After experiencing a disappointing 2001 Busta Cup season, formerBarbados captain Philo Wallace is hoping to finish the year incontrasting fashion by achieving two major goals.The hard-hitting right-hander, who turned 31 last month, told Sunsporthe is aiming to help Big B Spartan lift the Courts/Suzuki Division 1title, in addition to doing well in the Red Stripe Bowl regionallimited-overs tournament, if he is selected.Yesterday, he warmed up for both tasks with a chanceless century forSpartan against Caribbean Lumber YMPC.I am using this season to try and get Spartan into a winning position,if not to win the Division 1 competition, and help develop the youngcricketers we have at the club, Wallace said yesterday.At Big B Spartan, we have a very young side. We only have two guysover 30 Livingstone Puckerin and myself and all the others are under25; so a lot of the responsibility is on me and Puckerin. I decidedtoday I would carry the baton and I did.Wallace’s century an unbeaten 107 was the feature of an otherwisebleak day where the first two hours and 35 minutes were lost to rain.His innings lasted 205 minutes and included 13 threes and five fours.I am very pleased with the innings, Wallace said. I have been trainingvery hard for the last couple of weeks under the guidance of HendersonSpringer and Andrew Callender and Mr Griffith from the BDF, so it ispaying off.The former West Indies opener hinted he was not focussed heavily onthe Red Stripe Bowl at the moment, though he was making the necessarypreparation.You have to be selected to go to the Bowl and I don’t have a play so Ihave to work hard. Right now, I am working hard for my club and I amenjoying it, Wallace explained.If selected, we will go to Guyana and I will look to do well for mycountry.Wallace and Wayne Blackman gave Spartan a solid start after YMPC wereasked to bat, when play finally started 35 minutes after lunch.The duo posted 101, with the attractive Blackman scoring 49 beforebeing bowled by off-spinner William Lashley with the third ball of histhird over.When Corey Yearwood fell cheaply for one, Wallace added 28 withcaptain Puckerin before the former Barbados wicket-keeper /batsman wasdismissed for eight, with Spartan placed at 140 for three. Young DionLovell (12) added 49 with Wallace to carry Spartan to 189, beforeSpartan lost their next three wickets for just 11 runs.Lashley, who took two wickets in his 16th over, finished with threefor 44 while Powlett grabbed three for 62.Prediction: Spartan to gain first innings lead.

Gaining respect from other states is at the top of the South Australian cricket team’s “to do” list as it attempts to erase the memory of a lacklustre last season.State cricket manager Greg Chappell laid down the law to his squad after it took the Pura Cup four day tournament’s wooden spoon and narrowly missed the final of the one-day competition in 2000-01.”At the moment South Australian cricket has very little respect,” Chappell told AAP.”We’ve had little blips on the radar where we’ve produced a group of players who have been good enough and desperate enough to win the competition.”But by and large, if you took a straw poll within the competition, we don’t have much respect and we never have.”The former Australian captain said his players needed to display the desire to be successful as well as good form.”If they meet that, they’ll be chosen, if they don’t, then they better start thinking about another career,” he said.”I don’t have any set ideas on who our first side is going to be.”Form is obviously going to count but commitment is also going to count.”As part of its mental preparation for the coming season, the Redbacks squad will take part in a training camp in Victoria on Wednesday and Thursday.The camp, conducted in the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park near Mildura, will focus on goal setting and team building.It will be the second year in a row the squad has taken part in the camp.The Redbacks have also called in a sports psychologist, who will be available to work with players throughout their season, which starts with a day-night limited overs match against Western Australia in Perth on October 12.Chappell said he had also spoken to players about publicity surrounding his contract negotiations earlier this year.”Within our group, it’s never been a huge issue,” Chappell said.After negotiations were resolved in May, SA Cricket Association chief executive Michael Deare said this summer would more than likely be Chappell’s last in charge of the Redbacks.Deare said due to other business interests, Chappell wanted to live in the eastern states this summer and commute to Adelaide to coach the Redbacks but the SACA found the proposal “totally unacceptable”.Chappell’s current contract expires at the end of March next year.

