Women’s Cricket in Sri Lanka started in 1978 when four leading Colomboclubs – Colts Cricket Club, Burgher Recreation Club, Nondescripts CricketClub and Nomds Cricket Club – met in the first ever tournament for theRajasingham Trophy, which was won by NCC led by Champa Wettasinghe, who beatColts, the favourites, the final.Unfortunately, after that tournament in 1978, women’s cricket failed toestablish itself and only Colts and Nomads continued to play. In fact,eighteen years passed before the next tournament.Finally, in 1996, Colombo Colts Cricket Club organised a 30-over tournamentcalled the Pepsi Trophy between Colts, Nomads, Colombo Ladies and ShakthiSports Club from Anuradhapura, who incidentally became the first outstationteam to play leather ball Cricket. The tournament was won by ColomboLadies – led by Vajira Premaratne, who was also a National Champion in bothtennis and table Tennis – who defeated Colts in the final.After this tournament the women’s game started to become popular and thefirst ever association to run women’s cricket was formed in January 1997 atthe premises of Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL).Gwen Heart became the first President of the Women’s Cricket Association ofSri Lanka (WCASL) and with other teams joining, the WCASL organised aninaugural 50 over Cricket tournament, which was won by Colts Cricket Club.The first task of the Association was to give as many opportunities aspossible to the girls and in this regard they were lucky that Japan pulledout of the 1997 World Cup in India and that Sri Lanka was offered theirplace.The first International game played by the Sri Lanka’s women was against theNetherlands at the SSC grounds on the 28th of November 1997, which Sri Lankalost but made amends by winning one match in the three match series. Thefirst Captain of the Sri Lanka women’s team was Vanessa Bowen.Sri Lanka’s next assignment was the 1997 World Cup in India and the firstmatch was against the West Indies. They started with a convincing victoryover them and with a no result possible in their game against India theyqualified for the quarterfinal and a tough encounter against England. Theylost, but had guaranteed themselves a place in the 2000 CricInfo Women’sWorld Cup and left with their heads held high.Since then they have had further success. They defeated teams from Pakistan,West Indies, Netherlands and Ireland and in the 2000 CricInfo Women’s WorldCup in New Zealand the side, captained by Rasanjali Silva, narrowly failedto qualify for the semi-finals when they lost to South Africa by just 16runs.The next assignment will be the tour of West Indies to Sri Lanka in December2001. A pool of players will be picked from the annual tournament, which iscurrently being played at the Colombo Colts Cricket Club.

England Captain Clare Connor will lead Brighton & Hove LCC againstWakefield WCC in the ECB Women’s Cup Final tomorrow at Campbell Park, MiltonKeynes, starting at 12 noon. The final will see Clare, who opens the batting,face her England vice-captain Clare Taylor opening the bowling forWakefield.Included in the Brighton & Hove team are Caroline Atkins, England’s openingbat and Kate Oakenfold, who enjoyed victory over an Australian XI in Julywhen England U-17 defeated New South Wales U-17 by 93 runs, with Kate taking3-27.The Sussex club is boosted by Heidee Tiffen, the New Zealand all-rounder andWorld Cup winner.Wakefield contain five of the players who secured Yorkshire their tenthCounty Championship title in 11 years earlier this summer, including theyoung all-rounder Helen Wardlaw who will partner Clare Taylor in the bowlingattack.The Yorkshire side also field Kathryn Leng, the first woman to play in auniversity match when she was selected for Leeds/Braford UCCE this summer.In the last competitive match before England selectors name the wintertraining squads and subsequent touring England squad to India, the finalprovides players with an opportunity to secure their England places.Admission to Campbell Park is free.

The secretive philanthropists who bought letters by Sir Donald Bradmanat an auction sustained the mystery today by using a Melbourne boy toreturn them to the cricket icon’s family.The five letters, written to former Australian captain Greg Chappellduring the 1970s and 80s, were handed to Bradman Foundation directorRichard Mulvaney during a luncheon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)to mark Sir Donald’s birthday today.The anonymous group of businessmen paid $25,850 for the five letters ata Christies sporting memorabilia auction in July, amid outcry that theletters were being sold.

