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Zimbabwe, already seriously weakened by retirements and political infighting, received a further blow with the news that Grant Flower, one of their most experienced players, will miss both Tests against West Indies.Flower broke a finger at the end of September, causing him to drop out of the Australian tour, but it had been hoped that he would be recovered by now. “It’s a very frustrating time, but there’s not a lot I can do about it except keep fit,” Flower shrugged. “I’ve still got a cast on my hand and I’ll only be back for the one-dayers. I’ve been doing some one-handed batting and bowling in the nets.”Dion Ebrahim and Grant Ewing were dropped, with Vusi Sibanda and Stuart Matsikenyeri, two promising 20-year-old black batsmen, brought in. Sean Ervine and Douglas Hondo were also ruled out by injury.Squad 1 Trevor Gripper, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Carlisle, 5 Craig Wishart, 6 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 7 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 8 Heath Streak (capt), 9 Andy Blignaut, 10 Raymond Price, 11 Blessing Mahwire. 12th Man: Jordane Nicolle.

Brian Lara has returned to the highest echelon of the world’s Test batsmen as a result of his efforts in the West Indies’ series victory over Sri Lanka.Lara supplanted Australia’s Matthew Hayden at the top of the Test batting rankings issued by PriceWaterhouseCoopers today. Sachin Tendulkar remains unchallenged as the world’s leading one-day international batsman with Lara in fourth place. The big mover in the ODI batting is Marcus Trescothick of England, who leapt six places to No 7 on the batting list.The bowling is dominated by South Africa’s Shaun Pollock, who sits atop both the Test and ODI rankings.The top 10 lists are:Tests:Batting: Brian Lara (West Indies), Matthew Hayden (Australia), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Michael Vaughan (England), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Rahul Dravid (India), Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa),Bowling: Shaun Pollock (South Africa), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Glenn McGrath (Australia), Harbhajan Singh (India), Jason Gillespie (Australia), Andrew Caddick (England), Makhaya Ntini (South Africa), Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan), Anil Kumble (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa).ODIs:Batting: Tendulkar, Ponting, Gibbs, Lara, Gilchrist, Chris Gayle (West Indies), Marcus Trescothick (England), Michael Bevan (Australia), Hayden, Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies).Bowling: Pollock, Muralitharan, McGrath, Ntini, Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Brett Lee (Australia), Shane Bond (New Zealand), Gillespie, Zaheer Khan (India), Harbhajan.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has announced he wants to play league cricket in England in an attempt to salvage his international career. Inzamam was dropped by Pakistan after managing just 19 runs in six matches in the World Cup, and watched his replacements go down fighting in a 2-1 defeat against England in the NatWest Challenge.”Since there is no domestic cricket being played in Pakistan, the only way I can satisfy the selectors about my fitness is to play some league cricket,” said Inzamam, who shed several pounds ahead of the World Cup. “I have contacted some league clubs in England through my Pakistan team-mates who are in England. Hopefully, I should be active in league cricket by early July.”Inzamam is now 33, and has played 85 Test matches for Pakistan, at an average of 48.92. “I retain my hunger and passion for the game, he added, “and I am not disheartened at being dropped after the World Cup. It happens to every player. You just have to fight back and make a comeback.”

In a perverse way, New Zealand’s loss to India by two wickets in Wellington last night, was just about ideal for the side.Captain Stephen Fleming said the TelstraClear Black Caps were under no illusions about where they were going into the World Cup next month.They went into today’s game to try some pre-determined things, one of them was to bat first in spite of the conditions which would have normally seen him bowl first.Despite the top order rout when they were three wickets for three runs, a position from which no team has ever won a One-Day International, the side had hoped to scrape together 180-200 runs that they felt would have been competitive.Some lack of discipline in the playing approach was exposed that hadn’t appeared earlier in the series.The bowlers had been notable for the way they had bowled to the required plans earlier but they had been guilty of conceding 16 wides today and that was too many.It had been a cardinal sin not to bat out the 50 overs and it was a lesson for the lower order batsmen.”We have players in the lower order who are very capable players and able to occupy the crease,” he said.Fleming wondered with the series tied up and the World Cup looming whether players were guilty of looking too far ahead.Once again the pitch was not the best for a one-day encounter and was symptomatic of much of what has affected New Zealand this summer.”The ball has dominated the bat and the guys are all frustrated but they know what they need to do,” he said.”It is creating a mental tentativeness that is holding the players on both sides back,” he said.Fleming said it was not known at what stage Chris Cairns would bowl in the series, if at all. It was something that would be worked on with the medical panel.

