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The England Coach Duncan Fletcher has made the following decision regarding the availability of England’s contracted players to their Counties ahead of the 1st npower Test Match at Edgbaston on July 24th.Ashley Giles will be able to play for Warwickshire against Middlesex in a four-day game starting on Tuesday and Stephen Harmison will be available to Durham for their four-day game against Yorkshire, also starting on Tuesday.But England have asked Warwickshire to rest Giles from tomorrow’s NCL match against Surrey and next Saturday’s Twenty/20 Cup Final at Trent Bridge. Harmison will also be rested from Durham’s NCL match against Northamptonshire tomorrow.Four other members of England’s NatWest Series squad, James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan will be rested from all County fixtures ahead of the 1st npower Test.Nasser Hussain will be available to Essex for their NCL fixtures this week against Glamorgan tomorrow and Gloucestershire on Thursday. Mark Butcher and Alec Stewart will be rested from Saturday’s Twenty/20 Cup Final at Trent Bridge but available to Surrey for their NCL match against Warwickshire tomorrow and three-day game against India ‘A’ starting on Tuesday.All of England’s non-contracted players who featured in the NatWest Series will be available to their Counties for tomorrow’s NCL matches – subject to fitness.

As the West Indies start their current tour of Sri Lanka,Tony Cozier, who will cover the Tests and One-DayInternationals for THE NATION newspapers, provides a playerby-player assessment of the team.Carl Hooper: As he has immediately shown, he, morethan anyone, is the key to success. Already a quality, butenigmatic, all-round cricketer, his promotion to thecaptaincy has revealed a changed character, a leader lookedup to by the young brigade. A master against spin, he cangive the lead in countering the menace of Muralitheran.Ridley Jacobs: A damaged finger might have kept someother keepers at home but Jacobs has repeatedly proved he’smade of much sterner stuff. There is no more valuable memberof the team, on the field or in the dressing room, and, ifhe’ll find Murali’s spin more of a puzzle than some of theothers, he won’t be intimidated by it.Chris Gayle: No recent young batsman has scored asheavily or consistently or punched the ball harder. Hisappetite for runs and will to improve were evidenced in asuccession of hundreds in Zimbabwe and Kenya and then on hisreturn home. Now comes a different challenge in newconditions against one of the finest off-spinners of alltime on his own patch.Daren Ganga: Yet another overseas assignment tofollow previous tours of South Africa, New Zealand,Australia, Zimbabwe and Kenya. On the latter trips, therewas a growing confidence, more purpose to his strokes and adeveloping opening partnership with Gayle.Leon Garrick: Small, right-handed and compact, he andGayle formed an effective, right-handed/left-handed, Muttand-Jeff opening combination for Jamaica last season. Adebut Test against South Africa (with a first-balldismissal) and limited opportunities in Zimbabwe and Kenyahave left him with still a lot to prove.Wavell Hinds: Once his broken nose is mended in timeand he manages to make it on to the field, there is plentyof lost ground to make up. A promising start that includedan innings of 165 against the powerful Pakistanis in hisfifth Test has been followed by inconsistent returns. InChanderpaul’s absence, the No.3 spot is vacant but the onlyway back is by regular scores.Brian Lara: As always, there are more questions thananswers to the game’s most mercurial personality. Is he fitenough? Is he eager enough? Does he still care? Is he pastit? Not all will be answered in the coming six weeks but, inthe mood, the incomparable left-hander remains a potentialmatch-winner.Ramnaresh Sarwan: Still only 21, he is at the startof what could be a long and prosperous career. In his shorttime, he’s had Tests against five opponents in fourdifferent countries and now comes another. His nimblefootwork, quick eye and flexible wrists are marks of aspecial batsman, yet not more so than runs. But is No.3 hisideal position?Marlon Samuels: It’s less than a year since, aged 19,he was pitchforked into the tough Test series in Australiaand handled it with the aplomb of a seasoned campaigner.Things come easily to an obviously talented cricketer but heshould appreciate by now that Test cricket is not an easygame, not least in Sri Lanka. The time is now for a maidenfirst-class hundred and a few more besides.Neil McGarrell: A captain’s pick during last season’sseries against South Africa, he has delivered his left-armspin capably in his three Tests, with four wickets in aninnings three times out of six. A streetwise cricketer, heis always competitive and his attitude is clearly valued byHooper.Dinanath Ramnarine: Just when he seemed to havesecured a settled place in the team, with 20 wickets in thehome series against South Africa, a back strain sent himhome from Zimbabwe. If pitches encourage turn, as they oncedid, his leg-breaks and googlies should be a significantpart of the West Indies’ strategy.Merv Dillon: Out of the Test XI for more than a yearand-ahalf, Dillon’s 39 wickets (at 27.72) in his last nineTests on return, against the might of Australia and SouthAfrica, seemed to mark him as the one to lead the attack onCourtney Walsh’s retirement. A knee injury sidelined him forthe Tests in Zimbabwe in July but he remains the frontrunner in the fast bowling stakes.Pedro Collins: Since first coming into the Test teamover three years ago against Australia as a sharp leftarmer, he’s had a patchy time of it. Mainly through a backproblem, there was a break of more than three years betweenTests before he played against Zimbabwe in July. Fit again,his form has been good, his enthusiasm obvious. He could bea surprise packet.Colin Stuart: Aged 28 and around for some time, hestepped in to fill the breach left by Walsh’s retirement andinjuries to Dillon and Cameron Cuffy in Zimbabwe. He bowledfast and straight and never stopped trying. They areattributes he will need against batsmen of higher qualitynow.Reon King: A couple of years back, he looked thegenuine article, distinctly quick with good control and theability to move the ball. He hasn’t been the same sincedamaging his foot on the tour of England last year but, onhis day, is the likeliest wicket-taker.Marlon Black: Fast with a nice outswinger, he hadfour good Australian wickets in his first bowl in Testcricket last season. By the fourth Test, he was out of theteam and later so badly mugged in a Melbourne street he wassidelined for over two months. His future in West Indiescricket probably depends on how he goes here.

