England resume their VB Series campaign against Australia at Hobart tonight with the mental boost of their comprehensive victory in the final Test of the Ashes series earlier this week.After twice beating Sri Lanka in the first leg of the series before Christmas, Monday’s Test win has set the seal on a revival from England’s nightmare start Down Under.It is an added bonus for the tourists knowing that a below-strength Australia have just suffered their first defeat of the tournament, at the hands of Sri Lanka yesterday.While Australia will be without Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie for tonight’s game in Hobart, Glenn McGrath is expected to return after the side injury that ruled him out of the Sydney Test and yesterday’s game against Sri Lanka.”If the reaction I feel is the same as it has been in the past two or three sessions I am confident I will play,” McGrath said after a run-out in the nets today. “I am 90%-plus in fitness terms and feeling pretty good.”England’s opening batsman Marcus Trescothick is in no doubt about the psychological boost of the Sydney win on the England camp.”Winning this game isn’t about getting a hold over them, it’s more for us that we gain confidence and know that we can beat them,” said Trescothick.”Beating them in the last Test was a big improvement and a big psychological boost for the whole team, even those not down the ground, watching us on TV, knowing we can play better than them.”You could see the difference when you took 800 Test wickets out of that side. The guys coming in are still pretty useful cricketers but they are not of the calibre of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie.”Trescothick is confident that he will eventually emerge from the first lean spell of his international career, in which he managed just one half century in the Ashes series.”This is a chance for all of us, although I am not viewing the potential absence of those three players for a chance to get runs. Whether they are playing or not, I have got to be scoring runs and I back myself to do it sooner or later,” he insisted.Michael Vaughan, made man of the Ashes series for his magnificent batting displays, is in doubt for tonight’s match with knee and shoulder injuries, while Durham fast bowler Steve Harmison has shin splints.Nonetheless Trescothick believes England are in good shape for the run-up to the World Cup, of which the current series is the last stage.”It is hard to judge how you are doing when you are playing a side of Australia’s calibre every week – it is not a true reflection of how good you are,” Trescothick said.”I am pretty sure if we were playing most other countries at the moment we could give them a good run for their money. But we still have to compete with Australia because in six or seven weeks we play against them in the World Cup and we have to learn how to beat them.”Meanwhile Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting has not minced his words about yesterday’s 79-run loss, in which his bowlers were carted all over the park by Sri Lanka.”It was not really an Australian team that took to the field, I think,” he said. “Our performance was not up to the high expectations we have of the team and we have spoken about that and we will speak of it again before tomorrow.”Ponting will be leading Australia on his local ground, the Bellerive Oval, for the first time.

Monday, Feb 17: 8.30 am. England travel to Port Elizabeth. Arrive 1 pmapprox. No practice scheduled. 2 pm – Media Conference with Michael Vaughanat Holiday Inn Garden Court Hotel.Tuesday, Feb 18: Practice: 10 am until 12.30 pm approx. England practice atSt George’s Park. The England Coach, Duncan Fletcher, will be available tothe media at the ground after practice.Wednesday, Feb 19 v Namibia at St George’s Park.Thursday, Feb 20: Depart Port Elizabeth 8.20 am. Arrive Cape Town 9.40 am.Practice 2- 5 pm at Newlands. Media conference arrangements tbc.Friday, Feb 21: Practice at Newlands.10 am to 1 pm. Media Conference to beheld at the ground after practice.Saturday, Feb 22 v Pakistan in Cape Town.Sunday, Feb 23: Depart Cape Town for Durban 09.15. Arrive 11.15.Media/Practice arrangements tbc.Monday, Feb 24: Practice at Durban 10 am to 1 pm. Media Conference to beheld at the ground after practice.Tuesday, Feb 25, Practice in Durban from 2-5 pm. Media Conferencearrangements to be held at the team hotel before practice. Time tbc.Wednesday, Feb 26: v India at Durban.Thursday, Feb 27: Depart Durban: 10.15 am. Arrive Port Elizabeth: 11.35 am.Media/Practice arrangements tbc.Friday, Feb 28: Practice at St George’s Park from 10 am until 1 pm. MediaConference at the ground after practice.Saturday, March 1: Practice from 2 to 5 pm at St George’s Park. MediaConference to be held before practice at team hotel. Time tbc.Sunday, March 2 v Australia at St Georges Park.

Sanjayan Thuraisingam, the chief architect of Canada’s ability to bowl out Scotland in the ICCT 2001 has been hampered by an injury at the CWC 2003.Despite several medical consultations in South African, it appears that some further diagnostic testing may need to be completed.Word from South Africa is that further medical diagnostics may require that Sanjay return early to Toronto in order to avail himself of top notch medical facilities and specialists in Canada.We trust that ‘Jay shall speedily return to the cricket arena after medical clearance.

