Junior National Selectors, headed by former Sri Lankan left arm spinner,Roger Wijesuriya have selected a pool of 24 players ahead of the forthcomingunder 19 tour of Pakistan in November. The players have been chosen afterten trial matches and a final squad will be picked from these 24. Theplayers will be training under Owen Mottau.The squad:Charith Sylvester, D. Prasad (St. De Mazenod College, Kandana), U. Tharanga(Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda), S. Perera, L. Fernando (St. Sebastian’sCollege, Moratuwa), M. Bandara (Mahanama College, Colombo), OmeshWijesiriwardene (Richmond College, Galle), D. Niroshan (Sri DevanandaCollege, Ambalangoda), Y. Dilruk (St. John’s College, Panadura), U. Warna,K. Gunawardene (D.S Senanayake College, Colombo), J. Mendis (St. ThomasCollege, Mt. Lavania), S. Wijeratne (Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa), M.Dunusinghe, G. Chandrakumar (Nalanda College, Colombo), D. Indika (ThurstanCollege, Colombo), E. Abeysinghe (Ananda College, Colombo), I. Mutalip,(Maris Stella College, Negombo), A. Wettasinghe (Kalutara MMV, Kalutara, F.Mahroof, (Wesley College, Colombo), N. Wickramaratne, (Dharmaraja College,Kandy), D. Gunetileke (Maliyadewa College, Kurunegala), C. Kumarsaroo (St.Thomas College, Matara), P. Ranawaka (St. Anthony’s College, Kandy)

Neil Fairbrother and Chris Schofield set up a comfortable Lancashire victorywhich left Derbyshire at the bottom of the National League Second Divisionat Old Trafford last night.Fairbrother, who has enjoyed an excellent season in both Championship andone-day cricket, stepped up to open the batting and hit 78 from 98 balls.That set Lancashire on the way to a total of 210 for six in their 45 overs,with handy contributions from John Crawley, Andy Flintoff, Graham Lloyd andWarren Hegg.Derbyshire made a good start to their reply with Steve Stubbings and MattDowman sharing an opening stand of 49 in 11 overs.But after Stubbings fell lbw to England under-19 paceman Kyle Hogg, theScorpions lost wickets steadily.Chris Bassano was run out by a direct hit from Mike Smethurst and Dowmanwas caught behind for 41 off Gary Yates’s first ball.Then Schofield took over, claiming his best ever limited overs figures offive for 31 with only Nathan Dumelow’s 33 offering much resistance.Schofield also ran out Derbyshire’s debutant Steve Selwood from backwardpoint to complete a satisfying personal night, while Yates ended with twofor 21 from his nine overs, and Hogg earned one for 14 in six overs.

It was more of anti-climax at the Gymkhana ground in Hyderabad onSunday in the finals of the Moin-ud_Dowlah Gold Cup Invitationtournament. India Cements overpowered MRF XI by seven wickets andregistered and emphatic victory. Chasing a modest target of 209 runsfor a win, India Cements knocked off the runs with 16.3 overs tospare. The highlight of the day was the brilliant all round perfomanceby the India international player Virender Shewag.Earlier in the day Sridharan Sriram won the toss for MRF XI and didnot hesitate to have a bat first. With just nine runs on the board MRFXI lost their opening batsman Aashish Kapoor (5) in the fourth over.India discards Vikram Rathour and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (22) took thescore to 55 in the fifteenth over. Kanitkar was caught by Sunil Oasisoff the bowling of skipper S Suresh.Rajat Batia (19) was caught behind by Padmanabhan Raju off the bowlingof Gokulakrishnan and MRF XI slipped to 86/3 in the 22nd over. VikramRathour and Hemang Badani steadied the innings and put together adecent partnership of 51 runs off 11.3 overs. Rathour made the onlyhalf century of the MRF XI innings, scoring 55 runs off 84 balls withthe help of half a dozen boundaries.It was Verender Shewag who claimed the valuable wicket of Rathour,trapping the batsman in front of the wicket. Shewag tasted moresuccess when he had Badani (27) stumped by wicket-keeper Raju. TanveerJabbar (19) and Sriram (19) were the other batsmen to get to doublefigures. The MRF XI innings wound up at 208 all out in 48.2 overs.Shewag with his off spin was the pick of the bowlers, finishing withthe figures of 10-0-38-3. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Suresh claimedtwo wickets apiece.India Cements lost the skipper Suresh early in their run chase, caughtby Kapoor off the bowling of Kumaran in the fifth over after makingjust six runs. Shewag who opened with Suresh was in brilliant form,knocking the ball all around the park. Vidyut was promoted up thebatting order and cracked 22 runs off 23 balls, before being caught byMahesh off the bowling of Gautam in the 12th over.Rahul Dravid walked in and along with Shewag smashed the MRF XIbowlers for runs. They added 106 runs for the third wicket off just15.2 overs, taking the score to 158 in the 27th over. Shewagbludgeoned 92 runs off 91 balls before being bowled by Kumaran. Hisinnings was decorated with two majestic blows over the ropes and 11glorious boundaries.Sridharan Sharath came out to bat and did not waste any time, strikingsix boundaries to make an unbeaten 26 off 28 balls to take the IndiaCements past the target. Rahul Dravid remained unbeaten on 51 off 56balls with the help of four boundaries. MRF XI bowlers were completelydominated by the India Cements batsmen, only exception being Kumaran(10-1-35-2). Hemang Badani injured his back while fielding and laterwas found out that he a stress fracture. India Cements were the worthychampions and took home the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup.

