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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that white bails(instead of black) will be used on the normal black stumps for the remainingthree matches of the NatWest Series.Discussions between the ECB, the umpires and match referee resulted in thechange of colour to assist the umpires in their decision-making for run-outsand stumpings.In a further development, it is confirmed that three individuals who encroached on to the playing surface during the npower Test Match at Edgbaston earlier this season have all been successfully prosecuted. As a result they all now have a criminal record and their DNA profile has been added to the national database.

It promises to be a mouth-watering appetizer to the 2003 World Cup in March. Probably it will produce more spectacular cricket, after all, it will be played in Sri Lanka, the land that revolutionised one-day cricket when they gave birth to pinch-hitting in the 1996 World Cup.Fast bowlers beware. Expect flat, sun-baked pitches, clear blue skies and fast outfields. This is going to be a tournament for the batsmen; the curators are already at work, mothering their precious turf in the hope of producing towering totals.No longer a straight knockout tournament, it’s a gluttonous festival of cricket with 15 matches in just 18 days. Each of the 12 teams (10 Test playing countries plus Kenya and Holland) have been divided into four groups, ensuring them a minimum of two games with the group winners proceeding to a semi-final stage.It’s a straightforward formula that should produce exciting and unpredictable cricket. In the last tournament, staged two years ago in Nairobi, New Zealand caused an upset when they defeated India in the final to secure their first ever major international triumph. This time, nine of the twelve sides will believe that they can win.

Home conditions will hand the Asian bloc in general and Sri Lanka in particular an advantage. Indeed, Sanath Jayasuriya’s team will start as favourites alongside Australia considering a formidable home record in the limited overs game – they have not lost a single series or tournament in their backyard for over three years.The slow pace of the pitches is ideally suited to their vibrant brand of cricket: batsmen need to make full toll of the new ball and early fielding restrictions before the ball softens; the fielding must be electric and the spinners have a very important role, especially in the second innings when the pitch may deteriorate.But Sri Lanka have to contend with Pakistan in Pool 4 and then face the daunting prospect of a semi-final clash against Australia. It’s good news for England fans – they won’t have to play any of the top three countries until the final.However, first they need to defeat Zimbabwe and India to ensure qualification. That will require the taming of Sachin Tendulkar and his blistering waxwork Virender Sehwag. Stand-up Darren Gough. For England’s Barmy Army is a delicious prospect – stick September 22 in the diary.Don’t rule out the West Indies either. They have first hand knowledge of Sri Lankan conditions after a recent tour and are looking a sturdier outfit under captain Carl Hooper. Certainly a middle order containing a revitalised Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Hooper is second to none. They play South Africa in the opening game of the tournament.

All the matches will be played in Colombo – laid-back Asian city with wide roads, green parks and a refreshing sea breeze – at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) and Premadasa International Stadium.English fans will remember well the grass-banked SSC from last year, when Nasser Hussain’s team completed a remarkable Test series win. It has the potential to be the best batting strip in Sri Lanka with pace and consistent bounce, but can also offer swing bowlers encouragement in the early overs (Chaminda Vaas bowled out Zimbabwe for 38 last December).Premadasa will stage the day-night matches, including the tournament final on September 29. A vast concrete bowl, which hosts an electric atmosphere when full. Again the batters traditionally dominate, but this is a fiendishly difficult ground on which to chase even moderate targets, as the pitch can crumble and the ball turn sharply in the second innings.It will all make for a fascinating September; a spectacle best watched from the stands – why not make sure you’re there to savour the thrill of watching one-day cricket in Sri Lanka?

The Pakistan cricket selectors had wanted to include Shadab Kabir in the 14-man squad for the Asian Test Championship final but the idea was rejected by skipper Waqar Younis.According to highly placed sources, the selectors had maintained that the left-hander had batted well in the sole innings of the first Test against Bangladesh and deserved another opportunity. Shadab had got a poor decision in the only innings of the second Test.”But the skipper had more confidence in the abilities of Shoaib Malik rather than Shadab. In the end he rejected the idea and the selectors were left with no option but to leave the youngster out of the 14-man squad,” sources said.”We always try to accommodate the demands and requirements of the captain. And that’s precisely why Shadab was not included. But after the squad is handed over to the captain, the selectors can’t influence their views on final selection,’ sources said.Pakistan selectors have tried Imran Farhat, Saleem Elahi, Ijaz Ahmad, Saeed Anwar, Abdur Razzaq, Taufiq Umer, Shadab Kabir, Naved Latif and Shahid Afridi in 11 different combinations in the last 12 months.

