England today named a 13-man squad for next week’s Third npower Test Matchagainst Australia at Trent Bridge (August 2-6).Surrey quick bowler Alex Tudor and Glamorgan off-spinner Robert Croft areincluded in the squad along with Usman Afzaal who made his Test debutearlier this summer in the First npower Test against Australia at Edgbaston.Michael Atherton will again captain the side in the absence of the injuredNasser Hussain. Hussain is now aiming to be fit for the Headingley TestMatch along with England’s other injured batsmen, Graham Thorpe and MichaelVaughan.

Squad:Born CapsMichael Atherton (Lancashire) (captain) 23.3.68 112Usman Afzaal (Nottinghamshire) 9.6.77 1Mark Butcher (Surrey) 23.8.72 29Andrew Caddick (Somerset) 21.11.68 47Robert Croft (Glamorgan) 25.5.70 20Darren Gough (Yorkshire) 18.9.70 52Mark Ramprakash (Surrey) 5.9.69 43Chris Silverwood (Yorkshire) 5.3.75 5Alec Stewart (Surrey) 8.4.63 112Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) 25.12.75 13Alex Tudor (Surrey) 23.10.77 3Ian Ward (Surrey) 30.9.73 4Craig White (Yorkshire) 16.12.69 20

Announcing the squad, Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney, said: “We didnot want to make wholesale changes to the squad for this Test Match. But wefeel we will need more variety in our attack at Trent Bridge and theinclusion of Alex Tudor and Robert Croft will give us more bowling options.”Dominic Cork misses out this time as we have decided to go for the greaterpace of Alex Tudor who has performed well for Surrey this season sincecoming back from injury. We wanted to show continuity of selection byincluding Robert Croft as he was included in the squad earlier in the seasonand also performed very well on the winter tour of Sri Lanka.”

* Pakistan invites Indian junior teamPakistan has invited the Indian junior cricket team to play matches inan under-19 tournament in preparation for next year’s Youth World Cupto be held in New Zealand. “So far we have not received anyconfirmation regarding our invitation from India but we had also askedthe Sri Lankan Board to send their junior team and they have sent intheir confirmation,” Pakistan Cricket Board’s director BrigadierMunnawar Rana was quoted as saying in The News on Tuesday.Rana said the Sri Lankans would visit Pakistan sometime in November.He added he had extended the invitations to Sri Lanka and India duringthe International Cricket Council meeting in London in June. “We arehoping the Indians will also confirm, let us see what happens. But wehave to ensure our junior team goes well prepared to New Zealand,” hesaid.India did not send their team to Karachi for the Asia Under-17Championship last year. Rana said Pakistan will prepare for the YouthWorld Cup very seriously this time as they had never managed to winthis particular title. Pakistan juniors lost in the semi-finals of thelast Youth World Cup held in Sri Lanka.* ACU team to visit SharjahTwo members of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) will visit Sharjahthis week, to discuss the implementation of security measures withofficials from the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series, which organises theSharjah tournament.Specifically, these will be preliminary discussions concerningrecommendation 9 in the Anti-Corruption Unit interim report of Aprilthis year. Recommendation 9 covers the need for ‘extra vigilance andsecurity’ at neutral venues hosting international matches.”This visit will be followed by another, timed to coincide with thenext Sharjah tournament in October and November. This will provide theopportunity for my team to assess the implementation of the additionalsecurity measures that need to be put in place to deter improperapproaches,” commented Lord Condon, director of the ACU on Tuesday.* Eight zonal under-19 academies proposed in TNWith the first of its proposed eight zonal cricket academies for theunder-19 category being launched at Chennai on Wednesday, the TamilNadu Cricket Association (TNCA) will take a decision on the locationof the other seven at a meeting during the end of the month.VR Sivakumar, chairman of TNCA’s District Development Committee, toldreporters in Coimbatore that the TNCA would provide each zone,comprising a maximum of five districts, infrastructural facilities,like building with gymnasium facilities, roller and sprinkler and aprominent coach. The selected district association would have toprovide grounds with a turf wicket, Sivakumar, who is also the jointsecretary of the Coimbatore District Cricket Association, said. Hesaid boys in the age group of 13 to 18 would be given training in twocamps – summer and winter. Based on their performance, the TNCA woulddecide on opening district-wise academies to promote cricket in theseareas.CDCA president D Lakshmi Narayanaswamy said the association would hostthe three-day final of the ‘Hercules-TNCA inter district under-19cricket tournament between Coimbatore and Vellore from August 16. Theselectors would monitor the players’ performance for selecting thecombined districts and state teams, he said. The two combined districtteams would play round-robin matches with four city teams at Chennai,before the final under-19 State team was selected, Narayanaswamy said.

