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Australia cruised to a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series on Sunday after crushing England by an innings and 51 runs in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval.Australia endured three rain delays to win before the halfway mark of the fourth day, dismissing England for 159 in its second innings.It was an abrupt end for England, losing 4-4 before the players left the field at 9-134 because of rain.The victory followed Australia’s 384-run win in the first Test, leaving them on track to wrap up the five-match series in the third game which begins in Perth on Friday.Glenn McGrath (4-41), Shane Warne (3-36) and Andrew Bichel (2-31) claimed the wickets today as England never regained its balance after resuming at 3-36.Bichel had Robert Key (one) caught in the third over of the day and not even the resistance of veteran Alec Stewart (57) and opener Michael Vaughan (41) could help the tourists avoid an innings loss.Vaughan fell to an outstanding outfield catch by Glenn McGrath at deep mid-wicket from the bowling of Warne, ending England’s remote hopes of setting Australia a run chase.McGrath was airborne and at full stretch when he intercepted Vaughan’s skied sweep shot, ending a 74-run stand with Stewart.Warne also claimed Stewart, who became just the 12th batsman to pass 8000 career Test runs during his 101-ball knock.McGrath then passed Wasim Akram and moved into sixth place on Test cricket’s all-time wicket-taking list when he bowled Matthew Hoggard for one.McGrath finished the Test with 416 career victims and Richard Hadlee (431) and Kapil Dev (434) loom as his next targets.

SYDNEY, July 19 AAP – Steve and Mark Waugh are almost certain to be watching next year’s cricket World Cup from the sidelines after the national selectors sent a clear message to the unwanted pair today.The 37-year-old twins, dropped from the national side earlier this year, couldn’t count themselves among Australia’s top 28 one-day players after failing to make it into the Australia A one-day side to play seven one-dayers against South Africa A in September.The 14-man national side is the same as that which took on Pakistan in three one-dayers last month with the addition of Queensland spin bowler Nathan Hauritz.The 14-man A team is not an experiment with youth – it has its share of experienced players, including Justin Langer, Greg Blewett, Ian Harvey, Andrew Symonds and Simon Katich, who doesn’t even have an Australian Cricket Board contract.The fact the brothers weren’t included is a clear pointer to their future in limited overs cricket.Adam Gilchrist, vice-captain to Waugh in the Test side and deputy to Ricky Ponting in the one-day side, was surprised the twins weren’t in one of the teams.”It is a bit odd,” Gilchrist said.”Obviously … the Waughs could easily slot into any team and still do well.”Langer, who played his last one-dayer for Australia five years ago, will captain the A side.He refused to discount Steve Waugh’s chances of a recall to the national side but figured it unlikely.”There is no doubt he has got the ability to, (it is) whether the opportunity comes up for him to,” Langer said.”Having spoken to him recently, he still has the desire to do it and, if any person could do it against all the odds that are probably stacked against him to do it and make a return, he could.”Both Waughs are still counted among the world’s top-20 one-day players with the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers ratings having them at equal 19th.National selection chairman Trevor Hohns said he was “very, very comfortable” with the two sides, including an A side which included newcomers in 21-year-old NSW all-rounder Michael Clarke and Tasmanian pace bowler Damien Wright.”There’s a couple of guys there