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Auckland coach Wally Stamp believes that “business as usual” is the key to his unbeaten side winning a historic State League “three-peat” on Sunday at Eden Park’s Outer Oval.Auckland, the defending champions, have performed strongly in all key areas of the game over the past three weeks.”We’ve looked after our own game and made sure that our focus was on individual performance and our own team standards, rather than the mental application or any other weakness in opposing teams,” he said.”Our approach to the final is exactly the same. It never mattered to us who we’d be playing, because our focus has always been on looking after our own game to the best of our ability.”Stamp is expecting a good batting track aided by a fine weather forecast. The final will be played on the same pitch used by Auckland in the men’s State Shield earlier this month in which the side batting first made 275 runs before rain caused an abandonment.That’s good news for the unbeaten Aucklanders’ star batsman Emily Drumm. Drumm is in peak form, coming off an outstanding century against State Northern Spirit last Saturday.Auckland’s bowling line-up has also dominated the competition with Debbie Ramsay leading the attack, 14 wickets at 10.92. Ramsay will be playing her first final on Sunday after a finger injury kept her out of last season’s final.Meanwhile, Canterbury captain Paula Flannery says her players are determined to lift their game for the most important match of the women’s season.Seventeen-year-old left-arm pace bowler, Rebecca Steele, 14 wickets at 10.85, has topped the round-robin bowling statistics.The star-studded Cantabrian top order has been slow to come into form and further frustrated by a rain-affected summer, but Flannery said the team felt like it had been given a second life when they found out last Sunday that they had just scraped into the final.”We think the Aucklanders have had the title long enough and we’re going to throw everything at them,” says Flannery.”Everyone’s keen to prove that we can pull a victory out of the bag on the day that matters – and we do have a few key players who have been in a number of finals, so we can handle the pressure.”Six of this year’s CLEAR White Ferns are involved in the final, plus New Zealand ‘A’ captain and recent White Fern Emily Travers. This is the last opportunity to see members of the world champions in action before their imminent 2000 CricInfo Women’s World Cup final re-match with beaten finalists Australia in a home-and-away series beginning next month.Auckland are the defending champions and are unbeaten this summer. They have played 10 matches for eight wins and two no results. Before winning the 1999/00 State League final, the Auckland had not won the women’s competition in 26 years.The Canterbury have played 10 matches this summer for five wins, three losses and two no results.The State Canterbury Magicians required maximum points (including bonus points) from their last two matches to make the final, while State Wellington Blaze needed only one point from their last two matches last weekend, but failed.The finalists met twice in round-robin play. The winner on both occasions were the State Auckland Hearts, winning by two wickets and then 99 runs. The latter was a record margin against Canterbury. In last summer’s final Auckland beat Canterbury by five wickets in Christchurch. The year before that, Auckland defeated Canterbury by six wickets at Eden Park.Until 1999/00, the Canterbury had been the champion domestic women’s cricket side every year for a decade, and had dominated a history of inter-provincial competition that now spans over 60 years.Admission is free and host association Auckland Cricket is encouraging the public to bring a picnic and support Auckland’s most successful team this season.The teams are:Auckland: Kathryn Ramel (captain), Ingrid Cronin-Knight, Emily Drumm, Paula Gruber, Kelly Hill, Elfrieda Komp, Michelle Lynch, Debbie Ramsay, Rebecca Rolls, Natalee Scripps, Megan Tyler, Helen Watson.Canterbury: Paula Flannery (captain), Delwyn Brownlee, Sarah Burke, Kirsty Craig, Helen Daly, Maria Fahey, Beth McNeill, Nicola Payne, Hannah Rae, Rebecca Steele, Haidee Tiffen, Emily Travers.

