THE Western Australian Cricket Association is pleased to announce the AWB WA Country XI squad for the forthcoming Australian Country Cricket Championships.The ACCC are being held in Bundaberg from the 5th to the 16th of January 2003.The squad is:
Glen Dehring (Capt) – Bunbury
Brendon King (Vice capt) – Moora
Dale Burns (Deputy Vice Capt) – Mandurah
Zane Arthur – Kalgoorlie
Clinton Bee – Geraldton
Leigh Burns – Mandurah
Chris D’mello – Geraldton
Doug Ellis – Katanning
Martin Head – Margaret River
Lee Souness – Dunsborough
Craig Tonkin – Albany
Chris Waddingham – Bunbury
Tony Warren – Williams
Unofficial standby:
Kris Elliot – WyalkatchemThe AWB WA Country XI squad was picked from the men who competed in the Don’t Drink and Drive Shield, the WACA’s premier one-day competition.The AWB WA Country XI finished second in their group after the qualifying rounds to qualify for the quarter-finals.They take on Scarborough at Abbett Park in January when they return from the ACCC.In last year’s ACCC, held in Victoria, the AWB WA Country XI lost its opening three matches to the Victorian, Queensland and New South Wales Country XI’s before storming home to beat South Australia and the ACT.Players expected to do well based on current form and their performances in last year’s championship include batsmen Tony Warren and all-rounder Craig Tonkin.Tonkin and batsman Leigh Burns were selected in the All Australian Country Side at the completion of last year’s championships.AWB WA Country XI captain Glen Dehring believes his team is a chance through its blend of youth and experience.”It’s pretty exciting actually, we’ve got some new young guys so with their youth and the experience of the older guys we should do all right,” the veteran said. “You have to be realistic but we’re a reasonable chance.”This is Dehring’s seventh year in the ACCC. He was a member of the team which won the ACCC in 1997-98 – Dale Burns, Leigh Burns and Tony Warren are the only remaining members of that champion team.Chris D’mello started the season in the Country Colts side but his superb batting performances saw him elevated to the senior team after two games.

As if India’s draw in the World Cup is not challenging enough initself, a couple of veteran players are on the verge ofretirement, their powers waning with every passing series. Butthe one aspect that is sure to generate huge interest when thetournament hits Africa in February and March is the charge of theyouth brigade. In fact, even across the spectrum of teams, thepast year has seen an almost unprecedented rise of youngcricketers surging to the front-lines of battle.Starting with India, there is little need to look further thanthe cornerstone of their recent limited-overs success ­ both homeand away. Even as the side struggled to come to grips with theloss of strength in the bowling department, skipper SouravGanguly and coach John Wright pegged their hopes on the battingand fielding departments. The mantra for success was heard overand over again ­ save runs on the field and run between wicketslike hares.

Few put this theory into practice better than the duo of YuvrajSingh and Mohammad Kaif. With Rahul Dravid keeping wicket, Indiawere able to pack the side with batsmen, but they still needed tobe especially sharp in the field. This was where the naturalathleticism of Yuvraj and Kaif came to the fore. Who can forgetthe way India edged past South Africa in the Champions Trophyalmost solely on the brilliance of Yuvraj Singh? Plucking catchesout of thin air in crucial positions close to the wicket, Yuvrajmade sure that South Africa were under pressure at all times.And, of course, possibly India’s greatest triumph of the year ­the NatWest series triumph – was engineered by the franticrunning between the wickets of Kaif.But that’s not all. Two other pillars of India’s success ­ ZaheerKhan and Virender Sehwag – truly came of age in 2002. WhileSehwag has stolen many hearts with his dashing brand of battingat the top of the order, few will disagree that Zaheer’s fire inthe belly has propelled him into the role of spearhead of thebowling attack. For this pair, like Yuvraj and Kaif, theforthcoming World Cup will be their first.And what an arena! Every cricketer, let alone the young, dreamsof doing well in the World Cup, and India will be particularlymotivated after their dismal tour of New Zealand. But India, evenwith their success, is not the only team that has turned to youthto bolster their sagging fortunes.Australia, easily the front-runners to walk away victorious forthe second time in a row, have shifted their policy fromexperience to youth in a systematic manner. Legends like SteveWaugh find themselves out in the cold as Australia search for ayoung all-rounder to take them forward.