It was a day that began well yet ended in jitters for the touring England team. With fans keenly watching the performance of an England side whose batting is its greater strength, the tourists won themselves no admirers by ending on 163/9. The Test series is just around the corner and the familiar murmurs of a 3-0 India result are doing the rounds once more. That might be a bit harsh on the visitors, and yet, one can’t help but wonder what they would do in the face of the superior Indian bowling attack.It was a day however, that began with England on the field. Powered by a workmanlike 149 from Tamil Nadu opener Sridharan Sriram, the Indian Board President’s XI team made it to 339/7 declared at lunch on the third and final day of this warm-up match at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad. Jacob Martin (89) added just six runs to his overnight score before being bowled by Matthew Hoggard. When the partnership for the third wicket was finally broken, it was worth a massive 202 runs.Rohan Gavaskar (24) played an attractive cameo, as he has done so many times in the past, but could not go on to make a significant score.Trailing by 19 runs, England got off to a bad start, with more than 50 overs to be played out. Michael Vaughan, who has had a lacklustre start to the tour of India, failed to get going once more, being cleaned up by a quick delivery from Tinu Yohannan that slipped past the bat and uprooted the stumps. Vaughan added to his first innings 22, a second innings 18.Mark Butcher, taking his time over getting his eye in, faced 32 balls for his 12, before nicking a ball from left-arm seamer Surendra Singh through to the ‘keeper. The other big hope for England in this tour of the subcontinent, Graham Thorpe failed with the bat. The usually compact middle-order batsman played at a ball well away from his body and ended up dragging the ball onto his stumps. Sanjay Bangar picked up his third wicket of the match when Thorpe departed on 13.Nasser Hussain, who has looked the most comfortable and yet is not the most prolific of the England batsmen, got his eye in for 38 before he spooned a sharp catch to Murali Kartik at deep gully off the bowling of Sanjay Bangar.Mark Ramprakash (32) with a steady hand kept one side going, but wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and England were 163/9 off 51 overs when the match was called off after tea. With the eight mandatory overs bowled, the game was declared a draw when the two teams agreed they’d had enough.The revelation of the day however, was Sanjay Bangar’s medium-pace. Bowling with great control, the Railways medium-pacer consistently got the ball to move both ways in the air. Although a trifle lucky to trap Richard Dawson in front, there was no doubting the fact that Bangar richly deserved his haul of 5/34.Traveling to Jaipur to play their final warm-up match before the Test series begins, England face an uphill task. Of their batsmen, none other that Ramprakash has spent significant time out in the middle. The bowlers have struggled, and although Ball picked up 3 wickets, the skipper must know that is going to be an entirely different ball game bowling to the batting rich Indian team.Hussain will have to be positive and put up a brave face for his team. However, there is already enough evidence to show that this England team will struggle against an energised India at home.

