Any one arriving at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre as one of its Academy intake with the notion of having a breezy year at someone else’s expense soon gets a wake-up call.The programme developed through trial and error initially, and then on the basis of consultation with participants, has emerged as an outstanding grounding not only for cricket, but for sporting life.The 14 males who are in the Academy are on cricket scholarships while the four females included are on academic scholarships.The director of the Cricket Academy, Dayle Hadlee said for the males the priority was cricket but for the females the priority was education.As part of their Lincoln University academic scholarships, the women receive two return airfares, their accommodation, clothing, tertiary fees, spending money which includes paying for their lunches and weekend meals, a holistic programme involving their studies and their cricket.The Academy is driven by its mission statement which is, “To develop quality cricketers with the skills, disciplines, knowledge and attitude to succeed initially at the first-class level and ultimately on the international stage.”And of the 55 players to have been through the Academy 53 have played first-class cricket.The New Zealand representatives so far have been: 1996 intake – Craig McMillan, Matthew Bell, Shayne O’Connor, Martyn Croy, Andrew Penn, Kerry Walmsley, Llorne Howell, Greg Loveridge, Mark Haslam; 1997 – Daniel Vettori, David Sewell, Brooke Walker, Daryl Tuffey, Mathew Sinclair, Jacob Oram; 1998 – Chris Nevin, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills; 1999 – Scott Styris, Hamish Marshall, James Franklin, Lou Vincent, Haidee Tiffen, Kate Pulford, Helen Watson.The typical programme undertaken by the male players starts in April with the development of the culture of the Academy, proficiency assessments and tour assessments.In May and June tertiary studies are attended to as well as sport science workshops, basic skills workshops, strategy games, cross sport training and an exit point interview is held.These interviews are specifically targeted at players who have wasted their time and arose out of an assessment that earlier in the programme saw players cramming at the end to get the full benefit.Hadlee said after talking this through with players this exit review system had been developed and so far no-one had failed to measure up to the requirements of the programme.But he added that lessons had been learned about the structure of the course and it was constantly evolving and this year’s course bore no resemblance to the first year it was held.After the mid-year break July and August are set aside for specialist skill workshops, tertiary exams, life skill workshops, visiting speakers and another exit point interview. An overseas tour is regarded as suitable around the end of August, but in the absence of a tour this year, the players went to Hanmer for a week.August-September involves match preparation, life skill workshops and a final exit point interview before the playing programme is embarked upon. Work on professionalism precedes the graduation from the Academy.The programme overview has the basic aim of creating, “thinking, well-rounded athletes who are highly-skilled cricketers by way of a multi-faceted, holistic programme.”A breakdown of the programme includes:Technical/tactical development (Computer analysis, biomechanical drills, skills workshops, master coaches, decision-making games, game awareness situations, key performance indicators, momentum graphs, daily records, cumulative records, net sessions, matches, quality debriefs).Cricket studies (Players’ suggestions, historical events, current issues, speeches, articles/videos, playing philosophies, quizzes, master classes, coaching course, code of conduct, match refereeing, umpiring course, coaching at local schools, playing goals, marketing and image issues, NZC high performance plan, visit to NZC head office, selection philosophy, visiting speakers).Physical development (medical, muscular skeletal, podiatry, sports optometry, nutritional, fitness, aerobic fitness, flexibility, speed, strength, agility, daily record keeping).Sports psychology (The academy culture, team standards/rules, expectations, goal setting, mental skills, monitoring self talk, relaxation techniques, improving concentration, psychological rehabilitation after injury, imagery routines, time management, communication skills and mental rehearsal and confidence).Injury prevention (posture alignment and muscle balance, sports injuries, soft tissue healing, principles of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, taping and bracing, massage, throwing injuries, low back pain in sport, pace bowling injuries).Cross sports training programme (Burnham Military Camp, trust exercises, high ropes course, Krypton Factor course, New Zealand school for acrobatics, kinaesthetic awareness, tumbling, aerobics, New Zealand Police fitness course, throwing technique, swimming, boxing/judo/fencing, orienteering/tramping, mountain biking, underwater hockey, yoga, hi/lo circuits, squash, indoor basketball and volleyball.Tertiary studies (Lincoln University/correspondence courses/work experience).Nutrition (Individual assessments, lectures-workshops, the cricket environment and health hazards, touring/travel, cooking lessons, self-catering).Life skills (House-keeping, university life, team building, media skills, financial well-being, taxation, contracts, public speaking, drug education, Kiwi pride, cultural awareness, community service).Playing programme (proficiency tour to Adelaide, international tours, inter-academy games, major association/state games, international ODIs).Clearly, there’s never a dull moment for participants in a programme that is the envy of several other cricket nations.

