Nuwan Kulasekera and Lasith Malinga, two young fast bowlers from Galle, were the surprise inclusions in the 22-man squad announced today for Sri Lanka’s forthcoming series against England.Kulasekera and Malinga performed well for Sri Lanka in the recent Emerging Trophy tournament against Pakistan and India, and they have carried their form into the current domestic competition. Last weekend the pair combined to help beat title-contenders NCC – who included Hashan Tillakaratne, the Test captain, Kumar Sangakkara and Upul Chandana – by an innings.Meanwhile, Russell Arnold, Nuwan Zoysa, Lanka de Silva, Michael Vandort and Rangana Herath have also been rewarded for impressing on the recent tour to South Africa and Kenya. De Silva has been picked ahead of Prasanna Jayawardene, the wicketkeeper, and may even make it to the starting XI if Romesh Kaluwitharana fails to recover from a hamstring injury.Kaluwitharana has been named in the squad subject to fitness and de Silva, who batted well in South Africa, was chosen ahead of Prassana Jayawardene because of his better batting ability.The surprise exclusion is that of Jehan Mubarak, who scored centuries in South Africa and Kenya. Mubarak’s place has gone to Chamara Silva, a middle-order batsman who has been in the runs this season. “We have got reports that Mubarak is shaping up well and we don’t want to shatter his confidence by playing him too soon," Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, said. "He will be sent to India with the Sri Lanka A team next month and if he shows good form there we will recall him for the Test series against England.”The one-day squad will be picked next week.England, who are currently touring Bangladesh, are due to arrive in Sri Lanka on November 13 for a series of three ODIs and three Tests.Squad Hashan Tillakaratne, Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Romesh Kaluwitharana (subject to fitness), Lanka de Silva, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dinusha Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa, Nuwan Kulasekera, Chamara Silva, Tilan Samaraweera, Dilhara Fernando, Michael Vandort, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Russel Arnold.

The Cricket Reform Group (CRG), the self-appointed body headed by Michael Atherton and Bob Willis, last night published its manifesto for the future of the game in England. Entitled Making English Cricket Great – For Everyone, the document is a detailed top-to-bottom shake-up of the club and county structure.Many of the CRG’s proposals have been aired in public in recent months. In essence the document calls for a reduction in the amount of first-class cricket, a cull in the number of professional players from 450 to 276, a strengthening of links between clubs and counties, and an increase in the number of centrally contracted players from 12 to 24.One of the most controversial ideas doing the rounds – the scrapping of several existing first-class counties – was notable by its absence. The CRG would achieve the reduction in the number of players by limiting each county to a squad of 14, and the reduction in the amount of first-class games would enable most players to turn out for club sides on six or seven weekends.The County Championship would also be radically changed, with a six-team premier division underpinned by two regional divisions. The Twenty20 Cup would continue, but limited-overs devotees would be offered two midweek competitions – a knockout and a league.The CRG also recommends ending the influence of the First Class Forum on the ECB’s management board. “We passionately believe that a more streamlined management board must be given full control of the running of the game,” the document says. “The financial monopoly of the first-class counties must be challenged in order that the England team and the grassroots of the game, especially, receive greater financial support.”A delegation from the CRG met David Morgan, the ECB chairman, his deputy Mike Soper and John Carr, the board’s director of cricket operations, last week, and the ECB will consider the group’s suggestions before making any formal reply.County chairmen were sent a copy of the report last night.

