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Somerset coach Kevin Shine has described the run out by Simon Francis yesterday as the `Champagne Moment’ of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy semi final match against Kent.He told me: "That was the turning point of the match for us, because we knew that the only way that we were going to win was to bowl them out. Up until that point they still looked like they were going to beat us, but that run out by Simon gave the boys the adrenalin rush to lift their game and get the result that we wanted."He continued: "It was quite an amazing piece of fielding by Simon. He was off balance and jack-knifed on the ground the wrong way up when he threw it back at the stumps, but he hit them and we got the run out."The Somerset coach paid tribute to the young fast bowler who joined the club from Hampshire after being released by the south coast county at the end of last season.He told me: "Simon is a very fit young player who has worked hard at his game during the winter, and I knew that he wouldn’t let us down when he went out onto the field to replace Richard Johnson when he limped off with cramp.""During the nets in the winter evenings the players worked on a routine that involved them diving onto a mat fielding a ball and throwing it from the ground, which is almost exactly what Simon did yesterday, and he did it perfectly!"Simon Francis told me: “I just knew that I would have to go out there to field when Richard came off. The atmosphere was electric and I felt nervous. When the ball came towards me I tried to field it and threw it back off the ground and got the run out.”No doubt that ‘Champagne Moment’ will remain with Simon for the rest of his life, and for those who were at the ground yesterday he will always be remembered as ‘the man who made the run out’.

Shane Warne is on target for the record haul of wickets by an Australianin a three-Test cricket series.Warne has bagged 19 wickets in two Tests against Pakistan and, if hebowls in a similar vein in the final Test starting in Sharjah onSaturday, it will take him past Hugh Trumble’s century-old record of 26wickets in a three-Test series set against England in 1902.Warne has completely bamboozled the Pakistan batsmen so far in thisseries and there’s no reason he won’t take another bagful of wickets inthe final Test, which will send him into the Ashes series with themilestone of 500 wickets in his sights.Warne, who currently has 469 wickets, is adamant he’s bowling betterthan at any stage in his 11-year career and it’s a feeling backed up bythe figures.Since claiming his 400th wicket in his 92nd Test, Warne has taken 62wickets in his past 11 Tests.If he keeps going at his current rate of 5.5 wickets per Test, he willbecome just the second man to reach 500 wickets after West IndianCourtney Walsh during the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.

MELBOURNE – The magic number for pacemen Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar here tomorrow at Colonial Stadium will be 100, as in miles per hour.But for Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting, the key for Lee is the number five.Ponting, concerned about his fastest bowler’s economy rate in one-dayers, does not want Lee to give away more than five runs an over.The series is being billed as a speed test between Lee and Shoaib, regarded as the two fastest bowlers in world cricket.They will be part of the focus of a $75,000 promotion for the three-match series between the two teams, where a lucky fan in each match will win $25,000 if a bowler exceeds 100mph (160.9kph) or a batsman scores 100 in 100 balls or fewer.”I imagine he [Lee] would be pretty excited about it – I just hope he doesn’t get too carried away with it and try to bowl them too quick and spray them all over the place,” Ponting said.”The worst thing to come out of it would be if he had an injury.”He’s got to start getting his economy rate down.”Ponting said the drop-in pitch looked good for one-day cricket and should be conducive to big scores.The special pitch has the look of particle board and will be rock-hard.”If it’s anything like last time, it played very well,” he said of the pitch.”It wasn’t overly quick, but the bounce was very consistent, which is obviously what you need for one-day cricket.”He and Pakistan counterpart Waqar Younis are pleased with the stadium, although Waqar admitted to concerns about the outfield.The Pakistan skipper said the surface was slippery and bumpy, but added that might change before the match.”The groundsman said he’s going to cut the grass and roll it, hopefully it will be all right,” he said.

