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Harold Stanley WEIR was born on 23 April 1904 at Croydon Junction, a suburb of Maryborough and later to be known as Baddow, the son of Margaret (nee Bryans) and James Weir. He was educated at the Central Boys State School in Maryborough and after he had completed the state scholarship examination he commenced working in the office of the Woocoo Shire Council, eventually reaching the position of Shire Clerk. On 21 November 1936 he married Dorothy Jean Stevenson and she pre deceased him. There were no children.A quite aggressive left hand batsman and a left arm bowler of a little above medium pace he played all of his club cricket in Maryborough with Tinana C.C. He twice visited Brisbane with country teams for the annual trial matches, the first in 1929-30 when he gained selection in the Queensland Colts team, and again in the following season. He performed quite usefully in these matches without doing anything outstanding, his top score being 55 for North against South in 1930.He was a regular Maryborough representative player for several seasons and in 1927 and again in 1931 appeared against the touring teams from New South Wales organised by EL (Gar) Waddy. He did not achieve anything of note in these matches but in 1931 he captured his only wicket in them, having Allan Kippax caught by Dr Otto Nothling in the first of the two matches played in Maryborough. In April 1928 he had one of his better matches when representing Maryborough against a Brisbane XI for he top scored in each innings scoring 27 out of 80 and 36 out of 106 and returned bowling figures of one for 19 and three for 27 in a match won by Brisbane.In his prime he retained a great degree of fitness and stood a little under six feet in height however in later years he became quite stooped. But he continued his daily walks around Maryborough and was well known to many in and around the city. As time passed his stoop became more acute and his walk became more of a shuffle. In May 2001 he walked into a moving motor vehicle and spent several months in hospital. On discharge he was not able to return to his home, a magnificent old Queenslander located on the top of a hill in Pallas Street, and spent his last days in Fair Haven where he passed away on 11 June 2002.Stan Weir was very much interested in the history of his home city and its surrounds and he was always a ready source of information when in the mid to late 1970s work was being carried out on the initial search for past Queensland cricketers. He also provided much information on those players who had represented each of Wide Bay and Maryborough in matches against the touring English teams in 1883, 1885 and 1887, as well as of players who had appeared against Victor Trumper’s XI in 1906 and in the various matches against Gar Waddy’s teams.

Shaun Udal won the Hampshire Players Player of the year award for the second successive time, when he was presented with the trophy at the teams end of season party in Southampton.”Shaun” said Tim Tremlett, Hampshire Director of Cricket, “was by far Hampshire’s most consistent player in 2002. We may have had a mediocre season as a club, but no fault could be laid on Shaggy, who despite his benefit year activities continued to give more than 100% on the field, and was an inspiration to all in the dressing room”.

Shaun Udal was delighted with the award. “This means a great deal to me, especially coming from the lads, but it looks like an expensive night, as I suppose I better get some drinks in”.

Zac Morris, Hampshire’s 22 year old left-arm pace bowler will not forget his National League debut in a hurry: three wickets including that of Graeme Hick and then the winning runs with just two balls remaining.In a low-scoring match Hampshire scraped home by three wickets in front of a crowd of around 1,500 for the inaugural National League match at the Rose Bowl.Morris, younger brother of first team regular Alex, dismissed PhilWeston in his first over after Worcestershire had chosen to bat first and then bowled the dangerous Hick between bat and pad for 13 at the end of his first spell. Later he returned to get rid of Nick Boulton to finish with creditable figures of three for 31.Worcestershire were never able to accelerate after a shaky start but Vikram Solanki and David Leatherdale propelled them to respectability with a stand of 65 for the fourth wicket, Solanki hitting five fours in his 38 and Leatherdale making an innings top score of 41 before both were out to spinner Shaun Udal.At 133 for seven Worcestershire were in danger of not being able to set Hampshire much of a total to chase. But then the reliable Steve Rhodes and Stuart Lampitt added an unbroken 50 in nine overs so that Worcestershire’s 183 for seven was at least a test.When Robin Smith departed for 46 to leave Hampshire 95 for four a real battle was about to unfold. Will Kendall and promising newcomer Lawrence Prittipaul appeared to swing the match Hampshire’s way in a stand of 73; the best of the day, but still Worcestershire were not done.Kendall, Prittipaul and Dimitri Mascarenhas were all out with victory in sight so that seven were needed from the last over of the game from Alamgir Sheriyar. There were three balls remaining when Morris straight drove for four to provide Hampshire with a winning total of 186 for seven.

