Gough spurred on by critics

England paceman Darren Gough has hit back at the doubters who wrote him off as a Test bowler following his recall for the forthcoming first Test against South Africa at Edgbaston.

Gough's inclusion in the England squad for the Test, which starts on Thursday, came two years after his last five-day match.

After battling 18 months of injuries which have seen Gough's right knee operated upon three times, medical experts advised the Yorkshireman to retire this year rather than continue to pound his troublesome knee.

But fast bowler Gough, 32, who has defied advice to prosper in England's recent one-day triangular tournament against South Africa and Zimbabwe before being picked for the Test squad, said: "To all those people who doubted me, bad luck. Proving them wrong has been my inspiration.

"I have proved that with determination and pride you can come back whatever the difficulties you face.

"I have always wanted to go my way, not to be told by others that it's time to pack it in.

"I'm totally confident that I am ready for Test cricket again and the encouraging thing is that the general public in England want me to play.

NADP to start from October 15

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's ambitious New Area Development Programme (NADP), intending to spread the game to the remotest parts of the country, will begin from October 15.

This was decided at Kolkata on Sunday by the NADP committee which discussed the modalities of the programme, aiming to tap indigenous talent in the under-17 and under-19 age groups in 12 states and Union territories without BCCI-affiliate units.

Chaired by Ranvir Singh Mahendra, the committee, formed to monitor the progress of the programme, decided to hold an under-19 tournament in February-March next year. The venue will be decided later.

"The decisions are now in the form of mere proposals. Before implementation they have to be ratified by the BCCI's Working Committee," board sources said.

The committee also discussed various logistical details, like deputing coaches, fitness trainers and pitch experts to the 12 units to help them develop the required infrastructure.

The sources said though the coaching programmes for both the age groups would begin this year, the tournament for the under-17 players might have to wait till the 2004-05 season due to shortage of time.

The meeting was attended by R S Setty, M P Pandove and Chitrak Mitra, along with BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

BCCI joint secretary Jyoti Bajpai, who is the convener of the programme, was absent, along with member Niranjan Shah.

The programme covers Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Pondicherry and Sikkim.

Three-day India-Kiwi match at Visakhapatnam

The Andhra Cricket Association will host a three-day cricket match between India and New Zealand from October 2-4 at Visakhapatnam, its president K V Rao said.

After its annual general body meeting at Vijaywada on Sunday, Rao, who is also Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, in Government of Andhra Pradesh, told reporters the state-of-the art Visakhapatnam stadium also boasts of a dressing room now which has been built at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore.

The Association has also requested for some of the matches of the triangular series to be played in Andhra Pradesh and the proposal was before the BCCI, he said.

Synchronising with the inauguration of the stadium at Visakhapatnam, the association will also celebrate its golden jublee year, for which senior journalists and players who worked for the betterment of the cricket association would be felicitated.

He said Rs 20 lakh would be spent for the day-long celebration before the three-dayer, which is expected to be inaugurated by state Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Meanwhile, the association has unanimously elected K V Rao as president, five vice-presidents -- L Narayana Row, K Pattabhairamaiah, P V Rao, Sameer Sharma -- while G Gangaraju N Venkata Rao was re-elected as the general secretary.