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The in-form batsmen Usman Khawaja and Michael Hill were among the runs again as the Australian Institute of Sport crushed the Bangladeshis by nine wickets in the fourth warm-up match. The win was set up by fast bowlers Grant Sullivan and Trent Kelly, who scythed through the Bangladeshi top order to limit the visitors to 229.Sullivan had the openers, Tamim Iqbal and Mehrab Hossain jnr, out cheaply while Kelly sent back the dangerous pair of Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan. With none of their top five passing 14, the tourists were floundering at 5 for 95 before Alok Kapali made a battling 62 and the lower order chipped in to provide some respectability to the total. Sullivan finished with impressive figures of 4 for 30 from his 10 overs while Kelly took 3 for 41.Australia’s chase never looked in trouble as their openers provided a solid platform with a 74-run stand before Theo Doropoulos was dismissed. The other opener Khawaja and No. 3 Hill were then involved in an unbroken 154-run association to secure their third win in four matches. Khawaja, who made 94 in the previous match, didn’t miss out on a century this time, collecting a 101 that featured five sixes. Hill continued his good showing in the tournament, finishing on 87 off 91 balls.Bangladesh have one more warm-up match, against a Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI, on Wednesday before their three-ODI series starts on Saturday.

With just 24 hours remaining before an International Cricket Council (ICC)ultimatum, the row over ICC contracts appeared no closer to a solution inSri Lanka as its cricket board claimed it was unable to meet the demands ofits players.The Board of Control for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) is adamant that demands putforward by the Sri Lanka Cricketers Association (SLCA) on behalf of thenational cricketers ahead of next month’s ICC Champions Trophy areunrealistic given the current cash flow situation of the boardThe SLCA demanded 30 percent of guarantee money paid by the ICC to the BCCSLfor hosting the ICC Champions trophy. This was in addition to the monthlypayments the contracted players received.”We are currently not in a position to meet the demands put forward by theCricketers Association because financially it has not been a good year orus,” said a BCCSL spokesman.”I think it unfair by the cricketers to make such a demand. They are tryingto capitalise on a situation. I don’t think they are seriously affected bythe conditions laid down by the ICC,” he said.The BCCSL recently published their statement of accounts which showed adeficit of Rs. 48 million and sources said that with hardly anyinternational cricket being played in Sri Lanka this year, there was barelyany revenue being accrued to meet the demands the players are making.He said whatever revenue the BCCSL receives from the ICC Champions trophyhas to be channelled into the development of the game and basic operationalcosts.Sri Lanka hosted only a two-Test and three-match one-day series againstlowly rated Bangladesh for the current year.The present ICC contract prevents players from endorsing products from rivalcompanies of the ICC’s sponsors 30 days before or after major ICC events,including next year’s World Cup.So far, the 14 Sri Lanka cricketers picked to play in the Champions trophytournament have not signed the ICC contracts.”We don’t see any major confrontation with the SLCA over this issue,” saidthe Cricket Board spokesman.Sri Lanka are due to meet Pakistan in the tournament opener on September 12.All 10 Test playing nations plus two associate member countries areparticipating in the 18-day event which is a forerunner to next year’s WorldCup in South Africa.

