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After rain had caused the loss of much of the afternoon at Bath, skipper Jamie Cox took everyone by surprise when he declared the Somerset innings closed just after teatime, 91 runs adrift of the Hampshire total of 252.His decision however was more than proved right when he saw Richard Johnson take a wicket with his first ball, another wicket in his second over, and then Matt Bulbeck on a hat trick.When the umpires offered the Hampshire batsmen the light they were only too happy to accept it and left the field with the score on 4 wickets for 3 runs, with play finally being called off at 6.15pm.Earlier in the day the middle order Somerset batsmen applied themselves well to take their overnight score of 79 for 5 onto 161 for 9, thanks to valuable contributions from Ian Blackwell (43) Rob Turner (33) and Keith Dutch (24).At the end of play Kevin Shine told me: "It was a good fighting effort from the batters this morning, and then a very intelligent declaration that caught everyone unawares, followed by some fantastic attacking bowling by `Johnno’ and `Bully’ backed up by some good catching."The coach concluded: "If we get a full days play tomorrow, and with the pitch not getting any easier we could have a fantastic game of cricket on our hands."

Somerset County Cricket Club have just been given the staggering news that their official website www.somerset.cricinfo.com received well over a million visits during the month of July.Over the months since it was first established in May 2001, the official Somerset website has enjoyed increasing popularity even through the winter, with its up-to-the-minute news, views and information from the county club, but this figure far exceeds what was expected when it was launched.Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "We have been totally amazed but grateful for the interest shown in our website. We thank you all for your support, especially those who live outside the UK in mainland Europe, the USA and even further afield, and welcome to you all."The August 31st final will be a very special day for the club, the players and all of our supporters. We hope to report on a success and will have a detailed report for our loyal supporters outside the United Kingdom, but if we should lose then I promise that it won’t be a black-edged page!"Tom Faulkner, Head of UK Business Development for CricInfo, who host the site said: "These page impressions are absolutely fantastic. Well done to everybody."

To the cash-strapped Zimbabwe cricket administrators, the current tourby the Indian team is expected to be a windfall.”It is good we have the Indians here this winter. It will be betterwhen they leave.” The statement attributed to David Ellmann Brown,President of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) and Dave Houghton,former Test player and incharge of the National Academy, may or maynot be true but it is doubtful if they would disagree with thesentiment.The ZCU is expecting a windfall of 450 million Zimbabwean dollars(approx US $900,000) from the television revenue in this series. Thecricket body has never had a bigger bite than this pie in theirhistory. And they can only earn it after the Indians are through withtheir fixtures and have boarded the home-bound plane.In a cricket set-up where there are no sponsors and only a fewhundreds play the game, the revenue is most welcome and would keep thegame going in the six provincial bodies and the Academy.The ZCU is so short of funds it has not been able to run a domesticone-day competition between the provinces. Apparently, the cost ofrunning two competitions and footing the accommodation and transportbill is overwhelming.Yet, the game is growing every day as reflected in the overflowingcricketing engagements Zimbabwe is managing for itself. In the lastseason, Zimbabwe team left for Sharjah in mid-October, went to India,New Zealand, Australia and then played hosts to Bangladesh.They played five Tests, winning two, losing one and drawing theremaining two. Of the 23 one-dayers, Zimbabwe won seven while losing16 ties.This winter, between May and September, they would play host to noless than four countries. After India and West Indies come and playtwo Tests each and a triangular one-day series with the hosts, SouthAfrica and England are scheduled the fill the second half of thewinter.Zimbabwe have so far won five games from 50 Tests in nine seasons, twoof them by an innings.Their top players, contracted in three different categories by the ZCUaccording to their seniority and experience, earn around one millionZimbabwean dollars (approx $80,000) a year.In a country where economy is declining by nearly 10 per cent and thegovernment has stopped repayments of all foreign loans, includingthose owed to the IMF, it is not an insignificant sum.Indeed, Zimbabwe is in need of serious help because Canada has imposedpenalties, Denmark has cut back and European Union is consideringsanctions.The government reportedly owes more than US $4.5 billion to severalmultilateral institutions and Western countries. In the past fouryears about 1.4 million young people have left school with only about100,000 finding some kind of work in the formal sector.So high is inflation that the ZCU and its provinces have problems inmaintaining facilities, keeping nets in condition or to employ staffand manage irrigation of grounds.The players’ condition though has improved after they forced theiremployers, the ZCU, in a corner in a pay dispute last year. The flashpoint to this simmering discontent was the incident involving its starplayer Andy Flower in a Asia Eleven vs Rest of the World match inDhaka last year.The Rest of the World side, led by Mark Waugh of Australia, namedFlower as its 12th man. Flower, quite the best batsman in Zimbabweancricket, was not unduly worried. “As far as I get my 5,000 US dollars,I am okay,” he said.It intrigued Waugh and on his asking, Flower explained the conditionsof Zimbabwean cricket and its cricketers to the star Australianbatsmen. “In that case, you shouldn’t be playing for Zimbabwe,” Waughis quoted to have said.It triggered a response among cricketers. The ZCU, worried at the lossof star players like Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin on account ofmoney, woke up in time to agree for improved conditions forcricketers.Brown, the ZCU’s president, is credited with ensuring enoughengagements for the national team to keep the game going in thecountry. At its helm since August 1998, Brown’s stroke of genius forZimbabwean cricket has been his achievement to ensure reciprocal tourswith other Test-playing nations.It has taken the load of guarantee money, to be paid to visitingteams, off ZCU’s shoulders. Australia, for instance, command a hugeguarantee money because of their star status.This is also the first time Zimbabwean cricket has opened itself tocricket in winter. There has never been any international cricket inthis country between May and September. It will assist Zimbabwe inmaintaining a viable financial organisation. The 10-year reciprocaltouring calendar which the ICC has made for Test-playing nations isalso most welcome for Zimbabwean cricket.Brown says the new programme will mean they would get at least one”icon” tour each season. Thus, Zimbabwean cricket can look ahead forstill better times in coming years.

