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Zimbabwe successfully recovered from their chastening 38 all out on Saturdayto defeat a West Indies side that looks ill at ease after a spate ofinjuries, disciplinary problems and a three-Test drumming by Sri Lanka.The four-wicket victory, played out in front of empty Sinhalese Sports Clubstadium, ended a 28-match run stretching back 10-months in which Zimbabwehad not beaten any team bar Bangladesh.Indeed, so lackluster does the West Indies team now look, that one wouldfear for them in a series against Bangladesh. Their batting was sloppy,fielding nervy and bowling unthreatening, which was hardly unexpected aftertheir best two bowlers, Dinanath Ramnarine (side injury) and Mervyn Dillon(disciplinary reasons), had been sent home.West Indies – unsurprisingly asked to bat first when Zimbabwean captainStuart Carlisle won the toss for the first time all tour – failed tocapitalise on an easy-paced pitch that had long since lost the moisture thathad assisted Chaminda Vaas yesterday, as they were bowled out for 173 byZimbabwe’s makeshift spin attack and plodding seamers.Zimbabwe too looked short of confidence and edged towards the winning targetwith the uncertain air of a side too used to failure. However, thanks to achancy 30 from Grant Flower, a responsible 47 from Carlisle and an unbeaten48 from Andy Flower, they eventually secured victory with 1.5 overs tospare.West Indies batting faltered right from the start as Chris Gayle recordedhis fourth duck in consecutive international matches; a slump that stretchesback to the second Test in Kandy. This time, though, it wasn’t his techniquethat was at fault, but his running, as Dion Ebrahim threw down the stumpsfrom backward point.Heath Streak then managed what the Sri Lankans have failed to do all tour:dismiss Brian Lara cheaply. The star left-hander walked across his stumpsand was trapped lbw for two (nine for two).Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Ganga rescued the innings with a forthright 57run partnership for the third wicket. Ganga went on to score 59, his fifthone-day fifty, but Sarwan, uncharacteristically, threw away his wicket withan ungainly swipe across the line to be clean bowled for 36 (66 for three).Carl Hooper was then run out for five after Ganga tried to nudge a quicksingle on the off-side, only to see his plan anticipated by the energeticHenry Olonga, who fielded in his follow through and knocked down the stumpswith an underarm flick (77 for four).Ganga partially made amends in a 60 run stand with Marlon Samuels beforeGrant Flower’s innocuous looking spinners swung the match firmly towardsZimbabwe, as Samuels (32) chipped a catch to mid-wicket and Ganga was caughtand bowled (152 for six).Thereafter, Zimbabwe’s fast bowers chipped away at the lower order. RidleyJacobs tried to rally but, running out of partners, was eventually last man outfor 20 as Streak took a smart, juugling catch on the mid-wicket boundary.Zimbabwe’s start didn’t engender great confidence, as Dion Ebrahim wastrapped lbw for his second consecutive golden duck to the first ball of theinnings.But Grant Flower, missed on 19 when wicket-keeper Jacobs should have divedin front of first slip and on 26 when Ganga dropped a dolly at mid-on, added59 with Carlisle to steady dressing room nerves.Those nerves started to fray again when Carlise was third man out for 47 (96for three) as Craig Wishart (12), Douglas Marillier (5) and Tatenda Taibu(0) were dismissed cheaply.However a calming innings from the prolific Andy Flower, coupled with somesolid lower order support from the experienced Heath Streak (19*), saw theZimbabwean’s home.

A brittle Indian top order collapsed to some good seam bowling fromKiwi opening bowlers T Robin and I Butler. Ravneet Ricky (15), ManishSharma (9), Mohammad Kaif (0) and Reetinder Sodhi (5) were out beforeIndia had 40 runs on the board. After that, a swashbuckling innings of68 off from Yuvraj Singh saved the day for India.The South paw played some solid shots in his innings that included 12boundaries. He took the New Zealand bowling apart, hammering the ballto all parts of the ground. His sense of timing was not impeccable,but he hit the ball with such raw power that anything off the middleof the bat raced to boundaries. When he was dismissed by Irwin, theIndians once again began to falter. A useful 25 from Patel saw Indiathrough to 199.Robin was the pick of the bowlers with 4/26 off his 10 overs.The Kiwis began their response well, though they lost Bredon McCullumfor just 6. Probably the two best batsmen in the New Zealand team,James Franklin and JP McNamee came together to give New Zealand aserious chance of victory. The two hit the ball crisply and scoredfreely gainst the Indian mediumpacers. After the spinners wereintroduced, the scoring rate dropped. Yuvraj Singh got into the attackagain and removed McNamee after he had made exactly 50 runs.At this point the Indian spinners tightened the screws on the Kiwisand closed the match out. The Kiwis lost wickets at regular intervalsand were finally dismissed for 171 off 49.3 overs.

