Nuwan Zoysa and Nuwan Kulasekera, an uncapped 21-year-old swing bowling allrounder, were included in a 16-man squad for England’s three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Zoysa and Kalalsekera form part of a new-look pace attack as Sri Lanka reorganise their fast-bowling resources in the wake of injuries to Dilhara Fernando and Prabath Nissanka.

Nissanka is unavailable until next year following surgery to his knee, while Dilhara is feeling his way back tentatively from his latest back injury. Their misfortune means another chance for Zoysa, who last played for Sri Lanka in August 2002 and recently pulled himself back into contention with a fine allround display for the Sri Lanka A team in South Africa.Chaminda Vaas will lead the attack, which means that Zoysa, Kulasekera andDinusha Fernando, who is enjoying a fine domestic season with bat and ball,will then be competing for one – or possibly two in suitable conditions – place. Sri Lanka are likely to play three specialist spinners – MuttiahMuralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena and Upul Chandana.An extra fast bowler may play at Dambulla, the venue for the tournament opener on November 18. “The makeup of the final team will depend on the conditions, which may suit the pace bowlers more than you would expect in Sri Lanka,” said Marvan Atapattu. “During the last tournament in Dambulla there were favourable conditions for pace bowlers.”In all, there are five changes to the squad that defeated West Indies 2-1 in the Caribbean last June, Sri Lanka’s last international tour. Naveed Nawaz and Dharshana Gamage have been dropped, while Kaushal Lokuarachchi is unavailable because of his suspension after a car-crash.The batting order is unlikely to change greatly, in composition or strength. Romesh Kaluwitharana will open with Sanath Jayasuriya, at least at the start, with Atapattu at three, Kumar Sangakkara at four and Mahela Jayawardene atfive. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold, recalled after a good tour toSouth Africa, will probably play at six and seven.Lanka de Silva has been called up as wicketkeeping cover for Kaluwitharana, who is recovering from a hamstring injury and is expected to be fit. Chamara Silva, back in favour after an excellent start to the season with SSC, his new club, will act as batting cover.England are due to arrive in Sri Lanka on November 13 for a six-week tour thatwill include three ODIs – at Dambulla, Premadasa and SSC – followed by threeTests.Squad Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Kulasekera, Chaminda Vaas, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Lanka de Silva, Dinusha Fernando

Lower Grade scores from last Saturday were:Inter CitySenior 2: Brooklyn 365-7d ( D O’Driscoll 150*, C MacDonald 71, S Dahya 62) met U Valley 27-0; J’ville 162 ( S Worthington 46, R Ellis 4-50, A Wellings 3-22) met Karori 13-1; Taita 238 ( J Peters 131,H Templeton 3-38, A Corliss 3-70) met Well Coll 56-3; Onslow 181 ( Williams 64) met Hutt 73-1Senior 3: E’bourne 200-6 ( C Reed 89, C Stock 38,S Adrian 3-62) met Hutt 65 ( J Mitchell 4-37, D Reed 3-21) & 23-2; Pet/Riv 196 ( S Watkins 73, D Monteith 32,J Bhula 4-17, D Ranchord 3-70) met Indians 83-2 ( A Ranchod 45*)Colls 192 ( N Palmer 30, D Kershaw 32, B Green 5-41) met Univ 50-2Sup 8s Section One: Naenae defaulted to Upper Valley; Pet/Riv 180-3 beat Colls 69-5; Taita 108-4 ( S Moore 50) beat J’ville 103 ( C Howard 40)Hutt Valley2A: N Park 127 ( S Edmonds 60,,S Williams 3-52. C Billmore 3-22) met S Valley 109-6 ( S Williams 34, B Eastham 3-12); Taita Red 196 ( M McGavin 58, A Tait 37*, C Butler 34, McMichael 5-78, Hewson 4-32) met U Hutt 76-6( C Butler 3-22); Taita Black 117 (T Wilson 4-19.M Williams 4-18) met Wainui A 115-4 ( T Wilson 52*, J Gilbert 36); Tokelau 201 ( K Butterfield 3-28, W Myers 3-39( met Wainui B 50-1 ( C Mathews 35)2B: U Hutt 194-8 ( C Gamble 54, B Orriss 47, C Muller 4-65) met E’bourne 31-2; Wainui 68 & 74-4 met S Valley 208-2 ( B Smith 109*, S Wilson 71)4A: S Valley 120-4 ( G Reid 57) beat Pet/Riv 119; Taita 55-1 beat Hutt 52 ( B Roina 5-5); U Hutt 112-5 beat Te Aroha 108 ( M Stratford 28)4B: S Valley 182 ( M Rennie 50*) met Pet/Riv B 135-4( J Nippert 52*)’; E’bourne 104-4( S Patel 54)beat Naenaer Soccer 103 ( C Kelly 3-29); Hutt B 125-9 ( M Wozniak 35,) met Pet/Riv A 124( A Davis 42*, J Bingham 30,C Priest 3-24)4C: Naenae Green 110-8 ( E Chatfield 50) beat Naenae Silver 92 ( V Allan 3-12);Wainui A 193-6 ( A Martin 66) beat Pet/Riv 19 ( B McCoy 7-13Wellington2A: SLS 187-6 Martin 4-57) metUniv 77-3Onslow 143-6 ( G Larsen 52, Riley 3-26) met Tawa 79 ( G Larsen 3-6, C Shanks 3-17); Easts Roosters 179-8 (C Dry 122*, Davies 3-31) met Mana 131-3 (Rajpal 57*, Havill 43*,);2B: Tawa 171( R Cubin 4-43, A Monk 3-13) met Tawa 94-7 ( A Cameron 41); Onslow 321-6 ( S Mataira 111, M Willis 97, A Young 31) met Easts B 84-3( P Bishop 36); Indians 294-7 (W Bicknell 107, M Patel 91) met Easts A 90-32CKarori 184 ( S Kirkland 4-13, R Willis 3-21) met Brooklyn 28-4.2D: Indians 164 ( P Gandhi 61) met SLS 46-33A: Newlands 219-6 ( G Fowler 68*, P Lankershire 40) met Univ B 80-5; Brooklyn 117( A Goldie 39, R Parry 4-24) met Univ 62-6( H Southall 3-22)4A: Mana met Karori; Sikhs 132-4(R Singh 50) beat Onslow B 179-7 (Keelty 50);Univ 186( Manning 57, Cameron 31, Heather 3-29) met Colls 77-1( M Reed 37*); Onslow A 69-2 ( L Bray 40*,) beat Thorndon 68( C Paterson 4-16, M Patterson 3-9)4B: Onslow 169 met J’villa A 144-3; Tawa 178 (Deng 3-43) met Karori A 115-5; Onslow B 147-4 ( E Meachen 79*) beat Easts A 146(A Ness 3-220; Univ B 149 ( A Scott 30, D LeBreton 3-14) met J’ville B 97-9( A Scott 4-13, A Sagato 3-6) ; Univ A 163 ( A Johnson 59*) mer Karori B 134-7).

Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel (NSP) has named the Australia-A squad, that will play against the Indians, in a three-day game beginning at Hobart, on December 19.Michael Hussey, a Western Australian batsman, will captain the side, which includes representatives from each state, and three Australia A debutants – Paul Rofe and Shaun Tait, from South Australia, and Cameron White, from Victoria.Trevor Hohns, chairman of the NSP, said the team represented a blend of experience and emerging young talent. “With the Australian side being so successful in recent years, it’s difficult for those players on the cusp of selection to break into the national team. The side represents a good mix of senior experience and young talent, and reflects our approach of developing players capable of performing at the international level.”Hohns also added that the selection of Hussey as captain was testament to his impressive start in domestic competitions. He said, “Michael’s a highly thought-of player who has demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities with Western Australia in recent months. He’s an experienced and talented performer, and is widely respected by his playing peers around the country. He’ll no doubt play a role in helping point some of the younger guys in the right direction.”Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has announced that the NSP has reviewed its selection criteria for Australia A’s limited-overs engagements against India and Zimbabwe in January. The selectors have chosen to adopt a youth policy for the two limited-overs games, with a greater emphasis on developing players for the future.Squad
1 Michael Hussey (capt), 2 Michael Clarke, 3 Chris Rogers, 4 Martin Love, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 Cameron White, 7 Wade Seccombe, 8 Matthew Nicholson, 9 Damien Wright, 10 Paul Rofe, 11 Shaun Tait

Victoria 259 and 455 for 7 (Hussey 212*) beat New South Wales 317 and 396 (Thornely 143, Katich 126) by three wickets
Scorecard

