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Dwayne Smith, the West Indies allrounder, has joined Sussex for their Twenty20 Cup campaign after being signed as a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed. He is expected to make his debut in their opening match against holders Kent on Wednesday.”We are excited to have Dwayne join us,” Mark Robinson, Sussex’s coach, said. “We’ve had to move quickly on this following injury to Mushy, and at a day’s notice I feel very lucky, to have gained such a high-quality player.”Robinson said Smith’s addition will benefit the county when Luke Wright takes up his international commitments. “The fact that he bats, bowls and fields means he will, in theory, be a like-for-like replacement for Luke when he joins England.”Chris Adams, Sussex’s captain, also expressed confidence in Smith’s abilities. “I think it’s an exciting signing. I haven’t got a great knowledge of Dwayne but he is an outstanding one-day cricketer. He is a great fielder, hits the ball a very long way and he is an improving bowler,” he told the .Meanwhile, Adams said Mushtaq will re-join the squad for the County Championship. “The timing [of Smith’s signing] is right because Mushy needs three weeks of rest so he is ready to go for the Lancashire game in the Championship on June 29.”There’s no point in rushing him [Mushtaq] back, we need him back fully fit and refreshed and in the meantime we get an exciting young West Indian who will give us a great chance of doing well in Twenty20.”Smith joins the county after taking part in the Indian Premier League, where he represented the Mumbai Indians. He played four matches, but had limited success, with 45 runs and five wickets from four matches.

Nick Horsley is to play his cricket in the Northern Districts region this summer.He is returning to live on the family farm at Te Akau. Born in Hamilton where he attended Southwell School, he played representative cricket for Northern Districts (ND) at Under-14 and Under-16 level.Stints in the New Zealand Development team preceded his selection in the New Zealand Under-19 team that played the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000.Horsley made his first-class debut last summer and has appeared in nine first-class matches and has a first-class century to his name already. In one-day cricket, he played seven State Shield matches last summer and achieved a top score of 89 not out.He is spending his summer in England.Meanwhile, ND coach Bruce Blair has named his winter training squad.”We have settled on an expanded squad which focuses our attention on the next tier below the Knights and signals to the players the urgency of being ready for the coming season.”On the back of the recent success of the TelstraClear Black Caps, we are looking forward to summer and getting back into cricket,” he said.The squad is: Daniel Vettori, Bruce Martin, Jaden Hatwell, Nathan Daley, Grant Robinson, Brook Hatwell, Greg Steele, Mark Orchard, Simon Andrews, Gareth Irwin, Ben Winslade (Hamilton), Niven Aldridge, Leighton Hammond (Bay of Plenty), Ben Hart, Jason Warner, Scott Styris (Thames Valley), Ben Cochrane, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Michael Parlane, Joseph Yovich (Northland), Daryl Tuffey, Ian Butler, Brent Arnel (Counties Manukau).

