Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, has called for calm after England’s embarrassing drubbings in the last two NatWest Series matches. Despite a couple of woeful batting displays in which England have been bowled out for 147 and 101, Fletcher has urged the selectors not to make any changes to the team.”I’d like to see the side stay the same.” Fletcher said. “We’ve been through this with the Test side and it’s because they’ve stayed together and know their roles that they are functioning so well.”Even though there have been calls for specialist players to play in the side, rather than allrounders like Ian Blackwell and Anthony McGrath, who Bob Willis yesterday described as “average county players”, Fletcher is adamant he is taking England on the right path. “We have to find allrounders,” he stressed. “People talk about bits and pieces players, but all these allrounders in Australia and South Africa started out as bits and pieces players and they are now quality allrounders and that’s what often happens.”He continued, “You very rarely find a genuine allrounder straightaway. I’m sure at one stage Andrew Flintoff could have been looked at as a bits-and-pieces player and now he’s a quality allrounder – as you get experience that’s what happens.”Since the 2003 World Cup, eight players have made their one-day debuts. Rikki Clarke, Anthony McGrath, Jim Troughton, Richard Johnson, Rob Key, Kabir Ali, Andrew Strauss, and Geraint Jones have all been given a go, and Fletcher now wants to introduce some stability. “The reason for the low scores is that the side hasn’t stayed the same,” he said. “All the time we’ve had new guys coming in and they’ve not settled in the roles they are made to play.”Regarding England’s performances so far, Fletcher couldn’t hide from the poor batting, and stressed the importance of getting a good start. “Even if you’ve got an experienced middle order, it’s always important in one-day cricket that you have a good platform,” added Fletcher. “The openers or the top three have got to go out there and give us a good start.”England’s next match is tomorrow in a day-night match at Headingley against West Indies, who are still riding high from their seven-wicket win against England at Trent Bridge, and can effectively put England out of their own tournament if they win tomorrow.”I am quite happy with the start, but if you look at the table New Zealand are ahead so we need to win tomorrow to make sure we go back to the top,” Brian Lara, West Indies’ captain, said. “This game is still in the early stages of the tournament and we will be looking at it as a must-win situation for us and leave it at that.”He added: “Even then if England were to win their remaining matches after tomorrow there would be a slim chance they could still get in. But that is not our worry, our worry is that we win early up so we make sure we are in the final and give ourselves time to prepare during the remaining matches.”England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Geraint Jones (wk), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Anthony McGrath, 7 Ian Blackwell, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Darren Gough, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Anderson.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Devon Smith, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Brian Lara (capt), 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Jermaine Lawson.

Though a number of changes are likely to take place in the Pakistan domestic structure, the board will not do away with the inter-departmental tournaments, which will remain an integral part of the format. Talking to The News, Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan board, said that televising domestic matches and formulating a new code of conduct, which would require players to play a minimum number of matches to qualify for selection to the national team, were also likely.Shaharyar also stressed the role of the departments and banks. “In the new format,” Shaharyar said, “we will allow the top eight departments and banks to compete in a first-class tournament and a one-day competition while there will be no limit on number of departments, organisations and banks in the grade two competition which would be held on a promotion and relegation basis.”Shaharyar said that the new domestic format would be announced later this week and that it would be in place on an experimental basis for the next three years. “We have now got to the final stages of finalising the domestic structure and in this regard I would be holding a meeting with former players on Tuesday and then we will have a meeting with the Advisory Council members on Wednesday.”There was also a chance, according to Shaharyar, that the board might consider increasing the number of regional teams in the premier first-class competition. He also confirmed that there would be a final in the regional tournament from next year.About the introduction of the Twenty20 Cup, Shaharyar said that it would be held in the festive season of Ramzan and was being introduced to serve as entertainment for the younger generation and the families. He added, “We are not going to treat Twenty 20 Cup as a barometer for judging any player but we will try to ensure the best players take part in this competition.”

