The Western Australian Cricket Association is pleased to advise thatAdam Gilchrist has today been officially named Captain of the WesternWarriors. Gilchrist is currently Vice Captain of the Australian test andone-day teams and has captained recent test matches against the WestIndies and England in the absence of the injured Steve Waugh.The Western Australian Cricket Association is also pleased to advisethat Justin Langer has been appointed Vice Captain of the WesternWarriors. Langer has been a regular member of the WA team since hisdebut in 1991.In the absence of both Adam and Justin from the Warriors team during theseason, formal recommendations for a replacement Captain and ViceCaptain will be made from the State Selectors to the I & I Committee forappointments, in advance of scheduled matches.The formal appointments of the new Warriors Captain and Vice Captainwere made during a meeting of the WACA’s International & InterstateCricket Committee: held earlier today at the WACA Ground.During the same meeting, formal appointments were also made for the twofinal State Squad Contracts, as well as the naming of a replacement forthe vacant Assistant Coach’s position.State Squad ContractsScarborough’s Robert Baker and Subiaco Floreat’s Gavin Swan were eachawarded with a State Squad Contract. Swan’s contract comes as a resultof his continued success at first grade level: and in particular for hisoutstanding bowling during last season’s finals series.Baker’s contract comes following a strong recovery from the ChronicFatigue Syndrome that has kept him sidelined from cricket for themajority of the past two seasons. Warrior’s Coach Michael Veletta saidthat he and the Warriors coaching staff would be looking to ease Bakerback into peak condition over the summer.Assistant CoachThe vacant Western Warriors Assistant Coach’s position was appointed toNoel Knight. Knight’s appointment onto the senior State Coaching Panelcomes as a result of his proven success as a Club Coach in the WACA’sPennant Competition. He coached Subiaco Floreat to last season’spremiership – as well as Scarborough in 1994/95 and Bayswater Morley in1998/99.Wally Edwards, Chairman of the WACA’s I & I Committee, said thatKnight’s appointment was an indication of the I & I Committee’s desireto provide greater rewards for consistent performances in Club Cricket.State Cricket Selection PanelLate last month, former West Australian left arm pace bowler Peter Capeswas named as the replacement for Doug Harris on the State CricketSelection Panel. A replacement was sought for Doug Harris when he wasrecently appointed State Coaching Manager for the WACA.Capes played 40 first class games for WA, and took 124 wickets at anaverage of 31.65. He was also a member of WA’s FAI Cup winning team of1989-90, and Sheffield Shield winning teams of 1986/87 & 1988/89.

VIGNE CUP, MASHONALAND: ROUND 2At Alexandra Sports Club. Harare Sports Club 216 (D J R Campbell 84, T R Gripper 56) lost to Alex 219/6 (R Liddell 72, A R G Gilmour 38) by four wickets.At Universals Sports Club. Old Georgians 321/3 (L S Malloch-Brown 114, B G Rogers 68, A J C Neethling 57) beat Universals 268 (H Adam 76, N B Mahwire 82) by 54 runs.At Old Hararians Sports Club. OH 252 (R W Sims 97 not out, S M Ervine 63, T Taibu 4-35) beat Takashinga 219 (Chigumburo 117) by 33 runs.The second week of the Mashonaland Vigne Cup First League saw defending champions Old Georgians and national league champions Old Hararians maintaining their winning starts.Opening batsman Lance Malloch-Brown’s century and some wayward bowling saw OGs piling up 321 runs for the loss of just three wickets. Malloch-Brown scored 114 while fellow-opener Andre Neethling contributed 57. Number three batsman Barney Rogers weighed in with 68 while Gus Mackay was unbeaten on 42. Universals’ bowlers conceded 30 extras, including 12 wides and six no-balls.In reply Universals were dismissed for 268 after 46.1 overs, with Blessing Mahwire top-scoring with 82.The match at OH saw 15-year-old Churchill schoolboy Elton Chigumbura fighting a lone battle for Takashinga. Batting at number two, Chigumbura scored a sensational 117, which included six sixes and seven fours as Takashinga were chasing 253 to win. His other 10 teammates could, however, only manage to add 72 runs. The second-highest contribution to the Takashinga total came from extras, which totalled30.The nearest batsman was Chigumbura’s Churchill schoolmate StuartMatsikenyeri, who scored 19, 98 runs fewer than his junior colleague.Sean Ervine led the Old Hararians attack with four wickets for 41 off 10 overs.Earlier OH had compiled 252 runs for the loss of nine wickets, with Richard Sims scoring an unbeaten 97 while Ervine made a useful 63.Wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu gave up the gloves and took up the ball. He did not disappoint, finishing with impressive figures of four for 35 off 10 overs.The other match at Alex Sports Club saw the hosts beating Harare Sports Club by four wickets. Ross Liddell, who scored a half-century for Alex last week against Old Georgians, was in top form again, scoring 72 as Alex reached 219/6 in reply to Harare Sports Club’s 216 with 6.3 overs to spare. Donald Campbell was the best batsman for the losers with 84.

