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Normally a Greg Blewett (117) century would put South Australia on top after a day’s play at the Adelaide Oval. But, in extreme heat, Victoria’s bowlers wouldprobably be well pleased with their effort in restricting the Redbacks to a scoreline of 4/261 on a typically good batting wicket following the opening six hours of thePura Cup match between the teams here at the Adelaide Oval.The Vics restricted South Australia’s batsmen to 82, 83 and 96 runs in the three respective sessions asthe heat really took its toll. Regular fluid intake was the order of the day with the sprinkler cover adjacent to the wicket square resembling a mini-bar more than a spotto store helmets. In temperatures that hovered close to the thirty-eight degree mark for much for the day, players continually migrated back to the sprinkler-style oasisin an effort to re-hydrate themselves.Blewett will sleep well tonight – provided that his infant child does similarly – after his four hour stay. The innings was laced with strong drives through the off side andthe hook shot for good measure on the odd occasion the visiting bowlers dropped short. It wasn’t a pitch for such bowling in truth but the odd bit of variation didn’tactually hurt too much as the Bushrangers toiled imaginatively and manfully in a difficult search for wickets.The South Australian vice-captain had joined the fray after a fifty-six run union for the first wicket between David Fitzgerald (50) and Shane Deitz (25). The latter infact looked rather unlucky to be dismissed as the ball seemed to pass his bat and clip his pad on the way through to wicketkeeper Peter Roach. It seemed UmpirePatterson gave the left hander out leg before but it was later confirmed that there had been a edge and that that had been the reason for Victoria’s one and onlysuccess before lunch.After the break, Fitzgerald and Blewett stayed together until the fourth hour of the day, before the former West Australian edged a John Davison (2/64) delivery toslip, where Ian Harvey took a good catch. Fitzgerald’s 134 ball stay represented the rock around which Blewett could build in a partnership of eighty-four runs fromthirty-one overs.Darren Lehmann (21) was a little more circumspect than normal, taking three quarters of an hour over his twelve runs to tea, but signalled his intentions immediatelyafter the resumption hitting Davison’s second ball for a six over long on.The offie had his revenge, though, in his next over as the SA skipper pushed a ball to a short mid wicket position where Jason Arnbeger held the first of two catches,this one as he came forward and low to his right.Blewett duly brought up his ton and then was dropped in the first over with the second new ball. With the South Australian’s score on 111, Mathew Inness grassedwhat seemed a genuine caught and bowled chance. Inness’ drop cost little more than a few overs’ frustration, however. After yet another drink break, Blewett pulled adelivery from the left armer to square leg to end a fine knock.Jeff Vaughan (15*), who came in at the fall of his captain’s wicket, laboured for seventy-three balls and 130 minutes for his runs, playing like a man who is feeling asthough every innings could be his last. He and Chris Davies (21*) saw things through to stumps but will have a tough task ahead of them again in the morning when theVictorians will return with a still fairly new ball and be striving to remove the remainder of the recognised batsmen quickly.Victoria’s bowlers generally performed extremely creditably, although it should be noted that skipper Paul Reiffel (0/40), who copped a knock to the knee late in theday in the field, was a little short. Harvey (1/35) bowled well in his pre-lunch and post-tea spells at the crease, while Inness (1/53) toiled hard and deserved his wicketlate in the day.In more high temperatures tomorrow, the game looks set to continue to be a “survival of the sauna” on a pitch that is already resembling the A1 highway.

