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The successful organisation of the Asia Cup will boost Pakistan’s chances of hosting the ICC Champions Trophy in September this year, the board chairman Nasim Ashraf said.”All kinds of security arrangements will be made for the Champions Trophy,” Ashraf said after returning Thursday from the ICC’s executive board meeting in Dubai. Sri Lanka is the alternate host for the Champions Trophy in September if a final security report within 10 days of the Asia Cup finishing on July 6 demonstrates that Pakistan is unsafe.”It’s a standard process of the ICC to have a backup venue,” Ashraf said. “I was assured in the ICC’s meeting by all the members that they intend to participate in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.”We are very proud the Asia Cup is organised in such a nice and peaceful manner,” Ashraf said. “It proves that Pakistan is a country where cricket can be played safely.”New Zealand are also set to tour Pakistan for a short three-match ODI series in August, further enhancing Pakistan’s chances. Ashraf met with Justin Vaughan, CEO New Zealand Cricket, in Dubai where the PCB chief was assured the tour would go ahead.”New Zealand will arrive on August 20 and the series begins from August 24,”Ashraf said. “Two matches will be played in Faisalabad and the third inMultan.Australia postponed a tour of Pakistan in March after several bomb attacksin the wake of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination inDecember 2007, and several Australian and New Zealand players have alreadyindicated they may pull out of the tournament rather than play inPakistan.Ashraf also appreciated the ICC’s decision to change the 2006 Oval Testresult from a forfeit win for England to a draw. “The ICC and especiallythe ECB showed tremendous generosity in reversing a bad decision,” Ashrafsaid. “The decision shows that if humans can make mistakes it can becorrected by humans.”Darrell Hair, the umpire at the centre of the storm, was later banned fromthe ICC elite umpire’s panel and only returned after completing arehabilitation program last September, when he also dropped a claim ofracial discrimination against the ICC in the British High Court. Ashrafsaid that he was not sure whether Hair would officiate in the ChampionsTrophy. “I leave it to the wisdom of the ICC to do the right thing,” hesaid.

Veteran medium-pacer Javagal Srinath is set to replace Ashish Nehra for the final of the Champions Trophy 2002 which India will play on Sunday.In an about turn from their earlier position, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acceded to the team’s wishes and recalled Srinath, who is currently playing for Leicestershire in England.Newly appointed secretary of the BCCI, SK Nair said in a statement that the BCCI had agreed to the replacement and this was then okayed by the newly formed selection committee. The International Cricket Council too gave the necessary permission to the Indian team.Only recently, the chairman of the selection committee, former Karnataka and India cricketer Brijesh Patel, had said that he would try to persuade Srinath to change his mind and return to both Test and one-day cricket.The honorary secretary of the BCCI also confirmed that Srinath had agreed to leave England immediately and fly to Colombo in order to be here in time for the final.Nehra injured his bowling hand when he attempted a run out off his bowling against South Africa. The Delhi medium-pacer split the webbing between his index and middle fingers and required five stitches.