Longevity was the key word when it comes to Alf Gover, who has died at theage of 93.Born in 1908 on February 29th near Epsom in Surrey, he was the oldest Testcricketer. He worked for most of his life, had a long and distinguished career with Surrey and only a short Test career, but his four matches were spread over a period of 10 years, interrupted by the Second World War.Gover became the world’s oldest surviving Test cricketer when R.E.S. Wyatt, whowas born only a few miles away from him in Surrey, died in April 1995. Themantle now passes to Lindsay Weir of New Zealand, who was also born in 1908,while Norman Mitchell-Innes, born in 1914, is now the oldest English Testcricketer.Gover’s first-class career lasted all of 20 years. He made his debut in 1928and in the subsequent 362 matches this tall man for the time (6 foot 2½ inches) with an enthusiastic action would charge in, often on totally unresponsive Oval pitches.These conditions did not stop him taking 1,555 wickets during his career at a cost of only 23.63 apiece, and on eight occasions he took 100 wickets in a season. In 1936 he became the first fast bowler since Tom Richardson in 1897 to take 200 wickets in a season, and he repeated the achievement the following year.Gover’s performance in 1936 failed to gain him selection for the tour to Australia the following winter, even though he had made his Test debut that summer. He went wicketless at Old Trafford against India, despite the fact that two catches were dropped in the slips off his bowling in the first session ofplay. He did, however, strike seven times the following summer in his two Tests against New Zealand at Lord’s and The Oval.With another 200 wickets to his credit that summer, he did make the touringparty to India in 1937-38. It was on that tour, at Indore, that Alf Gover became the focus of one of the classical humorous stories in which cricketdelights.Dysentery was rife in the area and the tourists were not immune. As Goverbegan his characteristic run up to the wicket at the start of an over, hecontinued past the umpire, through the crease, accelerated past a somewhatbemused batsman waiting to take strike, through the slip cordon who turnedas one to see the bowler disappear into the pavilion in desperate search fora lavatory.Unfortunately, in his predicament, he had forgotten to leave the ball on thefield of play and fine leg was despatched to retrieve it. It is reported that fine leg then emerged from the pavilion clutching his prize, suggesting thatit would be judicious to secure the services of a substitute fielder withoutdelay.While Gover recovered from that discomfort, his knee let him down and he appeared in none of the Tests on that tour. After the war, however, he returned to England colours in 1946 at the Oval for what turned out to be his final Test.He continued to play effectively for Surrey until the age of 40, when he retired from first-class cricket. He moved into journalism and, moresignificantly, into coaching. In unglamorous surroundings at the back of agarage in Wandsworth in south London, he ran an indoor cricket school at atime when such establishments were rare.He was still coaching in whites well into his seventies. It was at his indoor school that I had the pleasure of meeting him in person for the only time. As a promising fast bowler in club cricket, I was sent there to refine my technique.I remember a kind, venerable figure in an England sweater, ramrod straightin stature. I remember the tatty net area and the overpowering smell of rubber from the matting on the floor and behind the stumps. I regret that I remember nothing of what the great man had to tell me. Perhaps he thought I was a lost cause and decided not to waste his precious knowledge on a hopeless case. I doubt that and suspect that the fault was all mine.Many more deserving cases benefitted from his tutelage, and a veritable Who’s Who of world cricket passed through those unprepossessing doors to emerge as better cricketers. And to show that it was not only bowlers he could improve, both Viv Richards and Andy Roberts were sent to Wandsworth on their arrival in England as budding overseas professionals.It was where the great Surrey side of the fifties learned their cricket,including Tony Lock, the left-arm spinner who was thought to have developedhis unlawful action by trying to keep the ball below the top netting in theGover indoor school.It was not until 1998 that Gover received recognition for his services tocricket in the form of an MBE. No doubt that great Surrey supporter and former prime minister, John Major, felt that the time was then right for someone as renowned for his longevity as Alf Gover to be rewarded for a lifetime of contributions to the game.

