France's Mary Pierce in action during her fourth round match against young Australian Jelena Dokic at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Monday 28 June 1999.

Young Australian Jelena Dokic celebrates victory in her fourth round match against France's Mary Pierce at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Monday 28 June 1999.

Stevenson assured of prize money
WIMBLEDON, June 29 — Alexandra Stevenson will get her Wimbledon prize money after all. The WTA Tour had ruled the 18-year-old American entered as an amateur and was ineligible for prize money.

Dokic looks forward to final with Graf
LONDON, June 29 — Australian qualifier Jelena Dokic blinked in disbelief after recording her second major upset of this year’s Wimbledon when she thumped French ninth seed Mary Pierce in straight sets in the fourth round yesterday.

From no guarantee for Warne's recall
SYDNEY, June 29 — Shane Warne’s return to form at the one-day cricket World Cup has failed to guarantee him a recall to Australia’s Test side.

We were unlucky to lose: Dungarpur
MUMBAI, June 29 — President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Raj Singh Dungarpur today said it is upto the selectors to take a decision on Azharuddin’s captaincy.

BCCI to bear expenses for Azhar's surgery
MUMBAI, June 28 — The Indian cricket board is to bear the cost of shoulder surgery undergone by national team captain Mohammed Azharuddin in London last week.

BCCI meeting ruled out
MUMBAI, June 29 — The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honorary secretary Jaywant Lele has ruled out any extraordinary general body meeting of the BCCI to assess the performance of India in the World Cup.

Habib ‘nearly quit’ game 5 yrs ago
LONDON, June 28 — Aftab Habib, a regular English county batman for just two years but now due to start his international career against New Zealand on Thursday, said he almost quit cricket five years ago.

Tollygunge sail into semis
CALCUTTA, June 29 — Tollygunge Agragami prevailed over unfancied Eastern Railways 2-1 in their last group-B league match and sailed into the semi-finals of the McDowell Cup Football Tournament here today.

Mumbai, AI in jr hockey final
BANGALORE, June 29 — Mumbai and Air-India will clash in the final of the 30th national junior hockey championship as Bombay beat Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) 7-6 via sudden death and Air-India thrashed Bengal 3-0 here today.

Astle, Cairns star in Kiwi win
LONDON, June 29 — New Zealand gained a confidence boosting win before their first Test against England when Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns linked up for a match-winning partnership against Somerset at Taunton yesterday.

IHF ‘flouting’ its own norms
PATIALA, June 28 — Top Indian Hockey Federation officials are peeved at the "autocratic" manner in which it is being run with the federation flouting its own constitutional norms with impunity which may even put a dampner on preparations for the Sydney Olympics for which the Indians have already qualified.

Rain prevents start of play at Wimbledon

LONDON, June 29 (DPA) — Steady drizzle — with little relief in sight — looked set today to seriously disrupt play at the $ 12-million Wimbledon championships for a second consecutive day.

Today morning in London dawned wet after a night of showers.

Forecasts called for the weather to stay around for much of the day, a drama sure to wreak havoc with fourth-round matches on the grass.

After near-perfect conditions during week one of the fortnight, more typical British summer conditions returned to mar the serious stage of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Only five matches — three women, two men — were completed yesterday.

Andre Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten, Lindsay Davenport, holder Jana Novotna and Jelena Dokic managed to finish up and reach the quarter-finals yesterday.

Among those left hanging were second seed Steffi Graf. The 30-year-old French Open winner led Belgian teenager Kim Clijsters 6-2, 4-2.

Tamarine Tansugarn of Thailand was level with Croatian Mirjana Lucic 5-5 in the only other women’s match which got onto court.

Still to begin today was a needle match between sixth seed American Venus Williams and Russian number 17 Anna Kournikova.

1998 finalist Nathalie Tauziat of France, seeded eight, was to face 15th seed Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, while Americans Alexandra Stevenson and Lisa Raymond were due on court.

On the men’s side, Britain’s Tim Henman was trying to finish off American Jim Courier, holding a lead of 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 4-3 and up a break.