Central Districts’ match against India has proven invaluable for Test newcomer Michael Mason when he was named in the New Zealand team for the first Test of the National Bank series against India today.Mason gets his chance ahead of New Zealand Cricket-contracted player Chris Martin.A player who has already suffered more injuries in his brief career than most players would face in a lifetime, including a devastating broken ankle two years ago, Mason has been a comer as a spearhead of an impressive Central Districts bowling attack over the last four seasons.Mason is playing his 31st first-class match against India and before the start of the second innings of the tour match which finishes in Napier today he has taken 95 wickets at an average of 25.49.His CD captain Jacob Oram has also been included in the Test 12, and the reason for him making a precautionary withdrawal from his side’s match against India on the morning of the match has become more apparent.He was said to have felt a hamstring in the Super Max International on Wednesday evening, where he bowled impressively during India’s second innings, and felt it wasn’t worth damaging his leg.Like Mason, Oram has had a battle with injuries in recent years but as the tallest player to have played for the country, he stands at 2.01m, and has had reward for a greater concentration on his bowling technique in recent seasons.He increased the speed of what had been previously a pedestrian form of bowling to be sharpish with the advantage of his great height to unsettle batsmen. The work on developing his concentration has also started to bear him fruit.Oram first played for New Zealand in the home one-day series against Zimbabwe in 2000/01 and quickly fitted into the side and hit the winning runs in the deciding ODI against Pakistan at Carisbrook later in the season. He has twice been 12th man in previous Test sides.A foot injury ruled him out of most of last season but he was a member of the side to Sri Lanka for the Champions Trophy in September.”His selection follows huge progress in his bowling. He has brisk pace and his height makes for increased bounce which can prove awkward for batsmen in some conditions. He has been an impressive all-rounder for Central Districts this season with both the bat and ball,” selection convener Sir Richard Hadlee said.He has played 25 ODIs and has a strike-rate of 81.35 from the 336 runs he has scored. He has played 32 first-class games and has 1390 runs at 31.59 and 44 wickets at 22.54.He also had reward for one of the more commanding batting performances of the early season when scoring 96 out of his side’s 234 at Wanganui against Otago. He followed that with 52 not out in the second innings.The full team is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Robbie Hart, Craig McMillan, Michael Mason, Jacob Oram, Mark Richardson, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.Unavailable for selection were Chris Cairns, who has been ruled out of both Test matches as he is to undergo keyhole surgery on his right knee on Tuesday to remove a piece of cartilage, Andre Adams, Shayne O’Connor and Ian Butler.Cairns is expected to be available for selection for the one-day series starting in Auckland on Boxing Day.Hadlee said the selectors were going into the two-Test series concerned about the lack of performance in the State Championship to date from the leading players in the country.”We are backing experience and what we know by putting our faith in players who have performed at the top level.”Mason is a bowler with good pace. He has been impressive in the current game taking three for 46 in the first innings v India and he swings ball away from right-handed batsmen,” Hadlee said.

