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Michael Vaughan is set to open England’s innings in their all-important triangular series encounter with Sri Lanka tomorrow at the Adelaide Oval.Vaughan’s promotion would split the partnership which has put over a hundred on the scoreboard in the last two games, that of Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight, with Knight likely to drop down to number three.”That is probably what we will have to look at,” admitted England’s coach, Duncan Fletcher. “Sometimes you have to look at where you want to go in the long term and we may have to look at the left-hand, right-hand combination.”There has got to be an advantage of that combination and they have batted well together in Test cricket.”It will be Vaughan’s first appearance in the triangular tournament. He missed the ICC Champions Trophy following surgery on his right knee, and has been rested from matches in this series because the joint is not fully recovered.”I’ve had 12 days of rehab and strengthening around the knee after it flared up following back-to-back Test matches,” said Vaughan. “I am fit and available for selection and this is a massive game. Whoever wins tomorrow has one foot in the final.”We have played some good cricket against Sri Lanka in this series – I know we lost in Sydney the other day – but we have beaten them twice so hopefully wewill play like we did in Perth and Brisbane.”Sri Lanka are again without Muttiah Muralitharan, who strained the quadricep muscle in his right leg during yesterday’s four-wicket defeat to Australia.Fletcher added: “Any side that loses a world-class player is going to feel theeffects of that, and when they are spinners and such a rare breed they play animportant part in all forms of the game.””I always thought it would boil down to the fact we have to beat them here. This is the crucial game and even if they had won yesterday we would still have been ahead of them with the bonus points if we do win this one.”Australia are also set to field a much-weakened side against England at Adelaide on Sunday, after deciding to rest Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee. But claims of tiredness in the Australian camp cut little ice with England’s veteran wicket-keeper Alec Stewart.”I have heard Australia saying they are tired, but they had three months off from July to September, Stewart pointed out. “We have been playing a bit more than that, and cricket is now more or less 12 months of the year.”

The International Cricket Council has confirmed that England’s World Cup opener against Zimbabwe will not go ahead in Harare.The ICC’s chief executive, Malcolm Speed, has told a Cape Town media briefing that the fixture had been cancelled by the ICC after the England and Wales Cricket Board decided not to fulfil it.”The ECB has told us they will not play match in Harare on Thursday,” saidSpeed. “The ECB cited safety concerns for the players as their reason for notfulfilling that commitment.”The ICC give a direction to the ECB to comply and play the match in Zimbabwe. The ECB said today that it does not believe that direction is reasonable. Accordingly the ICC has moved to cancel the match which is scheduled forThursday. The ICC is disappointed that the match will not go ahead.”Speed added that the ICC’s technical committee would consider the issue ofpoints from the match.”The ECB has asked the ICC to consider relocating the match to a venueoutside Zimbabwe at a later date. That process won’t be something that will be resolved today.”The ECB has asked the technical committee to consider new evidence that has come to light since the appeal to Justice Sachs last week. I certainly would not assume that the match will be relocated.”The ECB responded at a separate media briefing, where chairman David Morgansaid: “This has not been a sordid squabble about money. We are concerned for the cricket fraternity in Zimbabwe and particularly those who would have been spectators at the match on the 13th.”Throughout this process we have been trying desperately to keep the world ofcricket united and are mindful of our responsibility in this regard. Although this process been lengthy we have not dithered or been guilty of procrastination.””The safety and security of our players and their families has been a matter of paramount importance.”The ECB’s chief executive, Tim Lamb, added: “We had hoped the the ICC would, as the ECB has done, put the interests of players and officials first.”The ECB considers that the well-being of its players would be endangered if it compelled them to play in Harare in these circumstances. There are no winners in this situation.”The ECB asked for the game to be moved out of Zimbabwe last week, citing fears over player safety. The ICC turned the request down, and despite a final appeal to independent judge Albie Sachs, their decision stood.Earlier today England’s players were urged to concentrate on playing cricket while negotiations continue. The team met ECB chairman David Morgan this morning, and were told that he and ECB officials would take care of all non-cricketing matters.Plainly there are further intensive negotiations in prospect before the matter is resolved, if indeed resolution is possible.

