With the help of two valuable partnerships, Gloucestershire, having decided to make first use of a slow pitch at Lord’s, were able to end the rain-affected first day’s play, in which 44 overs were lost, on an impressive 198 for two.Dominic Hewson’s chanceless innings of 77 in just over three hours contained a full range of strokes which brought him 11 boundaries from the 156 balls that he faced.Along with the veteran Kim Barnett he put on 88 and then for the second wicket he featured in an 82-run stand with Matt Windows. The two stands were similarly paced with the first taking 23.1 overs and the second 24.1.Having suffered their first Cricinfo Championship defeat of the season last week at the hands of Sussex at Hove, Middlesex were made to struggle for most of the day.The first of the two wickets that they claimed came in the penultimate over of the morning session which was shortened by 34 minutes owing to rain.Tim Bloomfield, whose first spell of three overs cost 24, struck with his first ball when he was brought back into the attack. Barnett, 38, driving firmly to mid-wicket, was held low by Robin Weston.At lunch Gloucestershire were 94 for one with Hewson 45 not out. He reached his third Championship half-century of the season flicking Angus Fraser for four to backward square leg and in the next over he pulled Bloomfield to the mid-wicket boundary.In partnership with Windows he batted more fluently, having taken 13 off an over from Bloomfield, he followed it with ten off Phil Tufnell. It contained a stylish cover drive, off the book foot, and then a lofted straight drive for four which took him to 67.After Hewson’s unfortunate run out, from a deflection by bowler Tufnell, Windows reached his fifty from 95 balls shortly after the 150 had come up with him hitting two boundaries, to cover, in an over from Chad Keegan.At stumps he was unbeaten on 52 and Ian Harvey was on 14.

James Hamblin took 4-55, and Irfan Shah 3-32, as Hampshire moved closer to clinching the ECB Second XI Trophy in the first days play against Warwickshire at Bournemouth.With the county’s second team needing just eight points from this fixture to confirm their place at the top of the pile, they picked up the maximum four bowling points in dismissing the opposition for 213.Hamblin grabbed the first three wickets in an excellent opening burst, and when James Schofield induced a thin edge, Warwickshire were reeling at 46-4.However, a good partnership by Jim Troughton (62) and Danny Dalton (52) took them up to 152, before Schofield returned to make the breakthrough, having Troughton well caught by Jason Laney at second slip.The Midlanders last five wickets fell for 61 runs, as Shah bowled a good spell of probing off-spin, with the help of Simon Francis, who vitally trapped Dalton plumb in front, just after the batsman had passed his half-century.Hampshire’s response started very well, with Jason Laney and James Adams both looking in fine touch. The pair put on 51 in 11 overs, with Laney making 31. He was well caught low at mid-on, having looked set, and driving the ball particularly well. Adams and new partner Andy Sexton both put the bad balls away, and moved the score onto 70, but the former nicked a good delivery to first slip for 25.Sexton and Lawrence Prittipaul took the tally over the hundred mark, but Prittipaul was out for 26 with just one over of the day remaining.Hampshire were 110-3 at the close of play.

Steve Watkin claimed his 900th wicket in all first-class cricket when hetrapped Vince Wells leg before wicket during Leicestershire`s first innings of the Championship match at Grace Road.As the table below shows, Steve joins an illustrious group of Glamorganplayers who have all passed this career landmark in English first-class cricket:

For Glamorgan In all first-classcricketD.J.Shepherd 2174 2218J.Mercer 1460 1591J.C.Clay 1292 1317M.A.Nash 991 993F.P.Ryan 913 1013W.Wooller 887 958D.E.Davies 885 903S.L.Watkin 859 900O.S.Wheatley 715 1099T.W.Cartwright 10 1536

If conditions at Lincoln Green were only the start of the summer watch out for the main event.Temperatures hovered around 25-28 degrees celsius for much of the day as the New Zealand Cricket Academy and Otago did battle on a perfect early season pitch at Lincoln University.While most interest on the day centred on the return of Chris Cairns to the bowling crease, his exposure was minimal, just managing one with the bat, as the New Zealand Academy managed to bat out most of the day on the first day of a two-day game in which Otago is giving playing time to 15 of its players and the Academy 12.Instead it was his CLEAR Black Caps team-mate, left-arm medium-fast Shayne O’Connor who took most satisfaction from the day. He took five wickets in a highly encouraging day in which he too is making a comeback from injury.For the Academy side, Nathan McCullum did very well in stemming what had been a top order collapse when there was just a little spice in the wicket. He scored 57 before being trapped leg before wicket by O’Connor.Brendon McCullum then backed up with 53 before he was stumped by Martyn Croy from Nathan Morland’s bowling. Brendon McCullum was given good support in a sixth wicket stand of 80 with Jonathan McNamee while Luke Woodcock helped Nathan McCullum add 65 for the eighth wicket.No 11 Wade Cornelius (33) helped add 50 runs for the last wicket with Sam Whiteman, and left the final total at 289.The exercise of New Zealand’s major associations scheduling early season games at the High Performance Centre has been vindicated again with superb conditions that would have done justice to the middle of summer let alone this early in the season.Ground manager Karl Johnson said the dry spring in Canterbury meant grass wickets have been available for training purposes since September 10, an almost unheard of event in most other centres around the country.Earlier in the innings Nick Horsley had scored 36.At stumps Otago had raced to 46 for one in seven overs in reply.

The decisions made by individual England players on whether to tour Indianext month will be announced by the England and Wales Cricket Board latertoday.Several players have expressed concern about whether it is safe to make thetrip given the current military action in Afghanistan.The ECB has confirmed that the tour will go ahead, and held a meeting withthe England players on Tuesday at which the High Commissioner in New Delhi,Sir Rob Young, made reassurances about safety.The ECB have also reassured players that a withdrawal will not be heldagainst them. Should any players decide not to tour, replacements will benamed in due course.

One does not often come across someone as humble as Sridharan Sriram.A conversation with this diminutive opening batsman leaves you with anoverwhelming feeling of simplicity. Perhaps it is exactly that qualitythat makes him speak freely while talking to CricInfo after making anexcellent century for Board President’s XI against England in thethree-day match at Hyderabad.In his innings, Sriram was very sluggish to start with, especiallyafter losing his opening partner Wasim Jaffer for a golden duck. Therewere even a few English journalists who asked the CricInfocorrespondent if Sriram was always as boring. But, after taking histime to get to his fifty, he blossomed to play an entertaining knock,forcing those same journalists to eat their words.The batsman went on to make 149, pressing his claims for the opener’sslot in the national side. It was an innings of determination andcharacter, which would not have missed the attention of the selectorsassembled in Hyderabad.Sriram is a 25-year-old opening batsman from Tamil Nadu who hasrepresented India in a few one-day internationals. He was a recepientof the Border-Gavaskar scholarship and spent some time in theCommonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide, along with Shiv SunderDas and Mohammad. Kaif.Sriram is a brilliant fielder and an able left-arm spinner. He has nowbeen working again on his bowling after neglecting it for a few years.Sriram had a successful tour of the West Indies with the India `A’side a few years ago, sharing honours with Murali Kartik and RahulSanghvi. Starting cricket as a left-arm spinner, Sriram would be animmense addition to Indian cricket if he can develop into an able allrounder.In an exclusive interview to CricInfo, Sriram talked about his battingin the middle and a few other aspects of the game.On the time he spent in Adelaide:It is without doubt one of the the best times I have ever had. Ilearnt a lot about the importance of fitness and how to stay fit. Newconcepts about training and weight-training were taught, from which Ihave benefited a lot. We trained indoors most of the time, as it wasin the middle of the southern winter, and I learned to play shortpitched bowling. What I was most impressed by was the attitude of theAustralians towards the game.On his knock against England:I was very nervous to start with. I just wanted to hang in there aslong as possible and found out that the ball was not coming on to thebat. Initially I went through a phase when I was not timing the ballat all. I just told myself that things were going to change, to spendmore time, so that my timing would come back.On the prospect of playing for India in Tests:Frankly it was never in my mind when I went in to bat; I just had tofocus on my job. You can’t keep thinking about playing for India andlose out on the present. I told myself that I’ll see what I can todayand let tomorrow take care of itself.On the English bowling attack:I watched Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick in action in Sri Lanka, insimilar conditions, and they bowled very well to provide earlybreakthroughs. Later on, Ashley Giles and Robert Croft got thewickets. Giles is supposed to be the number one spinner in England,but I didn’t get to have a look at him. Martyn Ball bowled wellinitially, but lost his length later on. Craig White was bowling offcutters today, the wicket was such; you just can’t help it.”On his form this domestic season:Getting hundreds is a habit that I had lost for some six to eightmonths. The Gopalan Trophy century was an international hundred, allsaid and done; it made me believe that I can score runs at theinternational level.On Tamil Nadu skipper Robin Singh:Frankly, I am a great admirer of Robin; at this age, he is far morefitter than all of us. It makes me ashamed of myself too. The amountof training and hard work he puts in is amazing. He is the role modelfor all young cricketers. You may name Sachin Tendulkar and all other names,but if someone has played for India just on sheer merit and hard work,it is Robin Singh. We are all proud that he is from Tamil Nadu.Sriram must surely figure in the selectors’ shortlist of openers. Theyoungster might have a long way to go to get to the top, but he isheading in the right direction.

Former Somerset favourite Dennis Breakwell, who was a member the cup winning Somerset team of the late 1970’s and early 80’s told me, “The Glory Years are back at Taunton, and the ghost has been laid to rest.”He went on, “Well done to everybody who is involved at the club from Chief Executive Peter Anderson to Head Groundsman Phil Frost, everyone has played their part in the success story.”Dennis said he felt that, “The club has lived in the shadow of the team that I played in for too long, but now the team for the new millennium has arrived and they are a fine side. I’m just so pleased for them, they thoroughly deserve it.”How did they compare to that side of twenty or so years ago I asked. “The 2001 side would compete well with our side in the batting, Now we bat right down the order. How many number sevens have scored back to back hundreds like Ian Blackwell did against Northants?”Regarding the bowling he said, “If you put Joel Garner into the attack then that would also compare well. Joel was the person who would knock the first few over which won the games for us.”At the start of the season Dennis said he felt that “The selection looked a little starnge, but halfway through when both Dutchy and Blackwell played the side looked well balanced even without Caddick and Trescothick.”Dennis also paid tribute to Keith Dutch who had “Proved himself to be a good signing and gave a buzz to the side,” and went on,”look at what he did in the semi final- I was glued to the television.”What about next season I asked, “I hope that they keep going the way that they are and win some more trophies.They are a cohesive unit and very close as a side as we were. We all seemed to be mates.”Before leaving me to return to his coaching duties at Kings College in Taunton Dennis concluded with a message for the 2001 cup winning side, “No we were not better than you are. Good on you and go on and win some more,” and concluded “They were brilliant!”

West Indian batting genius Brian Lara has called for a fundamental re-thinkon the direction and development of the game in the Caribbean following histeam’s three-nil whitewash in Sri Lanka.Lara who dominated the series with the bat, scoring 688 runs, including twocenturies and one double ton, also claimed his "door was open" to the youngplayers should they need any advice and admitted that he would trade in allhis runs to start the series again."I was very disappointed that we weren’t able to draw a Test match or evenlook like winning one," he said."The West Indies are known for going overseas and winning emphatically andthis is not happening. We have got to put our heads together back in theCaribbean and show that we can do something about it."I don’t know what we can do at present. The reality is that we have got alot of young and inexperienced players. I remember my apprenticeship on theoutside looking in and the eagerness I had to play Test cricket. At themoment a number of young players are doing their apprenticeship whilstplaying and they are learning. We have to hope that whilst we are losingTest matches now that things will work out."But he admitted that frequent defeats could have a negative impact on theplayers and said: "I don’t how they are going to be affectedpsychologically."In the short term he hoped the youngsters would draw on the experience ofpast West Indian cricketers, including him."My door is always open," he said. "The young players have got to realisethat we have players around them who have played a lot of Test matches -including the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Roger Harper, CarlHooper, Viv Richards and myself – and that experience should be used.Personally I have not had many guys coming to me and asking what it is allabout. I would like to see more than that from the young players. When I wasyounger Viv Richards couldn’t keep me out of his room because I wanted toknow all about Test cricket and how to be successful. At all levels we needthe input of ex-cricketers. We need to have people thinking about cricket.In the long run, though, he believes the system in the Caribbean needs to bereviewed so that the huge natural talent available at junior levels istransformed into Test success."We have got to put our thinking cap on," he said. "It is not something thatone or two people can solve. We have to see if we can get more money intothe game and what other things we can do. All the other countries are doingthat.One thing I can say is that West Indies cricket has always had the mosttalented cricketers in the world as teenagers. What happens after that isthat is our problem. How are we going to make them grow into internationalcricketers. Test cricket is a mans game, its not for little boys."Sri Lanka are not being successful just because of natural ability. Theyhave been planning for this over a number of years and now it is coming tofruition."It may take five more years but there has to light at the end of thetunnel."

The final day’s play between the Andhra and Tamil Nadu teams at the Municipal Corporation Stadium, Vishakpatnam was called off after just an over had been bowled on Friday. The home team claimed five points after securing the all-important 65-run innings lead on Thursday. Tamil Nadu, decidedly the stronger side, received three points from the encounter.Andhra had earlier made 355 in reply to Tamil Nadu’s 290. The strong Andhra reply was based on a 99 from No. 6 RVC Prasad. KS Shahabudeen, who made 53, and Fayaz Ahmed (48) also made significant contributions. For Tamil Nadu, S Sriram, three for 16, and MR Shrinivas, three for 72, shared the bowling honours.

St Cross Symondians are off to a flier in the newly sponsored NatWest Bank Hampshire Development Youth Indoor Cricket competition at the Rose Bowl.They collected 22 points for winning both of their opening Under-16 games at the Hampshire Rose Bowl to launch an early challenge to Fair Oak and BAT Sports at the top of the table.St Cross beat Havant by two wickets before outplaying South Wilts and chalking up a comprehensive five-wicket victory.Joe Lovett twice produced two-wicket spells of left-arm spin, his 2-20 return helping to restrict Havant to 102-4, of which opener Chris Wade struck an unbeaten 25.St Cross batted consistently to win with an over to spare, James Burridge hitting a key 22 not out after the top four batsmen had all got into double figures.The Winchester club had it far easier against South Wilts, Joe Lovett (2-6) and Burridge (2-11) combining to bowl the Salisbury club out for 80 – a great disappointment after 53 runs were scored before the first wicket fell.It was all too easy for St Cross, who powered home on the strength of Jack Lovett’s 29 not out.Havant, narrowly beaten by St Cross, whipped South Wilts by 56 runs after Nick Hardaker (27) had top scored in a demanding 127-2 total.South Wilts again began well through Paul Roszowski (30) and left-hander Eddie Able (26), but collapsed against three-wicket Ed Molyneaux (3-23).Results –
Havant (1) 102-4 (Wade 25, Joe Lovett 2-20)
St Cross Symondians (11) 103-4 (Burridge 22, Postle 17)
St Cross Symondians won by two wicketsSouth Wilts (0) 80 (Roszowski 17, Bale 15, Joe Lovett 2-6, Burridge 2-11)
St Cross Symondians (11) 81-1 (Jack Lovett 29)
St Cross Symondians won by 5 wicketsHavant (12) 127-2 (Hardaker 27, Wade 15, Morgan 15)
South Wilts (0) 71 (Roszowski 30, Able 26, Molyneaux 3-23)
Havant won by 56 runsAndover’s clash against unbeaten Fair Oak is the highspot of next Sunday’s NatWest League games at the Rose Bowl.Fixtures –
6pm : Fair Oak v Havant, 7pm : Andover v Fair Oak, 8pm : Havant v Andover.