News Archive - June 2002

England today named a 13-man squad for next week's third and final npower Test Match v Sri Lanka at Old Trafford from 13-17 June.

Derbyshire all-rounder, Dominic Cork, does not feature in the squad and his omission is the only change from the 14-man squad named for the last npower Test Match at Edgbaston.

Commenting on the selection, Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney, said: "When selecting a squad, we need to ensure that everyone has a chance to play. Given that we will be playing at Old Trafford we felt that Cork was unlikely to feature. We have spoken to him about his and assured him that he will remain in our thoughts for future selections.

"We don't yet know what the Old Trafford pitch will be like for next week.
Although traditionally hard and with pace, we will have to wait until next week to assess the effect of any rain which it might have had and we will select the final team accordingly.

"As for Mark Butcher, we will test his left knee on Tuesday morning and we will be looking to make an early decision on his fitness in fairness to both him and John Crawley."


The full squad is:

England Squad for 3rd npower Test Match
Players D.O.B


Nasser Hussain (captain) (Essex) 28.3.68
Mark Butcher (Surrey) 23.8.72
Andrew Caddick (Somerset) 21.11.68

John Crawley (Hampshire)
21.9.71
Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire) 6.12.77
Ashley Giles (Warwickshire) 19.3.73
Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire) 31.12.76
Simon Jones (Glamorgan) 25.12.78
Alec Stewart (Surrey) 8.4.63
Graham Thorpe (Surrey) 1.8.69
Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) 25.12.75
Alex Tudor (Surrey) 23.10.77
Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire) 29.10.74




Tickets are still available for the 3rd npower Test Match at Old Trafford
via the ECB Ticket Hotline on 08705 33 88 33

Surrey and England batsman, Mark Butcher, saw a knee specialist in Sheffield yesterday, who ruled out any acute cartilage damage on the player's left knee.

The specialist is happy for Butcher to play in the final npower Test Match against Sri Lanka next week at Old Trafford so long as he feels fit.
Butcher will receive treatment to the knee in the lead-up to the game and its condition will be closely monitored by the England management team in the hope that he will be able to play.

If Butcher is not passed fit for the match, he will undergo an immediate arthoscopy. The recovery time for this surgery is 3-4 weeks, meaning that he would be available for the first npower Test Match against India which starts on 25 July at Lord's.

Yorkshire's miserable season continued against Worcester at Headingley yesterday when the Phoenix tumbled to their first Norwich Union League defeat of the campaign.
The Phoenix lost five wickets for six runs after making a bright start and were eventually bowled out for just 128.
Craig White blasted his way to an impressive 45 and Richard Dawson made 36,but Yorkshire's batting line-up capitulated in familiar fashion.
Debutant Simon Katich made a disappointing start when he was run out without scoring and four other batsmen failed to trouble the scorers.
In reply, Matthew Hoggard struck early with two quick wickets but Worcester were untroubled after that, despite some tidy bowling, and recorded a
routine victory.
Disappointed Yorkshire skipper Richard Blakey said: "When you lose so many wickets so quickly you make things hard for yourselves and we lost the game there. We didn't bowl badly, but the damage was already done.
"Now we've got a couple of days off and we have to pick ourselves up for Sunday."

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today confirmed that Yorkshire bowler, Steven Kirby, has received three penalty points under the ECB's new discipline code following an incident during Yorkshire's Frizzell County Championship Division One fixture with Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Kirby was reported by the umpires Alan Whitehead and Jeremy Lloyds for a Level Two breach of the new code (throwing the ball at or near a player,
umpire or official in an inappropriate and dangerous manner.)

The penalty points remain on Kirby's record for a period of 12 months. The accumulation of nine or more penalty points in any 12-month period will
result in an automatic suspension.

The ECB's new discipline code came into force at the start of this season.