On Friday afternoon at 3pm a group of Somerset players will be taking the impressive Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy to Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital to show to the youngsters in the Children’s Ward.As well as showing the cup to the patients, one of the players will be cutting the ribbon to rename the ward.Among those expected to attend tomorrow’s renaming ceremony are Ian Blackwell, Steffan Jones, Keith Dutch, Mike Burns, Carl Gazzard and Simon Francis.The players will also be talking with the youngsters and giving out free Junior Sabres tee shirts, fixture cards and picture postcards signed by England star Marcus Trescothick.Ahead of the visit to the hospital Steffan Jones told me, “We are putting something back into the community which is important from our point of view. People come to support us and in this way we are showing that we are supporting them.We are really down to earth ordinary people who want to help others in anyway that we can.”

Cricket fans take a bow. Cricket Victoria salutes you for your contribution to what has emerged as one of the most successful Test Matches ever staged in Melbourne.Approximately 178,000 people went through the turnstiles, nearly 1000 attended Cricket Victoria’s Boxing Day Breakfast, while corporate hospitality sales reached near-record levels.Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Victoria, Mr Ken Jacobs said the result was a tremendous one for Victorian cricket. "Its been a very successful five days of Test Match cricket, with the attendance figures reinforcing the position the Boxing Day Test holds amongst the top of Australia’s sporting events.Jacobs said the events accompanying the Test Match added to whole spectacle. "Cricket Victoria hosted a magnificent Volunteers Breakfast Awards function on the morning of the third day’s play at which ICC CEO Malcolm Speed was guest speaker, while the on-field entertainment showcased our junior development programs as well as some of our former Test legends. Victoria’s successful Under 19 side was lauded at the lunch break on day three and of course everyone enjoyed the contribution of the Barmy Army throughout the match".Jacobs added, "I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all the cricket fans who attended the match. In particular I’d like to congratulate the Victorian fans who year in year out, turn up in their tens of thousands and contribute to make the Boxing Day Test the spectacle it is. Its economic value to the City of Melbourne cannot be underestimated and we are extremely proud of the contribution this match makes to Melbourne on an annual basis".

The England team might have got a first win under their belts on the tour of Australia, but that convincing victory over Sri Lanka in Brisbane has not signalled the end of all their troubles. Ian Blackwell has become the latest injury victim after being hit on the hand when facing Steve Harmison in the Perth nets while preparing for the next match against Sri Lanka in the VB Series.It was Harmison who struck Ashley Giles on the wrist, causing the fracture that put the left-arm spinner out of the tour. Blackwell, who has taken over the left-arm spinning duties from Giles in the one-day team, took a blow on his left hand and was immediately sent to the local hospital for an X-ray. Much to the relief of the England party – and Blackwell – there is no evidence of a break.Blackwell has made a thoroughly favourable impression since coming into the side and has been one of the few to enhance his reputation in Australia. However, the fact that he has been hit on his bowling hand might mean that he stands down from the match against Sri Lanka tomorrow with Adam Hollioake favourite to make his first appearance since joining the squad as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff.England physiotherapist Dean Conway was reasonably reassuring about Blackwell’s condition. "He didn’t think it was as bad as he first thought anyway, but he went off to the hospital for an X-ray just to check on the knuckle on his index finger to see if that was alright."Paul Collingwood, who is used to facing Harmison in practice as a Durham colleague, was also forced to duck and dive on net surfaces at the WACA by his team-mate."These pitches are quick and bouncy and in an enclosed net like that it can sometimes feel a bit claustrophobic and a bit quicker than it does out in the middle," he said."It’s very hard to hook and pull in the nets and you can get caught in two minds what to do, and unfortunately for Ian he took one on the hand, but we’re hopeful he’ll be alright."You expect the bowlers to come in at you in the nets, it’s just like a batsman trying to hit the bowler as hard as he can – you expect that."It’s fast out in the middle so we have to work at it because we’re going to get bouncers in the game tomorrow and we’re going to have to have a plan of how to deal with it."Harmison made his one-day international debut in Brisbane and proved to be far more effective than critics of his fast but sometimes wayward bowling predicted. He took two for 39 from ten hostile overs and is likely to be even more of a handful for the Sri Lankan batsmen on a pitch in Perth renowned as being one of the quickest in the world.