Kerala openers Varun Girilal and MP Sorab made merry at the expense of the Karnataka bowling on the second day of their Coca Cola Trophy South Zone (under-25) tournament group A match at the Maharaja Jayamarajendra Wodeyar Sports Complex in Bangalore on Wednesday. The in form batsmen shared a partnership of 366 runs off 101.2 overs as Kerala scored 410 for three in reply to Karnataka’s first innings total of 264 at close.Resuming at 68 for no loss, Kerala had things pretty much their own way during the day, thanks to the form exhibited by Girilal and Sorab. In the last match against Andhra, Girilal scored 77 while Sorab had carried his bat for 255. On Wednesday, they put the Karnataka bowling to the sword and the first innings lead was obtained without loss after 72.2 overs. Both the batsmen were equally aggressive and even though the Karnataka captain tried out eight bowlers, they just went about decimating the attack. At lunch the score was 199 and at tea it had progressed to 296.Ultimately it took the second new ball taken at 360 after 100 overs to break the partnership. Sorab was the first to be dismissed, caught by Shanbal off medium pacer Sunil Kumar for 183. He batted 430 minutes, faced 337 balls and hit 26 fours and a six. In his next over, Sunil Kumar had Girilal caught by Shanbal for 154. Girilal batted 441 minutes, faced 288 balls and hit 22 fours and a six. Sunil Kumar took a third wicket in his following over dismissing C Sanju for a duck. But CM Shyam with a breezy unbeaten 26 off 20 balls with six hits to the ropes brought up the 400 shortly before close. Sunil Kumar was the only bowler to be somewhat effective and finished with three for 93.

Everton took a heavy defeat in an embarrassing performance from Frank Lampard’s side against Tottenham, and now edge even closer to dropping into the bottom three, potentially suffering their first relegation from top flight football in 71 years.

The Toffees were poor over the entire 90 minutes, not only conceding five goals but also not registering a single shot on target against their opponents throughout, as the side looked lacklustre in every single aspect of their game, both defensively and offensively.

Lampard made changes from his victorious FA Cup clash winning side to freshen up the squad and put more experience in the team ahead of their challenge against Antonio Conte’s Spurs side.

However, adding the experience into the team did not pay off, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin looking a complete shadow of himself after the Everton boss took a risk on the striker by starting him in the game.

Jordan Pickford hardly covered himself in glory throughout the match but their lack of offensive threat was also a big issue, leaving them with no hope of finding the net.

Calvert-Lewin wasn’t certain for a start against Tottenham, but Lampard took to his pre-match press conference on Friday to claim he was “hopeful” that the striker would be available for selection in the Premier League clash. Despite only just coming back from his third injury spell of the season the manager was clearly keen to have him involved in the game.

Ultimately, the 24-year-old was named in the starting XI and it will be a decision the Everton head coach will likely be regretting, after he made very little impact in his 69 minutes played.

He lost possession of the ball in every two touches, had no shots on target, failed in 80% of his ground and aerial duels combined and made only five accurate passes over almost three-quarters of the game according to SofaScore. That was until he was finally benched by his manager to be replaced with Dele Alli.

The fan favourite forward has been struggling to find his shooting boots since he returned to fitness from his long term injury at the turn of the year, and in fact Calvert-Lewin has not scored since the 28th August 2021 against Brighton. That acts as a huge worry considering the side are in a strong position to suffer relegation this term.

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Lampard will be feeling particularly deflated that his players didn’t take the opportunity to steal points away from home on Monday night, and will surely be concerned about the position the Toffees are finding themselves as they edge closer to deeper trouble.

The Merseyside outfit will take on Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend at Goodison Park, and the manager will be hoping the home advantage will give them the edge they need to secure a win after such a poor display against Spurs.