Gosport Borough have won all five games they’ve played since late June, but it’s not been quite enough to propel them into the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 promotion frame.Purbrook and St Cross Symondians went into today’s final round of matches as firm favourites to claim the top two places.Andy Mengham’s side needed ten points from Ventnor’s visit to The Heath to go up as champions, while five bonus points from Havant II would have been enough to secure the probable runners-up spot for St Cross, who just missed out last term.But, after a modest four wins out of eight return from the opening two months of the season, Gosport will probably be well pleased with a probable third spot.Queenslander Nathan Collins, who becomes a naturalised Englishman for the purposes of SPL regulations next season, has once again led the way for the Borough.He’s bagged 38 wickets so far and, unless Alton’s Julian Ballinger picks up eight or more victims at Redlynch & Hale today, is virtually assured the Premier 3 bowling award for the second consecutive season.But Gosport have also done pretty well with the bat – Mike Rees, Stuart Magee and Pete Robson all homing in on a 400-run aggregate before today’s finale with Flamingo.Gosport’s fifth successive win came after a run chase at Ridge Meadow, where they cruised past Hambledon’s 248 (Leigh Burns 65) for the loss of five wickets – Collins showing his batting prowess with a neat 74.Hambledon’s season has been in complete contrast to that of Gosport, who inflicted their fifth successive defeat – a sequence of results which is set to leave them in third from bottom position.Winning or losing five games on the trot seems to be a regular occurrence in Premier 3 these days.Take Alton, for example.Top of the pile with seven wins out of eight at the start of July, their fortunes dipped dramatically with five straight defeats – a run they finally arrested with last weekend’s 62-run win over Portsmouth II.Alton must have thought promotion was theirs for the taking when they bowled over Purbrook and St Cross Symondians in late June.But, just like last season, it all went horribly wrong for Julian Ballinger’s side.They completely lost their way – being skittled for a meagre 50 by Gosport two weeks ago – and went to Redlynch today still searching to finish in a top six slot.Alton’s long overdue eighth win came at the expense of Portsmouth II – Michael Heffernan hitting a maiden century he must have feared was always to elude him.Four times previously the eldest of Paddy’s two cricketing sons had perished in the nervous 90’s, but as Alton ran up 245 against Portsmouth, so Michael notched his maiden 100.And what an appropriate time to do it – with all four members of the Heffernan clan in the Alton side !Rumour has it that Paddy’s wallet took a pounding last Saturday night …..But Heffernan’s celebrations will pale into insignificance alongside those at Purbrook Heath tonight, should Andy Mengham’s side lift the championship.Purbrook took a massive step nearer the title with a thrilling one-run win at Hursley Park – an absorbing match in which South African Willem Prozensky underlined what a talent he has.While partners came and went with regularity, Prozesky struck a quite superb 125 to take his season’s run aggregate to 924, over two-thirds of which (652) have come in boundaries.Purbrook’s 268-8 was trimmed, leaving Hursley Park a target score of 215 – which they almost got on the back of the day’s second splendid century by Paul Edwards, who was run out as the Park finished on 214-9.It was a terrific game that neither side deserved to lose.The win all but wrapped things up for Purbrook, who expect to be accompanied by St Cross into Premier 2 next season.Symondians almost tied things up themselves with an eight-wicket win over Hook & Newnham Basics (171) – Kiwi Mark Parker hitting an unbeaten 75 to ease the visitors home.Havant II pair Simon Greenfield, with an unbeaten 110, and Jon Owen (88) led a 275-2 run spree against severely weakened Flamingo, while a five-wicket spell by Fred Smith (5-21) and punchy 75 from Neil Westhorpe carried Ventnor to an 83-run win over Leckford.New Milton christened their new Fernhill HQ with a low-scoring three-wicket win over Waterlooville, but Redlynch & Hale sank to a hefty 176-run defeat at Hartley Wintney, where the village bowlers took a 280-run pounding.Paultons scored a timely late win, John Robinson hitting 66 in a 226-run total against Bashley-Rydal II, who faded after Steve Latimore’s bright beginnings and dipped to 200-9 at stumps.

2003 captain Mike Burns accompanied by several other members of the Somerset staff were present at the Memorial Stadium in Bristol on Sunday afternoon to launch the joint venture that the Somerset Junior Sabres have entered into with the Bristol Junior Shoguns.As part of the arrangement that the two clubs have reached Somerset junior members can gain free entry to Bristol Shogun home matches and vice versa, and judging by the reception that the youngsters present gave the idea it looks like it could be a highly successful venture.During the half time break in the Heineken Cup match between Bristol Shoguns and Swansea, captain Mike Burns was introduced to the crowd whilst a new look `Stumpy’, the Junior Sabres friendly mascot, joined forces with the Shoguns mascot `Mitsu’ on a tour of the ground.Mike Burns then gave away some mini cricket bats that he signed for the delighted youngsters, and there was such an interest in the Junior Sabres tee shirts that stocks ran out in a very short time.Since the end of the cricket season `Stumpy’ the dragon has been away on holiday but he certainly gave the impression that he was pleased to be back, and despite the rain he appeared in fine form. He seems to have grown quite a bit taller and put on some weight since September, and is already counting the days till the start of the next cricket season.Membership secretary Jo Arnold, who was part of the Somerset party in Bristol told me: "This is a great link up for the Junior Sabres, and will enable the young members of both of our clubs to enjoy top class cricket in the summer and top class rugby in the winter."Whilst his new captain was in Bristol, Somerset all rounder Keith Dutch and his wife Emma were back in Taunton celebrating the birth of their son Thomas who weighed in at 8lbs 10 ounces this morning.I’m happy to be able to report that both mother and baby are doing well, so congratulations to everybody.There are so many new babies on the scene that it won’t be too long before Somerset can field a team of Mini Sabres!

