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SYDNEY, March 6 AAP – Stuart MacGill’s spin almost cancelled out Ashley Noffke’s pace as NSW and Queensland found contrasting ways to humiliate each other on the opening day of their Pura Cup match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.On a day in which 20 wickets fell for less than 300 runs, Queensland led by 88 after dismissing NSW for 102 only to be bowled out for 190 in turn, with MacGill taking 5-52.While NSW was well behind, Steve Waugh’s men were not totally out of a contest which should end in a positive result one way or the other.NSW, searching for a place in the Cup final against the Bulls starting next week in Brisbane, looked like they’d lost the map this morning as Noffke scythed through the world-class line-up.Removing Michael Slater, Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke for ducks inside the first half-hour with a series of deliveries which swung and cut off the seam, Noffke finished with 6-24.It was his best bowling for Queensland but not quite as good as hauls of seven and eight wickets for Middlesex in English county cricket.He expected things to be tougher tomorrow when NSW bats to save its season.”Tomorrow’s probably going to the most important day of the year for them,” Noffke said.”Their future’s going to be determined by how they play tomorrow.”Having ripped through NSW so easily, Noffke wasn’t keen to nominate NSW as his preferred opponent for the final.”We’re not too worried about who we play. If we play good cricket we’re going to be pretty hard to beat.”Queensland did just that today but Noffke said the Bulls were disappointed they “took their foot off the throat a bit” to allow NSW a glimmer of hope with three days to play.Queensland attained first innings points about midway through the opening day and at 2-105 shortly after tea, the Bulls were well on their way to an outright victory.However, MacGill and fellow wrist-spinner Simon Katich (3-55) soon brought their side back into the contest.MacGill, on a hat-trick at one stage, also took two wickets in his final over of the day to wrap up Queensland’s innings, the Bulls losing their last nine wickets for 95 runs.While Noffke was happy with his own haul he put some blame on the batsmen from both sides for the day’s proceedings.”It wasn’t a 20-wickets-in-a-day pitch,” Noffke confessed.”Play from both sides was a little bit poor at times.”It was a timely effort from Noffke after Queensland suffered a tough blow on the morning of the match with pace bowler Joe Dawes ruled out with a back strain.Dawes, the second-leading wicket-taker in the competition, flew home for scans while the Bulls sent down Damien MacKenzie to act as 12th man.Dawes’ absence left the Bulls with only two specialist pace bowlers – Noffke and Michael Kasprowicz – and with two spinners, including debutant Chris Simpson.

Gloucestershire batsman Matt Windows and Hampshire spinner Shaun Udal tookthe honours on an intriguing first day of the CricInfo Championship seconddivision match at Cheltenham.The visitors had to do without skipper Robin Smith and all-rounder DimitriMascarenhas, both late withdrawals through injury, and it looked as if theywould have an unproductive day in the field until Udal instigated a collapsewhich saw six wickets fall for 62 runs.Neil Johnson was the only Hampshire bowler to enjoy success in the morningsession, after Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne had won the toss.Johnson had Dominic Hewson caught behind by Adrian Aymes, as he tried towithdraw the bat, and Kim Barnett was dismissed in the same manner as hedrove at a wide delivery.But Windows and Chris Taylor regained control for Gloucestershire with athird-wicket stand of 137. Both players cut and drove the majority of theirboundaries through the off-side and it was good entertainment for the 3,000festival crowd.Taylor had moved smoothly to 56 before he was well caught by acting captainWill Kendall at mid off, and then Windows departed when he holed out to AlexMorris in the deep.His 91 came from 181 balls, contained 16 fours and a six, and signalled awelcome return to form for the England A batsman, who went into the gamewith a meagre average of 19.Alleyne, Jeremy Snape and Ian Harvey all got out after making a start andwhen Jack Russell also departed, it looked as if Gloucestershire would fallbelow 300.However, they were indebted to a ninth-wicket stand of 62 between MartynBall and Alastair Bressington, who is making hs first appearance of theseason after finishing his studies at university in Cardiff.Ball struck four boundaries in his 40 before he was caught by Johnson at second slip off Chris Tremlett, who promptly wrapped up the innings by dismissing Ben Gannon for a duck.

After seven years away from title glory, Frank de Boer has returned Ajax to the top of the mountain and maintained a level of success that has been hard to match anywhere in Europe. A 2-2 draw two weeks ago against Heracles helped to secure the Amsterdam side their fourth Eredivisie title in four years.

