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Division One

Second day
Only 15 overs were possible at Headingley on the second day between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, with the home side looking for a win to survive relegation. Play didn’t start until 13.30BST and Yorkshire quickly lost their last two wickets, with Charlie Shreck finishing with 4 for 63. Nottinghamshire moved to 21 without loss when bad light and drizzling rain forced the players off the pitch.Lancashire v Durham – no play Thursday due to rain.Warwickshire v Kent – no play Thursday due to rain.

Division Two

Third dayJames Hildreth pounded a career-best 227 on the third day at Taunton as Somerset declared on 625 for 8 against Northamptonshire. Hildreth, resuming on 119, crashed 31 fours and three sizes in his 269-ball innings. Andy Caddick clobbered 28 from 21 and Will Durston batted cautiously for his 73 before Ian Blackwell, Somerset’s captain, declared. In reply Northamptonshire raced to 78 from just 15 overs, but they still have a mountain to climb.

Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak has ruled out a return to Zimbabwe colours for next year’s World Cup because of to his contractual commitment to Warwickshire, where he is captain.”I would love to have played another World Cup,” he told Zimbabwe’s Sunday News. “However, my Warwickshire commitments start in March. I am committed to them and have no intention of jeopardising my future with the club.”Streak did not rule out playing for his country again – when he signed his contract for Warwickshire he indicated that he would be available should he be called on when he was not needed in England. But he was not contacted by Zimbabwe Cricket about his availability.”At the moment, I have not had any contact from anyone in the ZC asking me to come out of retirement,” he explained. “But I am focused on finishing my career as a county player at Warwickshire. I am enjoying my cricket without all the stress that surrounded Zimbabwe cricket the last few years. It does sadden me to see all the young players previously playing for Zimbabwe who are now playing club and county cricket in the UK.”It is criminal that a player like Tatenda Taibu has not been spoken to try to get him back into the playing arena where he is desperately needed.” Last week, Taibu, who played for Pyrford in Surrey during the summer, ruled out a comeback with Zimbabwe and made clear that he believed his future lay in South Africa.In June, shortly before the Bangladesh one-day series, Kevin Curran, Zimbabwe’s coach, visited the UK to try to persuade disaffected players to return to play. Streak said Curran never got in touch with him or other senior players such as Taibu, Ray Price and Gavin Ewing.A sign of the state of confusion still surrounding the game in Zimbabwe came when Curran admitted to the newspaper that he was unaware that Streak was potentially available and that he would be considered for the tour to Bangladesh at the end of the year.Streak admitted that he still kept one eye on cricket in Zimbabwe, and while he was clearly pleased with the recent series win over Bangladesh, he added that in his opinion the standard of cricket was not high.

Sean Ervine has transformed from an outsider to an almost regular member at Western Australia in less than a week after following his one-day selection with a spot in the Pura Cup squad for the match against Victoria on Sunday. Ervine, the former Zimbabwe allrounder who played five Tests and 42 ODIs, spent two seasons trying to get into the senior sides in Perth once he walked away from the international game.A space in the limited-overs squad for Friday’s Ford Ranger Cup game at the WACA was a reward for early-season warm-up runs and he will receive a maiden first-class cap for the Warriors if he makes the XI for the four-day fixture.Western Australia’s selectors decided on a change to the one-day outfit for Sunday’s contest, with Clint Heron winning a place ahead of the allrounder Peter Worthington. Heron, a right-handed batsman, appeared in five first-class fixtures last year and posted three half-centuries.Western Australia Pura Cup squad Justin Langer (capt), Marcus North, Luke Ronchi (wk), Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Chris Rogers, Clint Heron, Sean Ervine, Brett Dorey, Ben Edmondson, Steve Magoffin, Aaron Heal.

