Chief Executive Peter Anderson has confirmed the matches that will be televised from the County Ground during the coming season.He told me, “It has been confirmed now that Somerset County Cricket Club will appear in three televised home matches during the coming season. These will be against Glamorgan in the Benson and Hedges Cup,in the floodlit game against Leicestershire and the centrepiece game against Yorkshire on the Queens Golden Jubilee Celebration Day will also be screened.”He continued, “We also have the bonus of the ground being used for the televised back to back England Under 19’s against India Under 19’s matches at the end of August and again of course if we reach the knock out stages of the one day competitions.”Mr Anderson went on, “The fact that we are on the television so much is good news for local advertisers who have reserved prime space by booking perimeter space, and potential advertisers who have in the light of the confirmed extensive television coverage have respomnded well by making enquiries.”He concluded, “We have almost achieved our budget of £400,000 at such an early stage of the year so all of the commercial signs are looking rather good.”

Mashonaland won the toss and decided to bat first. The match was well hosted by the Manicaland Cricket Association and well supported by the enthusiastic local population.Mashonaland enjoyed a good opening partnership of 72 between Dion Ebrahim and Stuart Carlisle, and after they were parted Andy Flower played a fine innings of 85 not out and stayed until the end. Captain Brian Murphy proved an excellent partner in a stand of 69 for the seventh wicket, hitting 48 off just 30 balls. Paul Strang, still unable to bowl spin due to his arm injury, tried an over of seam but was hit for 13 runs, and this was a vital over for Mashonaland. Henry Olonga (two for 57) and Richie Sims (three for 48) were the best bowlers for Manicaland.Manicaland were at one stage very well placed to challenge the Mashonaland total when Alistair Campbell and Richie Sims were together in an attacking second-wicket partnership of 123. But when they were parted four wickets fell for just 10 runs, and after that the home side were always up against it. Strang played virtually a lone hand after that, with a gallant unbeaten 52; the only partner to give him much support was Kingsley Went, who scored 9 at number nine but batted with discrimination. Andy Blignaut with one for 40 was perhaps Mashonaland’s best bowler; Gus Mackay took three for 54, but did take wickets with bad balls.

SYDNEY, Feb 16 AAP – It’s played host to one of Australia’s proudest sporting triumphs, so why not the nation’s favourite sport?Telstra Stadium, the former centrepiece of the Sydney Olympics, today made its debut as a cricket ground in the last regular season match of the ING Cup between NSW and competition wooden spooner South Australia.And, judging by the enthusiasm with which it was greeted as a cricket venue, there seems no reason why it won’t be used again, particularly as a stage for one-day internationals.But that won’t happen until at least 2005-06 because of an agreement between Cricket NSW and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust to play one-day internationals at the SCG until then.Some 25,763 people turned up today, the second-biggest crowd at a domestic one-day game behind the 32,908 who watched Victoria play Western Australia at the MCG on January 23, 1977.As a result, the atmosphere was fantastic – plenty of crowd participation with chanting and Mexican waves, not to mention 17-year-old Stephen McCabe who won a $5,000 investment portfolio and $1,000 cash for catching a six off Mark Waugh.One could only imagine the vibe an international fixture would generate.The only downside was a rain delay of more than an hour, when the lights even got a workout while poncho-clad fans danced to an impressive array of songs with rain as the theme blaring over the public address system.”For me, the big success story about today is that this has proved without a shadow of a doubt that this is a cricket venue for the future,” said Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert.And while the traditionalists might be opposed to moving games from the SCG, Gilbert believes the beloved ground can co-exist with Homebush, the two venues sharing one-day international fixtures.”Everyone in their right mind understands the Test match belongs at the Sydney Cricket Ground,” Gilbert said.”That’s where the traditions are. But one-day international cricket … we’re talking about a game that’s 30 years old, there’s no traditions to one-day cricket.”When that gets pedalled out, that really gets my back up because one-day cricket is the fast food of cricket.”It’s about a result on the day, everyone has a great time, everyone has a beer and a pie and are probably hard pressed the next day to remember who won the game – that’s the game.”Gilbert said while NSW would find it difficult to poach any more one-dayers from other states, the plan would be to play two of its current allocation of four matches at the SCG and two at Telstra Stadium.”Even thinking further ahead, 2011, which I think will be the next time that we get the World Cup and why shouldn’t Sydney put its foot forward now and say, ‘we would like to think that we could host the World Cup final’,” he said.”Why has it got to go to Melbourne on a platter purely because they’ve got the capacity?”