A match winning unbeaten 74 by Naveed Khan, steered KBCA to victory in the Daplat R. Sonavaria Ramazan Cricket Trophy, beating Customs by two wickets off the very last ball Wednesday.Put into bat after losing the toss, Customs reached 140 for the loss of nine wickets in their 20 allotted overs through a fine 56 by Asif Iqbal. Talha Khan also got amongst the runs in scoring 29.For KBCA, the wickets were shared by Raheel Abbas three for 21, Akbar Rehman three for 25 and Ameer Azam two for 14.Needing four runs to win in the last over with the scoreboard reading 137 for six, KBCA lost two wickets without any addition to the total. Four runs were now needed off the last two deliveries and new batsman Ghazanfar, driving the ball towards extra cover scampered home for three runs to tie the scores. Facing the last ball of the day with the fielders closing in, Naveed pulled the ball to the mid-wicket boundary to see his team home and dry by two wickets.Salman Fazal, opening the bowling attack for Customs, was the most successful bowler, finishing off with four for 32.Thursday fixture: Pak Gymkhana v Asghar Ali Shah CC 1-30 p.m.MHCC in last eight Karachi Gymkhana Whites had the mortification of suffering another thumping defeat, going down by 10 wickets to Mohammad Hussain CC in the 17th Karachi Gymkhana Callmate Cricket Festival played Wednesday.Winning the toss and batting first, Karachi Gymkhana Whites were skittled out for only 118 in 23.4 overs, with Humayun Naz striking four boundaries in his 31. Arslan Ahmed two for nine, Aqeel Sharif two for 15 and Ather Laiq two for 21, were shared the wickets.With Mohammad Sharif slamming 56 runs in 38 deliveries with five boundaries and two sixes and Nadeem Tariq weighing in with 61 not out in 31 deliveries with four fours and five sixes adding 121 runs for an unbroken first wicket, Mohammad Hussain CC coasted to victory in only 11.3 overs.Thursday fixture: A.O. CC v Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills 1.00 p.m.Khursheed steers Rangers A stylish undefeated 68 by Mohammad Khursheed, steered Rangers Gymkhana to a seven-wicket victory over Saddar Town CC in the Seventh Danish Trophy Ramazan tournament played Wednesday.Having first use of the wicket Saddar Town scored 161 for four wickets in their 20 allotted overs with Mohammad Ali (65) and Haq Nawaz (55) scoring the bulk of runs.Rangers lost their first three wickets for 39 but Haris Jawed and Khursheed put on 123 runs to reach the target in 18.2 overs.Khursheed scored 68 not out in 42 deliveries studded with five boundaries and two sixes, while Haris was unbeaten with 42 runs when victory came. Siraj Khan bagged two wickets for 33 runs.Thursday fixture: Sadiq Sports b Wakenhut CC 1-30 p.m.Asian CC triumph Asian CC beat Sadiq Sports by six wickets in the Ford & Lord Trophyplayed Wednesday.Batting first Sadiq Sports reached 160 for eight wickets in their 20 allotted overs through Kamran Malik (66), Afzal Ayub (28) and Musheer Alam (20). Ashfaq Ahmed bagged two for 23.Asian CC achieved the target of 161 in 19.3 overs, losing four wickets. Salman Ganchi (55) and Qaiser Majeed (44), made victory possible for their team.Thursday fixture: Asian CC v Saddar Town 1-30 p.m.Kamil in form Rafiq Sherazi CC moved into the quarterfinal of the All Karachi Karimuddin Memorial Colour Kit Ramazan Festival cricket tournament, beating Pak Star CC by 76 runs Tuesday.Batting first Rafiq Sherazi CC were bowled out for 209 in 20 overs with Kamil Khan top scoring with 78 runs. Zafar Ali chipped in with 33 and Jawed Ali 31. Imtiaz Iqbal picked up six wickets for 29.Pak Star were dismissed for 133 in 19.1 overs. Tariq Khan scored 34 and Imtiaz Iqbal 23.In another match, Karachi Eaglets beat Rising Star by 50 runs.Karachi Eaglets reached 203 for nine wickets in 20 overs. Khurram Abbas scored 50 and M. Waheed 35. Nadeem Ghani bagged three for 30.Rising Star were bowled out for 153 in 17.3 overs. Saqib Badar top scored for his side with 60 runs.Raja spurs Tooba Sports Tooba Sports reached the quarterfinals of the Sixth Nehal Siddiqui tournament beating Model CC by five wickets Tuesday.Model CC scored 172 for eight wickets in 20 overs with Amir Kaleem (56), Atif Maqbool (30) and Ariz Kamal (37), among the runs.Tooba Sports scored 176 for five in 17.5 overs with Raja Mushtaq leading the way with 80 runs with 10 four and a six. Shahid Baig 37 and Murtaza 20 not out also made useful contributions. Azmat Noor four for 21, was the main wicket taker.Thursday fixture: Karachi Eaglets v Punjab CC

Somerset Under 12’s entertained Devon at Millfield School on Sunday.The visitors won the toss and batting first scored 148 for 8, with Callum Haggett enjoying the impressive figures of 8 overs, 5 wickets for 11 runs.In reply Somerset reached their target for the loss of 7 wickets with Jos Butler scoring 77 runs, to record a 3 wicket victory.

