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Adam Gilchrist has predicted Twenty20 will become cricket’s “staple diet” in the next ten years and a window may have to be carved into the programme to fit in the traditional contests. Gilchrist has returned to Australia impressed with the Indian Premier League, which he compared with the excitement of the Olympics, and said the concept would be “a landmark in the history of cricket”.”The great discussion at the moment is whether we carve out a window for the IPL,” Gilchrist said in the Australian. “I envisage that, potentially, within ten years it could be more a case of trying to carve out a window for international cricket as this format becomes more of a staple diet.”Twenty20 is being flooded with cash – Allen Stanford launched a US$20m series at Lord’s on Thursday – and Ricky Ponting, who appeared in the first two weeks of the IPL, is concerned by the huge financial rewards. “I’ve always been a little bit worried that if money keeps growing and growing and growing in that version of the game then all of a sudden young kids who are 14, 15, 16 now and want to make cricket their career may not even consider playing for their countries,” Ponting told the paper.”They might be trying to get a crack at the IPL or a competition somewhere like that and hopefully make a name for themselves and totally turn their back on the international game. That’s what I’m worried about.”David Hussey, the Victoria, Kolkata and Nottinghamshire batsman, told the Age he was “seriously worried” about domestic players chasing the money instead of focusing on first-class contests. “I’m just imploring that the ICC and the IPL all get together and keep a keen interest in Test cricket because that is what this game’s all about,” he said.Hussey, who will join the Australian one-day team in the Caribbean over the next couple of days, was signed by Kolkata for US$625,000, but said he remained a traditionalist. “My priority is still the same,” he said. “I’m a traditionalist and I always had the goal growing up that I wanted to play cricket for Australia. I’ve got a little window of opportunity in the West Indies. Hopefully, I get a chance and if I do I will take it with both hands. I desperately want to play.”Gilchrist has suggested caution on making decisions about the IPL’s future, but he was amazed by the success of the tournament. “It was quite overwhelming to see an event capture the attention and mindset and imagination of a country,” he said. “The only thing I can think of that was comparable was maybe the Olympics when they were in Sydney. But the Olympics was about two weeks, this was 45 days every night.”

Essex have taken the Division Two title in the Frizzell County Championship, beating Nottinghamshire by seven wickets at Chelmsford. Nottinghamshire were already assured of promotion themselves. Essex began the day needing another 211 runs with eight wickets in hand. They lost Mark Waugh when the Australian had made 76 at better than a run a ball and had put on 125 with Will Jefferson who was joined by Aftab Habib. The pair took Essex to their target without wasting any time. When the Jefferson hit the winning runs off the bowling of the Paul Johnson, playing his last match for Nottinghamshire before retiring, the tall opener was on 165, with Habib on 57.Worcestershire were set 373 to win by Derbyshire – and got them with one wicket to spare. That last man was none other than Graeme Hick, who came in at number 11 suffering from a fractured thumb. David Leatherdale with 89 not out and Gareth Batty with 74 had made the win possible with a stand of 122 for the fifth wicket, Matt Mason, who went into this match with a first-class batting average of 7.50, scored fifty, but when the ninth wicket fell there were still 13 runs required. Hick scored ten of them. Kevin Dean finished a fine season with another five wickets.Glamorgan batted on to reach 528 for seven before declaring. M.J. Powell (Michael) was out for 92, while Robert Croft was 71 not out when he set Northamptonshire an unlikely 447 to win. Another M.J. Powell, this time Mark, was the man to hold up the Glamorgan bowlers with an innings of 108 as his side made 242 for six to secure the draw.In Division One, Warwickshire pulled of a stirring victory by three wickets against Sussex at Hove to secure runners-up spot behind Surrey. Warwickshire needed 401 to win in the fourth innings and thanks to a hundred from – that’s right – M.J. Powell (Michael again), ninety from Dominic Ostler and 79 not out from Dougie Brown, Warwickshire made it.Meanwhile the champions, Surrey, went on to 492 for nine before they declared with Adam Hollioake recording a double hundred and Ali Brown a mere single. Leicestershire were in all sorts of trouble at 11 for four before 68 from Neil Burns halted the slide. But the reprieve was only temporary as Tim Murtagh finished with five for 39, Leicestershire were bowled out for 142 and Surrey finished their triumphant season with a win by the little matter of 483 runs.

