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One of Somerset’s all time favourite sons, Ian Botham, has been recruited by the county to spearhead their 2003 membership campaign.During the Cidermen’s long and colourful history Ian Botham, who was born in Cheshire but brought up in Yeovil, is one of the finest players to have graced the turf at the County Ground.The all rounder arrived at Taunton in 1974 by way of the M.C.C. groundstaff and leapt to fame after winning a Benson and Hedges Cup match against Hampshire almost single handed.Coming in at 113 for 8 and still requiring 70 runs for victory, the young Botham remained defiant until the end by which time he had lost four teeth to bowler Andy Roberts, but scored 45 not out which included two sixes, to win the match for the county and the Man of the Match Award for himself.That was just the start of even better things to come, and every time that Ian Botham walked to the wicket or was thrown the ball the crowds expected fireworks, and they were rarely disappointed.During his thirteen seasons at Taunton, the all rounder played in 172 championship matches, scored 8686 runs, including sixteen centuries, and took 489 first class wickets at an average of 26.52 as well as giving numerous one day match winning performances with both bat and ball.But it was the style in which he played his cricket that endeared him to his fans and which is still talked about with affection at the County Ground to this day.Now, thanks to the hard work of new chairman Giles Clarke, the former Somerset player who went onto appear for both Worcestershire and Durham and who is now one of the games most respected television commentators, has agreed to help his old club out.Chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "Somerset County Cricket Club chairman Giles Clarke has moved quickly to boost the membership recruitment drive that is now in full swing, and following representation from him, Ian Botham has agreed to his name and image being used in press advertisements publicising the benefits of joining the club."Chairman Giles Clarke told me: "Like many of my generation Ian Botham was a hero to us and was probably Somerset’s best all rounder ever. When I approached him he jumped at the chance because he is really a Somerset man through and through. He wants to help the club and I hope that people will want to follow his lead."Mr Clarke concluded: "I hope to persuade him to become further involved in the club, but of course like all superstars there is a limit to the amount of time that he is able to give us."With membership costing as little as £91 until the end of February, to watch 53 days of top class cricket the club are expecting a big response to Ian Botham’s campaign and the office will be opening at the County Ground on Saturday mornings throughout this month.For those living more than sixty miles from Taunton country membership costs just £70.Further details of membership can be obtained by telephoning 01823 272946.

The first two sessions were a re-enactment of yesterday. The last was as extraordinary and sensational as the first day of this npower Ashes series with Adam Gilchrist playing the starring role and England’s Mark Butcher taking an unlikely leading part.Gilchrist made a Test best 152, gaining momentum as his total built. He set a new record for the number of runs scored by one player in an Ashes Test over, making 22 runs off Butcher, who saw the first, third and final ball go for six, the fourth for four and the second reflect off his hands in a difficult caught and bowled chance.Until then Butcher was England’s hero. He bowled the first maiden of the day just before tea, then with his unspectacular medium pace, made a remarkable breakthrough by having Damien Martyn caught at gully by Marcus Trescothick, just two balls after the Western Australian had made his maiden Test century.Like yesterday, England had waited more than 40 overs for their second wicket, after Steve Waugh was lbw to Darren Gough’s seventh ball of the morning. In that time, Gilchrist and Martyn put on 160 for the sixth wicket, having both been dropped on 14 and 64 respectively, in the space of five balls shortly after lunch.Butcher struck again two overs later having Shane Warne caught at first slip for eight off the last ball of an over and then he snapped up another two wickets in one over when Brett Lee was also caught by Mike Atherton at first slip, to leave Butcher on a hat-trick, and Jason Gillespie was leg before for a duck three balls later.By then, Butcher had taken four wickets in 14 balls for just five runs. But the prized wicket of Gilchrist proved elusive and on reaching his century, his first against England, the Australian vice-captain launched a brutal assault on the bowling.He had completed his century in 118 balls. The next half-century came in just 25 as Gilchrist, who made two ducks and two ones in his last two Tests in India, hit four sixes and six fours in a superb swashbuckling exhibition of big-hit batting at its best.He and Glenn McGrath added 63 for the final wicket though McGrath contributed just a single and with the score on 576, Gilchrist was finally caught in the deep off Gough going for yet another boundary. Not since the Fourth Test at Headingley in 1993 had a side recorded three individual centuries against England in one innings.Australia’s lead had grown to 282 and when England batted again, having spent two days in the field, it was almost inevitable that the drama would continueAtherton and Marcus Trescothick survived two overs and two balls in the murky light before they accepted the umpire’s offer of a recess but on their return, Atherton perished with the very first delivery, edging the ball to Mark Waugh at second slip for four.Predictably it was McGrath, who for the 14th time in the history of their riveting confrontations, sent him on his way after he had made a disappointing four runs.But Butcher and Trescothick played out the remainder of the day safely taking England’s second innings total to 48 for one when bad light caused another interruption. This time it was terminal and England shut up shop trailing Australia by 234 runs with Trescothick not out 21 and Butcher unbeaten on 15.

