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Gloucestershire 221 and 145 for 5 (Spearman 66, Weston 55) need another 107 runs to beat Hampshire 197 and 275 (Tremlett 64, Warne 62)
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Billy Taylor (3 for 40) and Shane Warne (2 for 27) grabbed five late wickets to give Hampshire the edge after Gloucestershire had seemed on their way to victory when they reached 129 for 0 chasing a target of 252. But Taylor removed Spearman for 66, and in the final hour Gloucestershire lost five wickets for 26 runs before bad light brough a premature end to a day so cold that Warne shuddered in the slips in a layer of sweaters and a fetching bobble hat. It was Hampshire’s second fightback of the day. Resuming on 111 for 6, only 88 runs ahead, Warne’s 62 and a career-best 64 from Tim Tremlett enabled their last four wickets to put on 181 runs.
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Only 13.3 overs were possible at The Oval before the rain set in, with most of the excitment for the day centred on the fox which was trapped on top of one of the gas holders outside the ground. When play was possible Richard Clinton and Mark Ramprakash were in the process of seeing off the Sussex new-ball attack, as James Kirtley continued his impressive spell from yesterday evening. Mark Ramprakash broke the shackles with a brilliant cover-drive off Kirtley but in the most part the bowling demanded respect — Sussex had obviously learnt the lessons from watching Surrey waste helpful conditions over the first two days. But the light soon closed in, soon followed by the rain, and the umpires called play off shortly after tea.
For a report on Surrey’s fox click on Roving Reporter
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Ian Bell followed his good performance with the bat yesterday by grabbing three wickets in nine balls to rip the heart out of Glamorgan’s top order before bad light ended play shortly after tea. Matthew Elliott (69) and David Hemp (96) had taken the visitors to 169 for 1 when Bell struck. First he trapped Elliott leg-before attempting an ambitious pull, and in Bell’s next over Hemp lost his middle stump and three balls later Matthew Maynard chopped into his wicket. None of the strokes were what the situation called for and left Glamorgan facing a daunting challenge to save the game tomorrow. In the morning, Warwickshire resumed on 415 for 4 and immediately cut loose, cracking 149 runs in 24.4 overs. Dougie Brown completed a breezy hundred, and then Heath Streak (41*) and Neil Carter (39) put on 77 for the eighth wicket before Nick Knight declared half an hour before lunch.

Khaled Mahmud has left the international cricket scene a bitter man after finding himself surplus to requirements in his very own team.Mahmud led Bangladesh in three Test series, after being appointed as captain last April. But he realised that the door to Test cricket was shut forever after losing his job to Habibul Bashar, and his place in the 16-member tour party bound for Zimbabwe.”I believe this is the right time to say goodbye to international cricket,” said an emotional Mahmud. “It is not only because I’ve been dropped from the Test squad, but also to avoid further embarrassment. I love this game very much. But I have placed self-respect above everything throughout my career.”Mahmud announced his retirement as soon as the squad had been revealed, although his mind had been made up for some time, after sensing something was not quite right in the behaviour of his team-mates.”I was not getting enough chances to bat in the nets and also I noticed that the bowlers were acting funny whenever it was my turn,” said Mahmud. “This is not the way to behave with a captain who should always command the respect of his team-mates. And if this trend continues, Bangladesh will never get a good captain in the future.””I admit that I have shortcomings. But tell me how many consistent performers are there in the team right now? I have failed in the home series against England but it is unfair to pass judgment on one player when everybody should be sharing the blame.”Mahmud made his one-day debut in 1998 but had to wait until November 2001 to play Test cricket. His finest hour came at Northampton in the 1999 World Cup, when he bowled Bangladesh to that famous victory over Pakistan.

BRISBANE, Jan 21 AAP – Makeshift opener Clinton Perren posted the highest Pura Cup score of the season today as Queensland left South Australia struggling to avoid defeat at the Gabba.At stumps on the third day, South Australia was 2-46 in its second innings in pursuit of a victory target of 409.The Redbacks lost openers Ben Johnson (seven) and David Fitzgerald (nought from 34 balls) during a 22-over stint before stumps as they tried to repair the damage inflicted by Perren.The right-hander scored 224 – the 10th highest total by a Queenslander in an interstate match – as the Bulls surged to 8-487 declared in their second innings.Perren batted for 501 minutes, justifying the decision of selectors to promote him to the opening spot vacated by Australian one-day players Matthew Hayden and Jimmy Maher.With Stuart Law (72) and Wade Seccombe (70) posting half-centuries, the Bulls continued the fightback which seemed unlikely when they crashed for 129 on the first day.South Australia claimed first-innings points but the visitors finished the day in desperate trouble, plenty of hope riding with captain Greg Blewett (21 not out), who has made centuries in his last two first-class matches at the Gabba.Johnson fell to Joe Dawes (1-19) before Fitzgerald was given out LBW to Adam Dale (1-11) without playing a shot.The Gabba wicket held up well for batting but the Redbacks’ confidence won’t be boosted by some low bounce late on the third day.

