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Fitzroy R.S. de Mel, a highly respected umpire of the Board of Control forCricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) met with an ill-fated train accident whicheventually took his life on Wednesday evening.Initial reports indicate that de Mel who was returning home from work wasinvolved in a heated argument with another person, who is alleged to havepushed him from the Lunawa Railway Station platform when the train hadstarted to move. He was accompanied by his wife at the time of his death.De Mel (66) was employed as the assignment officer at the BCCSL, havingjoined the establishment in 1992 after he decided to retire from activeumpiring in the mid-eighties.He donned the white coat for 30 years and during that time, officiated infirst-class and representative matches and unoffical Tests.De Mel was highly respected in his field and played an active role evenafterwards being vice president of the Association of Cricket Umpires andScorers Sri Lanka (ACUSSL). He was made a life member of the association in1994 for his services to cricket and was also a member of the ACU ofEngland.During his time as an umpire, De Mel was employed in the Survey Departmentwhom he represented at cricket and later, in the Mahaweli Authority. De Melwas also a notable actor in dramas, the most famous of which was in HenryJayasena’s ‘Hunuwataye Kathawa’.His funeral took place on Saturday afternoon at the Anglican Church inLunawa, Moratuwa.

There was no joy for Tripura on Thursday as they slipped to 116 allout against Assam in their East Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at home.On winning the toss at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium inAgartala, Assam skipper SZ Suffri put the home side in to bat. It wasa decision that paid rich dividends at the close of play on the firstday. Left arm spinner Sukhbinder Singh was quite unplayable. Returningthe amazing figures of 15-7-15-5, Sukhbinder ran through the Tripurabatting lineup. Picking up wickets that spanned from the openingbatsman to the last man, Sukhbinder made sure that the highestindividual score was restricted to S Dasgupta’s 42. AlthoughSukhbinder’s performance was the one that stood out, left arm seamerGautam Dutta with 3/30 gave a good account of himself.In response, the Assam side encountered no problems. Although PJ Daswas run out after he had made 28 (57 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) the firstwicket partnership was already worth 52. When stumps was called, Assamwere motoring on at a healthy 79 for 1. Skipper Zufri, coming in atone drop was unbeaten on 21. The other opener, SB Saikia had helpedhimself to a slow but steady 25 (96 balls) and he too was unconquered.Assam are in a good position, and some steady batting from them on thesecond and third days should see them take the initiative.

West Brom managed to rescue a point in their latest Championship outing yesterday as Adam Reach scored with virtually the last kick of the game to snatch a 2-2 draw against Bristol City.

The home side went ahead after 29 minutes through Nahki Wells before a penalty goal from Karlan Grant put the Baggies level with 69 minutes on the clock.

Former Aston Villa figure Andreas Weimann put Bristol ahead once again in the 85th minute after he assisted Wells’ goal in the first half, only for Reach to save a point for Steve Bruce’s side right at the death, leaving them unbeaten in their past four league games.

Aside from Reach and his dramatic late goal, one other figure in a West Brom shirt that was rather crucial for them on the day was midfielder Alex Mowatt.

With the full 90 minutes under his belt, the Englishman had 84 touches of the ball in total and managed to complete 52 of the 62 passes he attempted, with one cross, two long balls and one key pass.

The midfielder also managed to complete the one dribble he attempted, showing how useful he was on the ball for his side.

Also, and arguably, more importantly, the 27-year-old was rather effective off the ball as well by winning 71% of the duels he was involved in and winning five tackles, which is more than any other Baggies player managed to make on the day.

Birmingham Live also picked up on the work that the midfielder did to help the team from a defensive point of view by saying that he “helped at the back, deep into his own half to try and recover play during Bristol’s attack.”

This display ultimately earned the former Barnsley star an overall match rating of 7.2, making him the highest-rated player that started the game for the Midlands club according to SofaScore.

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Having been labelled as a “massive” player for the Baggies earlier in the season by former West Brom and Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael, this is certainly what Mowatt was yesterday, especially when it came to making sure the home side didn’t score more goals than they did, making him a real hero for his current boss.

In other news: Sold for £16.5m, now worth 78% less: Dowling pulled a WBA blinder over £43k-p/w dud

	Chris Gayle: “It was really pleasing to see how we operated under pressure” © AFP

