All former winners are invited the victor gaining a place in the first

All former winners are invited, the victor gaining a place in the first round of the tournament proper, beginning on 25 September.. BY MARTIN JOHNSON Cricket Correspondent The publicity blurb accompanying the West Indies' first official press conference in London yesterday referred to them as the world champions, which suggests the tourists' memory is even shorter than their fast bowling. Nor will this summer offer them an early opportunity to regain the unofficial crown they recently lost to Australia, in that beating England does not so much represent the taking of a prized scalp as the removal of a bald man's wig.However, whenever the West Indies are in town the most talked-about item of head covering is a batting helmet. Keith Fletcher once said that he even began ducking when he watched them on the television highlights, although the question now is whether - like Fletcher himself - the West Indian mean machine has temporarily passed into Test match history.Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh remain the sort of opponents batsmen feel disinclined to upset, although the comparative lack of younger fast bowlers in the Caribbean nowadays has prompted the West Indian selectors to take another chance on the injury-prone Ian Bishop.Furthermore, the West Indian coach, Andy Roberts, is doubtful whether Bishop can ever regain his former 90mph pace after his long history of back trouble, and is sufficiently mindful that Ambrose is approaching (in fast-bowling terms, anyway) old age, to be contemplating trying to teach an oldish dog some new tricks.Roberts, whose early career persuaded a generation of Test batsmen to contemplate putting in for a nappy allowance, latterly became - as did Malcolm Marshall - a supreme exponent of brisk outswing, and he feels that if Ambrose can add guile to his declining velocity he could not only extend his Test career by a few more years, but also end it with the accolade of the best fast bowler ever to play international cricket."When I was young," Roberts said, "I just ran in and bowled fast and straight, but as you get older you have to learn to adjust, and it was by playing county cricket here in England that I developed the ability to swing the ball. For various reasons, I've never had much chance to work with Curtly, and now, on a long tour of England, is a good time to start. It's not too late, and Curtly has always been the sort who is willing to learn."Roberts does not, however, subscribe to the theory that the West Indies' heavy annual workload (the series against Australia only finished last week) is a factor in their fast bowlers now being regarded as occasionally nasty rather than relentlessly lethal."Curtly had two months off before the Australia series, and when he came back he had lost his rhythm and his power in the delivery stride. This tour is the key for him, and I'm still not 100 per cent sure he can still bowl with extreme pace.

We'll soon see."Whether or not Roberts is working on a bit of psychology here (as the Australians successfully did on the last Ashes tour by suggesting that Craig McDermott needed to pull his finger out), England's memories of Ambrose blowing them away in Trinidad two years ago, and Walsh working them over in Jamaica, are still fresh enough for them to require some harder evidence before they start practising their front-foot shots.As for England's prospects of winning the series, Roberts rates them at roughly nil "The only possibility is if we beat ourselves," he said. England, on the other hand, first have to acquire the knack of beating someone else before they can concentrate on beating themselves.. JON CULLEY reports from Old Trafford Lancashire 353-7Nottinghamshire 276-7Lancashire win by 77 runsLancashire, without a trophy since they achieved the Benson-NatWest "double" in 1990, booked their passage to the quarter-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup with another impressive performance yesterday. Their total is the highest for one first-class county against another in the 55-over competition's 24 years.Michael Atherton, with four centuries this season, fell without scoring to the fourth ball after Lancashire had chosen to bat, but the total had soared to 250 before an injury-hit Nottinghamshire gained another success, as Jason Gallian and John Crawley exploited an ideal batting track with superb centuries, each finishing with his highest score in limited-overs cricket, after a partnership which eclipsed everything in their county's one-day records.Such delight as Kevin Evans may have felt at dismissing the England captain was tempered when Crawley pulled him for six in the next over.Nottinghamshire, without Chris Lewis and with Chris Cairns unable to bowl because of a thigh strain, took the unusual step of opening with spin at one end, but Crawley and Gallian, the gold-award winner, were into their strides so quickly that their opponents were soon facing tactical bankruptcy.When Nottinghamshire gave up on Andy Afford and James Hindson, both slow left arm, Crawley put Gregory Mike in his place as disdainfully as he had Evans. The pair raced along at five runs per over for the first 20, accelerating to six and then seven. By lunch, at 235 for 1, they had exceeded by one the record held since 1978 by the two Lloyds, David and Clive, for the county's highest one-day partnership.Crawley, who scored only 44 of his runs in boundaries, was eventually beaten by the 120th ball he received, which kept a shade low, and Gallian, having faced 137 deliveries and accrued 14 fours, perished taking a liberty with Hindson.

But there was no respite for Nottinghamshire as Neil Fairbrother set about Hindson, who was not a happy bowler when Mike, on the mid-wicket boundary, let one slip through his hands for six and dropped another, a yard inside the rope, next ball.Graeme Archer scored his maiden one-day half-century as Nottinghamshire replied but the visitors were never in contention.. HENRY BLOFELD reports from Chelmsford Essex 208-8Gloucestershire 211-8Gloucs win by 2 wicketsA thrilling finish when Jack Russell sliced a drive over gully for four off the last ball of the match brought Gloucestershire their fourth victory in four matches in the qualifying stages of the Benson and Hedges Cup.When Gloucestershire were 125 for 5 in the 36th over Essex might have fancied their chances, but Russell, with valuable help from Gloucestershire's new young prodigy, Andy Symonds, kept them in touch.Seven runs were needed from the last over bowled by Ronnie Irani with two wickets left. A single was scampered by Kevin Cooper off the first ball; Russell missed the second and drove the third through extra cover for two. The next two balls produced singles and, with the fielders all saving one, Russell flailed at the last which flew away to the backward- point boundary.Gloucestershire made a solid but slow start to their innings, with the 50 coming up in the 19th over.

After Andy Wright had been lbw playing across Irani, Monte Lynch threatened to finish it all. He drove Peter Such for successive sixes in the 28th over, producing 16 runs before holing out in the next at long-off.Brilliant catches by Nasser Hussain, Robert Rollins and Jonathan Lewis accounted for Tim Hancock, Mark Alleyne and Bobby Dawson, and, at 125 for 5, Russell joined Symonds.They had taken the score to 171 when Symonds glanced at Such's last ball and Rollins held another fine catch. After that, Russell made sure Gloucestershire continued their progress towards the quarter-finals.At the start, Graham Gooch made 69 - the biggest innings of the day - but it took him 103 balls and he never really found the pace of the pitch against some tight Gloucestershire bowling. Darren Robinson played as well as anyone for Essex with his 32, and Hussain and Irani also made important contributions..