Hussain cautious despite Lord's win
England captain Nasser Hussain said on Wednesday that his team could not expect to steamroller Zimbabwe in the second and final Test of their series the way they had done at Lord's last month.
England thrashed Zimbabwe by an innings and 92 runs in the first Test, the Africans losing 19 wickets on the third and, as it turned out, final day of a scheduled five.
"I just told the players that 19 wickets falling in a day is not a regular thing," Hussain said at a media conference at the Riverside, Chester-le-Street, on Wednesday. "They musn't panic when Zimbabwe do put on a partnership, because that's normal in Test cricket."
He also warned England fans against expecting another rapid finish. "You get what you put in. It was a very professional performance at Lord's. But we've got to keep our professionalism up."
Hussain refused to reveal the makeup of his team for what will be the first Test played at the Riverside, home ground of northeastern county Durham. But England will be forced to make one change at least from the team that won at Lord's after swing bowler Matthew Hoggard sustained a knee injury while playing for Yorkshire.
If England, as seems probable, go for a like-for-like replacement, that will mean a Test debut for either Somerset's Richard Johnson or Sussex's James Kirtley. Johnson appears to be in pole position after ousting Kirtley from England's one-day squad last week, but Hussain had a word of caution: "With Richard Johnson's history of injuries we've got to keep an eye on him."
Ponting, Tendulkar win awards
Australian one-day skipper Ricky Ponting was today declared the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year while Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh won the International Bowler of the Year award.
Sachin Tendulkar bagged the Cricketer of the 2003 World Cup award while his teammate and World Cup opening partner Virender Sehwag was declared International Fielder of the Year. Ponting also bagged the International Batsman of the Year award.
Releasing the list, former Test player Sanjay Manjrekar, executive director of CEAT cricket ratings, said, "As an Indian, it is nice to note that there have been two Indian CEAT international cricketers of the year so far (Venkatesh Prasad in 1996-97 and Sourav Ganguly in 1999-2000), but the Indian team was ranked 7th and 6th, respectively, in those years.
"However, this year there is no Indian at the top for the international cricketer title, but the team has been ranked its highest ever at third spot. Indian cricket is doing just fine."
The players who have won the international cricketer title so far, apart from Prasad and Ganguly, are: Brian Lara of the West Indies (1995-96), Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka (1997-98), Jacques Kallis of South Africa (1998-99), and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan twice (2000-01, 2001-02).
The Aussies have won the International Team of the Year award three times (1997-98, 1999-00, 2001-02) while South Africa have won it twice (1998-99 and 2000-01) and Pakistan in 1996-97.
Sri Lanka beat Windies Academy XI
Sri Lanka beat the Shell Cricket Academy Invitational XI by 114 runs in a warm-up match in Grenada.
The Academy Invitational XI yesterday managed a final score of 129 for nine off 50 overs in response to the visitors' 243 for seven off 50 overs. Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu topscored with 99.
The Sri Lankans won the toss and batted first. Romesh Kaluwitharana was the first to go for only six runs. He was caught by Floyd Reifer off the bowling of Jerome Taylor.
Naveed Nawaz was next, caught by Taylor off the bowling of Carl Simon for 26. After a disappointing start, the Sri Lankans reached 70 for two with their captain pacing his innings nicely.
The Academy XI missed an easy chance of getting rid of Kumar Sangakkara when he was on 12. Jason Bennett could have run out the Sri Lankan middle order batsman quite easily, but failed to find the target. Sangakkara was eventually caught by Simon off the bowling of Dwaine Bravo for 21 runs.
Mahela Jayawardena and Atapattu then put together a good partnership before Jayawardena was caught by Deonarine off the bowling of Bravo for 35. The score was four for 183 when the partnership was broken. Atapattu was next to go for 99 runs.
The match marked the opening of Sri Lanka's Caribbean tour, which comprises three one-day internationals and two Tests.
England tour will test youngsters: Latif
The upcoming NatWest Challenge will have long-term implications for Pakistan's new-look team, according to skipper Rashid Latif. Pakistan play England in a best-of-three limited-overs series later this month.
"Despite being a short tour, this tour will have long-term implications and results will guide us how the rebuilding process is shaping," Latif said. "I am more than satisfied with the team's performance since I took over, but the England tour will test the skills of these youngsters because of changed conditions."
Pakistan are in a transitional phase following their poor World Cup showing.
