All posts by csb10.top

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPakistan scored at brisk pace but lost wickets at key moments•Associated Press

There is a reason why the SSC pitch is notorious for its reputation as the graveyard for bowlers. In the last five years and through the course of five matches, batsmen have collected 30 scores – 14 centuries and 16 fifties – of 50 or more in the innings. The pitch that was laid for this Test, Mahela Jayawardene’s last, was no different. However, 16 wickets went down and only three batsmen were able to put up significant runs in the first two days here.Whereas the failure of the Sri Lankan batting on the first day was triggered mostly by disciplined bowling from the Pakistan seamers, Pakistan found themselves in familiar strife due to a mix of some unlucky dismissals and a few inevitable rippers from Rangana Herath.After a confident start, led by a half-century from Ahmed Shehzad, Pakistan’s middle order stumbled again. The slide was briefly arrested by an enterprising 93-run sixth-wicket stand between Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed. The pitch, as the two showed, was still good for batting. But by the end of the day, that stand was broken and Herath had yet another five-wicket haul – his 20th in Tests.Khurram Manzoor was caught behind off Herath in the last over before lunch for 23. Azhar Ali used his feet smartly against the spinners and was playing solidly till he mistimed an attempted drive through off to midwicket to be dismissed for 32. Shehzad, who had 20 runs to show for his outing in Galle, was caught down the leg side off Dilruwan Perera in the penultimate over before tea, after scoring an aggressive 58 that had led Pakistan past 100 at a scoring rate well over three an over.Then came the two big strikes soon after tea, the first of which was solely due to some excellent presence of mind from Kaushal Silva. Younis Khan defended Herath down on the pitch only to see the ball bounce off his boot. An alert Silva at silly point dived forward and slid his hand low, grabbed the ball one-handed, but realising he was not going to be able to control it, he parried it to the wicketkeeper for a simple chance. Younis didn’t spot it, but the third umpire did, cutting his innings short on 13.Misbah didn’t have a chance against a flighted delivery from Herath that lured him forward and turned sharply to take the outside edge. It was the bowler’s 250th Test wicket. From 110 for 1, Pakistan were down to 140 for 5. This, after the team had their best start in three innings. The openers added 47 in 8.4 overs and the second-wicket pair remained largely untroubled during their 63-run stand.Pakistan were 180 short of Sri Lanka’s total at that stage but the scoreboard pressure hardly made an impression on Sarfraz. Coming on the back of two fifties in Galle, Sarfraz was light-footed against the spinners and was always on the lookout for runs. He often employed the sweep, sometimes made room by moving towards leg stump and was comfortable playing the late cut to rotate the strike. The fifty of his stand with Shafiq took 63 balls. He remained the aggressor while Shafiq held the other end, scoring just two boundaries in his 42. Shafiq was however beaten by an arm-ball from Herath ten minutes before the close of play.The start to the innings had been positive though. Manzoor drove Dhammika Prasad for consecutive boundaries in the first over and Shehzad bettered it with a hat-trick of boundaries off Chanaka Welegedara. Herath, who came in as early as the fifth over, made the breakthrough in the last over before lunch as he found turn to kiss the outside edge of Manzoor’s bat.Shehzad, however, continued playing with positivity, frequently using the sweep to unsettle Herath, whose first spell read 8-2-32-1. He went on to complete his second Test half-century in 68 balls but continuing with the theme of the match, he was dismissed after looking set.Pakistan’s batting took the sheen off Junaid Khan’s effort that had helped them roll Sri Lanka out for 320. Junaid’s unrelenting perseverance fetched him his fifth five-wicket haul, all of which have come against Sri Lanka, but the home team would have been satisfied with their tail’s effort.The last two wickets ate up more than an hour in the morning and added 59 runs, taking Sri Lanka past 300. Herath was the last batsman to be dismissed as he edged one off Abdur Rehman to slip where Younis took his 100th catch – the first Pakistan fielder to reach the figure.

