All posts by csb10.top

Somerset fast bowler Richard Johnson, who has been missing from the scene for several weeks through injury,is looking well set to make his first team return for the county in their next NUL Division One National League match against Warwickshire on Sunday June 9th.When I spoke to Richard at the County Ground he told me: "I’m very hopeful for the game at Edgbaston on June 9th, and the way that my recovery programme is progressing I can’t see any reason why I won’t be playing."The former Middlesex man, who was the leading county championship wicket taker for the Cidermen in 2001 continued: "I’m bowling two times everyday in the nets and now I am incorporating some longer spells. Everything is geared up for me to return at Edgbaston.Meanwhile Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson has confirmed that Somerset will play Hampshire in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy on Wednesday June 19th at the County Ground.The Somerset boss told me earlier today: "We were relieved to win our match against the Yorkshire Board XI, which was a potential banana skin for us, to earn a home tie with Hampshire in the next round which will be played on June 19th. Lets hope that what happened at this stage of the competition in 2001 happens again this year and that we can get back to our winning one day form."

BCCI technical committee member not in favour of graded systemA member of the technical committee and Punjab Cricket Association secretary MP Pandove on Sunday said in Mohali said that the graded system of payment linked with seniority of players is not feasible and has ‘certain complications’. PTI quotes Pandove as saying that “this system which is likely to be implemented after thorough deliberations at the next meeting of the board would force players to declare themselves professionals.” He added “No player would like to declare himself professional due to the obvious reason of taxation,” he said.Pandove also felt that this system would lower the morale of the young players and this would ultimately would affect team spirit. “I personally think that this system cannot be effective in this part of the world.” Five Indian players last week pressed the BCCI to have a contract system for greater security and graded system of payment linked to seniority and performance.PCA launches coaching scheme for upcoming playersThe Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) on Sunday launched a coaching scheme for upcoming youngsters across the state. Briefing newsmen after the executive meeting of the PCA in Mohali, PCA secretary MP Pandove said under the scheme six regional coaching centres of the PCA would be created in Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Patiala, Amritsar, Mohali and Jalandhar for providing training.Pandove added that the PCA would provide 12 dozen cricket balls each, aid for installing an irrigation system and 50 per cent reimbursement of coaching fee at these centres. The PCA had approved a budget of Rs 25 lakh to create these coaching centres, he said adding that from such centres a total of 20 players below the age of 19 would be selected. The chosen players would be brought to the PCA for advanced training under psychologists, doctors and super speciality video-tape guidance, he said. He said that the executive has decided to rewardsuitably one cricketer each under the age group of 14, 16, 19 and a senior cricketer each year.The PCA had also decided to honour Test cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Navjot Singh, besides four players who represented the victorious Indian Under-19 team in Sri Lanka, Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky and Munish Sharma. Pandove said the PCA would host the first Test match between England and India during the 2001-2002 season.Assam Assn. to start academyThe Assam Cricket Association will soon open an academy at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. The venue will be shifted to the proposed new stadium at Hengrabari when the stadium gets ready. The decision was taken at the governing body meeting of the ACA last week. The academy will start functioning from June 1 with a trial camp for the U-14 cricketers of the State for 21 days, according to ACA secretary Nandan Bezbaruah. Thereafter, a trial camp of the same duration will be held for U-16 and U-19 players. At least three camps would be held in a year and the State U-14, U-16 and U-19 teams would be selected as aresult.For the inaugural camp at the Academy, 25 players from all over the state would be selected. In this regard, the ACA has instructed all the affiliated districts to send two players from their district to the Nehru Stadium. After four days of training by Manoj Bhagawati and Mukut Das, 25 players will be selected for the training camp. To run this academy, a committee has been set up comprising the president, secretary and treasurer. Apart from this, one representative from six zones of the State will be included in the committee. Four coaches have been selected for conducting the camp at the academy. The chief coach is Kamal Das.Another important decision taken at the meeting was to have an advanced training session for coaches. In this regard, two coaches from each district will be asked to attend the session.Laloo Prasad elected BCA president unopposedThe former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav on Sunday was elected unopposed as the president of the Bihar Cricket Association in Jamshedpur. The formal announcement was made yesterday as he was the lone candidate for the post.Ajay Narain Sharma was elected the secretary while Ravi Shankar Prasad, Satish Singh and Ram Kumar were elected as members of the executive committee.

