Michael Kasprowicz, the Australian fast bowler, believes that Australia should take a leaf out of England’s book and provide more coaches for its first-class bowlers. Kasprowicz is one of three senior members – Jason Gillespie and Damien Martyn the other two – trying to regain a spot in the Test side.Thirty three-year-old Kasprowicz, who lost his place in the Test team following the Ashes defeat to England, is of the view that even Test bowlers are neglected in the system’s pursuit for excellence at the domestic level. Speaking to , he added that both young and experienced bowlers would benefit from a specialist bowling coach. “I don’t think anyone should assume that because you play for Australia or first-class cricket, you know the lot. I just see a benefit using a bowling coach for not just the young guys coming through, but the ones in the competition as well.”Kasprowicz said he has been impressed by the England board’s system for coaching up-and-coming bowlers and professionals. “All bowlers in Australia would benefit from it. What struck me as quite impressive was what England were doing with their academy. Their age groups are a little bit older and, for example, right at the moment, their academy intake is just below the Test level,” he said. “In Australia, we haven’t had that kind of access to the coaches. I mean, only very early on did I have anything to do with Dennis Lillee [a former coach at Australia’s cricket academy].”Recently, Cricket Australia stated it would not appoint a full-time bowling coach for its senior bowlers, instead opting for an academy coach to monitor the work of the Test bowlers.

Scorecard

England were skittled for 50, their lowest one-day total, as India humbled them by 10 wickets to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series. In bowler-friendly conditions at Silchar, England had no answer to Jhulan Goswami, who tore through the line-up with a career-best 5 for 16 as only Jenny Gunn reached double figures. Despite England’s difficulties with the conditions India had no problems knocking off the runs, reaching their target in under 15 overs.The day started badly for England – who only had 11 fit players – when Charlotte Edwards lost the toss and it never threatened to get any better. Edwards was the first to fall, in slightly unfortunate circumstances as the ball bounced off her arm on to the stumps; the innings then became a procession. When Beth Morgan was bowled by Goswani, England were 18 for 6 and the scoreboard resembled an international phone number.Gunn and extras at least reached double figures, with Gunn managing the sole boundary in the innings, but a recovery was never on the cards. Goswami completed her ten-over spell – claiming Nicky Shaw as her fifth victim – before Neetu David chipped with a couple to hurry the innings to its conclusion. The England attack could not even manage a consolation wicket as Karu Jain and Jaya Sharma picked off the runs with ease.Edwards, England’s stand-in captain, spoke to Cricinfo and was clear about where the match started to go wrong: “From about 8.30 when I lost the toss. The conditions we pretty difficult and they bowled very well.”The matches have been starting early because of fading evening light, making batting tricky first up. “That does mean that there has been a lot of dew around which has made batting difficult,” explained Edwards. “But credit to their bowlers who were very good. Goswani is an excellent opening bowler and she produced a brilliant spell. She put the ball in the right place and found plenty of help from the pitch.”And Edwards was quick to defend her team over the batting collapse. “It was nothing to do with out strokeplay. We have just talked about it between ourselves and said that we could not have done much about it. It isn’t as though we went out their and swung across the line, we just came up against quality bowling, in conditions that were seaming around, and the luck didn’t go our way.”After winning the opening match of the series England are now out of the contest with one game remaining, but Edwards is adamant that the tour has been a great learning experience. “A lot of the team are on their first trips to India – I’m on my second and am still learning – and they have all really enjoyed themselves. We have just let ourselves down in the last couple of matches.”

