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In what appears to be an unprecedented move, the Barbados CricketLeague (BCL) has been invited to field a team in the Barbados CricketAssociation’s national trials in preparation for the 2002 BustaSeries.President Glyne St Hill made the disclosure at the BCL’s annual clubawards ceremony on Friday night and it was confirmed yesterday by BCAconsultant Selwyn Smith, who met with St Hill on Thursday.We plan to work with the BCL to strengthen cricket in Barbados, saidSmith, who has day-to-day responsibility for the running of the BCA’ssecretariat.The selectors thought it would be a good idea to have a BCL team inthe trials. It is a way to make sure that we look at all thepossibilities in selecting our team.The BCL, which was founded in 1936 by the late Mitchie Hewitt, has arich history of producing several outstanding greats.They were also a formidable force in the BCA’s Division 1 competitionin the 1970s and early 1980s, but have struggled badly in the lastdecade in which they often finished bottom of the table.This season, however, the BCL Division 1 team has shown improvement,while the Reserve Zone team has surprised all and sundry to move tothe top of the table with two rounds of matches remaining.St Hill welcomed the chance for the BCL to have a presence in one ofthe four trial matches planned by the BCA.It is a wonderful opportunity. It is like opening a door, he said.St Hill said it was likely the BCL would field a youthful unit made upof players from the Division 1 and Reserve Zone teams, along with thebest of those in the 66 clubs participating in the domesticcompetitions.It will be representative of a true BCL side. We would not be fieldingplayers who are past their best.The good thing about it is that most of our players in Division 1 andthe Reserve Zone are under the age of 25.

The bad patch of Barbados captain Sherwin Campbell continuedyesterday on Day 1 of the second Busta Cup trial match atCarlton Club.Campbell, who has failed to reach 40 in any level of cricketsince returning from injury in September, again looked ashadow of himself as the trialists encountered another lessthan-ideal batting pitch.The former West Indies opener scratched around for all of 40minutes in making just six before edging a loose drive fromthe pacy Fidel Edwards for Jason Haynes standing in as threeother regular keepers were absent to take an excellent catchto his right.While this was happening, Dale Richards was slaughtering thewayward bowlers to register a bold 48 not out with sevenfours and a huge hook for six off 58 balls. He took 17 fromEdwards’ first over, while Campbell was scoreless off tenballs he faced from Edwards.The pair added 51 for the first wicket, and so contrastingwere their styles, it appeared as though they were battingon two different pitches.But the day belonged to 17-year-old left-arm spinner DerickBishop who cleverly grabbed five for 41 from 20.1 overs inhis first bowling opportunity.The selectors should take note of this improving allrounder,not just for the way he spins the ball, but the thought thatgoes into his bowling, and his excellent fielding to his ownbowling. Among his scalps were Ryan Hinds (three) and SeanArmstrong (one), two of the more reliable batsmen in thetrials.Another lefthand-spinner Sulieman Benn, a certain selection,had four for 65 as the two slow bowlers shared 44 of the 63overs.Kurt Wilkinson, with 69 not out in three hours, lookedpolished and mature on a slow pitch at his home ground; butthe lapses which sometimes creep into his batting, led to amix-up and run out of Anderson Sealy after they had pulledthe innings from 73 for seven to 140.

Australian pace bowler Andy Bichel will make his return to the XXXXQueensland Bulls playing ranks this week for the Pura Cup clash withTasmania at the Gabba starting Thursday.Bichel was omitted from the Australian team named yesterday to playSouth Africa in the First Orange Test in Adelaide after being 12th manfor each of the three Tests against New Zealand.The right-arm speedster will relish his return to action after notplaying a first class match since October.Bichel replaces allrounder James Hopes in the only change to theQueensland twelve that defeated NSW outright at the Gabba two weeks ago.The match marks a milestone for Bulls captain Stuart Law, who willovertake Queensland great Sam Trimble’s record for the most first classgames for the State.Trimble, who played 133 games for Queensland and is the State’s leadingruns-scorer of all-time, will attend Bulls training tomorrow (Tuesday)at the Gabba from 2pm to meet with Law and pass on his best wishes.Both men will be available for interview. The Bulls will train from 3pm.Meanwhile Tasmania have called on former Queensland paceman MatthewPascoe to make his debut for the Tigers in the match.Pascoe, who moved to Tasmania in the off-season to seek moreopportunities in first class cricket, will join fellow ex-QueenslandersShane Watson and Shane Jurgensen in the Tigers line-up.Tasmania arrives tomorrow morning and will stay at the Sheraton Hotel.They are scheduled to train at Gabba from 12pm-2pm tomorrow and 11am-1pmon Wednesday.XXXX Queensland Bulls: Stuart Law (c), Jimmy Maher, Jerry Cassell,Martin Love, Clinton Perren, Andrew Symonds, Wade Seccombe, Andy Bichel,Michael Kasprowicz, Nathan Hauritz, Ashley Noffke, Joe Dawes (12th manto be named).Tasmanian Tigers: Jamie Cox (c), Dene Hills (v-c), Sean Clingeleffer, Michael Dighton, Michael Di Venuto, Xavier Doherty, Shane Jurgensen, Daniel Marsh,Matthew Pascoe, David Saker, Shane Watson, Damien Wright, Shaun Young (one to be omitted, 12th man to be named).