Former WP B allrounder Alfonso Thomas claimed 6 for 20 to send Nashua WP reeling on the second day of their Supersport Series match against North West in Potchefstroom on Saturday.WP never recovered from losing 4 wicket for 27 as West Indian Garth Roe did the initial damage on a seaming pitch. Then former Tygerberg all rounder Thomas ran through the rest of the Province batting card. Only Neil Johnson, with an aggressive 86, offered any resistance as WP was dismissed for a paltry 180 in reply to North West first innings of 297. With a healthy first innings lead of 117 North West reached 62 for one in their second knock before bad lead put a premature end to the days play with Paul Adams claiming the only wicket to fall.Play resumes at 09H30 on Sunday.

Sixteen wickets fell as bowlers enjoyed rare dominance on the Lincoln Green pitch today as Auckland became the latest side to make the trek to Christchurch for their pre-season preparation.While their bowlers put the pressure on the New Zealand Academy, almost from the outset, the prospect of spin becoming a factor on the last day means that the home team is still in with every chance.The Academy was all out for 168 and Auckland in reply were 122 for six wickets.Academy captain Jamie How was the first of seven leg before wicket decisions on the day when trapped by Kyle Mills in the 10th over with the Academy on 21. Tama Canning struck next when Nick Horsley was also adjudged leg before wicket with the score on 46.Andre Adams managed to put Shanan Stewart through his paces with a fiery spell but Stewart got his own back against Mark Haslam by hitting two straight boundaries in one over.Auckland captain, and leg-spinner, Brooke Walker removed Stewart, caught behind, but only after it was necessary for umpires Dave Quested and Gary Baxter to have a discussion on the matter.It proved a busy day for the umpires when they had another natter at square leg over an appear for a bat-pad catch from Haslam’s bowling. Luke Woodcock was a little luckier than Stewart and survived, momentarily.In his next over, Haslam did get Woodcock, who worked hard for his 25 but missed the ball when advancing on Haslam only to be bowled.Coming 10 minutes before the lunch break it was unfortunate for the Academy as they lost Brendon McCullum in the same over for a duck when he played across the line and was given out leg before. At 75 for five wickets things were looking grim for the home team.Worse was to follow before lunch when Jonathan McNamee hit a full toss from Walker to midwicket and the shaky total continued to slide to 83/6.At lunch the score was 89/6 off 34 overs.Nathan McCullum was unable to keep out of the way of a Chris Drum bouncer and gloved a chance which was taken behind the wicket just after the resumption.Warren McSkimming returned to the fray for the Academy after a lengthy break for injury, but marked his return by becoming the fourth leg before victim for the innings, this time at Haslam’s hand.James Franklin and Reece Young showed some steel in their ninth wicket stand worth 50 runs in 56 minutes. Young hit out strongly with some good hook shots. Franklin departed however when bowled by Mills after scoring 20 runs.Young was bowled by Walker on 38 after two hours batting.The Auckland spinners varied their pace intelligently and reaped the greatest rewards for their endeavours.Academy paceman Wade Cornelius continued on from where he left off against the Australian Academy and picked up the wicket of international batsman Matt Horne. He sparred at a well-directed delivery to be caught at second slip by the ever-vigilant Brendon McCullum, for a 15-ball duck.Franklin, struggling to get to the bowling crease because of the gusty nor’wester which made conditions warmer than they had been the whole time the Australians were in town, deceived Tim McIntosh with the line and he won an appeal for another lbw to leave Auckland on 21 for two wickets.Barnacle Richard Pudney (6 off 43 balls) clung tenaciously until the drinks break when the score was 46/2 off 18 overs. He was immediately dismissed after the break for no additional runs off 47 balls.Within the space of eight runs the Auckland middle order lost three wickets to the combined efforts of Woodcock and Franklin.Woodcock used the wind to assist his flight as he claimed three wickets and Franklin relished a spell downwind to remove the dangerous Llorne Howell.The total was 77/6 when Adams joined Mills and they set about restoring the balance of the game. Adams was severe on Cornelius in his ninth over, taking 17 runs to strong pull shots that evaded the deep-set fielders.With Auckland trailing by 46 runs with four first innings wickets in hand the game is evenly poised.

