Australia in England

Left-arm pace bowler Alan Mullally makes a comeback to the England Test squad for the fourth Test beginning on Thursday at Headingley, Leeds.
All-rounder Craig White and batsman Ian Ward has been dropped to give way to newcomer Somerset's Richard Johnson and skipper Nasser Hussain. Mullally who is a permanent fixture in the England one-day squad was regarded by the Aussies pre-tour as the biggest threat to them.
The 32 year old Mullally has played 18 Tests so far, with 56 wickets. His last match was against South Africa in January 2000 in the famous Centurion one-inning Test match.
Meanwhile discard Craig White hit a career-best 186 for Yorkshire against Lancashire, but was left of the England squad because of his poor form with the ball.

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Rain ruined the chances of a couple of out of form Australian batsmen especially Justin Langer from having a crucial work out in the tour match against Ireland at Dublin. Only 23 overs of play was possible as Australia made 86-1. Hayden was unbeaten with a well compiled half century.

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Former Australian wicket-keeper Rod Marsh and now the new Director of Coaching of the England's National Cricket Academy feels that let-hander Simon Katich should replace injured skipper Steve Waugh in the squad. Marsh has also tipped young Katich as a future Australia captain.

India in Sri Lanka

The coach of the Sri Lankan team Australian Dave Whatmore is of the opinion that Sri Lanka could become a potent force in Test cricket if they show the same kind of intensity as they show in the one-day game.
Sri Lanka have a none too impressive record in Test matches of late having lost home series to Pakistan and England in the past couple of years. Whatmore hopes the team can turn the performance around in the series against India. Whatmore feels the convincing win in the triangular final against India will help boost the Test performance of his side.

West Indies in Kenya

An attractive century by West Indian opener Darren Ganga (105) was the highlight of a drawn three-day match against Kenya at Nairobi yesterday. With the third day's play completely washed out by rain the West Indians resuming at 117-0, used the last day to get some valuable batting practice leading up to the three official one-dayers that begin this week. Final scores: Kenya 290, West Indies 403-7

Miscellaneous

A resident of Ludhiana Harpal Singh Kohli has gone to court alleging that former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has hurt the religious feelings of the Khatri Sikhs. Sidhu it seems during his television commentary said something derogatory about the community, although the cricketer, now in Sri Lanka has apologised for the incident.

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Overlooked by the selectors to participate in the training camp, Pakistani cricketers Wasim Akram, Moin Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed will now participate in the first of three practice matches to be played by the national squad training at Karachi. The decision to drop Wasim had raised quite a hue and cry among the media in Pakistan. Wasim is scheduled to lead one of the sides, while national skipper Waqar Younis is to lead the other.

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