With the start of the new cricket season less than a month away, all members of Somerset County Cricket Club will be receiving their spring newsletter in the near future to whet their appetites for what lies ahead.In his opening article new chairman Giles Clarke pays tribute to his predecessor Richard Parsons, and acknowledges the `tremendous service that he gave to the Club’.Mr Clarke tells members: "Clearly the priority is the team on the field. It will be my job, aided by my deputy Andy Nash to try and bring in more revenue for the club."He continues: "You, the members are very important to us and we need more of you. Raising money by subscriptions is just as important as sponsorship income…So more members, more sponsors and more non-match day activity, means a modernised ground is required."Regarding this the chairman goes on: "A small team has been formed to examine ways in which capacity and facilities can be improved. Somerset has to have the ability to pitch for the right to stage the regional allocation of One Day International."Mr Clarke concludes by telling members that he is determined to progress the ground situation and that in the near future he will be meeting with the ECB Management Board to discuss Somerset’s aspirations to stage International cricket.Also in the newsletter new skipper Mike Burns tells members `It’s a privilege to play for Somerset… and it’s an honour to lead the Club.’ The former Warwickshire man goes onto talk of his total commitment to the county where he has made his home and tell them that he has been `converted to the passion which pervades everyone who supports the club.’Looking forward to the season he says: "We are eager to return to the top flight at the first time of asking," and goes on to say, " Second Division cricket could prove much more exciting than First Division cricket as more emphasis is put on winning."The new captain feels that the three new signings of Nixon McLean, James Bryant and Aaron Laraman will `significantly improve the team’ whilst for himself he feels that he needs to score more runs and lead the team from the front by his own performances.Elsewhere James Bryant says that he aims to repay Somerset for signing him by performing well on the field, Aaron Laraman talks about the `Cricket Bug ` and assistant coach Mark Garaway profiles his former Hampshire colleague Nixon McLean.The newsletter is full of new views and information that will be of interest to Cidermen followers, including practical advice on how the new swipe card system will work, competition changes for 2003 and the hours of play.

South Africa all but batted Bangladesh out of the game afterthey piled on a massive score after choosing to bat first. WhileMohammad Ashraful’s brave resistance yielded a half-centuryand helped Bangladesh make a fist of it for a while, it was nevergoing to be enough to alter the result. The gulf between thesides grew apparent as the required run-rate sprinted away fromthe scoring rate. The end, when it came in the 50th over, sawBangladesh reach 211, well short of the required 295.On a featherbed Dhaka wicket, South Africa stitched togethertheir 294 for 3 against Bangladesh without so much as strainingsinews. Their batting was a passage of play with few thrills – nobatsman went after the bowling, no bowler caught the eye.Openers Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith too provided a goodstart with minimum fuss. They took ones and twos at will andrarely missed out on opportunities to strike boundaries.It was only in the 17th over that the opening stand of 112 wasbroken. Mohammad Rafique had Smith stumped, deceiving himwith a gentle floater. Smith showed his disappointment, swinginghis bat angrily and cursing himself for squandering a goldenopportunity.If Smith was unlucky to miss out, Gibbs was plain stupid to doso. Jacques Rudolph eased a slow delivery down to long off andset off briskly. With the single completed, the batsmen turnedwith plenty of time to make it two. But instead of running hard,Gibbs merely sauntered across, and a good throw from JavedOmar found the stumps via Alok Kapali. Gibbs’ run-a-ball 62 cameto a sorry end and South Africa had needlessly lost anotherwicket (133 for 2).The removal of both openers with slightly more than 20 oversbowled gave Bangladesh a chance to put pressure on a SouthAfrican middle order short of a batsman of the highest quality.With Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar attempting to getset, the bowlers slipped in a few tight overs.Try as they might though, they could not pick up wickets.Rudolph began to step up the scoring rate, motoring on to 44 off45 balls, before a lapse in concentration cost him his wicket. Hechopped hard at a short, wide ball from Rafique, but onlymanaged a top edge to Tareq Aziz at short third man (189 for3).From there on, with wickets in hand, some South Africans wouldhave looked at a 300-plus total. After all, India did exactly thatagainst them yesterday. The logic was sound, barring the simplefact that Neil McKenzie (55*) could not strike the ball as freelyas Dinesh Mongia, and Dippenaar (66*) could not pace hisinnings as well as Mohammad Kaif.A largely charmless partnership of 105 runs in 111 balls tookSouth Africa close to 300 though, and it was more than enoughto send Bangladesh plummeting to a 34th successive ODI defeat.Mohammad Ashraful kept the South African bowlers at bay foralmost 30 overs, raising Bangladeshi hopes with an exuberant 52- by far the top score for Bangladesh. Crisp strokes flew off hisblade, most notably when the ball was dropped short. A range ofpull shots – from the orthodox to the bizarre – saw him strikeseven boundaries. It was Paul Adams who finally dismissedAshraful, inducing an edge when he tried a flashy cut shot (112for 4).The fall of Ashraful marked the beginning of the end ofBangladesh’s charge towards victory. Khaled Mahmud threw hisbat around for 40, and aided by some uncharacteristically ineptcatching, he helped Bangladesh to bat out 49.1 overs. In theend though, Bangladesh finished adrift by 83 runs. ShaunPollock, with 4 for 37, was easily the pick of the bowlers.Perhaps this will persuade Smith to open the bowling with Pollockin future games.

