Tom Moody has been named as Sri Lanka’s new coach, less than a week after being overlooked for a similar position with the Indian team. Moody, who is currently the coach of Worcestershire, will be officially unveiled to the media at a press conference on Thursday morning, but it has been confirmed that his deal runs until after the 2007 World Cup.His appointment ends a period of uncertainty in Sri Lankan cricket after the departure of John Dyson, following Sri Lanka’s rearranged tour of New Zealand, where they lost the Test series 1-0.Moody is still in the early stages of his coaching career, but had been the favourite for the Sri Lankan job since earlier this month, when he surprisingly emerged from the list of candidates.By the time Greg Chappell was handed the Indian job Moody was already on a plane to Colombo to complete the interview process. He made a presentation to the interim cricket board, the chief executive Duleep Mendis, team manager Michael Tissera and cricket committee chairman Arjuna Ranatunga.”We are delighted to announce that we have signed up Tom Moody as our new national coach until May 31, 2007,” said Typhon Mirando, the board secretary. “Tom made a fantastic presentation about his background and the future of Sri Lanka’s cricket, and it was a unanimous decision to appoint him.”Although he brings limited coaching experience, Moody played eight Tests and 76 ODIs for Australia, helping them win two World Cups, in 1987 and 1999. He has a clause in his Worcestershire contract that allows him to pursue international opportunities, and at one point was considered to be a candidate to succeed Duncan Fletcher as England coach.

Brett Lee has admitted his embarrassment at unleashing another 90mph beamer, this time at Marcus Trescothick during the NatWest Series final at Lord’s on Saturday.Lee was slammed after bowling a beamer to New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum earlier in the year and, although he apologised after sending Trescothick sprawling early on in England’s innings, questions were again raised.”It is something I am not proud of – I am embarrassed about the whole thing,” Lee told BBC Sport afterwards. “When you are bowling at such a high velocity and trying to get momentum through the crease, and try to bowl a yorker, you only look at a slight variation in your trajectory to the wicket.”I went up there and apologised straight away,” Lee added. “It took me a couple of balls to get over it. You are under a lot of pressure to do well for your country and your team-mates and to have another distraction thrown at you is quite tough.”Ricky Ponting also leapt to the defence of his bowler. “It knocked the confidence out of him straight away. If you look at him after that beamer that he bowled, he’s holding back and [bowling] within himself immediately after that because he just can’t keep his front foot [from slipping].”I’m not trying to defend it or anything, but if you could slow it down and have a look at his front foot you’d understand he’s slipping a lot. There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings out on the ground. Trescothick accepted the apology and everyone got on with it from there.”At the time of the incident with McCullum, Peter Roebuck, in his syndicated column, called for Lee to be sent home from New Zealand. “His beamer was merely the latest in a series of violent deliveries sent down by a pace bowler at best reckless in his approach and at worst utterly unwilling to remain within long-accepted parameters governing conduct on the cricket field,” he fumed. “If Australia’s captain, coach and manager did not have sharp words with Lee after the match then they stand in dereliction of their duties.”

For some time, rumours have been circulating that all is not well within Team USA, and that the squad was not a happy place to be during the recent Champions Trophy in England.The man at the eye of the storm is Imran Awan, a fast bowler, who was replaced shortly after the USA arrived in the UK. The press release at the time cited “special circumstances” rather than injury as the reason for his early return home.Various reports have been circulating as to the circumstances which led to his replacement, most of them based on unsubstantiated rumour. But there does appear to have been a row of some kind when the squad were in Jamaica ahead of the tournament.A source close to the USA board said that a decision was made to deal with the matter after the side returned home. But Charlie Javed, a board member and part of the official tour party, insisted that the incident be addressed there and then. Awan returned home, but no mention was made on the official USACA website and details remain sketchy. Probably because of the vagueness of information, rumours have abounded ever since.The USACA are known to be concerned with the entire process and has said that it will look into all allegations, however spurious they might seem. But an unnamed official added that this was a complicated and sensitive issue, and would have to be handled with appropriate delicacy.At a time when the future of cricket in the USA is under the spotlight, this distraction is unwelcome and needs to be put to bed as soon, and as transparently, as possible.

