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The fragile Ashes urn will never be handed to Australia despite pleas from cricket fans including Prime Minister John Howard.The Marylebone Cricket Club said it would refuse to part with the original 120-year-old urn even after Australia’s eighth consecutive Ashes series win.”The Ashes urn is not and never has been a trophy competed for between Australia and England,” MCC spokesman Iain Wilton said on Tuesday.”The trophy is the Waterford crystal trophy which will be presented to Steve Waugh at the end of the series.”But Mr Howard renewed calls for the Ashes urn to be put on display in Australia, describing it as the most treasured sporting trophy in the eyes of most Australians.”While the location of the Ashes trophy is certainly not going to strain diplomatic relations between Australian and the United Kingdom, I strongly support the Australian Cricket Board’s efforts to allow the nation’s cricket fans to view the hallowed trophy,” he said.”It would be a real gesture on the part of English cricket authorities for it to come to Australia. It would be a welcome piece of symbolism that would not be lost on the cricketing world.”Opposition Leader Simon Crean also backed the calls for the Ashes urn to come to Australia, saying it was no different to any other sporting trophy.”It should have been here for a long time,” he said. “Just about every other great sporting activity operates on the basis that the winner claims the trophy and houses the trophy.But the MCC owns the 10-centimetre tall urn which was presented to England captain Ivo Bligh in 1882-83 and displays it in its museum at Lord’s in London.It had planned to take the urn on a tour of Australia this summer but was advised it was too fragile and could suffer irreparable damage if it was moved and subjected to changes in humidity and pressure.Australians may still get a chance to see the wooden urn briefly next year, but Mr Wilton said it would never be held permanently in Australia or used as a trophy for series winners.”We remain committed to displaying the original urn in Australia,” Mr Wilton said.”We are hoping in a year’s time to take it to Australia to commemorate the centenary of the first MCC tour.”The urn has only once left London when it was taken to Australia for the 1988 bicentennial celebrations.A large crystal trophy based on its shape was commissioned in 1998 even though Australian teams have regularly held up a life-sized replica urn after winning recent series.Waugh’s team paraded one of the two replicas in existence around the WACA ground in Perth after winning the third Test last Sunday.After Australia beat England at The Oval in London in August 1882, the Sporting Times newspaper ran an obituary to English cricket saying “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.Later that year, when England won the series 2-1 in Australia, a group of Melbourne women burned a bail used in the third Test, put the ashes in an urn and gave it to Bligh.

	Michael Clarke directs traffic in his first ODI as captain © AFP

Michael Clarke is never shy to dash over to Ricky Ponting in the field with a fresh idea but in his first one-day international as captain, Clarke gained a new appreciation for the pressure Ponting faces. With three overs remaining, West Indies needed 13 with six wickets in hand and Clarke required several miracles.The first came when Brett Lee sent down a stunning over that brought 1 for 1. The second occurred when Nathan Bracken bowled Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 53 from the last ball of the penultimate over, five deliveries after Clarke himself made an uncharacteristic misfield as the tension mounted.The final piece clicked when Shane Watson kept the batsmen to singles in the 50th over when they needed eight runs to win. When Darren Sammy drove the last delivery to mid off, Clarke curled his clammy hands around the ball and ran in to the stumps at the bowler’s end to ensure a one-run victory in his first match as ODI captain. His first comment after the game was: “Ricky can have it back.”The win means Clarke has a 100% success rate in charge of Australia after leading the team to victories in two Twenty20 internationals during the Australian summer. This time he was guiding a relatively inexperienced team that featured the debutant David Hussey, and third- and fourth-gamers in Luke Ronchi and Shaun Marsh.Hussey contributed an important 50, while Marsh was Man of the Match in the opening game and Ronchi has been outstanding behind the stumps as Australia built their 4-0 series lead. Clarke said the success of the new faces was one of the most pleasing aspects of Australia’s enjoyable trip.”It was obviously going to be a tough tour to see how some new young guys went but they’ve certainly stood up,” Clarke said. “The Test series was fantastic and we’re obviously showing in the one-dayers that there’s a lot of class back home playing first-class cricket.”However, it was one of Australia’s most reliable old hands, Andrew Symonds, who set up the win with his 87 and earned the Man of the Match award. Similarly, West Indies counted on two of their most experienced men, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as they launched a chase that was well on track at the halfway mark.But the loss of Gayle, who skied a catch for 92 when he unnecessarily tried to go over the top off Watson, proved to be an important moment. After West Indies’ previous loss Gayle had harsh words for his middle-order batsmen but on this occasion he knew he had to take responsibility for the disappointing finish.”I thought myself and Sarwan really set the foundation,” Gayle said. “The manner in which I got out as well, I was very disappointed. I really take the blame for that, I should have carried on and get a hundred and see the team home.”West Indies’ coach John Dyson said it was disappointing but not necessarily surprising that the world champions Australia prevailed in the tense finale. “Players do feel pressure and when they’re in these sort of situations,” Dyson said.”Experience is a great thing to have behind you, you see Australia in a pressure situation when they are used to winning and they stay as calm as calm can be. Perhaps because our guys, because they are not used to winning, feel the pressure more.”