Bushrangers vice-captain and champion wicketkeeper Darren Berry, will tomorrow break Dean Jones’ all-time games record for Victoria, in the Pura Cup clash against the Tasmanian Tigers.Berry, who currently shares the record with Jones on 124 matches, said he was looking forward to the occasion. “At the start of my career, to think I would one day break this record would have been unimaginable. This is an honour I rank as high as any I have received throughout my career and I’ve been very privileged to have played with so many great players in that time. My major focus now however is the match itself and hopefully contributing strongly to a Bushranger victory”.The Bushrangers finalised their twelve for the match, when paceman Mick Lewis was left out of the initial thirteen man squad. Bushrangers coach David Hookes said that Lewis had not recovered sufficiently from the groin strain he incurred during the previous Pura Cup match against the Southern Redbacks. “Our upcoming schedule is extremely heavy and as such we just can’t take risks on players that aren’t one hundred per cent. Mick was close, but ultimately the selectors felt it in his long-term interests that he miss the match”.Lewis’ misfortune now paves the way for Shane Harwood to possibly make his first-class debut for the Bushrangers. Harwood comes into the match in fine form, snaring nine wickets for his club side Melbourne on the weekend.BUSHRANGERSShane Warne (c), Darren Berry (vc), Jason Arnberger, Will Carr, Matthew Elliott, Ian Harvey, Shane Harwood, Brad Hodge, Mathew Inness, Nick Jewell, Jon Moss, Graeme Rummans

Whoa there. Hold your horses.It’s about time a little straightening out was done on the cricket front.That’s to avoid some of the constant re-writing of history that is inadvertently, or perhaps that should be advertently, being done to cricket.Just as some of the great quotations of history are so commonly mashed up, so are some cricket facts.People may foul up Sir Winston Churchill’s famous words as Britain faced invasion in World War Two from the original, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” to the sadly common “blood, sweat and tears”, who were after all, a very good rock group, but not a true representation of Churchill’s fighting talk. But they are wrong.All of which it might be said have nothing whatsoever to do with cricket.Ah, but there you are.It’s the mis-quoting that is the problem.And New Zealand cricket history is being done a serious dis-service by those who would perpetuate the myth that the Sri Lankan batsmen at the 1996 World Cup, bless their hearts, were the originators of the 15-over slog at the start of One-Day Internationals. In their case, Sanath Jayasuriya especially, helped them to a famous World Cup victory.But the facts are quite different.You see four years earlier, a big burly brute by the name of Mark Greatbatch, a batsman who had played a bit of rugby in his time, and another burly bloke, a bit shorter but who had played considerably more rugby, Rod Latham, took to the opposition bowling on several occasions. The North Stand at Eden Park took such a hammering it was pulled down a few years later.Oops sorry! It was pulled down but the Greatbatch-Latham hitting was only partly responsible, well, perhaps minutely.But check out the facts, especially in the games against the South Africans and the West Indies. Greatbatch wasn’t chosen for the two games against Australia and Sri Lanka and only came in when John Wright was injured.There’s no doubting the effectiveness of the Greatbatch-Latham combination. Against South Africa they scored 103 runs in 15 overs!They put on 67 in 11 overs against the West Indies a week later.Greatbatch scored 73 off 77 balls against India and New Zealand were 75/1 after 15 overs.Then followed with 35 off 37 balls against England.Fair chance that a recognisable practise of thrashing in the first 15 overs was well advanced before 1996, wouldn’t you agree?Certainly Greatbatch and Latham were the first successful duo in the art.It could be argued with little opposition that Glenn Turner developed the early assault years before anyone else, even if doing it all by himself, on the English county circuit.Kris Srikkanth started the same process in international matches for India in matches against Sri Lanka in 1982/83, just a month or two before Turner returned to the international scene from which he had been absent since 1979.Turner proceeded to show, in the one-day game what he had been doing in English county cricket for some seasons by toying with bowlers in the first 15 overs during England’s three ODIs tour of New Zealand in 1983 and it continued against Sri Lanka that same season.In his book, ‘Opening Up’ Turner described his approach, “My policy in such games was, when I felt in good nick and the ball looked as if it could be hit, to get after it.”In the first ODI at Auckland, Turner and Bruce Edgar put on 101 runs by the 21st over.In the second at Wellington, they scored 152 by the halfway stage of the innings. Turner scored at a strike of 100.Then in Christchurch, they failed. They scored only 64.In the Auckland match against Sri Lanka, Turner scored 140 off 130 balls at a strike rate of 107.69.But in a magnanimous show of bi-partisanship, all New Zealanders will admit that Australia might even lay claim to the initiation of the policy in one-day games, although it proved a oncer.The second final of the 1982/83 World Series in Melbourne saw Steve Smith and Graeme Wood put on 140 in 24 overs against a Richard Hadlee-less attack to well and truly sink New Zealand.Perhaps that should be enough evidence, or then again it might prove that ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.’Sorry, as Alexander Pope originally wrote it, that should be “A little learning is a dangerous thing”.

Canada, despite several key players missing or struggling through injuries squeaked out a thrilling victory over Namibia yesterday at Windhoek. The last time the two teams met in Toronto it was Namibia who came out on top with a last over win by two wickets. This time the results were reversed, with Canada obtaining the winning runs from the 6th ball of the 50th over.Canada started the match missing two key players, Nick Degroot suffering from damaged knee ligaments, and Muneeb Diwan a dislocated finger. In addition Sanjay Thuraisingam, who had missed the previous match with a respiratory infection, and Ashish Bagai, suffering from lower back problems, played although less than fully fit.Canada opened the bowling with Joseph and Codrington, and it was Codrington who made the initial breakthrough, bowling van der Merwe for 2. The pace bowlers were not effective however, and Walters and Keulder saw Namibia past 50 without further loss. The introduction of the spinners drastically slowed the run rate, with the batsmen unable to get either Davison or Seeberan away. Davison bowled Walters, and Seeberan dismissed Murgatroyd and Keulder. The Namibian middle order all contributed useful runs but no-one was able to build a significant innings. Davison chipped in with a second wicket, but Namibia stil seemed poised for a total of over 200 when Thuraisingam returned for a second spell. As Namibia strove to raise the tempo with the final overs approaching, Thuraisingam rapidly dismissed skipper DB Kotze, BL Kotze, and Snyman, finishing with the figures of 3/37 off his 10 overs, a courageous performance. Skipper Joe Harris bowled the final over, and picked up a second wicket as Namibia were all out for 170 with three balls remaining. Seeberan had the remarkable figures of 1/16 off his 10 overs, and Davison 2/29 from 10 overs.Missing Degroot and Diwan, Canada’s batting was not at full strength. The unusual combination of Davison and Maraj opened the batting. Davison took an agressive approach and hit three quick boundaries, taking the opening partnership to 32 before being bowled by Snyman. Chumney and Maraj added useful runs, until Louw dismissed both. Louw bowled superbly, and the Canadian bats found it almost impossible to score from him. He took a third wicket when Billcliff was caught by Walters for only 7. At 95/4 Canada were in danger of collapse, so Bagai chose a mostly defensive role. When Harris fell to Burger, Canada were still 48 runs short; Sattaur made only three before being bowled by Burger, and Canada were 132/6, with few overs remaining. Thuraisingam contributed a vital eight runs, Codrington was run out, and with only two wickets left, Canada still needed twenty to win. Bagai and Joseph were the heroes of an amazing last over win against UAE in Toronto, and the experience stood them in good stead, as they saw Canada home off the last possible ball. Bagai was unbeaten on 34, a patient innings, facing 102 balls in total, and Joseph made 9. Louw finished with the superb figures of 10 overs, 5 maidens, 3 wickets, for 8 runs.