New Zealand Cricket Academy director Dayle Hadlee was happy with the programme his charges of 2001 endured at the end of their year at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University.The side had a full programme of matches against, Otago, Central Districts and Auckland of the New Zealand associations, and the Australian and Queensland Academies, all played at Lincoln.”We provided a challenging playing programme. Some of the players demonstrated their talents, others have quite a lot of work to do,” he said.The intake this year was slightly younger than earlier groups but it had responded well to the demands of the course.The high points of the playing programme had been the performances against Otago, the one-day victory over Auckland and the comprehensive performances against the Queenslanders.The first three one-dayers against Australia were disappointing because the side had under-achieved, he said.The side had been affected by the unsettled nature of the team in the games with the constantly changing personnel due to the bowling problems the side experienced.”The culture was forever changing but it has to be said the Australians played very well,” he said.In reviewing the year, Hadlee said there was work that needed to be done on the pre-Academy screening of players. The players this year, who were affected by injury had been more than satisfied by the efforts made to improve their situations.”Many of the injuries were extremely well-managed but some are more on-going,” he said.One of particular concern affects the leading player of the intake, wicket-keeper/batsman Brendon McCullum. He has a chronic knee injury and he won’t be keeping wickets this season.His injury is being monitored so that it can be used as a point of comparison for the longer term treatment of the problem.If the knee improves, he will keep wickets in the last game of the year to see if there is a reaction which will show whether the injury is related to wicket-keeping.McCullum had been the stand out player of the year while Central Districts batsman Jamie How looked extremely promising although still troubled by inconsistency.Canterbury’s Wade Cornelius was by far the pick of the pace bowlers in the intake and Wellington’s Luke Woodcock surprised with the progress he made as a left-arm spinner. His work ethic had been outstanding and he had also benefited from having Mike Shrimpton available to work with him at the Academy.The injuries suffered by the pace bowlers were frustrating because none of them were the same. One player had a stress fracture. Another had a muscular problem, another a leg injury and another a side strain.The workload of the players had all been monitored and they were all on track to recover.Hadlee said the most important thing with the bowlers was ensuring they had safe actions.Statistics from the end of season games were:Multi-day matches: (Two two-dayers v Otago, two three-dayers v Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, one three-dayer v Auckland, one four-dayer v Queensland Academy of Sport)Batting

Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct StCR Pryor 1 1 0 84 84 84.00 40.19 – 1 2 -BB McCullum 6 11 2 454 94 50.44 92.84 – 6 11 -CZ Harris 1 2 1 50 33* 50.00 116.27 – – 3 -S Whiteman 3 4 3 49 16* 49.00 36.56 – – 1 -AJ Redmond 1 1 0 46 46 46.00 184.00 – – – -CL Cairns 3 4 1 126 70 42.00 91.97 – 1 1 -SL Stewart 6 9 1 317 89 39.62 53.82 – 2 2 -JM How 6 11 1 351 126 35.10 53.75 1 1 3 -NL McCullum 4 7 1 182 66 30.33 64.76 – 2 5 -RA Young 6 8 0 232 89 29.00 57.14 – 1 11 -WA Cornelius 6 4 2 58 33 29.00 65.90 – – 1 -JEC Franklin 1 2 1 28 20 28.00 32.55 – – – -LJ Woodcock 6 9 2 187 53* 26.71 32.40 – 1 2 -NKW Horsley 6 9 0 182 67 20.22 48.53 – 1 5 -WC McSkimming 1 2 0 20 10 10.00 43.47 – – – -JP McNamee 6 9 0 78 21 8.66 36.96 – – 5 -TP Robin 6 4 3 8 7* 8.00 19.51 – – – -BE Hefford 1 1 0 3 3 3.00 21.42 – – 1 -SE Bond 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 – – – –

