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Jeremy Snape has, over the past year, become an established member of the England one-day set up. At the same time, he has fallen out of favour with his county, Gloucestershire, to the extent that he only appeared in four county championship matches for them during the season just finished. He lost his place at the end of May and failed to get it back although he did appear in limited-overs cricket. Now comes news that the 29 year-old off-spinning all-rounder has been released by Gloucestershire and will have to find a new county.The news came in a press release issued by the county in which it was said: “This has been a difficult decision about a player who has performed very well for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and achieved a lot of success in the four years he has been with us. However, his relationship with the cricket management over the past 18 months has been very poor and has reached the stage where we believe it is unlikely to improve.”It was no secret that he had not seen eye-to-eye with the coach, John Bracewell (apart from the fact that Bracewell stands 6′ 2″ and Snape is only 5′ 8”), and his release is an unfortunate outcome for someone who, only recently, stated that he wanted to continue playing for the county he joined in 1999 after making his debut for Northamptonshire in 1992. He contributed fully to the Gloucestershire success in winning five one-day tournaments in his first two years, catching the attention of the national selectors.He won the man-of-the-match award when he made his one-day international debut against Zimbabwe in Harare almost exactly a year ago. He had both the Flower brothers stumped in the same over on his way to figures of two for 39, and also held a brilliant catch to dismiss Guy Whittall.He is an outstanding fielder in the covers, scores useful runs in the lower middle order, while his control of flight has brought him success with his bowling. At a time when there is a paucity of spin bowlers in English cricket, he should not have too much difficulty in finding another county.

It looked like one of the most one-sided of one-day matches at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo when Pakistan ran up 302 for four and then removed four Zimbabwe batsmen for just 32 runs. But the Zimbabwe later batsmen resisted strongly and enabled the side to go down with honour, remarkably beaten by only six runs. It could cynically be described as a typical Zimbabwe effort: a superb fightback once the match was already lost. In the event it captured the imagination of the crowd to the end, though Pakistan always had just enough in hand.On a hot day in Bulawayo, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat on a flat pitch that promised plenty of runs for the batsmen.This match was designated as a warm-up for the World Cup, with all the elaborate security arrangements now universally required by the ICC in operation. Most Zimbabweans consider them totally ludicrous and unnecessary; Zimbabwe is still one of the safest places in the world to watch cricket and it is indeed an irony that the country should be considered by many an unsuitable World Cup venue, supposedly for security reasons.Such is Pakistan’s bowling strength that they were able to leave out both Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Sami, relying instead on the all-rounders Azhar Mahmood and Shahid Afridi. To match this, Zimbabwe lacked the services of Heath Streak, Douglas Hondo and Travis Friend, all injured. They actually chose to play three debutants in batsman Stuart Matsikenyeri, who opened with Alistair Campbell, and all-rounders Barney Rogers, a batsman who can bowl off-spin, and Richie Sims, an off-spinner who can bat and recently scored a Logan Cup double-century.Zimbabwe struck an early blow, as Taufeeq Umar, after taking a single from Andy Blignaut’s first over, faced Sean Ervine, opening the bowling in a one-day international for the first time. Taufeeq tried to turn the first ball to leg and was found plumb lbw.Stuart Matsikenyeri almost made his mark on international cricket within minutes of stepping on to the field, a direct hit almost running out Yousuf Youhana as the batsmen stole a leg-bye. After that the batsmen settled down and Ervine was probably kept on too long, conceding 41 runs in his six overs. Youhana was in masterly form, reaching his fifty off 52 balls, while Saleem Elahi followed with his off 65 balls.Richie Sims bowled quite an impressive first spell of off-spin in international cricket, but made his mark first by picking up a mistimed slash at backward point off Grant Flower to dismiss Saleem for 53. Pakistan were 127 for two.When Inzamam-ul-Haq came in the scoring rate