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Cardiff will play host to their first-ever Test match when Australia next visit England in 2009, after being elevated to Category A status by an ECB review committee.Sophia Gardens, which recently unveiled a major project to overhaul the venue, will now join Lord’s, The Oval, Edgbaston and Headingley in hosting the lucrative Ashes Tests. Old Trafford, where 10,000 people were turned away on the final morning of last summer’s third Test, and Trent Bridge, the venue of England’s decisive three-wicket victory in the same campaign, both miss out.The decision was made by the ECB’s Major Match Group, chaired by Sir William Morris OJ, who said: “We congratulate Cardiff on joining the list of Category A (Test match) venues. We also express our gratitude for the support which the Glamorgan Club has received from the Welsh Assembly and Cardiff City Council for their development plans.””This is an historic day for cricket in Wales,” said Paul Russell, the chairman of Glamorgan. “The award of an npower Ashes Test Match will build on the Welsh Assembly’s exciting programme for the development of tourism through sport. The development of Sophia Gardens will transform the venue into a modern, world-class stadium and help Glamorgan Cricket enthuse a new generation of cricket players.”Glamorgan’s captain, Robert Croft, was thrilled by the decision. “I know that this news will provide cricket in Wales, and Glamorgan in particular, with a massive boost. I can still remember the day I made my debut as a full England Test cricketer. I know that throughout Wales this will inspire young cricketers to join Simon Jones and become the Test cricketers of the future.”In recent years, Cardiff has become a focal point for British sport, with the grand Millennium Stadium playing host to the Rugby World Cup final in 1999, as well countless football finals ever since the redevelopment of Wembley got underway. The Ryder Cup in 2010 has also been scheduled for the city, although an Ashes Test would arguably top the lot.The decision still has to be ratified, however, by Cardiff City council, for the redevelopment plans have met with some opposition from local pressure groups. Back in October, Russell threatened to relocate Glamorgan’s stadium to a new development outside of the city, if the plans were not approved.

Sophia Gardens has been Glamorgan’s home since 1967, in which time it has hosted five one-day internationals, the first being New Zealand’s shock victory against Australia in the 1999 World Cup. The most famous match was another Australian upset, which bodes well for 2009, when Bangladesh turned them over in the NatWest Series last summer. This year, Cardiff plays host to its first England match, against Pakistan in August.The MMG also unveiled the Test match allocations for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Chester-le-Street in Durham, which hosted its first Test last summer and was also in the running for the Ashes match, has been awarded a Test against West Indies next summer, which drew a muted reaction from the club’s chairman, Clive Leach.”Although ours was the second highest bid, on this occasion we were unsuccessful,” he said. “Both ourselves and Cardiff were prepared to pay significantly more to the ECB than those grounds on long-term staging agreements, who were not required to bid as part of this allocation process.””Obviously we are hugely disappointed at the outcome of the decision,” added David Harker, the chief executive. “We will look forward to welcoming the West Indies to the Riverside in 2007 and demonstrating to a global audience our ability to successfully host major Test Matches at the Riverside.”Jim Cumbes, Lancashire’s chief executive, was also philosophical about Old Trafford missing out on the Ashes. “Congratulations to Cardiff and good luck to them, but it is a big blow to Lancashire and to the North-West which is a hot-bed of cricket. Having said that, we did not have an Ashes Test in 2001 and we bounced back from that. We can do it again.”Forthcoming Test schedule2007
West Indies Chester-le-Street, Headingley, Lord’s and Old Trafford
India The Oval, Lord’s and Trent Bridge2008
New Zealand Lord’s, Old Trafford and Trent Bridge
South Africa The Oval, Edgbaston, Headingley and Lord’s2009
Zimbabwe Lord’s and tbc
Australia The Oval, Cardiff, Edgbaston, Headingley and Lord’s

Scott Mason, the Tasmanian batsman, has died from a heart failure in the Royal Hobart Hospital at Hobart.Mason, 28, who played 28 first-class games and eight limited-over matches for Tasmania, has missed the entire 2004-05 season owing to his heart condition. But he had been given approval to resume light training and was hoping to return to the first-class scene later this year. After facing a few balls in the net session at the Bellerive Oval on Thursday he had to be rushed to hospital.Jamie Cox, his team-mate and opening partner, paid tribute by saying, “Just such a likeable guy, and an inspiration, and I guess you could say tragically but ironically he was one of the heartbeats of our team. There aren’t enough words to say enough about this little mate, he was a beauty.”

