AUSTRALIA - Manager: Mustafa Khan

Another disappointment for the Aussies. This match they should have won. After a very poor start to the League the Australians went up against Pakistan who had also lost their first match. With the two W's, Mushtaq & Saqlain and the MCG's bowler friendly pitch, batting was very difficult and Aussie batting collapse again.

The Pakistanis did not do much better as Warne & McGrath ended their innings quite cheaply. It was the second innings that really put the Australians back. The Paki bowlers crushed them for just 138.

A brave performance from the new captain Shane Warne but it was not enough to stop the determined Pakistani Batsmen.

The next match will be do or die for Australia. Manager Mustafa Khan said "We are a team that is never going to give up at any stage. Yes, 2 losses in a row is demoralising but we must put that behind and start all over again. Geoff Marsh and I along with the whole team had a meeting last night and it worked out successfully and hopefully we will get a better result next time as we have pointed out our mistakes which we should be able to rectify before the next match. But the fact of the matter is that Pakistan has out played us just as Warwick Todd's XI had. I would like to congratulate both the teams. One thing I would like to make clear is that I thought Shane Warne is producing more as captain as he is feeling some pressure to do well and his performance has really been superb, he could do with some support from the bat."

ENGLAND - Manager: Dan Thomas

England won a close match last week against Zimbabwe to consolidate their 2nd place in Warwick Todd's World Test Cricket Championship. England and the Warwick Todd XI are the only teams to have both their matches to date which shows how tough and competitive the league is.

In a test where no batsman ever dominated or felt truly secure the difference between the 2 teams was an inspired performance by Darren Gough who played a genuine allrounders role in this test. His 5 wickets in the 1st innings helped England dismiss Zimbabwe for 257. Then when the England top order has failed to master the Zimbabwean attack with the possible exception of Hick who scored a slow 51, Gough (48*) and Croft (65) secured an England 1st innings lead of 40 runs despite being 147-6 at one stage.

In the Zimbabwe 2nd innings Gough was a little out of sorts only getting the 1 wicket but Tufnell was devastating taking 7-50. If Gough had not had such a good all round performance he would have surely won the Man of the Match for this effort.

This left England needing 170 to win. Once again the top order failed to impress as Zimbabwe reduced England to 122-7 and scented victory. The stage was set though for Gough (30*) and Hick (56*) to steer England home with an unbeaten 50 partnership. Hick's 50 was very patient even slower than the 1st innings and the slowest of the round.

This week England face Pakistan managed by Nathan Porter an old rival in ITC leagues. With both managers seemingly favouring a very strong bowling line up the stage could be set for a low scoring tense match. To try and counter this the English training this week has really concentrated on the batting as aside from Hick none of the top order played well this week. Currently Gough tops the batting averages for England. England can at least name a full strength side with the return of Cork who replaces Fraser.

The Warwick Todd XI again looked impressive as they brushed aside India by 9 wickets. They appear to have a very impressive batting line up. England are not scheduled to meet them until round 6 which could prove to be a very important match in deciding the championship.

INDIA - Manager: Mat Kenneally

The Indian camp is remarkably calm despite being thrashed by Warwick Todd's XI and being found languishing towards the bottom of the table. Manager Mat Kenneally made the point that WTXI is the toughest side he has seen and was proud of his boys. "We will continue with our batting based tactics against Australia this weekend" was Mathew's response to a possible change of tactics. Tendulkar with 4/129 and 56 secured his role as an allrounder. Mathew is confident about this weekend, "Australia are even worse off than us - we should win." Azharuddin voiced a similar opinion, "Will be off the mark this weekend". India is confident leading into round three despite Manager Mat's inability to keep team sheets and documentation organised.

NEW ZEALAND - Manager: Ben Buchanan

HOWELL'S 199 NOT ENOUGH AS LARA BELTS NEW ZEALAND

Another loss to New Zealand sees them reeling at 0-2 after 2 rounds in the Warwick Todd Championship. Disappointment again surrounded the camp after Brian Lara single handedly tore apart the New Zealand bowling attack. With innings of 162 & 140* he was the difference between the two sides.

Llorne Howell, in only his second test, played like he had been playing the game for years. He belted 199 in the first innings before he was controversially given out caught behind down the leg side when it appeared the ball brushed his thigh pad on the way through. Other notable batting performances included Nathan Astle's 57 as his good run of form continued. Acting captain Adam Parore also posted a good 47. Sherwin Campbell also made a good 117 in the West Indies 1st innings.

Shayne O'Conner once again bowled an excellent line and length capturing 7 wickets in the test match while off spinner Vettori captured 5. Once again fielding let the New Zealanders down. Numerous chances went begging and they will have to work hard on this aspect of the game if they are going to challenge the teams towards the top of the table.

After the match, New Zealand coach Ben Buchanan said "It was disappointing that we let them post such a big score in the first innings. I thought we also had a chance to save the game in the end. It was a pity our lower order batsman couldn't have hung around a bit. If we could have got Lara early in both innings it would have been a different story I think. Lara's a class batsman and when we let chances slip, he will always capitalise on them."

