Rain put paid to any chance of play in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series match between the Fidentia Warriors and the Nashua Dolphins in East London on Friday.The dreary drizzle arrived like a hungover hobo soon after lunch on Thursday, and refused to leave. A howling westerly, which duly brought more rain, only added to the dismal scene at Buffalo Park as the sun set somewhere beyond the smothering clouds on Friday.Sensibly, the match was abandoned an hour before the scheduled start. That left an inflatable igloo behind the pavilion unrelieved of its cargo of luridly green hardhats. Nary a ripple ruffled the surface of the dunk tank, and not a bubble was launched from the strangely silent foam pit.Most tellingly, the stands and grass banks were deserted as East Londoners pursued their other options for a damp and drizzly Friday evening

Zimbabwe seamer Anthony Ireland has signed a two-year contract with Gloucestershire, less than 24 hours after he retired from international cricket.Ireland, 22, who played one match during the World Cup, quit the national side on Wednesday and, as such, he will be treated as a Kolpak player. It is thought that he signed a six-month contract with Zimbabwe Cricket in February, as did the rest of the squad, but there appears to be little the board can do to prevent his departure.However, he is still owed his appearance fees and bonuses from the World Cup, and the board is likely to withhold these, given its track record on refusing to pay players who jump ship. The money, which is thought to be around US$3000, is due in June.Ireland represented Gloucestershire 2nd XI last summer while playing club cricket for Thornbury. “I am really glad to be playing for Gloucestershire,” he said. “I firmly believe that the intensity of the first-class game in England will improve my cricket quickly and I can’t wait to get started.””We are excited Anthony can now join us after featuring in the 2nd XI last year,” said mark Alleyne, the county’s head coach. “He is going to add significant depth to the bowling department and we look forward to his immense contribution.”

ScorecardIt was not the six- and four-hitting that Twenty20 cricket isnormally associated with. In fact there were only 15 fours in the firstinnings, and no sixes at all, as Karnataka scrambled to 142 for 7 at the Wankhede Stadium. Andthat proved to be too few as Punjab’s batsmen used all the freedomthey were given and won with one ball to spare. Ravneet Ricky, one of the fewbatsmen to approach this match without panic, cracked a superb unbeaten76, and ensured that his team made it just in time.After choosing to bat the going was tough for Karnataka. Much depended on the bighitting of Robin Uthappa, and when that proved a non-starter as he dragged Gagandeep Singh back onto his stumps, Karnataka had to battle hard for each run. Devraj Patil, the young wicketkeeper opening the batting, was fluent and effective, and he managed to keep one end running smoothly with 31. There was a lot of frantic running, mostly of the unnecessary andslightly panicked kind, and only one steady hand from C Raghu (32) andsome enthusiastic hitting from B Akhil (33) pushed Karnataka towardsrespectability.It was clear that the batsmen were not accustomed to playing Twenty20cricket, and perhaps attempting to do too much in the 120 balls affordedto them. The attitude of trying to pinch runs off every possibleopportunity was admirable, but some fairly adventurous attempts atimprovisation meant that Karnataka lost too many wickets too quickly. Hadthe fielding been of a higher standard – if the stumps were hit more often- Karnataka would not even have made it to 142.When the chase began it was a touch less frenetic than the first half.Punjab’s batsmen, knowing what they needed to achieve, did not try and hitevery ball out of the park. Ricky, opening the batting, dug in andclearly made up his mind to bat as normally as possible, while thosearound him went on an all-out attack.Karan Goyal steered one outside off to gully and Yuvraj Singh was atthe crease early. He seemed quite content blocking what he had to, in theknowledge that he could take on the bowler if and when needed, and clearthe field. A lazy clip off the legs for a boundary, followed by a checkeddrive that was no more than a punch which easily cleared mid-off were capped by a huge six off Sunil Joshi over midwicket. When Yuvraj, on 25, speared a catch up in the air off Raghu, and was well caught by Manish Pandey at long-off, Karnataka knew they had a big wicket.Dinesh Mongia, probably the most experienced Twenty20 cricketer of thislot, thanks to his experiences in county cricket, then took charge of the proceedings. He, like Yuvraj, was not overly stressed at playing out a fewdot balls, and instead concentrated on making it count when he went for thebig hit. And two such hits easily cleared the fence – one off Joshi andanother an audacious walk down the pitch to Akhil that ended up in the standsover midwicket. Just when it appeared that Mongia had done the job, he losthis wicket, for a crucial 35, ballooning a catch to short fine-leg tryingto play a cute scoop off Akhil.Fortunately for Punjab they had one batsman, in Ricky, who batted longenough. For the best part he just played normalcricket shots, only once trying something unusual, when the pressure wasreally on at the end, chipping a ball over the keeper’s head for a four.In the end, Ricky was the difference between the two sides, and he crashedone from Akhil through midwicket to rattle up the winning runs. Ricky wasunbeaten on 76 off only 50 balls, with 8 fours and 2 sixes.

