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BRISBANE – Steve Waugh’s one-day international career is over after theTest captain was left out of the provisional 30-man squad forAustralia’s World Cup defence in Africa from February.The 37-year-old Waugh had held slim hopes of fighting his way back intothe team after he was dropped last February but the message was cleartoday when he was not included not among the top 30 Australian limitedovers players.Waugh’s 10 teammates from yesterday’s Ashes series triumph over Englandwere named in the provisional World Cup squad along with some outsidersin young Victorian legspinner Cameron White, Tasmanian paceman DamienWright, versatile South Australian Mark Higgs and former Test spinnerBrad Hogg.Selectors named three conventional allrounders in Shane Watson, AndrewSymonds and Ian Harvey while West Australian wicketkeeper-batsman RyanCampbell was also included.The squad will be trimmed to 15 players by December 31 according to theguidelines arranged between the World Cup’s 14 participating nations.Players can be brought in from outside the 30-man squad but that wouldbe unlikely in Australia’s case.”This is really the first phase in selecting the squad to attend SouthAfrica for the 2003 World Cup,” chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said.”There are a number of players we need to continue looking at over thecoming month as we move to cut the squad by half.”That will be a challenging task because there are several players thatcould fill a variety of positions for us at the World Cup.”So far we have selected a healthy mix of players – batsmen, bowlers,all-rounders and three wicket-keepers, which gives us a broad range tochoose from when finalising our list.”The Australian side is scheduled to depart for the World Cup on January29 next year following the Allan Border Medal presentation on January28.Australia’s provisional World Cup squad: Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist,Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, BrettLee, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, ShaneWatson, Justin Langer, Jimmy Maher, Greg Blewett, Nathan Bracken, StuartClark, Michael Clarke, Ryan Campbell, Nathan Hauritz, Brad Hogg, MichaelHussey, Ashley Noffke, Andrew Symonds, Brad Williams, Brad Haddin, IanHarvey, Cameron White, Mark Higgs, Damien Wright.

Hampshire’s Charlie van der Gucht is back playing cricket – just 13 months after suffering horrific injuries in a road accident last summer.And he even celebrated with a wicket as he helped the Hampshire Academy take another step towards the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 championship with a 32-run win over Old Tauntonians & Romsey.Van der Gucht, 22, broke both his legs and was on a life support machine after being hit by a taxi in Twickenham last July.But, little more than a year after his accident and after courageously battling his way back – and landing a 2.1 history degree at Durham University in the process – the left-arm spinner took his first positive step towards a comeback in the professional game.Van der Gucht bowled a full 12-overs and finished with satisfying figures of 1-34."I was really pleased with the way things went, but it was obviously very tiring, particularly the fielding aspect," he confessed."It was the first time I had stood around for three hours and I came off from fielding totally drained – but nonetheless pleased."Playing again was an important physiological barrier to overcome, but I’ve done it and now I’m looking forward to next week’s match (against United Services) with the Academy team."The Hampshire youngsters certainly had their work cut out beating a tenacious OTs side.Although three of the top order failed, Irfan Shah (55) gave the innings momentum before becoming Max Smith’s third victim at 94-4.Martin Bushell (60) shared key middle-order partnerships with David Wheeler (31) and Tom Burrows (34) as the Academy advanced to 233 all out, Nick Wood (3-56) and Jeremy Ord (3-59) sharing the spoils.There was even an opportunity for Van der Gucht to bat, but he was run out for four."Batting really was weird. It was the first time I’d held a bat for some time and I got myself run out when I fell over after my spikes got caught in the pitch," he laughed.Charles Forward (60) fired OTs’ response and with Smith (49) his partner, took the reply to 104-3 before Wheeler’s direct-hit throw ran the latter out.Van der Gucht bowled his 12 overs in mid-innings, having Keith Trodd caught by Luke Merry."The first eight overs were fine, but the last four were a physical drain."But it was something I had to get through," he said.The Academy gradually chipped their way through the batting after that, the Romsey club finishing with a creditable 201-8 … and van der Gucht returning home knowing that he had taken his first positive step on the comeback trail.Second-placed Easton & Martyr Worthy kept in touch with a five-wicket win over Winchester KS at Cockets Mead.Mark Stone (4-25) and Shaun Green (3-36) took the credits as WKS were bowled out for 118 (Raj Naik 28) – a total Easton passed after losing five wickets in an unconvincing run chase.Simon Williams (96) and Mario Mohamed (72 not out) shared a 169-run opening partnership as Trojans trounced weakened United Services by eight wickets at Stoneham Lane.But the victory had little significance as fellow strugglers Rowledge and Hungerford also won.Zimbabwean Warren Gilmour hit 52 of the US total of 184-7 (Jamie Donaldson 3-33), but with only one recognised front-line bowler in their ranks, the visitors were never able to curb openers Williams and Mohamed.Newly promoted Rowledge boosted their hopes of survival with a 20-run win at Lymington, who lost their way after Danny Peacock (76) and Aaron Heal (39) were parted.Chasing 195-9, Lymington were cruising at 90-1and still in the driving seat at 132-3 when Peacock was bowled by Chris Yates junior, who finished with 3-28.Apart from Matt Molloy (26), Lymington’s middle-order fell apart against the three-pronged Yates attack and slumped to 175 all out.Earlier, Nick Morant (48) and Chris Yates jnr (37) produced a useful third-wicket stand for Rowledge, whose 195-9 owed much to Jeff Anning (30) and Chris Yates senior (26).Peacock’s off-spin yielded 4-30, but no other tangible reward for Lymington.Sparsholt are not entirely out of the woods after losing by six wickets to second-from-bottom Hungerford.Despite a useful new-ball spell by Paul Warren, Tim Richings (26), Larry Cook (25) and Ollie Kelly (21) eased Sparsholt into a useful position at 93-2.But only Tim Simmonite (41) of the later batsmen made an impact as Alistair Tuttle (3-36) and Jason Williams (3-57) reduced the visitors to 171 all out.Former Sussex batsman Nick Wilton (35) fired Hungerford’s response and set up Danny Williams (54) and Steve Wyatt (57) for a century partnership which settled affairs.

