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A review of Cricket Australia’s anti-drug policy that is underway may, in future, prevent the type of controversial ruling that has allowed Shane Warne to play charity and testimonial matches while serving a ban for drug use.Peter Young, Cricket Australia’s (CA) general manager of public affairs, told Wisden CricInfo that CA’s anti-drug policy, which was based on that of the Australian Sports Commission, was under annual review. Young didn’t indicate how long it would take for any possible changes to be put in place, but stressed that the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) would be consulted, as they were a significant stakeholder in the game.The loopholes in the policy came into sharp focus after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) strongly condemned the arbitration ruling which permitted Warne to train with St Kilda club, Victoria and even Australia, during his one-year ban. David Howman, chief executive of WADA, believed the wrong clause in CA’s anti-drug policy may have caused the problem. He said that the arbitration decision clearly stated that Cricket Australia (CA) did have the power to enforce a ban, but the clause which it invoked – and which was in turn contested by the ACA – wasn’t the one which allowed it to prevent Warne from playing.”It [the CA] has full, unfettered jurisdiction under clause 12.4 (b) of the memorandum of understanding which states: ‘Nothing in paragraph (a) above prevents the ACB from refusing to approve a player’s request to play in a particular match or from imposing additional conditions upon its approval for a player to play in a particular match.”The WADA’s view was criticised by Tim May, chief executive of the ACA. He said that Howman didn’t appear to understand the principles behind the decision. “The arbitration was not about Shane Warne, it was about whether or not CA has the ability under its anti-doping policy to extend a ban to testimonial and bona fide charity matches. It has been proven – it does not.”Whether the ACA, CA, WADA or the man in the street thinks that a cricketer found guilty of a breach of the anti-doping policy should or shouldn’t be allowed to play in charity matches becomes irrelevant. Governing bodies can only penalise players according to the rules and agreements that exist at that time – penalties cannot be based upon the wishes and demands of people supporting some alternate policy or alternate view.”May stated that the ACA supported WADA’s charter to rid the world of drugs in sport, but at the same time it supported the adherence to pre-existing agreements made between two or more parties.Howman, meanwhile, said that while May might be doing his best for the cricketers, he needed to see the issue from an international perspective in the battle against drug use. He added that CA and the ICC needed to fall in line with the mainstream world of sports and sign up to the world anti-doping charter.

It was an amazing season for Captain Cox and his team and all the players fully deserve the praise and prize money heaped upon them. If you have any loose change chaps, don’t forget the Coach. For me, like all of you, it is very satisfying to both support and prepare a successful team. We have been very professional in our practice and preparation for all matches, which in itself doesn’t guarantee success, but for sure it helps achieve it.It isn’t all serious work though, and humour is thriving in our dressing room. It is good for morale to see Robert Turner, a very well educated and intelligent Cambridge graduate, solve his early season batting problem by ensuring he actually got his specially made contact lenses in the correct eyes! Worse than that, to see him hit on the elbow keeping wicket against Essex and limping off is beyond explanation!I have to compliment our opening bowling attack of Steffan Jones and Richard Johnson – alias the hairy Greek! They have taken 120 wickets between them, a high percentage of which have been taken here at Taunton, the best batting surface in the Country. They are both incredibly fit. Steffan achieved this by consuming copious quantities of legal supplements whilst the hairy Greek stands in front of a mirror applying Grecian 2000, admiring his body and planning what curry to eat later on.Keith Dutch really is a chirpy cockney. He has put in some outstanding performances which he can recount ball-by-ball, as his roommate Mike Bums can testify. Bumsie threw away the shoes he wore when dropping Afridi early, who then went on to score 68 off 30 watch the Tourists, not Somerset. The Club, when setting its budget, knows what the fixed costs are in staging cricket. To defray those, we need to play matches. Whether our professionals are asked toballs, poverty stricken student Matt Wood, picked them up to wear and promptly dropped two catches against Northants, immediately blaming the shoes for it! I am unsure how to deal with that because it is not in the coaching manual.At the heart of the team is Australian Captain Cox, and the gnarly old pro PeterBowler, who pretends to be an Australian! The Captain led trom the front and was the only baisman to top 1000 runs for the season. Peter Bowler was easily our best one-thy batsman when many thought he shouldn’t be in the one-day side. Well, he just loves a challenge!Obviously my season as the Coach has been brilliant but reality has hit home on that what has been achieved in 2001 will be harder to follow in 2002. I can feel the Chief Executive sharpening the axe even now! My thanks then to all the non-playing staff for their support and help to the players, especially my backroom staff, Darren Veness (Physio), Andy Huny (Fitness) and the 2nd XI support from Julian Wyatt and Ross Dewar. Also to Phil Frost and his ground staff, thanks for their pitches and facilities. If we can keep that hose pipeout of his hands for the one-thy matches – no, we will never agree on that one!Finally, to all of you, the members and supporters, without whom there would not be a Somerset County Cricket Club, a very big thankyou.

