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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

Sri Lanka’s awesome one-day record at home over the last five years has taken a beating. Worse, for the first time ever, Sri Lanka have failed to qualify for a tri-series final on home soil.They came agonisingly close to making it – just nine runs – but the line between success and failure in sport is narrow. They failed.Unlike at Sharjah, where they were handicapped by an unbalanced side and missed several key players, there are no easy reasons for their failure.On paper the side was strong, experienced and well-balanced: six batsmen, two allrounders and three frontline bowlers.But Sri Lanka lacked confidence. They thought failure first, success second.The thinking was betrayed by their actions.The first indication came when a nervous top order failed to grasp a bonuspoint against New Zealand in their second game when they were chasing only139.

It was not as crucial as it could have been but it did prompt some navel-gazing in the dressing room – are we not good enough to chase 140 in 40 overs?Sri Lanka had been ticking along after a solid start from Sanath Jayasuriyaand Romesh Kaluwitharana, but a double strike by New Zealand changed themindset.Fear of failure stalled the innings, paralysing the middle order until Tillakaratne Dilshan was bold enough – and fortunate enough – to make adash for victory.Stephen Fleming couldn’t believe his luck when he walked off with a bonuspoint. “For the second time in a week Sri Lanka have let us off the hook,”he said, refering back to the final Test in Kandy.Dilshan also impressed in the third match, Sri Lanka’s best game of the tournament, top-scoring with 46 from 93 balls after having come to the creasewith Sri Lanka on 48 for 4.He was the major positive to come out from the tournament. Dilshan had always been a gutsy cricketer – unflinching close to the bat, safe hands under pressure – but doubts had persisted over his mental resilience with the bat.But two years kicking his heels on the sidelines has toughened his innercore. If he can iron out a few technical kinks against fast bowling,Dilshan may be the middle-order batsman that Sri Lanka so desperately need.Sri Lanka then held their nerve in the field against Pakistan, with MuttiahMuralitharan starring with the ball, taking 5 for 23.

But it all went awry against New Zealand from the time Atapattu had won thetoss and decided to bowl first – the decision made no sense.It would have been a brave decision to bat first, considering that everyoneelse had elected to bowl, but it suited Sri Lanka to do so considering that their strength lay in spin bowling.The bone-dry pitch was always going to crumble after the curator, followinga request from the Sri Lankan team, did not water it properly the night before.Atapattu had intimated earlier that he was going to bat, but in the morning he hesitated. He said there was more moisture than had been expected.He talked about Sri Lanka playing to their strengths, but what hemeant was that Sri Lanka were playing to their fears – they were scaredof handing New Zealand’s fast bowlers an advantage early on.If the batsmen had knuckled down to make a reasonable score, Muralitharan and Co would have been virtually unplayable on what Daniel Vettori called “a dirty Bunsen.”

In the end, Brendon McCullum took the match away from Sri Lanka, creaming 40runs from the final four overs.Chasing 157 for victory was never going to be easy. Mahela Jayawardenedid well to take it to the last over. On another day his reverse-sweep – ajustified gamble considering his restricted scoring options and the need tocollect a boundary – would have sped to the boundary and taken Sri Lanka to thefinal.The selectors – who have organised a three-match trial series before picking the squad for the West Indies – will now have to mull over potential changes to the line-up for that tour. Few changes are expected, for the problem was not personnel but approach.Nevertheless, the sooner the selectors can clean up the ambiguity created bythe spilt captaincy, and the cricket board can appoint a full-time coach,the better. Sri Lankan cricket needs someone to lead it forward. At themoment it’s stuck at the crossroads.

The disappointing performance of the Bangladesh squad has clouded the cricketing atmosphere of country. The million fans all over saw their side succumbing before the Lunch on the third day – in a pitch, which appeared to be batting friendly. Most of the batsmen were seen lured by the cunning deliveries off the Pakistani bowlers and threw their wickets away childishly. The task of hanging on to the crease was not daunting but the players failed to execute this anyhow. Danish Kaneria, the leggie, proved to be the culprit taking his haul of a dozen wickets to bring down the tourists.If Kaneria proved to be such a threat for Bangladesh, then what Muralitharan would be? This ace spinner from Sri Lanka has beguiled the celebrated batsmen of the world for innumerable occasions. He is in the peak of his form now pulling mammoth success against India.Let’s hope for the best. The time has come to give our cricketers some moral boost-ups and confidences instead of disdaining them. They played badly in the both innings in Multan but that is not the end of Bangladesh cricket. It is only the beginning and plenty of mistakes might be waiting in future. The history of India and Pakistan are not enjoyable when they were new in Test arena.So, we should keep on watching how much our boys are learning from their blunders. That should be the exact approach for the Bangla Tigers right this moment.

