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Chris Gayle starred with the ball and bat for Lions in their Ram Slam T20 opener, taking four wickets and scoring a fifty to help the side beat Dolphins by six wickets at the Wanderers.Cody Chetty (68) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld had forged a recovery for Dolphins with a 71-run stand for the third wicket but Gayle’s introduction into the attack turned the game in Lions’ favour. He took a wicket in each over of his spell to finish with 4 for 36, breaking the Dolphins middle order by accounting for van Jaarsveld, Chetty, Jonathan Vandiar and Khaya Zondo. Prenelan Subrayen struck a few blows towards the end of the innings to lift the Dolphins total to 172.Lions began their chase with an 18-run over from Daryn Dupavillon but, by the fourth over, were struggling at 36 for 3. Gayle and Jean Symes’ 89-run stand put the chase back on track and both batsmen finished with half-centuries. While Gayle struck 56 off 38 balls, Symes finished on an unbeaten 50-ball 58 to guide Lions to a win in the 19th over.Kieron Pollard’s all-round contribution with bat and ball was the difference between the Cobras and the Titans in Johannesburg. Pollard led the Cobras final assault with the bat with 72 runs at a strike rate of 200, and was the architect of their 80-run plunder off the last six overs of their innings. He then took three wickets in two overs to derail the Titans’ chase.The Cobras were set up by Richard Levi, who faced just 34 balls for his 81 runs, but the Titans may have thought that was as bad as it got for them. They got rid of the Cobras’ top and middle order cheaply, with their slower bowlers doing the bulk of the containing. Roelof van der Merwe conceded just 14 runs in three overs while Dean Elgar took 3 for 20 and bowled a full quota to keep the Cobras quiet.That was before Pollard made his entrance. He spoilt the figures of Ethy Mbhlati and Rowan Richards and ensured the Cobras posted a run more than the Knights did in the early game.Unlike the Warriors, who collapsed in their chase of 206, the Titans looked set to get to their target of 208. Openers Elgar and Henry Davids were merciless in equal measure and shared in a first-wicket stand of 151 inside 15 overs. Again, it was Pollard who changed proceedings.In his third over, he had Elgar caught at long-on, Davids off against a slower ball and also accounted for Darren Sammy with a short ball- all in the space of seven deliveries. The Titans needed 45 runs off the last three overs but could only manage 30 in what became a tense finish.Warriors’ batting woes from the first-class and fifty-over formats have carried over into the shortest version of the game as well. Overseas signing Craig Kieswetter, who made 51, was the only batsman in their line-up who managed a score of more than 20 as they were beaten by the Knights in their campaign opener.Set a tall 206 for victory – a target built on the back of Knights’ opening stand of 78 runs and topped off by Diego Rosier’s second T20 half-century – the Warriors were never in the chase. Dillon du Preez’s four wickets dismantled them – his first pair dismissed the openers and second bored into the tail. In between that, all the other members of the Knights attack enjoyed success, except the slower bowlers, with the medium-pace of Malusi Siboto and the spin of Werner Coetsee costing more than eight runs an over.Those numbers only indicate indiscipline of the Warriors in the first half of the fixture. They used seven bowlers and none of them conceded at less than seven runs to the over, with Jon-Jon Smuts hauling in the best return of 2 for 28.Smuts’ strike pegged the Knights back after they were off to a speedy start thanks to Rudi Second and Gerhardt Abrahams. A mid-innings wobble saw them lose four wickets for 42 runs and they seemed to be losing their way but Rosier put them back on track. He shared in a 67-run stand with Obus Pienaar, which came in just 3.2 overs, to tip the Knights total over 200 and ensure they took maximum points from the first match of the campaign.

‘I didn’t think the umpire would put the finger up, but when he did I just ran away like a bit of a headless chicken’ © Getty Images