The story behind the pie!In 1938 Somerset all-rounder Harold Gimblett collected some berries from the Quantock Hills on his way to play the Australians. As the Aussies were staying at the Castle Hotel he took the berries to the Chef and he put them in a pie.Don Bradman apparently gave it his seal of approval and ever since, whenever the Aussies come to Taunton, their reward from the Castle Hotel is to be presented with a Whortleberry pie.

A century stand by Daniel Payne and a cavalier James Hopes has carried the Queensland Academy of Sport XI to 5-190 at tea on the third day of their cricket tour clash against New Zealand at Allan Border Field here today.Hopes made a sparkling 75 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Daryl Tuffey while Payne was eventually bowled for 57 in their 108-run fourth wicketstand.The QAS XI is chasing New Zealand’s first innings of 8(dec)-297.Tuffey (2-50) also took the wicket of opener Chris Simpson for five while Kiwi seamer Dion Nash had 1-22 off 10 overs.

Unable to capitalise on being inserted by Baroda, Gujarat collapsed to212 all out on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match at Vadodara.Although the visitors started off well, none of the batsmen were ableto convert starts into big scores. Only skipper Mukund Parmar offeredany resistance, and he too fell, having made 46. Kirat Damani made aquickfire 43 lower down the order, but the runs failed to boostGujarat to a significant total.For Baroda, Tushar Arothe and Shekhar Joshi took three wickets apiece,hastening the end of the first innings. In their batting reply,current Ranji champions Baroda were 8 for no loss at stumps, with bothopeners unbeaten on four.

The Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to fly out to India to join England’s tour party.Flintoff, who is currently in Australia with the England Academy side, is expected to arrive in Hyderabad by the weekend.Following England’s two-day warm-up game in Mumbai earlier this week, Coach Duncan Fletcher has decided his side may need to go into the first Test at Mohali on December 3rd with five bowlers.There is also concern about the Yorkshire all-rounder Craig White, who is still progressing towards full fitness after a knee injury.”The process is now in motion to bring Andrew Flintoff over here,” Fletcher said.”We want to cover all bases and we feel we need five bowlers. With the inexperienced attack we have here it would be high risk to go into a Test match with just four bowlers – that could be high risk in England.”Craig didn’t want to let us down and we had intended for him to be either our second or third seamer. Flintoff was with us in Zimbabwe and he made a big impression on us, bowling very fast.”

A calm century from Martin Love helped Queensland defuse a hot-tempered New South Wales in a spiteful ING Cup cricket clash at the Gabba tonight.Love’s 127 from as many balls propelled the Bulls to a six-wicket win, pushing them into a share of the competition lead with the butter-fingered Blues and Western Australia.NSW was always behind the pace tonight after Love and Jimmy Maher (47 from 62 balls) quickly made the Blues’ total of 7-271 look shaky as the Bulls reached4-272 from 47.1 overs.The Blues had a faint sniff midway through the run chase when captain Shane Lee (2-39) and leg-spinner Stuart MacGill (2-62 from 10) outfoxed Andrew Symonds(four) and Clinton Perren (zero) to leave Queensland 4-197.Lee claimed a popped return catch from Symonds before throwing the wicket down – with Symonds already out – and then giving the Queenslander a verbalsend-off.MacGill was just as frustrated in the next over when he trapped Perren LBW.Perren was unhappy with the dismissal and accidentally dropped his glove as he departed, only to watch it fall into the team huddle of the celebrating Blues.MacGill picked up the glove, held it to his chest and gave Perren a verbal spray before tossing the glove back at him.MacGill has already been fined for dissent this season and he was roundly booed by the 16,000 Queensland fans, who had their revenge two overs later whenall-rounder James Hopes smacked MacGill 12 rows back into the northern stand.They cheered again soon after when MacGill dropped a catch from Hopes at fine leg, continuing a poor fielding performance by the Blues in the last two weeks.Lee, who was responsible for a costly missed chance in Queensland’s eight-wicket win in the Pura Cup match earlier this week, missed a catch from Love on 65.Love reached his century on a misfield from MacGill and barely looked troubled as he guided Queensland to its third win from four matches, exacting revenge forNSW’s five-wicket victory at the SCG.Hopes followed his sound bowling and fielding performance with an impressive 52 not out from 50 balls to leave the Blues without a point from their two matches in Brisbane this week.Love had been promoted into the opening spot made vacant by Test opener Matthew Hayden and he executed a calculated, if not daring innings to reach his seconddomestic one-day century.But the 27-year-old had to survive a loud appeal from his first ball when the Blues believed he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin from the bowling ofNathan Bracken.That would have continued an excellent night for Haddin, whose explosive 74 from 55 balls put the Blues on the path to a big total.But his departure, following the loss of former Test players Michael Slater (five) and Michael Bevan (26 from 63), left the Blues scratching for runs.Their mid-innings lapse, caused by tight bowling from Symonds and Hopes, ended when promising young batsman Michael Clarke worked 62 runs from 79 balls.

