Australia’s players have finally agreed a new pay deal after months of negotiation to avoid a potential repeat of the recent sponsorship crisis that afflicted West Indies. The Cricket Australia board had wanted to hand out fixed contracts, but this was rejected by the Australian Cricketers’ Association. The new four-year contract, which will come into effect from July, continues an existing arrangement where the state and international players share 25% of revenue generated by Cricket Australia.In coming to an agreement before the June 30 deadline, the Australians have managed to avoid the tangle that West Indies cricket found itself in last month. Brian Lara and six other players missed the start of their home series against South Africa because of a contract dispute. Similarly, if the Australians had not agreed a deal, they would have been free to sign packages with rivals of the board’s sponsors.”The two parties were poles apart at the start,” said a spokesman for the players’ union, “and they’ve come to an agreement in quite a short time, so it’s good.” Bob Merriman, the chairman of the Australian board, said the deal was fair to both parties. “It pays Australian elite cricket players well,” he said. “It encourages young, up-and-coming athletes to choose cricket as their professional sporting career option. It also offers Australian cricket improved ability to more aggressively drive participation in the game at a community level.”The Australian board also announced that interviews would take place with prospective replacements for Allan Border as national selector, and candidates would be considered at the next meeting in June. Border will continue as a director of both Queensland Cricket and Cricket Australia. Another current selector, David Boon, has been reappointed for the next two years.

England 528 for 3 dec (Trescothick 194, Vaughan 120, Strauss 69, Bell 63*) beat Bangladesh 108 (Hoggard 4-42) and 159 (Mashud 44) by an innings and 261 runs
Scorecard3rd day
Bulletin – England win by an innings and 261
Records – Biggest innings victories
Quotes – Vaughan delighted by England’s performance
News – Benaud calls for ban on minnows
News – Whatmore defends Test status
2nd day
Bulletin – England close in on a thumping victory
Verdict – The Test that isn’t much of a test
1st day
Bulletin – Trescothick and Strauss take England into the lead
Verdict – Outclassed but not overawed
Quotes- Whatmore: ‘Things couldn’t really get much worse’
Roving Reporter – Lord’s court the youth vote
Big Picture – England line-up
Raving about Rahim
Youngest Test players
Preview
Comment Too many ways to skin the Tiger
News Vaughan will bat at No. 3

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said that England’s performance in the Ashes would given him an idea of how his team should prepare for the home series against England later this year. “I am anxiously waiting for the Ashes to begin,” Inzamam told AFP. “England playing Australia will give us a chance to gauge England’s weak and strong points before we play them in three months’ time.”Inzamam admitted that England had improved tremendously over the last year, and expected them to challenge Australia’s dominance during the five-Test series. “They [England] have improved a lot and would give Australia a tough fight in the Ashes and we have to keep a close look on them if we want to achieve better results against them,” he said. “I believe that my young team can improve if we play with tough teams like England. We lost badly to Australia earlier this year but we fared better against India and the West Indies later.”The last time England toured Pakistan, in 2000-01, Nasser Hussain led them to a famous 1-0 win, with the all-important win coming in near darkness at Karachi. It was the first time Pakistan had lost a home series to England since 1961-62, and the Pakistan media later blamed the defeat on Pakistan’s strategy of packing the team with spinners. Inzamam indicated that they wouldn’t repeat that mistake this time around.”I don’t believe in packing the team with spinners. Fast bowlers have been our strength and if they are fully fit I will go with the fast bowlers,” he said. “Currently fitness of fast bowlers is our main worry but I hope they all get fit in three months to give us the best arsenal against England.”Mohammad Sami and Shoaib Akhtar both missed the tour to the West Indies due to fitness concerns. Shabbir Ahmed, who did play the series, was reported for a suspect action and is awaiting a final verdict on the matter from the ICC.Meanwhile, the itinerary for the series is likely to be finalised later this week after an ECB team visited various venues in Pakistan to check the security measures. The ECB has expressed its concern about playing a Test in Karachi due to sectarian violence in that city, but might agree to play a one-dayer there.

