Scorecard
Points table

Worcestershire kept the pressure on at the top of Division Two after beating the rain at The Rose Bowl and winning under the Duckworth-Lewis method. On a bowler-friendly service they skittled Hampshire for 131 and were well ahead of the asking-rate when the late-evening thunderstorms arrived.The Hampshire top-order slumped to 49 for 4 to some fine seam bowling from Zaheer Khan, Matt Mason and Kabir Ali. Their position wasn’t helped when Shane Warne had to retire hurt with a nasty gash above his right eye after he missed a pull and the ball went straight between his visor and grill.Warne went to hospital but was told the cut was too deep to stitch so returned to ground, ate a cheese roll, was patched up by the physio and returned at the fall of the eighth wicket. He didn’t last long before becoming Khan’s second wicket while Gareth Batty bowled well for his three strikes.James Bruce replied with a fine opening burst, but despite his two wickets Worcestershire remained well ahead of the D/L target thanks to Lou Vincent’s 28-ball 32.They are now level on points with Gloucestershire at the top of the table and both teams have one match left.

Gary Brent, Zimbabwe’s medium-fast bowler, completes his international comeback by replacing Terry Duffin in Zimbabwe’s Champions Trophy squad in India.Duffin, who has missed Zimbabwe’s first two matches against the West Indies and Sri Lanka due to illness, has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.Brent, 30, is flying to India on Wednesday to join up with his new team-mates in time for Zimbabwe’s final preliminary match with Bangladesh on Friday. He was part of the 15 rebel white players whose dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket led to the premature ending to their international careers.Brent, however, recently made himself available again and went on to sign a central contacta fortnight ago. He hit a timely century in club cricket for Harare Sports Club against Takashinga on Sunday.

Aug 201.34pm Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove examine the match ball after an Umar Gul over on the fourth day of the fourth Test at The Oval. Hair, believing the condition of the ball to have been unfairly altered, signals to the scorers that Pakistan will be penalised five runs. Ball is changed.3.43pm Hair and Doctrove, and not out England batsmen Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell, return to the field after tea but there’s no sign of Pakistan team. Officials and batsmen return to pavilion.3.54pm Umpires and batsmen return to field, but still no Pakistan team. Bails are removed and the covers come on.
4.19pm Match referee Mike Procter, chairman of the ECB David Morgan and Pakistan counterpart Shaharyar Khan seen in deep discussions on balcony.
4.24pm Inzamam leads Pakistan team back onto the field, but now there is no sign of the umpires. Talks did not involve the umpires who insist that the original Pakistan no-show after tea means the match has been conceded.
5.13pm Play called off for the day.9.10pm Test abandoned after Pakistan deemed to have forfeited match. England declared winners and take series 3-0. It is the first forfeit in 129 years of Test history.Aug 21
Inzamam says he kept his team off the field to defend his country’s pride after allegations of cheating. Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, and team manager Zaheer Abbas both insist their side had not been guilty of ball-tampering. Inzamam is charged with ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute by ICC. Meanwhile, the PCB says it no longer wants Hair to officiate in any of its team’s matches.Aug 22
Inzamam warns cricket chiefs: Clear me of ball tampering or the tour of England is finished. British newspapers report that England coach Duncan Fletcher visited Procter’s room before the start of the fourth day’s play. English officials insist no “specific complaint” about the ball was made.Aug 23
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed insists Pakistan would have no right of veto over the appointment of Hair for future Tests. Zaheer confirms the team’s upcoming one-day series against England will go ahead after a disciplinary hearing involving captain Inzamam was postponed due to the unavailability of ICC chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle. Speed on his way to London to help broker a deal that could keep Pakistan’s tour of England on track. Hair says he stands by his decision and wants to continue umpiring.