COLOMBO – Steve Waugh is not entirely sure whether he will know some ofthe players who turn out for Pakistan in the first cricket Test startinghere on Thursday.Pakistan has been hit by withdrawals and injuries to senior playerswhile others have been dumped, meaning a bevy of young and unprovenPakistanis will take on the world champion in the first of three Testsat neutral venues.”I’m not even sure who’s in their team to tell you the truth,” Waughsaid.”The young Pakistani players have got a lot of talent and I’m surethey’ll pull out someone who does very well at Test cricket without useven knowing about them.”With other countries you know what you’re going to get but withPakistan, half the time they don’t even know what they’ve got.”The changes include openers Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar, middle orderbatsmen Hasan Raza and Faisal Iqbal, leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and fastbowler Mohammad Zahid, who have all played for Pakistan in Tests orone-day internationals.Those six have played only 28 Tests between them. Uncapped allrounderRana Naved-ul-Hasan also makes the squad.Waugh said the injuries to middle-order batsmen Inzamam-ul-Haq andYousuf Youhana were a big blow.”Inzamam’s a big loss, particularly on the flat, low Sharjah wicketswhere he likes to dominate.”And Youhana’s probably one of their better batters as well so thatleaves a big hole in their batting.”Waugh said Australia’s line-up had not been discussed but said the pitchconditions would dictate whether young Queenslander Nathan Hauritzplayed his first Test.”I think you’d have to consider two spinners if the wicket’s like it wasfor the (Champions Trophy) semifinal the other night, you’d be silly notto look at it – but the word is the Test wicket will have a bit of grasson it.”

MELBOURNE, June 14 AAP – The fatal bombing in Pakistan today “increases concern” about the upcoming cricket tour of that country, according to the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).But board chief executive James Sutherland stressed again tonight the ACB would not be rushed into a decision about its tour, scheduled for later this year.”This tragic event increases concern about the tour,” Sutherland said in a statement.”As I’ve said before, any decision of this nature is based on the safety of our players and team management.”We are continuing to take advice from the relevant experts and hold discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).”We will make the decision at the right time, there is no reason to rush into a decision today.”AFP reported eight people were killed in a powerful car bomb attack on the US consulate in Karachi.The ACB cancelled this year’s tour of Zimbabwe because of security concerns.New Zealand called off its cricket tour of Pakistan last month because of another car bombing, also in Karachi, which killed 11 people.That attack and ongoing tensions between Pakistan and India raised concerns about the Australian cricket tour.Some key members of the Australian squad said they were not keen on touring Pakistan unless the situation there improved.Australia and neutral venues such as Morocco and Sharjah have been suggested as alternative venues if the decision is taken not to tour Pakistan.Sutherland said this week the venue decision primarily belonged to the PCB, while Pakistan captain Waqar Younis added he hoped the tour of his country would go ahead as planned.Pakistan will play the second match of its three-game series of one-dayers against Australia here tomorrow night at Colonial Stadium.

