This week, PE teachers in Baltimore and Wicomico (Maryland) counties attended cricket training sessions in preparation for the start of the new school year. During the sessions they learned the history and rules of the game, and then got a chance to play an informal game against each other. At the conclusion of the session, teachers were given USYCA cricket sets and printed material supplied by the International Cricket Council.

"As the new supervisor for physical education and originating from Newcastle, England, I wanted to bring a new, engaging activity from my homeland to my teachers that they could easily integrate into their strike and field unit for the upcoming school year," said Michael Charlton of Wicomico County Public Schools.

"The session was highly interactive, energetic and the feedback I received from my teachers was extremely positive. I would like to personally thank the (United States) Youth Cricket Association for a fantastic in-service that delivered relevant and rigorous instructional techniques that can be utilised throughout the elementary and middle level, " Charlton said.

The Baltimore and Wicomico school systems join Howard, Carroll, Prince George's, Queen Anne's and Kent counties, along with some schools in Baltimore City, in offering cricket to Maryland physical education students.

Tony Ura of PNG in action © ICC

Fiji and PNG have each booked a place in Friday's gold medal match after wins over Vanuatu and New Caledonia respectively at the Pacific Games Cricket Competition in Noumea.

In the match of the tournament so far, Fiji fought back from the jaws of defeat to snatch a four-run victory over Vanuatu. Set the modest total of 114 to win, Vanuatu were in control for the majority of the run chase before terrific bowling spells from both Viliame Yabaki and Jikoi Kida caused a late innings collapse to hand Fiji the victory.

"It's an awesome feeling to win and I haven't had that feeling for a long time," said Fiji captain Jo Rika. "Yesterday we spoke about playing to our strengths and improving our fielding and bowling and taking nothing away from our great batting performance, but we really improved in the field today."

Sakaraia Lomani was again the stand out with the bat for Fiji smashing another 44 not out and was well supported by his captain Rika who was in fine touch for his 36. In reply Vanuatu were well in control early thanks to a terrific 44 from Lenica Natapei and 27 from Andrew Mansale. However, once Mansale departed and Natapei followed soon after the young Vanuatu side struggled to deal with the spin of Yabaki who took two wickets in three balls to set up the win. Yabaki ended with figures of 4 for 21 and Kida also got well among the wickets taking 3 for 21.

In the afternoon PNG dealt the hosts New Caledonia a significant blow, defeating them by 150 runs and setting up a showdown with Fiji. New Caledonia put up a spirited fight in the field restricting PNG to 197 for 6 off their 20 overs, which considering their performance yesterday against Fiji was a great improvement from the inexperienced side.

"It is a huge pleasure to play against a side like PNG and to keep them to under 200 which was less than Fiji scored against us yesterday and was one of our targets so we are pretty happy," said Noel Sinyeue who top scored and also took two wickets. "To take six wickets against a team like PNG is a real achievement."

For PNG Kapena Arua top scored with 62 and Tony Ura once again performed brilliantly with 57. Sinyeue was the only multiple wicket-taker for New Caledonia ending with figures of 2 for 28.

After a solid performance in the field, sadly it all went downhill with the bat for New Caledonia bowled out for just 47 thanks mainly to an awesome display of bowling from Inoa Baeau who ended with the incredible figures of 5 for 3 from four overs.

Wednesday will see PNG v Fiji and Vanuatu v New Caledonia in two matches that will not influence who will play-off in the medal matches. These fixtures will be repeated again on Friday when PNG and Fiji play off for gold and Vanuatu and New Caledonia for bronze.

PNG's Arua says however they will hold nothing back against Fiji in what is effectively a dead rubber. "We always do the normal routine, we are a good side and always want to maintain our standard," he said. "We have many strengths and tomorrow we will make sure we use them."

Colin MacBeth

The idiocy of some Kenyan cricketers knows no bounds. Having driven brinkmanship to a new dimension when they refused to toe the line and sign contracts, they crawled back to Cricket Kenya (CK) caps in hand seeking preferment; and when offered a deal they could easily have accepted, spat it back in the face of those offering it. This, they said, was an act of solidarity with certain 'spent' players who are past their sell-by date and could no longer be considered for contracts.

More significantly, the players' action – and the consequent sacking of several, especially from Kongonis (Nairobi Club) and Rift Valley Rhinos (Rift Valley Sports Club), who refused to play ball with CK, is devoid of reason and could seriously jeopardise the ongoing 'Elite' Premier and EA Cup competitions.