Warwickshire’s new era under Ashley Giles hasn’t begun with immediate success and he is now starting to search around the country for fresh signings. reports that the club have made 28-day approaches to Gloucestershire pair Alex Gidman and Steve Kirby along with David Sales, Graham Onions and Surrey’s Stewart Walters. Now that Warwickshire have formally lodged their interest in the five players they must wait four weeks before speaking to their counties.The Post also says that Warwickshire have begun negotiations with Luke Pomersbach, the Western Australia batsman who has played Twenty20 for Australia and is currently at the IPL, about being their overseas player for the Twenty20 Cup. Sanath Jayasuriya was previously lined up, but his recall to the Sri Lanka squad for the Asia Cup has put paid to that idea.Chris Martin, the New Zealand fast bowler, is also reported to be a likely candidate to fill the overseas role for the latter part of the season. Monde Zondeki is currently at Edgbaston, but has been named in South Africa’s touring party for the England series and won’t be available from next month.Four of the five English players being targeted represent the cream of county talent. Kirby and Onions have recently been part of England Lions, with Onions being suggested as a possible option for the Test squad after an impressive start to the season. Gidman has also been pushing for international honours as an allrounder, while Sales has been a prolific batsman for Northamptonshire with over 10,000 first-class runs.

The England Blind cricket team will be spending two days at the County Ground next weekend preparing for their forthcoming overseas tour to India, and all visually impaired people in the region are invited to go along on Sunday September 15th to get a taste of the game for themselves.Earlier this season England player Tim Gutteridge came down to the ground and so impressed Andrew Moulding that the Somerset Cricket Development Officer is now keen to try to get a county side together.He told me: "This invitation is open to all visually impaired people in the B1 B2 and B3 categories and we are hoping for a good response. The game is played with a size three football which is filled with ball bearings. The bowling is underarm and the ball has to pitch twice before reaching the batsman."Mr Moulding continued: "This is a huge opportunity for us to expand our disabled cricket activity, and we hope we get enough interest from next Sunday to get a side together for Somerset."The cricket development officer is also hoping to arrange a cricket match next season between the England Blind team and Somerset CCC, with the game being played to blind cricket rules and the Somerset players having to wear special glasses to impair them visually.Anyone who would like to find out more about the visually impaired cricket day next weekend should contact Mr Moulding at the Centre of Excellence on 01823 352266.

All rounder Ian Blackwell played Somerset back into the championship match against Yorkshire at Taunton today, when he hit a magnificent century.Coming into bat with the score on 26 for 4 in reply to the visitor’s total of 213, after an apprehensive start `Blackie’ set about the Yorkshire attack. He hit England paceman Matthew Hoggard for consecutive sixes over the Coal Orchard boundary, before bringing up his own century with an enormous six off the penultimate ball of the day over the Stragglers Bar.Ian Blackwell’s century came off exactly one hundred balls and contained 6×4’s and 11×4’s, and was greeted by a standing ovation from the large crowd.When play closed for the day Somerset had reached 186 for 6, just 27 runs behind Yorkshire with four wickets remaining.All of this was witnessed by England team boss Duncan Fletcher who can’t help but have been impressed by the all rounder’s batting performance.Earlier in the day Somerset had bowled out the County Champions for 213 with Andy Caddick taking 5 for 72, Matthew Bulbeck after a good opening spell ending with 2 for 90 and Simon Francis taking 2 for 37.After the close of play Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "It has been a very interesting days cricket, in which Somerset have bowled and fielded very well."The chief continued: "We had an extraordinary batting display by Ian Blackwell, all in front of Duncan Fletcher and the ECB coaches who were on the ground to discuss the merits of the Academy programme. Ian Blackwell has done himself a lot of good with his batting performance today."During the tea interval Steffan Jones was out on the field bowling to Kevin Shine. After the game the Welshman told me: "I have been out bowling on three different occasions today and it all went very well. I will certainly be playing on Sunday."