Double Hampshire junior indoor cricket champions. That’s Havant, who proudly show off their medals after winning both the Hampshire Under-13 and Under-16 Indoor Cups at Winchester’s River Park Leisure Centre.Stuart Ransley, Chris Morgan and Simon Hodgson sparkled as Havant saw off plucky St Cross Symondians and near neighbours Waterlooville to lift the Under-13 crown.The Under-16s comfortably beat Sarisbury Athletic in the final, after scraping a one-run semi-final win over Hursley Park.Matt Palmer cracked a superb 71 as Hursley were dismissed for 141, chasing Havant’s 142-5.Results – Under-13 Semi-finals
Waterlooville 195-5 (Shephard 61, Burnett 34, Robson 28, Hillman 26)
Hook & Newnham Basics 44Havant 153-2 (Morgan 39, Ransley 28, Hodgson 27, Hardacre 22)
St Cross Symondians 132-4 (Bayliss 26, Jenkins 25, Porter 25, Lovett 20, Walker 2-26)Final:
Havant 143-4 (Ransley 50, Morgan 37, Hodgson 24)
Waterlooville 116-3 (Hillman 35, Robson 28, Hudson 23)Under-16 Semi-finalsBasingstoke & North Hants 88-2 (Davies 26, James 23)
Sarisbury Athletic 90-0 (Journeaux 28, Evans 26, Ingram 24)Havant 142-5 (Wade 44, Molyneaux 33)
Hursley Park 141 (Palmer 71, van der Merwe 28)Final:
Havant 136 (Wade 57, Molyneaux 32)
Sarisbury Athletic 87 (Evans 43, Molyneaux 2-24).

