ICC contract

Following the rebuff from the top cricketers last night, the Cricket Board has gone ahead and picked 20 probables for the Champions Trophy to be played in Sri Lanka next month. The Selection Committee met here last night and picked the probables after the current Indian team, now in England, rejected a fresh call from the Cricket Board to sign the agreement for the tournament, Board sources said. However, the names of the 20 probables have not been announced due to apprehensions that the players in England might try to persuade them not to sign the agreement. The sources said only after these probables sign the agreement, will their names be released. The Board has also short-listed a few stand-byes who will be roped in if any of the selected probables also refuse to sign. The Board had yesterday given the players in England another chance to make themselves available for the tournament. But the players rejected the offer almost instantaneously and dared the Cricket Board to send a second- rung team to Sri Lanka, a move that has got support from the England players also. Meanwhile, the Cricket Board was pondering over the implications of sending a second-string team to the tournament. BCCI is in danger of losing at least a part of the guarantee money from ICC if it is not able to ensure the participation of its best team. The ICC Champions Trophy could be thrown into chaos because players are refusing to sign a contract in an ongoing dispute over sponsorship. England, South Africa, West Indies, India and Pakistan have all failed to sign the controversial International Cricket Council contract. But time is running out, with the tournament set to start in Sri Lanka on 12 September. Reason for the dispute The contract contains a clause preventing players from endorsing products other than those from official ICC sponsors. This clause applies for 30 days before and after all ICC events, including next year's World Cup. Players believe they would lose out on lucrative advertising deals if they signed up. The ICC has so far insisted all cricketers must sign the contract, or be barred from playing. But Richard Bevan, managing director of the Professional Cricketers' Association and Team England representative, said there would be serious repercussions if the row was not resolved soon.

India in England

England bowler Andrew Caddick has blamed the packed cricket programme for the injury that has kept him out of action this summer. Caddick, 33, is now back with the Test squad and is set to play against India at Headingley on Thursday but has had a frustrating season. He has spent nearly three months on the sidelines with a side strain. Caddick said: "Test cricket and international cricket is getting ridiculously strenuous. "It's a lot more mentally intense, and a lot more physically intense. "All these ICC tournaments are cropping up here and there. It's a lot of cricket. "Unfortunately, that's the way our careers line up now. "We have to perform in all arenas of the game 12 months of the year." England have had a catalogue of injuries this season - losing Caddick, Darren Gough, Alex Tudor, Simon Jones and Ashley Giles on the bowling front. Alec Stewart has lent his support to England and Surrey team-mate Graham Thorpe's decision to take a break from the game. Stewart said he and the entire England squad backed Thorpe's withdrawal from all forms of cricket to spend more time with his two young children and sort out his personal life following his recent divorce from wife Nicky. "I know how close he is to his children, he loves them dearly and he wants to solve the problem in the best possible way and in the quickest possible way," said Stewart. "He's made the right decision from Graham Thorpe's point of view. He's honest enough to say 'I must put my family first before I can get my cricket career back on track.'" However, Stewart admitted that the left-hander would be sorely missed by both his county side and England. "With Graham Thorpe in the England side it is a stronger side but only if he's physically and mentally capable of taking on those responsibilities," he said. "He's a world class cricketer. Surrey need him and England need him but only when his domestic problems are back in order. "We fully understand his situation, we sympathise with him and hopefully things are sorted out so that he is back on track, showing the world what a great cricketer he is." England cricketer Steve Harmison had the bat he used in his first Test match stolen from his car as he watched Newcastle United play their first match of the season. Thieves broke into the player's car and stole the bat and a sealed bag containing the cricket whites he wore on his debut against India earlier in August. The fast bowler, known as the Ashington Express, was watching Newcastle United beat West Ham United 4-0 at St James's Park on Monday night when the theft took place. The thieves decided not to take Harmison's England cap, given to mark his first full selection to the national team, and potentially far more valuable than the bat. The 24-year-old, who plays for Durham, had been due to drive down to a team gathering in Leeds, ahead of Thursday's third Test against India. Instead he did not travel down until Tuesday afternoon. He said: "I was very relieved that they didn't get my England cap - it was staring them in the face along with my helmet but for some reason they didn't take it."

ICC Champions trophy

Ronnie Irani faces a battle to be fit for England's trip to Sri Lanka in the ICC Champions Trophy after being ruled out of action for two weeks. Essex captain Irani had keyhole surgery on his right knee after injuring it in the recent match against India at Chelmsford. He could be back for Essex's championship match against Middlesex on 4 September. But that will leave him with only a week to prove his match fitness before the start of the "mini" World Cup on 12 September. Chief executive at Essex, David East, said: "During the procedure floating debris was removed." Irani has been critical to Essex's success this season and has also proved a valuable asset in England's one-day side.

Morocco cup

The final of the first ever Morocco Cup takes place on Wednesday with Sri Lanka and South Africa vying for the trophy - and a handsome cash prize. It has been the first international cricket tournament played in North Africa and although the locals have been rather bemused by the spectacle, the cricket itself has been exciting. Sri Lanka will be favourites to lift the trophy - and $120,000 first prize - after winning three of their four group matches. They knocked out pre-tournament favourites Pakistan in the process. Sri Lanka have also beaten fellow finalists South Africa twice. The two teams played a curtain-raiser group match on Monday, which Sri Lanka won by six wickets, but captain Sanath Jayasuriya knows the final will not be as easy. "I expect them to come out fighting," Jayasuriya said.

Miscellaneous

For once rain or bad light will not be able to stop play. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium is to stage its first ever cricket match in October and it will be played under a closed roof. A British XI - led by England captain Nasser Hussain - will take on a World XI, including Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram and former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh. The match is the first of a series of power cricket matches - a shorter version of the one-day game and designed to be played indoors. An artificial wicket will be laid in the centre of the stadium and organisers are hoping the event will be a sell-out. It will feature two 30-over matches split into two innings of 15 overs. The winners of each match on 4 and 5 October will earn a £25,000 jackpot. Hussain, who is currently leading England in a Test series against India, said: "I am looking forward to captaining the Brits against the rest of the world side. "I believe international indoor cricket at the Millennium Stadium will be a great success. "I'm convinced this new form of the game will prove to be dynamic and will attract great interest and support throughout the country and beyond."

Archive August 20, 2002 August 19, 2002 August 18, 2002 August 17, 2002 August 16, 2002 August 15, 2002 August 14, 2002 August 13, 2002 August 12, 2002 August 11, 2002 August 10, 2002 August 9, 2002 August 8, 2002 August 7, 2002 August 6, 2002 August 5, 2002 August 4, 2002 August 3, 2002 August 2, 2002 August 1, 2002

Design: Imran Shaikh