Queensland captain Stuart Law has paid tribute to the depth of his state’s resources and the quality of its emerging players in the wake of its 235-run victory over Tasmania in the 2001-02 Pura Cup Final here in Brisbane today.”The new guys that came in (to our eleven) really stuck their hands up; they really wanted to win badly and they produced,” said Law after watching a side deprived of the services of Matthew Hayden, Jimmy Maher, Andy Bichel, Nathan Hauritz and Adam Dale hand its state its third successive first-class title and its fifth in the space of eight seasons.In the lead-up to the game, Law had stressed that his squad had been persistently faced by adversity this summer, highlighting the problems posed by injuries and the absence of an unusually large number of players to international commitments.And, in its aftermath, he could barely have been more fulsome in his praise of how his players had responded to the challenge.”We’re just over the moon with what the young guys coming into the side have achieved.”They did the job; they had to learn different methods and the way that we wanted them to play the game instead of fitting in with their natural, aggressive tone.”To go through 20-odd players for the summer is something new to Queensland. And to still come out on top at the end of the summer (represents) a fantastic effort.”I’m really proud of our guys.””It’s to do with the whole culture that we’ve created,” added Law of the Bulls’ extraordinary string of successes over the course of the last decade.”No-one’s more important than the next person (in our squad). You might have a guy who has played for 10 years but he’s no more important than a guy who’s playing his first game.”You’ve got a guy (like Daniel Payne) who’s coming in and playing his second game – which happens to be a Pura Cup Final – and he doesn’t score the runs that he wanted to score but he takes two of the greatest catches you’d want to see.”And not have any fear whatsoever in his body.”That says a lot for this cricket team and the way that (coach) Bennett King, and John Buchanan in years gone by, have set it up.”Queensland’s win ensured that there is now no captain in Australian domestic history who has led a state to more first-class titles than Law. Richie Benaud, who was at the helm during a golden period for New South Wales cricket, remains the only other leader with five victories to his name.Today’s triumph also sealed the first ever run of three consecutive title victories by a Queensland team, adding even further lustre to the run of success that has emphatically broken a 63-year championship drought.

Matthew Elliott has endured a frustrating season. But the last week of it has been as close to as enjoyable as it comes. Preciselyseven days after plundering a one-day century from Queensland, the left handed Victorian opener was at it again today, leading histeam to a fifty-nine run triumph over the Bulls in the Mercantile Mutual Cup match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.In combining with opening partner Jason Arnberger (75) to produce a spectacular 161-run stand for the first wicket in the space ofjust thirty overs, Elliott (112) not only made a mockery of rival captain Stuart Law’s decision to send the Bushrangers in. He alsoprovided his team with an advantage that it never relinquished.Aside from the always efficient Adam Dale (2/30 off ten overs), the Queensland attack came in for serial punishment. At both endsof the innings, Test player Andy Bichel (0/65 from ten) was treated with disdain, and fellow former Australian player MichaelKasprowicz (1/55 off nine) was another to be treated harshly.As if the openers’ efforts weren’t enough, Brad Hodge (50*) also produced a typically effective innings from the relativelyunfamiliar position of number three.Around two rain interruptions, the Victorians raced to a score of 4/271 – one made better by the fact that it had been produced fromjust forty-eight overs. Accordingly, Queensland’s target for victory was then revised to as many as 286 under Duckworth/Lewiscalculations, a task which became increasingly formidable as the afternoon unfolded.Jimmy Maher (64), Law (37) and Matthew Hayden (36) fought valiantly. But, once first gamer Jonathon Moss (5/47 off ten overs)sowed the seeds of a collapse with the wickets of Bichel (19) and Maher in the space of five deliveries, the contest was allbut over. With his tidy medium pace, ex-New South Welshman Moss proved the star of the afternoon session, even allowing thehome team to snatch a fifth point when it finished off the Queensland innings just three runs shy of bonus point safety. Ben Oliveralso played a starring role, albeit far more fleetingly, when he produced a remarkable backpedalling catch at long on to removeWade Seccombe (1) in the dying stages of the match.

