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Andrew Strauss says he is still coming to terms with being omitted from England’s Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka and has yet to decide on his next option. After a poor 12 months he was overlooked in favour of Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara, the first time he has been dropped from the Test side since his debut in 2004.”To say that it hurts is a massive understatement. In truth it is the culmination of a long, tiring and immensely frustrating 12 months in which little has gone my way,” Strauss wrote in . “I have been a victim of some poor umpiring decisions, some unfortunate dismissals and a few incredibly good balls delivered at just the wrong moment. But I still have to take responsibility for my less than satisfactory contributions.”When the squad was announced David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said Strauss, who has a central contract, will still come into consideration for the New Zealand tour next February. Strauss is set to have a meeting with Graveney next week to discuss his options, which include being part of the development squad in India or following the same path as Steve Harmison and playing for an overseas team.”I am determined to take a little time to let the news and disappointment settle in before deciding how best to plan the fight to get my spot back,” he said. “Some further time away from the game, regaining hunger and desire, may be beneficial. But over the longer term the only way I can rediscover the habit of scoring runs is by playing, so I will have to look into the opportunities available.”

For nearly a quarter-of-a-century since Sri Lanka’s ill-fated tour to South Africa, Bernard Perera had kept a low profile of himself shunning the limelight as he had even during his halcyon days as an outstanding cricketer for St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota and Kandy CC, which earned him recognition as a member of the national squad in the early eighties.Perera was destined for higher things with his batting and fielding talents but after a tour of Pakistan where he failed to find a place in the national side he fell victim to a well-devised plan to tour South Africa in late 1982 and paid the penalty by being banned for 25 years from all forms of cricket. Although the ban was lifted after eight years Perera, by then, was lost to the game.Today the former rebel cricketer holds the rather envious position of coach of Sri Lanka women’s team who leave on Monday for Jaipur, India to take part in the third Asia Cup.Perera (50) has been on the job since taking over from Nihal Kodituwakku in December last year and saw Sri Lanka finish runner-up to India in the second Asia Cup tournament held in Pakistan.”Last year we beat Pakistan and gave a good fight against India in the final. I think we can do better this year,” said Perera. “India is the main obstacle. They have been in this game for about 30 years and have the experience compared to our 10 years.”We are doing batting and fielding drills and physical training with a physio. I am happy with my girls the way they have prepared for the tournament. They have lot of potential. They are very disciplined and talented. I am sure they will do something good.”At the moment we are getting all the facilities from Sri Lanka Cricket [SLC]. Women’s cricket coming under the wing of the SLC has given us more opportunities to widen our scope. In the near future you can see a big improvement in our cricketing standards.”Perera said that to raise the standard of women’s cricket in this country they needed to play a lot of practice games at home and participate in local tournaments. What they lack is match practice.”Some school have started tennis-ball cricket. Only a few schools play leather-ball cricket. If we are to start improving our cricket standards it must come from school level. With SLC coming in, I am sure those grey areas will be identified and addressed.”Before taking over the national women’s team, Perera, an SLC-qualified Level I and II coach was a district coach handling Kandy CC and running a private coaching school in his hometown Kandy.”Gwen Herath [president of the Women’s Cricket Association of Sri Lanka] asked me whether I could come and help the girls and become coach of their national team. I took over in December last year.”Perera follows a long list of ex-Sri Lankan cricketers who have coached the women’s national team since 1997. The former wicket-keeper/batsman Guy de Alwis did the job till 2002. Priyantha Munasinghe had a short stint in 2003 before another former Sri Lanka cricketer, Nihal Kodituwakku, was in charge from 2003 till 2005.Herath has a high opinion of Perera. “The good thing about Bernard is that he handles the girls individually which most of the past coaches didn’t do. He has got the team together and if he continues as coach I am certain we have a very good chance of qualifying for a semi-final place at the next World Cup.”

Scorecard

Steve Tikolo, Kenya’s captain, powered his side into a dominant position with a stunning 220 on the first day of the Intercontinental Cup semi-final against Bermuda at Windhoek. Kenya declared on 403 for 6 from 79 overs and Bermuda replied with 13 for 1 by the close.Tikolo came in at 32 for 2 after he had won the toss and elected to bat and was soon joined by No. 5 Hitesh Modi with Kenya looking shaky. The two blasted their team towards 400, with Tikolo hitting his highest first-class score as Bermuda saw their chances of a final place evaporate.While Tikolo’s knock came off just 233 balls with 27 fours and a six, Modi played the straight man. Tikolo declared with Modi unbeaten on 98 from 161 balls with only three boundaries. He was just two runs from his maiden first-class hundred.Dwayne Leverock, who came into this match with 16 wickets at 9.93 in Bermuda’s two group matches, eventually accounted for Tikolo but took some real punishment, conceding 105 from 23 overs. Bermuda lost Curtis Jackson as they made a painstaking 13 from 13 overs.

