Northern Districts and New Zealand pace bowler Simon Doull announced today that he will not be available for the remainder of the State Championship season.Though Doull has not ruled out a return to domestic one-day cricket next season, the statement issued by Northern Districts has the tone of a farewell tribute and suggests that Doull’s distinguished career is over.Work commitments, a relocation and physical wear and tear are given as Doull’s reasons for stepping aside.Doull made his debut for ND in the 1989/90 season, first playing Test cricket for New Zealand against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 1992/93.He went on to play 32 Tests, taking 98 wickets at an average of 29.30, placing him 11th in the list of New Zealand wicket-takers. One of the factors in Doull’s decision is an acceptance that he will not get the chance to reach a century of Test wickets.His best performance was seven for 65 against India at the Basin Reserve, Wellington on Boxing Day 1998. A superb display of swing bowling removed the top seven Indian batsmen, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.In all, Doull played in 99 first-class matches (falling just short of three figures seems to be a habit), taking 250 wickets at 28.93 and scoring 1938 runs at 19.58 with a single hundred, 108 against Canterbury at Lancaster Park in 1991/92.He represented New Zealand in 42 One-Day Internationals, taking 36 wickets. He also scored 172 runs at the healthy strike rate of 91.97.Doull won the Winsor Cup as the country’s best bowler in 1996/97.In the last two years he has reinvented himself as a swashbuckling, and sometimes devastating, pinch hitter at the top of the order in one-day cricket. Achieving a surprisingly high success rate, Doull’s batting has been decisive in a number of matches, most notably his recent dismantling of the England attack. His 47-ball 80 launched ND towards successful pursuit of the tourists’ 288.Doull’s announcement followed his omission from the Northern Districts team for today’s State Championship match against Central Districts in Hamilton, though there is no hint of sour grapes on Doull’s part. He has performed 12th man duties cheerfully enough.Northern Districts CEO John Turkington paid tribute to Doull.”Simon’s contribution to Northern Districts Cricket to this point has been exceptional. He has performed with the highest distinction in playing terms for both Northern Districts and New Zealand. He has also been a fantastic ambassador for the association in all off field activities.”In these professional times when it is so easy for players to change associations, his unquestioned loyalty to this association through his entire playing career is greatly appreciated and is indicative of the person he is. We look forward to Simon having a major role in the development of the next generation of Northern Districts’ quick bowlers.”

MELBOURNE, Jan 27 AAP – Shane Warne has ruled himself out of contention for the Allan Border Medal, rating Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist the front-runners for Australian cricket’s highest individual honour.The Allan Border Medal, awarded to Australia’s best cricketer of the past 12 months in Tests and one-day internationals, will be presented tomorrow night in Melbourne.Warne is expected to be right in the frame for the award thanks to his Test match efforts in the past 12 months.He has taken 61 wickets in nine Tests at a miserly 18.54.But the master leg-spinner doesn’t think he’ll poll in the top three.”Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Matty Hayden – it’ll be one of those guys I presume who’ll win the Allan Border Medal,” Warne said.”I might get a few votes in the Test matches.”But I think ultimately it will be one of those three guys that will win the medal.”Helping Warne’s cause is the fact that under the 3-2-1 voting system byplayers, umpires and media, Test votes are weighted to reflect the factfewer Tests are played than one-day internationals.But Hayden remains raging favourite to win back-to-back medals after another stellar year with the bat in both forms of the game.The Queenslander has notched up six Test centuries, but his 1051 runs at an average of 61.82 is lower than Ponting’s Test return of 1068 runs at66.75.Hayden also has 1149 runs in one-day internationals this year at 63.83 to back his claims, higher than Ponting’s 780 runs at 41.05.Hayden also claimed the mantle of world’s best batsman in Test and one-day cricket, moving to the top of the PriceWaterhouse Coopers rankings for limited overs internationals.He joins Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar as the only players ever to have held both world No 1 rankings at the same time.Previous winners of the Allan Border Medal are Glenn McGrath (2000), Steve Waugh (2001) and Hayden last year.The Allan Border Medal function will also feature awards for Test player of the year, one-day player of the year and the young cricketer of the year.The young cricketer award is certain to be won by rising New South Welshman Michael Clarke, who impressed in his one-day international debut in Adelaide a fortnight ago.

