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Michael Vaughan has mixed memories of his two Tests at the SinhaleseSports Club. On his first visit in 2000-01, he fought his way backinto the side at the expense of Graeme Hick, and played a supportingrole in a famous series-sealing win. Three years later, however, onhis first tour as captain, Vaughan experienced cricket’s emotionalflip-side, as Sri Lanka routed his new charges by the record margin ofan innings and 215 runs.There’s no room for a repeat of such a scoreline on this visit.Regardless of the positives that England claim to have carried withthem from Kandy, they remain 1-0 down in the series and in seriousdanger of losing their exalted status as the second-best side in theworld. Since the tour of Pakistan in December 2005, England have lostnine Tests out of 12 on foreign soil, with just one win to show fortheir efforts – Andrew Flintoff’s Ring of Fire-inspired triumph at Mumbai in March 2006.Vaughan personally can take very little of the blame for that record,having been injured for all but three of those contests, but asEngland’s most successful captain of all time, he knows full well it’sa record that needs redressing, and fast. Unfortunately, the SSC isnot the most hospitable venue for visiting sides. Since England’svictory in 2000-01, Sri Lanka have won 10 out of 12 matches – six byan innings and one by 10 wickets. Only the Australians, in a classiccontest in 2003-04, have had the better of them, and even theycouldn’t prevent Muttiah Muralitharan picking up eight wickets alongthe way.”We need to start playing some good cricket,” said Vaughan, as Englandcompleted their final practice session before Saturday’s 10am start.”We have to learn from our experiences at Kandy, move on from that,and react in a positive way. First and foremost, one of the buildingblocks of a good side is: can they show that inner fight? But you needto have that expertise as well, and that’s the one area we have toimprove.”England fought hard at Kandy, without any question, but they were ateam gripped by naivety at critical stages of the first Test. Theywere paralysed by Murali’s menace in the first innings, and thencollapsed to the seamers second-time around just when it seemed they’dcome to terms with the conditions. And in between whiles, of course,they missed crucial opportunities in the field – not least where KumarSangakkara was concerned. “We got ourselves into some greatpositions,” said Vaughan. “We got enough out of that game to suggestSri Lanka are very beatable on their home shore.”The hasty turnaround between Tests is not too much of a hindrance,according to Vaughan. The cool hilly conditions at Kandy were notremotely as sapping as the sticky humidity that has greeted them inthe past at Galle. But the match did take its toll in one respect.Matthew Hoggard, the best of England’s seamers by a distance, has beenruled out because of his back injury, which leaves a very significantexperience void to be filled.The smart money suggests it will be Steve Harmison who fills it.He has not played a Test since the West Indies series in June, and onthis tour he has looked indifferent as well as insipid in his variousappearances at the nets and in the middle. But in England’s finalpractice he galloped to the crease with his enthusiasm reignited, andgave all the batsmen – especially Ian Bell – a serious hurry-up.Opportunities must surely be running out for a man who has contributednext to nothing to Peter Moores’ new regime, but now is not the timeto give up on a character who was once ranked as the best bowler inthe world.