Ryan Sidebottom admitted he had no idea how to react after becoming the 11th Englishman to take a Test hat-trick during an extraordinary fourth day’s play of the first Test in Hamilton. Sidebottom struck three times in three balls en route to career-best figures of 5 for 37, as New Zealand lost six wickets for 20 runs to finish the day on a precarious 147 for 8. Nevertheless, with a handy lead of 122 on first innings, Sidebottom was aware his hard work isn’t over just yet.”I suppose I’ll remember it for as long as I’m alive,” said Sidebottom, who achieved the feat in front of his father, the former England paceman, Arnie. “I’ve never had a hat-trick before and getting one in a Test match is even more special. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s not just about me. We want to win Test matches and it’s a big day for us tomorrow.”We said in the dressing-room if we got two or three early wickets we might be right back in it because they’d come out to play a few shots,” said Sidebottom. “Daniel Vettori will be a key wicket, he’s in good nick, but if we can open up an end and get Chris Martin in, the onus is on us to play well. In the first hour we’ve got to be right on the money.”Sidebottom may ply his trade for Nottinghamshire these days, but he began his career at Yorkshire, where he shared a dressing-room with each of the last two Englishmen to record Test hat-tricks. Darren Gough achieved his at Sydney during the 1998-99 Ashes, while Matthew Hoggard emulated the feat five years later in Barbados, during England’s 3-0 victory in the Caribbean.”Goughy always likes a bit of a chirp in the dressing-room, and he used to talk about his hat-tricks,” said Sidebottom. “You always dream of doing it and I don’t know what to say to be honest. I’ve not taken a hat-trick at any level before – I’ve been on one two or three times in my career, but I’ve never got one before.”Sidebottom was in fact on a hat-trick at the start of New Zealand’s innings, after dismissing Jeetan Patel and Chris Martin with consecutive deliveries in the first innings, but he had not been aware of the opportunity. “I was just concentrating on hitting the right areas,” he explained. “The Kookaburra [ball] doesn’t swing for very long.”It was, however, reverse swing that did the trick for Sidebottom, as he tailed a perfect off-stump delivery into Jacob Oram’s front pad to trap him plumb lbw. Once the appeal had been upheld by umpire Daryl Harper, he hurtled off in the direction of midwicket where he was smothered by his jubilant team-mates.”Swanny [Graeme Swann, a substitute fielder at mid-off] said he’d do a few things to me if I got the hat-trick,” said Sidebottom. “I didn’t think the umpire would put the finger up, but when he did I just ran away like a bit of a headless chicken.”Sidebottom’s first two wickets were both to excellent catches in the gully from Alastair Cook, but ever the team man, he was more concerned with passing the praise to England’s batsmen, Paul Collingwood and Tim Ambrose, whose 90-run stand for the seventh wicket had set the game up for his grandstand performance.”They fought so hard,” said Sidebottom. “Timmy was fantastic on his debut, it wasn’t easy and he showed a lot of patience. It’s going to be difficult [to chase in the fourth innings], their guys are in good form and bowling really well. But we’ve still got to get two wickets and then see what the score is.”One man who wasn’t surprised by Sidebottom’s success was his county captain, Stephen Fleming, who also happened to be the first of the hat-trick victims. “He is deserving of that and he’s a great guy,” said Fleming. “He has worked incredibly hard and I have known for some time the qualities he possesses and he has shown that consistently for some time so our dressing-room is not surprised.”In a way it’s spectacular to see a hat-trick as well,” he added. “It has breathed some life into the game that was meandering along. We were the only team to be positive enough to do it to create this opportunity, so from that point of view England must be pretty pleased they have given themselves a chance. We knew that would have to be the case if we were to win this match.”

Zimbabwe 221 (Matsikenyeri 73*, Sibanda 67) tied with Ireland 221 for 9 (Bray 115*)
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Jeremy Bray reaches his outstanding hundred … it earned him the Man-of-the-Match award © Getty Images

Zimbabwe tied with Ireland in one of the greatest World Cup matches ever, the game at Sabina Park producing some of the most pulsating, enthralling cricket you could ever ask to see. Zimbabwe will wonder how they threw away an almost certain victory, and while the points are shared, the day belonged to the Irish, and in particular their batting hero Jeremy Bray. It was they who were celebrating at the end while the expressions on the faces of the Zimbabwe side were of utter bewilderment.Zimbabwe had seemed to be cruising when on 92 for 1 chasing 222; within 45 minutes they were teetering on 133 for 5. But Stuart Matsikenyeri and Brendan Taylor, with plenty of time available to them, steadied the ship and guided Zimbabwe falteringly towards the finishing line. As Ireland started to look sloppy in the field, there appeared to be only one winner.Then the wheels really came off. Taylor was run-out in desperately unlucky circumstances at the non-striker’s end after a fortuitous deflection off the bowler’s wrist. That did not seem crucial at the time, but it was the turning point. When Gary Brent fell leg-before with ten needed, the jitters really set in among a very inexperienced side.Matsikenyeri was the difference between the teams but he was not on strike – he faced only 15 of the last 30 balls – as the penultimate over started with nine still required. Kevin O’Brien, in only his second over of the innings, had Prosper Utseya caught off a full toss with his first ball, and then Christopher Mpofu was stranded at the wrong end off the last.Matsikenyeri took five off the first three balls of the last over, bowled by Andrew White. Rainsford chipped a single off the fourth, leaving Zimbabwe needing three from two. Matsikenyeri then top edged and an airbourne Trent Johnston at short third man couldn’t quite cling on to the ball, and then his shy at the bowler’s end was thwarted by some unsubtle but effective blocking by Rainsford who threw himself in the path of the throw.With the scores tied, Matsikenyeri had to get something on the ball but he played and missed, and while the attempt to stump him failed – he never left his ground – Rainsford, who had charged towards his colleague, was left stranded. Zimbabwe had lost four wickets for nine in 15 balls in one of the most sensational World Cup chokes.Zimbabwe had been in trouble twice earlier. They struggled early on when a battling 67 from Vusi Sibanda bailed them out. Terry Duffin and Chamu Chibhabha both came and went without ever looking remotely in touch – Duffin dropped behind the wicket twice in four balls before finally being caught off the fifth.Sibanda kept the scoreboard ticking along with some well-struck drives, but he lacked any support. Sean Williams came and went after a most bizarre cameo, batting like a man who wanted to be showered and back in his hotel within the hour. He threw the bat at everything and almost inevitably and immediately holed out. Two balls later Zimbabwe could have been in deeper trouble when Matsikenyeri was left stranded when sent back by Sibanda, but Kyle McCallan failed to gather Kevin O’Brien’s throw with Matsikenyeri flailing in no-man’s land. It was a crucial miss.Sibanda’s excellent innings ended in unfortunate circumstances when he stepped back on his stumps as he looked to punch the ball into the covers, sparking delirious celebrations among the small but hugely vocal Irish contingent – which included two of the unlikeliest Leprechauns you will ever see. For five overs it could have gone either way, but Matsikenyeri and Taylor dug deep and appeared to have weathered the storm.

