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Brian Lara rolls his arm over in what was probably his farewell to Lord’s © Getty Images

Brian Lara has told England they must forget about trying to play a containing game if they want to wrest the Ashes back from Australia. England, who have lost their last eight Test series against them, are now second behind Ricky Ponting’s men and hopes of a first Ashes triumph since 1986-87 have been stirred by victories in the past two limited-overs matches.”Australia know it’s a more competitive English team that it is facing,” Lara said after the tsunami appeal one-day match at Lord’s. “It’s going to be a good contest, I don’t know if it is going to be close, but I know England are playing good cricket at present. Australia love teams that sit back, be patient and try to win a game from a few mistakes by the Australian team. They [England] have to be aggressive all the time, three sessions a day, 15 sessions a Test match.”England beat Australia by six wickets in the Champions Trophy semi-final in September and on Monday won the Twenty20 match at The Rose Bowl by 100 runs. “The last two successes England have had over the Australians, it’s because of aggressive cricket, attacking cricket,” Lara said.”They played it better than Australia, they didn’t sit back and allow the world champions to dictate. That’s what they need to do in the triangular series coming up and in the Test series.” Australia’s first match against England in the NatWest Series is at Bristol on Sunday.Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, also predicted a great summer and said it was England’s best chance to win the Ashes for years. “The billing is one and two in the world, I can’t wait to watch it,” he said. “[The Twenty20] was a spar, the first of many I’m sure,” Fleming said. “We need to acknowledge that the last two years of their Test cricket has been superb. [England] have got every right to feel confident they can challenge Australia.”Fleming, whose best result against Australia was 0-0 in three Tests in 2001-02, said to topple the world champions five or six players needed to have outstanding series. “I haven’t beaten Australia so I’m in no position to advise Michael Vaughan,” he said. “We’ve tended to compete for a period of time. The trick is to compete for the entire series. That’s the challenge, maintaining a higher standard for a longer period of time.”Lara said after the tsunami match that he wasn’t sure if it was his final game at cricket’s home. “I thought the Test match [last year] was,” he said. “I’ve always loved playing at Lord’s. Every time I go out there I try to make sure that people see the best of me.” West Indies next tour England in 2007 when Lara will be almost 40.

It remains to be seen whether the likes of Mohammad Ashraful will get the opportunity to shine in India © Getty Images

Bangladesh’s tour to India next year is still shrouded in doubt, according to Ali Asghar, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president. Following his return from the ICC meeting in Melbourne, Asghar revealed that he has not received confirmation from the Indian board.”Bangladesh’s tour of India is still on for sometime in next September-October. But we will get a definite response from India only after the approval of ICC’s next Future Tour Programme (FTP) which will be ratified in March next year,” Asghar told .Bangladesh’s inaugural Test was against India in 2000 and India played a full series against them in Bangladesh in 2004. However, the Indian board is yet to allow Bangladesh a return visit .Their tour to India was stalled twice but in the same period India played Pakistan at home. Saber Hossain Chowdhury, former BCB president, has criticized Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the BCCI president, on this issue.Asghar said that the Future Tour Programme is yet to be approved following objections from the Asian and African members, and was adamant that Bangladesh’s away series should be included in the ICC’s calendar. “The interests of the Asian and African Test countries didn’t reflect in the draft FTP, rather it hugely favoured Australia and England. We wanted to play at least two series at home in a year during the period because it would be our main source of income. We have desired to hold at least two triangular series involving India and Pakistan during the next six-year cycle.”India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all raised objections to the tour programme as it did not allegedly uphold the interests of the Asian countries. Asghar confirmed that the ICC is expected to announce a final Future Tour Programme in its next meeting, to be held in March 2006.

