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Daren Ganga, West Indies’ opening batsman, will be given his first outing on their South Africa tour in the four-day warm-up match against South Africa A at East London.Ganga will open the batting alongside Devon Smith with Chris Gayle still sitting out as he recovers from the hamstring injury he picked up in Zimbabwe. Ganga is coming off a lean run in Tests, having failed to reach double figure in his last six innings after making 25 runs in the final three matches against England in May and June.Dwayne Bravo continues to lead the team, which won the Twenty20 international at Port Elizabeth by five wickets, while Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor who impressed in that match also sit out against South Africa A. Rawl Lewis, the legspinner, is given a chance to put his name in the equation for Test selection as is left-arm quick Pedro Collins.The four-day match is the only warm-up match before the Test series starts on Boxing Day at Port Elizabeth with two more games at Cape Town and Durban.West Indies Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Rawl Lewis, Darren Sammy, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards

Yorkshire 144 and 44 for 1 trail Lancashire 517 (Law 206, Horton 149) by 329 runs
Scorecard

This was a day of records at Headingley, none of them favourable to Yorkshire. The most notable were the highest partnership for Lancashire in first-class matches against Yorkshire, and the highest individual innings for Lancashire in Roses matches.Perhaps in the end Yorkshire did rather well to dismiss Lancashire for 517, after they were 383 for two at one stage. The batsmen chiefly responsible for Lancashire’s position of virtually overwhelming strength were the two Australian-born players, opener Paul Horton (149) and the former international Stuart Law (206). Their contributions enabled Lancashire to pass 500 and finish the day 329 runs ahead, with one already Yorkshire wicket down.Horton and Law began the day in possession of the crease, and stayed in control until well into the afternoon session. They used the well-tried method of laying a firm foundation before attempting to build. Horton, 82 not out overnight, took 48 minutes to reach his second first-class century, and was stuck on 99 for quite a while, but he refused to be flustered and finally turned a ball from Jason Gillespie towards long leg to reach three figures; it took him 186 balls.Horton continued to play the anchor role while Law now began to play his strokes. He reached his century off 139 balls shortly after lunch, and altogether scored 125 runs during the afternoon session as he thrashed an innocuous attack. He overtook Horton in the 140s, and their partnership was worth 258 runs, beating the previous Lancashire best against Yorkshire for the seventh wicket of 247 by Graham Lloyd and Ian Austin in 1997.The stand was finally broken when Younis Khan took a fine diving catch at slip off Tim Bresnan to remove Horton for 149, his highest first-class score. Andrew Flintoff played an innings of mixed quality, 24 off 37 balls, while Law reached 201 at tea. He had now beaten Reggie Spooner’s best of 200 not out for Lancashire against Yorkshire. He failed, however, to reach Maurice Leyland’s record of 211 for this fixture, being run out for 206 in a mix-up with his partner.Lancashire’s tail had little to offer, and the last eight wickets went down for 134 runs. The top Yorkshire bowler was Adil Rashid, with three expensive wickets. Yorkshire lost the wicket of Craig White before the close and face a major task even to avoid a three-day innings defeat.

The ICC has announced that the winner of the India-Pakistan series, to be decided in the fifth one-dayer on March 24, will be ranked higher than the other in the ICC ODI championship table.At present, Pakistan is ranked fifth with 107 points, and India and England are just behind on 106 points. If India win the series, they will climb to fifth, with 107 points, and Pakistan will go down to 106. If Pakistan win, they will go to 108, with India slipping to 105. If the series – and the final match, of course – is tied, then the status quo will be maintained. Australia, of course, head the table, with a mammoth 135 points.Meanwhile, South Africa will stay in second spot in the Test rankings even if they lose the third match to New Zealand. However, their rating of 113 points will drop to 108, and they will be just two points ahead of New Zealand, who will jump to third position. If South Africa win, though, they will remain comfortably placed at No. 2 with 112 points, while New Zealand will only be on 101.Australia’s victory against Sri Lanka at Kandy ensured that they would maintain a healthy lead over the rest of the field regardless of the outcome of the third Test. Even a defeat in Colombo would leave them with 125 points, as many as they had when they started the series, while a win would boost the tally to 127.