hardly slowed, and Zimbabwe called on eight bowlers to try to halt the momentum. Yousuf batted relentlessly onward, reaching his century off 110 balls and rarely seeming hurried, apart from when he chose to assert his authority over Sims with two big sixes. He was immediately dropped at midwicket off a very hard chance to Grant Flower.For the most part the batsmen were content to work the ball around the field, scoring ones and twos almost at will. Inzamam’s fifty came off 55 balls, as Zimbabwe were unable to provide any threat, although as often Grant Flower was the most economical. Inzamam fell for 55, hitting the expensive Olonga straight down the throat of Blignaut at long-on; Pakistan were 236 for three after another century partnership.Shahid Afridi scored only 4 before holing out to long leg off Grant Flower in the latter’s last over; he conceded only 33 runs off his ten overs. Younis Khan (33 not out off 18 balls) continued the onslaught, and Pakistan finished with 302 for four wickets. Yousuf Youhana, in from the second over, took out his bat for 141 off 147 balls, with three sixes and 13 fours, his best one-day effort and a match-winning innings.Wasim Akram, short of match practice, began with two leg-side wides, and then bowled three more, together with a no-ball, before completing his 12-ball over. However in his second over he picked up the wicket of debutant Stuart Matsikenyeri (1), who was perhaps unluckily adjudged to have edged a cut to the keeper. Andy Flower walked in to delighted chants of "Andy, Andy, Andy" from the noisily enthusiastic stands of black spectators who now form the majority in Bulawayo matches.Alistair Campbell never looked comfortable, and had only 4 to his credit when he was bowled neck and crop by a ball from Waqar Younis that went right through him. As if this was not enough, Grant Flower ran himself out without scoring off a no-ball, and Zimbabwe were helping to dig their own grave at 17 for three in the fifth over.It nearly grew worse, but Barney Rogers deserved his beginner’s luck as he escaped with a miscued chip shot that somehow cleared mid-on. Rogers (13 off 16 balls) continued to look aggressive, but a fine yorker from Waqar uprooted his off stump one ball after he survived a close lbw appeal.Craig Evans, plying his first international match for three years, came in to join Andy Flower with Zimbabwe 32 for four. Struggling against the two ageing but still potent Ws, he curbed his natural instincts, not scoring his second run until his 20th ball. Andy Flower found no alternative but to accumulate, which he did steadily, as any attempt on the target now would be futile.Evans tried a few fiddly and unsuccessful little sweeps when the spinners came on before finally obeying his instincts and hitting Taufeeq straight for six, followed by a four to square leg. Flower reached his fifty off 74 balls, immediately followed by the hundred partnership, and then Evans’s fifty, off 66 balls. Sadly a fine partnership came to an inglorious end in a mix-up as Flower changed his mind over a single and Evans was run out for 68 thanks to quick work by keeper Kamran Akmal. Zimbabwe were 167 for five after a stand of 135, in the 33rd over, but Evans had certainly justified his recall.Wasim returned and immediately dismissed Andy Flower (77), skying a catch into the covers off a leading edge as he aimed a leg hit; 185 for six. Blignaut and Tatenda Taibu continued the fight, but there was a further worry for Zimbabwe as Blignaut’s leg gave him increasing problems and he required Grant Flower as a runner. His fifty came off 36 balls, but soon afterwards he skyed a catch to depart for 55. Another run-out removed Sean Ervine, like Grant Flower out without facing a ball, a rare occurrence twice in the same innings.The required run rate was slowly increasing, until 31 were needed off the final two overs. Taibu emulated Doug Marillier, strangely omitted from the one-day squad by scooping Waqar to fine leg for four, but was then bowled for 35. Olonga mowed Waqar in unlikely fashion for two fours, leaving 19 required off the last over, bowled by Wasim, with the last pair together. But Wasim is just too good a bowler, and Zimbabwe finished just six runs short with one wicket in hand – Sims had 7 and Olonga 13.Ironically, had there been penalties for the side bowling second, Zimbabwe would surely have been declared winners, as the Pakistani over rate was so abysmal that they overran their time allocation by 35 minutes.

If anything, the second ICC KnockOut competition saw even moreenthralling contests and a higher standard of play, cementing itssuccess. In keeping with the globalisation process, the InternationalCricket Council this time held the competition in Nairobi from October3 to 15, 2000.