NAIROBI – Shane Watson saved Australia from the most humiliating defeatin its long cricket history but struggled to give himself a pass markfor his effort.The world champion side was on the verge of losing to Kenya – a non-Testnation which hardly ever plays at international level – before Watsoncame to the rescue with a couple of lusty blows in the penultimate over.With Australia needing 19 to win off 12 balls, Watson hit a a four and asix, saw off a no-ball and then took a single before Brett Lee hitanother six to tie the scores with six balls left.Watson then hit the winning runs as Australia reached 5-205 to win byfive wickets with five balls to spare.Acting Australian captain Adam Gilchrist said he almost had to cheer upWatson afterwards.”He’s pretty hard on himself,” Gilchrist explained.”He thinks he could have done things a little bit better or a little bitdifferently but I’ve said to him ‘At the end of the day you’ve won agame for us mate – not many people get a chance to do that for theircountry’.”Watson almost grudgingly accepted the kudos after making 77 not out off114 balls.It was his first half-century in 11 games for Australia, coming off 81balls, but he blamed himself for not scoring at a better rate on adifficult deck.”I had to make sure I got us home because I got us into trouble,” Watsonsaid.”Obviously it’s good to win a game for your country but I wasn’t veryhappy with the way I hit the ball – I hit the ball to the fielders alot.”However, Watson was never too worried the game was out of Australia’sreach even though six runs an over were needed for the last 16 overs.”I never thought it would get away from us, I knew all we needed was acouple of boundaries to get us back level. I was never worried.”Watson went in at No.4 as Australia kept back Matthew Hayden and DamienMartyn in an effort to test the mettle of the lower order.Never at any stage, did he hope Hayden would step through the gate andonto the field to join him.”We’ve got good enough players to get ourselves out of a toughsituation,” Watson said.”Brett Lee’s a good striker of the ball and so is Shane Warne so I neverthought at any time it would be good to have a specialist batsman outthere.”He said the experience would do him the world of good further down theline.”Even though I didn’t hit them that well it’s good to put myself intothat position because I know that, hopefully, at the World Cup, in thesemifinals or something like that, I’ll be able to handle myself underpressure.”Gilchrist agreed, saying it was strong effort from a player who has beentouted as the answer to the hard-to-fill all-rounder’s spot.”It’s another step in his climb up the ladder towards cementing a spot,”Gilchrist said.”He’ll get a lot from this.”

Inexperience weighed heavily against Hursley Park on their NatWest Hampshire Under-16 Indoor Cricket Championship debut at the Rose Bowl.They went home pointless after suffering heavy defeats by last year’s winners Fair Oak and South Wilts, who collected a 24-point maximum after two handsome wins.Dean Robertson (25) and Richard Conway (17) provided a sound enough start against Fair Oak, but with last winter’s champions bowling a much tighter line than in their first games, progress was slow.Hursley’s eventual 74-3 proved easy meat for Fair Oak, with openers James Scutt (27) and Ed Kemp (22) polishing off the target.Both Hursley and Fair Oak were soundly thrashed by South Wilts, who are clearing going to be among the leading clubs in the 12-team NatWest backed competition.The experience the Bemerton youngsters gained at the Rose Bowl last winter proved the key as South Wilts bettered their formidable 146-5 against Fair Oak by scoring 147-3 in 12 overs off Hursley Park.Eddie Abel (39) and the emerging Lysander Wolf (36) led the way as South Wilts rattled up 146 against Fair Oak, who were dismissed for 76, with Chris Denning taking 2-22.James Hayward hit an unbeaten 43 and received able support from Abel (30) and Wolf (27) in the South Wilts run spree against Hursley Park, who were dismissed for 78 (Kapoor 23).Ventnor make their debut in the NatWestBank sponsored competition on Sunday against Andover and Sarisbury Athletic.

Early optimism turned into frustration for West Indies A, as they struggled tocapitalise on an excellent start to their four-day encounter with Derbyshire.After reducing the hosts to 76-6 in a lively morning session, the West Indian attack were frustrated by a stubborn knock from keeper Luke Sutton (80), with stoic contributions from bowlers Tom Lungley (19), Paul Aldred (29) and Neil Gunter (18) on debut.Derbyshire were bowled out late in the final session for 238. West Indies A lost Devon Smith early in reply, grinding out 21/1 from 14 overs at stumps. Skipper Darren Ganga remained unbeaten with Donovan Pagon.Marlon Black (4-32) and Reon King (3-63) were the pick of the bowlers, returning to claim seven wickets between them after disappointing opening spells on a fine morning. But the visitors’ inconsistent form on tour so farreturned with a vengeance in the afternoon, with bad balls swatted away and accurate deliveries dourly defended.Initially, the two Test seamers were indifferent. Derbyshire’s openers Stuart Stubbings (25) and Andrew Gait (13) took advantage of a wealth of looseners to race to 40 in nine overs. Sulieman Benn’s catch saw the back of Gait, while Stubbings was caught behind off Black.A second ball duck for close-season signing Dominic Hewson left the door ajar, with a second-string Derbyshire team teetering on the brink. King clean bowled James Pyemont, with Jermaine Lawson crashing through stand-in skipper Matthew Dowman’s defences in the next over.When Steven Selwood’s edge gave King his third victim, the home side seemedmortally wounded. Of the top six, only Stubbings, Dowman and Hewson have much first-class experience, and it showed.Sutton took the lead in the afternoon, with a knock requiring patience fromboth batsman and spectators. An uncomplicated player, Sutton is well equipped for rearguard actions – he carried his bat with 140 against Sussex last season – like the one shown today. He was the last man out, giving Keith Hibbert a fourth victim behind the stumps.Lungley was a willing ally. His 19 was grafted from 80 balls in a stay of over an hour and a half. He was unadventurous, leaving the ball well, only to be dismissed leg before to one which straightened from Black.Aldred, a reasonable tail-ender who should not give bowlers nightmares, lasted an hour, while Gunter looked solid before playing all round a straight delivery from Benn.Derby had recovered well after their dreadful morning, and while the visitors are on top, they should tighten their grip on the game tomorrow.