Frenchman Cedric Pioline was ahead of 13th seed Karol Kucera 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0.

Among those waiting out the weather were crowd favourite Boris Becker, who was to play second seed Pat Rafter of Australia.

Britain’s ninth seed Greg Rusedski was facing another big server in Aussie Mark Philippoussis top seed Pete Sampras was continuing his quest for a sixth title, taking on Canadian left-hander Daniel Nestor.

Last year’s losing finalist Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia was facing eighth seed Todd Martin.

The last edition of the tournament held entirely without rain was in 1995.

In 1991, with the event 240 matches behind and all but flooded, organisers had to take the unprecedented step of scheduling play on the middle Sunday.

The ‘’People’s Sunday,’’ with first-come, first-served tickets, was an immediate hit, but it has never been repeated, due - say organisers - to fears of ‘’upsetting local residents.’’

Dokic looks forward to final with Graf

LONDON, June 29 (AFP) — Australian qualifier Jelena Dokic blinked in disbelief after recording her second major upset of this year’s Wimbledon when she thumped French ninth seed Mary Pierce in straight sets in the fourth round yesterday.

The Belgrade-born 16-year-old, who stunned the tennis world by beating Swiss top seed Martina Hingis in the first round, won 6-4, 6-3 against Pierce on court two having trailed 3-0 at the start of the match.

Afterwards she could barely credit what she had done.

"It’s a bit hard to believe coming from the qualifiers," she said. "If you’d told me two weeks ago in qualifying that I’d get into the quarterfinals I wouldn’t have believed you."

Dokic now has a strong chance of reaching the semifinals in her first appearance at Wimbledon with either fellow qualifier Alexandra Stevenson of the USA or American Lisa Raymond, who is unseeded, awaiting her in the last eight.

The Australian teenager looked half asleep on a rainy Wimbledon day at the start against 24-year-old Pierce.

But once she realised she needed to move the Frenchwoman round the court, Dokic was always in control as Pierce failed to cope with her range of shots.

"I was glad to get out of the first set," Dokic admitted.

"I got off to a bit off a slow start as I didn’t know what to expect from her."

Just as in the first set Dokic upped her game at the end of the second and secured victory on Pierce’s serve with a typical backhand winner.

"This was a big match for me," Dokic added. "Beating Hingis is still in my head, I’m thinking did it really happen? beating another seed shows I can still do it."

Dokic has been adamant that she is taking it one match at a time ever since her 6-2, 6-0 win over world number one Hingis last Tuesday, but even she couldn’t resist looking ahead to a possible final showdown with Steffi Graf of Germany.

They are at opposite ends of the draw but Dokic has already faced the seven-time winner over the net having hit with her this week in practice.

And she cannot hide her admiration for the 30-year-old German.

"She is such a great player, I really admire her," said Dokic. "She gives me tips about what to work on. She’s one of the greatest players I’ve met."

All respect will go out of the window if Dokic makes it to the final on Saturday, however. Pierce and Hingis will vouch for that.

Stevenson assured of prize money

WIMBLEDON, June 29 (AP) — Alexandra Stevenson will get her Wimbledon prize money after all.

The WTA Tour had ruled the 18-year-old American entered as an amateur and was ineligible for prize money. But Wimbledon officials stepped in yesterday and over-ruled, saying Stevenson had professional status and was entitled to her winnings.

The player’s mother, Ms Samantha Stevenson, had threatened to take legal action to obtain the prize money.

WTA Tour rules and Grand Slam rules state that a player who begins the "first match as an amateur may not receive prize money during that tournament."

However, Wimbledon officials said their guidelines assume "all players are professionals unless they are notified otherwise".

Stevenson is guaranteed of £ 26,280 ($ 42,340) for reaching a fourth-round match with fellow American Lisa Raymond. That match was rained out yesterday.

If she beats Raymond and reaches the quarterfinals she’s guaranteed £ 50,280.

"The Wimbledon player guidelines state that in order to protect their amateur status, a player has to register as an amateur," Wimbledon chief executive Christopher Gorringe said in a statement.

"Since Alexandra Stevenson did not register as an amateur for this event, we have assumed all along that she has been playing as a professional and is fully entitled to receive the prize money."
Ms Samantha Stevenson had cited the Wimbledon guidlines earlier in making her case.

The 18-year-old Stevenson has had a dramatic debut at Wimbledon and is one of a record-three unseeded women to reach the fourth round, joining 16-year-olds Jelena Dokic and Kim Clijsters.

Stevenson and her mother declined to be interviewed yesterday.
Ms Stevenson declined to elaborate on her charges of racism on the WTA Tour and fears her daughter faces sexual advances from female players.

Coach Craig Kardon refused to answer questions, and when the player and daughter were approached, Kardon said: "Don’t even think about it."

Stevenson’s mother, who is white, said a player at a recent tournament directed a racial slur at her daughter, whose father is black.

Ms Samantha Stevenson, a free-lance sports writer who works for the New York Times and other publications, is angered at the way players and officials of the WTA Tour conduct themselves.

"They act like a bunch of girls in a high school," she told reporters over the weekend.

She said the treatment of Venus and Serena Williams when they first joined the tour was "definite racism."

"Is it big? No. Is it subtle? Yes. You can’t explain racism, you have to be there to understand it," she said.

Replied WTA Tour Chief Executive Bart McGuire: "The WTA Tour is made up of players from a myriad of ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds."

That being said, "we are disappointed that their assertions have been made to the Press and not the tour. If any assertions of racism are presented to the tour, we will look into them."

Ms Samantha Stevenson also said she never left Alexandra alone in the locker room because she wanted to protect her from rampant jealousy and lesbian innuendo.

"It’s an absolute jungle," she told reporters at an informal gathering. "A big, bad place. It just isn’t a normal place for a young girl. As her mother, I want to make sure she’s ok. But the biggest threats to girls of her age are the other girls on the tour."
"When she goes into the locker room, she looks for me," she added. "She’s a real teenager and I’m not going to let anything happen to her. If girls like her don’t have a support team, they can be led down the wrong path."

Wimbledon notebook

Wayne making a name for himself

WIMBLEDON, June 29 (AP) — His father played tennis for Ireland and his English mother tied him to the net to make him watch her play.

Welcome to Wayne’s world

Wayne Arthurs is an Australian who lives just outside London and has been making a name for himself at Wimbledon.

Before losing to Andre Agassi in the fourth round yesterday, Arthurs had a seemingly unbreakable serve. He’d gone 111 service games before Agassi broke him three times in a row on the way to a four-set triumph.

But he had an unusual introduction to tennis as a toddler at his home in Adelaide after his parents moved to Australia.

"Mum used to tie me to the net when she went to Midweek Ladies and I watched from here,’’ he said.

Did he feel it was child abuse?

"Not at that stage,’’ he replied with a laugh. I do now. I know better now.’’

Two weeks ago, winning Wimbledon was just a vision of the future for 16-year-old Jelena Dokic.

After beating top seed Martina Hingis in round one and going on to reach the quarterfinal, the Belgrade-born Australian is living her dream.

Beating Martina ... And beating Mary today just proved I can beat those top players,’’ Dokic said yesterday after her 6-4, 6-3 victory over ninth seed Mary pierce. "It’s great confidence. You’ve got to think you’re unbeatable.’’

But she knows there are plenty of big names gunning for the title.

Getting to the quarterfinals, I think it’s anyone’s tournament,’’ Dokic said. You’ve still got Venus (Williams), (Lindsay) Davenport, (Jana) Novotna and Steffi (Graf) it’s going to be very tough.’’

The other Becker

It’s not Boris at least one B. Becker played at Wimbledon yesterday.

While three-time titlist Boris Becker was held up by rain and was unable to face second seed Pat Rafter on centre court, Benjamin Becker no relation but same nationality — was in action out on court 15 in front of a handful of spectators.

