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List of contracted players

Suzie Bates (Otago Volts), Samantha Curtis (Auckland Hearts), Sophie Devine (Wellington Blaze), Holly Huddleston (Auckland Hearts), Hayley Jensen (Canterbury Magicians), Felicity Leydon-Davis (Northern Spirit), Sara McGlashan (Auckland Hearts), Morna Nielsen (Northern Spirit), Katie Perkins (Auckland Hearts), Rachel Priest (Wellington Blaze)

Ten New Zealand women cricketers have been awarded annual playing contracts by New Zealand Cricket. It is the first time a select group has been retained on annual contracts, having previously only been paid assembly fees when training and playing for the national team.Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen and Felicity Leydon-Davis are some of the newcomers that have made it to the list, which also includes experienced players like captain Suzie Bates, Sara McGlashan and Rachel Priest. However, allrounder Nicola Brown had opted out, owing to her job commitments with the Hamilton City Council which restricts her availability for every tour.”This group of players are expected to form the core of our team over the next 12 months and likely play a key role in how successful we are during this time,” women’s coach Hamish Barton said.”Young players like Felicity Leydon-Davis and Hayley Jensen really took their opportunities during the summer and we’re excited about their ongoing development. That’s balanced out by more experienced players like Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine, so there’s a good mix in there.”It’s a busy upcoming summer for us and I know that both myself and the team are incredibly excited about the opportunities in front of us, beginning with our tour of the West Indies in September.”The contracts, which run from August 1 2014 to July 31 2015, come under the terms of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NZC and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA). The contracts have been structured in a manner similar to the men’s senior team, with the top 10 players receiving an annual retainer based on a ranking process involving T20 and ODI cricket. The contract retainers are tiered between $10,000 to $12,000 per annum and also provide for daily assembly fees for all players selected for training camps and international tours. Players outside the top-ten bracket will receive a casual playing contract when they are selected in the team.

Graham Onions said he is “devastated” after learning he will probably miss the remainder of the season due to an abdominal injury.Onions suffered the setback during the Royal London Cup match against Nottinghamshire and his recovery timeframe has been put at around six weeks which uses up much of the rest of the summer.Onions said: “I was obviously devastated when I received the results of the scan as the next six weeks of the season are hugely important for the team””Although I don’t think I can play for the rest of the season, I’ll be doing everything I can to try to get fit and help the lads out during those final few games.”He later tweeted: “A season to forget personally but still 6 huge weeks for the Durham lads to win some silverware. It’s going to be a long winter.”It has been a difficult season for Onions who has also had to battle a back injury which has restricted him to five Championship matches and a modest haul of 12 wickets at 42.00. Earlier in the year he was part of the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka but any hopes he had of adding to his nine Test caps appear to have disappeared.Meanwhile, Durham have announced that Gareth Breese, the 38-year-old former West Indies allrounder, will leave after 11 years at the county.John Lewis, the head coach, said: “Gareth has turned himself into a bit of a legend at the club. He’s been an outstanding servant, a really good team man and a positive guy to have in the dressing room all the time. It’s always been a big part of Gareth that he puts others before himself and that’s what has made him so popular.”

