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The Pakistan board has shortened its probables list for the A team’s tour to Kenya from 35 to 20 players. The squad will bechosen from the shortened list to play Kenya in two four-day games, and then play them and India A in a limited-overs series. The final team will be announced on July 24, and will leave the country on August 2.Pakistan A probables
Salman Butt, Taufeeq Umar, Naved Latif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (Wicket Keeper), Qaisar Abbas, Mansoor Amjad, Riaz Afridi, Rao Iftikhar, Zahid Saeed, Naved Ashraf, Junaid Zia, Bazid Khan, Naumanullah, Shahid Yousaf, Mohammad Khalil, Shoaib Khan, Nasir Khan, Mohammad Irshad.

It is ironic that following such beautiful weather leading up to the cricket season, that the first day at The Rose Bowl in the Championship match against Yorkshire should be seriously truncated, not by a steady drop of rain, but by the overnight downpours that left the outfield saturated.Ironically play on the adjacent nursery ground got underway almost on time, but the easier hillier drying ground, and the fact that it was basically a Second XI practise match against their Somerset counterparts.When the captains decided to stop waiting around, play got underway at 2:30pm, and John Crawley’s decision to insert the Northern county was justified by the taking of three early wickets.Wasim Akram showed why he should become a Rose Bowl favourite when he uprooted Michael Vaughan’s middle stump to the third over of the match. Alan Mullally not to be outdone by his illustrious counterpart then had Yorkshire’s other opener Matthew Wood caught behind. Chris Tremlett then enticed skipper McGrath to cut into the hand of Shaun Udal.Matthew Lumb bedded himself down, but at the other end, Mullally again reeked havoc taking the quick wickets of Blakey (caught wicket-keeper) and Fellows (caught slip).The visitor’s demise continued this time to off-spinner Shaun Udal who off successive balls dismissed Dawson and Silverwood.Lumb and Darren Gough rallied their team with a 46 run unbeaten partnership before the close, but the day or at least the half-day belonged to Hampshire.

Auckland Cricket was a major recipient of awards at the 2001 Westpac Trust Sport Auckland Sports Awards dinner held in Auckland on Tuesday evening.Emily Drumm from the University Akarana Cricket Club was a popular winner of both the Asics Sportswoman of the Year Award and the overall WestpacTrust Sporting Excellence Award for her achievements in leading the CLEAR White Ferns to victory in the CricInfo Women’s World Cup in December 2000 and as an integral part of the State Auckland Hearts team which won their second successive State Insurance Cup during the 2000/01 season.Fittingly, in what was a memorable night for Auckland Cricket, the State Auckland Hearts were also named the Lion Red Sports Team of the Year.Rising cricketing talent, Rob Nicol from the Cornwall Cricket Club was named a joint winner of the Sport Auckland Junior Sportsman of the Year with basketballer, Lindsay Tait. The 18-year-old opening batsman and medium pace/off-spin bowler is New Zealand Cricket’s Young Player to Lord’s this year and will be a leading contender for the New Zealand Under-19 team to play in the ICC Under-19 World Cup to be played in New Zealand this season.Long-serving Auckland Cricket administrator, Don Hattaway, was also recognised for his exceptional work in developing the game in Auckland with a Special Service to Sport Award. Lou Vincent of the Grafton United Cricket Club was also a finalist in the Sportsman of the Year Award.

Leicestershire 2nd XI won the AON Trophy for the fourth time, when they defeated Hampshire 2nd XI at the County Ground, Southampton on Monday.In front of a sizable crowd and warm weather, Hampshire’s captain Shaun Udal decision to put Leicestershire into bat paid early dividends. Leicestershire were struggling at 59-4, only Steve Adshead holding up the home sides progress. He finally found partners in Carl Crowe, Luke Reeves and the veteran Phil Robinson, and was able to push the score to a more respectable 205. Five Hampshire bowlers took 2 wickets apiece with only Udal failing to make his mark in an expensive spell.Hampshire had a strong batting line up. Brunnschweiler at 11 had recently made a century, so confidence was high as Stephenson and Kenway opened with a 33 run stand. Andrew Sexton and Lawrence Prittipaul took the score to 157-4 and a seemingly easy task towards victory.What followed however was a collapse of serious proportions, as four wickets fell for six runs, including Sexton, whose 58 had looked to be taking his side towards the trophy. Hampshire’s panic came from a combination of bat shot selection and good pressure from the Leicestershire bowlers and fielders. Sexton came down to a ball from Carl Crowe, and was well out of his ground when Adshead found the stumping task too easy.A six from Chris Tremlett raised the home supporters hope, but he was last man out when attempting another big hit, and was brilliantly caught by 37-year-old Phil Robinson.

