Underwood The New President At MCC

Derek Underwood takes over as president of Marylebone Cricket Club on Wednesday.

The former England star takes the reins from Mike Brearley and will preside over what is set to be the busiest year in the MCC's 221-year history.

Among the highlights will be Lord's staging an Ashes Test and much of the world Twenty20 tournament.

Underwood said: "It is indeed a great honour to become president of MCC, especially to have been invited by Mike Brearley, for whom I have always had the utmost respect and admiration. I look forward immensely to the year ahead.

"It is an exciting era for the sport with Twenty20 cricket opening up so many possibilities for the game worldwide. It is important for all those who work in cricket to embrace that change whilst protecting the game's rich heritage.

"MCC is ideally placed to be at the heart of much of this change. With its development of the Masterplan project at Lord's, its independent voice of the MCC World Cricket committee and its playing remit to develop the game worldwide, the club has the passion, stature and desire to ensure the best for our wonderful game in the years ahead."

John Barclay, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Peter Leaver and Peter Carroll all join the MCC committee. They replace David Faber, Matthew Fleming, former Prime Minister Sir John Major and Nick Pocock.

Hick to call it a day

Former England batsman Graeme Hick announced on Tuesday he will retire from county cricket at the end of this season.

The 42-year-old Zimbabwe-born player, who last played for England in March 2001, was one of the most prolific batsmen of his generation and has scored 136 first class centuries.

During a career which began in 1983 Hick scored 41,112 runs in 526 matches at an average of 52.23, with 294 scores of 50-plus in first class matches.

Vaughan quits as England captain

Michael Vaughan on Sunday resigned as England cricket captain, saying it was both the hardest and the easiest decision he has made.

His decision follows Saturday's five-wicket defeat against South Africa in the third Test at Edgbaston, which gave the Proteas an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

It meant the 33-year-old had overseen three series losses against top-class opposition since returning from a career-threatening knee injury.

"I've made the decision to stand down as England captain,"

a tearful Vaughan told a press conference.

"It's the hardest decision I've ever had to make but also the easiest.

"The hardest because I'm giving away the job I've loved for the last five years, one I've put my heart and soul into, but also the easiest because my mind has told me to pack it in.

"I felt if I kept going my career could come to an abrupt end - hopefully, this can prolong my career.

"I will carry on playing because I think there are a lot more runs in me.

"This decision will prolong my career. I'm moving better than ever in the field so hopefully this decision will make my last few years a very exciting time."

Vaughan said he does not want to be considered for the final Test of the series and would take a break to consider his future before coming back and finishing the season for county cricket side Yorkshire.

"I will take a break from the game so I won't be playing at The Oval,"

he said.

"I just want to try and freshen up the mind and get back to playing as a batsman. I do believe these could be the best years of my playing career.

"That's the one thing I want to get back doing."

And Vaughan revealed he had first considered resigning at the start of the year during the tour of New Zealand, when England came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1.

"In New Zealand I had a few thoughts that I might go,"

said Vaughan.

"It is a fairytale to captain your country but it hasn't had a fairytale ending. I know that it is the right time because my mind told me it was. My body is working well but my mind is not.

"I wish whoever gets the job all the luck in the world, it's a great privilege."

Vaughan made his Test debut in South Africa in 1999, and captained his country for the first time at Lord's.

India to go ahead with Twenty20 League as scheduled

India will host the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League between September 29 and October 8, defying the game's world chiefs who want the tournament to be rescheduled.

"The event will go ahead as scheduled,"

top Indian cricket board official Lalit Modi announced here Wednesday after a meeting with representatives from the Australian and South African boards.

"The three boards have reached an agreement to stage the inaugural Champions Twenty20 later this year,"

Modi said.

"This would mark the introduction of a long awaited football-style Champions League format for cricket, which will pit the best-of-the-best clubs in domestic cricket globally against each other."

The venues for the six-million dollar league, featuring eight Twenty20 domestic sides from around the world, would be decided later, Modi said.

The tournament is sandwiched in the short 11-day gap between the Champions Trophy final in Pakistan on September 28 and the first Test between Australia and India in Bangalore from October 9.