As former Barbados and West Indies player Vasbert Drakes prepares for his second stint as coach of Trinidad and Tobago’s Queen’s Park Cricket Club, he has called for better facilities throughout the region and for the players to develop their game.The tall allrounder, who played 12 Tests and 34 ODIs, leaves his native Barbados today to resume duties in Port of Spain.”I am excited about what is happening at Queen’s Park and the good work that is being done there. We have excellent facilities and a quality programme,” said Drakes, who played his last match for the West Indies in January 2004. “It is something I would like to see spread across the Caribbean. One of the difficulties across the region is facilities. At Queen’s Park we have better facilities than even some of the teams competing in the Carib Beer Series. West Indies cricket is struggling, we know that. One way to lift the team and see it compete at the highest level again is to start at the club level. The roots must be strong.”In a first-class career which spanned 15 years, 36-year-old Drakes played for four teams in the English County Championship – Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Sussex and Warwickshire – and was Player of the Year twice with Border in the South African SuperSports League. He also represented Scotland last year. Late last year he served as player/coach for the Pickwick Club which he led to their first domestic Division One title in Barbados since 1958.Drakes said the Stanford Twenty20 Tournament, which is due to start in Antigua in August, could be a saviour for West Indies cricket. “In the Caribbean we don’t have the money to pay our players as top professionals so we have to look at programmes where we can get assistance,” Drakes pointed out. “The Stanford Twenty20 has come along and looks capable of bringing a change and bringing back a professional approach to the game. We should embrace it.”

ScorecardSaurashtra took a vital first-innings lead thanks to half-centuries from Sagar Jogiyani and Jaydev Shah as they ended the second day at 250 for 6, 49 runs ahead.Jogiyani, the 21-year-old opener, brought up his fourth first-class fifty as he put up a 85-run opening stand with Kanaiya Vaghela (34) to lay a solid platform. Jogiyani’s fifty came off 84 balls, with eight hits to the fence and it appeared Saurashtra would run away to a huge first innings score, but Rajasthan fought back through Afroz Khan. Khan, who finished the day with figures of 3 for 46, struck twice in succession to reduce the hosts to 109 for 3.However, Shah put Saurashtra back on course in the second session with an 81-ball 51, before he retired hurt with the total on 164 for 3. Plucky thirties in the post-tea session from Nikhil Rathod and B Songavkar enabled Saurashtra to end the day on a good note. However, with three days left, Rajasthan can still force their way back into the game.

Scorecard
How they were out

Mohammad Kaif lead Uttar Pradesh to their first-ever Ranji Trophy final victory when the hosts beat Bengal on the basis of their first-innings lead. Bengal had fallen short by just 14 runs to UP’s first innings total of 387. On the final day, chasing an improbable target of 357 in 43 overs, Bengal managed to get to 109 for 5, with Praveen Kumar, the UP medium pacer, taking all five wickets.Kaif made the opposition pay for granting him two lives – once dropped when he was yet to open his account and then Deep Dasgupta, the Bengal captain, missed a stumping chance when his counterpart was on 43 – by reaching his first century of the season early today with some aggressive batting. In the morning Kaif and Suresh Raina started off rapidly and with that took the game away from Bengal.Bengal of course contributed in no small measure to their own undoing. After Shib Paul and Ranadeb Bose had initially restricted UP in the first innings with some steamy opening spells, they let up on the pressure subsequently. Later, some of Bengal’s fidgety batsmen were to gift away their wickets. A couple of questionable umpiring decisions didn’t help either. Fielding was another crucial area where Dasgupta’s men let themselves down – Kumar, Raina and Kaif were dropped early on in their first-innings knocks (Kumar went on to make a blistering 48, while Raina and Kaif got out in their 90s).Raina, having played some good pull shots, fell trying to push the run-rate too hard, but Kaif continued confidently. A back-foot punch past cover boundary, and a pull over square leg off Paul brought Kaif to the cusp of century. He had to wait till the next over, however, to cross the landmark, which he did in resounding fashion with a cover drive off a fuller length Randib Bose-ball. But soon he mistimed a pull shot and holed out to midwicket. The remaining batsmen ensured that they wouldn’t let the reins slip this time and by the time they were all out at the stroke of tea, a target of 358 was beyond Bengal.In reply, having realised that it was a lost battle, Bengal’s batsmen seemed to throw caution to the winds. Finally, at 109 for 5 and 10 more overs to go of the 43 that were mandatory, the game was called off triggering wild celebration on the ground and in the stadium.UP, for some time, had been showing promise of entering the big league, but they lacked the pilot who could propel them further. But in Kaif, who would normally be on national duties each year for most of the first-class season, they found the right man at the right time. To get a team that had lost their first two games of the season, and had just four points from an equal number of games, back into contention and lead them to three outright victories and thus to the final was definitely a remarkable task.How they were out
Uttar Pradesh
Suresh Raina st Dasgupta b Singh 52 (231 for 3)
Mohammad Kaif c sub b Bose 109 (250 for 4)
Rizwan Shamshad lbw b Lahiri 33 (315 for 5)
Piyush Chawla c Das b Lahiri 0 (315 for 6)
Amir Khan lbw b Lahiri 28 (318 for 7)
Gyanendra Pandey run out (Singh) 20 (321 for 8)
Jyoti Prakash Yadav st Dasgupta b Singh 20 (342 for 9)
Ashish Winston Zaidi c sub b Singh 0 (342 for 10)
Bengal
Saurashish Lahiri c Amir Khan b Kumar 3 (4 for 1)
Abhishek Jhunjunwala c sub b AH Zaidi 0 (4 for 2)
Rohan Gavaskar c Yadav b Kumar 5 (19 for 3)
Laxmi Ratan Shukla retired hurt 6Manoj Tiwary c Shamshad b Kumar 1 (39 for 4)
Subhomoy Das c & b Kumar 32 (54 for 5)

