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Marcus Trescothick has an unenviable record of finishing on the losing sidewhenever he has scored a century in international cricket. Even with a dramatic intervention from Muttiah Muralitharan after tea on day two of the second npower Test at Edgbaston, it will be a major upset if Trescothick has the gloss taken off his latest effort. At the close of play, England had a lead of 239 with five wickets in hand and a good forecast for Saturday in both the meteorological and cricketing senses.The day began with Trescothick and Michael Vaughan extending their openingpartnership to 92 with attractive strokeplay from both batsmen. Trescothick was perhaps fortunate to survive a convincing lbw shout by Charitha Buddika, but otherwise the batsmen were taking advantage of a quicker outfield, a benign pitch and an unthreatening attack.It was something of a surprise when Vaughan lost his wicket, even if the bowler concerned is never far from springing a shock. Muralitharan was still feeling his way when Vaughan went to sweep, got a top edge and was caught by Sanath Jayasuriya at backward square leg. He was out for 46 and could only look on from the pavilion as Trescothick and Mark Butcher built a record stand for England against Sri Lanka.Butcher was a little diffident against Muralitharan at the outset, but inspired, no doubt, by the assured authority of Trescothick at the other end, he blossomed so that he contributed fully to the partnership. Trescothick was in imperious mood, taking two fours in an over off Jayasuriya before helping himself to a brace of straight sixes.He helped himself to another off Aravinda de Silva to bring up his 150, and it was difficult to see how he might get out. However, he was on the stroke of tea when he clipped a ball from Chaminda Vaas off his legs to short mid-wicket. His masterful innings of 161 had come from 232 balls in a stay of nearly five hours, during which he hit 23 fours and those three sixes.Muralitharan has the ability to turn the ball on any sort of surface, but hesuddenly found a couple that could yet have an impact on the match andcertainly on the series. The first accounted for Butcher just six runs short of a century. It pitched a good foot outside leg stump and clipped the top of off, which was quite a ball even allowing for a wide angle of delivery.Next up was Nasser Hussain. The right-hander got one that was wide of off stump, went to kick it away while stretching right forward, but it brushed the pad as it turned between his legs to take leg stump.The England lead at that point was 179, so it hardly represented a crisis inthe course of the innings. Nevertheless, there was a need for Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe to consolidate in the closing hour of the extended day. Stewart had never really looked at ease, and it was not entirely unexpected when Muralitharan produced a ball that leapt off his pad and brushed his glove on the way to short leg.Andrew Flintoff just had time to unfurl some murderous strokes while Thorpesome equally attractive if less powerful shots to deny Muralitharan any further glory – at least during an absorbing second day’s play.