On a day for cricket masochists, a delayed declaration, rain and two limpet-like openers gave Victoria a realistic chance of saving its Pura Cup match against Tasmania today.With a day to go, Victoria was still 350 runs behind after Tasmania batted until lunch, amassing a record 9-527 before declaring.In the 110 minutes of play possible from that point, Jason Arnberger (19) and Matthew Elliott (17) whittled 38 runs off the deficit.Rain permitting, the Victorians will still have to bat throughout tomorrow to deny Tasmania its first win of the season.Given the way the Bellerive Oval wicket is playing and the ease with which Arnberger and Elliott survived, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.Tasmania resumed at 6-435 and its innings meandered on for another two hours.In that time, wicketkeeper Sean Clingeleffer reached 112, his second century in successive matches, and fast bowler Damien Wright failed by a run to record histhird half century of the season.By lunch, Tasmania was well beyond its previous highest score against Victoria, 8-481 at Bellerive in 1996-97.Why Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox kept going so long, especially when the scoring rate was only moderate, is mysterious.The ease with which Clingeleffer and Wright batted on a wicket that had lost all its first day juice suggested that Victoria, which was mopped up for 139 in the first innings, would be a much tougher proposition second time around.Moreover, it was obvious from the clouds gathering around the ground that a full day’s play was unlikely.And so it proved.Arnberger and Elliott saw off five overs before light rain sent them off.Back they came after 37 minutes to resume their vigil.Everything that could be left – and there was plenty – was left and most of the rest was played with great care until, just before a delayed tea, heavier rain ended the day’s proceedings.The rain also gave the Victorians more time to rest from their labours in the field.With Damien Fleming out with a hamstring tear, the other bowlers carried a huge burden, none more so than Ian Harvey who took 3-136 from a marathon 47 overs.Captain Paul Reiffel, who dismissed Clingeleffer and Wright with the third new ball, finished with 4-71.It was a miserable day all round. The main interest was provided by a plover family, parents and two fragile chicks, who spent the morning browsing in the lush outfield, in grave danger of death from an off drive from the River end.Happily they survived.

There really isn’t a lot more than can be said about theWest Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka that hasn’t been saidalready.It will, of course, be recited all over again, with a newtwist to the story here and there, when the captain, coachand manager hold their debriefing with the top brass of theWest Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in what has become asomewhat macabre new year’s ritual.Once the turkey, the ham, the jug, the pepperpot, thepastelles, the punche de crème and all the other culinarydelights of Caribbean Christmas have been thoroughlydigested and are outwardly manifesting themselves in amonth’s time, Wes Hall and his colleagues will sit down todigest what went wrong on yet another overseas mission.They will hear many of the same phrases used by theconstantly changing personnel during similar ceremonies atthe same time of year after identical defeats in Pakistan,South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.Learning curve, mental toughness, commitment, inexperience,discipline and preparation are particular favourites.This time they may need the help of some specialist from theQEH to interpret some of the additions to the glossary suchas sick sinus syndrome and embryonic hernia.They will be heartened only in a couple of respects, eventhough the most exciting has been temporarily, but cruelly,compromised by the injury to Brian Lara.Lara’s rebirth was a major boost, not only for West Indiescricket but for the game as a whole.As is evident in Michael Jordan’s return to basketball andMike Tyson’s continuing presence in boxing, every sportneeds its special stars, whatever their shortcomings mightbe, and West Indies cricket needs them more than ever now.His was an extraordinary performance. He left the Caribbeanunder a cloud, still troubled by a dodgy hamstring, hismotivation doubted even by his most strident supporters, hisTest average languishing among the crowd at 47.It was only realistic to deduce, as Sir Everton Weekes did,that we had seen the best of the sublime left-hander.By his own acknowledgement, such factors rekindled Lara’sfire. He set himself two improbable goals: to lift hisaverage to above 50 once more and to pass 7000 Test runs.He needed to score over 600 in the three Tests to achievethe former, a height only ever reached by one batsman,Graham Gooch, and did it with runs to spare.The figure for 7000 was a little less taxing, a mere 467.He passed it with an innings in hand.His 688 runs were 370 more than the next West Indian,Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 318, and 421 more than the third, CarlHooper.These are mind-boggling statistics but they do not, cannot,reveal the class and command with which they were compiled.Nor can they tell the story of how he completely masteredMuttiah Muralitharan, the off-spinning wizard.While Murali tied everyone else up in tightly-bound knots,he was reduced to rare ordinariness by Lara’s mental andphysical strength, quick eye, twinkling footwork and, aboveall, refound desire.That he should have been on the side of a team soundlybeaten in each Test was a travesty.Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain who was one of thetelevision commentators, kept marvelling to himselfthroughout, I’ve never seen anything like this, never.West Indians were denied the chance of seeing it at all bythe absence of television coverage. It was unfortunate, forit was something to have lifted their spirits and somethingto tell their grandchildren about.Even if to a lesser extent, so too would Sarwan’s batting.In the pivotal position of No.3 for the first time, heearned an average of 53 through the discipline needed toaugment his rich talent.In everything he does, Sarwan has the makings of the kind ofexemplar West Indies cricket craves at present. He is aclassical touch player and a brilliant outfielder and cometo think of it a leg-spinner who should be encouraged more.Beyond that, and unlike so many young, West Indiancricketers, he has the necessary attributes of selfconfidence and personality. He never quite got the hang ofMurali, but few ever do and he refused to be daunted by him.Had Hooper, a proven master of spin, followed his example,the regular collapses once Sarwan was out might not havebeen quite as sudden.The mystery was beyond the comprehension of Marlon Samuels,Ridley Jacobs and the clueless bowlers, so Hooper’sstability at No.5 was crucial.But, with Lara each time at the opposite end, he could raiseonly two half-centuries in six Test innings and an averageof 27.83 that was a worrying reversion to his pre-captaincydays.Hooper’s tactical options were limited by the inexperiencedand unpenetrative bowling at his disposal on good pitchesagainst quality batting. But, generally, his tactics werelimited, full stop.It was clear he didn’t believe in his bowlers to makeanything of advantageous positions as were first inningstotals of 448 in the first Test and 390 in the third and SriLanka’s stuttering 53 for four and 163 for five on Day 1 ofthe second.Like Jimmy Adams before him, Hooper has proved a caring andconscientious leader but there is an absence of intuition inhis strategies, the appreciation of when to seize the momentwhen it comes along, rather than waiting for it to happen.They are traits that also eluded Adams and are in shortsupply at all levels of West Indies cricket at present. Itis born out of a climate of defeatism but only serves tofortify it.There were other areas clearly beyond Hooper’s control, suchas the inability of the openers, Chris Gayle and DarenGanga, to deal with the swinging ball.It was a deficiency not especially evident on theirsuccessful initial association in Zimbabwe and Kenya but itwas exploited by the control and accuracy of Chaminda Vaas.Vaas is 27. Pedro Collins, who also deals in left-arm fastbowling, is 25 and, through injury, is only now rebooting aTest career that began in 1999.With no match-practice prior to his inclusion in the secondTest, he perceptively improved with each match, becomingmore physically and mentally robust.He increasingly swung the ball back into the right-handers,developed reverse swing and used change of pace. All carriedthe cautious stamp of a bowler still finding his way at thislevel but there is something to work with.He, Merv Dillon and whoever among the rest show the abilityand keenness needed for success could become a useful, ifnot devastating, combination.Certainly in his very brief appearance, Jermaine Lawson, at20, showed enough pace and aggression to prompt optimism.When they are finished with their annual conference of woe,the hierarchy might conclude that, however dreadful thingslook now and they could hardly be more so the future shouldnot be all doom and gloom.As an exercise to cheer me up for the season and you too,perhaps I’ve jotted down these 24 names of players under theage of 25 from whom, with proper, full-time attention andexperience (I’m thinking of admittedly expensive contractshere), could make something of the near future.They are, I should stress, in no particular order ofpreference and there are a couple of others who would justas easily be included.They are: Sarwan, Ganga, Gayle, Samuels, Lawson,Garrick, Ryan Hinds, Corey Collymore, Ricardo Powell, DevonSmith, Tonito Willett, Kerry Jeremy, Sulieman Benn, NarsinghDeonarine, Kenroy Peters, Keith Hibbert, Runako Morton,Andrew Richardson, Andy Jackson, Dave Mohammed, Ryan Austin,Shane Shillingford, Keith Hibbert and Wayne PhillipOver to you, Wes.

