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Roger Knight, the former secretary and chief executive of the MCC, has been awarded honorary life membership of the club.It is the second major honour inside two weeks for Knight, who retired from his post in August 2006 after 13 years, following the award of an OBE at the start of the year for services to sport.Commenting on Knight’s inclusion in the New Year Honours List, MCC’s Chairman, Charles Fry, said: “Roger thoroughly deserves this award, for his decades of service to cricket – as a player, a captain and, for thirteen years, an outstanding Secretary & Chief Executive of MCC.”During Knight’s 13 years at the helm he transformed the facilities at Lord’s, launched the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket initiative, and oversaw the admission of women members.Since his retirement he has continued to serve as Chairman of the European Cricket Council – which, like MCC, is based at Lord’s.

The Zimbabwe national side has been invited to take part in this season’s South African domestic competitions according to The Star newspaper. But they will not, as reported elsewhere, take part in the main domestic competitions.The South Africa board are set to offer Zimbabwe the role occupied by Namibia last year and participate in the lower tier of provincial matches, the SAA Provincial Challenge. It is also first-class, but the three-day matches involve the 12 South Africa provinces’ amateur teams. Brian Basson, Cricket South Africa’sSA’s director of playing affairs, confirmed to Cricinfo that the invitation was not for the top-tier tournament.”I am hoping to expose the young players to this level of competition because this is good for the development of the game on our side,” Robin Brown, the Zimbabwe coach, told the Harare-based Herald. “I am not yet sure of the sides that we are going to play but our first game will be next weekend in Bulawayo and we are going to play six matches with the top two progressing to the semi-finals.”The tournament games are played on a home and away basis and we are going to play the first three games before the Christmas holidays then the other three next year.”

Dav Whatmore, the Bangladesh coach, has expressed his frustration at the lack of Test cricket for his side over the next year. His views, published in his column on TigerCricket.com, back up those of his captain, Habibul Bashar, who also said recently that the lack of cricket – and Test cricket in particular – is a real concern for Bangladesh.Whatmore wrote, “We have just finished the series against Australia and it is common knowledge that Bangladesh hasn’t got any more Test matches for at least 12 months which is a bit of a pity really because we are making strides in the longer game. But that’s the way it is.”According to the recently-finalised Future Tours Program (FTP), Bangladesh are not scheduled to play any Tests now till India’s visit in May 2007. And during the six-year cycle they are scheduled to play only 41 Tests, the least among members apart from Zimbabwe (39), whose Test status is in limbo in any case. And though India is scheduled to tour Bangladesh three times in that period, they are the only team to not invite Bangladesh for a home series. In fact, they have not done so ever despite championing their cause to gain Test status in 2000.Bashar told the earlier in the week, “A lot of star players are complaining against too much cricket right at the moment but we are not in a position to join the party. Rather the long break in Test cricket is a real concern for us. I think it is always good for an improving side like Bangladesh to play as much Test cricket as possible.”It is really a frustrating situation for us because we have just gone around to showing our gradual improvement in this level. We were just grasping over the finer points of Test cricket which will definitely be hampered when we resume the campaign after a year.”Despite the lack of Tests, Whatmore rubbished claims that Bangladesh didn’t deserve Test status. “It annoys me when I read from journalists and other sections of local and international media and public that Bangladesh doesn’t deserve to be in Test cricket. That’s absolute rubbish because the potential that lies in this country is enormous and given a sufficient amount of time we’ll be able to be very consistent against any team. With a little slice of luck in a given era, Bangladesh could be the leading team in the Asian region. That’s how deep I think the potential lies in Bangladesh.”This belief, he wrote, was based on the fact that in the three years since he has been in charge (since 2003) the team has “performed gradually better and better,” and that Bangladesh’s U-19 team contained some exciting talent within its ranks. “We are blessed at the moment with a fairly good group of U-19s who have just completed the World Cup. I feel there will be one or two there that will impress the selectors sufficiently over the next few months during Academy matches and A team matches to earn their promotion into the top flight. And those players that do earn the promotion will certainly be able to strengthen the team because they will be multi-skilled players. So in many ways this is an exciting period for Bangladesh cricket and particularly in the one-day form with which we will be only involved with in the next 12 months leading up to the World Cup.”

