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Brett Lee may currently be surplus to Australia’s requirements, but he remains a massive drawcard nonetheless, not least in county cricket, where he has been inundated with offers to play in the forthcoming season. According to his manager, Neil Maxwell, Lee has been approached by Worcestershire, Surrey, Leicestershire and Middlesex, although any decision would have to be made with the blessing of Cricket Australia.Lee, who has been a big hit in one-day cricket this season, cannot at present force his way past Mike Kasprowicz in the Test side. Because of his lack of match practice, Cricket Australia this week considered agreeing to a bold request from New South Wales, who floated the possibility of Lee flying out from Wellington to Brisbane to play in the Pura Cup final. That idea was eventually shelved, but with an Ashes summer approaching, the opportunity for regular four-day cricket is tempting.In principle, however, Cricket Australia are reluctant to release their Test players for county cricket this summer, as they wish to keep them fresh for the Ashes. “We would listen to them [CA] very closely, they’re the ones who have to plan for Brett in the future, so it would be a joint decision,” Maxwell told AFP. “From our perspective it won’t be straight after the New Zealand tour because Brett’s got some holidays booked, but there may be some merit to play in some county games before the tour starts."

A day after the Indian Premier League (IPL) banned Harbhajan Singh for slapping Sreesanth after a match in Mohali on Friday, it has emerged that the behaviour of both players had come under the scanner during the recent South Africa series in India, too.Harbhajan had to apologise to Ashwell Prince, the South African batsman, for abusing him during the third Test of that series in Kanpur last month and the South Africans “lost a lot of respect for Sreesanth” when he went after AB de Villiers, Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, told Cricinfo.Asked about the IPL incident, Arthur said he was not surprised because “when there are two such volatile players on the field, anything can happen.”Harbhajan was banned on Monday from the first season of the IPL after Farokh Engineer, the match referee, found him guilty of slapping Sreesanth. The BCCI has initiated a separate probe into the incident.”At the end of the day, we are not squealers,” Arthur said. “We strongly believe that what happens on the field stays on it. Besides, we were very happy with the general spirit in which the series was played in, and we left with very pleasant memories of the tour, especially the cricket that was played.”However, Arthur admitted that the behaviour of Harbhajan and Sreesanth during the India series “was not great” and said that the South Africans took up the Kanpur incident because Prince felt very strongly about it. “There was an incident in Kanpur. There was a hearing by the match referee (Roshan Mahanama) during which Harbhajan apologised to Prince. It was settled and we were happy with the apology. I am not 100 per cent sure what was said. But Ashwell felt very strongly about it at that time and that’s why we took it up,” Arthur said.”Sreesanth was just Sreesanth. Perhaps our players lost a lot of respect for him on the tour. He constantly abused AB de Villiers and it was very personal. But considering the general spirit in which the series was played, we didn’t feel strongly enough to complain,” he said.South Africa’s three-Test tour of India ended in a 1-1 draw after the visitors won the second Test in Ahmedabad by an innings and 90 runs before India came back strongly to level the series in Kanpur.

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Worcestershire’s patched-up seam attack will have fewer easier outings than this as Derbyshire, without a home win in almost three years, suffered a familiar collapse and were asked to follow on by Vikram Solanki. Michael Mason did the early damage, having Michael di Venuto caught behind in the first over, and shortly after dismissing Jon Moss in similar fashion. David Wigley weighed in with three wickets, as only Chris Bassano offered much in terms of resistance with a rapid 26-ball 30. Alamgir Sheriyar, the first player to be loaned out under the new ECB rule, wrapped up the tail to bag a three-wicket haul and take his career aggregate past 500. Earlier, Solanki had shown his keenness to move the game forward by declaring once his side had reached 350 – the mark for four batting points – rather than scratch around with the final-wicket pair. If the rain stays away Worcestershire will expect to get their promotion bid off to a flying start.
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Play did not start until 4.30 at Chelmsford and the Essex batsmen could only extend their first innings slowly as the Yorkshire attack showed an improvement from their opening day efforts. Grant Flower could only add 10 to his overnight score before a mistimed pull gave Matthew Hoggard his first wicket of the season, and Hoggard struck again to remove Ravinder Bopara for a sprightly 46. But without some imaginative captaincy this game is going to become a battle for bonus points.
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Ian Blackwell offered the only real resistance as an impressive allround performance from the Lancashire attack put them in a strong position at Old Trafford. Blackwell, never one to hang around at the crease, was dropped at slip by Stuart Law when on 17, going on to make 74 before bad light stopped Lancashire making any further inroads and securing a useful first-innings lead. Jimmy Anderson, in his first serious bowl since his chastening experience in the Johannesburg Test, opened with an encouraging spell of 11-7-11-1. But it was Dominic Cork who started the rot, dismissing both openers with just 22 on the board. It was good day for Cork, who helped Lancashire pass 300 by hitting 65 before giving a return catch to Andy Caddick and Sajid Mahmood made his second first-class half century, an aggressive 57 from 71 balls. Mahmood also chipped in with a brace of wickets, and Gary Keedy removed an obdurate Michael Burns following a stand of 80 with Blackwell.
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The Durham attack dramatically backed-up their batsmen’s efforts in racking up over 500 by scything through the Leicestershire order, forcing them to follow-on a massive 400 runs behind and justifying Leicestershire’s pre-season odds of 50-1. All eyes were focused on Steve Harmison to see if he could bounce back from a poor winter, but it was Liam Plunkett, his opener partner, a similarly tall but not yet as fearsome fast bowler, who stole the show. He grabbed the first four wickets to fall, including HD Ackerman and Darren Maddy, then returned to mop up the final wicket and finish with 5 for 43. Two run outs further undermined the Leicestershire innings and vindicated Michael Hussey’s decision to grind them down with over 160 overs in field. Hussey was finally dismissed for 253, caught off David Masters and he declared once Philip Mustard was stumped for an aggressive 28. Harmison must hope that it his turn, next, to contribute to this match.