In their quest to be battle-ready for the upcoming Champions League Twenty20, Kolkata Knight Riders sent four of their players — Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Manvinder Bisla and Kuldeep Yadav — to Bloemfontein in South Africa for 15 days of training that included cycling, running and mountaineering.Looking to carry on the momentum from the IPL triumph, Knight Riders batsman Yusuf said the camp between August 20 and September 3 in South Africa under renowned trainer Adrian Le Roux has helped them immensely to be in top shape during the off season.”We trained hard during those 15 days,” Yusuf told PTI. “We used to go for outdoor cycling and mountaineering and for long treks. The gym sessions were also very good. So it was a complete fitness and endurance routine that helped us remain in great shape during our off season.”It was good fun as well. We had a great time together. All of us gelled well and made use of the opportunity. Though Piyush, Bisla and Kuldeep came back after 12 days I stayed on for 3 more days to complete a satisfying camp.”Yusuf, who last played a T20 for India against South Africa in March 2012, finished off a great season for the Gautam Gambhir-led Knight Riders. He smashed the fastest IPL fifty, in just 15 balls, to help the Shah Rukh Khan-owned unit stay second in the league stage and finally clinch its second title.”We also had proper training in the indoor nets with the local players of ‘Knights’ club helping us with our drills. We batted, bowled and special emphasis was laid on the fielding department. It was a totally different culture there and we learnt different things. everybody will see an improved Yusuf Pathan. We left on a good note in IPL this season and I wish to pick up from there when we take field in CLT20.”Initiated by Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore, the camp gave a nice opportunity for the four players to get a feel of world-class training before the CLT20 and if Yusuf and Piyush honed their skills then Bisla and Yadav, who is a slow left-arm chinaman bowler from Uttar Pradesh, got much-needed international exposure. .”It was Venky Mysore’s idea to keep the camp in the off season to provide the ultimate opportunity to these KKR players. It was certainly a great exposure for the players as it provided a perfect getaway to train in South Africa,” Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharya told PTI.”It was a nice off-season exercise for the players. It will certainly add to their resume and to train under top facilities in Bloemfontein under world-class trainers like Adrian Le Roux is a great opportunity. And I am sure all these four players will benefit from this outing.”While Yusuf is hoping for a return to the national team soon, legspinner Piyush is also looking for an opportunity to sneak into the team before the 2015 World Cup.Yusuf, 31, has represented India in 57 ODIs and played 22 T20Is before falling out of favour after a slump in form. He was also a part of the World Cup-winning squad in 2011.Chawla, who has had a start-stop career since he made his Test debut in 2006, will also be banking on a good CLT20 showing to make a return to the national fold.Meanwhile, Bisla and Kuldeep are still waiting to be capped as the duo try and make their mark in tournaments like the IPL and the CLT20.Wicketkeeper-batsman Bisla, 27, who is a veteran of 49 first-class matches, has represented Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and now Knight Riders in IPL.Kanpur-born Yadav though is a lesser-known slow left-arm chinaman is eager to make his presence felt. Knight Riders play their opening game against Chennai Super Kings on September 17 at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad.With captain Gambhir not doing well in the England series, KKR will surely to looking to start from where they left in this year’s IPL.

Australia’s confident 84-run win over West Indies has regained them the No. 1 one-day ranking from South Africa. Ricky Ponting’s team was deposed from the top spot on the ICC table after losing the CB Series final to India, but the latest victory has pushed the young team ahead.Australia had been defeated three times in a row in the format before Shaun Marsh’s 81 set up the success in St Vincent and they have another chance to show their improvements in the second match in Grenada on Friday. It was a strong start from a squad that is rebuilding after the retirements of Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg, while Matthew Hayden is back in Australia with an achilles injury.Brad Haddin, who scored a half-century in the opening win, has taken over from Gilchrist while Marsh stepped in for Hayden. Cameron White, the legspinner who went wicketless in six overs on Tuesday, and the back-up wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi are also part of the set-up in the Caribbean.”It’s a pretty formidable squad that we’ve got here with a lot of flexibility,” Ponting told AAP. “The flexibility around our group at the moment is probably as good as I’ve seen it around the Australian team.”

