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Bashley (Rydal) will play Premier League rivals South Wilts in the Southern Electric Contracting Cup final at the Hampshire Rose Bowl on Friday week, August 2 (5.45pm).South Wilts scrambled a five-wicket, penultimate ball victory over Rowledge at Lower Bemerton last night, mon.The Salisbury club appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable win, needing seven runs off the final two overs to overhaul a Rowledge total of 104-7.But, after the impressive Jamie Glasson (26) had been run out, South Wilts suffered an attack of the nerves and in a tense finish clinched their cup final slot with just one ball to go.David Lloyd (23) and Chris Yates (22) had earlier begun well for Rowledge, but a five-wicket spell of left-arm bowling by Paul Draper (5-21) derailed their progress.Dave Booton (24) and Nick Morant (20) helped Rowledge, the National Village Championship quarter-finalists, to 104-7 off 20 overs.Jon Nash (19), Rob Wade (18) and Russell Rowe (16) all did their bit for South Wilts, who so nearly came unstuck after Glasson was needlessly run out.

Durham moved to the top of the table with a ten-wicket win over Surrey at a blustery Guildford. Surrey appeared to be well on course towards batting their way to a draw as they reached 261 for 3, but with lunch in sight Usman Afzal was caught behind cutting for 73, ending a fourth-wicket stand of 135 with Jon Batty (50). It was downhill all the way from then on as their last seven wickets fell for 62, with Steve Harmison cutting through the tail with 3 for 10 in 13 balls. Set 134 in 45 overs, Durham wasted no time as Mark Stoneman (60*) and Michael Di Venuto (57*) laid into a listless Surrey attack to reach their target with more than ten overs in hand.Somerset moved to the top of Division One – however briefly – after 45 minutes of play on the final day which was all they needed to beat Kent by 246 runs at Taunton. Steffan Jones took the last three wickets, ending with 5 for 53. Jones had McLaren caught behind by Craig Kieswetter for 23, the keeper diving to his left, then next ball Robbie Joseph played all round one and had an lbw shout turned down against Martin Saggers on the hat-trick delivery. Jones claimed Saggers soon enough from a short ball pushed to James Hildreth in the gully and leave Kent nine down. With Rob Key absent following the birth of his second child, Somerset had the win.Ollie Rayner’s career-best 5 for 49 helped seal Sussex’s ten-wicket win against Hampshire at Arundel, their second victory of the summer. On a slow, low pitch Rayner – who was leading the spin attack in the absence of the injured Mushtaq Ahmed – grabbed match figures of 7 for 89 with his offspin. This was only the side’s fifth win in any cricket this term, and it was the first time in eight years they have taken to the field without an overseas player.

Chris Woakes took a career-best 5 for 37 to bowl Warwickshire to an innings-and-56-runs win over Middlesex Uxbridge. Following on, the home side resumed on 20 for 0 and once they started losing wickets, they couldn’t stop. The loss of in-form Dawid Malan was a key scalp, trapped low in front by Woakes, who also picked up Owais Shah in similar fashion, as well as Murali Karthik who had offered vain resistance with a topscoring 44. Either side of Karthik’s wicket, Woakes removed Tim Murtagh and Danny Evans.It was a day for batting practice at Wantage Road once Northamptonshire just managed to avoid the follow-on in the morning. From then on Chris Rogers’ second hundred of the summer steered Derbyshire to 275 for 6, with Dan Birch (71) and Wavell Hinds (64) chipping in before bad light brought an early end.

Star West Indian batsman Brian Lara, has been cleared of allcharges of involvement in match-fixing following an investigationinto allegations against him. This was announced by the Rev.Wes Hall, president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB),during a press conference on Monday.The investigation carried out by prominent Barbadian attorneyat-law Elliott Mottley found no evidence in support of theallegations made against Lara contained in the Report of theBureau of Criminal Investigations of India on Cricket Match Fixingand Related Malpractices, dated November 2, 2000.”Mr. Mottley’s investigation on behalf of the West Indies CricketBoard has indicated that the allegations made against Brian wereunfounded and not supported by any evidence,” Rev. Wes Hall,announced during a news conference at the Trinidad HiltonHotel.Hall added: “We now consider that this matter is hereby officiallyclosed and wish to thank Mr. Mottley for his investigation and hisreport. We wrote Brian’s lawyers informing them that the matteris officially closed and that the allegations made against himwere unfounded.”Rev. Hall also said the WICB has submitted the report to theICC.During the investigation, commissioned in April last year, Mottleyconducted personal interviews with several people includingLara, submitted questions to several people in writing, visitedthe International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit fordiscussions with Lord Condon and his staff, as well as compiledreports on the meetings held and findings of the investigation.