BRISBANE – Australia’s cricket selectors have been given extra time tosolve a spinning problem for the series opener against South Africa nextweek, but they won’t hand out a Test cap for the sake of it.The Adelaide Oval, which hosts the first Test from next Friday, hastraditionally been a base for two spinners, leaving a question mark overwho could partner Shane Warne.Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller are the most experienced contenders butcases can be made against both, leaving almost a lottery amongAustralia’s otherwise thin spinning ranks.National selector Allan Border said publicly that two spinners would benamed in a 12 or 13-man squad for Adelaide, leaving the door open for asurprise selection.But chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said the squad, which wassupposed to be named tomorrow, had not yet been discussed.The selectors will pick the squad on Saturday night after Hohns watchesSouth Africa open its first-class tour during a four-day match againstWestern Australia at the WACA Ground.Hohns was adamant selectors would not throw in another spinner for thesake of tradition at the Adelaide Oval, even though MacGill and Millerbowled half of Australia’s overs against the West Indies last summer.”It’s an option, and there is no doubt about that, but we have to decidewhich is the right way to go,” Hohns said.”We have to first decide whether another spinner warrants selection.”We’ve got a few young fellows coming through and we’ve got the triedand true performers so it’s something to be discussed.”Spinners across the country haven’t been banging down Hohns’ door thissummer, after struggling for impact on sometimes unco-operative wickets.Even Australian coach John Buchanan admitted that selectors faced atough decision.”You could go around the whole country and, if you look at thestatistics this season, there isn’t one person who has put up their handand said ‘pick me’,” Buchanan said.”It will be an interesting choice if selectors decide to go that way.”Selectors must first settle on the style of any second spinner -MacGill’s leg spin, Miller’s off spin or a left-arm spinner.Miller would have an advantage because his offies complement Warne’s legspin but the 38-year-old is struggling for opportunities with Victoria.His Test career would almost certainly be over if selectors plucked arookie off-spinner, perhaps even Queenslander Nathan Hauritz, for aglimpse of the Test scene.The off-spinners would be the frontrunners with South Africa set to playthree key left-handed batsmen – Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener and JacquesRudolph.”That makes a difference,” Buchanan said.”Leg spin is one of the spinning options that we need to have. It wouldbe, in a sense, nice for the ball to go the other way but that’s adecision for selectors.”That would leave MacGill out of the running, continuing a frustratingseason during which his on-field behaviour has been questioned.Other spinners around the country include Tasmania’s Daniel Marsh, NSWoff-spinner Anthony Clark, young Victorian leggie Cameron White, SouthAustralians Brad Young and Peter McIntyre and West Australian Brad Hogg.

Wellington tried to contain the ebullient Chris Harris as their key to beating Canterbury and their failure to do so almost cost them the game.They held out for a draw with only three wickets left but Harris, with the bat especially, was the dominant performer in the match.Wellington captain Richard Jones, who scored a century today – his fourth in the calendar year – said: “Canterbury dominated throughout the game and Harry was the dominant figure. He was the key wicket we had to get because they feed off him.”Harris’ first innings 70 and his second innings 117 not out proved how futile Wellington’s efforts were.But despite that, there was still a chance of a Wellington win today.”It needed Grant Donaldson or myself to get through to tea and losing only one of us. That would have meant we had six wickets under our belt but we steadily lost our wickets,” he said.Going into the day he hadn’t been looking too far ahead because that created its own pressure and they were just concentrating on biding their time, knowing the runs would come as long as they were there.Jones was confident that despite the loss of wickets Wellington could hold on because the nature of the pitch was that once in, it was possible to stay in.Canterbury captain Gary Stead said it was disappointing not to win but there were some encouraging signs from the game.”We were in a position of maybe winning the match and there were a couple of half chances that we didn’t hang onto,” he said.But compared to the performances over the last few years the side had set a benchmark now and had shown it was level, if not ahead, of last year’s champions at the moment.The Cantabrians had created enough chances through pressure bowling, had the benefits of Aaron Redmond and Harris’ record partnership and Wade Cornelius’ first innings seven-wicket bag.”Warren Wisneski bowled well throughout and our spinners bowled reasonably well,” he said.Redmond, the leg-spinner, was in an unusual position of being able to attack through longer periods than having to bowl defensively as has often been the case previously.If the side could learn from the situation it found itself in, it would win more games than it draws in the future.Stead hadn’t been concerned about the morning session when Jones and Donaldson looked like getting Wellington into a position to launch an assault.”We kept attacking fields and we knew if we could get Jones that would put the brakes on the scoring,” he said.And so it proved.It was just the lack of normal wear on a pitch four days out, but in reality still about three days old, that had reduced the chances of bowling Wellington out.