Although the New Zealand v Pakistan Test at Karachi was cancelled after a bomb blast it is well worth examining how the two teams had fared in the past at Karachi. The two teams had played 6 tests at Karachi, Pakistan had won three and the remaining three were drawn.Here is a brief review of the previous tests between the two teams at Karachi:

1. 1955-56: Pakistan recorded their first Test victory at home by an innings and 1 run. New Zealand was out played for 164 and 124 in the two innings. Off-spinner Zulfiqar Ahmed claimed 11/79 and it was first 10-wicket haul in a match by a Pakistani bowler at home. Pakistan scored 289 (Imtiaz Ahmed 64). Henry Cave was New Zealand’s captain.
2. 1965: Despite skipper John Reid’s batting heroics (128 & 76) New Zealand lost by 8 wickets. Pakistan’s ace batsman of the era, Saeed Ahmed scored a career best 172 and opening batsman Mohammad Ilyas hammered a gallant 126. Intikhab Alam claimed 7 wickets. Hanif Mohammad led the home team.
3. 1969: It was ‘Little Master’ Hanif Mohammad’s last test. It was also the first unique instance when three brothers Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq participated in the same Test. Pakistan scored 220 & 283 for 8 declared. Left handers Sadiq Mohammad and Younis Ahmed (Saeed Ahmed’s brother) both playing their first Test, scored 69 & 62 respectively. Another debutant off-spinner Nazir Junior dismissed 7 Kiwi batsmen for 74 in their first innings (274). Despite gaining first innings lead of 54 runs New Zealand were poorly placed at 112 for 5 in the second when the match ended as a draw. Pervaiz Sajjad bagged all the five wickets that fell.
4. 1976-77: Majid Khan (112) scored a century before lunch on the first day and became the first batsman to achieve the feat after Sir Don Bradman (1930). Javed Miandad (206) scored the first double century of his career and skipper Mushtaq Mohammad scored 107 in Pakistan’s total of 565 for 9 declared. New Zealand made a spirited reply with a score of 486. Wicket keeper Warren Lees notched up a superb 159. Glenn Turner captained the New Zealand team.
5. 1984-85: JV Coney led the tourists and Zaheer Abbas skippered the home team. John Wright (107) and Saleem Malik (119 not out) scored centuries. Scores: Pakistan 328 & 308-5 dec. New Zealand 426.
6. 1990: Pakistan won by an innings and 43 runs. The duo of Wasim and Waqar demolished 15 Black Cap batsmen. New Zealand scored 190 and 194-9. Pakistan posted an impressive 403 for 6 due mainly to Shoaib Mohammad’s (203).

Summary: 1955-56 to date

Highest innings total for New Zealand: 468 (1976-77)
Highest innings total for Pakistan: 565-9 declared (1976-77)
Lowest innings total for New Zealand: 124 (1955-56)
Lowest innings total for Pakistan: 220 (1969)
Highest individual innings for New Zealand: W. Lees 152 (1976-77)
Highest individual innings for Pakistan: Javed Miandad 206 (1976-77)

Two newcomers, Brendon Donkers and Andrew Ellis have been named in the 14 from whom the Canterbury squad will be named for the first two State Championship matches.Donkers is a medium-pace bowler, who has represented New Zealand at indoor cricket as recently as this year’s World Cup in Wellington while Ellis is a fast-medium bowler.Missing from the team from last year is promising batsman Shanan Stewart.Canterbury’s opening match is against Otago at Carisbrook on November 29-December 2 and the second match is against Northern Districts from December 5-8 at Rangiora.Rain may have obliterated any chance Canterbury’s selectors, Craig Thiele (convener), Graeme Kench and Michael Sharpe had of assessing their top players, but they are confident they have selected the strongest squad available.The final twelve will be named on Tuesday at 5pm.The Canterbury Wizards Squad is:Gary Stead (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Wade Cornelius, Brendon Donkers, Andrew Ellis, Chris Harris, Gareth Hopkins, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Michael Papps, Paul Wiseman, Warren Wisneski.

