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There’s still no guarantee that there’ll be any cricket awaiting them, as the telecast-rights dispute rumbles on through the courts of India, but Australia’s cricketers are nonetheless preparing to fly out to Mumbai, ahead of their four-Test series, which begins in October.Four members of the squad were not involved in the Champions Trophy – the spinners, Shane Warne, Cameron White and Nathan Hauritz, and the opening batsman, Justin Langer – and they are set to arrive in India in the early hours of Friday morning. They are departing their home states today, before convening in Singapore to catch the same flight to Mumbai.For Warne in particular, the coming weeks represent one of the biggest challenges of his glittering career. Despite all his successes, he has never yet successfully cracked India, and if Australia are to avenge their 2-1 defeat in the corresponding series in 2000-01, then he will need to be at the top of his game.No travel arrangements have yet been announced for the main body of players, who are currently in England recovering from the shock of their semi-final defeat at Edgbaston. The first match of the tour, a three-day affair against the Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, will begin at the Brabourne Stadium on September 30.

Opener Trevor Gripper hit a century and Grant Flower scored an unbeaten half-century as Mashonaland launched a resilient comeback on the second day of their Logan Cup inter-provincial cricket tournament against Matabeleland at Queens Sports Club on Saturday.Gripper scored 104 with Flower 89 not out as Mashonaland, in reply to Matabeleland’s first-innings score of 411, closed the day on 335 for the loss of four wickets. The two were complemented by Dion Ebrahim and captain Tatenda Taibu who scored half-centuries each.Earlier in the morning, Matabeleland could only add 21 runs to their overnight score of 391 for six wickets. Mluleki Nkala, yet to open his account, was back in the pavilion in the first over of the day, when he nicked a Douglas Hondo delivery to be caught behind by Tatenda Taibu. Hondo took another wicket in the same over, trapping left-handed Keith Dabengwa lbw for a duck.Barney Rogers added ten runs to his overnight score of 133 before he was dismissed by Hondo when he played a powerful square drive off the pace bowler. Grant Flower tried to get his hands on it and the ball slipped through but Dion Ebrahim was there to take the catch to get rid of Rogers for 143.Last man in Jordane Nicolle did not last either, falling to Trevor Gripper when he skied a delivery from the spinner, which presented Elton Chigumbura, fielding at silly mid-on, with an easy catch and Nicolle was out for a duck. Wisdom Siziba was left unbeaten with 12 runs as Matabeleland were shot out for 411 from 104 overs.Hondo was the pick of the Mashonaland bowlers with a haul of four wickets at the cost of 94 runs from 27 overs, with four maidens. Waddington Mwayenga, Amos Maungwa, Craig Evans and Trevor Gripper grabbed one wicket apiece.In reply, Mashonaland opened with Stuart Carlisle and Trevor Gripper, with skipper Heath Streak and Mluleki Nkala taking the new ball for Matabeleland. At first they wasted it with inaccurate bowling.The Mashonaland opening partnership yielded only 36 runs when Heath Streak clean bowled Carlisle for nine runs, with the ball hitting the off stump and breaking it in the process.Dion Ebrahim joined Gripper and the score started ticking along as the twotook advantage of some loose bowling from Nkala, while Streak kept it tight on the other end. The Matabeleland skipper proved inexpensive, despite spraying the balls all over the show like confetti at a party.Gripper went on to get his half-century from 51 balls after staying at the crease for 87 minutes and dispatching ten fours in the process. The tall opener reached his century after 181 minutes at the crease, facing 119 balls and scoring 18 fours. However he could add only four runs to his ton as he was dismissed by left arm spinner Keith Dabengwa, caught at first slip by Mark Vermeulen for 104, which came off 122 balls.Grant Flower joined Ebrahim as the bid to avoid a follow-on continued and the two put on 23 for the third wicket before Ebrahim was run out for 59 attempting a quick single. Ebrahim called but Flower remained rooted to his crease with Ebrahim already half-way down the track. Streak threw the ball in for wicketkeeper Wisdom Siziba to finish off the run out before Ebrahim could make his ground.Skipper Tatenda Taibu joined Flower and the two restored the Mashonaland innings, putting on 189 runs for the fourth wicket, which is the highest partnership so far in the match. Flower reached the half-century mark after facing o 60 balls with six fours and two sixes in 66 minutes. Taibu achieved the same feat after 119 minutes at the crease, facing 114 balls and smashing six fours and a six.Streak grabbed his second wicket when he had Taibu given out leg before wicket for 65. The Matabeleland skipper was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, conceding 47 runs with five maidens from 16 overs.

ScorecardBangladesh’s Under-19 team was left ruing a disastrous morning session on the third day of the first Test at Headingley, as England wrapped up a five-wicket victory with four full sessions to spare.Bangladesh had been up against it at the start of play, after slipping to 126 for 4 on Thursday evening. But with Samit Patel weaving an impenetrable web with his left-arm spin, Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for 30 runs in 20 overs, and a finely balanced game had been tilted decisively towards England.Patel finished with 3 for 31 from 17 overs, and with Ravinder Bopara providing (3 for 19) providing fine support, Bangladesh lost their way badly. Aftab Ahmed, 45 not out overnight, brought up his half-century but fell shortly afterwards for 54, and of the rest, only the wicketkeeper, Dhiman Ghosh, reached double figures.England’s target of 118 was briefly challenged when Joe Denly was bowled by Shadahat Hossain for a duck, and when Nadif Chowdhury and the captain, Enamul Haque jr, grabbed two wickets each, England were made to sweat just a touch. But Alistair Cook’s 57 anchored the chase, and Luke Wright steered England to victory with 14 not out.

Ricky Ponting and his team were among around 15,000 mourners who gathered to pay their respects at the funeral of David Hookes at the Adelaide Oval. Hookes, 48, died last week following an assault outside a Melbourne hotel.Ian Chappell, a close friend and former captain of Hookes’s, delivered a moving eulogy, remembering his debut in the Centenary Test of 1977. “I think that innings is so typical of David, not only of his cricket career, but his life,” Chappell said. “When everybody else was struggling with the occasion, Hookesy came along and put it all into perspective. I can just imagine him saying, ‘Well mate, it’s just another game of cricket, a half-volley is a half-volley, you’ve got to whack it’.”We will think of David always as someone who put entertainment ahead of personal achievement and he was a great reminder to us all, that after all, it is just a game.”Three stumps were placed at one end of the Adelaide Oval pitch where Hookes scored 20 of his 29 first-class centuries. A bat was left resting against them, as he had always done that during breaks in play. His red South Australia team cap was draped over the top of one of the stumps.”Nothing can justify this senseless waste of life,” Reverend Steven Ogden, the Dean of St Peter’s Cathedral, told the gathering. “David did not deserve this and it offends all we hold dear and true, and we feel cheated. There is no third umpire in the sky who we can turn to – we have to accept responsibility for our own actions and decisions. And because of that, we are outraged by what has happened to David. In the name and memory of David, we refuse to submit to the despair and violence of this world.”

Hookes’ brother, Terry Cranage, said: “It has been so difficult over the past week to absorb … the tragedy of this insane incident. David my brother, David my mate, my hero – rest in peace as we that are left behind ask why.”Darren Lehmann, South Australia’s captain, placed one of Hookes’s old bats on the coffin before the crowd gave one final standing ovation.Russell Crowe and boxing world champion Anthony Mundine mingled among what was almost a who’s who of Australian cricket. Ian and Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Richie Benaud, Mark Taylor and Kim Hughes joined the current Australian, South Australian and Victoria teams. Martin Crowe, Tony Greig and Clive Lloyd were also in attendance.The service was broadcast on national television.

Division One

Darren Lehmann cracked a fine century as the honours were shared between Yorkshire and Lancashire on the opening day of the Roses clash at Old Trafford. Mark Chilton made the surprising decision to bowl first and Yorkshire were just one wicket down at lunch. However, Glen Chapple and Tom Smith fought back after the break as Yorkshire slipped to 164 for 5, although no one could shift Lehmann. He added 103 with his South Australia team-mate, Jason Gillespie, and support from the lower order helped him push the total past 300 as he reached his fourth Championship century of the season.Three half-centuries ensured Middlesex formed a useful first-innings total against Hampshire at Lord’s. Owais Shah led the way with 91 before he became one of Shane Warne’s three victims. Dimitri Mascarenhas had struck twice with the new ball, leaving Shah and Ed Joyce to steady the innings with a stand of 103. Jamie Dalrymple struck an aggressive 40 then Scott Styris took over with 63 off 104 balls. Warne used seven bowlers and ended the day with the best figures, but Hampshire really need to force a win in this match to stay in touch with Lancashire and Sussex at the top of the table.Luke Parker hit his first Championship half-century of the season as Warwickshire fought back against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston. Despite 81 from Ian Westwood, Warwickshire slipped from 142 for to 180 for 5 with Mark Ealham and Ryan Sidebottom in the wickets. But Parker and Tim Ambrose joined forces to lead the fightback as they added 106 for the sixth wicket. Parker missed the chance to convert his 73 into a century when he was trapped lbw by Graeme Swann shortly before the close.

