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The Kwekwe first team had a home game against Harare Sports Club..Kwekwe batted first and started off on a very quiet note, and then thanks to some very good batting by Terry Duffin and Dave Houghton the innings ended on 281 for six. Incidentally Duffin retired hurt during the fifth over after being hit on the head by a bouncer from Brighton Watambwa, but returned in the seventeenth over and played some fantastic shots which included a six and 10 fours. Houghton showed his vast skill and experience by also playing superbly and using all the shots in the book by hitting a six and seven fours.The Kwekwe score card was as follows: Top batsmen being Duffin with 104 not out and Houghton with 65. The middle order also contributed well to the final score, Brendan Vaughan-Davies scoring 29, John Vaughan-Davies 22 and Colin Delport 23. There were two partnerships of note between Duffin and Delport (56 runs off 61 balls in 37 minutes) and Duffin and Houghton (98 runs off 76 balls in 52 minutes). The best bowlers for Harare Sports Club were Bryan Strang with two for 21 off six overs and N. Bala two for 31 off eight overs.Harare Sports Club then batted after lunch and with some very impressive batting from Eddo Brandes, Don Campbell, J. Cornford and Brendan Taylor finished with 286 for seven after 49 overs.Harare Sports Club score was as follows, the top batsman being the old stalwart Brandes with 86 not out consisting of 4 sixes and 6 fours. Campbell scored 40 comprising 1 six and 4 fours, while J. Cornford and B. Taylor scored 33 and 32 respectively. Best bowlers for Kwekwe were C. Macmillan with two for 45 and Dave Houghton two for 57, each from their allotted 10 overs.As you can see by the scores, it was a very close game that could have gone either way. A crowd of faithful supporters gathered at the Sports Club once again and did their utmost to ensure a Sports Club Victory as they cheered every run that was scored and also every boundary that was hit. Harare Sports Club came out on top of this very close and entertaining encounter winners by three wickets.The Kwekwe second team should have travelled to Bulawayo the same day to play against the B.A.C. second team but the match was unfortunately postponed on Friday due to a waterlogged outfield.Kwekwe Queens Sports Club travelled to Shamva and won a very good match, T. Mukadam being the best batsman and J. Moosa the best bowler.Once again I have nothing to report from Gweru.Next week-end will be free as far as Castle Lager Games go in Kwekwe, but a fun day has been organised for Saturday 17 November 2001 with the ZCU Administrators taking on the ZCU Sponsors. It should be a very entertaining day’s cricket no matter what happens. I will give you a full report next week.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has, in a letter to the BCCI, sought clarity on the mooted bilateral series this December, pointing out that it was part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last year by the two boards. The letter, written on Tuesday by PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan to BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, comes in the wake of a growing sentiment in India – and echoed by the BCCI – that bilateral cricket ties should be suspended given the current political tensions between the two countries.The MOU, for a total of six series between 2015 and 2023, had been agreed to during the ICC meeting last year and was the basis of Pakistan’s conditional support – after initial opposition – to the ICC’s organisational revamp.However political events in the recent past have cast doubts over the revival of the India-Pakistan series as planned. Thakur himself scotched the possibility of cricket resuming till political equations had stabilised. In his letter today, Shaharyar called Thakur’s statement a “negative shadow” on the PCB-BCCI relationship.”I am much hopeful that the Indian government will give its go-ahead to our series regardless of any routine border tension,” Shaharyar wrote. He said the series would help both countries reduce the tension, referring to the series in 1999 when Pakistan toured India despite issues caused by fringe political activists, as well as the return tour by India to Pakistan in 2003-04 despite security concerns.The letter also addressed the issues surrounding Ten Sports’ deal with the PCB. The PCB had recently signed a five-year deal with the broadcaster, but its ties to the Essel Group, which has threatened to form a breakaway international league, had caused issues.ESPNcricinfo understands that some cricket boards had been reluctant to play any series in which Ten Sports is the host broadcaster, leading to a delay in firming up the plans for a series between England and Pakistan.Shaharyar said in the letter that the issues had been resolved and ICC and Ten Sports had agreed on an MOU in which the broadcaster stated that it has no intention of being part of any rival league. Shaharyar met Subhash Chandra (the owner of Ten Sports) in London last month to clear any doubts on the matter. The MOU between the ICC and Ten Sports is, however, reportedly yet to be reviewed by the BCCI.India have not played a bilateral Test series against Pakistan since 2007, though they did host them for two T20Is and three ODIs between December 2012 and January 2013.