England XI 260 for 6 (Vaughan 89, Strauss 73, Collingwood 31*) beat Namibia 193 for 4 (Keulder 57, Karg 66, Giles 3-37) by 67 runs
Scorecard

Michael Vaughan led from the front as his England XI recorded a comfortable 67-run victory in the first match of their southern African tour, against Namibia at the Wanderers ground in Windhoek. In a match reduced to 42 overs a side after a two-hour mopping-up delay, Vaughan’s 89 lifted England to 260 for 6. Namibia made a spirited reply, but could manage only 193.Much of the pre-match hype had been about the possibility of Sussex’s Matt Prior opening for England, but in the end it was Ian Bell who strode out with Vikram Solanki. And he was soon striding back, bowled by Gerrie Snyman for a duck (3 for 1). Solanki made 28 before he fell to Sarel Burger (6 for 2), then Vaughan and Andrew Strauss put the world to rights with a stand of 150, Vaughan making 89 from 92 balls before his dismissal at 215 triggered a mini-collapse in which three wickets went down for two runs. Strauss followed for a solid 73 from only 65 balls, then Geraint Jones was caught behind off Snyman for a single.Kevin Pietersen’s long-awaited first innings in England colours didn’t last long: he made only 5 before being trapped in front by Louis Burger. That made it 226 for 6, but a sensible partnership between Paul Collingwood and Ashley Giles swelled the total to 260.

Last year at Port Elizabeth Namibia briefly threatened to embarrass England in the World Cup – for a while they were ahead on run rate as rain threatened – but on another changeable day (a helicopter was used to help dry the ground before the start) England’s batsmen had done enough to ensure a winning start to their tour.England’s bowling, though, will worry the management a little more. Only Ashley Giles, who took three of the first four wickets, will be entirely satusfied with his figures, which were 3 for 37 from nine overs. Simon Jones removed Namibia’s former captain, Danie Keulder, for an accomplished 57, but the main strike force of Darren Gough, James Anderson and Alex Wharf went wicketless.Morne Karg, usually a wicketkeeper but playing as a batsman today, top-scored with a breezy 66 before becoming Giles’s third victim. England’s eventual victory was easy enough, but they will be looking for an improved bowling performance in their second warm-up match against Namibia on Tuesday, before the five-match one-day series against Zimbabwe starts on Friday (Nov 26).

South Africa’s provincial administrators have rejected a radical restructuring of domestic cricket, opting for the implementation of a promotion-relegation system rather than a provincial competition, which would have meant at least four smaller unions having to merge.The idea of two divisions has been doing the rounds for five years, but financial worries have forced the issue to the top of the agenda. Several of the provinces are facing serious shortfalls, and Percy Sonn, the president of the United Cricket Board, warned that provinces were “facing financial ruin and in the meantime our standard of play is deteriorating. We cannot go forward if we don’t change.”But the provinces were unable to agree of a definite format for the tournament, and they demanded that the new system not be introduced until 2004-05 at the earliest. That left Gerald Majola, chief executive of the UCB, unimpressed, and he accused the provinces of “wasting time”.Even when these matters are resolved, the issue will not be at an end. Cricket South Africa (CSA), which runs professional cricketin the country, have yet to agree to the changes, and it is quite possible that it will reject the recommendations on the grounds that they don’t do enough to address the dire financial situation. The CSA are due to meet with the UCB in mid-July.

Glamorgan travel to Worcester for Sunday`s Norwich Union League game knowingthat victory in the match would clinch not only a move up to Division One,but also the Division Two title as well.The top three teams in the Division will be promoted, and should teams finish on equal points, the positions are decided by firstly the number of wins, and then run rate.As the table shows, Glamorgan have a far superior run rate and at the moment they also have a greater number of wins. A win at Worcester would give Glamorgan 46 points and 11 victories, and even if Durham win their two remaining games they would have 46 points but only 10 victories.Glamorgan travel to Worcester with the same 12 that did duty on Wednesday night at Cardiff, plus Steve James, and they will be hoping that the weather forecasters, who are predicting a rainy day at the New Road ground are wrong, and that the Welsh county can win both the game, and the Division Two title.

P W Pts Net Run Rate1st Glamorgan 13 10 42 +17.662nd Durham 14 8 38 + 2.293rd Worcs 13 8 34 + 8.044th Hampshire 14 8 34 + 3.38

Tom Westley, an 18-year-old batsman from Cambridge, has signed a two-year contract with Essex after impressing during a two-year stint at the county academy.Westley made his first-team debut in June 2006 against the touring Sri Lankans, and played his first first-class match against Cambridge UCCE in May this year. He featured in four County Championship games in 2007, as well as two Pro40 games, and made a highest score of 72 against Somerset at Chelmsford in September.”Tom is another shining example of how well our Academy system is working,” Essex’s chief executive, David East, told essexcricket.org.uk. “His progress over the last couple of seasons has been excellent, and we are all very hopeful that we have another star in the making.”Westley himself was delighted at the news. “With the Academy pro contracts I’ve had over the last couple of years I was obviously hoping to get a full-time one so, after a pretty decent year, I’m privileged to get a two-year contract,” he told the county website.”It helped massively to go on the pre-season tour of Dubai because it was the first time I’d got to be around the players for a long time and also made me start to think that if things went well I might get to play the odd first-team game. As the season went on I finished in the first-team, which has been an honour.”Westley also featured in one Under-19 Test and five Under-19 ODIs this summer, and showed great promise with his offbreaks, taking match figures of 7 for 131 in the first Test against Pakistan at Scarborough.

South African pathologist Lorna Martin has told the inquest that former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer had died of natural causes by pointing to flaws in the original autopsy conducted by Jamaican government pathologist Ere Sheshiah. Martin is the third pathologist after Nathaniel Cary and Michael Pollanen to conclude that Woolmer did not die of manual strangulation.Martin, who signed the cremation certificate after Woolmer’s body arrived in South Africa, said she had reached the conclusion after viewing a video of Sheshiah’s autopsy.”It doesn’t appear that the international practice was followed in the examination of the neck,” Martin testified on Tuesday. “I am of the opinion that he died of natural causes.”Pollanen, the Canadian pathologist, had told the inquest on Monday he was aware that a toxin had been detected in Woolmer’s body, though he wasn’t certain about the details. When asked to justify her findings, Martin said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that Woolmer was weakened with the toxin before being allegedly strangled.”My disagreement with the cause of death (of strangulation) doesn’t come from whether the person was weakened or not, but comes from the injury or lack of injuries,” she said.The inquest is expected to end on November 9.

Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait have been called into a bowler-heavy 13-man squad for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba next Thursday. The allrounder Shane Watson has beaten Michael Clarke in the race for the No. 6 spot while Stuart Clark was named alongside Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.Australia have picked an attack with six fast-bowling options, but there were no spots for Nathan Bracken and Jason Gillespie. If Johnson, a left-arm fast bowler, is picked for the final XI he will make his debut on his home ground while Tait has been recalled for the first time since injuring his right shoulder after playing two Tests last year in England.”The inclusion of extra pacemen in the squad reflects one of the strongest starts to the domestic season of young talent in recent memory,” Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. “It reflects the development of Mitchell in the past 12 months, some eye-catching fast bowling from Shaun and the performances of Stuart in South Africa and since his return from injury [in the domestic competitions].”Hilditch said the panel had showed faith in the players who had contributed to Australia’s recent success. “At the same time we are injecting some youth into the squad with the inclusions of Watson, Johnson and Tait,” he said. “As far as Watson is concerned we see his inclusion to the Test squad as an exciting development for Australian cricket.”Shane has an outstanding first-class record with the bat, averaging over 45, and his bowling ability gives us the flexibility in our attack that we have been looking for.” The final XI will be picked in Brisbane after assessing the pitch, form and weather conditions and all 13 players will stay with the squad until the morning of the match.Hilditch also defended the selection of Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer following the pressure placed on them by Phil Jaques’ twin centuries against England over the past week. “The performance of the opening pair in this series will be crucial against a classy English bowling attack,” he said. “Matthew had a great international season last year and is in fine touch. Justin has started the domestic season strongly, averaging over 70 so far.”Ricky Ponting said now the outfit had been named the players could relax and prepare for the highly anticipated game. “Our last 12 months of Test cricket have been terrific, there’s been huge excitement, anticipation and build-up for this Ashes series,” he said. “We have got an experienced team going into this series but I think historically what you want in any team is a good mix of youth and experience – we’ve certainly got that.”Australia squad Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Bangladesh are staring at their second three-day defeat of the series as they finished on 131 for 4 after losing 14 wickets on the second day at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. Dilhara Fernando was the destroyer-in-chief with 5 for 60 in the first innings and another brace of wickets in the second as Bangladesh still trail by 135 runs.Bangladesh at least showed some application during an extended evening session as Mohammad Ashraful and Shariar Nafees halted a second-innings collapse with a 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Nafees dropped down the order in the second innings and battled hard for his maiden Test fifty but fell just before the close of play to Muttiah Muralitharan.Ashraful, batting with uncharacteristic caution, much to the delight of coach Dav Whatmore who has been frustrated by his inconsistency, was on 21 not out. Bangladesh need him to press on and make a really big score if they are going to be able to make Sri Lanka bat again.Ashraful was also the only top-order batsmen to offer resistance in the first innings, cracking a 41-ball 42 that included five fours and two sixes before Bangladesh were bowled out for 191. The rest of the team succumbed lamely – except Khaled Mashud who batted resolutely for his 26 – as Muralitharan (3 for 47) and Lasith Malinga (2 for 32) devoured the scraps that Fernando left behind.

