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	Norman Arendse: ‘The general situation in Zimbabwe has now made [the bilateral agreement] untenable’ © Getty Images

Pressure from its own cricketers appears to have forced Cricket South Africa into an embarrassing about-turn regarding cricketing links with Zimbabwe.Norman Arendse, CSA’s president, and other senior administrators, especially Ray Mali, the ICC president, have adopted a policy of unwavering support for Zimbabwe Cricket. But last week a number of players made clear that the deteriorating social environment in Zimbabwe meant they were no longer willing to play against sides from there.”In the light of the worsening situation in Zimbabwe, CSA has reviewed its position in relation to Zimbabwe cricket,” Arendse said on Monday. “We have decided to suspend our bi-lateral agreements with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union until further notice.”In the past, CSA has defended Zimbabwe cricket against heavy odds, but the general situation in Zimbabwe has now made this untenable.”We will continue to comply with the ICC’s Future Tours Programme regarding Zimbabwe, as we are bound to this programme as a full member of the ICC. However, CSA will suspend its bi-lateral agreements with ZC, which includes development and administrative programmes, and the participation of Zimbabwe teams in CSA’s domestic competitions.””This was Cricket SA’s decision and was not brought about by any direct pressure from the players,” South Africa Cricketers’ Association spokesman Tony Irish said. “However, the vast majority of players, if not all of them, support this decision from a moral point of view as they don’t want to be associated with what is going on in Zimbabwe. The players association commends C SA on the decision”The news will be a hammer blow to the Zimbabwe board as the only really meaningful cricket they have been able to play of late has been in South Africa’s domestic competitions.As things stand, Zimbabwe have no domestic games scheduled until their new season starts in March 2009, and the only international fixtures arranged in the next year are home and away series against Sri Lanka.The timing of the announcement could not be worse, coming on the eve of the ICC annual conference in Dubai when, in theory, Zimbabwe could have asked to be readmitted to Test cricket. That idea is now as distant as at any stage in the last three years.

Hampshire skipper Shane Warne reckons that he is in the best form of hiscareer.Warne recorded his sixth Test haul of ten wickets or more in a match as Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs during a thrilling first Test in Colombo yesterday.The 33-year-old, contracted to captain Hampshire for the next two seasons,took 7-94 in the first innings, his best figures since 1995, in clinching the man-of-the-match award.And, after taking 4-94 in Pakistan’s second innings – ensuring match figuresof 11-188, he said: “My form over the last 12 months in Test cricket hasbeen as good as it’s ever been. My last 14 or 15 matches have been the most successful time I’ve ever had.”Warne, who is fitter than ever, added: “I’ve noticed the difference in my recovery. Now that I’ve lost a couple of stone, I always feel better thenext day.”Australia host England after this series against Waqar Younis’s side butWarne will return to Hampshire, his `second home’, after touring the West Indies in six months’ time.The former Australia vice captain, who has been reinstated as Victoria’s skipper, is currently liaising with director of cricket Tim Tremlett andspoke to potential overseas players during the recent ICC Champions Trophy.Neil Johnson, still in the frame to play a third season as a specialistbatsman with Hampshire, who are aiming to sign their second overseas player as soon as possible.In the meantime Warne is basking in the glow of yet another match-inning performance for his country. He made up for the first `pair’ of his Testcareer by having Misbah ul Haq caught in the covers to make it ten wicketsin the match yesterday morning.Ul Haq had made ten when he hit a leading edge straight to Australia captain Steve Waugh. But it was Warne’s 11th and final wicket that proved the crucial scalpThe wicket of Younis Khan ensured Warne his biggest haul since taking 11 wickets against England at the Oval a year ago. And, after Younis wastrapped leg before to a trademark Warne flipper, Pakistan lost their lastfour wickets for just 29 runs.Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath ripped through the lower order with thenew ball and Pakistan were bowled out for 274, having been 175-3 overnight.Warne was twice dismissed for nought by Shoaib Akhtar, who produced one ofthe great spells of fast bowling as Australia were shot out for 127 intheir second innings.That took his tally of ducks in Test cricket to 27 – only Courtney Walsh (43) has more.But Warne loves his batting.Rest assured that a maiden first class century will be one of his personal goals when he returns to Hampshire in May.

