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A trio of teenage pace bowlers will enjoy a taste of history on Thursday when they use a pink ball under match conditions for the first time. Queensland Fire’s Delissa Kimmince, Taija Davis and Jo Verrall will take part in the ground-breaking Twenty20 match between Queensland and the Western Fury at the Gabba as the women trial the pink balls.The following day, South Australia Scorpions will host Victoria in a WNCL match that will be under lights – the first women’s match to be held as a day-nighter. Those matches are crucial, with South Australia needing two wins in two to guarantee a place in the final which will be hosted by New South Wales later this month.Over in Queensland, Davis, 16, will make her state debut while 18-year-olds Kimmince and Verrall will shoulder additional responsibility with Kirsten Pike being rested ahead of Friday and Saturday’s WNCL encounters. The Twenty20 game is also the first time the Fire have played at the Gabba and will be the curtain-raiser to tomorrow’s KFC Twenty20 game between Queensland and Tasmania.Additionally, the Fire players will wear pink caps and pink wrist bands with Queensland Cricket and the National Breast Cancer Foundation combining for the match to raise awareness and funds for research towards finding a cure for breast cancer.Queensland selectors have left out spinner Dawn Holden and included off-spinner Kirby Short for her first match this year, as well as adding Rikki-Lee Rimmington the squad.Queensland Twenty20 squad Melissa Bulow (capt), Jude Coleman, Lyndall Daley, Taija Davis, Danielle Hollis, Delissa Kimmince, Kasee Marxsen, Jodie Purves, Casey Reibelt, Rikki-Lee Rimmington, Kirby Short, Jo Verrall.Queensland WNCL squad Melissa Bulow (capt), Jude Coleman, Lyndall Daley, Danielle Hollis, Delissa Kimmince, Cindy Kross, Kasee Marxsen, Kirsten Pike, Jodie Purves, Rikki-Lee Rimmington, Kirby Short, Jo Verrall, Megan White.Western Fury squad for both Avril Fahey (capt), Renee Chappell, Emma Biss,,Nicole Bolton, Lauren Ebsary, Angele Gray, Peta Merrilees, Lauren Stammers, Holly Hyder, Charlotte Horton, Jenny Wallace, Amanda Williams, Jaimi Wilson.

Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer and VRV Singh checked in at the National Cricket Academy for the fitness test ahead of the South Africa series, starting on March 26. Over the next few days, Sourav Ganguly, RP Singh and Pankaj Singh will also undergo routine tests.Rahul Dravid, who has been recuperating from a finger injury that he picked up in the Adelaide Test against Australia, was also seen at both the morning and evening nets. “My finger injury has healed and I am feeling fine now,” he said.Dravid has not played any competitive cricket since the Australian tour – he didn’t turn out for Karnataka in the recent Ranji one-dayers – but has had intensive practice with the bowling machine for the last few days.The tests today – held under the supervision of Paul Chapman, the physical conditioning coach, and Paul Close, the physiotherapist – included skinfolds, bleep tests, repeat sprint and aerobic strength tests.Pankaj was supposed to arrive today but it’s learnt that his physio in the Rajasthan Cricket Association wrongly believed that he could issue a fitness certificate himself. Pankaj is carrying a slight niggle in the back and it will be interesting to see how he fares in his fitness test on Friday.While the more well-known bleep test involves short sprints, the aerobic vertical jump test records the difference between the height reached at full stretch with feet on the ground and from a standing jump. The skinfolds test uses callipers to measure body fat.While Laxman, Singh and Jaffer left for the airport to catch their respective flights, Kumble, the local boy, bowled for 30 minutes at the NCA ground. He started off with some spot bowling before using his full regular run-up. As he left the ground, Dravid came in for his evening nets session.

