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Mohammed Kaif and Dinesh Mongia are to stay with the India squad for the Test series against England – but neither will see any action unless there is an injury crisis.The batsmen are being reteined as cover for the original party, principally to keep up fitness levels ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in September.An emergency meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI] decided to allow Kaif and Mongia to stay in England, where they were members of India’s one-day squad.”We don’t want to disturb the composition of the Test squad,” said BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya.”If the team management felt necessary to field either of those two players in a Test match, it will need to seek the Board’s permission.”The tour party has already been augmented by batsmen Shiv Sunder Das and Wasim Jaffer, all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who were in the original squad for the Test match leg of the tour.All-rounder Yuvraj Singh will be returning home after chipping a bone in his right hand during last Saturday’s NatWest Series final win over England at Lord’s.

Canterbury Cricket is still on the lookout for the most suitable venue for its secondary venue for first-class matches.While Jade Stadium was still extremely important to Canterbury Cricket, and always would be, according to Canterbury Cricket Association chairman David Shackleton, a permanent secondary ground was necessary.That ground was not going to be the Village Green at QEII Park. While agreement has been reached with the Christchurch City Council over the provision of a permanent building at the Village Green, the Association was looking for another facility, including possibly somewhere at Hagley Park.”This will be given a great deal of focus over the next few months,” Shackleton said.While it had been disappointing not to reverse the trend of financial losses suffered by the Association over recent years, the fact that the meeting was being held at the new indoor facility and offices was a significant triumph for the Association and a landmark in its development.With all the issues that were facing the Association it had been fortunate to hold the loss to what it was at $54,231, he said.The Association was budgeting to breakeven next year but even if that was achieved it was still not good enough.Shackleton said the issue of finances of the Associations had been discussed after last weekend’s annual general meeting of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and there had been a good deal of debate. NZC were concerned about the situation for the Associations and Shackleton said they would be holding a review once the World Cup had been completed next year.It was hoped that some of the share of income from the World Cup would be used to assist the Associations in stabilising their costs.Club delegate Peter Crowhen raised concerns over the Association’s cashflow situation and board member Steve Riddell said cashflow was a key issue for the board and the fact the new facility was up and running was one of the contributing factors to the cashflow, but a number of decisions made by the board had been with a view to the next four or five years.In the vote for two board positions resulting from Trevor Luke facing re-election by rotation and Anne Urlwin standing down, Luke was returned along with Mike Satterthwaite from Canterbury Country.Former New Zealand Cricket Council member Brian Adams was elected president after Brian Hastings completed his four year term of office.Riccarton Cricket Club delegate Tim Murdoch raised a constitutional point in general business when suggesting the constitution was at fault in not requiring the Association’s board selection panel to meet and interview potential board members before nominations were received.It was a weakness in the system of appointment and did not assist delegates to the annual meeting in making their selection.

