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MELBOURNE – Australia will send a full-strength cricket team to theupcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.The Australian Cricket Board and the Australian Cricketers Associationannounced today that both parties will sign a participating nationsagreement.But ACA chief executive Tim May said the players will only sign paperssubject to the International Cricket Council consulting with them onsponsorship deals.The ICC wants players to sign contracts preventing them from promotingtheir individual sponsors for 30 days either side of next February’sWorld Cup in South Africa.Leading players from India and England had also baulked at signing theICC contracts because of concerns over existing sponsorships.A resolution covering the World Cup had yet to be reached.ACB chief executive James Sutherland said negotiations would be dealtwith one tournament at a time.He said in a worst-case scenario, players could be financiallycompensated if their endorsements conflicted with those of the ICC.May has sent the agreement signed by the Australian players to cricketassociations overseas and was hopeful it would be used as a model toencourage other countries to commit full-strength squads to theChampions Trophy.

Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain have an underlying edge to them that makes them seem startlingly similar at times. Both would publicly object if told that, but deep down one can be sure the skippers of the sides – clashing tomorrow to decide the fourth semi-finalist of this Champions Trophy – respect each other. In fact, perhaps this thought would never have occurred had India and England not faced each other so many times in the recent past.In the last year, India and England have met for back-to-back Test and one-day series, first in India and then more recently in England, with India snatching a thrilling win in the NatWest trophy. In this calendar year alone, India and England have played each other in 10 limited-overs games, with India winning five, England four, and one match being rained out.But in spite of this hectic schedule, neither team has been able to comprehensively dominate the other. “We have at times outplayed them, they’ve had the measure of us, and at times it’s gone right down to the wire,” said Hussain at the Taj Samudra on the eve of the high-profile clash. “The key for us is to work out their batting order, and also our new lads trying to play their spinners. Some of us have played a lot against Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. The likes of Ian Blackwell haven’t had that experience to work out a technique against them.”Ganguly, several kilometres away, practicing at the Premadasa stadium, had his own thoughts on the game. “Ronnie Irani, Blackwell, Nasser, Marcus Trescothick, Alec Stewart, Andy Caddick…they’re all good players,” said Ganguly. “So I wouldn’t say it is a much-depleted side or anything.Wandering over to the shade of a marquee-tent after a net session and a fielding drill, a perspiring Ganguly drew attention to the conditions here at Colombo. “It depends how we play in these conditions – they’re there to be exploited for both teams. In England, the NatWest trophy conditions suited England but we played well, and it might be the reverse here. We have to be careful and play to the best of our potential. It’s a physical challenge for both sides. There’s no point in saying it’s to their advantage or our advantage. We’ll find out tomorrow.”Speaking to the press is an exercise Ganguly clearly does not enjoy, especially in large groups at pre-match conferences, where the questions are seldom either original or intelligent. Hussain, on the other hand, seems to know how well these chats can be used, finding the right words to express a variety of thoughts. “The problem with their line-up is that you can’t focus on just one particular area. When you work on Rahul Dravid and try to sort him out, you’ve got Virender Sehwag, Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar coming at you, and after that there’s Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, who won India the game in the NatWest Trophy. It looks like you need to focus on all batsmen from one to seven,” said Hussain.Interestingly enough, while Hussain spoke of India’s batting, Ganguly dwelt a minute on the bowling attack at his disposal. “It is a challenge to bowl on these wickets, but Zaheer Khan bowled brilliantly in the last game. Ashish Nehra bowled well in the first seven overs. The spinners probably need to bowl better. As I said, they’ve all had a bit of rest and are geared up for the game tomorrow,” said the Indian skipper.Both teams are virtually injury-free, with only Jeremy Snape having some trouble with a niggling rib. In any event, it looks like Ashley Giles will come in for Snape, the former having enjoyed some success against the Indians. For India, Ganguly suggested that VVS Laxman would be in the running for a batting spot, and it is tough to see him replacing anyone but Dinesh Mongia.With Australia and Sri Lanka all set to meet in one semi-final and South Africa waiting for their opponents, the India-England clash is virtually a quarter-final. Their draw has already been called quite a few names – “the pool of death” and “the group of interest” among others.For Hussain and Ganguly though – and the two surely agree on this note – this is not a repeat of the NatWest final or a grudge match; fundamentally, it is just another one-day game. “It’s not a grudge game. Everyone makes a big deal of it,” said Hussain. “I know it’s a cliché, but it’s just a game of cricket really. It’s a premier ICC tournament, but it’s not the end of the world if you lose. There’s no grudge at all. They’re a very fine side, and we’re a young inexperienced one. They’re favourites, and if we play like we did against Zimbabwe we could beat them but if we don’t, we’ll lose.”Listening to the captains, it is clear that the teams, though both including professionals keen to put on a good show, are tired, coming off long seasons. It is also clear that both have benchmarked their respective performances against Zimbabwe and are looking forward to the face-off. And neither captain is taking this tournament as a direct precursor to – or a form-indicator of – the World Cup.”We’re just viewing it as a straight knock-out tournament. If we lose, we go home, and if we win, which no one expects us to, we look to see who we’re playing next. It’s a nice refreshing attitude to go into every match with. Because I’ve been watching the telly a bit in the last few days, I know that we play South Africa next if we beat India,” summarised Hussain quite succinctly.In a nut shell, then, the forthcoming game is one between two highly motivated, evenly matched and slightly less than desperate-to-win teams. That makes it unlike any other game we’ve had in this Champions Trophy. It might end up being less exciting than some matches these two teams have played, but it is still one the fans simply can not afford to miss.

