Wellington and Hutt Valley women’s teams are to compete in a district competition with Central Districts sides Taranaki, Wairarapa, Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay in a bid to lift their hopes in the State Insurance Cup later in the summer.The competition will be held this month and next, and will be continued in February after the national competition has ended.Two teams have been named by Cricket Wellington for a trial match on Sunday, November 11, at Anderson Park, starting at 11am.The teams are:Team One: Anna O’Leary (captain), Katrina Arnold, Amanda Cooper, Susan Evason, Amanda Green, Faele O’Connor, Jenifer Patterson, Asmita Rama, Sian Ruck, Megan Tuapawa, Pam Yates.Team Two: Anna Corbin (captain), Sarah Bradbury, Olivia Bupha-Intr, Laura Burns, Belinda Clifton, Emma McDonald, Philly Gordon, Jane Hunter-Siu, Claire Hutton, Frances King, Megan Wakefield.

Auckland has not been shy in boosting its promising youth players straight into the hurly-burly of the State championship which starts next Monday.Four young players, Nick Horsley, Sam Whiteman and Reece Young who attended the New Zealand Cricket Academy this year, and New Zealand Cricket’s young player to Lord’s this year Rob Nicol, have been named in the side which will field seven players with international experience.Not considered for selection were CLEAR Black Caps in Australia Adam Parore, Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent, and the injured Dion Nash.State Auckland’s opening game in the State championship is against the State Central Districts side on Eden Park’s Outer Oval starting on Monday.The squad is: Andre Adams (Grafton United), Aaron Barnes (Cornwall), Tama Canning (Suburbs New Lynn), Chris Drum (Birkenhead), Mark Haslam (East Coast Bays), Matt Horne (Grafton United), Nick Horsley (Parnell), Llorne Howell (East Coast Bays), Tim McIntosh (Parnell), Kyle Mills (Howick Pakuranga), Richard Morgan (Cornwall), Rob Nicol (Cornwall), Richard Pudney (Grafton United), Brooke Walker (captain – Howick Pakuranga), Sam Whiteman (Howick Pakuranga), Reece Young (Suburbs New Lynn).The Auckland A squad to contest the Provincial ‘A’ Team Competition from December 2001 to January 2002 is: Gene Andrews (North Shore), Scott Barnes (Howick Pakuranga), Hamish Barton (Parnell), Terry Crabb (Birkenhead), Guy Coleman (Grafton United), Michael Hendry (East Coast Bays), Nick Jury (Grafton United), Brad Nielsen (Howick Pakuranga), Stephen Pearson (Waitakere), Akshay Reddy (Parnell), Gareth Shaw (Papatoetoe), Tane Topia (Grafton United).

Kent have announced the signing of former Middlesex fast bowler Jamie Hewitt on a two-year contract.Hewitt made his debut for Middlesex in 1995 and was awarded his county cap three years later. The 25 year-old commented: “I am delighted to be given an opportunity to join Kent and very much look forward to playing a full part in the Club’s future.”Kent’s Chief Executive, Paul Millman, said: “Jamie playing for Kent is an exciting prospect. He has bowled at the highest level and we very much hope that having him with us as support for our existing attack will do much to ensure that our bowling resource can remain competitive through what promises to be a tough season.”Hewitt was released by Middlesex after a disappointing season in which he only appeared in four first-class matches, taking ten wickets at over 38 runs a time.

