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Somerset Under 16’s lost their first two games in the seven counties 2 day competition.Against Hampshire at Kings College Somerset batted first and scored 233, with Liam Lewis top scoring with 61 and Daniel Bingham making an unbeaten 51.In reply Hampshire made 237, Stephen Wheeler taking 3 for 31, and Daniel Bingham 3 for 42.Batting for a second time Somerset had reached 97 for 6, with Oliver Norris scoring an unbeaten 34.Against Middlesex at Potters Bar, the hosts batted first and made 301 for 9 declared. In reply Somerset scored 178 in their first innings and were 124 for 9 at the end of the game, with Nick King unbeaten on 61.

At about the same time that his Somerset team-mates take the field for the start of their final championship match at the County Ground on Wednesday morning, just over half a mile away fast bowler Steffan Jones will be undergoing surgery in the Nuffield Hospital.The twenty eight year old told me: "The operation is to sort out a long term foot injury that flared up at Millfield in the first match of the season and that I have been struggling with all of the season."He continued: "I bowled through it, and actually played when I wasn’t really fit. Last season I took sixty wickets in the championship, whereas this season I have taken twenty, but I have still taken twenty two compared to twenty nine in the NUL and played five games less."The Welshman feels that the injuries that Richard Johnson and himself have suffered this year are one of the main reasons why the Cidermen have had such a disappointing season.He told me: "Last year in the championship `Johnno’ and myself bowled over a thousand overs between us and took one hundred and twenty wickets. This year we have probably bowled four hundred overs and taken fifty wickets. It’s just been very unfortunate for the club that we have both been injured at the same time."Looking back over his season he told me: "I’m very very disappointed after all of the hard work that I put in over last winter. It’s been a real shambles for me, because it has meant that I have been two yards short of pace. The one high spot in the season was when I played for Wales, but that has got me nowhere with England."However Steffan isn’t downhearted and has already started to plan his fitness programme for the winter.Before then he will be taking a complete break. He told me: "I’m going to have a rest period until November. My body is telling me that I need a break after ten hard years of non stop work playing cricket and rugby and all of the training."During his time off Steffan is getting married to his fiancé Alex Kimmins at Bishops Lydeard Church near Taunton on October 12th.When I spoke to him on Tuesday morning he was trying to make the final arrangements for his honeymoon, which was either going to be in Barbados, or maybe it could be going to Australia to watch the Ashes!

In the end they did not quite manage to secure a morale-boosting win in their match against Western Australia, but the England party will leave Perth buoyed by the fact that they came within one shot of a victory. Chasing 135 in 20 overs, England reached 130 for five after bowling out a strong Western Australia side for 248 in their second innings. With batsmen getting valuable time in the middle, the bowlers taking 20 wickets in the match and good news on the injury front, a win would have been the cherry on the icing on the cake.Marcus Trescothick and Robert Key got the England innings off to a flying start, taking the score along to 52 in the ninth over when Trescothick was bowled by Brad Williams for 19. Craig White was promoted to the number three spot to play the sort of role he fills for Yorkshire when quick runs are required. He struck two boundaries in the 11 balls he faced before he was beaten by Justin Langer’s throw and was run out for 12.When Mark Butcher was stumped for seven and John Crawley fell first ball, England were reduced to 80 for four in the 14th over. Another 55 runs were required from 39 balls and the run chase appeared to be a forlorn one. That was when Alec Stewart joined Key and the pair put on 41 in the next five overs to open up all sorts of possibilities once again.Stewart had taken 26 off 21 balls when he was caught behind off a top edge going for a pull, leaving 14 to win and nine balls to be bowled. Nasser Hussain faced the start of the last over with 12 runs required and Williams bowling. He had a swing and a miss to the first ball, fashioned a four to the cover boundary off the next, and then drove a single to deep point. There were singles off the next two balls. Key had hit one six and six fours in his 47-ball innings for 59 at this point and he had a go for another six to win the match off the last ball. He missed and it was match drawn.Earlier in the day, Simon Jones had set up the chance of victory with a ten over spell that produced four wickets at a time when the home side appeared to be heading towards a comfortable rather than frenetic draw.Jones had removed Mike Hussey in the fifth over of the morning, caught by Andrew Caddick off a hook. But then Langer had rather climbed into the bowling and Jones was withdrawn from the attack after six overs had gone for 29. The Western Australia captain added 141 for the third wicket with Chris Rogers.Langer was on 68 when he chased a wide one from White and was caught behind. Marcus North went the same way next ball and Jones returned to the attack to storm through the breach White had created in the defences.He ended Rogers’ innings of 86, before taking three more wickets to end with five for 78 from 19 overs, while Williams turned Ashley Giles into Crawley’s hands at short leg before it was Giles’ throw from the deep that ended the innings when Stuart Karppinen was run out. The chase was on.

