Waugh to play with stitched hand

South African fast bowler Andre Nel, who was sent home from Australia on charges of drunken driving, will be given a chance to put his case forward, chief of the country's cricket board Gerald Majola said on Tuesday.

Nel, a member of the South Africa 'A' side currently touring Australia, was caught in Hobart, Tasmania, while driving under the influence of alchohol last week and immediately put on the first flight back home.

Chief Executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Majola held a meeting with the disgraced bowler on Monday to get full details of the incident. He said a full disciplinary hearing would be held to give Nel a chance to put his case forward.

"I appeal to the media to accept and understand that Andre has a right to the correct procedure under the UCB's conduct and that it is not fair to him for his case to be discussed in the media while the process is underway," he said.

Declining to speak further on the matter, Majola said "neither Andre nor members of the UCB will comment on the case until it is appropriate to do so."

 

Australian skipper Steve Waugh says he intends to play in the second cricket Test against the West Indies starting in Port of Spain on Saturday despite a gashed hand which required six stitches.

The 37-year-old campaigner split the webbing between his index and middle fingers as he attempted to stop a hot cover drive from West Indies opener Devon Smith in the opening Test in Guyana.

"It is sore. There are six stitches in it," Waugh said, when asked by Australian Associated Press on Tuesday following Australia's nine-wicket win in the first Test.

"It is going to be sore for a week. You still have to be able to hold a bat properly and I have to be able to do justice to my position in the side."

Waugh's toughness is legendary in cricket.

A shattered nose didn't keep the Australian captain out of a Test in Sri Lanka almost four years ago after a mid-field collision with a teammate and he only missed one Test in England despite tearing a hole in his calf muscle in 2001.

 

Former Board of Control for Cricket in India president N K P Salve was felicitated by another former BCCI chief, Raj Singh Dungarpur, at the Cricket Club of India, in Mumbai, on Tuesday for his contribution to the game.

Lauding Salve's contribution to cricket in general and the Board in particular, Dungarpur said Salve was instrumental in cementing the board and bringing different factions under one umbrella.

"Salve was also one of the key figures who made it possible for the 1983 Indian cricket team, under the captaincy of all-rounder Kapil Dev, to win the World Cup in England," Dungarpur said.

 

Promising Hyderabad batsman Ambati Rayudu will lead a 14-member Indian Under-19 team on a week-long tour of Nepal, starting on April 26.

The team is slated to play three limited-over matches against Nepal.

Suresh Raina of Uttar Pradesh will be Rayudu's deputy.

Members of the Delhi Ranji team Kuldeep Rawat and Abhishek Sharma also figure in the team.

The matches will be played on April 27, 28 and 30.

Former Delhi Ranji Trophy team coach Maninder Singh Jaggi has been appointed manager of the team.

The team: Y Gnaneshwar Rao (Andhra), Manvinder Bisla (Haryana), Ambati Rayudu (Hyderabad), Suresh Raina, Shivkant Shukla, Tahir Abbas (all Uttar Pradesh), Kuldeep Rawat, Abhishek Sharma (both Delhi), Irfan Pathan, Rajesh Solanki (both Baroda), Udit Patel (Karnataka), Sumit Biswal (Orissa), Sourav Sarkar (West Bengal), Dinesh Kartik (Tamil Nadu).

 

Pakistani bowling legend Wasim Akram has hinted that he could hang up his boots at the end of the upcoming English county season and served notice that he intends to bow out in style.

The veteran, who spent 10 years with Lancashire, returned to county cricket after a five-year absence as one of Hampshire's overseas players, filling the vacancy created by Shane Warne's ban for using a banned diuretic.

Wasim told reporters that, if he does call it a day at the end of the season, he wants to bow out on a high note by helping Hampshire bounce straight back to the first division of the county championship.

"I did my homework before I came here about the team and Hampshire itself and so far everything is 100 per cent," Wasim said.

