NatWest are bringing cricket fans live, free coverage of the NatWest Series match between England and Australia at Old Trafford, tomorrow at the first-ever NatWest Giant Screen Event in Manchester.With all games sold out and Old Trafford being one of the first venues tosell all tickets, the first NatWest Giant Screen Event will offer family andfriends a free, action-packed and social day out. Located at the G-Mexcentre forecourt on Thursday 14 June, coverage of this day/night game willbe broadcast live on the giant screen from 2pm, with food and drinkavailable throughout.The NatWest Series is the triangular one-day international tournamentbetween England and the two visiting teams, Australia and Pakistan, runningfrom 7 June through to the final at Lord’s on 23 June.England will be hoping to improve on their recent performances that tookthem so close to winning against both Australia and Pakistan in the NatWestSeries so far this year. Fans can join in and enjoy the big-match atmospherewith free four and six cards, as well as having the chance to win a cricketbat signed by all three teams competing in this year’s NatWest Series.The NatWest Giant Screen Event is part of a series of new NatWestinitiatives introduced this year to encourage and develop people’s interestin cricket. The ‘Cricket in Unusual Places’ promotion that is taking cricketinto shopping centres across the country has been a huge success. Theroadshows that have taken place in Durham, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchesterand Bluewater, Kent, with one in Leeds to come, have given the youngergeneration the opportunity to test their cricket skills.NatWest has been a major sponsor of cricket since 1981 when the bank began20 years of sponsorship of the NatWest Trophy. In 2000, following asuccessful sponsorship of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, NatWest become thefirst title sponsor of the new international, one-day triangularcompetition, the NatWest Series.NatWest, now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, is one of the biggestbanks in the UK. NatWest provides a whole range of financial services toover seven million personal and business customers. NatWest has over 1,640branches and operates nearly 3,800 cash machines.

Former Cambridge Blue Ed Smith scored his second Championship century of the summer and took his match aggregate to 190 to put Kent into a commanding position going into the final day of their clash with Glamorgan in Maidstone.Smith became the fourth Kent batsman to pass 500 runs for the season as the hosts recorded 358 in their second innings for an overall lead in the match of 376.Glamorgan reached 36 without loss after 12 overs by the close, but will have to bat well on the final day to score the 341 runs required on a Mote pitch that is starting to help the spinners.Indeed, but for Dean Cosker’s haul of three for 93, Glamorgan may not have been in with a victory chance whatsoever.The Welsh left-arm spinner ended Smith’s 190-ball stay to a catch at the wicket by Mark Wallace, the Glamorgan stand-in keeper who claimed eight catches in the match after his first-morning call-up – just one catch short of Colin Metson’s club record.Smith had featured in a fourth-wicket stand worth 108 with Matthew Walker and then a further partnership of 52 with Paul Nixon before Kent’s tail crumbled.Cosker also accounted for Walker, who went for 53 after misjudging a sweep, having earlier sent back Kent opener David Fulton (43) after he chopped on to his own stumps.Darren Thomas was rewarded for his unstinting work on a pretty flat pitch with a haul of four for 84, the last of which was the scalp of home skipper Matthew Fleming (46) who picked out third man with an upper-cut over the slips

Barriers designed to deter a pitch invasion during tonight’s cricket matchbetween Australia and Pakistan at Trent Bridge are little more than meshedsheets of plastic nailed to advertising boards around the boundary.But Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club officials believe they will beenough to deter invaders, as is the case at rugby union matches.The barriers will be lifted head-high by about 350 stewards around theground when the match is close to a result – 15 runs or two wickets from theend.They will also be raised whenever officials sense trouble and Australianteam manager Steve Bernard will have a say in this.Any spectator wanting to raid the field will do so with ease but the plan isfor them to be delayed long enough to allow the players to reach thepavilion untouched.

