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It should come as no surprise that the second day of this Colombo Test Match wasyet another gripping affair, with fortunes fluctuating throughout the dayand controversy an ever-present bed fellow. It will come as even less of asurprise that the match remains evenly poised with both sides stillharnessing realistic hopes of winning the game.England dominated the morning as they efficiently brushed aside the SriLankan tail in the first half and then batted until lunch without loss, butSri Lanka’s spinners then swung the initiative their way as they took fourwickets between lunch and tea. Finally, Graham Thorpe rescued the innings inthe evening, adding 84 runs with Michael Vaughan, to leave England 66 runsbehind Sri Lanka.England’s position would appear to be the strongest, especially with GrahamThorpe still at the wicket. The Surrey left-hander played a key role inKandy scoring 59 in the first innings and an invaluable 46 in the second.Today too, he rescued the innings, defying the Sri Lankan spinners with anorganised combination of thrusting pad play and tempered aggression, toscore an unbeaten 71 at a time when England looked as if they were goingfold.He was well supported by Vaughan, who scored a disciplined 26 from 126 balls. He stroked two boundaries that betrayed his rich promise; a powerful sweep off the left arm of Dinuk Hettiarachchi and an exquisite cover drive off the beguiling Muralitharan.He will have been further boosted by the news that he has been added to theone-day squad, partly as cover for Nasser Hussain, who is unlikely to play,and partly because he offers an additional spin option on the slow SriLankan wickets.The Sri Lankan spinners proved a real handful after Chaminda Vaas had ended a 45-run opening stand when he dismissed Michael Atherton for the fifth time in five innings.Dinuk Hettiarachchi, a stocky left arm spinner making his debut, addedgreater potency to the attack as he offered the ball air and extractedconsiderable turn. He finished the day with creditable figures (19-4-33-2)and took the next two wickets to fall, as England slipped from 45 withoutloss to 66 for three.Marcus Trescothick was freakishly dismissed for 23 as he slog-swept straightinto the shirt sleeve of Russel Arnold at short leg, and then a limpingHussain, who was granted a runner by Sri Lanka after pulling his hamstringyesterday, was beaten in the air and drove straight to Sanath Jayasuriya atshort extra cover.Hussain had already been given out once in bizarre circumstances after hehad edged Hettiarachchi to Mahela Jayawardene at slip. The Sri Lankansimmediately appealed, but Jayawardene informed Sri Lankan umpire, Asoka deSilva, that he was unsure as to whether the catch had been taken cleanly. DeSilva conferred with David Orchard, who adjudged that the catch had beentaken cleanly and Asoka de Silva raised his finger, much to the horror ofHussain.England’s dumbfounded captain walked slowly off as television replaysclearly showed the ball had bounced. Asoka de Silva finally referred the decision to the television umpire, B.C. Cooray, who confirmed that the ball had bounced.In the event it proved irrelevant, as Hussain added only four more runs.Following the dismissal of Hussain, Alec Stewart and Thorpe added 25runs before Stewart was deceived by a straighter ball from Muralitharan tobe bowled.Both the Sri Lankan and England coaches believe that match to be evenlypoised and realise that tomorrow morning will be especially important. Thepitch is starting to wear and batting is becoming increasingly difficult. Alead of 70-90 runs would be very useful.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sri Lanka ran out four West Indies batsmen•ICC/Getty

West Indies imploded in spectacular fashion to lose to Sri Lanka by five runs in a rain-affected match in Galle. Chasing a modest D/L target of 48 runs in eight overs, West Indies appeared well on their way with Tremayne Smartt getting a boundary off the first ball and nine runs in the opening over. The first ball of the second over resulted in a run-out, but with previous match’s top-scorer Deandra Dottin opening her account with a boundary, the match was in West Indies’ control.Though Inoka Ranaweera’s double-strike in the third over injected some life into the game, West Indies continued to attack, taking 10 runs off the fourth over. Two overs and another run out later, West Indies needed 12 off 12 with six wickets in hand and were still ahead.However, the next six balls capsized the chase. The