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Hampshire Cricket will name their second overseas signing next week but itwill not be Mark Waugh.The county had been in the hunt for the 37-year-old Australian star andheld preliminary talks, but they have now decided to turn theirattentions elsewhere.New cricket manager Paul Terry has indicated he would prefer a youngerplayer to join Shane Warne at the Rose Bowl next season. And a dealto bring the unnamed batsman to Hampshire is set to be completed withinthe next seven days.Chairman Rod Bransgrove is flying to Perth on Thursday.And Bransgrove is more than willing to listen to the advice of Terry,who has spent the past seven years scouting talent in Australia.Bransgrove said: ‘It is all coming to a close and Tim Tremlett will makean announcement late next week.’

LONDON – England looked set to start life without Graham Thorpe soonerrather than later after his county side Surrey said the class batsmanwas “extremely unlikely” to play again this season.Thorpe, 33, decided to take an indefinite break from all cricket afterEngland’s first Test victory over India at Lord’s in July.His move was prompted by the break-up of his marriage and discussionsabout access arrangements to his young children, Henry, 5 and Amelia, 3.However, England hoped that the left-handed middle-order batsman wouldreturn before the end of the season to press his claims for selection inthe 2002-2003 Ashes series in Australia.But given that England coach Duncan Fletcher had said that Thorpe can’tbe picked “out of the blue”, his chances of selection now appear to behanging by a thread.Earlier this season Thorpe announced his retirement from internationalone-day cricket in a bid, he said, to ease his personal problems andprolong his Test career.Then came the announcement of his break from all forms of the game.The news that he will not be playing again this season is sure tointensify speculation over his international future.Even those who question his commitment to the England cause cannotdispute his record on the field.In an era where Australia has dominated Ashes Tests (England’s lastseries victory was back in 1986-87), Thorpe has still averaged over 45against them.Thorpe, capped 77 times by England, has repeatedly proved himself as abig-match performer, scoring the second-fastest Test double hundredagainst New Zealand in Christchurch in March.But, thanks to a combination of both personal and back problems, Thorpehas only completed one full touring program out of the past five.He now faces the prospect of losing out on one of the new annual Englandcentral contracts worth STG200,000 ($A574,000) which are due to be givento 16 players at the end of the current domestic season.Australia captain Steve Waugh, in England as Kent’s replacement overseasplayer for the rest of the season, paid tribute to Thorpe.”He’s a class player and he has made a decision that’s right for hisfamily,” he said.”You have to respect him for that. It’s a courageous decision when youare playing for your country and he wouldn’t have made it lightly.”I just hope he comes back and plays Test cricket or one-day cricketagain.”

New Queensland captain Maher felt 240 was a very achievable target on a small ground with a good wicket and fast outfield and felt the Bulls contributed to their downfall.”We made the mistakes ourselves. I don’t think they were forced errors, so that’s something we can look back on and use in preparation for upcoming games,” Maher said.”To their credit, NSW bowled and fielded well. Going out to bat I thought 240 was well below par, a score that I was very happy to be chasing, but we just didn’t do it with the bat.”Queensland had a perfect start when NSW opener Brad Haddin was run out off the first ball without facing as he charged down the pitch without looking at opening partner Corey Richards.Experienced Queensland fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz (2-30 off 10 overs) conceded just 12 runs in his initial seven over burst.Batting three places higher than he normally does for Australia, Bevan capitalised on the chance to play a long innings and played several dashing cuts and drives.He added 90 with Richards (36) and 85 with Michael Clarke (39) and struck nine fours in his 138th ball innings.Man of the match Nash, and Bracken, who whipped out Martin Love (0) and Lee Carseldine put NSW in control until the furious mid innings onslaught from Symonds who smashed ten fours and three sixes.

The Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) is pleased to announce three additions to its list of State Contracted Players for season 2002-03.Callum Thorp, Beau Casson and Peter Worthington have been included in the Western Warriors squad for next season after the WACA’s International and Interstate Committee gave formal approval of recommendations made by the WA State Selectors.Beau Casson and Peter Worthington have been awarded a Rookie Contract and Callum Thorp a Senior Contract. Last season Worthington held a Senior Contract and Casson held a Rookie Contract.27 year old Thorp is tall right-arm out-swing bowler and handy lower order batsman from Wanneroo Cricket Club.Thorp was awarded a contract following an outstanding 2001-2002 season in the WACA s Sunsmart League, where he claimed 50 wickets at an average of 16.38 and finished second in the Olly Cooley medal.Thorp was selected in the WA 2nd XI for the final game of last season and showed his capabilities by taking 4-52 from 17.5 overs in the 1st innings and 3-22 from 13.1 overs in the 2nd. He also scored 28 runs in the WA 2nd innings, batting at number 8.The WACA has the option of awarding a further Senior Contract and Rookie Contract prior to finalising its list of contracted Players for season 2002-2003.

