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England’s Ashes drubbing appears to have done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of their home supporters, certainly not in the North-East. With five months to go until the fourth and final Test against West Indies in June, all tickets for the Saturday of the match at the Riverside have been sold out.”There is undoubtedly a real sense of excitement about the England side returning to the North-East,” said Gordon Hollins, Durham County Cricket Club’s commercial manager. “It will be the biggest sporting event ever staged in the region.”Durham’s ground at Chester-le-Street has been hosting one-day internationals since the 1999 World Cup, and has staged two Tests since 2003, against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The visit of a marquee team such as West Indies, however, has created another level of interest.”Cricket is always passionately supported in the region and it is no surprise that day two has already sold out,” added Hollins, “especially with the likelihood of three of our players being included in the England squad.” Those players are Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett.Tickets for day one, three and four are still available, with prices starting at £20 for adults and £10 for under 16s. “I would encourage anyone planning to come along to the match to book their tickets as soon as possible,” said Hollins, “to ensure they get the best possible seats.” The match gets underway on June 15.

The last time Ricky Ponting faced the media at the end of an Ashes series, the first question he received came from a hard-talking TV news reporter who demanded his on-the-spot resignation for the “humiliation” of losing the closest and greatest Ashes contest in history. This afternoon, it was Andrew Flintoff who was coming to terms with the true definition of the word, after his England side had been served up on a platter by their ruthlessly focussed opposition.”Australia have raised the bar in this series,” admitted Flintoff, whose crest has fallen so far already that he seemed immune to further disappointment. “In patches we’ve competed with them, but whenever we’ve put a foot in the door it’s been closed on us. From our point of view, it’s not for a lack of trying or character. We’ve just been beaten by a better team.”The latter part of that statement certainly could not be quibbled with. Australia have been magnificent all series long. Every single one of their seven batsmen made centuries; each and every member of the bowling attack topped 20 wickets for the series. “I couldn’t be any more satisfied than I am at the moment,” said a beaming Ponting at his press call. He was a man at peace with the world after the indignities he suffered in 2005.As for the rest of Flintoff’s statement, however – something was undoubtedly amiss. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the lads,” he insisted for the fifth match out of five. “Their efforts throughout the series – they’ve kept coming back, kept working, and kept their intensity. They’ve tried to improve and perform, and you just can’t fault that.”Well, frankly, you can. England on this final day were a shower. They lost their two overnight batsmen without an extra run on the board, and they would have lost even more humiliatingly had it not been for the improbable intervention of Steve Harmison, who top-scored for the day with 16 not out and then launched into a futile assault with the new ball that had Justin Langer admitting afterwards that it was the best he had faced all series. What a strange moment to come to the party.England have been rudderless and directionless on this tour, and sadly the lack of drive has to derive from the attitude of the captain. In fairness to Flintoff, he is still finding his feet in the role. Each of his immediate predecessors, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, endured torrid times before they defined their style – and only last week, Duncan Fletcher cited Vaughan’s first Test in charge, at Lord’s against South Africa in 2003, as the worst defeat of his career.But it is not unfair to criticise Flintoff’s unthinking support for his men. “It’s not through a lack of practice or wanting to do well,” he reiterated. “We wanted to string together performances for full five days at a time. We wanted to stay with them and nick a result at the end, but unfortunately that’s not been the case.”If that approach sounds familiar, that is because it is exactly the approach that Flintoff first encountered under Hussain – an emotional, attritional leader who was also the captain of a young side in times of adversity. His single rule of thumb, however, was the polar opposite to Flintoff’s nice-guy approach to the leadership. He would stand at mid-on throughout England’s tours of the subcontinent, cajoling and haranguing, and demanding extra effort even when there was nothing extra to give.

And yet, Hussain also failed his acid test. He succumbed 4-1 on the last Ashes tour and 8-2 in his two series against Australia, which just goes to show that there’s only so much that any team can do when faced with a great opposition with their sights fully set on revenge. “I’ve never mentioned that word once,” insisted Ponting, although he did concede that the victory in this series was all the sweeter for the defeat that had preceded it.”The last time we won the Ashes in Australia was the shortest period of time ever,” he said. “We played a bit harder this time. The cricket we’ve played has been as good as I can ever remember. Lots of so-called experts said England would win when they arrived here, but look at the results. It’s a great feeling right at the moment, and we can’t take that feeling for granted either.”For Flintoff and England, it is time to look to the future. Come 2009, revenge will be the buzzword once again, only this time it’ll be emanating from the England dressing-room. “It can’t be a pointless exercise to be beaten 5-0,” said Flintoff. “We’re a young side, and as long as we’ve learned something from this, we can improve going forward.”Some of the lads have already shown that they can compete with the best team in the world. But after the jubiliation and joy of 2005, we have experienced the other side. But, hearing the Aussies speak about The Oval and using it as a spur, I’m sure that’s something the lads will remember for next time. Conceivably, everyone in that room could be playing in 2009.”