Teenagers Reanna Browne and Kasee Marxsen will make their Women’sNational Cricket League debuts for the Konica Queensland Fire team intheir opening round of matches at Allan Border Field this weekend.Browne, 18, and Marxsen, 17, are the only new faces in the Fire teamthat meet the Southern Scorpions in one-day matches on Saturday andSunday.Browne, a leg-spinner who is regarded as one of the best fielders in theteam, is originally from Longreach. She played for Queensland inpractice matches last season against World Cup champions New Zealand butwill make her official Fire debut this weekend.Marxsen is a right-hand bat who scored 134 for her club sideSandgate-Redcliffe in her first game in first grade late last seasonafter moving to Brisbane from Gladstone.The Fire will also welcome in their ranks the presence of formerAustralian player Joanne Broadbent who is making a comeback afterretiring at the end of the 2000-01 season.Broadbent, an Australian player for more than a decade, will playagainst her old team that is led by Southern Stars trump Karen Rolton.The left-handed Rolton scored a century and 59 last week for SouthAustralia against defending champions NSW and is regarded as one of thetop two batters in the world along with Australian captain BelindaClark.Broadbent, a 36-year-old left-hander, was the first woman to score aTest double century, on the 1998 Ashes tour.She moved to Brisbane in 2001 to work as a Regional Cricket Manager forQueensland Cricket and coached the Konica Queensland U-17 and U-19women’s teams last season.Also returning to the Fire team is former Australian Youth allrounderKelly Klibbe who missed all of last season after having a shoulderoperation.The team will be captained by Australian wicket-keeper Julia Price, oneof six Australian squad members in the team along with Melissa Bulow,Sally Cooper, Tricia Brown, Cindy Kross and Belinda Matheson.This weekend will also mark the WNCL debut of Fire coach RichardMcInnes, who coached the Queensland Country men’s team to the AustralianCountry Cricket title in Warrnambool last season.Konica Queensland Fire v Southern Scorpions, Saturday and Sunday, atAllan Border Field: Julia Price (c), Belinda Matheson, Melissa Bulow,Joanne Broadbent, Sally Cooper, Tricia Brown, Kasee Marxsen, MeganWhite, Reanna Browne, Cindy Kross, Kelly Klibbe, Kristen Pike. Coach:Richard McInnes.

The State Central Hinds team to play State Wellington Blaze at Kelburn Park Wellington over the weekend is unchanged from the team that unfortunately did not bowl (or bat) a ball at Hamilton last weekend.It is: Aimee Mason (captain), Abby Burrows, Cindy Forsyth, Megan Graham, Erin McDonald, Sara McGlashan, Zara McWilliams, Elizabeth Perry, Kate Pulford, Toni Street, Nicole Thessman, Donna Trow. Coach: Warren Marr. Manager: Jacqui Gardiner.

