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Phillip DeFreitas has been named as Leicestershire’s Player of the Month for July. The 36-year-old all-rounder received the award, sponsored by Bland Bankart, during the current game against Surrey at Grace Road.Although there was a shortage of cricket during the month – Leicestershire had only three Championship matches – DeFreitas was comfortably the side’s most consistent performer with bat and ball.He scored 200 Championship runs at an average of 40 with a magnificent 114 in the second innings against Kent the highlight.It was his fourth century for Leicestershire and the ninth of his career.In the Norwich Union League he also showed his all round ability. He took nine wickets including 4-24 against Glamorgan, and when promoted to “pinch hitter” at the top of the order against Warwickshire, scored 49 off 37 balls to help the Foxes to a four-wicket win.His seven Championship wickets during the month brought his total for the season to 33.

Opener Shaharyar Farrukh slammed 119 as Karachi Greens made 317 in their first innings on the first day of the three-day National Junior (Under-19) Grade-II Cricket Championship semifinal against Sibi at PCB Regional Academy Ground here Sunday.Sibi, in reply, were struggling at 66 for three at stumps.Shaharyar’s knock was spiced with 15 fours and three sixes after Karachi Greens skipper Vinod Ramesh won the toss and elected to bat first.Owais Ahmed was the other main scorer. He hit six boundaries in making 49.Slow left-armer Talat Khan took the bowling honours with excellent figures of six for 89 in 31.1 overs.Meanwhile, Afaq Raheem made 147 as Azad Jammu and Kashmir were dismissed for 267 in the other semifinal against Gujranwala at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.Paceman Ali Imran claimed five for 55.The home team replied with 79 for three.

ISLAMABAD, July 31 AFP – Former Australian player-turned coach Trevor Chappell today said Pakistan was a safe venue as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) mulled playing a Test series here later this year.”I found Pakistan a safe place, but what I think and what the Australian Cricket Board does on their team’s tour are two different things,” Chappell told AFP.”It’s up to the ACB and they would take all things into account before making a final decision.”The 49-year-old Chappell, younger brother of former captains Ian and Greg, is here to help Pakistan team and national pool members to improve their fielding.The fate of Australia’s Test tour to Pakistan in October hangs in the balance as security remains a key concern amid the US-led war against terror in neighbouring Afghanistan.“I even visited the Khyber Pass near the Pakistan-Afghan border and didn’t feel unsafe,” said Chappell.Leading Australian players Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Mark Waugh have said they won’t tour Pakistan, but Test captain Steve Waugh left the decision to the ACB.A proposed tri-series, also involving Australia, next month has been shifted to Nairobi, Kenya.”Pakistan is capable of providing full security but it would be tough for players,” said Chappell, who played five Tests and 20 one-day internationals for his country.

On the first full day of play at the 2nd Americas Cricket Championships, hosts Argentina performed respectably against World Cup qualifiiers Canada, restricting the Canadians to 182 in their 50 overs, and mustering 142 in reply.The Caymans pulled off an upset, beating Bermuda by 4 wickets in a low scoring game. Bermuda were skittled for just 59, but the Caymans lost 6 wickets in passing their total.The USA crushed the Bahamas, despite a fine bowling performance from Armstrong, who had the US in trouble at 115/5 before captain Bacchus provided an unbeaten 83 to raise the total to 255. The Bahamian batting crumbled against the US bowlers, managing just 78.