A masterful unbeaten double-century from David Hussey – brother of Michael – led Victoria to a stunning outright win over New South Wales at Newcastle. Victoria had been set a massive 455 for victory – the second largest final-innings run-chase in Sheffield Shield and Pura Cup history. But Hussey galloped to 212 from 218 balls, and secured victory with three wickets and 14 overs to spare.His five-hour exhibition of controlled aggression earned the approval of no less an onlooker than Steve Waugh, who was powerless to prevent NSW’s defeat. “Exceptional,” said Waugh. “He’s got to come into contention for national selection, I would have thought, in both forms of the game, the way he played there.”New South Wales had assumed that the points were in the bag, after Dominic Thornely’s maiden first-class century on Sunday, and when Thornely followed up with two wickets in four balls late in the day, Victoria were 383 for 6, and facing an heroic failure.But Hussey, who had run out Waugh with a direct hit on the previous day, powered on to his first double-century in first-class cricket. The equation came down to Victoria needing 37 runs off the last 21 overs with four wickets left. Peter Roach was trapped lbw by Nicholson for 18 (422 for 7), but Hussey launched a succession of boundaries off MacGill to secure victory.Victoria had been in trouble early on, when Jason Arnberger was bowled by Don Nash for 4 inside the first half-an-hour. Matthew Elliott was then trapped lbw by paceman Matthew Nicholson for 19 (37 for 2), before Brad Hodge played all round a full toss from Stuart MacGill. But Jon Moss (76) and Hussey steadied the ship with a 176-run partnership, to set up the victory.

The WA Selectors today released a 13-man Retravision Warriors squad for the ING Cup match against Tasmania in Launceston on Sunday.Left-arm fast-bowler Michael Clark has been included in the squad and is in line to play his second ING Cup match of the season.Clark missed the Pura Cup match against NSW at the WACA Ground with a strained quadricep muscle but passed a fitness test at Warriors training last night.Paul Wilson missed the NSW ING and Pura Cup fixtures with a groin injury but passed a fitness test at training and has been included for the limited-overs match.Wilson will return to Perth after the match. Luke Ronchi will travel to Tasmania as a back up for injured wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell.Campbell strained his left adductor muscle when batting in WA’s first innings of the Pura Cup match against NSW. He took no further part in the game.Campbell batted for a short time at training last night and according to Coach Wayne Clark is a sixty percent chance of playing on Sunday.The Retravision Warriors 13-man ING Cup Squad
Justin Langer (C), Michael Hussey (VC), Ryan Campbell, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Scott Meuleman, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi, John Taylor, Darren Wates and Paul Wilson.Two players will be omitted prior to the match. The Pura Cup team will be finalised on Saturday. The Pura Cup match against Tasmania begins on Wednesday in Hobart.Sport FM 90.5 will provide ball-by-ball coverage for the entire match

Jamaica 338 (Bernard 120) and 372 for 5 (Gayle 71, Lambert 82, Hibbert 102) drew with Windward Islands 249
ScorecardJamaica’s Carib Beer Challenge Series semi-final against the Windward Islands ended in a draw – the first-innings lead was enough to see them through to the final – but the match will sadly be remembered for crowd trouble that forced the umpires to abandon play well before the scheduled close.Certain spectators, angered by Jamaica’s decision to bat on, threw plastic water bottles onto the field at the Alpart Sports Club, forcing Eddie Nichols and Basil Morgan, the umpires, to call of play with a minimum of 26.2 overs still to be bowled.Jamaica, already assured of a place in the final against Barbados, opted for batting practice, with Keith Hibbert (102) hitting his maiden first-class hundred. There was also a fine innings from Tamar Lambert, who made 82. The Windwards’ challenge was lacklustre, mainly as the result of the absence of Fernix Thomas, who couldn’t bowl because of a groin strain.Chris Gayle, who was captaining Jamaica for the first time, expressed his disappointment with the crowd’s behaviour. “I didn’t expect this from the Alpart crowd,” said Gayle, who defended his decision to bat on by saying that a number of his bowlers were nursing niggles.Resuming at 145 for 2, Jamaica scored 92 runs in the morning session for the loss of Donovan Pagon (25). Lambert fell soon after the interval, slicing a catch to backward point off Ian Butler.David Bernard, whose superb first-innings century set the tone for Jamaica’s domination of the game, made 0, caught at cover by Craig Emmanuel off Butler. That prompted Hibbert to accelerate, and he hammered Shane Shillingford, the offspinner, for successive sixes over long-on. He got to 100 in the over before tea, sweeping Rawl Lewis to the square-leg fence. But Jamaica’s failure to give the Windwards a hit after that prompted the ugly scenes which caused the match to be called off.

Ramnaresh Sarwan may be stripped of the West Indian vice-captaincy, according to a report in London’s Sunday Times newspaper, for being seen partying in the stands after England had steamrolled to a ten-wicket victory in the first Test in Jamaica.Sarwan, who completed a pair as West Indies were bowled out for 47 on the fourth morning, was regarded as an unusually mature 22-year-old when he was named as Brian Lara’s deputy last year. But there are concerns that he has lost his focus recently. A confidential report into the Jamaica debacle has been compiled by Ricky Skerritt, the West Indian manager, and is understood to have recommended firm action against both Sarwan and Chris Gayle, who was also involved in the incident.Two other players, Adam Sanford and Tino Best, are expected to escape censure – Sanford was quick to express his regret for the incident, while Best was reportedly sent to the stands to warn his colleagues that they were overstepping the mark.The Caribbean press has been vitriolic in its criticism of the team’s discipline, which was equally lax during their heavy defeats in South Africa over the Christmas and New Year period. “The West Indian players would have made excellent limbo dancers,” reported Trinidad’s Daily Express. “There’s just no limit to how low they can go.”

