Ryan Hinds returned to the Caribbean yesterday in high spirits and vowed to put behind him the disappointment of having to be withdrawn from the West Indies World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament in South Africa.The 21-year-old Barbadian all-rounder, a last-minute replacement following injury concerns over Marlon Samuels, took the news in stride when he was informed last Friday that the International Cricket Council had accepted a request from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for the Jamaican batsman to be reinstated."Obviously you feel disappointed, but at the end of the day, the situation is beyond my control," Hinds told NATIONSPORT at Grantley Adams International Airport."There is nothing I could have done about it. I am happy to be back home to play for Barbados."It is the second time in recent months that Hinds has had to cut short a trip with the West Indies team.Last November, injury ended his participation on the twin-tours of India and Bangladesh ahead of the second leg of the tour.This latest setback would have been more distressing, bearing in mind he was set to appear in the game’s most prestigious cricket competition."In life, you have got to accept change," Hinds said."This is one change I am willing to accept. I just have to get over it."There was initial speculation that following his withdrawal from the World Cup, Hinds might have been given the option of remaining in South Africa in the capacity of a spectator.That option, he said, was never put to him, and even if it had, he would have declined.Hinds feels he would be better off representing Barbados in the Carib Beer Series which moves into the third round this weekend when the local side meet defending Cup champions Jamaica at the North Stars Cultural and Social Club in Crab Hill, St Lucy."As the [West Indies] manager said, I am a cricketer and I’ve come home to play cricket," the Barbados vice-captain said."I’ve got to be positive. I am looking to play against Jamaica this weekend, get a good start and set the tone for the rest of the series."It is very important for me to get back into form as soon as possible and get a couple of hundreds under my belt."Samuels was pulled out of the West Indies team on January 26 after a report on his troublesome left knee was received from Dr Akshai Mansingh, but was cleared to play on February 3 following further reports from American-based doctors, Answorth Allen and Michael Mont.He left the Caribbean last Friday and only arrived in South Africa a few hours prior to Sunday’s opening match and was not selected for the final XI."Marlon is a good player. Once he gets his chance to go out there in the middle, I know he is going to give 100 per cent," Hinds said.Hinds did not attend the West Indies’ match against South Africa in Cape Town on Sunday, and said he was given encouragement from the players to stay focused.

With the new cricket season just around the corner invitations have been sent out recently by Andrew Moulding the Somerset Cricket Development Officer to all cricket clubs in the county asking them to send a representative along to attend a Cricket Groundsmanship course later this month.The course, that is entitled `Spring Preparation and Summer Maintenance’ has been arranged jointly by the Institute of Groundsmanship and the E.C.B., will take place at the new home of Taunton Cricket Club which is situated in Gypsy Lane, Staplegrove on the outskirts of Taunton and will take place on Saturday 22nd March.The letter that has been sent to all clubs states that the course is suitable for everybody who has an interest in ground maintenance whether as a club groundsman, volunteer, school groundsman or contractor.Tuition at the course will be from a fully qualified instructor and those who attend will be supplied with a set of resource material containing all elements of the course and an attendance certificate.The cost of the course is £50 but to affiliated clubs this is subsidised by the Somerset Cricket Board to the tune of £35 meaning that they only pay £15 to send along their representative.Mr Moulding told me: "The invitations have gone out to all clubs and already several clubs have responded. Any club or individual who wants to find out more about this opportunity or who has not yet received their invitation should to make contact with me at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground on 01823 352266."

