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South Africa’s coach, Mickey Arthur, believes his side holds the edge going into Thursday’s keenly anticipated first Test at Lord’s, both in terms of the battery of quick bowlers at their disposal, and the solidity that comes from their recent run of six series wins out of seven. England may be on the verge of naming the same side for a record sixth match in a row, but in Arthur’s opinion, without Andrew Flintoff in their ranks, they are some way short of a full-strength line-up.”England are probably where we were a year ago,” said Arthur. “They aren’t quite as settled as we are at the moment, but they are a very good team, and incredibly hard to beat at home. Against New Zealand, they were very good and very steady, and did a good job as a unit, but what they did lack was the genuine pace of a Flintoff, Steve Harmison, or even a Simon Jones.”If Arthur sounded as though he was damning England with faint praise, then it was entirely intentional. With a pace-dominated line-up, spearheaded by Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and the indefatigable Makhaya Ntini, South Africa know they have the weapons to inflict some serious dents on England’s reputation. And there’s no better place to start the barrage than at Lord’s – a venue where England have been routed in all three contests since South Africa’s readmission.On the field, South Africa have promised to take a buttoned-lip approach to the contest, especially where Graeme Smith’s lingering feud with Kevin Pietersen is concerned, but from the sidelines, Arthur wasn’t afraid to take a few well-aimed pot-shots. He fully expects Flintoff to return to the side for the second Test at Headingley on July 18, which means that England’s internal battle for selection could bubble to the surface during the Lord’s Test.In particular, Arthur singled out Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood – who managed a grand total of 77 runs in eight innings against New Zealand – as two batsmen scrapping for a solitary place. “The ‘Freddie’ Flintoff factor lingers over England, because he’s too good a player not to be picked,” said Arthur. “If you’ve got a class performer, a fantastic cricketer like him available to you, I think you’d be silly not to select him.”He’s got to come back, and he’s got to come back for somebody unlucky. Within the whole pressure cooker of Test cricket, there might be one or two little personal contests going on in the England side. If we can get into 5 and 6 when the ball is pretty new, that’ll be good, and there’s also going to be one bowler with a cloud over him, knowing that Flintoff will be back for the second Test match.”That bowler, regardless of the superb impression he has made since coming into the team at Wellington in March, could well be Stuart Broad, who batted with incredible poise in the home series against New Zealand to average 39.66 from No. 8, but managed only seven wickets in six innings, less than half the tally of either James Anderson (19) or Ryan Sidebottom (17). But if Broad was anxious about his role in the side he certainly didn’t show it, as he backed England’s bowlers to play to their strengths in the coming weeks, and avoid getting drawn into a speed-gun war.

“I don’t think we need to meet their pace and bounce at all,” said Broad. “We need to stick to what we’ve done well in the past four or five Tests. We have two world-class swing bowlers up front, and we bowled New Zealand out four times in five Tests, so we don’t need to chase to be someone we’re not. All of us are above 85mph which is useful, but we look to do things with the ball. We’re not going to charge in and try bowl 90mph, because that would send our techniques and radar awry.”That’s not an issue that concerns South Africa’s quick bowlers, however. Morkel, with his 6’6” frame, bowls with a splice-rattling pace reminiscent of Steve Harmison in his pomp, and at Uxbridge against Middlesex over the weekend, he put the finishing touches to his preparation for Lord’s. “When everything is feeling 100% and my rhythm is nice, I’ll definitely be trying to crank it up,” he said. “The ball is coming out quite nicely and it’s nice to see the batsmen jumping around a bit. Come Thursday, it will be the England batsmen who are in my sights. I can’t wait.”The rich promise of both Morkel and Steyn fills Arthur with optimism for the future of South African cricket. With a combined age of 46, he fully expects them to be ranked as Nos. 1 and 2 in the world within two years, and in fact, Steyn, with 78 Test wickets in the last calendar year, is already regarded as the best fast bowler in the world. However, it is the overall shape of South Africa’s attack that has earned them the favourite’s tag for this summer.”We’ve worked quite hard as a set-up to get to where we are now,” said Arthur, whose squad is arguably as united as at any time in their post-Apartheid history, with every member of the starting 11, irrespective of creed, earning their place in the side on merit. “We are a goal-orientated side. It’s taken us two years to get this team, and a series win in England is high up on our priorities.”We set about getting an attack with three strikers,” said Arthur, who once again underlined the importance of a world-class allrounder. “We’re very lucky to have Jacques Kallis, he’s like a 12th player for us, because he bats in the top four, and he bowls in the top four, if you like. He gives us unbelievable balance, because he can play any role we want.”But we wanted three strikers bowling over 140kph,” said Arthur. “One who can swing it in, as Steyn does, Makhaya who angles across the left-handers especially, and Morne Morkel who gets unbelievable bounce. These guys are hugely exciting and it’s going to be a treat to watch them this summer.”