The series remains all-square, and there’s everything to play for at the Sinhalese Sports Club. England are back on familiar ground as their three-Test series against Sri Lanka reaches its climax tomorrow (play starts 0430 GMT), and return to the scene of their triumph in 2001 with every reason to believe they can pull off another extraordinary series victory.After seeing off Muttiah Muralitharan and friends on the two pitches that ought to have suited Sri Lanka’s spin attack, England will be delighted that the SSC seems certain to offer more pace and swing to the faster bowlers. With due respect to Chaminda Vaas, that can only be good news for England’s seam-based attack, and Michael Vaughan has given every indication that he intends to field a better-balanced side that the one that held out for a draw at Kandy last week.The dilemma for England, however, is how best to climb through the window of opportunity that their labours have created. After playing with such patience and discipline for two Tests, they will have to tread a fine line between attacking intent and reckless abandon. And with that in mind, they face a tricky decision on which of their seven batsmen should be squeezed out in favour of an extra bowler.The only two men in line for the chop are Paul Collingwood, who has shown a cool head under fire and would be a reassuring presence at No. 5 if England lose the toss yet again and are forced to bat last, and Nasser Hussain, whose hot-headedness has created the talking point of the series so far. At the start of the series, it would have been unthinkable to enter such a crunch fixture without Hussain, the man who masterminded Sri Lanka’s last home defeat in 2001. But times they have a-changed.”We’ll have to decide whether we stick with the great experience of Nasser or take note of how well Paul has batted,” said Vaughan. “If you look at his dismissals, Nasser’s playing OK, and I always say that you are always only one innings away from a hundred. Nasser was unfortunate to be ill during the first Test, and he just needs some time in the middle.”Hussain’s time in the middle may just have run out for this tour, however. He has not been dropped by England since scoring a century against India at Edgbaston in 1996, but his ill-judged verbal assault on Muttiah Muralitharan has left him out on a limb. As England’s batsmen and tailenders demonstrated in fending off Murali for 96 overs at Kandy, it was the ability to read him from the pitch – not the lips – that was the key to England’s survival.Hussain’s alleged remarks had further implications within the England camp as well, as James Kirtley discovered when his bowling action was brought to the attention of Clive Lloyd after the match. Although Kirtley was eventually cleared, it was an unfortunate moment for the issue of chucking to be brought back onto the agenda.Kirtley is likely to retain his place tomorrow, on merit as much as through dressing-room solidarity, although the identity of his new-ball partner is less certain. The bold selection would be the fit-again James Anderson, a man who will go for plenty of runs but is the most likely source of unplayable deliveries. But with Andrew Flintoff complaining of a sore back in recent days, England are equally likely to turn to the indefatigable Matthew Hoggard to ensure that Flintoff’s workload is as light as possible.The spin pairing of Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty is unlikely to be altered, despite Batty’s relative ineffectiveness at Kandy and the attacking option that Robert Croft could provide. This has as much to do with Sri Lanka’s spinners as England’s – Batty’s excellent displays against Muralitharan have turned him into a key figure in England’s lower-middle order, and for all Croft’s proficiency with the bat, he cannot possibly make up in net sessions what Batty has learned through time in the middle.As usual between matches, Murali has spent the last three days with an ice pack strapped to his overworked shoulder, and no amount of positive spin from the Sri Lankan camp can disguise the fact that he is tired. He has already whirled his way through 164 overs this series, exactly twice as many as the next-busiest Sri Lankan, Kumar Dharmasena, and he was noticeably less effective in England’s second innings at Kandy.With that in mind, Sri Lanka are considering sending for the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was a success on the recent A tours of South Africa and India. Alternatively they may prefer to shuffle their reserves, which would mean recalling Upul Chandana in place of Dharmasena, and the fit-again Dilhara Fernando, to provide some extra new-ball firepower at the expense of his underused namesake, Dinusha.Whichever way you look at it, England are the team who hold the psychological high ground ahead of the third Test, even if they have yet to hold the upper hand in any of the matches to date. John Dyson, a coach whose mantra of positive play seems entirely at odds with the negativity of his captain, Hashan Tillakaratne, attempted to rock England’s boat yesterday with an astonishing tirade against their defensive approach in Kandy. But his words have been laughed off by England.Graham Thorpe, the man who secured the victory in 2001, was quick to respond. “We have got them under psychological pressure,” he claimed. “If we hadn’t been able to bowl them out on a green seamer on the final day in England, we would be very disappointed. I can’t see that it is any different for them.” Thorpe’s contributions at the SSC last time around were a pair of undefeated masterclasses on a turning, bouncing track, including the single finest century of his career. A repeat performance over the next few days would set England up for a very merry Christmas indeed.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.England (possible): 1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 James Kirtley, 11 James Anderson.Andrew Miller, Wisden Cricinfo’s assistant editor, has accompanied England throughout their travels in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