James Faulkner predicts more feats of run scoring and further sobering times for bowlers in the second ODI between Australia and India at the Gabba, even though playing conditions have actually eased in favour of the fielding sides since last year’s World Cup.Batting Powerplays were abolished three months after Australia’s players lifted the trophy at the MCG last March, but a preponderance of flat pitches, spring-loaded bats and powerful hitters mean that scoring has been only subtly affected by the change.Faulkner pointed out that the Gabba shared the WACA’s tendencies for fast scoring in ODIs, and expected something similar to the series opener when Australia reeled in India’s 309 with something in reserve, on a surface affording less assistance to the bowlers than the hosts had expected.”Everyone was quite surprised by the way the wicket played in Perth, it was very flat and we saw a lot of runs scored. I think any time you see 300 scored and chased it’s definitely a flat wicket,” he said in Brisbane. “I’m expecting the same sort of scenario here as well, I haven’t seen a one-day wicket that hasn’t been flat here for a fair while, so it should have good pace, carry and be a good contest again.”In general it’s a tough gig bowling in Perth and here. Runs can be scored so fast due to the pace on the ball, change-ups don’t grip as much as other grounds like the MCG and Canberra that we’ll see later in the series. Everyone got hit the other day so I don’t think you can single out one or two bowlers.”Commenting on the removal of the Powerplay, Faulkner said the ability of the fielding side to post five boundary riders was a relief. He also felt it meant that batsmen were less likely to contrive their innings by playing within themselves before the chance to hit into unmanned expanses of the outfield caused them to switch to and overtly aggressive posture.”I did notice a change,” he said. “The big change was the overs leading into the old Powerplay where batters tended to milk it around and stay in and then use that as a launching pad. That was a dangerous time for any team batting, if you lost a wicket before that five-over period it could really halt your momentum.”Likewise if you didn’t lose a wicket you could really set up a big total. I like the new rules, it goes back to five in the last 10 and it’s still a massive challenge for the bowlers, but it’s a bit more normal instead of players milking it around before.”While admitting he was trying to “avoid” taking in too much of the Big Bash League while on Australian duty, Faulkner indicated that Australia’s players felt no more pressure to be entertainers than they usually are under their coach Darren Lehmann’s desire for attractive cricket.”Every time you go onto the ground you try to entertain, I don’t think you specifically go out there and think ‘I want to put on a show’, it’s more worrying about what you can do to contribute to the team,” Faulkner said. “The revolution in T20 cricket and how successful the Big Bash has been this season with the crowd numbers that have attended and also on TV, it’s only going to get bigger.”It’s an exciting time for cricket in general, you’re seeing a lot more high scores in the one-day format as well. That’s entertaining enough.”

After announcing his withdrawal from England’s squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, Marcus Trescothick has admitted his future at the highest level is in doubt.It is the third time in as many winter tours that Trescothick has withdrawn from England duty, following his early departures from the India trip last March and the Ashes tour in November. On this occasion he has given the ECB plenty notice of his unavailability, but he realises that they won’t necessarily come calling again for future tours.”I can only do my job and let the selectors and the ECB take care of that side of it, but it’s not rocket science to work out what is going to happen,” said Trescothick. “Time is going on, and naturally people will make their own minds up. But I’ve still got aspirations of getting back – and I believe I will get back. But it’s not a simple road, and I can only assess it as I play for Somerset.”Trescothick’s stress-related illness has been shrouded in mystery for 18 months, ever since he flew home from India in tears. But, with his wife Hayley expecting the couple’s second child in January, he feels that now is not the time to be away from home – regardless of the attractiveness of the two-week, low-profile Twenty20 format.”It was relatively hard and it would have been a lovely situation to get back in this winter, but I knew as the days went on and the way things were progressing that I wasn’t quite ready for it yet,” said Trescothick. “The baby is due in January and I have looked at that. My family is important to me, but it was more about other factors.””I can’t go into details as it’s quite a personal thing,” he said, “but I’m working with different people, trying to address problems that have happened in the past and trying to move on and find ways of coping with times when I don’t feel so good. I can only control what’s important to me and that’s making sure I get back fit enough to give myself a chance of coming back and being as good and better than I was before.”You spend so much time away from home now, and that’s something I will have to deal with if I make it back and play for England,” he said. “But every England game I saw on TV, I thought I would love to be back there. I saw the crowds and the lads playing, and it brought back memories of playing for England.”I thought I would love to have a crack at it – but then when I thought about it in depth I realised I wasn’t ready to go yet. As time went on, it wasn’t the right decision to make. If I get to the point where I believe it’s not going to happen, I’ll make a decision on that then. But while I have aspirations, I’m not going to give that a thought.”