The drawn Test match in India prompted a lot of discussion amongst my friends and family and I am sure it did with you as well. So, this week we will have more of an international flavour as I try to give some insight into a captain’s dilemma regarding declarations.The timing of the declaration is key and there are several points you take into consideration. Enough time to bowl the opposition out is a major factor and although we gave ourselves a day and a bit, it is not nearly enough on a benign surface. Here lies another dilemma because if the pitch is still good for batting, it means you must set a very challenging total to avoid losing comfortably. This would have been the reasoning behind England’s extended second innings; they could not afford to lose. Very often the best declarations gives the opposition a chance of winning so their approach to batting is different and maybe not as cautious.Hussain also knew it was going to take a huge performance from his bowling unit to level the series so he would have looked at his options. Naturally, spin was going to be his main weapon and he had two in his ranks. Despite Giles’ five-wicket haul in the first innings the jury was still out on whether he could complete the Test with another big workload on the final day. His spinning partner Dawson was in his second Test match and although he has acquitted himself very well so far, he has only been playing first-class cricket for six months.There probably is enough there to make a captain uncertain but just in case there is not, he would have looked at his other options. Hoggard is leading the pace attack and is still very inexperienced particularly on an unresponsive pitch. Flintoff backed him up in a role that is foreign to him. Taking the new ball in international cricket is no easy task. Taking it in India is an unenviable one but taking the new ball with no prior experience is a huge ask for the young Flintoff. The reason Flintoff is there at all is because White is not fully bowling fit. It is enough to cast doubt even over the most adventurous captain.As Hussain pondered over his decision, some statistician would be emphasising how prolific the Indian batmen are on home soil and he would be thinking the series could be lost here and it would not be true reflection on England’s near dominance of the Test. Right, the decision is made. We will try to win but we will not give India even an outside chance because we cannot lose.I predicted this and knew that our only chance of winning was to be bowled out cheaply in our second innings leaving India a fairly modest total to chase. They would have been tempted and may have lost their top five in the bid to chase runs. Considering that they might be still 80 runs or so short of their target, I will then back the bowlers to clean up the lower order with some determined and `fired up’ fielders behind them.If the situation occurs again, I am confident that Hussain will be more adventurous and England will go all out to square the series. The difference is that England can afford to risk losing in an attempt to win.

Peter Anderson was back at his desk at the County Ground on Friday morning after attending a meeting in London on Thursday.Acting on behalf of the eighteen first class counties Mr Anderson, along with Stephen Coverdale of Northamptonshire and David Collier from Nottinghamshire had met with ECB Chief Executive Tim Lamb.Mr Anderson told me: “The major issue under discussion was how we can arrest what is perceived to be the dumbing down of first class cricket. The first-class counties perceive the problems as twofold. Firstly, central contracts deny local members the opportunity to see top-line players, and secondly in some sections of the press County Championship cricket is seen as inconsequential to international cricket.”The counties are concerned that the number of contracts increases from 12 to 20, and that if England have additional overseas tours which start in early October and end in late March, centrally-contracted players will be unavailable to their counties.”The Somerset Chief Executive continued, “One of the avenues that we are looking at is that an agreement should be struck with the Professional Cricketer’s Association that is under employment law acceptable by Brussels, that eight players qualified for England must be on the pitch at any one time. In effect this would mean that three overseas players could be used by the counties.”One idea that we are starting to talk through is that you could have any number of overseas players on short term contracts who would be available to play during the year as long as there were eight England qualified players on the pitchwe feel that this would make the game more attractive.”Another subject under discussion was the probability of having a wage cap for players salaries.Mr Anderson said: “What is happening at present is that good county players who won’t play for England are being poached by more wealthy counties, and therefore wages are being driven up.”Clubs like Somerset can’t compete in this wage spiral, neither can the game as a whole, so something has to give. The problem at the moment is that county players cannot earn more than the lowest paid England contract players.”This might be all right from the England perspective but it actually restricts counties from being competitive by signing players to fill gaps when they feel that they are going to be weak in their current team.”The Somerset Chief Executive is due to go to London again on January 23rd, to a meeting to discuss the future structure of first class cricket.”We will also be looking to try to rationalise the growing problem of the interface between first class cricket and the recreational game. For instance do we need Second XI, Under-19 and Board XI cricket, and do we need to put so much emphasis on Premier League cricket, all of which costs lots of money?”