The West Indies have once more shuffled the pack for the first twoOne-Day Internationals of the Cable & Wireless Series against SouthAfrica.Half of the 14 named yesterday for the first match at Sabina Park onSaturday and the Antigua Recreation Ground on May 2 were not involvedin the previous One-Day Series, the triangular Carlton Series inAustralia in January and February.Then captain Jimmy Adams, Sherwin Campbell, Daren Ganga, SylvesterJoseph, Mehendra Nagamootoo, Colin Stuart and Marlon Black have allbeen replaced as the selectors have stuck mainly to those used in thisseason’s Test series.Ricardo Powell, the hard-hitting Jamaican batsman, high-class fielderand One-Day specialist, and Kerry Jeremy, the 20-year-old Antiguanfast bowler, are the only two of the 14 who did not play in the Testsagainst South Africa.Jeremy’s inclusion is puzzling but completely justified.He was chosen for his first tour, to Australia, but played only onefirst-class match after he had his jaw broken in the opening match.He was then replaced for the Carlton Series for which, as a steadybowler and sharp fielder, he appeared well suited. They have now had achange of mind, presumably preparing him for the 2003 World Cup.Leon Garrick, the little Jamaican opener who made his debut in thefinal Test against South Africa, is the only one yet to play a One-DayInternational.Neil McGarrell, the Guyanese left-arm spinner, is recalled for theshorter game for the first time since the tour of South Africa twoyears ago when he played five matches.The squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Leon Garrick,Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, Ricardo Powell, Wavell Hinds,Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Neil McGarrell, Mervyn Dillon, CameronCuffy, Kerry Jeremy,Nixon McLean.

A stunning opening spell by Neil Killeen secured a famous Benson & HedgesCup victory for Durham against mighty Lancashire at Liverpool.Lancashire were chasing a relatively modest target of 194 but Killeen firedout Mike Atherton, John Crawley, Joe Scuderi and Andy Flintoff to claim fourfor 18 in eight overs, and his first Gold Award.Atherton, Crawley and Scuderi were all caught by Martin Love at first slip,and with wicket-keeper Andy Pratt producing superb one-handed efforts tosend back Flintoff and Neil Fairbrother, Lancashire found themselves 58 forfive.They never recovered, with Danny Law adding the wicket of Graham Lloyd,caught at cover by Jon Lewis as he aimed for a big hit over mid-wicket, toFairbrother’s, and Lancashire were all out for 139 in the 41st over to leaveDurham celebrating a 54-run win.Earlier Jimmy Daley had hit a B&H-best 70 from 119 balls as the base forDurham’s total, although Lancashire would have been happy to restrict themto 193.John Wood, who was given a late call-up for his Lancashire debut againsthis former club when Peter Martin dislocated his finger in fieldingpractice, took two for 39 but the pick of the bowlers was MuttiahMuralitharan who conceded eight runs from his first over but only 11 fromthe remaining nine, and also took the key wicket of Love to end with one for19.

The South African cricket team is on a high after winning the Test andOne-Day Series against the West Indies, but another high has bowledsome of them.Six South Africans have been fined for smoking marijuana during thecurrent tour of the West Indies, the United Cricket Board of SouthAfrica (UCBSA) announced yesterday in Johannesburg.But team manager Goolam Rajah denied any knowledge of the UCBSAstatement and declared himself unavailable for comment.Whatever you are talking about, I am not aware of it, Rajah said whenpressed for comment by the Saturday Sun yesterday evening.I cannot make a comment on something that I haven’t seen or read.The UCBSA identified Herschelle Gibbs, Paul Adams, Roger Telemachus,Andre Nel, Justin Kemp and physiotherapist Craig Smith as the ones whowere found smoking the drug in a hotel room on April 10 followingSouth Africa’s capture of the Test series in Antigua.The accused all admitted their guilt and the Misconduct Committee(made up of team management and senior players) accepted that this wasa one-off incident, the statement said.The accused all expressed remorse, apologised and gave an assurancethat this would not happen again.Each individual was fined 10000 rand (BDS$2 500) and severelyreprimanded.In the case of Gibbs, it represents his third offence in just over ayear.In the middle of last year, he was banned for six months following hisinvolvement in the match-fixing scandal.Last May, he was also fined 15 000 rand (BDS$3 750) and given a threematch international suspension for unbecoming conduct related to anincident on the eve of a One-Day International against Australia onApril 14.Part of the fine and the three-match suspension were suspended for ayear.The suspended sentence imposed on Gibbs, however, may not be invokedby the on-tour Misconduct Committee of the South African cricket teamin the West Indies as it was not handed down by that committee, theUCBSA said.It was handed down by a Disciplinary Committee convened by the GeneralCouncil of the UCBSA and thus the tour Misconduct Committee does nothave the authority to invoke it.The Misconduct Committee held a second inquiry following an incidentbetween batsman Daryll Cullinan and Telemachus during a match inMontego Bay.The committee recommended that Telemachus be fined 1 000 rand forverbally abusing another player and another 1 000 rand because it washis second offence on the tour. He also apologised to Cullinan.Cullinan was fined 2000 rand for leaving the field of play during amatch without the consent of the captain. Both players were informedof their right to appeal the decision and the UCBSA accepted thecommittee’s recommendation.

Otago Cricket’s newly elected Board has met for the first time.Changes to Otago Cricket’s constitution last year signalled a change in the Board’s composition. Where previously the four independent members were joined by four elected members from the Districts, the new board comprises eight independent directors.The constitution also states it is desirable for at least two directors to reside outside Dunedin.The four new members are: Murray Hughes (managing director, Aotea Electric), John Petre (Queenstown businessman), John Ward (Invercargill company director) and Bevan Rickerby (Dunedin businessman).They join: Stuart Heal, board chairman (chief executive, CRT), Nevill Henderson (regional manager, Tullochs Transport), Peter Dobbs (chief executive, Otago Trust) and Jazz Hewitson (general manager, New Zealand Deer Farms).The changes the Otago Cricket’s constitution was recommended by the previous Board and brings the association into line with New Zealand Cricket’s strategic planning and direction.

At the end of a week during which he has celebrated the birth of his second son, and his team has given an impressive batting performance against Hampshire in their final warm up match, Somerset coach Kevin Shine was in very positive mood when I spoke to him earlier this evening.I asked him how the practice session at the County Ground had gone today. He told me: “The boys were brilliant, the best I’ve ever seen them. We are ready to go now, it’s just a pity that we are not involved in the first round of Championship matches that got underway today. What we have been doing is a taster of what is to come.”They will all have the weekend off and then report back in for a final session on Monday, which will be along the same sort of lines as today has been. We have had such a great pre-season and the weather and the practice wickets have been first class. Frosty has done a fantastic job for us.”What was the latest on Steffan Jones ankle injury? The coach told me: “It’s looking good for Steffan. He did some running today at the ground, and I’m pretty confident that he will be in the start line up.”What was it like to have the captain back, I asked Kevin. He told me: “It’s good to have Jamie back around again. He’s such a nice guy and a good captain he’s like a breath of fresh air on the scene.

The cricket careers of Damien Fleming and Colin Miller could be over after they were today overlooked by Victoria for contracts for next season.Fleming and Miller, who both toured England with the Australian Test team last year, were the apparent victims of Victoria’s youth policy under new coach andselector David Hookes.Fleming, 32, was “absolutely stunned” by the decision, which comes just three weeks after he and Miller were axed from the list of Australian CricketBoard-contracted players.”They just didn’t rank me in the top 20 players in Victoria, they didn’t rank me in the top seven in the bowlers and here I was (with) the thought that there was a real role for an experienced bowler in the state,” Fleming told Channel Ten.”They’ve lost Paul Reiffel to retirement and my performances were pretty good last year.”I had a pretty good Ashes series with Australia less than this time last year, so I was looking forward to a big season so yeah, (I’m) absolutely stunned.”Miller, 38, the Australian Test cricketer of the year 15 months ago, could not be contacted.The snub comes two months after the Bushrangers wound up their disappointing summer, in which they finished second-last in both the Pura Cup and limited-overs ING Cup competitions.While Victorian officials are reluctant to confirm the Bushrangers are pursuing a youth policy, Hookes stood by the selectors’ call.”At the end of the day we made the call, we thought that there were players better than them qualified to play for Victoria at the beginning of the next season and that’s the way that we went,” he told Channel Ten.Hookes said overlooking the pair was a difficult decision, but would not explain the reasons behind their omissions.”Age had no factor at all in either of their considerations of both the blokes,” he said.”They are two quality players, they have been very good servants of domestic cricket in this country and indeed for Australia, even though Colin started very late.”He was a teammate of mine in South Australia for a number of years so that made it very difficult, and Damien Fleming being the type of personality that he is also made it very difficult.”Hookes said Victoria was not in a position to poach players from interstate under salary cap restrictions.Only Shane Warne and Ian Harvey have ACB contracts, meaning Victoria has to pay all but two of its squad.Fleming and Miller have played 20 and 18 Tests respectively, with almost 150 wickets between them, but injury and poor form last summer meant they couldn’tbreak back into the Australian side.Fleming took 13 wickets from five Pura Cup matches in 2001-02 at 30.07 runs apiece, while Miller snared just six wickets at 72.50 from six matches.Victorian Cricket Association chief executive officer Ken Jacobs said he, Hookes and selectors Ray Bright and Mick O’Sullivan met with Miller and Fleming today.Jacobs also refused to divulge exactly why the pair was overlooked.The selectors also cut four players from the 2001-02 contract list: batsmen Shawn Craig and Peter Harper, off-spinner John Davison and wicketkeeper PeterRoach.