Match facts

Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Start time 1430 local (0900 GMT)Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik seem to have plugged the holes in the Pakistan batting lineup•Associated Press

Big picture

Some time in the past year, tables have turned, boots have switched feet, and these teams have exchanged personalities. So far in the series, Pakistan have been defined by consistency. Someone in the top three has found a way to make runs, the men in the middle have contributed, and Shoaib Malik has tapped into his experience to prove a canny finisher. Sri Lanka meanwhile, have relied on the spectacular performances – like Kusal Perera’s in Pallekele – to remain competitive.With Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez and Malik all in form, and Sarfraz Ahmed having turned in a substantial innings as well, the visitors will feel they have Sri Lanka’s bowling well covered – particularly as the hosts’ attack has been toothless. This situation, Sri Lanka fans have felt, is not helped by their refusal to play more than two specialist bowlers. Angelo Mathews has responded by saying they have considered the likes of Sachith Pathirana and Thisara Perera as front-line bowling options.Pakistan’s bowlers do not seem have such a pronounced edge over Sri Lanka’s batsmen, despite Yasir Shah’s rich haul on Sunday evening. Lahiru Thirimanne stroked his way to a significant score for the first time in the series, and in the Sri Lanka top seven, there is a mix of talent and experience that suggests the team can compete in one department at least. Any hope of Sri Lanka levelling this series lies in that batting order.Security has been substantially beefed up for this match, after violence broke out in the stands then spread to the surrounding neighbourhood on Sunday evening. The players were never in great danger that evening, but Sri Lanka’s authorities have made plans to deploy Special Task Force personnel through the venue.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: LWLLW (last five matches, most recent first)Pakistan: WLWWW

In the spotlight

Lasith Malinga continues to battle substantial injury concerns, but arguably he does not help himself out by allowing the kilograms to pile on. He has been a diminished international bowler in the past year, but appears to harbour hopes of defending the World T20 crown he was instrumental in achieving in 2014. Mathews said he had had a chat to his spearhead about three modest outings so far, and hopes a corner will be turned.He’s among the more non-descript Pakistan bowlers, but Rahat Ali has found the means to trouble Sri Lanka’s batsmen all through the tour, on every kind of surface. Sharp, with a natural length that invites the drive, Rahat has delivered incisive new-ball spells and posed a menace through the middle overs as well. He equals Hafeez as the highest wicket-taker with six scalps in the series so far.

Teams news

Has Sri Lanka lost patience with Thisara Perera? His place seems the shakiest in this XI. Mathews also suggested Ashan Priyanjan could be in line for a return to the team, probably at the expense of Milinda Siriwardana.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Upul Tharanga, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 7 Ashan Priyanjan, 8 Sachith Pathirana, 9 Thisara Perera/ Suranga Lakmal, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Nuwan PradeepPakistan are unlikely to change a winning combination.Pakistan (probable): 1 Azhar Ali (capt.), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Mohammad Rizwan, 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Rahat Ali, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Pitch and conditions

There are thunderstorms forecast for Wednesday afternoon, so there is a chance the match will go into its reserve day, on Thursday. Angelo Mathews said he didn’t know what to make of the pitch, which both appeared dry, yet featured live grass.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka’s bowlers have taken 12 wickets in the series so far, to Pakistan’s 24 scalps (not including run outs).
• Kusal Perera needs 20 runs to bring up a 1000 runs in ODIs. He has played 44 innings.
• Sri Lanka have lost nine and won five matches against Full Member opposition this year.