Saturday, March 15, 2003:::
“I think I’ve got a bit better (tactically). A lot of that comes with talking to other senior guys in the side. You can learn from your mates and you can learn from watching games on telly or watching what opposition captains do at different times,” Ricky Ponting
Source: The Age, Australia
“As for that dropped chance by Brendon (McCullum), I could not really see it because I had tears in my eyes,” Stephen Fleming, while talking about the let-off that Rahul Dravid had early in his innings
Source: Outlook, India
“He’s been a great servant of Zimbabwe cricket and the rock in our side for a number of years,” Heath Streak on Andy Flower
Source: BBC, UK
Wednesday, March 12, 2003:::
“His attitude has always been outstanding whether he has been playing or not. He gives his absolute best all the time whether with bat or ball and it has come off for him twice here,” Australain skipper Ricky Ponting, on Andy Bichel
Source: Ananova, UK
“We are ashamed on our bad performance and know that the nation is very much disappointed. So we seek pardon from the nation,” Waqar Younis, addressing a press-conference after returning to Pakistan
Source: Cricmania.com, USA
“I know I am a performer and have a record as good as anyone around. I just stick to my game. The rest of the things do not bother me,” Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly
Source: PTI, India

Former New Zealand Under-19 captain Ross Taylor is back in the Central Districts team to play Wellington in the State Championship four-day match starting at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton tomorrow.Taylor made his first-class debut on January 9 at Timaru when CD played Canterbury. He scored 12 runs in his only innings of the rain-affected game.The full team for the Wellington match is: Craig Spearman (captain), Jamie How, Greg Todd, Glen Sulzberger, Greg Loveridge, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Bevan Griggs, Andrew Schwass, Michael Mason, Brent Hefford, Lance Hamilton.

Eight of New Zealand’s top young cricketers have been included in the New Zealand Cricket Academy draft for this year.The players will go into the Academy at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University on Monday, April 28 and their programme will end on October 31.The players included are: Simon Allen (Wellington), Neil Broom (Canterbury), Peter Fulton (Canterbury), Bevan Griggs (Central Districts), James Hill (Wellington), Mark Orchard (Northern Districts), Richard Sherlock (Central Districts), Ross Taylor (Central Districts).In order to complete the Academy-playing programme at the end of the year, other players will be added to the intake as required.Academy director Dayle Hadlee said rehabilitating Black Caps, New Zealand A and former Academy athletes will be incorporated into the playing team.”The value of having the younger athletes playing alongside more experienced team-mates should be beneficial in the development of these aspiring players.”This is an exciting group of cricketers who should make a significant contribution to the game in the not too distant future,” he said.Several of the players have already made their first-class debuts. Fulton, this season, achieved a triple century for Canterbury in the State Championship while other first-class players are Griggs, Broom, Orchard and Taylor.The players will take part in a multi-faceted programme at the Acadmy that focuses on the technical and tactical components of the game as well as physical and psychological development, life skills, cricket studies and a comprehensive cross sports training and playing programme.Allen, 19, was captain of this summer’s national Under-19 team. A wicket-keeper and top-order batsman, he scored 162 in a Provincial A match this year and finished fourth in the A tournament aggregates.Another top performer in the A tournament was Broom, 19, who had a top score of 128 to go with his third highest aggregate of 441 runs at 73.50 in the national Under-19 tournament. He has represented New Zealand at Under-19 level for the past two seasons.Fulton, 24, was in his second season of State first-class play this year and had a long association with the Canterbury Country team.Griggs, 25, was wicket-keeper for CD this year and he scored a century against India in the three-day match at Napier this year.Hill, 19, has had a solid schools background in Wellington and had an outstanding national Under-19 tournament when scoring 484 runs at 96.80 and a strike rate of 95. He was a member of the New Zealand Under-19 team this year.Orchard, 24, was a member of the Northern Districts side this year and is both a top-order batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler.Sherlock, 19, was a member of last year’s Under-19 World Cup New Zealand team and is a bowler who generates impressive pace.Taylor, 19, captained the national Under-19 team at last year’s ICC Under-19 World Cup and made his first-class debut this year. At the national Under-19 tournament he scored 519 runs at 74.14. He was New Zealand’s Young Player to Lord’s last year.

