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| Introduction| Domestic Cricket| Frizzell Championship| National League |
| Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy| Twenty20 Cup| One Day International| Retirements |
| Winter Activities| Pitch| Stadium| Golf Driving range| Concerts| Rose Bowl catering |
| Change of Name| Thanks |DOMESTIC CRICKETWhilst we are left with a feeling of overall disappointment from our domestic cricket performances during the summer of 2003, it is important not to overlook the positive advances that have been made over the last year.Our Academy team finished a creditable third place in the Gold Division of the Southern League after their first season in the top flight also picking up the “Timed Pennant” along the way. Two of our Academy players, David Griffiths and Kevin Latouf, were selected for the National Academy squads in their respective age groups further demonstrating the potential from this group. Further, Kevin Latouf graduated successfully to Second XI cricket where he impressed sufficiently to win a summer contract for next season.Our Second XI won the Second XI Trophy and came third in the Championship League providing further evidence of the strength of our younger squad and the abilities of Tony Middleton and his support staff in developing young cricketers.Another new addition to our contracted players next season will be Greg Lamb who impressed in the Second XI during the summer with both his batting and his off-spin bowling.The gap, however, between Second XI cricket and the First Class game is significant. Whilst several young players had plenty of opportunities during the season, and some provided some very promising individual performances from time to time, we need to give ample time for our best young players to settle into the higher level of the game.Paul Terry and Tony Middleton will combine to ensure that the sum total of our cricket development facilities from junior representative cricket through to the First XI will provide optimal opportunity for an individual’s development. We must establish a “production line” which is optimised at every level and then trust the players produced by the system. Only by doing this will we remove the continual need to recruit “stop-gap” players from other Counties.Obviously, the loss of Shane Warne before a ball was bowled was a critical loss and left the enormous burden of captaincy on the shoulders of John Crawley at short notice. John’s commitment to the task was evident throughout the year and we are deeply grateful to him for his selfless dedication.Warne’s replacement, Wasim Akram, started brightly for us before being forced, through illness, to retire and the early retirement of Ed Giddins, following injury, disrupted our bowling attack significantly.The season started on a beautiful spring day in April at Worcester. A tight match resulted in a draw which featured an excellent 146 not out by Nic Pothas and 93 by John Crawley. Wasim and Ed Giddins picking 6 wickets and 5 wickets respectively on their debuts for the County. A high-scoring draw at Glamorgan followed with Dimitri Mascarenhas scoring an unbeaten century and Robin Smith and Pothas falling just short of the three digits.Rain affected draws followed at home to Yorkshire and against Gloucestershire at Bristol with Simon Katich scoring a fine 96 in the latter fixture.A poor first innings batting performance at home to Somerset at the end of May handed the visitors the initiative. Despite a valiant 94 by Derek Kenway in the second innings (following on) we were well beaten. However, a fine 92 from Mascarenhas put us in a dominant position at home against Durham in the next match. On an exhilarating fourth day (having lost all of the third day to rain) Hampshire took 17 of the 18 wickets required to win the game and thus were denied victory.On return to First Class duty, following the break for the inaugural Twenty20 Tournament, Hampshire entertained Gloucestershire at The Rose Bowl and took the points on first innings with Kenway scoring 115. However, Gloucestershire batted well in their second innings to force the draw in Wasim’s last game for the Club.July started with a visit to Northamptonshire where, despite first innings bowling figures of 6-55 by Mascarenhas, our batting let us down and we were comprehensively beaten. Returning to The Rose Bowl to play Glamorgan, we witnessed one of the most remarkable matches in Hampshire history when recording our first win of the season after following-on over 250 runs behind. A magnificent second innings knock of 121 by the injured Nic Pothas, splendidly supported by Mascarenhas (75) and the Southern League debutant off-spinner Richard Hindley, who hit a brave 68 not out, Hampshire were all out 197 runs ahead. With Chris Tremlett at his best securing 6-51, supported by James Bruce with 3-42, Hampshire won the match by 93 runs.A rain affected draw at Headingly followed with Katich scoring a fine 143 and the same player featured heavily with scores of 117 and 79 not out in the next fixture at home to Northants. Sadly, in a match that we dominated throughout, the visitors scored the 330 runs required to win on a pitch that had become easier throughout the game. This result had a serious effect on our confidence, losing badly at home to Derbyshire in the next match.Worse was to come at Chester-le-Street where Durham won by an innings thanks to an individual score of 273 by Martin Love and then conceded over 700 runs at Taunton against Somerset. Kenway’s first innings 100 and Robin Smith’s