Games masters

Darren Lehmann has been included by Australia in their squad for the Commonwealth Games which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in September and pace bowler Gavin Hamilton will be flying the flag for Scotland in the World cup next summer.

Broxburn-born Hamilton has agonised for several weeks over whether to say 'yes' to the invitation from Scotland's director of cricket and former Yorkshire batsman Jim Love to play in the World Cup for his native country.

His reluctance to make a snap decision was nothing to do with dithering and everything to do with wanting to stay loyal to Yorkshire and also not wishing to jeopardise his chances of a Test career with England if such a possibility ever arose.

I have little doubt that in this day and age most sportsmen, given the choice, would immediately go for the instant glory of a world cup appearance and hang the consequences, but Hamilton's serious consideration of other issues does him great credit and I am sure that, in the end, he has made the right decision.

That view is also held by his Yorkshire captain, David Byas, who encouraged Hamilton to play for Scotland, despite admiring the principles that caused the fast bowler to worry about the consequences his actions could have on Yorkshire.

Hamilton was concerned that if he became a part of Scotland's squad he would have to join them at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur before the end of August and that this would mean missing the climax of the season with Yorkshire.

At 23, Hamilton still has laudable ambitions to reach Test level and his other fear was that once he plays international cricket for Scotland it means he cannot be picked for England for another four years.

Hamilton, Love and Byas were all hoping that the International Cricket Council would relieve the player of that problem by announcing a sensible relaxation of the rules in order to allow a cricketer to represent an Associate Member team of the ICC, like Scotland, without then having a time limit on playing for a Full Member country.

Everyone seems to agree that this is the sensible course of action to take, but with nothing positive coming out of Lord's time ran out on Hamilton and he was forced to use his own judgement.

His mind had, however, been eased by Love, who gave him a strong indication that Scotland would not insist on taking him to Kuala Lumpur if he wanted to remain with Yorkshire.

It was Hamilton's dynamic bowling against Hampshire at Headingley last Sunday which leapfrogged him above team-mate Sidebottom to the top of the AXA League chart of the country's leading bowlers in the competition.

Before the match, Sidebottom had captured 13 wickets this season, putting him one ahead of nearest rivals Melvyn Betts (Durham), Matthew Fleming (Kent) and Shaun Udal (Hampshire).

Hamilton was fairly well down the table with nine dismissals but his five for 16 shot him up to the top, Sidebottom not taking a wicket and being joined on the 13 mark by Kent's Dean Headley.

I am delighted that Hamilton, one of the most fiercely competitive yet cheery of first class cricketers, is back in the groove again after a depressing season last year which seriously put in doubt his long term future with Yorkshire.

He seemed to lose completely his rhythm and confidence and some of his bowling in the AXA League was of a particularly poor quality.

In five games spread throughout most of the summer he took only two wickets at an average of 96 runs apiece and his only consolation came in the last match when he claimed three for 30 to rob Kent of the title.

Apart from a couple of good performances in the championship, he was very much below standard in that competition, also, and with Paul Hutchison, Matthew Hoggard and Ryan Sidebottom all pressing hard, his career looked to be heading for the rocks.

But he survived the pruning of the staff which saw Peter Hartley and Alex Morris depart, and he has looked full of confidence this season, bowling with a combination of verve and accuracy.

Not only is he the country's top bowler on Sundays, but he finished as Yorkshire's joint leading wicket-taker with Chris Silverwood in the Benson and Hedges Cup, each having ten dismissals, as well as having played his part when he made it into the championship side.

When Yorkshire were weighing up the pros and cons earlier this year of signing Lehmann for the 1998 season they were given a strong hint by the Australian Cricket Board that the free-scoring left-hander would be wanted by his country and that he would probably have to miss Yorkshire's last two championship matches.

Just when Lehmann will leave Yorkshire is still not exactly clear, but it is not thought Australia will want him to attend a pre-Games training camp in view of him playing cricket throughout the summer.

With both Lehmann and his fellow left-hander and former Yorkshire player, Michael Bevan, both in Australia's squad, it means the pair will not come face to face in what would have been an interesting clash in Yorkshire's last championship match of the season against Sussex at Hove, starting on September 17.

Bevan was not at all happy when Yorkshire gave him the cold shoulder so that Lehmann could stay with them this season and both batsmen would have been eager to prove a point or two at Hove.

Cricket is being introduced to the Commonwealth Games for the first time and it is because it clashes with the height of the English season that England have had to decline an invitation to field a team of their own.

The Commonwealth Games Council for England (CGCE) requested a side with at least 50 per cent Test players or players who had previously been selected for England and who still played first class cricket.

It was not possible to agree to this request because the squad would have to be in Kuala Lumpur before the end of August which would mean them missing out on a lot of domestic cricket.

The England and Wales Cricket Board did, however, offer to send the best non-professional side in the country to the Games, so providing a focus for the best league and club cricketers, but this was rejected by the CGCE.

England, in any case, face probably there most congested international fixture programme ever this year.

There is time for only a few weeks rest at the end of the season before they set off for Australia in October. In addition, the ICC knockout tournament takes place in Bangladesh in late October and early November.

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