Gavin Hamilton will continue his long-awaited return to Scottish colours at the ECC European Championships in Holland later this month. Hamilton, 29, was born in Scotland but after a solitary Test appearance for England in 1999, has had to wait the mandatory four years to be eligible to play for Scotland again.Hamilton was one of Scotland’s leading performers at the ICC Six Nations Challenge in the United Arab Emirates in February this year, where USA beat Scotland by 0.028 on net run rate to win the tournament. Hamilton scored 209 runs in five innings during the competition, but did not take a wicket. He has played five one-day internationals for Scotland, all at the 1999 World Cup, scoring 217 runs at an excellent average of 54.25.Hamilton has been released by Durham to play at the championships, but Dougie Brown, who also had a good Six Nations Challenge, will remain in England to fulfil his county commitments with Warwickshire.Scotland have never won the European championships, but put in a strong performance against Holland in an Intercontinental Cup match last month, though the game finished in a draw. However, they have won just one game in the Totesport National League this season, beating Durham by six wickets in Edinburgh, and are bottom of Division Two.Scotland also have injury worries, with Craig Wright, the captain, Paul Hoffman and Stewart Bruce all on the wounded list, though they are expected to be fit in time for the championships. Hamilton may have to pull out of the squad at the last minute too, as his wife is close to giving birth to their first child.Wright believes Scotland’s performances at the championships will serve as a good indicator of how far they have progressed as a national team.”Everything we do, whether it’s the Scottish Saltires competing in the totesport matches, or the European Championships, is preparation for the World Cup qualifiers next year in Ireland," said Wright, adding, "It’s important that we keep doing all we can to push our case at International Cricket Council level for achieving our goal of one-day international status.”Scotland squad Craig Wright (capt), Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Cedric English, Colin Smith (wk), Gavin Hamilton, Stewart Bruce, Bruce Patterson, Paul Hoffmann, Dewald Nel, Ian Stanger, Douglas Lockhart, Asim Butt, Gregor Maiden.Tournament Itinerary
July 18 – Ireland v ECB at Utrecht
July 19 – Holland v Scotland, Denmark v ECB at Deventer
July 20 – Denmark v Scotland at Rotterdam, Ireland v Holland at Utrecht
July 21 – Ireland v Scotland at Deventer
July 22 – Holland v ECB at Rotterdam, Denmark v Ireland at Utrecht
July 23 – Scotland v ECB at Utrecht
July 24 – Holland v Denmark at Rotterdam

Andre Adams has been thrown a lifeline by John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, who has said that Adams still has an international future as long as he sorts out his attitude.Adams, who turns 29 in a week, joined the New Zealand squad for the first time in 14 months yesterday after falling off the radar last season and not even being considered for New Zealand A. A perceived casual attitude, injuries and inconsistent performances meant that he was left off the list of 20 New Zealand contracted players in April.Adams was summoned this week from Lancashire league cricket with Colne, to cover for injury niggles to Daryl Tuffey (thigh), Chris Cairns (ankle) and Jacob Oram (side) ahead of Saturday’s NatWest Series final against West Indies at Lord’s.Bracewell said he was determined that Adams wouldn’t be cast to the international scrap heap, and had organised a programme with the team’s psychologist, Gilbert Enoka. “He’s a talented athlete, and we won’t give up on Andre,” Bracewell said. “He’s talented enough to play international cricket again, but you can’t drift through life on talent alone.”You’ve got to have discipline and professionalism, and a day in, day out attitude. You can’t just turn it on like a light switch.”After returning home from a limited role in New Zealand’s tri-series win in Sri Lanka last May, Adams admitted it all went downhill. “Last year was a really difficult season for me. I didn’t do the things I wanted to do, got more and more frustrated and started taking it out on team-mates and anyone else around me,” Adams told New Zealand Press Association, having brushed with officialdom several times in recent seasons after clashes with players and umpires. “I got frustrated with where I was going, which was nowhere fast.”He said he was stunned to get the call-up from Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand manager, earlier this week, but admitted it got the pulse racing again. “You don’t realise how much you want it till you get the phone call. I’ve been trying to tell myself it’s OK, I don’t really need it, but as soon as you hear Lindsay’s voice at the end of the line, I was jumping out of my skin to get here.”

In the latest episode to fuel the controversial issue of throwing, Abdur Razzaq, the Bangladesh bowler, has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action.Razzaq, the left-arm spinner, was reported by the three match umpires and by Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, after Bangladesh’s Asia Cup clash against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.Razzaq, playing in only his second one-dayer, bowled his full quota of 10 overs, with the complimentary return of 2 for 36 – but not everyone was impressed. Mahanama later told both the ICC and the Bangladesh management of his decision to report Razzaq. He said: “The umpires were of the opinion that the player’s action needed to be looked at and it is in the best interests of the player that this is done at this early stage of his career.”Under the two-stage process, Razzaq, 22, will be able to continue playing international cricket, but under the eye of a specialist advisor, as well as a specialist from the ICC panel, who will constantly review his bowling action.After six weeks, the Bangladesh board will have to file a review to the ICC, which will then be shown to all the match referees and umpires.

