The resultant draw between the Northerns Titans and the Free State Eagles should not detract from the spectacular performances of both teams in their Supersport Series match at Supersport Park.On a gloomy Monday, the Eagles declared their first innings on 417 for eight at lunch on the final day, thanks to a superb double century from opener Gerhardus Liebenberg.Lower down the order, Herman Bakkes weighed in with a useful 54 off 88 balls.That left Northerns chasing a victory target of 127. The home team were well on their way at 140 for seven when bad light brought a premature end to what has been a rain-interrupted game from the start.But the result is not a true reflection of what took place on the field.Free State fast bowler Victor Mpitsang finished the match with his first nine-wicket haul.After taking 5-64 in the first innings, Mpitsang finished the final daywith figures of 4-43.On the bowling front, Titans skipper Gerald Dros also impressed with his 3-32 in Free State’s innings.The batting honours could only go to Gerhardus Liebenberg. The Eagles’ opener effectively forced the draw with his superb knock of 202, including 30 fours and three sixes off 375 balls and in 478 minutes at the crease.It was the best individual performance by a Free State batsman againstNortherns.On the side of the Titans, praise has to be given to the defianteighth-wicket stand of 121 set up by Kruger van Wyk and Nigel Brouwers onthe first day.

The fourth day of the Otago verus Canterbury Shell Trophy Game at Molyneux Park was never going to last too long whichever way it went.Otago required 108 runs for outright victory and Canterbury 9 wickets. There was an outside chance that Otago might crumble and fall short of their target but for that to be achieved they would have had to bat very badly and Canterbury bowl extremely well.Neither scenario happened and Otago achieved their 55th first-class victory over their Northern neighbours since 1863/64 and gained six points for their outright victory.In retrospect their first innings lead of 78 runs proved so valuable for their cause and Canterbury never quite caught up.Matthew Horne, the Otago captain, led his side well both by example and in his handling of the Otago bowlers on a hot afternoon when energy conservation was essential. His 100 and 50 in the match were of major importance and it cannot be stressed how valuable they were to a final Otago victory. The winning of the toss by Otago probably had a major effect in that Canterbury were only able to score 201 in their first innings and then the wicket lost some of its greeness to enable Otago to gain that first innings lead.Canterbury in their second innings fared little better and the Otago effort in the field on the very hot third day was so important.Although the Otago bowling on the first day was rather wayward at times overall it seemed to be more penetrative than Canterbury’s but in Stephen Cunis Canterbury have a player of true grit as his first innings figures show.Match number 153 between the two provinces has gone Otago’s way but things might well have been different if Matthew Horne had not been there for the home side.

Middlesex duly beat Derbyshire in their CricInfo Championship match atSouthgate, getting home with an innings and more than day to spare. It wastheir second Championship win of the season – as many as they managed alllast year – and it took them back to the top of the second division.Phil Tufnell was the main architect of the win with 10 for 133 in the match.He was well supported by Paul Weekes who had match figures of 7 for 107. Inaddition, it was a day of mixed fortunes for 22-year-old locally-born AaronLaraman who, on his Championship debut, took 2 for 20 but had the misfortuneto re-injure the shoulder which had kept him out of the side until this match.It took only 23 minutes for Middlesex to wrap up the Derbyshire first inningsand have them following on, 411 behind. Tufnell took the final wicket togive him a season’s-best 6 for 44. In the third over of their second innings,the visitors lost Steve Stubbings, who was leg before to Tim Bloomfield, theonly other wicket in the match taken by a Middlesex seamer.As early as the tenth over, Tufnell was brought into the attack and thespinners dominated for most of the rest of the day. Derbyshire did show a little more resolution than they had first time round and Nathan Dumelow confirmed his promise with a stylish 61 (his second half-century in only two Championship appearances) before he was very well caught at forward short leg.Matthew Dowman made 44 but only four other batsmen reached double figures andit was a match that Derbyshire will want to forget.

Mike Powell and Alun Evans both scored centuries as Glamorgan’s batsmen dominated on the first day of their friendly against Cardiff Universities Cricket Centre of Excellence at Sophia Gardens.Powell, captaining a depleted county side, played himself back into form with a century off 140 balls with one six and 15 fours after Glamorgan were put into bat.Following CricInfo Championship scores of 0, 0, 1, 1, 7 and 16 in his last three games Powell was in desperate need of some runs.And against a rather tame student attack he didn’t disappoint as he and Evans added 218 in 46 overs. Powell started slowly but his second half-century arrived off just 59 deliveries.Between lunch and tea Glamorgan went to 115-2 to 311-4, but just before the interval Evans and Powell perished in consecutive overs.Glamorgan picked just three of the side who played in the first team that drew with Kent at Maidstone last week – skipper Powell, Mark Wallace and Simon Jones.Wallace was just one of three other batsmen to make notable contributions before Powell declared the Glamorgan innings on 373-7. Opener Ian Thomas made 38, Dan Cherry an unbeaten 34 and Mark Wallace supplied an impressive 19.The students were held up twice in their first innings by injuries. First wicketkeeper Adrian Shaw hurt a finger taking a leg side delivery from Simon Jones, who in turn hurt his foot forcing Alun Evans to bowl the last three deliveries.The Students finished the first day on 27-0, 346 behind Glamorgan, with the openers Alex French and James Cook having to survive some good new ball bowling from Owen Parkin and trialist Syed Bukhari.

Changes to umpiring appointments announced by the International Cricket Council this week offer a bigger carrot to the ambitions of umpires than is already the case.Appointing an elite group of eight umpires to have control of most of the matches in the world, with no home umpires standing in local Tests, had been expected and rather than being an obstacle in umpire recruitment, it could be an incentive, according to New Zealand Cricket’s umpiring manager Brian Aldridge.”It does diminish the chances for local umpires standing in Tests but the larger second tier panel, which could have as many as 25 umpires, offers chances for experience.”There will still be third umpire duties to be carried out by home umpires in every country,” he said.Just who will be promoted to, or relegated from, the elite panel will be the decision of an international umpiring manager to be appointed by the ICC.He will be required to work closely with umpiring managers in each country. At the moment, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England are the only countries with full-time umpiring managers.”He will have the job of finding out where the good umpires are coming from. It is also a chance for countries to lobby for one of their own umpires to be included on the elite panel.”That is a plus, we’ve never had that before,” Aldridge said.There was a certain amount of acceptance of the move among New Zealand umpires. It was part of a gradual process and there was an awareness of what the ICC was trying to do.”Hopefully, it will take a lot of the controversy out of the job because we will have the best in control.”Umpires are like players, the more time you have in the middle the better you should be.”It enhances the image of umpiring,” Aldridge said.The move also made umpires look less vulnerable while it also provided ex first-class players who might consider umpiring as a career option with a viable opportunity for a post-playing career.”If they were good enough they could make a good career out of it, and that would be good,” he said.Players in New Zealand had not been inclined to take up umpiring. Aldridge said he understood that.Players retiring were generally in their mid-30s and often had families or careers to consider and didn’t have the time for umpiring.But while no incomes for the elite umpires had been announced Aldridge said: “It’ll have to be attractive – some of these guys have pretty good jobs they would have to give up.”

In a new twist of event in what now seems to be an unending saga, it appears as though certain members of the WICB’s Management Committee are determined to see the back of CEO, Gregory Shillingford. The revelation was contained in a letter to board members seeking clarification on his further employment with the WICB.Shillingford, who along with former president and vice president (Rousseau and Joseph) in May fired West Indies team manager, Ricky Skerritt by email, now seems headed out of office himself.According to Shillingford, he was told by Marketing Manager Chris Dehring on Thursday that he (Dehring) had been asked to act as CEO by two board members since they were going to ask him (Shillingford) to leave office within 30 days. This of course, came as a surprise and was the reason for Shillingford’s latest letter to board members.In his letter dated 5th July, Shillingford wrote: “This afternoon Mr. Chris Dehring disclosed to me that Board members Messrs DeSouza (Richard) and Singh (Chetram) of the WICB management committee asked him to act as CEO because they were going to ask me to leave the WICB within thirty days.””This information has been confirmed to me by other members of staff who relate that the same members of the management committee told them that ‘come what may Shillingford will be out of here within 30 days.’ “It is useful to note that all of this was happening while both the president and vice president designate of the WICB (Wes Hall and Val Banks), were visiting the board’s headquarters and meeting the staff in Antigua.The CEO’s letter continues thus “This afternoon, prior to Chris Dehring and other staff disclosing the above to me, I had a meeting with Messrs DeSouza and Singh who spoke to me about plans for Andrew Sealy to hold on until December 2001, for Richard Jodhan to hold on for a month to six weeks following his letter of resignation dated July 3, 2001, and the hiring of staff to be deferred until the new president and vice-president were installed.””At no time did they disclose to me their plans to terminate or sever my services at the WICB. No evaluation of my performance since taking up the post as CEO has been carried out by Messrs DeSouza and Singh, nor has there been an evaluation by the members of the current management committee.””In the circumstances I find the behaviour of the two directors strangeand certainly not in keeping with proper professional practice. I therefore require clarification by the Board of the above action and of my position as chief executive officer. Please treat this matter with the seriousness and urgency it deserves.””I hate to forecast where we are going. The same fellows who accused Pat (Rousseau), Clarvis (Joseph) and myself of not going through the proper channels in dealing with Skerritt, are the same ones who are doing this. On top of that, they have not evaluated me, they have said nothing to me. My file is clean. The only thing in it is my letter of appointment.”However, the WICB in response to the above admitted that “the management committee was concerned about issues that emerged from that process (firing of Skerritt) in connection with Mr Shillingford.” The release further confirmed that “while a meeting took place between Mr Shillingford and two members of the management committee on Thursday the issues pertinent to Mr Shillingford were not addressed at that meeting since the two members opted to defer the discussion until the full committee was available.”One thing that was confirmed though, was that “the management committee had however considered the option of discussing an amicable separation agreement, if this was felt to be necessary and appropriate following discussions with Mr Shillingford.” The approval of the full board would be required to implement such action. Shillingford was appointed CEO in November to replace the retired Steve Comacho.

"A reward for the players" says Peter Anderson after victory at Canterbury.Minutes after seeing Somerset gain a resounding victory over Kent in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me,"This is a fitting reward for the players after they have struggled in the one day matches for much of the season. At last they are playing with some consistency."He went on "it was good that they achieved this result without any major input from Andy Caddick, Marcus Trescothick, Jamie Cox or Peter Bowler. It was a good all round performance, especially from our bowlers who bowled very well."With regard to the semi final tie he said "We’re looking forward to playing Warwickshire at Taunton, and we will expect a full house for the match."It is likely that the club will erect a portable stand to accommodate an extra thousand spectators, which will increase the capacity for the match to 7500.Details regarding tickets will be made available as soon as the club get them, but the advice from Mr Anderson is to get tickets early.

Leaders Yorkshire are on course for their eighth CricInfo Championship win of the season as they chase their first title for 33 years.With Darren Lehmann hitting his fifth century of the summer, Yorkshire will start the third day at Grace Road on 267 for three in their second innings, a lead of 376.Lehmann loves playing against Leicestershire. He scored a century against them in the earlier meeting between the sides at Headingley and this was the third time he has reached three figures on this ground in the last four years.After a duck in the first innings he took 24 balls to get off the mark but once he had done so the runs began to flow.He reached 50 off 92 balls with seven fours and his century came up off 160 balls with 14 fours. Along the way he shared a stand of 138 with the impressive Michael Vaughan for the third wicket after Yorkshire had slipped to 23 for two in the first nine overs.Fast bowler James Ormond claimed both wickets, having Craig White caught behind and Matthew Wood taken at gully, but after that it was Yorkshire all the way.Vaughan again looked in excellent form before edging a fine delivery from Darren Maddy into the safe hands of wicket-keeper Neil Burns. Even then there was no respite for the toiling home attack, handicapped by a groin injury to Devon Malcolm and the lack of a specialist spinner.David Byas came out to join Lehmann in a partnership of 106 in 25 overs, and with two days to go Yorkshire will be looking to add more runs yet before declaring.

Durham captain Jon Lewis was three short of his second century of the season when his side closed the first day on 215 for two against Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street.Play began 90 minutes late following rain and Lewis batted through the day, hitting 15 fours off 255 balls.Without a half-century in his previous 11 Championship innings, Lewis had only one narrow escape. On 21 he took evasive action against a short ball from Andy Bichel and edged it just over the slips.He had to work hard against Bichel and Alamgir Sheriyar, with the left-armer conceding only 26 runs in 18 overs. But the third seamer, Chris Liptrot, was the weak link in the attack, going for five runs an over.England Under-19 left-hander Gary Pratt contributed an impressive 37 to a stand of 85, only seven short of Durham’s highest opening stand of the season.Only nine runs came off the first nine overs before Liptrot came on and Pratt quickly hit him for three of his six fours, two of them racing through the covers off successive balls.Pratt fell lbw trying to whip Liptrot through the leg side then Martin Love shared a stand of 53 before he was snared by David Leatherdale.Coming on after tea, the medium-pacer struck in his third over when Love pushed forward and edged to wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes for 26.Leatherdale posed no problems for Paul Collingwood, who quickly cracked him for three fours on his way to 41 not out.

Pitch liaison officer Peter Walker left before the end of an extraordinary day at the Rose Bowl convinced that the pitch had nothing to do with 17 wickets falling in a day for only 200 runs.Walker cited swing and seam and overcast conditions plus some indeterminate batting for the fact that the batting of both sides collapsed at will.At the close of the first day it was Hampshire who were marginally the better off at 99 for seven in their first innings in reply to Middlesex’s 101 but their own position was hardly healthy.Middlesex captain Angus Fraser must have wondered what he had done after winning the toss and choosing to bat first.Take away Andrew Strauss’s brave and correct 56 and the rest of the batting offered no resistence, six batsmen failed to get beyond two runs and Stephen Fleming #’s 14 made him second top scorer.Opener Strauss batted for 49 laborious overs and three hours 20 minutes but without him Middlesex would have been in an even worse state.Dimitri Mascarenhas took full advantage of the conditions to record a career-best six for 26 after Alex Morris had taken two wickets in his first three overs to undermine the Middlesex batting.Hampshire found batting no easier when it was their turn, losing their seven wickets for 63 before Adrian Aymes and Shaun Udal began a partial recovery.As if to atone for his earlier decision, Fraser bowled 22 overs in succession for his three for 34 and then Chad Keegan, making the most of the openings made for him by Fraser, struck in the middle order to finish the day with three for 34.Aymes, who survived a strong appeal for a catch at the wicket off Fraser, was 22 not out at the delayed close as Udal unbeaten with 17 as Hampshire inched towards a first innings lead.