It is to be hoped it is not a tour too far.This seaming sextet is not quite set in stone. Dominic Cork, apparently still very much in England’s plans, cannot be eliminated entirely. But whatever he has achieved in England will not be replicated in Australia. Not at his pace with his inconstant swing.There is one more fellow of express speed who has come late to attention James Anderson of Lancashire makes everybody sit up He is uncomplicated and direct Boy, is he quick. He has emerged, it seems, overnight into the category of those who can put the frighteners on. It would be brave, probably foolhardy, to place him in the Ashes squad, but fast bowlers have a habit of arriving suddenly if they arrive at all.Anderson will be part of the National Academy, which once more this winter will be based in Adelaide. Graveney will also nominate the Academy as well as those to be awarded 12-month central contracts, who are likely to number nine.

Robert Key and Ian Bell are likely to be in the Academy and on standby for the Tests.The bowlers will not be alone in having asterisks placed against their names signifying that selection is dependent on fitness being proved. Jones (abdomen) and Gough (recurring knee) at least come into that category. Gough, incidentally, is looking a trifle overweight, which does not say much for central contracts and the intention that they should help to monitor players when they are not playing.Asterisks will be applied also to others, not least Andrew Flintoff (hernia), Michael Vaughan (knee), Mark Butcher (knee) and Graham Thorpe (general fitness). Thorpe, it seems clear now, will be one of the chosen batsmen Quite right, too, given his ability.

It is sad that his career has turned into a soap opera in which the state of his domestic arrangements is much more scrutinised than his form.Except that the one has affected the other. By his own admission, Thorpe has been in turmoil and has gone into self-imposed cricketing exile while he tries to sort out arrangements for his divorce and access to his children.Only a heartless oaf would not feel for the entire family, but unfortunately their position is not unique. English cricket cannot continue, it really cannot, to be affected by the home life of their most accomplished middle-order batsman. The next thing you know it will be a real- life documentary to rival I’m A Celebrity.. Get Me Out Of Here And never mind the cricket. Thorpe, however, must be in a position to concentrate on just that.Fitness concerns seem to prevail. The Champions’ Trophy squad has been a mess almost from start to finish.

Five of the original party have been replaced, the latest three on Friday when Rikki Clarke, the Surrey all-rounder, Owais Shah and Cork were asked to make up the 14. It is not the party England would have wanted, but it may do better than some expect.It is the continuation of a never-ending journey for England. As if the Trophy, the Ashes, the VB triangular tournament and the World Cup were not enough to be going on with, the 2003 domestic season has been announced.What a rum timetable. Between 9 June, when the Second Test against Zimbab-we at Durham (yes, Durham) finishes, and 24 July, when the First Test versus South Africa starts, the longer game is suspen-ded. The 45-day gap will be filled by the NatWest Challenge, a three-match one-day series against Pakistan, and the NatWest Series, a triangular one-day tournament with Zimbabwe and Pakistan.Whatever the reasons (television primarily), it is a lot of one-day cricket, and geese which lay golden eggs are an endangered species in cricket.. World cricket was taken back to the brink of crisis last night when the Indian board rejected a settlement over players’ sponsorship deals. The ICC Champions’ Trophy, which starts next Thursday – if not the World Cup itself in February – was thrown into doubt when Jagmohan Dalmi-ya, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, announced the decision after an emergency meeting.