Scorecard1:42

Australia hold off England at the Ageas Bowl

A seventh-wicket partnership of 112 in 13 overs between Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh proved the difference between the sides in the first ODI of the series between England and Australia in Southampton.When the pair came together Australia were precariously placed on 193 for 6 and had just lost three wickets for 15 runs. But Wade, timing the ball as well as anyone, produced his highest ODI score since August 2012 – and his highest ever against a Full Member nation – as Australia added 93 from the final 10 overs.That took Australia’s total above 300 and, while the game has changed up to a point, the fact remains that England have only three times successfully chased a target of that magnitude. Only once have they successfully chased a target higher than the one they were set here.There was talk, at the halfway stage of the game, that the Australia total was little better than par. And it is true that, in the context of the run-drenched ODI series against New Zealand earlier this season, a score of 305 seemed pretty modest.But maybe in time we will come to see that series – played on perfect batting pitches and with playing regulations that favoured batsmen to an extreme extent – as somewhat aberrational. This was the first ODI in England played under the new playing regulations which allow the fielding captain more scope to defend. It is too early to say for sure what the effects will be, but it seems reasonable to presume they will rein in totals just a little.England’s openers set off well enough but eventually, against a disciplined attack, the pressure of sustaining such a run chase began to tell. And, once their innings lost momentum, wickets followed.This was a performance that represented a fine return from Wade. He missed out on World Cup selection after Brad Haddin’s superior keeping and extra experience – and his own failure to nail down a place in the 47 ODIs he had played up to that point – was favoured.Until that point, Wade was averaging in the mid-20s and, after a decent start to his ODI career (he made three half-centuries in his first nine innings), had contributed just one half-century in 22 innings.He didn’t enjoy a good start here, either. Attempting to get off the mark, he pushed a delivery straight to the cover fielder – Ben Stokes of all people – and set off for an almost impossible run that left his partner, the unfortunate Shane Watson, yards short of his ground.But after that moment of madness, he demonstrated a fine range of strokes, a selflessness and an ability to improvise – one sweep off Stokes was especially eye-catching – to suggest that, aged 27, he has the ability, the time and now the maturity to make a success of his second chance in international cricket. He also kept athletically and claimed three catches.Certainly Australia were grateful for his contribution. While David Warner and Joe Burns ensured a bright enough start, Australia lost their way in mid-innings due to the introduction of England’s spinners and some self-inflicted errors. First Burns hit a full toss straight back at the bowler, before Steven Smith slogged another straight to the fielder on the deep midwicket boundary.Adil Rashid was the fortunate bowler on both occasions but, in between times, this was a decent performance from the legspinner. Encouraged to think of himself as a wicket-taking bowler, even in this format of the game, he turned the ball both ways and generally maintained a decent, demanding length. On another day the wicket of Warner, who again looked in fine form but was defeated by a googly and sliced to short third man, might have proved crucial, while Rashid could also take pride in the wicket of George Bailey, beaten by one that skidded on.Moeen Ali, gaining more drift and dip than at any time this summer, also bowled nicely and was the most economical of England’s bowlers. But the seamers claimed only one wicket between them – and that from what might well have been called a leg side wide had Glenn Maxwell not feathered it – which gave Australia the opportunity to launch a counterattack in the final overs.England’s reply started well, too. Jason Roy, timing the ball as well as he ever has done in an England shirt, raced to his maiden international half-century and with Alex Hales posted a first-wicket stand of 70 in 11 overs. It is a partnership of elegant brutality that promises much for the future.But after Hales pulled to midwicket, James Taylor was unable to capitalise on his decent start and became bogged down against the impressively tight bowling of Watson and Maxwell. Roy sliced to point, Taylor played across a straight one and Eoin Morgan’s uncomfortable innings was ended when he gloved an attempted pull down the leg side.That wicket seemed to break the back of England’s resistance. Stokes’ unconvincing innings was ended by a flick to midwicket, Jos Buttler drive to mid-off and, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins bowling with impressive pace, the tail were never likely to stay with Moeen long enough to get close.England have now lost 10 of their last 11 ODIs against Australia. The margin was not as large as the last time they met – on the opening day of the World Cup in February – but Australia showed that, even with four changes to the side that lifted that trophy, they remain a tough team to beat in ODI cricket.