Big Central Districts all-rounder Jacob Oram is on the verge of making his comeback from injury.One of the finds of last summer when he made his debut for the CLEAR Black Caps, Oram has suffered a broken bone in his foot, and then when close to recovery suffered a setback with the foot.He has been named by Central Districts as the manager on their trip to Alexandra for their State Championship match against Otago. That has been done to allow him to train with the side each day before attempting to make his comeback in the next match against Canterbury, starting on Monday next week.Meanwhile, the Northern Districts team was missing Mark Bailey’s name when it was released for their match against Wellington starting tomorrow. The languid right-hander played 89 first-class games and has been a stalwart of ND cricket for the past decade.While he never played a Test match for New Zealand he was called to the West Indies in 1996 as a replacement player and he was a member of the New Zealand one-day team which played in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.A portable pitch on the main oval at Eden Park will be used for the Auckland-Canterbury game. It is another test for the portable pitch after the disappointment caused by drainage problems in the tray the pitch sits in for last summer’s match against Pakistan.Canterbury leads the championship at the moment. Points are: Canterbury 16, Auckland 13, Northern Districts 12, Wellington 9, Central Districts 6, Otago 4.Teams for the next round of State Championship play are:Auckland: Brooke Walker (captain), Matt Horne, Aaron Barnes, Tama Canning, Chris Drum, Nick Horsley, Llorne Howell, Tim McIntosh, Rob Nicol, Mark Richardson, Gareth Shaw, Reece Young.Canterbury: Gary Stead (captain), Jarrod Englefield, Robbie Frew, Shanan Stewart, Aaron Redmond, Gareth Hopkins, Paul Wiseman, Warren Wisneski, Stephen Cunis, Ryan Burson, Peter Fulton, Chris Martin.Northern Districts: Robbie Hart (captain), Scott Styris (vice-captain), Graeme Aldridge, Grant Bradburn, Simon Doull, Matthew Hart, James Marshall, Hamish Marshall, Bruce Martin, Joseph Yovich, Michael Parlane.Wellington: Matthew Bell (captain), Richard Jones, Selwyn Blackmore, David Sales, Grant Donaldson, James Franklin, Matthew Walker, Andrew Penn, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan Patel, Mark Jefferson, Glynn Howell.Otago: Craig Cumming (captain), Andrew Hore, Robert Lawson, Simon Beare, Chris Gaffaney, Martyn Croy, Craig Pryor, Nathan Morland, David Sewell, Kerry Walmsley, James McMillan, Rob Smith.Central Districts: Glen Sulzberger (captain), David Kelly, Peter Ingram, Mathew Sinclair, Ben Smith, Peter McGlashan, Campbell Furlong, Bevan Griggs, Andrew Schwass, Brent Hefford, Michael Mason, Lance Hamilton.

Work gets underway next weekend on building the Isle of Wight’s state-of-the-art indoor cricket academy overlooking Ventnor’s unique `superbowl’ at Steephill.The £1.1 million project, financed from the Sport England Lottery Fund, IW Partnership, IW Council and many local supporters, will provide the Island with a three-lane Academy, incorporating video playback facilities for coaching, changing and social facilities.Planning permission was secured last year for the two-storey building that will not only provide an indoor school, but also replace Ventnor’s existing dressing rooms and clubhouse.The top deck of the new academy will be built on the car park and will overlook the unique Steephill ground.”Our first job is to demolish the existing clubhouse, and once the site is cleared construction work can begin,” said John Hilsum, whose Project Development Committee has worked tirelessly for the past six years to get the Island a much needed cricket academy.Island firm Howard Ingram are carrying out the construction works.”It’s been a long, hard drive raising funds for the project, but we’ve had wonderful support – there is still a little to be raised but I am confident that we can complete the task.”After all our labours, it will be a truly magnificent sight to see the Academy take shape.”There’s terrific interest in cricket on the Island and this scheme will be of huge benefit to many people, not least the youngsters – both girls and boys,” he said.Southern Electric Premier League Division 3 clubs visiting Steephill this coming season will have to make do with temporary refreshment facilities in the Botanical Gardens Visitors Centre, less than 100 yards from the ground.”We are continuing to use the dressing rooms, which form part of a Listed Building, but players will have to walk a short distance for tea and post-match refreshments.”We ask all of our visiting teams to bear with us this season as once the Academy is built, we will have a facility to be proud of,” Hilsum added.

The Midlands Logan Cup squad has just been chosen and the team is as follows:Doug Marillier (Capt), Dirk Viljoen (vice-capt), Raymond Price, Craig Wishart, Travis Friend, Sean Ervine, Terrence Duffin, Colin Delport, John Vaughan-Davies, Campbell Macmillan, Luther Mutyambizi, Ed Rainsford, Craig Grant, Tarai Karambwa, James Kornford, Paul Reilly.The Midlands Management Team is as follows: Manager – Colin Sanders; Physiotherapist – Alan Locke; the team coach is still as yet unknown.The team are due to travel to Bulawayo this weekend to take on the Matabeleland side; this game is to be played at B.A.C. All of us wish our squad all the best for this upcoming game and hope that this year the result will be different.The Inter-town 30-over-a-side matches played on Saturday afternoons here in the Midlands are due to start shortly. This league has been bolstered with the inclusion of three extra teams; namely, Kadoma, Christian Boys C.C. and Kings C.C.With regards to the Castle Lager National Cricket Leagues that are now nearing the close, we are proud to say that our first team did well and came seventh overall. We are also proud to say that the second team have made it into the finals of their league with an outstanding victory over the last weekend. Kwekwe Queens who take part in the National North League had a game here in Kwekwe over the past weekend and they will need to do a lot better if their hopes of emulating the Sports club second team and reaching the semi-finals and finals of their division is to come true.This year our Logan Cup side will have a rather tough season as they will need to play four fixtures one after the other as a result of the postponement of the game with Mashonaland A, which will now be played from 15 to 18 March.We look forward to the return of both Ray Price and Travis Friend from India and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them both on their efforts in the First Test there in India. We are proud of them and proud to be associated with them as part and parcel of Midlands cricket.We would also like to congratulate Mr Ken Connelly on his appointment as the official Z.C.U. Midlands Administrator and wish Him all the best in the future. Colin Sanders has now taken over as the Midlands chairman until the next A.G.M. later this year.

St.Kilda batsman Michael Klinger has been recalled to the Victorian Bushrangers side to take on the Tasmanian Tigers in tomorrow’s Pura Cup clash in Hobart. Prahran legspinner Bryce McGain makes way for Klinger in the only change to the side that defeated NSW in December.Klinger is second to Prahran’s David Hussey among all runscorers in VictorianPremier Cricket this season at an average of over 80 and according to David Hookes, has earned his recall. "He’s played some very consistent cricket this season and has scored heavily in both the Premier and ACB Cup competitions. The selectors believe he’s ready to transfer that form into first-class ranks".Bushrangers captain Shane Warne was not considered for selection, Hookes sayingthe match did not fit into Warne’s recovery plans. "Shane’s recovery from Friday’s ING Cup match was very encouraging, however both the medical staff and state selectors felt a four day match would place too much workload on Shane’s shoulder at this stage of his rehabilitation".Details for the match are as follows:TASMANIAN TIGERS v VICTORIAN BUSHRANGERS
Wednesday, January 15 – Saturday, January 18
Bellerive Oval, HobartBushrangers
Darren Berry (c), Jason Arnberger, Matthew Elliott, Ian Harvey, Shane Harwood,Brad Hodge, Mathew Inness, Michael Klinger, Michael Lewis, Jon Moss, GraemeRummans, Cameron WhiteTigers
Jamie Cox (c), Sean Clingeleffer, Michael Dighton, Michael DiVenuto, XavierDoherty, Andrew Downton, Adam Griffith, Scott Kremerskothen, Daniel Marsh,Scott Mason, Ben Oliver, Damien Wright

SYDNEY – NSW will wait until the morning of the ING Cup cricket final onSunday to make a call on the fitness of Brad Haddin and spearhead SteveWaugh.An MRI scan today revealed Waugh’s hamstring injury, suffered whilebatting in yesterday’s crucial win over South Australia, was low gradewith an expected recovery time of seven to 10 days.Similarly, Haddin was expected to take a similar amount of time torecover after straining his right hip flexor muscle while fieldingagainst the Redbacks.Both will travel to Perth with their team on Friday but a decision won’tbe made until Sunday morning on whether they can play.NSW takes on Western Australia in the final at the WACA Ground.