Ricky Skerritt would have taken in a healthy monetary collection afterthe first day of the fifth and final Test yesterday.The West Indies manager, acting on suggestions from his captain andcoach, has instituted a system of fines for this match for thoseguilty of the slackness evident throughout the series.Some would have had to pay up last night for wanton shots that haveput the West Indies in a familiar bind at 214 for nine and the mostculpable was Carl Hooper himself.The skipper entered the fray in the first over after lunch with theWest Indies already in strife at 54 for four and Alan Donald, fast andeager, making up for the Antigua Test he missed with a strainedhamstring.Hooper met Brian Lara, on seven, so that the responsibility of arecovery rested with the West Indies’ two best and most experiencedbatsmen.For an hour-and-25-minutes, they played with the diligence thesituation, and their roles, demanded.They added 53 and raised the spirits of a small Sabina Park depressedby the earlier, cheap loss of the three young Jamaicans of whom LeonGarrick’s first innings in Test cricket was ended by Donald’s firstball of the match.Concerned by the growing partnership, Shaun Pollock devised a plan asold as the game itself. He set a deep square-leg back and simplychallenged the batsmen to hook.It had worked twice in the series but then the delinquent batsman wasRamnaresh Sarwan, a boy of 20, new to the ways of Test cricket. Hecould scarcely believe that he could so con someone in his 85th Testand the captain at that. But he did. In his seventh over of a lengthyspell after lunch, captain Pollock set up his counterpart with aclever slower ball that he pushed into the off-side, followed by thebouncer, fast and rising steeply.Hooper could not control his first hook shot of the day and the ballsailed fully 60 yards into Gary Kristen’s safe grasp. It was a stroke,like the pull that lobbed to mid-on in his previous innings inAntigua, that was not uncommon in his earlier cricketing life but thathe had seemed to exorcise since his return.In Pollock’s next over, Ridley Jacobs, who has fallen into a slumpsince his unbeaten113 in the third Test, edged Pollock to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher who held one of the five out of the eight catchesoffered him for the day.It left the West Indies 107 for five and Lara with the bowlers to seewhat they could make of the last half of the innings. That theyexactly doubled the total was due to Lara’s skilfully compiled 81,lasting three hours, 50 minutes with 12 fours, spirited batting byMerv Dillon, 25, and Dinanath Ramnarine, unbeaten 28, and luck.Fortune smiled most on Dillon who had two chances to Boucher, thefirst before he had scored, and one to Lance Klusener at midon; theball after he hoisted left-arm spinner Paul Adams for the day’s onlysix.The West Indian wastefulness began with the first ball of the matchwhen Garrick, the diminutive, 24-year-old opener on debut, cut Donaldobligingly straight to gully. Only one other batsman, the SouthAfrican Jimmy Cook, had suffered such immediate indignity in his firstTest.Garrick deserved sympathy. He was not in the original squad but wasrushed down to Kingston from his home in St Ann the day before andtold he was in the eleven.It was hardly proper preparation for the start of a Test career but itwas typical of how things are done in West Indies cricket these days.For instance, it was learnt, through the television coverage, thatRamnaresh Sarwan was carrying a stress fracture of the right femur andwould have to rest for at least four weeks. But, said Skerritt, it wasnot the reason he was omitted.By lunch, taken at 53 for three, the left-handers ShivnarineChanderpaul and Chris Gayle had also gone. Chanderpaul, nevercomfortable, presented Boucher with his first catch from an edgeddefensive push at Jacques Kallis.Gayle sliced his loose backfoot shot to gully, a carbon copy of hisdismissal in the previous Test and another dismissal worthy of a heftyfine.When Marlon Samuels was Donald’s third victim in the first over afterlunch, fending leaden-footed at a fast ball that held its line, Laraand Hooper came together. It appeared to be the West Indies’ last hopeof revival.Hooper let them down but Lara responded to his dismissal by takingcontrol.He was 35, off 92 balls with four fours, when his captain departed. Heaccelerated with thrilling drives, cuts and pulls so that he added 46off 64 balls with eight more fours before Pollock dismissed him.Lara’s only problems were caused by the bouncer. He took blows fromboth Donald and Pollock and, caught in two minds to another shortlifter from Pollock, he fended a catch to slip off the back of thebat.The last time Dillon and Ramnarine were together they had littleintention of batting. This time they played with spirit to frustratethe South Africans.Dillon spent over two hours, adding 54 with Lara and 21 withRamnarine, before Donald dispatched him with the second ball with thesecond new ball.But Ramnarine was there at the end with his highest Test score, 26,from the last two wickets and Courtney Walsh is still in.

The unveiling of the Wilf Wooller Memorial Gates will take place on Friday, June 29th during the first day of Glamorgan`s County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Cardiff.The gates, at the entrance to the Sophia Gardens ground, will be formally unveiled during a short ceremony, attended by Glamorgan players of the past and present, club officials, and also Tom Graveney, the former England batsman.The ceremony will take place between 1.00pm and 1.20pm during the lunch interval on the first day of the Championship match, and the day of the Glamorgan Former Players` Association annual reunion.As a result of the official unveiling, the start of play on the first day of the County Championship match will therefore be brought forward by 15 minutes to 10.45am, with a slightly extended lunch interval, running from 1.00 until 1.55pm.

The flat track at the Antigua Recreation Ground meant that the fourthTest was always going to yield a high-scoring draw. The home team hadwon the previous Test in Barbados and leveled the series 1-1. Clearlythe momentum was with the West Indies, and one expected them to buildon it. It was then shocking to see a dry and docile track bereft ofgrass laid out for the Test match; a very negative move by the WestIndies authorities who denied their team a chance of gaining the leadin the series.