I suppose who are a bit of a look and see proposition – we are experimenting a little bit,” Hohns said in a statement.”These matches against South Africa A provide players with valuable experience at the international level and importantly, for those players who may eventually be selected for the World Cup, the familiarity of playing in South Africa.”Steve Waugh, through his manager Robert Joske, said he’d wanted to go on the tour.”I was more than willing to go on the tour if selected but that is not the case,” said Waugh, who will travel to India next week as part of his deal with sponsor MRF.Joske described Waugh as “stoic and strong”.Mark Waugh’s manager, Leo Karis, said he was “not overly surprised” the long-serving batsman had been left out of the A team.He said his client hadn’t given up hope of forcing his way back into World Cup calculations with strong performances in the domestic one-day competition.The national side will play Pakistan and possibly Kenya in a one-day series in Nairobi – pending a security report – from August 27 to September 7.Australia will then travel to Sri Lanka for the ICC Champions Trophy from September 12-29, where it’s drawn in the same group as New Zealand and Bangladesh.Four group winners advance to the knockout semifinals.ACB chief executive James Sutherland said Australia’s participation in the Kenyan tournament would be confirmed once the regular security and operational checks had been done.The tournament was originally to have taken place in Pakistan, and was to have involved New Zealand.But security concerns ruled out Pakistan as a venue and New Zealand said it wouldn’t play in Kenya because it had promised its players a full break in July and August.Kenya was likely to take New Zealand’s place in the triangular tournament.”The ACB has informed the Pakistan Cricket Board that the Australian team is available for the Kenyan one-day international series,” Sutherland said in a statement.”But participation is subject to our satisfaction that player security measures are in place and cricket facilities are adequate.”We need to go through some formalities before we confirm our participation.”Australia and Pakistan have to yet to sort out a venue for a scheduled three-Test tour of Pakistan in October.Bangladesh looms as a possible host after Pakistan was ruled off-limits due to on-going security concerns.Cricket in Pakistan has been badly hit in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States and the resulting war on terror in Afghanistan, as well as tension with neighbouring India.The two Australian teams named today were:Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Watson.Australia A: Justin Langer, (capt), Simon Katich (vice-capt), Greg Blewett, Nathan Bracken, Ryan Campbell, Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Ian Harvey, Mark Higgs, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Brad Williams, Damien Wright.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will declare open the ICC Champions Trophy Sri Lanka 2002 in a vibrant and colourful opening ceremony at 1:30 p.m. (0730 GMT) on Thursday, 12th September at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.The opening, which is scheduled prior to the first match of the tournament where hosts Sri Lanka take on Pakistan, will feature a multi-faceted display of Sri Lankan culture, with colourfully clad elephants, more than a thousand dancers, two hundred drummers, and one hundred flag-bearers.The theme song for the tournament will be sung by the popular Sri Lankan band "Wildfire."Mr. Malcom Gray, President of the International Cricket Council, will hand over the trophy to the Prime Minister, who will then officially declare the tournament open.Media contacts:
Mark Harrison
Media Manager
ICC Champions Trophy Sri Lanka 2002
(94) 77-730337

