All posts by csb10.top

Six weeks ago, whilst reading the Sunday Times, I responded to an article that has had quite an effect on my life.I read about Jane Tomlinson, a mother of three in her thirties who at the age of 26 was diagnosed as having breast cancer.She underwent a mastectomy only for the cancer to return 3 years ago.The cancer has returned to her lungs and bones and she was told by specialists that her condition was incurable and she had only months to live.It was at this time that she took up running in the hope that she might be able to fulfil a new ambition, to run the London Marathon. She began training in May 2001 and ran six days a week in preparation for the event in the following April.Her training was being hampered by her illness. The tumour on her lung had become so large that it was making her breathless. She soldiered on and through great pain, clocking up the miles in preparation for the 26 mile run.In April last year Jane completed the marathon followed, in August by the London Triathlon and in November she ran the Great North Run!She is the only terminally ill person to have completed each of these events and has maintained her training alongside sessions of chemotherapy which is extremely debilitating.She was hoping to compete in this year’s London Marathon but is not well enough to run. She is doing a tandem ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End instead. Again, during this mammoth ride she will undergo sessions of chemotherapy.It was at this point, whilst reading the article, that I realised I had to support Jane and offered to run the London Marathon for her charities with Cancer Research the main recipient.Jane’s cancer has now spread to seven parts of her body. She lives with this pain and continues to be determined and enthusiastic despite this.I am running for her, she will die soon; your support will be well received.

Highly rated Western Australia all-rounder Adam Voges will be Bournemouth’s overseas player in the ECB Southern Electric Premier Cricket League this summer.The 23-year old starlet flies in from Perth at breakfast time tomorrow (SAT) and has been pencilled in to make his Bournemouth debut in Sunday’s friendly match against Dorset at Chapel Gate, 11am.Bournemouth’s Director of Cricket Richard Scott described the signing of Voges as a “major coup” and anticipates the young Australian all-rounder will make a major impact in the Premier League this season.Voges, who was recommended to Bournemouth by Hampshire Team Manager Paul Terry, arrives at Chapel Gate with a glowing CV.A forcing right-hand batsman and orthodox left-arm spin bowler, he toured England with the Australia Under-19 side in 1999.He spent 2001 at the famous Commonwealth Bank Academy at Adelaide and earlier this year made four Pura Cup (Sheffield Shield) appearances for the full Western Australia side, playing against Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.Ironically, Voges made his debut in the same 4-day match at the WACA against Tasmania as Luke Ronchi, who scored over 2,000 runs in his three seasons with Bashley (Rydal).He made several scores of 30 and above batting at number 5 in his Pura Cup matches.Voges, whose nickname is `Happy’, has spent all of his adult cricketing career under the watchful eye of Paul Terry at Melville, the powerful WACA Grade club just outside Perth, where the Hampshire man is head coach.”Adam is a very dedicated young player with a real determination to make his mark in cricket,” praised Paul Terry.”He’s the type of player who will quickly adapt to the different playing surfaces in the Premier League and he’ll be a massive influence both on and off the field at Bournemouth.”A regular team-mate of Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas in Western Australia Grade cricket, Voges captained Melville to this season’s One-day final, hitting a century against a star-studded Scarborough team under the WACA floodlights.Mascarenhas played for Bournemouth in 1996, helping Richard Scott’s side win the old Southern League championship.Voges has scored over 2,000 runs and taken almost 100 wickets in A-Grade cricket in Perth.

Successful New South Wales coach Steve Rixon will be on board with his championship-winning side for at least another 12 months.Rixon was reappointed by the Cricket New South Wales on Wednesday for another year.This follows the success of the New South Wales side in winning both of Australia’s domestic competitions this year. And it followed the three successive one-day titles the side has won.Rixon’s stint of four years is his second with the State. Earlier, from 1989-95 he coached the team to three Sheffield Shield wins and three one-day series wins, this included two doubles in 1992-93 and 1993-94.His time with the State was split after he accepted the job of New Zealand’s national coach in 1996. He also had a successful time in that role in lifting New Zealand’s success rating to the point where the side was ranked No 3 in the world Test rankings largely as the result of his work.During his own playing career, Rixon played 151 first-class matches for New South Wales, scoring 4303 runs at 23.13, including six centuries while taking 394 catches and making 66 stumpings.He played 13 Tests before joining a rebel tour of South Africa.

Dunstable:
Cumberland 370-6d (A Metcalfe 136, G Lloyd 130) v Bedfordshire20-1March:
Cambridgeshire 414-7d (JPW Mann 147, A Akhtar 100*) v Suffolk 66-1Luctonians:
Herefordshire 320-7d (HV Patel 128, RD Hughes 50; TJ Mason 6-66) v Shropshire 23-0Grantham:
Lincolnshire 308 (J Dowman 71, O Burford 71*, P Pollard 51) v Norfolk 65-1Jesmond:
Northumberland 322-6d (AT Heather 102, N Wood 95) v Staffordshire 12-2

Fidel Edwards, the 21-year-old fast bowler from Barbados, was named in the XI to take on Sri Lanka in the second Test, which starts on Friday at Sabina Park, Kingston. Edwards, who has played just one first-class match for Barbados, will make his debut on a pitch which is expected to offer plenty of support to the fast bowlers.The half-brother of Pedro Collins, Edwards’s slinging round-arm action has been compared to Jeff Thomson’s, and his inswinging yorkers have reminded talent-spotters of Waqar Younis in his pomp. Edwards was named the Most Improved Bowler in the Shell Cricket Academy, Grenada. Dr Rudi Webster, the Academy Director, has rated him among the most disciplined players to have attended the academy.The squad announced by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) had two other Barbadian quick bowlers, Corey Collymore and Vasbert Drakes. Merv Dillon was dropped, after going wicketless in the rain-hit first Test at St Lucia.Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan team are all set to ring in the changes after their disappointing performance in the first Test. Poor fielding, the absence of another back-up bowler and the inability of the top-order batsmen to get runs once they had settled in, all contributed to West Indies gaining the upperhand at St Lucia.Duleep Mendis, the interim coach, said that with the pitch here expected to assist fast bowlers, Sri Lanka would definitely opt for a third seamer at the expense of a batsman. Darshana Gamage is likely to win the third-seamer’s spot ahead of the inexperienced left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara, while Thilan Samaraweera will probably be dropped. Samaraweera did not impress much in his 109 minutes at the wicket for 11 runs and Brian Lara took him to the cleaners in his eight overs of gentle offspin, which cost him 53 runs.The other area of concern is the wicketkeeping of Romesh Kaluwitharana, who found out just how costly it could be to offer Lara a second chance. Kaluwitharana missed a stumping opportunity off Muttiah Muralitharan on the fifth morning when Lara was on 93. Lara ended up scoring his fifth double-century, and his fifth hundred in seven Tests against Sri Lanka. Kaluwitharana has been in reasonable form with the bat though – his failure in St Lucia was the result of a poor decision – and that might save him from getting the axe.The West Indian batting revolves largely around Lara. Their total of 477 was largely made up of two partnerships totalling 310 runs which involved Lara. His mastery of Muralitharan is another cause for worry for Tillakaratne.Lara has called for a result-oriented pitch and the inclusion of anadditional pace bowler to the West Indies squad at the expense of awicketkeeper-batsman clearly indicates that the pitch will assist the quick bowlers. If that is the case, Sri Lanka have a more penetrative attack to exploit the wicket. Vaas bowled superbly – but without much luck – on the placid pitch at St Lucia, while Prabath Nissanka is perhaps the quickest bowler Sri Lanka have had since Dilhara Fernando.Lara has admitted that his team’s bowling was a continuing worry. “We need to start getting 20 wickets in Test matches consistently. That’s what we are looking for, the right combination and the right set of guys to take West Indies into the future. Fidel falls into that category.”The Test also brings together Muralitharan and Australian umpire Darrell Hair for the first time in a Test since Hair called Muralitharan for chucking at Melbourne in 1995. Hair did officiate in Sri Lanka’s VB Series matches last year, though.Teams
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 7 Omari Banks, 8 Vasbert Drakes, 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Fidel Edwards.Sri Lanka (from) Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), RomeshKaluwitharana (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Prabath Nissanka, Darshana Gamage.Umpires Darrell Hair (Aus) and Russell Tiffin (Zim)Match Referee Wasim Raja (Pak)

Paul Collingwood should be back in action in four weeks time. He has missed the whole of the season so far after dislocating his shoulder in a pre-season friendly match for Durham.However, the good news for Durham and England is that he is on his way back: “I’m ahead of schedule," he said. "I haven’t put a final date on when I want to be coming back but I’d say it will be three or four weeks’ time."And Collingwood has got his sights on an international comeback too. “I think we’ve got three four-day games in September and I hope I can get in there and stake a claim for the Bangladesh tour.”I need to be 100% fit to go to Bangladesh. I need to train on the bike, on the training ground – and in the nets on my technique.”Then I need to get out in the centre and get some overs under my belt. I’m nearly there now – I can see light at the end of the tunnel.”

National League Division Two
TableHampshire 250 for 4 beat Nottinghamshire 249 for 6 by six wickets at Trent Bridge
Scorecard
Hampshire put themselves in the reckoning for promotion with a last-gasp victory over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, overcoming a slow pitch and the handicap of batting under lights. It all came down to the last ball which John Francis drove wide of Chris Cairns at short extra-cover and Hampshire scrambled the two runs they needed.Nottinghamshire won the toss but started hesitantly, slipping to 57 for 3 before Russell Warren emerged to play the anchor role with a solid 91 while Kevin Pietersen (75) and Chris Read (38*) provided the acceleration. Warren and Pietersen added 122 for the fourth wicket in 22 overs.Hampshire’s reply was perfectly paced with half-centuries from Simon Katich, Derek Kenway and John Crawley setting them on their way. Their progress was briefly checked when Katich was run-out for 67 (after an inordinately long wait for the third umpire’s decision) but Kenway maintained the required rate and then Crawley pushed and prodded his way to the fastest fifty of the evening, made off 54 balls.

What is it about The Oval and England comebacks? In 1994, Devon Malcolm returned from exile with that blistering 9 for 57 against South Africa, and then, three years later, Phil Tufnell spun England to a pride-saving win against Australia. Today it was Graham Thorpe’s turn, and in a different context, Marcus Trescothick too.Thorpe’s 124 was as eye-catching and fluent as any of his previous 11 Test hundreds. He batted as if he had never been away: pulling, cutting and driving 17 fours with precision and flair. Not even an eye-watering shot in the box from Makhaya Ntini could put him off. He may have cut a cold and isolated figure in the past, but he certainly showed some heartfelt emotion when he cut Ntini for two to notch up his belated 12th ton. It was a familiar, and welcome, sight. The bat punched in the air, the helmet peeled off to reveal the trademark ’80s-style headband, accompanied by a hug from Trescothick, who gleefully jogged from his end to welcome Thorpe back with open arms.But, on the flip side, Thorpe’s innings also hammered home the fact that he should have been there from the start of the series. Thorpe, along with the magnificent Trescothick, have hauled England back into this game, but they still need something special to win it – Thorpe’s heroics are likely to be too late now. If England wanted to be regarded as the second-best team in the world, then they needed their best available players in there from the kickoff. And Thorpe showed he is one of them just when he needed to.A former team-mate wrote last week that Thorpe would be a disruptive influence on the side: a rotten egg in Duncan Fletcher’s Team England. But what the hell, that’s secondary. He isn’t a solid, uncomplicated mucker like Anthony McGrath, or an awfully nice chap like Ed Smith, but England need him, especially now he’s in the mood for runs. And his busy singles rubbed off on his reacquainted England team-mates, as Trescothick and Alec Stewart kept the ones rolling over into the afternoon sunshine.While it’s hello again from Thorpe, it’s goodbye from Alec Stewart. The King, or even the Queen Mother, of Surrey received the royal treatment from the South Africans with a guard of honour, and from his adoring home crowd. And he rewarded them with a reminder of the flowing fours that have been a feature of his career. And if you saw them, make sure you savour them, as there is only one more innings to come, unless any rain returns to spoil the party.But don’t forget Trescothick, even though he would probably quite like you to. While this Test will be remembered for the coming of Thorpe and the going of Stewart, Trescothick will be pleased his mammoth double-hundred won’t take all the limelight. Under increasing pressure from the media for his lack of runs, a career-best 219 isn’t a bad way to respond. It was a slower, more disciplined innings by his standards, and it paid huge dividends. There were no crooked wafts outside off stump and none of those nasty nibbles which have blighted his progress against the best. Not even that baiter-in-chief Shaun Pollock could prise him out of the water today. You could almost call his innings a comeback as well – back to his best.While England grew more and more dominant, South Africa gradually deteriorated into long faces and sloppy fielding. Jacques Kallis temporarily eased the pain with Thorpe’s wicket, and Pollock with Trescothick’s, but Graeme Smith, for the first time in the series, was bereft of ideas. And not even his fridge door could inspire him this time. Day 3 Bulletin: Thorpe and Trescothick put South Africa to the sword