Lancashire won the second game of their pre-season tour when they defeatedBoland XI by 100 runs on Sunday.Mal Loye and Alec Swann both continued with their good starts to the tour,making fifties for the second successive match. Loye made 95 off 101 ballsincluding one 6 and ten 4’s, while Swann scored 74 off 83 balls. The pairadded 116 for the third wicket following the early departure of openers MarkChilton (19) and Iain Sutcliffe. Mark Currie also made a useful 38 asLancashire posted a total of 257 for 8 off their 50 overs.The Boland reply started badly as Glen Chapple dismissed both openers andthe Lancashire bowling dominated proceedings. Chapple finished with 3 for17 off 10 overs, with Peter Martin and John Wood taking two wickets each.Martin finished with 2 for 20 off 10 overs, while there was also animpressive spell from Sajid Mahmood whose figures of 1 for 40 did not dojustice to his performance.Boland were eventually all out for 157, and Lancashire next play Essex todayin the Triangular Tournament arranged with hosts Western Province.

Division OneLeicestershire v Essex, Grace RoadBrad Hodge is set to make his championship debut for Leicestershire after returning from international duty with Australia A, and a first outing of the season is also in prospect for Devon Malcolm, who was overlooked for last week’s draw against Kent, but is included in a 13-man squad. Essex will be without Andrew McGarry, who is still troubled by a side strain.Surrey v Warwickshire, The OvalOne international sent to the bench, another promoted to the starting line-up – Surrey have taken another leaf out of Manchester United’s book, as Mark Butcher plays his first match of the season … at the expense of Graham Thorpe. Rikki Clarke, who made a match-saving century against Lancashire last week, has also been excluded, as Martin Bicknell and Alec Stewart take their places for the first time this season. Warwickshire’s Australian seamer Michael Clark is expected to pass a late fitness test on his injured groin, although their captain, Michael Powell, misses out again with a broken toe.Sussex v Kent, HoveWith no injury worries, Sussex are expected to name an unchanged side, despite their nail-biting three-wicket defeat against Middlesex last week. Mushtaq Ahmed is expected to play a more prominent role after recovering from the finger infection which hampered his bowling at Lord’s. Kent’s David Fulton and Min Patel remain sidelined following eye and back operations respectively.Division Two Derbyshire v Somerset, DerbyDerbyshire welcome back Michael Di Venuto, Chris Bassano, Mohammad Ali and Kevin Dean, all of whom sat out the three-day game against Bradford/Leeds UCCE last week. Somerset are boosted by the presence of Marcus Trescothick and Andy Caddick, after they were cleared to play by the ECB. However, their fellow international Ian Blackwell is unavailable after splitting the webbing on a hand against Gloucestershire.Durham v Gloucestershire, Chester-le-StreetDurham’s South African seamer Dewald Pretorius is set to make his championship debut after picking up four wickets in Sunday’s National League victory over Somerset. Gloucestershire are boosted by the return of Mike Smith and Jon Lewis after injury, but with a Durham greentop in prospect, Martyn Ball has been dropped in favour of Mark Hardinges, despite taking seven wickets against Northamptonshire.Hampshire v Yorkshire, SouthamptonSimon Katich is set to make his Hampshire debut against former club Yorkshire, after completing his international duty with Australia A. Ed Giddins is doubtful with bruised ribs, although Chris Tremlett has made a full recovery from sore shins. Yorkshire have lost Matthew Elliott to a knee injury, but they have received ample compensation in the return of Michael Vaughan, who has been cleared to play by the ECB. Matthew Hoggard and Craig White both miss out, however.Worcestershire v Northamptonshire, WorcesterGraeme Hick, Nantie Hayward, Kabir Ali, Steve Rhodes and David Leatherdale all return to the Worcestershire side after missing last week’s three-day game against Oxford UCCE. Mike Hussey plays his first championship game of the season for Northants, despite David Paynter’s half-century against Gloucestershire. Ricky Anderson makes way for Ben Phillips, while John Blain replaces Graeme Swann, who has an ankle injury.

