Former Australian Test cricket batsman Peter Burge died today in Brisbane, aged 69. Burge is believed to have suffered a heart attack.The Queensland Cricket Association was not aware of any other details.Burge played 42 Tests between 1954/55 and 1965/66, scoring 2290 runs at 38.16 with four centuries.The hard hitting Queenslander also scored almost 15,000 first class runs with 38 hundreds.He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965.In recent years Burge had served as an international cricket match referee.

Former cricket board president, Thilanga Sumathipala, has demanded 500million rupees (USD $ 5 million) damages from Sri Lanka’s Deputy SportsMinister, Mangala Samaraweera, after allegations made in a televisioninterview he helped topple the Sri Lankan government last week.According to Sumathipala, in a media statement released on Monday, “In arecent television interview had made serious false, misleading, maliciousstatements and even went to the extent to connect me with the LTTE through aTamil politician for the recent political crisis.”The ruling PA government, headed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike, wereforced to call fresh parliamentary elections on Wednesday night after thedefection of several high ranking MPs in the days running up to a crucial noconfidence vote.With the election expected to take place on 5 December the UNP oppositionlooks set for a return to power, opening up the possibility of a change inthe administration and thus the Sports Minister.Such changes would pave the way for fresh cricket board elections and thepossible return of a Sumathipala led administration, which had beendissolved in March by the then Sports Minister Lakshman Kiriella.Rumours ran rife in Colombo over the weekend that Sumathipala, renowned forhis canny politicking, had turned kingmaker and played a major hand in thepolitical defections.According to Sumathipala, Samaraweera claimed in the programme, broadcast onITN on Sunday night, that he (Sumathipala) had paid Rs 30 million to everymember that crossed the floor.He adamantly denies this, saying, “I must clearly state that I didn’t playany part in the recent political developments in the country and had nothingto do with any financial transaction whatsoever.”But admitted that: “Personally, I am very happy to see that some intelligentpeople have crossed over to the correct side at this moment in time.”Sumathipala has started legal proceedings by issuing a letter of demand foran astonishing 500 million Rupees. Should this not be answered within sevendays he claims further legal action will be taken.He then challenged Samaraweera to an open, televised face-to-face forum to”give us an opportunity to clear our name.”Rumours are also rife that Sumathipala is about to formally enter nationalpolitics and contest in the forthcoming elections. He, though, maintainsthat he is “interested in administration, not politics.”

The annual challenge match between Nashua WP and All Gold Boland will be played at Newlands on Wednesday afternoon and not today (Tuesday) as previously advertised.The reason for the change was to accommodate players representing the SA “A” team against India in East London. Ironically this match was abandoned yesterday morning because of rain. The match is scheduled to start at 15h45 and will be played according to Standard Bank Cup rules. The WP selectors announced the WP team on Monday and are resting several players who have minor injury problems ahead of Sunday’s opening Standard Bank Cup match against Easterns in Benoni. Not withstanding injuries WP field a powerful side, which sees the return of Aswell Prince and Lloyd Ferreira.The WP team is;

MEDIA RELEASE:NASHUA Western Province Vs All Gold BolandNewlands Cricket Ground14 November 2001Nashua Western Province  Squad:1) Graeme Smith2) Andrew Puttick3) Jonathan Trott4) Ashwell Prince5) H.D. Ackerman ( C )6) Lloyd Ferreira7) Thami Tsolekile8) Alan Dawson9) Claude Henderson10) Roger Telemachus11) Quentin Friend12) Renier MunnikCoaches: Eric Simons, Vincent Barnes

Gloucestershire’s groundsman Geoff Swift has landed the ideal retirement present by winning the ‘Out Groundsman Of The Year’ award for the second time.Geoff has been rewarded for his fantastic pitches at the Cheltenham College Ground, which Gloucestershire use for their Cricket Festival.The cricket was exhilarating, and the crowds swelled as the Festival saw Gloucestershire defeat Sussex, Notts and Northants. So a big thank you to Geoff for playing his part in providing such wonderful entertainment.

Rain has caused the cancellation of the first days of the Gillette and Yoplait Cup tournaments in Palmerston North, for the first time in their history.The national secondary schools’ finals are a traditional part of the cricket scene now and fortunately for organisers, the possibility of rain had been covered in the rules surrounding the tournament.What will happen now is that tomorrow’s second day of games will continue as scheduled.And to give the games an extra bite, the winners will now play a straight final on Tuesday with the losers playing off for third and fourth, in both competitions.The decision to abandon play was made early today and teams have spent their day at the indoor centre in Palmerston North practising.