defiant 50, in what turned out to be his last appearance for the County, established a first innings score of 395 but our bowlers were well short of the mark and we were happy to leave the West Country with a draw.In our last Championship game at The Rose Bowl we were comprehensively beaten by Worcestershire before ending the Frizzell season at Derbyshire with a resounding victory. Katich scored yet another fine century with James Hamblin falling just four runs short. However, it was the bowlers who took major honours on this occasion; both Hamblin and James Tomlinson taking career-best 6-wicket hauls in the first and second innings respectively.In the National League, Smith and Tremlett were the heroes in our opening fixture here at The Rose Bowl when we beat Sussex Sharks by 43 runs. Robin Smith was again at his imperious best in the next fixture against Middlesex Sabres, scoring 92 in a game that Hampshire dominated until a late onslaught by Razzaq reversed the result.At Old Trafford we were defeated comprehensively but bounced back against Somerset at home where Kenway scored a fine 115 and Mascarenhas took 4-33 to set up a 99-run win.Robin Smith took the Man of the Match Award at Edinburgh when he scored a match winning 82 not out to defeat the Scotland Saltires and skipper John Crawley set up a fine victory at home against Durham Dynamos with 102. Mascarenhas taking another 4 wickets in the latter fixture.A further victory followed at Northamptonshire against the League leaders but Nottinghamshire Outlaws brought us back down to earth when they took the points at The Rose Bowl. However, we had immediate revenge at Trent Bridge a week later winning a thrilling day/night encounter off the last ball.In the home fixture against the Steelbacks, Dimi Mascarenhas bowled his nine overs for just 22 runs, taking 4 wickets to set up a 54-run victory and, in the next game, we entertained the Saltires in a very entertaining contest. Crawley (83 not out) and Francis (62 not out) took us through to a 7-wicket victory which we followed up with another fine win at Hove. Once again, Mascarenhas was the hero with the ball taking 4-24 off 8 overs.We then enjoyed a run feast at Taunton, recording 335 runs off our 45 overs Katich again scoring a hundred. Crawley also got into the 90’s and the home side then could not keep up with the rate. Some excellent catching helped us to a 116 run victory and, on our return to The Rose Bowl, we had an emphatic win over the Derbyshire Scorpions.At this stage, we needed to win just one of our last four games to guarantee promotion but we were simply “blown away” at Durham and could not get in the hunt in our home fixture against Lancashire. We then lost a very high scoring game at Lords after Katich (yet again) with 106 and Pothas (78) had got us all off to a great start and, finally, we were found wanting at Derbyshire. Fortunately for us Middlesex Sabres lost their last game of the season at Durham and we claimed the third promotion position to establish ourselves in the First Division next season.Our early exit from the C & G Cup was heartbreaking having controlled the game against Sussex until the last three overs. Chris Adams unleashed a merciless attack on our “death” bowlers to recover the initiative and secure a place for Sussex in the fourth round.A magnificent night in June provided the stage for nearly 9,000 (together with a massive television audience) to enjoy the launch of this exciting new competition. Hampshire exacted revenge over Sussex for the C & G defeat in the debut game but were plundered in the next game as a result of some awesome batting by Andrew Symonds who scored 96 runs off just 45 balls. We then struggled at home to Essex despite a-run-a-ball 59 from Katich and were easily beaten at Uxbridge by Middlesex. Finally, were undone in the home fixture against Surrey by Adam Hollioake who took 5-21 off his 3 overs.Despite our poor showing in this competition, we can take heart from the fact that it was a steep learning curve for all. However, more than anything we must celebrate the success of this competition, particularly amongst the young. The competition was borne out of definitive market research and, clearly, it worked.From The Rose Bowl’s point of view, it was a privilege to be selected as the chosen venue to launch Twenty20 and the crowd of 8,687 witnessed a night to remember. Given that this attendance was significantly greater than any previous experiences at our ground, the support staff excelled themselves, once again, in their response to the additional demands.Once again the sun shone on us! Despite the fact that the outcome of the fixture had no relevance to the Natwest Triangular Series, over 7,000 filled The Rose Bowl on 10th July. The ground looked truly magnificent with Ian Botham declaring on Sky Television that the scene and atmosphere tempted him, for the first time since his retirement, “to put his whites back on and join in”. Indeed, Simon Briggs of the Daily Telegraph described the view from the media centre at the North End of the ground as “probably the finest in the Country”.The game itself was a bit of an anti-climax but nothing will detract from the overall success of the day to which all staff played their part.I have made the point before that all Internationals of whatever description are, effectively, an audition at our stage of ground development. We can proudly conclude from our debut that we passed the audition with flying colours.Next summer we have been granted the fixture between New Zealand and West Indies on 8th