AUGUST 6: Steve Waugh is ready to go home, now that the Ashes are Australia's again, but please can he take the Ashes with him? Sorry, Steve, no. The Ashes are a special trophy, mysterious, mythical and, frankly, ours to keep since we invent the concept and we decide where they will be on show. So that's told him! What is more worrying than where the tiny urn remains is the number of defeats England are totting up. Since 1989, England have lost seven successive series and won only four Tests; two of them in the 1997 series. One of the solutions may be to find another bunch of players to strengthen England, much as the Ryder Cup is now played between America and Europe since Britain cannot find the quality of golfer to win. Distressingly, there is no-one around to get England up to the Australian standard. Scotland and Ireland recently fail to qualify for the 2003 World Cup and Holland are not much better, although they take part in the 1996 World Cup and will be among those in South Africa in 2003. Besides, England take so many liberties with the rules of nationality by including cricketers from around the world - Ranji, Douglas Jardine and Colin Cowdrey from India, Robin and Chris Smith from South Africa, Phil Edmonds of Zambia and all those lads like Craig White, Martin McCague and Alan Mullally from Australia - that they ought to decide against any further overseas mercenaries. It's back to old-fashioned hard work from the coach Duncan Fletcher - oh, yes, from Zimbabwe - and fingers crossed that we can unearth another great player. Perhaps if England began by insisting that all their players are born in England it may be the right place to start.
August 7. The world's greatest cricketers will descend on the Oval in a rematch of Asia v Rest of the World on September 18 at the personal invitation of the former Prime Minister John Major, now President of Surrey, and very popular in his new job. Sachin Tendulkar has once again agreed to captain Asia in a special 50-over one-day match against the Rest of the World captained by Alec Stewart. Other Indian stars that help defeat the Australians earlier this year - Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, V. V. S. Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath all agree to play. Leading players from Pakistan like Wasim Akram, Aamer Sohail and Moin Khan will complete the Asian line-up. The Rest of the World side will include Adam Gilchrist, Jimmy Adams, Graham Thorpe, Courtney Walsh, Reon King, and Andrew Caddick. John Major says: "I am delighted at the prospect of having another opportunity to watch the world's best play against each other. With the demanding international fixture schedule, it is exceedingly rare for this type of event to take place; and having this calibre of players is a wonderful achievement.
August 8. John Major is also at the centre of controversy 200 miles north of the Oval. Happily the row over the opening of Headingley's West Stand and the Hutton Gates fades away as the Yorkshire committee decide their president Robin Smith - no relation to the cricketer known as Judge although president Smith is a solicitor - will open the new stand. There will be an aftermath to this dire episode. Goodness only knows what that committee have in mind when they invite Major to perform the ceremony. Asking someone from outside Yorkshire is bound to cause trouble in the county that considers itself the only place to live, a sort of heaven on earth, no foreigners allowed. (Foreigners begin on the Yorkshire boundaries, by the way.) The problem lies in the fact that although Geoff Boycott, Fred Trueman, Ray Illingworth and Brian Close all play in the same team - so do the umpires Jack Hampshire and Dickie Bird - the committee feels there will be green-eyed monster trouble if one is chosen to open the stand. The quartet never knowingly agree with one another. This may be true, although Boycott tells me in Sri Lanka that he will be happy if Trueman - the finest fast bowler to play for England, and 70 this year - is chosen. There is also a move to get all four to cut the ribbon - no Yorkshireman surely will be so wasteful as to crack a bottle of champagne against a concrete post to mark the big day - but in the end Mr. Smith is given the honour. As for the Asian women depicted on the frieze next to the Hutton Gates, I am sure there will be massive repercussions although how the problem is resolved is too difficult for ordinary mortals. Perhaps John Major's political acumen is needed.
August 9. The most significant match of the summer is at Old Trafford where Lancashire play Yorkshire who win by an innings and a distance. Lancashire are split from top to bottom. Jack Simmons, the chairman, swears that he is misquoted by reporters who say with varying degrees of strength that he wants Geoff Boycott as coach; but somehow all the reporters remember his remarks. Bob Simpson, one of the most successful coaches in the world, says he does not want a new contract and John Crawley is known to be unhappy as captain. The committee cannot find a new coach and today I meet Graham Dilley, a fine young coach after a good Test career, who gives a sad smile - as if he is talking to a small child - when I suggest he will succeed Simpson. "Coaching any county side can be a route to an early retirement," says Dilley. He is teaching the young students at Loughborough University and enjoying a busy summer, a season that ends in June and a leisurely lifestyle for the rest of the year. Search on, Lancashire.
August 10. What have Darren Gough, Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart in common at this moment? None of them are likely to be wearing cricketing gear in India next autumn. Gough has told the selectors he wants to miss India and make the trip to New Zealand. Atherton is, according to one insider, going to retire at the end of August and will take his place at the microphone with Channel Four. Stewart is likely to be left out of the two tour parties even if he is still actively engaged in the game. "We must move on," is the new watchword. I will point out that Chris Read and Graham Swann fail to blossom in South Africa two years ago and Alex Tudor and Matthew Hoggard hardly bowl a ball last winter.
August 11. So you believe you know everything there is to know about the Ashes. How about this. Roz Rigby, 43, is the keenest supporter of Sandal Rugby Club - not far from the spot where Yorkshire once plan their new stadium - and goes along every week to cheer on her son Tom, make the after-match refreshments and even wash the kit. Sadly, Mrs. Rigby dies last week and is cremated. Her ashes are placed in an oval urn and, believe it or not, will be handed to the winners of a challenge cup between the oldies in the over-35 team and the youngsters of the colts side. "She'll be thrilled," says Rob her husband.
August 12. The village cricketers of the Preston Nomads club at Fulking in Sussex are already lucky enough to play in the midst of the lovely South Downs but this week they find that one of their founder members leaves them two millions pounds sterling. Mr. Spen Cama, a barrister, is devoted to the club from the moment he helps set it up in 1937 until his death in June at 92. Now, because he has no family, he leaves his fortune to the club. Unfortunately they hear stories that he places restrictions on the way the money can be spent. "It will be a year before this mess is sorted out," says the vice chairman Dave Bowden, "and we cannot even begin to make plans until we discover what the restrictions are." Sometimes Nomads call on the services of Tony Dodemaide, the former Australian Test player, who lives in nearby Brighton. Claire Connor, the England women's Test captain, begins her cricket at Fulking and her father is a member. Mr. Bowden says: "Mr. Cama is an elegant man and cricket is his life."
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