New Zealand have been struck a major injury blow after Jacob Oram was ruled out for at least ten days with a hamstring strain. He pulled out of the Twenty20 at Old Trafford shortly before the toss after hurting himself in the warm-up.He was replaced by Peter Fulton for the Twenty20, but the injury means he will miss the first three ODIs, starting with the match at Chester-le-Street on Sunday. His possible return date would be the fourth match at The Oval on June 25.Oram is crucial to New Zealand’s one-day form, his hard-hitting batting providing power to the middle order, while his bowling can strangle the scoring. He is an injury-prone cricketer, and missed the final Test against England in Napier in March, although managed to play throughout the recent series.They have a few options in the squad to cover for Oram. Tim Southee has been out of the side since the first Test, while Jeetan Patel provides a second spin possibility, but no one can give the all-round balance that Oram provides.New Zealand have been hit by a few injuries on their tour. Daniel Vettori cut his spinning finger before the Test series, Daniel Flynn lost two teeth after being hit by a bouncer in the Test at Old Trafford, and Brendon McCullum was unable to keep at Trent Bridge due to a bad back.

Chris Gayle has called on his bowlers to finish the job after they stunned Australia’s top order during a frenetic opening to the third Test. The tourists were 111 for 5 shortly after lunch before recovering through Andrew Symonds to reach 226 for 7 when rain stopped play 90 minutes early.”The bowlers have been doing a terrific job for the last couple of Test matches and to continue in this game is really good and it is just to finish off on a high now,” Gayle said. “At the end we were stuck at five wickets for a while, which we always do. We’re always stuck at five and we have to try and push on and knock over the middle and lower order.”Dwayne Bravo was the most successful bowler with 3 for 48 while Jerome Taylor collected two wickets, including Ricky Ponting for the third time in the past two Tests. “Bravo did well, extremely well, always picking up wickets for us,” Gayle said. “Bravo can come in the middle and get a few wickets.”Michael Hussey went for 12 hooking Bravo to fine leg before Michael Clarke departed for zero after edging his third ball behind. Bravo returned to remove Symonds when he hit to cover, ending his important recovery on 52. The pitch offered much more pace and bounce than during the previous two Tests and the Australians suffered from being too aggressive.”It’s great to watch cricket on these sorts of wickets,” Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen said after play. “The margin for error is reduced so that the good players get runs and the good bowlers get wickets.”That’s what Test cricket is about. So I thought today was a really intriguing day and the game is pretty evenly balanced.”Gayle said the pitch was decent to bat on after the shine went from the ball. “Then there is not a lot of sideways movement,” he said, “so once you dig in and decide you’re going to bat on that track, it’s very good.”It has generated pace and it is a bit quicker now. This morning it was a bit slow, but it’s getting quicker. The surface is drying out now so obviously the ball is going to come on more to the bat. Once you apply yourself you will get runs out there.”

First Division

Yasir Arafat has given Kent an excellent chance of leapfrogging Yorkshire in the table. He made an unbeaten 90 and taking four wickets to leave his side requiring 140 after bowling Yorkshire out for 196 at Canterbury, a poor effort on a good batting surface. Kent earlier amassed 467, giving themselves a first-innings credit of 57, thanks to a final-wicket stand of 69 between Arafat and Martin Saggers (33). Then all of their attack contributed to prising the Yorkshire batsmen out, with Arafat’s 4 for 38 leading the way. His 90 not out boosted the lead, while Rob Key converted his overnight 122 to 157. Gerard Brophy as the only Yorkshire batsman to reach a half century as Arafat found swing throughout his spells. With a small target to defend it could be a tough day allround for Yorkshire. The other potentially bad news coming from 200 miles west later on Monday where their appeal against the Twenty20 decision set to be heard at Taunton.Lancashire are well placed for consecutive Championship victories after their bowling attack demolished Hampshire for 130 in their second innings at The Rose Bowl. Lancashire conceded a deficit of 32 after a morning-session collapse against Dimitri Mascarenhas, but immediately fought back. Glen Chapple completed a miserable match for Michael Carberry, removing him for another duck, and when Andrew Flintoff struck twice Hampshire were 48 for 5. Flintoff second wicket came courtesy of some team-work in the slips after Stuart Law missed Sean Ervine’s edge and Paul Horton grabbed the rebound. There was no real recovery as Sajid Mahmood removed Greg Lamb and Mascarenhas in quick succession. But for the second time in the match, the last wicket frustrated Lancashire with Michael Lumb – batting at No. 7 due to a back strain – adding 37 alongside James Tomlinson. Still, the target was a modest 163 of which 34 were already knocked off by the close.Somerset enjoyed a profitable day against Durham at Chester-le-Street, removing the home side for 261 with all the bowlers chipping in. However, the loss of the entire first day limits their chances of building a lead big enough to force victory on the final day. Justin Langer took a positive approach, declaring Somerset’s first innings once they’d passed 350. Durham responded with an opening stand of 68, but after Mark Stoneman chased a wide one they began to lose wickets at regular intervals. At 145 for 6 the follow-on was a major threat, however Liam Plunkett held firm with 52, adding 56 with Phil Mustard and 50 alongside Callum Thorp. It took valuable time out of the match and, although Somerset lead by 107, it will be a fine balancing act for Langer to decide what sort of target to set.For John Ward’s summary of Nottinghamshire’s match against Surrey at Trent Bridge, click here.