When asked about Howell's performance in his second game, Buchanan said, "It was one of the better innings I've seen in the last few years. He is one of the most promising batsman in the world at the moment."

Acting skipper Adam Parore was dejected after the game. When asked about Brian Lara he said, "He's one of the best batsman in then world at the moment. But I guess if we had Stephen Fleming in our side it also might have been a different story. Taking your best batsman out of the side leaves a huge hole in the batting line up."

Next weeks game against Zimbabwe is a must win game. A loss here and it will put New Zealand a long way behind the pack. Craig Spearman will return to bolster the line up. Matt Horne or Blair Pocock are the likely omissions.

PAKISTAN - Manager: Nathan Porter

SOUTH AFRICA - Manager: Steve Hill

SA SHELL SHOCKED

South Africa playing in their second match of the tournament were completely flat footed and never really got anywhere throughout their match against Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankans dominated throughout the match and a poor batting performance by South Africa coupled with some wayward bowling never allowed the South Africans a chance into the match.

To add to their woes - strike bowler Allan Donald is now also on the injury list.

The South African's take on the Warwick Todd XI in the third round. Gary Kirsten will return to the side at Adam Bacher's expense while Makhaya Ntini is a forced change for the injured Allan Donald.

SRI LANKA - Manager: Keith McLeod

COACH'S UNDERDOG TAG RINGS FALSE

Despite vigorous assertions to the contrary by the Sri Lankan manager, the Sri Lankans are a team to reckon with in the currently underway Warwick Todd World Championship. Before each of the first two rounds the Sri Lankan manager, Keith McLeod, debuting in a cricket management position, downplayed the chances of his team. Although he has obviously lost all credibility with the media, McLeod appears to have moulded a champion team who will take a lot of beating.

With a top batting line-up, no side can let up in the field against the Sri Lankans. After two rounds of the competition Sri Lanka have an impressive seven players with batting averages of 60 or over. With Dharmasena still to return from a groin strain following the round 1 draw against India and an unbeaten century under his belt, the Sri Lankan's morale is sky high and the two teams above them on the table must be looking over their shoulders.

Although the Sri Lankan strength obviously lies with the willow, the bowling should not be underestimated. Both Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas are class players, each taking 11 wickets in the first two games. Young quick Zoysa has also shown some form in taking 10 wickets. Backed up by the keeping of live-wire Kaluwitharana, who has an early lead in the competition dismissal stakes with 14 catches and a stumping, the Sri Lankans are a team on the rise.

The South Africans can attest to the strength of Sri Lanka, as they try to recover from a 10 wicket drubbing. Supremo batsman Aravinda de Silva once again stamped his class on the game with a beautiful innings of 169. Coming off only 215 balls, de Silva bounced back well from a first test aggregate of 11 runs in his two innings.

The Sri Lankan team face the mighty West Indians this week. Lying in the middle of the table, the West Indians are no doubt disappointed with their start to the season. Although the islanders lost their first match against Thomas's England, they rebounded against New Zealand last week. Leading from the front was the indomitable and inspirational maestro Brian Lara, regaining form with 302 runs in the weekend's match. Whatever happens this week, we can be sure it will be an exciting and riveting match.

WEST INDIES - Manager: Joshua Johnson

A great result for first time manager Joshua Johnson as his West Indian team scored their first win of the series against a competitive New Zealand side. The game was won through some lacklustre fielding by the Kiwis, but this was equally matched by the many West Indian dropped catches.

The innings started on a beautiful pitch and it didn't take long for Campbell to get on with things, amassing 50 before lunch. When Samuels was clean bowled by a great ball from Vettori, Adams entered and scored a very useful 82. Campbell scored a beautiful century before he was finally dismissed by Cairns on 117. Probably the most important event in the match was the next ball when Cairns dropped a simple return catch from Lara. Lara went on to play superbly and eventually scored 162 off only 205 balls. The middle order went quite cheaply, but an amazing 53 was scored by Walsh off only 48 balls. Rose also managed to help out a bit, coming in at number 11 he eventually made 22 n.o. By mid-way through the second session of day 2 the West Indian team were eventually all dismissed for a fine total of 543, confident that they would be able to knock over the New Zealand team and maybe even force them to follow on.

As it turned out this wasn't to be with Pocock and Howell making a first wicket partnership of 76 before Pocock was caught by Adams of the bowling of Walsh. Next ball Walsh trapped McMillan plumb in front and was on a hat-trick. This left the Kiwis at 2/76. Another fine partnership was established and Astle and Howell managed to put on another 126 before Astle went. Further support for Howell was provided by Parore further down the order who managed a fighting 47. The biggest breakthrough of the day was the dismissal of Howell who tried to glide a Benjamin delivery down to the third man boundary and was caught behind on 199. The New Zealand team was eventually dismissed for 416, 127 runs behind the West Indies. There was not really one stand out performance amongst the bowlers with both Benjamin and Walsh taking 3 apiece.

