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The draw for the third round of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy has been made, with the first-class counties joining the minor counties and board elevens who have battled their way through the first two rounds this season. The holders, Yorkshire, travel to play Cambridgeshire who finished third in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship. Somerset, the runners-up to Yorkshire this year, have a potentially difficult tie in Scotland. The Scots will be playing in the national league in the coming season so will have plenty of opportunity to be up to speed at this level.There are two instances of counties being drawn to play against their county board elevens – essentially the best club cricketers within the county. Essex and Worcestershire are the two sides involved.The four teams that finished at the bottom of Division Two of the Norwich Union League in the season just finished are drawn against one another, as is the format in the Cheltenham and Gloucester. Northamptonshire are at home to Middlesex while Sussex travel to Hampshire.Third round ties are scheduled to be played on May 7th, with the full draw:Bedfordshire v Warwickshire
Durham CB v Glamorgan
Buckinghamshire v Gloucestershire
Cambridgeshire v Yorkshire
Essex CB v Essex
Kent CB v Derbyshire
Worcestershire CB v Worcestershire
Berkshire v Durham
Lincolnshire v Nottinghamshire
Cornwall v Kent
Staffordshire v Surrey
Scotland v Somerset
Devon v Lancashire
Northumberland v Leicestershire
Northamptonshire v Middlesex
Hampshire v Sussex
The fourth round draw, to be played on May 28th, is as follows:Northamptonshire or Middlesex v Hampshire or Sussex
Northumberland or Leicestershire v Lincolnshire or Nottinghamshire
Berkshire or Durham v Devon or Lancashire
Scotland or Somerset v Staffordshire or Surrey
Cornwall or Kent v Buckinghamshire or Gloucestershire
Worcestershire CB or Worcestershire v Cambridgeshire or Yorkshire
Bedfordshire or Warwickshire v Essex CB or Essex
Durham CB or Glamorgan v Kent CB or Derbyshire
The quarter-finals will be played on 10th and 11th June, the semi-finals on 7th and 9th August, with the final at Lord’s on 30th August.

November rain in Zimbabwe tends to be short and sharp, but Jupiter Pluviusobviously decided he could do something better for the Pakistani tourists.He started his vandalism in the early hours of the morning, and continued topour down his produce at a greater or lesser intensity throughout the day.Long before the official announcement was made, it was clear play would beimpossible at Country Club on the third and final day of the match betweenZimbabwe A and the Pakistanis.No result was possible even on first innings, as only 13 wickets fell.The leading Pakistani batsmen all enjoyed good innings, though, except for theunfortunate Yousuf Youhana, and their bowlers had a reasonable workout.For Zimbabwe A, Guy Whittall must have ensured his return to the Test team witha fine unbeaten 67, but perhaps none of the young hopefuls in the team wereable in two days to give irresistible evidence to the selectors of theirclaims.The rain looks to be well set in, but in November it rarely lasts more thantwo or three days at the most. Both teams will be hoping that JupiterPluvius does not again intend to depart too far from his usual policy.