If anything, the second ICC KnockOut competition saw even moreenthralling contests and a higher standard of play, cementing itssuccess. In keeping with the globalisation process, the InternationalCricket Council this time held the competition in Nairobi from October3 to 15, 2000.

When the idea of such a competition was mooted, Bangladesh and Kenyaseemed next in line for Test status. By the time the Nairobitournament was held, Bangladesh had already been granted the exaltedstatus and were a month away from playing their first Test match.Kenya remained hopeful that the successful conduct of the mini-WorldCup as also a good performance from their cricketers – the number ofthe teams had been raised to eleven to include Bangladesh and thehosts – would move them a step nearer being given Test status.The tournament certainly was a success from the organisational pointof view and much of the cricket was of the ethereal variety, but therewas no storybook script for the hosts who lost to India by eightwickets in the opening match of the competition.Batting first, Kenya were restricted to 208 for nine in 50 overs. Thetotal was never going to be one to pose any problems for the Indiansand thanks to skipper Sourav Ganguly’s 66 and Rahul Dravid’s unbeaten68, they romped home with eight wickets and 7.3 overs to spare.Similarly, England faced little opposition from Bangladesh emergingwinners by eight wickets with 6.1 overs to spare. Bangladesh did wellin getting 232 for eight in 50 overs but against ordinary bowling,Alec Stewart (87 not out) and skipper Nasser Hussain (95) had littledifficulty in negotiating some ordinary bowling during their secondwicket partnership of 175 runs.The format again meant that one Test nation had to be knocked out inthe first round and this time the West Indies failed to cross thishurdle. A stroke-filled 132 by opener Avishka Gunawardene and histhird wicket stand of 160 runs with Mahela Jayawardene (72) saw SriLanka post 287 for six in 50 overs, a total that proved to be tooformidable for the West Indies who were dismissed for 179 in 46.4overs.The quarterfinals were marked by three one-sided results but thepulsating Australia-India game made up for this. Australia were firmfavourites but this was a rejuvenated Indian side, under the captaincyof Ganguly and including three potentially fine players in newcomersYuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Vijay Dahiya. After Australia made theearly inroads, a breath-taking innings from Yuvraj saw India wrest theinitiative and the advantage thereafter stayed with India.The pugnacious left-hander hit 84 off 80 balls treating the pace ofMcGrath, Lee and Gillespie with utter disdain. India ultimately posteda challenging total of 265 for nine in 50 overs. Then it was the turnof another youngster to strike. Bowling with hostility, Zaheer Khanremoved Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh and some fine work by thevaried attack, backed up by some superb work in the field in whichYuvraj was outstanding saw Australia bowled out for 245 in the 47thover.Unfortunately, the other three quarterfinals lacked such heroics anddrama. In prosaic contests, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by ninewickets, New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 64 runs and South Africaoutplayed England by eight wickets.The Pakistan-Sri Lanka game was billed as a scorcher. But once Lankawere bowled out for 194 in 45.4 overs no batsman reached 40 theywere always going to be up against it. Saeed Anwar’s unbeaten 105 sawPakistan home with 6.4 overs to spare. New Zealand’s total of 265 forseven in 50 overs, thanks in the main to Roger Twose’s bright 85,proved to be beyond Zimbabwe’s reach and despite a splendid 67 byStuart Carlisle they were bowled out for 201 in 42.2 overs with PaulWiseman finishing with four for 45.Similarly, England were no match for South Africa’s professional allround skills. Graeme Hick top-scored with a gallant 65 but England’stotal of 182 in 44.1 overs was always going to be inadequate. SouthAfrica with Jacques Kallis (78 not out) and Boeta Dippenaar (65)figuring in an unbroken third wicket partnership of 132 runs rompedhome with 11.5 overs to spare.Two splendid semi-final matches made up for the generally lacklustrefare in the previous round. Anwar hit a second successive hundred(104) as Pakistan scored 252 in 49.2 overs against New Zealand. AzharMahmood, then, reduced the Kiwis to 15 for two but Nathan Astle (49)and Roger Twose (87) initiated a recovery process by adding 135 runsfor the third wicket. Pakistan came back strongly and had a distinctedge when New Zealand were 187 for six. However, Craig McMillan (51)and Scott Styris (26) figured in an unbroken seventh wicket stand of66 runs to steer New Zealand home amidst much excitement with one overto spare.The other semifinal lacked a close finish but in many ways it was justas enthralling. The entertainment started early with Ganguly in hiselements. Doing pretty much what he liked with the attack thatincluded the likes of Pollock, Donald, Klusener, Kallis, Boje