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David Graveney, the England chairman of selectors, said the meeting prior to the third npower Test match was one of the most important in quite some time. They faced some big decisions, he said. Well, after much head-scratching they have now been made. And the reaction: one good, one bad and one for the future.With Graham Thorpe unavailable with a back injury, Ed Smith was the second-best option to replace Anthony McGrath. Smith has been in fine fettle for Kent, and his selection is a plus point for county cricket. Previous players, such as Chris Adams and Aftab Habib, have made big waves in the domestic game and then drowned when thrown into the deep end of Test cricket. Smith deserves his chance to prove he isn’t one of them.Gareth Batty is unlikely to play at Trent Bridge unless England choose two spinners, but his inclusion confirms his position as twirler No. 2 to Ashley Giles. Batty had a tough taster in his two one-day internationals against Australia last winter, and impressed many with his loopy offspin. His inclusion will also keep Giles on his toes.With a clutch of fast-bowling injuries such as Richard Johnson, Matthew Hoggard, Alex Tudor (the list goes on), England searched far and wide for a replacement for Darren Gough. The obvious successor, James Kirtley, has been with them all summer. After missing out in the four Tests so far this season, he deserves to make his debut. However, England now have another option in Glen Chapple.Chapple, 29, completes the triumvirate of new faces. His inclusion is the most shocking, but it would be harsh to call it a shocker. He has the experience of three England A tours, and has been a consistent performer for Lancashire for over ten years – and boy, do the England attack need consistency. Admittedly he would bolster the lower order, but he’s no Gough with the ball. Could he be another McGrath (Anthony, not Glenn) in disguise?James Anderson and Steve Harmison have correctly kept their places and they need to stop bowling with learner plates on their backs and appreciate the virtues of the other two L’s (line and length). Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart haven’t been pensioned off, although it might have been the end of a long and tiring road for Nasser if Thorpe had been fit. Michael Vaughan hinted he didn’t want Hussain, Stewart and Thorpe in the same team, but he needs at least two of them in these uncertain times for England.Probable team1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Ed Smith, 6 Alec Stewart (wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 James Kirtley, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Anderson.

England will be without Graham Thorpe for the rest of the Test series in India.The Surrey left-hander is flying back to England today to sort out personal matters at home.The decision to let Thorpe go home for the last fortnight of the six-week tour was taken last night. Thorpe, 32, has been replaced in the side for the second Test by Yorkshire’s Michael Vaughan.An England and Wales Cricket Board statement read: “The England team management today announced that Graham Thorpe is to return to England and consequently will play no further part in the Test series with India.”Pressing matters of a personal nature have arisen that required Graham’simmediate attention.”The team management request that Graham’s privacy and that of his family berespected by all.”Michael Vaughan will replace Graham in the second Test.”

Potchefstroom – They are known as the North West Dragons, and for most of the season their fire has spluttered rather than roared in defiance. On Thursday night they trailed a smoke haze across their new stadium when it was officially opened and cracked the 200 mark for the second time this season before losing by 41 runs against an England XI.While the tourists used the outing to utilise their options for their opening match of the triangular series in Bloemfontein on Sunday, and put a solid, if unconvincing 264 for nine on the board, North West did what they could to give the local public a little to remember scoring 223 for eight.A pity the chaotic melee provided by an unruly crowd at the end let down their side who did what they could, having previously failed three times this season to reach 100.Yet it was not a batting performance to remember: there were odd patches as well as a first wicket partnership of 71 between Gary Outram and Hendrick de Vos. After that the locals were not going to be in the hunt – there was solid batting down the order with 30s littering the scorecard rather than an impressive half-century.If England had been hoping for a big response from Hick and Adams after Nasser Hussain had won the toss, the partnership of 102 against average bowling did notquite fill the expectations.As it is there were rumblings over allegations of a row between Alec Stewart and the skipper over Stewart’s so-called “sacking” by being sent home early. Although David Clark, the England Cricket Board media liaison officer on tour for the slogs, said the team refuted the claims, it is known Hussain and Duncan Fletcher were “quietly livid at such false claims” on the eve of the triangular series. Plans for Stewart to go back to England had been approved some time ago when the Test tour and limited-overs squads were announced.Instead of Chris Read keeping wicket here though we had the specialist utility all-rounder Mark Alleyne, the Gloucestershire captain who kept wicket for England A on their more recent tour of Bangladesh and New Zealand.The rumpus, which blew up yesterday may have deflected Hussain’s thoughts from his own game plan with an edge into the stumps curtailing his performance while Nick Knight was less impressive.Yet it was the windmill style action of exhibitionist David Pryke, who collected five wickets in the innings, which undid Chris Adams. The Sussex captain has battled this tour to make an impression and yesterday found the unusual style of Pryke a problem.Pryke also gives the impression he delivers from almost 18 metres instead of the regulation 20.12 metres and Adams found the foot shuffle, more accentuated than that of Mike Procter, was unable to get his own footwork going. His best is four for 38, but as this is a friendly the five for 32 does not really count: four of the five in his last four over spell.If anything the partnership showed that in normal circumstances Hick and Adams could be a dangerous pair. Hick’s own batting carried all the hallmarks of his flat-track bully mood: tough, hard and aggressive. The bowler knows he has been up against it when facing Hick in this mood.There was some swashbuckling slog from Vikram Solanki as well during the partnership with Craig White as they rattled along a 50 partnership off 33 balls. Not bad at all for a first game in the South African veld.