Greg Chappell is being lined up to coach West Indies following the departure of Gus Logie on Monday. Chappell, who has been coaching director of South Australia for five years, is reported to have been interviewed in London during the Champions Trophy.In yesterday’s Trinidad & Tobago Express, Tony Cozier wrote that Chappell had been recommended by the playing committee to the West Indies board, and all that remained was for terms to be agreed.”All I know is that they were going to discuss the matter at their board meeting on Friday and Saturday but I’ve heard nothing subsequent to that date,” Chappell told Cozier. “I don’t know whether to assume no news is good news or bad news.”Chappell would operate under the board’s revised management structure, and so would have the casting vote on selection issues as well as the responsibility of choosing the final XI from the chosen squad.Leonard Robertson, the board’s communications officer, said he expected negotiations to be completed “sooner rather than later”.The board are known to be keen to avoid making any announcement until the deal is completed and, in doing so, avoid a repeat of the situation which led to Logie taking on the role almost by default. In April 2003 it was revealed that Bennett King was to be the new coach, but King had not agreed terms and withdrew from the shortlist, forcing the board to appoint Logie.It is possible that King is still in the board’s thoughts, but it will not make the same mistake again and refused to make any comment.

After two months of keeping a nation and a half guessing about when he would be better, and what a tennis elbow really was, Sachin Tendulkar is fit enough to play cricket. Going into the third Test against Australia at Nagpur, the Indians suddenly have a selection conundrum that stems from his return. Tendulkar simply must be accomodated. On the eve of the match Sourav Ganguly said, “Ajit Agarkar will play. Parthiv Patel will not open. We are considering either Yuvraj Singh or Aakash Chopra as the opening partner with Sehwag.” This virtually means Mohammad Kaif is out of contention despite his fighting 64 at Chennai. There were also question-marks over the availability of Harbhajan Singh, who was down with viral fever on the eve of the match and was rated only a 50% chance of playing. If he is ruled out, Murali Kartik will come into the side.Australia, for their part, have brought Brett Lee back into the fray, including him in the 12 in place of Nathan Hauritz. But Adam Gilchrist stressed that the playing XI was far from decided, and that a final inspection of the pitch on the morning of the match will have a role to play.The pitch does have some grass on it, but quite clearly it has not been watered in days and should be fairly brown by the time the first ball is bowled. The curator insists this will be a sporting pitch, and Gilchrist called it an Australian kind of wicket, but there’s every chance it will become more Indian in the hours to come. Ganguly had called the curator from Kolkata before this Test, and requested that the authorities prepare a pitch that would favour the spinners. “But nothing much seems to have been done about that,” he said, nervous smile plastered across his face. And nothing much can be done at this stage, for the grass can merely be trimmed, not shorn. This means that that there’s little chance that this strip will crumble even later in the game.

That should suit Tendulkar just fine. He had a longish stint in the nets, and certainly did not hold back. Batting first in a net where only the spinners operated, he clouted several balls far and wide into the stands. Then, when he took on the quicker men, the punch – off front and back foot – sent the ball thudding back past the bowlers.”Even if I’ve scored two hundred in the last two Tests, there’s still pressure,” said Tendulkar in an interview recently, countering the assertion that his comeback to top-flight cricket after approximately two months makes it extra hard. He could make all the difference to the outcome of this game, but the Australians aren’t wasting their time wondering.Gilchrist knows that his team is better prepared, man for man, than any Australian team that has toured India since Bill Lawry’s series-winning team in 1969-70. Glenn McGrath has proved an extremely effective force in India – his record here in six Tests is better than his career average – and is well set to ensure this series is no different. He went wicketless in Chennai – only the fifth time in his near-100 Test career – and will bend his aged Narromine back over to make sure he sets the house in order in his 100th Test: he has never gone wicketless in successive matches.But this India-Australia series has refused to be defined by individuals or individual contests. The fact that rains denied India the chance to level this series in Chennai, with 210 runs to score, ten wickets in hand, and on a pitch that had eased out, makes this game all the more vital. This is a venue where teams usually resign themselves to a high-scoring draw. But neither of these teams likes draws, or resigns, so the script could yet be an original one.India (probable) 1 Yuvraj Singh, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Harbhajan Singh/ Murali Kartik, 11 Zaheer Khan.Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Simon Katich, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11 Glenn McGrath.

