Australia 220 and 193 for 2 (Hayden 106*) lead Sri Lanka 381 (Dilshan 104, Jayawardene 68, Warne 5-116) by 32 runs
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After two days that belonged emphatically to Sri Lanka, Australia fought backon the third day. Shane Warne was the catalyst, rushing the Sri Lankaninnings to a close in the morning as he claimed 5 for 116 on his return toTest cricket, before Matthew Hayden led the batting effort with his 18thTest hundred. Australia wiped out their 161-run first-innings deficit andfinished the day on a healthy 193 for 2.Australia had a dreadful start to the day, though, as Brett Lee was sent homebecause of his injured ankle and Michael Kasprowicz was sidelined with asprained shoulder, but Warne soon put the smiles back on Australian faces withthe 24th five-wicket haul of his Test career and the first of his secondcoming.Sri Lanka, who had started the day on 352 for 6 with high hopes of posting a200-plus lead, were bowled out for 381. Warne took three of the fourwickets, which fell in the space of just 12 runs.Nevertheless, Australia appeared to be in deep trouble. The highest second-innings score in Galle by any team in the venue’s ten-Test history is just269, and the dusty pitch had clearly deteriorated. But Australia’s openerssoon made amends for their first innings blip, adding 91 for the firstwicket.Hayden rode some luck early as David Shepherd ruled that a gun-barrelstraight Chaminda Vaas delivery had taken the inside edge before striking the pad, when television replays suggested the ball hit the pad first. Thereafter, Hayden dominated, refusing to be cowed into an unnaturally defensive approach by Australia’s perilous position.Justin Langer (32) was less comfortable – especially against MuttiahMuralitharan, his nemesis on the 1999 tour – but he battled hard. HashanTillakaratne, who employed some innovative field positions against bothbatsmen, rotated his spinners around in an increasingly desperate search fora breakthrough.Eventually, he threw the ball to Sanath Jayasuriya, who made an inauspiciousstart with a handful of leg-side deliveries. But Jayasuriya did the trick forSri Lanka, courtesy of some help from the crumbling pitch, as a grass-cuttertrapped Langer plumb lbw (91 for 1).Jayasuriya could also have dismissed Ricky Ponting after a mid-pitch confusion, but he fumbled a throw from Kumar Sangakkara and Ponting, then on 10, regained his ground. The miss proved costly as the pair frustrated Sri Lanka after tea, adding 84 in 160 balls for the second wicket.Fortunately for Sri Lanka, Hayden’s keenness to notch up his century cost Ponting his wicket. Hayden, on 99, tried to pinch a leg-side single but Upul Chandana, Sri Lanka’s speediest fielder, responded with a pouncing pick-up-and-throw from square leg which found Ponting inches short of the crease (175 for 2). Ponting made 28.Hayden eventually reached the milestone with a leg-side clip, and then survived until the close of play, finishing on 106 not out, an innings which included 10 fours and two sixes. Damien Martyn was unbeaten on 10.

In the morning, Sri Lanka were in no hurry, apparently content to leaveAustralia out in the field for as long as possible under a fierce middaysun. Only 17 runs were added in the first hour and all the major activitywas off the field, as Australia’s media manager announced Lee’s unfortunatewithdrawal from the tour.But the action quickened up in the second hour as Warne producing asharp-turning legbreak to dismiss Chandana (27), who feathered a catchto Adam Gilchrist. Stuart MacGill finally captured his first wicket of the innings in his 21st over when Vaas edged to slip for a duck.Warne soon mopped up the tail. First Kumar Dharmasena (6), who could havebeen stumped without scoring had Gilchrist been able to gather a difficultleg-side take, edged another legbreak to slip and Muralitharan (0)helped Warne on to 496 Test wickets as he chipped back a tame return catch.Thilan Samaraweera, batting with a runner because of a torn muscle in hisright groin, was left unbeaten on 36 after a 176-minute vigil at the crease,no doubt ruing the inability of the lower order to give him better support.At the time it appeared to matter little but, after Hayden’s heroics, SriLanka’s 161-run cushion might not be enough.

