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Mohammad Sami has suffered a groin strain that is likely to keep him out of Pakistan’s second Test against Sri Lanka, beginning on October 28. The injury prevented him from taking the field on the fourth day of play in the ongoing first Test.”Sami has badly strained his inner groin muscle and he needs at least seven to eight days to fully recover,” said Haroon Rashid, Pakistan’s team manager. “Any decision on calling up a replacement for Sami would be taken after the first Test finishes.”

Bruce Patterson, 39, has been called up to play for Scotland in their Intercontinental Cup match against Holland at Mannofield, Aberdeen, starting on June 11.Patterson’s last international game was against Ireland in the home countries tournament in 2001. He is an opening batsman with three first-class hundreds to his name, and a wealth of experience.Stewart Bruce, the 34-year-old left-arm pace bowler, has also been named in the side. Bruce was forced to postpone his Scotland debut earlier this season, as he was serving in Iraq as an explosives expert. Majid Haq, the 20-year-old offspinner, is also in the squad for the Intercontinental Cup.Craig Wright, Scotland’s captain, told the : “All the players for the Intercontinental Cup have to be Scotland-qualified, so neither Sriram nor Arafat is eligible. Instead, we are fortunate to have both Bruce Patterson and Stewart Bruce, with whom we were greatly impressed during the winter, available for this game.”Scotland C Wright (capt), S Bruce, A Butt, C. English, M Haq, P. Hoffmann, S. Knox, B Patterson, C. Smith, I. Stanger, R. Watson, F. Watts.

Somerset left arm seamer Matt Bulbeck is having a frustrating time at the moment.In 2002 he enjoyed a very successful comeback and took 53 wickets and scored 344 runs in the county championship and this season had his sights set on a regular first team place.All of this has had to go on hold however after he has suffered a back niggle as a result of which he has been told that he has to take a complete rest from bowling for three weeks.There is better news about Matt Wood, who was rushed into hospital earlier in the season after the friendly match against Hampshire suffering from a virus. The young right hand batsman has made a complete recovery and is back in full training.The Somerset strike force of Richard Johnson and Nixon McLean who were rested from yesterday’s NCL match against Durham Dynamo are both fit and will be available for the championship match that starts at Derby on Wednesday.

Australia, requiring only a draw in the Third Test at Trent Bridge to retain the Ashes, have named an unchanged side to that which has beaten England in the first two Tests this summer.The announcement, which will surprise no one, means that Justin Langer misses out once more, as in-form Damien Martyn continues in the middle order.The settled side the Aussies have been able to field is in stark contrast to the chopping and changing forced upon England, who must win at Trent Bridge to have any chance of wresting the Ashes away from the rampant Australians.With their first choice middle order batsmen, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan all out, the urn is very much odds-on to be in the continued possession of the tourists come Monday evening.Captain Steve Waugh, however, is taking nothing for granted, pointing out that his team are always focused on the next Test Match: “It is really important to treat every Test Match as a special event, because it is.”The pitch looks pretty good. There is a good covering of grass, and it will not be an easy decision to make if we win the toss.”He also highlighted the return to form of Brett Lee and Shane Warne, both of whom have been taking wickets recently. Coupled with Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, the ‘Dream Team’ will be looking to once more give England’s batsmen nightmares.Australian Team: M Slater, M Hayden, R Ponting, M Waugh, S Waugh (capt), D Martyn, A Gilchrist, S Warne, B Lee, J Gillespie, G McGrath.

