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Sunday, 24th June sees the start of the CricInfo Test series between the women of England and Australia at Shenley. The players then move to Derby, Northampton and Lord’s for the CricInfo One-Day International series, before the Second Test gets under way at Headingley on 6th July.

During a similar period last summer, the English women would have been taking on the undisputed world champions. However, since an unexpected defeat at the hands of hosts, New Zealand, in the final of the CricInfo Women’s World Cup just before Christmas, the Australians can no longer regard themselves as being invincible.The summer still presents a tough challenge for England however; for in Christchurch it was the Kiwi girls who proved themselves to be up there on a par with the Australians, rather than the Aussies going backwards.Before the World Cup began, Australia and New Zealand were thought to be out on their own with two out of England, South Africa and India likely to occupy the other semi-final places. But England failed to beat either of their rivals and so were the team to miss out.Just as the men’s team looked overseas for a coach to resurrect the national fortunes by enlisting Duncan Fletcher from Zimbabwe, so too have the English women. John Harmer is the man asked to turn around the women’s game and restore it to its position of former glory. The delightful irony here is that John Harmer has been coach of the Australian women’s team and lifted it to a supreme status in the game.How does he feel about changing camps and finding himself pitted against his former charges immediately? “Not well” is the instant response. Then, more seriously, “I’m looking forward to it with a great deal of excitement because I think we can do a lot of work and we’ve got a lot of interested people here – young people who are keen to tackle the issues and get on with it. That will be excellent – working with the other staff.”Harmer believes that he saw enough potential in the England camp to lift them to challenge the likes of Australia and New Zealand. “I don’t think there’s any question that they can do it; just a question of how we go about it. There are some good players and the advances made in athleticism and skills in the last three years have been very significant, so we just need to build on what’s already there.”There is nobody better to judge what progress England will have hopefully made in the course of this summer, and Harmer’s appointment as full-time coach on along-term contract as part of a wider national strategy for cricket must bode well for the future. Not that miracles can be expected in such a short time, but if progress can be seen to be occurring, John Harmer will at least be on the way to achieving one of the ECB’s stated aims for women’s cricket – winning back the World Cup last held in 1993.Certainly England have the base from which to build a good side. Evergreen Clare Taylor was the second top wicket taker in the CricInfo Women’s World Cup, Claire Taylor is far too fine a player not to come back strongly, and skipper Clare Connor fronts a young side full of emerging talents – such as 17-year-old spinner Laura Harper.As for the Australians, they still represent a mighty test for any newly found inspiration among the English women. They might have got it wrong one day in Christchurch, but as a cricketing unit of the highest calibre, they will have been stung by that defeat and will be going flat out to restore lost pride. It should be some contest.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A mighty performance from India’s batsmen, led by Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, made easy work of a competitive target of 300 and gave the team two points to take into the next round. The pair tore into Pakistan’s depleted and wayward bowling attack – scoring at more than eight an over during their second-wicket partnership of 198 – as India reached the target with six wickets and 47 balls to spare, their quickest chase while facing a target of 300 or more.The Indian approach was in stark contrast to Pakistan’s methodical plan in their innings. Their openers played cautiously at the start and accelerated once the new ball had been seen off. Malik’s maiden century as captain was the cornerstone of the innings and gave the batsmen who followed the freedom to innovate and bat aggressively to propel Pakistan to 299 for 4. In the end, however, they needed plenty more to challenge a trailblazing Indian batting line-up.Pakistan’s attack was weakened by a rib-muscle injury to Umar Gul, who left the field after bowling only 1.2 overs. Shoaib Malik’s offspin was also unavailable because he didn’t take the field after cramping towards the end of his century, which left acting captain Misbah-ul-Haq with only three specialist bowling options – Sohail Tanvir, Iftikhar Anjum and Shahid Afridi – and their flat performance cost Pakistan dearly.Despite snaring Gautam Gambhir early – Misbah showed lightning reflexes in taking a one-handed catch to his left at gully – Pakistan were unable to contain India. After the Kitply Cup final, Dhoni had admitted that promoting Raina ahead of himself was a mistake but today Raina walked in at No. 3, instead of the out-of-touch Rohit Sharma.Bristling with confidence after his century on Wednesday against Hong Kong, Raina began with free-flowing cover drives when offered width outside off stump by Tanvir and Anjum. He did most of the early scoring and Sehwag hadn’t got off the mark till the fourth over. However, Sehwag began to gather momentum by flicking consecutively to the long-leg boundary when Anjum strayed on to his pads, and slashed two short and wide balls from Tanvir to the third-man boundary.With Tanvir and Anjum ineffective, Misbah turned to Afridi in the 11th over. Afridi bowled one satisfactory over before Sehwag hit him for two straight sixes in his second. Raina lofted Anjum audaciously over extra cover for another six and when Misbah brought Tanvir back, Sehwag immediately glided him down to the third man for four.