The England board has announced that 13 players have been awarded central contracts for the next 12 months. Of those who had existing contracts, only Geraint Jones has been omitted, although Chris Read, who replaced him in the national side, has not been made an offer either.Monty Panesar and Alastair Cook – who have established themselves in the last nine months – are included for the first time. The contracts are estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of £250,000-£400,000.Three of those named – Michael Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones – have hardly raised a bat or bowled a ball in anger in the last year. David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, explained the board’s thinking: “The selectors were also keen to demonstrate our support and faith in those players who are currently recovering from long-term injuries but remain an important part of our plans as we prepare for an intensive programme of international cricket in both forms of the game over the next 12 months.”Referring to Read and Geraint Jones, Graveney was keen to point out that “the selectors can, of course, award Summer Contracts to individual players from next April if we feel that performances on overseas tours merit this and I am sure that both Chris Read and Geraint Jones will be competing hard to demonstrate their value to the team this winter.”The contracts also benefit the counties as they receive around £2,000 per Test and £1,000 per ODI when their contracted players appear for England, and these figures are set to increase significantly. It is seen as their reward for youth policies that produce the players in the first place, and it explains why counties such as Leicestershire are keen to hold on to youngsters like Stuart Broad even though he is likely to be increasingly away on international duty.England central contracts 2006-07 Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Monty Panesar, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan.

To say the talking is over would be a lie, because for the next eight weeks the banter on and off the pitch is likely to exceed fever-pitch, but at last, the end of the beginning has been reached. The most interminable build-up to the biggest series of modern times is behind us, and tomorrow, at 10.30am BST, England and Australia will get on with the main event of the summer.From the moment England left the field at Centurion way back in January, with a 2-1 series win against South Africa under their belts, July 21 has been the sole focus for the entire squad. That much became apparent when Andrew Flintoff, on whom so many of England’s hopes rest, hopped on an early flight from Johannesburg to London to undergo immediate surgery on his troublesome ankle. With apologies to Bangladesh and a smattering of one-day aficionados, everything that took place between then and now has mattered not a jot in the grander scheme of things.The questions have been asked so often and so loudly that they have taken on the guise of mantras. Is Glenn McGrath over the hill? Is Kevin Pietersen a one-shot slogger? Is Flintoff really a Test-class No. 6? Is Jason Gillespie finished? Are England’s openers up to the task? Can Shane Warne leave his personal life off the pitch? Have England really dispensed with two decades of mental baggage? The trouble with pre-ambles of such length and intensity is that they tend to overshadow the main event, but for the first time in a generation, Australia suspect that the hype might, at a pinch, be justified.”Both sets of players are sick and tired of talking about the Ashes,” admitted Michael Vaughan at a press conference at Lord’s. “We’ve got a young group of players who are excited by the challenge, and it’s a challenge we are all looking forward to.”Vaughan has become an advocate of such plain speaking in recent weeks, and his toughnut approach has taken on shades of Allan Border in the definitive Ashes summer of 1989. He has understandably refused to play along with Australia’s worthy, but hypocritical, suggestion that the fielder’s word should be gospel where disputed catches are concerned, and if nothing else, Australia know that England will not be cowed into submission before a ball has been bowled.That has not always been the case in the past, and Vaughan winced at the memory of the 2002-03 series, when Nasser Hussain won the toss and chose to bowl first on a baking hot first day at Brisbane. “Whether we were overawed I don’t know,” he added, “but Australia started well and we lost Simon Jones, which was soul-destroying for the team.” Jones, whose tumbling slide on the sandy Brisbane outfield resulted in a grievous knee injury and 16 months on the sidelines, was, as expected, named in England’s XI this morning, with Chris Tremlett missing out of the 12-man squad.There will be no such pulling of punches tomorrow, when the toss is won or lost. Lord’s, as Hussain himself admitted during a recent Championship match, is a ground where you look up, not down, upon winning the toss, and with clear blue skies predicted for the first three days of the match, both captains will be desperate to get first use of another belter of a pitch. Vaughan, who earned a reputation as a luckless tosser in his early captaincy days, has since won four in a row in Tests – although he would have gladly traded in some of his luck against Bangladesh for a correct call tomorrow.Australia have taken longer than usual to find their swagger this summer, but after their humiliations in the early weeks of the tour, all the pieces of the jigsaw are starting to fall into place now. Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist found form in the final one-day matches, Damien Martyn and Justin Langer went large against Leicestershire, and even Gillespie had located some elusive rhythm by the end of that drawn game at Grace Road. McGrath, never shy of a prediction or two, announced that Australia would win 5-0, while Ponting pointed at the inexperience of England’s middle-order, where Ian Bell and Pietersen (total caps – 3) have taken over from Graham Thorpe (caps – 100).Thorpe’s omission has not attracted copious column inches as yet, which is indicative of the quandary that Pietersen’s irresistible one-day form has presented. Had Thorpe played more than just a solitary Test in three series against Australia, then Pietersen might have been forced to wait his turn, but as things stand, only one of the two players has genuine form against the Aussies – and it isn’t the man who has already signalled his retirement at the end of the series.The hope is that Pietersen will make up in bravado what he lacks in a watertight technique, although Australia, who have done their utmost to talk him into the team, can’t wait to get stuck into him. John Buchanan, their coach, has described him as “a very poor starter”, while McGrath has admitted that he and the fellow members of Australia’s self-styled “fast-bowling cartel” have one or two plans up their sleeves.But, all such speculation is, at last, superfluous. Tomorrow, the words become deeds, and not before time.England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Ian Bell, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Simon Jones, 11 Stephen Harmison.Australia (probable) 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Simon Katich, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Scorecard