Darren Lehmann has been reappointed as South Australia’s captain for the 2004-05 season, despite international commitments meaning that he will rarely be available to play for his state. It means the captaincy role during matches will mainly be filled by Graham Manou, the wicketkeeper, who was named as Lehmann’s deputy. Manou replaced Greg Blewett, who was the vice-captain last season.Manou, 25, has played 45 first-class matches for South Australia, taking 136 catches and 12 stumpings, and has a batting average of 18.05. He scored his maiden first-class century last season. Manou captains his Adelaide grade side, but said he was surprised to be named state vice-captain. “The first thing that came over my body was goosebumps,” Manou said. “It was just so much excitement, it’s just an absolute honour.”Paul Nobes, the chairman of selectors, said that Manou was an obvious choice after extensively interviewing players and coaching staff. “Graham Manou’s name came up regularly about being a leader and being a future leader, so it really worked out pretty naturally.”He stated that Blewett was unhappy when told he had lost the job. “He’s disappointed … I just explained that we were going in a new direction and Graham was the man and we’d spoken to a lot of people and they saw Graham as a leader.”He said the selectors toyed with the idea of not reappointing Lehmann because of his Australian team commitments, but decided that would be unfair. “If Darren was available for the full 10 games would he be the captain? [He would] therefore we had no intention of penalising him for playing for Australia.”Manou said he did not foresee any tension captaining Blewett. “He’s always going to lead by example as he has all throughout his career,” he said. “I think it will be a fantastic opportunity for me to have someone like Blewie there.”

Muttiah Muralitharan will undergo surgery on his injured right shoulder in Melbourne on Monday, and may be out of cricket for four months. He flew to Australia on Thursday night to see David Young, a shoulder specialist who has treated him before, and Young told him that unless he had surgery, a cyst in his shoulder could permanently weaken his bowling arm.”We’ve advised him to have the surgery. Otherwise, if it gets worse, it could threaten his career,” said Young. The surgery will treat a superior labrum anterior-posterior (SLAP) lesion, which in layman’s terms is a type of cyst which has caused a build-up of fluid around the nerves in his right shoulder. The problem developed because of the huge amount Muralitharan has bowled during his career. He has bowled more than 5000 overs in Tests alone.Murali has complained of pain in his shoulder for several months, and bowled with discomfort in the drawn first Test against South Africa earlier this month, although he still picked up five wickets to edge ahead of Shane Warne in their scrap for the Test bowling record. However, with Murali, who has 532 Test wickets to his name, unlikely to play again before a series against New Zealand in December this year, Warne has a chance to reclaim the record, and build a lead. Australia play four Tests against India in October, followed by two against New Zealand and three against Pakistan at home.Muralitharan remained philosophical about his injury setback, telling reporters on Saturday: “Nothing is certain in life. I think other people have to have a share. Shane Warne is a wonderful bowler and he should also have the record.” Warne, who had a similar surgery in 2000, drew level with Muralitharan when Australia played Sri Lanka last month, but has never held the record outright.

Scorecard
Live audio
Day 3
Bulletin – Harbhajan helps India clinch a thriller
Verdict – The side with nothing to lose
Australian View – A whale of a debut
Roving Reporter – Capturing the debut
Quotes ‘I couldn’t be prouder of the guys’ – Dravid
Day 2
Bulletin – Australia ahead on difficult track
Verdict – About mood and confidence
Australian View – Born to ride
Quotes ‘I bowled much better in Nagpur’ – Kartik
Roving Reporter – Dancing the day away
Day 1
Bulletin – Damp start to the Mumbai Test
Verdict – The not-so-great cover-up
Quotes – ‘Right decision about offering the light’ – Buchanan
Roving Reporter – The ABC of cricket
Preview package
Preview – Playing for pride
News – Warne out of Mumbai Test
Stats spot – Three times trouble
Quotes – ‘We’re not going to rest any players’ – Ponting
Roving Reporter – The day before
News – Ponting fit for Mumbai Test
News – Ganguly out of Mumbai Test
News – Four new players in Indian squad
Selection analysis – The need for nurture

