Australia in England

England came out of nowhere and pulled off one of the greatest run chases to script a remarkable six-wicket win over the Aussies and restore some of their shattered pride. Needing to score 315 runs on the final day, a task never achieved on this ground before, England began poorly once again losing both the openers for just 33 runs on the board.
Mark Butcher and a determined skipper Nasser Hussain came together and built up a match-winning partnership of 181 runs. Mark Ramprakash (32) joined Butcher after Hussain's dismissal and the two briskly took the score to 289 before Ramprakash was dismissed. With a nervous newcomer Usman Afzaal at the crease Butcher took it upon himself to finish the game and blazed away against a bedazzled Australian attack. He remained unbeaten on 173.

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A couple of changes have been made for the England squad to play the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval next week. Phillip Tufnell who claimed 11 wickets in the last Ashes Test played at the Oval has earned a recall.
With Alan Mullaly and Alex Tudor being unlikely to play following injuries Leicestershire's Jimmy Ormond has been called to the side. Senior players Graham Thorpe & Michael Vaughan have not been recalled, with the selectors unsure about their match fitness.
The full team: Nasser Hussain (Capt), Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Alec Stewart (wkt), Alex Tudor, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, James Ormond, Richard Johnson, Robert Croft and Phil Tufnell.

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Australian skipper Steve Waugh has said that he would like to burn the bails and place them in an urn, symbolic of the original one after the fifth and final Oval Test match to be played next week.
The Australians have been reportedly frustrated by the English officials not allowing the original Ashes urn to be taken out of the Lords museum where it has been kept for the past 74 years.
They argue that the condition of the urn was too brittle for it to be taken anywhere, let alone all the way to Australia. ECB officials however have no objections to Waugh burning the bails at Headingly and taking them away.
Australia though hoping for a 5-0 whitewash will have their spirits somewhat dampened now following the remarkable win pulled off by England in the fourth Test.

Miscellaneous

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that it would allow the use of floodlights during the upcoming home series against New Zealand. The early deterioration of lights in cities like Karachi and Lahore has over the years resulted in loss of play in most of the Tests played in the two cities.
The final Test against England that the visitors won in December 2000 was played in near darkness. The PCB said the floodlights would be used in the games against New Zealand as well as the Asian Test Championship match against India.

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed a psychologist for the team to help build mental toughness in the players. The psychologist Dr. Aamir Siddique, has been giving talks to the players in the training camp for the probables of the next season in Lahore.
Siddiqui has been asked to speak to the players as in the PCB noticed that in the last few matches played by Pakistan, the team had slipped from comfortable positions to defeat.

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The Pakistan cricket Board (PCB) has objected to the appointment of ICC match referee John Reid for their Asian Test Championship match at Multan against Bangladesh beginning at the end of this month.
The former New Zealand cricketer was involved in reporting fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's action as suspect to the ICC as well as suspending and fining Waqar Younis for alleged ball tampering. Controversial Australian umpire Darrell Hair is one of the umpires for the match, however the PCB have no objections to his selection.

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The chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Lord McLaurin has called for a reduction in the number of cricketers playing in the county circuit. There are currently about 450 professional cricketers but he felt the game could sustain only half that number. He said he would look to encourage players over 30 to look for alternate careers. He said it was the mission of the ECB to build the best pool of young players by 2007.

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The New Zealand coach of the Ireland cricket team Ken Rutherford is to step down as coach from the end of September. Rutherford said he is stepping down following a series of disappointing results and a period where no progress was made under him.
Rutherford said he was not given the full freedom at times to carry out certain things that would have made the team more competitive. Ireland was one of the favorites to win the recently concluded ICC Trophy in Toronto and make it to the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. However following a poor performance they failed to qualify.

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More cricket has been lined up for the weary Indian team. A gap of nearly 3 weeks between the conclusion of the Test series against England in December, 2001 and the beginning of the one-day series on January 22, 2002 has caught the eye of the Bangladesh cricket Board who have invited India over for a triangular one-day series. India however are yet to accept the invitation.

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Indian pace bowler Javagal Srinath who has been ruled out of the rest of the matches in Sri Lanka following a fracture is likely to be fit in three weeks. The orthopaedic surgeon H.P.C. Khincha who is treating Srinath said the injury was not serious and that he would be ready to bowl again after 3 weeks of rest.

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The former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has expressed his happiness to work in any position for the English county Lancashire for whom he played professional cricket from 1988-1998.
But he said any such offer would be considered only after he retired as a player, which would be most probably after the 2003 World Cup. Lancashire is without a coach at the end of the season as former Australian Bob Simpson has been asked to be relieved. Geoff Boycott, Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch are the others being considered for the post.
Akram had to bowl in a two-day trial match in Karachi earlier this week as part of Pakistan's team selection for the upcoming season. He took 3-37 in 18 overs and said it was up to the selectors to determine his fitness.
He felt it was disappointing to have to play trials after serving the country for well over 16 years but agreed that a rule for all, would be followed by him as well

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Viv Richards, Richard Hadlee, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border have been appointed international ambassadors for the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. Bacher hopes to rope in the famous cricketers of the world to to visit schools, hold coaching clinics and give motivational talks to young players during the World Cup, which will be played from February 6 to March 19 2003. Bacher said this was part of a policy to use cricket to bring people together.

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New Zealand will host the next Under-19 World Cup to be played in January and February next year. Sixteen teams will participate in matches that will be held in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. India are the defending champions having won the last tournament played in Sri Lanka.

Brief Scores

ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA (4th Test)
Played at Headingly Leeds (5th day)
Toss:Australia
Australia: 447 (R Ponting 144, M Waugh 72 D Martyn 118; D Gough 5-103, A Caddick 3-143)
176-4 decl (M Hayden 35, R Pontiong 72; D Gough 2-68)

England: 309 (M Trescothick 37, M Butcher 47, N Hussain 46, M Ramprakash 30, A Stewart 76 not out; G McGrath 7-76)
315-4 (M Butcher 173 not out, N Hussain 55, M Ramprakash 32; J Gillespie 2-94)

Result:England won by 6 wicket.
Man of the match: Mark Butcher (Eng)

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