All Today’s Yesterdays -June 6 down the years 1994
The day Brian Lara achieved immortality by spanking the highest score in first-class cricket history: 501 not out. As if his Test-record 375 wasn’t enough, Lara took the first-class record within two months when he surpassed Hanif Mohammad’s 499 for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston. He had a few near-misses – Lara was bowled off a no-ball on 12 and then was dropped by wicketkeeper Chris Scott on 18 (Scott apparently said: “Oh dear, he’ll probably go on and get a hundred”). Technically, there was only one ball left when he creamed John Morris through the covers for four to bring up the magic 500. In all Lara faced only 427 balls, and hammered 62 fours and ten sixes. On the final day he whacked 174 runs before lunch. For good measure, he also became the first man to make seven hundreds in eight first-class innings, the first of which was the 375.1957
The career of Mike Gatting, who was born today, split into three distinct segments. He struggled at first, taking seven years and 54 innings to make his first Test century. But after breaking that duck with 136 at Mumbai in 1984-85, Gatting went on a storming two-year run in which he made nine centuries in 28 Tests and averaged 63. Then came Shakoor Rana, and an alleged liaison with a barmaid that cost him the England captaincy in 1988. Gatting was never the same – he captained the rebel tour to South Africa in 1989, and in 51 Tests either side of that outstanding run of form he only made one century, a tortuous 117 at Adelaide in 1994-95 as the curtain came gently down on his career.1943
One of Pakistan’s finest batsmen is born … in Hyderabad, India. Asif Iqbal came a long way from the 21-year-old who opened the bowling – with his fellow debutant and future batting star Majid Khan – and batted No. 10, against Australia at Karachi in 1964-65. In full flow Asif was a sumptuous sight. He made his first Test century from No. 9, 146 against England at The Oval in 1967, but he eventually graduated into the middle order, where his dashing, fleet-footed strokeplay charmed allcomers, not least during a successful stint in county cricket with Kent. Less affecting was his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal. For many years, Asif was director of cricket at Sharjah, a haven for bookmakers.1991
After all the fuss, 25-year-old Graeme Hick finally made his England Test debut against West Indies at Headingley. Most pundits had already booked him in for 100 Tests, 8000 runs and an average of 50, but it didn’t quite work out like that. In fairness, it was an unforgiving baptism – Curtly Ambrose tortured him all summer, dismissing him six times in a row, but it was Courtney Walsh who ended his first innings when Hick fenced to Jeffrey Dujon having made just 6.1930
A typhoon is born. In terms of raw, unbridled pace, few bowlers in history can match England’s Frank Tyson. Richie Benaud rates him the quickest he’s ever seen. In 17 Tests, Tyson took 76 wickets at an average of 18. This was no brainless quickie, however – Tyson was a Durham University graduate, and had a penchant for quoting Shakespeare or Wordsworth to batsmen, something you can’t quite imagine Glenn McGrath ever doing. Most famously, Tyson blew away Australia as England retained the Ashes in 1954-55. After starting off with 1 for 160 in defeat at Brisbane, he shortened his run and took 10 wickets at Sydney and nine more at Melbourne, when he took 7 for 27 in the second innings and frightened the life out of the Aussies. Injury plagued his career, though, and he emigrated to Australia, where he became a headmaster for a time, before coaching Victoria.1994
Brian Lara’s famous 501 overshadowed a routine England victory over New Zealand at Trent Bridge, in a match that ended on the same day. England won by an innings for the first time at home in nine years, thanks mainly to Graham Gooch (210, his last Test hundred) and Phil DeFreitas (9 for 165 in the match), who as well as firing a quickfire 51, became the 100th person to take 100 Test wickets.1940
Birth of the South African allrounder Herbert “Tiger” Lance, who played 13 Tests. He was a handy strokeplayer in the lower-middle order, and a useful thirdor fourth-change seamer. He took 3 for 30 in his first Test innings, against New Zealand at Johannesburg in 1961-62. His finest hour with the bat also came at Johannesburg, when he made 44 and 70 against Australia in 1966-67, a match that South Africa won at a canter despite trailing on first innings.1969
Birth of the Indian left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, whose 15-Test career has one distinct highlight. In Bangladesh’s inaugural Test, at Dhaka, Joshi pooped the party with 92, his only Test fifty, and eight wickets, including his only five-for. It set up only India’s second overseas victory in 14 years. Joshi also produced the seventh-best bowling performance in one-day international history, according to the Wisden 100, 5 for 6 against South Africa at Nairobi in 1999-2000.Other birthdays
1909 Morappakam Gopalan (India)
1917 Prior Jones (West Indies)
1956 Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
1959 Tahir Naqqash (Pakistan)
1967 Wasim Haider (Pakistan)
1972 Dulip Liyanage (Sri Lanka)

The Glamorgan team for the County Championship match against Somerset starting tomorrow (9th July) at Sophia Gardens, will be drawn from the following squad:

JP Maher (6)J Hughes (22)A Dale (11)MJ Powell (14)MP Maynard (25)MA Wallace (18) +RDB Croft (10) *DS Harrison (20)MS Kasprowicz (3)AG Wharf (16)SD Thomas (7)DA Cosker (23)

Pakistan’s highly-controversial women’s team joined Ireland and the Netherlands in the winner’s circle on the first day of the International Women’s Cricket Council Trophy tournament in Amstelveen and Leiden yesterday.The Pakistan side is taking part, despite the intentions of the Pakistan Cricket Board which has tried to block the side from using their country’s name. The right to represent Pakistan women’s cricket is being contested by the PCB and the Pakistan Women’s Cricket Control Association, which has its team at the tournament.Pakistan met Japan, who were making their first international appearance, and gave them a harsh introduction to this level of women’s cricket, which is just below the full international tier.Batting first, Pakistan scored 181 for 6, which included 65 extras. Kiran Baluch scored 31, Shaiza Khan 30 while Japanese captain Kaori Kato took 2 for 25 from 10 overs for Japan.However, Japan withered with the bat and were all out for 26 in 34 overs. Only eight of their runs came from the bat as seven batsmen were dismissed for ducks. Fifteen-year-old Sajjida Shah, who became the youngest player in the international game when making her debut against Ireland aged 12 in 2000, claimed what will be the best figures in women’s one-day internationals, if these matches are classified as full ODIs.She took 7 for 4 which bettered the 7 for 8 taken by Joanne Chamberlain of England against Denmark in a European Championship match at Haarlem in 1991. Kursheed Jabeen didn’t miss out on the records either as she took 3 for 2 off 10 overs, which equalled the record for the most economical spell in women’s ODIs. She shares the record with Netherlands turned New Zealand player Nicola Payne who took 0 for 2 off 10 overs for the Dutch against Sri Lanka at Kandy in 1997-98.Japan did avoid the ignominy of the lowest score in women’s ODIs – 23 scored by Pakistan against Australia at Melbourne in 1996-97 – although Pakistan had only 10 players. The lowest score by a full XI is 24 by Scotland against England at Reading in 2000.Ireland’s game with West Indies started three hours late due to a strike at London’s Heathrow Airport. Batting first Ireland scored 78 in 44 overs, extras top scoring with 22. Verena Felician was the most successful of the West Indian bowlers taking 2 for 13 from 9 overs. West Indies were humbled in their reply, being dismissed for 50 in 24 overs as Barbara McDonald took 4 for 13 off 8 overs and Catherine O’Neill 4 for 15 off 6 overs.The Netherlands made good use of batting first against Scotland, scoring 300 for 5 off their 50 overs. Pauline te Beest hit 138 to become the first Dutch woman to score 1000 runs for her country while she added 224 in a second-wicket partnership with Debby Kooij (78). Scotland were then dismissed for 74 in 46 overs. Birgit Viguurs took 3 for 7 off 6 overs and Sandra Kottman 2 for 4 off 9.The top two teams after the round robin phase will qualify for the Women’s World Cup to be held in South Africa in early 2005. If two teams are level on points in second place, a playoff match will be held to determine who advances.