It is a sorry state of affairs for Mark Ramprakash and Murray Goodwin, two middle‑order county batsmen who have, perhaps, been the most difficult to dismiss this century.
Between them they have scored the best part of 60,000 first-class runs, with Ramprakash averaging 53 and Goodwin 47. They have, for different reasons, played less Test cricket than might be expected, and they have made county bowlers pay for that.
Here, however, Goodwin, in his 40th year, was dropped for the first time by the county he joined in 2001. He was such a prominent figure in that first championship winning season of 2003, but runs have been tight of late.
Ramprakash, meanwhile, in his 43rd year, was dropped by Surrey recently. Recalled to play his first championship match in three weeks, he opened the batting but made only eight before he was caught behind, pushing forward with a diffidence he would have disowned in his pomp.
This, however, is no ground for old batsmen. On Wednesday it was damp and blustery and the day belonged to the bowlers. It usually swings at Horsham, a fact confirmed by the boundary-strolling Jason Lewry, surely one of the best left-arm swing bowlers never to have played for his country.
And on Wednesday, despite the conditions, it swung once more. There was also some seam movement and James Anyon and Steve Magoffin took four wickets apiece as Surrey were bundled out for 124 in just 40.2 overs.
In reply Sussex were 81 for two before the rain fell, terminally this time. Sussex were anxious to get the game as advanced as possible, because the weather forecast for Thursday is even more dire. Apart from the conditions, Sussex bowled and caught well, and there some disappointing strokes from the Surrey batsmen. Of their specialists, Tom Maynard top-scored with 17.
Jason Roy drove to mid-on, a poor shot, and after the dismissal of Ramprakash three men fell with the score on 32. Zander de Bruyn was caught at slip, Rory Hamilton-Brown, the former Sussex player, was caught down the leg side off the first ball he faced, and Steven Davies, as well taken by the diving Luke Wells at third slip.
However, Horsham is also a ground that has rewarded the player prepared to put bat to ball and that is exactly what Gareth Batty and Jonathan Lewis did, to almost double the score, before Murali Kartik hit an unbeaten 23.
When Sussex batted, Ed Joyce nicked a wide one from Lewis to Davies before Chris Nash and Wells ensured the truncated day belonged to them. Davies, at least, was happy with the early finish. He travelled to Birmingham on Wednesday night as wicketkeeping cover for England's Matt Prior.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Voluntary Recall of Pasta Mix Products - Sacramento Bee
OAK BROOK, Ill., June 6, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Based on information received from Kerry Ingredients & Flavours, Bay Valley Foods is voluntarily recalling approximately 74,000 cases of boxed pasta mix products manufactured by its subsidiary ST Specialty Foods, Inc.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120606/CG20523)
The recalled products include a seasoning blend manufactured by Kerry Ingredients & Flavours. The seasoning blend was manufactured by Kerry using lactic acid which may potentially contain small metal fragments. The affected product is sold under the following brands and codes:
Example Listed in Accompanying Image: Reggano® Pasta Salads Classic (UPC4149812863) Manufacturer's Lot Code: 77A05302
There have been no reports of any injury or illness associated with these products.
Only those products bearing the brands and codes listed above contain the potentially affected ingredient. No other brands or codes are affected by this recall.
Consumers are advised to destroy any of the above-listed products, or return them to place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Bay Valley Foods Consumer Response Department at 1-800-756-5781.
SOURCE Bay Valley Foods
Source: www.sacbee.com
Sussex householders missing out on fuel bills support (From The Argus) - The Argus.co.uk
Sussex householders missing out on fuel bills support
5:10pm Tuesday 5th June 2012 in News By Neil Vowles
The number of homeowners receiving government help to keep their heating bills down has fallen dramatically.
The number of residents in the county benefiting from the Warm Front scheme has dropped by 84% over the last four years.
The drop in support comes at a time when there are more than 100,000 people living in fuel poverty in the region, struggling to heat their homes.
Consumer groups say the drop has been exacerbated by less promotion of the scheme by the Government and toughening up eligibility restrictions in a bid to avoid over-subscription. They say as much as a fifth of the scheme’s £143 million budget went unspent last year.
The Government tried to raise awareness of the scheme in February when 675,000 letters were sent out nationwide. However, none landed on doormats in Sussex – with residents in Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, County Durham and Sheffield given priority.
The Warm Front scheme, which initially launched in 2000, offers grants of up to £6,000 for energy saving improvements, including loft insulation, draught-proofing and hot water tank insulation.
In 2008/9 more than 6,000 homes in Sussex took advantage of the scheme but by 2011/12 this had dropped below 1,000.
In Brighton and Hove 799 homes had Warm Front help in 2008/9 but this had dropped to 159 in 2011/12 while the number of homes in Worthing receiving grants dropped from 558 to 101 over the same period.
In January, Brighton and Hove City Council launched the Warm Homes Healthy People programme to provide support for residents, information on finding help with energy bills and the range of grants available for home insulation.
The three month programme carried out health checks for 139 people, home checks for more than 50 people and training for 200 staff and volunteers.
The Warm Front scheme is set to close in March but there remains an annual budget of more than £100million that could insulate 45,000 homes nationwide.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “Warm Front is still very much open for business and we are doing all we can to encourage those people eligible to apply for the £100 million that’s up for grabs in grants.
“This includes working closely with local authorities, charities and the energy companies to encourage pensioners and those on low incomes to apply for the help to which they’re entitled.”
Source: www.theargus.co.uk
Aldi's $249 Android tablet doesn't have a dual-core processor - Australian Techworld
Aldi's $249 Bauhn branded Android tablet
Aldi's budget $249 Android tablet was incorrectly advertised as coming with a dual-core processor, it has been discovered.
The Bauhn branded 9.7in Android tablet went on sale yesterday morning through the German supermarket chain. The product was advertised as having a "dual-core 1GHz processor".
However, it appears the device — listed here as a product of Chinese OEM Tsxd (Shenzhen) Technology co. — is powered by a 1GHz Amlogic 8726-M3 Cortex A9 processor, which is a single core chip with separate graphics processor.
All references to the tablet appear to have been removed from the Bauhn Web site. That page previously linked to further details about the tablet and included specific reference to a dual-core processor. The sales packaging also lists a dual-core processor as one of the device's key features.
Despite the incorrect advertisement, Aldi is understood to have exhausted most stocks of the device across the country. A crowd of well over 100 people attempted to purchase the tablet at the North Sydney store in New South Wales yesterday morning, though only around 40 tablets were available.
PC World contacted an Aldi spokesperson yesterday to clarify stock levels and other details, but is yet to receive an official response. Aldi previously stated that stocks of the device would vary between stores and that it may sell out on the first day due to "unexpected high demand."
That demand comes on the back of cut price Australian manufacturer and retailer Kogan selling out stocks of a budget Android tablet in just four days last week. Like Aldi's Bauhn device, both of Kogan's 10in Agora tablets (8GB and 16GB models) run the latest 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google's Android operating system.
PC World has contacted Aldi Australia for comment and will update this article with any new information when it comes to hand.
Did you buy an Aldi tablet yesterday? Let us know your thoughts about the device in the comments below!
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Source: www.techworld.com.au
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