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has defended his team’s plan of trialing players against Zimbabwe, after the hosts lost the third T20 international by 31 runs in Khulna. There were four debutants and Imrul Kayes replaced Tamim Iqbal at the top of the order, as Bangladesh searched for the right combination ahead of the World T20.Bangladesh had to leave out Mustafizur Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim because of injuries, Al-Amin Hossain and Tamim Iqbal were rested, and Shuvagata Hom was dropped. Mosaddek Hossain, Muktar Ali, Abu Hider and Mohammad Shahid made debuts, while Kayes was given a chance to display his newly acquired T20 skills.When Mashrafe was asked if he thought there were too many changes, he said the new players knew their roles but could not implement properly. Hider took two wickets and Shahid one; Mosaddek made 15 off 19 balls and Muktar an unbeaten 19 off 15 balls.”It would seem so from the outside,” Mashrafe said about perhaps there being too many changes. “Four debutants and one addition does make it look that way. We were not up to the mark with our planning on the field. We lost because we didn’t play according to the plans. As a captain I always give importance to winning. We didn’t want to lose, that’s for sure. Everyone was given a specific plan but they couldn’t put it into action.”We had said before that we will test combinations. We had to make three changes because two players were injured and we rested Al-Amin. We made two more changes. It was clearly going to be a little harder for us with a number of new faces. Rain didn’t do us any favours either.”Mashrafe said they wanted to see how Mosaddek played at No 4, which is why he was sent ahead of Shakib Al Hasan. “We tried that player to see how he does at that position in that type of situation. It was a test for the newcomer, how he reacts to that particular scenario. We rested Tamim to see Imrul Kayes. Tamim is in good touch though you may ask why we have rested a player in form.”Mashrafe said it would not be fair to evaluate a player after his first game at this level but said Hider and Nurul Hasan had to develop more for international cricket. “We brought [Mosaddek] because he is a promising player. It wouldn’t be fair to put him under pressure after just one game. We can’t judge him so quickly. He bowled well. He can bat better, but it wasn’t that bad.”He [Abu Hider] is definitely promising. It is hard to compare him to Mustafizur but he did well for his first game. I think he will slowly bowl a lot better, wherever he gets the chance to play. I think Nurul Hasan played some good shots towards the end, which looked nice. I would hope he will continue to bat like this.”

Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been released from his central contract with Sri Lanka cricket (SLC), as per his earlier request.”We decided at this evening’s committee meeting to release Marvan Atapattu from his contract from October 1,” Kangadaran Mathivanan, board secretary told .Though not official, the decision is likely to mean the end of the road for Atapattu as an international cricketer. Atapattu made his debut in 1990 and was one of the more elegant opening batsmen in contemporary cricket, scoring 5,330 runs in 88 Tests and 8,529 runs in ODIs.Earlier, Atapattu had asked to be released from his contract, without citing any specific reason. “We received a letter on Friday addressed to Duleep Mendis requesting release from his contract,” Mathivanan told Cricinfo.Atapattu’s current contract was supposed to run until March 2008 and he was one of only six players with ‘A’ graded contracts. He is currently playing for the Lashings XI in England.The development caps an uncertain period for Atapattu, during which he was overlooked by the Sri Lankan selectors for the World Cup in the West Indies and the subsequent tour to Abu Dhabi for the one-day series with Pakistan.Atapattu then announced his unavailability for the home series against Bangladesh citing personal reasons. The speculation is that Atapattu’s decision has come about because his name has been linked with the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

