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ScorecardAustralia ensured their place in the Plate Championship semi-final with a six-wicket victory against Nepal at Chittagong. After restricting Nepal to 154 for 9, Adam Crosthwaite and Ahilen Beadle guided Australia home with a steady partnership of 96. They will now play the loser of Bangladesh v Ireland, to be played tomorrow.Nepal won the toss and elected to bat, and they fared much better against the Australia pace attack compared to the other teams in their group. They managed to bat out the 50 overs with survival, rather than scoring, their objective. Paras Khadka top-scored with 33 as Nepal crawled to 154 for 9.Australia set about their reply in their usual positive manner, but then had a slight scare after Manjeet Shrestha removed both openers with 30 on the board. And by the 14th over, Australia were wobbling at 62 for 4, and Nepal’s army of fans were sensing a final twist in their enthralling tale. But it was not to be, as Crosthwaite and Beadle regrouped and led Australia to what was in the end a comfortable win.The result brings to an end Nepal’s World Cup adventure. They missed out on a place in the Super League by the narrowest of margins after causing the shock of the tournament in beating South Africa. They also won three of their six matches at Chittagong in front of considerable support from local-based Nepalese students. But defeat to Scotland in their previous match meant that they needed to win against Australia to progress any further.Shakti Gauchan, Nepal’s captain, scored over 170 runs in the tournament and he said he would take home fond memories of his time in Bangladesh. “It has been an enjoyable tournament,” he said. “I’ve learnt a lot on the pitch and everyone has been really nice to us.”Roy Dias, Nepal’s coach, blamed his side’s elimination on the defeat to Scotland. “It was disappointing not to get through, but the Scotland game really cost us,” said Dias. “We’ve done well in this tournament and the boys should be proud of the way that they have played.”

While Sushil Nadkarni has been the talk of the country’s cricket community in the last several months, a certain Niraj Shah from the same Houston Cricket League has been emerging from Sushil’s shadow, to develop into one of the finest allrounders in the country. Over the span of a year and a half Niraj has played a major part in several major tournaments in the country eventually leading to the National selectors taking notice of this young lad and awarding him with a place in the USA National squad.If Sushil has been the Tendulkar of Texas, Niraj has been accumulating runs with a Dravid-like consistency. It all began for him in the 2005 Central West Regional championships in Colorado where he bagged the MVP award for his allround performances. Later in the year, he captained the MLC Texas team to victory in the National Interstate tournament where he scored an unbeaten half century in the finals to see his team through. Another good fifty in a pressure-cooker situation at the Central West Regional finals, 2006 in Austin was followed by scores of 70, 106 not out and 59 in the National Western Conference Championships in LA which earned him the Best Batsman award and a National call-up.During the recently concluded Houston Twenty20 championships where Niraj led his team to a championship victory with an incredible allround performance in the finals, Vinod Periagaram got a chance to talk to the emerging 24-year-old star.Niraj, you have had a phenomenal year starting from the MVP of Central West regional championships in Colorado last year to the Western Conference Championships in LA where you were the best batsman two months ago. What would you attribute to this success in recent months?I have been consistent with the bat for the past two seasons now. I have stopped taking risks and have cut down on my aerial shots unless I am absolutely positive and am well set. My focus has been to be patient, play long and finish good. Although I have been consistently scoring fifties, my goal has been to convert those into big hundreds more often, since that is the hallmark of a great batsman. Hopefully, I can carry on the consistency I have over the past two years.You play one of the best pull shots in US cricket and seem to pick up the length really early. Is this something that comes naturally? Actually, I had to work really hard to perfect this shot. I was a strong front-foot player in the early years. I was never able to get runs on the back-foot which was exploited by good bowlers. I had to work a lot on fetching runs on the back-foot before my coach, Shailesh Pandya, helped me with my grip. I used to have a top handled grip which I changed to a bit lower and that has helped me grow as a strong back-foot player. Also, the back-and-across technique helps me see the ball early enough to play the pull and the cut shots.

