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Ozias Bvute, who until now has been happy to remain in the shadows of the ZCU, has given his first major interview as part of the Zimbabwe board’s new media charm-offensive.Bvute spoke to the Harare-based Independent at the end of a week in which his role in the dispute between the rebel players and the ZCU has been under close scrutiny and in which he has had several allegations regarding his behaviour towards individuals leveled against him. One report even accused him of being an agent for the Central Intelligence Organisation.”I have never worked for the government,” Bvute explained. “People have just personalised this issue.” And rather than work for the regime, he claimed that he was a victim of it. “I bought a commercial farm but as we speak there are people with offer letters fighting for the farm. If I were a member of the CIO or worked for the government, do you think my farm would have been targeted?”But the main reason for the interview was for Bvute to put his side of the events surrounding the decision to sack the rebel players. “The problem with Zimbabwean cricket was that it was not accountable,” he explained. “With the blessing of all these [white] players, why were we always ranked No. 9 until the blessing of Bangladesh coming in at No. 10? We could go on losing and that was it. After our loss to Bangladesh, we wanted an explanation and the selectors met to make some changes.”A history of strikes has always been prevalent in Zimbabwe cricket. There was racism towards non-white players.”He went on to repeat the oft-repeated claims of Peter Chingoka that there is a deeper plot to subvert Zimbabwe cricket. “I genuinely know there’s a huge third force behind this,” he said. “The truth will come out.”And he dismissed suggestions that he had no cricketing background. “Contrary to people who say I can’t even hold a bat, I’ve played cricket at primary and secondary school level,” he added. “I went to university in India and for the four years that I was there I developed an intense passion for cricket.”

Jason Gillespie’s fightback into Australian contention suffered another setback when he was ruled out of South Australia’s Pura Cup match with a bruised lung. Gillespie was hit in the chest by a stinging Brett Lee delivery while batting in yesterday’s ING Cup game against New South Wales, and showed courage to bowl ten solid overs for 39 in the three-wicket loss.After visiting a respiratory specialist in Sydney today Gillespie was withdrawn from the squad for Tuesday’s New South Wales fixture and missed his chance to make a national claim following a disappointing Ashes tour. A South Australia spokeswoman said Gillespie, who scans showed had deep bruising to his right lung, should be fit for the one-day match against Queensland in Adelaide on November 4, a day after the first Test against West Indies begins.Gillespie was not the Redbacks only injury worry and Greg Blewett, the former Australia batsman, was given until tomorrow to prove his fitness after sustaining a back injury in making 31 against the Blues. Gary Putland and Nathan Adcock stayed with the squad in Sydney as the selectors delayed naming the starting XI until before the toss at the SCG.

Shane Warne has admitted that he had to leave his country and flee to Spain to save his marriage, after having an affair with a Melbourne stripper in 2003. Warne, who disclosed this during the 60 Minutes programme on Australia’s Channel 9, said that he was embarrassed by the affair and couldn’t face his wife.”It’s not easy to talk about,” he was quoted as saying by AAP. “It was quite a tough time in my life. It was something that I thought was personal between my wife and I. I did the wrong thing and that’s something I have to live with, and it’s not easy to live with because I’m embarrassed about what I did.”Unable to cope with the intense media scrutiny after news of the affair broke, the Warnes fled the country. “We were angry about the 50 [media] people outside our house. We couldn’t get out of the driveway. It was the wrong environment to try and talk, and so we couldn’t really talk; we had to get out of the country. We ended up going to Spain.”Warne, a father with three children, said that the family managed to overcome the crisis and his wife, Simone, had conducted herself with dignity during the saga.”I think she has handled herself very well in a lot of tough situations, and it’s an unfortunate part of our live and now, hopefully, it’s gone.”This isn’t the first time that Warne has been involved in a sex scandal. He also stole the spotlight when revelations of phone sex with a British nurse were made in 2000. This resulted in Warne’s losing the vice-captaincy of the Australian side. And in 2003, Warne was also accused of making raunchy phone calls to a 45-year-old South African woman Helen Cohen Alon. However, the woman was later sentenced to jail for attempting to extort money from Warne. He has also served a 12-month ban from cricket for taking a banned substance contained in a diet pill during the 2003 World Cup.

