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Matt Bulbeck and Richard Johnson bowled Somerset into a good position at the end of the first day of their final championship match of the season against Lancashire at Taunton, where the visitors will resume 133 behind with four wickets intact.After being put into bat openers Jamie Cox and Matt Wood took the Cidermen onto 46 when they were both dismissed, Cox who made 24 became the first of Peter Martins four victims and Wood who had scored 22 was bowled by Kyle Hogg.Piran Holloway was out for no score and one run later Arul Suppiah was caught by wicket-keeper Warren Hegg off Martin before he could get off the mark.From 46 without loss Somerset had slipped to 47 for 4, and were rescued by Mike Burns and Pete Trego who had taken the score onto 108 before lunch.Burns brought up his 1000 championship runs for the season, but with his score on 32 he was caught by the wicket keeper off the bowling of Martin. The fifth wicket partnership had realised what could turn out to be a vital 75 runs.With the score on 137 Trego became another of Martins victims when he was caught by Alec Swann off Martin after scoring 47.The `old firm’ of Rob Turner and Keith Dutch then put together another important partnership and added 60 runs for the seventh wicket before Dutch was caught by Chris Schofield off the bowling of James Anderson for 23.Turner stayed to see Somerset past the 200 in the 55th over, but 13 runs later he was LBW to Schofield for 45.Johnson was caught by Swann off Anderson for 2 and when shortly afterwards Simon Francis was run out leaving Bulbeck stranded on 18 Somerset were all out for 221.When Lancashire replied they were soon in trouble against the Somerset opening attack of Johnson who was bowling from the Old Pavilion End and Bulbeck from the River End.It was Johnson who got the first blood when in the fifth over he bowled Mark Chilton. With the score on 6 Bulbeck struck at the other end when he trapped Swann LBW.Johnson disposed of David Byas to make the Red Rose county 21 for 3 and after looking threatening Stuart Law was caught at slip by Piran Holloway off Bulbeck to make the visitors 47 for 4.Tim Rees followed shortly after when he fell LBW to Bulbeck, and the left armer picked up another wicket before with the score on 88 for 6 at 5.35pm umpires Jeremy Lloyds and Ken Palmer offered the light to the Lancashire batsmen who gratefully accepted.The Somerset bowlers had remained unchanged and by the close Bulbeck had sent down 14 overs and taken 4 for 51 whilst Johnson had bowled 15 overs and taken 2 for 35.The Somerset coach Kevin Shine was delighted and told : "We are very pleased with the day. When we batted it looked like we had made an under par score, but some excellent bowling from both Matt Bulbeck and Richard Johnson has put us in a good position. The pair created a lot of chances and if we had taken them all then Lancashire would have been in even deeper trouble."He continued: "In the morning we will be looking to finish them off quickly and then give `Johnno’ and `Bully’ a rest whilst we set a decent total for them to bowl at."One of the Somerset bowling heroes Matt Bulbeck told me: "It swung around out there today for us and both sides put it in good areas. We were a bit disappointed to only get 221, but then when they batted and we started to get amongst them it felt good and we just kept going."He continued: "We’ve managed to fight back well and set up a good position for ourselves, and hopefully we’ll be able to pick up in the morning where we have left off tonight."

Gavin Pfuhl, the former Western Province wicketkeeper, died in Cape Town on Monday. According to the South African Press Association, Pfuhl, who recently had a heart transplant operation, contracted a virus that resulted in complications causing his death.Pfuhl played 95 first-class games for Western Province between 1967/68 and 1979/80, scoring 2 331 runs at 21.58 while taking 280 catches and 34 stumpings. He later became an astute and informative television commentator.Former South African captain and currently executive director of the 2003 World Cup, Ali Bacher, paid tribute to Pfuhl."Gavin played for Western Province around the time that Eddie Barlow was captain and I captained Transvaal," said Bacher. "In those days the rivalry between the two provinces was particularly intense and Gavin was a key member of the side. He was an excellent `keeper in the days that Province had Denys Hobson bowling legspin and I believe that he was easily good enough to have played international cricket."He became a TV commentator in recent years and what I liked about his commentary was that he was always so positive about South African cricket," said Bacher.

The Chandigarh Lions warmed up for the bigger prize with a six-wicket win over the Chennai Superstars in the ICL 20-20 domestic tournament final in Hyderabad. G Vignesh (48 from 32 balls) and Hemang Badani (51 from 42) scored the bulk of Chennai’s disappointing 136 after they chose to bat, and Dinesh Mongia’s team overhauled it in the final over. After stemming Chennai’s innings with 2 for 16 from four overs, Mongia, the Chandigarh captain, slammed 61 from 48 balls to help his side home.Chennai had Chandigarh in trouble at 21 for 3 but Mongia and Gaurav Gupta added 84 in ten overs. Mongia hit seven fours and two sixes during his innings and Gupta finished unbeaten on 43 to guide Chandigarh to victory.The second season of the ICL starts on October 10. There will be 41 matches played across four venues, with plenty of hype surrounding the ninth team, the Dhaka Warriors.