With the winter transfer window slowly drawing nearer and as Liverpool continue to fail to make it into the top half of the Premier League table, the Merseyside club have been linked with a number of English strikers to bulster their ranks. It seems everyone has forgotten about the injured Fabio Borini as Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool fans and TV pundits alike continue to mention “Liverpool only have one striker” – the very in form Luis Suarez, who has been labelled by tabloid gossipers with a price-tag somewhere between £40million and £60million. It has even been rumoured that the Uruguayan will be on the move to Stamford Bridge to replace the shadow of a player that used to be Fernando Torres, although that seems unlikely following the appointment of Rafa Benitez.

Brendan Rodgers has already warned fans that there won’t be a huge kitty provided by the American owners to drastically change the team’s fortunes, but it is hard to believe Liverpool aren’t in the market for a goal-scorer. Once again, the club have been linked with English talent as their main transfer targets, most notably disgruntled Englishmen Theo Walcott, Daniel Sturridge and Darren Bent, as well as Championship stars Wilfried Zaha and Charlie Austin.

But I believe it’s time for a word of warning – Doesn’t Liverpool buying English “talent” (and there is a reason I have used quotations) seem awfully familiar? Wasn’t buying English the transfer policy that essentially landed the club in the poor position it’s in now, as well as the sacking of club legend Kenny Dalglish?

Looking at the clubs recent signings, it seems that buying English simply doesn’t work, and much more than that, English players, regardless of their ability, come with a huge price-tag. Jordan Henderson cost the club around £16million, but the midfielder has hardly made a name for himself since moving from Sunderland in summer 2011. Last season, Henderson was statistically outshone by Charlie Adam, a player who cost £10million less and was sold for scrap to Stoke City at the start of the season. Adam made more tackles, won more headers, took more shots, created more chances, recorded more accurate crosses, made more interceptions, dribbled successfully more times and lost possession less than Henderson.

Despite Rodgers being known as a coach who favours young talent, and is expected to use the youth available at Liverpool to build a team that will effectively return the club to its past glories, the 22-year-old has been used on the most-part in the Premier League as a substitute by the Liverpool boss, but has made a fair few starts in the Europa League.

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Similarly, the story of Andy Carroll is well known. The forward’s deadline day transfer almost two years ago saw the Reds fork out £35million for a striker who has now been exiled to Upton Park. And who could forget about Stewart Downing. Still yet to score or create a goal in the Premier League in two seasons at the club, the £20million signing has now been shifted to emergency left-back as he continues to make absolutely no attacking contribution and his Anfield career maintains its sharp nosedive towards becoming a complete disaster.

Of course there are some positives of filling a team with Englishmen, in fact it is fast becoming a rarity in the Premier League and credit is due to Liverpool as they give English players the chance to play at a higher level, although the Reds table position wouldn’t suggest that at this moment in time. Furthermore, the club’s youth system has produced promising talent that could one day play for the Three Lions; Jon Flanagan, Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and Martin Kelly are four players who have managed to hold a place in the first team based on merit over the past few seasons.

But it is no secret that foreign players are on the whole cheaper than their English counter-parts, and often come with skills and attributes that young home-grown talent are often lacking. It is not hard to find examples of overseas players who have performed much better than the likes of Henderson, Carroll, Downing and the wage-budget busting Joe Cole.

Look at some of the transfers this summer alone: Dimitar Berbatov, £5million, Santi Cazorla, £16million, Kevin Mirallas, £5million, Steven Pienaar, £4.5million, Lukas Podolski, £11million, Moussa Dembele, £15million, Emmanuel Adebayor, £5million and Jan Vertonghen, £10million. These are all players that a club of Liverpool’s stature should be able to attract, and appear to be much better deals than the English signings that have moved to Anfield over the past few seasons, and furthermore are much better deals than some of the English transfers this summer; Scott Sinclair, £9million, Jack Rodwell, £12million, Jay Rodriguez, £6million, Adam Johnson, £10million.

