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Even a decade ago, cricket groundsmen would have laughed at the idea that knowledge of fireworks, logo painting and the chemical deterrence of dew would be an essential part of their craft.But these issues are all on the agenda of the New Zealand Sports Turf Conference and Trade Show, being held in Rotorua this week.More than 300 people involved in the turf management industry are in attendance, with cricket strongly represented.Some of the machinery on display looks like a by-product of the space programme, with computers and lasers seemingly more common than forks and spades. Delegates were reminded that things used to be very different by the reminiscences of Gary Walklin, formerly groundsman at McLean Park, Napier.Walklin’s first job in turf management was to be given sole charge of 15 cricket blocks and an equal number of practice wickets at Hagley Park in Christchurch, more than 30 years ago. His only qualification was a love of cricket, his only training a week spent with his predecessor. Equipped with tools that were little better than farm cast-offs, he learned as he went along.While agreeing that the development of scientific methods, hi-tech equipment, specialist grasses and training programmes have been of great value to groundsmen, Walklin does not believe that the trade has become easier.”I know of no other job that has so many people reporting on your performance. Umpires and managers report on the pitch, while players and the media are increasingly critical.”When Gary Walklin entered the industry the only bar chart he came across was probably a list of beers available at the end of a hard day’s work. Now, they are part of a detailed package of information that groundsmen have to study before working on the turf.Bill Walmsley of the New Zealand Turf Institute produced a bewildering array of graphs and charts in response this question, posed at the start of his talk.”Why isn’t every pitch you produce as good as the best you have ever produced?”Quality control and understanding of the scientific principles at work in the soil was Walmsley’s answer, with the maintenance of good moisture levels throughout the preparation period the key. This is necessary for the achievement of the compaction needed for good bounce.As curator of the WACA ground in Perth, Richard Winter is an authority on the production of fast, bouncy pitches. The WACA is considered the best Test pitch in the world, by Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, at least.Formerly at the altogether slower-paced Eden Park, Winter described the process of producing a Test pitch. He acknowledged that the Western Australian climate and unique clay soils are considerable advantages.The secret of producing the extra pace that causes batsmen around the world to wake up screaming in the middle of the night apparently lies in rolling the pitch quickly while it is covered in a thin mist of dampness. This reduces friction to a minimum.It came as a relief to those delegates becoming bamboozled by the complex science of modern day pitch preparation that Winter’s method for testing the moisture content of his pitches is simply to push a screwdriver into the ground to see how far it goes.Trevor Jackson is responsible for pitch preparation at the new National Stadium on Wellington’s waterfront, and at the Basin Reserve. He illustrated the problems faced by groundsmen at multi-use venues by presenting the February 2001 schedule for the National Stadium.A period of less than three weeks began and ended with ODIs. Between these important games, the venue staged the World Rugby Sevens – two whole days of intensive punishment for the turf – followed by an Australian Rules contest.Each of the sports took no account of the time needed to prepare for the others, and were very precise about their own needs.The Australians were most demanding. It was inconceivable that their game should proceed unless every blade of grass was exactly 22mm long. There was to be no covering of the cricket block, a stipulation that would have been disastrous for the production of a decent pitch had there been bad weather. They were even unhappy with the pattern created by the mowing. It had to be redone.Consideration is being given to reducing the block at the stadium from five to two pitches. This should make it easier and cheaper to maintain quality. Cricketers, who resent rugby being played on cricket blocks, can forget that rugby players dislike it just as much, sometimes finding them dangerously hard and slippery.By implication, a decision to reduce the size of the block at the National Stadium would be good news for those keen to retain international cricket at the Basin Reserve.Before the forthcoming season, Jackson faces another problem. 14,000 people on the outfield at a Robbie Williams concert. “At least that will get rid of the winter poa build-up” he wryly remarked.Tomorrow, CricInfo will report on the solutions offered by modern technology to the problems of crowded schedules and the growing commercial and media demands that can get in the way of the production of top-class playing surfaces.