While most eyes were on the first Test, the Australians reminded county fans that the next rung of players was also a force as the Championship returned after a week’s break. Andrew Symonds may have missed out on a wicket, but he made his first game for Lancashire a memorable one with 134 in a high-scoring but boring draw. Even the match’s pace seemed to affect Symonds, the one-day international big hitter, who stayed for a lengthy 211 balls and struck 22 fours against Essex at Old Trafford.Lancashire held their second place in Division Two behind Durham, who lead by 12 points after their draw with Derbyshire at Derby. The Australian star was Michael Di Venuto as he smashed 203 from 298 deliveries with 33 fours, boosting Derbyshire as they recovered from a first-innings 161 to declare at 7 for 539. While Di Venuto fired to 876 runs at 62.57, Jon Moss collected 7, 0 and no wickets from 25 overs to continue his disappointing season.Mike Hussey and Ashley Noffke made a pair of 10s in the first innings for Durham, but after taking two wickets Noffke suffered a back injury and could miss the next six weeks. Queensland will monitor his recovery closely as the problem hindered him towards the end of last season. Hussey was 42 not out when rain spoiled the final day with Durham 2 for 93 chasing 330 for victory.Phil Jaques and Ian Harvey cracked half-centuries as Yorkshire successfully chased a massive 397 for victory over Leicestershire at Scarborough. Jaques hit 55 and Harvey, who took one first-innings wicket, made 54 not out as Yorkshire reached 4 for 400. After scoring a century against the Australians last weekend, Chris Rogers almost picked up two hundreds in a row, but he fell for 93 in Leicestershire’s opening innings and 35 in their second.At Northampton Martin Love collected a double of 74 and 27 and six catches as Northamptonshire beat Worcestershire despite seven wickets from Shoaib Akhtar. Damien Wright added 47 in the second innings to go with three wickets in the first.In Division One Shane Watson made an impressive debut when he picked up 43 and a team top-score of 82 as he helped Hampshire recover from a second-innings stumble against Sussex at Southampton. With their captain Shane Warne busy bowling Australia to victory, Hampshire showed they could fight back without him – they will have to until late September – and are third, two points ahead of Middlesex.David Hussey posted 77 as Nottinghamshire secured a 10-wicket victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Notts’ 341 gave them a 121-run lead and the 12 needed for victory were knocked off quickly on the third day.

ICC World XI 8 for 344 (Ponting 115, Cairns 69, Lara 52, Muralitharan 3-59) beat ACC Asian XI 232 (Dravid 75, Sehwag 45, Vettori 3-58) by 112 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A showcase of the world’s best players could not produce a gripping finish, but Ricky Ponting led the list of memorable performances in tribute to the more than 150,000 victims of the Boxing-Day tsunami. The match’s end was less important than the means – more than Au$14.6million was raised by stumps – as the World XI recorded a convincing victory over an Asia XI carrying tales of loved ones’ deaths and near misses.Every run in the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal was worth $1000 and Ponting confirmed his reputation for big-occasion batting with a superb hundred that tallied $115,000. In an order sparkling in every position, Ponting was the captain and king as his one-off team produced an almost unbelievable display of hard-hitting followed by an efficient defence with the ball.Facing a massive total and an A-list attack offering few easy runs, the Asia XI were in an early rush but any realistic hope ended when Yousuf Youhana gave Shane Warne his second wicket (4 for 114). Needing almost seven an over throughout the innings, the openers hurried to stay in sight of the target, but the middle order, with the exception of Rahul Dravid who was unbeaten on 75, failed to match the pace.Virender Sehwag and Sanath Jayasuriya are willing to flay at most deliveries and armed with impatience they buzzed they like the flies around their helmets. Sehwag went down the pitch to Glenn McGrath; Jayasuriya charged at Darren Gough, England’s sole representative, and both had successes.A Sehwag six over mid-on helped them to 15 off Gough’s fourth over and he was quickly replaced by Chris Cairns. Trying to mirror his partner’s treatment, Jayasuriya was deceived by a Cairns slower ball and Stephen Fleming made up for the earlier miss of Sehwag at first slip. (1 for 59)Warne, who stood at second slip, took his bowling cap for the first time in an ODI since dislocating his shoulder at the MCG in 2002 and received a huge welcome from his home crowd. Like Cairns in New Zealand, Warne has been missed after retiring from limited-overs games early in 2003, and he showed his worth in his first over when he prompted a heave from Sehwag that Chris Gayle collected inside the square-leg boundary. (2 for 76)Sehwag’s danger had passed for 45 and the world was breathing more comfortably when Sourav Ganguly, the captain, drove to Gough at mid-off, Warne took care of Youhana and Kumar Sangakkara edged Gough to Adam Gilchrist. (5 for 156) Daniel Vettori finished with three wickets in a fine spell in exalted company after racing to 27 off 17 balls at the close of the World XI innings.Two years ago Ponting launched a fierce assault on India with an unbeaten 140 in the World Cup final, and his attack today was also extreme as he ticked off eight fours and three sixes. After a first-ball scare from Zaheer Khan, Ponting smacked crisp drives and pulls as he adopted an aggressive mood that was copied by his all-conquering teammates. Ponting was not the only one to explode and was joined on the big-hitting list by Chris Cairns, who hulked 69 off 47 balls, while Brian Lara chipped in with a half-century that was initially scratchy.Sharing 122 with Lara, Ponting thrashed 91 for the fourth wicket with Cairns in 8.5 overs to accelerate an already speedy innings. Abdul Razzaq was taken for 20 in the 36th over and Anil Kumble was planted for three sixes in the 39th – each worth a bonus A$50,000 in sponsorship contributions – before Ponting was stumped by Sangakkara (4 for 263), who collected five dismissals.Cairns continued thumping, finishing with two mammoth sixes and six fours in a clever display, until he was stumped chasing another boundary from Muttiah Muralitharan. (6 for 286) Muralitharan, playing his first match since suffering a serious shoulder injury, has done a large amount of aid work in Sri Lanka since the tsunami and was rewarded with turn and three wickets.Flags from across the globe waved in the stands as the crowd reached 70,101, and organisers passed their pre-match target of A$10 million for World Vision by the 36th over. Despite the seriousness of the occasion there was still room for smiles and guest fielding appearances from Sachin Tendulkar, who has an injured left elbow, and Steve Waugh, the World XI coach. However, the status of the match as a full one-day international was devalued by Glenn McGrath’s entry at No. 6, despite the crowd’s appreciation, and he went first ball top-edging a slog-sweep off Muralitharan. (5 for 264)Ponting won the toss and Gilchrist and Gayle opened, but Zaheer brushed Gayle’s edge in the second over and Sangakkara accepted the easy catch. (1 for 1) Joined by Ponting, Gilchrist moved quickly, but became Zaheer’s second wicket when he tried to slog him to midwicket. (2 for 50) As Gilchrist walked off Lara replaced him on a day for the biggest of the game’s superstars, and a flurry of valuable donations.Peter English is Australasian editor of Cricinfo