Bowling

Name Mat O M R W Ave Best 5 10 SR EconSE Bond 1 32 11 85 8 10.62 7-55 1 – 24.0 2.65BE Hefford 1 36 11 82 6 13.66 5-56 1 – 36.0 2.27CZ Harris 1 20.5 4 53 3 17.66 3-25 – – 41.6 2.54CL Cairns 3 32 11 73 4 18.25 2-25 – – 48.0 2.28JEC Franklin 1 15 5 55 2 27.50 2-55 – – 45.0 3.66CR Pryor 1 25 6 57 2 28.50 1-24 – – 75.0 2.28WA Cornelius 6 146.4 38 428 14 30.57 5-55 1 – 62.8 2.91TP Robin 6 104.5 20 424 13 32.61 4-62 – – 48.3 4.04LJ Woodcock 6 98.5 26 336 10 33.60 4-50 – – 59.3 3.39NL McCullum 4 87 14 345 10 34.50 4-103 – – 52.2 3.96S Whiteman 3 68 15 223 6 37.16 3-59 – – 68.0 3.27JM How 6 10.5 3 39 1 39.00 1-25 – – 65.0 3.60NKW Horsley 6 18 3 61 0 – – – – – 3.38SL Stewart 6 15 1 77 0 – – – – – 5.13

One-day matches: (One v Central Districts, four v Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy, one v Auckland)Batting

Name Mat I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct StBB McCullum 6 6 1 318 106* 63.60 104.60 1 2 3 -SL Stewart 6 6 0 192 68 32.00 75.59 – 2 3 -NKW Horsley 6 6 0 136 86 22.66 66.66 – 1 – -JP McNamee 6 6 0 115 49 19.16 67.25 – – – -JM How 6 6 0 113 43 18.83 63.84 – – 3 -KD Mills 2 2 0 37 24 18.50 123.33 – – – -JEC Franklin 5 4 1 44 18* 14.66 81.48 – – 1 -AJ Redmond 2 2 0 29 29 14.50 80.55 – – – -LJ Woodcock 6 2 1 12 9* 12.00 40.00 – – 1 -RA Young 6 5 2 32 19 10.66 86.48 – – 2 3NL McCullum 5 5 0 53 28 10.60 92.98 – – 4 -WA Cornelius 4 2 0 8 7 4.00 53.33 – – 1 -CJ Cornelius 2 2 0 5 3 2.50 62.50 – – – -CL Cairns 1 1 1 84 84* – 204.87 – 1 – -CZ Harris 1 1 1 27 27* – 108.00 – – 1 -TP Robin 5 2 2 4 3* – 66.66 – – – -DL Vettori 1 0 – – – – – – – – -S Whiteman 1 0 – – – – – – – – –

Bowling

Name Mat O M R W Ave Best 4w 5w SR EconCZ Harris 1 10 2 22 1 22.00 1-22 – – 60.0 2.20S Whiteman 1 6 1 14 0 – – – – – 2.33NKW Horsley 6 1 0 3 1 3.00 1-3 – – 6.0 3.00DL Vettori 1 10 0 36 4 9.00 4-36 1 – 15.0 3.60KD Mills 2 16 3 58 4 14.50 2-16 – – 24.0 3.62CL Cairns 1 5 0 19 0 – – – – – 3.80LJ Woodcock 6 41.1 1 169 8 21.12 3-26 – – 30.8 4.10CJ Cornelius 2 19 1 88 3 29.33 2-27 – – 38.0 4.63WA Cornelius 4 30 3 140 9 15.55 6-32 – 1 20.0 4.66JEC Franklin 5 37 1 182 2 91.00 1-19 – – 111.0 4.91TP Robin 5 39 0 216 3 72.00 2-41 – – 78.0 5.53NL McCullum 5 29 0 185 2 92.50 2-34 – – 87.0 6.37SL Stewart 6 5 0 40 1 40.00 1-35 – – 30.0 8.00AJ Redmond 2 10 0 81 2 40.50 1-34 – – 30.0 8.10

Note: averages do not include performances by Pryor, Mills and Hefford when playing against the Academy for Otago, Auckland and Central Districts, respectively.

South Africa opened their tour of Australia on a winning note when they beat an ACB Chairman’s XI by 48 runs in a 50-over match at Lilac Hill in Perth on Wednesday.Neil McKenzie made a fine 76 while Lance Klusener clubbed 64 off 74 balls as the South Africans reached 257 for nine. Herschelle Gibbs struck a typically breezy 39 off 36 balls at the top of the innings,In reply the Chairman’s XI were bowled out for 209 with Mike Hussey top-scoring with 56. For the South Africans Steve Elworthy took four for 27 with Allan Donald getting through eight overs to take two for 42.

