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1. The earliest developments
Most cricketers have heard that baseball developed out of an early form of cricket (called “rounders”). But the full story is more complicated, and says a great deal about early cricket in America as well.According to the United States Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (US-SGMA), those English immigrants who had settled in New York spent their free time playing cricket in the 1700s.Up the coast in Boston, cricket was also played by English immigrants, notably those who considered themselves as gentry. But Boston had begun quite early on to acquire both a plebean and an Irish flavor. The game of rounders, an earlier form of cricket which seems to have been favored by the Irish, as well as by English children in the 16th century, became the game of choice among the youth.The Boston cricketers of the time encouraged rounders as a secondary diversion, and even allowed it to be played in their cricket fields by those who preferred an alternative to the more formal sport of cricket. So “early baseball” (ie ” US Rounders”) grew up in the USA under cricket’s benign umbrella. It stayed that way for about the first hundred years of its existence.2. US rounders in the 1750s
In the 1750s, US rounders involved only two bases, probably because cricket (of that time and later) used a two-base system as well. The pitcher was known then as the ‘feeder,’ the batter was called the ‘striker,’ and the fielders were referred to as the ‘scouts.’ Basically, the ‘feeder’ threw a slow, underhand pitch from one base to the ‘striker’ at the other, exactly where he was asked to deliver it. (If the ‘feeder’ failed to satisfy the ‘striker’s’ requests, the ‘striker’ could demand that the ‘feeder’ be replaced!) The ‘striker’ would hit the ball as far as he could, and this would enable him to run back and forth between his original position and the other stake, each successful run scoring a point.The scouts or the feeder would field the ball, and try to hit the striker with the ball before he could finish his run and grab the base he was running to (he would be “safe” as long as he was holding the post which served as a base).In other words, the major differerence between early rounders and cricket in North America was that the bowler/pitcher had no role in getting the batter out…the batter could only be “run out” or “caught”.3. The change towards 4-base play
As more participants joined the game, they set out more stakes around which the ‘striker’ had to run before getting back ‘home.’…giving the “scouts” more targets to throw at! With the changes in rules, came a name change as well. Instead of “rounders”, the game now began to be called “townball,” i.e. an urban sport… unlike cricket, which was then a bucolic and leisure-class activity.The stakes which functioned as bases in “Townball” were much closer to each other than the bases in a modern-day baseball diamond – 20 yards, as opposed to today’s 30 yards. Also, their disposition was “square”, not diamond-like. The number of bases or stakes were usually four by the early 19th century, although earlier they had varied from two to five. And the pitcher/ feeder stood only 12 yards away from the batter/striker, whose position was between the First and Fourth stakes, about 10 yards away from each.Look at the following diagram, comparing Boston’s 1850s Townball “square” with the standard cricket pitch.You can easily see, from the diagram, how a Townball “square” could develop from cricket net-practice sessions.