Leicestershire captain Vince Wells is set to return to the side for the Norwich Union League match against Warwickshire at Grace Road on Sunday (1.0pm)Wells had to pull out of the current Frizzell County Championship clash with Hampshire after aggravating a troublesome neck injury.But he is now fit again and looks certain to lead the team against Warwickshire, who are the Benson and Hedges Cup winners and joint leaders in the Norwich Union League.The in-form Edgbaston side will provide the sternest test yet for Leicestershire and the game promises to be an exciting one with a big crowd expected. Leicestershire will be boosted by their excellent win over Glamorgan at Swansea a week ago.In addition to Wells, seamer Jamie Grove is also in the squad after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.The team will be selected from : Wells, Ward, Sutcliffe, Stevens, Bevan, Maddy, Burns (wicket-keeper), Cunliffe, DeFreitas, Crowe, Grove, Malcolm, Whiley.

The home advantage works out for every cricketing country but perhaps it is most evident in India’s case. That is, if one observes the dismal overseas record.Backed by tailor made pitches, vociferous support from local crowds and familiar surroundings, Indian cricketers have been labelled tigers at home. But their abysmal record overseas has also led to them being ridiculed as lambs abroad. Faster and bouncier tracks, the inability to negotiate the mowing ball in a rarefied atmosphere and alien surroundings are some of the obvious reasons why Indian teams fail on a tour. In the past, the umpiring was also said to be a factor, though one supposes that visiting teams to India could also attribute their defeats to this. In any event, this factor may not be all that crucialthese days with the formation of an ICC panel but the fact that one of the two umpires is still a home official can lead to allegations against biased umpiring.Going by some of the recent utterances by the Indian team management, it would appear that there is going to be one more factor against the team doing well on the string of foreign trips coming up over the next few months. The record overseas is bad enough without team members putting pressure on themselves. "Our aim is to win a series abroad which will set right a lot of things," Sourav Ganguly is quoted to have said during the conditioning camp currently on in Bangalore. Star batsman VVS Laxman, in the course of a TV interview last week, said "for a long time now I have dreamt of being part of an Indian sidethat wins an overseas series," admitting that he was impatient to deliver on the coming tour of Zimbabwe. Even Indian coach John Wright has chimed in. According to him, the time is right for India to end a 15-year Test series drought outside the subcontinent. “The time is right to strike,” Wright is quoted to have said in Bangalore. “We have proven to ourselves and the Indian public that we play good cricket. All we have to do now is to play to our full potential. I look to the Zimbabwe tour as a great opportunity to set things right."It is well known that history is overwhelmingly against India. Take Zimbabwe itself. In two Tests there on two tours, India has lost one and drawn the other. And the drawn Test was the inaugural game that Zimbabwe played.But then this is nothing new. The record is just in keeping with tradition. In England, India did not score their first victory till the 22nd Test they played there. In Australia, the first win by the Indians was in the 12th match they played `Down Under’. In the West Indies, they scored their maiden triumph in their 12th Test. In Pakistan, the record is the pits. After 20 Tests, spread over five tours from 1954-55 to 1989-90, India have yet to score a victory. InSouth Africa too, India have yet to break their duck after seven Tests.Overall too, the Indians have a woeful record overseas. They have won only two rubbers in England and one each in West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They have yet to win a rubber in South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. Their last series victory outside the sub continent was against England in 1986. With this kind of dubious record, is it any wonder that the Indians are ridiculed as lambsabroad?But the Indian team management, by putting pressure on themselves, are not doing anything to help their cause. Being keen to win abroad is understandable but there seems to be a desperate ring about the Indian team’s attitude towards the goal of doing well overseas. And this kind of approach will only put pressure on the team members. As it is, the record abroad is dismal. Performing under pressure is not the way to try and improve upon it. The Indians will have to take the tours of Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and South Africa as just another contest and not get unnerved by them or treat them like some sort of `Super Tests’. Calm, cool, methodical efficiency is what is required to do well abroad, not desperate measures that can only boomerang.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced the introduction of a Fixed Penalty disciplinary system for the coming season for registered County players. It supplements, but does not replace, the previous system whereby Counties and/or ECB took discretionary disciplinary action.Breaches of discipline and the Spirit of Cricket are placed into four categories, each with a fixed penalty, ranging from a reprimand through to a scale of demerit points. A player who accumulates the appropriate number of demerit points in any 12-month period will receive an automatic suspension.An ECB Disciplinary Panel may consider taking further action if it considers the offence warrants a tougher penalty than the minimum provided under the fixed penalty procedures. The ECB anticipates, however, that generally the fixed penalty will suffice to meet the seriousness of the offence. Fixed penalties will be generated by umpires reporting a player to the ECB but on the field procedures for the umpires remain unchanged – there are no yellow or red cards.Commenting on the new system, Alan Fordham, (ECB Cricket Operations Manager), said, “While we recognise that on-field behaviour had not seriously declined, this new system is designed to assist umpires and is aimed at being fair and consistent. We welcome it and feel confident that it will maintain the good standard of discipline in our domestic game”.