Division Two

Chris Rogers struck an electric career-best double-century as Northamptonshire flayed the Gloucestershire attack all over Northampton. He and Stephen Peters added 179 for the first wicket but that was only the start of the carnage. With Usman Afzaal playing the anchor role, he and Rogers then added 203, with Rogers sailing past the 200 mark. The Gloucestershire bowlers had a day to forget, especially Will Rudge who went at nearly seven-an-over, although at least he picked up one of the rare wickets on offer.Anil Kumble followed his eleven wickets against Northamptonshire last week with another bag of five as Surrey bowled Worcestershire out for 304 at Worcester. The home side were well placed at 138 for 1, with Phil Jaques in typically flamboyant form, when Kumble removed Vikram Solanki. His leg-spinning partner, Ian Salisbury, then removed Jaques and Worcestershire stumbled 192 for 5. Daryl Mitchell held the lower order together with a fighting half-century, but given Surrey’s batting power they will expect to overhaul the total.Steve Stubbings held Derbyshire together on the first day against Somerset at Derby but fell three runs short of a century. Travis Birt also hit a 63-ball 50 and the home side were well placed on 222 for 3. However, Cameron White and Charl Willoughby cut through the middle and lower order as Derbyshire fell to 316 all out. But after a brief stoppage for bad light, Steffan Jones hit back to remove Matthew Wood and leave the match interestingly poised.

Sri Lanka A 134 for 4 (Nawaz 46*, Polonowita 38*) trail India A 172 (Badani 47, Herath 4-34) by 38 runs
ScorecardSri Lanka A took the upper hand on the first day’s play at Mumbai as they bowled out India A for 172, and then erased a large part of that score by stumps. Rangana Herath, who took 4 for 34, polished off the lower order with a fine spell of left-arm spin and was instrumental in his side’s dominance of the opening day.Three of the first four batsmen for India A made starts, but none of them could go on. Hemang Badani, coming in at No. 4, top-scored with 47 fluent runs, made off only 65 balls with eight fours. Shiv Sunder Das and Mohammad Kaif made scores in the thirties, but Sri Lanka’s opening bowlers, Lasith Malinga and Tharanga Lakshitha, took two wickets apiece and pegged the Indians back early.India never really recovered from those setbacks. Badani fell with the score on 148, and a middle order of Rohan Gavaskar, Ambati Rayudu and Ajay Ratra mustered up only 28 runs between them. Thereafter Herath worked his magic on the tailenders, as the last four all went for nought.Sri Lanka began their innings even more disastrously, reeling at 69 for 4 thanks to an early introduction of Murali Kartik, who took 3 for 48. But Naveed Nawaz (46*) and Anushka Polonowita (38*) stabilised the innings with an unbeaten stand of 65 for the fifth wicket.

Sri Lanka 243 for 7 (Atapattu 99, Jayawardene 35) beat Shell Academy XI 128 (Muralitharan 3-5) by 115 runsSri Lanka won an easy tour game against the Shell Cricket Academy to begin their tour of West Indies in fine style. Leading from the front, Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s one-day captain, made 99 and Muttiah Muralitharan returned figures of 3 for 5 as Sri Lanka won by 115 runs.Atapattu won the toss and opted to bat, after which Sri Lanka made 243 for 7 in their 50 overs. Atapattu’s 99 was the centerpiece of the innings, though worryingly, none of the other batsmen managed to convert their starts.The Shell Academy batsmen were never up for the chase, and had no answers to Muralitharan. Five of Muralitharan’s seven overs were maidens, and he stifled the Shell Academy batsmen completely in the middle overs, snuffing out all resistance.Prabath Nissanka was the first to strike for Sri Lanka, getting rid of Kurt Wilkinson for just 5. Krishna Arjune (17) and Dwayne Bravo (12) showed some spunk in a 32-run stand, but Arjune was out with the score on 40, and three more wickets fell on 44.After that, it was routine. Matthew Sinclair, the wicketkeeper, top-scored with 22, but the Shell Academy XI only managed to crawl to 128 for 9 in their 50 overs.The quality of the opposition notwithstanding, it was a good start to a tour which doesn’t allow much time for acclimatisation. The Cable & Wireless one-day series between Sri Lanka and West Indies starts this weekend.

Lightning struck twice in a week as a thrilling last wicket partnership between James Manning and Giles White again rescued the Academy from enbarrassment; failing to secure a winning draw by less than .1 of a run.South Wilts won an important toss and elected to take first use of a pitch that didn’t play as well as it looked; often subjecting the batsmen to “tennis ball” bounce. Having lost opener Rowe in the first over with no runs on the board, South Wilts made steady, if unspectacular, progress against a persevering Academy attack.Jamie Glasson rather rode his luck in making a valuable 74 (136 balls, 11 fours), supported in the main by Paul Draper (34) and latterly Tim Lamb with a well-organized 47 who became the second man to be run out taking on the arm of Mitchell Stokes on the deep cover boundary. South Wilts used the maximum number of overs allowed; Matthew Metcalfe (4-54) being the pick of the Academy bowlers, well supported by the leg spin of Ian Hilsum (2-56), having his first long bowl of the season.Again the young Hawks made a disastrous start, being at various stages 27-3 and 58-6; only Tom Burrows (22) achieving double figures. However, a 7th wicket stand of 37 between Hilsum (37 in 47 balls, 1 five, 6 fours) and David Griffiths pushed the Academy towards respectability.When Hilsum was brilliantly caught at short third man Hampshire were soon back in deep trouble at 114-9. Again the impressive Giles White joined his junior partner James Manning in another match-turning partnership; White mixing aggression with defence and farming of the strike in the, by now, somewhat cold and gloomy conditions for the first week in July. This was carried out so successfully against the tiring opening bowlers Senneck (4-66) and Seeary (3-48), who bowled 36 of the 54 overs between them, that the last over -bravely bowled by spinner and captain Draperwas reached with the Academy requiring another 8 runs to achieve a winning draw.White took 3 off the first ball before Manning used up another 3 balls in securing another single. The Academy Captain managed to again paddle-sweep 2 more runs off the fifth ball before only succeeding in on driving a single off the last in scenes of great excitement.Having put on 79 runs for the tenth wicket Manning and White lived to rue a decision of “one short” given by umpire Harrison as the Academy pair attempted a swift 2 early on in their partnership; a decision that meant the extra 5 points for a winning draw went to South Wilts.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was re-elected as president of the BCCI for a third term on Saturday, has warned the ICC that they will be taken to court unless India’s share of World Cup money is released by November 1 at the latest.A lengthy contracts dispute threatened India’s participation in the World Cup, as the personal endorsements of India’s players clashed with the official sponsors of the tournament. The ICC eventually negotiated a compromise with the BCCI, but subsequently withheld India’s money, owing to damage claims from its financial agencies, the Global Cricket Corporation and World Sport Nimbus (GCC, WSN).The GCC has made a claim of US$47 million for lost sponsorship, a figure which Dalmiya described as “frivolous and fictitious”. “We will wait till Nov 1 for our share of $6.5 million along with the interest. If we do not hear from the IDI [ICC’s financial wing] by this date, we will move the court of arbitration.”Dalmiya also complained about the crowded international schedule which the ICC has put in place. “We’re concerned with the amount of cricket being played. The ICC schedule is too crammed. The 10-year program requiring each country to play two home and away series against every opponent during this period is a punishing schedule. The players are getting no respite under the present structure.” Dalmiya said that the Indian board had suggested spreading out the program over a 12- or 14-year period.Dalmiya informed that the BCCI had also put on hold an ICC proposal to have the Indian team play two tri-series tournaments in the United States, as part of an attempt to popularise the game there. “The ICC wants India to play two tri-series in the United States under its ‘Project USA’ program, but the board has decided to wait until the pending issues with the ICC are cleared.”

CENTURION-All roads around this small town, all the way from nearby cosmopolitan Johannesburg and other towns in the vicinity, led to the cricket ground. A profusion of Indian and Pakistani supporters, clogged the roads and entrances which ended up filling the Supersport Park to capacity, with each of its 20,000 seats taken.This smallish ground neither had the atmosphere of the Wanderers’ famous bullring nor the picturesque aura of Newlands, under the majestic shadow of Table Mountain, in Cape Town. But the cacaphony of a highly boisterous partisan crowd made the ambience electric in the extreme, and to the two teams it must have looked like a cauldron.The Indian tri-colour outnumbered the Pakistani green by around 10 to one. That there weren’t serious scuffles between the protagonists of the two sides and peace was maintained was mostly because of the strong presence of security.As a gesture of goodwill the two sides lined up before the start of the match for handshakes, and Waqar and Ganguly presented each other their team ties.This was a first of a kind ceremony during the 2003 World Cup. “Once again cricket is demonstrating its power to bring together people of different cultures, religions and races and we would like to congratulate both the Indian and Pakistani teams on their gesture to strengthen ties between their two countries”, said Dr Ali Bacher, executive director of the World Cup.But if the gesture was meant to pacify the crowd, it didn’t work as throaty slogan-mongering went in overdrive as soon as the battle was joined.