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India will prepare for the 2003 World Cup in the eastern coastal city of Durban as the organisers announced training camp locations on Monday, sprinkling competitors around South Africa.They also announced that cricketing legends Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Richard Hadlee, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Borderhad accepted invitations to act as international ambassadors for the tournament.Defending champions Australia will land in the remote mining town they requested while the host team got beautifulCape Town.All 14 teams in the competition except Zimbabwe, which borders South Africa, are expected in the country at least a week prior to the tournament.They will complete their preparations in one of the country’s cricket centres, and play at least two games againstprovincial sides, Dr Ali Bacher, the tournament’s executive director said on Monday at a news conference.Australian cricket authorities requested Potchefstroom, an unexciting backwater 100 kilometres southwest ofJohannesburg, as their base because of the positive feedback given by the Australian under-19 squad, who stayed there during the 1998 Junior World Cup.Bangladesh will prepare for the cup at Pietermaritzburg. Sri Lanka will be based in central Kimberley. Pakistan andCanada have been allocated Johannesburg, and Namibia nearby Benoni.The West Indies was allocated the central city of Bloemfontein, while England and Kenya will respectively bebased in the southern coastal cities of Port Elizabeth and East London.Holland was allocated Stellenbosch, a farming town near Cape Town.”We endeavour to be fair and place every team in a town or city where we are confident they will be assured of thebest possible treatment,” the South African Press Association quoted Bacher as saying.The opening pool match of the tournament will take place in Cape Town on February 6, 2003, featuring South Africa against either England or the West Indies.The English are not currently in the hosts’ group, but that could change if Pakistan soundly beats New Zealand in anupcoming limited overs series – a result that would alter seedings to be finalised by the end of September.The official match programme for the 2003 event will be announced October 27.Bacher said $1 million had been approved to provide security for the tournament.

The ECB National Academy won the second match of their winter tour programme in Australia earlier today – beating South Australia 2nd XI by 70 runs in a One-Day game.Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell took 5-22 with his medium pacers as the home side were bowled out for 170 after the National Academy XI had made 240 in their first innings.Middlesex batsman Andrew Strauss top scored for the National Academy side with 56 backed up by a quick-fire 39 from Durham’s Nicky Peng made in only 37 minutes and including two sixes.A ninth wicket partnership of 60 between Lancashire’s Chris Schofield (30 not out) and Glamorgan wicket-keeper Mark Wallace (36) then bolstered the Academy after they had slumped to 177-8.The National Academy XI, who won their first match against Tasmania 2nd XI last week, will play a 4-Day match against their Australian equivalents, the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, starting next Monday, December 3.

The ICC will pay seven full-member boards $10 million over the next eight years, as part of the Test Cricket Fund announced during last year’s Big Three takeover of cricket’s governing body. Other than the BCCI, ECB and CA, the remaining full-member boards will each receive $1.25 million annually, beginning January 2016.The latest figures indicate that each member receiving the Test Match Fund stands to gain $10 million over eight years. This is less than the figure of $12.5 million over eight years announced by ECB president and ICC executive committee member Giles Clarke in February 2014 as each nation’s Test Cricket Fund package.The ICC plans to make its first Test Cricket Fund payment of $600,000 in early January, before disbursing another $650,000 to the ‘small seven’ member boards in July. Payments are expected to follow this biannual pattern until 2023.The ICC had originally announced that the Test Cricket Fund aimed to “encourage and support Test match cricket” outside the Big Three nations. As Boards have already entered bilateral touring agreements until 2023, there appears to be limited scope to enhance their Test schedules using the Test Cricket Fund payments.It appears more likely that the money will be used to underwrite loss-making tours. For example, Sri Lanka Cricket loses money on Test tours featuring all nations except the Big Three and Pakistan. The Test Cricket Fund would help it recover losses from home tours such as the recent visit by West Indies, which is estimated to have cost SLC about $648,000.The Test Cricket Fund had been among the chief incentives offered to the smaller boards, as the BCCI, ECB and CA sought support for their takeover of the ICC in January and February last year. During that time, Clarke, then ECB’s chairman, had said in an interview with : “The ICC has agreed to establish a Test Match Fund of $12.5 million per country over eight years – available to all except England, India and Australia – which will allow those countries which find Test cricket difficult to sustain economically the opportunity to continue to stage Test matches.”The ICC has not yet announced the funds’ terms of usage, or how it will hold boards accountable to the objective of encouraging Test cricket.