The announcement is likely to upset the International Cricket Council (ICC) which had reminded its member countries on Tuesday that holding a tournament within seven days of an ICC event violated a playing agreement.

Modi said two teams each from South Africa, Australia and India will feature in the tournament.

"The decision on the remaining two teams will be taken shortly,"

he said.

England were originally slated to take part in the event but announced Tuesday that it wanted to stage its own version of the league in the United Arab Emirates on the same dates.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which opposes the terms and conditions laid down by the Indians, claimed that the Abu Dhabi royal family had agreed to bankroll their tournament.

Local media reports on Tuesday said India had turned down England's offer to send two teams for their event in the Gulf -- and also does not expect English sides to feature in their own tournament.

In a letter to the ECB, the Indian board wrote it "wished the ECB all the best" with its tournament but "unfortunately, we cannot accept" the invitation, reports said.

Talks between the Indian board and the ECB failed to resolve the issues of tournament rights and the availability of players who took part in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL).

India, the sport's financial powerhouse, wanted to retain a 50 percent stake in the tournament and would not allow teams that fielded ICL players from taking part.

Kent, one of the two teams set to represent England in the Champions League, has two ICL players in Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood and Justin Kemp of South Africa.

Aussies in shock over Pattinson's England call-up

The Australian cricket community was caught by surprise on Saturday at Australia-raised paceman Darren Pattinson's bolt from obscurity to the England Test team.

The 29-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler was a surprise choice to replace his injured county colleague Ryan Sidebottom in the England side for the second Test against South Africa at Headingley on Friday.

Although born in Grimsby, northern England, Pattinson grew up in Melbourne and his Australia-born younger brother, James, has represented the Australia Under-19 team.

Cricket officials from his home state Victoria admitted surprise that Pattinson, who is contracted with Cricket Victoria, was not an Australian citizen and even eligible to play for England.

"We didn't realise he wasn't an Australian citizen and didn't have an Australian passport,"

Victorian general manager of cricket operations Shaun Graf said.

"He actually only had a British passport and hence when he came home from playing overseas a couple of times he needed to get a visa which is a little bit strange."

Pattinson's opportunity only evolved when Cricket Victoria received an offer to play with Nottinghamshire, Graf said.

If Pattinson kept his English origins quiet while he was playing in Australia, it wasn't for fear of being sledged.

ECB unveils new Twenty20 tournament

The much-anticipated English Premier League will get underway in 2010, with two divisions made up of ten teams, after the ECB unveiled a radical shake-up of the domestic game following its board meeting at Lord's.

In a unanimous decision, the format that has been agreed upon will involve all 18 first-class counties, plus two overseas sides to make up the numbers. The current Pro40 competition will be scrapped to make way for the competition, and the matches will be played primarily on Friday nights in July and August.

"I am delighted that the board unanimously supported these creative proposals,"

said the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke.

"I would like to congratulate everyone for their hard work and thank those who went to considerable time and trouble to produce documents for discussion.

"We have already received enormous broadcast and sponsor interest from around the world which was reported to the board by the chief executive David Collier."

The proposal that had been put forward by the MCC chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, and Surrey's chairman, David Stewart, for a nine-team league modelled on the Indian Premier League was rejected out of hand, although in a press release, Stewart threw his weight behind the new initiative.

"These are extremely exciting and satisfying proposals for the future of domestic cricket in England and Wales,"

he said.

"I am delighted to support them.

"They incorporate some excellent ideas and Keith Bradshaw and I were delighted to be able to submit our ideas as part of the decision making process and to build on the robust structure proposed by the ECB as a result of detailed consultations undertaken."

According to the ECB, the structure of the new league was decided upon following detailed market research in which spectators stated their desire to watch more Twenty20 cricket. Some of the funding ideas in Bradshaw and Stewart's plan were incorporated at the meeting.

The board also agreed the 2010 season would include a single 50-over competition and 16 County Championship matches in a two-division structure.

"We looked at the Schofield Report, which stated that we should be playing competitions that mirror international competitions,"

Clarke told Sky Sports News.

"Spectators want to watch Twenty20 cricket on Friday nights, in the months of July, August and September, and the county championship in midweek. This is about giving the spectator what they want."

