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."

Surrey have confirmed that they will host an all-star Twenty20 game between an Asian XI and International XI at The Oval on June 20 to provide aid to the victims of disasters. Surrey hope to raise a million pounds (US$1.9million) to rebuild a tsunami-hit Sri Lankan village and help other areas hit by natural disasters.Rahul Dravid, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble and Chaminda Vaas will all be part of an Asian side which will take on an International XI. The opposition will include Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Shaun Pollock, Stephen Fleming and Graham Thorpe.Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, said, “Having recently been to Sri Lanka I am acutely aware of not only the need to help those affected by the tsunami, but also to ensure that the money given is spent for the benefit of those who need it most. To this end we will donate the money to a Cricket Aid village named after Surrey in Sri Lanka. The game itself will be a festival of cricket, where the best players from all over the world will play in this unique game at the newly re-developed Oval.”Financial help will also be extended to Grenada, which was hit by hurricanes in 2004, and some cash will be put aside in order to help if there are natural disasters in cricket-playing nations in future.A similar initiative was also taken by the ICC when it hosted a charity game to raise funds for tsunami victims at the MCG in January which raised US$11 million. This was followed by a series in New Zealand.

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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.

Darren Lehmann could give his place to Michael Clarke, the “genius” who scored a fabulous century on debut in Bangalore, so he can have an unrestricted start to his Test career.In a move that could end his own international ambitions, Lehmann, the current vice-captain, said he would not stand in the way of a younger player and would consider moving aside for the third Test, when Ricky Ponting is expected to return from a broken left thumb.”That’s something I’ll think about and talk about after this Test match,” he said. “If I was a selector I would think that Michael Clarke should play every Test for the next 10 or 12 years. If a guy plays a genius knock like that in the first innings of his first Test and is earmarked by all of us to play well, you have to let him.”Clarke’s 151 created a batting-order traffic jam and before the first innings of the first Test was over there were calls for Lehmann, who averages 49.37 in 21 Tests and scored 17 and 14 in Bangalore, to be dropped.”We always knew he was pretty special,” Lehmann said. “We probably held him back for maybe a year or so to really make sure he was ready to play. He works bloody hard at the game and respects the game more than any other youngster that I’ve seen for a long time.”The move would cost Lehmann $15,000 for each missed Test and put in doubt his Cricket Australia contract, which is worth around A$650,000 a season. But Lehmann, 34, said it was not a generous decision. “Sometimes you have to make it for them [the selectors] because it’s a lot harder for them to make,” he said. “I don’t think blokes should be playing on too long. It is a bit different from state cricket where you can help out some young blokes. In international cricket sometimes you might be holding up a spot for a young guy.”

The ongoing dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and its own players continues to rumble on, with the board seeking clarification of some points put to it by the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA).On Monday, the board sought to clarify Clause Five of its match/tour contract, the main cause of dispute, inserting a new clause that sought to clarify the position with respect to a player’s right to individual endorsements.WIPA responded to that by stating that the amendment, along with the main contract, needed to be put before Justice Adrian Saunders, who was appointed last November to arbitrate in the long-running dispute. But WIPA’s statement said that Saunders’ binding decision should be “applied to that contract with all the attendant consequences.” The board has now gone back to its legal advisors to ascertain the meaning of that phrase.An insider said that the relationship between the board and WIPA was now “extremely strained”. On Monday, the board sent a representative to Sri Lanka to try to persuade the A-team players there to prepare to be drafted in to the main squad were the row not to be resolved – WIPA were not told this was happening. Roger Bathwaite, the WICB’s chief executive, told the press that he had had “a very positive response from them”. And yet hours later it emerged that all but two of the players had rejected the idea, and had sent a letter confirming that they were backing the action of the senior squad.What is certain is that time is running out. A West Indies squad is scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka on Friday, and yet at the moment there are only five players who have signed the board’s contract – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the captain, Darren Powell and rookie Denesh Ramdin from the 17 originally approached, and Tino Best and Kerry Jeremy from the A team.