Partial play was possible in just three National Junior (Under-19) Grade-II Cricket Championship matches because of inclement weather in different cities of Punjab Monday.The second day of the remaining three matches of Pool ‘D’ was washed out.Sargodha resumed their first innings at 4:40pm at overnight total of 106 for one and by close of play were 146 for five in 59 overs against Kasur. Farrukh Shahzad who resumed at 47 scored 60.At Mahmood Stadium, Rahim Yar Khan, Faisalabad had gained an overall lead of 165 with one second innings wicket in hand against Rahim Yar Khan.Batting first, Faisalabad scored 225 due to a fine 88 by Ghulam Dastagir.Off-spinner Aamir Akram bagged six for 43.In reply, the home side made 221. Leg-spinner Mudassar Hussain got five for 80.By close of play, Faisalabad, in their second knock were 161 for nine in 54 overs.Okara gaineda lead of 26 runs against Multan at Okara Gymkhana ground.Replying to Okara’s first innings total of 239, Multan started their first innings in the morning and were all out for 213. Paceman Jawad Hafeez took five for 65.Not a single ball was bowled in the matches between Mianwali v Gujrat at Zahoor Elahi Stadium, Gujrat, Lahore Greens v Attock at Saga Ground, Sialkot andGujranwala v Sialkot at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.Summarised scores:At Sports Stadium, Sargodha:SARGODHA 146-5 (Farrukh Shahzad 60, Qaiser Iqbal 44; Aslam Shahid 3-37) v Kasur.At Mahmood Stadium, Rahim Yar Khan:FAISALABAD 225 (Ghulam Dastagir 88; Aamir Akram 6-43) and 161-9 (Naveed Haider 50 not out; Mohammad Tayyab 3-18);RAHIM YAR KHAN 221 (Fayyaz-ul-Hasan 46, Asif Mumtaz 46, Ajmal Shah 46; Mudassar Hussain 5-80).At Gymkhana Ground, Okara:OKARA 239 (Mohammad Pervez 61, Zahid Ali Khan 63; Mohammad Umair 6-79);MULTAN 213 (Yasir Arafat 62; Jawad Hafeez 5-65, Zulfiqar Babar 3-45).At Nawabshah Stadium, Nawabshah:MIRPURKHAS 242 (Syed Rehan 73; Sharafat Ali 3-45) and 163 (Syed Rehan 44; Zahid Hussain 4-26, Ghulam Yasin 3-44);SHIKARPUR 185 (Ghulam Farid 50; Syed Rehan 5-62, Nabi Mohammad 3-44) and 28-1.At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad:Hyderabad beat Badin by six wickets.BADIN 122 (Hasan Muzammil 7-46) and 105 (Shoaib Leghari 6-20);HYDERABAD 206 (Kamran Khan 5-36) and 22-4.At Shola Ground, Quetta:PISHIN 370 (Rehmastullah 143 not out, Ghulam Ishaq 101) and 245 Salam Durrani 68, Ghulam Ishaq 49; Javed Raza 4-71);TURBAT 238 (Sajjad Habib 84, Abdul Ghani 46; Samiullah 4-61, Mohammad Amin 3-15).At Kohat Stadium, Kohat:AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 298 (Afaq Raheem 122, Sohrab Aslam 53; Javed Khan 5-70, Adil Hasan 3-75) and 92-0 (Afaq Raheem 59 not out);MARDAN 217 (Shiraz Khan 82, Zeeshan Akbar 45; Abdul Shakoor 5-68, Afaq Raheem 3-26).At D.I. Khan Stadium, D.I.Khan:HARIPUR 125 (Azaz Khan 5-36, Nasir Niaz 3-35) and 72-3;BANNU 201 Naimatullah 74; Amjad Waqas 6-73, Babar Khan 3-41).

Two of England’s brightest young batsmen took centre stage at Chester-le-Street as Owais Shah set up the chance for Middlesex to set Durham a target today.After 18-year-old Nicky Peng became Durham’s youngest century-maker, Shah followed his 190 in the first innings with a scintillating 52-ball half-century.He was still there on 62 as Middlesex reached 83 for one in 20 overs to lead by 195 runs.Since making 98 on his debut against Surrey 13 months ago, Peng’s highest score in 15 innings was 23 but he superbly shouldered the task of holding a disappointing Durham innings together.At 165 for six they were still 72 short of avoiding the follow-on, but Ian Hunter passed 30 for the third successive innings in a stand of 74.Peng raced from 86 to his hundred, pulling three successive balls from Tim Bloomfield for two, four, four then driving Phil Tufnell wide of mid on for his 13th four to reach the landmark off 186 balls. He then holed out at deep mid-wicket for 101.Tufnell did not concede a boundary until his 27th over, when Peng drove him through the covers for four and the left-armer finished with three for 44 from 32.5 overs.After Peng’s exit Stephen Harmison swiftly followed and Durham were all out for 274, which was more than looked likely when Angus Fraser removed both Martin Love and Paul Collingwood in his eighth over of the day.

