Campbell, Griffith grind Kiwi Attack
Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith went within 22 runs of the best Test opening stand in West Indies cricket history as they pounded the New Zealand bowling attack on day one of the first Test here on Wednesday.

The Barbados pair put on 276 runs as their team went to stumps 282 for one in perfect batting conditions.

Campbell scored his third consecutive century of the tour before he was the only wicket to fall, caught behind by Adam Parore off Dion Nash for 170.

Griffith was batting on 103 at stumps - his first Test Century - with night watchman Dinanth Ramnarine with him on five.

Campbell and Griffith cruised past the West Indies record opening partnership against New Zealand of 225, set by Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes in Christchurch in 1979-80.

Campbell and Griffith put on only 57 runes in the first session but they soon put that right in the second two hours, ading another 125 at better than a run a minute.

Scoreboard
West Indies (Ist Innings):
S. Campbell c Parore b Nash           170
A. Griffith batting                             103
D. Ramnarine batting                          5
Total                                            282-1



UEFA Cup draw favours Italians
Italy was handed a great chance Wednesday of Continuing its domination of the UEFA Cup, with the draw making it possible for three Series A clubs to gain the semifinals. UEFA, soccer's European body, made the draws for the fourth round and quarterfinals so that the 16 survivors know who they have to beat to reach the last four.

Italian clubs have won eight out of the last UEFA Cup competitions and only one of the last 11 finals hasn't had a Serie A team in it. Now the fourth round includes defending titlist Parma, Juventus, AS Roma and Udinese.

The draw means that Parma must get past Germany's Werder Bremen March 2 and 9 and then face either Arsenal or Deportivo de La Coruna March 16 and 23. Juventus needs to beat Spain's Celta Vigo to reach the quarterfinals, where it would meet either Atletico Madrid or French club Lens.

There's also a good chance the other two Italians clubs will face each other in the quarters.

"Now all are strong teams," Parma's general manager, Mr.Michele Uva said. "It is very difficult to win a game in the UEFA Cup. But our club's technical structure was built to win in italy and in Europe. We respect every team.

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, whose team was eliminated from the Champions Cup in the first round, said the UEFA Cup appeared just as strong as teh more prestigious competition.

England draw as captain leads the way
England's batsmen managed to hold the South African attack at bay as they drew the second Test against the home side here on Monday. At stumps on the fifth and final day, England were 153 for 5 after being set a target of 302 in 79 overs by Hansie Cronje.

Captain Nasser Hussain showed the way for the visitors with a fighting unbeaten 70.

Hussain batted through the afternoon session scoring just 24 runs but frustrating the home side's attempts to go 2-0 up in the five match series.

Hussain again showed a willingness to counter attack, however, hooking Hayward for six over fine leg and twice cover driving him to the boundary before settling down in the second session to reach 50 on the stroke of tea from 130 balls with six fours and a six.

Graf receives Olympic Order
Former German tennis star Steffi Graf on monday received the Olympic order from International Olympic Committee (IOC) bossJuan Antonio Samaranch. Graf heads for Cape Town to take on Amanda coetzer in the South African Coastal city of Durban on tuesday, and there will be much more at stake than just tennis.
As one of the best players in the history of women's tennis, she has millions of fans all over the world and she is on tour to say goodbye to them.
Graf still has a score to settle with her opponent of the first leg of the farewell tour, Doetzer. Two years ago the South African inflicted the heaviest defeat ever on Graf, beating her 6-0, 6-1 in the German Open. Coetzer is also one of only four players to have beaten Graf more than once in a Grand Slam event. In 1997 the South African, who is now ranked11th in the world twice, beat Graf en route into the semi-finals of the Ausstralian and French Open.
And even though the games are essentially of a friendly nature, Coetzer promised her fans that she will try very hard against the former world number one.

A dream come true for Mongia
Nayan Mongia doesn't want toread too much into his omission from the original India squad to tour Australia or the sudden call up now follwoing an SOS from the team management.
In the Capital on his way to join the squad in Adelaide well in time for the first Test starting there on Friday, the country's number one gloveman is happy that his life's ambition of playing down under has been fulfilled. "I have always admired the way the Australians play their cricket and wanted to visit the country. I was a little disappointed when I was dropped from the touring side. God's been kind to me and I'm on my way to the best cricketing nation," he said.
How did he take the sudden summons to join the team? "Honestly, I left my disappointment behind and I don't want to think about what had happened in the last couple of months. It was like a bad dream. I was concentrating on domestic cricket, having played the West Zone Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat, and was preparing for the remainder of the Ranji Trophy season and Duleep and Deodhar trophy competitions when cricket board secretary Jayawant Lele called me on Saturday night to inform that I need to pack up and leave for Australia. It took a while for it sink in, but the travel formalities and other arrangements kept me busy the past 48 hours."
He didn't want to talk on various speculative theories as to why he had been dropped from the original squad. " I have always thought I was part of the Indian team and gave my best every time I wore the India cap." In fact, he was barely home after leading a third string India side to a tournament at Abu Dhabi when he got this call-up. Surely, the desert adventure could not have been the ideal preparation for him as the matches there were played on Synthetic turf rolled over concrete top, which kept crumbling during every match., "It's a funny sort of pitch with plywood planks underneath the concrete and the ball was doing all sorts of things. Pakistani player Salim Elahi had his jaw fractured as a ball from Baroda fast bowler M.A. Khan kicked up nastily from a good length. It was a multiple fracture," Mongia recalled.
Once in Delhi and all travel arrangements finalised, Mongia went straight to the health club of Taj Palace and spent a couple of hours sweating it out, doing callisthenics and training with weights.
The stumper has been to Australia once, with the Indian team ot play in the youth world cup in 1989-90. That team also had two India spinners in Narendra Hirwani and Venkatapathy Raju. "Though it's been a decade since I played in Australia, I do have a fair idea of the ocnditions. Adjusting to the bounce on htose pitches i the key for both the batsmen as well as wicketdeepers." Mongia will leave here late on Monday night.