Division OneKent v Hampshire at Canterbury
Kent have an unchanged squad from the one that played the one-day matches against Wiltshire and Scotland. Hampshire are waiting on the fitness of Nic Pothas, who has a knee injury, and have Tim Burrows, the reserve wicketkeeper in the squad in case Pothas does not pass a late fitness test.Middlesex v Gloucestershire at Lord’s
Nantie Hayward and Chad Keegan are both injured for Middlesex, so Melvyn Betts and Chris Peploe replace them. Ed Joyce makes the side despite a finger injury. Gloucestershire’s main injury concern is Carl Greenidge with a shoulder problem, so Mark Hardinges is on standby. James Averis also returns after missing the spin-friendly pitch at Cardiff.Surrey v Glamorgan at The Oval
Graham Thorpe misses the match with back spasms, although they are not thought to be serious. He is replaced by Richard Clinton as Surrey aim to bounce back from their innings defeat to Nottinghamshire. Glamorgan are without Simon Jones (back strain) and Alex Wharf (side strain) so include Adam Harrison, the younger brother of David.Division TwoLancashire v Durham at Old Trafford
Lancashire have named an unchanged squad after their innings victory against Derbyshire. Andrew Flintoff will continue to play solely as a batsman. Durham have added Mick Lewis and Nicky Peng to the side that beat Somerset, maintaining their 100% start to the Championship.Leicestershire v Yorkshire at Leicester
Despite losing to Essex by six wickets, Leicestershire have an unchanged squad to face Yorkshire. However, the opening batsman John Maunders may replace a seam bowler. Yorkshire will again have the services of Michael Vaughan, but this will be his last Championship match before the international season starts.Northamptonshire v Essex at Northampton
Northants are without Gerard Brophy, their wicketkeeper, after he picked up a broken thumb against Yorkshire. Riki Wessels – the son of the Northants coach Kepler Wessels – will make his Championship debut. Grant Flower, Tim Phillips and Alex Tudor been added to the Essex squad that beat Leicestershire.Worcestershire v Derbyshire at Worcester
Worcestershire’s big guns return to the side after an embarrassing defeat against Loughborough UCCE. Chaminda Vass, Kabir Ali and Matt Mason are back to boost the bowling attack while Graeme Hick and Vikram Solanki return to the top-order.

Darren Lehmann says he was vetoed by Cricket Australia for a position on the Australian selection panel because he plans to carry on playing in the first-class arena. Lehmann, 35 and dumped from the Test team in December, said he had been sounded out for the role by Cricket Australia executives and other selectors.”But basically if you’re a player or a coach, you’re not allowed to become a selector,” Lehmann, who will captain South Australia next season, said. “I reckon that’s hogwash. But that’s not from Cricket Australia, it’s come from higher up in the board. I’m very disappointed in that, but that’s one of those things and if they want to go down that path, that’s fine.”A Cricket Australia spokesman confirmed the board had decided last week to rule on eligibility for Border’s replacement. “A few names were thrown around as a possible replacement, one of them was Darren,” he said. “A number of candidates had significant state cricket roles and the board thought it would clarify its position. The board wants the best-qualified candidate, but did not believe he should have a significant operational role, such as a player or coach, while he’s a selector.”Allan Border, who joined the panel in February 1998, resigned last April citing growing commitments. Lehmann played 27 Tests and scored 1,798 runs at an average of 44.95.

Canada are unsure whether John Davison, their captain and senior player, will be released to play for them in next month’s ICC Intercontinental Cup semi-final against United Arab Emirates in Sharjah.It had been assumed that Davison would be allowed to fly straight to Sharjah from Adelaide, where he plays for South Australia. But Ron Aldridge, an administrator at the Canadian Cricket Association (CCA), admitted that the situation was “up in the air”.Although Davison still hopes to join the squad, the CCA have been told by the South Australia Cricket Association that he will not be released.Canada squad John Davison (capt), Ashish Bagai, Umar Bhatti, Ian Billcliff Desmond Chumney, Austin Codrington, Sunil Dhaniram, Haninder Dhillon, Don Maxwell, Ashish Patel, Jason Patraj, Kevin Sandher,Zubin Surkari and Sanjayan Thuraisingam.

