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ScorecardThree quick wickets from Robert Croft put Glamorgan in a strong position against India A at Swansea. A spell of 3 for 3 in 14 balls from Croft helped reduce India A to 149 for 6 before the rain came down in the 53rd over.After they won the toss and chose to bat, India A were in early trouble after Glamorgan’s David Harrison struck twice early on to leave them teetering on 26 for 2. Satyajit Parab was the first to go when he was caught by Croft for only 4 (7 for 1), and then Shiv Sunder Das was also caught, by Dean Cosker for 14.However, Sridharam Sriram (62) and Rohan Gavaskar (61) then led the recovery. They put on 116 in 35 overs before both were dismissed by Croft. Gavaskar was well caught by Owen Parkin at short third man as he miscued an attempted drive off Darren Thomas (142 for 3). And Sriram was later caught at first slip by Mike Powell, after hitting six fours in his patient innings (149 for 6).In between those wickets, Hemang Badani was Croft’s second victim when he was adjudged lbw for 0 as he padded up (146 for 5) and Vijay Bharadwaj also fell leg before, to Parkin (154 for 4).That all meant that India A had lost four wickets for only seven runs, but heavy rain meant that no further play was possible.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls have suffered a setback on the eve of theirING Cup clash with the Southern Redbacks tomorrow following thewithdrawal of Australian pace bowler Andy Bichel for the match at theGabba.Bulls physiotherapist Stephen Partridge ruled out Bichel before trainingthis morning due to a hip injury sustained in Australia’s last VB SeriesOne Day International match in Perth on the weekend.He has been replaced in the Bulls team for tomorrow’s match by ScottMuller, who made a pleasing return to the Queensland ranks last week inthe ING Cup win over Victoria at the Gabba.Bichel is not considered in doubt for the tour of South Africa, with hiswithdrawal from the Queensland team taken as a precaution.”I’m disappointed any time I have to miss playing for the Bulls but witha long tour of Africa coming up, it was in my best interests not to riskaggravating what is admittedly a minor injury by playing tomorrow,”Bichel said.He joins fellow Australian pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and JasonGillespie on the sidelines for this weekend’s round of ING Cup matches,after they were rested from their respective teams.Tomorrow’s match starts at 2.30pm. Queensland lead the ING Cup on 27points with the Redbacks locked in equal second spot on 22 points withNSW and WA.Queensland travel to Adelaide on Sunday, following the Final of the K&RPlumbing Cup one-day competition at Allan Border Field on between Valleyand Norths. The Bulls take on the Redbacks at the Adelaide Oval fromWednesday in the Pura Cup.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Southern Redbacks, ING Cup, Gabba, Friday: JimmyMaher (c), Matthew Hayden, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren,Brendan Nash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Nathan Hauritz, DamienMackenzie, Scott Muller, Joe Dawes (all twelve to play).Southern Redbacks, ING Cup team: Darren Lehmann (Captain), Ben Johnson,Greg Blewett (V.Captain), Graham Manou, Nathan Adcock, Paul Rofe, ChrisDavies, Mike Smith, David Fitzgerald, Paul Wilson, Ben Higgins, BradleyYoung.

Captain Sourav Ganguly believes teamwork will be essential if India are todefeat Sri Lanka and confirm their presence in the semi-finals on Monday.India, currently on 12 points, are virtually assured of a semi-final placeafter their nervy win against Kenya on Friday – a win against Sri Lanka willguarantee their qualification.”This is an important phase of the tournament and all of us need tocontribute,” said Ganguly after the team’s final practice.”After this game we could be in the semi-finals. That is going to happenwith one or two guys contributing, it’s got to be teamwork,” he added”I am very happy at the way we all are hitting the ball. We are playing aswell as we did in the NatWest Trophy in England.”We want to finish second or third and more importantly, we want to keep onwinning. Winning is a good habit and we won our last five games. We want tokeep it going.”Ganguly claims to know Sri Lanka’s strengths and weaknesses.”Jayasuriya is a key player for them with the bat and with the ball it willbe an advantage for us if he doesn’t play. Even with Sanath in the sidewe’ve won against them. Obviously he is one of their key players.”Aravinda, Atapattu are all good players, Mahela is not in the best oftouch, but he is a quality player. They’ve got Sangakkara, Arnold,Tillakaratne and they are decent batting side. The focus will not only be onSanath but on the whole side.”The Indian captain is also wary of Chaminda Vaas: “He has served Sri Lankacricket a long time and we have a lot of respect for him as a bowler.”