Glamorgan’s Alex Wharf has been rewarded for his instant impact in England’s one-day side, by earning a call-up for next week’s Champions Trophy.Wharf, 29, grabbed a wicket with his fifth ball in international cricket at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, followed up with two more in his next two overs, and was named Man of the Match for his sparkling display.His inclusion in the Champions Trophy squad was signed and sealed by the International Cricket Council’s technical committee, after it was revealed that Kabir Ali had failed to recover from a side strain. England play their opening Champions Trophy match against Zimbabwe at Edgbaston next Friday.South Africa and Pakistan have also had changes to their squad approved. Charl Langeveldt has been called up in place of Andre Nel, while Azhar Mahmood comes in for Shabbir Ahmed. Shabbir is likely to be out for another six weeks after being diagnosed with a cartilage tear in his knee. Mahmood, who is with Surrey at the moment, will take his place.Andre Nel, the South African fast bowler, will also miss the tournament. Nel didn’t play in the Tests on the tour to Sri Lanka and was forced to fly home after failing to recover from a back strain. He was replaced by Langeveldt, who impressed with his medium-pace, with 3 for 31, in one of the one-dayers.

India’s triumph in the Kolkata Test, and their series win over South Africa, has lifted them to third place in the ICC Test Championship table, the highest they have been ranked.This was the first time India broke into the top three of the table since it was launched in May 2001. India currently trail England by two points and with an away series against Bangladesh coming up, they will be expected to close the gap. A 2-0 victory in Bangladesh would boost their ratings to 108 points. England have a tough assignment in South Africa starting later this month.Australia’s comfortable series win against New Zealand has extended its lead at the top of the table. The whitewash meant that Australia were on course to ending the year with a big lead.The defeats rounded off a disappointing year of Test cricket for South Africa and New Zealand which has seen their ratings fall by nine points and 11 points respectively.

Justin Langer’s back trouble is threatening to become a serious concern for state and country after he was ruled out of Western Australia’s ING Cup match against South Australia at the WACA tomorrow. The bulging disc injury, which almost stopped him playing in the Boxing Day Test, flared again after a gym session last week and forced him to miss the Warriors’ thrilling Pura Cup victory over Tasmania.Western Australia lead the first-class competition and Langer, the captain, faces a busy playing schedule later this month before Australia’s Test tour of New Zealand in March. Langer, who has trouble flexing and rotating, believes he will have enough time to recover before the crucial Pura Cup match against New South Wales on February 24 with a rehabilitation program involving pilates, water running and swimming.David Edgar, the Western Australia physiotherapist, said playing Langer against South Australia would be “an unreasonably high risk”. “Justin has received treatment twice a day since the reoccurrence and improved considerably, but he’s still not 100% fit,” he said. “Disc injuries have a high incidence of reoccurrence if not given adequate rest and rehabilitation.”Mike Hussey will again captain the side in the absence of Langer, who has been replaced by Shaun Marsh. Brett Dorey has failed to recover from a right calf strain and Darren Wates takes his place in the 12-man squad.Western Australia Mike Hussey (capt), Beau Casson, Ben Edmondson, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges, Darren Wates and Brad Williams.South Australia Graham Manou (capt, wk), Nathan Adcock, Greg Blewett, Daniel Cullen, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Harris, Ryan Harris, Mark Higgs, Trent Kelly, Paul Rofe, Shaun Tait, Shannon Tubb.

Tasmania have paved the way for Andy Blignaut to return for Zimbabwe by releasing him from a two-year state contract. While Blignaut re-committed to his homeland on Monday, the Tasmania Cricket Association did not receive formal advice of his decision until today."The TCA has always been of the view that it would not stand in the way of any player’s aspirations to play international cricket," David Johnston, the TCA chief executive, said. "It appears that Andy’s impasse in Zimbabwe has been resolved and he can now work to regain his position in the national team."Tasmania stopped paying Blignaut when he flew to Zimbabwe before Christmas to resume negotiations with the country’s board after he had struggled to break into the first team because of injuries and poor form. Blignaut’s arrival in Australia at the start of the summer was delayed by visa troubles and things didn’t improve when he landed. He played only one Pura Cup match against Western Australia, bowling 12 overs for 79 and making 9 and 0.

ScorecardNew South Wales moved to second place in the Pura Cup table with a comfortable five-wicket win against Victoria at Sydney. Resuming from their overnight total of 3 for 129, the Blues reached their victory target of 225 losing only two more wickets. Dominic Thornely and James Packman were the two batsmen to be dismissed, but both made significant contributions – Thornely collected 56 while Packman scored 48. With Western Australia denied outright victory in their match against Queensland, the win assured New South Wales a place in the final against the Bulls at the Gabba starting on Friday.