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Division One

3rd day
Hampshire are strongly placed heading into the final day at Edgbaston, after Shane Warne set up his side with 5 for 52 to dismiss Warwickshire for 217 in their first innings. Warne then set Warwickshire a mountainous 407 after Hampshire raced to 218 for 6 declared with James Adams leading from the front – he made 85 in just 105 balls, including five fours and three sixes. By the close, Warwickshire had managed to crawl to 69 for 2, still 338 runs adrift. In their first innings Warwickshire’s lower order subsided under the force of Warne’s assault, losing Dougie Brown early and then the last four wickets fell for 13 runs.2nd day
Darren Lehmann, who hit 25 fours, fell seven runs short of a double century as Yorkshire and Kent piled on the runs at Headingley. Yorkshire made 382 before Kent’s Robert Key and David Fulton put on 153 in a commanding opening stand. They each made fifties, but Yorkshire took three quick wickets to leave Kent on 196 for 3 by the close.Graham Onions took 4 for 82 as Middlesex‘s batsmen failed to cut the mustard against Durham. Owais Shah top scored with 68 but threw his wicket away as Middlesex were bowled out for 242, handing Durham a first-innings advantage of 106. By the end of the day Durham had stretched their lead to 186 runs and, with eight wickets left, they will be confident of boosting that to well over 400.3rd day
Not a great day for Chris Read nor for his county, Nottinghamshire, who slipped to a 41-run defeat against Sussex. After battling their way back into the game, Sussex went on to record a cracking win set up by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (4 for 29) and Jason Lewry (3 for 23). Mushtaq Ahmed also contributed 3 for 58 to bowl out Notts for 120 and consign the champions to what had seemed to be an unlikely defeat. Resuming on 111 for 3 this morning, Sussex made it to 247 thanks to a vital 42 from Matt Prior, leaving Nottinghamshire to chase 161. But their innings was in immediate disarray when Jason Gallian had to retire hurt on 10. As wickets tumbled he made a return to the crease, only to fall for 15 (148 for 7). A ninth-wicket stand of 68 between Ryan Sidebottom and Mark Ealham, who made 52, briefly gave Notts promise, but was not enough.

Division Two

3rd day
Leicestershire continued to pile on the pain for Glamorgan, forcing them to follow on after bowling them out for 297 in reply to 525. By the close Glamorgan had made 37 for 1 and still required a further 191 runs to take them to parity. Today it was Claude Henderson who did the damage, with 4 for 77. Daniel Cherry and Michael Powell made half-centuries for Glamorgan, but their team will need more strong batting performances tomorrow to save the game.2nd day
Four players recorded centuries on day two as Somerset and Essex piled on the runs in their match at Taunton. Keith Parsons (153) and Peter Trego (102) took their seventh-wicket stand to 202 before a late flurry of wickets as Somerset made 471. Andrew Caddick then placed Essex in danger of following-on by reducing the visitors to 80 for 3 in reply. But the experienced campaigners Andy Flower (104 not out) and Ronnie Irani (108 not out) steadied the ship in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 202 as Essex closed on 282 for 3.Northamptonshire must have wished that Jon Lewis had been called into the Test side as he wrecked their top order at Bristol with a thrilling 4 for 35 from 16 overs. Northamptonshire now have a lead of 100 runs but just one wicket in hand, and Gloucestershire will back themselves to register their second win of the season tomorrow.Derbyshire continued to go from strength to strength in their match against Worcestershire. They lost Steve Stubbings before the close but are still strongly placed, at 54 for 1, a lead of 114 runs. Vikram Solanki struck a century and Steven Davies made 49 to take Worcestershire to 278, a first-innings deficit of 60. Ian Hunter led the rallying call with 4 for 92, while Steffan Jones added 3 for 58 to hand Derbyshire the advantage.