Close Australia 400 for 5 (Ponting 176*, Katich 75, Langer 58) v India
Scorecard

A scintillating unbeaten 176 by Ricky Ponting was the outstanding performance of the day as Australia made full use of winning the toss at the Adelaide Oval. At close of play on the opening day, they had raced to 400 for 5 – the highest total in a day at this venue, beating Australia’s 387 on the second day against West Indies in 1968-69 – with useful contributions from Justin Langer (58) and Simon Katich (75).Apart from Matthew Hayden, all the Australian batsmen got starts, but Ponting capitalised on it, racing to his hundred off just 117 balls. He slowed down noticeably after reaching 150, despite which Australia finished the day with a run-rate of nearly four-and-a-half an over. All the Indian bowlers toiled – rather unsuccessfully – to beat the daunting combination of a flat pitch, a fast outfield with short square boundaries, and an awesome opposition batting line-up.Coming in at the fall of an early wicket, Ponting started off with an all-run four down the ground, before peppering the square boundaries on the off side with some sumptuous drives off either foot. He had a couple of reprieves early in his innings: on 12, a close lbw shout off Ajit Agarkar was turned down, while Virender Sehwag dropped a head-high chance at third slip off Irfan Pathan when Ponting had added just six. Once past those early jitters, though, Ponting didn’t give the Indians much respite.The tone for the day was set early when both the Australian openers drove through the line of the ball, trusting the even bounce and the lack of movement off the pitch. Sourav Ganguly packed the off side, and his bowlers largely stuck to an off-stump line, but the batsmen still threaded the gaps – in fact, every single one of the 16 fours Ponting struck in his first 100 runs were on the off side. Ganguly didn’t help the Indian cause by keeping the third-man region vacant for most of the day.These were ideal conditions for Hayden’s plonk-the-front-foot-and-drive-through-the-line style of batting, but Pathan – making his debut after Zaheer Khan missed out due to a strained hamstring – nailed him with one in the corridor which shaped away and kissed the edge of the bat (22 for 1).The dream start for Pathan and India soon went sour as Ponting and Langer went about their merry ways, cashing in on all the bad balls and sometimes putting away the good ones as well. Anil Kumble was soon pressed into service, but that only inspired Langer to go into overdrive – in one over he smote Kumble for two sixes and two fours. Kumble struck back in his next over, though, when Langer miscued a sweep to Sehwag at midwicket (135 for 2).That dismissal, which came at the stroke of lunch, was some respite for the Indians, but it only meant that one effective run-scorer was replaced by another, more graceful one. Martyn was in fantastic touch from ball one, stroking some gorgeous drives through the covers off Agarkar and Pathan, who, after an impressive first spell, fell away, struggling to find the movement he had obtained with the new ball. A big score was there for the taking, when Martyn (30) threw it away, steering a wide one from Nehra – the first ball of a new spell – to VVS Laxman at second slip (200 for 3).Steve Waugh smote a few through the off side in his 30, but was sorted out by a clever piece of bowling by Nehra. Bowling from round the wicket, he dug a few in short, then slipped in a full-length ball on middle. Waugh, weight on the back foot and probably expecting another short one, played all over the ball as it crashed into his stumps (252 for 4).A feature of this innings was the partnerships that the Australians put together for every wicket, and Simon Katich now joined Ponting to add the biggest one for the day. Katich first dug in, then showed that he could play a few strokes too, the most emphatic of them being a pulled six off Nehra, who came in armed with the second new ball. Galvanised by that shot, Katich raced along, even as Ponting quietened down and seemed to set his sights on his double-century.The 138-run partnership was finally broken off the penultimate over of the day, when Katich top-edged a pull and was caught spectacularly by Sehwag, diving full length and coming up with the ball in both hands (390 for 5). In walked Adam Gilchrist, and promptly dispatched the second ball he faced to the cover fence, and then pulled Kumble for another boundary before bringing up the 400 with the last ball of the day. In four Tests at the Adelaide Oval, Gilchrist has scored a mere 145 runs at 24.16. Time to set the record straight?

The International Cricket Council has dismissed reports from Sri Lanka that the Anti-Corruption & Security Unit has finalised its recent investigations into the Marvan Atapattu cash-in-the-bedroom incident.During England’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, 1.1 million rupees ($24,000) were discovered in a Kandy hotel room that had been occupied some days beforehand by Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s Test vice-captain and one-day skipper. Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the ICC, said that he has written to Sri Lanka Cricket to establish if it had issued any media statement suggesting that the matter had been concluded.”If, as has been reported, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) issued a statement suggesting that this matter has been finalised, I would be concerned,” said Speed. “Not only is it inaccurate to make this suggestion, it is also inappropriate for a Board to usurp the role of the Anti-Corruption & Security Unit, which is an independent body that makes its own judgment about these issues and reports to the ICC.”SLC’s statement, released last Tuesday, stated that members of the Anti-Corruption Unit had met with officials of the board and that “as there was no evidence of any breach of conduct on the part of the player concerned, there was no necessity to conduct an official inquiry.”But Speed disagreed with that interpretation. “This is not an area that is within the jurisdiction of an individual board,” he explained. “If any board made inappropriate or inaccurate comments about the work of the ACSU I would take the matter up directly with the board involved. As far as the inquiry is concerned, Marvan is a widely respected and senior player, and it is important that this matter is thoroughly investigated to establish the full factual situation of what has taken place.”What can be said with certainty at this stage is that the investigation is on-going and that the ACSU is continuing with its inquiries in order to establish these facts. I hope this matter will be resolved quickly.”

Veteran broadcaster Tony Cozier has delivered a stinging broadside at what he called the “lack of decorum” in the West Indies squad during the recently-completed tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa.Writing in the Barbados-based Nation, Cozier, who reported on both series, said that the management of the tour party left a lot to be desired. It was, he said, clear that it was “divided and deficient, not only in relation to such cricketing issues as fitness and practice but, just as importantly, to standards of dress and demeanour.”He went on to bemoan the slovenly appearance of some members of the squad – officials as well as players – who were seen “in caps and armhole-shirts in the lobbies and bars of their five-star hotels and in elegant restaurants.” He singled out Kenny Benjamin, the side’s assistant coach, and Ronald Rogers’ the trainer, as being seen during national anthems before matches as being the only ones in shorts. And Corey Collymore (“with his unkempt hair and beard”) was the worst of the players. “A man is a man and I am my own man,” was Collymore’s response.”Anyone chosen for the West Indies, in whatever capacity, should appreciate, or be made to appreciate, that he is no longer his own man but rather a representative of an institution with a long and proud tradition, “Cozier fumed, “and millions of people whose very psyche revolves around it.”Cozier’s criticism will hardly come as news to seasoned followers of West Indies cricket. As long ago as 1995 Wes Hall reported at the end of the England tour that a meeting had to be held to address “unacceptable behaviour of some members of the team”. That was the series when Winston Benjamin was sent home for disciplinary reasons.Several subsequent tours have ended with thinly-disguised complaints from managers and officials about the poor approach of some players. Last year’s Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack described the West Indies A tour of England as “a bad-tempered, unproductive meander around the backwaters of English cricket rather than an exhilarating fast stream to the top”.