Favourites Scotland scored their third consecutive victory in Group Aof Division One of the ICC Trophy beating UAE by five wickets hereMonday.Holland also posted their third straight win to share Group A’s topspot with the Scots, both having six points to their credit.The Dutchmen outplayed Canada by six wickets. The hosts lost hopes ofstaging a comeback with two defeats and a win.Tournament’s first hat trick from Soren Vestergaard helped Denmarkscore a magnificent 101-run victory over USA.In other matches on the fifth day of the World Cup qualifying event,Namibia downed Nepal by eight wickets, Germany grabbed a three-wicketwin against fighting Giblartor, Ireland took it easy to beat Bermudaby eight wickets and Fiji gave Singapore a thrashing by 86 runs.On a bright sunny day, UAE won the toss and elected to bat first atSunnybrook Stadium. Before the start of the match, the two teamsgathered in the middle for a minute of silence in memory of the fatherof Scotland opener Bruce Patterson.Openers Babar Malik (30) and Nasir Siddiqui (19) gave UAE a flyingstart scoring 51 together but the other batsmen looked completelyhelpless against the on-target bowling from Tim de Leede (four for 23)and Jacob-Jan Esmeijer (four for 26).UAE were finally bundled out for 119. Scotland reached their target in35.1 overs losing five wickets in the process.Stylish opener Riaan Walters (61 not out) continued his run ofexcellent form as Namibia scored an impressive win over Nepal atEglinton Flats ground.Nepal batted first after winning the toss but struggled against somehostile pace bowling from Bjorn Kotze (four for 37). Jay Sarraf foughtsingle-handedly with an unbeaten 47 as his team crawled to 131 forseven in 50 overs.Walters and Gavin Murgatroyd (51 not out) made Namibia’s taskrelatively comfortable.

After a year during which his public appearances have been marked by tears and various degrees of contrition, Hansie Cronje betrayed anger for the first time on Tuesday at a press conference in which he claimed to have answered all outstanding queries about his financial affairs, satisfied the conditions of his indemnity against criminal prosecution and threatened to institute legal action against those who leaked and published an incomplete forensic audit into his affairs.On Wednesday Cronje’s legal team will meet Bulelani Ngcuka in an attempt to convince the South African Director of Public Prosecutions that he has met the terms of the indemnity deal struck before last year King commission hearings. Cronje’s case will be based on a 13-page document which, he says, provides explanations for some 120 transactions queried by forensic auditors Deloitte Touche.He will also argue that details of some 19 bank accounts and eight properties, three of which he still owns, were provided by him to officials of the King commission before and during last June’s hearings.All of this was made public on Tuesday in response to a Sunday Telegraph report, written by Neil Manthorp, in which details of what can only be described as a provisional forensic audit were listed.Cronje, it has to be said, was extremely plausible at his press conference. He was also clearly angry. "I’m sorry I’ve had a go at you," he apologised to the journalists, "but I’m cross."He denied ever having obstructed the auditors in their inquiry and instead criticised both Deloitte Touche and the King commission for wasting millions of rands.Cronje claimed that the audit report, dated November 5 last year, had only been received at the offices of his lawyer Leslie Sackstein on February 3, a Saturday. He said he had seen the report for the first time on February 5. On February 9 Justice Edwin King closed his commission down.According to Cronje, the only contact the auditors had with himself or his legal advisers was to set up a meeting on December 21. He said that the auditors cancelled the meeting on the evening of December 20.A figure of R10,5-million was mentioned in the Sunday Telegraph as the total amount of deposits made into his various accounts. Cronje has clearly spent a great deal of time working through these deposits. Some, he said, were salary desposits made by the United Cricket Board and, before that, the Free State Cricket Union. He produced a document from Ian Smith, the then Director of Finance at the UCB, which confirmed Cronje’s salary payments.The mysterious "Magda", who was featured in the Sunday Telegraph story as making a number of deposits, is identified as a woman who then worked for Clifford Green, the UCB’s legal adviser. Green also acted as Cronje’s agent for some time.Other deposits, said Cronje, simply reflected inter-account transfers as he moved money from one account to a higher interest-bearing accounts.For all bar two transactions Cronje had an explanation. According to Sackstein, these gaps existed because Cronje’s banks had not yet been able to track down the transactions in their archives.Most particularly, though, Cronje reserved his wrath for Neil Manthorp, the author of the Sunday Telegraph article. Sackstein said he intended to lay charges under the South African Commissions Act against Manthorp and the unnamed officials who provided a copy of the audit report. The maximum penalty for disclosing and publishing commission documents without permission, said Sacktstein, is a six-month jail sentence.Cronje suggested on Tuesday that Manthorp had launched a personal campaign against him as a result of an argument between the two during South Africa’s tour of Australia in 1998. In fairness to Manthorp, his story as published on Sunday, makes no mention of "secret" accounts and "undisclosed" dealings. These were written into the story in woefully inept interpretations of the original in South Africa’s Monday morning papers.For all Cronje’s bullishness, however, he did not touch upon any dealings involving a NatWest account held by him. In their report, the auditors say: "For example, the NatWest account bank statements would help us identify foreign earnings as mentioned by Mr Cronje in his statement of 15 June 2000 that his NaWest account was used for `my foreign earnings’."Cronje, who attend his grandmother’s funeral on Tuesday afternoon, could not be contacted in the evening for clarification.And also on Tuesday evening, Sipho Ngwema, a spokesman for the South African DPP, continued to insist that Cronje had not been given an assurance of indemnity at the King commission. He said that the meeting between the DPP and Cronje’s lawyers on Wednesday was to allow the Cronje team to "make representations".