July 2004. Given the fact that, at the time of writing, only one point separates these two Countries and England in the One Day World order, we can expect a very important and exciting match.Make sure you order your tickets now!RETIREMENTSA surprising number of retirements this year saw Wasim Akram call it a day during the season due to illness. Obviously this was both a great surprise and a massive blow to us but I should like to point out that Wasim’s reasons for his retirement were entirely legitimate and he behaved impeccably throughout. His record will be undoubtedly referred to elsewhere but I am very pleased that we had the opportunity to see one of the true greats. As a man he is a real gentleman and we all wish him a long and healthy retirement.Also calling it a day during the season was Ed Giddins who had joined us during the winter from Surrey. Having picked up an injury early in the summer, Ed was frustrated by his inability to return rapidly to the high standards he had set himself and decided to move on. Once again, we wish Ed well in his future ventures.We were all disappointed to hear the news of Charlie Van Der Gucht’s decision to retire. We are well aware of Charlie’s disastrous road accident in 2001 and of his incredible courage thereafter. He showed fantastic bravery and determination in coming back to full fitness from his devastating injuries and was a real inspiration to all those who know him. Sadly, he felt that his bowling was simply not coming up to the standard of his fitness and has opted for a career away from cricket. Whatever Charlie does, I am convinced that his commitment and determination will ensure success and I know of few people who are more deserving.Of course the most significant retirement of the year was that of Robin Smith after 23 years at the Club. It is my view that Robin is probably the most important player in the history of Hampshire Cricket. His ability to consistently score runs on the big occasions set him apart from other batsmen and his loyalty, a characteristic which is regularly challenged by avarice these days, set him apart from other men.Apart from his vast batting ability, “the Judge” had the habit of making friends wherever he went; on the field or off it. His retirement will create a void that simply cannot be filled by just one player and he leaves a legacy of respect and friendship throughout the County and beyond.We sincerely hope, however, that Robin’s retirement as a player will not mean the end of his close association with Hampshire Cricket.WINTER ACTIVITIESSeveral of our young players will continue their development this winter in Australia. James Bruce, Tom Burrows and Lawrence Prittipaul will be joining Paul Terry in Perth whilst Chris Tremlett will continue his post-operative rehabilitation with Patrick Farhart in Sydney. James Hamblin will spend a short period in Sydney and will complete his winter in Perth. James Adams, Chris Benham and James Tomlinson are all back at their universities whilst new boys Greg Lamb and Kevin Latouf will be coaching and attending Barton Peverill College respectively. Also back in Perth, Alan Mullally is to undergo surgery on his troublesome ankle and Dimi Mascaranhas continues his grade cricket with Melville Cricket Club.John Crawley will be continuing his business studies whilst working in the Club’s Marketing Department and new-signing Billy Taylor will be keeping himself fit whilst pursuing his “off-field” career as a tree surgeon. Shaun Udal is progressing well after his shoulder operation and will be working for his printing company during the winter months. Will Kendall is currently backpacking in South America and Nic Pothas will be attending to his family’s numerous business affairs in South Africa.PITCHNigel Gray and his entire team worked tirelessly throughout the year to ensure that our pitches continued to show annual improvement and they did not disappoint.There was no repeat of the notorious events of the previous year as we predicted and we are confident of yet further improvement for next summer.I should like to congratulate Nigel and all the groundstaff on achieving their much-deserved International status.STADIUMWe have continued with our ground development programme as far as possible this year with improvements to the surface of the berm and the new fencing.No plans for further developments have been shelved but we need to take account of the considerable pressure on budgets. As ever, we continue to seek further funding from a variety of sources in order to realise our commitment to provide you with the best cricket environment in the Country.GOLF DRIVING RANGEAs you may recall, there have been certain legal issues with regard to our plans to develop the golf driving range. However, these legal claims have now been settled and we are on the point of commencing work on our new golf centre to be opened in November 2004.Whilst these delays have been frustrating, we remain confident that our new 60-bay site will offer a prestigious environment for all golf enthusiasts in the area.It should be noted that our Landlords, The Queen’s College, Oxford, have been very helpful in enabling is to find a viable solution to the commercial difficulties previously encountered with this proposed development and we are deeply grateful to them for their co-operation and support.I should like to acknowledge also the work of Allan Spencer and his team in the continued management of the existing golf course. No doubt they, like the golf members, are all excited about the prospect of the new Golf