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Both Michael Vaughan and Herschelle Gibbs moved up one place in the latest PriceWaterhouseCoopers Test ratings after scoring hundreds at Edgbaston, but the biggest gainer was Graeme Smith. His 277 and 85 in the Test ensured that he moved up a whopping 25 places, to No. 19. Vaughan and Gibbs swapped places with Sachin Tendulkar – who dropped to third spot – and Rahul Dravid, who is now ranked 10th.Darren Lehmann’s century against Bangladesh in the Test at Cairns moved him up 11 places to No. 47, while Steve Waugh climbed two spots to No 13. Habibul Bashar improved his rating to 575 points (No. 36) – the highest ever by a Bangladesh batsman.

Among the bowlers, Stuart MacGill climbed an impressive nine places to No. 7 after his haul of ten wickets against Bangladesh. However, Glenn McGrath’s lacklustre performance – he finished with 1 for 79 – ensured that he dropped a place to third spot. It also allowed meant Shaun Pollock stayed top of the rankings, despite taking only two wickets at Edgbaston. Meanwhile, Darren Gough, who played his first Test in nearly two years, made a reappearance in the top 20, at No. 19.

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Opener Mark Richardson scored 93 as New Zealand batted throughout the finalday of their drawn practice match against Sri Lanka A at Nondescripts CricketGrounds on Tuesday.The visitors, replying to Sri Lanka A’s 284, struggled against the legspinof Upul Chandana as they were bowled out for 283. The match was thendeclared a draw.Chandana claimed five for 98 from 33 overs, providing a timely reminder tothe Sri Lankan selectors, who will be finalising the Test squad tonight.They had been expected to plump for the young Kaushal Loukuarachchi, who hadimpressed in Sharjah, but Chandana’s fine all-round performance – he alsotop scored in the first innings with a breezy 55 – now provides them with adilemma.Apart from Richardson, who also cracked 106 in the opening warm-up game overthe weekend, none of the Kiwi batsmen scored heavily, although a handful madegood starts.Fellow opener Matt Horne (4) was bowled in the first over of the day byNandika Ranjith, a left-armer, who also claimed bowled Jacob Oram (26),ending a 44 run partnership with Richardson.Stephen Fleming (15), Matthew Sinclair (22) and Richard Jones (1) all failedto make maximum use of their last opportunity to acclimatise to localconditions before the first Test starting Friday.Robbie Hart, the wicket-keeper, did provide some lower-order resistance though, facing 98 deliveries for his unbeaten 34.New Zealand, after four consecutive days of match practice, now have acouple of days to recuperate and fine tune before the opening match of thetwo-Test series.

Queensland Cricket today announced the re-appointment of XXXX QueenslandBulls coach Terry Oliver for a further two years.Queensland Cricket Chief Executive Officer Graham Dixon said Oliver hadaccepted the offer of an extended term following the recent meeting ofthe Queensland Board of Directors.Oliver, 40, took the Bulls to the Pura Cup Final and to third spot inthe ING Cup in his first season, which also saw Queensland achieve itsequal highest representation in the national team with five players inthe victorious World Cup squad.Dixon said the Board had been pleased to offer a longer-term deal to thecoach following his initial appointment for one season.”Terry has impressed with his willingness to work with the Bulls and hisoverall dedication to Queensland Cricket," he said.”We believe he has a lot to offer Australian Cricket and are delightedhe will have the opportunity to further his development as aprofessional coach with the Bulls," Dixon said.”Our charter has been to develop more players for the Australian teamand with five players in the World Cup and also the West Indies touringside, plus three in the Australia ‘A’ team at present, we are startingto see the results from the work put in by John Buchanan, Bennett Kingand now Terry," he said.The selection of Jimmy Maher this week to join the West Indian touringsquad as back-up wicket-keeper to Adam Gilchrist brings Queensland’srepresentation in the touring squad to five, including Matthew Hayden,Andy Bichel, Martin Love and Ashley Noffke.Clinton Perren made his Australia ‘A’ debut this week in the seriesagainst South Africa ‘A’ alongside Bulls teammates Nathan Hauritz andAndrew Symonds.Meanwhile recently retired Queensland and Australian bowler Adam Dalecould bring down the curtain with one final honour with the announcementtomorrow night of the 2002-03 Peter Burge Medal winner for the best andfairest player in Brisbane XXXX First Grade.Dale, the only two-time winner of the award, is expected to feature inthe finalists, with other contenders likely to include Wests captainAaron Nye, scorer of 916 runs this season, University of Queenslandoff-spinner Scott O’Leary, the leading wicket-taker with 41, formerQueensland fast bowler and last year’s winner Greg Rowell, Gold Coastallrounder Chris Swan and Wynnum-Manly allrounder Chris Simpson.Tomorrow’s Grade Cricket Presentation night will also feature theunveiling of a new award, the Kath Smith Medal, which will be presentedto the best and fairest Konica women’s first grade player.The award is named in honour of the late Kath Smith, the Queenslandallrounder who played six Tests for Australia in the 1930s and wasvice-captain of the Australian team that played the first Women’s Testagainst England in Brisbane in 1934.