Welcome to the first issue of Zimbabwe Cricket Online for the 2001/02 season. Every week we plan to bring you news of cricket all over Zimbabwe, although for reasons beyond our control we will not be able to cover every area of the game, or even as extensively as we have done in the past. Still, we will try our best.In this issue we bring you news from Mashonaland, Matabeleland and Manicaland,and also a report on the first round of the Vigne Cup, the Mashonaland club competition. Unfortunately our regular club cricket contributor, Clive Ruffell, is no longer able to cover this, and we would like to thank him for his outstanding contributions of the past. Larry Moyo, sports reporter for The Herald, has willingly taken over this task. We also include a look at the coming season, through the eyes of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union managing director Dave Ellman-Brown, whose energy on behalf of cricket in this country remains as strong as ever.The South African tour has been covered extensively on CricInfo, and we have just a few thoughts to add on what was generally a disappointing Zimbabwe performance, with the exception of the incredible Andy Flower.Here is the cricket programme for Zimbabwe for the rest of the month:Friday 21 Sept: Zimbabwe A v South Africans (Queens Sports Club)Sunday 23 Sept: Zimbabwe v South Africa (1st ODI, Queens Sports Club)Vigne Cup Round 2 in HarareSaturday 29 Sept: Zimbabwe v South Africa (2nd ODI, Harare Sports Club)Sunday 30 Sept: Zimbabwe v South Africa (3rd ODI, Harare Sports Club)As usual, South Africa will be strong favourites to win the one-day series by three victories to none, but Zimbabwe have twice before upset the odds, once in the World Cup in England and once in South Africa. Can they do it a third time?

Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken buried their Ashes disappointments with outstanding comebacks as NSW thrashed South Australia by 290 at the Sydney Cricket Ground here today.Lee, returning to first-class cricket after a rib injury in the fifth Ashes Test, gathered momentum over by over to show he was ready to play his 13th Test when Australia meets New Zealand at the Gabba on November 8.Lee took 5-56 as South Australia, chasing 483, was bowled out for 192 just after tea on the third day of the Pura Cup match.The blond speedster, who took only nine wickets at an average of 55.11 in England, grew in confidence and by the end of the day had the throttle fully open in an encouraging display in front of national selector Allan Border.”I’m certainly ready,” Lee said.”I was always going to take it a little bit easier in the first dig and I was a down on pace there.”But I felt very comfortable out there and the pace was soon back and the rhythm felt fantastic – so no problems there.”There’s certainly no strains, the body felt fantastic.”Lee said he had no trouble bowling a spell of seven overs in the middle session.”I could have charged in all day but I had to give the other guys a go and it was great that Bracks could back us up.”After Lee whipped the head off the Redbacks batting, Bracken crushed the tail with 4-10 in 6.2 overs.He was returning from an even longer injury layoff after he was forced home from England with a shoulder injury in June.An impressive performer in one-day matches, Bracken could be close to Test selection with his leftarm pace offering a welcome variation to the right arm pace of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Lee.An early finish was always on the cards when 20 wickets fell on the first day of the match, Gillespie taking career-best figures of 8-50 as the ball seamed and swung on a moist, green pitch.But NSW, led by young opener Greg Mail, secured the upper hand when it piled on 399 runs on the second day before its second innings ended this morning at436.Man-of-the-match Mail carried his bat to be unbeaten on 150 and the 23-year-old looks a bright prospect in an era when talented young players appear thin on theground.Blues captain Shane Lee was impressed with Mail, who more than doubled the next best score in the match with his 405-minute knock.Mail formed big partnerships with a series of players – Michael Slater, Mark Waugh, Mark Higgs, Stuart MacGill and even McGrath, who made his highest score in Australia with 26.”Greg Mail played an unbelievable innings,” Lee said.”He plays the way he knows how, letting the other guys around him play their strokes – he’s the basis of any big scores we make.”Having set SA 483 to win, the Blues were always in the box seat and Lee accelerated the win when he took three quick wickets, including those of key batsmen Greg Blewett and Darren Lehmann in the space of two balls.Darren Dempsey, facing his second hat-trick in as many weeks, survived, but Lee went on to pick up two more scalps in the middle session for his eighth five-wicket bag in first-class cricket.The Blues took six points from the match to move into second place on the table behind Queensland.