Maharashtra make strong comebackMaharashtra made a spirited reply to a Connor-Williams-inspired Baroda first-innings total in their Ranji Trophy league match at Pune on Monday.Baroda ended their first innings on 424, inspired largely by Tushar Arothe, who made 85. Holding the lower order together, Arothe played patiently for 251 minutes and 183 balls to be the ninth wicket to fall. He was well supported by Zaheer Khan, who made a brisk 43 off 33 balls. For Maharashtra, Iqbal Siddiqui took five wickets.Maharashtra did not wilt in the face of such a big deficit. Although Niranjan Godbole fell early, JS Narse and Hrishikesh Kanitkar kept the score ticking over. Both were dismissed before the close of play, but Abhijit Kale and KD Aphale put on an unbeaten 109 runs for the fourth wicket.At stumps, Kale was on 62 off 135 balls, while Aphale had made 40 off 69 balls. For Baroda, Valmik Buch took two wickets, while Zaheer Khan claimed one.Wasim Jaffer strikes centuryOpener Wasim Jaffer struck a solid 139 to give Mumbai the edge in their Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Mumbai.Replying to Saurashtra’s not-insignificant total, Mumbai batsmen ensured that their side took the the vital first-innings lead in a match that looks to be heading for a draw. Along with Vinayak Mane, Jaffer put on 135 runs for the first wicket and then shared more good partnerships with K More and Amol Muzumdar.Jaffer fell as the third wicket, having made 139 off 218 balls, with 15 fours and one six. Muzumdar remained unbeaten at stumps on 87 off 173 balls, with eight fours. His knock took Mumbai to a total of 384/6 at the close of play. Vinod Kambli, lower down the order, struck a brisk 42 off 37 balls and gave good support to Muzumdar.Tripura collapse against AssamTripura collapsed against some fine Assamese bowling in their Ranji Trophy league match at Guwahati on Monday.Winning the toss, Tripura opted to take first strike, but could not capitalise on the advantage. Only captain S Dasgupta and TK Chanda could contribute significantly with the bat. Dasgupta, opening the batting, made 52 off 120 balls, while Chanda struck 62 off 135 balls.Assam wicket-keeper Samarjit Nath had a particularly fine day behind the stumps, completing six catches and one stumping. At the close of play, the visitors were 209 for eight. For Assam, MJV Ingty and J Gokulakrishnan took three wickets apiece.Bengal face uphill taskAlthough Bengal is in little danger of losing, they also stand almost no chance of gaining the first-innings lead in their Ranji Trophy league match against Orissa at Baripada.Orissa, resuming on Day Three on 575/5, added 96 more runs before declaring their innings closed. Prabanjan Mullick, overnight on 22, made an unbeaten 80, supported well by P Jayachandra and G Gopal. At 671/6, skipper Sanjay Raul finally ended the misery of the Bengal bowlers, three of whom conceded more than 100 runs in the innings.Facing such a big total, Bengal lost Nikhil Haldipur and Arindam Das for just 57, but national find Deep Dasgupta and skipper Rohan Gavaskar took their side through to stumps without any further mishaps, putting on 136 runs for the third wicket.At the close of play, Dasgupta was on 82, while Gavaskar made 51. Bengal were 193/2 in 60.1 overs.

New Zealanders may be riding the crest of a wave with the performances of the Black Caps in the tri-series in Australia but one New Zealander refusing to count his chickens, about making the finals, is selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee.Hadlee played through four tri-series in Australia and knows only too well that the halfway stage of the competition is no time to be contemplating a place in the finals.New Zealand is sitting at the top of the points table at the moment but Hadlee said that it was time to be very wary of both the Australians and the South Africans.He said all the “hype, interest and expectation” of the New Zealand public was great and he advised New Zealanders to enjoy the moment but to also remember that Australia could never be discounted and South Africa had had the wood on New Zealand for too long for anything to be taken for granted.There was a chance if results went the right way that all three teams could be on 12 points going into the final round of games before the finals.But from an overall perspective of New Zealand’s one-day developments, Hadlee was pleased with the results achieved.”There are still areas of concern with the performances but the key thing is the side has planned well and it is scrapping hard for everything. Runs are hard to score against what are two world-class attacks.”But they are showing a bit of the Australian attitude and there have been some very good individual results.”However, in this competition you have always got to be wary,” he warned.There were still issues in the team’s performance, especially at the top of the order.”We have given players the opportunity to say, ‘This is my position’ but so far no-one has grasped it,” he said.Hadlee has been impressed with the way Brendon McCullum, the selection long shot, has performed and he spoke with him in Sydney after his debut performance which sadly ended when he was run out.”He told me he was just loving the experience. He hadn’t felt over-awed and felt good being out in the middle against the Australians. He had a good positive attitude,” Hadlee said.Hadlee said there was still a chance for other players to stake a claim at the top of the order and he said McCullum and Chris Nevin were in the frame with next year’s World Cup in mind.Not surprisingly, for a bowler who battled against all the advantages batsmen previously enjoyed, Hadlee is a big fan of the one bouncer rule that has been introduced this year.”It is a very good thing and gives quicker bowlers an element of surprise. And we now have guys who are hooking or cutting being caught on the boundary. Previously it could be a free hit ball, but now it is a dismissal ball. It has changed the dynamics of the game,” he said.The other aspect about the shorter ball was that batsmen who were looking to score from every ball could not really afford to let one go. They had to be more innovative.Another player who had taken the chance an unfortunate injury provided was James Franklin. He came into the side when Aucklander Kyle Mills got injured before the team left for Australia.”He has been coming back very well with his bowling. He gives us the left-hander’s angle of variation. His season was almost lost but he has had a reprieve and taken it well.”Hadlee said the decision to use Chris Cairns as captain against Australia in Sydney last week was based on the fact that he had been appointed vice-captain by the selectors when the team was first named, although this had not been announced.”He showed a lot of enthusiasm in the role,” he said.And Cairns’ century in Brisbane against South Africa had been a special delight.”It was a magnificent innings. It was well paced, he took control and it was an ideal scenario for him,” he said.It was now clear that when Cairns was in with the time to build an innings from 25-30 overs out, he was a good enough batsman to win a game by scoring 80 or more, such was his control.Hadlee, who was in Sydney last week, will watch the rest of the series in New Zealand.

