All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardAlex Hales made a century for Notts but Durham clained a vital win in the penultimate over•Getty Images

Given that they still have to play Warwickshire, the First Division leaders, at home and away, it would be premature to declare that Nottinghamshire’s title prospects can be discounted but their failure to beat Durham has delivered a significant setback.They have three matches left to Warwickshire’s four and the gap between them stands at 18 points, with Sussex now ahead of them as the closest pursuers. Should Warwickshire beat Middlesex at Edgbaston next week, while Nottinghamshire are idle, Chris Read’s side would probably need not only to win both clashes with their Midlands rivals, but get the better of Surrey at The Oval too.It was no wonder, then, that they identified this match with Durham as one they needed to emerge from with a strong clutch of points, and no wonder that they chased the result for all they were worth. They lost by 16 runs in the end in a gripping contest that went down to the penultimate over as the Durham all-rounder, Mark Wood, finished his second Championship appearance with a career-best 5 for 78. Even a draw would have been of limited value to them at this stage of the race.For a while, it looked more likely that Nottinghamshire would win comfortably, even though Paul Collingwood’s declaration, which came after he lost his own wicket in the fourth over of the morning, left them with a stiff challenge, namely to score 366 in 90 overs. Although Nottinghamshire have twice in their history scored more than 400 in the last innings to win a match, they have only three times chased down more than they needed on this occasion.The pitch was markedly easier than it had been earlier in the contest, particularly compared with the second day, when England’s Graham Onions arrived from being stood down at Lord’s, found the ball swinging nicely and bouncing inconsistently and wound up with 9 for 67.This time, Riki Wessels and Alex Hales put on 168 in 42.1 overs with no-one, Onions included, able to trouble either man unduly until Wessels, within two runs of a third Championship century of the season, received a ball from Chris Rushworth that he tried to cut but which he could only steer into the hands of one of two fielders in the gully region.With that platform to build on, Nottinghamshire were favourites to win the match. But long chases, even with the benefit of such a good start, inevitably run into turbulent spells and Nottinghamshire hit one when Michael Lumb to- edged an attempted sweep off Scott Borthwick, the leg spinner, to be caught at short fine leg and then Adam Voges nicked his eighth ball to Phil Mustard as Onions at last found a bit of swing,Hales, whose form has been a little below par since he made 99 for England on this ground in the Twenty20 match against West Indies in June, completed his first century of the season amid some relief but was leg before soon afterwards to a full length ball from Wood. Hales took his time to depart the scene, perhaps feeling he might have hit the ball, but there could be no argument from Read when another very good delivery from Wood bowled him.Nottinghamshire needed precisely 100 from the last 25 overs, with five wickets in hand. On another occasion, they might have begun to think conservatively but there was no point in playing for a draw. The next 90 minutes or so therefore offered a tense spectacle.Durham, for their part, had every interest in pursuing a win for themselves. They have enjoyed some improvement since Mustard handed the captaincy to Paul Collingwood and the goal for them was a third win in a row, which would almost certainly mean that their anxieties over possible relegation could almost be put to bed after a long time spent at the bottom of the table.After a brief pause to regroup, Paul Franks and Graeme White attempted to raise the tempo, but Borthwick accounted for both in quick succession. Nottinghamshire are without the quality of James Taylor and Samit Patel in their batting line-up because of international calls and they felt their absence keenly in this match.Collingwood turned down the chance to take the new ball, preferring to keep on with Borthwick and Wood. It turned out to be the right move. Steven Mullaney kept Nottinghamshire’s hopes alive with a steady unbeaten 60 but ran out of partners. Ben Phillips took three boundaries in a row off Borthwick, at which point Nottinghamshire still felt they might pull it off, needing 42 off as many balls, but Wood rose to the challenge.A couple of times he tried too hard and was no-balled for over-stepping but after Phillips had pulled him straight to midwicket he proved too good for Luke Fletcher and Andy Carter. He bowled the former twice in three balls — the first disallowed as a no-ball — and then pinned the latter squarely in front, which gave Durham victory with eight balls to spare.”If we could have got to the last over, against Borthwick, needing 10 or even 15, we might have done it,” a disappointed Mullaney said afterwards. “But it wasn’t to be.”I don’t think it is over yet. We have only three games left and Warwickshire have four but if Middlesex can squeeze a draw out of them or even win at Edgbaston next week, we still have to play them twice. Then we will see where we are when we go to Edgbaston. We could still be in a strong position.”It was fighting talk, as you would expect. But the odds against Nottinghamshire are much longer now.

