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October 25, 2006
Johnson keen to stay with Somerset
Posted on 10/25/2006 in Somerset
Former England seamer Richard Johnson is keen to stay at Somerset after talks with Kent and his old club Middlesex.
"I have spoken to a couple of counties but I am trying to sort things out with Somerset. I am very keen to stay," he told the Western Daily Press. "It is a little bit of an uncertain time at the moment but I don't want to make too much of it and I am hoping things are sorted out fairly soon."
October 19, 2006
Nash and Hopkinson commit to Sussex
Posted on 10/19/2006 in Sussex
Carl Hopkinson and Chris Nash have both extended their contracts with Sussex until 2008.
Hopkinson joined the club in 2002 after graduating from the Sussex Academy. ..This extension is for all the hard work Carl has done in winning a place as an opening batter in a double-trophy winning team,. Mark Robinson, Cricket Manager, commented. ..We cannot understate Carl's contribution in this fantastic year. In the first half of the summer he glued together our upper order in four-day batting and played some match winning roles in the one-day season..
Nash is another Academy graduate and became a professional in 2005. Robinson added, ..It is a great compliment to Chris that when key first XI players were missing he was a more than able replacement, ensuring that player's absence was not felt. In two pressure games Chris gave a calmness to the team in the same manner that Michael does. He has genuine leadership qualities and an aptitude to use any feedback or criticism as a positive to make himself a better player. He is an exciting prospect and is now ready to make a major contribution in the next season..
October 18, 2006
Tudor extends contract with Essex
Posted on 10/18/2006 in Essex
Alex Tudor, the former England fast bowler, has extended his contract with Essex for two years to keep him at the club until the end of the 2008 season.
Tudor, 28, joined Essex in 2005 but missed most of the season through injuries .. a common trend throughout his career. He enjoyed a more fruitful season in 2006 with 28 wickets at 42.67 and 362 runs at 30.16, including a career-best 144 against Derbyshire.
..I..m very delighted to finally put pen to paper and both parties seem happy with the contract,. Tudor told the club..s website. ..There are still incentives for playing more games but, most importantly, I was given the amount of years I was looking for. It shows the club are backing me and are happy with me. As a cricketer when you have a year-by-year contract it can be frustrating but now I can relax and play my cricket..
..Alex has been given a two-year contract with the club of which, as in previous years, an element relates to him making appearances in both Championship and one-day matches,. David East, Essex..s chief executive, said. ..But I think it..s very evident that he has demonstrated his fitness in the last year - he didn..t miss a game through injury and played in the last 10 Championship matches in a row - and made a significant contribution to our position in the Championship table this year (third). We are delighted he has come through his injury issues and everyone is comfortable with the structure of this particular contract going forward..
October 17, 2006
Two leggies at Leeds- whatever next?
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Yorkshire
David Byas is not seen as a gambler. But he took arguably the biggest punt of his time as director of cricket when, on August 16, he named his Championship team to face Kent. Byas included not one but two young legspinners, Adil Rashid, aged 18, and 20-year-old Mark Lawson. Together they were about o give Yorkshire..s Championship season a hell of a rip. In the event the weather wrecked the Kent match but in the next three games the charismatic pair shared 33 wickets in rain-affected near misses against Middlesex and Durham and a crucial win over Notts. But, if Rashid and Lawson inevitably hogged the headlines during the successful survival battle, the Championship season had been on an upward curve since the Twenty20 Cup. Beforehand the batting of Darren Lehmann and Anthony McGrath had been the only redeeming feature. After reaching the quarter-finals Yorkshire won three times in the Championship, the batting improved, the bowling was sharper and Rashid and Lawson arrived. Now for the bad news. One-day form was poor and Lehmann has departed, after ending his seventh season with an astonishing 339 against Durham. For Yorkshire Lehmann scored 8,871 runs at 68. Who says no one is indispensable?