When Leeds United travel to Selhurst Park later next month to take on Crystal Palace, there will be one player in the opposition ranks whom the club will wonder what could have been.

Michael Olise has been one of the shining lights for the Eagles this season in the Premier League as they continue to push up the table, but he could have been playing for the white of Leeds had the Yorkshire club acted on their interest.

Reports back in January 2021 suggested that then manager Marcelo Bielsa was very interested in landing the France U21 international, but a deal failed to materialise.

Then, according to TEAMtalk in the summer, Ligue 1 champions Lille put their name into the hat to take the teenager back to his native France, with the French side battling Leeds for his signature.

Of course in the end, it was fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace who won the race for him, and it’s been a debut campaign in the top-flight that has surely left Leeds thinking ‘what if’.

With seven goals and 12 assists, Olise was an absolute revelation in the Championship for Reading last term, and it’s no surprise that he has earned so many reviews for both his performances and incredible technical ability.

His Reading team-mate Sam Baldock said early last year: “Michael is a real talent, he’ll get on the ball in any situation. He’s fearless, if you ask him today I’ll guarantee that he had no nerves. He’s a lively character and one who I’ve noticed a real change in the last couple of months.”

Hailed as “super talented” by Reading boss Veljko Paunović, Olise’s former Royals manager Jose Gomes added: “Michael is really special. He can see, even before receiving the ball, more options than regular players. His technical ability and speed, decision capacity is really, really good.”

Signed for just £8m by Palace and becoming Patrick Vieira’s first signing in charge at Selhurst Park, the young Frenchman has come on leaps and bounds under the Arsenal Invincible, now being valued at a hefty £25m by CIES.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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This campaign has seen him score four goals and provide an impressive nine assists in just 26 games across all competitions, including registering goal contributions against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League.

The 5 foot 9 star is really making Leeds pay for not taking the leap of faith last year.

AND in other news – Forget Joffy: Marsch can get Leeds rocking by finally unleashing “phenomenal” 20 y/o

Thailand may be a cricketing backwater, but the game these has a decent foothold and it also attracts touring sides to the prestigious Chaing Mai Sixes.However, the national board continues to attract much criticism and that is now spilling over into the country’s main competition, the Bangkok Cricket League, which is due to start its new season this month.The problem comes as a direct result of battles for control of the Cricket Association of Thailand. Elections last year were overturned by those in power and, in a bid to consolidate their position, they sought to outlaw the established league and set up a rival – and supportive – one of their own. They also blocked the BCL from using established grounds, in effect attempting to leave it with nowhere to play.Despite threats, including suggestions that anyone playing in the BCL would be ineligible for the national team, there seemed to have been lukewarm support for the CAT-authorised version. Sources claim that 16 sides wanted to take part in the BCL while only four – three of which have close links to senior board officials – wanted to play in the CAT version.Faced with such overwhelming opposition the CAT has now compromised and it seems likely that there will be one competition. But now the teams must accept that offer and it remains to be seen if they are willing to get into bed with the CAT given the strong feeling against the way its committee appears to have brushed aside democratic elections.One source told Cricinfo: “They fail to see the real reason why people are angry … the failure of the democratic process which came to head last November. The people voted but their votes meant nothing.”