Guyana Cricket Board has made assurances that the pitch at the Providence Stadium will be ready for the first Test against Sri Lanka despite the warm-up match between the Sri Lankans and a Guyana President’s Select XI to be played at the same venue.The tour game, scheduled between March 17 and 19, was to be played at Bourda but heavy rain left the ground waterlogged and the board was forced to shift it to the Providence Stadium, which will host its first-ever Test on March 22.”After Bourda was under water for several days we consulted the West Indies Cricket Board about using the National Stadium [ Providence Stadium] for the warm-up match and we were told once we do not use the same pitch it would be fine and the pitch we are using [for the warm-up game] is two pitches away from the one we will be using for the Test match,” said Chetram Singh, the Guyana board president.Singh said groundsmen will work overtime to get the Test pitch ready in time. “We started the preparations for the Test match earlier than usual so we will ensure that the three day match will not disturb the Test pitch to a level of Test match readiness.”Ticket sales picked up on Friday after two days of little rain and much sunshine, according to Singh. “We’re hoping from Monday that the sales will pick up further with additional publicity and the cricket fever kicking in with the public knowing that the Sri Lankans are here.”The confusion we usually have at Bourda at the gates and so on, we don’t see that confusion at the [Providence] stadium. Parking facilities will be much better at the stadium because there is a huge parking space in front the stadium and because the stadium was constructed to specific ICC regulations the entire running of cricket at the stadium is going to be much easier.”

The performance evaluation committee (PEC), formed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to look into Pakistan’s dismal World Cup performance, questioned several players and officials in Karachi.Wasim Bari, former chief selector, Younis Khan and legspinner Danish Kaneria, as well as former selector Iqbal Qasim and fast bowler Mohammad Sami, were all questioned.The players and officials were asked to record their views about the poor performance in the World Cup and also asked for suggestions for the improvement of domestic cricket.Talking to reporters after his session with the committee, Sami blamed the team for a lack of application in the Caribbean.”Our batting, bowling and fielding, all were miserable in our short stint in the West Indies and all the team members are responsible for the team’s early exit from the event,” he said.Kaneria, however, spoke about the failure of Pakistan’s batsmen, while also expressing surprise over his exclusion for the Ireland game. Pakistan’s defeat in that game, their second in a row, condemned them to an early exit from the tournament.The committee, having already questioned several big names including Inzamam-ul-Haqand Mushtaq Ahmed, will carry out their next assessments in Lahore. Ijaz Butt, chairman, said the committee will finish their assignment in the next seven days before submitting their final recommendations to the PCB.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were crowned champions of the 2005-06 Pentangular Cup Cricket Championship, after they defeated Karachi Harbour by an overwhelming margin of an innings and 181 runs on the third day of their four-day match at the Gaddafi Stadium.Needing only a draw with the first-innings lead to clinch the title ahead of Faisalabad, who had finished their four matches with a tally of 27 points, NBP took their overall total to 33 with wins in all four appearances and claimed their third Pentangular trophy.After their massive first-innings score of 513 had given them a big advantage of 264, NBP bundled out Karachi Harbour for only 83 in their second outing to romp to an innings triumph.Mohammad Sami was virtually unplayable as he captured six wickets for 48 runs in 8.5 overs, to give him a match haul of 9 for 121. He and Wasim Khan bowled unchanged as the Karachi team tumbled. Wasim collected 10 wickets in the match for a mere 82 runs, following his first innings 6 for 57 with another splendid performance that fetched him 4 for 25.NBP, who needed just 16.5 overs in the second innings to get rid of the Karachi Harbour line-up, thus added the Pentangular Cup title to the Patron’s Trophy Championship they had won earlier in the season. The high-profile Pentangular Cup tournament has been revived after the lapse of a decade, the last such contest having been played back in 1995-96. Of the 12 competitions given the title of the Pentangular over the years starting from 1973-74, NBP have won twice — in 1974-75 and then again in 1994-95.Resuming at their overnight 427 for 8, with a first-innings lead of 178 runs, NBP continued to bat on. Imran Javed, the allrounder, missed what would have been his second century in consecutive innings by just five runs. His 95 came off 156 balls in three-and-a-half hours with 13 fours and two sixes.Following his 87-run eighth-wicket partnership with Mohammad Sami (43), Imran then joined hands with Wasim Khan (33) as a further 73 runs were added for the ninth wicket. Wasim faced only 54 balls and hit five fours.Karachi Harbour suffered further as they went into the match with only four regular bowlers. Atif Maqbool, the offspinner, though, bowled his heart out, taking four wickets for 125 in 25.5 overs. For NBP, Sami excelled with the ball, taking 26 wickets at only 15.84 runs apiece while Wasim Khan bagged 24 at an average of 15.62. Naumanullah, their captain, who was named best batsman of the competition, made more runs than anybody else, his 354 including two centuries as he averaged 59 per innings.The Pentangular Cup tournament marked the end of Pakistan’s 2005-06 first-class season. Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, was present at the final awards ceremony at the end of yesterday’s match, which ended with a day to spare. He handed over the Pentangular Cup to Naumanullah plus the whopping sum of Rs 600,000. Faisalabad, runners-up of the Pentangular tournament as well as in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Championship Gold League earlier in the season, got Rs 300,000 as their reward.