ScorecardIndia A are chasing 205 for victory on the final day of the four-day Top End Series match against New Zealand A at Darwin. Rudra Pratap Singh, the left-arm fast bowler with international experience, produced a fine bowling display to dismiss New Zealand for just 153 in their second innings after Tejinder Pal Singh and Rohit Sharma boosted India to 280.RP Singh bowled very well in the first-innings but had only the one wicket to show for it; today, he gained sufficient swing and turned in an even better showing that put New Zealand in a tizzy. Michael Papps was trapped lbw for 4 early, Gareth Hopkins was cleaned up beautifully, and Chris Martin was forced to nick one to Robin Uthappa. Rob Nicol, who top-scored with 55 to prop his side to a semi-decent total, was caught-and-bowled. The last three wickets fell for just two runs.The day began with India on 6 for 209, following which Tejinder and Sharma extended their stand to 115 before Jeetan Patel, the offspinner, bowled Sharma through the gate for 57. The last three batsmen failed to assist Tejinder, who had to use the long handle to push the scoring along. He was eventually dismissed caught behind off Mark Orchard’s right-arm medium pace. Piyush Chawla, the young legspinner, made it seven wickets for the match as he snapped up the most crucial duo of Matthew Sinclair and Craig McMillan.India were 0 for 1 at stumps.

Shahriyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, is hoping one of England’s greatest glovemen can help faltering wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal regain his form behind the stumps.Shahriyar is hoping Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, can persuade one or other of Bob Taylor (174 dismissals in 57 Tests) or Jack Russell (165 in 54), two of England’s best keepers of modern times, to work with Akmal. Akmal has missed several chances during the ongoing series against England, including two routine efforts off Marcus Trescothick in the third Test at Headingley when the opener was in single figures before making a second innings 58. Pakistan lost that match by 167 runs and with it the series as England went 2-0 up with one to play.”Kamran Akmal is one of our finest players and Rodney Marsh – one of Australia’s greatest glovemen – said he was the best wicketkeeper in the world last year,” Shahriyar told bigstarcricket.com. “He’s had a bad tour but he will be back. I’m going to ask Bob [Woolmer] if he can ask Bob Taylor or Jack Russell to work with him. I always thought that both of those guys were superb keepers. Kamran just needs a good match and a return to confidence.”Meanwhile, Shahriyar has also backed Woolmer and Inzamam-ul-Haq despite Pakistan’s first Test series loss in 18 months. Pakistan cricket politics usually demand major changes after a series reverse but Shahriyar said he would resist calls for vice-captain Younis Khan to replace Inzamam as captain. “We aim to remain steady and calm,” he said. “Last time we lost a series, the manager was sacked, and the captain (Mohammad Yousuf in Australia) was sacked. We don’t believe in that.”There are just a couple of things that have prevented us from moving forward. We have struggled to find opening batsmen, and have been unlucky with Shoaib Malik’s injury. Hopefully he will return for the one-day series, while Mohammed Hafeez is also looking good having scored runs for the A team in Australia.”