An unknown England line-up, and unknown Indian frame of mind and an unknown pitch quality make just a little difficult to predict the outcome of the third npower Test starting in Leeds tomorrow. However, Headingley has proved to be a happy hunting ground for England in recent years and with a win at Lord’s and the better of the draw at Trent Bridge, there is every indication that the home side might be able to force home their advantage to secure the series before going to The Oval for the final Test of a long summer.In the past, there has been little doubt about what to do about selection for a Headingley Test. Pack the side with seamers, pay close attention to the weather forecast and try to win the match while cloud cover makes the ball do extraordinary things on a pitch not noted for its good behaviour in such conditions. Those plans can sometimes go awry when the sun shines, the surface becomes totally benign and the ball races over a quick outfield to all parts. You do not often get boring cricket at Headingley.There is a suggestion that the square has been playing a bit differently this year and the old propensity for uneven bounce has been eliminated. Whether this new-found quality extends to the Test strip has yet to be discovered, as even chairman of selectors David Graveney admitted when announcing the 13-man squad.”Although we have talked to counties who have played at Headingley this summer, we don’t yet have an inkling as to what sort of surface has been prepared for this Test match. We will have to assess the wicket and think about what impact it will have on our selection.”There is growing speculation that left-arm spinner Ashley Giles might reverse the trend of recent history by being included in the final eleven. He was left out at Trent Bridge in favour of five seamers, leaving only the occasional off-spin of Michael Vaughan to exploit the turn that was evident in Nottingham. Giles can put a brake on scoring, especially on a ground where a little nudge against the quicker bowlers can and usually does result in four runs down the hill.Andrew Caddick will return to the side after injury and to the scene of his remarkable triumph against the West Indies two years ago when his four wickets in an over wrapped it all up in a couple of days. Matthew Hoggard will open the bowling, with Caddick, on his home ground but after that it all becomes a little problematical. Steve Harmison might be retained after a no more than promising debut at Trent Bridge. In the absence of the injured Craig White, Alex Tudor might be preferred for his extra batting potential as well as his bowling ability, while the hernia injury under which Andrew Flintoff is labouring could open the door for yet another chance for Dominic Cork.In the batting department, England are unlikely to make changes with another opportunity for Robert Key to open the batting with the in-form Vaughan, allowing Mark Butcher to bat at three on the ground where he played such a memorable match-winning innings against Australia last year. With Nasser Hussain at four, John Crawley at five, probably Flintoff at six and then Alec Stewart, there is a settled solidity. This all assumes that Flintoff is going to be fit enough to play, albeit as merely a batsman.Despite all the forecasts and fanfares for the Indian batting, it has not performed consistently as a cohesive unit in the series so far. Shiv Sunder Das did his chances of replacing Wasim Jaffer as an opener no harm with an innings of 250 against Essex in the last tour match at Chelmsford. Virender Sehwag got a substantial hundred in that match as well, but it will need the big guns of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to all fire to give the captain a chance of manipulating his bowling resources to full effect.That is another area for interesting speculation. If Anil Kumble is fit, will he come into the side to partner Harbhajan Singh? Or to replace him? Will India give a chance to Tinu Yohannan? Might he replace Ashish Nehra or supplement him? Will Ajit Agarkar’s batting insulate him from the axe that his bowling might have attracted? And while we are asking questions that time alone will answer, did young Parthiv Patel do enough at Trent Bridge to retain the wicket-keeping spot in front of fit again Ajay Ratra?There is another question mark lurking around the Indian dressing room. That comes in the form of the distraction from the job in hand that might have resulted from the ongoing contracts row concerning the ICC Champions Trophy tournament and then the World Cup. The players have expressed the view that they are unable to agree to the terms of the contracts and therefore could drop out of the Indian squad for the tournament. Other sides, including England, are involved, but the focus of attention has centred on the Indians.They will, of course, vehemently deny that this sideshow has any bearing on their preparations for the Test. However, these are intelligent men who will have realised that what they are talking about here is the possibility of a serious breach in the unity of world cricket. It would be asking a lot of them to be able to put it all to the back of their minds and, one-nil down and a long way from home at the end of an arduous tour, simply concentrate on preparing for a crucial Test.