You have been consistently picking up wickets with your offspinners. Do you consider yourself an allrounder or predominantly a batsman who can bowl a few overs? Is this an area you are working on improving?
I certainly consider myself a genuine allrounder. In fact, in my early days my fellow cricketers used to call me a bowler who can bat. I have been consistently taking wickets at every level. I am working on consistency with both, but there is always a room for improvement.It seems you really did not have much of a problem switching from the cement based wickets in Texas to the turf wickets in LA where most of the other batsmen struggled. What are the adjustments you had to make?What helped me most was that I had experience playing on turf wickets back in India before playing here in the US on the concrete wickets. However, I have played on these concrete wickets for quite a while and was used to playing on them and hence I had to revert to a technique which helped me succeed on turf wickets. As everyone knows, the ball comes onto the bat really well on concrete wickets where poor foot-work does not make much of a difference if your hands are coordinating well with your eyes. The turf wickets are very different where you have to wait for the ball to play the shots, plus you have to adjust your footwork with quality fast bowlers who can cut and swing the ball both ways. You need to have really good footwork to play on turf wickets and have to be selective in shot making.You have played a pretty high level of cricket in India before migrating to the US. Where were you playing there and in what way are those conditions different from what you play here?I have played Under-16, Under-19, and Under-22 for Gujarat. I have played with a lot of first-class cricketers all over and especially in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where I have played all my life. I have also been a first-vlass cricketer in India playing the All-India University tournament representing Gujarat. We used to play on matting or turf which is much different than astroturf on concrete. I would admit that it is rather a batsman’s paradise on concrete, whereas it was not easy on the turf or matting where bowlers can exploit the conditions and make you work really hard for runs.Congratulations on making the US National team for the ICC tournament in Toronto. Did you expect a National call-up so early considering that it hasn’t been long since you have been playing cricket in the United States?
Thank you. I am really happy to be named as one of the few National players out of thousands. The biggest reason for my selection in the US team is my performance over the past Memorial weekend in LA where I got the Best Batsman of the Western Conference award. Although, I wasn’t convinced that this was enough to have cemented a berth in the National side as I have not been here for very long, I believe I have had considerable performances throughout the Houston/Texas/Central West Regional tournaments, and I am very fortunate to have been chosen.How are you preparing for the ICC tournament in Toronto? Are there any goals you aim to achieve there? I do a 45-minute cardio every day. I aim to strengthen my legs and not get tired. I practice three days a week. My main focus is to bat as long as possible without getting tired and even after getting tired to not throw my wicket away. I am on a special and a very healthy diet plan as well. The biggest goal I have is to help, in each and every way I can, to win the Championship for my team. I believe in the phrase cricket is a TEAM game and I will do anything and everything my captain and my team needs me to do.Twenty20 cricket is taking off in a big way around the world. Having recently played a major part in your club’s victory in the Houston Twenty20 championships do you think this form of cricket is best suited to popularizing the sports in the United States? Yes, most certainly. We know that people here do not have eight hours to spend on a sport which they do not know or understand. Diversification is definitely needed where we can attract more viewers and fans. I certainly think Twenty20 cricket along with the six-a-side can create a lot of interest amongst the locals.If you were to name on youth cricketers to watch out for in the near future from your region, which would that be?Chirag BhaktaThis article first appeared in www.3rdUmpire.com

Gloucestershire have made an offer to buy back the county ground at Nevil Road. They sold the freehold in 1975, and it is understood that Royal & Sun Alliance, the present owners, are willing to sell the property."This is a great opportunity for us to secure the long-term future of the club," Tom Richardson, the Gloucestershire chief executive, told the Times.The exact amount needed to acquire the land is not known, and there has to be some doubt how it would be financed given Gloucestershire’s well publicised shortage of funds.