All rounder Thilan Samaraweera has been retained as the captain of Sri LankaA team to take on Pakistan A in the three match One Day series, which startsat De Soyza Park Stadium, Moratuwa on Saturday.Samaraweera performed remarkable well in the three Match Test series wherehe claimed 21 wickets at 14.09 apiece. Apart from his impressive bowling thecaptain scored 94 runs in five innings, averaging 23.Other than the captain, Avishka Gunawardene, Chamara Silva, TillakarathneDilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Suresh Perera, Akalanka Ganegama, and NiroshanBandarathillake all have played in the senior side.With the triangular series against India and New Zealand close at hand, theselectors will be keen to pick up few players who could move up the ladder.Suresh Perera, back after a long period of injury, will be keen to press hisclaims for the national team while Avishka Gunawardene is a strong contenderto get back to the side after his powerful batting in the three-Test Aseries. He is though not even in the 24-man training squad for thetriangular series.Jehan Mubarak, who was not selected to play in the three unofficial TestMatches, gets a chance while Muthumudalige Pushpakumara who was the 12th manin the first and the last Test Matches gets an overdue chance.The full squad:Thilan Samaraweera, Avishka Gunawardene, Shantha Kalavitigoda, JehanMubarak, Chamara Silva, T.M.Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Suresh Perera,Sajeeva Weerakoon, Akalanka Ganegama, Dinusha Fernando, Upeka Fernando,Gayan Wijekoon, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Niroshan Bandarathillake.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) may be cash-strapped at the moment but there are riches lying ahead of them during the rest of the year with a whopping US$ 17 million expected from international commitments at home and abroad.Arjuna Ranatunga, the SLC chairman, recently revealed that the board’s coffers were empty and that it was surviving on bank borrowings. Ranatunga had also appealed to the Indian board to help alleviate the financial mess and it appears some revenue has been projected by way of an Indian visit from July 12 to September 2.A series of three Tests and five one-day internationals is expected to net SLC US$ 16,014,446 from television rights alone. The three Tests are likely to be played at Galle and in Colombo and Dambulla is likely to host at least one ODI. Zimbabwe are the other country Sri Lanka will be hosting during 2008 and the turnout for a series of three ODIs is US$ 218,101.Sri Lanka are currently touring Australia for the CB Series against the hosts and India. Their next assignment will be a full series in the West Indies, starting with the first Test in Guyana on March 22.From April 18 to June 17 Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Zoysa are expected to feature in the inaugural Indian Premier League. Given the amount of interest and money the IPL has already gathered, it remains to be seen if the proposed Asia Cup in June and July materialises. If it does, SLC will received US$ 200,000 for their participation.It is more likely that they will receive US$1 million for taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy, also scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September and October. Only the top eight ODI teams in the world will be invited to play in the Champions Trophy, the venues for which are Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. Islamabad was initially touted as a possible venue, but it is unlikely that the stadium, which is currently being developed, will be ready for the tournament.The advent of the IPL has also thrown the Afro-Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Kenya in June, in doubt. There is also uncertainty surrounding the Stanford 20/20 tournament taking place in the West Indies in June, due to the IPL.SLC are also due to get revenue when they host Bangladesh for a series of three Tests and three ODIs starting at the end of the year.

Paul Collingwood believes Andrew Flintoff will put his off-field problems behind him when England play Kenya in their winner-takes-all clash in St Lucia on Saturday. Flintoff was stripped of the vice-captaincy and dropped for the Canada match after being one of six players and two coaches fined for staying out late drinking after the opening defeat by New Zealand.Flintoff will return to face Kenya as the teams fight to join Stephen Fleming’s side in next week’s Super Eights. “Freddie will respond well, the whole team will,” Collingwood said. “I faced him in the nets the other day and it was proper gas. It was up there. The intensity was there. I’m sure when he gets on that park he’s going to be desperate to do well on Saturday and that can only be good for the team.”Collingwood, who has been tipped to replace Michael Vaughan as captain if he is injured, said England were prepared to be put under pressure by the Kenyans. “From what I’ve seen, and I’ve spoken to a couple of Kiwi lads about them, they’ve got a few dibbly-dobblers, not too express,” he said.”They’ve got basic cricketing talent. They’ll put you under pressure, have ring fields against you, and the Kiwi guys said it was very hard to get the pace on the ball. We have to overcome that in some way.”Kenya, who made the semi-finals in 2003, suffered a 148-run loss to New Zealand on Tuesday and Steve Tikolo, the captain, was confident of turning things around against England. “Our chances are good,” he said, “if we do the basic things right.”