The former West Indian fast bowler, Reon King, has been signed by Durham as cover for Shoaib Akhtar, who will be on international duty for the first few weeks of the 2004 season.King, a Guyanese seamer, has played in 14 Tests and 48 ODIs for West Indies, but faded from view soon after a disappointing tour of England in 2000, when he and Franklyn Rose failed to live up to the high standards set by the peerless new-ball pairing of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.”Reon has performed at the highest level in world cricket,” said Martyn Moxon, Durham’s head coach. “His signing will provide experience and extra competition for places among the quick bowlers.” Shoaib’s Test commitments do not end until April 17, while Steve Harmison will be involved in England’s tour of the Caribbean at least until April 14.David Harker, Durham’s chief executive, added: “Durham areblessed with a fine crop of young fast bowlers and they can only benefitfrom the experience of working with an international player like Reon,as they did last year with Javagal Srinath. “

There were no surprises as England named their squad for the second Test against New Zealand at Headingley, which starts next Thursday. As expected, Andrew Strauss has retained his place following the retirement of Nasser Hussain, while Michael Vaughan returns as captain after recovering from a knee injury.Strauss announced himself in Test cricket with a stunning debut, scoring 112 and 83 as England won by seven wickets. Hussain’s emotional farewell at Lord’s has now ensured that Strauss will be given a run in the side, but where he will bat is another matter.With Vaughan fit to return after twisting his knee in the nets days before the first Test, the selectors will have to decide who will open the batting. Strauss and Marcus Trescothick put on 190 in the first innings at Lord’s, and it is likely that Vaughan will move down from his usual opening spot to fill Hussain’s old position at No. 4.However, David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, told BBC Sport that the final decision will be with the captain and the coach: “We as selectors have given our view, but it is down to Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher to decide.”Graveney added that the team may miss Hussain’s streetfighting qualities, but that there would have been some tricky decisions to be made if he had still been available for selection. “If you want a scrap you need Nasser Hussain,” he said. “He has introduced a level of passion in playing for England that was perhaps missing in the past. It would have been an interesting selection meeting if [Hussain] had still been available. It’s the first time in a while lots of players have been knocking on the door and that poses some good problems for the selectors.”One of those players was Robert Key, the Kent batsman, who has made a roaring start to the season, scoring five first-class hundreds and 893 runs. Key, though, will have to wait longer to add to his eight Tests.In the bowling department, the only question is whether England play Ashley Giles, the specialist spinner, or replace him with Paul Collingwood or James Anderson.England haven’t won a Test at Headingley since Mark Butcher’s heroic 173 not out helped to conquer the Australians in 2001, and Graveney insisted they were taking nothing for granted. “Our win in the first Test was an outstanding team effort and we will need to maintain the same level of performance at Headingley – a ground where we have under-performed in the last two years,” he said. “New Zealand are tough opponents and should not be underestimated. The last time they toured they went on to win the series 2-1 and I am sure they will come back hard at Headingley.”England Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, James Anderson, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, Simon Jones.

Zaheer Khan’s short county stint with Surrey has come to an early end. He was supposed to play his last match – a four-day game against Gloucestershire – on Wednesday, but The Indian Express reports that Zaheer has pulled out of that match and will return home instead.According to the report, a spokesperson for Surrey confirmed that Zaheer’s decision was prompted by fitness problems. “Zaheer informed us that he does not feel 100% match-fit, so he cannot play the game. Both parties have had an amicable parting of ways.”Zaheer had joined Surrey as an unpaid amateur in a short-term deal in which he was supposed to play one one-day game and two four-day matches. He made a sensational start in the one-dayer against Essex, taking two wickets in his first over, but his performance in the four-day match against Kent was more modest: he finished with 1 for 101 in 26.4 overs, and his only victim was Mohammad Sami, Kent’s No. 11. Zaheer will return to India and participate in a six-day conditioning camp for fast bowlers, to be held in Bangalore from June 7.Zaheer has been struggling with injuries over the last six months, and his county stint was part of his effort to regain his fitness before the start of the international season. A torn hamstring forced him to miss two out of four Tests on the tour to Australia, as well as the entire VB Series. He recovered in time to play the one-day series against Pakistan, but limped out of the Test series in Multan.Zaheer’s early departure poses a problem for Surrey as well, as they cannot sign another overseas replacement for Saqlain, whom he had replaced. Explaining the procedure, the Surrey spokesman said: “The ECB rules state that you can have just one replacement for an overseas player. Now we can do it only if Azhar Mahmood [Surrey’s second overseas player] gets injured or if Saqlain were to come back and get injured again.”