Sparkling performances by Nayan Mongia who hit 28 not out (32 balls,five fours) and Ajit Agarkar who scored 19 not out (19 balls, 3 fours)enabled India A to complete a rather convincing four wicket victoryover the fancied India Seniors with 13 balls to spare in the openingmatch of the Hero-Honda NKP Salve Challenger Series at the floodlit MAChidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday.Replying to India Seniors’ total of 240 for nine in 50 overs, Indiawere 197 for six in the 44th over. At this stage, the match lookedsure to go to the wire. Mongia and Agarkar however made short work oftheir task, as they took heavy toll of the 45th over bowled by AshishNehra, getting 14 runs. Mongia who started off slowly, was into rhythmsoon and played some crisp strokes. Agarkar also played a dominatinginnings striking the ball cleanly under tremendous pressure.Ultimately Mongia got the winning boundary off Zaheer Khan.Actually India A got off to a shaky start losing three wickets withjust 57 on the board. Sadagopan Ramesh (11), Sridharan Sriram (20) andRahul Dravid (14) were all back in the pavilion in quick succession.H Kanitkar (55) and Jacob Martin (32) steadied the boat, adding 77runs for the fourth wicket. RS Sodhi too chipped in with a useful 29.He hit a huge six off Virender Shewag over long on to set the tempo.Then came the climactic partnership between Agarkar and Mongia. ZaheerKhan was easily the best of the bowling with the figures of9.2-2-28-3. Rathour blotted his copy book with two dropped catches.Earlier, India Seniors won the toss and elected to bat first. SouravGanguly fell for a duck, caught down the leg side by Nayan Mongia offAgarkar. VVS Laxman once again proved his worth with a classy 78 offjust 72 balls with eight fours. SS Das was unlucky to be run out for46.Yuvraj Singh (10), Shewag (9), Rathour (0) and Joshi (0) were all backin the dressing room without making much impression. Zaheer with 12runs off 48 balls helped a blazing Hemang Badani who made 64 runs off58 balls with five boundaries and two massive sixes added 55 runs forthe eighth wicket to give their total a competitive edge. Agarkar wasthe most successful of the bowlers picking up three wickets.

Andrew Bichel scored his maiden one-day century to help Worcestershireto a five-wicket Benson & Hedges Cup win over Glamorgan.The Queensland all-rounder, a veteran of 17 One-Day Internationals,scored a quickfire 100 out of 152 to win the Gold Award and putWorcestershire on their way to the quarter-finals.Bichel’s century arrived off only 116 balls and included 11 fours and asix. More significantly, 46 of the 30-year-old’s second 50 wasaccumulated in boundaries.He came to the wicket with Worcestershire in some trouble at 3-1 butweathered some accurate Glamorgan bowling before setting his sidein sight of the 229 to win.Although he was run out 14 overs from the end, Vikram Solanki and thenDavid Leatherdale and Nick Boulton saw Worcestershire home with 16 ballsto spare.Bichel had played his part in restricting Glamorgan to 228-9 after homeskipper Steve James had won the toss.Glamorgan got off to a solid start but lost James to a run-out and MikePowell in the space of two overs to go from 94-1 to 95-3.Matthew Maynard posted a 49-ball half-century to help Glamorgan towards achallenging total but some of his colleagues didn’t have an answer toGraeme Hick who came on in the 42nd over and took 3-23 bowling seam-upoff three paces.Glamorgan must now win at least two of their three remaining fixturesagainst Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire to have anyhope of qualifying for the last eight.

The Sri Lankan Sports Ministry has reacted to the news that ThilangaSumathipala had successful frozen the bank accounts of the Cricket Board bypromising to fund the board from it’s own coffers.Dr Prathap Ramanujan, the Sports Ministry Secretary and a member of theInterim Committee, told the Daily Mirror that the Ministry would finance theCricket Board if the court ruling secured yesterday prevented the InterimCommittee from accessing the accounts. He admitted that it would be a burdenbut was confident that the necessary funding could be found.The Interim Committee, headed by Vijaya Malalsekera, met last night todiscuss the developments. No formal statement was offered to the media, butAsantha de Mel denied that High Courts decision would be a hindrance in aninterview with the Daily Mirror.”This injunction has been imposed on the Cricket Board accounts and not onthe Interim Committee or its activities,” he said. “We have been appointedto develop cricket in this country and we will continue to do it.”Thilanga Sumathipala defended his decision to seek an injunction, whichfroze the board’s bank accounts. “I wrote to the Cricket Board and the banksappealing to them not to transact with board funds, but there was noresponse and I had no choice but to seek court action to protect the rightsof the BCCSL membership,” he said last night.Sumathipala maintains that he will not stand for the Presidency again, buthe continues to fight hard for control of the most powerful sports body inthe country. He believes it is time for the Sports Minister, LakshmanKiriella, to revoke his decision to dissolve the Cricket Board and replacethe Interim Committee with an elected membership.

