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The hastily arranged contingency plans made by David Collier and the ECB are no longer needed © Getty Images

The ECB have announced that their contingency plans for the forthcoming Twenty20 and one-day series against Pakistan have been stood down following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s commitment to honour the series.The ECB made arrangements to cover the vast potential loss of earnings had Pakistan pulled out of the series; the West Indies were confirmed as Pakistan’s replacement team, and a hastily formed International XI was also arranged in case Pakistan failed to play the Twenty20 match.”Our contingency plan has now been stood down following the unequivocal commitment from the PCB to fulfil the remainder of the tour,” David Collier, the ECB chief executive said, “and we now look forward to an exciting Twenty20 at Bristol on Monday and the five-match NatWest Series One Day Internationals.”In particular I wish to express our gratitude to the West Indies Cricket Board, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and Glamorgan County Cricket Club in addition to our sponsors and broadcasters for their fulsome support of ECB’s contingency plan which was actioned to ensure that we could guarantee matches throughout the Nat West Series for spectators, television viewers and radio listeners,” he said.”ECB also wishes to thank the 12 players who had agreed to play in the International XI and the management team who had been invited to support the International XI.”

ScorecardEngland’s dominance of this match continued on day three of the second Test, as they extended their lead to a daunting 328 runs against Sri Lanka. Despite scoring turgidly for most of the day, their lead is almost certainly enough.England had a first-innings advantage of 67 when they bowled Sri Lanka out yesterday. Starting on 16 without loss this morning, they were disappointed to lose Joe Denly, cheaply, for the second time in the match. However, his fellow opener, Varun Chopra compiled a very patient knock of 64, to cement his side’s innings together. Chopra, from Essex, only struck four 4s, but his stickability was invaluable as he spent over three hours at the crease.The most aggressive partnership of the day came between Chris Thompson and Nicholas James, who put on 91. James’s half century came briskly, from 63 balls, and his seven boundaries, including three sixes, helped drive the momentum of England’s innings forward.Sri Lanka’s bowlers were reasonably tidy, but only Chathupama Gunasinghe, a medium pacer from Galle, looked penetrative. His figures of 4 for 61 helped stem England’s run-rate to under three per over; although they didn’t collapse, the continual tumble of wickets prevented them from truly dominating Sri Lanka’s attack. Despite this, their lead of 328 ought to prove more than enough – but they will need to leave themselves enough time to bowl Sri Lanka out tomorrow.

John Buchanan and Ricky Ponting: honouring their board’s commitments© Getty Images

Australia’s cricketers have been briefed on the latest situation in Zimbabweand will fly out to the country on Thursday with neither fear nor regret,John Buchanan, their coach, has declared.”I wouldn’t think there is any concern,” Buchanan said at a pre-tour camp inBrisbane. “Basically Cricket Australia, and virtually all the information wehave from a security point of view, has allayed anybody’s fears. I thinkthat’s pretty fair to say.”The players were updated on Monday on the state of play in Zimbabwe by TimMay, head of the players’ association, and Cricket Australia’s operationsmanager Michael Brown.”I’m sure every player and all of us think about the issues and come totheir own conclusions,” Buchanan said. “But in the end we’re invited there as cricketers, we’re invited there through the ICC programme. Zimbabwe cricket wants us there and Cricket Australia honour those commitments. We go there as cricketers and that’swhat we’re trying to do.”It is only a week since batsman Darren Lehmann hinted at a deeper clash ofconscience within the Australian team: “We are not a political side,”Lehmann said, “but I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a concern aboutthe whole scenario.”However, Buchanan indicated that if any players had serious concerns theywould have expressed them by now. So far, only Stuart MacGill has pulled outof the tour. Lehmann did not attend yesterday’s briefing because he isplaying county cricket in England.Buchanan made his comments before last night’s latest dramatic twist, whenZimbabwe’s 15 rebel white players were sacked by the national board for notreturning to work. The move seemingly ensures that a third-string Zimbabwe side, similar to the team slaughtered recently by Sri Lanka, will meet world champions Australiain a farcical mismatch. Apparently it matters nought.”I guess we’re still waiting to see what the make-up of the [Zimbabwe] teamwill be once we get to Zimbabwe,” Buchanan said. “But whatever that is we’regoing there to tour and play Test matches and one-day cricket and everybody’s committed to doing that.”Indeed they will not only play but help out where possible, with players andcoaches willing to stage coaching clinics and offer any other off-fieldassistance where desired. “If that presents itself and security is not anissue,” said Buchanan, “we’ll dive at it.”Buchanan meanwhile stood up for Sri Lankan’s champion offspinner MuttiahMuralitharan, who has been lauded and besieged in equal measure sincebreaking the world Test bowling record last week.”He’s a class bowler,” said Buchanan, “and class bowlers should be able tobowl how they see fit.” He described the recent biomechanical testing ofMurali’s doosra as “more a bit of a grease and oil change than anythingelse”.The Australians leave for Zimbabwe on Thursday morning, playing two Testsand three one-day internationals.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, India