Sunderland have had their fair share of transfer successes and disasters over the years as they have felt the wrath of the window as well as the joy of it.

Not all moves work out as it is impossible to guarantee that a player will be able to fit in with the squad and consistently perform on the pitch.

Whilst it is easy to look at the transfers that did happen and judge them, you can also look at prospective switches that didn’t go through in the end.

According to The Sunderland Echo, one player the Black Cats attempted to land was Brad Friedel for £600k in 1995 as Peter Reid looked to snap up the shot-stopper. The move fell through due to a work permit issue, despite him having played for Newcastle’s reserves earlier in 1994.

Instead of moving to Wearside, he sealed a transfer to Turkish giants Galatasaray. The giant kept 15 clean sheets in 37 appearances before moving back to the MLS with Colombus Crew, playing 45 times and keeping 13 clean sheets for the American outfit.

He then found his way to England as he secured a switch to Liverpool in 1997. This suggests that Sunderland did not get in quickly enough as soon as he was eligible for a work permit, as their interest in 1995 indicates that they would have had an advantage over their rivals as they already did their homework on the goalkeeper and had spoken with him previously to agree the £600k transfer.

Friedel endured a mixed time with the Reds as he kept eight shutouts in 31 outings across three seasons. Blackburn snapped him up from Anfield in 2000 and this is where his career exploded as he enjoyed a sublime spell with the Lancashire side. He played a whopping 355 matches for the club and kept the opposition out 118 times in what was a magnificent spell at Ewood Park.

The USA international ended his career with Aston Villa and Tottenham, making 198 appearances between the two clubs – keeping 55 shutouts.

Mark Bosnich previously lavished the veteran with praise, saying: “I remember talking to my then-agent Graham Smith and saying ‘this boy is really talented.’

“He then arrived at Liverpool, had a bit of a tough time, but since then his form for Blackburn and Villa has been absolutely outstanding.

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“He is like a fine wine – as he’s got older he’s got better and better. Fair play, even when I first saw him he was very talented and he’s developed brilliantly.”

Overall, the monster ended his career with 450 appearances in the Premier League and 132 clean sheets between the sticks. He enjoyed a fantastic spell in England and Sunderland missed out on his talents, which is why this failed transfer was a blunder by the club as he was one that got away…

AND in other news, Sunderland heading for big disaster over £2.7k-p/w gem who’s “a dream for any manager”…

	The opening batsman Greg Mail is one of four New South Wales players on South Australia’s shopping list © Getty Images

South Australia will offer four New South Wales players contracts before the end of the week in a bid to boost the struggling state’s batting stocks. Greg Mail, Aaron O’Brien, Tom Cooper and Grant Lambert could all be heading to Adelaide if the Redbacks coach Mark Sorell, who flew to Sydney on Monday for talks, has his way.South Australia deliberately targeted players on the fringe of the Pura Cup-winning New South Wales squad that includes ten Cricket Australia-contracted players. “We’re feeling pretty confident,” Sorell said. “They’re at a very strong state where lack of opportunity has been an issue and we think they will fit in very nicely here.”Mail, 29, played only four Pura Cup matches for the Blues last season despite making nearly 300 runs. Lambert, a useful 30-year-old allrounder, was used six times for 163 runs at 27.16 and nine wickets at 30.77. O’Brien did not feature at all, following semi-regular appearances over the previous six seasons, and Cooper is an uncapped rookie. Sorell said Cooper, 21, would be an investment for the future.South Australia must also find a captain for next summer after Nathan Adcock lost his Pura Cup position mid-season. However, none of the New South Wales players have been offered the job. “We have some good internal candidates at the moment,” Sorell said, “and we’ll address leadership when they sign.”The Redbacks have already picked up Michael Klinger from Victoria and are not chasing any other players. However, Sorell was disappointed to have lost out to the Bushrangers on Chris Rogers.Sorell also wants to keep the spin duo of Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey even though squeezing both of them into the side in 2007-08 was almost impossible. “I’m confident that that will happen,” Sorell said. “It’s a priority, there’s no doubt about that.”He is also hoping to retain Ryan Harris, the allrounder, but questions over his status have been raised after he used his British passport to sign as a local player with Sussex. South Australia want to speak to Harris over his intentions for the next Australian season.