Andrew Collomosse The Wisden Cricketer
Rhodes to recovery on and off the field
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Worcestershire
Worcestershire achieved their pre-season goals of winning double promotion and creating a happy dressing room. Steve Rhodes, the director of cricket, chose his overseas players wisely with Phil Jaques, Lou Vincent and Zaheer Khan all making significant contributions on the pitch and helping create a happy glow off it. Graeme Hick basked in the warmth. The decision to drop him to No.5 had seemed to signal the beginning of the end; instead he finished a good season by passing 1,000 first-class runs for the 20th time and rejecting an offer from Derbyshire. Worcestershire..s Championship promotion was all the more worthy because they were heavily beaten in their first two home games. The second promotion, in the one-day league, came after favourable results elsewhere and was so unexpected that Rhodes spent the day fishing rather than monitoring the scores. There also are signs of progress off the field, too. The club is in the process of securing £10m to redevelop New Road, which will include a new pavilion to replace the historic building currently rotting away after a century of flood damage.
Paul Bolton The Wisden Cricketer
Hard going under Greatbatch
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Warwickshire
If Mark Greatbatch was not aware of the high expectations that come with being Warwickshire..s director of coaching when he replaced John Inverarity last year, he is now. He inherited the nucleus of the squad that won the Championship in 2004 and reached the C&G final in 2005, yet the county struggled to mount a challenge in any competition. Senior players failed to perform in an unhappy dressing room, described by one as ..like a cesspit.. Players must ultimately take responsibility for their performances but the dour Greatbatch must also accept some blame for failing to create an environment in which they felt able to express themselves. Having replaced almost every senior manager last winter, Warwickshire are likely to keep faith with Greatbatch .. but on the understanding that performances must improve next season. The loss of Daniel Vettori to a back injury after one game was a blow but the South African slow left-armer Paul Harris was a capable replacement. Finding one for Nick Knight, retiring after 12 years of heavy, unfussy run-scoring, will test Greatbatch..s recruitment skills. Losing Moeen Ali, the highly-rated England Under-19 batsman, to Worcestershire was another sign that all is not well.
Paul Bolton The Wisden Cricketer
Robinson reaps where Moores sowed
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Sussex
Wait 164 years for a Championship, then two pop along at once. Sussex hoped the transfer from Peter Moores to Mark Robinson as coach would be invisible; in fact it was conspicuous for the right reasons: more wins than any county (26), fewest defeats (11) and an old-fashioned double, which was one batting collapse short of a treble. Not even Moores managed that. But, as Robinson ungrudgingly admits, he reaped the benefits of the workethic, unity and empathy for individuality sowed by Moores. Only three mainstays of the 2003 Championship-winning side .. Tony Cottey, Mark Davis and Tim Ambrose .. were not around this year. And with Mike Yardy..s all-round devotion, Matt Prior..s vigorous self-belief, the first-half irrepressibility of Rana Naved-ul- Hasan and the second-half brio of Yasir Arafat, this was a step up, as Moores concedes. If Luke Wright..s stats were a mild let-down, he can only benefit from an apprenticeship in a largely homegrown side featuring the world..s foremost googlier (even Chris Adams thanked Allah for Mushie, the first bowler to top the Championship wicket-takers.. list four seasons running since Tich Freeman in 1935, Freeman..s eighth in a row), the circuit..s most competitive captain in Adams, least-sung left-armer in Jason Lewry and grittiest Zimbabwean in Murray Goodwin .. plus James Kirtley, an ageing comeback kid who won a Lord..s final.
Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer
Whistling while they worked
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Surrey
On the last day of the one-day league even a par display against Somerset would have ensured double-promotion for Butcher and Son. It did not happen but for the first time since 2002 whinges were scarce, despite a whopping wage bill. There were too many extraordinarily pleasant surprises for that. It did not require a clairvoyant to foresee Mark Butcher staging an assertive comeback or Mark Ramprakash enjoying one of the most run-drunk postwar seasons: 2,993 runs at 74 in all formats. (And no, he was not aware that Bradman..s record average for an English first-class summer .. 115.66 .. was in reach when sitting out the final fixture.) But only an exceedingly clever soothsayer would have forecast Ian Salisbury leading the club..s first-class wicket-takers, Nayan Doshi undoing more one-day batsmen than anyone in the country or The Oval becoming the launchpad for Chris Schofield..s comeback. Adieu, sadly, to Martin Bicknell, the unluckiest English bowler of his generation, but welcome to James Benning, who deserves to be the luckiest batsman of his. He is hellish fun to watch, scored more one-day runs (including Twenty20) than anyone on the circuit and may soon allow the national selectors to make partial amends for their dereliction of the excellent Ali Brown.
Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer
White wash cannnot hide the cracks
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Somerset
Our transatlantic cousins would call them the losingest side in town .. 24 all told .. but such is the investment in youth and ground, it would be a pity to panic, albeit tempting. Except for the batting monologues of Cameron White and the accumulated nous of Andrew Caddick and Charl Willoughby .. the Championship..s deadliest new-ball duo, with 129 wickets .. the growing pains might be intolerable. James Hildreth..s career-best 227 against Northamptonshire could not mask dismay at the inability of himself, Arul Suppiah, Neil Edwards or even Matt Wood (despite plenty of one-day runs) to make a century in any other Championship match. That shortcoming was rammed home when the 22-year-old Australian White amassed 773 Championship runs in seven matches while deputising in the prolonged absence of the captain Ian Blackwell. If White returns and he has signed up to do .. Bill Alley..s standing as Taunton..s best-loved Cobber may be in peril. As for gains, a lack of top-order runs prompted a change of keeper, with Sam Spurway an impressive substitute for Carl Gazzard. And, if Marcus Trescothick has to return to the shires to rediscover his oomph, they will be boogieing in the streets of Bridgwater.
Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer
Down with the old guard
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire emulated Yorkshire..s unwanted feat of 2002 by being relegated the year after they won the Championship. Poor early season weather did not help but the key components of their 2005 success .. effective swing bowlers and heavy runscoring in the top order .. were missing. Openers Darren Bicknell and Jason Gallian mustered only one century stand, David Hussey and Stephen Fleming were inconsistent and Ryan Sidebottom found form only briefly .. and late. Still, they could easily have stayed up. A truly abject performance against Sussex in the last match yielded a solitary point when one more would have meant safety. With hindsight the county should have freshened up an ageing squad in the winter after they won the title. Russell Warren, Anurag Singh and Greg Smith were all released after playing peripheral roles this year. There was more youthful vigour about the one-day cricket, an area that director of cricket, Mick Newell, had identified as needing attention. They almost won the Twenty20 Cup and the one-day league but those near-misses were scant consolation.
Paul Bolton The Wisden Cricketer
Free from the iron grip of Wessels
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Northamptonshire
Kepler Wessels' autocratic style of management finally put paid to him, with the players calling in their union, the Professional Cricketers.. Association, to help end his tenure as director of cricket. Wessels had bust-ups with players in previous seasons but this time it was too much for the club..s management, especially after the PCA popped in to show them a three-page letter of all the players.. grievances. A new rumour of Wessels falling out with a staff member had become a weekly bore until he left at the end of July, halfway through the Championship draw with Essex. Player morale and team spirit picked up immediately and results .. at least in the oneday matches .. followed. They could not get much worse: Wessels had overseen eight defeats in nine C&G Trophy games. Second place in the one-day league bodes well for a strong push for a limited-overs trophy and showed that Wessels had at least assembled a good side. With him gone, most of them now want to stay. One who remains undecided, amid interest from other counties, is the Australian batsman Chris Rogers, who cracked 1,142 of his 1,360 first-class runs in the seven games after Wessels.. departure. Throughout the turmoil Lance Klusener remained calm and consistent and was deservedly player-of-the-year.