Western Australia lost a cricketing icon when Ken Meuleman passed away on Friday night at Hollywood Private Hospital in Perth after a battle with bone cancer.Meuleman, who turned 81 last Sunday, is synonymous with Western Australian cricket as three generations of Meulemans represented the state. Ken, his son Robert and grandson Scott all played for them over seven decades.Ken Meuleman began his cricketing career in Victoria where he played six seasons of first-class cricket and one Test match, against New Zealand in 1946 where he made a duck in his only innings.He moved to Western Australia in 1952 and immediately became a star in the team. In 48 matches, he made 3398 runs at an average of 51.48 with 11 centuries, 13 half-centuries and a top score of 234 not out.Meuleman was a strong supporter of grass roots cricket and coached for many years after his retirement. He had a direct hand in the development in many of Western Australia’s finest Test cricketers including current Australian opener Justin Langer.

The dispute between the West Indian players and the board appeared to be closer to being resolved after the 16 players who had been dropped were allowed to attend a three-week training camp in Barbados starting on November 30.The breakthrough came after seven hours of talks chaired by Dr Keith Mitchell, Grenada’s prime minister. They ended with both parties agreeing to submit briefs by next Friday which will enable an independent adjudicator to be appointed to try to find a solution."I feel heartened that after this long and difficult process we have an understanding on the way forward and it appears now that the tour to Australia may not be jeopardised by the grievance," Mitchell told The Nation newspaper. "Clearly there needs to be a much closer working relationship between the board and the players’ representatives. That is a major deficiency and the prime ministerial sub-committee plans to meet very soon and will be involving all the parties to look at a fundamental process for the way forward for the development of West Indies cricket."Dinanath Ramnarine, representing the players, welcomed developments. "We have always indicated we were interested in continuing our dialogue with the process of reaching an agreement," he said. "We are happy that this process will continue and we are looking forward to it."The dispute escalated in the last fortnight, culminating in the board dropping 16 players after they refused to sign a controversial contract which prevented them from promoting any company which was a rival of Digicel, a telecommunications company which had signed a US$20 million deal with the West Indian board. Many players had earlier signed individual deals with Cable & Wireless, a rival company. The board wanted the players to terminate those contracts without compensation, which the players refused to do, leading to the standoff. The dispute threatened to jeopardise West Indies’ participation in the VB Series, with Cricket Australia insisting on a full-strength line-up for the tournament.

The Australian women’s team due to tour India for seven one-day internationals is all set to feature two identical twins. The selection panel announced a 13-person squad including Kate and Alex Blackwell. Alex has played eight ODIs but Kate, if selected to play in a match, will be making her debut. If this does happen, this will be the first pair of twins representing Australia in women’s cricket. Shelly Nitschke, the 27-year old left-hand bat, was named in the squad as replacement for Kris Britt, who made herself unavailable for personal reasons.Australia and India have met 14 times before in women’s one-dayers, with India winning just once. The only time India were successful was in 1995.The Blackwells will inevitably draw comparisons to the Waugh twins. But, they insist they aren’t the female equivalent of the more famous cricket twins. “I guess we are progressing along similar to the way Mark and Steve were early in their careers and we appreciate the comparison,” Kate told the Australian Associated Press. “We look up to them a lot but female cricketers should be recognised for themselves, not as the equivalent of Mark Waugh or Steve Waugh or Matthew Hayden or anybody.”While Alex has played two Tests and eight one-dayers, this tour is a first for Kate. “We were fighting for the same position and I got used to living up to what she had achieved.” she said. “I had seen her go through the steps (to get to international level) and I thought that if she could do it, I could do it. She’s a role model for me and we’re all really, really excited – it’s a big celebration day.”Squad 1 Belinda Clark (captain), 2 Karen Rolton, 3 Alex Blackwell, 4 Kate Blackwell, 5 Leonie Coleman, 6 Shelley Nitschke, 7 Cathryn Fitzpatrick, 8 Julie Hayes, 9 Melanie Jones, 10 Lisa Keightley, 11 Clea Smith, 12 Lisa Sthalekar, 13 Emma Twining

Ben Trott will stay at Kent after all, but not as a player. Trott, an opening bowler, was released at the end of summer, but he will take on the position of study support centre manager from January. His role will involve raising the literacy and numeracy levels of children in the Canterbury area.”I am really excited about my new job,” Trott said. “I am obviously disappointed not to be continuing my playing career, but I am thrilled to be able to maintain my links with Kent. I look forward to combining my teaching qualifications with my sporting background for the benefit of local children.”Trott, 26, has a degree in PE and IT technology and he is also a qualified primary school teacher: skills which will be put to good use in his new role.