The cry will go up: “This isn't cricket”; but indeed it is, and increasingly so these days. The commercialisation of the sport has become very much part of the fabric, with salaries and conditions taking priority over sporting achievement. And none is suffering more than Nairobi Buffaloes' (NPCA) captain Collins Obuya, who,played for Uganda's Tornados last year and was the only player who came back from his country's disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign in India and Bangladesh with his reputation intact and his head held high; and is now reportedly in receipt of death threats because of his willingness to side with CK's strategy to improve the game.

A belligerent CK chairman Sameer Inamdar said at the weekend in his usual no-nonsense way: “The players mustn't be allowed to get away with blackmail. We've bent over backwards to accommodate them in the wake of some really appalling performances. And they think we should just say 'okay' and lap the mediocrity up. Well, we're not doing so anymore, and some of the players have surely scripted their own obituaries.”

The players themselves remain somewhat bemused and unsure which way to turn. But without doubt it's the end of the road for some; and any depletion of the new elite EAPL and EA Cup's reputation as the driving force behind a resurgence in Kenya cricket would be disastrous, both for them and for cricket in Uganda, and would have to be laid at their door.

Tanzania won the inaugural BMTL indoor tournament, beating Kenya by eight wickets in the final at Dar es Salaam. Tanzania made 125 from their 16 overs, and Kenya fell nine runs short of victory. The third side in the competition were Sri Lanka.

The International Cricket Council has announced the 14-man squads for the six teams – Nigeria, Kuwait, Fiji, Guernsey, Jersey and Malaysia - participating in ICC World Cricket League Division 6 next month in Malaysia.

The finalists of the event, which will be played from 17 to 24 September, will be promoted to ICC World Cricket League Division 5 which will be staged in Singapore in early 2012.

The tournament will be played on three grounds in Kuala Lumpur, Kinrara Oval, Selangor Turf Club and Bayuemas Oval. These venues were also used for the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup which was held in Malaysia in 2009.

The full squads are as follows:

Fiji: Joe Rika (captain), Viliame Yabaki, Iniasi Cakacaka, Sakaraia Lomani, Kitione Tavo, Sekove Ravoka, Jikoi Kida, Colin Rika, Waisake Tukana, Josefa Baleicicia, Tasheed Tawheed, Maciu Gauna, Joji Bulabalavu, Mohammed Khan.

Guernsey: Stuart Le Provost (captain), Gary Rich, Tom Kimber, Jeremy Frith, James Nussbaumer, Ben Ferbrache, David Hooper, Tim Ravenscroft, Ross Kneller, Chris van Vliet, Stuart Bisson, Lee Savident, Adam Martel, GH Smit

Jersey: Peter Gough (captain), Ed Farley, Thomas Minty, Sam de la Haye, Charles Perchard, James Faudemer, Ben Stevens, Anthony Hawkins-Kay, Ben Silva, Dean Morrison, Alex Cooke, Paul Connolly, Corey Bisson, Daniel Garton

Kuwait: Hisham Mirza (captain), Sibtain Raza, Muhammad Amin, Abid Mushtaq, Aamir Javed, Irfan Bhatti, Ahsan Naseer, Azmatullah Nazeer, Abdullah, Mohammad Murad, Sharjeel Tahir, Jagath Roshantha, Saud Qamar

Malaysia: Suhan Kumar Alagaratanam (captain), Sureah Navaratnam, Rakesh Madhavan, Hammad Ullah Khan, Hassan Ghulam Muhammad, Ahmad Faiz Noor, Shukri Abdul Rahim, Eszrafiq Azis, Abdul Rashid Ahad, Shafiq Sharf, Faris Almas-Lee Rosmanizam, Aminudin Ramly, Shahrulnizam Yusof, Hiran Brahman Ralalage

Nigeria: Endurance Ofem (captain), Ademola Onikoya, Obejide Bejide, Varun Behani, Chukwu James, Ramit Gill, Joshua Ogunlola, Saheed Akolade, Segun Olayinka, Chibuike Iteogu, Seun Odeku, Lekan Awolowo, Seye Olympio, Kunle Adegbola

The full schedule for WCL Div. 6 is as follows:

Fixtures

15 September – Team Arrivals
16 September – Practice
17 September – Guernsey v Jersey (Kinrara Oval), Malaysia v Kuwait (Selangor Turf Club), Fiji v Nigeria (Bayuemas Oval)
18 September – Malaysia v Nigeria (Kinrara Oval), Kuwait v Jersey (Selangor Turf Club), Guernsey v Fiji (Bayuemas Oval)
19 September – Reserve Day
20 September – Malaysia v Fiji (Kinrara Oval), Jersey v Nigeria (Selangor Turf Club), Kuwait v Guernsey (Bayuemas Oval)
21 September – Fiji v Kuwait (Kinrara Oval), Nigeria v Guernsey (Selangor Turf Club), Malaysia v Jersey (Bayuemas Oval)
22 September – Reserve Day
23 September – Malaysia v Guernsey (Kinrara Oval), Jersey v Fiji (Selangor Turf Club), Nigeria v Kuwait (Bayuemas Oval)
24 September – Final (Kinrara Oval), 3rd/4th Play-off (Selangor Turf Club), 5th/6th Play-off (Bayuemas Oval)