Two matchwinning centuries today set up a repeat of last year’s final: Worcestershire will once again face up to Gloucestershire to decide the winner of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy after both teams won their semi-finals.Worcestershire stormed through, beating Warwickshire by 41 runs at Edgbaston. They were helped by a century from Vikram Solanki, who was lucky to survive a close lbw shout from Neil Carter first ball, but went on to star in a 146-run opening partnership in 32 overs with Stephen Moore, which set up a total of 257 for 4.After Worcestershire were put in under overcast conditions, Solanki was the more aggressive of the two openers, and brought up his half-century from 64 balls with a swept four off Ashley Giles. Moore eventually fell for 57, slapping Brad Hogg to Dougie Brown at long-on. With the exception of Solanki, the Worcestershire batsmen found it hard to score quickly on a slow pitch, and Nick Knight used shrewd bowling changes, backed up by excellent fielding, to keep the run rate down.Graeme Hick scratched around for 12 balls for 5 before he hit Brown to Hogg at mid-on (159 for 2). Solanki, who has been included in England’s 30-man provisional squad for the Champions Trophy, brought up his hundred from 110 balls, and Ben Smith hit a six and a four in an aggressive 23 before clipping Carter to Knight at midwicket (211 for 3).Solanki’s fine innings came to an end in the 46th over when he was bowled by Brown (237 for 4), but David Leatherdale (27 not out) and Andy Bichel (10 not out) took Worcestershire past 250.In reply, Warwickshire got off to a flyer despite the early loss of Carter, with Knight and Mark Wagh adding a rapid 65 for the second wicket. Wagh was particularly strong on the drive, crashing Bichel several times through the covers, and the 50 came up in the 10th over. Knight rode his luck, twice edging Matt Mason past Steve Rhodes for four, but it was Wagh who fell first, caught by Solanki off Andrew Hall (85 for 2).When Knight was run out for 37 (93 for 3), the Warwickshire innings lost its way, collapsing to 115 for 5 as Ian Bell and Hogg both failed with the bat. An 84-run partnership between Brown (47) and Trevor Penney (41) kept Warwickshire in the hunt, but after Brown was trapped lbw by Gareth Batty (199 for 6), the wheels came off and Warwickshire were bowled out for 216 in the 48th over.Meanwhile at bristol, Craig Spearman guided Gloucestershire home against Yorkshire, with an innings replete with impeccable timing, placement and, against the spinners, improvisation. Gloucestershire ended up winning by five wickets, chasing down Yorkshire’s 243 for 6.Spearman smashed 143 off 122 balls, with 14 fours and four sixes, and was aggressive from the start. Tim Bresnan’s first two overs went for 26, and only Matthew Hoggard was spared as Spearman raced past 50. Philip Weston provided some support before he drove Hoggard straight to Darren Lehmann at extra cover to depart for 16, but Mike Hussey pulled his second ball for four as Gloucestershire kept the momentum going.Hussey fell for 35, inside-edging an attempted late cut off Anthony McGrath into his stumps (142 for 2), and Matt Windows scored 19 before he too was bowled, by Hoggard (189 for 3). However, at the other end Spearman was in full swing, and brought up his hundred off only 85 balls. Chris Taylor was run out for 10 (205 for 4), and James Franklin managed only 8 (233 for 5), but Mark Alleyne stayed with Spearman, who hit the winning runs, appropriately, with a boundary.An unbeaten 80 from Lehmann had been the highlight of the Yorkshire innings. He smashed seven fours and a six in his 90-ball knock, and was the only visiting batsman to come to terms with the slowness of the pitch.Yorkshire got off to a good start, with Matthew Wood racing to 32 off 38 balls before he became Jonathan Lewis’s first victim, caught by Martyn Ball (47 for 1). Wood had been particularly severe on Franklin, whose first three overs went for 25. Michael Lumb and Michael Vaughan added a further 43, but some economical bowling from Ball and Mike Smith made runscoring hard, and Vaughan in particular looked scratchy. Alleyne also bowled with plenty of guile, taking the pace off the ball, and eventually induced an edge from Lumb, which Steve Adshead duly snapped up (90 for 2).Vaughan looked out of form, and crawled to 30 off 69 balls before he was frustrated into swiping across the line at a full ball from Lewis, and was bowled (153 for 3). At the other end, Lehmann found scoring a much easier proposition, nudging and pushing his way to a brisk half-century. In the 43rd over, Anthony McGrath, who had also looked out of sorts, though his fluency was not helped by a 30-minuted rain break at the end of the 37th over, attempted a leg-side flick off Ball but succeeded only in top-edging a high catch to Taylor at long-on (184 for 4).Ian Harvey, who was wasted so far down the order, came in and played a blistering cameo against his former county, smashing 20 off 10 balls as Yorkshire increased the tempo in the closing overs. Harvey fell with the score on 213, and Bresnan did not last long, but Lehmann stayed till the end to make sure Yorkshire set what seemed to be a competitive total – but Spearman had other ideas.
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Venugopal Rao and Naman Vinay Kumar Ojha will replace Rohan Gavaskar and Dinesh Karthik in the India A squad. Both Gavaskar and Karthik were selected to play for India in their upcoming tournaments in Holland and England.Ojha is a wicketkeeper from Madhya Pradesh, while Rao is a batsman from Andhra Pradesh. They will play in the tri-nation series against Pakistan A and Kenya in Nairobi, after which they will participate in two four-day games against Kenya from August 26 onwards.Ojha, a 21-year-old, had also played for Ujjain. In three seasons for Madhya Pradesh, he has performed adequately with the bat, scoring over 1000 runs in 18 first-class games, with nine half-centuries. He averages close to 33 with the bat in both forms of the game. Rao, on the other hand, is a 22-year-old who has played since 1998 and averages nearly 50 in first-class games. He also averages over 40 in one-dayers, and in 35 innings, has scored four centuries and 10 fifties. He has a knack of picking up wickets as well, though his offbreaks can be expensive.