Saturday, March 1, 2003:::
“I don’t want to look at the political side. Just like playing Australia or South Africa it’s just another game and we’re approaching it in the same frame of mind.” Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, ahead of the game against Pakistan
Source: The BBC, UK
“Let’s hope there are a few scars there and let’s hope we can open them up again.” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, on the match against England
Source: The Courier Mail, Australia”He has a lion heart, walks like a lion and has the strength of a lion.” Kenyan skipper Steve Tikolo, on Collins Obuya, the leg-spinner who spun Kenya to a shock win over Sri Lanka
Source: The Hindu, India”It has become obvious that, in the matches played under lights in this World Cup, teams winning the toss are getting an unfair advantage. I would say any team which wins the toss has won the match 75 percent (of the time) and that is grossly unfair.” Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis, after the loss against England
Source: CricmaniaWednesday, February 26, 2003:::
“We didn’t bowl well at the end. Brett Lee wasn’t at his best at the end – his yorkers weren’t quite there – there were full tosses and ‘hit me’ balls. So we have got to go away and work on that and make sure that it’s a bit sharper the next time we play.” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, after the game against Zimbabwe
Source: The BBC, UK”I wouldn’t call him a mentor as such, that’s probably more Martin Crowe for me. But it’s the lessons I have learned out of cricket from him, from the way he plays the game.” New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, on Steve Waugh’s influence on his career
Source: Stuff, New Zealand”Henry’s (Olonga) omission has nothing to do with his protest or politics. We needed to have more depth in our batting, hence the inclusion of Andy Blignaut ahead of Olonga. It was as simple as that – nothing else.” Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak, after the match against Australia
Source: The Age, Australia”We’re grown men, we’re enjoying the country and we’re friends who’ve been together for a long time. We’re going to have fun – we’re not going to stop that – but we’re still here to play cricket very seriously.” Canadian skipper Joe Harris
Source: Gulf Times, UAE

Hampshire Under-19 captain Steve Snell could miss the opening month of the new cricket season after fracturing his jaw practising with the MCC Young Cricketers in the Nursery ground nets at Lord’s.Snell, who helped guide the Hampshire YC’s into last season’s ECB Under-19 County Championship final, has broken his jaw in three places.”I’m in a bit of a mess,” he confessed.”I was batting in the nets when a ball reared up and hit me beneath the grill on my helmet.”Snell underwent surgery in a Hampstead hospital and has had a metal plate inserted to hold his jaw together.”I’ve also got all my teeth wired up,” he added.Snell, who will miss Havant’s opening defence of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League championship, had just started his second year on the Lord’s groundstaff.”We’d just come back from pre-season training in Lanzarotte and I was raring to go.”Then this happens,” he groaned.

Durham v Lancashire at Chester-le-Street
ScorecardJames Anderson continued his astonishing season with three wickets in five overs, as Durham were bundled to a humiliating defeat at Chester-le-Street. Chasing Lancashire’s modest 229 for 9, Durham were washed up inside the first 15 overs of their reply, as Anderson and Peter Martin extracted the top six for a paltry 26 runs. To make matters worse, Durham’s Australian Test player, Martin Love, was unable to bat after fracturing his thumb while attempting a slip catch, and has been ruled out for three weeks. Nicky Peng led a spirited rearguard, adding 53 for the seventh wicket with Neil Killeen and contributing more than half of Durham’s total, but Azhar Mahmood wrapped up the match with two wickets in three overs. Lancashire’s total had been built on the efforts of Carl Hooper and Stuart Law, who each contributed a well-paced half-century. The impetus was provided by Andrew Flintoff, a surprise recall after his shoulder injury, who blasted 31 from 29 balls.Kent v Gloucestershire at Canterbury