Kristian Wilson produced his best competitive bowling figures as Bournemouth thrashed Bashley (Rydal) by ten wickets at Chapel Gate to propel themselves into the thick of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League leadership race.The 19-year old former Poole Grammar School medium-pace man took 5-19 – 11 of the runs he conceded were either wides or no-balls – in a splendid ten-over spell as Bashley were skittled for a meagre 101.Matt Swarbrick blasted a boundary-strewn 66 not out as Bournemouth raced to a second consecutive Division 1 victory inside 19 overs.The result was totally demoralising for Bashley – scorers of a daunting 301-5 at Burridge only seven days previously – who were looking to press home their own claims.In many respects, Bashley – who have never won at Chapel Gate – contributed to their own downfall.”I’m sure quite a number of the Bashley batsmen will look back upon some poor shot selection,” said Swarbrick, the Bournemouth skipper.”But I thought we bowled pretty well, putting the ball in the right areas and, after some erratic early stuff, kept things very tight.”Bashley must have realised it was going to be one of those days after only three minutes of play.Andy Sexton pushed a shot to point, went for a quick single – only to see his batting partner Neil Thurgood run-out without facing by a direct hit throw from Bournemouth debutant Dan Jackson.Thurgood was the Premier League’s leading individual run scorer last month.Bashley dipped into further trouble when Jo Wilson, moving his modest medium-pacers into the batsman, breached Sexton’s defences at 15-2.It needed a major contribution from Luke Ronchi if Bashley were going to dig themselves out of the mire. For a while, it looked as though it might happen.Watchful at first on an unusually green Sports Club surface, Ronchi took a distinct liking to teenager James Elliott-Square, who – blissfully unaware of the Western Australian’s pulling prowess – dropped in a few short-pitched deliveries.Two leg-side sixes, 19 runs and a potentially critical Dave Kidner dropped catch later, a bemused Elliott-Square departed from the Bournemouth attack.But, just as Ronchi (25) looked as though he might rebuild Bashley’s fragile start, Kristian Wilson came on at the scoreboard end – and promptly removed the Australian.Ironically, he was caught low down at mid-on in the 11th over – by a much relieved Kidner !It was the beginning of the end for Bashley as Wilson (no relation to the Liverpudlian), bowling away swing, cut through the visitors middle-order. He had Richard Knowles picked up at slip and, next ball, trapped Andy Neal leg before to leave Bashley rocking at 66-5.So effectively did Wilson bowl that only eight runs came off the bat in his decisive ten over stint.”Kristian has benefiting from the coaching of former England fast bowler Graham Dilley at Loughborough and he’s come on great strides.”He hadn’t been able to bowl out-swing before this season and, if he’s able to cut out his extras (11 wides and no-balls against Bashley), he’ll become a very good bowler,” praised Swarbrick.Wilson and Dorset left-arm new boy Matt Mixer (3-15) reduced Bashley to 86-9 before John Whiting, eager to bat higher in the order, enjoyed a late flurry to take the total into treble figures.It took Swarbrick and Tom Webley just 18.5 overs to put Bashley out of their misery. The Bournemouth captain launched onto the offensive, hitting Whiting out of the attack and Kevin Nash going for 39 off his six overs.Webley, anxious to spend some time in the middle after only two innings for Somerset 2nd XI this season, played a watching brief as Swarbrick smacked a straight six and ten fours in an undefeated 66 off 57 deliveries.Webley finished with 28 out out as Bournemouth completed a thumping ten-wicket victory over their near neighbours.Bashley, having beaten Havant and Burridge in the past fortnight, go into next Saturday’s nine-week session of all-day ‘time’ cricket with three losses in five matches.Bournemouth, 19-run winners over champions BAT Sports last week, travel to table-topping Andover buoyant after beating two of the Premier League’s strongest sides.

The Hampshire-based Southern Electric ECB Premier League is poised to launch its 128-page fully illustrated handbook for the coming season.The book, recognised as one of the top publications of its type in the country, is crammed full of facts, figures and photographs of the top tier of recreational cricket in Hampshire.It tells of the inaugural season of ECB-accredited Premier League cricket in Hampshire, and includes a week-by-week account of how Havant became the first league champions.Read too how Channel 4 television plans to revolutionise coverage of this summer’s Ashes Series using an `umpire’s aid’ idea devised by Burridge batsman Paul Hawkins on `leg before wicket’ decisions.Copies of the yearbook, priced £3 inc postage and packing, can be obtained by writing to Mike Vimpany, 16 Radclyffe Road, Fareham, PO16 8SH.Some copies of last year’s Premier League yearbook are available at a reduced price of £2.

Shane Warne has been denied another crack at South Africa’s batsmen as he battles the hamstring injury which has interrupted one of his best seasons of spin bowling.Warne admitted he wasn’t ready for today’s fourth one-day international in Bloemfontein after failing to shake the niggle suffered during the hour before he played his 100th Test in Cape Town three weeks ago.Warne played on and bowled 141 overs in the final two Tests but the injury prevented him from playing three one-day games and Australian team physiotherapist Errol Alcott wanted the 32-year-old to rest until at least Wednesday’s fifth match in Durban.It was good news for South Africa’s batsmen, who again failed to handle Warne this season as he claimed 37 wickets from six Tests at an average of 24.72Warne was convinced he was bowling better than at any stage since returning from the shoulder injury which threatened to derail his career four years ago.”I wanted to keep on that form in the one-dayers, but it’s not to be. Now I suppose I’m going to be a bit rusty coming back for the last couple,” Warne said.”Finally, after a few years of inconsistent form and injuries, I got back to being very happy and confident with my bowling – I don’t think I could have bowled any better in these six Tests against South Africa.”I’ve been bowling so well, besides the second innings in Durban when I was just too sore with my leg.”Warne and batsman Michael Bevan, who also has a sore hamstring, will spend another day as drinks waiters for an Australian team which leads the seven-matchseries 2-0 following a dramatic tie in Potchefstroom last Wednesday.Australian selectors have seen a bright side to the injury problems, with Queenslanders Nathan Hauritz and Jimmy Maher impressing in the series, and Warne has also found a positive thought.”I’d love to be out on the park, but the break probably did me the world of good,” he said.”When you think about what we’ve had – the Australian summer, India, England, the Australian summer, South Africa – it’s been a pretty long 12 to 18 months, so 10 days off doing nothing much apart from being a gym junkie has been pretty good.”(The hamstring) feels a lot better but it’s still not right. If I play and bowl or dive for a caught and bowled or something, and I’m out for another four to six weeks, it’d be no good to anyone.”It wouldn’t be fair to team or myself to come back too early.”But Warne has still fired a verbal shot at South Africa’s batsmen, insisting the inclusion of young opener Graeme Smith to the Proteas’ squad was a boost forAustralia.”A few of the South Africans have a few technical things against the quicks with the new ball and that’s obviously why guys like Smith have been brought in but he’s probably got more problems than a few of them,” Warne said.”I know he had one or two good innings in the Tests but in Cape Town I think he was out three times before he got to nought and he went on and got 50. He playedpretty well after that.”He’s only young and hopefully he’ll learn by those experiences and be good for South Africa but him coming into the team is probably going to help us.”