As Frizzell County Championship matches go, this encounter between relegation threatened Hampshire and Yorkshire was a vital win or bust for both teams. After the first day, honours are even, and all to play for.Robin Smith won Hampshire’s first championship home toss since May, and elected to have first use of a wicket still under scrutiny from the authorities. Despite the presence all day of pitch inspector Raman Subba Row, the groundsman should have been satisfied, that only twelve wickets fell on a mixed day of mugginess and sunshine.Yorkshire lost Chris Silverwood after bowling just 5 overs, when he sustained a knee injury, and did not field for the rest of the day.Neil Johnson and Jason Laney gave the home side a good start posting a half century opening stand (a rare event this season for Hampshire), before both were dismissed to the nagging pace of Ryan Sidebottom with his bushy hair flowing in his run up.John Crawley playing in his first championship match since July flattered briefly before finding his middle stump up-ended by swing of McGrath. Francis went without scoring after attempting to pull the same bowler to square leg and was well caught by the substitute fielder Matthew Wood.Robin Smith and his vice captain Will Kendall set up a useful stand until the latter edged to slip, then Smith himself was palpably lbw falling over to Kirby. The red headed fiery Yorkshireman giving the skipper his trade mark send off.Another late partnership gave the total some respectability when Shaun Udal and James Hamblin held up Yorkshire’s progress, but the final tally of 269 was perhaps short by some 50 runs in the end.Dimitri Mascarenhas got a ball to rear to have Vic Craven caught at mid-wicket, and Chris Taylor snapped up by Laney off Udal, to give the balance of the game an even look.

Hampshire suffered their first-ever Championship defeat at the Rose Bowl, when they went down to an innings defeat against Leicestershire.Will Kendall was the only batsman to offer any real resistance to the Leicestershire attack; he became the 16th player to carry his bat in Hampshire’s history. He batted for over four hours in an attempt to hold the innings together whilst all around him wickets were tumbling to Darren Maddy and Devon Malcolm.Malcolm who did not bowl the previous evening because of a bad cold, struck first, dismissing nightwatchman James Hamblin. After DeFreitas limped off with a mild hamstring injury, Darren Maddy, better known for his batting prowess, took charge. Smith, Johnson, Pothas (to Malcolm) and Udal all fell cheaply. Four fours in a quickfire innings from Mascarenhas gave some cheer to the cold Hampshire supporters, before Tremlett and Mullally fell to Maddy. The last wicket fell just four balls after the lunch interval.Darren Maddy completed career-best figures of 5-37 and match figures of 9-74. Devon Malcolm took advantage of some uneven bounce to take three wickets, which left him 14 short of 1,000 first class wickets.

A new player will win the honour of being the winner of the FICA international player of the year in the 2002 awards when they are announced on July 10.Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower won the PricewaterhouseCoopers-sponsored title last year, the fourth occasion on which it has been presented.Up for the honour this time are: Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Matthew Hayden (Australia).The previous winners were: 1998, Steve Waugh (Australia), 1999, Brian Lara (West Indies), 2000 Glenn McGrath (Australia) and Flower last year.The nominees for the International Young Player of the Year are: Virender Sehwag (India), Matthew Hoggard (England), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies).The FICA Wisden Cricket Monthly Place in History contenders are, the Australian opening pair of Justin Langer and Hayden for their four double-century opening partnerships; Nathan Astle for the fastest double century in Test cricket and Shane Warne who took six for 161 in his 100th Test match.A FICA Slazenger award will be made for International Sheer Instinct.The nominees are: Mark Butcher (England) for his 173 not out against Australia; Waqar Younis for his seven for 36 against England in last year’s NatWest Series; Andrew Flintoff for the close of play victory in an ODI against India, and Waugh for his comeback 100 against England.The nominees for the International team of the year are: the Australian and Sri Lankan Test teams and the Australian One-Day International team.

Test discard Ijaz Ahmad slammed the dismal performance of the Pakistancricket team in first Test against England at Lord’s. Talking to Dawn,Ijaz said that Pakistan displayed depressing performance in the Testas they were forced on follow-on while facing not too imposing totalof 391.Ijaz suggested the team’s management to either prepare Inzamam-ul-Haqor Yousuf Youhana to bat at one-down.He said that though Abdur Razzaq scored at No. 3 position but he wasnot a specialist batsman.