Vusi Sibanda lofts one over midwicket on his way to 67 © Getty Images

After the heart-stopping drama of the final overs, it was easy to forget that Bray’s unbeaten 115, which earned him the Man-of-the-Match, had bailed Ireland out after their top order had also come apart at the seams. Bray, who batted right through the innings, was the only batsman who came to terms with Zimbabwe’s wibbly-wobbly seam attack which at one stage threatened to bowl out Ireland for under a hundred.Bray, who sounds more Wagga Wagga than Wicklow, was a virtual bystander as Ireland’s top order came and went, perishing to inauspicious shots against bowlers who lacked pace but not nagging accuracy. All Ireland’s top five are left handers, and they were unable to cope with balls angled across them.They were a wicket down inside the first over when William Porterfield nicked Chris Mpofu, and although the loquacious Taylor spilt the chance, Sibanda dived across from second slip to snatch the rebound. Eoin Morgan, highly touted as being one who might follow Ed Joyce onto bigger things, survived a few alarms before edging to first slip. Mpofu bowled a super first spell and a lamentable second one at the death.The innocuous-looking Elton Chigumbura then ripped through a paper-thin middle order. Bray, who smacked some sumptuous cover drives and two off-side sixes, needed someone to stay with him. O’Brien began to look like he would do that until he fell to a limp jab to give Taylor a second catch. At 89 for 5 an early finish was in store.But Bray, who smacked some sumptuous cover drives and two off-side sixes, finally found support from White and Johnston, and as the scoreboard ticked over, Zimbabwe’s fielding lost its shape. Chigumbura’s Chaplinesque drop at deep square leg will take some beating in this competition, but he was not alone – Rainsford, the victim on that occasion, spilled a chance the next over.Bray’s hundred, which was delayed by a brief rain break, came up with a slashing cover drive and he and the swishing Dave Langford-Smith made Zimbabwe pay in the last few overs. It provided the platform to send the Leprechauns into seventh heaven, but Zimbabwe, who have had so little to cheer in recent years, will be left wondering quite how they blew it.

Shaun Pollock: back in the South Africa squad © Getty Images

Shaun Pollock has been recalled to the South African team for their Twenty20 international against Australia at the Wanderers on Friday, replacing the big-hitter Justin Kemp. Kemp has been rested due to an ongoing shoulder problem that will require surgery, probably at the end of the five-match one-day international series starting on Sunday.After a poor display in the VB Series in Australia, where Sri Lanka pipped them to the finals, South Africa are taking the Twenty20 match seriously. Graeme Smith, the captain, left no cause for doubt when he said: “We’ll be looking to implement a few of the strategies we’ve been working on ahead of the World Cup in 2007, because we’ve only got 20 to 25 one-day internationals before then.”It’s more of a mindset thing. Ten or 15 years ago teams were happy to be going at four runs an over, but after playing Twenty20 cricket we now know that you can score at 10 an over. You’ve just got to break the mental barriers.”We have to be innovative because teams are going to need to play differently at the next World Cup, much like Sri Lanka did in 1996. Hopefully we can take the world by storm.”However, Smith said one of the ICC’s innovations, the Supersub, left him cold. “If we’re not going to be using [him] in the World Cup,” he asked, “why must we keep playing him in the next five or six games?”His Australian counterpart, Ricky Ponting, said he would also like the experiment, set to continue until March, to end as soon as possible. “Why wait as long as March?” Ponting asked. “It doesn’t make sense. The sooner we get back to playing how we will be playing in the future, the better.”Ponting added his team would be going to greater lengths to crack the Twenty20 code as successfully as they have in the 50-over game. “We haven’t yet got fully to grips with Twenty20 cricket and a few of the guys do still go into it quite lightheartedly,” he said. “But it’s a hard game to take too seriously because you basically have to come out and swing from the word go, and sometimes you’ll come off and other times you won’t.”But South Africa have chosen a specialist Twenty20 team and if the ICC are going to have a Twenty20 world championship, then maybe we do need to look at it more seriously. We’re still learning and hopefully we’ll learn a bit more tomorrow.”One of the Australians’ other goals tomorrow will be to neutralise a South African crowd which is expected to bombard them with plenty of caustic comments after the racial abuse their team endured Down Under. “We’ll be trying to block the crowd out,” he said, “but one of the things we’ve learnt on tours is that if the crowd keeps quiet it generally means we’re playing pretty good cricket.”While the Australians have generally expressed delight at the hospitality they have been shown in South Africa, some of the players were terribly disappointed with their practice nets on Thursday. Batsmen had a torrid time as the ball leapt around in deranged fashion, and Ponting pointed a finger of blame at the South African camp.”The practice facilities were great on Wednesday,” said Ponting, “but they were not very good this morning. I spoke to the groundsman and apparently the South African team kept training yesterday in heavy rain and the staff didn’t get a lot of the pitches covered in time. They were still very wet this morning, but at least we got a good session in yesterday.”South Africa were beaten by 95 runs by Australia in the Twenty20 international at the Gabba in January, but the Aussies have been weakened for the return clash by the absence of key batsmen Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds. Hussey’s wife gave birth to a baby boy on Thursday and he is flying over to South Africa on Friday, while Symonds will be resting a thigh strain.South Africa Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers (wk), Herschelle Gibbs, Neil McKenzie, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Robin Peterson, Roger Telemachus, Thandi Tshabalala, Johan van der Wath, Makhaya Ntini.Australia Adam Gilchrist (wk), Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Mick Lewis.

