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Michael Vaughan has insisted that the spirit in the England camp is still high as they approach their crucial game against West Indies at Lord’s. With New Zealand already in the final, England must win, and pick up a bonus point, to ensure they join them.”It’s a massive game,” Vaughan admitted. “We must try to emulate the performance at Leeds, and we’ll just try to win. We won’t be worrying about a bonus point. If you try to be clever, you might come unstuck.”England went down by six wickets to New Zealand at Bristol despite a maiden one-day century from Andrew Flintoff, but Vaughan is still upbeat. “Confidence is pretty high,” he said after the game. “I thought the performance was pretty good. The toss was quite important and to get 237, we were quite happy with that total.”Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game, he said: “It’s like a cup final. Sunday’s game was not irrelevant because they’re all important games, but we knew that even if we beat New Zealand we could still be knocked out if we lost to West Indies.”He continued: “Tomorrow’s match is clearly a must-win and if we do that we’ll have one step in the final. It’s a massive game and we obviously played well against them last Thursday so confidence is high. It’s important we just go out and put some pressure on the West Indies early to see if they have got any cobwebs from the other day, because they did suffer a heavy defeat.”On his own poor form, Vaughan refused to be too down about it: “It’s obviously a concern because I’m at the top of the order and I’m not scoring many runs,” he said. “In the last three games I’ve got to 12, 14 and 12 so I’ve got in and then just got out. I just know there’s a big score around the corner and if I keep doing the basics right and practising hard I know I’m a good enough player to turn it around.”West Indies, who are level on points with England, but have two more games to play, lost to New Zealand this weekend by five wickets, and collapsed to 216 all out after having built a good start. They are likely to be boosted by the return of Ridley Jacobs, who missed the last game after aggravating a calf injury during a net practice. Surprisingly, the management announced the team for today’s game, naming Devon Smith for his first game in the competition. His inclusion will bolster the batting line-up, while weakening the bowling, for he replaces Jermaine Lawson. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan are expected to fill in the overs.England meanwhile, could recall Anthony McGrath or Ashley Giles in place of Sajid Mahmood, who had a disappointing debut at Bristol, going for 56 runs from seven overs.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Robert Key, 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Anthony McGrath, 9 Darren Gough, 10 James Anderson, 11 Stephen Harmison.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Brian Lara (capt), 3 Devon Smith, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ricardo Powell, 8 Dwayne Smith, 9 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 10 Ian Bradshaw, 11 Tino Best.

A convincing win over bottom of the table Calmore was achieved by the youngest Hampshire Academy team yet; featuring eight teenagers and no-one over 22 years of age.The young Hawks got back to winning ways at the toss and stand-in captain Ian Hilsum had no hesitation in batting first on a perfect summer’s day at the Rose Bowl.Solid batting by Chris Benham (115 balls, 14 fours) and latterly 17-year-old Kevin Latouf (100 balls, 3 fours), fresh from a successful debut with the 2nd XI, took the Academy to 140-3 at lunch; achieving a solid platform from which to build afterwards.Hilsum declared, when realizing that the final batting bonus point was out of reach, when the Academy stood on 239-8 in 59.5 overs. Calmore’s bowlers stuck to their task in the searing heat; the pick being Mark Boston, who returned figures of 5-88 off 23 consecutive overs.In a reversal of fortune, former Calmore player Matthew Metcalfe (3-21) achieved the early break-throughs for the Academy, as the relatively out-of-sorts David Griffiths went wicket-less in his first spell – a rarity this season.Metcalfe was well supported by yet another 17-year-old in James Manning (2-17), and skipper Ian Hilsum (8-4-13-4) helped clean up the middle order and tail in typical leg-break fashion.No Calmore batsman passed 20 as the Totton-based side were bowled out in 32.1 overs to lose heavily by 138 runs; just a few minutes after Radio Solent (presented by ex-Hampshire stalwart Kevan James), who made this fixture their featured match of the day, went off air at six o’clock.