England’s ICC Under-19 World Cup report card will not make good reading on the plane home tomorrow, despite a brave effort against South Africa at Lincoln Green today.A semi-final place is the prize for the Proteas after their 16-run victory, which came with 10 overs to spare on the last day of the Super League before the semi-finals begin on Sunday.”We’re very disappointed to lose our second close game in the space of a week,” said England coach Paul Farbrace. England threw away their chance of a semi-final berth last Monday when losing to New Zealand after manoveuring into a winning position.Consequently, the pressure created today by the need to win inside 40 overs (or was it 40.1 – nobody was quite sure) was too much, and Farbrace’s men will be at home in the UK in time for Sunday lunch.At that time South Africa will be readying itself to confront India, a team that “I’m not bothered about,” according to Proteas coach Hylton Ackerman.”I’m very confident playing India,” said the former international. “I’m just glad we’re not playing Australia!” Ackerman has already predicted an Australia-South Africa final for Saturday week.For England the tournament has been one of errors at crucial times and lessons that need to be learnt.For Ackerman, this was his team’s worst performance of the tournament.”We sneaked through with a poor display into the semi-finals,” he said. “Both sides played poorly,” he said. “The reason is they’re 19 years of age and don’t understand yet. That’s why it’s good to have tournaments like this.”Ackerman did not mince his words. “One or two players need to play for the team, not themselves,” he boomed. The headmasterly figure cited Stephen Cook and Hashim Amla as star pupils who have yet to do the work he has set them.The main task that everyone needed to master today was the law of the bonus point. England needed one, and for Ackerman, “England would have won if they hadn’t have to have got the point.”Optimistically, England manager James Whitaker was about to send a message to his final pair telling them they could bat on until the end of the 41st over in pursuit of the bonus point winning runs when Tim Bresnan was bowled by man of the match Ryan Bailey.Bailey (55 not out off 61 balls) and Ryan McLaren (30 not out off 41 balls) added 70 off 71 balls to get their team up to 212/5 off 50 overs. Thirty-five of them came from the last three overs to take the game away from England.”In the last over we gave away seven or eight runs we could have stopped,” said a frustrated Farbrace.Chasing 213 in 40.1 overs or less to keep an interest in the tournament, England began lustily, but openers Kadeer Ali (44) and Bilal Shafayat (38) did not take their promising innings on.Captain Nicky Peng and Shafayat went in consecutive balls after the first drinks break, when the few Barmy Army fans already in New Zealand were noisily sensing a textbook run chase from their team.Slow left-armer bowler Ian Postman took both wickets, using some flight to produce lofted shots. He recovered from earlier punishment to end with four for 56. His other key wicket was that of Samit Patel, who, like Ali and Shafayat had just began to dominate before holing out to the spinner.”Somebody in the top five has to get a score of 75-plus,” emphasised Farbrace. “We haven’t achieved that in this tournament.””The killer blow was losing Bilal straight after Peng,” he continued.”We’ve had lots of talks about finishing. We haven’t got enough finishers to win games,” said the former county wicket-keeper.”The key point is to find out about the kids that you’ve got and find who can cope under pressure.”England’s youngsters failed under that pressure in the finishing school of the Under-19 World Cup this week, while South Africa, despite “my best player, my Graeme Pollock, Hashim Amla, not yet bothering the scorers,” moving up a class into the final four and perhaps beyond.

A crushing six wicket victory over Taunton has allowed Hampshire’s indoor cricket specialists Winchester K.S. another crack at progressing to the National Finals, the competition they won six years ago.The county capital’s men easily qualified for the Regional Finals at Taunton in a fortnight’s time (March 3), and carry the Hampshire flag once more towards another prospective visit to Lord’s, where they were crowned champions in 1996.Having already scooped the Hammonds Jewellers South Hampshire title, Winchester, on their familiar home patch at Fleming Park made light work of the Somerset side’s challenge.Electing to field first, some outstanding fielding and tight bowling picked off Taunton for just 56, with Hampshire Board representative Dave Greetham collecting 2-6 and Havant & Waterlooville striker Jim Taylor (2-17) the main protagonists.Paul Marks and Taylor added a steady 30 in seven overs before Chris Wheeler joined the Wiltshire Minor Counties all-rounder to see the side home with 10 balls to spare.Wheeler is looking forward to the challenge ahead of the former European Champions, “Unless we lost an early wicket or two, the target was always going to be a straightforward chase.”The action starts at 2pm at the Indoor School at the County Ground, the home of Somerset County Cricket Club.

New South Wales has dashed any hopes of jumping Victoria and taking top spot on the Pura Cup ladder after two disastrous sessions with the bat and an ordinary day with the ball. Slumping to be all out for 141 in the first innings, NSW are 5 for 108 at stumps on day two with Mark Waugh not out 35 and Michael Clarke not out 23.Steve Rixon suggested the two are the keys to any chance of victory and a lead of 150 will be enough."There is a bit of work to be done. Junior [Mark Waugh] and Clarkie are the guys who are going to get us there but Brad Haddin another guy more than capable of getting a fifty. It is really just someone to sit together and work with a partnership."It would be quite difficult on a wicket like that [a lead of 150] going into late day three, into day four especially with a bit of rain around. You never know what’s going to happen especially if the wicket sweats. It’s going to be quite difficult to bat on at all stages," said Rixon.Resuming the day at 3 for 110, Victoria continued to bat strongly with Graeme Rummans and Brad Hodge bringing up the 50 partnership and surpassing the NSW total early in the first session. Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken bowled well but it was youngster Doug Bollinger who got the breakthrough.Rummans fishing outside the off stump secured the Bollinger edge and it went through to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. He departed for a well-earned 67 against his former state.Hodge and Jonathan Moss toyed with the NSW attack as they let deliveries go through to the keeper and scoring the occasional run but it took some Steve Waugh wizardry as he pulled another rabbit out of the hat to get four wickets for his side.Waugh brought himself onto bowl and within the first over he had trapped Moss leg before wicket for three. After causing a ripple of talk through the crowd when he came onto bowl, Waugh bowled a wide delivery first up but with his fourth he had Moss walking back to the pavilion.Waugh, hopeful of a World Cup spot even after the ICC ruling, which will prevent the 37-year-old from being drawn into the initial team, bowled tidily and did his job as he took two wickets for five runs within his first two overs.Rixon said it was good to see Steve with a ball in his hand and taking wickets at the appropriate stages."It was good to see him with a ball in his hand. He has always had an ability to do something special with the ball," said Rixon.Ian Harvey fell to Waugh for two when he snared the 30-year-old leg before wicket with his steady medium pacers.Stuart MacGill, who is one of the likely candidates to be the replacement for Shane Warne in the World Cup in the event the leg spinner does not recover from his shoulder reconstruction in time, took three wickets for 56 but did not look all that threatening.His first victim was Hodge who he had leg before wicket for 42, although the right-hander was a long way forward.MacGill’s second ended a period where NSW took four wickets for seven runs. MacGill bowled the Victorian captain Darren Berry round his legs for four.Waugh then called for the new ball and his quicks to end the innings. Clark got his first wicket of the match when he trapped Cameron White for 22, giving Clark figures of one for 77 at the end of the innings.MacGill ended the innings when Haddin stumped Shane Harwood for 15 and the Victorians were all out for 269 with a lead of 128 runs. Bracken finished the match with the unflattering figures of none for 50.Needing to dig in and make some runs, NSW failed miserably. They lost the top five batsmen for 51 runs leaving Mark Waugh and Michael Clarke to restore some pride in the wounded Blues. Openers Matthew Phelps and Michael Slater struggled early with Matthew Inness and Harwood bowling effectively.Inness continued to pick up early wickets when Phelps flayed one away to Harvey at gully for two. This brought Nathan Bracken to the crease, as nightwatchman, two hours before the end of play. He only made seven before the quick was caught behind and gave Inness two for nine. The catch by Berry was superb with the 33-year-old diving at great lengths to his right.Slater who made 12 also went caught behind to Berry.Steve Waugh and Simon Katich embarked on a slow process of digging in. The duo was successfully tied down with some good bowling from Victoria and could not shake the shackles that had been placed around them.Waugh departed on 12 when he fell leg before wicket to Mick Lewis and the collapse was well and truly under way when Katich fell for nine to the paceman as well.Though Mark Waugh and Michael Clarke have inspired some hope into the NSW line up with an unbroken stance of 50 runs they have had their share of luck in particular Clarke who was caught in the gully by Moss on 11 off a no ball.All the Victorian bowlers have been effective on the Sydney pitch but up and comer Cameron White has only bowled three overs, rendering it a fast bowlers wicket.