Aug 24ECB makes contingency plan for England to play a World XI in the event Pakistan pull out of the upcoming one-day series.Aug 25
ICC announce that Hair offered his resignation in return for a payment of 500,000 dollars. Speaking at a news conference in London, Speed says: “Hair was under great stress when he wrote these letters. Darrell had no dishonest, underhand or malicious intent. He was seeking a solution.”Aug 26
ICC sets Inzamam hearing provisionally for last week of September.Aug 27
Hair says he received “encouragement” to make his resignation offer from ICC umpires and referees manager Doug Cowie. ICC say discussions were merely “informal”.Sep 4
Speed warns Pakistan and Inzamam against making any further “inappropriate” public comments ahead of the hearing saying they risk further charges under the ICC code of conduct.Sep 25
ICC confirm that Inzamam will answer charges at a two-day hearing in front of Madugalle starting at The Oval, starting on Wednesday September 27. Inzamam, Hair, Doctrove and Procter are among those set to attend with a decision due Friday local time.

Michael Clarke was desperately unlucky to miss out on a place in Australia’s side for the first Test, according to Darren Lehmann. Clarke lost the battle with the allrounder Shane Watson for the No. 6 spot when the 13-man squad was announced on Thursday.Lehmann, who offered to give his Test place to Clarke in India in 2004, said the selectors needed to show faith in Clarke. “Michael Clarke is the one I still like. I think he has a great future in Australian cricket,” Lehmann told the . “I think Michael Clarke can play for ten years. I would like to see him play and give him an opportunity. He has all the shots, plays the right brand of game and could be a future leader.”Clarke said he was not surprised that Watson had got the nod. “I probably always think the worst so it doesn’t hurt so much,” he said. “Deep down I did think they would go with Watto. I guess I knew I didn’t do too much batting at the ICC Champions Trophy, simply because all the guys were doing so well above me, and that was terrific. I am obviously disappointed to miss out, I’d like to play for Australia in every Test but I guess my focus now is to just get back to New South Wales and make as many runs as I can in one- and four-day cricket.”Clarke has had limited opportunities to play for his state since being dropped from the Test team last summer. “That’s the hardest thing,” he said. “I think in my last three games for New South Wales I’ve scored 170, 200 and then 50 and 70 [against England] early this week. That comes with playing a lot of one-day cricket, and where I’m batting you don’t always spend a lot of time in the middle. And you know what, I wouldn’t swap being part of Australia’s one-day team, and playing every game I can. I love it.”

Graham Roope, the former Surrey and England allrounder, collapsed and died in Grenada yesterday. He was 60.Roope will probably be best remembered for his outstanding close catching – he was one of the best slip fielders of his generation – and it was this as much as his batting that won him 21 Test and eight ODI caps between 1973 and 1978. He scored 860 runs in Tests at 30.71 as well as holding 35 catches, and was unlucky in that he seemed to be on the verge of finding his feet when he was discarded – he made seven fifties, but never reached three figures.He was at his best in backs-against-the-wall situations. At Karachi in 1977-78 he batted for almost five hours in making 56 (ended by a shocking lbw decision) to bail England out after they had collapsed to 107 for 5. And in 1975 at The Oval he made his Test-best of 77 against Australia after England followed-on. They saved the match, but England did not tour that winter and Roope was given a torrid working over by West Indies early the following season in a warm-up match and that cost him his place when the Test series started.He toured twice with England. In 1972-73 he visited India and Pakistan, where he made his Test debut, and in 1977-78 was on the trip to Pakistan and New Zealand.Geoff Arnold, the current Surrey bowling coach, who played with Roope for club and country, spoke to Cricinfo about his memories of his former team-mate. “He was a very affable and jovial guy. He was especially good against quick bowling and would often walk back with them to try and get them on his side.””As a slip fielder he was outstanding, I’d put him in the top half a dozen I’ve ever seen. He held some stunning catches off me for Surrey and England. In fact, if he ever did drop a catch it was often the easier ones that were coming straight at him. He had great reflexes as a goalkeeper and this showed when he was at slip.”And off the pitch, too, Arnold said Roope was a character: “He could talk the hind legs off a donkey in the changing rooms and was a great weather forecaster. We thought he could sense a drop of rain 300 miles away.”