Just imagine a practice “pitch” on the side of a cricket field, and extend both popping creases 20 yards into the field. You will have a Townball “square”… and an excellent post-game cricket exercise in batting and fielding! And that was exactly how early baseball first developed, out of 19th-century US cricket…Not to be outdone by Boston, the New Yorkers renamed their version of rounders ‘The New York Game’. They fixed the number of stakes at four bases instead of two wickets.A complete batting order where all persons had batted was termed a ‘hand’, exactly as in early cricket, but batting would rotate between the opposite sides on every ‘out’. A complete trip around the bases was called an ‘ace.’ For the New York Game, the winner was the first team to score 21 aces, i.e. bring 21 runners “home”.As the New York Game became established, in 1845 a young surveyor by the name of Alexander Cartwright designed the first baseball diamond, departing from Boston’s “Town Square” design. A year later in Hoboken, NJ, ‘The New York Game’ was played on a field using Cartwright’s dimensions. The contest featured the New York Nine vs. the Knickerbocker Club.Each club had nine players, apparently for no better reason than that New York insisted on that number….and in those days, what New York wanted, New York got.4. Beginnings of modern baseball
The arrival of the Civil War helped spread the popularity of the ‘ New York Game.’ Many soldiers from the Northeast were seen carrying their equipment while on duty. After the Civil War, the game became a popular activity, as every hamlet, village, town, and settlement formed a team. A challenge match between teams from nearby communities was often the setting for a local holiday.As interest in baseball rose, changes were made to ensure the game’s continued popularity. For instance, by the early 1800s a round bat was used instead of a flat cricket bat. Modern cricket bats are expensive and individualized to suit the tastes of different batters, while baseball bats can be used by just about anybody who wants to play. All players (including the catcher) started using padded mitts and protective gear when necessary.More importantly, the rules were also changed to give back the ‘feeder’ or ‘pitcher’ more of a role in getting batters out. First, they were allowed to pitch as they wished, not how the striker wanted him to (as in rounders). Then, the batter was restricted to three “strikes” (i.e. “misses”) on accurate pitches, but earned a free base run after four inaccurately thrown pitches (the “four balls” rule)…meaning, a batter was on base for no more than 5 to 10 pitches every time he came in to bat.Scoring hits were soon restricted to the spaces between the bases facing the batter. Another change: Previously, the batting side would change on every “out”, but both sides would keep batting until 21 runners had been brought safely “home”. Now, the team bringing more runners “home” for a given number of “outs” was allowed to claim victory.Finally, allowing each inning to consist of three “outs” effectively replaced the old “hands” into three batting forays per side… and, by alternating these new “innings”, each team got the chance to match or surpass the other’s score throughout the course of the game. This increased the suspense of winning or losing, always an important factor in American sport.5. A final comparison
There is a hidden irony in the way things happened, in both baseball and cricket. Early baseball (i.e. US rounders) was supposed to give batters more opportunities than in cricket, by reducing the role of the pitcher/bowler to that of “feeder”. Yet todays’ baseball is a pitcher’s game….while modern cricket is the sport that really gives batters the major role !Baseball and cricket, then, came from very similar backgrounds. They looked a lot like each other, in baseball’s early days. But, after 1850, the two games drifted apart… and each assumed its own character and identity.Cricket became a longer and more leisurely game as batters (batsmen) began to dominate the sport, and wanted more time to display their individual skills.Baseball, on the other hand, became shorter and more abbreviated….pitchers assumed an active rather than passive role, then came to dominate the sport; baseball batters were allowed fewer and fewer options, could spend less time at bat, and the rules were changed to favor shorter games.By the 1900s, cricket and baseball were looking far more different from each other than in baseball’s earlier years.And by that time, it had become an issue of “cricket OR baseball” in the USA…and everyone knows what happened.

Somerset’s three-day friendly against Glamorgan at the County Ground in Taunton ended in a draw, after some very entertaining cricket from both sides in bright sunshine was enjoyed by a good sized crowd.Resuming on their overnight total of 172 for 3 the visitors took the score onto 383 for 9 before declaring, with Darren Thomas making 100 and David Hemp 70. The pick of the Somerset bowlers was Keith Dutch who ended with the impressive figures of 17 overs, 4 maidens, 3 wickets for 58 runs.Chasing a total of 385, by the time that the players left the field with eight overs remaining, Somerset had reached 260 for 4, with Piran Holloway unbeaten on 78.Earlier Matt Wood had scored 66 an impressive, Rob Turner 43, Aaron Laraman a quickfire 32 and James Bryant 30, which included two enormous sixes off Robert Croft, one of which landed in the St James Street Car Park.After the close of play Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This was a tough start for us against first class opponents and our bowlers have been made to work hard out there. They met the challenge I set them in the second innings, and there were good spells last night from Keith Dutch and Michael Parsons. Today everyone has bowled well. It was a very flat wicket and the batters dominated with the short boundary and 1300 runs were scored in three days."Looking ahead to Monday’s match at the Hampshire Rosebowl he said: "There is still a bit of work to do, but this performance is going to make selection difficult for the next game, and there will be keen competition for places ,especially with Ian Blackwell coming into the reckoning."Somerset start their first class season next Saturday when they entertain Loughborough University at Taunton in a 3 day match, and the season gets underway in earnest on Good Friday when they travel to Bristol for their championship opener against the `old enemy’ Gloucestershire.