first was a dot ball and Chamani Seneviratna had Juliana Nero stumped off the second. Third ball saw the third run-out of the innings. A dot ball was then followed by a stumping, which was followed by another dot and the advantage was duly handed over to Sri Lanka. There were no more surprises in the last over, just a bonus run-out.West Indies had put Sri Lanka in to bat in a match reduced to 17-overs a side after wet outfield had delayed the start by an hour. Sri Lanka made a good start with 21 off three overs, but the loss of their openers in consecutive overs slowed them down. The rains came again and Sri Lanka’s innings was halted at 50 for 3 after 10.3 overs, with West Indies getting a revised D/L target of 48.West Indies’ loss meant that all four teams in the group are now tied on points.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Sophie Devine dazzled with bat and ball to help New Zealand overpower South Africa by 22 runs the first match of the day in Galle. Devine scored a well-paced 59 off 46 balls and then picked up two wickets during South Africa’s faltering chase.Teams have preferred to field first in the tournament so far and South Africa’s decision after winning the toss appeared correct as Susan Benade got rid of both New Zealand openers by the fourth over with only 24 runs on the board. Devine, along with Frances Mackay, played out the next few overs carefully as New Zealand made slow progress to reach 44 in nine overs. The batsmen, however, changed gears in the tenth over with the introduction of offspinner Sunette Loubser. Devine smashed the bowler for a six and a four off consecutive balls to take 13 runs off the over and hit two boundaries in the next. Mackay, after playing second fiddle to Devine for a while, also joined in with three consecutive boundaries off Dane van Niekerk.Devine brought up her first T20 fifty with a six off Loubser but was dismissed in the same over, the 16th of the innings, after sharing a 94-run stand with Mackay that came off 44 balls. Mackay continued to attack and her 49 helped New Zealand score 151 – the highest total in the tournament thus far.Benade led a counter-attack during the chase after South Africa lost the openers early to Erin Bermingham, but she became the first of Nicola Browne’s three wickets in three overs, effectively ending the contest. Van Niekerk resisted with an unbeaten 34 but she ran out of partners as South Africa finished 22 runs short.Devine, who was selected for the tournament after spending a year playing with New Zealand hockey team, was named the Player of the Match.”It has given me a lot of confidence now that I can perform again at the international stage. It has been a wee while. So it is really pleasing for me to get some runs and also a couple of wickets,” Devine said.

The match at Harare Sports Club between Mashonaland and Midlands ended in a disappointingly dull draw, as Mashonaland surprisingly made little real effort to pursue what would have been their 16th consecutive victory in first-class cricket.They set Midlands a totally unrealistic target of 390 runs in 51 overs, and the visitors had little trouble in playing out a draw, finishing with 168 for four wickets. Had Mashonaland declared earlier they would have found it difficult to bowl out Midlands on a pitch still playing very well, but it was surprising that they did not make more effort to extend their winning record. Congratulations to Midlands for being the first team to deny them victory for three seasons; we still await their first defeat since 1995/96.Two centuries were completed during the day, the first inevitably by Andy Flower who was on 47 overnight. He continued his quiet accumulation as a succession of partners came and went, all contributing a little, with Brian Murphy (26) and Gus Mackay (19 not out) the most exciting. He was still there with 128 when the declaration came midway through the afternoon session.Midlands lost their openers cheaply, and then two more wickets fell just as the teams were planning a 3.30 finish, the earliest permitted by the rules. So play went on, with Doug Marillier taking the opportunity to hit a brisk century, scoring many of his runs through the vacant third man position that Mashonaland never bothered to plug.His century came off 94 balls and with recognition of it the teams called it a day. One more over was actually bowled than necessary, as when he reached three figures the board credited him with only 99. With him was Sean Ervine, who had 28, their unbroken partnership being worth 99.