John Buchanan believes lighter training workouts will help Australia’s weary batsmen© Getty Images

Australia’s jaded batsmen have been responsible for the side’s recent one-day run stutters, according to the coach John Buchanan. Buchanan expects to downscale training sessions in a bid to give the players’ back their spark as they begin the five-match limited-overs series against New Zealand at Wellington tomorrow.”There’s a sense of all players being a bit jaded and obviously that can affect their mental application and that possibly is a contributing factor with the decision-making of their batting,” Buchanan said. “As a batting group we’ve been making poor decisions at certain times through the course of one-day cricket. Individuals will know that and collectively as a team we can discuss that, but at a more appropriate time."Australia comfortably won the VB Series despite only Michael Clarke and Damien Martyn averaging more than 30 as the bowlers stood tall. Mike Hussey and James Hopes are the two fresh faces in the squad, which has contested the Champions Trophy and series against India, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies since August. Buchanan said the key to the one-day series was "to play well from the outset".

England 146 for 3 (Collingwood 36*, Flintoff 55*) beat Bangladesh 143 (Hannan Sarkar 30, Flintoff 4-14, Giles 3-29) by 7 wickets
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A stroll in the park: Ashely Giles leads the England celebrations © Getty Images

A fine allround performance from Andrew Flintoff, the Man of the Match, swept England to a comfortable seven-wicket victory at Chittagong in the first of three one-day internationals against Bangladesh.First Flintoff grabbed 4 for 14 as Bangladesh crumbled after a useful start, then he ambled in after three quick wickets had gone down and biffed a rapid half-century, from only 45 balls, to speed England home. Flintoff was aided with the bat by Paul Collingwood, in his first ODI since injuring his shoulder at the start of the last English season. They put on 91 for the fourth wicket, and Collingwood rounded things off by clouting Alok Kapali for three successive fours to complete the formalities with 24.3 overs to spare.England had wobbled slightly after a busy start in which they had reached 39 by the end of the seventh over. Suddenly, though, Mushfiqur Rahman took two wickets in successive balls to stem the tide. First Vikram Solanki (10) waltzed down the wicket, but only skyed his heave straight to Jamaluddin Ahmed at mid-on. The batsmen crossed, and next ball Marcus Trescothick (28) played his trademark dab towards third man, only to guide the ball straight to Hannan Sarkar in the gully (39 for 2).Collingwood avoided the hat-trick, but shortly afterwards Michael Vaughan was gone for 9. He dragged his back foot forward trying to sweep, and Khaled Mashud whipped off the bails. The TV replays showed that Vaughan had not quite slid his foot back in time, and the red light signalled a wicket for the left-arm spin of Manjural Islam Rana, from only his third ball in international cricket.

Andrew Flintoff: followed up his 4 for 14 with a rapid half-century © Getty Images

