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Brett Lee has completed an outstanding year by winning his first Allan Border Medal despite missing the entire World Cup with an ankle injury. Fittingly, in a season when he took over from Glenn McGrath as the spearhead of Australia’s attack, Lee became the first bowler since McGrath in 2000 to claim the major award.He also took home the Test Player of the Year title, while Matthew Hayden was named the One-Day International Player of the Year. Lee finished with 125 votes in the Allan Border Medal count, ahead of Hayden on 107 and last year’s champion Ricky Ponting on 64.It was Lee’s first time on the stage at the medal ceremony since 2000, when he was named the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year. He said it was a thrill to be taking such an important role in the side following the disappointment of missing the World Cup triumph.”I’m really enjoying that leadership role,” Lee said. “It sits a bit funny with me being called the strike bowler or the main bowler because it’s a team effort. I actually thought missing 19 matches I was absolutely no chance. That was a very hard time missing the World Cup, watching it on TV was very hard.Lee said the medal was a pinnacle after the low of his lengthy spell out of the team leading up to the 2005 Ashes. “I spent 19 months on the sideline carrying the drinks,” he said. “But to appreciate the good times you have to go through the bad times.”In a year that was dominated by coloured clothing – Australia only played six Tests during the voting period – Lee polled in all but one Test. His 12 votes in the Test count put him five ahead of Hayden (7), while there was a traffic jam for third, with five players grabbing three votes.There was no question that Lee was the star in the longer form of the game during a summer when Australia equalled their own world record of 16 consecutive Test victories. He was named Man of the Series in both the Sri Lanka and India contests and finished with 40 wickets during the voting period, at the average of 20.58.Against Sri Lanka he collected 16 wickets at 17.56 in two Tests, while in the four India games he grabbed 24 victims at 22.58. Lee’s success was not limited to Tests and he picked up 30 ODI wickets at 21.70, however his injury meant it was not surprising that he finished 11th in the one-day count.Hayden ended up with 24 votes, ahead of Ricky Ponting on 19, and there was a three-way tie for third, with Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist and McGrath all on 14. Hayden’s award capped a terrific return to the one-day arena after he lost his spot following the 2005 tour of England.In his first series during the voting period, Hayden belted an Australian-record unbeaten 181 in the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand, and things improved from there. He was the leading scorer at the World Cup in the Caribbean, making 659 runs at 73.22, and a blistering 66-ball century against South Africa was a highlight.A productive ODI tour of India followed and Hayden finished the 12-month period with 1462 runs at 56.23. He made four centuries and six fifties and he said he was “fully stoked” to win the award after he was not part of the one-day team in mid-2006. His World Cup began with serious injuries to both feet but he said that was never going to stop him help Australia defend their title.”Fifteen months out from the tournament I looked to be in deep trouble, not looking to play one-day cricket again,” he said. “I had a deep fire in my belly. A couple of broken feet at the start of a tournament is perhaps not the way you want to start. It was just a lot of work getting back into that side, and from that moment on I don’t think broken feet were going to stop me.”

Scorecard

Mark Cameron claimed five wickets as Western Australia capitulated for 99 before Phil Jaques extended New South Wales’ lead to 313 on a disastrous day for the Warriors. Jaques was on 71 at stumps and built on the good work of Matthew Nicholson, who in the first session scored his third first-class century to push the Blues up to 267.The major debacle for the home side came when they crashed to 6 for 38 at lunch. In his fourth Pura Cup match Cameron was the destroyer with a career-best 5 for 33, and all of those wickets came in the morning session. His list of victims was impressive: Justin Langer was caught at slip, Chris Rogers top-edged a pull, Adam Voges and Luke Pomersbach were bowled and Luke Ronchi was caught.Doug Bollinger chipped in with 3 for 33 and Nicholson snared two as Western Australia’s lower order – led by Steve Magoffin with 27 not out – nudged the score near triple-figures. Simon Katich declined to enforce the follow on and it proved a good decision with Jaques, Ed Cowan (56) and Peter Forrest (17 not out) guiding the Blues to 1 for 145.The visitors’ top order was far sturdier than in the first innings when they wobbled to 6 for 53. Nicholson led the recovery and started the day needing 15 for his century. Despite a scare when he was dropped on 99, he passed the milestone and finished unbeaten on 106.

Tom Moody, the former Australian allrounder who coached Sri Lanka to the World Cup final, will decide his future later this month, a Sri Lankan Cricket official said on Friday.”Tom departed for Britain on a holiday,” K Mathivanan, secretary of the Sri Lanka Cricket board, told AFP. He said Moody was expected to return to Colombo on May 12 and will then discuss his future with the team and the governing body.”We will be announcing a decision on Tom’s future on May 14,” Mathivanan said. Moody’s contract ends on May 31 and he is due to tour Abu Dhabi with the Sri Lankan team for a one-day series with Pakistan before then.Moody was appointed Sri Lanka’s national coach in 2005 succeeding John Dyson, the former Australian batsman. Moody has been linked with Western Australia, the Australian state side, after his contract with the Sri Lankans expires.Moody has been reticent about his plans, repeatedly saying that he would discuss them with the Sri Lankan authorities after the World Cup. Under Moody’s guidance Sri Lankans have had a fine run overseas. They swiped out England 5-0 in a ODI series while drawing the Test series 1-1 in the summer of 2006. Earlier this year they drew 1-1 in Tests in New Zealand before capping off the season with a World Cup final appearance.

Tasmania 9 for 131 (Birt 37*) beat Victoria 158 (Hussey 50, Doherty 4-18) by one wicket on D/L method
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Tasmania crept home to end Victoria’s plans for domestic domination as they lifted the FR Cup after a mostly wet and extremely tense afternoon in Hobart. The one-wicket victory earned the home team’s third limited-overs trophy and it was sealed following a gripping chase, which was originally 159 before being cut to 131 by the weather.Bryce McGain almost snatched the game from Tasmania with 3 for 11 from five immaculate overs, but the legspinner’s cool was matched by Travis Birt’s calm. Birt’s glide for three off the first ball of the final over ensured a great escape and sparked celebrations of relief at Bellerive Oval.After a rain break at 19.4 overs the sunshine of the morning returned and a comfortable Tasmania assignment of 42 off 68 balls became more difficult when Mark Divin cut McGain to point and Xavier Doherty charged unsuccessfully two balls later with 22 still needed. Brett Geeves added to the stress – he thought he was out lbw twice – and after a useful stand he departed with four to win before Brendan Drew edged twice in two balls to Adam Crosthwaite, who pouched the second attempt to the roars of his team-mates.Victoria wanted only one wicket but Ben Hilfenhaus navigated the two balls necessary to give Birt the strike for the final over. Throughout the crisis Birt kept his head and his 37 off 37 was the best innings of a see-sawing contest.”We’ve been fantastic all year, although this was not our best game,” Dan Marsh, the Tasmania captain, said before accepting the FR Cup and a cheque for $96,000. “But we bowled magnificently, and fantastic batting at the end got us over the line. Thanks, Birty.”Irritating rain, which caused three breaks in the second innings, and an afternoon temperature around 13C did not help the approach of Tasmania, who originally appeared desperate to conquer the small total quickly. As hosts they had the advantage if the match was abandoned before 20 overs, but they wanted to win it properly and the attitude kept Victoria’s interest as regular breakthroughs came.Dane Anderson thrashed 15 from a Dirk Nannes over, which included a pulled six, and then fell in the next trying to loft Clint McKay on 25. Michael Dighton (19) and George Bailey (7) also slipped to aggressive miscalculations against McKay, who gained 3 for 42. Things started to get exceptionally tight for the first time when Marsh jumped across his stumps and was lbw to Shane Harwood, leaving the Tigers at 5 for 76.A superb all-round bowling performance from Tasmania limited the powerful Victoria to 158 in 37.3 overs after Cameron White won the toss. Geeves started the problems with three early wickets and Hilfenhaus and Doherty cleaned up once the dangerous stand between David Hussey and Andrew McDonald was extinguished.Despite the early dominance, the Tigers were fearful with Hussey at the crease and he was the main reason the Bushrangers were able to stay for so long on a pitch the fast men enjoyed. Hussey, who belted a 60-ball century on Wednesday, waited ten balls before opening with a six over midwicket, one of two in his 69-ball innings, and remained in control despite some tricky patches.However, when he cut Doherty behind point to Hilfenhaus on 50 any hope of a big total was gone. McDonald had already departed to Hilfenhaus for 35, slicing to third man after a fortunate escape from a catch in the slips on 8, and Crosthwaite became the first of Doherty’s four victims when ruled to have edged behind.After Hussey and Harwood fell in consecutive overs Victoria had lost 4 for 19 and the innings closed with Nannes failing to offer a shot to Doherty. He captured 4 for 18 off 6.3 overs while Geeves had 3 for 28 and Hilfenhaus 3 for 32.”They were outstanding, especially Geeves early,” Marsh said. “Then for Ben to come back and get us those two wickets, it showed he’s back to his best form.”The home team started strongly as Hilfenhaus wobbled the ball and his partner Geeves caused problems with his short deliveries. Brad Hodge (9) was a key wicket for the Tigers and when he pushed away from his body to Birt in the gully Geeves and his team-mates were ecstatic.Tasmania’s mood improved further next ball with White nicking a fierce lifting delivery, leaving the Bushrangers at 4 for 47. McDonald survived the hat-trick and then started the recovery work in an 80-run stand with Hussey that was not enough. White, who admitted the better team won, will have to wait until next month’s Pura Cup for another opportunity to earn a second trophy for the season.

