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Hampshire’s James Adams is set to make his first-class debut in the vital relegation scrap against neighbours Sussex at Hove tommorrow. They also welcome back Nic Pothas and Alan Mullally both who have been sidelined due to injury recently.Adams who made his first-class debut earlier this season for British Universities v Sri Lankans will hope to bring the form that has seen him score an abundance of runs for the 2ndXI.Hampshire 12: Jason Laney, Neil Johnson, James Adams, Robin Smith (captain), John Francis, Will Kendall, Nic Pothas (wicket-keeper), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal, Alan Mullally, James Tomlinson, James Hamblin.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will commence their 2002-03 ING Cup seasonwithout the services of Stuart Law after he was omitted today from theteam for Sunday’s season opener against NSW at North Sydney Oval.Law was the notable omission in today’s team, with the State selectorsopting to utilise young batsmen Lee Carseldine, Clinton Perren andBrendan Nash in the order alongside established players Jimmy Maher,Martin Love and Andrew Symonds.Queensland Chairman of Selectors Andrew Courtice said the decision hadbeen a difficult one but was “purely performance-based.””I’ve assured him that he will be considered for future one-dayselection on form like everyone else,” he said.”Obviously you feel sympathy when you make a decision to omit a playerfrom a team and particularly so when it is a player of Stuart’s stature.You are aware of the ramifications of a decision like this, but asselectors, you can’t let the sympathy you feel for a player influencethe decision-making process.””But it was a particularly tough choice, as two of the selectors in Pauland Dick have played a lot of cricket with Stuey and I have known himfor a long time.””We have spoken and I know he is very disappointed but he told me thathe will be doing his best to force his way in and that is what I hadhoped, and expected, to hear from him.”Courtice said the ING Cup selection was a separate issue from theselection of the Bulls’ Pura Cup team to play NSW at the Gabba nextweek.The Queensland team for the match starting on Wednesday will beannounced later this week”The four day team is a stand alone team – over the past few years wehave looked at the one-day and four-day as different sides, and Stuart’sselection prospects in the four day game will be judged on his four-dayform, as it is for all of the players.”Law, who stood down as Bulls captain at the end of last season afterleading Queensland to its five domestic championships in the past eightyears, expressed his disappointment at his omission.”I’m hurting right now, that’s no surprise,” he said today.”I went to England wanting to improve my one-day game because I felt Ihad been below par for a few seasons. I believed I worked it out overthere and averaged 50 plus in the one-day game for Lancashire.”I came back looking to putting that into practice without the burden ofcaptaincy under the new regime we have in place.”I’m not in this team but I haven’t played my last one day game forQueensland. Now I’ve got to keep working my backside off – keepimproving my cricket and not give up.”We’ve got a big season ahead and personally this is a hiccup, butteamwise it is an opportunity,” Law said.Law is Queensland’s most capped one-day player, with 71 matches, and thethird-leading runs-scorer with 1916 runs at 32.47. He holds the recordfor the fast one-day century in Australian domestic one day history (74balls) and has Queensland’s highest individual score of 159 (v Tas,1993-94).The Queensland team also includes young pace bowlers Scott Brant andDamien MacKenzie who made their first class and one day debuts for theBulls last season.XXXX Queensland Bulls v NSW Blues, ING Cup, Sunday, October 13: JimmyMaher (c), Martin Love, Lee Carseldine, Clinton Perren, Andrew Symonds,Brendan Nash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, MichaelKasprowicz, Scott Brant, Damien MacKenzie (all 12 to play).

Leicestershire look certain to field an unchanged side against Worcestershire in the Norwich Union League match at Oakham on Sunday, despite losing to Glamorgan on Tuesday.Head coach Phil Whitticase described the performance against Glamorgan as the side’s “poorest of the season” but added:”I am sure it was just a blip and the players deserve the chance to put things right at Oakham.”With Charles Dagnall and Rob Cunliffe both unavailable for selection because of injuries, Whitticase seems likely to name an unchanged side with Devon Malcolm once again on the sidelines. The policy this season is to rest Malcolm in one-day cricket so that he can concentrate on the Championship.It means that Matthew Whiley and Jamie Grove will be the new ball attack with support coming from Phil DeFreitas,Vince Wells,Carl Crowe, Darren Maddy and Zimbabwe all-rounder Grant Flower who made his debut against Glamorgan.Flower has taken over from Michael Bevan as the Leicestershire overseas player while the Australian is away on one-day international duty.The likely team for the game at Oakham is: Wells, Ward, Sutcliffe, Stevens, Flower, Maddy, Burns, DeFreitas, Crowe, Grove, Whiley.Meanwhile Cunliffe is to see a specialist on Monday about the damaged finger which has kept him out of the first team in recent weeks.He was able to play for the Second X1 away to Derbyshire this week, scoring 43 a rain affected match which ended in a draw. Derbyshire made 355-7 and Leicestershire were 145-5 when the game was abandoned.