De Boer’s has been diligent since arriving at Ajax in December 2010. He’s taken in youth games, he’s promoted from within and helped to strengthen that aura which surrounds the club’s famed youth academy.

De Boer has also had time and comfort. We can adjudge that the success of the club over the past four seasons has been because the manager has had the freedom to work, the resources to succeed and the right personnel alongside him who understood what was required from the club and how to work to its ethos.

The fact that Ajax have spent so little in first re-acquiring the Dutch league title and then going on to retain it three times means de Boer is a favourite for clubs who work to lesser budgets and who want to maximise the output of what they already have.

The admiration for the Dutchman is widespread in England. Tottenham aren’t the only club to sound out de Boer for a future managerial role. Liverpool enquired after him before turning to Brendan Rodgers, and Manchester United kicked the tires on the possibility of landing de Boer not too long ago before turning their attention elsewhere.

De Boer, however, must understand that the life he knows at Ajax is vastly different from what managers have experienced in the past at Tottenham.

Under Daniel Levy, the shelf life of a manager is short. He’s moved on coaches who have a history of success with clubs in cup competitions (Juande Ramos), and he’s booted the polar opposite in managerial style, yet one who still gave Tottenham what they’d long sought to achieve (Harry Redknapp).

After each managerial sacking at Tottenham, we’ve gone over the mistakes that led to the final action of dismissal; for Andre Villas-Boas, there were plenty. Yet we’ve hardly ever gone over the problems and mistakes that exist in the boardroom.

Let’s call a spade a space: Tottenham aren’t a club who have a modern identity in the way Ajax do. They’re not trying to uphold one set of values. They’ve bought good to great players over the years – Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale – but they’ve been a stepping stone for each of them. Each time the club land on something good that could help to shape their future, whether it’s Villas-Boas or Redknapp, Levy is quick off the draw following any kind of setback.

Levy is a chairman who doesn’t really know what he wants – at least that’s what we can infer from his erratic behaviour on the managerial front.

Will de Boer be comfortable with life at Spurs, will he be given the freedom to carry out his work? Probably not. Franco Baldini is still floating about, and his isn’t a position which requires little to no work. Tottenham have been one of the clubs in the Premier League to embrace the idea of a director of football. Whether they’ve done it the right way is another matter.

We shouldn’t assume that de Boer will be a success wherever he goes. Tottenham, above all, shouldn’t assume he will either. The Dutchman has the right people in place who have helped him get Ajax where they are now. They’re on the same page, just as Ramos and Sevilla’s Director of Football Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo (Monchi) were.

What kind of relationship can de Boer expect with Baldini at Spurs? Probably a confusing one, if we’re going by what we saw during the first few months of this season with Villas-Boas in the dugout. The trio, Levy included, looked to be on the same page during the summer, seemingly spending the Gareth Bale money wisely. What we saw in on the pitch was a group of players who didn’t fit into the manager’s tactical setup. He couldn’t bring out the best in Roberto Soldado; when was the last time someone saw record signing Erik Lamela?

These uncertainties and inconsistencies eventually help to spell the end for managers, regardless of where they came from and what their history of success is.

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De Boer has stability at Ajax. He’s alluded many times in the past to unfinished business with the club. It should be remembered that this is one of Europe’s great clubs, a four-time winner of the European Cup. They may be dominating domestically, but they’re surely not happy to settle for their Champions League campaigns ending in December.

Tottenham may offer de Boer more in the way of resources to build a stronger team; the club would also offer the Ajax coach the excitement of something different, and no one is of the opinion that he’ll stay in Amsterdam for the rest of his career.

But is the structure at Tottenham right? Its history doesn’t provide confidence. Daniel Levy may not be the right man to offer de Boer the time he needs to be a success.

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	Andy Roberts is one of four former players back on the WICB cricket committee © Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

Former West Indian players Ian Bishop, Desmond Haynes, Andy Roberts and Courtney Walsh are back on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) cricket committee. The four players from the era when West Indies dominated world cricket were replaced last November but WICB president Julian Hunte has confirmed they were reinstated after he met with them in Antigua on February 22 to discuss the issue.Haynes said the meeting had been “very frank”. “We got to understand each other’s position,” he said. “We have always been very keen to contribute to the advancement of West Indies cricket and felt that we could more properly do so as full members of the committee, rather than as consultants as the president originally offered.”Hunte asked the four to meet with him “in the spirit of inclusiveness” after a report by this correspondent last month in which they expressed surprise and disappointment at their removal.”I would be the last person to deny our former great players the opportunity to contribute at any level of West Indies cricket,” Hunte said at the time.Hunte pointed out that the WICB had drafted a new strategic plan and that the cricket committee had to be at the centre of “plans, policies and programmes for cricket, not just the playing and player aspects, but in terms of our development”.Hinting at the reason why the four had been replaced, Hunte told Bishop that the committee needed to meet face-to-face frequently to deal with “the many issues confronting us now and to develop the blueprint for the future”.The implication was that the four had not always been available for committee meetings but this had been refuted by Roberts and Walsh.Whatever the differences, they were settled at the February 22 meeting and four individuals with 338 Tests between them are now back on the committee that is headed by Clive Lloyd, captain in the era of excellence in the 1970s and 1980s.

Darren Berry’s last act as a player was to win the Pura Cup © Getty Images

Darren Berry, the former Victoria captain, will return to the squad as its assistant coach later this month. Berry has spent the past two seasons guiding the Carlton Cricket Club in Melbourne and he will work alongside the head coach Greg Shipperd.”I’m looking forward to this role immensely, and contributing to the future success of the Bushrangers and Victorian cricket,” he said. “I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities presented to me at Carlton and I thank them for allowing my coaching to develop in my time there.”Geoff Tamblyn, the Cricket Victoria chairman, said Berry has outstanding credentials and has been an impressive leader on and off the field. “He led a strong list of candidates and we’re excited to have him alongside Greg,” he said. “Darren was a tremendous contributor to Victoria as a player and we’re confident he will perform impressively in his new role.” Berry led the Bushrangers to the Pura Cup in 2003-04 and immediately retired after 153 first-class matches.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Brian Lara on his way to a vital 40 not out as West Indies squeezed past Zimbabwe © The Nation

Although they comfortably lost by five wickets, Zimbabwe’s young team will take great heart from their performance against the West Indies in the first of seven one-dayers at Antigua. On a two-paced pitch, chasing just 152, the West Indies made hard work of their task and rarely looked in complete control of proceedings.That they were made to struggle was down to Zimbabwe’s young bowlers’ control, and the energetic performance of their fielders. As early as the sixth ball of their innings, the West Indies lost their opener, Runako Morton, who carelessly drove one from Ed Rainsford straight to second slip. It was just the start they needed.Rainsford bowled intelligently. Using his height to good effect, he generated bounce – on what was a difficult pitch to bat all day – causing Chris Gayle several anxious moments. However, his and his team-mates’ inexperience told. The left-hand right-hand combination of Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan upset their lines, prompting Sarwan to punish Rainsford for several fours.After putting on 37 with a subdued Gayle, from 10 turgid overs, Sarwan was caught inches short going for a quick single; the running was lazy, if a little complacent, and handed Zimbabwe a fortunate wicket. Gayle batted with curious restraint and only briefly did he threaten to open his broad shoulders.He looked to be regaining his touch and power when he planted Prosper Utseya, the off-spinner, straight on top of the Richie Richardson stand at long-on – a remarkable one-handed shot of immense power. It appeared he and Denesh Ramdin, promoted ahead of his captain Brian Lara, were easing West Indies to victory until Gayle attempted to hit Utseya beyond the same stand and into the sea. Utseya, not afraid to toss it up, cleverly beat him in the air and had him caught at square leg.Worse was to come. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was relieved of the captaincy last week, continued his poor run of form when he tried to cut Utseya. Soon after, the same bowler should have had Lara caught at deep midwicket when, inexplicably, he tried to pull one wide of the off-stump. The three fielders converged in a potentially disastrous triangle, but the ball somehow evaded each of them. That blemish aside, Lara batted with his customary brilliance to late-cut the spinners and nudge singles with ease.At the other end, Ramdin – a compact, neat and correct batsman – grew in confidence until, with just 31 runs needed to win, he decided to late-cut a half-volley and was bowled by Utseya. It was a dreadful, lackadaisical shot.If their batting was lacklustre, the West Indies’ bowling performance was similarly uninspiring. Whereas Zimbabwe looked sharp in the field, the hosts lacked intent and spark. After removing Piet Rinke in the second over, the opening bowlers – Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor – lost their ferocity and didn’t look like a side determined to take 10 wickets.Terry Duffin, the Zimbabwe captain, then batted diligently for his 26, and put on a vital 64 runs with Justice Chibhabha, who made a very impressive 55. Though the pair batted well, rarely did they break into a trot which said more of their inexperience than anything else.Their wickets marked a dramatic collapse in which Zimbabwe lost 7 for 30 as the West Indies bowlers, Gayle and Dwayne Bravo in particular, found their lengths. But it was the batsmen’s inexperience that told. Panic set in during the final ten overs, and though they reached the milestone of 150, it was never likely to trouble the West Indies.Lara, clearly fed up with the injudicious strokeplay of his team-mates, clobbered a couple of late boundaries, including a huge six to win the game. It was a disappointing effort from the home side, and an encouraging one from Zimbabwe who can take heart not only for batting out fifty overs, but for making the West Indies work hard to reach what was a paltry total.

