire League. For more than a decade he commentated for ABC Radio, cementing his household status among Sandgropers. He cut a dapper and familiar figure around the WACA right up to his death.It was Langdon who brought a young Barry Shepherd to the big smoke, luring him from the small country town of Donnybrook to play grade cricket in Perth. Shepherd eventually went on to become the first WA-born batsman to represent Australia. Of his own failure to achieve that mantle, Langdon did not like to grumble. But Anthony Barker, in his book The WACA: An Australian Cricket Success Story, wrote: "He was devoid enough of false modesty to believe that he was at least as good as one or two of the batsmen who toured in Hassett’s Ashes-surrendering team of 1953."Langdon had suffered from kidney problems in recent times, and passed away on Sunday night. He is survived by five members of WA’s shock all-conquerors of ’47-48.Christian Ryan is the Australasian editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Pakistan players are regularly made fully aware of what substances they are and aren’t allowed to take, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Speaking to Cricinfo on condition of anonymity, a PCB official said that the players were given a list every year, sanctioned by the ICC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), detailing what constitutes banned substances and what doesn’t.”We give them an updated list every year and stress to them the importance of being aware of what is allowed and what isn’t. This year, just before the tour to England, we provided them with an ICC booklet with this information,” the official said. “Every player is aware of exactly what is and isn’t right.”Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan’s new-ball attack, tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone in an internal doping test carried out by the PCB. As a result they have been called back from the Champions Trophy and now face possible disciplinary action at the hands of a PCB-instituted tribunal consisting of a former Test cricketer.The findings initially asked questions of how much communication there is between the PCB and its players on such matters, particularly when players are injured. Significantly perhaps, both players have recently come back from injuries which kept them out of cricket for extended periods. Before he appeared in the ODI series in England recently, Shoaib had been out of the game since February with knee and ankle injuries. Asif too missed much of the Test series against England with an elbow injury.The official, however, insisted that the PCB had played its part. “We are very particular about this. We make sure the players know what they need to, especially when injuries occur and rehabilitation needs to take place. At the end of the day, they are also professionals and should have an idea of what is going into their bodies. Steroids after all are steroids and surely, as a player, you must be aware of that.”There appears to be no global uniform policy regarding keeping players as informed as possible. Not surprisingly, Cricket Australia appears most proactive. Awareness sessions are held with players: one was held recently at the pre-season training camp. Additionally, players also have access to an information hotline in case they are unsure about certain substances.England signed up to the WADA code earlier this year, and all England players are drug-tested as a matter of routine.In South Africa, players were tested before they came to India for the Champions Trophy and are also provided, like their Pakistani counterparts, with booklets on relevant information. The Sri Lankan board holds awareness sessions in the academy and exercises, according to one journalist, considerable control over the players in terms of diet, training and treatment.Shoaib has denied any wrongdoing and he is backed up by his personal doctor Dr Tauseef Razzak. The implication hidden in the official’s remarks, though, is that both players should have known what they were doing. Judgment will be reserved, however, until the PCB tribunal comes to its own conclusions, or either player offers an explanation.

The Sri Lankan selectors have retained the same 15-man squad for the third andfourth one-dayers, both of which are to be played at the traditionally spin-friendly Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo.Sri Lanka levelled the series on Sunday thanks to a match-winning spellfrom Chaminda Vaas, who took 3 for 48 and was the only seamer in a bowling attack that included six spinners.With conditions expected to be similar, the same XI could be retained.However, according to selection sources, changes to the final XI are beingconsidered and the team will not be finalised until the pitch is inspected on Tuesday.The relegation of Romesh Kaluwitharana down the order on Sunday suggeststhat the likeliest change may now be Kumar Sangakkara taking over wicketkeeping duties for the first time in one-day cricket since last year’s World Cup.Kaluwitharana, run out in the first two matches for single figure scores,could be replaced by either a fast bowler – probably Nuwan Zoysa – or SamanJayantha, an explosive batsman who is yet to make his international debut.Squad
1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Kumar Dharmasena, 11 Romesh Kaluwitharana, 12 Nuwan Kulasekara, 13 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 14 Nuwan Zoysa, 15 Saman Jayantha

Adrian Dale’s Benefit Year in 2003 raised the sum of £110,983, it was announced today.Adrian commented:”I am obviously delighted to have enjoyed a successful Benefit and would like to take thisopportunity to thank not only the Chairman of my Benefit Committee, Howard Gadd, and theother members of the Committee, but also Glamorgan County Cricket Club, who awarded me theBenefit and gave me the opportunity.””I would also like to place on record my appreciation and thanks to the many hundreds ofindividual Glamorgan members, sponsor, businesspeople and supporters who made contributionsduring the course of the year. As I’m sure is the case for all beneficiaries throughout thecounty game, the Benefit Year proved to be very hard work but, as can be seen from the result,it also proved extremely rewarding and I’m very grateful indeed to everyone who helped make it such a success.”

The first in a series of articles examining how the Indian team is shaping up for the coming 2003-04 season. This one focusses on opening batsman.For years India have struggled to find a regular opening pair for Test matches. In the 34 Tests since India’s last tour to Australia, as many as 12 men have opened for India in Tests, and the top of the order still holds a slightly unsettled look. Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar were brought together last year in England as a makeshift tactical measure, and it worked magnificently for a while. Are these two the best bet over the coming season, especially with the tough Australian tour in prospect? Wisden CricInfo weighs up the options.Virender Sehwag
Sehwag was asked to open in England last year for two reasons: one, his ability demanded inclusion in the side, and that was the only spot open; and two, his counterattacking skills could help grab the early momentum for India, much like Michael Slater did for the Australians. Sehwag averages 38.4 as an opener as opposed to 41.5 overall, and showed admirable temperament during his centuries at Trent Bridge (against England) and in Mumbai (against West Indies), where he saw off the new ball patiently before raising the tempo. He has, however, recently expressed his desire to slip into the middle order – but does a vacancy exist there? Sehwag will certainly be tested by the short ball in Australia, but his counterattacking abilities could be crucial for a side that has often suffered from diffidence at the top.Sanjay Bangar
Bangar first opened in the first Test of India’s West Indies tour last year, but he was made a regular in the series against England that followed. His average as an opener is just 25, but that is no reflection of the value he brought to the team. His role was to grind out the first session and see off the new ball, and he did this often enough – most notably in the Headingley Test, where he kept his end up in trying circumstances for most of the first day, in a partnership with Rahul Dravid that set India up for a historic victory. He plays within his limitations, and his application and grit could be invaluable in Australia, where Indian openers tend to get out early. His accurate wicket-to-wicket medium pace make him a competent fifth bowler, capable of bowling ten overs in a day and giving the strike bowlers some rest.SS Das
Das is a compact, technically correct player who is equally good off both the front and back foot, and conjured up visions of Sunil Gavaskar in his early games. But he had a grievous problem converting his starts into bigger scores, and reached three figures on only two of the 11 occasions on which he crossed 50 – both against lowly Zimbabwe at placid Nagpur. To hold a regular place for India in the long term, he will have to learn to play the longer innings.Wasim Jaffer
Jaffer’s Test career has two parts. He played two Tests against South Africa in 1999-00, and failed in both; he then returned against West Indies last year, and made two fifties before being dropped a series later. An elegant, wristy player who is a delight to watch when at his best, Jaffer is a good back-foot player, but often appears tentative on the front foot. His footwork has been found to be deficient against the moving ball, but he has just had an excellent tour of England with India A, and is a strong contender for a place in the national side.Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir first showed his penchant for the big innings at the under-19 level, and continued his exploits at the first-class level. He came into contention for national selection with two consecutive double-centuries in 2002, one of them against the visiting Zimbabweans. After a good tour of West Indies with India A in early 2003, he was picked to play for India in a one-day triangular at Dhaka just after the World Cup where he managed one fifty in five innings. He is an aggressive strokeplayer with the hunger to play long innings, but his minimal footwork and over-reliance on hand-eye co-ordination have raised doubts over his potential at the highest level. But then, the only way to find out how he swims is to throw him into the sea.The rest
Sadagoppan Ramesh averages 37 in Tests but continues to languish in Tamil Nadu wilderness – doubts over his footwork and temperamant still seem to persist. Deep Dasgupta had shown in his brief stint as Das’s partner that while he may well have been a mediocre wicketkeeper, he had just the right technique and temperament to be an opener. He saved India a Test at Port Elizabeth, and followed that up with a hundred in the Mohali Test against England. But his pigeonholing as a wicketkeeper who can bat – rather than a specialist opening option – has held him back. Akash Chopra and Satyajit Parab are in the fringes, but could find themselves with an outside chance if too many India scalps are claimed in Australia, as happened last time. VVS Laxman says he was misquoted recently about being willing to open, and that he prefers being in the middle order.Expert Views
Arun Lal: I would continue with Sehwag and Bangar. Sehwag is too good a player to be left out of the team and I think he is doing well at the top of the order. Bangar did a phenomenal job for India in England last year, especially at Headingley, where his batting on the first day, in extremely difficult conditions, was key to India winning the Test. Das and Jaffer should be the back-up to these two.Chetan Chauhan: I would like to see Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman switch positions. I think Laxman has a better technique for opening the innings and Sehwag would be better used in the middle order. Sanjay Bangar has been doing a good job and should retain his place in the side. The reserve opener should be either Wasim Jaffer or SS Das.Krishnamachari Srikkanth: I think the opening combination is still a problem for India. In the long run, I would move Sehwag down the order, especially as that is what he himself wants. He is a natural middle-order batsman, and that is where he belongs. It is too early to say who should fill the vacancy that would create, but I wonder why the selectors are neglecting Sadagoppan Ramesh. He has the best record of all the openers in recent times.Amit Varma is managing editor of Wisden CricInfo in India.The settled middle order
Finders, keepers
Turn, turn, turn
Up to speed

Points tableNortherns 228 for 4 (van Jaarsveld 77, McKenzie 73*) beatBoland 226 for 9 (Euley 88, Kemp 4-37, Thomas 3-32) by 5wickets.