Somerset coach Kevin Shine has some early season injury headaches with Rob Turner still suffering from a persistent foot injury, Joe Tucker who has a stress fracture and had his left ankle put in plaster, and now Steffan Jones who injured his ankle before the start of play at Millfield today.Regarding Steffan Jones the coach told me: "Steffan suffered an ankle injury, but he should be fit to play in the first championship match of the season at Hove next week against Sussex."Earlier this evening wicket-keeper batsman Rob Turner the 2002 beneficiary, who has missed out of the early season friendlies told me: "Hopefully I should be fit to play in the one day friendly against Hampshire at Taunton on Wednesday."

Any hopes that Lymington had of making a positive start to their Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 campaign was shattered by an 86-run defeat at Hungerford.Relegated from the ECB-accredited Division 1 last summer, Hungerford have recruited heavily, with Hampshire’s Jason Laney, former Sussex wicketkeeper Nick Wilson and Steve Wyatt all returning to play under new skipper Owen Dawkins.It was all too much for Lymington, who found themselves looking down the barrell of a 250-run mauling from Hungerford, before being dismissed for 164 themselves.Laney (67) and Danny Williams (29) laid the foundations towards a big total with an opening stand of 80, which the middle-order gradually enhanced.Wyatt, with a lively 48, Wilson (25) and Dawkins (25) all profited, with Western Australian youngster Aaron Heal (3-50) removing three of the top six.But Lymington’s resourceful batting failed after left-arm spinner Andy Ford (2-26) had made two important early breakthroughs. Martin Hunt (43), Daniel Peacock (35) and Neil Trestrail (25) guided Lymington to 164 all out, with Laney (3-6) removing the lower-order.Newly promoted Winchester KS also endured a miserable start, losing by a massive 145-run margin against United Services at Burnaby Road.There was little joy for the cathedral city club as US built a sizeable 257-7 around Gary Hounsome (44), John Robson (40), John Mann (29), Mark Toogood (28) and Matt McKeever (28).Martin Taylor (4-35) made inroads for WKS, whose batting fell away badly with only Jimmy Taylor (26) making a worthwhile contribution in a disappointing 112 all out (Damian Carson 3-25).Andy Birch found himself demoted to eighth spot in the order, but turned out to be Easton & Martyr Worthy’s trump card in the three-wicket win at Trojans.Easton, chasing Trojans’ 181-7, were in trouble at 71-5, but Shaun Green (45) and Birch, with an undefeated 43, got the tractor boys home with an over to spare.Mark Stone took 3-33 but Trojans, through James Donaldson (35), Mike Goodall (30), Mario Mohammed (32) and Nigel le Bas (29) got to 181-7.Max Smith, with 58 not out, and Nick Wood, who took 4-38, were match winners in Old Tauntonians & Romsey’s 18-run victory over newly promoted Rowledge. Smith, Ian Tulk (45) and Mike Trodd (25) took the batting credits as OTs reached 196-6 (Ricky Yates 4-35).The Rowledge reply centred around Queenslander Jeff Annings (76), who was eventually eighth man out at 157.Cardiff UCCE’s Chris Yates (34) played well earlier on, but it was Wood’s flight and guile, supported by a handy 2-50 return by Smith, that left Rowledge 18 runs short on 178 all out.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will lend their support to another Queensland success story this cricket season following the recruitment of EMU sportswear as the team’s training and merchandise supplier for 2002-03.The Townsville-based company has reached an agreement to supply all Queensland Cricket elite teams with training apparel, as well produce a range of licensed supporters’ merchandise for retail.New Bulls coach Terry Oliver was pleased to welcome the company to the Bulls’ circle of support."The Bulls are a proud Queensland team and we’re delighted to have formed an association with another strong local product in the shape of EMU sportswear,” he said.EMU sportswear, a component of Fourex Clothing Pty Ltd, already offers ranges in Rugby League’s State of Origin, NRL and NBL and believes the new Bulls merchandise apparel will fit neatly in the summer market.Fourex Clothing Manager John Short