Pakistan began to haemorrhage runs and by the time Malik took the field, India had raced to 100 in 14 overs. They found the boundary virtually every over: Raina lofted Fawad Alam’s left-arm spin over the midwicket boundary, Sehwag hit Afridi over long-on for six once more. And when Malik, who wasn’t allowed to bowl for 71 minutes after taking the field, turned to Salman Butt, Sehwag responded by charging him and smashing the ball twice into the stands at deep midwicket to move into the 90s.Sehwag brought up his century of only 80 balls but Raina missed his, chipping Anjum tamely to Alam at cover. At that stage India needed 90 runs in 23 overs and victory was only a matter of time.The ease with which India achieved victory was startling for Pakistan, who had worked extremely hard to build a competitive total on a benign pitch. They reverted to the caution-before-aggression approach that won them the Kitply Cup final in Dhaka earlier this month. In that game, Butt and Younis Khan did the groundwork, steering Pakistan cautiously to 104 for 1 after 25 overs before they went on to score hundreds in a final total of 315 for 3.Today, Malik’s effort was an example of how to pace an innings. He and Butt gave the first eight overs to the Indian bowlers and took no risks. By the end of the 13th over, Pakistan had only scored 38 but India’s fast bowlers had failed to create wicket-taking opportunities. Thereafter, Malik began to attack, driving Praveen straight for four and then gliding him between Dhoni and short third man. He was offered width twice by Ishant and cut him through and over point for fours. Dhoni finally resorted to spin in the 20th over but by now Malik was well set and he hit Chawla for two fours through midwicket to reach his fifty off 61 balls.Malik and Younis, who scored 59, strengthened Pakistan’s grip on the game during their 129-run stand for the second wicket. Brimming with confidence, Younis swept the spinners fluently, made room to cut, lofted them over midwicket and threw them completely off line by using the reverse-sweep repeatedly. They played crucial roles in setting a challenging target but their hardworking partnership, during which they ran between the wickets splendidly, was put firmly in the shade by the blitzkrieg launched by Sehwag and Raina.

Zimbabwe Cricket has denied reports that Brendan Taylor has given it an ultimatum over his desire to play club cricket overseas.Sources close to the player said he had given himself a cut-off date of Friday (June 6) to decide on his international career. Taylor had been trying to get permission from the board to play club cricket in Europe. “He is seriously considering resigning now,” Cricinfo was told. “By end of week he would have made a decision.”However, this version of events was disputed by Lovemore Banda, ZC’s media manager. “This gives the impression that ZC is an overbearing organisation that is unreasonably denying Taylor leave to play overseas,” he told Cricinfo. “Nothing can be further from the truth.”At the onset of the 2007-08 season, ZC made it clear to every player that they were expected to fulfil all their domestic obligations with the organisation and would only be free to play wherever they wanted after the end of the season (June 2). We have invested heavily by providing exposure to our nucleus of senior players over time. It is only proper that we get a return on that investment by having the players taking part in our domestic cricket and raising the standard of the local game.”At the end of the season, the players are allowed to play in whichever country they accept an offer from, since ZC stands to benefit if the players remain exposed to a high level of play.”We remain supportive of all our players and said as much in our letter of May 7 to Taylor, part of the last paragraph of which reads: ‘We would therefore encourage you to complete your obligations as per the dates outlined and we remain supportive of whatever direction you so decide your career to take’.”