West Indies’ buoyant mood after the Twenty20 may be dinted by the absence of some senior players for the opening match of the five-game series against Australia on Tuesday. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpual, who missed the success on Friday, are carrying niggling injuries alongside the wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.Gayle, the captain, is concerned with the groin complaint he picked up two months ago, but will ignore the discomfort to lead the team in St Vincent. “I never got any sort of injury like this before and speaking to people who had groin injuries, they say it does tend to take a lot of time,” Gayle said.”I thought it was going to be two weeks but it is two months now. I just have to blank it out and try and play with it and see how well I can contribute to the team. If it’s not working out then obviously I’ll have to sit out.”He said he would have to overcome fears of aggravating the injury when batting. “I want to go out there and be positive and block out the negatives,” he said. “You don’t want to take on too much at this particular time, you go out there a bit worried about the injury so you have to know how to pace yourself.”A decision on Sarwan (groin) and Chanderpaul (leg) will be left until the morning of the game. “We’ll see how they feel,” Gayle said, “and if they get a chance to play, we have to wait and see.” If Ramdin, the wicketkeeper, is not cleared Patrick Brown, the Barbados gloveman, will take over.”The team is carrying a few niggles so we have to be careful how we use the guys because guys are struggling, but we will try to come with the best combination and see how well we can cope with it against Australia,” Gayle said. “It is an opportunity for the likes of Andre Fletcher and Kieron Pollard, who have been around, to get a chance to play and try and prove themselves.”

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has announced that, dueto the increase in public liability insurance, they have been forced toprohibit the playing of social sports at Adelaide Oval.The cessation of social sports includes all domestic and internationalcricket matches and other events held at Adelaide Oval.The SACA regrets having to make the decision and, as an alternative,will endeavour to establish supervised sessions for children within theFavell-Dansie Indoor Centre at Adelaide Oval for international cricketmatches.Chief Executive Officer of the SACA, Mr Mike Deare, said the decisionwas one which has ended a much-loved tradition at the Oval.”The significant increases in public liability insurance has,regrettably, left us with no choice but to end the playing of all socialsports within the Adelaide Oval grounds. As an alternative, we aim toprovide cricket sessions within our indoor centre during internationalgames.””The SACA remains committed to encouraging people, particularlychildren, to enjoy the game of cricket, however, at all times, thesafety of our patrons remains our highest priority.”Details about cricket sessions for children during the upcoming OrangeTest match at Adelaide Oval will be announced in the coming weeks.

The England batsman Mark Butcher says that his knee injury makes him no more than “50-50″ for the third and final npower Test against Sri Lanka, which starts at Old Trafford in a week’s time.Butcher, 29, underwent a scan on the injury yesterday, but no acute cartilage damage has been found. The specialist has said he can play at Old Trafford if he feels fit enough.”I am going up to Old Trafford with a view to playing,” the Surrey left hander said. “But I would say I am no more than 50-50 at the moment. It would be a shame to miss out but these things happen and you can’t do anything about them.”The damage is in the joint between the two bones and it needs to be clearedup. So if I played in the next Test I would have it done in the break betweenthis series and the Test series that follows with India.”Butcher made a century in the first Test at Lord’s and 94 in the second at Edgbaston, but is unlikely to be included in England’s squad for the one-day triangular tournament which follows the Test series.The expected recovery time from this type of surgery is between three andfour weeks, which should enable Butcher to be fit for the first Test againstIndia at Lord’s, which begins on July 25, regardless of when he has the operation.