India’s last chance of meaningful match practice before the first Test inGalle was scuppered today when the P. Saravanamuttu pitch was deemed unfitfor play and the umpires were forced to abandon their three-day game againsta Sri Lankan Board XI.Play started on time, but after the first over, a maiden bowled by DinushaFernando, it immediately became clear that pitch would misbehave even morethan on the two previous days, when players on both sides had been rapped onthe gloves. Sourav Ganguly immediately declared the Indian first innings.The Board XI though were not overly keen on risking the health of theirplayers either – six of whom are in the 16-man squad for the Galle Teststarting on Tuesday. A 15-minute discussion between coaches, captains andumpires ensued.Indian coach John Wright wanted more middle practice for his team and theSri Lankan coach was not averse to playing if the safety of the playerscould be assured. The umpires thus took the unusual decision to order therepair the pitch on the basis of “good faith.”The ground staff got to work. The offending patches were filled with clay,the pitch was watered and cut grass was rolled into the wicket. Strictlyspeaking the watering and rolling was illegal, but the umpires decision toallow it was rooted in common sense and within the spirit of the game.Unfortunately, after four hours of hard labouring the pitch was still deemedunfit for play and the game was called of. The only chance of play was ifboth sides agreed to play only at one end, which had in fact been suggestedyesterday by India, but rejected by the home side. In the end the Indianteam practiced afterwards at the “safe” end.Ironically, the P.Saravanamuttu Stadium was traditionally famous for havingthe best pitch in Sri Lanka, full of pace and true in bounce. It staged SriLanka’s inaugural Test, but was eventually sidelined as the facilities fellbehind those at the Sinhalese Sports Club and Premadasa InternationalStadium. Now, after the period of re-development, the facilities areacceptable, but the pitch is not.Successful matches have been played at the ground this year against Englandand Paksitan A, but this incident may delay the return of Test cricket tothe Tamil Union club. They had hoped to stage the Asian Test Championshipgame against Bangladesh later this year, but the ICC are now unlikely tolook favourably on such a plan.Sourav Ganguly was diplomatic afterwards: “It’s little bit disappointing,but we had a day to bowl and day to bat and that’s better than nothing. Igot a good knock and so did the openers, but it would have been nice if themiddle order had got going as well.”He brushed aside suggestions that the Indian would be going into the firstTest under prepared: “Yes we’ve had just one practice game, but theconditions are pretty much similar to back at home so there shouldn’t be aproblem.”The Indian team now travels down to Galle tomorrow. Sri Lanka take a breakon Saturday and travel south on Sunday.

ScorecardA century from Shammu Ashan followed by an impressive spell of fast bowling from Jehan Daniel helped Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in a rain-affected Youth ODI in Hambantota.Ashan came in with his team at 50 for 3 and helped hold the innings together with an 86-run partnership with captain Charith Asalanka, who contributed 65 off 75 balls. Sri Lanka’s recovery though was dented when Asalanka was removed in the 34th over. With the score at 136 for 4, Pakistan would have hoped to put the squeeze on, but Ashan held firm at one end to record 103 off only 112 balls, despite hitting only four fours and two sixes. He was unable to prevent Sri Lanka being bowled out before their full 50 overs as seamers Sameen Gul and Arfan Liaqat two two wickets apiece to keep the hosts down to 239 in 49.4 overs.However, the Pakistan chase began poorly. They lost their openers by the sixth over courtesy Daniel, who had figures of 5-2-8-2. The rest of the bowling attack were also very miserly – all of them cost less than 4.5 per over – and that pressure told on the opposition. Pakistan fell well behind the required rate, and were 92 for 4 in the 30th over when rain put a halt to proceedings. They were ruled 37 runs short by the Duckworth-Lewis method and go 0-1 down in the five match series

Lancashire 143 (Davies 7-33) lead Durham 114 (Flintoff 4-21, Anderson 4-31) by 29 runs
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	Mark Davies celebrates dismissing Andrew Flintoff for a first-ball duck. Davies finished with career-best figures of 7 for 33 © PA Photos

