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The Somerset squad spent a hard day at the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, near Exeter today.What they experienced during their time at the Commando Training Centre will no doubt remain in their memories for many years to come, and in a large number of cases the activities will have pushed them to the limit of their physical endurance.On arrival at the camp the players swapped their tracksuits and trainers for combat suits and regulation issue military boots, before going for a briefing where they were told that the day would centre around a series of team building activities.As soon as they made their way out towards the assault course it became clear that they were most certainly in for a gruelling day.The squad of 18, which included Darren Veness, Head of Injury Prevention, Club Physio Ross Dewar and Fitness Instructor Andy Hurry were divided into three teams and undertook a series of timed challenges which incorporated all or part of the assault course.After the assault course activities, which lasted almost ninety minutes the players moved down to the banks of the River Exe where they were issued with another team challenge, which concluded with an informal game of nine-a-side rugby.At the end of all of that the players were covered in thick black mud and all of them had to be hosed down, before changing for lunch and then moving on to the afternoon activities, which centred on the River Exe.The overwhelming response from all of the squad was the day had been a great success.Darren Veness told me: “It was an outstanding day and an amazing experience for everybody. It was hard work but well worth it. Certainly it made me realise just how fit the marines are when you think that they do the same exercises with a thirty two pound pack on their backs!”Steffan Jones told me: “It was good fun, and about what I expected. I was well impressed with the mud rugby, except you couldn’t see the try line!”All-rounder Pete Trego, who demonstrated considerable skill on the ropes and who was just about the muddiest at the end of the morning, said: “It was great fun, a top drawer activity. It was good to be able to get my own back on some of my mates in the mud rugby, but I expect I’ll pay for that later on in the season.”Rob Turner, who has just launched his benefit year, said: “It was hard work but good fun. Certainly I have never experienced anything like that before.”The day at Lympstone came about as a result of Fitness Instructor Andy Hurry making contact with the Commanding Officer at the camp, Lt. Colonel Andy Canning, who invited the Somerset squad down to use the facilities.He told me: “I’m a cricket fan and a member of Somerset County Cricket Club so I am delighted to be able to invite our local first-class team down to use our facilities. We have lots of sporting groups at Lympstone, including the England Rugby Union side, but Somerset are always welcome here.”Andy Hurry told me: “The day worked really well for us and was good fun. It was a team building exercise and what happened here will have helped us to gel even more as a team. What they don’t realise is just how hard that they have actually worked here. I’m pretty pleased with the way that everything has worked out, and it has brought back a lot of memories for me of the time that I spent down here as a P.T.I.”Royal Marine Fitness Instructor Paul Clark said: “It all went very well, and they worked hard. I was impressed with their level of fitness, especially as cricket is a girl’s game!”Without doubt the Somerset players will have learned a lot from the day, and will be the richer for their team building experiences at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone.At the end Steffan Jones told me: “I reckon that when the season starts Somerset will be the fittest squad of players on the county circuit,” which is a tribute to all of the hard work that the players and everyone at the club have put in through the winter, and are building upon before the first championship match against Sussex which is exactly a month today.

