India's tour of England

Mark Butcher is on course to play in next week's first Test against India after declaring himself fit to return to action following surgery on his knee.

It was a timely piece of good news for the selectors, who were forced to postpone Thursday's scheduled announcement of the Test squad for 48 hours because of various injury problems.

Providing Butcher suffers no reaction during Surrey's game against Kent, which starts on Friday, he looks certain to be Michael Vaughan's opening partner at Lord's next week.

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Tour match, Arundel, day three:
India 253-7 dec. & 255 v West Indies A 266 & 81-4

India drew their match against the West Indies A team, thanks to another sparkling half-century by Mohammed Kaif.

Kaif hit a six and eight fours in his 77 after India had struggled to 149 for six.

Acting captain Vangipurrapu Laxman eventually declared with a lead of 242, giving his bowlers the chance to make some inroads into the West Indies A batting line-up in the final session.

Match report

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Upon his arrival in India, Yuvraj Singh admitted he was disappointed not to be playing in the Test series against England, but was proud of his achievements in the NatWest series final.

"It will take two to three weeks to recover completely and I would like to be fit for the champions trophy in Sri Lanka in the second week of September," he added.

Miscellaneous

A confidential Australian Cricket Board plan to cram seven Test matches into the summer of 2003-04 is likely to meet strong resistance from players already concerned that the international program is too heavy.

The ACB is believed to have drafted plans to host as many as eight Test matches each summer beyond 2003-04 to capitalise on the success and popularity of its world champion team.

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THE South Australian Cricket Association is considering selling the naming rights to Adelaide Oval to help fund the ground's redevelopment.

SACA president Ian McLachlan said the SACA board was considering the move, especially after the State Government's decision to remove its share of the oval's proposed $57 million upgrade.

Treasurer Kevin Foley withdrew $11m that had been put aside by the previous Government, placing SACA's plans in limbo.

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Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive officer James Sutherland today announced that the National Selection Panel (NSP) has chosen the Australian squad for its upcoming one-day international series.

These series include the still-to-be confirmed matches against Pakistan in Kenya and the ICC Champions Trophy.

The squad: Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Michael Bevan, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Watson.

World Cup

As demand for the 2003 Cricket World Cup continues unabated, the organising committee has announced that SuperSport Park is the third venue to have sold all its package tickets.

Stadium packages need not be bought at the relevant venue. The majority of the sales were made over the internet and then over the call center

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