WEST INDIES players will get an additional sum of at least US$125 000 from from next month’s International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions’ Trophy in Sri Lanka.The windfall represents 25 per cent of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) dividends of just over US$600 000, along with prize money.The deal was agreed after several days of what were reportedly tough negotiations between the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), led by recently-elected president Dinanath Ramnarine, and the WICB over a contentious ICC contract on sponsorship for all ICC events until 2007, including the Champions Trophy and next year’s World Cup in South Africa.The WICB announced in a media statement yesterday that the 14 players had signed their contracts "subject to the ICC formally agreeing to consult with players before concluding commercial agreements for ICC events other than those that have already been sold".On the decision to apportion a quarter of its Champions Trophy cut to the players, the WICB noted: "Appreciative of the heavy commercial restrictions placed on the players, president Reverend Wes Hall succesfully sought the approval of the WICB to offer the players 25 per cent of the dividends that will be obtanied by the WICB in respect to the 2002 Champions Trophy only."It is understood that the WIPA’s claims for as much as US$2 million of the WICB’s guarantee of US$6.5 million from next year’s World Cup along with substantial and immediate increases in fees were rejected.WICB chief executive Gregory Shillingford said ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed indicated the ICC was expected to ratify the agreement "on the consultative process with the players" at a meeting today in Dubai.It meant the originally chosen 14 for the September 12-30 tournmament would go to Sri Lanka, subject to injuries."Over the past few days, the WICB and WIPA have been in wide-ranging discussions over issues concerning the players, rights over use of their images and how this could be balanced against the interest of the ICC’s commercial partners who sponsor these world events," Shillingford added in the WICB statement."The WIPA and the players were determined that players’ rights should not be sold by the ICC without consultation and financial benefit to the players and that his association will continue to address this issue at all levels of world cricket," the WICB release quoted Ramnarine as saying.Hall noted that the WICB agreed there must be a consultative process between the ICC and the players.

The Basin Reserve’s future as a Test venue looks assured.New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden is satisfied that the parties involved in discussions over the future of the Basin Reserve are keen to see that the famous ground is restored to its status as an international ground before next summer.After the ground was seen in a shabby and tatty light during the second National Bank Test between New Zealand and England in March there was widespread condemnation of the state the ground had got into.But Snedden said today that he has had meetings with the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust’s chief executive Dave Gray and there was a general acceptance of the need for the ground to be upgraded.”I’m confident we will receive the necessary assurances that the work will be done,” Snedden said.It is understood that more efforts will be made to improve the pitch block as well after possible trials are undertaken on the practice block on the ground.

New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns will not be taking part in the Sharjah tournament or the tour of Pakistan next month.As his team-mates spent the day twiddling their thumbs and extending their last minute practice by a day when the first day of the second National Bank Test was abandoned in Wellington, word came through that a scan Cairns had yesterday on his injured knee had ruled him out of consideration for the tour.Wet and windy weather, with gusts of up to 100km/h, blew through the capital city today and with a minimum of four hours to have the pitch ready, the umpires decided at 12.30pm, or the scheduled lunch break, to call play off for the day.It was just as well because there was no let-up in the weather at all during the day. The latest forecast today said occasional rain would clear around noon leaving sunny patches with the wind dropping back from 45km/h north-westerlies.New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart said the loss of a day did make it hard for his side to try and win the match to level the series before going into the final Test in Auckland, starting on Easter Saturday.However, he said some amazing things had been seen already in the series and it was a case of New Zealand believing they had enough time to win the series.”We have to prepare to win it to make it all square and our approach won’t change,” he said, adding that with extra hours to be added if play started on time tomorrow they would only miss two hours of play.New Zealand had been paying attention to improving all the areas in which they did not do well in Christchurch.Analysis after the first Test loss had shown that New Zealand had paid a price for coming off a lot of one-dayers, 17 in fact, and while they had talked and prepared accordingly there had been an element of pushing the game a lot quicker than players had needed to.New Zealand would look to go back to basics.Aberhart who was at the helm for his first series in Australia said there had been a good deal of analysis that went into that series, and there had been just as much for this England series, based on senior players who had played against the