This is the World Cup in everything but name.Heading into today’s first Champions Trophy semi-final between Australia and New Zealand in Mohali, it is impossible to avoid the realisation that the last two weeks of competition in India have been an overwhelming endorsement of the principle that quality, instead of quantity, invariably generates considerably more interest and excitement than a handful of hapless minnows fighting for survival among the big fish of the sporting world.This fifth edition of what is generally seen as a World Cup warm-up has not been a major crowd-puller (except when India are playing, of course), but the global television audience has lapped up an event in which every match, from the last preliminary fixture between the West Indies and Sri Lanka, is a contest between teams capable of going all the way to lift the title.Many of the matches have transpired to be one-sided affairs, and in fact there have been very few nail-biting finishes. Yet in every fixture, before a ball is bowled and often well into the match, there is the anticipation of a tense, hard-fought contest between quality, battle-hardened rivals.Take last Friday’s clash of South Africa and Pakistan for example. The match turned out to be a rout for South Africa, inspired by lethal fast bowling from Makhaya Ntini, while the Pakistanis were at their inconsistent best, dominating the early going before folding pathetically when it really mattered. The final result, victory for South Africa by 124 runs, suggested a no-contest on paper. Yet it was anything but.Even if the diehard fans of one-day international cricket have not been able to savour the run-feasts that they were anticipating, the more helpful conditions for bowlers in several of the matches have made for much more intriguing duels, where the flat-track bullies have been exposed while the quality batsmen have come to the forefront. None of the 12 group matches could have been referred to as a foregone conclusion, while today’s encounter, tomorrow’s showdown between the West Indies and South Africa in Japiur, and then the final three days later, will all have those elements of anxiety and uncertainty.The same cannot be said of the 24 group matches at next year’s World Cup.While the intention of the ICC in introducing more Associate Member nations to the big stage in the past decade is a praiseworthy one in the context of spreading the gospel, and therefore the revenue-earning potential, of the game, it does create a situation where a succession of virtual no-contests will be standard fare for the first 12 days of this event.Scanning through the fixture list for the first round from March 13 to 25, it becomes clear that – on current form – only one of the six matches in each group is expected to be both competitive and worthy of interest among fans outside of the actual competing nations. In Group A, it’s Australia versus South Africa; Group B, India against Sri Lanka (although Bangladesh may be a factor); Group C, England versus New Zealand; and Group D, West Indies against Pakistan in the World Cup opener (Zimbabwe may cause a few problems if they can get their act together in time).No disrespect is intended to the hard-working teams from Kenya, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, the Netherlands and Bermuda, but they will be coming to these parts for the exposure, the experience, plenty licks and to be the victims of a few cheap World Cup records.Yes, the Kenyans famously upset West Indies in the 1996 World Cup and reached the semi-finals of the last tournament in South Africa in 2003, but the former had much to do with complacency and an unsettled Caribbean team at the time, while the latter was due in no small measure to two of their preliminary group opponents preferring to forfeit the points after being scared-off from traveling to Nairobi to face the Kenyans because of alleged security concerns.To have such a high proportion of no-hopers among 16 teams really devalues the event as a spectacle. It almost seems a case of putting on fixtures just to give the television networks – who have paid huge sums for exclusive rights – something to cover so that the World Cup can be a six-week marathon instead of the compact, high-quality, three-week festival of the best in international cricket that a tournament of this stature should be.Comparisons will inevitably be made to the 32-nation football World Cup finals and the high proportion of teams there who really have no chance of lifting the prize. But football is a truly global sport, igniting extreme passions from fans in every country on the planet. Gone are the days when the newcomers would be the whipping boys of the favoured teams. In fact, at Germany 2006, the group phase was far more entertaining than the knockout stages because of the open, attacking football played by all the teams, big or small.Cricket has been an exclusive club for too long for the same to prevail at its World Cup, which is why the Champions Trophy has been full of interest from ball one, while next year’s Caribbean cricketing carnival will only heat up two weeks into the show at the “Super Eights” stage. In other words, when the same eight teams that were involved at the start of the Champions Trophy proper are left to fight it out for the game’s biggest limited-over prize.

The dressing room door at the Wanderers tells you that you’re now in[Highveld] Lions territory, but Rahul Dravid refused to be pessimistic orintimidated as he looked ahead to Sunday’s game against South Africa.While he said that it would be a test of character for the younger membersof his side, he was confident that there was enough experience within theranks to cope with the challenge posed by a South African team that edgedAustralia 3-2 in a one-day series last March.”There have been some good past experiences here and some not-so-goodones,” he said, when asked whether India’s poor record against SouthAfrica in these climes would have any bearing on the outcome. “It’s a goodthing for this team to be tested on this tour going into some big eventsnext year. We know it’s going to be very competitive, really tough andwe’re going to have to play very well. But the boys are keen to learn andadjust to conditions which they are not used to.”With persistent drizzle forcing them indoors on Friday and Saturday, thebatsmen geared up with long sessions against the bowling machine. VirenderSehwag, who was rated an unlikely starter 24 hours ago, came through wellon Saturday afternoon, playing a full range of strokes in the nets. “We’lljust have a final fitness test depending on his fielding,” said Dravid.”Unfortunately, due to the weather, we haven’t had a chance to have thatpractice, but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow morning.”Dale Steyn’s searing pace proved too hot to handle in the warm-up game,but Dravid reckoned that the more callow men in his squad would only havegained from the experience. “You get off the plane and come up against apretty good bowling attack on what the South Africans considered anabove-average bouncy wicket in Benoni,” he said. “But it was a goodexperience and we’ll learn from that. You can see that they’re very keento learn and adapt. In some ways, it’s a good early lesson for our boys onwhat they are going to experience and how they might have to cope.”He also brushed aside suggestions that Indians were more vulnerableagainst pace than other sides. “We have some proven players, guys who havedone very well against fast bowling and who have outstanding records inour country and outside – including getting runs here and the World Cup,”he said. “We have some good young players as well, who have to get betterand improve.”Dravid himself scored his first Test century at the Wanderers nearly 10years ago, and his memorable duel with Allan Donald in an ODI at Durban isstill remembered by many. “I’ve always enjoyed playing in South Africa,”he said. “You get good sporting wickets that give you a chance. I’vealways believed that if you have good technique, you have a much broaderrange of shots to play.”The key is to get through the initial difficult period and adjust to thebounce but after that, you can actually showcase your skill as a batsman alot better than at some other places where you have to play aone-dimensional game.”The No.3 slot has had no regular occupant for a while, with Irfan Pathandoing the job on several occasions in the recent past, but Dravid refusedto be drawn on whether he would be promoting himself up the order inbowler-friendly conditions. “We’re missing a bit of experience with Yuvraj[Singh] in the middle order, so it’s a question of getting the balanceright,” he said. “You might see me come up the order, but I’m mindful ofthe fact that we can’t be too top-heavy as well. We need someone tocontrol the middle and later overs. Probably, we’ll use [Mahendra Singh]Dhoni to do the role of Yuvraj.”Despite the fact that only four men reached double figures against Rest ofSouth Africa, Dravid was of the view that India needed to persist with thefive-bowler strategy that has often been employed in recent times. “I’msomeone who likes to play five bowlers,” he said. “Australia are usingtheir allrounder as an opener. Going ahead, we’re going to have to bebrave and positive. That’s the only way I know how to play. We’re going totake the bull by the horns. Six batsmen should do the job.”With the overcast conditions suggesting a pace-oriented attack, AnilKumble is likely to sit out though he picked up 2 for 31 in the warm-upgame. “We picked Anil keeping in mind his experience and the kind ofconditions we’re likely to face in the West Indies,” said Dravid. “It wasa chance to get him in the squad and for us to dip into his knowledge andexperience. He’s great guy to have in the side. We may have to pickbetween one of them on this tour.”Another of those on the comeback trail is Zaheer Khan, and after thesavaging that Sreesanth and Munaf Patel got at the hands of JacquesRudolph and Albie Morkel, he and Ajit Agarkar are likely to be entrustedwith the old ball on a pitch where South Africa chased down 434 not solong ago. “We’re looking at all sorts of combinations,” said Dravid.”Zaheer has bowled very well and is looking very fit and hungry. It’s agood sign for us. He also brings his experience – not only in the deathovers, which is important, but also right through the innings.”Having lost both previous matches against South Africa at this storiedvenue, Dravid and his men can only hope that it will be third time luckyon Sunday. South Africa’s pedigree on home turf means that they’ll have toplay out of their skins to do what even Australia couldn’t a few monthsago.