Somerset ended the second day of their championship match against Leicestershire at the County Ground in Taunton in a considerable position of strength.Resuming this morning at 390 for 3, Somerset took the score onto 565 before they were all out, with Keith Dutch making 70, Peter Bowler 60 and Rob Turner 44.The Somerset attack bowled well this afternoon and by close of play had made considerable inroads into the Leicestershire innings. When stumps were drawn the visitors had reached 241 for 7 still needing 175 runs to avoid the follow on.Left arm seamer Matt Bulbeck was the pick of the Cidermen’s attack accounting for both of the openers and trapping Aussie star Michael Bevan LBW, to end the day with figures of 17 overs 3 wickets for 44.At the end of the day Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: " In cricket you get out what you put in and today they have given 110%. They batted well this morning to get that total and then this afternoon they have gone out there and bowled aggressively on a good wicket."He continued: "You are rarely going to lose with 565 on the board. We had the choice that we could either try to dry them out or be attacking, and we have been attacking. We have bowled in an attacking way and the fields have been set to allow our bowlers to do that. It’s been another very good day for us."

When play resumed on time at Chelmsford in the Benson and Hedges Cup semi-final, Worcestershire soon fell deeper into trouble against Essex. Chasing 263 to win and beginning the day at 26 for four, the visitors had added only five runs, all of them to David Leatherdale, when the batsman received the perfect delivery from Jon Dakin. Pitching middle stump, it swung late to beat Leatherdale’s defensive push to clip off stump and Worcestershire were 31 for five.Steve Rhodes came in and was immediately his busy self, working the ball around and picking up the scoring rate, but at the other end Gareth Batty appeared transfixed by the away swing of Dakin and John Stephenson so that he took 35 minutes to score a run. Stephenson eventually put him out of his misery when Batty clipped a ball off middle and leg to Ashley Cowan at mid-wicket.Kabir Ali was run out for nine from seven balls when beaten by a direct throw from substitute fielder James Middlebrook at short third man after Rhodes had played a reverse sweep off the left-arm spin of Paul Grayson and had gone for a desperate single.However unlikely Worcestershire were to match the ever increasing required rate, they still had a chance while Rhodes was there. However, he went when Andy Clarke bowled a slower ball that Rhodes charged and offered a return catch to the bowler who gleefully accepted it to plunge the visitors deeper into trouble.The end was not long in coming. Stuart Lampitt was caught off Clarke at mid-off by Ronnie Irani, before the same bowler saw Graham Napier hold a stunning catch at backward point to dismiss Allan Donald. Worcestershire all out for 124 and Essex go to the final at Lord’s on June 22nd by virtue of a thoroughly convincing 138 run victory.