andTelemachus, the Indian captain hit a run-a-ball 141 not out in a totalof 295 for six in 50 overs. With Rahul Dravid (58), Ganguly dominateda second wicket partnership of 145 runs while Yuvraj (41) matched hisskipper in stroke and run production in a third wicket stand of 82runs.The youngsters continued to excel with Zaheer Khan picking up thewickets of Andrew Hall and Dippenaar cheaply in his opening spell andDahiya effecting three dismissals. Even South Africa’s professionalskills came to nought against the new look Indian side and they werebowled out for 200 in 41 overs.And so in the title clash were two unexpected contestants, India andNew Zealand. None could say, however, that they were undeserving of aplace in the final. And the two teams, in keeping with the form theyhad displayed, produced a high calibre game, marked by much tensionand excitement, twists and turns. Ganguly hit another century (117)and his first wicket partnership of 141 runs with Sachin Tendulkar(66) paved the way for the challenging Indian total of 264 for six in50 overs.At various stages – 37 for two and 132 for five – New Zealand weregasping for breath. But they received timely oxygen in the form ofChris Cairns. The star all-rounder took charge and with the help ofthe old warhorse Chris Harris (46) revived New Zealand’s hopes with asixth wicket partnership of 122 runs. In true storybook fashion,Cairns reached an unbeaten 102 in the process of steering New Zealandto victory with four wickets and two deliveries to spare in agrandstand finish.

Dean Jones, former star Australian batsman, admitted to feeling more than a little strange when walking out onto his beloved Melbourne Cricket Ground last summer sporting New Zealand’s colours, a move which couldn’t help but attract some pointed barbs from local patrons.But Jones, now plying his trade in coaching and the media in his after-playing cricket life, doesn’t regret that for a moment.He points to fellow Australian players like Geoff Marsh helping Zimbabwe cricket, Trevor Chappell having worked with Bangladesh and now a consultant to Pakistan, Bobby Simpson having done cricket consultancy work all around the world, Steve Rixon having coached New Zealand and New Zealand’s John Wright now coaching India.It was just the way of the cricket world, and Jones said he had a very enjoyable three weeks with the New Zealanders, helping to change some of their attitudes to playing a team like Australia.”I had a hoot of a time,” he said when speaking with CricInfo while taking a break in a coaching programme he is working on at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University, a facility that he was most impressed with when seeing it for the first time.He said the liaison with New Zealand had also reminded him of what it was like to lose.The match in question was the One-Day International with Australia in Melbourne where Michael Bevan rescued Australia from the position of 82/6 to reach 248 and take victory with three balls to spare.”It took me three days to get over that loss, and I had forgotten what it was like to lose,” he said.Jones said he had seen enough to say that New Zealand should be a certainty for the top four at the World Cup next year. After that it was anyone’s guess.It was no use spending time worrying how they could get over their eternal bugbear of the moment, beating South Africa, because they might never meet in the Cup.”Don’t fight your battles before you have to,” was his advice.New Zealand just needed to keep doing what they were doing, to keep the belief and to stick to the team plan.”New Zealand play the underdog beautifully,” Jones said. Although a cynic might say jousting for the underdog status is New Zealand’s second national sport.But one of the advantages New Zealand did have was that they parked their egos at the door and got on with the job together.”It would be nice to see Stephen Fleming get some more runs. But he is an impressive captain and his handling of the team is brilliant. He is tactically sound and his management of the boys is good.”Shane Bond has the X factor. He is a workhorse who, if you used racing talk, needs a bit of work. He is that type of player but he impressed me,” he said.Jones would like to get more involved in coaching, it is something he enjoys, but he also knows it involves a commitment just as important as when playing.Being able to relate to players was important while his belief was that a coach should work with the aim of making a player believe he could do things better.It was also important to encourage players to think on their feet and for coaches to listen to them.Another must was the fun factor.”The fun aspect has been lost a bit. You have to be able to enjoy a win, and you have to be able to get over a loss.”Celebrating a win did not mean going out and over-imbibing but it was about enjoying the feeling.Jones was concerned that it was harder nowadays to get over a loss because there was so much cricket being played that the time for reflection was minimised.He wonders also about the consequences of concentration