Graham Thorpe today issued the following statement:”I have informed the selectors that I wish to withdraw from the tour to Australia.During the 6 weeks away from the game my personal situation did improve and I felt that I was able to make myself available for the tour.Since returning to the game I have found it difficult to consistently concentrate on cricket and I must be totally focused for the tour. I therefore feel it is better to be honest with the England cricket team, the management, and myself now, rather than during the Ashes tour.It would be wrong for me to go to Australia purely for the financial gain that it would bring me whilst I am finding it difficult to fully focus on the job in hand 100% of the time.This has been the hardest decision of my cricket career. I ask that I may be given the respect and privacy required so that I may recover to play cricket at highest level next season.”Paul Sheldon, Surrey County Cricket Club Chief Executive stated:”It is best for everyone concerned that a final decision over this winters tour has been made now. We will continue to do everything we can to help Graham through this very difficult time. Surrey is his cricketing home and we will be in very close touch throughout the winter.”

Either Craig White or Alex Tudor could be called into the England Ashes squad should they decide to look outside the existing party for a replacement for Andrew Flintoff.The England coach, Duncan Fletcher, announced today that Flintoff is to receive further treatment on his hernia injury at the Australian cricket academy in Adelaide.”Although Andrew’s recovery programme is running behind schedule at present, we remain confident that he will be able to take part in the Ashes series,” Fletcher said.”However, our physio Kirk Russell has a heavy workload at present due to the number of injuries in the squad and we feel that the medical team at the Academy are best placed to give Andrew the intensive one-to-one treatment he needs if he is to be fit for the first Test in Brisbane.”Other players are around in Australia, practising, and if the injuries don’t work out, we may have to make a decision to bring them in. We’ll make that decision over the next four or five days.”Tudor, who celebrates his 25th birthday today, has taken 26 wickets at 31.5 in nine Tests. The Surrey fast bowler narrowly missed selection in the original squad after an up-and-down summer against Sri Lanka and India that was interrupted by shin splints.White was another of the summer’s injury victims, suffering a side strain that prevented him from bowling after he had batted impressively against India, scoring an unbeaten 94 at Trent Bridge.If he is now fit to bowl, White’s all-round credentials are the stronger. Although Tudor made an unbeaten 99 against New Zealand three years ago, White’s Test average of nearly 25 fits him more closely to the vital number seven slot which is will be at issue if Flintoff does not recover in time for Brisbane.Three recuperating England players, Flintoff, Michael Vaughan and Darren Gough, missed the opening game of England’s tour against an Australian Cricket Board (ACB) Chairman’s XI, which the tourists lost by 58 runs in Perth.”Vaughan has a very good chance of playing in the next three-day match against Queensland, starting in Brisbane on November 2,” Fletcher told a news conference.”Gough is pretty positive. He has bowled on each of the past two days and there has been no reaction. He is feeling pretty bullish at this stage. We don’t want to push him too soon. We’ll just have to wait and see. We won’t know whether he is ready for the Test unless he is ready for the Brisbane three-day game.”Fletcher dealt succinctly with a question about whether England should have brought so many injured players on tour against the world’s top-ranked side.”Should we have left them at home then?” he said.England next match is over two days against Western Australia in Perth, starting tomorrow.

Somerset entertain championship table toppers Surrey at the County Ground tomorrow, and will be anxious to earn some vital points to enable themselves to climb away from the relegation zone.When the sides met at the Oval in May the rain affected game ended in a draw. Since then Surrey have continued their run of success and have four wins from their six matches.The Cidermen however have continued to be dogged by the bad weather, which has prevented them from getting a result after being in winning situations.They have also had more than their fair share of injuries, and tomorrow will be missing the services of Jamie Cox, who is still recovering from a broken thumb, and strike bowler Richard Johnson who pulled a hamstring at Edgbaston last week.The Somerset team is: Matt Wood, Piran Holloway, Mike Burns, Peter Bowler, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Simon Francis, Matt Bulbeck and Steffan Jones.Earlier this morning Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "This is another big match for us, and it is important for us to get a result. When we met at the Oval earlier in the season we were in a good position before the rain came down. Our championship form this year is good, so the boys will be full of confidence tomorrow."Acting captain Mike Burns told me: "We are playing well at the moment without much luck. Hopefully this will change and things will start to turn our way starting tomorrow."

