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South Africa’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has denied claims that the plane crash that caused Hansie Cronje’s death last year could have been due to sabotage. A report in the Observer Sport Monthly had quoted an unnamed CAA investigator as saying that there was reason to believe foul play in the whole matter.Trevor Abrahams, the commissioner of the CAA, told SABC Radio News: “We are not aware of any such report. I don’t know where it comes from andcertainly the indication that someone involved in the actual investigation from the CAA made any such statements are not true.”

The day will be remembered for another wonderful Test century from Brian Lara, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Australia retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy, with their 13th win in 16 Test matches.It was a tale of two sessions. The morning belonged to Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, the afternoon to the Australian bowlers. To make 407 batting last in a Test match against Australia was a near-impossible task, but for a whole session, Lara suggested that he could make it come true. In the end, it proved to be too tall an order.The morning session was the most absorbing of the series so far. Lara played with a mixture of extreme grit and amazing grace to score his first Test hundred on his home ground. It was his eighth against Australia, and his 20th overall. It took him 164 balls, and he smacked 12 fours and one six, but it was by no means easy.Lee – who dropped Lara on 6 yesterday evening – bowled with extra venom and hostility. It was an intriguing battle between two heavyweights of world cricket, and Lara won it. Lee hurled down a bruising barrage of bouncers, two of which whistled past Lara’s chin, and one which thudded into his arm as he turned away for protection. Lee thought he had his man when he burst his lungs with an lbw appeal which at first looked close, but was correctly given not out by Rudi Koertzen. The whole of the Port-of-Spain crowd sighed with relief.In the following over, after a nervy period in the nineties, Lara cracked a Stuart MacGill full-toss past mid-on, punched the air in delight, and the look of relief on his face was visible to all after he took off his helmet to applaud his fans.Lara had started the day cautiously, but freed his arms soon after, shuffling down the pitch and depositing the ball over Brad Hogg’s head for six. That shot took him past Sir Garry Sobers’s record for the most Test runs in the Caribbean.And that was the just the start of a spate of breathtaking strokes. In consecutive overs from Jason Gillespie, Lara smashed two spanking cover-drives – the first off the front foot and the second off the back – which left Gillespie shaking his head in frustration. Sarwan got into the act with a dashing drive through extra-cover off Hogg, as the pair brought up their fifty partnership from 80 balls.Sarwan played the supporting role well, as he dug in while Lara took the brunt of the attack. Sarwan survived two close calls in the morning, but his dismissal just after lunch signalled the West Indies collapse. Andy Bichel was the man who got things going for Australia, persuading Sarwan to miscue an attempted pull straight to Darren Lehmann at mid-on.The shot was on but Sarwan closed the blade too early and the ball spooned up in the air. It was an uncharacteristic lapse of concentration from Sarwan, who had made a controlled 34 from 87 balls, and ended his partnership of 106 with Lara.Marlon Samuels and David Bernard fell in quick succession to Bichel’s nagging line, and then the hammer blow struck West Indies when Lara was prized out for 122 by MacGill. It was a glorious effort and while he was there, West Indies could believe that victory was within their grasp. But, while the wickets slipped away at the other end, Lara was forced into an indiscretion and was caught at slip by Matthew Hayden.Moments later, Carlton Baugh was gone as well, heaving the first ball of a new spell from Hogg to Justin Langer at cover. Steve Waugh then opted for the new ball, and Lee and Gillespie scythed through the lower order to round off the 118-run win.