Javagal Srinath (IND) needs 1 wicket to join the 300 ODI-wicket clubRahul Dravid (IND) needs 39 runs to complete 500 World Cup runsSaurav Ganguly (IND) 121 runs to complete 500 World Cup runsAnil Kumble (IND) needs 2 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-clubSachin Tendulkar (1059) is 24 runs behind leading World Cup run taker JavedMiandad (1083)

Northern Districts will be bolstered by the return of bowlers Graeme Aldridge and Bruce Martin for their State Championship match with Canterbury in Hamilton starting tomorrow.Both players are returning from injury.The full side for the game is: Robbie Hart (captain), Graeme Aldridge, Ian Butler, Matthew Hart, Nick Horsley, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Bruce Martin, Mark Orchard, Michael Parlane, Gareth West, Joseph Yovich.

Islamabad on Monday claimed the Cornelius Trophy after routing Quetta by an innings and 105 runs with more than a day to spare in the final played at Multan Cricket Stadium.Quetta, who were tottering at 57 for seven in their second innings after being forced to follow on, were dismissed in the first hour of the third day’s play for just 96 runs.Top all-rounder Yasir Arafat picked up five for 18 to finish with a match tally of eight. He was adjudged Man-of-the-Match and awarded with a cash prize of Rs 5000 and a trophy.Other wicket-takers were Irfan Bhatti and Shakeel Ahmed, both of whom captured two each.Islamabad had held a firm grip from the very first day scoring 355 in their first innings. Quetta could manage only 157 in reply but fared even more badly in the second innings and were clueless against a lethal attack.Captain Irfan Bhatti was presented the Cornelius Trophy along with a winners’ cheque of Rs 40,000. Islamabad’s Stephen John was declared Bowler of the Tournament.Summarised scores:ISLAMABAD 355 (Mohammad Asif 86, Bilal Asad 71, Shakeel Ahmed 46 not out, Yasir Arafat 37, Irfan Bhatti 37);QUETTA 157 (Aqeel Baloch 35; Shakeel Ahmed 3-27, Yasir Arafat 3-42, Rao Iftikhar 2-45) and 96 (Yasir Arafat 5-18).

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club announces today that Acorn Recruitment will be their shirt sponsor for 2003.Chief Executive, Tom Richardson says, "We are really pleased to be going into partnership with Acorn Recruitment because we feel that both companies will benefit from the strengths of each other. They are a dynamic company and we think it’s a very good fit."The sponsorship is for 2003 but we hope that with success it will be one that is extended."Acorn is one of the UK’s fastest growing recruitment, training and development and employment services companies, with plans to expand and open offices in Bristol and the West.Acorn’s Managing Director, Matt Southall says, "We are looking forward to a great summer – both on the cricket field for Gloucestershire and off it as Acorn launches its recruitment, training and managed services across the West of England. Gloucestershire is an ambitious club with fine traditions – we’re proud to be associated with them."For further information please contact :
Jane Lobb, Executive Assistant on Tel: 0117 9108000.For further information on Acorn please contact:
Kate Geiss, Howell Petersen 01633 255015

