An ECB delegation comprising John Carr, the board’s cricket director, and security manager Reg Dickson are presently in Sri Lanka making a security assessment ahead of England’s tour of Sri Lanka, which starts in the final week of September.Sri Lanka Cricket tour organizing committee chairman Shibley Vilcassim said the delegation had expressed great satisfaction over the security arrangements made for the tour. “We had a meeting at the SLC headquarters on Friday where they met representatives of the bomb squad, Sri Lanka army, ministry security division and heads of all regional police stations where the matches are to be played.”The delegation also visited the match venues and hotels where the England team will be staying. Games are scheduled to be played in Colombo, Dambulla, Kandy and Galle.Vilcassim said that they would have a final meeting on Monday. Also associated with the meeting were SLC CEO Duleep Mendis and SLC security coordinator Shane Dullewe.The ECB’s visit comes against a backdrop of escalating violence on the island following the collapse of a ceasefire between the government and rebel forces. The UK’s foreign office advises tourists to take extreme caution, warning “there is a high threat from terrorism … terrorist attacks occur throughout the country, including in areas and on travel routes popular with tourists.”England head to Sri Lanka for a five-match one-day series straight after the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. They will then return at the end of November for a series of three Tests.Vilcassim also confirmed that work on the Galle Stadium would be completed in time for the third Test.

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.

Durham have given up hope of signing Jacques Kallis, the South Africa allrounder, as a replacement for Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Kallis was left out of South Africa’s squad for the ICC World Twenty20 next week. But although Durham reportedly tried to entice him with an attractive pay deal, Kallis has turned it down.”Players of his quality are few and far between,” Geoff Cook, the Durham coach said, “and there are also problems with work permits.”Durham have three matches left this season in their pursuit for the Championship title. Chanderpaul, the West Indies batsman, spent a month at the club following his side’s tour of England and notched five fifties in nine matches.

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.”

Scorecard

A committed Michael Di Venuto improved the mood of the title holders as he helped Tasmania earn a fighting draw against Queensland. The Tigers were behind from the first morning, but Di Venuto helped them claw away from trouble on the final day with 178 and highly valuable partnerships with George Bailey and Dan Marsh.It was a frustrating conclusion for Queensland, who picked up only one wicket in each of the first two sessions and none in the abbreviated last. The Bulls began the morning with a 185-run advantage but Di Venuto, who resumed on 95, brought up his 43rd first-class century and then set about cutting the deficit further.Bailey provided strong support, reaching 76 before he edged to Murray Bragg, and Di Venuto departed shortly before tea with Tasmania needing another 14 to make Queensland bat again. He faced 351 balls, struck 21 boundaries and was eventually dismissed hitting a straightforward catch to Ryan Broad at square leg.Marsh and Sean Clingeleffer comfortably passed the target and once that was achieved Marsh had some fun. He raced to 92 but did not bother attempting a century as he and Jimmy Maher, who had to be happy with two first-innings points, agreed to call the game off early when a result was out of reach.

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif, who is missing out on the tour of India due to his elbow injury, has been advised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to keep on hold his contract with English county Surrey until his fitness position becomes clear.Asif remains uncertain for the Indian tour although the Board has said he has pulled out of the one-day series and is undergoing a rehabilitation programme for his elbow problem which requires rest and exercises and cannot be treated by medication.Asif, who also missed four of the five one-day internationals against South Africa last month at home due to the same injury, has been offered a two-year contract by Surrey for 2008 and 2009.The PCB’s chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said that given the increasing number of fitness problems, with the fast bowlers in particular, they would review in detail the policy of allowing players to sign contracts with English counties for the summer.”It is true that Pakistan has no commitments between late May and mid-September for next year but we will still have a rethink on our policy of giving permission to our players to go and play for counties,” he said. Naghmi also said their policy would be based on the fact that bowlers risk a burnout because of excessive cricket. “Otherwise we should have no objections,” he added.

ScorecardLegspinner Timil Patel left Tripura clueless, shooting them out for 116 on the first day in Ahmedabad. Justifying their captain’s decision to field first, Gujarat’s bowlers enjoyed a good day. Siddharth Trivedi did the early damage, dismissing opener Manoj Singh, but it was the spin twins – offbreak bowler Mohnish Parmar and Timil – who were the wreckers in chief. It was Timil’s second five-wicket haul of his career and he mopped up the tail by grabbing the last four wickets. Gujarat responded confidently, reaching 84 for 2 with Parthiv Patel leading the way with a 91-ball 48.
ScorecardHaryana struggled on the opening day in Jamshedpur, crawling to 200 for 7 against Jharkhand. Vishal Sahni, opening the batting in only his second first-class match, provided a rapid start – his 58 coming in just 60 balls and including nine fours – before Sunil Viswanathan, who recently moved from Tamil Nadu, stabilised the middle order. However, Jharkhand’s bowlers, led by medium-pacer Shankar Rao and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, struck at regular intervals to keep their team in front at the end of the day.
ScorecardSreekumar Nair and VA Jagadeesh slammed hundreds as Kerala sent Services on a leather hunt on the opening day in Palakkad. Choosing to field first, Services were buoyed by two early wickets but had little to celebrate later with Nair and Jadageesh piling on the agony with a 277-run stand. Nair’s fourth century was laden with 26 hits to the boundary while Jadageesh’s maiden century was a more sedate one with only half as many fours. Fazil Mohammad, Services’ new-ball bowler, was the lone wicket-taker of the day.
ScorecardSwapnil Asnodkar and J Arunkumar propelled Goa to a healthy 279 for 5 against Railways in Margao. Goa, who won the toss and chose to bat, were in early trouble when Rohit Asnodkar and Saahil Dhuri were both dismissed cheaply, with only 25 runs on the board. Fortunately for Goa Swapnil Asnodkar and Arunkumar then stemmed the rot, putting on 153 for the third wicket. When Arunkumar fell on 75 there was another mini wobble, but Swapnil Asnodkar ensured that one end was sealed and finished the day unbeaten on 125.
ScorecardIan Dev Singh, the 18-year old right-hand opening batsman, ploughed a lone furrow, scoring 104 as Jammu and Kashmir reached 230 for 5 against Madhya Pradesh. Shantanu Pitre, the opening bowler, had a hand in three dismissals, picking up two wickets and effecting a run-out. The only other batsman to make a contribution was Majid Dhar, who scored an unbeaten half-century at No. 4. Dhar was patient, consuming 241 balls for his 62, spending close to five hours at the crease. Madhya Pradesh, who chose to bowl, failed to complete their 90 overs on the day, falling short by four and a half overs.
ScorecardRain ruined two-thirds of the first day’s play in Guwahati and Assam were only able to put on 65 in the 29 overs of play that were possible. Mohammad Hashim, the opening bowler, picked up both the wickets to fall, and had Assam in trouble at 30 for 2. Nishanta Bordoloi and Sadagoppan Ramesh then steadied the ship, settling down and ensuring no further wickets fell before rain led to play being called off after lunch.