The young German, a late replacement for an injured player, couldn’t emulate his famous namesake.

He went down 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to Japan’s Hayato Furukawa in the first round of the boys’ singles.

No fun for Lindsay

The cameras have been chasing glamorous seed Anna Kournikova while there’s been huge media interest in teen-age qualifiers Jelena Dokic and Alexandra Stevenson.

So what has Lindsay Davenport been up to?

"Absolutely nothing,’’ the No. 3 seed replied after her 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 victory over Barbara Schett put her into the quarterfinal.

"It’s been a really, really boring like nine days. I’ve only gone out to dinner once. That’s how bad it is.’’

Yesterday’s rain-delays look like spoiling the best Wimbledon for four years, weather-wise.

The first sprinkle of rain arrived late on Saturday at the all England club and the showers returned when play resumed on Monday to send the players racing off court three times and finally ending play two hours early.

Since the 1995 championship, which was entirely rain free, Wimbledon has had some wet tournaments. In 1991, only 52 matches were played in the first four days and, with the championship 240 behind schedule, organisers allowed play on the middle Sunday for the first time.

Form no guarantee for Warne’s recall

SYDNEY, June 29 (AFP) — Shane Warne’s return to form at the one-day cricket World Cup has failed to guarantee him a recall to Australia’s Test side.

Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns today said only time would tell if Warne would win back his Test spot despite acknowledging the leg-spinner’s outstanding one-day form during Australia’s World Cup triumph in England.

Warne, who had struggled to reproduce his best form after shoulder surgery last year, has said he will consider his future after pointing out he was not the incumbent Test spinner.

Stuart MacGill was preferred to Warne when selectors opted for just one spinner for the final Test against the West Indies in April.

Australia’s next Test is against Sri Lanka in Kandy on September 9 and Warne will have only a four-day tour match the previous week to convince selectors his shoulder can cope with the demands of the longer form of the game.

His four-wicket hauls in the World Cup semifinal and final helped Australia to an emphatic triumph but Mr Hohns said they did not guarantee Warne’s return to the Test team.

"We don’t know that yet. One-day cricket is totally different," said Mr Hohns, who will sit down with national selectors Allan Border and Andrew Hilditch in July to consider the touring squad after speaking with Warne about his plans.

"Of course we would like him to stay — his bowling during the World Cup was outstanding and no one can deny that," Mr Hohns said.

"But we’ll need to know what he’s thinking. We spoke a little bit overseas and Allan Border has spoken with him as well," he said.

The World Cup triumph was particularly satisfying for Mr Hohns, who was part of the selection panel which caused a storm in Australian cricket circles in mid-1997 by insisting on separate teams for Tests and one-day matches.

That decision led to the end of the international one-day careers of Test stalwarts Mark Taylor and Ian Healy and left some critics questioning the vision of the selectors, who were looking towards the World Cup.

However, Mr Hohns and captain Steve Waugh believe the teams will become more similar in the coming years.

"Stephen and I have spoken about the one-day situation and the ideal would be to lessen the number of changes between the teams," Mr Hohns said.

"But we’re probably never going to have the same side playing both forms of the game."

"Form still counts for everything and the players that are doing the job will get chosen."

We were unlucky to lose: Dungarpur

MUMBAI, June 29 (UNI) — President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Raj Singh Dungarpur today said it is upto the selectors to take a decision on Azharuddin’s captaincy.

"Azhar had an operation for rotator cuff tear just a week back and he is feeling a slight pain. It will depend on him how long it takes for him to recover though I am in constant touch with him," Dungarpur said when asked whether Azhar will be fit for the tournament in Sri Lanka in August.

On the call of some people to hold a special meeting to discuss India’s performance in the World Cup, Raj Singh replied that he does not think there is any need.

"We played good cricket and were unlucky to lose. We were definitely among the top four teams in the World Cup, it was just that luck did not go along with us," Dungarpur said.