The ICC has found no evidence to support claims of racism in the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, following the conclusion of an inquiry, instigated in the wake of allegations made by 15 white “rebel” players, who claimed that they had been driven out of the game in their country.”We do not find any evidence of racism within Zimbabwe cricket,” the panel decided, and that conclusion has been accepted by the ICC, which believes that the inquiry was able to get to the root of the issues in Zimbabwe, despite the early end to the oral hearing phase, after the lawyers for the players and the board failed to agree on whether testimony should be heard in front of members of the ZCU board.The inquiry was conducted by India’s Solicitor General, Goolam Vahanvati, and the South African High Court judge Steven Majiedt, and their long-awaited 73-page report was presented to the ICC’s executive board in Lahore today.The two panel members acknowledged that there had been a “complete breakdown” in the relationship between the board and the players, but believed nonetheless that they had been successful in reading between the lines of the affair. “We had every reason to believe that we would be able to ascertain the truth,” says the report. “We believe that we have been able to do so.”Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, described the report as a “vital piece of work”, adding that it should prompt people to reflect carefully on the allegations that have been made. “These allegations … invoked one of the most serious and damaging claims that can be made against an individual or an institution,” said Mani. ” I believe that anyone who has made these allegations … is now obligated to study this report and to respect and take heed of the findings.”The report attempts to lay the blame for the affair at the feet of the former captain, Heath Streak, who threatened to resign back in April if his demands were not met. The ZCU, the report claims, had no option but to take his threat at face value, thereby setting off the chain of events that led to the 15 rebels withdrawing their services in support of their captain, in the mistaken belief that he had been sacked.”In giving the board an ultimatum that he would resign if his demands were not accepted, he [Heath Streak] put his own future on the line,” the report finds. “Streak obviously did not anticipate (and was not advised) that given the ultimatum that he would retire by April 5, 2004, the board would take the position that it had no option but to reject his demands and accept his retirement. They did precisely that.”As to the allegations of institutional racism in the ZCU, the report found that their policies for the integration of cricket in Zimbabwe were based on sound principles and were generally accepted by all stakeholders in Zimbabwe cricket. However, there were some aspects of selection and the functioning of some ZCU directors which needed to be “seriously addressed”.In conclusion, the report made eight recommendations, most of which centred around issues of selection and integration. In particular, the establishment of a players’ association is high on the agenda, so that future grievances can be channelled more effectively.

Head of the International Cricket Council’s Anti Corruption Unit, Lord Condon believes a number of misunderstandings contributed to the “bad and unfair experience” suffered by West Indies manager Ricky Skerritt during the recently held ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.Lord Condon’s comments came in a letter to Skerritt following a meeting with the West Indies manager and Rev. Wes Hall, president of the West Indies Cricket Board, in Colombo on Monday.The meeting reviewed the events that led up to a Sri Lankan newspaper story that insinuated police found “prostitutes” in the hotel rooms of Skerritt and team analyst Garfield Smith.”I have spoken to the Sri Lankan police, staff at your hotel, Rev. Wes Hall and my ACU colleagues and there is no reason to doubt at all what you have said publicly and to me,” Lord Condon wrote.”Cultural and language differences clearly played their part. However, the most important factor was that the Sri Lankan police exceeded the guidance my unit gave to the Sri Lankan cricket board.”There is no reason to prevent visitors to your room whoever they are unless there is a link to malpractice. You were understandably upset and the subsequent inaccurate press article seems to be sourced to the local police.”Skerritt had asserted in his letter of demand to the newspaper that the article had been deliberately planted to sully his good name and the West Indies team.”The article contains absolute falsehoods and innuendoes made deliberately with the intention of causing damage and embarrassment to [me],” he said.Lord Condon concluded his letter by informing the West Indies manager a review of the incident had been put on record at the ICC’s Executive Board meeting in Colombo on Monday and thanked Skerritt for all the co-operation the ACU received from the West Indies team.Skerritt and the rest of the West Indies squad left Colombo on Tuesday for India where they will contest three Tests and seven limited-overs internationals.

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A record stand of 223 between Mark Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe gave Lancashire a brilliant start in their first innings response to Yorkshire’s 417 all out. In what was another gritty and hard-fought day at Old Trafford, Lancashire were made to work hard for their runs, as Yorkshire’s bowlers toiled valiantly, watched by a decently-sized crowd.Yorkshire bowled with admirable intent throughout the afternoon, and had to wait until the 74th over before Sutcliffe became their first victim. Tim Bresnan pushed one across Sutcliffe’s defence when he was seven short of his hundred, feathering an outside edge to a delighted Ismail Dawood. Sutcliffe and Chilton’s stand broke the previous best opening stand in Roses matches, 181 between Harry Makepeace and Reg Spooner, which had stood since 1912. Chilton, whose excellent innings was his second Roses hundred of the year and his third of the season, remained unbeaten on 130.Earlier in the day, Yorkshire’s tail wagged with typical obduracy to frustrate Lancashire’s bowlers. Starting the day unbeaten on 71, Yorkshire’s captain, Craig White, lost his overnight partner Richard Dawson to the ninth ball of the day. Glen Chapple, the pick of Lancashire’s bowlers, trapped Dawson leg before and consistently bowled a full length all morning.White then combined with Tim Bresnan, during a dogged partnership of 26. Bresnan’s wicket was quickly followed by Chris Silverwood’s, as Lancashire threatened to run through Yorkshire’s tail. But an entertaining and explosive stand of 56 for the tenth wicket, at better than a run a ball, between White and Deon Kruis, ensured the visiting fans had something to cheer.Kruis’s innings was particularly brutal, containing four fours and three monstrous sixes in a knock lasting just 28 minutes. One of his blows landed on the pavilion roof, smashing a tile which fell dangerously close to an unsuspecting Lancashire member. Kruis’s impetus assisted White into striking his first century of the season, and his third against Lancashire in his career. Notably, it was also the one hundredth century made between these two sides in Roses’ history.Kruis’s bold hitting finally got the better of him when he attempted to smite James Anderson over midwicket, but was well caught by Mal Loye at third-man for 35. White remained unbeaten on 110, as Yorkshire reached 417 from 125 overs.In what was to be the last ball of the day, Tim Bresnan cut one back to trap Mal Loye leg-before to leave Lancashire on 243 for 2, trailing by 174 runs. Yorkshire will seek early wickets tomorrow morning if they are to regain the initiative, but Lancashire hold the aces on day two.