MELBOURNE – Victoria may have two cricket captains next season with MatthewElliott tipped to take over the leadership of the one-day side from PaulReiffel.While Reiffel, 35, has agreed to play on next season, he is not keen toparticipate in the domestic one day competition, instead preferring to savehimself for the Pura Cup fixtures.”That still hasn’t been decided, and it’s something I will have to talkabout with the VCA (Victorian Cricket Association) but that may be thesensible way to go,” Reiffel told AAP today.”Certainly the workload is a lot heavier now that we play 10 one-day matchesas well (as 10 four-day matches).”If Reiffel was to retire from one-day cricket, the Bushrangers would needanother leader for the one-day fixtures.Reiffel said there were many excellent candidates to take over, includingElliott, who is believed to be favourite for the position.”I’m sure Matty would do an excellent job,” Reiffel said.”But then you’ve also got Darren Berry, who was vice-captain last year, andI’m sure he’d do a fine job as well.”With next season likely to be Reiffel’s last, the Vics are conscious ofdeveloping a new generation of leaders, which should favour Elliott over the32-year-old Berry.Elliott is also likely to be available for the Vics throughout the entireseason after he was today dropped from the list of players contracted by theAustralian Cricket Board.Despite his waning interest in the limited overs game, Reiffel had nohesitation in backing up for another year at first-class level.”You’re a long time retired,” he said of his decision to continue on nextseason.”In the end I wanted to go on and the VCA wanted me to go on, so I will keepgoing.”Reiffel, who last year became the Vics’ greatest ever wicket-taker infirst-class cricket by surpassing Alan Connolly’s record of 330 wickets, hasmade a big impact in his two years as captain of Victoria.He has led the side to the Pura Cup final on both occasions, only to bepipped at the post by Queensland.”It would be nice to go out on a winning note,” Reiffel said.”I managed to do that from international cricket (after he retired followingAustralia’s 1999 World Cup win) but it was not really a motivating factor.”The main thing is I’m still enjoying it.”