Deficient techniques rather than deficient pitch were to blame on a day the county batsmen did not acquit themselves well on a bouncy Old Trafford pitch in conditions where the bowlers could swing the ball.Although Lancashire finished on top, leading Durham by 29 runs, the Man of the Match to date was Durham seamer Mark Davies, who started the entire batting nightmare by ripping through the home side’s middle order to return his best career figures of 7 for 33. True, he benefited from some incompetence at the other end, but that should not detract from a masterly performance. His personal pleasure soon evaporated, though, in the face of even more woeful batting from his own team.In sunny weather and on a good-looking shaven pitch, such carnage was hardly tobe expected. Lancashire batted on winning the toss and progressed withoutundue difficulty to 33, with Paul Horton making most of therunning. Then both openers fell on that score, both to catches in the slips asthey flashed unwisely at the ball. Steve Harmison dismissed Horton, but thebest bowler, coming on first change, was Davies, who kept an accurate lineand length just on or outside the off stump, and reaped a rich harvest.After removing Chilton, he beat Mohammad Younis twice in an over before inducingan edge to the keeper off a ball that flew, a fine delivery. Mal Loye handledthe bowling well, however, while Stuart Law played himself in carefully, andnot long after lunch Lancashire were fighting back on 93 for 3.After this, nothing was the same again; perhaps the batsmen suddenly decided thepitch was full of unseen terrors and adjusted their mental state accordingly.In seven balls, Davies took four wickets without a run being added,and a fifth 10 balls later. First to go was Loye (39), who sliced a ball intothe gully, where Ben Harmison took a sharp overhead catch at the secondattempt.Andrew Flintoff came and went first ball, pushing hesitantly at a ball thatbounced and moved away, and edging a catch to his England team-mate PaulCollingwood at first slip. It was his second first baller in a fortnight. Luke Sutton avoided the hat-trick, but then edged the third delivery he faced to the keeper; Kyle Hogg soon followed, snicking his second ball to second slip. The fifth wicket in this sequence was the big one of Law, who brought up the team’s 100 with a snick for four just over thekeeper’s head, and then was caught in the gully off one that flew from theshoulder of his bat.Lancashire were shattered. Saj Mahmood fought back with 31, looking moreassured than any of his team-mates apart from Loye, before Collingwood nippedin with the last two wickets. Lancashire had been skittled for 143 and anearly tea was taken.”Play the ball as little as possible.” This may have been Durham’s advice totheir batsmen, having seen the trouble Lancashire had got themselves into – allten wickets had fallen to catches between the keeper and point – but, if so, MarkStoneman (2) took it a little too literally, shouldering arms and seeing hisoff stump removed by a quick ball from James Anderson.Unlike Lancashire, Durham never even had a brief happy period with the bat.Anderson was the most dangerous bowler, constantly threatening the stumps,while Flintoff produced a vicious lifter that Kyle Coetzer popped up haplesslyfor a catch on the off side. Collingwood (3) slashed at Anderson and wasdismissed by the sort of fine catch at backward point that he himself usuallyspecialises in. The only batsman in the top six to reach double figures wasGarry Park, who fought hard but never looked comfortable in making 19.Durham’s highest stand of the day was a mere 24, for the eighth wicket, betweenBen Harmison (beaten and bowled by the sheer pace of Flintoff for 15) and MitchClaydon, whose assertive strokeplay in making his highest career score of 40 off38 balls (7 fours) put his seniors to shame. It was also the highest score ofthe day, a worthy achievement. He was the last man out, finally yorked by Flintoff, as Durham were dismissed for 114 in a single extended session.Anderson and Flintoff took four wickets each, with Anderson the best ofLancashire’s bowlers. At the present rate of progress, this match might notreach its third day. Or perhaps one of the teams will produce a batsman whowill display the technique and willpower to produce an innings of real qualityand turn this game on its head again.

India and Pakistan will resume their cricketing rivalry later this year © AFP

The Indian board (BCCI) has made a few changes to the schedule of the touring Australia and Pakistan teams, due to visit India later this year.According to the revised schedule, Australia and India would play the fourth of their best-of-seven ODI series on October 8 at Chandigarh’s Sector-16 stadium, originally to be held at Guhawati.Guhawati would instead host the first ODI against Pakistan. The switch came about as the Haryana association wanted to host their allotted match – the opening ODI against Pakistan – at Chandigarh instead of Faridabad, the earlier proposed venue.According to the BCCI’s rules, one city cannot host than more than two matches in a series. Mohali, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, was already allotted a match for the Pakistan series.In order to accommodate the changes, the dates for the Pakistan tour has been advanced by a day, with the first ODI on November 5 instead of November 6 and the second on November 8 instead of November 9.Apart from the seven ODIs, Australia are slated to play a yet-to-be-confirmed Twenty20 tie against India during their visit from September 25 to October 20 while Pakistan will play five ODIs followed by a three-Test series between November 1 and December 12.The revised schedule:Australia’s tour of India Sept 29: 1st ODI at Bangalore (D/N), Oct 2: 2nd ODI, Kochi, Oct 5: 3rd ODI, Hyderabad, Oct 8: 4th ODI, Chandigarh, Oct 11: 5th ODI, Vadodara, Oct 14: 6th ODI, Nagpur, Oct 17: 7th ODI, Mumbai (D/N), Oct 20: Twenty20 tie (yet to be confirmed).Pakistan’s tour of India Nov 2: Practice one-day match at Delhi, Nov 5: 1st ODI, Guwahati, Nov 8: 2nd ODI, Mohali (D/N), Nov 12: 3rd ODI, Kanpur, Nov 15: 4th ODI, Gwalior (D/N), Nov 18: 5th ODI, Jaipur (D/N), Nov 22-26: 1st Test, Delhi, Nov 30-Dec 4: 2nd Test, Kolkata, Dec 8-12: 3rd Test, Bangalore.