England recall Flintoff for second South Africa Test

England recalled Andrew Flintoff to a 12-man squad for the second Test against South Africa starting at Headingley on Friday after drawing the first of a four-match campaign at Lord's here Monday.

The fast-bowling all-rounder, who hasn't played Test cricket since captaining England to defeat against Australia at Sydney in January 2007, as they lost the Ashes 5-0, because of ankle and side injuries, was added to the team that played at Lord's.

Reserve fast bowler Chris Tremlett was dropped from the squad.

England 2nd Test squad:
Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose (wk), Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Andrew Flintoff.

ECB name Sri Lanka as Zimbabwe replacement

England will host Sri Lanka for two Tests and three ODIs in April and May next year. Sri Lanka's tour slots in the fixture gap caused by England's decision to suspend bilateral ties with Zimbabwe and the cancellation of their 2009 visit.

David Collier, the ECB chief executive, was pleased with Sri Lankan's willingness to step in and ensure England will have a competitive series ahead of the Ashes later in the summer.

"The strong and close relationship which we built up during our recent winter tours to Sri Lanka allowed the ECB, at short notice, to be able to approach Sri Lanka and confirm their availability for the international matches in the early part of next summer,"

he said.

The ECB cancelled Zimbabwe's tour last month, minutes after Gordon Brown, the prime minister, told the House of Commons that he wanted the tour scrapped. The ban on a team from Zimbabwe entering the country also put in doubt England's hosting of next year's World Twenty20 next year, but as of now the issue has been resolved with Zimbabwe pulling out of the event.

Sri Lanka play three three-day games ahead of the Tests series, followed by a warm-up one-dayer before the ODI series.

Guernsey becomes ICC associate member

The Channel Island of Guernsey has been awarded associate member status of the ICC.

Guernsey became the 34th associate member after a unanimous vote at the ICC’s annual conference in Dubai this week, the ECB said Friday.

The Sussex County Cricket Board entered an agreement with its Guernsey counterpart two years ago that Sussex officials would help run the island’s senior team.

“It’s great news for Guernsey and Sussex Cricket,”

said Keith Greenfield, the Sussex cricket performance manager.

“Our link with Guernsey has gone from strength to strength and it’s a wonderful opportunity for the standards of their cricket to improve,”

he said.

Two other countries applied for associate status, but Vanuatu’s bid was rejected on the grounds they had not beaten two associate members, while Mozambique withdrew their application.

Three European nations, Bulgaria, Estonia and Turkey were granted affiliate status, giving the ICC a total of 104 members.

ECB considering to hold Test Championship

England & Wales Cricket Board (EWCB) is considering to hold Test championship for promoting Test cricket.

Chairman ECB Giles Clarke told this while expressing his views at the seminar of the Asian Cricket Council.

He said that Twenty20 cricket has become very popular and this can be judged from the fact that 95 per cent tickets of the T20 World Cup, going to be held next year, have been sold.

Giles said that the ECB did not oppose to change the result of the infamous 2006 Oval Test at the ICC meeting because there is no racial discrimination in cricket and all differences are within the ground limits and all are equal off the field.

Zimbabwe pull out of World Twenty20

Zimbabwe have agreed to pull out of next year's Twenty20 World Cup in England, clearing the roadblocks for the competition to be staged there, but will retain their status as Full Member of the ICC and receive funding as usual. They will also receive their full participation fee for the tournament.

"We have decided to pull out in the larger interests of the game,"

Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, told Cricinfo.

"We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers."

"It was a collective decision and I was a part of that decision,"

Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, told Cricinfo.

"The full membership of Zimbabwe is currently not in doubt,"

ICC president David Morgan said.

"There was not even a discussion on the issue of Zimbabwe's membership. Everybody stands to benefit from the decision. Zimbabwe will be entitled to participation fees in the tournament like any other member. The ICC could not jeopardise the tournament."

The decision, Chingoka said, pertained only to the tournament in England.

"We are now looking forward to more tours and international cricket with our Asian friends, especially India."

The Zimbabwe issue had occupied a large part of the discussions during the ICC executive board meeting, which carried over to an unscheduled third day on Friday after a failure to reach a consensus.