Australia’s oldest enemy, England, have traditionally been theslowest to move their feet when it comes to accepting change.Even they, however, have had to rethink their strategies, backingup experience with the precocious enthusiasm of youth. The latestentrant to the side, 20-year-old James Anderson, impressed withhis nippy bowling in the VB Triangular Series in Australia. WithDarren Gough a constant injury concern and Andy Caddick losingpace by the day, Anderson will have to put his hand up and becounted if England are to go far on the seamer-friendly SouthAfrican wickets.In sharp contrast to England, Pakistan have always believed inthrowing the cricketers into the deep end when they barely knowhow to swim. It was under pressure in the 1992 World Cup thatPakistan threw up the talent of Inzamam ul-Haq, and in 2003, itwill be the left-hander Taufeeq Umar to carry the burden ofexpectation. A responsible batsman at the top of the order, Umarwill have the unenviable task of lending solidity to a brittlebatting line-up that can be as shaky as it can be brilliant.Competing almost directly with Umar is his Sri Lankancounterpart, Jehan Mubarak. Only 21, Mubarak was born inWashington but schooled in the privileged bastion of Sri Lanka’seducational system, Royal College, where he was a highly talentedall-round sportsman. After choosing to stick with cricket, thetall but elegant left-hander has fast made a name for himself asa batsman of high promise. In a team that has explosive yetunorthodox batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya and AvishkaGunawardena, Mubarak comes as a whiff of fresh air.

Last, and certainly not least, come the men from the Caribbean.Having recently beaten India 4-3 in an action-packed one-dayseries, the West Indies discovered the strength of its youth.While Chris Gayle’s wanton hitting at the top of the order wascertainly the one aspect that stole the show, there were twoother youngsters whose roles will be crucial in the World Cup.Ramnaresh Sarwan looks cool, composed and all class when he isout in the middle. He has the ability to pace himself and stay atthe wicket long ­ something that the West Indies has alwayslacked. And then there’s Jermaine Lawson; with pace, strength anda force of character, Lawson blew away the much-vaunted Indiantop-order with a spell of fast bowling that conjured up visionsof the West Indians teams of old.With conditions playing a large part, it will be adaptabilitythat wins the day. While experience has its obvious advantages,there’s a certain freshness and enthusiasm that only comes fromyouth. and the drive, the passion to go the extra mile and edgesomeone else out, is where the rookie looms large. The World Cupwill separate the men from the boys; only, the boys may come outon top with the men stopped dead in their tracks.