A good innings from skipper Ronnie Irani who made 95, helped Essex torecover from 13 for three to make 292 all out in 103.2 overs againstfellow Division Two County Championship promotion hopefuls Glamorganat Southend on the first day today.Irani (95) and Stuart Law (70) put together a partnership of 111 forthe fourth wicket before Law fell to Robert Croft. Irani was out toDean Cosker, the left arm spinner.The other impressive performer for Essex was the debutant James Foster(52) who fell to Steve Watkin. For Glamorgan, Watkin, Croft and DarrenThomas took three wickets each.In reply, Glamorgan were 40 for 1 with Steve James being the batsmandismissed for 30 by Ashley Cowan. In the process he crossed 1000 runsfor the season.

Three first-class players were inducted into the 18th intake of the Australian Academy at Allan Border Field today. James Packman, the New South Wales batsman who played in the Pura Cup final victory, Tasmania’s David Dawson and Ryan Harris, from South Australia, were part of the 23-man squad that opened with an exhibition match in Brisbane.The players in the Australian Institute of Sport program will undergo a 13-week course that has been used by 67 cricketers on the way to international honours. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence was a pivotal component for Australia’s aspiring cricketers. “It forms an integral part of the pathway to help these talented players refine their skills and prepare for the next step in their career,” he said. “For some that may culminate in representing their country.”Since the course started in 1988 there have been 240 inductees and 72.5% have reached first-class level while 30 have played Tests. Shane Watson was the last Academy graduate to figure in a Test while James Hopes, the Queensland allrounder, is the most recent one-day international representative. At the end of the two training blocks in July a 14-man squad will be picked for a three-week tour to Bangalore and Chennai.

Duncan Fletcher will continue to combine his role of head coach with that of tour manager in all of England’s overseas series.Following a report from the ECB on the 2002/03 Ashes series, the proposal for a separate tour manager was rejected.Dennis Amiss, the International Teams Management Group (ITMG) chairman, produced the report which also recommended measures to be taken to improve day-to-day communications on tour. As a result, Fletcher will report directly to John Carr, the ECB’s director of cricket operations, rather than to the chief executive.Carr is to receive a daily bulletin from Phil Neale, the team operations manager, and new protocols are to be put in place to ensure the management, ECB personnel and the Professional Cricketers Association are appropriately updated on administration and injury news.

As West Indies gear up to take on England in the four-Test series, their captain Brian Lara said his side had already put their NatWest Series final defeat behind them, and would take some positives into the Tests. West Indies did manage to reach the final of the three-way NatWest Series – eliminating England along the way – but were soundly beaten at Lord’s on Saturday.But Lara is convinced that the way forward is to forget the immediate past – which, in West Indies’ case, does not make for good reading anyway. In seven matches in the series, they were beaten three times, won two games against England, and had two washed out.An AFP report quoted Lara as saying, “We have got to separate this from the rest of the tour. Now the one-day series is over, and there are a lot of positives we can take into the next couple of months, like the fact we were in the final and England, the host country, were not.” However, the last time England and West Indies played a Test series, England won three Tests and drew the fourth earlier this year.”Also, we have had a few weeks of playing cricket in English conditions, whereas normally you arrive two weeks ahead of the first Test,” said Lara. “The guys have become accustomed to the weather, and we are in a better position for an upcoming Test series than if we had just arrived. Hopefully in the warm-up games batters can start thinking of long innings and bowlers getting the ball in the right areas and being more hostile.”West Indies have two three-day games – against MCC at Arundel and Sri Lanka A at Shenley – before the first Test starts at Lord’s on July 22.

Injuries continue to plague Australia and a squad of 14 players has been named to prepare for the second Test against Zimbabwe starting in Sydney on Friday. The latest concern is for Darren Lehmann who has suffered an achilles tendon strain.Simon Katich has been included in the squad as cover for Lehmann while Brad Hogg would take Stuart MacGill’s place if MacGill should fail his fitness test. Nathan Brackan has also been included in the squad. With a replacement necessary for Jason Gillespie, Brad Williams would be favoured to make his Test debut.In a worst case scenario with Lehmann and MacGill out of the side and Katich, Hogg and Williams included, with only 53 Tests between them, it would be the least experienced Australian attack for many years.The Australian squad is: Steve Waugh (capt), Ricky Ponting, Andy Bichel, Nathan Bracken, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Stuart MacGill, Damien Martyn, Brad Williams.