Despite being a Saturday the County Ground at Taunton was a hive of activity this morning.Outside fast bowler Richard Johnson was running laps round the ground alongside one of the club physio’s Ross Dewar, and the signs are looking good for him to be fit to play in the C and G semi final against Kent.`Johnno’ has been missing from the scene since he injured his hamstring against Warwickshire at Edgbaston five weeks ago, but he hopes to play in a club game on Sunday, and providing there are no after effects he will be back to spearhead the Cidermen’s attack on Thursday.Alongside the Academy Fitness Centre a forklift truck has been delivered in readiness for the erection of the portable stand that is expected to take place at the start of this week.Meanwhile inside the Colin Atkinson Pavilion the office staff were busy dealing with telephone and personal sales for the remaining 500 tickets for the semi final.By the time that the office shut at lunchtime a fair number of these had been sold.Accounts manager John Fitzgerald told me: "Any remaining tickets will be sold to personal callers only on Monday, between 9am and 5pm. After that there will be no further tickets sold."

Many stars of the England women’s cricket team will play for their clubsthis Saturday 7th September at King’s College, Taunton, in the ECB Women’sClub Cup Final. In a re-run of last year’s final, which saw a narrowvictory for Wakefield WCC, they will take on Brighton & Hove WCC.England skipper Clare Connor will captain Brighton & Hove and the teamincludes fellow international batsman Caroline Atkins. Kate Oakenfold andAlexia Walker, who played in the successful England Under-21 team which wonthe European Cup earlier this year, will also play for the Sussex side aswill New Zealander and World Cup winner Haidee Tiffen.Wakefield WCC includes the England seam bowler Clare Taylor, who became thefirst Englishwoman to take 100 international wickets this summer, as well asKathryn Leng (batsmen) and a rising star of the women’s game Kathryn Doherty(fast bowler) who has spent this summer training with the Yorkshire CricketAcademy.The match is 40-overs per side, and will begin at 1pm. Admission is free.

The weather that was so good for the start of the Frizzell County Championship could not extend its favours to include the start of the last-ever Benson and Hedges Cup competition. Most matches in the first round of zonal matches were affected to some degree by April showers.The first result of the day was in the Midlands/Wales/West Division at Northampton, where the home side beat Glamorgan by eight wickets. Glamorgan never really threatened to score enough runs, losing wickets at regular intervals. Only Robert Croft with 33 and Matthew Maynard (32) came to terms with the Northamptonshire attack. Tony Penberthy returned the impressive figures of 3 for 6 and Jeff Cook 3 for19. A total of 122 was never going to be enough and, in spite of the early loss of Graham Swann to Mike Kasprowicz, David Sales (53*) Mal Loye was unbeaten with 53 as Northamptonshire were home, and dry, by eight wickets.A Nick Knight hundred was the highlight of a rain-shortened match at Edgbaston between Warwickshire and Somerset. The England opener carried his bat for 126 not out in an impressive Warwickshire total of 263 off the revised 41 over duration. Duckworth/Lewis machinations meant that Somerset had to score 270 to win but the loss of four quick wickets rendered that equation unlikely. When captain Jamie Cox went as well before 50 runs were on the board, Somerset’s only salvation appeared to be the weather, and that duly obliged – for a time. A recalculation saw them needing 173, but Warwickshire ran out winners by 94 runs.They might have had only a short trip across London from the Oval to Lord’s, but Surrey’s batsmen did not travel well. Surrey were bowled out for just 122 by