on elite players. One of the problems that has emerged is the number of players who walk out of elite programmes and expect to walk straight into state or provincial sides, or even into international cricket, as of right.He was concerned about the emphasis on age-group cricket, especially at the Under-19 level. He was not quite so concerned about the Under-17s.But the older players needed to be exposed more to senior men players rather than to playing against their age-group peers.He highlighted the example of the spin-laden Australian team that won the ICC Under-19 World Cup this year.The spinners did well because younger players generally didn’t know how to play spin, but when they came up against more senior players the spinners were murdered.”Our spinners need to learn to bowl a bit quicker, instead of 70kph they need to be up to 75-85kph and they struggle with that,” he said.Younger players also needed patience. The Australian team at the moment had its top six batsmen who had been in their positions for the last six or seven years, and there were no new players. That was how tough it was to break in.And it might be that of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team at Lincoln this year, one may break into international cricket.”That’s a lot of money being spent for one kid to make it. You might get five good first-class players out of it, but that is the reality,” he said.Jones also felt that younger players now had to cope with an awful lot of information coming their way from the time they played Under-13 grade through to senior. They were exposed to a lot of different coaches during that time and that was tough to cope with.One way around it was to have mentors for the young players, someone for them to talk to and to help them assess the information being provided.Jones still works with a mentor in his post-playing role and said he regarded it as vital to the way he operates. A mentor needed to be someone that players could put their faith and trust in.Cricket overall was in a healthy state and there would be no easy games at the World Cup. But the extent to which preparation and innovation for such an event has changed was highlighted by Jones talking about the plans being made for the 2007 World Cup which is being played in the West Indies.Batsmen nowadays needed to be scoring more in the region of 70 runs per 100 balls. Australia was working on developing players who could throw with both arms with equal skill. That way they would have no weak side when they were fielding in the 30-metre circle.But it was no use starting to work on something like that now for next year’s World Cup, it had to be that far in advance. Attention needed to be paid to bat speed and Jones predicted there would be significant changes made to bats in the near future.Handles on bats needed to be whippier and he compared the shafts of golf clubs used by the long hitters in golf being quite whippy to what needed to happen with bats.Because many of the grounds in the West Indies were smaller, there would be a lot of fours and sixes hit in the 2007 World Cup and countries needed to be working on developing batsmen capable of achieving that sort of work load.Jones was something of an innovator himself in the one-day game and was regarded as the finest exponent of the art of running between the wickets.It wasn’t something that came naturally to him, rather it was the result of watching Pakistan’s Javed Miandad in a match against Victoria in 1983/84 in which he scored 100 runs off 72 balls, yet he hit only three fours.”He ran a lot of twos and threes and didn’t run in circles. I talked to him a bit about it afterwards and then developed it for myself,” he said.Jones normally ran 40-50kms a week during his playing career but didn’t do any specialised sprint work to hone the skill of running between the wickets. Rather he worked on the principle of getting into the crease, then getting out, while running in a straight line. It also had to be worked on with having to run with pads on and holding a bat in the hand.It was like car racing where as drivers pass certain points they know they have to brake to get around the corner up ahead.Jones established where he had to prepare, then make, the turn. It didn’t worry him that he turned blind to the ball. He became very effective at it and more than a few teams thought they had contained him to one run only to find he picked up two, or three when only two looked on.”And when you have got two people running between the wickets like that, it is much harder to stop,” he said.Two other aspects of the modern game also had Jones thinking.He wondered about the amount of cricket being played and felt that if teams were playing 12 Test matches a year they couldn’t really play 34-36 ODIs as well. And he also wondered about the standards of the support mechanisms that many countries now utilise.Yet for all his concerns, the game still retained its fascination, one that has taken him to a new level of involvement which he would like to take even further. Clearly a case of ‘Watch this space.’