Resolving sponsorship issues and players’ concerns are a priority for International Cricket Council administrators.International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray and ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed spent almost an hour with the media at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo on Saturday. They made it very clear that ICC intends toresolve the outstanding issues with regards to the sponsorship andplayer terms at the earliest.”A paper that goes to the ICC board that says, these are the issues,and we don’t want it to drag out to right before the World Cup. Thereis a time frame to address the issue, and we intend to deal with it inOctober and the first half of November. We can sign off then and putthe issue behind us,” Speed said.Gray was quite categoric about the player terms issue, which hasthreatened to take the game apart.”It is quite important that the facts are clear. The player terms, as they are for this tournament, were first notified to the countries in December 2001.”He said that the player terms were formulated with the World Cup 2003in mind, and since the venue for the ICC Champions Trophy was notfinalised then, “The player terms for this tournament were given tothe countries in March/April of this year.”In fact a similar player terms contract was given to member countriesfor the Under-19s World Cup, which was played in New Zealand inJanuary. And they were exactly the same player terms given to thecountries in December,” Gray added.When asked about why the players were not notified about the playerterms, Gray was quick to make it clear, “It is the boards that havethe relationship with their players. It is up to the individualnational boards to consult with their players, and to handle themanagement of the players.”Addresing the same issue, Speed said that the sponsorship agreementsigned by the ICC with Global Cricket Corporation is a great deal forcricket. “There weren’t too many players up there who were saying now wedont want this cheque for significantly increased prize money.Tomorrow the players will be going out flat to win $US300,000 prizemoney. Again when they come for the World Cup, the prize money isincreasing,” Speed told the media.Speed said that as a result of this ICC Champions Trophy each fullmember board will take home $US800,000, and for the World Cup, theywill be taking a million dollars.If revenue-sharing were an issue for the players, Speed made it clearthat it is for the member boards to address that issue.”ICC doesn’t pay the players, ICC generates the money from these events and pays it back to the boards. The boards enter into the agreements with theplayers. We need to be clear about that,” said Speed.When quizzed about the general criticism that ICC often fails to showsome spine in addressing major issues and lets them drag on, Speedrefuted such criticisms and put forward a case to defend its image. Hesaid that ICC had an issue with the Indian board on the Saharasponsorship issue.And, he made it clear that the Indian board and GCC were given anopportunity to present their case to the ICC Board. After hearing thearguments, the ICC board voted 12-1 to reject the Sahara sponsorship.Amongst other such financial issues, Gray sympathised withthe Pakistan board for the loss of substantial revenue from having toplay their home games at neutral venues. He said that to address allsorts of financial issues, “A paper is going to the board, whereby aloan fund will be set up, and countries that are in need of fundingwill be able to borrow.”

