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Chris Cairns has remained in Sydney with a minor back strain while his New Zealand team-mates drove to Bowral for tomorrow’s limited-overs match against an Australian Country XI at Bradman Oval.The Kiwis could be joined by dynamic opening batsman and part-time medium pacer Nathan Astle tomorrow night if, as expected, he proves his recovery from a broken hand in a domestic game for his club, Canterbury.NZ team manager Jeff Crowe says Cairns did not want to risk aggravating a small niggle by travelling to and from the Southern Highlands town.Allrounder Chris Harris will also be given a rest ahead of NZ’s busy tri-series program of three matches in four days from Saturday.The Kiwis take on Australia on Saturday and South Africa on Sunday in a double-header at Adelaide Oval, then back up two days later againstAustralia at the MCG.

The West Indies upcoming Tests and limited-overs international away series with Pakistan will go ahead after all, following the acceptance of the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB), offer to play in a neutral venue.Earlier today, the WICB confirmed that the series will now take place on the heels of this agreement. The series, now reduced to two Tests and three one-day internationals, will be played in the United Arab Emirates at the Sharjah Stadium.The tour has been in limbo following the intensification of military activity on the India/Pakistan border. The fact that there was also action on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border did not help the PCB’s case in convincing the WICB to send their team to tour in Pakistan.”We were always committed to playing the series and we are happy with the arrangements, so we are now looking forward to an exciting contest between the two teams,” said Michael Hall, chief operations officer of the WICB.The PCB has indicated that the revised itinerary of this series will now comprise two Tests and three limited-overs internationals to be played between the last week of January and the third week of February.This would be the first time that a Test series is played on a neutral venue. In October, the International Cricket Council approved the use of neutral venues for Test and one-day series if the host country was unable to do so for whatever reason.The tour will now run from the last week of January to the third week of February. The revised schedule will be issued later.

Martin Snedden reads the latest news on terrorist attacks in the USA Photograph © CricInfo

New Zealand’s cricket tour to Pakistan is on hold for 48 hours today after the overnight events in the United States, and possible repercussions if Afghanistan is found to be in any way involved in the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.New Zealand’s players are in Singapore for a scheduled stopover, but they will wait there for another 48 hours until the American situation becomes clearer.New Zealand’s CLEAR Black Caps are scheduled to play their first Test match against Pakistan, starting on October 2, in Peshawar which is close to the Afghanistan border.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said advice was being taken from New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, but at the moment they were not able to provide a lot of information. He would be keeping in touch with them throughout the day.”Given the current upheaval in international aviation, and the heightened tensions in the Middle East, we believe the extended stopover in Singapore is wise.”If there is any risk that team members would be in danger in Pakistan then NZC will not hesitate to cancel or postpone the tour,” Snedden said.NZC has advised the Pakistan Cricket Board that it will be delaying the arrival of the team in Pakistan by two days in order to make the best possible decision in the interests of the players.”If the tour does carry on, I have no doubt the Pakistan Board will make suitable arrangements for the players,” he said.However, Pakistan Cricket Board officials later assured the New Zealand Cricket officials, that conditions in the country were perfectly normal. They also held out assurance about the complete safety and security of the visiting team during their stay in Pakistan.Unfortunately, New Zealand is not new to terrorist events on its cricket tours. Two tours to Sri Lanka have been affected by terrorist bombings.The first, in 1987, saw the tour called off after a bomb destroyed a Colombo bus station while, in 1992, several members of the New Zealand team on tour came home after an assassination outside their hotel in Colombo.

Australian and Queensland cricket legend Allan Border was last nightelevated to the Board of Queensland Cricket, filling the void left bythe sudden death last month of Peter Burge.The former Test captain was elected as the replacement for Burge at lastnight’s ordinary meeting of the members at Queensland CricketHeadquarters at Albion.Speaking last night, Border, 46, said he was delighted to be able toextend his contribution to cricket to a new level.”Cricket has been very good to me and I am looking forward to continuingto be a part of the game here in Queensland,” he said.Queensland Cricket President John McKnoulty and Board Chairman DamienMullins warmly welcomed Border’s election to the Board.Mr Mullins said that as was the case with Burge, Border brought a wealthof cricket experience to the Board.Border’s achievements in the sport include the following:

• He played 156 Tests for Australia, the world record for the most Tests.
• He scored 11,174 Test runs, also a world record, and has a Test average of 50.56.
• Captained Australia in 93 Test matches, winning 32 of them, and 178 one day internationals, winning 107 of those.
• Played 385 first class matches, scoring 27,131 runs at an average of 51.38, between 1976-77 and 1995-96.
• Was a member of the first Queensland team to win the Sheffield Shield in 1994-95.
• Captained Queensland on 41 occasions.
• Has been a National selector for the past three seasons.
• He coached Australia to India and Sharjah in 1997-98 and has coached Australia ‘A’ and the Australian Youth team.
• He is Australia’s representative on the influential ICC Cricket Committee – Playing, and has been an ICC Ambassador to developing regions, including visits to Papua New Guinea, South Korea and the Pacific Islands.
• He is club patron of Brisbane XXXX Grade club Valley.

