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Glamorgan County Cricket Club have announced that they have signed athree-year staging agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board.The agreement confirms the staging of one-day international cricket matchesat Sophia Gardens in 2003 and 2005. The NatWest Series matches played inthis period will be South Africa against Zimbabwe on Saturday 5 July 2003and Australia against Bangladesh in 2005. There is no game scheduled for2004.Mike Fatkin, chief executive of Glamorgan County Cricket Club said:”This is important news for Glamorgan, and for cricket in Wales, as itprovides us with the security of having confirmed international cricket atSophia Gardens next year and in 2005. We will be able to plan moreeffectively for the future in terms of improving the infrastructure of theground, and we will use these two events as a launching pad to bid for thestaging of bigger games in Wales in the future. In addition to thesematches, we are hosting another Wales versus England one-day game onSaturday 14 June next year – a fixture we are keen to make a regular featureof our domestic cricket calendar.”

The state of the world’s pitches is taking away the excitement from Test cricket, according to Ricky Ponting. Australia have completed two Tests on dull surfaces in Jamaica and Antigua and Ponting believes bounce is crucial to making the game more interesting.”I just think Test cricket is probably not as exciting anymore because of the wickets that we’re playing on,” Ponting said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “People would rather watch a game in Perth than they would in Antigua. There’s much more happening.”There’s more bouncers, more batsmen ducking and weaving and sometimes falling on their backsides, more catches behind the wicket, more hook shots. That’s the sort of Test cricket that we all grew up watching and enjoying.”Ponting repeated his view that the surfaces around the world were “just too flat and too placid”. “That’s what I would be saying to all the authorities around the world: let’s just try and do something with the wickets,” he said. “If it means digging them up and relaying them then let’s try it. It’s obviously not working too well at the moment.”While Ponting wants the pitches changed, he is less enthusiastic about the ICC’s idea of a Test world championship, with a prize awarded at the end of a four-year cycle. “You’re playing for a trophy every series you play,” Ponting said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at the end of two or three or four years, there are trophies on the line every series. We’ve got to look at other smaller ways. But let’s just see how this all pans out.”

England and India must be content with a share of the spoils after the final npower Test was abandoned as a draw. Heavy rain throughout the fifth morning at the AMP Oval made a start impossible, and the puddles that had formed on the edge of the covered area told their own sad tale of a soggy end to England’s longest-ever summer of international cricket.For the record, England led India by 121 runs with all their second innings wickets in hand when the game was called off. In truth it would have needed a remarkable day’s cricket for the game to end in anything other than stalemate, and the outcome that seemed likeliest for most of the match – and a rubber squared at one-all – was the eventual result.It means that India have had marginally the better of England in their series of encounters at home and abroad over the past year. In the seven Test matches India came out on top 2-1, by virtue of their win at Chandigarh in the opening game of the series in India. And after drawing the one-day series there, India’s unforgettable triumph in the NatWest final at Lord’s also gives them the edge in the shorter form of the game.The difference in quality between the two sides is slight. Both bat better than they bowl, especially India, who must surely have the best middle order in the world. But while they have yet to find an established opening pair, the emergence of Michael Vaughan as Marcus Trescothick’s opening partner is the biggest single positive to emerge from England’s summer. It will be fascinating to see how they fare in Australia. Form and fitness permitting, they could have the capacity to take their partnership from good to great.The squad to tour Australia will be announced tomorrow. With those two joined by the established Butcher and the captain Hussain, Graham Thorpe’s likely rehabilitation would cement exactly the line-up that Australia least want to meet. Andrew Flintoff is making steady progress after his hernia operation, and Alec Stewart’s many supporters will be hoping that he can end his Ashes career with a performance in keeping with the magnificent service he has given to his country.Meanwhile the bottom line on England’s summer – played seven, won three, lost one and drawn three – is in keeping with the form England have shown, last summer’s Ashes series excepted, for the past two and a half years. It tells of a competitive force, vying with several other teams for the title of second-best to the all-conquering Australians. By Christmas the first three Ashes Tests will have been played – what a ferment the Barmy Army would be in if England could still be in the series by then!

A superb exhibition of swing bowling on a blameless pitch, reduced Warwickshire to 16-6 wickets off 15 overs. The catalyst to this collapse was the smart run out of Mohamed Sheikh, off a mis-field, by Chris Brown.Cornwall’s Justin Stephens (2-23 off 10 overs) and Devon’s Ian Bishop (3-13 off 10 overs) did the early damage. Chris Brown and Martyn Dobson followed up with 20 overs of immaculate offspin to keep the pressure on the lower order batsmen.A couple of chances went begging as Nick Warren (64 not out) batted resolutely to save the situation. Even so, at 81-9 it looked all over, but a last wicket stand between Tom Mees and Warren added 51 in 16 overs, before Warren was run out for 20 in the 48th over.A target of 133 should have been comfortable, but it was not to be. Fine seam bowling from Mohamed Sheikh and Tom Mees reduced the Minor Counties to 56-6.Richard Howitt produced a magnificent innings and turned the game on its head in an 8th wicket stand of 49 with Justin Stephens, before Howitt was bowled for 69 with 4 runs still required. In tense finish, Stephens batted admirably to hit the winning runs with just three balls to spare.

Manicaland narrowly lost their latest Logan Cup game in Harare on Monday against Mashonaland A at Alexandria Sports Club. Still missing their Zimbabwe players, they were dealt another blow when Andre Soma and Tino Mawoyo were denied permission from their headmaster to miss two days from school.Two untested newcomers were hastily recruited to replace these talented players, with resulting fragility in the batting order. Once again the bottom half totally failed, contributing less than 30 in two completed innings – and less than 50 for the last two matches combined.Winning the toss, Neil Ferreira invited Mashonaland A’s new skipper Henry Olonga to field. In addition to this job it’s understood Olonga will lead controversial club side Takashinga next season. That might be the toughest assignment the genial speedster will ever have.Coming back from injury he was far from his quickest, managing only one wicket in the innings. On a slow first day dominated by Neil Ferreira’s second century of the campaign, Manicaland struggled to come to terms with a difficult pitch. Only Guy Whittall with a composed 53 and Kingsley Went (17) reached double figures from the rest of the Manicaland batting line-up.On day two they inched to 255 all out by mid-morning, with debutant schoolboy Michael Robinson scoring a lengthy unbeaten 8 to give his captain precious support. For Mashonaland A Gavin Rennie (10-1-27-3) with his left-arm finger spin was the most successful bowler, with Mutendera (two for 28) and Manyande (two for 52) the best of the rest.Days two and three saw the pitch deteriorate further, with cracks opening and bounce becoming unpredictable. Mashonaland A did well to establish a 52-run first-innings lead in the face of some excellent bowling by off-spinner Richie Sims (53-14-132-6) and leg-spinner Keegan Taylor (11.5-0-42-3). Sims in particular bowled a near perfect length and line with occasional changes of pace to concede only three an over during a marathon spell.Openers Rennie (82) and Andre Neethling (32) batted well before Neethling was run out and Rennie was castled by a big leg-spinner out of the rough from Taylor. Good contributions came from Alistair Maregwede (39), Olonga (37 not out) and 16-year-old schoolboy Prosper Utseya (58) – who was eventually bowled by a straight one from his inter-school rival Taylor.Starting their second innings shortly before lunch on the third day, Manicaland did well to hit 208 on a crumbling pitch to post a target of 155. The innings only lasted into the second over of the fourth morning, leaving Mashonaland a full day to chase. All the batsmen struggled, with Richie Sims and Guy Whittall each making 36 and only Kingsley Went (50 not out) coming to terms with the conditions.

Twenty-eight students have been officially welcomed to the 2002programme of the Shell Cricket Academy of St. George’s University.President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Reverend Wes Hallwas among those who participated in the welcome ceremony on Thursday(May 16) at the True Blue campus of St. Georges University, Grenada.He told the young cricketers from the Caribbean and the Americas thathard work and not talent would determine how successful they were.Grenada’s Minister of Tourism Hon. Brenda Hood who also joined inwelcoming the students, pledged the full support of her government,and noted that her ministry is on a mission to form more strategiclinks between sport and tourism.External Affairs Manager of Shell, Roger Brathwaite, and St. George’sUniversity Dean, Dr. Allen Pensick also addressed the new recruits tothe prestigious three-month programme that is a joint venture by theWest Indies Cricket Board, Shell Antilles and Guianas Ltd and St.Georges University.Following the ceremony, Director of the Shell Cricket Academy, Dr.Rudi Webster gave the students an outline of the programme and Rev.Wes Hall gave a master class on fast bowling and West Indies crickethistory.The members of the 2002 class come from a number of different parts ofthe Caribbean and the Americas. The nations represented includeAnguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Grenada,Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and theGrenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America. TheAcademy runs from May 16th to August 8th.

Somerset Sabres got their NUL National League campaign back on track at Cardiff today when they recorded a resounding victory over Glamorgan Dragons to earn themselves four valuable points in their fight for division one survival.After being put into bat, Somerset lost Matt Wood early but Peter Bowler and Jamie Cox took them onto 34 before Cox was caught by Dean Cosker in the gully off Andrew Davies for 12.Mike Burns came in and hurried the score along until with the score on 58, Bowler was bowled by Darren Thomas for 18. Burns stayed for a little longer but was eventually out for 25 caught by Glamorgan captain Steve James off Thomas.Coming in at 58 for 3 Keith Parsons worked hard to establish himself, and then after being joined by Ian Blackwell brought up the hundred for the Sabres.The demise of Blackwell shortly afterwards bowled by Adrian Dale for 10, brought Rob Turner to the wicket, to share in what was the most productive partnership of the innings for the Sabres.During the course of the next 16 overs Parsons and Turner plundered 81 all important runs from the Glamorgan attack. Parsons brought up his own fifty and Somerset’s 150 at the same time, and hit one big six off Cosker before he was caught at deep mid wicket by David Hemp off Robert Croft for an invaluable 70. Parsons had faced 68 balls, and hit 1×6 and 3×4.Matt Bulbeck came in to join Turner, but six runs later the wicket-keeper was out to a stunning catch by Cosker at wide mid on after he had scored 31.Bulbeck brought up the 200 and then hit two enormous sixes over the longest boundary on the ground, and Keith Dutch added some quick runs before the rains came down to put a premature end to the innings with Somerset on 245 for7. At the close Dutch was unbeaten on 26 with Bulbeck on 24.Chasing a reduced total of 234 from 34 overs Glamorgan got off to a quick start with Croft taking 12 off the first over that was bowled by Simon Francis, who was returning to the side after a long lay off through injury.Ian Thomas set off at a similar pace at the other end, dispatching Bulbeck’s first ball to the boundary, but his success was short lived as he edged the left armer to Turner to make Glamorgan 18 for 1.Croft continued to take chances in an attempt to move Glamorgan into a winning position should the Duckworth Lewis system be enforced but in the third over took one chance too many when he hoisted a ball from Francis to extra cover where Dutch took a diving catch close to the ground.Hemps stay at the wicket was short lived. In the next over from Bulbeck he gave a catch to second slip where Dutch gratefully received the offering, and Glamorgan total had slipped to 29 for 3.Bulbeck struck again in his next over when he trapped the Glamorgan skipper James LBW to make the Dragons 32 for 4. Nine runs later Dale followed his captain back to the pavilion after he skied a ball from Francis into the waiting gloves of Turner.Matthew Maynard and Mike Powell started to look settled and added 17 until Maynard edged a ball to Turner to give Bulbeck his fourth wicket of the innings and reduce the Dragons to 58 for 6.Mike Burns replaced Francis for the 13th over and immediately accounted for Darren Thomas. Two balls later Burns trapped Andrew Davies LBW and Glamorgan were 65 for 8.Burns hit the stumps with the first ball of his next over to dispose of Cosker, but last man Owen Parkin and Powell proved more obstinate.The final pair added 45 until they were eventually parted by Blackwell and Glamorgan were all out for 118 in the 22nd over to give Somerset Sabres victory by 108 runs.Immediately after the game a delighted Kevin Shine told me: "This was a thoroughly professional performance from the boys. The wicket wasn’t easy at the start, but we had good knocks from Keith Parsons and Rob Turner, and then some quick runs at the end from Matt Bulbeck and Keith Dutch."He continued: "Their boys came out at a rate as we knew they would, but Simon Francis and Matt Bulbeck kept their heads and put the ball in the right place and we kept taking wickets. I really am very pleased with today’s result."

Premier Division OneAndover 181-6 (M Miller 81, R Miller 43, Hayward 24, Jenkins 4-43)
Burridge 182-1 (Jackson 91, Cunningham 59)BAT Sports 204-7 (Sharizi 63, Kenway 62, Banks 31, King 3-41)
Bashley (Rydal) 182 (Thurgood 46, Neal 38, Goldstraw 3-19)Liphook & Ripsley 136-8 (Berry 34, Tyler 29, J Wilson 3-18)
Bournemouth 137-3 (Swarbrick 68)Hungerford 101 (Radford 29, Hindley 4-22)
Havant 102-3 (Carson 40)Match postponed : Calmore Sports v South WiltsPremier Division TwoOld Tauntonians & Romsey 193 (Forward 43, Stothart 36, Rapley 27, Shotton 4-51, Turner 3-28)
Hambledon 146 (Norris 39,Burdekin 28, Wood 5-32)Lymington 268-8 (Trestrail 60, Craft 58, Clemow 33, Young 31, Griffiths 25, Oldcorn 4-49)
Old Basing 103 (Summers 39, Quantock 23, Smith 5-21, Phillips 3-15).Matches postponed : Cove v Sparsholt, Trojans v Easton & Martyr Worthy, United Services v Portsmouth.Premier Division ThreeWaterlooville 103 (Baumann 27, Shephard 20, Ballinger 7-19)
Alton 107-7 (M Heffernan 33, Rudder 4-19)Bashley (Rydal) II 141 (N Sexton 51, S Latimore 42)
Gosport Borough 84 (Grierson 3-10)Portsmouth II 185-9 (Ali Mohamed 49, Moon 29, Limb 28, Smith 5-50)
United Services II 107 (Norwood 21, Nolan 3-16, Limb 3-16).Matches postponed : Hook & Newnham Basics v Rowledge, Leckford v St Cross Symondians, Lymington II v Havant II, New Milton v Purbrook, Paultons v Hursley Park, Winchester KS v Flamingos.

Australian cricket will have its first female board member in 107 years – and a much wider business knowledge base – following the announcement of a trio of corporate heavy-hitters to join Cricket Australia as the governing body’s first fully independent directors.Jacquie Hey, the former managing director of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, the Rio Tinto managing director David Peever and the former Colorado Group chief executive Kevin Roberts were approved as candidates at a CA board meeting in Melbourne on Friday, with their appointments expected to be made official at the annual general meeting on October 25.Wally Edwards, the CA chairman, had made it clear that he wanted three board directors who came from beyond the regular spheres of cricket, a description that each candidate fits although Roberts did play first-class cricket for New South Wales. They were chosen ahead of a field that initially numbered about 100, and included the former Test captain Mark Taylor.”They all bring a close interest in and knowledge of cricket,” Edwards said, “combined with significant experience and success at very senior corporate levels dealing with a wide range of diverse contemporary business challenges relevant to cricket, plus understanding and experience working with different cultures which is important to us as we strive to ensure cricket is a sport for all Australians of all backgrounds.”Most importantly, they offer us independent, expert insight from outside the day-to-day cricket world – we were focussed on finding three high-calibre candidates completely independent of cricket.”Hey’s appointment is most noteworthy. In addition to her time with Ericsson Australia, she has also held MD roles with Ericsson in the UK, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. She is currently a non-Executive Director with Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, and SBS.Peever has been the managing director Australia for the mining giant Rio Tinto since 2009, while he is also a Business Council of Australia councillor and Economic Policy and Competitiveness Committee Chairman, Vice Chairman of the Minerals Council of Australia.Roberts played 23 first-class matches for the Blues and also made 18 domestic limited overs appearances, scoring one century in each format. He has since gone on to become a non-Executive Director of Netball Australia and was formerly the Colorado Group/Fusion Retail CEO and the adidas Pacific Managing Director.

The IPL franchises are set to release several high-profile players ahead of the 2013 season, to meet the October 31 deadline for finalising the players they would like to retain ahead of the trading window and player auction. Mumbai Indians captain Harbhajan Singh and Kings XI Punjab’s Stuart Broad could be on that list. Johan Botha, the South African offspinner who was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $950,000 in 2011, was one of the big names released.The trading window, when the names of the released players will have to be made public opens on November 19, but they can only be bought during the auction in 2013.Harbhajan had led Mumbai Indians during the 2012 IPL and two Champions League Twenty20 editions – including their victorious campaign in 2011 – and though the franchise officially denied the news, a source told ESPNcricinfo that Harbhajan could be “released first and then bid for during the player auction”.Apart from Botha, Royals also let go of former England captain Paul Collingwood ($250,000), Sri Lanka batsman Dinesh Chandimal ($50,000) and the young Australian fast bowler Alister McDermott, who had joined the franchise as a replacement player last season. In all, the Royals released 15 names and the strength of their present squad is 16.According to the franchise, a big reason for Botha’s release was that he did not feature consistently in the fifth IPL. “We had to rationalise the costs,” a Royals official said. “A lot is going to change after the 2013 season so we are gearing up for that and are having a re-look at the structure and the composition of the team.”Royals decided to retain two other replacement players they had recruited last season: West Indies leg spinner Sameul Badree and England batsman Owais Shah.England’s Twenty20 captain, Broad, has not yet played an IPL game and that wait could be extended. Broad was bought by Kings XI ahead of IPL 2011 but missed both subsequent seasons. A franchise official said the decision to offload Broad was primarily because he would be on England duty for most of IPL 2013.Besides Broad, Kings XI released six more cricketers, including Abhishek Nayar and Ramesh Powar. Nayar, who was bought for $800,000 at the 2011 auction, was considered “overpriced”. Australia’s Nathan Rimmington and James Faulkner and the Himachal Pradesh duo of Paras Dogra and Vikramjeet Malik were also let go by Kings XI.Kings XI will now have nine slots vacant ahead of the trading window and player auction, since Abhinav Bali and Shalabh Srivastava were suspended till May 15 due to their alleged misdeeds during a TV sting operation.Pune Warriors, whose captain in 2011, Sourav Ganguly, announced his decision to withdraw from the next IPL, is set to release five more cricketers, with New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder being the most prominent. Though all the names could not be confirmed, it was learnt that Warriors will release three overseas players, including Ryder, and two domestic players, including Sachin Rana.Kolkata Knight Riders, who had one of the smallest squads with 26 players in 2012, released four players. Jayadev Unadkat, the left-arm seamer from Saurashtra, was left out because the team management thought they were under utilising him. “We have three Indian medium-pacers in L Balaji, Pradeep Sangwan and Shami Ahmed. Last year Jaydev did not get a game and we felt he might get a chance somewhere else,” a Knight Riders official said.Chiraj Jaani (Saurashtra), Iresh Saxena (Bengal) and Sanju Samson (Kerala) were the three other domestic players released by Knight Riders.Some of the franchises questioned the timing of the October 31 deadline. “If you are asking to me take a decision, this should have happened after the trading window because then the franchises could have had the chance of trading them instead of releasing them,” a franchise official said.Another official from a different franchise agreed with the view, saying he had told his bosses that it was better to wait for the window to open. “I feel I can retain the players now and trade when the window opens. This deadline only offers some franchises whose squad strength is a little too big and an opportunity to have a re-look. I think all the franchises would look at reducing a certain amount (of players) and then look forward to the trading window.”However, all the franchises were not on the same page. “It’s a double-edged sword and we would prefer such a deadline before the trading window since it allows to get rid of a player if we just do not want him,” an official said. “No franchise can be sure whether they would be able to trade a player whom they wish to, and if they cannot they will have to retain him. This deadline helps us in avoiding it.”