Cricket: Welsh county sign up Newell

GLAMORGAN, the 1997 county champions, have reinforced their middle order by signing the Sussex batsman Keith Newell on a two-year contract.

Newell, 26, will fill the void left by Tony Cottey, who crossed in the opposite direction last month when he brought to an end his career with the Welsh county by signing a three-year deal with Sussex.

Newell's first-class best of 135 came against the West Indies in 1995 and last night he said: "I'm delighted to be joining Glamorgan. They have a very good side and have big plans for the ground and for next season."

The Glamorgan captain, Matthew Maynard, said: "We have been looking to strengthen the squad with a couple of signings and I am delighted that Keith has agreed to join us. We feel there is a tremendous wealth of talent coming through at Glamorgan, but if there is a player we feel will add something to the squad we will always show an interest."

The all-rounder Mark Alleyne was yesterday re-appointed as Gloucestershire's captain for a third season.

Kent have signed a club record pounds 400,000 sponsorship deal with the brewers Shepherd Neame to take them through to the end of the 2001 season.

Aamir Sohail will remain captain of Pakistan for the remaining two Tests against Zimbabwe despite the furore after his side's seven-wicket first Test defeat. The Pakistan Cricket Board voted 9-3 to keep Aamir in charge despite criticism from the public and media since Zimbabwe won in Peshawar last month, their first overseas Test victory.

The Australian umpire Darrell Hair is threatening legal action against Sri Lanka's cricket board president, Thilange Sumathipala, alleging that he accused Hair of bias during a row over Muttiah Muralitharan.

The Sri Lankan spinner's action came under scrutiny in 1995 when he was no-balled seven times by Hair for throwing. In a recent book, Hair described Muralitharan's action as "diabolical".

Hair recently made himself unavailable for the limited-overs series between Australia, England and Sri Lanka. His decision came after Sri Lankan cricket authorities had asked the Australian Cricket Board to ban him from umpiring their matches.