Merv Hughes has been interviewed for the Austalian selection panel’s fourth spot following the resignation of Allan Border last month. The Age reported Hughes did not apply to replace Border, but was asked by Cricket Australia to consider the job and was the first to meet with them.The paper said Ray Bright, the Victoria nomination, would be interviewed tomorrow. Other candidates for the position under Trevor Hohns, the chairman, are Tom Hogan, the former Western Australia international spinner and New South Wales’ Marshall Rosen. Darren Lehmann has been backed by South Australia despite intending to continue playing.While Hughes is portrayed as a larrikin, he understands the difficulties of selection after 53 Tests as a fringe, injured and crucial figure. Hughes, who has bowled with or against the panel members Hohns, Andrew Hilditch and David Boon, has also applied for a place on Victoria’s selection committee, which has lost the chairman Mick O’Sullivan.

Durham have released Marcus North and Shaun Tait, their Australian overseas players, from their contracts.North had been signed as a replacement for Herschelle Gibbs, who had been in talks, but then confirmed that he would not be joining Durham’s 2004 squad, and Tait was brought in as a replacement for Shoaib Akhtar. Durham have already confirmed that Mike Hussey and Ashley Noffke, who are also both Australian, will be filling the overseas quota for the forthcoming season.Durham have also dispensed with the services of Ian Pattison and Pallav Kumar due to extreme competition for places within the squad, and Andy Blignaut, the Zimbabwean allrounder who signed a short-term contract towards the end of the season, has not been offered an extension. Vince Wells will also not be returning to the Riverside, after announcing his retirement earlier this year.”Each of these players has made a valuable contribution to the set up here at Durham,” said David Harker, the chief executive. “The commitment of these players to the club is greatly valued, and we would like to wish them the best of luck for the future.”

Several reporters arrived in Nagpur with their heads full of dramatic thoughts about pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium and it would have been understandable had they sued for anti-climax. Reports about the greenness of the pitch had nearly toppled the little big man’s tennis elbow as the main story in the sports pages. When the reporters saw it for themselves, there was grass, but it was straw-coloured, not green.Cricket associations in Indian regard the playing square as a nuclear installation and every reporter is deemed a security threat. But from adistance, the pitch looked normal: it was boringly rectangular and the distance between stumps at either end a predictable 22 yards. What’s more, there were no cracks wide enough to drop keys into, nor did it seem likely that devils would arise from beneath it on the third day.In this series so far, the pitches have come under severe scrutiny. Butapparently, the pitches haven’t been made privy to the plot, and accordingly, they have belied expectations. The earth at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was riddled with cracks, provoking predictions that Anil Kumble would make short work of Australia. Australia ran up 474 in the first innings and pitch stayed firm till the last day. Then, on the supposedly flat MA Chidambaram stadium pitch, Kumble did take a seven-for on the first day.And now, in Nagpur, just the slightest touch of grass on the pitch has settongues wagging. The pitch looks far from frightening. There aren’t tufts ofgrass, or a consistent carpet, that could give a cricket ball, – even hurledat great speed – the exaggerated movement, vertically or horizontally, thatwill force a false shot.But what of those reams of newspaper and gallons of ink spent describing thepitch? Was it all smoke, no fire? One former Indian cricketer said, “This isa not a wicket, but might well pay like one.” A ,for the uninitiated, is a pitch that makes bowlers weep, while batsmen notchup best-ever scores and rack up records like statisticians were being bannedovernight. Even a man who will be forced to bat in the next few days laughedwhen the possibility of the pitch being green was raised. “Green-top? If youjust got your eye in, even you would make 30-40 on this pitch,” he said.When a cricketer concedes that a journalist may make the odd runon a pitch, you know that there’s nothing to fear for the real batsmen.Bring on the mullet-haired fast men. Bring on the record-breaking spinners.This is Nagpur, the city of oranges. You can eat a Jaffa here. But servingone up will be an entirely different matter.