India Women 216 for 6 (Chopra 59, Sharma 51, Raj 46) beat New Zealand Women 213 (Fahey 91, Kanojia 3-48) by four wickets
ScorecardIndia Women beat New Zealand Women by four wickets in the fourth one-day international at Hyderabad, taking a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.New Zealand Women batted first and made 213, with Maria Fahey’s 91 being the highlight of the innings. The Indians won with four balls to spare, as Mitali Raj smashed 46 off 39 balls to give the momentum they needed to seal the issue.Fahey was the only New Zealander to capitalize on her start, as Kate Pulford and Haidee Tiffen both succumbed in the 30s. Mamta Kanojia took 3 for 48, but it was Deepa Kulkarni, with an outstanding 1 for 25 in 10 overs, who ensured that the platform Fahey built was wasted. A target of 214 was not likely to test the Indians.A solid partnership of 73 for the second wicket between Jaya Sharma and Anjum Chopra was the bulwark around which the Indian reply was constructed. Sharma’s dismissal for 51 in the 31st over, with the score on 110, gave some hope to the bowlers. But Chopra held one end up as Raj blasted six boundaries, making the result an academic affair. Choprs finished on 59, off 100 balls, but it was Raj, who snatched the impetus India’s way so firmly, who was named Player of the Match.

Ian Ward has announced he will leave Surrey at the end of the season, citing the need for a new challenge and fresh motivation as the reason.Ward did not play for Surrey in today’s National League match against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, but was in the commentary box instead. And talking on , Ward insisted his departure from Surrey was not acrimonious, but said: “I feel my future lies elsewhere, I want a new motivation in a new place. I’m looking forward to a challenge somewhere else.” He didn’t let out where that somewhere else will be, although he did admit he had received interest from a few counties.Keith Medlycott, Surrey’s coach, said that financial reasons also played a big part in Ward’s departure. He said: “Cricket is a business and we have to stay within a set budget, and players’ salaries play take up a big part of that.”Ward, who played five Tests against Pakistan and Australia in 2001, also said he hoped this move would help him revive his international career. “I am desperate to resurrect my England career. I feel a move away with new ideas and new drive is what I need.”

Scorecard

Jamie How and James Marshall helped themselves to some important time in the middle as New Zealand reached 92 for 1 shortly after tea on a rain-interrupted second day against Kent at Canterbury. The prospects of any play at all had seemed bleak at the start of the day, when torrential rain wiped out the first three hours of play, but eventually the clouds lifted as Kent, sitting pretty after Rob Key’s 178 not out, declared on their overnight 324 for 1.New Zealand’s star players are starting to dribble into the country after their stints with the Indian Premier League. Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram arrived this afternoon, ready for this week’s second warm-up against Essex at Chelmsford, while Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor will all have landed by Thursday. Until then it’s all about the second-stringers, in particular the battle for batting places ahead of the first Test at Lord’s on May 15.How, the stand-in captain, opened up with Aaron Redmond, the son of the former Kiwi opener, Rodney, who scored a Test century in his solitary appearance against Pakistan at Auckland in 1972-73. Redmond Jr impressed during New Zealand’s one-day curtain-raiser at Arundel on Sunday, scoring 72 in a rain-curtailed encounter with MCC, but he was less effective in this outing.Redmond should have been dismissed on 11, with the score on 23, when he edged an off-stump lifter from Martin Saggers low to Matthew Walker’s right at second slip. But he had added only three runs to his total when he waved his bat limply at Ryan McLaren, and feathered the simplest of chances through to Geraint Jones.How was the most effective of New Zealand’s brittle openers during the recent Test series, and he picked up where he had left off with a comfortable half-century that he completed with a flourish of boundaries in a brief resumption after tea. Kent’s bowlers toiled with limited impact on a pitch that their New Zealand counterparts had also found to be unresponsive, as Marshall eased along to 20 not out.

