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Shoaib Akhtar has been included in Pakistan’s preliminary 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy in September after the Lahore High Court temporarily suspended an 18-month ban imposed on him by the board. The board will also conduct dope tests on all the players on July 19 and 20, and those testing positive will be ineligible for selection.The list has been the subject of considerable delay, after disagreements between the board and selection committee over a number of players. Shoaib’s eligibility and Mohammad Asif’s latest drugs saga further pushed back the announcement by a day.Asif, understandably, is out as is Mohammad Yousuf, who has opted to pull out of the squad as the tournament will be played during the month of Ramadan. Yousuf had made the request some time ago, though last year and the year before, he played for Pakistan during Ramadan. In his place comes Mohammad Hafeez.The selectors have also chosen five uncapped players in the squad: Mohammad Aamer and Ahmed Shehzad, both of whom are 16, as well as Azhar Ali, Mohammad Ali and Anwar Ali. Aamer’s inclusion comes just days after former captain Wasim Akram had called for his selection during an interview with Cricinfo. Akram had earmarked Aamer as a future talent during a fast bowlers’ camp in May 2007. Shehzad, Aamer’s under-19 team-mate in the Pakistan team, has impressed as a batsman since making his debut last season, scoring 360 runs at 51.42 from eight domestic limited over matches.Azhar, the Lahore batsman, has been rewarded for his consistent performances in the domestic circuit – he has made 1305 runs at 50.19 in first-class cricket, and 903 runs at 47.52 in List A matches. Mohammad Ali, the 18-year-old Sialkot seamer, has taken 41 wickets at 25.46 in his first year at the first-class level last season. Anwar Ali led Pakistan to their last under-19 World Cup win in 2006 and has hovered close to Pakistan selection since.

Worcestershire CCC have today published their fixture list for the 2003 season.Highlights include a four day game against Zimbabwe and a one day game against South Africa. New Road will also host a four day U19 Test Match between England and South Africa.On the Domestic front, the County’s first home game in April will see the visit of Shane Warne’s Hampshire side. Other highlights include a likely home draw against Yorkshire in the C & G Trophy if the County overcome the Worcestershire Cricket Board in the 3rd Round. Three Twenty/20 matches will be played at home during the height of summer and the annual day/night fixture will see a visit by current NCL Champions, Glamorgan Dragons.Chief Executive, Mark Newton, is delighted with the schedule, “The schedule is far better balanced than in 2002 with matches being played at New Road on a regular basis throughout the season. In addition we will definitely host both touring teams and stage an U19 Test Match. In all there will be more than 50 days of top class cricket in Worcester next year.”

APRIL18-21 CCh HAMPSHIRE NEW ROAD23-25 UCCE University of Oxford UCCE The Parks27 NCL Gloucestershire Bristol30 Apr-3 May CCh NORTHAMPTONSHIRE NEW ROADMAY5 NCL SURREY NEW ROAD7 C&G Worcestershire CB New Road9-12 Tou ZIMBABWE NEW ROAD14-17 CCh Durham Away21-24 CCh GLOUCESTERSHIRE NEW ROAD25 NCL KENT NEW ROAD28 C&G C&G Trophy (Yorkshire or Cambridgeshire) NEW ROAD30 May-2 Jun CCh Derbyshire DerbyJUNE4-7 CCh Somerset Bath8 NCL Glamorgan Away10 OR 11 C&G C&G Trophy Quarter Final13 20/20 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE NEW ROAD15 NCL LEICESTERSHIRE NEW ROAD6 20/20 Gloucestershire Bristol18 20/20 WARWICKSHIRE NEW ROAD23 20/20 Glamorgan Away24 20/20 SOMERSET NEW ROAD25 Tou SOUTH AFRICA NEW ROAD27-30 CCh Glamorgan AwayJULY2-5 CCh DURHAM NEW ROAD6 NCL WARWICKSHIRE NEW ROAD13 NCL Leicestershire Away15-18 CCh DERBYSHIRE NEW ROAD19 20/20 20/20 overs Trophy Final23-26 CCh Gloucestershire Cheltenham College27 NCL Surrey Away29 NCL GLAMORGAN (Floodlit) NEW ROAD31 Jul-3 Aug CCh GLAMORGAN NEW ROADAUGUST7 OR 9 C&G C&G Trophy Semi Final11 NCL Kent (Floodlit) Canterbury12-15 U19 ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA NEW ROAD13-16 CCh Yorkshire Scarborough17 NCL Yorkshire Scarborough20-23 CCh SOMERSET NEW ROAD24 OR 25 NCL GLOUCESTERSHIRE NEW ROAD26 NCL Essex (Floodlit) Colchester30 C&G C&G Trophy FinalSEPTEMBER3-6 CCh Hampshire The Rose Bowl, West End7 NCL YORKSHIRE NEW ROAD9 NCL Warwickshire (Floodlit) Edgbaston12-15 CCh YORKSHIRE NEW ROAD17-20 CCh Northamptonshire Northampton21 NCL ESSEX NEW ROAD