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Rikki Clarke tore in the Gloucestershire bowling © Getty Images

Surrey maintained their record of reaching every Twenty20 finals day with an overwhelming performance at Bristol, usually a fortress for Gloucestershire in one-day cricket. However, the home side made the unusual decision of bowling first and were never really in the contest. At 80 for 3, Surrey were not racing away but that soon changed as Mark Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke joined forces in a thrilling stand of 139 for the fourth wicket. There were boundaries galore as the pair tucked into the Gloucestershire attack with the spinners taking some fearful hammer. Ramprakash smashed 10 fours and three sixes while Clarke – dropped twice – struck five over the rope in his 42-ball 79. Ramprakash eventually fell for a 50-ball 85 but Surrey had a huge total and the pressure showed. Both Gloucestershire’s key strikers – Craig Spearman and Ian Harvey – went early and with them so did any hopes for the run chase. Anil Kumble used his experience while Nayan Doshi continued his wicket-taking form in this tournament. No one will want a semi-final against Surrey.
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Peter Willey sends runner Bilal Shafayat on his way after Rikki Wessels was run out © Getty Images

David Hussey powered Nottinghamshire into the finals day for the first time with a powerful 71. Samit Patel also played a crucial part with 65 in a third-wicket stand of 121 as they ran Northamptonshire ragged in the field. Both batsmen treated Trent Bridge’s highest domestic crowd for more than 30 years to some fine stroke play as they launched nine sixes between them. Stephen Fleming had given the innings early momentum with 39 off 28 balls before falling to Sourav Ganguly – who conceded more than 11-an-over. The Northants top order couldn’t produce a similar boundary-crashing display as the Nottinghamshire seamers made vital early inroads. Ganguly’s poor form continued as he was caught off Ryan Sidebottom – whose spell cost just 16 – for 5. There was then an incident involving Rikki Wessels who was run out after a mix-up and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. The chase quickly became a lost cause for Northants despite a violent innings from Lance Klusener and Nottinghamshire will now have home advantage on finals day.
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Darren Maddy carried Leicestershire home with a flurry of boundaries © Getty Images

Leicestershire also continued with a full set of finals day appearances as they eased past a Kent side that struggled to compete at Grace Road. HD Ackerman and Darren Maddy showed their Twenty20 expertise with a superbly measured opening stand of 105 which took all the pressure off the run chase. The highlight of their stand was the remarkable success of the reverse sweep – with Maddy to the fore as his fifty came off 42 balls – and Leicestershire made light work of their target with a flurry of boundaries. Stuart Broad handed Leicestershire the early initiative with an outstanding spell of pace bowling which will have caught the eye of England’s selectors. He nipped out Robert Key in the first over and then benefited from two stunning catches – by Claude Henderson and David Masters – as Kent slumped to 31 for 4. The Leicestershire fielding was outstanding; Henderson caught his effort diving full-length, running back at mid-on with a bobble, Masters flung himself as the ball came over his head at backward point and also produced a direct hit to remove Tryon Henderson. Martin van Jaarsveld played well for his 70, and at least gave his team something to bowl at, but it was nowhere near enough.Essex 149 for 5 (Foster 47*) beat Yorkshire 143 for 6 (Brophy 43, Lehmann 40) by five wickets
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Deon Kruis celebrates the wicket of Ronnie Irani … but Essex had the last laugh © Getty Images

Essex eased into the semi-finals with a five-wicket win after Yorkshire had failed to capitalise on winning the toss in front of a sell-out crowd at Chelmsford. Gerard Brophy and Darren Lehmann revived their innings after they got off to a sluggish start, but they failed to press on in the final overs. Despite that, Yorkshire appeared on course for victory as Essex slid to 73 for 5 before Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster turned the game with an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 76 with Foster clearing the ropes on four occasions as they crossed the winning line with four balls to spare. One of the highlights of the evening was Darren Gough against his former club. He had plenty of support from the crowd, especially after removing Michael Lumb in the first over. When he came out to bat, at No. 3, a number of the Yorkshire players enjoyed some banter with him. However, it was Gough and Essex who had the last laugh.

Khurram Manzoor hammered 112 as Karachi Whites scored a crushing 158-run victory over Karachi Blues in the first round of the National Junior (Under-19) Grade-I One-day Cricket Tournament Monday.Karachi Blues, last season’s champions, were restricted to 134 for eight in their allotted 50 overs after being a daunting 293 for victory.Karachi Whites piled up 292 for six after skipper Khalid Latif won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first.Khurram, who ironically played for the Blues in the just concluded National Championship three-day fixtures, led the onslaught. He put on 85 for the third wicket with Shiraz Ishaq (40 off 47 balls, five fours)Khurram’s 116-ball knock included as many as seven sixes and three fours and added 124 for the fourth wicket with Faraz Patel, who finished on an unbeaten 82 off 74 deliveries with three hits to the fence.Bahawalpur, meanwhile, scored a nail-biting victory by one wicket with just one delivery to spare against Quetta at National Stadium.Needing three in the final over, bowled by medium-pacer Arun Lal, Bahawalpur lost two wickets but scampered home in the end.Earlier, Quetta made 188 for seven in their 50 overs with skipper Abdul Hameed scoring 45.Our Sports Reporter adds from Rawalpindi:Rawalpindi made a Grand Prix start to the tournament by scoring a straightforward five-wicket victory over Peshawar.Put into bat first at Rawalpindi Stadium, Peshawar could manage just 161 in 40.5 overs, falling to the leg spin of Mazhar Malik and slow left-armer Afzal Javed, both of whom picked up three wickets each.Opener Abdul Nasir was the chief scorer for Peshawar cracking a 34-ball 41, a knock that had five fours and two sixes.Although the target appeared easy, Rawalpindi suffered early hiccups that saw them three wickets down for 26.But then Usman Saeed batted patiently, hitting an unbeaten 57 with six hits to the ropes. Usama Shabbir also played cautiously in scoring 33 not out as the home side achieved the target with more than seven overs to spare.Our Sports Correspondent adds from Lahore:A fine all-round performance by Mohammad Saeed (51 and 3-21) enabled Lahore Blues defeat Lahore Whites by seven wickets at Gaddafi Stadium Monday.Chasing a moderate target, Lahore Blues scored 183 for three with 2.1 overs to spare. Saeed blasted 51 off 53 balls with the aid of seven fours and one six.Asim Ijaz slammed an unbeaten 54 off 97 balls, hitting two fours and a six.Earlier, Umar Javed scored undefeated 49 off 84 balls without any boundary as Lahore Whites managed 180 in 46.4overs.At Sheikhupura Stadium, the home side defeated Islamabad by seven wickets.Summarised scores:*At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi:Rawalpindi beat Peshawar by five wickets.PESHAWAR 161 in 40.5 overs (Abdul Nasir 41; Afzal Javed 3-21, Mazhar Malik 3-21);RAWALPINDI 166-5 in 42.3 overs (Usman Saeed 57 not out, Usama Shabbir 33 not out; Gulraiz 2-32, Zohaib Khan 2-24).*At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore:Lahore Blues beat Lahore Whites by seven wickets.LAHORE WHITES 180 in 46.4 overs (Umar Javed 49 not out, Raza Ali Dar 37, Salman Qadir 21; Mohammad Saeed 3-21, Azhar Ali 2-21, Asim Ijaz 2-27, Khurram Irshad 2-47);LAHORE BLUES 183-3 in 47.5 overs (Asim Ijaz 54 not out, Mohammad Saeed 51, Adnan Raza 39, Fahad-ul-Haq 27 not out).*At Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura:Sheikhupura beat Islamabad by three wickets.ISLAMABAD 162 in 44.1 overs (Shakir Mahmood 41, Wasim Abbas 34, Mohammad Fiaz 24, Usman Nabi 22; Khalil Ahmed 2-15, Salman Ali 2-22, Nawaz Sardar 2-31);SHEIKHUPURA 163-7 in 37.5 overs (Khalil Ahmed 48, Kashif Imran 32; Mohammad Altaf 4-45, Saif-ur-Rehman 2-43).*At KCCA Stadium, Karachi:Karachi Whites beat Karachi Blues by 158 runs.KARACHI WHITES 292-6 in 50 overs (Khurram Manzoor 112, Faraz Patel 82 not out, Shiraz Ishaq 40; Mohammad Saleem 2-26, Fawwad Alam 2-49);KARACHI BLUES 134-8 in 50 overs (Ibrahim Akhtar 30, Khurram Ibrahim 24; Aftab Ahmed 2-25).*At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar:Fata beat Kohat by 36 runs.FATA 247-8 in 50 overs (Johar Hussain 69, Altaf Ali 26, Mumtaz Khan Afridi 26; Majid Sharif 4-38, Fawwad Shah 2-30);KOHAT 211 in 44.3 overs (Usman 117, Fawwad Shah 20; Riaz Afridi 3-38, Hussain Akbar 3-56).*At National Stadium, Karachi:Bahawalpur beat Quetta by one wicket.QUETTA 188-7 in 50 overs (Abdul Hameed 45, Arun Lal 32, Shaukat Ali 28; Mohammad Asif 3-28, Asif Imran Raza 2-32);BAHAWALPUR 189-9 in 49.5 overs (Asif Iqbal 37, Fahad-ur-Rehman 35, Muneeb Mubashir 27, Mohammad Atiq 22 not out; Arun Lal 3-33, M. Qasim Khan 2-32).