Centre.CONCERTSDespite some significant local planning and licensing issues, our debut Outdoor Concerts went ahead over the weekend of 30th and 31st August.On the Saturday night, chart-toppers Blue entertained 10,000 young people supported by a number of acts such Darius, Sinead Quinn, D-Side and, notably, The Drifters. The following evening, The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra put on a rousing display, augmented by fireworks, to complete a wonderful and entertaining weekend.Most importantly, our concerts conformed entirely with the standards required by Local Authorities for such events and we will certainly be staging similar shows in 2004. It is also to the great credit of our Health and Safety Officer, John Bishop, that both evenings went ahead safely and without adverse event to the praise of the local police.This was yet another new challenge for our support staff who, as ever, accepted it with confidence and determination.ROSE BOWL CATERINGThis has been a very busy year for our catering business with conference and banqueting activities providing us with significant income from meetings, seminars and product launches. The range of private functions is very broad and we currently have over 30 couples waiting for next season’s fixture list before confirming their bookings for weddings! Corporate hospitality provided over 3,000 meals throughout the season.Wise Catering, the outside catering division, relocated to The Rose Bowl and have provided quality catering at such diverse venues as Twickenham, The Paris Air Show, Ocean Village, Wincanton Race Course and the Southampton Boat Show.Our thanks go to Derek Bennett, Keith McRae and Julie Way and the entire catering staff – both front-of-house and kitchen staff. They have all risen to every challenge this year and the consistent stream of compliments confirms the quality of their work.CHANGE OF NAMEWith effect from 1st November 2003 Hampshire County Cricket Club Limited will formally change its name to Hampshire Cricket Limited.Since we have effectively been playing and trading under the latter title over the past year or so, this change of name will have no effect on our supporters and customers. There will be no change to the services provided by the Company which remains a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rose Bowl plc.As a consequence of this your Members Club will also change its name in due course to reflect the corporate name. This will, in fact, be called Hampshire Cricket Members Club.THANKSIn a year where so much progress has been made, it is important to recognise the contributions of our staff and management. However, one event during last summer transcends all operational, financial or performance achievements and puts things back into a proper perspective. When a spectator was suddenly taken very ill on a match day, Daryll Bishop called upon all his training and quick thinking to save this man’s life. Whatever else any of us have achieved, this act has earned our profound and enduring respect. Typically, Daryll (who also works as a fireman) regards it modestly as “simply doing his job”. I hope he’s around when I need him!Daryll’s father, John Bishop, has also had a challenging year but, together with his excellent team of stewards, has consistently risen to these new challenges earning praise both internally and from the local police force.Geoff Cox, Special Projects Manager, is charged with the responsibility of managing all planning issues which, this year, embraced the licensing for our Outdoor Concerts as well as construction issues. I should like to thank Geoff for the endless hours he has put into the planning and organisation of the ODI, Twenty20 Launch, the Concerts and the continuing ground developments.To Vic Isaacs and Tony Weld, our scorers and, Jim Lark, scoreboard operator, we convey our thanks as we do to Richard Binns and his tremendous team who run the County Shop with such diligence.Major events, such as the ODI and Twenty20 have placed a considerable load on our box office but the fantastic response from Jill Smithers and Katy Johnson, ably assisted by Claire Miller and Gemma Smith has ensured that – by hook or by crook – we coped. Thank you also to Jill for her overwhelming commitment to our ticketing and membership function and to Katy and her team for looking after “the books”.We should acknowledge the host if coaches, many unpaid, who assist the full-time coaching staff of Paul Terry, Tony Middleton, Giles White and Raj Maru.Our Marketing Team, John, Gemma, Katie and Alexis, led by Sam White have ensured the commercial success of the ODI and Twenty20 as well as making the conference and banqueting business at The Rose Bowl the success it is today. We still have mountains to climb but we have an enthusiastic and dynamic group capable of achieving these tough objectives.Thanks also to Bob Beattie and his team at Connor’s and our support and administration staff including Alison Wilcocks and my assistant, Collette Timson.Our President, Colin Ingleby-MacKenzie, who is such an inspiration to us all and our Patron, Wilfrid Weld, we thank them for their continued support, and the Members Committee, particularly Roger Treherne and David Robinson, who represent our members with such diligence.Finally, I should like to thank the Board of Directors for its support and enthusiasm. Having been through difficult times I look forward to sharing in the future successes with them. None more so than Nick Pike, Managing Director, without whom much of the above simply could not have happened.