Auckland openers Matt Horne and Tim McIntosh batted their side back into a strong position on day three of their State Championship match with Otago in the continuing run fest at Carisbrook today.Auckland were 275 for one at stumps, a lead of 274.Otago resumed their first innings still 87 runs behind Auckland on the first innings but wicket-keeper Martyn Croy and Craig Pryor made up for the early loss of Chris Gaffaney for his overnight score of 36.Croy scored 58 not out and Pryor 22 not out as Otago declared immediately upon passing the Auckland total with six wickets down.It has not been a match for bowlers and of the Auckland attack, Tama Canning did best by sending down 27 overs and taking two for 71 by bowling economically. Kyle Mills tended to be too short and took two for 90 from his 17 overs.Auckland started its second innings cautiously with Horne and McIntosh again its opening pair and not even the most optimistic Auckland supporter could have foreseen what was about to unfold.They put on 240 for the first wicket and in so doing broke the record for Auckland’s first wicket of 169 against Otago set in 1976/77 at Eden Park by Austin Parsons and Jim Riley.Horne was finally out for 127 from 139 balls which included 21 fours. McIntosh, who was on 113 at stumps, had played a subservient role to Horne while scoring his third century of the first-class season, but nevertheless it was a most valuable one and his timing particularly towards the end of the day was quite magnificent.Horne, the faster and more experienced of the two, registered his 21st first-class hundred, and he told Cricinfo, “It was great to have Tim McIntosh at the other end and for both of us to be scoring well.”It was great to be back at Carisbrook and to be batting on an excellent pitch,” he said.McIntosh said he enjoyed the experience of batting with the New Zealand opener and relished the occasion of them both scoring centuries.Auckland’s decision tomorrow should it look to push for outright points by making a challenging declaration will know that its hopes rest on the timing of the close on a pitch which has been another first rate Carisbrook track.The weather forecast is good and a result seems highly likely.

PORT-OF-SPAIN – Hours before a row developed between West Indies players and their bosses on Tuesday, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) revealed it had secured sponsorship for the team for the forthcoming World Cup.The WICB announced in the morning that the LNM Group will be the official sponsor of the West Indies team to the World Cup 2003 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.The announcement was made yesterday at a news conference at the Trinidad Hilton.The LNM Group is the second largest steel producer in the world and its steel-making operations in countries make it the world’s most global steel producer with a high degree of product and geographic diversification."With this sponsorship, LNM is giving the West Indies cricket team a major boost of confidence ahead of the 2003 World Cup," remarked Lakshmi N. Mittal, chairman and chief executive officer of the LNM Group."We expect great things from the team and look forward to them personifying some of the qualities that the LNM Group truly admire like commitment, courage and boldness."WICB president Reverend Wes Hall welcomed the LNM Group on board and said that financial support for West Indies cricket from the private sector was always greatly appreciated."I would like to express our sincere appreciation for this commitment by the LNM Group to our West Indies team because this stands as an example for all those who care about West Indies cricket," Hall said."I have spent a few days with the team at their training camp in Antigua and I can tell you they are determined to make a big impression at the Cricket World Cup 2003 and the LNM Group will help to make sure that the dreams of these young men become a reality."The LNM Group, through the Trinidad & Tobago-based Caribbean Ispat, one of LNM’s global operations previously sponsored the West Indies team when they visited India for a series of Tests and One-Day Internationals almost a decade ago.During the Cricket World Cup 2003, the West Indies team will participate in promotional activities and display the LNM Group logo on their competition uniforms.On Monday, the WICB announced that Carib Beer had areached a five-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the West Indies four-day first-class championship.

Charl Langeveldt has been released from the South African squad for the first Castle Lager/MTN Test match against India in Bloemfontein starting on Saturday and will be available to play for Boland in their Western Cape derby against Western Province at the weekend.According to a United Cricket Board media release, Langevedlt would not have been among the 11 playing in the Test. Selection convener Rushdi Magiet is quoted as saying: “It is important for South African cricket that he play as much cricket as possibleand this would not be the case were he to act as 12th man in Bloemfontein.”Members of the Free State team who have a bye this weekend will do duty as 12th man.The South African Test team is: Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Boeta Dippenaar, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock (capt), Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Makhaya Ntini, Nantie Hayward.