The ICC has responded to Martin Crowe’s comments in his recent Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lord’s by saying that it is dealing with the issue of suspect bowling actions more effectively than ever. In his address, Crowe criticised the new 15-degree law and said that all bent arms should be banned.However, the ICC says the current regulations, in place since March 2005, provide a scientific basis for judging a player’s action while at the same time recognising the reality that almost all bowlers are likely to straighten their arm to some extent during delivery.”The regulations are based on the views of an expert panel of former players including Angus Fraser, Michael Holding and Tony Lewis – the current Chairman of the MCC’s Cricket Committee,” said David Richardson, the ICC’s General Manager – Cricket. “This group studied the research of prominent bio-mechanists Professor Bruce Elliot, Dr Paul Hurrion and Mr Marc Portus and the scientific evidence they were presented with was overwhelming.”The facts are that some bowlers, even those never suspected of having flawed actions, were found likely to be straightening their arms by 11 or 12 degrees. And at the same time, some bowlers that may appear to be throwing may be hyper-extending or bowl with permanently bent elbows.”Under a strict interpretation of the Law they were breaking the rules but if we ruled out every bowler that did that then there would be no bowlers left. The game needed to deal with that reality and the current regulations do just that.Richardson added that the new laws have made the umpires’ job easier and provide a scientific base for testing actons. “What they do is take the pressure off umpires because it is now no longer one person’s view of whether or not a bowler has an illegal action. It is something that can be proved scientifically and the assessment is independent and not partisan.”At the same time the umpire retains the right to call a bowler for throwing and the first judgment he makes is still based on his instincts after viewing an action with the naked eye,” he added.The regulations include a 15 degree level of tolerance in elbow extension for all bowlers during delivery, which was identified by the panel of experts as the point after which the bend is likely to become visible to the naked eye.Five senior international bowlers have been reported under the new process – Harbhajan Singh of India, Pakistan’s Shabbir Ahmed and Shoaib Malik, Jermaine Lawson of the West Indies and Johan Botha of South Africa.Richardson also responded to Crowe’s comments about the value of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Test cricket. “Bangladesh has taken time to adjust to the demands of Test cricket but that mirrors the experience of every side that has stepped up to the top level.”Bangladesh is a cricket-crazy country and has shown encouraging signs of development and, given time, we fully expect it to become more and more competitive at Test level. Zimbabwe has already stepped back from its Test commitments to allow itself time to regroup and we are keen to help it in that process in any way we can.”

Jhulan Goswami has become the first player from India to take the ICC Women’s Player of the Year award. She was presented with the trophy at the ICC Awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.Goswami was also India’s only representative in the individual player awards, with no representation from the men in the shortlist. She edged out Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar and England’s Claire Taylor.”It’s a dream come true for me,” she said on accepting the award from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, fresh from the Lord’s ODI on Saturday. “I am very excited to win this award. It is very unexpected because the other candidates are great players. It is very special for me”.The title was just reward for her bowling average of 12.40 in Tests and 21.80 in ODIs and, since Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick retired earlier this year, Goswami has also become the fastest female bowler in the world. She may have pace, but she has the accuracy to match, with an economy rate of 2.10 in Tests and 3.17 in ODIs.England certainly know a thing or two about her pace, after they succumbed to her in the second Test last year; she took ten wickets to take India to their first Test series win on English soil. She also put on her highest score of 69 in the first Test.It’s been a good year for India women’s cricket in terms of recognition. Last month Anjum Chopra won the coveted Arjuna award – a rare honour for a female player. Now Goswami joins her in being feted.”This award does a lot for women’s cricket,” said Goswami. “I think women’s cricket is growing, slowly. We are getting more and more coverage now in the media and that can only be a good thing for game as it encourages more girls to take up the game and improves the overall levels of performance.”Goswami is the second winner of the award after Karen Rolton won the prize last year.