Sri Lanka cricket board chief, Hemaka Amarasuriya, hinted at fresh board elections on Thursday night, arguing that the time had come to end a two-year period of control by interim committees.A government appointed interim committee has run Sri Lanka cricket ever since the suspension of an elected executive committee in March 2001 following allegations of financial mismanagement and constitutional malpractice.However, there have been increasing calls for fresh elections in recent months and the interim chairman Amarasuriya now believes the time is ripe for a return to democracy.”Interim committees are not good for the game and we have to decide what is now best for Sri Lanka cricket,” said Amarasuriya, adding, “I believe in elected committees with safeguards.”No elections have been formally announced by the sports ministry but Amarasuriya suggested his term in office is about to end and there have been strong rumours of elections being held after the current tour by New Zealand.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has expressed its disappointment at the comments made by Jack Simmons, chairman at Lancashire, and Robin Smith, Yorkshire’s chairman, who both expressed their disapproval at Duncan Fletcher’s decision to rest the national players by making them unavailable for the C&G Trophy semi-finals.The ECB had announced their intent to rest the England players through a press release titled: `Counties and sponsors rally behind England team’. The national players and the administrative officials were taken aback at the protest by the counties, and felt that the protest portrayed a lack of concern, especially since the Ashes is in the balance.Simmons was upset that the ECB had not spoken to him first about their decision and felt that the issue could have been handled better by the board. Lancashire will be without Andrew Flintoff for their semi-final against Warwickshire on August 20. Simmons said that he was not informed of Flintoff’s ankle injury until he called up a board official. The ECB’s medical staff said that Flintoff sustained a minor ankle problem while bowling during the last day of the Old Trafford Test. However, Jim Cumbes, Lancashire’s chief executive, has taken a different stand by supporting the ECB’s decision. “Having witnessed the intensity with which the last Test was played I can fully appreciate why Duncan needs these players ready for the Trent Bridge Test match,” Cumbes was quoted as saying in the board’s press release.Robin Smith, chairman at Yorkshire, said that if Yorkshire beat Hampshire in the C&G Trophy semi-final, he would oppose any moves to withdraw Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard from the final. “I accept that the circumstances in this case are exceptional,” Smith was quoted as saying in , “but in my view both counties appearing in the final can rightly expect to field their best team, which means a team including the England players.” With the C&G Trophy final scheduled for September 3, five days before the fifth Test at The Oval, The ECB might have to step in again.

Saleem Altaf, the director of cricket operations of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), will take up the issue of Inzamam-ul-Haq’s exclusion from the Super Series squads at the ICC Chief Executive’s Committee meeting in Dubai starting on Sunday. The ICC Super Series will involve matches between Australia and a World XI, to be played in Australia in October.Abbas Zaidi, the PCB’s director of board operations, said that Altaf would not question the integrity of the ICC selectors, but would present Pakistan’s view that clearer methods and criteria were needed for selecting the World XI teams. “This is a follow-up to the letter we’ve already sent to the ICC outlining the outrage and resentment in Pakistan over the exclusion of Inzamam from the ICC World eleven Test and one-day teams that play Australia in the Super Series next month,” Zaidi was quoted as saying in , a Pakistan-based daily. “We are not asking the ICC to reconsider Inzamam’s selection for the World eleven squads but we are only saying it would be better if the ICC make its committees more broad-based.”Zaidi said that the PCB would ideally like to have a representative on the selection panel. “Obviously the PCB comes under pressure as to what it is doing to protect and promote its players and cricket at the ICC level when such a thing happens that Inzamam is not considered good enough for selection in either the Test or one-day squad,” he said. “[Altaf] would also stress on the need to have more country representation on the ICC selection committee on rotation basis with each country getting an equal chance on the committee.”Inzamam has scored 940 Test runs at just under 59 since the start of 2004. As a one-day player, he averages 46.14 with the bat in that period.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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How they were out

A stunning England fightback, with Andrew Flintoff leading from the front, and bad light were the major players on the fourth day at The Oval. With another 56 overs lost England are edging near to regaining the Ashes, but just as no day this series has seemed complete without a contribution from Flintoff the same can be said of Shane Warne. Australia were given one final sliver of hope to cling to as Warne removed Andrew Strauss in his first overRicky Ponting had been forced to turn to his spinners early, but even with them operating England were offered the light on two occasions. Unsurprisingly Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan nearly jogged back to the pavilion on both times. The Australians did not make a great deal of fuss but were not enamoured by the decision. On the resumption after the first stoppage the players tried to make their point by all wearing sunglasses as they walked to the pitch.But that was a rare moment of humour in another seriously competitive day, the majority of which brought a thrilling bowling performance from England. Flintoff operated for the remaining duration of the Australia innings and his total spell, taken from yesterday evening, lasted 18 overs. It was a spell of sustained, hostile pace bowling which none of the Australia batsmen were comfortable at facing. After Flintoff took his fifth wicket Hoggard ran through the tail as England claimed a completely unexpected six-run lead.With the weather playing such a significant part in this match Australia were relieved when play started on time following torrential overnight thunderstorms. However, their progress suffered an early blow when Flintoff removed Damien Martyn in his second over. Flintoff charged in from the Pavilion End and cramped Martyn for room with a short ball, which looped out to square-leg for Paul Collingwood to hold onto the catch.