Ashley Potter The Wisden Cricketer
Bottoming out in search of seamers
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Middlesex
Three bottom places mean fewer reasons to be cheerful. Long before the trapdoors clanged shut, the coach John Emburey (while lamenting injuries and the pitches provided by MCC, Middlesex..s Lord..s landlord) admitted his team deserved it. That is no small feat considering a wise ex-Glamorgan captain tipped them to win the Championship and that a squad which began the season featuring one reserve Test batsman ended it with three .. in addition to a groovy new Compton. In all cricket, only Somerset suffered more defeats; captain Ben Hutton..s shingles must have felt doubly unpleasant. It was no surprise when he quit soon afterwards. With Alan Richardson and Mel Betts crocked and only Chris Silverwood regularly marrying penetration to control, it would be easy to blame the bowlers. But it would be more just to bemoan a batting order featuring eight Championship centurions but just two specialists who improved their reputations: Ed Joyce and Nick Compton. Owais Shah (732 one-day runs, second only to Mal Loye) continued to make some wonder why England overlook him in the short game. It seemed symptomatic of a wider unease that, in the Championship, Jamie Dalrymple averaged 32 with bat and 39 with ball, then whizzed about for England like a turbocharged Fred Titmus.
Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer
A Boon in more ways than one
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Leicestershire
Tim Boon made a smooth transition from international to county coaching and his side responded. They had a trophy .. the Twenty20 Cup .. as proof of their improvement and used their one-day skills to mount some thrilling .. and successful .. Championship run chases. Four wins in their last six games brought a creditable fourth place. The improvement was achieved with limited input from overseas players .. Dinesh Mongia missed six games while away with India and Adam Griffith and Mansoor Amjad broke down. Instead Boon freshened up his squad and lowered the average age with some shrewd bargain buys. But it was the experience of HD Ackerman .. 1,804 Championship runs before he returned to South Africa .. and Paul Nixon, with his jack-in-the-box energy, that gave Leicestershire mid-season impetus. Boon..s next tasks are to translate Twenty20 success into the longer one-day competitions and to retain the services of Stuart Broad. Potentially a match-winning fast bowler, Broad was the cricket writers.. young player of the year and won his first one-day international cap but that only excited the other counties. He is under contract for another season and, despite rumours of a move to Surrey, Boon says he is staying put.
Paul Bolton The Wisden Cricketer
Red Rose suffers in the rain
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Lancashire
When the sinking sun stopped play on the penultimate day of Lancashire..s home campaign, it also set on any realistic hopes of a first outright Championship since 1934. How ironic that sunshine spoiled things. In five home games Lancashire had already lost the equivalent of 10 days.. play to rain. Away from home they won four from eight. Would they have collected enough extra points from those rainy home matches to overhaul Sussex? The chance would have been a fine thing. So, like many of their predecessors, they were Championship nearly men. In the C&G Trophy they were also runners-up to Sussex. There were redeeming features: Mr Consistency Mal Loye; a bornagain Dominic Cork; the runs of Brad Hodge before his departure (his replacement Nathan Astle never quite got going); and the emerging youngsters. Despite few starts Kyle Hogg and Oliver Newby improved while Tom Smith started the season as an unknown and ended it making plans for a winter with the ECB Academy in Perth. With luck it will not be raining there.
