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The Hong Kong Sixes are set to return to the cricketing calendar thisNovember after a four-year absence.A victim of the late-1990’s Asian economic downturn and a failed attempt toset up a rival Super 8 competition, the seventh six-a-side carnival of itskind in Hong Kong will be staged on the weekend of 10-11 November.The Hong Kong Cricket Association made the announcement yesterday of thetournament’s revival, backed by the sponsorship of Cathay Pacific Airlinesand Standard Chartered Bank. WSG-Asia will be the tournament organisers inconjunction with the HKCA.Eight national teams will be taking part, including the home side, and mostof the major Test-playing nations. The final eight has yet to be announced.It is not clear how strong the international teams will be, as the tournamentwill fall in the middle of a busy time for Test cricket – Australia arepitted against New Zealand, and India against South Africa, in Test matcheson the weekend of the 2001 Sixes.Total prizemoney for the tournament will be $HK two million (approx $US256,000), with the winners walking away with $HK 623,000 ($US 80,000). Allmatches will be played at Kowloon Cricket Club.Pakistan were the winners on the last occasion this event was held inSeptember 1997. They also won the first such event in 1992, other winnersbeing England (1993 and 1994), South Africa (1995) and West Indies (1996).Each team in Sixes cricket consists of six players who play two innings offive overs each. Each member of the fielding side except the wicketkeeperbowls one over. Batsmen are forced to retire once they have scored 31.

Champions Western Province will start the defence of their SuperSport Series title against last season’s wooden spoonists, Highveld Strikers, at the Wanderers on October 12, according to the preliminary round fixtures released by the United Cricket Board this week.Province and the Strikers are in Pool A of the competition for the 2001/02 season along with Easterns, Griquas, North West and Boland. Pool B is made up of Border, Eastern Province, Free State, Northerns Titans and the Nashua Dolphins.The preliminary round will run from October 12 to early November after which the top four teams in each pool will go forward to the Super Eight round of the competition.

Dravid provides latest worry for busy Leipus

© CricInfo

When Rahul Dravid suddenly left for Cape Town on Sunday to have an MRIscan done on his troublesome right shoulder, prophets of doom in theguise of journalists could be seen everywhere at Kingsmead, Durban.Worst-case scenarios were imagined and attempts made to ascertain if theIndian vice-captain had been carrying this injury for long.Indian team manager Dr MK Bhargava was dismissive of these alarms,saying that the team management was only being prudent and money-smart.”Why not use the better opinion in this part of the world, rather thango back and let Dravid come here again to have a check-up?” He had nodoubt that it was just a precautionary check to ensure that nothingserious was developing in Dravid’s shoulder.Dr Bhargava said that they wanted to have a check-up done when the teamwas in Cape Town for five days before the finals. “But then, we couldn’tget a date before the 22nd and, on the 24th, we were playing animportant game,” said Dr Bhargava. “We also needed Dravid for the finalson the 26th.” Not only as a batsman, but also as a wicket-keeper, hemight well have added.Dravid’s injury scare provides an additional worry for team physioAndrew Leipus. He has had his hands full with injuries and, at a timewhen his stint with the Indian team is up for review, such a spate ofinjuries is perhaps cannon-fodder to those looking to ease him out ofthe team set-up.