DURBAN, South Africa, March 18 AP – Sourav Ganguly and his Indian line-up will be more surprised than anyone if Kenya continues its fairy-tale run at the cricket World Cup and reaches the March 23 final.India, on a seven-match winning roll, is against the African minnow in a semifinal at Kingsmead on Thursday.Kenya is the first non-Test nation to reach the semifinals at a World Cup, and is concerned less about who it plays than how will it plays.The Kenyans managed something of a dress rehearsal for the semis when they met India at Newlands, Cape Town, on March 7 in a Super Six match.Although Kenya lost by six wickets, it took enough heart out of that game to lift themselves for a victory over Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on March 12 to seal their place in the penultimate round.Now, the thinking in the Kenyan camp is that a hard match against Australia in the final Super Six match last Saturday has prepared them for what seems to be an impossible task in the rematch with India.The Indians have lifted themselves to a new level since their last match with Kenya, and look as if they can take on and beat any team.”We still have a long way to go and, as is the case against any opposition and in any circumstance, we have to achieve our game plans and play well,” said India coach John Wright.”If we do that the result will take care of itself.”Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said: “We have the best batting lineup in the world.”With Sachin Tendulkar spearheading that lineup with a World Cup record 586 runs so far, there aren’t many who’d disagree.Ganguly and Virender Sehwag add extra explosiveness, while Rahul Dravid brings solidity to the middle order in an extraordinarily well-balanced batting list.The real revelation for the Indians has been the ability of their fast bowlers to effect an early breakthrough throughout the tournament.With the “old man” Javagal Srinath at the helm, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan have developed into genuinely quick bowlers.Of their top batsmen, none of the Kenyans has been particularly consistent here.Kennedy Otieno was the man who got runs against India in Cape Town. His 79 there will have given him confidence against the Indian opening attack which was unable to break the Kenyan opening stand.Skipper Steve Tikolo batted himself back into form with a determined 51 against Australia, and, as Kenya’s best batsman, it is almost imperative that he succeeds if Kenya is to get into a winning position.Maurice Odumbe and Thomas Odoyo are both hard-hitting batsmen who can lift the run rate in the latter stages of an innings, but they will need a platform laid for them by Otieno, his fellow-opener Ravindu Shah, who scored 46 against Australia, and Tikolo.Kenya’s bowling depends heavily on varied pace and the find of the tournament – legspinner Collins Obuya. The 21-year-old has taken 13 wickets for 396 runs, and he only looked vulnerable against Australia.”I have seen him grow up into a good player, and I’m sure he will be able to bounce back from that bad day,” said Tikolo.He will have to be at his best against the Indian batsmen, who are perhaps the best players of spin in the world.Kenya coach Sandeep Patil, a member of India’s World Cup-winning squad from 1983, says he feels very much as he did when he was part of that surprise victory.”People have labeled Kenya reaching this stage a big surprise, but it is the result of hard work by every one of the boys,” Patil said.Patil refused to be drawn on what he considered the weakpoints of India.”That would be revealing my game plan,” he said. “Just say I am plotting their downfall.”TeamsIndia (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad KaifKenya (from): Steve Tikolo (captain), Thomas Odoyo, Maurice Odoyo, Martin Suji, Kennedy Otieno, Hitesh Modi, Ravindu Shah, Tony Suji, Peter Ongondo, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Joseph Angara, Brijal Patel, Asif Karim, Alpesh VaderUmpires: Steve Bucknor, West Indies and Daryl Harper, AustraliaTV umpire: Simon Taufel, AustraliaMatch referee: Mike Procter, South Africa