Andrew Collomosse The Wisden Cricketer
Key's first turn fails to open the door
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Kent
For Rob Key it was a vexing first campaign in charge. His own poor form, financial woes, the flogging of precious family jewels and a bitter response from reactionaries to some sensible development proposals hardly helped. Caught between generations .. Fulton, Patel and Saggers fading, the youngsters still green .. it hurt that, with Andrew Hall and Justin Kemp returning to South Africa earlier than last year, imported inspiration was scarce unless it came from Martin van Jaarsveld. As leader of a largely spiteless attack, Amjad Khan improved before a knee injury ended his season. Back-up, Min Patel apart, was fitful. Dwayne Bravo managed a six-for but was barely around long enough for an encore; Robbie Joseph hinted at promise; Simon Cook, Rob Ferley and James Tredwell ended strongly. But too often the main threat was from Darren Stevens.. lesser-spotted blend of spin and dob. Dominated by Van Jaarsveld and Matty Walker, who scored heavily in both forms, the batting was patchy though, if David Fulton has taken his last guard, at least he signed off with a hundred. But the balance sheet .. 18 wins, 14 losses .. may prove deceptive: the tunnel..s end is not in sight. Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer
The Warne effect cuts two ways
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Hampshire
There were two distinct Hampshires in 2006: one with Shane Warne leading with verve, imagination and aggression, another more timid variety, left to their own devices during his trips home. There is no doubt that Hampshire have developed a Warne complex, emboldened by his formidable presence and like a toddler without a parent in his absence. Warne must surely be the best captain Australia never had. To watch him change his field at least once an over, manoeuvring, cajoling, intimidating all at once, is an education and Hampshire have reaped a huge benefit from his wholehearted commitment. At least they won promotion from the second division of the one-day league, worthy enough in itself, but the big target was the Championship and third place was only just acceptable. Chris Tremlett..s frequent injuries restricted him to nine Championship matches and saw him fall down the England pecking order but the rapid development of James Bruce, James Adams, Michael Carberry and Chris Benham partially made up for it. But there was only one serious contender for player of the year, chosen by the other players, and that was John Crawley for his 1,737 Championship runs at 66. As for the Rose Bowl ..minefield.., it is improving by the year.
Pat Symes The Wisden Cricketer
Hats off to the bats and Lewis
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Gloucestershire
One promotion, in the one-dayers, but nowhere near a second. Still, few matched their 20 wins and heads are held higher than last autumn. The bad news came early: signing the injured Shane Bond (who will probably get a second chance, so bare is the overseas cupboard) left the attack a one-man band, with only the occasional parp from the others. When Jon Lewis was captaining, and neither knackered nor peeved by all that 11th-hour motorway-pounding for Queen and country, he was never knowingly underbowled or underbold. Otherwise only Steve Kirby offered anything that could be mistaken for menace, as allowing lowly Glamorgan to pile up 597 underlined. Martyn Ball was typically canny in the abridged version but, when you play on puddings, spin is seldom the sweet option. The batting, by comparison, was a full orchestra. Hamish Marshall entered with a bang; Craig Spearman returned with one after personal problems in 2005; Alex Gidman and Kadeer Ali (who finally hit a first-class hundred at the 82nd try) enjoyed their most fruitful seasons; Phil Weston signed-off ruggedly; and, best of all, Chris Taylor shrugged off losing the captaincy and looked as nifty as any man can reasonably expect to in two-tone blue pyjamas.
Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer
Free fall after the frolics
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Durham
What is it about Durham and Twenty20? Last year they went into the competition as promotion favourites on the back of five Championship wins. The second half of the season yielded only a single win as they staggered over the finishing line. The pattern was repeated this year. There was little talk of relegation after three wins in the first eight games but again they went into free fall, with one win and four defeats after Twenty20. They escaped the drop by half a point .. thanks to a gutsy rearguard action in a rain-affected draw with Yorkshire and Notts.. ineptitude against Sussex. But they returned to the second division of the one-day league despite beating champions Essex on the last day. Durham can ill afford to lose three players .. Steve Harmison, Paul Collingwood and Liam Plunkett .. to England, with the possibility of a fourth in Graham Onions. But the bottom line is that, apart from the captain Dale Benkenstein, the batting was patchy and the bowling (not helped by injuries to pacemen Ottis Gibson and Mark Davies) no better.