When the idea of such a competition was mooted, Bangladesh and Kenyaseemed next in line for Test status. By the time the Nairobitournament was held, Bangladesh had already been granted the exaltedstatus and were a month away from playing their first Test match.Kenya remained hopeful that the successful conduct of the mini-WorldCup as also a good performance from their cricketers – the number ofthe teams had been raised to eleven to include Bangladesh and thehosts – would move them a step nearer being given Test status.The tournament certainly was a success from the organisational pointof view and much of the cricket was of the ethereal variety, but therewas no storybook script for the hosts who lost to India by eightwickets in the opening match of the competition.Batting first, Kenya were restricted to 208 for nine in 50 overs. Thetotal was never going to be one to pose any problems for the Indiansand thanks to skipper Sourav Ganguly’s 66 and Rahul Dravid’s unbeaten68, they romped home with eight wickets and 7.3 overs to spare.Similarly, England faced little opposition from Bangladesh emergingwinners by eight wickets with 6.1 overs to spare. Bangladesh did wellin getting 232 for eight in 50 overs but against ordinary bowling,Alec Stewart (87 not out) and skipper Nasser Hussain (95) had littledifficulty in negotiating some ordinary bowling during their secondwicket partnership of 175 runs.The format again meant that one Test nation had to be knocked out inthe first round and this time the West Indies failed to cross thishurdle. A stroke-filled 132 by opener Avishka Gunawardene and histhird wicket stand of 160 runs with Mahela Jayawardene (72) saw SriLanka post 287 for six in 50 overs, a total that proved to be tooformidable for the West Indies who were dismissed for 179 in 46.4overs.The quarterfinals were marked by three one-sided results but thepulsating Australia-India game made up for this. Australia were firmfavourites but this was a rejuvenated Indian side, under the captaincyof Ganguly and including three potentially fine players in newcomersYuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Vijay Dahiya. After Australia made theearly inroads, a breath-taking innings from Yuvraj saw India wrest theinitiative and the advantage thereafter stayed with India.The pugnacious left-hander hit 84 off 80 balls treating the pace ofMcGrath, Lee and Gillespie with utter disdain. India ultimately posteda challenging total of 265 for nine in 50 overs. Then it was the turnof another youngster to strike. Bowling with hostility, Zaheer Khanremoved Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh and some fine work by thevaried attack, backed up by some superb work in the field in whichYuvraj was outstanding saw Australia bowled out for 245 in the 47thover.Unfortunately, the other three quarterfinals lacked such heroics anddrama. In prosaic contests, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by ninewickets, New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 64 runs and South Africaoutplayed England by eight wickets.The Pakistan-Sri Lanka game was billed as a scorcher. But once Lankawere bowled out for 194 in 45.4 overs no batsman reached 40 theywere always going to be up against it. Saeed Anwar’s unbeaten 105 sawPakistan home with 6.4 overs to spare. New Zealand’s total of 265 forseven in 50 overs, thanks in the main to Roger Twose’s bright 85,proved to be beyond Zimbabwe’s reach and despite a splendid 67 byStuart Carlisle they were bowled out for 201 in 42.2 overs with PaulWiseman finishing with four for 45.Similarly, England were no match for South Africa’s professional allround skills. Graeme Hick top-scored with a gallant 65 but England’stotal of 182 in 44.1 overs was always going to be inadequate. SouthAfrica with Jacques Kallis (78 not out) and Boeta Dippenaar (65)figuring in an unbroken third wicket partnership of 132 runs rompedhome with 11.5 overs to spare.Two splendid semi-final matches made up for the generally lacklustrefare in the previous round. Anwar hit a second successive hundred(104) as Pakistan scored 252 in 49.2 overs against New Zealand. AzharMahmood, then, reduced the Kiwis to 15 for two but Nathan Astle (49)and Roger Twose (87) initiated a recovery process by adding 135 runsfor the third wicket. Pakistan came back strongly and had a distinctedge when New Zealand were 187 for six. However, Craig McMillan (51)and Scott Styris (26) figured in an unbroken seventh wicket stand of66 runs to steer New Zealand home amidst much excitement with one overto spare.The other semifinal lacked a close finish but in many ways it was justas enthralling. The entertainment started early with Ganguly in hiselements. Doing pretty much what he liked with the attack