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Shoaib Akhtar has appealed against the Rs 300,000 (US$5,000) fine handed to him by the Pakistan board last week for leaving the Karachi training camp early and failing to appear at the subsequent disciplinary hearing.”I have appealed against the fine because I think I was not given the chance to give my version of events,” Shoaib told . The fine was imposed last Wednesday after Shoaib failed to turn up for a hearing the day before. Shoaib maintains he was made aware of the hearing two days it had taken place.Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s chief operating officer, held a meeting with Shoaib today to discuss the events of last week. On Friday, Shoaib reportedly clashed with board officials over the fine at Gaddafi Stadium. Naghmi told , “There appears to have been some miscommunication which was probably the cause of this incident. An appellate committee will be set up to look into his stance now.”Naghmi added that Shoaib had assured the board he was fit and looking forward to playing for Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Championship, dismissing some reports which said he had threatened to pull out of the tournament.

The Zimbabwe cricket board has backed Sharad Pawar’s nomination for the post of ICC president. Pawar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, had filed his nomination on Friday after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) met in Singapore and agreed on his nomination.Pawar now has the backing of five member boards, including the Asian bloc of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The last date for filing nominations is January 1, and the BCCI was hopeful of getting the support of the West Indies board as well. The ICC will send the nominations received from Pawar and David Morgan, Chairman of the England Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to AC Muthiah, Chairman of the ICC Nomination Committee.The ICC will announce its successor to Percy Sonn in its annual meeting in London in July for a term of two years beginning 2008.

Virender Sehwag, who celebrated his home captaincy debut with an emphatic win at Rajkot, hailed his bowlers for sticking to a good line and length and restricting Sri Lanka to just 196. He said he was “very impressed” with Rudra Pratap Singh, who set up the win with a fine spell, and S Sreesanth and also acknowledged the contributions made by the spinners in the middle overs.On a pitch that both captains admitted was on the slower side, Rudra Pratap, playing just his third ODI, was rewarded for sticking to the nuts and bolts of medium-pace. Coming on to bowl in the 12th over, he began with a maiden and had Upul Tharanga flinching and edging one that reared superbly from a good length. “RP is a very talented bowler,” Sehwag added,” and his specialty is that he can bring the ball into the right-handers and swing it both ways.”Despite being struck for a few fours early, Rudra Pratap, who made his first class debut on this very ground against the touring New Zealanders two years back, didn’t waver too much with his rhythm. Known around the domestic circuit as a bowler who can prodigiously swing the ball, he showed that he could deliver even when the atmospheric conditions weren’t on his side. “In Zimbabwe [where he made his debut] there was more swing for me, here I needed to concentrate on my length. I’ve been learnt a lot from Irfan [Pathan] and he’s advised me on bowling in different situations.”Even with Ajit Agarkar ruled out with flu, India found all their moves paying off yet again. Sehwag said that he was confident that his bowling attack could do the job, a fact which had partly influenced his decision at the toss. “In the past we had won games while chasing and our bowlers were doing well. Also the Sri Lankan bowlers were not in form and I felt we could chase any target. We had planned to cut down on the number of extras and I’m glad we conceded just three in this game.”He added that his inability to convert 20s to 50s and 100s was both “difficult and irritating”. However, he said that he really enjoyed his role as captain during the game and said that he was learning with each experience. “Captaincy is something which one needs to get used to,” he said. “I learnt a lot from the Ahmedabad game and made sure I didn’t repeat the same mistakes here.”