Dipak Patel, the Central Districts cricket coach, wants the national selectors to keep a close eye on his star batsman, the 22-year-old David Kelly whose 99 not out kept Central Districts afloat during the second day of the State Championship match against Auckland on the Eden Park Outer Oval today.Kelly has already built a very useful run-scoring record for Central Districts in four-day and one-day matches, including a 570-minute unbeaten double century throughout the first CD innings against Canterbury at Blenheim last season.”David has shown he can score runs,” said Patel, the former New Zealand all-rounder. “He has also shown, especially today, that he can defend and concentrate very effectively. He has all the shots, but he is the only one of our batsmen who has really stood up and performed well under difficult conditions against Auckland.”Patel said he was not looking at Kelly as an immediate candidate for the troublesome opening position in the New Zealand team.”He might not be at that stage, yet,” said Patel, “but he is getting closer. “I think David would be an excellent prospect, say, opening the batting for New Zealand A, and gaining valuable experience.”I hope the national selectors are keeping an eye on him, he has so much determination to succeed.”Patel had his wish granted yesterday for Ross Dykes, one of the national selectors, has watched the first two days of the Eden Park match. However, neither he nor Kelly were available for comment last night.Kelly, born in Dunedin but now living in Hawke’s Bay, has fashioned solid batting figures in his short career. Before this season he has scored 1122 first-class runs, with a single and double century, average a respectable 35.06. He scored 617 runs, average 38.56 in Shell Trophy matches last summer.He also has a one-day century in the 710 runs, average 25.35, he has scored in 29 Shell Cup matches.There were many strange statistics in Kelly’s staunch stand which cut back the domination Auckland had gained in the first four sessions of the match. One was his 99 has already taken him 284 minutes, longer than the first innings from Central Districts (231 minutes) and Auckland (257 minutes). In his 99 were 16 fours – and the other 14 CD innings in the game so far have reached a total of 11.

Peter McGlashan of Hawke’s Bay has been named captain of the New Zealand District Association team to play Bangladesh starting next Friday in Wanganui.The match is not a first-class fixture but a rare chance for players in the Hawke Cup regions to get exposure to playing an international side.District Associationteam manager Ross Dykes, says the side has been selected from New Zealand district teams only and does not include any players from the metropolitan areas or any current first-class players.”The majority of the team is made up of players who have previously played first-class cricket or who are now on the fringe of first-class selection,” says Dykes.”It’s a mixture of experience and up and coming talent who realise that it’s a rare honour for a district team to be playing an international side.”I’m sure they’ll be very competitive.”The team is: Peter McGlashan (captain, Hawke’s Bay), Tim Anderson (Nelson), Simon Andrews (Hamilton), Peter Fulton (Canterbury Country), Jaden Hatwell (Hamilton), Peter Ingram (Manawatu), Harley James (Canterbury Country), Taraia Robin (Hawke’s Bay), Grant Robinson (Hamilton), Neil Rushton (North Otago), Greg Todd (Wairarapa), Scott Baldwin (12th man, Wanganui).

It’s the halfway point of the Pura Cup season; the ING Cup campaign has moved beyond its midway mark; and two-thirds of the summer’s Test program has been completed.But the women’s cricket season is really only just beginning after South Australia’s stunning 27-run win over Victoria at the Adelaide Oval yesterday.The Victorians had entered the weekend as one of only two unbeaten teams in this summer’s National Women’s Cricket League series. But they left it having surrendered their joint billing with New South Wales and facing stiff competition from South Australia in the race for positions in the finals series.A convincing 77-run triumph over the Scorpions on Saturday had confirmed the Victorians’ edge over the South Australians on the table. And another win yesterday would have gone a long way to leaving New South Wales and Victoria out of reach of their rivals.But the early loss of captain Belinda Clark (4), Louise Broadfoot (13) and Melanie Jones (11) – in pursuit of a victory target of 157 – quickly compromised the Spirit’s plans of shutting the South Australians out of finals contention.”It was a fantastic win; everybody pulled together really well to get the job done,” enthused Heather Booth, one of the stars of the victory with a crucial 13 with the bat, two fine catches and a brilliant spell of bowling that netted figures of 2/11 off ten overs.”We’re a very young side but the girls have really stood up and taken on the challenge so far this year.”Everybody in the team has given 100% in every match, and it’s good for us to show the other teams that we have the talent to beat them.”And also to demonstrate that we’re potentially good enough to make the top two.”Captain Karen Rolton was in similarly outstanding form for the home team.The Australian vice-captain struck 65 in the morning to provide most of the impetus to the Scorpions’ innings and then complemented it in the afternoon with a haul of 1/24 from one delivery short of her full allotment of ten overs. Crucially, she was also responsible for the early demise of rival skipper Clark – Player of the Match on Saturday with a typically brilliant 84 – by having the Australian captain caught by Booth at mid on.Her influence in helping to restrain the run flow; building the pressure on the Victorians; and knowing exactly when to introduce the likes of Booth and Player of the Match Belinda Noack (3/37) into the attack, was also instrumental.Other results will still need to continue to fall the South Australians’ way over the next three weekends if their first finals appearance for four years is to become a reality.However events unfold, though, a New South Wales-Victoria match-up is now no longer the formality that many had imagined.