Colts Cricket Club started the Super League stage of the Premier League witha crushing innings victory over Colombo Cricket Club.Colts were the only side to secure an outright win in the Super League afterCCC collapsed meekly in the second innings to be bowled out for just 58.Dulip Liyanage picking up 5 for 22.But it was veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva who dominated the weekendheadlines. The 36-year-old, scorer of 19 Test hundreds, smashed 154 from 241balls in his first serious match since being recalled to the nationaltraining squad.De Silva, who then compiled a breezy 37 not out from 38 balls in the secondinnings, guided his club, Nondescripts CC, to a first innings win againstTamil Union.Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club also registered a first innings winwhen Burgher Recreation Club failed to overhaul their modest 274 firstinnings total.TM Dilshan scored half centuries in both innings for Bloomfield and he waswell supported by S. Jayanatha (75) in the first innings and Sanjaya Rodrigo(100) in the second.BRC were bowled out for 219 despite a fifty from DN. Hunukumbura (60). S.Dissanayake grabbed five for 37.Sinhalese Sports Club secured an easy first innings win against Panadura SC.Missing all their international stars, forced to rest by coach Dav Whatmore,SSC scored 364 in reply to Panadura’s 266 first innings.

Fifteen wickets fell on the third day of the North Zone Ranji Trophyclash between Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh at the Maulana AzadStadium in Jammu, with the visitors emerging with the better of theexchanges. Resuming their first innings at 289/8, Himachal declarednine overs into the day at 316/9. J&K were then shot out for 176,marginally avoiding the follow-on by just ten runs. But they struckback swiftly, knocking over four Himachal wickets for 55 before thedraw of stumps.After Himachal skipper Rajiv Nayyar’s declaration, J&K never reallygot going, losing their first five wickets for 69. Needing 167 tostave off the follow-on, the lower order manfully attempted to redressthe balance and succeeded to the extent of lifting the score to 176 in58.4 overs. Vijay Sharma topscored with 33 while for Himachal,Rajinder Thakur snapped up 3/65.In the 86 minutes batting available, Himachal limped to 55/4. Firstinnings centurion Nischal Gaur was removed by Qayoom for a tenth ballduck. Rahul Panta followed up his 46 not out in the first essay withanother unbeaten effort of 31 as the visitors closed the day 195 runsin front with six wickets in hand.

Allrounder Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of New Zealand’s tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa after fracturing his thumb at training. Santner will be replaced by the uncapped Central Districts allrounder George Worker, who topped the run tally in the Ford Trophy last summer with 538 runs at 48.90, including a remarkable 194 in a win over Cantebury in January.Santner was preparing for the tour at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre in Christchurch when he was struck on the thumb fielding a ball off his own bowling on Monday. Coach Mike Hesson said it was unfortunate timing for Santner, who had impressed during his first tour with the national side to England this year.”We feel for Mitch because he was really excited about this tour and we were looking forward to seeing him continue his development in international cricket,” Hesson said. “It is unfortunate but at the same time it presents George with his first opportunity in the Black Caps environment and we are confident that he’ll fit in well.”Worker, 25, offers similar skills to Santner, as a left-hand top-order batsman and left-arm orthodox spinner. He was the second-leading run scorer in the Georgie Pie Super Smash in 2014-15, with 318 runs at 45.42, and in addition to his outstanding run tally in the shorter formats he also collected nine Ford Trophy wickets at 20.11.Anton Devcich was unavailable for consideration as he continues to recover from a shoulder operation. New Zealand will be led on the tour by Kane Williamson, who will captain the side with Brendon McCullum being rested. The tour includes three ODIs and one T20 against Zimbabwe in Harare, followed by two T20s and three ODIs in South Africa.