When discussing his maverick team-mate, Vaughan had the look of a manwho was fed up of waiting for the inspiration to return to his game,but he hid it well in his words. “I’ve had a lot of great days withSteve Harmison,” said Vaughan. “If you ask any opposition player inthe world who they don’t want to face in the England set-up, it’susually Steve Harmison’s name that crops up. He knows he’s close to aTest match and very close to getting into an eleven, so I fully expecthim to bowl the way he did today. He’s running in full of gas, andSteve at his best has to bowl at a rate of knots. I look forward, ifhe’s selected, to standing at mid-off and watching him bowl.”For all that England were undone in the first Test, Vaughan’sassertion that Sri Lanka are vulnerable is not without foundation. InSangakkara and Muralitharan, they possess the top-ranked batsman andbowler in all of Test cricket – an incredible achievement for acountry so small – but beyond those two, Sri Lanka’s quality and formis not so thick on the ground. “Take those two out of their attack,and [Chaminda] Vaas, and they are a very inexperienced team,” saidVaughan. “That’s what we’ve got to try to get into. If we get thosesenior players out quickly, and play Murali and Vaas well, we can tryto exploit their inexperience.”That is especially true at the top of the order, where there will beno Sanath Jayasuriya to torment the English bowlers. The last timeHarmison encountered the Sri Lankans, at Headingley in the fifth ODIin 2006, Jayasuriya lacerated him for 97 runs in ten overs, flinginghis forearms at his short wide offerings en route to 152 from 99deliveries. Sanath’s sidekick that day was one Upul Tharanga, who willnow partner Michael Vandort in his first Test since the visit ofBangladesh in July, but the memories of his own century at Headingleywill not compensate for the undoubted nerves he will be feeling.Further down the batting card, Jehan Mubarak is in need of runs, aftermaking 0 and 9 in the first Test, and Chamara Silva failed to convincewith his form either. But England’s struggles are every bit as acute.Ian Bell produced two stylish but ultimately insubstantial innings atKandy, but he was a lone success among the top six. Vaughan, KevinPietersen and Paul Collingwood each made starts without a singlehalf-century between them, while Alastair Cook was suckered twice inseven balls by Vaas’s subtle swingers.Vaughan, however, was adamant that the best remedy for the Kandyexperience was to get straight back and do it all again. “It wasmentally draining, especially losing, but physically we’re fine,” hesaid. That includes James Anderson, who has been labouring with anankle problem since the warm-ups and has at times looked every bit ashangdog as Harmison. There’s no room for moping in the next five days,however. The fate of the series depends on England’sbouncebackability.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Michael Vandort, 3Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Chamara Silva, 6Jehan Mubarak, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 DilharaFernando, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 MattPrior (wk), 8 Ryan Sidebottom, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 James Anderson, 11Monty Panesar.

ScorecardQueensland raced to the top of the table with a 168-run victory over Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. Tasmania required 340 for victory but could manage only 171. James Hopes starred with the ball, claiming 4 for 39 to supplement his first-innings 97 off 81 balls.David Dawson stood out with his 38, the highest score of Queensland’s innings. The bowlers struck regularly, allowing no batsman to build on his start. But the building blocks of Queensland’s success had been constructed a day earlier, when Jimmy Maher struck 170 out of 271, setting Tasmania a target of 340.

Morne van Wyk, the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman from Free State, will join the injury hit South African squad in Pakistan. South Africa have been plagued by a number of fitness worries early on the tour: Herschelle Gibbs missed the first one-day international due to muscle soreness, Neil McKenzie suffered from back spasms, while Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar were clearly bothered by the heat and humidity in that match.Explaining the decision to opt for a reinforcement, Eric Simons, the South African coach, said: "We do have a few injury worries with Herschelle and Neil, and the severe heat and humidity also took its toll on Friday when Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar suffered from cramps. Morne will give us more flexibility if we have further injury problems or if we decide to rotate players in the rest of the games." van Wyk will join the South African team on Monday.South Africa have a busy schedule ahead of them in Pakistan, playing four ODIs in a week’s time before being faced with back-to-back Tests. Simons added that the packed itinerary was also a reason why the team management decided to ask for cover. "It takes nearly 24 hours to travel from South Africa, so we would rather have him here than back home should problems arise next week."van Wyk made his international debut in the NatWest Series final against England earlier this year, and has been in terrific batting form for the A side, scoring 52, 56 and 118 in three one-day matches against the Sri Lankan A team last week.

Mike Procter has given his seal of approval to Pakistan’s security arrangements, ahead of South Africa’s Test series later this month. Procter, a former South African allrounder, has been officiating as an ICC match referee during Pakistan’s Test series against Bangladesh, and described the preparations for the tour as “excellent”.The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB) is due to test the water for itself this Sunday, when a delegation arrives to discuss the concerns surrounding the matches in Karachi and Peshawar. The UCB has warned that they will not be “sending a team anywhere” unless they are satisfied, but Procter believes their fears are misguided.”It would not be fair for me to comment on the UCB stand on playing in Karachi and Peshawar,” said Procter. “They have their concerns, but they have been in touch with me and taken feedback from me. I have given them my frank views. But I can understand that the negative image and information about some cities in Pakistan to the outside world does have a bearing on how others think about playing in Pakistan.”Last May, New Zealand pulled out of a Test match in Karachi following a bomb explosion outside the team hotel, while Peshawar – in the North West Frontier Province – has been viewed with suspicion by touring sides because of its proximity to Afghanistan. Both cities, however, held Tests in the recent Bangladesh series, and both passed without incident. The UCB has nonetheless asked that the venues be moved.