MELBOURNE, March 8 AAP – Victoria is seven wickets from an outright win over Western Australia in their Pura Cup cricket match at the MCG, but it would be an empty win.Brad Hodge, who posted his highest first-class score today of 183, reflected the mood of his team-mates when he said: “It just feels awful not to be in the final.”New South Wales’ win over Queensland today at the SCG meant the Blues secured second spot on the Cup ladder ahead of Victoria.The Victorians arranged for the MCG scoreboard not to post updates from the SCG, so they could concentrate on their match, but the news at the breaks today was grim.”That was pretty disheartening, really – we tried not to listen to what was going on, but obviously everyone takes a bit of notice,” Hodge said.While pleased to end a disappointing summer well, Hodge was also dirty on himself to miss a double century.He top-scored in Victoria’s 486, which gave the home side first-inning points in reply to WA’s 275.WA was 3-88 at stumps with one day left, still needing 123 to make the home side bat again.”We owe it to ourselves to try to win,” Hodge said, adding WA had beaten Victoria three times this summer.The one bright spot for Hodge today was being able to shut up captain Darren Berry, who had chided him for having a top score of only 140.”It’s been a goal of mine for a fair while and Darren Berry also brings it up that he has a higher score than what I have – he hasn’t any more,” said Hodge, who counted down to 166 and then waved to Berry once that monkey was off his back.”I was just really determined to do well because I’ve been under a fair bit of pressure (lately).”Victoria batted until tea, with Berry making 49, Jon Moss chipping in with 47 and Cameron White adding 27.Coach David Hookes had no qualms about making WA wait for its second innings.”I don’t think (WA captain) Justin Langer would have given us Jack shit if we were in Perth in the same situation on a 40-degree day, and neither should he,” Hookes said.”Our priority, regardless of what was happening north of the Murray, was to win the game….I think Chuck (Berry) did the right thing.”Victoria’s form tapered after Christmas, while NSW surged, and Hookes conceded several of his pacemen “ran out of juice” in terms of fitness.He said it would be a “fair assessment” to rate Queensland and New South Wales the best two sides in the Cup.Hookes also wants a change to the MCG wickets next season, saying it is too difficult to gain results.”You could argue that’s the best pitch of the year…but I don’t think that necessarily suits the way we play,” Hookes said of the slow, even deck for this match.”You don’t want to be fighting, fighting, fighting for a late fourth day result, five times out of five.”

There could not have been a greater contrast between the two Shell Shield games played at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth over the last three days.On Wednesday, Auckland won a game in which 520 runs were scored. Today – on the same pitch – Northern Districts not only successfully defended a total of 134, but won a bonus point by bowling out Central Districts for only 105.What had changed? ND coach Bruce Blair provided a partial explanation when he spoke to CricInfo at the end of the game. “The pitch dried out and lost a lot of its pace. If bowlers bowled straight, with subtle changes of pace, it was going to be difficult to score.”There was also turn, with spinners claiming eight of the wickets, but the state of the pitch was by no means completely to blame. The bowlers of both teams have out-performed the batsmen in one-day cricket this season and continued to do so today.ND won the toss and chose to bat after an 80-minute delay caused by yet more rain in this sodden New Zealand summer.At first, things progressed normally, with Simon Doull setting about the opening attack with gusto, achieving an improvement in a strike rate that was already the best in the competition. He hit 35 from 20 deliveries, including four fours and two sixes, cover driven and pulled onto Pukekura Park’s temple-like terraces.As Doull was not one of the six bowlers later called upon by ND, his transformation from opening bowler to opening batsman appears complete, in the one-day game, at least.At 64/2 after 18 overs things were progressing as expected, if a little slowly. James Marshall’s innings of 15 from 62 balls gave the first indication that scoring would be tricky. So it proved. Doull apart, only four boundaries were hit in the ND innings.The last seven wickets fell for only 33 runs, an unspectacular but defiant 42 from Matthew Hart the only thing that held ND together. Apart from Lance Hamilton, who copped it from Doull early on, all the CD bowlers performed at their best, with Michael Mason (7.3-3-21-3) and Campbell Furlong (10-2-23-3) having the most impressive figures. Bevan Griggs took five catches behind the stumps.Between innings CD could have been forgiven if their thoughts were of a bonus point to propel them off the bottom of the table. But ND, and in particular Blair, had not given up hope.”I gave us a fighting chance if we could pressure on with good bowling and if we had some luck.” Such a view appeared fanciful at the start of the innings, but became realistic within the first few overs of the CD innings.Things got off to the worst possible start for CD in general and Jamie How in particular. Responding to David Kelly’s call, How was beaten by a direct hit from Marshall at cover from the first ball, out without facing. It was a risk that need not have been taken chasing such a small total.The two key batsmen, Mathew Sinclair and Ben Smith were dismissed with the score barely in double figures and that, effectively, was that. Kelly, Griggs and Richard King all resisted to some extent and Schwass swatted optimistically, hitting Grant Bradburn onto the third terrace, but lack of confidence and suspicion of the pitch spread through the CD batting fatally.In any conversation with a coach these days the word ‘pressure’ will be used soon and often. The ND attack gave a textbook demonstration of it. The pace triumvirate of Daryl Tuffey, Joseph Yovich and Graeme Aldridge all maintained a disciplined line and length, offering few easy runs.Bradburn offered his usual control, disproving those who say that he is a spinner who does not turn the ball. But the star of the ND attack was slow left-armer Hart, who finished with domestic career-best one-day figures of 7-2-7-4.Hart’s career appeared to be drifting away a year or so ago, but now he is back as a key performer with bat and ball. Blair paid tribute.”Matthew is a terrific cricketer. He bats in the top three or four and is capable of bowling 10 tight overs. In recent years his bowling has not been used as often as it might have been, but we always saw a role for him as a bowler this season.”The five points gathered here consolidates ND’s second place in the State Shield table. Can they challenge Wellington for the right to stage the final? Blair thinks so.”We have to keep playing positive cricket and to deliver our batting game plans, which we didn’t do today.”The defeat effectively ends CD’s hopes of defending their one-day title. They host Wellington at Waikanae on Sunday, while ND are at home to Otago in Hamilton.