Michael Vaughan hopes Andrew Flintoff can make his Test return during the upcoming series against New Zealand, however he said it was vital that Flintoff not rush back too soon and risk aggravating his ongoing ankle problems. Flintoff has not played a Test since the 2006-07 Ashes loss in Australia and a fourth operation on his left ankle ruled him out of the recent tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand.”He has got three or four four-day games for Lancashire, so hopefully he will come through those with overs under his belt, runs by his name and give himself a good chance because we want him back,” Vaughan told . “An England side with Freddie in is a better team.”He wants to be there. He is the only one who knows what his anklefeels like. He hasn’t bowled 18 to 20 overs in a day yet and had to go out and bowl five or six the next day yet, so hopefully he will get through that.”Flintoff himself was aiming to be ready for the first Test, which starts on May 15, however that will depend on his progress during Lancashire’s initial games. His first big trial will be in a four-day match against Surrey beginning on Wednesday, and Vaughan said there was no point hurrying him into the national side before he was ready.”We just want him right, whether that means he misses the first game, second game and comes back for the third,” Vaughan said. “I just want him back fit and ready; whether it’s first or third, that will do me. It is so important you listen to your body and know yourself.”Flintoff’s fast-bowling colleagues Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard are also desperate for a successful start to the county season following their axing from the Test side during the tour of New Zealand. Vaughan said Hoggard would undoubtedly be working overtime to put his name back in the frame, while Harmison would be fired up and keen to prove a point.”Harmy has been given a harder time and I wouldn’t want to be a county batsman over the next month having to face him because I think he has got a bit of a bee in his bonnet and a point to prove,” Vaughan said. “That is exactly what I want – I certainly don’t think it is the end of their careers yet.”Regardless of how the attack looks, there could be adjustments to England’s top order for the first Test with Vaughan himself keen to drop down the order. He had a poor series personally in New Zealand, scoring 123 runs at 20.50, and a direct swap with the No. 3 Andrew Strauss might be on the cards.”I wouldn’t say I would carry on opening for England, no,” Vaughan said. “We will have to sit down with Peter Moores and the selectors. Straussy is at three at the minute – he likes opening and I am at two and like batting at three – so maybe that will be a little bit of a change.”

The ECB has cleared the fast bowler Robbie Joseph to play for Kent with immediate effect.Joseph, who is 22, was born in Antigua, but came to England in 1997. he finished his schooling at Sutton Valence School in Kent, and is currently completing a degree course at St Mary’s College in Twickenham, in Middlesex.His only previous first-class match was in 2000, when he was called up for a First-Class Counties XI against the touring New Zealand A side at Milton Keynes. He took one wicket (Jacob Oram) for 56 in that match.