After a drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in their last match, to say nothing of defeat in the final Ashes Test, Australia got back to winning ways in the latest VB Series encounter with a tense victory over England in Hobart. With a hundred from Damien Martyn, and some wayward English bowling, Australia managed to get just enough to withstand an opening partnership of 165 by Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight that appeared to have put England right on course for a win. Then a mid-order collapse left the later batsmen with just too much to do and Australia got home by a mere seven runs.The Australians had suffered a collapse at the start of their innings. They were reduced to 53 for three in the eleventh over, having lost Adam Gilchrist – given out lbw despite an inside edge – and Ricky Ponting to Jimmy Anderson before Matthew Hayden gave a return catch to Steve Harmison’s second ball.It was a day, however, when Harmison’s radar proved to be on the blink. He bowled five wides in that first over, and 11 in total during his eight overs. The total of 22 wides in the innings proved to be England’s undoing. The Australian bowlers delivered only two wides and six no balls throughout the England innings and England coach Duncan Fletcher will no doubt impress on his attack that in this form of cricket such indiscipline can prove to be costly, as it did here.After the dismissal of Hayden, Martyn began to stage the recovery, featuring in century partnerships with both Michael Bevan and Jimmy Maher. Bevan is as adept as anyone in world cricket in these situations. He was ruffled by being hit on the grille by Anderson, but came through to restore Australia to a competitive position.When Bevan fell for 52, edging a ball from Ian Blackwell onto his stumps, Australia were 171 for four after 35 overs, allowing the new batsman, Maher, to play with more freedom. But while he was seeing the innings through with a run-a-ball 49, Martyn was also becoming more expansive so that 89 runs came from the final ten overs.Martyn was dropped by Paul Collingwood off Anderson when he was on 51. It was one of a number of missed opportunities by England, but this proved to be the most costly by far as Martyn steered Australia towards a defendable total. After facing 113 balls and taking nine fours, he turned the last ball of the innings off Andrew Caddick to fine leg for another boundary to bring up his fourth one-day international hundred.Glenn McGrath was back in the Australian attack but he suffered like all the bowlers as Knight and Trescothick got the innings away to a perfect start for England. However, it was not his bowling that proved painful to McGrath for he was not leaking runs at the same rate as the others. It was his back, and he was forced to limp from the field after bowling seven overs.After such a good start, it was the fall of Knight’s wicket when he was bowled by Andy Bichel for 85 that began a collapse that saw seven wickets fall for the addition of 99 runs inside the last 20 overs of the innings. Left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg picked up three of those wickets, including Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood in one over as England lost the momentum given them by the openers.Nasser Hussain stayed to anchor the innings, but found nobody to support him and inject the necessary acceleration as overs ran out. There was a brief period when Alec Stewart appeared to be doing just that, adding 41 in five overs with Hussain for the sixth wicket. Had this pair been able to bat through to the end in this fashion, England would have got home with something to spare.Australia’s fielding had not been flawless, but Martyn made no mistake when holding Stewart off the bowling of Shane Watson. Watson, given the last over, then bowled Hussain for 43 with the 38th ball the captain had faced. Caddick took two off the next ball but two swings and two misses off the final two balls saw England’s total remain seven runs short of Australia’s and it was the home side who secured their place in the finals.

