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Toby Bailey has been released by Northamptonshire after ten years on the County Ground staff.And when he leaves at the end of the season, he plans to quit cricket entirely.Bailey, 28, took over the gloves from David Ripley in 2001, but he lost his place to Gerry Brophy who is more competent as a batsman although Bailey has a first-class hundred to his name.”It is unlikely I will continue to play cricket,” Bailey told Northamptonshire’s official website. “This will give me an opportunity to try another career.”Adam Shantry is also set to leave Northants to join Warwickshire.Shantry, a 21-year-old seamer who took four wickets with successive balls during a second XI game against Warwickshire, has signed a two-year-contract.”Adam has been given a brilliant opportunity,” said Northants chief executive Mark Tagg. “We wish him all the best for the future.”

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.

England Honours were even on Day 1 of the first Test between WestIndies Under-19 and their England counterparts. Having won the tossand put the visitors in to bat at Grace Road, the hosts will possiblyeven feel they had the better of the day.At one stage Devon Smith and captain Brenton Parchment lookedinvincible as Windies recaptured the form that saw them win the One-Day series 2-1. Smith (54) and Parchment (62) looked set to remainunbeaten and give the away side an important psychological advantage.As it was Windies suffered something of a slump and ended the day on188 for five after 52 overs.With the score on 107, Smith the Man-Of-The-Series in the One-DayInternationals was caught by Andrew McGarry off the bowling of JamesTredwell. Smith’s 67-minute knock contained 11 boundaries as heconfirmed his class once again.Parchment, who struggled in the One-Dayers, at last came good with aclassy innings of 62. His return to form was no less brutal than thatof opening partner Smith’s. Parchment hit ten fours and one huge sixto vindicate the faith shown in him by the team’s management.After the captain’s departure, West Indies lost their way. Instead ofbuilding on their highly promising opening stand, the Windies let agrateful England back into the game.Patrick Browne’s wicket was next to fall as England scented a chanceto get back into contention. Browne was dismissed for a quickfire andentertaining 25. There were four boundaries in his 60-ball innings butjust when the team needed him to carry on the previous good work,England bowler Gary Muchall made a mess of Browne’s stumps and leftthe score on 151 for three.Tonito Willett (12) and Vishna Arjune (13) lasted for 37 and 11minutes respectively.

