Date-stamped : 03 Nov93 - 06:06
Walsh stays put as Richards thinks again
By Charles Randall
Courtney Walsh accepted a new three-year contract with Gloucester
shire  yesterday, while  Viv Richards may postpone his retirement
from first-class cricket.  The relief  was almost tangible  among
the Gloucestershire management in  the refurbished  corridors  of
the County Ground at Bristol when fast bowler Walsh confirmed his
decision.  He will also continue  as captain. Walsh, 30, made his
Gloucestershire debut in 1984 and  has become a crucial member of
the side with his bowling, but he admitted he would have left the
county this summer if  he had not  been offered a  long-term con-
tract.  He said: "The captaincy didn't really carry any weight in
the negotiations.  I wasn't happy with a one-year  roll-over con-
tract."  Departure  would have  left  Gloucestershire  in  severe
difficulty. They would have had little hope of signing a replace-
ment overseas seam bowler of international calibre, and there has
been little sign  yet that  David Lawrence, Walsh's  would-be new
ball partner, will make a full recovery from his broken knee-cap.
Viv Richards  confirmed that he  was interested in  remaining  in
first-class cricket and "would consider  any offer which came  my
way". 
Richards (41) had decided to retire at the end of the season when
his contract with Glamorgan expires, but his  performances during
a successful summer  for the Welsh  county have prompted  him  to
reconsider his future.  The problem in  signing overseas  players
has been  exacerbated by next  summer's two incoming tours by New
Zealand and South Africa, while  Pakistan's proposed  tour of Sri
Lanka next  July has become  an added complication.  Surrey, with
Waqar Younis, and  Somerset (Mushtaq Ahmed) have  resigned  them-
selves to only half a season's service from  their Pakistan  Test
players, and Lancashire  will probably  have to  adopt a  similar
attitude with Wasim Akram. Essex remain the only county without a
name linked to them.  They were seeking a seam-bowler rather than
a  batsman to replace  Salim Malik, though  their  options  would
widen if they signed  Paul Jarvis, Yorkshire's out-of-favour Eng-
land fast bowler.  Peter Edwards, Essex's secretary, said yester-
day:  "We have a list of  names, but I  can honestly say we  have
spoken to nobody yet.  It all  depends  on the  domestic  scene."
Desmond Haynes, the West Indies opening batsman, is considering a
new contract  offered to him by  Middlesex, the  new county cham-
pions.  Andrew Cottam, the Somerset and former England U-19 left-
arm spinner, has signed a two-year contract with Northamptonshire.
Cottam was born in Northampton and his father Bob, now Somerset's
cricket manager, played for  the county.  Registrations  for 1994
(West  Indians unless  stated):  Derbyshire (Ian  Bishop), Durham
(Anderson  Cummins),  Essex (to  be  decided),  Glamorgan  (Ottis
Gibson),  Gloucestershire  (Courtney  Walsh),  Hampshire (Winston
Benjamin), Kent (Carl Hooper), Lancashire (Wasim Akram, Pakistan)
Leicestershire (Phil Simmons), Middlesex (Desmond Haynes), North-
amptonshire  (Curtly  Ambrose),  Nottinghamshire  (Jimmy  Adams),
Somerset (Mushtaq  Ahmed, Pakistan), Surrey (Waqar Younis, Pakis-
tan), Sussex (Franklyn Stephenson), Warwickshire (Manoj Prabhakar,
India), Worcestershire (Ken  Benjamin) Yorkshire (Richie Richard-
son).
(Thanks: The Daily Telegraph and Muthu) posted by Vicky on r.s.c.
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