Mahela Jayawardene, whose 153-run third-wicket partnership with Kumar Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka post a competitive 238, believed the team had themselves to blame for the loss. “We still couldn’t get the finish I intended, losing wickets in the end,” a visibly disappointed Jayawardene said. At 3 for 161 after 38 overs, they had an excellent launching pad, but only scored 77 in the last 12 despite having plenty of wickets in hand. He also thought India were gifted runs by his side’s sloppy fielding.But Jayawardene praised Sangakkara, his vice-captain and long-time friend, with whom he has been involved in several big partnerships in the past. In the scorching heat, the pair came together with Sri Lanka struggling and performed an admirable rescue act. “The role that Kumar and I have is to bat the majority of the overs. Kumar batted extremely well, one of the best I’ve seen him play for quite some time,” he said. “Credit to Kumar to (help the team) get to 238 from the situation we were in.”India’s chase got off to a dreadful start which had them stuttering at 3 for 35, but three crucial partnerships swung the momentum their way and prevented Sri Lanka from making further inroads. “When we picked up wickets we got the opportunity to put pressure, but Yuvi took chances and started hitting the ball. Our line was not consistent and our fielding wasn’t up to the mark,” Jayawardene said.”You shouldn’t take anything away from Yuvi’s innings, but we contributed to that as well.” He said that both Yuvraj and Dhoni had played really well in different situations, and refused to pick one innings as more important than the other.With their third loss in five games, Sri Lanka are at the bottom of the table, six points below second-placed India. “I haven’t done my maths yet but I know we need to win two out of our three games and India need to lose all their remaining games,” Jayawardene said. “Every game is like a semi-final.”

Cricket Australia has expressed its satisfaction with the facilities and security measures at both venues in Chittagong for the tour of Bangladesh beginning in April.A four-member team from Cricket Australia inspected the Chittagong Divisional Stadium (CDS), which the ICC has approved as a Test venue, and the MA Aziz Stadium. They also met with the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) officials to evaluate security measures, which was the main purpose of their visit.”Chittagong is definitely one of the few cities in the world to have two recognised Test venues,” Steve Bernard, the Australian team manager, told . “The Australian officials were very much pleased with the overall arrangements here ahead of their upcoming tour,” said Salman Ispahani, a Bangladesh Cricket Board member. “They were particularly happy with the presentation on security by the CMP and liked the CDS venue because of it has beautiful natural surroundings.”Australia will play two Tests and three ODIs at Chittagong and Dhaka during their tour. The first Test begins on April 9.

Darren Lehmann has rejected talk of retiring after the Adelaide Test against New Zealand and wants to stay on until next year’s Ashes tour. Lehmann was picked for the first game ahead of Simon Katich and will look to secure his place on his home ground from Friday after making just 8 at Brisbane.”I’m definitely not retiring,” Lehmann told reporters as he arrived in Adelaide. “If I’m enjoying cricket I’ll keep playing and I certainly am enjoying playing – so there’s no thoughts of that in my mind at all.”Lehmann also said his team-mates had spoken to Adam Gilchrist, who has been under heavy scrutiny following his walking disagreement with Craig McMillan in the first Test. “We’ll support him in whichever way he goes and whatever help he needs he’ll get it,” Lehmann said. James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said the walking debate had been “blown out of proportion” and Gilchrist did not deserve to be at the centre of it.Despite playing several seasons for Yorkshire, Lehmann has never been on an Ashes tour and wants to make the trip next year. “That’s the whole goal,” he said. “I want to get there and play a full Ashes tour.”

