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In early February the Somerset website carried an article about the changes that will be taking place to the scoreboards at the County Ground in Taunton this season.Chris Bass, who last season operated the electronic scoreboards has contacted the site and provided the following information regarding the changes.”The installation of electronics in both scoreboards before the start of the 2001 season has been generally considered a success, matched of course by the players’ performance on the field! Comments by members are always welcomed and the consensus has been to further improve the information coming from what has become known as the No.2 Board above the Executive Business Club.Traditionally and by virtue of where they sit, a sizeable proportion of spectators prefer the No.2 Board for information in preference to the Main Board at the Priory Bridge side of the ground. With this in mind, the following changes will greet spectators from the start of the 2002 season:1. The Moving Message Board will be re-located to above the No.2 Scoreboard. This facility will continue to be used to give the crowd virtually any information.
2. The No.2 Board will also carry the following additional items on a newly constructed adjoining panel: Overs Left and Runs to Win. During Limited Overs matches, the number of overs bowled by any respective bowlers will also be displayed, together with the relevant Duckworth/Lewis revised targets whenever applicable
3. Those viewing the Main Board will also see enlarged digits for total and wickets.
4. Spectators will enjoy the additional facility of lights on both scoreboards indicating which of the two batsmen is on strike at every stage of the game.As part of the new technology in 2001, the main board has the wiring capability to display the individual batsmens’ names, but it was considered unnecessary to make this upgrade at this stage with the advent of players’names being shown on the players’ backs during all matches in the forthcoming season.The neccesary work to upgrade the scoreboards will be carried out during the week beginning March 18th. All the new facilities will continue to be operated by Chris Bass from a single control point in the Media Centre.”Thanks Chris for putting us all in the picture regarding the scoreboard. I’m sure that everybody will appreciate the detail you have given in your update.

Shaun Tait is concerned the chucking slurs will hang over him, but he is baffled over why New Zealand questioned his action in the first place. He says he has “nothing to hide” and has offered to undergo ICC testing.Controversy arose when the New Zealand camp refused to clear Tait’s action following last week’s Twenty20 in Perth. Nevertheless, Tait bears no grudges.”I’m not out for revenge. I just hope something like this doesn’t hang over me for the rest of my career like it has with [Muttiah] Muralitharan,” Tait told the Queensland-based Sunday Mail. “To be honest, I don’t know how he’s handled it. You’ve got to be mentally strong to keep going about your business when people are questioning your action.”I’m comfortable with my action. I know it’s a bit unique. I tend to turn my wrist very late at the point of delivery, but never at any stage of my career has anyone tried to suggest I chuck. I’m not happy about it at all but I’m not the sort of bloke to lose sleep over it.”If the ICC want to test me, that’s fine, I’ll do it anywhere, anytime. I’ve got nothing to hide.”Tait, meanwhile, has come under more fire from New Zealand as the vice-captain Brendon McCullum warned him about “mouthing off”. In the build-up to the opener in Adelaide on Friday, Tait had questioned the side’s ability to handle his pace, something which Daniel Vettori had himself acknowledged anyway.”If he’s Glenn McGrath, he can probably throw comments like that out there,” McCullum told AAP on Saturday. “But my only advice would be to maybe get a few more statistics behind him before he starts mouthing off.”I just thought it was a bit reckless from Taity. He’s a good bloke but he’s only played 15 games. When McGrath was very good at talking it up, he also had some unbelievable statistics behind him.”

Neil McKenzie scored his second century in five weeks for the Northerns Titans, guiding his team to a first innings total of 306 for seven in their Supersport Series match against the Highveld Strikers at the Wanderers on Friday.The 24-year-old rescued Northerns from a dismal start of 28 for two, scoring 123 runs of his own and starring in a crucial third-wicket partnership with Martin van Jaarsveld.McKenzie’s early-season form has been nothing short of brilliant. This performance comes on the back of his scores of 70 and 75 against the Griqua Diamonds at Supersport Park last week.It is also his second century in five weeks following the one he scored against Western Province in their Standard Bank Cup game.Northerns captain Gerald Dros won the toss and elected to bat first on Friday. But the Strikers’ attack hardly had to break a sweat in claiming the first two wickets, with Jacques Rudolph dismissed for only three and Rudolph Steyn doing only slightly better before departing on a modest score of 22.Van Jaarsveld brought some stability to the innings with his 59, laying the platform for McKenzie to turn a dismal innings into something decent by the end of the day. And it was largely at the expense of a mediocre bowling performance by the Strikers.McKenzie entered the fray just under two hours before lunch, and together with Van Jaarsveld guided Northerns to 96 for two by the end of the first session. The duo put on 124 runs for the third wicket before Van Jaarsveld was caught behind off the bowling of Zander de Bruyn.Northerns went into the tea break at 160 for three, with McKenzie on 70. In exactly the 10th over after the break, McKenzie unleashed his bat on the bowling of De Bruyn. McKenzie hit four boundaries in the over to bring up his century, coming in 247 minutes, off 188 balls and including 18 fours.With Gerald Dros as his partner, the duo put on 99 runs for the fourth wicket, with the Strikers desperately trying to contain their opponents.Walter Masimula eventually made the vital breakthrough for the Strikers when he had McKenzie caught at mid-on by Andre Seymore, with the batsman eventually making 123, scoring hitting fours in his 282 minutes at the crease.But with this kind of form, McKenzie can surely count on building on his three Test appearances for South Africa.

A 33-ball partnership of 64 runs for the eighth wicket between Josh Clarkson and Seth Rance led Central Districts to a two-wicket win over Northern Districts after five rain interruptions at Hamilton’s Seddon Park. Central Districts faced a revised target of 200 runs in 33 overs after Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten knock of 93 took Northern Districts to 266 for 6 in their 50 overs.Clarkson struck three fours and three sixes in his 24-ball 48 and was ably supported by Rance, who hit a 19-ball stay of 32. This after some tight bowling from Ish Sodhi and Scott Kuggeleijn – both of whom picked up two wickets each – had Central Districts struggling at 123 for 7. Once Rance fell with Central Districts needing another 13 runs to win, Clarkson took over and finished the match with five balls to spare.Earlier in the day, Mitchell struck seven fours and four sixes in his 93. Dean Brownlie struck 47 and Nick Kelly hit 57 runs, but that proved to be not enough for Northern Districts. The win was Central Districts’ first of the season in three games.Inclement weather in Dunedin and Wellington meant the fixtures between Otago and Canterbury, and Wellington and Auckland respectively were washed out without a ball being bowled.

New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan has suffered a hairline fracture just above his left eye, during the first ODI against Pakistan in Wellington. He picked up the injury when a bouncer burst through the gap in his helmet in the final over of New Zealand’s innings on Monday. It rules him out of the second ODI in Napier, and puts him in doubt for the final match on Sunday, as he is scheduled to undergo minor cosmetic surgery on Friday in Auckland.McClenaghan was batting on 31 from 17 deliveries when the penultimate ball of the innings – from Anwar Ali – squeezed between the peak of his helmet, and its grille to strike him flush on the left eye. Slow-motion replays showed the ball had hit him with considerable force. McClenaghan immediately fell to the ground as the umpires, the Pakistan players and non-striker Matt Henry moved towards him. He eventually rose to his feet to cheers from the crowd, after attention from the team physio. The area around his eye was swollen as he walked off the field.He did not bowl in Pakistan’s innings, spending most of it in hospital instead. He received stitches on his left eyebrow, but was well enough to tweet an update on his condition and congratulations to his team-mates after the victory. “Thanks for all the concerns. Everything is as good as it can be just a few broken bones. Great win for the boys!” he tweeted.McClenaghan is the fourth New Zealand player to be unavailable for Thursday’s game, with Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee also out through injury.

It is said that legspinners enjoy longevity in cricket, often playing far longer than other bowling practitioners, and for Australian Ted Martin that has been borne out this week.While there is conjecture over exactly what his date of birth was, Martin achieved centenarian status during the past week. Several authoritative sources claim that he was born today in 1902 but there are other claims that his birth date was September 26. Whatever it was, it is now official.Martin played only two first-class matches, one for Western Australia and one for an Australian XI.Playing against Douglas Jardine’s 1932-33 team at the outset of what became known as the “Bodyline tour”, he took six wickets in the opening match of the tour and on the basis of that performance was named in the Australian XI which also played in Perth and which included Don Bradman and Vic Richardson. He didn’t take any wickets in that match.Martin had been born in Bendigo but was moved west when his father followed the gold rush. Martin did not continue his cricket career beyond these matches and instead spent a professional career in accountancy.He does join a select group of players who have achieved 100 years. He’s not the first Australian to achieve the feat, although he is the only Australian first-class player. John Wheatley, who was born in Singleton, New South Wales, played his first-class cricket, 12 matches, for Canterbury in New Zealand. He died in Waimate, South Canterbury in 1962.The closest Australian previously had been New South Welshman Ray Bardsley who died in 1983 aged 99 years, five monthsThe known full list of players before Martin were:

103y 344d   JM Hutchinson    29 Nov 1896 –  7 Nov 2000   Eng102y 253d   R De Smidt       23 Nov 1883 –  3 Aug 1986   RSA102y 247d   EA English        1 Jan 1864 –  5 Sep 1966   Eng102y 101d   J Wheatley        8 Jan 1860 – 19 Apr 1962   Aus101y 222d   DB Deodhar       14 Jan 1892 – 24 Aug 1993   India101y 191d   GRU Harman        6 Jun 1874 – 14 Dec 1975   Ire100y 217d   CH Braithwaite   10 Sep 1845 – 15 Apr 1946   USA100y  77d   GO Deane         11 Dec 1828 – 26 Feb 1929   Eng

Eager to embark on his first Test series next month, Sri Lanka’s coach Trevor Bayliss has said it will be strange being on the opposite side of the fence while taking on Australia, his home country.”Everyone’s excited about Australia. For me, it will be strange having been involved with them for so long,” Bayliss told the . “But that’s just the nature of the game these days, and I can’t wait to be involved in my first Test match in this position.”Bayliss, 44, a former New South Wales batsman who went on to coach them, was appointed as Sri Lanka’s national coach for a two-year term beginning in August. His first one-day series ended in Sri Lanka going down 3-2 to England.Over the past few weeks, there has been debate in Sri Lanka’s political circle to overturn the selectors’ decision to drop Marvan Atapattu from the touring squad. But Bayliss hoped it won’t have a major impact on their campaign in Australia. “We have a captain in Mahela [Jayawardene] who I would put right up there with the Waughs and Mark Taylor as far as leaders go. The influence he has on his players is as great as anyone I’ve seen in the game. He has the complete respect of the players, and I’ve found him to be a quality bloke.”At the moment, I’m just learning about the system here. Over time, I will let the board know if I have any ideas about how to improve things.”Bayliss was optimistic about Sri Lanka’s chances against Australia, despite them having a poor record there – losing six of the eight Tests. He was also confident that Muttiah Muralitharan would be fit for the two-Test series, starting on November 8. “He’s obviously crucial to us, and we’re just trying to make sure he’s 100%.”Murali was ruled out of the one-dayers against England due to a bicep injury but is expected to make the tour to Australia, where he has a chance of breaking Shane Warne’s record as the leading wicket-taker in Tests.”Between him, Mahela and some of the veteran players, they have a very good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian players. I might be able to give a little bit more insight in terms of some of the guys I’ve coached, but for the most part, I think they’re in a really good position as it is.”Bayliss also said it had been difficult adapting to life in Sri Lanka. “The traffic, the smog, the food – it’s all very new to me. I still can’t shake the feeling at dinner time, ‘Is this the meal that’ll do me in?’. As any of my old team-mates will tell you, I love a good steak and potatoes, but now it’s getting used to the hot curries.”I have a new-found respect for the blokes over here, with the facilities they have to work with. Australians really don’t know how good they’ve got it. But our [Sri Lankan] guys get on the job with no complaints and, as we’ve all seen over the years, have done a tremendous job despite the massive challenges they face.”Meanwhile, Jayawardene denied he had told the chairman of selectors Ashantha de Mel that Atapattu had not supported him once he was made captain. “I didn’t make such comments. What I said was what I have been telling ever since I took over as captain,” Jayawardene said. “I have been telling that if we are getting a player back, the selectors need to tell him why he was dropped earlier. I definitely said so, but I never said that he [Atapattu] didn’t support me.”I told the selectors that we should speak to him and see how he feels because he is a damn good player.”

Former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu has confirmed he will play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next month. As he is centrally contracted to Zimbabwe Cricket, Taibu must have sought and obtained their permission to take part.Taibu will join the Kolkata franchise on April 11 having played some matches in Zimbabwe’s domestic Twenty20 which gets underway next week. However, because the Logan Cup, the country’s first-class competition, has been rescheduled to start on April 17, Taibu will miss all the matches.It will be Taibu’s second stint in domestic cricket in the subcontinent. He previously played in Bangladesh during his international exile following a row with Zimbabwe Cricket.Two other former Zimbabwe internationals, Heath Streak and Murray Goodwin, have signed with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League, although neither was expected to feature in domestic games.

Scorecard

April is meant to be a month of swing bowlers, green seamers and low scores, but Surrey went on an early-season run-spree at The Oval as they racked up 537 for 5 with centuries from Mark Butcher and Usman Afzaal to follow Mark Ramprakash’s 118. And their short stint in the field paid dividends when Iain Sutcliffe was brilliantly held by Ali Brown at third slip to give Pedro Collins his first county wicket.It was remorseless accumulation from Surrey throughout a sunny but bitterly cold day until Butcher called time on the feasting to leave Lancashire an hour to bat. Brown was within sight of becoming the fourth century-maker of the innings but had to settle for an unbeaten 74 in an unbroken stand of 160 for the seventh wicket.”As a batting unit last year, apart from Ramprakash, we had a pretty hit-and-miss time so it was important that we put a score on the board,” said Butcher. “There were quite a few nerves around before the first day, the first game of the season against a top team like Lancashire. We weren’t quite sure about the balance of our side, but with Matt Nicholson pulling out [with flu] it made things a little easier so we went with the extra batsman. It may have been slightly defensive but with the weather around and points at a premium, we were very happy with how it has turned out.”The notable batting came from Butcher and Afzaal, two further members of the former England batsman club that have dominated this game. Afzaal, in his first Championship innings for Surrey since his winter move from Northamptonshire, was positive from the outset after Ramprakash edged Oliver Newby, armed with the second new ball, to end a stand of 218 with Butcher. It was the same combination that should have accounted for him on 0 yesterday.With the cushion provided by Ramprakash’s masterclass, Afzaal greeted Gary Keedy’s first ball with a handsome straight six and appeared at ease throughout his innings. This was the venue of his third and final Test appearance, against Australia in 2001, when he celebrated a half-century with over-egged gusto that didn’t impress the visitors.He didn’t make much of an impression on the England management, either, and although he toured India and New Zealand that winter he didn’t find his way back into the line-up after concerns over his attitude and fitness. However, he remained a consistent county run-scorer until a poor 2007 at Northants – 570 runs at 35 – prompted another move. Division One action was an attraction and his move into the middle order has added further solidity to an impressive Surrey line-up.He went to tea on 99 and reached his century from 165 balls in the first over after the break. The celebration was much more restrained than those in 2001 when he’d made half the score. With the hundred tucked away Afzaal began to express himself and twice pulled Sajid Mahmood over midwicket for six.Butcher, starting the day on 80, wasn’t quite at his fluent best but the concentration remained firm and he brought up his hundred off 188 balls. However he, too, was given a life when he top-edged a pull on 89 only for Glen Chapple to misjudge the catch at mid-on. Chapple quickly left the field having felt a twinge in his back but returned to the field during the afternoon session, striking to remove Butcher with his first ball via a thin edge to the keeper. Lancashire, though, continued to strike after the horse had bolted into the neighbouring paddock.As Surrey marched on and the 130-over mark was passed – the cut-off for collecting bonus points – Lancashire waited for the declaration. Brown, who turned down an IPL offer to fulfil his Surrey deal, milked the bowling without unleashing his full power but still enjoyed a dart at Keedy.Lancashire’s bowlers struggled to make an impression although Mahmood produced a lively, and unlucky, spell in the morning when he had Ramprakash in some trouble. The one positive, perhaps more for the future than the present, was the continued performance of Andrew Flintoff. He showed no ill-effects from yesterday’s workload and sent down another 17 overs at good pace. Flintoff’s 28 overs were the most he’d bowled in one innings since the opening Ashes Test at Brisbane in November 2006. His next role will be batting, something Lancashire have to do for a long time before they save this game.

Shandong, the second-most populous province in China, has become the seventh region after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Liaoning, Chongqing and Tianjin to officially take up cricket, according to a media release from the Asian Cricket Council.”The Shandong people are well known for their good physical condition in China … the majority of rugby players are from Shandong,” Aminul Islam, the ACC’s development officer for China, said. With cricket being aligned with rugby in the multi-ball games administrative centre in China, the Chinese Cricket Association (CCA) felt a partnership between both bodies to make use of athletes all-year round would be ideal.”The local education bureau has said that they would organize the local junior students to learn cricket for promotion and then build for high performance,” said CCA secretary-general Liu Rongyao.The appeal of taking the game to China is not hard to see. “The potential benefits and commercial revenues from [China’s] presence in the cricket world are enormous,” said Syed A shraful Huq, the ACC’s chief executive. “As soon as China breaks though, I foresee the total global revenues for cricket increasing by 30% to 40%.”