Shane Warne, the most successful bowler in Test history, is expected to announce today that he will retire after the final match of the Ashes series in Sydney.Apart from his world-record 699 wickets, the skill that has surged Australia to the top of the world in Tests and ODIs, and his personality that makes him almost compulsory viewing, he has revived an art that was dying when he first started to bowl. Australia’s previous big-name legspinner was Richie Benaud, who retired in the 1960s, but Warne turned history on its head.He started by receiving a thrashing in 1991-92, but he recovered and seemed to peak during the prolific years of 1993 (72 wickets) and 1994 (70), when his mesmerising powers quickly made him a global figure. Back then his nickname was Hollywood and he claimed his life was a soap opera. The show will not stop despite his expected decision in Melbourne to walk away.Amazingly, Warne was not only able to maintain his danger through career-threatening finger and shoulder injuries and a 12-month drug ban, but he was able to increase it. In 1996 he had a serious operation on his finger, the shoulder surgery in 1998 was supposed to finish him and the rest forced in 2003 by a diuretic he took to lose weight was expected to send him into the commentary box for life. Each time he came back stronger, wilier and wildly successful.In the past three calendar years he has 208 wickets, including a record 96 in 2005, and has ruined a new generation of aggressive batsmen. He did it mostly with his legspinners, topspinners and a fast-bowler’s attitude. The feared flipper, the “mystery ball” of the 1990s which did more to unnerve batsmen than any of his other qualities, was never as skiddy after the finger and shoulder operations. Instead he used variations – he could deliver five or six legspinners – and mentally tested batsmen with his accuracy, stamina and histrionics. It has been a breathtaking mix.

Over the past two Tests he has floored England in the second innings and re-captured the Ashes that his team-mates lost in 2005. With a double of 40 wickets and 249 runs, Warne did not deserve to be in the defeated side. On the field he was magnificent, but off it he was a mess, crying in his room at the break-up of his marriage. The indiscretions were as much part of Warne as his total control whenever he entered a cricket ground. It is an incredible contradiction.Warne was born in Melbourne on September 13, 1969 and wanted a career as an Australian rules footballer. Fortunately he failed and his sharp sporting mind and huge wrists concentrated on cricket. He made his debut for Victoria in 1991 and his first two overs went for 20. Later that year he was drinking with his mates at the MCG not knowing that in a week he would be appearing in his first Test. He had played only four first-class games for his state and the step up was a shock.The following summer he toured Sri Lanka, taking 3 for 11, to win a lost Test and rattled West Indies with 7 for 52 on his home ground to start a magical, eventful, controversial and never-to-be repeated ride. He passed Dennis Lillee’s Australian record of 355 in New Zealand in 2000 and took the world mark four years later in India. His best figures of 8 for 71 came against England at the Gabba in 1994-95 and he holds an unwanted record of having the most runs (3043) without scoring a century.After 143 Tests he is one away from taking his 700th victim on his home ground at the MCG from Boxing Day. In two Tests he will almost certainly be gone and Australia will have lost its second greatest player.