Samir Inamdar, a Mombasa-based solicitor, who waged a long war against the Kenya Cricket Association, was on Sunday elected the new chairman of the trouble-ridden national body.Inamdar, 46, defeated his sole challenger Salim Dhanji in a close-fought race during elections supervised by African Cricket Association officials. The former Kenya national captain Tom Tikolo withdrew after failing to get proposed for the seat.Inamdar, who also served as a member of the government-backed Cricket Kenya, set up to replace the disbanded KCA board in February, said his committee would work to correct the mess created by the outgoing officials.”Kenyan cricket has suffered greatly. We have seen so much split,” Inamdar said. “We allowed cricket to be taken hostage by people who did not have the mandate as representatives of the clubs. This is a new beginning,” he added.Percy Sonn, the ICC vice-president, who had assisted the ACA in seeking a resolution, said the crisis had resulted in a wasted opportunity for the country. “It’s a proud moment for African cricket,” said Sonn, the South African who is expected to take over from Ehsan Mani as the ICC president next year.

Justin Langer has been cleared by the match referee, Chris Broad, of a possible breach of the ICC’s code of conduct, after being reported by umpiresSteve Bucknor and David Orchard for an on-field incident during the third day of the Colombo Test between Sri Lanka and Australia.Langer attended a disciplinary inquiry after the close of play on Friday night, following a bizarre incident during the morning session, when Australia belatedly appealed for a hit-wicket decision against Hashan Tillakaratne. The umpires referred the decision to the third umpire to verify how Tillakaratne’s bail had been dislodged.The television pictures showed that Langer dislodged the bail with his hand while he crossed over the pitch to take up a new fielding position for the right-handed Thilan Samaraweera. Langer insisted that he did not intentionally flick off the bail.”Justin was disappointed that the charge was brought and explained his position in a very honest and succinct way,” said Broad, following a hearing attended by Langer, Ricky Ponting, Steve Bernard (Australia’s team manager), and the three match umpires. “He was, however, reminded that in future to steer clear of any instances such as this.”