Concerns about the safety of top cricketers was one of the main reasons behind the Government’s decision not to allow the team to tour Pakistan and participate in the Asian Test Championship, Sports Minister Uma Bharti said on Friday.”Players’ safety was the primary concern behind the Government’s decision not to give permission to the team to tour Pakistan,” Bharti said in New Delhi.”I don’t mean to say that our players would not have been provided adequate security in Pakistan. I am sure they would have been… But with Dawood Ibrahim operating from that country and the threat perception looming large over some of the cricketers, the Government could not convince itself to allow the team to play ATC matches in Pakistan,” she said.”We are obviously concerned about our sportspersons,” she added.In an earlier decision, the Government had said it had no problems in India playing against Pakistan in multi-lateral tournaments at regular venues and the ban was restricted to bilateral series’ between the two countries.However, Bharti insisted the decision to pull out from ATC, a multi-lateral tournament involving Sri Lanka andBangladesh too, and to be played at venues certified by International Cricket Council, was not a change in Government policy.”There can be no rigid policy, especially in matters relating to sport. We have to keep reviewing our policies and decide according to the prevailing situation,” she said, adding that in future tournaments the decision to play against Pakistan would be taken on a case-to-case basis.Insisting that there was no blanket ban on playing against Pakistan, either in cricket or any other game, Bharti said, “All decisions on future tournaments would be taken keeping in mind the ground realities and this would be applicable to all the games.””We have already cleared our participation in South Asian Federation Games (to be held in Islamabad in October) and our volleyball team had played in Pakistan sometime ago.”Stressing that cricket was an ‘extra-ordinary’ game, Bharti said extra caution needed to be taken in this case.”Cricket generates maximum passion and a lot of national sentiments are attached to it, especially when India plays against Pakistan,” she said.”When innocent people are being killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, we cannot be expected to go around playing cricket with them,” she said.

A puff of white smoke may not have been seen pouring out of a chimney at Lord’s yesterday, after the International Cricket Council announced its vision for the future, but clearly a new era is upon the game.