D-Day hour in the New Zealand cricket pay dispute has been allocated to 4pm on Tuesday, November 5.And if the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association does not accept the increased New Zealand Cricket (NZC) offer made today, the bargaining process will go up in Guy Fawke’s Day smoke.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden, backed by his board after their meeting today, made a final offer of another $300,000.The money will come from some grass roots and some high performance activities that would have been otherwise undertaken by NZC.The increased offer gives international players effectively an 11% wage increase over what they received last year, back-dated to May 1, 2002 while domestic first-class players will get an 18% increase, back-dated to October 1, 2002.He said that he would be surprised if domestic cricket players didn’t think their offer was a good one.Snedden said that if the offer was not accepted the initial casualties will be the State Max traditional season opener on November 16-17, the Provincial ‘A’ national 2nd XI competition and there will be format changes to domestic cricket for this year.”Cricket will be played this summer. The players now have to choose whether they want to be part of that,” Snedden said.”I am disappointed it has got to this stage but this is a major crisis and across-the-board sacrifices will have to be made,” he said.NZC will not be funding the Players’ Association as that would be a conflict of interest, Snedden said.He also rejected claims from the Association that the players had not been consulted when the four-yearly programme had been established.”The Players’ Association didn’t exist at the time the programme was set,” he said.Snedden added that he had been in very close consultation with the players on every major decision that had been made recently and NZC had opened the books to player scrutiny probably more than most other organisations would ever allow.”I totally reject any criticism of what we have provided for them,” he said.The Association assertion that the international players should get their share of the financial cake first, and that the rest of the game should be funded by what was left could not be accepted if cricket was to survive in New Zealand, he said.The players might be satisfied with the returns for two or three years, but five or seven years down the structure would not exist to support the game.”They now face a very important decision about whether they want to be part of this year’s programme,” he said.Snedden warned that the failure of the Players’ Association to accept the offer would result in a withdrawal from the negotiation and open the way to approaches to individual players.He said he would use whatever players who wanted to play.

BAT Sports must guard against complacency when they face ECB Southern Electric Premier League strugglers Liphook & Ripsley at Southern Gardens tomorrow, 11am.It’s effectively a top versus bottom encounter, with BAT anxious to keep Havant within their sights in the championship race and second-from-bottom Liphook equally eager to pull away from the bottom."It’s paramount we go into the game with the right attitude," says BAT skipper Dave Banks, whose second-placed side have strung together a remarkable sequence of 12 successive all-day `time’ wins."We beat Liphook easily on the opening day of the season, but they won’t want to lose and showed against Portsmouth last week they they don’t buckle easily."In any case, we want to go into next week’s match at Havant – a potential title decider – with 13 straight wins under our belts," he stressed.BAT are without Chris Thomason against Liphook, whereas title rivals Havant could be without key all-rounders Malcolm Hobson and Bevis Moynan for the awkward derby match with Portsmouth at St Helen’s."They ran us very close on the opening day of the season," recalls Havant captain Dominic Carson."To beat Havant would be a real feather in Portsmouth’s cap – and it’s essential we don’t let it happen, particularly at St Helen’s."Third-placed Andover, whose win at Bashley (Rydal) last week rekindled fading title aspirations, entertain South Wilts at London Road.The availability of Jerry Hayward and Mark Miller is in doubt for Andover, but South Wilts, though being without left-arm strike bowler James Tomlinson, have Dorset’s Tim Lamb back to bolster a strong-looking batting line up.Russell Rowe is anxious to bounce back to form after slipping behind BAT’s Damian Shirazi in the Premier League run scoring charts.Rowe, who has been out of nick recently, has scored 352 runs, compared with Shirazi’s 399 haul for BAT, the defending champions.The back problem that affected Matt Swarbrick during Dorset’s recent Minor Counties Championship defeat by Cornwall could rule the Bournemouth skipper out of the ECB Premier Division match with lowly Burridge at Chapel Gate, 11am."I was in a tremendous amount of pain last weekend and batted down the order in our second innings," Swarbrick explained. "I really do not know whether my back will stand up to 120-odd overs tomorrow."If Swarbrick does miss the game, then Martin Miller will skipper the side, with either Andy Bell or Morgan Parkin promoted from Bournemouth promotion chasing Hampshire League side.Tom Webley is set to return from Somerset commitments against a Burridge side that lies bottom of the table, after just win (against Portsmouth) in six matches.Weakened Burridge, without influential opening batsman Neil Cunningham (injured ankle), could be pressed to provide fourth-placed Bournemouth with their first `time’ game win this season.Chris Sketchley and Andy Neal return to a full strength Bashley (Rydal) side against off-colour Calmore Sports at the Bashley Cricket Ground, 11am. The two teams occupy seventh and eighth spots in the Premier 1 table, respectively, and are both in need of a win.Richard Knowles, who hit an unbeaten century in last week’s defeat by Andover, will be expected to continue his good form. But both Neil Thurgood and Luke Ronchi are due a big score.