Daren Ganga’s fourth career first-class century was the highlight of the finalday of the four-day match between the West Indies and Kenya which ended in adraw at the Mombasa Sports Ground on Sunday.Ganga made 105 as the West Indies batted through the last day of the match,reduced to three playing days following the washout on Saturday. In reply toKenya’s first innings total of 290, the tourists were 403 for 8 when play wascalled off half an hour early at 5pm yesterday.Four other West Indian batsmen reached their half-century yesterday. ChrisGayle, continuing his outstanding form from the Zimbabwean leg of the tour,made 84, sharing an opening partnership of 160 with Gayle. Both fell to thebowling of Steve Tikolo, Gayle’s wicket the result of a superb running catch atthe long-on boundary by Martin Suji. Ganga’s 105 came from 213 balls andincluded 15 fours.Wavell Hinds made an even 50, wicketkeeper-captain Courtney Browne 56, and allrounder Neil McGarrell 54 not out. Best bowler for Kenya was the captain,Maurice Odumbe, who bowled 41 overs of off-spin in the West Indian innings totake 3/71, including the wickets of Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan (18) and MarlonSamuels (17). Odumbe also took the catch to remove Leon Garrick for a duck.Tony Suji and Collins Otieno Omondi were the remaining wicket-takers for Kenya.Kenya and the West India will play a three-match series of one-dayinternationals at various grounds in Nairobi on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