Kyle Mills has been named as cover for Michael Mason in the New Zealand squad for the third ODI against West Indies at Christchurch on Saturday.Mills’s selection is for only for the third ODI because Michael Mason was suffering from a mild lower back strain after the second ODI at Queenstown. Mills was sidelined with a groin strain at the start of the West Indies series and was not considered for selection.A new squad will be selected after the third ODI.TeamLou Vincent, Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Jamie How, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason.

The Faisalabad Wolves, defending champions and favourite to retain the domestic one-day title, will clash with Lahore Eagles in the ABN-AMRO Cup final at the National Stadium in Karachi today.Faisalabad, who also clinched the Quaid-e-Azam Cup last season, have remained unbeaten leading into the final and topped the points table with 24. Lahore won four of their six matches and remained in second place comfortably. Faisalabad lost hold of their Twenty20 Cup title to Sialkot Lions earlier this month, but their captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Hafeez, a former Pakistan opener, have been in good form and have plenty of experience.Lahore were one of the losing semi-finalists last season. They can, however, take inspiration from the success of their Lions team in the second-tier Silver League. After a promising performance, the Lions reached the final which was shared with Islamabad Leopards due to a wash-out. Among the ranks are only two players from last year’s final – Arsalan Mir and Jahangir Mirza – but Lahore’s strength lies in their young players.The winners of the final will pick up US$4,150 plus the trophy, while the runners-up will collect approximately US$2,000. In addition, individual awards of US$415 will be given to the Man of the Match and the tournament’s Best Batsman, Bowler, Fielder and Wicketkeeper.Faisalabad Wolves (from:) Misbahul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Ali, Asif Hussain, Naved Latif, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Salman (wk), Tauqir Hussain, Imran Khalid, Samiullah Niazi, Saeed Ajmal, Asad Ali, Mohammad Zahid, Abdul Mannan, Sabir Hussain.Lahore Eagles (from): Aamir Sajjad (capt), Mohammad Ashfaq, Abid Ali, Muntazar Mehdi, Arsalan Mir, Kamran Sajid, Jahangir Mirza, Sohail Ahmed, Shahbaz Butt (wk), Waqas Ahmed, Junaid Zia, Usman Malik, Mohammad Khalil, Jamshed Ahmed, Sajid Ali.

The Abu Dhabi Cricket Council has announced provisional plans to host a tri-nation one-day series in September or October following what it described as the success of the DLF Cup.”The ICC is happy, both the boards (Pakistan and India) have also given the green signal. We are planning to host a tri-nation tournament, the modalities of which will be worked out soon,” BR Shetty, the ADCC president, told reporters.”We will also be hosting the Euroasia Cup (a six-nation tournament featuring A teams) and another tournament at the start of 2007, so we think we are going along the right track.”Shetty was forced to apologise for over-zealous security during the first match which resulted in several key figures, including BCCI president Sharad Pawar, being subjected to delays and searches. “It is just the beginning, we will make mistakes but we are ready to own up and ensure such things do not happen again,” Shetty explained. “Pawar understood that the problems were due to heightened security, he is not angry. In fact he has promised more India-Pakistan matches here in the future.”Everyone has appreciated and congratulated for hosting this tournament. For cricket to get such prominence in a football playing country, it has been commended.”

