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Guernsey secured their first ever title when they beat Jersey in the final of the European Under-15 Division 2 Championship in La Manga, Spain on Saturday.Jersey, who have already taken gold in both the U-19 and U-23 Division 2 Championships, could not overcome the 189-run target set by Guernsey, despite the side lacking Tim Ravenscroft, their star batsman who was in England scoring a century for Hampshire Under-17s.The two sides were the strongest throughout the competition, each winning all four group matches against the other eight teams. With the two islands being such close neighbours, the intense rivalry gave the encounter added spice, but one that did not detract from the excellent spirit in which a thoroughly competitive match was played at a truly impressive standard.Tim de la Haye, the Jersey captain, invited Guernsey to bat – a decision that paid instant dividends as Guernsey’s openers both fell, reducing them to 32 for 2. But then followed a championship-winning stand of 93 between Adam Hindle (48) and Thomas Kirk (29) who took Guernsey to 189 for 7 in their 35 overs.Jersey’s reply began poorly, with both their openers – Aidan McGuire and Bradley Rimeur – falling cheaply, and Joseph Mayes making only 11. The onus was on de la Haye, but he was left with a middle-order who had barely had any time in the middle over the past week – and had even less time to adapt to the match situation. Jersey fell short by 69 runs.Haye’s 46 was the highest score made against Guernsey in the whole tournament and included three massive sixes, two of which cleared the protective netting covering the ground’s straight boundaries. Guernsey’s bowlers did a great job, Matthew Renouf and Andrew Hutchinson bowled with immaculate lines and lengths. Thomas Kirk and Thomas Still both took three wickets.Meanwhile, Isle of Man beat Spain by seven wickets to take third place in the competition, reaching their target of 137 in 28.3 overs for the loss of three wickets. Belgium took fifth place, beating Italy by six wickets and in the seventh/eighth place play-off Germany beat Cyprus by 19 runs.In the match for ninth and 10th positions, Gibraltar beat France by 89 runs to take ninth place leaving France to claim the wooden spoon, but there was some consolation as the French took the MCC Spirit of Cricket Award.

Samir Inamdar, Cricket Kenya’s chairman, has spoken of his frustration over the lack of fixtures which Cricinfo highlighted yesterday.Kenya has only one official ODI against South Africa, but the fixture scheduled for October 30-November 1 may not take place as the dates clash with a home tie with Ireland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Cricket South Africa was due to host Kenya for two ODIs in June but the matches were postponed to November because of South Africa’s other commitments.”We are faced with a dilemma whether to honour the series,” Inamdar said. “Cricket South Africa informed us today that they were only prepared to host us on these two days and yet at the same time we will be playing Ireland at home. We will have not choice but to try andswitch the dates for the Intercontinental Cup.”We look at South Africa to support us. They made the commitment at the ICC board meeting two years ago but it seems that commitment is not there now and that worries us.”Inamdar confirmed that Zimbabwe had indicated that they were willing to visit Kenya in early July but those plans are still at a very early stage.

The Sri Lankan board has banned Ruchira Perera, a left-arm fast bowler, for a suspect bowling action. He will not be allowed to bowl until further notice.Sri Lanka Cricket have received several umpires’ reports on Perera’s bowling action during the on-going first-class season, a source in the board said.Perera, 30, who has played eight Tests and 19 ODIs for Sri Lanka, turns out for Colombo Colts in the Premier League competition. He is the club’s leading wicket-taker this season – with 24 wickets from four matches at 15.58.Batsmen have been constantly hit by some of Perera’s deliveries which have been termed dangerous, it’s been reported. The SLC video-taped Perera’s bowling action during matches and its technical committee reviewed it and sent the tapes and their report to Marc Portus, the bio-mechanist at the Australian Institute of Sport. The technical committee comprised Bandula Warnapura, director cricket operations, and former umpires KT Francis, Peter Manuel, BC Cooray and Godfrey Pushparaja.Portus’ report indicated that Perera’s bowling arm exceeded the 15-degree limit allowed by the ICC, and he remedial action to rectify it. Till his action is cleared by the ICC, he will not be allowed to bowl.Perera’s action came under scrutiny on Sri Lanka’s tour to England in 2002. On advice from Darryl Foster, a bowling coach and biomechanics expert at the University of Western Australia, Perera modified his wrist position just before the point of delivery. The SLC were satisfied with the adjustment then.Perera returned to international cricket in late 2002, against South Africa, but he was only a shadow of the bowler he had been earlier. He didn’t play Tests again, although he played a part in ODIs till 2007.

Kapil Dev has filed a petition against the Indian board for stopping his pension after he joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL), an initiative not backed by the BCCI.Kapil levelled the charge that the board had “deliberately amended the rules” following his move to the ICL by altering the word ‘pension’ with ‘Benevolent Fund’.Kapil’s affidavit, which was filed in the Delhi High Court, read: “The only way of earning a livelihood for us retired cricketers is through the game and the board cannot, by illegally changing its rules and regulations, deprive us of the benefits.”He also contested BCCI’s decision to sack him as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy, a post he held till joining the ICL as the chairman of its executive board.The BCCI members met for a special general meeting last August where the decision to remove Kapil from the chairman’s post at the NCA was made along with decision to deny players the right to derive any benefit from the BCCI if they were associated with the ICL. This meant former players, Kiran More, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil, EAS Prasanna, Madan Lal, Rajesh Chauhan, who joined the ICL in various roles, also had their pensions revoked by the board.

Division One

Nottinghamshire became the first side to notch a win in 2008’s Championship with a comprehensive rout of Kent, who were beaten by 10 wickets at Canterbury. Nottinghamshire only needed 22 runs to complete the victory with Will Jefferson (5) and Matthew Wood (17) guiding them home.Hampshire’s match against the champions Sussex ended in a predictable draw, with rain preventing any play on the fourth day at The Rose Bowl.Persistent drizzle in London also called a halt to the game at The Oval, with Surrey drawing their match against Lancashire.

Division Two

Essex eased to their first win of the season, beating Northamptonshire by nine wickets on the final day at Chelmsford. After their poor day yesterday, when they slipped to 38 for 4, Northants’ batsmen fared much better with Lance Klusener cracking 92. But he became David Masters’ fourth victim, Essex dismissing Northants for 237 to leave the home side needing a mere 15 to win. Jason Gallian fell for 1 but Varun Chopra saw them home in the third over.Nadeem Malik took 5 for 51 to spark a mini Middlesex collapse in which they lost their last five wickets for 141 as Leicestershire romped to a six-wicket win at Grace Road. Owais Shah notched his fifty, adding to the fine 116 he made in the first innings, and Shaun Udal also cracked his maiden half-century for his new county, but Middlesex fell away to be dismissed for 258, leaving Leicestershire 166 to win. Chris Silverwood nipped out two early wickets to give Middlesex hope, but Matthew Boyce’s 66 and an unbeaten 69 from Jim Allenby urged Leicestershire to their target.Tony Frost, Ant Botha and drizzly conditions in Birmingham all conspired against Worcestershire, who were denied an opening victory against Warwickshire on the final day at Edgbaston. Resuming on 26 for 3, Warwickshire’s resilience began with the nightwatchman, Lee Daggett, frustrating for nearly an hour before he was bowled by Gareth Batty. Navdeep Poonia followed almost immediately, and when Luke Parker edged to gully, the hosts were 109 for 7. Enter Frost (46*) and Botha (18*) who ground Worcestershire down for an hour-and-a-half, and inclement weather prevented any further action after tea.No play was possible between Gloucestershire and Derbyshire at Bristol, the match dribbling to a damp draw.

Scorecard