Border will be in Perth this week for the Third Orange Test betweenAustralia and New Zealand as part of his duties with the Australianselection panel.

An unbeaten 101 put paid to Herefordshire’s chances of causing another upset but could not snaffle the man of the match award from the Minor Counties team’s hero, Ravi Nagra.The 22-year-old pharmacy student, who plays for Old Hill in the Birmingham League, hit 12 fours and two sixes in a brilliant 105 from 107 balls out of a total of 210.Nagra put on 55 in 11 overs with Old Hill clubmate Nathan Round (41) and dominated another rapid partnership of 54 in only nine overs with Andy Edwards (16).What threatened to be a day of embarrassment for Worcestershire eventually turned into a tidal wave in their favour as Herefordshire collapsed when Nagra was caught low down at short extra cover by David Leatherdale.Stuart Lampitt, Kabir Ali and Andy Bichel mopped up the tail and the county side were barely stretched in strolling to 214 for 3 to win by seven wickets with 12.5 overs to spare.There was just one glimmer of hope for Herefordshire when Round ran out Philip Weston from cover in the fifth over, but Hick collected 16 fours in a 92-ball cruise to a century on an easy-paced pitch.Anurag Singh (42) helped put on 90 until bowled by former Notts veteran Kevin Cooper and Vikram Solanki chipped Aamir Farooque to mid-wicket after a 33-ball dash to 41 out of 89 in 12 overs.

With barely 37 days left for the Asian Test Championship involvingPakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the tournament has run intotrouble with India insisting on changing Dhaka as the venue for thefinal.The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India JaywantLele has written to the Asian Cricket Council and its affiliate, theAsian Cricket Foundation that if Bangladesh does not reach the finalof the competition, then Dhaka should not host it, BCCI sources toldPTI on Sunday.Lele wrote that India should be the venue for the final in the eventof India and Pakistan making it to the final. “If India and Sri Lankamake the final, it should be held in Sri Lanka,” Lele said in theletter.The sources said the BCCI has not received any reply so far and thatit might be difficult for India to participate in the tournament ifthe venue for the final was undecided by then.The ACF, organisers of the September 2001 to January 2002 tournament,are also yet to finalise sponsorship and telecast rights, the sourcesconfirmed.

Wapda, Allied Bank Limited and Pak PWD were the only teams to secure maximum points as fickle weather disrupted the opening round matches of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship which finished on Tuesday.As many as nine matches were badly disrupted in various parts of Punjab and Peshawar on the fourth and final day.The Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to play the premier first-class competition at this time of the year, when the northern areas of the country are in the grip of rain, poor visibility caused by fog, is nothing short of poor planning.In recent seasons first-class tournaments usually started in early October and the bulk of matches were completed before the impending uncertain weather intervened.It is a forgone conclusion that there will be hardly outright results in the matches outside Karachi, the remaining rounds.The second round four-day ties begin Friday under the following schedule:Group-I: Faisalabad v National Bank at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Wapda v Lahore Blues at Gymkhana Ground, Okara; Sargodha v Servis Industries at Sports Stadium, Sargodha.Group-II: Karachi Whites v Pak PWD at National Stadium, Karachi; Bahawalpur v Allied Bank at Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur; Multan v Dadu at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan.Group-III: Sheikhupura v Habib Bank at Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura; Sialkot v Pakistan Customs at Saga Ground, Sialkot; Lahore Whites v Gujranwala at LCCA Ground, Lahore.Group-IV: KRL v ZTBL at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi; Rawalpindi v Karachi Blues at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Peshawar v PIA at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

