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Sussex County Cricket Club have confirmed their reluctance to release Matthew Prior for the second Under-19 Test which will clash with our CricInfo Championship match against Derbyshire.Chairman Don Trangmar said: “We were initially approached for Prior’s release for one game to which we agreed although it meant him having to miss the wonderful opportunity to play the all-conquering Australians. We were then told, not asked, that he would be required for two Test matches rather than the original one.”This approach is discourteous to say the least and lacks the flexibility that all counties were promised in dealing with U19 team selection.”

The Western Warriors made light work of KwaZulu Natal in the opening match of the preseason tour with a 79 run win. This limited overs pre-season clash played at the Kingsway ground in a northern suburb of the Western Australian capital city was supported well by the local community. The West Aussies won the toss and elected to bat first.Australian keeper Adam Gilchrist and Wanneroo local Mike Hussey played themselves in on a moist wicket but then hammered the attack. – Gilchrist especially. In the latter half of his innings ‘Gilly’ bolted from 25 to 101 runs before a drinks break was called and both batsmen retired with Hussey on 55 and WA effectively 2 wickets down for 163 from 33 overs.Dighton returned to the pavillion first ball after drinks. Then in his first WA game for quite a while Tom Moody took a few overs to get started but also picked up the scoring pace in the latter part of his innings, supported well by debutant Shaun Marsh. Moody miss cued high into the air and was caught at cover by former West Indian and KZN captain Eldine Baptiste after a flourish and having scored 55 runs just three balls shy of the end of innings. At the close of the innings Shaun Marsh was unbeaten on 22 and Rogers had been unable to score four down for 245.The KwaZulu Natal bowling seemed to be very inconsistent as they struggled with the soft conditions. A stand out performance from John Kent snapping up the only 2 real wickets of the innings. Kent was supported by his captain Baptiste and Veenstra who both bowled without a success.Chasing 245 Brown was very slow, surviving his opening partner Gobind’s early loss but falling in the 18th over LBW to the overlooked Nikitaras with just 8 runs to his name with the team total at just 44/2.Kent came in next and blazed away making 22 runs in a brief spell of 20 balls hitting a ball up for Michael Hussey to catch. Amla’s sheet anchor roll of 31 was useful but too little too late as KwaZulu Natal had floundered to 78/4 in the 25th over. Former South African test batsman Andrew Hudson was brief with 7 trapped LBW to big Jo Angel. Then the only high-light in them that followed was Pietersen with 30 from as many balls including 2 fours and 2 sixes. KwaZulu Natal slumped to be all out in the 47th over with 166 on the board.3 wickets each to Cary, Nikitaras and Harvey will send a strong message to the WA selectors. Angel performed solidly with his solitary wicket and Nicholson bowled freely but not waywardly and was unrewarded.The game was played in warm spirits, WA looked to be very focussed, while KZN were happy to enjoy their first outing inunfamilliar surroundings. Eldine Baptiste seems larger than life – an entertainer he keeps the morale of his troops high. And they will need it. Unlike Yorkshire who toured here for a preseason warm up at the end of the last Australian season, KwaZulu Natal are not being supported by club members and the players families whilst on tour. South African supporters living in Perth (of which there is usually no shortage) are urged to support this team at Kingsway, Wanneroo, tomorrow and at Lilac Hill, Caversham, this weekend, and in Broome on the 24th.

LOOTS Bosman and Jon Bastow provided the highlights on an otherwiseforgettable opening day of this low-key match between two of the SupersportSeries also-rans.Stumps were drawn with Natal having reached 88 without loss in reply toGriqualand West’s 279. Mark Bruyns was 33 not out with Doug Watson on 46.Griquas batsman Bosman swashed and buckled a sparkling 71 off 79 balls withnine fours and three sixes, while Bastow bowled with line, length and fireto take four for 46.Natal captain Dale Benkenstein put the opposition in on a greentop afterwinning the toss. However, his bowlers, bar Bastow, wasted both the pitchand the new ball.Bastow had the idea – just short of a length on off-stump – and was rewardedwith both the wickets that fell before lunch, which came with Griquas havingput a healthy 133 runs on the board.The visitors were reduced to 35 for two in the 11th over, but that didn’ttrouble Bosman, who went after the bowling as if his team were 400 for two.Opener Martyn Gidley proved more staid, but the partnership grew quicklyuntil Bosman was caught behind off Bastow in the seventh over of the secondsession to end a stand of 112.Gidley hung about for another eight overs before suffering a similar fate toBosman, this time at the hands of Eldine Baptiste, after scoring 60.And that, but for Pieter Koortzen’s brisk 32 – which featured six fours -and Wendell Bossenger’s rearguard 45, was where Griquas’ better battingended. The rest of it crumbled quietly away.Wayne Kidwell bowled aggressively in his opening spell, and he seemed tohave earned success when the visitors celebrated what they believed wasWatson being caught behind for 16.Watson believed it too, and tucked his bat under his arm and walked thefirst few metres of the journey back to the dressing room before casuallyglancing over his shoulder at umpire Johan Cloete – who had not raised hisfinger. So Watson veered back towards the crease and prepared to continue hisinnings, amid the gobsmacked Griquas players. Whether the batsman hadmisheard Cloete verbally pronouncing him not out was unclear, but it wasthat sort of day.

Allen Stanford: tempting the Test nations with big money © Cricinfo

Allen Stanford and his 20/20 board of directors have invited thewinners of the World Twenty20 in Johannesburg to play a one-off,$5million, match at Stanford’s ground in Antigua. The game ispencilled in for June 29 against a Super Star Team selected from theplayers taking part in the 2008 Stanford 20/20.”Since this is the first World Twenty20 and that is the format of ourtournament we felt it was fitting to have this team come and play ourSuper Star team next year,” said Stanford. “It will be the perfectculmination of our 2008 Stanford 20/20 programme [which takes place inJanuary and February 2008].”Because Stanford can’t invite a Full Member of ICC to play in thematch, the official invite will come from the West Indies Board. “Mr Hunte [thePresident of WICB] will actually be making the invitation on behalf ofStanford 20/20,” Stanford told Cricinfo during an event in Johannesburg. “We are going to invite the winner to come to Antigua for one night and play one game for $5m, winner takes all.”However, if India wins at the Wanderers it may not take up the offeras it has said it is unwilling to enter into a private event. Stanford has therefore made a contingency plan. “If the winner of this game chooses not come we are going to ask Australia as a back-up.”But this match has only come about as a compromise after Stanford’sinitial plan for a quadrangular event – involving Sri Lanka, India,Australia and South Africa – was scuppered by the TV deal between ICCand ESPN-Star.”What we wanted to do was invite Sri Lanka, India, Australia and SouthAfrica to come down and play on Friday, Saturday and Wednesday, and then you come out with a winner who then plays our Super Stars the following Saturday,” explained Stanford. “I called it 20/20 for 20 – $20million dollars for the winner. But because EPSN-Star are locked into this big contract with ICC it eliminated me getting fourteams.”We needed to get their permission and had a meeting scheduled here inJohannesburg with them, but they didn’t show up. Now I think it isgoing to be too big an issue to get ready for this year, because ourtournament starts in January so we optedfor this one-off game. We wanted the four-team play-off but there is alot of bureaucracy.”Stanford is in Johannesburg with nine of his board members includingJoel Garner, Michael Holding, Viv Richards and Desmond Haynes.Although the meeting with ESPN-Star fell through, they met withMalcolm Speed and ICC members in what Stanford called “constructivemeetings” although the feeling between the two is still strained.

India U-19s crushed their Pakistan counterparts by 174 runs in the third one-day match to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-match series at the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground in Lahore.The Pakistan U-19s put up another poor show with both bat and the ball, suffering their third defeat in a row, after having lost the opening tie by 82 runs and the second by just seven runs. The fourth and final match will be played on Sunday here at the Gaddafi Stadium.Put into bat by home captain Riaz Kail, the touring side were propelled by half-centuries from Tanmay Srivastava and Virat Kohli, totalling 298 for nine in the allotted 50 overs and then bowling out Pakistan for 124 in a ball short of 37 overs.Srivastava and Kohli revived a timid Indian start at 47 for two with a third-wicket stand of 152 runs revived the fortunes of the Indian batting after they were 47 for two. Srivastava’s 88 came from 114 balls with seven fours while Kohli’s 80 was made from only 92 balls, with nine fours.Tanvir Afzal, the medium-pacer, took three wickets for 45 runs in eight overs while fast bowler Raza Rehman bagged two wickets in ten overs for 58 runs.Pakistan’s batting suffered from the very start, collapsing to 38 for five as a variety of Indian bowlers extracted maximum support from a good wicket. Rana Adnan top-scored with 27 as did the last man Mohammad Naved.India’s legspinners contributed to much of the damage, captain Piyush Chawla and Sumeet Sharma each snapping up three wickets. Abu Nachim, the fast bowler, also chipped in with two cheap wickets.

Michael Kasprowicz is set to return to county cricket next summer © Getty Images

Michael Kasprowicz is close to signing a deal with Glamorgan for the 2006 English season, days after being dropped from the Australian side following the Ashes series defeat. However, Kasprowicz says he is still considering interest from other counties.Speaking to BBC Sport Wales he said: “I’ve only just arrived home after the Ashes series and I’m working on a deal with Glamorgan. I’ve enjoyed three good seasons with the county and had a lot of success, and certainly from a family point of view I’d like to get back to Cardiff. But there is interest elsewhere and I’ve been talking to other counties.”Glamorgan have already re-signed Matthew Elliott for next summer after he missed most of the 2005 with a leg injury, forcing the county to patch up their team with temporary signings. Glamorgan also opted for a single overseas player despite regulations allowing two and supporters are now wanting a full quota at Sophia Gardens.Kasprowicz struggled in the two Ashes Tests he played – taking 4 wickets at 62.50 – but is an attractive signing for a county, especially as he is now unlikely to feature in the Australian team again. Kasprowicz, though, has not given up on a recall and is using his previous experiences of being dropped as inspiration.”It was obviously disappointing to miss out on the Australian squad, but my Test career has been spent on the fringes. I’ve been left out before and have fought back, so I will hope to do that again The media were demanding changes before the Ashes series and someone had to be made the scapegoat, but now the media are saying there’s been an over-reaction.”The Ashes result was a disappointment, of course, but I was still part of one of the greatest series ever. There were so many great moments and it was just living your dream as a cricketer.”

Rahul Dravid was rewarded for a prolific year and his part in India’s good performances away from home© Getty Images

Rahul Dravid picked up both the Test Player of the Year and the Player of the Year at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony at Alexandra Palace in London on Tuesday night. “It was a great honour, totally unexpected,” said Dravid. “I was very surprised because a lot of people here have had a good year. I’m really happy, and honoured, to be selected.”Earlier, the first award of the night, Umpire of the Year, went to Simon Taufel, the young Australian official. He received the most votes from cricket’s Test captains and match referees.The next award, Emerging Player of the Year, went to Irfan Pathan, the 19-year-old Indian left-arm pace bowler. “I feel really good about this,” said Pathan. “I have the confidence to do well in international cricket, but this award will boost my confidence even more. It will motivate me a lot, but it’s a big motivation to play for India anyway. Every single match is a big challenge.”Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, praised Pathan: “On behalf of the ICC and the cricket community, we congratulate Irfan Pathan on winning the Emerging Player of the Year award. He is a highly gifted player, and along with the other nominees in this category, [has] a very bright future in cricket.”The New Zealand team won the Spirit of Cricket Award, while Andrew Flintoff, rounding off an excellent summer, scooped the One-Day Player of the Year prize. Flintoff, 26, took 12 wickets at an average of 20.50, and scored 551 runs at an incredible 78.71 during the year-long voting period. Unsurprisingly, Flintoff was also part of the one-day team of the year.Flintoff was his usual self-effacing self, saying: “If somebody had said three years ago that I’d be up here with Ricky [Ponting], and Jacques [Kallis], I probably wouldn’t have believed them,” said Flintoff. “My career over the past 18 months has taken a massive turnaround. I’m in a bit of a purple patch at the moment – not only in my cricket, but in my life.”And Flintoff, who became a father earlier in the week, concluded: “My job’s been made easier by the class players in the [England] side. We’re really just 11 mates who go out and play, and enjoy each other’s company, and enjoy each other’s successes.”Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, explained: “Andrew Flintoff has certainly had a tremendous year in 2003-04, and we congratulate him on winning this award.”World one-day XI
1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Ricky Ponting (capt), 5 Brian Lara, 6 Virender Sehwag, 7 Jacques Kallis, 8 Andrew Flintoff, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Chaminda Vaas, 11 Jason Gillespie.
World Test XI
1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Brian Lara, 6 Jacques Kallis, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Shane Warne, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Stephen Harmison.

The formal announcement is pending, but indications are that Javagal Srinath might have played his last Test for India. Speaking to Wisden Cricinfo from England, Srinath refused to confirm an earlier news story announcing his retirement from first-class cricket, but said that he was “thinking about it.””Officially, I haven’t retired,” he said, “I’ll have to think over it and I’ll come back and do it from India.” He was playing his last match for the English county, Durham, at the Stockton ground.The possibility of Srinath’s retirement had gained currency from new reports a few days earlier that he had signed a playing and coaching contract with South African club Gauteng. Since the South African session ran from September to April, it would have ruled him out for the India’s Test series against New Zealand and Australia.Though the signing has already announced by Gauteng officials, Srinath said he was “still in the talking stages. Nothing much is firmed up there.”Retirement is a subject Srinath has wrestled with for a while now. Tired and disgruntled after India’s tour to West Indies in 2001-02, he announced his retirement from Test matches, saying that he would continue playing one-day international cricket. He was coaxed out of retirement by India’s captain, Sourav Ganguly, and played a vital role in mentoring India’s young fast bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

An innings of the very highest quality from Kevin Pietersen thrilled a small, but appreciative, Trent Bridge crowd and helped Notts recover from a precarious 122-5 to finish on 322 all out, a first innings lead over Derbyshire of just two.Pietersen’s 150 was his fourth Championship century of the summer, but his first on home ground, and combined destructive power with elegant strokeplay. Having seen him score an unbeaten double hundred last month at Derby the visitors were almost shell-shocked as the 21-year-old went on the offensive.From the fall of Stephen Randall’s wicket at 247-8 until Pietersen himself holed out no-one else scored any runs. That includes last man Nadeem Malik who shared a last wicket stand of 57 without getting off the mark!Six times Pietersen cleared the ropes during an innings which lasted just 164 balls.For Derbyshire Kevin Dean was the pick of the bowlers – taking 5-89. His first wicket came in unusual circumstances with the aid of a stumping from Karl Krikken who was standing 15 yards back. The striker Guy Welton was still rehearsing a shot – but was stood out of his ground and was found out by an opportune shy from the ‘keeper.Welton made 42 and Chris Read also got into the 40s but there was precious little else coming from the other end until Pietersen’s blitz.In the evening gloom Notts undid much of their work by bowling poorly and allowing the Derbyshire openers Steve Stubbings and Michael Di Venuto to race along at five an over.When the premature close came 15 overs early the visitors had reached 51 without loss, an overall lead of 53.

Arsenal fans have gathered in the Transfer Tavern and are excited to see who new boss Unai Emery may bring to the club this summer. 

It seems Arsenal are moving quickly to sign some new faces to the Arsenal squad. Emery has already secured two signatures and is still on the hunt to bring in a few more. In somewhat surprising news, the latest name to be linked with a move to the club is Marseille’s Florian Thauvin.

The Breakdown

The former Newcastle forward has been linked with a move to Arsenal according to Italian publication StadioSport. The report states that Emery is a fan of the 25-year-old French international and wants to make him a central figure in the team following the departures of Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere – both of whom left on free transfers.

During his six-month spell at St James’ Park, Thauvin only managed 16 appearances where he scored a single goal and registered two assists in all competitions for the Magpies. The 25-year-old, who’s valued at £45 million by Transfermarkt, has enjoyed a career rejuvenation since he returned to Ligue 1.  Since his return, Thauvin has scored 39 goals in Ligue 1 for Marseille and has helped the club return to prominence.

Although Thauvin has had a career rebirth since his return to the French league, at the price quoted it would seem unlikely that Unai Emery would want to add him to the squad. Moreover, it seems that Arsenal are primarily concentrating on finalising a deal for Uruguay’s Lucas Torreira.

Still, if they can lure Thauvin to North London at a reasonable price, he could prove to be quite a wonderful addition. A thrillingly incisive forward, he’d go some way into converting the Gunners’ mighty possession stats into shots at goal.

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So Arsenal fans – would you welcome Thauvin to the Emirates?