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has said it was tremendous beating South Africa on their home soil, especially so with a relatively young and inexperienced side. “It was really pleasing to see how we operated under pressure,” Gayle told the . “We just have to try and keep on improving and maintaining the discipline.”Gayle said West Indies now have to focus on improving on their performance in Port Elizabeth where they won their first away Test against a sizeable opposition since June 2000 when they beat England in Birmingham. “This is a different challenge. We usually win Test matches at the end of the series when it’s already lost. Now, we are one-up at the start of a series so we’ll see how we cope with it for the next couple of days. We know what we’re here for so we’re not going to be complacent.”Though he admitted that leadership was important, Gayle insisted that every player must be given the chance to prove himself. “Sometimes too much is expected of them too soon. You have to give them time to develop as persons and as cricketers as well.”Of his own style of captaincy, Gayle said he tells it like it is. “I’m not going to lie or anything like that. It’s not for you to take what I say personally, whatever the situation, but to understand and look into yourself to see where improvements can be made.”Looking forward to the second Test, Gayle said West Indies expected South Africa to come back strong and hard at them. “We’ll be prepared for it,” he countered. “We’re looking for the fight. Challenges are what we expect, so we’ll try to cope with it. Cape Town is always a good wicket so hopefully we can put up an even better performance there than we did in this game.”Graeme Smith, the South African captain, said South Africa were better individually and as a team than they had shown the four days in Port Elizabeth and promised they would rebound in the next Test. He said the three days of rain preceding the match had hampered South Africa’s preparations but refused to use it as an excuse for the defeat.The second Test will start on January 2, followed by the third and final one in Durban on January 10.

A century by Salman Butt, leading the Lahore Lions, was overshadowed as his side were pipped by the Islamabad Leopards in the opening match of the ABN-AMRO Cup National One-day Tournament Silver League at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.The Lions, put in to bat first, compiled a score of 236-9 in their allotted 50 overs, a target the Leopards reached with two balls and two wickets to spare. Butt, who has been placed among the five reserves for Pakistan’s World Cup 2007 campaign, remained unbeaten on 129, his ninth hundred in this form and his highest.It didn’t matter much as solid knocks from Bazid Khan (56), Bilal Asad and Raheel Majeed saw the visitors home. Majeed was particularly fluent, his 43 coming from just 30 balls. Asad’s innings comleted a fine all-round performance, complementing his 3 for 30 earlier with a 30-ball 34.The two teams shared the Silver League trophy last season, when the final was rained off in Islamabad without a single ball being bowled.Multan Tigers, with Usman Tariq and Saeed Anwar jnr unseparated, thrashed Quetta Bears by ten wickets in their opening round Silver League match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.Tariq remained unbeaten on 51 and Anwar on 32 as the Tigers reached the target in 22 overs, in a match reduced by rain, to 25 overs a side. The win was set up Imranullah Aslam’s leg-spin, the 26-year-old from Bahawalpur picking up a career-best 4 for 12..Quetta opener Shoaib Khan made 39 and his second-wicket stand with Umar Javed brought 45 runs, but the Bears then lost nine wickets in just 11 overs as three batsmen were run out.Hyderabad Hawks also beat Abbottabad Rhinos with ease in their opening round silver league match at the Diamond Club Ground on Saturday.The match had been reduced to a 20-over affair due to wet conditions and after being put in, the Rhinos were bowled out for a paltry 105 in 17.5 overs.Hyderabad reached their target for the loss of only two wickets in 16.2 overs, captain Faisal Athar making an unbeaten 36 off 49 balls with five fours. Shahid Qambrani added 27 before being run out.Riaz Kail topscored for Abbottabad with 30 and wicketkeeper Ahmed Said hit 26 but it proved too little too late.

Indians practice at Lahore © Getty Images

The Indian batsmen practiced at the Pakistan National Cricket Academy near the Gaddafi Stadium with synthetic plastic balls bounced at them from short distance on concrete pitches.Virender Sehwag, the vice-captain, revealed to reporters that he had practiced in similar fashion at home before reaching Pakistan to get used to the thunderbolts of the strong Pakistan pace attack led by Shoiab Akhtar and Mohammad Sami. The team also utlised the services of the bowling machine at the venue under the watchful eyes of coach Greg Chappell and the other support staff of the team. All the 16 players were seen at the practice venue.The team members are expected to visit patients at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer hospital at the invitation of Imran Khan, the fomer Pakistan captain-turned-politician.

Naved-ul-Hasan Rana: sad loss© Getty Images

Pakistan’s joy at reaching the final of the VB Series has been tempered by the news that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s father has died. Rana Mehdi Hasan, 60, had been suffering from a lung infection and passed away during the match.It is the second time in as many matches for Pakistan that one of the squad has suffered in this way – after Sunday’s victory over Australia, Younis Khan flew home to attend the funeral of his father, and was said to be “shattered” as he departed from Perth Airport.A spokesman for the Pakistan Cricket Board expressed his condolences in a statement. “We realize that you were far away on national duty on the tragic day and fully share your grief. May Allah Almighty bless the departed soul and give you and your family the strength to bear this loss.”The burial will take place on Wednesday in his home town of Sheikhupura. Naved’s mother has asked her son not to return home, but to continue on the tour and take part in the finals.

