All posts by csb10.top

The Final of the Under 19 County Championship was concluded on the first day after Hampshire were dismissed for 125 in 57.3 overs.Hampshire chose to bat and lost early wickets to Parsons and Kelly before Snell with 39 gave the innings some substance. His dismissal in the over before lunch, leaving Hampshire at 83-5, effectively ended Hampshire’s chances of posting a competitive total, and two run outs, one a deflection by the bowler to dismiss Thane, the non-striker, did not help.Kelly finished with 3 for 34, Parsons with 2 for 21 and Andrew returned to the attack to take 2 for 17.Although Stokes was soon out mistiming a hook Webley played some excellent strokes in reaching 70 not out and with Andrew on 34 Somerset won by 8 wickets, reaching their target in 25.2 overs.Ken Standring, Chairman of the ECB Schools, Junior and Youth Group presented the Cup and medals.

ADELAIDE, Oct 25 AAP – Highly rated New South Wales youngster Michael Clarke was unbeaten on 79 at tea, helping the Blues to 4-203 in their first innings on day one of their Pura Cup cricket match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval today.Former Australian Test opener Michael Slater, batting at No.6, was also at the crease on 40 after sharing an entertaining, unbroken partnership of 91 with Clarke.The pair helped NSW get on top after starting the session at 3-85.Clarke’s dashing innings included several edges through slips, and a difficult dropped catch at second slip by Mark Higgs from Greg Blewett’s bowling when he was on 74.But it also included many fine shots, particularly several beautifully-timed drives to the cover boundary.Blues skipper Simon Katich was the only batsman to fall between lunch and tea, out for 27 in disappointing style when he top-edged a cut shot to provide Paul Rofe with an easy catch at backward point from off-spinner John Davison’s bowling.

Surrey have completed an emphatic win inside three days in their Championship match against Kent at The Oval. They bowled Kent out for 268, with Ed Giddins taking three for 80, and knocked off the required 61 runs for victory, losing just one wicket in the process.Warwickshire have reached a strong position against Leicestershire at Edgbaston, leading by 210 runs with six second innings wickets remaining. Grant Flower extended his first innings for Leicestershire to 75 and Neil Burns weighed in with a useful 64 as the visitors were bowled out for 370. Warwickshire then reached 118 for four in their second innings, but not with an urgency that suggests they are on course for anything other than a draw.There was drama at the end of a rain-interrupted day in Bath after Somerset declared their first innings on 161 for nine, 91 runs behind Hampshire. Richard Johnson and Matt Bulbeck then cut a swathe through Hampshire’s top order, reducing them to a stunning three for four at stumps.Just short of 24 overs play were possible at Headingley, but that was enough for Sussex to force the beleaguered champions to follow on. James Kirtley polished off the Yorkshire tail to finish with five for 49, and Yorkshire closed on eight for no wicket, 210 behind.In Division Two, Northamptonshire are in a precarious position against Essex at Ilford. Having been forced to follow on, they are still 25 runs behind with only four second innings wickets remaining, despite 71 from Mike Hussey and 46 from Jeff Cook. Their batsmen offered little resistance to the Essex bowlers first time around to be bowled out for 204 with four wickets falling to Ashley Cowan. Those bowlers had to work harder in the second innings with all the batsmen dismissed so far at least getting into the twenties, but it would appear that only the weather can deprive Essex now.At Trent Bridge Derbyshire were dismissed just one run short of Notts’ total of 393. Mohammad Ali contributed a useful 43, while Nadeem Malik and Richard Logan each finished with three wickets. Notts reached 75 for three in their second innings by stumps, 76 runs ahead.At Lord’s, Mike Powell made 122 as Glamorgan were bowled out for 369 by Middlesex, who had reached 131 for one at the end of another rain-blighted day.Durham and Worcestershire managed just nine overs and three balls at Chester-le-Street. Allan Donald took the wicket of Andrew Pratt for 67 as Durham closed on 206 for five.

