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Cricket Australia has confirmed its plans for a Champions Trophy warm-up series in the “new frontiers” of Malaysia and Singapore in September. Australia, West Indies and India could line-up in the mini-tournament and James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, hoped more details would be finalised this week.”It would be exciting to bring the game to newer cricketing frontiers and to showcase some of the best players in the world,” he said. “I’m sure such a tournament will be a great success and further strengthen our relationships with Asian cricketing countries.”The Malaysian and Singapore cricket associations have supported the proposal and Sutherland said the matches would be an important lead-up to the Champions Trophy in India in October. “We hope we’re close to being able to put this important tournament in place,” he said. “The Australian team last played one-day international cricket in Bangladesh in April, so it’s important for us that this opportunity is used.”

At least four England supporters suffered minor injuries on the final day of the first Test at Kandy, when the corrugated-iron roof of their stand blew off in high winds and landed on the seats below. According to eye-witnesses, one male supporter was taken to hospital with a gash to his chest, while three others suffered minor cuts and bruises.”To be honest, I’m feeling nervous sitting here,” said Steve Lindley, an England fan out here for all three Tests, who was hit in the small of the back by the falling sheets of iron. He and his fellow fans had been sitting in the special enclosure at the Hunnasgiriya End of the ground, which was quickly evacuated after the incident.”There was no real sign that they were going to come off,” Lindley told Cricinfo. “We were looking towards another stand where they were starting to blow off, but then there was a gust and three sheets all came off together. They came straight down onto the group of us sitting there.”One girl was taken for a medical check-up after receiving a gash to her shin, while another male supporter cut his leg on a concrete support in the rush to clear the seats. None of the injuries arebelieved to be serious, but Lindley intended to get a check-up during the lunch interval. “My back is quite sore now, and if at any point it gets worse … you never know with bruising.”The area was soon cleared, as local maintenance men set about removing the other loose sheets on the roof. “They went up there with bare feet, no safety equipment, and just dropped them down,” said Lindley. “One lad nearly dropped a sheet on his mate. There was no regard forsafety. “

Duncan Fletcher says he is happy to speak to Andrew Flintoff, but will not be the first one to pick up the phone. In his controversial autobiography, Fletcher has said that he felt let down by Flintoff’s behaviour as England captain, comments which have hurt Flintoff, according to his father Colin.Fletcher, though remains unrepentant about his comments, saying that loyalty is a two-way street and in his latest interview, this time for the , he said Flintoff must call him. “I think it is important that Andrew rings me.”If Andrew phones me we will have a discussion and clear the air, put both sides of the story across. There are certain things that I can’t disclose. It would be important that he phones me.”Fletcher added that Flintoff should still have the chance to captain his country once more. “I don’t think there is any reason why it should be held against him,” he said. “There are a lot of factors at picking a captain. If a situation arises where there is no one else then you have got to really look at Andrew.”He needs some experience. He is a very inexperienced captain in cricket, let alone Test cricket. But as long as he has learned from his mistakes, why hold it against him?”

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, has signed a new one-year contract with Essex for the 2008 season.Kaneria is currently in his third season with the county, having first played for them in the 2004 season. His start this summer has been impressive: with 44 wickets, he is the leading domestic wicket-taker in the County Championship, helping Essex to third place in the second division. The success has rubbed off into the shorter form of the game as well, and he has taken 18 wickets in the Friends Provident Trophy.Kaneria said of his new deal: “I’m delighted because I love to be with the Essex team. I am an Essex man now and enjoy being over here. By the grace of God all of the negotiations with [chief executive] David East have gone well and I’ve been signed again for the coming year with Essex.”I’m learning day by day and getting better all the time. In the years to come I hope to give better performances than I am giving now to take this team on the winning track all the time.”East reciprocated the sentiment, expressing his pleasure at the one-year extension. “We are obviously very pleased that Danish has decided to play for Essex again in 2008. Danish is a world-class player who is doing a fabulous job and is clearly enjoying his cricket – which is evident from his results and the smile on his face. Danish’s return next year is, as always, subject to the agreement of the Pakistan Cricket Board.”

