Lord’s is set to become an Olympic venue in seven years’ time, after London was unveiled as the hosts for the 2012 Olympics. The news, which was announced live from Singapore at 12.49pm UK time, drew a delighted response from MCC, who will now stage the archery competition.”We were absolutely delighted to hear that London will host the 2012 Olympics – with the archery being staged at Lord’s,” said Roger Knight, the secretary and chief executive. “We congratulate Lord Coe and his colleagues in the London 2012 team; they have run a superb campaign and fully deserve this success. We look forward to working with them on the archery arrangements for 2012.”Although Lord’s is renowned as the home of cricket, this will not be the first time that it has played host to alternative sports. The ground has rackets and real tennis courts behind the pavilion, while one of Britain’s first running tracks was put in place at the ground in 1837.A Canadian lacrosse team played an exhibition match at the ground in 1883, while Oxford and Cambridge played their Varsity hockey match on the ground from 1969 to 1991, when the fixture moved to Reading. And even baseball has had a look-in. It hosted the first match on British shores in 1874, and teams from Canada and the USA were frequent visitors until 1914.

Queensland recovered from a middle-order collapse to begin the ING Cup season with a tense two-wicket victory over New South Wales at the Gabba.Chasing 225, Queensland were cruising at 5 for 201 in the 43rd over but lost 3 for 9 and had to rely on James Hopes (30 off 32 balls) to guide them home with 13 balls to spare.Andrew Symonds, the Bulls allrounder, was named Man of the Match for his 71 from 66 balls before he fell to the legspin of Stuart MacGill, who took 4 for 37 and passed Jo Angel’s domestic one-day bowling record of 94 wickets.The New South Wales skipper Brad Haddin, who won the toss, belted a run-a-ball 88 to lift his side out of trouble at 4 for 36.

Sri Lanka A and West Indies A fought out a tie in the opening match of their five game series, at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo. West Indies A were set a revised target of 201, from 41 overs, they managed a share of the honours despite falling to 99 for 6.They were indebted to the young Test wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh made an aggressive 65 not out from 67 deliveries to revive West Indies A’s hopes of victory, before falling one run short. Baugh recieved strong support from Dave Mohammed, who stroked 33 of 37 balls, and they both coped well with despite the asking rate being more than a run-a-ball. Loku Dilhara removed the top-order with 3 for 21 from six overs.Mohammed’s innings completed an impressive match for the allrounder after Sri Lanka A won the toss and chose to bat first. Saman Jayantha top-scoring with 73 but Mohammed who has played two Tests for West Indies, took 4 for 44 with his left-arm chinamen.

Carl Gazzard and Keith Parsons both scored centuries as Somerset Seconds drew their two day match against Sussex at North Perrott.Chasing the visitors total of 433, Somerset lost Piran Holloway for 27 when he was run out before Parsons joined Gazzard.The second wicket pair added 140 in quick time before the young Cornishman was out for a hard hit 112.Parsons then shared in stands with Wes Durston (36) and Arul Suppiah (28) before the game ended by which Somerset had moved onto 449 for 7, and the all rounder remained unbeaten on 108.

Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan have been picked in India’s 14-mansquad to play South Africa in the first Test at Kanpur on November 20. Bothplayers missed the last two Tests against Australia, but regainedtheir fitness in time to play the BCCI Platinum Jubilee one-dayeragainst Pakistan at Kolkata today.Dheeraj Jadhav and SS Paul are the two men omitted. Jadhav and Paul were among four newcomers in the Mumbai Test squad: they sat out that game, butwill no doubt take satisfaction from knowing that they are next inline, and this queue does not stay still.The big question now is, who will Ganguly replace in the Test side?Mohammad Kaif is the obvious candidate, but his battling performancesagainst Australia might be enough for him to retain his place. GautamGambhir will, in that case, miss out, with either Kaif or DineshKarthik being promoted as a makeshift opener.Squad Sourav Ganguly (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag,Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Kaif, DineshKarthik (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, ZaheerKhan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra.

Anura Tennekoon, former Sri Lanka captain and currently manager of the Sri Lanka A team, called on the Sri Lankan cricket authorities to seriously consider preparing pitches with pace, bounce and grass at home if the country is to arrest the decline in quality batsmen.Tennekoon’s disturbing remarks came in the face of Sri Lanka A being knocked out of the on-going three-nation one-day competition. Sri Lanka A won only one of their four qualifying matches and failed to book a berth for Saturday’s final at the SSC grounds where South Africa A and New Zealand A will clash.After being shot out for 45 by South Africa A in their opening match of the competition, Sri Lanka A’s batting has hardly been convincing. Apart from the 251 for 6 against New Zealand A, which they won, the Sri Lankan side has failed to come up with a match-winning total in any of the other games.Even their over-200 totals have been largely due to the contributions made by the lower order batsmen. The highest individual score made in this series by a top order batsman was 59 by Jehan Mubarak in their win over New Zealand A.Sri Lanka, which boasted several world-class batsmen in the recent past, suddenly find a dearth of such talent in their reserve ranks. Tennekoon (59) led Sri Lanka in the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and 1979, and was an accomplished right-hand batsman with a technique and temperament which the present top order sorely lacks.”What has troubled our top order is the pace and swing generated by the South African and New Zealand bowlers especially in the first ten overs. Our batsmen have found it difficult to cope with it and it has led to our downfall,” said Tennekoon.If these batsmen are finding it difficult to tackle pace and swing in home conditions and pitches it is doubtful if they will survive when they go overseas. The Sri Lanka A side comprises batsmen whom the national selectors have identified as those with potential to make it to the national side whenever the situation arises. But going by the manner in which they have performed in this competition, and in those before it, a rather gloomy future awaits Sri Lanka cricket unless radical action is taken to stem the decline.Tennekoon cited the importance of preparing the right kind of pitches not only for domestic club cricket but also school cricket. “During our time we always left grass on the pitch so that you hone your skills to cope with bounce and swing while you are still at school. It tightens your technique at a younger age,” he said. “Cricket at school-level should be played with the intention of producing national players, and not purely for winning championships.”Another aspect which Tennekoon noted was how most Sri Lankan batsmen lacked mental toughness to bat under pressure. “They should be made to be mentally strong from a tender age. Leave aside the one-day game, our batsmen are unable to build on an innings and make a big hundred even in the four-day games. The only big innings that came from the `A’ matches played this year was from Russel Arnold, and he is already an established player in the senior team.”There is also the over coaching in schools which destroys the flair of a batsman. There is a lot of textbook cricket played by youngsters. While they are playing this orthodox cricket they are losing out on their flair side, innovation is being lost. That’s an area one we shouldn’t lose out because Sri Lankans have an ability to be naturally innovative players,” he said.