Bengal were bowled out for 247 by two teenagers in reply to the hosts’total of 467 at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation Ground on thethird day of the Ranji Trophy pre-quarter-final match against Barodaon Monday.Baroda chose not to enforce the follow-on and were 121 for two whenstumps were drawn. SS Parab (33) and Jacob Martin (31) wereat the crease with the hosts having an overall lead of 341 runs.The wreckers-in-chief in the Bengal innings were 17-year-old IrfanPathan and 19-year-old Irfan Khan Pathan. Irfan Pathan bagged 3/40with his left arm medium pacers while the right handed medium pacerIrfan Khan Pathan picked up 4/59.Bengal resumed at one for no loss. Opener Nikhil Haldipur (2) wascastled by Irfan Khan Pathan to the first ball of his spell. Pathanbowled a tight spell but was not supported well by Rakesh Patel fromthe other end. Patel was guilty of overstepping and he had 17 no ballsand six wides in his spell.At the other end, opener AA Lahiri (10) and skipper Debang Gandhi (0),both fell prey to the accurate IK Pathan. Bengal were tottering at 24for three until Rohan Gavaskar (61) and Shrikant Kalyani (48) put on aface saving 101-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Both batsmenfell in quick succession just when the team wanted either of the twoto drop anchor and build on the innings.On their dismissal, Baroda put the pressure back on the Bengal middleorder. It was a brave fightback from the lower order in the shape ofveteran all rounder Utpal Chatterjee (52 not out) and AK Das (32) whoadded a crucial 69 runs for the eighth wicket. But this was not enoughas the Bengal innings folded up in 51 overs.Baroda in their second essay lost the wickets of Connor Williams (32)and H Jadhav (17), both falling to Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

Indian coach John Wright said in Bangalore on Monday that two or threespinners and four seamers would be the ideal bowling attack in the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe. “I personally favour the inclusion of two or three spinners as well as four seamers for the team which would tour Zimbabwe,” he told reporters after the end of the second day of the conditioning camp for probables. “But the matter has to be discussed and gone through,” Wright added.On Sourav Ganguly’s lack of form during the recent Australian series,Wright said it was only a matter of time before the Indian captain would strike form again. “Sourav is a world class player. He has got tremendous average in both forms of the game……everyone goes through a lean spell,” he said. “He (Sourav) is very good at the nets. He is working hard and has good tactics”.Wright said Punjab batsman Yuvraj Singh, one of the probables, had passed the fitness target set for him.On India’s dismal away record in the past, Wright said, it was because the country did not play good cricket and to its potential. “We have proved to ourselves and the Indian public that if we play good cricket, we get some good results. Unless you play good cricket, you don’t get good results. If we play to our potential, I am very hopeful that we will get the results everybody wants,” he said, responding to a question about India’s prospects in Zimbabwe where India also play West Indies in a One-day tri-series competition. “Your prospects anywhere completely depend on the quality of players. From that point of view, we have to build on the effort from the last series (against Australia which India won 2-1),” he said.

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal have until December 30 to provide the PCB with the necessary documents to clear their names for World Cup selection.”The PCB has asked them to submit the documents about their assets and bank accounts by December 30 to be considered in the list of probables for the World Cup,” Subhan Ahmad, the board’s COO, told .The ICC had extended Pakistan’s deadline for the submission of its preliminary 30-member squad for the tournament to January 5, after receiving a request from the board. Kamran and Malik have not played for Pakistan since their controversial tour of England in August and were left out of the tour to the United Arab Emirates. They have also been denied permission to play league cricket in Bangladesh. The PCB has remained fairly tight-lipped about the reasons for their exclusion.Kamran and Malik had both questioned the board’s decision to not clear them for the New Zealand tour. Kamran had written to the ICC asking if he was under investigation and got a clean chit from them. The ICC had sent him and Salman Butt notices during Pakistan’s tour of England in August, seeking information about events related to the 2010 World Twenty20 held in May.Legspinner Danish Kaneria, who has not figured in Pakistan’s one-day plans in recent times, was also earlier given until the end of the year to submit his replies to the board’s integrity committee’s queries, in order to gain clearance to play for the country.