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Zimbabweans 149 and 255 for 9 dec drew with Rockingham-Mandurah 123 and 135 for 6
Scorecard
Craig Wishart completed a boundary-laden century and Sean Ervine enjoyed his third impressive performance of the match, to ensure that Zimbabwe finished the stronger in a testing first encounter of their Australian tour, against the grade cricketers of Rockingham-Mandurah.Zimbabwe had resumed their second innings on a ropey 107 for 6, a modest lead of 133. But Wishart, 32 not out overnight, found a solid ally in Ervine, and between them they added 136 for the seventh wicket to push Rockingham-Mandurah onto the defensive. Wishart’s innings was distinctly two-paced. Although he hung around for 235 balls, his innings included 11 fours and six sixes.Ervine’s contribution was a tenacious 51, including five fours and a six, and it was something of a surprise that he was overlooked for the man of the match award after his 41 and 5 for 37 in the first two innings of the match. Instead, that honour was shared by Wishart and Rockingham-Mandurah’s Luke Ronchi, who smacked his second brisk 40-odd of the match to ensure the draw.After being set an improbable target of 282, Ronchi came to the crease with Zimbabwe on something of a roll. Ervine was once again in the thick of things, dismissing Scott Meuleman early on and Craig Simmons for 35. But it was the left-arm spin of Ray Price that really put the skids under Rockingham-Mandurah. He finished with 4 for 55 including the dismissals of Steven Glew and Adam Voges in quick succession. But from 71 for 4, Ronchi’s run-a-ball 47 stalled Zimbabwe’s momentum and saved the match.Day Two bulletin

The Kwekwe first team entertained Bulawayo Athletic Club at home. Bulawayo Athletic Club won the toss and decided to field first.Kwekwe batted first and scored 267 runs for seven wickets in their allotted 50 overs, the top scorers being Raymond Price with 68 runs which included 6 fours and Terrence Duffin with 53 runs which included 5 fours. Best bowlers for B.A.C were R. Rixon-Fuller with 2/42 and T. Mparira with 2/49.Kwekwe batted with confidence and all who watched were treated to some excellent attacking batting. It looks as though Kwekwe are back on the winning track as a result of being strengthened with the return of our National A side players as well as our experienced captain Dave Houghton.B.A.C. then batted after lunch and were dismissed for a total of 134 all out runs in 30.2 overs. The top scorer for B.A.C.. was Jason Hitz who included a six and 10 fours in a very fine spell of attacking batting.The best bowlers for the home team were Raymond Price who took 4/17 in 7 overs, Ed Rainsford who took 3/23 in 5 overs and Dirk Viljoen who took 2/13 in 7.2 overs which included 2 maiden overs. It was a very impressive spell of bowling by all concerned. Ed Rainsford’s three wickets came in just four balls in the very same over. He was on a hat-trick when the pressure got to him and he bowled a wild delivery down leg side which was `wided’ and then with the very next ball he produced a snorter of a delivery that cut the batsman in half and clipped the top of leg stump..The second team travelled to Mutare to play their second team. Unfortunately at the time of going to press there are no results available with regards to this game, but I am sure those who are interested will be able to follow the Manicaland Report.Kwekwe Queens hosted Uprising here in Kwekwe and once again there are no results for this game.This Coming weekend sees the Zimbabwe A side take on the Gauteng A side in a Bowl game and full details of this game will follow in the next report.I am pleased to report yet again that the development sides here in the Midlands are doing well and continue to have their friendly games on Saturday Mornings and there are plans underway for this little tournament to include the Gweru Sports Club side. This weekend one of the younger development players from these two teams was picked as the 12th man for the first team.