As competitive as the cricket has been between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the greater battle has always been to determine the more hospitable host – who offers more (or hospitality). Pakistan have been courteous enough to not win a Test series against Sri Lanka at home since 1991-92. And when the two sides meet tomorrow at the SSC ground in Colombo, the hosts have been so obliging as to allow Pakistan not a single Test series loss since Pakistan first arrived in 1985-86. That season was the last time they lost even a Test in Sri Lanka.This time, the hosts have even foregone two key players as a grand gesture. Skipper Marvan Atapattu is out of the series with a back problem and Chaminda Vaas has been ruled out of the first Test with the side strain that kept him out of the ODI series. With an early summer jaunt to England, selectors have rightly decided not to risk him. Bob Woolmer told the Karachi-based daily that Vaas’s absence will be keenly felt: “I think they will miss Vaas the most as he is a very shrewd and intelligent bowler.”It could have been worse but Sanath Jayasuriya has been passed fit and is expected to open the innings. Whatever his recent form and his age, at least six Pakistan players who step out tomorrow (and Woolmer too, whose first Test as coach it was) will remember his 253-run barbarism in Faisalabad 18 months ago. There is a limit to the hosts’ generosity for Muttiah Muralitharan will be playing and he hasn’t played a Test against them for four years. He’s taken 118 wickets at this ground in 22 Tests and 68 wickets against Pakistan in 12 Tests, so what’s the likelihood that he doesn’t have a say here?Stand-in skipper Mahela Jayawardene remains stoically upbeat. “If you look at our record we have performed really well in the last 12 months in Tests although we faced slight problems in India last winter,” he was quoted as saying by . Actually it goes beyond that for since losing to India in the second Test at Kandy in August 2001, they have lost only three Tests at home, all against Australia in a series in which they had more than their share of moments.On their part, Pakistan are thoughtful guests for they’re also without Shoaib Akhtar (injury) and Mohammad Sami (dropped). Historically, it could be a crucial absence for Pakistan’s successes in Sri Lanka have been the work of broody, reverse-swinging fast bowlers, whether it was Imran Khan in 1985-86, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in 1994 or just Wasim in 2000. But the absences are not as serious for recently it is a situation they have adapted to. The last Test between these two sides, at Karachi, in fact was also without Sami and Shoaib.Danish Kaneria played his part then and not being a generally quiet chap, the silence that gripped him through the India series is unlikely to extend too much longer. In any case, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif aren’t shoddy and more than mere replacements. It’s scary how at home Asif seems since he came back into the team against England and India. He’s bowled Test match spells and ODI spells and appeared comfortable with any role presented to him.So comfortable that he should maybe even be tried out as opener, given the way Pakistan have lurched from makeshift to specialist back to makeshift again within six Tests. Salman Butt is yesterday’s Imran Farhat (out of form and favour) and Farhat is today’s Butt (in less poor form and in favour). Woolmer said Farhat will open and with him Shoaib Malik will continue his transformation into a Test opener. It’s worth recalling that in Pakistan’s last Test innings – against India at Karachi – Butt and Farhat put on a century stand in the second innings. It’s of equal worth to recall they put on nought in the first, so make of the opening situation what you will.In Urdu, they say of excessive hospitality sometimes `’ (You’ll miss the car in all the waiting for `after you, after you’). With England waiting for both sides later in the year, such courtesy and welcoming be rare this time round.TeamsSri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upal Tharanga, 3 Kumara Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Tillekeratne Dilshan, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Malinga Bandara, 8 Farvez Maharoof, 9 Dilhara Fernando, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah MuralitharanPakistan (probable) 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Shoaib Malik, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Mohammad Yousuf, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 10 Mohammad Asif, 11 Danish Kaneria

When Younis Khan reached his century on the first day, he made adefiant gesture towards the pavilion, which was apparently meant forBob Woolmer, who had berated him for his first-ball dismissal on thefifth morning of the Kolkata Test. So here he headed for hisdouble-century, as Anil Kumble bowled to him from round the wicket,with two slips, cover, mid-off, mid-on, midwicket, square leg, shortfine leg and a man a bit wide of the long-leg boundary. “Drive methrough the spaces on the off side,” Kumble seemed to be saying, butYounis wasn’t tempted.Kumble, when he had bowled from over the wicket, had drifted down legoften, and he did so here again. Younis tickled it past the man atshort fine leg, and the ball rolled to the advertising hoardings.Younis pumped the air, took off his helmet, raised his arms. Therewere no gestures of defiance this time; just happiness at a job welldone.