Unlike Karachi, it was perhaps not the England’s day. The ground at he Gaddafi Stadium Lahore was green but the pitch absolutely devoid of grass. According to the experts, the ball was expected to come on the bat and it did so wonderfully well. England made no change in the team that brought them a thundering victory at Karachi. Pakistan, however, brought Shahid Afridi and Azhar Mahmood to replace Imran Nazir and Waqar Younis. Afridi was brought in to strengthen the spin department on which Pakistan depended largely to win the series.Moin Khan won the toss but contrary to team’s obsession of batting first he opted to field first. It was done to off set the bitter experience of dew blamed for Pakistan’s defeat at Karachi. The decision paid off, for the bowlers made good work of England’s strong batting line, ousting the team for 211 runs, an easily manageable total unless a mishap was in the offing. For a magnificent haul of 5 for 40, Shahid Afridi emerged as the star bowler of Pakistan.England opened with Marcus Trescothick and Alec Stewart against Pakistan’s pace attack of legendary Wasim Akram and young Abdur Razzaq. While runs constantly flowed from Trescothick’s bat, Steward remained rather on the defensive.England reached 50 of the innings in 10 overs but lost the 1st wicket at 66 when Alec Stewart was stumped by Moin Khan off Mushtaq Ahmed for 22. Skipper Nasser Hussain joined Trescothick, both of them plying some exciting cricket to record a partnership of 50. They were quite severe against the pace men but the introduction of spin lowered the run rate considerably.Trescothick was the 2nd batsmen to leave after playing an enterprising innings of 65 runs scored in 74 balls. Graeme Hick walked off without showing his mettle. In 30 overs England was 125 for 3. Trescothick’s era of flashy stroke play having ended the game adopted a steady posture.It was after a lapse of 124 overs that Hussain hit 2 consecutive fours off Shahid Afridi, creating some excitement among the spectators. Hussain lucky for being dropped twice by Wasim Akram, was eventually stumped by Moin Khan of Shahid Afridi after playing an entertaining innings of 54 runs. England lost 6 wickets for 178 runs,ultimately ending the innings at 211 for 9.Shahid Afridi the pinch hitter cum reserve leg spinner who got married during the match at Karachi returned to the side. The honeymoon having acted as some sort of a tonic, he became almost unplayable. He virtually ran through the England side claiming 5 wickets for 40 runs.With Pakistan team in high spirits, a victory target of 212 apparently looked easily manageable.Facing a moderate target Pakistan was not in a hurry. The team adopted a sensible policy of achieving the target at a slow and steady pace. Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi opened the innings. Not deterred by the England pace duo of Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick they carried the score to 43 in 10 overs.The players being in good trim and the target too easy, the batsmen were not under any pressure. Saeed Anwar was, however, out in the 18th over after playing an invaluable innings of 41 glorious runs and giving Pakistan a wonderful start. Saleem Elahi joined Afridi and the two of them punished the bowlers with strokes all over the ground but at a steady pace. In 20 overs Shahid Afridi hoisted his individual 50 and 100 of the Pakistan innings. He was out after scoring an enterprising 61, a special point about his innings being that at no stage he resorted to rashness.Yousuf Youhana joined Saleem Elahi and the two of them took Pakistan to the 200 runs mark in 43.1 overs. Pakistan now needed only 12 runs in 41 balls. Saleem Elahi who exercised complete command on the game hoisted his 50 with a cover drive to the boundary. A little later he brought victory to Pakistan with a sparkling four to the fine leg region. Pakistan ended up with 214 for 2 thus defeating England by 8 wickets.The victory was Pakistan’s sweet revenge for the defeat at Karachi. They were successful in squaring up the series, leaving the result to the 3rd ODI at Rawalpindi on 30th October. For his highly impressive all round performance, Shahid Afridi won “Man of the Match” award.

Lasith Malinga may miss the entire ODI series against New Zealand after failing to recover from a knee injury he sustained during West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka in October and November. Malinga has remained in Sri Lanka, while standby player Thisara Perera has joined the squad in Christchurch.Malinga will miss the first two ODIs – on December 26 and 28 – at the very least, but is doubtful for the remainder of the series as well.”He has not come for the ODIs,” team manager Jerry Woutersz said. “He’s feeling some discomfort in his knee. Whether he will come between the ODIs and T20s – no one knows.”Malinga is the third absent player from Sri Lanka’s squad. Dhammika Prasad was previously ruled out through injury, while Kusal Perera is still suspended after testing positive for banned substances.New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said Malinga’s absence was a “big loss” for Sri Lanka.”What a contributor Malinga has been over a number of years for Sri Lanka,” McMillan said. “He has been their key fast bowler. He’s a handful. I’m sure they’ll miss him, but it gives an opportunity to some other younger guys in the squad.”Malinga is Sri Lanka’s T20 captain. The selectors have not yet indicated who will take up the captaincy if Malinga is ruled out of that series as well.

Bruce Aanensen has handed in his resignation as West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive. The board will now meet to discuss whether or not to accept the decision, potentially bringing to a close a turbulent six months in the Caribbean.”I have sent in my letter of resignation to the president. He has indicated to me that they are going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the letter and hence I think that it is inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this point,” Aanensen told .”Surely by Thursday of this week, I would be able to make a comment and give the reasons for my decision.”Barry Thomas, the WICB’s chief financial officer, is expected to act as CEO in the interim. Aanensen is currently on vacation. Aanensen took up the position in February this year, replacing Roger Brathwaite, who stepped down the previous year.Aanensen told CMC Sports he will explain the reasons for his resignation after the board meets in Barbados on Wednesday. “I have sent in my letter of resignation to the president. He has indicated to me they are going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the letter and I think that it is inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this point,” he said.The decision will, no doubt be a popular one with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), who have called for him to step down after a series of disputes. WIPA’s stance came about initially after comments attributed to Aanensen in which he referred to the West Indies team as ‘incompetent’. But since February, Aanensen has been involved in a number of clashes with the players’ body.There were disagreements over players’ contracts in the run-in to the World Cup and he was also involved in the dispute surrounding the summer tour to England and whether it was a part of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme.Dinanath Ramnarine, President WIPA, subsequently wrote in a letter to the board that he found it difficult to work with Aanensen and that his management style was “unfortunate and surprising for a CEO who has only recently assumed his position”. Ramnarine denied writing the letter. however.Ramnarine’s subsequent appointment as a director with the board is thought to have made Aanensen’s position untenable. But the decision by the new president of the WICB, Julian Hunte, to work with WIPA in resolving all outstanding issues, is thought to have played a determining role in Aanensen’s decision.Hunte is keen to improve the board’s relationship with WIPA and, according to the respected “has been working behind the scenes to get the players paid but Aanensen has been firm in his belief that issuing the payments will put him in legal hot water.”The website further reports that In his resignation, Aanensen cited being caught between a rock and a hard place – likely to be pushed out if he refused Hunte’s directive or facing legal problems if he went ahead and issued payments.