Hursley Park put their Southern Electric Premier League promotion hopes firmly on the line against runaway Division 3 leaders Purbrook at the Quarters tomorrow (SAT), 1pm.But they go into the 50-over contest against the near promotion certainties full of optimism after winning five of their last six matches.It’s a run that has cemented Hursley in third place, significantly only four points behind Winchester neighbours St Cross Cross Symondians, who visit Hook & Newnham Basics.With only two matches remaining, Hursley know it’s effectively win or bust against Purbrook, who – 14 points clear of St Cross – can probably afford to lose to Hursley Park and Ventnor next week and still be promoted."But that’s not the aim at all," says Purbrook captain Alan Mengham, whose takes a full strength side to The Quarters, "We’ve established a fair sized lead at the top and our aim is to be promoted as Premier 3 champions."Purbrook have gorged 232 points from 13 completed games and will be virtually certain of being crowned champions if they beat Hursley.Steve Shaw will be assured of a warm welcome at the King George V ground when he makes a sentimental return to play against his former Hook & Newnham Basics teammates.It promises to be a stern test for full-strength St Cross as Hook have rediscovered their form and have cruised into a mid-table slot in recent weeks after looking potential relegation candidates for the first half of the season.Any slip by St Cross could be crucial with ever-improving Gosport Borough and Havant II moving up fast on the rails.Gosport, now in a best-yet fourth slot after a useful winning sequence, will fancy their chances at struggling Hambledon, while Havant 2nd XI captain Mat Gover is confident of success against his old club, Flamingo.The situation at the bottom of the table could change if Redlynch & Hale follow last week’s long overdue win over Paultons and win at Hartley Wintney, who lie second from bottom.Relegation is virtually certain for the losers.The Hampshire Academy could be breaking open the celebratory champagne if they beat United Services on the Rose Bowl Nursery ground.One win from the last two games – their season finishes at Trojans – will take the county youngsters out of reach of second-placed Easton & Martyr Worthy, who visit relegation fighters Rowledge.US gave the Young Hawks a real fright earlier in the season, losing by one wicket at Burnaby Road, but they are badly weakened by unavailabilitiues. Top wicket taker Damien Carson does, however, return.Easton know they have a real scrap on their hands against Rowledge, who are scrapping for every point in a bid to claw away from second from bottom place.Rowledge, who pulled off a fine win at Lymington last week, were agonisingly beaten by two runs in last Sunday’s National Village Championship semi-final."The way we played last weekend has given everyone great belief we can pulled this one off," says Rowledge skipper Dave Booton.The Farnham club will be at full strength, but Easton could be without their influential skipper Steve Green.Winchester KS can do Rowledge a massive favour if they beat Hungerford at River Park.Lymington fly back from a tiring tour of Dublin for a home match with Trojans, who need to take 44 points from their final two matches – their last is against the Hampshire Academy – to stand any chance of avoiding the drop.Opener Ollie Kelly, who has spent the past week icing a badly bruised ankle, is confident he will be fit for Sparsholt, who host Old Tauntonians & Romsey at the Norman Edwards Memorial Ground.Skipper Rob Savage is expected back, but the absence of Charles Forward will seriously weaken OTs, for whom Ian Tulk returns.

Manicaland moved closer to their first Logan Cup victory of the season at Mutare Sports Club yesterday by forcing Matabeleland to follow on 330 runs behind. With another first session lost to bad weather yesterday time will become a big factor in deciding Matabeleland’s survival or Manicaland’s victory. Needing a further 283 to make Manicaland bat again, Matabeleland need to bat three sessions to safety. Openers Siziba (31 n/o) and Walker (11 n/o) made a good start by seeing off 23 overs before bad light stopped play for a third day running.Resuming their first innings score on the overnight 142 for three, Matabeleand lasted just 38 overs to finish on 244 all out off 70 overs. Only Strydom (72) offered worthwhile resistance and he remained positive throughout. This wish to dominate noticeable in all the Matabeleland batsmen may be the key to Manicaland’s chances of success on the last day. The pitch is unlikely to change significantly so it will be up to Manicalands bowlers to tempt and provoke indiscretion from the Matabeles. Paul Strang is the most likely to succeed in this tactic, having already lured Mbangwa to a swift stumping in the first innings. His repetitive forearm-stress-fracture forces him to bowl loopy leg-spinners these days and in some grades of cricket this is enough. Although this match has been designated first-class status, a lot of Matabeleland’s batting looks sub-second league class.It is likely that Alistair Campbell and Ian Coulson will be used for long periods during the day with Kingsley Went as an additional off-spinning option. Strang left the field late yesterday to seek physiotherapy treatment so his fitness is in question. The other three have had little impact on the game so far so will be fresh to answer their captain’s callings. ‘Jumbo’ King looked good for his 43 in the first innings, and with Siziba and Strydom showing good touch Matabeleland might just frustrate the home side.