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Having an English core to a team is a value of integrity, especially in the modern game. But if Liverpool wish to escape the rut they are currently in – not losing games is all well and good but if the Reds are to climb up the table they must start taking all three points, especially from home games – they should avoid the pricey Englishmen in the January transfer window.

It would be fantastic to see an English contingent, or even a single English player driving a top Premier League team forward, but if Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers wish to achieve anything, they must learn from the clubs at the top of the table. Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea – although they have English stars in their team, for example, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole, the Englishman is used predominantly as a squad player, such as James Milner, Gary Cahill or Joleon Lescott. There is a reason for this, it is the same reason the England squad has been underachieving- English players are on the whole not good enough to be the majority of a trophy-winning team, and cheaper more efficient players can be found in abundance abroad.

Therefore, my warning to Liverpool: Don’t buy English!

India’s win against West Indies in the second Test at Sabina Park not only gave them a 2-0 series sweep and the top spot on the World Test Championship table, but was also their 28th Test victory under Virat Kohli, making him the winningest Indian Test captain, going past MS Dhoni’s 27.Kohli, however, said that the captaincy achievement was just a by-product of the team, and the bowlers, that he had.”Captaincy is just a ‘c’ in front of your name honestly. It’s the collective effort that matters,” Kohli told Ian Bishop in the post-match presentation. “It’s a by-product of this quality team that we have here. If we didn’t have the bowlers that we have, I don’t think the results would have been possible.”Yes, you can score as many runs as you want, but if you look at these guys running in and putting their heart in – I mean [Mohammed] Shami’s spell today, [Jasprit] Bumrah after having a small niggle, Ishant [Sharma] bowling his heart out, [Ravindra] Jadeja bowling a long spell… I don’t think without these bowlers it would have been possible. So I think all the credit has to go to the whole team.”India’s win in the second Test came in the second session on the fourth day, and Kohli was lavish in his praise for Man of the Match Hanuma Vihari, who made 111 and 53 not out to be the standout batsman in the game. One of the features of Vihari’s batting was how well he left the ball and the patience he showed that ultimately resulted in the ball coming to his scoring areas.”You have to be patient on this wicket, select the balls which are in your area to score runs,” Vihari said of his approach. “Because there’s something for the fast bowlers, and it’s very important that you leave well outside off stump and wait for the areas… wait for them to come to you.”Virat Kohli has overtaken MS Dhoni to become India’s most successful Test captain•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Kohli agreed that the pitch dictated the batting game plan, and said Vihari brought calm to the dressing room.”According to the surface, I think it was a top-class innings,” Kohli said. “He’s a guy who’s very sure of his game and it shows when he plays. He looks confident and the dressing room feels really calm watching him bat. I think that’s a quality he possesses naturally because his game is so correct. He’s always willing to improve and is accepting of his mistakes and corrects them immediately, and he’s getting the results pretty quickly.”He plays with a lot of heart, always up to do anything for the team, and that’s why he invariably ends up playing crucial innings for us. It’s a very young career so far, but he’s shown why he’s been backed and selected in this team.”India have been ranked No. 1 in Test cricket since October 2016, with Kohli having led them all through except when he sat out through injury. He assumed Test captaincy full-time when Dhoni announced his retirement midway through India’s tour of Australia in 2015-16, having led in the first Test of the series with Dhoni injured, and then in the last match following Dhoni’s departure. Before the win in the Caribbean, he had led India to their first-ever series win in Australia in 2018-19.

Duncan Fletcher says Andrew Flintoff could still be captain © Getty Images

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?”