Another Ashes drubbing has been and gone, and several old hands in the England Test team will be nervously contemplating their futures ahead of Saturday’s announcement of the Test squad to face Zimbabwe at Lord’s next week. A new English summer invariably brings calls for new blood, and predictably enough, one old stager will be the centre of all the headlines.

Ever since Ray Illingworth tried to do away with him in 1996, Alec Stewart has been the subject of perennial speculation. First there was indignation that he had displaced the much-loved Jack Russell as England’s first-choice wicketkeeper. Then there was ageism as his 40th birthday came and went and still he wouldn’t budge. But James Foster had an uninspired time behind the stumps in India and New Zealand last year, and though Stewart has volunteered to stand down from one-day internationals (without going so far as to retire, of course), the feeling persists that there is no-one yet worthy of filling his boots.There is one man coming up the rails, however. Nottinghamshire’s Chris Read is now 24, and a vastly improved player from the nervous rookie who ducked into a slower ball from Chris Cairns in 1999. He is the prime candidate to take Stewart’s place, although Andrew Flintoff’s untimely arm injury may yet earn Stewart a reprieve – with Craig White out for much of the season with a rib injury, there are few other allrounders capable of justifying a place.If Stewart does play in his 127th Test, England will be fielding a wicketkeeper who is more than twice the age of his Zimbabwean counterpart – Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe’s vice-captain, who turned 20 on Wednesday. All the more reason, therefore, to look to youth in other areas. England’s top four of Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher (who scored a century in his last Test) and Nasser Hussain are immoveable, which means that Robert Key has to be given his opportunity to build on an impressive Ashes series, in which he displayed character in abundance and runs in moderation. It is tough luck on John Crawley, who did nothing much wrong in his latest return to the colours.Another young shoo-in is Jimmy Anderson. Rod Marsh, England’s new fourth selector, may have tried to play down the hype, saying that Anderson has been in the game “five minutes”, but unfortunately he just refuses to stop taking wickets. On Wednesday he included his captain, Hussain, as the middle man in a hat-trick for Lancashire against Essex.Anderson will bring some youthful exuberance to Lord’s, although the late withdrawal of the elder statesman, Andy Caddick, will leave the new ball in the hands of the equally green-fingered Stephen Harmison – the temptation may be to turn back to the experience of Darren Gough, who has recovered well from his chronic knee injury. Matthew Hoggard, who didn’t feature in the World Cup despite being part of the squad, might be given the opportunity to swing Zimbabwe into oblivion in favourable conditions, while Ashley Giles’s left-arm spin will be called upon if required.Possible squad Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Robert Key, John Crawley, Andrew Flintoff, Alec Stewart (wk), Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, James Anderson, Darren Gough.

International cricket could face another crisis over the vexed question of throwing if Shoaib Ahktar is again reported by officials because of doubts over his action.Questions were raised about the Pakistani fast bowler’s obviously dubious delivery on television commentary and among former players and other viewers in the Caribbean during his five wickets devastation of the West Indies in their 170-runs defeat in the first Test here on Monday.But the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is adamant he should be cleared by the International Cricket Conference (ICC) on the advice of a report from the University of Western Australia’s department of human movement and exercise science last year.According to the PCB, the report stated that Shoaib was born with an “abnormal” bowling arm that will always give the impression of an unorthodox positionduring delivery.”No amount of practice or technique training can modify these two anatomical characteristics”, the report noted, adding that Shoaib “should be permitted to bowl for Pakistan without further concern as to his action”.Shoaib, 25, first attracted international attention with his pace and personality at the 1999 World Cup in England when he was dubbed “The Rawalpindi Express”, a reference to the city of his birth in Pakistan.He has had problems with his action, discipline and injury in the intervening years, all of which have led to his spasmodic appearances for Pakistan.He was suspended by a now-disbanded ICC panel on suspect bowling actions in 2000 to allow time for him to correct his problem.He has been since twice referred to its successor body, the bowling review group, by unconvinced umpires and match referees. A third report would mean automatic suspension for a year.Shoaib only returned to international cricket from injury last month in the series in Bangladesh after a break of a year. The first Test here was his third since he came back.The PCB has already circulated the University of Western Australia’s report to the ICC panel of umpires and match referees.It will further press its case that Shoaib should be cleared once and for all at the ICC’s executive board meeting in New Zealand in March.The PCB turned down the ICC’s offer to have former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding correct flaws in Shoaib’s delivery after the most recent report from wary umpires. Its chairman, Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia said publicly the PCB would support Shoaib if he sued the ICC over the issue.The same university, as well as the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong, similarly cleared the action of Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan after he had been called for throwing by Australian umpires Darrel Hair in 1995 and Ross Emerson and Tony Macquillan four years later.Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, rated the present game’s fastest bowler along with Shoaib, also had his action passed after computer examination by the University of Western Australia.Former Indian left-arm spinner Bishen Bedi reopened the controversy over Muralitharan’s action last weekend, comparing it to a javelin thrower’s.Pakistani officials and players privately accuse the ICC of double standards in clearing Muralitharan and Lee while allowing a shadow to hang over Shoaib.However, the doubts have not arisen without good reason as the television replays during the Test here clearly showed.The pertinent law in the version revised in 2000 is law 24.3. It states: A ball is fairly delivered in respect of the arm if, once the bowler’s arm has reached the shoulder in the delivery swing, the elbow joint is not straightened partially or completely from that point until the ball has left the hand. This definition shall not debar a bowler from flexing or rotating the wrist in the delivery swing.Holding, now a respected international television commentator, noted during Shoaib’s spell on Monday that there was “a definite kink” in his elbow after it passed shoulder height and before straightening on delivery.