Some countries, led by England and South Africa, had been pushing for Zimbabwe to be stripped of Full Member status but that move had been opposed by India.

Ray Mali, the former ICC president, has recommended the setting up of a sub-committee to "advise the ICC board on all matters relating to Zimbabwe cricket including its return to full participation in the international game. The specific terms of reference for the sub-committee will be finalised in due course." The sub-committee, if approved, will chaired by Julian Hunte, the head of the West Indies board, and include Arjuna Ranatunga and another official (who hasn't been confirmed).

Norman Arendse, the president of Cricket South Africa, was satisfied with the ICC's resolution on Zimbabwe.

"Cricket South Africa welcomes the ICC resolution on Zimbabwe as a step forward in the right direction,"

Arendse said.

"The Zimbabwe issue is difficult and complex, and was discussed at length. At least, the ICC decision extricates all Full Member countries from the potential problem of the Twenty20 tournament to be played in England in 2009.

"CSA's recently articulated position in relation to Zimbabwe Cricket will, however, remain as is, until the Zimbabwe situation is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned."

ICC agrees to change Oval forfeiture to draw

An agreement in principle is believed to have been reached to change the result of the controversial Oval Test between England and Pakistan in 2006 from an English victory to a draw, following pressure from the Pakistan Cricket Board during the annual ICC meeting in Dubai. The decision will be deemed official and final only after the board meeting concludes on Thursday and if the issue is not revisited before that.

"England and Pakistan have agreed to declare the Oval Test as a draw to maintain the dignity of Pakistan in world cricket, especially after the ball-tampering charges were dropped,"

a source who attended the meeting said. The topic took up a considerable chunk of the morning's proceedings.

The Test was originally awarded to England by umpire Darrell Hair after Pakistan did not come out to field after tea on the fourth day, following accusations of ball-tampering.

Pakistan had, at the time, been in a strong position in the match, having secured a first-innings lead of 331 and removed four England batsmen second-time around. There was nothing at stake in the series, with England already leading 2-0 after wins at Headingley and Old Trafford, but the eventual forfeiture was the first in the history of Test cricket. The removal of England's win could affect their standing in the ICC Test Championship - they are currently third on 110 points, one ahead of their next opponents, South Africa, on 109.

The result had huge off-field ramifications as well. Hair went on to be suspended from the ICC elite panel, and though that decision was overturned last year when he took his employers to the High Court in London, the initial decision formed the basis of Pakistan's appeal for a rethink of the result.

A PCB source told PTI:

"Members of other boards supported us in our stand that the result should be officially changed to a draw as an ICC adjudicator later found Hair guilty of transgressing his authority and not behaving properly during the entire episode. The board agreed the result should be a draw not a forfeited win for England."

Strauss called up to cover for Cook again

Andrew Strauss will join England's squad for the third one-day international against New Zealand on Saturday as Alastair Cook struggles to recover from a shoulder injury.

Cook has yet to feature in the one-day series after injuring his shoulder in the final Test against the Kiwis.

The Essex opener had an injection on Thursday but is still not fit to feature at Bristol so Strauss returns to the squad for the third time in as many matches as cover.

Cook will be assessed by medical staff on Monday with a view to playing at The Oval on Wednesday.

Stanford confirms 20 million dollar match against England

England's cricketers will take part in some of the richest matches in sport after it was announced Wednesday they would be playing a series of 20 million dollar winner-takes all Twenty20 clashes in the Caribbean.

The matches are being bankrolled by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, the man behind the domestic Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.

Starting on November 1, England will play a series of one-off floodlit matches over a five-year period against the Stanford Super Stars, a Caribbean select side, at Stanford's own ground in Antigua.

"I see the Stanford Twenty20 as a fantastic opportunity for current players in the Stanford Twenty20 tournament to take a giant leap into the spotlight and gain exposure to top class opposition," Stanford said in a statement.

Stanford, who described the matches as offering the richest team prize for a single sporting match, added:

"The Stanford Twenty20 for 20 (million dollars) will be a highly anticipated event, not just because of the prize money, but because of the traditional friendly rivalrey that exists between England and the West Indies."