Bashley-Rydal’s Western Australian prodigy Luke Ronchi smashed the Calmore Sports attack for 144, admitting afterwards that his first 70 runs were "a bit scratchy"!The 21-year old Perth wicket keeper-batsman flayed six 6s and 13 fours in a season’s best ECB Southern Electric Premier League knock which set up Bashley’s 93-run win."There was a lot of playing and missing, particularly before lunch, but I felt pretty good and middled the ball a fair bit later on," he confessed.With the ball moving about off the damp surface, Ronchi had to get his head down and graft during the morning session.But, after enjoying a productive 117-run second-wicket partnership with Chris Sketchley (42), Ronchi came out of his comparative shell – and took the Calmore bowling apart.His pulled two of his sixes into the gardens of houses in the adjoining Bashley Common Road and launched another – off the back foot – clean over the pavilion!In between, spectators were treated to an array of cover drives and pulls, many of which scorched to the boundary.Ronchi was looking good for a double hundred when, to Calmore’s relief, he was caught low down at backward point by James Hibberd for a spectacular 144.It was Ronchi’s first league century of the season, but the summer’s highest individual Premier 1 score.Andy Sexton, with an unbeaten 42, and Richard Knowles took Bashley on to an unassailable 273-4 declared in the 62nd over.Calmore’s reply got off to the worst possible start with Tom Pegler trapped leg before by John Whiting (2-38) and Kevin Nash having Mark Boston caught behind.It was left to Jez Goode to keep the Calmore innings afloat – the stylish left-hander hitting 67 before being brilliantly run out by Dale Middleton at 107-5.Clive Surry and Paul Cass offered middle-order support, but it was Nash, with a season’s best 4-27 off 15 overs, who made significant inroads into Calmore’s top order.The innings lurched to 108-6 before closing at an eventual 180 all out."They took a fair bit of winkling out and it wasn’t until the penultimate over that Andy Sexton finally got the tenth wicket."It was handy being able to bring a spin bowler on at that late stage – and it paid dividends."I could see us not digging them out, as Calmore battled very hard indeed," said triumphaht Bashley skipper Neil Taylor.Andover, the early season pace-setters, were shot out for 94 and comprehensively beaten by eight-wickets by South Wilts at London Road.They struggled after being put into bat on the damp surface, losing half their wickets for 40, with Adam Smith (3-30) causing a lot of early damage.Mark Miller (17) kept Andover buoyant, while Dean Woodhouse (15) offered middle-order resistance in between Paul Draper (3-14) and Shaun Adam (2-26) cutting through the lower order.Russell Rowe (33) gave South Wilts a positive start, laving Jon Nash (26 not out) to guide the visitors to an easy win.Bournemouth bowled bottom-of-the-table Burridge out for 121, but lost six wickets before clinching victory at Chapel Gate.Play began 2-half hours late because of the soaked outfield and immediately Burridge began to struggle with Richard Scott (2-33) nailing Hampshire Under-19 left-hander Ben Thane.Liverpudlian Jo Wilson (4-27) reduced the visitors to 59-5 and, after two wickets each by Dan Jackson and Chris Cole, it appeared as though Burridge might struggle to reach double figures.But some spirited batting by Paul Williams, Paul Wild and Nick Creal in the tail saw them improve from 88-8 to 121 all out.Bournemouth’s push for victory was anything but straightforward, with openers Matt Swarbrick and Alex Allum back in the pavilion with only ten runs on the board.The Sports Club lurched to 33-3 and, after a three-wicket burst by Moen Cheema (3-30), 98-6 (Martin Miller 21).Before Geoff Warrington’s 22 not out guided Bournemouth to a rather unconvincing victory."Both sides bowled pretty well and there wasn’t much good batting around, but the conditions were very damp," said Bournemouth skipper Swarbrick. "We bowled too many extras (32), but got home in the end and really that’s all that matters."

No great expectations accompanied the Indian team that landed inLondon for the 1979 tour. Faulty selection – symbolised by theomission of Syed Kirmani – meant that a rather ill-balanced sidewas sent on what was undoubtedly going to be a tough tour.In the winter of 1978-79, India had lost in Pakistan and thenstruggled at home to beat a mediocre West Indian side, bereft ofthe Kerry Packer defectors. So they could not have been tooconfident on arriving at Heathrow. England, on the other hand, inthe aftermath of the Packer crisis, were very much the leadingcricketing nation, having just returned after thrashing Australia5-1 to regain the Ashes.The worst fears of the Indian cricket follower were confirmed byevents early on the tour. India first lost all their matches inthe second World Cup held prior to the four-Test series. Thelosses to the West Indies and New Zealand were