Whatever the personnel when the sides are announced prior to the start ofthe second Ashes Test in Adelaide, Australia will start the match as firmfavourites to go two-nil up in the series. England’s plans have been throwninto disarray by a succession of injuries, while Australia could put theirsecond eleven on to the field and still be favourites to win. Australia Acould not force a win in Hobart in the tourists’ last match, but theycertainly did nothing to restore England’s confidence.Before dwelling on England’s misfortunes, it should be said that Australiathemselves are not completely free of injury doubts. Jason Gillespie isstill feeling the effects of his calf strain and is being given as long aspossible to recover. If he cannot do so, Brett Lee will come back into theside.Lee has taken 21 wickets for New South Wales since being dropped from theside for the first Test in Brisbane and has recaptured the speed that madehim such a fearsome proposition until his recent dip in form. If Gillespieis fit, Lee might have to wait until Perth before regaining his place as hehas said himself that his replacement, Andy Bichel, has done a perfectlygood job for the side.England would dearly love to have a problem like that of the Australians. Atthe start of the tour, captain Nasser Hussain said that his side stood achance of regaining the Ashes provided fortune smiled and he could call on afull complement of fit players. The decimation of the party and their dreambegan before they left England. That was when Graham Thorpe dropped out ofthe original selection to be replaced by Robert Key.A damaging blow, but at least Key was fit and raring to go. The same couldnot be said for the rest of the party. Darren Gough (knee), Michael Vaughan(knee), Mark Butcher (knee), Andrew Flintoff (hernia), and Simon Jones (rib)were all travelling with injuries of varying degrees of seriousness toovercome.Vaughan and Butcher came through without further mishap. Gough never tookthe field before returning home to seek further career-saving medical help.Flintoff has simply failed to get over his hernia operation as expected andis now said to be out until the fourth Test. There was no problem aboutJones’ rib, but then he suffered that horrendous knee injury on day one atBrisbane and is out for the rest of the tour and into the foreseeablefuture.Add to that casualty list the shoulder scare concerning Marcus Trescothick,the shin splints suffered by Steve Harmison, and a bout of concussion, thebruised hip that makes John Crawley doubtful for Adelaide, and the fracturedwrist sustained by Ashley Giles, and it is no wonder that the Englanddressing room resembles a casualty clearing station. Of the 16 namesannounced by the selectors on 10th September, only six have not featured inmedical bulletins.That is all history. What matters now is that England manage to restore somepride and make the most of what they have available. Whatever the result, abattling performance in which team and individuals do themselves justicewould go a long way towards bolstering credibility. And a little bit of luck would not go amiss.As for the Australians, they must be really worried. Consider the dilemmathat is occupying them even once they get the Gillespie situation sortedout. How do they resolve the problem of getting Martin Love – the man whoaverages 451 in two innings against the tourists – into the Test side. Nowonder their selectors have furrowed brows.

Pakistan will meet hosts Kenya in the opening match of next month’s cricket tri-series which was shifted to a neutral venue over security fears in Pakistan.World champions Australia, who cited security concerns over playing in Pakistan, is the third team in the competition to be held in Nairobi from Aug 29 to Sept 7.Australia play in the second match of the competition against Pakistan on Aug 30. The top two teams clash in the final on Sept 7.The Australian Cricket Board has approved the itinerary and Pakistan and Australian officials will visit Nairobi to oversee the final arrangements later this week.Meanwhile PCB official said Tuesday President Pervez Musharraf had contacted Australian Prime Minister John Howard to help convinced the Australian Cricket Board to undertake their Test tour of the country planned for OctoberTri-series schedule:Aug 29: Pakistan vs KenyaAug 30: Pakistan vs AustraliaAug 31: Rest daySept 1: Pakistan vs KenyaSept 2: Australia vs KenyaSept 3: Rest daySept 4: Australia vs PakistanSept 5: Australia vs KenyaSept 6: Rest daySept 7: Finals