Quotes

“You can’t have XI new players. I know that this is a transition period, but it has to be a smooth transition. Experience also matters. Younger players learn from the experienced guys. More often than not we think about injecting new blood into the system as well as the need to win. You need to have that correct combination when it comes to youth and experience. We’ve got a few experienced guys – TM Dilshan is one, Lasith Malinga is one, and Upul Tharanga has played quite a lot of one dayers. But all the others haven’t played that many games.”

Gerhard Erasmus’ resilient half-century resurrected a faltering Namibia chase, lifting them from 65 for 7 to a thrilling two-wicket win in their pursuit of 166 against Oman at the Wanderers Sports Club.Oman seemed well on course to victory as Bilal Khan cut through Namibia’s batting order with his maiden List A five-for. But Erasmus and JJ Smit survived the left-armer’s spell of swing bowling, and constructed a 92-run eighth-wicket stand to pump life back into Namibia’s hopes of promotion into the World Cup Qualifier.Oman had been under pressure when they batted as well, falling to 10 for 3 in the fifth over after being sent in in seam-friendly conditions. As he did a day earlier, when Namibia bowled out Kenya for 83, captain Sarel Burger had a minimum of two slips in place for nearly the entire innings.Jatinder Singh ground out a top-score of 29 off 71 balls – one of five 20-plus scores in the innings – to settle Oman’s early nerves, before a late flurry from the lower order hauled them to a modest total.Oman’s fielding was sloppy early on – and it cost them later as well – as several chances went down, allowing Namibia to reach 44 for 1. Lohan Louwrens had been driving Namibia’s chase early, but should have been out for 23 when he was spilled over the third man rope off Bilal for six. Bilal persisted with a short-ball plan until Louwrens was cramped for room and fended a catch behind to end the 12th over. Bilal struck for the second time in the 14th, beating JP Kotze for pace to send his off stump cartwheeling back.Erasmus entered after Nico Davin fell lbw to offspinner Jay Odedra in the 15th over, with the score on 61 for 4, but could only watch helplessly from the non-striker’s end as Bilal took three more wickets in the space of five balls in the 16th over. Craig Williams flashed an edge through to wicketkeeper-captain Sultan Ahmed, Jan Frylinck was beaten for pace to be trapped leg before, and Sarel Burger edged a drive low to first slip.With storm clouds hovering overhead, Namibia were well behind on Duckworth-Lewis, but Erasmus and Smit calmly blocked out the rest of Bilal’s initial eight-over spell. The pitch slowed down as the innings wore on, offering little to Oman’s spinners as Erasmus resurrected the chase with ones and twos. As the target whittled down to less than 50 in the 39th over, Sultan tossed the ball to Aqib Ilyas for his part-time legspin, but Erasmus swept him for four as the 300 fans in attendance sensed a home victory.A crunching pull from Erasmus off Fayyaz Butt in the 47th over brought up his fifty off 95 balls, and brought the equation down to 12 off 21 balls. Kaleemullah conceded just two in the 48th over, before Smit finally buckled in the 49th, pulling Butt to mid-on and leaving Erasmus to get nine off 10 balls with the tail.Three singles put Erasmus on strike with six to get off the final over. Pacer Mohammad Nadeem was tasked with defending it, bowling with the wind at his back. Erasmus then premeditated a scoop to clear fine leg inside the circle, but he didn’t get the desired elevation. The fielder reached up for the chance, but the ball burst through his hands, and had enough momentum to go for four. Another single to fine leg leveled the scores, before No. 10 Bernard Scholtz slapped a single through cover for the winning run.Sompal Kami’s 4 for 30 helped decimate UAE for 114 as Nepal scraped to a four-wicket win in a weather-affected match at United Cricket Field. Following a two-and-a-half-hour delayed start due to a wet outfield from overnight rain, Nepal won a crucial toss with play reduced to 34 overs a side and sent UAE in on a pitch that has heavily favored early seam movement throughout the tournament.Sunday was no different as UAE were behind the eight-ball throughout the match following Sompal’s opening spell. The short but whippy fast bowler struck with the third ball of the match, bowling Ashfaq Ahmed for a golden duck. Two more strikes by Sompal and Karan KC had UAE 25 for 3 in the eighth over before teenage legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane and captain Paras Khadka tore through the middle order to take 3 for 30 and 2 for 20 respectively. Sompal then returned to finish off the tail as UAE were bowled out in 31 overs.Nepal, who had struggled to chase Namibia’s 138 on day one before creeping over the line by one wicket, needed a half-century from Khadka after another top-order collapse saw them slip to 20 for 3 in the seventh over. Khadka counterattacked with five sixes in his 51 off 48 balls. Sompal then helped out with the bat too, smashing a six off his third ball before ending the match with a three to finish unbeaten on 10 off five balls.Opening batsman Ruvindu Gunasekera overcame a thumb injury to produce a gritty 83 off 99 balls and set up Canada‘s third straight win of Division Two with a 59-run victory over Kenya at Affies Park.Canada had been coasting early at 58 for 1 after being sent in with Gunasekera leading the way on 38 off 28 balls when he received a blow to the left thumb from medium-pacer Nelson Odhiambo that caused his fingernail to nearly come off. After leaving the field for treatment, he returned at 90 for 3 in the 23rd over and proceeded to anchor the rest of the innings, lasting until the third ball of the 49th over before he was eighth out to a rare hit-wicket dismissal trying to swat Nehemiah Odhiambo.Gunasekera’s innings ensured Canada had plenty to defend against a brittle Kenya batting line-up, who crossed 100 for the first time in three attempts at Division Two but still fell well short of the target. Captain Rakep Patel kept hope alive for a comeback with his 32 off 76 balls, but he was run out attempting to steal a single to short third man off Nikhil Dutta’s offspin; he couldn’t beat Navneet Dhaliwal’s relay to Hamza Tariq behind the stumps, and Kenya were 123 for 8. Dhaliwal also took 3 for 15 in eight overs of part-time medium pace to hasten victory.