The repercussions of Pakistan’s loss to India may have started, if reports in a local newspaper are to be believed. The News reported on Thursday that the Pakistan Cricket Board wants Dav Whatmore to replace Javed Miandad as coach of the senior team.The report quoted sources within the PCB as saying, “Basically the situation with Miandad is that there is a feeling he has been given enough time to prove that the team has developed and improved under him. Secondly … he is not willing to accept responsibility for any shortcomings against India and is opposed to the introduction of modern technology in the team.”However, Whatmore has denied the possibility of a move at present. “Right now, my mind and energy belong to Bangladesh cricket and I want to give all my effort to the team,” Whatmore told a news agency. “I will not name any country that I would like to coach. My agreement with the Bangladesh Cricket Board will end on May 31, 2005 and I will think about my future right after that.”The views of the PCB came out in a meeting Miandad had with the PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and Haroon Rashid, the manager, on Tuesday in Karachi. The source added, “Whatmore is regarded with great respect in Pakistan cricket circles and the talk is that he should be approached to end his contract with Bangladesh. Everything depends on whether he makes himself available or not.”Miandad and the PCB have been under pressure for some time now to instill some professionalism into the coaching set-up. The series loss against India, believe leading officials, ex-players and skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, highlighted the need to embrace modernity and, if necessary, technology in coaching methods.It is believed that Shaharyar is keen to integrate a fulltime fitness trainer and a bowling coach into the team set-up. Wasim Akram has expressed his willingness to serve as a bowling coach, as has his old sparring partner Waqar Younis. Dennis Waight and Daryl Foster have also attracted the interest of the PCB – Waight, who came to prominence as West Indies’ fitness coach, worked with the Pakistan team during the 2003 World Cup.When asked about the possible changes by Wisden Cricinfo, a PCB spokesman said, “It is not our policy to comment on rumours and speculation.” Miandad also refused to comment on the news when contacted. “You will have to speak to the Board to ask them for a comment, I don’t want to say anything right now.”Meanwhile, the same report also predicts a bleak future for Shoaib Akhtar. The article reveals there is pressure from government circles to deal with the Rawalpindi Express severely, regardless of the results of a medical-commission investigation into his injury. Akhtar has asked for the commission to delay the inquiry which was due to be held on Sunday, as he has extended his stay in Mumbai.Whether or not the medical commission serves any tangible purpose or can produce evidence of injuries, the report suggests that Shoaib is likely to be banned for a number of matches. “There is pressure from people in government to take action against him … he has been given a free rein for too long and it was the final straw when he let the team down in the series against India.”

Inzamamul Haq has been at odds with a national selector about the timing of the announcement of the Pakistan squad for the forthcoming Asia Cup. The reported Ehteshamuddin, a national selector, as saying that the Pakistan squad would be announced on July 7, but Inzamam hoped that it would happen earlier.Ehteshamuddin, the former Pakistan medium-pacer, said that the selection committee wanted to give Bob Woolmer, the new coach, enough time to assess all the 26 probables at the ongoing training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.However, Inzamam felt that the squad should be named as soon as possible so that Woolmer could train the chosen candidates suitably. “We have 14 batsmen in the camp,” he said, “and it’s difficult to give each of them adequate time. It would make sense to select the final team and concentrate on it.”Woolmer, who was appointed as a replacement for Javed Miandad earlier this month, is expected to arrive on Friday.

Scorecard
Scotland finally recorded their first victory of the season at the eighth time of asking, as Colin Smith and Cedric English combined to sink Durham in a rain-delayed encounter at The Grange.After being asked to bat first, Durham were restricted to 189 for 7 in their allotted 41 overs. Gary Pratt top-scored with a steady 48, while there were two wickets apiece for Yasir Arafat and Asim Butt.In reply, Scotland made a dreadful start, slumping to 44 for 4 after Shoaib Akhtar had terrorised the top-order, but English and Smith combined with a cool 146-run partnership, to guide Scotland home with 10 balls to spare. Smith was the aggressor, thumping 10 fours in his 83-ball 79, while English dropped anchor to excellent effect, with 53 not out from 91.It was Durham’s second defeat at the hands of Scotland – they also succumbed at Scotland’s very first attempt in May 2003 – but it was an untimely setback this season, as victory would have carried them to the top of the table. Instead Yorkshire and Middlesex share top spot on 20 points, with Durham slipping back to fourth.