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Hampshire have named a strong squad for the semi-final of the 2nd XI Trophy match at Stamford Bridge, near York when they will play Yorkshire on Monday (August 12th).Jason Laney, who was recalled to the first XI for the Championship clash at Old Trafford this week, returns to lead the seconds and takes John Francis, Alex Morris and James Tomlinson from the 12 in Manchester with him.Yorkshire, winners of the North group with four victories and one defeat (three games were abandoned) tackle the South West champions – four wins and two defeats being Hampshire’s record.Uxbridge hosts the other semi-final with Middlesex hosting Kent.Hampshire team: Jason Laney (capt), John Francis, Alex Morris, Lawrence Prittipaul, James Adams, Chris Benham, Iain Brunnschweiler (w-k), James Hamblin, Irfan Shah, James Tomlinson, James Schofield, Ian Hilsum (12th man).

The South Australian Cricket Association today launched a program called’Cricket in the Community: a Social Vision’ to create strongerpartnerships between the State’s 25,000 cricketers and local government.SACA’s State Manager of Cricket and Redbacks Coach Greg Chappelllaunched the campaign today, saying that cricket was undergoingphenomenal growth, especially at junior level.’We’ve seen the number of junior players increase by about 60% in thepast seven years. Whole new clubs and associations are being formedevery season’, Greg said.’Two things come out of that. One is that there’s increasing pressure onthe need for facilities; and the other is that cricket has a grass-rootssocial infrastructure which has the potential to be a valuable asset forlocal government.’The program we are launching today aims at strengthening theunderstanding between cricket and councils. We both have a lot to learnabout each other and we can both benefit from that understanding.’Cricket has an increasing need for facilities; and in return, we canoffer local government a way to connect with the local community.’For example, Councils are, in effect, sponsors of cricket but theyrarely celebrate that sponsorship or use it to reach the local people.’The campaign SACA is launching today will operate at two levels:

• ‘The Association itself will take a leading role by seeking todevelop our relationship with the Local Government Association and theLocal Government Manager’s Association. We want to inform them of thefull impact of cricket, not just as a sport but as an important part ofthe social and community fabric. But we also want to learn more aboutLocal Government, so this will be a two-way process.
• ‘At a Club level, we have prepared a strategy and an action kitfor the Grade Clubs to follow, which will assist them in building anddeveloping partnerships with Councils. This is practical and hasoutcomes which we believe will benefit both parties. SACA will giveactive support to clubs in pursuing these activities throughout thecoming season, and will formally review the outcomes after the finals.

‘Cricket has an important community and social role. Our program isaimed firstly at ensuring Councils have a full understanding of thedepth and breadth of cricket in the community. The second phase involvesworking with Councils to develop partnership arrangements which aremutually beneficial to both cricket and local government, based oncommonalities of purpose and service to the community.’Cricket is more than a great game – it’s a social and communityresource which touches hundreds of thousands of South Australians atmany different levels. Our strategy in working more closely with localgovernment on a mutual basis has the full support of the AustralianCricket Board and will help ensure a positive future for the game inthis State’.

Leicestershire have added fast bowler Devon Malcolm and batsman Ron Cunliffe to their squad for their fourth round C&G Trophy match against Sussex at Grace Road.The side will be chosen after a final practice session on Tuesday, but coach Phil Whitticase indicated it could well be unchanged despite the disappointing defeat in the Norwich Union League clash with Somerset on Sunday.Whitticase said: “It wasn’t a good performance and the way we batted was particularly disappointing. But there is no cause to panic. We have had a good chat about where we have gone wrong in the last couple of games – and there have been a few home truths.”We have not batted well as a unit,and that’s something we have to put right. But personally I am a believer in sticking to the same routine so that everyone knows their job.”Despite the blip it has still be a good start to the season and there is no cause for panic.But this is undoubtedly a big match for us and one we need to win. If we do it will put us in the quarter finals and re-ignite the season.”One player who will be looking to do well is Darren Stevens. He has had a fine start to the season, winning the Bland Bankart “Cricketer of the Month” award for April and May when he scored 445 runs at an average of 63.57.The Leicestershire squad is: Wells (capt),Ward, Sutcliffe, Maddy, Flower, Stevens, Burns, DeFreitas, Grove, Crowe, Whiley, Malcolm, Cunliffe.

Somerset Under-19’s two day game against Gloucestershire at Keynsham fell foul of the weather last week, and in the end they had to settle for first innings win.Gloucestershire won the toss, and batting first were all out for 285. Tom Webley was the pick of the Somerset bowlers with the impressive figures of 27 overs 5 for 37, but there were also two wickets each for Arul Suppiah and James Hildreth.When Somerset batted they scored 300 for 6, with Webley scoring 108, Suppiah and Chris Gange each making 46 and Simon Green from Weston super Mare chipping in with 44.The Under 19’s are next in action when they travel to Kidderminster to take on Worcestershire in a two day game starting on July 25th.

Opening batsman Daniel Payne today said he was shocked after being named to make his debut for Queensland against Victoria at the Gabba on Wednesday.Payne will replace Jimmy Maher, who flies out on Saturday with the Australian one day cricket squad for South Africa.He and left-arm spinner Matthew Anderson come into the Bulls’ squad at a crucial time with Queensland needing first innings points to host the Pura Cup final at the Gabba.”Just shock,” said Payne today when asked his reaction to getting the selectors’ nod.”I didn’t really think I’d play this year, maybe next year. But it’s come now so you’ve got to make the most of it.”Payne is the seventh player to make his debut for the Bulls this season.He began his cricket career for the Gold Coast as a teenager before switching to the Redlands Tigers three seasons ago in the Brisbane club competition.He’s scored 540 runs for Redlands in the first grade premiership this season and notched up two half centuries against New Zealand with a Queensland Academy ofSport outfit last October.Payne said he would rely on advice from former Redlands captain Maher when he steps into his shoes on Wednesday.”He’s kind of seen me develop. He’s … had a bit of influence,” the 24-year-old said.”He’s always said if you’re going to score runs you’ve got to play it straight for as long as you can and that’s hopefully what I’ll try and do.”I’m just going to enjoy it and keep it simple and watch the ball, try not to let the nerves get too much in the way.”Anderson, who was 12th man during the Bulls’ recent win over South Australia in Adelaide, replaces Nathan Hauritz who will join Maher in South Africa for the one day series.Queensland: Stuart Law (c), Brendan Nash, Daniel Payne, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, MichaelKasprowicz, Joe Dawes, Scott Brand, Matthew Anderson (12th man to be named).

Hansie Cronje’s tragic death in an air crash near George in South Africa’s southern Cape on Saturday has ended one of the saddest episodes in South African sport. With the world apparently at his feet, Cronje allowed himself to be seduced by the millions of dollars involved in illegal betting in cricket and was finally drummed out of the game in disgrace.Even those closest to Cronje could offer no explanation for his behaviour, beyond his own admission that he had “an unfortunate love for money”. From being one of the most respected figures in the game he became an outcast and his shocking death came before he and the cricket establishment were able to effect some sort of rapprochement.Before his fall from grace, Cronje had been South Africa’s longest-serving and most successful captain, leading his country at two World Cups and, immediately before the match-fixing scandal broke, to a rare Test series victory over India.He was groomed for greatness at Bloemfontein’s Grey College, the alma mater of his predecessor as South African captain, Kepler Wessels. He played provincial schools cricket for Free State from 1985-87 and for the South African Schools team, along with Jonty Rhodes, in 1986 and 1987, captaining the side in his final year.Cronje made his provincial debut for Free State in the 1987/88 season, and within three seasons had begun captaining the side. When South Africa re-emerged from isolation with a three-game one-day international tour of India in 1991, Cronje travelled with the team as a non-playing member, and just months later he was selected for South Africa’s first World Cup campaign in Australia and New Zealand.He made his Test debut against the West Indies in 1992 and scored his maiden Test century against India in Port Elizabeth later that year. His 135 was to be his highest Test score, although he was to score another five centuries in a career that encompassed 68 Test matches.Cronje took over as South African captain from Wessels after a disastrous one-day campaign in Pakistan in 1994, during which South Africa lost six games on the trot to Pakistan and Australia. His first Test as captain ended in a surprise defeat against Ken Rutherford’s New Zealanders at the Wanderers, but South Africa came from behind to win the series 2-1, and Cronje had begun to establish himself as a tough, uncompromising captain.As a batsman, he was one of the world’s finest players of spin bowling, making good use of his feet and the slog-sweep to dominate the bowlers, but he was less comfortable against fast bowling directed at his rib cage, a weakness exploited on different occasions by Darren Gough and Danny Morrison.Even so, Cronje went on to score 3,714 runs at 36.41 and his right-arm medium pace often proved particularly effective on the sub-continent. In all he took 43 Test wickets at 29.95. He was more successful as a one-day player, scoring over 5,500 runs in 188 matches at 38.64.It was as a captain, however, that Cronje stamped himself on the South African game. With Bob Woolmer as South African coach and Peter Pollock the convener of selectors, Cronje gradually exerted more and more influence over the team. It was this power that eventually led to his downfall.Shortly after South Africa had returned from India in 2000, Cronje was implicated in match-fixing on the basis of tape recordings made by the Indian police. He denied the charges initially, but after a late-night change of heart faxed a confession to the then United Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher.Cronje was immediately sacked as captain and suspended, and after further revelations had come out of the King Commission of Inquiry into Match-Fixing, he was banned from cricket for life.In essence, Cronje admitted to dealings with bookmakers over a long period, as well as offering money to several of his team-mates to underperform. Two of them, Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams, admitted their involvement and were banned from the game for six months.During 2001 Cronje attempted to have his ban overturned in the Pretoria High Court, but his application was dismissed. Earlier this year he took up employment near Johannesburg, while continuing to maintain a home on the luxurious Fancourt golf estate in the southern Cape.Despite Cronje’s admissions at the King Commission, suspicions remained that the full story had not been revealed with several questions left unanswered. His tragic death, at the age of just 32, seems to have drawn a curtain on one of South African cricket’s most unhappy tales.He is survived by his wife, Bertha.

The off-field performances of West Indies players could be formally assessed from next season.And if they do not measure up to scratch, teammates may lose out on financial gains.Following concerns over the conduct of team members at official social functions and appearances, there is a recommendation for the introduction of a detailed Code of Conduct for players and officials.Details of the code have been outlined in a proposal for discussion between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and sponsors Cable & Wireless.”The code will outline the expectations of Cable & Wireless from the players and officials of the West Indies team, in particular when attending official functions and making official appearances,” the proposal said. “Players’ and officials’ performances at these and similar occasions will be evaluated using the code, and payment of their fees linked to performance.” It has been suggested that a sum of money be set aside to be awarded to the team for their performance at off-field events.To meet the criteria, official functions must be attended by at least 12 players/officials while there should be a presence of four players at autograph sessions.The proposal said that if a player is late to either type of function, he will forfeit 33 per cent of his value payment; if a player’s performance is substandard as set out in the Code of Conduct, he will forfeit 50 per cent of his value payment; and if a player fails to attend he will forfeit 100 per cent of the value payment.The intention is to have a rating formula for players and officials in order to clarify and improve the seniority of players attending Cable & Wireless events.Under the proposed scheme, players will be graded, with Grade A players worth $10 000, Grade B $8 000 and Grade C $6 000 at each of the official functions and autograph sessions.The results of each payment due after each function will be jointly agreed between the WICB and Cable & Wireless as soon as possible following each event.There is also a suggestion that Cable & Wireless conduct a training/briefing meeting with the West Indies team, in conjunction with the WICB prior to the start of each series.

Shadab Kabir continued his magnificent form when he propelled Pakistan Customs to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Lahore Whites in the National One-day Cricket Championship at National Stadium Tuesday.The left-handed Test reject stroked an unbeaten 87 as Customs reached a modest victory target of 177 in 40.3 overs with eight wickets to spare.Shadab, who had scores of 83 not out and 52 not out in the previous games, struck 11 boundaries in his 134-ball innings. He featured in a 66-run second wicket stand with Azhar Shafiq (26) and later put on 75 for the unfinished third wicket with skipper Aamir Bashir (37 not out).Earlier, Lahore Whites struggled to 176 for nine from their 50 overs – thanks to a 114-ball 60 by Tariq Rasheed who struck three boundaries. It was struggle all through Lahore innings who scored 47 from the first 15 overs and then collected 51 in the last 10 overs.For Customs, spinning duo of Tabish Nawab and Salman Fazal equally shared six wickets between them. Off-spinner Tabish scooped up three for 45 while left-armer Salman bagged three for 27.