The filming of , based on the life of the late South African captain, has been completed by his brother Frans Cronje, who says he went through his “own King Commission” during the “incredibly tough” year of shooting. Frans told Cricinfo the movie, completed on Monday, will be released across Africa on September 24 with a possible international release to follow.Frans said the film’s DVD set will include a special documentary on Hansie and will feature interviews with his family, team-mates and friends including Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Peter Pollock, Andrew Hudson, Gary Kirsten and Kevin Pietersen., which was shot in South Africa, England and India, traces the cricketer’s “internal journey from stardom to losing everything and then the journey to rebuilding his life”. Cronje was a role model and a national hero till his involvement in the match-fixing scandal was exposed eight years ago. He was banned from the game subsequently and died in a plane crash in 2002.One of the most poignant moments during the making of the movie, Frans said, was the scene when Hansie breaks down in tears after confessing his involvement with illegal bookmakers to the King Commission that was appointed to inquire into the match-fixing scandal of 2000.”He was very emotional and my dad and I were crying with him,” Frans said. “When we filmed this, it was like seeing the real event happen again. The acting in this scene was really magnificent. While filming, I just sat there with tears in my eyes. Fortunately, when I looked around me, I realised that everyone else on the sets were crying as well.”The other scene that will touch people’s emotions is one where Peter Pollock, the former South Africa allrounder, talks to Hansie after the King Commission. “Peter was instrumental in helping Hansie to begin the process of rebuilding his life,” Frans said.The movie has been produced by Global Creative Studios, a Cape Town-based production venture headed by Frans, who has won an Italian award for his earlier movie .The filming went through a tough phase last year, he said, when an American firm that promised advance funding pulled out of the deal. “It was incredibly tough. In a sense, it felt like I went through my own ‘King Commission’ at a stage. Especially the last week in November last year, when we heard that the funding was not there, was difficult. Fortunately, some very capable businessmen got involved. Without their assistance, it would have been almost impossible. The fact the movie has been successfully completed has helped a lot.”South African actor Francois Rautenbach will play Hansie in the movie. Frans said he decided not to use cricketers as actors as the “movie is primarily a drama”. He was assisted in filming the cricket action by Gordon Parsons, his brother-in-law, and former county player.”We decided to use actors to play the parts of Hansie’s team-mates like Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes,” Frans said. “As the movie is primarily a drama, it was important that we have experienced actors. To ensure that the cricket action was done well, we cast younger cricket players from a few different academies in South Africa and India. I was on the sets to ensure that the cricket sequences look real.”Cricket South Africa (CSA) has given their “official endorsement and support” for the movie after Joubert Strydom, then convener of selectors, read the screenplay “to ensure that the story is told with integrity”.”The International Cricket Council (ICC) were happy for us to continue, knowing that the CSA endorsed it,” Frans said. “I think they were happy to see that we did not choose to try and uncover any more match-fixing dirt. Rather, we chose to tell the story of Hansie’s internal journey.”

Terming the new umpire referral system a ‘review process’ as opposed to a challenge process, Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, was confident it would work well on a long-term basis with plenty of room for improvement. He said most umpires were in favour of this system and the real purpose is to eradicate obvious mistakes.”Our policy in the decision-making process has always been to keep an open mind,” he said. “You will recall in Sri Lanka in the 2002 Champions Trophy when we first started experimenting with technology and it continued until the Super Series in 2005, during which we allowed umpires to initiate a consultation on decisions. That didn’t work because the umpires didn’t refer decisions they should have. And then when they discovered that they could have made mistakes they became over cautious.”It was actually just wasting time. They were double-checking themselves and this lead to a loss of confidence of the players in the umpires. We realised it doesn’t work.”A lot of people will say reviews are contradictory to the spirit of the game and that players are challenging the umpires, but the way we look at it is – what is better or worse for the game? Umpires make mistakes and are accused of cheating, Steve Bucknor’s effigies are being burnt, teams threaten to fly home from a country, boards criticise umpires. Should we have a system where the umpire is given an opportunity to review his own decision and make a final decision himself? That would be preferable.”Richardson, who was present in the South African Test side when the first third-umpire referral was made in 1992-93, was firm that the ICC was not paying the television channels for the use of this technology, but rather saw it as a piggyback process. “The very first step in this process was to approach Ten Sports (the main broadcasters) and ask if they were willing to help us. They were keen to do so and we are very grateful to them. The broadcasters, like it or not, have been guilty in the past of showing up the umpires. All we ask them to do is continue to do so, but help us instead of being negative.”The ICC normally appoints three neutral Elite Panel umpires for a series. For this contest, instead of one umpire rotating and taking a break, he will act as the official third umpire. This, according to Richardson, was the way it would be going forward and there may even be the case of recalling some more experienced umpires to be specialist television umpires. But that, he affirmed, would be based on how the players felt about the situation.