Andrew Flintoff was content with his return to first-class cricket but insisted that his fragile left ankle will require constant supervision for the rest of his career.Flintoff’s ankle was operated on over the winter and he made his comeback for Lancashire in their drawn match against Surrey at The Oval over the past four days. He only made 23 with the bat but returned the encouraging figures of 1 for 72 from 28 steady overs in Surrey’s mammoth 537 for 5 declared.”From a fitness point of view I thought I kept my pace up all the way through my spells, maybe there is a little bit more in there but not a great deal,” Flintoff said at The Oval, when the fourth and final day was washed out. “It was quite a placid pitch and it was about focusing on getting it in the right areas given the players they’ve got in their team.”I have always been confident coming back but when you’ve had four operations you have a bit more knowledge about your ankle. I just turned up here to play a game of cricket under no concern about how my fitness was going to be.”I just turned up here to play a game of cricket under no concern about how my fitness was going to be.”In the past, Flintoff has rushed his comeback from ankle surgery. Combined with his heavy workload this has caused a recurrence of the injury but, this time round, he hopes it might be fourth time lucky.”Coming out of the operation, hopefully it is cured clinically but then probably from a workload point of view – I have come back from the previous operations and played for a period of time – maybe if I played for a period of time, for 10 or 12 months, and break the cycle of bowling 150 overs, 200 overs and breaking down I will be happy,” he said. “But I am going to have to keep working on my ankle, my left leg and calf in particular.”So I will probably be on some sort of rehab programme now for the rest of my career.”With the first Test against New Zealand only a month away, Flintoff admitted his keenness to be selected but remained cautious about his chances.”I would love to be involved on May 15, there is obviously no change there, but I know I have to perform,” he said. “It’s nice to get 28 overs under my belt and bowl quite nicely but I have to score some runs as well, which I am working hard to do and fully aware of.”

Jason Gillespie is on track to force his way back into the national side, according to South Australia’s coach Wayne Phillips, but he admitted that next month’s Test series against South Africa might come too soon. Gillespie grabbed 7 for 35 against Victoria at the weekend to give the selectors a timely reminder that he is not finished despite being written off by many after a dreadful Ashes series.Nathan Bracken is expected to claim the third quick-bowling berth at the WACA, but Gillespie’s nine-wicket haul in the match put him back in the frame along with Michael Kasprowicz. “Bracken probably has the inside running and that is probably fair enough, but what Gillespie brings is different, but pretty exciting too,” Phillips told AAP. “I never thought the national selectors had written him off at all, but they do need him if he continues to provide the selectors and team management with these sorts of performances, there is no reason why he can’t force his way back.””I don’t expect to get any call up to the Australian side anytime soon,” Gillespie admitted. “I think the selectors have shown their cards and basically put me at the back of the queue, I know that, I acknowledge that and I have no problem with that.”I am not seen as one of the best seven or eight fast bowlers in the country at the moment because there is a team going to New Zealand today and they have rested Glenn McGrath from that trip and picked four fast bowlers and I am not among them.”But there was encouragement from Ricky Ponting. “Dizzy’s done nothing wrong since he’s been back,” he said. “It’s great to see him back bowling well and taking the wickets, and being the sort of bowler that we know he can be.”

The row between Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding over the reasons for Holding’s resignation from the West Indies board’s cricket committee shows no sign of letting up.On Wednesday, Lloyd, who is chairman of the committee, issued at statement in which he said he had no issues with his former team-mate and that he saw “nothing to be gained by continuing this matter”. He added: “I believe we should now focus on what each of us can do individually to take West Indies cricket forward.”Holding, however, told Cricinfo that his resignation had nothing to do with the cancellation of the Stanford Super Star match, as has been implied. “My resignation letter was dated August 26 and it’s on record that the match was cancelled some time after this date. All one has to do is go back and read my resignation letter and they will find the reason.””It’s unfortunate that Mr Lloyd can’t remember my reason. It seems he continues to have memory lapses, since the letter was written to him and he surely must still have a copy.”His statement says he wishes to move on,” Holding continued. “Well, that is easy for him to say, but since he contributed to Ken Gordon and the WICB’s first press release with his erroneous quote that he never resigned from the original cricket committee, as it was never accepted by the WICB directors, and only I resigned, he needs to correct his utterings first. If the committee members were never accepted by the WICB directors, why was it necessary for me to resign?”Those are your words Clive, not mine. Be man enough to admit you were wrong or mistaken or forgot the incident, whichever you choose, and then we can move on. Don’t be afraid to offend anyone with your admission. If anyone is offended by the truth, then we know where they stand.”