Glamorgan have confirmed arrangements for their friendlymatches at the start of the 2003 season.The Welsh county will be involved in a three day gameagainst Somerset at Taunton on April 2nd, 3rd and 4th, with playstarting at 11 a.m.Two one-day matches have also been arranged, with an away gameagainst Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on April 29th, and ahome match against Middlesex at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on May2nd. Play in both of these games will also start at 11 a.m.

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Division OneMiddlesex v Lancashire, Lord’s
Lancashire have another rare opportunity to put James Anderson to gooduse, before England filch him for the rest of the summer. He has recoveredfrom the ankle injury that kept him out of the last two one-day matches,and returns to the team alongside Gary Keedy. Now that Phil Tufnell hasfled to the jungle, Middlesex have struggled for spin options, but theyoung Pakistani legspinner, Imran Tahir, may be the answer to theirproblems. but the young Pakistani legspinner, Imran Tahir, may be the answer to their problems. Tahir plays for Norton-in-Hales in the North Staffordshire & South Cheshire League. Last season, he equalled the league record of 104 wickets, and in the process broke Norton’s old record of 97… as held by a certain Sir Garfield Sobers. He impressed during Thursday’s C&G victory against Northants, and is set to make his Championship debut.Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Trent Bridge
Nottinghamshire may be sitting pretty at the top of the CountyChampionship, but yesterday, had it not been for Paul Franks, they wouldhave slumped to the most embarrassing defeat in their history – againstLincolnshire. Franks, however, won’t be around to bail them out againstSurrey. He has aggravated a calf strain. Surrey have a couple of injuryworries themselves – they are waiting on the fitness of Ian Salisbury(finger) and Alex Tudor (knee). Even so, they remain confident enough toomit Graham Thorpe for the second match running.Warwickshire v Sussex, Edgbaston
Sussex’s Jason Lewry and Tony Cottey have both been passed fit afterinjuring themselves in the field during last week’s win against Kent.Lewry will play despite breaking his nose on Carl Hopkinson, as he ran into take (and hold) a catch, while Cottey’s bruised thumb should not hamperhim unduly. Warwickshire have been in prime batting form this season, butthey will be without one of their linchpins, Nick Knight, who hasundergone knee surgery and is replaced by Jonathan Trott. Watching fromthe Edgbaston stands will be the Kenyan legspinner, Collins Obuya, who isdue to make his debut next week.Division TwoGlamorgan v Gloucestershire, Cardiff
Gloucestershire, top of the table and fresh from a 324-run annihilation ofBuckinghamshire, are in prime form for their trip to Cardiff. They all butthrashed Durham in their last match (only for the weather to intervene)and the arrival of Jonty Rhodes has brought out the best in Tim Hancock,who blasted a career-best 135 in the C&G Trophy on Thursday. Glamorganwill be without their captain Steve James and Darren Thomas, both of whomhave both undergone knee operations. Much will be resting on MatthewMaynard, with two Championship hundreds to his name already this term.Yorkshire v Derbyshire, Headingley
Yorkshire have begun their Championship season in a fury after theirhumiliating relegation last season, and Derbyshire will be hard-pressed toresist them at Headingley. Michael Vaughan, with the grand total of 16runs in three innings so far this season, will be determined to mark hisappointment as England’s one-day captain with a sizeable innings. DarrenGough, however, will be missing after tweaking his hamstring againstEssex. Derbyshire have injury doubts surrounding Michael Di Venuto(hamstring) and Shahid Afridi (finger).Tour matchWorcestershire v Zimbabweans, Worcester
Zimbabwe were eased into their tour of England – by opposition andprotestors alike – with a ten-wicket victory over the BritishUniversities, but the real test begins at New Road. Grant Flower, who hassince spoken out in support of his brother’s black-armband protest in theWorld Cup, scored a century in that opening match, and with the first Testjust two weeks away, the onus is on Zimbabwe’s lesser lights to follow hisexample – Flower is the only man in the party with a Test hundred to hisname. South Africa’s allrounder, Andrew Hall, makes his debut forWorcestershire, after returning from the tour of Bangladesh.National League, Division TwoScotland v Somerset, Edinburgh
Another anticlimax, or a rapid return to the form that saw off Durham intheir inaugural fixture? Scotland were hammered back into their place byMarcus Trescothick in the C&G Trophy, and the sight of him marching out topick up where he left off (103 from 70 balls) may be more than theScottish bowlers can take.