The Crusaders showed the Austrian Cricket Association little mercy as they punished the ACA attack with a glorious exhibition of strokeplay. Matthew Harrison and Tim Welsford shared an opening stand of 132, before Welsford departed for 72, and Harrison went on to reach his century in 104 minutes off 83 balls, eventually retiring on 113, sharing in a rapid partnership worth 87 for the fourth wicket with Ian Hewitt. Hewitt went on to eclipse him, plundering his 102* off 63 balls in a mere 70 minutes, as the Crusaders scored 332-4 in 37 overs. Earlier in the innings there had been a slight wobble as Wasif Mohammed picked up three wickets in five balls, removing Welsford, McDonald and David Hussey, the last of whom was stumped off a wide, thanks to some fast glovework by Amir Naeem.The batting performance was possibly surpassed by the bowling performance, with Hewitt bowling impressively and returning with 4-19 off 8 overs, the first blow being struck in the first over, with Tim Simpson departing for a duck. Erwin Grasinger batted patiently for 17 – occupying the crease for an hour in the process as wickets fell at the other end. Babar Nadeem, playing for the ACA side for the first time struck eight fours in a knock of 37, the highest score in the ACA innings, and after brief resistence from Thomas Grabetz and Paul Hudson, the ACA side were finally all out for 103.The Crusaders left Austria undefeated, with two wins to start their tour with, and moved onto Amsterdam, where their next opponents are due to be a VRA Invitation XI and SGS, both matches being played side by side on the same day (24th June) in Amstelveen, before games against the Netherlands and Netherlands Under 23 on the following days. The ACA would once again like to express their thanks to the Crusaders for the spirit in which they played the games and for their help in trying to encourage cricket in Austria.

March:
Buckinghamshire 263 & 147-7 (RP Lane 51) Cambridgeshire 170 (Ajaz Akhtar 73)Exmouth:
Devon 368 & 151-4 (RI Dawson 96), Dorset 250 (S Rintoul 121)Bishop’s Stortford:
Hertfordshire 74 & 219 (S White 78, T Smith 5-46), Suffolk 263 & 31-1
Suffolk won by nine wickets
Suffolk 22 points, Hertfordshire 4 pointsManor Park:
Staffordshire 451-4d & 78-3 v Norfok 306-6d (SC Goldsmith 118, CJ Rogers 61)Abergavenny:
Cheshire 357 & 63-4, Wales 283.Westbury:
Berkshire 325-5d & 93-1 (P J Pritchard 51*), v Wiltshire 222 (RJ Rowe 71, J C Morris 5-30)Jesmond:
Northumberland 233 & 213 (AT Heather 56, B Parker 53) v Cumberland 294 (A Metcalfe 172)

Sri Lanka’s fastest bowler, Dilhara Fernando, has fully recovered from aserious back injury and is raring to have a go at the Englishmen. He couldplay in Kandy if conditions favour an extra pace bowler.

Fernando went six months without international cricket after suffering astress fracture of his spine. He last played for Sri Lanka at Sharjah inApril, before the pain became so unbearable that he had to undergotreatment.Sri Lanka Cricket fast bowling coach, Champaka Ramanayke, reveals thatFernando first complained about his back during the 2003 World Cup. Theinjury apparently contributed to him bowling so many no balls.Ramanayake, with whom Fernando has been working with for the past fivemonths, helped identify a technical fault in his action, which is coined`counter rotation’ by bio-mechanic analysts."He was twisting his spine and putting too much pressure on it. The endresult was a fracture. We have identified the fault and changed hisalignment so that he’s bowling more upright now," said Ramanayake.During Dilhara’s absence the likes of Prabath Nissanka (now recuperatingafter knee surgery), Dinush Fernando and Nuwan Kulasekera have all pushedtheir claims for a regular berth. Nuwan Zoysa is also fighting his way backinto contention, bowling with greater zip and purpose.But despite the growing competition for places, Dilhara is confident that hewill soon regain his berth and unafraid of competition."When I first joined SSC, there were about five Sri Lankan bowlers in theside. Quite a number of people advised me to change club, arguing that Iwould not get a chance. But I stuck it out. There presence gave me anincentive to bowl better and improve my performances. I finally managed toconvince SSC to pick me," said Fernando."I am facing a similar situation today in making a comeback into thenational team and I am confident I can do it. As they [the other pacebowlers] keep on improving their performances it offers me a challenge toperform better to regain my place," said Fernando.The 24-year-old said he obtains the majority of his wickets with the slowball and the bouncer. "In the one-day game I bowl the yorker at tailenders.But I know I need to pitch the ball up further for success at the Testlevel."Fernando has been timed at 91.9 mph against South Africa at Durban where hereturned his best figures of five for 42 in 2000. He has natural pace buthas paid for and inconsistent line and often for bowling too short.Fernando said the best ball he bowled was to England opener Michael Vaughanin the Manchester Test in 2002."I did not play a single practice match and came straight into the Testmatch. I bowled a slow ball to Vaughan, which he failed to read and put upan easy catch. That has been the best ball I’ve bowled at internationallevel," said Fernando, who has 33 wickets from 13 Tests and 73 wickets from55 one-day internationals.There was a time Fernando was plagued with no balls, but since changing hisaction the problem as eased. "I bowled no balls whenever I tried to bowlfast and when I had problems with my run up," said Fernando. "There has beena considerable improvement in the number of no-balls I bowl after I changedmy run up. It has been very evident during the current season."Fernando said that he had not modelled his bowling action on anyone inparticular, but has been a keen follower of South African fast bowler AllanDonald. Sri Lanka hope he will have and equally distinguished career, no onedoubts that he has the raw ingredients.