India’s fragile fast bowlers are the selectors’ chief concern as they meet in Bangalore on Wednesday to whittle down the list of 24 probables for India’s forthcoming tour of Australia. The focus is on Munaf Patel, whose fitness will be assessed before any decision is made.The selectors are likely to meet soon after the fifth day’s play of the final Test against Pakistan, and may name a 16-man squad for the four-Test series. At the moment it seems likely that India’s bowling attack will be led by three left-arm bowlers in Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Irfan Pathan. Ishant Sharma’s five-wicket haul in Pakistan’s first innings has made him a shoo-in for the fourth fast bowling spot.It is for the final spot that there is some doubt. Should Munaf be cleared to play, he is likely to complete the set. If he is not fit, then VRV Singh, who was in the squad for the final Pakistan Test is the front-runner to take a place. The names of Pankaj Singh and Pradeep Sangwan are also doing the rounds, but the selectors are likely to go with VRV, who is more experienced than the other two, albeit not by much.The selectors also showed their hand when they called Gautam Gambhir into the squad in the final Test and he is likely to get one of the opening slots. With Wasim Jaffer having the time of his life with the bat, only one more opener’s slot is left to be filled. Dinesh Karthik has had a poor run in the series against Pakistan, but his performances in South Africa and England could ensure that he gets another chance to prove himself. The strongest contender for this spot is Parthiv Patel, who has been scoring heavily and consistently in domestic cricket. However, it is likely that the selectors will leave this borderline decision to Anil Kumble, the captain. So far Kumble has backed Karthik to the hilt, despite scores of 8, 9, 1, 1 and 28 in his last five innings.

The rest of the team picks more or less picks itself with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh making up the middle order. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will keep wickets and Kumble will have one spinner for company in Harbhajan Singh.The tougher question, of course, will come when it’s time to pick the playing XI for the first Test in Melbourne. Yuvraj, with his incredible innings of 169 in Bangalore, has made it virtually impossible to leave him out of the side. This leaves Kumble in the unenviable situation of having to drop someone from the middle order, or sacrifice a bowler, neither of which seem feasible. The one option ahead of Kumble is to use Dravid as an opener, playing only Jaffer as a specialist opener, in order to accommodate the extra batsman. But there is some time yet for that decision to be made.India’s Test squad for Australia (probable)
Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel.

Scorecard
Mathew Harvie took 5 for 40 in Otago’s 61-run win over Northern Districts in their State Shield match at the University Oval in Dunedin. Opener Craig Cumming made 112 off 129 balls and helped Otago set Northern a target of 280. Northern were bowled out for 218.Before Cumming was run-out for the seventh wicket he added 53 with Aaron Redmond, 47 with Neil Broom, and 53 with Greg Todd.Harvie had Nick Horsley, the Northern opener, trapped leg before with his third ball of the day. He then dismissed the other opener, Alun Evans, and Peter McGlashan as Northern crawled to 51 in 14.4 overs. Mark Orchard and Joseph Yovich, who top-scored with 50, steadied the innings with a 61-run partnership for the sixth wicket which was ultimately broken by Turner, who ended with 3 for 32.Auckland’s match against Wellington at Eden Park and Central Districts match against Canterbury at Pukekura Park were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

James Anderson and Alex Loudon have been omitted from the Test squad to tour India, but they are the only changes from the party that lost 2-0 against Pakistan. However, the selectors have left one space free, which will be filled by a third spinner once the fitness of Ashley Giles has been assessed.Simon Jones returns after recovering from surgery to the bone spur on his right ankle. He is due to spend ten days at the MRF Pace Academy, in Chennai, to continue his rehabilitation. Liam Plunkett’s encouraging performances on his Test debut at Lahore, and in the following one-day series, have been enough to pip Anderson to the reserve pace bowling slot.Anderson retains his place in the one-day squad but the end of Darren Gough’s international career is a step closer with his omission. Vikram Solanki’s stop-start career has again been halted with Ian Bell preferred, lending further weight to the theory that England still don’t know their best one-day team.The chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said: “Although we lost the series [in Pakistan], there were some encouraging individual performances from players who are new to Test cricket and we are keen to continue their development.””With regard to injured players, Michael Vaughan and Ashley Giles both underwent operations before Christmas and their rehabilitation programmes are progressing according to plan. We do, however, intend to name an additional