Past and present Victorian First Class players will be re-united tonight for the last supper in the MCC Long Room. It will be a celebration of the spirit and tradition of Victorian cricket.Of the 797 players who have pulled on the Victorian cap, approximately 250 will be in attendance including some of the biggest names in the history of the game, such as Neil Harvey, Sam Loxton, Keith Stackpole and Merv Hughes.Dick Hassett, at 95 and brother of the legendary Lindsay, will be the oldest living Victorian player whilst recently appointed ING Cup Captain Cameron White will be the youngest.To mark the historic occasion each player will be presented with a commemorative tie. The tie features a number, representing the order in which each player made their Victorian First Class debut.Tonight’s function is also significant as season 2003/04 marks Victoria’s 1000th First Class match, the first state in Australia to reach this milestone.

Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar Monday said the West Indies would be no pushover but admitted that he would be disappointed if his team didn’t win the Test and one-day series.”I will not repeat my prediction of a clean sweep against Bangladesh. But I will be disappointed if we don’t win the Test and one-day series against the West Indies,” Mudassar said on the eve of his team’s departure.Mudassar said the West Indies was not being taken seriously by the game’s pundits which was a dangerous thing to do.”West Indies strength lies in their bowling. They may have been bashed in Sri Lanka or some other place, but conditions in Sharjah are absolutely different,” he said.The West Indies, currently the whipping boys of international cricket, will be without Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan because of injuries.”West Indies might be without Lara and Sarwan. But we will also be without Wasim Akram who is an outstanding bowler and who could have made better use of the old ball. I don’t have a bowler who can replace him,” he said.Wasim bowled 20 balls in Dhaka before turning with a hamstring injury. He was overlooked by the selectors for the Sharjah series but Mudassar said door was open for the left-hander to join the team for the second Test starting Feb 4.”I have seen marked improvement in his bowling in the last two days. He is making speedy recovery and I sincerely hope he joins the team before the second Test,” he said.Pakistan named a four-man pace attack led by Waqar Younis who is probably the only bowler who is in form. Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar are all injury-prone and staging comeback after a layoff.”I am a bit concerned but I am confident Sami and Shoaib will come through. Sami is a bowler who can do anything anytime though he was a bit rusty in the last one-day international.”Shoaib looks fit to me and is also bowling well. But I agree that there are question marks since the fast bowlers will have to do a lot more bowling than they have been doing recently.” Mudassar has, however, pinned his hopes on spin duo of Saqlain Mushtaq and Danish Kaneria.”Going by the trend, the series should be dominated by the spinners and I believe Danish has a major role to play,” he said.Danish, he continued, had come out of age and was bowling brilliantly. “Although he cannot be compared with someone like Shane Warne, but he gets more bounce than Warne because of his height. He is a keen cricketer who has improved his overall cricket.”Mudassar said it was premature to say on the combination of the team for the first Tests, be admitted that Shahid Afridi was a serious contender to open the innings with Taufiq Umer.Meanwhile, paceman Mohammad Zahid’s comeback to international cricket was abruptly halted when he couldn’t depart to Sharjah with the team.According to highly placed sources, the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) failed to arrange visa for the fast bowler who last played for Pakistan three years ago.Sources further said Zahid might also miss the first Test. “His visa has gone into security clearance. Probably the confusion is because of his namesake. But it is highly unlikely that he would be able to join the team before the first Test,” sources said.Squad: Taufiq Umer, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq (vicecaptain), Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif (wicketkeeper), Waqar Younis (captain), Shoaib Akhtar, Danish Kaneria, Saqlain Mushtaq, Faisal Iqbal, Naved Latif, Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Zahid.

Ian Blackwell – took Somerset to victory from brink of defeat Photo © Stu Forster, AllSport

Somerset’s close two-wicket win over Yorkshire at Scarborough took them closer to Worcestershire at the top of the First Division of the National League. Some five thousand spectators saw Somerset, set to score just 142 for victory on a pitch which did not favour batting, collapse to 74-7 in the 27th over.From that point, however, Ian Blackwell struck back strongly by hitting 50 n.o. from 41 deliveries. His partner Michael Burns (26) was out at 107, but Blackwell pressed the attack by hitting slow left-armer Darren Lehmann for six. With Graham Rose he chiselled away at the margin and ended the match by striking Paul Hutchison which raised his fifty and won the match.Somerset’s poor early batting had been brought about by fast bowlers Matthew Hoggard and Chris Silverwood supported by the catches of Richard Blakey at the wicket. Winning the toss Yorkshire were bowled out for 141: Steffan Jones took 4-33 to raise his season’s National League aggregate to 21 wickets. Paul Jarvis (3-23), Marcus Trescothick and Blackwell gave him accurate support. Blakey (33) was the hosts’ top-scorer but he hit only two fours in 75 balls. Ian Fisher wasmore adventurous with 20 from 29 deliveries and then took 3-20.