Niresh Eliatamby
Media Manager
Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka
(94) 77-418848

New Zealand’s rescheduled cricket tour of Pakistan ended prematurely when the second and final Test was called off , barely hours before it was scheduled to start here at the National Stadium, after a bomb blast less than 50 metres from the team hotel.The blast, that killed 14 and injured 22, went off on the road adjacent to the hotel between 7:40am and 7:50am. Both the teams were scheduled to leave for the stadium at 8:00am for opening day’s play.None of the players from the two teams nor the officials were injured. But they were naturally anxious, distracted and horrified with whatever they saw or heard about the gruesome incident.As the New Zealanders preferred to take `shelter’ in open air and spent rest of the morning at the pool side, match referee Mike Procter officially called off the Test at a hastily arranged press conference at 11:30pm.”In consultation with Brig Munawwar Rana (director of the PCB) and Jeff Crowe (New Zealand team manager) and because of security reason, this Test match has been called off. So the tour is over,” Procter said.The Black Caps left for Singapore on their way to Christchurch by Singapore Airlines flight No SQ418 that took off at 7.25pm Wednesday evening. The match officials – Procter, Rudi Koertzen (both South Africans) and Steve Bucknor (West Indian) – also departed for Johannesburg and London respectively via Dubai on the same evening by Emirates flight No EK610 that flew 10.30pm.The New Zealanders were escorted to the airport with heavy security that was considerably strengthened after the blast. There were no less than 50 gun-totting commandos occupying a dozen or so police vans and motorcycles.It was the worst incident in the history of Pakistan sports that led to the cancellation of a foreign team’s official tour.In 1984, India returned home after the assassination of their Prime Minister Indra Gandhi in New Delhi. The second One-day International, which was in progress at Sialkot was immediately abandoned along with the remaining part of the tour. But New Zealand’s decision to abort the tour is not the only thing that is worrying the PCB. The dilemma now facing the PCB is that future events in the country are now in serious jeopardy.Pakistan are to host New Zealand and Australia for a tri-nation one-day series between Aug 27 and Sept 7 and then are scheduled to take on Australia in a three-Test home series between Oct 1 and 24.”We have hardly recovered from this morning’s shock and haven’t really thought what would happen in days to come. But I agree that security issues and foreign team’s future visits to Pakistan will surface,” Munawwar said.In a broad setback, the Pakistan government and PCB’s assurances and guarantees to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Test world about players security, were also proven wrong.”I feel let down and low after today’s incidents. I had made big claims on the ICC platform that Pakistan was as safe as any country for cricket. But today, I feel sad, depressed and upset,” Munawwar said, adding: “I want to express my deepest regrets to New Zealand for the unfortunate incident.”The PCB spokesman further said that it would now require greater effort to convince the world to change their views on players security in Pakistan.Munawwar said the PCB did whatever it could for the smooth running of the tour. “But we are now the victim of circumstances.”Procter, Crowe and NZC’s security manager Reg Dickson endorsed the PCB official’s statement. “It has been an excellent tour until today. We got the security that was promised and we have no complaints against the Pakistan board,” they said.Crowe said it was a devastating blow “because both the PCB and NZC had tried their best to make the tour happen.” But he rejected claims that he had proposed to the PCB during the Lahore Test to shift the second Test to either Faisalabad or reschedule it in the Punjab metropolis. He also said the decision to cancel the tour was taken by the NZC and none of the players was consulted.”For NZC, players’ security is paramount and that was conveyed to the PCB who understood our position,” Crowe said, adding: “We feel sorry for the PCB who did their best and provided us the best hospitality.”

Chris Harris’ selection for the Test team recognised all he has done for Canterbury, his coach Michael Sharpe said today.”It’s hard for us but good for Harry,” Sharpe said. He takes his team into the ninth round State Championship game against Auckland tomorrow still with a chance of taking the trophy.Warren Wisneski (hamstring strain) and Harris are replaced by Cleighten Cornelius and Marcel McKenzie in the Canterbury squad.”It’s an important game and we need to keep working hard,” said first year Canterbury coach Sharpe, who has seen his side win three times in the Championship this season after a two year spell without a win.”It looks a good deck (at Christchurch’s Village Green) and there should be a lot of runs. The Championship, which requires Canterbury to win its last two games and for other results to go its way is “definitely” still on, “but we need things to happen,” said Sharpe.Meanwhile, Auckland have been forced to make several changes from the team which beat Central Districts in Palmerston North last week.Chris Drum, Lou Vincent, Matt Horne and Mark Richardson are on Test duty while Sam Whiteman is still recovering from a back injury.Into the team come Tama Canning, Bradley Nielsen, Sanjeewa Silva, Rob Lynch and Nick Horsley. Nielsen, from the Howick Pakuranga club, and Lynch (Cornwall) make their debut for the State Auckland Aces.The teams are:Canterbury: Gary Stead (captain), Shanan Stewart, Robbie Frew, Michael Papps, Peter Fulton, Aaron Redmond, Marcel McKenzie, Gareth Hopkins, Paul Wiseman, Ryan Burson, Wade Cornelius, Cleighten Cornelius.Auckland: Brooke Walker (captain), Andre Adams, Tama Canning, Nick Horsley, Llorne Howell, Tim McIntosh, Rob Lynch, Bradley Nielsen, Rob Nicol, Gareth Shaw, Sanjeewa Silva, Reece Young.