In other news: Lampard must hold on to revitalised Jonjoe Kenny

Daren Ganga, the former West Indies captain, and Pedro Collins, the left-arm medium-pacer, have been added to the West Indies squad for next month’s tour of South Africa. The tour, which includes three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches, begins on December 16, after a five-ODI series against Zimbabwe.Ganga and Collins will replace Narsingh Deonarine and Ravi Rampaul, who will fly back from Zimbabwe. While Collins has not represented West Indies since the home series against India in July 2006, Ganga captained the side for two Test matches during the tour of England in 2007 following Ramnaresh Sarwan’s injury in the second Test. He was, however, omitted for the Natwest Series that followed as well as the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 and failed to find a place in the ODI squad against Zimbabwe even after being named as Trinidad & Tobago’s cricketer of the year. He also lost the vice-captaincy spot to Dwayne Bravo for the tour of Africa.Collins’ last ODI appearance for West Indies dates back to May 2005 but he was part of the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in September. He then signed for Surrey as a Kolpak player, a decision that seemed to put his international career in doubt.Squad Chris Gayle (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Rawl Lewis, Runako Morton, Brenton Parchment, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

Stuart Clark’s dismissal of Andrew Strauss was methodical © Getty Images

Stuart Clark has out-bowled Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee throughout the first three Tests and the thought of being the side’s leading man seems a slightly uncomfortable one. Australia’s two most highly-decorated fast men have made contributions during the series but it has been Clark who has created the extra zip and movement that has caused regular England discomfort.Three wickets today lifted Clark’s tally for the series to 14 and he has quickly grown into an essential member of the side in his third Test campaign. He opened the bowling this morning and again finished with better figures than McGrath and Lee, who each collected two victims. At the end of the day he was even asked if he was now the attack’s leader.”It’s nice to bowl behind them,” Clark said. “Brett puts the wind up them, Glenn puts it on a length, [the batsmen] are under pressure when I get the ball in my hand. Where I see myself is part of a good bowling line-up.”Andrew Strauss was Clark’s first dismissal and while there was doubt over whether he connected with an edge to Adam Gilchrist, there was no question over the bowler’s method. Giving Strauss a big gap through cover, Clark allowed an uppish boundary through the empty region and followed up with a slightly shorter and wider delivery that the batsman swung at wildly. Sajid Mahmood also fell to a Gilchrist catch and Steve Harmison’s dismissal ended the innings with a 29-run lead for the home side.The only batsman to get away from Australia was Kevin Pietersen, who faced largely defensive settings with a group of outfielders protecting the ropes. “If you have all the field up it gives Pietersen more chances to score boundaries,” Clark said. “There’s a fair chance if he plays a big shot he’ll get caught because he hits the ball pretty well. It’s part of modern-day cricket.”Australia were 1 for 119 at stumps, with Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting both 57 not out, and Hayden left the ground pumping his fist at the dressing-room. “We’re in a good position and there’s a lot of excitement about getting ourselves into a position to win the Test,” Clark said. “If we do win then the Ashes will be part of it, but it’s not what we’re focussing on.”