Frontrunner Queensland was in disarray tonight after courageous South Australian Chris Davies stirred the Redbacks for another Pura Cup cricket mauling at the Gabba.Queensland could hardly be in worse shape after two days, slumping to 6-107 in its first innings in reply to the Redbacks’ 6(dec)-553, which included an unbeaten 119 from Davies.The 23-year-old suffers from the genetic disease cystic fibrosis, and his maiden first-class century was greeted with a loud roar from his teammates.The Redbacks cheered plenty more times as the day continued, leaving Queensland in even worse condition than the scoreline suggested.At stumps, batsman Martin Love was in hospital after he was knocked out by a pinpoint bouncer from Mark Harrity while paceman Michael Kasprowicz nursed ahamstring problem.To cap a dirty day for the Bulls, fast bowler Ashley Noffke, who appeared to be limping, was trapped LBW by Greg Blewett (1-14) with the very last ball of theday.During the collapse, Test opener Matthew Hayden chipped away for an unbeaten 38 and the Bulls will hope Love is cleared by doctors to rejoin him tomorrow.Love underwent precautionary X-rays in hospital after the Harrity bouncer struck him behind the left ear.Queensland was 1-33 when he was hit, sparking a procession of fallen batsmen including Jerry Cassell (zero), Stuart Law (11), James Hopes (11) and WadeSeccombe (five).They were unable to replicate the dominance of the South Australian batsmen, including century-makers Davies, Blewett (109) and Darren Lehmann (129).Davies was the individual star of the day, bringing up his century with a six off part-time spinner Law (1-54).The 23-year-old, a hero to fellow cystic fibrosis sufferers, didn’t return to the field during Queensland’s innings so he could rest.Davies admitted he was exhausted after his four-hour knock but said he was among the “lucky” sufferers of CF – a disease which affects the lungs and pancreas,leading to a shortened life expectancy.”I’ve been dealt a mild case and I keep on top of things. I don’t take any tablets at all,” Davies said.”I’m pretty much a test case around Australia because not too many people in my position are doing what I am.”I do the right things – go home early, stay reasonably fit – and I haven’t been in hospital for a long time.”But I was a bit knackered this afternoon and the guys thought it was best if I had the rest of the day off because I lose more salt than everyone else and it’s hard to replenish straight away.”Lehmann eventually called a halt three overs before Queensland could have suffered the humiliation of asking for a third new ball.While the Bulls’ bowlers were inconsistent, the Redbacks were smart, particularly towards Hayden.The left-hander has swatted Test attacks for the last 12 months but South Australia tied him up, keeping him to less than half of Queensland’s total.At the other end, Jimmy Maher (six) skied an impatient pull shot, Cassell didn’t play at a ball which would have bowled him and Law edged a catch behind.Mike Smith (2-25), Harrity (2-40) and Paul Rofe (1-23) shared the wickets before Blewett struck late.