CASTRIES – Trinidad and Tobago secured a place in the Final Four when they routed Canada for a meagre 55 runs to race to a lop-sided 175-run victory in their final Zone "B" Red Stripe Bowl match at the Beausejour Stadium yesterday.West Indies fast bowler Mervyn Dillon combined with captain Daren Ganga and Richard Smith, who hit contrasting half-centuries in a challenging total of 230 off 49.5 overs, to lead Trinidad and Tobago’s ruthless demolition of Canada.Dillon took four wickets for 25 runs in his ten overs, and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine bagged three for 17.Canada’s capitulation was the second lowest total in the regional One-Day competition following Bermuda’s 48 against the Windward Islands in 1999.Just one Canadian batsman, pinch-hitting opener John Davison, reached double figures, his ten runs, which included two of the three fours in the entire innings, coming in Dillon’s first over.

Heavy overnight rain put pay to any thoughts of play in Glamorgan`s final match of their pre-season tour to Cape Town yesterday, and the 50 over match against the Hermanus club was called off without a ball being bowled.Despite the loss of this final one day game, as well as over three hours of play in the three day game against Boland Academy, the tour has given the Glamorgan squad valuable outdoor practice and some competitive warm-up games as they prepare for the start of the new season next week.

Over recent years there has been an ongoing debate as to whether Somerset County Cricket Club should sell their town centre ground and relocate to a new out of town venue.At the AGM in December last year the question was raised and points of view from both sides were voiced, since when there has been little public airing of the matter.During the last few months however, chief executive Peter Anderson has attended several meetings with the Taunton Deane planners and given evidence with a view to the future development of Taunton town centre and the clubs future role in it.Mr Anderson has now written about the latest situation regarding the matter in tomorrow’s programme notes for the NUL game at Bath between the Sabres and Leicester Foxes.The chief executive says: "The whole future of the County Ground revolves around what is planned for the development of Taunton and the club has put forward proposals which may pave the way for the retention of the County Ground in it’s present location."He continues: "Christopher Ondaatje (the club patron ) is very keen to assist the club to stay and has also suggested ways in which the club could expand on the edges of it’s current site."The Somerset boss concludes: "The club has a bright future if everything falls into place. We need, however, the team to do well on the field, which is the principle reason why you all support in the magnificent way you do."These new developments will be very good news to the large numbers of supporters who have expressed their reservations about leaving their traditional town centre home and relocating to new out of town site, and doubtless they will be watching any further developments on this matter closely.

Hostile fast bowling by Chris Silverwood forced Northamptonshire to follow on 179 runs behind Yorkshire in the Cricinfo Championship match at Headingley on Saturday.Northants were bowled out for 195 with Silverwood claiming five for 58, his second fifth wicket haul of the season.Bowling flat out from the Kirkstall Lane end, Silverwood looked far sharper than either Matthew Hoggard or Ryan Sidebottom, and the only batsman to play him with any confidence was Russell Warren who finished unbeaten on 65.Warren came in at 40 for two and held firm for four hours and 22 minutes while wickets fell around him, facing 190 balls and striking six fours.He had one piece of luck on 19 when he was put down at slip by Craig White off Gary Fellows.Northants got into trouble despite a career-best bowling performance earlier in the day from seamer Darren Cousins who captured eight for 102, easily beating his previous best first class effort of six for 35 for Essex against Cambridge University seven years’ ago.Cousins grabbed all five Yorkshire wickets to fall today at a personal cost of 28 runs in 9.5 overs. Among his victims was Michael Lumb who hit a career-best 50 off 119 deliveries with seven fours and a six.Yorkshire were all out for 374, Richard Blakey remaining unbeaten with a coolly struck 42.Mike Hussey and Mal Loye had six overs to survive when they went in for a second time and they put on nine together without being parted, leaving Northants to make a further 170 to make Yorkshire bat again.