After attending the First Class Forum meeting at Lord’s, Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me, “The English Cricket Board made it quite clear that it wishes to ensure that eighteen first class counties continue to exist-which pleases Somerset.”The meeting that was attended by representatives of all of the first class county teams and the M.C.C., was a briefing to discuss the cricket programme for the 2003 season, and will inform a decision making meting that will take place in December.Mr Anderson continued, “The consensus of opinion from the players involved in the game is that 4 day cricket with two divisions and three up and three down is a success.”

The Cheltenham and Gloucester Final pictures of the team group celebrating with the cup and Jamie Cox holding the Trophy aloft are available to purchase.Approximately 8″ x 6″, in colour, and priced at just £3 each, they make a wonderful souvenir from a memorable day.Also available is the “Cider and Glory” video, which contains all the action from the Final at Lord’s on September 1st, costs £12.99 plus £1.50 postage and packing.Anyone interested in either of these items should send their name, address and remittance to Somerset County Cricket Club, The County Ground, Taunton, Somerset TA1 1JT.If you have any further queries regarding these items please contact the club on 01823 272946.

India were spared the embarrassment of having to follow on on the second day of the second Castle Lager/MTN Test at St George’s Park on Saturday, but that was about all the tourists could be thankful for as South Africa took control of the match and, probably, the series.At stumps on Saturday evening India were 182 for eight in their first innings in reply to South Africa’s 362. That they are in this position is due almost entirely to a brave ninth-wicket stand between VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble who came together at 119 for eight and, against most expectations, steered India past the follow-on mark.Laxman was 77 not out at the close after batting for 164 minutes with Kumble on 21. Their partnership was worth 63 when they accepted an offer of bad light evening, an offer made despite the fact that the floodlights had been on for nearly an hour. They will have to do as much again on Sunday, though, if the South Africans are not to trample all over the tourists.This was the case for most of the afternoon as Shaun Pollock ripped the top off the Indian batting with an inspired opening spell to reduce the visitors to 15 for three inside the first 11 overs of the innings.Shiv Das was trapped leg before for 1 – there was a suggestion that he might have hit the ball, but umpire Ian Howell didn’t think so – Rahul Dravid has his middle stump knocked out for 2 and then Sachin Tendulkar swatted Pollock straight to Lance Klusener at mid on, also for 1.It was a parlous position, not greatly improved when Makhaya Ntini bowled Deep Dasgupta, who had opened, for 13 at 47 for four.Sourav Ganguly then began to play his shots, at one point taking four fours off a Jacques Kallis over as the all-rounder was hit out of the attack after conceding 26 in his first three overs.But Ganguly’s resistance lasted only 69 minutes before Pollock came back to knock out his off stump for 42. Then it was the turn of Kallis who came back after his unhappy first spell to have both Virender Sehwag and Ajit Agarkar caught in the arc behind the wicket. Harbhajan Singh’s run out – the result of a dreadful mix-up with Laxman, so dreadful that Mark Boucher had time to fumble Herschelle Gibbs’ throw before breaking the wicket – seemed to sum up India’s day.South Africa were quite obviously looking at the follow-on and perhaps even a result inside three days, but Laxman and Kumble dug out, providing the type of backbone that had so clearly been missing during the early part of the innings.Laxman is a poor runner between the wickets and he scarcely moves his feet, but he is blessed with a wonderful eye and anything slightly off line was punished as he carried the attack to the South Africans for the first time in the innings. He has done an exceptional job for his team, but he will have to do a good deal more on Sunday if India are not to be blown away.Pollock ended the day with four for 38 and in two home Tests this season he has firmly dispelled suggestions that he had lost much of his zip. In helpful conditions he is as effective as he has ever been.Earlier in the day, the South Africans upped the tempo of their batting, adding a further 125 in 29 overs to their overnight 237 for five before the innings closed at 362.The key figure here was Boucher who hammered out a pugnacious unbeaten 68 off just 70 deliveries and stole the show somewhat from Herschelle Gibbs. Which is not to disparage Gibbs around whose 196 the entire South African effort was moulded.But where he had been almost carefree on the opening day, Gibbs was more circumspect on Saturday. It may have been the prospect of his second Test double-hundred that caused him to rein in his instincts, but he failed to find the boundary during the first hour of the morning after losing Pollock, caught at point off Javagal Srinath, in the fifth over of the morning.Boucher, though, suffered no such inhibitions, throwing his bat cheerfully at everything he could reach as he dominated an 80-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Gibbs started to find his rhythm again after contributing just 15 to the first 50 of the stand and then Ganguly, casting around for something different, tossed the ball to Tendulkar.It took Tendulkar just five balls to undo Gibbs who contrived to slap a widish long hop straight to point. It was a tame end to a quite wonderful exhibition of batting, but Gibbs has quite clearly arrived at the very highest level and if he carries this type of form across to Australia next month, South Africa’s prospects will be considerably enhanced.Boucher was still there, though, carrying his bat through until the close of the innings which came two overs after lunch when Srinath castled Nantie Hayward. Boucher ended with 68 not out and Srinath with six for 76. Both players, it must be said, fully deserved their returns.

Rajasthan, riding on a fine bowling performance from Sanjeev Sharma (6-55), had the upper hand over Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy league match at Jaipur after the first two days.The visitors, winning the toss, opted to bat but started disastrously, losing four wickets with just 32 on the board. A 109-run partnership between Devendra Parmar and Abbas Ali saved Madhya Pradesh further blushes. Both batted extremely cautiously, eschewing aggression for occupation of the crease.Abbas Ali was the first to go, making 71 off 187 balls; his partner proceeded to become even more limpet-like and, at the close of play on Day One, Madhya Pradesh were 169/5, with Parmar and Nikhil Patwardhan at the crease.Wickets fell fast on Day Two; Parmar’s vigil finally ended when he became the eighth wicket to fall, Sanjeev Sharma’s sixth in the innings. He had made exactly 50 off a staggering 296 balls, spending 365 minutes in the middle.The start to Rajasthan’s innings could not have been more contrasting; both Gagan Khoda and Vineet Saxena played their strokes. Khoda, however, retired hurt with the score on 55 and had to return when his side was on 143/5, for Sanjay Pandey (3-52) and Narendra Hirwani (2-88) knocked over Rajasthan’s top-order.At the close of play on Day Two, the home side were on 200/6, the innings having stabilised by virture of Khoda’s mature 55 and Rohit Jhalani’s patient 19 not out.

The first cricket match against New Zealand at Hamilton starting next Tuesday must be a Test too far for the touring Bangladesh side which today just managed to get their four-day game against Auckland into the fourth day on the Eden Park Outer Oval tomorrow morning.Unless there is heavy and persistent rain the tourists are certain to lose the match. They are still 210 runs behind Auckland, with only one second innings wicket intact. It is many a day since Auckland beat anyone, even an international side, with such dominating comfort.Today on the tick of lunch Auckland completed their first innings at 495, a lead of 375 over the Bangladesh first innings of 120 in the first two sessions on Wednesday.There was some merit in the Bangladesh performance before lunch for they held Auckland to 91 runs in the session, took five wickets and denied the 21-year-old Nick Horsley his first century in his third first-class game by cutting off his 247-minute innings at 95.But Bangladesh lost all that ground and more when they lost four wickets for 71 by tea, two immediately after the break. It took a four-hour vigil for 71 not out by the No 4 batsman Aminul Islam, and solid support from Khaled Mashud and the tail-enders Enamul Haque and Mohammad Sharif, to enable Bangladesh to survive eight overs of extra time to get to 165 for nine wickets and push the match, however marginally, into the fourth and last day.The tourists worked hard when bowling at the Aucklanders in the morning, especially the left-armer Manjural Islam who ended with four wickets and Sharif with three – complemented by the tidy keeping from the captain Mashud who ended with four catches, three this morning.Horsley rather lost the powerful rhythm which had so splendidly marked his 57 not out on Thursday, and the accurate bowling on a pitch losing all life and lustre gradually drained his confidence. Also, he seemed to be out-thought as the Bangladeshis went totally on the defensive when Horsley was tip-toeing through the 90’s – and he rather got himself out trying to break the drought.But the fact remained that on a nondescript pitch which produced the odd low bounce, especially when the ball was new – there were countless lbw appeals for balls skidding into the pads – the Bangladeshis never quite attained the consistency needed at international level.Their bowling, Manjural and Sharif apart, was only workmanlike and the batting repeated the frailties it showed on Wednesday. There was again a bad start to the Bangladeshi second innings when Javed Omar went quickly. Again Al Sahariar looked a genuinely good stroke-maker, but again his concentration ran out. Habibul Bashar looked likely to leave at the earlier moment, the teenaged Mohammad Ashraful batted with boyish impermanence and Sanwar Hossain and Khaled Mahmud were temporary visitors to the crease.So it was really too late by the time, at 73 for six, that Aminul and Mashud joined together in a dogged if unlovely show of defensive defiance. Mashud went stolidly along to seven in 70 minutes, starting his scoring from the 26th ball he faced.Aminul was not exactly a spectacular batsman, either, but at the least he showed that he had some ability to produce the determination and concentration needed to merely survive at international level.So, as in the first innings, the second half of the Bangladesh batting showed much more grit and defiance than the supposedly senior batsman in the top half.Perhaps the Bangladeshis will learn from their Eden Park disasters and give a much healthier performance on a better pitch at WestpacTrust Park in the first Test at Hamilton next week. They will have to improve, perhaps by about 100 per cent, if they are to struggle as manfully as they did during the last two hours today.Chris Drum, who seems fated to be the Test 12th man at Hamilton (and if so Auckland would be delighted to field him at Carisbrook on the same day) again bowled with fire and accuracy, with five wickets for 33 today to add to his four for 32 on Wednesday.Andre Adams, Tama Canning and Kyle Mills all had their moments, but had Brooke Walker’s leg-spin been more accurate this afternoon Auckland would have earned themselves a holiday tomorrow.