BRISBANE, Feb 20 AAP – Nathan Hauritz expects his next match to be in suburban Brisbane and not South Africa.The Queensland off-spinner says he isn’t thinking about a possible call-up to the World Cup squad as Shane Warne prepares for tomorrow’s hearing for his failed drug test.Hauritz and NSW leg-spinner Stuart MacGill are among the leading contenders to replace Warne if he is banned by the Australian Cricket Board’s anti-doping committee.But Hauritz isn’t thinking Johannesburg, Cape Town or even Harare, where Australia is drawn to play Zimbabwe on Monday.The 21-year-old is thinking Shaw Road, Wavell Heights, where his club Norths meets Sunshine Coast on Saturday.”It’s the same situation as when Warney did his shoulder (in December),” Hauritz said.”I’m trying not to worry about it and just focus on what’s coming up for me here.”I’ve got the club game on Saturday and then we’ve got the Pura Cup game against Victoria (starting at the Gabba next Thursday).”Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said his panel was awaiting news of Warne’s fate before acting on any replacement.”I’ve asked each selector to put their thinking caps on and give the situation some consideration,” Hohns said today.”Once we know what’s happening we can act but it may be that Shane is cleared and then the situation is irrelevant.”We certainly haven’t had a combined discussion yet.”Hauritz has not received the opportunities expected this season after his impressive one-day international debut in South Africa last year.He played four matches in place of the injured Warne and was later selected in Australia’s Test squad to meet Pakistan in Sri Lanka and Sharjah.But West Australian Brad Hogg was preferred when Warne injured his shoulder, leaving Hauritz and MacGill in the queue.MacGill will play for NSW in Sunday’s ING Cup one-day final against Western Australia in Perth along with Blues teammate Michael Clarke.The 21-year-old Clarke has also been mentioned as a potential replacement for Warne.

There were many bright moments in the 2001 season despite some disappointing outcomes. This week I am going to choose four players that made significant progress. My definition of progress is not based purely on statistics but, just as importantly, the contribution to the team ethic.Chris Taylor is the youngest of the four and started the season with a lot expected of him. After a slow start, Chris had a chance created by the absence of Ian Harvey on international duty and he grabbed it with both hands. John Bracewell and I were very worried about Chris and had decided to give him an extended run at number four with no one-day responsibilities.We were so elated with Chris’s response that it was impossible to leave him out of the one-day side but this did not affect him as he plundered a couple of big hundreds and entertained with some real sparkling performances. The key for 2002 is to keep challenging Chris as there is immense talent in there and we intend to get full value.James Averis’s opportunities came in abundance in 2001 but so did his workload. The much publicised absence of Mike Smith and Jon Lewis propelled James to our first choice new ball bowler. James was a regular in the successful one-day unit but was keen to have a more rounded game, performing consistently in both forms of cricket.James managed to retain some of the excellent form in the one-day game while he developed as a first-class bowler. These efforts made him the choice as player of the year and with quality support in 2002, I expect James to make even bigger strides.The next two players, unlike Chris and James who were both capped in 2001, have rather more experience but are still hell-bent on improving and taking their games forward. Both did so with such effect that I was not the only one impressed. Jeremy Snape and Martyn Ball both received England call ups and as I write they both have made impressive starts with Jeremy getting man of the match on debut. Martyn has been limited to one first-class game in India but came out of it with a lot of kudos.For us, Jeremy’s bowling was limited but his batting was destructive. Jeremy became one of the main reasons we were in the top three sides in the country for batting bonus points. Achieving his maiden hundred at Derby, he went from strength to strength and added a couple more. Doing all this at number six had a numbing effect on the opposition and very often we could take advantage of a demoralised outfit.Although Martyn’s contribution with the bat was up there with his best, I thought his bowling had the consistency of a quality performer. History suggests spin has not been our most potent force but Martyn emerged as one of the best performing spinners in the country. His allround efforts are magnificent and we expect the international experience has further enhanced his game which would leave him with a major role in 2002.Once again, there are reasons to look forward optimistically to next season.

Centuries from Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sridharan Sharath gave Tamil Nadu the vital first-innings lead, giving them five points from their drawn Ranji Trophy league match against Kerala at Chennai.Opener Ramesh, unbeaten on an uncharacteristically slow 41 overnight, resumed in similar vein on Friday. Hitting just three fours in his knock, Ramesh made 126 off 391 balls and 62 minutes. He lost Hemang Badani soon after play resumed, but Sharath have him enough support for the pair to post 176 runs for the fourth wicket.Sharath fell with the score on 336, having made 102 off 226 balls, hitting nine boundaries. Ramesh remained unbeaten at the close of play on Day Four, accompanied at the end by Ashish Kapoor, who made 32 not out. Tamil Nadu ended the day on 407/5, attaining second place in the South Zone league points table.