thatincluded the likes of Pollock, Donald, Klusener, Kallis, Boje andTelemachus, the Indian captain hit a run-a-ball 141 not out in a totalof 295 for six in 50 overs. With Rahul Dravid (58), Ganguly dominateda second wicket partnership of 145 runs while Yuvraj (41) matched hisskipper in stroke and run production in a third wicket stand of 82runs.The youngsters continued to excel with Zaheer Khan picking up thewickets of Andrew Hall and Dippenaar cheaply in his opening spell andDahiya effecting three dismissals. Even South Africa’s professionalskills came to nought against the new look Indian side and they werebowled out for 200 in 41 overs.And so in the title clash were two unexpected contestants, India andNew Zealand. None could say, however, that they were undeserving of aplace in the final. And the two teams, in keeping with the form theyhad displayed, produced a high calibre game, marked by much tensionand excitement, twists and turns. Ganguly hit another century (117)and his first wicket partnership of 141 runs with Sachin Tendulkar(66) paved the way for the challenging Indian total of 264 for six in50 overs.At various stages – 37 for two and 132 for five – New Zealand weregasping for breath. But they received timely oxygen in the form ofChris Cairns. The star all-rounder took charge and with the help ofthe old warhorse Chris Harris (46) revived New Zealand’s hopes with asixth wicket partnership of 122 runs. In true storybook fashion,Cairns reached an unbeaten 102 in the process of steering New Zealandto victory with four wickets and two deliveries to spare in agrandstand finish.

If you have ever fancied trying your hand at being a super sleuth in the mould of Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple then you need wait no longer.Somerset wicket-keeper Rob Turner will be holding a murder and mystery evening entitled `Incident at the Golden Stumps’at the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster on Friday May 31st.Over a four course dinner an evening of intrigue, suspense and excitement lays in store for those who are brave enough to attend!During pre-dinner drinks the cast of actors from the `Murder by Design Company’ will mingle amongst guests and set the scene for what lies ahead.Over dinner the assembled company will be baffled and horrified by proceedings as well as being at liberty to question and interrogate the characters or suspects involved.The evening will conclude with prizes for the most vigilant sleuths, so why not work as a team and book a table of ten to work on the `Incident at the Golden Stumps’ case.Tickets priced £25 per head are available from Stuart Sheppard at The Shrubbery Hotel at Ilminster, 01460 52108 , The Benefit Office at the County Ground, 01823 272946,or from Doreen Barnes , 01455 230489.

Dean Jones, former star Australian batsman, admitted to feeling more than a little strange when walking out onto his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground last summer sporting New Zealand’s colours, a move which couldn’t help but attract some pointed barbs from local patrons.But Jones, now plying his trade in coaching and the media in his after-playing cricket life, doesn’t regret that for a moment.He points to fellow Australian players like Geoff Marsh helping Zimbabwe cricket, Trevor Chappell having worked with Bangladesh and now a consultant to Pakistan, Bobby Simpson having done cricket consultancy work all around the world, Steve Rixon having coached New Zealand and New Zealand’s John Wright now coaching India.It was just the way of the cricket world, and Jones said he had a very enjoyable three weeks with the New Zealanders, helping to change some of their attitudes to playing a team like Australia.”I had a hoot of a time,” he said when speaking with CricInfo while taking a break in a coaching programme he is working on at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University, a facility that he was most impressed with when seeing it for the first time.He said the liaison with New Zealand had also reminded him of what it was like to lose.The match in question was the One-Day International with Australia in Melbourne where Michael Bevan rescued Australia from the position of 82/6 to reach 248 and take victory with three balls to spare.”It took me three days to get over that loss, and I had forgotten what it was like to lose,” he said.Jones said he had seen enough to say that New Zealand should be a certainty for the top four at the World Cup next year. After that it was anyone’s guess.It was no use spending time worrying how they could get over their eternal bugbear of the moment, beating South Africa, because they might never meet in the Cup.”Don’t fight your battles before you have to,” was his