Scorecard

The match is well balanced at Old Trafford after two days, although a draw is an increasingly strong possibility as only six wickets fell on both days. Nottinghamshire replied strongly and positively to Lancashire’s first-innings total of 384, which was boosted by a determined century from Steven Croft, closing on 148 for 2.Resuming on 260 for 5, Lancashire’s priority was clearly to keep on amassing runs, which they did without too much concern about how long it took. This tied in well with Croft’s aim of reaching his maiden first-class century. He settled in firmly with Luke Sutton, his overnight partner, who started the day with a superb cover drive to the boundary off Charlie Shreck.Croft was working away with dedication, and finally an on-drive for four off Shreck brought him the three figures he had narrowly missed at Headingley last week. It came off 197 balls and contained few memorable strokes, but a great deal of hard work and dedication.This valuable partnership was only broken by a run-out, as the energetic Sutton sought a fourth run off a hit to the distant midwicket boundary, and was stranded in mid pitch thanks to good work out there from Matthew Wood. He made 43, rather slowly but valuably, and Lancashire were 336 for 6.Croft did not change his approach after reaching his hundred, continuing to accumulate steadily, until he was finally caught at the wicket for 122, driving at Graeme Swann. In all he faced 256 balls and hit 14 fours. This was the pattern of the Lancashire innings, which plodded on at less than three an over. The only batsmen who actually exceeded this rate were Dominic Cork (18) and Sajid Mahmood (10) in their brief innings. This approach brought them a very handy total, but it did use up a day and a half.Swann was the most successful of the Nottinghamshire bowlers, taking 3 for 78, with two wickets to both Shreck and Franks. Darren Patterson, wicketless, and Mark Ealham, with just one wicket, deserved better for their fine efforts, but luck did not go their way.Could Lancashire’s rather slow scoring be excused by a pitch that did not allow a good run rate? Nottinghamshire did not think so, as they scored their runs at about four an over for most of their truncated innings. They did begin cautiously, but the bowlers did not find much assistance from the conditions and provided width at times, and the runs began to flow.Wood fell early for 10, pushing forward to Mahmood and being caught at the wicket, while his opening partner, Will Jefferson, was just regaining confidence and showing his range of strokes when a loose slash off Oliver Newby to gully cut him off for 32. Nottinghamshire were 60 for 2 and the innings was in the balance.Adam Voges, however, joined Mark Wagh and the two shared a fluent partnership of 88, unbroken by the close. Croft, with his little medium-pacers, was the only bowler to put a brake on the scoring. To the annoyance of the crowd, the batsmen chose to take the bad light when the umpires offered it to them, despite being well set.Nottinghamshire do not always make pleasant opponents these days, and there was a distasteful incident during the morning when Shreck deliberately stood in Sutton’s way as the latter went for a quick single, almost forcing the batsman to barge him as he ran through. The umpires stepped in and spoke to the bowler and captain, and the matter may well be taken further. But this incident could have been avoided if the umpires, especially Tim Robinson who was at Shreck’s end, had stepped in earlier with one or two quiet words.Only a few minutes earlier Shreck had given Sutton some verbals, and it was not simply a case of the bowler having a bad day or getting out of bed the wrong side, as he had also shown such gratuitous aggression on the first day, apparently overlooked by the umpires then. He was not the only Nottinghamshire offender, and it was unfortunate that the umpires waited until an actual incident took place rather than reckoning that prevention was better than cure.

