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North Division

Yorkshire, at least, will be relieved at the rain that brought their match at Derby to an untimely conclusion in the 22nd over, . The Derbyshire seamers had put their team well in the ascendancy, on course for another victory, but in the end it was the weather that had the last word.Yorkshire were put in to bat on a greenish pitch in a damp atmosphere, and were in trouble right from the start. Charl Langeveldt quickly found the conditions to his liking, whipping out Craig White, caught at slip for 1, and Anthony McGrath, caught at the wicket for 0; 6 for 2. Andrew Gale (11) chipped Graham Wagg low to mid-on to make it 23 for 3.Jacques Rudolph got his head down and fought it out, but Adam Lyth ignored the conditions and played some handsome drives, most notably a cover drive that was through the fielder before he could react effectively. His 18, a little cameo, came to a cruel end: he was hit a crippling blow in the box, and when he eventually decided he was fit to face up again, he was immediately bowled by a beauty from Tom Lungley.Shortly afterwards the rain came, and Derbyshire could only survey the dismal landscape with regret. Rudolph finished unbeaten with 14 and, had the rain stopped, he would have carried quite a weight on his shoulders.Stephen and Ben Harmison conspired for Durham to consign Scotland to a 38-run loss at Chester-le-Street. Fifties for Phil Mustard and Neil McKenzie lifted Durham to a useful 230 and as soon as Gavin Hamilton fell to Callum Thorp, the visitors started slipping – they slid from 22 for 1 to 51 for 5, the Harmisons doing most of the damage with three wickets apiece. Neil McCallum and Richard Berrington essayed a mini-rescue – McCallum was in good touch with 60 – but their efforts were, in the end, cosmetic.

South West Division

Gloucestershire and Hampshire got in some early Twenty20 practice at Bristol – and it was a thriller, Gloucestershire emerging winners and new table-toppers with two balls left. Somehow they picked themselves up from 15 for 3 and 27 for 4 – Shane Bond the chief wrecker with 3 for 11 from four overs – and gradually began to pick up the run-rate chasing 145 through Craig Spearman (67 from 44 balls) and Mark Hardinges, who made 49 not out off 44 deliveries. Michael Lumb topscored with 76 to push Hampshire to 144 for 6, while Jon Lewis shone with 3 for 17.Glamorgan continued a gloomy week at Swansea: after being crushed by Northamptonshire in the Championship, Worcestershire outplayed them on Sunday. The visitors restricted them to 135 for 9 from their revised 31 overs; hardly even a competitive Twenty20 total. Worcestershire made light work of the ask, losing only Steve Davies, Moeen Ali and Vikram Solanki, who made 69, as they completed the job comfortably with 17 balls remaining.

South East Division

Surrey wasted no time hunting down Essex‘s 215 in a match reduced to 40 overs, with their captain Mark Butcher and Usman Afzaal leading the charge in an unbroken 109-run stand, each reaching fifty, after Scott Newman’s half-century. James Benning also made 38. Varun Chopra’s 79 from as many balls was the platform from which Essex had built their total but even lower-order contributions from James Middlebrook and David Masters were not enough at Chelmsford and Surrey were home with 22 balls remaining.Middlesex‘s tie with Sussex called off very early at Southgate, leaving Sussex rooted to the bottom with only one win in six.

Midlands Division

The Midlands league was hardly the joy division, with both scheduled fixtures abandoned through rain without a ball bowled. Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire stay joint second in the Midlands Division after watching the rain at Northampton, while the wash-out between Warwickshire and Ireland at Edgbaston confirmed the sides’ status as the bottom two. The wooden spoon slot is yet to be determined.

Luton:
Suffolk 337 (IS Morton 73)
Bedfordshire 12/0Reading:
Berkshire 278 (JC Morris 80, NJ Wilton 56, KJ Nash 5-96)
Wiltshire 57/1.Beaconsfield:
Staffordshire 81-9 (A Umpleby 6-38)
BuckinghamshireOxton:
Cheshire 327-6d (N Cross 79, DN Leech 61, RG Hignett 61)
Wales 0/0Luctonians:
Dorset 129 (TJ Deakin 53, KE Cooper 7-49)
Herefordshire 32-5.Grantham:
Hertfordshire 364-8d (SJ Lowe 105, BJ Frazer 63, TP Cranston 59)
Lincolnshire 27/0.Banbury:
Devon 215/5 (M Hunt 58, R Dawson 51)
OxfordshireFenners:
Cambridgeshire 106/7 (G Freear 62)
Northumberland

Cameron Cuffy’s place in the West Indies team for the forthcoming International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy isn’t altogether certain.In light of concerns over his fitness, chief selector Sir Vivian Richards confirmed yesterday that following an assessment by the selection panel over the next few days, a final determination will be made.A West Indies Cricket Board release later in the day, which outlined details of an agreement reached with the West Indies Players Association, mentioned that the team "will proceed to Sri Lanka on September 5 barring injuries".After a recent knee operation, the gangling Vincentian fast bowler made an unimpressive return to competitive cricket by playing in the last two preliminary matches of the Red Stripe Bowl.He hardly looked the part and often struggled when bowling and fielding.Cuffy is usually impeccable in line and length at regional level, but he went for 56 runs from his 10 overs on his first appearnce in the Bowl against Barbados a week ago.