perhapsunexpected, but the most shattering experience was going down toSri Lanka, then not even a full Test nation.When the Test series started, there was no change in thedepressing script. England won the first Test at Birmingham by aninnings and 83 runs with a day to spare. Much the same pattern ofplay was repeated in the second Test at Lord’s. India were shotout for 96 and England replied with 419 for nine declared. Atthis stage a rout along the lines of 1959 and 1974 was freelybeing predicted, and this did not seem to be wide of the mark.From here on, however there was a sudden transformation. Justbefore tea on the fourth day, India – 323 runs behind on thefirst innings – were 99 for two and facing another inningsdefeat. The road to recovery was then laid by Gundappa Viswanathand Dilip Vengsarkar, and their 210-run third wicket partnershipremains one of the most famous rearguard actions in Indiancricket. Viswanath got 113, Vengsarkar scored 103 and, helpedsomewhat by the inclement weather, India, 318 for four at thefinal draw of stumps, earned an honourable draw.There was a metamorphosis from that point as a rejuvenated Indianteam matched England deed for deed. They held their own in therain-affected third Test at Leeds, replying with 223 for six toEngland’s 270. In the final Test at the Oval, India came withinnine runs of pulling off what would have been the most successfulrun-chase in Test history. England seemed to have locked up theseries when, after taking a 103-run first-innings lead, theydeclared at 334 for eight.India were thus set to get 438 to win in 498 minutes. A recordfirst-wicket partnership of 213 runs between Sunil Gavaskar andChetan Chauhan (80) set them firmly on the road towards thedaunting target. Then Gavaskar and Vengsarkar maintained themomentum with a second-wicket stand of 153 runs. When the 20mandatory overs began, India were 328 for one and firmfavourites. Even the shrewd Mike Brearley was at his wit’s end.But Vengsarkar (52) departed at 366, and then a combination ofcircumstances saw England come back into the match. Kapil Dev,who had never really got going in the series, was rather unwiselypromoted to number four and was out for a duck. Gavaskar wasfourth out at 389 for a masterly 221, arguably his greatest-everinnings. A couple of dicey umpiring decisions then went againstIndia, and England clawed their way back. At the end of amemorable and yet ultimately frustrating day, India were 429 foreight. It was a superb display that won them a lot of friends, ifnot the match.The essential problem with the team lay in the composition. Thebatting, manned by Gavaskar, Chauhan, Viswanath, Vengsarkar,Anshuman Gaekwad, Mohinder Amarnath and Yashpal Sharma was fairlystrong, but the bowling was generally weak. The selectors gaveskipper Srinivas Venkataraghavan a young pace bowler, then juston his way up, in Kapil Dev and a rather wayward left-arm seambowler in Karsan Ghavri.Then there were three aging spin bowlers in Bishan Singh Bedi,Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and the captain himself, with only Amarnathto provide support. It was hardly the sort of bowling to causeEngland trouble, and it was no surprise that the home side ran uptotals of 633 for five declared, 419 for nine declared and 334for eight declared. Geoff Boycott got two hundreds and DavidGower an unbeaten double hundred, while Ian Botham hammered 137from just 152 balls with the help of 16 fours and five sixes atLeeds.England’s bowlers however did not gain their wickets easily, forIndia were well-served by the batsmen. Gavaskar rounded off aremarkable 12-month period by scoring 542 runs from seven inningsat an average of 77.43. Fittingly he was named among Wisden’scricketers of the year. Viswanath (341), Vengsarkar (249) andChauhan (179) all lived up to their reputations. Among thebowlers, Kapil Dev stood head and shoulders above everyone else.Still in his first year of international cricket, the sturdilybuilt 20-year-old took 16 wickets at 30.94 apiece to head theaverages. The rest of the bowlers, predictably enough, madelittle impression. In fact, both Chandra and Bedi played theirlast Test matches during the series.On the tour, Gavaskar, thanks to his epic knock at the Oval,crossed the 1,000-run mark finishing with 1,062 runs at anaverage of 55.89. Yashpal Sharma emerged as the most improvedbatsman, heading the figures with 884 runs at an average of58.93. Viswanath and Vengsarkar crossed the 700-run mark, whileGaekwad, Chauhan and Amarnath each made over 500 runs.The bowling figures as expected were less impressive, and Bedi(33), Venkat (34) and Kapil Dev (31) were the only bowlers totake more than 30 wickets. But except for Bedi, all of themproved to be rather expensive. All in all, it was a splendidshowing by a team from which there were no high expectations, andthe final tour results of 16 played, one won, three drawn and 12lost is not a true reflection of the fighting cricket that theyprovided.