Sir Viv Richards fears cricket in the Caribbean is near to “breaking point” and is anxious of a total collapse through petty, internal politics that continue to blight West Indies.”When I was representing my country I was prepared to battle,” Richards told BBC Radio Five Live. “That is how serious we took our sporting profession and that is missing now. When I was involved before, I was criticised for being too hard. I came upon one of the hardest men to ever play cricket in Brian Close when I was at Somerset.”I learned a lot [from Close] and there are things the boss or individual in charge has to say. If guys in the workplace are not up to scratch, it is your job to say they are not up to scratch and suggest things they can do to improve.”But it is coming near breaking point. The West Indies must think seriously – what is most important? Is it the people with their personal political agendas or the majority of the people who are the supporters of West Indies cricket?”West Indies’ woes during this tour haven’t courted as much criticism as in previous years, perhaps further emphasising their struggle. Such is their plight, commentators are more concerned than they are angry; concerned that this side, one of the weakest West Indian touring parties, is beneath the required standard to compete at Test level.There is one man who, Richards believes, shows the courage and passion – not to mention skill – required to compete: Dwayne Bravo.”When you look and see the way Bravo enjoys his cricket, he could have been part of the 1970s and 1980s,” Richards said. “I hope he realises the job he is faced with in the future in helping us enjoy the game. West Indies cricket is all about enjoying and having fun and at the end being very successful doing it.”

Allrounder Andre Botha will miss Ireland’s one-day internationals against India and South Africa later this month after having an injection aimed at sorting out a long-standing elbow problem.”I had tennis elbow throughout the World Cup and although I could have played through the pain, it was not getting any better so, 10 days ago, I got a cortisone injection and have been told not to do anything while that works,” he told Cricket Europe. “In all I will be out for five to six weeks so the earliest I could be back will be the second week in July.”Botha has been sidelined since he dislocated a finger in a Friends Provident match against Somerset on May 8.He should be available in time for the quadrangular one-day series involving West Indies, Netherlands and Scotland in Ireland which starts on July 10.

Trevor Penney has left Sri Lanka for now but has plans to come back sometime in the future. Two months after Tom Moody quit as coach, Zimbabwean-born Penney, who was brought in by Moody as assistant coach in 2005, is following him to play a similar role as assistant with Australian state side Western Australia.”I am looking forward to going and getting another experience in Australia with different type of coaching and different players,” Penney said. “Then certainly down the track I would love to get back into international cricket with Sri Lanka especially. That’s certainly something on my mind,” said 39-year-old Penney who retired from first-class cricket at the end of 2005 to join his former county team-mate Moody.What has drawn Penney, a former Warwickshire player for 17 years, towards Sri Lanka is the general improvement the national team has made under him and Moody and the number of friends he has made in that time.”They are a talented bunch of cricketers and Sri Lanka is a great place, much better than I expected it was going to be. There were a lot of victories but the most important thing to me was the improvement of the players, seeing the middle- to late-order batting well in one-day cricket. When I first came they weren’t doing well. That’s a real plus for me and the improvement in the fielding standards.”Paying tribute to both Moody and Penney, Mahela Jayawardene said: “The things that Tom and Trevor brought into the game were brilliant. We saw different aspects where we could improve on, especially in the fielding and in areas where we could definitely improve like the middle- and lower-order batting where we worked with sweeps, reverse-sweeps, the strong areas they could hit. Because of them, all that has been part of our improvement.”