The picturesque Mote cricket ground is part of an 558-acre estate that dates back tothe 13th century, although Mote House, the manor house itself, was constructed inthe latter years of the 18th century. The first Kent County Cricket Club match at TheMote was in 1859, 2 years after the founding of the Mote Cricket Club. However,visits by Kent to The Mote remained sporadic until the beginning of the 20th century,and the development of the cricket ground into the facility it resembles today.The development of Mote Park’s cricket ground was largely motivated by Sir MarcusSamuel, the last private owner of Mote Park, who was later to become 1st ViscountBearstead. 1908 saw the levelling of the playing area to form the middle of threeterraces, with the upper and lower levels becoming rugby pitches. At this time, thewicket was moved to its current position, at right angles to the original orientation.In 1910, the two permanent, enclosed structures present on the ground wereofficially opened. The larger of these is that pavilion, containing the players’ dressingrooms and covered members’ seating. This is an unusually grand structure for acounty out-ground, being a two-level building of brick and wood.It has been extendedfrom the original structure to provide bar and catering facilities. Access to these islimited to staff, members and players. Thankfully, the surrounding fauna softens themodern architecture of these appendages.The smaller building, to the left of the pavilion from the wicket, surrounded by neathedges and low fences, is The Tabernacle. The term “tabernacle” refers amongstother things to a “nonconformist meeting-house” and the architecture of this curiousstructure ceratinly reflects this. The Tabernacle was formerly the private pavilionof Viscount Bearstead, for spectating and entertaining in luxury. In modern times,the building has provided a useful committee room for both the Mote and Kent countycricket clubs when either body is present.There is a small, open stand to the right of the pavilion from the wicket. This is amore modern concrete structure and the underside is used for equipment storage.The scoreboards are small, portable boxes of little known note.Mote Park was sold to Maidstone Borough council by the heir of the late 1st ViscountBearstead in 1928 and it remains partly in their ownership to this day. Mote Househas become a Cheshire Home, part of the charitable organisation founded byLeonard Cheshire, a former member of the Royal Air Force’s 610 (“Dambusters”)squadron. However, in account of the 1st Viscount’s love of the game, his heirpresented the cricket ground to Mote Cricket Club itself. The Tabernacle was givento the Band of Brothers, who in turn reunited it with the rest of the ground under theownership of the Mote Cricket Club in the late 1940s.Apart from restoration work, the ground resembles closely the facility that wasdeveloped in the early years of the 20th century, and provides a picturesque settingreminiscent of the classic picture-postcard portrayal of an English cricket ground.Several events of note have occurred at The Mote in first class cricket. The county’shighest partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket was made there during thenow almost-legendary 1995 season. Kent had signed the tiny Sri Lankan AravindaDeSilva as overseas player for the season, reputedly on more or less the soleinitiative of Mark Benson, the incumbent first team captain. This was a move thatalledgedly even gained him hate mail, DeSilva being deemed unworthy of theposition. However, when an intemperate spring gave way to a tropical summer, thepleasant DeSilva proved to be an inspired signing and by this point in the seasonwas being hailed as a Kent hero, applauded without seemingly actually needing toperform any longer and yet, showing no signs of stopping. This was the thirdconsecutive match in which he made a century, the second consecutive match inwhich he made a double century and the second consecutive match in which he tookpart in a record stand for Kent. He also became the first batsman past 1,000 runsthat season and scored over 100 in both innings. In partnership with GrahamCowdrey (137), who arrived with the score on 54 for 3, the two scored 368, DeSilvabludgeoning the small matter of 255. A wonderful photograph exists of the two arm inarm, celebrating beneath the scoreboard. Within the year, DeSilva was to win theadmiration of the entire cricketing world, with his almost single-handed destruction ofthe mighty Australians in the World Cup final.In 1910, C. Blythe (11 for 95) and the legendary F.E. Woolley (8 for 91) bowledunchanged throughout both innings of the Yorkshire fixture at The Mote, the mostrecent of 2 occasions on which this feat has been performed at the ground. Theprevious occasion was in 1889, also against Yorkshire (W. Wright 9 for 51 andF. Martin 10 for 65).The small playing area of The Mote can make it an interesting venue for one-daycricket. Emotional scenes at The Mote accompanied Kent’s 1976 John Player League(as the 40-over Sunday League competition was then known) victory. Entering the lastround of matches, Kent were the outsiders of 4 teams still capable of winning thetrophy. The BBC recorded each of the contenders’ matches and, to add to thedrama, commissioned a helicopter to act as a real-life “swingometer”, moving thetrophy closer to the ground of the likely winner of the moment. Kent played one ofthe most convincing performances in the history of the league, with Asif Iqbal making106 and Mike Denness, in his final Sunday game both for Kent and as their captain,making 56. Gloucestershire were left facing 279 to win, and barely batted out theirovers to lose by 123 runs. Somerset, the favourites, looked unperturbed for most ofthe afternoon but finished on the receiving end of a shock narrow defeat. Thehelicopter duly made its way to Maidstone and landed on the pitch, delivering thetrophy to the triumphant Denness who, only a week later, played his final game forKent.19 years later, in the 1995 Sunday League, Mark Ealham made the fastest centuryin the history of the 40-over game. Batting at 7 against Derbyshire, Ealham came tothe wicket with Kent, needing to set a good target to remain in contention for thetrophy, having collapsed to 105 for 5 with 14 overs left. To make matters worse, thepitch was offering little help to the bowling. Derbyshire looked to have won already.However, 44 balls later, Ealham passed his hundred, with 9 sixes and 9 fours. Oneach of the three occasions he was dropped, the ball was travelling too fast for thefielder to hold on to. The latter attempted dismissal saw the ball merely fly straight onthrough the fielders’ hands for six. Such batting was later to prove vital, as Kent wontheir first trophy for 17 years by the slimmest of margins, seasonal run rate.On a lighter note, in 1984 The Mote was the scene of pace bowler Kevin Jarvis’ Kenthigh score and his sole first-class six. Jarvis, although twelfth man on two occasionsfor England, is remembered rightly as one of the 10 worst batsmen ever to be seenin county cricket, with twice as many wickets as runs in his long career, and anaverage well below 4. However, a delivery from the former England allrounder GeoffMiller was on this occasion smote rom the ground, on Jarvis’ passage to the dizzyheights of 19.