Central Districts handed the Canterbury women’s side a huge life line in its bid to defy the odds and play Auckland in the State League final next week.Central got their game together well and truly and beat Wellington today by 79 runs in their match at Napier’s McLean Park.CD batted first and scored 211/4 in 50 overs. Nicole Thessman scored 85 not out off 141 balls while Kate Pulford provided good support early with 50 off 90 balls. Sara McGlashan scored 40 off 42 at the end. A highly talented player, McGlashan has been named as one of four women players to be part of the New Zealand Cricket Academy this year. The others are: Nicola Browne, Maria Fahey and Louise Milliken.Wellington was then bowled out in 46 overs for 132. Jane Hunter-Siu was run out at the bowler’s end when the ball was deflected onto the stumps by the bowler. Anna O’Leary struggled and had 19 runs off 61 balls.Aimee Mason had a superb return for her 10 overs when taking four wickets for 11 runs while also bowling five maidens.There are no options for Wellington in tomorrow’s game if they are to play the final.Wellington’s attitude will have to be they must win, they cannot rely on Canterbury to lose.They are on 26 points while Canterbury are on 22 and if Canterbury win tomorrow, and Wellington don’t, then Canterbury will go through because the first factor when teams are tied, is games won, and only if they share victories do run rates become a factor. And Canterbury would have won one more game.Auckland, in the meantime, struck some awesome batting form when scoring 270/4 against Northern Districts en route to a 113-run win. Emily Drumm scored 112 off 127 balls and shared a 99-run partnership with Michelle Lynch who scored 64 off 81 balls with 13 fours. Then she had a 101-run stand with Kathryn Ramel who scored 34.Helen Watson also added 23. In reply, ND could only score 157 with Anna Wilkins scoring 49 and Anna Soma 39. Debbie Ramsay took two for 31 while Natalie Scripps had one for 18 off 10 overs.Otago had one of their better batting performances of the summer when scoring 186/8 against Canterbury in Oamaru.Netherlands captain Pauline Te Beest scored 42, Rowan Milburn 33, Sarah Tsukigawa 41 and Katey Martin 24. Helen Daly took three for seven off nine overs while Sarah Burke took two for 28.Canterbury took 38.4 overs to reach 187/8 and claim a bonus point. Nicky Payne scored 51 off 52 balls, Fahey 27 and Emily Travers produced a clever innings to hit 20 not out to see the side to the bonus point, a task all the more impressive as she had to contend with the bowling of Rachel Pullar.

Leicestershire 178 for 7 beat Lancashire 156 for 8 by 22 runs at Leicester
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Leicestershire won their third Twenty20 Cup match out of three, beating Lancashire by 22 runs at Grace Road. Realistically it was all over when Lancs slumped to 97 for 8, although Glen Chapple (55*) and Peter Martin (10*) then added 59 without being separated to make the margin look closer. Virender Sehwag gave Leicester a quick start, with 26 out of the first 31, then the in-form Darren Maddy hit 46 to set up a winning total of 178 for 7.Northamptonshire 166 for 6 beat Somerset 151 by 15 runs at Northampton
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Another fine innings from Mike Hussey, who cracked 88, set up Northants for a winning total at Wantage Road. Keith Dutch, Somerset’s offspinner, applied the brakes with 2 for 14 in his three overs, but a score of 166 for 6 proved just beyond Somerset, for whom Carl Gazzard top-scored with a rapid 39. Jason Brown, another offspinner, took 5 for 27 as Somerset collapsed in the search for quick runs.Warwickshire 181 for 9 beat Glamorgan 113 by 68 runs at Edgbaston
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In front of a big crowd of more than 10,000, Warwickshire maintained their 100% record with their third win out of three – and consigned Glamorgan to their fourth straight defeat. Neil Carter (47) and Nick Knight (54) set Warwickshire rolling with an opening stand of 85. Then Collins Obuya, the Kenyan World Cup legspinner, had Glamorgan rolling with 5 for 24. Only Matthew Maynard, whose 50 included a six off the first ball of the innings, from Waqar Younis, held Warwickshire up for long.Yorkshire 198 for 4 beat Durham 143 for 8 by 55 runs at Headingley
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Yorkshire’s total of 198 for 4, of which Stephen Fleming clattered 58 and Michael Lumb 50, always looked too much for neighbours Durham – and so it proved. Durham managed only 143, with Martin Love top-scoring with 51. Yuvraj Singh, Yorkshire’s Indian import, returned to form with 22 and 3 for 20, identical figures to Ryan Sidebottom.Kent 120 for 7 beat Essex 116 by 3 wickets at Chelmsford
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Kent made heavy weather of overhauling Essex’s modest total of 116, but made it in the end with three wickets and 3.5 overs to spare. Andrew Symonds (32) and James Tredwell (31) put on 58 for Kent’s second wicket, and looked to be taking them home in style – but then Graham Napier nipped in with three wickets. Earlier Andy Flower top-scored for Essex with 33, but then Kent’s new South African-born medium-pacer Matthew Dennington collected 4 for 28 in his four overs.