The England captain Nasser Hussain today admitted that England may have to go through the entire Ashes series without Darren Gough, who has been sent to the Adelaide academy for intensive treatment on his knee injury.Although Hussain did not rule Gough out of the series, he told the BBC: “It’s been going on for a year or so and Darren is very disappointed.”We need to get him right. I’m not worried about the Ashes as far as Darren goes now. I’m just worried about getting Darren back.”I’d have to be honest in that we’ve learnt to live without Darren. For me I’d like to see him back on the cricket field, whether it’s the Ashes or not, because it’s his career.”With Gough already out of the first Test which starts in Brisbane on Thursday,England have also to decide whether Andrew Flintoff is fit to play after taking part in just one match since his double hernia operation.Although Flintoff bowled 26 overs and took two wickets in this week’s drawn warm-up match with Queensland, he was noticeably stiff on the second day. England have the option of playing Craig White, who was added to the squad as cover for Flintoff.”That will be the main debate in the selection over the next few days,” Hussain said. “Both the all-rounders have played in a game and we will have to weigh things up.”Andrew has nothing to prove in our team. He’s been there for a year or two and has performed and the only thing he has to prove is whether he can do it two or three days’ running because of his body now and whether we take that gamble.”The first day of this week’s game he was fine, but on the second day he was stiff and I don’t know if he can do that over five days of intense Test match cricket if he’s not 100% fit.”Hussain also rebuffed suggestions in the Australian media that Flintoff’s Test record – he averages 19.48 with the bat and 47.15 with the ball – raises questions over whether he should have been selected for the tour in the first place.”Statistics aren’t everything,” Hussain insisted. “As captain there are certain players you like having in your side and there are certain players with the potential of doing things that other players can’t.”There are certain players that when the ball is 70 overs old and other people are hiding will hold their hands up and do the tough yards for you, will always want to stand at slip to take the catches and who are strong enough to go out there with those statistics with the belief he can do it and Andrew Flintoff is one of those people.”He’s got to improve those statistics definitely, but anyone who has watched us and watched Freddie progress over the last year or so will have seen him do certain things that other people in England can’t do.”A decision on who plays is likely tomorrow, when England will train at the Gabba for the first time tomorrow after a day off today.”Australia haven’t seen the best of the England cricket team for a long while and it’s up to whoever is selected to put that right this time,” added Hussain.”How we’ve done in the practice games does not have any great bearing on the Test, it’s how we are on Thursday and Friday that counts.”If Australia see the same old England then they will be very pleased, but if they see a new, strong, vibrant England with good body language who are doing the basics right then they will realise they are in a real fight this series.”You play differently when you’re under pressure, whatever side you are and too often now Australia have dictated terms by putting pressure on the opposition. When you have no fear of losing a game and you can show all your skills and the crowd can get behind you, it’s a very easy life and a very easy game.”I’ve played against Australia and I don’t believe our failings are down to a mental thing. It’s down to basic cricket skills. I believe they practise their skills at such a level that it pays off in those pressure situations. That’s what we have to learn.”

Somerset fast bowler Richard Johnson was returning to the County Ground this morning after a hard six mile training session on his new bicycle.’Johnno’ told me: “My training is going very well this year and so far I’m feeling pretty good about things. This winter we have changed things round a bit and we have introduced swimming and cycling into my weekly routines, which I am enjoying. I usually cycle two or three times, swim twice and work in the gym three times each week.”In addition to working at his fitness levels the former Middlesex man told me that he was also working hard at his cricket skills. He told me: “At the moment both Matt Bulbeck and myself are working at improving our batting and next season we might even both become all rounders!”This closed season ‘Johnno’ is staying in Taunton. He continued: “I’m going to stay local this winter rather than go away. It will be the first time that I haven’t gone away for the winter for ten years.”Regarding the Cidermen’s new signings ‘Johnno’ told me: “These are both exciting signings. Nixon McLean is a Test match cricketer. He has been bowling well in South Africa and will certainly challenge me for six hitting.”He went on: “Aaron Laraman is a very good young cricketer and I rated him highly when I was at Middlesex. He is an exciting player who can bat and bowl and is coming to Taunton to develop his career like I did because the set up here and the attitude is very encouraging. If you are prepared to work then you will get full support from Kevin Shine and his team.”‘Johnno’ continued: “It is just so different down here. For one thing it’s more cosy and you can get into the ground easily from wherever you live. In London it could sometimes take nearly two hours each way. Down here all the players live locally and comes into the gym everyday which means that you see everybody regularly.”