Inzamam-ul-Haq optimistic of better show in India© Getty Images

Despite going down to Australia in the VB Series finals, Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, drew several positives from the tour and was confident of putting up a better performance in the forthcoming series against India.”It is disappointing to lose the VB series finals 2-0 but I remain optimistic that the boys will show improvement in India, a tour which is very important for us,” said Inzamam. “These last couple of games, we have really worked hard and played good cricket. The India tour is crucial for us. The boys are playing well and hopefully they will continue this.”Pakistan had a poor tour of Australia, losing all three Tests and winning just three games out of eight in the VB Series, while Inzamam’s captaincy was severely criticised, most notably by Imran Khan, who called the team’s performance “spineless”. Their batting was extremely disappointing in the finals, when they failed to chase targets of 238 and 240 in the two matches, but their displays in the field were far more encouraging.Inzamam had earlier indicated that he might step down from captaincy before the Indian tour, but he has since received full backing from Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan board, to lead the side. “I am looking forward to leading the side against India. For the boys any match against them is special. It would be the high point of my career leading the side in the full series in India.”Inzamam’s record as a Test captain is quite ordinary. He has led in ten matches, with just three wins and five losses. He will have an opportunity to improve that statistic in the three-Test series against India, which begins next month.

Glamorgan`s slim hopes of promotion into Division One evaporated under sunny skies in mid-afternoonat Chester-le-Street as the Welsh county slipped from 222-4 to 270 all out on the opening day of their Championshipmatch against Durham at the Riverside ground.Needing to pick up a full compliment of bonus points to remain in the promotion hunt, Glamorgan`s collapse, withthe loss of 6 wickets for 48 runs, meant that they only picked up two batting points.However, the day had begun very promisingly for Glamorgan, and after taking first use of a slow wicket, openersJimmy Maher and Mark Wallace shared an opening stand of 127 before the Australian was dismissed shortly beforelunch for 63. Wallace continued in positive mode after lunch and duly reached his second centuryof the summer, and his second against Durham, having hit 117 against them in August at Cardiff.Wallace had struck 23 fours, when he was caught behind by Phil Mustard for a career-best 121, just 25 runs short ofthe highest ever first-class score by a Glamorgan wicket-keeper, made by Eifion Jones against Sussex at Hove in 1968.Wallace`s first-class aggregate in 2003 now stands at 852 runs – this is the highest number of runs by a Glamorganwicket-keeper since the Second World War, and the most since Tom Brierley aggregated 856 in 1937. In all, his tallythis summer is the third highest in first-class cricket, with James Stone`s 959 runs in 1923 remaining as the club record.Glamorgan`s innings quickly folded after Wallace`s departure, and apart from 36 by David Hemp and a pair of sixesby Matthew Maynard, none of Glamorgan`s other batsmen got to grips with the home attack, for whom spinner GraemeBridge took 3/26 in 9 overs.Wickets continued to fall when Durham started their reply after tea, as once again Michael Kasprowicz made inroadsagainst the Durham batsmen. The Queenslander took 9/36 against Durham six weeks ago at Cardiff, and on his lastvisit to the Riverside ground he picked up 11 wickets. It didn`t take him long to add further to his tally,as with his second delivery, Jon Lewis edged Kasprowicz to Maher in the slips.David Harrison then dismissed the dangerous Martin Love, as the Australian edged to Wallace without scoring,giving the young wicket-keeper his 200th catch in first-class cricket. Wallace soon claimed another victim asin the next over Nicky Peng edged a ball from Kasprowicz as Durham slumped to 11/3.A partnership of 102 for the third wicket between Paul Collingwood and Gary Pratt saw Durhamrecover, and when bad play stopped play, the home county were 142/4, just 128 runs behind with six wickets in hand.

