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A proposed change in the annual tri-series format has received backing from Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, who believe the concept is tired. Cricket Australia is considering swapping the schedule from almost six weeks of matches to two head-to-head contests for 2008-09.Starting as the World Series Cup in 1979-80, the idea was Kerry Packer’s, but the senior players believe after almost 30 years it is time for a change. “The system has got a little bit tired,” Hayden told AAP. “If you’ve got a decreased number of games but a highly competitive tournament it’s an asset.”The series involving Australia, India and Sri Lanka, which starts in February, involves 12 group games before the best-of-three finals. “Towards the back end of the tri-series if one side, like Australia has done for a long time, has dominated the competition, there does seem to be a lot of dead rubber games,” Hayden said. “That could be Hobart’s [only] game and I believe they deserve a more meaningful game.”Matches between the two visiting teams have also struggled for support in recent years and Gilchrist said Cricket Australia needed to determine if they could improve the product. “It would be interesting to see what the public think,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how the public attends the coming summer’s triangular series, that might give us a bit more of an indication.”Cricket Australia’s board was planning to discuss the change during a meeting on Friday, but the programme for 2008-09, which includes New Zealand and South Africa, will not be finalised until March. Expanding the Ashes series to six Tests is also on the agenda.

After a rather innocuous outing in the last round against Kerala,Hyderabad came up against a rather rock solid Tamil Nadu batting lineup in their South Zone Ranji Trophy match at the Neuclear Fuel Complexground at Hyderabad on Wednesday. Helped by a fine century by openerRajat Bhatia, the visitors were 273 for 2 when stumps were drawn onthe opening day.Opting to bat, Tamil Nadu were provided with a commendable 184 runopening stand by Sridharan Sriram (98) and Rajat Bhatia (132 not out)in 51.4 overs. Bhatia was more the sedate partner prefering to playthe sheet anchor role. The hosts though toiling long and hard wereunsuccessful as the duo took the Tamil Nadu into lunch with the scoreline reading 125/0. The two stayed on till late afternoon and beforelong took the partnership to nearly 200.Just two runs short of a well deserved century, Sriram became thefirst casualty for the day in the 52nd over. Sriram found himselfstruggling to regain his crease as the wicketkeeper M Srinivas whippedoff the bails to run him out. In a 206 minute stay at the crease thesouthpaw, who relished displaying his strokes, took just 158 ballswhile managing to find the signboards on 13 occasions.Then Badrinath (15), who replaced Sriram lasted for just 39 balls anddeparted for a catch to Raju off NP Singh. But his partner RajatBhatia, found ample company in Sridharan Sharath (23 not out) andduring the unbeaten 55 run stand they took the score past the 250 runmark. Bhatia in the course of his 360 minute stay at the centre has sofar faced 263 balls and found the boundary rope 14 times.

Sri Lankan left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas has agreed to join Hampshire Cricket on a short-term contract to the end of the 2003 season.Vaas, who has not played county cricket before, arrives in England over the weekend and is expected to make his debut in the National League Division Two match at the Rose Bowl on Monday August 4 against the Scottish Saltires.First-team manager Paul Terry was delighted that the man who has played 68 Tests and 227 one-day internationals for his country has agreed to join Hampshire.He said, before the start of the floodlit National League match with Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Wednesday evening, “I am delighted that Chaminda had agreed to join and received clearance from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to do so.”It is especially pleasing that we have a player of such quality coming to join us.”It is left-arm bowler for left-arm bowler, as Vaas replaces Pakistani Wasim Akram, who left the county two weeks ago.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is unhappy with the appointment of Mike Procter for the five-match one-day series against Bangladesh, starting on April 8.Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, said the board will talk to the International Cricket Council regarding this issue. “I will have our director (cricket operations) speak to his counterpart in the ICC on this issue,” Ashraf said.PCB’s reluctance to have Procter be the match referee in Pakistan matches has its origins in the infamous 2006 Oval Test where Australian umpire Darrell Hair’s five-run penalty culminated in a forfeiture.Ashraf did not see Pakistan as a weak member of the ICC even though the world governing body reinstated Hair into its Elite Panel. “This is a wrong impression that Pakistan has no voice in the ICC,” he said. “That is not true. Let me tell you in clear words that Hair will not officiate in our matches even though the ICC has reinstated him.”The ICC allowed Hair back because he had completed a six-month rehabilitation process and all the concerned people gave him good reports for his improvement in man management. Hair has been a top umpire as far as his decisions are concerned, but he was sidelined because of his poor management skills.”

Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Indian board, has indicated that there would be a thrust on improving the standards of Indian coaches and physical trainers so as to reduce the reliance on foreigners. “We are not going to continue with foreign support all the time. Very soon, we are going to have a number of our own men having the required expertise and doing the jobs.”Currently, the coach (John Wright), physiotherapist (Andrew Leipus) and trainer (Gregory Allen King) have all been hired from other countries. “Through these foreigners, we’re trying to make sure that our support system is in place,” said Dalmiya, who is in Kolkata for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI which takes place over the weekend. “At the same time, we’re making every effort to ensure that there’s a culture whereby even the junior teams realise the importance of fitness training. Maybe, in the future, we will no longer need to seek foreign help and offer our help to the other countries instead. In fact, we have now made it mandatory for every affiliate unit of the board to have a qualified fitness trainer.”Dalmiya, who is expected to be re-elected board president at the AGM, stated that the BCCI had undertaken a number of steps to restructure junior cricket and ensure that the benefits of fitness – traditionally ignored in Indian cricket – were understood by players at an early age.Addressing the issue of India’s search for a reliable opening combination, Dalmiya informed that the Indian board has roped in the services of Sunil Gavaskar, one of the all-time great opening batsmen, to try and find a solution to the problem.According to the Times of India, Dalmiya said that Gavaskar, who is the chairman of the BCCI technical committee, had recently helped Sourav Ganguly with his batting. “Gavaskar’s tips to Sourav Ganguly, during the recent Bangalore camp, have been filmed and we are willing to release it at the right forum if anyone would be interested.”Dalmiya also indicated that the issue of graded-payments system for the players would be discussed over the next couple of days, as would the World Cup contracts dispute with the ICC, which still has not been sorted out.

A remarkable seven-wicket haul by WPCC’s strike bowler Ryan ten Doeschate scuttled UCT, who were tumbled out for 103 at Groote Schuur.ten Doeschate’s return of 7 for 49 provided an ironic twist as the medium-pacer had skippered UCT last season when the students won the local league championship. He did well yesterday to extract an effective marginal lift off the pitch, also succeeding to swing the ball, and his short pitched deliveries forced the opposition onto the back foot, resulting in two of his victims being caught.The remaining three wickets were picked up by Andrew Mazina, a former Eastenr Province B offspinner. Responding to the students’ meagre total WPCC’s opening pair, Geo Colussi and Neil Quale, cracked a swift 71 before Quale departed for 37. Colussi continued his onslaught and went on to form the backbone of the innings. Together with Steven George (24), this pair continued the momentum in raising 65 for the second wicket.Colussi went on to carry his bat until the visitors declared at 227-8, the opener notching an unbeaten 109 off 163 deliveries, which included 14 fours. At stumps, Western Province had lost the wicket of Rob Sherwood – promoted to open and see off the remaining five overs of play, and were at 29-1. WPCC are well in control with a lead of 151.At the Boon Wallace Oval Marc Adams looked well set for a century for Claremont against Cape Town but was deprived Kyle Coetzer ran him out with a direct hit on 73. Adams hammered eight boundaries and with Marc Barham (46) put on 95 runs for the fourth wicket. Barham reached the fence on seven occasions while Alan Dawson (38) also batted well.Claremont eventually declared at 225 for 6 after 68 overs. Cape Town made a poor start, losing three wickets for 32 ,but Lloyd Moore and Kyle Coetzer(23) took the score to 96 before Moore had to retire with an injured back. At the close Cape Town had 102 for 4.Friday’s rain seeped under the covers at Pinelands with the result that the groundsmen had to battle to prepare the pitch for a prompt start. Bellville won the toss and did not hesitate to send the home side in, who battled with the pitch and were all out for a paltry 127. Bellville are in the driving seat with their openers, Ryan van Niekerk and JB Burger, putting on 128 for the opening stand. Burger was eventually out for 105 (13 fours and six sixes) after an excellent knock that included no chances. At the close Bellville were 152 runs on with seven wickets standing.