Chris Tremlett reckons he can break the 85mph barrier in 2002 – and make his full England debut.Paceman Tremlett returns to Australia on January 12 with Hampshire teammate Derek Kenway and the rest of the Rod Marsh-led England Academy after a four-week break over the festive period.

The 20-year-old has a new-look action after the first seven weeks at the Adelaide Oval with former Australian Academy coach Marsh and his assistant John Abrahams.And he believes that nine more weeks Down Under will help crank his speed up further – and win him a place in England’s one-day side this summer.Tremlett, who models himself on Glenn McGrath, said: “Playing one-day international cricket for England this year is a realistic goal for me.”England haven’t done too well in one-day cricket this year and I played plenty of limited overs games with Hampshire last season.”It might be a bit early to think about going straight into the Test team, so I’ll be concentrating on staying in the Hampshire team. But one-day cricket is my goal.”Southampton-born Tremlett roomed with Northants spinner Graeme Swann and was given tips by Surrey ace Alex Tudor during the academy’s first two months in Adelaide.And he is confident that Hampshire fans will see a more formidable Chris Tremlett at the Rose Bowl this summer. Tremlett, who stands at 6ft 7in, has taken 26 wickets at 18.92 in his first two seasons of first-class cricket.He added: “I’m aiming to break the 85mph mark this year. I was bowling around 81mph last season but my fitness really improved in Australia.”I haven’t been clocked yet but I reckon 85mph is definitely do-able this season.”After doing a lot of fitness work in Australia, I’m a lot more powerful in the upper body and I feel like I’m bowling quicker. I’m coming over a lot higher and am attacking the crease a lot more than I used to.”Alex (Tudor) is a couple of inches shorter than me but we’re similar sorts of bowler so he’s given me some useful tips on my action.”He got five wickets against Australia last season and Graeme Swann toured South Africa with the Test squad a couple of years ago.”I want that experience as well but I need to be a bit quicker if I’m going to reach the top level.”It’s not all about pace but you need to be looking at consistent speeds in the mid 80’s to play international cricket.”Dad Tim, Hampshire’s director of cricket, said: “I’ve seen Chris’s new action in the nets and it looks good.”He’s using his height more and is much stronger as well

Hampshire County Cricket Club has recently appointed a new Cricket Development Office, Neil Rider, to replace Mark Garaway. He will take up his new position on 4 February 2002.Neil lives in Reading and has been the CDO for the Berkshire Cricket Board since July 2000 where, among his achievements, was the designing and implementing a Primary Schools Roadshow which led to over 10,000 boys and girls playing cricket.Initially from Suffolk, Neil has a degree in Recreation Management from Loughborough University. He is a Level III Coach and has been involved in coaching the Berkshire Minor Counties team, County youth squads in Berkshire, Leicestershire and Suffolk and the England Women and South West Region Womens teams.Neil played Minor Counties cricket for Suffolk and Berkshire and, last season, played for Hungerford in the Southern Electric Premier League.