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The groundstaff were the only ones who had a busy afternoon as rain washed out the first ODI between South Africa and India © AFP

India’s tour of South Africa got off to the dullest possible start as thefirst one-dayer at the Wanderers in Johannesburg was abandoned without asingle ball being bowled. Torrential rains drenched the stadium all dayand, when they finally abated just before 7pm local time, the groundstaffbegan mopping up operations. As soon as they contemplated removing thecovers, though, the skies opened once more and put an end to the waitingand the uncertainty.India, having lost their warm-up match against South Africa A by 37 runs,were keen to start the one-day series on a bright note, and RahulDravid, the captain, and Greg Chappell, the coach, had said as much.However, sitting around in the dressing-room waiting for the weather to clear only makes India’s task harder.The Indian team is no stranger to this in recent times, with rain havingfollowed them to different parts of the world. A tri-series was washed outin Sri Lanka and rain marred the DLF Cup in Malaysia. The final of theChallenger Series, India’s premier limited-overs domestic competition,was washed out too. This is just the latest instance of wet weather ruining the cricket.With there being no provision for reserve days, this will now be a four-match series and, given that the forecast for the week doesn’t look particularly good, the hope is that we will not witness a repeat when the teams travel to Kingsmead, Durban for the next game on November 22.The opportunity lost will be rued by the South Africans as well. The pitchat the Wanderers has been a belter in recent times andit was here, in March, that South Africa pulled off thatstunning chase of 435 against Australia. Today, though, there waslittle opportunity to see what the pitch looked like, with the coversbarely coming off.Shortly before 7pm the umpires for the match, Billy Doctrove and BrianJerling, took the decision that everyone had feared they would. Therewasn’t enough time to complete 20 overs per team and they had littleoption but to declare the match abandoned.

ScorecardPowered by four-wicket hauls from Chandra Shekar Ragavendra and Udit Patel, Karnataka registered an overwhelming victory as Maharashtra, overnight on 78 for 0, were shot out for 144 in their second innings on the third day at Bangalore. Ragavendra, the left-arm spinner, and Patel, the offspinner, tormented the batsmen on the third-day track after Vinay Kumar had removed Satyajjit Satbhai, overnight on 53, early in the day.
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Set to chase 105, Baroda were at the brink of victory on 74 for 4 at stumps after Reetinder Singh Sodhi, ably assisted by 30s from Uday Kaul and Amit Unyal, lifted Punjab from their overnight 69 for 5 to a fighting 236. Sodhi put up an 86-run stand with Kaul and then Unyal added 38 runs with Gagandeep Singh for the eighth wicket before the tail eked out a contribution to give Punjab an outside chance. But Baroda, owing to their 132-run first-innings lead, should sew up the game tomorrow barring a minor miracle.
ScorecardAfter enforcing a follow on Mumbai knocked down five Tamil Nadu second-innings wickets by close on the third day to take a firm grip on the match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Despite Dinesh Kartik’s brilliant first-innings century, Tamil Nadu fell short of avoiding the follow-on by five runs and then reached 202 for 5, 47 runs ahead, at stumps. Kartik fell cheaply in the second essay, trapped in front by Ramesh Powar, who picked up two wickets to tighten the screws, but Subramaniam Badrinath rescued them with a half century. TN’s hopes of saving the game rested on the two not-out batsmen – Hemang Badani, unbeaten on 40, and Sridharan Sharath on 5 but Mumbai should leave this game with at least 2 points, courtesy their first-innings lead.
ScorecardLed by Nilesh Modi’s patient unbeaten 62, Gujarat plodded their way to 127 for 2 in 70 overs after Bengal declared their first innings at 462 for 9 on the third day at Surat. Siddharth Trivedi picked up two wickets, including that of the overnight centurion Deep Dasgupta, to end with figures of 6 for 101.
ScorecardAn allround performance from Syeb Sahabuddin propelled Andhra to a commanding position against Haryana by the end of the third day at Anantapur. Sahabuddin(61) first put up a 106-run stand for the sixth wicket with Gnaneswara Rao (73) to lift Andhra from their overnight 192 for 4 to 409 before rocking Haryana with a five-for to leave them tottering at 125 for 8 in their second innings, 78 runs in arrears, at close.
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Kaushik Reddy ripped apart Services with a six-wicket haul, 11 in the game, as Hyderabad won by an innings and 138 runs on the third day at Hyderabad. Earlier, Vinay Kumar extended his overnight 49 to 90 before NP Singh (41 not out) guided the tail to steer Hyderabad to a mammoth 415.
Scorecard</aDelhi clinched a low-scoring match by seven wickets to register their first win of the Ranji Trophy season. In a game which lasted just two days, they recovered from a poor first-innings effort to bowl Railways out for just 180 in their second dig, and then knocked off the 127 required for victory losing just three wickets. Despite losing Virender Sehwag for a duck in their run-chase, Delhi won comfortably thanks to a 76-run stand for the second wicket between Gautam Gambhir, the Indian opener, and Shikhar Dhawan. Both thwarted the Railways bowlers, including Murali Kartik, who had taken 8 for 40 to destroy Delhi's first innings; in the second, he could only manage 1 for 53 from 15 overs. Railways' star in their second innings was Jai P Yadav, who struck a fine 90, the only half-century of the match, but the rest of the batsmen had no answers to Abhishek Sharma, who picked 5 for 39 with his legspinners to restrict Railways to a manageable total.