FULL NAME: Ian Andrew Engelbrecht
BORN: At Bulawayo, 23 August 1980
MAJOR TEAMS: Matabeleland. Present club: Queens Sports Club
KNOWN AS: Ian Engelbrecht. Nicknames: Engels, Angels.
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Slow Left Arm
OCCUPATION: Qualified diesel mechanicFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 10 March 2000, Matabeleland v Manicaland, at HarareSports Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (March 2000)Perhaps one of the most underestimated, and also unrewarded, of Zimbabwe’s young cricketers is slow left-arm bowler and all-rounder Ian Engelbrecht, of Bulawayo. He was the most successful bowler in the Logan Cup competition of 2000/01, taking 26 wickets in his five matches, yet at the time of writing his only acknowledgement by the national selectors was to be called into the squad to play Northerns B in Mutare in the UCBSA Bowl competition.It is perhaps to Ian’s disadvantage that he lives in Bulawayo, often out of the eye of the Harare-based selectors, and that he has not attended the CFX Academy, although he may well do so in the future. But there is no doubt that he is talented, dedicated and enthusiastic, and it is to be hoped he will soon get the chance to test his skills at a higher level.Ian’s father was never a great player of the game, and followed it mainly via the television set, but he did much to set Ian and his older brother Paul off on the right track. His parents gave them both a great deal of support, to the extent of constructing a cricket pitch in their back yard when Ian was five or six. The brothers played together every day when they returned home from school, with their father often joining in.This gave Ian a great advantage when he first played cricket at Whitestone Primary School in Bulawayo, in Grade 3, progressing to the school colts team the following year. He spent two years with the colts and two with the seniors, but did not develop quickly enough to win even provincial representation for Matabeleland at junior school. He bowled left-arm seamers in those days, changing over to spin only at the start of high school, and remembers taking three wickets for 20 runs against REPS (Rhodes Estate Preparatory School) in his first match for the colts team. He was not much of a batsman then, but this area of his game has steadily developed over the years.He attended CBC (Christian Brothers College) on leaving Whitestone, where he captained his age-group teams and began to impress the selectors. He played for the school first team for two years before leaving school after writing his O-levels to take up an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic. In Form Three he was selected for the Matabeleland Under-16 provincial team and did well at the Zimbabwe Under-16 trials. Ever since then he was a regular member of the national Under-16 and Under-19 teams as long as he qualified.He was now a recognized batsman as well as a left-arm spinner; he remembers his second game for the first team when, at the age of 15, he took eight wickets in an innings against Plumtree. "That was basically the highlight of my high school career," he says. He scored his first fifty in Form Three and has steadily progressed from there.In 1997, although still only 16, he was selected for the Zimbabwe Under-19 team to tour England. "That was an overwhelming experience," he says. "It was something else, at 16 to be selected for the Under-19 national side. It was a very good experience for me, most enjoyable." He remained a member of the Under-19 team, attending the Coca Cola Week for South African schools and the Under-19 World Cup.Ian plays for Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, although he started off with Bulawayo Athletic Club at the age of 16. He moved to Queens to get some more competitive cricket, as his new club was in the national first league while BAC was undergoing a period in the doldrums of the second league. He followed his brother Paul there; due to work commitments, studying for his law degree, Paul is no longer able to give as much attention as he would like to the game, but he is still playing for Queens.He remembers scoring 90-odd off 60 to 70 balls in a tough match against Old Georgians last season, which won the match for his team, which really overwhelmed him. "I wasn’t really recognized on the batting side of things and it just came off for me that day," he says. He has also taken several five-wickets hauls, not easy in the limited-over competition.Also during that season he scored 205 not out opening the innings against Macdonald Club, his highest score in any standard of cricket. "It was a 45-over game," he remembers. "I got a couple of hundreds for Queens, national first league as well. 205 in 45 overs – it was just a lot of hitting going on there!" Usually he bats at number five at Queens nowadays.His Under-19 performances helped to earn him selection for the Matabeleland provincial side. "In my last year, when I was 18, I did really well in the Coca Cola Week and got the Matabeleland selectors’ attention. From there I had some Mat B games against some English sides, and then into the Logan Cup side last year. It’s been going really well."His best performance in the Logan Cup, he feels, was the six wickets he took for 48 runs against