It is the misguided wisdom of some former cricketers and a section of the press that they have asked for such a meeting, Dungarpur elaborated, adding that there might be some discussions in the working committee meeting.

Dungarpur also came out in support of Azhar saying: "You cannot blame Azhar alone. Azhar has been the captain for the last nine years and his record as a captain is good. When he was winning no one said a word, but now everybody is finding him non-communicative. Steve Waugh is like that, even Stephen Fleming does not communicate. It is not fair."

On the renewal of the contract of Andrew Kokinos, Dungarpur said that Kokinos’ contract was till the end of the World Cup. He himself has asked us to spare him because of some previous assignment.

"Therefore we have ended our contract with him."

On Bobby Simpson, Dungarpur said he has done a good job with the team. Now it is upto the board members to deliberate and take a collective decision whether to continue with him or not. "We will take a collective decision."

On the World Cup performance of the team Dungarpur said he is not really disappointed. The boys tried real hard, played some good cricket, though a few things went against us. We beat teams like Pakistan, England on their home turf and Sri Lanka who were defending their title.

"The loss to Zimbabwe and the death of Sachin’s father proved most crucial for us," he said.

On the controversy of whether instructions were sent to the middle order batsmen to finish off the match against Zimbabwe, Dungarpur firmly replied: "No such instructions were send."

Cut cricket ties with Pak, demands Kapil

NEW DELHI, June 29 (PTI) — Former India captain Kapil Dev today called for stopping all cricketing contacts with Pakistan till that country "learns to behave".

"India should not play against Pakistan anywhere", Kapil Dev said here after a visit to Srinagar to boost the morale of the Indian forces fighting Pakistani intruders in Kargil.

The bowling legend said India should not even play Pakistan in neutral territory and demanded that this year's Sahara Cup series at Toronto be called off.

"I'll be disappointed if the Indian cricket board still goes ahead with the series when our soldiers are fighting a bitter battle to throw the enemy out," Kapil Dev said.

The world's highest Test wicket-taker was visibly moved after visiting wounded soldiers at Srinagar and was infuriated at Pakistani designs.

"These are the brave soldiers giving their lives to protect us and if we can't look after them, we are good for nothing," an emotionally-charged Kapil Dev said.

Kapil Dev, who was accompanied by current India star Ajay Jadeja, said the cricketers would play an exhibition football match in Delhi soon against film stars to raise funds for the defence forces.

BCCI meeting ruled out

MUMBAI, June 29 (UNI) — The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) honorary secretary Jaywant Lele has ruled out any extraordinary general body meeting of the BCCI to assess the performance of India in the World Cup.

Mr Lele speaking to UNI from Baroda said yesterday "we do not think such a meeting is required and as such there are no plans for the same." India, who had gone with high hopes of their fans, crashed out of the World Cup before the semifinals itself.

Many of former cricketers as well as the chairman of the selection committee of the BCCI, Mr Ajit Wadekar, had blamed the media blitz as one of the reasons for India’s failure to do better in the World Cup.

The hype build up for this World Cup in India put added pressure on the players, pressure which they could do without, they had said.

Mr Lele who came back to India on Saturday had stayed back for the International Cricket Council meeting which was held after the World Cup. He, however, did not elaborate on the deliberations which went on at the meeting.

Habib ‘nearly quit’ game 5 yrs ago

LONDON, June 28 (AFP) — Aftab Habib, a regular English county batman for just two years but now due to start his international career against New Zealand on Thursday, said he almost quit cricket five years ago.

The 27-year-old Leicestershire player, named in the squad for the first Test at Edgbaston, may take over the number six position from the discarded Greame Hick.

But Habib might well have been lost to the game and enplained: "I was playing minor counties cricket for Berkshire, no-one seemed very interested in me and I began to think I would seriously have to start looking for another job.

"It was a tough time but fortunately Leicestershire gave me a trial then took me on the staff in 1995 and everything has gone on from there."