Easan Sinnathamby, St John’s captain, has been called up to the Canadian national squad, in place of Austin Codrington, Canada’s hero in their World Cup victory over Bangladesh.In a surprising phone-call from selector Austin Ward, Sinnathamby was asked for his jacket size: Ward’s trademark line when telling players of their selection to the national team. This will be Sinnathamby’s third representative match for Canada. He will be joining United CC batsman Manzoor Chaudhary on the squad, marking the first time Calgary has had two players in the Canadian senior team on the same tour.Canada plays the USA this weekend in a three-day game on the first leg of the ICC Intercontinental Cup. The match, to be played at Brian Piccolo Park, Lauderhill, Florida, has been granted first-class status by the ICC.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The West Indies batsmen overcame a sluggish pitch and some strangulating bowling to sneak a thrilling five-wicket win over South Africa at The Oval, and enter the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan helped them stabilise the wobble and get within striking range. But it was Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s tremendous 51, off just 52 balls, that pulled the carpet from beneath the South Africans’ feet.On a pitch with spongy bounce, Herschelle Gibbs’s hundred yesterday had taken South Africa to a competitive total, and Shaun Pollock grabbed two quick wickets this morning to put West Indies in some trouble. Lara and Sarwan shared a period of consolidation, but it was Chanderpaul who injected the much-needed vim. And just as South Africa threatened to pull off a heist right at the end, Ricardo Powell carted two mighty sixes, and West Indies scraped through with seven balls to spare.Lara nearly ran himself out first ball after Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds had fallen to Pollock. Gayle came out like a sleep-walking bull and under-edged onto his stumps, while Hinds was unlucky to be given out lbw when the ball appeared to have pitched marginally outside leg (33 for 2). But after he survived that run-out chance, Lara dazzled in the next hour and a half, as he kept flicking the bowlers in the arc between midwicket and fine leg.Throughout that period Sarwan was almost invisible at the other end, and had cobbled together just 12 runs from 42 balls. Lance Klusener and Jacques Kallis kept it very tight, and both batsmen found their offcutters and slower balls tough to get away. Lara was finally frustrated out as he charged down the track to Nicky Boje in the 33rd over, played all over the ball and was bowled (131 for 3).Sarwan, who had made 34 off 66 at that stage, had just switched modes a few balls earlier. Both he and Chanderpaul put the fielders under pressure, and their calculated risks paid off. Sarwan’s last 41 runs came in 33 balls and contained some clean sixes straight over the bowler’s head. Sarwan fell trying to turn one to the on side, inside-edging Makhaya Ntini onto the stumps when West Indies still needed just 33 more (214 for 4).

Just like West Indies, South Africa had also struggled in the middle overs yesterday after Gibbs and Graeme Smith gave them a solid start. Gibbs showed glimpses of his usual intimidating self with some crashing drives and pulls. He brought up his fifty, from 59 balls, with a classical straight-drive through long-off, and the horrors of the last few weeks were all but forgotten. He also maintained his perfect conversion-rate against West Indies. On the four occasions that Gibbs has passed fifty against them, he has gone on to score a century.But a period of inertia followed after Smith’s wicket, at 102 for 1. Jacques Kallis’s strike rate was less than a run every two balls, and Gibbs kept hitting straight to the men in the infield. Gibbs, whose first fifty had come in quick time, took 76 balls for his second and West Indies clawed back into the contest. Ryan Hinds, with his wobbly left-arm spin, conceded just 35 in his ten overs and South Africa needed a special finish.The last ten overs produced 75, thanks mainly to Rudolph’s 46 off 39 balls, as South Africa managed to reach a competitive total of 246. That nearly proved enough, because even when Sarwan had fallen, West Indies needed 29 off 22 balls. But Powell blasted those sixes off Pollock, both full-tosses that landed way over midwicket, and Chanderpaul sealed it with two more fours.West Indies will take on Pakistan in their semi-final at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday. Will this be their golden swallow after a woeful summer?