After a tie in their last meeting the stage was set for an explosive climax to the Metropolitan cup in Sunday’s final between La Dehesa and Las Condes.Las Condes was hoping to repeat last year victory, but La Dehesa had been unbeaten all season and had other ideas.Unfortunately for Las Condes, the die was cast in La Dehesa’s favour before a ball had been bowled with only 9 players able to play on the day.But Las Condes captain Marriott won the toss and decided to bat, hoping the old adage of putting some numbers on the board first would work in his favour.However, La Dehesa’s bowlers made life difficult for the Las Condes openers. Wily spinner Adams frustrated Wollocombe into a rash shot in the fifth over that was easily caught by Harvey.McGovern’s fast bowling from the other end kept the batsmen off their guard and he was rewarded for his efforts the next over with the wicket of Hickman who missed a straight delivery.At 12 for 2 it looked as if lunch would be served sooner than expected, but Paul ‘Wonder Boy’ Hollis had other ideas and he kept Las Condes’ hopes alive with a solid innings of 71 that included several well timed drives for four.At the other end Las Condes batsmen came and went without ever settling in long enough to provide Hollis with any real support. Walker was out LBW to a quick straight delivery from Khaalid, and Messner was out in the same fashion.Mouton attempted to hook a short delivery from Dowling and deflected the ball onto his chin. Not to be kept off the pitch, however, Mouton was back after receiving medical attention and scored 13 before being caught & bowled by McGovern.That left Las Condes capitan Marriott and Dawson to hold up the Las Condes tail, but Dawson was stumped by some quick thinking from La Dehesa keeper Larsson and Marriott was clean bowled by Brink going for a slog.After lunch, La Dehesa was set the modest target of 153 to win. Messner opened the bowling with a head of steam and quickly earned the wicket of opener Dowling in the second over with a fast delivery that kept low.But La Dehesa capitan Phillips was solid as a rock expect for several LBW decisions that luckily for La Dehesa went his way. Phillips was well supported by first drop McGovern, who showed once again that he is truly a batsman of class.Together they put on a slow-scoring partnership of 34, before McGovern was bowled by Mouton on 19 in the 17th over. That brought Khaalid Mooradd to the crease. The South African native needed hardly an over before he had his eye in and started dispatching the Las Condes bowlers all over the ground.Khaalid has not had much of a chance to show his talent after arriving in Chile late this season, but he certainly made up for lost time on Sunday with a splendid innings of 64 including one glorious six over the bowler’s head and almost through the clubhouse windows.Khaalid was given out LBW to Messner but by then La Dehesa only needed one run to win in the 39th over, and Phillips wasted no time scoring the winning run off Mouton and ending his captain’s innings of 59 not out.When it was all said and done, La Dehesa’s strong bowling attack was able to keep Las Condes from putting together a truly competitive total, and with La Dehesa’s deep batting line-up, the outcome of the game was never really in doubt.After team pictures, and a pause to super-glue the bat back on the trophy, Marriott presented Phillips with the Metropolitan Cup, which will remain in his safe hands, until next year at least.The Metropolitan Cup final caps an extraordinary season for Chilean cricket that included a second place finish in the South American Championships held in Argentina, and a developing youth cricket program.The 2003-2004 season is sure to showcase the talents of Chile’s emerging young cricketers as well as another exciting Metropolitan Cup.¡Viva Chile!