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Steve Harmison has admitted to surprise at his call-up to England’s one-day squad for the VB series against Australia and Sri Lanka, but hopes the experience will be another step towards establishing himself as England’s premier strike bowler over the next few years.With both Darren Gough and Simon Jones ruled out for the World Cup in February, Harmison, 24, will be the tourists’ fastest bowler in the 16-man squad, with an opportunity to make an impression on one-day international cricket.”It was a bit of a surprise getting into the one-day squad, but with all theinjuries I thought I might have an outside chance,” Harmison said today. “I’ve been quite pleased with my form over the past couple of weeks in the two Tests and hopefully I can take that into the one-day game.”Playing in the one-dayers will be a help to my game. It’s internationalcricket and the more international cricket you play the better you become. It’sa new level for me to go into and hopefully I can take what I learn here intothe final two Test matches.”Harmison may be seen as a force in the middle of the innings, providing extra pace when the ball has gone softer, as Brett Lee does for Australia.”If you look at last summer and also in Sri Lanka we didn’t take enoughwickets,” said chairman of selectors David Graveney. “Going in with only four main bowlers can cause a problem and India have just experienced that against West Indies.”In one-day cricket, with just one bouncer an over allowed, it’s hard to keepscores down and we just feel we need to have more depth in our bowling.”Harmison added: “I bowl mainly at the start and in the middle period for Durham in one-day cricket and it’s mainly a containing job for Durham, but in international one-day cricket, if I’m bowling all in the middle, England will belooking to take wickets – that will be my job, to try and take a couple ofwickets in that 15 to 40 overs period.”Harmison’s selection follows a wholehearted recommendation from Australia’s Dennis Lillee, who rates both him and Jones, who suffered cruciate ligament damage to his right knee during the opening Test in Brisbane.”There’s something there with Harmison,” stressed Lillee. “He’s very much worth persevering with because he’s got something and particularly when you’re that tall, if you put it in the right area you’ve got some chance.”Lillee came close to writing to Jones after watching his horrific accident at the Gabba, when he slid to stop a drive from Ricky Ponting to suffer his injury.”I don’t often get around to writing letters to people or sending a message to people, but I felt so bad for the lad that I almost did in his case,” Lillee said. “He did everything right and had such an unfortunate accident – I couldn’t believe the poor bloke’s luck.” think he was on the brink of something really special, just by watching him bowl. I’d seen him in the Academy last year and I really liked the look of him. He definitely has something special and if he’s tough enough and strong enough, which I’m sure he is, he’ll fight back and be better for it.”

For the second straight year, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) has recorded an operating loss of close to half-million dollars.And the deficit has come in spite of more than $300 000 in revenue from its newly-introduced lottery.Draft financial statements obtained by the WEEKEND NATION revealed the BCA incurred a loss of $456 098 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002.This follows a shortfall of $657 344 the previous year when the BCA recorded its biggest loss in more than a decade.Additionally, the BCA’s auditors say they have been "unable to confirm or verify by alternative means the amount of $248 498 included in the balance of $1 161 164 due from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)."Accordingly, we were not able to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to the balance from the WICB revenue, excess expenditure for the year and accumulated funds."The financial statements, which are to be presented at the July 30 annual general meeting at Sherbourne Conference Centre, are certain to be debated vigorously among members of the largest and most respected sporting association in the island.During the year under review, the BCA did not increase its revenue, the figure dropping from $2 324 744 to $2 309 382.The lottery, which started in mid-February, brought in $333 333 and advertising returns went up by close to $50 000, but revenue from sponsorship, rental of boxes and subscriptions all declined by substantial amounts.Another area where revenue decreased was from the share of gate receipts from international matches during the 2000 home season. The BCA’s share from WICB was $30 063 compared with $114 157 the previous year.The BCA managed to decrease its expenditure by $216 608, but it is significant to note it spent $237 685 in legal and professional fees.

