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Victoria 5 for 72 beat New South Wales 71 (Smith 4-10) by 5 wickets – best-of-three series level at 1-1
ScorecardVictoria Spirit levelled the best-of-three finals series in a low-scoring encounter at Sydney’s Bankstown Oval. First they bowled the New South Wales Breakers out for 71, then crept to their target in 39.1 overs, with five wickets to spare.On a difficult pitch only three players managed to reach double figures in NSW’s innings – Lisa Keightley and Alexandra Blackwell, who both made 13, and Sarah Andrews, who top-scored with 19. Clea Smith took 4 for 10 in her ten overs, and Jodie Dean also conceded just ten runs in ten overs as NSW found scoring almost impossible. There were also three run-outs.Victoria weren’t much quicker, but reached their small target in the end. Belinda Clark made 20 to steady the ship after two early wickets went down, but a mid-innings wobble in which Louise Broadfoot and Emily McIntyre both departed for ducks jangled the nerves. But the wise old head of Cathryn Fitzpatrick (12 not out) and Kelly Applebee (27 not out) inched Victoria home.The deciding match will be played at the same ground tomorrow.

Michael Kasprowicz bowled Glamorgan to their largest ever win in first-class cricketwith yet another remarkable bowling performance after lunch against Durham.When the two counties met in mid-August at Cardiff `Kasper` took 9/36. Today at Chester-le-Street hetook 9/45 as Glamorgan won an astonshiing game by 369 runs, as Durham were bowled out for just 118 in the spaceof 24.5 overs.Kasprowicz`s return of 9/45 was the fourth best in the club`s history and he finished the gamewith a match haul of 13/110. Last year at the ground he took 11/105 in Glamorgan`s comprehensiveten wicket victory. Today his amazing spell came in consecutive overs after lunch as the home sideattempted to chase 488 to win. The mighty Queenslander settled the issue in the space of just 12.5overs as the Durham resistance completely disintegrated, with Kasprowicz taking the last 8 wickets to fall.Kasprowicz finishes a fine season with a haul of 77 wickets – the most ever by an overseasplayer for the Welsh county, beating Waqar Younis` 68 victims in 1997.As the table showsbelow, `Kasper` now has the second and fourth best bowling figures in first-class cricket forGlamorgan, and before today only Johnnie Clay, in 1937, had taken 9 wickets in aninnings twice in a season, with 9-59 against Essex at Westcliff-on-Sea and 9-66 againstWorcestershire at Swansea, 1937

10-51 J.Mercer v Worcestershire at Worcester, 19369-36 M.S.Kasprowicz v Durham at Sophia Gardens, 20039-43 J.S.Pressdee v Yorkshire at Swansea, 19659-45 M.S.Kasprowicz v Durham at Chester-le-Street, 20039-47 D.J.Shepherd v Northamptonshire at Cardiff Arms Park, 19549-48 D.J.Shepherd v Yorkshire at Swansea, 19659-49 A.E.Cordle v Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay, 1969

Glamorgan`s margin of victory, by 369 runs, was also their largest in all first-class cricket and in the County Championship, eclipsing the previous best of 332 runs against the 1937 New Zealanders at Swansea, and the 298 run victory over Somerset at Sophia Gardens in 1998.Earlier in the morning session, Mike Powell recorded a Championship best 198 as Glamorgan made 464-8 beforedeclaring at lunch. Powell`s innings came from 204 balls and included 36 fours, and it was the highestever by a Glamorgan batsman against Durham. Michael Kasprowicz also created a bit of mayhem with bat,adding an unbeaten 93 for the 9th wicket with Darren Thomas, with their merry spree occupying justthree-quarters of an hour before the declaration. Thomas hit 69 from 62 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes,whilst Kasprowicz hit 34 from 31 balls with a pair of fours and a pair of sixes.

Richard Petrie will return to the State Wellington Firebirds team which will defend the State Max title at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium complex next week.The full Firebirds team was named this afternoon.The team is:Richard Jones (captain), Phil Chandler, Scott Golder, Grant Donaldson, Chris Nevin, Shane Battock, Matthew Walker, Paul Hitchcock, James Franklin, Mayu Pasupati, Andrew Penn, Mark Jefferson, Richard Petrie.The State Wellington Firebirds will also play the State Auckland Aces in a warm-up four-day match from November 12-15. The squad is:Richard Jones (captain), Phil Chandler, Rhys Morgan, Grant Donaldson, Leighton Morgan, James Franklin, Chris Nevin, Matthew Walker, Andrew Penn, Mark Jefferson, Jeetan Patel, Iain O’Brien, Mayu Pasupati.

