County Cricket Round-Up - 22nd November

County Cricket Round-Up - 22nd November

Mike Powell has completed his long-awaited move to Kent.

©Action Images

Paul Allott has formalised his return to the Lancashire committee. He will replace Geoff Ogden, who is standing down 25 years after joining. Lancashire Cricket Director Mike Watkinson paid tribute to Ogden, who was also involved in Lancashire youth cricket, saying, “He’s one of those people who stay in the background and never gets the headlines he deserves, but he has been massively instrumental in the development of cricket at the club over the last 10 to 15 years."

The club also announced that four of their eight Championship fixtures will be played at Old Trafford in 2012 following the successful rotation of the square that was completed last season.

For more on the Lancashire AGM that was held yesterday please click here.

Leicestershire have confirmed that wicket-keeper Tom New has not been offered a new contract. The 26 year-old spent eight years at the club, but his ‘keeping in the early part of 2011 was poor and he was dropped from the side. He is also now too old to benefit from the ECB’s financial incentives that reward the fielding of young players and, for a cash-strapped county like Leicestershire, that is a factor that is likely to have counted against him.

A statement from the club read, “The club thanks Tom for his services and wishes him well for the future.”

Somerset leg-spinner Max Waller has won the prestigious Les Hatton Memorial Trophy for Second XI Player of the Year, which is awarded annually by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. He averaged 69.43 with the bat and 24.71 with the ball in the Second XI Championship in 2011, and also performed admirably in the Second XI Trophy and Second XI Twenty20 competitions.

The 23 year-old recently signed a new deal with the club and impressed observers during the Champions League Qualifying Tournament before he was replaced in Somerset’s squad by Ireland’s George Dockrell. He is currently playing cricket for Rondebosch CC in Cape Town.

Yorkshire’s outspoken chairman Colin Graves has said that he is prepared to raise the unthinkable and propose a reduction in the number of counties that have first-class status and are therefore permitted automatic entry into the County Championship and other top-level county competitions.

He said, “Somebody has got to bite the bullet. If it means fewer counties, then we have to do it, simple at that.” The idea is likely to be comprehensively dismissed by the ECB should it ever come to a vote, as the 18 first-class counties are unlikely to vote voluntarily for some of them being stripped of their first-class status.

Durham bowler Mitchell Claydon has agreed a deal that will see him play for Canterbury in this season’s HRV Cup (New Zealand's domestic Twenty20 competition) and Ford Trophy (their 50-over competition). He played one Twenty20 game for them last season, as well as taking 12 wickets in his five one-day appearances.

He said, “I’m really pleased to be joining the Wizards again. It was a great experience for me last year to play some good quality cricket at a good standard. To reach the final of the Ford Trophy was an amazing experience and really gave me a hunger to play in more big games.

You can keep track of Claydon's progress in Cricket World's regular County Cricketers Abroad feature.

Kent have confirmed the signing of former Glamorgan batsman Michael Powell on a two-year contract. The deal had been anticipated on the county circuit for some time.

Powell said, “I am looking forward to making the move to Kent and I’m extremely pleased to have signed this contract with the club. I hope to make a positive impact next season and look forward to the challenges ahead.”

Lymington CC, a Hampshire club that plays in the Southern Electric Premier League, has been instructed by the local council to construct a net, at the cost of £50,000, around its entire ground to prevent members of the public getting hit by errant cricket balls.

The main concern centres around the nearby tennis courts that have reportedly witnessed a number of close shaves in recent years. Councillor Penny Jackman said, "The plain and frightening reality is cricket balls have been landing at great speed a matter of inches from unsuspecting people."

It is believed that Lymington CC have offered to construct a net at the point where the tennis club and cricket club share a common boundary, but the council want a net constructed around the entire circumference of the ground.

© Cricket World 2011