July 8-11 – Frizzell County Championship

ScorecardHarbhajan shone with the bat at the County Ground in Bristol, smashing 11 fours and 3 sixes as Surrey piled up a massive 603 without one batsman going past three figures. By stumps on day two, he had taken a wicket as well as Gloucestershire struggled to avoid the follow-on.July 6 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardAfter two other bowlers from the subcontinent, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mushtaq Ahmed, had helped restrict Surrey to 144, it was the turn of the Asian contingent at the Brit Oval to try and wrest victory. Harbhajan bowled with tremendous control to concede only 13 from his spell and there were two wickets for Azhar Mahmood, but Sussex still eased home with three balls to spare.July 5 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardThough he was included in the XI, Harbhajan had no role to play in this abbreviated day-nighter at Chelmsford as Surrey slipped to a one-run defeat.July 1 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardSurrey notched up their fifth win in six Twenty20 games with a 23-run victory against Kent at The Oval. In a match restricted to 15 overs per side, Surrey scored at more than 11 an over. Kent made a spirited fist of it, as Harbhajan found out, going for 28 in two overs, but they finally fell short of the target.June 29 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardHarbhajan was overshadowed by the other specialist spinner in the team, left-arm Nayan Doshi. Doshi took 3 for 31 to Harbhajan’s none for 25 as Surrey won another rain-affected game, this time against Sussex at Hove.June 28 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardIn a match affected by the weather, Surrey pulled through by 22 runs. Middlesex could bat only 11 overs, and we well short of their target of 101. Harbhajan bowled just the solitary over, and went for 13 runs.June 25 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardHarbhajan took 2 for 22, but that wasn’t enough to stop Hampshire from stealing a three-wicket win at The Oval. Surrey won the toss and batted, but could manage only 118, a total that was well below par.June 23 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardSurrey’s second consecutive win in the Twenty20 competition was set up by the batsmen, who racked up 200 against Middlesex at Lord’s. Harbhajan again didn’t do too much, conceding 29 runs from his four overs.June 22 – Twenty20 Cup

ScorecardHabhajan’s first Twenty20 game for Surrey ended in victory for his team, as they thrashed Kent by seven wickets at Beckenham. Kent managed only 140 for 8 in 20 overs, and though Harbhajan went wicketless, he bowled economically, conceding just 22 runs from four overs.June 15-18 – Frizzell County Championship

ScorecardHarbhajan Singh turned in his first outstanding performance of the season for Surrey, taking 8 for 83 in the match, including a first-innings 6 for 36 that broke the back of the Hampshire batting. Surrey won easily, by an innings and 55 runs. Surrey batted first and scored 361 – where Harbhajan chipped in with a 16-ball 25 – and then stunned Hampshire, knocking them over for just 146. Martin Bicknell and Mohammad Akram provided the initial breakthroughs, dismissing the openers, and then Harbahajan took over, and cleaned up the middle order. In the second innings Akram was the star with a five-for, but Harbhajan managed 2 for 47 as Hampshire were bowled out for 160.June 8-11 – Frizzell County Championship

ScorecardSurrey completed just one innings as their County Championship match against Middlesex ended in a draw. When Middlesex batted first Harbhajan had a long spell, bowling as many as 35 overs, but could only pick up two wickets giving away 87 runs as Middlesex put on 437. Surrey managed to top this, scoring 460 in their sole innings of the match. Harbhajan landed one second-innings wicket as Middlesex declared on 356 for 6 when time ran out.June 5 – National League

ScorecardHarbhajan Singh’s first National League one-day match, against Warwickshire at the Whitgift School, Croydon, did not go well at all. Warwickshire scored a strong 309 for 8 in 45 overs, and Harbhajan could pick up just one wicket as he gave away 59 runs in nine overs. He failed with the bat, scoring just one as Surrey lost by 49 runs.June 1-4 – Frizzell County Championship

ScorecardHarbhajan Singh did not exactly set the stage alight in his first County Championship match of the season for Surrey. He had moderate pickings of 3 for 117 in the match. In the first innings he managed to snare Tony Frost, the No. 8 batsman, and Heath Streak, the No. 9 batsman, while in the second innings he bagged a top-order wicket, dismissing Jonathan Trott. The match ended in a draw.

South Africa 561 and 226 for 6 dec beat West Indies 410 and 188 (Chanderpaul 74) by 189 runs
Scorecard