Penney said that he was really moved by the way the team responded when he took over from Moody for the series against Bangladesh. “It could have been the assistant coach taking over and the guys could have not responded, but they responded just like they have in the last two years. I am really pleased about that. It means a lot to me. It means the guys respected me and I’ve come in and done exactly what they have been doing.”I just carried on what we were doing for the Bangladesh series. Up to the World Cup the guys have got to this work ethic and good team spirit. Working with them has been an absolute pleasure. The guys know what they’ve got to do and you just got to maintain their high standards and make sure practice is competitive. They love that. I just maintained that and kept it going,” he said. Needless to say Sri Lanka overpowered Bangladesh with 3-0 sweeps in the Tests and the one-day internationals.But more than the victories, Sri Lanka benefited immensely from the coaching of Moody and Penney in the individual development of the players. A good example was how fast bowler Chaminda Vaas was transformed into an allrounder by improving on his batting.”Since I came here I’ve said to Vaas I couldn’t believe how he had wasted his Test career as a batsman. He could have batted at six really. But in those old days when you first started, the bowlers never got a bat in the nets. Luckily we had a coach and an assistant coach who could spend time with Vaasy and just gave him the belief that he is a fantastic player. I didn’t have to do too much technically I just gave him the belief.”Tom and I worked with every individual as much as anyone. Certainly in fielding there are a number of players particularly [Tillakaratne] Dilshan. I really enjoyed working with Sanath [Jayasuriya], giving him belief, Mahela, Sanga [ Kumar Sangakkara] – it has been a treat to coach these guys. If you do want to give them another shot or say ‘let’s expand your game’ they could do it like that because they’ve got the talent,” Penney said.Sri Lanka were fortunate that Moody and Penney blended perfectly. “Tom brought this strict discipline, like you’ve got to pass fitness tests etc. That’s worked really well. It’s come through the age groups. There’s so much talent coming through Sri Lanka. At the moment the Under-19s, the academy, and the A squad, all have got good coaches now. You can see their rewards.”Also departing from the Sri Lanka team is CJ Clarke, the trainer. “We never had long term injuries,” Jayawardene said. “All our main guys played together for a long period of time due to the excellent support we received from the back-room staff.”Moody, Penney, and Clarke are leaving behind a legacy which their successors will have to live up to if Sri Lanka are to continue with their climb to be the top cricketing nation.

Scorecard

Aimee Mason picked a perfect time to post her maiden one-day hundred before she floored Australia with the ball as New Zealand levelled the five-match Rose Bowl series at 1-1. Mason’s previous high in 57 matches was 71, but she comfortably extended her career best with 102 and went within an over of carrying her bat in Darwin.The performance was the only New Zealand score above Sara McGlashan’s 28 and it was responsible for the challenging total of 209. After hitting 13 fours and a six from her 128 balls, Mason then captured the wickets of Shelley Nitschke (24), Kate Blackwell and Sarah Edwards to gain figures of 3 for 15 off ten overs and give Australia some severe headaches.Karen Rolton, the captain, tried to steer her side back into contention, but when she departed for 27 Australia were in serious trouble at 6 for 134 and they fell 35 runs short. Sarah Tsukigawa was on a hat-trick after removing Sarah Andrews and Clea Smith – consecutive wides stopped her adding a third victim in a row – and she ended with 3 for 27.Australia’s main bright spot was the performance of Ellyse Perry, who at 16 years and 261 days became the country’s youngest debutant in a national cricket team. Perry bowled eight overs for 37, picking up the wickets of Maria Fahey and McGlashan, chipped in with the run out of Rowan Milburn and scored 19 before she was last out.”I was a little nervous before I came on to bowl,” Perry told . “It was good to get my first wicket because it gave me more confidence with my bowling and helped me to get through it. It was very exciting and great fun.”

Andrew Symonds has agreed to a request to concentrate on offspin as Australia prepare for life after Shane Warne. Symonds is a versatile performer who mixes medium pace with slow bowling, but Warne’s retirement has forced a change in outlook.”That was mentioned to me, that I’ve got to concentrate a bit on spin,” Symonds said in the Courier-Mail. “That is just covering all bases, we have tours to India and other places like that coming up.” Australia play a seven-match one-day series in India after the Twenty20 World Championship and there are Test tours planned for Pakistan and India in 2008.Stuart MacGill is almost certain to be Warne’s replacement and Australia’s other options in the contracted players’ list include Cullen Bailey, Dan Cullen, Brad Hogg and Cameron White. White, Bailey, Cullen and MacGill will tour Pakistan in September as part of the Australia A squad.Symonds’ first international duties of the season will be at the Twenty20 event next month. He is prepared to use his medium pace if the conditions suit, but will also chase spin tips. “I will tap into whoever I can,” he told the paper. “I haven’t talked to Stuey [MacGill] in the last few months but I’m sure we will have a chat about things.”