Fast bowling, the architect of several victories for West Indian teams over Indian opponents in years gone by, was the pillar of yet another resounding triumph at the Windward Club ground yesterday.Red-hot Barbados, spearheaded by the energetic Tino Best and supported by Ian Bradshaw, Antonio Thomas and Dwayne Smith, completed an emphatic victory against India "A" with a day in reserve by the convincing margin of an innings and 77 runs.It was the second successive win for Courtney Browne’s men who have now jumped to an early lead in the Carib Beer Series.India "A"’, facing a big first innings deficit of 262, performed even worse than they did in the first innings and capitulated for 185 at 2:45 p.m.Once more, they were distinctly uncomfortable against the faster stuff and skipper Browne did not even bother to turn to either Sulieman Benn or Ryan Hurley for a single over of spin."The Indians are very good to spin bowlers. You could see from the first innings how aggressive they are to spin," Browne said."I know they enjoy batting against slow bowling and I wanted to keep the spin away from them," Browne said.His quartet of seamers admirably did the job and the Indians lasted only 50.1 overs.Best bowled with plenty of fire, especially between lunch and tea when he grabbed all five of his scalps against batsmen whom he unsettled with his raw pace.Two of his victims were palpably lbw, another had his off stump clobbered and another fended a catch to gully."Tino has a lot of pace. He is always willing to do well. Once he is used in short spells, he will always come good for you," Browne said about Best, who finished with five for 60 off 16 overs.There were two wickets each for Thomas and Bradshaw with the latter enjoying the distinction of claiming the prized scalp of India "A" captain for a duck for the second time in the match.The tall right-hander was bowled first ball to a delivery off fullish length to which he should have gone forward rather than back."Bradshaw is the work horse in the team. He works very hard and he is always talking to the younger bowlers," Browne said.With Browne keen to keep spin away from the Indians, he called on Dwayne Smith’s medium pace for 13 steady overs in which he removed one of the Indian’s most promising batsmen in the match, Ambati Rayudu.Barbados’ victory has carried them to 24 points, six more than their nearest rivals, Guyana."I am very happy. We set about to defeat the Indians. This is what we wanted," Browne said."We were hoping they would come to the Caribbean with a bit of jet-lag We wanted to get at them early and see if we could knock them off and get 12 points."Team work did it for us. We sit and we talk a lot about the teams we are playing."India "A" arrived in the Caribbean two days prior to the match and it is obvious they have not yet settled in.Their 201 was inadequate on the opening day and they were always going to be under pressure after Barbados replied with an imposing 463."We did not play to our potential and Barbados totally outplayed us," Laxman said."The India "A" is potentially very good. It’s disappointing, but at the same time, it’s not really confidence demoralising."It was a long flight from India. It might have had an effect, but I thought the Barbados team played very well in all the departments of the game."Laxman, however, is confident that his side will rebound and come good for their remaining matches."This is one of the best sides I have played with in the India "A" category and I am sure the guys will get their act together," he said.Some of their batsmen got starts yesterday, but none carried on.The topscore came from opener Akash Chopra, whose 43 off 97 balls was made in just under twoand-a-half hours. No one else reached 30, although Ruyudu and Jai Yadav both looked the part.

The media are reminded that match ticket applications for the Super Six matches will open on the 4th March 2003. Match ticket applications will only be accepted after the result of the last pool match is known on that day.Application forms received prior to that will not be considered.Match ticket application forms can be obtained from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 Media Centres or from the www.cricketworldcup.com website as from 12:00 on Tuesday 4th March 2003.Completed application forms should be faxed to:+27 (0) 21 683 2519 or
+27 (0) 21 683 2520 or
+27 (0) 21 683 2523after the result of the last pool match on Tuesday 4th March 2003 is known.The final deadline for submission of those applications is 18:00 on Wednesday 5th March 2003.Media who have faxed off an application form should telephone one of the following numbers between 10:00-18:30 on Wednesday 5th March 2003 to obtain a reference number to confirm that their faxed application form has been received in good order:This is most important.+27 (0) 21 683 2519 or
+27 (0) 21 683 2520 or
+27 (0) 21 683 2523Please note that only one ticket per match per day may be applied for and that the tournament priority ranking will apply in terms of the allocation of media tickets to these Super Six matchesAllocations:Media who have applied for match tickets should telephone -+27 (0) 21 683 2511 or
+27 (0) 21 683 2517 or
+27 (0) 21 683 2521between 16:00-20:00 on Thursday 6th March 2003 to confirm whether a ticket has been allocated.

