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Burt Cockley’s eventful month has come to a disappointing end after being diagnosed with stress fractures of the back. Cockley has been ruled out of New South Wales’ one-day match against Tasmania in Launcestion on Saturday, while Dominic Thornely has been omitted.It was only a month ago that Cockley was a left-field selection for Australia’s one-day international squad in India after several first-choice bowlers went down with injuries. Cockley did not play a match on the trip and now faces the prospect of having to get over his stress fractures before reclaiming his state spot.The Blues have included the spinner Steve O’Keefe and the batsman Usman Khawaja in their 12-man squad, which will again be captained by Stuart Clark. New South Wales have one win from three matches in the FR Cup this summer, while Tasmania, who are unchanged from Sunday’s loss to South Australia, have played five games for two victories.New South Wales squad Phillip Hughes, Phil Jaques, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Daniel Smith (wk), Moises Henriques, Grant Lambert, Steve O’Keefe, Stuart Clark (capt), Josh Hazlewood.Tasmania squad Wade Irvine, Michael Dighton, George Bailey (capt), Travis Birt, Ed Cowan, Luke Butterworth, James Faulkner, Jason Krejza, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Gerard Denton, Xavier Doherty.

Brett Lee, the Australian fast bowler, has been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series in India because of an elbow injury and will fly back home. He is in doubt for the home Test series against West Indies as well.Lee was unable to complete his quota of overs in the first ODI in Vadodara, having bowled just six, and the elbow problem kept him out of the second match in Nagpur. The injury is the latest setback for Lee who also missed the Ashes in England due to fitness problems.”Brett’s elbow injury has not responded as well to treatment as we would have liked and therefore a decision has been made to send him home to consult with an elbow specialist,” Cricket Australia physiotherapist Kevin Sims said. “With an accurate diagnosis we can determine how best to manage the injury and give Brett the best chance of being available for selection at the beginning of the Australian summer.”Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, and coach Tim Nielsen had voiced their unhappiness about scheduling the Champions League so close to the ODI series. Nielsen called Lee’s injury a “stress-related” one, and Ponting rued the absence of six of his players while preparing for the seven-ODI series. Lee, however, said that his injury was not because of his participation in New South Wales’ campaign in the Champions League.Australia will also be without allrounder James Hopes, who has a hamstring strain, in the third ODI in Delhi. “Both the guys [Lee and Hopes] are not playing tomorrow. Lee had a light training today and he looks 85% fine but there is still some pain in his elbow,” Ponting said. “Hopes got through his bowling today but we have our fingers crossed. We hope he will be okay for Mohali after sitting out tomorrow.”There was some good news for the visitors, though, as wicketkeeper Graham Manou was expected to reach Delhi in time for the game as a replacement for Tim Paine, who broke his finger during the second ODI in Nagpur. “Graham [Manou] will arrive this afternoon. He has some international experience having played a few Test matches and also in Ashes,” Ponting said.While Australia have a replacement opener in Shaun Marsh to fill in for Paine, the absence of Lee is a major blow to a bowling attack that has struggled to contain the Indian batsman, especially during the final overs. In the first ODI in Vadodara, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar added 84 runs in 9.3 overs for the eighth wicket and, in Nagpur, India plundered 108 off the last ten overs to post 354, the highest total by any team batting first against Australia in an ODI.Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who was also in doubt for the Nagpur ODI with an ankle strain, will play despite discomfort to bolster the attack in the remaining ODIs.