That made it 55 for 3, but it was the end of Bangladesh’s brief hopes. While Collingwood consolidated, Flintoff hit out. He flailed a six over midwicket off Jamaluddin, another debutant, without remotely timing it – then clouted another over long-on, off Manjural, just to show how it should be done. There were also eight fours, one of which nearly decapitated the umpire at the bowler’s end, as he sprinted to 55 not out.Earlier Bangladesh had fallen to pieces after a decent start. They reached 50 for the loss of only one wicket, but lost four more with the score on 65 and another one run later. Some lower-order resistance pushed the total to a more respectable 143, but it was never going to be enough. Apart from Flintoff’s four wickets, there were signs of a return to form for Ashley Giles, who took 3 for 29 – although he was slightly flattered by those figures.Giles conceded eight runs from his first over and Flintoff 12, but after that the procession started as Bangladesh’s batsmen capitulated. Habibul Bashar began with a neat boundary, but Flintoff removed him with a poor ball, a leg-side bouncer which Habibul tried to pull but only succeeded in gloving to Chris Read (50 for 2). Then, at 65, Rajin Saleh top-edged an attempted sweep off Giles into the covers and the wheels really came off.Hannan Sarkar, the only batsmen to settle, survived a good shout for a catch behind – but that only angered Flintoff, who banged the next ball in and Sarkar did glove it through to Read. Sarkar’s 30 was more than Nos 2 to 7 managed between them.Two balls later Khaled Mahmud – who was given the bird by a noisy and enthusiastic crowd – edged an attempted drive to give Read his third catch, and Giles claimed his second wicket when Kapali played back to a ball crying out for positive footwork, and was as lbw as it is possible to be. That basic error was typical of an innings undermined by inappropriate shots and poor technique.Bangladesh limped to three figures thanks to an eighth-wicket stand of 34 between Mashud and Manjural, but by then the game was effectively over as a meaningful contest. The last-wicket pair of Jamaluddin and Tapash Baisya chipped in with 36 as well.It all left England looking near-certainties to complete a clean sweep in this short series – and left battle-scarred Bangladesh still looking for their first ODI win against another Test-playing country since they upset Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

Alistair Campbell for the first time has been omitted from the Zimbabwean team, currently touring Sri Lanka – although he reveals that he had been invited at the last minute. He has just returned from the Zimbabwe A team tour to Kenya, where he says the team was caught unawares by a well-prepared home side. Zimbabwe lost the first three-day match but drew the second; they were beaten in their first three one-day encounters but fought back to win the last two. Alistair talks about it to CricInfo.It is nice to have Christmas as home for a change, though obviously I would have liked to be on this last tour to Sri Lanka. The ZCU phoned me up last Monday [24 December] when we got back from Kenya, to leave for Sri Lanka that Tuesday. But the call came at the last minute, and I don’t think I’m mentally up to playing international cricket after the happenings of the last couple of months.I’ve put that all in a letter to the ZCU and said that my goal is to be ready for the India tour; I feel by then I will have had a nice break to regroup, as it were, and get myself back into the main side and play good cricket again. So they sent Gavin Rennie instead. Hamilton Masakadza had already gone as another batsman.I went to see the chairman of selectors before the Sharjah tour and he questioned my form, my fitness and my commitment, and those are the reasons why I was left out; until those things improve, I won’t get back into the side. I’ve just got to take it on the chin and improve in those areas so I’m beyond reproach, and get back in the side.It’s pointless wingeing about it; I’ve got to get down and get some runs, which I believe I have been doing. I’ve been working on my fitness, but I believe my commitment should never have been called into question. It was, and I’ve tried to rectify it by playing in all the domestic games for Mutare Sports Club and all the games I’ve been required to play.I believe I’ve still got four or five years ahead of me, and it was the most disappointing thing to miss out on this tour because I play relatively well on the subcontinent – I’ve done well there – so to miss out on Sharjah, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was most disappointing.I think this was my fourth visit to Kenya. It was good; obviously Kenya are the next nation in line for Test status, so whenever anybody visits there they’ve got to make sure the facilities are good. It was supposed to be the rainy period and it had rained prior to our arrival, so there were no net facilities as they were a quagmire.The groundsmen did a fine job preparing very good pitches. The Nairobi Gymkhana is the main ground there, and when I look back to when we played our first Test match for Zimbabwe at BAC [Bulawayo Athletic Club, in 1992/93], the Gymkhana ground knocks spots off that. It has the stands, the media centre, everything you require to play Test match cricket.They don’t need a second ground yet – they can start to develop that slowly – but when we did play there it was a good batting wicket. The facilities obviously aren’t the same and the infrastructure wasn’t there, but that can be built upon. After a couple of years of Test status they can build up another ground, as we built up Queens. The money can go initially to development, making sure that playing standards are maintained, and the rest will follow.We stayed in a beautiful hotel and all the infrastructure was there as though we were a main touring side. The only thing lacking was that on practice days we didn’t have nets, but I’m sure they will come to terms with that. All in all, their infrastructure is better than we had when we started.Strengthwise, Kenya’s strengths are their batting and fielding. They have one world-class player in Steve Tikolo, who really is a good batsman, backed up by Maurice Odumbe. Those two basically hold together their batting, although they have some other useful batsmen batting around them, who can hold their own.Their fielding is good; I think they have adopted the same attitude that we did when we first started, that if we were not as good as the opposition in batting or bowling, we might as well be the best in fielding. They are aggressive and athletic in the field, they have good hands and they’re working hard on their fielding.Their bowling is rather weak, as they have shown in the past. They don’t have any quick strike bowlers or quality spinners, but that takes time. If they’re given Test status they can only improve, as they’re playing a higher standard. Their quality players who haven’t had much exposure, once they get that exposure, they will learn and improve.I think they have an academy there now, and with Test cricket comes revenue. The main things Kenya have been starved of are good cricket and revenue, and if they have Test status they will get both.I think they are playing good one-day cricket at the moment: they beat us three-two. They really came hard at us; we expected them to be a bit circumspect and get boxed up in scores of 250 or 260, but throughout their innings they were really aggressive, and this took us by surprise.I asked them about it afterwards, and they said their game plan is to get 300 plus, because they know their bowlers are merely containing bowlers, not strike bowlers, so they are not going to bowl sides out. So it’s up to them to make sure they get as many runs as possible on the board to put the opposition under pressure. If they chase, they do the same; we set them 170-odd to win in one match and they won it in 25 overs. Other sides might have taken 45 overs, but they went for it and their consistency was good.I thought a side that wants to play like that and aim for over 300 every time they bat would be under pressure of getting bowled out once or twice every three innings by quality bowling. But they played that way and they played well. We dropped about 25 catches during the tour, and if we had held them we might have won the series – I felt that was very poor. But they capitalized, their batsmen going on to make big scores, and all credit to them.I feel they are ready to move up to the next level if we are to keep Kenya going as a cricketing nation, because the more you keep them in the dark and feed them occasional A tours, I think they are going to go backwards. We need to get them into Test cricket while their best players, like Tikolo, Odumbe and Ravindu Shah are at their peak. They are 29 or 30 now, and if we keep them out of Test cricket for two or three years they will need to rebuild their side and will be a lot weaker.I think after the World Cup would be an ideal time to give them Test status. They are playing the best cricket they have ever done at the moment; they have a good side that has been together for a long time, and I think they can start off by playing Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and some of the subcontinent sides, rather than have a baptism of fire against Australia. If they can gradually ease into it with one-off Test matches against teams dropping in on Zimbabwe or South Africa, they will gradually progress.I’ve already to spoken to the Kenyans – I’ve yet to speak to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union about it – but I think that their players should come and play first-class cricket in Zimbabwe. Not all of them, but five or six of their top players, perhaps one per province. It would not only benefit them, which would benefit the African picture that our administrators talk about, but it would improve our standard as well. That’s what we need at the moment, because our first-class standard is not good enough.I believe we are sliding backwards slowly because our league cricket and our first-class cricket are so weak. The cream is not coming to the top, but the stronger the standard of domestic cricket, the easier it is to identify the best players. At the moment, the weak standard brings everybody down to one level, so you have mediocre players able to do well and get recognition in the B side, whereas if the standard was higher only the quality players would come through. Then it would be much easier for selectors to pick the right sides.We used to bring English pros over, but why do that when you have a country with one-day international status, looking to gain Test status? The administrators talk about the African renaissance, let’s get Africa going, and so on; they have to start doing things with Kenya. We are playing in the UCBSA Bowl competition and there’s no doubt in my mind that Kenya should play in that as well; although it’s not first-class, it is three-day cricket. And they should be playing in our first-class season. The Kenyan players are very keen.I took over the captaincy for the last two one-day games, which we won. [Tour captain] Pom Mbangwa had injuries to his groin and his ankle, while Guy Whittall was also struggling, so they weren’t able to play. Pommie took over the captaincy for the tour and I think he’s learning with every outing, and in a couple of years he’ll be the ideal person to take over as B team captain/coach. He’s been good for the team: he has a good manner about him and is calm under pressure, and he’s a good understanding of the game from his experience over a number of years.We were a bit shell-shocked after our earlier losses; I don’t think the guys realized the Kenyans would come at us so hard. We sat down and make a pact to play aggressively for the last two games. In the fourth game we lost a few wickets before a few lusty blows got us to 240; I believe it was about a 270 wicket if guys batted really well, because it was the fourth time we used the same pitch. They came out blazing again, but the pitch was deteriorating and turning. They were 90 for one after 11 or 12 overs and it looked like they were running away with it, but I knew that once the spinners came on we would have half a chance.Campbell Macmillan was the guy who really did it for us; although he went for 60 in his ten overs, he took the three crucial wickets of Tikolo, Otieno and Odumbe. They were about 150 for four, but Viljoen and Price were bowling well. With the state of the pitch I thought we would either bowl them out in 40 overs or they would win the game, but I miscalculated a bit as they shut up shop for a while and I was short of a few bowlers. So I played my trump card: I gave Gavin Rennie a bowl and he picked up two for nothing! Then Macmillan came in and finished the game for us.So we won by 10 runs, which was a great achievement and the guys were really happy because our bowling had been hit everywhere and our batsmen hadn’t quite come to terms with the sustained assault we needed to challenge them. Even in those games where we chased their big scores of 300 or more, even 360 in one match, we were going at six or more runs an over, but we kept losing wickets at crucial times. So the run rate was never a problem – we just couldn’t sustain it for 50 overs.The real test was the last game, played on a damp pitch. They came out and played their usual way to score 320, and we said, "Guys, listen: this is a good batting pitch now, so just go out there and play it as you see it, but make sure we go at six an over. Try and play risk-free cricket if you can because we know their bowlers are going to give us some bad balls."So we did that, and Gavin Rennie played one of the best innings I’ve ever seen, getting 130-odd not out. We cruised past the target with overs to spare, and it was a really good victory because our bowlers, chasing 300 all the time, were a bit down. But it also gave them a wake-up call and they learned useful lessons about being accurate and how much variation they have to have playing on good pitches against good batsmen.It showed up the disparity between playing our league cricket and playing first-class cricket, even against Kenya. Our guys get away with far too much playing in the standard of cricket we have here in Zimbabwe, so when they get up to the B side, even in the South African B competition, they find out, "Gee, my bad balls are going for four and I’m not getting many wickets." Whereas if the standard is higher here, that won’t happen.Our batsmen learned as well, as we didn’t have a solid game plan and we needed to `up it’ one more level in order to compete. Kenya came hard at us and at first we weren’t able to answer with anything. Like I said, we dropped crucial catches, even in the last match, where we dropped Ravindu Shah first ball – we dropped him 12 times in the series, and he got two hundreds. Catches win matches, and they lost us a series. But, having said that, Kenya capitalized and they played better than we.I missed the first three-day game, which we lost, as my wife was giving birth and I was a week late in going to Kenya. But I spoke to the guys, and they batted slowly on a good batting pitch to get 240. The Kenyans played aggressively again; we dropped a lot of catches and they passed 400, and left us 60 overs on the last afternoon to bat. Maurice Odumbe knocked us over with his darting little off-spinners. The guys just capitulated; they didn’t play well enough on a pitch that was a little up and down but still good enough for batting.They weren’t able to cope with a turning ball on a wearing pitch. If you play enough cricket of a higher standard, you learn to deal with these things, but if you play too much of a lower standard like we do, and then suddenly the standard is raised, we struggle. If we could continue to play at the standard we did in those last few games in Kenya, that’s where we want to be, but instead we come back and play league cricket again and get stuffed back into the trough of mediocrity. That sort of thing needs to be addressed.We just didn’t bat well enough in both innings, and when we bowled, although we had our patches of bowling well and creating chances – and the guys put them down – we went through bad patches and were hit all over the ground. Whenever chances were created by good pressure bowling, the guys shelled them. That is an area we have to improve on, but towards the end we were getting where we wanted to be.Yet we did a lot of fielding practice: our coach Trevor Penney is one of the best fielders in the world and he’s very keen – the practices he runs are really good. We do everything right and yet just drop it out in the middle. I can’t help but feel that is just lack of concentration – the mental side coming in. You can do as much practice as you want, but if you’re not going to be mentally alert you’re going to drop it.All our matches were played in Nairobi, although it had been decided that if there was too much rain we would go to Mombasa. We played four one-dayers and one three-dayer at the main Gymkhana ground and one of each at the Simba Union. They have very good batting wickets which discourage the pace bowlers, but if you put the ball in the right area you get your reward. We weren’t able to do that often enough.It was good learning curve for the youngsters on the tour, and an eye-opener for me to see how good the facilities were and how Kenya are progressing. You get the West Indian feel about their players, the way they celebrate when they take wickets, and their enthusiasm for the game – that was great to see.Steve Tikolo is a fine batsman – his ball-striking was unbelievable on that tour, even though our bowling at times was not of the best. You still have to put it away and he played some awesome shots. Maurice Odumbe the captain is a quality cricketer and the Kenyan side is basically built around those two. Odumbe is a character as well, always with a smile on his face and a joke to tell. Tikolo is much quieter, very focused on the business of cricket.There are several promising youngsters, for example this leg-spinner who played in the triangular tournament in South Africa, by the name of Collin Zabuya. He bowled really well throughout the tour – he’s only 19 – and with a bit of coaching may turn out an Anil Kumble type of bowler. Martin Suji did a really good job for them opening the bowling in the one-dayers; no pace, but good variation and very accurate. Thomas Odoyo did not have such a good time of things, carrying an injury that hindered his bowling, but he did well in South Africa.It was a hard time for our bowlers, who struggled on tour. They would all look world-class for a few overs, but then lost it. The ability to be a good bowler involves sustaining pressure, and we didn’t do that. I think the guys need to look at that – it’s not all about bowling `jaffas’ and outswinging off-cutters and inswinging leg-cutters, but about bowling channels and good lengths and giving the batsmen nothing. If that’s good enough for Glenn McGrath then it should be good enough for a lot of people. There is no doubt we have ability there, but there’s not enough consistency.Campbell Macmillan took some good wickets on tour but was expensive, because he bowls too many loose balls, and the same goes for all the bowlers. Brighton Watambwa bowled with a lot of pace but was not accurate enough; he needs to do more with the ball if he wants to make inroads. I think he learned a good lesson there.The same applies to the batting side: there were some good innings, some good partnerships, but not enough sustained innings, while the fielding was atrocious – there’s no other word for it. Mark Vermeulen struggled a bit in the one-dayers – he has a few technical problems he has to work on but he’s a tremendous ball striker who played very well in the second three-day match. Gav Rennie, an old campaigner, has been working really hard on his game and showed a good aggressive approach.Guy Whittall and Pommie were the old warhorses, as it were: whenever they needed to bowl they got the ball in the right area. Guy played a few useful innings with the bat. There was something for everybody to take out of the tour, but whether they did so or not we will see in the months ahead. We talked about it, but whether people do learn from it is their prerogative.I thought Pom captained the side well, and Kish Gokal was a really good manager, top-drawer. Trevor Penney did a very good job, and I think altogether it was a very happy outfit, although we were a bit shell-shocked at first about the standard of the Kenyans and how they were prepared to come at us. We only got to terms with that towards the end of the tour and managed to rectify it.Our next objective is to win the B competition in the UCBSA Bowl and make sure we progress all the time, especially the youngsters. We all have our aspirations: I have my goal to get back into the side for India, and after this tour there are going to be places open for the taking. We know the standard that is required and hopefully we can more forward.