advice.New Zealand just needed to keep doing what they were doing, to keep the belief and to stick to the team plan.”New Zealand play the underdog beautifully,” Jones said. Although a cynic might say jousting for the underdog status is New Zealand’s second national sport.But one of the advantages New Zealand did have was that they parked their egos at the door and got on with the job together.”It would be nice to see Stephen Fleming get some more runs. But he is an impressive captain and his handling of the team is brilliant. He is tactically sound and his management of the boys is good.”Shane Bond has the X factor. He is a workhorse who, if you used racing talk, needs a bit of work. He is that type of player but he impressed me,” he said.Jones would like to get more involved in coaching, it is something he enjoys, but he also knows it involves a commitment just as important as when playing.Being able to relate to players was important while his belief was that a coach should work with the aim of making a player believe he could do things better.It was also important to encourage players to think on their feet and for coaches to listen to them.Another must was the fun factor.”The fun aspect has been lost a bit. You have to be able to enjoy a win, and you have to be able to get over a loss.”Celebrating a win did not mean going out and over-imbibing but it was about enjoying the feeling.Jones was concerned that it was harder nowadays to get over a loss because there was so much cricket being played that the time for reflection was minimised.He wonders also about the consequences of concentration on elite players. One of the problems that has emerged is the number of players who walk out of elite programmes and expect to walk straight into state or provincial sides, or even into international cricket, as of right.He was concerned about the emphasis on age-group cricket, especially at the Under-19 level. He was not quite so concerned about the Under-17s.But the older players needed to be exposed more to senior men players rather than to playing against their age-group peers.He highlighted the example of the spin-laden Australian team that won the ICC Under-19 World Cup this year.The spinners did well because younger players generally didn’t know how to play spin, but when they came up against more senior players the spinners were murdered.”Our spinners need to learn to bowl a bit quicker, instead of 70kph they need to be up to 75-85kph and they struggle with that,” he said.Younger players also needed patience. The Australian team at the moment had its top six batsmen who had been in their positions for the last six or seven years, and there were no new players. That was how tough it was to break in.And it might be that of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team at Lincoln this year, one may break into international cricket.”That’s a lot of money being spent for one kid to make it. You might get five good first-class players out of it, but that is the reality,” he said.Jones also felt that younger players now had to cope with an awful lot of information coming their way from the time they played Under-13 grade through to senior. They were exposed to a lot of different coaches during that time and that was tough to cope with.One way around it was to have mentors for the young players, someone for them to talk to and to help them assess the information being provided.Jones still works with a mentor in his post-playing role and said he regarded it as vital to the way he operates. A mentor needed to be someone that players could put their faith and trust in.Cricket overall was in a healthy state and there would be no easy games at the World Cup. But the extent to which preparation and innovation for such an event has changed was highlighted by Jones talking about the plans being made for the 2007 World Cup which is being played in the West Indies.Batsmen nowadays needed to be scoring more in the region of 70 runs per 100 balls. Australia was working on developing players who could throw with both arms with equal skill. That way they would have no weak side when they were fielding in the 30-metre circle.But it was no use starting to work on something like that now for next year’s World Cup, it had to be that far in advance. Attention needed to be paid to bat speed and Jones predicted there would be significant changes made to bats in the near future.Handles on bats needed to be whippier and he compared the shafts of golf clubs used by the long hitters in golf being quite whippy to what needed to happen with bats.Because many of the grounds in the West Indies were smaller, there would be a lot of fours and sixes hit in the 2007 World Cup and countries needed to be working on