India have a new captain for the seven-match home ODI series against Australia, but they are “extremely unlikely” to have a new coach by then. Although the Board of Control for Cricket in India had initially hoped to appoint a coach before the series, the chances of that happening now appear slim and the appointment of a cricket manager is more likely.The BCCI advertised for the post of coach on leading cricket board websites on August 27 and set September 15 as the deadline for interested candidates to write in. Cricinfo has learnt that the BCCI has received close to 20 applications in all, both from India and abroad, for the post.However, the committee constituted to decide on the next course of action to be taken in appointing the coach may not be able to meet on September 27, the date earlier fixed for this purpose. The committee – comprising former Indian captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan, the board secretary, Niranjan Shah, the joint secretary, Mohinder Pandove and the treasurer, N Srinivasan – was constituted to pick the next coach. However, Gavaskar and Shastri are both in South Africa, commentating on the ICC World Twenty20, and are only likely to return to India on September 26 or 27.A top board source said it is already on the look-out for a cricket manager for the seven-match series. Even if the committee meets on September 27 and reviews the applications it has received, and short-lists candidates for the post, it will not be able to complete the interview process before the Australia series, which begins in Bangalore on September 29.”We will probably have to appoint someone as cricket manager for the home series against Australia,” the source said. “We are looking for likely candidates and could consider some of the Indians who have applied for the coach’s job.”The most prominent among the Indians who have applied for that job is Chandrakant Pandit, who had successful coaching stints with Mumbai, India A and Maharashtra. Recently, though, he was not released from his duty at Maharashtra, and was replaced as India A coach by Paras Mhambrey.With India enjoying considerably more success than was expected in some quarters at the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, the possibility of Lalchand Rajput – doing the job of cricket manager – getting an extension for the home series cannot be ruled out. However, there have been rumblings in some sections of the board that too many plum posts are going to former cricketers from the West Zone. With Sharad Pawar, the president, Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, and Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer, all coming from West Zone, it has been whispered that former players from Mumbai are getting more opportunities as managers and coaches than others. The BCCI is keen to show that it is not parochial in its appointments.Richard Done, Tim Boon, Kepler Wessels, Terry Oliver, Dave Nosworthy and Martin Crowe are some of the applicants for the coaching position from overseas.Done was once head of the Queensland Academy of Excellence, and took over as an ICC High Performance manager in 2004 when Bob Woolmer joined Pakistan and left the post vacant. Done recently interviewed for the job of Pakistan coach but lost out to fellow Australian Geoff Lawson.Oliver succeeded Bennett King as the Queensland coach in 2002 after King took up the West Indies job, but it appears that his candidature will be ruled out as the advertisement issued by the BCCI stipulates that candidates should have played “at least first-class cricket.” Oliver, who played club and grade cricket in Australia, never played first-class cricket.There’s also Tim Boon, the former Leicestershire batsman, who has served as assistant coach of the England team, who now coaches Leicestershire. A while ago the BCCI received an application from Boon, although Paul Maylard-Mason, the chief executive of the Leicestershire County Cricket Club, issued a statement saying Boon was not in the race for the India job. Maylard-Mason insisted that Boon was committed to Leicestershire. Sources indicate that Boon has personally indicated his genuine interest in the India job, but the Indian board will be wary given their recent experience with Graham Ford.Wessels, the former Australia and South Africa international, it is learned, reached Indian officials through a senior Indian cricketer, expressing an interest in the job. Wessels has coaching experience in England, with counties including Northamptonshire but has not coached an international team.Nosworthy, who coaches Canterbury, has in the past coached teams in South Africa, where he played first-class cricket for Border and Northern Transvaal.Crowe’s case is a curious one. His application was first forwarded to the BCCI by “a well-wisher” and Crowe said he had no idea that his CV had reached the BCCI. Later, though, he conceded he could be interested in the job under favourable circumstances.