A superb century by southpaw Tariq ur Rehman (119) enabled Air India to flypast Central Revenue Sports Board by 68 runs. In the process they booked aberth in the semifinals in the 7th JP Atray Memorial tournament at theSector 16 cricket stadium in Chandigarh today.Rakesh Jolly, skipper of CRSB XI won the toss and elected to field.Tariq ur Rehman and Dheeraj Jadhav opened the innings for Air India.Bhupinder Singh (sr) who was bowling an excellent line and length wasrewarded when he bowled Jadhav (16) with the scoreboard reading 24 after8.3 overs. Piyush Soneji joined Tariq ur Rehman and started offconfidently. The duo added 86 runs off 114 balls and provided stability tothe innings. But while trying to pull a ball which was not exactly short,Soneji was trapped in front of the wicket by Dahiya with the score 110 in26.5 overs. Piyush scored 34 in 55 balls which included two hits to the fence.Former Test player Praveen Amre and India under-19 player Neeraj Patel bothwent cheaply. Sairaj Bahuthule joined Tariq ur Rehman who was holding thefort at one end and they started scoring briskly. The duo added 102 runs injust 88 balls. Bahuthule remained unbeaten with 51 which came off just 47balls with the help of six powerful hits to the fence. Tariq ur Rehmanafter completing his 50 off 72 balls changed gear and played a number ofelegant shots to all parts of the ground. But he miscued a pull shot offRanade and was caught at mid wicket by Praveen Thapar. His knock came off136 balls which included 13 boundaries and two huge sixes. Air Indiafinally posted a respectable total of 249 for six wickets in 50 overs.Praveen Thapper of CRSB XI was the most successful bowler as he capturedthree wickets for 43 runs.Chasing a target at the rate of five runs an over, CRSB XI lost the wicketof Bhupinder Singh (sr) in the seventh over. The pinch hitter, trying toclear the mid off fielder, ballooned the ball and was caught by Bahuthuleoff the bowling off HS Sodhi for just four runs. Satrajit Lehri joinedPadamjit and the pair scored at a nifty pace by adding 56 runs off 74balls. Then Lehri, trying for a big heave was brilliantly caught by NeerajPatel of Bahuthule with the scoreboard reading 77.Amre applied a double spin attack in the shape of Narender Hirwani andBahuthule which paid dividends as both captured two wickets. Off spinnerPritam Gandhe bowled a tight line and length and claimed four vital wicketsfor just 38 runs.Except Padanjit Sherawat (53), none of the other batsman stayed at thewicket as the CSRB innings folded up for 180 runs with 2.5 overs tospare.Tariq-Ur-Rehman was given the man of the match award.

England’s dilemma over whether to pick Andrew Flintoff for next week’s first Test has been decided for them, with the England allrounder unavailable for the first two Tests against New Zealand after picking up a side strain.Flintoff, who has enjoyed an encouraging start to the season for Lancashire following ankle surgery in the winter, experienced some discomfort in his left side while bowling for Lancashire yesterday at Old Trafford. He was assessed and received treatment by the Lancashire medical team and subsequent scans on Friday evening confirmed the diagnosis of a side strain.The ECB insisted, however, that Flintoff “has not experienced any discomfort in his left ankle and continues to make excellent progress in his rehabilitation from surgery last October”.”Obviously I’m bitterly disappointed to be unavailable for Test selection due to this injury as I’m really enjoying my cricket with Lancashire and feel my bowling has been improving with each match,” Flintoff said. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point after ankle surgery last year and I know I can overcome what isn’t a significant injury. It’s very frustrating to have picked up an injury at this time but I want nothing more than to return to the England side and will continue to do everything required to make myself available for selection.”All the talk over the past few weeks has revolved around Flintoff’s impressive form with the ball, while he has barely scratched a run with the bat. Justin Langer and Stuart Law have both urged England to recall him for the first Test, but there were notes of caution sounded from Mike Atherton, Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Botham, who believed he was not quite ready. The decision has been made for England’s selectors, however, and the 12-man squad to face New Zealand for the first Test at Lord’s will be announced on Sunday morning.With Flintoff now out of the equation, the selectors are spared making a major decision at least until the third Test at Trent Bridge. The key issue now is the fitness of Paul Collingwood who needed an injection in his right shoulder yesterday. If batting cover is needed, Owais Shah’s name will once again be in the equation, but he doesn’t provide any back-up bowling. Instead the opportunity could arise to recall Ravi Bopara or hand a first call-up to Luke Wright, who made a timely 120 for England Lions against the New Zealanders at The Rose Bowl. Both Bopara and Wright could offer Collingwood’s quota of medium pace.England have recent experience of coming unstuck against New Zealand, but an attack of Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and probably James Anderson should be sufficient to dispatch the visitors and would give the team that won the final two Tests of the previous series another chance. Anderson is the member of that trio under threat after a profligate display in Napier. His form for Lancashire so far this season has been mixed, but nine wickets against Durham came at the right time and he has a good Test record a Lord’s. Last year he claimed seven wickets against India and also bagged five on his debut in 2003.Matthew Hoggard, who was dropped in the winter, will come back into the frame after a solid start for Yorkshire although he has lacked zip for England Lions. The consensus is that he was unlucky to be dropped after a poor performance in Hamilton and, although there is no automatic route back for him despite 248 Test wickets, he would be a solid presence in the squad in case a bowler pulls up injured.If Collingwood is fit the batting line-up will pick itself. They haven’t, however, set the county scene alight this season. Michael Vaughan has a top score of 42 which represents profligacy compared with Collingwood who has managed just 32 in five innings. Tim Ambrose has the highest score of the likely top seven, 156 against Leicestershire, but is also a slight concern after suffering a stiff neck. One major decision has been put on hold for the selectors, but there is potential for a couple more headaches.Possible England 12
Michael Vaughan (capt), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose (wk), Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Matthew Hoggard.