The ICC, and its Australian hierarchy, has set its sights on skipping the 20th Century and emerging from its Victorian-like cloak of self-imposed importance, yet seeming impotence, into the 21st Century as a big player among the sports administrations of the world.If this plan is successfully adopted by the sport’s member nations at their meeting in Malaysia later this month, the last vestiges of colonialism will have been shaken from the governance of cricket and it will be time to get on with the real business of running the game.Greater power to control the sport in the world has long been a requirement for the continued development of cricket and, by its statement, the ICC has clearly formalised its commitment.The sheer notion of transparency and accountability is revolutionary enough on its own.But add in, innovation, strategy, relevance and commerciality, and we are talking a whole new ball game.While wanting to compete on an equal footing with other quickly developing sports, the ICC intends to defend and promote cricket’s traditions and history.Rather like an act of contrition, the game’s minders have admitted to past wrongdoings in the secrecy in which they did business, and ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed has announced that body fails to be accountable at its peril.Whole dusty compartments of the game are to be given an overdue shake-up. If part of the intention for that is to develop a greater respect for the traditions of cricket and its history, then it will be a welcome initiative.It would be nice to think that cricket has nothing to be ashamed of but the corruption saga of the last decade put paid to that.However, the ICC has attempted to right that momentary blip on its existence scanner. Its actions over the next decade will tell how successful that has been and just what a mark the stain has left on the history of the game.Once it dawned on the international body that it needed greater control over the national bodies, it was never going to be hard to work out a formula for advancement.Getting to this stage is a triumph in itself.Getting this plan through the meeting in Malaysia will be another, and greater, triumph.Failure to achieve that doesn’t bear thinking about.One interesting note to emerge from the presentation in London on Monday was the apparent attempt to rid the game of sledging.Those, notably Shane Warne, who claim New Zealand are the uncrowned kings of the art will no doubt be thankful for that.But if the protection of the tradition and history of the game is one of the goals of this policy, what are the after-dinner speakers of the future going to have to talk about?Equally, but much more seriously, the efforts to get batsmen to ‘walk’ in a more outward appreciation of fair play has to be in the “best of luck” category.Money, and incentives to perform, strike at the very heart of this honourable, but quaint notion. Too much rests on a player’s results for this to be seriously entertained.A batsman’s inclination to adopt an attitude of swings and roundabouts when it comes to wrongful dismissals by umpires, or their wrongful decisions, might be promoted by having a super-class of umpires controlling games, but the notion of not ‘walking’ is so ingrained it is likely to be a generation or two of batsmen before it becomes a common occurrence, if it ever does achieve that status.Any move by the ICC to seal its place among the leading sports in the world has to be welcomed.Any initiative to be more accountable to the shareholders of the game is worthwhile.The breadth of change, and its fast pace, is unprecedented.Cynics might wonder if it is all a dream and curse the weight of the Alice in Wonderland tome on their chest that has caused them to wake up.But, in reality, cricket can’t afford for it to be a dream.

New Zealand Test spinner Daniel Vettori has been taken to Canberra Hospital with a severe leg injury following a fall in the three-day match against the ACTPresident’s X1 at Manuka Oval.Vettori fell heavily while attempting a catch off his own bowling when ACT batsman Matthew Phelps drove a ball straight back to him on the last ball ofthe 18th over.After a five-minute break in the game, Vettori was stretchered from the ground in pain, with his right lower leg heavily strapped.NZ officials are awaiting diagnosis of his problem but it seems a damaging blow with the first Test in Brisbane due to start early next month.At lunch, Phelps is 37 not out and Jack Smith’s 28 with the ACT one for 68 from 32 overs.Chris Cairns, returning from an eight-month lay-off from cricket due to a knee injury, has the only wicket, that of Corey Richards in the fifth over for just one run.

Speaking at The County Ground this morning Richard Johnson said, “I’m really thrilled about my selection for the England party to tour India,” and went on to pay tribute to the part that Somerset and Kevin Shine had played in it.”I moved to Somerset to help me to achieve my ambition of playing for England. Coming to Somerset provided me with a fresh challenge which I needed. I knew Kevin Shine from his Middlesex days and knew that ‘Shiney’ would help me, and that is what has happened.”He continued, “Playing for Somerset this year has given me maximum exposure what with the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy win, and finishing as runners up in the County Championship, plus I’ve had a good track to bowl on at Taunton.Shiney’s input this season has been invaluable in helping to get me selected.”Richard Johnson told me that he was going back to London in the next few daysbefore meeting up with his England team mates on Monday next week and flying out to India on Tuesday.