New Zealand’s women’s cricket team kicked off their European tour with a comfortable 169-run win over the Netherlands in Utrecht today.The Netherlands side asked the TelstraClear White Ferns to bat first in the 50-overs match.Rebecca Rolls and Nicola Payne put on 65 for the opening partnership with Rolls scoring 33 runs off 34 balls before she was the first dismissed in the innings.Payne scored 37 from 66 balls before departing at 87. Emily Drumm and Kate Pulford scored 66 for the third wicket, and each scored 36 before Drumm was dismissed while Pulford was run out 18 runs later.Haidee Tiffen and Kathryn Ramel were out for nine and seven respectively before Aimee Mason (17), Rachel Pullar (21 not out) and Anna Corbin (10 not out) took the score through to 245/7.The New Zealanders were helped by an excess of extras which topped the scoreboard at 39, including 29 wides.The home team were soon in trouble and while Pauline te Beest, who showed the benefits of her summers spent playing in New Zealand in recent years, scored 23, she was the only Netherlands player to achieve double figures.They were dismissed for 76, scored off 41 overs, with the last three wickets falling to Pullar without any addition to the score. Pullar, who was named player of the match, took three wickets for 10 runs from her eight overs.New Zealand gave all its bowlers a workout in the innings with eight bowlers used, all of them bowling cheaply. Other wicket-takers included Corbin, with two for four off four overs, Ramel with two for seven off five overs, Nicola Browne with one for eight off four, Mason one for 22 off six and Pulford one for seven off five.

England have opted to play an all seam attack in the First Test against Pakistan at Lord’s tomorrow.Robert Croft has been released by Duncan Fletcher to play for his county, Glamorgan. He will meet up with his team-mates at Old Trafford where they are playing Lancashire. Rain has disrupted play in several CricInfo Championship games, so Croft has a good chance of making it for the start of the match.Matthew Hoggard, the Yorkshire fast bowler not originally included in the squad due to a minor injury, has been retained at Lord’s and now has an opportunity to play in the Test tomorrow.Either Hoggard or fellow Yorkshireman, Sidebottom, could come into the team for Craig White who will now undergo a fitness test on the morning of the Test.

The decision by the Australian Cricket Board to pull out of their scheduledtour of Zimbabwe next month might have plunged the country’s cricketfraternity into turmoil but the Zimbabwe Cricket Union are still hopefulthat the tour will be revived.A visibly dejected ZCU chairman Peter Chingoka told a press conference inHarare on Wednesday that they would try and convince the ACB to reconsidertheir position on Zimbabwe. He ruled out staging the two-Test and threeone-dayer series at a neutral venue.”We received the news with a very heavy heart, but we are also working veryhard to ensure that the tour will take place as originally scheduled. Ourposition is that there is nothing to fear and that there should be noconcerns at all about safety.”We are terribly disappointed with this development and we are workingvigorously for the travel restrictions, which led to this withdrawal, to belifted. The Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture and the Sports andRecreation Commission are both being helpful in this matter and we remainhopeful as there is still time enough to restore the tour,” said Chingoka.Chingoka said that there was still enough time to try and persuade theAustralians to change their position. “We still believe that there issufficient time between now and 11 April to try and get a positive review ofthe travel restrictions from the Australians. A decision can be made aslate as possible because the Australian cricket team is currently on tour inSouth Africa, which is just next door. We stand ready to host them asscheduled, the grounds are ready and I’m sure that the hospitableZimbabweans will be very willing to receive them.”Although there had been speculation that the ZCU would approach their SouthAfrican counterparts with a request to move the tour to the neighbouringcountry, this has been shot down. Agreeing to move the tour to South Africawould mean that the ZCU are concurring with the Australians that Zimbabwe isnot safe to host the current world Test and one-day champions.”Moving the tour to South Africa is totally out of question because webelieve that it is extremely safe for the Australians to visit Zimbabwe atthis time. We believe that there is no need to look for a neutral venue.”Australia are expected to play their 2003 World Cup group match againstZimbabwe at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo but they have not yet made adecision on that match.”We are very confident that there will be no change whatsoever to the WorldCup programme where we will be hosting Australia, England, India, Pakistan,Namibia and Holland. The ACB have limited their focus to the tour, whichwas due next month, and not the World Cup.”Chingoka was not willing or able to reveal the amount of revenue thatZimbabwe stands to lose following the late withdrawal from the tour byAustralia. “It’s quite a substantial amount of money but I can’t reveal theactual figures. It’s a significant amount, which would have gone to lookingafter the national team players, and also we were hoping to use part of theproceeds from the tour to accelerate our development programme.”Our agent had already worked on the tour itself with regard to televisionrights and there is obviously a negative impact if we are not able torestore the tour. There is also a question of our sponsors, team sponsorsand the series sponsors that we have to address, and various organizationsthat had also made commitments for boundary-board advertising and otheractivities. So there is a big impact on us financially.”Zimbabwe had made four overseas tours since their last home series and theZCU had been banking on the Australia series to make up for the expenditureincurred over the past five months. The national team has been to Sharjah,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India since hosting England in a five-matchone-day series in October last year.There had not been any tour arranged for Zimbabwe between May and Octoberwhen the Pakistani cricket team is expected. Chingoka was pessimistic abouttrying to get a replacement series.”My office is currently looking at trying to come up with an alternativetour but it is with great difficulty. I believe that India will be touringthe West Indies, while Sri Lanka are in a triangular tournament with NewZealand and Pakistan. I am not quite sure with the Bangladeshi commitmentsat the moment but England are definitely out of question. Their owndomestic season is due to start soon and they normally do not like to makechanges to their programme.”