South Africa’s batting rock, Gary Kirsten, didn’t have the slightest doubt about withdrawing from the first Test against West Indies – but neither does he have any doubt about extending his career in pursuit of 100 caps and 20 centuries.Kirsten, who has just turned 36, had originally intended to retire from the game after this year’s tour of England, but two centuries and a plea from South Africa’s new young captain Graeme Smith persuaded him to stay on.When Nasser Hussain quit the England captaincy but then said he wanted to stay on to play 100 Tests, he was pilloried by Ian Botham, among others, for being selfish and placing individual goals and desires ahead of those of the team. But there are some very key differences between Hussain and Kirsten’s situations, however. Hussain had played 84 Tests and had a batting average of 36. He had already endured speculation about the worth of his place in the team, and had been saved by his status as skipper on more than one occasion.Kirsten, meanwhile, has played 95 Tests and has an average of almost 45. He is also just one century away from becoming only the 21st player in the history of the game to reach 20 hundreds. Needless to say he is far and away his country’s leading runscorer, and it is the chance to extend his national records that drives Kirsten on.”Of course I’d like to score 7000 runs, and 20 hundreds, and I’d love to have 100 Test caps, but I’d like it as much for South Africa and South African cricket as I would for me,” Kirsten said after making his decision to stand down from the first Test. “There is nothing wrong with setting personal goals but I also want to set goals for the next generation, and maybe even the generation after that. I actually feel proud that cricketers in the years to come might say ‘I want to be the second South African to score 7000 runs, or to play 100 Tests’. There’s nothing wrong with that.”Kirsten went on: “But all that aside, personal or team goals, if I wasn’t performing then I would have retired when I originally intended to. It’s one thing to leave a positive legacy and memory to the next generation but quite another for people to think ‘Oh yeah, Gary Kirsten – he hung aroung too long, didn’t he?’ I’m pretty confident that won’t happen to me.”Kirsten has said he definitely won’t play on beyond South Africa’s tour of New Zealand in February and March. So if he plays the final three Tests against West Indies, and three against NZ, he would finish with 101 caps. That’s in theory. As for run-aggregates and centuries, Kirsten has been around far too long to try to predict anything.”I’ll try for those goals but form and fitness could easily have the final say. I could be dropped or a tear a hamstring tomorrow,” he said. “It may well be that the next generation are driven by becoming the first South African to reach those milestones, not by matching me. But I’ll be happy at the end of my career, whatever happens, because it’s been an amazing journey.”Neil Manthorp is a partner in the South African sports agency MWP.

Division One

Gloucestershire v Surrey at Bristol
Gloucestershire enter the match without an overseas player with Upul Chandana back in Sri Lanka and Malinga Bandara not arriving until next week. Mark Ramprakash is still out with a broken thumb and Graham Thorpe will lead the side in the absence of Mark Butcher, who is not expect to be back into action until August. Alistair Brown took charge for the Twenty20 but Thorpe takes control for the Championship and is in need of some runs in his last first-class outing before the Lord’s Test.Middlesex v Hampshire at Southgate
Ed Joyce returns to boost Middlesex after powering Ireland to the World Cup at the ICC Trophy in Ireland. Alan Richardson also comes back into the side after resting for the Twenty20. Shane Warne returns for Hampshire after two weeks out while Dimitri Mascarenhas will undergo a late fitness test. Only 16 points separate the two teams and Middlesex have a game in hand.Nottinghamshire v Glamorgan at Trent Bridge
Mark Footitt, a seam bowler, makes his first-class debut for Nottinghamshire against struggling Glamorgan. Stephen Fleming and Mark Ealham return to the side after missing some of the Twenty20 matches. Glamorgan have also called up a young seam bowler with Huw Waters, 18, in their 12-man squad. Alex Wharf and Adam Harrison both miss out with injuries sustained during the last couple of weeks. Glamorgan have lost seven out of eight Championship matches this season.