Andrew Collomosse The Wisden Cricketer
That sinking feeling and debt to boot
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Glamorgan
As soon as Robert Croft inserted Essex in the first Championship game and watched them rack up 639 for 8 declared, one sensed it was not going to be Glamorgan..s season. And eventually Croft himself was forced to agree. After two seasons, in which he oversaw 21 defeats in 31 Championship matches, he quit a fortnight before the end. Croft had little choice but to fall on his bat handle. Despite a good season personally .. 66 Championship wickets .. he had come as far as he could with a young, inexperienced side. He was not helped by a back injury to Nicky Peng, the club..s only closeseason signing, which meant he missed half the summer, or the loss of both first-choice overseas players before the start of the season. Croft..s successor David Hemp managed a last-gasp draw to ensure Glamorgan would not finish bottom of the Championship. But he could not prevent slipping ineptly out of top flight of the one-day league. The situation looks likely to get more dismal, with no overseas players next season. The costcutting measure comes as the club faces up to severe financial problems; since 1998 £1.3m in interest has been paid on a loan taken out to purchase Sophia Gardens. Overall verdict: dreadful.
Richard Thomas The Wisden Cricketer
Need Runs? Head for Chelmsford
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Essex
The last-day blow out that ended Essex..s chance of Championship promotion may have had one very positive outcome: it spelt out all too clearly what has held them back this season. Teams rather enjoy batting against them. No bowler reached 35 Championship wickets and only twice did their impotent attack bowl a team out for under 300 in the first innings. It is a testament to the strength of their batting that they won seven of their 16 matches. Only three redeeming features can be salvaged from the bowling: Andy Bichel..s injection of quality in the second half of the season, Alex Tudor lasting a whole campaign and the promise of Tim Phillips. And that is it unless you count Essex being the only county that Mark Ramprakash failed to score a Championship fifty against. For next season a quality fast bowler is a must. Essex..s transformation into a top one-day side can also be put down to their batting depth. Eleven players, including Alastair Cook, scored Championship centuries and the batsmen should not struggle for runs next year unless they give up entirely in protest at doing an unfair share of the work. And who could blame them?
Daniel Brigham The Wisden Cricketer
Jones leaves his mark in passing
Posted on 10/17/2006 in Derbyshire
Once again a Derbyshire man lifted the County Championship. Unfortunately Chris Adams was
leading Sussex at the time. But after a decade of squandering talents like Adams sensible management produced a warm glow at Derby. Kindled by a pre-season darts night in
Graeme Welch..s local, it developed with two Championship wins in the first three, victory at the
Racecourse Ground to end a 33- match hex, a lucrative return to rustic Chesterfield, the emergence of Gary Ballance and Wayne White and a projected profit, after last year..s unsustainable £215,000 loss. The new glow helped alchemise David Houghton..s signings
.. condemned by vocal members at the pre-season AGM as ..rejects.. The best, Steffan Jones pounded out 56 wickets, almost twice what any of his team-mates managed. The batting averages, with the 11th man on 22, reflect a more solid order. Injuries and a weakness
against spin meant the side limped to the finish but chief executive Tom Sears admits he would have accepted fifth place in April. However, in September Jones left for Somerset, having
received a contract offer he called ..insulting.. It leaves Houghton with no strike bowler and a
serious problem. By opening with a low offer the management misjudged a proud man. But for once cock-ups were the aberration not the rule.
Paul Coupar, The Wisden Cricketer
October 16, 2006
Ten Doeschate signs new two-year contract
Posted on 10/16/2006 in Essex
The Essex allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate has signed a new two-year contract to keep him at the club until the end of the 2008 season.
Ten Doeschate, 26, notched his maiden hundred in 2006 .. an unbeaten 102 against Glamorgan .. in what was a successful season for him with bat and ball.
..I..m very pleased to have signed a new contract with Essex,. he told the club..s website. ..I..ve known for a while that I was going to get it but to finally sign it is a very happy day for me.