Though the Indian Premier League is a Twenty20 tournament, Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag wants performances in the high-profile event to be taken into account when the Indian team for the tri-series in Bangladesh is selected on May 30.”IPL performances should matter. Everyone is watching it,” he said. “I think the selectors should take IPL performances into account when they select the Indian squad.”A number of youngsters have made their mark in the IPL and Sehwag felt, given the amount of international cricket ahead, they should be picked to the national squad on a rotation basis. “So many youngsters have done well in the tournament. For us, Shikhar Dhawan has done well, so have Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan.”India play a tri-series in Bangladesh, they play the Asia Cup in Pakistan and then there is the Champions Trophy. There’s a lot of cricket is to be played this year and I think selectors should, on rotation, give chances to the youngsters to play alongside the seniors.”Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, had earlier said that the selectors would watch the second half of the IPL to gauge the form and fitness of players ahead of the tri-series in Bangladesh, which starts on June 8. However, he had also said: “IPL is a very good concept. Young players with potential have come along. But one-day internationals are a different ball game.”

Redlynch & Hale must be wondering what they have to do to climb out of the Southern Electric Premier League Division 3 relegation zone.With Iain Souter hitting an unbeaten 107 and sharing a 119-run stand with Steve Fox (59), they posted a healthy 272-5 against Ventnor at Steephill.But the Islanders romped home by six-wickets, veteran Jeff Hose bludgeoning 91 and Academy teenager Mark Miller (60) marking his return from a back injury with a supporting knock.Richie Morgan (84) helped leaders Alton beat Leckford by five wickets, while South African Willen Prozesky took 4-54 and then hammering 153 not out as Purbrook overhauled Hartley Wintney’s 262-8.Third placed Flamingo swept to a fifth successive win, beating Waterlooville by 33 runs and St Cross Symondians got home by five wickets against Hambledon.Hursley Park continued their improvement with a healthy 65-run victory over Bashley (Rydal) II.

One of the most treasured artefacts remaining from the 125-year history of Canterbury cricket returns home this weekend for the first time in three decades.The ball with which Albert Moss took all 10 wickets in an innings on his Canterbury debut in 1889, creating a record that has never been matched, was lost to the Canterbury Cricket Association in the early 1970s.On Sunday it will be displayed at Addington Raceway in Christchurch as part of a function when the best Canterbury men’s and women’s teams will be announced in a competition run by The Press.Moss was a 26-year-old from Leicestershire, England, who emigrated to Christchurch to avoid the tuberculosis that killed his bootmaker father.A fast bowler, Moss took 10-28 against Wellington at Hagley Park in December 1889, forever etching his name in the history books. The ball was mounted and decorated with a commemorative plaque. It became Moss’ most valued possession.Yet Moss played just three further games for Canterbury and a drink problem led to his wife leaving him and taking Moss’ valued momento with her.Moss fled Christchurch in shame for South America. From there, still an alcoholic, he travelled to South Africa, still looking for deliverance.The fast-bowling clerk’s decision to join the Salvation Army in South Africa changed his life around and Moss became a respected figure in Pretoria for his good works for the Army.His wife, Mary, back in New Zealand, chanced upon a copy of War Cry, the Sallies magazine, which mentioned Moss’ rehabilitation and the work he was doing in South Africa.She sent him the ball and then remarried the reformed Moss after following him to South Africa.After Moss’ death in 1945 his famous ball was sent to Lancaster Park, as was his wish.In the early 1970s the Salvation Army rediscovered the story and recovered the ball for use as a prop when telling the salutary tale.Only last week was the ball refound by the CCA and will be seen for the first time in 30 years by the cricket fraternity on Sunday.However, the ball will be returned to the Salvation Army’s Major Rodney Knight after it is exhibited at Addington. Back in the seventies the CCA did not realise the full value of the ball and there was some dispute when it tried to recover the heirloom in the late 1980s.Only now has an agreement been finalised to allow to ball to be exhibited by the CCA on special occasions like this Sunday’s celebration, when the amazing tale of Albert Moss will be revived once more.