UCT v WPCC

UCT First inningsD Slater c Dourans b Ten Doeschate      9D Worth c Mazina b Ten Doeschate        14R Short b Ten Doeschate 0N Kruger b Ten Doeschate        2A Cronje c Roberts b Mazina     21C Vadas c Mazina b Ten Doeschate        0B Murphy c Roberts b Ten Doeschate      2E Lepine b Ten Doeschate        25R Sherwood b Ten Doeschate      9D Cooke c George b Mazina       0Z Meyer not out 3Extras  8TOTAL (After 38,3 overs)        103Falls: 1/19, 2/19, 3/25, 4/32, 5/32,6/60, 7/87, 8,90, 9/90.Bowling: Martyn 9-0-18-0, Ten Doeschate 12,3-2-49-7,Preston 12-4-26-0, Mazina 7-3-7-3
WPCC first inningsG Colussi not out       109N Quale c Lepine b Meyer        37S George c Sherwood b Meyer     24R Hendricks c Sherwood b Murphy 2R Ten Doeschate lbw Murphy      10A Martyn b Worth        16B Roberts lbw Worth     4J Doerans lbw Murphy    8N Preston st Sherwood b Murphy  1B Clark not out 6Extras  10TOTAL (for 8 decl)      227Falls: 1-71, 2-136, 3-141, 4-161, 5-179,6-183, 7-196, 8-204Bowling: Worth 4-2-67-2, Cook 5-1-29-0,Murphy 24-3-96-4, Meyer 12-1-33-2
UCT second inningsR Sherwood c George b Martyn    0R Short not out 20C Vadas not out 8Extras  1TOTAL (for 1)   29Falls: 1-15Bowling: Martyn 5-1-9-1, Ten Doeschate 3-0-3-0,Preston 2-0-17-0
Cape Town v Claremont
CLAREMONT First inningsP Lawson c and b Palmer 24G Stoffberg b De Beer   1W Havenga c Thornton b Holman   27M Adams run out 73M Barham lbw Holman     46A Dawson c J Holgate b Thornton 38D Loebenstein not out   13B Swanson not out       0Extras  3TOTAL (for 6 decl)      225Falls: 1-6, 2-49, 3-66, 4-161, 5-207, 6-215Bowling: Gie 8-2-31-0, De Beer 10-2-32-1,Martin 10-2-36-0, Palmer 24-10-60-1, Holman 14-0-51-2,Thornton 2-0-13-0
CAPE TOWN First inningsM Ritchie c Havenga b Stockton  5D Holgate c Havenga b Stockton  3L Moore retired hurt   46J Holgate lbw Stockton  6K Coetzer not out       23D Thornton lbw Dawson   11Extras  8TOTAL (for 4)   103Falls: 1/7, 2/24, 3/32, 4/102Bowling: Dawson 12-4-19-1, Stockton 13-6-20-3,Cullen 8-4-17-0, Loebenstein 4-1-9-0, Barham 7-2-22-0,S van Duiker 5-1-10-0.
Pinelands v Bellville
PINELANDS first inningsC Ambrose c Ackermann b Smith   24R Bannatyne c Vermaak b du Plessis      20R Clark c Vermaak b Smith       20R Beukes c Theron b Trott       1S Tarr c Theron b Olivier       23A Little c Smith b Trott        4B Wilkinson lbw Smith   0N Nickonnoche c Theron b du Plessis     16L Katz b Olivier        2T Franke lbw du Plessis 4G Williams not out      0Extras  13TOTAL   127Falls: 1-37, 2-68, 3-69, 4-75, 5-81, 6-84,7-116, 8-120, 9-126Bowling: Olivier 10.1-3-25-2, du Plessis 14-5-31-3,Smith 14-2-39-3, Trott 9-2-19-2
BELLVILLE first inningsR van Niekerk c Williams b Tarr 26JB Burger c Little b Tarr       105J Trott not out 72L Ferreira lbw Franke   58S Ackermann not out     14Extras  4Total (for 3)   179Falls: 1-128, 2-133, 3-244Bowling: Franke 24-5-74-1, Tarr 16-0-77-2,Williams 12-1-83-0, Bannatyne 9-3-43-0
Tygerberg v Almar
ALMAR first inningsA Gray not out  151A Kalis c Kotze b Philander     6K Jackson c Philander b L Simpson       63N Johnson not out       74Extras  26TOTAL (for 2 decl)      320Falls: 1-14, 2-145Bowling: Philander 21-2-108-1, Gilbert 12-0-12-0,Harris 5-0-29-0, L Simpson 15-4-66-1, Timmet 10-0-40-10,Buys 2-0-20-0
TYGERBERG first inningsA Simpson b Tatton      70B Johnson b Berg        9S Agulhas c Randal b Berg       0A Botha lbw Tatton      17B Gilbert not out       25V Philander not out     4Extras  11TOTAL (for 4)   136Falls: 1-41, 2-41, 3-78, 4-125Bowling: Johnson 5-0-21-0, Berg 10-3-23-2,Hemmings 6-0-23-0, Tatton 12-3-41-2, Snyman 4-2-11-0,Liebrecht 7-2-10-0

If international sportsmen are becoming more and more like pop stars, then India’s baby-faced wicketkeeper, Parthiv Patel, might just have taken the comparison one stage further. According to reports in the Indian press, Parthiv, 19, has gone and done a Britney Spears, and got himself accidentally hitched in a marriage ceremony in Rajkot.When Parthiv made his debut in 2002, in the second Test against England at Trent Bridge, he was so fresh-faced that Nasser Hussain patronisingly described him as looking like a 12-year-old. But it would appear that Parthiv has grown up quickly this week, and ever since his alleged marriage to a local girl, Richa Sharma, his home state of Gujarat has reportedly been buzzing.His family is less than convinced at the validity of the claims, however. “Earlier we were concerned,” his uncle, Jagat Patel told The Times of India. “Now we are convinced it’s a joke. Even Parthiv has taken it lightly. We heard him jest with a caller, asking him to show him his ‘wife’.”The girl has been untraceable for four days, since the alleged ceremony took place in a local temple on September 16, and Parthiv’s father, Ajay, is considering lodging a police complaint. “The signature on the document is not that of Parthiv,” he said, adding that his son’s age had wrongly been given as 24. “We are consulting lawyers and will soon decide on filing a complaint.”