Michael Hussey said hard work early in his innings would be the key to halting Andrew Flintoff’s dominance against left-hand batsmen. Hussey, who was not part of the Australia team that lost the Ashes last year, said Flintoff’s 2005 form against Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Simon Katich was a concern.”He does seem to bowl particularly well to lefties, we know that,” Hussey told the . “You’ve just got to work hard every single ball against him. He’s such a quality bowler, I think you’ve got to just try to wear him down. That’s what the game is all about, facing players like him.”It’s a true test of everything you’ve got: your mental ability, your skills, handling all the pressures that go with playing Test cricket, surviving and then slowly getting on top. It can be a very, very rewarding feeling to win that kind of battle.” Flintoff’s 24 wickets in the 2005 Ashes series included Gilchrist, Hayden and Katich four times each and Langer twice.Hussey said he hoped his experience against Flintoff would help. “I’ve faced him a few times in county games and that was a huge challenge,” Hussey said. “I’m sure he goes up another notch again in a Test match. I think you probably have to get through him initially and then try to get some runs later. My plans are something I’d probably prefer not to speak about, I’ll be keeping most of that to myself.”I like to spend a lot of time out there and try to be around as long as I can and develop partnerships with the guy at the other end and just try to wear the bowlers down that way. That’s the nature of Test cricket. You try to survive long enough until the ball gets a bit older and the pitch is hopefully flattening out a bit and the bowlers are getting more tired and then the runs can come. That’s why you do the hard work early on. Wear them down.”

Close South Africa 155 for 0 (20.2 overs: Gibbs 97*, Smith 48*) beat Bangladesh 154 for 9 (50 overs: Ntini 3-28) by ten wickets
ScorecardA savage onslaught by Herschelle Gibbs guided South Africa to an embarrassingly one-sided ten-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second one-day international at a sun-drenched Willowmoore Park. Gibbs cracked an unbeaten 97 off just 66 balls as South Africa reached their target of 155 with almost 30 overs to spare.Gibbs began his innings looking for a record his fourth consecutive one-day century. In the end he fell one stroke short. Needing a four to reach his goal, and just one to win the match, he drove Alok Kapali straight but the ball was fielded ten yards in from the boundary. A second straight Man of the Match award was some consolation for Gibbs. Perhaps it was all for the best as it would have been a rather devalued record. Of his three previous centuries, two had come against one-day minnows – Kenya and Bangladesh.An early finish was almost guaranteed from the moment that Shaun Pollock won the toss and put Bangladesh in. Javed Omar and Hannan Sarkar followed a game plan which appeared to be based on survival rather than scoring runs, and to that extent they succeed. Sarkar finally looked to open up and immediately perished, edging Makhaya Ntini to Adam Boucher for 7 (26 for 1). Four balls later Al-Shahriar Rokon was clean bowled by Ntini for 0 and the innings was following a depressingly familiar pattern.Omar briefly threatened to play an innings of some substance after a shaky beginning in which he had looked extremely unhappy with the pace of Ntini. When he edged Lance Klusener to Boucher for 24 in the 21st over (46 for 3) the floodgates were opened. A spirited ninth-wicket stand of 37 between Tapash Baisya, and Monjural Islam only delayed the inevitable.The rare boundaries were cheered enthusiastically by the few hundred flag-waving Bangaladeshi supporters. When Tushar Imran cracked Allan Donald for successive fours they were close to ecstasy, but the pace and experience of South Africa’s fast bowlers left the batsmen outclassed.Once again, Bangladesh were woefully short of being able to compete with the big boys. Their bowling lacked control, their batting generally revolved around crease occuptation rather than run-scoring, and their fielding was poor. To give them as much experience of international cricket as they have had is admirable but they appear to have made little progress. This kind of display does little other than distort the international averages.

Cricket Australia have announced that Ford Australia will be the new partner for the domestic one-day competition for the 2006-07 season. The tournament, formerly called the ING Cup, will be named The Ford Ranger One Day Cup.”Ford has been a category partner of Cricket Australia since 2002-03 and we’re thrilled they will be the naming rights sponsor of our prestigious domestic one-day competition,” said James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia. “We are about to embark on one of the most hotly anticipated periods in Australian cricket history and the Ford Ranger Cup and Pura Cup will provide the future stars of Australian cricket a chance shine.”The one-day tournament kicks off on October 11 and Fox Sports will televise the first of 27 matches when Queensland take on Tasmania at the Gabba. Fox Sports will also telecast some of the KFC Twenty20 games as well as the Pura Cup Final.Cricket Australia also confirmed that Pura would continue their eight year association with the domestic first-class tournament which starts on October 13.