How quickly the momentum has shifted. After bossing New Zealand around in the Tests, Sri Lanka have been slightly deflated with a loss in momentum, after defeats in both Twenty20 contests over the past three days. New Zealand followed up their three-run victory on Wednesday with 22-run win last night to start the limited-overs part of their tough tour on a definite high.This was most visible right after the second match, when the entire New Zealand team and support staff stood in unison near the dais, waiting for the presentation to start. Kumar Sangakkara came out shortly but had to stop, look around, and then beckon his players to join him in a show of solidarity like the tourists. A visibly flustered Sangakkara called out to a couple players looking on from the dressing room, signaling that the rest all hurry down immediately. Slowly, the Sri Lankans descended the steps and formed a queue around their captain.Later, in a closed-room press conference, Sangakkara said his team will have to fight hard to regain lost momentum. “It was a great pitch, but we lost too many wickets and were not able to build the kind of partnerships you need. We tried everything and we still came up short. A loss is always a concern. Once you’re outplayed, you have to accept it. You learn from it and move on.”For his opposite number, Daniel Vettori, this was an indication of things to come. “The guys will take a lot of confidence from that. I think everyone out there put up a performance at some stage and they’ll be happy with that,” Vettori said. “They can take that into the one-dayers. For us to make the final will be a great stepping stone for the Champions Trophy.”Both Twenty20 internationals highlighted Sri Lanka’s reliance on Tillakaratne Dilshan to provide a good start. On Wednesday, Dilshan blazed away as wickets fell around him and by the time he departed for 57, the damage had been done with Sri Lanka 75 for 4. Yesterday, Dilshan’s dismissal in the first over was followed by a slump to 11 for 3. “When a batsman’s in form, he always seems to be the guy scoring the runs at the top. Unfortunately the other guys haven’t been supporting him as they can,” said Sangakkara. “They have the ability to do so but unfortunately we haven’t had that. It’s a learning process, form comes and goes but I think the players we do have are well capable of getting us the runs and the starts we need to win.”Vettori pinpointed that dismissal as a result of planning – Martin Guptill was put out on the boundary for this shot, and Shane Bond dropped the ball short of a length – and hard work. “Shane stood up and said he wanted to do that job. We had some goods plans and they worked today. It’s always great when that happens because you work pretty hard and sometimes it doesn’t work out. To see it work today and the lift it gave the team was great.”,The other concern for Sri Lanka is the lack of runs from Sanath Jayasuriya, whose last eight innings have produced 125 runs at 15.63. His one-day form is equally dismal, with just 132 at 18.66 in his last seven trips to the middle. “It’s always a concern when a batsman’s out of form,” said Sangakkara, “But we all know what he can do and what he has done. We have to give him every chance to get back in there and score runs.”Bond’s return to the international circuit has been watched closely by many, including the two captains. The jury is not yet on Bond going into what will be his first real test, the one-day part of this tour. “You can’t really tell much in four overs but you’ve in these conditions fast bowling is always a challenge,” said Sangakkara. “Batsmen always back themselves to face pace on these tracks. With the sun coming out of day-nighters, bowling in the sun…that will be the real test for him.”Vettori said it was a great start for Bond, as he attempted to launch himself at the highest level. “You couldn’t really ask for too much more. It’s great for him to start the way he has and I think he’ll get better and better. The role’s he’s performed – taking the new ball and then coming back at the death …I’ve been really impressed with the way he bowled then.”He looks confident and when Shane’s confident he’s a really good bowler. I think we’ll see more of that as the one-day series goes on. This series will take the nerves away from him and he’ll be able to concentrate on playing cricket now.”

Division Two

Wayne Madsen scored his third century of the season to lead Derbyshire, who are fighting for promotion, to 401 for 5 before they declared their first innings against Middlesex at Uxbridge. Madsen’s 167, which came off 237 balls with 18 fours and two sixes, included two chances: on 56, he was caught at slip off a Murali Karthik no-ball and, on 87, David Burton dropped a chance at mid-on. Madsen and Greg Smith, who scored 62, accelerated after lunch and added 129 in 25 overs before Smith charged Kartik and was bowled. Burton then struck in successive overs, removing Madsen and Wavell Hinds, but Jamie Pipe smacked a 20-ball 38 and took Derbyshire past 400 before the captain Chris Rogers decided it was time to attack Middlesex’s batsmen. There was a massive lbw appeal against Dan Housego in the first over of Middlesex’s innings and umpire David Willey raised the finger but then changed his mind and asked the batsman to return. Housego, however, fell shortly after for 4. Middlesex had reached 75 for 1 before Dawid Malan was run out off the first ball of the day’s last over. There was more bad news for the hosts: Adam London suffered a broken finger in the field and is unlikely to bat unless needed desperately.Danish Kaneria took a five-for for Essex but Andrew Hall lifted Northamptonshire with an aggressive half-century at Chelmsford. Click here for Andrew Miller’s report.A strong bowling and batting performance from Kent on the second day against Leicestershire has taken them closer to winning the Division Two title. Mark Pennell watched the action between Kent and Leicestershire at Canterbury.Four batsmen scored half-centuries, with opener Gareth Rees’ 88 being the top-score, as Glamorgan reached 380 for 7 on the first day of their important match against Gloucestershire in Cardiff. Mark Cosgrove scored 80, Mike Powell made 84, while Jim Allenby contributed 79 to Glamorgan’s cause before he was dismissed in the penultimate over of the day. Gloucestershire are currently in fourth place in Division Two while Glamorgan, who will pursue a fifth batting point on the second day, are fifth in the battle for promotion. They got off to a sound start with openers Cosgrove and Rees adding 130 in the first session. Cosgrove got to his half-century off only 64 balls and Rees took Glamorgan past 100 in the 21st over. He reached his fifty after lunch but then the wickets started to fall: Cosgrove drove Jon Lewis to mid-on and Will Bragg was lbw to Richard Dawson to leave Glamorgan on 148 for 2. Powell lived through an lbw appeal and a close run-out chance and added 68 with Rees for the third wicket. Rees was then dismissed for 88 and Jamie Dalrymple followed soon after for a duck, when he needed only a run to reach 1000 runs for the season. Powell and Allenby, however, had another century stand for the fifth wicket to lead Glamorgan to a healthy total.

Division One

Piyush Chawla’s legspin kept Sussex in the hunt for wickets throughout a tense first day at Hove. He finished the day with 4 for 82 as Yorkshire reached the close on 274 for 7, a situation vastly improved by an unbeaten eighth-wicket stand between Ajmal Shahzad and David Wainwright. With the two sides effectively battling to push the other into the second division, Sussex struck a telling early blow when Jason Lewry nailed Jacques Rudolph for a third-ball duck in the first over of the match. Adam Lyth and Andrew Gale battled back with a pair of half-centuries, but with Chawla menacing throughout his 37 overs, Yorkshire’s four-point advantage at the start of the round was starting to look flimsy.With the stress of securing the Championship lifted from his shoulders, Durham’s captain, Will Smith, celebrated the title with a cathartic 150, his second and highest century of an arduous season at the helm, as Hampshire were condemned to a long day in the field at the Rose Bowl. After a rain-affected first day, Durham resumed on 95 for 1, and though Michael di Venuto added just one to his overnight 61 before Dominic Cork pinned him lbw, Smith (11 not out) cracked on with intent. He struck 16 fours and a six, and was the dominant figure of the innings, with only Ian Blackwell (52) joining him in passing fifty. He was eventually the eighth man out, only three balls before play came to an end with the subsequent dismissal of Mark Davies for a first-ball duck, as Durham closed on a healthy 435 for 9.Daryl Mitchell struck his maiden double-century as Worcestershire reached 408 for 4 at the end of the first day against Somerset at Taunton. John Ward watched the action.

Fast bowler Umar Gul has said that Pakistan are desperate to beat India in the upcoming Champions Trophy fixture. Pakistan are grouped with Australia, West Indies and India, and the two teams face off on September 26 in Centurion.”While every match will be important, the game against India, as always, will be special for both the sides,” Gul said. “No rivalry can match the India-Pakistan rivalry and I think the match will be something billions of people all over the world will be waiting for.”For us, the match is also important for the simple fact that we haven’t beaten them in an ICC event and we’re desperate to break that sequence [Pakistan have actually beaten India in the 2004 Champions Trophy],” he said.Gul said that being World Twenty20 champions adds pressure due to increased fans’ expectations.”Although it is a different format, it is always good to go in as a champion side because it gives you that extra confidence which is vital in big tournaments,” he said. “However, our victory in England has raised the bar of expectations and our supporters want us to win everything. That puts us under more pressure.”Pakistan have included the promising Umar Akmal in the squad, and the tournament will also mark the comeback of fast bowler Mohammad Asif. Gul feels the side is well balanced, with the return of experienced ICL players like Mohammad Yousuf and Rana Naved. “I believe we have an excellent team for one-day cricket and it is the combination that makes us a quality side. The return of Mohammad Yousuf and Rana Naved has provided further impetus to the side which is bubbling with confidence after its victory in the ICC World Twenty20 in England in June.”Gul said he was looking forward to leading the bowling attack. “I’m ready to take the spearhead’s role and the requirement of that role is to try to come up to expectations whenever the ball is tossed at you,” he said.”There’s no greater feeling than to contribute in the success of your side. After the victory in England, the side is hungry for more successes and I’m desperate to contribute more to those successes.”

Division One

Stephen Moore continued his fine form with his first Championship hundred of the summer, as Worcestershire set Lancashire a testing 264 to win on the second day at Old Trafford. Lancashire were rolled for 145 at the start of the day, with Matt Mason recording 7 for 39, but thereafter Moore took control on a pitch offering less swing and seam than on the first day. He and Ben Smith added 79 for the third wicket, before Gary Keedy sparked Lancashire into life with two quick wickets, later prompting a brilliant run-out from Steven Croft to remove Steven Davies. By then, however, Moore had posted his fine century, and Mal Loye and Paul Horton negotiated the 13 overs to guide Lancashire to 40 without loss, still needing a further 224 to win.Alfonso Thomas lifted Somerset to 510 at Taunton with a county-best 70 before the rain arrived to halt a positive Hampshire response at 83 without loss. Thomas and James Hildreth carried their overnight stand to 87 before Hildreth’s fine innings was ended for 155 when he chipped to mid-on, but Hampshire struggled to wrap up the innings. David Stiff, who was promoted up the order in Somerset’s memorable chase against Yorkshire, made a useful 25 in a 53-run stand with Thomas. However, the Hampshire openers emphasised how good the pitch is for batting as they raced along with a flurry of boundaries – 15 coming in the 14 overs before the rain wiped out the final session.Click here for John Ward’s report on the first day’s play between Yorkshire v Durham at Headingley.

Division Two

Leicestershire are within sight of their first win of their Championship season after another Middlesex batting collapse, on the second day at Grace Road. Resuming on 137 for 6 the home side reached the lofty heights of 244, an overall lead of 85, thanks to an innings of great maturity from the much admired 18-year-old Josh Cobb, who was ninth man out for a season’s-best 95. In reply, it was a familiar story for Middlesex as Iain O’Brien, who took six in the first innings, bowled Nick Compton with a fine yorker, before Billy Godleman, Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan followed in quick succession. Middlesex were in a hole at 50 for 40, a pit that became even deeper when Jim Allenby removed Dawid Malan and David Nash, leaving the tourists in the hopeless position of 76 for 6, still trailing by nine runs.Joe Denly and Robert Key gave Kent an ideal platform to their first innings at The Oval as they added an unbroken 152 in reply to Surrey’s 386. Denly, who impressed for England Lions against the Australians last week, hit seven boundaries and two sixes – off Murtaza Hussain and Chris Schofield – while Key hit his first Championship half-century of the season in a timely return to form. Key survived a strong shout for a catch at the wicket, while Denly was also let off a very close lbw decision, but the pair cracked 80 runs in boundaries alone to speed Kent’s reply. Surrey were given a lower-order boost by Schofield and Hussain who added 56 for the ninth wicket.

John Gloster, the former India physio, has suggested that the Indian players skip the IPL ahead of the major ICC tournaments and tours to avoid mental fatigue. Gloster said the players must be feeling the strain of playing away from home for lengthy periods, which puts additional pressure on their family life.All the Indian players who participated in the five-week IPL in South Africa also played in the ICC World Twenty20 in England shortly afterwards. However, the defending champions couldn’t get further than the Super Eights and their coach Gary Kirsten had said fatigue levels and minor injuries from the IPL led to their exit.”Although the IPL has helped bring an revolution in world cricket, it’s still wiser to avoid it if it’s close to any important series because it involves too much of travelling and stress,” Gloster told the . “The cricketers who played in the IPL in South Africa may be mentally tired and were not ready for the huge pressure of the ICC World T20. A hectic schedule may rock the family lives of players. Perhaps no other country has as strong family bonds as the Indians.”The BCCI has said in the past that the players have the option of opting out of tours to rest and recuperate but Gloster felt the BCCI should play a more active role in monitoring injuries closely.”I feel the BCCI should have a medical board because questions of fitness and injury sometimes create confusion, especially if it comes from the team management,” Gloster said.MS Dhoni, the captain, set an example when he skipped the Test leg of the tour of Sri Lanka after being on the road for several months without a break. His decision raised eyebrows but Gloster felt the public should understand the situation from the player’s point of view.”Dhoni is a class cricketer. But sometimes the burden of expectations weigh the players down,” he said. “And when they fail to perform, they are criticised from all quarters.”While working with the Indian team, Gloster observed that the players often missed their families and that home sickness is a factor that cannot be ignored.”I spent much time in India and have an Indian wife. So I know what are the emotional needs of Indians, who have been away from their homes for months,” he said. “For a player like Sachin Tendulkar, it’s difficult to keep away from the family for longer periods. Sachin loves his family and I believe he is not happy spending much time away from home.”

Shaun Udal, the captain of English Twenty20 champions Middlesex, has warned of an overkill of Twenty20, especially since there will be two English domestic competitions in that format from next year. Udal said county players needed to play three and not four tournaments – one each for 20- and 50-over cricket and one in the four-day game. Udal’s thoughts echo the concerns of some international players who feel the packed schedule, now with the IPL and the Champions Twenty20 League, will lead to more injuries and burn-out.”It’s typical of English cricket, you get something that’s right and it gets overdone,” Udal said. “We’ve got two Twenty20 competitions next year, the County Championship is starting on a ridiculously early date.” The first-class season began in early April and the Twenty20 Cup, starting today, will be played on either side of the World Twenty20, with the Finals Day on August 15. Next year the England board plans a second two-divisional, Twenty20 tournament, called P20, to provide their version of the IPL including extra international players”It’s daft, it’s just being greedy. It’s not good for the players – the strain on your body is too much – and it’s not good for the spectators, who want to see the best players but won’t because they’re injured.” Udal said he expected his side, which had lost players to injury and international calls, to do better in the second half of the Twenty20 Cup.Sachin Tendulkar stressed on the need for adequate rest for India’s openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag before they played the World Twenty20, while Gary Kirsten also said mental fatigue would be India’s biggest challenge in the World Twenty20.

Surrey have finally received approval for their controversial development at The Oval which includes the building of a new stand and hotel on the gasholder side of the ground.Although the local council gave the green light to the plan in January 2008, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) asked for the plans to reconsidered by the Secretary of State over concerns that the development was too close to the famous Kennington Gasholder station. The fact that the gasholders, which are also surrounded by dense housing, have been next to the venue for more than a century appeared to make the HSE’s decision bizarre.However, after a lengthy and expensive public inquiry, the plans were passed.A new stand will increase the capacity of The Oval to 25,000, and there will also be a 168-bedroom hotel.”This decision has been a long time coming, and we are very pleased with the outcome,” Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, said. “The development is an important one both for cricket and our community. The continued improvement of facilities at The Oval means that international cricket is guaranteed a place here for many years to come.”