India wilted under sustained England pressure in the field as the tourists successfully defended a total of 250 in the second one-day international. From the seemingly comfortable heights of 99 for two, the hosts subsided to 234 all out as England won by 16 runs to level the six-match series at one-all. Paul Collingwood was made man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 71, which was the highest score of the day.Sourav Ganguly again won the toss and asked England to bat in the hope of extracting some morning moisture. In the event they began steadily, posting 75 for the loss of both openers in the first 15 overs. Marcus Trescothick, the hero at Kolkata, took two boundaries before Ajit Agarkar made the first breakthrough. Trescothick was fractionally late on a pull, giving Dinesh Mongia time to run behind the square leg umpire to take a straightforward catch.Nasser Hussain joined Nick Knight, and well-judged running between the right and left-handers kept the scoreboard ticking over. Hussain found the mid-wicket fence by pulling a marginally short ball from Agarkar. But it was the pull that lost England their second wicket, as Knight hit Srinath straight to Harbhajan Singh at deep mid-wicket.Hussain was missed on 36 as he edged Ganguly and Ajay Ratra couldn’t hang on to a thickish edge behind the stumps. The England captain then swept Harbhajan behind square to bring up the tourists’ hundred, and Michael Vaughan caught the mood next ball by pulling Ganguly handsomely over mid-wicket. After surviving a close run-out decision, Hussain inexplicably lost patience against Ganguly, holing out to Agarkar at deep mid-on. Vaughan restored the momentum with a handsome boundary through extra cover.Vaughan went to his half century (59 balls, 4 fours), with a sweep off Sachin Tendulkar, and Collingwood used his feet to clip Anil Kumble wide of mid-on for his second boundary. The 36th over went for ten runs, six of them coming off the first ball as Collingwood swung Tendulkar to square leg where Harbhajan, having caught the ball just inside the boundary, was unable to release it as he stepped back on to the rope.Vaughan was then needlessly run out after miscuing a reverse sweep. As the ball went towards square-leg he hesitated when there should have been a straightforward single, and was left short of his ground at the bowler’s end. Andy Flintoff followed for five, swinging across a full-length ball from Harbhajan to lose his off stump. Kumble then bowled Ben Hollioake through the gate, leaving England on 192 for six and in danger of squandering their solid start. Amid the adversity Collingwood was still able to reach his 50 in style, swinging Kumble over mid-wicket. Following up with a mid-wicket six off Agarkar, the Durham all-rounder went on to see England through to the 250 mark, assisted by Jeremy Snape and then James Foster.India made a perfect start to the chase as Ganguly dispatched Darren Gough twice to the backward point boundary in the first over. A flashing square drive off Matthew Hoggard took Tendulkar off the mark in the second. It was a ball of fuller length from Hoggard that made the breakthrough as Ganguly, with minimal foot movement, edged a straightforward catch to Knight at second slip. But India kept up the momentum as Tendulkar took boundaries through mid-wicket off Hoggard, then through extra-cover and back down the ground off Gough, who made way for Flintoff after four overs.Hussain constantly shuffled his attack, with Snape coming on in the 19th over and England increasingly desperate for a breakthrough. It came fortuitously when Tendulkar was run out by a deflection, Hollioake getting a fingertip to a drive by Mongia which hit the stumps with Tendulkar, backing up, stranded yards out of his ground.England broke through again when Laxman failed to make his ground as he attempted a single after Mongia had clipped the ball to Collingwood at backward-point. Virender Sehwag then failed to get on top of a pull, Knight taking a good, tumbling catch at short mid-wicket. At 121 for four India were wobbling. They had a let-off when Badani was missed by Foster, who was standing up to Collingwood and couldn’t gather cleanly as Badani went down the track.Foster soon redeemed himself by playing a key role in yet another run-out. Mongia, trying for a second to Matthew Hoggard at long leg, failed to ground his bat as Foster took the return one-handed to break the wicket with milli-seconds to spare. Hollioake struck next, as Badani skied a slower ball to wide mid-on, where Flintoff jubilantly held the catch.A double bowling change led to more England euphoria as Flintoff trapped Ratra in front for 30 with the first ball of his new spell. Harbhajan immediately swung the Lancastrian to the fence at long-on, but India descended further into the mire as Snape trapped him lbw sweeping. Agarkar and Kumble batted sensibly to keep flickering Indian hopes alive, but with four overs remaining and India’s last two wickets still needing 30, Hussain turned to Gough. The Yorkshireman did the trick for his skipper with his 150th wicket in one-day internationals; Kumble slogged at a slower ball and Collingwood did wonderfully well to take a running catch over his shoulder at mid-wicket.Gough eventually finished it in the 49th over as Agarkar got a thin edge to Foster. England had triumphed amid the tension, and the series is still very much alive.