Despite a dressing room riddled with flu and a brave, if unexpected, third wicket partnership between Russel Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara, South Africa seemed to be heading for a second successive victory inside three days at stumps on the second day of the third Castle Lager/MTN Test match at SuperSport Park on Sunday.With this Test match roaring along with much the same pace and fury as had been evident on Saturday, South Africa are so much in command that any result other than comprehensive victory is almost inconceivable.At the close on Sunday night, Sri Lanka were 184 for three in their second innings, having been bowled out for 119 earlier in the day. All this was in response to South Africa’s 378.It may seem, it certainly did seem that some of the puff went out of the South Africans in Sunday’s final session, but it has emerged that several of the side were not feeling at all well on Sunday. Neither manager Goolam Rajah nor coach Graham Ford were at the ground for the second day and at one point or the other Allan Donald, Boeta Dippenaar and Daryll Cullinan were all treated for nausea.A bug has gone around the dressing room, hardly surprisingly considering the close quarters in which the team lives, and it may explain the listless apparent in the late afternoon.It is all the more remarkable, then, that South Africa have so dominated this match. The Sri Lankan first innings was a shambles, closely resembling the capitulation during the first day at Newlands. If anything, it was a worse batting performance because Donald was obviously out of sorts even if he managed to capture two first innings wickets.From the moment that Marvan Atapattu was needlessly run out for 3, Sri Lanka contrived to keep on handing the initiative to the home team. Sanath Jayasuriya committed a schoolboy’s error when he top-edged Donald to third man, Sangakkara played on off a cross-bat defensive stroke and perhaps only Aravinda de Silva, quite brilliantly caught at point by Herschelle Gibbs, could count himself unfortunate out of the top order.Shaun Pollock couldn’t take a wicket after his maiden century on the first day and Donald was struggling, but Makhaya Ntini took four for 39 either side to underline the huge strides he has taken as an international bowler this season.And with Justin Kemp taking two maiden Test wickets, Sri Lanka lasted less than 37 overs in the first innings.The follow on was the obvious next step and although Pollock managed to break through with Atapattu’s wicket while Jacques Kallis got rid of Mahela Jayawardene at 43 for two, Sri Lanka finally managed to summon up some resistance.Donald had two dreadful overs that cost him 21 as Arnold slapped him all over the place and the Sri Lankan third wicket pair added113 in 106 minutes to check the South African steamroller.Throughout Pollock attacked, deigning the use of a third man which accounted for probably half the runs scored by the Sri Lankans and it was the spinner Nicky Boje who finally broke through, Arnold top-edging a sweep to be caught at slip for 71.It was a handy innings and demonstrated again that he is a doughty fighter and with Sangakkara ending the day unbeaten 64, Sri Lanka weren’t quite as embarrassed at the close as they might have been.There is still some batting to come. Jayasuriya has held himself back in the second innings and has yet to come to the crease. There was speculation that the flu bug might have crossed the glass barrier that separates the two dressing rooms but a more likely explanation is that he has played so poorly that he decided to see if someone else could do better.De Silva has also only just arrived at the crease, but the Sri Lankans have a long tail and if the wicket juices up overnight – as it did on Saturday night – the tourists could crumble quickly. Put it this way, a number of golf matches have already been arranged for Tuesday’s fourth day.

Sri Lanka’s leading cricketers snubbed the Premier League last weekend when they preferred to participate in the Mercantile Cricket Sixes, which was won by a powerful Hatton National Bank side, rather than play in the crucial second stage of the Premier League Trophy.Approximately 25-players refused to play for their clubs, upsetting some teammates who were forced to play in depleted teams. The Sinhalese Sports Club and the Tamil Union were particularly badly hit, losing over half of their team. Both sides were defeated.The players have a particular strong allegiance to their Mercantile teams, who double up as their employers during the week and provide crucial monetary support in the amateur club game, and their reluctance to forfeit the popular weekend spectacle for the hastily rearranged Premier League matches was therefore understandable.The incident does, however, raise the question of just how important the Premier League is perceived to be by those who play it. If Sri Lanka’s best cricketers feel they can miss a potentially crucial three-day game for a jolly six-a-side tournament, then all is surely not well with the cradle of Sri Lanka’s cricket.Hatton National Bank emerged as winners in the tournament, largely thanks to the swashbuckling batting of Avishka Gunawardene, who plays his club cricket for SSC. He scored 44 runs in the final against John Keels and was awarded the Best Batsmen award, the Player of the Final award, and an award for hitting the most sixes in the tournament.