FULL NAME: Innocent Murambiwa Chinyoka
BORN: At Harare, 21 June 1982
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (2001/02). Present club side: Uprising
KNOWN AS: Innocent Chinyoka. Nickname: Snake (`nyoka’ in Shona)
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Medium Pace
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy studentFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 15-17 February 2002, CFX Academy v Manicaland, at MutareSports Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (March 2002)One of the 2002 Academy students who came seemingly out of nowhere to make a name for himself as an all-rounder was Innocent Chinyoka. He had not previously played first-league cricket, but from his first match in first-class cricket he was scoring useful runs, taking good wickets and particularly impressing in the field.Like most current black players, he has no family background in the game, but first gained an interest when in Grade 5 at David Livingstone Primary School in Harare. He did not play for the colts team, but later made his way into the school senior team. He remembers his main performance as the sixties he scored against Selborne Routledge and Banket schools. He also won success as a seam bowler.He progressed to Allan Wilson High School in Harare, playing for the school’s age-group teams throughout. He does not feel he achieved much success there, as the school did not really promote sport, and he was never in the running for any national or even provincial representative teams. In 1998 he joined Harare Sports Club, persuaded to join by friends from the neighbouring Prince Edward School. He did not stay there long, but switched to Uprising, a development club side based at Prince Edward and at that time playing in the national fourth league; they have now progressed to the second league.At the end of that year Innocent finished his O-levels and left school. In December 1999 he went to England for nine months, playing cricket during the summer of 2000 for Wayfarers in Bournemouth. He struggled at the beginning, but then turned in some useful all-round performances.Returning to Zimbabwe, he enjoyed success for Uprising, scoring 167 against Kwekwe Queens club, his highest score to date in any class of cricket. Against Universals seconds he took five wickets for 12 runs, also his career best bowling. He applied for the Academy for 2002 and was accepted.As a batsman Innocent likes to open, and he drives and cuts well. "It’s a good challenge to face the new ball," he says. He swings the ball predominantly into the bat. He is an outstanding fielder at backward point in particular, but also took some superb catches for the Academy in the gully area.Interestingly, Innocent names his mother as the biggest influence on his career, feeling he owes everything to her for her support, providing him with the necessary equipment and encouragement. On the coaching side, he names Claudius Mukandiwa, player-coach at Uprising, as his major influence."Right now my cricket is still primary," he admits. "I want to make sure the Academy does good for me and I’ll keep working hard."Cricket heroes: Viv Richards – "he’s a legend"; Andy Flower.Toughest opponents: So far, as a bowler Henry Olonga. As a batsman, Neil Ferreira from Manicaland.Proudest achievement so far: My selection for the Academy.Best friends in cricket: Luther Mutyambizi (Midlands), David Mutendera, Amos Maungwa.Other qualifications: O-levels.Other sports: Rugby – played scrum-half for Mashonaland Under-16 and Under-19 teams.Outside interests: Music and reading.Views on cricket: "They could improve on the umpiring!"

Auckland Hearts opener Shelley Fruin, of the Grafton United club, was last night awarded the RT Cup as the Auckland Cricket Association’s Women’s Club Player of the Year during the Crown Relocations Awards night for Auckland Cricket.Fruin also took home the Don Coleman Cup for the most meritorious batting performance at any level of Auckland Cricket.That was in recognition of her brilliant innings of 97 during the State Auckland Hearts victory over Canterbury in the final of the State Insurance Cup in February.It is the second time a woman cricketer has been a recipient of this award. CLEAR White Ferns captain Emily Drumm won it in 1994/95.Aaron Barnes was awarded the Auckland Cricket Association Trophy for the most runs in Men’s Premier Grade.The State Auckland Aces representative scored 949 runs at an average 47.45 helping his Cornwall side to win the Crown Relocations Premier Men’s One Day Championship.East Coast Bays and State Auckland Aces player Mark Haslam won the Platypus Trophy for the most wickets in Men’s Premier Grade. With best bowling performances of 7-34 and 7-62, Haslam finished with 51 wickets at an average of 13.41.The newly established Ken Deas Memorial Trophy for the Men’s Premier Grade Rookie Player of the Year went to Suburbs New Lynn’s Michael Bates.At 17 years of age, the left arm quick bowler has a promising future having already represented the Auckland Under-17 and Under-19 XI’s at the respective National Tournaments.The Carson Cup for Outstanding Contribution to Auckland Cricket was awarded to Nick Craig of the Howick Pakuranga club, in recognition of his contribution to club and representative cricket.Other major award winners on the night were:Best Novice Umpire, Peter Gasston; Best Women’s First Year/First Grade Player, Catherine Bristow (Parnell); Most Improved Women’s First Grade Player, Ingrid Cronin-Knight (University); Most Promising Women’s Player, Catherine Bristow (Parnell), Most Improved Men’s Player, Bradley Nielsen (Howick Pakuranga).