Rumours were doing the rounds that Sri Lanka may bat again to give Sanath Jayasuriya a chance to shine in his 100th Test. But this would have flown in the face of the team ethic fostered by Tom Moody and Marvan Atapattu and Sri Lanka duly enforced the follow on soon after tea.Chaminda Vaas, wicketless in the first innings, triggered a second-innings collapse as Javed Omar tried to pull a short ball from outside the off stump. Fernando followed up with the key scalp of Habibul Bashar, who was caught at backward point by a delighted Muralitharan, and Nafees Iqbal (30) who gloved a lifting delivery.At that stage Bangladesh reeling on 56 for 3, with almost 25 overs left in the day, looked like they might capitulate. But Nafees recovered from a nervous start and battled hard for survival and then took the attack to Sri Lanka, hitting boundaries and forcing Atapattu into making frequent bowling changes. Unfortunately, for Bangladesh, Muralitharan snared him at slip just before stumps.Earlier, Sri Lanka had opted to continue batting on the second morning despite having piled up 449 runs on the opening day. But the search for quick runs, and a possible first Test century for Vaas, was swiftly brought to a halt as Shahadat Hossain bowled Muralitharan for 24 and Syed Rasel bowled Vaas for 65.The pitch still offered some life by the time Sri Lanka’s bowlers started their work and Malinga began with an unplayable outswinger that whistled past Omar’s defensive bat but had to wait until his third over before picking up his first scalp as Nafees edged a sharp ball behind.Although Malinga looked threatening and Vaas probed away diligently, curving the ball in, it was Fernando, who bowled just four overs in the opening game of the series, that left Bangladesh on the ropes with a triple strike in the final hour before the break.

Bashar was his first victim as he top-edged an attempted hook and Vaas rushed in from the boundary ropes to take a fine tumbling catch. The breakthrough ended a 30-run stand and was followed soon after by the fall of Omar, who was caught on the crease and bowled by a in-dipper. Sangakkara clung to a superb one-handed diving catch in front of first slip to dismiss Iqbal.Bangladesh, 80 for 4 at lunch, raced ahead as Ashraful showcased his bountiful natural talent with a string of cover drives and wristy leg side swats. But Fernando’s slower ball deceived him and Atapattu calmly took a catch running backwards at mid-on. Aftab Ahmed (23) was then caught down the leg side off a gloved pull before Muralitharan and Malinga mopped up the lower order.

Sri Lanka
Muttiah Muralitharan b Hossain 24 (453 for 8)

Chaminda Vaas b Syed Rasel (457 for 9)

Bangladesh 1st innings
Shariar Nafees c Sangakkara b Malinga 5 (16 for 1)

Habibul Bashar c Vaas b Fernando 18 (46 for 2)

Javed Omar b Fernando 18 (52 for 3)

Nafees Iqbal c Sangakkara b Fernando 5 (72 for 4)

Mohammad Ashraful c Atapattu b Fernando 42 (115 for 5)

Aftab Ahmed c Sangakkara b Fernando 23 (135 for 6)

Mohammad Rafique c Dilshan b Murali 6 (143 for 7)

Syed Rasel c Vaas b Murali 5 (157 for 8)

Shahadat Hossain c Sangakkara b Malinga 7 (166 for 9)

Khaled Mashud st Sangakkara b Murali 26 (191 for 10)

Bangladesh 2nd innings
Javed Omar c Atapattu b Vaas 9 (22 for 1)

Habibul Bashar c Muralitharan b Fernando 10 (44 for 2)

Nafees Iqbal b Sangakkara b Fernando 30 (56 for 3)

Shahriar Nafees c Samaraweera b Muralitharan 51 (131 for 4)