Australian cricketing icon Bob Simpson will be the guest speaker at Otago Cricket’s annual dinner in mid-April.Simpson played 62 Tests for Australia in a career which spanned two distinct eras. After appearing on 52 occasions between 1957/58 and 1967/68, Simpson came out of retirement a decade later at the age of 41 to lead Australia to series wins over India and the West Indies.His recall was forced by the advent of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket which split the Australian game in two. Simpson scored the last of his 10 Test centuries in the fifth and final Test of the home series against in India at Adelaide in 1977/78, a score pivotal to Australia taking the Test and the series 3-2.Simpson’s first century was his highest, 311 against England in the fourth Test of the 1964 Ashes series in Manchester, and he is just one of four Australian players to score a triple-century at Test level. Don Bradman (twice), Bob Cowper and Mark Taylor are the others.In his 62 matches Simpson scored 4869 runs at an average of 46.81, he recorded 27 50s to compliment his 10 centuries, took 71 wickets and snared 110 catches.After retiring a second time Simpson coached New South Wales before embarking on a spectacularly successful decade as Australian coach before taking his talents offshore. He is still involved in coaching today.Otago Cricket’s event manager Steve Davie says it is especially fitting to have Simpson involved in this year’s dinner with the function to be held in honour of the elite ‘300 Club’.There are just five members of this club – being New Zealand batsmen who have scored 300-plus runs in an innings, either for their province or for New Zealand. All five were Otago representatives at the time of their feat, creating an exclusive and unique group.The five are Roger Blunt (338* for Otago v Canterbury in 1931/32), Bert Sutcliffe (385 for Otago v Canterbury in 1952/53 and 355 for Otago v Auckland in 1949/50), Glenn Turner (311* for Worcestershire v Warwickshire in 1982 – that score also registering his 100th first-class century), Ken Rutherford (317 for New Zealand v DB Close XI in 1986) and Mark Richardson (306 for New Zealand v Zimbabwe ‘A’ in 2000/01).”It will be a fitting tribute to our players to have one of Australia’s greatest and world’s best players present to celebrate this special occasion,” Davie told CricInfo.”With Bob Simpson himself scoring a triple century his presence will cap the evening superbly.”Part of the dinner will comprise the presentation of Test Black Caps to Turner, Rutherford and Richardson and to the families of Blunt and Sutcliffe. Iain Gallaway, the doyen of radio broadcasters in this country and a recent president of New Zealand Cricket, will be one of the evening’s special hosts as will Jeremy Coney.A book, written by CricInfo editor Lynn McConnell, honouring the exploits of the five ‘300 Club’ members will be launched at the dinner.

Following the announcement last week that Sir Vivian Richards would be making an appearance at the County Ground for Lashings C.C. later this summer, Somerset have been inundated with enquiries regarding tickets.The match against Lashings C.C. will take place on Monday July 21st starting at 1pm, and is certain to be one of the highlights of the Somerset County Cricket Club Appeal Year.In response to the early interest in the return of Sir Viv to the club where he started his career, Somerset have announced that the match will be all ticket, and that everybody will pay.Admission for non-members will be £10 for adults and £5 for juniors under the age of 16, whilst admission for members will be £5 and £2 for juniors.Tickets can be purchased on the gate on the day of the match, but they can also be purchased in advance by calling in person at the Main Office in the Colin Atkinson Pavilion at the County Ground which will be open Monday to Friday between 9.00 a.m.and 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m., or by telephoning on 01823 272946 with a credit card.Tickets purchased in advanced however are non refundable.The Appeal Year Opening Lunch will take place on Friday April 4th at the County Ground when former Somerset player Roy Palmer, who is now a First Class umpire, will be the guest speaker.Tickets for the lunch are priced at £27.50 and are available from Robert Appleyard, telephone number 01225 313906.