Brian Lara scored his 33rd hundred but it wasn’t enough to help West Indies salvage a draw © AFP

So where do West Indies go from here?To say 300 kilometres south-west to Multan is the obvious answer, but may not be the one most are looking for in the aftermath of the heavy defeat at Lahore. The deeper, more analytical response, is just as self-evident, except that too many people are seeking solace from umpiring errors and an assortment of other excuses so as not to face up to a fundamental reality.As well as the Caribbean cricketers have progressed as a unit in one-day internationals during the course of this year, too many of them still don’t know how to play Test cricket. It’s not just about the results, which are damning enough, but the repetitive manner in which they tend to subside, at home and abroad, which underscore that reality.They are all capable of individual brilliance, and we have seen several of those flashes in the very recent past from batsmen and bowlers alike. But a Test match, like a cricket team, is the sum of its parts. It’s no use dominating opponents for a session if the effort can’t be sustained, day in day out, until victory is achieved.We like to highlight turning points in a match – a key wicket, a brilliant catch or a straight six off the most threatening bowler-because it is easy to hinge a result on one or two incidents. However, in a contest as protracted as this, these are essentially just points along a graph, and the overall effort must be anchored in a solid base of discipline and perseverance, qualities that demand a high level of concentration.Talking about bowling a consistent line or going back and across is the easy part compared to developing those intangible elements in players, the vast majority of whom are the products of a popular culture of instant gratification.Just look at what happened yesterday at the Gaddafi Stadium.Another masterful hundred from Brian Lara, superbly supported by Shivnarine Chanderpaul, finally put some real backbone in the West Indies effort and threatened to give the home team a few worries heading into the final day. Yet from the moment of Lara’s demise, the fight went out of the side (Chanderpaul’s wild swipe at Danish Kaneria shortly after was immediate confirmation) and the last six wickets tumbled for 53 runs.Anything new in that? Close your eyes and call a cricket venue anywhere in the world and there is a very good chance that almost the exact scene would have been played out in that arena at some time over the past 11 years.

Bravo, who 29 months after his Test debut has not yet experienced what it is like to be in a winning Test team, seemed in the mood for some playful old talk with his fellow countryman, except that Lara wasn’t particularly accommodating and at one point in the brief exchange looked as if he was uttering a few stern words

For Lara, it must be an increasingly deflating experience, never mind the usual empty platitudes about learning from this latest setback and staying positive and focused ahead of the next match. What else can he say at a post-match ceremony, that we should forfeit the remaining Tests and play 12 ODIs instead so that everyone can return to preparing for the World Cup?Maybe I’m reading too much into it, especially from this distance, but a little exchange with Dwayne Bravo while both were standing in the slips during the formalities of Pakistan’s second innings appeared much more revealing of Lara’s true feelings. Bravo, who 29 months after his Test debut has not yet experienced what it is like to be in a winning Test team, seemed in the mood for some playful old talk with his fellow countryman, except that Lara wasn’t particularly accommodating and at one point in the brief exchange looked as if he was uttering a few stern words.Again, it may have been nothing, but you never know. It must be galling for Lara to have now scored 5226 runs in vain for West Indies. Vain in the context of at least not losing Test matches (something he has been talking about more and more over the last few months), though clearly not futile in terms of the sheer delight he has brought to fans of the game around the world for the incomparable elegance and style with which he embellishes an insatiable appetite for runs.Some of Lara’s greatest performances – the 688 runs with a double-century and two other hundreds in three Tests in Sri Lanka in 2001 stand out-have come in the midst of comprehensive defeats. In the single-mindedness of youth and the desire to rack up more and more runs and records, the legacy of being a champion batsman in a woeful Test team isn’t all that relevant, because the mind says there is still time to make a difference in the winning column.But time is running out, and even if the evidence of his 33rd Test hundred and third in as many matches against the Pakistanis reaffirms his pre-eminence among contemporary batsmen worldwide, Lara is increasingly haunted by the stark reality that too many of his runs are only of personal statistical value.Like millions of Indian cricket fans and their obsession with Sachin Tendulkar, many Trinis now don’t seem to mind too much that the West Indies have been beaten again, so long as their hero has gotten another hundred.Those indulging in that short-sighted consolation would do well to appreciate, as Lara certainly does, that his Test career has, maybe, another couple years to run and that the game, and the team, are always bigger than the player, never mind how great that player is.Click here to send us your thoughts.