their transpontine rivals. Mark Butcher (51) at least offered some resistance to Ashley Noffke, who took 4 for 34, and Chad Keegan with 3 for 24. Outgoing skipper Angus Fraser was in miserly mood, conceding just 22 runs in his 10 over stint, and he picked up a wicket. Despite interruptions for rain, Middlesex moved easily past the required total losing only two wickets in the process. Owais Shah led them home with an unbeaten 50.At Chelmsford, Essex set Sussex 207 to win, having recovered from 18 for 4 at one stage. The mainstays of the Essex innings were skipper Ronnie Irani who hit 47, newcomer Aftab Habib with 46 and Paul Grayson who was still there at the end of the 50 overs with an unbeaten 49. With Irani taking 5 for 36 in his 10 overs, including Chris Adams for 54, the game was evenly poised with Sussex needing 87 in 19 overs with 4 wickets in hand when the rain returned. Richard Montgomerie was 44 not out. Essex were declared the winners by 86 runs.In the North Division at Trent Bridge, Yorkshire recovered from early strife against Nottinghamshire. Greg Smith took four early wickets, but Yorkshire recovered to 225 all out, thanks in the main to a century partnership between captain Darren Lehmann (89) and Anthony McGrath (48). Smith ended with 5 for 39 from his 10 overs. Nottinghamshire chased a revised target of 100 off 17 overs between the showers that further reduced the target to 71 off 13. Yorkshire’s bowlers held their nerve and won by 2 runs.Rain dominated proceedings at a damp Derby. When play eventually got underway, Lancashire stuttered to 17 for 2 in the 27 balls that were possible before the return of the rain initiated a hurried return to the pavilion and the match was abandoned.

Northern Districts all-rounder Scott Styris will never forget June 12, 2002.It was the day he re-wrote New Zealand’s one-day record books while playing a key role in keeping his side in the One-Day International series against the West Indies in Trinidad today.New Zealand won the game by nine runs after a rain-affected match saw New Zealand’s innings end in the 45th over due to the rain. It was 212/5 at that stage. The West Indies were required to achieve the same total off 33 overs.Most significantly, Styris became the first New Zealander to take six wickets in a one-day innings.His achievement bettered the previous best record held by his ND team-mate Matthew Hart who headed the list of five-wicket achievers with his five for 22 against the West Indies at Goa in India in 1994/95.Another achievement on his memorable day was his scoring of 63 not out, which makes it the first time a New Zealander has taken five wickets and scored a half-century in an ODI and only the second player in the world to achieve the feat of six wickets in an innings along with a half century.The other was that nemesis of New Zealand on so many occasions, South Africa’s Lance Klusener who achieved the feat against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1997/98.It was Styris’ second highest score in ODIs following his 85 earlier in the tour.Then to cap it all off as the West Indies were still in the hunt as required under the Duckworth/Lewis calculation, Styris achieved the run out of Cameron Cuffy in the penultimate over to send the game into the realms of the impossible for the West Indies.He also shared in a sixth-wicket record stand for New Zealand against the West Indies of an unbroken 122 with Nathan Astle, beating the 91-run stand between Stephen Fleming and Styris in the second ODI at St Lucia earlier in the series.It was a welcome return to form by Astle too, with 91 not out. It was the 19th time he has scored more than 90 in ODIs, having achieved 12 ODI centuries, and now seven scores in the 90s.The win at least allows New Zealand the chance to try to tie the series in the final match to be played on Saturday in St Vincent.