Second Division

4th dayNicky Boje took 3 for 57 on the final day at New Road to give hope of Northamptonshire staging a thrilling run-chase, but Vikram Solanki’s 114 – his third Championship ton of the season – grafted together Worcestershire’s second innings as the match petered into a draw. Northamptonshire’s first innings fell away quickly in just under 12 overs, as Simon Jones mopped up the tail – as is his speciality this season – with 3 for 8 in 16 balls, including Lance Klusener whose leg stump was knocked over. However, the visitors had gained a crucial lead of 141. Worcestershire’s second innings began poorly when Stephen Moore was caught at third slip for 2, but Solanki joined Daryl Mitchell in a second-wicket stand of 95 spanning 26 overs. Mitchell fell four short of a brisk fifty, but thereafter Solanki dominated the scoring as the deficit was erased in the 38th over. Though Boje struck to remove Ben Smith, Solanki and Steve Davies, it was all too little, too late, and a draw was agreed upon after 76 overs.3rd dayWhile England were being frustrated today at Lord’s by one South African G Smith, Derbyshire will hope that their version – Greg – can provide a similarly doughty effort, along with Wavell Hinds as much rests on their shoulders on the final day. Derbyshire were six down at stumps, with a lead of 153 which may yet be prove plenty in this low-scoring encounter, but nevertheless they will look to push on during the final day against Leicestershire at Derby. Leicestershire were polished off for 189, both Graham Wagg and Charl Langeveldt ending with four wickets, but then although Derbyshire’s batsmen made starts, they could not capitalise. An interesting final day is in store.Essex continued to manoeuvre themselves into a strong position against Glamorgan after their captain Mark Pettini piled up 92, with good support from a trio of other half-centurions – James Foster, Jason Gallian and Varun Chopra – to bring a first-innings lead of 244 at Cardiff. It was Pettini’s highest Championship score this season, while Napier (20 off 8 balls) provided a brief flurry at the end when he struck Dean Cosker for three successive sixes before holing out attempting another maximum. Glamorgan will resume the final day at Cardiff still 209 runs adrift with nine wickets left after losing Gareth Rees to Napier’s first ball in the closing stages. Most of the home side’s wickets had come from spin – with Cosker taking 5 for 81 and Robert Croft 4 for 97.Middlesex’s young quicks, Danny Evans and Steven Finn, shared the honours to give their team the chance for a final-day victory push against Gloucestershire at Bristol. Evans, working up good pace, removed four of the top five and when Finn grabbed a quick treble against the lower order, Middlsex had a sniff of enforcing the following. However, Gloucestershire’s last pair removed that danger, when debutant Ian Saxelby flicked his first ball through midwicket, and Middlesex had to be content with a lead of 111. This was extended by 86 despite two wickets for Jon Lewis and some quick scoring on the final morning could set a target of around 320. Ed Joyce is unbeaten on 38 and he earlier declared the first innings once three batting points had been collected – with Eoin Morgan left on 137 – rather than waste more time. His adventure may yet be rewarded.