South Africa 332 and 21 for 1 need another 357 runs to defeat England 139 and 570 for 7 dec (Trescothick 132, Strauss 136, Thorpe 118*, Flintoff 60, G Jones 73)
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Graham Thorpe walks off after an unbeaten century© Getty Images

A superb unbeaten hundred from Graham Thorpe put England in the driving seat as South Africa ended the fourth day needing a mountainous 357 to win at Durban. There were hard-hitting half-centuries too for Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones, before Michael Vaughan made a positive declaration at 570 for 7. South Africa, chasing a distant victory target of 378, had a tricky 35-minute session to negotiate before the close. But they didn’t survive intact: just before the end, Matthew Hoggard took the prize wicket of Graeme Smith.But this day was Thorpe’s: he played just the kind of aggressive, focussed innings that was needed as England marched to a commanding lead after an early-morning wobble in which they lost three wickets for 33. He steadied the ship with Flintoff – they added 114 – then hit full throttle as Jones joined him for an entertaining stand of 132.Thorpe played in positive fashion throughout, punching a bevy of boundaries, and was generally in the mood to take the attack to the bowlers. He and Flintoff brought up their fifty partnership just before lunch. And they strode on undeterred for the first part of the middle session, as Smith mixed up his bowlers. Makhaya Ntini did his best to ruffle Flintoff’s feathers, extracting some life from a flat surface and a softening ball. Flintoff played and missed more than once, but responded in true Freddie fashion, taking England to 400 with a leg-side four, then adding a meaty pulled six. He did the same in Ntini’s next over, cracking a cover drive to bring up his half-century, then easily clearing Hashim Amla on the leg-side boundary.He seemed to have timed his gear-change perfectly, each boundary despatched with consummate timing, but then, after a patient innings, he was deceived by a quicker ball from Smith, which he edged to AB de Villiers. It was just reward for Smith, whose part-time offspin had initially troubled Thorpe as well, as he had done at Port Elizabeth. But one aggressive strokemaker was replaced by … another aggressive strokemaker, as Jones – spurred on by Thorpe – went on the offensive from the start, smacking boundary after boundary. He brought up his half-century from 71 balls, just before Thorpe reached his 16th Test hundred. Jones added two hooked sixes off Dale Steyn, which sailed over the despairing Amla, before he finally fell to the perspiring Nicky Boje.Thorpe and Jones took advantage of some tired bowling late on, from Shaun Pollock – who was slapped for three successive fours – and the hapless Steyn in particular. Steyn repeatedly found Jones’s edge, but could only watch, frustrated, as more than once the ball flew behind the keeper to the boundary, where Jacques Kallis was eventually employed in the unusual position of long-stop. But Boje’s battered figures of none for 154 from 43 overs of left-arm spin were made marginally more respectable as Jones holed out to long-on for 73. Steyn got a consolation wicket, too, as Ashley Giles edged to de Villiers without scoring.

