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Kevin Pietersen, England batsman, Hampshire teammate and good friend of Shane Warne, says the Australian is being targeted by the media and does not get the respect he deserves.ABC Sport quoted Pietersen as saying, “I think he does get treated far too harshly for what he deserves. He’s the best player that’s ever played the game.”Pietersen was referring to the attention the tabloid press has paid to Warne’s often tumultuous private life. Warne separated from his wife earlier this year after tabloids reported on his alleged indiscretions.Pietersen, himself no stranger to tabloid attention, added, “It is ridiculous because you can’t defend yourself and that’s the thing. Much [of] the rubbish that’s written about you, there’s nothing you can do about it.”Pietersen is currently in Melbourne to play for the World XI in the one-day Super Series against Australia.

The prospect of hosting a second-string Zimbabwean outfit has forced the Pakistan board to contemplate organising a triangular one-day tournament instead of a bilateral one-day series involving Zimbabwe in October-November this year. Zimbabwe are scheduled to play two Tests as well, but instead of playing five one-dayers against Pakistan, they might be involved in a triangular tournament with Sri Lanka as the third team.Rameez Raja, the PCB chief executive, confirmed that the board was interested in having Sri Lanka participate in the tournament. According to a report in The News, a Pakistan daily, Rameez said: “Zimbabwe are scheduled to tour Pakistan in October to play five one-dayers and two Tests. But there is a proposal from many quarters and which has also interested our television right holders that we invite Sri Lanka and in the home season have a triangular series and the two Tests against Zimbabwe.”Rameez also clarified that Sri Lanka was being considered as the third team as all other sides were busy with various international engagements. According to the ICC’s ten-year international itinerary, Sri Lanka are scheduled to visit Pakistan for a Test series in March 2005.Outlining Pakistan’s international commitments over the next few months, Rameez indicated that Pakistan would clash with Australia in a one-off ODI just before the ICC Champions Trophy, which England will host in September 2004.Apart from that tournament, Pakistan will also be involved in two other one-day tournaments – the Asia Cup in July-August, the triangular competition in Holland involving India and Australia – and a tour to Australia for both Tests and ODIs. Rameez hinted at a possibility of a third one-day tournament as well, in Sharjah. “We have some free time in between these events but we have kept them open because we are expecting the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series to have a tournament in Sharjah around November this year.”

Somerset County Cricket Club held their press day at the County Ground in Taunton on a bright but rather chilly Friday morning.The main news of the morning was the announcement made by Andrew Caddick that he would retire from International One Day cricket, a decision that will be disappointing to those involved in the England camp.However whilst the decision to retire from the one-day scene by the thirty four year old probably came as no great surprise, the likely outcome is that he may well now be available on more occasions during the season to play for the CidermenAfter the decision was announced Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "Assuming that Andy Caddick is available for us during the triangular one day series an opening attack of Caddick, Nixon McLean and Richard Johnson is a mouth watering prospect. Back that up with the batting of new signing James Bryant and Neil Edwards who performed so well on the England Under 19’s tour to Australia and we are well equipped to achieve our overall goal which is to win a competition and get promoted."The coaches words were echoed by chief executive Peter Anderson who said: "Our aim this season is to get promotion and Andy Caddick’s decision to retire from One-Day internationals means that he will be available more for Somerset which is very good news for the county."Caddick’s England team-mate Marcus Trescothick was equally upbeat about Somerset’s chances this season. He said: "I’m hoping that we will get promotion in both leagues in 2003. With the players that we have at the club we’d expect to be in the top flight "New skipper Mike Burns was also in buoyant mood and told me: "The boys have all looked very impressive indeed over the last four days when we have been outside practicing on the grass. Aaron Laraman, who joined us in the winter from Middlesex has looked particularly good and I reckon that he will play for England in the next two or three years."New chairman Giles Clarke was in no doubt as to what he was looking forward to this season. "We have got a strong playing squad, membership is running at the same level as last year and we are expecting to be promoted in both competitions," he said.Meanwhile a few tickets still remain for the Appeal Year Opening Lunch that is taking place on Friday April 4th when former Somerset player and first class umpire Roy Palmer will be the guest speaker.The lunch is also being held to acknowledge the major contribution made to the club by former chairman Richard Parsons who stepped down just before Christmas after fourteen years of stewardship.The tickets are priced at £27.50 each and anybody who is interested should contact the main office at the County Ground on 01823 272946.Roy Palmer is one of well over five hundred players who have represented Somerset since they gained first class status in 1891, and the details of every single one of them has been recorded in a new book that is to be published in the very near future.The book which is entitled `Somerset County Cricket Club Players, Photographs and Statistics’ has been compiled by local author Eddie Lawrence, can be collected from the Somerset Cricket Museum by subscribers from the middle of April. The book will go on sale to the general public shortly after that date.All proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the Somerset Cricket Museum.