Simon Jones and Mark Wallace have both received good news this morning following theannouncement of England`s 16-man party for the Ashes series, as well as the squadfor the E.C.B. Academy.Simon Jones, who has been troubled by a rib injury in the past fortnight, is one of the 16 namesin the England party for the Ashes tour. Jones is one of five pace bowlers in the party,alongside Andy Caddick, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Darren Gough, plus all-rounderAndy Flintoff.In announcing the party, Chairman of Selectors, DavidGraveney said “In choosing the make-up of this squad, we have opted for five pace bowlers, twospinners and one all-rounder. Reflecting on the team’s performances this summer, we have beenmindful of the need to strengthen our ability to bowl sides out twice and give ourselves a greaterchance of winning matches.””Simon Jones and Stephen Harmison are both terrific prospects who should find the conditions inAustralia to their liking and their inclusion will create genuine competition for places in thepace bowling department.””We will continue to monitor the fitness of Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Simon Jones and MichaelVaughan in the run-up to departure, but at this stage we are confident that all four will befit and available to tour. “Mark Wallace is one of the 15 players named in the squad for the E.C.B. National Academy, and forthe second consecutive winter, the Glamorgan wicket-keeper will be `down under` with the Academy squad.

There are always two sides to each coin. And the Guyanese Dollar, I am reliably informed, is one of the more interesting pieces of currency in the world. Apart from the sheer numbers that you use at every purchase, just its look and feel makes it special. And, on the second day of this Test match, two of Guyana’s favourite sons sparkled, and the runs flowed. Carl Hooper caressed his way to 233 (402 balls, 29 fours, three sixes), Shivnarine Chanderpaul chipped in with 140, and the West Indies amassed 494/7. India, meanwhile, provided the dull, lacklustre other side to the coin.At every turn, India were shown up for their lack of imagination. After beginning so well in this Test, pegging the West Indies back to 44 for three, the Indian bowlers utterly failed to trouble the batsmen. These are days in international cricket, however, when batsmen rule the roost, and on wickets of this kind, bowlers become mere whipping boys; a necessary evil; cannon fodder.Sympathy, yes – for Zaheer Khan. After a dismal end to his bowling on the first day, there were whispers that the strong left-arm seamer was not at his best and perhaps went into the Test with a niggling injury. As if to put to rest such suspicions, the Baroda lad steamed in and bowled a spell that was all character and effort. Sweat and toil in the sun – just no rewards to show for it.For that a sizeable proportion of the blame must lie at the feet of Sourav Ganguly. With the wicket providing no assistance, Ganguly quickly ran out of ideas. Falling into a set pattern, he gave all his lads a run – Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan mostly, with extended spells for Anil Kumble and Sanjay Bangar following. Sarandeep Singh provided some relief when things got monotonous.But the common thread in all this was a defeatist and almost hopelessly negative approach. Ultra-defensive fields, tired bowlers, an excited crowd of nearing 10,000, and a captain with nowhere to turn saw India slump lower and lower with every passing hour.Correspondingly, the Hooper-Chanderpaul pair lifted themselves to greater heights. There’s something about the steely glint in Hooper’s eyes peeping out of his visor-less helmet that must unsettle bowlers. It is not the dramatic, almost brutal arrogance of the swagger that Sir Vivian Richards brought out to the middle with him. It is not the cheeky, annoying smile that Javed Miandad flaunted in the face of his opponents. It is calm, cool as the moon on a clear winter evening, and it works for him like nothing else.Surpassing his previous career-best of 178 not out against Pakistan at St. John’s, Antigua in 1993, ‘Sir Carl,’ as he is known in Guyana, caressed his way to his maiden Test double hundred. Finding no cause to take risks or innovate, Hooper played his favourite shots to perfection – the chip over the off-side field, the wristy flick that made the mid-wicket boundary look woefully inadequate, and the drives back down the ground straighter than Robin Hood’s truest arrow. When he fell for 233, West Indies were a healthy 494/7.It would be a travesty of justice if one forgot Chanderpaul amidst the feline grace of Hooper. In some ways an antithesis to his Guyana teammate and skipper, Chanderpaul has played a selfless role in West Indies cricket in recent years. Being shuttled up and down the batting order, the southpaw