Sri Lanka were relieved that Shoaib Akhtar was not here but admitted that they had more respect for the great Ws. Shoaib had terrorized Sri Lanka in the final earlier this year when the two teams last met in the final of the Sharjah Cup.”Shoaib had a great final but if you want me to quantify the percentage of the importance Shoaib in that team, then I think Wasim Akram is more important than him,” Sri Lankan manager Dave Whatmore said.Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lankan captain, paid even more respect to the two outstanding bowlers of the game.”I wouldn’t be happy to lose Shoaib if I am a Pakistan supporter. But you still got to tackle Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and I tell you, it is never easy,” the flamboyant opener said.Sri Lanka face Pakistan in their opener Wednesday.Jayasuriya added: “The two might have lost a yard or so (in pace), but they are still dangerous because they are deceptive. Against Shoaib, you know that it (ball) is coming fast but against them (Wasim and Waqar) you just don’t know what they will deliver.”Wasim and Waqar, the deadliest new ball pair the world has ever seen, share almost 850 one-day and 775 Test wickets between them. They could have raised the tally had Waqar not been sidelined for a couple of years in the last century.Jayasuriya, who has toyed with almost all the fast bowling in his distinguished career, said Shoaib was special to Pakistan team because he was a wicket-taking bowler. He compared the world’s fastest bowler with his spin king Muthiah Muralitharan.”The common thing in the two is their ability to pick wickets. They not only put brakes on the scoring rate, they pick bulk of the wickets and that too at crucial stages. It is that ability that has made them special in cricket history,” Jayasuriya said.Jayasuriya said Muralitharan had fully recovered from the shoulder injury he sustained during the Sharjah final in April and was optimistic that he would deliver the goods. But at the same time, he warned that the other bowlers also needed to rise to the occasion and realize their responsibilities.”Muralitharan is a class act and a key player. But you see injuries are part and parcel of a professional cricketer and therefore, he can’t always be available. So when he is not there, they other bowlers have to raise their hands, stand up and show their mettle. I know they are trying but they need to try harder and learn quickly,” he said.

Saqlain Mushtaq picked up a wicket and scooped up four excellentcatches as PIA beat Karachi Whites by six wickets in the National Oneday Cricket Championship at National Stadium Thursday.The home team, batting first, posted a decent 219 for seven in 50overs. PIA, the former champions, hardly raised a sweat when theyreached the victory target in 38 overs. But the irony was none of theselectors was present at the ground to see Saqlain put up aperformance that was a slap on the face of the people who had droppedhim from the Asian Test Championship final.Wasim Bari, chairman of selectors, came late in the afternoon afterall the action was complete. Mohsin Khan, one of the paid selectors,continued to remain a missing figure as he has been since the start ofthe season.The selectors’ decision not to watch proceedings involving PIA seemsstrange as there are at least four players on whom either there arefitness or form doubts and can walk into the national team anytime.Saqlain was tight and economical as ever conceding 45 runs off his 10overs. But the catches off Fahadullah and Farhan Iqbal, the latter offhis won bowling, reflected how seriously he was taking his cricket andthe improvement he has made in his fielding.Saqlain held a running catch while diving forward at mid-off to endthe innings of Fahadullah and then took a acrobatic catch off his ownbowling to terminate the knock of Farhan Iqbal.Saqlain was not the only PIA player to dominate the show. Wasim Akrambowled his heart out on a placid track and under testing conditionswhile Azhar Mahmood bowled nicely to concede 32 runs off his nineovers.Abdul Razzaq was belted for 59 runs from his nine overs while ShoaibMalik’s 18 deliveries cost him 23 runs. Karachi’s innings wasdominated by two half centuries and a 49 by opener Maisam Hasnain whohit four boundaries in his 81-ball innings. Zeeshan Pervez scored 53but took 102 balls while Mohammad Masroor hit a rapid 46-ball 53 withsix boundaries.PIA, in their target chase, was set an ideal platform when openersGhulam Ali and Faisal Iqbal added 115 for the first wicket. Thepartnership ended when Faisal was out after scoring a 43-ball 38 withfive boundaries. But Ghulam Ali remained punishing, clobbering 10boundaries in his 79-ball 67. Yasir Hameed chipped in with 35 whileskipper Moin Khan finished the match in style by slamming fourboundaries in his nine-ball 19.

