India's tour of England

India coach John Wright admits Harbhajan Singh should have played the first Test against England at Lord's. But he will wait until later this week to decide whether to use the spinner at Trent Bridge, where the second match of the series begins on Thursday. The Lord's pitch offered unexpected turn and an unprepared touring side slipped to a 170-run defeat, with sole India spinner Anil Kumble taking six wickets in 66 overs. "We could have probably done with [Harbhajan] but every situation is different," said Wright. "We'll have to look at the conditions and the wicket nearer to the game but he is certainly in contention for the match." "Looking back at Lord's we didn't play up to our ability and potential. To get a result we've got to play better cricket." Contrary to speculations, India's diminutive second wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel will not be blooded in the second Test against England at Trent Bridge this week as regular Ajay Ratra gets a fresh lease of life. The 17-year-old Patel was sent ahead of Ratra in India's innings against Worcestershire last week and was even the first choice with the gloves when the home team batted on the final day on Saturday sparking speculation that he may be capped at Trent Bridge. But Patel was bowled for six after facing a dozen deliveries and even though Ratra managed still less - four runs - the latter would retain his place on the strength of his hundred against the West Indies recently, according to team sources. India has chosen and discarded wicketkeepers with indecent haste in recent times and the head roll list of Sameer Dighe, Vijay Dahiya and Deep Dasgupta, seems to be growing all the time. Speedster Javagal Srinath, who had announced his retirement from Test cricket recently, has signed up a contract with the English county side Leicestershire. Srinath told reporters here that he would be playing for the county side from August 19 to September 22. "Since the doors are closed for me for the ICC trophy, I have signed the contract", he said. Srinath said he has taken full consent of the BCCI in this regard. "This would be a good opportunity to begin first class cricket to stay match-fit", he said. Srinath said he also had offers from South Africa but did not accept them as the fixtures there were clashing with the domestic first class season in India. All-rounder Craig White has gained a recall to the England one-day squad for September's ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. The announcement comes a day after White's match-winning century for Yorkshire in the C&G Trophy semi-final against Surrey. White, who took four wickets and scored a half-century on his Test return against India, is the only player not to have figured in the recent one-day NatWest Series. But he will now be eyeing a spot in the squad for the World Cup, beginning in South Africa next February. Graham Thorpe, who recently retired from one-day internationals, and pace bowlers James Kirtley and Alex Tudor are the players to miss out. Robert Key believes he owes his England call-up to a lecture from Alec Stewart and a lot of hard work at the National Academy. Kent opener Key and Durham pace bowler Steve Harmison, both 23, are the new names in England's 13-man squad for the second Test against India. "I used to enjoy myself having winters off and spending time with my friends and my cricket was suffering before Alec Stewart spoke to me," said Key. "He gave me a kick in the right direction. "I've had a lot of people have telling me what to do and it didn't sink in. But when someone like Alec gives you advice you listen to it. Key replaces Graham Thorpe in the side and will open the batting with Michael Vaughan, allowing Mark Butcher to come in at his preferred position of three.

Champion's Trophy

The Indian cricket team has refused to sign the ICC contract given to it by the BCCI for the Champion's Trophy (mini-World Cup). This contract would endanger their personal endorsements because it stipulates no sponsorships can conflict with the ICC's $550 million contract with the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC). If the players don't sign, the Champion's Trophy will be in jeopardy. The GCC holds the rights to all ICC events. Some Indian players have endorsement deals with companies that are in competition with those that have been given sponsorship rights by GCC. The Indian players had been given the contract a week before the Lord's Test. They still have till August 12 to sign, but say they won't. The contract says players cannot have endorsement deals that are in conflict with ICC sponsors a month before and after an ICC tournament - the Champion's Trophy begins on September 12. A similar clause outlawing team sponsorships that conflict with the interests of ICC sponsors could endanger Sahara's sponsorship of the Indian team. It has been learnt that the ICC has written to the BCCI saying the board will have to sort out its relationship with Sahara.

Morocco Cup 2002

The Pakistan Cricket Board is sending a specialist to London to monitor the fitness of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Dr Tauseef Razzaq will visit the Shoaib during his rehabilitation following a leg injury. Shoaib caused controversy when he asked to be omitted from the Pakistan squad for a triangular series in Morocco. The PCB finally granted him permission to miss the tournament which starts on 12 August. However he is playing in friendly games, including a Lashings World XI team against Durham on 7 August, alongside the likes of Viv Richards and Brian Lara. "We want to know exactly how Shoaib is faring," said PCB chairman Lt General Tauqir Zia.

Bangladesh in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka handed Bangladesh its worst one-day defeat yesterday, reaching a victory target of 77 from just 15.4 overs and losing just two wickets. Bangladesh was dismissed in 30.1 overs, with no batsman managing more than 15 and sundries top-scoring with 20 in a total of 76 all out. Their previous lowest one-day total was 87 against Pakistan. Former captain Naimur Rahman, flown in just for the one-day matches, and Khaled Mahmud were out for ducks with only three players reaching double figures. Habibul Bashar and Tushar Imran each made 10 and captain Khaled Mashud reached 15 before he was the last man out, caught off leg-break bowler Upul Chandana. Sri Lanka strolled to victory with Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene unbeaten on 31 and 27 respectively.

Miscellaneous

Banned cricketer Ajay Jadeja and his wife Aditi, daughter of Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitley had a baby boy on Sunday August 4. The baby was delivered at a nursing home in Greater Kailash area in New Delhi, and Jadeja was ecstatic. "I am absolutely ecstatic and though I don't know his exact weight, I can definitely say that he's a big, fat baby," he said. Born through a Caesarean section, Jadeja Junior will be named as per Hindu tradition with a priest announcing an auspicious alphabet after which the hunt for a name will begin. "Prior to delivery, we didn't know whether it would be a boy or a girl and would have been equally delighted with either. So, the thought of choosing a name in advance didn't figure in our plans. We'll follow the ritual and wait for an alphabet to be selected," said Ajay. The winners of the ICC Champions Trophy should be allowed to defend their title at home, according to former New Zealand wicket-keeper Adam Parore. New Zealand won the tournament in Kenya in 2000 but have to travel to Sri Lanka in September to defend their title. Parore said the International Cricket Council (ICC) should change the rules so the winning team defends the trophy on home turf. At the moment the ICC decides where the competition will be held. The first trophy was in Bangladesh in 2000, then Kenya two years later. The 2004 competition will be staged in England. "It would give the ICC Champions Trophy competition a point of difference. I cannot see any downside to it," Parore said. Australian Test captain Steve Waugh said Tuesday he is considering offers to play English county cricket in a bid to get some match practice for the forthcoming Test series against Pakistan. He said he had talked to several English counties over the last couple of days. "There's an opportunity there to go and play county cricket, so that would be a possibility because there's nothing back here," said Waugh. "It's not a good preparation going into a three-Test series against Pakistan not playing a game of cricket." Waugh said the Australian players would probably have reservations about playing in Pakistan after six people were killed in a shooting at a Christian school on Monday.

Archive August 5, 2002 August 4, 2002 August 3, 2002 August 2, 2002 August 1, 2002 July 31, 2002 July 30, 2002 July 29, 2002 July 28, 2002 July 27, 2002 July 26, 2002 July 25, 2002 July 24, 2002 July 23, 2002 July 22, 2002 July 21, 2002 July 20, 2002 July 19, 2002 July 18, 2002 July 17, 2002

Design: Imran Shaikh