has been forced to adapt, grit his teeth, and bolster a team in dire need of strong contributors. His contribution on the day was 140 of the safest, unfussy and invaluable runs. Littered with characteristic nudges, pokes and flicks that found the fence 23 times, Chanderpaul’s innings helped Hooper add a massive 293 runs for the fifth wicket.The departure of the two Guyanese batsmen, however, saw a mini-resurgence for India. Clearly a case of too little too late, but nevertheless significant, as there are few things that can break the back of a bowling side like a tail that wags endlessly. Junior Murray fell for a duck, and the West Indies were poised at 494 for seven when the skies opened for the second time in the day. More severe than the earlier occasion, when only a brief stoppage was the result, the showers forced play to be called off for the day.There are some in the Indian team who might wish that the game itself was called off. It has been that sort of play so far. It is not for no reason that Hooper let some optimism show at the end of the day’s play. “The rain is a bit disappointing, but there’s still a lot of time left in this match. There’s three days to go,” said the Windies skipper. India better take that as a warning rather than a casual remark.

By and large, the bowling has almost always been the bigger problem inIndian cricket, and the scenario today, pertaining in particular tothe squad touring England, is not very different. As the team preparesto take on the hosts and Sri Lanka in a tri-series, to be followed bya four-Test series against England, there are question marks over thebowling even as confidence reigns that the experienced and giftedbatting line-up will come good ­ even with the problems at the verytop of the order.

English conditions, as a rule, favour seam bowlers, but it has beenproved time and again that even a good spinner can be among thewickets. This is true in the case of Indian bowlers as well. Over thelast 70 years, the list of Indians who have done well in England makesfor interesting reading. Among those who have operated the new ball,Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh, Lala Amarnath, Raman Surendranath, KapilDev, Roger Binny, Chetan Sharma, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasadhave enjoyed a fair share of success. Given the strong tradition ofIndian spin, it is always on the cards that bowlers giving the ball ahealthy tweak will be just as successful, as proved by the exploits ofVinoo Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed, Subash Gupte, BS Chandrasekhar, DilipDoshi and Maninder Singh.So, on the face of it, at least some of the six principal bowlers inthe current squad seem to have a reasonable chance of success. Theyare four seamers ­ Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and TinuYohannan – and two spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Infact, with spin being India’s forte, it may even seem a gamble to tourEngland with just two such bowlers. But as I pointed out in a recentcolumn, spin to win may no longer be the Indian mantra overseas.The last three Test victories abroad in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and theWest Indies were all principally shaped by the fast men. The truth ofthe matter is that the overseas record of Kumble and Harbhajan doesnot inspire confidence. Given this, the bulk of the work could well bedone by the four seam bowlers. And while no one can deny that they areall game triers and will not be short on stamina, they are certainlyinexperienced. All of them are making their first full tour ofEngland, and Agarkar alone has some experience of bowling ininternational matches in England, having been a member of the 1999World Cup team. For inspiration, though, they need look no furtherthan Venkatesh Prasad, who made his Test debut in England in 1996 andtook 15 wickets in three Tests.Kumble, on the other hand, is making his third full tour of England,besides being a member of the 1999 World Cup side. He has also had acouple of seasons with Northamptonshire in the county championship,and the astonishing fact is that while he has performed commendablyfor the county ­ enough for him to be selected as Wisden Cricketer ofthe Year in 1996 ­ his deeds for the country have been a letdown.In 1990 he was a rookie, making his debut in the second Test atManchester. By 1996, however, he was very much the lynchpin of theattack. But he still had a nightmarish series, finishing with justfive wickets in the three Tests at an average of 66.80. Despite hisimpressive overall record ­ 319 wickets from 70 Tests at an average offractionally under 28 ­ Kumble has continued to remain an enigmaoverseas, and it can only be hoped that he makes the most of theopportunity the current tour gives him to prove that he can be aneffective bowler abroad.