"I think this could be my last season. By September I'll be finishing -- hopefully, on a high note."

Hampshire begin their County Championship Division Two campaign at Worcestershire on Friday and Wasim, who has 414 Test wickets to his name, insisted: "I think we're a good enough side to do well."

Wasim became the first player to take 500 wickets in one-day international cricket during the recent World Cup.

But that milestone did not spare him from being axed from the side along with seven other senior players as punishment for the side's failure to get beyond the first round.

Wasim is one of six Pakistan players on the county circuit this summer along with Abdur Razzaq (Middlesex), Azhar Mahmood (Surrey), Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex), Saqlain Mushtaq (Surrey) and Shahid Afridi (Derbyshire).

 

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday invited 76 young cricketers for a two-day camp at Lahore which will act as selection trials for setting up a 60-player national pool.

Those invited included some members of Pakistan's squads at the World Cup in South Africa last month and Sharjah Cup four-nation tournament last week.

The 60 short-listed players will be divided into five teams which will play matches among themselves from April 18 to 24 at Lahore, a PCB statement said.

The idea for this exercise is to identify young talent and expose them before the newly-appointed selection committee. "It would also help them in selecting Pakistan teams for forthcoming assignments," a PCB spokesman said.

Pakistan will tour Sri Lanka and England in the next two months and is also scheduled to host Bangladesh and South Africa between August and November.

"Some slots are still available for grabs in the Pakistan cricket team. Besides, we want to have at least two to three back-up players for every place so that if a top performer is not available for any reason, the replacement is equally good," chief selector Aamir Sohail said.

"We have to blend youth with experience and until we are sure of what is available, we can't proceed. The boys for the trials have been picked on their domestic performances and on the recommendations of match referees and umpires," he said.

 

New Zealander John Bracewell, currently director of cricket at English county Goucestershire, has ruled himself out of the running for the job of Sri Lanka's new coach.

The New Zealander had been short-listed alongside Australian Steve Rixon and former South Africa coach Graham Ford for the post soon to be vacated by Dave Whatmore.

But Bracewell said on Tuesday, "I thanked Sri Lanka for their interest but the timing is not right for me."

"I was flattered to be ranked in such company as Rixon and Graham, who have strong international reputations. But I feel obligated to continue with the team for at least this season."

"I can't wait to get to work in the mornings and I have been delighted with the attitude of the players in pre-season. I am also excited about working with Jonty Rhodes and learning from that."

"The main issue of all was the family one. I would probably have had to live apart from them while the contract with Sri Lanka was on and I did not want that."

 

Without the services of four key players Zimbabwe revealed a weakened squad on Tuesday for their ten-week tour of England, beginning on May 3.

The question of whether the team could provide a serious challenge for England and South Africa was raised as the squad prepares to leave Harare for London on April 30.

The list of 20 does not include two top batsmen, the country's most experienced all-rounder and one of their three main strike bowlers.

Missing are Zimbabwe's world-rated batsman Andy Flower, who quit to play for Essex and South Australia after being hounded out of the country together with his family.

Fast bowler Olonga retired from international cricket afterwards and said he could not return to Zimbabwe because he feared for his safety.

Opening left-hand batsman Alastair Campbell, who has the third best one-day batting average for Zimbabwe, remains out of favour after criticising selection policy. He will now take up a radio commentary job and probably play league cricket in England.

And Guy Whittall, holder of a Test double-century and effective medium pacer, has retired early at 34-years-old.

Squad: Heath Streak (captain), Tatenda Taibu (vice-captain), Grant Flower, Dion Ebrahim, Barney Rogers, Mark Vermeulen, Sean Ervine, Andy Blignaut, Douglas Hondo, Douglas Marillier, Mluleki Nkala, Stuart Carlisle, Ray Price, Travis Friend, Vusimuzi Sibanda.

Additional players for the one-day matches: Gary Brent, Waddington Mwayenga, Stuart Matsikenyere, Charles Coventry, Richard Sims.