Roger Charlton’s colt will go straight to the 2,000 Guineas.. Lancashire’s hopes of displacing Surrey as county champions – the teams meet at The Oval starting on Friday – took a severe knock yesterday when India’s renowned spinner, Harbhajan Singh, withdrew, temporarily, as their second overseas player. “The lad was due to arrive on 28 April and was desperately keen to come. He didn’t want to let people down, but, after consultations between our physio and India’s physio, we have had to accept he needs more rest. We shall monitor his progress before deciding whether to wait or sign another overseas player, almost certainly a spinner.”Muttiah Muralitharan, previously with Lancashire, had been asked to play against Surrey, but the Sri Lankan Board refused to release him.Murali is not available this summer, but such are Lancashire’s ambitions, with the rise of their fast bowlers, James Anderson and Kyle Hogg, and the signings of the batsmen Iain Sutcliffe and Mal Loye that they will do their all to restore the team to its planned strength.Watkinson said: “Surrey stand alone in the exceptional replacements they have for their Test players We have to develop similar strengths. We now have exceptional bowling and solid batting and I’m confident that our spinners, Gary Keedy and Chris Schofield, will fill the gap.” Unstated was the fact that Lancashire feel Harbhajan would have given them match-winning capability on any surface.Lancashire are, however, blessed by the availability of one potential match-winner: a slim, beaming Andrew Flintoff – “vegetable soup for four days is how you do it”.”The Surrey game is a key fixture,” Warren Hegg, the club captain, said yesterday “We have the strength and spirit to make an impact.

Two overseas players per county could make an enormous difference.”There will be some familiar faces missing at Old Trafford this season; namely Neil Fairbrother and Graham Lloyd, who have both retired. Meanwhile, a third of the outfield has been replaced, the two wings of the pavilion have been rebuilt and, for the first time in about 150 years, there will be no Roses match on this ground.Abroad, Steve Waugh, the Australia captain, has warned the game’s authorities against excessive reliance on technology after some poor umpiring decisions during his side’s first-Test win over West Indies.”You don’t want to end up with robots out there,” Waugh said “We don’t want the sport to be Americanised. We want to have controversy and we want to have something to talk about. That’s why cricket is unique.”* Michael Vaughan, England’s opening bat, has succeeded Matthew Hayden at the top of the Test world ratings. Two low scores for Hayden in Australia’s win over the West Indies in Guyana have seen him lose the place he had held since October.. Ol’ grande tete was in the mood to cast a few more juicy sprats yesterday. He shared his thoughts on Sir Alex Ferguson (“he will die on the Manchester United bench”); Roy Keane; why he retired too soon ­ and just what he meant when he delivered the above words at a press conference following his trial for karate-kicking a Crystal Palace fan.

Not bad considering he walked away from it all in 1997 having just turned 31 to pursue a career in acting and, latterly, beach football. But few can doubt his influence both as a player and a character. It was much in evidence yesterday.Take Keane who, surprisingly, did not make it into the Premiership’s Team of the Decade ­ although seven Manchester United players did. “For me he is the player of the decade,” said Cantona in English which, he admitted, was more than a little out of practice. “He impressed me a lot when I was in Manchester and he was the key player in the team ­ he deserves the prize Perhaps he has got a strange character Sometimes that does not help him It is very sad.”On Ferguson he was equally vigorous. “He was the perfect manager,” said the man who brought Manchester United their first championship in 26 years.

“I needed to blossom and to do that I needed to love somebody and respect somebody 100 per cent.”He was very obsessive about what we had to do in training, what we had to drink and when we slept Sometimes in England managers do not set an example They are fat and drink beer. How can players respect a manager like that who would drink and not stay fit? He showed an example to us… I was 25 when I went there and it was the best time for my career.”Indeed it was. Check back on Cantona’s volatile impact on English football and it is still astonishing to recall what he achieved. Arriving at Leeds United in 1992 following a colourful career in France ­ after of course refusing to undergo a trial at Sheffield Wednesday ­ he won the league. That November he moved to Manchester United for £1.2m and won the championship again. The following year it was the league and FA Cup double, then in 1996 it was the double again.