Hawke’s Bay have won the right to challenge Hawke Cup holder Manawatu for the trophy from February 15-17 after the final round of elimination matches at the weekend.Final points were: Hawke’s Bay 31, Wairarapa 26, Manawatu 24, Nelson 21, Wanganui 20, Marlborough 20, Taranaki 18, Horowhenua Kapiti 4.

It was a vintage performance from Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Gangulythat guided India to an easy win over Kenya in the land of vineyards,Paarl, on Wednesday. The match was so one-sided that I could not helpbut wonder how we had lost to the same Kenyans in Port Elizabethexactly a week before.The fate of the match was sealed the moment Sourav won the toss. Asall of you would no doubt have observed, India seem to do rather wellwhen they bat first. It is only while chasing a decent total that weturn into nervous wrecks. Our middle-order being inexperienced andbrittle doesn’t help matters; they seem to run out of ideas the momentSachin and Sourav fail.

On Wednesday though the twomaster batsmen were determined to put the Kenyan bowling to the sword.By the time Sourav was out after a worldrecord partnership for thefirst wicket, the match was over as a contest. The two men had earliergone past the Gordon Greenidge-Desmond Haynes century partnershiprecord.I feel the two great Bajans would be happy to know that their recordhas passed on to two batsmen as illustrious as Sourav and Sachin. TheIndian duo compare more than favourably with their West Indiancounterparts who dominated the one-day game in the eighties.What I particularly like about Sachin and Sourav is the fact that bothare attacking batsmen of the highest order. This means the bowlers getno respite. The men who bowled to Greenidge-Haynes were luckierbecause they could at least trust Haynes to keep to the straight andthe narrow. The latter was content to push for the singles and twoswhile Greenidge enjoyed himself. It is nowhere as predictable withSachin and Sourav at the crease – when one partner turns conservativethe other takes off while on other occasions both make merry. The factthat they are a leftright combination only adds to the misery of thehapless bowlers.In the match at Paarl, it was Sachin who was the slightly moredominant partner. He was looking good for many more when he hit a lowfull toss from Thomas Ododyo straight into the waiting hands of midoff. No wonder he was furious.Whenever I see the little champion I can’t help but be reminded of the16-year-old boy I met during India’s 1989 tour of Pakistan. Whatimpressed me most then was his enormous self-belief. I was his captainand remember jokingly remarking to him, “One day you will becomegreat. Don’t forget your captain then.” The little man has fulfilledall my expectations and is now one of the all-time greats of the game.Sourav too played a fine innings and went past a few landmarks on hisway to a hundred. The Indian skipper has adapted well to the task ofopening the innings and is now one of the finest one-day batsmen ever.It was also good to see Virender Sehwag lay into the bowling in theend. The Delhi lad has a great sense of timing. If he could play aswell against top teams like South Africa, India would be well-served.

I don’t want to set great store bythe performances of the bowlers against a very ordinary Kenyan battingside. All I hope is that they turn in their best performance againstthe South Africans in the final on Friday. Durban has the reputatioinof being one the fastest pitches in the world and I hope that ourquicks especially will do well on the day. I can’t, however, helpfeeling that it would be best if the turn of our bowlers arrives inthe latter half of the day. As I said earlier India are a much betterside when they bat first and so my ideal scenario would be for theIndians to win the toss and for Sachin and Sourav to hold centrestageyet again.It has been a a long and frustrating title-drought for us and we areup against a formidable South African side. My gut feeling though isthat Friday would be the day when India taste championship victory atlong last.

