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Tasmania 215 for 8 (Dighton 48) v Western Australia 6 for 0 – no result
ScorecardTasmania’s ING Cup meeting with Western Australia was washed out in second over of WA’s run-chase, as thunder and lightning brought the match to an abrupt end. It was just as well for Tasmania, who had been made to struggle after winning the toss and batting first, although their effort was interrupted in mid-innings by the first bout of bad weather.All of Tasmania’s top seven reached double figures, but none were able to dig in for the big score – the best effort of the innings was Michael Dighton’s 48. They were kept in check by some persevering bowling efforts , in particular Paul Wilson, whose eight overs failed to take a wicket but went for just 20 runs.After the match had been reduced to 48 overs a side, WA were set 216 for victory. But there were already menacing banks of clouds looming as the innings got underway, and the heavens opened after 12 deliveries had been bowled.

Frizzell County Championship Division OneSussex 521 for 8 v Essex at Colchester
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Murray Goodwin maintained Sussex’s momentum at the top of the County Championship with a superb 210, as Essex’s bowlers were thrashed to all corners of Colchester on a brutal day of run-scoring. Goodwin’s innings was the cornerstone of a puzzlingly all-or-nothing effort from Sussex. He opened up with a 202-run stand with Richard Montgomerie (97), and added a further 113 for the sixth wicket with Matt Prior (104 not out), but until Jason Lewry joined Prior towards the end of a tiring day, none of Sussex’s batsmen got a look-in. The main reason was the menacing presence of Mohammad Akram, the only Essex bowler with any bite, who took 5 for 98, including four batsmen in single figures.Nottinghamshire 177 v Kent 242 at Trent Bridge
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Another astonishing innings from Kevin Pietersen, the Graeme Hick de nos jours, could not prevent Kent from taking a first-innings lead on another substandard Trent Bridge pitch. Twenty wickets fell in the day, five of them to Kent’s Martin Saggers (who on this week’s evidence can expect his long-awaited England call-up in roughly 2008), as Notts were bundled out for 177 in 40.5 overs, and Kent replied with 242, their last wicket falling to the final ball of the day. Nottinghamshire’s innings, however, owed everything to Pietersen, who thumped 18 fours and two sixes in his 99-ball 100. Only two other batsmen managed double figures. Kent were under no illusions about the state of the wicket, and sure enough they struggled when their turn came to bat. Mark Ealham fared the best, thumping 11 fours and a six in his 83, but once again there were only two other scores of note. But, if the recent Test is anything to go by, Kent’s first-innings lead is likely to be decisive.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoSomerset 296 v Worcestershire 86 for 2 at Worcester
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Somerset’s captain, Michael Burns, top-scored with 89 to give his side a competitive total against the Division Two leaders, Worcestershire, on the first day of their match at New Road. By the close, Worcestershire had lost Anurag Singh and Graeme Hick, both to Aaron Laraman, but Stephen Peters had helped the score along to a healthy 86 for 2, with a composed 44. Somerset had earlier been bowled out for 296, with Nantie Hayward showing the sort of wicket-taking form that might, one day, earn him a recall to the South African Test team. He finished with 3 for 53, including Burns himself in a brisk second spell, and Matt Mason also impressed with 3 for 56. Gareth Batty, overlooked by England this week, took wickets and a bit of tap in his 25 overs, while Steve Rhodes picked up five catches behind the stumps.Derbyshire 138 v Northamptonshire 224 for 1 at Derby
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Fresh from his unbeaten triple-century against Somerset, Mike Hussey continued his eye-popping vein of form with an unbeaten 103, to take his runs tally in his last three Championship innings to a Graeme-Smith-esque 534 (for once out). He was joined by the barely-less prolific Phil Jaques, who closed on 99 not out, as Derbyshire faced up to yet another drubbing at the Racecourse Ground. They had earlier been decimated for 138, the only resistance coming from their No. 3 Rawait Khan, whose 76 was his second Championship half-century. Andre Nel started the damage with the wickets of both openers, and Jeff Cook swung through the middle-order with 4 for 35.Durham 388 for 7 v Hampshire at Chester-le-Street
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Martin Love converted his first century of the season into a magnificent unbeaten 181, as Durham took charge against Hampshire at the Riverside. Love’s labours tidied up a ragged start to the innings for Durham, for whom Paul Collingwood was making his first start of the season. He didn’t last long, making just 9, but Love and Gary Pratt (66) added 161 for the fourth wicket to swing the day away from Hampshire. Dmitri Mascarenhas kept plugging away with 3 for 59, but Hampshire have it all to do on the second day.Second Division – Day 2Gloucestershire 237 for 7 v Glamorgan 331 at Bristol
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Glamorgan remained on top by the end of another tense day’s play in their Second Division promotion battle at Bristol, as Gloucestershire’s batsmen made heavy weather of their first innings. The morning session had belonged to Gloucestershire, after Jon Lewis had revived their prospects by wrapping up all four of Glamorgan’s remaining first-innings wickets in double-quick time, but runs were equally hard to come by in Gloucestershire’s innings. Phil Weston and Tim Hancock added a steady 98 for the second wicket after the early loss of Craig Spearman, but wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter. Hancock made 64, and Alex Gidman reached the close on a vital 63 not out.