England cricket selectors will wait until Friday morning before naming their team to play Australia in the third Test at the WACA Ground in Perth.England coach Duncan Fletcher said batsman John Crawley was again out ofFriday’s match with a hip injury while fast bowler Andrew Caddick willbe given extra time to decide whether he can play with a back problem.Caddick bowled in the nets today but England officials want to see howhe feels after cooling down.Opening batsman Michael Vaughan has been cleared to play but told not tobowl his part-time off-spinners because of knee and shoulder niggles.Fletcher said the make-up of the team could not be discussed untilCaddick’s fitness was known, but he indicated young off-spinner RichardDawson was likely to play.England trails 2-0 in the five-match series.

BRISBANE – Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland wastonight unable to guarantee a full-strength side would contest nextmonth’s Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.Sutherland and Australian Cricketers Association chief executive Tim Maymet members of the national one-day squad tonight to thrash out concernsover International Cricket Council player contracts, which have createda storm of protest around the cricketing world.The ICC wants players to sign contracts preventing them from promotingtheir individual sponsors for 30 days either side of next February’sWorld Cup in South Africa.The ICC’s new $1 billion deal with Global Cricket Corporation isconditional on countries sending their full-strength sides but alreadyIndian authorities are facing a player revolt and England’s topcricketers have been advised against signing the ICC contracts.Sutherland emerged from tonight’s meeting confident discussions wereheading in the right direction.But he could not rule out Australia sending a weakened team to Sri Lankaif some players balked at signing the controversial ICC contracts.”Ultimately that could be a possibility,” admitted Sutherland, who saidthe players who leave for a triangular series in Kenya on Monday had notbeen given any deadline to sign.”Right now our concern is dealing with the squad of players selected andto work through the issue with them.”What we need to do under the ICC agreement is deliver the best possibleteam and what we are trying to do now is work with the ACA and ourplayers to reach a situation that they are comfortable about theirrights and their rights in regard to the event and surrounding events.”May said it was impossible to speculate on what to players may decide.”We haven’t put any deadlines on them,” he said.”They got a lot of new information tonight about what the ACB and ACAhave been negotiating over the last week or so and we want the playersto have the appropriate time to consider and digest that information.”It’s too early to speculate on the outcome. They received a lot ofinformation to consider and there is a lot at stake for the players whoneed time to do that.”Sutherland admitted the players could fly out for Kenya on Mondaywithout signing the ICC contracts.”They could, but it’s not an ideal situation,” he said.”We continue to be hopeful we will resolve it before the players leave.”The ACB is yet to sign a contract to contest the Champions Trophy andSutherland said they wouldn’t until the players had made their decision.Earlier, one day captain Ricky Ponting was unable to rule out Australianplayers boycotting future international tournaments because ofcontroversial sponsorship contracts being forced upon them.And he admitted to being stumped as to how players or the ACB could getaround the ICC sponsorship contracts which have been rejected by leadingplayers around the world.”We can sit down and talk about it, but there’s really not much we cando about it,” Ponting conceded.Asked if that meant the ICC had to change it’s contract, Ponting said:”I don’t think that’s going to happen either.”I don’t think there’s any right answer to this whole thing … if therehad been, I’m sure it would have been resolved by now.”While Ponting was prepared to go into bat for his players over theirright to have individual sponsors, he was not keen on the idea of playerboycotts.”I don’t think any of the [Australian] players want a boycott, that’snot what we are all about,” he said.