The Indian under-19 team lost two practice games against youth teams fielded by New South Wales in Sydney and are to play one more practice match against the Bradman Museum XI on Friday before leaving for Auckland to participate in the under-19 World Cup.The first match saw the Indians take on the New South Wales under-19 side in a match that the visitors lost by seven wickets. Chandan Madan, Stuart Binny, Deepak Chougule and Paul Valthaty were dismissed for cameo knocks in the twenties and thirties.The Indian batting failures saw New South Wales chase a moderate target of 194 in under 45 overs, losing just three wickets in the process.In the second game, the Indians bowled first and restricted the New South Wales Colts to 233/7 in their 50 overs. Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets, while Irfan Pathan took two.In the chase, the Indians faltered, with only skipper Parthiv Patel’s 42 and vice-captain Y Gnaneswara Rao’s 62 lending substance to the total. The pair put on 78 runs for the third wicket. The Indians were bowled out for 167 after being 150/5 in the 32nd over, losing the match by 66 runs.

Frizzell County Championship Division OneNottinghamshire v Essex at Nottingham
ScorecardThey might have expected to wrap up the match even more quickly, after reducing Nottinghamshire to 19 for 9 in their first innings, but Essex duly claimed their first Championship win of 2003 as Graham Napier completed a 268-run victory at Trent Bridge with four sessions to spare. Napier took 5 for 66, his first five-wicket haul in his seventh first-class season, as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 215, chasing 484. It was another disappointing performance from Notts. Usman Afzaal and Jason Gallian carried them to 90 for 1 in the first session of the day, but they lost their last nine wickets for 125. Chris Cairns slapped a rapid 39, and the tailender Nadeem Malik took his tally of runs for the match to 45, but after that grim first day, they had lost their will to fightKent v Lancashire at Canterbury
ScorecardMal Loye top-scored with an impressive 86, and Carl Hooper and Stuart Law salvaged some dignity after their first-innings ducks, to keep Lancashire on course for a final-day victory at Canterbury. Chasing an unlikely 415 to win, Kent reached the close on 123 for 4, after losing the vital wicket of Ed Smith for 56 with three overs remaining. It was a better-balanced batting effort from Lancashire. Andrew Flintoff once again provided some fireworks with a boisterous 43 from 56 balls, but when he fell at 252 for 5, Lancashire had scored exactly 200 more runs than they had managed for the corresponding wicket in the first innings. Warren Hegg continued the fun with 35 from No. 8, whereupon Kent lost regular wickets in their run-chase. Glen Chapple removed Michael Carberry for a duck, and Gary Keedy grabbed two late wickets to maintain the pressure.Surrey v Sussex at The Oval
ScorecardIan Ward’s second century of the season put Surrey in an ominous position at The Oval, before rain and bad light truncated the evening session to give Sussex a glimmer of hope. Adam Hollioake had turned down the opportunity of enforcing the follow-on, and while Ward was galloping to 135 from 166 balls, his decision seemed justified. But the weather intervened on several occasions, and when Surrey declared on 233 for 3, Sussex’s reply was limited to 23 balls. Earlier, Jon Batty continued his excellent form with 56, but if Surrey are unable to force a win tomorrow, Essex’s comprehensive victory over Nottinghamshire will increase the pressure at the top of the table.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoDerbyshire v Worcestershire at Derby
ScorecardWorcestershire recorded their second win of the season, galloping to their victory target of 51 in a mere 7.5 overs. Derbyshire had begun the day in some strife at 185 for 6, still trailing Worcestershire’s first innings by 20 runs. Though Dominic Cork and Graeme Welch both completed half-centuries in a seventh-wicket stand of 94, Nantie Hayward wrapped up the innings with three wickets, taking his match tally to eight. Kevin Dean’s 21 helped Derbyshire to 245, but Stephen Peters and Anurag Singh made mincemeat of the target, adding 50 for the first wicket at more than a run a ball. Graeme Hick, who scored his 122nd first-class century in the first innings, completed the victory with the second ball he faced.Yorkshire v Durham at Leeds
ScorecardYorkshire’s prospects of a swift return to Division One suffered a humiliating blow at the hands of Durham, as Dewald Pretorius inflicted a shock 167-run defeat at Headingley with figures of 4 for 15. It was the first time since 1999 that Durham had won back-to-back Championship matches, and they did it in some style as well, skittling Yorkshire for a paltry 93. Earlier in the day, there hadn’t seemed much danger of such a capitulation – Durham were marginally ahead on points overnight, but Chris Silverwood took 4 for 40 as Durham’s last seven wickets fell for 101 in a single session. Jon Lewis top-scored with 66, to add to his bold 124 in the first innings, but a target of 261 ought to have been eminently gettable. Pretorius and Gordon Muchall – who picked up three wickets – thought otherwise. Matthew Wood fell for a duck in the third over, and only Scott Richardson (18) and Richard Dawson (21) managed to reach double figures.Northamptonshire v Glamorgan at Northampton
ScorecardMike Kasprowicz’s first five-wicket haul of the season condemned Northamptonshire to yet another Championship defeat – their third in six matches. Kasprowicz took 6 for 72 to take his match tally to nine, as Northants were bundled out for 172 with a day to spare. For much of the day, however, a Glamorgan defeat had seemed an equally possible outcome. They had begun their innings on a precarious 71 for 4, which soon became 140 for 8. But Jonathan Hughes hung around for a vital 73, and Robert Croft led a bold rearguard by the tail. He finished unbeaten on 50, adding 50 for the ninth wicket with that man Kasprowicz, and 30 with Alex Wharf. A target of 228 shouldn’t have been out of reach, especially with Phil Jaques in fine fettle. But he was the only man to pass 20, as Kasprowicz tore through a flimsy batting line-up.