From the early days of the Internet, Hampshire have had a presence as part of the Global front of CricInfo. Webmaster Vic Isaacs (scorer and statistician) inaugurated the site as an unofficial engine way back in those early days, and has continued to keep Hampshire supporters world wide informed of what was happening at the club.The move to the Rose Bowl did not stop the progress, but as the cricket became part of the greater Rose Bowl plc., it was felt that a change had to be made, and this is happening soon.www.rosebowlplc.com is already up and running, a proactive site with much information not just on Hampshire Cricket, but Membership, hospitality, concerts and many of the other aspects of the plc. such as fitness and golf.The Hampshire site will be moving soon to a new address www.hampshirecricket.com, but none of the features that has made this site one of the most popular club sites in the world will be lost. The Hampshire Cricket web site will be concentrating it efforts on purely cricket matters, scores, reports from the matches, news etc from the cricket office. It will all be there, in a cleaner looking interface.Watch out for this very soon, in the meantime this site will carry on giving you the news as it happens.Happy surfing

Day 3 Gauteng 286 and 73 for 2 require another 385 runs to beat Easterns 405 for 4 dec and 338 for 9 dec (Z de Bruyn 88, Toyana 63, Cullinan 65, Mathebula 5-56) v
ScorecardEasterns extended their lead to 457 before declaring their second innings on 338 for 9, with Zander de Bruyn following his century in the first innings with 88 in the second. In the process, he became the only batsman to exceed 1,000 runs for the season. Daryll Cullinan’s 65 also moved him into the second spot behind de Bruyn with 839 runs for the campaign. Brian Mathebula, in only his second first-class match, recorded his first five-for after bowling with far more discipline than he did in the first innings. At the close, Gauteng had reached 73 for 2.Eastern Province 432 lead Boland 324 by 108 runs
ScorecardNo play due to rain.

Hampshire appear to be in with a very good chance of winning their opening Frizzell Championship Division Two match of the season against Durham, but still have a job to do. Chasing 109 to win they lost openers Brown and Kenway early in the second innings.Hampshire started the second day in suicidal mode, four of the last five wickets to fall in the morning were poor shots offered up to the gleeful bowlers. Mark Davies was the receipient of most of these to finish with career best figures of 6 for 53.Hampshire lost five wickets in the morning for just 26 runs. Michael Clarke who had entertained the crowd on the first day was out early adding just 2 runs to his overnight score.With a deficit of 97, Durham lost three wickets for just 19, and a two day finish was looking likely. However, skipper Jon Lewis and Nicky Peng put together a brave partnership of 111, before Warne picked up the first of his 5 wickets bowling the young Peng quite comprehensively. Tremlett and Mullally, and a long economical stint from Mascarenhas all contributed to the visitors downfall, but it was Warne who finally put paid to any resistance with 5 for 68.With just 5 overs remaining in the days play, and Hampshire set 109 for victory, 11 runs in the first over looked like a stroll. Bowlers Plunkett and Davies has other ideas dismissing the openers before the close.

Tino Best, the West Indian fast bowler, has been fined 75% of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the first Test against Bangladesh in St Lucia, which finished yesterday.Best, 22, was fined after pleading guilty to breaching Level 2.5 of the Code, which relates to deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play. A Level 2 breach of the Code carries a potential fine of between 50 and 100% of the player’s match fee, and/or a ban from one Test or two ODIs.Best was reported by the umpires – Daryl Harper and Jeremy Lloyds, who was standing in his first Test – for an incident during Bangladesh’s second innings. After bowling the final ball of the 19th over, Best was deemed to have deliberately moved into the path of the batsman as he sought to take a run, ensuring that physical conduct occurred.The fine was imposed by Roshan Mahanama, the ICC match referee, in a hearing after the match at Gros Islet.

England have recalled James Anderson into their squad for the third Test at Trent Bridge which starts on Thursday.Anderson pulled out of the side for the Leeds Test with a heel injury, but scans showed that there was no serious damage. He passed a fitness test at Old Trafford this morning, and will travel to Trent Bridge to join the England squad tomorrow.”The heel feels fine,” said Anderson. “It’s only really troubled me whenI’ve bowled and the medical staff here are very pleased with it.”Paul Collingwood, who was in the squad for the first two Tests, has been released to play for Durham against Yorkshire in the County Championship.England squad
Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Mark Butcher, Michael Vaughan (capt), Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Martin Saggers, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson