Bevan might sign up with Tasmania

Resigned to life without the Waugh twins next season, the New South Wales team could lose Michael Bevan to Tasmania. Cricket New South Wales has offered Bevan, its all-time leading one-day and first-class run-scorer, a $90,000 contract. However, Bevan has yet to commit to the team for next summer. Tasmania has asked Cricket NSW for permission to talk to Bevan, who failed to get another contract with the national team.

Tasmania would almost certainly be able to offer Bevan more money than NSW because they could give him a job as second-XI coach, a position vacated by David Saker, who joined Victoria. NSW has already appointed its two main coaches for next season, Trevor Bayliss and Matthew Mott. Bevan, who has attained a level two coaching certificate, has been offered a less financially rewarding and prestigious coaching post by NSW with its high-performance and community-cricket departments.

David Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket NSW, said that he had not given up hope of retaining Bevan's services, even though it appeared New South Wales would be unable to match the Tasmanian offer. He acknowledged it would be a big blow to them if they were to lose Bevan in addition to Steve and Mark Waugh, both of whom retired at the end of last season. Gilbert hoped Bevan's decision would not be a purely financial consideration.

While Bevan's playing income would be adversely affected by missing out on another ACB contract, he was likely to secure a lucrative county contract in England. Robert Joske, Bevan's manager, has been trying to find a county post for Bevan in the current season.

Meanwhile, Gilbert has not given up hope of signing Matthew Inness, the Victorian fast bowler, even though Victoria has said it will not release him from the final season of his contract. Western Australia have also shown interest in Inness, who was not a permanent member of Victoria's Pura Cup-winning team.