WEST INDIES "B" may be languishing rock bottom of the Carib Beer Series standings, but team coach Roddy Estwick is heartened by some of the emerging talent among the region’s territorial reserves.As the competition enters the final round of preliminary matches, the West Indies Under-23s have no chance of reaching the semifinals of the International Challenge, even if they beat newly-crowed Cup champions Barbados.They have lost three matches and drawn the other two but their six points might not be an accurate reflection of the quality of cricket they have displayed."There are a lot of encouraging signs. Most of the players have made contributions," Estwick told WEEKENDSPORT yesterday. "They are working hard, and the experience of having played first-class cricket is going to serve them in good stead."His major disappointment was the inability of the youngsters to press for victories when they were in positions to do so."I don’t think the boys are strong enough to bowl consistently well for two innings. That has been a disappointment, but hopefully, they can learn from this," he said. "They can go back to the drawing board and work on the areas of trying to get fitter and stronger."Estwick, a first-time West Indies "B" coach who is cricket master at Combermere School, identified Trinidad batsman Aneil Kanhai, Guyanese Narsingh Deonarine, Jamaican Carlton Baugh and Barbadian Jason Bennett as the players who have made the most strides."They performed well, but we didn’t perform well as a unit," the coach said. "We had good individual performances. We are working on it. We are trying to get them to be consistent; but at that age, consistency is the biggest problem."Kanhai, a tall, left-handed attacking batsman, has scored 397 runs (ave. 44.11) and is one of only two players in the competition with two centuries, while Deonarine, another left-hander who captained the West Indies Under-19 team at last year’s Youth World Cup in New Zealand, has 328 runs (ave. 36.44).Wicket-keeper Baugh has commanded the most attention because of his consistency in front of the stumps. He has five half-centuries in an aggregate of 370 runs (ave. 41.11) and some are even labelling him as a contender for imminent West Indies selection."I’m not prepared to go that far, but from what I’ve seen, he looks to be one of the better ‘keepers in the Caribbean," Estwick said. "If he keeps improving on his batting, I don’t see why in the near future he shouldn’t be playing."This is the third season the West Indies "B" have been playing at this level, but it is the first time one of the Under-23s has been asked to captain the side with a view to developing leaders for the future and the job was given to Kittitian opening batsman Shane Jeffers."He is doing a good job. He is making one or two mistakes, but we sit down after the game and we have a chat with him. We try to discuss the areas that he can improve on," Estwick said."We are allowing him to have his head and go out there and make decisions. All the time, you can see improvements."Bennett has been the most impressive of the three Barbadians, capturing 17 wickets in four matches after missing the team’s first game."He’s been a success. He has probably been our best bowler in the last three or four games," Estwick said. "He has bowled with a lot of control and he is moving the old ball around."Fellow Barbadians, Patrick Browne and Martin Nurse have had mixed returns.Teenager Nurse, who played two matches for Barbados last season, was dropped from the West Indies "B" after three matches in which he managed only 83 runs (ave. 13.83)."Martin has been a little disappointing. He is working hard at his game," Estwick said. "He is trying to improve all the time. People tend to forget he is only 17. He’s still learning the art of first-class cricket."Since replacing Nurse at the top of the order, Browne has had a few useful scores on the way to 251 runs (ave. 25.10) in his second successive season in West Indies "B".

Australian all rounder, Greg Blewett, is set to join Kent as stand-in for Andrew Symonds for the first six weeks of the season.Symonds, Kent’s overseas player for the last two years, is currently playing a series of matches for Australia "A" against South Africa "A" and is expected to be selected shortly as a member of Australia’s One Day Squad to play against the West Indies in May.Ian Brayshaw, Kent’s Director of Cricket, explained the situation:

Blewett, who is currently in St Lucia representing Australia in an international double-wicket tournament, will arrive in England next week in time for the Club’s opening match against Cambridge University on 18 April.Blewett said:

Blewett is 31. He made his Test debut for Australia in 1994, has played 46 Tests and 32 One Day Internationals for his country. He played for Yorkshire in 1999 and experienced an outstanding season with Nottinghamshire in 2001.

Marvan Atapattu has been retained as Sri Lanka’s captain for thethree-match one-day international series in the West Indies, despite failing to take Sri Lanka to the final of the recent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.Sri Lanka’s early knockout ended a five-year run in which they won every one-day series and tournament at home, but the four-man selection panel refused to hold Atapattu accountable, blaming the top-order batting instead. “You can’t judge a man on one series alone,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors. “It was the batting that lost us the trophy. The top order just needs to regain its form.”The selectors, though, have lost their patience with Russel Arnold, whoscored 13 in Sri Lanka’s opening match before ferrying the drinks for the remainder of the tournament. “Russel [Arnold] has been struggling for his form and we decided that it is best for him to regain it before returning to the national side,” said Kaluperuma. “He will play in a three-day practice game next week and if he scores he will be considered for the Test team.”Naveed Nawaz, a 29-year-old left-hander who played the last of his three one-day internationals against India at The Oval in 2002, replaces Arnold. Dinusha Fernando, a 23-year-old uncapped swing bowler, replaces Kaushalya Weeraratne, who played just one game in the recent tri-series.Dilhara Fernando was not considered for selection after failing to recover from a lower-back injury, although the selectors hope that he will have regained his fitness in time for the Test series.Sri Lanka are due to play three one-day internationals, starting on June 7 in Barbados, followed by two Test matches. The squad for the Test series will be announced late next week.Squad
Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, MahelaJayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan,Naveed Nawaz, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, PrabathNissanka, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan,Dinusha Fernando.

Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, Quarter-finals

Derbyshire 271 (Kaif 81) beat Surrey 134 (Welch 4-26) by 137 runs at Derby
Scorecard
Surrey’s proud unbeaten record in all competitions came to a grinding halt as Derbyshire won an astonishingly one-sided quarter-final by 137 runs. Mohammad Kaif marked his C&G debut with an excellent 81 from 85 balls to set a tough target of 272, but by the time Dominic Cork and Kevin Dean had reduced Surrey to 26 for 4 in their reply, Derbyshire were screeching towards the semis. Cork had been an uncertain starter due to an Achilles injury, but he confirmed his fitness with a brace of first-ball ducks – Alistair Brown, bowled in Cork’s very first over, and Rikki Clarke lbw after Dean had removed Ian Ward and Mark Ramprakash. Everything was riding on a burgeoning partnership between Graham Thorpe and Adam Hollioake, but Thorpe was caught by Luke Sutton for 37, the first of four victims for Graeme Welch, and the end came swiftly. Surrey’s eventual total of 134 wasn’t even half that of Derbyshire’s.Worcestershire 216 for 8 (Anurag 74) beat Leicestershire 141 (Harrity 3-23) by 75 runs
Scorecard
After enjoying the upper hand for much of yesterday’s play, Leicestershire were caught cold on the resumption of their rain-interrupted quarter-final at Grace Road, as Mark Harrity and Matt Mason took three wickets each on a slow seamer. Leicestershire resumed on their overnight 5 for 0, but immediately lost Virender Sehwag for 2 and never recovered. They stumbled to 60 for 6 in pursuit of Worcestershire’s 216 for 8, and only a desperate rearguard from Phil DeFreitas and Charlie Dagnall enabled them to reach the relative prosperity of 141.
Click here for full bulletin

Gloucestershire 206 for 5 (Weston 88*) beat Warwickshire 204 (Knight 88, Harvey 5-23) at Edgbaston
Scorecard
Gloucestershire once again demonstrated their one-day pedigree, as Ian Harvey and Robin Weston led the way in a comprehensive five-wicket victory over Warwickshire. Harvey, back in harness after Australia’s tour of the Caribbean, picked up 5 for 23 in a typically canny display of medium-paced trickery. His opening spell left Warwickshire floundering at 30 for 3, although their hopes were quickly raised by England one-day batsmen past and present, Nick Knight and Jim Troughton, who added 92 for the fourth wicket. But Troughton was eventually pegged lbw by Neil Smith for 52, and when Knight fell for an unusually subdued 88 (190 for 6), Harvey returned to mop up the tail in double-quick time. Waqar Younis prevented Craig Spearman from repeating his heroics in the National League, but Weston played the perfect anchor role with an unbeaten 88 as a succession of Gloucestershire cameos heaved them to victory with nine overs to spare.Lancashire 254 (Loye 74) beat Middlesex 195 (Martin 4-34) by 57 runs at Old Trafford
Scorecard
Lancashire’s biggest guns – Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Law and Carl Hooper – managed just 49 runs between them, but 74 from Mal Loye and a vicious late assault from Glen Chapple carried Lancashire to a more-than-adequate 254 against Middlesex at Old Trafford. Chapple, who came in at No. 7 and slapped three fours and three sixes in a 25-ball 45 not out, was the eventual difference between the sides. Middlesex were always playing catch-up in their innings, after James Anderson and Peter Martin had reduced them to 22 for 3. Martin went on to take a typically economical 4 for 34 from his ten overs, and despite a brave assault from the tail, Middlesex were unable to recover. None of their batsmen managed more than Andrew Strauss’s 32, although Chad Keegan kept his team’s spirits up with a bold but futile 29 from 20 balls at No. 11.Semi-final draw
Worcestershire v Lancashire at Worcester
Gloucestershire v Derbyshire at Bristol