Nottinghamshire will be without the services of Stephen Fleming during August as he will be captaining New Zealand in Zimbabwe. However, he will be back towards the end of the summer for the conclusion of the Championship and National League.Fleming said: “It’s unfortunate that I will be away from Nottingham at a crucial stage but I have my commitments with New Zealand. The Notts players have shown their qualities in the first half of the season and I have every confidence they will maintain and improve on those standards while I am away. We are in a group of five or six teams who have a chance of the title and I sincerely hope that I can help us finish top of the pile come September.”Fleming is currently sixth in the first-class averages with 727 runs at 72.7, including four hundreds, with a top score of 238.Mick Newell, the director of cricket, said: “We expect Stephen will be missing for five weeks, through August and early September, but he will still have an important part to play in our end of season run-in. We are looking to sign a replacement for the period he is missing and ideally he will be a high calibre batsman who can slot straight into Stephen’s place in the batting order.””We will need to give a lot of thought to the captaincy, but hopefully his influence over the side will still be felt as we aim for the Championship and fight tooth and nail to steer clear of relegation from the National League.”

Mumbai 4 for 150 (Muzumdar 50*) trail Australians 7 for 302 dec (Martyn 71 retired, Hayden 67) by 152 runs
Scorecard

Damien Martyn’s 71 shone bright on a scorching second day of the Australians’ tour opener in Mumbai. Adam Gilchrist also gained some valuable batting practice, although in a sedate manner, before declaring the innings at 7 for 302. Mumbai had reached 4 for 150 by the close, mainly due to the impetus provided by Wasim Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar.Martyn’s innings brought a more relaxed air to the day’s play, unlike the shock-factor that Matthew Hayden induced yesterday. Relying on assured footwork and lithe wrists, Martyn nudged it around and, along with Brad Hodge, took the score past 200. Hodge, broad-shouldered and punching forcefully, didn’t face too many problems either and even creamed Ramesh Powar for two successive fours in the 14th over of the day – one off either foot and both through the extra-cover region. However, he was undone by the final ball of the same over. Some extra bounce forced him to prod towards the on side and Vinit Indulkar completed a simple catch at short leg (4 for 206).Michael Clarke was bubbling from the moment he walked out, until the silly mid-off fielder made him look … silly. Clarke got right to the pitch of the ball to block Nilesh Kulkarni, but his back foot was just out of the crease and Indulkar’s quick flick hit the stumps (5 for 227). Martyn then retired so that the lower order could get a hit, but Shane Watson muffed his chance with a golden duck. Expecting the ball to turn away, he shouldered arms to Kulkarni and was given out lbw (6 for 248).Gilchrist chose not to bat in top gear and knocked it around the infield. There were two straight sixes and a few bludgeoning sweeps in his 76-ball 42, and he was assured in his footwork against the spinners. The same couldn’t be said of Brett Lee, who had his fair share of problems against the three-pronged spin attack. He finally fell poking at an offbreak from Powar, handing Indulkar another easy catch at short leg to prompt the declaration.Mumbai’s reply was sluggish to begin with – the first four came in the 17th over – as Glenn McGrath bowled his usual metronomic line and length. Vinayak Mane fell to the first forceful shot that he attempted, to a short one from McGrath, as his mistimed pull resulted in a simple catch to Cameron White at square leg (1 for 6). Indulkar survived a couple of confident appeals for lbw against McGrath before his scratchy knock ended when he was trapped in front by Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner.Jaffer was much more composed, and bided his time against the fast bowlers. Though the boundaries were tough to find, he managed to pierce the field repeatedly and gradually grew in confidence against Lee and McGrath. The shackles were broken once the spinners came on, as Hauritz was greeted with two successive fours from his first two balls of the game as one’s mind went back to so many spinners who have been welcomed in a similar fashion in the past by Indian batsmen. Jaffer fell just two short of his fifty, inevitably to McGrath’s accuracy, as an incutter thudded into his pads and trapped him in front.Muzumdar also cashed in on the number of spinners that Gilchrist experimented with – Clarke, Simon Katich and Hodge – and chalked up his 50 in 92 balls. His partnership with Vinod Kambli at the end of the day contained some entertaining strokeplay as the Australians juggled their bowlers around, shifting the ends from which they were bowling while also interchanging between over and round the wicket.Lee tested out both batsmen with a few short ones and nearly had Muzumdar lbw with a swinging yorker late in the day. Watson had his moment of celebration on the point of stumps, as he trapped Kambli lbw. Kambli, though, was less impressed by the decision, and walked off steaming with rage, as if taking a cue from the weather all day.