Calling the governance structure of the West Indies Cricket Board “antiquated”, “obsolete” and “anachronistic”, the CARICOM cricket review panel has recommended the WICB be dissolved and all current members resign. It has also recommended that the WICB be replaced by an interim board, which will work with a change management expert to install a new governance framework.The CARICOM panel was appointed by the Prime Ministerial Committee on the Governance of West Indies Cricket in the wake of the crisis that engulfed the board after the BCCI suspended bilateral ties and slapped $41.97 million as damages following West Indies’ decision to pull out midway through their India tour in 2014.Set up to review the governance and administrative structure of the WICB, the panel interviewed various stakeholders including the management of the board, renowned former West Indies players, current players, territorial boards and a host of other key personalities attached to the game in the region. Based on its findings, the panel concluded that the WICB’s governance model had failed to evolve and that it did not prioritise accountability and transparency.”It is now past the time to accept that the current governance structures are obsolete,” the exhaustive report stated. “There is an inherent and as yet unresolved tension between the evolution of the game of cricket into a powerful, professionally driven, entertainment and sporting industry and a system of governance predicated on an earlier, more simplified set of requirements.”In this regard, the Panel strongly recommends the immediate dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board and the appointment of an Interim Board whose structure and composition will be radically different from the now proven, obsolete governance framework. These two key measures are absolutely necessary in order to transform and modernize the governance, management, administration and the playing of the game.”The five-member panel comprising V. Eudine Barriteau, Sir Dennis Byron, Dwain Gill, Deryck Murray and Warren Smith, concluded its report on October 15 and submitted it to the WICB. Contents of the report were made public on Wednesday at a media conference by the panel. Dave Cameron, the WICB president, has stated that the board would deliberate on the panel’s report and recommendations at the meeting of the directors on December 12 in St Lucia.According to the report, the conclusions reached by the panel were based on the “state and status” of West Indies cricket, which has been in disarray for at least 15 years. Deep divide between players and administrators, constant player strikes, pay disputes, players’ loss of faith in the West Indies Players Association and the languishing of West Indies men’s teams at the bottom of ICC rankings (eighth in Test and only above Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in ODIs) were some of the points highlighted by the report.Two recent examples that exposed the rot, the report said, were: the players’ boycott of the WICB administration during the India tour in 2014, and Phil Simmons’ suspension as coach in September this year. Simmons, who was appointed in March, was penalized for expressing his opinion that he had failed to get the best ODI team for Sri Lanka as external factors meddled in the selection.That the decline has been allowed to foster, the panel said, was only because both WICB as well as its members – the six territorial boards of Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands – had failed to be transparent and accountable, as “they do not respect the basic tenets of good governance” within their operations.Continuing with the extant structure would only marginalise West Indies cricket and reduce its relevance in the “global political economy of cricket”, the report warned. The decline in the quality of West Indies cricket has already forced opponents to reduce the number of matches during bilateral engagements. The panel said the norm now was to offer West Indies two Test-match tours and two to three one-day internationals only because of a developing perception that it is not attractive and lucrative anymore.Consequently the current WICB administration, lead by Cameron, has drawn a lot of criticism over the last 12 months. Incidentally Cameron was re-elected as WICB president for a second term, but his popularity outside the board has dipped. The CARICOM panel, however, pointed out that it was not against any individual per se.”The Panel wishes to state unequivocally it has no issues with the individuals who occupy the leadership and composition of the WICB or the territorial Boards.” At the same time, however, the report said: “The current system of governance is anachronistic; the crises resulting from lack of cricket development, poor on-field performance and our unfavourable international reputation are deepening. We conclude that it is now urgent that a modern, transparent and accountable system of governance replace the existing model.”As a solution, the panel recommended WICB follow the example of Cricket Australia which, it said, had started under very similar circumstances. “They accepted the need for review and change, and produced a revised governance structure that emphasized professional competencies over territorial representation.”The panel also suggested that, going forward, new management and members of the WICB should be chosen based on certain criteria and skill-sets and recruitment should be overseen by a head-hunting firm so that individuals of the “highest calibre” are chosen.Also taking a cue from the ICC-approved interim board that has overseen the Sri Lanka Cricket over the past few months, the panel suggested a nine-member interim board be appointed along with a change management expert until the new board and governance structure were put in place. “The Panel recommends a Board comprising of [sic] 9 members selected on the basis of proven professional competencies. This is a requirement in order to achieve the long overdue shift away from representation to professionalism.”