BAT Sports sit at the top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League after crushing the Hampshire Academy by eight wickets at the Rose Bowl.The Young Hawks were never in the hunt after dipping to 33-4 and, even though they rallied to reach 152-7, were handsomely beaten.One-time Hampshire 2nd XI off-spinner Richard Dibden, who now captains BAT, described his side’s performance as "thoroughly professional.""To restrict the Academy to 152-7 on a `road’ of a pitch was a highly commendable performance by our bowlers and particularly satisfying bearing in mind that Dan Goldstraw, our top wicket taker, was on holiday and Kirk Stewart is injured."Instead, it was Chris Thomason (2-29) and Mark Page (1-15) who did the damage with the new ball, whipping out Iain Brunnschweiler (5), Ian Hilsum (0) and Peter Hammond (5).When Damian Shirazi had Mitchell Stokes caught for 6, Hampshire were in deep trouble at 33-4.Kevin Latouf (30) retained his cool, but BAT’s bowlers maintained a strict line, with the left-arm spin of Terry Rawlins (2-26) and Dibden (1-24) particularly difficult to penetrate.Former Hampshire opener Giles White (23) fell at 95-7, leaving David Griffiths (38 not out) and Luke Merry with the responsibility of putting a reasonable total on the board.But 152 was never likely to be enough – and New Zealander Neal Parlane and Damian Shirazi quickly tucked in to the Hawks attack.Griffiths conceded 27 runs off his five overs and Merry 28 off four as Parlane quickly got into the groove.The Kiwi scored 50 of the first 67 runs to leave Shirazi (55 not out) and Richard Kenway (28) the formality of securing an easy BAT victory.Calmore Sports fancied their chances of a second 50-over victory when they reduced Liphook & Ripsley to 73-8, but it all went pear shaped for the Totton club, who suffered a batting collapse of their own.Calmore struck an important blow when Paul Cass trapped South African Alistair Gray leg before. Only Steve Riley, Jez Bulled and Duncan Berry reached double figures as Mark Boston (3-37) and Co made winless Liphook struggle to 73-8.But Tim Wheatley (40 not out) and man-of-the-match Alan Crawford (20) turned the match on its head with an unbroken 58-run partnership which lifted the visitors to 131-8.Calmore began confidently enough through Eugene Burzler (19) and Cass, but at 35-1 began to totter.Nick Gay (3-16) achieved a double breakthrough, but it was Crawford’s off-spin which caused most problems – with Burzler, James Hibberd, Tom Pegler (23) and Dave Rouse (14) all perishing.Calmore’s lower-order collapsed like a pack of cards – an optimistic 84-5 quickly becoming 91 all out as five wickets fell for six runs and the innings to 91 all out.

It’s been a long time coming but Canterbury captain Gary Stead is going to have to wait until another day before ending the frustration associated with trying to break a 17-game streak without a win today.His Canterbury side, having been batted into an impregnable position by Chris Harris and Aaron Redmond yesterday, was three wickets short of victory after Wellington’s eighth wicket pairing of Chris Nevin and Andrew Penn batted for 93 minutes to achieve a draw.Since the start of the 1999/00 season Stead has been without luck, but it got so much closer to turning around today that the moral victory taken should bear fruit in the near future.Canterbury could take plenty out of the game.When Wellington were 29/7 in their first innings, it was going to take a miracle for Wellington to come back, and it couldn’t. The target of 410 it needed to win was too much for it at Rangiora’s Dudley Park.When four-day cricket was adopted for the New Zealand domestic programme, these were the sorts of games that were dreamed about.It had a little bit of everything. Three fine centuries, each a gem in its own way, good bowling, by Wade Cornelius and Ash Turner who had career-best performances of substantial quality so early in their careers.There were plenty of overs by spin bowlers on the last day as Canterbury probed for victory, as Wellington attempted to set up a winning chase and as it ultimately batted to save the game.You can’t ask for much more.Wellington went into their second innings knowing they had to achieve the fourth highest run chase in domestic cricket history in New Zealand by posting 410 runs.They were given a superb start when going to lunch on 174/2 with their skipper Richard Jones on 101 not out. Jones batted in a controlled fashion throughout his innings to thoroughly deserve his fourth century for Wellington within the calendar year.But disaster struck when he was caught at short leg by Brad Doody from off-spinner Paul Wiseman’s bowling from the first ball he faced after lunch.His loss was the last thing Wellington needed, and the reaction of Grant Donaldson, who had shared a 101-run stand for the third wicket with Jones, and new batsman Matthew Walker did nothing to help the cause. They appeared smitten with the bowling and became caste, adding only 22 runs in 55 minutes.They loosened up when the new ball was taken but their increased action also increased the prospect of a wicket and it was Warren Wisneski who claimed his fourth leg before wicket decision of the match to remove Donaldson for 44. That was effectively the end of any Wellington considerations of victory.Walker kept attacking and saw the 200 up in 306 minutes, but at 231 he was gone when caught by Wisneski at slip from Wiseman’s bowling for 33.Rhys Morgan and James Franklin followed before the anchors were finally thrown out by Nevin and Penn.It was a fine game with the bat for Penn as it was his partnership with Franklin in the first innings that prevented Wellington going down the gurgler. After batting for 89 minutes he was 11 not out while Nevin was 45 not out having faced 140 balls.Wiseman had 44 overs and took three for 78 while Redmond bowled 23 overs and took none for 44 while Harris’ 17 overs resulted in one for 35.The wet nature of the pitch on the first two days and the occasional sun showers during the last two days meant that in reality the last day of the pitch was still around a three-day pitch and held little spite for batsmen who got themselves in, something borne out by Nevin and Penn’s defence.But considering this was the first game in a long campaign it was an appetiser of the highest order that left both teams with lessons to absorb, the supportive Rangiora public with memories of a competitive match, and the hint of better things ahead for both teams.