Darren Lehmann’s 115 against Leicestershire at Grace Road made him theleading run scorer in the country. The century on the final day of thedrawn match was the 47th in his career and 10th for Yorkshire.Earlier resuming at 194 for 5, Yorkshire were all out for 340 inanswer to Leicestershire’s 351 in the first innings. Leicestershiretook 11 points and are in the fourth place in the championship whileYorkshire are in the second place by picking 10 points from the match.Yorkshire meet Surrey the week after next at Scarborough where theirtask will be to come out with maximum points and limit the points ofSurrey. “It’s all down to when we play Surrey. That was always goingto be the crucial game,” said Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director ofcoaching.

Yorkshire have confirmed Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Pakistani fast bowler, will be available to play for them in the 2008 season. Naved-ul-Hasan’s participation was in doubt after he signed up for the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL).Meanwhile, another ICL player from Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed has been given the go-ahead to appear for Sussex. In Mushtaq’s case, the confirmation was a mere formality, as the Pakistan board had issued a second No Objection Certificate (NOC), which the county had forwarded to the England board.Yorkshire revealed in a statement that the decision on Naved-ul-Hasan had been conveyed to them after protracted negotiations between the England and Pakistan boards. The move means the PCB has issued an NOC for Naved-ul-Hasan to play in England’s county season. It had been thought the PCB would refuse an NOC in view of his ICL links, and even when Mushtaq was granted it last week, it was believed that was not relevant to Naved-ul-Hasan as he had played international cricket more recently.Naved-ul-Hasan’s registration with Yorkshire is subject to his obtaining a valid work permit, which the county believes will not be a hurdle given his previous spells at Sussex. “I have maintained throughout the last few weeks that I would be allowed to play cricket for Yorkshire and that my participation in the Indian Cricket League would not get in the way of that dream,” Naved-ul-Hasan said. “I am not contracted to the PCB and could not see why they should wish to prevent me from playing the game I love in Yorkshire.”Yorkshire have said that they will give the player time and assistance to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained while playing for Sussex at the end of the 2007 season. He has been bowling for the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, but Yorkshire will take no chances. “We are conscious that he needs time to fully recover from his shoulder injury, which is why we have Morne Morkel for the early weeks of the season, but a fully fit Rana will be a huge boost,” Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire coach, said. “He has proved in India recently that he can bowl and take wickets but we want to be satisfied that he can also cope with the demands of fielding, especially throwing, before we play him in the first XI.”He is a very determined man and his desire to play for this club and cut through all of the politics involved, has been particularly impressive.”

Shaun Tait is confident he will be available for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September, despite having elbow surgery last week. Tait said he should be fit by August “at the latest”.”I have a decent range of movement already,” Tait told . “The physio is pretty impressed so I might be back quicker than expected.” Tait had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow for a soft-tissue niggle that had troubled him for most of the summer and Australia’s initial expectation was that he would be a 50-50 chance of making the trip to South AfricaTait, who has also had shoulder problems in the past, said there was no possibility he would alter his slinging action in an effort to keep him off the sidelines. “Every time I get injured it comes up but I will just keep snubbing it,” he said. “I won’t be changing the action.”Tait suffered a hamstring injury before Christmas, which hurt his chances of playing in Australia’s early CB Series matches in January. However, he was called up for his ODI debut late in the tournament and also went to the World Cup, where he impressed with 23 wickets at 20.3.