The England Women’s Cricket team made a winning start to their tour of India today, beating a Women’s Cricket Association of India XI (WCAI) by 6 wickets in a warm-up match at the Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai.England’s bowlers shared the wickets as the Association fielded the India international opening batting partnership, Gulshan Sharma (0) and Jaya Sharma (30). 21-year-old Nottinghamshire off-spinner Dawn Holden, who travelled to India from Australia having played for Western Australia State this winter, took two wickets as did England’s most experienced player, Clare Taylor, touring India for the fourth time.Surrey’s Sarah Clarke, making her full England debut, took the wicket of Reema Malhotra for 4 runs. Gulshan, Sudharani and Patel were all out for 0.In reply, England’s young openers Caroline Atkins (Sussex) and Arran Thompson (Lancashire) reached 21 without loss, with Thompson finally finishing on 65* in the 46th over, beating her previous highest England score of 44*. England Captain Clare Connor finished on 13* having also taken the wicket of Sharma.The England team are staying in Chennai, and play the first one-day international match against India on Sunday 6th January at the Gurunanak College Ground.WCAI XI won toss and elected to bat.Women’s Cricket Association of India XI : 137 for 9 from 50 oversEngland: 138 for 4 from 46 oversENGLAND WON BY 6 WICKETS

A patient unbeaten 78 from India star Sanjay Bangar and his unbeaten 56-run sixth wicket partnership with JP Yadav saw Railways post a fighting reply to Tamil Nadu’s first innings score of 277 at the end of the second day’s play at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi. When stumps were drawn, the Railway men had reached 179 for five.In the morning, Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper TR Arasu added 21 runs to his overnight score of 25 while No. 10 R Ramkumar made 25 as the visitors put on a further 60 runs before losing their last three wickets.The Railways reply began on the wrong note, opener Amit Pagnis being dismissed off the first ball of the second over. But Bangar put on 70 runs for second wicket with Tejinder Pal Singh (29) and 41 runs with star batsman Yere Goud to put this team on track to a good score. But then he had to witness the loss of three quick wickets. No. 7 JP Yadav (28*) though kept Bangar good company providing the Railway men a realistic chance of steaming past the Tamil Nadu first innings score.

Queenstown’s sun finally broke through on the third afternoon but it didn’t shine on either Otago or England as a draw was all England could manage against the worst-performed side in New Zealand’s domestic cricket this summer.That has to be of concern to England who struggled through two top order collapses when only three full playing days lie ahead of the side before they meet New Zealand in the first Test of their three-match series.There was a moment on this full day of cricket, when Otago might have been entertaining thoughts of an international scalp with England 162/8 in their second innings and time for a reasonable chase to occur.But that chance slipped away, like so many others for Otago this summer, on the backs of the batting of tail-enders, James Ormond, Richard Dawson and Andy Caddick.Canterbury with their international players involved will be a much more stern test for England and they will need a significant rise in performance to escape defeat against a better-equipped side on Hagley Oval.England scored 257 in their second innings, for a lead of 260. That was thanks mainly to an innings of 68 by stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick and 38 off 31 balls by Ormond, 35 not out off 50 by Dawson and 16 to Caddick as 95 were added by the last three batsmen.Earlier, Otago did the decent thing and declared at their overnight score, three runs behind England.Otago’s reward was the wicket of Mark Butcher before a run had been scored. He attempted a pull shot to a shortish ball from Kerry Walmsley, sort of a Butcher’s hook, and it flew high in the air from a top edge and Craig Pryor, running back from first slip, got his hands around the ball to complete a good catch.Graham Thorpe completely misjudged a ball from Walmsley and played over it, losing his off and middle stumps as a result. He too departed for a duck with the team score on seven.Then, as if to make a mockery of the departed batsmen, Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash took to the bowling in determined style scoring 99 for the third wicket off 105 balls in 73 minutes.It was, literally, thrill a minute stuff. Trescothick climbed into one over from David Sewell taking 20 runs while Pryor, who had bowled with such good effect in the first innings to secure a five-wicket bag, lasted only three overs while 28 runs were taken from his bowling.Ramprakash hit a lovely six over point off Walmsley but the bowler had the final say having him caught by Simon Beare for 42 off 46 balls.Trescothick brought up his 50 off 64 balls and was on 68, and just back from a brief rain break, when he was caught by Beare at point off an ineffectual shot from the first ball of Sewell’s second spell.Otago set out with the best of intentions but it was always going to take nothing short of a miracle for them to get anywhere near.Openers Robbie Lawson and Brendon McCullum rattled on 30 in nearly five overs but once Lawson was caught behind from Caddick’s bowling for 11, the collapse all Otago supporters feared began.Four wickets fell for four runs before captain Craig Cumming steadied the ship and then, with Pryor’s help, set about righting it.They got through to 57 before Pryor offered a simple caught and bowled chance to Craig White and Duncan Drew followed soon after for a duck.Cumming proved the rock, even if he started out as more the flaky, schisty kind of Central Otago rock than the tougher greywacke of the Southern Alps, as he hooked successive balls from a tiring Ormond for boundaries to lift his score to 23 and the team to 70.With Nathan Morland as a fine support, Cumming dominated the latter stages to blunt the English attack and saw the draw achieved, a minor triumph for an Otago team down on its luck in recent times.They deserved credit for their approach in the match. They provided England with a competent contest, they made the running with their declaration and by bowling England out twice and Cumming was able to reflect on 57 not out off 116 balls while Morland was 19 not out off 49 as Otago finished on 124/6.Caddick ended with three for 43, giving him seven for 85 for the match while today White bowled very tightly and took two for seven from seven overs. Andrew Flintoff did not bowl as he has some problems with a knee.