Hampshire’s Director of cricket Tim Tremlett was optimistic that Shane Warne will be fit in time for the World Cup in February, and subsequently to join Hampshire as captain for the 2003 season.”Reports” said Tim “coming out of Australia today (Monday) state that Shane has had an exploratory operation on his shoulder after suffering a dislocation during the VB Series match against England on Sunday.” (see ACB report below).Tim Tremlett had spoken today to new First team manager Paul Terry, and Hampshire physio Pat Farhart who are closely monitoring the situation. Pat had spoken to his Australian counterpart, who was upbeat about the situation.

After writing England’s, and Michael Vaughan’s, summer obituaries at the end of the first day at The Oval, the English newspapers were forced to change their tune after England’s historic win against South Africa yesterday.

Mike Walters, in , summed up the buoyant mood of the English public and players, describing the win as sensational and swashbuckling. He gushed: “In a summer of more twists than the London Underground map, Michael Vaughan’s men went from dunces to diamond geezers in the space of five days.” And he added that Vaughan, who joined in a playful game of football with a space-hopper on the outfield, was lucky that “five of his foot-soldiers ensured the final npower Test will go down in the pantheon of their greatest wins”.And those five foot-soldiers – Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison and Martin Bicknell – all received accolades in varying degrees. Christopher Martin-Jenkins, in , more soberly pointed out that those individuals had “played to their potential” and that the team performed “as a whole with a determination and professionalism that did them all proud”. splashed a photo of Alec Stewart hoisted on his team-mates’ shoulders, with the corny headline “We’re Oval the moon”. John Etheridge described the win as staggering and mind-boggling, and insisted that this victory “will rank alongside anything Stewart experienced in his time at the top”.But while most eyes were on the departing Stewart, Vaughan didn’t escape the column inches. Angus Fraser, in , wrote that even though Vaughan has had only four matches in charge of England, “He will have been through a far greater range of emotions than Steve Waugh in the four years he has led the world champions.”And although Fraser said that Vaughan can feel proud after coming through his “biggest test”, Oliver Holt in noticed a note of reservation in Vaughan’s manner. “Quite why Michael Vaughan looked as if he’d just been told his mum had found a stack of porn mags concealed under his bed is a more complex issue,” Holt said. “Vaughan had just led his team to one of England’s most remarkable victories to square a series that seemed on the first day to have slipped into their opponents’ hands. But the England skipper appeared somewhere on the sheepish side of morose after this nine-wicket thriller of a win. Drained by the relief flooding out of him. Just glad it was all over.”Well, you can’t blame him after leading England in a season which has been consistently inconsistent, according to Simon Barnes in : “One minute we are watching a very decent side, the next we are watching a bunch of losers,” Barnes pointed out, adding that “It is the sort of thing that unsettles a chap.” He highlighted Trescothick as an example. “One day Marcus Trescothick is a spent force, the next he is the most imperious batsman in world cricket. Certainly, pressure inspired Trescothick. He moved from circumspection to certainty and from certainty to majesty. He made nearly 300 runs in the match for once out: not bad for a man who was all washed up.” And Barnes concluded: “But if England are consistent only in their inconsistency, then we must come to terms with the fact that, in a perverse way, inconsistency is their strength.”But what of South Africa? They fly home this evening knowing that they ought to have won the series after dominating the first two matches. And we’ve seen it all before. While Michael Owen-Smith told us in that Graeme Smith rejected charges that his team had yet to get rid of the label of being chokers, the ran a headline: “Wanted: Spin and swing.”Owen-Smith and the Daily Mail‘s Mike Dickson then picked out where South Africa, despite an encouraging tour, still fall short. Smith may have become “the darling of the English cricketing media for his availability, his transparency, his honesty and his humility,” they said, but his team are short of a strike bowler and their spin bowling remains the biggest single concern: “Paul Adams had an up-and-down tour on pitches that did not always suit him, while Robin Peterson is early in the learning curve.”And then there is also the worry of replacing Gary Kirsten. They argued that “Kirsten’s decision to play on has at least allowed Jacques Rudolph more time to settle,” and that “Rudolph has had a disappointing series, but he has shown enough glimpses to suggest that he is a player of quality.”While South Africa take those concerns on with them to Pakistan, the England selectors have already been in discussions for the winter tours. As CMJ pointed out, “There has been, in the end, a strong contrast between England’s success with a young team under Vaughan in the one-day internationals in the middle of the season and the manner in which the experience of Thorpe and Bicknell, both 34, and Nasser Hussain, 35, helped them to draw this series with the second-best Test team in the world.”However, he suggested that Bicknell is unlikely to join “the small band of seam bowlers on the slow pitches of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before Christmas, even less so on the slightly faster ones of the Caribbean in March.” And David Llewellyn in concluded: “It would appear that Harmison has the pace Bicknell lacks and that Bicknell has the consistency Harmison is missing. Old heads on young shoulders springs to mind. The selectors’ job gets no easier.”