Heath Streak has said the frequent top order collapses of his side were forcing him to assume the role of an opening batsman. At the close of play on the second day at Harare, Zimbabwe stumbled to 39 for 4.”Most of the time I am in when Irfan [Pathan] and Zaheer [Khan] still have the new ball in their hands,” Streak told reporters at the end of the second day. He added in a lighter vein: “I am getting trained to be a good opening batsman.”Streak, who took six Indian wickets in the first innings, had to witness another Zimbabwean batting failure as the first four wickets fell with only 21 runs on the board, forcing him to return to the field with bat in hand.Speaking of Zimbabwe’s bowling today, he said the side had been disappointed with their efforts yesterday, and were determined to put up a better show today. And they did just that, by taking nine wickets for 171 runs in 64.4 overs.”We had much better plans today and kept up the pressure with positive field settings and bowling to one side of the wicket,” Streak said. “We have to get throught the new ball tomorrow and bat positively from there.”Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid was delighted with his innings of 98, despite falling short of what would have been his 21st Test hundred. “It was one of my most difficult innings, a hard fought one, a grinding one of sorts. It’s not an easy wicket to bat on. It’s stopping a bit more, seaming a bit more and if the bowler hit the right areas, there is lateral movement.”The wicket seems to have firmed up since the first day and it’s not an easy wicket to play your shots on.”Dravid said it was his eagerness which cost him his hundred, rather than a lapse in concentration, when he was bowled for 98. “It was disappointing as it would have been a nice hundred to have. More than the concentration, it was my eagerness which cost me my hundred. I probably went across too much and hurried on to my shot.”Dravid said that unlike Bulawayo, it was a different wicket and he needed to adjust his methods accordingly.”It was a very different wicket from Bulawayo which was flat and where you could trust yourself a bit more. But still, it was equally satisfying here. However, even when their change bowlers came, they bowled the good right areas and there wasn’t much breathing space till after lunch,” he added.”We lost a few wickets and we needed to bat on and put up a decent score on the board. So I had to play differently.”Dravid praised Heath Streak for the quality of his bowling and said he needed watching all day.”He wasn’t easy to negotiate at any point of time, especially with the second new ball when he bowled a searching spell.”Dravid picked up a catch in Zimbabwe’s second innings which gave him three in the match, and an overall tally of 127 catches, the best among Indians and is on course to overtake Mark Waugh’s tally of 161 catches.”Greg Chappell and Ian Frazer have focused very hard on fielding. We have taken some good catches and hopefully we would keep doing it. It’s important [that] when you get chances you need to hold on to [them], especially against good teams.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to release Wasim Bari, the current chairman of selectors, for a two-year period to work as a full-time, paid national selector. The request comes in the light of the recent decision by the board’s ad-hoc committee to have a national selection committee comprising full-time professional selectors.Shaharyar Khan, the PCB’s chairman, told reporters a letter had been sent to PIA. “We have decided to have a paid national selection committee soon. But it is wrong to give the impression that the current selection committee headed by Bari and including Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin is going to be sacked.”The selectors have done a good job and we are giving them the choice to continue to work as paid selectors. This is why we have written to PIA asking them if they can release Bari for a two-year period to work as a paid selector on a full-time basis.” Shaharyar did, however, make it clear that if PIA didn’t release Bari then obviously the board would have to look for other candidates to form the new-look selection committee.Bari has been involved in various capacities on the selection committee for seven years and is employed presently as director administration in PIA. The seniority of his position and the responsibilities it carries has often left him open to the criticism that he hasn’t been able to devote enough time to his selection role. This has been the reason behind the board’s decision to appoint full-time selectors.In case the proposed arrangement with Bari doesn’t work out, sources close to the board reveal that former Test players Zaheer Abbas and Talat Ali will be in the fray to head the selection committee.