Was this the decisive moment of the series?© Getty Images

This series has been all about momentum. England had it in spades as they entered the first Test at Port Elizabeth, in the form of seven consecutive Test victories. They misplaced it at Durban when bad light halted their victory surge on the final evening, and they lost it entirely at Cape Town as South Africa squared the series with a relentlessly dominant performance.And now, as the fourth Test prepares to get underway at Johannesburg, the advantage would appear to be in the other camp. With an hour remaining at Durban, England were all but 2-0 up with three to play, but they have been reined in to such effect that now, almost entirely by accident, it is South Africa who appear to have taken on the mantle of favourites.This morning’s practice session at the Wanderers confirmed that impression. For 20 deliveries, Andrew Flintoff trundled in off a half-cock run-up, as he put his torn rib muscle through the most delicate of paces. It was not a sight to inspire confidence that he will be fit to play a full part tomorrow, but for England his absence was too gruesome to contemplate. “Sure, I’ve got an eye on the future,” acknowledged Michael Vaughan as he assessed the risk of further aggravating Flintoff’s injury, “but I’ve also got an eye on winning the Test series.”He had a point. At the start of the series, England would have earmarked the Wanderers as a result pitch, and given the prospect of extra bounce and greater zip through the rarefied high-veld air, it is a venue that ought to suit their seam attack down to the ground. And yet, with Steve Harmison misfiring and Flintoff’s fitness uncertain, the timing of this opportunity is not exactly ideal. Five years ago, when England themselves slumped to 2 for 4 here against Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald, it was on the opening morning of the series, when everyone was fresh – and the pitch even more so.Instead, Flintoff and his fellow bowlers have been given just seven days to recover from the excesses of three back-to-back Tests over the festive period. If a week is a long time in politics, then it is an eternity in a modern-day cricket tour, for that is the biggest break either side will enjoy until the one-day series is completed in February. But with that in mind, it seems the undoubted merits of England’s settled team (just one enforced change all series) may come back to haunt them.

Mark Boucher looks likely to take the gloves from AB de Villiers© Getty Images

The relatively high-flying South Africans, by contrast, have somehow hit upon the perfect formula for coping with the intensity of the modern-day itinerary – pick a controversial skeleton side for your first game, and improve it with every passing match until it is brimful with abrasive competitors with several points to prove. Where once the teamsheet included makeweights such as Zander de Bruyn, Andrew Hall and Thami Tsolekile, now it boasts such big guns as Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and, most pertinently of all, Mark Boucher.Boucher’s return to South African colours was even more of a shock than his original omission. Even he admitted that he thought his chance of playing had gone once AB de Villiers had made his stunningly composed debut behind the stumps. But, by accident rather than design, the timing of his return is a master-stroke. England would have taken heart from his continued absence, but now they are more likely to have a heart attack.There have been plenty of rumours of dressing-room unrest dogging the South African camp this week, and the prospect of yet more changes flies in the face of Graeme Smith’s appeal for continuity after the Port Elizabeth defeat. But just as England are prepared to hang the long term and risk Flintoff as an allrounder, so South Africa have decided to throw everything at victory, regardless of the consequences.That goes for their much-criticised selection policy as well, for AB de Villiers looks set to take on his third different role in four Tests, with the luckless Hashim Amla stepping down from his No. 6 slot. There had been talk of de Villiers resuming his opener’s role instead, to allow Gibbs to find his feet further down the order, but such a prospect now seems improbable. Gibbs and Smith have been a formidable opening pairing in the past, and their series aggregate of 40 runs in four partnerships can surely only improve over the final two matches.England have batting worries of their own, not least where their captain, Vaughan, is concerned. His return of 84 runs in six innings is worrying enough, but it is the breakdown of those innings that is the greater cause for alarm. Each one has fallen in the range of 10 to 20, which means he is getting in … and getting straight out again. A run of ducks in the manner of a Mark Waugh would have been a more reassuring sight.”I’ve been working hard in the nets with Duncan [Fletcher],” said Vaughan. “I feel relaxed and my feet are going nicely, so I’ve just got to take that out into the middle with me. So far in this series, 50% of my dismissals have been to good bowling, and the other 50% through poor batting. So if I eradicate that 50%, then a big score will be around the corner.”