The bickering and confusion that has been a hallmark of much of US cricket in recent years continues to undermine attempts to bring the structure of the game onto a professional footing. The squabbling within the Atlantic Region following the decision not to issue the results of elections in July is another example of the dysfunctional state of affairs.

On July 26 elections were held and within 24 hours an email from Sheldon Ellis, the coordinator, said the votes had been collated, but instead of the results being released soon after, Sheldon Mollineau, the outgoing secretary, took a decision to withhold them.

Ellis stated that he had been called by Gladstone Dainty, the controversial president of the USA Cricket Association, who had instructed him not to release the results. Ellis, who is claimed to be very unhappy, said that if the matter was not resolved he would nevertheless send the results to the secretary of the region.

Seven leagues with the Atlantic Region requested Ellis to release the results to the secretary, which he did on August 3. But Mollineau, rather than forward them as expected, simply sat on them, citing Dainty’s request as the reason.

According to Dreamcricket.com, Sheldon Glasgow, the outgoing chairman, and Mollineau were both under pressure in the elections with a real threat they could be voted out of office.

Whatever happens and even if the results are released soon, this is yet another example of the often woefully unprofessional way the USA Cricket Association under the auspices of Dainty continues to administer the national game.

The appeal of cricket in Nepal has been underlined by the news that national broadcaster Nepal Television has renewed its deal to cover all the country’s international matches.

The three-year contract, which is only worth US$8000pa, gives the broadcaster the right to cover all matches organised by the Nepal board.

It means that Nepal remains the only Associate in Asia to offer national matches on free-to-air television.

Cricket in Nepal remains a major sport, with the media carrying extensive reports on major tournament. Crowds for major matches rival those seen in Full member countries.

Canada captain Jimmy Hansra hammers a six on his way to his century © Getty Images

Canada won the Auty Cup with a 34-run victory over USA in Toronto, but the visitors battled back after a poor opening day to ensure the game remained competitive, even if the seemingly narrow winning margin was slightly deceptive.

In a bid to prevent negative play in the two-day match, it was agreed the first innings would be limited to 45 overs a side and the second to 40 overs. The result of this was that Canada's first-innings lead of 73 meant that barring a second-day collapse, they were always likely to be able to post too many runs for the USA to chase.

Click here for the full report and scorecard

Roy Dias, the former Sri Lanka batsman, has confirmed he will take over as Oman's coach. Dias, who played 20 Tests and 58 ODIs in the eighties, has plenty of experience supervising upcoming nations, having spent the past decade in charge of the Nepal team.

Click here for the full story

The 2011 Women's World Cup Qualifier will feature 10 teams and be played at four venues in Dhaka, the ICC has said. The tournament is scheduled between November 14 and 25.

The four venues will be the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, Narayanganj Osmani Stadium, Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (Bangladesh Institute of Sports) 1 and BKSP 2. Hosts Bangladesh will be joined by South Africa, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, USA, West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Japan to battle it out for the four remaining spots at the 2013 Women's World Cup in India. England, Australia, India and New Zealand already qualified for the event because they were the top four teams in the 2009 Women's World Cup.

The teams for the qualifiers will be split into two groups. Bangladesh play Pakistan in the first game of the tournament on November 14 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Group A
South Africa, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, USA

Group B
West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland, Japan, Bangladesh

In a hard-fought and generally low-scoring Twenty20 competition on the European Women’s Championship opening day all three teams finished with a win and a defeat, but it was the Dutch hosts who came out on top on net run rate, thanks to a comfortable victory over Scotland.

Scotland had caused an initial upset by beating Ireland in the first game of the day, after Irish skipper Isobel Joyce had elected to bat after winning the toss. Ireland’s batters found the conditions difficult against a steady Scottish attack, and battled their way to 72 before they were dismissed in exactly 18 overs, only Joyce herself, with an enterprising 28-ball 29, gaining any real measure of control. Keeper Mary Waldron (16) was the only other Irishwoman to reach double figures, while Kari Anderson with three for 20 was the most successful of the Scottish bowlers. There were two wickets apiece for Kathryn White, Leigh Kasperek (whose four overs cost just six runs) and Lois Wilkinson.