Canadian-born cricketer John Davison proved a valuable acquisition for South Australia today as the Redbacks downed Tasmania by 27 runs in the ING Cup match at Bellerive Oval.The 33-year-old was not content with being the Redbacks’ topscorer at the crease, contributing 59 runs off 63 balls to the 8-239 tally.The off-spinner also took 5-26 to achieve a career-best in one-day cricket.His attack resulted in the home team being despatched for 212 despite a valiant century by Michael Dighton – his first in one-day cricket.Davison’s stand-out performance earned him man of the match, along with praise from Redbacks captain Greg Blewett.”We want him to play a more important role in our side because we know what he’s capable of,” the skipper said.Davison got his start in grade cricket in Sydney and made his first-class debut with Victoria in 1995-96.He made history earlier this year by racking up the fastest-ever World Cup century while representing his native Canada against the West Indies in South Africa.The Redbacks, who won the toss and elected to bat, made a steady start before the Tigers clawed their way back.After toppling Blewett for 24, Tasmania went on to claim another four wickets for the addition of just 11 runs.Included was Davison, who was caught by Di Venuto, and prized Zimbabwe import Andy Flower, who was run out for one.Talented teenager Mark Cosgrove, on deck to replace an injured Mick Miller, fell LBW for one to Adam Griffith two overs later.But the visitors managed to consolidate thanks to a 55-run partnership between Mark Higgs (41) and Mark Cosgrove (43).In reply, the Tigers’ opening batsman Di Venuto was despatched for a duck by fast bowler Paul Rofe on the third ball of the first over.Australian one-day allrounder Shane Watson was caught by Davison for 10, while former skipper Jamie Cox fell LBW to Rofe for a disappointing two.It was Dighton hauled the Tigers back from the brink.He scored 113 runs off 139 balls before being stumped by Graham Manou off a ball from Davison.His 121-run partnership with new captain Daniel Marsh (46) came of less than 25 overs.Marsh described Dighton’s performance as “outstanding”.”It’s just a shame that innings will go pretty much unnoticed today because we didn’t win the game,” he said.South Australia and Tasmania will meet again next week in a Pura Cup clash at Bellerive, starting on Monday.

India 211 for 4 (Raj 59) beat New Zealand 206 for 7 (Tiffen 56, Fahey 52) by 5 runsNew Zealand’s hopes of staging a comeback in this series against India went up in smoke as they lost a close match by five runs. Just when they needed upmost calm to score 10 runs in the last two overs, New Zealand panicked and failed to finish the job. The crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore – mostly school girls – witnessed India scrape through in the final stages and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.Chasing 212 for victory, the New Zealand openers set off well with a 65-run opening stand. Kate Pulford’s aggression was matched by Maria Fahee’s patience as they sped along at five runs-per-over. But the introduction of Deepa Kulkarni and Neetu David, the left-arm spinners, resulted in a shift of momentum as four wickets tumbled with the scoring rate reduced to a crawl.Maia Lewis, the captain, fell when 70 runs were still needed in 57 balls, but Haidee Tiffen and Sarah McGlashan (26 off 22) blended crisp swinging with unorthodox swiping, and gave New Zealand a great chance of pulling one match back in the series. But they were both run-out at crucial moments and the rest wilted under some sustained pressure.The Indian batting continued to put up a consistent performance with Jaya Sharma (43) – the star of the last two matches – and Anju Jain (37) adding 82. Mithali Raj and Anjum Chopra built on the firm foundation, as they put on 107 without taking any undue risks. Raj found the gaps with ease and delighted the crowd with some stand-and-deliver hoicks, and Chopra pulled out a few elegant straight drives as India finished on a competitive note.