We have informally dubbed ourselves the Rain Kings so far on this tour of Australia.I have never been on a tour where I have experienced as much rain as we have, and that includes England in May!Normally this tour is played under great conditions but the rain has been both frustrating and a blessing for us.Frustrating because with rain it is always hard to get into the rythym of a match as interruptions causing you to be on and off the field, the ball getting wet and making it harder to bowl with and then with batting rain can freshen the wicket up for the bowlers.The blessing comes in the form of allowing us to escape from Hobart with a draw and still be in contention to win the series with the Test match in Perth left to go.Now I don’t think I would be fooling anybody if I said that in the last Test Australia outplayed us especially in their first innings at bat.In the last two Tests it has been brought home to us how attacking this Aussie outfit is.While this approach is hard to contain at times, there will be situations where it will also cause their demise.They just figure it won’t be that often if they play positive attacking cricket all the time.Our statistics reveal that both teams’ bowling lines and lengths have been similar, but there are some distinct differences which account for the rate of run scoring for both teams.Firstly, the average pace that the Aussies bowl at is higher so our batsmen have to be very exact in their decision-making as being caught in two minds at this pace will bring about your demise.Secondly, when we bowl the Aussie batters are very adept at square-of-the-wicket shots which gives you a very small margin of error because over-pitching full, then adjusting slightly shorter, gives them the opportunity to pull the ball also.As a series evolves opposition players become more familiar and you get used to what style people are playing.We will have to be very exact in our method, tenacious in our performance at the crease, and field like how we know we can in this next Test.While this is a very good cricket side we are up against, this has now come down to a one-off Test and an opportunity for some CLEAR Black Caps to raise their hands and perform on a stage that if they are successful will be one that they will carry with them forever.The rain delays in Hobart gave us plenty of time to discuss the goings on in the aftermath of the Mike Denness debacle.It was sad to see political ramifications being touted against another country’s trading partner because of over-appealing by a little known Indian cricketer.The phrase “it’s only a game” has now truly been scrapped because of the determination of a few to rise higher than the game and go against the governing body.If there was justification for these people to hang on to their beliefs that they were hard done by I would be the first to support them.But there is not.They should, in this scenario, back down for everyone’s sake so that common sense can prevail and cricket after a tumultuous two years can keep on the journey to get its credibility back.

After seeing his side end the day on 291 for 6 at Taunton Somerset Coach Kevin Shine told me: “It was a good end to the day for us. ‘Dutchy’ and ‘Noddy’ played very well for us.”When asked about the innings of ‘keeper Rob Turner, who returned to form to end the day on 71 not out he said: “Rob is getting back to where he was two years ago. He’s decided to keep it as simple as possible,and as the old saying goes -‘if it isn’t broke why fix it’. Today he kept it simple and it worked.”