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Risk judgment and management was much better in England’s One-Day International win over New Zealand in Napier on Wednesday and coach Duncan Fletcher is looking for more of the same on Saturday in Auckland.However, he and the watching publics of the respective countries may have to wait as yet more rain is forecast for match day at Eden Park.Wednesday’s game had not been that much different to the start England made to the tour in the first match played in Christchurch, but on this occasion the England players did not make a mess of the excellent start they were given.While the loss had been disappointing in Christchurch it had been another lesson in match situations and the players had clearly learnt from it when they found themselves in the same position in Napier.And when the batting effort provides a competitive total, and is backed by good bowling at the start of the defence it could be very difficult for the opposition to escape.”There is still a little bit of an improvement we can have when we bowl. We could do with a little more control,” Fletcher said.He had been very pleased with the way Darren Gough bowled. He had played to the conditions which suited his skidding type of deliveries.The game had also been a vindication of the selection policies of consistency in backing players and allowing them to develop. Paul Collingwood’s bowling reflected that.Sometimes it took longer for some players, and on other occasions the window of opportunity arrived early for players.”Surely a player like Chris Harris was a bits and pieces player when he started but he is a top quality one-day cricketer now because he has been given an opportunity,” he said.At the same time it was also important to handle players correctly and he felt that had been the case with Collingwood in Napier. It was a fine line between bowling well and possibly bowling too long and losing the game.It was also difficult when you were trying to develop a player that he get the chance to work on a skill. There was so much big cricket being played now that the opportunity was not always there to put in the work on a particular skill.Any team also needed to have all bases covered for the particular pitches they were going to strike in different countries.Among those options coaches and captains like was having a player capable of floating in the batting order, such as New Zealand is trying to develop with Andre Adams.Fletcher was reluctant to see potential top-class all-rounder Andrew Flintoff moved up the order to give the scoring a hurry-up but there were certain situations where he might be. But while he didn’t favour that ploy that was not to say it wouldn’t happen some time.”It’s not all black and white in cricket,” he said.One negative out of Wednesday’s success was the batting achievements meant Owais Shah did not get the chance to show the selectors his wares in a competitive situation. With Michael Vaughan waiting in the wings for an opening, and Ben Hollioake looking for an opportunity there were some crucial selection considerations to be made before tomorrow’s game in Auckland.

Orissa capped a memorable campaign by defeating Assam by nine wicketsto finish on top in the East Zone Ranji Trophy table on Saturday. Onthe penultimate day of the four day match at the Tinsuria DistrictSports Association stadium in Assam, Orissa after gaining a firstinnings lead of 174 runs, dismissed Assam for 188 in their secondknock. They then scored the required 18 runs for the loss of onewicket and the eight points they garnered from this match saw them endwith 29 points from their four games. They won three games – includinga victory over Bengal for the first time in 43 years – and took firstinnings points in the other.In the morning, Orissa with Gautam Gopal finishing on 85 not out,stretched their first innings lead. Gopal faced 77 balls and hit 12fours and three sixes. Ganesh Kumar picked up two of the three wicketsto fall on Saturday and finished with five for 67.In the Assam second innings, Debasish Mohanty was again in splendidform and took five wickets for 39 runs. Assam failed to capitalise ona good start. First openers Parag Das (45) and Subhrajit Saikia (13)put on 59 runs off 17.5 overs. Then Zakaria Zuffri (46) and SubhadeepGhose (36) added 64 runs for the third wicket off 22.4 overs. Assam atone stage were 126 for two but Mohanty got going and the remainingbatsmen offered little resistance. He was supported by Sanjay Roul (3for 48) while Jaganath Das (2 for 21) removed both the openingbatsmen. Orissa reached their token target in only three overs.

Leeds United correspondent Adam Pope has provided a final update on the club’s appeal over Jean-Kevin Augustin.

