England in India

England collapsed again to spinner Anil Kumble, who took five wickets on the day. But a rearguard action from Craig White led the tourists towards respectability at 277 for six. Trescothick and opening partner Mark Butcher started well, in a stand of 124. But, on 172 for two at one point in the afternoon, England tumbled to 180 for five.
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England opener Marcus Trescothick said he felt positive about his performance on the opening day in Ahmedabad, despite falling for 99. Trescothick edged the fifth delivery after tea to wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta, just one short of his third Test century.

"I was a bit tense and nervous but I came out positively after tea, as I'd played all day," said Trescothick. I scored the single I wanted but just nicked it to the keeper." But the Somerset left-hander said that he would have been happy to accept a score such as that at the beginning of the day, with the Ahmedabad pitch looking a spinner's paradise from the start

South Africa in Australia

If Allan Donald does play in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide on Friday then both he and the South African management will have done a brilliant and thoroughly convincing con job on the Australian team. The veteran speedster did little more than have a 30-minute net session on Wednesday - mostly batting.

"Allan is fit and available for selection," coach Graham Ford said after training. "Yes, he only had a light session today but we plan to give him a full burst tomorrow. It's all a part of the healing process - we didn't want to overdo it today. We'll have another look tomorrow," Ford said.

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Ian Healy has defended the modest start to the summer by strike bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, but said both would have to lift against South Africa for Australia to maintain their hold on the ICC Test championship trophy.

Speaking at a charity game in Sydney yesterday, the former Australian wicketkeeper also said Steve Waugh's men lacked "mental aggression" against New Zealand and he believed they would not make the same mistake against the Proteas.

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Jacques Kallis pays no heed to Australia's claims that they have the psychological upper hand over South Africa; he believes South Africa can beat the home team in their first Test of the series that start at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. "You can tell yourself you are good enough, but until you prove yourself at the crease, you won't be sure.”

Kallis has no doubt about it that, for the first time since readmission to international cricket, South Africa has the confidence to beat the Australians. "I don't care what the Aussies say. I fully believe that we have a competitive team that can beat them," Kallis said.

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The International Cricket Council's top match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, will take charge of the Australia v South Africa Test series. The series starts in Adelaide on Friday. Madugalle, a former Sri Lankan Test captain, was recently appointed by the ICC to the new position of chief referee.

West Indies and Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka

Corey Collymore took 5 for 51 as Sri Lanka was shocked by West Indies. Chasing 251 to win, Sri Lanka were going well on 184 for 4 when Kumar Sangakkara was caught behind to give Collymore his first wicket, and from there they collapsed. Three wickets then fell in four balls, and Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 201 with almost seven overs to spare.

Collymore took the Man-of-the-Match award, but it was another imperious innings from Brian Lara that laid a base for West Indies victory. He flayed 60 off 53 balls, including successive sixes off Kumar Dharmasena, while opener Daren Ganga chipped in with a useful 50.

Miscellaneous

Rival openers Matthew Hayden and Herschelle Gibbs are in a race to head off Brian Lara as the leading run-scorer for 2001. Lara finished his Test year with 1151 - more than half of which came in his last series in Sri Lanka.

That amazing burst gave him an average for the year of 63.94 over nine Tests. Hayden goes into the final two Tests of the year with 1088 runs while Gibbs has 1002. The only other player to post a thousand runs is Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene (1035) but like Lara his Test program is over for the year.

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Three of the game's most venerated clubs - Marylebone Cricket Club, Melbourne Cricket Club and the Cricket Club of India (CCI) - will usher in the New Year by playing in a triangular at the hallowed Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The Spirit of Cricket Festival will be a 45-over-a-side innings and will be played from December 28, 2001 to January 3, 2002.

Teams:
CCI:
Sanjay Manjrekar (capt), Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Yashpal Sharma, Kirti Azad, Madan Lal, Suru Nayak, Kiran More (wk), Karsan Ghavri, Raju Kulkarni, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Dilip Doshi, Shishir Hattangadi, Mayank Khandwala, Chetan Ladiwala and Dushyant Patel.

Marylebone Cricket Club:
Mike Gatting (capt), James Barrow, Paul Bedford, Jonathan Coles, Bradleigh Donelan, Peter Drinnen, David Graveney, Michael Jeh, Laurie Potter, Jon Robinson, Stephen Salisbury and David Ward.
Manager: Tony Dodemaide.

Melbourne Cricket Club: Team list to be released.

Schedule:
Dec 29: CCI vs Melbourne Cricket Club
Dec 30: CCI vs Marylebone Cricket Club
Jan 2: Melbourne Cricket Club vs Marylebone Cricket Club
Jan 3: Final

SCORES AT A GLANCE

India v England - 2nd Test (Day 1)
Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Toss: England

England: 277/6 (White 42*, Foster 15*; A Kumble 5 wkts; 90 overs)

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