Warwickshire’s decision not to enforce the follow-on against Sussex at Hove despite a first-innings lead of 265 came back to haunt them as Richard Montgomerie made 195 to steer the home side to safety. For a time an improbable home win appeared possible as Sussex, who resumed on 160 for 1 chasing 504, reached 244 but Alex Loudon took 3 for 12 in 30 balls to put Warwickshire in the driving seat. Montgomerie and Andy Hodd added 113 for the fifth wicket, and although Montgomerie became Loudon’s fourth victim late on when he slog-swept to deep midwicket, one short of his career best, by then the game was safe. Warwickshire coach Mark Greatbatch was left to rue Montgomerie being missed at short leg in the morning … as he was the substitute fielder who spilt the catch off Loudon.Yorkshire’s title hopes were severely dented as they slid to their heaviest Roses match defeat against Lancashire at Headingley. Click here for John Ward’s report.

Somerset increased their lead at the top with a six-wicket win over second-placed Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. Resuming on 116 for 4 needing another 62 for victory, Cameron White (47*) and Ian Blackwell (28*) took 44 minutes to make the runs and give Somerset their fifth win in six.Northamptonshire turned down a target of 276 in 38 overs set by Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay, easing to 131 for 2 off 32 overs when the captains agreed to call time. Glamorgan had lost two early wickets as they slid to 71 for 6, a lead of only 149, but the tail wagged despite Jason Brown’s 5 for 47. Their hopes of bowling out Northants were unlikely given that Simon Jones was absent and Andrew Davies was laid up after being hit on the elbow during the warm-ups.Derbyshire are within 102 runs of pulling off an impressive win over Leicestershire at Grace Road where they closed on 323 for 3 chasing 425. The chase is being led by Simon Katich (127*) and Greg Smith (74*) who have added an unbeaten 191 for the fourth wicket. Had it not been for some late-order heroics led by Stuart Broad then Derbyshire might well have already won. Broad and Garnett Kruger put on 91 for the Leicestershire’s last wicket this morning before Kruger was stumped leaving Broad nine runs short of a maiden first-class hundred. That wicket also gave Ant Botha his five-for.

Martin Love will join Warwickshire next season on a one-year contract. Love, the 32-year-old Australian top-order batsman, averages 50.30 in first-class cricket and has Test match experience, having played five games between 2002 and 2003. He will be available for the entire season.Love already has county experience, at Durham and Northamptonshire where he scored more than 4000 runs, including ten centuries in all forms of cricket. He made his debut for Queensland, aged 18, in the 1992-93 Sheffield Shield final and he was voted State Player of the Year in 2003.”It was important that we signed a top quality batsman to replace Nick Knight,” said Mark Greatbatch, Warwickshire’s director of coaching, “and we are delighted that Martin will be joining us next season. He is a player with a proven pedigree, a winning attitude and an excellent work ethic.”

The Sri Lankan board (SLC) has revealed its unease with the growing crisis over West Indies’ squad.The two-Test series is due to start on July 13, with the side arriving early next week. But so far, only five players are thought to have signed the West Indies’ board’s match/tour contracts, with the remainder locked in a dispute between the players’ association and the board.””We would obviously be very disappointed if the West Indies were unable to send a full-strength side,” Adel Hassim, an SLC board member, told Reuters. “The likes of Brian Lara and the other West Indies players are a huge attraction amongst the cricket-loving public in Sri Lanka and we all want to see the full team here.”The financial ramifications of a weak West Indies side are a major concern to the Sri Lankans. Were West Indies to scrap the whole trip, then they would have to pay around US$2 million compensation to SLC. But as long as they fulfill their obligation to send the strongest side available to them, then there would be no comeback for the Sri Lankans.SLC are expected to meet to discuss the problem further. “We are watching the situation very closely,” Hasim said. “The interim committee will discuss the issue at its meeting later this week, but we hope that an amicable solution is reached.”

