FIRST DIVISION
1 WARWICKSHIRE: Heath Streak is confident that he will be fit to bowl in today’s vital championship match against Sussex at Edgbaston despite the thigh strain niggle he collected at Bristol last week. “I only bowled a handful of overs more as a precaution than anything else as this Sussex match is so important,” he said. Ian Bell returns, with one of the bowlers likely to step down to make way for him.
WEBSITE: www.thebears.co.uk
2 SURREY: A week without a championship match will concentrate the players’ minds on the task of climbing out of the bottom three in the totesport League first division. Jimmy Ormond and Azhar Mahmood will strengthen the attack in the day-night game against Essex at Chelmsford tomorrow and Martin Bicknell could join them against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Sunday. They were all rested for the last league game.
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WEBSITE: www.surreycricket.com
3 KENT: Paul Millman, the Kent chief executive, said that no member has approached him requesting that an extraordinary general meeting should be held. “If any members have issues they wish to discuss, they can come and see me or Graham Johnson, the chairman of the cricket committee, at any time,” he said. Rob Key will return after representing England to play against Lancashire at Old Trafford today.
WEBSITE: www.kentccc.com
4 GLOUCESTERSHIRE: Like Worcestershire, their opponents in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy final on Saturday, Gloucestershire have injury trouble. Mike Smith, one of their keys to winning Lord’s finals, is unlikely to be fit, having not yet bowled since he injured his neck at the Cheltenham Festival. Mark Alleyne, the one-day captain, was testing the right thumb he broke nearly three weeks ago in a second-team game against Worcestershire at Bristol. But first Gloucestershire, unlike Worcestershire, have to come through a Championship game, at Northampton, unscathed. Damien Wright, the pace bowler, will not be coming for the rest of the season after the Tasmanian Cricket Board blocked the signing.
WEBSITE: www.gloscricket.co.uk
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5 MIDDLESEX: Andrew Strauss, the captain, will be back from England duty to lead the side in today’s floodlit totesport League game against Somerset at Taunton. Promotion is already assured and victory would just about clinch the second division title. Chad Keegan, who has been out for six weeks with back trouble, has had a cortisone injection and hopes to be able to play again before the end of the season.
WEBSITE: www.middlesexccc.com
6 SUSSEX: Mushtaq Ahmed, whose 103 wickets were so instrumental in taking the championship to Hove for the first time last year, is again the season’s leading wicket-taker after his career-best 13 for 140 in the victory over Worcestershire. The Pakistan leg-spinner now has 66 and Peter Moores, the coach, said: “The way he is bowling at the moment you wouldn’t put it past him getting 100 wickets again. He is on fire.”
WEBSITE: www.sussexcricket.co.uk
7 WORCESTERSHIRE: Problems loom for Worcestershire as they approach the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy final against Gloucestershire on Saturday at Lord’s with three of their first choice seamers injured. Kabir Ali is rated unlikely to play because of torn stomach muscle and the two Australians, Andy Bichel and Matt Mason, are battling to be fit after aggravating injuries, to the hip and foot respectively, in the deflating defeat in the Championship at Sussex.
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WEBSITE: www.wccc.co.uk
8 LANCASHIRE: Sajid Mahmood may have at least a couple of fights on his hands as the season draws to a close. Firstly he must help Lancashire avoid relegation in the Championship and secondly he has promised to fly out to watch his cousin Amir Khan, the Great Britain boxer, if he gets as far as a medal fight at the Olympics in Athens. Stuart Law may return from his back injury to replace Dinesh Mongia in the side to face Kent, who started Lancashire’s slide by beating them at Tunbridge Wells. Mal Loye is back after achilles trouble and Peter Martin is also fit.