Dav Whatmore, coach of Bangladesh, has shrugged off Dennis Lillee’s criticism of Bangladesh and its upcoming tour of Australia, saying that it was not thefirst time a new side had struggled to make its presence felt.”It’s been pushed into the background that New Zealand and West Indies took a while to win Test matches,” said Whatmore. “We need to be a little bit careful.And it depends what sort of eyes you are looking through.”Whatmore pointed out that Bangladesh had much passion for the game on its side. “There are 140 million people in Bangladesh. They get their act together and they are going to be a real push for other countries,” he said. “We’ve got the supporter base and the player base. We don’t have to spend a huge amount of money to get kids to play cricket like they do here in Australia.”Asking for patience from the cricket world, Whatmore said: “I have an open mind on this and there’s been a couple of good examples of sides coming into international cricket and having to wait a long time before they had a win.”But he made few concessions for his players, stating that they needed to toughen up to win. “You can imagine if you are one of those poor people there who loves their cricket and you look forward to the team doing well and they don’t – everyone is on a downer,” said Whatmore. “It’s important for countries like Bangladesh for their sporting results to be positive – it just lifts everyone.”

Phil Ransley hit a boundary off the last ball to give improving Burridge a thrilling four-wicket win over Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 rivals Lymington at the Sports Ground.Zimbabwe one-day international medium-pace bowler Gary Brent made his Burridge comeback, but played only a minor role, taking a modest 1-41 off 12 overs and being bowled for 8 by Mike West, who celebrated his first `international’ wicket.Lymington did well to take the match to its last ball as Burridge openers Dave Jackson (97) and Paul Friedrick (53) threatened to overhaul a 208-8 target on their own.Burridge lost five wickets, including that of Brent, before Eugene Burzler began the decisive last over, from which the visitors needed five runs for victory.They suffered a run out off the first ball and scored only one run off the next four deliveries – before Phil Ransley immaculately drove the last ball of the day for four !Lymington, who have lost five of their last six matches, were well served by Ian Young (54), while Ben Craft (28), Glyn Treagus (25), little Matt Malloy (28) and Burzler (22) all made starts before getting out.St Cross Symondians remain 15 points ahead at the top of SPL2 after beating Sparsholt by five wickets at the Norman Edwards Ground.Stuart Charman (5-27) and Richard Boote (2-21) destroyed Sparsholt’s top order, with Ian Stuart (22) providing the only real resistance in a disappointing 99 all out.But St Cross, who host Easton & Martyr Worthy at the Royal Green Jackets ground on Saturday, lost five wickets – three of them to Jez Lawson (3-43) – before Marc Rees guided them through a middle-order collapse.Easton’s top order folded – they were 69-5 at one stage – before Steve Green (36), Francis Gill (28) and Andy Birch (30) got to grips with things against Old Tauntonians & Romsey.Raj Naik, Jeremy Ord (2-25) and Mukesh Morjaria put the screws on Easton before a breezy 32 from Ben Collins lifted the total on to 182-9.OT’s experienced few problems in polishing off the runs – Charles Forward (53), Naik (46) and Jodey Brown being assisted by some errant Easton bowling, which cost 35 wides.Former Hampshire wicketkeeper Ayrian Aymes hit 88 and in-form Paul Edwards an unbeaten 53 as Hursley Park cruised to a seven-wicket win over relegation-bound Purbrook at The Quarters.Only Mike Hennesy (37) and Will Prozesky (31) put up much resistance as Ross Cambray (5-45) and Jez Edmunds (2-36) nailed Purbrook to 186-9.It’s looking odds-on Gosport Borough will accompany Purbrook back to Division 3.Adam Watkins (52) helped Gosport to 103-2, but a middle-order collapse, prompted by Keith Adams (4-43) – saw the Borough plunge to 127-8 before a century stand between Pete Robson (38) and Richard Edwards (45) swelled the total to 227-9.Gary Hounsome (47) and Tom Clarke (35) pointed US to victory, but it needed the experience of Paul Barsby (42) to guide them past the winning post.