India and South Africa have not played each other a lot in recent times; unlike say India and England.However, the Indians will want few changes to the script that was followed during their convincing win over England when they take on South Africa today in the semi-final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2002.For starters, it’s almost certain that India will play an unchanged side. However, that is something that could easily change with the Indians. It’s not entirely unusual for the Indian think tank to make a change to the side just as the captain walks out to toss. The one change that is possible, if you stretch the imagination a bit, is that Ajit Agarkar could come into the side in place of VVS Laxman. The Mumbai medium-pacer could be brought in to bolster India’s bowling, given that neither Dinesh Mongia nor Laxman have contributed anything special batting at No 3.The bowlers Ganguly used to fill in as the ‘fifth bowler’ in the game against England went for 66 off 11 overs. The Indian captain however, on the surface, is not worried about this aspect of India’s plans, “Our bowlers just have to bowl better. I have full faith in (Virender) Sehwag, Sachin (Tendulkar), Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) and myself,” said Ganguly.There is a school of thought that believes in the philosophy, “never change a winning combination,” but one is not sure whether Ganguly and John Wright subscribe to this or not. There will surely be no change in the winning philosophy though.”We’ll have to play well to beat South Africa. They’re a good side; they’re a good one-day unit,” began Ganguly, overstating the obvious. The Indian skipper went on in the same vein, “Whoever plays well on the day will win,” he said.The bowling, however, will not be central to India’s strategy. It’s the explosive batting line-up that will have to do the lion’s share of the work as the wickets get progressively lower and slower. Nasser Hussain spoke at length on the way India’s batting came at you early on and wrested the initiative.”I don’t think we attack from the start. It’s just that Sehwag plays that way in all forms of the game; that’s his game and we don’t stop him from doing that. It’s just that he kept hitting the ball into the gaps,” Ganguly observed.It will not, however, be as easy for Sehwag to go after Shaun Pollock or Allan Donald. Pollock, in particular, should be regarded a threat as he lands the ball on the right line with such unerring accuracy. Sehwag’s tendency to fish and flash outside the off stump could work against him if he is not extremely careful in his shot selection.And it is in such a situation that the key component of this Indian batting line-up would come into the picture. The middle-order will have a lot of work to do if the openers fall early. Sachin Tendulkar, who has spent very little time at the wicket in this tournament, will have to be at his peak. The South Africans are masters at creating pressure after the fall of a wicket and this will be a key factor and bring the lower middle order batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif into play.That said, India, though, would love it if this game were only about batting as their bowling department leaves plenty of room for worry.While Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled a fiery spell to kick things off against England, the former has often struggled to be a hundred per cent fit and this is a worry. Zaheer Khan for his part has come forward in leaps and bounds, showing exactly the aggressive attitude that you look for in a fast bowler. Ganguly backs his two spinners to the hilt and it’s only a matter of time before they get their act together and make a mark on this tournament. Some of the South African batsmen struggled against quality spin early on and Ganguly will be aware of this fact.India got past South Africa in the semi-final of the last edition of the Champions Trophy at Nairobi in 2000 quite easily. Ganguly, Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh – the first four batsmen then, added 279 of the 295 runs India made. The captain then used as many as eight bowlers and shared the workload around.Don’t be surprised if you see exactly the same sort of thing happening at the Premadasa Stadium.Well, with one minor difference – the man they call the butcher of Najafgarh – Virender Sehwag.South AfricaHerschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Dale Benkenstein, Justin Ontong, Mark Boucher (wk), Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock (capt), Nicky Boje, Alan Dawson, Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini, Steve Elworthy, Robin Peterson.IndiaSachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly (capt), Dinesh Mongia, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Jai Prakash Yadav, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Bashley (Rydal) 375-5 (45 overs), Waterlooville 135 (28.4 overs)
Bashley (Rydal) won by 240 runsThatcham Town 145 (41.2 overs), Havant 146-3 (23.5 overs)
Havant won by 7 wicketsFalkland 121 (44 overs), Basingstoke and North Hampshire 122-5 (34 overs)
Basingstoke and North Hampshire won by 5 wicketsPortsmouth 272-6 (45 overs), Lymington 163 (35.4 overs)
Portsmouth won by 109 runsGosport Borough 94 (34 overs), South Wilts 95-5 (28.2 overs)
South Wilts won by 5 wicketsWinchester K.S. 181-5 (45 overs), Burridge 183-6 (42.3 overs)
Burridge won by 4 wicketsVentnor 151-9 (45 overs), Andover 155-3 (21 overs)
Andover won by 7 wicketsHungerford walkover Cove

ROUND 3 DRAW

Andover v Burridge
Basingstoke and North Hampshire v Hungerford
Havant v Bashley (Rydal)
South Wilts v Portsmouth.