Twelve million dollars will go to the players in the winning squad with one million dollars to be split among the winning management team.

The remainder will be divided between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Further details were expected to be announced at a news conference at Lord's here Wednesday.

Stanford arrived at Lord's in his own private helicopter which touched down on the Nursery Ground, where he was met by a delegation, including West Indies greats Sir Garfield Sobers and Vivian Richards.

Twenty20, which was pioneered as a professional sport in English county cricket and lasts just three hours, compared to a whole day for a 50-overs per side match or the five days of a Test match, has quickly become popular around the world.

It led to the creation of a World Twenty20 and a lucrative event in India.

England set to announce Stanford deal

Allen Stanford, the Texan-born billionaire backer of the West Indies domestic Twenty20 competition, and officials from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are to hold a joint news conference here at Lord's on Wednesday.

Stanford has been holding talks with the ECB about the prospect of his Caribbean all-star side playing England in a series of one-off games at his own ground in Antigua worth a reported 10 million pounds (20 million dollars) to the winners - a staggering sum by cricketing standards.

His proposals also include plans for an annual quadrangular Twenty20 event in London at Lord's.

Stanford is now due to appear at the news conference alongside ECB chairman Giles Clarke and ECB chief executive David Collier as well as West Indies Test great Vivian Richards and England legend Ian Botham, now president of the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA).

English cricket set for multi-million dollar boost

England are set to be offered 100 million dollars (50 million pounds) to play five Twenty20 matches against a West Indies all-star side, according to reports here on
Saturday.

The England and Wales Cricket board (ECB) this week revealed they were "very likely" to accept around 10 million pounds (20m dollars) for a one-off match in the Caribbean that would be the richest single game in the sport's history.

The idea is the brainchild of Sir Allen Stanford, the billionaire banker from Texas, who finances the Stanford 20/20 Tournament in the West Indies, and who wants to expand the concept.

Stanford wants England to play five Twenty20 games against his West Indies all-star side, the first to coincide with Independence Day in Antigua on November 1.

And he held talks with ECB chief executive David Collier on Tuesday.

English cricketers urged for board compliance

England's centrally-contracted players have been forbidden to play in Indian Premier League (IPL). Consequent upon this, IPL founder IS Bindra warned these players against rejecting the central contract of their country for the next year's IPL competition.

England's centrally-contracted players are prohibited from taking part in the IPL, but Bindra does not want them to take matters into their own hands.

Bindra, in an interview with a British news network, said his league does not want any player to go against their establishment to become part of the IPL.

Earlier, the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced that no centrally contracted players will be allowed to take part in the IPL.

Bindra urged the centrally-contracted players to play national cricket and not to spoil their nexus with their board for playing in the IPL, if their board disallows them to play there.

Strauss relieved by hundred in New Zealand

England batsman Andrew Strauss is looking forward to playing international cricket in a more relaxed frame of mind after securing his place in the side with a Test-best 177 in the final match of the tour of New Zealand.

Strauss's hundred in Napier last month helped provide the platform from which England were able to go on and clinch a 121-run victory and with it a 2-1 series win.

It was the Middlesex left-hander's first Test century since August 2006 and came at a time when it was widely assumed he would be dropped from the England side unless he delivered a big score.

Strauss had been omitted from England's tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas and was then chosen ahead of Owais Shah for the New Zealand series despite having done little in the interim to suggest he should get the nod over his Middlesex team-mate.

But the 31-year-old Strauss, out for nought in the first innings at Napier, came good at the last and can now, injuries permitting, look forward to facing New Zealand again when the first Test gets underway at his Lord's home ground on May 15.

"The hundred gave me a fair amount of relief but more than anything a great deal of happiness to get a hundred and help England win the series,"

he told reporters at Lord's here on Tuesday.

"I just felt I was contributing to the side again. It was a tough series and one we needed to win,"

said Strauss who, after 46 Tests, averages over 40 - widely regarded as the mark of a good Test batsman.

"Having won that, like myself, the team feels a little bit less pressurised and will play better cricket on the back of it.

"Life does go on and things that are important to you remain the same. That is a good realisation to come to, it was just a shame that I had to be dropped in order to realise that."