Daniel Vettori gave a virtuoso exhibition of the left-arm spinner’s art – and rifled throws at the stumps with the accuracy of a knife-thrower – as New Zealand romped to a 107-run victory over West Indies in the final of the NatWest Series at Lord’s. Vettori finished with remarkable figures of 5 for 30, and ran out Devon Smith – top-scorer for West Indies with 44 – and Ian Bradshaw with direct hits as New Zealand ensured that their first-ever one-day international appearance at Lord’s would be one that they would never forget. Despite a late collapse, they tallied 266, and they then bowled and fielded with such discipline and verve that West Indies were never in the hunt.It was Vettori’s throwing arm that started West Indies’ slow slide to oblivion. A direct hit from short third man sent Devon Smith on his way, and ended a 44-run partnership with Brian Lara that had given West Indies fleeting hope (98 for 3). That had come after both Chris Gayle (4) – caught low to his right by Scott Styris at second slip off Jacob Oram – and Ramnaresh Sarwan, run-out for 19 after being sent back by Smith, had fallen cheaply.Minutes later, though, Vettori dealt the killer blow. Lara had made 30 when he was trapped plumb in front as he shuffled across to a ball that angled in to the stumps (105 for 4). And then Dwayne Bravo, whose unhappy sojourn in the middle had produced just 4 runs in 14 balls, flicked a delivery straight to Styris at midwicket. Styris fumbled once, but held on to intensify the gloom in the West Indian dressing room.Thereafter, it was a procession. Ricardo Powell missed more than he hit in an innings of 18, and it ended with an ugly leading edge to backward point where Hamish Marshall took an outstanding catch. And Dwayne Smith made just 2, trapped leg before by one that hustled on to him.Vettori than briefly stepped out of the limelight, allowing Chris Harris to pick up his 200th wicket in ODIs, the first New Zealander to do so. Ridley Jacobs was the name into the record books, slogging one straight to Chris Cairns at deep midwicket (150 for 8).Enter Vettori, and another stunning direct hit that sent the dawdling Ian Bradshaw back to the pavilion. Moments later, it was all over, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who batted in turtle mode when hare was required, belted one down to Craig McMillan at long-on.New Zealand’s innings had been built around a classy 67 from Stephen Fleming, and a first-wicket partnership of 120 with Nathan Astle (57). But they lost their way in the home stretch, losing their last seven wickets for just 49 runs. Sarwan was the unlikely bowling star, scalping 3 for 31 – including the wicket of Cairns – and Tino Best, who had taken fearful punishment in his opening spell, then came back to mop up the last vestiges of resistance.New Zealand’s cause was hamstrung by two rain delays, the first after 18.1 overs and then again in the 41st over. When they went off the second time, they were handily placed at 220 for 4, with 57 deliveries still to be bowled. But from there, they couldn’t find the boundary rope even once, as Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Best slowed the flow of runs to the tiniest of trickles.Cairns’s dismissal for just 6 was key. On his last appearance at Lord’s, he had lashed a breathtaking 82 in a Test match. Here, he stepped out to whack a Sarwan delivery slanting down leg, and turned back to see the ball ricochet onto the stumps off Jacob’s forearm (232 for 5).