developing batsmen capable of achieving that sort of work load.Jones was something of an innovator himself in the one-day game and was regarded as the finest exponent of the art of running between the wickets.It wasn’t something that came naturally to him, rather it was the result of watching Pakistan’s Javed Miandad in a match against Victoria in 1983/84 in which he scored 100 runs off 72 balls, yet he hit only three fours.”He ran a lot of twos and threes and didn’t run in circles. I talked to him a bit about it afterwards and then developed it for myself,” he said.Jones normally ran 40-50kms a week during his playing career but didn’t do any specialised sprint work to hone the skill of running between the wickets. Rather he worked on the principle of getting into the crease, then getting out, while running in a straight line. It also had to be worked on with having to run with pads on and holding a bat in the hand.It was like car racing where as drivers pass certain points they know they have to brake to get around the corner up ahead.Jones established where he had to prepare, then make, the turn. It didn’t worry him that he turned blind to the ball. He became very effective at it and more than a few teams thought they had contained him to one run only to find he picked up two, or three when only two looked on.”And when you have got two people running between the wickets like that, it is much harder to stop,” he said.Two other aspects of the modern game also had Jones thinking.He wondered about the amount of cricket being played and felt that if teams were playing 12 Test matches a year they couldn’t really play 34-36 ODIs as well. And he also wondered about the standards of the support mechanisms that many countries now utilise.Yet for all his concerns, the game still retained its fascination, one that has taken him to a new level of involvement which he would like to take even further. Clearly a case of ‘Watch this space.’

A truncated fourth day’s play saw a Stuart Williams double century go in vain as Guyana marched into the final of the Busta Cup, where they will face Jamaica.Williams, unbeaten on 176 at the start of the fourth day, must have known the likely fate of his team even as he took guard in the morning. Guyana had beaten Leeward Islands during regular season play, and unless Leewards could bring off a shock victory within the day, the hosts were firm favourites to occupy the finals berth.As luck would have it, the local weather gods decided to turn out in support of their team as well, although it is debatable whether Guyana needed their intervention. Williams went to complete his double ton, helping Leewards add 112 runs in the 35.1 overs of play that was possible on the day.Keithroy Tittle, unbeaten overnight on six, was bowled by Mahendra Nagamootoo for 10. Ridley Jacobs then made an unbeaten 27, lending good support to Williams. The Leeward Islands skipper made 252, the culmination of a fine run of form in the tournament.He was still unbeaten when rain prevented any play from mid-afternoon onwards, leaving Leeward Islands stranded on 442 for five in their 133.1-over innings. Williams received the Man of the Match award for his gritty knock, but that will be little consolation as he watches Guyana compete Jamaica from April 4-7 at Sabina Park.

Rarely has a young cricketer’s continued presence in the Indianteam attracted such heated discussion. While critics of a varietyof hues, belonging to different media, have been baying for DeepDasgupta’s blood, at least one newspaper has headlined a demandfor his exclusion. Surprisingly vehement, Ravi Shastri, normallysympathetic to youngsters, has been the most vociferous advocateof the Bengal wicket-keeper’s ouster.While Dasgupta’s wicket-keeping has been poor overall, I agreewith Sourav Ganguly’s assertion that Carl Hooper’s snick in theGuyana Test would have taken some catching. It seems unfair tojudge the young man on the basis of his first Test duck and thehalf-chance that might have stopped Hooper on his march to 233.In his short career, Dasgupta has batted with character andconsistency. The moment the selectors picked him and Ajay Ratrafor this tour, it became quite clear Dasgupta was first choicebecause he could also open the innings; further, Ratra’s keepingis as yet an unproven quantity, at least in Sunil Gavaskar’sopinion. If Ratra has to come in, then the only logical courseopen to the selectors for the next Test is to make Sanjay Bangaropen the innings – unless, of course, they decide to replace theskipper with a regular opener like Wasim Jaffer.The Dasgupta controversy has, however, served to distractattention from the listless Indian bowling performance. JavagalSrinath was the only bowler to make any impact in