Mark Dobson is relishing the challenge of being England’s new coach. A Level-3 coach, he brings with him a host of experience of the women’s game, having been involved in Junior Super Fours for three years and has recently take on the role of coach for the senior Emerald side.For 12 years he has been head of PE at St. Edmund’s School in Canterbury, a role he will now surrender. It’s a big step to leave the relative predictability and anonymity of school life for a full-time coaching role, which will involve overseas tours and media commitments. But Dobson, who has played for Kent and coached the Kent Academy, is ready.”I’m really excited,” he told Cricinfo in his first-ever interview. “I was looking for a change.” Not to mention a challenge. England had a poor showing in the quandrangular series in India in February – and they were lucky to come third rather than last, after losing their group games. Then their vice-captain Laura Newton retired.They now face New Zealand this summer – and they will be lucky if their captain Charlotte Edwards is fit in time, while Katherine Brunt is all-but-ruled out with surgery of her own. He’s not yet seen enough of the players to decide who he would like in the side, and that means he’s not had time yet to think of the new vice-captain. The captain, however, is another proposition.”I’ve had some fruitful meetings with Charlotte Edwards,” he says. Edwards is keen on the appointment, and she gives Dobson her full backing. “He is one of the most inspiring coaches within women’s cricket with loads of new and exciting ideas.”Gill McConway, the ECB director of women’s cricket, has also paid tribute to his innovation. “He’s a very enthusiastic individual who expects strong work ethics. He has an amazing ability to turn training sessions into high levels of entertainment through his creative and innovative coaching styles.”Dobson already has plans for change, and will bring over some of these from the men’s game. “Certainly, men hit harder. We will be looking to hit in the air, to open the score ones, twos or threes. We’ll be looking for a wider range of strokes.”There are no current plans for bowling tactics – these will be developed once he’s had a chance to see the Kiwi players. “I’m not too aware of the New Zealand batsmen just yet,” he says.He’s not had much chance to work with his own squad, in fact, as he is seeing out his contract at school. But he will link up with them ahead of the New Zealand series this summer. And he’s already seen some of the players at the Super 4s, the competition from which the England side will be drawn. “I’ve been impressed with the standard.”

The Ashes series will be contested by the top two teams in the world rankings after England’s 167-run victory against Pakistan at Headingley sealed the series. Whatever the result of the final Test at The Oval, England will leapfrog Pakistan back into second place when the ratings are calculated following the final matchThe gap between England and Australia ahead of their series, beginning at Brisbane in November, is still to be decided but it could be as few as 11 points if England beat Pakistan again in the fourth Test, starting on August, and claim a 3-0 victory.England’s series win is its first since it beat Australia 2-1 last year to reclaim The Ashes while, for Pakistan, it is its first loss in a series since it lost all three Tests against Ricky Ponting’s side in 2004-05.Sri Lanka have also consolidated their position in fifth spot after the nerve-jangling one-wicket win over South Africa, in Colombo, which secured a 2-0 series win. South Africa, in sixth spot, have lost four points and are now just two points ahead of New Zealand.For the full rankings click here