Hashim Amla has resigned as South Africa captain following the second Test against England at Newlands. AB de Villiers will take over for the final two Tests of the series in Johannesburg and Centurion.Amla has come in for criticism of his leadership since the start of the series but had returned to form with the bat in Cape Town with 201 in South Africa’s only innings. Amla was named as Graeme Smith’s replacement as captain in mid-2014 and this was his sixth series in charge. After winning his first three against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies, he oversaw a rain-affected drawn series against Bangladesh and the 3-0 defeat in India.In a statement, Amla said: “This decision has not an easy one to make I felt I had to be true to myself. I am comfortable with my decision and I feel I need to work on my own game.”I was deeply honoured when the position was given to me. Throughout my time as captain, I have always had the support of my team-mates and coaching staff . I remain committed to the Proteas across all formats and I will fully support whoever is shown as my successor.”Amla said that he had begun to think about stepping down two weeks ago, before the start of the series against England. South Africa are currently 1-0 down, after defeat in Durban, but emerged with credit after a hard-fought draw in Cape Town.”Captaining your country is probably the pinnacle,” he said. “Why I did it now, it just so happened I got 200 and it fitted nicely that the South African team did exceptionally well on the last day. It was coming for the last two weeks.”I had chatted to a few of the guys in the team before this, so I don’t think it had come as a massive shock,” he added. “We have a very tight leadership team: myself, AB, Faf [du Plessis]. AB is very able and a brilliant leader and we will all follow similar goals. Whether I’m pulling the rope, or AB is pulling the rope or Dale [Steyn] is pulling the rope, as long as someone is going in the right direction, we all will go with him.”Despite reports that Amla had, at times, been a reluctant captain during his two-year tenure, he insisted he had not had to be coerced into the role in the first place, and that his decision to stand down was also entirely his own.”It was always my decision,” he said. “In life I have learned that if you are going to do something, you’ve got to do something you enjoy. I’ve always enjoyed captaincy.”When Graeme stepped down, it gave an opportunity for me to explore my captaincy. I thought at the time I could add value and I’d like to believe that I have added value. I am really surprised some people have suggested it was not my choice. You don’t look like me in this world without being firm on what you want to do.”Amla found his form with 201 in the Newlands Test•Getty Images

“The decision has been purely based on that I think somebody else can do a better job. It was just something that crossed my mind and was working on my mind. My leadership style, and we have a very young team, maybe somebody else would have done a better job.”Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said: “We respect Hashim’s decision and the manner in which he thought about it and then communicated with me. It was consistent with his well respected personality”He still has a huge role to play in shaping the success of our team without the need for a leadership title. He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable.”I want to thank AB for readily accepting the challenge of rebuilding our Test team as we seek to remain the best team in the world.”De Villiers said that while being handed the job in such circumstances was not ideal, it would allow him to fulfil a dream of captaining his country in Test cricket.”I’ve said this before that it is an incredible honour to captain South Africa in any format. The captaincy has obviously come at short notice and is the realisation of a lifelong dream,” de Villiers said.”At the moment my priority and focus is placed on leading this team to what can be a memorable series win against England. This Test squad is motivated and determined to turn our performances around and I’m looking forward to taking up that challenge as captain. Hashim is a good friend and close colleague and I am grateful for his support.”Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, added that de Villiers was the frontrunner for the role full-time, but said that the selectors would make a long-term decision at the end of the England series. He added that Amla’s achievements as South Africa’s captain stood up to scrutiny in spite of the criticism he received during his time in charge.”I feel that there hasn’t been enough respect shown for what he has achieved as a player,” he said. “People can say what they want to, [but] he is still averaging 45 as captain. He has gone to Zimbabwe, won a series there, gone to Sri Lanka and won a series there which no other captain has done. He won a series against West Indies. He has gone to India where a lot of captains have lost under tough conditions, and we’ve come here with six new players who have all played under 10 Test matches.”He has sacrificed himself for the rest of the team which speak volumes for him, and people need to appreciate that type of character and it seems we sometimes undervalue that on the field. He has got a lot of experience, and expertise and advice that he can give, particularly the younger players in the side.”