MorningAt the start of day 3 Lancashire were reasonably placed but had no room for relaxation, with their last two recognised batsmen at the crease and a lead of 228 and game was nicely poised. Surrey’s bowlers performed well, eliminating most of the loose deliveries that had been sent down in the first innings, and the game situation was such that neither Hegg nor Law could afford to take too many chances, all in all the pace began somewhat less frenetically than the first two days.Azhar continued his form of the previous evening though, and it is possible that Law would have been better off taking the attack to him more positively – of course it could also have been suicide – but his controlled seam earned him Laws wicket, LBW, with the score on 154, some way short of the target Lancs would have set for that wicket.Chapple and Hogg however did a fine job of delaying Surrey while Hegg moved the score on to 180 before each fell to Azhar’s controlled movement away. This gave the Pakistan all-rounder all eight wickets so far. Jimmy Ormond though had been watching what he did from the other end and also remembering what gained him his first innings wickets, and Wood may not be in Ed Giddins class, but he is still a tailender’s tailender and only delayed matters two balls.Keedy, who’s batting is such that he comes in below Wood and Hegg himself instantly realised that the end was nigh and set out to gain as many runs as possible before the inevitable came to pass. In the end it was Hegg who missed a ball from Ormond with the score on 200, just in time for Lancs to have a quick couple of overs at Surrey before lunch. Neither Ward, nor Butcher was shifted however, and the visitors must have gone into the interval with a sneaking suspicion that a target of 305 on this wicket might not be quite enough.Afternoon/EveningSurrey resumed their young innings in sensible mode with both Ward and Butcher refraining from the unnecessary risks that, along with Lancashire’s fine bowling had blighted the home side’s first innings but when things were ticking over nicely Butcher was adjudged LBW to a ball from Hogg that appeared from the pavilion to have pitched a little outside leg.This brought Ramprakash to the middle and Surrey once again progressed in steady fashion until with the score on 78 Ward for the second time in the game departed in a manner somewhat less attractive than his innings beforehand, still his 48 & 37 far exceeded the scoring of most batsmen in this game. Thorpe looked out of touch as he compiled his twenty before hooking poorly at a bouncer from Hogg, Wood’s catch was a splendid effort. Then came Ali Brown’s brief innings which included a trademark hammered six and four singles from twenty four balls but came to an end when he fished lamely at a delivery outside off from day one hero Flintoff. Surrey at 139 for four were in severe danger of losing the game out of a bizarre inability to reconcile a target of 300 with the 170 odd overs available to them to achieve it.Stewart’s arrival to partner Ramprakash who had stood at the other end to the fall of wickets brought a new sense of purpose and, for want of a better word for it, sense, to proceedings. Lancashire continued to bowl with a purpose and accuracy, there was still ample swing available for the well placed delivery but for the rest of the day only Chapple, again the pick of the attack, seriously threatened the pair. The trouble was though, that the bowling was not of a sort to be able to winkle out the cautious but purposeful player and with the pitch still of even bounce and moderate pace Stewart and Ramprakash could bide their time, the asking rate was steadily dropping and the wide expanses of the Oval offered too many gaps.From shortly before tea the light steadily began to fade and both batsmen slowly closed down shop in the forty five minutes that were possible before the umpires offered them the light. With 102 to score and a whole day to do it in neither hesitated to call it a day.