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, has drawn positives from India’s three-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the first match of the Indian Oil Cup. Dravid has said that he was impressed by the way the bowlers very nearly won the match for India.He said the fact that they had scored 30 runs too little and that they could not contain Sanath Jayasuriya, who made 43, proved decisive. “If we had enough runs on the board we could have won, but the batsmen did not particularly do well. We could have got Sanath and got 30 more runs,” said Dravid quoted by PTI. He said that the bowlers, who made Sri Lanka toil for their 209 runs, and the youngsters, had done well after a three-month break from cricket. “I am proud of the way the bowlers bowled. I could not have asked for more from them. We have to come back strong from here on”.Dravid admitted that the back spasm that VVS Laxman suffered on the morning of the match had caused some selection problems. He defended the decision to drop Anil Kumble and JP Yadav, even though India were a bowler short, saying that they needed the extra batsman because the batting line-up lacked experience. “Frankly I don’t think the combination was an issue. It was our top order who didn’t come good, I do think it was a 250-run wicket,” said Dravid. “We picked three seamers because the wicket did assist swing bowling and there are lights here. The bowlers did well and fought hard.”Marvan Attapattu, the Sri Lankan captain, admitted that there was scope for improvement and admitted that India had fought well. “They fought back well. But we were fortunate to have Sanath,” he said. “There is room for improvement in all the areas. We will try to improve in our next match which is on August 3.”Sanath Jayasuriya suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Indian innings but came back to play a crucial role in steering Sri Lanka to victory. “That’s [opener] my place. I am happy to bat at number five and win the match for the country,” said Jayasuriya. “I told them [batsmen] to stay at the crease and runs will come.” He said that he was in pain at the start of his innings. “Initially I was in pain since I had just taken the injection and it takes 20 minutes for it to work. I couldn’t cut or pull,” said Jayasuriya who rated his knock as one of his most memorable. “We needed to win and my approach was to occupy the crease and bat till the end.”Dravid was all praise for Sanath Jayasuriya and said that his innings was a lesson for all cricketers. “He was terrfic. To do what he did with his dislocated shoulder was outstanding. He is a champion cricketer,” said Dravid. Atapattu said that Jayasuriya would not have batted had Sri Lanka been in a comfortable position instead of 112 for 5. “But we wanted to be in a position where if something goes wrong we could send him in with an injection.” He said it sometimes became tricky to chase a low total. “A low target could be a tricky one. The approach becomes different and you don’t know whether to score fast or get the run rate going.”