Strauss, who four years ago marked his Test debut by scoring a hundred against New Zealand at Lord's, scored heavily early in his England career but then, like many a batsman before him, endured a slump.

"There were so many ingredients I had to look at, not just whether I played the right shot or not.

"I was in the wrong mindset, no doubt about that. I had gone away from my game plan and tried to play shots I should not have done and that was a symptom of having a bad mindset,"

Strauss recalled.

The former Middlesex captain said the key to his revival had been a determination to enjoy his cricket once again.

"The one thing I was determined to do throughout the (New Zealand) series was not worry too much about what lay around the corner,"

explained Strauss, also welcomed back into the England fold for his slip-catching.

"I don't think I coped with the pressure last summer. I was very worried by the end of it about what might happen if I didn't get runs but then you get pretty negative about things.

"Now having got a century I feel less pressurised still and I think that will enable me to play better."

Harmison hits out at Boycott

Steve Harmison, the England fast bowler, has struck back at Geoff Boycott after the former opening batsman had launched a scathing attack at him in a column for A UK newspaper.

Boycott had virtually written off Harmison after his poor display in the first Test against New Zealand in Hamilton, urging the selectors not to give him a central contract.

"Since the Ashes series of 2005 he has been poor, indifferent to bad. He's not got enough wickets and been given so many chances,"

Boycott wrote in his column.

"There comes a point when the public and selectors get fed up and disillusioned with a guy not delivering. That time has come. If he gets a central contract this summer over some of the new kids, or any sort of central contract, then a lot of us will be screaming: favouritism and a total waste of money. England should forget him."

Harmison's reply was equally cutting. In his column for Mail on Sunday, Harmison wrote: "No one can dispute the man could bat but over the years he has developed an equally well deserved reputation as someone who thrives on kicking a man when he is down ... Enough is enough. His remarks about me this week have gone beyond what is acceptable and it is time someone stood up to him and told him so.

"People who only have a passing interest in the game hear the famous Geoff Boycott Yorkshire accent and may think it gives some status to his opinions. But inside the dressing room he has no status, he is just an accent, some sort of caricature of a professional Yorkshireman."

Harmison went on to add that a couple of batsmen currently in the England team didn't have a high opinion of Boycott either.

"Their shared experience was that when things weren't going well for them all they heard from Boycott was him nailing them in the newspapers or on radio or TV, then, if they made a century or played well, he would come up to them full of compliments and try to ingratiate himself with them. I'm not the only England player who has been forced to take it in the neck from Boycott and I won't be the last."

Harmison also took a dig at Boycott for his comments on Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait's decision to take a break from the game due to exhaustion. Boycott had said Tait's decision had "lacked character".

"I wonder what Australia's Shaun Tait thought recently, when, after announcing he was taking an indefinite break from the game due to physical and emotional exhaustion, Boycott reacted by claiming he should have shown more desire to work through his problems,"

Harmison wrote.

"You get the feeling that Boycott is an insecure man who needs to be heard."

As a parting shot, Harmison had this to say to Boycott:

"You say that if England give me another central contract come October that would be waste of money. To me, you are a waste of space."

Trescothick retires from international cricket

Marcus Trescothick, the England and Somerset batsman, has announced his retirement from international cricket.

"I have tried on numerous occasions to make it back to the international stage and it has proved a lot more difficult than I expected,"

he told the Somerset website.

"I want to extend my playing career for as long as possible and I no longer want to put myself through the questions and demands that go with trying to return to the England team.

"I have tried on numerous occasions to make it back to the international stage and it has proved a lot more difficult than I expected. I want to extend my playing career for as long as possible and I no longer want to put myself through the questions and demands that go with trying to return to the England team.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time playing for England, and I am very proud of having been selected for 76 Test matches and over 120 ODIs. It has been great privilege to represent my country and I am grateful to the game of cricket for giving me the opportunity to excel at a sport that I enjoy so much.

"My desire to play cricket is as strong as it ever was. But, due to the problems that I have experienced, travelling abroad has become extremely stressful for me. I now think that it is in the best interests of all concerned that the issue is put to rest so that the England team can concentrate on moving forward, and I can concentrate all my efforts on playing well for Somerset".