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Feb 23 AAP – Brad Hogg is ready.The hyperactive, highly motivated chinaman bowler believes he will be a more fearless and relaxed player than when he made his inglorious debut almost seven years ago if he gets the nod as Australia’s No. 1 spinner for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies.Shane Warne’s suspension should lead to Hogg’s Test elevation.”It just comes down to backing yourself,” Hogg said.”I guarantee you I’ll be backing myself if I get the opportunity to go out there and play Tests again.”Hogg’s one and only Test was against India at Delhi way back in October, 1996.He took 1-69, scored four and one and wasn’t sighted again until he was chosen as 12th man for the fifth Ashes Test last month when Warne had a dislocated shoulder.With Warne out of the picture, Hogg will have the inside running over Stuart MacGill and Nathan Hauritz for a permanent Test berth if he continues his sprightly performances for Australia’s one-day side in the World Cup.”If that day comes in the Test team down the road I’m just going to have to keep doing what I do,” said Hogg.He will be trying hard to relax.”I wasn’t too unhappy with the way things went in India – it was a good thing for me,” he said. “It was just when I came back that things started falling away. I started putting too much pressure on myself. That’s one thing you can’t do and I’ve learned from that.”You’ve just got to go out there and enjoy it and show your stuff, throw your stuff down there and if it’s good enough on the day, it’s good enough on the day.”The last two to three years I’ve been really enjoying my cricket. There’s a lot of confidence now. I’ve been making a few runs and getting a few wickets and just enjoying the company of my fellow players.”Warne was already taking Hogg under his wing before his inglorious exit from World Cup, passing on technical tricks of the trade and toughening him up mentally.Hogg said he would call on Warne’s words of wisdom – or simply call him on the telephone – if his purple patch suddenly went off-colour.”All the time we’ve spent together has really added something to my bowling,” said Hogg.”Just his influence and being around him has really improved me mentally. It was good to be involved with him for a short period.”If things aren’t quite right I can remember a few things that he’s said and switch straight back on. Being around the king of spin, if you don’t take anything away from what he says to you, you’re stupid, really.”Warne’s phone has been running hot with commiserations for the ban dished out to him by the Australian Cricket Board’s anti-drugs tribunal. Hogg might be calling for advice soon enough.”He’s always there to help – you can ring him up and he will help you out,” Hogg said. “Down the track, when things settle down, I’ll give him a call and see how things are going with him and if there any problems I’ve got, hopefully he can help me out.”But hopefully I won’t have any problems to put on him, hopefully I can cheer him up in the next couple of weeks.”They could not be more different, Warne and Hogg. The right-handed superstar millionaire showman and the modest left-handed Perth postal worker.While Warne liked to camp himself at first slip, Hogg prefers to throw himself around in different positions in the field.”If I can have an influence with a run out or a catch … I’m always looking to do something spectacular in the field to help my fellow bowlers out and try to cut the runs down so our batsmen don’t have to chase quite as many,” he said.Australia’s Test squad for the Windies is due to be announced early next month.

At the end of a day when 38 overs were lost to rain, Glamorgan were 128-2 in reply to Hampshire`s mammoth first innings total of 531-7 declared.Rain prevented any play in the morning session, but the Hampshire batsmen morethan made up for lost time when the match eventually resumed at 2.05pm. The visitors added a brisk 148 in just 17.5 overs with Dimitri Mascarenhas clubbing 100 from only 78 balls with 13 fours and 4 huge sixes. Two of Mascarenhas` sixes cleared the Cardiff pavilion as the Hampshire batsman raced from 50 to 100 in just 20 balls.Needing 382 to avoid the follow-on, Glamorgan`s openers survived a few early scares, as Hampshire`s slip cordon of Kenway, Kendall and Morris each dropped chances, before Dale snicked a ball from Chris Tremlett to the wicket-keeper.Ian Thomas remained resolute, and with his new partner David Hemp unfurlingsome classical drives after tea, the pair had added 69 for the second wicket when Will Kendall made amends for his earlier fumble in the slips by holding onto a blinder of a catch in the gully off a full blooded cut by Ian Thomas, who appeared on course to register his first half-century of the season.Hemp was unbeaten on 41 when play ended with Glamorgan still 403 runs behindwith eight first innings wickets in hand.