Tournament favourites Afghanistan, Nepal and USA recorded comfortable victories on the opening day of the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey.Afghanistan survived a middle-order collapse to beat Japan by 93 runs, Nepal defeated Germany by seven wickets and USA beat Mozambique by nine wickets. Jersey also enjoyed success on a bright and sunny day when they beat Singapore by 93 runs while Norway beat Vanuatu by 183 runs and Botswana saw off the Bahamas by 70 runs.At the Victoria College, Afghanistan suffered a sensational middle-order collapse against Japan when they were bowled out for 179 in 35.4 overs after being 137 for 3. Takuro Hagihara was the pick of Japan bowlers with 5 for 25 while for Afghanistan opener Karim Khan Sedeq top scored with 47. In turn, Japan were bowled out for 80 in 40.2 overs with Hasti Gul Abed bagging 3 for 22.Taj Malik, Afghanistan’s coach, was pleased with his side’s performance and said he never thought his team was in trouble despite posting a small total. “We discussed with the players during the innings break that the pitch was assisting the fast bowlers and if Japan could get us for 180 runs then we should be able to bowl them out for less than 100 runs.”Nepal had few problems against Germany. Set a modest target of 70 runs at the Les Quennevais 1, Nepal raced to victory in 20.2 overs with opener Mahesh Chhetri stroking an unbeaten 23. Earlier, 25-year-old spinner Basant Regmi took 3 for 4 and Mahaboob Alam 3 for 24 as Germany were bowled out in 39.4 overs. “I am happy for my team because it was important for us to get a good start in this tournament which we did,” Binod Kumar Das, Nepal’s captain, said. “We did well with the ball initially and though I think we could have batted better, a win is a win and I am happy it came so comfortably.”At the Farmers Field, USA crushed Mozambique. The feature of the match was a superb knock of 70 not out by Sushil Nadkarni as USA passed the 149-run target in 21.4 overs. Steve Messiah, USA’s captain, was pleased with his team’s performance in their first match in almost two years. “It’s the start we were looking for. We have been out of international cricket for a couple of years and we are now looking forward to moving from strength to strength. Every game will be a big game for us if we are going to qualify for the World … and this is where it all begins for us.”Opener Jersey’s Peter Gough picked up the Man-of-the-Match award for his 69, which included seven boundaries, in his team’s win over Singapore.Norway captain Shahid Ahmed was the only centurion of the day with a brilliant 133 not out to guide his team to 360 for 3 in 50 overs against Vanuatu. Ahmed then completed a fine all-round performance when he claimed 3 for 11 as Vanuatu, who needs wins against two Associate members in Jersey if their application for Associate membership is to be successful, were dismissed for 177.

ScorecardFile photo – Varun Aaron rocked Delhi’s top order and finished with figures of 3 for 27•Getty Images