Tollygunge sail into semis

CALCUTTA, June 29 (PTI) — Tollygunge Agragami prevailed over unfancied Eastern Railways 2-1 in their last group-B league match and sailed into the semi-finals of the McDowell Cup Football Tournament here today.

Striker Biswarup Basu put Tollygunge ahead with a penalty conversion and forward Moses Owira scored the second goal in a rather lacklustre encounter at the Salt Lake Stadium. Soumen Dutta reduced the margin through a spot kick.

Tollygunge, who had held title aspirants East Bengal to a 1-1 draw in their opening match, could have won by a much bigger margin had their forwards not frittered away a number of scoring opportunities.

After a rather sedate start, Tollygunge shot ahead in the 43rd minute when Biswarup converted a penalty without much fuss. The penalty was awarded after Jayanta Sen was tripped inside the box by Sauvan Chakraborty.

Leading by a solitary goal at the interval, Tollygunge stepped up pace in the second session and struck again through Moses Owira in the 72nd minute.

Moses, fed by a gentle through pass from Jayanta Sen, broke through the defence with deft footwork before placing the ball into the goal.

Just when it looked Tollygunge would maintain their 2-0 lead till the long whistle, Eastern Railway managed to reduce the margin in the 82nd minute with Soumen Dutta converting the penalty.

The penalty was awarded after Shasti Duley was tripped inside the box by Nanda Pradhan.

Tollygunge enjoyed territorial advantage for most part of the proceedings but their forwards failed to get their acts together more often than not. Srikanta Dutta was guilty of muffing a couple of easy chances.

Tollygunge will now take strong contenders Mohun Bagan in the first semi-final on July 2 while East Bengal will clash with Mohammedan Sporting in the second semi-final on July 3.

Mumbai, AI in jr hockey final

BANGALORE, June 29 (PTI) — Mumbai and Air-India will clash in the final of the 30th national junior hockey championship as Bombay beat Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) 7-6 via sudden death and Air-India thrashed Bengal 3-0 here today.

PSB, last year’s semi-finalists, crashed out to Mumbai after having played a fairly decent game throughout. They were leading 2-0 till the 68th minute and were in a relaxed mood when Vijay Alphonso of Mumbai scored two goals in the last minutes to level the score at two-all.

In the other semifinal, Air-India continued to dominate the proceedings and reached the final in style defeating Bengal. Bengal had very few chances and were mentally blocked by the air men’s defence on the other hand Deepak Thakur, Anurag and Prabhjot Singh netted for the winners.

The sprinklers were unable to be used due to power failure. The first semifinal was reduced to 30 minutes each half and the tie-breaker rule was applied without giving room to golden rule. The same practice was followed for the second semifinal, too, but with 35 minutes in each half.

With sheer luck and determination, Bombay managed to reach to the final. At scores reading two-all in the stipulated time and even at tie-breaker a four-all draw led to sudden death. PSB’s Kanwalpreet Singh under pressure shot over to send the opponents to the final, at 7-6.

PSB played excellent defence and did not allow any room for the rivals. In the fourth minute Ajitpal Singh deflected off Bikramjit Singh’s powerful shot outside the 25-yard line.

Prabhjot Singh, the highest goal scorer in the championship, struck in the 16th minute off Parminder Singh.

But things changed in the last two minutes with Mumbai’s Vijay Alphonso striking twice in a row to level the score.

In the 68th minute, PSB’s Prem Singh checked to pave way for a penalty stroke, and Alphonso finished neatly 2-1.

A few seconds before the final whistle, Alphonso converted a penalty corner to make it two-all.

In the tie-breaker too the scores were level at four all giving way to sudden death.

Mumbai’s Kushmeet Singh converted the first shot and PSB’s Kanwalpreert Singh could not withstand pressure and shot overtaking the rivals through to final, to be played tomorrow.

Air-India opened the account through a penalty corner off Anurag shot in the 29th minute. At breather Air-India led 1-0.

Prabhjot Singh scored fantastic goal off Sanjeev Singh in the 34th minute. Deepak Thakur, in a solo effort, tackled three defenders and pushed into the post superbly to finish the match 3-0.