• It was the 1741st ODI in cricket history.
• It was Sri Lanka’s 360th and New Zealand’s 384th match- 50th betweenthese two sides. The record now reads : Sri Lanka 21, New Zealand26,tied one and abandoned 2.
• Umpires DN Pathirana and TH Wijewardene were officiating in their 12thand fifth match respectively.
• Sanath Jayasuriya ,when reached 17,completed his 1000 runs in ODIsagainst New Zealand. He became first Sri Lankan and the tenth batsmanin all to aggregate 1000 runs against New Zealand in ODIs. At the endof this match, he has a tally of 1003 runs from 30 matches against NewZealand. Incidentally Australia’s Mark Waugh has aggregated maximumruns against New Zealand in this form of cricket – 1340 in 35 matches.The details :

Runs	Batsman	For	M	Inn	NO	Ave	HS	100	50	0
1340	ME Waugh	Aus	35	35	5	44.67	110	3	9	3
1305	DC Boon	Aus	39	38	5	39.55	100	1	9	1
1301	DM Jones	Aus	27	27	3	54.21	107	2	12	0
1279	SR Tendulkar	Ind	31	30	1	44.10	186*	3	7	3
1260	Saeed Anwar	Pak	32	32	4	45.00	113*	4	7	2
1118	M Azharuddin	Ind	40	39	8	36.06	108*	1	7	0
1054	Salim Malik	Pak	43	41	10	34.00	83	0	8	1
1027	SR Waugh	Aus	56	47	12	29.34	71	0	4	3
1008	G Kirsten	SA	24	24	3	48.00	103	2	7	1
1003	ST Jayasuriya	SL	30	29	0	34.59	140	3	6	3

• The wicket of Gunawardena was Chris Harris’ 25th against Sri Lankawhich equalled the record tally of Richard Hadlee for New Zealand.
• Mahela Jayawardene, on 12,completed his 2000 runs in ODIs. He wasplaying his 82nd match (and 77th innings). Jayawerdene became theninth Sri Lankan and the 95th batsman in all to reach this landmark.Jayawardene at the end of the match has 2046 runs to his credit. Otherbatsmen to aggregate 2000 or more runs in a career for Sri Lanka areAravinda de Silva (8430 runs in 275 matches),Arjuna Ranatunga (7454 in269),Sanath Jayasuriya (6797 in 240),Roshan Mahanama (5162 in213),Marvan Atapattu (4253 in 131),Asanka Gurusinha (3902 in147),Hassan Tillakaratne (3439 in 181) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (3308in 165).
• Chaminda Vaas ,on 2,completed his 1000 runs in ODIs. He became 14thSri Lankan and 147th batsman in all to do so. By taking 164 matches(and 107 innings) to reach this landmark, Vaas became the slowest interms of matches taken to complete his 1000 runs. The previous recordwas held by Pakistani Wasim Akram who needed 126 matches (and 94innings) for his 1000 runs. The following table has the details :

Batsman	For	Mts	Inns	NO	Ave	Hs	100	0	Reached On
WPUJ Vaas	SL	164	107	38	14.49	50*	0	12	v NZ, Colombo SSC, 31-07-2001
Wasim Akram	Pak	126	94	19	13.33	86	0	10	v Eng,Manchester,24-08-1992
NR Mongia	Ind	113	75	24	19.61	69	0	3	v WI,Centurion, 07-02-1999
IA Healy	Aus	110	74	25	20.41	50*	0	6	v Pak,Colombo SSC,07-09-1994
M Prabhakar	Ind	94	64	16	20.83	106	1	6	v SL,Moratuwa, 14-08-1993
HH Streak	Zim	91	78	30	20.83	59	0	3	v WI,Kingston,02-04-2000
PJL Dujon	WI	91	58	22	27.78	82*	0	3	v Eng,Brisbane,17-01-1987
Azhar Mahmood	Pak	91	69	16	18.87	67	0	4	v SL,Colombo RPS,09-07-2000
IDS Smith	NZ	90	73	16	17.54	62*	0	7	v Aus,Auckland,22-02-1992

• With this Vaas also completed the allround double of 1000 runs and200 wicketsbecoming only the fourth player in ODIs to do so afterIndia’s Kapil Dev (3782 runs and 252 wickets in 225 matches),Pakistani Wasim Akram (3328 runs and 440 wickets in 319 matches) andteammate Sanath Jayasuriya (6797 runs and 202 wickets in 240matches).
• Vaas’ three wickets in the match has taken his tally to 203 whichputs him on the second place among the leading Sri Lankan wickettakers. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (246) has taken more wickets thanVaas for Sri Lanka. Vaas surpassed fellow teammate SanathJayasuriya’s tally of 203 wickets.
• New Zealand’s total (115-9) was its lowest ever against Sri Lanka.Itsprevious lowest was 116 in 34 overs at Moratuwa on March 31,1984.
• The victory margin of 106 runs equals the Sri Lanka’s record in termsof runs against New Zealand. Sri Lanka had beaten New Zealand byidentical margin at Sharjah on April 10,2001.
• Chaminda Vaas won his maiden Man of the Match award. By taking 164matches to win his maiden award, Vaas achieved yet another dubiousdistinction of different sorts. He now holds the world record ofwinning the MoM award for the first time after maximum matches. Vaashas left India’s Venkatesh Prasad way behind. Prasad had won hismaiden award while playing his 109th match (v England at Sharjah onApril 11,1999).