Australian allrounder Ian Moran has received an unexpected call-up to rejoin the Scotland side after South African Arno Jacobs was released to join Leicestershire.Moran, who is this year’s professional at Uddingston, played nine matches last season.Roddy Smith, chief executive of Cricket Scotland, said: “Leicestershire wanted to sign Arno for the remainder of the season, and Cricket Scotland was delighted to help further his professional career by agreeing to the request. It is a shame to lose Arno after just three games, but I am sure he will be a great success for Leicestershire and we wish him well.”

The National Bank batsmen faltered in the second innings against Sialkot on the third day at the Multan Cricket Stadium, yet their team finished 241 runs ahead of the opponents with four wickets intact.After having gained a first-innings advantage of 102 runs, National Bank lost five wickets in the second outing for 72 runs. A sixth-wicket stand of 64 had them breathing again and they are back in the game hoping to achieve an outright win on the final day.Allrounder Mansoor Amjad, a legspinner from Sialkot having to play against his own regional outfit, came to National Bank’s rescue with an unbeaten innings of 30 as his team reached 139 for 6. Naved Latif, a former Pakistan batsman, quickly contributed 39 runs in his partnership with Mansoor, who had scored 122 in National Bank’s first innings. He also had figures of 4 for 102 in 27 overs as Sialkot were restricted 409 chasing National Bank’s first-innings effort of 511 runs.Sialkot resumed on 236 for 2 with opener Atiq-ur-Rehman unbeaten at 150. He managed to add only seven runs to his score, before falling to paceman Wasim Khan, who captured 4 for 90 in his 29 overs. Later, Abdul Rehman (49) and Kamran Younis (42) added 78 runs for the seventh wicket, but getting to 511 runs proved to be a difficult task. Mansoor’s fourth wicket was his 100th in his 33rd first-class appearance.A lead of 300 or thereabouts today would place National Bank in a good position to achieve an outright win. In any case, they will take the first-innings points if the match ends in a draw.

Stephen Fleming celebrates New Zealand’s win© Getty Images

After a season which he will want to forget, Stephen Fleming at least had the solace of ending on a high with an innings victory over Sri Lanka. But no sooner had the dust settled on the Wellington Test then he was being asked about the tour of Zimbabwe in August.”If the information that I read suggests it’s not wise to go and that will make a difference, then that’s something I’ll consider,” Fleming told reporters, hinting that it is far from certain that he will make the trip. “Like the other players I’ll be reading a lot, watching the situation closely and trying to educate myself on what impact the tour will have. The players will take a lot of care over the decision and make sure it’s the right one in their mind for the right reasons.”But while the Zimbabwe tour will take centre stage in the coming weeks, yesterday Fleming was happy to dwell on a rare success. “It’s a special victory about coming back from the canvas to get some perspective on the whole summer,” he explained. “That was the goal of this series and it was rewarding. It was special for the young guys who have only experienced Test defeats. We were just happy to be in a commanding position and enjoying the fact we had a team under pressure for once this summer … we’d been under the pump for so long we forget how to enjoy the game. This game we made a pact to enjoy it and that shone through today. It was a pretty flat wicket. It was a good effort to bowl them out in a day’s play.”Fleming will be flying to England to join Nottinghamshire in the next few days.

On behalf of the family of David Hookes, the South Australian CricketAssociation (SACA) can confirm that a public funeral service tocelebrate the life of David Hookes will be held at the Adelaide Oval at11am on Tuesday, January 27.The Clarrie Grimmett (northern) gates and Phil Ridings (southern) gatesto Adelaide Oval will be open for public access from 10am.Seating for the public will be available in the Bradman stand and thewestern grandstands, with reserved seating for family, friends anddignitaries in the George Giffen stand.The Adelaide City Council have made the Pinky Flat and northern AdelaideOval carparks available to the public at no charge. Both carparks willbe accessible from 8am on Tuesday.The public are encouraged to attend what will be a fitting celebrationof the extraordinary life of David Hookes.

