Fears are growing that England batsman Graham Thorpe could miss the start of the Ashes series because of his injured calf.Thorpe suffered the injury warming up before the first NatWest Series game against Pakistan.It was hoped that he would return during the series but, in fact, missed the entire competition and has now been ruled out of Surrey’s CricInfo Championship game against Lancashire tomorrow.Of the 12 centrally contracted players, only Thorpe, Matthew Hoggard and skipper Nasser Hussain, who is aiming to get some games under his belt after breaking a thumb in the First Test against Pakistan last month, were given permission to play for their counties tomorrow. Hussain’s side Essex entertain the Australians at Chelmsford.Even if Thorpe manages to shake off the injury in the next few days, it would give him little time to prepare for the First Test against Australia starting next Thursday at Edgbaston.An ECB spokesman said: “It won’t necessarily rule him out of the Test match; he is just not fit to play in a game that starts tomorrow.”The England selectors announce their squad for Birmingham on Saturday and could name an extra batsman in the squad as well as Thorpe, thus giving the Surrey man extra time to prove his fitness.

NOTTINGHAM, England – Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has brandedthose who threw a firecracker at one of his players during their 36-runday-night loss to Pakistan here tonight as “idiots”.It narrowly missed Australian speedster Brett Lee, but prompted Waugh tolead his team off the pitch, delaying the game for almost 20 minutesbefore they returned after being assured it would not happen again.Security at Trent Bridge had been stepped up for the game after previousugly scenes at Edgbaston and Headingley.A steward was detained in hospital in Leeds on Sunday after beinginjured during an invasion of supporters after Pakistan’s convincingvictory over England.Speaking after the game, Waugh said: “The stewards tried their best tocontain things but you can’t control idiots, can you?”I took the players off and until I felt reassured about their safety wewere not going to go back out there.”Today there was an improvement in the way things were dealt with but itwas still not an ideal situation.”They put up fences but I don’t think I would have been too keen if Ihad been a steward stood behind them.”There were 350 stewards on duty at Trent Bridge and plastic mesh wasused to try to prevent the crowd swarming onto the pitch.Australian team manager Steve Bernard told reporters that the problemwould never be truly solved until the England and Wales Cricket Board(ECB) received the legal backing they are urgently seeking from theBritish government.Britain’s new sports minister Richard Caborn, who consulted ECBofficials about security over the last two days, has for the time beingsidestepped the ECB’s call for legislation.ECB chief executive Tim Lamb has insisted that legislation to stoptrespassing is the only way to prevent a repeat incident.But, so far, the British government appears to be stalling on a positiveresponse.”We’ll talk to the ECB, no doubt,” Bernard said.”I’m sure the ECB are committed to making this as safe as possible forus.”But, as we’ve said before, the problem stems from the parameters inwhich they work.”There is no legislation in cricket here that allows them to take actionagainst people who come on to the field — it’s as simple as that.”So, at the end of the day, they’re trying all these other measureswhich, as good as they are, are never going to do the job which needs tobe done.”Pakistan coach Richard Pybus said: “If there had been a second incidenttoday, we would have been off the field and that would have been the endof the game.”But, after the initial incident, the crowd quietened down and I wouldlike to give credit to Notts County Cricket Club.”I thought their organisation was superb.”