The 25th anniversary celebrations of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning campaign will not involve the Board of Control for Cricket in India in any capacity. It is reported that the BCCI was reluctant to get involved because a few members of that squad, including the captain Kapil Dev, have shifted to the rival Indian Cricket league (ICL), which the board has refused to recognise.The private celebrations have been organised by Professional Management Group, a firm run by Sunil Gavaskar, who was also a member of the squad. Speaking to the , Kapil said it was highly unlikely the BCCI would even be invited.”I’m not hurt that the board is not organising the function,” Kapil told the paper. “Why should I be hurt? The important thing is not whether the board is backing off because of me or the ICL, but whether we will invite the board members or not. Right now, it doesn’t look like that we’ll interested in calling them. This is an event by Sunny [Gavaskar] and I’m helping him with it.”The BCCI also confirmed they weren’t doing anything to honour the cricketers. “Let them do whatever they’re doing,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said. “We haven’t got any invitation from them for any intimation.”The BCCI’s non involvement in the celebrations was always on the cards ever since former players like Kapil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu joined the ICL. The board responded by revoking pensions to all former players linked to the league. Kapil was sacked as chairman of the BCCI-run National Cricket Academy after accepting the position as the chairman of the ICL’s executive board.As part of the celebrations, all squad members will be involved in four six-a-side matches across the country next month. Dubai will host a dinner function on June 19 before the big party at the Long Room at Lord’s six days later, where the team pulled off the victory. The celebrations will include a music programme and a golf tournament. Several of the West Indies players who featured in that match are expected to attend.

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–>The ICC is considering a Test championship to ensure that, amid the increasing popularity of the Twenty20 format, “a special place is maintained for Test cricket in the calendar”.”The ICC will consider a number of options in the upcoming board meetings (in Dubai later this month), one of which is an option to introduce a Test championship or league,” the ICC’s acting chief executive, Dave Richardson, said at the launch ceremony of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.The details of the championship, though, are yet to be worked out. “There are so many ways this could be done, a league over one year, two years or four years,” he said. “I am certainly in favour of looking at such an option to make sure we provide a good quality context for Test cricket to take place so that it can be preserved as the pinnacle of the game.”Richardson acknowledged that domestic Twenty20 leagues such as the IPL had been a “fantastic success” but maintained that international cricket remained the game’s highest level. “If you ask any player around the world what he would like to do, he would like to play Test cricket for his country.”The first ICC Test Championship was launched in May 2001 and was a ranking system based on the results of the most recent series (a minimum of two Tests constituted a series), home and away, between each of the teams. It was then revamped in 2003 to reflect the results of each Test, rather than an entire series, and also to take into account the strength of the opponents while awarding points.

Research into youth health will benefit from an Otago Cricket fund-raising initiative to be launched next week.In a mail drop to 12,000 business houses in Otago and Southland, Otago Cricket will offer membership of the Volts Club, the name a play on the State Otago Volts team.Club members will contribute by way of a ‘tax’ on the anticipated success of the Volts in this summer’s State Shield one-day competition, the payments comprising $1 for every 10 runs scored, $2 for each wicket secured and $10 ‘penalties’ for centuries and four-wicket bags.The membership fee is capped at $350 with a guaranteed $50 from each going to the Otago and Southland division of the Cancer Society for research and the promotion of physical activity among the young. The remainder will be invested in Otago Cricket’s talent identification, coaching and junior development programmes which cost more than $200,000 a year to run.Otago Cricket’s events and fund raising manager Steve Davie said the sport was particularly pleased to assist with the on-going research of the Cancer Society, especially in the youth area.”Many of our players and administrators are aware of the society’s terrific work and the effects of cancer, especially on young folk,” Davie said.”We are in a position to enlist the support of the business community of Otago and Southland and I’m sure those people will be as enthusiastic about helping as we are in promoting the concept.”It is estimated about 40% of cancers can be avoided by adopting healthy lifestyle choices and the Cancer Society is particularly keen to offer the right choices to young people to reduce the risk of problems in later life.The society’s Otago branch health promotion coordinator, Wyn Barbezat, said evidence of increased cancer risk from inactivity and being overweight was well established.”As well as the established Sunsmart and Smokefree programmes the Cancer Society is very keen to join others in the promotion of physical activity and good nutrition,” Mrs Barbezat said.”More needs to be learned about making the right choices to lessen risks later on.”We are grateful to have the support of Otago Cricket and its commitment to supporting us in our endeavours to reduce the impact of cancer in our community.”As well as assisting local cancer research and the development of junior cricket Volts Club members would also receive tickets to the New Zealand v India One-Day International in Queenstown in January, seasons’ passes to domestic games and the chance to win a $1500 travel voucher.Otago Cricket had also enlisted the assistance of the Otago Chamber of Commerce and the Dunedin Casino in ensuring its mail drop covered as much of the North Otago, Otago and Southland business community as possible.