The following is a media release issued by the International Cricket CouncilThe ICC hearing into allegations of racism in Zimbabwe cricket has been adjourned for the day after the panel investigating the allegations ruled that three members of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union who had allegations levelled against them should not be allowed into the proceedings during the recording of certain evidence.India’s Solicitor General, Goolam Vahanvati, and South African High Court Judge, Steve Majiedt made the ruling after hearing submissions from the players to have the officials excluded from parts of the hearing.”There is before this panel a rather unusual and unprecedented application made on behalf of the players,” said the panel in its ruling.”We are at the stage when the evidence of the players is about to start. The players apply that whilst their evidence is being recorded, three members of the ZCU Board should not remain present in the room. They may remain in the Hotel, they say, whilst the evidence is being recorded and may rejoin the proceedings after the players evidence is concluded, but they insist that during the time their evidence is being recorded, these three persons should not remain present.”They base this application on the apprehension that they would feel intimidated by these persons and that they would feel threatened by the presence of these persons.”The ZCU strenuously opposes this application. They submit that the fears are entirely unjustified. The allegations are known and have been made earlier. They feel that the exclusion of such persons would prejudice the handling of their case and would be contrary to natural justice.”We have given anxious consideration to this application. Prima facie, we are of the opinion that the apprehensions expressed by the players do not seem to be justified. It cannot be forgotten that the players themselves concede that what the players will say has already been said substantially before.”Besides, all the persons concerned, both the players and the ZCU have had a long association together and have interacted closely. In this view of the matter, we would have been inclined not to allow this application, but we find ourselves in a difficult situation.”We asked Mr Venturas to indicate what his clients would do if the application were not allowed. He indicated that on the basis of the available instructions from his clients, he could not make any commitment. We have been shown an article published today which quotes the players as stating that they will withdraw from this enquiry if a person is allowed to sit in the hearings.”In the circumstances, we are left with no choice but to request the three persons not to be present in the room while the player’s evidence is being recorded.”We do so making it clear that this request is made only with a view to ensuring that the investigation proceeds further and does not in any way amount to our acceptance of the correctness of the allegations made and of the apprehensions expressed.”After handing down the ruling, the panel adjourned the hearing for the day to allow both parties to consider the decision before resuming the proceedings tomorrow morning.