Whatever the personnel when the sides are announced prior to the start ofthe second Ashes Test in Adelaide, Australia will start the match as firmfavourites to go two-nil up in the series. England’s plans have been throwninto disarray by a succession of injuries, while Australia could put theirsecond eleven on to the field and still be favourites to win. Australia Acould not force a win in Hobart in the tourists’ last match, but theycertainly did nothing to restore England’s confidence.Before dwelling on England’s misfortunes, it should be said that Australiathemselves are not completely free of injury doubts. Jason Gillespie isstill feeling the effects of his calf strain and is being given as long aspossible to recover. If he cannot do so, Brett Lee will come back into theside.Lee has taken 21 wickets for New South Wales since being dropped from theside for the first Test in Brisbane and has recaptured the speed that madehim such a fearsome proposition until his recent dip in form. If Gillespieis fit, Lee might have to wait until Perth before regaining his place as hehas said himself that his replacement, Andy Bichel, has done a perfectlygood job for the side.England would dearly love to have a problem like that of the Australians. Atthe start of the tour, captain Nasser Hussain said that his side stood achance of regaining the Ashes provided fortune smiled and he could call on afull complement of fit players. The decimation of the party and their dreambegan before they left England. That was when Graham Thorpe dropped out ofthe original selection to be replaced by Robert Key.A damaging blow, but at least Key was fit and raring to go. The same couldnot be said for the rest of the party. Darren Gough (knee), Michael Vaughan(knee), Mark Butcher (knee), Andrew Flintoff (hernia), and Simon Jones (rib)were all travelling with injuries of varying degrees of seriousness toovercome.Vaughan and Butcher came through without further mishap. Gough never tookthe field before returning home to seek further career-saving medical help.Flintoff has simply failed to get over his hernia operation as expected andis now said to be out until the fourth Test. There was no problem aboutJones’ rib, but then he suffered that horrendous knee injury on day one atBrisbane and is out for the rest of the tour and into the foreseeablefuture.Add to that casualty list the shoulder scare concerning Marcus Trescothick,the shin splints suffered by Steve Harmison, and a bout of concussion, thebruised hip that makes John Crawley doubtful for Adelaide, and the fracturedwrist sustained by Ashley Giles, and it is no wonder that the Englanddressing room resembles a casualty clearing station. Of the 16 namesannounced by the selectors on 10th September, only six have not featured inmedical bulletins.That is all history. What matters now is that England manage to restore somepride and make the most of what they have available. Whatever the result, abattling performance in which team and individuals do themselves justicewould go a long way towards bolstering credibility. And a little bit of luck would not go amiss.As for the Australians, they must be really worried. Consider the dilemmathat is occupying them even once they get the Gillespie situation sortedout. How do they resolve the problem of getting Martin Love – the man whoaverages 451 in two innings against the tourists – into the Test side. Nowonder their selectors have furrowed brows.

Alec Stewart will walk out on his favourite ground tomorrow to become England’s most-capped Test cricketer. The first Test against India at Lord’s will be Stewart’s 119th for England, beating the record set by Graham Gooch.At the start of this season few would have backed Stewart to equal Gooch’s record, let alone beat it, after James Foster was named as England’s centrally-contracted wicket-keeper. But Foster’s misfortune in breaking an arm in the nets in April reopened the door to the 39 year-old from Surrey, who has taken full advantage.Stewart is now likely to enjoy a final tilt at the old enemy in this winter’s Ashes series, and the World Cup that follows in South Africa next February.”The first (Test) is always your biggest cap because every schoolboy wants to play for their country,” Stewart said. “I’ve never been as nervous as when I went out to bat in Jamaica on my debut, but once you get that you then want morebecause you enjoy the occasion.”There’s a thrill about playing for England and a thrill about testing yourself against the best from other countries and that almost spurs you on to want more of it.”Some people get intimidated but others seem to thrive on the full houses andthe big occasions and fortunately I put myself in that category – the morepeople watching and the bigger the occasion the more I like to respond.”He rates that debut among the highlights of his career, along with the Test in Barbados in 1994 when he became the first England player ever to score centuries in both innings of a Test against West Indies, and leading England to a series victory over South Africa four years ago.World Cup campaigns feature among the low points, including the final defeat in 1992 and the campaigns in 1996 and 1999, alongside his failure to come even close to winning the Ashes.Stewart’s parents, Micky and Sheila, will be at Lord’s for the occasion, which will be marked by a presentation to him from captain Nasser Hussain before play starts.”I’ll be trying to treat it like any other Test match, but when you see the list of people I’ve gone past like Gooch, Gower, Geoff Boycott, Ian Botham andColin Cowdrey they are England cricket legends and that’s quite an achievementto have done that,” he said.With the squad beset by injuries to Andrew Caddick, Marcus Trescothick, Alex Tudor and Darren Gough, England coach Duncan Fletcher said Glamorgan’s Simon Jones has “a strong chance” of making his Test debut, although Yorkshire’s ChrisSilverwood is on standby in case of further injuries.Meanwhile, the Indian tourists had the day off yesterday, following their win over Hampshire at Southampton, but the touring party attended an award dinner last night in which star batsman Sachin Tendulkar was named as the fans’ choice for Indian cricketer of the century.The official cricketer of the century was named in Wisden Asia’s ceremony asall-rounder Kapil Dev, but Tendulkar, 29, who equalled Sir Donald Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries earlier this year, came out on top in the voting polls.Tendulkar came out ahead of Sunil Gavaskar, who holds the record number of centuries in Test cricket, 34 in 125 Tests.Tendulkar said: “It’s a great honour to receive this award. Travelling with the team is like a home-from-home for me and they offer me tremendous support in what I try to achieve as a cricketer.”