ScorecardMartin van Jaarsveld (77) and Neil McKenzie (73*) added 107 for the third wicket, taking Northerns to an easy six-wicket win against Boland. They overhauled the target of 227 in just 43.2 overs.Earlier, Boland had been saved from humiliation when Wesley Euley, playing his first Standard Bank Cup innings, scored 88 at nearly a run a ball, batting aggressively against Justin Kemp in particular. Kemp returned figures of 4 for 37, and 27 of those runs were off Euley’s bat. Euley’s 94-run fourth-wicket partnership with Gerhard Strydom ensured that Boland ended on 226 for 9. Alfonso Thomas took 3 for 32.Border 188 (Sugden 42*, Boucher 41, Louw 5-27) beat EasternProvince 116 for 8 (Langeveldt 3-21) by 11 runs (D/L Method).
ScorecardAn undefeated 42 from Craig Sugden and 41 from Mark Boucher could not save Border from being bowled out, inside the allotted 45 overs, for 188. Johann Louw, playing for Eastern Province after moving from Griqualand West at the begining of the season, returned career-best figures of 5 for 27.A 150-minute rain delay, after the supper break, had the slide rule out, and Eastern Province was set a Duckworth-Lewis target of 128 off 24 overs. For the second time this series Border had been caught on the wrong end of the weather but they turned it around with some good attacking bowling, especially from Charl Langeveldt, who took 3 for 21.Continuous pressure on the batsmen resulted in chances being taken and wickets being lost at crucial periods, and Border walk away victorsin an exciting finish.

Durham v Lancashire at Chester-le-Street
ScorecardJames Anderson continued his astonishing season with three wickets in five overs, as Durham were bundled to a humiliating defeat at Chester-le-Street. Chasing Lancashire’s modest 229 for 9, Durham were washed up inside the first 15 overs of their reply, as Anderson and Peter Martin extracted the top six for a paltry 26 runs. To make matters worse, Durham’s Australian Test player, Martin Love, was unable to bat after fracturing his thumb while attempting a slip catch, and has been ruled out for three weeks. Nicky Peng led a spirited rearguard, adding 53 for the seventh wicket with Neil Killeen and contributing more than half of Durham’s total, but Azhar Mahmood wrapped up the match with two wickets in three overs. Lancashire’s total had been built on the efforts of Carl Hooper and Stuart Law, who each contributed a well-paced half-century. The impetus was provided by Andrew Flintoff, a surprise recall after his shoulder injury, who blasted 31 from 29 balls.Kent v Gloucestershire at Canterbury
ScorecardGloucestershire’s one-day knowhow carried them to a tense five-wicket victory in a low-scoring encounter at Canterbury. A total of 194 never looked like being enough for Kent, despite an impressive 53-ball 50 from Greg Blewett. But on a grassless pitch, no-one could cope with the left-arm seam of Mike Smith, who took the Man of the Match award with 4 for 35. Gloucestershire’s reply was equally unsteady, with Phil Weston and Tim Hancock falling in single figures. But Craig Spearman’s excellent 71 broke the back of the run-chase, before Jonty Rhodes – complete with a runner after damaging a hamstring – nudged Gloucestershire into the quarter-finals with a sedate 45 not out.Middlesex v Sussex at Lord’s
ScorecardJames Kirtley showed what might have been, had he been let loose at Lord’s last week for his Test debut, but even his allround heroics couldn’t salvage a disappointing match for Sussex. After Andrew Strauss and Paul Weekes had added 139 for the first wicket, Kirtley took 5 for 41 to destroy Middlesex’s middle order, as six wickets fell for 36 runs. Sussex’s reply was frenetic – six batsmen scored between 30 and 39, but no-one could put together the big score that was so needed. At 183 for 8, the game was as good as up, but Kirtley and Mark Davis kept the optimists interested with an unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership of 58. Kirtley’s share was 30 from 21 balls, but it was too little, too late.Glamorgan v Derbyshire at Cardiff