The corkscrew-curled Roope was also a bit of a lucky charm – England only lost twice when he played. He was also the man at the other end when Geoff Boycott completed his 100th first-class hundred at Headingley in 1977.A front-foot middle-order batsman, Roope was a mainstay for Surrey for a decade and a half, and his best season came in 1971 when his 1641 runs at 44.35 were key to the county winning the Championship ( he also took 59 catches in that summer). His medium-pace bowling was also effective, more so in his early career. In 1968 he captured 50 wickets. He appeared in four one-day finals, finishing on the winning side only the once in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup.He represented Berkshire both before and after his first-class career, and was also a decent football goalkeeper, playing for Wimbledon, Kingstonian, Woking and Corinthian Casuals. After retiring he coached and did some commentary work.

Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach, expressed his disappointment at theNewlands pitch, but insisted that his side would go all out for the winthat will clinch the series. He commended his bowlers for having kept theIndian scoring rate under control, and hoped that a couple ofbreakthroughs with the new ball on the second morning could swing the gamehis team’s way.”We are disappointed with the wicket,” he said, not bothering to dress uphis despair in diplomatic terms. “It certainly isn’t what we were lookingfor. But you’ve got to play on whatever track you get.”The new-ball bowlers didn’t make the Indian openers play enough, butArthur said that he was satisfied with the effort put in, adding that theshort-pitched tactics had been worthwhile given the manner in which Indiacapitulated at Kingsmead.”We bowled pretty decently as a unit,” he said. “India haven’t got awaywith the game. We still have the new ball and if we can strike early blowstomorrow morning, we’ll be really happy.”I don’t think the Indian batting had much confidence after Durban. We hadto try and expose the chinks with the short ball. The follow-up deliverywas always the important one.”Even if the second new ball, now 10 overs old, does the trick, the onuswill be on South Africa’s batsmen to pile up a formidable total to stay inthe game. “We realise that our first innings with the bat is really goingto be crucial,” said Arthur, though his reading of the pitch seemed alittle bizarre.”Against New Zealand, it was a similar pitch,” he said, perhaps forgettingthat that Test had been played in late April, with winter imminent. “Itturned on day one and then went on to become a good track. We areobviously hoping that’s the case.”Though Paul Harris came through well on his debut, troubling most batsmenduring the course of a tidy 24 overs, the sharp turn out of the roughmight have sent a few shudders down South African spines. “We were justtelling him after play, that we didn’t expect him to bowl the most numberof overs,” said Arthur. “Especially not on the opening day of a Test inSouth Africa.”Arthur praised Wasim Jaffer’s innings and said that India’s decision toopen with Dinesh Karthik hadn’t caught his team cold. “We saw him in thenets in Durban, and were pretty sure that he might open here,” he said. Asfor what lay ahead, Arthur remained cautiously optimistic.”If we can restrict them to less than 380, we’ll be very happy,” he said.”We’re still looking for a win and will try and go as far as possible toachieve that. Our mindset is to win. We won’t hang on for a draw.”If the odd puff of dust late this evening was any indication, they mighthave to do just that against Anil Kumble.

Muhammad Akmal Siddique, the father of Pakistan’s wicket-keeper-batsman Kamran Akmal was attacked and injured by assailants in Lahore over the weekend.They reportedly shot at and injured Siddique before fleeing the area. Some armed men held up Siddique outside the Data Darbar shrine and drove him towards Sheikhupura Road. As he put up resistance, the gangsters shot and injured him and drove away with the vehicle, as well as taking away cash and a cell phone.Having been left on the road, Siddique was taken to the nearby Mayo Hospital where he was admitted and is now said to be in stable condition. Akmal, who eventually played such a vital role in Pakistan’s fine five-wicket win in Port Elizabeth, was told about the incident during the Test.