Ere Sheshiah, the Jamaican government pathologist who performed the post-mortem examination on Bob Woolmer, came under criticism on the tenth day of the inquest in Kingston for not following accepted international practices.Sheshiah was asked by Jermaine Spence, the attorney representing the International Cricket Council, why should anyone accept his findings that Woolmer died of asphyxia and pesticide poisoning. “I have already told the court of my opinion, so I am not deviating,” Sheshiah replied.Sheshiah was criticised for not adhering to international practices from three overseas pathologists, who reviewed the post-mortem findings. The trio said they believed Woolmer died of natural causes, probably related to heart disease.Sheshaiah originally said Woolmer’s hyoid bone was fractured, which suggested the former England player was strangled.When shown an X-ray last week, Sheshiah had admitted he made a mistake, but insisted the hyoid bone in a 58-year-old man doesn’t have to be broken to prove he was strangled.”The person who examines the bone can say whether it’s broken, not somebody who analyzes a photo,” he said.Sheshiah stuck to what he said regarding the cause of the death last week. “My final opinion is it was asphyxia, associated with cypermethrin [a pesticide] poisoning.”Last week, a Jamaican forensic analyst testified that toxicology results showed conflicting results on the presence of pesticide in Woolmer’s blood and urine.The inquest, presided over by coroner Patrick Murphy and 11 jurors, is expected to end on November 9. Three members of the ICC have sat in on the inquest since it started on October 16.

Andrew Flintoff was delighted with his “best workout yet” after a thorough net session at Lord’s on Friday to test out his ankle. Flintoff spent an hour in the nets at the Nursery End while his team-mates piled on the runs against Pakistan during the first Test.Flintoff, whose recovery from an ankle problem has so far seen him play two Twenty20 matches for Lancashire, was monitored by the county physio Dave Roberts and Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB’s chief medical officer. He produced a lively spell pf pace then batted against members of the Lord’s groundstaff for half an hour.”I bowled six overs so it was my best workout yet and I’m not creaking or anything,” said Flintoff, who is now due to feature for Lancashire in their County Championship match against Kent at Canterbury starting on Tuesday. “I’ve played two Twenty20 matches with Lancashire, bowled three overs and two overs so far, but I wasn’t bowling at full pelt today – I’ve still got something else remaining to give.”I’ve had two tough days last week running up and down hills and it’s all been building up towards bowling and geared towards playing at Canterbury.”But Flintoff, who England hope will be their captain in the second Test at his Old Trafford home ground on July 27, warned: “I’m not going to get ahead of myself about my fitness for the second Test because I can’t be sure until I’ve bowled in a four-day match.”This is all part of the recovery and the fitness work. I’m going to have another net and practice with the England lads again tomorrow.”

Sandeep Patil, the former India coach, and Dinesh Mongia, the former India batsman, have cited ill-treatment by the Indian board and the selectors respectively as reasons for their decision to join the Indian Cricket League (ICL).Patil said he was given “false assurances” of being made the India A coach but, eventually, nothing materialised. “I still have a copy of the e-mail that I was asked to send by Sharad Pawar [the president of the BCCI] expressing my willingness to be India A team’s coach. Nothing moved after that,” Patil told the Times of India. In fact, once Pawar called Ratnakar Shetty [the chief administrative officer of BCCI] and secretary Niranjan Shah in my presence, telling them to make my appointment, yet nothing materialised.”Mongia blamed the selectors for not giving him a proper run and said he was dropped despite some good performances. “Before the World Cup, I was given a break against Australia in Malaysia where I scored 63 not out. But after that I was dropped,” Mongia told the Indian Express. “I think I was dropped because I was scoring runs or I played well, that is the signal I got”.”Later too, I got a chance against Australia [in the Champions Trophy], where I failed. I did tour South Africa, played in Durban, where I disappointed, but everybody else also failed. Later I played in the Twenty20 game and was instrumental in winning the match against South Africa , and again the same old story: I was dropped.”Mongia did play in the 5th ODI against South Africa, two days after that Twenty20 game, and scored an 89-ball 41. He later made a comeback in the tour of Bangladesh and made 17 runs in each of the two ODI games that he played.”If you see a team like Australia, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Michael Hussey, they all are treated as equals,” Mongia said. “It’s the performance that matters there, not the name. One thing has be to understood, when you are the boss, you have to give due importance to everybody. You can’t just concentrate on the big names and ignore the lesser players.”