David Morgan: “The only way that I can see us not fulfilling the tour is either because of government directive”© Getty Images

England have decided to tour Zimbabwe later this year, according to David Morgan, the ECB’s chairman. The board had earlier hinted that they would pull out of the tour, protesting against the policies of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president.However, the growing fears about the potentially crippling financial penalties imposed by the ICC if they boycotted the tour prodded the ECB into a change of mind. England were also under the threat of losing their status as hosts of the ICC Champions Trophy in September.Speaking to the Independent on Sunday, Morgan said there were few reasons to cancel the tour. “The only way that I can see us not fulfilling the tour is either because of government directive or because of safety and security. And let me emphasise we don’t see them as being issues at the moment.”Morgan added that if England did cancel the tour, tough measures would be taken. “I have little doubt that if without acceptable non-compliance we decided not to go, the members of the ICC would find it necessary to ensure that we paid an appropriate financial penalty.”His comments came at a time when Zimbabwe cricket was reeling after the abrupt dismissal of several players. Following the sacking of Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s then-captain, more than a dozen white players were fired by an increasingly politically managed Zimbabwe Cricket Union. It prompted Streak to call on the ICC, asking it to intervene in the spiraling conflict between the players and the cricket board.The English government had originally opposed the tour of Zimbabwe for political reasons, but had stopped short of ordering the cancellation of the tour – a move that would have made it easier for the ECB to avoid the ICC’s penalties.”Despite having a lot of support and encouragement, there was a clear message from the nine other full members [of the ICC], the three representatives of the associate countries and the president and chief executive that we should tour Zimbabwe unless [our] government tells [us] not to go or it’s unsafe, which would be acceptable non-compliance.”