New Zealand’s bowlers are being assessed by the latest technology in a bid to understand, and avoid, troubling back injuries in the future.A partnership between New Zealand Cricket (NZC), the New Zealand Academy of Sport (Northern) and Auckland University has resulted in bowlers’ actions being subjected to three-dimensional bio-mechanical analysis with the idea of understanding what is happening in the bowling actions.NZC’s sports science medical co-ordinator Warren Frost was emphatic the process was not about making changes for change’s sake.The process was a gold standard in international analysis and had significant potential for future assessment of bowlers.The ideal situation would be to have all junior bowlers recorded in the system so that whenever breakdowns occurred a reference could be made from the data held in the system.”This sort of system is increasingly essential for us. We have a small player stock and we have to look after our guys. This is one way of doing that,” he said.In the most recent analysis done, the players assessed included: Michael Mason, Warren McSkimming, Kyle Mills, Paul Hitchcock and Lance Hamilton.Earlier assessments were done on Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Wade Cornelius, Joseph Yovich and Ian Butler.Cornelius has been suffering from stress fractures to his back and the process had been useful in identifying adjustments he needs to make to his action.Interestingly, the first player put through the assessment process two and a half years ago was left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori. This was unusual because there is no literature available on assessing spin bowlers. But Frost said the process had been very useful in helping to organise a recovery for Vettori from his stress fracture problems.Similar systems have been used in Australia, South Africa and in England and while it was expensive, the use of the system was worthwhile.”You can see things on video, but this process gives you a clinical and definitive answer,” Frost said.The complete analysis process can take two or three weeks by the time all the graphs and information presented by the computer are studied and assessed.Another point of interest, Frost said, was that there is very little research into women’s cricket and women were having similar problems to those experienced by the men and it wouldn’t be resolved “until we can come to grips with the whole workload issue.”