English before and from the side’s own analysis methods.”But to have a plan, you have got to be able to carry it out for a longer time than we managed here,” he said.New Zealand had less experienced bowlers in the attack and they had been unable to sustain the pressure in the way that Cairns and Shane Bond had managed so effectively in Australia.”At Test level you need to have more patience, to be positive, to have a game plan and to stick to it and to believe in it.”If your game is to hit the ball, do it, but do it responsibly. Sometimes you have to haul yourself in and do the hard yards for a while,” he said.While the extra day would give left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori some extra rest from his back soreness, just as it would assist England’s Mark Butcher to get over his cracked thumb, Aberhart said he was very confident that Vettori would play tomorrow, as he had been confident he would have played today.In relation to the problems at the Basin Reserve with its poor drying qualities and the possibility that rain may have seeped through the covers, Aberhart said it seemed to be that every time they came to the ground the groundsman seemed to have had trouble preparing the wicket.”We want to present our players with good conditions with pitches with good pace and bounce. The Basin hasn’t played well this season but this pitch is supposed to be on the different side of the block so I am not going to pre-judge its condition.”But the thing in the middle is the most important thing of all,” he said.Aberhart also confirmed that Dion Nash had ruled himself out of the rest of the season to build himself up for the future while Shayne O’Connor was in the recuperation phase after knee surgery and had thrown the crutches away and was walking well.There was still concern over the second spin role in the side and Aberhart said there had been an opportunity for people to put their hand up but the selectors were desperate for someone to emerge from the ruck in order to relieve Vettori of some of the slow bowling workload.

England Under-19s were 58/0 in 23 overs at close of play on the penultimate day of the third and final Test match against the Indian Under-19s at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, on Monday. Ajay Ratra with a charmed innings of 141 and Justin Bishop with 5/64 took the honours of the third day’s play.India was all out for 492 in 116.3 overs, soon after the tea interval. Captain Ajay Ratra was the last batsman to be dismissed after making 141 runs off 189 balls. Ian Bell caught Ratra off the bowling of the luckless Justin Bishop at square leg. Ratra was dropped four times in his innings and made the English colts pay heavily for their mistakes.A total of seven catches were dropped by the English fielders, denyingthemselves of a chance to beat India. Pratt thrice, Bell twice, Wallace and Sadler once apiece were the culprits. Bishop who suffered most of the dropped catches, bowled his heart out to finish with the best figures of the series for an English bowler, 20.3-4-64-5 – the first time an English bowler has captured five wickets in the three ‘Test’ match series.It is quite startling that Bishop was bowled for just five overs yesterday, when Gambhir and Mane were going great guns. Robert Ferley bowled 33 overs in the innings, all from the far end. More often than not, the field placement was left to be desired. Neither the captain nor the bowlers got it right, as the Indian batsmen was never put under pressure.Resuming in a commanding position on 220/3, India colts threw away their advantage, losing four wickets for 118 runs in the pre-lunch session. Vinayak Mane had added 12 more to his overnight score of 114, when Gary Pratt dropped a simple chance off the bowling of Bishop.Alind Naidu played a flashy stroke to a ball angled away from him by Bishop, giving an easy catch to Mark Wallace behind the stumps. Naidu made 19 before being the fourth man to be dismissed at 248. Gary Pratt, who ran him out with a brilliant piece of fielding, picking up and throwing down the stumps in one action eventually dismissed Mane. He made 135 runs off just 187 balls and struck two sixes and thirteen boundaries.Though no pressure was exerted on them, the Indians found ways to put themselves in a knot. Maninder Singh, who plays left-handed, gave an easy catch to Nicky Peng off Robert Ferley after making just six runs. Thirteen runs later, Amit Mishra was caught behind for a duck off Bishop and India were 335/7.The Indian batsmen really enjoyed their extended lives at the wicket. Vidyut, after being dropped on zero by Pratt off the bowling of Bishop, thrashed McGarry through the covers for a magnificent four. Kyle Hogg was brought in from the far end, and was summarily dismissed out of the attack with a glorious six over long off and a straight four off consecutive balls. Tremlett was not spared either, smashing an on-drive and an extra-cover drive for fours.Vidyut fell after playing a wonderful little cameo of 38 off 39 balls; striking four boundaries and a huge six. McGarry claimed Vidyut’s wicket, caught by Wallace behind the stumps. India were 406/8 at that stage.Dharmichand also played an entertaining innings of 33 off 41 balls, before being bowled by Bishop. Ratra who really took all the chances given to him, played some lovely drives on both sides of the wicket. He made the bulk of the 157 runs scored for the last three wickets, smashing 16 fours.Having allowed the India colts to get to a lead of 176 runs, English opening batsman gave their team a steady start. Nicky Peng and John Sadler are unbeaten on 37 and 17 respectively. The day had to be extended by 25 minutes to complete the mandatory 90 overs for the day.