Shahriar Nafees, the Bangladesh opening batsman, has been nominated for the ICC’s Emerging-Player-of-the-Year award to be announced on October 23 in Mumbai.Nafees, 20, who was recently appointed vice-captain of his side for the Champions Trophy played in India from October 7 to November 5, said that the recognition the nomination conferred on Bangladesh was what mattered most. “It is very encouraging but I don’t see anything from an individual’s perspective,” Nafees told , a Dhaka-based newspaper.Nominated alongside Nafees are Monty Panesar, the England left-arm spinner, Alastair Cook, the England batsman, Malinga Bandara, the Sri Lanka legspinner, Upula Tharanga, the Sri Lanka opening batsman, Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies wicketkeeper and Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler.Nafees’s recent Test performances against Australia at home have been impressive. He scored his only Test century against them in the first Test at Fatullah where Bangladesh gave Australia quite a scare by scoring over 400 in their first innings and then bowling Australia out for 269. In achieving a first innings lead of 159, Nafees partnered with Habibul Bashar to notch up 187 runs for the second wicket – the highest partnership by a Bangladesh pair.But Nafees does not attribute his nomination for the award to his 138 in Fatullah. “It was not because of that knock against Australia, but rather for the whole season where I showed adequate consistency,” he said. Nafees has a strike rate of 66.52 in one-day matches and has scored four half-centuries, three of them in away-series. He had a good series against Zimbabwe in July-August this year, averaging 62 in five one-day matches played in Harare.The winner will be decided by voting by a 56-member ICC academy comprising the 10 Test captains, 18 members of the umpires and match referees panel and 28 legends of the game and members of the media.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne stayed in the shadows as Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken produced an exhilarating display of sheer pace and controlled swing that routed West Indies on the fourth day at the Gabba. Set 509 to win after Ricky Ponting had declared on the overnight total of 2 for 283, West Indies were bundled out for 129, losing their last seven wickets in the space of nine overs for just 30 runs. Lee finished with 5 for 30, his first five-wicket haul in four years, and Bracken had career-best figures of 4 for 48 as the Australians wrapped things up before the clouds burst.Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara all got starts, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unfortunate to be given out padding up, but not one individual played with the conviction that suggested a two-day salvage operation was even within the realms of possibility. Lara squirted a catch to gully, Sarwan surprised by a fearsome bouncer from Lee, and the rest were blown aside about as easily as straws in the wind. Even by West Indians standards – this was a 30th defeat in their last 37 overseas Tests – this was a terrible performance.Lee was clocked as fast as 153.7 kmph, and his ferocity was perfectly complemented by Bracken’s swing bowling in cloudy conditions. The only dark spot in a near-perfect picture for the Australians was the shoulder injury Shane Watson sustained while diving to stop an on-drive. That aside, all the wounds were sustained by a West Indian side outmanoeuvered and outthought from the moment Ricky Ponting dug Australia out of a first-innings hole.Despite losing Devon Smith, top-scorer in the first innings with 88, early on, West Indies’ pursuit of a 509-run chimera had been given impetus by Chris Gayle’s cameo. Glenn McGrath was off-driven with immense power for two sixes in an over that also included a fluffed caught-and-bowled chance and some pleasantries that Gayle laughed off.The breakthrough came from an unlikely source, Watson, who had only one other Test wicket to his name. Brought on as first change, he was ecstatic when he induced an outside edge that Warne at first slip took in a fashion resembling an overhead Australian rules mark.Lara couldn’t make anything of a reprieve granted when he had made just 5 – Katich dropped a chance high to his right at midwicket off Bracken – and his departure to the sort of catch that Australia dropped routinely in a woeful Ashes campaign said much about the restoration of Matthew Hayden’s confidence after three consecutive Test centuries.Marlon Samuels, who viewed the carnage from his vantage point at the non-striker’s end, struck two gorgeous boundaries off Bracken in a late late show of defiance, but it had all the lasting impact of a gob of spit in the rain. And unless West Indies perk up dramatically before Hobart, they will surely be swept away by this unrelenting Australian deluge.

West Indies 2nd inningsDevon Smith c Warne b Lee 3 (1 for 11)
Edged to first slipChris Gayle c Warne b Watson 33 (2 for 51)
Outside edge pouched high in Aussie-rules fashionBrian Lara c Hayden b Bracken 14 (3 for 85)
Flayed one low to the right of gullyShivnarine Chanderpaul lbw Bracken 7 (4 for 99)
Offered no shot to one that shaped back and struck him just above the pad. Would have gone over the stumpsRamnaresh Sarwan c Gilchrist b Lee 31 (5 for 99)
Tangled up by a brutish bouncer, gloved behindDenesh Ramdin c Gilchrist b Lee 6 (6 for 105)
Beaten by subtle away movement, edged behind Daren Powell lbw Bracken 0 (7 for 106)
Struck on the right toe by a swinging yorker, plumb in frontFidel Edwards b Bracken 0 (8 for 106)
Clueless about an inswinging yorker that rattled leg stumpCorey Collymore lbw Lee 4 (9 for 114)
Beaten for pace and rapped in front of middle stumpJermaine Lawson b Lee 1 (129 all out)
Fast and straight delivery clips off stump