ScorecardChris Bassano played the innings of his life, just three days after being discharged from hospital after a diabetes-related illness, as Derbyshire powered past Glamorgan and into the quarter-finals. In the previous round, Bassano had scored his maiden one-day hundred – against the mighty Kent Cricket Board – but this time he cracked 10 fours and four sixes in a magnificent 100-ball 121, reaching his hundred from 89 balls as Glamorgan’s challenging total of 248 for 9 was overhauled with a whopping eight-and-a-half overs to spare. Derbyshire had been in some early trouble at 54 for 2, after Mike Kasprowicz had removed both openers, but Bassano added 191 for the third wicket with Andrew Gait (87 not out), and when he fell with four still needed, it was Gait who had the honour of hitting the winning runs. Glamorgan’s total had been built by a selection of cameos all down the order. Only one man, Jonathan Hughes, passed fifty, but nobody was dismissed in single figures.Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire at Leicester
ScorecardPhil DeFreitas turned back the clock at Grace Road to lead Leicestershire into the quarter-finals at the expense of Nottinghamshire. DeFreitas, who cracked a quickfire 22 at the end of Leicestershire’s innings, bowled his ten overs straight through, to finish with the immaculate figures of 3 for 20. His victims included the dangerous pairing of Usman Afzaal and Kevin Pietersen, and though Chris Cairns did his best to emulate DeFreitas’s captain’s performance, his 67 came too late to salvage anything from the match. No other middleor lower-order batsman reached double figures, as Nottinghamshire folded for 159. Earlier, Leicestershire’s batting hero had been Virender Sehwag, whose boundary-laden 56 launched the innings at a cracking tempo.Somerset v Surrey at Taunton
ScorecardGraham Thorpe produced a timely reminder of his incomparable one-day abilities, as Surrey kept their cool to sneak to a tense six-run victory over Somerset. Thorpe, who recently reversed his decision to retire from one-day internationals, cracked a superb unbeaten 102, to lift Surrey from a wobbly 169 for 6 to a commanding total of 281. He added 112 for the seventh wicket with Jonathan Batty, who justified his selection ahead of Alec Stewart with a blistering 55 not out. Somerset lost early wickets in reply, including Marcus Trescothick, but Keith Parsons and Michael Burns steadied the ship before Ian Blackwell launched Somerset back into contention with a barrage of boundaries, one of which dented the bonnet of Ian Ward’s car. Saqlain Mushtaq ended the fun, however, and quickly followed up with the key wicket of Parsons, for an excellent 83. The run-rate was too much to ask of the lower-order, and Adam Hollioake stifled the pursuit with three rapid wickets.Warwickshire v Essex at Birmingham
ScorecardWarwickshire were hauled back from the brink by the first one-day hundred of Dougie Brown’s career, as Essex contrived to lose a gripping tie at Edgbaston. Essex started and finished the match disastrously, but dominated the rest of the day – Mark Pettini pushed his claims for a regular place with an excellent 92 not out, before Jon Dakin took three quick wickets, including the England hopefuls Ian Bell and Jim Troughton, as Warwickshire slumped to 83 for 6. But Brown found the ideal ally in Ashley Giles, fresh from his maiden Test fifty last week. The pair added 170 for the seventh wicket, and Giles sealed the match with five balls remaining. Earlier, Nasser Hussain picked up his second golden duck in consecutive matches for Essex – run out off the first ball of Waqar Younis’s Warwickshire career. Waqar then added Will Jefferson’s scalp in the same over, but suffered some punishment later on.Worcestershire v Yorkshire at Worcester
ScorecardYorkshire lost their grip on the C&G Trophy, as David Leatherdale and Nantie Hayward produced command performances in Worcestershire’s 67-run victory at New Road. Leatherdale – a Yorkshireman by birth – made 80 from 87 balls (his highest score in one-day matches) and Vikram Solanki charmed 12 fours in a 56-ball 60, after Worcestershire had slumped to a perilous 130 for 6. Although Yorkshire had been lifted by the return of Darren Gough, who finished with a respectable 2 for 43 from his ten overs, they suffered a huge setback when Matthew Hoggard limped out of the attack with a knee injury after three balls, one of which had removed the dangerous Graeme Hick. Yorkshire’s innings stuttered immediately, when Michael Lumb fell first-ball to Hayward, and though Michael Vaughan threatened to give chase, Hayward put the result beyond doubt with figures of 5 for 49 from his 10 overs.C & G Trophy – Quarter Final DrawLancashire v Middlesex
Warwickshire v Gloucestershire
Leicestershire v Worcestershire
Derbyshire v Surrey

Leicestershire v Worcestershire will take place on Tuesday, June 10, the remainder on Wednesday, June 11.