Despite his matchwinning figures of 5 for 41, Brett Lee knows from experience that imperious one-day form is no guarantee of Test selection. A barnstorming run in New Zealand earlier this year didn’t secure a return then and, once bitten, twice shy, he was taking nothing for granted now.”Going back a few months in New Zealand – I was pretty disappointed I missed out,” Lee told journalists at Lord’s. “I have put that right behind me now and I’m not worried about looking to the future right now. I’m going to focus on one thing right now, and that’s we’ve got one more game left.”I will do anything possible to get out there and play for Australia,” he added. “I am not looking too far ahead. If I get that call to be in the eleven on July 21, I will be over the moon, but I am not looking too far forward.”Lee’s captain, Ricky Ponting, was giving little away either. “He bowled well leading up to the Test series in New Zealand as well and didn’t get picked. Right from the start of this tour he’s done all he can and I know he will keep doing that. He has given himself the best chance.”Ponting was more forthcoming on the subject of Jason Gillespie – whose one England wicket this season has come at the cost of 252 runs. Gillespie fared no better at Lord’s today, his seven wicketless overscost 42. “He will be the first to admit he is down on confidence at the moment,” said Ponting. “Andrew Flintoff is the one that got into him most today.”He added the conditions at Headingley were a factor in their nine-wicket defeat there, but he had no complaints this time under blue skies at Lord’s, on what he considered to be a better wicket. “This is the best wicket we have played on so far.”Ponting, in fact, has never lost a match at Lord’s, and was surprised that it had been chosen as the venue for the first Test. “To have the first Test at Lord’s is great,” he said with an eye on the psychological high ground. “Australia have a great record here. I think it will be an advantage for us.”The new one-day regulations give a distinct advantage to the side bowling first, but Ponting insisted that they had had no bearing on his decision. “We upset England by bowling first,” he claimed. “They like to bowl first: they have made that pretty clear, and I was more than happy chasing that total today.”Matthew Hayden was absent injured for this match, butPonting confirmed that he was expected to play in theTests, although he may sit out at The Oval. “He’s inpain and struggling but I had a good look at him inthe nets yesterday. I know he has had treatment.Michael Vaughan was in understandably sombre moodafter the defeat. He revealed little at the press conference,but he did say that England are still very much in thereckoning for the NatWest Challenge trophy after theirwin at Headingley. “We just need the same intensity onTuesday,” he said, “and we may win a trophy.”

Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, has laid to rest all speculation of a power-struggle for captaincy by saying that he had no issues playing under Rahul Dravid, the current Indian captain. He has said that his top priority was to score runs for the team.”I have played under other captains, so it should be no problem. I am happy to play anywhere, whatever suits the team, Rahul [Dravid] and Greg [Chappell],” Ganguly told PTI. “I have been selected in the team to perform, as was the case when I was picked for the first time. You have to perform at this level.” He was banned for six one-day internationals by the ICC for slow over-rates when Pakistan toured India in April. The ban was reduced to four ODIs by Albie Sachs, an ICC-appointed arbitrator, following a BCCI appeal on Ganguly’s behalf. He spent the last two months playing for Glamorgan and has regained some form on the English county circuit. “I have been in touch with the game and it would be good to score runs and help India win the trophy,” said Ganguly. “As I can see if we bat well in the competition we have a good chance of winning.”The pitch at Dambulla has not been conducive to prolific run-making and Ganguly said that he had a fair idea of how to negotiate the wicket. “It is a kind of wicket where you have to grind for your runs. You don’t get easy runs here. I am not too sure about the pace; perhaps it is two-paced.”After all the attention he received for five-and-a-half years as the Indian captain, Ganguly said that a break from the spotlight would be appreciated. “Actually, I don’t mind it [lack of attention]. I had a lot of attention for five years. If for the next three or four games, or whatever happens in this series, I am not too worried. Whatever will happen, will happen.”Ganguly said that his wealth of experience would always be available to Dravid if required. “As I see it, it will be hard work for Rahul. It always is for the captain. There are a lot of things which are on mind and if I feel something could benefit the team, I will definitely pass on the suggestion to him.”Ganguly, who is 33 short of 10,000 runs in one-day cricket – a feat achieved only by Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam-ul-Haq, said that he was looking forward to the milestone. “It is something I am looking forward to,” said Ganguly “but more than personal marks, I am keen to do my bit for the team to win the trophy.”