McMillan, whose rapid 71-run partnership with Marshall (44) had rebuilt the innings after the first rain-induced wobble, cruised to 52, but in his effort to up the ante, he lofted the returning Best straight to deep cover, where Chanderpaul avoided a collision with Bradshaw to take an excellent catch (249 for 6).Harris made only 1 before presenting Sarwan with a sharp return catch low to his left (252 for 7), and Vettori gave him another notch on the belt by holing out to Dwayne Smith at deep midwicket for 6 (265 for 8). Best ensured that there would be no late flourish by having Oram (15) caught behind, and then running out Gareth Hopkins with a smart pick-up and throw.It hadn’t started anywhere near as well for West Indies. Both Best and Bradshaw struggled to find a containing line, and Fleming got going with some sublime flicks off the pads and beautifully timed drives and cuts through the off side. Astle was more circumspect, but a couple of beefy cover-drives when the bowlers erred in length meant that there was no respite for Lara from either end, after he had gambled and put New Zealand in.West Indies didn’t help themselves with some poor fielding – Gayle dropped a sitter from Fleming off Best’s bowling in the third over, and Powell then failed to hang on to a fierce slash from Astle with the score on 79.Fleming batted beautifully until the first delay, and then appeared to lose his focus, scooping a catch to Gayle at point off Dwayne Smith’s bowling. Bravo then got in on the act, getting Astle to cut one uppishly to Gayle at backward point (142 for 2). Styris didn’t bother to hang around long enough to gauge the pace of the wicket, and an ugly hoick at Bravo flew off the leading edge to Powell at point (146 for 3).Marshall and McMillan restored order with some well-placed singles and powerful strokes, but then the rain came to wash away New Zealand’s hopes of a huge total. As it turned out, 266 was more than enough, especially once Vettori proved to be the man with the golden arm.

Outgoing West Indies captain Carl Hooper says the four-Test series against Australia starting at the Georgetown Cricket Club, Bourda tomorrow, will not be a one-sided affair."I think it is going to be an exciting series. A lot of people think it is going to be one-way traffic but I’ve got a different view," the 36-year-old Hooper said hours before revealing he was withdrawing from the team to make way for a younger player."I think that we’ve got the makings of certainly a good side and it will depend on how well we compete in the first Test match that will set the trend for the rest of the series," Hooper noted."I honestly think that we will do well in Guyana. We have got to make sure that the first morning, in the first session, we are up for it and that we carry them tooth and nail, session by session."We’ve got to make them work hard for their runs and everything, but I think we are going to give a very good account of ourselves in this Test series," He said.Hooper, who was replaced by Brian Lara as captain after two years in the job, expressed disappointment at not being re-appointed."Obviously, I am a bit disappointed but I suppose life moves on. I’ve had the opportunity to do it for two years and it was a wonderful experience," Hooper said."I just want to take this opportunity to thank the fellows for all their support, especially a number of the young players, who really rallied around and sort of toe the line . . . .""I thought it [captaincy] worked well and I just hope that we can continue going from strength to strength."I think what we need now is to give them [younger players] the support, a little bit of trust, a bit of loyalty and I am sure that in a few years time, they will be the ones to bring West Indies cricket right back up to the top," he contended.Hooper said one of the pleasing aspects about his stint as West Indies captain was the improvement shown by the team in general."When I took over the job, one of the most important things that I wanted to do was to make sure that regardless of the result, whenever you look at a West Indies team playing, that you saw guys who wanted to play."Regardless to whether we won or lost, you would see a bunch of guys playing as a team which is important and wanting to compete," he said."Obviously, as any captain, you want to have success but it was also important to have things like the discipline come through, setting the right example, raising the work ethics, things like this to make sure that we were heading in the right direction, not just two or three guys but as a team in general."I think as I look back over the last two years, I am fairly happy with the job that I did given the players that we had. I have seen players take massive strides forward, just to mention a few, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels."I have seen them play responsible innings in my stint as captain and I am happy to see that. It shows something must have worked and worked in a favourable manner and I just hope that they can continue with the rest of their careers going from strength to strength," Hooper said.