..I only played in the one-day side in 2005, which, at the time, I was really happy about. But my aim at the start of the season was to get into the four-day side and I did manage eight Championship appearances. I would have liked to have played a bit more but, without being greedy, this was still a good year to follow my breakthrough season..
October 13, 2006
Bill Gordon earns groundsman honour
Posted on 10/13/2006 in Miscellaneous
Bill Gordon of the The Oval has been awarded the groundsman of the year honour for both the four-day and one-day category with Mick Hunt of Lord..s awarded the runner-up in the four-day and Andy Fogarty from Headingley the runner-up in the one-day.
Commendations went to Philip Frost (Taunton), Mike Grantham (Canterbury), Peter Marron (Old Trafford) and Andy Fogarty (Headingley Carnegie) in the four-day pitch category, while Len Smith (Sophia Gardens), Peter Marron (Old Trafford), Mick Hunt (Lord..s), Steve Birks (Trent Bridge) and Kenny Nisbet (The Grange) were commended in the one-day category.
John Moden at Fenners is the winner for the UCCEs pitches with Craig Thompson at Durham Racecourse as the runner-up. Micky Stewart at Scarborough was awarded the outgrounds prize with Matt Pullen at Whitgift School earning the runner-up wward. Andy Peirson at Beckenham received a commendation in the outgrounds category.
Alan Fordham, head of operations for the ECB, said: .Umpires marks have indicated a good overall standard of pitches in four-day cricket and particularly in one-day cricket in 2006. We are delighted to announce these awards which recognise head groundsmen who have prepared the best pitches this season.
..Special congratulations go to Bill Gordon at The Oval who continues to lead the way in pitch preparation in both formats of the game..
October 11, 2006
Phillips extends Essex stay
Posted on 10/11/2006 in Essex
Tim Phillips, the Essex left-arm spinner, has signed a deal that will keep him at Chelmsford until 2009. He took 60 wickets in all cricket during 2006 but will face more competition next summer with Danish Kaneria due back as an overseas player.
"To be given this new contract is another reflection of how I've progressed this year," said Phillips. "Now that I've established myself I want to push on by taking more wickets, scoring more runs and generally improving on what I've done this year."
"Hopefully I can still do that with (fellow spinners) Danish Kaneria and James Middlebrook also here and playing for places."
October 10, 2006
Salisbury extends his Surrey contract
Posted on 10/10/2006 in Surrey
Ian Salisbury, Surrey..s leading wicket-taker in the Championship this year, has committed to another year with the club.
Salisbury, who had been dogged by injury in 2004 and 2005, was back to his best this year and in 15 Championship matches, he managed 59 wickets at the excellent average of 28.16, helping Surrey bounce straight back into the first division of next year..s County Championship.
Salisbury has been with the Club since 1997 when he joined from Sussex and since then he has been an invaluable member of the senior team. He was a key member of the Surrey side that won three County Championships from 1999 to 2002 and it was no great surprise when the club granted him a benefit year for the 2007 season.
Surrey..s cricket manager, Alan Butcher, said: ..Ian has been an excellent servant to the club since he joined us in 1997. His form this year has been exceptional and due reward for his hard work throughout last winter. I look forward to him playing an equally important role for us next year in attempting to win the Championship..
di venuto joins Durham
Posted on 10/10/2006 in Durham
Michael di Venuto has joined Durham as their only overseas player for the 2007 season. di Venuto left Derbyshire at the end of the recent summer and will replace Jimmy Maher in the north east.
From 2008 counties will only be able to field one overseas player but Martyn Moxon, the Durham coach, says the club's position is open to review next season.
Will Smith, the former Nottinghamshire batsman, has also joined the club as has Mitchell Claydon, who was recently released by Yorkshire. Will Gidman, the brother of Alex, has also become part of the squad.
"The decision to go for one overseas player at the start of the season is primarily made to give our young talent the opportunity they have earned," said Moxon. "Playing two overseas players reduces the chances our emerging players get to develop their skills."