The name Keith Barker is familiar to a certain generation ofBarbadians. It is likely to become far more widely known inthe coming years.Keith Barker was one of those outstanding all-roundsportsmen who were so plentiful prior to the recent age ofspecialisation.The youngest of his four sons, Keith junior, has alreadymade his mark as both cricketer and footballer inLancashire, England, where his father has lived since takingup a professional league cricket contract with the Enfieldclub in 1965.A fast bowler and effective lower order batsmen, Keithsenior was a stalwart in the BCL team in the annual matchagainst the BCA and good enough to play for Guyana while aprofessional with the Georgetown Cricket Club there. He alsorepresented Barbados in basketball and was a useful waterpolo player.There was never any doubt the sport the elder Barker wouldpursue. As with so many of his contemporaries, like SirGarry Sobers, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith, cricket was theonly one that offered a career opportunity.In contrast, Keith junior, a student at Manchester’sMoorhead High School who turns 15 in a few days time, willeventually have to make the choice between cricket andfootball.A left-handed batsman, with 12 hundreds already in the book,and left-arm fast bowler, he was in the England under-15cricket team last season and turned out for Enfield, hisfather’s first Lancashire League club.As a left-side striker, he has been on the books of PremierLeague football club, Blackburn Rovers, since he was nine.He signed a new two-year contract at the club’s academy lastsummer.Keith senior, now 65, retired him his job with theLancashire county council and recently back in Barbados onholiday, was naturally enthusiastic about his son’sprospects. But he was careful not to overstate the case.He noted that his close friend, former West Indies captainand Lancashire player Clive Lloyd was Keith junior’sgodfather but he had deliberately not made much of theyoungster’s sporting prowess to him.”When Clive first saw him play last season, he wanted toknow why I hadn’t let him know he had a godson with suchpotential,” the elder Barker said.John Heaton, secretary of the Lancashire Schools CricketAssociation, is not inhibited by such paternal reticence.”Keith’s rather special,” he told the press last season.”It’s remarkable that a lad so young could have scored somany fifties and hundreds. You look back to the MikeAthertons, Andrew Flintoffs and Phil Nevilles and he looksbetter than all of them.”Atherton, Flintoff and Neville were all high-scoring batsmenwho came through the Lancashire school system.Atherton and Flintoff went on to play Test cricket forEngland. Neville, like his brother Gary, was also a topfootballer and he chose to join the better known club at OldTrafford, Manchester United, rather than the neighbouringLancashire County Cricket Club.It is a decision young Barker is likely to have to makeeventually. At the moment, his father said, he just wants tokeep on enjoying both sports.The inevitable question, of course, is which team will hechoose if he does realise the promise he now shows andbecomes a top cricketer. England, the country of his birth,or Barbados and the West Indies, the countries of hisheritage?”We kid about it sometimes and he has a real feeling for theWest Indies and West Indies cricket,” Keith senior said. “Nodoubt about it, I’d like him to play for the West Indies ifever the chance came around but that’s only hypotheticalright now.”