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“I know that there are a few people who will not agree with me on India’s chances in the coming World Cup. After losing so badly in New Zealand, most people have begun to say that there is every possibility that India will not even progress to the second stage. My opinion on this matter is one of optimism. I am confident that India will go through to the Super Six stage, and then most probably to the semi-finals as well.”Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka

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“Sri Lanka are down but not out. Despite their confidence being at a low ebb after disappointing tours to South Africa and Australia, I believe that they have a very good chance of qualifying for the Super Six in the World Cup. After that, anything is possible.”

Javed Miandad, Pakistan

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“Pakistan can switch from being the best team in the world to the worst in the blink of an eye. [But] the World Cup, in my view, is a high-prestige arena that could potentially show off the tournament’s best – if Shoaib Akhtar plays and remains fit – bowling attack. Pakistan may be seen to be a foundering team, but one just cannot write them off. The 1992 World Cup is just one example of the team, dubbed no-hopers, clicking in one game and sweeping through to take the Cup.”
Colin Croft, West Indies

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“The West Indies will be a good unit in the not-too-distant future, but the World Cup has come just too early in the development of many of these [young] players. Consequently, they will have to work exceptionally hard if they are to progress from the pools to the Super Six. But miracles do still happen, even in these days of high technology and clones.”Ken Rutherford, New Zealand

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“The Kiwis have always prided themselves on a thorough team ethic and an ability to pull together when times are tough. Fleming has great belief in his side, and with his own captaincy almost faultless, New Zealand will be exceptionally well-prepared. [But they] will need to turn to their star talent if they are to reach the latter stages of the 2003 edition.”Alistair Campbell, Zimbabwe

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“As has come to be almost World Cup tradition, Zimbabwe will enter the tournament in 2003 as one of the least fancied contenders. The prognosis, then, makes for only the slimmest of chances for progress into the Super Six. But as in the past, there will be at least a couple of matches in which the big guns will be obliged to sweat profusely for a win – and perhaps a nasty shock or two awaits them as well.”
Ian Botham, England

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“The temptation to write off an England side that has been outplayed by an Australian team is often irresistible. But to say that England is nowhere near the top of the cricket heap would be a tad unfair. They will really have to play well against India and Pakistan if they want to make it to the next stage.”

Bobby Simpson, Australia

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“On paper, I expect Australia to at least reach the final, but the white ball and probable seaming wickets may pose a problem and expose some batting frailty, particularly with Mr Reliable Steve Waugh missing. An all-fit Australian team has the most potent bowling attack in the world, and that is why they hold the World Cup and are the best Test team. Undoubtedly they will seek to bowl the opposition out rather than just try to contain them.”Fanie de Villiers, South Africa

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“I feel that as South Africa have, at home, a far better record than the other sides, there is no reason to not go all the way. To my mind, they are better than sides in the league phases, and looking beyond the first round, I can only see Australia as the one side who can measure up.”