ScorecardAn unbeaten 111 from Hasan Raza helped Pakistan A to a respectable 249 for 6 after the third day of their four-day game against Australia A in Rawalpindi. Earlier, the Australians, resuming on 318 for 5, declared their first innings on 407 for 8.Raza’s knock bailed Pakistan out after they had slumped to 114 for 4, with Michael Lewis, the right-arm fast bowler, and Dan Cullen, the offspinner, taking two wickets each. Raza hit 15 fours and two sixes in a free-stroking innings which took only159 balls. Apart from Imran Farhat (47), none of the other batsmen offered him much support, though. Cullen ended the day as the most successful bowler for the Australians, taking 3 for 60 from 24 overs.The Australians had earlier added 89 in just 17 overs in the morning in an attempt to put in Pakistan in quickly and force a result. Shane Watson led the charge, scoring 50 from 71 balls. However, with the second day lost entirely due to rain, a draw is almost a certainty here.

Division One

Points TableMiddlesex produced an efficient all round display to leave Lancashire clinging to their first division status. Ed Smith and Owais Shah laid the foundation for Middlesex’s 263 and Jamie Dalrymple then caught the eye with a brutal 63 from 33 balls – with 10 fours and two sixes – as more than 100 runs came in the last 10 overs. Lancashire began the chase confidently but lost wickets at regular intervals and only Glen Chapple’s 71 gave them any real hope.Essex picked up the National League trophy – after winning the title last month – and crowned the day with a four-wicket win against struggling Worcestershire. Vikram Solanki’s 79 was the major contribution for Worcestershire but the tail fell away against Andre Adams. Alistair Cook and Grant Flower then did the bulk of the scoring for Essex as they reached the target in the final over. Worcestershire face Lancashire next week in a likely relegation decider.

Division Two

Points TableDurham claimed their second promotion in two days with a convincing win against Somerset. The seam attack ran through Somerset’s batting reducing them to 53 for 7. Wesley Durston’s 46 at least pushed the total past three figures as Neil Killeen and Paul Collingwood grabbed three wickets each. Durham eased home with nearly 14 overs to spare and will now be of the top division in both leagues next season.Sussex maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 61-run with over Kent. Richard Montgomerie laid the foundations for a decent total with 73 and Carl Hopkinson gave the closing stages a flourish with 26 off 14 balls. Kent then continued the batting slump which handed Notts the Championship title yesterday, as James Kirtley and Robin Martin-Jenkins took three wickets each. From 48 for 5 there was no way back despite 51 from Michael CarberryNick Knight ensured Warwickshire avoided a second defeat against Scotland with a controlled century. He and Jonathon Trott added 109 to break the back of chasing 221. Fraser Watts and Ian Stanger made determined half-centuries for Scotland as they posted an useful total

