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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.

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."

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

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."

Sydney Sixers 4 for 100 (Healy 57) beat Melbourne Stars 1 for 99 (Villani 54*)Alyssa Healy’s 27-ball 57 outdid Elyse Villani’s powerful half-century as Sydney Sixers took the honours on a rain-affected opening night of the WBBL in Hobart.In a game reduced to 11 overs a side, Healy’s powerful display, which included 11 boundaries, ensured Sixers chased down a demanding target of 100 with four balls to spare. The back of the pursuit was broken when she took 20 off Annabel Sutherland in the seventh over, and though she was bowled off the pads by Sophie Day to create a few nervy moments, things did not derail.Healy had a new WBBL opening partner with India’s Shafali Verma joining her at the top while Ellyse Perry moved down to the middle order. Shafali was part of a 40-run opening stand in 3.5 overs but her contribution was just 8 off 10 before she missed a heave at Sutherland.Conditions were tricky for bowlers and fielders throughout on what remained a very damp outfield for the duration of the game while the ball needed repeatedly drying. Kim Garth, the Ireland allrounder who now lives in Melbourne, emerged in credit with 1 for 16 from her three overs.Stars had been put in to bat and their innings was dominated by Villani who picked up her form from last season and used the reverse sweep with great impact. The ninth and tenth overs went for 31 runs combined as Meg Lanning hit three boundaries off Stella Campbell and then Villani took Perry for two fours and a six.The one wicket to fall was that of Sutherland, opening for the first time in the WBBL, when she was run out by a brilliant side-on direct hit from Shafali who is not renowned for her work on the field.Last season’s tournament had also suffered from a wet start with 12 of the first 15 matches significantly affected by the weather and eight of them were no results.The first 20 games of this year’s tournament will be played in Tasmania following the restructuring of the fixtures due to Covid-related border closures. The competition then moves to Adelaide, Perth and Mackay. For the first time, the entire 59-game season will be broadcast on television.