Much the same fears abound as far as Harbhajan is concerned. The offspinner is a class act at home, but overseas he has been reduced to abowler of near club standard. He and Kumble did tie up the Englishmenin knots in the home series six months ago, but it will be a whollydifferent – and much more difficult – proposition in England. Twice ­in 1951-52, and again 30 years later ­ English batsmen have flounderedin India, only to turn the tables on them a few months later in homeconditions.Given the inexperience of the seam attack and the ineffectiveness ofthe spinners, perhaps Sourav Ganguly will have to do a lot of bowlinghimself. He is the kind who may be able to make the ball talk inEnglish conditions. Not many may know that in his memorable debutseries six years ago, besides heading the batting figures, he alsotopped the bowling averages – six wickets in two matches at an averageof 20.83. He was also fairly successful during the World Cup threeyears ago.Given this background, as well as his skill and experience, it may notbe a surprise if he fancies himself as almost a frontline bowler. Wemay well see him bowl fairly long spells, though how many wickets willfall to him is open to question.All in all, it is not a bowling line-up to inspire confidence,especially after what the England batsmen have just accomplishedagainst Sri Lanka, scoring 500-plus in three successive innings, thefirst time they have achieved this feat in 125 years of Test cricket.The onus will again fall on the batsmen to run up the kind of totalsthat would ensure at least a draw. For, at the moment, India winningthe Test series is just as uphill a task as it was for England to winin this country six months ago. They didn’t have the bowlers to win inIndia, and we don’t seem to have the bowlers to win in England. Afterall, as is well-known, it is sharp bowling and not tall scoring thatwins matches.

Somerset all rounder Pete Trego finally put an end to the speculation about his future at the County Ground when he told me this afternoon that he has signed a two year deal with First Division Kent.He told me: "This is a great opportunity for me to fulfil what I have started at Somerset, and I am moving to Kent with the intention of filling the vacancy left by all rounder Matthew Fleming."The twenty one year old who hails from Weston super Mare made his debut for the Cidermen in 2000 but has been unable to hold down a first team place, despite some good performances for the seconds with both bat and ball, including an impressive 140 against West Indies A this season.He continued: " I really wanted to play cricket for my home county, but I feel that this is an opportunity for me to further my career and I have to take it. I hate leaving Somerset but I have to think of my future."But the young all rounder has no hard feelings about the way that he has been treated and went on: "Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson and Kevin Shine have all been very good about things and have handled the situation well."When he moves to the `White Horse’ county he will link up with Ben Trott, another Somerset old boy who made the trip to the south east to further his career.Pete Trego told me: "I have had phone calls from several of the Kent players, including Ben Trott, welcoming me to the club."Certainly Kent think very highly of their new signing. He continued: "They are pretty keen to have me which is nice to know, and after Christmas they are sending me out to Australia for six weeks where I will be working with Dennis Lillee."He concluded: "I would like to thank all of the Somerset fans for the support that they have given me over the years. I have got many happy memories of the times that I have spent here and will leave behind a lot of friends."The Somerset chief executive Peter Anderson told me: "We are sorry to see Pete Trego leave the club especially as he was a product of our Academy system. That said he has to take his opportunity and he feels that he has a better chance of first team cricket at Kent than here at Taunton."The Somerset boss concluded: "We wish him all the very best for the future and accept that he will probably score a century and take five wickets when he plays against us."