Victory in this year’s ICC Intercontinental Cup is vital to the future of Kenyan cricket according to its chairman Samir Inamdar.”Winning this tournament is a key point for us,” said Inamdar, as his players put the finishing touches to their preparations in Zimbabwe ahead of their semi-final against Bermuda starting in Namibia on October 23. “If we win it will ensure we are taken seriously as the best country playing cricket outside the Full Members of the ICC.”This is three-day cricket, the longer form of the game for us, and traditionally it has been harder to reach a good standard for all sides outside the top flight. If we can win here it will underline our credentials so it is vital for us to do well.”Kenya appear well-placed to do just that and, along with Ireland, who face UAE in the other semi-final, are favourites to reach the final. They have the look of a settled side under temporary coach Mudassar Nazar and veteran captain Steve Tikolo, and have warmed up for their match-up with Bermuda with some thumping wins against Zimbabwe A.It is all in stark contrast to 12 months ago when, under a previous administration, Kenya cricket was a shambles. Players refused to play in the semi-finals of the 2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup as disputes over entitlements rumbled on and a shadow side under Ragheb Aga was humiliated by eventual champions Scotland.What has changed in the intervening period to make the senior players come out to play?”It’s a three-word answer,” said Inamdar, who headed up a new administration earlier this year. “Keep our promises. We’ve always tried to ensure we don’t make promises to the players we can’t keep as this was the previous problem. They had been let down so badly. The team we saw in Sharjah last year was one that was broken. There was no team spirit, players refused to play and it was basically a second string Kenya side.”What we have done since then is to try and win back the players’ confidence in the Board and that has not been easy but one way we have done that is to always be clear what we can and can’t do for them. Quite rightly they were wondering where their money was when we took over. They had not received salaries since 2003 and had not received prize money from 2003 and 2004.”Slowly we have pieced it all together. We have been supported by the Government and things are coming right. Whether we are back to the heady days of the World Cup semi-finals of 2003 I don’t know,” he continued. “But everyone is fairly positive, there has been a sea-change in the way the game is run and there are lots of hopes and expectations.”The spine of this year’s side is still the one that reached that semi-final against India in Durban.There is no Ravindu Shah, with the veteran opener still absent because of a knee injury sustained in last year’s ICC Intercontinental Cup, but there should be no shortage of runs.Tikolo’s brilliant 149 against Uganda is the highest score of this year’s event so far and his presence, together with Maurice Ouma, Kennedy Otieno, David Obuya and Hitesh Modi makes for an imposing batting line-up.Veteran seam-bowling allrounder Thomas Odoyo has been in great form in Zimbabwe as the Kenyans have humiliated their hosts and Collins Obuya, the legspinner who was one of the stars of the ICC Cricket World Cup of 2003, is also present.The seam bowling stocks also include Aga, Lameck Onyango, Peter Ongondo and Martin and Tony Suji, all experienced, and on paper Kenya look a formidable unit.Experience is a key word for Kenya but it also serves to strike a note of caution. Many of the players are nearer the end of their careers than the beginning and there is a fear their eventual departures could create a vast vacuum of cricketing skill and know-how.”We know the players can’t go on forever,” said Inamdar. “But we think this group have certainly got it in themselves to play in the 2007 World Cup. After that, and even in the run-up to that event, we will start to see some new faces.”Some of those faces are already on the horizon. Nehemiah Ngoche, 22, and 23 year-old Alfred Luseno, both seam bowlers, are currently at the ICC Winter Training Camp in Pretoria, South Africa, and they will be joined by top-order batsman Kalpesh Patel, 20, after this Event.Left-arm spinner Mohammad Sheikh, still only 25, returns to the fold but Amit Bhudia, a talented 25 year-old batsman, is absent because of work permit complications in Denmark, where he is currently living.Kenya’s quality and – that word again – experience make them heavy favourites to get past Bermuda but Inamdar says the side is taking nothing for granted. “We cannot and will not underestimate Bermuda,” he said. “They are on a high after qualifying for the World Cup and the recent receipt of funding from their Government and have plenty of talent.”Kenya Steve Tikolo (capt), Thomas Odoyo, Kennedy Otieno, Maurice Ouma, Kalpesh Patel, Ragheb Aga, Lameck Onyango, Collins Obuya, Mohammed Sheikh, Peter Ongondo, Martin Suji, Hitesh Modi, Tony Suji.