When the Crushers folded, however, his wife contacted his old Bradford coach, Peter Fox, to see whether there were any likely lifelines from Britain.”Peter knew that John Kear wanted a stand-off at Sheffield and the club has taken me on as a risk. I’m in the right frame of mind to have a big game at Wembley.”After leaving Britain under a cloud, Watson played with distinction for Cronulla, Gold Coast and the South Queensland Crushers. “In fact, playing rugby league is the only thing I’ve been good at.” Watson’s talent has rarely been in doubt, only the stability of his lifestyle.”That’s why this game means so much to me It’s my chance to show that I’m really a pretty good player. DAVE WATSON has his opportunity this afternoon to make sure that his chequered career in Britain will be remembered for his ability to cause problems on the field, rather than off it. Watson plays at Wembley this afternoon for his sixth English club, Sheffield Eagles taking a chance where others would have said “never again.”
Among his escapades are a positive test for cannabis, another test side- stepped and various drink-driving offences.”I’ve been a bad man at times,” says Watson. Lancashire, who had won the toss, dropped each of them twice and looked a miserable lot in the field In the end, it mattered not..

But the error hardly diminished a compelling performance by the youngster, who made almost 2,000 runs in all cricket last season and made a huge impact with England A, notably in his double hundred against Kenya in Nairobi.His partnership of 216 yesterday with Ben Smith, whose 121-ball 90 was only marginally less accomplished, established a second-wicket competition record for Leicestershire. However, Dakin could not contain Warren Hegg, who struck four, two and four off the first three balls of the final over – two of them full tosses – to snatch the spoils.
Defeat for Leicestershire spoiled the day for Darren Maddy, the 23-year- old England A batsman who demolished an experienced Lancashire attack with a competition-best unbeaten 136, a 154-ball innings including 13 fours and a six that made an enormous impression on a crowd that included the England selector Graham Gooch, who also witnessed another failure by Michael Atherton.Atherton gave Maddy a significant helping hand, spilling a catch at backward point when he was 56. A third-wicket partnership of 156 in 25 overs between John Crawley and Neil Fairbrother ultimately achieved great significance but a collapse preceded triumph. Chris Lewis, deputising for James Whitaker as Leicestershire captain, dismissed Crawley and then Wasim Akram in the same over and then Jonathan Dakin removed Ian Austin and Graeme Lloyd with consecutive balls divided by a heavy shower. AFTER repeated interruptions for rain and countless oscillations of the Duckworth-Lewis swingometer, Lancashire rescued their Benson and Hedges Cup campaign with a two-wicket victory at Grace Road achieved with three balls to spare. It explained, in part at least, how they were able to fight back from the dire situation of seven down for 129 into the relative respectability of their final total, which also included a fine, unbeaten 42 from David Leather..

They are no soft touches; the bulk of the squad have experienced the cutting edge of the first-class game with counties, and one of them, Greg Loveridge, has played a Test for New Zealand. It made him a late contender for the Gold Award but that went to Martin-Jenkins, not just for his 2 for 34, but also for making a game of it with a spirited 39.His contribution epitomised the attitude of the students. At that point, though, wickets were also needed and the students could not take any, nor could they contain the late flurry by Dimitri Mascarenhas.The London-born, Australia-raised son of Sri Lankan parents smashed a consummate, unbeaten 52, the winning hit being his fourth four to go with two sixes in a 48-ball gem. They simply turned the screw a little more, accounted for Keech when he had made a commendable 74, and kept the county’s batsmen under pressure.
There was no better example of this than right at the end when Robin Martin-Jenkins kept his nerve and sent down a couple of tight overs. The students were not at all fazed when Matthew Keech began to turn things around after Hampshire lost four quick wickets.

Hampshire came perilously close to defeat after getting themselves bogged down early on in their reply. Unfortunately, at the moment, they have to put up with taking their betters to the wire and contenting themselves with moral victories. IT IS surely a matter of time before the student revolution takes place in cricket and they come up with a number of clear-cut wins over first- class opposition. “Perhaps my bad luck is over now,” he said, having taken the leader’s yellow jersey by winning four of the intermediate sprints.That effort earned him a 12-second deduction from his race time and coupled with a five-second bonus for third place lifted him above Clay for today’s 73.5 miles from Bolton to Holcombe near Ramsbottom.. They have plagued him in recent races even when he gave Britain a second place in the Tour of Guadeloupe.