Mario Olivier, the Warriors right-arm seam bowler, dismissed all ten Eagles batsmen to become only the third South African to do so at first-class level. “I can’t describe my feelings, but I’m on cloud nine,” Olivier told after claiming figures of 10 for 65 in the SuperSport series in Bloemfontein on Saturday (December 1).The last South African to perform the feat was Western Province’s Stephen Jeffries, who had figures of 10 for 59 against Free State in 1987-88.Olivier, 25, was given a break after taking eight wickets in an uninterrupted 12-over spell, and was hoping that none of the other bowlers took the remaining wickets while he was waiting to be brought back by captain Zander de Bruyn.”Zander knew I wanted to bowl to get the ten,” Olivier said. “He is the captain and I respect his decisions. But he did say it was my day and I would bowl again after lunch. It was probably not a nice thing to do but I prayed that no one else would take a wicket.” On his return, Olivier dismissed Boeta Dippenaar and then had Victor Mpitsang caught behind to reach the landmark as the Eagles were bowled out for 300.Olivier’s efforts were in vain, though, as the Eagles dismissed the Warriors for 215 in their second innings and knocked off the 24 runs required, to go to the top of the leader board in the SuperSport series.

Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach, is yet to take a decision on returning to Pakistan following former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.Lawson is currently in Sydney and is scheduled to leave for Pakistan in two weeks. He said he was waiting for advice from people inside the country before deciding what to do.”I’ve sent a few emails this morning to people I know in Pakistan in different areas to get their opinions,” Lawson told . “I’m very open [to what they say] and I’m more likely to take into account what they’ve got to say rather than any officials. I’m just seeking advice, I’m not pre-judging anything.”Pakistan are scheduled to play five ODIs against Zimbabwe at home beginning January 26. But rioting and unrest in many parts of the country have put the tour in doubt.

Chris Rogers is one step closer to a dream international debut on his home ground after he was added to Australia’s squad for the WACA Test as cover for Matthew Hayden, who has a hamstring injury. Hayden trained with his team-mates in Perth on Sunday but doubts remain over his ability to recover in time for the Test, which begins on Wednesday.If his right hamstring does not heal it will end a streak of 86 consecutive Tests – Hayden has not missed a game since March 2000, which puts him seventh on the all-time list. It would also give Australia one of their least experienced opening pairs in recent memory with the uncapped Rogers set to join Phil Jaques, who himself has only just established his place in the side.Alex Kountouris, the team physio, is doing what he can to get Hayden ready for match day and Michael Clarke believes Rogers, 30, might have to wait for his Test debut. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for Chris Rogers to come into the squad and prepare like he’s going to play,” Clarke said.”But the type of guy Haydos is you’d have to chop his leg off to not see him out there this game. With Alex’s magic and Haydos’ discipline and the type of person he is I’m pretty confident we’ll get to see Matty Hayden out there.”Kountouris said it was still far too early to make a call on Hayden. “Matthew has taken part in training today,” Kountouris said. “We will continue with the program on his hamstring and make a decision about Matthew’s fitness and availability much closer to game time.”Like Hayden and Jaques, Rogers is a left-hander, and he would come to Test cricket with more than 8000 first-class runs to his name. He was named State Player of the Year for last season after posting 1202 runs at 70.70 for Western Australia, and he would have some idea of the opposition attack after making 60 against the Indians in the recent tour match in Canberra.Australia also have a decision to make at the other end of their order, with Shaun Tait trying to impress the selectors at training as they consider leaving out Brad Hogg and using a four-man pace attack. Tait was a standout at the World Cup last year and is hoping to add to his two Test caps, both of which came on Australia’s doomed Ashes tour in 2005.”He looks like he’s bowling pretty quick and swinging the ball away,” Clarke said. “It’s going to be tough for the selectors because if they’re talking about Hoggy not playing, his form in the last game was fantastic with bat and ball. He might have been disappointed not to pick up that many wickets in the second innings but I thought Hoggy did a great job and I think Taity is itching to get his opportunity.”