ScorecardMark Footitt claimed four second-innings wickets•Getty Images

A thrilling final day at the Racecourse ended with Derbyshire securing a second successive win of the season to take them out of the relegation zone and dent the hopes of yet another title challenger. After excelling at Hove, an unchanged XI followed three days of disciplined cricket with a dogged fourth to bowl out Middlesex for 240, as fans left wide-eyed wondering if they were now Championship contenders by proxy.A combination of relentlessly tight bowling and some smart field-placing from Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen saw them overcome any jitters to give them a fighting chance of survival. Few expected them to be in control of their destiny, but head coach Karl Krikken, cock-a-hoop at the finale, could not have looked prouder, as he shook hands with supporters, celebratory beer in hand.He spent the start of the day patrolling the boundary, resembling a football manager, pacing around their technical area. He even had the lingo – describing the upcoming encounters with fellow relegation candidates Somerset and Surrey as “48-pointers”.At one point he even stepped onto the field to pass on a message to Matt Higginbottom at fine leg, while seemingly gesticulating for a 90th minute penalty. “I’m just really pushing and prodding from the side,” he said, smiling. .”We’ve got a very good captain and a good young side so it’s just about trying to get your ideas on the field. You just walk round and say, ‘Why are you bowling with one slip and two drive-men when most of the catches have been dropped at second slip?’ I can’t just sit and watch, I need to get out there and get my hands dirty.”A combination of early season sheepishness and five lost tosses in seamer-friendly conditions resulted in four defeats, most notably when these teams met earlier in the season at Lord’s; Krikken noting that some of the players seemed overawed by the surroundings, particularly those who had never played there before.But a return to the core values that got them promoted has helped them regain their identity and thrive under their underdogs tag. In isolation, their victories against Sussex and Middlesex were about as perfect as first-class wins go. Their application on the field today spoke volumes.Tim Groenewald showed no signs of the ankle complaint that saw him leave the field last night, returning to the attack at the City End, for the fifth over of the day. And it was he, Derbyshire’s leading wicket-taker, who began the morning procession with a ball that seamed in to hit Sam Robson’s off stump.Eoin Morgan looked horribly out of touch and, following a trio of uppish shots just out of the reach of fielders, played on for just 9 when Mark Footitt tempted him with a wide one. A darling of the England side, his run of only three half centuries in 52 innings is embarrassing for a man of his talents. Middlesex fans have voiced concerns over his priorities, and this failure when they needed him most will only rile them further.Two balls later, Neil Dexter was following him back as Footitt speared a full, swinging delivery into middle and off stump to leave the visiting captain powerless.Peter Burgoyne then put the gloss on a fantastic session for Derbyshire with the important wickets of Adam Voges – caught brilliantly by a diving Chesney Hughes at slip – and John Simpson, who failed to stop himself going through with a square shot through the off-side – ball stopping in the pitch, meaning he could only guide it to the grateful hands of Madsen at short cover. The dismissal signalled the end of the morning session, with Simpson unmoved, rueful and shell-shocked.Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner put their top order to shame – Adam Voges aside – with an eighth-wicket stand of 85 off 113 balls that made Derbyshire fret for the first time in this match.Berg’s season’s best of 71 contained some lovely wrist-work, as he guided balls outside of off stump expertly through the mid-on and midwicket for boundaries. Rayner’s scoring areas were more orthodox, but just as valuable, as they reduced the arrears to double figures. But when Berg failed to get enough bat on a ball he wanted to guide to third man, instead finding the cupped hands of Hughes at a wide third slip, relief swept around the ground.Toby Roland-Jones was adjudged strangled down the leg side – a harsh call agreed the Derbyshire players after the game – to give Footitt his fourth wicket of the match, before Burgoyne brought Tim Murtagh forward and turned the ball into his outside edge to give Hughes his third catch of the innings to seal a momentous victory.For Middlesex, defeat is compounded by an ominously easy Yorkshire win over Nottinghamshire inside three days. Even taking into account Yorkshire’s 10-wicket triumph at Lord’s earlier this summer, the gulf between the two has never seemed wider. Even if Middlesex managed to stay within touching distance of their title rivals in the next three games, they will need to find something special – something they’ve not shown so far – to triumph at Headingley in their last game of the season.Chris Rogers is set to return against Somerset next week – almost certainly retaking the four-day captaincy from Dexter – with overseas stand-in Adam Voges finishing his stint with the county on 383 runs at 54.71.But that’s just replacing one form batsman with another – one who will be fatigued by the rigours of five Ashes Tests. Both Rogers and Sam Robson carried Middlesex at the beginning of the season, and now it’s time for others to share the burden. If not, they may find their title challenge has run its course.