South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald has played down a confrontation with one of his West Indian counterparts Cameron Cuffy during the fourth one-day international in Grenada on Sunday.The incident took place after Donald had had Cuffy caught at the wicket by Mark Boucher to end the West Indies innings. As the players left the field Cuffy exchanged words with Boucher before Donald joined in with some force, appearing to tell the West Indian to leave the field.Speaking to Radio 702, a Johannesburg station on Monday, Donald said that at the end of the innings, after he had retrieved his cap from the umpire, he saw Cuffy "go directly to Mark Boucher and say something to him."Donald said that all the South Africans "stick up for each other on the field" and "we told him to get his stuff and gently get off the field".According to Donald the exchange had "something to do with the umpires". He also said that the apparent ill-feeling between Cuffy and the South Africans "goes back to the fifth Test in Jamaica".Donald, however, denied that there was bad blood between the South African and West Indian teams. This was in response to suggestions that the South Africans had been upset at various times during the tour by the West Indies’ refusal to shake hands with their opponents."It’s understandable that the West Indies are very upset with their performances," said Donald.At the same time, however, Donald said that it was to be regretted that the practice of teams having a drink and a chat with their opponents seemed to be a thing of the past. "You don’t go to opposition dressing rooms to have a beer," he said. "Only Brian Lara has come to our dressing room and had a chat."South Africa won the five-match Test series 2-1 and are leading the one-day series 3-1 after four of the seven games.

We are on the verge of a new season, and all the achievements of the past year are behind us.Thank you for all your support and interest last season, but like the players we must now put that behind us even though I realise that your hopes and aspirations have been raised to unprecedented heights as a result of our success.We have a lot to be proud of at Somerset, our team is now very competitive and our ground is in very good shape.We are worried about the future but that must not detract from the immediate task in hand which is to provide competitive cricket for you all to watch and enjoy.I need your help though. You will be aware that in recent times there has been vociferous criticism of both the county game and the county championship. As you know on behalf of the club I publicly defend the standards of cricket and the rights of county clubs to exist and conduct their affairs in an ambitious manner.If you hear any unwarranted criticism on the airwaves or read about it in any publications please respond in a vigorous manner, either verbally or in written form.The battle cry is defend your county and defend county cricket!The truth of the matter is if that there wasn’t county cricket there would be no England side, and if there were no county clubs there would be no counties for cricket’s aspiring young to aspire to. This is as true for the Minor County teams as it is for the first-class counties.There is no doubt in my mind that under the excellent management team and backroom staff of Kevin Shine, Mark Garaway, Darren Veness and Andy Hurry our players are well prepared for the task in hand.All credit to the players as well for what they have been asked to do, which needs total commitment and all their physical energy.It makes me extremely weary just to watch them!

Northern Districts, the first of New Zealand’s major associations to present their annual report this year, have declared a loss for the past season.The loss was $72,991, a turnaround of $137,393 after last year’s surplus of $57,402.Sponsorships, donations and grants improved by nearly $17,000 and gate income increased by $19,000 and sundry costs, including interest payments, were down by $53,000.Taking part in cricket competitions cost nearly an extra $70,000 last summer while coaching and development costs were up by just over $70,000.Despite the financial result, the ND Association’s general reserves showed a $20,000 improvement and now sit at $1,630,784.ND chief executive officer John Turkington said: “Financially, it has been a very challenging season and obviously it is disappointing to record a small net deficit after a few years of surpluses.”Whilst we are becoming increasingly dependent on funding from NZC and they in turn on the international product, we need to continue to maximise local funding to enhance our programmes.”Next season promises to be an even greater challenge,” he said.