Scorecard

Murray Goodwin scripted a rescue act as Western Australia reached 277 in their first innings against Victoria. WA were 63 without loss in their second innings and had a commanding 188-run lead at the end of the second day at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.Goodwin (130) shared some crucial partnerships with the lower-order batsmen as Beau Casson (31), Brett Dorey (17) and Steve Magoffin (16) all contributed. The WA bowlers then got stuck in as Ben Edmondson snapped up three wickets in four balls and had Victoria reeling at 4 for 23.Matthew Elliott and Cameron White then revived them with a 90-run stand for the fifth wicket. But both were out in the space of three overs and the lower order crumbled without a fight. Worse was to come as Shane Harwood, the Victorian fast bowler, suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone late in the day. Harwood was struck by Cade Harvey as he tried to evade a bouncer.Western Australia replied with 63 for no loss in their second innings, with Chris Rogers and Michael Hussey racing along.

The secret to understanding sport is examining a series of moments which explain how a game is won or lost. Take the first six overs of the T20 between South Africa and New Zealand, for example.In that period, the hosts were barely hanging on. They were still sussing out the early-season surface, which was not sprinkled with the usual spice of a South African strip. Their seamers steered away from a short-ball barrage and pitched it up instead. Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson took advantage of the fielding restrictions and the width on offer, and found the boundary 10 times in the Powerplay. New Zealand were stringing together what they thought would be the foundation of their success and AB de Villiers was unhappy with the lack of bite from his bowlers.

August pitch earns praise

South Africa had never played an international in August before Friday and they will be pleased to know pre-season is actually a perfect time to host cricket, at least in Durban where summer rainfall often pours a wet blanket on the action in the peak period. Both captains described the Kingsmead pitch as a “good wicket” with enough in it for both batsmen and bowlers. Kane Williamson went as far as to say it was “probably a 180 wicket” even though his team could only muster 151. AB de Villiers agreed but added that there was also some spice for the seamers and surprisingly, turn for the spinner, Aaron Phangiso, who also expressed surprise at the assistance he got. “I got value for shots,” de Villiers said. “But then the ball also beat the bat and that’s the kind of cricket you want to see: high scoring games but always something in it for the bowlers.”

“It’s an area we will discuss again – the first six overs because we are not as good as we wanted to be there. We wanted to be a little more aggressive,” de Villiers said. “A couple balls were maybe a little bit too full, which is not a bad thing, but you also want to see the aggression.”The game changed, however, in the moments after that. Immediately after the Powerplay, de Villiers gave the ball to left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso, his last hope in stemming the flow. Phangiso’s first over ended with the wicket of Williamson, who admitted he was hoping to take on the spinner but could not. “Phangiso bowled nicely and changed his pace. With the short boundaries, you think you can go after the spin but he controlled his length,” Williamson said.Phangiso, who finished with 2 for 29 in four overs, was also pleased with the show of confidence from his captain. “It was great to see the captain give me the ball under pressure,” Phangiso said. “All players want to succeed under pressure. I enjoyed the pressure and I enjoyed the confidence of the captain giving me the ball at that time.”The sequence of events that followed explain how South Africa went on to win the game. David Wiese took pace off the ball, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel held back the lengths and Kyle Abbott mixed it up to keep New Zealand guessing, prompting de Villiers to call the team’s bowling comeback “near perfect”.”We slowed the game down and turned the momentum around and then ran with it,” de Villiers said. “All the seamers who came back for their second spells bowled really well. We mixed it up exceptionally well. The last 15 overs of our bowling performance was near perfect.The guys had really smart plans. When I spoke to them between balls, the guys knew exactly what they wanted to do. I saw all the variations from them: yorkers, good length balls and bouncers.”As much as South Africa applied the chokehold, New Zealand allowed themselves to be cornered. “We weren’t quite at our best in the last 10 overs. We know we have the firepower in that lower middle order to cash in on situations like that and we weren’t quite on top of things,” Williamson said.The collapse of 7 for 40 was partly due to no one in the middle order taking responsibility of the latter part of the innings and Williamson has challenged his team-mates to change that in the next match. “It’s a fine line when you lose wickets, and we lost two wickets in a row a couple of times which never helps but it takes one other bloke or two other blokes to get going and get the score moving.”