Points tables

Northern conference

Story of the day came from Northampton, where Northants nearly pulled off a heist against Yorkshire. The visitors racked up a mountainous 341 which David Sales and Chris Rogers threatened to overhaul – but their side fell two runs short. Sales made a blistering assault of 161 from 114 balls – with five fours and a six – but when he fell in the penultimate over the game was up. While he was batting with Rogers, Northants had every chance – they put on a fourth-wicket stand of 215. The visitors were initially delighted with their pair of centurions, Craig White (112) and Darren Lehmann (118*). And their delight turned to relief as they realised just how vital those runs were in the face of Northants’ game reply.Roses rivals Lancashire also proved their batting firepower at Old Trafford. Mal Loye and Brad Hodge each struck a century to take them to an unassailable 307 and sink Durham by 125 runs. Not even the efforts of Steve Harmison, who took two wickets, could dent Lancashire’s charge. Daunted by the colossal total, the visitors collapsed to 81 for 5 and were eventually mopped up for 182. The experienced Glen Chapple led the rout with 3 for 26 and there were three wickets, too, for Simon Marshall.Worcestershire blew Leicestershire away at Grace Road. Leicestershire’s top five could only muster single figures, and it was left to Paul Nixon to lead the climb towards their target of 192. He made 67, with the next highest score 12, from David Masters. Gareth Batty impressed for Worcester, with 3 for 27. The result may not have gone Alamgir Sheriyar’s way, but he at least marked his return to Leicestershire against another of his former counties with a controlled display of 3 for 35.Warwickshire came agonisingly close to victory at Edgbaston, but fell two runs short against Derbyshire, with Steffan Jones’ five-for proving the difference. Neil Carter and Jim Troughton took four wickets apiece to restrict Derbyshire to 206, while Moeen Ali chipped in a handy 1 for 9 from four overs on his limited-overs debut for the county. But Warwickshire found themselves in moderate trouble at 62 for 3 and, despite Ian Bell’s 78, they wound up short as Derbyshire’s bowlers held their nerve.

Southern conference

An unbeaten century by Dominic Thorneley wasn’t enough to save Hampshire as they fell to a four-wicket defeat against Kent off the last ball. Hampshire had stumbled early at 26 for 2 thanks to the efforts of Andrew Hall and Simon Cook who went on to take five wickets between them, but Thorneley lifted them to 257 for 8. Rob Key’s 76 set up Kent’s charge and Matthew Walker helped them over the line.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was in the wickets again for Sussex, taking 5 for 30 to help his side to the honours against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens. After grabbing seven wickets in the Championship victory this week, Naved-ul-Hasan’s medium-fast deliveries again came in handy in Wales as the visitors galloped to a 97-run win. Sussex recovered from an early stumble at 43 for 3 to post 257 and. Murray Goodwin started the recovery with 44, before Mike Yardy and Carl Hopkinson both posted fifties to cement a decent total – and one which proved more than enough as Glamorgan subsided 97 runs short.James Middlebrook took 4 for 27 and Ravi Bopara weighed in with a rapid unbeaten ton to spear Essex to a thumping eight-wicket success at Taunton. Somerset wilted in the face of some sustained, hostile bowling – with Tony Palladino grabbing 2 for 49 from eight overs – and eventually subsided for 188 inside 40 overs. It didn’t take Essex long to notch up their second win of the term – 32.3 overs in fact – with Bopara leading the charge. He made 101 not out from 97 balls, including 12 fours and three sixes.A stop-start affair between Ireland and Surrey eventually ended in a washout at Stormont. Surrey had reached 100 for 2 from 15 overs, with James Benning in full flow on 61 not out, when rain wrecked play for the day.

Brighton College now have not one but two public relations officers – both of them cricketers – after Adams agreed to work part-time for them. He joins Clare Connor, the recently retired England captain, who is director of public relations.Adams has also announced that he will hand over the Sussex captaincy by the end of 2007 at the latest, in order to concentrate on his batting. “I feel ten years are enough for any county captain,” Adams told newspaper on Tuesday. “I’m still enjoying it, but I don’t want to go on too long.”As well as helping out with PR, Adams will be undertaking his Level Four coaching award, which will further enable him to coach Brighton College’s students.