A week ago it was being asked whether New Zealand would be able to make the one-day series against England a contest after succumbing meekly in the Twenty20s and losing Shane Bond to the ICL. Now they are one game away from taking an unassailable 3-0 lead after overwhelming the visitors in the opening two matches although rain is forecast for Auckland.In Hamilton, on Tuesday, they inflicted one of England’s heaviest defeats as Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum launched an astonishing attack to chase down a 165-run target in 18 overs. New Zealand’s bowlers and fielders have built huge pressure on the England batsmen, resulting in six run outs in two matches and paltry totals of 130 and 158.However, despite the ease of the two wins Daniel Vettori, New Zealand’s captain, is refusing to get carried away. “We’ve come out and managed to put pressure on them like they did to us in the Twenty20s and we’ve got to continue that momentum because I still think these sides are evenly matched,” he said.”We’ve played to the top of our game so far in this series and we need to continue our momentum because good teams build on what they’ve done, they don’t fall back on it.”A chastened England have had some harsh words to say between themselves and Kevin Pietersen called the drubbing in Hamilton one of his lowest moments. “That’s probably the worst I’ve known with the one-day side, certainly,” he told .”It wasn’t a special place to be in the dressing room the other night but what’s gone is gone and what we need to realise is that tomorrow [Friday] is hopefully going to be a start to a change that we have to make. We have three games left and it’s pretty simple – we have to win three games to win the series.”It is a similar situation to the one England found themselves in during the CB Series last year. They suffered a horrendous nine-wicket defeat against Australia in Adelaide – the match was over before the floodlights came on – but somehow managed to turn their form around and claim the trophy.Pietersen missed most of that series after breaking a rib in the first game but believes the current team has the ability to mount another comeback. “I think this team is good enough to do it and I can’t put my finger on what’s happened in the last week – I haven’t got a clue,” he said. “We all think we’re good enough to beat New Zealand, we did last week twice in four days, so it’s a case of going out and trying to turn this series around in 24 hours.”He admits that England may have got carried away after the ease of their Twenty20 victories and said the past week was a reality check. “Sometimes you can get too far ahead of yourself, get your feet off the ground and try and act and do things you probably shouldn’t be doing and you take a few things for granted.”After sticking with the same XI for two games the margin of England’s defeats mean changes are inevitable. There could be as many as three new faces with Dimitri Mascarenhas, Luke Wright and Chris Tremlett all vying for a place while Ravi Bopara and James Anderson are the ones most under pressure.New Zealand have Iain O’Brien, the swing bowler, on stand-by as cover for Michael Mason who suffered a side strain in Hamilton while picking up two wickets.New Zealand (probable) 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Jamie How, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Peter Fulton, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Iain O’Brien, 11 Chris MartinEngland (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Phil Mustard (wk), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Owais Shah, 7 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 Ryan Sidebottom