Somerset fans will be delighted at the news that they will have the services of their two England players Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick for some of their early season matches before the start of the home test series and the triangular one day international tournament.Both players will be missing from the match against Cardiff UCCE at Millfield School, and they will also miss out on the County Championship opener against Sussex at Hove on April 24th, plus the first three Benson and Hedges matches.However Caddick and Trescothick will be available to play for the Cidermen in the Benson and Hedges games against Gloucestershire at Bristol on Sunday May 5th, and against Worcestershire the following day at the County Ground, and the pair will also be able to play in the county championship match against Yorkshire, which starts on Wednesday May 8th.Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: "As last year we are disappointed that they are going to be missing from the first three Benson and Hedges matches, but we will just have to get on with it. However we are delighted that they will be available to play in the Queens Golden Jubilee match against reigning champions Yorkshire."The Somerset Chief added; "We have also had it confirmed that Richard Johnson will not be a centrally contracted England player and will be available to play for Somerset from the start of the season."Meanwhile Marcus Trescothick who returned from New Zealand last Friday was at the County Ground watching his county team-mates play a forty over match between themselves on Saturday and also again when they beat the West of England Premier League XI on Monday.

Channel Four cricket presenter Dermot Reeve was married to Fiona Parkes at Hornsbury Mill, near Chard at the end of last week.Dermot enjoyed a highly successful cricketing career and played in 3 Test Matches and 29 One Day Internationals for England. He also led Warwickshire during their record breaking run in the 1990’s before joining Somerset as First team coach in 1997.He may have left Somerset during the 2000 season to enable him to further develop his media work, but many agree that the successes of the current team are a legacy of the time that he spent at the club.The couple met through cricket just over a year ago, whilst Fiona who hails from Sydney in Australia was working for a cricket hosting company.The wedding at Hornsbury Mill was a private function with several of the brides family making the journey from Australia to be present at the occasion.The couple hosted a reception at their house in North Curry in Somerset last night that was attended by a large number of their friends and sporting colleagues.The couple have no plans to go away in the immediate future. Dermot told me: “The rest of my life will be my honeymoon.”

Hampshire keep their options open and take 13 players to Canterbury for their opening Benson & Hedges Cup clash with Kent on Tuesday.The squad is: Robin Smith (captain), Adi Aymes (Wicket-keeper), Neil Johnson, Will Kendall, Derek Kenway, Jason Laney, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Alex Morris, Zac Morris, Alan Mullally, John Stephenson, Shaun Udal and Giles White.

Match facts

October 26, 2012
Start time 1730 local (1530 GMT)Mitchell Starc: a possible Test star for years to come•Getty Images

Big Picture

As expected of a young tournament with potentially different qualifiers every year, we have a semi-final between two sides that have never met each other. However, these two sides – not literally, but the regions they are derived from – are traditional powerhouses in their respective countries.It is generally said that a healthy New South Wales equals a healthy Australia. The same can be said of Pretoria and surrounds, the region the Titans represent, and South Africa. This is one of the appeals of the Champions League. We can quibble about the formats, but here are two teams, traditionally best or thereabouts in their own domestic tournaments, facing each other for a right to play the final of a lucrative tournament.Sydney Sixers don’t have Shane Watson or David Warner (both New South Welshmen now) available, but Titans have lost out on more stars for various reasons. Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers all come from the region, yet they are either injured or representing other franchises, South African or Indian. Sixers, on the other hand, have retained services of a homegrown pace attack that has even Test fans excited. If only Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were going up against Steyn, Morkel and Marchant de Lange, we could even have looked at this as a bit-sized precursor to the blockbuster Test series next month.

Watch out for…

Starc and Cummins have been known outside Australia for some time now, but this was an important tournament for Josh Hazlewood. The rest of the world now knows of another potential baggy green holder. He might not have taken many wickets, but he has bowled his quota in all the four matches he has played, and has gone at just 4.5 per over. Starc, who is leading the charts with 11 wickets, will no doubt acknowledge Hazlewood’s contribution to his wickets.Forget homegrown players, Titans have the services of one who has taken a rather circuitous route. Alfonso Thomas was born in Cape Town, moved to the North-West team in Potchefstroom, then joined Titans, before leaving for Dolphins and then came back to Titans. Despite his one Twenty20 international representing South Africa, he is mostly known to those outside South Africa as a Somerset professional. He will be key if Titans are to exploit what remotely resembles a weakness: Sixers’ batting.

Weather and conditions

The forecast point to a “mostly sunny” day and a “mostly clear” evening in Centurion. If it does rain enough to wash the game out, we still have a reserve day on Saturday. That reduces the teams’ challenge to dealing with the slightly tacky bounce at SuperSport Park. That this is Titans’ home ground should give them a slight advantage.

Quotes

“There won’t be any change in game plan. Everybody knows their role and we will continue to play our roles whether Shane’s here or not. So, I don’t think that is going to be an issue.”