Zimbabwe A 293 and 295 for 3 (Williams 85*, Chibahaba 70) drew with Bangladesh A 380
ScorecardZimbabwe A ended their short tour with a draw against Bangladesh A at Fatullah on a day where both sides agreed to forgo the final session as the match meandered to stalemate.The only chance of a result was for Bangladesh A to take quick wickets, but on a batsman-friendly pitch only one wicket fell in 59 overs on the final day, that of Chamu Chibahaba. Resuming on 106 for 2, 19 runs ahead, Zimbabwe A made steady progress with few alarms as Chibahaba and Sean Williams added 138 for the third wicket. By the time Chibahaba was beaten by an Alok Kapali legbreak for 70, the game was dead.Williams finished on 85 not out, adding to his 82 in the first innings, while Stuart Matsikenyeri finished the afternoon session with a quickfire 32 off 37 balls which included three sixes. Play was called off by mutual agreement at tea.Zimbabwe were happy to end the tour with a draw as all their previous ODI and first-class matches had finished in defeat. Despite the result here, the trip highlighted the major problems facing the Zimbabweans as they prepare for their return to Test cricket next November.

Gold League
Sialkot beat Peshawar by two wickets inside three days chasing 221 after they had conceded a first-innings lead of 50 on the third day of their fourth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship Gold League match at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.Resuming on their overnight score of 137 for 8 Peshawar only added 33 more. Sialkot’s bowling hero was Tahir Mughal who took 5 for 65 and finished with a match haul of 10 for 121.Sialkot got off to a sound start with 63 from the opening pair but Waqar Ahmed, the left-arm seamer, with 4 for 29, and Peshawar’s other bowlers appeared to have swung the initiative their way when Sialkot were at 162 for 7 needing 59 more. Mohammad Ayub, however, scored a fighting unbeaten 55 off 99 balls. The unbroken ninth-wicket stand between Ayub and Asim Butt was worth 61 and proved to be match-winning in the end.Peshawar will now meet last season’s runners-up Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad in their fifth-round match from February 1. Sialkot, who took only six points from this win, will host Lahore Shalimar on the same day.Karachi Harbour set Lahore Shalimar a target of 383 after declaring their second innings at 242 for 6 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.Having already piled up a first-innings lead of 140, Karachi Harbour pushed towards victory as Khalid Latif, the opener, made 103 and added 124 with Naumanullah for the fifth wicket.This was Latif’s second first-class century and his 103 came off 201 balls while Naumanullah made 64 off 102 balls. Sarfraz Ahmed, the wicketkeeper, followed his 75 in the first-innings with an unbeaten 36 that came off 52 balls with four fours.Junaid Zia, Lahore Shalimar’s right-arm medium-fast bowler, took 4 for 69 to match his first-innings figures of 4 for 82. At stumps Lahore Shalimar were at 44 for no loss with 339 more needed on the final day.Despite a 50-run stand for the last wicket Faisalabad conceded a first-innings lead of 51 to Rawalpindi who then extended their lead to 328 by the end of day three of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.Misbah-ul-Haq, unbeaten on 93, added 31 for Faisalabad’s tenth wicket with Asad Ali who stayed with Haq for nearly an hour making only four.Babar Naeem, the Rawalpindi opener, who had made 55 in the first innings, top-scored in the second innings with 75 while Mohammad Wasim, the Rawalpindi captain, followed his first innings 62 with a score of 57. Saeed Ajmal and Asad Ali took three wickets each for Faisalabad while Ahmed Hayat took two. At stumps Rawalpindi were at 277 for 8 with Sohail Tanvir and Yasim Murtaza at the crease.Silver League
Lahore Ravi won by an innings and 53 runs after they bowled out Quetta for 107 inside 48 overs on the third day of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship Silver League match at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground.Quetta didn’t put up a fight at all, following on 260 runs behind after being bowled oyt for 248 in the first innings. Their second innings began on an encouraging note with a second wicket stand of 69 between Shoaib Khan and Umar Javed. But then they lost the last nine wickets for 30 runs.Wasim Khan, Kashif Siddiq and Waqas Ahmed took three wickets each. Khan, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, ended with a match haul of 7 for 89 while Siddiq got 5 for 12 with his legbreak bowling.While Quetta will next play in Hyderabad, Lahore Ravi will host Abbottabad in the fifth round starting February 1.Trying to remain in contention for the Silver League final, and a possible return to the Gold League, Multan were 71 for 3 chasing a target of 321 against Abbottabad at the Multan Cricket Stadium.Multan seemed to have the game in their grasp when the first five Abbottabad wickets fell for 101 but the last five then added another 121 more to give them a total of 222.Zafar Janoon and Nasir Jalil added a crucial 50 runs for the eighth wicket. Jalil remained unbeaten on 39 off 75 balls. Abdur Rauf, Multan’s right-arm medium-fast bowler, took 6 for 66 and Mohammad Irshad took 2 for 39. Multan lost three wickets for 71 when stumps were called and need another 250 to win.