Hampshire’s Young Cricketers are through to the quarter-finals of the ECB Under-19 County Championship.They will play Herefordshire at Long Marston, Hertfordshire next Tuesday and Wednesday.Hereford swept through their West Midlands group, winning all their matches.The other quarter-finals are: Essex v Cambridgeshire, Somerset v Staffordshire, Lancashire v Devon.

Somerset coach Kevin Shine was noticeably absent from the County Ground today where his side gave a strong batting display against Hampshire, the county where he started his first class career.Kevin was missing because he was at home with his wife Bethan celebrating the birth of their second son Thomas, who was born at 2 am this morning and weighed in at 7lbs 8ozs.Everyone at Somerset County Cricket Club is delighted with the news and send their very warmest congratulations and best wishes to Bethan and Kevin and all the family.

Test venues and practice grounds are scarce in Bangladesh. Due to venue scarcity this baby Test nation might have to face lots of unwelcoming situations in near future. BKSP (Bangladesh Sports Training Institute) seems to be the sole option left for the Bangladeshi cricketers to carry on practice sessions in needful hours. This is the only place where they can make a real cricket campaign.A Test playing squad can’t go along with a static situation – they have to be dynamic all through the year, as cricket is no longer a season-based game. The players here (From all ranks) hardly get any opportunity to evaluate their performance after they are done with a series. Why is the situation like that? Because they aren’t getting the facilities they need to go through post-match champing (Which is vital) owing to field scarcity.Surprisingly true that Bangladesh hasn’t fixed up any ground for cricket only. The renowned BNS, which saw seven Tests staged there (All before 1971) before Bangladesh had entered the longer version, is still allotted for both cricket and football. The government is yet to make a decision on it – whether it would be a completely cricket stadium or a football one. The ground condition, after the football league is over, turn out to be horrendous. The ground is made doable for cricket again (For an upcoming series or league), but it costs a lot of money each year. An unaffordable wastage for a poor country like Bangladesh no doubt!The so-called stadiums, Dhanmondi and BUET, are no better than schoolyards. They are deprived of gallery, pavilion and other very essential services needed to run regular cricket.The only exception could be Fotullah Cricket Stadium, which is ten miles away from Dhaka. It is still under construction (Only 20% work has been done), but has valid possibilities to turn up as a furnished cricket venue. BCB should be more concerned over it. Fotullah offers ample space and another cricket academy can be built there. If they can do that some pressures would be off from BKSP.

Darren Lehmann scooped his third gold award in eight days to set up Yorkshire for victory by 30 runs over Durham at Headingley in the Benson and Hedges Cup.Both sides left the ground content with their day’s work, however, because both qualified for the quarter-finals, Durham filling second place in their group and Yorkshire scraping through in third place on run-rate.Durham’s reward is a visit to Bristol to take on title-holders Gloucestershire while Yorkshire meet Somerset down the road at Taunton.Lehmann’s dazzling 88 off 77 balls with 11 fours and two sixes was packed with astonishing strokes and it ensured Yorkshire a healthy total of 257 for seven after being put in to bat.Skipper David Byas and Michael Vaughan gave Yorkshire the solid start they needed with an opening stand of 71 but it was Anthony McGrath and Lehmann who piled the pressure on Durham with a 114 partnership for the third wicket.McGrath was then out for 43 but Lehmann continued his spree until he denied himself a century by clipping Danny Law to Paul Collingwood at mid-wicket. The Australian suffered a slight hamstring strain during his innings but should be fit for Wednesday’s CricInfo Championship clash with Somerset at Headingley.Despite Yorkshire’s aggressive approach, 20-year-old Ian Hunter finished with the excellent figures of four for 48 off his ten overs.Durham’s top priority when they batted was not to win the game but to make sure of reaching 193, which would lift them above Yorkshire even if they lost.They went about their work with great confidence, despite opener Jimmy Daley having to hobble off with a hamstring injury when 14, and they were held together for 31 overs by Michael Gough who scored 58 with five fours before falling to a boundary catch off Vaughan, having survived a similar chance earlier on.With 193 safely achieved, Jon Lewis and Law were able to breath more easily and at the close their unbroken fifth wicket stand was worth 101, Law leading the way with 57 from just 43 balls with eight fours and two sixes while Lewis managed 45 from 59 deliveries with six boundaries.