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPoonam Raut played a crucial knock of 25•Andy Campbell/UTPMEDIA

A determined effort from India in the field, after being bowled out for 81, led them to the Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup title in Guangzhou. They took Pakistan’s last eight wickets for 32 runs to complete an unlikely 18-run victory.India’s decision to bat after winning the toss was a brave move by stand-in captain Harmanpreet Kaur, considering they were without Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami because of injuries. It seemed to have backfired, however, when India’s openers Anuja Patil and Sulakshana Naik were dismissed early, leaving them 4 for 2 in the second over. Poonam Raut and Kaur then led a recovery, playing cautiously to take their team to 36, before Raut fell for 25 to Bismah Maroof in the ninth over. Kaur held the innings together thereafter, much like she had done through the tournament, until she was bowled by Pakistan captain Sana Mir for 20.At 65 for 5, with four overs remaining, India needed to accelerate to post a competitive total. However, Mir led from the front, allowing India only 16 runs. The legspinner took three wickets in a stifling final over, to end with 4 for 13. At the break, Pakistan would have been the happier of the two sides, and based on previous batting performances they may have felt they could overhaul the target.Pakistan’s innings started slowly, with opener Qanita Jalil getting a single off seamer Shubhlakshmi Sharma’s opening over. Sharma struck in her second over by dismissing Jalil, and Pakistan were 4 for 1 in three overs. Mir and Maroof held India at bay for the next six overs with clever batting. Sharp running between the wickets and a few well-timed boundaries swayed the momentum back towards Pakistan, until Mir was caught off Nagarajan Naranjana, with Pakistan needing another 51 runs off 11 overs. Nida Dar, who has been consistent with bat and ball in the tournament, posed a threat to India’s title hopes, and with Maroof at the crease, the contest was even.The vital wicket of Maroof was taken in the next over, though, and the climbing run-rate turned the match in India’s favour. Much like their previous group match, India’s bowlers proved too strong for the Pakistan lower order. Besides the vice-captain Nain Abidi, who made 13, no other batsman reached double figures. India’s fielders claimed the last Pakistan wicket with a sharp run-out off the first ball of the final over.It was a complete performance by India in the field. Every bowler took wickets, the fielders contributed four catches and two run-outs, and wicketkeeper Naik had two catches and two stumpings. It highlighted India’s all-round effort to win the final after a below-par total.Maroof was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, having topped the run charts with 113 and took five wickets.

ScorecardZafar Ansari played a sensible hand during a match-winning partnership with Azhar Mahmood•Getty Images

An unbroken partnership of 79 in 10 overs between Azhar Mahmood and Zafar Ansari swept Surrey to a five-wicket victory against Kent, which all but guaranteed them a Friends Life t20 quarter-final place. Mahmood thumped Matt Coles for a four and six from successive balls in a decisive 19th over that cost 17 runs as Surrey overhauled Kent’s 139 for 4 with five balls to spare.Despite earlier collapsing alarmingly from a seemingly comfortable 47 for no wicket to 61 for 5 inside five overs, Surrey surged to a sixth win in their ninth South Group match thanks to brilliant batting from the veteran Mahmood and the 21-year-old Ansari. Mahmood, the 38-year old former Pakistan allrounder who rejoined Surrey last winter after five seasons at Kent, finished on 47 not out from just 31 balls, with three sixes and three fours in all.Ansari ended on an unbeaten 30, from 36 balls, and although he hit only two fours he played a sensible support act and was adept at giving Mahmood the strike at crucial stages of the chase.Jason Roy and Steven Davies had given Surrey an excellent start, with Davies hitting five fours in an 18-ball 27 before he hit Darren Stevens’ first ball to deep mid-on at the beginning of the sixth over. Stevens then bowled Vikram Solanki for a second-ball duck and conceded just 16 runs from his four overs as Kent put the squeeze on the Surrey innings.Fabian Cowdrey’s left-arm spin snared Kevin O’Brien, caught at long-off for 2, and Gary Wilson was leg-before for a third-ball duck attempting a reverse sweep at offspinner Adam Riley, who also bowled well in the middle overs.Gradually, though, Mahmood and Ansari pulled the match around for Surrey, who now go into second place in the South Group table. An equation of 51 runs from the last six overs became 19 off two – and Mahmood made sure of the win with his two huge blows off Coles.Kent, after winning the toss, lost Daniel Bell-Drummond for 2 in the third over, bowled by Chris Tremlett as he tried to make room to hit over the off-side field, but Cowdrey and Sam Billings added 61 in just over seven overs for the second wicket. Cowdrey, the 20-year-old son of Chris and grandson of Colin, included an eye-catching straight drive off Tremlett and, later, a flip over his right shoulder from down on one knee against the England fast bowler among his six fours in a 46-ball 50, his first half-century at senior level.Billings made 28 from 25 balls before being caught at long-off trying to hit Gareth Batty into the packed stands, and Cowdrey picked out long-on attempting a similar big hit against Ansari in the 14th over.That left Stevens and the rest of Kent’s middle order with a lot to do to set Surrey a challenging target, but Stevens was starved of the strike in the second half of the innings, facing just 19 balls in all as he reached 29 not out – including a driven six off Mahmood from the last ball of the innings. Alex Blake made 7 before skying to cover off Batty and Ben Harmison, after a scratchy start, at least thumped Mahmood for four and six in an expensive 20th over costing 20 runs as he ended up on 19 not out from 15 balls.Jade Dernbach, though wicketless, bowled superbly to concede only 22 runs from his four overs – and just four from a brilliant 19th over containing a number of his trademark well-disguised slower balls.