If you have any left after the injuries and absences that have ravaged England and Pakistan, spare a thought also for Sussex. Fighting for room at the top of the County Championship, they are resigned to be without the cheery – and startlingly effective – presence of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for the season.They could also lose out on the services of their talisman Mushtaq Ahmed, should Pakistan choose to test whether he can beguile England’s international batsmen as much as he does their county counterparts. And now, having smartly covered the potential absence of both by recruiting Yasir Arafat, Pakistan’s allrounder forever on the fringes of national selection, they might conceivably lose his services as well at some point this season.Arafat is an allrounder of typically Pakistani ethos; ideal for ODI cricket but capable of spectacular feats in Test matches. And though useful as a lower-order plunderer, his bowling remains his stronger suit. His type of straight, full, skiddy bowling accounted for Andrew Flintoff’s wicket at an ODI in Pakistan last year, nine wickets against England in a warm-up game during the series and five wickets in six balls in a domestic game in December 2004 (four of the five were either leg-before or bowled), a feat performed by only three other bowlers. His experience of English conditions has also borne fruit; in three county matches for Sussex this season, he has already taken 17 wickets (two five-wicket hauls) and scored two fifties. The performances haven’t gone unnoticed.”We have considered him and his name has come up in discussions but no decision has been taken yet,” Bob Woolmer told Cricinfo. “Because of the nature of our injuries many players will be talked about, discussed. Ultimately we have to do as well as we can with what we have.”With concerns over Abdul Razzaq’s fitness heightened after the drawn first Test at Lord’s, Arafat’s chances of being called up would have increased. But Zaheer Abbas, Pakistan’s manager, confirmed that Razzaq is likely to play at Old Trafford. Abbas told that Razzaq had started running at the weekend and is expected to take part in nets at Old Trafford. These nets will decide whether or not Razzaq has overcome the back strains that have afflicted him since the final day of the first Test.”We will have our first nets at Old Trafford tomorrow and Razzaq is supposed to take part. It would be there we will know whether he has fully recovered from a back problem,” Zaheer said. “Razzaq is keen to play and I am sure that he would work hard to get fully fit for the next match.”Apart from the return of Younis Khan it is unlikely too many changes will be made after just one Test. If there are any more injuries – and that is hardly unlikely over this summer – who knows. Wasim Bari, chief selector, confirmed to Cricinfo that no requests had been made by the team management for any back-up or replacements. “We have told them just to inform us if they feel they require a certain player but at the moment nothing has been said.”Though Arafat might not mind it too much, Pakistan will keep their fingers crossed that Bari receives no SOS calls between now and Thursday when the second Test begins. Ditto Sussex.

Aleem Dar, one of two Pakistani umpires on the ICC’s Elite Panel, has said that Pakistan’s decision to protest and stay off the field on the fourth day of the fourth Test at the Oval last week, was wrong and may harm the game in the long-term.Pakistan refused to take the field after Darrell Hair penalized them for ball tampering, a decision which ultimately led to the Test being forfeited. But Dar told Cricinfo: “There are other ways of protesting and the avenue they chose I believe was the wrong one. Strictly according to the law, the decision is correct.”Opinion on Pakistan’s decision to protest and refusal to come out after tea has been mixed. The protest galvanized much of the nation; it was seen by many as a protection of their honour. But some ex-players, such as Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram have struck discordant notes; the latter two agree with Dar in that it shouldn’t have happened at all.”The problem is that if one country attempts it, then others will follow and that cannot be good for the game in the long-run,” Dar said.Dar also argued that the spotlight has unfairly focused on Hair, after the Test became the first in the history of the game to be forfeited. “It is not about one umpire. It can’t be about just one. Both umpires and even those off the field are involved. Those decisions on ball tampering and the forfeit were not taken by Hair alone.”

Much fury in Pakistan has been vented at the lack of evidence with regards to the charge of ball tampering, the incident at the very root of the hullabaloo. That is to miss the point, as Dar points out. “There doesn’t seem to be video evidence but we must remember that no evidence is required. It could be that Pakistan is right and they didn’t do anything but as an umpire that is your decision.”The lack of video evidence suggests that the state of the ball, already 56 overs old when it was changed, will become crucial when the hearings are eventually held for Inzamam-ul-Haq. There is uncertainty whether evidence of tampering can be proved just by inspecting the ball; Aaqib Javed is adamant that you can but others are not so sure.Dar, diplomatically, hedged his bets. “You can tell sometimes that tampering has occurred, depending on the level of it. On a new ball obviously it is easy to say if something has been applied to it. On an older ball it becomes more difficult but not impossible. As I say, it depends on other things. But the umpires can check at any time they want.”Dar was understandably reluctant to talk of Hair’s attitude and the subsequent revelation that he had offered to resign in return for a US$500,000 pay-off. He did suggest, however, that the whole situation – from the ball tampering penalty to the eventual forfeit – might have been handled differently by other umpires. “It’s important to remember the decisions themselves weren’t wrong. But it depends on your personality how you handle it. The situation could’ve been handled better.”Dar is regarded by many to be the second best umpire in the world behind the Australian Simon Taufel. But if the last week has posed any sort of dilemma at all for him – torn between his profession and his country – then he’s not letting on.