SYDNEY – Beleaguered Test batsman Mark Waugh says he is confident he cando well against England in the coming Ashes series if the Australianselectors give him the opportunity to play.Waugh returned to Australia this morning with his position undercontinued scrutiny after averaging just 20 in the three-Test seriesagainst Pakistan.But the middle order batsman believes he’s playing as well as hisbrother, Test captain Steve, who scored a century in the final Test.”I’m batting well enough. In the first Test, I let a good chance slip bythere in making 55 and the Tests in Sharjah – they were pretty goodbatting wickets,” Waugh said.”I was a bit disappointed not to make runs, especially in the last Testbut these things happen.”Asked if his form merited selection for the opening Ashes Test, Waughreplied: “you’re asking the wrong person, I’m not a selector, I’m aplayer.”Fast bowler Brett Lee, whose position is also under fire after a leanseries against Pakistan, said he was happy with the way he bowled in thefinal Test and it was just a matter of him being patient.Meanwhile Australian one day captain Ricky Ponting said he expectsEngland to be “cherry ripe” by the time the first Test in Brisbanestarts in two weeks.England lost its opening tour match by 58 runs to an ACB chairman’s XIbut Ponting believed they would improve considerably with a few moregames.

Paintings by five South African artists will be used as massive billboards at 50 locations around South Africa in the outdoor marketing campaign of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.The paintings depict typical South African scenes with an added twist to welcome teams from the 14 competing nations.The artists – Godfrey Ndaba, Dumisani Sibisi, James Durno, Basil Baqwa and Vusi Khumalo – attended a media conference in Johannesburg today when their work was unveiled.Durno’s "Welcome The World" painting will feature on a massive 20×20 metre billboard at John Vorster Square in the City of Johannesburg.When it came to doing the outdoor advertising for the ICC Cricket World Cup between 8 February-23 March 2003, CWC marketing director Nomsa Chabeli and advertising agency TBWA/ Hunt Lascaris decided this should be no ordinary campaign. It needed to welcome the 13 visiting teams with a local flavour, as well being true to one of CWC’s key objectives – to empower South Africans from all walks of life.Each billboard shows a different country being welcomed "South African style" in keeping with the multi-media advertising theme of "It’s Time to….."Instead of simply setting up and photographing images, local artists were commissioned to give their interpretation of the ideas."The result is a stunning collection of South African artworks which will be photographed and placed at strategic outdoor sites around the country," said Ms Chabeli.IT’S TIME TO WELCOME AUSTRALIAA pastel work by Godfrey Ndaba shows an African woman with her young child. Instead of carrying her child in a blanket on her back, she has placed the child in the blanket on her front, forming a kangaroo-like pouch.IT’S TIME TO WELCOME ENGLANDDumisani Sibisi’s beautiful township scene shows a minibus taxi with a difference: an addition to the roof makes it a "local style" double-decker London bus. The newspaper work in the background is all cricket related.IT’S TIME TO WELCOME CANADAThis piece, interpreted by Johannesburg artist James Durno, shows an entourage of Basotho men on horseback, wearing the traditional "Modianyeho" hat. They are escorting a man, in the form of a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. The "Mounties" are also well known for their horses and distinguishable hats.IT’S TIME TO WELCOME KENYABasil Baqwa’s graphic pastel work shows a row of men in a line, all with one foot off the ground, emulating the gracious Masai warriors of Kenya. They hold their cricket bats as the Masai hold their spears.IT’S TIME TO WELOME INDIAEastern Cape-based Vusi Khumalo interpreted this idea: a local Putco bus doesn’t just carry passengers inside but, as public transport often does in India, carries several passengers and their luggage on the roof.IT’S TIME TO WELCOME HOLLANDVusi Khumalo was also chosen for this piece. A beautiful landscape shows several traditional thatched huts, but they all sport the sails seen on windmills across Holland.IT’S TIME TO WELCOME THE WORLDJames Durno was also commissioned to welcome the world. This piece will feature at John Vorster Square on a billboard measuring a significant 20mx20m. The work is a summation of all the other works of art. Durno has depicted many of the countries featured on the other billboards all placed collectively on a globe. The African continent stretches out beneath them.The Artists:BASIL BAQWABorn: Soweto 1954Studies: School at JubalaniProfile: When he finished school he managed to get a job cleaning and making tea in an attorney’s office in Johannesburg although he loved painting and sketching in his spare time.

