New Zealand’s Brent Bowden will stay on in South Africa after being appointed to the list of 12 umpires for the Super Six stage of the World Cup.It is a prestigious appointment for Bowden who was New Zealand’s only umpire appointed to the World Cup.The group of 22 who stood in the first round have been reduced to 12 after an assessment was made of each umpire’s performances in the group stages.The 12 appointed are: Brent Bowden (New Zealand), Steve Bucknor (West Indies), Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka), Daryl Harper (Australia), Darrell Hair (Australia), Brian Jerling (South Africa), Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), David Shepherd (England), Simon Taufel (Australia), Srinivas Venkataraghavan (India), Peter Willey (England).Only six of the eight members of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) elite panel have been included. Missing are: David Orchard (South Africa) and Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe).The ICC’s general manager-cricket, David Richardson said the appointments are a reflection of the high standard of performance seen during the group stage.”All match officials have been assessed by the ICC during the group matches, and it is fair to say that the 12 nominated to stand in the Super Sixes are the umpires we regard to be in the best form.”Their standard of decision making has been consistently high and has earned them the right to officiate in the later stages of the tournament.”All five full-time members of the ICC Match Referees’ panel have been retained for the Super Six fixtures: Clive Lloyd, Ranjan Madugalle, Mike Procter, Wasim Raja, Gundappa Viswanath.Bowden’s match appointments are: Australia v Sri Lanka (tomorrow), Australia v Kenya (March 15). Bowden will be third umpire in the Zimbabwe-Kenya game on March 12.New Zealand’s match officials will be: v Zimbabwe (Koertzen and Hair), v Australia (de Silva and Bucknor), v India (Willey and Harper).

Utilising the generally drier conditions of New Zealand’s east coasts, and especially the better quality pitches at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University for early-season State Championship matches was worthy of debate.New Zealand Cricket operations manager John Reid said the idea was one where the first question had to be: “Can we get better cricket from it?”He hadn’t heard the concept of playing a round or two of the Championship at Lincoln before today and said it was probably something that would be discussed when reviews are held with provincial coaches over the next few weeks.Reid did wonder if there would be savings in accommodation costs with a centralised venue for all teams playing away games, instead of having the benefits of players staying at their own homes for home matches that would be lost in order to play at Lincoln, or another venue.”But it is something we will probably debate,” he said.Also under discussion is the philosophy of coaching at all levels in New Zealand, what is done with players are various levels, the playing structures for their age-groups, the analysis of the game with the aids now in use and how this can be developed further.There would also be discussion on umpiring and its relation to the game, in terms of umpiring standards and the relationships between umpires, players and administrators.This would be based along the requirements being pushed under the Spirit of Cricket system which is aimed at improving relationships in the game.”It is about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable,” Reid said, “and we will be pushing the International Cricket Council’s message with renewed vigour.”

Somerset Seconds fielded a very strong side for their two day match against Sussex that started at North Perrott Cricket Club near Crewkerne in the sounth of the county today.The considerable number of spectators who made the journey to what is probably one of the most attractive grounds in the county were not disappointed and were treated to some good cricket in the sunshine.Batting first the visitors, who also included a number of first team players in their team scored 433 for 8 declared, with Kevin Innes top scoring with 159 and James Kirtley making a hard hit unbeaten 69.For Somerset Keith Dutch took 3 for 87 from his 25 overs, a performance that is likely to have earned him a call up to the first team squad for Friday’s championship match at Bristol, whilst Keith Parsons bowled steadily but without luck to end with 2 for 56 from his 14 overs.Steffan Jones ended with 1 for 58 from 13 overs, and Michael Parsons 1 for 57, but there was no luck for Matt Bulbeck who left the field injured after bowling five overs this morning.At the end of the day assistant coach Mark Garaway told me: "Today has been a very useful exercise for everybody, and was a hard day in the field. The wicket was unhelpful to our attack and we have to get used to bowling in these sort of conditions."