Alistair Campbell, the former Zimbabwean captain, has spoken out against his countrymen and former team-mates, as the team flies out of Harare to begin its controversial two-Test tour of England.Protests have been planned throughout Zimbabwe’s tour, as pro-democracy groups aim to use the matches to highlight the human-rights abuses of Robert Mugabe’s government. But, said Campbell, there would be no prospect of any player staging a repeat of Andy Flower’s and Henry Olonga’s famous black-armband protest.”The team are a bunch of `yes-men’,” Campbell told The Times newspaper. “Heath Streak [the captain] couldn’t say a bad word about anything. If you could pick your best Zimbabwean side, not many of these guys would be in it. I used to have a clause in my contract that said if anything from me appeared in the press that was politically orientated, then I’d be suspended without pay, pending investigation. All you’ll hear from these players is: `we’re here to play cricket’. That’s it.”Campbell, however, was broadly sympathetic of the players themselves. “These are young guys who still want to make their way in the game, so they’re not likely to do anything wrong. It’s a lot of untried youth. I actually feel sorry for them. It’s unfair to thrust them into the international arena so early.”Flower, who was forced to retire after his protest and has since expressed mixed feelings about the tour, echoed Campbell’s sentiments in an article for the Sunday Telegraph. “In the World Cup, very few of them [the players] were willing to discuss our statement,” wrote Flower. “We all got on fine but their shying away from the situation mirrored the fear within the whole of the country, where nobody wants to speak up.”As was the case for much of the World Cup, Zimbabwe’s cricketing deeds this summer are unlikely to make many of the headlines. Alan Wilkinson, the leader of the Stop the Tour campaign, has described the touring party as “ambassadors for Robert Mugabe”, and intends to carry out a campaign of disruption. “Stopping the tour is clearly what we’d ultimately like to achieve,” he said, “but we want to make sure that when every game is being played, people realise that there are others back home whose lives and freedom are under threat.”The opposition will be debated in Parliament as well. Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, gave the tour the green light, but her predecessor, Kate Hoey, will be among those demonstrating at Lord’s and Chester-le-Street. “No one who watches the two Test matches and the other matches will enjoy them, knowing that the lives of some of the Zimbabwean players have been threatened,” said Hoey in the Commons on April 1. “The Government should say that they do not want Zimbabwe to tour.”

After making a huge success of a career in cricket, Steve Waugh is all set to try his hand at acting. According to Robert Joske, his manager, Waugh will star in an English movie which will be shot in India. Joske made the announcement in Kolkata, during Waugh’s visit to Udayan, a home for the children of leprosy patients.Joske said that the script, written by an Australian writer, was almost ready. “Waugh will be the central character in the movie to be shot in India. Most probably he will play himself. It will be a feel-good movie involving the children of Udayan. Waugh is looking at an Indian film-maker to direct the film and an Indian producer to finance it.” Joske didn’t reveal the location where the film would be shot.This news is likely to increase speculation about an impending end to Waugh’s cricketing career, but the man himself gave no such indication, stating that he was still excited by the prospect of playing a Test series, even against Bangladesh. “Whenever we play a new country, it’s always an exciting challenge. It’s a great experience to play a new team.”Waugh dismissed the notion that motivating himself would be a problem. “Playing for Australia is enough motivation,” he said. “There should not be any need for motivation when you are playing for your country. I would love to play for Australia as long as I can.”Waugh, who has been associated with Udayan for more three years, admitted that there were activites other than cricket which kept him busy. “If I think I can’t improve then there are other things to do, like being in Udayan,” he said. “Cricket is not the only thing for me. I’m playing only a small role in helping children at Udayan.”Meanwhile, Bangladesh took a day off from cricket, visiting a Gold Coast theme park on Wednesday, a day before the start of a three-day match against the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy (CBCA). The opposition will be even more challenging than the Queensland Academy of Sport, against whom Bangladesh lost by 29 runs in the tour opener. The CBCA line-up has four players with first-class experience: Scott Meuleman, Luke Ronchi and Peter Worthington have all played for Western Australia, while Mark Cleary has represented South Australia.Dav Whatmore, the Bangladesh coach, announced that he was looking for allround improvement. “We’re looking to improve in every department and get accustomed to the conditions as best as we can and just to play some good percentage stuff.”Bangladesh will play two Tests and three one-day internationals on their month-long tour. The first Test starts on July 18 at Darwin.