© CricInfo

Leipus understands the implications and suggests that a physio can onlydo so much and that, generally, it is lack of a physical culture amongIndians that causes disruptions. “You might do eight laps of the ground,but you could still be unfit,” muses Leipus. He reflects that anAustralian or a South African goes to a gym regularly. “Why, even womengo to a gym three times a week!” The team is attentive to him, but oneguesses that genes and background can’t be changed easily.Talking of team fitness, everyone harboured a feeling that MohammadAzharuddin was the fittest of all Indian cricketers, but he regularlyfailed the ‘beep’ test and was the slowest in the long runs. Shane Warneand Steve Waugh are not the fittest of cricketers in internationalcricket today. “But then, they produce the goods, and that’s whatremains fresh in people’s might,” reflects Leipus. “That’s the thingabout sports. A baseballer or a marathon runner has different fitnessneeds from a cricketer.”It seems now that everyone in this team has been seriously injured inthe past year or so. The list of injured seniors – Sachin Tendulkar, VVSLaxman, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, and Ajit Agarkar- is in no way any longer than the list of injured juniors; AshishNehra, Zaheer Khan, Hemang Badani and Sadagopan Ramesh all have beenlaid up in recent times.Both Leipus and coach John Wright’s extensions are up for review onDecember 23. Wright ends his present contract on November 15, on the eveof the Second Test at Port Elizabeth; by the looks of it, though, thereshould be no problem in his case. Everyone from team members to formercricketers to team manager is singing his praises. His perseverance andattention to details are chilling; on the day the fixtures for the 2003World Cup were being announced, Wright was busy going through theschedule and checking what would be required for India to do well in themillennium’s first World Cup.As for Leipus, his case is still not clear. It would really be theIndian team’s loss, though, if he were to exit the set-up at this stage.He knows the boys and their medical history inside-out, and such adisruption, with just over a year to go before the 2003 World Cup, couldbe disastrous. But then, when has an Indian board really been worriedabout Indian cricket?

Northamptonshire, Division Two toppers ended the first day at 282 for 5 in112 overs thereby gaining two batting points against Gloucestershire atWantage Road. David Sales (55) and Russell Warren (61) slammed halfcenturies each while Tony Penberthy remained unbeaten on 42.Openers Matthew Hayden (41) and Adrian Rollins (49) gave a solid startmaking 82 in 30 overs after choosing to bat first before Hayden got out toMartyn Ball. Then Sales and Warren put together a fourth wicket stand of 62.Northamptonshire had their first bonus point in their 83rd over. Warren andPenberthy aded 95 runs for the fifth wicket beforeWarren holed out to the bowling of Lewis just 10 minutes before the closeof play.

Alastair Cook has dropped a strong hint that Moeen Ali will open the batting alongside him during England’s Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month, with Alex Hales set to front up for the tour of South Africa in December and January.Moeen and Hales are competing for the vacancy created by Adam Lyth’s failure to cement the role during the Ashes, in which he scored 115 runs at 12.77 in the course of the five-Test series.Moeen, who has been picked primarily as a spinner throughout the summer, is being considered for a promotion on the slower surfaces of the UAE, partly in order to make extra room to include an extra slow bowler.Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire legspinner, could make his Test debut against Pakistan, although Samit Patel, a renowned player of spin, is also considered a strong option, having been belatedly added to the squad following a thumb injury to Surrey’s Zafar Ansari.”The conditions are quite unique and I think we have to cover our bases quite a bit,” Cook told Sky Sports News. “We might have to do a short-term option; it might be that Mo opens the batting in this series and doesn’t open in South Africa, or Alex takes his chance in the warm-up game and we go with that balance of the side.”We have options, we’ve got to be pretty clear early on in the tour what we’re going to do. We have got our ideas but we haven’t chatted with the lads.”Moeen, who has batted at No. 8 since the Lord’s Test against New Zealand in May, admitted he would love the chance to open alongside Cook, a role he has performed with some success in one-day cricket.”I’m pretty happy wherever,” he said. “I’d love to open in the UAE if I got the opportunity, but I’m happy at eight. If the captain and the coach wanted me to open I’d be happy to do that.”Whoever gets the job will become Cook’s seventh opening partner in three years, since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, following on from Nick Compton, Joe Root, Michael Carberry, Sam Robson, Jonathan Trott and Lyth.”It’s a little bit frustrating,” said Cook. “The guys all had a really good taste of it and all did okay without anyone grabbing it and making it their own, and that’s the chance for whoever gets it next.”It’s a big step from county cricket to international cricket and opening the batting as well, you’re playing against the best bowlers with the new ball. It’s a pretty tough job. No one has quite nailed their opportunity.”

ScorecardChris Rushworth took his 80th scalp of the season as wickets tumbled at Chester-le-Street•Getty Images

On a day when 19 wickets fell at a heavily overcast Chester-le-Street, the one which got away proved costly for Durham.Dawid Malan was dropped first ball and went on to reach 56 as Middlesex recovered from 29 for four to close the second day on 118 for 4 in their second innings, leading by 145.As the sun threatened to put in an appearance in the final hour conditions eased and no wickets fell in the last 20 overs as Neil Dexter assisted Malan in the revival.Durham also lacked support for Chris Rushworth, who took three for six in seven overs to equal Ottis Gibson’s Durham record (set in 2007) of 80 first-class wickets in a season, 75 coming in the championship. He returned for three overs at the end without joy as Dexter moved on to 46.Malan was put down at third slip by Gordon Muchall, spoiling a day on which he made his first home half-century in the Championship for four years. He was last out for 64 with Durham’s total on 169.The drop also marred Graham Onions’ day as he had just had Nick Compton lbw to add to his 7 for 68 in dismissing Middlesex for 196 in their first innings.Resuming on 141 for 5, Middlesex lost Dexter to the second ball of the day, completing Onions’ second five-wicket haul of the season. The ball stood up off a good length to take the shoulder of the bat on the way to Ryan Pringle at fourth slip.There were six slip catches in the innings, with Paul Collingwood holding four at first and Muchall taking a sharp one at third to give Onions his revenge after Toby Roland-Jones had taken 15 off his previous over.When Durham batted Roland-Jones struck timber in both his first two overs, Mark Stoneman playing across a full-length ball to lose his leg stump before Graham Clark shouldered arms to one which didn’t have to deviate much to hit off stump.It became 7 for 3 when Collingwood was squared up by a ball from Tim Murtagh which lobbed off a thick edge for Compton to dive to his right at gully to hold an excellent catch.Roland-Jones produced a beauty to have Scott Borthwick caught behind and two wickets in two balls for James Harris had Durham rocking on 51 for 6.Debutant James Weighell began the recovery when he went in to face Harris’s hat-trick ball and scored 19 off his first seven balls.With Muchall briefly joining in the spree 31 came off 15 balls, but only four more were added before Weighell drove at Harris, bowling round the wicket, and lost his off stump for 25.John Hastings helped Muchall add 30 before slicing to deep cover and there was a second wicket for Dexter when Rushworth fell to a sensational one-handed catch by Roland-Jones, diving to his left at mid-off.Onions contributed 13 not out to a last-wicket stand of 39 before Muchall guided Murtagh to James Franklin at slip.When Middlesex went in again Rushworth nipped the second ball back to take out Sam Robson’s leg stump. Paul Stirling flashed wide of off stump and edged behind and Franklin was lbw when half forward.Onions snared Compton, but with Hastings struggling Durham’s lack of back-up allowed Malan and Dexter to ease Middlesex’s jitters.

The influence of a World Cup winning Australian did not rub off on South Africa at the tournament earlier this year, but they have not given up on Michael Hussey’s magic yet. Hussey is back with the squad and will work with them during the three-match T20I series in India, with the focus on preparation for the World T20 in next year.Hussey will work as a specialist batting consultant – South Africa’s second as they also have former coach Gary Kirsten on a 50-day-a-year contract – and T20I captain Faf du Plessis hoped he will teach the newer members of the team about both temperament and technique.”Mike is such a good guy from a coaching point of view. He has got a great batting mind so the young batters coming into the team, he’s the best guy you can learn from,” du Plessis said. “He does all the right things. He trains hard and fits in beautifully into our team. I think we are very lucky to have him in our side.”Du Plessis’ praise suggested Hussey’s involvement could extend beyond the India tour to the World T20, where South Africa will want the likes of Quinton de Kock and David Miller to fire. Both lacked runs recently, and de Kock was even dropped to the South Africa A side after a lean run in Bangladesh, though Miller, who last scored an international half-century 15 innings ago at the World Cup, survived. South Africa will hope the problems Miller had with his positioning at the crease have not. If they have, Hussey, also a left-hand batsman, may be able to help.Similarly, Hussey could work with de Kock, who recovered from his rocky road by scoring three centuries for the A side on the tour of India, but may still need tightening up outside the offstump. South Africa’s core of senior batsmen – du Plessis, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy – will also look to feed off Hussey’s knowledge, which has so far tried to instil in them the value of an all-round team performance.Hussey was with the South Africa team in the build up to the match against India in the 2015 World Cup, and he emphasised the need for some of the lesser lights to shine in major tournaments. “To win World Cups, you need world class performers and you look down the list of the South African team, you’ve got AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, JP Duminy, Morne Morkel. You need those guys to fire and play well in World Cups and then that fires the other guys,” Hussey said at the World Cup. “But quite often you need some unsung heroes as well.”I look at the South Africa team and see a lot of those world class stars and there might be some unsung heroes like a David Miller or one of the other bowlers can come in and do a job as well.”South Africa’s current T20 squad has the same blend of big names and bits-and-pieces players, who will have to start seeing themselves as part of the bigger picture. Farhaan Behardien has started to do that, fitting in at No.7, sharing the fifth bowler duties and working on his finishing abilities with the bat. Both the uncapped Khaya Zondo and allrounder Chris Morris will have to follow suit.Zondo is likely to play some part in the series because of the absence of Rilee Rossouw, who is recovering from a stress fracture of the foot, and Morris should get a look in after David Wiese was ruled out of the series with a hand injury. South Africa’s middle-order will need them to be solid if it is serious about competing for the World T20 and it won’t take Hussey to tell them that.

ScorecardA collective performance from the Central Districts batsmen, followed by incisive spells from Bevan Small and Andrew Mathieson, set up their 78-run victory against Auckland in the final of the Ford Trophy at Colin Maiden Park.Central Districts made a poor start after winning the toss by losing their openers in the first two overs, but from 2 for 3 they were lifted by a series of useful scores from the rest of their batsmen. Kruger van Wyk’s 53 was the anchoring innings, while Dane Cleaver’s 51 off 39 balls provided momentum. Towards the end of the innings, Doug Bracewell made 24 off 18 balls and Small clubbed 29 off 12 to take the total to 271 for 7 in 50 overs.Auckland’s openers put on 25 runs inside three overs, but once that partnership was broken the chase went into freefall. None of the batsmen from positions No. 2 to 7 got past 20 and Auckland had slumped to 110 for 8 in the 26th over. Donovan Grobbelaar and Michael Bates scored a brace of 40s to lift the score to 193 before Auckland were dismissed in 38.2 overs. Mathieson was the wrecker of the middle order with 4 for 22, while Small took 3 for 40 in eight overs.Though Central Districts opener Jamie How was dismissed for a golden duck in the final match of his career, he was able to sign off witha tournament title.

New Zealand 402 for 2 (McCullum 166, Marshall 161) beat Ireland 112 (Southee 3-23, Mason 3-34) by 290 runs
Scorecard

	Brendon McCullum celebrates his maiden one-day hundred at Aberdeen © Cricket Europe

It was a day of records and near-records at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen, as a rampant New Zealand team totally outclassed a threadbare Ireland by a record ODI margin of 290 runs. New Zealand, put in to bat, did much as they pleased with the weakened Irish attack. The star performers were Brendon McCullum with 166 and James Marshall on 161, both hitting their maiden ODI hundreds. The opening partnership of 266 was only 20 runs short of the world record, achieved by Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka against England, two years ago to the day.Ireland, already depleted by players opting to stay with their counties and a host of others unavailable, were struck by another late injury blow. Allrounder Alex Cusack, who won the Man-of-the-Match award on his debut against South Africa last year, had to pull out with a broken finger. Captain Kyle McCallan, Andre Botha and Reinhardt Strydom were the only players remaining from Ireland’s last ODI, against Bangladesh, in Dhaka.With the home side not involved, fewer than 100 spectators were present to watch the slaughter. The weather was dry, with the sun showing through the light cloud cover occasionally, but blustery, and the wind worsened during the day. If Ireland thought it might help their bowlers, they were sadly deceived.New Zealand, after ending a stressful tour of England with one-day success, were relaxed in their approach but not careless or over-confident. Peter Connell beat the bat a couple of times early on, but otherwise the batsmen were never in trouble. In the seventh over McCullum decided it was time to take charge. Lashing out, he hit two skiers off Connell over the covers, beyond the reach of the fielders, taking two runs apiece. The next two went for four, and he was set. Philip Eagleston went for successive sixes over long leg and midwicket, and McCullum raced to his fifty off 37 balls.Perhaps his colleagues slipped a tranquillizer into his morning drink, because he slowed down for a while after that, even allowing balls faced to exceed runs scored. Then he lofted McCallan for two successive sixes, and was away again. His hundred came off 107 balls, and his onslaught then became so fierce that his next fifty took only 20 more deliveries. Finally, though, with the world record ODI opening partnership record seemingly within their grasp – and the first ODI double century on offer – McCullum was out to a fine boundary catch as he aimed for yet another six over cover. His figures: 166 runs off 135 balls, with 11 fours and 10 sixes.