Cricket Board’s consultant and former Australian opener Geoff Marsh today said the quality of the three Test wickets that produced a fantastic series between India and Australia, should be extended to all the wickets in the country if India were to excel in world cricket.”All the three wickets on which the Test matches were played during the recent Australian series were excellent. But every wicket in the country needs to be of a very high standard. It is also important that the trainees, selected for various zonal cricket academies for a two-month training stint, are provided with good wickets if good results are to be achieved,” Marsh told PTI.He however, ruled out use of artificial wickets as is being done in New Zealand and said, “cricket should be played on turf wickets. Wickets here are affected by the dry weather but that can be set right”.Marsh, on a whistle-stop visit to New Delhi, examined the pitch and interacted with the 20 trainees of the North Zone Cricket Academy undergoing practice at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds.”The best 120 kids are undergoing training at academies all over the country – the results can only be good, to say the least. This is going to do a lot for Indian cricket,” Marsh said.Marsh, who has been assigned the task of compiling a report on the general cricket scenario in the country including domestic competitions, wickets and umpiring, said he would submit the report to Board President A C Muthiah by mid-June.Declining to divulge the details of his assessment made so far, Marsh said, “The report underlines the areas which need improvement. I have mentioned that there is lot of talent in the country which needs to be channelised properly. We should make sure that there is a proper structure which can encourage scouting and honing of talent”.Marsh said the boys were extremely fortunate to undergo training under former cricketers of great repute. “India is lucky to have former cricketers who have immense experience and knowledge of the game. The boys are really lucky to have this opportunity to interact with the best cricketers at the age of 16 or 17”.He said the boys must appreciate this and make full use of it. “They are already enjoying their training stint. They are very enthusiastic and I did not see them complain about anything,” Marsh, who has made four trips to the country since signing the contract in November last year, said.Marsh was prolific in his praise of the recent Australia- India series saying, “It was fantastic for cricket not only in India but also the world. It saw a very high standard of cricket and I think every player, fan and spectatator must be proud of what India accomplished during the series”.

FULL NAME: Ngonidzashe Blessing Mahwire
BORN: At Bikita, 31 July 1982
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (2000/01). Present club side: Universals.
KNOWN AS: Blessing Mahwire. Nickname: Madman (`They say I do things that nonormal person would do!’)