Over the last few days the ICC has worked with the company that provides the ball-tracking device. Cameras have been placed in correct positions around the SSC and both parties have confirmed the accuracy of the results. Camera use will differ from series to series but there are minimum specifications, clarified Richardson.The company being used to provide the ball tracking is not Hawk-Eye, as generally employed, but one called Virtual Eye. They are similar to Hawk-Eye, said Richardson, but the ICC would only use the actual path of the ball until it hits the batsman. “It will then stop, and we won’t use the predictive element because the suppliers of that technology will say that it’s a bit of a computer guess.”The trickiest part is going to be for the batsman,” said Richardson. “As far as caught-behinds and bat-pads are concerned I have no doubt that every batsman, if he is honest with himself, will know he’s got the finest edge. But I can understand as a batsman that you are uncertain as to whether the ball pitched on leg stump or slightly outside. It might be tricky and we may find a circumstance that you get back into the dressing room and your coach has spoken to you for not challenging the decision or asking for it to be reviewed. We must not forget what the real object of this system is – to eradicate obvious mistakes.”

Pakistan, barring an unexpected intervention from the weather, are practicallycertain to win the first Test match against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club,thanks to contrasting centuries by Inzamam-ul-Haq and Taufeeq Umer againstinept Zimbabwean bowling. Zimbabwe, needing 420 to win, finished with 19for one.Zimbabwe began the day with hopes that history might repeat itself and asimilar victory from behind as that at Peshawar in 1998/99 might bepossible. Henry Olonga, a hero on that occasion, soon bowled a lifting ballthat struck Younis Khan (8) painfully on the fingers and flew to AlistairCampbell in the slips, reducing Pakistan to 25 for two. Then Inzamam gotoff the mark with a snick that flew just over the head of Andy Flower atfirst slip and went to the boundary. Had it been just a little lower, thestory of the day’s play might have been very different.But that was Zimbabwe’s last sniff, and they had only themselves to blame asthey surrendered the match in the pre-lunch session. Olonga never put ittogether consistently, and at one stage bounced a ball so high over the headsof batsman Inzamam and wicket-keeper Tatenda Taibu that it went for a totalof five wides. His partners at the other end were no more efficient, andshort medium-fast deliveries outside off stump are meat and drink toInzamam. He enjoyed a feast of boundaries and his fifty came up off 53balls, containing no fewer than 12 fours. When he reached 32 he became onlythe second Pakistani, after the legendary Javed Miandad, to reach 6,000 runsin Test cricket. The television suggested, though, that he was perhapslucky to survive an lbw appeal when on 40 to Raymond Price as soon as hecame on to bowl, umpire Dave Orchard disagreeing.Zimbabwe’s economic disasters have not destroyed the generous nature of herpeople, and Pakistan were so grateful for the vast number of four-balls onoffer that the hundred came up in the 19th over. Zimbabwe’s fielding becamerather ragged, and in the last over before lunch Inzamam joined the selectband who have scored a century before lunch in a Test match, although it wasan extended session due to time lost on the second day. It took him 102balls and 138 minutes. All credit to Pakistan; they were given theirchances and took them superbly.After lunch the contest briefly became keen again. Inzamam hammered Olongafor two more fours and then smashed a ball straight to Grant Flower atbackward point. He departed reluctantly, perhaps sensing anothertriple-century wasted. Yousuf Youhana uncharacteristically hung his bat outto be caught at the wicket off Andy Blignaut without scoring, and suddenly,briefly, Zimbabwe threatened again. Taufeeq became becalmed, while HasanRaza took a long time to get going. But slowly they put Pakistan back ontop, and after Raza departed to a catch at mid-off the debutant KamranAkmal, after a slow start, hit some impressive blows.Taufeeq crawled towards his century, moving from 70 at lunch to 97 at tea,27 off 83 balls. A misfield by Price allowed him to reach three figures off197 deliveries, in five hours. He finally fell for 115, caught down the legside off Blignaut and walking without waiting for the apparently indecisiveumpire Orchard. Kamran had already been bowled by Price and now Blignautbowled Waqar Younis.Pakistan were 318 for eight, to add to their lead of 60 on first innings.Then came a period of village green cricket, as tail-enders Saqlain Mushtaqand Shoaib Akhtar tried to indulge in some spectacular baseball oragricultural strokes against the second new ball, taken by Blignaut andOlonga, neither of whom seemed able to put the ball on the wicket or producethe leg-stump yorker that would almost certainly have ended the slog.Zimbabwe seemed to have lost all purpose, and the last two wickets wereallowed to add 51. Olonga finished with five wickets, but one cannot say hewas impressive.Zimbabwe, batting just before the close until bad light again curtailedplay, soon lost Hamilton Masakadza (0), superbly caught by short leg SaleemElahi off Shoaib Akhtar. Dion Ebrahim and Alistair Campbell at leastsurvived with sensible positive play until the close.