Lions captain Alviro Petersen doesn’t have any preferences for their opponents in the Champions League final on Sunday, but has a score to settle with both Sydney Sixers and Titans. Lions lost to the Titans in the final of the MiWay T20 Challenge earlier this year while the Sixers are the only side to beat Petersen’s side in this competition.”I don’t really mind any of them [Titans or Sixers],” Petersen said after they beat Delhi Daredevils by 22 runs in the first semi-final on Thursday. “We lost to the Titans in last year’s final. It would be nice to beat them there. The only game we lost in this tournament has been to the Sixers so we would like to put one over them as well.”Petersen believed that hunger and focus are the constants which the team will take to the final. “What I can assure you is the team will be up for it once more, the boys are hungry. We are playing good cricket. We know that the road that we are on doesn’t end here. We are focused on preparing for what lies ahead, and that will be our real focus.”I think the hallmark of this team is that the guys are so committed to each other. We know that everyone can’t perform every day. When it’s someone’s turn, they make the play for us,” he said.The Lions were also not put off by the forecast of inclement weather. Petersen said their performance had improved as they progressed through the tournament.”We wanted to get out there and play. There was talk of rain but the guys were really professional and mature, the way we have gone about our preparations and performance.”Running at 75% we have still beaten teams, and today I thought we really upped it to about 85-90% and we showed what sort of team we are. We will take that confidence to the final as well,” said Petersen.Neil McKenzie brought the experience of his 105 Twenty20 games after he walked into bat in the 11th over with his side on 63 for 3. He forged a 59-run fourth-wicket stand with half-centurion Gulam Bodi, McKenzie himself making a 28-ball 46 with four boundaries and a six. However, McKenzie still believed the Lions were ten runs short of a competitive total, but the confidence in the dressing-room made the difference.”We got off to a nice start with Gulam [Bodi] and Alviro [Petersen] but then we had a little hiccup in the middle there,” McKenzie said. “When I got in, there wasn’t much time to settle in. It was a case of getting in as quick as I can. Gulam played some nice shots and he got a fifty. But I thought we were ten [runs] light.”Back in the dressing-room, the guys were saying 140 is enough and the bowlers backed up with a huge effort. The Man-of-the-match could have gone to a lot of the bowlers – [Aaron] Phangiso, [Chris] Morris, Sohail [Tanvir], all the guys did the job. Alviro rotated the bowlers beautifully. It was a great team effort.”McKenzie, who was part of the Hampshire side that won the English domestic Twenty20 competition as well, said experienced batsmen like him also have a place in the format.”There’s definitely a room to bat my way and for the other ways. As long as the strike-rate is high at the end of the day, you can’t have seven hitters in the side or seven deflectors. We have a nice balance at the moment, we have a plan to go till a certain stage and then go big from there. It is all about communication, role clarification,” he said.

He made his QCA first grade debut in 1995-96. He represented Queensland Under 17 in 1994-95 and 1995-96, and Queensland Under 19 in 1996-97, at the conclusion being selected in the Australian Youth team to tour Pakistan. In 1997-98 he was a member of the Australian Youth team for the Youth World Cup held in South Africa in January 1998. He has appeared for Queensland Colts from 1996-97 to 1999-00; and has represented Queensland Academy of Sport. He was an attendee of the Australian Cricket Academy in 1998-99. In January 2001 he made his One Day debut for Queensland, playing against Victoria in Brisbane. Schools – Ferny Grove State; Ferny Grove High.

Somerset may not have enjoyed the best of seasons on the field but membership of the Junior Sabres section of the Club is running at an all time high.The 2002 figures of the membership category that includes all youngsters up to the age of twenty one shows that this season 827 young people joined the club, an increase of nearly one hundred on 2001.Membership secretary Jo Arnold told me: " Over the last five years the junior membership has almost doubled which is a very healthy sign for the future of the club, and means that all the hard work of trying to attract youngsters to join the club is paying off. It really is very encouraging."This season has seen the introduction of `Stumpy’ the friendly dragon mascot who made his first appearance at the County Ground in May.Stumpy has become a very popular addition to the Junior Sabres scene, and has achieved something of a cult following, to the point that a song entitled `Here comes Stumpy’ has been recorded by a local band.After his strenuous summer Stumpy is taking a well earned rest, but Jo Arnold is planning to keep him very much in Junior Sabres minds during the closed season.With Christmas approaching Jo is asking all Junior Sabre members to send in their designs for a Stumpy Christmas card and she is also hoping to produce a 2003 Stumpy Calendar and Stumpy mug, all of which will make ideal Christmas presents.Jo Arnold is already setting her sights on next season. She told me: "What I would really like to see next season is for the Junior Sabres to top the 1000 mark," and judging by the amount of interest that there has already been this is more than possible.