As a preview to the World Cup, the two KFC Cup semi-finals on Thursday and Friday made for worrisome watching.Contested on pitches described as “tricky” [Daren Ganga] and “sub-standard” [Haydn Gill] and before a smattering of spectators in stands at Arnos Vale still behind in construction, they simply substantiated the concern over the standard of regional cricket widely shared by those who follow it closely, more recently by convenor of selectors Gordon Greenidge and head coach Bennett King.The totals themselves provided the stark evidence. Guyana all out for 114 from 38 overs, Trinidad and Tobago 64 for 5 before being eased over their Duckworth/Lewis target of 109 by Sherwin Ganga and Reyad Emrit. Barbados all out for 155 from 47.2 overs, the Windwards seven down before they clinched victory in the 45th over.With the notable exception of Devon Smith, the batting was abysmal. His plucky, well constructed unbeaten 75 for the Windwards was the kind of application so often missingin West Indies’ efforts, and immediate justification for his inclusion in the World Cup 15. The contrast between his approach and a few others also chosen in the squad was absolute.In the first semi-final, Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard went after deliveries so wide the umpire was already extending his arms in the call when they somehow managed to make contact. Simmons got a touch to the keeper, Pollard, after batting with necessary restraint for 26, then launched a skier to extra-cover. These are the continuing indisciplines that drive coaches to drink – or, at least, to hair-restoring clinics. These are early days for both young Trinidadians; time enough for such impetuosity to be eradicated.No one has been more irritating in this regard than Dwayne Smith who has been around appreciably longer. He was at it again on Friday. Placed at No. 3 for Barbados, he drove his fourth ball, a full-length, medium-pace inswinger from Deighton Butler, tamely to mid-off. It was a familiar method of dismissal. He has been a repeat offender more times than any errant ZR driver, yet the selectors retain him in the hope that he will, somehow, fulfil the potential first shown in his dazzling hundred on Test debut three years ago, but only spasmodically since then.The opinions over Smith have been as sharply divided as those over any West Indies player since Carl Hooper. It extended to the selectors when Greenidge and King finally brought themselves around to announce the World Cup squad on Thursday.”Personally, I’m not convinced, I’m partly convinced,” Greenidge said. “I would like to see him develop more into a total player, an all-round player.” Yet King rated Smith capable of winning matches with “the way he bats”.”If he comes off in two games and there are two important matches in the World Cup, you are going to win two matches on his own bat,” the coach conjectured. “He is the sortof player who can win a match in the twinkling of an eye.”Had Greenidge, King and the others been picking the Cup after Friday’s match, Smith would have been even more fortunate to supplant the consistent Darren Sammy thanhe was in the first place. What seemingly tilts the balance in Smith’s favour is his fielding. There are few better in world cricket. He is as fast as an Olympic sprinter with a swift pickup and laser-like throw that has accounted for seven direct hit run-outs. Clive Lloyd reckons his presence lifts the overall fielding 20 per cent. He and Dwayne Bravo on either side in the semi-circle are a brilliant combination.Fielding is one aspect of the limited-overs game that is as critical as batting and bowling.Viv Richards’ hat-trick of run-outs in the first World Cup final were as crucial as Lloyd’s thunderous hundred. Jonty Rhodes was a more than useful batsman, but his fame was made in the field.”When you’re playing one-day cricket, you can’t have weak links in too many facets of your play, whether it’s fielding, batting, or bowling,” King said. “It’s very hard to push a person who does only one thing.” So someone must have pushed very hard to include both Ian Bradshaw and Corey Collymore in the World Cup 15.Both, even Bradshaw of late, now only “do one thing” and that is bowl. They do it admirably, but what they gain with the ball can be cancelled out through weak throws and methodical moving in the field in contests that are likely to be decided by margins of between 15 and 20 runs.It might have been that the discerning cricket public of St Vincent stayed away from the matches in their thousands because they were aware of what would be presented. However, a more likely explanation was the lack of promotion. Stanley Hinds, the former Windwards’ off-spinner, told us during the radio commentary that very few peoplewere even aware of the presence in St Vincent of the semis and final of the West Indies’ premier one-day tournament, and one that involved the Windwards to boot. With the availability of the many KFC outlets throughout the region for it to be publicised, it was an astonishing revelation.Given the rich man/poor man distinction between its American billionaire originator and the impoverished West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), it might be unfair to make comparison with the remarkable response to the Stanford 20/20 tournament in Antigua last July and August. The more pertinent link would be to the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) that continues to upstage the WICB on every front.Whatever might be said about Dinanath Ramnarine’s assertive, often disruptive, methods and the pejorative language of so many of his public pronouncements, the WIPA’s chief executive has negotiated contracts that have made millonaires of his elite members and attracted a host of sponsors. He has influenced most television stations in the region to carry live the WIPA’s annual awards ceremony, the fourth of which was held at the Sherbourne Conference Centre last week.As well organised and almost as glitzy as the Oscars, it honoured players in every category and gave the many sponsors, all out of Trinidad, it is true, value for their involvement. What was supposedly the grand finale of one of the WICB’s premier tournaments in St Vincent paled to insignificance in comparison. The WICB’s chief executive is a post that remains open. Perhaps they could persuade Ramnarine to cross the floor.

Australia trounced South Africa by 57 runs at Sydney on Sunday, but Ricky Ponting pinpointed the toss as the deciding factor, despite another swaggering fifty from Adam Gilchrist.Ponting has won the toss in each of the four games against South Africa, and said Australia “just had to bat around [Gilchrist’s] innings.” Gilchrist, who returned to form in resounding manner last week hitting 116, resumed his battering of the South Africans with a violent innings of 88 from 66 balls.”From 15 overs onwards, we were always going to get more than 300,” Ponting said, “and when we get those sorts of totals it’s always going to be difficult for them to chase. It suits our style of play. All our batters are in good shape, and now our bowling and fielding has been better as well.”Such was his rhythm that Gilchrist admitted to thoughts of becoming the first man to reach a double hundred in one-dayers. Gilchrist, whose highest score – a meager 172 made against Zimbabwe in 2004 – admitted it won’t be long before the 200-run barrier is breached.”You think that no one has got 200,” he said. “But as soon as you think about it, you’re out. It came to my mind when I realised how quickly I was going, hitting 80 in the 15th or 16th over. I thought it might be today. You need everything going right for it to happen, but I think one day it will happen.”