Justin Langer believes the Ashes series has been the best he has played in, but he joined Matthew Hayden in predicting Australia would retain the urn at The Oval. The pair said after the tour match against Essex the pressure was on England and if Australia performed at their best the absorbing contest would be drawn 2-2.”That’s not being arrogant, that’s just a fact,” Langer told . “With the experience and the statistics we’ve got in our change room we’ll win Test matches.”Hayden, who made 150 before retiring against Essex, said if England pushed for a draw in the fifth Test, which starts on Thursday, they would “play into our hands”. “There is no doubt they won’t play any differently, but there are a lot of ways we can play differently,” he said in . “We just have to elevate our mindset and I think we can do it. All the pressure is off us now. We can just play our game. If we play like we can, it will be better than England. No question.”Langer and Hayden were brought together as an opening combination at The Oval four years ago and since then have shared 4718 runs in 51 Tests, and are behind only Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, who scored 6482 runs together in 89 matches. However, the form of Hayden this series threatens to end the relationship at the same ground, and the Ashes could go with him.”If we were to lose this series 3-1, worst-case scenario, I would look back on this and say it’s the best series I’ve ever played in,” Langer said. “I would play this series again and again over perhaps New Zealand at the end of last summer or some of the other series we’ve played over the last few years.”I know some of our guys are enjoying it, and some of them perhaps aren’t because the results aren’t quite there. We’ll be better for it, individually and as a team, there’s no doubt about that. To me it’s a buzz to be in this situation.”

Nathan Bracken’s left-arm swing bowling has earned him a recall after he replaced Brad Hodge in the 12-man squad for the first Test against West Indies at Brisbane. Bracken, who played the last of his three Tests for Australia in 2004, was picked ahead of state rival Stuart Clark as Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, insisted on more options for a wicket that traditionally suits the fast men.”We felt it was prudent to introduce another paceman to the squad in place of an extra batsman,” Hohns said. Stuart MacGill was retained and the decision means Shane Watson will almost certainly be given a short-term run at sealing the allrounder’s spot.Hohns said a decision on whether MacGill and Shane Warne would again be used in tandem depended on the pitch and weather conditions in the lead-up to the start on Thursday. “Since the end of the Super Test in Sydney there has been a lot of speculation about the option of playing the two spinners,” he said. “With both Shane and Stuart in the squad we still have that option.”The announcement was another setback for Hodge, who has been the reserve batsman on the tours to India, New Zealand and England without playing a match, and was 12th man for the Super Test. “It’s disappointing to miss out on a place, but following our solid start to the season I’m looking forward to playing for Victoria,” he said. “Hopefully I can put together some solid performances and put my name up before the selectors again.”Australia squad 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Simon Katich, 6 Shane Watson, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Glenn McGrath, 12 Stuart MacGill.

The much-touted Major League Cricket Interstate Cricket Tournament which was due to be held next week in Florida has been postponed because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Wilma. The event will now start on November 30.The decision came after talks between MLC officials and Broward County officials. The local authorities explained that all their resource was committed to the local clean-up and that staging the festival was not really an option against that backdrop.Parag Harolikar, the MLC operations manager, said that while the news was disappointing, it would allow “all the teams to better prepare for the tournament and for better chemistry among team members.”

The on-off saga of Yorkshire’s attempts to buy Headingley finally ended when Leeds City Council agreed to provide the Club with £9 million of funding under the Government’s Prudential Lending Scheme.Yorkshire’s bid had been on the verge of floundering before the council granted the loan, payable over a 15-year period at a fixed rate of 4.5%, allowing the county to purchase the freehold of the cricket ground and the cricket-related income streams from existing owners Leeds Cricket Football & Athletic Company.”The arrangement represents a victory for both the city and the county club,” said a clearly relieved Robin Smith, Yorkshire’s chairman. “The city’s future and reputation will be enhanced by the continuity of test and international cricket at Headingley, which the loan will ensure. Cricket lovers can enjoy the sport knowing that the future of the ground is secure.”Without the council’s loan this transaction would have been impossible and now that the loan has been made to us we can put in place a platform for enduring progress for the club and for Yorkshire cricket. There is still lot of work to do to complete the transaction and we are aiming to have it all completed by December 31.”