Sri Lanka booked themselves a guaranteed berth in the final of theCoca Cola Cup with an overwhelming 106-run victory over New Zealand atthe Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo today.Their authoritative display also keeps India’s hopes of qualificationalive. If India win their final two games, they will qualify for thefinal. If they slip up against Sri Lanka tomorrow though, New Zealandwill qualify by virtue of having already beaten them twice.Sri Lanka owed their victory to their best batting performance of thetournament. The middle order finally kicked into life and the hometeam rattled up an imposing 221 in 36 overs on by far the best battingpitch of the tournament.The New Zealand run chase then started disastrously as man of thematch Chaminda Vaas plucked out three wickets and Dilhara Fernandobowed a fiery new ball spell. The Clear Black Caps slumped to 18 forfive within the first eight overs and never stood a chance thereafter,eventually finishing on 115 for nine.Stephen Fleming, back in the side after stomach trouble, had won thetoss after morning drizzle and elected to field first on a wicketwhich traditionally offers the faster bowlers some assistance in themorning, but statistically still favours the side batting first.Avishka Guawardene (38) – pulled into the side at the last moment,after 14 overs had been lopped off the innings – opened with SanathJayasuriya (20) and the pair set the tone for the innings by adding 32runs at nearly a run a ball.That pace was maintained thereafter despite the loss of Jayasuriya inthe sixth over. Romesh Kaluwitharana joined Gunawardene and the pairadded 57 runs for the second wicket before Kaluwitharana wasathletically run out by Jacob Oram at backward point.Gunawardene followed four overs later, but the momentum was continuedby Marvan Atapattu (34) and Mahela Jayawardene (58) in a 56-run stand.Jayawardene, batting on his club ground, immediately looked more atease than he had in the previous four games. He batted fluently andhit two majestic straight sixes in his 46-ball half-century.With support at the death by Russel Arnold (22*) the pair took thegame out of New Zealand’s reach by scoring 96 runs in the final 11overs.After a shortened luncheon interval, which gave them hardly enoughtime to put on their pads, let alone have a bite to eat, MatthewSinclair (1) and Nathan Astle (4) were on the back foot as ChamindaVaas bowled his best spell of the series.Curving the ball into the right-handers he trapped Sinclair leg beforein his second over and then induced an indifferent prod from Oram (0),who was then well caught at slip by Arnold for a second ball duck.Fleming (6) then tried to weather the testing new ball bursts of Vaasand Fernando. Whilst Vaas probed intelligently away, Fernando hurriedboth the batsmen, jagging the ball off the seam.Fleming’s resistance ended in the seventh over as he carved a catch tosecond slip. Craig McMillan followed in the next over, carelessly runout by a direct hit from Jayawardene, and Nathan Astle ensured thatNew Zealand had no chance when he was immediately snapped up in theslips.New Zealand batted out the rest of the innings, anxious that their netrun rate not be decimated by such a comprehensive defeat. With reliefthey passed their record lowest score of 64 against West Indies in1986, but they only limped to the hundred mark after some biffs bylast man Darryl Tuffey (20*).New Zealand will no doubt watch tomorrow’s crucial encounter withgreater interest and will be hoping that Sri Lanka make a better fightof it than they did last Sunday when the lost by six wickets to India.