World Cup officials will announce the replacement for the Brian Lara Stadium, which was dropped from the list of venues last month, on Monday. Work on the 15,000-capacity ground in southern Trinidad won’t be finished in time for the World Cup in March.It was scheduled to host warm-up matches involving Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa and Canada but Don Lockerbie, the venue development director, told PA Sport: “The Brian Lara Stadium is our casualty and obviously we would have liked to go through the whole of the World Cup without any casualties.”The government of Trinidad & Tobago took a risk that they were willing to take and we were willing to take with them. After Brian Lara scored his 400 runs against England in 2004 they decided to build a cricket stadium in his honour.”We stood by it as long as we could, but we made the decision that we didn’t feel it would be right for the Brian Lara Stadium to be a host.”It wasn’t a matter of not having some kind of a stadium there, in fact the pitch and field are ready to go and we could certainly put the grandstands around it. We just felt it would be too much of a construction zone because of the other things being built there.”We will name the site we are moving to on Monday. The government of Trinidad and Tobago will still play its warm-up matches in a sizeable stadium that will be customised just for the World Cup. People will be getting a world-class state-of-the-art venue, even in its temporary mode.”For the first time teams will prepare for the World Cup with matches against the other international sides, with a number of enticing games such as England-Australia and South Africa-Pakistan on the schedule.”The 2007 World Cup will mark the first time where teams will actually play each other in the warm-up stage,” Lockerbie added. “When the ICC changed that to have England playing Australia for example in a warm-up match, we looked at these as serious games because no team will want to go into these and lose their momentum.”

Scorecard
Amit Pagnis, the left-handed opening batsman, led the way with a breezy 35 as Railways romped home to a nine-wicket victory and wrapped up their second Irani Trophy title on the fourth day in Delhi. They needed just 15.2 overs to knock off the 50 required and completed the final rites of a one-sided contest.Railways had got themselves into a great position on the third day when Murali Kartik and Kulamani Parida, their two spinners, engineered a sensational collapse. Rest of India were cruising along at 98 for 2, with a lead of 10, when they lost the last eight wickets for just 39 and left Railways with a meagre target to chase. Barring Dheeraj Jadhav, none of Rest’s batsmen came to terms with the variable bounce of the Karnail Singh Stadium – a fact which the Railways bowlers exploited with skill.Kartik was the star of the show for Railways with five wickets in the game complementing his plucky 96 in the first innings – one that propped up Railways from a precarious 104 or 6. Yere Goud, the middle-order batsmen who scored a valuable half-century, and Kulamani Parida, the offspinner who ended with seven victims in the match, also made crucial contributions.The only silver lining for Rest of India was the splendid efforts of Ramesh Powar, the offspinner from Mumbai, who impressed with his seven-wicket haul in the first innings. Powar will get another chance to prove himself in the forthcoming Challenger Series, starting on October 10, but it remains to be seen if his consistent performances in the domestic level can earn him a recall into the national side.