Rumours about Sourav Ganguly seeking a new marketing agent intensified even as World Sports Nimbus strongly denied reports that it had offered Ganguly Rs 60 crore (US$12.5 million approx) as guarantee money over a five-year period. The Times of India quoted Harish Thawani, co-chairman of WSN, as saying: "We have given no such proposal to Ganguly, nor are we contemplating to. There is no resolution even in the company board of taking cricketers on board for celebrity management."Earlier reports had suggested that WSN wanted to sign up Ganguly once his current marketing agreement with Percept expires on August 31. According to the , Nimbus had supposedly offered a deal whereby Ganguly would be guaranteed the money, regardless of whether or not the firm made a profit. It was also not contingent on his remaining captain of India.Ganguly is in Sydney for a commercial shoot, and has refused to either confirm or deny the rumours.

The preparations for the introduction of the new style membership cards at Somerset County Cricket Club are now complete, and members who have already joined for the 2003 season will by now have received their new cards.Over the last few days two computer engineers have been busy installing the swipe card computer system into the office at the County Ground and linking it up to the terminals that will be situated at each of the entrances.The work has been undertaken by Hogue 100, a Birmingham based company who have also successfully installed a similar system at Worcestershire’s headquarters at New Road Ground, at Sofia Garden’s in Cardiff the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, and several other first class county grounds.Membership secretary Jo Arnold told me: "Under the health and safety regulations we need to know at any given time exactly how many people are inside the ground and now that members have to swipe both in and out, this system will give us that information .It will also tell us exactly who the members are that are inside the ground which will be good for us to know particularly for our marketing strategy."Jo continued: "Interestingly the first year that Worcestershire introduced their new swipe cards, the club reported a 250% increase in gate receipts."At present the membership secretary is busy putting the finishing touches to the new 2003 membership guide book that will explain how the swipe card system will work, and will list all first and second team fixtures along with other information including the vouchers that will be needed for getting tickets if the club reaches the final stages of any of the one day competitions.With an exciting season in prospect until the end of February membership of the club can cost as little as £92 and that entitles the member to free entry to watch 53 days of top class cricket, which is remarkably good value.In order to cope with the expected demand from new members and existing members trying to rejoin whilst the discounted rates still apply, the office at the County Ground will be opening on Saturday mornings throughout February.Details of membership can also be obtained by telephoning 01823 272946.