Darren Gough will have to prove his fitness in first-class cricket before he has any chance of an England Test recall, according to Duncan Fletcher, the England coach. Gough excelled for England with 4 for 26 in their demolition of Zimbabwe at Bristol in the NatWest Series on Sunday.But Gough, 32, has been troubled by a succession of knee injuries which sidelined him from international cricket for the best part of a year. Fletcher explained he was not willing to take any chances with Gough in the npower Test series against South Africa, starting on July 24. “The only guy who knows whether he is fit enough for Test cricket is Darren,” he said. “To bowl 25 overs one day and maybe 15 the next, and stand in the field is a hell of a lot different to one-day cricket.”Maybe he will need the test of another four-day game for Yorkshire to see if he can do it,” he continued. “We need the experience of a fit Darren Gough in the Test side. We’ve just got to make sure he is fit enough to be out there for five or six sessions.”Michael Vaughan, the captain, echoed Fletcher when he said: “It is up to Darren [to decide] how his knee is and whether he wants to put himself up for Test matches. He got his four-for in this match and throughout the tournament he has bowled well and been an invaluable member of the squad. He has been a lynchpin in the team.”Gough himself also admitted that he needed more time to prove his fitness. “I have proved my fitness for the one-day game,” he said. “Now before I even think about playing Test cricket it is vital I get some four-day games under my belt with Yorkshire.”

Vasbert Drakes, West Indies’ fast-bowling allrounder, looks set to become Virender Sehwag’s replacement at Leicestershire, according to the coach Phil Whitticase.Speaking to BBC Radio Leicester, Whitticase said he hoped to complete the signing within 24 hours, after their attempts to sign the Australian fast bowler, Matt Nicholson, were blocked by his state side, New South Wales.Drakes, 33, has played seven Tests and 30 one-day internationals for the West Indies, and last May he was one of the stars of a record-breaking run-chase against Australia in Antigua. He has been a regular on the county circuit for several years, having previously played for Sussex, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire. If his registration is completed swiftly, he may come into contention for the Championship match against Lancashire at Grace Road, starting on Wednesday.Sehwag scored 478 runs in six Championship appearances for Leicestershire, including two centuries, but he has been told to take a complete break from the game for six weeks. He is returning home to ready himself for India’s Test series against New Zealand in October.

Clive Lloyd has voiced his concern at the fixure overload facing England’s cricketers next summer. Only two weeks separate the end of their tour of the Caribbean and the first of seven summer Tests, against New Zealand at Lord’s.”There could be a happy medium made with sponsors and television to allow everything to fit in,” said Lloyd, a veteran of 110 Tests in an 18-year career, and currently an ICC match referee. “You need enough space in between to cope with injuries and so on. It should not be as cluttered a schedule as they have had in the last few years. I think it should allow two months off between tours so when you come back you are refreshed, you have had a rest and are ready to go.”Weather permitting, England could be on the field for 45 days out of 106, should they reach the final of the ten-match triangular NatWest Series as well. The schedule-squeezing was necessary to enable England to host the ICC Champions Trophy, which will take place in mid-to-late September.Three sets of back-to-back Tests will be particularly hard on the players, and Lloyd pointed to the case this summer of Steve Harmison, who withdrew from the fourth Test at Headingley with a calf injury. “Harmison might have been able to play with more rest and made a difference because he would have extracted a little bit more bounce than the other bowlers,” he said. “Really and truly England could have won that Test match if they had him.”You might lose vital players because a niggling injury needs five days’ recovery time instead of three,” Lloyd added. “And teams can’t risk an individual because the opposition can refuse a substitute in such circumstances.”The problem is not limited to England: South Africa will have had just eight days at home if their tour of Pakistan gets underway as planned. “It is a bit of a ridiculous schedule,” said Graeme Smith. “But you’re wearing the country’s badge on your chest and you have to pick yourself up mentally and physically.”