New Zealand’s batting performance against England at Wellington on Saturday night was more like the sort of display coach Denis Aberhart would like to see consistently from his side.The way batsmen appreciated their role, especially after being three wickets down for 52, had heartened him and continued further the advances the side has made since starting the summer in Australia.New Zealand had played only part of the game well in the first National Bank Series match against England in Christchurch.”But I thought in Wellington the guys played with enthusiasm and pretty well went out and put our game plan in place,” he said.”We had good partnerships, we lost wickets but the guys went in and took responsibility to set up another partnership, and work hard for a while. Then with the ball we started well and did some very good fielding.”The two good partnerships between Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan, then McMillan and Lou Vincent had been crucial.”Whilst no-one went on to get big scores, the partnerships were the key and we had two or three little ones after that.”At 40 overs we were 181/4 which is one of the first times this year we’ve been able to get to the last 10 with wickets in hand which meant the last few could score reasonably well. We got 63 off the last 10 which set us up.”There are still things we need to get better at, but from a team point of view I thought the batting was pretty good,” he said.Aberhart said it was significant now that there was genuine competition for places in the side and while there is a core of 12, to be reconsidered after Wednesday’s game, there were several different options available within that group of players.It also helps make practice sessions livelier as several New Zealand batsmen found out today when fast bowler Ian Butler was most impressive with the speed he mustered.Pitch reports for Wednesday’s game suggest it should be the fastest pitch in the ODI series so far. That could make life interesting for batsmen as the allowable one bouncer an over has not yet been a factor in the series.Weather forecasts have been varied for Wednesday, just as they have been all over New Zealand this summer, but the latest had today’s fine weather to continue for at least another two days, setting up a tremendous match in Napier.

Auckland pace bowler, Chris Drum, has been called into the CLEAR Black Caps as cover for the injured Daryl Tuffey.Tuffey strained his hamstring while bowling against Australia in the first innings of the second Test currently being played in Hobart.Manager Jeff Crowe says it’s a sad blow for Tuffey.”Daryl’s been waiting for his chance on this tour and I have to say I really feel for the guy,” he said.The selectors preferred Chris Drum over James Franklin because of his ability to bowl into the wind.”In Perth the wind tends to blow down the ground.”If required we think Chris Drum, rather than James Franklin, is the better option for bowling extended spells into the wind,” says Chairman of Selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee who is in Hobart.Tuffey will not bowl again in the second Test and will most likely require a runner when batting.His injury will be reassessed tomorrow and a decision will then be made as to whether he is fit enough to be in contention to play in the third Test.If not, he will return home at the end of this Test.Drum will fly to Perth tomorrow and meet with the side before the start of the third Test.