Division Two

The combined efforts of South Africa and West Indies set up Derbyshire for a seven-wicket win against Middlesex at Derby. Charl Langeveldt and Wavell Hinds shared eight wickets as Middlesex were shot out for 166, leaving the home side to chase 126. Eoin Morgan was caught behind early on the final day flashing a wild drive, but Dawid Malan and Dan Housego built a stand of 55. Then the wheels came off against the unlikely figure of Hinds. He claimed 3 for 5 in his first five overs as the last seven wickets fell for 48. Malan, dropped early at slip by Rikki Clarke, began the collapse by chasing a wide ball and Ben Scott when in similar style. Langeveldt wrapped up the tail to finish with season-best figures of 5 for 40. Derbyshire’s run chase was guided by Dan Birch’s unbeaten 66 off 74 points as they boosted their chances of taking one of the two promotion spots.Essex were able to set off early to prepare for the Friends Provident final at Lord’s after their match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston ended in a predictable draw. However, Graham Napier enlivened the final day with 76 off 62 balls to boost Essex past 200 after their batting slumped against Warwickshire’s seamers. Boyd Rankin returned 4 for 80 on his first appearance for the county, while Chris Woakes continued to impress with a caught and bowled off Grant Flower before having James Foster caught at slip. Napier began his onslaught against Ian Salisbury, twice lofting him for six, but Essex were 13 short of a batting point when Mark Pettini unexpectedly made an appearance following his vision problems. Napier cleared the boundary two more times before providing Rankin with his fourth wicket. Warwickshire’s openers failed against the new ball before an unbroken stand of 57 hastened the agreement to call off the match.Gloucestershire took a full hand of batting points from their rain-ruined match against Glamorgan at Cardiff as Chris Taylor struck 91. He added 64 for the fourth wicket with Marcus North (52) after Hamish Marshall fell early in the day. Glamorgan’s spinners made a mark on the middle order, but Taylor held firm before falling to Jamie Dalrymple with his team four short of 400. Richard Dawson, signed just before this match, helped reach that target before the attention turned to trying to gain some bowling points. However, David Hemp’s unbeaten 53 meant Glamorgan ended just two down despite the early loss of both openers.

Division One

Two former England players who feel they should have played more for their country shared the honours on the final day at Taunton as Surrey and Somerset played out a high-scoring draw. Mark Ramprakash, with the pressure of reaching 100 hundreds out of the way, cashed in with an unbeaten double century and Andrew Caddick rose above the toil of other bowlers with five wickets. Ramprakash added 139 for the fourth wicket with Usman Afzaal (65) and 90 for the sixth with Matt Nicholson (43). Caddick completed his first five-wicket haul of an injury-hit season when Saqlain Mushtaq was caught at slip as Somerset chased three bowling points. Justin Langer then set the field back to allow Ramprakash to reach his double before the match was called off. Somerset are now third in the table, just three points behind Nottinghamshire with Durham in second.Dreadful conditions ruled out any play at Chester-le-Street as Durham and Nottinghamshire took four points each in just the second complete abandonment in the Riverside’s history.Click here for a full report from Old Trafford where Lancashire had a few nervy moments before securing a draw against Yorkshire in the Roses match.

Arjuna Ranatunga, the interim committee chief of Sri Lanka Cricket, is adamant that the tour of England in April and May 2009 will still go ahead as planned, despite opposition from several senior players, including the captain Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who would rather be plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.Sri Lanka’s tour was announced in July by the England & Wales Cricket Board, who needed to find a team to fill in for two Tests and three ODIs after Zimbabwe’s planned visit was scrapped due to political pressure. The move caught the Sri Lankan players by surprise, however, with up to 13 of the probable tour party having signed lucrative contracts with the IPL.Though it was initially reported that SLC would allow its players to honour those IPL contracts, Ranatunga has since implied a hardened stance. “We have a memorandum of understanding with the England and Wales Cricket Board for the tour and we must honour that,” he told reporters in Colombo.The players, however, remain in a strong bargaining position, especially in light of their recent triumph in the Asia Cup. On Monday, Jayawardene and Sangakkara met with the sports minister, Gamini Lokuge, in the hope of having the tour called off, while they have also been in contact with the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse.Rajapakse is reported to be sympathetic to the players’ view and has directed the SLC to find an alternative plan, while Lokuge is trying to find a compromise solution. Another meeting is scheduled with the players next week.