BCCI to bear expenses for Azhar's surgery

MUMBAI, June 28 (PTI) — The Indian cricket board is to bear the cost of shoulder surgery undergone by national team captain Mohammed Azharuddin in London last week.

"We will take care of the expenses of his shoulder surgery. It seems to be the same sort of injury — rotator cuff tear — for which Javagal Srinath had been operated upon (in 1997)," board president Raj Singh Dungarpur told yesterday today.

Mr Dungarpur, who returned here yesterday from London after attending the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting last week, said he had spoken to Azharuddin after his surgery.

"It may take at least three weeks to heal, according to my knowledge. There was swelling on his shoulder", the board chief said.

"Quite a few past Indian cricketers too had suffered such injuries, notably Chandu Borde and Hanumant Singh, because of the need to throw the ball while fielding," Mr Dungarpur explained.

Azhar had been troubled by the shoulder injury from the home triangular series in April and missed a few matches, including the final against Pakistan at Bangalore. He also did not play some matches in the subsequent triseries in Sharjah, though he did play in the final which India lost to Pakistan.

Azhar’s future as the Indian captain is under a cloud following the team’s elimination after the Super Six stage in the World Cup.

Astle, Cairns star in Kiwi win

LONDON, June 29 (AFP) — New Zealand gained a confidence boosting win before their first Test against England when Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns linked up for a match-winning partnership against Somerset at Taunton yesterday.

The New Zealand pair came together with their side 134 for four against injury-hit Somerset and still far from certain of achieving their 281 victory target.

But some flourishing strokeplay enabled Astle, who finished unbeaten on 88, and Cairns, not far behind on 74 not out, to put on 148 in 23 overs and send the Kiwis into the Test series in a confident mood.

It was a remarkable victory considering Somerset had posted 554 in their first innings. But the county were lacking six first-choice players, and their stretched bowling resources were finally exploited.

Medium-pacer Keith Parsons had kept fortunes in the balance by removing Roger Twose, Stephen Fleming, Matt Horne and Craig McMillan, taking three for 10 in the space of 4.2 overs at one stage.

Twose was dropped twice in making 26, having scored only four in the first innings. But in general the New Zealand batsmen came out of the game with valuable preparation for Edgbaston.

Astle faced 102 deliveries and the destructive Cairns only 75; both players hitting 11 fours and a six while scoring runs all round the wicket and never looking in the slightest trouble.

It was a friendly-looking Somerset bowling attack without Andy Caddick, Matt Bulbeck and Graham Rose.

But Ian Jones and Jason Kerr produced lively early spells, and Parsons swung the ball in overcast conditions for his four for 61.

It was in the spin department that Somerset really struggled. Adrian Pierson was well below his best in conceding 47 from eight overs, while debutant leg-spinner Saqib Mahmood was handed only the final over after giving away 34 runs in his two in the first innings.

There was some consolation for Gregor Kennis, who picked up the man-of-the-match award for his 175 in Somerset’s mammoth first innings total.

IHF ‘flouting’ its own norms
From Ravi Dhaliwal

PATIALA, June 28 — Top Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) officials are peeved at the "autocratic" manner in which it is being run with the federation flouting its own constitutional norms with impunity which may even put a dampner on preparations for the Sydney Olympics for which the Indians have already qualified.

Preferring anonymity, a top IHF office-bearer disclosed that the federation was brazenly violating its own norms and the annual general house meeting (AGM) and the executive committee meetings not being held regularly as envisaged in the IHF constitution.

As per the constitution, the AGM is supposed to be held at least once in a year before April 30 with elections to be conducted once after every four years during that year’s AGM. Sources say that ever since Mr KPS Gill became the IHF President at the Bhopal AGM in 1994, only one more AGM has been held so far on May 10 at Hyderabad in 1998. Sources say that this AGM was held only because elections were due where Mr Gill sought re-election. By now, going by the norms, at least six more AGMs should have been held ever since Mr Gill was elected for the first time in 1994.