England coach Duncan Fletcher has dismissed remarks made by Sunil Gavaskar about England’s performance on the recent tour of India.The Indian batting legend labelled the England side as “the champion whingers of the world.” Writing in an Indian newspaper, Gavaskar criticised England for complaining about inadequate training facilities, as well as mentioning the standard of umpiring. Before Christmas, Gavaskar blamed England for making the Test series boring because of the strategy of bowling Ashley Giles left-arm spin over the wicket into the rough in an attempt to restrict Sachin Tendulkar’s stroke play.Until now, Fletcher has ignored Gavaskar’s criticisms, at least in public. However, after the first training session of the New Zealand leg of the tour at the Westpak Trust Stadium in Hamilton, the England coach spoke out about the comments.”It’s very important to realise that he’s on the ICC panel and should have an unbiased opinion and secondly its very sad when a good wine goes sour.”However, Fletcher’s primary concern now is to prepare his squad for the first match of the tour in New Zealand against Northern Districts XI. This was the one practice session before a busy schedule of matches.The squad left Mumbai just hours after levelling the series with India at 3 – 3 with the thrilling two run victory in the final game. There were stops in Hong Kong and Auckland on their way to Hamilton.Fletcher said: “It can be quite a problem switching to an environment like this and I think the players are going to have to put quite an effort into getting switched on here. We don’t know at the moment whether that’s down to jet-lag or not. As soon as that last game was finished we travelled right through the night and the players could be tired.”It’s more difficult to adjust than people realise – it’s totally differentcoming from India to here and I have a feeling this game might have come alittle too early.”The only fitness worries for England centre on Ben Hollioake, the Surrey all-rounder who missed the last two matches in India with a knee problem, and fast bowler Matthew Hoggard, who was sent for blood tests after fainting on a flight from Kanpur to Delhi. However, physiotherapist Dean Conway is not ruling Hoggard out of consideration for the Northern Districts match.All-rounder Craig White was not expected to join the party until the arrival in New Zealand after having keyhole surgery on his knee. In fact he recovered quicker than expected and rejoined the squad in India. Having not played there, however, he is expected to be included in Hamilton.It is possible that White might be used to give impetus to the early middle order where there have been tendencies for England to be one-paced. They are expected to be given a good workout by a strong ND XI that includes five players with Test experience – Matthew Hart, Hamish Marshall, Simon Doull, Daryl Tuffey and Grant Bradburn.