Nasser Hussain walked up to the Crystal South hall of the Taj Palacesporting a broad grin and a cup of steaming tea on the eve ofEngland’s warm up match against Mumbai Cricket Association President’sXI. The England skipper was relaxed and spoke freely to pressmen on avariety of issues that are likely to stick with the tourists for theduration of the tour. As England captain, he has been deluged withrequests for interviews, photo opportunities and all the othertrappings that come with occupying high office and being popular atthe same time.On the kind of things the England team management had to work out whenon a tour like the current one at India:NH: We do discuss things like that getting players to peak at theright time quite a bit but I try and leave as much of that to Fletcheras possible. He’s really good at getting people to peak at the righttime. When we have one of our management meetings I might suggest, offthe cuff, that we play someone for two warm up games and rest him forthe third. Fletcher might then ask if it would be better to play theperson in the first game and then give him a bit of a rest and playhim in the third game just before the Test. Those are the sorts ofthings we discuss in our management meetings. We have a few playerslike Vaughan and Ormond who have niggling injuries and we need toconcentrate on getting people in top form, fitness and cricket wise intime for the Test matches. You need to work with different peopledifferently. Someone like Atherton would have one way of preparingbefore a big game while others need to be fired up a bit.What it’s like leading a young side in the absence of Atherton,Stewart, Gough and others.NH: As far as running the side, nothing has changed at all. Myself andDuncan (Fletcher) have always run the side. This management structureis virtually the same as before. We have a few experienced cricketerseven in this side. What we don’t have really is the experience ofplaying Test matches together. I enjoy captaining this side, sure. Butthat’s not because I didn’t enjoy captaining Atherton, Stewart andGough and the other guys. It’s just that this is a completelydifferent challenge. It’s almost like our last Zimbabwe tour, a fresh,new challenge.On the kind of challenges that lie ahead and the mental aspect of itall:NH: Anyone who has been here before knows a bit about the challenges.We don’t want to overdo the mind games too much. The ball does a bitearly on, swinging around, and then they have two quality spinners andsome great batsman. It’s just a question of how we cope with it. It’sthe actual cricket that’s important, the mind games are just twopercent of the whole deal. It’s not the kind of game where you go outand win by the scruff of the neck. You have to stay in the game andput pressure on the local side. We have to make sure that we are stillin game towards the end of the Test match and that the pressure is onIndia at some stage.How England plan to achieve their goals in India:NH: We’re an inexperienced side and no one expects us to win. Quite afew people have been writing us off 3-0. India will be playing at homewith big crowds expecting a lot of them. If we stay in the game, ifthis inexperienced side does well, the pressure will be on India, notus. The only way to do that is to get the basic cricketing thingsright. We need to get a lot of first innings runs, take wickets withthe new ball, take every catch, field like the Australians and SouthAfricans are doing at the moment. The most important thing is to getplenty of runs on the board in the first innings.On the fact that Matthew Hoggard who has played just two Tests isEngland’s fast bowling spearhead:NH: Yes he is. (Laughs) With his two Test caps! Then again we mustn’tbuild him up. Just because he’s bowled well Pakistan and Zimbabwe andfor Yorkshire. Virtually everything they’ve done so far has no bearingon how this tour goes. How well they prepare for this tour, willdecide a lot of things. They have to cope with the pressure and theheat and the sweat and the roaring crowds. That will really test allthe youngsters. Matthew (Hoggard) is like anyone else. He’s onlyplayed two games. If he was bowling at Headingly on a cloudy day I’dsay he had a really good chance of doing well. Now we’ll just have towait and see, like with everyone else. Obviously he’s got my fullsupport and backing. He’s got everything he needs; a big heart andit’ll be a stern test for him just like everyone else.On the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where England kick offtheir tour:NH: To be honest it’s not what I expected an Indian wicket to looklike. It’s got a lot of grass on it. Bounce in the surface is good.There’s a bit of movement. And yet, I think it’ll turn a bit from thefirst day, more from the grass than anything else. I think it’ll be agood cricket wicket.What it’s like coming to India after a gap of almost eight years:NH: Personally it would be very nice to tour India more often, whatwith all the attention we get and everything. I can’t speak for pasttours. We hadn’t been to the subcontinent for a long time until lastwinter. Now in the space of 12 months we’ve fitted in Pakistan, SriLanka and India. We’re getting used to it. There must be some of theyounger lads who find it a bit daunting with the sheer numbers ofpeople around. Usually in county cricket we’re playing in front of twopeople! I was listening to Sunil Gavaskar on TV last night and he wastalking about all of the Indian players going out and giving theirbest. That’s what I’m going to be telling my boys and I hope we can besuccessful. Really, that’s all I can ask of them.