The great Indian dream of a series win on foreign soil starts all overagain as Sourav Ganguly and his men prepare to take on Sri Lanka inthe first of the three Test match series at Galle on Tuesday.India’s last series win on foreign soil came against Sri Lanka in1993-94, and they would be hoping that the island nation proves alucky destination for them again.The task is extremely tough though, with the absence of SachinTendulkar and VVS Laxman severely affecting the batting strength ofthe Indians. Ashish Nehra, who has been the most effective of Indianbowlers in the last two series, is also out due to injury.Besides, the Sri Lankans have developed into a very balanced side inthe last couple of years and are a formidable force on their hometurf.The young Indian side will also have to leave behind thedisappointment of the recently concluded triangular one-day serieswhere they were defeated in the final by the hosts for their eighthconsecutive loss in a final match.The onus will obviously be on the senior members of the team to notonly lead by example but also motivate the youngsters to play to theirpotential.Ganguly has been under fire for his dubious performances on and offthe field but the captain will need to put aside all controversies tofocus on the goal. In the absence of Tendulkar, he is probably themost charismatic member of the team and his performance will be vitalfor the team’s chances.Also crucial would be the showing of his deputy Rahul Dravid who hasbeen the most consistent of Indian batsmen in recent times. Dravid isa totally transformed batsman after that magical knock in the KolkataTest against the Australians. He has proved he is quite capable ofplaying the big knocks and he would be required to come up with somemore of these on this trying tour. The 40s and 50s just may not beenough.Apart from Ganguly and Dravid, the most experienced batsmen in theIndian side are openers Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagopan Ramesh. The duo,who till the other day were being seen as part of the young brigadeand getting the benefit of doubt for their mistakes, suddenly findthemselves shouldering a lot of responsibility with their performanceunder more critical watch than ever.The youngsters in the team have a godsend opportunity to prove theircredentials and seal a permanent berth in the side. Hemang Badani,Mohd Kaif, Dinesh Mongia and Jacob Martin will be under watch as theytake on the likes of Muthiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. Andtherein would lie the test of their skill and patience.With the veteran duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad back inbusiness, the Indians should not have many worries in the bowlingdepartment despite the absence of Nehra. They bowled beautifully inthe only warm-up game against the Board President’s XI thus provingthat they hadn’t rusted during their absence from internationalcricket.The pitch in Galle is reported to be favourable to fast bowling andwith Zaheer Khan also in the side, the Indian attack seems quitepotent.Harbhajan Singh has become India’s main strike bowler in the last fewmonths and has led the spin attack admirably in the absence of AnilKumble. With Muralitharan leading the charge for Sri Lanka, Harbhajanshould be the ideal inspiration and the battle royale between two ofthe finest exponents of classical off-spin promises to be one of thehighlights of this series.The Sri Lankans have a more balanced side with a fine blend of youthand experience. Sanath Jayasuriya has been an inspiring leader and hisperformance is enough to spur on the youngsters in the side.The veteran left-hander Hashan Tillekaratne, who has been recalled tothe national side after two years, is expected to lend the much neededsolidity to the middle order in the absence of Aravinda de SilvaSri Lanka are likely to play with a debutant opener Michael Vandort.The left-hander has shown a lot of promise and cracked a century forBoard President’s XI in the three-day match.With Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene certain toplay, the hosts have a strong batting line-up. It will be a toss-upbetween Romesh Kaluwitharana and Kumar Sangakkara for thewicketkeeper’s slot with the former being the front-runner because ofhis batting capabilities.Their bowling has been boosted by the good performance of DilharaFernando who is the quickest of the Sri Lankan medium pacers. Fernandois almost a certainty to pair Vaas as the new ball bowler.There is a three-way fight for the third seamer’s slot between SureshPerera, Ruchira Perera and Dulip Liyanage and a final decision isexpected only tomorrow.The teams (from):India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Jacob Martin, ShivSunder Das, Hemang Badani, Sameer Dighe, Mohammed Kaif, JavagalSrinath, Zaheer Khan, Sairaj Bahutule, Rahul Sanghvi, Harvinder Singh,Sadagopan Ramesh, Dinesh Mongia, Venkatesh Prasad and Harbhajan Singh.Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, AvishkaGunawardena, Michael Vandort, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene,Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillekaratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana, ChamindaVaas, Suresh Perera, Dilhara Fernando, Ruchira Perera, Dulip Liyanage,Muthiah Muralitharan and Thilan Samaraweera.

Leicestershire sealed a comprehensive CricInfo Championship victory over Glamorgan by 10 wickets at Grace Road to confirm their Division One status for next season.Glamorgan were bowled out for 245 in their second innings leaving 20 to win which Leicestershire knocked off in just 21 balls.Following-on 236 runs behind Leicestershire the Welsh side had resumed their second innings on the third morning on 126-2, still confident they could get something from the game.Glamorgan, who are now all but relegated to Division Two, needed Jimmy Maher and Mike Powell to build on their overnight partnership of 64 and looked well set until both batsmen went in the space of two overs ending a 97-run partnership.Powell was caught at slip off Darren Maddy and Maher was snaffled behinddown the leg side off the next delivery after he had reached his 111-ball century that had included 17 fours.The innings crumbled after that with Robert Croft adjudged lbw not offering a shot but he did save the ignominy of a third successive championship pair.Mark Wallace, Darren Thomas and Andrew Davies followed rather tamely after that but Steve Watkin hung around long enough with Adrian Dale, who passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season, to ensure Leicestershire had to bat again.By lunch Glamorgan had reached 230-9, an overall lead of four, which they extended to just 20 before Simon Jones was holed out to cover.Leicestershire’s fifth win of the summer was confirmed when Trevor Ward took three consecutive fours off Jones with a day and 62.3 overs to spare.Leicestershire took 19 points out of the match to Glamorgan’s three.