Ravindu Shah and Hitesh Modi, two players of Indian origin held the Kenyanbatting together with constrasting half-centuries on opening day of thefirst four-day unofficial cricket Test against Sri Lanka ‘A’ at theSaravanamuttu Stadium yesterday.Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Kenya finished on 282 foreight with Shah scoring a handsome 94 spiced with 20 fours and Modi, apatient 52 in 208 minutes.All in all their total was an exceptionally good one considering the factthat their three key players, Kennedy Otieno, Steve Tikolo and skipperMaurice Odumbe made only 20 runs amongst them.The Kenyan batsmen were not afraid to punish the loose balls on a fast andbouncy pitch that gave both batsmen and bowlers equal opportunities. Thatmore than 60 percent of the runs (43 fours) Kenya scored during the day camefrom boundaries is a true reflection of how well the ball came onto thebat – pity that such pitches are seldom prepared in Test matches here.The arrival of the second new ball after 81 overs, not only gave Sri Lanka’A’ the wicket of Collin Obuyo when he was trapped lbw by Ruchira Perera for16, but also produced 40 runs off nine overs. Obuyo and Otieno Suji added 45for the ninth wicket in 52 minutes.The day however belonged to Nairobi-born 29-year-old Shah who held thecentre stage for the best part of the morning and into the afternooncompiling 94 off 135 balls. The tall right-hander with an upright stanceplayed stylishly, batting for 195 minutes before he fell at 137 when hemistimed a drive and gave leg-spinner Upul Chandana a low return catch.He held the Kenyan top order together after they had lost the key wickets ofOtieno (13), Tikolo (0) and Odumbe (7) to Perera and Prabath Nissanka. Shahhad a reprieve at 51 when Chamara Silva dropped a simple catch at square legoff Perera.”It was difficult playing under these conditions. It was quite hot outthere. The first 20 overs were testing because the ball was bouncing alittle bit,” said Shah who got a couple of first-class hundreds againststate sides on the tour to India recently.”It would have been nice if we had lost only three or four wickets at theend of the day, but it is a good first day total,” said Shah.Left-handed Modi an experienced campaigner at 30 scored his secondhalf-century against Sri Lanka hitting five fours in his 138-ball innings.He scored an unbeaten 78 against Sri Lanka in 1996, which is the highest ofhis four one-day fifties.Modi shared in stands of 59 and 47 with Shah and Thomas Odoyo who struckseven fours in a quickfire 34 off 39 balls.Perera was the pick of the Sri Lankan ‘A’ bowlers finishing the day withthree for 63.The other two quicks, Prabath Nissanka and Kaushalya Weeraratne, paid thepenalty for over pitching; each being struck for three fours in an over byShah and Modi respectively.Weeraratne was playing only his second first-class match after beingsidelined by injury since January last year and looked rather ordinary.Nissanka bowled with pace and bounce but lacked direction. When he was online he looked dangerous and had the batsmen ducking for cover.Chandana picked up the wickets of Kenya’s two main runs scorers Shah andModi to end the day with figures of two for 58.