FULL NAME: Andre Pierre Hoffman
BORN: At Harare, 23 April 1978
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland (1999/2000), CFX Academy (2001/02)
KNOWN AS: Andre Hoffman. Nicknames: Hoffie, Hoffmeister, Burger
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Medium Pace
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy studentFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 3-5 March 2000, Mashonaland v CFX Academy, at Country Club,Harare
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (March 2002)Andre Hoffman, currently captain of the CFX Academy in the 2001/02 Logan Cup competition, is a cricketer with a handicap, which he is not afraid to admit and to tackle. He has to fight against being overweight, and has achieved such success that it is hard, looking at him today, to realize that this is a constant problem in his life and career.Andre comes from a rugby rather than a cricketing family, but came to realize that he has more talent in cricket. His brother, eleven years older than he, played cricket, although not at an exalted level, and he passed on his love of the game to Andre. He can remember playing back-yard cricket with him when very young, his introduction to the game.He began his junior schooling at North Park, where he played for the colts team, but later moved to board at Barwick. He remembers taking nine wickets for 30 runs in trials for the Zimbabwe Under-13 team, bowling medium-paced outswingers, and thinks he took more than 30 wickets during that week. He followed it with a successful tour to England with the Mashonaland Country Districts Under-13 schools side; he remembers scoring 86 against a Sussex team. "I’ve always been an all-rounder," he says. "I’ve always preferred batting; that’s been my main key, but I’ve got something to fall back on if I fail with the bat."He moved from Barwick to high school at Watershed near Marondera, the same school as Raymond Price, who was two years ahead of him, but they played first-team cricket together. "One thing I enjoyed about playing with Raymond was that he had a lot of guts and he definitely tried a lot harder than anyone else," said Andre. "He probably wasn’t the most talented of cricketers but he always worked hard at his game. I can remember before trials one year getting up at five o’clock in the morning for about two terms and having throw-downs with him in the nets."Watershed, a comparatively new school, did not have a strong team and by the end of his first year Andre found himself in the senior team. In a schools festival that year he remembers scoring 78 not out and also taking four wickets against Jameson (Kadoma). For his Under-13 team he recorded innings of 170 and 180, both not out, against Eaglesvale and Hillcrest, and took over 100 wickets. Unfortunately a back injury at the start of his second year prevented him from bowling for a year, which hampered his confidence when he returned and its long-term effects cut down his speed. Back problems still hamper him at times.In the fourth form he scored seven successive fifties, but `only about three or four hundreds’ altogether for the first team, putting it down to lapses in concentration. He names deputy head Jim Davidson as the greatest influence on his career, the man who taught him the desire for and love of the game. He played in all the age-group teams for Zimbabwe from Under-13 level onwards, captaining the Under-15 team, and was a member of the Under-19 team to tour England in 1997.He joined Harare Sports Club at the age of 14 and has played for them ever since when in Zimbabwe, enjoying the camaraderie at the club. He has played for them mainly as a bowler, but 2001/02 he thought was his most successful all-round season for them, scoring three half-centuries and several instances of four wickets in an innings. He also played winter league cricket for Watershed, scoring five centuries for them in 1998.Andre left school in 1998, and decided to opt for overseas experience, spending three seasons playing in the United Kingdom, trying to "further my knowledge of different conditions, which I think has worked, and has also helped in the mental aspect with the game. I think I’m a lot more focused now than when I left."In 1999 he played for Alderley Edge, topping the batting averages in scoring over 800 runs, with four centuries, but without bowling much as he was suffering from a shin splint injury. He returned to Zimbabwe, made his first-class debut for Mashonaland and was selected for the Board XI at the end of the season; in 2000 he played for Selkirk in Scotland. Tired of the politics interfering with the game in Zimbabwe, he decided he would give himself two years away from the country, but privately expected never to return. A winter in Scotland soon changed his mind.By the time he returned his weight had increased to 115 kilograms or more, and he found the cricket community did not take him seriously – despite the example of the legendary Richie Kaschula, who played at times with weight reputedly in excess of 130 kilograms! He found encouragement, though, from Andy Flower, who told him that if he put his heart into it, he could lose the weight and make a successful return to cricket.He returned to England for the 2001 season to play for Norton in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire league, a season he did not enjoy. His personal performances were disappointing, and he calculated he had an average of four catches a game dropped off his bowling. The death of his mother in Zimbabwe also affected him badly, as he had enjoyed a close relationship with her and she had always supported him.However, Andre’s brother is in the army in England, and at this stage his influence for good on Andre continued. When he returned to England, his brother put him through commando training for six months, which lost him about 30 kilograms. "The focus he put into me made me decided