English county club Northamptonshire has re-signed Australian Mike Hussey as its overseas professional for next season. The announcement of the Western Australian batsman’s return for 2002 comes on the heels of a sensational first year with the county.By any measure, Hussey’s performance in 2001 was a brilliant one. The 26-year old not only became the first batsman in six years to cross the 2000 first-class run barrier in an English first-class season, but also emerged as his team’s leading run-scorer in all competitions. Just for good measure, he registered a triple century, two double centuries, three other centuries, and 16 half-centuries at the top of the Steelbacks’ order.Interest in the Western Australian’s services from at least two other counties was reportedly high by the end of the northern summer, but Northants quickly completed its negotiations on the new contract. Hussey agreed to terms before flying home last Sunday to Perth, where he is about to embark on a new Australian domestic season.”We’re obviously very pleased that Mike has committed himself to us at such an early stage,” said Northamptonshire Chief Executive, Steve Coverdale.Subject to being free of any commitments with Australia’s national team at the time, Hussey will return to Wantage Road in either late March or early April.

Warriors skipper Adam Gilchrist led his side to victory in its opening one-day cricket match against South Australia with a man-of-the-match performance at the WACA today.The Warriors claimed a bonus point when they dismissed the Redbacks for 213 in reply to their 5-269.Gilchrist smashed 84 runs off 67 balls to set WA on the way to victory.But he was challenged for best-on-field honours by rejuvenated Warriors paceman Brad Williams (4-44), who claimed the vital wicket of Redbacks vice captainGreg Blewett for 80 in his best ever one-day haul.South Australia’s efforts mirrored that of their hosts with a brilliant opening knock and a standout pace performance.The Warriors looked set for a score well in excess of 300 after Gilchrist and Damien Martyn (34) opened the innings in blazing fashion before left arm pacemanMark Harrity (3-51) struck.Gilchrist had promoted Australian teammate Martyn in a bid to quell the destructive influence of Test teammate and South Australian speedster Jason Gillespie.The plan worked as the pair saw Gillespie off and in the process compiled 107 runs off 19 overs.The Redbacks’ hopes of containing the Test pair looked lost after paceman Brett Swain left the field in the 19th over with a fractured left collarbone.SA was already missing pace mainstay Paul Wilson, who succumbed to a knee injury last week and Gillespie was not troubling the WA top order.The Redbacks needed a hero and Harrity answered, claiming Martyn two balls after his teammate had been escorted off the ground.The usually flamboyant strokemaker was willing to play the anchor role to Gilchrist’s raging bull and made just 34 when he presented a simple edge to Redbacks keeper Graham Manou.At the other end, Gilchrist was in a venomous mood, plundering 84 runs from 67 balls before becoming Harrity’s second victim when he skied an attempted drive to Jeff Vaughan at extra cover.The Redbacks made a solid start to the run chase, reaching 147 before Williams had Blewett brilliantly caught at backward square leg by Mike Hussey.With captain Darren Lehmann back in the pavilion for 1 thanks to an excellent catch by Hussey off all-rounder Darren Wates (1-45), the Redbacks were alwaysgoing to struggle.A brave resistance by all-rounder Brad Young (44) was not enough and the Redbacks fell two runs short of denying WA the bonus point.Leg spinning all-rounder Brad Hogg cleaned up the tail, claiming 3-10 of 3.2 overs.Lehmann said the loss of Swain, coupled with the absence of Wilson and the imminent departure to international duty of Gillespie, would severely test the Redbacks’ bowling stocks.”They’re a little bit slim,” he said.”But if you look on the bright side it gives the young blokes a chance and they’ve got to step up and get a taste of first class cricket and hopefully play well.”Gilchrist admitted to being pleasantly surprised at his form considering he’d barely picked up a bat since returning from the Ashes tour.”It was surprisingly good, obviously if you get a couple away early it helps,” he said.”I was a little bit fortunate, I probably nicked a couple of Dizzy (Gillespie deliveries) that could have gone to hand but went to the boundary.”You’ve got to cash in on a day like that.”