How they were out

West IndiesRunako Morton c Higgins b Rainsford 0 (1 for 1)
Ramnaresh Sarwan run-out (Mahwire) 14 (38 for 2)
Chris Gayle b Utseya (71 for 3)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Taylor b Utseya (77 for 4)
Denesh Ramdin b Utseya 37 (121 for 5)
ZimbabwePiet Rinke c Smith b Taylor 1 (5 for 1)
Terry Duffin c Ramdin b Smith 26 (69 for 2)
Justice Chibhabha c Edwards b Smith 55 (105 for 3)
Elton Chigumbura run out (Chanderpaul) 8 (121 for 4)
Brendan Taylor c Bradshaw b Bravo 25 (126 for 5)
Keith Dabengwa c Chanderpaul b Bravo 5 (135 for 6)
Greg Strydom c Bravo b Gayle 8 (142 for 7)
Ryan Higgins c Bravo b Gayle 0 (142 for 8)
Blessing Mahwire c Sarwan b Taylor 6 (150 for 9

Scorecard

Greg Blewett crashed a 61-ball 91 © Getty Images

Australia’s beleaguered captain Ricky Ponting may have dismissed Twenty20 as a bit of fun just a week ago, but the latest offering at The Oval was a seriously successful venture. On a balmy evening, a sell-out crowd arrived in south London to witness world cricket at its innovative best as Asia and an international XI were brought together to offer up hit-and-giggle delights to raise money for tsunami relief.The thrills – a hat-trick from Adam Hollioake and a crashing 91 not out by Greg Blewett – outweighed the spills – several dropped catches blemishing an otherwise outstanding fielding performance. And every boundary or wicket was matched by hard cash, all ofwhich went to charity. In all £1.1million was raised, which included a bonus £100,000 for the hat-trick, £2,000 for every four and £5,000 for every six.The Internationals – stuffed full of players familiar with the format – dismissed Asia, full of players who weren’t, for 157 which was never enough as Blewett blazed away to take his team to victory. Rahul Dravid, in his first Twenty20 match, struck a composed 62 from 47balls, but Asia’s innings never really got going.Blewett has so far spent his summer playing for the showmen of Lashings CC, but maybe the Australian one-day side could find a use for him: lest we forget, they are currently languishing at the bottom of the NatWest Series table. He has not played international cricket since 1999, but there were lashings and lashings of super shots in the 61 ballsit took him to take apart such world-class bowlers as Irfan Pathan, Chaminda Vaas and Harbhajan Singh. He ended up nine short of his century, and his knock included seven fours and five sixes – worth a cool £29,000.Scott Styris cashed in too, quite literally – picking off boundaries through and over midwicket at will. Asia were clinging on, just, when Sanath Jayasuriya came on to bowl with four overs to go and 30 runs required – but Blewett casually dispatched a towering six back over his head off the last ball of the over. Next ball, Styris hooked Pathan for another six and, when he flatbatted Vaas over midwicket for another £5,000, the game went from being in thebalance to being in the bag.Blewett’s Lashings team-mate Hollioake – who played twice for the side in March, the only matches he has played since retiring – went one better. His hat-trick earned £100,000, although things didn’t start so auspiciously. He must have wished he hadn’t hopped back specially from Australia for this match when Vaas launched his first ball for six – the only one of Asia’s innings. But Hollioake has twinkled in Twenty20 before and tonight’s effort was no less dazzling as Dravid, Vaas and Kumble Kumble holed out from successive deliveries.”For me it’s an honour,” he told reporters after the match. “I can’t believe I was playing alongside the best cricketers in the world. I came early just for this game – I wouldn’t do that for just a normal game. It does mean a lot. But it’s not a special effort – anybody would do that.”Dravid chose to bat first, and his side were soon in trouble as they lost Virender Sehwag for 1. Jayasuriya (27) and Kumar Sangakkara (15) both fell on 45 and Asia were starting to wobble. But Dravid and Mahela Jayawardene added some stability on an evening whichheld a few surprises. Jayawardene brought up their fifty partnership with an improvised slap for four past fine-leg, then even the members proved that they knew this evening was about going with the flow. As the inevitable Mexican Wave started to ripple towards the members’ enclosure, there were boos from some of the public who were expecting the usual stony silence from the pavilion. But this was an evening to stand up and be counted – and the members duly stood. Cue cheering.In fact, all of the crowd enjoyed their evening, with people in shirts from all nations dancing together to the beat of one Sri Lankan fan’s drum and the horns of many. And although the game petered out towards the inevitable, it didn’t really matter. Vijay, from India who lives in England, was supporting both sides. “It’s for charity, isn’t it?” he asked simply.He was wearing a West Indies shirt (for Brian Lara), he had a Kenya headband (he was born there) and he would normally be rooting for India (that’s where his parents are from). But this time he was cheering both sides: it was all about the cricket, and the charity.Five-hundred thousand people are still homeless following the events of six months ago, but this evening’s effort will go a long way towards helping.