Somerset will be looking for some early wickets in the morning in their vital relegation match at Grace Road where Leicestershire will resume seventeen runs ahead with five first inning wickets still to fall.After being put into bat by their hosts the Cidermen got off to another disappointing start losing Matt Wood(1) and Jamie Cox (4) cheaply, both falling LBW to Indian Test bowler Javagal Srinath.Mike Burns who has been struggling with a knee injury then played probably his best innings of the season, and despite wickets falling steadily around him remained steadfast at the other end.The eighth wicket partnership of 46 between Burns and Matt Bulbeck (22) was the best of the innings, but when Somerset were all out for 189 in mid afternoon the all rounder was unbeaten on 97, a tantalizing three runs short of what would have been a richly deserved century.When Leicestershire batted they got off to a solid start before Ian Sutcliffe was LBW to Bulbeck with the score on 41.Darren Maddy and Tim Ward then took the score onto 130 when Pete Trego accounted for Maddy after he had made 36.Ashley Wright and Ward took Leicester into the lead but with the score on 190 Wright was bowled by Bulbeck.There was further joy for the visitors just before the close of play when Trego struck again to remove Ward, and Leicestershire finished the day on 207 for 5.After the close of play Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This was a tough day for us after we didn’t bat as well as we should have. However we pulled it round a bit in the last twenty minutes and with three days left we will try to capitalise on the situation first thing in the morning."He paid tribute to Mike Burns innings and said: "He was brilliant, and I think that is one of the better innings that I have seen him play. When he started it was seaming around but he took his time and played responsibly which is exactly what was needed."Regarding the bowling he said: "We didn’t get a great start, but we got better and in the end our patience paid off and we were rewarded with some wickets."

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has ordered that at least four of the country’s 15-man Asia Cup squad must be Emiratis.The UAE side has traditionally been almost entirely made up of expats from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India who are eligible under the ICC’s four-year qualification rules. This was at its most apparent during the 1996 World Cup when the only non expat in the UAE side was Sultan Zarawani, the captain, whose place was more down to his passion and wealth than cricketing ability.But the ECB has now moved to counter this with the introduction of a quota. Mohammad Tauqir has been named as the deputy to the captain, Saqib Ali, while Fahad Alhashmi, Alawi Shukri and Salman Farooq have also made the tour party.Shukri, who had been campaigning for such a system, told The National that it was “a very good day … we have won one small battle”. He plays for UAE Nationals Club, a side of UAE passport holders plus three overseas players.However, Shukri admitted to the newspaper that he was not exactly in the best state of mind for the tournament. “I have barely picked up a bat in three weeks, which probably is not the best preparation for playing against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” he said. “But hopefully I will be OK.”

New Zealand have decided to retain allrounder Scott Styris for the two-Test series starting Wednesday.Styris was named for the Sharjah one-day tournament and the one-dayers in Pakistan. Styris missed the opening game with stomach disorder but scored 1 and took two for 53 at Rawalpindi and then went for 65 and scored 19 at Lahore.Meanwhile, James Franklin returned home with Chris Nevin Monday evening. Opener Mark Richardson, spinner Daniel Vettori and paceman Chris Martin had bolstered the team before Saturday’s last one-dayer.Matthew Sinclair, the middle-order batsman, arrived to replace an injured Nathan Astle who went back last week. Sinclair was part of the visitors team for Sharjah series but was overlooked for the Pakistan tour.New Zealand Test squad: Stephen Fleming (captain), Matthew Sinclair, Andre Adams, Craig McMillan, Ian Butler, Chris Harris, Robbie Hart (wicketkeeper), Matthew Horne, Chris Martin, Mark Richardson, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, Brooke Walker and Scott Styris.

Day 2 of 3Stone:
Staffordshire 367-7 and 185-5dec (GF Archer 80*)
Northumberland 182 (D Follett 7-67) and 32-0Bedford:
Lincolnshire 257 and 144-6
Bedfordshire 277-5dec (DJ Roberts 126*, JA Knott 64*)Finchanpstead:
Berkshire 231 and 130-8.
Herefordshire 432-7 (I Dawood 98, CW Burroughs 96*, HV Patel 93, MC McCagne67*)Dean Park:
Dorset 178 and 152-4 (D Cowley 67*)
Devon 361-9Long Marston:
Hertfordshire 405-7d
Cumberland 125 (ST Knox 56, BJ Frazer 7-36) and 79-0Manor Park:
Suffolk 364-7
Norfolk 177-8Thame:
Wiltshire 312 and 94-4
Oxfordshire 261 (C Knightley 86, R Bates 7-112)Swansea:
Shropshire 420-6 and 72-2
Wales 293 (OA Dawkins 164, A O’Connor 5-76)Day 1 of 3Alderley Edge:
Cheshire 404-7 (R Hignett 183, D Leach 152*; C Shreck 5-113)
Cornwall 36-0

One of the constant features of international cricket is the huddle of photographers clustered at either end of the ground – wicket to wicket, as cricket lovers say. Why do photographers sit there? It seems an odd place to be, because their view is often obstructed by the bowler following through, or a slip fielder who only shows his backside to the camera, or indeed the non-striker.The answer is that most photographers at the match are from newspapers or press agencies, and the photo editor will be screaming out for “action shots”. What this normally means is images with plenty of bits of wood, e.g. the stumps, flying about. The more flying timber the better, and it should preferably be captured early in the day’s play, so that the photographer can get off to the next job.