The first rain-free day in Central Otago for a fortnight did not prove to be a happy omen for Otago who lost their State Shield match with Auckland at Molyneux Park in Alexandra today by seven wickets.The powerful Auckland side with eight former or current New Zealand representatives carried too many guns for Otago who never gave up trying but at the end of the day had to bow to a superior opponent.Auckland won the toss on a still sunny morning and asked Otago to bat on a pitch which had achieved a deserved reputation around the country as being full of runs.This game proved to be no exception but from an Otago perspective they trudged to an inadequate 206/7 with only new captain Craig Cumming (70), Andrew Hore (39) and Robbie Lawson (37) being anywhere near the mark.The Otago batsmen have tended to get bogged down this season and the number of balls not being scored from must be a concern to them and their coach Glenn Turner.The Auckland bowling was straight in the main but perhaps New Zealand representatives Dion Nash and Andre Adams with 45 and 47 off their 10 overs respectively would have liked to have been a little more miserly than their figures suggest. Mark Haslam with two for 30 from 10 overs, Chris Drum none for 31 from 10 and Tama Canning two for 36 from eight completed a satisfactory quintet for them.A major concern for New Zealand occurred when Kyle Mills only bowled one over and then went from the field with apparently an injured shoulder.Auckland began its chase with New Zealand openers Mark Richardson and Matthew Horne in fine form and they put on 104 for the first wicket before Richardson was out for a classy 47. Horne continued on in similar fashion with the scorebook totalling 144 when he was dismissed for 60.Both he and Horne had set strong foundations for an Auckland victory and it was over to the remainder of their batting lineup to continue the goodwork. Continue it they did through the fine innings of Aaron Barnes with 55 and Mills with 23 not out.They achieved their target with five overs and seven wickets to spare and looked very competent in doing it.The Otago bowling saw no-one really caned but they would have liked another 70 or 80 runs to bowl to. Kerry Walmsley had a very good none for 23 from eight overs, David Sewell none for 32 from seven, Craig Cumming one for 35 from nine which, when put alongside his 70 with the bat, represented an excellent debut as captain.Auckland deserved its win and Otago know they will have to increase their run rate dramatically if they are to have any success in this competition.

ScorecardKaveen Bandara’s 91 and debutant Udith Madushan’s 3 for 41 helped Sri Lanka Under-19 beat Pakistan Under-19 by 85 runs in the fourth youth ODI in Colombo, and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.After being inserted, Sri Lanka’s openers added 49 to give the team a solid start. Hasan Mohsin removed Avishka Fernando for 3, but the 94-run third-wicket stand between Bandara and Kamindu Mendis led the team’s recovery.Shadab Khan and Sameen Gul then triggered a middle-order collapse to reduce Sri Lanka to 189 for 7. The hosts could add just 27 more as they folded for 216 in 35.5 overs. Bandara’s 93-ball innings studded with 10 fours and a six and Mendis’ 39 turned out to be valuable in the end.In their reply, Pakistan received an early setback as left-arm seamer Lahiru Samarakoon dismissed Abdullah Shafique for a duck. Their efforts to rebuild never really took off as they lost wickets regularly even as the scorecard kept moving along. The score that read 50 for 5 in the 10the over soon became 69 for 7 in the 18th. A 54-run eighth-wicket stand between Hayatullah and Shadab led a mini-recovery, but the damage proved too hard to repair as the hosts cantered to an 85-run win.