Mahela Jayawardene has led Sri Lanka into the fourth major limited-overs final of his career – now all he has to do is win one. He calls himself “blessed,” and he is, but he knows that only victory in Colombo on Sunday will silence complaints that Sri Lanka always fail at the final hurdle.Sri Lanka had to battle for their 16-run win against Pakistan after setting them a target of 140, which was distinctly vulnerable even on a slow, turning pitch at the Premadasa Stadium. The manner in which they did it deepened Jayawardene’s faith that this time their experience in the final will be different.Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga have all joined their captain in suffering defeat in three previous finals, the worst of them coming last year when Sri Lanka were routed by India in the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai, following defeats against Australia in Barbados in the 2007 World Cup, and a World Twenty20 loss against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2009.There was no time for Jayawardene to savour victory against Pakistan before he had to make light of talk of rising tension. “We are all really happy to be part of a very successful group over a period of time,” he said. “We have been blessed with four now – although I know we haven’t won anything. But four finals, it’s amazing. In one’s career you are lucky enough to play in one final.”They have all had to be approached in different ways. One final was in Barbados, one in England, one was in Mumbai. Now we are playing in Premadasa, so we will approach it differently.”I think experience-wise we are much better: Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis were all pretty new when we lost against Pakistan and we have played a lot of Twenty20 since then. We play with a very positive mindset. We spoke at the start of the tournament that we would have to play on three different surfaces in Hambantota, Pallakele and now Colombo. We had to adapt. It is about handling tough situations better.”Jayawardene tonight was a captain who actually captained. There were none of the high jinks that entailed in the final Super Eights game against England in Pallakele he officially handed the captaincy to Sangakkara, so as to protect himself from a potential suspension for a second transgression for slow overrates, but then ran the show unofficially much as he always would.The likelihood is that the authorities – Sri Lanka Cricket, the ICC or most probably a bit of both – let it be known that further mischief would be frowned upon. That is the thing about a good trick – it is best not repeated.Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s captain, felt around 150 was par on this pitch and repeatedly blamed his team’s defeat on a middle-order collapse. Jayawardene, by contrast, felt 140 was around par – “a score where we could challenge.” “The way we started, we probably fell short by about 15 or 20 runs, but Umar Gul bowled well and pulled us back.”Pakistan brought in an extra bowler so we had to adjust ourselves up front. Sohail Tanvir usually picks up wickets for them so we changed our game plan and tried to hold out for six overs and then we knew we could attack their spinners. Today it worked for us. Sometimes you may lose calls and it doesn’t work, but I think our situation has been pretty good in this tournament.”Chasing down runs is always going to be a tough call in a semi-final. Hafeez batted really well and guided them through the first 10 or so overs, but we knew they were a batter short today and we kept pressure on them.”

For a team to win by scoring 66 more in the fourth innings than the next highest total in the match is a rare event, but that is what Central Districts achieved against Northern Districts at McLean Park, Napier today.They did it with something to spare in the end, winning by six wickets with more than 20 overs to spare thanks to a thrilling and violent innings from their captain, Craig Spearman.The tempo of the match changed from dead slow to lightening quick and back again several times. It was a game that either side could have taken hold of at various stages, but that remained in the balance until Spearman took over.His 90 took 81 balls and included 11 fours and five sixes, the biggest of which sent the ball over the McKenzie Stand and out of the ground, off Yovich. Spearman took on each of the Northern bowlers in turn, with the same degree of contemptuous aggression. Joseph Yovich suffered more than most. The match was won when his recall was greeted with an upward gear change by Spearman.There are few players in New Zealand who can destroy an attack in this manner. Watching Spearman in this mood makes you wonder why he is not an entrenched member of the national squad.Opening batsman David Kelly’s contribution to Central’s win was just as vital. He gave solid foundation to the innings with 71. This was an outstanding effort from a batsman whose form had deserted him before this game.Glen Sulzberger also played a supporting role to perfection. He and Spearman put on 135 in 21.5 overs at a strike rate of 6.18 for the fourth wicket.Northern suffered the important – probably decisive – loss of Simon Doull before play began. He received a knock on the knee during his whirlwind fifty yesterday and could take no part in proceedings. Doull will probably miss Northern’s fixture at Whangarei next week.With Joseph Yovich used only in short spells, possibly an after effect of his marathon stint on the second day, the Northern bowling resources were severely depleted.Both Martin and Bradburn bowled tidily, but there was little help for the spinners in a pitch that seemed to get flatter as the game wore on. Most of the terrors that it appeared to hold on the first two days were in the minds of the batsmen, rather than in evidence on the cut strip.The loss is a blow to Northern’s title aspirations, though how much so depends upon other results. Earlier in the game Central coach Dipak Patel refused to discount his team’s chances in the Shell Trophy. This victory keeps the door open to the possibility of adding to their reputation as the come-back kids, earned after their victory against the odds in the Shell Cup.The reputations of several young cricketers have been enhanced over the past four days. Brent Hefford continued his meteoric rise with seven wickets earned by impressive control and cricketing intelligence.Andrew Schwass showed that he may be an undiscovered gem in first-class cricket, as well as in the one-day game. Joseph Yovich showed that he is a talent with bat and ball, bowling very quickly for a long time.There are some reasons for optimism in an otherwise gloomy week for New Zealand cricket.