Arjuna Ranatunga has denounced the inaugural ICC awards as “a farce and a joke” after his former team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan was overlooked for the World Test XI of the Year behind Shane Warne.Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s former captain, hit out at the panel for ignoring Muralitharan, who has taken the most Test wickets this year with 68. He told AFP: “You expected better from a respected panel of judges. They said they looked at the performance of players in the past year, but that does not appear to be the case.”Ranatunga warned that the ICC’s reputation could be called into question following the selections for both the Test and one-day world XIs, which both included five Australians. “People will have doubts about [the credibility of] the ICC,” he said. “The performance of Murali in the past year was far ahead of Warne.”The only Sri Lankan to make it to the ICC Test and one-day teams was the colnsistent left-arm fast bowler Chaminda Vaas.Muralitharan himself believes he was ignored because of the constant controversy regarding his bowling action. But he remained upbeat in the face of the snub, saying: “I don’t need more awards – I already have the world record. But I was disappointed.”

Brett Lee will not be allowed to play for New South Wales in their Pura Cup match against Tasmania, starting at Sydney on Thursday, even though it seems unlikely that he will make the starting XI for the first Test against Pakistan.New South Wales officials were willing to delay the start of the game to accommodate Lee, but their suggestion was turned down by Cricket Australia. “Sod’s Law says that Australia could get to Sydney with the series one-all, there’ll be an injury and Brett will have to play without a decent run under his belt,” David Gilbert, the New South Wales chief executive, told the . “I thought that where there was a will, there would be a way, but unfortunately we’ve been rejected. I just feel that we in cricket are all in the entertainment industry, but sometimes we take ourselves a bit seriously. Apart from his lack of cricket, Brett is pure box office.”Under current regulations, Lee would not be able to bat or bowl if he started the Pura Cup game as a substitute on the second day. MichaelBrown, the Cricket Australia operations manager, said that it was not clear that Lee would be 12th man at Perth, and any discussion on the law change for substitutes would occur at the end of the summer. “You’d be putting a match back a day in the hope that he might be available,” he said. “That would set a bit of a precedent.”New South Wales suffered another setback when a leg injury again forced out Stuart Clark. Doug Bollinger, who took a hat-trick in the ING Cup match against South Australia on Saturday, has been called up.New South Wales Simon Katich (capt), Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Phil Jaques, Brad Haddin (wk), Jason Krejza, Greg Mail, Stuart MacGill, Matthew Nicholson, Matthew Phelps, Dominic Thornely.

Zee Television has sent two letters to the Indian board, signalling its readiness to resolve the television-rights issue with the board amicably. Both parties have been involved in a bitter battle over television rights since September 2004. This is a significant gesture, for it could mean that the matter can be resolved out of court before the Pakistan series.Zee TV took the BCCI to court for cancelling a television-rights tender that the channel felt it had won by offering US$308million and then putting up a deposit of US$20million last year. The bidding process was scrapped after ESPN-Star, the only other main contender for the rights, took legal action against the Indian board.According to the , Subhash Chandra, Zee TV’s chairman, wrote a letter to Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the board president, saying that his problems were with the the previous president [Jagmohan Dalmiya], but now he sought a fair solution. “Now that a new team has taken over,” Chandra wrote in a letter dated February 1, “we were wanting to explore the possibility of a reasonable resolution. We have grave apprehensions as to the conduct of the past president of the BCCI which are the subject matter of our petition in court.” He added that he wanted “to make an earnest attempt to take matters forward”.After receiving no reply for two weeks, Zee once again sent a letter to the board, saying that the court case was necessary because Zee had heard that Dalmiya had called on ESPN-Star and Doordarshan “for a meeting for awarding telecast rights to them through negotiations”.SK Nair, the board secretary, said to Cricinfo, “I have no knowledge. I cannot answer on the basis of some information.” The information, however, was confirmed by Mahendra, who acknowledged that Chandra wanted to meet.