Jack Russell, the former England wicketkeeper who retired last year, has been asked to help Geraint Jones improve behind the stumps.The request came from England’s management team of Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher, according to the Sunday Express. Russell told them: “Duncan and captain Michael Vaughan have asked me to build a good relationship with Geraint and give him whatever specialist help he needs.”Russell, who’s now 41, is generally acknowledged as the finest English wicketkeeper of recent years. He played 54 Tests, even though he often missed out to the superior batting of Alec Stewart, but still made 165 dismissals, and scored 1897 Test runs of his own, with two centuries.Jones, who was controversially preferred to Chris Read for the final Test in West Indies last year, and has held his place ever since, fumbled a number of catches and takes during the South African series. But, according to Russell, “He has got the ability to play 100 Tests for England – he has the right attitude and, as long as he keeps doing the business, there is no reason why he can’t go down as one of the best.”

Australia’s one-dayer against New Zealand, which was to be held at Westpac Park in Hamilton, has been shifted to the Basin Reserve after complaints with the pitch. The match has been preponed by a day, and will now be played on March 1. New Zealand took on a World XI last week on the fresh strip, but 16 wickets fell for 164, raising concerns of its suitability for international matches. Shane Warne was vocal about his doubts over the wicket, and then the New Zealand Cricket Board decided to transfer the game to another location.The chief executive of the New Zealand board, Martin Snedden, said, “The Basin Reserve presented us with the best option for a mid week match,” before explaining that the pitch could be relied upon, and the venue made geographically logistical sense as well. “…with matches in Auckland before the transferred match and in Napier immediately after, Wellington suited us better logistically than a South Island venue.”We were also conscious of the need to avoid flooding the Auckland marketwith cricket, as Eden Park is already holding three major matches during theAustralian tour.”This is the first time we have held an ODI at the Basin since 1999 and weare looking forward to a good response from the Wellington public.”

England can finally claim a world-champion legspinner after Shane Warne announced he would base himself there when not playing in Australia. Warne plans to move to Hampshire, where he has a four-year county contract, within weeks and will return Down Under only in summer.”At the moment, it’s home and down the track it will probably be home for the family as well,” Warne told the Courier-Mail. “I’ll live over there and base myself there and come back and play my stuff for Australia and head back. I’m only in Australia for a couple of months each year.”Warne, who claimed his 1000th first-class wicket in taking 5 for 39 against New Zealand yesterday, has recently renovated his mansion in the Melbourne suburb Brighton, but he has bought a house and a car in the Hampshire city of Southampton. The lure of off-season commentary work in England, an escape from the intense local media glare and his wife Simone’s love of Spain were also seen as considerations for the move.”I like it over there, my family enjoy going to Spain and it’s only a couple of hours on the plane, so they enjoy that side of things,” he told The Australian. “My wife would love to live in Spain tomorrow, it’s a bit hard when you’re playing for Australia.”Now 35, Warne said he could end his career at Hampshire, but he has also re-set his Test goals to take 700 wickets and is currently on 573. “If I can keep playing for another couple of years it might be a chance, but it won’t be the main reason to keep going,” Warne said. “When I stop enjoying it I’ll stop playing. When little things come along, like today when I got my 1000th first-class wicket, you give yourself a little pat on the back. It was a pretty big achievement.”Warne, who first played for the county in 2000, has signed a two-year deal as Hampshire’s captain with the option to double the length, and Cricket Australia was not concerned where he lived as long as he completed his contractual obligations. “I’m looking forward and that’s showing some commitment to Hampshire,” he said. “I enjoy captaining the side. We had a very successful year there last year. Who knows? I might finish up my playing days down there at Hampshire as well.”