that, yes, cricket was the way forward, and I was going to come back (to Zimbabwe) and give it my best shot. That is basically why I applied to come to the Academy."Andre feels he still has to lose another ten kilograms to be his ideal weight, but he now looks no more than burly and his application to fitness is satisfying the requirements of the Academy. "Everything is heading forward at the moment," he said. "I’ve put myself on hold for a bit for a prosperous cricket career, and now I intend to work hard at my game and see if I can actually make it to the top. I want to be a role model to a lot of people who think they’re overweight and can’t do things – or anything that is holding them back. I want to show them that if they put in a little bit of hard work – in fact, a lot of hard work – things can happen."It may sound a bit bigheaded, but I do intend to play Test cricket and I do intend to play one-day cricket for Zimbabwe. But that only comes with hard work and getting the right break at the right time, and cashing in on it."Andre is still keen to play cricket, of a higher standard next time, during the English season, and recalls a game during 2001 when he played as a guest for a club that is interested in hiring him as a future professional. He scored 160 not out, and would have won the match for them had not a run-out on the final ball of the game brought about a tie.Andre is predominantly a back-foot player who `likes taking it to the bowler’; he prefers batting at number four or five. When bowling, he feels that patience is his main virtue and he gets most of his wickets simply by bowling in the channel and getting many caught-behind decisions. His favourite fielding position is first slip.Cricket heroes: Andy Flower and Steve Waugh.Toughest opponents: Bowler – "John Traicos, in the nets at Harare Sports Club – very wily and cunning." Batsmen – Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell.Personal ambitions: "I’d love to play Test cricket and get a big hundred; to captain the team would be an even greater honour."Proudest achievement so far: Captaining the Academy side, a dream come true.Best friends in cricket: Bryan Strang, Donald Campbell, Mark Vermeulen, Raymond Price, Trevor Gripper.Other qualifications: No actual qualifications, but worked as a computer technician for eight or nine months, but found it difficult to take on a daily basis. He started his own computer business, doing odd jobs, and made quite a bit of money, but still found it too monotonous.Other sports: Rugby up to provincial level at school – "but it got a bit taxing on the body." Athletics.Outside interests: Computers – despite their being boring!Views on cricket: I’d prefer better umpiring – but we all make mistakes! I think rather than choosing players on colour, I would prefer a performance-based selection. Instead of having a quota system, players should be picked because they’re in good form or they have what it takes to succeed at that level, and we’d have a much better Test side. The Test side would believe in each other and we wouldn’t have the problems of players not wanting captaincy and so on, if we were playing the best side. I feel we could probably pick a second team that would give the Test side a good run for their money."

Border reached the close on the second day needing 95 more runs for victorywith nine wickets standing and two full days’ play left.The home side, then, are well on top. However, the unpredictable nature ofthe pitch has made batting a less than perfect science and Northerns are by nomeans out of this match.Border replied to Northerns’ first innings of 190 with 236. The visitorsthen crashed to a second innings total of 150, leaving Border a victorytarget of 105, and the home side were 10 for one at the close.Border resumed on 114 for five and Northerns must have smelt blood whenLaden Gamiet was caught behind for 18 off the fifth ball of the day,delivered by Greg Smith.With Pieter Strydom, Gamiet added 42 runs in the most steady partnership ofthe innings up to that point and the breakthrough seemed to snuff outBorder’s hopes of taking a first innings lead.However, Strydom found in Vasbert Drakes a reliable partner and theyfrustrated the visitors until midway through the morning session whenStrydom tamely succumbed to the slip cordon off the bowling of DavidTownsend.The Border skipper’s typically gutsy innings of 86 began with his teamteetering on 47 for four, and it encompassed three hours, 126 balls and 14fours.Strydom’s dismissal made it 188 for seven, and the tail did well to wringanother 48 runs out of the innings, which ended three overs before lunch.Drakes was ninth out for 35, while Geoff Love helped him put on 31 usefulruns for the eighth wicket.Gerald Dros dismissed Love and Drakes in the space of three deliveries butNortherns’ most impressive bowler was Townsend, who kept it tight and letthe pitch do the rest in taking five for 49.Northerns, then, began their second innings with a deficit of 46 runs, andslipped further into trouble when Drakes removed Johan Myburgh and Martinvan Jaarsveld with consecutive deliveries in the 14th over.The West Indian trapped opener Myburgh in front for 11 before having VanJaarsveld caught behind by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.Drakes proved his immense worth to Border for the umpteenth time by alsodismissing Jacques Rudolph and Neil McKenzie to claim the scalps ofNortherns’ entire top four in taking four for 35.He bowled McKenzie for 24 to reduce the visitors to 83 for five, perhaps thepoint of no return for a team which went to tea on 69 for two and lost theirlast eight wickets for 81 runs.Border bowled well, but Northerns caused most of their own misery by playingexpansively when circumspection was called for.Piet Botha was caught at short leg off Smith for eight with what became thelast ball of the day’s play, leaving Craig Sugden not out on one.