Mark Richardson is 148 runs and two innings away from becoming the fastest New Zealand Test batsman to reach 2000 runs.Richardson ended the tour of Sri Lanka on 1852 runs scored in his 24 Tests and 41 innings.The fastest New Zealander to the mark might surprise many, but the honour belongs to Andrew Jones who took 44 innings to score his 2000th run during the first Test against Zimbabwe played in 1992/93.Jones, an outstanding No 3 batsman who made a belated appearance in international cricket, scored six Test centuries and seven half-centuries in his first 2000 runs. This compares with the two centuries and 16 half-centuries that have been scored to date by Richardson.So well did he adapt to his role after being selected first for the abandoned tour of Sri Lanka in 1986/87, that Jones found himself included in the New Zealand Living Legends side selected as part of the Millennium celebrations.It was recognition of his often under-rated, and under-appreciated, performances for the side. When his career ended, he had scored 2922 runs at 44.27. During his career he achieved a highest score of 186, his share in the world-record stand of 467 for the third wicket with Martin Crowe against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve in 1990/91.So well did Jones adapt to Test cricket, this despite being called an ugly duckling by Australians during his first Test there at Brisbane, that he beat Bert Sutcliffe’s record for reaching 2000 runs in the fastest time.Sutcliffe took 26 Tests and 46 innings, one less innings than Glenn Turner. There is a significant gap then to the fourth fastest to the mark, Craig McMillan. He took 31 Tests and 52 innings.Be comparison, no one comes anywhere near Australian Don Bradman who took 22 innings to reach 2000 runs and his average when he achieved the mark was the neat 100.00.West Indian George Headley was second with 32 innings and England’s Herbert Sutcliffe third with 33 while Australian Doug Walters and West Indian Brian Lara shared 35 innings.One concern that Richardson does have is his conversion rate from half-centuries to centuries. At the moment his two centuries and 16 half-centuries has him fourth equal with Farokh Engineer as the poorest conversion rate among those who have scored more than one Test century.At the moment Pakistan batsman Rameez Raja has the worst rate having scored a century once in every 12 times past 50. Sri Lanka’s Arjuna Ranatunga is second with one every 10.5 times, Alistair Campbell of Zimbabwe has one in 10.(Statistics compiled by Duane Pettet)Fastest New Zealanders to 2000 runs (ordered by innings):

Tests InningsAndrew Jones 24 44Bert Sutcliffe 26 46Glenn Turner 26 47Craig McMillan 31 52Martin Crowe 34 56Nathan Astle 34 60Stephen Fleming 35 60Graham Dowling 32 62Geoff Howarth 34 62Mark Burgess 36 64Jeremy Coney 39 65Bryan Young 34 66Bevan Congdon 35 67John Wright 39 67Mark Greatbatch 40 69John R Reid 38 70Chris Cairns 43 73Ken Rutherford 45 79Adam Parore 48 83Richard Hadlee 54 91

All countries:

Tests InningsDon Bradman 15 22George Headley 17 32Herbert Sutcliffe 22 33Brian Lara 22 35Doug Walters 22 35Viv Richards 21 36Frank Worrell 22 36Arthur Morris 23 36Everton Weekes 23 36Graeme Pollock 21 37Neil Harvey 22 37Denis Compton 23 37Walter Hammond 23 39Garry Sobers 23 39Michael Slater 23 40Rahul Dravid 25 40Alvin Kallicharran 25 40Dudley Nourse 22 41Jack Hobbs 23 41Ken Barrington 25 41Adam Gilchrist 30 41

Merv Dillon has been rested for the third and final one-day international against Sri Lanka at St Vincent on Wednesday, following a lacklustre performance in West Indies’ four-wicket defeat in Barbados on Sunday.His place has been taken by the Jamaican fast bowler, Jerome Taylor, who burst onto the scene against Trinidad and Tobago, taking ten wickets in only his fourth first-class match, including a matchwinning 8 for 59 in the second innings.West Indies squad Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-capt), Omari Banks, David Bernard Jr, Corey Collymore, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hurley, Ridley Jacobs, Daren Powell, Ricardo Powell, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

Frizzell County Championship Division One

Essex 7 for 0 v Kent 381 at Chelmsford
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David Fulton celebrated his return to the Kent side by making 93 in only his second Championship appearance of the summer as Kent ended the day in a good position at Chelmsford. Fulton, who was sidelined by a serious eye injury, put on 138 for the first wicket with Michael Carberry (50), but thereafter Kent lost wickets as they pressed for quick runs. Geraint Jones cracked 84 off 81 balls before being run out, and Essex offspinner James Middlebrook capitalised on some unexpected first-day spin to take 6 for 112. Essex’s cause was not helped whenJoseph Grant hobbled off with a groin strain in the morning. “It would have been nice to have scored a hundred,” admitted Fulton, “but I would have settled for 93 before the start of play.”

Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire 90 for 3 at Leicester
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Rain and bad light limited play to less than half the allotted time as Nottinghamshire struggled to 90 for 3 at the close after winning the toss. It could have been worse. They were 11 for 2 as Phil DeFreitas struck twice in his first three overs before Guy Welton (41) and Russell Warren (32*) put on 78 for the third wicket. Welton fell to David Masters shortly before the rain set in.

Middlesex 311 for 7 v Surrey at Lord’s
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Championship leaders Surrey struggled to assert their authority at a gloomy Lord’s, with Ben Hutton leading the Middlesex resistance with 101, his second successive Championship hundred. Middlesex started well, but the dismissal of Andy Strauss for 47 triggered a mini collapse as they slid to 148 for 5. But Hutton and Paul Weekes (39) added 102 for the sixth wicket as Surrey ran out of ideas. Hutton was bowled by Ian Salisbury 14 balls before the close. Veteran seamer Martin Bicknell was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 71.Sussex 395 for 5 v Warwickshire at Hove
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Tony Cottey played the innings of the day, smashing 188, including 31 fours, in his first century at Hove for four years. Sussex started badly, losing Murray Goodwin to Waqar Younis for a duck, but thereafter it was one way traffic as Cottey added 165 with Richard Montgomerie (66), 71 with Chris Adams (35), and 103 with Tim Ambrose (50). Cottey had one life when he was dropped by Mark Wagh on 85.

Frizzell County Championship Division TwoGlamorgan 228 for 7 v Worcestershire at Cardiff
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Play didn’t start until after lunch at Cardiff, but that didn’t worry Michael Powell as he scored an unbeaten 116 to rescue Glamorgan from a poor start. Matthew Mason struck twice to help division leaders Worcestershire reduce Glamorgan to 31 for 3, but thereafter Powell never looked in trouble, striking a 148-ball hundred.Hampshire 17 for 0 v Gloucestershire 185 at Southampton
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Gloucestershire never got going at the Rose Bowl, being bowled out for 185 to give Hampshire hopes of their first win of the season. Phil Weston (39) and Chris Taylor (24) took Gloucestershire to 70 for 1 before Taylor’s diligent innings was ended when he fell leg-before to Ed Giddins, and thereafter only extras (second-highest scorer with 29) made any significant contribution. Wasim Akram made the most of overcast conditions to take 3 for 31, and Dmitri Mascarenhas weighed in with 3 for 48. Hampshire had made 17 for 0 in 12 overs when bad light intervened.

Northamptonshire 203 v Derbyshire 46 for 3 at Northampton
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Wickets tumbled at Northampton, with ten falling between lunch and the close. Northants were cruising at 116 for 1 after winning the toss, thanks to a second-wicket stand of 80 between Phil Jacques (60) and Michael Hussey (59). But both fell shortly before lunch, and the collapse really set in after the break as Northants lost nine wickets for 87, Nathan Dumelow taking 5 for 82 and Lian Wharton 4 for 50. Derbyshire were soon in a mess themselves, slumping to 22 for 3 before Mohammad Kaif (17*) stopped the rot.

Somerset 275 v Yorkshire at Taunton
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Somerset had to thanks Rob Turner for rescuing them after Yorkshire had threatened to bowl them out for under 100 in another match whcih didn’t get underway until after lunch. Chris Silverwood (3 for 46) and Steve Kirby (5 for 74) ripped through Somerset’s top order on a green pitch to leave them 64 for 6, before Turner (81) and Aaron Laraman (39) fought back. Even when those two were removed Yorkshire’s frustrations continued as Steffan Jones (39) and Simon Francis (44) added 71 for the last wicket.Varsity MatchOxford University 552 for 7 dec v Cambridge University 181 at Fenners
A superb allround performance from Jamie Dalrymple put Oxford in a winning position in the Varsity match, as Oxford extended their overnight 415 for 5 to 552 for 7 before declaring and then bowled Cambridge out for 181. Jamie Dalrymple took toll of tired bowling to make 236 not out, and then weighed in with 5 for 49 on a two-paced pitch.

Close
ScorecardClaire Taylor and Lydia Greenway put England in a commanding position over South Africa in the third day of the first Test at Shenley. Taylor scored a Test-best 177 and Greenway 70 as England ended play with a 163-run lead.Taylor hit 22 fours in her marathon innings and shared a mammoth 203-run partnership with Greenway, who was eventually bowled by Leighshe Jacobs to leave the score on a dominating 340 for 4. Jane Smit (56*) and Helen Wardlaw (36) then joined in the fun as England piled on to 497 with a lead of 181 runs.South African openers Claire Cowan and Josephine Barnard saw out the last half hour with no alarms to finish on 18 for no loss.

Virender Sehwag is likely to find out later today if his back injury is serious enough to cut short his first season in county cricket. According to a report in The Times of India, the Leicestershire county officials are awaiting the results of a medical scan, which will be available today, before deciding if a replacement is required.The report mentioned Matthew Nicholson, a fast bowler from Australia, and West Indian batsmen Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan as possible replacements for Sehwag. An official stated: “We’re contemplating a few options but would ideally want Sehwag to continue playing for us.”Meanwhile, Kevin Hills, Leicestershire’s general manager, dismissed reports that county officials were unhappy with Sehwag’s endorsement commitments, which required him to go off on media assignments. “We’re very happy with Sehwag. His performance has been fine, if not great, but that’s OK with us. As far as these [photograph] shoots are concerned we were aware of them and never minded Sehwag’s involvement.” Sehwag was in India over the weekend for a shoot.Though Sehwag has had a mixed county season so far, his presence attracted the Asian community to Leicestershire’s matches. He averages nearly 48 in the four-day Frizzell County Championship, inclusive of two centuries, but his performances in the limited-overs matches have been rather more ordinary: an average of 24.66 in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, and 33.28 in the National League. Sehwag was omitted from the Leicestershire line-up for the four-day match against Sussex last week, apparently so that he could be fresh for the Twenty20 semi-final. The move didn’t pay off, though: Sehwag lasted all of three balls in the semis, scoring 5 before being nailed by Waqar Younis. Leicestershire lost the match by seven wickets.

Hampshire’s woefull Frizzell Championship season continued at The Riverside ground of Durham on the third day, being forced to follow on 304 runs behind the home side. They then lost a further five wickets before the close.Resuming at 88 for 4 overnight, John Francis and Nic Pothas belied what had gone on the previous evening by surviving untill just before the lunch interval, when Pothas, back after injury continued his good form, reached a half century before being caught in bizaare fashion off his own foot to Nicky Peng at forward short-leg.Having batted soundly for 285 minutes, Francis pulled the ball to square leg and was superbly caught by Peng diving to his right for 65, it was his highest first-class score of the season.Hampshire’s last three wickets fell without any addition to the score and the follow on was enforced.Hampshire’s second attempt fell immediatly into disarray with Simon Katich and John Crawley both back in the pavilion for a joint return of 6 runs. James Adams and Robin Smith then batted stoically but the perservering Neil Killeen accounted for Adams caught behind, then Smith one short of a half century fell lbw.Nic Pothas continued to show why he has been missed during his injury spell by battling out to close, but the fourth day would need a miracle that only the nearby “Angel of the North” could perform.

Australia may have won their two-Test series against Zimbabwe at a relative canter, but the matches failed to grab the public’s interest and both games were played out against backdrops of banks of empty seats.Part of the problem was that a weak Zimbabwe side was never going to have widespread appeal, and also the matches were played very early in the Aussie summer – the international season doesn’t usually kick off until the beginning of November – and Steve Waugh believes the timing was the major turnoff. "Obviously the culture’s not there of watching Tests in the off-season," he shrugged. "I mean, it’s a pretty good side to watch, and I don’t know why they didn’t turn up. They’re going to have to do it a bit differently next year."The series was also competing with end of the Australian Rules football season and the start of the rugby World Cup. The last day of the Sydney Test was watched by around 1300 spectators (an total of 18,500 paid to see the four days), leading Waugh to joke that he was thinking about going round and thanking them individually at the end of the game.Officially, Cricket Australia is putting a positive spin on events, but privately it has to be not best pleased. James Sutherland, CA’s chief executive, admitted that gates were "disappointing", but said that outside factors had materially affected interest. "I think that there were a lot of things that were conspiring against us for this series, and I would hope that in the future that we wouldn’t have things conspire against us."The Sydney gates were of particular concern, but Sutherland flat-batted suggestions that the matches were played in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Sydney is a market that has in the past supported Test cricket very well. But we have to recognise that it was out of season or out of time, and there were other reasons for that."CA’s other experiment, the Top End Tour – staging Tests in the north of the country during the close season – was also a mixed success. Again, the opponents – Bangladesh – were poor box office, but it was still predicted that 11,000 would turn out for Darwin’s inaugural day of Test cricket. In the event, almost 7000 attended the first day and the crowds tailed off on the following two days. It was a similar story at Cairns. The acid test as to the viability of matches outside the season will come in July 2004, when the Sri Lankans, a more attractive draw, visit.