One of the Caribbean’s leading sports medicine officials says it isuncommon for a sports team to experience the high number of injuriesthat have plagued the West Indies team in Zimbabwe during the last twoweeks.Dr Adrian Lorde is suggesting that a full-time physiotherapist shouldbe part of the team’s set-up.The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), however, utilises the servicesof a sports therapist only.Lorde’s comments follow the West Indies’ recent injury woes thatprematurely ended the tour of champion batsman Brian Lara and fastbowlers Kerry Jeremy, Cameron Cuffy and Mervyn Dillon.There is definitely a need for a physiotherapist as opposed to someonewho is not trained and has the equipment to treat these injuries,Lorde told NATIONSPORT yesterday.I think the WICB had accepted that they were going to take a physio,but we didn’t hear anything more about it.Last February, the WICB appointed Trinidadian Ronald Rogers as theteam’s sports therapist on a tour-by-tour basis and it led toimmediate opposition from the Barbados Sports Medicine Association. Asports therapist, it is believed, is not qualified to handle injuryprevention and management and is used mainly as a fitness trainer.The physiotherapist can conduct training sessions, but the sportstherapist can’t treat injuries when they occur, said Lorde, a formerpresident of the Barbados Sports Medicine Association.The physiotherapist, because of his better knowledge of the anatomy ofthe body might be able to look at the range of movement of one’sjoints and maybe recommend to the management team and to the cricketerbetter ways in which to do certain things.Since the West Indies left the Caribbean in mid-June following astrenuous two-week training camp in Trinidad, the team was hit byLara’s recurring hamstring problem, Jeremy’s back strain, Cuffy’sstress fracture of the left instep and Dillon’s right knee problem.It is unusual for any sporting team particularly in a cricket team tohave so many injuries in such a short space of time, Lorde said.He, however, added that from this distance, it would be difficult tosay what caused the injuries.It could be a combination of factors, including the climaticconditions in the African nation where it is winter.Maybe lack of proper warming up and inactivity on the field and thensudden activity could cause muscles to be injured easily, Lorde said.He added that a physiotherapist, who usually goes through a three-yearcourse of study, could have helped in managing the nature of the WestIndies team’s injuries in Zimbabwe.

Cricket umpires and scorers were stumped when they had to oversee alocal cricket match in which all 22 players shared the same surname,according to a report Thursday in Britain’s Sun tabloid.The cricketers, all named Patel, were playing a Sunday league match inthe northern English city of Bradford, which has a high Asianpopulation.One Patel was caught Patel bowled Patel for two runs. Top scorer wasPatel with 18. In total 11 of the wickets were caught and bowled byPatels, and two Patels were run out.Don Butterfield, secretary of the Bradford Mutual Sunday SchoolLeague, said the match between Amarmilan and Yorkshire LPS was unique.”We’ve never known anything like it,” the Sun quoted him as saying.”Luckily they only play each other twice a season – it was a nightmarefor the umpires.”I think we have created a little bit of history. It might havehappened in India but never here.”Cricketing “bible” Wisden called the game “extraordinary. The chancesof it happening must be billions to one.”Umpire Toy Higgins called the match “bizarre”. “At one point there wasa bit of banter and I said ‘can Patel please be quiet’ and they allshut up,” he told reporters.Even the scorer was called Patel, 15-year-old Amit. “Some players evenhad the same first four initials so everyone’s names had to be writtenin full,” he was reported as saying.Amarmilan secretary and medium pace bowler Chandu Patel, 49, said manyof the players are related and originate from Gujarat.In the match, Amarmilan beat Yorkshire LPS by 31 runs, 106 to 75.

Javed Miandad’s tenure as a short-term batting coach is now at closingstage. This world class Pakistani came here to give his professionalexpertise over batting to the local boys including the National side thattakes on Pakistan on August 29 in Multan. Miandad, one of the all timegreats, has captivated everyone by his charming personality and cordiality.The players from the National squad acknowledged that it would have been alot better if they could get Miandad earlier.The important thing is that Miandad did not try to alter their stance orstyle. Actually he made an effort to put his 25-year experience across theplayers’ minds and gave them the confidence. He taught them how to facerelatively stronger opponents without being nervous. Besides that he spottedevery batsman’s strengths and limitations and let him be conscious of those.He did not see all the matches of Bangladesh except some sessions in theTest against India." You have to play a good number of International matches and then you thinkabout the improvements. An improvement in cricket is only a match relatedfact. Bangladesh is still a baby side with a lot of promising players. Ihave found that they have quality and I believe their quality will flourish.They will play plenty of matches and it’s only then they are going to learnwhich things to do and which not. The process will take time and you have towait for it", said Miandad.He found every Bangladeshi batsman having one or more technical flaws. Heasked them to change a few things in their technique only if they feltcomfortable with those. Javed says:" In fact no one is impeccable not even me. Most of the batsmen around theworld have one or two technical defects. The more they are playing withother nations the better they are learning about how to cover those defects.Some technical defects are very usual to some batsmen since they startedplaying cricket and they are getting runs despite having those."Besides beefing up the National squad with theoretical advices, Javed hasraised their moral courage too. All the fourteen members were seen moreconfident than ever. Their wistful voices echoed a single line " Only if wegot Javed Bhai earlier!"The National team have rounded off its training sessions and Javed is givingattention to the Bangladesh-A and Under-19 squads in BKSP.