South Africa wrapped up a comfortable victory against West Indies by 189 runs on the final day at the Wanderers. Apart from an entertaining 98-run stand between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ridley Jacobs, the rest of the batsmen offered little resistance as Shaun Pollock took four of the seven wickets to fall today.It was always going to be a tough job for West Indies to save the game after they lost three late wickets yesterday. However, once their main hope, Brian Lara, fell early on in the morning, the writing was on the wall.Pollock was the man who got things going for South Africa as he made a dream start with two quick wickets. Ramnaresh Sarwan was the first to go, out lbw in the fourth over of the morning. The ball pitched just short of a length, kept a touch low and trapped Sarwan dead in front of middle (41 for 4).Pollock struck gold in his next over when he picked up the prized scalp of Lara for 5. Again, the ball kept a little low, and Lara got a thick inside edge onto the stumps attempting to pull (43 for 5). Pollock celebrated as if the match was over, but Chanderpaul and Jacobs made them think again.Chanderpaul was positive from the outset, stroking boundaries all over the pitch, including an eye-catching straight-drive off Pollock, and a delicate square-cut off Jacques Kallis’s first ball. Jacobs wasn’t deterred from playing his strokes either. He launched some big cover-drives and booming square-cuts off anything short or wide.Jacobs had a couple of scares, though. He survived a close shout for lbw off Kallis, but umpire Darrell Hair correctly adjudged the ball pitched outside leg, and Hair again gave him the benefit for an appeal for caught behind off Robin Peterson.Chanderpaul, meanwhile, raced to his half-century from 63 balls, and by lunch, he and Jacobs had put on a sixth-wicket record for West Indies against South Africa. But their brave resistance was broken shortly after the break when Jacobs was yorked by a beauty of an inswinger from the tireless Andre Nel (141 for 6).

Chris Gayle again hobbled out to the pitch with a runner, and after he was lucky to survive a close lbw shout first ball, he produced a host of handsome shots. It was a case of stand and deliver from Gayle, who, still unable to move freely, smashed 26 – 24 of them in boundaries.Chanderpaul was still in the mood for some big shots as well, but that proved to be his downfall. Facing Pollock, he gave his wicket his away with an extravagant flick off his legs straight to Nel on the fine-leg boundary for an entertaining 74 (168 for 7). With the way Gayle was playing, his wicket was only a matter of time, and he edged Nel to Mark Boucher going for another flat-footed drive (176 for 8). Nel sent him off by sticking his tongue out close to Gayle’s face, a needless act which could well land him in hot water with the match officials.Dillon hung around for 17 balls until he was clean bowled attempting a horrible heave across the line to Makhaya Ntini, who finished the match with nine wickets (188 for 9). Corey Collymore was then trapped plumb lbw to Pollock as South Africa completed what always looked like a routine victory. And even more bad news for Brian Lara was that he was later fined 10% of his match fee for a slow over-rate.

Shoaib Akhtar has sued two Pakistani citizens and has sought Rs 100 million (approximately $1.7 million) for tarnishing his reputation and for damages caused to him mentally. The two citizens had earlier moved a court seeking a life-long ban on his playing cricket.According to a report in Mr Furrukh Hussain, a civil judge in Lahore, called the defendants, Syed Muzammal Hussain Shah and Syed Najamul Abbas Shah, to appear in court on July 5 for the next hearing.In July last year, the two had approached the court saying they were hurt by Shoaib’s comments that he would have been better off playing for Australia. In an interview with The Guardian, Shoaib had said that he might have made a bigger impact in cricket if he was bowling Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie rather than with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.”Wasim and Waqar are in decline. They were great but they’re not match-winning bowlers anymore. Wasim has not won a match since 1996. So I have to make it all happen on my own. There is so much expectation on my shoulders. But, if I come on after those two [Australians], when the ball’s a bit older and swinging. Imagine, it would be ‘see you, mate, talk to you later’ every time.”The two suitors had also accused Shoaib of attending a fashion show on the night of an important Muslim festival. However, they had failed to establish the charges and the civil court had dismissed the case. Shoaib will now be claming Rs 70 million as compensation for the ‘malicious prosecution’ and Rs 30 million for the mental agony that he had to suffer.