Andrew Flintoff lofts another boundary in his important 60© Getty Images

But England didn’t have it all their own way. The match has seesawed throughout, and South Africa had the better of the morning, when their triple strike set England wobbling. Ntini dismissed both Vaughan and Andrew Strauss, then Mark Butcher fell to Jacques Kallis just after drinks.With the reliable Pollock tucking up one end, the batsmen were forced to play shots at the other. They didn’t always come off, however, and Ntini took advantage with two well-deserved wickets. Strauss had only added four to his overnight 132 when he flashed hard at a good-length delivery which flew straight to Martin van Jaarsveld at third slip. Not long after, a climbing delivery brushed Vaughan’s gloves on the way through to de Villiers as he tried to guide the ball to leg (306 for 3). Vaughan, who had struggled a little against the still-new ball, made 10.Kallis was brought into the attack, immediately troubling Thorpe with a close shout for lbw, which was judged to be just a shade high. He also worried Butcher, who swung and missed at his first two deliveries. And when he eventually did connect, a thick outside edge flew to van Jaarsveld for a second good catch (314 for 4). Butcher made only 13, but this did include his 1000th Test run against South Africa – which came up in bizarre fashion. His block was scooped up by Pollock and lobbed towards the stumps in nothing more than a warning measure, but the ball sailed way over de Villiers’s head and rolled away to the boundary for a bonus four. That was the easiest of the 77 boundaries rattled up by England in their innings, as South Africa’s bowlers were ground down.When England finally took to the field, for what turned out to be a nine-over blitz, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard were immediately on target. Herschelle Gibbs had a let-off at 6, when he was dropped off a perfect outswinger from Harmison by Jones, diving in front of Marcus Trescothick at first slip. He also survived a confident caught-behind shout – the ball possibly flicked his arm-guard, or possibly his right hand which he’d taken off the bat – and Gibbs managed to see out the mini-session – but Smith was not so lucky. He was trapped plumb in front by Hoggard on 5 to complete a dispiriting day.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

Frizzell County Championship Division One
TableSussex v Leicestershire, Hove
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Sussex need to take a mere six points from their final match of the season, against Leicestershire at Hove, to be certain of securing the Championship title for the first time in their history. But, when 164 years of hurt are on the verge of being healed, nothing is ever as simple as it ought to be. Leicestershire, who were described as “shambolic” during an industrial tribunal last week, are already relegated and have nothing but pride to play for. But, they somehow beat Kent by an innings in their last match, to record their first victory of the season. Sussex, at the same time, were being thrashed by an innings by their only remaining title rivals, Lancashire. With James Kirtley ruled out with shin splints, much rests on Mushtaq Ahmed. After a rare barren match at Old Trafford, he needs a solitary scalp to become the first bowler to take 100 wickets in a season since Andrew Caddick and Courtney Walsh in 1998. Sussex will hope he passes that mark with room to spare.Nottinghamshire v Lancashire, Trent Bridge
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Normally Trent Bridge is one of the truest of batting pitches, but it has been much maligned this season – not least during England’s third Test victory, where the ball barely ventured above shin height on the final day. For Lancashire, it is an ominous venue at which to attempt to take maximum bonus points, but with Stuart Law and Carl Hooper in sublime form, they will back themselves to put enough runs on the board to put the heebie-jeebies into Sussex on the south coast. Lancashire remain without the centrally contracted pair of James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff, but Glen Chapple has recovered from a foot injury to spearhead the attack.Surrey v Essex, The Oval
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With nothing to play for after a bitterly disappointing capitulation in the Championship, Surrey are expected to name a weakened side for the visit of Essex, who have already been relegated. Alec Stewart has retired, and Ian Ward has announced his intention to leave the club, so neither is expected to start in a low-key end to the summer.Kent v Warwickshire, Canterbury
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Muttiah Muralitharan has a groin strain and will miss the final Championship fixture of the season, as Kent attempt to keep Warwickshire at bay and hold on to fourth place in the table. James Tredwell and Robert Ferley will compete for the spinners’ role, and the memory of their embarrassment against Leicestershire last week should spur them on. “We were embarrassed to be turned over in two days and that did not sit well with us,” said Ian Brayshaw, Kent’s director of cricket. “We’re looking to play our best cricket from Wednesday through to Sunday.”Frizzell County Championship Division Two
TableYorkshire v Gloucestershire, Headingley
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Damien Martyn has recovered from the blow in the face that he received on his Yorkshire debut last week, and is expected to be thrust back into the team for their must-win promotion battle with Gloucestershire at Headingley. Yorkshire need a victory to leapfrog Gloucestershire into the third promotion spot, and with Gloucester’s outgoing coach John Bracewell anticipating a “wet, green seamer”, it looks like a draw will be out of the question. “They need an outright win,” said Bracewell, “and we’re likely to get a two-day wicket. But we’re not daunted.” Yorkshire will base their game around the squadron of fast bowlers, and it seems probable that Darren Gough will return after his much-publicised absence last week. For Gloucestershire, the match represents the final fling of two much-loved overseas stars – Ian Harvey and Jonty Rhodes, who has only been at the club for one season – and they will be desperate to go out on a high.Northamptonshire v Worcestershire, Wantage Road
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Promotion may be secure for both teams, but the Division Two title is very much at stake as Worcestershire take on Northants at Wantage Road. Worcestershire need only a draw to take the honours, but Kabir Ali, Mark Harrity and Matt Mason are all in line for a recall with their coach Tom Moody aiming for nothing less than victory. “Since we gained promotion a couple of games ago the team became very focused on winning the division,” he said. “It means a lot to the team and we are looking forward to coming across a team who are in that type of form as well.” The main threat to Worcester comes from Northants’ prolific Australian, Mike Hussey. He has scored five hundreds and a fifty in his last six innings, and having announced his intention to take a sabbatical next year, he will be all the more eager to go out with victory.Derbyshire v Hampshire, Derby
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Hampshire begin their life after Robin Smith with an attempt to salvage some pride against their fellow stragglers Derbyshire. Both teams have endured seasons to forget, but only one will cap it off with the wooden spoon. Graeme Welch is in contention for a Derbyshire recall after being dropped for disciplinary reasons, while Hampshire are without pace bowlers Chris Tremlett, Alan Mullally and Chaminda Vaas.Durham v Glamorgan, Chester-le-Street
Scorecard
Glamorgan’s hopes of automatic promotion aren’t quite dead in the Taff, but it will take an unlikely combination of results to do so. Still, the best they can do is win, and win well, and hope for a washout at Headingley. Ian and Darren Thomas are duly recalled to the side that was narrowly beaten by Northants last week. For Durham, Vince Wells returns after a wrist injury. “We’ve made progress this year but it’s been tinged with disappointment,” said Durham’s coach Martyn Moxon. “We’ve been better in the four-day game but we didn’t do well in the two games when we were still up for promotion.”