Scotland v Australians – Match abandoned

Scotland’s most anticipated match since the 1999 World Cup was abandoned with no play possible due to persistent rain.Play was scheduled to begin at 3.45pm in what would have been a 20-over contest, but the wet weather resumed almost as soon as the announcement was made to the capacity crowd of 4,500. Within minutes it became clear they would not be able to start. The match had been sold out for months, and organisers said they could have shifted the tickets three times over.Ricky Ponting was looking forward to the match and the carnival atmosphere. “The last two weeks have been physically and mentally tough,” he said, “so to have a few days away would have been great for us.””We won’t lose anything financially, the biggest loss for us was not having the game played and the exposure on TV,” Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, told the . “The loss for us was the missed opportunity to play against Australia.” He hoped that matches with next summer’s tourists Pakistan and Sri Lanka could be organised.The game was to be the first cricket broadcast for six years, and the first Scottish match outside the World Cup to be televised live. Australia have one further warm-up game, against Northamptonshire on Saturday, before the crucial fourth Test starts on August 25.

Zimbabwe Cricket holds its annual general meeting in Bulawayo on Monday, and Peter Chingoka, the chairman, is virtually unopposed and is expected to stay at the helm of the battle-weary cricket body.Chingoka has run the board since before Zimbabwe attained Test status in 1992. But Chingoka, a well-respected veteran administrator, has been increasingly dragged into controversies such as last year’s strike by rebel players, a contentious rebranding exercise that reportedly cost several million Zimbabwean dollars. Despite that, Chingoka is still seen as holding together the sometimes divided Zimbabwe cricket family.There will, however, be replacements for ex-director Clive Barnes, the former Prince Edward School headmaster who is now heading an international school in Mauritius, and Ozias Bvute, who resigned from the board to take up the ZC managing director job. Other board members are expected to resign on a constitutional requirement.

Ricky Ponting has hit back at some fierce Ashes criticism from Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, suggesting that his comments were a smokescreen against criticism of his own team. In a preview of his book , Fletcher said the Australians had been verbally abusive and physically intimidating while flouting the spirit of the game in England.Fletcher has also detailed his account of Ponting’s wild reaction after being run-out by Gary Pratt at Trent Bridge, where there were other reported problems. “We have it on good authority that the groundsman [Steve Birks] was verbally abused by some of the Australian players,” Fletcher wrote.Fletcher added that Ponting “blew his top” when he smiled at him after he was run out in Pratt, a crack substitute fielder, who had been subbed on for a bowler. Ponting said he was disappointed by Fletcher’s latest broadside, suggesting it sounded more like England had lost the Ashes, not won them after 18 years.”That was probably what got my back up more than anything was to have their coach standing on the balcony smiling at me once I was dismissed from a Test match,” he said. “He knew what the whole substitute issue meant to the Australian cricket team after we made a big song and dance about it before the first one-day international was played at the start of the summer. We didn’t think it was right. They continued doing it and nothing was done about it.”As for the questions of fair play, Ponting told AFP: “I don’t recall having any of the umpires speak to me or any of the match officials speak to other than that one incident in which I was fined for. We did everything in our power to play the game in the right spirit. I think that was pretty evident right through the whole series and we’ve been applauded for the way we played through the series.”I don’t know if he’s trying to cover his own backside a little bit with a lot of these allegations directed at us now. It’s all coming after some allegations were made against him about the way England conducted themselves through the tour. To be honest, I don’t really care.”Matthew Hayden, who had not seen the stories, came out in support of his captain, questioning why Fletcher had waited until Ponting was at home to make the comments. “He’s a long, long way away isn’t he,” Hayden, who will face Ponting’s Tasmania in an ING Cup match on Saturday, told AAP. “We won’t play [England] for another 18 months and the Australian captain will still be Ricky Ponting, and he’s going to have a few more titles under his belt than England.”Dropped from Australia’s one-day side for the Super Series, Hayden said the rare appearance for Queensland was the beginning of his campaign to return to the No. 1 side. “I’m not finished playing one-day cricket,” he said. Hayden cemented his Test sport with his second hundred in two matches in Sydney last week.