said: "This move will have obvious advantages for both EMU Sportswear and the Bulls, enabling more regional Bulls fans to show their supporter colours."Short, whose family owns and operates Fourex Clothing, said: "Our family has always been cricket people and my brother David was in the Bulls squad the year they won for the first time"."This relationship is very exciting for my family and very important to our staff. The Bulls captain Jimmy Maher is a North Queenslander and I’d like to think all of Queensland, including the regional areas, can get behind their team."David Short was an off-spinner who played with Wynnum-Manly and Souths and was in the Bulls squad in 1993-94 and 1994-95.Fourex Clothing is based in Townsville with distribution channels throughout Australia, New Zealand, Japan and UK and currently employs 40 people. The company started out more then 30 years ago, manufacturing work and school wear.Emu provide apparel for the North Queensland Cowboys and are a licensed supplier of supporter-wear for all teams in the National Basketball League and the National Rugby League.In addition to being on sale through retail outlets throughout Queensland, the new range of Bulls supporters’ wear will be available through the Bulls e-store on bulls.com.au nearer to the start of the season.

Monday 28th May sees the start of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union’s great winter experiment when India play Zimbabwe A at Mutare Sports Club. Never before has Zimbabwe seen first-class cricket in the off-season. Mutare’s pipe opener precedes Test and one-day series with both India and the West Indies in the next few weeks.The Indians have never played at this end of the country and will need their wits about them, particularly when fielding on Mutare Sports Club’s hard, bumpy outfield. The local administrators are holding their breath that no late-season rain interferes, as the new covers planned for the pitch have not yet been purchased.Despite this, regular visitors to the ground will notice plenty of new developments. The old timber shack score-box that suffered at the hands of Cyclone Eline last year has been pulled down and replaced by a grander, timber “media center”. Care has been taken to ensure that this new edifice is not in the path of any falling trees. The men’s changing rooms have been renovated, the toilets given smart new pine seats and the basement showers upgraded. The dining room has been partitioned and a new mobile metal scoreboard has been built.New full-time groundsman Joel Muzeya and his small work force have been working feverishly for the last few weeks getting the field prepared. Joel was formerly the high-density schools coach and this game will be his first major test. It’s envisaged that he will divide his time between the ground and coaching next season. It is hoped to send him to local Test venues to understudy professional groundsmen as they prepare for Test matches later this year.The farmers’ league got under way last Sunday with Makoni hosting Ruzawi River at Rusape Sports Club. Having unilaterally withdrawn from the competition last year, they re-entered this year after realizing how much they missed it. Nigel Hough in his third season as captain has at his disposal no fewer than four golden oldies with first-class experience. As well as himself, there is batting to follow in Kenyon Ziehl and Kevin Curran with Terry Coughlan to bowl leg-spin. Northamptonshire’s ex-skipper Curran has been managing the family farm recently, but hasn’t played cricket for over two years.In a competitive but mostly friendly league, each side bats for 50 overs whilst bowlers are limited to 10 overs per man. That’s where the similarity with one-day internationals ends as field placements, wides and bouncers are played to normal cricket rules. Official umpires are rarely seen, wives keep the score and tea and lunch breaks follow timeworn traditions.Batting first, Ruzawi River only managed 178/9 with Ian Duvenage hitting 67. Zeihl mopped up the tail with 3/17. In reply Makoni coasted home to 180/5 with two overs to spare. Young Richie Blyth-Wood hit 30 at the top of the order; Curran added 56 not out whilst Hough in his normal restrained fashion whipped 38 not out off 20 balls.

It was surprising to see Kedar Jadhav on the field of play a little over 20 minutes after his dismissal. Stumps had been drawn for the day but the triple-centurion, expectedly appearing drained, was back on the field to interact with his teammates and well-wishers.What happened to the ice bath? After all, the toll that the memorable knock, “undoubtedly the best of my career”, had taken on Jadhav’s body would demand one of the longest ice baths – around 20 minutes at least – to help him recover for the rigours in the field for the next two days.”I shall go and have one now,” said Jadhav, who made 327 – the second-highest by a Maharashtra batsman ever in the Ranji Trophy – against Uttar Pradesh. “The body didn’t feel anything in the morning session but after lunch, I was feeling the pain every minute. The fingers were sore and then it started trickling down to other body parts.”Jadhav, who was unbeaten on 102 at the start today, started off in blazing fashion – with a square cut off Imtiaz Ahmed of the first ball of the day and then with a flick to the square-leg boundary in the same over. Those two shots displayed that the fizz hadn’t disappeared overnight and that those who turned up to watch the action would remember the day for a long time.What was astonishing during Jadhav’s knock was the fact that never once did his strike-rate dip below run-a-ball during his almost nine-hour stay at the wicket. Forget a triple; this was Jadhav’s first double century in a competitive game.”I haven’t played much of inter-school and inter-college cricket and have never crossed a double hundred for my club,” said Jadhav, whose previous best in first-class was an unbeaten 114. “Only once in a practice match did I score about 220 but that was a practice game, so you will have to consider this one as my first double century. All I can hope for is this won’t be the last one.”And even though he tore the UP bowling into pieces, playing virtually every stroke in the book – right from a cover drive to a late cut to a straight drive to an upper cut to inside-out lofted drives and even reverse-sweeps – Jadhav was candid in admitting that the UP bowlers made his task easier.”On both the days, they were not consistent. Most of the times, they offered at least one loose ball every over and we had to make sure we didn’t let that one go,” Jadhav, 27, said. “And they kept on bowling to both sides of the wicket, making it difficult for the captain to set fields.”Complementing Jadhav for his “superb knock”, UP coach Venkatesh Prasad also lamented his bowlers’ consistency of spraying the ball all over the wicket. “We discussed it after the first day’s play but somehow our bowlers failed to implement the issues that needed to be addressed,” Prasad said. “Hopefully, our batsmen will make up for it by scoring big on a flat deck.”

Pesky showers had an early influence, on what was effectively the first day of play in the Northern Districts-Canterbury Shell Trophy match, but in the end they could not deny a batsman and a bowler a very good day at the office. Grant Bradburn and Gary Stead stood out as their respective colleagues found wickets and runs hard to come by.After a delayed start, the players came and went at regular intervals during the first two sessions, keeping the ground staff and various helpers occupied with the delivery and removal of the plastic covers.However, at the weather’s convenience, 84 overs – 41 of them in the two-and-a-half hours between tea and stumps – were bowled after Northern Districts won the toss and put Canterbury in on a pitch that offered an interesting contrast of green grass and dark earth. Simon Doull gave that decision early support with the wicket of Robbie Frew in his first over before a run had been scored.But then it was Doull who raised questions about Northern’s policy of preferring two spinners over the medium pace of Graeme Aldridge with a helpful pitch and heavy cloud cover. In his second over, Doull pulled up with a groin strain and although he continued through the morning session, albeit at a lower pace, he was not sighted at the bowling crease in the afternoon.As it turned out, the two-spin tactic benefited Northern, Bruce Martin and Bradburn getting the breakthroughs when Joseph Yovich, Alex Tait and a hampered Doull failed to make the best of the conditions. They were helped by some smart reflex catching in close as Michael Parlane, Mark Bailey and James Marshall put their hands in the right place at the right time.Bradburn turned into Northern’s biggest trump card on a pitch that was suppposedly going to help pace. A nagging length, some surprising turn and persistent accuracy brought the reward of four wickets for 56 off 25 overs. Robbie Hart would probably have been happier if his pace attack had placed similar demands on the batsmen.For Canterbury, their captain showed every sign of not allowing the conditions to take control. Without his unbeaten 77, the Canterbury total would have made sorry reading. A solid defence coupled with the occasional bit of judicious hitting ensured his team a degree of stability. With contributions in the 20s from Harley James, Jarrod Englefield and Gareth Hopkins, the southern visitors would not be too unhappy with 175 for six at the end of a day in which the toss was expected to be crucial.It may have been – but it was a spinner who put bowling first to best advantage.Northern will come back tomorrow intent on wrapping up the Canterbury innings quickly to ensure a chance in the last two days of collecting the outright needed to keep them in touch with the top of the table. If Canterbury respond to their captain’s example, Northern will have their work cut out.

Going into the third and final National Bank Series Test, England fast-medium bowler Andy Caddick could hardly have dreamt that his four wickets to reach 200 Test wickets would come so quickly.But he went to lunch having just trapped New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan leg before wicket to secure his fourth and to become the ninth English bowler to take 200 Test wickets.He is in esteemed company. The list reads: Ian Botham (383), Bob Willis (325), Fred Trueman (307), Derek Underwood (297), Brian Statham (252), Alec Bedser (236), Darren Gough (228) and John Snow (202).Caddick thought he may have picked up one or two on the first morning.When he came back for the last over before lunch he felt it was because England captain Nasser Hussain felt he needed a change of variation. It worked and also got his 200th out of the way so he could get on with the business England were here for.Caddick said it had been a highlight in his career but not the most satisfying moment. There were games he had played in that had been more satisfying.He said there had been times when he felt he could have been playing, which would have allowed him to achieve the goal earlier, none moreso than when he was not selected for the last Ashes tour.Despite having been told by the selectors that all he had to do to be selected was keep taking wickets obviously the 105 he took during the English summer had not been enough to convince them.Injuries and different selectors did come along and all players went through bad patches but he had been fit for the last five years and felt there was more left to chase other milestones along the way.”The body is getting tired and weary but I will keep going as long as I enjoy it,” he said.Having Hussain as his captain was an advantage as he was a captain who backed his bowlers, and who understood what they were trying to do.”There are a few dos and don’ts as far as bowling is concerned but I have a good relationship with Nasser and with Duncan [Fletcher] as well,” he said.Caddick said the absence of Gough had placed him in a position he enjoyed of having to shoulder more responsibility.Achieving the feat against New Zealand had not made the occasion any more special as he treats every opponent in every Test as just another Test.The pitch was one where players didn’t hang around in going for their shots, he said, and they had to play their shots as there was no guarantee how long they would last if they pottered around.Chris Harris had shown that in his innings “for the second time today,” he said, a reference to a let-off Harris was given after being caught off his gloves from Matthew Hoggard’s bowling by short leg fieldsman Mark Ramprakash.But Harris and Adam Parore had established a good partnership and there was a lot of work to be done by England tomorrow, Caddick said.

Monty Panesar will prepare for England’s brief Test series in India in December by playing club cricket in Sri Lanka. He had hoped to be able to play in the Ranji Trophy but he was unable to overcome the rules on overseas players.”He wants to learn there through experience,” Peter Moores, England’s coach, told the Daily Telegraph. “He’s been before and he knows there are tough conditions. He hopes to learn a lot and prepare himself for the Tests in India.”ECB performance director David Parsons, who has worked closely with Panesar, told the Guardian: “The idea to go to Sri Lanka was made jointly by Monty, Peter and myself. He’s the second ranked spinner in the world behind Muttiah Muralitharan. He’s been playing for less than three years, he’s got over 100 wickets and he’s still only 26.”Panesar will play for the Bloomfield club in Colombo for four weeks, assuming that a dispute between the board and local clubs can be resolved.