Mike Young has been appointed as England’s fielding coach for a four-week stint before their tour of South Africa. Young will be the latest in the line of Australians working in the English set-up with Rod Marsh and Troy Cooley already playing vital roles.Young, the former baseball coach, was first engaged by John Buchanan to work with the Australian one-day side in 2002. Young, still involved intermittently with the Australians, was engaged by Rod Marsh to work with the England team.The reported Young as saying, “I’m looking forward to it. I’d love to be with the Aussies all the time, but that’s not to be, so to get the opportunity to work with other athletes is really pleasing.”I must admit it feels a little funny to switch over from Australia to England, but my first priority remains the Australian team. They’re good players, and I’m definitely going to do everything I can to help.”

South Wilts’ prospects of bowling BAT Sports off the top of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League at Lower Bemerton tomorrow, 11.30am, have received a double setback.Left-armer James Tomlinson, who played for the British Universities against India A in midweek, has been refused permission by his Hampshire employers to play.And skipper Rob Wade is out with a triple fracture of his collar bone – an injury sustained when he fell over in the father’s sack race at his son’s school sports day!"I’ll probably win the award for the daftest call-off of the season," groaned Wade, who hit 80 at Bashley last week.The third-placed Salisbury club expect to call up Jon Nash and Hampshire Under-16 all-rounder Lysander Wolf against BAT, who lead Havant, the defending champions, by three points.The rock-hard Bemerton strip is expected to produce a welter of runs, with both South Wilts and BAT packed with powerful top order batting.Damian Shirazi continued his impressive form for the MCC YC’s, hitting 79 and taking 2-41 against a strong Kent 2nd XI in midweek.Top dogs BAT make one enforced change, with KES captain Graham Noble replacing wedding-bound Chris Thomason.Title holders Havant face neighbours Portsmouth minus skipper Paul Gover, who is attending an open air Bon Jovi concert in Hyde Park."I’m a great fan and queued for hours in the pouring rain for this concert, so I’m afraid cricket has to be put on the back seat tomorrow," Gover said.Left-arm spinner Phil Loat, who missed the five-wicket win at Bournemouth last week, replaces Gover, with Andy Perry taking over as captain.Eager to avenge their midweek SEC Cup defeat, Portsmouth are without former Hampshire player Matt Keech, but fringe county all-rounder Lawrie Prittipaul is named in the squad."We boosted our confidence with a win against Calmore last week, but to beat Havant would be quite something," said skipper Lee Savident.Tom Webley returns from Cambridge UCCE to boost Bournemouth’s prospects in the long-haul visit to lowly Liphook & Ripsley.The left-arm all-rounder, who hit a First Class century against Northants earlier this season, is expected to open the batting alongside teenager Nick Park, with skipper Matt Swarbrick dropping down to four."Tom’s return gives us a couple of options, particularly in the spin department," Swabrick said.With Dave Kidner also back, Bournemouth leave out Matt Mixer and Charlie Holcomb, who will bolster a strong-looking 2nd XI who will be aiming to strengthen their Hampshire League promotion bid against Basingstoke & North Hants.Resoundingly beaten by champions Havant last week, Bournemouth will expect to beat second-to-bottom Liphook, although their ability to bowl the Surrey club out will be crucial."The toss could be all important. Liphook can be a difficult side to bowl out," Swarbrick says.Matt King wants Bashley (Rydal) to build on last week’s success against South Wilts, but knows the Rose Bowl meeting with the Hampshire Academy will be a demanding occasion."It’s noticeable how they have improved since the introduction of the all-day format," the Bashley captain said."The Academy players are bred on the longer game and, on their own Nursery ground surface, will be a very difficult side to beat."The other problem is that you never quite know who you are going to be playing against."Bashley’s form has noticeably improved since Western Australian Brad Thompson returned from injury.The Academy will choose from a 13-man squad, which includes Ventnor’s Ian Hilsum and Portsmouth teenager James Manning.Basement boys Calmore Sports, who trail Liphook & Ripsley by two points at the bottom, are desperate to win against Andover at Loperwood Park.Second XI captain Tim Keighley gets the call for Andover, whose 284-run captain Roger Miller lies third in the Premier batting charts.

Back to the original frontier. Back to first principles.Ultimately, they were deprived of the opportunity to complete the 5-0 whitewash that the trend of so much of this series promised. But Australia’s cricketers can return home secure in the knowledge that there has been precious little disruption to the trend of their country’s recent domination of the old enemy.It is salient to note that, with its crushing victory at The Oval yesterday, Australia has now won 25 of its last 40 Tests against England. Over the same period, England has triumphed in just six matches. Even more tellingly, only a single one of these has been won while the fate of the Ashes’ destination (metaphorical destination, anyway) was yet to have been decided.When the history books are written, they will show that there was nothing from the 2001 series to disturb a general pattern of Australian success that now extends all the way back to 1989. The only parts that were disturbing, in fact, were the portents for England in its continuing inability to challenge its most enduring foe.As this tussle began, it had been more than just an extension of its hold on an Ashes urn that Australia wished to secure from its tour. Confidence about its credentials as the world’s best Test team – partially undermined as it had been by events in its last series in India in March – required restoration too. The passions – and the fervour for victory – of a number of its leading figures were also always likely to be stirred by the prospect that this was to be their final visit as players to England.The team’s fielding was possibly not at its sharpest at various moments and Michael Slater and Brett Lee did not enjoy the individual success for which they would have hoped. But it remains difficult to pinpoint any other chinks that were vaguely discernible in the Australians’ armour over the course of the last two months.Its bowling, in particular, was magnificent. Few English batsmen inspired confidence in their capacity to resist the indomitable pairing of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne for prolonged periods. Respective averages of 16.93 and 18.70 from the five Tests they played give a pretty good idea of the duo’s potency. In the early matches of the series, paceman Jason Gillespie was also outstanding. Albeit that they were aligned against a number of batsmen with question marks over their recent form, England’s bowlers never displayed the same skill, commitment or inspiration.This is not to underplay the exceptional all-round contribution of Adam Gilchrist, nor the prodigious accumulation of runs in the middle order from the likes of Damien Martyn and Mark Waugh. That trio’s capacity to overwhelm England’s bowlers was also clearly central to Australia’s triumph.Before this series began, England’s recent successes at Test level had pointed to a potential reinvigoration and revival in the state of the sport within the country’s boundaries. Even to some sort of realignment in the balance of world cricketing power. Yet this had always shaped as the team’s biggest test, its sternest examination in recent memory.A tortured outfit for much of the 1990s, England has clearly made important advances over the course of the last year. Nasser Hussain’s captaincy, in particular, gives it a more positive and engaging outlook than it has enjoyed in some time. Its coaching staff and its administrators also bring to their roles greater professionalism than has been seen at possibly any stage in the past. But the exact magnitude of the turnaround, insofar as it exists, remains difficult to discern.The Englishmen have genuine cause to bemoan the loss of Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan to injury, yet also need to remember that their two best batsmen of the series – Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash – would probably not even have played but for those two absences. New ball pairing Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick struggled consistently; although able to pressurise Slater, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting through the early stages of the series, they were manifestly unable to upset the progress of Australia’s middle order. Opening batting stalwart Michael Atherton appears to have said farewell to Test cricket and, at 38, Alec Stewart can surely not be too far behind.The speed with which the home press in particular jumped off the bandwagon was a measure of the extent of the gulf that continues to separate these two sides. Pre-series pronouncements that Australia would no longer remain the nemesis that it has been for the last decade were disowned with a haste resembling a Maurice Greene dash down the straight. Better measures of England’s current place in world cricket will emerge from forthcoming series against India and New Zealand.For Australia, meanwhile, a consolidation of its position at the head of the International Cricket Council’s Test Championship table is just reward for its performance. It remains the very model of a great Test team, one prepared to sense weaknesses in its opponent, to seize upon small openings and opportunities, to force a rival on to the back foot, and then to ruthlessly maintain control. Some of the heroes of past Australian tours of England are long gone – Allan Border and Mark Taylor chief among them – but the central epithet endures.The entire squad of 17 players that came to the Old Dart for this series can look back proudly on all of the sacrifices which they have made in the name of realising one burning ambition. They have performed their job expertly. Again.