Auckland have ended Canterbury’s dominance of New Zealand provincial women’scricket today with a six-wicket win in the final of the State Insurance Cupat Eden Park. Canterbury, who had previously won 20 out of 21 titles, losttoday’s game after being 154 without loss during their 37th over.Veteran Canterbury captain Debbie Hockley, who earlier this week announcedher decision to step down as captain of the New Zealand side, won the tossand elected to bat first. After a slow start, including a superb openingspell by Munokoa Tunupopo (0/12 from six overs), Hockley and her openingpartner Paula Flannery accelerated the scoring. Hockley was dismissed for76 on the final ball of the 37th over when Natalie Scripps sent her middlestump flying. The opening partnership was worth 154.Canterbury lost another four wickets before ending their fifty overs on 236for 5. Flannery finished unbeaten on 96 after taking a single off the firstball of the final over and losing the strike. Her innings was a fortunateone, however, as she gave several chances to dropped catches or missedstumpings. Nicola Payne (13) contributed the only six of the day, a hoickoff Kathryn Ramel.Fruin (21) and Tyler (55) added 53 for the first wicket before Fruin wastrapped lbw by Debbie Hockley. Emily Drumm (79* from 91 balls), who playeda near-flawless innings, and Kathryn Ramel (42 from 37 balls) kept Aucklandwithin striking distance of Canterbury’s run rate. It was wicketkeeperRebecca Rolls, who came to the crease with Auckland needing 36 to win from32 balls, who sealed the win for the home side. Rolls smashed an unbeaten 27from 14 balls with five boundaries, including two in a row to finish thematch. Canterbury shuffled eight bowlers to no avail.