After a number of one-day tournaments, and a closely-contested Duleep Trophy, the Indian domestic season approaches its home-stretch. The Ranji Trophy semi-final kicks off tomorrow as Mumbai take on Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu clash with Railways. Though these matches will be completely overshadowed by the India-Pakistan series, they will provide a few players a chance to stake their claim for a spot in the Test side.Mumbai have breezed through their league encounters. Like last season, it has been a collective effort and they have garners 22 points – the highest in the leagues – from seven matches (won three and gained first-innings points in the rest). Wasim Jaffer and Vinod Kambi have piloted the batting efforts but there have been plucky contributions from almost everyone. Aavishkar Salvi has recovered from injury and is expected to take the new ball with Munaf Patel. Ramesh Powar, a vital cog in their machinery, will surely be missed, but Sairaj Bahutule, the legspinner, and Nilesh Kulkarni, with his left-arm spin, will provide a lot of variety even in his absence. And to top it all, they will have the home advantage,Though Hyderabad will have the odds severely stacked against them, they haven’t had a bad season by any means. They dominated Tamil Nadu and routed Karnataka, two of the strong teams in their group, and the loss to Bengal was their only blemish. Ambati Rayudu and Vinay Kumar have produced some crucial innings and Narender Pal Singh has provided the breakthroughs with the new ball. But history is against them: Hyderabad have never beaten Mumbai in this competition, and it will take a special effort for them to storm the bastion of Indian cricket.Tamil Nadu, last year’s runner-up, will be the favourites in the other semi-final at Chennai. Sporting one of the strongest batting line-ups in the country – which includes Sadagoppan Ramesh, Sridharan Sriram, Sreedharan Sharath and S Badrinath – Tamil Nadu may not find big totals hard to come by. Yet, after a great start this season they were given a stiff challenge towards the end, and will also be weakened tomorrow by the absence of L Balaji and Hemang Badani.Harvinder Singh, the former Indian medium-pacer, will lead the Railways attack but the bowler whom the selectors will be watching closely is Kulamani Parida, the offspinner. He lost out to Powar in the race to the one-day side, but a good performance here will enhance his chances of gaining a Test spot. Sanjay Bangar and Ramesh are candidates for the reserve-opener’s slot in Tests and vital contribution here would do their chances no harm. Tamil Nadu have old scores to settle with Banger too. After all it was his 212 that shut them out of the tournament in 2002.Two lesser battles will be fought in the Plate Championship. Maharashtra host Haryana while Madhya Pradesh take on Orissa. There is lot at stake here too, with the winners entering the Elite zone next season.

Michael Clarke was desperately unlucky to miss out on a place in Australia’s side for the first Test, according to Darren Lehmann. Clarke lost the battle with the allrounder Shane Watson for the No. 6 spot when the 13-man squad was announced on Thursday.Lehmann, who offered to give his Test place to Clarke in India in 2004, said the selectors needed to show faith in Clarke. “Michael Clarke is the one I still like. I think he has a great future in Australian cricket,” Lehmann told the . “I think Michael Clarke can play for ten years. I would like to see him play and give him an opportunity. He has all the shots, plays the right brand of game and could be a future leader.”Clarke said he was not surprised that Watson had got the nod. “I probably always think the worst so it doesn’t hurt so much,” he said. “Deep down I did think they would go with Watto. I guess I knew I didn’t do too much batting at the ICC Champions Trophy, simply because all the guys were doing so well above me, and that was terrific. I am obviously disappointed to miss out, I’d like to play for Australia in every Test but I guess my focus now is to just get back to New South Wales and make as many runs as I can in one- and four-day cricket.”Clarke has had limited opportunities to play for his state since being dropped from the Test team last summer. “That’s the hardest thing,” he said. “I think in my last three games for New South Wales I’ve scored 170, 200 and then 50 and 70 [against England] early this week. That comes with playing a lot of one-day cricket, and where I’m batting you don’t always spend a lot of time in the middle. And you know what, I wouldn’t swap being part of Australia’s one-day team, and playing every game I can. I love it.”

Andrew Caddick has signed a new four-year contract with Somerset, which will keep him at Taunton until the end of the 2007 season. Peter Anderson, the county chief executive, said: "It is fantastic news for Somerset, and a typical example of his loyalty to the club, especially when we know that other counties were chasing him."Caddick has undergone back surgery in recent months, and has not played for England since his matchwinning ten-wicket haul at Sydney in January 2003. Nevertheless, Somerset have faith that he will return as strong as ever, even though he will be approaching 38 by the time his new deal runs out.Caddick for his part was equally keen to pledge his future to Somerset. "[They] gave me my chance in the first place," he said, "so why would I want to turn my back on them now?"Caddick is not the only big name to have put pen to paper for Somerset. Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, has confirmed his availability for the final stages of this year’s Twenty20 Competition, as well as the semi-final of the C&G Trophy."I am really looking forward to my stint with Somerset," he said, "and hope my new team-mates will play well to qualify for the later stages of both cup competitions. If they have played that well, I might not get in the team!"Ponting will also be available for four Championship matches and four NCL games. "It will be a terrific thrill to have him in the side," said Somerset’s captain, Mike Burns. "The rest of us have a big job to do ahead of his arrival. It is a big incentive for everyone and I don’t think I shall be hesitating over his selection."

