South Island were not invited to the State Shield final which Auckland and Northern Districts played as the start to the festival cricket weekend in Auckland yesterday, but joined the party with a thrilling last-over win in the four-innings

To the casual onlooker the fact that Northern Districts won the State Shield one-day cricket title today with only 17 runs to spare might suggest that Auckland were just beaten in a game full of thrills and spills and the sparkling arts of one-day

Auckland snatched a thrilling last-over win from Wellington in their State Shield one-day match on a first-rate one-day pitch at North Harbour Stadium today and jumped from fifth to equal first on the Shield table

Andre Adams, the bustling all-rounder, was probably the only Aucklander who could raise a smile as Northern Districts outplayed Auckland by 60 runs with a smart all-round performance in the State Shield one-day cricket match on Eden Park's outer oval

The touring Indian cricketers will keep one eye on the approaching World Cup, and the other looking after the interests of the supporters at home, according to Sourav Ganguly, the captain, and John Wright, the coach, when the Indians arrived in

If the TAB are accepting bets on the India-New Zealand Super Max International which will open the Indians' National Bank tour at Jade Stadium on Wednesday night, it might be worth plonking the pension on the New Zealanders

Two members of the Indian cricket team landed in Auckland today, and were $200 lighter in the pocket before they boarded a plane for their first base in Christchurch

Chris Cairns has been many things in his cricketing life - match-winner one day, moody the next, variously under the surgeons' or critics' knife - but you always approached a Cairns effort with the hope of something special and very likely

Lynn McConnell could never have imagined how perfectly he timed the production of his latest book, The First Fifty, and its lovingly sculpted tribute to the half-century of Test cricket wins which New Zealand achieved with the defeat of England last

Rob Nichol, leading spokesman for the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association (NZCPA), opened a press conference in Auckland today with the genial promise that, given the right support from New Zealand Cricket, all the NZCPA members would return to

The playing career of often-injured 30-year-old cricket all-rounder Dion Nash is over, but today he seemed to regard himself as coming off his long run with a hard and shiny ball, and aiming bouncers at old enemies at the other end of the pitch

Otago had the man of the hour in Martyn Croy with his share of the national wicket-keeping record, but it was Auckland who took the spoils from the State Championship match which Auckland won with seven wickets to spare this evening

Modern selectors love the cliche about hopeful players "holding their hands up," and today Martyn Croy, the 28-year-old Otago wicket-keeper did precisely that by equalling the New Zealand record of seven catches in an innings

Rather like a business chief executive marking up a a rising sales graph, Mark Richardson, the 31-year-old Auckland opening batsman, added another asset to his portfolio with a century against Otago at Colin Maiden Park today

Two matches ago Nicol and his young team-mate Reece Young staged a late first innings rally of 153 runs which took Auckland to a first innings lead and eventually outright victory against Canterbury

Otago made rather a sandwich of their first innings of only 241 when they won the toss and batted first on the opening day of their State Championship match against Auckland at Colin Maiden Park today

The men in suits at Lord's might not approve, but the touring England cricketers are not unhappy that their big all-rounder Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff did a soccer-style strip of his shirt after England beat India by five runs on Monday to square the

Nasser Hussain obviously called the right shots as he led England from 1-3 down to draw the one-day series 3-all with India earlier this week, and he was still playing the right strokes when he brought his England team into Auckland this afternoon

One of the hottest seats in New Zealand cricket - coach of the Auckland team - will need a new occupier next summer

The one-day cricket season that Auckland would rather forget came to its expected limp finish at Eden Park's outer oval today when Wellington gained an easy win with 18 overs and about 90 minutes to spare