The second innings started off alright, but a quick loss of three wickets left the West Indies at 3/96. This brought Brian Lara to the crease and in a Man of the Match, match winning performance he managed to maintain the innings although most of the team collapsed around him. He eventually went on to score 140 n.o. before he decided to call the innings closed at 9/323 at 4.30pm on day 4. This left the New Zealand team the improbable target of 450 on the now deteriorating pitch. The only problem would be trying to dismiss the New Zealanders in just over a day.

The innings started well, getting the breakthrough required. Howell was caught LBW on only 3 off the bowling of Ambrose. It could have gone much better though as 3 catches were grassed, two of them sitters. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and with one wicket required for the win, 3 catches were again put down until they O'Connor was finally trapped in front with a half hour to play. The New Zealand team managing only 175. Once again the bowling effort was shared around, with both Ambrose and Benjamin taking 3 each.

This close-call type of victory has really uplifted the side. Hopefully the morale boost of this victory will be enough to allow us to beat the in-form Sri Lankans on their home turf. The Sri Lankans on coming off a 10 wicket thrashing of South Africa and their batting is in such good form they are ranked second only to the League leaders Warwick Todd's XI. The same West Indian line-up will travel to Sri Lanka to take on that line-up and hopefully we will see some further big hitting by the likes of Lara, Adams, Campbell and Chanderpaul.

ZIMBABWE - Manager: Dave Hickey

A TALE OF TWO TAILS

The Round 2 clash between Zimbabwe and England produced an exciting, low-scoring match and, as is often the case in these types of affairs, strong tail-end batting decided the result. In both innings Zimbabwe got away to comfortable starts, only to lose momentum with tail-end batting collapses. The England batting was completely opposite - with top-order collapses being rescued by strong resistance from the tail.

Zimbabwe won the toss and, in electing to bat, got away to a good start to be 1/89 at lunch. The innings then progressed in steady rather than spectacular style and just after tea Zimbabwe were looking comfortable at 4/173. They then proceeded to lose their last six wickets for 84 runs, largely due to some good new-ball bowling from Gough, to finish their innings at a respectable 257, but well short of what they might have expected.

England also started well but the introduction of spin from Strang and Huckle bought immediate results. When Streak returned with an inspired second spell, England were on the ropes at 6/147. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe were unable to deliver the knock-out blow as Hick and Croft, and then Croft and Gough dug in, helping England to put on 150 for the last four wickets. The England innings ended at 297, a handy lead of forty runs.

Zimbabwe's 2nd innings was also steady and unspectacular and once again they were reasonably well placed at 6/196. However, another tail-end collapse, this time losing 4 wickets for just 13 runs, left Zimbabwe in front by only 169 runs.

Zimbabwe showed great spirit in defending the small lead and hopes were raised when the England top-order struggled with the conditions to be in big trouble at 6/107. With Croft again joining Hick in a vital partnership, Huckle found the edge of Hick's bat only to see Campbell drop a simple chance at slip. Campbell immediately left the field with a dislocated finger and suspected fracture, not to mention severe embarassment. This costly miss allowed Hick, Croft and Gough to rescue the innings and secure the match for the visitors.

Zimbabwe manager Dave Hickey was disappointed at letting the match slip from their grasp but he refused to blame the tail-end batting collapses. "We have a very capable top six who are simply not going on with the job. They are all getting starts but so far they have not delivered a single century. The bowlers are doing their job with the ball - we just need the batsmen to do likewise with the bat."

Hickey pointed out that Zimbabwe are still well-placed on the ladder and that they have played the two teams with the most experienced managers in the first two rounds. "We now get to play some of the first-time managers and it will be vital to record wins in the next few weeks while they are still finding their way."

Hickey also denied rumours of an ongoing rift between Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell over the captaincy. Campbell lost the captaincy to Flower at the start of the series when he refused to provide a photo for the website. With Flower injured, he reclaimed the job, but he will miss the next game, allowing Flower to again step in. "Obviously a situation of having one captain rather than two is the preferred option, but we are very happy with the job done by both players" said Hickey. "However, we are still hopeful of arranging for Alistair to have his photo taken to put an end to all the media speculation, once and for all."

WARWICK TODD'S XI - Manager: Warwick Todd

Former Test legend Warwick Todd produced his second century in two innings and then produced a stinging attack on Australian selectors as Warwick Todd's XI easily defeated India to retain the Warwick Todd Trophy.

Todd questioned the selector's policy of pressuring batsman into retirement as soon as they turn 30, when he believes they could have their most productive years ahead of them. "Look at Bradman," he offered, "he is nearly 90 and his average is still almost 100."

Todd was unable to expand on this thesis as his press conference was interrupted by a rather "tired and emotional" David Boon who decided to do a spot of "crowd-surfing" with the assembled media. Unfortunately, most of the media had already left and the resultant injury is expected to keep Boon out of next week's Trophy defence against South Africa. The good news is that Todd should recover from his injuries to lead the side.

Greg Ritchie has been placed on stand-by for Boon provided that he agrees not to attempt any crowd-surfing himself and also if he is able to get a flight back from Madras. (If Merv posts his passport today, he should get back in time).