Sri Lanka’s cricketers arrived at London Heathrow this morning for theirfirst ever Test series in England hopeful that they can quickly forget ameek performance in Sharjah and overcome the loss of star bowler MuttiahMuralitharan for the early part of the tour.Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s captain for nearly three years now, who hasmarshalled his side to their nine consecutive Tests, admitted that the lossof Muralitharan for the first Test, and possibly the second, was a majorblow, but was hopeful that the team would respond well to the challenge.”I am very worried about Murali missing him on the early part of Englandtour,” he said. “It’s going to be very tough tour and to not have Murali andDilhara Fernando (back injury) is a major blow. There is now a lot ofresponsibility on the other fast bowlers to perform well in their absence.”England will perform well in their own conditions and we have a fight inour hands against them, but we do have some experienced players such asAravinda (De Silva) and Hashan (Tillakartne) and now have a very good sidethat includes some excellent fast bowlers.Nevertheless, with Sri Lanka having not won a Test match in the last tenyears without the services of Muralitharan, Jayasuriya is hopeful that hisspin magician is back for the second Test at Edgbaston: “According to Alex(Kontouri) he should be able to play in the third Test at Old Trafford andhas a slim chance of playing in the second Test.”Sri Lanka’s coach Dav Whatmore maintains that the team has the potential towin overseas and cast off their reputation for playing poorly abroad.”The team has moved on from the last England series,” said Whatmore. “Wehave had new players come into the side make an impression, some of theexisting players have progressed, confidence has grown and the players havebecome tougher mentally.””We want to emerge as a world force in Test cricket – a team that cannot betaken lightly in any conditions, against any opposition. To win in Englandwould be a fantastic moment for Sri Lankan cricket.””The key to being successful there will be how quickly we can adapt to theconditions. We can expect time to be lost for poor weather and each playermust make full use of their opportunities in the practice games.”Jayasuriya brushed aside the team’s 217 run humiliation against Pakistan inSharjah Cup 2002 final, claiming that it was now history, but some concernednavel gazing is inevitable. Sri Lanka can ill-afford to repeat the selectionblunders made there in England.”Our overall performance in Sharjah was good – we won three games – but wewere outplayed in every department in the final where everything wentagainst us,” Jayasuriya said. “But I don’t think that’s a worrying factor.What we have to consider it all history and move on.”He admitted the decision to play five batsmen was a mistake. “We had triedboth Kalu (Romesh Kaluwitharana) and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the middleorder without great success and in the final we opted for Kumar Dharmasenawhom we believed could handle the pressure.”Sri Lanka play their first game against Kent at Canterbury next Friday, thefirst of four first class practice games before the first Test at Lordsstarting May 16. They will play three Tests and a triangular one-day seriesalso involving India.

Made his QCA first grade debut in 1995-96. He represented Queensland Under-19 in 1995-96 and 1996-97 and has since appeared for Queensland Colts and Queensland Academy of Sport. In 2000-01 he made his one-day debut followed by his first-class debut for Queensland. Schools – various primary in Perth and Cairns; Kooralbyn International (one term); Nudgee College.

The Indoor Cricket Association of Sri Lanka played their inauguraleight-a-side match on Saturday at Thalawathugoda, Colombo. Sanath Jayasuriya’s ‘Dream’ team, which was stacked full of players from the national side,defeated a Romesh Kaluwitharana XI that included Arjuna Ranatunga and HashanTillakaratne.Kaluwitharana – Director of Austasia Sports, an Australian backed companywho are constructing the sports complex and promoting the game in SriLanka – expects the fast indoor game to catch on in Sri Lanka. He said that30 teams have already confirmed their participation in a corporate indoorcricket tournament.The game itself is fast, frantic and very hot in the small netted playingarea. Each side has eight players, all of whom have to bat and bowl. Batsmenplay in pairs and each pair is given four overs. They cannot be dismissed,but five runs are deducted from the total when a wicket falls.The five run penalty rule makes for an exciting climax, but nearly costJayasuriya’s team dear as Russel Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene were run outfrequently having needed just a handful of runs to overhaul the 66 runtarget when the last quarter of the innings began.