The fate of the International Cricket Council (ICC) KnockOut, continues to hang in the balance as the date for a final decision draws near. It was initially proposed that India host the tournament, one of the flagship competitions of the ICC, a veritable ‘mini-World Cup’. For a host of reasons however, it seems more and more unlikely that the tournament will be played in India as planned.Speaking to CricInfo from his office in Rajkot, Niranjan Shah, honorary secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said, “It is very unlikely that we will be able to hold the tournament as first proposed. We have withdrawn from hosting the event, but there is still a small chance that we might be able host the event.”The BCCI had withdrawn from hosting the event because the Indian government had refused to give the board the tax breaks it required to conduct the event in a profitable manner. “We have written to the government asking for tax exemption, but have not heard from them. Without the tax exemption, the tournament is financially not viable to the BCCI,” said Shah. He however re-iterated that the BCCI was keen to see the tournament progress as scheduled. “We have been in touch with the ICC too and I believe they have also approached the Indian government in connection with this matter,” he explained.The Indian government, however, does not seem at all receptive to the pleas of the Board. There is a growing feeling among the powers that be, that the world’s richest national cricket board has already got all the breaks it needs. Understandably, Shah is not at all optimistic on the chances of the government doing a volte-face in this regard.”I don’t think the government will change its mind in time. With the date for the tournament fast approaching the ICC will have to take a decision on the matter soon,” he began. “You see, we can’t give the government any ultimatums. The board cannot tell the government to take a decision by such-and-such date,” he said.The secretary added, “The ICC is considering several alternatives, with Sri Lanka, Sharjah and Australia being the main contenders.” Although he would not commit to a particular venue, Shah suggested that Sri Lanka were the front runners at the moment.Apart from all the complications regarding tax exemptions, there have been serious security concerns surrounding a tour of India. With the situation at the India-Pakistan border escalating considerably, several teams have expressed reservations about playing in India and Pakistan.

Friday night’s victory against the world champion Aussies was quite remarkable considering the position we found ourselves in at the beginning of both our batting and our bowling.It was good having the game in Brisbane against Aussie A before the Melbourne game because it showed us what we were up against and we were a little rusty there and did need to lift our intensity if we were going to compete with the full Aussie side.As I arrived at the MCG on the day of the match I have to admit to feeling more butterflies than normal because of the importance of this first match of the series and just the huge aura that emanates from the MCG, plus the huge crowd.When Steve Waugh won the toss and elected to bowl it was a good start as Flem [Stephen Fleming] was going to bat first anyway.Some excellent fast bowling from Australia had us in trouble early but the ever reliable Harry [Chris Harris] found an ally in Dan Vettori and these two guys put together a gutsy partnership that would turn out to be the single most important factor to our victory.Scott Styris also chipped in and with a target of 200 on the board we knew it would be hard work but early wickets are the key to defending small totals.If I think back to most of the victories New Zealand has had against Aussie over the past decade I reckon there is one common factor, we always get Mark Waugh early.I believe he is the key wicket in the Aussie one-day line-up and when Bondy [Shane Bond] removed him first over I felt like it was now an even playing field.While Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist looked dangerous for a while, we did remove them and the pressure came on their middle order who looked a bit like they were unsure how to go about chasing this small target.As we kept taking wickets we exposed their tail and when Dan Vettori took the last wicket the feeling that was experienced by all of us was pure joy.This victory was greeted by all in Aussie as a great fight by the CLEAR Black Caps and has really turned this VB Series into a great three-way competition.We arrived here in Hobart yesterday and rain meant the facilities for outdoor practice were not available so it was indoor for most of us while some of the guys had a gym session.We all watched South Africa get up to a very professional victory over Aussie and that win will do wonders to the South Africans after having a nightmare last four weeks here.There will be a spring in their step and the dark clouds will have broken to let in the sunlight.Our match against SA will be very interesting for a number of reasons. We haven’t played each other for a while and the last time SA beat us five-nil but there were three games which could have gone either way.From a personal point of view, last time I played these guys I was in bad shape with my knee and nowhere near full fitness. I am now back to full fitness and really looking forward to the challenge SA will provide.They are a predictably professional side and tough competitors but a victory here will see us get a jump on the field in the race to the finals berth.

Sri Lanka A gradually wrestled the initiative away from Kenya on the secondday of the third unofficial Test match despite two plucky partnerships fromthe visitor’s lower order.Kenya were well positioned at the start of play on the second morning, butSri Lanka’s spinners soon weaved their way through their top order in thefirst hour.Were it not for partnerships of 67 and 59 for the sixth and ninth wicketsrespectively, Kenya would be struggling to prevent a three-day finish.Sri Lanka A still established a useful 42 run lead, which was then extendedto 167, as Sri Lanka A finished the second day on 125 for three thanks to anentertaining half-century from Upeka Fernando.Fernando, 22, who secured his place after a bristling 86 off 98 balls in thesecond Test, continued in the same vein here, hitting ten fours in his 83-ball61.Avishka Gunawardene (40) added 76 runs for the first wicket with Fernandobefore pulling a leg-break from Collins Obuya straight into the hands ofsquare leg.Micahel Vandort mistimed a drive – one of a number to do so on a turgidpitch that is getting slower and lower by the hour – and was well caught atmid on.When Fernando was caught in the covers, Tillakaratne Dilshan and ChamaraSilva batted cautiously till the close, clearly determined not to wastetheir last chance to impress the selectors against Kenya’s weak bowling.The visitors now need to take early wickets tomorrow morning if they are tohave a chance to stave off a whitewash. The lead is already competitive fora side struggling to play spin.Earlier, Kenya, resuming on 69, lost the crucial wicket of opener RavinduShah, scorer 94 in the first Test and 106 in the second, early on as heedged a leg-break from Upul Chandana into the hands of Upeka Fernando atslip.Chandana went on to claim five wickets in the innings, taking his tally to16 in the series, including the prize scalp of Steve Tikolo for 42. Theright-hander drove loosely and was caught at mid-off.Maurice Odumbe was adjudged lbw next ball – much to his anger – and theleft-handed Hitesh Modi drove an off-break from Muthumudalige Pushpakumarato mid-off.Kenya had once again exposed their weakness against slow bowling, losingfour wickets for nine runs to leave themselves in a perilous position (82for five).But, like they had done yesterday in the field, Kenya fought back, as DavidObuya, playing his first game of the tour scored 38 from 91 balls and MartinSuji made 28.The pair added 67 runs in 20 overs before the muscular Pulasthi Gunaratnefound the outside edge of Suji’s bat.The breakthrough was followed by two more quick wickets – David Obuyatrapped lbw and Brijesh Patel caught behind – and another spiritedpartnership.Collins Obuya clumped 49 from 69 balls, much to the delight of a coach loadof Welsh tourists who had fitted in some cricket watching into their tour ofSri Lanka’s ancient cities.Joseph Angara played his part, easing his way to 19, and helping CollinsObuya take the score to within touching distance of Sri Lanka A.However, they were unable to overhaul the hosts 262 first innings total asAngara spiraled a catch to mid off and Peter Ochieng missed a leg-break fromChandana.