Country venues across Victoria are eagerly anticipating next weekend’s Victorian Premier Cricket Round 11 fixtures. For the fifth successive season, the Country Round of one-day matches will re-commence the Premier season after the Christmas break.Five venues – Castlemaine, Eaglehawk, Lavington, Numurkah and Torquay – will host Premier Cricket for the first time, with the match between St.Kilda and South Melbourne at Lavington the first ever Premier Cricket match to be held outside Victoria.Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Victoria, Mr Ken Jacobs said the round was very important for cricket in regional Victoria. "We operate in an era of extremely busy scheduling and an unfortunate result is that country matches rarely feature on the tour itineraries of visiting international teams any more". He added "we believe the Country Round plays an increasingly important role in delivering high standard cricket to country regions, particularly given the availability of Victorian Bushrangers players".Northcote and Bushrangers fast-bowler Mick Lewis said the round was one players looked forward to every year. "It’s always an enjoyable round. I like the chance to play in different towns across Victoria and the facilities and hospitality given to us is first-class". Lewis said the matches created a unique atmosphere. "There’s generally very good crowds at the games and an atmosphere that only country people can create".BACKGROUNDERPREMIER CRICKET COUNTRY ROUNDRound 11 – Sunday 12th January, 2003NORTHCOTE v FRANKSTON PENINSULA at Numurkah Showgrounds, Numurkah
Player watch: Darren Berry, Mick Lewis, Ian Harvey, Rob Bartlett (N’cote) Matthew Mott, Shawn Flegler, Luke Walker (F/Pen)ST KILDA v SOUTH MELBOURNE at Lavington Sports Ground, Lavington NSW
Player watch: Michael Klinger, Nick Jewell, Graeme Rummans, Dan Horsley (St Kilda) Grant Gardiner, Roger Sillence (Sth Melb)ESSENDON v DANDENONG at Camp Reserve, Castlemaine
Player watch: Mathew Inness, Ben Fletcher, Vikram Solanki (Ess) Warren Ayres, Cameron White, Will Carr (Dand)CARLTON v CAMBERWELL MAGPIES at Deakin Reserve, Shepparton
Player watch: Matthew Elliott, Peter Harper (Camb Mag) David Harris (Carl)GEELONG v HAWTHORN-MONASH UNI at Spring Creek Reserve, Torquay
Player watch: Clinton Peake, Damien Koliba (Geel) Peter Roach, Simon Dart (Haw-MU)FITZROY DONCASTER v MELBOURNE at North Ballarat Oval, Ballarat
Player watch: David Plumpton, Brendan Joyce (F-D) Brad Hodge, Rob Cassell, Simon Cook, Shane Harwood, Andrew McDonald (Melb)RINGWOOD v RICHMOND at Wangaratta Showgrounds, Wangaratta
Player watch: Darren Dempsey, Craig Howard (Ring) Ian Hewett, Matt Albers (Rich)FOOTSCRAY-VIC UNI v MELBOURNE UNI at Canterbury Park, Eaglehawk
Player watch: Daniel Lowery, Ashley Robertson, Geoff Allardice (MU) Dale McDonald, Duncan Brede (F-VU)PRAHRAN v NORTH MELBOURNE at Princes Park, Maryborough
Player watch: Jason Arnberger, David Hussey, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain (Prah) Liam Pickering, Shannon Waters (NM)