This week last year saw many a black day for Indian cricket. ManojPrabhakar, along with Inderjit Singh Bindra, opened up a large can ofworms – the matchfixing saga. About a year ago, Prabhakar, writing acolumn for Cricketnext.com said he had named the player who offeredhim money to underperform to a ‘big gun’ in the government. ButPrabhakar refused to name him in a public forum. He also kept the nameof the government official close to his chest. If Prabhakar thought hecould keep things quiet for a while, he was soon forced to thinkagain.On CNN’s Q & A programme, Bindra revealed that Prabhakar told him thatKapil Dev was the man he named. All hell broke loose in the media. Thebattle lines were drawn clearly, with allegations flying thick andfast. Prabhakar was boxed into a corner and hard-pressed to provideevidence of some kind. For every allegation there was a denial and acounter question, “what proof do you have?”No proof was forthcoming.Prashant Vaidya, former India fast bowler was in the room adjoiningKapil Dev’s room. Naturally, Prabhakar turned to Vaidya for corroborationof the allegation that Kapil Dev offered him 25 lakhs tounderperform in a one-day international. Vaidya, keen to stay out ofthe mess, pleaded ignorance. Although nothing conclusive emerged fromthe episode, bad vibes abounded.On an interview given to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Kapil Dev broke down and wept bitterly when asked about theallegations of matchfixing. The interview made headlines innewspapers, magazines and websites alike, for all the wrong reasons. Asection of the media rallied around the ‘fallen icon’ and questionedPrabhakar’s motives. A rival section praised Prabhakar for hisforthright attitude, asking if Kapil Dev’s crying on nationaltelevision was a carefully managed stunt.Following the events and disclosures of that fateful week in May whenthe heat was really on, the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) was forced to set up commissions of inquiry, investigationpanels and the like. With a bare minimum of international crickethappening, the matchfixing saga kept the media on its toes.But the media were not alone. The Indian Government had a major roleto play, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the IncomeTax officials joining forces and conducting one of the mostsensational investigations in Indian cricket history. When the CBIreleased the report on its findings, the BCCI acted swiftly. Theverdict surprised many, and saddened more. Mohammed Azharuddin andAjay Sharma were banned from playing any cricket conducted under theaegis of the BCCI for life. Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar and formerIndia physio Dr Ali Irani were to serve out five year bans.Kapil Dev was exonerated of all charges of betting and matchfixing.It all went very wrong for Manoj Prabhakar. From being the accuser,the tables were turned, and the former Delhi and India all-rounder wasnow the accused. Not just accused, but pronounced guilty as well.Whether you’re a fan of Kapil Dev or Prabhakar makes no difference atthis moment in time. It hardly matters which side of the story youbelieve. Looking back one year later, one thing is clear. Indian crickettook some painful blows. There were several casualties, but wascricket really a winner at the end?