Friday the 13th, unlucky some may say, but that was certainly not the case at The Rose Bowl, where superstition was put aside as a sell out crowd came to the cricket and the pop concert.The sun shone brightly, it was a very warm summer evening, and everything was right for an exciting cricket match, and that was certainly what they got, as the Hawks got their campaign off the mark (see separate match report).A lot of preparation had gone into this major Rose Bowl event; it was a window to the world of cricket. The sceptics said it would not work; I have to admit that perhaps I was one, although I did believe it deserved a chance if just for its innovation.There was a carnival atmosphere long before the cricket, bouncy castle, fun fair, NatWest fast bowling competition, Saints football shoot out and much much more.The food outlets were doing a roaring trade, where the dear old traditional Rose Bowl Café (Sunshine Café) suddenly found itself surrounded by Baguettes, Fish and Chips, Sweets, Ice Cream and an abundance of other delicacies.Many of the staff that did the whole show proudly had arrived at 8 am and many were still there gone 11pm, a devotion to a concept that had started as a pipe dream in the minds of the old Hampshire County Cricket Club, to the magnificent facilities we have today.I was over by the entrance to the Western Berm when a family of five came in "Good grief" said the wife to her husband, "this is magnificent". Obviously a first timer and we hope a regular from now on. Later when coming into the Atrium bar, I overhead another lady exclaim "This is super, I had no idea, and I only live just down the road in Hedge End".Seeing the crowd converge onto the outfield to watch Mis-Teeq and the other pop acts after the match, may have given head groundsman Nigel Gray a few palpitations, but it was a superb sight.Rod Bransgrove, Nick Pike and all the staff of Rose Bowl plc and Hampshire Cricket can lift their heads up high today, and say we did it. There will be other days like this, the One Day International amongst some, but this day will go down in history in the young days of the ground, alongside that amazing win over Australia in 2000 …Watch this space …

Bangladesh ‘A’ almost blew their chance of registering their firstvictory in the Busta Cup, triumphing over Windward Islands in thesixth round by a slender margin of eight runs. But the visitors couldnot have espoused too many hopes of a win when, put in to bat, theymade only 163 in their first innings at St Vincent.But Naimur Rahman returned brilliant figures of 26.1-14-31-5 as hisside bowled out Windwards for 151, garnering a first-innings lead of12 runs. The batsmen, inspired, hit up 288 in their second innings,with Mazharul Haque making 90 and Tushar Imran 79. This set Windwardsa target of 301, and Junior Murray delivered many scares in making 125before falling as the final wicket with the score on 292. MosaddekHossain took five wickets this time around, helping Bangladesh ‘A’ tothe victory. Imran was picked as Man of the Match.At St Elizabeth, Jamaica, the hosts registered a comfortable sevenwicket win over Trinidad & Tobago. Put in to bat, the visitors madeonly 132 in their first innings, with skipper Richard Smith being thesole significant contributor with 64. Jamaica, in reply, piled up 298,with Robert Samuels making 65 and Gareth Breese scoring 83.The 166-run lead was too much for Trinidad & Tobago to handle; despitemaking 282 in their second innings, they could only set Jamaica atarget of 117. It took only 23.1 overs for Jamaica to knock off theruns, aided by a fine 62 from Chris Gayle at the top of the order.Breese was named Man of the Match.The batsmen dominated the match between Barbados and Leeward Islandsat Anguilla, with the match being drawn and Leewards picking up sixpoints. Batting first, Barbados posted 373, with Floyd Reifer making82, Philo Wallace 59, and Suleiman Benn 59. Despite Goldwyn Prince’sfive wickets for Leewards, it looked as if Barbados had the upper handat that point.But Stuart Williams, in splendid form throughout this tournament,finally carried out his threat of hitting a big one. Making 195 at thetop of the order, the Leewards skipper was assisted first by fellowopener Fabian Adams (68) and then by Runako Morton (61). Ridley Jacobsalso hit 51 further down the order, before Leewards were bowled outfor 502, Benn taking six wickets.Barbados’ reply was just as forbidding. Wallace hit another fifty, butthe star this time around was D Smith, who made 102 and, along withCourtney Browne (85) and Benn (61), made sure that his side did notcollapse to an innings defeat. Barbados ended the match on 381/9, Bennscooping the Man of the Match award ahead of Williams.Rain ruined what was potentially an exciting match at Albion, Guyana,with West Indies ‘B’ taking six points from the drawn encounter. Thevisitors made 415 after being put in to bat, Donovan Pagon making 110,and Roland Holder, Patrick Browne and A Sealy all making fifties. Thefirst innings was interrupted by rain as no play was possible at allon the second day.Guyana responded disastrously, bowled out for 216 and being forced tofollow on. But the second essay saw their batsmen do better. AzeemulHaniff made 51 and Lennox Cush an unbeaten 100; Guyana ended thefourth day on 190/3, but it would have been interesting to see whowould have won if the second day had not been rained out – West Indies’B’ on the strength of their first-innings total, or Guyana bowlinglast on the track. Pagon was named Man of the Match.