However, supplying images to the press that a lumberjack would be proud of is only one part of cricket photography, and the specialist cricket photographer will often be seen at square leg, fine leg or third man. It is from such angles that more individual images of the players can often be captured. Or, as in our image of Thorpe catching Saeed Anwar, the wider the angle the better the chance. The photographer stationed at the wicket end would not be likely to capture such a shot because the angle of view would not be wide enough.So, while sitting at the wicket end increases the chances of capturing a clean bowled or a good appeal from the bowler, “going wide” can also have its compensations. Photographers will also be working at the ground to get stock images of players, and will not necessarily be there to capture the match action. In such circumstances, changing the angle of view is often advantageous.

The picture of Darren Bicknell is a case in point. This image was taken from the top deck of the Parr Stand at Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge home. This is a famous old stand, and for a photographer can be an ideal place to shoot a match. Whilst the climb with the kit is not always easy, the rewards are there at the top. The Bicknell image has the advantage of being “clean”. This means that there is no clutter from any background distraction. This could be another player, seats in the stand or the advertising hoardings that all major grounds now have.It is not always possible to get up to a height to take pictures, as grounds such as Lord’s only have limited space but “clean” images of players are something of a cricket photographer’s stock in trade.However there will be occasions when the photographer is at the ground to “shoot the boards”. This means no more and no less than taking pictures of the game whilst at the same time ensuring that a particular sponsors advertising hoarding is as prominent as possible. So getting the depth of field right is important, as well as the angle of view. This particular photographer hopes that npower, the new sponsors of Test cricket in England, like our picture of the photographers at Lord’s, as their ads are very prominent. Any adverse comment will of course lead to the removal of the ads in Photoshop!

While emphasising that they had not abandoned their policy ofrebuilding, the West Indies cricket selectors yesterday included twoalmost forgotten over-30s in a 22-man training squad in preparationfor the home series against India.Junior Murray, the 34-year-old Grenadian wicket-keeper/batsman, andStuart Williams, the 32-year-old Nevisian opening batsmen, both ofwhom last played Test cricket on the 1998-99 tour of South Africa,were called up on the strength of outstanding performances in thecurrent Busta Series.The rebuilding process doesn’t mean that you go all youth. You pick ateam that you think has balance, chief selector Mike Findlay toldNATIONSPORT last night.Anybody who played in the Busta championship is eligible for selectionto the West Indies team. They [Murray and Williams] performed well andtheir performances warranted selection.Williams, whose previous 28 Tests yielded modest returns (1 092 runs,ave. 24.26), has been in rich form this season, reeling off 722 runsat an average of 72.20.Murray, who played in 31 Tests and 55 One-Day Internationals, hasbecome only the third player to score four centuries in a regionalfirst-class tournament on the way to 642 runs (ave. 53.50).Findlay, however, pointed out that the pair’s inclusion did not signala departure from the selectors’ goal of looking to the future.There are a few players there, who, although they are not youngsters,given the standard of West Indies’ cricket, their performances in thisseries have been outstanding, he said.The camp, which runs from March 21 to 28, comes ahead of a series offive Tests, which starts in Guyana on April 11.The 22 include four players without international experience.Left-handed Grenadian opener Devon Smith is called up after making aseason-high total of 750 runs, while Jamaican Gareth Breese isrewarded for a consistent season in which his right-handed battingbrought him 360 runs (ave. 45.00) and his improving off-breaks 35wickets.Jamaican Darrell Powell and Adam Sanford of the Leeward Islands, twofast bowlers in their first season of regional cricket, have also beensummoned. Powell, long identified by Andy Roberts as one of immensepotential, claimed 23 scalps, while the Dominica-born Sanford took 37.Two notable casualties from the recent tour of Sharjah are formervice-captain Sherwin Campbell and fast bowler Corey Collymore.We don’t think they warranted selection on this squad, based on theperformances of those who are selected, Findlay said.

England A required cool heads today after a series of umpiring decisions went against them in their third round match against Guyana preventing them from forcing the follow-on.By stumps, John Crawley’s side had established a commanding 145 run lead over the home side and in bowling Guyana out for 288, earned themselves crucial first innings points.