ScorecardGloucestershire’s one-day knowhow carried them to a tense five-wicket victory in a low-scoring encounter at Canterbury. A total of 194 never looked like being enough for Kent, despite an impressive 53-ball 50 from Greg Blewett. But on a grassless pitch, no-one could cope with the left-arm seam of Mike Smith, who took the Man of the Match award with 4 for 35. Gloucestershire’s reply was equally unsteady, with Phil Weston and Tim Hancock falling in single figures. But Craig Spearman’s excellent 71 broke the back of the run-chase, before Jonty Rhodes – complete with a runner after damaging a hamstring – nudged Gloucestershire into the quarter-finals with a sedate 45 not out.Middlesex v Sussex at Lord’s
ScorecardJames Kirtley showed what might have been, had he been let loose at Lord’s last week for his Test debut, but even his allround heroics couldn’t salvage a disappointing match for Sussex. After Andrew Strauss and Paul Weekes had added 139 for the first wicket, Kirtley took 5 for 41 to destroy Middlesex’s middle order, as six wickets fell for 36 runs. Sussex’s reply was frenetic – six batsmen scored between 30 and 39, but no-one could put together the big score that was so needed. At 183 for 8, the game was as good as up, but Kirtley and Mark Davis kept the optimists interested with an unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership of 58. Kirtley’s share was 30 from 21 balls, but it was too little, too late.Glamorgan v Derbyshire at Cardiff
ScorecardChris Bassano played the innings of his life, just three days after being discharged from hospital after a diabetes-related illness, as Derbyshire powered past Glamorgan and into the quarter-finals. In the previous round, Bassano had scored his maiden one-day hundred – against the mighty Kent Cricket Board – but this time he cracked 10 fours and four sixes in a magnificent 100-ball 121, reaching his hundred from 89 balls as Glamorgan’s challenging total of 248 for 9 was overhauled with a whopping eight-and-a-half overs to spare. Derbyshire had been in some early trouble at 54 for 2, after Mike Kasprowicz had removed both openers, but Bassano added 191 for the third wicket with Andrew Gait (87 not out), and when he fell with four still needed, it was Gait who had the honour of hitting the winning runs. Glamorgan’s total had been built by a selection of cameos all down the order. Only one man, Jonathan Hughes, passed fifty, but nobody was dismissed in single figures.Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire at Leicester
ScorecardPhil DeFreitas turned back the clock at Grace Road to lead Leicestershire into the quarter-finals at the expense of Nottinghamshire. DeFreitas, who cracked a quickfire 22 at the end of Leicestershire’s innings, bowled his ten overs straight through, to finish with the immaculate figures of 3 for 20. His victims included the dangerous pairing of Usman Afzaal and Kevin Pietersen, and though Chris Cairns did his best to emulate DeFreitas’s captain’s performance, his 67 came too late to salvage anything from the match. No other middleor lower-order batsman reached double figures, as Nottinghamshire folded for 159. Earlier, Leicestershire’s batting hero had been Virender Sehwag, whose boundary-laden 56 launched the innings at a cracking tempo.Somerset v Surrey at Taunton
ScorecardGraham Thorpe produced a timely reminder of his incomparable one-day abilities, as Surrey kept their cool to sneak to a tense six-run victory over Somerset. Thorpe, who recently reversed his decision to retire from one-day internationals, cracked a superb unbeaten 102, to lift Surrey from a wobbly 169 for 6 to a commanding total of 281. He added 112 for the seventh wicket with Jonathan Batty, who justified his selection ahead of Alec Stewart with a blistering 55 not out. Somerset lost early wickets in reply, including Marcus Trescothick, but Keith Parsons and Michael Burns steadied the ship before Ian Blackwell launched Somerset back into contention with a barrage of boundaries, one of which dented the bonnet of Ian Ward’s car. Saqlain Mushtaq ended the fun, however, and quickly followed up with the key wicket of Parsons, for an excellent 83. The run-rate was too much to ask of the lower-order, and Adam Hollioake stifled the pursuit with three rapid wickets.Warwickshire v Essex at Birmingham
ScorecardWarwickshire were hauled back from the brink by the first one-day hundred of Dougie Brown’s career, as Essex contrived to lose a gripping tie at Edgbaston. Essex started and finished the match disastrously, but dominated the rest of the day – Mark Pettini pushed his claims for a regular place with an excellent 92 not out, before Jon Dakin took three quick wickets, including the England hopefuls Ian Bell and Jim Troughton, as Warwickshire slumped to 83 for 6. But Brown found the ideal ally in Ashley Giles, fresh from his maiden Test fifty last week. The pair added 170 for the seventh wicket, and Giles sealed the match with five balls remaining. Earlier, Nasser Hussain picked up his second golden duck in consecutive matches for Essex – run out off the first ball of Waqar Younis’s Warwickshire career. Waqar then added Will Jefferson’s scalp in the same over, but suffered some punishment later on.Worcestershire v Yorkshire at Worcester