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Not that they need it, but Paul Adams gave South Africa, and himself, a massive confidence boost ahead of the third npower Test match at Trent Bridge next week. Adams took an astonishing 9 for 79 as they crushed Kent by 101 runs at Canterbury.After South Africa declared their second innings on 243 for 7 in which Adams hit a run-a-ball 22 not out, Kent needed an unlikely 334 to win. But they made a good start as Michael Carberry and Robert Key put on 72 for the opening wicket before Key was bowled by Adams for 49 in a sign of things to come. Ed Smith, one of England’s new boys, hit a brisk 27 and he had at least had the pleasure of being the only batsman not to fall into Adams’s trap. He was caught and bowled by Robbie Peterson instead (125 for 2).Matthew Banes was bowled by Adams for 24 and when Carberry was caught by Boeta Dippenaar for an impressive 75, Adams ran riot. The last six wickets fell for only 46 runs as batsmen came and went, unable to combat Adams’s wrist-spin on a dry and dusty wicket. Alex Loudon was the last man left on 30 not out as Kent crashed to defeat.

Hampshire return to meeting Minor County opposition in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy competition next season when they travel to meet Cheshire in the second round on 5 May 2004.Having lost to Sussex in the first round this season, Hampshire’s third place finish in the National League second division ensured they missed first-class opposition this time around.It will be the third time the two counties have met in the different guises of this competition, with Hampshire having won the previous two meetings.In 1981, Steve Malone’s spell of 5-34 and 4-31 from Trevor Jesty led Hampshire to a comfortable six wicket win at the County Ground as Cheshire were dismissed for 137. Gordon Greenidge hit 56 as the home side reached the target with relative ease.A rain-affected match at Chester did not stop Hampshire progressing in 1989 as Chris Smith (159) and Paul Terry (99) blasted the total to 306-2 in 60 overs. Malcolm Marshall then undermined the reply with 4-40 as the hosts were bowled out for 159.

Famous names from six different sports will line up for the Cystic Fibrosis Invitation XI against the Canterbury Crusaders. The 21st annual 40-over match will be played at Hagley Oval on Sunday January 18.Former Test players, Lee Germon, Geoff Allott and John Bracewell will provide the cricketing experience, along with Haidee Tiffen from the women’s side. Chris Flanagan, a grade player also joins in, while hockey international Hayden Shaw, and rugby players Robbie Deans and Leon Macdonald make the line up as well. National representatives in softball, basketball, and netball complete the squad.The charity cricket and gala day includes a celebrity auction of sports memorabilia, rugby goal-kicking competitions, donkey rides, catch a six competitions earning NZ$100 per catch, and lots of autograph and photograph opportunities with the Canterbury team and other sports stars.Invitation XI Lee Germon (capt), Geoff Allott, John Bracewell, Belinda Charteris, Robbie Deans, Chris Flanagan, Paul Henare, Rhonda Hira, Phill Jones, Leon MacDonald, Hayden Shaw, Haidee Tiffen, Clayton Willocks.Canterbury Justin Marshall (capt), Sam Broomhall, Ben Blair, Daniel Carter, Ross Filipo, Scott Hamilton, Chris Jack, Tony Koonwaiyou, Cameron McIntyre, Aaron Mauger, Nathan Mauger, Andrew Mehrtens, Scott Waldrom.

Mis-Teeq, will entertain spectators on the opening day of the competition, Friday 13 June, at the Hampshire v Sussex match at the Rose Bowl. They will be supported by D’Side and United Colours of Sound. A capacity 9,000 sell-out is anticipated for the match, which will be televised live by Sky Sports.Tickets for the opening game at the Rose Bowl can be bought from today by telephoning:0870 243 0291.Ticket prices are £15 for adults and £10 for under sixteens.

Band informationMis-Teeq – made up of three girls Alesha 23, Sabrina 23 and Su – Elise 20 -are a UK garage / R’n’B band who have had four top ten singles to date.Their debut album Eye Candy, reached number five in the album charts earlier this month. The band won the ‘Best Artist’ award at last year’s UK GarageAwards.D’Side – are already following in the footsteps of two other famous Irishfive-piece boybands (Westlife and Boyzone) by launching their career bywinning ‘Best New Act’ at the Smash Hits Awards. Their debut song,’Speachless’, went into the top 10 last Sunday.





Twenty20 Cup – Background informationThe Twenty20 Cup, the first brand new competition for county cricket since 1973, replaces the old Benson and Hedges Cup. It is cricket on fast-forward- 20 overs-a-side bouts contested over just two hours 45 mins and staged during the longest summer evenings in June. (Opening matches are on Friday 13 June).Games start at 5.30pm, the action is conveniently timed for the post-school and office audiences.The 18 First Class Counties are split into three regional groups of six teams each, with the three group winners and the best runner-up progressing to a Finals Day at Trent Bridge on Saturday 19 July. Aside from the on-pitch action, off-the-field entertainment will include live bands, replay screens, BBQ zones and karaoke machines, with musical instruments and fancy dress codes encouraged to help create the perfect evening out.A new prize money structure will be implemented to encourage both team victories and individual performances. The Twenty20 champions will receive£42,000, the runners-up will get £21,000 and the losing-semi-finalists £10,000. Extra incentives will also be made to the best performing individuals with cash prizes of up to £1,500 going to the best performing batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.npower is the first official partner of the Twenty20 Cup. More officialpartners are anticipated.Match details and ticket information can be found atwww.ecb.co.uk/twenty20