Obviously it's a big change

Obviously, it's a big change."Greg Rusedski yesterday urged Tim Henman to decide for himself if he will play in Britain's Davis Cup tie with Zimbabwe next week Henman is struggling with an elbow injury. Rusedski, who is also carrying a wrist injury, said: "I do have sympathy for Tim. He will have to listen to his doctor's advice and whatever the doctor thinks is right he will have to do. Only Tim knows how the injury is and he has to make the decision.".

Cricket Jagmohan Dalmiya has been elected the first president of the International Council for a three-year term after the retirement of Sir Clyde Walcott in June. He will take into the new job an aggressive approach to spreading the game beyond the bounds of the Commonwealth, from which most cricket-playing nations are drawn. Raj Singh Dungarpur, the president of the Board of Control for in India, said yesterday that the board's working committee had decided to nominate Dalmiya before the ICC's chief executive, David Richards, announced in Kuala Lumpur on Monday that India would take over leadership of the ICC from June. Richards had given them until 31 May to name their choice for the new post, which will replace the chairman's job when Walcott, a Barbadian, retires.Dalmiya's ascent to the top ICC post came after a heated debate last year over the council's electoral process that stood on the verge of a legal battle threatened by Indian officials.Dalmiya, who is secretary of the BCCI, played a key role in organising the World Cup jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year. A construction magnate by profession, he has also been aggressively promoting the idea of commercial sponsorships for cricket and taking the game to more countries.Last July, Dalmiya contested the chairmanship and was backed by full members Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, besides a majority of the 22 associate members. Test-playing nations, called full members, have two votes against one for associate members.The president's post was part of a new governing structure aimed at improving the management and development of international cricket, Richards said.India were unanimously elected to provide the president until June 2000 at a special general meeting of the ICC on Sunday. An Australian will succeed Dalmiya after 2000, and the successor will serve as vice-president from June 1999, before taking over as president.Scotland, who hope to raise the profile of cricket north of the border, beat Papua New Guinea by six wickets in their opening game in the World Cup qualifying tournament in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. George Salmond, their captain, was their top-scorer with 37 not out as the Scots reached 121 for 4 in 38.1 overs after dismissing Papua New Guinea for 120 in 36.1.

"Since we arrived here all the talk has been about Papua New Guinea and how they were going to take this tournament by storm, which was a little bit off-putting because we were very confident ourselves," Salmond said on Radio Five Live.. Robin Marlar, the new Sussex chairman, has announced that the present committee have put on hold plans to redevelop the County Ground at Hove. The old committee, ousted at a dramatic annual general meeting last week, were preparing to submit proposals to the Sports Council for National Lottery funding to help with the first phase of the redevelopment, at the north end of the ground. However, the new committee, comprising Marlar, the former Sussex captain, the former Sussex bolwer Tony Pigott, Jim May and Dick Holste have decided on a re-think "We have taken this move for several reasons. But if women are so nice, how come so many more of them vote Conservative?The story is not as simple as that. Women are not a single homogenous group, and young women vote differently to older women. Among 18- to 24- year-olds, six per cent more women support Labour, while seven per cent more young men vote Conservative. Bob Worcester of Mori thinks young men's tendency to vote Tory is mainly a testosterone factor - Tories are tougher and young men swung behind Thatcher in 1983 in admiration of her Falklands victory But by the time women reach 35, conservatism settles in.

Women have a tendency to be nicer - not so bossy and self-important, more self-deprecating, better company, less bombastic. Mothers tend to come better out of literature and autobiography than fathers: motherhood is suffused with all the good, tender, affectionate things, while fatherhood is fraught with fear, authority, remoteness and the need to control others. Women are no stupider when it comes to exam results: girls are doing better than boys. Feminist theory says women are always, at all times, and in all ways better than men End of story.