ScorecardYorkshire lost their grip on the C&G Trophy, as David Leatherdale and Nantie Hayward produced command performances in Worcestershire’s 67-run victory at New Road. Leatherdale – a Yorkshireman by birth – made 80 from 87 balls (his highest score in one-day matches) and Vikram Solanki charmed 12 fours in a 56-ball 60, after Worcestershire had slumped to a perilous 130 for 6. Although Yorkshire had been lifted by the return of Darren Gough, who finished with a respectable 2 for 43 from his ten overs, they suffered a huge setback when Matthew Hoggard limped out of the attack with a knee injury after three balls, one of which had removed the dangerous Graeme Hick. Yorkshire’s innings stuttered immediately, when Michael Lumb fell first-ball to Hayward, and though Michael Vaughan threatened to give chase, Hayward put the result beyond doubt with figures of 5 for 49 from his 10 overs.C & G Trophy – Quarter Final DrawLancashire v Middlesex
Warwickshire v Gloucestershire
Leicestershire v Worcestershire
Derbyshire v Surrey

Leicestershire v Worcestershire will take place on Tuesday, June 10, the remainder on Wednesday, June 11.

It is astonishingly rare for English cricket to be at the vanguard of innovation. Arguably, the last time it happened was on the Ashes tour in 1970-71, when a combination of wretched weather and zealous marketing brought about the birth of the one-day international. Typically, that concept proved so popular that it happened to spawn a revolution, although the English, so notoriously resistant to change, struggled to this day to grasp the implications.Now, three decades later, the revolution has finally reached the shires, and the upshot will be the greatest disturbance to the peace since Gandalf last rolled in with a wagonful of fireworks. If the pre-tournament hype is to be believed, the Twenty20 Cup is already a huge success – Gloucestershire have banned committee members from wearing ties, Worcestershire have installed a pitch-side jacuzzi, and even those notable diehards in Yorkshire are reported to be bringing a bottle or two to the party. The consensus is that reform must be embraced or the game will die.Newer, shorter, faster, sexier. Throughout the land, county committees are gearing up, dusting down and preparing to fling open the monastery doors. Atomic Kitten will serenade the lucky finalists at a mid-July jamboree at Trent Bridge (more than one county player considers a kitten a bigger incentive than the cash), but the competition will be made or broken in the next 12 days. Forty-five matches of 20 overs per side will take place between 5.30 and 8.15pm, and there will be hardly a pause for breath, let alone tea.New on-pitch innovations will include a hot-seat on the boundary edge for incoming batsmen (who will be timed out if they don’t reach the middle within 90 seconds), and microphone links between the players and broadcasters, which may have to be discontinued if the competition proves to be as intense as the marketing.It is all too apparent why this sudden change of direction has been embraced – county cricket has been marginalised for years, but ever more so since the birth of the ECB Academy and the central contracts system. How it has come about is rather less obvious – after all, pensioners are not renowned for embracing the rave culture, however full of beans they believe themselves to be.Part of the attraction is the simplicity of the format. Twenty20 cricket is less contrived than Cricket Max, the Martin Crowe-pioneered version from New Zealand (the ECB wisely ruled out the introduction of a “Golden Over” in which all runs would count double). It is familiar as well – there is hardly an amateur cricketer in the land who has not taken part in a midweek 20-over bash – while that 5.30pm start-time should appeal to curious office-workers with three hours to kill before the pub beckons.The man with the plan was Stuart Robertson, the ECB’s marketing manager, who in 2002 commissioned a major research into declining county attendances. He found that there are roughly 19 million “cricket tolerators” in the country, people with no innate loathing of the sport who were willing to be converted. Among the under-represented were women, males in the 16-34 