The recently floated Indian Cricket League (ICL) has found that “reactions have been positive” in its hunt to recruit domestic players.”Quite a few people are disillusioned with the way the BCCI functions,” Himanshu Mody, the business head of the ICL, told the . “At the same time we are carefully scanning players’ lists for our needs. We need to be careful and make sure they suit us too. They have to be players who have either played some level of quality cricket or youngsters who have the potential to do so.”The ICL is a Twenty20 tournament scheduled for this October and will have six teams with two Indian internationals, four overseas players and eight juniors in each side. After two years the plan is to increase the number of sides in the league to 16.On its part, the BCCI is not taking the ICL’s search for players too seriously. “It will not affect domestic cricket in any way,” said Niranjan Shah, the board secretary. The board also made brave noises on the exodus of Indian domestic coaches to the ICL – at last count Madan Lal, Sandeep Patil, and Balwinder Singh Sandhu. “I don’t think the Ranji would be affected. We have enough quality coaches,” Sanjay Jagdale, the national selector, said.Sandhu, whose contract with the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association was not renewed this season, said he had had standing offers or feelers from four BCCI-affiliated associations but still decided to join the ICL. According to him, the ICL was not a competitor to the BCCI since the end goal of the two – that of improving Indian cricket – was the same. “You know why so many talented ones fail to get spotted in the regular camps run by the associations,” Sandhu told Zee News. “They are pushed out by those who are less talented but are being backed by men who matter. This can be set right in ICL talent spotting camps.”Meanwhile, Atul Wassan, Delhi’s chairman of selectors, said that losing some of its top players might be a blessing in disguise for the team. “As it is, we struggle to qualify everywhere. If two-three stars go, we might as well lose with youngsters,” said Wassan. He admitted however that if the team lost youngsters it would hurt it badly.

Kepler Wessels, Northamptonshire’s director of cricket, has left the county by mutual consent after a poor season which has left the side propping up the foot of the second division of the Championship.Wessels joined Northants in 2003 and within a year they had gained promotion to the top flight, but he always struggled against a backdrop of budget restrictions, although their one-day performances were not as poor.”Understandably, a poor run of results had led to frustrations for the director of cricket, the dressing room and the club and inevitably tensions run high in these situations,” said a statement issued by the county. “Kepler feels that he has now taken the club as far as he thinks possible and has had conversation with the club recently. It is with this background that we have amicably parted company at this time.”It seems unlikely that Northamptonshire will be rushed into appointing a replacement with only a couple of months of the season remaining.