Ironically, after overnight rains threatened to put a dampener on proceedings and caused a whole session to be lost, the West Indies came up with their best cricket of the series so far. Despite grassing as many as three catches, the mercurial men of the Caribbean managed to restrict India to 190 for five at the end of the second day’s play.A West Indian team of the 70s, with batsmen swaggering to centuries and bowlers brushing aside batsmen with high-quality pace, would not be enthused by the situation they are facing. For Carl Hooper though, with no more than one colleague able to play the Indian spinners and only a group of rookies to send down the overs, this position is more than acceptable. Without being cruel, one remembers the old saying that refers to beggars and their lack of choice.Some say it’s basketball, others the lack of role models. Whatever the reason for the lack of genuine talent coming through on the cricket scene, chairman of selectors Sir Vivian Richards can take heart from the way debutant Jermaine Lawson performed today. Bowling with heart, the paceman from Jamaica bowled good line and length, extracting reverse swing and keeping the batsmen under pressure, all this while bowling at considerable pace.But talking about pace, the manner in which Virender Sehwag continued from his overnight score of 24 suggested that he wanted to finish this game early to spend some time with his family in Najafgarh. A slew of boundaries off the pacemen that pierced the infield and peppered the advertising hoardings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium meant that was not long before Hooper turned to the other debutant in this game – batting-off-spinning-all-rounder Gareth Breese.In Breese’s very first over, the young bowler learned something about bowling off-spin at the highest level as Sehwag, hitting with the turn, launched Breese over the ropes at long-on. The next ball saw a tentative defensive shot edged to short leg, where Wavell Hinds fluffed a catch; but what a maiden Test wicket that would have been! To rub it in, Sehwag just clattered the next delivery into the upper tier of the stands at long-on.The West Indians could only heave a sigh of relief in the 26th over of the day when a peach of a delivery from Pedro Collins had Sehwag playing down the wrong line and losing his off-stump. Sehwag’s entertaining 61 came off just 65 balls and included a remarkable eight hits to the fence and three sixes.Rahul Dravid, attempting to equal Everton Weekes’ record of five centuries in as many Tests, was cleaned up by the delivery of the day when he was on just 11. A cracker of an inswinger, hitting the deck at just the right length, zipped past Dravid’s bat at express pace and shattered the furniture. An overjoyed Lawson had the first wicket of his Test career, a fine scalp at that.Sachin Tendulkar, batting at one of his favourite grounds, began unconvincingly. While several deliveries from Hooper reared off a length or bounced awkwardly, Tendulkar defended without conviction. However, when the bowlers erred in line or length, he was quick to pounce and send the ball to the fence.For company, Tendulkar had a solid ally in Sanjay Bangar. Batting as to the manner born, the Railways cricketer kept the bowling stolidly at bay. The stodgy defensive stroke was in operation, as was the effective leave outside the off-stump. The push past covers or through point yielded a high proportion of Bangar’s 40 that came off a labourious 171 balls, but almost four hours into his knock, a similar stroke presented a catch to Hooper at slip off the bowling of Dillon.Off the very next ball, Dillon struck again, although it would be more appropriate if umpire Asoka de Silva were given credit for that particular dismissal. After handing Wavell Hinds a raw deal just yesterday, umpire de Silva raised the dreaded finger on Ganguly even as he thickly inside-edged a straight one from Dillon onto his pads. “Ganguly lbw bowled Dillon” is the entry in the scorebook; more believable lines have been written in ten-penny pot-boilers.Tendulkar proceeded to score at an even clip, despite not being at his best. When he moved past 16, the little man reached yet another milestone – 20,000 runs in international cricket. Allan Border, with 17,698 runs, is the closest to Tendulkar. But Border, renowned for his obdurate attitude, would certainly have batted with greater concentration on the day than Tendulkar did. On 43 (156 minutes, 113 balls, five fours), Tendulkar dragged a wide delivery from Lawson back onto his stumps.When Tendulkar was dismissed, with the clouds gathering, the sun setting and the floodlights coming on, India were 180 for five. Parthiv Patel did not get a chance to get his feet moving, and with a fluent VVS Laxman (18 not out) at the crease, play was stopped due to bad light less than three overs later. On the day, 28 overs were lost, taking into account the late start and the inability to go on for the extra hour after the scheduled close.At 190 for five, India still have much to do in this game. After bowling the West Indies out for a mere 167, they need to make sure they now garner a substantial lead. For their part, the men from the Caribbean will be able to enjoy at least one good night’s sleep. To their credit, it’s well-earned. There is fire in the belly and rain in the air, and the two might just be enough to keep this series alive.