WEBSITE: www.lccc.co.uk
9 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE: Tom Huggins and Jeff Cook are included in the side for today’s match against Gloucestershire at Northampton. “It’s make or break now - we know we have to win our last three games to stay up,” Kepler Wessels, the county’s coach, said. Wessels is concerned about the fitness of key batsman Usman Afzaal, who took a painful blow on the finger against Middlesex last week.
WEBSITE: www.nccc.co.uk
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SECOND DIVISION
1 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE: Contrary to initial reports, Nottinghamshire have won promotion to the first division of the Frizzell County Championship. The arithmetic adds up in their favour because third-placed Glamorgan and Yorkshire, fourth, must play each other twice. One, but not both, of the counties could theoretically leapfrog Nottinghamshire, who face Worcestershire and Scotland in totesport League second division games tomorrow and Thursday.
WEBSITE: www.nottsccc.co.uk
2 HAMPSHIRE: Chris Tremlett, whose ability to obtain significant bounce from his height brought him to the attention of Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, is still troubled by a foot injury and will not play against Durham today. In five weeks he has played in only one totesport League match and hence was not considered for the final England party for the ICC Trophy.
WEBSITE: www.hampshirecricket.com
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3 GLAMORGAN: Michael Lewis, the Victoria opening bowler, made an impressive debut on Sunday as Glamorgan clinched the totesport first division crown (the same title they won in 2002). With Michael Kasprowicz away with Australia, Lewis will make his championship debut as Glamorgan face Yorkshire at Colwyn Bay. Matthew Elliott should be back after resting on Sunday and Alex Wharf is also fit again. Will there be space for Simon Jones?
WEBSITE: www.glamorgancricket.com
4 YORKSHIRE: Ismail Dawood has struggled to establish himself in county cricket but, after a defiant innings helped to stave off defeat against Leicestershire, he may finally have carved out a niche. He arrived at Headingley on trial midway through the season but David Byas, the director of cricket, said: “He is not on trial now. We will be looking at his situation at the end of the season.”
WEBSITE: www.yorkshireccc.org.uk
5 ESSEX: Essex do not have a championship match this week but entertain Surrey in a totesport league match at Chelmsford tomorrow. Sky TV cameras will be broadcasting the encounter live. The county made a profit during the Colchester Festival last week despite the loss of two-days to rain, and expect to retain both that venue and Southend next year.
WEBSITE: www.essexcricket.org.uk
6 SOMERSET: Peter Anderson, the chief executive, has dismissed criticism that the club should be giving more opportunities to young players in the last few weeks of what has been an indifferent season. “All this about the development of the club - that’s amateur sport. We are not a charity,” he said. “There is prize-money on offer match-by-match and the captain is a professional sportsman who wants to win it.”
WEBSITE: www.somersetcountycc.com
7 LEICESTERSHIRE: Tom New, 19, will make his Championship debut away to Derbyshire beginning today after replacing Paul Nixon as wicketkeeper-batsman in the 12-man squad. New, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, has represented England through the age-groups and caused some controversy when he left Nottinghamshire for Grace Road in his mid-teens. Mark Cleary has recovered from an ankle injury, while John Sadler is recalled.
WEBSITE: www.leicestershireccc.co.uk
8 DERBYSHIRE: Nick Walker, the young pace bowler, has been recalled to the squad for the first time since the start of June as Derbyshire try to recover from the collapse against Nottinghamshire when they entertain Leicestershire at the County Ground starting today. Paul Havill has been dropped after failing in his past four appearances to build on an impressive performance against Durham.
WEBSITE: www.dccc.org.uk
9 DURHAM: Philip Mustard, the wicketkeeper/batsman, is the one change to the side that drew at Colchester last week, Andrew Pratt stepping down. Martyn Moxon, the county’s coach, expressed frustration at the no -balling problems of Shaun Tait, the Australian fast bowler. “The wet weather has prevented us from practising to correct his overstepping,” Moxon said. “We want to win our last three championship games but the priority is to gain promotion in the totesport League.”
WEBSITE: www.durhamccc.co.uk