Sourav Ganguly had hardly slept last night, and he might hardly sleep tonight. At the breakfast table this morning, he looked bleary and tense, the unkemptness of his appearance accentuated by a ritual of not shaving during a Test match. At the post-match press conference, he wore a vacant look, of disappointment and frustration. He has always been a disapprover of the moral victory theory, and he wasn’t claiming one here. One-one wasn’t good enough for him, he had expected to win.”We are disappointed,” he said, not taking away from Australia’s effort in saving the Test, “we could have bowled better.”He was fulsome in his praise for Anil Kumble, who took 12 wickets in the match to register his best figures in a Test abroad. “Anil was outstanding,” he said, “He gave it his all. But we couldn’t keep up the pressure from the other end.”He wouldn’t issue a public condemnation of Murali Kartik, who put up an improved performance in the second innings and could have had Ricky Ponting stumped and was denied a close lbw shout against Damien Martyn. “Kartik was playing a Test after a long time, but he is a much better bowler than how he performed today. I’d say that our other bowlers didn’t perform to their ability today. And the pitch didn’t deteriorate that much.”In a sense, Ganguly’s disappointment was an indication of how much the team has travelled in the last six weeks. India were barely given a chance to draw a Test when they arrived here, and the fact that they took a Test off Australia, and dominated the last one should have been enough for a captain to assume high moral ground. But when asked if his team’s performance had exceeded expectations, Ganguly replied bluntly that it depended on whose expectations was in question. “We knew what we could do. We came here knowing we could compete.” The vital difference between this team and the ones that that toured before is belief and ambition. Ganguly was not a captain easily sated.But he will allow himself to call the tour a successful one. “Considering the way Australia have played over the last few years and the fact that we came here with a young team, it was quite special the way the team has played.”And he was in no hurry to push Australia off the perch. “They are still the number one team in the world. You can’t just say that they aren’t because of one series. Our team has progressed well in the last couple of years. To play well abroad was one of the areas in which we needed to improve and we have done that in the last one-and-a-half years.”When asked to quantify the progress, Ganguly put it down to the quality and ability of the players. More importantly, he said, it was a team. “We play like a team.”He was quick to stand up for Parthiv Patel, who missed stumping Ponting when he was on 15 to add to several such missed chances earlier. “Parthiv is a young boy,” he said, “he has missed a few chances here. But he kept well to spinners in India where it is more difficult. He is the future. We need to keep faith in players like him.”

NSW batsman Michael Bevan is no stranger to achieving the impossible on the cricket field, but even his claims that the Blues can still make the Pura Cup final sound hollow.Bevan, once again one of the leading run scorers in the Pura Cup competition this season, will lead a sputtering Blues batting line-up into the four day game against Queensland at the SCG starting tomorrow.And the Australian one-day star says NSW is still a chance of making the Pura Cup final despite sitting eight points behind second-placed South Australia and 16 behind the Bulls on the four day ladder.”We have two games to go,” Bevan said.”It would be great to finish on a positive note in the Pura Cup competition.”It’s feasible for us to make the final. That’s really our goal, our objective.”I still think we can win the last two games. Whether that gets us to the final (remains to be seen).”In truth, it would take nothing short of a miracle for the Blues to make the final.Even their one-day heroics – NSW won the ING Cup against Queensland on Sunday – failed to disguise the fact the Blues haven’t picked up a point in the Pura Cup competition since November last year.Only a defiant last wicket stand between Mark Higgs and Stuart Clark against Western Australia saved NSW from its fourth outright loss this season at its most recent Pura Cup outing.Bevan, who is expected to be named in the Australian one-day side this weekend to tour South Africa, chimed in with a pair of half-centuries in that game and has once again been the mainstay of NSW’s batting attack this season.The one day wizard has scored 685 runs in six Pura Cup matches at an average of 68.50 and has been a shining light for the Blues along with youngster Michael Clarke and Clark.Clarke and Clark have both been mooted as candidates for the one-day series against the Proteas after enjoying break-out seasons.Clarke heads into the game against the Bulls with 498 runs at an average of 41.5 while Clark has taken 35 wickets at 22.74.They can expect another searching test from Queensland, which will be bent on revenge after the one-day loss and welcomes back captain Stuart Law after he made his return from a broken knuckle in the ING Cup final.Former Test paceman Michael Kasprowicz also returns to the Pura Cup competition after playing in the ING Cup final following a hamstring injury.”We have had a couple of players out of form, senior players have been missing with injuries and Australian commitments,” Bevan said today as he explained the Blues’ disappointing Pura Cup form.”But as NSW players we don’t look to make excuses, I just think it’s players not stepping up to the plate.”But I’d like to think the motivation is there to play well for NSW and to finish up as high as possible in the competition.”NSW: Shane Lee (c), Michael Bevan, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Mark Higgs, Grant Lambert, Don Nash, Matthew Phelps, Corey Richards, Dale Turner.Queensland: Stuart Law (c), Jimmy Maher, Brendan Nash, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Hauritz, Michael Kasprowicz, Joe Dawes, Scott Brant.