South Africa’s dope-smoking cricketers arrived home from the Caribbean on Saturday and immediately apologised for the incident which took the gloss off a remarkably successful tour.South Africa won the five-match Test series 2-1 and the subsequent one-day rubber 5-2, but with news of the ganja-smoking episode breaking on the eve of the sixth one-day international, attention was diverted from the cricket.Five South African players and squad physiotherapist Craig Smith were all fined R10 000 for admitting smoking marijuana after the Test series had been wrapped up in the fourth Test match in Antigua.The affair has preoccupied the South African media for the past and indecisiveness and a degree of evasion on the part of the United Cricket Board served only to add fuel to the flames.The South African squad was split into two halves on coming home, with the majority of the side landing in Johannesburg and the Cape-based players going directly on to Cape Town.In Johannesburg, Justin Kemp, one of the six along with Herschelle Gibbs, Paul Adams, Andre Nel, Roger Telemachus and Smith, read out a hand-written statement on behalf of the group."The squad members of the South African team who were on tour in the Caribbean would like to clarify a few points regarding the dope-smoking incident after the fourth Test and the Test series victory in Antigua," read the statement. "The players who admitted their involvement to the team and to the United Cricket Board are extremely regretful and remorseful of the incident and would like to apologise to the UCB, the cricket-loving public of South Africa and the West Indies for their indiscretion."The players involved would like to confirm to the South African public that this was a one-off incident and that it will not happen again on any South African cricket tour. The team now considers the dope-smoking incident to be closed and would like to inform all cricket lovers throughout the world that it will never happen again."The statement was also read out by Smith in Cape Town.No further action will be taken against the offenders, with the exception of Gibbs who had a three-match, R10 000 fine suspended sentence hanging over him at the time of the incident. UCB chief executive Gerald Majola said that Gibbs’ case would be referred to a disciplinary committee.Majola confirmed that the matter had been debated at some length during the UCB’s executive committee meeting on Friday. He would not elaborate on the discussions other than to say than "different points of view from different people" had been held.South Africa have no further international commitments until September when they tour Zimbabwe for two Tests and three one-day internationals. It now seems like that Gibbs will miss at least the Test matches and the first ODI.

It’s mid-April and on the fields of England the cricket season is under way. With temperatures barely above freezing in the early morning, rising to highs of only 12 celsius, slip fielders dread the sharp chance, spin bowlers struggle to gain a grip with numb fingers, and batsmen look to run sharp singles to keep warm. A description of the weather is an essential cliche in reporting theopening day of the first-class season, and the English climate usually co-operates in providing a suitably hostile environment for cricket. Today the weather was cold but fair, and play got underway on time at Fenners, Grace Road, the Parks, Canterbury and Millfield School.The first match of the English season used to be a showpiece, featuring matches such as champion county against the rest of England. These days it consists of gentle warm-up games for the counties against the University Centres of Cricketing Excellence. Their sides lack experience, and there are few familiar names in the team lists. Only three of the centres can field strong enoughsides for matches to be considered first-class, Durham, Oxford and Cambridge.