East Zone 77 for 4 trail North Zone 178 (Bose 4-45)by 101 runs
Scorecard

North Zone’s bowlers will look to unsettle Sourav Ganguly on day two © Getty Images

Ranadeb Bose took 4 for 45 and Shib Paul 3 for 51 as North Zone were dismissed for 178 after East Zone won the toss and decided to bowl at Rajkot. Despite an accomplished showing by its bowlers, East were unable to drive home the advantage, reaching 77 for 4 at stumps, still 101 runs behind.North were left struggling at 49 for 4 after Bose and Paul each claimed two early wickets. Bose started the proceedings, bowling Shikhar Dhawan for 1, and Paul was quick to join the party, forcing Sangram Singh to edge one to Deep Dasgupta, the wicketkeeper, for 8 with the score on 27. No significant partnerships emerged as both new-ball bowlers applied the pressure.Pankaj Dharmani, the veteran wicketkeeper, made a gritty 35, but wickets continued to tumble at the other end. Yashpal Singh and Sarandeep Singh both fell in the twenties, and with Bose and Paul each striking with the score at 129, North looked in danger of being dismissed for less than 150. A counter-attacking 46 off just 35 balls from Vikram Singh tipped the scales for North, but just slightly.East Zone’s reply did not get off to a good start either, with Gagandeep Singh taking care of Shiv Sunder Das and Arindam Das, the openers, for 0 and 9. With Amit Bhandari taking two wickets as well, East slumped to 59 for 4. Sourav Ganguly, who had taken 2 for 38 earlier in the day, was batting on 19 at close of play.

Michael Clarke: another memorable Indian tour?© Getty Images

Michael Clarke’s performances over the last year or so have suggested that he is a huge star in the making, and he hopes to reinforce that belief if picked for the Australian Test squad that will tour India in October. Clarke had a fantastic time in India during the TVS Cup triangular series last year, picking up seven wickets and making 118 runs as Australia romped to victory.”I love playing in India,” he said, speaking to reporters in Amsterdam. “I don’t mind the ball spinning. Hopefully I will be selected and show my ability there, both against pace and spin.”Interestingly, Clarke’s coach-cum-manager, Neil de Costa, is of Indian origin, and was involved in his initiation into the game. In fact, it was de Costa who made the nine-year-old Clarke pick up a bat for the first time.Clarke acknowledged de Costa’s influence and said, “His parents are Indians and we did a lot of work playing spin bowling. I have also been brought up playing a lot of spin. My wickets at home are a little slower than the other wickets you commonly find in Australia.”There was also a mention of Shane Warne, who had helped him out with his spin bowling. “Warney has been fantastic, a brilliant bowler and a great person. I think he has helped me a lot with my cricket and definitely with my bowling.”Clarke’s one-day batting average is an impressive 43.47 after 29 games, often while batting as low as No. 6 or 7. But though he made a scintillating hundred in a tour match against India at Hobart last December, a modest first-class average (37.83) might count against him when the selectors pick a side to win in India for the first time since 1969-70. Given his talent, though, an Indian tour is probably just the challenge he needs to take his game up a notch.

