Averages are often frowned upon when it comes to player ratings. One thing they do not do is lie about the form and consistency of cricket players. The South African players playing cricket in the County Championships on English soil have not sent any statistician scrambling for the record books.

Division 1 of the Championship does not see a South African name in the top 30 of either the batting or bowling averages, with Nic Pothas filling the forth spot with 15 dismissals in the fielding list. An improvement in the Division 2 averages with Gauteng reject Sven Koenig filling the seventh batting spot with an average of 56.8 and 284 runs, nearly 400 runs behind top of the averages Michael Hussy from Australia. Greg Smith is third in the bowling averages at 15.85 and 20 wickets.

The past weekend saw Warwickshire Shaun Pollock scoring 16 and 37 and returning bowling figures of 4/37 and 0/25 before leaving the field of play on hearing about the tragic death of his friend Hansie Cronje. In the same drawn match Neil Johnson scored 33 and returned figures of 0/34 and 1/17 for Hampshire. Nic Pothas managed one with the bat.

Mark Davis in a loss for Sussex against Kent scored 24 not out and 18 while getting only 1/66 in the second innings.

Derbyshire, top of the Division 2 table, won against Glamorgan where Andrew Gait scored 35 and four not out in their four wicket win.

Sven Koenig, 29 and four, with Middlesex and second in the Division 2 table drawing with Durham.

Nottinghamshire had a bye over the weekend.

Allan Donald is to make his season debut for Worcestershire and then together with Pollock will return to South Africa to be at Cronje's funeral service in Bloemfontein. Both players are expected back in England on Thursday morning.

In the Lancaster league over the weekend Jacques Rudolph continued his improvement with a 62 and a 40 added to a 3/34 spell of bowling. Con de Lange also doing well with another fine batting performance of 68.

For the rest Pierre Joubert got 36 and 1/20 and Paul Adams at last got into the double figures with 39 from the bat and 2/43 with the ball.

Failures from Martin van Jaarsveld (2) and Kevin Pieterson on loan from Nottinghamshire (7) while Andre Seymore and Andrew Hall did not get a chance to bat. Andrew Hall is also on loan to Minor County Suffolk.

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