James Taylor has declared himself far better prepared for Test cricket now than he was on debut last year, despite conceding that his unbeaten century against the Australians in Hove was less than fluent. Taylor and his temporary county team-mate Monty Panesar both enjoyed their audition against the Australians and both will hope to face them again next week after being named in England’s 14-man squad for the Old Trafford Test.Panesar’s chances of playing hinge largely on the condition of the pitch in Manchester, while Taylor’s hopes rest on the condition of Kevin Pietersen’s troublesome calf. Taylor, parachuted in from Nottinghamshire in order to gain some experience against the Australians, scratched around for his 121 not out and was dropped twice before he reached triple-figures but said if he received the nod in Manchester he would be ready.”It wasn’t the best innings I’ve played, it wasn’t one of my most fluent at all, but it’s about finding a way when you’re not feeling in the best touch and I did that,” Taylor said. “Mentally and technically I feel in a good place. I’m delighted to score runs, I don’t really mind how. It’s not how, it’s how many, and that’s how I go about my game.”Taylor’s two Tests against South Africa last year brought scores of 34, 10 and 4, and he was told by the selectors to go away, work on some technical issues and churn out the runs at domestic level. He has done that, piling up 824 for Nottinghamshire in the County Championship this season, and his hundred against the Australians was his third first-class century this summer.”I’ve worked hard on my game since I was left out,” he said. “It was a great experience playing against South Africa but it was all too brief, and I’ve gone away and worked really hard since getting left out. I’ve piled on the runs like the selectors asked me to and I feel like I’m in a good place now.”I was in a kind of a no-win situation in this game, but the purpose was to spend time in the middle against the red ball after all the T20 cricket in recent weeks and it was nice to do that against a decent attack. It was definitely a pressure situation – if I hadn’t scored any runs everybody would have commented on that, but luckily I did and got what I needed out of the game.”Like Taylor, Panesar got what he wanted out of the match against the Australians, picking up 3 for 70 in the first innings, and it was another confidence-booster after a difficult start to the summer. Panesar has managed only 21 wickets at 40.09 during the Championship this season but he said some remedial work with Peter Such, England’s spin bowling coach, had put his season back on track.”I kind of struggled early season, I was not getting the action I wanted to get, and then I went away and did a bit of work with Peter Such on a one-to-one basis to get my action in the right order,” Panesar said. “Over the Twenty20 period I’ve used the time to get my action in order, and in the Championship games and in the dry weather we’ve had I’ve tried to perform and prepare myself if the call came.”Panesar has an outstanding record at Old Trafford, where he has collected 25 wickets at 16.72 in three Tests, but it is five years since he last played a Test there. If, as expected, the teams are greeted with a dry pitch, a two-man spin attack could well be employed by England, and Panesar said he would fancy his chances against the Australians in such circumstances.”The England team have put them slightly under pressure, but the Australia team is a very competitive team, they are going to come hard at us. You always feel maybe against spin there is an opportunity,” he said. “But they are good players, you can’t completely discard Australia, they’re a competitive cricket team – but I do feel even in this game I was always in with a chance.”