The uncapped legspinner Todd Astle has been named in New Zealand’s Test squad for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Astle will have a strong chance of making his debut in the spin-friendly conditions, given that Jeetan Patel is the only other slow bowler in the squad, with Tarun Nethula having been axed and Daniel Vettori ruled out after suffering an Achilles tendon problem during the World Twenty20.New Zealand have named a 15-man squad for the two Tests, in Galle and Colombo in the second half of November, and a 15-man group for the one Twenty20 and five ODIs that precede the Tests. Three members of the World T20 squad have not been included for the limited-overs games: the injured Vettori; the fast bowler Doug Bracewell; and the opener Martin Guptill, whose workload is being managed.The Test squad features the batsman Rob Nicol, who played two Tests against South Africa in March before he was dropped and treated as a limited-overs specialist for the next few months. But the only uncapped player in the group is Astle, the Canterbury legspinner, who has picked up 127 first-class wickets at an average of 34.79 in a career spanning seven seasons.Astle, 26, was the second-leading spinner in the Plunket Shield last summer, with 31 victims at 38.35, and the national selection manager Kim Littlejohn said his all-round skills gave him the edge ahead of other bowlers.”He has the ability to contribute in all three facets of the game and deserves his opportunity after a putting in consistent performances over a number of seasons,” Littlejohn said of Astle. “Tarun Nethula has missed out on selection this time. We think he would benefit from a return to regular first-class cricket where he can get some overs under his belt and stake his claim for reselection.Littlejohn also said the wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling was not included in the Test squad as it was considered better for him to be given some game time in the Plunket Shield. “BJ Watling will return to New Zealand after the one-day matches,” Littlejohn said. “He has spent a lot of time touring but has had limited opportunities to play and we believe it is best for his development if he’s made available for the upcoming Plunket Shield fixtures.”Trent Boult, Andrew Ellis and Tom Latham were all named in the squad for the T20 and ODIs, having not been part of the World T20 group. Littlejohn said the decision to leave Bracewell out had been made to allow him to work on some technical problems ahead of the Test series.”Doug Bracewell will miss the short-form matches so he can spend some time working on a few minor technical issues with his action,” Littlejohn said. “The best approach is to spend time getting things right in domestic four-day cricket ahead of the Test series.”Ronnie Hira and Adam Milne have been included in the ODI squad having previously being selected in T20 sides. We have been impressed by the development of both players and they offer the side something a bit different.”It has been a demanding period for the Black Caps, especially for the players who compete in all three forms. As part of the on-going management of player workload we have decided to rest Martin Guptill for the T20 and ODI matches so he can refresh for the upcoming international commitments.”The tour begins with a T20 on October 30 in Pallekele, before five ODIs from November 1 to November 12. The Test series runs from November 17 to November 29.Test squad Martin Guptill, Rob Nicol, Daniel Flynn, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor (capt), Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Kruger van Wyk, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Todd Astle, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin.ODI and Twenty20 squad Rob Nicol, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor (capt), Kane Williamson, BJ Watling, James Franklin, Jacob Oram, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Andrew Ellis, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Ronnie Hira, Adam Milne.

Taking into account their batting failure in the first innings UttarPradesh made commendable amends the second time round to end the thirdday at 296/6 against Madhya Pradesh in the Central Zone Ranji Trophytie at the Green Park in Kanpur on Saturday.Having conceded a first innings lead of 140, UP resumed their secondknock at 12 for no loss this morning. Opener N Ali (5) fell leg beforeto Jai P Yadav in the third over of the day. Mohd Kaif, hisreplacement at the crease, did not last long either. With thescoreboard reading 39, Kaif departed, caught by Golwalkar off DevendraBundela. This brought in Rizwan Shamshad to the crease and heresponded well with a timely unbeaten 117.Both Jyoti Yadav (35) and the UP skipper Gyanendra Pandey (24)accompanied Shamshad along the way. But with the score at 115, adouble blow by Bundela left them in a spot of bother. Bundela firsthad Pandey caught by Srivastava in the 44th over and two balls laterMohd Saif was trapped leg before.UP stumper Manoj Mudgal joined Shamshad to forge a 143 run sixthwicket stand. In the meantime Shamshad reached his century from 186balls. The fag end of the day saw Bundela strike for the fifth time inthe innings to remove Mudgal for 55. Mrityunjay Tripathi accompaniedShamshad through to stumps. Bundela was the most successful bowler forMP with figures of 5 for 81.