Steven Smith has named Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen as two of his chief verbal tormentors on Australia’s last Ashes tour to England, and is determined to silence any remaining doubters with a pile of runs from No. 3 this summer.Speaking frankly about the treatment he received from England in his earlier years, when he was derided for an idiosyncratic technique among other things, Smith said he hoped he had changed some views by surging up the world rankings to be the No. 1 batsman in the game entering this series.However it is clear that plenty of scepticism about Smith is still evident in English ranks: the former spin bowler Graeme Swann and current paceman Stuart Broad have spoken publicly about his move to No. 3 being a possible advantage for England, while Pietersen made a point of rating Joe Root a better player of pace and spin in his head-to-head assessment of the two young batsmen.”I remember Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell getting into me quite a bit,” Smith said of the 2013 tour, when he was goaded by predictions he would be dropped for the home series in Australia until he carved out a century at the Oval. “I don’t think they really rated the way I played. But maybe I’ve changed their views now perhaps a little bit.”When I came back into that side I’d played two Tests since I’d been back in the side and they were both in India, so it was different conditions coming over here against the Dukes ball. I’d never had any real success against England before, so now they might view me a little bit differently.Smith rejects any suggestion that his rise to the top of the rankings has come with a reassessment of his batting style.”People might say my technique’s a little bit different. I don’t see it that way; I think all my fundamentals are all the same. The thing for me is my defence: as long as my defence is in good order then I feel the rest of my game can expand from there. Particularly over here I think your defence is key against the newer ball.”A key part of Smith’s success in recent times has been a well-developed sense of self-knowledge. He pores over footage of his own methods and has become adept at self-correcting, rather than relying on any coaches or mentors to advise him. In the midst of his current run glut, he was even able to recognise a flaw that crept in during the World Cup and then make an adjustment that kept him ahead of the world’s bowlers.”I got bowled around my legs in the warm-up game against India in the World Cup in Adelaide,” Smith said. “I was going too far across my stumps. I was taking leg stump guard at that point, I now take about an inch or so outside leg stump, so I’m stepping to where I want to.”I haven’t looked at it and said ‘this is what I’m looking for’. I don’t think it is ever finished. You want to keep getting better every day. I go back and look at footage quite a bit, make sure I’m doing certain things I want to be doing. I haven’t got to a point where I say ‘this is the perfect way to do things’.”When you’re in good form and hitting the ball well you want to keep playing as much as you can and not have too much of a break. That’s how I think about it mentally. If I have a break I might come back and there may be a few things that aren’t quite right so it’s been nice when I’m on a run of form to continue playing and try to maintain it.”Perfection may be elusive, but Smith has been getting closer to it than most other batsmen lately. In the hyped-up surroundings of an Ashes series, he said his major priority was to stay true to the routines that have served him so grandly over the past two years – more or less since Bell and Pietersen loved to sledge him.

Scorecard
Hong Kong routed Scotland by nine wickets in the first T20 International between the two sides in Mong Kok, which was reduced to 10 overs a side after wet ground conditions resulted in a delayed start.Scotland had early momentum after being put in to bat by Hong Kong, reaching a promising 28 for 2 by the third over. The loss of George Munsey and Matt Machan, however, slowed the side down and another two run-outs – of Peter Mommsen and Calum MacLeod – kept the side to 66 for 7.Hong Kong brushed past the target in 6.2 overs with the top three playing attacking innings. Jamie Atkinson slammed a 7-ball 20 before falling in the fourth over and Babar Hayat and Anshuman Rath carried on in the same tempo to take Hong Kong to 72 for 1.

This is a clash of Pakistan flair versus Kiwi functionality. Although New Zealand have again more than held their own, they owe their passage to the semi-finals to India, whose 37-run win against South Africa dumped the home side out on net run-rate and allowed Daniel Vettori’s side to sneak in.”I didn’t actually watch any of it,” said Vettori. “I was trying to avoid it as much as possiblebecause we knew what it was going to be like.”Pakistan have reached the last four despite a stuttering display against Bangladesh, playing their typically aggressive cricket under the new coach, Geoff Lawson. Now Saturday’s matches offer various mouth-watering permutations for the final: a Trans-Tasman clash, a replay of the 1999 World Cup final or, the ultimate match-up, an India-Pakistan showdown.Bat play: Pakistan’s top order has failed to fire throughout the tournament; their first four matches brought scores of 50 for 3, 47 for 4, 33 for 3 and 46 for 4 before the middle order staged recoveries. Their best start came against Bangladesh when Shahid Afridi was finally promoted to opener but Shoaib Malik was keeping his cards close to his chest over Pakistan’s plans for Saturday. Salman Butt has laboured in every innings and his strike-rate is down to a paltry 70.New Zealand haven’t been blessed with a mountain of runs from the top four and their best start – 68 without loss – ended in defeat against South Africa. Craig McMillan has been their saviour with 44 off 23 against India and 57 off 31 against England. Scott Styris (52 runs) and Lou Vincent (89 runs) have both struggled and their scoring rates have barely crept above a run-a-ball.Wrecking ball: The leading wicket-takers for both teams are the spinners, Vettori and Afridi. Vettori is pushing to be bowler of the tournament after conceding a miserly 5.30 and should be a handful on a worn Newlands surface. However, he wasn’t making any early decisionson his team. “We saw Australia run through Sri Lanka with pace [at Newlands].” Jacob Oram hasn’t enjoyed Twenty20 with the ball, taking one wicket and going at nearly 11 an over.