Before I harp on India’s poor record in the finals, let me state that we have a similar image of not doing well in crunch games in foreign conditions. So in that sense, we are not dissimilar. One of us would have done some corrective work by the time light is dying out at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday evening.It was nice from our point of view that Zimbabwe could keep India’s top order out of business once again. It would have still been better if Zimbabwe had won and sowed doubts in Indians’ minds. Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are on ration in terms of runs in this series. Dravid has been bowled in all the four innings and we hope he has similar returns for one more knock. From New Zealand’s point of view, we regard him the best Indian batsman and hold him in very high esteem. Once he strikes roots at the crease, the rest of the batsmen tend to feed off him.We rate both Sehwag and Ganguly similar to the extent that they are dangerous on the offside and giving them width is asking for trouble. We would prefer to take them out of the equation while the pitch still has some bounce, for once it gets slower and lower, they are tough work. We try to limit these two batsmen with deliveries which could climb up to the midriff and limits their footwork.The thing about the Indian top-order is that if they stay for any length, they can make us pay dearly. As it is, the batting line-ups are getting deeper in the age of Super Subs. In our line-up, you see a Kyle Mills coming at No.11 and he has a first-class hundred too.For India, Irfan Pathan comes in at No.10. It is no longer the age when you can limit teams to 150-160 runs. With India’s middle-order beginning to make an audible noise, it is important that we go through the top order quickly. Once it is done, the lower half would not be able to bat with customary freedom and we can tie up the two ends with Scott Styris and Daniel Vettori.Otherwise, the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni would take some stopping. Dhoni obviously is a powerful hitter. His cut-and-thrust methods work up a great mix with the finesse which India’s top batsmen are able to conjure up. Yuvraj Singh is in good nick but looking up the figures, I find he does not seem to have done much against us in the past. We would like to keep it that way and test him with lifting deliveries on the off-stump. Again, to expose him early while the ball is still new would only be possible if we go through the top order.We have noticed that older balls are easier to negotiate at this ground. Once the wicket gets slower, the early spongy bounce tends to die out and becomes predictable for the batsmen. With the ball rising slowly, batsmen are able to whack balls with cross-batted shots. The length in batting has seen the teams pushing that much harder and now 260-plus seems only a par score.So we could only hope that we would get a similar pitch to what we had in the Test match here last month. It had swing and bounce, the two ingredients which are needed for a good game of cricket. Nobody wants sideways movement because it loads the things overtly in the bowlers’ favour. But swing-friendly conditions can make it a fair contest between bat and ball.Regardless of the pitch, the basic plan of any bowling side does not change much. It is to bowl fairly and regularly on and around the off-stump long enough to cause discomfort to the batsmen. We would surely like to leave with a high but have to be at our absolute best to stop the Indians. The early advantage of the first game is long gone: India since then has made a reputation with their bowling and fielding and the lower half is holding up firm. The top order is their main concern and it is an area where we would like to stomp our feet and test if the ground is still soft underneath.

South Africa A 245 (de Bruyn 100*) lead Sri Lanka A 16 for 1by 229 runs
ScorecardSouth Africa A’s allrounder, Zander de Bruyn, scored an undefeated 100 but his team could only muster 245 all out in the opening day of a four-day match against Sri Lanka A at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground (NCC) in Colombo.After being asked to bat first, South Africa reached lunch on 89 for 2 as the two left-handers, Andrew Puttick (41) and the captain, Jacques Rudolph (28) set the platform. There followed a 63-run partnership for the sixth wicket between De Bruyn and Justin Ontong (40) to keep them in the hunt for a bigger total. But the South Africans lost their way and reached tea on 187 for 6.The left-arm spinner, Weerakoon took six wickets as he turned the tables on the South Africans. When bad light stopped play, Sri Lanka had reached 16 for 1 in reply, having lost Avishka Gunawardene for a duck, caught in the slips by Johan van der Wath off the bowling of Monde Zondeki.”We got starts but we couldn’t capitalise,” said coach Vincent Barnes. “The harsh lesson on the sub-continent is to make a good start like we did and not take advantage. However, I need to commend Zander for keeping us in the game with his hundred. He played exceptionally well. We must learn for the next match not to repeat the same mistakes.”