Hampshire’s Academy team remain top of Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 after Chris Benham’s unbeaten century secured a 31-run win over Winchester KS at the Rose Bowl.Benham hit an undefeated 119 as the Academy established a slender four-point lead on United Services, who struggled to beat lowly Rowledge.Ironically, the Loughborough University batsman didn’t arrive at the crease until Iain Brunnschweiler (37) and Jimmy Adams (49) had eased the Academy to 95-3.But Benham, whose century included 15 fours, and Kevin Latouf (35) pushed on as the county youngsters amassed a formidable 281-5. Under-17 hero David Wheeler notched 24 off 14 balls.Winchester certainly made a creditable reply, with Raj Naik (73) and Jimmy Taylor (57) scoring at seven runs an over and easing their score to 143-3 before James Manning removed both batsmen.Irfan Shah took over after that, taking 5-51 as WKS reached 250 all out, with Brunnschweiler snapping up three stumpings.Second placed United Services survived a late collapse before sealing a two-wicket win over battling Rowledge at Burnaby Road.They appeared pretty satisfied with their afternoon’s work after Guy Lewis (3-32) had helped peg Rowledge to 153 all out (Ricky Yates 33).Chris Yates senior (3-19) had US in difficulty at 53-3, but Gary Hounsome (38) and Damian Carson (29) appeared to have averted serious problems as the title chasers reached 105-3.But US collapsed 128-8 before veterans Paul Barsby and Kelson Brooks add last 26 runs and take the Portsmouth side home.Lymington’s four-wicket win over Old Tauntonians & Romsey was almost entirely due to Western Australian teenager Aaron Heal, who struck a match-winning 67.They bowled OTR out for 148, but got themselves in a pickle before clinching victory.Danny Peacock’s gamble to give himself the new ball paid dividends when he had run-happy left-hander Charles Forward (15) caught behind.Indeed, when OTR slumped to 61-6 – with only Paul Longland (40) battling it out – it looked as though Lymington might be on an early bus home.Pacey left-armer Martin Hunt (4-28) carved through the middle-order.But the Romsey tail wagged, initially through Ian Tulk (16) and Keith Trodd (17), but more significantly with last pair Nick Wood (21) and Mukesh Morjaria (16 not out) adding 27 and taking the total to 148.When Ben Craft (26) helped Heal ease Lymington’s reply to 97-2, it looked curtains for OTR.Heal survived a confident run-out appeal midway through his innings, and averted a clatter of middle-order wickets fell before clinching victory.Shaun Green was the star of Easton & Martyr Worthy’s 87-run win over Hungerford, who are teetering close to the relegation zone.Green hit 49 and then took 5-16 as Hungerford tumbled to 111 all out after Easton had posted 198-5.Easton’s top order all batted soundly with Ian Butcher (54), Green (49) and skipper Steve Green (27) fending off David Pryke (3-25) to seal the visitors’ position.Hungerford lost their first three wickets for only one run – two of them to Mark Stone (2-22) before Owen Dawkins (53) and Danny Williams (27) launched a fightback.But Green’s five-wicket spell reduced Hungerford to 111 all out.Trojans relegation fight took a positive turn with a six-wicket win over Sparsholt at Stoneham Lane.Ian Stuart (65), supported by Ollie Kelly (26) and Dave Tonge (24) helped the visitors reach 211-6 (Simon Williams 3-60).But, led by Mario Mohamed (65), Trojans motored along. Nigel le Bas (32) gave admirable support before Jamie Donaldson’s 56 – and a huge helping of 42 extras – took Trojans home …. and off the foot of the table.

The teams may say otherwise but it is hard to imagine Auckland and Wellington going into their final State Championship match believing anything other than that the hosts only have to turn the key to lock the 2001/02 silverware away in their trophy cabinet.It could so easily have been otherwise. The one-off final for the four-day competition may have been dropped but the efforts of Auckland and Wellington to lift themselves clear of the rest of the field coupled with a schedule that brought the two teams together in the last round looked to be guaranteeing a de facto final.However, Central Districts put an end to that delectable scenario. In the penultimate round, Wellington failed to produce the Houdini act that had stood them in such good stead when they looked in danger of crumbling in previous matches. Having gained no points at Napier while Auckland undid Canterbury in Christchurch, the best Wellington can do now is tie the Championship, all the time knowing that those close calls – albeit winning ones – have left them with an average net runs per wicket rate far behind Auckland’s.As the hosts go into this match at Colin Maiden Park (the rugby season having already ejected cricket from Eden Park Outer Oval) with a 6.669 differential against Wellington’s 2.574, both teams can reflect that this Championship has not just been about winning but winning well. And, for Wellington to achieve a clean-sweep of the summer trophies, they will have to produce a performance of Nathan Astle proportions – and they do not come around too often.Even if the tantalising prospect of a final has in effect disappeared, both sides will be intent on proving plenty while the prospect of national call-ups adds spice to the individual contests as such aspirants Rob Nicol, Andre Adams, Brooke Walker, Matthew Bell, Chris Nevin and James Franklin look to their futures.Auckland had planned to keep the team that pulled themselves back into the match against Canterbury but the debutant Bradley Nielsen injured the webbing between his fingers and had to be replaced by Matt Cairns.The teams are:Auckland: Brooke Walker (captain), Tim McIntosh, Reece Young, Nick Horsley, Llorne Howell, Tama Canning, Rob Nicol, Andre Adams, Matt Cairns, Sanjeewa Silva, Gareth Shaw and Rob Lynch.Wellington: Matthew Bell (captain), Richard Jones, Luke Woodcock, Leighton Morgan, Grant Donaldson, Matthew Walker (subject to fitness test), James Franklin, Chris Nevin, Andrew Penn, Mark Jefferson, Jeetan Patel and Iain O’Brien.