Michael Vaughan made Sri Lanka pay for two missed catches as he scored his second Test hundred, giving England a possible escape route in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Widely criticised for their performance over the first three days, England showed character and resolve to reach 321 for two in their second innings by the close on the fourth day, 41 runs ahead.The day began with Ruchira Perera, at the centre of throwing allegations on TV and radio, bowling just one ball (a bouncer) to complete his unfinished over from the previous evening. The first full over, from Buddika, was packed with incident. After scoring two boundaries Vaughan was dropped at first slip, a low but straightforward chance to Jayasuriya. The reprieved batsman drove the next ball to the rope at extra cover.Zoysa replaced Perera and to universal astonishment Vaughan, on 33, was dropped for the second time. Jayasuriya was again the culprit at first slip, the chance no harder than the previous one off Buddika. Trescothick, the more subdued partner at the outset, then survived two good lbw shouts from Buddika on 41, the first of which looked very close indeed.When Zoysa made way for Perera Trescothick brought up England’s hundred alongside his own 50 with a resonant on-drive. Four for Vaughan to backward point off Vaas established a record opening partnership for England against Sri Lanka, before Vaughan joined Trescothick on 50 with a crisp single to extra cover.Perera’s return was short-lived – two overs for 13 – before Jayasuriya came on for the first time in the match. His fourth ball produced another boundary for Vaughan as he leaned into a drive, finding the gap between extra cover and mid-off. A deft late cut brought Trescothick three, before Vaughan took four with an almost identical stroke in the same over. When Fernando dropped short Trescothick pulled him to the Tavern boundary at mid-wicket.England lost Trescothick in controversial circumstances, given out lbw to Zoysa for 76 (135 balls, seven fours) by umpire Harper. Replays clearly showed he had got an inside edge. That was 168 for one, ending the highest opening partnership for England since Mike Atherton and Mark Butcher put on 179 against South Africa at Edgbaston in 1998.Jayasuriya brought on de Silva with Vaughan on 92, and he drove his first two balls for two and four. Butcher then took a highly risky single off de Silva, and would have been run out had Buddika’s shy at the stumps been on target. Next ball, Vaughan took another tight single to bring up his second Test hundred. England’s 200 came up (off 364 balls) with a single to Butcher off de Silva.Vaughan fell shortly before tea on 115 (18 fours, 219 balls), to the second ball of a new spell from Perera, edging to Sangakkara to leave England at 213 for two. Butcher and Hussain started sedately after the interval, and it wasn’t until his 84th ball that Butcher scored his first boundary. Hussain produced a cracking square drive off Perera in the next over, but followed it with a dreadful cross-batted swish which was some way from making contact.Jayasuriya, back on the field after treatment on an injured thumb, returned to bowl his slow left arm at the nursery end, and a no ball from Perera brought up the 250. The pace slowed to a crawl, but Sri Lanka’s frustration grew as Butcher and Hussain clung limpet-like to the crease.Hussain broke the stranglehold by taking two steps down the wicket to hit Jayasuriya back over his head for six. It brought up the 50 partnership (off 155 balls) and was enough to persuade Jayasuriya to take the new ball, ten overs after it had become available.A cover-driven boundary by Hussain off Vaas took off some of the shine as the England captain moved to 37, and Hussain finally wiped off the arrears with a delightful square cut off Zoysa. Perhaps relieved by the breakthrough, Butcher then took successive boundaries off Vaas through extra cover and mid-wicket. The Surrey left-hander reached a laboured but invaluable 50 (off 162 balls) with two to mid-wicket off Buddika.A cover-driven boundary followed to raise the 100 partnership, and England’s captain rounded off an excellent day by driving Buddika through mid-off to complete his second 50 of the match. Failing light prompted a conference between umpires Harper and Venkat, and when Hussain was hit on the chest by a ball from Vaas, it was enough to persuade them to call off play for the day with less than nine overs remaining.

The Somerset finals of the Sport Relief Kwik Cricket competition took place recently at the County Ground in Taunton, and at the end of very exciting day St John’s School at Highbridge emerged as the winners.Altogether over sixty primary schools entered the competition, from which Ash Primary representing South Somerset, Newbridge Primary from Bath and North East Somerset, Wells Central from Mendip and St Johns from Sedgemoor emerged as the finalists.St John’s Highbridge, and Wells Central now go forward to the south west regional finals that take place at Newton Abbot, where they will be hoping to emulate the achievements of Danesfield School, Williton who were the regional champions in 2001 and went onto compete in the the national finals at Trent Bridge.The inaugural Year 5 Kwik Cricket competition, held at Gypsy Lane, the new home of Taunton Cricket Club, was won by Eastover Primary School from Bridgwater.The competition that was organised by the students from Richard Huish College, was preceded by the opening ceremony with each school representing one of the five major cricket playing nations of the world.Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding told me: "The Year 5 Kwik Cricket competiton was a great success, and was enjoyed by everybody who took part. The students from Richard Huish did a fantastic job for us, and their help was much appreciated by all. We also appreciate the support that Vodafone gave to this event."