National champions Old Hararians look set to continue their domination of club cricket this season after a comfortable four-wicket win over rivals Old Georgians in the third week of the Mashonaland Vigne Cup. Both teams went into the match at Old Georgians Sports Club with unbeaten runs and the arrival of national team players from Bulawayo made the encounter even more interesting.Holders Old Georgians were dismissed for 218 in 49.3 overs with Craig Wishart top-scoring with 60. National team seamer Gary Brent finished with two wickets for 29 off his 10 overs. Sean Ervine also took two wickets off his 10 overs but was more expensive, conceding 56 runs. The OH bowling was wayward at times and they conceded 38 extras with Nyasha Chari bowling 11 wides in his eight overs.Old Hararians reached their victory for the loss of six wickets with eight balls to spare. Richard Sims made 55 while Ervine weighed in with an unbeaten 42. Travis Friend finished with almost the same bowling figures as Brent, taking two wickets for 29 off 10 overs. However, Friend bowled six wides while Brent had five wides.Harare Sports Club condemned Universals to their third successive defeat in the tournament with a crushing nine-wicket victory. Dion Ebrahim played his first domestic match and finished with an unbeaten 91 batting at number three as Universals made 252/5 in their allotted 50 overs.Harare Sports Club needed just 39.3 overs and three batsmen to reach their victory target. Opener Mark Vermeulen was the only wicket to fall after making 67. Fellow opener Trevor Gripper and Stuart Carlisle were unbeaten on 76 and 92 respectively.The other match was at Alexandra Sports Club where Alex beat winless Takashinga by three wickets in a low-scoring match. Takashinga made 185/9 in their allotted 50 overs with Hamilton Masakadza top-scoring with 34.Opener Doug Marillier led the Alex reply with 45 runs as the hosts reached 186 with 17 balls to spare. National reserve wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu took his wicket tally to seven in two matches as he finished with three for 43 off his 10 overs. In the previous match against Old Hararians Taibu took four for 35 off 10 overs.

The New South Wales coroner will hold an inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes, who was struck on the neck by a delivery during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG last November.The has reported that the New South Wales Crown Solicitor’s Office has started subpoenaing documents relating to the death of Hughes. A date for the inquest has not yet been set.Cricket Australia had already commissioned a review into the events that occurred on November 25 last year, when Hughes was struck by the bouncer and taken to St Vincent’s Hospital, where he died two days later.”We have had open dialogue with the NSW Crown Solicitor and have indicated that we will be as co-operative as possible with any coronial inquest,” a Cricket Australia spokesman told the .”We remain absolutely determined to see if anything could be done to prevent a similar accident happening again. Never again do we want to see a tragedy of that nature happen on a cricket field.”

ScorecardRishabh Pant hit 10 fours and 2 sixes•PTI

Opener Rishabh Pant struck 87 off 88 balls to set up India Under-19s’ 33-run win against Afghanistan Under-19s, their second in the Tri-nation tournament in Kolkata.Pant added fifty-plus partnerships with Amandeep Khare and captain Ricky Bhui to drive his team forward after they lost the early wicket of Washington Sundar. Although Pant and Bhui fell in quick succession, Mahipal Lomror pushed India Under-19s to 236 despite a lower-order collapse – the last five wickets tumbling for only 35 runs. Rashid Khan, the legspinner, was pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan, taking four wickets, including that of Pant.Rashid would also hit seven fours during his 39-ball 43, with contributions from the lower order, but damage inflicted upfront in the chase was irreparable. Pacer Khaleel Ahmed and left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik had combined well to reduce Afghanistan to 65 for 5 in 16.5 overs. Both the openers – Hazrathullah and Ihsanullah – passed 20s but could not convert it into a big score. Eventually, Afghanistan were bowled out for 203 in 47.3 overs, Ahmed finishing with impressive figures of 4 for 41, as the hosts took their points tally to nine.

Glamorgan are enduring another wretched season and now their former coach, John Derrick, has launching a stinging attack on their choice of overseas players. The club has gone from having no money for imports to using Australian trio Matthew Elliott, Jimmy Maher and Damien Wright this season.Elliott produced a solid return in four matches, but Maher is averaging 15 in the Championship and Wright left early after picking up an injury. Derrick claims that the club have dramatically changed their tune since last season, where he and Robert Croft were criticised for their overseas players even though Mark Cosgrove, the South Australia batsman, averaged over 50.”He [Wright] had been injured in Australia, and he certainly didn’t look fit in the games I saw him in with Glamorgan,” Derrick told BBC Sport Wales. “Overseas players have to set a tone and we have not been getting that.”Last year the club was struggling to afford overseas players until money was found to recruit Brendon McCullum and this season a fan helped pay for Maher’s return after previous stints with Glamorgan in 2001 and 2003.”If they were genuine supporters, why not give the money to the club and allow them to choose who they need?” said Derrick. “I’ve got nothing personal against Jimmy, but he wouldn’t have been my choice and he’s proved that with his performances.”Last year we were told that there was no money for an overseas player, then at a meeting we heard that cash had been produced to bring Brendon McCullum over for the Twenty20. I was director of cricket at the time and knew nothing about it, that really put my back up.”