Hyderabad have given themselves an even chance of achieving their firstwin after they set Karachi Blues a target of 354 in the Quaid Trophy Grade-I match at KCCA Stadium Thursday.The Blues went to stumps on day three at 18 for no wicket. They nowrequire 336 on the final day tomorrow.Earlier, Imran Khan slammed 120 off 245 balls to help Hyderabad, who by59 runs on the first innings, score 294 in their second innings.Imran, who hit 14 boundaries in a stay of 313 minutes, shared an invaluablefourth-wicket partnership of 186 with opener Ijaz Shah.Ijaz compiled a sedate 85 off 225 balls in 288 minutes with six hits to thefence. However, once the stand was broken, the rot set in as the visitorslost seven wickets for 62 runs.Leg-spinner Riaz Shah and debutant slow left-armer Azam Hussain sharedthe bowling honours by taking four for 104 and three for 68 respectively.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney today announced the England squad forthe 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. The squad is as follows:

Nasser Hussain (Captain)
James Anderson
Ian Blackwell
Andrew Caddick
Paul Collingwood
Andy Flintoff
Ashley Giles
Steve Harmison
Mathew Hoggard
Ronnie Irani
Nick Knight
Alec Stewart (W)
Marcus Trescothick
Michael Vaughan
Craig White
Coach: Duncan Fletcher
Assistant Coach:Tim Boon
Physiotherapist: Dean Conway
Physiologist: Nigel Stockhill
Media Manager: Andrew Walpole
Analyst: Malcolm Ashton

Graveney said: “I am satisfied that the players selected in this squadrepresent the best mix of experience and youth that England has available toit. The unavailability of several key players for various reasons overrecent months has given us the opportunity to bring in a number of youngplayers into our plans, several of these players have responded extremelywell to the challenge and we have had no hesitation in including them in thesquad.”So far as Andrew Flintoff is concerned I can tell you that he his makinggood progress in his rehabilitation work with Dave Roberts at Lancashire andhas been bowling at around 90% pace in the nets whilst experiencing muchless pain. The indications from the ECB medical officer are that Andrew willbe fit and able to play a full part in the competition.”Ashley Giles has been given the go-ahead from his specialist to begintraining and bowled six overs in the nets over the weekend without sufferingany pain or reaction. Again, I am satisfied that Ashley will be able to playa full role for England in the World Cup.”We will be looking to have both Andrew and Ashley to travel to Australiaduring the next few weeks to continue their rehabilitation and prove theirfitness.”So far as Craig White’s injury is concerned, his recovery is in its earlystages. Initial medical advice was that this injury would require three to sixweeks to heal. Craig will be receiving intensive treatment with the aim ofhaving him available for the finals of the VB Series should England qualify.We will also be looking to Andrew and Ashley to be fit for selection forthose finals.”Those players presently with the England squad taking part in the VB Seriesbut not included in the World Cup squad will stay with the team for theduration of the series and will be considered as replacements should they berequired in the event of injury.”