ScorecardSteven Finn took four wickets on the opening day at Lord’s•Getty Images

With the sky overcast and what looked to be a responsive pitch, there was little doubt as to what Neil Dexter would do when he won the toss. But even he couldn’t have envisaged just how quickly the game would progress on its opening day, as he walked in with Middlesex 15 for 3, having dismissed Durham for 143 inside two sessions.Eyebrows will be raised as 15 wickets fell for just 269 runs, but before calling for the magnifying glass and duster – or whatever implements a pitch liaison officer has at his disposal – it should be noted that six batsmen departed with no one but themselves to blame. The most self-afflicted dismissal – Joe Denly’s prod to the slips comes close – was Adam Voges, who inexplicably found point when Graham Onions offered him some width.Both innings started similarly, with the first three wickets falling quickly, before a minor fourth wicket fight-back was curtailed. Tim Murtagh and Corey Collymore began today’s procession, as both got the ball to move across Durham’s left-hand-heavy top order. There was some surprise that Collymore took the new ball ahead of the returning Steven Finn, but there was talk that Finn himself may have suggested it.Dropped from the England squad for the third Test along with Onions, one theory was that the selectors wanted both to get some quality, competitive cricket under their belts. They were certainly under close scrutiny, with national selector Geoff Miller and Ashley Giles present at Lord’s to watch them both bowl briskly and with good rhythm. Of the two, Finn’s intent indicated he thought he had more to prove.This was his fifth appearance for Middlesex and certainly his best performance so far, as shown in his figures. His pace was consistently high, his lines relentless and probing, but perhaps most encouraging was his smooth approach to the crease. A minor blemish was his occasional straying which provided relief and boundaries – six, the most of any bowler – but he extracted some extravagant bounce, most notably to Paul Collingwood, who could only jump and fend the ball back for a return catch. It was perhaps the most complete bowling performance Dexter could have asked for, as Murtagh, Collymore and Berg – who backed up his front three exceptionally – all finished with two wickets each.Durham’s reply with the ball started with the wicket of Denly, who became Onion’s 400th first-class victim, before Voges obliged for 401. Eoin Morgan, whose last first-class cricket was last August for the England Lions, against Australia A, looked to rebuild, coming in when Sam Robson was spectacularly dismissed by Chris Rushworth, who uprooted his leg stump, but Morgan was trapped in front by fellow England hopeful Ben Stokes, as Middlesex looked all at sea.But Dexter took charge, stepping back and cobbling runs together with some nice strokes to the leg side boundary, before Gareth Berg joined him and scored relatively briskly. In a match that already looks like a low scorer, a fast-paced contribution tomorrow morning could be crucial.

Pakistan’s Asad Rauf and New Zealand’s Billy Bowden have been dropped from the Elite Panel of umpires following the annual review, the ICC have announced. They have been replaced by England’s Richard Illingworth and Australia’s Paul Reiffel in the 12-member panel for the 2013-2014 season starting on July 1, 2013.In May this year, the ICC withdrew Rauf from officiating in the Champions Trophy in England following media reports that indicated he was under investigation by Mumbai Police. The ICC, however, clarified that the situation was not a factor in his exclusion from the panel.”In Asad’s case, it is important to emphasise that the recent speculation linking his name to the IPL spot-fixing investigation was not considered during the selectors’ deliberations,” Geoff Allardice, the chairman of the ICC’s umpire selection panel, said. “The selection panel considered the overall performances of the umpires over the past 12 months when deciding which umpires would be offered contracts for 2013-14.”It is exciting to see Richard and Paul promoted to the elite panel, but it is also important to acknowledge and appreciate the outstanding contributions of Asad and Billy over a long period of time,” Allardice added.Paul Reiffel was thoroughly satisfied with the appointment. “When I first started on CA’s Project Panel Umpires program after retiring from first-class cricket, my aim was to reach the highest level of international umpiring. It always seemed a long way off so it’s very rewarding and exciting to achieve the goal I set myself when I first started umpiring.””I’d like to thank Cricket Australia for their support throughout my umpiring career. The umpiring system and pathway in Australia is very good, which is evidenced by the quality of Australian umpires.”Reiffel, a former Australian fast bowler, played 35 Tests and 92 ODIs between 1992 and 1998. He has been umpiring in international cricket since January 2009 and has stood in 4 Tests, 30 ODIs and 9 T20Is.Rauf was included in the panel of umpires in 2006 and officiated in 48 Tests, 98 ODIs and 23 T20Is. Bowden was part of the panel since 2003 during and he has officiated in 75 Tests, 181 ODIs and 19 T20Is.Illingworth, a former left-arm spinner, played nine Tests and 25 ODIs for England, including the 1992 World Cup final against Pakistan. He has umpired in 4 Tests, 16 ODIs and seven T20Is since July 2010.Elite Panel of umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Steve Davis, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Rod Tucker, Richard Illingworth and Paul Reiffel