the match. Theold warhorse was admirably hostile on a wicket that apparentlyoffered nothing to the other Indian bowlers, prepared as he wasto bend his back. Sarandeep Singh looked the part of a friendlyneighbourhood off-spinner, and Anil Kumble was about as dangerousas Geoffrey Boycott’s grandmother’s lollipops.Ravi Shastri has openly stated his preference for a mediumpacer to replace Kumble unless the playing surfaces in the comingTests promise to aid spinners. The question is whether our spinattack without Harbhajan Singh is capable of inducing snicks andstumpings and, if so, whether we have a wicket-keeper to latch onto them. Unfortunately, the answer to both questions seems to bea sad “No.” The strengthening of the pace department with theinclusion of Ashish Nehra seems unavoidable under thecircumstances.India have generally been lucky in the wicket-keeping department,right from the time Syed Kirmani took over as number one stumper,although we have had trouble replacing Nayan Mongia, the subjectof a completely different controversy. Before Kirmani, except forfive Tests in the West Indies when P Krishnamurti donned thegloves, one of two flamboyant batsmen usually did duty behind thestumps for India.In the days before television coverage of India’s Tests, many ofus were under the impression that Farokh Engineer was a top classwicket-keeper, if you overlooked one bad day at the office whenhe let Australia off the hook at Chepauk from a precarious 24 forsix. However, according to some not-so-charitable stories, theBombay and Lancashire stumper went round to the Press Box in theevenings to nip in the bud any attempt to report chances he hadmissed! With his not-inconsiderable charm, he would proceed toconvince the reporters that those had not been chances at all, orif they had been, they were first slip’s and not his.

Despite a fine bowling performance by Maharashtra’s Kashinath Kadkikar(7 for 64), Mumbai crushed the home team by nine wickets in the WestZone under-22 league match at the Bhosala Military School Ground inNashik on Friday.Opting to bat on the opening day, Mumbai put up a challenging total of353 even as Kadhikar took wickets at regular intervals. The inningswas propped up by two fine contributions from the Mumbai skipper HSShinde (78) and K More (70). In response Maharashtra were bundled outfor 197 in 69.3 overs. Maharashtra skipper and opener DS Jadhav with57 was the top scorer. RV Pawar (3 for 55) and More (4 for 66) rippedthrough the hosts line up.Having conceded a lead of 156, Maharashtra followed on and fumbledagain with their batting. Pawar (5 for 62) once again ran through theopposition to leave them with just nine runs ahead at 165. Mumabi hitthe required ten runs in 1.5 overs, losing opener N Shivalkar (0) offthe third ball of the innings. Pawar returned figures of eight for 117in the match.

Havant are hot favourites to retain the Southern Electric ECB Premier League title they won so convincingly last summer.They won both the 50-over and all-day ‘time’ game pennants and finished the region’s inaugural season of Premier League cricket with a commanding 44-point advantage over Calmore Sports, their nearest rivals.BAT Sports, Calmore Sports and, may be Bournemouth, look the best bets to challenge Havant’s crown.But, with Shane Gillies arrived from Perth and Mark Copping back in the fold, Havant boast an arguably stronger squad than that which won the championship last season.They had a scare when Andrew Perry dislocated his shoulder (for the fifth time) earlier in the year.”But the specialist has given him the all-clear to play again – and have his shoulder pinned later in the year,” explained Havant skipper Paul Gover.Perry’s injury, originally sustained playing rugby at St John’s College, put the Havant batsman out of last week’s handsome seven-wicket win over Hungerford.Even without Perry, Havant possessed enough firepower to douse any threat much-weakened Hungerford offered.Significantly, Havant’s three probable title challengers have all snapped up useful A-Grade imports from Australian clubs.BAT’s Dave Carson needs little introduction after displaying his run-scoring prowess for Hambledon during the past two summers.Carson, who plays alongside Test opener Michael Slater for the University of New South Wales, will not only provide BAT with a prominent number 3, but also a more than useful spin bowler.Glen Motschall, due to make a weather-delayed debut for Calmore at Burridge today, hails from the renowned Carlton club in Melbourne.A left-arm ‘quick’, the Aussie will share the new ball attack with either James Lucy or Allan Hurst, who both bowled effectively for the Loperwood Park club last season.Another Australian eager to get his hands on the new ball every