Australian left-hander Jimmy Maher is looking to return to Glamorgan nextyear after a successful summer as the club’s overseas player. Maher hopes that his consistency and attitude may have secured a further spell with the Welsh county.Maher told the BBC: “The people at Glamorgan know I want to come back. I have made a lot of friends here and I have cricket to thank for that.”Maher has just totalled 1,000 first-class runs this summer at an average of55. With three centuries in the CricInfo Championship, and a further 600runs in the one-day game, Maher has had the success typical of the majorityof Australians playing county cricket this season.”I think you can make more of an impact here if you are here for longer.Hopefully they’ll ask me to return, but if they don’t then there will not beany grudges held,” he added.”All I can do is do my job, and do it well, and hope they want me back.”The 27-year-old expects to hear from the club within the next fortnight, butplans to holiday in the UK anyway to catch up with team mates.

Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa and Suresh Perera – bowlers with questionmarks against their fitness or bowling actions – were all named in a Sri Lanka pool of 20 by the national selectors to prepare for the three-nation Champions trophy cricket tournament in Sharjah next month. Sanath Jayasuriya was retained as captain with Marvan Atapattu as his deputy.Fernando (sore back), Zoysa (fractured right ankle) and Perera (suspectbowling action) figure in the pool which also sees the recall of all-rounders Upul Chandana and Tilan Samaraweera, middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan and fast bowler Akalanka Ganegama.Fernando was rested from the one-off Test against Bangladesh last weekas a precautionary measure and is expected to make it to the final 15 which will be picked in the first week of October.Left-arm fast bowler Zoysa has not played since the last tournament inSharjah five months ago after fracturing his right ankle. According toCricket Board sources he is fighting hard to regain his fitness for the Sharjah tournament.Perera has yet not got the green light from the local bowling reviewcommittee after he was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) by ICC umpire Steve Bucknor over his bowling action at the end of the first Test against India at Galle last month.The committee comprises Bandula Waranapura, K.T. Francis, ChampakaRamanayake and Lalith Kaluperuma.”We are awaiting the tapes and comments on the areas of concern from the ICC. But in the meantime, we are going ahead and reviewing the match tapes available to us,” said Francis.Francis said they want to make sure that Perera is totally cleared fromall allegations over certain deliveries bowled by him which had upsetumpire Bucknor.If a bowler is reported three times within one year, then the matterwill be taken off the hands of the local review committee and passed on to the ICC who will continue with the investigations.Francis is confident that Perera would be made available for selectionto Sharjah which is usually made a fortnight before the team’s departure.The Sharjah tournament which also features Pakistan and Zimbabwe commences on October 26 with the final scheduled for November 4.Francis said that Darryl Foster, the fast bowling coach from WesternAustralia would be arriving in Sri Lanka at the end of the month and areport from him would also be taken to be sent to the ICC.Foster cleared Sri Lanka’s champion spinner Muttiah Muralitharan afterhe was called for chucking by Australian umpire Darrel Hair six years ago.All 16 players picked to represent Sri Lanka in the Coca Cola one-dayinternational triangular have been retained in the pool which will commence training from September 19.Sri Lanka pool for Sharjah:Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu (vice-captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Avishka Gunawardana, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Suresh Perera, Kumar Dharmasena, Dulip Liyanage, Dinusha Fernando, Upul Chandana, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakeratne Dilshan, Akalanka Ganegama.