India’s 2001 tour of South Africa came to an end four overs after lunch on the final day of what, at this stage anyway, remains an unofficial Test match – a five-day international friendly, if you will. The match, the tour and, some would still argue, the series finished when Jacques Kallis trapped Deep Dasgupta lbw to give the home team victory by an innings and 73 runs.The final setback for India was the inability of their last two batsmen, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, to come to the crease. Srinath has a fracture finger, Prasad a pinched nerve in his neck and the Indian innings closed at 261 for eight.It was not, then, a tour and a series that will be remembered with fondness by India, either for performances on the field and the events that surrounded it off the pitch. At the end of it all Shaun Pollock reiterated his views offered after the first day’s play that South Africa had not regarded the game as a proper Test.Pollock tends to be careful when he speaks in public, but he did offer the thought that if nothing else the Denness affair has underlined the need for the ICC to standardise its disciplinary regulations and procedures. If players knew that this penalty would be imposed for this offence and that penalty for that offence, he said, then players would at least know where they stood.The implication is that as a result behaviour might improve. This may seem blindingly obvious, but the match referee system has been in place for a decade during which time standards of behaviour have fallen and at the end of which a match referee has plunged the game into serious crisis.As has been the case for almost the entire tour, the Indians were unable to withstand the South Africans on the last day even though the tourists were supposed to be treating the match as an official Test while the South Africans were playing a practice game.Rahul Dravid took three fours off Nantie Hayward’s first over and was then bowled by a snorter that angled in and then held its line to take off stump and India were off to a poor start.Sachin Tendulkar was dropped by Gary Kirsten at gully off a dolly of a catch, spanked it around a bit before being bowled for 40 by Makhaya Ntini as he failed to offer a shot and VVS Laxman clipped Ntini straight to Herschelle Gibbs at point to be caught for 23.Thereafter the Indian innings subsided gently. There was, in truth, very little fight left in the tourists. They have been systematically unravelled by a tough South African team, a fair bit of ill-fortune and, in the end, the controversy that has swirled around their heads. It is difficult to imagine a better-equipped, mentally more resilient side faring much better.South Africa, then, took the series 2-0 (or 1-0, if you wish, the ICC seems to be having difficult making up its mind about this) which is a fair reflection of the difference between the two teams in South African conditions.Indian coach John Wright acknowledged as much even as he had to tread the official line that India had played the game as a real Test."We lost," he said. "We got beaten. We did not approach the game in any other manner than as a Test match."Pollock was named man of the match for his unbeaten 113 while Herschelle Gibbs, who scored hundreds in both the first two Tests, was named man of the series.