age group and children. “It was a wake-up call,” said Robertson. “If the business was to move forward, it had to improve its accessibility.”So much for the concept. But unless the teams themselves can put aside the razzmatazz, and knuckle down for some hard-fought competition, the whole fortnight will have the glib sterility of a graduate-recruitment fair. “We played two 20-over matches as part of our pre-season preparation,” said Geoff Cope, director of cricket at Yorkshire, “and we’ll be using the next week to prepare in a big way.”John Emburey, Middlesex’s coach, typifies the try-anything-once approach that is pervading the counties. “I remember back in 1969,” said Emburey, “when the Sunday League was launched, a couple of old fogeys from the Yorkshire team were saying one-day cricket was rubbish. But how wrong could they be, and they should have known better, especially since they came up through the Yorkshire leagues. I started a couple of years later and loved Sunday League cricket.”You won’t see slogging in this new competition,” added Emburey, whose unique tethered-feet swishing would have been gloriously suited to the format. “If you do, they’ll just get out. But you will see a lot of great improvised strokeplay and positive cricket, which has to be good for the game.”Indeed it has to be. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. As Cope concluded: “It will have done its job if it gets people hooked on the proper game.”That “proper game” may be a million miles and several sessions removed from this tip-and-giggle version, but cricket’s basic principles apply throughout. Like the batsmen who will be hoping to pull in the punters, the Twenty20 Cup needs to be given the benefit of the doubt.

Three months ago the future of cricket in Kenya looked to be bright. The national side reached the World Cup semi-finals, and the resulting publicity appeared to be just what was needed to kick-start a sport stifled by political bickering and poor administration.But the politics which undermined attempts to promote the game in Kenya for a number of years are threatening to crush the progress which many hoped would result from the World Cup.At the heart of the problem is the Kenya Cricket Association, the very body which should be at the forefront of fostering the game. It seems to harbour a number of individuals who are more interested in self-promotion, and the decision by the International Cricket Council to award Kenya £300,000 has resulted in a scramble for places at the trough.The KCA is battling with the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) for control of Kenyan cricket. The latest clash has resulted in the establishment of provincial and national leagues (a key point in the ICC’s plans to elevate Kenya to full Test status) stalling as the two argue.The NPCA is no longer affiliated from the KCA, and is trying to establish a breakaway league. It claims it has enough support to launch in early July. In recent seasons there have been two separate leagues, leading to confusion and further acrimony.As the two associations squabble, the momentum resulting from the World Cup diminishes and cricket is slowly returning to its status as a second-division sport in Kenya. At the moment it looks as if any progress will be in spite of the two bodies rather than because of them.The KCA has been accused of misappropriating funds, and despite repeated denials its image is so tarnished that potential sponsors are reluctant to be associated with it. In May 2002 the Kenyan government temporarily dissolved the KCA in reaction to continued allegations of mismanagement, although this development was subsequently ruled illegal by Kenyan courts. Opponents have repeatedly called for greater transparency, but their requests have not been met to their satisfaction.The situation is further complicated by the Kenyan team itself, many of whom are at loggerheads with the KCA. In 2001 a planned series against Sri Lanka A was cancelled when the players refused to take part, in a long-running dispute over money. Kenya’s participation in the World Cup was even in doubt when the players threatened a last-minute strike over pay.Last month the KCA opened its new academy. What should have been a well-publicised boost for the game was overshadowed by the absence of almost all the World Cup squad, who stayed away as part of their ongoing feud with the KCA.For the sake of Kenyan cricket heads need to banged together and action taken so that time and effort is spent promoting the game as a whole. Sadly, history suggests that self-interest will continue to win out.

All Today’s Yesterdays – July 7 down the yearsJuly 6 | July 81989
The end of an era. That might be over-egging it slightly, but it felt as if Steve Waugh had been batting forever when he was finally dismissed for the first time in the series, bowled by England’s debutant seamer Angus Fraser third Test at Edgbaston. It ended 13 hours, four minutes and 393 runs of sheer pain – those 393 runs are an Ashes record. Wisden Cricket Monthly said it was like “watching the final episode of a very long-running serial, the end of which had never realistically been forecast.” Sadly for England, Waugh commissioned umpteen sequels.1981
The end of another painful era for English cricket – and the beginning of a glorious one. Ian Botham’s reign as England captain encompassed no wins in 12 Tests, and reached a nadir when he bagged a pair against Australia at Lord’s. Botham resigned – in a classy touch, the chairman of selectors Alec Bedser later told the world he’d have been sacked anyway – and vowed never again to raise his bat to the Lord’s members. They’d blanked him when he was bowled round his legs by Ray Bright for his second duck. England were in disarray, but within two months they were celebrating perhaps the greatest summer in English cricket history.1856
Birth of George Hearne, the oldest of the three Test-playing Hearne brothers (Frank and Alec were the others), and cousin of the famous JT Hearne. He played only one Test, against South Africa at Cape Town in 1891-92 – Frank was on the opposite side – a match in which he scored 0 and didn’t bowl. But he did take 686 first-class wickets for Kent, at an average of just 17. He died in London in 1932.1958
A debut century. Gloucestershire opener Arthur Milton made a chancy 104 not out for England against New Zealand at Headingley, and England lost just two wickets in winning the match by an innings. Tony Lock and Jim Laker shared 19 wickets as the Kiwis were swept away for 67 and 129. In between England declared on 267 for 2. But Milton played only six Tests, never again making more than 36. He also played one match for England’s football team, after only a few league appearances.1970
In Mumbai, an English left-arm spinner is born. Kent’s Min Patel was the victim of a classic piece of nonsense selection. In 1996 he was given his Test debut – against India, whose batsmen are imperious players of spin. On a green seamer at Edgbaston Patel hardly got a bowl, and then was cuffed around on a Trent Bridge shirtfront. Shane Warne probably knows how he felt. Two years earlier, when New Zealand were in town, Patel had been taking wickets for fun in county cricket, but didn’t get picked. Whether he was Test-class is a moot point; it would have been nice if he’d been given a proper chance to find out.

Adrian Dale’s Benefit Year in 2003 raised the sum of £110,983, it was announced today.Adrian commented:”I am obviously delighted to have enjoyed a successful Benefit and would like to take thisopportunity to thank not only the Chairman of my Benefit Committee, Howard Gadd, and theother members of the Committee, but also Glamorgan County Cricket Club, who awarded me theBenefit and gave me the opportunity.””I would also like to place on record my appreciation and thanks to the many hundreds ofindividual Glamorgan members, sponsor, businesspeople and supporters who made contributionsduring the course of the year. As I’m sure is the case for all beneficiaries throughout thecounty game, the Benefit Year proved to be very hard work but, as can be seen from the result,it also proved extremely rewarding and I’m very grateful indeed to everyone who helped make it such a success.”