As an inflammable mixture of naked ambition, aggression, determination and a never-say-die attitude, the Australian way is the mosttalked-about approach in recent cricketing history – yet you can’t quite define it or confine it in descriptive terms. "It really hasmore to do with the persona of an Australian rather than his approach to sports," says Bennett King, head coach at theCommonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, as he watches his side beat an XI comprising promising Indian cricketers under ablazing Chennai sun at the MRF Grounds in Pachaiyappas College."There’s much more to the Australian way than just an approach to sport. It’s got a lot to do with the things we’ve grown upwith – the two major wars, the ANZAC tradition, things like that," says King.And you have to believe him; the Academy side did not lose a single game during their stint in Chennai, a sojourn that wasdesigned to prepare players for the challenges of playing on the subcontinent comes to a close and one that lets several playerswalk away much wiser. Mike Hussey, who routinely takes tons of runs off English county bowlers in his spare time, led theside, having a good time with the bat by taking the time to play himself in. Damien Wright, who made the Australia A sideearlier this year, also made runs and picked up wickets, but the player to catch most eyes was young Tasmanian left-armspinner Xavier Doherty.Picking wickets in every game, admittedly on tracks helpful to spin, the man they call “X” is slowly but surely climbing thepecking order in Australian cricket. Although he’s played only five first-class matches and eight List-A one-dayers, Dohertycan be sure that plenty of cricket lies ahead. "This is the third time I’ve been to India, and each time I’ve tried to improve a bit.On previous trips I wasn’t nearly as successful because I was bowling the same way I would have back home," he explained."This time around, I’ve tried to find a way that works for me, and that’s helped a great deal,” says Doherty. “Instead of tryingtoo hard to go after wickets, I’ve concentrated on putting the ball in the right place, and this has paid off.” Doherty can takeheart from the fact that Bishan Singh Bedi, arguably the greatest left-arm spinner India has produced, has stated time and againthat a spinner is tested most on wickets that turn considerably, for that is when control and an ability to bowl within oneselfcome to the fore.Whether he does that or not, Doherty is the kind of cricketer Australia will need in the years to come. His friends say he’s thechirpy sort, and he certainly enjoys his time out in the middle, whether batting or bowling. "With the wickets much harder backhome, you tend to get a few balls dug in short by the quick men. It’s obviously different here," says Doherty, who smacked aperfect straight drive for four to end the last game that the Academy XI played on this trip to India.With Shane Warne out of cricket for a year and Stuart MacGill at 32 not getting any younger, Doherty is one of the spinoptions that the Australian selectors will look at closely sooner rather than later. "I’m still establishing myself in the Tasmanianside, but there are plenty of opportunities coming up for spinners in Australia," he says.Those opportunities, for Doherty and for others, have only gotten brighter with their experience in India. "I really don’t thinkthere’s a way to completely replicate the experience of coming to India while still in Australia," said King, visibly pleased withthe way the short tour had gone. "While we can make wickets that are dry and break up, it’s very hard to get wickets that areslow, dusty and turn a lot back home in Australia. Also, the way spinners approach bowling here is completely different. Theylike to give it a big rip and bowl attacking spells with fields that support them. Importantly, the captains use their spinners toattack all the time here, and you don’t see much of that in Australia."While he has not played cricket at the first-class level himself, King is not unique in this. "People who haven’t played at thehighest level watch the game at a different level. They tend to be deeper in their approach and work much harder on theprocesses that go into the game. Personally, I’ve paid a lot of attention to integrating sport with science and technology," saidKing.Having played rugby league at the national level for the erstwhile Gold Coast Seagulls, King is in a position to bring a widerrange of tools into his coaching. "Playing other sports certainly gives you a broader sense of the skills you use. In Australia,youth are encouraged to play as many different games as possible, and this can only help. For example, in sports like football,you’re far more likely to use your left and right sides equally. A background in other sports may also give you an edge when itcomes to anticipation and anything that involves peripheral vision," says King.That is all, of course, logical, you begin to think, but King pre-empts you, revealing a more intuitive understanding of sport. "Ifyou watch other games like basketball and football, players have a very good relationship with the equipment they use. Twirlinga ball on a finger and tricks like that tell you how close players are to their equipment. Imagine how much better cricketerswould be if the bat or ball was just a natural extension of themselves," he says, with eyes that you’re sure are gleaming behindthe dark glasses.No, thank you, Mr King. Most of the world does not want to imagine Australian cricketers being any better than they are atthe moment.

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has the chance to smash a national record by becoming the bowler to assemble the fastest 50 Test wickets.While he has not been able to land a big haul of wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka, in what was his ninth Test match, he ended the match sitting on 41 wickets.That has him on target still, with one more Test in this series, and two, or possibly three, more in India in October-November and two home Tests against Pakistan, to achieve 50 Test wickets ahead of the 14 Tests and 25 innings in which it took Frank Cameron, Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori to do it. Hedley Howarth took the same number of Tests but one more innings to reach the milestone.The first Sri Lankan Test has seen him complete his 15th innings.Cameron, probably the longest serving New Zealand selector spanning the period from 1968/69 until 1985/86, had a late start to his Test career on the tour to South Africa in 1961/62. He had made his first-class debut in 1952/53. A medium-pace swing bowler, he became an integral part of New Zealand’s side during the early 1960s.Hadlee is the current chairman of selectors and took 431 Test wickets in a career which lasted from 1972/73 to the 1990 tour of England where he was knighted mid-series. His tally of wickets stood as a world record until being overtaken by India’s Kapil Dev in 1994.Vettori was the youngest New Zealander to play Test cricket when making his debut in both first-class and Test matches against England in the summer of 1996/97. A left-arm spinner he has now taken 142 wickets.The list of New Zealand bowlers to take 50 Test wickets and the number of matches and innings taken is:

Tests InningsFrank Cameron 14 25Daniel Vettori 14 25Richard Hadlee 14 25Hedley Howarth 14 26Simon Doull 15 21Chris Cairns 16 24Dion Nash 16 26Richard Collinge 16 28Shayne O’Connor 16 29Danny Morrison 17 26Dayle Hadlee 17 27Bruce Taylor 17 28John Bracewell 17 32Dick Motz 18 30Ewen Chatfield 18 31Lance Cairns 19 28Stephen Boock 20 32Bob Cunis 20 37Tony MacGibbon 21 30Martin Snedden 21 34Dipak Patel 27 36John Reid 38 45Bevan Congdon 49 50

Bond is even more closely poised to take his 50th wicket in One-Day Internationals. He has taken 49 wickets at 19.63 in 26 matches.The best New Zealander is former left-arm pace bowler Geoff Allott, who took 50 wickets in 28 matches.Should Bond take a wicket in his next match, he would join Pakistan’s Waqar Younis in seventh-equal fastest position.The world record is held by India’s Ajit Agarkar who took 23 matches. Dennis Lillee (Australia) took 24 matches and countryman Shane Warne 25 matches. Australian Len Pascoe and West Indians Patrick Patterson and Curtly Ambrose each took 26 matches.Ian Bishop (West Indies), Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) and Allott all share 28 matches for the feat.Meanwhile, Daryl Tuffey has extended his already outstanding record for first over dismissals in internationals as the result of having Marvan Atapattu out leg before wicket in the opening over of the Sri Lankan innings.He has now performed the feat seven times in Tests and nine times in One-Day Internationals.His record is:Tests:Marcus Trescothick (England at Auckland, 2001/02 – second ball), Mark Butcher (England at Auckland 2001/02 – fifth ball), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan at Lahore, 2002 – third ball), Virender Sehwag (India at Wellington, 2002/03 – sixth ball), Sanjay Bangar (India at Hamilton, 2002/03 – third ball), Parthiv Patel (India at Hamilton, 2002/03 – sixth ball, second innings), Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka at Colombo, 2003 – fourth ball).ODIs:Saeed Anwar (Pakistan at Napier 2000/01 – first ball), Saeed Anwar (Pakistan at Christchurch, 2000/01 – sixth ball), Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka at Sharjah, 2000/01 – second ball), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka at Sharjah 2000/01 – third ball), Marcus Trescothick (England at Auckland, 2001/02 – third ball), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka at Sharjah, 2001/02 – third ball), Imran Nazir (Pakistan at Rawalpindi, 2002 – first ball), Sourav Ganguly (India at Napier, 2002/03 – third ball), Sourav Ganguly (India at Wellington 2002/03 – first ball).

Berkshire failed to make use of first knock on a rain-affected wicket atThatcham. Openers Paul Prichard and Richard Howitt gave them a good start adding 54 for the first wicket before Howitt was run out taking a sharp single. Captain Julian Wood, David Morris and Chris Wright followed in quick succession.Steve Naylor(21) and Sameer Patel(20) batted sensibly to give the inningssome respectability but the Berkshire batsmen committed the cardinal sin offailing to bat out their overs.Berkshire failed to get an early breakthrough and it was not until offspinners Carl Crowe and Sam Patel came on that things started to happen.Crowe extracted considerable turn, dismissing James for 30 and Gladwin for 4but Cordingley batted resolutely for his 50 not out and with good supportfrom Pickett(21) the target was reached in 43 overs to give Herts acomfortable 7-wicket victory and a home tie with Cheshire in the 3rd roundof this Minor Counties KO competition.