Saturday is Peter Waite, who arrived at Chapel Gate through Bournemouth’s productive ‘exchange’ links with South Perth.A Champion cricketer in the past at Richardson Park (South Perth’s delightful headquarters alongside the Swan River), Waite is a prodigious swing bowler, whose link up with Devon Minor Counties paceman Paul Warren will give Bournemouth’s attack a distinct sharpness.But, while three prominent foreign nationals have arrived, the Premier League could be short on overall quality through the loss of at least eight past top performers.Players such as Andy Hooper (Andover), Martin Kellaway (Calmore Sports), Mayu Pasupati (Liphook & Ripsley), Luke Ronchi (Bashley), Roger Sillence (South Wilts), Mike Stonier (Bournemouth) and Hungerford duo Jim Ettridge and David Pryke will be hard to replace.Hungerford, beset by a exodus of first team players, could be pressed to keep their heads above water this season, as could also newly-promoted Liphook, beaten by Bournemouth last week.Pryke and Pasupati were undoubted match winners.Burridge, who escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth after winning their final match at Cove last September, look in better shape.They sprang a real opening day surprise, winning by nine wickets at Andover, where former Hursley Park batsman Dave Jackson struck a splendid 91 not out.”Obviously the win at Andover has given us a great platform from which to build,” enthused skipper Paul Ancell.”We are more of a team now – and that showed in the field. Our out-cricket was of a very high standard, as was Andover’s I should add.”Andover seemed a little lost on how to cope without the left-arm spinning skills of evergreen Andy Hooper, who ironically was playing – and getting wickets (naturally) – at London Road … for the club’s 3rd XI in Hampshire League County Division 4 !Courtesy of MV and Southern Daily Echo

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMeg Lanning top scored for Australia Women but once again England were up to the chase•ICC/Getty

England Women completed a sweep of the group stage with a seven-wicket win over Australia. They were given their sternest challenge of the competition, asked to chase 145, but again showed their excellence in all departments by winning with 11 balls to spare.Sarah Taylor made the highest individual score of the tournament, 65 not out, to guide her side’s chase. She shared a stand of 63 at more than 11 runs per over with Danni Wyatt to reach the target comfortably. Wyatt arrived at the crease with 62 required from 44 balls but played a breezy innings with six boundaries that took the game away from Australia. She finished with 33 in 17 balls, winning the match with a boundary.Australia had played well after choosing to bat first. Opener Meg Lanning led the way with 39 from 31 balls and Lisa Sthalekar’s 28-ball 38 boosted the total. Both batsman fell to Anya Shrubsole but she and the usually dependable Laura Marsh and Holly Colvin went at eight-an-over. Dannielle Hazell was the most economical in holding Australia to a total they could eclipse.Australia captain Jodie Fields said her team’s batting performance was a positive but was disappointed at not finishing the game well.”It felt like we were right in the match right up until the last couple of overs. Our batting innings went the way we wanted it to do, we aimed for 140 and we got that target.”Her team would take on West Indies in the second semi-final of the tournament on October 5. “West Indies are a strong team and we were lucky enough to play them in a warm-up match which gave us an idea about how we can play against them,” Fields said. England go on to play New Zealand in their semi-final.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe other match of the day was a low-scoring thriller that brightened up the dead rubber, with Pakistan Women heading home with a victory by the smallest margin against India. With four required off the final delivery, Nagarajan Niranjana was run out attempting the tying third run.Pakistan chose to bat but only three players made double figures. Sana Mir with 26 and Nain Abidi’s 25 had laid a platform at the top of the order but their failure to go on exposed the rest of the order, of whom Asmavia Iqbal with 10 was the top score. Rasanara Parwin returned the best figures, going for just 15 in her fours overs and picking up the wickets of Mir and Bismah Maroof for 3.India also struggled for a significant contribution with the bat but Jhulan Goswami looked to be guiding them home. But when she fell for a 24-ball 21, 16 were needed from 10 balls which became 14 from the last over. Niranjana struck the first ball for four and worked a target of four off the final ball but it proved just beyond them.