The issue of chucking divides opinions, but a clear verdict emerged from apanel of former cricketers instituted by Wisden Asia Cricket: five out ofseven members came out in favour of handing the matter back to the umpires.To the question whether a throw should be called by an umpire, there wasonly one categorical no and a conditional one.Eleven questions covering a range of issues relating to chucking were putto a panel comprising Greg Chappell, Peter Roebuck, Bob Woolmer, SidathWettimuny, Rameez Raja, Sanjay Manjrekar and a current international batsman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The answers, published in the June issue of the magazine, are amixture of the radical and the expected.Chappell, Manjrekar, and the current player were clear that if the transgression was obvious, the umpireshould call, whereas Wettimuny, while agreeing that “the umpire should beable to call a bowler who is clearly and purposefully breaking the law bythrowing”, said that the umpire should have access to technology todetermine a throw.Woolmer was categorically against the umpire calling. “The umpire has too muchelse to do,” he said and went on to suggest: “The bowler should be takenthrough a testing protocol [after being reported by the umpires] using adigital camera in the middle without his knowledge.”Chappell felt that there was a need to have a broader definition of whatconstituted a throw. Using an inverted argument Chappell said, “It may bebest to define what constitutes a fair delivery rather than what is athrow, and move forward from there.” While Woolmer agreed with Chappell, Roebuck and Wettimuny felt that thelaw was fine at the moment. “Unless there is any scientific evidence to thecontrary,” said Wettimuny, “there is no need for a change.”All barring Chappell were happy with the current reporting structure butmany felt that the rehabilitation process needed to be tightened. Accordingto Woolmer, “Rehab of older bowlers is tough and time-consuming, and oftenit falls down when the bowler resorts to his old action in the effort to geta wicket.” The current batsman was against the matter being reported to thehome board and said, “Home boards have a vested interest. It should go to acentral authority.”The question regarding whether the umpire must call the throw also evoked mixedreactions. Rameez was the only one who felt that itwas unfair to report the bowlers based on naked-eye judgement. “Technologyis there to be used. The technology saved Shoaib Akhtar because it spottedhis hyperextension. It showed that there was a problem with Shabbir Ahmed’saction.” But Manjrekar felt that a goodumpire would be able to spot a bowler taking unfair advantage.The panel was also asked what its take was on the number of bowlers shieldedby medical alibis. The current batsman said that having a physicaldeformity was no excuse. “If a batsman has defective eyesight, you don’tmake a special rule for him.” But Woolmer and Rameez were willing to make anexception for the cases that involved hyperextension. “I have no problem asthe arm bends back past the vertical. In the case of a thrower it is clearlydifferent, where the arm is jerked through.”Notwithstanding all the differing opinions, there were a few common threadsthat spanned the survey. All recognised the limitations of the currenttechnology for testing and were also critical of the law which allowed different tolerance limits for different types of bowlers. Chappell commented: “I would expect that the forces on the bowlingarm are not dissimilar for most bowlers so the tolerances should be thesame.”Wisden Asia Cricket

Charl Langeveldt, the South Africa fast bowler, has opted out of the Test series in India beginning next week, saying the controversy over the selection of the squad so upset him he feels he won’t be in the right frame of mind for the matches.Langeveldt was picked ahead of Andre Nel in the 14-man squad for the three-Test series, a move seen by many as pandering to Cricket South Africa’s transformation policy. Nel was reportedly disappointed after his exclusion, and there was speculation over his future with South Africa.Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, said Joubert Strydom, the convenor of selectors, had accepted Langeveldt’s request to withdraw from the touring party, and that the selectors were considering a replacement.”Charl Langeveldt called me today in an emotional state saying he wanted to withdraw from the tour of India so that he can consider his international future in the right frame of mind,” Majola said. “He said that the public controversy over the selection of the Proteas team to tour India had upset him to the extent that he would not be in the right frame of mind to tour India and do his best.””Charl said he wanted to use this time instead to consider his future in international cricket in a cool and calm manner.”I have assured Charl that he is very much in the plans, and is regarded as one of our best fast bowlers in both ODI and Test cricket.”We will have in-depth discussions with him, and hopefully he will continue to be available for international selection.”No replacement has been named as yet for Langeveldt in the squad, which arrives in India later this week.