The final of the Asia Cup was as absorbing as expected considering there was hardly anything between the two sides. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had the ammunition in their ranks to blast the opponents out. The one thing that the final proved was that if the main strength of any team falters on the day of reckoning it would be disastrous. The fielding of Sri Lanka was incredibly appalling with as many as six catches being dropped and the three beneficiaries, Anwar, Inzamam and Moin Khan made them pay.The customary efficiency of Vaas in the early overs was absent and the Pakistanis got off to a good start. Saaed Anwar has the ability to come good at the right time and he decided that the final was as good as any other important game. He used the sweep shot to maximum effect to counter the Sri Lankan spinners. The key to his sweeping successfully was that he concentrated on placing the ball rather than hitting hard. Inzamam took his time to settle down and the onus was on him to consolidate the innings as the main batsmen were dismissed.The Sri Lankans depend heavily on Muralitharan and he delivered as efficiently as a postman to stem the flow of runs during the middle overs though it was Zoysa who got the wickets. Realising that there was some aid for the spinners from the wicket, Jayasurya brought himself on. In fact he dismissed Anwar who was out to an ordinary shot after a very good effort. The arrival of Moin Khan always gets the crowd excited in anticipation not to mention the discomfort in the opposing camp. As usual he walked in to bat at a pivotal time and alot depended on him to steer the course of the innings. Inzamam in the meanwhile developed cramps in the calf muscle and there was no way hecould have kept up with his captain in running between the wickets.At the end of 40 overs, the match was in balance and neither had established any authority over the other. It was expected of Moin Khan to get some quick runs, but what he ended up doing was simply mind-boggling. The improvisations were out of this world and at times definitely too cheeky. His blitzkrieg motivated Inzamam to come out of his shell and the pounding this duo gave the Sri Lankan bowlers was akin to the Hiroshima bombing. The final ten overs were a nightmare for Jayasurya and his boys and Moin Khan ran away with the match with his superb innings.The Sri Lankans needed Jayasurya to fire on all cylinders along with Kaluwitharana to keep their hopes alive. With Kaluwitharana departing without facing a ball, Vaas was sent to tonk the ball around the park. It is not an easy job pinch-hitting when Wasim Akram has the ball in his hands. In no time the Sri Lankans lost three wickets and much depended on the experienced pair of Aravinda and Atapattu. De Silva looked a shadow of himself and he could not force the pace like he normally does. His dismissal left Attapattu on his own along with the inexperienced lower order. Arnold provided Atapattu company to put up the highest partnership of the innings.Atapattu’s century may not have won the match for his team but it was an innings of high quality. Chandana gave some hopes towards the end of taking Sri Lanka to an unlikely victory but the re-introduction of Akram ensured that nothing of that sort happened. In the end it was a convincing victory for the Pakistanis and the first success in the Asia Cup. This triumph is coming on the heels of victories at Sharjah and the triangular series in the West Indies. Moin Khan led from the front and the main batsmen produced runs as and when required. The Sri Lankans can draw some solace from the fact that it was one of those days where nothing went right for them.The Asia Cup provided the public of Bangladesh with some fantastic entertainment besides sidelining the controversy of match fixing currently prevailing in the sub-continent. The only country, which would forget this edition of the Asia Cup in a hurry, is India, as they were knocked out of sight far too early. In comparison with the other full member countries, the attitude, fielding and motivation level of individuals was far below par and it is a pity that the trend has carried on for far too long. Somebody must be accountable for the continuing debacles but there are enough shelters to hide under for the time being.

Leeds United are now facing a real battle to sign Middlesbrough right-back Djed Spence in the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

It was reported back in January that the Whites were interested in striking a deal for the defender, who is currently on loan at Championship side Nottingham Forest.

Now, Football League World have claimed that fellow Premier League side Spurs have also got their eye on Spence as they look to bring in a new full-back come the summer.

Raphinha would love him

After falling down the pecking order at the Riverside, the defender has been a real star for Steve Cooper at Forest – as per WhoScored, he has averaged 1.4 tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game, and a team-high of 1.8 dribbles and 0.8 key passes per game too.

That ability to be a real threat going forward is something that someone would like Raphinha would surely love to play with down the right flank, with Spence’s overlapping runs and being able to beat players himself giving the Brazilian a genuinely quality player to link with and form an understand with.

Spence really hit the headlines earlier this year when he shone against Arsenal in the FA Cup in January, a display which had Ian Wright positively raving about him.

The Gunners icon said: “Let me say, that was one of the best right-back performances I have seen for a very long time. A very long time. I have not seen a combative, technical, swashbuckling performance like that for a very long time.”

And, with transfer insider Dean Jones telling GIVEMESPORT that it would take a fee in the region of £10m to sign him, it’s certainly a price tag that seems reasonable when you consider some of the big-money moves being made by clubs in the modern market.

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When you think of some of some of the Premier League’s top sides like Manchester City and Liverpool, who have formidable wide partnerships in the likes of Joao Cancelo and Raheem Sterling, and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, Leeds could have one of their own if they were to bring in Spence.

Meanwhile, Leeds are eyeing this attacker…

	Andrew Symonds: “Even with opposition players, if I do know them well and they want to joke about something like that, it doesn’t stir me up” © Getty Images

Andrew Symonds says he is not overly sensitive about racism but considers comments unacceptable when they come from opposition players with whom he has no friendship. Harbhajan Singh was suspended for three Tests for allegedly calling Symonds a monkey during the Sydney Test and while Symonds would not discuss the specifics of the case he said he would not kick up a fuss with players he got along with.”I’m not a sensitive person about it,” Symonds told the . “If you know me well you can have a joke to me about anything and any part of racism and I’ll laugh.”I mean, I’m not sensitive about it but if I’m not your friend, if you’re an opposition player or something like that, it is unacceptable. Even with opposition players, if I do know them well and they want to joke about something like that, it doesn’t stir me up so what’s happened is something I and the Australian boys have taken very seriously.”But the Indian camp has strenuously denied that Harbhajan used the term “monkey” and has launched an appeal, meaning Harbhajan is free to play for India until the appeal is heard. No date has been set for the hearing and there is no guarantee it will happen before the final Test in the series, which starts in Adelaide on January 24.”It is a really difficult thing for me to comment on as it hasn’t been totally resolved,” Symonds said. “Obviously, people are very interested in what’s happened but they probably won’t actually know exactly what’s happened for quite some time, until the dust has settled.”Symonds said he became used to hearing comments about his appearance during his school years and he was not easily offended. “I’m very relaxed about life and I understand there are many different types of people,” he said.”You know, I used to have a bit of fun and people used to have a bit of fun with me in the playground when I was at school so I understand that kids are very blunt about that sort of thing. But it [racism] is one of those things that, in the modern day, is obviously very publicly unacceptable.”

Zimbabwe A 293 and 295 for 3 (Williams 85*, Chibahaba 70) drew with Bangladesh A 380
ScorecardZimbabwe A ended their short tour with a draw against Bangladesh A at Fatullah on a day where both sides agreed to forgo the final session as the match meandered to stalemate.The only chance of a result was for Bangladesh A to take quick wickets, but on a batsman-friendly pitch only one wicket fell in 59 overs on the final day, that of Chamu Chibahaba. Resuming on 106 for 2, 19 runs ahead, Zimbabwe A made steady progress with few alarms as Chibahaba and Sean Williams added 138 for the third wicket. By the time Chibahaba was beaten by an Alok Kapali legbreak for 70, the game was dead.Williams finished on 85 not out, adding to his 82 in the first innings, while Stuart Matsikenyeri finished the afternoon session with a quickfire 32 off 37 balls which included three sixes. Play was called off by mutual agreement at tea.Zimbabwe were happy to end the tour with a draw as all their previous ODI and first-class matches had finished in defeat. Despite the result here, the trip highlighted the major problems facing the Zimbabweans as they prepare for their return to Test cricket next November.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Andrew Symonds struck thrice in quick time and allowed Australia to grab a valuable lead © Getty Images