An unbeaten half-century from Nitish Rana helped Delhi overcome a poor start and pull off a five-wicket win over Jharkhand at the Bandra Kurla Complex. Rana walked in with Delhi 14 for 3 chasing 135, and remained unbeaten on 60 off 44 balls (9×4, 1×6) after seeing them through with two overs to spare. He added 64 for the fourth wicket with Dhruv Shorey (30) and an unbroken 40 for the sixth wicket with Pawan Negi (24 not out). Varun Aaron, who struck twice in the third over of Delhi’s innings, finished with figures of 3 for 27 from his four overs.Sent in to bat, Jharkhand lost wickets at regular intervals, with Virat Singh (45) and Ishank Jaggi (42 off 29, 6×4) putting on the only significant stand of their innings, 62 for the fourth wicket. The highest score either side of that was Kumar Deobrat’s 13, as Delhi’s bowlers, led by Parvinder Awana’s 3 for 28, kept them down to a score of 134 for 7.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh coasted to their second successive win with a seven-wicket win against Gujarat in Mumbai. Chasing 166, Samarth Singh struck an unbeaten 65 – his first fifty – to help Uttar Pradesh romp to the target with an over to spare.Uttar Pradesh lost Prashant Gupta early before Suresh Raina (21 off 12) and Samarth combined for a brisk 31-run stand. Umang Sharma (38) and Samarth then put on 63 to help Uttar Pradesh into the ascendancy. Rush Kalaria picked up two wickets.Earlier, Gujarat rode on a 40-ball 54 from Manpreet Juneja after losing their openers early. However, it was Chirag Gandhi who provided the required impetus to the innings with a quick 41 to help Gujarat to a total of 165 for 6. Praveen Kumar claimed two scalps but it was Piyush Chawla who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1 for 16.
ScorecardShreyas Iyer smashed a 51-ball 86 to lift Mumbai to a comfortable five-wicket win against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai lost Akhil Herwadkar early in the chase of 182, but Iyer and Tare (41) got them back in the contest with a 71-run second-wicket stand. Iyer lost partners regularly but his innings, which featured four fours and six sixes, ensured the damage had been done as Mumbai reached the target with seven balls to spare.After being insterted to bat, Vidarbha posted 181 for 4 on the back of a fifty from Jitesh Sharma (56 off 30) and brisk contributions from Apoorv Wankhade (36) and Urvesh Patel (31). Sagar Trivedi picked up two wickets, but conceded 44 off his four overs.

New balls, please
Chris Gayle had already smashed five sixes before the tenth over gotunderway, but he saved his biggest of the evening for Albie Morkel. Seeingthe manner in which the short balls had been dismissed earlier, Morkeltried to pitch it up, lost the plot slightly, and sent down a full toss.Gayle needed no second invitation: the right leg moved outside leg as hegave himself room, and the result was a savage carve over backward point,well over the stands outside the ground. Normally, that would have held upplay for at least a minute, but here, umpire Darryl Harper, standing atsquare leg, scurried across even as the reserve umpire, Karl Hurter,rolled another ball onto the ground. The delay hardly lasted five seconds,and play was ready to resume even before you’d realised the ball had beenchanged.Wounded Polly
Everyone in South Africa loves Shaun Pollock – there were huge cheersevery time he hit the stump while bowling in practice just before playbegan – but not much went right for him when it was his turn to bowl inthe middle. Gayle took him apart completely, but his one little moment tosavour in that hopelessly one-sided battle came in over number 12: apainfully slow bouncer pitched in the middle of the track, climbed andthen looped down even as it was reaching the batsman, Gayle, and soflummoxed him that he could only watch transfixed as it lobbed past him tothe wicketkeeper. Pollock and the crowd loved that bit of deception.Unfortunately for them, the rest of the went decisively against good ol’Polly, who was left nursing rather embarrassing bowling figures by the endof the day.Butterfingers
A target of 206 should have been difficult, but West Indies decided toplay gracious guests. Dwayne Bravo started the rot, allowing the ball topop out from his hands to give Gibbs a reprieve at 20; the virus thenspread to Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who spilled an admittedly difficultchance from Gibbs; Marlon Samuels then capped a miserable day for WestIndies in the field by dropping a sitter off Justin Kemp. Add all thewides sent down, and it’s easy to see why they lost.Eyeball to eyeball
It might be all fun and music for the crowd, but a couple of incidents inthe match showed that Twenty20 is serious business. Daren Powell startedoff with a vicious short ball which caused Graeme Smith immensediscomfort, and then began a glaring contest with Gibbs, who is neverone to back away. Fidel Edwards then continued the eyeball confrontation,sometimes bowling with such searing pace that the ball was still climbingwhen it reached the wicketkeeper.Ramdin to the rescue
The game was all about bat hitting ball and ball disappearing beyond theboundary, but there was one other performance that stood out too. WestIndies’ bowlers, perhaps not satisfied with a format that only allowseach of them 24 deliveries, bowled wide after wide, and Denesh Ramdin dartedaround like a dervish, gathering most of them cleanly. In the fifth over,when Daren Powell lost control altogether, Ramdin saved four byes bymoving down leg side and then diving full length to make a clean gather. Afew overs later, standing up to Dwayne Smith, he was at it again, making a cleantake way down leg despite being blinded by the batsman. The catch he tookto dismiss AB de Villiers capped a fine night’s work for him. If only thesame could have been said of the rest of the West Indian performance inthe field.

England’s injured spinner, Ashley Giles, is confident that he will be ready to take on Australia in the first Test at Brisbane next month, as he continues his rehabilitation from hip surgery.Giles is a non-playing member of England’s Champions Trophy squad, having not played a competitive game since the tour of Pakistan last winter. But he has been working hard in the nets at England’s base in Delhi, bowling up to 12 overs at a time and concentrating on his fitness.”I am here to finish off the end of my rehab, to bowl as much as I can and to make sure I am sharp when I arrive in Australia,” said Giles, 33, who was a valuable member of England’s Ashes-winning team in 2005. He took 10 wickets in the series, including all of Australia’s top eight, and scored valuable runs at crucial moments, particularly at Trent Bridge and The Oval.Giles has not been greatly missed this summer, however, with the emergence of Monty Panesar suggesting that England have found a multi-dimensional spinner capable of attack and defence in equal measure. But Giles is still sure he is worth his place in the side, and is convinced he can step straight back into the fray in Australia.”If I am happy with how I am bowling, even in net practice, I am willing to take on a Test match every time,” he told the BBC. “I could play any number of first-class games, feel like I’m bowling rubbish and not be confident. But if the ball is coming out well and I feel in good rhythm, that will be the sign to me.”As for the challenge posed by Panesar’s performances, Giles was phlegmatic. “He’s the guy who has done well, he’s in possession and it’s up to me to try to win that place back. If I don’t, I support. We showed last summer we play for each other and as a team. There can’t afford to be any divisions in our side.”

Ian Chappell, the legendary Australian captain, has come out with his thoughts on the Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly controversy and feels that Ganguly should have been prepared for an honest and ruthless answer the moment he asked for a “frank opinion”. Ian Chappell, Greg’s elder brother, described the manner in which they had been brought up and said he was least surprised by the way events unfolded.”Greg can be a very patient man, much more diplomatic than either his father or his elder brother,” wrote Ian Chappell in his column in ,a Mumbai-based tabloid. “However, if you don’t want to hear the truth, then don’t ask him for a frank opinion. Greg Chappell grew up in a household where frank opinions were served up at the breakfast table more often than cereal and fruit juice.”If Indian cricket wanted someone who would passionately seek to help players who wanted to improve, would do his utmost to put the best team on the field for every match without fear or favour and would offer a frank opinion when asked, then they were on the right track with Greg Chappell.”He mentioned Greg Chappell’s insistence on a high standard of fielding and fitness and said it was ingrained in them from an early age. “We all [Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell] had reputations for being either a good catcher or an excellent ground fielder,” he said. “As a player Greg maintained an exceedingly high standard in both facets of fielding and it used to get right up his nose when he felt others were being lazy in the field. It probably still does.” These comments come in the wake of Greg Chappell’s e-mail to the Indian board which said Ganguly was “no longer able to meet the standards of mental and physical fitness that international cricket demands.”The elder Chappell also pointed out the tough decisions in pursuit of success that Greg had taken when he captained Australia and later when he was appointed national selector. “Greg was part of a panel that took some tough decisions that eventually led to the lengthy period of success,” he wrote. “In drawing up the blueprint for a successful future, that panel sacked some talented but undisciplined players. They replaced them with skilful cricketers who had pride in their own performance as well as an extreme desire to achieve victory for the team.”