Stephen Fleming will captain Nottinghamshire during the 2005 season. Fleming, 31, had been in talks with Surrey, but they pulled out of negotiations with New Zealand cricket when it was decided that his availability would not be sufficient to fulfil the job that would have been desired of him.Fleming, who already has some experience of county cricket after stints with Middlesex in 2001 and Yorkshire last summer, will be free to play for Nottinghamshire almost all the summer, with New Zealand playing in a home Test and one-day series against Australia in March. That will be followed by a five-month break before New Zealand’s trip to Zimbabwe in September, although the exact dates for that tour are yet to be confirmed.”It is a real coup for Nottinghamshire to sign the world’s leading captain, and one of the best batsmen in international cricket,” said Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket. “Stephen will bring fresh ideas and challenges to our players, and will demand international level standards of performance which will help bring out the very best in both our young players and those aspiring for international honours.”Fleming, meanwhile, said that he was looking forward to joining Nottinghamshire next season, and pointed out that the club already has strong links with New Zealand cricket. Sir Richard Hadlee, Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori and Nathan Astle have all played for Nottinghamshire in the past.”I enjoyed my previous experience of county cricket, and have harboured an ambition to captain a leading English county team,” said Fleming. “Nottinghamshire proved they are one of the up and coming counties with double promotion last season, and Trent Bridge holds special personal memories with my Test century on the ground this summer.”The facilities are world class at Trent Bridge,” added Fleming. “I was impressed with the ambition and the plans outlined by Mick Newell and I look forward to joining the club in April.”Fleming will take over from Jason Gallian, who had been captain since 1998 and has been awarded a benefit year in 2005. Gallian has also signed a contract to play for Nottinghamshire until at least the end of the 2007 season.”As soon as it became likely that Stephen would sign, the question of the captaincy was discussed,” he said. “As he is arguably the best captain in world cricket, I offered to step down. I have a good few years left and I am sure that I will learn something playing alongside a player of his capability. After such a successful season leading Nottinghamshire to promotion in both competitions, I look forward to being part of a team that will hopefully win more trophies next season.”Newell, the man responsible for luring Fleming to the club, has also signed an extension to his contract as director of cricket.Speaking about his extension, Newell said: “I am grateful for the confidence and support which the club has demonstrated by extending my contract and I am focused on bringing more trophies back to Trent Bridge during the next two years.”In order to be competitive I needed to further strengthen the squad and the signing of Graeme Swann and Stephen Fleming demonstrates our ambition for next season.”

On the upcoming series in Malaysia
“It’s going to be a very good challenging series. Australia are obviously the best team in the world and I think it is exciting to play against them. We have not done well against the West Indies in the last one-day series and this gives us a good chance to correct that. I think we are very confident and if we play some good cricket, we will get results. The preparation we’ve had has been very good and it’s a question of implementing the lessons in the matches so that we play some good, tough cricket.”On not playing Australia for nearly two years? “We have played them a lot before. But I guess all these things happen in cycles and depend on the schedules. There will be times when you play the same teams very quickly again and sometimes there is a break. We seem to be playing the West Indies a lot now. Australia have been very busy over the last 18 months and we have also been busy. It is a bit of a surprisebecause with the amount of cricket you play, you tend to bump into someone over a period of two years.”On the boot camp in Australia, and a different sort of camp here?“People keep telling me it’s unusual. I don’t know what’s unusual about hitting a ball with a bat. Nothing has been unusual. It is just about giving different experiences to the players. I am so glad that we did it before Australia because if they had done it before us, then they wouldhave said we are just copying Australia. I think it’s just a chance to give people some new experiences. If you keep following the same routine, sometimes it does get stale. You just provide them with a different challenge for the same set of benefits. If you are trying physicaltraining, one day you might run around the ground, but if you do that every day you know it will become boring.So one day, you can run around the ground, one day you can run in Cubbon Park, one day you can run in Lal Bagh. It makes it a little interesting though you are doing the same things. I think the boys have really enjoyed this camp as well as the last one, and I give credit to the support staff. Greg Chappell, Ian Frazer and Greg King have really worked hard in these nine days.”On the practice matches to be played in Chennai? “We felt that we needed a couple of games to lead into the series. Normally when we go abroad, you get a couple of matches against local teams, but in Malaysia we didn’t feel that we would get that. A couple of games in Chennai tomorrow and day after will help the group to get some sort of match practice. Both the bowlers and batsmen have been practising a lot in the nets and it is just a question of implementing in a match. A couple of practice matches with the weather holding will be good to fine-tune the boys. Also, fielding for 50 overs is something that wehaven’t done for a while, so that would also help before we play the West Indies and Australia.”On whether such a camp will be a one-off or will it be a regular feature?“The rain and the called-off series in Sri Lanka gave us an opportunity to have some time off which we certainly hadn’t anticipated. It sort of came out of the blue, so we saw it as a great opportunity to give the boys some individual training. We keep discussing with the players where they would like to improve, what they would like to improve and we constantly get feedback. The coaching staff also have ideas on what they would like the boys to improve on. This was a great opportunity for the boys to get some individual and focussed training. I think the coaching staff did a fantastic job all through this camp. The boys came in batches for sessions of three days each, but the coaching staff were here for nine days, right from 7 in the morning to 5 in the evening. I think some very good things were achieved and it’s just a start. It’s something that we will constantly keep working on as the season goes on.”