The Lowdown: 48 minutes

The French forward arrived at Elland Road in January 2020 on a loan deal, which included an obligation to buy should the Whites earn promotion to the Premier League.

Augustin only played 48 minutes for Leeds, who eventually won the Championship after football stopped due to the pandemic.

Leeds are yet to pay RB Leipzig £18m for Augustin despite being ruled to by FIFA and have appealed the decision to The Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Latest: Hearing complete

CAS listened to both clubs in Switzerland on Tuesday, with Leipzig ‘very confident’ after the four-hour hearing.

Pope posted on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, revealing the hearing has been completed and a verdict is awaited, which could take up to two months.

“I understand that the CAS hearing is now complete and that a verdict is awaited. This can take anything up to a few months under the internal processes at CAS.”

The Verdict: Now we wait…

Considering Leeds earned promotion in July 2020, it may well be just shy of two years on until we learn a final decision on Augustin.

Sky Sports Germany have suggested that Leeds will need to pay a 5% interest on each of their three separate €7m payments should they lose, whereas Phil Hay has claimed there is scope for a further appeal in ‘very rare’ circumstances.

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It looks as if everyone associated with the club will need to sit tight for the time being, with Andrea Radrizzani potentially needing to write a hefty cheque for a player who didn’t even play an hour of football for the club.

In other news: Leeds forward has now suffered recurrence of foot injury as second scan confirms issue. 

Test discard Shadab Kabir slammed 105 and fellow opener Shahid Afridi smashed 88 off 63 balls to guide Karachi Whites to a commanding 299 for three on the second day of Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the KRL Stadium on Tuesday.At stumps, Hasan Raza was batting on 73 with Saeed bin Nasir (2).Islamabad lost their last wicket after adding 11 runs to their overnight score of 196 for nine.Shadab and Afridi put together an opening stand of 114 as they punished Islamabad’s mediocre bowling at will. Afridi produced his trademark strokes that included 13 fours and a six each against Bilal Rana Rauf Akbar. He reached 50 off just 40 balls in 70 minutes (7x4s). The Test opener fell 12 short of his century when he snared by Bilal Rana while attempting an aggressive shot and was well caught at short mid-wicket by Rao Iftikhar.After putting on 50 for the second wicket with Zeeshan Pervez (24), Shadab was involved in another century stand with Hasan Raza. The pair added 124 runs in 164 minutes for the third before Shadab was adjudged leg before wicket to Bilal Rana just before stumps.Shadab’s knock included 12 boundaries and a six. Hasan Raza was also in belligerent mood in the first half of his innings when took 71 balls to reach his 50 that included nine fours. His 217-minute innings includes 12 fours.

Denmark enjoyed a successful tour of Kenya, winning all four matches played with one washed out. Although they have been playing representative sides – the main Kenyan squad has been in action against Canada – the results have still been impressive.Denmark kicked off with a six-wicket win over a Mombasa Representative XI at Mombasa Sports Club (all games were played on the coast), bowling the home side out for 104 and then Carsten Pedersen’s unbeaten 42 anchoring the chase.The second game against a Nairobi Representative XI produced an even more emphatic win – 87 runs – as Freddie Klokker (129) and Mickey Lund (57) put on 120 for the first wicket as Denmark piled up 298 for 7. The Nairobi side were always off the pace.The third game was rained off, but in the fourth Denmark again batted and scored 253, Klokker and Lund again getting the innings off to a good start. Whereas in the previous match the Nairobi side had got bogged down, this time they opted for all-out – some might say careless – attack and paid the price, being bowled out for 101.The last match against Kenya A was limited to a 30-over-a-side affair as the Danes had a flight to catch. Stuck in, Kenya A reached 157 for 7, a target overtaken in the penultimate over.