Zimbabweans 166 for 3 (Chibhabha 55) beat Highveld Lions Academy 165 (Utseya 4-25) by seven wicketsThe touring Zimbabweans thrashed Highveld Lions Academy by seven wickets at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, two days after being drubbed by nine wickets by the South African National Academy.The Zimbabweans bounced back well, and led from the front by skipper and offspinner Prosper Utseya with 4 for 25 from 10 overs, they bowled out the Academy for 165 runs. Spinners shared eight wickets, with Friday Kasteni chipping in with three and offspinner Stuart Matsikenyeri taking one.Chamu Chibhabha and Vusi Sibanda got the Zimbabweans off to a good start with an opening stand of 85 before Sibanda was caught by Nicolson at short extra cover. Chibhabha completed his half-century before chipping a return catch for 55, but Piet Rikne (32) and Brendan Taylor (25) held their nerves and scored steadily. Rinke was bowled by Craig Knox with Zimbabwe needing 12 to win.

Sourav Ganguly is expected to rest himself for India’s next league match against Bangladesh, on April 16, so as not to aggravate his back injury. Zaheer Khan, who suffered a hamstring strain in the last match against South Africa, is expected to be rested until the finals.Virender Sehwag will lead the Indian team in Ganguly’s absence. Sehwag has never been in the captaincy stakes before this, but has got his chance now due to a number of senior players missing this series – including Rahul Dravid, the vice-captain.The Indian team management are considering promoting Parthiv Patel to the opener’s slot, with Sehwag coming in at No. 3. Ganguly’s absence will also give an opportunity to either Sanjay Bangar or Abhijit Kale.Ganguly had said before the series started that he wanted to give all the newcomers in the team a chance to play. But his willingness to rest surely also comes from India’s secure position in this series, with a place in the final virtually assured.Zaheer’s absence will not be felt either. In conditions ideal for spin, India is likely to continue playing two spinners, and both Ajit Agarkar and Avishkar Salvi have been impressive with the new ball in this series so far.

Waqar Younis has expressed his confidence in Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s new coach, saying Woolmer comes with “a very good reputation.””He did well with Warwickshire and South Africa,” Waqar told BBC Sport. “The PCB is relying on him – I think he can do it. The PCB is trying out different things to raise the standard. We have a new cricket academy in Lahore and I hope it will provide a good base.”Woolmer’s first test as coach will be the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka next month, and he will join the pre-tournament team training camp on July 2. There is some expectation on Pakistan’s shoulders, as they are the current holders of the cup, having won it in 2000.Commenting on the current Pakistan team, Waqar said: “We have a fairly good batting line-up, but the bowling needs to be a lot more consistent. If Shoaib and Mohammad Sami come together, the attack will click.”However, Waqar had little else to say about Shoaib, who has been involved in a dispute with the PCB over his fitness, adding only “If he gets going it is OK, but he has to do that more often.”

Legendary cricketers can perform the role of sporting ambassadors between Pakistan and India, according to Asif Iqbal, former captain of Pakistan.”I think there should be tours of sporting ambassadors to Pakistan and India which can pave the way for a revival of cricket between the two neighbours who have so many things in common,” he said. “The likes of Hanif Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas and Imran Khan should tour India and take feedback from people, and India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Bishen Bedi and Kapil Dev should come to Pakistan…”Iqbal himself was born in India, and made his first-class debut for Hyderabad in 1959 before migrating to Pakistan in 1962.India’s Minister for Sports, Vikram Verma, had recently announced that two one-day games on a home-and-away basis could be played in September.It’s now 13 years since India made a full Test tour of Pakistan, which has prompted many old-timers to recall the 17-year freeze that existed from 1961 to 1978.