One of English cricket’s leading sponsors has warned that the ECB’s decision to hand over all live television rights to the satellite broadcaster BSkyB will lead to a reduction in the value of any sponsorship.Speaking in Media Week, Kevin Peake, the head of brands at npower, whose £3 million-a-year sponsorship with the ECB runs out at the end of 2006, said that the TV agreement had totally changed the commercial side of the deal. "It’s not even close to what it was on Channel 4," he revealed. "Our media agencies looked at the deal and the simple fact is that BSkyB has a much smaller audience.”Peake said that while npower would not move away from cricket, it would "become lower profile on Sky and so we won’t pay the same price as before."Critics of the ECB deal have always maintained that one of the results would be that the game would become less attractive to sponsors.

Garry Sobers, the former West Indian allrounder and a Wisden Cricketer of the Century, has revealed that he offered to help out the current West Indies team, but has yet to receive a reply from the board.After opening a concrete batting pitch in the Bayville area where he grew up, Sobers yesterday said he had suggested being a cricketing consultant to the national team, according to the Barbados-based . “I don’t want to be coach of the team. I don’t want to be manager, but I’m ready to offer my services to West Indies cricket. I always have been,” he said. “If they want me, I’m here. But it seems they don’t want any help. Maybe they think I’m not good enough to help.”He continued, “I told them I could act as a consultant to talk with the players, help their techniques, that kind of stuff, do whatever they thought was necessary, but I haven’t got a reply. Once I’m available, I’ll help. It’s a pity I’m not involved.”He added that he was frequently asked about the current situation of West Indian cricket, but had to confess he was clueless: “All I could tell them is sorry, but I don’t know, because I’m not involved in any way with West Indies cricket right now. I don’t know what’s going on.” He also said that it was only at the invitation of Brian Lara, who broke his record of the highest Test score of 365, has he occasionally helped out in the past.But Roger Brathwaite, chief executive of the board, shed a different light on the matter, insisting an offer had been made to Sobers. “The Reverend Wes Hall had invited Sir Garry to become involved in West Indies Cricket and Sir Garry had expressed an interest,” he said. “Attempts were made through the Shell Cricket Academy of St George’s University to have Sir Garry do a master class, but due to scheduling conflicts, that did not take place. “Whatever the exact reason, Brathwaite was adamant that they still wanted the help and expertise of one of Sobers, one of the game’s greatest allrounders. He said: “The WICB, however, is still interested in having an icon such as Sir Garry involved in West Indies cricket and will be following up on his interest.”So, Sobers should soon be teaming up with Lara, who Sobers regards very highly. “Brian Lara has a great future. I think he’s a great leader, and with him at the helm we could be world champions again.”

With parliamentary elections now scheduled for December 5 the Board ofControl for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has been forced to rescheduleitineraries for the West Indies three-Test tour of Sri Lanka and the one-dayinternational triangular which follows.BCCSL Interim Committee Coordinating Secretary Kushil Gunaskera said Tuesdaythat the Cricket Board have been advised by the police to avoid playingmatches three days prior and three days after the election date.”We had a pre-tour police briefing at Police headquarters where the DIGs andthe SSPs covering all the divisions where the matches are scheduled to beplayed were present,” said Gunasekera.”They made these recommendations to us and we are now in the process ofrearranging some of the matches closer to the date of the election,” hesaid.The matches that are likely to be affected are the second Test at the SSC,which may have to be brought forward by a day (starting on November 21instead of 22) and the third Test at the Asgiriya International Stadium,Kandy which may start on November 28 and end on December 2 instead ofDecember 4.Also matches of the one-day international triangular involving Sri Lanka,West Indies and Zimbabwe and the practice matches may also have to bealtered.The tournament is scheduled to commence on December 8 in Kandy with thefinal on December 19 in Colombo. Zimbabwe and West Indies are also scheduledto play one-day practice matches on December 2, 5 and 6 in Kandy prior tothe commencement of the tournament.Gunasekera said the Kandy matches may have to be rescheduled for a laterdate.During the November 1994 general elections, the second Test between SriLanka and Pakistan was cancelled reducing the series to two Tests.