McLean Park’s faster pace and superior bounce may well see the bouncer become a significant factor for the first time in the National Bank One-Day International Series when New Zealand meet England in their third match in Napier tomorrow.Conditions in the lead-up to the game have been a welcome change from the rain-affected build-ups in previous games. Both sides have had lengthy practices in the fine and warm conditions.There is also a hard and fast pitch and the new law allowing one bouncer an over could be a factor in the final result of the match.England 2-0 down in the five-game series desperately need a win tomorrow while New Zealand are equally determined to take out the series by completing their third win.At the back of the minds of players in both sides must be the historic point of the last series in New Zealand between the two in 1996/97 when England were 2-0 up and New Zealand came to Napier to tie the match here and then win the last two games to draw the series.New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said: “We’ve enjoyed the three days and in a way it has helped us refocus. If you keep going the way you are going, you sometimes make mistakes and the word complacency comes in.”For three days we have been very thorough to make sure we carry on what we have started.”When it is going well, and it is enjoyable, you don’t want it to stop. That’s certainly the feeling that we have in the camp at the moment,” he said.The pitch tomorrow will decide New Zealand’s final selection but it is most likely that fast man Ian Butler will come into the side. He has been most impressive in the nets and if he can tighten his line in the face of what is certain to be an English assault to unsettle him, he could play a big role in the game.But supplementing him is the new found respect for Andre Adams whose fast bowling was a big factor in New Zealand’s win on Saturday.For England the requirement is survival, especially after the magnitude of their 155-run loss in Wellington on Saturday.Putting that behind them has to be the key to their hopes.They certainly need Marcus Trescothick to get among the runs, and to see Nick Knight, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe give the side a high-scoring start to give them their best chance, whether batting first or chasing.Fleming said: “We obviously want to win every game we play in our home country.”Naturally we expect them to come back stronger, we would be foolish if we didn’t.”And the guys feel the same way which is often a good gauge to how much, not of motivation, but how much they are looking forward to the remainder of the series. That is the way we have been training and the way we are looking forward to the next three games,” he said.”We want to win the series and if we can win it tomorrow it will be great and then we can look forward to bigger possibilities, but the series is first and foremost.”It’s an oiling process as time ticks by where we are down the track to where we want to be for South Africa and it’s just a case of working with what we’ve got or giving guys more experience.”The Napier ground was, for a long time, New Zealand’s most successful ODI venue but some recent results have not been so impressive. The side want to rebuild their successful record at the ground.”It is quite a unique ground with its size and quite a good atmosphere. We do enjoy playing here, it’s traditionally been a pretty good wicket and with those square boundaries you get a good amount of runs as well.”We had a very proud record before the last couple of years and we’re looking forward to getting that back,” he said.

New Zealand’s stature on the world cricket stage continues to rise after Daryl Tuffey broke into the top 10 on the PricewaterhouseCoopers rankings after the second Test victory in Hamilton.Having twice dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in the Test and ending with eight for 53, he shot ahead of Shane Bond into ninth position on the ladder.Bond slipped down to 12th, two ahead of injured all-rounder Chris Cairns.Since the PwC rankings, or the Deloittes rating as they were originally known when developed in the late-1980s, this represents one of the more encouraging developments in the New Zealand game.Sir Richard Hadlee was always a top-ranked bowler, and in his prime he had close support from Ewen Chatfield and John Bracewell. But with New Zealand holding its third placing on the International Cricket Council Test Championship ladder, it is growing confirmation of the improved health and resources of the New Zealand game.Not since Hadlee, and several players who had been a vital part of the New Zealand game, retired in 1990 has there been the strength and depth to the national side that is reflected at the moment.