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."

England’s injured left-arm spinner Ashley Giles has arrived back home to receive treatment to the broken wrist he sustained during net practice in Australia. It was while preparing for the second Test in Adelaide on Tuesday that he was struck on his left arm by teammate Steve Harmison and an x-ray revealed a fracture of his left wrist.Initially it was thought that Giles would be fit to take his place in the side for the fourth Test starting on Boxing Day in Melbourne. However, in line with other prognoses on this injury-laden tour, it now appears that he might miss the rest of the tour.It was the original intention that he should return to Australia in three week’s time in order to start preparing for the Melbourne Test, but with the fracture on the point of his left wrist that is such an integral part of his bowling action, that time-scale might prove to be optimistic."It will probably be longer than three weeks," he said. "I will be working hard as soon as I get back. I have got to do what I canbut it is a broken bone and there is only so much that can be done to heal a bone and it will take time."Giles used not to enjoy facing the quicks on anything other than a very true net surface, but he accepts that it is necessary to put in the practice before matches."We have to practice hard. We have to try to replicate what will happen in a game situation. "It has gone the wrong way for me but I can’t blame Steve Harmison or the management. It is just one of those freak things that happens."On a bowling front it has been quite disastrous because we have lostbasically a whole bowling attack – Simon Jones, Darren Gough, myself and Andy Flintoff. But we have got to persevere and show some character and the lads still out there have got that so let’s hope they can do the job in Adelaide."

The Redbacks 2002-2003 squad is:ACB contracted players:

• Darren Lehmann
• Jason Gillespie

State contracted players:

• Greg Blewett
• Brad Young
• Ben Johnson
• Mark Harrity
• Paul Rofe
• David Fitzgerald
• Michael Smith
• Ben Higgins
• Graham Manou
• Shane Deitz
• Chris Davies
• Nathan Adcock
• Ryan Harris
• Michael Miller
• Daniel Harris

Recruits:

• Mark Higgs
• Damien Fleming
• John Davison
• Jack Smith

Rookie contracted players:

• Matthew Weekes
• Mark Cosgrove
• Wes Thomas

Mark HiggsTwenty five year old batsman Mark Higgs has come from the New SouthWales Blues to join the Redbacks but initially represented the AustralianCapital Territory in the domestic competition before he was lured north toSydney in the lead-up to the 1998-99 season. Higgs is an aggressivestrokemaker and an accomplished slow left arm bowler.Damien FlemingFrom the Victorian Bushrangers, Damien Fleming has played 20 Testmatches for Australia, with a bowling average of 25.89 and 88 One DayInternationals for Australia with a bowling average 25.38.John DavisonJohn Davison is a right arm offspinner from Victoria. To theend of the 1999-2000 season, he had played twenty-six first class matches,capturing forty wickets at an average of more than sixty runs apiece. Johnis of Canadian birth and has represents the Canadian national team.Jack SmithTwenty five year old right handed batsman Jack Smith is from theACT. He is a member of the 2002 Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy and wasnamed in the PM’s XI earlier this year.2001-02 contracted players Jeff Vaughan, Brett Swain andDarren Dempsey failed to make this years contract list.Paul Wilson has taken up an offer to play with the Western Warriors,while Luke Williams has accepted an offer to play for the Tasmanian Tigers.Veteran Redbacks leg spin bowler Peter McIntyre announced hisretirement from all levels of cricket earlier in the week.The States must register between 14 and 20 State Player contractsand between 2 and 5 rookie contracts by September 28.

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.

© CricInfo

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.

© CricInfo

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.

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.

South Africa under-19 finished the first day of the second Youth Test with New Zealand under-19 far better than they could have imagined when struggling at 106/6 at BIL Oval at Lincoln University near Christchurch today.The saviour for the tourists, who lost the first Test last week, was Johan Botha who scored 101 with his century coming off 165 balls and after 224 minutes at the crease. He hit 15 fours in his innings which helped South Africa finish the day at 294/8.Botha was out when top-edging an attempted pull shot to short third man where Ross Taylor held the catch from Sam Whiteman’s bowling.If New Zealand thought the breakthrough had come with the score 237/8, Imran Khan and Gerhard de Bruin had other thoughts as they produced a spirited tail-end stand of 57 unbroken runs.De Bruin chanced his arm and hit six fours in his 38 from 48 balls while Khan was 20 not out from 71 balls with only two fours in his innings.Of the New Zealand bowlers, who had to toil through some of the hottest conditions of Canterbury’s summer, Taraia Robin was unlucky to see his last two overs go for 19 runs, although he still finished with the respectable figures of one for 48 from 20 overs.New Zealand is adopting the injury prevention plan for its bowlers with no-one allowed to bowl more than 20 overs in a day, in a maximum of eight overs per spell.Ian Butler had the greatest success with three for 65 from 18 overs while Greg Todd had two for 50 from his 14.