Canada 250 for 9 dec (Bagai 66, Codrington 48, Mukuddem 3-28) and 91 for 2 (Davison 55*) lead Bermuda 107 (Romaine 40, Patel 3-13, Davison 5-19) by 234 runs
Scorecard

Canada took firm control of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match on the second day at Sunnybrook Park in Toronto, bowling Bermuda out for 107 and opening up a lead of 234 by the end of the second day.It was an allround effort by the Canadians, who had been in some trouble on the first day, which they finished at 158 for 6. But the overnight pair of Ashish Bagai, the wicketkeeper, and fast bowler Austin Codrington took their seventh-wicket stand to 87. Bagai eventually fell to Dwayne Leverock for an obdurate 66, from 177 balls. He hit five fours, but Codrington collected six in his 48. Canada finished with 250 for 9 before John Davison declared.Davison then made inroads with the ball. Oliver Pitcher fell to Ashish Patel for a duck, and although Delyone Borden (18) and Irving Romaine (40) put on 40, after that only one batsman – Saleem Mukuddem – managed to reach double figures. Patel took three wickets, but the main damage was done by Davison. He had taken 17 wickets with his offspin in Canada’s victory over the United States, and winkled out five more here, conceding only 19 runs in 14 overs.Davison then pushed home Canada’s advantage, sprinting to 55 not out, with five fours and two sixes, by the close, which Canada reached at 91 for 2 despite losing Desmond Chumney for 11 and Zubin Surkari for a duck.

Colwall:
Herefordshire 326-8d & 192-3d v Oxfordshire 248-6 & 127-6
Match drawn
Herefordshire 10pts, Oxfordshire 8ptsHertford:
Bedfordshire 379 & 161-2 v Hertfordshire 194-1d
Match drawn
Hertfordshire 9pts, Bedfordshire 8ptsJesmond:
Northumberland 426-4d v Buckinghamshire 179-4
Match drawn
Northumberland 9pts, Buckinghamshire 6ptsShrewsbury:
Devon 292 v Shropshire 25-1d
Match drawn
Shropshire 8pts, Devon 7ptsBury St Edmunds:
Suffolk 182 & 116-4 v Lincolnshire 242
Match drawn
Suffolk 9pts, Lincolnshire 10ptsSwansea:
Wales 140 & 407-5 v Cornwall 386-5d
Match drawn
Wales 6pts, Cornwall 12pts

Paul Collingwood, Matthew Hoggard and Jeremy Snape have been rewarded for impressive performances on England’s successful tour of Zimbabwe with places in England’s squad for the one-day tournaments in India and New Zealand in January and February. Owais Shah, who faced only two balls in his solitary appearance on the Zimbabwe trip, has also been retainedBut Mark Ramprakash, formerly Shah’s captain at Middlesex and now at Surrey, has been omitted. Ramprakash made 26, 6 not out, 47, 17 and 0 in Zimbabwe, while Shah was out without scoring in the fourth match.”I enjoyed the Zimbabwe tour but I don’t think I did myself justice,” Ramprakash told Sky Sports.”In the fourth and fifth matches I had an opportunity to make some runs and Ididn’t do that and we will just have to see how this squad goes.”I didn’t really know the way that Nasser and Duncan are thinking aboutthis. Owais is a very talented player and he had good innings against Australianand Pakistan over the summer and I was surprised he didn’t get more of anopportunity in Zimbabwe, but he might on the India trip.”I suppose they’ve gone for more of a balance with young players. They’ve seen what I can do and I think now they trying some younger players.”I’m disappointed not to be in the squad, but I wish the squad well and I hope they get some good results.”Yorkshire’s Michael Vaughan is in the squad as cover opener as well as middle-order batsman, while Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick return, along with Craig White, who had to withdraw from the Zimbabwe squad.Ramprakash, Paul Grayson, James Kirtley, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Silverwoodare the members of the Zimbabwe squad to be omitted.Warwickshire slow left armer Ashley Giles, who missed much of last season following an Achilles tendon operation, is back in the fold, while Gloucestershire’s Jeremy Snape, who made his international debut in Zimbabwe, is retained for the two-nation trip.