Samir Singh, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of WorldTel, died in Bangalore on Saturday night, when his car crashed into a bus. It may be recalled that Mark Mascarenhas, the man who founded WorldTel, was also killed in a road accident early last year.WorldTel revolutionised the sports-endorsement industry in India, especially once they became Sachin Tendulkar’s agents in 1996. Tendulkar, currently in the United States recovering from hand-surgery, is still represented by them.WorldTel issued a one-line statement on Monday, saying that they “regretted toannounce the untimely demise of Singh.” Singh, who worked in England for several years before taking over at WorldTel, was just 31.

Sri Lanka’s cricketers, under fire for a string of below-par performances, are facing a 30% pay cut as the authorities attempt to raise the dipping standards by introducing performance incentives.The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has said that it wasslashing the fixed contract fees as part of the shake-up. Sri Lanka has been on a downswing recently. They did reach the semi-finals of the World Cup earlier this year, but after that, they have failed to reach the final of a four-nation tournament in Sharjah and a tri-series at home.The board has reduced the number of contracted players to 12 from the previous year’s 15. They have also decided to cut 30% from the match fee of US$1,750 per Test and US$ 1,250 per one-day international.However, the fees will be increased by 50% for a win against one ofthe top four ranked sides and 25% for a win against teams placed fifthto eighth in the International Cricket Council (ICC) world rankings. The players are also entitled to an additional US$500 for each win.The cuts reflect the tightening financial situation of the cricket board,which announced a US$2.7 million loss for 2002.The contracted players 1 Hashan Tillekeratne, 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Sanath Jayasuriya, 4 Muttiah Muralitharan, 5 Chaminda Vaas, 6 Mahela Jayawardena, 7 Kumar Sangakkara, 8 Russel Arnold, 9 Dilhara Fernando, 10 Kumar Dharmasena, 11 Prabath Nissanka, 12 Thilan Samaraweera.

Matt King produced his best competitive bowling figures as Bashley (Rydal) threw a massive spoke in Havant’s bid to retain the ECB Southern Electric Premier League championship crown.The Bashley captain took 6-41 in 12.5 overs as the defending champions were rolled over for a modest 167 – a target Bashley polished off with six wickets in hand.The result has made BAT Sports – nine-wicket winners at Portsmouth – firm favourites to recapture the trophy they won two seasons ago.Havant were undone in the opening overs at the BCG with John Whiting (3-52) and King ripping out Dom Carson, Richard Hindley and Simon Barnard for only 15.Andy Perry (78) held things together and was ninth out – caught behind by Andy Sexton to give King a fifth victim – at 167.But Bashley’s four-pronged pace attack called the tune, with Paul Gover (32) offering the only meaningful support as Havant keeled over against the rampant King, who grabbed the last four wickets.Fresh from three victims behind the stumps, Sexton piloted Bashley towards a notable six-wicket victory.He shared half-century stands with Neil Thurgood (26) and Brad Thompson (24) before becoming the second scalp for Middlesex Academy trainee Chris Wright (3-64).But by then Bashley were 131-3 … and within just four points of Havant in second place.Western Australia’s Adam Voges was the star of Bournemouth’s seven-wicket win over South Wilts at Chapel Gate.The Western Warrior took 4-45 before cracking a boundary-strewn 92 as Bournemouth romped home.South Wilts faded after a promising beginnings – Paul Draper (45) and Jamie Glasson (23) sharing a 61-run start before both fell to the guile of Jo Wilson.Russell Rowe’s 48 held things together as the combined left-arm spin of Voges (4-45) and Shaun Walbridge (2-49) cut through the middle-order.The heavyweight Wiltshire captain was eventually seventh out – a third victim for Martin Miller – at 164, after which Wilson (4-45) returned to mop up the tail and leave South Wilts 178 all out.Bournemouth lost Nick Park cheaply, but Tom Webley (54) and Voges soon pointed the Dorset club towards a sixth win in nine SPL outings.It was Voges, with 15 boundaries in a classy 92 not out, who stole the show, getting support from Charlie Holcomb (26) as Bournemouth cruised home.