The first in a series of articles examining how the Indian team is shaping up for the coming 2003-04 season. This one focusses on opening batsman.For years India have struggled to find a regular opening pair for Test matches. In the 34 Tests since India’s last tour to Australia, as many as 12 men have opened for India in Tests, and the top of the order still holds a slightly unsettled look. Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar were brought together last year in England as a makeshift tactical measure, and it worked magnificently for a while. Are these two the best bet over the coming season, especially with the tough Australian tour in prospect? Wisden CricInfo weighs up the options.Virender Sehwag
Sehwag was asked to open in England last year for two reasons: one, his ability demanded inclusion in the side, and that was the only spot open; and two, his counterattacking skills could help grab the early momentum for India, much like Michael Slater did for the Australians. Sehwag averages 38.4 as an opener as opposed to 41.5 overall, and showed admirable temperament during his centuries at Trent Bridge (against England) and in Mumbai (against West Indies), where he saw off the new ball patiently before raising the tempo. He has, however, recently expressed his desire to slip into the middle order – but does a vacancy exist there? Sehwag will certainly be tested by the short ball in Australia, but his counterattacking abilities could be crucial for a side that has often suffered from diffidence at the top.Sanjay Bangar
Bangar first opened in the first Test of India’s West Indies tour last year, but he was made a regular in the series against England that followed. His average as an opener is just 25, but that is no reflection of the value he brought to the team. His role was to grind out the first session and see off the new ball, and he did this often enough – most notably in the Headingley Test, where he kept his end up in trying circumstances for most of the first day, in a partnership with Rahul Dravid that set India up for a historic victory. He plays within his limitations, and his application and grit could be invaluable in Australia, where Indian openers tend to get out early. His accurate wicket-to-wicket medium pace make him a competent fifth bowler, capable of bowling ten overs in a day and giving the strike bowlers some rest.SS Das
Das is a compact, technically correct player who is equally good off both the front and back foot, and conjured up visions of Sunil Gavaskar in his early games. But he had a grievous problem converting his starts into bigger scores, and reached three figures on only two of the 11 occasions on which he crossed 50 – both against lowly Zimbabwe at placid Nagpur. To hold a regular place for India in the long term, he will have to learn to play the longer innings.Wasim Jaffer
Jaffer’s Test career has two parts. He played two Tests against South Africa in 1999-00, and failed in both; he then returned against West Indies last year, and made two fifties before being dropped a series later. An elegant, wristy player who is a delight to watch when at his best, Jaffer is a good back-foot player, but often appears tentative on the front foot. His footwork has been found to be deficient against the moving ball, but he has just had an excellent tour of England with India A, and is a strong contender for a place in the national side.Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir first showed his penchant for the big innings at the under-19 level, and continued his exploits at the first-class level. He came into contention for national selection with two consecutive double-centuries in 2002, one of them against the visiting Zimbabweans. After a good tour of West Indies with India A in early 2003, he was picked to play for India in a one-day triangular at Dhaka just after the World Cup where he managed one fifty in five innings. He is an aggressive strokeplayer with the hunger to play long innings, but his minimal footwork and over-reliance on hand-eye co-ordination have raised doubts over his potential at the highest level. But then, the only way to find out how he swims is to throw him into the sea.The rest
Sadagoppan Ramesh averages 37 in Tests but continues to languish in Tamil Nadu wilderness – doubts over his footwork and temperamant still seem to persist. Deep Dasgupta had shown in his brief stint as Das’s partner that while he may well have been a mediocre wicketkeeper, he had just the right technique and temperament to be an opener. He saved India a Test at Port Elizabeth, and followed that up with a hundred in the Mohali Test against England. But his pigeonholing as a wicketkeeper who can bat – rather than a specialist opening option – has held him back. Akash Chopra and Satyajit Parab are in the fringes, but could find themselves with an outside chance if too many India scalps are claimed in Australia, as happened last time. VVS Laxman says he was misquoted recently about being willing to open, and that he prefers being in the middle order.Expert Views
Arun Lal: I would continue with Sehwag and Bangar. Sehwag is too good a player to be left out of the team and I think he is doing well at the top of the order. Bangar did a phenomenal job for India in England last year, especially at Headingley, where his batting on the first day, in extremely difficult conditions, was key to India winning the Test. Das and Jaffer should be the back-up to these two.Chetan Chauhan: I would like to see Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman switch positions. I think Laxman has a better technique for opening the innings and Sehwag would be better used in the middle order. Sanjay Bangar has been doing a good job and should retain his place in the side. The reserve opener should be either Wasim Jaffer or SS Das.Krishnamachari Srikkanth: I think the opening combination is still a problem for India. In the long run, I would move Sehwag down the order, especially as that is what he himself wants. He is a natural middle-order batsman, and that is where he belongs. It is too early to say who should fill the vacancy that would create, but I wonder why the selectors are neglecting Sadagoppan Ramesh. He has the best record of all the openers in recent times.Amit Varma is managing editor of Wisden CricInfo in India.The settled middle order
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