Nathan Hauritz, the Australian offspinner, has echoed Shane Watson’s feelings on the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, saying he didn’t care where he played as long he got to represent his country.Watson had said he’d play anywhere but some Australian players, including Andrew Symonds, expressed their reservations on touring Pakistan, which had two bomb attacks on its cities in the past two weeks.However Hauritz, who was named in Australia’s 30 probables for the Champions Trophy, said getting the chance to play for the national team didn’t happen all the time. “You can go to a number of places in this world that are dangerous,” Hauritz, who last played for Australia in 2004, told the Sydney-based . “But at the end of the day it’s not my call and it’s up to Cricket Australia. I’m sure they will do everything they can to make sure it’s safe.”Peter Young, the Cricket Australia spokesman, made it clear the board wouldn’t send players to a place that was dangerous. “We understand the players’ concerns,” Young said. “It is a concern of ours. International cricket is important to billions of fans around the world but, like Andrew [Symonds] said, ‘It’s only a game’, and the issue is if we can justify sending our players anywhere where it might be dangerous.”Australia are expected to take a decision on whether or not to tour Pakistan in three weeks. While the board, along with New Zealand Cricket and the England board, had hired Reg Dickson, an independent security expert, to visit Karachi and submit a report on the security measures for the Asia Cup, Cricket Australia’s own operations chief, Michael Brown, is not expected back from his annual leave till next week, Young said.

On Saturday, Enoch Nkwe became the 13th player to score a century on his first-class debut for Gauteng. Of these, nine had played first-class cricket previously, so Nkwe is the fourth to make a first-class debut century while playing for Gauteng.The following players scored centuries on their first-class debuts for Gauteng (Transvaal). Those marked with an asterisk were also making their overall first-class debut.MP Bowden 126* vs Griqualand West Kimberley 1889/90
F Mitchell 102 vs Griqualand West Port Elizabeth 1902/03
CN Frank * 108 vs Aus Imp Forces Johannesburg 1919/20
WFE Marx * 240 vs Griqualand West Johannesburg 1920/21
HG Deane 165 vs Orange Free State Benoni 1923/24
AW Nourse 204 vs Griqualand West Johannesburg 1925/26
KG Viljoen 124 vs Natal Johannesburg 1936/37
HS Lacey * 102 vs Rhodesia Salisbury 1945/46
BL Irvine 138* vs Eastern Province Johannesburg 1969/70
BA Richards 140 vs Rest of SA Cape Town 1970/71
SB Smith 115 vs Boland Vereeniging 1989/90
ND McKenzie 128 vs Zimbabwe A Johannesburg 1995/96
E Nkwe * 106 vs Easterns Johannesburg 2002/03
Note also the RB Kanhai scored 134 on his first-class debut for the Transvaal SACBOC team vs Natal SACBOC at Lenasia in 1974/75.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), today announced that there has been a change of venues for the two Tests between West Indies and Bangladesh, beginning next month. According to Michael Hall, Chief Cricket Operations Officer at the WICB, “The change became necessary to accommodate Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital, on December 16.”The change therefore means that Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Stadium will now host the first Test from December 8 to 12, while Chittagong’s M.A. Aziz Stadium will stage the second and final Test from December 16 to 20.Victory Day is the way Bangladesh celebrates the anniversary of the end of its nine-month war with Pakistan that led to the country’s independence in 1971.The rest of the itinerary remains unchanged. The West Indies are expected to play in two Tests and three limited overs internationals beginning on November 29.

Hampshire will leave the naming of their final 11 until shortly before the start of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy Fourth Round clash at Taunton against Somerset, to allow two key players extra time to recover.There are doubts over captain Robin Smith, who despite extensive treatment on his back since the injury curtailed his involvement at Bath last week, is still rated as doubtful.The other worry is on all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who has picked up an infected top on his right foot. Both will be put through their paces in the morning to test their fitness.Laurie Prittipaul stands by for Smith, while James Hamblin keeps his place in the squad and will play if Mascarenhas does not recover in time.Alan Mullally, who missed last Sunday’s National League defeat to Surrey with a rib tear, is back and will play.Hampshire 13: James Hamblin, Neil Johnson, Derek Kenway, John Crawley, Laurie Prittipaul, Robin Smith (capt), Nic Pothas (w-k), Giles White, Will Kendall, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal, Chris Tremlett, Alan Mullally.

C&G TROPHY FINALAT LORD’S31 AUGUST 2002
(RESERVE DAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2002)SOLD OUT!Somerset County Cricket Club announce that they have sold all of their allocation of 4,500 tickets for the above match.All enquiries for tickets should now be directed to the MCC on 0207 432 1066.