Around a decade ago the North Shore of Auckland was looking to set itself up as the seventh first-class association in New Zealand’s cricket structure.The population growth of the region was seen as deserving of first-class status. However, despite the best efforts of administrators of the era it did not eventuate.But tomorrow, top class domestic cricket arrives on the North Shore with the staging of the 2001 State Max series.The venue is the North Harbour Stadium at Albany where the cricket facilities behind the main ground are being used for the first time.It promises to be a gala occasion for cricket on the North Shore.It is a one-off occasion for Max this year, as opposed to the five games played between the three groups of near neighbours before a final series was played at Eden Park Outer Oval last year.As a result of that competition, State Wellington, the defending Max champion, and State Auckland, have been given automatic semi-final status. The winner of their game on Saturday afternoon will automatically qualify for Sunday afternoon’s final.Wellington, as defending champion, faces an interesting tournament. A key factor in its success last year was the batting of international Roger Twose. Now retired, Twose is not available to the side, nor is captain Matthew Bell.Richard Jones has the leadership of the side in Auckland while former New Zealand one-day player Richard Petrie remains a key player with his potential hard-hitting.Auckland has greater bowling resources than last year, with Kyle Mills, Chris Drum amd Andre Adams having had international exposure since last year and Richard Morgan and Tane Topia having had much more cricket. Their preliminary match is shaping as a superb contest.State Canterbury is looking to pick up some lost lustre from last season and with Chris Harris calling the shots as skipper some interesting play looks in prospect. Canterbury plays the opening game of the tournament tomorrow at 10am against State Central Districts.CD, as the defending one-day champion, will be looking to make an impact with its bowling attack especially. There is no doubt this combination has a lot of appeal. Brent Hefford, Michael Mason, Ewen Thompson, Andrew Schwass and Gareth West represent a formidable unit. However, if they do manage to go all the way, they face a tough programme as the second finalist wills be decided on Sunday morning.State Northern Districts play tomorrow’s second game, starting at 2pm against Otago. More than most teams, the ND side is a mixture of young and old. Stalwarts like Simon Doull, Scott Styris, Grant Bradburn, Mark Bailey, captain Robbie Hart, Matthew Hart, James and Hamish Marshall and Joseph Yovich are being joined by new players like Graham Aldridge, Simon Andrews, Ian Butler, and Jaden Hatwell.They are up against a State Otago side also going through the changes and they will rely heavily on the hard-hitting Andrew Hore, who has the potential to tear a game apart on his own, Chris Gaffaney, Craig Cumming, Kerry Walmsley and the returning Evan Marshall.As a scene-setter for the rest of the domestic summer, the Max is not necessarily a litmus test, but it does provide an increasingly novel way to gain a first look at players and an assessment of their prospects for the season.The fact it is at a new venue adds to the occasion.Ces Renwick, the grounds officer for the Auckland Cricket Association, said the pitch at the stadium, which was laid in May, was made of new soil and was as hard as concrete.”We have been very, very lucky. The moisture readings are very good, and we’ve had no problems whatsoever,” he said.Fine weather today ensured conditions would be good for tomorrow’s first day of matches.The outfield is a sand carpet base and while the pitch is Patamahoe soil, it is from a different area than where the Patamahoe soil used in other pitches has come from.It is of a slightly different colour and is a much harder clay.

Wellington bowler Ash Turner said today that trying to pick up his fifth wicket in Canterbury’s second innings was like trying to get his first first-class wicket.He waited long enough to join the list of bowlers who have taken five wickets in an innings on debut.After Canterbury went to stumps on day two at 59/4, with Turner having all four wickets it was into the final session today before he got there.Canterbury’s batsmen yielded only one wicket in the two sessions before team, and it didn’t go to Turner, it was just after the tea break that he finally got the fifth, century maker Aaron Redmond bowled for 101.Soon after Canterbury declared and Turner had five for 66 from 26 overs.”I was nervous to start with bowling to players like Chris Harris and Gary Stead, but I am rooming with James Franklin and I asked him how I should go about things.”He said to me that these guys all play club cricket and just to treat them as club players. I was nervous for a wee while until I got my first wicket [Redmond caught in the gully for one].”In the second innings after Franklin had batted for more than a session, Turner was given the new ball.”I enjoy bowling with the new ball. It was doing very little off the seam so I wanted to use the new ball for swing. I didn’t use it too well to start with, I was a wee bit wide.”But I bowled with more aggression in my second spell when I bowled with the wind at my back. I just thought to myself, ‘bowl straight, they’ll miss and I’ll get the wickets.'”It was hard to motivate yourself as a bowler out there because it was so flat but Gadgie [Andrew Penn] was at mid-off and he kept pumping me up and patting me on the back.”I thought I would only bowl three or four overs in the spell but the adrenalin started pumping when I got the wickets and I was stoked.”I spent all day today looking for that fifth wicket and it was like trying to get my first first-class wicket. I thought I had Harry [Harris] plumb at one stage but [umpire] Doug Cowie said it bounced just outside leg,” he said.But there’s no time to rest for Turner. The man he replaced, Iain O’Brien is expected to be fit for the next match, and there are other bowlers like Mark Gillespie, Mayu Pasupati and Paul Hitchcock waiting for the chance.But for today, Turner was enjoying his day in the sun.