India found themselves immediately enmeshed in Kensington Oval’s age-old jinx on the opening day of the third Test against the West Indies yesterday.On the ground where they have been beaten in six of their seven Tests and never won a match of any kind, they lost a wicket off the first ball of the match after they were sent in, had the trauma of Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal for his second successive 0 of the series and were all out for 102 in 33.4 overs, broken into three parts by rain interruptions.By the close, called 19.3 overs before schedule as the day’s fourth shower swept in from the east, the West Indies had replied with 33 for the loss of Stuart Williams, whose edged drive off left-armer Zaheer Khan was neatly taken at third slip.With the use of the pitch over the next two days when it is usually at its most favourable for batting, they have a golden opportunity to press for the victory that would even the series, following their loss by 37 runs in the hard-fought second Test last week.Captain Saurav Ganguly was the only exception to India’s pathetic performance against four fast bowlers on a pitch faster and bouncier than those for the drawn first Test in Georgetown and for the second in Port-of-Spain that they won by 37 runs but far from intimidating.The collective malfunction was induced not so much by the conditions or by the bowling, as spirited as it was, but by history.Since their first tour of the Caribbean 49 years ago, Kensington has been to India what Waterloo was to Napoleon. Their key batsmen yesterday – Tendulkar, Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman – brought unhappy memories of their last Test at the prestigious venue when a seemingly simple winning target of 120 proved beyond them as they folded for 81.As captain, Ganguly spent just over two untroubled hours between the showers setting an example his partners had neither the inclination nor the technique to follow against four fast bowlers who could keep fresh between the weather breaks.He compiled 48 before he was last out to Merv Dillon’s sensational, tumbling catch in front of the disbelieving Three Ws Stand on the boundary’s edge at third man off a raised cut off the energetic Adam Sanford.Yet even he had a hand in the breakdown for he was culpable in the run out of Dravid for 17, just n From Page 47.when the two were easing the shock of Tendulkar’s rare failure.India made only one change to their winning 11 from Port-of-Spain, the slim right-hander Wasim Jaffer brought in for his third Test as the third opening partner for Shiv Sunder Das in the series.But the diminutive Das was the immediate victim, like Tendulkar later, for his second successive duck in the series. Tardy in defence, he was bowled middle-stump by Dillon’s on-target first delivery.It was a start that would have set off alarm bells in an Indian dressing room already suspicious of Kensington’s bogey. The position never got much better.In the seventh over, Jaffer, feet static, edged Dillon for reinstated wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, back where he belongs, to snare a sharp catch to his right.Three balls later, the 8 000 or so in the stands reacted as if Owen Arthur had just abolished all taxes as Tendulkar sparred at left-armer Pedro Collins’ second ball, angled across him, and Jacobs jubilantly claimed the deflection.Out fourth ball in his previous innings in the second Test, it was the first time India’s cricketing god had recorded successive 0s in his 94 Tests.Dravid began scratchily with an edge off Dillon that flew through vacant fourth on its way to the third man boundary.But he is India’s most solid batsman, Tendulkar not necessarily excluded, and he and the impressive Ganguly were steadying things when Ganguly pushed Cameron Cuffy to Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s left at cover.He initially summoned his partner for the run but then changed his call. Dravid skidded to a halt, spun around as quickly and nimbly as the quickest ZR but Chanderpaul’s return and Cuffy’s neat, low take before breaking the stumps were too swift.Umpire Billy Doctrove’s verdict on the television replay took ages but was inevitable.Ganguly found himself left with a tailend that begins with the little wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra at No.7 and the four bowlers when Cuffy, operating from the north after his opening burst from the south, produced a sharp breakback in the next over to breach Laxman’s loose drive and hit the off-stump.He was then 19 and was responsible for 29 of the 51 runs added before it was all over.Ratra gained a stay of execution through Hooper’s miss of a low chance at second slip off Cuffy and an hour-long rain stoppage. Ten minutes into the resumption, he predictably edged again and Jacobs gobbled the catch off Dillon.Sanford then restored some of the public’s vanishing faith in West Indian bowlers to bounce out batsmen – even if they were inadequate tailenders.Harbahajan Singh hooked into fine-leg’s lap in a replay of Port-of-Spain and Zaheer Khan stabbed a catch to short-leg as if shaking off a centipede.By this time, Ganguly realised he didn’t have long to do what he had to do and improvised two astonishing shots off successive balls from Dillon.Charging down the pitch, he slapped a four that whizzed to the extra-cover wall in front of the Kensington Stand and then hoisted the fast bowler on top of the Pickwick Pavilion’s roof.They were to be the last flickers of life in the dying innings.Dillon disposed of Srinath, lbw right after the late tea interval, and then hung on to his breathtaking catch off Ganguly to round off quite a day for himself – and for the team.Now it’s up to the batsmen to make the most of the effort.