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Medium Pace
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy studentFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 16-18 February 2001, CFX Academy v Mashonaland, at HarareSports Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (updated April 2002)The emergence of Blessing Mahwire as a promising cricketer is notable, not simply because he is a black player who could become a genuine all-rounder but also because he comes from Masvingo, a province where cricketing roots are still quite shallow. Like other black players, his parents had no real knowledge of the game, but he does have the advantage of an older brother who played.Blessing feels that his love of the game stems from school rather than his brother, though. He attended Ellen McGhie primary school in Masvingo, where Lazarus Zizhou, the coach, introduced him to cricket at the age of ten. He developed first as a batsman in his school team and progressed to the provincial primary schools team, which was also coached by Mr Zizhou. His best score at junior school was 80 not out against Chikato School, and for Masvingo in the national primary schools cricket week scored 48 against Mashonaland.He moved on to Victoria High School where he was quickly recognized as a player of great potential. He was promoted to the school first team in his first year at the school and therefore spent six years in that side, captaining the team for most of that time. It must be admitted, though, that the standard of cricket at the school and of the opponents they played was not high, and Blessing’s record therefore inevitably flatters him to some extent.In 1996, when in Form Two, he also decided to begin bowling seriously, no doubt due in part at least to the weakness of his school team in that department. He has always been a seam bowler and by the following year had done well enough to be selected for the national Under-16 team as an all-rounder. He was also to play for the national Under-19 team in his final year. The teams went to the South African weeks in Durban and Bloemfontein respectively.His highest score for his school was 154 against Mount Pleasant in Harare in 1998. He believes he scored 13 or 14 centuries for his school altogether. His best bowling figures were seven wickets for seven runs in four overs against Mutare Boys High. In most matches, though, he played weak opposition, but nevertheless showed the skill and determination to amass large scores.He pays tribute to coach Bruce Makovah who helped him especially with his batting, and to Joshua Paul, who helped him with the mental side of the game. He developed such a love of the game that without undue prompting from others he applied and was accepted for the CFX Academy in 2001.Blessing started playing cricket for Masvingo Sports Club in 1996, although success came slowly at club level where he rarely bowled. He has also played for Old Victorians, for whom he scored two centuries just before joining the Academy, and has now joined Universals in Harare. Number three is his favoured batting position, which he kept throughout his school career.Coming to the big city, he has not yet been able to dominate the cricket scene as he did in Masvingo and has played for the Academy in the lower middle order more as a bits-and-pieces player. He took time to adjust to the stronger opposition. As a batsman he prefers the drive, off either foot, while with the ball he moves the ball predominantly into the bat, in the air and off the pitch. He can field in the slips but has often been used by the Academy at short leg."It was of benefit to me all round," he says of his Academy year in 2001. "I became a better fielder, better batsman, better bowler. I’m happy with my batting especially. Now I approach it more professionally, and in a match I have plans about what I am going to do and I set myself standards." In the national league his highest score to date is 98 for Universals against Macdonald Club of Bulawayo, in the 2001/02 season.When his Academy year had finished, he wished to return to Masvingo to play and coach there, but the infrastructure was not yet in place, so instead he successfully applied to stay in Mashonaland, for a year at least. The local club was still in the third league and Logan Cup status was not granted until 2002/03, and he wanted to maintain his standard of play at the highest level possible. He aims to return to Masvingo then, `putting Masvingo cricket on the map’, as he says. He does at present still coach in Masvingo.Although he considers himself to be more of a batsman who bowls, he has been batted low in the order in the Mashonaland team and the Zimbabwe Board XI, and played more as a front-line bowler. But he is happy at present to be playing as an all-rounder and aims to challenge for a place in the national side shortly.Blessing is a pleasant young man but, no doubt because he is from a smaller centre, he is less guarded about his hopes and dreams than the city-dwellers. He dreams of breaking Brian Lara’s Test batting record and says, "I think I am going to bring a surprise for Zimbabwe cricket." How far he goes will depend on his ability to adjust to the higher level and his own determination and commitment.Cricket heroes: Guy Whittall – `he’s a match-winner and plays to win.’Toughest opponents: Eddo Brandes and Andy Flower.Personal ambitions: "I want to play for the national team and one thing I am trying hard to achieve is to break the world Test batting record."Proudest achievement so far: "In 1999 I performed well and was given an award at the high schools festival at Prince Edward for the most promising upcoming batsman."Best friends in cricket: "None in particular; they are all my friends."Other qualifications: 8 points for A-levels. "If I was not playing cricket I would be in architecture or quantity surveying."Other sports: Basketball, rugby, soccer, tennis and rounders for the school. Now `just a bit of swimming’.Outside interests: Listening to music and staying away from the noise!