The constitution also envisages that the executive meetings should be held the maximum number of times with at least three being mandatory in a year. Till now while 18 executive meetings should have been held since 1994, when Mr Gill became IHF chief. The fact is that in the past six years only three executive meetings have been held — one at Bangalore on May 21, 1995, the second at Chandigarh on February 2, 1997 and the third one at Hyderabad on May 9, 1998.

Top IHF sources also disclosed that for purpose of transparency, income-expenditure statements are to be tabled in the AGM. Interestingly, it was only at the Bhopal AGM in 1994 that proper accounts were tabled and the accounts were passed before Mr Gill was elected the President at Bhopal.

Normally an audited accounts statement is to be mentioned in the agenda before every AGM in which expenditure incurred on foreign tours is supposed to be listed with the agenda to be circulated well in advance of the AGM. But before the Hyderabad AGM (only the second since Mr Gill was elected President), no such expenditure statement was listed in the agenda sent to members and only conventional and "petty" accounts like TA/DA and other miscellaneous bills were passed.

Sources say that the IHF is not cash strapped as is being claimed. Sources claim that it has funds at its disposal though the money is not properly used for the development of the game. Immediately after Mr Gill was elected President at Bhopal AGM in 1994, he had promised an IHF stadium, with independent rooms hot and cold running water and cable televisions. But this promise remains a myth. Even a coaches' panel to overlook the game in the country was promised by Mr Gill, but this scheme also remains on paper.

Sources say that the IHF received Rs 74 lacs from Doordarshan for telecasting grade 'A' tournaments, Rs 21 lac from Alan Pascoe International, Rs 2.5 lacs from Iodex, Rs 1.24 crore for sponsoring the Chennai Champions Trophy and Rs 28 lacs from Punjab and Sindh Bank for conducting the junior nationals.

Football trials

JALANDHAR, June 29 (FOSR) — The Shri Guru Gobind Singh Football Society has decided to organise a coaching camp for boys, according to Mr Inderjeet Singh, president of the society. Young and upcoming football boys in the age groups of under-16 and under-19 selected in the first phase and the society will provide kit and coaching at Jalandhar. The camp will be of 10-day duration.

For the first batch of 25 boys the society will conduct selection trials at Guru Gobind Singh Footbal Stadium here on July 5, 1999 at 4 pm. Interested Football players may report to Mr A S Bal, technical adviser of the society, with date-of-birth certificates.

Valmiki Club win

JALANDHAR, June 29 (FOSR) — Fine performance by Soni (58 runs and 4 wickets) enabled host Valmiki Cricket Club to beat India Friends Club by five wickets in the Maharishi Valmiki Cricket Tournament at Dosehra Ground, Basti Sheikh here. Soni was declared the man of the match.

Brief scores: India Friends Club: 220 for 7 in 25 overs (Manu-89, Kawar-84; Soni 4 wickets).

Valmiki CC: 221 for 5 in 23.4 overs (Munish Kumar-74 n.o., Soni-58 n.o).

In another match N.K. Sports Club spurred by fine performance by Deepa (60 and 3 for 37) routed Love-Kush Cricket Club by three wickets.

Brief scores: Love Kush CC: 171 for 10 wickets in 25 overs (Happy-55, Jagan Nath-34; Rinku 3 for 28 and Deepa 3 for 37).

N.K. Sports CC: 172 for 7 in 24 overs.

Chess title for Kanwarjit

FEROZEPORE, June 29 (FOC) — Kanwarjit Singh of Jalandhar won the three-day Punjab State A Chess Championship which concluded here on Sunday. Ravinder Aery of Phagwara, Moti Ram of State Bank of Patiala and Vikas Sharma of Ludhiana secured the second, third and fourth positions, respectively.

They will now present Punjab in the National B Chess Championship to be held at Mumbai in August. Mr Devinder Arora president of the Ferozepore District Chess Association gave away the prizes.