Marlon Samuels’ promising start to his international career has been put on hold for at least three months and probably beyond the upcoming home series against India and New Zealand.Team manager Ricky Skerritt said yesterday original estimates that a knee operation here on Sunday would put the 21-year-old Jamaican out for between six and seven weeks had been amended.Unable to play in the two Tests here, he would still be recuperating during India’s tour of the West Indies for five Tests and five One-Day Internationals April 11 to June 2.Although New Zealand’s series of two Tests and three One-Day Internationals is not until June 5 to July 2, Samuels would have no chance to get match fit by then.The surgery removed a piece of bone after X-rays taken following his arrival here for the current series against Pakistan revealed a large defect on the inner part of the right knee.The part of the bone that required removal proved bigger than anticipated and three small incisions had to be made, rather than two, Skerritt said, quoting orthodpaedic surgeon Dr Deepak Bhajia who performed the keyhole operation.He said it had been a success and Samuels had reported feeling no pain in his knee for the first time in two years.Marlon is to have the stitches removed tomorrow and, to avoid putting pressure on the knee, is using crutches, the manager added. He will remain in Sharjah until the series is over and fly back with the team on Monday.As middle-order batsman and useful off-spinner, Samuels has played 12 Tests and 29 One-Day Internationals since he was suddenly pitch-forked into the series in Australia just over a year ago as a replacement for Shivnarine Chanderpaul.He made an immediate impression against the strong Australian attack but has not maintained his consistency since.Samuels joins another of the young band of batsmen sidelined by injury.Ramnaresh Sarwan, also 21 who has had 17 Tests since his debut against Pakistan in April 2000, was ruled out of the trip to Sharjah by a back complaint that has bothered him since the tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya last June and July.It is not known when he will return but he has not yet played for Guyana in the current Busta Series in the West Indies.While Samuels and Sarwan have been eliminated by injury, another young batsman gets his first chance at international level.Runako Morton, the 23-year-old Nevisian, arrived here Sunday after Samuels’ indisposition and Sherwin Campbell’s fractured finger that left the team short of two batsmen. He is expected to be in the 11 for the opening day-night One-Day International here tomorrow.Morton, who was not among the listed stand-bys for the tour, has been preferred to Leon Garrick, the little Jamaican who was.The selectors were clearly seeking a middle-order batsman, which Morton is, rather than an opener, which Garrick is.It is unlucky for Garrick who was on the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka last November and December but returned home before the One-Day Internationals because of a potentially serious heart problem.That has since been corrected and Garrick is enjoying a productive Busta Series, averaging 53.2 after three rounds.Morton was enjoying his best season when selected, averaging 73.5 for the Leewards from the first two Busta rounds.It marks a significant turnaround for the strongly-built Nevisian.He missed most of last season because of a broken hand and was expelled from the inaugural Shell Cricket Academy in Grenada last August on a disciplinary charge.He is a naturally gifted player, a stroke-playing batsman, fine, fast-moving fielder and occasional medium-pace bowler.Like Samuels, his opportunity has unexpectedly come knocking through someone else’s misfortune. It is there for him to take.

It has all the makings of a classic TV courtroom drama. On one side there is an England batsman represented by the wife of the Prime Minister. On the other, a venerated county cricket club, and the hearing before a panel headed by a distinguished lawyer with his own cricketing credentials.

But it is not fiction, nor is the case being heard in the Royal Courts of Justice. The venue is Lord’s, the date Friday 15th February and the case concerns John Crawley and his claim that he has, in effect, been constructively dismissed by Lancashire. The county refutes that claim and so, for the first time, the ECB Contracts Appeal Panel has been called in to arbitrate.30-year-old Crawley made his debut for Lancashire in 1990 before going up to Cambridge University where he enjoyed an outstanding cricketing stay. Coming from the same school, county and university as Mike Atherton, he was always expected to follow his mentor into the England side, and he did so in 1994. He became Lancashire captain in 1999 but was relieved of the post after the 2001 season, when his form with the bat suffered, and the side narrowly avoided relegation.It was at this point that relations between the player and his county were seen to be more than just strained. Crawley made it plain that he wanted away and issued a statement saying: “As far as I am concerned I am no longer a Lancashire player, and in fact Mike Watkinson has told me not to attend any training sessions involving the playing staff.”Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes countered, telling CricInfo: “There is a conflict between John and the club which we are still trying to iron out. As to the reports that he has been banned from the training ground, they are simply not true.”Claim and counter-claim then followed until Crawley gave official notice to Lancashire that he was invoking the clause in his contract that states: “If the Club shall be guilty of serious or persistent breach of the terms and conditions of this Agreement [i.e. player contract with the club] the Cricketer may, on giving not less than seven days’ written notice to the Club, terminate this Agreement.”Such a procedure requires the Contract Appeals Panel to sit. It was convened by the chairman of the Registration Committee of the ECB, David Kemp, who is sitting on the panel himself along with the representative of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, former Derbyshire batsman and now lawyer Tim O’Gorman, under the chairmanship of another eminent lawyer and cricketer, Francis Neate.Neate is a former captain of Berkshire who enjoyed a career in first-class cricket at Oxford University where he averaged nearly 40 as a right-handed batsman. In 1961 he took a century off Hampshire – one of the counties considered to be a leading contender for Crawley’s signature if he is allowed to leave Lancashire – and finished as the second Englishman in the first-class averages behind Ken Barrington. He became solicitor to the old Test and County Cricket Board, where one of his duties was to produce the constitution of the England and Wales Cricket Board.Since being asked to chair this panel Neate has had to determine its procedures, as the terms only exist in skeleton form and there is no precedent from which he can work. After each side has put its case, the three members of the panel will consider the evidence and decide on the outcome. There is a right of appeal, which somehow seems appropriate in a cricketing matter.Crawley has enlisted a big name to fight his corner. Cherie Booth, QC, is a specialist in employment law and, as wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, should not be unfamiliar with causes that have a red rose as their emblem.