New Zealand will need to make a bowling breakthrough early on the third morning of the second National Bank Test if they are to achieve their goal of beating England in Wellington and going to the final Test in Auckland next week to decide the series.England finished a weather reduced first session of the Test in Wellington today on 92/2 having been put in to bat by New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.With post-rain ground preparations delaying the start of the match until 3.30pm on the second day, it was always going to be a tough task for New Zealand to get a win.However, they removed openers Michael Vaughan, caught at slip for seven by Fleming from Chris Drum’s delivery that moved away from him slightly while Marcus Trescothick got the speed wobbles, always a fatal condition against left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, and he departed for 37 after an attractive innings.But with two fine days forecast, the pitch is only going to get better so New Zealand have to make the most of it in the morning. There will be an early start, at 10am, in a bid to make up some lost time, and New Zealand will be hoping some sweating beneath the covers produces the spice that will enable them to capitalise and push for the wickets they need.Because as New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart said after play tonight, New Zealand only want to bat once in this match.There was encouraging tightness in the New Zealand bowling today in the absence of Chris Cairns. Chris Martin was named in the side as Cairns’ replacement, the only change in the two teams from the first Test, and was bowled as first change down wind.Martin produced some outstanding deliveries to the left-handers Trescothick and Mark Butcher but neither were able to get an edge to him.Drum bowled into the wind and was able to get some swing, although not outrageous by any means, and gained Vaughan’s wicket to continue the lean trot he has endured during the series.Ian Butler ratcheted up the speed and bowled several balls around the 140km/h mark but was used sparingly by Fleming. While he did beat the bat, he was slightly errant in line at times and also struck no-balling problems, possibly the result of shifty ground after the rain.England had to be encouraged by Mark Butcher’s seemingly painless batting after he just made it into the side after recovering from a cracked thumb suffered during the first Test in Christchurch. He was unbeaten on 24 at stumps and included among his run-scoring shots were two extra cover drives for boundaries from Vettori and Drum respectively.Hussain was also starting to open out, pulling at balls from Butler and Martin with effect while reaching 16.Trescothick said after stumps that the wicket square and the area surrounding the block had been very muddy early in the day and at the time the players went out they knew it wasn’t going to get too much better but they wanted to get things underway.There were pieces of the pitch coming out of the bowler’s foot marks and these represented a potential problem for batsmen later in the pitch, but the pitch itself had been fine and it played better than many anticipated during the 30 overs of play possible.”There is still a lot of cricket to play here, it just comes down to who wants it most,” Trescothick said.Aberhart said the pitch didn’t do as much as it was thought it might.”We thought they would be more helpful conditions,” he said.With the shortened duration of the match he said New Zealand only wanted to bat once and it was already apparent that Vettori was going to have to bowl a lot in the game but he was confident that having come through the pre-Test fitness testing that he would be capable of carrying that burden.”I thought Chris Martin bowled well and with a bit of zip and was a bit unlucky not to pick up wickets,” he said.

For the first time this season, Barbados’ bowling attack looked aboveordinary. It was not devastating by any means, but the quality wassuch that it left the Windward Islands struggling at the close of Day2 of their fifth-round Busta Cup match at Kensington Oval.With the knowledge that anything fewer than maximum points would denttheir chances of winning the Cup, Barbados effectively defended theirfirst innings total of 267 by reducing the visitors to 103 for sevenwhen stumps were drawn.Barbados can put themselves in a position to force their secondvictory of the tournament if they can knock over the last two wicketsthis morning before the Windwards get another 15 runs to avoid thefollow-on.Windwards, still without a point this season, badly lost their wayafter their teenaged openers were separated an hour into the inningsand never recovered against an attack that was mainly dominated bythree bowlers.Corey Collymore, Hendy Bryan and Dave Marshall shared the first 43overs in which the Windwards lost the cream of their batting throughmainly a lot of indecision and a few irresponsible shots.The first of those was an attempted pull from the left-handed DevonSmith that was not kept down and resulted in a catch to mid-wicket.For the 56 minutes Smith and Rommel Currency were together, the twoplayed solidly before they fell to Marshall.The Windwards have always been susceptible against leg-spin andMarshall would have been eager to get at them following his 12-wicketmatch haul against them in Dominica last year.Skipper Ian Bradshaw brought him into the attack after only six oversand he responded with two strikes in the space of 25 minutes.The second of those was from a googly that embarrassed Currency. Theright-hander shouldered arms and, as usual, umpire Steve Bucknor, tookhis time before sending the batsman on his way.In between the dismissals of the openers, Hendy Bryan removed thereputed shot-gun Kirsten Casimir with a delivery of fullish lengthwhich the batsman was guilty of playing across the line.Windwards, who started their reply 25 minutes after lunch, went to thetea interval at 35 for three with the experienced Junior Murray andJohn Eugene at the crease.They batted for a further 45 minutes before Collymore claimed twowickets in successive balls in an over which sent a buzz around theground. Eugene edged a catch to the keeper after nibbling at a balloutside the off-stump without moving his feet.Greg Wilson, on his debut first-class appearance, came out to replaceEugene, but the tall St. Lucian did not survive his first ball. It wasof fullish length and it earned Collymore a LBW decision in the faceof Wilson indicating the ball struck the bat.The double-blow left the Windwards 58 for five and in need of a majorpartnership between Murray and his fellow Grenadian, captain RawlLewis.They were moving nicely along and had put on 24 when their sixthwicket stand was ended by a run-out that caused the downfall of Murrayfor 24. It was the sixth time for the competition that he wasdismissed in either the 20s or the 30s.The demise of Murray came in an exciting over from Bryan. Lewis hadjust spanked the bowler through the covers for a four and played analmost identical shot from the very next ball that was brilliantlyintercepted by substitute Floyd Reifer.Murray, the non-striker, might have believed the ball had gone pastthe fielder and ran the full length of the pitch to join Lewis at thestriker’s end. It was merely left to Bryan to complete the run-out atthe bowler’s end.Until then, Barbados depended mainly on three bowlers and Bradshaw andoff-spinner Ryan Austin came on late in the evening for three oversapiece.It was enough for Bradshaw to claim the wicket of left-hander DeightonButler, who cut a short ball down the throat of backward point.Earlier, Barbados, resuming from their overnight 192 for six, added afurther 75 before they were dismissed 15 minutes after lunch. Most ofthose runs came in a seventh-wicket stand of 45 between Bradshaw andAustin.Austin, who played a key role in supporting Bradshaw with the bat inthe last match, made 26 in an hour-and-a-half, while Bradshaw hit 37before he was last out to a catch at long-on.By then, Barbados were trying to push on in light of the fact that thescoring rate was just over two runs an over throughout the innings.