India’s cricketers won’t be lacking for advice when New Zealand tour travel there next month for a Test and one-day series.With the Indian team scheduled to arrive in Bangalore ahead of their preparatory camp, Kapil Dev – their former captain and coach – echoed the words of John Wright, warning them not to take New Zealand lightly.Kapil said the conditions would be tough for New Zealand, but that had always been the case. The New Zealanders are used to playing on green pitches, that have recently proved to have more bounce as well.India has rarely provided those sorts of conditions and after the problems experienced by New Zealand’s groundsmen last summer, it was always likely that India’s pitches for the return visit would be low on the user-friendly scale for the New Zealanders.Kapil said New Zealand had a reputation for rising to an occasion, and that was what made them dangerous. He also said that he didn’t think New Zealand were convincing winners over India last summer – it was just that they exploited the conditions better.Wright said the New Zealanders were “under-rated”. They had performed well on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, and Wright said it was up to India to perform better, and to build on their good home record. Both Kapil and Wright were happy with the depth emerging in the pace bowling department.Wright added he had no problems with the fact that the Board of Control for Cricket in India had chosen 36 players for the conditioning camp. The exercise would be good from a fitness point of view, and he was confident he could handle the numbers.

South Australia has surged to a powerful innings and 40 run win over a bruised and battered Tasmania on the fourth and final day of the teams’ Pura Cup clash here in Hobart today.After their batsmen completely outwitted the Tasmanian bowlers yesterday, it was the turn of a depleted attack today to impressively secure the Redbacks’ first outright points of the season.The home team was murdered one day and buried the next.In skittling Tasmania for a paltry second innings total of 167, the South Australians defied the forecast of grim weather that never materialised and longstanding perceptions about the placid nature of Bellerive’s pitch. Accordingly, they emphatically reversed the result of an equally crushing defeat in the corresponding match last season.Darren Lehmann, the chief architect of the Redbacks’ already powerful position by the end of the third day, declared his team’s first innings closed at the mammoth overnight score of 5/589, leaving Tasmania with the exercise of accumulating 207 runs before the visitors would even be required to bat againIt was a task that quickly began to overwhelm them.Opener Dene Hills, still nursing a strained abductor muscle from yesterday, was unable to bat as the Tigers’ innings began.Worse news was to come as their customary mainstay, Jamie Cox (0), fell to an lbw decision when playing well forward to Mark Harrity (5/65) on just the second delivery of the innings. Though it took a while longer for the second victim to succumb – makeshift opener Michael Dighton (15) failing to remove his gloves from the line of a delivery that steepled from a good length – it set an ominous tone.On a day when the Tasmanian Cricket Association had thrown open its doors to the public to show off its new grandstand, its batsmen subscribed to a revolving door policy instead.In taking each of the first four wickets to tumble and splitting the most meaningful partnership of the innings when he forced top scorer Shane Watson (58) to play a delivery back into the stumps, it was Harrity who instigated a stunning collapse that saw seven wickets crash for the addition of a mere 25 runs in mid-afternoon.Harrity was an immensely promising left arm tearaway when he first entered first-class cricket in 1993-94, but his career has been stalled by a series of cruel injury blows in each of the eight seasons that have passed since. In the absence from the attack of Jason Gillespie on account of international duty, and the injured Paul Wilson, Brett Swain, Mick Miller, Ryan Harris and Greg Blewett, he chose a propitious time to rediscover some of his old fire today.Paul Rofe (3/24) complemented Harrity with impeccable accuracy and similarly produced career-best figures, and spinner Brad Young (2/71) also snared two vital wickets amid Tasmania’s crumble.Though Watson and Daniel Marsh (31) stood firm with a 75-run stand for the third wicket, and last pair Sean Clingeleffer (28*) and Shane Jurgensen (7) defied the inevitable for a plucky 61 minutes, they were the only three bowlers needed.”It’s been a long time coming,” said Harrity of his triumphant performance.”I haven’t managed to get through a full season in nine seasons so that’s the main aim this year and hopefully to live up to what’s been expected of me for nine years.”Darren Lehmann turned the game for us (yesterday), along with Greg Blewett. It was some of the best batting I’ve ever seen. That put us all on a high and I went to bed last night thinking ‘if we stick at it here today, you never know’.”What Harrity scarcely needed to add was that, throughout this match, his team far better understood the imperative of pitching the ball in the right areas on a pitch that offered consistent and sometimes menacing life.Because, amid the ruin of the last two days, the message had already been etched firmly on Tasmania’s tombstone.