Pakistan are hoping that Shabbir Ahmed, the right-arm seamer, will be cleared by ICC for their tour of South Africa early next year.Shabbir was banned for 12 months for an illegal action after he was reported twice in 2005, the second time coming after the first Test against England at Multan in November. An appeal to get him cleared by the PCB failed.”His ban ends on December 18 before that we will send him to Australia next month to undergo a biomechanical test to confirm there is an improvement in his action,” a board spokesman told Reuters.”We have got an appointment with specialists in Australia and hopefully their report would satisfy the ICC.”Shabbir, who has taken 51 wickets in 10 tests, has had problems with his action since his debut in 1999.

Scorecard

Chris Simpson turned from villain to hero for Queensland, claiming four wickets in their win over New South Wales after earlier losing his wicket in one of the strangest run-out scenarios possible. Simpson’s 4 for 34 put the run-chase of 240 out of reach for the Blues, who scrambled to 8 for 215 only through a late 52 not out from Jason Krejza.New South Wales were in a reasonable position at 2 for 101 after 25 overs but when Brad Haddin (29) hooked an Andy Bichel bouncer into the hands of Ashley Noffke at fine leg things fell apart. Simpson picked up four important middle-order wickets which, combined with Daniel Christian’s 41 from 95 balls – too slow under the circumstances – made the chase very tough for New South Wales.The Blues had nobody but themselves to blame after letting Queensland off the hook in the dying overs of their innings. Noffke (28 not out from 13 balls) and Bichel (26 off 12 balls) smashed 47 runs from the last three overs to help the Bulls to 9 for 239. The pair, together with Clinton Perren (69), undid much of the damage caused in part by Nathan Bracken’s miserly 1 for 12, the tightest ten-over spell by a New South Wales bowler in a domestic one-day game.Run-outs plagued the Queensland innings and Simpson’s was the most bizarre. When Jimmy Maher played and missed at a Bracken delivery, Haddin took the ball and held it for a few seconds, then rolled it down the pitch and hit the stumps at the bowler’s end. Simpson, who was wandering aimlessly outside his crease but not attempting a run, was out for 0 and the Bulls were 2 for 14.The New South Wales captain Simon Katich said the late blitz by Noffke and Bichel hurt the Blues but their own batsmen were also to blame. “Guys got starts and kept getting out,” Katich said. “We just needed somebody to go on and get probably 70 or 80.”

Pakistan have retained Inzamam-ul-Haq as captain for next year’s World Cup.”Inzamam has led the team admirably and we have extended his tenure as captain for the tours of South Africa and more importantly for the World Cup 2007,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Naseem Ashraf told a press conference. “The World Cup will be won by a team which has self-belief and I saw this current Pakistan team to have exemplary belief, unity and maturity.”Inzamam, who took over as captain in September 2003, has led Pakistan in 28 Tests, winning ten, losing nine and drawing nine. He has also led Pakistan in 82 one-day internationals with 50 wins, 29 defeats and three no results.The PCB also showed confidence in their English coach Bob Woolmer and vice captain Younis Khan who will continue in their posts. Woolmer, who took over in July 2004, was appointed as coach until the end of the tournament.