Zimbabwe Cricket have been fined $US 50,400 by a Harare court for breaching the country’s foreign exchange laws.Between November 2004 and September last year Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) paid a British television company, Octagon CSI, $US 1.3 million for advertising and marketing services. And although the board committed the offence to further the interests of the sport in the country, they breached a recently introduced law. Given the record inflation and shortage of essential supplies in the country, foreign payments now need approval from the central bank.The board were also charged with a second offence when they switched their advertising contract from 7Cs, based in South Africa, to Gameplan Limited in India.”The accused (ZC) then directed Gameplan Limited to pay US$ 75,000 to 7Cs for breach of contract without the permission of the exchange control authority,” Obi Mabahwana, the state prosecutor, told the court. The board was also accused of paying $US 42,930 in college fees for three players and a manager’s daughter who were pursuing studies overseas.

Zimbabwe cricketers Vusi Sibanda, Waddington Mwayenga and national team manager Babu Meman today escaped with fines after being found guilty in Harare for contravening the country’s foreign-exchange regulations.The conviction of the three, for committing similar offences to those ZC chairman Peter Chingoka and managing director Ozias Bvute were cleared of earlier in the week, has raised concerns about the political sensitivity of the crisis in Zimbabwe cricket. The office of Zimbabwe’s Attorney General this week declined to lay charges against Chingoka and Bvute, but the state went on to prosecute the players and Meman for getting paid externally by ZC.In passing the sentence, the magistrate-court judge admitted that ZC had the moral blame since it was its obligation to expatriate money from abroad and pay the employees in Zimbabwe, therefore the three’s case was a technical offence. Sibanda was fined Zim$800 000 ($11), Mwayenga $400 000 ($5), and Meman $1 million ($13).Beatrice Mtetwa, the trio’s lawyer, said she would appeal to the High Court to have her clients’ conviction and sentences set aside until the state has made a final decision on Chingoka and Bvute.Although the pair were released after Sobuza Gula-Ndebele, the Attorney General, ruled there were no charges for them to answer, it is reported that the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is deeply unhappy with the outcome and has raised those concerns at a high level of government. The RBZ investigation into Zimbabwe Cricket is due to report soon, and there is speculation that it could trigger more action.It is also widely reported that Tatenda Taibu, the former Zimbabwe captain who quit over the refusal of Chingoka and Bvute to resign from ZC, met with Robert Mugabe before he left to play club cricket in Bangladesh. Mugabe is a patron of ZC.

Scorecard
Andre Adams unleashed a career-best bowling performance to take 6 for25 as Wellington plummeted 107 all out on the fourth morning of their State Championship match at Eden Park today. The win kept Auckland squarely on top of the Championship ladder, the only points they have conceded in four rounds being the first innings points in this match to Wellington.Adams finished the match with 10 wickets for 118 runs, his first10-wicket haul, and fired himself back into international consideration with Jacob Oram having suffered a back strain that may be a stress fracture.Wellington had no response to his assault and Auckland, instead offacing a potential 300-plus run chase needed only to score 207 forvictory. Neal Parlane’s 41 was the only score of note in a sorryWellington effort which, as defending champion, highlighted the holdAuckland have taken on the championship this year.In their quest for runs, Matt Horne was to the fore again with 75before he was caught behind by Iain O’Brien. But Lou Vincent and AaronBarnes steadied the innings and took the side through to a comfortablevictory. While Barnes was dismissed just before the win was recorded,his 28 backed Vincent’s patient 53 in 144 minutes, and it was left forTama Canning to hit one six in his eight to see Auckland home by sixwickets.Jayesh Patel was the main source of concern for the Auckland batsmen ashe took 3 for 65. But the final target was too few for Wellington to betruly able to apply the pressure and Auckland confirmed their status asthe front runners in the championship this year.