Nasser Hussain has stepped down as a national selector, to allow someone who watches more county cricket to take his place. Hussain, who retired from one-day cricket after the World Cup, is likely to be succeeded by Michael Vaughan next week. It was felt by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that having two different captains sitting in on selection meetings would lead to complications.Hussain has also argued that the England team would benefit from extra scouting experience on the selection panel. “[We] have grown increasingly worried about how little county cricket and how few young cricketers we are able to watch because of the hectic international schedule,” wrote Hussain in his Sunday Telegraph column. “At the moment half the selection panel can have very little input when we are trying to work out whether a young player has what it takes to make it at the highest level. This cannot be right.”Hussain played a single County Championship match for Essex last season because of his international commitments. Among the favourites to take the vacant fourth spot on the panel is the director of the ECB Academy, Rod Marsh, who is a regular on the county circuit as he decides on his yearly intake for the academy. Hussain added that he would still like to retain an influence before Test selection, and called for the selectors to keep the policy of consistent selection from the last three years.The former England cricketers, Mike Atherton, Angus Fraser and Vic Marks – all of whom have since turned to journalism – have also been shortlisted to join David Graveney, the chairman, Duncan Fletcher and Geoff Miller on the panel.

The former West Indian captain, Carl Hooper, has agreed to play for Lancashire for the remainder of the 2003 season. Hooper, 36, had originally been brought in as short-term cover for Harbhajan Singh, but when Singh failed to recover from a finger injury, Hooper was the obvious replacement."I’m delighted that Mike Watkinson asked me to stay," said Hooper. "I’ve really enjoyed my time here with Lancashire and it’s a bonus to be able to work with the team over what should be a very exciting season." Hooper has yet to hit top form with the bat this season, with a Championship best score of 74, but in Harbhajan’s absence, his offspinners have proved effective. He took 5 for 52 in Lancashire’s ten-wicket victory against Leicestershire at Liverpool.Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s cricket manager welcomed Hooper’s continued presence at Old Trafford: "Carl’s been a valuable addition to the squad and even though we were looking forward to Harbhajan arriving, Carl has filled the position admirably and under the circumstances, I’m glad that he’s decided to stay with us."

The baggy green worn by Don Bradman during his final tour as Australia’s captain to England in 1948 has been sold at auction for a world-record sum of Aus$425,000 (£175,000). This dwarfs the Aus$88,835 (£36,000) that his cap from the 1946-47 Ashes series fetched in London last month.”This is not just the holy grail associated with Bradman, it’s the holy grail associated with the cricket world,” Graham Halbish, the chairman of Melbourne-based auctioneers Ludgrove’s International, said when asked whether he thought the price was too high. But Richard Mulvaney, chairman of the Bradman Museum at Bowral, said the price was totally “unrealistic”. He insisted that the price had been fuelled by marketing and media hype.”To be honest, the media campaign has heightened public interest, and has well truly overvalued the cap,” Mulvaney said. " It will be a real disincentive for people donating items to cultural institutions, whether they be Sir Donald Bradman memorabilia or otherwise. It does price us well and truly out of the market. You wonder whether the items are purchased for investment gains, and so fall out of public hands.”The winning bidder, who lives in New South Wales, helped fund his acquisition with winnings from the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. A spokesman for the new owner said that he was a cricket-lover and was keen that the cap should go on public display.Bradman gave the baggy green to Richard Robins, his godson and the son of England captain Walter Robins.

Everyone acknowledges that Kenya need to build their domestic cricket base before they advance into the Test-playing arena, but who should be in charge of the operation appears to be holding back the game’s development.A surprise semi-finalist at the recent World Cup, Kenya are looking to introduce domestic leagues but a dispute between the game’s ruling body in the country, the Kenyan Cricket Association, and the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association has broken out.The International Cricket Council has committed to helping the setting up of domestic cricket to the tune of US$1 million over the next two years.The Government has come down on the side of the Nairobi Association, but the game’s ruling body wants to disaffiliate the Nairobi body and launch its own league in the nation’s capital. The Nairobi Association wants to run a 20-team league and it had hoped to start on Sunday. However, the wrangle is likely to result in a month’s delay.Even as the two sides squabble, they acknowledge that the dispute is costing them time in the development of Kenya’s cricket – and might even be delaying their elevation to Test status.