The Test playing countries in Asia have agreed in principal to a system by which a side failing to honour contractual obligations to play in a series has to offer compensation to its rival team.The Asian Cricket Council secretary Zakir Mohammad Sayeed told PTI over phone from Lahore that the presidents of the Cricket Boards of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who met during the two-day ACC meeting that concluded on Friday, agreed that such a system was desirable but left the detailsto be worked out later by a sub-committee.Pakistan had been demanding such a compensation clause to be included in the International Cricket Council’s ten-year calendar for Test playing countries unveiled at its Executive Board meeting in Melbourne earlier this year.Claiming that India’s decision to cancel its scheduled tour to Pakistan starting in December last year had cost substantial financial losses to it, the Pakistan Cricket Board had urged the ICC to introduce such a clause to deter any country from going back on playing commitments in future.The Indian government had refused to allow its team to tour Pakistan in keeping with its policy of not playing its neighbour in a bilateral series because of Islamabad’s continued support to cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.The government also refused permission to its team to play in a triangular one-day series in Sharjah involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka in April, a decision that had angered the PCB which threatened not to play against India in any tournament anywhere in the world in future.However, PCB officials today appeared happy after the BCCI president AC Muthiah explained to them India’s stand that the ban was only on a bilateral series and tournaments at ‘non-regular venues and that the two countries can play intournaments featuring other nations.Sayeed too welcomed the explanation and said the Pakistan officials had not made an issue of the Indian government’s decision to skip the bilateral series. “We are very happy about it (that India and Pakistan can play in multi-lateral tournaments),” he said.India has expressed its willingness to participate in the Asia Cup scheduled to be held in Pakistan next year and in the Asian Test championship.Meanwhile, after informal meetings between the heads and officials of the various member Boards, the ACC delegates settled down for a formal meeting today during which they discussed the proper utilisation of $6.5 million provided by the International Cricket Council for the development of the gamein the region.

Quick fire cricket that has seen teams chasing higher and higher totals in the fourth innings of Tests, more result matches and more phenomenal cricket was just a natural progression of the sport, England captain Nasser Hussain said today.He was commenting on the nature of New Zealander Nathan Astle’s innings on the last day of the first Test when New Zealand notched 451 runs, the highest losing Test chase in history, and another record chase by South Africa to beat Australia in Durban yesterday.It was a natural progression from one-day cricket where people had realised what they could do.”Maybe a few years ago people didn’t realise how much they could run down the wicket and nick the ball out of the ground,” he said.”Now they realise they can so they are putting it into practise in the longer form of cricket.”I’m not saying it’s changed for better or worse. When I started there were people like Vivian Richards who could play like that.”People still played amazing innings but possibly now it had carried over into the Test match arena because the game was moving so quickly.”There are not that many boring five-day draws any more,” he said.Players were less inclined to play the Geoff Boycott stodgy game of defence and if the game was getting bogged down there were players like Adam Gilchrist who decided that they should do something about it.”It could have something to do with wickets. That wicket on the last day [in Christchurch], with a small outfield and quick ground was an absolute belter.”In the old days wickets used to deteriorate and spin used to come into it more, now it seems with these relaid wickets and drop-in wickets they could be getting better and better and not deteriorating as much as they used to.”There will be times, this may be one, when it turns on the last day, 450 might not be accomplished we will have to wait and see,” he said.It didn’t take too much work as a captain on more responsive pitches, but it was harder work on the subcontinent where it was much more necessary to make things happen through captaincy because batsmen were capable of batting all day.”In England, the wickets are doing more than when I first started. You would have boring 500 plays 600 at Trent Bridge or somewhere whereas they are definitely doing more now on England wickets,” Hussain said.He didn’t see why there needed to be four-day Tests. There was something about having to adapt to the different circumstances in a Test when you turned up not knowing what the pitch was going to do, whether the ball was going to swing or seam.And if there were four-day Tests other changes would come into games such as groundsmen preparing wickets to suit getting a result in four days.”I think the game has survived quite nicely the way it has and people are adapting to it, I don’t think we need to many rule or law changes, it’s survived quite happily so far, it’s doing pretty well.”However, in regard to the laws he was pleased the ICC was going to have a look at working with new technology for umpires at the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka in September.”Umpiring has become an issue, there has been a lot of talk about it, replays, there’s been a lot of talk. Television has changed the game.”In the old days you wouldn’t have so many replays and umpires weren’t under so much pressure so therefore I’m pleased they’re having a look at it to see if it will work but it mustn’t be rushed in,” he said.Players also understood errors were made by umpires.He said he was pleased to turn up and see Asoka de Silva and Brent Bowden were the two umpires for the first Test because he felt they were two very good umpires.”All right, they may have made the odd mistake which they will hold their hands up to, but I wouldn’t be afraid of turning up to the next game and seeing exactly the same two umpires.”Cricket was faced with increasing improvement in replay quality and an issue of where the game moved.”Television is not going to go away so do we help the umpires or not? Possibly they do need some help,” he said.