Dear Reader,I’d like to share some thoughts and feelings about Pakistan’s new team and the happenings during our first outing at Sharjah last week.Based on Pakistan’s recent performance in World Cup 2003, we went to Sharjah’s 4-Nation Cherry Blossom Cup, as underdogs. We were to face Zimbabwe, a Super Sixes qualifier and the two losing World Cup semi-finalists, Kenya and Sri Lanka – all rated above us.For future team-building plans and giving a rest to out-of-form senior players, we opted for a newer look but talented Pakistani team.I am indeed proud of the boys for performing so diligently and helping us return home unbeaten from the tournament. We had confidence in the abilities of the youngsters and they have not disappointed us at all.First of all, I would like to congratulate and thank all Pakistan supporters worldwide for this win. We have been receiving comments and prayers from all parts of the world wishing us to perform well in Sharjah and I hope the results have made everyone happy.However, we are keeping a close eye on our mistakes too as there is still need for a lot of improvement to become a cricketing power to be reckoned with. Complacency can be our biggest enemy and we are aware of its suicidal nature.I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to our coach Javed Miandad. His presence lessens any captaincy pressures I have on my shoulders.Everyone must have noticed the discipline on the field, especially among the batsmen. The way they built their innings, whether chasing or setting targets; everything was done most professionally because of our mentor and coach. His presence at the `analyst seat’ encourages everyone, especially the youngsters, to become salient parts of game plans. The sharpness in fielding, again goes to the training sessions we had under Javed Miandad’s supervision.As the captain, I am lucky to not only have Javed Miandad as my coach, but also fortunate to have received valuable inputs from the selection committee chairman, Aamer Sohail. He has a very good insight of the finer elements of cricket. Aamer Sohail played an important role in making strategies for different phases of the games.One prominent aspect of our performance was the ability to chase targets in two important games, against Sri Lanka and the final against Zimbabwe. On both occasions, we achieved our targets proficiently without any hiccups and with many overs to spare.The fifties scored by Mohammad Hafeez, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan and Taufeeq Umar during these two target-chasing wins were remarkable efforts.The explosive unbeaten fifty by Abdul Razzaq in the first game against Zimbabwe can be better termed as the launching pad for our performance in the entire tournament. We were tottering at 203/7, when he hammered his way to an unbeaten 76 to enable Pakistan amass seventy-five runs in the last thirty-five balls. This innings actually put us on the right path towards winning this championship.In batting, both Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan came of age, showed complete dedication and accepted their responsibilities of being the anchors and heads of our batting line-up. Among the youngsters, Misbah-ul-Haq and Faisal Iqbal pitched-in with useful contributions.The revelation of the tournament was Mohammad Hafeez. His well-crafted fifty against Sri Lanka tragically ended with run-out, otherwise he would have gone on for a much bigger innings. His thirty-six against Kenya and his economical bowling spells with valuable wickets at crucial stages has helped us tremendously in drafting our match plans. If he does not fall into the trap of complacency, Mohammad Hafeez has shown the class to meticulously serve Pakistan in the future.We were struggling a little against Kenya, when Shoaib Malik stepped up up with a gem of an innings, 76 in 58 balls. Shoaib Malik also had a good tour with both bat and ball.Batsman Naved Latif is a gritty player, but has a few small technical flaws which need to be rectified in nets, before giving him a longer stint at international level.Like always, there was little help for medium pace seam bowlers in Sharjah, but overall, newcomer Naved-ul-Hasan bowled quite well. He did not get many chances to bat in the tournament, but the way he assisted Shoaib Malik against Kenya, we have see in him genuine all-rounder abilities.Another find of the tour has been Umar Gul. His beautiful `line `n’ length’ was unruffled by the presence of top world-class batsmen like Atapattu, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Wishart, Grant Flower and others. He bowled with complete confidence, except for one over against Kenya, which hopefully he will remember, so as to improve for the better in the future. God Willing; Umar Gul is going to be a valuable asset of Pakistan cricket team.Building our bowling line-up for the future required us to try a new spearhead fast bowler. We used Mohammad Sami for this purpose and he did not disappoint us. Sami was not only explosive, but also accurate. He needs to keep working hard on his fitness. God Willing; Sami is going to win many important games for us in the future, just like he did in Sharjah.Danish Kaneria bowled very well with good control on a good line and length and his variety is quite deadly. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez ably assisted Danish with their accurate off-spin.It was nice to see our team manager, Haroon Rashid being very particular about behavioural discipline both an and off the field, which resulted in Mohammad Zahid and Naved Latif sitting out one game. Many feel it was harsh, but please do remember, no player is bigger than the game and as a basic principle of a cricket team, discipline needs to be applied without reservations in order to set proper precedents.Unfortunately Mohammad Zahid was the only player not to get a game during this tour, but he is very talented, young and will indeed get good chances in the near future.The next seventy days bring us much bigger challenges; in Sri Lanka against New Zealand and the hosts, and in England against the home side.We would need to further improve on our recent performances, rectify our mistakes and enhance our talents. We are quite capable of meeting expectations and are preparing hard to face the strong Kiwis, Sri Lankan and English sides.I am looking forward to all of your prayers, support and encouragement to help us along.With best regards,Rashid Latif