On confidence levels after the camp? “We have spoken quite a bit with the boys through this camp. We discuss how the team is evolving and progressing, which direction it is going, and we also talk about how the players can help the team get better. After these discussions, the boys had thrown up some ideas, which helped the coaching staff identify areas of improvement. In this camp, the players got a lot of individual attention. Obviously, it’s important that they implement what they learnt and practised in match conditions.”On batting against a bowling machine, and batting with stumps“The focus is always on the basics. One of the things that Greg talks a lot about is not getting away from the basics. Some of these methods are just innovative ways of staying focussed on the basics. For example, if you are a batsman you are always talking about watching the ball closely, which is what you need to do if you’re going to hit a golf ball with a stump. Some of the drills we did for fielding were about staying low and keeping the body weight low, while the bowling machine was a way of ensuring that you get fully forward or fully back. In all the discussions with all the boys, everyone felt that the area that they wanted to improve most was in the fielding department. They were very happy with the fielding they had in the Sri Lanka and England series but in the West Indies we were not very happy. All the three groups did a lot of fielding drills here and hopefully there will be some results.”On being nominated for the ICC awards?“It’s nice to be nominated. I guess in the end it is probably a reflection of the performances of the year. There are great players in that list, people who have performed really well in the current year, and to be among them is a nice feeling.”On whether he was surprised that Dhoni didn’t figure in the list? “I am not really sure what the criteria is. Being nominated or not being nominated for awards is not what really excites me or motivates me. To be honest with you, this is a question you can ask Dhoni, whether it really matters to him.”On whether the team has problems with the opening combination“There is no problem as such. If you look at recent history, you would see that Sachin and Sehwag have performed excellently as openers. Unfortunately, Sachin got injured and because of that we had to make some changes. It’s not really important who bats where, what’s important is how we can get the right results. We will see how we can maximise the potential of each player and based on that, we will decide the batting order.”On the bowlers practising batting drills“See just because the lower order practised hard for two or three days, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all of them would become great batsmen overnight. It doesn’t happen like that. We keep discussing how we need more contributions from the lower order and one of the things that we found is that it’s not easy to always give the lower-order batsmen a lot of batting.