Midlands, his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. "I don’t bother them that much in the first innings, but I came back in the second innings, and I did what I was asked to do and it came off really well for me." He took most pleasure in taking the wickets of such batsman as Douggie Marillier and Craig Wishart in that match.And Andy Flower . . ."he won’t want to remember how I got him out; it was a low full toss he towed to Pom [Mbangwa] at midwicket! They all count, though! But you know, if you get a recognized player, one who’s recognized worldwide, it’s a great achievement."He has played winter cricket for Esigodeni in the Matabeleland league, in three or four leagues. "It’s the sort of situation where everyone’s very relaxed and you always seem to play a lot better when you’re very relaxed and the competition’s not as great as it should be," he says. "I just play when I can. I’ve never turned down a game of cricket; if anybody phones me up and wants me to play, I’ll play. I’ll never turn this game down – never."Ian names Donald Campbell as the most influential coach of his career. Don is the younger brother of Alistair, and the two first worked together when Don was assistant coach of the Under-19 team to tour England. "He’s one of those guys who has a tremendous way about him so that I always want to do anything for him. He’s a great guy and has been a big influence on where I am now. He has a very good manner about him and a lot of drive; he passes a lot of his confidence on to you and it’s a case where wyou’re always having a good time with him and you want to do better the whole time."With the bat his favourite stroke is the cover drive. "The cover drive is a very special stroke to me," he says. "I watch Daryl Cullinan in the South African side, and he’s got to be one of the most fluent players ever. Mark Waugh as well. Daryl Cullinan has that great cut and the drives, but his cover drive is something really special. It’s something I model myself on as well."As a bowler he feels his main strength is patience. "I enjoy bowling long spells and I really enjoy the longer game," he says. "I’m a bit more recognized in one-day cricket, though. And I have the ability to want to learn. I’m very young and they say spinners only really mature later on, but I always want to learn and I’m very interested in what people have to say. I’m just trying to go from strength to strength. You don’t want to sit and dwell on the bad performances, but you look at your good performances and try and see where you can improve from there. I think I’ve got what it takes to go quite a long way and I just hope I get a few more opportunities than I’ve been given to prove a few points to a few people."In the field, Ian normally goes into the slips to start with when playing national first league, and after that prefers the boundary. "I enjoy the long throws and the chase. If I’m not right up there I want to be right out of there!"In 2001 Ian qualified as a diesel mechanic, but has not followed up that career yet, opting to concentrate on cricket. He has a contract to play for Newcastle in English club cricket in 2002, and plans to return and apply for a contract in Zimbabwe, and perhaps a place at the CFX Academy. He was unable to apply in the past due to the demands of his apprenticeship, a four-year course. "It was a difficult decision," he says, "because often through your trade you just want to play cricket. It was from the age of 16 through to 21 that I did this, and it was a real excitement for me on the cricket side of things. But I got my head down and managed to get through it. I just look to concentrate on cricket from here."Cricket heroes: "Daryl Cullinan, as I mentioned. Daniel Vettori, definitely. He’s something special. You see left-arm spinners in so many sides, but Daniel Vettori for me sticks out head and shoulders above the rest. I’ve always been a spinner’s fan, never a fast bowler’s fanatic! Daniel Vettori and Saqlain Mushtaq are the two top sinners for me. They may be different spinners, but their perception of where they are and what they’re doing is something special."Personal ambitions: "Playing for Zimbabwe! You must have heard it so many times, but everyone wants to play for his country. It’s a case of where, for me, I just want to see how far I can go in this game, and I’m not just going to sit around waiting for an opportunity to come. I play the game because I love it, and ultimately I want to play the most competitive cricket I can, and hopefully to be given a few opportunities here and there to play."Most difficult opponents: "The most difficult batsman: Alistair Campbell is most definitely one who sticks out, and Andrew Flintoff as well [met in England Under-19 tour 1997]. They are two contrasting players, but I find them both very difficult to bowl to. They get on top of you quickly in different ways, and you have to learn to deal with it."Most difficult bowler: this could be tough. Ryan Sidebottom and Alex Tudor. It’s a case where you mature later on, and at 16, to be thrown in with those quality cricketers it was just a case of standing there not knowing what to expect. The pace was amazing and I was just in awe; I was 16 and they were 19, and look what they were doing to me. It made a big impact on me then. But nobody now."Proudest achievement: "To be playing in the Zim B