It’s really that bad for Steve Harmison© Getty Images

England’s other big concern surrounds the other former world No. 1 in their ranks. All series, Vaughan has been reaffirming his belief that Steve Harmison has a matchwinning spell up his sleeve, but now, with just two crunch matches to come, his window of opportunity is rapidly receding. But the Wanderers wicket, with its pace and carry, might just be the one to tickle his fancy. “We can never take him for granted,” warned Smith. “He has pace and bounce, and on any given day he can be destructive.”Smith added that a late decision would be made on the inclusion of Charl Langeveldt, the swing bowler who defied a broken hand to grab a five-wicket haul in the first innings at Cape Town, his on debut. “Charl’s not 100%,” he conceded. “If the selectors decide to play him it will be a risk. But he’s improving every day, and he did superbly in the last Test.”And talking of swing, there is even the prospect of a rare appearance for James Anderson in the starting line-up. With Flintoff struggling for full fitness, Anderson and his mercurial wicket-taking ability may be preferred to Simon Jones, who bowled just 27.3 overs at Cape Town and did not appear to have the full confidence of his captain. “Jimmy’s looked good in the nets all tour,” said Vaughan. “It makes our job difficult, but it’s nice to have a guy like that pushing the guys in the team. The swing element plays a big part here, so that’s brings Jimmy into the picture in a big way.”Given the relative success of South Africa’s “treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen” policy, there may yet be some logic in throwing Anderson into the fray, for all that his last competitive outing was against Zimbabwe on December 4. If nothing else, he might just produce the jaffa that is currently needed to dislodge Jacques Kallis.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Boeta Dippenaar, 6 AB de Villiers, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Charl Langeveldt.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11 Steve Harmison.

Sri Lanka 456 for 7 (Atapattu 170, Jayasuriya 157) lead Zimbabwe 199 by 257 runs
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Sanath Jayasuriya: raced to his 12th Test hundred© AFP

Sri Lanka, as expected, took little mercy on Zimbabwe’s inexperienced bowlers on the second day of the first Test at Harare. The highlight was a superb opening stand of 277 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, who both passed 150. But it did not go all Sri Lanka’s way, as Zimbabwe had a few surprises for their middle order in the final session. However, Sri Lanka closed a good day’s work on 456 for 7.Atapattu and Jayasuriya provided the backbone of Sri Lanka’s innings. They batted throughout the morning session and Zimbabwe were firmly on the back foot. But just as minds started to wander about record team and individual scores, Zimbabwe did at least gain some pride as the last four wickets of the day fell for only 27 runs.The opening pair chose to compile their total by steady accumulation rather than the explosive power for which Jayasuriya, in particular, is renowned. He reached his half-century from 56 balls, and it took him only another 34 to reach his 12th Test hundred. In that time, he suddenly decided to erupt when in the 70s, hitting Mluleki Nkala for 18 in one over and racing to his hundred off only 90 balls.Atapattu was not to be overshadowed, and in a less spectacular way he too began to accelerate after reaching his half-century, having been dropped on 43. He made Zimbabwe pay, reaching his 13th Test ton in the last over before lunch. Accuracy of bowling may have saved this Zimbabwe team from too much pain during the one-day series, but it was proving totally inadequate on a good pitch against quality batsmen with time on their hands.It was Tatenda Taibu, the captain, who surprisingly made the breakthrough after he handed over the wicketkeeping duties to Alester Maregwede and came on to bowl. Jayasuriya hit his first ball past midwicket for four, but perhaps a touch of complacency set in as he misjudged the third ball and played an indeterminate shot which lobbed off his gloves to Douglas Hondo in the gully (281 for 1). His 157 came off only 147 balls, including 28 fours and three sixes.Kumar Sangakkara, the most successful batsman on tour until now, may have been hindered by his long wait, as he had made only 11 when he top-edged a sweep off Stuart Matsikenyeri’s occasional offspin to give Taibu an easy catch at backward square leg (312 for 2).Taibu should have taken the gloves back, as Maregwede dropped both Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene shortly before tea. But after the interval, the bowlers rocked the Sri Lankan middle order, due partly to their own efforts, and partly from complacency by the batsmen.