Sri Lanka A batted out an anti-climatic final day of the unofficial Test Match at NCC grounds in Colombo to secure a draw and set-up a series decider in the final game in Galle on Monday.Pakistan doused hopes of an entertaining finale when they elected to bat on for an hour in the morning. Having added 43 runs they finally declared, setting Sri Lanka an unrealistic target of 290 in 72 overs.Having lost Avishka Gunawardene early on, it soon became clear that Sri Lanka had no intention of chasing victory. They grimly occupied the crease for 71 overs, scoring at less than two runs per over, whilst the Pakistan captain used ten bowlers in all, including Humayun Farhat, the wicket keeper. When, to widespread relief, the umpires finally called it a day Sri Lanka were 129 for three.In their defense, Pakistan were handicapped by a back injury to, Irfan Fazil, their fastest bowler. Nevertheless, their undue conservatism was disappointing and somewhat perplexing – surely their best chance of victory was to encourage the Sri Lankans to chase?Mudasser Nazar, the Pakistan coach, admitted afterwards that his team had missed an opportunity: “I am disappointed; I thought that we could have pushed the issue a bit more, but we lost our way after tea yesterday when we lost those quick wickets. Originally we wanted to score 290-300 and give ourselves a whole day to bowl them out. Maybe the target was a little bit too stiff.A feature of this series has been the low scoring rate. In Dambulla that was understandable because of the slowness of the pitch, but this was a fine batting wicket, perhaps too good for four-day cricket.According to Mudasser: “The scoring rate has been very disappointing. I think the players are cautious because they are playing for the A team and that they are so desperate to break into the national team. This can have a negative impact on the team, but I am addressing this.”The Sri Lankan coach, Hemantha Devpriya, agreed, adding: “The Sri Lankan selectors are looking for batsmen who can occupy the crease for long periods of time and the players themselves are well aware of that.”Pakistan’s only realistic chance of victory today was a beguiling spell of leg spin by Danish Kaneria. He did trouble the Sri Lankans, though perhaps less than the incessant appealing suggested, but Michael Vandort (55) and Dammika Sudharshana (29) eventually settled down to compile a 53 partnership in two hours – this was not pretty cricket.When Sudharshana was finally dismissed, trapped leg-before wicket by Nafjaf Shah, Tillakaratne Dilshan wasted an opportunity to impress the selectors when he was bowled by the part-time spin of Taufiq Umar. Indika de Saram batted out the innings with Vandort, a natural accumulator, who played solidly for his three-hour 55.The teams now depart for Galle where they play again in just two days time. Nazar was confident that Irfan Faisal would have recovered from his back strain: “He has suffered from bowling a little too many overs for a man who is very. There is, after all, a lot of cricket on this tour crammed into a very short period.” Shabir Ahmed’s groin injury is apparently 30 per cent better, but he will not be ready for the next game.