To say that cricket in this country tends to be a bit wary of change is to make one of the great understatements of all time. However, from the organisation of the national team down to grass roots level, changes are being made. One of the most radical is taking place on the south coast, where Hampshire are in the process of launching a public offer for investment in the company that operates its new ground – the Hampshire Rose Bowl.Chief executive Graham Walker feels that the investment opportunity will appeal to a wide spectrum from the hard-nosed businessman to the Hampshire cricket enthusiast who wants to take an active role in helping the club achieve it’s ambitions.”We know from talking to our own members that there is a significant level of interest in investing in the club,” he said. “Each of our existing 4,839 members is now a shareholder, but there is a preparedness by both existing members and potentially new members to become significant investors in the business going forward.”The actual investment will be in Rose Bowl PLC, of which Hampshire cricket is but one part. The business is more than just cricket, however. It includes the golf course, driving range, fitness centre, as well as a hospitality and outdoor event catering business which has just been acquired. The whole site consists of 150 acres, with some 40 acres available for additional commercial development, so it does have prospects.Walker is not looking for a bit of loose change here. “We’re hoping to raise £5 million, with a minimum of £2.4 million. We obviously did this after a great deal of consideration and we think it is the way forward. It allows us to accelerate our plans in terms of the development of the site as an international venue, and allows us to finish the job.”When the time is right, the company is likely to be floated. That will be a first for cricket, for although Durham formed as a limited company, like Hampshire, they are essentially a cricket club whereas Rose Bowl PLC will offer a much wider portfolio of interests. They are talking about a major leisure and entertainment venue with many attendant opportunities at the one venue.”Rose Bowl is more robust from that point of view, with the catering interest as well. That has already written a million pounds worth of business outside of the Rose Bowl complex at places like the Southampton Boat Show, polo at Windsor, rugby at Twickenham where we provide catering services.”One thing investors will be interested in as the background of those involved, and Walker is proud of a c.v. that includes ten years running the commercial marketing operation with the Football League, and more recently chief executive of Sale Sharks – the rugby club that he sold to new investors, and was commercial marketing director of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. So he is not exactly wanting in a track record.Coupled with chairman Rod Bransgrove’s successful business background, everything appears to be in place to give the project a good start. Certainly the confidence is there, and there is no consideration of failure. It is just that the success of this public offer will determine the pace at which the Rose Bowl project can be completed. Not whether it will or it won’t be completed, just when. It is the sort of confidence that should rub off on English cricket as a whole.The offer opens at 10 am on Monday, 4th March and is open until 31st March. For a prospectus and further details, contact Graham Walker at The Hampshire Rose Bowl, Botley Road, West End, Southampton SO30 3XH or telephone 023 8047 2002.