England put their New Zealand tour back on track with a five-wicket victory over Northern Districts, in which they showed that lessons had been learned from the three-wicket defeat on Friday.Andrew Flintoff made an outstanding first appearance in New Zealand with three for 20 followed by a bludgeoning 45 from 25 deliveries to finish the match with 16.4 overs to spare.Nasser Hussain took back the captaincy, with Flintoff, Ashley Giles and James Foster all returning to the side. Marcus Trescothick, Paul Collingwood, Jeremy Snape and Matthew Hoggard made way.Scott Styris, who returned from the CLEAR Black Caps tour of Australia at two o’clock this morning, replaced Graeme Aldridge for ND.ND batted after winning the toss and made a promising start despite the early loss of Simon Doull, who was not given the chance to repeat his pinch-hitting heroics of the first game.James Marshall and Michael Parlane put on 37 for the second wicket before the loss of five wickets for 19 runs meant that the rest of the innings would be a rearguard action.Stands of 44 for the seventh-wicket between Robbie Hart and Grant Bradburn, and 29 for the eighth between Bradburn and Joseph Yovich brought the innings back to the outer edges of respectability, but a par score of around 250 was never in question after the mid-innings collapse. Bradburn was ND’s top scorer, with an unbeaten 46.England coach Duncan Fletcher spoke after the game about his disappointment with the bowling performance on Friday and the work that had gone on with all the bowlers to bring about improvement.This paid off, with outstanding performances from all the bowlers with the exception of Andy Caddick, whose combined figures for the two matches of 20-1-104-1 have put a home-town appearance in the first One-Day International at Christchurch in doubt.The quicker bowlers all took advantage of the recent changes to the bouncer rule, using the pace and bounce of the WestpacTrust Park pitch to good effect.Darren Gough (9.2-4-21-2) bowled near his best, showing fire and accuracy. Craig White (8-2-23-2) continued his rapid recuperation after knee surgery, hinting that the ability to bowl at real pace has not deserted him permanently.Giles bowled 10 overs of beautifully controlled spin, achieving some turn and finishing with two for 22.But Flintoff was the real star of the attack with nine overs, one maiden and three wickets for 20 runs. He attacked the batsmen with pace, giving them few scoring opportunities. It was pressure one-day bowling of the first order.There is still room for improvement in the fielding. A straightforward stumping chance missed by Foster against Hart off Giles will have done nothing to dampen speculation that Trescothick will take over the gloves at some stage in the ODI series.The England reply got off to a cracking start. the first scoring shot was a hooked six by stand-in opener Michael Vaughan off Ian Butler.Butler took revenge two balls later by having Vaughan caught behind.Hussain faced some hostile bowling early on with Butler again looking distinctly rapid. In his first season at the top domestic level he has already established a reputation as the country’s fastest bowler, Shane Bond apart.ND were convinced that Hussain was caught behind without scoring off Daryl Tuffey, but umpire Billy Bowden disagreed.Tuffey, recalled to the CLEAR Black Caps squad for the first two ODIs today – conceded only four from his first four overs, but went for 17 from his fifth, including a six over long on and a four to midwicket by the England captain.Three wickets in three overs by Yovich brought ND back into the game. Knight (17) top-edged a catch to Hamish Marshall at backward point. Graham Thorpe soon followed, top edging a hook that was well taken on the fine-leg boundary by Parlane, who parried the ball, catching it at the second attempt while tiptoeing just inside the boundary line.Hussain was fourth out, caught behind as he pushed at a ball outside off. He scored 29 from 49 balls and hit four fours. Yovich was removed from the attack after taking three wickets in four overs, which released some of the pressure on England.It was left to White and Owais Shah, neither of whom has spent much time in the middle of late, to ensure that concern did not develop into crisis.Progress was slow, with only 22 scored in 10 overs after the dismissal of Hussain. But they stayed there until White was out for 15, Hamish Marshall taking a brilliant diving catch low to his left as the batsman attempted to cut Doull.This brought in Flintoff to finish things off. Only three of his 45 were not scored in boundaries. His hitting was clean and memorable, a straight six off Styris which rattled the sightscreen perhaps the best of a series of quality shots.Flintoff was fully attired throughout, it being a bit chilly for chest-baring in Hamilton today.He was well supported by Shah, who batted calmly and securely for 29 at a time when preserving wickets was important.England are set to continue the good run of form that took them to series-levelling victory in the final two games in India. New Zealand will have to recover quickly from their disappointing finish in the VB Series if they are to compete.