Western Australia had NSW on the ropes at stumps on day two of their Pura Cup match at the WACA.The Blues were wobbling at 3-121 – still 379 runs behind the Warriors’ mammoth first innings haul of 7(dec)-500.Michael Bevan (49no) was once again leading the resistance for the visitors with Graeme Rummans (26no) also at the crease.The Blues crawled to the close as they attempted to halt their woeful record in the four-day game in Perth having lost four of their last five matches outright.But NSW had some welcome news late in the day with opening batsman Brett Van Deinsen’s back injury not as serious as first thought and was a chance of batting tomorrow.The 24-year-old injured himself bowling (0-31) in the opening session and was taken to hospital for precautionary scans.His absence forced debutant allrounder Grant Lambert into the opening position alongside wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin.But Haddin (13) didn’t help the cause pushing a ball to ‘keeper Ryan Campbell off quick Jo Angel (2-34) to have the Blues at 1-20.However Lambert (29) was quite impressive before he rocked onto the back foot one time too many and stepped onto his stumps off quick Brad Williams’ (1-47)bowling.The Blues’ find-of-the-season Michael Clarke (1) came unstuck early to an brilliant diving catch by Campbell for Angel’s second.An outright win for the Warriors will see them leapfrog South Australia into second place on the Pura Cup ladder after Queensland defeated the Redbacks by 106 runs in Adelaide today.Tasmania, which was equal on points with Western Australia heading into this match, starts its four-day match against Victoria tomorrow.Meanwhile the Blues’ ambitions are more modest, they’re just trying to avoid the indignity of last place on the table.Earlier Warriors captain Simon Katich ended their innings as the scoreboard ticked over to 500 with Campbell’s (121) blistering hundred and Chris Rogers (96) the major contributors after they resumed at 4-333.Campbell looked in devastating touch but Shane Lee’s captaincy took a turn for the better with left-arm spinner Mark Higgs (2-99) dismissing the dangerous right-hander.He added only 13 runs today before he top-edged an easy catch to deep gully off Higgs’ first ball of the day.But Campbell’s delightful run-a-ball knock was a useful reminder for national selectors of his ability to dismantle a quality bowling attack.Rogers and Brad Hogg (62) provided an invaluable 117-run partnership before Hogg fell chasing quick runs in pulling paceman Stuart Clark (2-90) straight tosubstitute Dale Turner at square leg.And Rogers was out just four runs short of his maiden first class hundred in front of his father John who was watching in the stands.John Rogers played Sheffield Shield for NSW in the late 1960s but never reached triple figures at first class level himself.His son’s patient innings ended when he also tried to pull Clark with Bevan taking the catch at deep backward square leg.It was fair reward for the NSW quick who toiled without luck for much of his 39.1 overs.Kade Harvey (14no) and Angel (4no) then meandered the score up to the declaration mark.

The former England opening batsman Geoffrey Boycott is facing an anxious wait into the New Year before finding out whether he has beaten cancer.Boycott, 62, who scored more than 8,000 Test runs for England, was diagnosed with the illness in September and has spent the last few months undergoing intensive treatment.Doctors believe he has a good chance of recovering fully from the cancer in his neck. He is awaiting further results at his home in Woolley, near Wakefield.”The diagnosis was a bolt from the blue,” Boycott told the Yorkshire Post. “I felt a lump when I was shaving one day. I told the doctor and I was being tested within days.”The rest you know. There were four lots of chemotherapy. And then I began the radiotherapy on October 22. I asked her [the oncologist] what the prognosis was and she was very positive, very relaxed.”Of course there are no guarantees in this situation, but she says I have agood chance and I’ll be fighting it. It is the treatment that takes so much out of me. The side-effects are terrible – burns in the neck and chest.”As the radiography slowly takes then burning starts on your neck and throat and tongue. I used to enjoy my food – not excessive amounts – but I always likedgood-quality food and a glass or two of good wine. But after a while the effectsof the radiotherapy meant I started only taking liquid food. Now I can’t bearhaving anything on my mouth or tongue.”I used to be able to get exercise by getting out for a walk, but more recently I have got tireder and tireder and when I was coming home from the treatment at 3.30, I haven’t felt like going out again. The last couple of weeks have been very difficult. I haven’t felt like walking.”Now I’m being fed eight to 10 hours a day – so you’ve pretty much got to sitstill all day. I’m just spending my time reading and talking to [his partner]Rachael [Swinglehurst] and talking sometimes on the telephone.”I have to take a month’s rest now and I’m seeing her [the oncologist] again in the middle of January. While it is still too early for tests to tell about the primary because of the swollen tissue, which has to settle down, as far as we know the treatment – make that torture – should have worked.”