Take away the pressure and Zimbabwe play better. They did much better forthree-quarters of their final World Cup match of 2003 against Sri Lankabefore collapsing to give Sri Lanka a rather easy victory in the end by 76runs.The turning point of the match, as so often but now for the last time, wasthe dismissal of Andy Flower. Zimbabwe were looking on course to challengethe Sri Lankan total of 256, with the Flower brothers together, but it wasone of those instances where an umpiring error turned the match. UmpireBrian Jerling gave Andy out lbw, failing to detect an inside edge on to thepad, and that brought Andy’s international career to an end. But it can besaid that a side that packed in so quickly after that error didn’t reallydeserve to win anyway.But at least Zimbabwe looked a better team this time that the sombre crewthat took the field against Kenya. Sri Lanka batted on winning the toss,but a combination of a slow East London pitch, not ideal for a one-daymatch, and accurate seam bowling, especially by Heath Streak, made scoringdifficult. Perhaps there was also for them the pressure of knowing theirfuture in this World Cup depended on the result. Against Zimbabwe they maywell have decided to play it safely, ensure a satisfactory total rather thangamble on a high one, and trust their bowlers to remove Zimbabwe’s fragilebatting.It was a policy that might have got them into trouble had it not been forthe Andy Flower dismissal. Zimbabwe did their best to give Andy a memorablefinale to his great international career with a victory and showed morevibrancy in the field than they did against Kenya – where they could hardlyhave shown less.They gave Travis Friend and Stuart Matsikenyeri their first games of thecompetition, but Alistair Campbell was one of the casualties expected tostand down. This meant yet another opening partner for Craig Wishart -believe it or not, his fifth in eight matches. He has opened in turn withMark Vermeulen, Guy Whittall, Vermeulen again, Dion Ebrahim, Campbell andnow it was Doug Marillier’s turn. Any comment on selection policies here issuperfluous.Wishart himself has not made the most of this tournament since his recordinnings against the weak Namibian team. Time and again he has done the hardwork, made a start and then lost his wicket: after 172 not out, his scoreshave been 12, 10, 21, 30, 5 and now 43. What a waste! He has been dumpedby the selectors numerous times during his career, and they may well takethe excuse to do so again. He has the talent to succeed against anybowling, but has only partially done so, and he may well regret his failureto make his place in the side rock-sure when he had the chance.Zimbabwe’s bowlers did a good job until the pressure mounted at the end ofthe Sri Lankan innings. Then the batsmen cut loose, with Kumar Sangakkarathe most outstanding, and they wilted. However they were not alone in thisas the New Zealand bowlers had nothing to be proud of when Streak took themapart two matches earlier.There seemed to be more vitality in the fielding, too. There were somegreat saves by several players, but on the debit side there were missedcatches.Zimbabwe began their run-chase superbly. Their batting against Kenya hadseemed quite brainless. If they had expected to go in and help themselvesthen, they were soon disillusioned, and if such a realistic Plan A existed,where was Plan B? Or maybe Plan B was simply ‘chuck your wicket away’.But now we had Wishart and Marillier taking the attack to the bowlers,driving with confidence even on a pitch not best suited to it. EvenChaminda Vaas, so long a thorn in Zimbabwe’s side, came under attack andtemporarily lost his accuracy. There was some good running between thewickets, another aspect of batsmanship that had apparently been thrown outof the window against Kenya.Travis Friend did a good, if brief, job at number three with 21 off 20balls, and with the Flower brothers in command Zimbabwe needed at one stage117 to win in 22 overs with seven wickets left. Then came the umpire’sfinger of doom, and Zimbabwe quickly subsided.Andy Blignaut was Zimbabwe’s hope when he came in at 150 for five, thenStreak at 178 for seven, but both fell quickly and tamely. Only GrantFlower and Sean Ervine held up the march of the Sri Lankans at all; theothers hastened back to the pavilion in no time.The post-Andy Flower era is upon us. It will be an era of unreliablebatting and sorry collapses – unless we can find specialist batsmen willingto put their hands up and take responsibility as Andy did. Perhaps somebodywill rise to the occasion, but at the moment there is no sign of it.Finally, how about this for an alternative Zimbabwe eleven? Johnson,Madondo, Goodwin, Hick, Andy Flower, Penney, Paul Strang, Andrew Whittall,Bryan Strang, Adam Huckle and Brighton Watambwa; twelfth man EvertonMatambanadzo.This now is a full team of players who should be available for Zimbabweright now but are not. Trevor Madondo (sadly dead) and Paul Strang(long-term arm injury) cannot play for reasons beyond their control; therest chose to leave over the years. We now need those who have remainedfaithful to Zimbabwe to make sure they use their talents to the full and donot let Zimbabwe down.This is not really happening at the moment. We may be short of talentcompared to eight other countries, but we have enough potential talent to bedoing far better than we are at the moment. At least there is someimprovement in that we were competitive for most of the match against SriLanka. It is sad we couldn’t have been competitive to the end. If we had,we might still have lost, but it would have been a thriller.Guys, we need players who relish the pressure, relish the fight, relish theresponsibility. Where are you?