A Nick Horsley century and an explosive hour before tea put all the permutations, calculations and mathematical intrusions surrounding the last State Championship match of the season to rest as Auckland first cemented its title.In a match of two targets, Wellington on the last day set themselves the task of, at best bowling Auckland out for 168 or fewer to win the Championship based on a net average runs per wicket calculation or, at worse bowl Auckland out for less than 242 to gain the solace of an outright win over the champions.But in 11-and-a-half overs from the afternoon drinks break to shortly before tea Horsley and Tama Canning plundered 79 to take the score from 81/3 to 160/4 and in the process buried Wellington’s hopes of achieving either target.Canning ended his spree with 43, characteristically caught on the boundary. Horsley went on to complete his maiden first-class century, a mixture of early defence that turned into an aggressive attack, his 100 coming from 186 balls and including three sixes and 14 fours.In the end, bad light saved Wellington from outright defeat, Auckland finishing on 217/4 with 22 overs in hand, a miserly 26 runs short, but not able to cast sufficient light on the increasing gloom.At the start of the day, Wellington, 10/1 overnight and facing an exceptionally defensive field, pushed the singles around to reach 48 without losing another wicket. At that point they declared, giving Auckland the relatively generous target of 243 runs from a minimum of 88 overs to win the match but at the same time giving themselves sufficient time to bowl Auckland out for fewer than the 169 that the calculators had decided would give the Championship leaders the title.Wellington had achieved a couple of Houdini escapes during the season; this was not to be one of them.For a time they had some hope. Tim McIntosh gone in the first over, beaten by Andrew Penn. Rob Lynch (20) and Sanjeewa Silva (15) gone by the middle of the afternoon with the run rate never much above two an over. But time was slipping away for Wellington.Then came the Horsley/Canning heroics and Wellington’s hopes were quickly buried. Bowlers who had kept the Auckland batsmen constrained suddenly looked easy pickings, no better demonstrated than by Horsley’s cracking three fours in an over from James Franklin to rush through the 90s and beyond.It was an anti-climax that a match worthy of a Championship final – albeit a de facto one – should come to an end prematurely through the intrusion of bad light.Wellington had done everything they could to try to bring off what was always an unlikely Championship victory – a big first innings total, restricting Auckland’s first innings and offering a generous declaration. But it was not enough. First inning points were little solace for the loss of a title that was never quite in their grasp.

Just at the time when Leicestershire thought they were putting their problems behind them, they have received a serious blow to their rebuilding plans. Things were looking up with the announcement on Tuesday that long-serving administrator Kevin Hill is to take over as general manager and yesterday’s re-signing of Paul Nixon. So it will be a disappointment that Iain Sutcliffe has today turned down the chance of becoming county captain.Left-handed opening batsman and vice-captain Sutcliffe was offered the post when Vince Wells was stripped of the captaincy. Furthermore, the 27 year-old has declined the offer of a new three-year playing contract which will leave a substantial hole in their resources. Last season in first-class cricket he scored over a thousand runs at an average of 41.84 as well as eight hundred runs in limited overs cricket at 38.47.Hill accepted Sutcliffe’s decision with sorrow. “I am obviously disappointed that Iain has decided to pursue his career elsewhere. I had hoped that he and I would work closely together and share the same aspirations to achieve success for the club. I would like to thank Iain for his contribution to the club in recent years and I wish him every success in the future. We have to accept this and move forward. I will be discussing the situation with the club’s management in the near future.”There will be no shortage of offers to Sutcliffe for his services, with Lancashire thought to be among the leading contenders for his signature.