side. It’s a step in the right direction. And also the Under-19 side: to be selected for the first time was great."Best friends in cricket: "Donald Campbell; Neil van Rensburg from Queens; Brad Robinson and Shane Cloete, the physio and assistant coach. They mean a lot, those sort of people."Other sports: "Squash, mainly in the off season, to try and get a bit of fitness. When I can, to play a bit of golf with a few mates." At school, hockey. "I represented CBC first team for two years."Other hobbies and interests: "It’s a sad state of affairs that I don’t have much time to do anything else except play cricket and work as a diesel mechanic. It’s unfortunate that I don’t have much time off to do those extra hobbies I’d love to do. Fishing is a big part of everybody’s life here in this country, so I enjoy a little bit of fishing with the family here and there; a couple of trips to Kariba and the Zambezi, whenever I get the chance."Views on cricket: "It’s difficult for me to judge on that because I’m not really fully involved with the ZCU at the moment. I know things are not going as smoothly as they should, but Zimbabwe is a beautiful place and I do hope that things eventually sort themselves out here. Nobody wants to see this place go down and there are a lot of positives still to come out of this country. I just hope that people realize the full potential of this place, and the potential of the cricketers as well, and just give a few chances where they are deserved."I just look forward to playing this game as long as I can. I play this game because I love it and it’s in my blood. I just love this game and I don’t want to go anywhere from it. For me now, the achievement is just to play the best cricket I can and go from there."

England are aiming to look to the future rather than the past when the fourth test against Australia gets under way at Headingley tomorrow.With the country inundated by articles, features and television specials about the exploits of Ian Botham and Bob Willis on this ground 20 years ago, thepresent England team are aiming to stop Australia’s momentum and claim a consolation prize from this one-sided Ashes series.With the Ashes already gone beyond recall, the back-to-back Tests at Headingleyand The Oval are seen more as a chance to evaluate form and availability as the selectors look towards the tour of India later this year.That squad will be announced on August 28th, together with the one-day party tovisit Zimbabwe for five one-day internationals in September, if the politicalclimate there allows it.”We can’t afford to keep losing – we’ve got to put a performance in again andstart the ball rolling once again,” stressed the England captain Nasser Hussain, back after missing two Tests with a broken finger.”Everyone tends to look back to the glory days, but we have to be careful wedon’t do that. We are looking to the future and not backwards, which even goesfor this side – there’s no point going on about the last 18 months when we’vebeen successful if we rock up and keep losing.”English cricket has to carry on. We’ve competed against everyone else butnot this Australian side, but we have important tours coming up and we have tothink about the future.”Hussain and the Chairman of the England selectors, David Graveney, will have further discussions with England’s two senior players, Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton, before England finalise their tour parties.Hussain said: “They have two important weeks making up their own minds becausewith the tour selections coming up soon after the Oval we would hope both ofthem and anyone else would have made their minds up by then.”I have great respect for those two, they have both played over 120 Testmatches, both average around 40, Stewie does little wrong behind the stumps andAthers is still catching well and still gutsy – for me there is no doubt whatAlec Stewart and Michael Atherton have done for this country cricket wise.”If players wanted to miss part of the winter we would have to review it witheach individual. I’ve been in that situation before with Graham Thorpe knockingon my door asking for the winter off and I know the coach has strong opinions onthat.”Hussain faces a motivational task to lift a side already 3-0 down in the series and facing the prospect of a 5-0 whitewash.”We have to get better – it’s as simple as that,” he insisted. “We’ve shown signs of recovery and competed against every other side in the world but we just haven’t done it against Australia.”The road doesn’t just end because the Ashes are gone, we’ve got to carry onand try and continue to get better.”Hussain admits he is badly short of match practice. “I don’t feel I’ve had a summer yet. We’ve got 10 very important days coming up which are no more or lessimportant to me than what has just gone.”In an ideal world I’d have played a couple of championship games for Essexbefore I came back but they were not there and with Australia over here and backto back Test matches coming up, I as captain have to come back and get stuckin.”Hussain is undecided about selection, with spinner Robert Croft retained in the 13-man party. If they decide to choose an all-seam attack, the final place alongside Alex Tudor, Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick will presumably rest between Richard Johnson and Alan Mullally.