THE BOARD OF CONTROL FOR CRICKET IN INDIAFollowing players have been selected to represent India in the last two one-day internationals (Hyderabad and Guwahati) against the touring Zimbabwe team.Sourav Ganguly (Captain)
Rahul Dravid
VVS Laxman
Dinesh Mongia
Mohd Kaif
Yuvraj Singh
Sanjay Bangar
Harbhajan Singh
Murali Kartik
Zaheer Khan
Ajit Agarkar
Ajay Ratra
Vijay Bharadwaj
Tinu Yohannan
Note: Since Anil Kumble is having some sign of weakness on his shoulders and keeping in mind his recent surgery and rehabilitation programme, the selection committee has decided to give him rest and a chance to regain his strength.The selection committee has further decided to pick the Indian Team for the West Indies series after observing the performance in the last one-dayers. The team will be picked on 21 March in Mumbai.Niranjan R ShahHonorary Secretary, BCCI.

Rain interrupted an innings of high promise from Graeme Hick on the openingday of the CricInfo Championship. Batting with great authority and superb touch, Hick had hit six fours in his unbeaten 37 out of Worcestershire’s total of 73 for one against Middlesex at Lord’s.Fears that early-season pitches would, in the wake of the atrocious weather of recent weeks, be disastrous for batsmen proved unfounded. The strip at Lord’s looked dry and Worcestershire had no hestitation in electing to bat.The visitors did suffer an early setback, but only because left-hander Phil Weston went in pursuit of a ball from Tim Bloomfield which would have been better left alone.Weston’s opening partner, Anurag Singh, who was making his debut for his new county, plated with immense patience and care to remain unbeaten with 22 while Hick played the drive with total freedom.Rain struck when half an hour remained for play and persisted rightthrough the afternoon, ending play for the day.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
S Badrinath was Man of the Match for his 47•AFP

Chennai Super Kings were largely untroubled in their final match as they coasted to a four-wicket victory that left Yorkshire winless in the Champions League T20 proper. S Badrinath, often overlooked in a batting line-up of star names, showed once again how important he is to the Super Kings’ middle order, holding together the innings after three of his top-order colleagues holed out attempting to hammer the ball out of Kingsmead.The Yorkshire top-order, too, came up short once again, as they have invariably in this tournament, before Gary Ballance smashed his second half-century of the CLT20 to lead them to a respectable 140.None of the regular top three of Andrew Gale, Adam Lyth and Joe Root have reached 30 in this competition, which repeatedly left Yorkshire three down early. It was no different today as Gale chipped a catch to cover after a brisk 23, before Lyth was dismissed in a carbon-copy manner and Root gloved a leg-side ball to the keeper to leave Yorkshire at 43 for 3.The Yorkshire middle-order had been boosted by the return of David Miller, back after domestic duties with the Dolphins, and he helped the team recover through a big stand with Ballance. They took their time to get going – overs 6-10 only yielded 21 runs – but the introduction of Super Kings’ second-string bowlers helped boost the rate. Suresh Raina, captaining in place of MS Dhoni, was swept for 12 in his first over, and Ravindra Jadeja was thumped for two sixes in his first.Dhoni, playing his first Super Kings match as non-captain, also didn’t keep wickets, bowling some seam-up instead. He bowled a couple of wayward overs, experimenting with back-of-the-hand slower balls, and was whipped by Ballance for two consecutive sixes as Yorkshire’s run-rate finally hit seven.Doug Bollinger, who was the best of the Super Kings’ bowlers, returned to end the stand by dismissing Miller, but Ballance whacked a couple of sixes off Ben Hilfenhaus in the penultimate over to lift Yorkshire towards 140.Super Kings lost both M Vijay and Faf du Plessis in the Powerplay, but Badrinath was involved in two solid partnerships to put them on course for a second consolation victory. First, he paired up with Raina, compiling 48 to stabilise the innings, and then added 43 with Dhoni as Yorkshire struggled to build pressure on the Super Kings.Badrinath missed out on a half-century after he was bowled attempting a scoop, and Iain Wardlaw added a second scalp when Dhoni missed an attempted helicopter shot, though those two wickets were too late to have an impact against a line-up with plenty of depth.