Division Two

Durham v Lancashire at Chester-le-Street
The return of Jon Lewis, Nathan Astle and Ashley Noffke given Durham an almost full strength squad as they aim to consolidate their position at the top of the table. Lancashire are now without Muttiah Muralitharan who is back in Sri Lanka but Kyle Hogg returns to the squad. Lancashire’s batsmen have found some form in recent Twenty20 games and will be targeting revenge over Durham who comprehensively beat then at Old Trafford earlier this season.Somerset v Leicestershire at Taunton
Charl Langeveldt will make his debut for Somerset, joining up with Graeme Smith, and replaces Gareth Andrew from the recent Twenty20 sides. Leicestershire will have Chris Rogers making his county debut, after joining as cover for Dinesh Mongia who is back at an Indian training camp. Darren Robinson, the opening batsmen, takes the place of Stuart Broad in the 12-man squad.Worcestershire v Yorkshire at Worcester
Shoaib Akhtar faces a late fitness test while Steven Davies and Matt Mason return to the Worcestershire squad. Matthew Hoggard is recalled by Yorkshire after suffering some harsh treatment during the recent one-day action. Deon Kruis also bolsters the seam attack but Adam Warren or Richard Pyrah will miss out.

The much-awaited results from Shoaib Akhtar’s scan on his injured ankle have revealed that his old hairline fracture has still not healed properly. The result means he will be unable to resume bowling for four to six weeks and will almost certainly rule him out of the initial part of Pakistan’s tour to England.”It’s a bad week for me. First I lost a close friend and now got a bad news that my injury has not healed although I still feel no pain and can jog for hours,” Akhtar told AFP. “But a bad news for me is a good news for the English batsmen. I will do my best to recover in time to at least play two Tests.””I carried that ankle injury from the series against England but I continued to play. Even after the operations I was feeling well before I twisted the ankle earlier this month.”Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, told Cricinfo that the results of the scan they had sent to specialists in South Africa did not make for good news. “Unfortunately the scans have revealed that though he doesn’t have a new injury, the fracture that he sustained during the home series against England and India, has not yet fully healed. He cannot bowl at all for four to six weeks.”Woolmer agreed it was “highly unlikely” that Shoaib would be able to play any part in the first half of the England tour but wasn’t willing to comment on whether he would be taken as a member of the squad. “We have a selection meeting later tonight in which we’ll discuss the situation and come to a decision after that.”The fact that his old injury still hasn’t healed will not sit well with the PCB. After he sat out the ODIs against India and then missed the tour of Sri Lanka, reports suggested that Shoaib was training and recovering with his own trainer rather than PCB-appointed officials, which irked board and team officials. It means, as one source close to the team revealed: “no-one is quite sure what he has been doing to his ankle because given proper rehabilitation, it should’ve healed comfortably by now. But it hasn’t.”The first Test is due to begin at Lord’s on July 13, just over five weeks, from now, which means Pakistani fans will now witness, helplessly, the same anguished race against time English football fans are currently experiencing with Wayne Rooney’s metatarsal.Earlier, the PCB had said their own medical commission had advised Shoaib three weeks’ rest and that his selection for the tour of England rests on the recommendation of the commission.Pakistani selectors are scheduled to announce the touring squad in the next day or so. Wasim Bari, chief selector, has said that Shoaib is likely to accompany the squad whether or not he is injured.He told : “It is certainly the most difficult decision that the selection committee will have to take when it meets. I’ve already met Inzamam and Woolmer recently to take their inputs over the team’s selection but recent developments have made it necessary to meet them again.”Bari said the inclusion – or not – of Shoaib will be the main issue of discussion. “There is nothing in writing for us on Shoaib’s fitness issue so I can’t say what we might opt for in our meeting to select the team.,” Bari added. “There is no doubt that Shoaib is a key player for us but then he has to be fit to be able to live up to the expectations. He cannot be included in the team without achievement and proving full match fitness.”