Yuvraj Singh’s fine century sent India into the final © AFP

West Indies nearly upset the pre-tournament predictions with a brave rally at the weekend, but India scraped through by seven runs to give the organisers, broadcasters and spectators the final they wanted: a heavyweight sub-continental clash between Sri Lanka and India, a re-run of the Asia Cup final last year and the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2002.Once again, on the back of their good form in this tournament and remarkable record in one-day tournament finals on home turf (they have lost just two of the 13 finals played in Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka start as the favourites. And Rahul Dravid has been quick to seize the tag of underdogs for India, claiming that Marvan Atapattu’s team are the ones with all the pressure weighing down on their shoulders.”Sri Lanka are a dangerous side but this is a final and the pressure is obviously going to be on them,” Dravid told reporters in Colombo. “They are the form team of the tournament and they are going to be expected to win at home – hopefully we can have a good day and create some more pressure for them.”As far as pre-match hype goes, this is hardly in the Don King league. It is, of course, nonsense too. The fanaticism for cricket in India, fuelled by a population over 1 billion, means that every time their players step onto the field they are the ones under most pressure wherever and whoever they play. Sri Lanka’s cricket following is passionate but more laidback. A defeat is shrugged off easily and Sri Lanka’s players need not barricade their homes.In any case, this contest revolves around the toss and crucially the performance of the top orders, a problem area for both sides. Neither India nor Sri Lanka are yet to produce a really robust batting display. So far individual brilliance has papered over the failure to build consistent partnerships up top. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif rescued India against West Indies last night and Mahela Jayawardene excelled against India in Dambulla. Both camps have admitted to concerns.Greg Chappell repeated his “I am reasonably comfortable” theme for the tour: “The top order batting has been a concern but every game is a different game and Yuvraj [Singh] showed yesterday that there is no reason why good players cannot get runs out there. The guys at the top of the order are all keen to make runs and I am reasonably comfortable with where we are at the moment.”Marvan Atapattu, who will open with Sanath Jayasuriya after resting himself in the last game, has taken confidence from the fact that all the batsmen, barring Upul Tharanga who will be omitted, have starred in one game. But the failure to cobble together a cohesive performance remains a worry. “The fact that all of the batsmen have not clicked in one match is a bit of a concern. But all of our top-order batsmen are experienced enough to put up a better show and it has to happen tomorrow.”History tells us that 75% of the finals played at Premadasa International Stadium are won by the team batting first and whoever wins the flip of the coin tomorrow afternoon will immediately be in the driving seat. If their top-order then fires then the chasing side are faced with a mountainous challenge. The only caveat to the record book is West Indies near-success last night, one of the highest chases in the venue’s history, which will give the chasing team hope.India have been boosted by the news that Sourav Ganguly, their top scorer against Sri Lanka in Dambulla, did not fracture his arm after being hit by a nasty short ball from Daren Powell on Sunday night. “The X-rays revealed no structural damage,” Chappell told reporters, “and only some soft tissue damage so he should be fine.”India’s main selection dilemma will then be whether to include two spinners after Anil Kumble’s fine performance against West Indies (3 for 38). “Playing two spinners is definitely an option we have but we will need to take a closer look at the pitch,” Rahul Dravid told the media. If they don’t play then they are left with the even trickier task of choosing between Kumble and Harbhajan Singh – Kumble appears to have his nose in front.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are set to welcome back senior left-armer Chaminda Vaas after injury. “Chaminda [Vaas] has had a couple of good net sessions and he is now 100 per cent fit,” Atapattu revealed. He could have played against West Indies on Saturday but the selectors preferred to wrap him in cotton wool and save him for the final, trusting him to deliver without a single game in the tournament thus far. Vaas was not anticipating any hiccups at training: “I have been playing so many matches and my mind is strong enough for me to come back after injury and perform straightaway.”Farveez Maharoof has impressed with bat and ball in the tournament and his place is assured. Nuwan Zoysa’s waywardness and rustiness against West Indies will leave him carrying drinks and then Dilhara Fernando or Dilhara Lokuhettige will fight it out for the third seamers slot – unless Sri Lanka’s selectors pull a bunny out the hat and throw the ball to Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s smiling slinger who is a relatively unknown quantity for India’s top order.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Dilhara Lokuhettige, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Farveez Maharoof, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.India (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammed Kaif, 7 Mahendra Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Mohammad Sami is in the limelight© AFP

In a surprise move the Pakistan Cricket Board has nominated Mohammad Sami as their representative in the official launch of the ICC Champions Trophy. Every country is required to send one member and the place usually goes to the captain or a senior player. Pakistan, however, have chosen Sami, who is just 22 years old, ahead of senior players like Saqlain Mushtaq and Shoaib Akhtar who are currently playing cricket in England, and could easily have attended the launch at Lord’s even if Inzamam-ul-Haq was unavailable.The News of Karachi has reported that this decision was taken because it was unclear if Shoaib would be in England at the time the request came from the ICC. The report adds that Saqlain was not considered as he is not a permanent member of the Pakistan team at present.Sami is currently playing for Kent in the English domestic competition and, despite having only moderate success in the recent series against India, is believed to be an integral part of Pakistan’s plans for the future. The opportunity to represent Pakistan in this prestigious event – where the players and administrators will pose for an official photograph – only furthers this belief.

Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya officially tendered his resignation on Friday morning, handing over a letter to cricket board chief executive Anura Tennekoon.Jayasuriya had resigned immediately after the World Cup but was persuaded to stay on for the Sharjah Cup so the selectors could identify a successor."He handed over a letter to me this morning and I have informed the chairman of selectors," said Tennekoon.With two selectors currently out of the country, the five-man panel are expected to discuss the captaincy after the Sinhalese New Year next week.The committee, headed by former Sri Lanka leg-spinner Lalith Kaluperuma, will have to decide first whether to accept Jayasuriya’s resignation and then who should take over."The selectors will have to make the decision as to whether to accept his resignation," confirmed Tennekoon.However, Jayasuriya made it abundantly clear during the recent Sharjah Cup that he now wants to continue only as a player.”I was asked to continue for Sharjah but after this they will have to find someone else to do the job," he said. "I have made my decision and I will continue as a player.”Explaining his decision, he said: “After the World Cup I thought the time had come to groom someone for the 2007 World Cup.”The 33-year-old all-rounder believes Marvan Atapattu, the current vice-captain, is his natural successor: “My personal thinking is that Marvan should take over – he has a lot of experience and has been vice-captain for some time now.”

Warwickshire gained their revenge on Yorkshire by beating them by four wickets with 35 balls to spare at Headingley to go through to the semi-finals of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy.It was a shock result after Warwickshire had been bowled out for only 59 on the same ground two days earlier when Yorkshire had won the day-night match by 175 runs.The man who turned-the-tables for them was Trevor Penney who came in with Warwickshire on a shaky 63 for four as they chased a victory target of 189.Penney was still there at the close with 58 and his brave performance earned him the man-of-the-match award.He made his runs off only 80 balls and struck six fours and a six, adding an unbroken 59 in 12 overs with Ashley Giles (19 not out) to put the issue beyond doubt.Although Yorkshire left out Chris Silverwood because of a slight back strain they included their England pair of Darren Gough and Craig White but neither was able worry Warwickshire unduly. Gough was economical but failed to take a wicket in ten overs which cost him 28 runs while White picked up just one wicket for 36 runs.Put in to bat, Yorkshire seemed to have taken command after a hesitant start and there was an outstanding knock of 82 from Anthony McGrath who hit eight crisp boundaries off the 136 balls he received.But when he was run out by Nick Knight’s direct hit from cover it triggered a collapse which saw Yorkshire’s last five wickets crash for 15 runs in 25 deliveries, both skipper David Byas and Ryan Sidebottom also failing to make their crease.Yorkshire’s latest fast bowling discovery Steven Kirby had his first disappointing day since joining the county a few weeks ago and he was far too erratic, going for 53 off his ten overs.Ryan Sidebottom was easily the best of the bowlers with three for 32 but Knight (29) and Dougie Brown (30) both batted sensibly in helping lay the foundation which Penney was able to build upon.

Alfred Mugabo has certainly been doing something right down at the Arsenal training ground in recent weeks.

The Rwandan U17 International has been on the end of some big praise from fans favourite and fellow teammate Jack Wilshere.

The England international, who himself has been tipped for a big career, revealed his support for Mugabo on his twitter feed just a couple of weeks ago.

@JackWilshere tweeted: Watch out for this young lad at #Arsenal #Decent #Baller

When somebody of Wilshere’s calibre goes out of his way to praise a youngster it’s bound to get people noticing.

Mugabo compares himself to the likes of fellow Arsenal star Abou Diaby and revealed that Barcelona midfielder Xavi is hero and favourite player of all time.

The big, strong and versatile Rwandan is happiest when sitting just in front of the back, but can easily make the transition into centre-back, centre-midfield, or even as a wing back.

Mugabo was aware of his talent from a very young age, even in primary school he was progressing at a faster rate than many, playing for the year 6 football team when he was still learning in class 3.

Just a few years later Arsenal wrapped up a deal for the Rwandan when he was aged just 16-years old.

The deal came after Mugabo earned his first International call-up during the U17 World cup at the age of just 15.

Despite the midfielder’s side dropping out in the group stages there was no doubting the valuable experience it gave Mugabo.

And it now looks as though the Rwandan has taken the experience and progression into the training ground as he continues his development and starts to get noticed.

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Mugabo will now be hoping that his good form continues to get him noticed as he looks to gain a chance to reach the Arsenal first team in years to come.

There’s no doubting that the strong Rwandan is going the right way about is thus far.

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