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Australia’s march to victory over Zimbabwe wasn’t derailed, but it was moved onto a siding during the last session of the third day when both Jason Gillespie and Stuart MacGill went off the field – and later to hospital for scans – with injuries. It was a situation Mark Vermeulen and Stuart Carlisle turned to their advantage as Zimbabwe went to stumps on 87 for 2 in the follow-on, still 409 runs behind Australia.Vermeulen, playing his fifth Test, scored his second half-century, off 79 balls, in an innings where he accumulated runs against the lesser bowling of Darren Lehmann and Damien Martyn. Carlisle was 26 not out at stumps.MacGill left the field after bowling four balls of his fourth over in the second innings, feeling a twinge behind his right knee. He had taken 2 for 54 in the first innings. With the 12th man Brad Williams already on the field, for Gillespie who had a slight side strain, Tim Neilsen, the Australian assistant coach and former South Australia wicketkeeper, took MacGill’s place.After the heady events of the second day, when Matthew Hayden scaled Test-match batting’s highest peak, there was a much more realistic atmosphere about the play as the Zimbabweans struggled to extend the game beyond four days. Until Gillespie and MacGill left the field, that hope appeared misplaced.Zimbabwe’s hopes of a solid performance in their first innings were undone early in the day when Trevor Gripper was hit on the ear by Brett Lee. Two balls later, he was unable to keep down a sharp, rising ball which took the splice of and flew to Darren Lehmann at gully. Gripper had just posted his half-century.Vermeulen had shaped promisingly, but fell to a splendid legspinner’s delivery from MacGill which spun across him, took the edge of the bat and was clasped at first slip by Matthew Hayden. It was a copy of the dismissal a little earlier of Carlisle. There was some resistance from the batsman of Zimbabwe’s tour so far, Craig Wishart. He played some lovely shots straight and square on the off, especially against MacGill, but was undone by one of the better balls of the day from Andy Bichel. It moved a fraction to the off from the pitch and Wishart, attempting to play it off the back foot with his bat away from his body, edged through to Adam Gilchrist. He left for 46, and Zimbabwe were 199 for 5.Once Gillespie removed Tatenda Taibu, trapping him leg-before for 15, the end came quickly. Brett Lee seized the chance to scythe through the lower order, dismissing Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut off successive fast, swinging deliveries, while Gillespie bowled Sean Ervine to end the innings at 239.The Australians were not at their most penetrative. Lee rarely bowled at his most express, and Gillespie was clearly affected by his injury. They were, however, consistently accurate and never under any pressure. Waugh was able to do without Lee’s pace to break up partnerships, which meant that when the final breakthrough came, Lee was still warmed up and able to start afresh in the second innings, which Zimbabwe started 496 runs adrift.It was Gillespie who made the initial breakthrough in the follow-on, dismissing Trevor Gripper with the first ball he faced – a poor defensive shot that went off the edge to Gilchrist. Dion Ebrahim made just 4 before playing Gillespie onto his stumps, leaving Zimbabwe 11 for 2. The Australian bowling was left enfeebled by the departure of both Gillespie and MacGill, enabling Vermeulen and Carlisle to add 76 without being parted, and take the fight to another day. But how long they extend that defiance is another matter altogether.

Brian Lara has defended his decision to bat on for his world-record 400 not out in response to comments from Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain.Ponting suggested Lara was more interested in his own personal achievements, rather than the state of the Test match. “Their whole first innings might have been geared around one individual performance and they could have let a Test match slip because of it,” he commented. “They ran out of time in the game – that’s not the way the Australian team plays.”Lara, though, replied by saying West Indies’ main aim was first and foremost to avoid a 4-0 whitewash, and then put England under pressure. “Ponting is the leader of a great team and can afford, if situations like that present themselves, to take another course,” he said. “I saw no sense in making it competitive for the English. I saw an opportunity that if we got in excess of 700 runs, we would put England under tremendous pressure for the remainder of the match. We would be able to enforce the follow-on, if that was the case, and would know for sure that we achieved our main goal, which was to avoid the whitewash in the series.”Matthew Hayden, the Australian batsman, was the previous world-record holder with 380, scored against Zimbabwe at Perth last year. Ponting conceded that occasion did involve an exception to the team rule, as Hayden was allowed to carry on batting with the record in sight. “It was a very rare thing, for Matty to be able to bat for as long as he did and go on and make that big score,” said Ponting. “He was given the opportunity to go on and break Brian’s record and he did that. He was going to be given another half an hour, or 20 minutes, to try to get to 400 but unfortunately he got out.”