It was a full day of absorbing Test cricket at Newlands after South Africa declared at tea on a daunting 620 for seven, and Pakistan fought back to end on 141 for 1.Play began five minutes early to make up for the over lost last night after 70 minutes of overtime, with the home side on 445 for 3 looking to get some quick runs.That was not to be, as the Pakistani fast bowlers bowled on a line and length to slow the scoring down, picking up wickets at regular intervals.Mohammad Sami was the first to strike, forcing Jacques Kallis to go back to one that nipped in from the off to be adjudged lbw in the 6th over of the morning. South Africa were 463 for 4.Neil McKenzie joined Boeta Dippenaar and they batted on carefully, hitting the bad balls. After 100 overs, with Saqlain brought on for the first time, the pair had taken the home side to 476/4.In the 106th over the South Africa 500 came up as McKenzie steered Waqar to fine leg. For the 108th over Waqar took himself off after bowling unchanged all morning, and tossed the ball back to Sami to bowl with Saqlain from the Kelvin Grove End.Waqar rotated his four-man attack well, and the feature for Pakistan was the return to form of Mohammad Zahid.Just before lunch there was some drama when Saqlain Mushtaq got a ball to straighten and all the Pakistan close fielders went up for what looked a certain lbw, but the umpire thought otherwise.Lunch was taken at 531 for four, and in the hour afterwards South Africa scored steadily. The sun came out as McKenzie reached his 50, but Zahid tucked him up getting one to straighten in the 122nd over and he edged it off the face of the bat to the keeper. The partnership had added 85, and everyone was expecting some quick runs from Boucher.Zahid beat him a few times but it was Saqlain who got him, as he went for a huge slog sweep that missed and the ball hit leg stump. Saqlain added Dippenaar’s wicket when he top edged a pull for Kamran Akmal to take it easily, running to short mid-wicket, and South Africa were seven down for 594.Skipper Pollock came in with all expectations for quick runs and a possible declaration at tea. He did not disappoint, and at 620/7 decided to forget getting to a record 622 and declared, wanting to bowl at Pakistan for about 15 minutes. Saqlain had taken three wickets but gave away 237 runs in his 50 overs. Interestingly Mohammad Zahid came good for 2 wickets in 25 overs.South Africa’s score was the joint 3rd highest in a Test Match, only two runs short of their 622 for nine declared against Australia at Durban in 1969/70, four off the 621 for five declared against New Zealand at Auckland in 1998/99, and equal to the 620 all out against Australia at Johannesburg in 1966/67.After tea Taufeeq Umar and Saleem Elahi came out to face Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini. The wicket played straight, and saw out 12 overs playing slowly and carefully.Then in the 13th over Pollock got some extra bounce on off stump and Saleem Elahi was not good enough to cope, steering a catch to Smith in the slips with the score on 36.Younis Khan joined Taufeeq, who took charge with several good looking drives, reaching his fifty in the 22nd over pulling a short one from Kallis. A good knock in 98 minutes laced with 8 fours.Taufeeq and Younis Khan batted out the day to set up a record 105 second-wicket partnership for Pakistan against South Africa, beating the 101 set by Saeed Anwar & Aamer Sohail at Durban in 1997/98. They are still there for tomorrow.Ntini and Pollock bowled well with support from Kallis and Boje. The crowd must have enjoyed the cricket, and at the close after 45 overs Pakistan trail by 479 with 9 wickets in hand.Their chances of saving this Test hinge on the morning session, and centuries are required from their middle order. Taufeeq remains on 85 (129 balls, 13 fours, one six) and Younis Khan on 44 (102 balls five fours).

Sir Vivian Richards, Ambassador Courtney Walsh, Clive Lloyd, Deryck Murray, the late Malcolm Marshall, and Andy Roberts, all former West Indies stars, will have their names attached to the individual incentive awards for the Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series."We are very honoured and greatly indebted that everyone has consented to the use of their names on the awards, and in the case of the late Malcolm Marshall that his widow, Connie, also agreed," remarked Darren Millien, Manager of Events, Promotions and Information Technology at the West Indies Cricket Board."As in the previous two years, prizes for the Caribbean teams should provide the impetus and incentive to become the Carib Beer Cup winners and the Carib Beer International Challenge champions."To create this incentive, trophies and cash will be awarded to individual players for outstanding performances as the WICB is most anxious to make a real success of the Championship."The Top Caribbean Batsman will now win the Sir Vivian Richards Award, the Top Caribbean Bowler will get the Courtney Walsh Award, the Top Caribbean Wicketkeeper will receive the Deryck Murray Award, the Top Caribbean Fielder takes the Clive Lloyd Award, and the Top Caribbean All-rounder will win the Malcolm Marshall Award.All the winners of these individual prizes will receive US $1,500, while the Most Promising Fast Bowler will receive the Andy Roberts Award and pocket US $1,000.The Man-of-the-Match in each of the matches will receive US $150 and medallion.The Carib Beer International Challenge champions will take home US $10,000, and the Carib Beer Cup winners will bag US $7,500.This year, Carib Beer reached a five-year sponsorship agreement with the WICB to become the Title Sponsor of the West Indies four-day, first-class championship. It has now been renamed the Carib Beer 2003 Cricket Series.