Whatever else Hansie Cronje has said and done over the past couple of years, one contradiction keeps slithering through: if the former South African captain really loves cricket as much as he professes, then why does he persist in putting the game through such agony.Cronje’s High Court challenge to his life ban in Pretoria this week is a case in point, if not the case in point. In none of the arguments presented by Cronje’s legal team is there an acknowledgement that his behaviour over a long period was antithetical to the spirit of the game.This was never more the case than when he offered Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams money to underperform in a one-day international in India. Cronje’s contrition for this has extended to expressing regret for his actions but genuine remorse has been somewhat more difficult to find.He has persisted to characterise his actions as a "mistake", worse, perhaps, than playing a rash shot in a tight moment, but nothing so serious as to warrant a life ban from the game.On the face of it it is a harsh punishment, but he has not been quite so hard done by as he likes to pretend. There is nothing in the United Cricket Board ban to prevent him writing a newspaper column or giving his views on a game or a series in a television studio. The UCB don’t want him in their grounds at least until after the 2003 World Cup and, let’s be honest here, who could blame them.A recurring nightmare for the UCB, Ali Bacher’s World Cup Policy Committee and the International Cricket Council is the thought of two captains stepping out onto the Wanderers in 2003 for the toss for the World Cup final to be conducted by – Hansie Cronje.The arguments of Cronje’s lawyers in Pretoria were based on South African labour and constitutional law and, who knows, they may have found a loophole for him to slip through. Judgement has been reserved and both sides have been wary of predicting an outcome.But at its heart, the Hansie Cronje affair is far less about South African law than it is about the spirit of the game. At least one school of thought believes that Cronje’s only concern at the moment is with money (and he has not been slow to tell anyone who cares that his lawyers have cost him a packet. The irony that this is the consequence of his own behaviour appears to escape him).At the same time, it cannot be denied that he has substantial support inside South Africa. Quite possibly a substantial portion of this support comes from those who were first drawn to the game by the glamour and drama of the 1992 World Cup. Certainly, they seem to believe that contrary to the cliché, Hansie Cronje is greater than the game.Cronje’s challenge suggests that this is what he thinks – it might be worth recalling that Cronje was but a few months old in 1970 when South Africa played its last pre-isolation series. Whatever the case, if Cronje has his ban overturned it will be a tragedy for all cricket and South African cricket in particular.The ramifications are almost too ghastly to contemplate. Sanctions against South Africa could include suspension or expulsion from the ICC or the loss of the World Cup. All or any of these would change the form and the shape of cricket in the 21st Century.Does Cronje really want this? Is there no one close to him capable of telling him as much? Has his sense of grievance or his desire for money and recognition warped his better judgement to a point where self-interest has taken over completely?Banned or not, though, some things will not change. Cronje betrayed his team, his country and his sport when he allowed himself to be seduced by bookmakers. The best lawyers in the world can’t alter that fact.

World renowned star batsman, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards ofAntigua was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame in a gala ceremonyheld at the Radisson Hotel, Cromwell, Connecticut, Saturday, September29. The former West Indies’ captain was hailed as one of the greatestWest Indies players ever, and a fitting role model for youths toemulate. The large turnout stood and applauded Sir Vivian followinghis induction.Sir Vivian joins such past inductees as Sir Garfield Sobers, GeorgeHeadley, Sir Leonard Hutton, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes,Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Conrad Hunte, Alfred Valentine, Lance Gibbs,Rev. Wesley Hall, Clive Lloyd, Hanif Mohammed and umpire Tom Ewart tothe prestigious halls.Master of Ceremonies Attorney Rudolph Cohen, also a former member ofthe West Indies cricket team, relived some of the feats of the WestIndian hero, who tore the hearts out of Australian speed demons DennisLillee and Jeffery Thompson, during a tour of that country in 1975-76.One of the most important aspects of Sir Vivian’s career, Cohen said,is that after he became captain of the West Indies’ team, he continuedhis performance as a leader, never losing a series.Stating that it was a great honour to have Sir Vivian in our presence,Cohen explained how great a character Sir Vivian is by recalling aresponse he gave to a question during an interview. Asked about analleged catch taken at the wicket during one of his innings, Cohensaid that Sir Vivian replied that he is playing the game long enoughto know when he hit the ball.Sir Vivian paid tribute to all the people who helped him along theway, in particular his older brother Donald, and fellow AntiguanCharles Henry, whom he said took him to see his first Test match.Thanking the Cricket Hall of Fame’s committee for the honour bestowedon him, The Master Blaster,as he is affectionately called, saidthat despite his now known feats he was just as nervous going to thewicket as any other player. He lamented, however, that he had to comeall the way to North America to receive this honour, something whichhe believes should be done in the Caribbean.In responding to a question from the audience, Sir Vivian paid tributeto former player Lawrence Rowe, whom he described as one of thecoolest individuals that he has ever come across and said that as faras the game is concerned Rowe will always be his hero. Rowe, he said,always whistles while batting, but during a tour of Australia whilethey were at the wicket facing the speedsters’ Thompson and Lillee, henoticed that the whistling was missing. He said that he calmly wentdown the wicket to Rowe to enquire what was wrong in which Rowereplied that the men were dishing out fire today.To a question about his thoughts on the present state of West Indiescricket, Sir Vivian put the blame at the leadership of the West IndiesCricket Board, which he said needs to be united. Like the economy weare in a down cycle at the moment. It will take hard work andcalculated decisions to get us out of it, and when that is done, thenwe will have something to shout about again, he said.We have the talent, he said, but in order for us to go forward, theyoungsters coming into the fold must realize that we must know wherewe are coming from in order to know where we are going,he said.Luckily for me, we had people to look up to, emulate and follow after,he added, stating that it is quite easy for us to forget that we haveto crawl before we can walk.During the ceremony two proclamations were received, one fromConnecticut Governor John G. Rowland and the other from the city ofHartford’s Council declaring the day Sir Vivian’s Day in the state andcity respectively.Earlier that day Sir Vivian attended a reception held in his honour atthe Hartford Public Library, visited the Cricket Hall of Fame and acricket match at the city’s Keney Park between a visiting English teamand current the local champions, the West Indian Social Club.Receiving presidential awards for their services to the game andsupport for the Cricket Hall of Fame was The Weekly Gleaner, The WestIndian/American Newspaper, U.S. Cricketer International and Torontobased comedian Norman Sabu Grant, who kept the audience in stitchesat the start of the program.