Alastair Cook provided the strongest hint yet that Kevin Pietersen is close to a return to the England side, stating that the time had come to “draw a line in the sand for the sake of English cricket.”Pietersen has not played for England since the second Test of the series against South Africa. After it emerged that he had exchanged “provocative” messages with members of the South Africa touring party, he was omitted from the side for the third Test and then left out of the squad that tried in vain to defend the World Twenty20 and the squad for the Test tour of India.Pietersen’s chances of being added to that tour squad seem to be increasing by the day. He met Cook in Oxford on Tuesday during a flying visit from South Africa and, while all involved are guarded to the point of paranoia about the details – at one stage Cook declined to answer whether he and Pietersen had met for coffee or a meal – it does seem that the “reintegration” process that the ECB claimed that Pietersen had embarked upon with his England colleagues is progressing.”The process is well on the way,” Cook said. “Clearly it has to be behind closed doors, but the meetings are going on and hopefully the best result will come from them.”We do need to draw a line in the sand at some stage for the sake of English cricket. We need to move forward as a team. We’ve got an amazing 18 months ahead of us and we need to move together.”Cook admitted that time was running out ahead of the England team’s departure for a pre-tour training camp in Dubai – they leave on October 25 – but reiterated the view that the process could not be hurried.”It is more than a rubber-stamping exercise,” he said. “It’s a very important decision that we’ve got to get right for the sake of the England side moving forward. And it’s got to be thorough so we can move on in the right way. It’s important we don’t rush this process so we can get the best result. We want all our world-class players playing for England. You need your world-class players to win games of cricket. You want to be able to pick from the best players you can.”Cook was talking at the launch of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 which will be held in June next year at The Oval, Cardiff and Edgbaston. Whatever England’s travails in other forms of the game, their ODI form in 2012 has been good and Cook knows that Pietersen’s return will give his side a decent opportunity to win a global ODI trophy for the first time. Playing at home, in English conditions and with recent changes to ODI playing regulations – such as the use of two new balls – should all be to England’s advantage.While Cook, who as a relative newcomer to England’s limited-overs team has never played in a senior global event, is the first to accept that England’s position at the top of the ODI rankings should be taken with a pinch of salt, he feels their recent form shows strong evidence of improvement.England are unbeaten in their last eight ODI series in England and have won seven of them. They also achieved their best ever sequence of ODI results in 2012 with 10 victories in a row extending from the series against Pakistan in the UAE and incorporating victories against West Indies and Australia.”The ranking for us as an ODI side are not that important,” Cook said. “We don’t feel like we’re the No.1 side. We’ve a huge amount of work to do. The consistency in our play has to improve. What’s important is that we keep trying to improve.”I think we won 10 games in a row. That’s showed we’re heading in the right direction, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do as a side. We’ve guys who have played 10 or 15 ODIs and when you compare that to teams who have played 200 games, it shows the inexperience we have. We need to keep developing as players and as a squad.”But we’ve got a fantastic home record. In these conditions, we’ve a good chance and the Champions Trophy will give us a really good indication of how we perform in a tournament. We want to win. When we play the Champions Trophy we won’t be looking at the World Cup. We won’t be picking players for 2015. We’ll be picking players to win the Champions Trophy.”The 2013 version will be the last staging of the Champions Trophy. The ICC, reasoning that only one global trophy was required for each format of the game, will instead introduce a World Test Championship from 2017 alongside the World Cup and the World T20.To help the 2013 event maintain momentum and intensity, it will last only 18 days and comprise just the top eight ODI teams. Tickets prices have been sensibly capped – the top price for the final at Edgbaston is a relatively modest £60 – to reflect the difficult economic climate and the fact that the Ashes later in the English summer may well remain the priority of UK spectators.However, the ICC and ECB expressed optimism that the ethnic diversity of the UK population should help ensure full houses for the majority of the matches. The ECB will also host the inaugural World Test Championship and the Women’s World Cup in 2017 and the World Cup in 2019.See the best eight teams in one-day international cricket take part in the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2013 – tickets for The Oval, Cardiff and Edgbaston are on sale on 5 November at icc-cricket.com (pre-registration open now)

With the batsmen ruling the roost, the West Zone league Under-22 matchfeaturing Gujarat and Saurashtra at the Municipal Corporation CricketGround at Rajkot meandered to a draw on Friday as Gujarat took homefive points due to a slender eleven run first innings lead.Opting to bat, Gujarat posted a huge 345 runs on the board with theinnings going well into the second day. The innings witnessed somegood knocks from NK Patel (83) and skipper K Damani (71). They wereably supported by opener Sunil Bhatt (54), H Joshipura (42) and latein the order by MN Kadri (32). The wickets were shared all around withUS Karavadra retaining the best figures of 4 for 103.Saurashtra made a strong reply of 334, falling short by a whisker. Themainstay of the innings was MJ Mehta who made a patient unbeaten 104.The other batsman to take the fight to the opposition camp wasSaurashtra opener and skipper PS Joshi with a fine 95. Having pocketedthe match on the basis of the first innings lead, Gujarat played outthe remaining overs on the final day to score 49 for the loss of twowickets.