The counties fielded near full strength squads, although no overseas players were on display – perhaps not needing the practice after full seasons, or otherwise committed elsewhere. Those who toured with the full England squad were also conspicuous only by their absence, apart from Paul Collingwood, making a useful 74 at number four in the local derby, Durham against Durham UCCE.The UCCE sides drew first blood, with the first wicket of the season, Phillip Weston of Worcestershire, playing in his 163rd first-class match falling to Toby Sharpe of Oxford UCCE, playing in his third, for a duck.A very familiar name recorded the first 50 of the season, a certain Graeme Hick, narrowly beating out Andrew Strauss. Only the first rain interruption of the season slowed his inexorable progress to his 118th first-class century.Robert Key was first to reach the three-figure mark, but Kent’s match against Loughborough is not first-class. Andrew Strauss won the race to the first first-class century, an entertaining innings with his hundred coming up off just 107 balls. Hick soon followed, completing perhaps one of the less demanding of his 118 centuries with his seventeenth boundaries.Hick then hit out – scoring his next 50 runs off just 15 balls, and reaching 164 before being stumped. After reaching his century he faced just 23 balls, and hit 12 of them for boundaries. Who knows what the season will bring for Hick? Perhaps passing Graveney and Compton on the most centuries list, perhaps yet another England recall, but certainly many runs in the Frizzell County Championship. Runs came freely for the county batsmen against the friendly bowling of the UCCE teams and by the end of the day JJB Lewis of Durham, BF Smith of Worcestershire, and Koenig of Middlesex also had centuries to their name.The start of the season carries the promise of spring, but also a touch of sadness. Who knows what might be achieved by the many new faces on display? Discerning eyes will be trying to pick those who might go on to greater things. But the arrival of the new marks the absence of names that have been familiar for years. Mike Atherton has retired, and Gus Fraser is shortly to do so after only a few matches. Other county stalwarts are no longer playing but are learning a new trade – Hartley, Kettleborough and Robinson are appearing in umpires’ coats for the first time today. Most missed of all when perusing the scorecards on CricInfo will be the names of Ben Hollioake and Umer Rashid; many watching the games today will have their recent tragic deaths very much in mind. Their teams, Surrey and Sussex, meet next week in the opening match of the Championship.But now cricket is underway and spring is here. The blank sheets of the scorers’ books await the recording of the runs and wickets that will outline the course of the year. For the players, anything is possible – runs galore, trophies, championships, England caps, and more. For those of us who watch, perhaps we hope to see the arrival of a new player to excite the imagination – a tearaway fast bowler, a thrilling hitter, a crafty spin bowler. Here’s hoping for a great season.

The confirmed draw for the semi-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup is asfollows:Thursday 6 June: Essex v Worcestershire, Chelmsford (reserve days, 7 & 8 June)Umpires: Holder J, Kitchen, Constant (3rd umpire)Friday 7 June: Lancashire v Warwickshire, Old Trafford (reserve day, 8 June)Umpires: Sharp, Palmer K, Palmer R (3rd umpire)Both matches will be televised live by Sky Sports.Following the quarter-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup, the followingthree tourist fixtures are now confirmed:

* Gloucestershire v Sri Lanka at Bristol is confirmed for Sunday 23 June.* Sussex v India at Hove (floodlit) is confirmed for Saturday 22 June.* Sussex v West Indies ‘A’ at Hove is confirmed for Friday 21 June.

Two other tourist fixtures, Somerset v Sri Lanka on Friday 21 June and Kent v West Indies A on Sunday 23 June, were confirmed after the Benson and Hedges Cup group stages.

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is delighted to announce that they willplay host to the Sri Lankan touring team on Sunday 23 June 2002.Anyone attending the game on Sunday 16 Hune, when the Gladiators play theMiddlesex Crusaders, can use a programme purchased on that day to gain FREE ADMISSION TO WATCH SRI LANKA.Tom Richardson, Chief Executive says’This is a great opportunity for non members to watch the Sri Lankans, oneof the best batting sides in the world, by spending just £1 at our Middlesexgame. All you will need to do is present the programme at the gate on 23June to watch up to 100 overs of first class cricket. That’s got to be agreat deal.’For more details please contact Peter Hall on 0117 9108007.

Richard Montgomerie has won the Cater Allen PCA Performance Award for May.Batting for Sussex against Leicestershire at Horsham, Richard carried his bat scoring 122. He was key to Sussex’s total of 247 from the dire position of 57 for 5 at one stage and hit a six and 17 fours in his first Championship century of the season.What made this innings extra special was that the pitch was bowler friendly, (both Robin Martin-Jenkins and Devon Malcolm each taking seven wickets in the match).Cater Allen Bank is the PCA’s Senior Sponsor for 2002 and their sponsorship includes the 6 Monthly Performance Awards and foreruns the Cater Allen PCA Player of the Year Award to be announced on 23rd September at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London

Worcestershire County Cricket Club have announced a very strong team to takeon India at New Road for the 4-day Tourist Match starting on Wednesday 31st July. The Team will be selected from:-

Anurag SinghSteven PetersGraeme Hick (capt)Ben SmithVikram SolankiGareth BattyJames Pipe (w/k)Kabir AliMatt MasonMatt RawnsleyAlamgir SheriyarDuncan Catterall.

Chief Executive Mark Newton says, “We are putting out a virtually fullstrength team for this important match against India. We regard the TouristMatch as one of the highlights of the season and expect some competitivecricket over the next four days. The fact this game is being played duringthe school holidays has enabled us to promote the game to young peoplethrough a reduced admission charge of just £2 for kids 16 and under.”The match starts on Wednesday 31st July at 11am and admission will beavailable on the day.