Crowds for the Twenty20 Cup group matches are currently running nearly three times higher than for the equivalent games in the old Benson & Hedges Cup.In the 18 games to date the total crowd attendance has been 80,350, which tops the figure of 68,018 spectators for all the 45 Benson & Hedges Cup group matches in 2002. A further 27 group matches remain in cricket’s newest competition.The average attendance for Twenty20 Cup matches to date is three times higher than for Benson & Hedges Cup group matches in 2002 – an average of 4,464 per Twenty20 group match so far compared to an average of 1,511 per Benson & Hedges group match last season.ECB Marketing Manager, Stuart Robertson, said,

Geoff Marsh, the Zimbabwe coach, has criticised the state of English pitches, claiming that they are a poor breeding-ground for top-class international bowlers.On the eve of the Zimbabweans’ final game of a disappointing tour of England, Marsh said: “A lot of the wickets we’ve played on here this summer have given too much assistance to the faster bowlers. I’m not saying this as an excuse for our batting performances – with our inexperience we would probably have struggled on better wickets.”He continued: “But playing on pitches offering generous seam and bounce can give a false impression of a bowler’s abilities. Don’t get me wrong, England have a good pace attack with Gough, Anderson, Johnson, Harmison and Hoggard. The danger is that they don’t develop into complete bowlers who are capable of winning Test matches on flat Asian, Australian, South African and West Indian wickets.”Marsh added: “Gough is an exception to that because he’s proved himself overseas, but he may not play much Test cricket in future. It’s young bowlers like Anderson, Harmison and Hoggard who will need to learn subtle variations and master different deliveries to take wickets when the ball doesn’t swing and seam.”Marsh, who played 50 Tests for Australia as an opener, pointed to the pitches at Lord’s for the first Test and Headingley, Cardiff and Bristol in the NatWest Series as examples of bowler-friendly conditions. “It’s not just international matches that are affected. We played at Worcester at the start of the tour where the ball moved off the seam throughout the match.”Kabir Ali took five wickets in our second innings, but in terms of developing his skills he would have been better off bowling on the tracks we played on at Hove or Shenley, where every wicket had to be earned.”Look at the example of a bowler like Heath Streak. He’s revelled in the conditions over here because he’s a classic English-style swing bowler. But he’s also learned how to adapt his game to be effective in Zimbabwe and around the world on less-responsive surfaces.”

Day 1 Close Nottinghamshire 265 for 3 (Afzaal 114, Bicknell 52) v India AShowers and Usman Afzaal combined to frustrate India A who endured a relatively unproductive day in the field at Trent Bridge. Nottinghamshire closed on 265 for 3, thanks largely to a commanding hundred from Afzaal.In front of a smattering of spectators, medium pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji struck early for India A, bowling Guy Welton for 25 (53 for 1) but that was their only success until shortly before tea. Afzaal and Darren Bicknell (52) added 89 for the second wicket before Bicknell became Balaji’s second wicket (140 for 2). When Murali Kartik dismissed Bilal Shafayat for 6 shortly after, Nottinghamshire’s progress was briefly checked (159 for 3).But Afzaal continued untroubled, reaching his hundred off 162 balls in three and three-quarter hours, and putting on an unbeaten 113 with Gareth Clough (39*) for the fourth wicket.With more showers forecast for Thursday it will take some imaginative captaincy – or penetrative bowling – to get a result.

Day 3 Close
Scorecard

India A and the South Africans ambled through a fairly pointless final day at a sunny Arundel as both sides took the opportunity for what amounted to little more than an extended net session. With the first npower Test starting on Thursday, the South Africans opted to give some practice to their late middle-order batsmen and the match petered out into a tame draw.The South Africans extended their first innings in the morning with Boeta Dippenaar making 37 in a little over two hours. But the small crowd were given more entertainment by Shaun Pollock, who hammered 36 from 37 balls, and Robin Peterson who struck 32 off 36 balls.Aavishkar Salvi and Irfan Pathan picked up two wickets each in the five to fall, by which time the South Africans had piled up 463, a lead of 144.In their reply, India A lost two wickets in quick succession. Shiv Sunder Das was bowled by Pollock for 15 (35 for 1), and Gautam Gambhir caught by Mark Boucher, the wicketkeeper, off Monde Zondeki for 18 (36 for 2). But Wasim Jaffer and Hemang Badani played well for their fifties, although Jaffer fell to a catch by Boucher off Robin Peterson shortly before the captains agreed to end what had become a meaningless exercise.Day 2 Bulletin