In the build-up to this year’s showcase event, all the talk had centred on who would face Australia to win the honours. It was widely expected that the World Cup final would be a repeat of the last one; the pundits were only half-wrong. For Australia’s contestants won’t be New Zealand – which would be a repeat of the women’s final – but India, in a repeat of the men’s.If one team to make the final was difficult to pick – in truth, England, New Zealand and India all had a shout – then the four-times world champions Australia were a shoo-in. If you’re looking for a sure bet this weekend, forget the Grand National.”Our motivation is that we don’t hold the Cup,” Clark said simply, flatly, matter-of-factly, her side having been pipped to the post by New Zealand in 2000. The Australians responded emphatically: they rolled up their sleeves and have been polishing their skills for the last four years, their eye firmly on one thing.The results have, so far, come up brightly: they swept allcomers aside to march unbeaten into the final, having already brushed aside the holders New Zealand 3-0 in the annual Rose Bowl trophy leading up to this event. They now are on the verge of cleaning up.

But India could muddy the waters. While few would bet against Australia, the underdogs India, who have never been in the final, have an outside chance, and this a two-horse race. They beat Australia three times in the run-up to the World Cup, albeit in a series they lost 4-3.Yet to beat Australia at all shows they can do it, and coming back into that series after being down and out shows their bouncebackability. They have it in spades. If Clark embodies Australia’s vim and vigour, then Mithali Raj encapsulates India’s heart. Nobody evidences their tough spirit more than Raj, their brave captain, who has vowed to play through any pain her injured knee may inflict on her on Sunday. “I will definitely play the final, I cannot just leave my team now,” she said after her side beat New Zealand in the semi-final. That’s fighting talk.

Glenn Turner plans to nominate for New Zealand’s selection panel ten years after being dumped as convenor and coach. Turner, who recently ended a four-season coaching stint with Otago, would give the group, which is led by John Bracewell, some much-needed batting balance.”I would think the right time to become involved is now while the players are still fresh in the mind – not after having had a break,” Turner told NZPA. “I’ve still got a very keen interest and intend doing a professional job.”Turner’s previous appointment to the panel ended in 1995-96 after crucial differences with the players, especially Chris Cairns, and he was dropped as coach and selection convenor. Turner said he saw the new position as an opportunity to provide ideas and be a sounding board, but Bracewell would be in charge and carry the final say.The current bowler-heavy set-up includes Bracewell, Sir Richard Hadlee, Brian McKechnie and Ross Dykes, and applications for two-year deals close on May 13. Ian Smith called for a batting specialist to be included after New Zealand’s disasters against Australia last summer and Turner, a former Test player who averaged 44.64 in 41 Tests, will be a strong candidate.

Shane Warne might find himself in trouble after an incident involving opening batsman Scott Newman on the first day of Hampshire’s Championship match against Surrey at The Rose Bowl. Alan Whitehead and Nigel Cowley, the umpires, will have to decide whether to report Warne to Lord’s.The row erupted when Hamsphire thought they had Newman, then on 14, caught behind by Nic Pothas in the fourth over of the day. Led by Billy Taylor, the bowler, the fielding side staged a prolonged appeal, leading to Whitehead approaching Warne, Hampshire’s captain, at the end of the over.The pair engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion lasting a couple of minutes and which involved a fair amount of finger wagging and gesticulating. The animated exchange reignited several times, both parties returning to the fray just as the debate appeared to be ending.Alan Fordham, the first-class cricket operations manager for the ECB, acknowledged that he had spoken to Whitehead during the tea interval but refused to comment further – neither would either official.But Warne, who received three disciplinary points after a clash with Somerset’s Peter Bowler last season, and Whitehead were believed to have been called together at the close of play to try to resolve their differences.To rub salt into the wound, Newman went on to score a hundred, although when he was finally dismissed for 111 immediately after tea there was hardly more than a splatter of applause as he returned to the pavilion.