Details of the Afro-Asia A-team tournament hosted by Bangladesh in January have finally been announced.The five-team event – which features sides from India, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Kenya – is based in Chittagong and starts on January 18. All the sides will play each other once, with the top two meeting in the final at the M A Aziz Stadium on January 28.There is some concern over whether Zimbabwe, who have named their side, will actually participate as most of their squad have said they will refuse to play under the current board. It is likely that they will hold a meeting shortly before they are due to depart to make a final decision.There is also some unease with the criteria for what constitutes an A side, with the Zimbabwe team containing six of their most recent Test side and only three of their squad have not played Tests or ODIs.Rather oddly, it appears that the organisers were hoping for an African Representative XI, based around Kenya and Uganda, to take the fifth slot but it seems that the Kenyans refused, arguing that as they had recently whitewashed Zimbabwe A in Zimbabwe, they deserved a place on their own merits.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have said that the selection committee may have to take a decision on Sourav Ganguly’s future if he failed to come out of his prolonged run of poor form.”You should give some time to the selection committee and the players, particularly Sourav himself. If, in the coming days, the performance does not improve, the selection committee will keep in mind the feelings of crores of cricket fans and take an appropriate decision,” Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the board president, was quoted as saying by a BBC Hindi Programme.When asked whether Ganguly should continue as captain, Mahendra said that it was for the selection committee to decide and that the board would not interfere. He also dismissed suggestions that the board was turning a blind eye to Ganguly’s poor form: “See what you are saying could also be the feeling of many other cricket fans in the country. But let us all not forget that recently Ganguly has scored a Test hundred in Zimbabwe. Ganguly also might be seriously thinking about his form. So to say that we are not concerned or bothered is not right, we very much are.”Mahendra added that it would not be prudent to pass hasty judgment on Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, and his preference for doing away with the zonal system of appointing selectors. “An opinion should not be formed about an individual in haste. We would be doing grave injustice to him by passing such a judgment so soon. We would have to give reasonable time to Greg and then I think such an opinion would not remain. At times, when the team performance is not up to the mark, and it is passing through a critical phase, such thoughts do come to mind. But my view is that jumping to conclusion so soon about the coach would not be fair.”While admitting that the image of Indian cricket had taken a beating during the Ganguly-Chappell furore, Mahendra said that remedial measures were being taken to ensure that such events did not happen again. “We have ordered a probe into the leaking of coach Chappell’s e-mail to the board … At the same time we have taken corrective measures to ensure that such things do not happen in the future. Many players have also said that they feel whatever happened in the dressing room should not have come out in the open. From here, all of us have realized that we need to avoid such situations, and work for the betterment of the game and its fans.”

Inspirational captain Jamie Cox made a fluent half-century and held three catches as Somerset cruised home by 53 runs to replace Worcestershire at the top of the National League First Division.Now the West Country team are on course for a first double in the new era of two-division cricket. With four matches to play, they can add the overall title to last year’s promotion success.Cox scored 57 and shared in a partnership of 74 with Michael Burns (51) to put Somerset on the way to a more-than-adequate total of 227 for nine on a slow pitch.Equally important was the catch taken by Cox at cover point to complete a bad day for Graeme Hick on his unexpected re-appearance from England duty at Headingley.Hick faced only eight balls before his dismissal by Steffan Jones, and though Vikram Solanki and David Leatherdale rallied the home side, slow left-armer Ian Blackwell rubber-stamped Somerset’s win with a League-best return of four for 36.The batting slump only compounded the problems that Hick had faced in the field. Young new-ball bowlers Chris Liptrot and Kabir Ali were persisently called for wides while conceding 36 runs in the first four overs.Marcus Trescothick and Mark Lathwell made the most of the gifts to put on 68 before Lathwell and Peter Bowler appeared on a list of four batsmen who were run out during the innings.Leatherdale was responsible for three of these mishaps and also bowled his medium-pace to remove Cox and Burns in successive overs as Somerset lost six wickets for 40 at the end.