Carl Hooper has set world champions Australia as the benchmark by which his West Indies team should be judged."We still have better teams to play," the West Indies captain said after the 2-1 series triumph over India yesterday."One day, when we can compete with an Australian side, then that’ll be the time to say, `Yes, we’ve turned the corner and we’re on the way up.’"The West Indies were beaten in all five Tests in Australia in 2000-01.Hooper was typically cautious in assessing his team’s first success in a major series since he took over the captaincy in February last year.Losses 2-1 to South Africa in the Caribbean, 3-0 to Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and 2-0 to Pakistan in Sharjah have been counter-balanced by a 1-0 triumph over Zimbabwe in two Tests in Zimbabwe last July.He said it was important to build on the victory over India, describing it as "one of the very few series we’ve managed to put batting and bowling together"."We’ve been in the situation before numerous times when we’ve played good cricket and come away with positive results," he told the media conference. "Then you look back six months on and we’ve let it slide again".He cautioned that the West Indies couldn’t afford to be complacent or "too carried away" by the result over India."We played good cricket for a couple of weeks and beat the Indians but we’ve got to be focused on the ten One-Day Internationals and then the two Tests against the New Zealanders," he said.The Cable & Wireless series continues with five One-Day Internationals against India May 25 to June 2, followed by five more against New Zealand June 5 to 15. These will be followed by two Tests, June 21 to 25 at Kensington Oval, Barbados, and June 28 to July 2 at the Queen’s Park Stadium in Grenada."I said when we returned from Sharjah [losing both Tests and 2-1 in the internationals to Pakistan], we were making slow progress," Hooper recalled."People asked how could we be making progress when they saw 3-0 [in Sri Lanka] and 2-0 [in Sharjah] defeats staring them in the face.""What we see here today is basically what I’ve been saying for the last few months, that we’ve been making progress but slowly," he said. "We’ve still got hard work to do."Hooper noted that the West Indies went through the series unhindered by the several injuries suffered in recent series."I don’t think we’ve got the depth in West Indies cricket today to miss a few key players and perform to the level we expect," he explained. "We’ve got to try to get our best 11 players on the field at all times.""If we do miss a Brian Lara or a Merv Dillon, obviously the side is weakened and it [lack of injuries] was important in this series," he said.He contrasted that with India’s loss of veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble who had his jaw broken when batting in the Antigua Test, was able to bowl only 14 overs and had to return home for an operation."India were unfortunate to lose a player like Kumble in the vital Antigua Test and he would have probably played here and been a key figure."

The Pakistan off-spinner Shoaib Malik has been reported by the match referee for a suspect bowling action.The Zimbabwean match referee for the ARY Gold Cup tournament in Sharjah, Justice Ebrahim Ahmed, said in a brief but crisp statement after the final game: “The umpires have reported Shoaib Malik for suspect bowling action and after informing the Pakistan team management I’ll be sending the report to the International Cricket Council.”According to the ICC manual on suspect bowling actions, it is mandatory for the match referee to obtain video footage of the bowler’s action when it is suspected by the umpires of being illegal. The material must then be sent to the ICC.The ICC manual also makes it mandatory for the referee to send two video copies of the suspect bowlers along with his report to the home board, in this case the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Steve Waugh said aggressive batting had been the reason Australia and South Africa had reeled off two of the highest successful run chases in Test cricket in the last seven days.South Africa made 5-340 to win the third Test in Durban today after Australia had won the series in Cape Town by reaching 6-334.They rank as the eighth and 10th highest final innings victories in Tests, surging into territory considered almost unreachable by most teams a decade ago.Australia and South Africa had comfortable wickets to bat on in fine weather but Waugh said positive batting was the most important element.”We have led the way in run chases and been very positive and you have to be that way if you are going to chase a big score,” Waugh said.”The pitches were flat, the outfields fast and the grounds small and they were also contributing factors.”Australia won the series 2-1, and completed a 5-1 aggregate win over South Africa in Tests this summer, despite the record-breaking loss.It was the highest winning score made against Australia in the final innings, sparked by Herschelle Gibbs’ 104, Jacques Kallis’ 61 not out and a solid 48 from rookie left-hander Ashwell Prince.The 24-year-old was playing in his first Test series and endured a miserable debut when Australia won the first match at the Wanderers by an innings and 360 runs.Fellow rookies Graeme Smith and Andrew Hall also had bright moments but Waugh said their real standing as Test players could not be determined from this series.”It’s hard to judge players on one or two Tests because it’s a bit of a honeymoon period where we hadn’t seen them and we’re unsure how to deal with them,” Waugh said.”You can judge a player after six to 12 months, not after one or two Tests.”They showed some mental toughness and the signs are positive. They all played pretty well to come into a situation where the side had been beaten badly in the first Test and to perform in the next two Tests.”The teams move into their seven-match one-day series starting with a day game in Johannesburg on Friday.

Reliable runmakers Jimmy Maher and Stuart Law avoided a burst from Stuart MacGill to steer Queensland to familiar territory in thePura Cup cricket match against New South Wales here today.Maher (113) and Law (63) handed out a lesson to their junior batting partners as the Bulls took control at the Gabba before their bowlers tightened the screws lateon the second day.At stumps, NSW was 3-93 in its second innings, still needing another 111 runs to make the Bulls bat again.The visitors should have lost their appetite for dinner after watching batsman Michael Clarke (14) fall on the last ball before stumps, edging Ashley Noffke (3-41) to Maher at slip.They will need a touch of magic to avoid defeat tomorrow but they can at least rely on stand-in skipper MacGill troubling the Bulls if they are forced to bat again.MacGill took 5-78 today, keeping Queensland honest with some classy leg-spin.With national selector Trevor Hohns watching on, MacGill delivered a mature spell without finding enough support at the other end.He was unable to prevent another profitable performance from Maher and Law, who will shoulder plenty of responsibility when the Bulls host Victoria in the finalnext week.Queensland boasts five batsmen with averages better than 50 this summer but Maher and Law will be the only players from that batch available for the final.They showed their liking for the Gabba with a stand of 76 which ensured NSW would start their second innings bobbing in the deep end.The Blues began on a promising note when new opening combination Phil Jaques and Greg Mail survived against the most potent bowling attack in the competition.But the hard work came unstuck with both players on 23.Mail edged Noffke to Seccombe before Jaques punched a careless shot to replacement fielder James Hopes at wide mid-on.Clarke and Matthew Phelps (23 not out) then steadied the innings before Clarke’s unfortunate departure as the shadows lengthened across the Gabba.The Blues still have explosive batsmen Mark Higgs and Brad Haddin up their sleeves and the pair will bat on a pitch which doesn’t hold too many gremlins.Queensland decided to rest Law after his knock to ensure he would recover from a minor foot problem before the final. But the Bulls had a handy replacement in Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who spent a few hours in the field before heading to India with the nationalone-day squad tomorrow.