Andy Blignaut, whose arrival in Hobart was delayed by a late visa application, will land in Tasmania tomorrow and play in their opening ING Cup game against Western Australia at the WACA on Friday.Blignaut, the allrounder who represented Zimbabwe in 15 Tests and 47 one-day internationals, has been selected in the first one-day and Pura Cup squads of the summer alongside Michael Bevan, the side’s other big off-season signing.The team also includes the wicketkeeper David Dawson, who impressed with strong performances during the pre-season tour in Queensland, for the first time.Tasmania open their Pura Cup campaign against Western Australia on October 17.Tasmania ING Cup squad Daniel Marsh (c), Michael DiVenuto, George Bailey, Michael Bevan, Andy Blignaut, Luke Butterworth, David Dawson, Michael Dighton, Xavier Doherty, Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith, Damien WrightTasmania Pura Cup squad Daniel Marsh (c), Michael DiVenuto, Michael Bevan, Andy Blignaut, Sean Clingeleffer, Jamie Cox, David Dawson, Michael Dighton, Xavier Doherty, Andrew Downton, Brett Geeves, Adam Griffith, Damien Wright

Brad Hodge has been recalled to the Australian squad after a hamstring injury ruled Darren Lehmann out of the fourth Test.Hodge, 29, had been heading home from India, but he had only made it as far as Mumbai – which, conveniently enough, is the venue of the fourth Test – when he learned of Lehmann’s plight.”When I left the boys yesterday, the last place I expected to be in 24 hours’ time was Nagpur,” said a bemused Hodge, who has yet to make his Test debut.Lehmann struck 70 on the opening day at Nagpur, but he needed a runner late on in his innings. Lehmann’s Test place had been in jeopardy after he failed in the first two matches. After Michael Clarke hit 151 on his Test debut at Bangalore, Lehmann reportedly offered to step aside to make room for Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting.And Ponting could yet step in to Lehmann’s shoes for the fourth Test, if he receives the all-clear after breaking his thumb.

England named an unchanged 12-man squad for the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Trent Bridge starting this Thursday.Chris Tremlett, the Hampshire pace bowler, was again included in the squad, which featured the same eleven players who played in the first three Tests. David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said: “We are playing some good cricket at present and there is a positive vibe about the team which I am sure the players will be keen to take into the next Test Match.”The last two Tests have been extraordinary games which have really captured the imagination of the sporting public and produced scenes around the ground reminiscent of the Oval in 2000 against the West Indies. But back-to-back Tests are also mentally and physically draining for both teams and we are very grateful to the counties for agreeing to Duncan Fletcher’s request that our players should be rested from domestic cricket ahead of the Trent Bridge Test.”Tremlett, who is yet to make his Test debut, has been included despite having his third injection of the summer to help him overcome a troublesome right knee. He was the only member of the squad to figure in Saturday’s C&G Trophy semi-finals and helped Hampshire beat Yorkshire.If the same team is retained for the final Test at The Oval, it will be the first time in 120 years that England go through an entire Ashes series unchanged.England’s squad for fourth Test
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Ian Bell, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Simon Jones, 12 Chris Tremlett.

Thilan Samaraweera’s return to Sri Lanka’s one-day squad after a three-year absence was the only notable change as Sri Lanka announced their ODI and Test squads for their forthcoming series against Bangladesh.Samaraweera, now 28, was one of nine batsman picked in a 15-man ODI squad as the selectors rested Nuwan Zoysa due to fitness concerns and left out Lasith Malinga from the victorious India Oil Cup squad. Avishka Gunawardene was the other batsman to have been recalled; Sri Lanka now have four specialist opening batsmen. Samaraweera, who last played one-day cricket in the VB Series in Australia just prior to the 2003 World Cup, has a Test average of over 47 and has been seen as less of a one-day prospect. Zoysa’s surprise omission was due to general physical fitness concerns. According to Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of the selectors, he was “rested”.Sri Lanka will face Bangladesh in three one-dayers, starting on August 31, before playing two Tests from September 12-16 and 20-24. Bangladesh, coached by former Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore, arrive on Wednesday and will warm up for the one-day series with a practice match against a Sri Lanka President’s XI in Moratuwa on Sept 28.One-day squad
Marvan Atapattu (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Russel Arnold, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Avishka Gunawardene, Dilhara Fernando, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Thilan Samaraweera.Test squad
Marvan Atapattu (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Rangana Herath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Russel Arnold, Gayan Wijekoon, Dilhara Fernando, Shantha Kalavitigoda.