When we have 15 players, the bowlers keep bowling to the batsmen at practice and when the bowlers finally come to bat, there’s no real quality bowling around. They have to usually play the net bowlers or they are not getting enough batting. A short camp like this gave an opportunity forsome of the bowlers to get some practice in and we are expecting our bowlers to make some critical contributions in the lower order. Sometimes, they may not get a chance to bat for five or six matches and when they do, they are always under pressure. We have given a lot of emphasis to skills, like batting for bowlers. Those like Yuvraj, Viru [Sehwag], Dinesh Mongia and Suresh Raina are batsmen who can also bowl, so they have also got to do a lot of hard work on their bowling and bring different skills to the team.”How helpful is the focus-trainer gadget for the players?“I have used it a little bit. Greg King got it from South Africa. We have experimented with it, but things like these are very individual and players might find some benefits from it. We personally feel that to make a good player, you need to develop allround skills and the mind, relaxation and visualisation are very important parts of that.”On the ball-tampering furore“It’s hard for me to make a comment on something that happened when I wasn’t actually part of it. Sitting here and watching, or reading about it in newspapers, it’s hard for me to comment on that. It was sad and disappointing. Nobody wants a match to be forfeited but I think we have got to move on. England and Pakistan are playing a good one-day series and the game of cricket goes on. The authorities will find the right conclusion to the matter.”

ScorecardJamie Overton produced an impressive opening spell•Getty Images

If you were to judge by the statistics, Jamie Overton shouldn’t enter into the thoughts of the England selectors. He went into this game averaging 37.19 for his first-class wickets, after all. Will Gidman, by comparison, has taken his first-class wickets at an average of 23.28.But who is more likely to win England an Ashes Test? And there are moments, just moments, when everything clicks together and Overton looks a terrific prospect. Blessed with height and pace, he also has the ability to gain movement. Put that together and you have a bowler who can overcome flat surfaces and good line-ups; the sort of bowler who might have been made for Australian surfaces.He enjoyed such a moment on the first day of this Championship match at Taunton. His five-over spell accounted for both Warwickshire openers and contained a number of all but unplayable deliveries that pitched on off and straightened to beat the bat of Jonathan Trott.While it’s true that Warwickshire’s openers – Ian Westwood and Andy Umeed – are not quite up the standard of those England will face in Australia, the balls that dismissed them were reward for fine bowling. Westwood, hit on the body earlier in the over as he attempted to pull one that was on him quicker than he anticipated, played on as he attempted to force one on off stump that may have bounced a little more than he expected, before Umeed was yorked – and perhaps beaten for pace – by one that may have left the batsman just a little in the air.The only boundaries he conceded – two of them – came off the edge of the bat: the first when Trott played one down and past the slips and the second when Ian Bell cut over the cordon. While there were still a couple of leg stump deliveries that, another day, might have been punished, it was a spell – albeit a relatively short one – that hinted at improving consistency.Somerset would, no doubt, have wanted Overton to bowl a bit more at Trott and Bell when they came to the crease. But a five-over spell is probably plenty for a bowler of such pace and, in a side containing only three seamers (and Peter Trego has yet to take a Championship wicket this season), they wouldn’t have wanted to exhaust him too early in the game.His brother, Craig, soon accounted for Bell, anyway. A demanding spell, not as quick as Jamie but perhaps more consistent, brought an attempted back-foot force that flew high to second slip where Marcus Trescothick plucked down a sharp catch.But it was, not for the first time, Jamie who had caught the eye. And, with James Anderson injured again – and those injuries are starting to come with ominous frequency – Overton’s performance will not have gone unnoticed by the selectors.He impressed Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, last year. Bayliss was at Edgbaston last May when Overton utilised a slightly uneven surface – it was rated poor by the umpires – to such an extent that there was talk of the match being abandoned for a while.Presented by an England bowler offering the skills that Australia have in abundance – pace, height and aggression – Bayliss was said to be much taken with what he saw and, had Overton not suffered a stress fracture, he might have pushed for further recognition already. These are early days and slim pickings on which to judge – rain washed out most of the first day here – but Jamie Overton’s attributes are not common and he certainly has the potential to go a long way in the game.”That has to be one of the best spells that I have bowled since I came back from injury,” Overton said afterwards. “I want to bowl in short, sharp spells and as long as I don’t go for 10 an over, I’m pretty happy. Today I think I went for less than four an over so I was pleased with that.”I’ve worked hard on my control and today I think I made the batsmen have to play me. I’m using my bouncer sensibly now – and batsmen now know that I have got one to bowl – so it’s a very handy weapon to have.”While Somerset will have been delighted with his performance, they might have been a little concerned at the lack of spin. Despite playing this match on a surface used in a couple of limited-overs games, there was little if any assistance for Jack Leach (who was presented his count cap by former Somerset and England spinner Vic Marks during the day) and Dominic Bess. Bess dismissed Bell and Trott in successive deliveries on Championship debut last year but here was taken for three boundaries – two cover drives and a pull – from Trott as he struggled to find the appropriate length.It’s an important game for both sides. Currently at the foot of the table – Somerset have played one game fewer – it may well prove to have a bearing on the relegation situation at the end of the season. Warwickshire, anticipating a spinning surface, awarded a Championship debut to left-arm spinner Sunny Singh and a first-class debut to seamer Grant Thornton, who is only on a three-month contract with the club but who impressed in white ball cricket. Chris Wright is recovering from injury.Sam Hain and Umeed were also recalled with William Porterfield on international duty and Ateeq Javid dropped. Warwickshire also announced they have signed a 17-year-old seamer, Henry Brookes, on a three-season deal.While nobody could argue with the early decision to abandon play – there has been torrential rain and hail in Taunton – there was an odd disruption earlier in the day. It transpires that there is an ECB directive that strongly advises umpires to ensure the playing area is vacated by everyone – including the groundstaff – should there be any thunder and lightning in the vicinity.So, despite sunshine, play was delayed in early afternoon as the directive suggests that, once the gap between thunder and lightning becomes more frequent than 40 seconds, the playing surface should be cleared for a minimum of 30 minutes. The fact that the stands at Taunton were well populated by bemused spectators who are, presumably, equally at risk of lightning strikes, appears to have escaped the attention of which ever official came up with the guidelines.