spinner in the Test squad once we have had an opportunity to further re-assess Ashley’s fitness nearer to the time of our departure for India.”Graveney explained that the one-day squad was selected with a view to the World Cup: “Plunkett has made a promising start to his international career and is an emerging player with great potential. Bell has also been named in both squads as we believe his ability to bat in the top order will give us another option as we continue to plan for the World Cup in 2007.”Solanki will be disappointed not to make the trip to India but he is still part of our plans for the future and is one of a number of players on the fringes of selection for the one-day squad.”Commenting on Gough’s omission, he said that the performance of the younger seamers had encouraged the selectors to stick with them for India. “Gough asked the selectors not to consider him for the tour of Pakistan for personal reasons and we respected his wishes.”With Plunkett and Anderson performing well in Pakistan, and Jones now available for selection again, the selectors feel the priority is for these players to gain as much experience of one-day cricket as possible, ahead of the World Cup, and as a result Gough misses out.”The news will not come as a surprise to Gough, who had earlier told that he was not expecting a recall. “I’m not a 20-year-old who’s out there demanding a place. I’m mature and I can understand they want to go with the young guys.”Of course I am disappointed because I still think I am one of the best bowlers at the end of a one-day match. You can’t buy one of them at a local superstore – it takes years and years.”England Test squad Michael Vaughan* (capt), Marcus Trescothick*, Andrew Strauss*, Ian Bell*, Kevin Pietersen*, Andrew Flintoff*, Paul Collingwood*, Geraint Jones*, Matt Prior, Ashley Giles*, Shaun Udal, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard*, Simon Jones*, Steve Harmison*. *denotes 12-month central contractOne-day squad Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Geraint Jones, Matt Prior, Ashley Giles, Ian Blackwell, Kabir Ali, Liam Plunkett, Simon Jones, Steve Harmison, James Anderson.

Two Christmases ago, Simon Jones was contemplating the prospect of never setting foot on a cricket pitch again, after that fearful knee injury at Brisbane which kept him out of all forms of cricket for 16 months. Today, however, his thrilling diving catch at fine leg, and his subsequent dismissals of Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock from consecutive deliveries, gave England the momentum they needed to push for an eighth Test win in a row.Jones was rather more subdued in front of the microphones than he had been on the pitch, however, where he greeted the wicket of Kallis by charging down to third man and leaping into the arms of Matthew Hoggard. “The boys have been giving me a good ribbing about that,” he admitted, after a bizarre celebration, which resulted – puzzingly enough – in Hoggard grabbing his ears and squeezing them as hard as he could.It was that earlier catch, however, that really set England on the road towards victory. “It gave us a bit of a buzz,” said Jones, who understandably enough has not been England’s most mobile fielder since his comeback. “It was one of those where you get into position and it just sticks. Fred [Flintoff] thought it was going to come straight to me, but in the end it was awkward and I had to stretch for it.”

Pollock himself came close to trumping Jones’s starring role, when – having just removed Marcus Trescothick with the first ball of the innings – he followed up with a perilously close shout for lbw against Mark Butcher. “I haven’t seen it yet, but it must have been close,” agreed Pollock. “But when you’re defending small totals you need those 50/50s to go your way.”He admitted: “It was a disappointing day for us. We’d talked about 270 being a tough target here, with the wicket going up and down, and we were conscious we needed a big partnership. The luck didn’t go our way, but cricket’s a strange game. We’ll be fighting to the end, and there’ll be some serious headlines if we pull off a win.”Pollock was at least pleased that his side had been wrapped up in a close duel for four days of the Test, and predicted an even contest for the rest of the series as well. “It’s been good Test cricket,” he said. “England were in the pound seats after Day Three, we showed some good character to fight back, and the people have enjoyed watching it. It’s been entertaining stuff.”One of the most entertaining moments was an explosive delivery from the young speedster Dale Steyn, which nipped away to detonate Michael Vaughan’s off stump. “I certainly enjoyed it!” enthused Pollock. “Dale’s an exciting talent – he’s got good gas, and a good wrist on him as well. It comes out nicely with a good seam. He’s a huge find, and I hope he kicks on and plays a big part in the series.”And Pollock warned: “We’ll come out fighting tomorrow,” before taking a sneak peak towards the heavens. “It would only be human to wake up and look out of the curtains to check the weather. England are favourites, but if we can put a run together, like Makhaya [Ntini] did in the first innings, then anything can happen.”