Nearly a month after England’s Ashes hopes were so summarily consumed within the vortex of the Fremantle Doctor, the hyperbolic reaction on both sides of the world has died down a little. Beyond that, the spirit England showed in their five-wicket defeat in the fourth Test in Melbourne has given new heart to their supporters on the threshold of a new year.

The Australian media love to belittle opponents of the Baggy Green – indeed on current form they have every justification – but England are often singled out for particular ridicule. This owes much to history. The Poms are the “Old Enemy”, after all. They dreamed up Bodyline, and have an imperial history that puts many opponents on their mettle. And let us not forget that they have repeatedly proved capable of winning the Ashes in the past.But at bottom this series has proved little that was not already clear. We knew this time last year that England were no match for Australia, and were one of several teams vying to be runners-up. Regardless of how the ICC Championship table may look a week into 2003, that title belongs to South Africa, whom England meet in the main home series of the coming year.The World Cup aside, the Proteas will present England with their primary challenge. In the recent past England have given New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies at least a run for their money. Fingers in the camp will be crossed that there are no slip-ups in either of the two Tests against Zimbabwe that precede the South Africa series, or in the two that follow in Bangladesh.In the World Cup, England’s progress beyond their challenging group (which includes Australia, India and Pakistan) would be no mean achievement, and anything more would be seen as something of a triumph. In the VB Series so far Sri Lanka have looked like a team in eclipse, but England will undoubtedly have taken heart from their two wins as the countdown to South Africa progresses.

As to individuals, Michael Vaughan’s rocket-fuelled progression to world-class status has been much the most heartening, and entertaining, feature of 2002. Six centuries this year – two of them against Australia – have propelled him into the top ten of the world rankings, and many would select him (I certainly would) as Matthew Hayden’s opening partner in a putative World XI. What a joy to be able to categorise an England batsman in such a way!Marcus Trescothick was due a poor trot, and the Australians are always favourites to induce one. So too Mark Butcher, but these two, along with their combative captain, should continue to provide England’s batting bedrock for the foreseeable future. John Crawley’s injury has impeded his bid to secure a place, while Robert Key has gained priceless experience. But if Graham Thorpe hits early form in April, the door should not be closed to him for long.Less than two years after Darren Gough and Andy Caddick were hailed as England’s best new-ball pairing since Trueman and Statham, injury threatens the career of one while the sands of time may be running out for the other. Much encouragement should therefore be derived from Steve Harmison’s progress and Jimmy Anderson’s emergence in Australia. Above all it is to be hoped that Simon Jones can make a full recovery from that dreadful Brisbane setback.Alec Stewart continues to provide much-needed balance, although James Foster showed increased maturity both behind the stumps and with the bat when he deputised at Melbourne. Craig White proved a worthy replacement for Andrew Flintoff, whose full recovery, delayed for so long, cannot come a moment too soon. Ashley Giles’ injury handed the toughest of assignments to Richard Dawson, but he too will benefit from the experience.So how does the 2002 ledger stand? Tests – played 14, won four, lost six, drawn four. As last year, if you take Australia out it doesn’t look anything like so bad, but it provides stark emphasis of how much England need to improve if they really are to be the best in the world in four years’ time. One-dayers – played 24, won 11, lost 12, one no result. Not a score to excite the World Cup bookies perhaps, but no disgrace. What England need in this form of the game is more practice.