KINGSTON – In the face of conflicting stories over the status of a recurring knee injury, Dale Richards revealed here yesterday that he was keen on playing in Barbados’ Red Stripe Bowl semifinal against Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.A determination of his fitness, however, will be made today after Barbados’ team management receives a final report from Dr Aksai Mansingh, a Jamaica-based doctor who has often been retained by the West Indies Cricket Board.Richards, converted to an opening batsman for this tournament, was unable to take his place in the Barbados team for the weekend’s back-to-back matches and it was suspected from as early as Friday that he would be returning home and would take no further part in the competition.Amidst all the uncertainty, the 26-year-old old NATIONSPORT yesterday that if it were left to him, he would walk out to the middle at Kaiser Sports Club come Friday."I am feeling alright and, most likely, I think I will be able to play," he said."The knee is feeling a little better than it was in the last two days. I am a bit stiff, otherwise I am feeling a bit better. Maybe the body wanted some rest."Richards first suffered a recurrence of the injury while batting against the Leewards XI at the Melbourne Club ground last week Sunday when he was run out for 81. It followed an unbeaten 121 in the opening match against the University of the West Indies at Chedwin Park two days earlier.He believes the knee is responding well to treatment from team physiotherapist Phyllis Burnett. The treatment includes daily icing and the use of an ultra-sound machine.This latest injury to Richards is on the same right knee that bothered him two years ago when he was forced to have an operation.There was some speculation here over the last few days that he might need surgery again, but it was too early to determine."I do not feel it is going to stop me, but we have to wait and see. It won’t be 100 per cent, but I will try," Richards added.Barbados manager Tony Howard was also upbeat that Richards would be available for this weekend’s matches."Initially, the idea was that if Dale couldn’t make it, we would send him home but we will get a final report from Dr Mansingh tomorrow [today] and see where we will go," Howard said."Dale is the kind of man that you would like to keep. He has to decide if he can make it. By Friday, it will be almost two weeks that he hasn’t played. The injury may be at a stage, in my personal opinion, where he might be able to say I can make this."

A match-winning unbeaten run-a-ball 111 by Farhan Adil led PCB Whites to an thrilling one-wicket win over PCB Reds in the Super League One-day Ramazan Cup Cricket Tournament at Gaddafi Stadium Saturday.After cruising nicely towards a comfortable victory at 212 for five, PCB Whites suddenly lost four wickets for addition of 14 runs. However, Farhan and last man Danish Kaneria succeeded in scoring the remaining three runs with two balls to spare.The defeat was PCB Reds’ first in five matches while PCB Whites need just one to qualify for Thursday’s final. PCB Reds have already ensured their berth for the all-important match.Farhan was ably supported by opener Shadab Kabir (28, four fours) and Naved Latif (36,threefours). His innings was laced with seven fours.Yasir Arafat, an all-rounder who bowls brisk medium-pacers, was responsible for collapse with a burst four wickets. He finished with five for 43Earlier, put into bat, PCB Reds lost four for 96 before Saeed bin Nasir, who scored 89, and Naumanullah (62) came together in a stand of 113 before their team were all out for 228 in 49.5 overs.Once the bog partnership was broken, the remaining sixwickets could add only 17 runs.Saeed’s 149-ball knock included five fours and three sixes while Nauman laced his 72-ball knock with four fours and two sixes.Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria snapped up three for 37.Farhan was declared as Man-of-the-Match and got Rs 5,000.He alsoreceived Rs 2,000 for hitting most number offours.Saeed receivedRs 2,000 for hitting most sixes. Hafiz Khalid(Whites) and Qaiser Abbas (Reds) shared Rs 2,000 for holding most number of catches, two each.ScoreboardPCB REDS:Imran Nazir b Fazle 5Mohammad Hafeez b Tahir 19Saeed bin Nasir c Qaiser b Kaneria 89Junaid Zia lbw b Saad 4Yasir Arafat c Naved b Tahir 12Naumanullah c Qaiser b Irfan 62Sufyan Munir c Fazle b Kaneria 3Hafiz Khalid c Saad b Kaneria 5Faisal Afridi run out 2Tanvir Ahmed b Irfan 6Aqeel Ahmed not out 1EXTRAS (B-4, LB-8, NB- W-7) 20TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs) 228FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-45, 3-50, 4-96, 5-209, 6-210, 7-217, 8-219, 9-226.BOWLING: Fazle Akbar 10-2-39-1; Tahir Mughal 10-0-35-2;Saad Janjua 8-0-34-1; Danish Kaneria 10-1-37-3;Irfanuddin 9.5-0- 57-2; Qaiser Abbas 2-0-14-0.PCB WHITES:Shadab Kabir b Yasir 28Riffatullah c Khalid b Faisal 3Farhan Adil not out 111Naved Latif lbw b Faisal 36Moin Khan run out 9Qaiser Abbas c Khalid b Yasir 18Tahir Mughal c Imran b Yasir 0Saad Janjua b Yasir 0Fazle Akbar lbw b Yasir 0Irfanuddin b Hafeez 1Danish Kaneria not out 3EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-12, NB-3) 20TOTAL (for nine wkts,49.4 overs) 220FALLOF WKTS: 1-7, 2-61, 3-127, 4-146, 5-212, 6-212,7-222,8- 222,9-226.BOWLING: Faisal Afridi 10-1-51-2; Tanveer Ahmad 10-0-49-0;YasirArafat 10-0-43-5; Aqeel Ahmed 10-0-34-0;Mohammad Hafeez 4.4-0-18-1; Junaid Zia 4-0-22-0; Imran Nazir 1-0-7-0.