Sussex took the honours on the opening day against Kent at Canterbury after dismissing the hosts for 241. In reply, they reached 102 for 2 and trail by just 139 runs. Somewhat inevitably it was Mushtaq Ahmed to the fore once more for Sussex, ripping out the middle-order and ending with the impressive figures of 6 for 58; in the process he took his 82nd wicket this season. The only man to stand in his way was Martin van Jaarsveld who struck 20 fours and a six in his third hundred of the season. But Kent subsided dramatically, losing their last seven batsmen for just 26 runs in 11 overs. In reply, Sussex lost Richard Montgomerie and Carl Hopkinson cheaply before Murray Goodwin steadied the ship with an unbeaten 49.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is expected to make public the report submitted by the Sponsorship Negotiation Review Committee (SNRC) within ten days. Following detailed and extensive discussions, the Executive Committee of the WICB said in a news release that they had decided to make the report available to the public, along with the board’s comments.The Executive Committee met on Sunday in Antigua and among items on the agenda was consideration of the report from the SNRC, that comprised Justice Anthony Lucky (chairman), as well as accounting professionals Gregory Georges and Avondale Thomas.Excerpts from the report have appeared in the media over the last few weeks. A newspaper reported yesterday that the board intended to challenge the findings of the SNRC Report, since they believe there are a number of contradictions in the document.The committee was set up under Teddy Griffith, the previous WICB president, to review and examine all correspondence, transactions, communications, minutes, contracts, records, arrangements and any other relevant information concerning the WICB’s switch of major sponsors from Cable & Wireless to its main telecommunications rival Digicel, . The report was presented to Ken Gordon, the new president, on August 15.The committee was asked to determine whether the WICB treated Cable & Wireless fairly in the negotiations; whether an improper relationship exists between the board and Digicel; whether the new sponsorship arrangement was in the best interests of the board and continued cricket development in the West Indies; and whether payments were improperly accepted by members of the WICB as an inducement.

Zaheer Khan has announced that he has regained complete fitness, and only needs more bowling practice to get back his rhythm. Speaking to the media on the last day of the fitness camp in Bangalore, Zaheer said: “My fitness is fine now, but I’m at a stage where I just need to bowl more and more. Injuries have been a worry for me, but this is just a phase and I’m confident it will soon go.”Zaheer was plagued by injuries for most of last season – he missed two out of four Tests in Australia due to a torn hamstring, and then pulled out midway through the first Test against Pakistan.Commenting on the recovery process, Zaheer said: “For any player, staging a comeback is very difficult and I am analyzing how not to get injured as well as maintaining my length and speed. I don’t think I really have to cut down on my pace.”In an attempt to regain match-fitness, Zaheer briefly tried his hand at county cricket, playing as an amateur for Surrey. He was supposed to figure in one-day game and two four-day matches, but pulled out of the last four-day fixture after a disappointing game against Kent. Speaking on the arrangement with Surrey, he said: “They wanted me to stand in for Saqlain Mushtaq and I wanted to have a go at bowling because I had already spent two weeks in England training. But after the first [four-day] match I realised that I needed to bowl much more in the nets before I started bowling in matches.”Zaheer’s priority will be to get ready for the six-nation Asia Cup, which starts on July 16.

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.