After scoring a tight win in the one-day competition yesterday, Eagles thumped Tuskers again, by 71 runs in the Zimbabwe Twenty20 competition in Harare. Sikandar Raza, the star of the chase yesterday, scored 63 off 44 balls and shared a century-stand in 12 overs with Cephas Zhuwao (43) to set up a strong base for the Eagles. Regular wickets relatively slowed the Eagles down as 66 runs came off the last eight overs and it was mainly due to a 19-ball cameo by Elton Chigumbura, who hit three sixes in his 35.Tuskers, looking for their first win, lost Charles Coventry in the first over of the chase to Kyle Jarvis. Craig Ervine joined Keith Dabengwa and shared a brief stand of 24 – the highest in the innings – but soon, Chigumbura struck once with the ball and then ran out Sean Ervine as Tuskers limped to 54 for 3 by the tenth over. Tuskers’ innings went down a spiral as they lost quick wickets, Chamu Chibhabha and Tinotenda Mutombodzi sharing two wickets each. The innings folded after 18 overs after No. 11 Keegan Meth didn’t take the field.Eagles, with their third win a row, are at the top of the table, while Tuskers are at the bottom.Mountaineers won their second game in as many matches, on the back of a century from Hamilton Masakadza. Mountaineers were put in to bat by Mid West Rhinos, and the decision didn’t come off as opener Masakadza lasted till the final over, knocking off 103 off 59 balls before being bowled by Ed Rainsford. While there was no much support from the other end, cameos from Kevin Kasuza and Timycen Maruma alongside Masakadza were enough to propel them to 184 for 6.By contrast, Mid West Rhinos lost opener Vusi Sibanda for a duck and had slipped to 52 for 4 in the ninth. They didn’t recover, with the only contribution of note coming from No. 6 Steven Trenchard – he made 40 off 28 and remained unbeaten, but the Rhinos could still manage only 137 for 7, losing by a whopping 47-run margin.

Close on the heels of former Indian middle order batsman Ajay Jadejajoining films, two more former Test stars – Vinod Kambli and MohinderAmarnath – are set to make their debut in Bollywood soon.Actor Sunil Shetty, who was instrumental in Jadeja signing a movie inMumbai on Thursday, told PTI that there was a good role for VinodKambli in the movie Anarth, to be directed by Ravi Dewan.”As I am acting in the film, I asked Kambli if he was interested inthe role and he agreed”, the actor said. Shetty, a keen follower ofthe game, said Vinod is a very talented guy and a very good singertoo. “I have known him for a long time. In fact, I know all thecricketers as I used to play cricket earlier and played in the CoochBehar Trophy,” he said.”Jimmy’s case is also similar. It is again a film in which I amacting. I have spoken to him and Jimmy is keen to do the movie.Hopefully everything will be finalised in another ten days”, Shettyadded.Some of the other former cricketers who have acted in films includeSalim Durani, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandeep Patil, S M H Kirmani, GundappaVishwanath (in a Kannada film) and Kapil Dev (in a guest role).