Rob Turner’s Golf day that was held at Enmore Park recently was a great success, and was enjoyed by all of those who attended.In all ten teams of four entered, which included eight Somerset cricketer’s, and fortunately despite the strong wind the day remained dry throughout.The day began with coffee and bacon rolls on arrival, followed by an 18 holes of golf in which there was some high scoring. The eventual winners of the stableford competition were Mike Smith, Chris Perkins, Mike Perry and Ian Blackwell, who finished with a tremendous 97 points.A nine hole putting competition was also held, which was won by Keith Bigwood. The nearest the pin competition was won by Tony Mann, and the longest drive was claimed by Matt Bulbeck.Following the golf a superb three course meal was enjoyed by all in the excellent club house, along with the prize giving and a grand draw.Rob Turner would like to thank everyone who was involved in any way in helping to make the day such a success.The next two events in Rob’s Benefit Year are the Six-a-side CricketCompetition at Honiton Cricket Club on July 1st and the Summer Ball at Taunton School on July 6th.Further details of either of these events can be obtained from Doreen Barnes, 01455 230489, Mary Elworthy, 01823 400679, or visit Rob’s website www.robturner2002.co.uk

If a team had to win the Ranji Trophy title for the first time, they would no doubt choose to do it by a comprehensive margin on home turf, in front of their staunchest supporters, and against a team that rudely deprived them of the title the year before. On Saturday, Railways satisfied every one of those criteria to lay their hands on India’s premier domestic trophy for the first time in the team’s history.Setting their opponents a target of 391 almost guaranteed the hosts the title. Few teams today have the ability to survive two days on a crumbling track against quality spin, let alone chase massive totals with confidence and ease. The Karnail Singh Stadium pitch, as if doing its best to aid the local lads, co-operated by getting markedly slower and lower, aiding vicious turn as the final progressed.Railways skipper Abhay Sharma may have been tempted to even open the bowling with Murali Kartik, but he tossed the ball first to his opening bowlers – Harvinder Singh and Zakir Hussain – and they repaid him in no small measure.Harvinder Singh got rid of Nayan Mongia, promoted up the order, in his very first over. Four runs later, Zakir Hussain had Connor Williams caught behind, and Baroda were reeling at five for two.Atul Bedade, coming in at number three, was to offer the only resistance from Baroda’s side on the day. Zakir Hussain removed skipper Jacob Martin and Tushar Arothe as well, both batsmen departing for single-figure scores. Martin was trapped plumb in front by a well-directed delivery, while Arothe was caught behind with the score on 42, giving Abhay Sharma his third catch of the innings.Bedade and Bhoite then managed to steady a violently rocking ship somewhat, adding exactly 50 runs for the fifth wicket. Railways, meanwhile, introduced spin into the attack, bringing on Kulamani Parida; Murali Kartik, inexplicably, was brought in only after Jai P Yadav bowled three overs of innocuous medium pace.Parida broke the partnership by removing Bedade in the 25th over, the batsman having made 59 off 73 balls with 12 fours. Three balls later, Kartik, finally introduced into the attack, snapped up a return catch to dismiss Satyajit Parab for a duck. When, in the same over, Kartik had Yousuf Pathan caught in the deep, Baroda were starring down the barrel of the gun at 92 for seven.After the fall of Bhoite for 12 off 44 balls, Valmik Buch attempted to delay the inevitable, hitting two fours in scoring 10 off six balls. But Buch fell to Kartik with the score on 106 and, 20 minutes after lunch, Rakesh Patel attempted a wild heave off Parida only to have his stumps knocked back. Railways had completed a 277-run victory, a comprehensive margin that reflected their complete domination of this final.Last year, the Ranji final between these very two teams was dogged by controversy, Railways feeling done in by poor umpiring decisions. Baroda, this year, can only blame their batsmen for their debacle, although some serious criticism of a wickedly under-prepared track for a Ranji final would not be completely out of order.Elation reigned on the ground as soon as the last wicket fell, supporters rushing to garland Abhay Sharma with currency garlands and falling to their knees to kiss the wicket. Jacob Martin, at the presentation ceremony, gave due credit to Railways for their splendid cricket in the final, while Abhay Sharma lifted the Trophy appearing suitably aware of the historical significance of the occasion.