When Vaughan opted for the new ball the umpires consulted about the light but, this time, the Australian batsmen opted to stay on rather than lose more precious time. That belated show of aggression was then followed by an attempt to push along the scoring rate as Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke started to play their shots.Clarke received a life when he edged a booming drive off Hoggard to Flintoff at second slip, who proved he was human after all by dropping the chance, which he attempted rather casually. However, Flintoff put that miss to the back of his mind and continued to charge in. Although Hayden appeared more comfortable against England’s other bowlers, his discomfort against Flintoff was clear as he refused to push forward.This ultimately cost him his wicket when Flintoff seamed a ball back into him which would have crashed into middle stump. Hayden knew his fate and was almost walking before the umpire raised his finger, as was Simon Katich two overs later. Katich received an almost carbon-copy ball, after a series of deliveries slanting across him, and this time replays showed leg-stump would not have been standing.Clarke, after his early life, was hanging on grimly, using all his efforts to try and see the ball amid the gloom and repeatedly played-and-missed at Hoggard’s probing outswing. Adam Gilchrist came out and played the only way he knows – by taking on the bowling, but his series has been characterised by rapid twenties. Flintoff’s line outside off stump has certainly troubled him, but so has Hoggard’s inswing. Gilchrist played across the line to what became the last ball before lunch – in a manner very similar to his second innings at Trent Bridge – to become the third lbw victim of the session.

The collapse continued after lunch when Hoggard also trapped Clarke in front – ensuring that another missed catch by Geraint Jones did not prove costly for England. Warne then top-edged a pull to Vaughan at mid-on and despite a juggle the catch was pouched as Flintoff gained worthy reward for another stunning display of aggression. Hoggard then took his cue to mop up the tail by dismissing Glenn McGrath for the first time this series and Brett Lee holed out at deep mid-wicket as he attempted to slog some late runs.Australia had lost eight wickets for 90 runs, but the celebrations from the crowd did not last long before Warne brought a dose of reality back to the day. With his fourth ball he forced Strauss to get an inside-edge to short-leg, dismissing the left-hander for the sixth time in the series.Vaughan played two flowing square cuts off McGrath, during a brief period when the light was good enough for the seamers, and only Warne caused many alarms. He spun a couple of deliveries past Vaughan’s edge while also finding considerable help from the footmarks. Warne is determined to finish his last Test in England on the winning side and although time is now against him he has the knack of pulling off the miraculous. England are now in the position of needing two sessions of batting to seal the Ashes and half those overs will be bowled by Warne.With this in mind, the cheer for the bad light was almost bigger than for any of Flintoff’s wickets on a day when the quirks of cricket were demonstrated to their fullest. A crowd who had paid considerable money to watch play were deliriously happy when they were watching nothing. Most of them want England to win the Ashes and they aren’t too bothered how they do it.

AustraliaDamien Martyn c Collingwood b Flintoff 10 (281 for 3)
Matthew Hayden lbw b Flintoff 138 (323 for 4)
Simon Katich lbw b Flintoff 1 (329 for 5)
Adam Gilchrist lbw b Hoggard 23 (356 for 6)
Full length, swinging back, would have hit leg stumpMichael Clarke lbw b Hoggard 25 (359 for 7)
Shane Warne c Vaughan b Flintoff 0 (363 for 8)
Glenn McGrath c Strauss b Hoggard 0 (363 for 9)
Brett Lee c Giles b Hoggard 6 (367 all out)
EnglandAndrew Strauss c Katich b Warne 1 (2 for 1)