Baqai Dolphins entered into the semifinals of the 17th Karachi Gymkhana Callmate Festival after having tied their match against Sindh Police Friday.Having first use of the wicket after winning the toss, Baqai Dolphins had a sound start of 102 by Maisam Husnain (55) and Man of the Match Atiq-ur-Zaman (50) but collapsed to be bowled out for 175 in 19.4 overs in a match restricted to 20 overs.Sindh Police got oof to a splendid start when Kamran Hussain (56) and Akif Alvi (27) put on 85 for the first wicket. Kamran slashed eight fours and three sixes in his 27-ball knock and Akif clobbered four boundaries and a six off 15 deliveries.With three overs remaining Sindh Police needed 21 runs for victory with three wickets in hand. But two run outs left the Police trailing by 15 runs with the last man in and only an over left.Taking two runs off the first ball and heaving the next for a six and a single off the third, Iftikhar Ali brought his team closer to victory now needing six runs to win with three deliveries to spare. Off the last ball two runs were needed to win and as the two batsmen scampered home for the winning run, Ahmed Iqbal was run out and the match was tied with both teams dismissed for 175 runs.Baqai Dolphins were awarded the match on a faster run rate.Saturday’s fixture: (Quarterfinals) Dewan Mushtaq Sugar Mills v KESC at 1-30 p.m.KESC in semis Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), cruised into the semifinal of the Eighth Tapal Trophy Ramazan Festival tournament beating Defence Housing Authority (DHA) CC by seven wickets Friday.Winning the toss and batting first, DHA were bundled out for 89 in 20 overs with Moin Khan contributing 28 to his team’s score. Spinners Irfanuddin three for 11 and Asif Ghouri three for 17 did the damage.KESC lost both openers with 22 on the board. But Man of the Match Arif Mehmood 43 not out and Imran Javed (26), steered their team to a comfortable victory as KESC scored 95 for three in 18 overs.Aleem’s hostile spell A hostile spell of pace bowling by the Man of the Match Aleem Khan Moosa enabled Mohammad Hussain CC enter the final of the Seventh Danish Trophy Ramazan Tournament, after knocking out last year’s champions Rangers Gymkhana by 26 runs Friday.In a match restricted to 18 overs Mohammad Hussain CC winning the toss and batting first reached 123 for eight wickets, with Nisar Abbas (31) and Arslan Jawed (30) scoring the bulk of runs.Rangers Gymkhana were ahead on the run rate until Aleem Khan Moosa’s hostile spell in which he captured three wickets for 26 runs turned the tide.Saeed Tamoir top scored for the losing side with 29 runs and Saeed Ahmed chipped in with 20.Saturday’s fixture: KGA Gymkhana v Wakenhut CC 1-30 p.m.Eaglets in final Karachi Eaglets moved into the final of the Kareemuddin Colour Kit Ramazan Festival tournament getting the better of Rafiq Sherazi CC by 80 runs.Batting first, Karachi Eaglets raced to 215 for the loss of four wickets in the 20 overs through Mohammad Waheed (55), Khurram Abbas (47), Kashif Hanif (37 n.o.) and Asim Cheema (26).Sheerazi CC were dismissed for 135 in 15.1 overs. Shahid Dawood top scored with 41 and Asif Ghori made 26. Khurram Abbas later named the Man of the Match bagged three for 16.