October 7, 2006
Derbyshire gain Hopes
Posted on 10/07/2006 in Derbyshire
Derbyshire have signed James Hopes, the Queensland allrounder, as their second overseas player for the 2007 season. He has played nine one-day internationals but is not involved in the current Australian squad preparing for the Champions Trophy.
Hopes will join Travis Birt, the Tasmanian batsman, at the County Ground and is a replacement for Michael di Venuto, whose services were not retained after the 2006 season.
Hopes told the Derbyshire website: ..I have always wanted to play county cricket and I am delighted to have signed for Derbyshire. I am looking forward to making a big contribution with both bat and ball and hopefully some big performances in England will do my international career no harm.
David Houghton, the director of cricket, added: ..We have managed to capture one of the best allrounders in Australian cricket, a player who has forced his way into the best side in the world in the last 12 months, James will be a great addition to our side.
..He has the priceless ability of being able to win matches with both the bat and the ball and will bring a great balance to our team in all formats of the game..
October 6, 2006
Chris Rogers agrees new deal
Posted on 10/06/2006 in Northamptonshire
Chris Rogers has been signed a one-year contract with Northamptonshire as an overseas player for the 2007 season.
Rogers scored over 1300 runs in the County Championship during 2006 including four hundreds and five 50's with a current average of 72.50. He made the highest score of the season with 319 against Gloucestershire in August.
David Capel, the Northants coach, said: "Chris Rogers and Stephen Peters built up a strong opening partnership at the back end of the season and I am keen to see that continue into the 2007 season.
"Chris is particularly excited about returning to the club next season and is confident regarding attaining personal and team success. We all look forward to seeing him back in April."
October 4, 2006
Northants confirm contracts
Posted on 10/04/2006 in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire have announced that Usman Afzaal, Rob White, Stephen Peters, Paul Coverdale, Graeme White and Mark Nelson have signed new contracts with the club.
Afzaal joined Northants three years ago and has scored over a 1,000 first class runs each season. He has signed a two-year deal after discussions with the club which emphasised the ambition and the important role for him as a senior player within the team.
Graeme White and Mark Nelson have both signed for Northants for the 2007 season. Both players have been key members with the England Under-19 squad as well as the Northants second XI and Academy.
Whitehas been offered a year extension to his current contract and Nelson has been offered a new one-year contract.
The head coach David Capel said: "We are looking to keep the continuity following on from the success at the end of the 2006 season. Our opening partnership will be joining forces once again and it is great news that Usman has committed to a two-year deal. It is also fantastic to see representation from the academy on our cricket staff for 2007."
Surrey trio agree new deals
Posted on 10/04/2006 in Surrey
Three Surrey squad members have all recently signed new deals with the club which will secure their services until the end of next season.
Young batsman, James Benning, has committed to a three-year deal, while Nayan Doshi and Ali Brown have signed contracts for a further two years and one year respectively.
All three men have played a vital role in Surrey..s success this year and their presence in the Surrey line up for 2007 will be crucial.
The Surrey cricket manager Alan Butcher said: ..I am delighted to secure all three players for next season. Ali Brown has been a great servant of the club over the years and continues to be a destructive player, whilst James and Nayan have both had great seasons and represent the club..s future..
October 3, 2006
Sussex stick with winners
Posted on 10/03/2006 in Sussex
On the back of their County Championship and C&G double, Sussex have offered a clutch of their stars new deals.
Matt Prior, Michael Yardy, Murray Goodwin Robin Martin-Jenkins, Chris Nash and Carl Hopkinson have all been handed extensions with a new one-year contract being offered to Tom Smith, a graduate from the highly successful Sussex/ECB Academy.
Luke Wright, Andrew Hodd, Mushtaq Ahmed, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Chris Adams are all still within contract.
Mark Robinson, the cricket manager, said: "We are keen to ensure the club continues to be successful not only next year but for years to come. We are looking to settle all negotiations as quickly as we can."
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