He is the new wonder-kid on the blocks as far as Bengal cricket is concerned. Arindam Das, according to many, is probably the best thing to have happened to Bengal cricket after Sourav Ganguly. The youngster has already proved his talent in the domestic season. Now he is all set to fly to the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy at Adelaide in Australia for a stint of coaching. The Cricket Association of Bengal is sponsoring the entire trip.Das’ performance this season looks quite impressive. In 30 innings he played at various levels, Das has scored over 2,000 runs. He has an average of 100-plus in the Under-22 competition and 58.20 in the Cooch Behar Trophy. Nicknamed `Don’ by his colleagues the young Das is the first one to blush about it. “The name was given to me when I was three years old. It’s not meant to belittle anybody,” is his first comment. He has another one to offer after much prompting. “If Sourav Ganguly can make it to the top from Bengal, I am confidentthat I will also be able to do so. I am not one to crib about practice and other facilities.” Das started taking lessons in cricket when he was only six from former Bengal cricketer Pranab Nundy. He is also indebeted to Gopal Bose for giving him valuable batting lessons. As Bose said today, “Cricket is all about three Ts. Talent, Technique and Temperament. He has all the ingredients to don the national colours.”Das would have made his debut in the senior Bengal side this season itself. However his engagements with the Under-19 side in the series against England prevented him from earning his maiden Ranji Trophy cap. However, he has no regrets. “I will get it when the opportunity comes,” is his shy reply. He believes that the coaching stint at Australia will benefit him tremendously. “As an opener I will have the chance to play pace bowlers. Here one only gets the chance to play spinners on slow turners. So my confidence against fast bowlers will definitely increase.” He also feels that there is not much of a difference in the domestic and international cricket that he hasplayed. “As a batsman my job is to play each ball on its merit. It does not matter whether I am playing at Lord’s or at a local cricket ground in Kolkata.” The bottom line for him however is hard work. “I can only work hard, score as many runs as possible and then leave the rest to God. My aim at the moment, is just that,” he concluded.

The club versus country debate is usually associated with football, where the former often takes precedence over the latter. In cricket, this issue is fairly new but already there are signs that it could become a talking point.The Sydney Sixers have lit the flames after captain Brad Haddin spoke about the role of the three young quick bowlers in his team. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood the men in question and all three are no doubt of what they have to do. “Their job is to go out and bowl fast,” Haddin said.”The work rate side of things is (Sixers coach) Corey [Richards] and the physiotherapists department. My job is to manage the team in the field and my job is to tell them to go out there and bowl fast.”Richards is more sensitive to the potential dangers of asking the trio to leave it all out there. With injury concerns a real risk, especially among bowlers under the age of 23, according to South African team doctor Mohammed Moosajee, Richards will have to combine motivating them to perform to their best with monitoring so that they do not over-exert themselves.”It’s a fine line. They’ve obviously got a big workload, both prior to this tournament and afterwards with the Test matches. It is a juggling act,” he said. “Managing them is important but from our point of view we are here to win a competition and to get them performing as best as they can over the next couple of weeks.”Cummins is the main worry, having been injured soon after he made his debut in South Africa. At that stage, Cummins had sustained a heel injury, common in young bowlers whose bodies are still developing. His recovery period took longer than expected because he also picked up a stress fracture. When he eventually made his comeback to the national team in a one-day series against England in June, he was forced to exit it early after straining his side.He is unlikely to play international cricket until the third Test against South Africa in Perth late November which gives him plenty of time – time that the Australian administration hopes can be used to play Shield cricket. With niggles in his history, the national management will be anxious that he does not pick up another one to interrupt their plans for his preparation.To that end, bowling coach Ali de Winter will be in South Africa to keep an eye on the bowlers and make sure they are not overstretching themselves. Richards does not think they will be. “The workloads are not something new; they’ve been going on for a long time. Injuries happen, with the amount of cricket they play it could happen at any time. And we feel we’ve got the quicks in a pretty good position,” he said.Sydney do not hide that they will rely on the fast men in this tournament, especially given the bouncy tracks in South Africa and that Cummins will be their spearhead. “We’ve got three guys who can really push that rate and go up high into the mid-140s. And one of them, Pat, can push it into the 150s, and it’s a different ball game there,” Haddin said. “We’re actually lucky that in Australian cricket at the moment, we’ve got a crop of quicks that are pushing the speed gun up to where we like it.”Although the pace bowlers will in the spotlight, there are two other important components to their bowling attack that Haddin is careful to make mention of: the role of spin and the form of Shane Watson. “If you look at the way T20 has gone, no matter what conditions, spinners have played a big part in successful T20 sides,” he said.”And Watto, well in the last month he has played a different brand of cricket to anyone else really.” Watson was named Man of the Series at the World T20 for his all-round role for Australia and is thought to be one of the players to watch at this event.Haddin does not want to focus too much on the Watson, though. “If we are going to do well as a team, we can’t have the focus on one individual.” That sharing of responsibility could ensure that the likes of Cummins are not made to do so much that they hurt themselves.