Fast bowler Cameron Cuffy is prepared to pay the bill for an MRI scan if theWest Indies Cricket Board continues to refuse his pleas. The 31-year-oldlimped out of West Indies’ tour to Zimbabwe after suffering a stress fracture.Whilst the board made arrangements for Cuffy to see a doctor in St. Vincent, the closest MRI facility is in Trinidad. The board have confirmed that they do not believe it is necessary for him to have the scan.Cuffy insisted that he was determined to have the scan. “Regardless of whatthese people are saying I am going to Trinidad to have this scan done if itmeans footing the bill myself,” he said.

Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan, players who have grown to be stalwarts of the Pakistani middle-order in recent times, struck sparkling centuries to propel their side to a 281-run lead over a baffled Bangladesh at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong.The hosts, no doubt hoping for once to avoid defeat inside three days, picked only six wickets from three sessions of ruthless Pakistani batting. Sending back Taufeeq Umar early, caught at slip off Mohammad Sharif, and removing Inzamam-ul-Haq earlier than expected, Bangladesh’s bowlers may have rejoiced briefly and walked back to their marks with a spring in their step. For the rest of the day, however, they could do little but helplessly witness the absolute mastery of Younis and Youhana.After Inzamam was caught at slip to give Fahim Muntasir his first Test scalp,the Pakistani duo batted with class and control that Chittagong is unlikely to host again in the near future. As if following an unwritten manual, both took singles off the good deliveries and flayed the bad balls for boundaries. The scoreboard whirred along steadily, and Bangladesh looked unlikely to break through except by immense good fortune.Muntasir’s debut grew less inauspicious when, with the score on 236, he induced a false shot from Younis to have him caught by Mehrab Hossain at mid-wicket. Striking 20 fours in his knock, Younis made 119 and put on 70 scintillating runs with Youhana for the fourth wicket.Dhaka hero Abdur Razzaq, Rashid Latif and Waqar Younis all fell relatively cheaply, chancing their arms once too often after taking hot-blooded boundaries off the Bangladesh attack. It fell to Saqlain Mushtaq, often the second fiddle in a glorious concerto, to provide Youhana with the stable support he needed.Youhana reached his ninth Test hundred off 144 balls, his knock an amalgamation of his status as a top-flight player and proof of his ability to be cruelly punitive on loose bowling, as Muntasir and Manjural Islam would only be too glad to testify.With the aggression of a maddened bull, Youhana came down even more heavily upon the Bangladesh bowling after reaching his century. Putting on an unbeaten 90 runs for the eighth wicket with Saqlain, Youhana played with supreme confidence, haughtily leaving the best deliveries alone and pouncing on the not-so-rare bad ones to gleefully show them the fence.At stumps, Pakistan were 429 for 7, with Youhana batting on 174 and looking good to complete his second Test double hundred tomorrow. Saqlain, especially in comparison to the run-machine at the other end, looked positively sluggish, managing only 7 off his 58 deliveries.An impartial observer would find it difficult to select the best bowler of an errant attack, but Mohammad Sharif proved the most consistent, sticking to a reasonably tight length in all his spells and being rewarded with three wickets. Debutant Muntasir may have picked three wickets as well, but his lavishness in conceding 131 runs from 27 overs will, 20 years down the line, mar his rose-rimmed memories of his first Test.