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The KwaZulu Natal Dolphins continue their quest to bring home the StandardBank Cup once again this year. The team, backed by Protea stars, ShaunPollock and Jonty Rhodes will take on North West Dragons on Friday (22November) at Kingsmead.The team will be chosen from the following squad:Ahmed Amla, Ashraf Mall, Jonty Rhodes, Dale Benkenstein (capt), Hashim Amla, Jon Kent, Shaun Pollock, Errol Stewart (wk), Andrew Tweedie, Nixon McLean, Ross Veenstra, Yadeen Singh, Imraan Khan.Coach Eldine Baptiste said that although the team is disappointed with theirearlier defeats, “they are well aware of what is expected in terms of theirperformance.””They have been working hard to ensure a better result on Friday”.The new Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World will once again be givingout free slot play vouchers to the value of your ticket. There’s fun forthe whole family. Kiddies can entertain themselves at the Jumping castle andmeet Dolphie and Stan The Duck. They can also sign up for the officialjunior supporters club, Dolphin Club, for just R20 and receive a freesticker.In addition five lucky supporters can have the chance to win R 25 000 in theexciting Hit The Stump competition. The competition will be held during thedinner break and promises to be great fun.Gates open at 14:45 and game plays at 15:45.

Somerset have won their way through to the last four of the English Schools Cricket Association Under 13’s competition, and travel to Oundle School in Northamptonshire in August to play in the semi finals.On their way to the final stages Somerset Under 13’s have beaten Dorset, Hampshire and Devon, and despite losing to Cornwall still finished top of the west regional group.In the quarter finals they played against Wales at Usk on Sunday. Batting first the hosts were all out for 108, with Ben Rudge taking 4 for 12, including the hat-trick, and Jack Cooper 2 for 15. In reply Somerset stormed to their target for the loss of just one wicket, with James Fear making an unbeaten 51, and Jack Cooper 27.The final stages at Oundle take place over the weekend of August 24th and 25th. On August 24th Somerset will play the winners of the northern group, and if they are successful on Sunday they will play in the final. If not they will be in a play off for third and fourth place.Team Manager John Davey told me: “We are absolutely delighted to have won through to the last four of this prestigious competition. All of the boys have played well and they are all looking forward to it.”

There cannot be many better places to see out a cricket season than Worcester with late summer sunshine bathing the ground and the bells ringing out from the cathedral. The match itself was not really worthy of such a setting, for Worcestershire Royals were generally in command, especially when they were batting and took advantage some woeful Leicestershire Foxes bowling to post a total of 255 for eight off their 45 overs. Foxes are meant to be cunning animals, but there was little to suggest that these Foxes are too clever when all of their bowlers managed to contribute to the wides and no ball tally that reached 16.Kadeer Ali came in to the Royals’ side in place of the injured Graeme Hick and proceeded to play an innings the like of which the absent captain might have been willing to call his own. He found the boundary seven times and went over it twice as he reached 57 from 58 balls.That gave the innings a momentum that David Leatherdale picked up with relish. He took only 52 balls to reach 60 not out, taking advantage at the time when the bowling was in its most end of term mode. Wickets fell at the other end with just enough alacrity to allow Stuart Lampitt, playing his last match after 18 seasons of unfailing service to his county, to get to the middle. Applauded all the way to the middle, he had no opportunity to prove whether it is indeed possible to bat with tears in the eyes as he merely stood at the non-striker’s end.There were not too many moments when the Foxes threatened to overtake that total. When Darren Stevens and Neil Burns were sharing a stand of 80 for the fourth wicket, there was a chance of them making a serious challenge. Stevens struck the ball cleanly, as seen when he brought up his fifty with a straight six off Gareth Batty. Burns was also full of invention, but the end of their partnership effectively ended the run chase.As Charlie Dagnall and Ashley Wright belatedly made a stand, the main interest centred on whether the Royals could avoid a penalty for bowling their overs too slowly. But Lampitt brought another generous and sentimental round of applause for his final bowling stint that produced figures of three for 33, the Royals won by 28 runs and the sun set on another season.

The Somerset County Cricket Board have just published their new fixture list for the season, and what a comprehensive and informative document it is.Not only does the card contain the fixtures for all of the Somerset recreational sides, from the Under 11’s right up to the Over 50’s team, it also contains a wealth of information for parents and anyone who is interested at all in cricket in the county.The county youth fixtures get underway over the next few weeks, and it is the intention of the Somerset website to keep up to date with results and reports from all of the games that are played by the county representative sides during the season.A copy of the Somerset County Cricket Board fixture list can be obtained from Andrew Moulding at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground, telephone number 01823 352266.For each of the age group sides the manager is listed, along with the fixtures for the first two months of the season.

Somerset Under 11’s.Manager- Dan Hodges, 01458-250154.May 11th Millfield Prep (trial)June 2nd Four Counties Festival at Millfield Prep School.June 9th v Gwent at Newport.June 16th v Gloucestershire at Weston super Mare CC.June 30th v Devon at West Buckland School.Somerset Under 12’s.Manager-Chris Davis, 01278 457576May 24th Squad Training at Glastonbury CC.June 9th v Wales at Wembdon CC.June 16th v Dorset away.June 23rd v Hampshire away.June 27th v Warwickshire at Wells Cathedral School.June 30th v Devon at Millfield Prep.Somerset Under 13’s.Manager- John Davey, 01278 784435.May 11th v Millfield Prep.June 14th Squad Training at Glastonbury CC.June 23rd v Dorset at Kings Bruton.June 30th v Gwent at Ponthir CC.Somerset Under 14’s.Manager- Mustafa Sheikh. 01823 275178.June 21st Squad Training at Glastonbury CC.June 30th v Wales at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.July 21st v Devon at Blundells School.July 22nd v Wiltshire U14/15 at Bath CC.July 30th v Yorkshire at Millfield.Somerset Under 15’s.Manager- Keith Storey, 01934 832453.June 9th v Cornwall at King’s College, Taunton.July 3rd v Devon at Tiverton, Heathcoat CC.July 10th v Hampshire away.July 14th v Dorset at King’s College ,Taunton.Somerset Under 16’s.Coach-Greg Brown, 01225 339026 or 078158 77724July 8th and 9th v Sussex at Horsham.July 11th v Wales at Weston-super-Mare.July 15th and 16th v Hampshire at King’s College, Taunton.July 22nd and 23rd v Middlesex at Potters Bar CC.July 29th and 30th v Essex at Billericay CC.Somerset Under 17’s.Manager- Tony Davies, 01823 480452.Coach- Pete Sanderson, 07968 043675.June 24th v Bath CC at Bath CC.June 27th and 28th v Gloucestershire at Bristol University.July 11th and 12th v Hampshire at West End.July 22nd and 23rd v Devon at Millfield School.Somerset Under 19’s.Manager -Peter Robinson, 01823 272946.Coach- Jeff Davies 01823 284589.July 8th and 9th v Glamorgan at Lansdown CC.July 15th and 16th v Gloucestershire at Keynsham CC.July 25th and 26th v Warwickshire at Stratford upon Avon CC.July 30th and 31st v Worcestershire at Kidderminster CC.August 1st and 2nd v Northamptonshire at Clevedon CC.

Lincolnshire failed to take the last two wickets which would have completed victory over Buckinghamshire at Grantham after making the visitors follow on.Chasing Lincs’ first innings score of 373 for seven – in which Richard Howitt was unbeaten on 153 – Bucks were bowled out for 165 and finished the second day on 41 for two in their second innings.Looking for early wickets on the morning of the third day, the Lincs bowlers were defied by Locke and Atkins who both hit half centuries and took the score to 145 for two at lunch.But in the second session, the introduction of Howitt to the attack brought immediate success with three wickets falling to the part-time bowler for just 11 runs.Bucks again dug in, Batty and Ward – playing in his first Minor Counties game – adding 71 before Howitt stuck again to dismiss Batty for 39. Two wickets for David Pipes brought hopes of a Lincs victory but Ward went on to make 63 not out and help Bucks to 298 for eight at the close of the match, giving the home side 12 points and the visitors seven.Howitt finished with four for 60 off 26 overs while Pipes took three for 73 off 18.

The better team won the final encounter at Guwahati, taking the oneday series 3-2. Between the two teams, India was by a long distancethe superior side. Injuries to a few key Indian players, by all means,did help the Zimbabweans in the series. It took a miraculous knock byDouglas Marillier at Mohali and a disciplined spell of medium-pace byDouglas Hondo at Kochi to help the tourists pull off two good wins inthe series.

Zimbabwe choked at Hyderabad, and they did so again at Guwahati. Itwas well within the realms of possibility that Zimbabwe could wintheir first overseas tournament. Perhaps the pressure got the betterof them. I am forced to conclude that the Zimbabwe think-tank focusedmore on what not to do to lose the final match than what had to bedone to win the game. Cricket is first and foremost a game ofconfidence and dealing with pressure situations.Zimbabwe faltered at the final block rather spectacularly. Theirbowling had always been the weakest link, and to add to their woes,their best part of the game – the fielding – also crumbled underpressure. Dinesh Mongia and Yuvraj Singh exposed the limitations ofthe Zimbabwe bowling by unleashing an onslaught from which they neverrecovered.The Indian innings was once again well spread out; there were usefulcontributions from the top and middle order. Zimbabwe’s body language,during the carnage, was one of despair, and they knew that the gamewas slipping away from them. In the tail-end of the innings, Indiawere allowed to score 111 runs off the last eight overs.The match was all over the moment India set their rivals a stifftarget of 334 runs. I have mentioned in my previous columns that theIndian bowling looks good when they have a big score behind them.There were moments in this series when I wondered what was going on.The Indians made Zimbabwe look like a very good team. But clearly,India were much superior to the tourists, and it was really only amatter of believing in themselves.This one-day series win without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar,Virender Sehwag, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble will give newconfidence to the team. The youngsters like Mongia and Yuvraj Singhproved what a modicum of faith in their own abilities could do.It augurs well for the Indian team that we seem to have a good pool ofplayers with the right mixture of youth and experience. With AjayRatra doing well behind the stumps, the future of Indian cricketsuddenly looks very bright. The Indian team, led by Sourav Ganguly,has a very big chance of winning the Test series in West Indies. Mybest wishes are with the boys.

One wicket was all that prevented Mashonaland A from winning their CastleLager Logan match against Matabeleland as the match ended in a draw atQueens Sports Club on the fourth day.Young Gregory Strydom top-scored for Matabeleland with an unbeaten 83 asthey made 269 for nine in 65 overs with the home side still needing 16 runsto win the match. This was after Mashonaland A had made 332 in their secondinnings, taking a 283-run lead.Matabeleland could have won the match had they taken the remaining threeMashonaland wickets quickly. The Mashonaland A tail-enders put up someresistance, with Prosper Utseya and Elton Chigumbura adding 43 for the 7thwicket. Utseya had his moment of reckoning when he smashed two successivefours off Heath Streak.Matabeleland had two seamers, Mpumelelo Mbangwa and Gregory Strydom, unableto bowl because of injuries. Mbangwa was not able to take the field because of a back strain and Strydom could not bowl because of fractured finger to his right arm, which he suffered when he took a catch to dismiss Mark Vermeulen on the third day.With the two pacers out, Matabeleland had to rely on the spinners and theydid not disappoint, taking the last three wickets. Left-arm spinner KeithDabengwa took two of them while Mecury Kenny took one wicket.Mashonaland A set Matabeleland a target of 284 to win at a rate of four runsan over after scoring 332. Matabeleland got off to a poor start with theiropeners Wisdom Siziba and Stuart Walker scoring only 29 runs together beforeSiziba was dismissed by David Mutendera, caught by Grant Flower for 18 runs.This was the same score he made in the first innings, when he went outto the same bowler.Opener Walker went on to grab a half-century but added only four runs to itbefore he was dismissed by Flower, Stuart Carlisle taking a catch in theslips. Victory was in the air for Matabeleland with few runs needed to winthe match. Strydom turned the match into a one-day affair, smashing threesixes off Flower, the first going over the tiled Queens bar roof and theother two clearing the stands. This led to Flower being removed from thebowling attack.Matabeleland needed 21 runs off the last over and the game grew tense withtheir batsmen playing dangerous shots. Two took wickets as Mutendera turned the game around and victory eluded Matabeleland. Mutendera had Gavin Ewing caught at long on by Vermeulen and then dismissed Keith Dabengwa for a duck.Matabeleland found themselves suddenly on the verge of losing the match withone wicket remaining and the last two balls to come. Last man Mbangwa facedthem and took two runs to condemn the match to a draw.Mutendera was the pick of the Mashonaland A side with five wickets to hisname, while Flower took two wickets. Hondo had an expensive spell, givingaway 69 runs in 14 overs with no maidens and no wickets to his name.This result meant that Matabeleland finished the competition without tastingvictory as they lost their two opening home matches against Mashonaland andMidlands, before drawing their remaining matches against the CFX Academy,Manicaland and now Mashonaland A.The match did not live up to to expectations, with the international starsfailing to perform. Mashonaland A had a very strong batting line-up and a lot was expected from them. But Flower and Carlisle failed to find their form, with Flower averaging 12 runs in the two innings and Carlisle with a disappointing average of 2 runs. Gavin Rennie atoned for his poor showing in the first innings with a half-century in the second. Tatenda Taibu, Elton Chigumbura and Vermeulen were all consistent with bat while Mutendera and Hondo also did well with the ball.For Matabeleland, their two experienced players did a sterling job with theball, with Streak most outstanding, taking five wickets, while Mbangwa wasalso economical though he did not get so many wickets. The 18-year oldStrydom was on top of the situation with the bat, making the two top scoresof the match. He fell eight runs short of a century in the first inningswith his 92 runs and then remained unbeaten on 83 runs at the end of thematch.