Australia pressed forward in the second Test, bowling South Africa out for 311 and then reaching 2 for 110 at stumps on the third day, securing a sizeable lead of 154. It was a combined bowling effort, led by the pacy Brett Lee and the effervescent Andrew Symonds, that cost South Africa its last eight wickets for 142 runs. With two days left to go, it will take a mammoth effort from South Africa to stave off defeat on a pitch that is occasionally two paced and consistently taking spin.When the day began, full of hope for South Africa on 2 for 169, it was Lee who rattled the batsmen. He softened up Jacques Kallis with a fiery spell, hit him on the helmet, and then cleaned him up with a fierce yorker. Then Lee returned with the new ball, just two overs before lunch, and removed Jacques Rudolph, South Africa’s hero from the first Test at Perth, with a perfectly pitched outswinger that swung back in to the left-hander just enough to beat the bat and hit the top of off stump.Meanwhile Shane Warne continued his hold over Ashwell Prince – he has dismissed him in each innings of the series – when Ricky Ponting reacted brilliantly to take a sharp one-handed catch at bat-pad. When Prince was dismissed South Africa had slumped to 4 for 192.On the second day Gibbs was unsure whether to attack or defend, and he continued much in the same tentative vein on the third morning. Occasionally chancing his arm for the booming drive, but otherwise settling for defensive play. He was especially troubled by Warne and Stuart MacGill, who got good purchase off the pitch, spinning the ball sharply.Mark Boucher’s arrival at the crease helped ease the pressure on South Africa. He adopted a positive approach, looking to press on and score runs and backed himself to play his favourite shots. But, just as he was settling into a groove, and had reached 23 with four boundaries, a bit of bad luck sent him on his way. He missed the line of a big inswinger from Symonds and was adjudged lbw, although replays suggested that the ball would have sailed over the stumps.Symonds, keen not just ride on umpiring largesse, produced a peach of a delivery to Gibbs. For someone who had scored 94 and been at the crease 234 balls, Gibbs was still remarkably tentative. After being set up by a variety of deliveries that in turn went straight through or moved away, he failed to react quickly enough to an inducker and was bowled. Then Symonds made it three wickets for his spell with one that kept a bit low and trapped Shaun Pollock in front of middle stump. Nicky Boje was quickly cleaned up, sweeping all over Warne, and South Africa were 9 for 291. Some lusty biffing from the last pair pushed the score on to 311, but South Africa still 44 adrift, had to then contend with Australia’s second innings. Symonds, with 3 for 15 from his last spell, and Lee, with three wickets of his own had caused the South Africans all kinds of problems.Phil Jaques, who did not last long in the first innings, made only 28 in his second dig before he missed a pull shot against Nel coming round the wicket and was trapped lbw. By then, though, the opening stand was worth over 50, and Matthew Hayden was in ominous touch. Ponting was content to play second fiddle to Hayden till he played back to a fullish delivery from Pollock that came in a touch and was plumb in front. Brad Hodge, once again cheered on by his home crowd, kept Hayden (45 not out) company as Australia closed the day on 2 for 110.How they were out
South AfricaGraeme Smith lbw b Lee 22 (1 for 36)
AB de Villiers lbw b McGrath 61 (2 for 122)
Jacques Kallis b Lee 23 (3 for 184)
Ashwell Prince c Ponting b Warne 6 (4 for 192)
Jacques Rudolph b Lee 13 (5 for 214)
Mark Boucher lbw b Symonds 23 (6 for 260)
Herschelle Gibbs b Symonds 94 (7 for 265)
Shaun Pollock lbw b Symonds 9 (8 for 281)
Nicky Boje b Warne 12 (9 for 291)
Andre Nel c Hussey b MacGill 14 (10 for 311)
Australia 2nd inningsPhil Jaques lbw b Nel 28 (1 for 53)
Ricky Ponting lbw b Pollock 11 (2 for 82)

Western Australia 7 for 204 (North 71) beat Victoria 177 (Elliott 77, Casson 3-34) by 27 runs
Scorecard

Marcus North top-scored for WA with 71© Getty Images

For the second time in a week Western Australia defeated Victoria in a one-day match at the WACA. On Wednesday WA won Australia’s first official Twenty20 gamne, and today they took the honours by 27 runs in the ING Cup, and closed to within two points of Victoria and Tasmania in the cup table, which Queensland lead by some 12 points.WA recovered from a poor start to post a handy total of 7 for 204. After the early loss of the openers Justin Langer for 5 and Luke Ronchi for 6, which left WA 2 for 19, Marcus North rescued them with an innings of 71. North, who was born near Melbourne in Victoria, defied his native state by sharing a series of handy partnerships, even though the next-highest score was only 28, by Michael Hussey.Ian Harvey, looking to reclaim his place in Australia’s one-day side, took 1 for 32 in his ten overs, but Shane Warne took some punishment, his nine overs costing 51 runs for the wicket of Murray Goodwin, who made 24. Michael Lewis ended up with the best figures – 2 for 31.Victoria made a poor start under the lights, as Darren Wates bowled Jonathan Moss for 15 and Brad Hodge for 5. Wates then ran out David Hussey for a single, to leave Victoria reeling at 3 for 43. Matthew Elliott dropped anchor for 77, putting on 42 with Graeme Rummans (25) – but both eventually fell to the slow left-armer Beau Casson, who finished with 3 for 34 as Victoria subsided to 177 all out.