Pakistan’s Mohammad Sami is struggling to be fit for tomorrow’s First Test against England at Lord’s.The 20-year-old fast bowler is reported to have a shin problem and will undergo a fitness test in the morning before a decision is made.

Meanwhile Pakistan captain, Waqar Younis, has revealed how he tried to convince England coach Duncan Fletcher to coach Pakistan after the pair worked together at Glamorgan.Fletcher and Waqar helped Glamorgan win the County Championship and Waqar was effusive in praise of the man who has played a large part in turning around the fortunes of the England squad.”He’s the perfect man for the job. I asked him to come to Pakistan when I played the first year at Glamorgan,” said Waqar.”Duncan’s a good man and a good coach, but now I’m on the other side. He co-ordinates well with the players, he understands the nature of the boys. England did well to give Duncan a longer period of time and he proved himself.”But Waqar will not let such respect impede him as he attempts to lead his side to victory. He is hoping that Pakistan’s good record at Lord’s will stand the team in good stead over the next few days.”We’ve got a very good record at Lord’s, I’ve been here twice: it’s been very good to me and the team also. Hopefully if we put our act together it will do well again for us.”The boys are really pumped up, they are really looking forward to it, and Lord’s has got a special thing about it that everybody wants to come here and do well.”We’ve won two Tests here and that will always stay in my mind. Starting this game I’ll keep in my mind what we have done before and that’s what we are looking forward to doing again.”Abdur Razzaq is likely to bat at number three, with Azhar Mahmood or Faisal Iqbal coming in at six.”We have got a balanced side with a good all-rounder like Razzaq in the middle which really helps the team in both ways.”We really depend more on bowling, this is our strength,” Waqar suggested.Waqar was also generous in praise of the England team, and admitted that his team were keen to avenge defeat in the winter when England snatched a series victory in an historic game in Karachi.”England are playing well, in the last few series they have proved themselves and are looking a good unit. We have to play some really hard cricket to beat them, which we are aiming to do.””Losing any game hurts, but then again it’s all over," says Waqar. “We’ve got to think that it’s Lord’s now. I’m very proud that I’m here captaining at Lord’s, which is probably the best ground in the world.

As one who has worn many hats in Barbados’ and West Indies’ cricket, David Holford appreciates the importance of the junior coaching programmes at some of the island’s clubs.At the senior level we have to compete with people who are all coached, said the former Barbados captain, West Indies all-rounder, team manager and chief selector and current Spartan Club president and chairman of the Barbados Cricket Association’s Cricket Development Committee.In Australia, England, South Africa, the kids are coached from an early age and they become more technically proficient than our guys, who tend to be natural players.They, through the well-structured coaching programmes, are able to develop players who don’t have the natural talent that we do, but they end up with the discipline that comes from the coaching programme.It is important for us, if we are going to compete at the highest level, to make sure that we equip our players technically to deal with all the different situations that they may encounter.That’s why clubs like Spartan are providing the opportunities for young children between ages five and 14 to have the benefit of quality coaching from some of the island’s eminent coaches.Alvin Greenidge, Ezra Moseley, Roddy Estwick, Dexter Toppin, all highly rated by many observers, are among those involved in Spartan’s programme. Second vice-president Ron Greenidge, Teddy Foster and Sylvan Stoute also lend a hand and from time to time, there is assistance from Philo Wallace and Livy Puckerin, two of the club’s current players.But it was George Linton and Jeffrey Mascoll who were instrumental in getting things going in 1999.Neither is available today because of other commitments, but they laid the groundwork for the success of the programme which was reorganised in 2000 to include the addition of the professional coaches.Holford also mentioned two characteristics which were also spoken of when we featured Wanderers and Richard Straker’s Northern Cricketers high interest in participation and lack of adequate facilities.After about a year, we started getting a lot of kids, the Spartan president said.From a start-up number of 50, the register rose to about 200 at one point. About 150 are now active, but the average session would have about 80 to 90 boys.Like other programmes, Spartan have had to turn back people and inevitably, there are challenges in managing it.It is fairly difficult. One of the things lacking in Barbados is cricket facilities. We do the best we can with what’s available here in Queen’s Park, Holford said.The club, however, is trying to develop some practice pitches in the north-eastern corner of the ground.We need some more facilities. There really is not enough room, not enough wickets to cater to that number of boys. They keep coming all the time and it’s difficult to refuse them.As Holford spoke, there were four sets in sessions taking place on the field. The one on the main pitch was supervised by Wallace.A lot has been said about players not putting back anything into cricket, said the experienced Spartan and Barbados opening batsman. I am one of those players who is prepared once I have the time to come out and put in a big effort in terms of developing the cricket. There is no better age than to do it at this junior age.Wallace also spoke of the enthusiasm he saw among the kids.It’s nice to see that you are asking players to do something and you can see them trying to do it. That is very pleasing, he said. People are saying that our cricket is dying and the talent is not there, but there is loads of talent at this junior level. All we need to do is harness it some more and try to develop that talent.In the north-eastern corner, there was another group, under the guidance of Estwick. Among them were Jason Simmons and Shane Dowrich, two ten-year-olds from West Terrace Primary.I love cricket, Simmons said when he was asked why he joined the programme. When I came here two years ago I was throwing, but now I can bowl.The confident Dowrich, who claims to be a batsman, bowler and wicket-keeper, has big goals.I want to be like Martin Nurse. I want to play cricket for Barbados at the age of 16, he said.Holford has a suggestion that will help those like Simmons and Dowrich improve even more: a competition among those clubs with these programmes.In the past, Spartan played matches against Wanderers and Windward on an informal basis.What is lacking now is a competition for the youngsters. That is what we need to fit into the whole structure, Holford added.It’s one thing to show guys how to play and it’s another to need a platform where they can go and exhibit what they have learnt and learn more from the game situation.