Pakistan’s attack is packed with variety. Afridi has bagged the wickets but Sohail Tanvir has come from nowhere to create problems with the new ball alongside Mohammad Asif. Umar Gul’s yorkers, held back until the closing overs, have left the opposition struggling to accelerate late in their innings.Keep your eye on: The brewery. If Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq (hitter of the longest six in the tournament) or Oram get hold of a ball deep midwicket will need to be standing on the other side of the railway line.Shop talk: Although chasing has been the preferred route, Malik doesn’t think it’s the only way to go. “If you have a strong bowling line-up you can bat first and put pressure on the other side,” he said.Vettori believes it would have been harsh for New Zealand to miss out on the semi-finals. “Sometimes we have scraped through but this time I think we deserved it; luckily enough for us it worked out well. We make a lot of them [semi-finals], now it’s about kicking on.”Pitching it right: “It looks good,” Malik said after inspecting the surface. “But the outfield is heavy so 165-170 should be a good total.” The sunshine of recent days is also expected to be replaced by a greater cloud cover, offering more assistance for the bowlers.TeamsNew Zealand (probable) Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum (wk),Peter Fulton, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram,Daniel Vettori (capt), Shane Bond, Mark Gillespie, Jeetan PatelPakistan (probable) Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, MohammadHafeez, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq,Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir

Brett Lee has pledged to put country ahead of family and will take the field for Australia in the first Ashes Test at Brisbane next month, even though his wife Liz is due to give birth to their first child on the eve of the match.”We’ve said right from the start, which is credit to the person that Liz is, I will definitely be playing,” said Lee. “I’m hoping and praying that it either comes early or late. To me, cricket is important, but family is the most important thing in my life. Hopefully I can be there for both.”Lee, who married Liz Kemp in June, turned down $A50,000 (£19,400) for exclusive photographs of his wedding and baby.

Nathan Hauritz, who took five wickets in his Test debut at Mumbai, has been added to Queensland’s squad for the Pura Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval tomorrow.Hauritz arrived back from the series-winning tour of India this morning and quickly told the Queensland selection panel he wanted to play for the Bulls. Queensland will now finalise their team just prior to play.The captain Jimmy Maher is also expected to take his place despite being struck a nasty blow in the ribs from a Shaun Tait delivery in yesterday’s ING Cup win.Queensland Jimmy Maher (c), Andrew Bichel, Joe Dawes, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Brendan Nash, Ashley Noffke, Aaron Nye, Clinton Perren, Wade Seccombe, Chris Simpson, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.

Frizzell County Championship Division One

Following his return from the Caribbean, James Anderson has been named in a 14-man Lancashire squad, which also includes a proud new father, Peter Martin, who missed this week’s stalemate against Middlesex. For Worcestershire, Gareth Batty is back in the reckoning, along with Andy Bichel, who takes over from Mark Harrity. All eyes, however, will be on Graeme Hick, after his blistering double-century against the New Zealanders.
Gloucestershire will be hoping the rains do not follow them westwards after the final three days of their match against Kent this week were completely washed out. Matt Windows may return to their eleven after missing that game with a groin strain, while Shabbir Ahmed makes his home debut. Northants have named an unchanged side, after pushing Sussex to the brink on Monday.
Surrey desperately need a boost after a beleaguered start to the season, so they will be expecting big things from Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe, England’s batting heroes of the Caribbean tour. Mind you, those two didn’t manage a run between them, when these two teams met in the National League on Saturday, and nor did Rikki Clarke, who is also expected to play. Alex Tudor will play for the 2nd XI, as he continues his rehabiliation from a back injury.

Frizzell County Championship Division Two

Darren Gough will make his eagerly-anticipated debut for Essex, as they travel to Cardiff to play Glamorgan. Ronnie Irani and Paul Grayson are both still recovering from knee injuries, so Andy Flower will continue to stand in as captain. Glamorgan are expected to field an unchanged side, although Dean Cosker has been added to the squad.
Leicestershire’s offspinner Jeremy Snape will start his first Championship match of the year, and will bat at No. 6 in place of the out-of-form Darren Stevens. Mark Cleary has a slight back problem and needs a late fitness test before making his debut. For Nottinghamshire, Chris Read is back from England duty and takes over from David Alleyne behind the stumps.
Shoaib Akhtar will be looking to start afresh after a month of controversy, as he and Paul Collingwood make their first appearances of the season for Durham. Graeme Onions and Liam Plunkett are out of the squad with leg injuries, although Durham’s problems are nothing like as chronic as Somerset’s. Their captain, Michael Burns, has a hamstring injury; John Francis has concussion; Ian Blackwell has a back problem, and Aaron Laraman a side strain.Yorkshire v Hampshire at Headingley
High-flying Hampshire must face up to the temporary absence of their inspirational captain, Shane Warne. He is on international duty, so Will Kendall takes charge with Billy Taylor stepping up to the squad. Matthew Hoggard is back in action for Yorkshire, but Darren Lehmann is also preparing for Zimbabwe. Phil Jaques, however, has been signed as an 11th hour replacement. Michael Clarke remains available to Hampshire until the one-day series begins.

Other matches

Cambridge UCCE v Middlesex at Fenner’s
Sussex v Loughborough UCCE at Hove