Lancashire chairman Jack Simmons is adamant that he wants Crawley playing under the red rose of Lancashire next season, and for the duration of the four-year contract that he is not yet halfway through. Crawley, however, claims that there are “irreconcilable differences” between them and is equally adamant he will not play for Lancashire again.Now it is up to the panel to decide, but it is difficult to imagine how the player could be forced to see out the remainder of his contract against his will. Lancashire would no doubt be loath to continue paying someone who was unhappy, not performing and, potentially, having a disruptive presence in the club. And it would be tragic if a player of Crawley’s quality were lost to the game.To add an interesting twist to the tale, Francis Neate’s son, Patrick, has just won the Whitbread Novel of the Year award for his book “Twelve-Bar Blues”. Perhaps this case will ultimately provide enough material to constitute a book in its own right.

The Canadian Cricket Association is pleased to welcome Gus Logie as our Coach for Team Canada at the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.The WICB has reconfirmed that Gus Logie has been officially released to the CCA to take up a position as Coach at the World Cup 2003.Gus has now also confirmed that he will take up the position.ICC Global Development Manager, Andrew Eade, and High Performance Specialist, Bob Woolmer, have also been officially notified of this decision.The ICC will now be working with the CCA to finalize High Performance Training for Team Canada. It is expected that the team will leave a few days earlier for specialist final training in South Africa.Bangladesh, meantime, has reportedly also approached Gordon Greenidge, another former WICB professional , to assist them at the Cricket World Cup in South Africa.

With time ticking away and reports over uncertainty of sponsorship of its annual first-class championships, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has secured a five-year deal with one of the Caribbean’s most popular beers.Carib Beer has reached a five-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the West Indies four-day first-class championship. It has now been renamed the Carib Beer Cricket Series.As in the previous two years, the championship will involve two stages to decide, first, the Carib Beer Cup (top territorial team) and, subsequently, the winners of the Carib Beer International Challenge."Along with the recent announcement of our relationship with Trinidad and Tobago cricket, this is an exciting addition to our sponsorship list," said Norman Sabga, chairman and chief executive officer of Ansa McAl, the group that owns Carib Brewery."The West Indies first-class cricket championship, now the Carib Beer Cricket Series, is one of the biggest competitions on the Caribbean sports calendar. We see a close link between Carib beer and the West Indies first-class competition."As the official beer of the West Indies cricket team, our vision is for Carib Beer to become the most sought after Caribbean beer in the international market place, consolidating our position as the beer of the Caribbean."We know this vision will not be lost on many of the players who will participate in the Carib Beer Cricket Series, as they, too, seek to be among some of the most sought after cricketers in the world."Reverend Wes Hall, president of the West Indies Cricket Board, agreed that Carib Beer and cricket were firmly rooted in the way of life of Caribbean people."We’ve enjoyed a wonderful partnership with Carib Beer over the years and we are very pleased that this relationship has been expanded to the West Indies first-class championship as the title sponsor," Hall said."This is a very important competition in West Indies cricket as it is a stepping stone for players into the senior West Indies team. We are looking forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with one of the premier companies in the Caribbean."Carib Beer was previously involved with West Indies cricket when they were the Official Sponsor of the West Indies team to the 1999 World Cup in Britain and the tour of the same nation a year later.Carib Beer is the flagship brand of the Trinidad and Tobago-based Carib Brewery, a truly Caribbean company with brands of high international standing and repute.In the previous first years, the regional first-class series was sponsored by Busta, whose contract came to an end last season.Eight teams will contest the Carib Beer Cricket Series that opens on January 31.They are territorial teams Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands, as well as a West Indies `B’ team (Under-23s) and international invitees, India "A".