Central Districts passed two tests against a strong New Zealand Selection XI at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University today, and succeeded in getting quality practice ahead of their forthcoming major assignment.Ewen Thompson, with 5-29, overshadowed fellow left-arm quick Shayne O’Connor. However, his international hopes centred on a trip to Perth, Western Australia, for the inaugural Champions Cup four nations domestic one-day tournament, rather than Tuesday’s Test against Pakistan.Thompson even qualified for a interview from TV One, at almost two metres tall towering over diddy David Di Somma. Thompson told CricInfo it was “good to get a few wickets on the day of the selection,” and made the ball move around as the early morning sun removed damp from the wicket. CD coach Dipak Patel responded to whether he thought Thompson had overshadowed Test shoe-in Shayne O’Connor today by saying, “I suppose he has, he’s bowled very well to good batsmen and got good batsmen out.”However, the major plus from this match was the form and fitness of O’Connor, who has bowled 27 overs during the three days of matches. He took 6-32 off 17 overs on Monday and Tuesday, followed by 1-44 off ten today. The last ball of his spell, bowled to Greg Todd, was dropped at second slip by Kerry Walmsley. With his number of overs objective reached he was seen in lengthy conversation with the chairman of selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee.Hadlee would not be drawn on his selection for next Tuesday’s third Test at Hamilton, but did tell CricInfo, “we know we’ve got to find at least one new fast bowler. We’ve had a good observation in this game as we will do in the Wellington game which starts tomorrow against Pakistan. So, there’s still a number of players on trial at the moment.””We’re pleased to see Shayne O’Connor back in action. He’s the type of player we’d welcome back into the side because he swings the ball, he’s left-arm, he’s different, but clearly we’ve got to know what his match fitness is like and whether he can get through a workload of perhaps bowling 50 overs in a match.”The other bowler with a real Test chance, Brooke Walker, 24 on Sunday, took 2-19 from ten overs and was impressive in his limited opportunity on Monday with 2-15 off five. His flipper was working well, and Sir Richard commented, “he’s bowled nicely. He did bowl well.”So, while CD prepare for their Perth test, it seems at least one other man on display here this week has his own Test to look forward to.