Going by their current form, and the inconsistency of the opposition,India look runaway favourites for tomorrow’s final of the triangularone-day series against West Indies, as they aim to set recent historyright.India registered comprehensive victories in all their four leaguematches with both Zimbabwe and West Indies hardly posing anychallenge. All their players look to be in fine form and are bubblingwith confidence.But, they have lost the last three finals they have featured in, andin at least two of those tournaments, they had performed exceedinglywell in the league matches. Captain Saurav Ganguly had exactly this inmind even as he expressed confidence with the team’s preparation forthe final.”We have lost three finals in the recent past,” he said referring tothe ICC KnockOut tournament in Nairobi last year, the subsequentSharjah triangular series and the recent home series againstAustralia.”We don’t want to lose one more final this time,” he said. On form andrecord, India seem to have a strong case this time. In both battingand bowling, they have outperformed their opposition by miles. And thefielding has seen tremendous improvement with the youngsters bringingin a lot of energy and vitality on the field.On the other hand, West Indies continue to look a poor imitation oftheir former self. The absence of Brian Lara has seen a shakyperformance by the batsmen while the bowling is hardly formidable.With the captain having regained his batting form, the famous troikacomprising Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid is all set tofire on all cylinders in the final tomorrow. Tendulkar and Dravid havebeen in ominous touch in this tournament though the latter has had acouple of soft dismissals for small scores.V V S Laxman is ready to be included in the side having recovered fromhis finger injury and that would give a boost to the batting orderconsidering that his replacement Dinesh Mongia, though he got someruns, hasn’t looked very comfortable at the number three slot.Laxman, in all probability, will play tomorrow and that makes Mongia’sinclusion doubtful. Hemang Badani, who has shown much promise, hasbeen dismissed cheaply a couple of times and the team will need ahandsome contribution from him on the big stage.The bowlers have done an admirable job on this tour with all the fiveseamers competing with each other in giving an impressive performance.After another good show in the last game, Debasish Mohanty lookscertain to be included for tomorrow’s game along with Ashish Nehra,surely the best bowler for India on this tour.The third seamer’s slot is up for grabs between Zaheer Khan, AjitAgarkar and Harvinder Singh but Zaheer looks to be the favouriteconsidering his consistency in recent times.The West Indies pace department has suffered a setback followingCameroon Cuffy being sidelined for four weeks due to a fracture on hisleft foot. Mervyn Dillon and Reon King have performed only in patchesand it is their spinners Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell whohave comparatively better performances to their credit.Among the batsmen, the bulk of the scoring in this tournament has beendone by openers Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle and wicketkeeper RidleyJacobs.Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the most experienced member of the team apartfrom captain Carl Hooper, has been unable to lend the solidity to themiddle order that was expected of him and has got out cheaply tillnow. It will be important from West Indies’ point of view that hecomes good tomorrow and ensures a good total.Hooper himself has looked good though he has come in pressuresituations where all he was required to do was to go for the bigshots. He will once again be the key to his team putting up animpressive score.Despite the absence of hosts Zimbabwe from the final, tomorrow’s matchis a sold-out affair. The wicket looks favourable to batsmen though itremains to be seen whether the side winning the toss likes to batfirst or not.Ganguly has won the toss on all four ocassions and every time he hassent in the opposition to bat. He would like to do it again, if onlyfor continuity’s sake, but it would be interesting to see how Indiafare if they are forced to bat first tomorrow.Teams (from): India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, RahulDravid, V V S Laxman, Hemang Badani, Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia,Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Samir Dighe, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan,Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Debasish Mohanty, Harvinder Singh.West Indies: Carl Hooper (capt), Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, WavellHinds, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, MahendraNagamootoo, Neil McGarrell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Reon King, MervynDillon, Colin Stuart, Corey Collymore.Umpires: Ian Robinson and Russel Tiffin.

Aston Villa have been reported to be open to selling 24-year-old centre-back Ezri Konsa in the summer, who has a valuation of £22.5m according to Transfermarkt, but would likely cost more than that for any interested clubs.

If they do choose to sell him, manager Steven Gerrard could look to 17-year-old sensation Kerr Smith, who joined the club from Scottish Premiership side Dundee United in January for a mere £864k, after making an impressive 12 senior appearances with his former club.

“He’s a talented boy,” said former Dundee United manager Micky Mellon about him last year. “We enjoy having him here [at Dundee United] and watching him progress. I’m not surprised there would be interest in a 16-year-old that’s as good as him.”

Daily Record reporter Scott Burns also heaped praise on the defender before his transfer to Villa, saying: “He’s done well, considering he’s only 17. He’s obviously quite big and strong, but he’s also very good on the ball.

“I remember Micky Mellon saying Kerr Smith was as good as anyone he’d seen at that age group.”

In his five Scottish Premiership games this season, he averaged 2.8 clearances per game as well as completing 100% of his dribbles, 50% of his duels and picking up just one yellow card throughout the season.

Since moving to the Midlands, he has appeared six times for the youth teams at Villa, but not yet having made an appearance for the senior squad.

According to The Courier, the teenager “shined” on his U23 debut win over Norwich City in the Premier League 2, which was spectated by Gerrard – who would have been impressed with the result which was accompanied with a clean sheet.

The Scotland U19 international will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Bologna star and compatriot Aaron Hickey, who has become one of Europe’s hottest prospects after making the move to Italy from Hearts, where he made his first steps into professional football around the same age as Smith.

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If Villa can unearth his potential, they could have a centre-back for their long-term future for Gerrard to centre his team around.

