KINGSTON, Jamaica, 18 May 2003 — Half-centuries by captain Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann carried Australia to a respectable 270 for five in their opening One-Day International against West Indies yesterday.

Ponting and Lehmann came to the crease after pace bowler Mervyn Dillon had removed openers Adam Gilchrist (21) and Matthew Hayden (7) in a lively opening spell.

Dillon started badly with a string of loose balls and Gilchrist crashed three fours through the covers and hit another powerful boundary over deep long-on.

But Dillon then began to get some bounce out of the Sabina Park pitch and Gilchrist was caught when he sent his mistimed hook shot to Marlon Samuels at mid-wicket.

Hayden struggled to settle and edged another rising delivery from Dillon to give Chris Gayle an easy catch at slip, delighting the near sellout Jamaican crowd.

West Indies should have removed Ponting just short of his half-century when he and Darren Lehmann were stranded between the wickets and apparently at the mercy of Chris Gayle. The off spinner threw to wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh when he could have run out Ponting at the Headley Stand end and both batsmen escaped.

Ponting brought up his 50 off 116 balls, with six fours. Nine runs later he was punished for a moment of recklessness when his attempted pull off Gayle flew into the hands of Corey Collymore at long on. Using a runner due to a calf strain, Lehmann reached 55 before slicing One-Day International debutant Omari Banks to Ricardo Powell at mid-on.

Banks promptly took the wicket of Andrew Symonds (18) but Michael Bevan (43 not out) and Ian Harvey (48 not out) kept the runs ticking over, taking 26 from the final two overs.

England Name Uncapped

Trio for Zimbabwe Test

England named three uncapped players — James Anderson, James Kirtley and Anthony McGrath — in a 13-man squad for next week’s first Test against Zimbabwe.

Anderson, the 20-year-old Lancashire seamer, was England’s most successful bowler in the World Cup with 10 wickets, while Sussex pace bowler Kirtley and McGrath, the Yorkshire captain and all rounder, have made impressive starts to the county season.

Wicketkeeper Alec Stewart, 40, kept his place for what will be his 127th Test match.

“It’s a balance of winning today and planning for the future,” chairman of selectors David Graveney told the BBC yesterday.

“Most of the discussion was about the wicketkeeping position. And after lengthy discussion we unanimously decided to stick with Alec. He is a world-class player.”

Kirtley replaced Andy Caddick, who has a foot injury, but England also have fitness concerns over all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who was named in the squad despite suffering from a shoulder problem.

“Our chief medical officer will continue to monitor the situation with Andrew Flintoff and we are hopeful that he will recover in time for the Test match,” Graveney said.

“We discussed at length the type of player that we would need as cover for Andrew and we have gone for Anthony McGrath as a batsman who can share the role of fifth bowler with Mark Butcher.

Robert Key looks certain to continue in the middle-order after being preferred to the more experienced John Crawley.

“We feel that Robert is very much part of England’s future,” Graveney added. “But we would stress that John Crawley has not let England down in the past and he has certainly not been removed from our future plans. James Kirtley has been part of the international set-up before at one-day level and has been in good form for Sussex this season. He fully deserves a chance in the longer form of the international game.”

England’s bowling has been weakened by the absence of the injured Darren Gough and Craig White, so the hosts are likely to field an inexperienced new-ball pairing of Anderson and Steve Harmison, who has played in only five Tests.

Anderson, who dismissed England captain Nasser Hussain on the way to a hat trick in a county championship match this week, made his mark on the international scene in Australia at the end of last year.

He was not considered for the final two tests of the Ashes series after flying home because of a family bereavement, but Graveney told Sky Sports: “He was an outstanding success in the World Cup and is a man for the future”.

McGrath, 27, played under Hussain’s captaincy on the England A tour of Pakistan in 1995-96. “I was surprised and delighted to get the call from David Graveney this morning,” McGrath said. “I think I have been in good form this season so far and played pretty well without getting a really big score.” The first Test is at Lord’s from May 22-26 and the second at Durham’s Chester-Le-Street ground from June 5-9. England host South Africa in a five-Test series starting in late July.

ICC Vow to Change

Bangladesh Fortunes

In Dhaka, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has vowed to reverse Bangladesh’s cricketing fortunes after repeated defeats in Test and other matches, an official said yesterday.

“I honestly tried to point out specific areas where the ICC could render support to make Bangladesh more competitive as quickly as possible,” Andrew Eade, ICC’s Global Development Manager, told AFP before leaving Dhaka at the end of a two-day visit.

“The ICC wants to bring about significant changes in terms of result-oriented progress in Bangladesh’s cricket within a short span of time,” he added.

Eade said the ICC would help whittle down lists for a chief executive officer of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and a high-profile coach for the under-19 team as well as assisting and monitoring strategic plans. “We also want to help build a national training center with modern facilities and to restart specialized training programs and to lobby the Asian Cricket Council to fund development activities in Bangladesh,” he said.

Despite the general concern about the Bangladesh team’s poor performance, Eade said he was confident that the BCB’s present plans would help change the situation.