Stuart MacGill: the second fiddle conducts his orchestra © Getty Images

Just after Rahul Dravid had square-driven Brad Williams for his first four, Shane Warne took his eyes off the television set on which he has been following golf, and bellowed, as if to exhort Steve Waugh, “come on, bring on Stuart MacGill.” There were two messages there. One, Warne reckons Dravid is suspect against legspin. Two, he rates MacGill as a legspinner.Warne and MacGill, merchants of the same craft, peddling their ware in a market where there is room for only one, share a complex relationship, based on mutual respect and fierce competitiveness. Had he been playing for any other country, MacGill, with 137 wickets from 27 Tests at an average of 26, would have been a treasure. In Australia, he is a spare tyre for Warne, under whose towering shadow he is condemned to conduct his career.A couple of days ago, I asked MacGill about how he dealt with this denial, whether he managed to avoid bitterness about his condition? MacGill smiled wryly. “I would have been really bitter if it was a lesser bowler keeping me out. But Shane is a colossus. Arguably the greatest spinner ever. It is just unfortunate that my career happened to coincide with his.”A couple of months from now, MacGill will be competing with Warne for his Test berth again, and that Warne will win his place back is almost a forgone conclusion. MacGill admits it himself, but he says that the pressure hasn’t been any less in Warne’s absence. “When Shane started his 12-month holiday, I felt more pressure because I became the number one spin bowler [in Australia]. Now if Shane does come back for the first Test in Sri Lanka that would mean I have three Tests to go and I probably wouldn’t play again. Shane Warne is the best wristspinner to walk the planet.”A admirable philosophy certainly, but ask him if he has had to play second fiddle to Warne because he doesn’t possess Warne’s variety, and MacGill can’t help a hint of sarcasm about his rival’s supposed repertoire. “As much as spin bowlers like to talk about mystery balls and things, the fact is that there are only a certain amount of deliveries that you can produce. Your wrist has probably 270 degrees of angle that you can maneovre and that is the variety. I think I have a reasonable command over the angles of the wrist. If I choose not to bowl certain deliveries, it is because I don’t believe that they will contribute to my cause. For instance, people asked me why I didn’t bowl more googlies in the last Test. It is because I did not think it was a good idea at the time.”I am happy with the way I am bowling and I am struggling to find any other area I can improve on. I don’t really know what else I can do to improve my position. If Shane comes back and plays instead of me, that will be a real shame. But that is just the way it goes.”It is a matter of record that in the matches that they have bowled together MacGill has outshone Warne. But he wouldn’t read too much into it. “To be honest, whenever we have bowled together, Shane has either been coming back from an injury, or going out with one,” he says. But he believes that the idea of two spinners bowling together is not an outrageous one. “We have showed on a few occasions that it can work.”Honesty doesn’t desert him when you ask him to rate his chances against the touring Indians. “The only thing that might work in my favour is that the Indian batsmen like to dominate spin bowlers. If they feel the need to get on top of of me, I might have a bit of a sniff. Otherwise I will have to look for some wickets from the tailenders. As long as I raise an eyebrow amongst their batsmen from time to time, it will be great for me. That is all I am trying to do.”Great players of spin bowling are not deceived off the wicket. People talk about how much I turn the ball. But in this particular series, I believe that will be inconsequential. Maybe, only the tail will be deceived off the pitch. A great player of spin bowling will only be deceived if there is subtle variation. It will really test me out because generally speaking I am not all that subtle.” Sambit Bal, the editor of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine and Wisden Cricinfo in India, will be following the Indian team throughout this Test series.

Results from day six of the national Under-17 tournament in Napier today with the first day of a two-day game:Central Districts 165 (H Beaumont 40, M Sim 35, D O’Sullivan 26; C Smith 4-21, M Rutherford 3-44) met Otago 89/3 (H King 27 not out, S Simpson 26; D McDonald 2-12).Canterbury 341/8 (T Astle 131 not out, R Hurring 59, L O’Sullivan 55; S McKay 2-67) met Auckland.Northern Districts 198 (B Hurrell 60, T Davis 42, B Wilson 30; M Houghton 3-19, L Chrisp 2-18) met Wellington 93/3 (J Newdick 37, C Spring 16 not out, M Martin 15 not out; A Devicich 1-23).