A Nick Horsley century and an explosive hour before tea put all the permutations, calculations and mathematical intrusions surrounding the last State Championship match of the season to rest as Auckland first cemented its title.In a match of two targets, Wellington on the last day set themselves the task of, at best bowling Auckland out for 168 or fewer to win the Championship based on a net average runs per wicket calculation or, at worse bowl Auckland out for less than 242 to gain the solace of an outright win over the champions.But in 11-and-a-half overs from the afternoon drinks break to shortly before tea Horsley and Tama Canning plundered 79 to take the score from 81/3 to 160/4 and in the process buried Wellington’s hopes of achieving either target.Canning ended his spree with 43, characteristically caught on the boundary. Horsley went on to complete his maiden first-class century, a mixture of early defence that turned into an aggressive attack, his 100 coming from 186 balls and including three sixes and 14 fours.In the end, bad light saved Wellington from outright defeat, Auckland finishing on 217/4 with 22 overs in hand, a miserly 26 runs short, but not able to cast sufficient light on the increasing gloom.At the start of the day, Wellington, 10/1 overnight and facing an exceptionally defensive field, pushed the singles around to reach 48 without losing another wicket. At that point they declared, giving Auckland the relatively generous target of 243 runs from a minimum of 88 overs to win the match but at the same time giving themselves sufficient time to bowl Auckland out for fewer than the 169 that the calculators had decided would give the Championship leaders the title.Wellington had achieved a couple of Houdini escapes during the season; this was not to be one of them.For a time they had some hope. Tim McIntosh gone in the first over, beaten by Andrew Penn. Rob Lynch (20) and Sanjeewa Silva (15) gone by the middle of the afternoon with the run rate never much above two an over. But time was slipping away for Wellington.Then came the Horsley/Canning heroics and Wellington’s hopes were quickly buried. Bowlers who had kept the Auckland batsmen constrained suddenly looked easy pickings, no better demonstrated than by Horsley’s cracking three fours in an over from James Franklin to rush through the 90s and beyond.It was an anti-climax that a match worthy of a Championship final – albeit a de facto one – should come to an end prematurely through the intrusion of bad light.Wellington had done everything they could to try to bring off what was always an unlikely Championship victory – a big first innings total, restricting Auckland’s first innings and offering a generous declaration. But it was not enough. First inning points were little solace for the loss of a title that was never quite in their grasp.

Gloucestershire play Buckinghamshire on the 7th May 2003 – away. Reserve Day is 8th May 2003Away to the winner of Cornwall v Kent on 28 May. Reserve Day on 29th.Quarter Finals 10 or 11 Jun (Reserve Days 11 and 12 Jun).