Even the mother of James and Hamish Marshall has said she has trouble telling them apart on the cricket pitch. They were born within 15 minutes of each other, have the same noticeable hairstyle and, according to those who know, have very similar personalities. So it was only fitting that they both scored centuries on the same day, albeit 150 miles apart in Bristol and Chelmsford.James said that even umpire Peter Willey and Essex fast bowler Alex Tudor didn’t realise who was who when he got to the crease. “I got out there and [they] thought I was Hamish. They didn’t realise that Hamish was a twin.” James was the first born, but was beaten to three figures by his brother. “He got there first this time,” said James.It is an insight into the changing state of the game that one came for an international side and the other a county with the player turning out under an Irish passport. While James is preparing to take over from Stephen Fleming at No. 3 for New Zealand, Hamish has turned his back on the international game after limited chances in search of financial security through county cricket and a stint in the Indian Cricket League.In the context of New Zealand’s future it is James’ innings which is most important. His team needed it, too, after they slipped to 96 for 4 against a steady Essex attack. But if the visitors had subsided against a county side, confidence would have taken a huge hit going into the final warm-up match and the Test series.”It’s nice to get a hundred early in the tour. I was just pleased with the way I constructed the innings on a surface that wasn’t easy to bat on,” said James. “There were a lot of shots that probably weren’t on today and you had to be mentally strong not to bring those out.””There will be a few calls home tonight,” Hamish told the at Bristol. “Dad is away duck shooting at the moment so I’m not sure when he will find out what has happened, but the rest of the family will be very happy.”Jamie and I are good mates and only wish the best for one another. He will be delighted to have got a big score so close to the first Test. I haven’t managed to speak to him yet, but I will this evening. I can’t recall us ever getting so many runs on the same day before at any level.”Not that James’ innings means all is right for New Zealand. Far from it. The five Indian Premier League players made 65 runs between them, showing that for all the talk about being match-ready after playing Twenty20 it will take time to adjust to a chilly English spring.”It’s not easy to come straight into conditions where it is seaming around and blaze the ball,” said James. “They will be working hard and maybe need to do a little bit of catch up. But they are class players and it shouldn’t take them long to get used to the conditions.”