After eight weeks and over 60 games, the quarter-finalists have been found for the Milo Trophy Year 5 and 6 cricket competition.Up until now, the competition has been played in a round-robin format, but from now it will be straight knockout, culminating in the final on December 13. The standard of play in this year’s competition has been very high and several quality sides have already been eliminated.In the first quarter-final Tai Tapu will play Bromley. Tai Tapu went through their sub-zone unbeaten and played Springston in the zone elimination match. For the first time, in the three-year history of the competition, Tai Tapu came out on top. Bromley went through their zone unbeaten, disposing of a previous finalist Windsor in the process. This game will be played on Friday at Tai Tapu School on their artificial wicket.The second quarter-final will see Elmwood play Cotswold. Elmwood are the defending Milo Trophy champions. They went through their sub-zone unbeaten and overcame a strong Paparoa Street side in their zone elimination match. Cotswold is a side that has improved markedly on previous seasons. They too, are unbeaten, having completed victories over Belfast A and B and Northcote. This game will be played on Friday at Elmwood Park.The third quarter-final is between Oaklands and Avonhead. Oaklands were last season’s beaten finalists and have carried on their good form, winning three from three in their sub zone. They then accounted for Thorrington A in a very close zone elimination game. Avonhead have come straight through with three victories against Fendalton Green and Blue as well as Merrin. The game will be played at Oaklands on Friday.In the last quarter-final, Sheffield await the winner of the zone elimination game between Amberley and Fernside. Sheffield has come through after victory against Glentunnel. Amberley came through as winners of the North Canterbury zone after a win over the strong Woodend side and will play Fernside, who won the Rangiora zone. They will play next Tuesday to decide who will play Sheffield.While the skill level of players has been a feature, the attitude of these players on the park must also be commended. There have been a number of very lop-sided games, but teams have all continued to put in their best effort and encourage teammates.The prospect of several exciting games to be played in the build-up to the final makes the mouth water with anticipation.

Marlon Samuels’ lawyers, Churchill Neita and Delano Harrison, have indicated that they will press for a judicial review against the two-year ban imposed on the batsman by the West Indies Cricket Board. On May 9, a disciplinary committee deemed that Samuels had breached section C4 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct regulations, which involves receiving money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute.”From the outset, we wish to make it pellucidly clear that we propose to challenge the findings of the majority [3 to 1] by way of judicial enquiry, as we believe a most grave injustice has been done by their finding of our client’s liability of one of the ICC’s disciplinary offences,” the lawyers said in a statement issued yesterday.It was added that the disciplinary committee had found “no basis upon which to find that Mr. Samuels acted dishonestly or in a corrupt manner.” They were also “amazed” at the committee’s ruling, and considered the reasons given by them to be “flawed and in defiance of logics”.The lawyers raised the following points to make a case for their client:

• “The evidence in the hearing was that the hotel bill paid for our client by Mr Mukesh Kochar was a loan from a friend and father-figure which was to be repaid on Marlon’s return to the West Indies.”
• “The evidence in the hearing was that Mr Mukesh Kochar was not a bookmaker.”
• “The evidence in the hearing was that Marlon only came to need a loan because money which he had expected to earn from a contract to participate in a television reality show that would have earned him a sum considerably in excess of the hotel bill, did not in fact materialise. Further, his credit card which he had tendered to meet the bill, was declined.”

They also pointed out that the aforementioned loan agreement came two weeks after the alleged offence and after the West Indies had completed their tour of India in January 2007, and that the disciplinary committee had “agreed unreservedly” with them that “there has not been proved against Mr Samuels, any element of corruption.”They said the judgement was not an unanimous one, with Aubrey Bishop opposing the final decision made by the four-man committee which also included Richie Richardson, Justice Adrian Saunders, and Lloyd Barnett.Concluding their statement, the attorneys said: “It is because of the foregoing why we consider that an application for judicial review stands a realistic chance of success and we, therefore, propose to pursue it actively.”