Matthew Hayden believed that for much of the first day of the Test against Zimbabwe in Perth he batted within himself. It was only after scoring his century that he felt compelled to start expanding his game.Speaking after stumps, at which time he was 183 not out, he said: “From a hundred on, I really started to feel good. The next fifty seemed to come up in a few minutes.”Geoff Marsh was disappointed with Zimbabwe’s day as he told the players at stumps that for all but the last hour they had played “really good Test cricket. We bowled good lines, played to our game plan.”We held Australia. But it just goes to show what a great side they are. In the half an hour after tea we just let the game drift. We bowled the two spinners for too long. We should have brought the quicks back on a bit earlier.”Marsh was surprised at the lack of swing with an easterly blowing all day, but he agreed the pitch was slow and it had been a very good batting strip.

The Hero-Honda Challenger Trophy 2002 threw up a result that can only be described as good for Indian cricket at large when India `A’ beat the India Seniors team by two wickets with almost two overs to spare. The opening match of the tournament threw up some strong performances, none more so than the one from Yuvraj Singh, who notched up the only half-century of the match, playing a leading role in his team’s triumph.When Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first, he would have been more than a little surprised at the pace and bounce that the wicket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium afforded. Only recently, the same ground provided a more gentle wicket for the Test match against the touring England side. With the ball moving a bit in the air and cutting off the wicket, batsmen were made to feel uncomfortable every time the seamers bowled a good line and length.Trying to work his way out of a dreadful patch in the longer version of the game, Ganguly failed, making just 2 before falling to Daniel Manohar. Deep Dasgupta (10) and Virender Sehwag (4) followed their captain back to the pavilion and India seniors were in trouble at 64/4.Hemang Badani, fighting to make his way back into the national side, struggled early on. The southpaw did not move his feet nearly as fluently as he usually does and was lucky to survive a confident shout for lbw early on. However, Badani calmed his nerves and soon began to time the ball sweetly. In the company of Jacob Martin, Badani notched up 41 (36 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) and took India seniors on to 126/5 in the 28th over before falling to Sarandeep Singh.A flurry of wickets suggested that the seniors side might fold up without playing out the 50 overs available to them. A cameo from Sunil Joshi (25) and the wholesome thumping of Harbhajan Singh (36 runs, 42 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes) saw the team notch up 229, a total that looked at best unlikely till it was achieved.The selectors present at the venue had a good chance to look at the players strutting their stuff and would have been impressed by more than one performance. With the ball for India A, Ajit Agarkar was nippy, getting the ball to skid through nicely in the course of his haul of 2/32. Sarandeep Singh too reminded the selectors that he was hot on Harbhajan Singh’s heels with a return of 3/36.It was India A who came together well on the day, teaching the India seniors side a lesson or two. Chasing the target of 230, the India A side struggled, threatened to throw it away towards the end but held on for a valuable victory.Hyderabad’s Daniel Manohar beginning patchily, playing and missing more than once, scored 37 at the top of the order, to add to his three-wicket haul. Manohar truly had a memorable game. After the fall of skipper VVS Laxman’s wicket with the score on 83, two more quick wickets fell. Manohar was cleaned up by a Bangar in-dipper and Rohan Gavaskar (4) gloved a short ball from Ganguly to the hands of Deep Dasgupta behind the stumps.Then came the phase of the game that steadied the India A innings. Yuvraj Singh, judiciously mixing caution with aggression, restated his claim for higher honours with a sprightly innings of 55 (77 balls, 6 fours). In the past, there have been innumerable occasions where the strong left-hander had got good starts, appeared in command, only to throw his wicket away. That certainly wasn’t the case today. When the ball was there to be hit, Yuvraj gave it a fair whack, but did not make a serious error till the ball that dismissed him. Losing his concentration after reaching his half-century the Punjab lad flirted with a Tinu Yohannan delivery outside the off, managing only to edge the ball through to the wicket-keeper.Ajit Agarkar (11) fell to a rash stroke at an inopportune moment soon after Yuvraj Singh’s dismissal, but India A were close enough to the target by that stage for the tail-enders to complete the job, something they duly did.If nothing else, the game will serve as a good wake up call to the India seniors side in this tournament.