MS Dhoni, who injured his right hamstring during India’s tri-series opener in the West Indies, is likely to be ruled out for India’s short tour to Zimbabwe that begins July 24. If Dhoni is indeed unavailable, Gautam Gambhir is likely to earn a recall into the team.While announcing India’s squad for the Champions Trophy on May 4, the national selectors had also named 21 probables for the ongoing tri-series in the West Indies. Besides the 15 who featured in India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign, the probables included Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Rahul Sharma and Gambhir.Shami replaced Irfan Pathan after the latter injured himself while training for the West Indies tri-series. Rayudu came in for Dhoni who was ruled out of the tri-series on July 1.With Tiwary, the only other specialist batsman in the list, having twisted his left knee, Gambhir remains the only viable candidate to lend solidity to what has become an inexperienced India batting line-up. With his experience, Gambhir could also come in handy as a member of the leadership group, thus helping Virat Kohli, who is set to be retained as captain in the event of Dhoni’s unavailability.It will be interesting to see if the selectors opt to rest a few overworked players. Discussions around need for rest could focus on R Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. If Ashwin is indeed rested, Jammu & Kashmir offspinner Parvez Rasool could come in contention along with Rahul Sharma, who is named in the probables.With the selectors’ eyes set on the tour to South Africa later this year, it is possible that Praveen Kumar, who was in the probables, may be given another chance. If the selectors feel the necessity to bring in either Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane for the Zimbabwe ODIs ahead of the India’s A tour to South Africa, Murali Vijay could be a casualty.However, with the India A tour to South Africa set to start immediately after the Zimbabwe series’ conclusion, it is unlikely that the selectors will try out too many youngsters. With the current group having fared well during the Champions Trophy, it is possible that some of the batsmen, who haven’t got enough opportunities, may be asked to join the A team in South Africa.

Cricket Australia is expected to pour more money into growing the game at grassroots level and appealing to a more diverse fan-base after receiving a massive financial boost thanks to the new A$590 million broadcasting rights deal. The organisation has been pushing for some time to increase its appeal to a wider multicultural demographic, which has continued with the offering of special marketing contracts to Fawad Ahmed and Gurinder Sandhu.Ahmed, a refugee from Pakistan, could yet play in the Ashes if legislation before federal parliament is passed in time to allow his Australian passport to be fast-tracked, while Sandhu, whose parents are from India, was New South Wales’ Player of the Year last summer.CA hopes both men will take up the marketing contracts, a concept which was introduced as a result of the reduction in the number of central playing contracts recommended by the Argus report. Under an agreement with the Australian Cricketers’ Association, players from outside the central contract list could be offered deals based on marketing appearances, and CA’s chief executive James Sutherland said Ahmed was a good fit for such a contract.”In terms of someone like Fawad, he’s done very well in domestic cricket at the end of last season and he’s got a different sort of background,” Sutherland told ESPNcricinfo. “Part of our real focus at the moment is to grow and diversify our participation base. There are a number of players from different cultural backgrounds who are playing in domestic cricket and I guess there are opportunities to really highlight that and for them to be some sort of inspiration to others in our community to be part of the Australian cricket scene.”That broader aim of appealing across cultures will continue to be a major focus of CA over the next few years and it will have significantly increased funds with which to tackle the issue as a result of the broadcasting deal. The new five-year arrangement with Channel Nine and Channel Ten is worth 118% more than the previous deal and while some of that increase will be directed to the elite teams and players, grassroots cricket will also be a winner.”How you spend your increases in revenue is just as important as the revenue itself,” Sutherland said. “We have a very clear strategy and approach that says that at least 75% of our revenue will be spent of fans, Australian teams and participants, and that will be a very sharp focus for us over the next five years.”Clubs are a really important part of the fabric of Australian cricket and whilst it’s difficult to be absolutely specific, what we are very focused on is ensuring that cricket is a sport of choice for fans and participants. Growing our participation base, diversifying our participation base is really important.”A fundamental within all of that for clubs is having good facilities and having the resources around them to attract people. It’s competitive out there. There are lots of sports options. Kids today play four or five sports at the same time. We’re really intent on making sure cricket is at the top of the list in summer time and part of that in our view will be looking for opportunities to improve facilities around clubs and communities to make sure that cricket is even more likely to be that sport of choice.”