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Newcastle born fast bowler Paul Wilson has decided to head to Western Australia to play cricket for the next two seasons.Wilson leaves the Southern Redbacks after six summers in Adelaide, where he decided to stay after a stint at the Cricket Academy.The 6’6″ (200cm) quick, who has played one Test and 11 one-day internationals for Australia, feels that joining the Western Warriors offers a better opportunity for him to play first-class cricket.”I am very excited at the challenge playing for WA will present. I am grateful to be given the opportunity to play for a class team,” said Wilson.Wilson, who played mostly ING Cup matches last summer for the Redbacks, has decided the West offers better opportunities for him in the four-day competition.After a stellar 1999-2000 first class season, which included 44 wickets at an average of just over 24, the 2000-01 summer didn’t pan out as he would have liked. Nor did 2001-02 as Wilson was injured early in the summer and then, when fully fit, not selected for the Pura Cup side despite strong performances in the ING Cup and second eleven matches. He was finally selected in the last match of the season, ironically in Perth against his new team, the Warriors.”I didn’t see any opportunities to play a major part in the Redbacks in 2002-03, due to reasons out of my control. When I was ready to play, the team had come off two bad losses and simply I wasn’t selected (for the four-day team).”With Wilson leaving Adelaide, it opens the door under salary-cap arrangements for the South Australian Cricket Association to strengthen its pursuit of an overseas or interstate player. Believed to head the list is Zimbabwean Andy Flower, while other names mentioned include West Aussies Murray Goodwin and Mike Hussey as well as talented all-rounder Matthew Nicholson.

Somerset Under 17’s gained a first innings win over their Devon opposition in a 2 day County Championship match at Millfield School last week.Batting first Somerset made 322 for 7, with Richard Timms making 122 and James Hildreth 111.In reply Devon were all out for 278, And in their second innings had reached 66 for 2 by the end of the match.

Hampshire were made to pay dearly for dropping Graeme Hick early in his innings at the Rose Bowl. Hick ,watched by England selector David Graveney, was put down in the slips by John Stephenson off Alan Mullally when he had gathered a modest 21.Hampshire’s punishment was to watch Hick compile a majestic and otherwise faultless 120, the 112th first-class century of his career.It was as well for Worcestershire that Hick was at his best because in making 236 only three other batsmen reached double figures against a tenacious Hampshire pace attack.David Leatherdale was the only Worcestershire batsman to offer prolonged support in a stand of 107 for the fourth wicket in 33 enterprising overs.Hick was eventually eighth out at 225, cutting the perservering Alex Morris to Will Kendall at backward point. Morris emerged as the most successful of the Hampshire bowlers with four for 39 off 17 overs while Mullally would have nudged England’s Graveney with two for 66 off 28 overs and was unlucky not to have finished with better figures, getting pace and lift from the new surface at the Rose Bowl.With a healthy first innings lead of 73, openers Giles White and Will Kendall added a further 16 in the five overs remaining to give Hampshire a distinct advantage.Earlier in the day the last two Hampshire wickets garnered a further 42 runs before a wicket each to Andy Bichel and Stuart Lampitt saw them all out for 309. Alamgir Sheriyar finished with a creditable four for 85.Meanwhile Hick had something extra to celebrate in the bar at the close of play. When he had scored seven he overtook Allan Lamb’s career total of 32,506 runs in first-class cricket, thereby making him the leading run scorer of all time among players born on the African continent.

MELBOURNE, Oct 31 AAP – Victoria lost four wickets before lunch in its first innings on day two of the Pura Cup cricket match against Tasmania at the MCG today.Opener Jason Arnberger continued to anchor the innings with an unbeaten 159 as the Bushrangers reached 9-336, while Mathew Inness was yet to score.Australian all-rounder Shane Watson took two of the three wickets this morning and had 3-56 for the innings, while left-arm spinner Shannon Tubb also snared two scalps today for figures of 2-35.Overnight batsman Cameron White brought up his half century, but on 56 he drove Watson to Shannon Tubb for a good low catch at cover.Arnberger and White put on 142 for the sixth wicket.Michael Di Venuto leapt off the ground and grabbed Darren Berry’s scorching cover drive to dismiss him for five, giving Tubb his first wicket of the innings.

THE Western Australian Cricket Association is pleased to announce that bowler Matthew Nicholson has been cleared to resume training.Nicholson suffered a rare arm injury when bowling during last Friday night’s ING Cup win over Tasmania.In a freak injury the former Test paceman ruptured a tendon in his right forearm when bowling the fourth ball of his first over.He had an MRI scan on Monday and was examined by a surgeon on Monday night.Nicholson is receiving constant treatment from WACA physiotherapist, Ross Clifford."The issue now is to ease the pain in Matthew’s arm and get him playing as soon as we possibly can," Clifford said."We want him to be completely pain free by the weekend with a view to him resuming playing."Nicholson will endeavour to be fully recovered in time to play club cricket in the SunSmart League with Scarborough on Saturday.If he bowls without pain, Nicholson will be available for selection in the Pura Cup match against the Southern Redbacks in Adelaide starting on Thursday-week, December 19.

Neil Fairbrother has announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the end of this season. Fairbrother, 38 has been playing his county cricket with Lancashire since 1982 and has a career that included 4 B&H Cup wins, 3 NatWest Trophies and 3 National/Sunday League triumphs, in addition to this, he captained the side in 1992 and 1993.Fairbrother commented, "I have always said that I wanted to continue playing while I was enjoying my cricket and maintaining a standard which I found acceptable. Unfortunately, performances this season have fallen short of the standards I set myself, this obviously lessens the enjoyment of playing the game at this level."He continued, "However, I have had a long and successful career and I am proud of what I have achieved. I have played in some great teams, with some great players and perhaps most important of all, I have made some great friends."Club Chairman, Jack Simmons paid tribute, " He has had a wonderful career going back to 1982. I remember batting with him when he made 96 not out in his first game for Lancashire as a pro and he has provided lots of terrific memories since. He will be badly missed and I’m sure there will be a few tears when he goes."Cricket Manager Mike Watkinson added, Harvey and I made our Lancashire debuts in the same match and it is a tribute to his commitment, as well as his ability, that he is still playing at this level 20 years later. He has been a devoted club-man."Fairbrother’s new career will be with ISM, the sports management firm which is run by Andrew Chandler, his final home match is anticipated to be the Lancashire Lightning fixture against Northants Steelbacks on Sunday at Old Trafford, start is at 12pm.

Most of us Indians thought that there was absolutely nobody in the West Indies who would have slept on that eventful night of June 25, 1983 when Kapil’s Devils stunned the two-times world champions and became the new world champions at Lord’s. Well, it is time to disabuse ourselves of that notion. Andy Roberts, one of the legendary West Indian quicks, who played in that match, for one, slept like a log on hitting the sack after a hard day’s work in the field."Why shouldn’t I have? We (the bowlers) had done our job and the Indians were restricted to just 183. In that particular match our batsmen failed to do what was expected of them."That the West Indies became unbeatable in that period was because of our bowling strength. We had the confidence that if our opponents had scored 50, we could have got their ten wickets within 49. During those days, Pakistan used to score more runs, even better than us. But their problem was their bowling. Our bowling-attack was easily the best," Roberts said. Who would disagree with him?Was there any bowler who was better than him? Roberts’ reply was instantaneous: "Dennis Lillee." He also liked the way Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee bowled. Among batsmen, his favourite was the peerless Vivian Richards.Moving to the present, he has an axe to grind with the administrators who run cricket. He cannot easily forget the fact that he was asked to take a coaching degree when he expressed the desire to become a coach. "Why should I be interested in having coaching degree? What I already know, I had showed to the world. If I have to appear for a written test on that, I don’t think that suits me. To me, a degree in coaching is simply a piece of paper."The lack of the degree threatened to keep him from coaching the West Indian fast bowlers. "Yes, I wanted to work with the bowlers. Now, the West Indies cricket board has given me the scope to work with them. It’s okay now," he said.The man, whom many regard as the high priest of modern West Indian fast bowling, is still deeply attached to the game and regularly visits the Antigua Recreation Ground, his home ground which also happens to be venue of the ongoing fourth Test."I like it. Even if it is for five minutes, I come here," said Roberts, a bowler whom Sunil Gavaskar rated as the most dangerous he has ever faced.For all his potency as a fast bowler, he was never one for sledging though. He let his deliveries and his small but very expressive eyes do all the talking."The Aussies say too many things about sledging. But if you ask me, I’ll not be able to explain you what exactly sledging is. And as I didn’t speak much on the field, opponent players didn’t say much either.”Only once Sadiq Mohammed had the courage of calling me a cheat when I was ruled not out by the umpire. I played the ball but Sadiq thought otherwise. I could not forget the incident since I’d never cheated on a cricket field. Later when Sadiq came to bat, I just glared at him. He was afraid and I could read it in his eyes," he recalled with a naughty smile.It sure must have been fun to be Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts those days.

The horror story of the first Test at Kensington Oval has not onlyaffected the West Indies team.While the Windies have been struggling to get their game going againstNew Zealand on the inside, the vendors on the outside have beenstruggling to get items sold.The first day’s crowd was disappointing and again yesterday, the fansdid not come out in numbers. A Barbados Cricket Association officialyesterday said ticket sales for today’s play have again been slow and asmaller crowd could be in the Oval for the next three days if the gamegoes the distance.Sales are not so good. I think it’s because of the (football) World Cupand there aren’t that many tourists coming to cricket like the last time(against India), said Vincent Adamson of Mama’s Pot, a popular foodstall.People aren’t tired of cricket, they just are not interested in NewZealand because they have no stars.Owner of the stall, David Adamson, has a differing view on why thingsare at a lull.None of the local boys, except for Pedro Collins is playing, and Bajanslike to see their own. Also, the series wasn’t well advertised as it waswhen India were here, he said.That in itself, along with the fact that there is a general downturn inthe economy, is what is hurting sales at this Test match. What I hope todo is to make back the rental cost, right now compared to the last Testseries, I would say business is down 50 per cent.Over at Al’s Food Tent, one of the women told SUNSPORT: It is not goingwell at all. The last time we had cricket, when 1 p.m. we were sold outand looking to go home; not today, she said pointing at the several fulltrays of local food.Even an hour before the day’s play was finished one food stall outsidethe Kensington Stand had closed its shutters and pulled stumps. This wasa symbol that nothing much was happening and nothing much was expected.Not only the food stalls are feeling the pinch of the small crowds.Deborah Hall, owner of Debbie’s Variety, which specialises in Africancrafts, agreed that things are slow.The stall is getting some sales, not much but I am contented withwhatever I make. People, I think, hold their money for the One-Dayersand spend a lot more.Allison Lucas, one of the popular barbecue chefs, said: Friday was veryslow, today [yesterday] was a lot better. People just are not interestedin New Zealand and everyone is feeling the pinch.

NAIROBI – If Jason Gillespie is true to his word he shouldn’t bowlanother no-ball until some time next year.Gillespie, who took career-best figures of 5-22 as Australia routedPakistan in the opening match of the triangular cricket series here,says bowling no-balls is one of his pet hates.He proudly calculated he bowled only one no-ball last season.”I hate bowling no balls, I don’t bowl many – in fact last season Ithink I bowled just one,” he said ahead of today’s match against Kenya.”I did bowl one on Friday so that’ll do me for another season.”At Australian training here, Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Andy Bichel andBrett Lee can be seen helping each other out with their run-ups.Gillespie pays minute attention to detail and compares his run-up tothat of a long jumper trying to hit the take-off board at full speed.”That’s exactly how I approached my run-up a couple of years ago – it’slike a long jumper because really you just have to hit the same spotevery time. You don’t want to be over (the crease) too many timesbecause that costs the team runs.”Where Gillespie seems to have perfected the skill, Lee has struggled inrecent seasons but Gillespie was hopeful the speedster’s problems werebehind him.”Brett’s been tinkering with his run-up a little – just trying a coupleof things to find a little bit of rhythm and smoothness in his run-up,”he said.”He bowled fantastic today [at training] – his rhythm was excellent.”Gillespie played down his five-wicket haul in Australia’s 224-run winbut did admit it made up for the times he should have been moresuccessful but for bad luck.”I feel I’ve bowled pretty well without luck a couple of times in thepast but the other day was one of those days when the ball didn’t alwaysgo exactly where I wanted it but wickets came my way.”Gillespie has played surprisingly few one-dayers since his introductionto the side in 1996, racking up just 38 games as injury and specialistone-day bowlers kept him on the sidelines.But in the past two seasons, the rangy South Australian has been a moreregular part of the team.He hopes the back and leg injuries which have troubled in the past -most recently keeping him out of the second and third Tests againstSouth Africa in Melbourne and Sydney last year – are finally a thing ofthe past.He’s getting on top of injuries by bowling less at practice and bycutting out road running from his training to remove the stress it putson knees and back. Yoga and pilates sessions have also helped.

Somerset stage the biggest match at The County Ground for two years when they play Yorkshire on Wednesday in the quarter finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup.The good news for Somerset is that they will include England stars Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick in their line up, dispelling rumours that they might not be able to play because of their England duties. Chief Executive Peter Anderson said, “Their England contracts state quite clearly that they are available for the Benson’s matches so they will be playing.”Also likely to return to the side is Keith Parsons who has been out for a couple of weeks receiving treatment for a knee injury. The final make up of the team is likely to be left until the morning of the match and will depend upon player fitness and the conditions.Somerset have met Yorkshire on three occasions in this competition and each time have been victorious. In 1981 in the quarter-finals at Headingley the Cidermen won by 3 wickets, in 1989, again at Headingley they won by 62 runs and in 1992 Somerset won a low scoring match at Taunton by 23 runs.Since the Benson and Hedges Cup competition started in 1972 Somerset have reached the quarter final stage five times, the last time being in 1997 when they disappointingly lost by 20 runs to Leicestershire at Grace Road , after Harvey Trump had taken 4 for 51.Yorkshire have reached the quarter finals on six occasions the last time being in 2000 when they lost to Surrey by 7 runs at Headingley.Somerset have been finalists and won the cup twice , in 1981 and 1982, whilst Yorkshire have appeared in the final three times, and won in 1987.If Somerset are successful on Wednesday they will go through to the semi finals which are due to be played on Monday June 25th, with the final taking place at Lord’s on Saturday July 14th.The last big match at the County Ground was against Surrey in the semi finals of the Nat West Trophy in 1999. On that occasion it was sell out, and Somerset are expecting the same for this match so if you haven’t got your ticket yet contact the club office 01823 272946.