have confirmed Ashley Young is set to be out for the next fortnight after sustaining an ankle injury.

The former Aston Villa star limped out of the United’s 2-1 derby defeat to local rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Monday.

After being assessed by the club’s medical staff at their Carrington training ground this week it has been confirmed he faces a spell on the sidelines, though it is not believed to be too serious.

“Ashley is out,” said boss Sir Alex Ferguson at a press conference on Friday. “He took a whack on his ankle. He will maybe miss two weeks.”

As well as the trip to Stoke, Young will also miss the trip to West Ham and Premier League home clash against his former club Aston Villa.

However, there is some good news for the Red Devils as captain Nemanja Vidic returned to full training on Friday while fellow centre-back Jonny Evans is also fit again after a hamstring injury.

Veteran midfielder Paul Scholes is also in contention after recovering from a knee injury that has kept him out since the end of January.

Ferguson added: “It will be a terrific boost to get his [Scholes’] football intelligence back in the squad.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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“He has been out for a few weeks so we need to get him back out training with us.”

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ScorecardSarah Taylor and Claire Taylor both made fifties to help England to a six-wicket victory with 11 balls to spare and push them ahead for the first time this series. They are now 2-1 up with two to play after hunting down their required 200 runs thanks to Sarah Taylor’s 86 not out and Claire Taylor’s 70 to follow up her unbeaten century last match.England’s surge continues apace, well marshalled by Katherine Brunt’s 2 for 18 from seven overs in her first series since recovering from back problems. There were two each for Jenny Gunn and Charlotte Edwards too, the visitors bowling out New Zealand with an over to spare.Ingrid Cronin-Knight (36) and Sarah Tsukigawa (37) helped to boost them to a competitive total in this closely fought series but England paced their reply too well after losing Beth Morgan early. Charlotte Edwards was out for a rare duck and Tsukigawa also bagged Lydia Greenway for 12, but Gunn fired them home along with Sarah Taylor who made her first fifty of the tour.Sarah Taylor said after the game: “I made sure I was in and I knew I had to stay there towards the end. All credit to New Zealand – they bowled in good areas today. We’ve got a day off tomorrow and then two back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday, so we’ll prepare ourselves accordingly.”Acting head coach Mark Lane added: “We’re improving in all areas of the game. Different players are stepping up and contributing to the team performance, which is great. These have been two terrific victories against a quality New Zealand side.”We now have a day off to regroup and our intention is to come back on Sunday and try and improve on the last two performances to wrap up the series.”