The rain forecast in this column last week regrettably destroyed any chance of this being a match report. Midlands completed their 480-kilometre trip to watch the rainfall for most of the three scheduled days of Logan Cup cricket at Mutare Sports Club. The bulk of their team come from Kwekwe and surrounding districts, although like all teams they have their quota of Academy players to bring them up to first-class strength.The unfortunate thing was that the damage had been done in the days leading up to the match, which could have been avoided if adequate protection was available. The rain was not hard enough during match days to have precluded play of some description. Manicaland only have one piece of plastic sheet 15×30 metres in size, which is good enough for the pitch but not the complete square. India are due to play here in June and one can only be thankful that rain is not normally expected in winter.There were a few testy exchanges between opposing camps after umpires Kevan Barbour and Kiwi Graham Evans declared the ground unfit for play unless both captains agreed to play in the prevailing conditions. It was slippery around the fringes and slushy in spots on the outfield. Most of the better players – those with national ambitions — were opposed, citing the possibility of injury and impaired performances under adverse conditions, which the selectors in Harare were unlikely to heed or acknowledge.Manicaland’s vice-captain for the day, Mark Burmester, would not be satisfied with this, inquiring volubly why the same players were happy to risk injury playing pick-up soccer on the same field. His well-made point was that both sides had to try for any result possible, this being the only soft game in prospect for either side to progress, was lost on the new professionals.Midlands felt that if any blame was due it lay with the home side and the groundsman. Groundsman Jason had left in high dudgeon on the first morning, not to be seen again all weekend, unhappy with the criticism being bandied about and the prospect of players inflicting further damage on his ground. The umpires thereafter took control of the ground, at one stage authorizing the distribution of a tipper truck of river sand – brought in by the father of Manica player Kingsley Went – on the run-ups and fringes. All for nought.All the downtime afforded me an opportunity to chat to Midlands’ captain Douglas Marillier, recently back from the ODI series in New Zealand andAustralia. He said in Brisbane one of the net bowlers at the Gabba was ex-St. John’s College (Harare) schoolboy Scott Brant, who is playing for the Queensland Under-19 team: “Quicker than anybody in the current Zimbabwe side.” What wonderful cricket sides we could have had over the years if everybody had stayed. Scott is reportedly very happy with his career prospects and remuneration and is unlikely to be tempted back.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has appointed formerRedbacks captain, Jamie Siddons, as the new Assistant Coach for the Stateside.Siddons, who retired from first-class cricket in 2000, represented Australiain One Day Internationals, and captained both the Victorian and SouthAustralian State teams.As a middle-order batsman, Siddons scored more than ten thousand runs inSheffield Shield/Pura Cup matches – making him the most prolific scorer inthe competition’s history.Siddons joins the SACA following the departure of Tim Nielsen who recentlyjoined the Australian side as Assistant Coach.SACA’s State Manager of Cricket, Mr Greg Chappell, said the SACA was verypleased to have Siddons on board.”At such a critical time of the season, we are very fortunate to havesecured Jamie to join the State coaching team ,” Mr Chappell said.”Jamie brings to the SACA a wealth of knowledge and experience, and as arecently retired player and captain, he has a proven track record as avalued leader. His leadership skills and knowledge of the game of cricketwill be an enormous asset to our State squad.”