New Zealand’s application for the relocating of its World Cup match against Kenya will be heard by the International Cricket Council’s executive board tonight (NZ time).The reason the executive board, and not the World Cup technical committee, is hearing the application is because it was raised by New Zealand before the event technical committee was formed just before the Cup started.The game is scheduled to be played tomorrow in Nairobi, and the New Zealanders are already practising in Durban for their next match which is against Bangladesh in Kimberley next Wednesday.An announcement is expected at the end of the meeting.No comment is expected from New Zealand Cricket until tomorrow.

Victoria 215 for 3 in 47 overs (Elliott 89, Hodge 50*) beat Queensland 212 for 7 in 50 overs (Payne 52) by 7 wickets
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Matthew Elliott, the former Australian Test opener, top-scored with 89 to steer Victoria to a seven-wicket victory over Queensland in the ING Cup one-dayer at the MCG today. Victoria reached 215 for 3 in 47 overs chasing Queensland’s 212 for 7.Elliott blew a chance for his third century in four matches against the Bulls this season when he was stumped, going down the track to a wide from part-time spinner Stuart Law and being stranded well out of his ground.Victoria were guided home by Brad Hodge, unbeaten on 50, and David Hussey, who collected the winning boundary. Victoria moved to joint-second on the ING Cup table after three games, level with New South Wales on eight points and one point behind Western Australia.Victoria set up this win with a disciplined fielding effort, strangling the run-rate after the Queensland Bullls had started with a flourish. Queensland were scoring at five an over until the 12th over, but from there the batsmen lost their way. They did not score a boundary for 86 balls, between the 34th and 47th ovesr. Daniel Payne top-scored from the top of the order with 52, while Clint Perren made an unbeaten 35 (with no boundaries) and Martin Love 34.Law, the other opener, hit three successive fours in his 24 off 26 balls, and Damien MacKenzie made an unbeaten 23 from 19 balls, including two fours and a six. Mick Lewis took 2 for 33 from 10 overs, while Jon Moss (1 for 33) and Cameron White (0 for 32) also sent down miserly 10-over spells.Moss then made 47 from 70 balls in an opening stand of 102 with Elliott as Victoria looked set to earn the bonus point for reaching the target inside 40 overs. But the rate stalled by the time MacKenzie bowled Moss in the 24th over, although Victoria never looked like blowing the win. The offspinner Chris Simpson was the pick of the Queensland attack, with 0 for 31 from his 10 overs.

Demand for tickets still remaining for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 peaked again today when tickets came back into the system for some of the high profile matches. These tickets became available after some people failed to make their purchases after being allocated seats in the Ticket Window random draw ballot system which closed last week. Some tickets also came back from sponsors who did not want to purchase their full allocation.About 15 000 tickets were sold today.Those matches sold out today were:- England vs India – Durban
– South Africa vs West Indies – Cape Town
– India vs Pakistan – Centurion
– New Zealand vs South Africa – Johannesburg
– Super Six – Durban
– England vs Pakistan – Cape Town
– South Africa vs Sri Lanka – Durban
– 1st Pool A vs 1st Pool B (Super Six) – Centurion
– Super Six – Johannesburg
– Australia vs India – Centurion
Matches almost sold out are:- Super Six – Cape Town
– Semi Final – Port Elizabeth
– 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (Super Six) – Centurion
Matches sold out before today:- The Final – Johannesburg
– Semifinal – Durban
There are still 95 000 tickets available for many other matches at all 12 venues hosting CWC matches in South Africa.There are also still some tickets available for the Opening Ceremony on Feb 8 in Cape Town.Tickets may be purchased on the ticket hotline 083 123 2003, via the website www.cricketworldcup.com or at the hosting stadiums.

Running through Maharashtra’s batting line-up with his leg-spinners,Sairaj Bahutule returned figures of 5-69 as the visitors collapsed to216 all out in their Ranji Trophy league match against Mumbai atMumbai.Winning the toss, Maharashtra looked to post a big total in the firstinnings. Its batsmen, however, failed to post large scores, and onlyKaushik Aphale (51) even got past the 50-mark. Paras Mhambrey,supporting Bahutule, picked three wickets.In reply, Mumbai were 31 for no loss at stumps, with openers VinayakMane and Sameer Dighe unbeaten on 15 and 14 respectively.