It is apparent that both teams misread the track and relied on pace inthis Test match. So much so that India decided to leave out HarbhajanSingh to bring in Anil Kumble. I have always maintained that theIndian team should play to its strength spin. Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh are world-class spinners and even if their recordwhile playing abroad is not very good, they would have proved a deadlyduo on this track.The toss didn’t make any great difference; I reckon that India wouldhave opted to bat first anyhow. So it was up to the Indians to cash inon Hooper’s generosity.The Indian innings though did not get off to the best of starts. ShivSunder Das is having a wretched time against the short-risingdeliveries. I feel sorry for the lad; he has to work on improving histechnique. His partner Wasim Jaffer looks to be a sound openingbatsman. He has the right technique and most importantly he alwayslooks to get behind the line of the ball.I was also delighted to see Ajay Ratra show a lot of application onhis way to his maiden Test hundred. It was an innings that put an endto the loose talk by some of the pundits. The game of cricket is easywhen played from a distance. The fact that some of these pundits werenicknamed `strokeless wonders’ in their playing days is something thatwe would do well to remember.Ganguly’s decision to prolong the innings after Ratra got to hishundred baffled me a lot. By doing so, the Indian skipper denied hisbowlers the chance of bowling a few extra overs that evening, whichmight have seen them grabbing a few more wickets. Remember, the WestIndies were under tremendous pressure that evening after Brian Larafell for a low score to Anil Kumble. Talking about Kumble, it washeartening to see him come out and bowl with a broken jaw. He bowledreally well, maintaining a good line and length, which is the key forsuccess on such docile tracks.With Kumble being injured, Tendulkar, who had to suffer themortification of being out for a gloden duck, was the one genuine spinoption India had. I was then surprised to see Tendulkar show a greaterinkling to bowl off-spin than leg-spin. I felt his leg-breaks woulddefinitely have proved more effective.I am sure that India really missed the services of Harbhajan Singh.The off-spinner would have been able to exploit the rough outside theoff-stump of the left-handed batsmen. Remember, the West Indies teamwas packed with five left-handed batsmen.The cricket from both the teams was defensive from the outset and itcontinued to be so, all through the five days. Never did I find anysense of urgency or purpose from either side. Such game-plans are notin the best interest of the game and are better forgotten.

As for India, the sight of Srinath struggling to generate pace must bea worrying. The senior fast bowler looked jaded and it is about timethe think-tank had a close look at their game-plan. I would still backIndia to win if they were to play two spinners rather than placeabsolute faith in pace.The West Indies bowlers will be going after the Indian batsmen atSabina Park. Our think-tank has to realise that it is no good tosettle for a draw. The boys should go out with a positive frame ofmind to win the Test match. This is indeed their last chance to returnhome wreathed in glory.

The thousands who thronged the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam to watch its first ever Twenty20, and Yuvraj Singh’s long-awaited comeback from cancer, had to go home disappointed as rain had the final say. Persistent rain in the evening meant that the toss was itself a non-starter. The match was called off without a ball bowled nearly an hour and 30 minutes after the scheduled 7pm start.There was some consolation for the crowd, though, as Yuvraj made an appearance to loud cheers when he was felicitated by the local association, despite the drizzle. The rain has been a continuing trend in this tour. The Tests at Hyderabad and Bangalore had weather interruptions, but India managed to secure wins in both. The teams will now head to Chennai for the second and final Twenty20 on Tuesday. From the teams’ perspective, the rain couldn’t have come at a worse time, given that the World Twenty20 is only a couple of weeks away. They will hope for better weather in Chennai, or risk going to Sri Lanka short on T20 practice.

North Zone leads the Duleep Trophy table with ten points from twomatches, thanks largely to the batting heroics of Virender Shewag onSunday in their match against West Zone at the Punjab CA Stadium,Mohali, Chandigarh.As the best part of the match was ruined by heavy fog, North werechasing the West score of 284 for the all important first inningslead. Resuming at 217/5 with Shewag and Pankaj Dharmani at the crease,the North innings got off a troubled start when Iqbal Siddiqui hadDharmani trapped in front on his overnight score of 28. North werereduced to 233/6 leaving the match even stevens. Shewag along withSharandeep Singh put on 48 runs for the seventh wicket as Singh wasdismissed for 17. At 281/7 came in Gagandeep Singh and before he wasdismissed for three at 285, North had gained the first innings lead.Both the batsmen were claimed by SR Saxena.Ashish Nehra was the next to go LBW to Bahatule for a duck at 292. Thelast batsman Surendra Singh hit three boundaries in his innings of 15before being dismissed by Siddiqui. The North innings came to an endat 331, leaving Shewag with an unbeaten 162 off 190 balls. One six andtwenty-four boundaries flowed from his bat in his four hours and fiftyminutes stay at the wicket. Siddiqui was the best of the bowlers with31-4-116-5.West were 50/1 at the close of the match in their second innings.Wasim Jaffer remained unbeaten on 29 with NK Patel on 11. West Zonecollected three points from the match and have an aggregate of sixpoints from two games.