England v South Africa, 4th Test, Headingley, Day 2

Marcus Trescothick walks off soon after he came off for bad light

The day started off depressingly for diehard England fans. South Africa, not content with ruining their day yesterday, by reaching 260 when they should probably have been bowled out for half that, pooped the party even further by hanging around for 105 minutes and adding 82 more runs,And when they were finally all out there was one tense over for England’s openers to face before the lunch interval. We’d been here before: on the third evening at Trent Bridge, England had one over to negotiate. That time, Marcus Trescothick didn’t even survive the first ball, and England never really recovered.So this time it was vital that Trescothick and Michael Vaughan saw out that one over – and they did, even collecting 11 runs to make lunch go down that much easier. And though Vaughan departed shortly after lunch, Trescothick and Butcher never looked back. They were helped that the new ball was in the hands of Dewald Pretorius, very much the apprentice to the absent sorcerer Shaun Pollock. And with Monde Zondeki limping off after his batting heroics, South Africa were exposed in the field.England’s two contrasting left-handers ripped into the bowling. Trescothick, out of sorts in the series so far, got those pigeon toes twinkling, and eventually began to rasp out the crunching cover-drive that signifies he is in form. Meanwhile Butcher, who has been in fine fettle all summer, sprinted ahead, clunking cuts, drive and pulls to all parts. He surged to 50 with his seventh four, a ferocious chop off Andrew Hall. There were also seven fours in Trescothick’s half-century, which he reached an over or two later with a couple of prime cuts to the boundary off Makhaya Ntini.By now most of those England fans had emerged from behind the sofa, only to fall back on it in astonishment when Trescothick and Butcher amazed everyone by accepting the umpires’ bad-light offer about an hour after tea. It was a decision that allowed the shell-shocked South Africans to regroup – and also, inevitably, it cost a wicket almost immediately play resumed.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden CricInfo.Click here for today’s bulletin

South Australian captain Darren Lehmann says his side is keen to make amends for a disappointing performance in its four-day match against Western Australia when the teams return to Adelaide Oval for a day-night match tomorrow.WA completed an outright victory by 76 runs in their first-class match at the ground yesterday with SA batting poorly to make just 154 in its second innings.But Lehmann said the Redbacks had shown strong one-day form so far this season and were determined to end the Warriors’ week in Adelaide on a losing note.”We’ve played some good one-day cricket this year,” Lehmann said.”It’s a pretty tight competition and it would be nice to bite back and really play hard tomorrow and send them back home with no points in that game.”WA won the last one-day match between the two sides by 56 runs at the WACA earlier this year, with Adam Gilchrist dominating to score one of the fastest 50s of the season.Since then, SA has won its two past limited overs games, both against Victoria, with Lehmann starring in both games.And WA has gone on to lose to Queensland at the Gabba and split its results against Tasmania, to have a 2-2 record for the season, which captain Simon Katich says makes tomorrow a crucial game.”We’re sitting mid-table in the ING Cup so this is a big game for both sides,” he said.Gilchrist and Justin Langer will be missing from WA’s last one-day side, as they are both on Test duty, while spinner Brad Oldroyd will also miss the match afterbeing concussed on the final day of the four-day match earlier this week.Paceman Matt Nicholson, who was man of the match in the four-day game, Marcus North and Chris Rogers come into the side.For South Australia, medium pace bowler Matthew King will play his first match for the state.He replaces Brett Swain, who has sprained his ankle, while batsman Jeff Vaughan will also come into the side after missing the Pura Cup match with concussion.Teams: SA: Darren Lehmann (captain), Greg Blewett (vice captain), Ben Higgins, Ben Johnson, Chris Davies, Graham Manou, David Fitzgerald, Paul Rofe, Matthew King, Mike Smith, Mark Harrity, Brad Young.WA: Simon Katich (captain), Mike Hussey (vice captain), Ryan Campbell, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Stuart Karppinen, Brad Hogg, Matt Nicholson, Marcus North, Jo Angel, Chris Rogers, Brad Williams.