Chris Rogers, the 26-year-old Western Australia batsman, has joined Derbyshire for the 2004 season, as a replacement for Michael di Venuto, who has had to undergo an operation to cure a troublesome back injury.Rogers, who will join up with the squad in early April, was one of the stars of Western Australia’s recent season, averaging 51.68 in their Pura Cup campaign. “Chris has a proven record in first-class cricket," said David Houghton, Derbyshire’s director of cricket.”I am looking forward to the challenge of playing county cricket for Derbyshire," said Rogers, "and playing on English wickets.”

In response to enquiries from the public regarding live television coverage of matches on SABC3, Dr Ali Bacher, Executive Director of CWC 2003, today issued the following statement:”Live television coverage in South Africa of CWC 2003 matches is carried out through an agreement between the SABC and Supersport.”From Day One, we at the organising committee of CWC 2003 have been absolutely consistent in our request to the SABC that they show every match live. However, the agreement between SABC and Supersport is that SABC3 televise 27 of the 52 matches.”We at CWC 2003 are not at all happy that the SABC is televising live only five of the nine Super Six matches.”

Mathew Sinclair’s Yorkshire Premier League club team mates at Cleethorpes showed they had been learning from Sinclair’s example when taking a big hand in the side’s win over Appleby Frodingham at the weekend.The Cleethorpes club which has had the benefit of Sinclair’s amazing run of batting form, lifted itself three places in the League by taking a 70 run win.Sinclair only scored 27 when opening the innings with skipper Mike Smith.Smith was out for 30 soon after Sinclair, and with a middle-order collapse following, Cleethorpes were in trouble.However, the effects of the Sinclair influence were felt down the order as Stuart Airey and Nick White rescued the innings so Cleethorpes had a competitive 174/9 from their 55 overs.Cleethorpe’s home pitch at Chichester Road proved hard enough for Jonathan Davies to find pace and bounce which allowed him to trouble the visiting batsmen. He took four for 21 from 13 overs as Frodingham slumped to 63/7. Some lower order resistance took the score to 104 but 12 overs remained when Cleethorpes claimed the win.Now sitting in eighth position, the side will be looking for another win at the weekend against Driffield before Sinclair departs for New Zealand’s three-nations tournament in Sri Lanka.Another New Zealander, Auckland batsman Richard King has been playing for Appleby-Frodingham in the Yorkshire League. King has been opening the batting.am opening the batting and enjoying the opportunity. However, before last weekend’s game he had to fly to Australia to be with his sick mother.His scores during the season have been, 5, 25, 40, 43, 88, 123, 88no and 79no for an aggregate of 491 and an average of 82.0In the Lancashire League with Accrington, Tama Canning took four for 61 against Church who were all out for 137. However, Accrington could only reply with 118 and the loss left them in ninth position in the 14-team competition.Another member of the CLEAR Black Caps team travelling to Sri Lanka, Lou Vincent has been playing for Esholt in the Bradford League. In 11 games so far, he has scored 437 runs at an average of 62.4 with a top score of 137 not out. He has also picked up 14 wickets at a cost of 14.0.