Pakistan have named offspinner Saeed Ajmal in their squad for the Asia Cup, which starts on June 24, the only surprise inclusion in a 15-man squad.Ajmal, 30, made a mark in the 2007-08 first-class season, taking 38 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 29. “Ajmal has impressed with his wicket-taking ability and can also bowl the one which goes out like former spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and we hope he does well in this tournament,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said.Pakistan didn’t have a specialist spinner in their squad for the one-week long Kitply Cup, which they won after beating India in the final. Shahid Afridi and Fawad Alam were used by captain Shoaib Malik, who himself didn’t bowl due to a sore shoulder. However, he will have more options for the Asia Cup with Ajmal and legspinning allrounder Mansoor Amjad in the team.”We needed a specialist offspinner in the side. After 20 overs, Afridi does a fantastic job at one end, but we need something at the other end as well,” Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, said. Malik also put to rest speculation over a wrist injury for Afridi, stating he was 100% fit.Kamran Akmal had been left out of Pakistan’s list of 20 probables for the tournament, with the selectors opting to hand the wicketkeeping gloves to Sarfraz Ahmed. Akmal had been Pakistan’s regular wicketkeeper since November 2004, when he took over from Moin Khan, and played virtually non-stop in all three formats. However, his inconsistency behind the stumps since the 2006 tour to England finally cost him his place in the side.Other players to be dropped from the squad which played the Kitply Cup are batsmen Bazid Khan and Naumanullah, and fast bowler Sohail Khan, who was on the verge of selection but is suffering from malaria.Pakistan play their opening game of the tournament on June 24, against Hong Kong in Karachi. The hosts are drawn alongside India in Group B, with the top two sides progressing to the second stage.

Pakistan have delayed the announcement of their preliminary list of 30probables for the Champions Trophy after the selection committee and thegoverning board could not meet to finalise the selection. Though theselectors had already sent a list of 30 names, four players require theapproval of a board committee as they are not on the list of 26 playerswith central contracts or retainerships. Confusion over the eligibility ofShoaib Akhtar, who is on the list, has also caused the delay.The announcement was meant to be made yesterday in accordance with ICCdeadlines, but is now going to be made on Monday, for which the ICC hasgranted clearance. “We have a policy or a vision for the first year toconcentrate mostly on the 26 players we are paying a monthly salary orretainer to,” Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer, told Cricinfo.”This pool numbers 26 and we needed 30,” he added. “We had also decidedthat if any extraordinary talent outside this pool emerges, then we havemen like Mudassar Nazar, Aaqib Javed and Haroon Rasheed at the academy whospot this talent. So anytime selectors pick outside this 26, a committeeheaded by Zakir Khan needs to just approve that these are the guys weshould pick. That was scheduled for this morning but couldn’t happen andwill now happen on Monday.”The other issue that should be resolved on Monday is that of Shoaib. It islearnt that Shoaib’s inclusion in the list was even approved by NasimAshraf, the board chairman, but as the fast bowler has yet to clear the Rs7 million fine, he cannot be named in any list of probables. Shoaib wasbanned for five years by the board in April for various acts of indiscipline.He appealed against the ban to an appellate tribunal which reduced it to 18 months but imposed a fine of seven million rupees on him. The bowler then filed a petition to the Lahore High Court against the ban and finelast month. The court suspended the ban but refused to clear the fineuntil the case is taken up for regular hearing in September. The board’slegal opinion suggests that Shoaib will become eligible after he pays thefine.”We got the written court order today,” Naghmi said. “They suspended theban but not the fine. We have asked our lawyer whether Shoaib becomeseligible after paying the fine and the lawyer believes that is the case.We’ve sent a letter to Shoaib to pay the fine by Monday.”The board, it is believed however, is willing to be flexible on the issueof payment. It is unlikely that Shoaib will miss out on inclusion becauseof non-payment and the board might give him time till the announcement of thefinal 15 to pay off the fine.As well as Shoaib, Mohammad Asif has also been included in the 30-man listthough his final status is also subject to the findings of a PCB committeeon his recent detention in Dubai. The fast bowler was held back at Dubai airport for 19 days on his way back from India, allegedly after he was caught with a recreational drug by airport authorities.The three-man committee, which includes Naghmi, Zakir and Nadeem Akram,will begin its work from Monday, after receiving documents related to thecase from Dubai.

Walter Chawaguta, the former Zimbabwe Under-19 coach, has taken charge of the national team, Cricinfo has learnt. Chawaguta replaces Robin Brown, whose contract expired in July, making him the third person to coach Zimbabwe in a year.Chawaguta, 35, is regarded as a decent coach but hopelessly raw and the consensus is that he cannot hope to stand up to the more political elements within the board who are pushing to control selection and impose racial quotas. His appointment is more down to the need to be seen to act quickly and also the acceptance that in the present climate, Zimbabwe Cricket cannot hope to attract any overseas coaches.After playing one first-class game for Mashonaland in 1997-98, Chawaguta turned to coaching, first with the U-19s and then the A team. He was briefly a selector in 2004, and was a contender for the national coach in 2005, but lost out to Kevin Curran. Chawaguta, though, was part of the national set-up as Brown’s assistant when he took over in August, 2007.