A bold declaration from Western Australian captain Tom Moody has offered the scent of an exciting finish to his team’s Pura Cup clash with Tasmania at theBellerive Oval in Hobart today. The mid-afternoon closure, which came with his team still well behind on the first innings, allowed the Tasmanians to reach an overalllead of 295 runs by day’s end and work their way toward setting their guests a challenging target for victory tomorrow.The enduring highlight of the day’s action was the batting of Damien Martyn (122), whose seventh first-class century in the space of eleven matches at Belleriveplayed a huge role in helping the Warriors avoid the prospect of following-on. He received excellent support from wicketkeeper Mark Walsh (50), whose stubbornresistance at the other end in a stand of 124 allowed his team to survive the pre-lunch session without the surrender of a wicket.After more than four hours at the crease, Martyn was dismissed courtesy of a mistimed pull. It was one of the few false strokes in an otherwise well controlledinnings – an innings which swelled his Bellerive first-class average to a whopping eighty-three. But he still remained the centre of talk at the ground for sometimethereafter, given that the unexpected news that he has been made Australia’s twelfth man for the First Test against the touring West Indians at Brisbane on Thursdayfiltered through to the ground only moments later.Before Moody (20*) and Brad Oldroyd (5*) safely negotiated their way beyond the follow-on mark and toward the ensuing declaration at 7/298, Martyn was the second of three players to be dismissed in quick succession. That rapid tumble of wickets, for a time, raised local hopes that the Tasmanians might still have been able to ask the Western Australians to bat for a second time for the day.Medium pacer Shaun Young (3/37) walked away with the best figures for the Tasmanians after a tremendously cunning display. Paceman Gerard Denton (2/90)acquitted himself well, and David Saker (2/66) is also entitled to look back on his exhibition with general satisfaction.In the end, though, Moody was the one to whom the chance of calling the mid-afternoon shots fell, and he did so in a manner that made for an attractive conclusionto the day. During a slightly elongated final session, Jamie Cox (73*) joined with Michael DiVenuto (51) in an exciting century partnership that rapidly extended theTasmanians’ lead. Cox eventually needed to slow the pace down once DiVenuto, Daniel Marsh (10) and Andrew Dykes (2) fell amid the search for runs. But it wasnot before his team had assumed a formidable overall advantage upon which it can build briskly again tomorrow.It will now be the Tasmanian opener’s batting, and more particularly his captaincy, which will play a major role in shaping the match’s final destiny tomorrow. He saidafter play that he will not be burned by the memory of Tasmania’s heartbreaking four wicket loss to Queensland in Brisbane three weeks ago, when the Tigerswatched the Bulls reach a target of 373 from seventy-one overs to snatch victory from them in a remarkable finish.”In Queensland, two blokes batted out of their skins. There’s no harm in losing a game like that when you’re trying hard to win. We owe it to ourselves to have a goat winning tomorrow and I think we’re good enough to take wickets tomorrow if the circumstances are correct,” said an enthusiastic Cox.It’s to be hoped that the conclusion meets the expectations.

England Under-19 defeated West Zone Under-19 by 58 runs in a practice one-dayerat the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Pune on Tuesday. England Under-19 scored 223all out in 50 overs in reply to which West Zone Under-19 were bowled out for 165runs in 39.3 overs.After the first two days of the scheduled three day warm-up game were washed outby rain, both teams decided to play a 50 overs a side game on the last and finalday.The Jawaharlal Nehru stadium ground was still wet in patches but overall theconditions were fruitful for play. Skippers Parthiv Patel and Ian Bell met forthe toss, the former winning it and inviting the tourists to bat first.The tourists were cautious in their appoach early in the innings, both openersJohn Sadler and Gary Pratt batted defensively. They struggled early on but stillmanaged to put on a 76 run partnership for the first wicket in 17.1 overs. GaryPratt scored the first fifty of the tour, his 59 coming off 102 balls with tenhits to the fence. Pratt was the highest scorer of the innings. The othercontributor was Ian Bell who scored a decent 40 off 68 with one six and threehits to the fence. John Sadler was run out by Vinit Indulkar for 33 off 55 ballswith one six and four hits to the fence.The West Zone medium pacers Uday Karkera and Siddarth Trivedi were guilty ofbowling too many extras. The bowlers overstepped eleven times between them.Karkera bagged three for 43 and Trivedi picked up two for 54.In reply, West Zone had a disastrous start when Andrew McGarry sent VimalJoshi’s middle stump on a cartwheel ride with the first ball of the innings. Onedrop Vinit Indulkar played a brisk knock scoring 22 off 22 balls with one sixand three boundaries. Kashinath Khadkikar was the topscorer with 39 off 37 ballshitting seven boundaries. Skipper Parthiv Patel hung around for his 25 off 54balls with five hits to the fence. Jaideo Shah chipped in with 27 off 44 ballsincluding one six and two hits to the fence.The West Zone batsmen failed to convert the good starts into a big score as theinnings folded up in the 40th over. Spinner Robert Ferley bagged three for 31while Monty Panesar, Andrew McGarry and Nadeem Malik chipped in with two wicketseach.The England Under-19 team is off to Mumbai where they face the Rest of IndiaUnder-19 in a practice game from January 4-6.

Gloucestershire’s attempts to engineer a second consecutive CricInfo Championship victory were foiled by rain on the final day of the match against Durham at Gloucester.When play finally began at 3.30 the visitors were set a higly improbable 290 to win off a minimum of 40 overs.Although they set attacking fields and pressed hard, Gloucestershire were unable to induce the clatter of early wickets required to force a result and eventually settled for the draw after a largely meaningless afternoon’s cricket closed with Durham on 116-2 from 32 overs.Heavy showers induced Mark Alleyne to declare Gloucestershire’s innings at 156-4 and look to his bowlers to extert instant pressure.James Averis made the breakthrough, Michael Gough gloving a legside bouncer to Jack Russell in the ninth over, and Durham skipper Jon Lewis departed soon afterwards, edging a Michael Cawdron outswinger to first slip with the total on 48.But Gloucestershire expectations were crushed by Australian batsman Martin Love who harvested a six and eight fours in a 77-ball half-century.Alleyne employed six bowlers in all, but Martin Speight played his part in a third-wicket stand worth 68 when proceedings were brought to a close with nine overs unused.

Although Northants are currently without a win and are at the bottom of Division One of the CricInfo Championship, Somerset coach Kevin Shine is not underestimating their capability – particularly at Wantage Road.The Northampton wicket has a reputation for turning and the home side regularly features two spinners, Graeme Swann and Jason Brown in their line up.With this in mind the coach has named both Blackwell and Dutch in the squad of 12 which also includes Matthew Wood who made such an impression on his debut at Bath last week.The full squad for the trip to Northampton is: Holloway, Bowler, Burns, Lathwell, Wood, Trego, Turner, Blackwell, Dutch, Kerr, Johnson, and Steffan Jones.

As Andrew Symonds was given a mohawk, the usual suspects huddled around a makeshift card table, Nathan Bracken nursed his cut finger, the television was tuned to the rugby, and Damien Fleming cursed his rotten luck.Australia’s tri-series match against Pakistan at the Riverside Ground today was abandoned by rain at 1.55pm without a ball bowled, robbing Fleming of an opportunity to nudge Brett Lee out of the side for the final at Lord’s on Saturday.Fans streamed through the gates all morning, excited by their one and only international fixture of the season, but the umbrellas in their hands, frowns on their faces and glances to the miserable, dark sky told the story.Chester-Le-Street dates back hundreds of years and the old buildings and lush surrounding paddocks are a sight to behold – but another impressive spectacle, the Australian one-day cricket team, remained hidden from view.Behind closed doors, Lee gave Symonds a mohawk with an electric shaver while leaving his own blond locks alone.Nearby Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Ian Harvey and team manager Steve Bernard played cards, and Bracken cut the top of his left index finger on a door. Bracken needed three stitches but he was out of action for another week anyway with his shoulder injury.But nobody was more frustrated by the inactivity than Fleming, who now has just two games – against Pakistan at Nottingham on Tuesday and England at The Oval on Thursday – to prove he is a better option than fast but invariably expensive Lee.Australia is already guaranteed a place in the final against Pakistan next Saturday.”I was hoping to play all the rest of the games before the final, and that gave me three games, but now it’s two,” said Fleming, sidelined for the last week by a groin strain.”We generally pick our best team for the finals and most of the other guys have bowled well, so each game was an opportunity to hopefully bowl well and get into the final.”It’s not ideal.”I’ve just got to have two big games.”The Victorian seamer, who had a gymnasium session at noon with the rest of the squad when they finished watching coverage of the Lions-Queensland rugby match, would kill for a spell to rival Jason Gillespie’s awesome 3-20 at Old Trafford.”Dizz (Gillespie) came in for his first game from his groin injury and got man of the match – it’s just about taking the opportunity like he did the other night,” said Fleming, who is in contention after Lee conceded a total 140 runs in his two ten-over appearances.”If you have a booming game, you’re right back in there … but you don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself.”It’d just be good to get out there, have a go, and do well.”That’s all I can aim for really.”Fleming lamented the tight tour schedule which has Australia switching to Test mode straight after the Lord’s final and travelling to Arundel the next day for a fixture against an MCC XI, starting Tuesday.”If you’re going to place a lot of importance on the one-day game, you want to win that and celebrate like it’s a Test I reckon, and have the next day off,” he said.The Australians leave for Nottingham tomorrow.

Scotland defeated Canada by 12 runs in a thrilling match while UAEraced to a five-wicket victory over slumping Singapore on the thirdday of the ICC Trophy here Saturday.Five more matches were decided at different cricket centres in Torontoand its adjoining areas. Ireland cruised to an eight-wicket win overHong Kong, Namibia trounced Germany by nine wickets, Argentinacompleted last-over win over East and Central Africa, Papua New Guineaheld on to beat USA in a tense game and France defeated Israel with anover to spare.At King City Stadium, the Canadians suffered their first defeat losingto Scotland who had scored 201 for eight. Brilliant catching and finebowling from James Brinkley (2-34), Craig Wright (2-22) and GreigWilliamson (3-22) saw the Scots home.Singapore again suffered from a lack of starch in its batting as itfell to a five-wicket defeat at the hands of the United Arab Emirates.Kiran Deshpande (35) and Zubin Schroff (34) shared a 53-runpartnership for the fifth wicket as Singapore reached 191 for 9 in thestipulated 50 overs.Muhammad Nadeem (63) and all-rounder Khuram Khan (57 not out) safelynegotiated the middle stages of the UAE’s innings and guided theirteam to victory.Malton’s first game of the tournament produced a convincing ninewicket win for Namibia over Germany.Argentina ensured that it will record its best-ever ICC Trophyperformance here in Canada when it made two wins from two matches withits four-wicket success over East and Central Africa at Ross Lordground. Inspired by a fine innings from Simon Hewitt (52), theFrenchmen posted a three-wicket win over Israel who suffered theirsecond defeat.Elsewhere, it was Papua New Guinea’s shock eight-run win over theUnited States that stole most of the attention.On Friday, tailender Kenneth Kamyuka created history when he scored ahurricane stroke-filled century powering Uganda to 64-run victory overMalaysia.Batting at No 10, Kamyuka scored exactly 100 runs off 54 balls liftinghis side from 99 for eight to 223 for eight in allotted 50 overs.During his 71-minute stay at the crease, he hit eight sixes and fourfours to the delight of enthusiastic cricket fans at Toronto’sEglington East sports ground.Carsten Pedersen also scored a century – third of the tournament – asDenmark crushed Hong Kong by 181 runs. In other matches, United ArabEmirates were flattened by the Netherlands while USA romped to a sixwicket win over Ireland.In Division Two’s Group B match, Malaysia’s twin-spin attack of RohanSuppiah (4 for 24) and S. Vickneswaran (3 for 41) had contained theUgandans to 99 before the arrival of Kamyuka at the crease. The latterchanged the whole complexion of the game.Batting in the style of Pakistani Shahid Afridi, Kamyuka despatchedthe ball to all corners of the ground reaching 100 off the last ballof the 50th over. He produced 124 in an astonishing partnership withNo. 9 batsman Benjamin Musoke whose contribution was 21.In reply, Malaysians slumped to 159, all out, in 30.2 overs withSuresh Navaratnam (46) being their top scorer.At King City Stadium, Denmark’s Pedersen showed his batting prowess ashe scored 103 off 135 balls taking his team’s score to 284 for sixagainst Hong Kong. During his 180-minute innings, he scored a toweringsix and four hits to the rope. Pedersen’s teammate Amjad Khanestablished his credentials as a dynamic all-rounder as he slammed 73studded with two sixes and five boundaries. Later Khan picked up threewickets for 11 as Hong Kong crashed to 103, all out, in 29.1 overs.

The Sports Editor
Daily Telegraph
Dear Sir,Did the Australians field their Test Team at Taunton and if not, why not? So it is okay for Australia and England, via Central Contracts, to rest key players ahead of Test Matches but not okay for counties to rest key players ahead of vital promotion/relegation battles.Leading Telegraph cricket writers, past and present, have continually denigrated the county championship game and all forms of one-day cricket as unimportant and then wonder why the game of cricket tends to struggle on all fronts.Column inches and controversy are far more important to their own pocket and egos than the wider picture, it seems. For the record then, 15,000 people watched the Somerset Tourist match grossing £100,000 which considerably helps the Club to finance all of its youth development projects for which local sponsors are hard to attract because of the negative leadership provided by our esteemed cricket writers.Mark Nicholas was good at leadership on the pitch; we now need him off the pitch.Yours sincerely,P W Anderson
Chief Executive Somerset County Cricket Club

Minutes after leaving the field and receiving his “Man of the Match Award” Taunton’s very own Keith Parsons said, “Up until now the fans have always harped back to the last time we won a trophy in 1983.Hopefully now they will talk about 2001 and the year we won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy. It’s been a long time coming but lets hope that we can now go on and win a few more trophies.”It really is no surprise that the twenty eight year old who was born and brought up in the county town has become a successful first class cricketer. His father Alan played cricket for Somerset at Minor County level back in the 1970’s, and is still very involved with Taunton St Andrew’s Cricket Club, who have just won the prestigious West Of England League.Keith attended Bishop Henderson School, where the Headteacher Headley King was a real cricket enthusiast, and still regularly watches Somerset. Keith then moved on to The Castle School where he fell under the influence of Barry Jones who organised one of the first tours by a state school to Barbados in the late 1980’s of which Keith and his twin brother Kevin were members. From Castle Keith went on to Richard Huish College in Taunton, where he was a vital part of a side run by another cricket fan Bill Maidlaw, that enjoyed considerable success.Even though he came from a cricketing family, his brother Kevin skippers Taunton St Andrew’s, and joined the Somerset staff at the same time as his brother in 1992, Keith admitted, “I didn’t really go and watch much first class cricket as a boy. At weekends I used to go along with my dad and brother to watch and then play for St Andrew’s.”What did he feel were the strengths of the 2001 side compared to the 1999 side that lost to Gloucester in the Nat West Final. He told me “We’ve had a similar side now for the last two or three years, and we all know our role in the game and the targets that we are aiming at. In the past we tended to bat to 5 or 6, but now we bat down to 8 or 9, which means that even going in later on you still have a chance.”When Rob Turner came to the wicket with Somerset on 176 for 5 what did they, “We said that we must bat sensibly for the next few overs, until slog time came, which is what we did.”What about the last over during which he hit the penultimate and final balls of the innings bowled by Phil De Freitas for six. He said “We were looking for at least a run a ball. It felt good out there and the ball was coming onto the bat. I went into the red zone and both shots came out of the middle of the bat.”How did this visit to Lord’s compare to 1999. “This time we were doubly determined and it was great to turn the result around. It was certainly an advantage to have been in the final a couple of years ago. The difference this time was that in 1999 we came to enjoy the day whereas this year we came to win.”

Pakistan captain sympathized with his new ball partner Wasim Akramafter the left-armer went wicketless in the Asian Test Championshipopener against Bangladesh.”I think he bowled pretty well and saw a couple of catches dropped ofhis bowling,” Waqar said in the post match conference.”I think I was a bit lucky and got a couple of cheap wickets whileWasim was unfortunate that despite bowling well, he couldn’t get anywickets. But it should not be a concern,” Waqar said.Waqar said it was a great feeling to start the domestic season with acomprehensive and confortable victory and the win, no matter it wasagainst the minnows, would give his boys a world of confidence.”Naturally there is always a room for improvement. When we will sitdown again, we will try to rectify our mistakes. I don’t want to throwthe weaker areas in the background,” the skipper said.Waqar agreed that the opponents were an ordinary lot but emphasizedthat the conditions were difficult. “It was very hot out there,” hesaid.”Bangladesh are new to Test cricket and will surely get better,” hesaid.Bangladesh coach Trevor Chappell and skipper Naimur Rahman werecritical of their batting and blamed it for the defeat.”The conditions were good for batting and I thought it would be hardwork for the bowlers to get the batsmen out. But our batsmen got outthemselves,” the Australian said. But Rahman was even more aggressive.”We should have shown sense in the middle. The top order wasdisappointing and we should have played better. I expected that thebatsmen will learn from their mistakes of the first innings. Butdisappointingly, they didn’t.Chappell opined that his guys felt the pressure of being up against aformidable Pakistan with world class players. However, he played downa magnificent performance by Danish saying he didn’t deserve 12wickets in the match.”It was always an uphill task for Bangladesh although I think Pakistanwas not at its full strength. Danish Kaneria bowled well but he wascertainly not unplayable. But probably he didn’t deserve that manywickets.

A number of the jubilant Somerset team who won the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy last month enjoyed a day out in Bath on Saturday.During the morning they took the cup to The Guildhall where they were entertained by Gerry Curran, the Chairman of the Bath and North East Somerset Council. Mr Curran welcomed the players to Bath and said that he was pleased to be able to join in the celebrations of the recent cup victory.In response Chief Executive Peter Anderson said, “I hope that the county and all of the towns in Somerset are proud of us,” and went on to say, “we will do our best to retain the trophy next season.”From The Guildhall the party made their way to the Rec where they were enterained to lunch by Bath Rugby Club, ahead of the Heineken Cup match against Swansea.During the half time break the players paraded the cup around the ground where they received a very warm reception from the near capacity crowd. When they walked in front of the grandstand they were treated to a standing ovation.The presence of Somerset’s winning team obviously had the desired effect on Bath who ran out comfortable winners over their Welsh opponents.