In other news: AVFC can land Gerrard’s own Grealish in “super-talented” gem who won’t cost a penny 

ScorecardFile photo – Scott Boland ripped through Western Australia•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Chasing 459, Western Australia were wiped out for 102 in 28.2 overs, as Victoria romped home to pick up their second win and rise to the top of the table.Right-arm pacer Scott Boland scythed through Western Australia with career-best figures of 7 for 31. Each of Western Australia’s top three managed double-digit scores but failed to build on it, the last nine wickets tumbling for only 57 runs. James Pattinson collected two wickets while Fawad Ahmed pitched in with one.Earlier in the day, Marcus Stoinis completed his second first-class century, taking his match tally to 185. Rob Quiney managed only nine runs to his overnight score before he was out for 71. Peter Handscomb (63) gave Stonis good company before Aaron Finch struck a quick 45. Victoria eventually declared their innings at 322 for 7, after the fall of Pattinson (0).

Tim Boon: “I look at England, Australia and India as the top three jobs in the world. We all harbour thoughts to lead countries” © Getty Images

Tim Boon, Leicestershire’s senior coach and the latest name to be linked to the Indian coaching job, has said he views the option positively. “I’m in the middle of a contract here in Leicestershire but any county coach will aspire to be an international coach. I look at England, Australia and India as the top three jobs in the world. We all harbour thoughts to lead countries.”His time with England, in 2004 and 2005, was a memorable one, and he feels a well-equipped coaching staff makes a big difference in modern sport. “People tend to forget the role played by the back-room staff in that Ashes win. Little observations matter. It might be a 2% change, something related to down-swing, batsmen trying to hit the ball in the wrong areas. The relentless fielding drills, one-on-ones with players played a part in that Ashes win. It helped them develop clarity in their thinking.”I’m not advocating you have people with white coats but you have a management team that knows what your objective is. You need critical pathways for the players and work towards tiny-margin victories.”However, the Indian board chose not to reveal their cards. Both Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer of the Indian board, and Niranjan Shah, the secretary, refused to comment on the issue.Kepler Wessels, Queensland’s Terry Oliver, former Sri Lanka coach John Dyson, Dave Nosworthy of South Africa and former India wicketkeeper Chandrakant Pandit are the some of the names doing the rounds for the Indian coaching job.The Indian board has sought the help of the boards in England and Australia in the recruitment process. “If they have someone who matches what we need, they will recommend some names to us,” Sharad Pawar, president of the Indian board, had said on August 3. It is expected that the process could take a month.India have been without a coach since Greg Chappell’s resignation after the World Cup. Ravi Shastri took over temporarily as the cricket manager for the Bangladesh tour while Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh were appointed as specialist coaches. After Graham Ford, the former South African coach who is currently the director of cricket at Kent, rejected the board’s offer, Chandu Borde, the former Indian captain, was appointed manager for the tours of England and Ireland.

Graeme Hick has been in good form this season © Getty Images

Graeme Hick has been offered a new one-year contract by Worcestershire.Hick, 40, who has been with the county for 23 seasons, had been pondering his future after a poor start to the season, but he hit good form in June and has not looked back since. Recently he became only the second player since the war to score 100 first-class hundreds for his county (the other being Geoff Boycott).”Graeme is a legend of Worcestershire cricket and is having another good season,” Mark Newton, the Worcestershire chief executive, explained. “I can confirm we recently discussed the situation with him and would love to see him continue to re-write the record books here at Worcestershire. The offer has been made and Graeme has asked for time to consider the situation.”

Younis Khan has been in fine form in 2005 © AFP

Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, and Shahid Afridi, the Pakistani allrounder, have been given pay raises by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). They join Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq as the highest-paid contracted cricketers in Pakistan.The PCB had offered one-year contratcs to 20 players and the highest monthly salary is 200,000 Rupees ($3,352) in addition to match and tour fees. “Younis [Khan] and Afridi have performed outstandingly since last winter and deserved this promotion,” Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, told . He also said that other consistent players had been given new contracts with increases in pay. The second tier group receive a monthly salary of 125,000 Rupees and those in the third get category 75,000 Rupees. Pakistan started the contract system in order to maintain a close watch on the fitness levels of its players and to discourage them from playing abroad in the off-season.Younis has played 37 Test matches and has scored three centuries in his last four Tests. He has performed very impressively in 2005, scoring 778 runs in 12 innings and averaging 70.72. Afridi, who has the distinction of scoring the two fastest centuries in one-day cricket, has also shown much improvement with impressive performances with both bat and ball in 2005.