ScorecardMichael Lumb continued his rich vein of scoring to reach a new first-class best•Getty Images

In danger of being pigeon-holed as a one-day batsman, perhaps even a Twenty20 specialist, Michael Lumb’s mission when he arrived at Trent Bridge the winter before last was to leave no one in any doubt that he was a player for all forms of the game. After six centuries in red-ball cricket in a season and a half, any such doubts have surely been removed. Unbeaten on 115 overnight, Lumb endured the frustrations of another day interrupted by squally showers to set a new career-best of 221 not out before the match reached its inevitable conclusion.Setting aside the fact that he might have been out for 2 on Friday afternoon had third slip Billy Godleman not tried to take an edge heading for second slip, Lumb batted superbly, imposing himself on the Derbyshire bowling and taking the spotlight that was denied him at Scarborough last week, when his own brilliant 135 was overshadowed by a double-hundred from Yorkshire’s Andrew Gale.That had been a special moment for Lumb, back in his father’s county. This was equally good. There are not many environments more testing of a batsman’s technique than Trent Bridge yet Lumb has two doubles there now, and a 171.”I think you have to be disciplined here and I have always been disciplined in my game, playing straight and not flirting outside off stump,” Lumb said. “You learn not to drive too early in an innings, to try to score off the short stuff and to play the line. If you get a good one, you get a good one but if it does a bit it can do too much.”I had an escape early on. It was swinging as it always does here and I got a good one but fortunately there was a bit of confusion between the slips and it went down. Happily I didn’t give another chance.”Naturally, Lumb remains integral to Nottinghamshire’s one-day team and it may be that the FL20 or the YB40 are the competitions in which they are more likely to be successful this year. Yet he draws a strong sense of satisfaction from making such an impact in four-day cricket.”When I moved here there were questions about whether I could be successful in four-day cricket,” he said. “But I always knew I could and Mick Newell brought me here to do so. It is nice to prove those doubters wrong.”It was Lumb’s third hundred of a season in which he now has 693 runs at 69.30, putting him in the top three run-scorers in Division One, behind the Middlesex pair, Chris Rogers and Sam Robson. At 33 he accepts that he may not be “on the radar” in terms of aspirations to play Tests but believes Nick Compton’s example shows that runs in county cricket carry some value.”I’ve felt good all year, really,” he said. “I’ve worked hard at what I do and when it’s your time you have to cash in. I’m a bit more mature now and where in the past I might have taken form for granted I don’t now. At 33 I’m probably not on anyone’s radar but as Comptom proved, weight of runs in county cricket is important and if I can keep scoring runs for Nottinghamshire who knows what can happen.”With so much time surrendered to the weather – more than half the game, in terms of overs lost – the final day became a chase for bonus points after the captains talked but failed to find any common ground in the search for a way to a result. The cricket was absorbing enough though to keep spectators interested.The home contingent drew particular enjoyment from watching Luke Fletcher turn his nightwatchman stint into a half-century, the second of his career.Fletcher, 6ft 6ins and broadly built with it, is a popular character at Trent Bridge, where they appreciate a local lad who has earned his place in the side. Born just outside the city in down-to-earth Bulwell, Fletcher still plays club cricket in the Nottinghamshire Premier League when time permits. He has shown he can bat before, making 92 against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in his debut season, and there was nothing swing-and-hope about this innings. Faced with a hostile spell from Mark Footitt he played solidly and straight; and when opportunities came, he took them, notably against the less-threatening Tim Groenewald, whom he hit for four boundaries in a single over.