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A five-wicket haul by West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor followed by a merciless assault by Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels helped Jamaica decimate Bermuda by nine wickets in their Stanford 20/20 match in Antigua. The West Indies trio proved too hot to handle for the World Cup qualifiers as Jamaica eased to their target of 75, getting there in only the sixth over.Taylor finished with fantastic figures of 5 for 10, which included a three-wicket burst in the space of four balls in his third over. Jermaine Lawson too kept the batsmen under check at the other end with some incisive seam bowling as Bermuda were tottering at 26 for 4. Oliver Pitcher and Delyone Borden made a recovery of sorts, adding 30 before another burst of wickets let them down. Pitcher top-scored with 19 as his side were bowled out for 74.Bermuda caused some early jitters, as George O’Brien bowled Xavier Marshall for a duck. Samuels earned a reprieve, skying his first delivery to extra cover, only to be dropped by Pitcher. From then on, it was Jamaica all the way with Gayle smashing four sixes in his unbeaten 40 off 22 balls. Samuels smacked five boundaries in his unbeaten 25, as Jamaica booked their place in the quarter finals.
ScorecardTravis Dowlin, the Guyana opener, hit an unbeaten half-century to guide his side to an easy eight-wicket win over Montserrat in their Stanford 20/20 match in Antigua. Dowlin and Narsingh Deonarine (31 not out) reached the target of 116 with 21 balls to spare in front of a capacity crowd which had a large Guyanese contingent.Choosing to bat first, Montserrat struggled to force the pace against the slow bowlers, led by former West Indies spinners Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell. Montserrat had an encouraging start, with their openers Nesta Piper and McPhearson Meade adding 46, picking runs of the seamers. The spinners then came into play, sharing five wickets between them to restrict Montserrat to 115 for 8. Guyana made a steady reply, with Dowlin opting to graft it out instead of going for the big shots.Guyana will now meet Jamaica in the quarter-finals next Friday.

Daryll Cullinan may come out of retirement at the age of 37 and play for South Africa on their tour of India next month.Ray Jennings, South Africa’s newly appointed coach, has asked the former Test player Cullinan to make himself available for the two-Test series. Jennings has asked the captain Graeme Smith – who Cullinan had criticised for failing to lead South Africa to a Test win against England in 2003 – to speak to the player about a possible return to the national side.Cullinan, a middle-order batsman, said he would relish a comeback on the international stage: “It would be wonderful if it came to pass. I’d do it for nothing, but at this point I think that it would be inappropriate to comment.”He announced his retirement from international cricket in 2001 following an argument with the South African board over his contract. He pulled out of the match against Australia just hours before the game, although he later apologised.Cullinan made his international debut against India in 1992, and has an outstanding record against them. He has scored 688 runs in eight matches at an impressive average of 52.92, which far exceeds his career average of 44.21.

Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, joined an exclusive club today by scoring centuries against all 18 first-class counties.Northamptonshire was the last side on his list, and he ticked them off with his 40th first-class hundred at Hove, as Sussex built a large total in reply to Northants in their Division One match.Adams, 34, began his career with Derbyshire in 1988 and moved to Sussex ten years later. Taking over the captaincy, his ultimate achievement was leading Sussex to their first Championship title last season. Adams joined Mark Ramprakash and Carl Hooper, who both completed their full sets of county centuries last season. Among current players Stuart Law and Graeme Hick have both made centuries against 17 different counties: Hick has never made one against Worcestershire, while Law needs one against his old county Essex, who are not in the same division as his current team, Lancashire.Adams played five Tests and five one-dayers for England between 1998 and 2000, and averages just under 40 in first-class cricket.

After the third day’s play in the match between Manicaland and Matabelelandat Mutare Sports Club, Manicaland found themselves on the back foot afterhaving taken a first-innings lead of 149. A greatly improved second-inningsby Matabeleland left Manicaland with a target of 268, but negative battingsaw them lose three wickets for only 45 runs by the close.The overnight Matabeleland pair of Mark Vermeulen and Gavin Rennie battedwith great responsibility to add 143 altogether. Manicaland hopes wereraised when three wickets fell with the total on 260, two of them to AlecTaylor, but Andre Hoffman, positive as ever, and Mluleki Nkala, playing aresponsible innings, led a recovery that took Matabeleland to a total of416. Gary Brent as usual was the most consistent of the bowlers, whileRichie Sims took three wickets but was expensive.With 26 overs to be bowled until the close, Manicaland decided to play forthe next day, and lived to regret it. This enabled the visitors to controlthe proceedings and snatch three wickets before the close. Manicaland wentinto the final day facing an uphill task.