Scotland found scoring equally difficult, with Kim Garth taking 1 for 4 for Ireland in her four overs and Amy Kenealy claiming two for 12. White top-scored with 23, but when she became Joyce’s third victim (for just 7 runs) the Scots faced an uphill battle.

Nine were still needed from the last two overs, but Fiona Urquhart took some of the pressure off with some calculated strokeplay, and in the end Scotland managed to take the winning single off the very last ball of the game, with two wickets in hand.

Ireland 72, 18 overs (I Joyce 29; K Anderson 3-20)
Scotland 73-8, 20 overs (I Joyce 3-7)
Scotland won by two wickets

The Netherlands became the only side to pass the hundred mark in the second match, Esther Lanser’s 35-ball 32 enabling them to reach 104 for 9 from their 20 overs. White, Anderson and Wilkinson claimed two more wickets each, but the batting quickly crumbled against the Dutch bowlers. It was the running between the wickets which was the real root of the Scots’ problems, however, and the Dutch fielders took full advantage, producing no fewer than five run-outs as Scotland were all out for 49 in 16.2 overs.

Two direct hits by Helmien Rambaldo removed openers Dianne Pedgrift and Catherine Smaill, and with Lanser, Laura Brouwers and Jolet Hartenhof making scoring difficult – Hartenhof having the remarkable figures of one for 1 from two overs – the running became increasingly desperate. Rambaldo took two for 13 from three overs of spin as Scotland subsided to a 55-run defeat.

Netherlands 104-9, 20 overs (E Lanser 32)
Scotland 49, 16.2 overs
Netherlands won by 55 runs

That set up the final match between Ireland and the hosts, and Rambaldo again elected to bat on winning the toss. But Ireland’s attack was much more effective this time, restricting the Netherlands to 89 for 8, Rambaldo herself leading the way with 31 from 40 deliveries. Thirteen-year-old leg spinner Elena Tice showed great promise in taking 3 for 22, and by removing both Rambaldo and Violet Wattenberg, who had put on 31 for the third wicket, she gave her side a great chance.

Garth (22) and Joyce (33) then seized the initiative with a 51-run opening stand – the only half-century partnership of the day – but once they were both run out the run rate slowed, and once again the chase extended into the final over. With plenty of wickets in hand, however, Laura Delany and Kenealy were able to pace their chase fairly comfortably, and the Dutch fielders were unable to stem the flow of runs which eventually saw Ireland home with two balls to spare.

Netherlands 89-8, 20 overs (H Rambaldo 31; E Tice 3-22)
Ireland 90-3, 19.4 overs (I Joyce 33, L Delany 17*, A Kenealy 11*)
Ireland won by 7 wickets

But with two very close finishes Ireland’s net run rate was unable to compete with the Netherlands’, and it was the home side which took the honours, with the Irish second and Scotland, despite their opening win over Ireland, having to settle for third place.

Cricket Kenya’s news east Africa tournaments have received a boost with news that paint manufacturer Crown Berger has been signed up as the competition sponsor.

The deal is worth 1.5 Kenyan Shillings (US$16,000) and is to support both the Twenty 20 East Africa Premier League and 50-over East Africa Cup.

Hong Kong have redesigned their domestic cricket structure to account for the increasing numbers of players and the wide differentials in the players’ abilities. There is a streamlined Premier League incorporating two-day games and the Saturday, more social, cricket league has been split in two. The Twenty20 competition has been done away with. Charlie Burke, Hong Kong’s effervescent young coach, explains why.

Click here for the full story

Cricket Kenya’s latest initiative to help develop the strength of the country’s domestic game gets underway later this week with the start of the new regional Twenty20 and 50-over franchise competitions.

For a long time there has been a huge gap between standards of the country’s premier league run by the NPCA and the national team. A previous attempt to organise a competition for the leading players failed because of funding and a lack of interest among participants.

But following Kenya’s wretched performance at the World Cup, the board has made sweeping changes, backed by the government and stakeholders, and the East Africa Premier League and East African Cup are perhaps the boldest. Furthermore, the decision to include teams from neighbours Uganda will not only give an edge to matches, but will also help development in one of the most promising up-and-coming Associates.

Four teams from Kenya will participate - the Nairobi Buffaloes, Kongonis both based in the capital, the Rift Valley Rhinos from Nakuru and Coast Pekee in Mombasa - while Rwenzori Warriors and Nile Knights will represent Uganda. Teams will be comprised of international players, senior club players and age group cricketers aiming to make the national squads of both countries. The top two teams in each competition will compete in live televised finals at the end of October.

Cricket Kenya has agreed a broadcast deal with Supersport who will televise a number of live matches throughout Africa as well as a regular highlights and magazine programme.

“This is a hugely exciting development for cricket in the region, one which we hope will improve playing standards and ignite a real interest and passion for the game throughout the region,” CK’s chief executive Tom Sears said. “We hope by concentrating the pool of talent we have into a smaller number of teams playing highly competitive cricket, the fortunes of our national teams will improve over time and lower down, in domestic and age group cricket, standards will improve as players strive to make one of the franchise teams.

“There has already been significant interest in the East Africa Premier League and East African Cup from both the cricket and corporate worlds and we believe once the competition commences this will grow and continue to grow in future years.”

Forty-eight teams took part in the final round of the Chinese National Cricket Championships this year, 21 more than last year. The senior finals were played in Shanghai and the junior finals in Linhai. Shenyang Sport University, as they always have been, were the men’s champions, this time joined by their women’s team and a local high school team win as overall victors.

In all other categories there were new champions. “The matches were competitive and the standard was higher than in other years,” says ACC Development Officer for China Aminul Islam.

Sixty-six schools and universities across Beijing, Jinan, Linhai and Shanghai took part in the qualifying round for the championships. Eighty-nine T20 matches were played in the final rounds for the men, women and youth teams. Eight grounds, as yet with artificial turf, were used in Shanghai and Linhai and they. along with local umpires and scorers, were all in good condition. The highlights of the men’s final and the results were shown on Shanghai television.

“This is a milestone achieved as this will help to promote cricket in the country,” said Chinese Cricket Association Deputy Secretary General Zhang Tian.

Asian Cricket Council

THE Fiji Blues men's team will give themselves the best chance for success at World Cricket League Division 6 in September after confirming a one-week camp in Singapore before the tournament.

The 14-man squad, which will be named next week, will get the use of Singapore's state of the art facilities for the camp which includes both turf and synthetic wickets, international-standard grounds and an indoor training venue.

They will also play two warm-up matches against the Singapore A team.

Click here for the full story from the Fiji Times

Afghanistan, Namibia and Papua New Guinea won their games on the final day of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Ireland, to book their place in next year's tournament, which will be played in Queensland, Australia. Scotland, Nepal and Ireland, who finished at the top of the points table, had already qualified. These six teams will be joined by the ten Full Members at the World Cup.

Click here for full report

Southampton Rangers president Randy Raynor has denied making the “unilateral decision” to exclude his club from this year’s Western Counties competition.

It is alleged the former fast bowler, who currently serves as vice-president of the Western Counties Cricket Association (WCCA), ordered his players to boycott the series in protest of his association’s decision to play matches at Somerset Cricket Club.

Raynor insists the venue change is “unconstitutional” but has dismissed claims he personally ordered his players not to play in this year’s Western Counties.

He said: “Rangers club met and decided not to play under the grounds of the wrongful venue change.”

WCCA affiliates voted in favour of staging the series at Somerset during a quorum held earlier this year, something ex-Rangers player and president John Tucker has no qualms about.

Even though Somerset is not affiliated with the association, Tucker claims the WCCA are still within their right to stage matches at their venue.

He said: “Randy said we are not playing because they changed the constitution to allow the match to be played at Somerset Cricket Club. But I played in Western Counties matches at Somerset on two occasions before.

“My first time in county I played at Somerset Cricket Club.

“Whoever won the cup could take the game wherever they wanted to go within the Western Counties boundaries. And in those days we played at Somerset Cricket Club.”

According to the WCCA’s constitution and bye-laws “under certain circumstances the central committee may consider other venues for playing purposes” at their own discretion.

Tucker said Rangers’ boycott has ruffled feathers at the club and he insists the team should’ve played – sentiments he is certain would’ve been echoed by competition co-founder and mentor Sheridan Raynor.

The legendary all-rounder remains hospitalized after suffering a stroke last December.

Tucker said: “As one of the founders of the Western Counties Sheridan would have wanted the players to play and would’ve been very upset that they didn’t.

“I am very disappointed that Rangers are boycotting the Western Counties final.

“Lots of Rangers’ members wanted the team to play in the Western Counties and they are very upset that they are not. A lot of them are saying this whole thing is ridiculous.

“Randy Raynor is the president of Rangers and vice-president of the Western Counties therefore he has enough influence to encourage Rangers to play.

“It’s a disgrace. It doesn’t make things right to boycott and there are a lot of people who are very upset about the decision.”

Colin Thompson

This article first appeared in the Bermuda Sun