ScorecardAn unbeaten 64 from Hasim Amla ensured that South Africa drew their three-day game against Sri Lanka A at Dambulla. Requiring 219 in their second innings to pull off a victory, the South Africans lost their first five wickets for only 53, but recovered to finish on 127 for 5.Earlier, Avishka Gunawardene, the left-handed opener, scored 111 to lift the Sri Lankans to 266 in their second innings. Gunawardene added 39 to his overnight score of 72 in an innings which included 16 fours.The South Africans will now play a warm-up one-day match in Kurunegala on September 19 before the start of the one-day tri-series in which New Zealand A is the third team. Robin Peterson, Loots Bosman and Albie Morkel will be added as reinforcements to the one-day squad, while Hashim Amla and Paul Adams will return home. The South Africans’ first match is against Sri Lanka A in Colombo on September 21.South Africa A one-day squad
Jacques Rudolph (capt), Thami Tsolekile (wk), Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Zander de Bruyn, Tyron Henderson, Garnett Kruger, AlbieMorkel, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Andrew Puttick, Dale Steyn, Johan van der Wath, Monde Zondeki.

There is little to play for at the Telstra Dome tomorrow save individual pride and records. The cynics were predicting a contrived dream finish for the series on Friday morning, but Australia had little regard for the ideal script, and their clinical demolition of a star-studded World team has robbed the final match of all significance and occasion. The only tangible gain for the World XI could be some meaningful practice for some of their leading batsmen before the Test that starts at the Sydney Cricket Ground next week.The performances of some of the leading World batsmen has been the most disappointing factor in this one-sided series so far. Between them, Virender Sehwag, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid have managed only 81 runs in two innings, 22 less than what Adam Gilchrist scored in one. These four will form the backbone of the Test XI, where they will come up against a more formidable Australian bowling attack that will include Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.Lara and Kallis came to the series with very little competitive cricket in recent times and looked completely out of sync. Lara has lasted only 15 balls so far, being dismissed in identical fashion twice, driving Nathan Bracken to Andrew Symonds’s lap at cover. Sehwag, whose continued failure in one-day cricket should be a major concern, got out in a manner that that should be a cue for the Australian bowlers in the Test. He has a tendency to be caught on the front foot against sharp short balls and Brett Lee got him fending one in front of his face.Ironically, the World XI are set to lose their most successful batsman in the series so far after the one-day games because the selectors reckoned Mark Boucher was a better bet behind the stumps than Kumar Sangakkara on a potentially turning pitch at Sydney. That Sangakkara has far greater experience in keeping to Muttiah Muralitharan was apparently of little consequence before Boucher’s expertise against a line-up of spinners where Nicky Boje is the most distinguished member. Coincidentally, Chris Gayle, the only other World team batsman to have scored a fifty so far, will also head home after Sunday’s match.The World team failed to announce their 12 the day before the match because they are still unsure about the fitness of Kevin Pietersen, who left the field clutching his hamstring in the last over of Australia’s innings on Friday and later batted with a runner. His condition was not serious, said John Wright, the World team coach. A scan has shown a slight strain and a decision will be made on Sunday morning. It might be a folly to risk him in a meaningless match considering England are about to embark on a significant tour to Pakistan shortly.Australia have their own injury worry with Simon Katich – who has been a successful replacement for Matthew Hayden, scoring 58 and 47 in the first two matches – receiving treatment for a groin injury. If Katich is found unfit, Australia might field James Hopes, the 26-year old allrounder, who has opened in one-day cricket for Queensland.But Australia will be boosted by the return of Glenn McGrath who sat out the second match and he will be doing no favours to the World team batsmen before the Test.Likely teamsWorld XI1 Chris Gayle, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Jacques Kallis, 6 Brian Lara, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Andrew Flintoff, 9 Shaun Pollock (capt), 10 Daniel Vettori, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan, 12 Makhaya Ntini.Australia1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Andrew Symonds, 9 Cameron White, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Glenn McGrath, 12 Nathan Bracken.