The three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka starting on Friday becomes crucial as both teams look to avoid relegation to the preliminary round of the forthcoming Champions Trophy. Countries have until April 1 to improve their rankings and make it to the group stage.According to the new format, eight teams will be divided into two groups of four each which include the top six in the ICC ODI Championship table as of April 1 2006, plus the top two from the preliminary round. This round comprises a four-team round robin play-off for the sides ranked seven to10 in the ICC rankings.Sri Lanka are under greater pressure to qualify for the group stage – their fate hinges not only on their performance in the three-match series against Pakistan but also on the results of the India-England ODIs starting March 28. India and England are scheduled to play two ODIs before the April 1 cut-off date.Sri Lanka are currently ranked at seven in the latest rankings with 107 points, just behind England (108). A 2-1 win for Sri Lanka will mean that they can topple England and claim that sixth spot, but can slip back to No.7, should England win one of their two games against India.If Sri Lanka sweep the series 3-0, they will immediately move to No.6, but Pakistan face the danger of being relegated to No.7, should England win one of their games. If Pakistan win 2-1, Sri Lanka will slip to 106 points but will need to rely on India winning both their games to jump to the sixth spot.A fourth – and worst-case scenario – is if Pakistan sweep all three games, which would mean that Sri Lanka would have no option but to deal with the preliminary round, irrespective of the results of India’s matches against England.Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have shown a bit of inconsistency with their ODI form. Pakistan, after beating England in the ODI series at home late last year, suffered a reversal, losing the ODI series to India 1-4, which included four straight defeats. Sri Lanka rebounded after disappointing performances in India and New Zealand by reaching the best-of-three VB Series finals in Australia, eventually going down 1-2. A shock defeat in the second ODI against Bangladesh followed, although they took the series 2-1.Kenya, currently in Bangladesh for a four-match ODI series starting March 17, are yet to play the minimum number of games to qualify for the rankings. The exact number will be determined at the ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai next week.For the full list of rankings click here.

England bounced back from their 16-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka as they again efficiently disposed of Malaysia. A powerful batting display carried them to 316 before Andrew Miller took 4 for 27 as Malaysia were rolled for 159.England’s impressive total was built around half-centuries from Billy Godleman (55), Karl Brown (55) and Mervyn Westfield, who hit two sixes in his 54. Westfield added 75 for the seventh wicket with Alex Blake to boost the total beyond 300.Malaysia didn’t come close to making a game of it as Miller continued his encouraging form by removing the top order. Blake and Liam Dawson grabbed two strikes apiece, but at least Anwar Aruddin’s 71 gave Malaysia something to smile about. England have now won two out of three matches in the triangular series.

England are likely to face a demanding schedule when they tour Australia to defend the Ashes in 12 months time.The tour will be sandwiched between the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in India in November, and the World Cup in the West Indies in March. Despite the time constraints, five Tests will be squeezed together in just six weeks.The ECB and Cricket Australia are still in negotiations but, as reported in the schedule would mean England playing 25 days of Test cricket in just 45 days. Only between the second and third Tests are the players afforded a significant break of nine days.”I’m afraid I can’t comment on the itinerary because it has not been finalised, “John Carr, the ECB’s director of cricket operations, told .”There are one or two points that are under discussion. As soon as it has been agreed, we will release it because there are a lot of people who want to know the dates so that they can make their plans.”But it is going to be a very busy winter because of the Champions Trophy and the World Cup. The intention is to let the players have a couple of weeks between the Champions Trophy and the start of the Ashes tour, and a break after the Ashes series and the start of the World Cup, which will benefit both teams.”

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Michael Vandort struck a century to put Sri Lanka A in a strong position on the opening day of the second four-day match against Bangladesh A at the Colombo Cricket Club Ground. Vandort scored 114 as Sri Lanka A reached 296 for 5 at stumps.Bangladesh A got off to a superb start after putting Sri Lanka A in to bat. Their new ball bowlers, Nazmul Hossain and Mohammad Sharif, removed Sri Lanka A’s openers, Mahela Udawatte and Kanchana Gunawardene, with the score on 39. Chamara Kapugedera joined Vandort and the pair added 64 runs for the third wicket before Nadif Chowdhury took his third catch to dismiss Kapugedera.The game was evenly poised on 103 for 3 when Jehan Mubarak came to the middle. With Vandort holding up one end, Mubarak got into his stride and soon gave Sri Lanka the advantage. They added 128 for the fourth wicket but Bangladesh A dismissed both batsmen late in the final session to end the day on a satisfactory note. Sharif’s best bowler was Bangladesh A’s best bowler with 2 for 36 in 15 overs.