Auckland have appointed South African-based New Zealander Mark O’Donnell as their coach to replace Tony Sail next summer.Auckland Cricket’s chief executive Lindsay Crocker announced O’Donnell’s appointment today. O’Donnell, 39, will take up his position next month.O’Donnell has spent 14 years coaching in South Africa with Eastern Province, Griqualand West, Gauteng and the South African National Academy.His latest stint has been with Gauteng where he has been the team coach since 1995. They won the domestic one-day competition in 1997/98 and the four-day competition in 1999/00.Auckland will be defending the State Championship for first-class cricket in New Zealand in the new summer.His appointment was made after interviews and discussions held by a selection panel of: ACA chairman Rex Smith, Crocker, and ACA directors John Graham and Justin Vaughan.Eighteen applicants were received for the position.”Mark impressed the selection panel with his no nonsense attitude, strong work ethic and considerable experience at the first-class level,” Crocker said.

“West Indian batting sensation Brian Lara has agreed to turn out for theLashings Rest of the World XI which takes on a Gloucestershire XI in two 20over clashes on Sunday 11 August at Nevil Road.GCCC are looking to add to their own squad for this match and plan to playIndian stars Mohammed Kaif (a century versus England in the final of theNatWest Trophy at Lords) and Dinshan Mongia as well as the mighty DavidTerbrugge from South Africa.For advanced tickets contact 0117 – 9108013 or 9108010.”

The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has hit out at Dr Rudi Webster for his strong comments over alleged indiscipline of Barbadian students at the Shell Cricket Academy of St George’s University.Webster, director of the Grenada-based academy and a noted sports psychologist, described the Barbadian graduates as among the most indisciplined in a wide-ranging interview on Voice of Barbados (VOB) on September 21.In a frank exchange of views involving top BCA officials and the Press at the Island Inn Hotel yesterday, BCA president Stephen Alleyne said the board of management discussed fully and viewed very seriously Webster’s comments."The board of the BCA has written the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), of which the BCA is a member, indicating that it has extreme reservations and concerns about a public statement being made by someone associated with the academy without the courtesy of providing that same information, and more importantly, the details of that information to the BCA," he said."The WICB has indicated it has concerns that it will research and investigate the matter and will respond."The BCA is awaiting that response before deciding what further needs to be done."In the VOB interview, Webster, who pioneered the establishment of the academy, also praised Barbadian fast bowler Fidel Edwards.Edwards, a brother of West Indies pacer Pedro Collins, was described by Webster as one who was "absolutely magnificent" and gave him 100 per cent for attitude, work ethic and discipline.There were charges of indiscipline among the other five Barbadians and Webster said the Guyanese and Jamaicans were the most disciplined of the 28 students in the May 15 and August 7 programme.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Hooper and Chanderpaul.For the second time in three matches, the two Guyanese featured in a mammoth partnership in which both batsmen completed centuries and other landmarks.At 11:22 a.m. yesterday, Carl Hooper arrived at his 12th Test century and first at Kensington Oval to the delight of his adoring fans.Fifteen minutes later, Shivnarine Chanderpaul reached his fourth hundred in Tests, his second on the ground and his third against India.Their fifth-wicket stand of 215 went a long way in helping the West Indies build an impregnable lead of 292 that has left India under pressure to avoid defeat in the third Cable & Wireless Test.However, neither Hooper nor Chanderpaul want to read too much into the personal landmarks which have continued from the first Test at Bourda where they added a record 293.In the process of this innings, Hooper passed 400 runs for the first time in the series, made two hundreds for the first time in a series and is nicely pushing up his batting average since coming out of retirement a year ago.I am not one for figures. I always say that figures sometimes really do not tell the true tale, the West Indies captain said.I just want to do the best that I possibly can. If it means that the average has jumped, it does. If it means that it remains the same place, so be it.When he reached his first Test century in his native Guyana three weeks ago, he said it was a moment he had waited 15 years for. This one did not carry as much significance, even though thousands of Barbadians have long conferred a knighthood on him.This one is different. Home is home at the end of the day. There is nothing like scoring a hundred in front of your home crowd, he said.I’m not Barbadian, even though I have got a lot of supporters here. It is good to score a hundred in Barbados, but if you ask me if this was just as special as the one in Guyana, [the answer is] no.Chanderpaul, his place in the side seemingly tenuous at the start of the series, has been a new player of late, batting with supreme authority, especially at the start of his innings.When asked what had brought about the recent turnaround, he said: I thank God for that.He never once felt there was a need to worry about his place, in spite of impressive claims staked by Ryan Hinds.I don’t worry about what people say. Whenever the day comes for me to play, I just go out there and do what I have to do, Chanderpaul said.He too, said there was nothing special about Kensington or the Indians.It’s just that I am happy to get runs whenever I can and wherever I can, he said.With India trailing by 123 runs and with six wickets in hand, West Indies are overwhelming favourites to win the match and level the series 1-1, but Hooper does not want to count the chickens before they are hatched.It’s never over until it is over. Obviously, we want to remove them as early as possible, but this is a game of cricket and you’ve got to be prepared for anything. Who knows? They may come out tomorrow [today] and bat the whole day. We’ve got to keep working. We can’t take it for granted that this is already in the bag, Hooper said.