Five stats New Zealand’s 290-run triumph eclipsed the previous record for the largest win (by runs) by 33 runs. James Marshall and Brendon McCullum became the first opening pair to pile up 150-plus scores in the same innings. It was also the first ODI hundred for both Marshall and McCullum. New Zealand’s total of 402 for 2 is their best in ODIs, and the sixth ODI total over 400. The 266-run stand between Marshall and McCullum is by far New Zealand’s highest partnership, and the second-best opening stand in ODIs. The 18 sixes hit by New Zealand equals the record for most sixes by a team in an ODI. McCullum was just two hits short of the record for most sixes in an innings by a batsman.

Marshall had been overshadowed, but when McCullum left he took over his mantle and began to hit out; in fact, the hectic scoring rate actually increased, with Ross Taylor also cashing in. Marshall’s century came up off 120 balls and a further fifty came in the next 14, even exceeding McCullum’s rate. In the final over he skied a catch, well held by the bowler, and departed for 161 off 141 deliveries. Taylor finished with an unbeaten 59 off 24. New Zealand’s 402 for 2 beat their 397 for 5 against a decimated Zimbabwe team two years ago.If this had been a boxing match, the referee would have stepped in long before, but Ireland had to keep going to the bitter end. They never gave up trying and even at the end fielders were still diving for the ball, usually in vain, and backing up with vigour. Their only realistic hope was to put up a good enough batting display to allow themselves to finish with dignity and to score more than 146, which would enable them to avoid the heaviest defeat in ODI history – India’s World Cup victory over Bermuda by 257 runs in 2007.This they were unable to do, though it cannot be said that they gave it away early on. Strydom began defiantly by driving Tim Southee through the covers for four second ball. But the approach was perhaps a little too aggressive, given the hopelessness of the situation. The batsmen went for their strokes and there was a steady slide of wickets, rather than a collapse. A more measured approach would surely have resulted in a better total. Opener Gary Wilson (21), for example, was their one recognised batsman to reach 20, but it came off only 17 balls. Southee and Michael Mason took three wickets each, but the innings did not even last 29 overs.After the match, McCallan confessed it had been a humiliating experience for his team, that they had set themselves batting targets but totally failed to meet them. He was not willing to make excuses, but added his team needed to come out fighting in their match against Scotland on Tuesday. Daniel Vettori for his part was very pleased with the professional performance of his team, and paid tribute to his openers: “The way they set their innings out was amazing.”

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) today announced a 13-man squad to play in the Australian Country Cricket Championships in Bundaberg during January.The side sees former South Australian player, Ashley Hammond, take up the captaincy, with batting all-rounder Rob Johnson, vice captain.The SA Outbacks Squad is:

Ashley Hammond (c) (Mid-north)
Rob Johnson (vc) (Mid-north)
Paul Attard (Barrier)
Peter Cameron (Mid-north)
Greg Fiebig (Upper North)
Luke Fitzsimmons (Murray Districts)
Mark Johns (Barrier)
Mark Johnson (Mid-north)
Liam Knight (Eyre Peninsula)
Chad Parrish (Eyre Peninula)
Barry Steele (South East)
Travis Wilton (Murray Districts)
Matt Whitelum (Mid-North)

The SA Outbacks is coached by former Australian and State fast bowler, Jeff Hammond.