Andrew Flintoff’s success for England during the winter tours has inspired Somerset all rounder Ian Blackwell to want to emulate the Lancashire player.Blackie told me, “He thoroughly deserves the success that he is having especially after he has taken so much stick about his weight. He has worked very hard and has got a lot to offer England.”He continued, “If he can stay fit he will be a very useful member of the test and one day side. He is a genuine all rounder.”Blackie played with Andrew Flintoff in the England side that took part in the Hong Kong Sixes back in the autumn, and was very impressed with his performances, and enjoyed his company.The Somerset player told me, “He is the same age as I am, and we came through the age groups together, and played against each other when I was at Derbyshire. Certain players you almost dread playing against and he was one. He was always the one who’d make it big time, and now he has.””Hong Kong was a taster for me, and I got to know him well over there. I hope that one day we will get to play in the same England one day side together,” Blackie told me,and concluded, “Seeing his success makes me more determined than ever in my fitness campaign.”

SHARJAH – Waqar Younis must be a very satisfied man. At stumps on the third day, he had his sights firmly set on a sixth successive Test victory. With plenty of time left in this Test match, to be exact, six sessions, and the hosts already 338 runs ahead with nine wickets standing, it would take a very brave man to put a wager on the West Indies not losing their 23rd match in 27 overseas outings.Having restricted the Caribbeans to 264, nine runs shy of the follow-on target despite skipper Carl Hooper’s heroics, Waqar didn’t ask the visitors to bat again. One is not sure whether he didn’t want to overwork his bowlers or maybe he desired that the West Indies batted last, on even further deteriorated turf.Shahid Afridi offered a chance almost straightaway, on the third ball of the innings, and, unlike the first innings, this time he didn’t get a reprieve, Ridley Jacobs pouching the snick off a Merv Dillon delivery. Afridi went back for a duck, but that minor hiccup apart, the Pakistan batting took the match decisively away from the ‘tourists’.After a slightly tentative start, Taufeeq Umar, intent on making amends for his failures in this series, and Younis Khan, trying to make the most of a rich vein of form, put on 130 runs for the second wicket. Both treated the short and loose stuff appropriately, and by the close, both had hit good half-centuries, with Younis looking well set to make it a hundred in each innings.If anything, Taufeeq and Younis proved that there were no demons in the wicket, and the contrast in the fortunes of the two teams had more to do with the calibre of the Pakistan attack, not to mention the grit and resolve of the Caribbean batting.The post-lunch session saw the West Indies tumble out of the game, with captain Carl Hooper alone defying the fire and venom of the Pakistan attack. Hooper remained undefeated, but his 84, a gem of an innings in the circumstances, failed to save the potential follow-on. But it didn’t matter in the end, for Waqar Younis didn’t enforce it, and going past that particular target may not have made life any the less miserable for the West Indian captain.With Shoaib and Waqar bowling in tandem, Hooper and Dillon found the going tough. Shoaib struck soon, with Dillon edging a good length delivery to Taufeeq at gully, who made no mistake with the low chance. Ryan Hinds looked better than his 11 runs, and when Razzaq relieved Waqar from the attack, Hinds drove him for four but was out, ostensibly plumb in front; umpire Darrell Hair raised the finger, but replays showed that the ball had landed outside leg stump.Jacobs (31) joined Hooper in the middle and the two took the fight to Pakistan in an enterprising stand of 47, before the former succumbed to the wiles of Saqlain Mushtaq, his variation, a ‘doosra’ (the one that goes the other way), pitched on the leg stump beating the sweep to rattle the stumps. The 237 for 7 was quickly 237 for 8 as Shoaib clean bowled an out of sorts Ramnarine. A remarkable display of reverse-swing bowling earned Akhtar his fourth wicket, uprooting Cameron Cuffy’s off-stump with a ball that swung in sharply from nearly a yard outside.Hooper fought on bravely, farming the bowling and attempting some big shots off every bowler, in the process accumulating his 5,000th Test run, the ninth Windian batsman to achieve that distinction, and remained unconquered till the end, but it was not enough, for Pedro Collins was dismissed by Saqlain Mushtaq with the West Indies still 9 runs adrift.Sadly, for the umpteenth time, the West Indies tail had folded without putting up a fight.