Victoria’s pursuit of a more youthful playing list has crashed into a significant early hurdle today with talented all-rounder Ben Oliver’s decision to leave the state in search of greater opportunities in Tasmania.Oliver confirmed late this afternoon that he has accepted a two-year deal with the Tigers that will see him renew a longstanding association with former Bushrangers’ assistant and new Tasmanian head coach, Brian McFadyen.”It’s a really exciting opportunity for me,” said Oliver of a shift that will be formalised in around four weeks’ time when he settles in Hobart.”It’s an exciting time for Tasmanian cricket (too); they’ve developed some good young cricketers and I’m delighted to be joining that group, and hopefully helping them to enjoy some success in the future.”Brian (McFadyen) and I have a good relationship and he certainly helped me in my time with the Bushrangers. I’m pretty excited to be able to be working with him again over the next couple of years and learning from him.”It’ll hopefully be really positive for my development … to experience life outside of Victoria will be a very good thing for me.”The onset of osteitis pubis meant that the 22-year-old endured a frustrating 2001-02 season, limiting his time with the Bushrangers to two limited-overs appearances at the beginning of the summer.Prior to that, he had established himself as one of Australia’s most exciting prospects, performing with sufficient distinction to claim the ‘Best New Talent’ award in the Mercantile Mutual Cup competition the previous season.A tall right arm medium pacer and talented right handed batsman, he was also a long-serving member of a succession of state and national underage teams during the formative stages of his career.”He’s a player who’s blessed with an excellent attitude toward the game and, though he’s recently been hampered by injuries a little bit, was really on the verge of making a big mark for himself before that,” said Tasmanian assistant coach, Darrin Ramshaw.”Potentially, he’s a long-term player for us and he’s very capable of producing at both one and four-day level.”He’s got ability with the bat and the ball; he’s very talented in all facets of the game,” he added of a recruiting coup that will allow the Pura Cup runner-up to strengthen an already deep reserve of all-round talent headed by current national representative Shane Watson and former Australian under-19 player Scott Kremerskothen.Reaction was understandably more muted in Melbourne, where Oliver and Andrew McDonald had been targeted as the state’s two leading all-rounders of the next decade.”Ben Oliver is a player with obvious potential. He has his reasons for wishing to move to Tasmania and … it was with great regret that we accepted his resignation,” said Victorian Cricket Association chief executive, Ken Jacobs.Oliver’s move south compounds contract manoeuvring in Victoria that has already stripped Damien Fleming, Colin Miller, John Davison, Peter Roach, Shawn Craig and Peter Harper of their status as required players.