BRISBANE, Jan 21 AAP – Makeshift opener Clinton Perren completed an eight-hour assault on South Australia today as Queensland surged towards its fifth consecutive victory of the Pura Cup season.Perren unleashed a career-high 224, filling the opening spot vacated by Australian one-day batsman Jimmy Maher, to fling the Redbacks on to death row heading into tomorrow’s final day at the Gabba.The visitors will resume at 2-46 in their second innings, chasing 409 for victory, with captain Greg Blewett (21 not out) the main hope as he chases his third century in as many first-class matches at the Gabba.The Redbacks must match the patience of Perren, who crashed the tenth highest score by a Queenslander in an interstate match, as the Bulls rushed to 8-487 declared in their second innings.He faced 367 deliveries, hitting 33 boundaries as Wade Seccombe (70), James Hopes (39) and Lee Carseldine (37) helped Queensland overturn its 79-run first-innings deficit.Perren had resumed on 104 not out and celebrated the greatest day of his career when he carved Blewett to the backward point boundary to record his double-century, fulfilling a challenge set by his club teammate Maher earlier in the day.”Jimmy sent me a text message this morning asking if I’d ever scored a double century before,” Perren said.”I really hadn’t thought about it before that because I was only thinking it was nice to turn up to a match going out to bat on 104.”I’ve got a few messages from him since and it was pretty exciting to get 200 because I’d only got one double before, back when I was about 16 or 17.”Perren was a reluctant opener, hardly jumping at the prospect of replacing Maher when selectors asked him last Saturday.But he has booked himself into the opening role for the rest of the season as Queensland makes an ominous move towards its fourth consecutive Pura Cup title, eyeing a six-point lead if it wins tomorrow.They may be without Michael Kasprowicz tomorrow after the pace spearhead left the field with a calf-muscle spasm after bowling just two overs in the Redbacks’ second innings.But Queensland still inflicted wounds on the Redbacks. Joe Dawes (1-19) claimed the wicket of Ben Johnson (seven) while Adam Dale dismissed David Fitzgerald for a 34-ball duck.It completed a miserable day for Fitzgerald, who grassed a tough chance from Perren on 117.The Bulls were reminded of the value of Blewett’s wicket when the former Test opener smacked four boundaries in the final overs to limit the damage for the Redbacks.Ben Higgins finished 13 not out, joining 18-year-old debutant Mark Cosgrove as the men who must help Blewett fend off the Bulls tomorrow.The Redbacks need an outright victory to boost their hopes of overhauling frontrunners Queensland and Victoria in the race for a final berth.

Yorkshire Phoenix ended a run of three consecutive defeats in Division One of the Norwich Union League by gaining a 16-run victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks who are still searching for their first win after five outings.Craig White gave England hope that he will be fully fit again for the battle for the Ashes by working up his fastest pace since suffering his back injury and he weighed in with three for 30 off nine hostile overs in which he was unfortunate not to pick up more wickets.The England all-rounder was well supported by Chris Silverwood who returned to the Yorkshire side after a groin strain and snatched three for 28 and it was his two wickets in one over that put Yorkshire in command after Northants had needed 40 from the last five overs with six wickets still standing.Northants were well served by Russell Warren and Alec Swann who both knocked up 54 before being dismissed by Matthew Hoggard but the strike bowler was nowhere near his best form and had earlier been removed from the attack when his opening two overs cost 17 runs.Warren’s runs were made from 86 balls with four fours while Swann required only 65 deliveries, striking three fours and a six.Put in to bat, Yorkshire made a rapid start with 44 coming off the first seven overs before spinner Jason Brown grabbed three wickets in nine consecutive overs which cost him only 23 runs.Skipper David Byas held firm, however, and went on to make 52 off 93 balls with seven boundaries before having his off-stump uprooted by Tony Penberthy.Yorkshire continued to be put under severe pressure until Richard Blakey and Silverwood broke free while dashing up 49 together off the last five overs.They hammered 16 runs – Yorkshire’s winning margin – in the final over from Darren Cousins, Silverwood ending unbeaten on 27 from 20 balls with two sixes and two fours, and Blakey having three boundaries in his 26 not out from 27 deliveries.