On the first match-free day of the World Cup, South Africans were yesterday left to contemplate the unthinkable – their team being on the verge of first-round elimination.Ironically, their chances of survival now depend on West Indies, whose victory over them in the tournament opener triggered the problem that was compounded by their loss to New Zealand on Sunday.Providing neither are upset in their remaining matches against lesser teams in the group, South Africa’s slim chance hinges on West Indies beating group leaders Sri Lanka at Newlands in Cape Town on February 28.Even then, they would have to follow up by beating the Sri Lankans in their final match in Durban three days later.It is a combination that prompted yesterday’s Cape Argus newspaper to suggest the South African crowd would be even more firmly behind West Indies than usual in the Sri Lankan match."Newlands fans backing West Indies is an unlikely scenario but desperate times require unusual methods," he wrote. "It would not be strange, then, to see the usually green-clad Newlands fans decked out in maroon."The South African Press yesterday highlighed the depression hanging over their team’s prospects, most using as a metaphor the weather that meant Sunday’s match against New Zealand had to be decided by the Duckworth/Lewis method.Gloomy Forecast ran the front page banner headline in the Joahnnesburg Star, superimposed on a picture of the rain clouds banking over the floodlit Wanderers ground."South Africa’s dream of winning the World Cup is being held together by sticky tape and prayers," wrote Kevin McCallum in The Star.Quoting South African captain Shaun Pollock’s comment: "We’ve got to hope, we need a lifeline", McCallum added: "There will be 40 million South Africans clinging on to that same hope and looking for that lifeline over the next couple of weeks."Writing in the Cape Times, Michael Owen-Smith offered some cheer. He noted that, at present, South Africa’s net run rate was superior to the rest and that "teams that have barely scraped through the first round have tended to go on to win the tournament".He cited 1992 when Pakistan made it into the second round only because rain gained them a share of the points against England and yet went on to win the Cup and 1999 when Australia lost two of their first-round matches before taking the championship.The form of Alan Donald, their greatest, but aging, fast bowler, and the overall quality of bowling that has conceded totals of 278 for five off 50 overs against West Indies and 229 for one off 36.5 overs against New Zealand are also under the microscope.

New Zealand’s pool for the World Cup in 2003 will depend on how the side does in the tri-series with Sri Lanka and India next month, and its One-Day Internationals with Pakistan in September.If the draw was made today, New Zealand would be in the same section as: South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh, Kenya and the third-placed team from the ICC Trophy tournament starting in Toronto later this week.On the other side of the draw would be: Australia, Pakistan, India, the West Indies, Zimbabwe and the first and second-placed teams from the ICC Trophy.The final pool allocations could be significant in the hunt for the $US5million up for grabs by the leading sides.International captains have been asked to recommend a suitable breakdown of prizemoney for the tournament.New Zealand coach David Trist, who will stand down from his position in September, said that sort of draw would be “wonderful” from New Zealand’s view.”South Africa are the host team with the advantage of playing at home and it would be good to play them early in the tournament.”Sri Lanka have a poor record away from home, particularly when playing on bouncy wickets as we have seen and England, well, we all know about them.”It would be excellent,” he said.The final draw of pools and games will be made at the end of October while countries will be allocated a South African base on August 20.The opening match of the tournament will be on February 7 in Cape Town and will involve South Africa, and the final will be played in Johannesburg on Wednesday, March 19.On all but two of the 22 days of the preliminary pool group round two matches will be played.In the Super Six round the nine matches will be played over nine days. Semifinals will be played in Port Elizabeth on Friday, March 14 and Durban on March 15.The news that most of New Zealand’s games were likely to be day matches, to suit television coverage potential in New Zealand would be advantageous.”At night you can struggle with the elements in the form of dew. It is an imponderable and it makes what to do at the toss a difficult one.”But New Zealand will have a matured team by then and it will be ready with depth and quality in the side,” he said.Matches have been categorised. The 24 category A matches, those involving the Super Six games, the semis and the final as well as pool matches involving South Africa and Sri Lanka will be played at the six Test match centres.In category B there are 18 pool matches, mainly those by Test nations against the three Associate Members and Kenya will be played at six non-Test grounds while the four category C matches between the Association Members will be played at Test match centres to allow the associate players to play on South Africa’s famous Test match grounds.

Finally, in his 22nd innings of the season, Ed Joyce had a Championship century to cheer•Getty Images

Ed Joyce has been emblematic of Sussex’s uncertain season. The club captain ended 2014 as the second highest run-scorer in Division One, and with more centuries than anyone else in the country. For Ireland in the World Cup, he acquired the role of not merely batting talisman but de facto spokesman for the entire associate world, pummeling the West Indies and Zimbabwe on the pitch and myopic administration off it.Such assertiveness has been absent from his return to county cricket. Joyce’s first 21 innings of the season brought copious starts but just two half-centuries and no hundreds. Nestled in those statistics, together with the spate of pace bowling injuries Sussex have suffered, is a large part of the explanation of why the club lie eighth in Division One.Joyce began this innings against Yorkshire resembling a man who has made few runs of late. His opening partnership with Luke Wells began at a funereal rate, scoring at under two an over for the first 20 overs. But what mattered was they survived, even as Wells was almost run out in the first over and Joyce narrowly avoided edging an egregious swipe at a wide ball from Tim Bresnan, promoting much chuntering from the Sussex fans.It took the introduction of Adil Rashid’s legspin for Joyce to reacquaint himself with the more intrepid style that he credited his form last year. A delivery on his pads was clipped over long on for six; two balls later Joyce essayed a pristine drive through the covers for four.Belatedly the Hove crowd was treated to the Joyce they have become so accustomed to: driving languidly through the offside, manipulating any width by playing the ball late with his supple wrists, and occasionally giving notice of his power. At 5:47, Joyce took two decisive steps down the wicket and lofted Rashid down the ground for six. Finally, he had his first Championship century of the summer.Joyce’s duel with Rashid, unwavering in his determination to flight the ball even as he was attacked, provided the most intoxicating cricket of the game so far. Even as Joyce scored freely off him, hitting 44 off 45 balls he faced from Rashid, he was never unperturbed by the legspinner.”He was threatening to get me out – he had a bit of rough to bowl into and he’s a very good bowler,” Joyce said. “I always feel with someone like that you have to keep scoring.” Yet the approach eventually cost Joyce his wicket when, to his evident chagrin, he flicked Rashid rather tamely to short leg just after reaching his century.This performance distilled the essence of Rashid. Operating from the Sea End, the end preferred by Mushtaq Ahmed, Rashid erred both in bowling too full and too short, and dragged the ball down the legside too often to boot. Yet, on a rather turgid wicket, Rashid was by a distance Yorkshire’s most threatening bowler, for all the discipline their seamers displayed. When Wells and Joyce had added a hundred for the opening wicket, Rashid reawakened the game from its slumber, uprooting Wells’ offstump with a delivery that seemed to turn less than the batsman envisaged and then inducing Matt Machan to poke his second ball to short leg.Asked whether Rashid was ready for Test cricket, Joyce gave an emphatic “yes”. “Like any legspinner he bowls bad balls, but he bowls wicket-taking balls. The real attraction with him is the fact he’s a very, very fine batsman as well.”Rashid is not the only Tyke playing at Hove with designs on a place in England’s Test squad for the trip to the UAE. While Yorkshire’s England contingent were struggling at The Oval, Gary Ballance brought up his century from the tenth ball of the day, nudging Ollie Robinson through midwicket for four. After a rather turbulent summer it was a significant moment in Ballance’s career. That his celebration eschewed histrionics reflected the understated manner of the man.Thereafter Ballance became increasingly contemptuous of Sussex’s spin options – or lack thereof. He used his feet to smear Chris Nash down the ground for four, and then lifted him over long on for six. It was a matter of considerable surprise when his offstump was uprooted by extra pace from Chris Liddle, though by that point Ballance had made 50 more than Adam Lyth’s tally in nine innings against Australia this summer.”It’s been a tough few weeks, but that gave me a bit of confidence,” Ballance said. “You’ve got to be mentally strong to back your own game and what’s got you here. That’s what I’ve done.” He has not pushed to bat at three, the position he occupied for England until being dropped after the second Ashes Test. “I don’t really mind where I bat. I’ve always said that when I play for Yorkshire I’ll bat wherever they want me to. I’m happy to bat at five if they want me to, but if they want me to bat three next game, I’ll do that.”For most of the morning the tannoy’s announcement that the Yorkshire President Dickie Bird had mislaid his cap was the most Sussex fans had to cheer about, as Bresnan combined with Ballance to add 197 runs for the seventh wicket, a Yorkshire record against Sussex. The day ended with the whereabouts of Bird’s cap still unknown, but the destination of the Division One title is rather less of a mystery.