Simon Jones has been ruled out of England’s upcoming tour of Pakistan after failing to recover from the ankle injury which caused him to miss the final Test of the summer against Australia.Jones failed a fitness test on Tuesday and Peter Gregory, the chief medical officer of the ECB, said he would now have to face surgery. “We have tried a number of measures to help Simon’s ankle injury to settle, but these have been unsuccessful and we are left with no alternative but to operate,” Gregory explained. “There should be sufficient time for Simon to regain fitness and hence become available for selection for the tour to India beginning in late February.”Jones was understandably frustrated at the setback. “I’ve rested for three weeks and it has got worse. It’s very disappointing,” Jones told the BBC. “The recovery period is around three months, which gives me time to recover for the India tour in February.”It’s not a serious operation but I’ve got to get it done and get on with the recovery work and I’m sure it will be fine. Some things come along and they can make you a better person and cricketer – and that is the way I am looking at this injury. I’m trying to be as positive as I can, and I will work as hard as I can to get back in the team.”David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, admitted that the loss of Jones would have a big impact on the Pakistan tour, notably as he is England’s best exponent of reverse swing – a crucial ingredient on the sub-continent. “It is big blow. He formed a partnership as one of the four fast bowlers which proved such a test for Australia,” said Graveney. “The combination of the four bowlers was really a perfect mix.”Jones has already fought back from one career-threatening knee injury when he ruptured cruciate ligaments on the last tour to Australia in November 2002, forcing him to spend a long time out of the game, but Graveney hopes that will actually aid his recovery not hinder it.England have still to receive the all clear on Hampshire’s Chris Tremlett, who is battling to recover from knee trouble and will continue to receive treatment before a decision is reached.

West Indies play a Test at Bellerive Oval for the first time on Thursday and it is a sign of how far they have fallen in the eyes of Australian administrators. This series is only the third three-Test affair in the 75 years of West Indian visits – the first two were in the late 70s and early 80s when self preservation and trips from England and Pakistan were excuses for abbreviation – and Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s squad have been shuffled down the side-streets and away from the regular big-name stages of the SCG and MCG.Bellerive Oval, with river frontage and a capacity of 15,000, is a beautiful ground that deserves regular Test fixtures instead of a couple of Australia A matches each summer and an ODI involving both touring teams. But in the stadium’s six-game history as the country’s sixth-choice venue a Test appointment means an unfortunate drop in the opposition’s status. Only Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan have played in Hobart, with Australia winning four times and drawing twice when rain cut short both New Zealand matches.Nothing this West Indian side displayed in Brisbane, where they lost by 379 runs in four days, gave any indication that cutting the series to three matches following the 5-0 drubbing in 2000-01 was the wrong decision. The reduction has reportedly upset the visitors and perhaps the low-key surrounds of Hobart will provide another spur on a tour that started with a convincing performance against Queensland before drooping against Australia and Victoria.Bowling remains the crucial problem of a Test team the ICC rates higher than only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, as the batsmen are capable of bursting into growth at any time despite laying dormant at the Gabba. Discipline remains a big issue and the support staff must mirror the lead of Corey Collymore, who nagged constantly at Australia’s batsmen during the first Test. In the lead-up to the series the phrase “get the ball in the right areas” was mentioned religiously but failed to translate from mouth to hand as short balls were replaced by full, wide or even shorter ones.The highlights from the tour game at Junction Oval in Melbourne, where Brad Hodge confirmed he would make his Test debut with an-almost-run-a-ball 177and Victoria registered 571, showed nothing had changed. This pacy attack is not like its 20th century predecessors who could intimidate and dismantle opposition orders. Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell and probably Dwayne Bravo will need to improve dramatically alongside Collymore on a pitch often compared to a road and usually suiting the batsmen.One opening for West Indies is Australia’s plans have again been hindered and four players in the squad have played fewer than five Tests. Shane Watson’s shoulder injury brings Andrew Symonds a chance and Justin Langer’s problem rib gives Michael Hussey the bonus of a second match as fill-in after falling to two miscued horizontal bat shots on his debut.Nathan Bracken, who wiped out West Indies’ second innings with Brett Lee at the Gabba, is likely to miss out as Australia push for the Shane Warne-Stuart MacGill combination for the first time away from Sydney in a home summer away since 1998. Warne has 24 wickets at 19.20 in five matches at Bellerive while MacGill should play his first on a surface expected to help the slow men as the match continues.Australia will be judging their new line-up but can be confident with their novice changes as the experienced core of Hayden, Ponting, McGrath and Warne all performed strongly in the series-opener. Their opponents face a different group of challenges that could determine the length of future tours as well as gauging the success of the current one.Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Michael Hussey, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 Adam Gilchrist, 7 Andrew Symonds, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Stuart MacGill.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Denesh Ramdin, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Daren Powell, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Fidel Edwards.