But there was disappointment and frustration in the England A camp when the possibility of winning the match was removed by a century from West Indies Test batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan which pushed Guyana beyond the 264 target set to enforce the follow on.Sarwan was the subject of a controversial umpiring decision when on 28, an appeal for a catch behind was turned down. A second incident involving another unsuccessful appeal against Lennox Cush forced Crawley to suspend play while he gathered his players together to calm their frustrations.”I called them together because a few things had gone against us and we had to regain our composure,” he said afterwards.”It’s not something I have ever done before but I felt they could have become distracted by the frustration. I told them to put the disappointment of that decision out of their minds. Its not for me to comment whether it was out or not out.”We felt it should have been out but that is only our opinion. We had a couple beforehand that should have gone our way but we still had a job to do. We had good players at the crease so we had to keep our focus.”I did speak to the umpires about it, which is a private thing, but I will do a captain’s report tomorrow morning when I have a calmer head. We cannot comment on the quality of the umpires but it was a frustrating day.”Despite that, England A’s inexperienced bowling line-up showed discipline in the face of the world class talent of Carl Hooper and Sarwan.Jonathan Lewis, making his debut for England A, made the early breakthrough in the fifth over of the day. He bowled an excellent line and was rewarded with the wicket of Keith Semple, giving wicketkeeper James Foster his first catch of the tour.It brought Sarwan to the crease amid claims that the 20 year-old Test batsman was suffering a crisis of confidence after his disappointing tour of Australia. His faltering progress in the early overs suggested the claims were well-founded, but when his skipper joined him at the crease and opened his account with a six over long on off Chris Schofield, Sarwan appeared tosettle. By lunch Sarwan had gathered 40 runs, the one chance given being rejected by the umpires.His half century came in 109 balls and the loss of Hooper shortly after, to a superb diving catch by Foster off Ryan Sidebottom, prompted a more positive approach and his partnership with the attacking Vishal Nagamootoo, the younger brother of Test spinner Mahendra, presented England A with their most challenging period of the day.It also gave spectators their main highlight as both players moved niftily into the ball driving at anything short of a length. Sarwan progressed swiftly to his century – his first in the Busta Cup – and Nagamootoo kept him company, trouncing the new ball advantage with the help of some loose bowling from the weary England A pacemen.Sarwan was eventually caught behind cutting at Paul Franks for 122 having been at the crease for four and a half hours. But by then Guyana had reached the follow on target with three batsmen still waiting in the wings.An inspirational over from Schofield, accounting for Nagamootoo with his first delivery then Eion Katchay and last man Kevin Darlington with the third and sixth, wrapped up the innings and gave Schofield the England A bowling honours with figures of 3-54.The remaining five overs allowed England A to increase their lead as Ian Ward and Michael Powell added 20 without loss but discussions then ensued over the plan for the final day.”Any side containing Hooper and Sarwan means we will be taking a slight gamble but whatever we do, even if we bat all day, we will do it positively to try and get a few guys some runs,” said Crawley who is captaining the side after Mark Alleyne dropped himself.”We feel the way Guyana have played the game shouldn’t give them any chance to win. They chose two seamers and bowled with a ball that resembled an orange so they don’t deserve a chance to try and get us out.”

Glen Chapple claimed his second five-wicket haul of the season to put Lancashire in a healthy position by the end of the first day of their CricInfo Championship clash against Leicestershire at Grace Road.Chapple, wayward in his first spell before lunch, returned to take four of the last five wickets at a personal cost of ten runs in 7.3 overs, to finish with five for 40 as Leicestershire were bowled out for 240.It was a disappointing score for the home side, considering they had been 95 for one in the 29th over after an opening partnership of 70 between Vince Wells and Darren Maddy.But when Maddy was second out for 44 lbw to Mike Smethurst, it triggered a collapse which saw three wickets fall for one run in four overs. Muttiah Muralitharan took two of them in successive overs.Then a sixth-wicket stand of 68 in 12 overs between Australian Daniel Marsh and talented young batsman Darren Stevens restored some order to the Leicestershire innings.Marsh was in tremendous form, hitting 11 fours in his knock of 71 which came off 96 balls. It followed the 61 he made in the second innings against Essex in the opening Championship game and suggests he is going to be a valuable acquisition to the Leicestershire squad.It was Chapple, however, who made the most telling contribution to the day’s play by removing Stevens, Jon Dakin, Matt Whiley and Devon Malcolm in a hostile and accurate spell which once again exposed the inconsistencies in Leicestershire’s batting.It is the second time Chapple has taken five wickets this season. He claimed six for 46 in Lancashire’s win at Somerset.Leicestershire lost their last five wickets for 26 runs in 14 overs to fall well short of the sort of total they would have been looking for after the start they were given.By the close, despite two interruptions for bad light, Lancashire had also enjoyed a solid start reaching 45 without loss, 195 runs behind.