Robert Christiani, the former West Indian batsman, has died a couple of days after the passing of Charlie Stayers, the former West Indian allrounder, according to the CaribbeanCricket.com website. Christiani, who was 85, died in Toronto recently.Christiani, who was a right-handed opening batsman, scored 896 runs at an average of 26.35 from 22 Tests. Known as “Sugarfoot”, he was famous for being unlucky enough to be dismissed for 99 on his Test debut, against England in 1947-48 – he is one of three players to share that unwanted distinction. He later did make a Test century, 107 against India in 1948-49. He averaged 40.50 in 88 first-class matches, scoring 5103 runs with a highest score of 181.Christiani came from a well-known cricketing family in Guyana, and began his career as a lower-order batsman. His older brother, Cyril, played four Tests for West Indies in the 1930s, while Harry and Ernest, two other brothers, played first-class cricket for British Guiana.The news of Christiani’s death comes on the back of the passing of Stayers, who died recently in Britain at the age of 67. Stayers played four Tests for West Indies, all against India in 1961-62. He played 17 first-class matches, for Bombay in India as well as British Guiana, before his career ended prematurely when he was only 26.

Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag have been appointed as captains of the India Senior, India A and India B sides to contest in the Challenger Trophy one-day tournament to be held in Mumbai from February 7. All teams will play each other once before the best two contest in the final at the Wankhede Stadium on February 10.Barring Sachin Tendulkar, all the first-choice Indian players will feature in the tournament. Lakshmipathy Balaji will return to competitive cricket after a five-month layoff while Ashish Nehra will also be returning after a break.MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel were picked as the three wicketkeepers and each team also includes youngsters who have shone this season. Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and Rudra Pratap Singh – all of whom played in the Under-19 World Cup last year – will get a chance to make an impression.When India Senior take on India A, there is a good chance of Irfan Pathan bowling to his elder brother Yusuf, also an allrounder, who gets a chance after a string of impressive performances in the Ranji Trophy this year.India Senior
1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 MS Dhoni (wk), 3 Yuvraj Singh, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Venugopal Rao, 6 Niraj Patel, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 10 Gagandeep Singh, 11 Rajesh Pawar, 12 Shikhar Dhawan.India A
1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 3 Satyajit Parab, 4 Dheeraj Jadhav, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Murali Kartik, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Rudra Pratap Singh, 11 Yusuf Pathan, 12 Robin Uthappa.India B
1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Sridharan Sriram, 6 Rohan Gavaskar, 7 Ramesh Powar, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 Ashish Nehra, 10 Shib Shankar Paul, 11 Amit Bhandari, 12 Ambati Rayudu.

Moin Khan
We hadn’t made much of an impression on the batting till then – they were 150-odd for 2 and Dravid looked set and comfortable. Then, right after a drinks break, Shoaib produced this amazing yorker which took Dravid’s leg stump.I remember those two balls really well, particularly the second one, which got Sachin. When he walked in, the crowd had gone wild and given him a standing ovation.Shoaib was bowling really well at that period in the game, and he had found some good rhythm in that spell. For a brief while he looked as if he was going to get a wicket with almost every ball. The way he was charging in, his attitude, it was phenomenal. He just wanted to impose himself on the game and do something; you could really see it.The ball that got Sachin looked the better of the two to me – middle stump and fuller. Both the deliveries were quick obviously, but it was more the swing that did it, and the lateness of the swing. I had seen some Wasim and Waqar specials but these two weren’t far off. When Sachin was bowled, the crowd went completely quiet and you could only hear Shoaib and some of the other players going ballistic.Rahul Dravid
I was batting with Sadagoppan Ramesh and we had been in for a while. Shoaib had come on to bowl and had completed a few overs when we had a drinks break.He was bowling sharp but not with much venom. I told Ramesh, “We’ve got a good partnership here. Let’s keep it going. Shoaib generally bowls three or four good overs and after that we can cash in.” The ball had just started to reverse swing a little bit.First ball after drinks, bang! I saw it clearly as it left his hand – it looked like it was going to be overpitched. It started from outside off stump and came back in a long way. The ball was too good for me on the day.I walked back to thunderous applause. Having scored only 24 runs, I found this a bit strange, till I realised it was for Sachin, who was coming out.I had hardly settled down in the dressing room when there was a roar and then pin-drop silence. I looked up at the television screen in the dressing room, but I needn’t have. You could sense what had happened. Because the television pictures are slightly delayed, I saw Sachin being bowled.It was too good a ball to receive first up. I was set for a while and yet he got me. Sachin had no chance. Those two balls turned the Test match around.