Australia and South Africa’s boards have both leapt to the defence of their players after the ICC singled out the teams in a warning they issued about inflammatory remarks. On Sunday the ICC called for players to cut down on their verbal sparring or risk disciplinary action, with its head Malcolm Speed specifically referring to the upcoming series between Australia and South Africa.”Unfortunately, since the Ashes there has been a spate of code of conduct offences committed by players which have resulted in a series of penalties being applied, including suspension,” Speed said. “There have also been a series of comments by players and former players ahead of the Australia v South Africa series that I believe make it necessary to remind the players of the importance of playing within the spirit of the game ahead of this series.”It is presumed that what prompted the ICC to target the upcoming series is Graeme Smith’s comments about targeting Australia’s middle order. “Australia’s top three batsmen are their strength, so being able to knock them over is important. That exposes their middle order, which has experienced pressure in domestic cricket but maybe not in Tests [as much]. If we get things right, we will be putting Adam Gilchrist under pressure at No.7 too.” Shane Warne later sledged that South Africa “might need [a psychologist] by the time we’ve finished with them.”But whatever it was that prompted the ICC to single out the series, the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) have fired a broadside, saying that the comments are unwarranted and demeaning to the players.”This South African team plays hard and fair and is full of experienced cricketers who have for years conducted themselves in line with the spirit of cricket” said Tony Irish, the SACA’s chief executive, in a statement. “Australian players have done likewise.”I am amazed that the ICC sees fit to warn players, and even past players, in the media. If there are genuine concerns that players may offend the spirit of the game then this should be taken up with them directly and not in the form of a public lecture. Everyone is looking forward to the heat of the rivalry which accompanies a series between South Africa and Australia. The verbal exchanges are a part of this and they simply add to the build up.”Cricket Australia told The Age newspaper that in fact it had nothing but praise for its players’ conduct since the introduction of the spirit of cricket code which they committed to two years ago.”The banter that goes with the game, that’s fine, that will always be part of the game,” said the board’s spokesman, Peter Young. “Clearly, there is no love lost between Australia and South Africa but there is no love lost between most sides and that’s fine as long as they get the balance right.”During the Ashes, a lot of words were exchanged but the series was played in a competitive and sportsmanlike spirit. The exhortation to our players it to play the game hard but fair, and by and large, we think they’re getting that right. There will always be the odd bad day and the odd mishap because of the nature of the game … and because they are red-blooded human beings.”James Sutherland, the board’s chief executive, said that there was no harm in banter between the players. “Cricket needs personalities in the game, there is no doubt about that. Characters add an air of excitement and individuality, which attracts and engages the public’s interest.”Irish went on to say that the ICC should be concentrating its efforts on Zimbabwe instead. “It is also difficult to understand why the ICC has chosen to publicly focus on the conduct of players at a time when there appear to be serious problems with the conduct of certain administrators from Boards affiliated to the ICC. In Zimbabwe cricket is in tatters. Surely we should instead be hearing the ICC’s voice in relation to the standards and behaviour of those administering the game in that country?”His comments echo those made by Tim May earlier this week. May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, backed Malcolm Speed’s call for everyone to support the ideals of the Spirit of Cricket – but also criticised the ICC’s inaction over the crisis in Zimbabwe. He said: “Players, particularly those in Zimbabwe, or those forced to play there, will find it difficult to fully accept Speed’s call when the ICC has not seen the need to intervene, or been unable to investigate, serious allegations about the games administration.”The ICC’s latest comments have also prompted criticism from former Australia team-mates Jeff Thomson and Terry Alderman. “You have got to have a bit of gamesmanship, that is what it is all about,” Thomson argued earlier this week. “It’s highlighting things that aren’t worth highlighting. They are the biggest bullshitters in the world. What a waste of space.”Alderman added: “They are putting the cart before the horse, they are almost saying there is going to be problems because of what has been written and said by players. Well, that is ridiculous. Let the game be for goodness’ sake.”