Australia is the team that everyone country wants to beat and Sri Lanka are no exception. Sri Lanka’s Australian-born coach John Dyson thinks that his team have the ammunition to give Australia a good run in the one-day and Test series, if not beat them.”If everybody plays as well as they can on the day of the big game, the Sri Lanka team has the players and the experience to beat the Australians,” said Dyson, looking ahead at tomorrow’s five-match one-day international series and the three Tests to follow next month.”We have numerous world class players in the team. It’s a matter of the whole team clicking as a unit on the day and everyone performing to their ability. Our guys are prepared for the way the Australians play the game,” he said.”I’ve said throughout the last series that England didn’t try and win. The Australian team will try and win at all costs and at every opportunity. They will play far more positive cricket than the Englishmen. Going back to the Kandy Test, if we had set Australia 368 to win on that wicket with a day and a session to bat, I think they would have said `this is fairly easy’. They may or may not have got them but they would have definitely set after it.””The Australians bat a long way down the order and that makes it extremely difficult for the bowling team. The bowlers have to keep at the job the whole time as well. So have the fieldsmen. It’s just a very, very demanding game,” said Dyson.Dyson said that they had a look at the tapes of the VB one-day series between Australia and India and also the tapes of the last series between Sri Lanka and Australia five years ago.”We just tried to compare what’s happened with their side now and what happened the last time they were here. It was not all that necessary to look at the VB series hour after hour because the wickets Australia are going to encounter here will be vastly different to that they played at home,” said Dyson.”The Australians don’t like playing in Sri Lanka, nor do they like playing in India and Pakistan. The wickets are so different to what they are used to in Australia that they find it difficult. They are quite open in saying `the subcontinent is the last frontier we conquered in the cricket world.’ They’ve set that as an ambition to win in Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. They’ll be out to do that. It is our job of course to play to our ability and make it extremely difficult for them, and hopefully beat them,” he said.Dyson said that Australia would certainly be thinking of their record in Sri Lanka and wish to change that. “They are not satisfied until they’ve achieved their objectives of winning. It is not good enough just to play well as far as they are concerned. You only play well when you want. That’s what they will set out to do during the series.””Given that, we know its our job to counter that with a similar attitude. We should, and play to win. One of our themes during the England series was that we would play our natural game. We must continue with that theme and extend it. We shouldn’t change our normal game because we are playing Australia. There’s not a lot of adapting needed because we are playing on our home wickets,” Dyson said.The present hot weather conditions, according to Dyson, will definitely be advantageous to Sri Lanka. Dyson added, “Australia has just come off a long season at home and although they are match-fit they must be starting to get physically tired from the amount of cricket that they’ve been playing. Obviously in hot weather it is more physically draining than in cooler weather. The other factors that may weigh against Australia are the lack of pace and bounce on the pitches here.”