Western Australia and South Australia have little more than pride to play for in their Pura Cup match tomorrow following Tasmania’s demolition job at Bellerive Oval today.The Tigers’ ten-wicket win over NSW sent it roaring into next week’s final against Queensland at the Gabba leaving the Warriors and Redbacks to play for third place in the competition.The Warriors were 5-220 at stumps, a lead of 265, with Chris Rogers (83no) and Brad Hogg (43no) at the crease.Rogers resurrected WA’s innings from a precarious position at 5-102 after quick Mike Smith (4-49) had torn through the Warriors’ top order.He needs 17 runs for his second hundred in the match.The Redbacks were earlier bowled out for 301 in their first innings reply to the Warriors’ 7(dec)-346.After a promising start the WA innings got the jitters after opener Michael Hussey (16), Murray Goodwin (25) and captain Simon Katich (5) were all back in the pavilion at 3-52.It was particularly disappointing for former Zimbabwean Test batsman Goodwin who was looking to revive his first-class cricket career with his recall to theWarriors.And in-form Marcus North (10) couldn’t continue his run-scoring feats while Ryan Campbell (30) was his aggressive self before Smith removed him for his fourthwicket.Earlier wicketkeeper Shane Deitz (86) justified his return to the Redbacks team by top scoring while Warriors paceman Jo Angel (3-53) was the pick of the bowlers.Angel is only two wickets away from becoming the second highest wicket-taker in Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup history.He needs the pair of wickets to pass Terry Alderman on 384 scalps and also become WA’s all-time leading wicket-taker in domestic first-class cricket.And Redbacks batsman David Fitzgerald (26) earlier made a brave return to the crease after he retired hurt yesterday when a Williams bouncer fractured hischeekbone.He was the last to go for Matthew Nicholson’s (2-78) second wicket.

Western Australia’s Duncan Spencer has tonight been handed an 18-month ban from all interstate and international cricket matches played under the auspices of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB). The penalty has been applied after the right arm fast bowler was found to have returned a positive drug test in February of this year.During a marathon seven-hour hearing before a specialist Anti-Doping Committee at the ACB’s Melbourne offices today, Spencer conceded that he had taken the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone prior to the start of the 2000-01 Australian season. But the 29-year-old, who has represented both Kent and Western Australia at senior level, testified that his use of the substance – which appears among a list of prohibited drugs under the ACB’s formal Anti-Doping Policy – was intended to help him relieve the pain caused by a succession of chronic back injuries.In handing down the suspension, the three-person tribunal condemned Spencer to the fate of being the first player in the history of the sport in Australia to be outed from the game for a doping misdemeanour.The panel, which consisted of a member of the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee and judges from the Victorian Supreme Court and Queensland Court of Appeal, had the power to ban Spencer for a minimum two year period under clauses 8.1 and 8.2 of the ACB Anti-Doping Policy. But it instead exercised the option of imposing a reduced sentence under discretionary guidelines that allow the severity of such punishment to be relaxed where extenuating medical circumstances exist.The precise reasons behind tonight’s verdict will be made public next week.In a short statement read to journalists after the hearing, Spencer said that his sole motivation in using nandrolone had been to assist his recovery from back injuries that had already contrived to keep him out of representative cricket for six years.”These injections were prescribed to me to improve my everyday life as I had been suffering from chronic pain for the last six years,” he said.”The medication was not prescribed for sport. At the time (of taking the drug), I did not believe I would be able to bowl again, let alone to do so at the first-class level.”Spencer played 14 first-class matches for Kent and Western Australia between 1993 and 1994 before his injury problems first flared. After finally recovering to the point of full fitness, he returned to play six times at domestic one-day level for Western Australia during the 2000-01 season. It was following the last of those six matches – the Mercantile Mutual Cup Final against New South Wales on 25 February – that his breach was detected.In association with the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA), the ACB has operated a process of random drug testing of the country’s elite-level players for each of the last three seasons. In Spencer’s case, he was informed of the positive finding on 29 March and the results were transmitted to the ACB five days later.ACB Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed, stated tonight that he was satisfied by the way in which the process had been handled.”No sport would be pleased that one of its players had been found guilty of this type offence but I am reassured by the fact that this player was identified and dealt with quickly through the ACB’s testing program and Anti-Doping procedures,” Speed said.”This decision sends a clear message that cricket will not tolerate any player taking prohibited substances and will move swiftly to deal with any person found to have breached the ACB’s Anti-Doping Policy.”But Speed also stated that a procedural error at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) would need to be addressed.Spencer testified this afternoon that, on his return to the Western Australian team, he had not received a copy of the Board’s Anti-Doping Policy – a mandatory requirement for all state players. WACA General Manager, Rob Thompson, later conceded that this requirement had been overlooked.Speed also confirmed that the ACB has offered personal and career counselling and general support to Spencer to help him come to terms with today’s unprecedented events.