Douglas Hondo: took the big wicket of Marvan Atapattu© AFP

Jayawardene was the first to go, pulling a short ball from Elton Chigumbura a little carelessly directly to Prosper Utseya at midwicket for 37 (369 for 3). Shortly afterwards, Zimbabwe took the second new ball which triggered a minor collapse. With his fourth ball of a new spell, Hondo took the prized wicket of Atapattu for 170, clean bowling him as he played a loose shot without any footwork. However, it was a magnificent innings of 170 from 253 balls, including 24 fours.Tinashe Panyangara then chipped in with two wickets in quick succession. Good outswingers accounted for Thilan Samaraweera, caught behind by Taibu (399 for 5), and Prasanna Jayawardene, who was bowled (403 for 6). Tillakaratne Dilshan then fell in the same manner as Mahela Jayawardene, pulling a short ball from Blessing Mahwire straight to Utseya at midwicket (414 for 7).Although Sri Lanka were by that stage over 200 runs ahead, play continued as if Zimbabwe were on top, with Chaminda Vaas and Farveez Maharoof playing very carefully before the close.

Shane Bond was bent on conserving his energies for more demanding encounters © Getty Images

On a sultry Mumbai afternoon, the cop-turned-fast-bowler Shane Bond hit the sluggish wicket at the suburban ground trying to hunt down a few weapons that had slipped from his grasp during the lengthy recuperation period from a back injury. Rhythm, pace, line, and length. Especially rhythm, the others usually come as free accessories with it. He left the arena a tired man, still in search of them.Only three balls beat the bat in his first spell that yielded 26 runs in five overs. The first one kicked up from a length to bruise the right hand, the second whizzed past the outside edge after landing on a length, and the third got an edge, but flew to the third-man fence, when the batsman tried to force a short-of-a-length delivery. Though he was more fluent in later spells he didn’t look threatening at any stage. But New Zealand would not have expected any miracle from him on this slow pitch and would be satisfied that he had clocked some miles under his belt.Faces peered eagerly through the fence at the far end as Bond, sporting a black wristband on his left hand, ran in 13 paces before arching back his upper body to release the ball. However, today, it didn’t usually land where he wanted. First over was spent in search of both line and length as he threaded on either side of the wicket, sometimes short, sometimes full. However, he ended it with a snorter that hurt the right hand of Rishikesh Parab, the plucky opening bat. Maybe Bond has found his rhythm now and will dismantle the first-class batsmen from Baroda. It was not to be. His next ball was slashed over point by Parab. Hmm… a bouncer or a yorker, now, surely? A length ball followed and Parab took a single off the next.At the start of the third over Vettori, the captain, moved out the second slip to gully. A gully and a point were now in place. In better times, Bond would have kicked it up from short of a length outside the off stump, got an edge out of the startled batsman and either the gully or point would have come into play. He attempted straightway but to Bond’s surprise, it flew off the middle of the bat and sailed over backward point. Parab had reproduced a Virender Sehwag special. There was a buzz around the arena. Now we had a real contest on the cards. Unsurprisingly, a bouncer followed. Parab calmly swayed away. Then another one, banged in short, was punched down on the off side. A fullish one was served up next which was driven powerfully and if not for an agile cover, it would have been a four.Vettori ran across to hand over the goggles and a pat on the back as Bond trudged back to his fine-leg position to attend to his end-over ritual. Some chilled water would go down the throat, some down the back of his neck and he would then grab a towel to wipe his perspiration away. The heat was truly on.Early in his next over, Parab edged a short-of-a-length delivery to the thirdman fence to produce a shake of the head from the bowler. The next one flew at the throat of Parab who swayed away quickly. A couple of balls later Parab tried to whip a ball on the legs to the on side but got a leading edge that fell short of mid-off. That ball didn’t deserve a wicket but neither was lady luck smiling on the tired fast bowler. A series of balls that were banged in short of length were served up in the next over, all of which was pushed away without any fuss. Off his penultimate ball of the spell, Bond sent one full and on the middle and leg, hoping to trap an lbw decision but it was nonchalantly flicked past the square-leg. And that was that.When he came back for his second spell in the 34th over, he operated on two lengths – bouncers and just short of driveable length. He even attempted a yorker, his first of the day, in his eight over.However the dark clouds cleared for him even as the sun was setting in the western sky. Off the penultimate ball of the 47 th over, his ninth, he finally got one to pitch full and just short of driveable length to clean up a tailender. He looked more relieved than happy as he slowly halted his follow-through, came to a stop somewhere in the middle of the pitch and just stood silently. His team-mates, however, realised the importance of the wicket and ran towards him to high-five. Slowly, the hand stretched out and the tired lips spread into a smile. Bond had found his first clue and his hunt will continue another day.

Michael Vaughan"It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s just an amazing achievement. It’s all down to a lot of hard work going back before Christmas. There’s also a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Duncan Fletcher, the coach, and Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, have been great, as have the physios and the masseuse. I’m also pleased for the five guys who didn’t play. They’ve put in a lot of hard work. It was a team effort.""We were looking down the barrel yesterday, but a great innings from Graham Thorpe got us back in the game. I’m delighted for Matthew Hoggard too. To get a hat-trick in Barbados is something special and to finish the game in three days with 10 to 20,000 Brits behind us was fantastic."Graham Thorpe"It probably rates second behind my hundred at The Oval [against South Africa last summer] on my comeback. This is as good as it gets, we’ve played well as a team with a good blend of youth and experience. To get a hundred at Barbados is a fantastic achievement. I was grateful to them [Simon Jones and Stephen Harmison] for helping me to my hundred. All in all, it was a great team effort."Brian Lara"We need to get back to the nets. Again we didn’t bat very well. We struggled with the ball swinging in and away from us and we need to work on it. We now have to regroup. The guys are in shock. We haven’t lost to England here for 36 years and the guys will be hurting. We need to get it together and get going in Antigua."

Anura Tennekoon, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief executive, has announcedthat he will be standing down after England’s tour of Sri Lanka. Tennekooncited personal reasons for his decision to step down.Tennekoon, a former Sri Lanka captain and opening batsman, announced hisdecision on Friday. “Due to personal reasons I am relinquishing my duties aschief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket,” he said in a media statement. “Iwould like to take this opportunity to wish Sri Lanka Cricket the very bestin the future.”Tennekoon was appointed in Dec 2000 after the controversial sacking ofDhammika Ranatunga, the brother of World Cup winning captain Arjuna.Although widely respected for his honesty and integrity, he had facedgrowing criticism for not being forthright enough in various commercial andcontractual negotiations.”Anura is a man of great honesty and integrity and we needed someone likethat at that controversial juncture,” said Mohan de Silva, the SLCsecretary. “He always had the game at heart and he made a big contributionto the development of the game in Sri Lanka.”According to de Silva, the search for Tennekoon’s successor will beginimmediately. The SLC will headhunt a top business leader with a cricketingbackground.

The Chairman of the Tasmanian Cricket Association, Denis Rogers AO was honoured in a private ceremony at Bellerive Oval on Saturday 1st November 2003.The Chairman’s Room, Board Room and Viewing Area at Bellerive has been re-named the "Denis Rogers Suite" in honour of Mr.Rogers’ contribution to Tasmanian, Australian and International cricket.Mr. Rogers’ family, friends and close associates, attended the function.In unveiling the plaque to re-name the room, Brent Palfreyman, Deputy Chairman (TCA) spoke with enormous warmth and respect as he outlined the vast contribution made by Mr. Rogers.Mr.Rogers said in response; "It is always one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon someone, being recognised in your own State and I feel very humble."He paid tribute to his family, friends and acknowledged the hard work of all those involved throughout his long career as a cricket administrator.Denis Rogers AO was appointed to the TCA Committee of Management/Board of Directors in June 1986 and elected Chairman in July 1986.Denis has been instrumental in a number of landmark actions including:

• The restructure of Tasmanian cricket in 1991.
• International cricket coming to Tasmania.
• Securing Tasmania’s 1st Test match in December 1989.
• Securing Commonwealth and State Government support to enable the re-development of Bellerive Oval.

Denis was elected as Tasmania’s representative to the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) from 1989 to 2002. During that time he served with distinction as Chairman for two three-year terms from 1996 to 2002.He is recognised as a national leader in sporting administration and has made significant contributions to the advancement of World cricket.

Simon Jones’s hopes of making the full England tour of the West Indies will be given their most serious test yet this weekend when the A side begin their first-class leg in India.Jones, who is currently on standby for the Caribbean, is likely to play in the four-day game against Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which begins tomorrow.Since Jones tore his cruciate ligaments in the Brisbane Test in November 2002, he has been on the sidelines working his way back to fitness. He suffered stiffness after bowling only 13 overs in two matches in Malaysia before the team arrived in India.However, after plenty of treatment to get fit for the final two one-dayers of the three-match series with India A, he bowled at about 90% of his full pace without further discomfort.”We were being cautious and didn’t expect any reaction,” insisted Stuart Osbourne, England A’s physio. “He’s good as gold.”

The Zimbabweans will start the NatWest Series in much better heart after an adequate, rather than dominating, five-wicket victory over Essex at Chelmsford. Ray Price excelled with the ball while Grant Flower overshadowed his brother – and opponent – Andy to make sure of victory with the bat.The most pleasing aspect for Zimbabwe was their bowling performance, which, with a little help from the overcast and humid conditions, was their best of the tour. For once extras were rare as line and length was consistent. Nasser Hussain, playing and missing, continued to struggle for runs and took 38 balls to reach double figures, as Darren Robinson did most of the early scoring for Essex.Hussain then fell to a senseless run-out in the sixteenth over (56 for 1), and Price followed that with three quick wickets. First he found a bit of turn and bounce to have Robinson (37) caught by the wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu (68 for 2), and two balls later he trapped Aftab Habib lbw for a duck with his arm ball. Shortly afterwards Ronnie Irani gave Price his third wicket when he drove a low catch to midwicket to leave Essex struggling at 71 for 4 in the 24th over.That led the way for the strange sight of Andy Flower – captain for the day – walking to the wicket wearing the glaring Essex Eagles uniform rather than the Zimbabwe red. However, he brought some much-needed stability to the innings as he had done so often for the Zimbabweans.Travis Friend continued to bowl with more fire and control than at any previous time on tour, troubling Ravi Bopara and eventually having him fending a vicious lifter off his face to be caught by Taibu for 18 (118 for 5). And that performance may well have booked Friend’s place in the opening NatWest Series match after a disastrous bowling record for most of this tour.James Middlebrook settled in impressively while Flower played a typically accumulative innings, working the ball around the field so skilfully and unobtrusively that the unaware would miss it. But after passing his fifty, he was run out for 52 after fine work in the field by Richie Sims as he attempted a third run (154 for 6).There was little fight in the tail, and two suicidal run-outs were more reminiscent of the village green than first-class cricket. Much credit belongs to Middlebrook who made a valuable unbeaten 42, but Essex never recovered from Price’s three top-order wickets.Chasing only 190, Zimbabwe soon lost Dion Ebrahim, caught at first slip off Tony Palladino (13 for 1), but Douglas Marillier cashed in against some erratic Essex bowling and the fifty came up in the eighth over. Then Friend, doing his frequent job as a pinch-hitter, soon got into his stride, and Zimbabwe were on their way.Friend made 44, including 10 fours, before being bowled playing down the wrong line to Middlebrook (91 for 3). Richie Sims and Grant Flower then settled in to play quietly and without difficulty, until Sims (18) fished at a ball from Palladino to be caught by Andy Flower behind the stumps (123 for 4). And when Stuart Matsikenyeri was also caught behind off Grant for 11 (138 for 5), Essex sniffed they were in with a chance of a surprise victory.However, Grant Flower was determined to be there at the end and he took no chances while occasionally unleashing a handsome drive through the covers as his 50 came off 65 balls. It was a welcome return to form for Flower, and a welcome win for Zimbabwe ahead of their match against England on June 26.