England’s 17th and 18th squad members were paraded this afternoon and in the Australian sections of the room the new figures were so anonymous there were thoughts of asking the ready-to-act security guards to uncover their identity. A deep knowledge of county scorecards will never form part of a Down Under citizenship test, but in the locals’ defence Mal Loye and Ravi Bopara would not be feted on an open-top bus tour through Manchester or Chelmsford.The size of England’s entourage has bulged again following injuries to Kevin Pietersen (cracked rib) and Michael Vaughan (hamstring), so the two men who arrived in ECB gear might well have been the overworked medical staff. But there was no vertical file of explanations or the repetitive use of “scan”, “MRI” or “replacement”.Loye, an opening batsman for Lancashire, landed in Brisbane on Wednesday night from New Zealand, where he scored 51 runs in two State Championship matches for Auckland as their overseas pro. Bopara, the Essex allrounder, joined the squad after being part of England’s back-up brigade in Perth. Both men are uncapped, but the claims of Loye for a debut at the Gabba on Friday are stronger after Vaughan’s problem flared in Hobart.Aged 34 and the owner of 214 first-class appearances, Loye has shown that like Leo Sayer it is possible to reinvent yourself for a fresh generation. He felt he was good enough to play for England five and ten years ago, but only since his move from Northamptonshire to Lancashire has he become a seriously attractive proposition.Starting as a dour, straight-bat accumulator more suited to Tests, Loye has flourished since the introduction of Twenty20 into a free spirited opener whose most eye-catching manoeuvre is dropping down to slog-sweep the new-ball bowlers. Brett Lee returns from a chest complaint at the Gabba and if he receives that sort of treatment he may use his recently cleared lungs to call for a dentist to be added to the visitors’ support staff. Unless they have one already.Loye does not know whether he will need to tone down his inventive approach with the rise in standard. “I can only take it when I’m out there,” he said. “My plan has just been to be as positive as I can through the first 15 overs at home and bat through an innings. Ultimately I’ll look to do that if I get an opportunity. My game plan may differ with certain bowlers but I can only do that when I’m out there.”Text messages during the week prepared Loye for the official announcement of his inclusion and he is on the verge of justifying a decision not to represent Ireland, which would have earned him a World Cup passage. He has Irish parents but remained true to his English roots after growing through the system from under-19 to “A” level. Named in the 30-man preliminary squad for the Caribbean, he is a couple of encouraging performances away from gaining an orthodox journey to the World Cup.The scenario is similar for Bopara, a 21-year-old top-order batsman and medium pacer. He spent six weeks with the Academy squad working on his bowling and picking up tips from Vaughan. “I do like to experiment,” Bopara said. “At my pace you’ve got to have a few things up your sleeve. Just like Paul Collingwood, who is very smart and very clever.” England have been forced into trying new things as well and are faced with more untested hypotheses just two months before the main event.

The landmark came in a characteristically low-key manner, with a drive to long-on for a single, as Rahul Dravid became only the sixth player to get to 10,000 runs in one-day internationals. Of the batsmen who have reached the milestone, Sachin Tendulkar has done it in the least number of innings – only 259 – while Dravid’s 287 innings puts him in fourth place. (Click here for the list of highest run-getters in ODIs.) Interestingly, four of the six batsmen went on to get a 50-plus score in the innings in which they got to 10,000 runs: apart from Dravid, who made 66 today, Sanath Jayasuriya (67) and Sourav Ganguly (51) made half-centuries, while Tendulkar went on to make 139 against Australia at Indore in 2001. Brian Lara (44 against Pakistan at Karachi in 2005-06) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (41 against India in the Champions Trophy in 2004) were the ones who missed on celebrating the landmark in style.

Dravid had been through a bit of an ODI trough last year, but his recent numbers show he has clearly come out of it – in his last 11 innings, Dravid’s notched up six half-centuries plus a 49, and averages nearly 47.Dravid’s milestone was prominent, but the performance of the day came from Zaheer Khan, whose 5 for 42 was his first five-for in ODIs. Since coming back into the international fold on the tour to South Africa late last year, Zaheer has been in superb form, with 15 wickets in nine matches at an average of 23.13, which is a noticeable improvement on his career average of 27.54.These are also turning out to be more profitable days for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose unbeaten 67 was his fourth half-century in his last 12 innings, during which period he averages a healthy 49.78. Dhoni’s 133-run partnership with Dravid was their third century stand in just 17 innings. They also have five half-century partnerships, and average an excellent 65.20 runs per stand.For Sri Lanka, there wasn’t as much to celebrate. The one player who came out of this defeat with his confidence enhanced was Russel Arnold, who had scored just 85 in his previous seven ODI innings.