The Indian board’s commitment to fight corruption in cricket has come under the scanner after it has emerged that it stayed silent for months on an ICC offer to provide full anti-corruption cover for the IPL this year, mainly because of the fee involved. The issue was raised at the BCCI’s working committee on Wednesday, when members were informed that the fee quoted then by the ICC – US$1.2 million – was too high.The BCCI, which runs the IPL, finally agreed to the offer this month when reminded about it during the ICC’s executive board meeting in Dubai. That was on April 17, the day before the IPL began, and it was too late for the ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) – which starts work on an event at least two months in advance – to provide a credible level of preventive cover.The BCCI’s position has raised a few eyebrows within the Indian board and officials who attended Wednesday’s high-level meeting told Cricinfo of their concern at a price being put to the fight against corruption – which, they feel, is an ever-present danger in cricket. To place the ACSU’s fee in perspective, the BCCI had declared an overall income of approximately US$ 200m for 2007-08, and a profit of US$ 10m from the first IPL alone.Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, is a senior member of the ICC board, which has consistently maintained that corruption in cricket is a menace that demands the most stringent preventive measures possible. In fact, after the last ICC board meeting, Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, admitted there is a higher concern about Twenty20 cricket with all the excitement and money.”The board has consistently said it cannot afford to be complacent (about the risk of corruption in Twenty20 cricket),” Lorgat told Cricinfo last week. “We are mindful that with Twenty20 cricket there is great excitement and money. Put those ingredients into a pot and there is a higher concern.”Last July, after the first IPL, the ACSU chairman Sir Paul Condon told the ICC’s annual conference in Dubai that Twenty20 tournaments like the IPL bring with it the “biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah.””But the BCCI’s position when it comes to the IPL is quite puzzling,” a state association official, who attended BCCI working committee meeting, told Cricinfo. It’s learnt that some officials pointed to the presence of individuals other than the players and support staff in the team dugouts last year and stressed the importance of utilising the ICC’s services to lend credibility to the tournament’s anti-corruption measures.N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, and Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, were not available for comment.Officially, the BCCI is well within its rights to organise its own anti-corruption measures for the IPL, which is deemed a domestic event. “But it’s obvious, isn’t it, that the IPL is much more than just another domestic event?” another state association official, who attended the BCCI meeting, said. “There are nearly 80 foreign players involved from across the world along with Bollywood stars, their staff and supporters. No one is saying that there is corruption in the IPL; we are confident that there isn’t. But are they doing enough to keep it that way?”The IPL’s anti-corruption protocol last year was handled by a team of around 10 officials, including retired police and military officials, recruited independently by the league. The team was guided by ACSU officials, who played a supporting role. This time, the IPL’s team is being assisted by Nicholls & Steyn, the private security agency based in South Africa that has also been entrusted with the task of managing the event’s security. Bob Nicholls, one of the partners of the security firm, had told Cricinfo that they were “not involved so much” with the anti-corruption aspect. In contrast, the ICC’s ACSU is not a profit-based body and any income over expenses is pumped back into the game.The ICC had first offered full ACSU coverage for the second IPL edition a few months after the hugely successful inaugural event got over last May, based on independent observations and inputs collated during the tournament. The IPL agreed and were then sent a quote on the fee this would involve. The IPL, however, indicated that the fee was too high and said they would revert on the offer, which they didn’t till the ICC board meeting 12 days ago.The ACSU’s pre-event spadework involves staging reconnaissances in the host cities and gathering intelligence from local sources to identify potential corruptors. Against this background, the effectiveness of the IPL’s anti-corruption procedures this year is open to question after the tournament – involving 59 matches over 37 days, at eight venues – was shifted to South Africa just three weeks before its scheduled start in India.The ICC’s ACSU came into being after the match-fixing scandal of 2000 involving Hansie Cronje, which also led to bans on Mohammed Azharuddin, the former India captain, and Salim Malik, the Pakistan batsman.