Bevan Griggs has become something of a match-saver in recent times for Central Districts and he produced the goods again to give his side a winning advantage in their opening State Shield match with Canterbury in Nelson today.He scored his maiden first-class century against India for CD earlier in the season and today his maiden Shield half-century, scored during a vital 103-run partnership with fellow wicket-keeper Ian Sandbrook gave CD the winning impetus in their match.CD were in dire straits in their innings at 85/5, a disappointing situation given they had chosen to bat first, but the glovemen knuckled down and took their chances to help their side to 208/8 which, if not outstanding, was at least competitive.Griggs scored 59 off 61 balls hitting seven fours while debutant Sandbrook took a more supportive role in scoring 57 off 104 balls with five fours and a six.Earlier, Glen Sulzberger had done a good job in restoring order for his side with 29 runs off 62 balls which set the scene for the later recovery.Canterbury must have been delighted to remove Craig Spearman, before he got into his stride, for one run while Jesse Ryder, making his debut, was out for five.Stephen Cunis with three for 32 from his 10 overs and three for 34 to Ryan Burson off nine were the key performers for Canterbury although Chris Martin with one for 30 off eight overs and Carl Anderson with one for 34 provided outstanding support.But needing a good start, Canterbury fell into the same hole as the CD top order and they were 13 for two with Paul Wiseman out for a duck and Michael Papps for 10 with only 13 runs on the board.Shanan Stewart and Gary Stead attempted a recovery, but Stewart was out for 17 and followed soon after by Chris Harris for a duck which meant Canterbury were 36/4 and facing a huge task against CD’s bowlers who were relishing the conditions.Michael Mason suggested he had benefited from his time in the TelstraClear Black Caps camp by conceding only seven runs from the seven overs he bowled and he eventually finished with two for 14 from his 10.Peter Fulton wasn’t prepared to be dictated to however, and he joined with Anderson and Cunis to get Canterbury up to 169 before he was out for 64 scored off 87 balls.He couldn’t avoid the home town bowling of Andrew Schwass and was held at mid off by Brent Hefford who had to have two attempts to make the catch.Cunis maintained the assault but the pressure was on and he was also a victim of Schwass halfway through the 48th over for 33 runs scored off 31 balls.Schwass finished with three for 31 from his 10 overs while the contrast between CD’s off-spinners was remarkable. Campbell Furlong took one for 20, that one being the vital wicket of Stead, while Sulzberger took none for 56 from 10 overs.

There is going to be a desperate shortage of cricket umpires in the recreational game when the 2003 season gets underway, according to Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding, and at the moment he is struggling to rectify the situation.Mr Moulding told me: "We wanted to go to the clubs and get them to encourage their former players to become umpires, but at the moment we don’t have anybody who is able to do the training. There is a real shortage of trainers for umpires.However the Somerset Cricket Development Officer has come up with a couple of possible solutions. He told me: "Peter Robinson and myself are looking into the possibility of using an ex-professional cricketer to do the training, or another way forward may be to use one of the trainers from the Bristol and District Umpires Association."Mr Moulding is also prepared to arrange for someone to be trained who could then go onto train the umpires.He continued: "We are actively trying to recruit people to become umpires, and we are also looking people who might become trainers. Men or women are welcome to apply and if there is anybody who feels they want to become involved with training they should contact me at the Centre of Excellence on 01823 352266."Meanwhile a large number of youngsters enjoyed the cricket `taster’ sessions that were run by Westlands Cricket Club at Yeovil over the Christmas holidays.Until recently there was little junior club cricket in Yeovil, but as a result of this initiative there are now more opportunities for young cricket players in the town.Andrew Moulding told me: "Westlands CC, who currently play in the Bristol and Somerset division of the Premier League have now entered youth teams in the Under 12,13 and 16 age groups and have also got two players who are going on an ECB Level One coaching which is all very good news."He concluded: " We are absolutely delighted with this development for young cricketers in the Yeovil area which will create strong links between the schools and Westlands CC and provide coaching and competition for a wide range of young cricketers."