ScorecardSulakshana Naik and Thirush Kamini struck half-centuries to steer India to a resounding ten-wicket victory against Sri Lanka at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. The opening pair shared an unbeaten 151-run stand for the first wicket after the Indian bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 145 for 8 from 50 overs.Naik struck 11 fours and a six during her 79 and Kamini’s 60 included five fours as the pair finished the run-chase in just 31.3 overs. The ground work for the victory, however, was laid by a splendid bowling effort after Mithali Raj asked Sri Lanka to bat.Jhulan Goswami and Amita Sharma bowled miserly opening spells and did not allow Sri Lanka to build any momentum. Preeti Dimri took three vital top-order wickets and prevented partnerships to build. She finished with figures of 3 for 14 off eight overs and received support from Kamini who chipped in with 2 for 38 to go with her excellent innings.Shashikala Siriwardene, the captain, top-scored with 40 but there was a shortage of support from the other end as Sri Lanka struggled to reach 145 off their 50 overs.

As England faced up to the prospect of their first series defeat in two years, Ian Bell vowed that the pride in the team’s dressing-room would be enough to prevent a capitulation on the final day of the third Test at Lahore. By the close on the penultimate evening, England had fought their way to 121 for 2 in the second innings, with Bell himself leading the resistance with his third half-century of the tour.”We can’t win the series, but we don’t want to lose, and I’m very confident we can save the game,” Bell told reporters at the close. “It’s a good pitch and I’ll take every ball as it comes, break it down, play very straight, and do what Pakistan did in their first innings. The secret is not to give your wicket away or sell it cheaply.”England still need the small matter of 227 runs to make Pakistan bat again, and so the ideal scenario would be for Bell himself to do what he does best, and occupy the crease from dawn till dusk.”I’m not going to get carried away [by such thoughts],” he emphasised. “The key for me tomorrow is to break it down as much as I can. I’m not looking to bat until a certain time at night, I’ll be taking it ball by ball. But it’s been a very good wicket all through the Test match. Our target is to bat all day, so if we stick to our gameplans and play straight, then there’s no reason why we can’t.””Play it straight” is something of a mantra for Bell, which made his first-innings aberration all the more unfortunate. He was one of four batsmen to fall to the sweep shot, but he was adamant that the shot would remain in his armoury.”I know my game,” he insisted. “I know I can’t do certain things that Kevin Pietersen or Andrew Flintoff can do, so I’ve got to play in my way, and knock it round. The shot I got out to, I was purely trying to get off the strike and not trying to hit it out of the ground. It was well within my gameplan to get a single. I’ve played reasonably well all series and made one mistake, so I’ve got to capitalise when set.””I think it depends on who’s bowling and what the field placings are,” he added. “A lot of the time when we play the shot, it is to move a fielder. That’s in our gameplan so we’re not going to change that.” But Bell did concede that the match situation would have some impact on their approach. “We’re just looking to bat all day tomorrow, and the pitch has dried out a bit and become a bit skiddier. There’s not as much turn for the offspinner, so there’s an opportunity to play straight down the ground.”For the second time in the series, Bell’s major alarm of the innings came courtesy of Shoaib Akhtar’s slower ball. But whereas the one at Multan dipped out of the press-box windows and bowled him between his legs (only to be called no-ball), this time was rather more dangerous, as it hurtled head-high towards his helmet and struck his forearm as he flinched defensively.Shoaib apologised instantly and the moment was soon forgotten after some brief treatment from the physio, but Bell admitted to a moment of alarm. “For a split second I thought it was a quicker one, and I didn’t see it at all. But credit to him, he’s bowled it really well, and manages to get a real dip on it so that when it goes above that sightscreen it’s tricky to pick up. As soon as it goes up, you lose it and start to worry.”For Bell, the final day provides an opportunity to put his personal seal on an important learning experience. He had not been expected to play in the first Test, but instead has chipped in with valuable scores in all three matches, and could yet finish as England’s leading run-scorer. “My goal was not only to get into the side, but to find consistency as well,” he explained. “If you want to be a top player that’s got to be in your game.”India awaits for England after Christmas, and Bell is hopeful that the lessons learned here will stand the squad in good stead. “A few of the guys are in the same boat,” he said. “This is our first senior trip to this part of the world, and it’s been a big experience for me. We’ve been playing some good quality spinners, and people who know how to bowl in these conditions. It’s not only about going to India but our overall cricket development. We will be better players after this.”