After completing his transformation from out-of-favour allrounder to national hero with a match-winning century, Craig McMillan said New Zealand could go to the World Cup without fearing any target. McMillan was a crucial figure in the final two Chappell-Hadlee Trophy matches as New Zealand overhauled scores of 336 at Eden Park and 346 at Hamilton to secure the country’s first cleansweep over Australia.Back-to-back performances of 52 off 30 balls and 117 off 96 were also hugely satisfying for McMillan, who was dropped from the squad in 2005 and not offered a New Zealand contract. “Hopefully, I’ve shown people I can still bat and I’ve still got something to offer this side,” McMillan said in the Dominion Post. “I’ve always had the ability but at times that belief gets knocked when you are not going as well as what you want. But I suppose the key for me was the knock in Sydney [last month] when I got 89, that gave me the belief that I can foot it.”New Zealand were in severe trouble at 4 for 41 at Hamilton when McMillan walked out to perform a brilliant rescue and collect the fastest century in the country’s history. Partnerships of 75 with Peter Fulton (51) and 165 with Brendon McCullum (86 not out) pushed them towards their aim before McCullum finished the match with one wicket and three balls to go. The series result and the manner in which New Zealand achieved the whitewash will give them extreme confidence heading into next month’s World Cup.”From 40 for 4 we didn’t have a lot to lose and sometimes teams can be dangerous from those situations,” McMillan said. “We got a couple of partnerships going. It’s special and the icing on the cake was winning the game. Now we can head to the World Cup believing we can chase down anything.”

ScorecardNick Compton continued his fine form with a grafting 92 to hand England A a 99-run lead on the third day against Bangladesh A at Bogra.Saghir Hossain added a further 17 to his overnight 30 to become Stuart Broad’s fourth wicket while his partner, Enamul Haque jnr – with whom Hossain added 66 for the ninth wicket – fell for a gutsy 24.England’s reply started shakily, however, with Will Jefferson falling for 13, Michael Yardy run out for just a single before Michael Carberry was trapped leg-before by Nadif Chowdhury. Meanwhile, Compton was resolute and, with Matt Prior, began to build England’s lead with a fourth-wicket stand of 74. Shortly after Compton passed his 99-ball fifty, Prior was caught in the deep, but Steven Davies helped add a further 56 for the fifth wicket.Eyeing his hundred, and eyeing a reverse-sweep off Mehrab Hossain, he was bowled for 92 as England’s lead nudged up towards 100.”Scoring was difficult,” he told PA. “I think everyone found that. That [reverse sweep] is a shot you play when runs are needed. Like others you play in that position, there’s an element of risk, but it can be useful. Overall, I’ve got to be pleased with my own performance and all the batters [sic].”With Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad at the crease tomorrow morning, England still have time to build a substantial lead. But with the first day washed out, time is of the essence.”I think the players have done superbly to put themselves in a winning position in a Test match after four sessions of play having lost the first day completely,” Peter Moores, the England A coach, said. “This is not dissimilar to the position in the first Test and we’ll go about day four in the same positive fashion.”