Sri Lanka hope to avoid a Pakistani backlash in their firstouting at Tangiers on Wednesday after Waqar Younis’s side lost by54 runs in the opening match of the Morocco Cup.Pakistan will be desperate to comeback strongly after adisappointing performance, but Sri Lankan captain SanathJayasuriya is confident his side can make a victorious start totheir campaign.”Spirits are high, we know what we have to do and everyone islooking forward to the first game,” said Jayasuriya, adding, “wehave picked the best possible squad for this tournament and Ibelieve it’s a very good team.”During the last two Sharjah tournaments we have been winning thegroup games and then losing in the final – we want to improve onthat and perform consistently throughout this tournament.”Having seen how the pitch behaved on Monday, Jayasuriya hascalled for a special effort from his bowlers.”The wicket was quite flat and there will be a lot of hard workfor the bowlers,” he said. “They are going to have bowl verystraight like the South Africans did yesterday.”Sri Lanka are still to decide on their preferred bowlingcombination, but the absence of significant spin means that theyare likely to play three frontline fast bowlers and medium paceall-rounder Hasantha Fernando ahead of leg-spinner Upul Chandana.”The Pakistani batsmen are good players of spin and we have beendiscussing the best combination, looking at how many fast bowlerswe need – the issue is who to play at the number seven position,”said Jayasuriya.Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando are certain to play, withPulasthi Gunaratne, who impressed during the final ODI againstBangladesh, getting the nod for the final pace bowling berth.Sri Lanka will also be looking ape South Africa’s industrious anddisciplined approach in the batting department, which proved moreeffective than Pakistan’s more explosive style on a slow pitch.”There is a lot of responsibility on the batsmen,” saidJayasuriya. “If we get a chance to bat first, one of us has toget established and make a very good score like HerschelleGibbs.”Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya will open the batting, withKumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold in themiddle order and veteran Aravinda de Silva at number six.Match winner Muttiah Muralitharan will play despite only being90% fit having strained a hamstring in Sri Lanka’s first practicesession after arrival.After a disastrous tour of England, the mood within the Sri Lankacamp is increasingly upbeat with selection and injury problemsfading into the background.So far their greatest problem in Morocco has been their inabilityto communicate in French.”We have never been in this part of the world and the players areenjoying the experience, but the French language has been aproblem – it’s making it very difficult to order our food!” jokedJayasuriya.Pakistan, meanwhile, may consider changes to their bowling attackafter off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq conceded 80 runs in his allottedten overs.Saqlain could make way for fast bowling all-rounder AzharMahmood, a swap that have the additional advantage ofstrengthening the batting order.Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya(Capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jaywardene,Russel Arnold, Aravinda de Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, UpulChandana, Hasantha Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, Chamila LakshithaGamage, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, PulasthiGunaratne, Charitha Buddika FernandoPakistan:Waqar Younis (Capt), Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood,Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif, SaeedAnwar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shahid Alfridi, Shoaib Malik, WasimAkram, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana

Hampshire skipper Shane Warne reckons that he is in the best form of hiscareer.Warne recorded his sixth Test haul of ten wickets or more in a match as Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs during a thrilling first Test in Colombo yesterday.The 33-year-old, contracted to captain Hampshire for the next two seasons,took 7-94 in the first innings, his best figures since 1995, in clinching the man-of-the-match award.And, after taking 4-94 in Pakistan’s second innings – ensuring match figuresof 11-188, he said: “My form over the last 12 months in Test cricket hasbeen as good as it’s ever been. My last 14 or 15 matches have been the most successful time I’ve ever had.”Warne, who is fitter than ever, added: “I’ve noticed the difference in my recovery. Now that I’ve lost a couple of stone, I always feel better thenext day.”Australia host England after this series against Waqar Younis’s side butWarne will return to Hampshire, his `second home’, after touring the West Indies in six months’ time.The former Australia vice captain, who has been reinstated as Victoria’s skipper, is currently liaising with director of cricket Tim Tremlett andspoke to potential overseas players during the recent ICC Champions Trophy.Neil Johnson, still in the frame to play a third season as a specialistbatsman with Hampshire, who are aiming to sign their second overseas player as soon as possible.In the meantime Warne is basking in the glow of yet another match-inning performance for his country. He made up for the first `pair’ of his Testcareer by having Misbah ul Haq caught in the covers to make it ten wicketsin the match yesterday morning.Ul Haq had made ten when he hit a leading edge straight to Australia captain Steve Waugh. But it was Warne’s 11th and final wicket that proved the crucial scalpThe wicket of Younis Khan ensured Warne his biggest haul since taking 11 wickets against England at the Oval a year ago. And, after Younis wastrapped leg before to a trademark Warne flipper, Pakistan lost their lastfour wickets for just 29 runs.Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath ripped through the lower order with thenew ball and Pakistan were bowled out for 274, having been 175-3 overnight.Warne was twice dismissed for nought by Shoaib Akhtar, who produced one ofthe great spells of fast bowling as Australia were shot out for 127 intheir second innings.That took his tally of ducks in Test cricket to 27 – only Courtney Walsh (43) has more.But Warne loves his batting.Rest assured that a maiden first class century will be one of his personal goals when he returns to Hampshire in May.

Marcus Trescothick returned to one day action in some considerable style at the County Ground, Taunton today, as Somerset recaptured their one day form to defeat Hampshire with overs to spare…Chasing a Hampshire total of 262, captain Marcus led from the front by making an impressive 133 to help the home side cruise to a six wicket victory.By the time that the England man and his opening partner Peter Bowler had rattled up 61 off the first ten overs the game was almost won, such was the domination of the Somerset batsmen over the Hampshire attack.Marcus stayed at the wicket until victory was in sight, sharing in an opening stand of 130 with Peter Bowler(41), before being caught at the wicket off Alan Mullally, who himself had dropped Trescothick just a few overs earlier.Earlier in the day Hampshire had looked set to post a formidable total themselves after Derek Kenway (30) and Neil Johnson (52) had put on 54 in the first ten overs, but were reined back by some tight bowling from Richard Johnson, who ended with 2 for 42, and a good fielding performance.Despite a quietly efficient display of batting from John Crawley who made 113, Hampshire failed to achieve their early promise, and set a total that was at least 40 runs short of what might have been a more challenging total for Somerset to chase.In the end it was left to Ian Blackwell (34) and Keith Parsons (21) to see Somerset home to a deserved victory at just after 5.45 pm with more that four overs to spare, and a lucrative home tie against Worcestershire in the quarter finals of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy next month.Hampshire’s Director of Cricket Tim Tremlett admitted that their innings had lost its way after a good start, they were a good 40-50 runs short of what we would have hoped for. John Crawley batted magnificently, but his partners failed to support well enough.

Pakistan will meet hosts Kenya in the opening match of next month’s cricket tri-series which was shifted to a neutral venue over security fears in Pakistan.World champions Australia, who cited security concerns over playing in Pakistan, is the third team in the competition to be held in Nairobi from Aug 29 to Sept 7.Australia play in the second match of the competition against Pakistan on Aug 30. The top two teams clash in the final on Sept 7.The Australian Cricket Board has approved the itinerary and Pakistan and Australian officials will visit Nairobi to oversee the final arrangements later this week.Meanwhile PCB official said Tuesday President Pervez Musharraf had contacted Australian Prime Minister John Howard to help convinced the Australian Cricket Board to undertake their Test tour of the country planned for OctoberTri-series schedule:Aug 29: Pakistan vs KenyaAug 30: Pakistan vs AustraliaAug 31: Rest daySept 1: Pakistan vs KenyaSept 2: Australia vs KenyaSept 3: Rest daySept 4: Australia vs PakistanSept 5: Australia vs KenyaSept 6: Rest daySept 7: Finals