*Tushar Arothe turns out a captain’s knockSkipper Tushar Arothe hit a fine century to give Baroda the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Rajkot on Thursday.Baroda started their first innings well, putting on 70 runs for the first wicket. Nayan Mongia, batting at number three, hit an unbeaten 74, made off 149 balls with seven fours. He held the fort as a mini-collapse occurred with him at the other end.Arothe’s presence stabilised the innings, and the pair took Baroda through to the close of play. At stumps, Baroda were 283/4, with Arothe not out on 105 off 202 balls. Mongia and Arothe had added 149 runs for the fifth wicket.*Gujarat bat out a slow first dayGujarat, batting first in their Ranji Trophy league match against Maharashtra at Ahmedabad, played out a slow first day to end on 182/3.Winning the toss, Gujarat opted to take first strike on what appeared to be a typical Ahmedabad wicket. The first three wickets fell for 47 runs, but opener ND Modi and TN Varsani then came together to put on an unbroken 135 runs for the fourth wicket.At stumps, Modi was on 83, made off 259 balls. Varsani was even slower, making 59 off 223 balls. Ninety-one overs were consumed to make the 182 runs scored during the day. For Maharashtra, eight bowlers were used, the best of whom was R Khirid, with figures of 14-5-28-2.

November 1 to 15, 2001 was test crickets hectic fortnight. Four test series in different parts of the world commenced and presently are in progress. Eight teams are vying for supremacy. At Bloemfontein South Africa out played India. At Dhaka Bangladesh who were certainly heading for a sixth successive defeat, were at last rescued by rain to earn the first draw in their short test cricket history. At Brisbane, good fortune favoured Australia in barely escaping certain defeat, leaving the courageous Black Caps stranded, 10 runs short of what would have been a famous victory. The return of Chris Cairns to the New Zealand team was the marked difference. At Galle, Brian Lara posted a brilliant century (178) but Sri Lanka’s bowling magician triggered a West-Indies collapse with 6-126 and strongly placed at 423-4, the West Indies lost six quick wickets for only 25-runs.Presented below is a brief review of three recently completed test matches:Bloemfontein Test, 3-7 November 2001:
India’s woes continued. They lost the first of a 3-test series at Bloemfontein by 9-wickets. South Africa had already been declared strong favourites in the test yet, on the first day India showed fine character by posting an imposing score of 372 for 7. Sachin’s return had made immediate impact on the performance of the team. The newcomer V Sehwag (105) assisted the champion batsman to yield a 220-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Tendulkar notched, up his 26th century (155). In reply, centuries by Gibbs (107), and Klusener (108) and other equally brilliant knocks by Kirsten (73), Kallis (68) and McKenzie (68) helped South Africa gain a substantial 184 runs lead. Despite South African batsman’s dominance Javagal Srinath bowled his heart out and claimed 5 for 140 to become the 5th Indian bowler to claim 200 test wickets. Srinath was playing his 54th test. However the most distinguished feature of South African innings was a characteristically thunderous knock by Lance Klusener. South African Captain Shaun Pollock demolished the Indian 2nd innings taking six wickets for 56 and that sealed the fate of the test match. India were dismissed for a relatively low total of 237 in the second innings and South Africa easily sailed to victory with a day to spare. Shaun Pollock claimed 10-wickets for 147 runs.Dhaka Test, 8-12 November 2001:
If one goes through the history of Test Cricket, at least Bangladesh is doing better than the South Africans had done in their start. Finally, Bangladesh’s losing streak ended helped by fortunate weather. Persistent rain forced the first test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to end in a draw. Needing another 199 runs to make Zimbabwe bat again, Bangladesh seemed headed for another innings defeat placed at the low score 125 for 3 in the second innings. Zimbabwe had amassed 431 in reply to the home team’s paltry 107 in the first innings. Of note was superb all-round performance by 20-year old Travis Friend scoring 81 and claiming 5 for 31 in Bangladesh’s first and 2/26 in the second but incomplete innings. He had put Zimbabwe on course to an innings victory which was later robbed by rain. Craig Wishart (84), Douglas Marillier (73) and Heath Streak (65) were the other notable scorers. For Bangladesh, Habibul Bashar (65) scored another fifty and Mashrafe Mortaza, claimed 4 for 106, Enamul Haque 3 for 74 and Manjural Islam 2 for 74.Brisbane Test, 8-12 November 2001:
The weather affected first Test between Australia and New Zealand ended in a draw after two sporting declarations by the rival captains that set up a pulsating finish in the end. Australia was certainly at the receiving end when New Zealand’s gallant effort had come within 10 runs of a famous victory in the drawn game. New Zealand were set to score 284 runs to win off 57 overs.Earlier, 10 hours play had been lost to rain over the three previous days. Australia eventually tasted their first draw in 24 tests since September 1999 in Sri Lanka at Colombo. The final day saw 459-runs scored and fall of 11 wickets. Only on eight previous occasions had more runs been scored in a day in a test-match. New Zealand had won the toss and put Australia into bat. Hayden (136), Gilchrist (118) and Langer (104) scored centuries and Australia firmly in the driving seat after declaring at 486 for 9 in the first innings. In reply, New Zealand were 147 for 5 at one stage but their match hero, Chris Cairns, who had earlier claimed 5-146 in the Aussie first innings, stroked 61 to stage Black Cap’s recovery. The other New Zealand hero was Dion Nash who hung on for 93 minutes and scored 25 to ensure his team avoided follow-on and New Zealand declared at 287 for 8. Australia’s Steve Waugh took the example by heart and declared their second innings at 84 for 2 to challenge New Zealand.In return, a determined New Zealand took up the challenge and were on course for a memorable win requiring 97 runs off 15 overs in the final hour. Opener Mark Richardson (57), Stephen Fleming (57), Nathan Astle (49) and Chris Cairns (43) all contributed quick runs in a brave bid for victory against the top team in Test cricket. New Zealand looked well set to pull off an extraordinary victory needing only 13-runs off the last four balls when Aussies tremendous One-Day experience helped them overcome the panic and avert defeat. What an exciting finish!

Wellington produced the best score of the day at the National Under-17 tournament at Nelson Park in Napier today when scoring 258 against Canterbury.C Spring scored 95 and M Martin 67 not out for Wellington while M Goldstein took 5-68 for Canterbury.In reply, at stumps, Canterbury were 19/2. S Rennie had taken two for five while not out were L O’Sullivan nine and Todd Astle six.Central Districts scored 192 with D O’Sullivan 44, B Rowney 36 while J Morgan took two for 30. In reply, Northern Districts were well placed at 54/2 with K Read 20 not out and P Carey 14 not out.An interesting stage had been reached in the Otago-Auckland game. Otago scored only 129 with J Pyle 36 and W Lawson 32 not out. B Stevens took three for 21 for Auckland, H Hussain two for 16 and C Frauenstein two for 32.Auckland were interestingly poised at 54/4 in reply with D Winger 23 not out and D de Boorder four not out. B Paterson had three for 12.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed to cancel their meaningless round robingame in the Asian Test Championship (ATC) and play a straight final fromMarch 6-10 at Lahore, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced Tuesday.”The dates of the second Asian Championship final were decided after we gotthe consent of both the boards involved,” ACC secretary Zakir Hussain Syedtold AFP news agency at Karachi.All parties will be relieved to complete a tournament, designed to be amajor source of revenue for Asian cricket, which flopped after India pulledout last September because of increasing hostilities in India-administeredKashmir.Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had crushed Bangladesh by an innings inSeptember, guaranteeing their respective places in the final, making theirproposed group game, originally scheduled for February, unnecessary.”We have a disappointing Asian Championship because of India’s withdrawal,”said Syed admitted, “and since the event was a major revenue-earner for uswe suffered badly.”Syed estimates that India’s last-minute withdrawal had cost the ACC anestimated $30million. “We hope to get a sponsor for the final, but it’sstill much below earnings than the last time.”Efforts are now focused on renewing cricket ties in time for the Asia Cup -a six nation one-day tournament – later this year in Pakistan.Pakistan, at least, will be delighted to welcome back international cricketafter the US invasion in Afghanistan prompted the cancellation of tours byNew Zealand and Sri Lanka, plus the rescheduling of the West Indies seriesin Sharjah.Indeed, Pakistan’s Cricket Board (PCB) had also proposed a five-matchone-day series in addition to the ATC final according to AFP, but the SriLankan Board turned that down with the team preparing in March for theforthcoming tour of England.