Northamptonshire duly secured the County Championship’s Division Two title, despite being held to a draw by Essex at Wantage Road.Matthew Hayden’s men needed only to avoid defeat to claim the trophy, but were hoping to record a sixth successive victory to round off their home programme on a high note.They looked on course as the visitors, trailing by 177 on first innings, slipped to 110 for four against Essex old boy Darren Cousins, who snapped up 4-50 to give him 62 wickets this summer.But Stuart Law came to the rescue with his fifth century of the season, and his solid unbeaten 119 guided Essex to safety at 225-4 and kept alive their own hopes of achieving promotion into Division One for 2001.Northants batted on to reach 410 all out in the morning session, notching the fifth batting point, and Cousins then tore into his former county with a superb opening burst which saw him trap Paul Prichard leg-before for a duck and have Paul Grayson caught behind.Law and Darren Robinson (42) steadied the innings by adding 83, only for Cousins to make his presence felt again by removing Robinson and skipper Ronnie Irani in successive overs.Stephen Peters then settled in with Law, who completed his hundred off 161 balls, and the captains called it a day with their fifth-wicket stand worth 115.Hayden received the second division silverware at the end of the match, and Northants’s delighted Director of Cricket Bob Carter commented: “We set out at the start of the season to get promotion in the Championship and hold our place in Division One of the National League.”We thought they were realistic goals, and so it’s proved.”

Scorecard

Cade Brown held the PM XI together and top-scored with 80 ©Getty Images

In a well-contested game, more of sentimental significance than anything else, the Indians scored 254 for 6 and beat the Prime Minister’s XI by one run in a thrilling encounter in Canberra. Hemang Badani scored a century while no other Indian topped 33, and Cade Brown, captain of the Australian Capital Territory, liked what he saw of the Indian bowlers and struck 80 runs.Steve Waugh led the PM XI on to the field, and Shaun Tait and Damien Wright opened the bowling against Sanjay Bangar and Parthiv Patel. After providing his team a solid start, Patel (19) fell to Cleary (36 for 1). A 60-run partnership ensued, and Bangar chose to knuckle down, while Badani rotated the strike, unafraid to attempt the big hits. After scoring a slow-poke 33, Bangar was dismissed, and in came Rohan Gavaskar. A while later, he was on his way back for 26, the first of McDonald’s three wickets. But with figures of 3 for 70 in nine overs at the end of the innings, it’s not clear who the victim was.Both Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid got off to starts, but fell before reaching 20, and Ajit Agarkar’s limp with the bat extended to exhibition matches as well, as he fell for 5 (230 for 8). Meanwhile, Badani kept his end up, and got partnerships going with the top order; 54 with Gavaskar, and 42 with Dravid.Badani upped the rate towards the end as he rushed towards his century. His innings ended on the very last ball of the innings, giving McDonald his third wicket.The PM XI began briskly, as the openers scored at over five an over. Amit Bhandari, bowling for the first time on tour, dismissed Matthew Bradley for 12 (38 for 1). Ashish Nehra then had David Hussey caught behind, and the score read 59 for 2. But that brought Brown to the wicket, and with Marcus North, he put on 84 in quick time. After scoring 74 with seven boundaries, North was taken out by Bangar, who was given an extended run by Dravid.Then, like so many times during his last series, all eyes turned yet again to the man striding out. Steve Waugh hit one boundary and got out for seven. Christopher Hartley, with a century in his only first-class innings, came out to bat, and nearly took the game away from India. Scampering for runs, he partnered Brown and hit four boundaries, and the two put on 38. But just as victory was around the corner, Nehra struck again, ridding Brown for 80 (213 for 5).With 42 runs needed off 33 balls and a new man at the crease, the task seemed more daunting than ever. But Hartley kept going at the ever-shrinking target, until the last over came about, and eight runs were required. Bhandari conceded only six, and claimed McDonald’s wicket, leaving Hartley stranded on 45 off 43, as the Indians held on to victory by the slender thread of a single run.