John Wright’s relations with Sourav Ganguly might have turned bit rocky towards the end of his stint as the India’s coach but he retains lots of respect and appreciation for Ganguly.”He [Ganguly] was a special man,” Wright was quoted as saying in the . “He wore his heart on his sleeve and there was an arrogance that used to get up people’s noses. But I think that was good for us, it was good to have that feistiness as the country learned it was becoming such a powerhouse in world cricket.”I tested him [Ganguly] and he tested me but there was an inner trust between us. He would often do things which were the opposite to what we had talked about, which always kept me on my toes, but there was a bond that grew, despite how different we were. And we were always a really happy side.”Wright makes a rather surprising revelation about the Indian team’s attitude to fielding. “It took me about a year to convince them that running between the wickets and fielding were quite important in one-dayers,” he said. “We had a pretty strict regime when it came to training and I was probably almost too tough on them.” Did he ever attempt to coach Sachin Tendulkar, the master batsman? “I didn’t coach Sachin Tendulkar,” said Wright. “I gave him gentle advice when he asked for it.”He reveals that he didn’t have a contract for nearly half his tenure but was well supported by the management in BCCI. “I actually didn’t have a contract for about 40% of the time but it didn’t really matter because they were honourable people. I got paid every three months so that was the length of time I’d allow myself to look ahead. It was satisfying that I lasted so long, I certainly didn’t expect to walk away on my own terms, but I proved I could survive and proved that a foreigner could do the job.”Wright looks back at his Indian stint with lots of fondness. “It was probably the biggest adventure I will ever have in my life,” he gushed. “I miss that thrill of getting on that team bus and going to a big game, with the crowds clapping you all the way to the ground …”Talking about his future plans and in particular about coaching New Zealand, Wright said, “People always ask me about coaching New Zealand,” he said. “Who knows? I wouldn’t rule it out. I would like to help New Zealand Cricket in some way and be involved in competitive sport, whatever code that might be. It depends what crops up.”

Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the Test series against Zimbabwe as he felt he wasn’t strong enough to return to the rigours of Test cricket. According to a report sent by John Gloster, the team physio, to the Indian board, Tendulkar, who is recovering from an elbow surgery, wasn’t yet ready to return to competitive cricket.The national selection panel have picked Dheeraj Jadhav, the opener from Maharashtra, as Tendulkar’s replacement for the two-Test series, beginning at Bulawayo on September 13.SK Nair, the BCCI secretary, confirmed this and added that though Tendulkar had returned to light net sessions, he didn’t feel confident enough to return to Test cricket. Nair also revealed that Gloster, the team physio, had sent a mail to the BCCI “where he further stated that the strength component of the rehabilitation plan was progressing positively acording to plan but it was not yet sufficient to progress to the next level of competetive play.”Tendulkar has been dogged by a painful tennis-elbow for nearly a year and it forced him to miss one-day tournaments in Holland and England as well as two Tests against Australia. After the home series against Pakistan last season, Tendulkar decided to get his elbow operated.Nair also added that the selectors had decided to pick Jadhav as the replacement after a telephonic discussion. Jadhav, who was the leading run-scorer in domestic cricket two seasons back, had been included in the Indian squad for the final Test against Australia at Mumbai last year but didn’t make it to the final XI.

Muttiah Muralitharan will return to Test cricket on Wednesday with the chance to become the highest wicket-taker in the world – for the second time this year. But Murali, who will not be bowling his doosra, insists he will be chasing wickets rather than records.Muralitharan’s decision to boycott Sri Lanka’s two-Test tour of Australia in July allowed Shane Warne to draw level with him on 527 wickets. But during the forthcoming series against South Africa, on what are expected to be two spin-friendly pitches, Muralitharan has the opportunity to open up the gap again, while Warne is playing county cricket with Hampshire.Muralitharan, however, claims to be completely disinterested now by the world record and the resultant media hype over his rivalry with Warne. Instead, he insists, his No. 1 priority now is taking wickets to help Sri Lanka win matches.”I am not thinking about the record any more,” Muralitharan told reporters after the Sri Lanka team practice this morning. “The main achievement was passing Courtney Walsh’s 519-wicket record, and now I want to concentrate on winning this match. As we [Murali and Warne] are both going to be playing for a long time, there is no interest at all in us passing each other every other match.”Galle, where the first Test is to be played, has been a happy hunting ground for Muralitharan over the years. When these sides last met here, in 2000, he ripped through South Africa’s batting in both innings to claim 13 for 171. In all, he has snapped up 80 wickets at 15.10 in only ten Tests at Galle.South Africa, like all teams that tour Sri Lanka, has been feverishly working on their laptops trying to unravel some of Murali’s mystery. “We have done our homework and watched a lot of video tapes,” Graeme Smith told reporters. “We have spoken to some guys who have done well against him over the years. Our record against him is pretty decent, but playing Murali here and facing him in South Africa are two completely different things.”Their job has been made considerably easier by Murali’s decision, after advice from the Sri Lanka board which was also endorsed by the ICC, to shelve the doosra at least until November. South Africa may seek confirmation from Clive Lloyd, the match referee, that they will not be confronted by the mystery ball. “We have been told that he won’t be bowling his doosra,” said Eric Simons, the coach. “We have a match-referee meeting tonight, and I suppose it might come up in that. As far as we are concerned, the doosra has been removed from his repertoire.”

The Southern Electric Premier League have launched their “get tough” crackdown on bad on-the-field behaviour by banning Hungerford bowler Jason Williams.The Berkshire-based paceman has been suspended for 2 matches, for abusing a match official at the New Milton-Hungerford Premier Division 3 game on May 24.An additional two week ban has been suspended until August 2004.Williams, who has also been reprimanded by his own club, was withdrawn from the Hungerford attack after conceding 47 runs in eight overs at Fernhill.The immediate action taken by the Club was endorsed by the discilinary committee and as a consequence the ban of 3 weeks plus I week suspended was reduced to a 2 weeks ban plus 2 weeks suspendedNew Milton went on to pile up 279-8 before heavy rain saved the day with Hungerford reeling at 59-6.The three-match ban slapped on Williams comes hard on the heels of a stern behaviour warning sent out to clubs by the Premier League at the start of the season.”Everyone has been told that we will not tolerate bad behaviour, particularly verbal abuse directed at umpires,” emphasised SPL chairman Alan Bundy.”Umpires are there to enjoy the game as much as the players and one of the reasons for the present shortage of officials is because of the excessive appealing and questioning of decisions that goes on.”Williams missed Hungerford’s win over South Wilts II last week and will sit out today’s game at Ventnor and that against Havant II next week before being eligible to play against Winchester KS.Hungerford, who lie second in Premier 3, subsequently suffered a second severe blow when skipper Owen Dawkins broke his wrist while bowling for Wales MC in last weekend’s Minor Counties Championship innings defeat against Wiltshire at Pontypridd.Dawkins, who was on the Lord’s Groundstaff several seasons ago, was unable to get out of the way of a blistering return drive, which broke his wrist.The gallant Hungerford captain, who has recruited Wales MC colleague Dai Lloyd to the Berkshire club, came out to bat with his wrist plastered but was unable to save the Welshmen from defeat.Russell Rowe, out of touch with the bat so far for South Wilts this season, hit 128 of Wiltshire’s massive 434-7.

Keith Parsons hit a Championship-best 139 as Somerset posted a massive 650 against relegation candidates Northants at Taunton.That gave the home side a first innings lead of 187 and effectively ended Northants’ hopes of forcing the victory needed to put pressure on Lancashire in the battle for First Division survival.It was Somerset’s highest ever score at the County Ground and their biggest against Northants, who have only once conceded more in a Championship game.By the close the visitors had reached 89-1 in their second innings and were still 98 behind.Matthew Wood (122) and Mark Lathwell (92) fell in a morning session that saw Somerset score 212 runs and clinch runners-up spot in the Championship in the process.After the interval Parsons and Ian Blackwell continued the assault, with Blackwell hammering 77 off 83 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes, before being caught behind trying to hook Mike Strong.Parsons had faced 196 balls and hit 20 fours and two sixes when he was bowled by Paul Taylor, aiming to work the ball through mid-wicket. It was his fifth first-class century, but only his second in the Championship.Even then there was no let-up for the Northants bowlers, four of whom saw their figures reach the century mark. Taylor (4-100), Tony Penberthy (2-104), Monty Panesar (2-120) and John Blain (0-121) all suffered.There was even a stand of 47 for the last wicket before Mike Strong had Steffan Jones caught behind for 29.Then Alec Swann suffered the indignity of a pair as he was caught at second slip with Northants still to record a second innings run. Mike Hussey and Jeff Cook saw them through to the close, with Cook reaching a half-century off 63 balls, including eight fours.