At 27, Smith no longer qualifies as a youngster but has a talent bolstered by maturity, but the most compelling candidate is Sales.The 21-year-old Surrey-born batsman already has three records to his name, having been the youngest player to record a Sunday League half-century in 1994 (aged 16 years, 289 days), the youngest to make a Championship double hundred (18 years, 237 days) – on his debut, to boot – and this season the youngest English player to score a triple century, having made 303 not out against Essex, passing 1,000 runs for the season in so doing.Graeme Swann, Sales’s Northamptonshire team-mate, at 20 is already an effective off-spinner who also bats proficiently, while Yorkshire’s 24- year-old Gavin Hamilton is another possible in the all-rounder category.Among those pressing for inclusion among the quick bowlers, Warwickshire’s Ed Giddins (28) and Jason Lewry (28), of Sussex, represent the more experienced contenders. He can contribute also by bowling off-breaks, as can the 23-year-old Solanki, a stylish and exciting batsman, wristy in the Asian tradition, whose 900-plus first-class runs this season include two centuries.In the middle order, Northampton’s David Sales, Ben Smith of Leicestershire, Gloucestershire’s Matt Windows and, as an outsider, Derbyshire’s Robin Weston will merit consideration. Maddy, 25, who played in two one-day matches last summer, might have been elevated to the Test side already had he not been slow to find his form this summer, but he now has two first-class centuries and an average of 48.76 that places him high among the contenders.Vaughan’s form has been patchy but he has the experience of three A tours, the last of them as captain, and at 24 is reaching the point, like Maddy, at which he needs to be tested at senior level. There are a number, however, who gain favour with most observers.If there is to be a new opener, Leicestershire’s Darren Maddy and Yorkshire’s Michael Vaughan must be near the top of the list, followed perhaps by Vikram Solanki of Worcestershire, with the Kent pair Ed Smith and Robert Key and Lancashire’s Mark Chilton also worthy of discussion. The average county coach could probably reel off a dozen names and not all would come up with the same suggestions. The desire to win at The Oval and therefore avoid the ignominy of holding cricket’s unofficial wooden spoon – as determined by the Wisden rankings – will not be put to one side, nor should it.
Sooner or later, however, Hussain and his fellow selectors will follow their instinct to “look towards the future” and introduce new blood, those players put forward by Jack Birkenshaw and Ian Botham, as advisors to the selection panel, as well as other respected judges.There is no shortage of contenders.

The England captain is being enthusiastically portrayed as a reformer prepared to make tough and ruthless choices But this does not necessarily mean wholesale change. SENSIBLY KEEPING all options open, Nasser Hussain has made it clear that, much as he recognises the appetite for change growing within England’s frustrated cricketing public, the “blank sheet of paper” upon which he, David Graveney and Duncan Fletcher will compose the squad for next week’s decisive fourth Test match may yet bear many familiar names. The decision was prompted by the fact that Warne would be available for only one Shield game and three domestic limited-overs matches due to Australia’s 1999-2000 international programme.. Muralitharan has been enjoying a spectacular season in England and is without question a great spin bowler.” Muralitharan has taken 66 wickets in six County Championship matches for Lancashire, whom he joined after the World Cup.Shane Warne, the Australian leg-spinner, has said he was “a little bit shocked” at being sacked as captain of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield team for next season.

Emerson, who called the Sri Lankan spinner for throwing earlier this year, said on Monday that many players around the world believed he threw.Sri Lanka’s cricket board said in a statement: “Emerson’s comments come at a time when there are serious questions about his future career as an international umpire and publicity might be just a means of getting attention. He was rated doubtful for the Old Trafford Test with a rib injury but reported fit and was selected ahead of Alan Mullally and Chris Silverwood.Wasim Raja, the former Test batsman, was named coach of the troubled Pakistan cricket team yesterday. Wasim, who played in 57 Tests for Pakistan, takes over a team which has three players, including the captain, Wasim Akram, suspended until they are cleared of match-fixing charges. Pakistan have been without a coach since Mushtaq Mohammad’s assignment ended after the World Cup.Sri Lanka have hit back at Ross Emerson, the Australian umpire, after he made more comments about Muttiah Muralitharan’s action.