One of our most elegant strokemakers, Solanki would be a fixture in the Test side by now if the next stage in his development was not proving so difficult. Turning good performances into outstanding ones is the step he needs to take. Watching cricket at Worcester is almost always a pleasure, even though awkward, low-scoring pitches tend to be the rule, and the experience is enhanced when Vikram Solanki plays well. Harvey removed Matthew Bulbeck and Andy Caddick with his fourth and fifth lbws to wrap up the match.. But Turner and Dutch raced to a 50-partnership from just 29 balls and had eventually added 86 from 54 balls for the seventh wicket before Harvey struck to trap Dutch lbw.A few balls later Turner followed as he presented Martyn Ball with a straightforward caught and bowled. First he trapped Matthew Wood plum leg-before for just two, and then removed the dangerous Tasmanian Jamie Cox without scoring, again lbw.Trescothick and Burns built a partnership of 83, before the left-handed England player went on the attack against Mark Alleyne, only to sky the ball to Jeremy Snape.Snape then claimed his first wicket of the day as he bowled Keith Parsons to leave Somerset 117 for 4 in the 31st over, and the required rate creeping up towards eight an over.Jon Lewis then accounted for Ian Blackwell thanks to a superb catch from Jack Russell.When Snape removed Burns (61) with an excellent catch off his own bowling, the match looked to be all but over. Even a spirited late stand of 86 for the seventh wicket between Rob Turner and Keith Dutch could not prevent Gloucestershire's victory.Earlier, Harvey had proved his worth with the ball, claiming two early wickets to leave Somerset on the ropes at 9 for 2. The all-rounder finished with 5 for 20 from his 7.5 overs.Marcus Trescothick and Michael Burns tried to mount a recovery, but once the England opener had fallen for 47 the visitors were always chasing the game.

Ian Harvey claimed five wickets as Gloucestershire booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Benson & Hedges Cup with a 39-run win over Somerset. After Kim Barnett's 67 had set Gloucestershire on their way to 270 for 7, the Australian Harvey claimed two crucial wickets at the start of Somerset's reply and three more at the death. Ronnie Irani, the Essex captain, took 5 for 28, and John Stephenson chipped in with 3 for 22 against his old club as Hampshire reached 174 from 46 overs.The hosts regained their composure after two early wickets for medium-pacer Dimitri Mascarenhas and had England captain Nasser Hussain (47) and an unbeaten 79 from Andy Flower to thank on the way to 176 for 4.Sussex also continued their challenge for a quarter-final spot with a 28-run dismissal of Middlesex at Lord's.Openers Richard Montgomerie (85) and Tim Ambrose (56) put 139 on the board for Sussex to help their team to 252 for 6, batting first.At 62 for 7, Middlesex's hopes were all but over despite a 112-run eighth-wicket fightback from David Nash (67) and Ashley Noffke (58).. Lancashire need victory at all costs today in their last Benson & Hedges Cup zonal match against Roses rivals Yorkshire following yesterday's 17-run defeat by Leicestershire. Warren Hegg's side fell short of Leicestershire's 175 for 9 on a day when ball ruled bat at Old Trafford. Khan cut at his first ball and snicked a catch to the wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs to signal the interval. There were a couple of unexpected twists in the tail but the West Indies duly completed a comprehensive victory in the third Test just after lunch on the fourth day here yesterday that was all but inevitable once they had dismissed India for 102 on the opening day. So said Ted Wainwright, a worthy Yorkshire all-rounder of the same vintage.Heaven forfend, but cricket is becoming fun again and what is more, England keep on winning and the ECB has just issued their annual statement saying that the game has never been stronger at the grass roots Nothing changes!. Oh, yes, and why not another Ranji, the inventor of the leg glance "Ranji, 'e never played a Christian stroke in 'is life''.

He swung the ball every which way and dealt also in a mixture of cut and spin We'd love to see one like him again. The cloners must go through Lancashire with a fine comb for anything which could lead to a new Sydney Barnes, the greatest bowler of them all.At a little more than medium pace he took 189 wickets in 27 Test matches at 16 apiece between 1902 and 1913. Modern cricket badly needs another WG.We would do anything for a second Denis Compton, a couple of Harold Larwoods and the most Machiavellian might go for a Douglas Jardine encore – if we don't already have one in the present England captain, Nasser Hussain. Then, the medics would have to scurry down to Gloucestershire, and Downend in particular, to see if they could come up with a few more Graces. But, happily, there is no immediate hurry because England will already have won four or five successive World Cups and hung on to the Ashes half a dozen times in a row before the Don Bradman clone becomes available.After all, his family, originally called Bradsen, came from a village on the border of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire so there is no reason why England should not have the first option on a Bradman clone. (The privacy of Hansie Cronje would at all times be respected).For those who are definitely over the top, the business of cloning must be the best way forward. Graeme Pollock is teetering on the brink in South Africa, but Barry Richards might be persuaded to put on his pads once more and Jonty Rhodes could certainly take a fresh guard.

Frank Tyson and Fred Trueman spring to mind, not to mention Gary Sobers or Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. Then, there are all those Hadlees in New Zealand and their genes cannot be lightly ignored.Of course, there are others who have in every sense hung up their boots and cannot be expected ever again to take the new ball. They are a restless lot in Lahore, too, for three sisters each produced a captain of Pakistan: Javed Burki, Majid Khan and Imran Khan Jemima must be watched. I can see the major breweries marking out their long runs here.A certain Mr Khan from Karachi was undoubtedly the most considerable cricketing progenitor of the lot, having produced no fewer than four Test cricketers: Hanif, Wazir, Mushtaq and Sadiq That family should always be under the microscope. Saqlain Mushtaq's procreational possibilities must also be kept in view. Lady Castle served as a Labour MP, a minister, a Member of the European Parliament and a member of the House of Lords during a political career spanning 60 years. Only last year, her frail figure was spotted among delegates at the Labour conference.