Three weeks today at the County Ground in Taunton Somerset will mark the Queens Golden Jubilee with their own day of celebration and with the new season almost underway in earnest the thoughts of Somerset Chief Executive are turning to this special occasion.Out on the field Somerset Sabres will be taking on Yorkshire Phoenix who are likely to be out to seek revenge for the defeat they suffered at Bath last season, but events off the field are also likely to be of considerable interest to the significant numbers who are anticipated to turn up for what will be another special day for Somerset cricket.Mr Anderson paid tribute to the `heroes of Somerset cricket’ who will be presented with Golden Jubilee Awards during the tea interval on that day.The Chief Executive told me: "Fifty years of service to your country is a tremendous achievement that we need to mark in a special way, which is why we designated fifty Golden Jubilee Awards. We have sought to award the medals to the unsung heroes who have kept their local cricket clubs going, many for at least fifty years some for a good deal longer.”In the morning the club’s Annual Church Service will take place at St James Church, when the guest preacher will be former Sussex all rounder John Barclay .Later in the day the new Sir Vivian Richards gates at the Priory Road entrance to the ground will be officially opened by the great man himself, and during the tea interval the Golden Jubilee Awards will be presented.Mr Anderson concluded: "This will be a special day for the club, and we are hoping that our supporters will come along in force to help make this a really memorable occasion."

Averages are often frowned upon when it comes to player ratings. One thing they do not do is lie about the form and consistency of cricket players. The South African players playing cricket in the County Championships on English soil have not sent any statistician scrambling for the record books.Division 1 of the Championship does not see a South African name in the top 30 of either the batting or bowling averages, with Nic Pothas filling the forth spot with 15 dismissals in the fielding list. An improvement in the Division 2 averages with Gauteng reject Sven Koenig filling the seventh batting spot with an average of 56.8 and 284 runs, nearly 400 runs behind top of the averages Michael Hussy from Australia. Greg Smith is third in the bowling averages at 15.85 and 20 wickets.The past weekend saw Warwickshire Shaun Pollock scoring 16 and 37 and returning bowling figures of 4/37 and 0/25 before leaving the field of play on hearing about the tragic death of his friend Hansie Cronje. In the same drawn match Neil Johnson scored 33 and returned figures of 0/34 and 1/17 for Hampshire. Nic Pothas managed one with the bat.Mark Davis in a loss for Sussex against Kent scored 24 not out and 18 while getting only 1/66 in the second innings.Derbyshire, top of the Division 2 table, won against Glamorgan where Andrew Gait scored 35 and four not out in their four wicket win.Sven Koenig, 29 and four, with Middlesex and second in the Division 2 table drawing with Durham.Nottinghamshire had a bye over the weekend.Allan Donald is to make his season debut for Worcestershire and then together with Pollock will return to South Africa to be at Cronje’s funeral service in Bloemfontein. Both players are expected back in England on Thursday morning.In the Lancaster league over the weekend Jacques Rudolph continued his improvement with a 62 and a 40 added to a 3/34 spell of bowling. Con de Lange also doing well with another fine batting performance of 68.For the rest Pierre Joubert got 36 and 1/20 and Paul Adams at last got into the double figures with 39 from the bat and 2/43 with the ball.Failures from Martin van Jaarsveld (2) and Kevin Pieterson on loan from Nottinghamshire (7) while Andre Seymore and Andrew Hall did not get a chance to bat. Andrew Hall is also on loan to Minor County Suffolk.

Gloucestershire start their Benson and Hedges quarter-final against Durham as clear favourites and buoyed by the return of all-rounder Ian Harvey to their side.The undisputed masters of domestic one-day cricket are seeking to retain the cup that they won as part of a one-day treble last season, but with several key players such as ‘Jack’ Russell and Mike Smith missing early-season games, and Harvey withdrawn from the Norwich Union League game against Yorkshire at the weekend, some members were worried that their side would go into the quarter-final with some inexperienced faces, but Bracewell was taking no chances.”It was just a precautionary thing that Ian didn’t play. He’s just had a bit of a strain behind the knee,” Bracewell explained. “But we will see how the pitch looks on the day before we pick the side, because it will depend on whether we want to bat or bowl.Bracewell is taking nothing for granted despite his team’s great performances in the last two-years.”We played Durham earlier in the season,” he said. “We had a good look at them and they had a good look at us. They are not going to be pushovers by any means and it is going to need a workmanlike performance.”Paul Collingwood would appear to be the key for the visitors. He has been in the runs consistently this season, and has often held the Durham batting together.The other three games are on Wednesday: Somerset v Yorkshire; Sussex v Surrey and Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire.