The Tasmanian Selectors have today announced the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers ACB Cup team to play the Australian Capital Territory at Bellerive Oval on Monday, 4th – Thursday, 7th November 2002.CASCADE TASMANIAN TIGERS
Scott KREMERSKOTHEN (Captain)
Scott MASON (Vice Captain)
George BAILEY
Chris BASSANO
Luke BUTTERWORTH
Xavier DOHERTY
Andrew DOWNTON
Ben OLIVER
Tim PAINE
Matthew PASCOE
Shannon TUBB
Luke WILLIAMS
Coach: Darrin Ramshaw
LONDON – England looked set to start life without Graham Thorpe soonerrather than later after his county side Surrey said the class batsmanwas “extremely unlikely” to play again this season.Thorpe, 33, decided to take an indefinite break from all cricket afterEngland’s first Test victory over India at Lord’s in July.His move was prompted by the break-up of his marriage and discussionsabout access arrangements to his young children, Henry, 5 and Amelia, 3.However, England hoped that the left-handed middle-order batsman wouldreturn before the end of the season to press his claims for selection inthe 2002-2003 Ashes series in Australia.But given that England coach Duncan Fletcher had said that Thorpe can’tbe picked “out of the blue”, his chances of selection now appear to behanging by a thread.Earlier this season Thorpe announced his retirement from internationalone-day cricket in a bid, he said, to ease his personal problems andprolong his Test career.Then came the announcement of his break from all forms of the game.The news that he will not be playing again this season is sure tointensify speculation over his international future.Even those who question his commitment to the England cause cannotdispute his record on the field.In an era where Australia has dominated Ashes Tests (England’s lastseries victory was back in 1986-87), Thorpe has still averaged over 45against them.Thorpe, capped 77 times by England, has repeatedly proved himself as abig-match performer, scoring the second-fastest Test double hundredagainst New Zealand in Christchurch in March.But, thanks to a combination of both personal and back problems, Thorpehas only completed one full touring program out of the past five.He now faces the prospect of losing out on one of the new annual Englandcentral contracts worth STG200,000 ($A574,000) which are due to be givento 16 players at the end of the current domestic season.Australia captain Steve Waugh, in England as Kent’s replacement overseasplayer for the rest of the season, paid tribute to Thorpe.”He’s a class player and he has made a decision that’s right for hisfamily,” he said.”You have to respect him for that. It’s a courageous decision when youare playing for your country and he wouldn’t have made it lightly.”I just hope he comes back and plays Test cricket or one-day cricketagain.”
Western Province ended a roller-coaster second day of this Super 6 match still trailing their visitors from KwaZulu Natal by 138 runs with just three wickets in hand.KZN added just 11 runs to their overnight score before Lance Klusener and wicket keeper Duncan Brown were dismissed off successive deliveries by left arm spinner Claude Henderson. At the other end, Dale Benkenstein was unable to produce the concentration of the first day and was taken behind the wicket on 145 after being dropped on 139, the first error in his seven-and-a-half hour effort. Nixon McLean entertained the small crowd, hitting two sixes before holing out to deep mid wicket to end the innings on a sizeable total of 374. Henderson, after going wicketless for his first 30 overs, took 4 for 18 in the space of 52 balls.The WP openers faced 3 torrid overs from McLean before lunch, but then batted through the middle session, adding 94 between lunch and tea. Rashaad Magiet went on the record his highest score at this level before a dramatic collapse. Three wickets fell with the score on 115, and all in all WP lost 6 for 49 in the space of 22 overs. Jonathan Trott made a disappointing effort to pull early in his innings, and Lloyd Ferreira was just settling in when he left a McLean delivery which came in enough to rattle his stumps.It could have been worse as captain HD Ackerman battled to read the unorthodox left arm spin of Goolam Bodi, and could have been dismissed on numerous occasions. He survived somehow, and with the belligerent all rounder Alan Dawson added a crusial 72 runs for the seventh wicket. The penultimate over of the day was full of action, as Ackerman took a boundary of the first ball to raise his 50 and avoid the follow in one fell swoop. He and Dawson each clubbed a boundary before Dawson cut the last ball of the over straight to the ever reliable Rhodes at point.By the close, WP had reached 2.72 bonus points for batting to remain in third place on the table, and their only realistic hope of reaching the Final remains with the unlikely prospect of an outright win in this match.
Hampshire Cricket will name their second overseas signing next week but itwill not be Mark Waugh.The county had been in the hunt for the 37-year-old Australian star andheld preliminary talks, but they have now decided to turn theirattentions elsewhere.New cricket manager Paul Terry has indicated he would prefer a youngerplayer to join Shane Warne at the Rose Bowl next season. And a dealto bring the unnamed batsman to Hampshire is set to be completed withinthe next seven days.Chairman Rod Bransgrove is flying to Perth on Thursday.And Bransgrove is more than willing to listen to the advice of Terry,who has spent the past seven years scouting talent in Australia.Bransgrove said: ‘It is all coming to a close and Tim Tremlett will makean announcement late next week.’
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Sussex are probably fed up of watching Stuart Law bat on their home patch. His masterful 156, which pushed Lancashire to a valuable lead of 129, completed a hat-trick of centuries at Hove and it was a class above anything else on display in this match. Even though the pitch is offering precious little for the bowlers, Lancashire are now in a position to push for their second Championship victory of the season.It was hard work for Sussex to prize out wickets on a slow surface that nullified the threat of a limping Mushtaq Ahmed. To put Sussex’s disappointing first innings into context Gary Keedy, the nightwatchman, batted throughout the morning session as he registered his career-best in a 160-run stand with Law after Lancashire started on a precarious 67 for 4. Sussex fought back during the afternoon as Andrew Flintoff collected another failure, but Luke Sutton combined in a watchful stand of 89 and Lancashire’s deep batting order frustrated Sussex during the final session.Law, though, batted on a different level. His average against Sussex is 70 and in 17 matches against them (for Essex and Lancashire) he has 1613 runs. With such a record, Sussex were asking for trouble when they dropped him on 18 – a tough chance to Chris Adams at slip – and he was offered a second life when Jason Lewry spilled a much simpler opportunity at mid-on when Law was 101. It showed the class of Law that he was able to so easily switch between Twenty20 and four-day cricket.His first Championship century of the season came off 173 balls and was punctuated by silky cover drives, deft cuts and neat placement. He was happy to bide his time against pace and spin and almost everything went along the deck, barring a lofted slog-sweep off Ollie Rayner after he’d passed three figures. “I’ve been coming down here a while and have always had some good tussles with Mushtaq,” he told . “It hasn’t been going well in the Championship this season and it was about time the batting knuckled down so it was a good effort today.”However, Law’s batting prowess is well known. The same can’t be said of Keedy, who has an average of 11. He has previously performed valuable nightwatchman roles, but never quite with this success. It helped him that Mushtaq was clearly not a full fitness while Corey Collymore was below-par in the first session. Keedy has limited scoring areas, but used them well as he clipped off his pads and punched through the off side.His 157-ball innings passed his previous best which was 57 against Yorkshire in 2002. Mushtaq eventually extracted him from the crease, as Michael Yardy stayed low to take a good catch at silly point. After appearing flat during the long fifth-wicket stand, Sussex suddenly found a spark. Rayner, tossing up his offspin, bowled Steven Croft which one that didn’t turn much and beat the outside edge.Flintoff marched out at No. 8 – the position many would argue suits him these days – and drove his second ball just wide of Rayner for four. He was clearly itching to dominate, but didn’t enjoy facing a twin spin attack. Rayner and Mushtaq tied him down, then trying to break free Flintoff came down the pitch and clubbed straight to midwicket. Shortly after heading off he was back in the nets, but it’s time in the middle he really needs.Importantly from the match situation, Sussex were right back in the contest with Lancashire still behind by 21. However, Sutton showed the composure that Flintoff lacked and helped take them into a lead alongside Law. Mushtaq eventually claimed his second to end the partnership, but Glen Chapple is far better than a No. 10.Chapple wasn’t afraid to use his feet against a tiring attack and Law brought up his 150 shortly before the close. The Sussex bowlers were a weary bunch, none more so than Mushtaq. He has hinted that this might be his final season, despite a contract than runs until 2009, and many more days like this could well sway his mind.
New Queensland captain Maher felt 240 was a very achievable target on a small ground with a good wicket and fast outfield and felt the Bulls contributed to their downfall.”We made the mistakes ourselves. I don’t think they were forced errors, so that’s something we can look back on and use in preparation for upcoming games,” Maher said.”To their credit, NSW bowled and fielded well. Going out to bat I thought 240 was well below par, a score that I was very happy to be chasing, but we just didn’t do it with the bat.”Queensland had a perfect start when NSW opener Brad Haddin was run out off the first ball without facing as he charged down the pitch without looking at opening partner Corey Richards.Experienced Queensland fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz (2-30 off 10 overs) conceded just 12 runs in his initial seven over burst.Batting three places higher than he normally does for Australia, Bevan capitalised on the chance to play a long innings and played several dashing cuts and drives.He added 90 with Richards (36) and 85 with Michael Clarke (39) and struck nine fours in his 138th ball innings.Man of the match Nash, and Bracken, who whipped out Martin Love (0) and Lee Carseldine put NSW in control until the furious mid innings onslaught from Symonds who smashed ten fours and three sixes.
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The game at Ahmedabad’s Motera stadium shaped exactly like theone at Rajkot. Sourav Ganguly won the toss and asked the WestIndies to have a bat first, no doubt emboldened in his decisionby India’s whirlwind chase – rudely interrupted by the crowd – inthe previous game.In my last column, I had mentioned the logical options that areavailable to a captain on winning the toss. If the Indian captainopted to field first, he must have believed either than hisbowlers could restrict the West Indies to a gettable target orthat his batsmen were capable of chasing down even the tallestscores. At the Motera, Ganguly would have had an additionalfactor on his mind – the dew that would undoubtedly make bowlingdifficult in the second half of the match.Chris Gayle, at the moment, is in terrific form. One may lookaskance at his footwork, but the clean strikes from his bat canonly be admired. He is yet another batsman in world cricket whobelieves in straddling the crease with a wide stance, enablinghim to be flexible enough to pull a short delivery or drive afull one. This approach is a real problem for the bowlers, asthey hard-pressed to get the length right.Gayle scored a fabulous 140 on the day, but one must not forgetRamnaresh Sarwan. The latter yet again got so near yet so far tohis first international hundred, but he played like a championnevertheless, consolidating Gayle’s frenzied start with aresponsible, mature innings and helping the West Indies post animposing target of 325 for India to chase.India lost Virender Sehwag early, and sensing that the run-rateneeded to be boosted right away, Ganguly played some excellentshots to up the tempo. Unfortunately he was caught behind tryingto flick one down the legside to the fine leg fence. It was thenup to VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid to play responsible knocks tosteady the Indian innings, which they did very well indeed.It was that partnership that brought hope back into the Indianinnings. Dravid in particular, playing the anchor to perfectionand holding down the fort at one end, was extraordinary, pacinghis innings to perfection and letting the other batsmen playaround him. Sanjay Bangar also came up with a gem of an innings,a deep contrast to his usually dour approach in Test cricket.The West Indians, in my opinion, lost their hold on this seriesever since they allowed Ganguly and Sehwag to smash the ball intooblivion at Rajkot. Their bowling at Ahmedabad was indisciplined,to say the least; the numerous wides and no-balls are mutetestimony to that fact.But nevertheless, the 649 runs scored in the match onlyhighlights how closely fought the match was, and that there waslittle to choose from in the batting departments of the twoteams. With the series at two-all, where the rubber will go fromhere is anybody’s guess.
Leicestershire captain Vince Wells is set to return to the side for the Norwich Union League match against Warwickshire at Grace Road on Sunday (1.0pm)Wells had to pull out of the current Frizzell County Championship clash with Hampshire after aggravating a troublesome neck injury.But he is now fit again and looks certain to lead the team against Warwickshire, who are the Benson and Hedges Cup winners and joint leaders in the Norwich Union League.The in-form Edgbaston side will provide the sternest test yet for Leicestershire and the game promises to be an exciting one with a big crowd expected. Leicestershire will be boosted by their excellent win over Glamorgan at Swansea a week ago.In addition to Wells, seamer Jamie Grove is also in the squad after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.The team will be selected from : Wells, Ward, Sutcliffe, Stevens, Bevan, Maddy, Burns (wicket-keeper), Cunliffe, DeFreitas, Crowe, Grove, Malcolm, Whiley.
A hundred from Wavell Hinds has failed to stop Barbadados from winning the 2002-03 Red Stripe Bowl.In the morning, Barbados after being put in by Jamaica reached 241 for eight in their 50 overs. Left-hander Floyd Reifer, who made 86 off 98 balls, opener Kurt Wilkinson, who made a patient 63 off 110 balls, and captain Courtney Browne, who made a hard-hitting 40 off 25 balls, were the men who guided their team to a healthy score.The Barbados cause was greatly helped by some poor Jamaican fielding, the home team dropping as many four catches including that of Reifer when the left-hander was on 28. Another beneficiary was Browne, who was dropped on one and on 16. With the home team’s fielding going to pieces, Barbados capitalised to plunder as many as 115 runs of the last 15 overs.The Jamaican reply got off to the worst possible start with openers Leon Garrick (0) and Chris Gayle (3) being dismissed with their team’s score on eight in the 8th over. Hinds in the company of Marlon Samuels repaired some of the damage by putting on 63 runs in about 18 overs for the third wicket before Samuels was run out for 22. Ricardo Powell and Gareth Breese, who followed, failed, making just 5 and 15 respectively.Hinds and his captain Robert Samuels, though, resuscitated the Jamaican innings with a whirlwind 57 runs partnership in 6.2 overs. But once the elder Samuels was dismissed for quickfire 29 off 21 balls, the home team’s innings fell apart. Hinds went on to make 103 off 141 balls with eight fours before becoming the ninth Jamaican batsman to be dismissed with his team’s score on 207. Five balls and one run later, last man Daren Powell was also dismissed as Barbados sealed a 33-run win with 22 balls to spare. Reifer was named Man of the Match for his 86.
The Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) is pleased to announce three additions to its list of State Contracted Players for season 2002-03.Callum Thorp, Beau Casson and Peter Worthington have been included in the Western Warriors squad for next season after the WACA’s International and Interstate Committee gave formal approval of recommendations made by the WA State Selectors.Beau Casson and Peter Worthington have been awarded a Rookie Contract and Callum Thorp a Senior Contract. Last season Worthington held a Senior Contract and Casson held a Rookie Contract.27 year old Thorp is tall right-arm out-swing bowler and handy lower order batsman from Wanneroo Cricket Club.Thorp was awarded a contract following an outstanding 2001-2002 season in the WACA s Sunsmart League, where he claimed 50 wickets at an average of 16.38 and finished second in the Olly Cooley medal.Thorp was selected in the WA 2nd XI for the final game of last season and showed his capabilities by taking 4-52 from 17.5 overs in the 1st innings and 3-22 from 13.1 overs in the 2nd. He also scored 28 runs in the WA 2nd innings, batting at number 8.The WACA has the option of awarding a further Senior Contract and Rookie Contract prior to finalising its list of contracted Players for season 2002-2003.