Dyson admitted that in one-day cricket Australia have just continued winning.”Steve Waugh’s departure has made no difference to that team at all. It’s been a very smooth transition from his captaincy of the one-day side to Ricky Ponting’s. Ricky has shown that he was groomed for the job and handles that job extremely well.””In the Test arena we won’t know until they start playing Test cricket here. This will be viewed as a difficult series because of the reasons I have already stated. It will be a good test to see just how well Ricky handles the team in the Test arena and how the team responds to him. I expect this transition too will be extremely smooth.”The series against Australia is what Dyson has been longing to win ever since he was appointed coach of the national team six months ago. “Just because I am an Australian and I’ve played for Australia doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win the series. I am here as the Sri Lankan coach and I am working with the team. I wish to win the series. It’s not being disloyal to my country it’s just that I am a professional cricket coach and I am employed to do a job here,” he said.Dyson is extremely happy with how the team played against England and he expects them to lift their game a level or two higher against the Australians.”I think the players reacted well during the England series to a number of pressure situations. In each of the Tests there was probably an occasion where if we had crumbled, we could have been placed in a position to lose the Test match. But each time we fought out of that situation. It was different players throughout the series who fought it out.”In the England series, the batsmen to impress were Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayauriya, while the bowling was in the reliable hands of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.The one-day series against Australia commences at Dambulla tomorrow and the Test series starts at Galle on March 8.

Queensland Cricket has quickly objected to using drop-in pitches at the Gabba despite accusations from the Brisbane Lions, the ground’s co-tenants, that the surface has contributed to player injuries. Leigh Matthews, the AFL coach, would like temporary wickets brought in to keep the ground firm for his charges, but Graham Dixon, the Queensland Cricket chief executive, said performance was the main reason for dismissing the idea.”The technology surrounding drop-in wickets is adequate but it does not compare to the conditions produced by a permanent block,” he said. “The two instances where drop-in wickets are used regularly – at the MCG and in New Zealand – are due to the weather conditions that make it hard to prepare. The conditions in Brisbane are vastly different and we prepare wickets in the normal manner.”Dixon said if temporary pitches were able to replicate the performance of a permanent block he would be open to discussions, and he also dismissed comments the square was being prepared before the Lions’ match against Port Adelaide at the weekend. “It has always been the case that the curator Kevin Mitchell Jnr does not do any work on the block until after the Lions’ final training session of their season,” he said.In a busy off-season day for grounds, the WACA has announced a new head curator following the departure in June of Richard Winter, who moved to the MCG. Cameron Sutherland, who has worked for nine seasons on the South Perth pitch at Richardson Park, will start work in September.Tony Dodemaide, the WACA’s chief executive, said applications were received from around the world and Sutherland was selected for his skills and knowledge of local conditions. “Perth is renowned for it’s unique pace and bounce,” Dodemaide said, “and we’re confident that Cameron will lead his quality team in producing pitches that reflect the ground’s heritage and high standards.”

Graham Thorpe, the former England middle-order batsman, is unlikely to play for New South Wales (NSW) in the 2005-06 season.Trevor Bayliss, the NSW coach, said that keeping in mind the objective of developing players for the national team, Thorpe would be considered for selection only after the fringe players were given opportunities to play. “We are hoping he doesn’t play as I have said before,” Bayliss was quoted as saying by AFP “and he is aware of that but we will have to see how the season pans out”.Brad Haddin, the NSW wicketkeeper-captain, added that the prospect of Thorpe playing was remote. “He is there if we need him but if the players are doing the job they are meant to do, I don’t think there will be any need to pick him,” Haddin said.Thorpe will play for UTS Balmain, a Sydney club, and Bayliss felt that his experience would be valuable for the team. “It is very difficult these days to get blokes like Mark and Steve Waugh, and Mark Taylor, who have played 100 Tests, it is very difficult to get guys like that around practice, other than one or two times a year. So to have someone there full-time after Christmas will be a benefit to our young guys.”Thorpe retired from international cricket after he was left out of the England squad for the Ashes series in July. Thorpe is said to be considering Australia as a permanent residence option.