Michael Slater has roared back to life on another day of unusual twists and turns in the Pura Cup clash between Tasmania and New South Wales at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The aggressive opener’s attainment of a thirty-third first-class century provided the main highlight of the second day’s play, at the end of which the Blues find themselves at a score of 4/193 in reply to the Tigers’ 362.Until the left arm orthodox prowess of Daniel Marsh (3/35) sent the Blues into a tailspin in late afternoon, this had largely been New South Wales’ day. Despite continuing to battle in vain to beat the bat of Ricky Ponting (187*), it began with the visitors managing to exert something of a hold over the right hander’s scoring rate by setting deep and defensive fields throughout the morning. This had the twin effect of drying up the Tigers’ progress and of reducing the star batsman’s chances of recording double centuries in successive Pura Cup matches. Once young wicketkeeper Sean Clingeleffer (21) lost his wicket as he drove a Shane Lee (2/47) delivery uppishly to point, the end for the locals indeed came quickly.Despite a rushed visit to hospital last week after the onset of difficulties with his breathing, Slater (100) gave the appearance of a man very much at the top of his powers as the reply began. Against an attack which battled for line and length, the Test opener thrashed twelve punishing boundaries in an innings which provided a heady mixture of aggression and defence. Together with Corey Richards (69), the energetic right hander guided the Blues to a score of 0/146 an hour before the close. By that stage, the upper hand in the contest had clearly been assumed by the visitors.Not for the first time in this match, though, fortunes turned in almost the twinkling of an eye. Courtesy of a brilliant tumbling catch full length to his right, Marsh initiated the demise of Richards. Sixteen minutes later, Steve Waugh (7) lobbed back a second catch, affording the spinner his hundredth first-class wicket, after being beaten by Marsh’s flight. Then, Slater himself became the third player in succession to be deceived, incredibly enough, by a full toss, driving back another regulation catch off a leading edge after the ball had dropped on him quickly in the tricky cross-breeze ripping across the ground. By the time that David Saker (1/58) trapped Brad Haddin (1) in front of his stumps with a yorker, New South Wales was suddenly 4/188 and matters were evenly poised again.Alongside the sight of two centuries and five ducks in the Tasmanian innings, the spectre of three return catches off full tosses provided another very peculiar touch to the game. Not as novel nor as intriguing, though, is the forecast that rain will sweep into an until now sunny Hobart during the two closing days of what has developed into a fascinating contest.

Australia’s tour of Bangladesh appears increasingly in danger of being cancelled, with Cricket Australia’s security team on their way home to brief players and the board following a series of meetings in Bangladesh over the past two days.CA’s head of security Sean Carroll, team security manager Frank Dimasi and team manager Gavin Dovey have held meetings with Australian and Bangladeshi officials after the squad’s scheduled departure was postponed at the weekend. Their trip followed a new travel warning from Australia’s government that: “There is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh.”Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had contacted CA directly on Friday to inform them of the updated travel advice. On Monday, the United Kingdom government also updated its travel advice for UK citizens to state that: “Militants may be targeting western interests in Bangladesh in late September; UK officials have been advised to limit attendance at events where westerners may gather.”News agencies have also reported that an Italian charity worker was shot dead in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone on Monday evening, and both and AFP reported that an online statement in the name of Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack.ESPNcricinfo understands the BCB was caught off guard by the departure of Dimasi and Dovey from Bangladesh on Tuesday – the Bangladesh board had expected the two officials to remain in the country until the Australian team arrived. Both CA and the BCB have, over the past two days, expressed their strong desire for the two-Test series to go ahead, though CA’s chief executive James Sutherland said on Sunday that the safety and security of their players and staff was “the absolute priority”.”There has been no change to our position on the matter,” a CA spokesman said on Tuesday. “Following yesterday’s meetings, our head of security, team manager and team security manager are on their way home from Bangladesh for further meetings with the Department of Foreign Affairs and to brief our board, management and players on the situation.”The BCB on Monday expressed its confidence that the series would go ahead as scheduled, and also named a squad for the first Test in Chittagong. The first Test is scheduled to start on October 9, with the second Test due to begin in Dhaka on October 17.

Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, has filed a counter-charge against board president Norman Arendse after a heated exchange between the two and in response to disciplinary charges filed against him with regard to a selection dispute over the squad for the tour to Bangladesh.”Yes, there is animosity between us,” Arthur told . “I told him he was power-crazy and egotistical but I never swore at him.”I’ve taken him on about this team. The transformation policy that Arendse wants to be applied does not exist. He is out of bounds. I told him he was not a selector and should keep his nose out of team selections. I can say now that he regularly sends back teams,” Arthur said, while not elaborating when such incidents took place.”Unfortunately I felt I had no choice but to do likewise [file a counter-charge],” Arthur told Reuters. “The president accused me of all sorts of things apart from failing, or even refusing to implement CSA’s (Cricket South Africa’s) transformation policies. That is simply untrue.”Arthur’s comments come in the wake of his argument with Arendse in a second teleconference yesterday to sort out the team’s selection. Arendse, in the first discussion on Tuesday, reportedly refused to approve the the squad chosen by the six-man selection committee, of which Arthur is a member, as it contained less than seven coloured players.”What’s his problem? We have a good, established team and with the exception of one match we have fielded four black players in every Test this season,” said Arthur. “I don’t know where he gets the idea that there should be seven black players in the touring team.”Arendse alleged that Arthur had behaved in a “disrespectful” and “abusive” manner in the meeting, and had laid disciplinary charges against him and indicated that CSA policy about team selection was not followed. “If a coach says, ‘There’s no transformation policy’ [among selectors], if he says, ‘Sorry, I’m not prepared to implement CSA’s policies’, then his position is untenable.”Arthur, however, had a different take on it. “The president’s implication would appear to be that I prefer to select white players over black players, which is deeply insulting and hurtful,” he said. “[Coloured players like] Hashim Amla, Charl Langeveldt and JP Duminy have all established themselves in the national squad in my time as coach while Ashwell Prince became the country’s first black captain.”Arthur also said he had received an “insulting” email from Arendse, over which he had obtained legal advice.Meanwhile, Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, said the dispute between the two would be handled internally as per the board’s human resources procedures. “CSA has formal HR procedures, and this matter will be dealt with in this forum and a statement will be issued at the appropriate time.”It is regretted that these disputes have been aired in the public domain, particularly on the eve of an important touring season for the Proteas.”

Chris Dehring, the World Cup chief executive, has conceded the seven-week tournament is too long but said shortening it would have risked important matches being washed out. He also argued that ticket prices were not too high for locals and said the small crowds at some venues were caused in part by the live television coverage in the host nations.Dehring said the next World Cup, to be held on the subcontinent in 2011, might be abridged. “One of the shortfalls of the last World Cup in South Africa was that rain played such an important factor,” Dehring told The Courier-Mail. “We decided this time to make sure you had adequate rain days so there is a rain day for every game.”But, of course, that is going to elongate the tournament. It is a difficult balancing act but you would always prefer a shorter event. It is difficult to maintain momentum in an event over such a long period. We would have preferred a shorter event had it been possible, but to do that there would not have been rain days. I think they may change it next time.”Matthew Hayden said this week the tournament was dragging on too much for everyone involved.Keeping fans interested for nearly two months has proved a challenge and crowds at some venues have been very disappointing. However, Dehring said attendances were not as disastrous as they appeared.”The lower-end ticket prices were certainly cheaper than what they were for a standard one-day international in the West Indies,” he said. “In some countries ticket prices had an impact on attendances but in some countries it clearly didn’t.”In Jamaica it didn’t because the matches involving the West Indies there were very well attended. The fact that it was live on television in small countries where it has never happened before has made a real difference.”Organisers have also been criticised for a perceived crackdown on musical instruments, which some spectators said removed the unique Caribbean feel from the stadiums. Dehring said there was no reason fans could not take instruments like conch shells, provided they were pre-registered with officials.”The conch shell thing was precautionary because we wanted to know who was bringing things,” he said. “We wanted to make sure they were reputable people.”

Scorecard

Rajin Saleh’s maiden one-day international century powered Bangladesh to a whitewash of their series against Kenya. A commanding stand of 175 with Habibul Bashar hurried them across the line with more than eight overs to spare, despite the loss of three early wickets. Steve Tikolo had earlier provided the ballast for Kenya with an assertive 81 as they posted their highest total of the series.However, Bangladesh have become more convincing as the four matches have progressed and really strutted their stuff during the run chase. Saleh took his time in the early stages, a situation forced on him by some loose shots from the top order. But he ensured the required rate never spiralled out of control and started to impose himself after 15 overs of consolidation.Bashar had not reached a half-century for 20 ODI innings, so the chase was at a crucial juncture when he joined Saleh in the 14th over. Bangladesh’s two leading strokemakers, Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed, had played their shots too early and another quick strike would have left Kenya poised for a face-saving victory. Bashar, though, worked the ball around and with Saleh finding the boundary the Kenyans began to loose their sparkle.As the result became a formality the main interest revolved around whether Saleh would be able to reach his ton. Bashar gave the strike to his partner and Saleh crossed the milestone shortly before the winning mark. It was only the third ODI century by a Bangladesh batsman, and another important mark of their steady improvement over recent months.The Bangladesh opening bowlers handed them the advantage as they made the most of early movement after Kenya chose to bat. Runs were coming at less than two-an-over when David Obuya was trapped plumb in front by Mashrafe Mortaza, who had deserved the success after repeatedly beating the batsmen with the new ball.Tikolo realised that he firstly needed to repair the early damage, but was still quick to latch onto anything off line, twice threading Syed Rasel to the boundary in the same over. Modi was the ideal foil and the pair produced the most significant stand of the innings – 95 in 20 overs. Bangladesh were struggling to make an impression on the experienced pair and Tikolo was just beginning to put his foot in the accelerator when Mohammad Rafique again proved his importance to the team.Rafique sealed Bangladesh’s victory in the third ODI, and here removed both key batsmen. Tikolo was disappointed to be dispatched lbw on the front foot, but replays suggested his stride wasn’t as confident as it first appeared and the ball was heading towards middle and leg.The middle order stuttered and at 164 for 6 the hardwork of Modi and Tikolo was being frittered away. Collins Obuya and Tony Suji played sensibly to add 54 off 40 balls as Kenya crossed the 200-mark. However, despite a promising start from the bowlers, it proved nowhere near enough to trouble Bangladesh, who will have gained important confidence from their impressive performances.

Jamaica 372 and 252 for 2 (Gayle 150*) beat Leeward Islands 180 and 442 (Jacobs 140, Morton 103) by 8 wickets
Scorecard
Chris Gayle smashed his second century of the game and propelled Jamaica to a comprehensive eight-wicket win in the final of the Carib Beer Series at Alpart. Gayle, who had rattled up 131 in the first innings, took Jamaica to their second title of the season and also became only the second Jamaican to score two centuries in the same match in the West Indies first-class competition. Allan Rae, who died recently, had achieved the feat 58 years ago.Gayle creamed two sixes and 15 fours on the way to his 21st first-class hundred. He sealed the triumph with characteristic flourish as he lofted Omari Banks, the offspinner, for a straight six about half-hour before tea. He had his share of luck and survied two reprieves – an edge that flew between the wicketkeeper and first slip and an extremely close lbw appeal later in his innings.He shared a vital 164-run stand with Wavell Hinds (48) that set the platform before adding 64 with Tamar Lambert to complete the comfortable victory.