While West Indies were recovering from one of their slowest starts in recent memory in the World T20 final, miles away Trinidad & Tobago were battling to put up a decent score themselves.T&T could not watch the first half of what turned out to be a historic game for West Indies because they were playing a Champions League T20 warm-up match against Auckland in Johannesburg. It was probably a good part of the match to miss and by the time T&T would have settled in front of the televisions they wouldn’t have felt too bad about losing by eight wickets because West Indian cricket had achieved something great.Before the match, David Williams had called the result, down to the method of victory. “When you have guys like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Ravi Rampaul, there is a lot of experience so we just knew that they are going to do well,” he said. “They will have to graft hard but they will win this one.”For West Indies, a world event has ended in success but T&T, such a competition is only just beginning. Williams said the CLT20 has a similar importance for players at domestic level as an ICC trophy is to international players. “It’s a big thing for us. It’s our mini World Cup,” Williams said. “This competition is important to all aspects of cricket in West Indies. The guys look forward to this and our regional competition is so hyped up because of this T20 tournament.”Of all countries who have enjoyed success from twenty-over cricket, India could be talked about as the biggest recipients. But of individual cricketers who have benefitted from the format, West Indian names would crop up. Gayle, Pollard and Bravo aside, T20 has given players like Sunil Narine and Kevon Cooper and teams like T&T a stage to show off on.That’s not to say their involvement in the format has been a honeymoon. T&T were close to pulling out of this edition of the CLT20 because of a monetary dispute. When they settled their differences and arrived in South Africa, none of them would admit to the behind-the-scenes issues. Rayad Emrit said he “knew nothing about it,” and Williams would not discuss the reported fall-out.The focus, he said, was simply on qualifying. T&T are used to a tough ride in the tournament. In the year when qualifying was not yet part of it, they were underrated but went on to reach the final. Since the preliminary phase was introduced last year, they are the only team to have come through that, played in the tournament proper and have returned to do it all again.”We did this last year and we’re pretty aware of what it’s going to be like,” Williams said. “We know it’s going to be tough. But we did extremely well in the tournaments in the Caribbean and we played a few extra matches so we are in good stead.”T&T’s preparations had to take place without five senior players including captain Denesh Ramdin and premier quick Ravi Rampaul but Williams said that was actually an advantage to the team. “They have been playing T20 cricket over in Sri Lanka so that will be good for us,” he said. “Someone like Darren Bravo will have got a lot of experience from there. He is going from strength to strength and is an important member of the team, we’re hoping he is going to do well for us.”Rampaul is another player who will be a major factor for T&T in South African conditions. He could keep Shannon Gabriel, another bowler who could be a handful on bouncier tracks. “We’ve got a lot to choose from,” Williams said. “We don’t know if Shannon is going to get in, if he does I know he is going to do well. He has been training for a long time and he is fit and ready to go.”More important than individuals will be the team effort as a whole, according to Williams. For that to happen, Williams hope that the World T20 shine will rub off on T&T will have to be proved correct.