Confirming rumours that have been circulating in the game for some time, Essex have issued a press release to the effect that their new overseas player for the 2002 season will be Zimbabwe’s wicket-keeper batsman Andy Flower.Essex have a splendid record over the years for success with overseas players, going back to the days when they signed Keith Boyce as an unknown youngster before the all-rounder went on to establish himself as a key member of Clive Lloyd’s great West Indian team. Ken McEwan fell into the same category in that he made his name in county cricket during South Africa’s international exclusion, while, more recently, established Test stars like Allan Border, Mark Waugh and Salim Malik have been prolific with the county.Flower will replace Stuart Law who had phenomenal success with Essex before a much-publicised disagreement that saw the Queenslander move to Lancashire for next season.The 33 year-old Zimbabwean is currently listed as the number one Test batsman in the world by the Price Waterhouse Coopers Ratings after a series of consistent scores, which have taken his average to 102 in his last 12 Tests.A colossus in Zimbabwean cricket, Flower has been the cornerstone of his country’s batting in recent years with more than 4,000 Test runs averaging in excess of 50 since making his Test debut in 1992. Left-hander Flower is also a leading exponent in the one-day game who currently enjoys a position of fifteenth in the international rankings. He holds the record for the highest Test score by a wicket-keeper when he made an unbeaten 232 against India last winter.Essex chief executive David East said; “The signing of Andy Flower underlines the commitment by the county to reclaim their status as one of the country’s leading clubs. He will be a terrific asset to us in both championship cricket and one-day cricket and I am both delighted and excited that we have been able to successfully conclude our negotiations to bring the best batsman in the world to Essex on a one-year deal.”During the recent Zimbabwe-England one-day series, there was a much-publicised spat between Flower and the man who will be a new county colleague, James Foster. The England wicket-keeper claimed a catch, Flower stood his ground, and there was a lengthy discussion between the two and England captain Nasser Hussain. All three received reprimands from the ICC match referee.Bearing in mind Hussain’s involvement with Essex, it would suggest that Foster is pencilled in as England wicket-keeper for some time. The fact that Essex have gone for a direct replacement as their overseas player means that they are assuming Foster’s England involvement might make him unavailable for county cricket. At the same time, he is still studying at Durham University and that will also affect his availability whatever international calls he might receive.Flower already has considerable experience of English conditions. Apart international tours with Zimbabwe, he has also spent time playing league cricket in Birmingham and, for one season, was coach to the Oxford University side.Flower will join the county after Zimbabwe complete their final Test against Australia on 7th May, although it is expected that he will have to leave Essex in early September to represent his country in the ICC Knock-Out Competition.