Sensible batting from Keith Parsons and Mike Burns saw Somerset Sabres to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes in their Norwich Union League Division One clash at the Bath Recreation Ground.The Sabres appeared to be wobbling in pursuit of their target of just 148 when they lost their third wicket on 33, with Holloway unlucky to play-on to Matthew Whiley. But an unbroken stand of 115 between Parsons and Burns saw Somerset home with more than 12 overs to spare, and to a first win of the season in this competition.It was a good all-round performance from Parsons. He may not be the most glamorous cricketer on the circuit, but he wobbled the ball around in helpful conditions and batted with great common sense and more than a little skill to deny the Foxes. He hit two big sixes – one hook off DeFreitas clearing the hospitality tents on its way out of this beautiful ground – and another over long-on off Crowe.Stand-in captain, Mike Burns, who struck seven fours in his 54, provided solid support.Leicestershire must be heartily sick of the sight of Parsons. It was his all-round display that was pivotal in Somerset clinching the C&G trophy against the same opposition at the end of last season, and here he settled the hosts’ nerves with bat and ball when they had appeared to be under pressure.Earlier the Sabres had limited the Foxes to a modest looking 147 all out. Only Trevor Ward had flourished on a pitch on which run scoring was never easy, hitting 11 boundaries in his 64-ball stay. But his team-mates could only muster another five between them as the Somerset bowlers made intelligent use of overcast conditions.Missing captain, Jamie Cox, with a thumb injury, the Sabres were boosted by the return of Richard Johnson and Steffan Jones, giving their attack more of an edge than it had previously possessed.Johnson struck twice in his opening spell, trapping Iain Sutcliffe and Darren Stevens leg before, after Foxes’ skipper, Vince Wells, had won the toss and elected to bat.But Flower helped Ward add 45 for the fourth wicket, with Ward taking full advantage of Simon Francis’ inability to find the correct length, driving him through the covers on several occasions, and pulling fiercely when the bowler over compensated.At 83-2 the visitors were well placed, but Keith Parsons struck to part the pair before Jones ended Ward’s fun, finding a thin edge that was gratefully received by Robbie Turner, standing up to the wicket. None of the other batsmen ever threatened to prosper.The Sabres fielded well. Dutch took a wonderful diving catch to dismiss the dangerous DeFreitas, while Ian Blackwell clung on to a difficult one on the long-off fence that would otherwise have gone for six.It was a good win for a Sabres side short of its three best players – Trescothick, Caddick and Cox. They climb level on points with the Foxes and have given themselves a platform on which to build. On this form they may prove a challenge for most teams.

Despite the inclement weather the 2002 Corner Cricket competition eventually took place, and though not a full programme was possible at least some cricket was played.County Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson told me: "As a result of the Corner Cricket competition a number of young cricketers have emerged, and we have been able to have a further look at them in a longer game situation. Some of them have certainly made their mark in the longer game and they will be followed up."The main competition was hampered severely by the weather with only 6 matches out of the 30 being played. There was a rearrangement of the various age groups to play shorten matches which were either 20 or 25 overs in length with hope for good weather! In all but the under 12s these were completed.The South West appeared to dominant proceedings winning four age groups but in 3 cases this was only on points difference, with wins being level. The North West went unbeaten in the under 15s to make sure the South West did not complete a monopoly.UNDER 11This was kindly hosted by Timsbury CC and saw a victory in a thrilling climax for the South West area. They required victory in their last match over the North East, this was achieved by only 5 runs after they set a target of 82 in 20 overs to win, thanks mainly to 45 not out by Chris Skidmore. Henry Thomas’s 49 was in vain as they fell 5 runs short. Other notable performances came from Ross Jenkins with a match winning 34 not out, helped by Luke Wilkinson 20, Josh Beal contributed 34 all for the South East. Chris Dent made the only telling performance for the North West with 38 in their only victory. Following this day Henry Thomas, Daniel Tompkins, Chris Skidmore, Luke Wilkinson and Jack Waller have been given the chance to represent the county. The final table read as:

TEAM P W L C PTSSOUTH WEST 3 2 1 0 6NORTH EAST 3 2 1 0 6SOUTH EAST 3 1 2 0 3NORTH WEST 3 1 2 0 3

** South West won by beating the North EastUNDER 12This age group was hit hardest by the weather with the rearranged 25 over matches being washed out, this meant they only played 1 match each. This saw victories for the North East and South West, the notable performances came from John Mould 23 not out when chasing 98. In the total of 174 the main contributions came from Chris Small, Daniel Lazaredis and James Brice to give them victory by 88 runs. This margin of victory gave the South West the title. Jason Strong, Chris Small, Matthew Green, Daniel Lazardries, Alex Field and Matthew Horsley have been given county opportunities. The table was:

TEAM P W L C PTSSOUTH WEST 1 1 0 2 15NORTH EAST 1 1 0 2 14NORTH WEST 1 0 1 2 5SOUTH EAST 1 0 1 2 3

UNDER 13The under 13 completed their competition in two forms, one original match each and then two 25 over matches each. Three teams managed to win 2 game apiece which meant that bonus points were essential. The South West were the eventual winners with the most notable contributions with coming from Jack Cooper 75 not out, Hugh Kelly 55 & 51, Tom Monaghan 44. In the bowling department Alex Watson and Mitch Windsor got 3 and 4 wicket hauls in the 50 over match. For the other areas Patrick Ost top scored for the North East with 69, as well as Alex Field making 49 not out. For the South East Bradley Middleton made 42 & 38, as well as Kevin Salt striking 47 and Harry Moores 36. The North West’s best effort came from Garth Tiley who took 3 for 48, other players taking 3 wickets were Sam Gotley (NE), Alistair Barrowman (SE), Tom Stokes (SE) and Iain Miles (NW). Following these games a corner select side visited Gwent to give 11 players another opportunity. The table was as follows:

TEAM P W L C PTSSOUTH WEST 3 2 1 0 36NORTH EAST 3 2 1 0 29SOUTH EAST 3 2 1 0 28NORTH WEST 3 0 3 0 16

UNDER 14The South West took the title with three wins, again this was a mixture of 45 and 25 over matches. They had many players make significant contributions, which added to the team effort, the main ones were Charles Ridout 55 & 44, Fraser Campbell-Wilson 47 and Tom Pantlin 39, bowling wise there were 3 wicket hauls for Patrick Thomas, John Osmond and Matthew Councell. For the other areas there were two hundreds Steve Depledge 114 and Tom Bryan 100 for the North East. Tom Main 50 (NW), Joel Tratt 60 (SE) and Ted Roe 45 (NE) made good contributions with the bat. From a bowling prospective Matthew Thomas got a 5 wickets (NE), Ben Main 4 (NW), Peter Auld 4 (NE) and Craig Mawford 3 (NW). The following players will be given an opportunity at county level; Fraser Campbell-Wilson, Ashley Doyle, Nat Pepperall, Tom Main, Stephen Depledge and Charles Ridout. The table was as follows:

TEAM P W L C PTSSOUTH WEST 3 3 0 0 45NORTH EAST 3 2 1 0 38SOUTH EAST 3 1 2 0 23NORTH WEST 3 0 3 0 19

UNDER 15The under 15s played a round robin contest of 20 over cricket. The North West came out on top with 3 wins. There were major contributions from Shamil Ahmed 79 & 66 both not out, as well as Daniel Hawkes 46. Other batting efforts came from Richard Catchpole 63 (SW), James Snell 49 (SW), Rob Dickens 52 & 46 (SW), Jon Auld 51 (NE), Tim Lamb 53 not out (SE), Jeremy Hare 47 (NE) and Matthew Grimstead 37 (SE). As they were 20 overs matches the wicket hauls were not significant. There will be county chances for Shamil Ahmed, Jason Lane, Harold Booth and Robert Dickens. The table is as follows:

TEAM P W L C PTSNORTH WEST 3 3 0 0 40SOUTH WEST 3 2 1 0 33NORTH EAST 3 1 2 0 25SOUTH EAST 3 0 3 0 16

Firstly I would like to thank Pete Sanderson for all his efforts, from setting up the initial trial process through to the arduous task of rearranging the competition.All the coaches in all the areas for the indoor coaching and being with the teams on match days and particularly the area coordinators, Dan Hodges, Brian Hoyle, Justin Burke and Gregg Brown.All the venues used which were; Kings College, Taunton, Wells Cathedral School, Kingswood School, Nailsea CC, King Edwards School, Weston Super Mare CC, Timsbury CC and Downes School.Ian Cowley for arranging all the umpires that attended matches.The support given by the Somerset Cricket Board, in particular Andrew Moulding.Colin Johnson from Active Sports, for providing the caps for each area at every age group.

Bowlers wanting to bowl into the teeth of Wellington’s wind?Now that’s a new one. As observers caught watching firstly England, then New Zealand, practise on the wind swept Basin Reserve today, two days out from the second National Bank Series match, will tell you, there are winds, and there are Wellington winds.But England captain Nasser Hussain believes there may be no shortage of volunteers for the into-the-wind duties.”We will need an into-the-wind bowler possibly, although that might be the end to bowl with the prevailing wind. If it comes from there it might swing away.”It’s funny with the wind, at the beginning of the last Test match everyone wanted to bowl at one particular end and then people swing it into the wind a little bit more and everyone wants to bowl at that end,” he said.”A Test match varies, from day to day and which end people want to bowl.”Just what the make-up of England’s side would be on this occasion would depend on how the wicket looked closer to the match start time.”The wicket has got a lot of time before it will be ready.”It looks a bit more traditional soil where it might do a little bit to start with and it might turn a little bit at the end, that’s normal cricket,” he said.England would be looking to lift its game from its success in the first Test.They now had to do what they did in Christchurch, which was getting the greater amount of runs on the board in the first innings, pitching the ball up and swinging it, and then, when it gets a little flatter hitting the deck in the manner of Andy Caddick while also having the middle-order score more runs later on.”They’re the same basics from every Test match really.”It’s just a case now of adapting to conditions and that is what my team talk will be based around, and never taking the game for granted.”It looks like a typical New Zealand wicket. There will be times when it is flat and there will be times when it is doing a bit and you have to adapt your game accordingly.I think that was the same in the last Test and will be the same in the next Test,” he said.