LAHORE-The Pakistan cricket team has an uncanny knack of inviting unnecessary trouble and controversy. The latest one hitting the headlines involving Yousuf Youhana falls in the same category.It is really good that Youhana, after revealing his account of the whole episode, has got some measure of reprieve straightaway from the PCB Chairman.The most unassuming of the whole lot, to the point of being docile, Youhana was sent back from Kenya on charges of insubordination. He was accused of not following skipper Waqar Younis? instructions to appear at the nets. And cut to the quick, Younis saw to it that Youhana – the most consistent and the highest run-getter under Waqar – was sent back in disgrace.It is entirely another thing that Youhana was the wronged party, and twice so if his version is to be believed. And we have no reason not to give credence to it, because the PCB apparently accepts his version of events, which is quite apparent from the press release issued after he met Lt. Gen Tauqir Zia, the PCB Chairman.According to the press release, Youhana informed the Chairman that he “had been carrying a shoulder injury from Tangiers, which was not given due attention by the team doctor at an early stage.” An MRI scan, much later in Nairobi, confirmed that he did have a shoulder problem.”I was doing individual training on the ground, but did not go for the nets because my shoulder was under treatment then”, says the PCB press release quoting Youhana.”Youhana for his part assured the Chairman that his not going for the nets, as skipper Younis demanded, was neither deliberate nor an intention to shirk usual training”, said the press release.Again quoting Youhana, the press release says: “Let me state that I want to perform for my country to the best of my ability. And I have utmost respect and regard not just for the Pakistan captain but all seniors as well. I regret any unintentional offense that I may have caused”.The Chairman’s verdict, after he spoke to Younis and team management on the phone [read confirming Youhana’s version]: “The tour disciplinary committee was fully authorised to take the action that they have and indiscipline should neither be tolerated nor condoned. Still in my considered opinion, the whole incident was a bit overblown.”So, while the PCB would be making every effort that there is no compromise on discipline, at the same time every endeavour would also be made that team spirit and camaraderie was not sacrificed by magnifying events and incidents that were otherwise not grave in nature”.Both Yousuf Youhana and captain Waqar Younis, says the press release, wholeheartedly agree to this assessment of the situation. And in what is indeed an honourable acquittal for Youhana, “The PCB was likely to take a sympathetic view in case of Youhana because of his unblemished disciplinary record. He has immediately been handed in to the care of Dr Tauseef Razzaq to attend to his shoulder injury so that he regains full fitness as soon as possible”.One doesn’t have to read between the lines to deduce from the press release that, though he has chosen to back the tour management to the extent of not overturning its verdict, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia is totally unconvinced about the rationale of such an extreme measure. And rightly so. Whether the captain and the tour management are wise enough to take their cue from this is a moot point.It is a shame anyway that such an incident happened. And to avoid a repeat, Waqar Younis would be well-advised to remember that a skipper has to be above getting perked up at imaginary slights, settling of scores and browbeating his charges. That is if he wants to command respect, and lead the outfit to victories.