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Mornè Morkel, with a five-for in his second Test, and Dale Steyn were thedestroyers as Bangladesh were knocked over for 192 soon after tea on theopening day, but a stirring fightback inspired by Shahadat Hossain andMohammad Rafique left the match intriguing poised when play was called offwith eight overs still to be bowled. By then, South Africa had stumbled to76 for 4, with Ashwell Prince and Johan Botha holding fort on a pitch thatwas already showing signs of misbehaving.The key wicket, as is so often the case when South Africa play, was thatof Jacques Kallis. Having repeatedly exposed his stumps to the probing left-armspin of Rafique, he had no answer when one turned and kept appallinglylow. At one stage, with Hashim Amla and Kallis adding 35, it looked asthough South Africa had overcome the early Shahadat-induced wobble, butRafique accounted for Amla as well, trapping him plumb in front with onethat came in with the arm.Graeme Smith had inside-edged one on to his leg stump and Neil McKenzie, openingin place of the dropped Herschelle Gibbs, was rapped in front by one thatangled back in. Shahadat bowled an inspired spell, and could have hadKallis as well, but a muted appeal when the ball struck pad before batdidn’t quite convince the umpire.The batting debacle took the sheen off a superb bowling display from SouthAfrica’s callow pace bowlers. Steyn, so devastating during the homeseason, dealt the first blows. Spot on with his first ball of the match,the second looped back to his left after Tamim Iqbal had inside edged onto his pad. Steyn reacted smartly on his follow through to hold on.In his next over, more success, as Junaid Siddique hung his bat out at onethat slanted across him, and Mark Boucher dived across Smith at first slip tohold on to the catch. More uncomfortable moments followed, with Makhaya Ntini andSteyn testing the batsmen with short deliveries, but Shahriar Nafees gavethe crowd some solace with a crisp pull and square-drive off Steyn.Habibul Bashar pulled Ntini for a boundary, but looked out of sortsotherwise, and the introduction of Morkel sent him speedily in thedirection of the pavilion. Considering that he’s a former captain and themost senior batsman in the side, it was a wretched shot, a nothing waftoutside off stump, and McKenzie held a low chance in front of him at awide third slip.Stodgy defiance hasn’t been a characteristic of Bangladeshi batting inrecent times, and Mohammad Ashraful’s approach when he arrived at thecrease was indicative of a cavalier mindset. An edge for four got himgoing, and when Morkel then pitched too full, he clipped one effortlesslythrough midwicket for four.Ntini has seldom been a factor on subcontinent pitches, and Ashrafulcapitalised on his more predictable offerings with a superb square-driveand a meaty pull. At the other end, Nafees was alternately watchful andattacking before Morkel turned out to be too good for him.A full delivery was driven superbly through the covers, but the next ballangled across and deviated away. The hesitant push flew to Smith, andSouth Africa had four wickets for just 60. Ashraful continued undaunted,lacing a couple of lovely drives, but Botha’s introduction on the strokeof lunch proved a masterstroke.

Ashraful drove and cut for fours before impetuously whacking a lofteddelivery straight back to the bowler. That left Bangladesh in disarray at82 for 5, with Aftab Ahmad and Shakib Al Hasan having to shoulder thepost-lunch burden.They did so for well over an hour, with a combination of pluck and luck.Shakib started with a gorgeous straight drive off Ntini, and followed upwith two more crisp strokes through the off side. There were hints ofinexperience too, though, with an ill-judged paddle sweep off Botha barelymissing the stumps off the inside edge.Aftab had eschewed his normal flamboyance to knuckle down, but as thesession wore on, the frustration became palpable. Something had to give,and it did with Aftab playing an appalling shot to Botha after having gotto 44. Ntini took the catch at mid-off, and South Africa soon had muchmore to celebrate.His departure appeared to upset Shakib’s composure too, and when Morkelangled one across, he edged to a wide second slip where AB de Villiersheld on to a sharp chance. Rafique lasted just one ball, with SteveBucknor taking an age to raise the finger after a thick inside edge on tothe pad. Crucially though, Mashrafe Mortaza, with a breezy 29, andMushfiqur Rahim added 40 for the ninth wicket before Morkel and Steynreturned to scatter stumps.At that stage, it was very much South Africa’s day, but the 24 oversbefore stumps suggested that repeating their success in Pakistan lastOctober may not be so straightforward after all.