After two comprehensive wins in three days – including one over old rivals England – the swagger and the supreme confidence is back for the Australians. Their start to the tournament was an absolute shocker, but now they’ve put the favourites’ tag back on themselves. Stuart Clark was full of beans and extremely confident of his team’s chances to go all the way in yet another World Cup.”We’re starting to get into a bit of a rhythm,” he said on the eve of their game against Pakistan. “We’re enjoying it and the guys’ skills are slowly getting better.”Australia are now in pretty good shape, but only four days back they were one defeat away from elimination when they took on England at Cape Town. The result was a comprehensive eight-wicket win. “Any win over England is a good win,” Clark said, looking back at that result. “There was talk of humiliation in the papers [before the game]. I don’t feel humiliated today.”Looking ahead to the Pakistan game, Clark was confident Australia would handle that challenge. “I don’t think the Australian cricket team fears anyone. They [Pakistan] are a very good team with very good players, so we’re looking forward to the game.”Clark’s own bowling has stood up very well to the Twenty20 challenge: in three matches, he has outstanding figures of 5 for 59 from 12 overs. Not surprisingly, he was happy with his form: “It’s been a new challenge. I hadn’t played much Twenty20 cricket. The wicket’s been a bit different to what I was expecting. I’ve had to adapt. But I’m pretty happy with how I’m going.”It’s more like bowling at the death of a one-day game – slower balls, a few yorkers, there’s no magical secret to it. Nathan Bracken and Shaun Tait showed it during the World Cup – it doesn’t matter what skill you have but if you do it well you’re pretty hard to get away.”Clark also reckoned playing the county season in England helped him get the variations right. “It’s one of the reasons I went to England – to work on a few different things. It seems to be going alright at the moment.”About the format itself, Clark admitted there wasn’t much in it for the bowlers, but they still had the opportunity to make a difference. “It’s a game designed for batsmen, but the bowlers can make a difference if they have two or three really good overs. If you pick up a couple of wickets or don’t go for many, you can change the outcome of the game. It’s not all just batters, there’s room for bowlers – not too much, but just a little bit.”Clark was emphatic that Twenty20 should never take the place of one-day internationals entirely. “I’d hate to see 50-over cricket replaced because of what it’s done for the game,” he said. “Even if the World Cup [in the Caribbean] went on for a week too long, it’s still the pinnacle of one-day cricket and world cricket.”This tournament is different – it’s a bit new, it’s fresh, but there’s definitely place for it in the cricket world. It’s a thriving game and will become more and more popular the more it’s played – whether it’s international, domestic or some of these new leagues that Cricket Australia is putting together.”The issue of the bowl-out drew a laugh from him, but he was fairly guarded in his opinion of the tie-breaker: “I haven’t actually been involved in one. We had a mock one in one of the practice matches, and I’ll reserve my judgment till I actually have to go into one.”

Mahela Jayawardene believes Sri Lanka made the right decision not to play Muttiah Muralitharan in the five-ODI home series against England. Muralitharan has not played cricket since suffering a bicep injury playing for Lancashire this summer, and Jayawardene said keeping him fit for Test series against Australia and England later this year was more important.”Murali wanted to play from the first game, but it would have been a big risk,” Jayawardene told . “The physios and the doctors were against him playing in the first three games, but we could have considered him for the [fourth] game. He bowled six or seven overs in the nets, but the intensity he bowls in the nets is quite different to what he would bowl in the middle and we didn’t want to take that chance.”Sri Lanka had never lost an ODI series against England at home until now, but Jayawardene insisted it would have been a gamble playing Muralitharan in the contest. “If he bowls in a tough situation and bowls flat out he could aggravate his injury. [Then] he might be out for another six or seven weeks, and we didn’t want to take that chance right now.”Jayawardene said having a fully-fit Muralitharan for Sri Lanka’s two-Test tour of Australia next month and the return Test series against England was better for the team. “It has been the sensible decision to make. The important thing is that he needs to be ready for the longer version of the game as well – he needs to be bowling 25 or 30 overs a day in a Test match so he has to be 100 per cent.”The final match of the series takes place in Colombo on October 13.