PERTH, Oct 31 AAP – The England cricket team will fly to Brisbane today with renewed belief for the upcoming Ashes series after a much improved showing in a three-day tour match against Western Australia.The tourists ran out of time to win the tour match falling just five runs short in a thrilling final session, being stranded at 5-130, after chasing 135 to win from 20 overs.Quick Simon Jones’ five-wicket haul and the early form of opener Robert Key, a late replacement for Graham Thorpe (missed tour for personal reasons), should be encouraging for England.Jones persisted on a flat WACA track and ended up taking 5-78 while Key’s unbeaten 59 was nearly enough for the tourists to snatch an unlikely win.The 23-year-old Key scored 33 in the opening innings and 68 in the opening tour match against an ACB Chairman’s XI and looks a fine strokeplayer.England has a three-day tour match against Queensland starting Saturday in Brisbane before the opening Ashes Test.Much interest will centre around whether allrounder Andy Flintoff and opener Michael Vaughan will be fit to play with a hit-out before the opening Test on Thursday almost considered mandatory.Flintoff is recovering from a hernia operation while Vaughan also has been unable to play since a minor knee operation last month.Spearhead Darren Gough, who has not played a Test match for more than 12 months, is considered highly unlikely to be fit for the Gabba Test.But Welshman Jones said the team had taken confidence out of the three-day match against the Warriors after a sub-par opening week.”I think we done very well to get within five runs,” Jones said.”Robert Key played outstandingly well I thought, he’s been in great nick for most of the tour.”Jones said despite being unable to register its first win of the tour, the England touring party was upbeat after the match.”There’s a great feeling in the camp, definitely,” he said.

Sri Lanka’s manager Chandra Shaffter has been told by the Board of Controlfor Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) that his contract will not be renewed afterthe current tour of England.Anura Tennekoon, the BCCSL’s chief executive, broke the news to Shaffterduring a telephone conversation before the start of the third days play atOld Trafford.PA News Agency claimed that the decision to end his contract followed acomplaint from the new chairman of selectors, Guy de Alwis, to the BCCSLthat he had been denied entry to the dressing room during the Second npowerTest at Birmingham.It’s an allegation that’s flatly denied by Shaffter: "Guy de Alwis neverrequested access to the dressing room, so how could I possibly deny it?"Shaffter, 72, was controversially appointed days before the Asian TestChampionship final in March, replacing Air Commodore Ajit Jayasekera, who isnow a member of the interim committee that runs the BCCSL.He was given a short-term contract that included a Sharjah triangular seriesin April and Sri Lanka’s tour of England.Jayasekera is considered the favourite candidate to replace Shaffter.

SYDNEY, July 3 AAP – Former Australian cricket captain Allan Border will add some spice to the Ashes rivalry when he emulates England legend Ian Botham on a charity walk from Sydney to Brisbane later this year.Border announced today he would walk 1000km from the SCG to the Gabba to raise money for sick and disadvantaged children.He will leave Sydney on October 8 and arrive at the Gabba during a break in play at the first Test between Australia and England on November 7.Border said he had wanted to embark on the journey for some time but had not been able to during his cricket career and now was the perfect time.”With the Poms being in Australia and maybe with Beefy (Botham) coming along and helping out in some way, shape or form, it’s finally being brought to fruition,” Border said.“Certainly Botham has been the inspiration.”Border, an Australian selector, said the walk may mean he would not be directly involved in picking the team for the first Test.Border said he had discussed the issue with his fellow selectors and the Australian Cricket Board when asking for permission to undertake the walk.”They’re happy to cover my requirements as far as watching games leading up to the first Test,” Border said.”Whether I get involved in the whole selection process I’m not 100 per cent sure yet.”Former England allrounder Botham has made several marathon charity walks across Britain, the last one being a 229-mile hike across Wales to raise money for building a children’s hospital.

The final round of the Logan Cup competition is to be played this coming weekend, with Mashonaland, who play the CFX Academy, virtually assured of the championship, quite possibly by winning all five of their matches as they did last season. Unfortunately we have not yet received an updated table from ZCU. There was to have been a great finish to the season with an Australian tour, just the boost Zimbabwean cricket-lovers would have longed for to take their minds off these difficult times, but the Australians considered politics (however futile their aim) to be of greater importance, and the ICC compiled.With no action in Harare and the main performers of the drawn match last weekend between Manicaland and Matabeleland unavailable for interview in Harare, this is a brief issue. We plan two more issues this season, as we should be able to interview a number of players at the Mashonaland-Academy match this weekend. In this issue we have updated the biography of Matabeleland’s Wisdom Siziba. Larry Moyo reports on the close of the club cricket season, and we have been given approval to include the official reports of the recent Under-16 tournament by the organizer and Matabeleland team manager Richard Harrison.