This was a day so tense and full of unexpected twists and turns that it would have been no surprise had Al Gore turned up to demand a recount. It finished with Auckland 74-2 in their second innings, a lead of 42.The highlight was a gutsy tenth wicket partnership of 80 by Bruce Martin and Graeme Aldridge for ND. This swung the game ND’s way, but Blair Pocock and Richard King did much to move it back again in the final session.With thirteen wickets having fallen on the first day the batsmen had as much trust in the pitch as in a Florida election official. Their lack of faith appeared justified as the heart of ND’s middle order was removed in the first hour.Auckland’s left-arm seamer Richard Morgan was the main destroyer, removing Bradburn caught behind from a bouncer, Bailey caught at short leg and Hood, off stump removed for a debut duck. Morgan demonstrated the twin dangers of the pitch. There was bounce and there was movement. It was difficult to deal with one while remaining alert for the other.Morgan finished with career best figures of 5-44.At 49-7 ND faced a substantial first innings deficit. Simon Doull began the recovery. Doull has a good record with the bat against Auckland, mostly by adopting the no-nonsense aggression he showed here. His 27 included a six over mid-wicket.When Doull’s departure was followed shortly afterwards by that of Robbie Hart, clearly annoyed to have been given out caught behind, it seemed that Auckland would have a lead of forty or so.Martin and Aldridge were soon to prove that to be a false assumption.Their partnership contained strong elements of good fortune, particularly in the early stages. But it contained a good deal of skill too, as well as a large slice of bloody-minded determination. There were few memorable shots, though Martin’s effortless lift over square leg to level the scores was one. The way in which both men resolutely stood up to short-pitched deliveries will be recalled as will their discipline in leaving as much as possible alone.The innings ended when Barnes found the shoulder of Martin’s bat to have him caught in the gully by Canning with the score on 178.Both batsmen left the field with personal highest scores (Martin 51, Aldridge 21 not out). They were only two short of breaking ND’s tenth wicket record against Auckland, set up by Martin in partnership with Simon Doull in the Shell Trophy final last April. Most importantly, they handed ND an unexpected lead of 32.Auckland’s second innings got off to the worst start when McIntosh was caught at second slip by Bailey off a Doull delivery that moved from leg to off. No runs were on the board.A quiet, but important phase of the game followed. Pocock and King put on 70 for the second wicket. It was slow at first, but gradually the shots came more freely. A slow outfield helped to keep the scoring rate down.Almost imperceptably, the balance of the game shifted towards Auckland. Joseph Yovich was the most dangerous bowler, twice having appeals for legside catches to the wicketkeeper, one for each batsman. However, Yovich was limited to one four over spell and may be injured.Doull returned to remove Pocock lbw to one that kept low shortly before the close of play.Today was first class cricket of a high order, not in terms of shot making, but as a contest in which concentration and determination are allied with skill to overcome the opposition and the conditions.These are the factors that will decide the outcome of the game, but in whose favour? To use the phrase with which we have become so familiar in recent weeks, it is too close to call.

India will host the finals of the 2011 World Cup while Bangladesh will host the opening ceremony. This was decided in London following a meeting between the respective boards. In April, the ICC awarded the hosting rights to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Abbas Zaidi, the Pakistan Cricket Board director, confirmed the news and added that Pakistan and Sri Lanka will host the semi-finals. He stated that the purpose was to spread out the major events in the tournament to all four regions. India is due to host 22 matches, with Pakistan holding 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.”We want to spread this World Cup as much as we can throughout south Asia. Sri Lanka is an important country cricket-wise and it is only right they get a semi-final,” Zaidi told Cricinfo. “We didn’t want to push our weight and try and get both semi-finals or the final because we truly believed that as the World Cup is being held in four countries across the region, each country should benefit, including Bangladesh who get the opening match and ceremony.”Pakistan hosted the finals of the 1996 World Cup in Lahore, when the tournament was hosted by the subcontinent.Zaidi also confirmed that Sunil Gavaskar has been given a one-year extension as chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee, after Majid Khan was expected to take over the position. “The move was to retain him for another three years but he has been given an extension only for one year as we feel other countries should get a chance,” Zaidi told Reuters.