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 has handed over to a Soweto centre for disabled children a cheque for R100 000 as part of a contribution to needy causes.The Sunshine Centre in Soweto was this week nominated by Johannesburg Executive Mayor Mr Amos Masondo as his choice of charity to benefit from a fundraising dinner that will be hosted by the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 on October 12 at the Sandton Convention Centre.During the function on October 12, the 40 African Sporting Ambassadors will be officially announced. The ambassadors’ role will be to promote the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.They are men and women who have achieved highest sporting honours in their respective sporting codes and are internationally renowned. More than 30 of them will be present at the function.Commenting on the fundraising dinner, ICC Cricket World Executive Director Dr Ali Bacher said: "This is part of our commitment to what we believed in; that the tournament is far bigger than cricket. In our minds, it is about empowering people, transfer of skills as well as the development of people."No matter the outcome of the fundraising function on October 12, we would like to hand over to the Sunshine Children’s Centre R100 000 from the outset."We trust that by hosting the planned six charity dinners before and during the Cricket World Cup, we will be in a position to help the needy, the disabled as well as other people in our country who for whatever reason are not in a position to fend for themselves. This is our contribution to the nation."We would like to urge companies, government, utility concerns, embassies, and other organisations including sporting bodies to buy tables and invite their guests or staff; mingle with the sporting ambassadors; while at the same time contributing towards worthy causes. It is a unique, yet exciting event and we hope it will be a memorable one too," Dr Bacher said.The Sunshine Centre looks after children with special needs. Among others it helps to encourage family and community initiatives, builds partnerships with parents and it enhances child and family growth and well-being.Two companies, Remba Connections and Events Company have been appointed to jointly organise the event. To book a table contact Charlotte at (011) 783 5783 or e-mail [email protected]

Jeremy Snape has, over the past year, become an established member of the England one-day set up. At the same time, he has fallen out of favour with his county, Gloucestershire, to the extent that he only appeared in four county championship matches for them during the season just finished. He lost his place at the end of May and failed to get it back although he did appear in limited-overs cricket. Now comes news that the 29 year-old off-spinning all-rounder has been released by Gloucestershire and will have to find a new county.The news came in a press release issued by the county in which it was said: “This has been a difficult decision about a player who has performed very well for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and achieved a lot of success in the four years he has been with us. However, his relationship with the cricket management over the past 18 months has been very poor and has reached the stage where we believe it is unlikely to improve.”It was no secret that he had not seen eye-to-eye with the coach, John Bracewell (apart from the fact that Bracewell stands 6′ 2″ and Snape is only 5′ 8”), and his release is an unfortunate outcome for someone who, only recently, stated that he wanted to continue playing for the county he joined in 1999 after making his debut for Northamptonshire in 1992. He contributed fully to the Gloucestershire success in winning five one-day tournaments in his first two years, catching the attention of the national selectors.He won the man-of-the-match award when he made his one-day international debut against Zimbabwe in Harare almost exactly a year ago. He had both the Flower brothers stumped in the same over on his way to figures of two for 39, and also held a brilliant catch to dismiss Guy Whittall.He is an outstanding fielder in the covers, scores useful runs in the lower middle order, while his control of flight has brought him success with his bowling. At a time when there is a paucity of spin bowlers in English cricket, he should not have too much difficulty in finding another county.