Jacques Rudolph is removing himself from the international arena and joining Yorkshire for three years in a bid to rediscover himself, the left-handed batsman told Cricinfo on Wednesday.Rudolph, who was set for a recall to the South African Test team when they play Pakistan in Cape Town from Friday, announced he had signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Yorkshire on Tuesday, thereby making himself ineligible for his country.”I feel like I haven’t been myself and I haven’t played the way I wanted to for the last two or three years. I want to play with more freedom and flair, like I did at the start of my career with the Northerns Titans,” Rudolph said.The 25-year-old has also been messed around by the South African selectors, never being able to cement a place in the team or even a regular batting position.”It’s been very difficult for my game, knowing you are always one or two Tests away from being dropped, you put pressure on yourself. So it becomes a rollercoaster and you’re always in and out of the side, or batting at number three and then number six.”South African coach Mickey Arthur certainly values Rudolph’s abilities, but he is also in the process of building a Test side for the next couple of years.”No one wants to lose a player of Jacques’ class, but we are building for 2008 and there’s no point involving Jacques now if he can’t be in our plans for later. But it might be a win/win situation because I’m sure Jacques will get more depth to his batting while he’s over there,” Arthur said.Rudolph has not played Test cricket since last August in Sri Lanka, but the South Africans were set to call on his services at the top of the order in Cape Town, due to the uncertainty over Herschelle Gibbs’s appeal over his suspension for making racist remarks and the woeful recent form of AB de Villiers.”Haroon [Lorgat, the convenor of selectors] told me they would give me a run of three or four Tests, but at this stage I feel I need a career move and I’m looking for some stability and security for my game and some guarantees,” Rudolph said.”I’ll still be young, 28, when I come back and I’m sure I can be a great prospect for South Africa then,” the scorer of five hundreds in his 35 Tests said.One could tell Rudolph was a rare strokeplaying genius when he plundered a run-a-ball 150 against Australia in their final warm-up for the 2003 World Cup. Sadly, the follow-up successes have not really come as the burdens of always playing for his place have heaped upon his shoulders.Yorkshire having been through a winter of upheaval. Firstly there was the drama surrounding Chris Adams’s u-turn over his role as captain then the controversial departure of Anthony McGrath who, despite being offered the captaincy, decided to leave mid-contract. Along with the loss of Michael Lumb to Hampshire it has left Yorkshire very short of batting experience.However, the signings of Rudolph and Younis Khan, whose absence at the World Cup will be covered by Matthew Elliott, will go some way towards compensating for those losses and should provide stability in the top order.

Before New Zealand became a regular Test opponent Australia rewarded fringe players with a Trans-Tasman tour and the current selectors have taken a modern slant on B-sides by picking an under-manned squad for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. While New Zealand will field their first choices during the three games, Australia have left their captain and vice-captain at home and Andrew Symonds is recovering from a serious arm injury.Adding to the visitors’ lack of power is a Brett Lee ankle injury and a hip problem to Michael Clarke, who is second-in-charge after Ricky Ponting decided to have treatment on his back and Adam Gilchrist rested. The changes mean Australia have picked a raw squad, including Adam Voges, Cameron White, Brad Haddin and the on-standby Phil Jaques, and the competition that has been wedged into a crammed itinerary has become an inconvenience, even though they were upended in the CB Series finals.If Clarke is ruled out, Matthew Hayden will be the only one of Australia’s top four who is batting in his usual position while Brad Hodge, the No. 5, is keeping Symonds’ spot warm. The third-year series that the organisers pipe-dreamed would develop into an All Blacks-Wallabies rivalry is achieving the credibility of a pre-season warm-up.In the New Zealand corner there is no danger of the trophy being tarnished by a low-key attitude. The matches, starting in Wellington on Friday, are a crucial chance to fine-tune after the disappointment of missing the CB Series finals when bundled out by England.

Stephen Fleming returned to face severe scrutiny following the early exit, but New Zealand were boosted by strong performances from Jacob Oram, Shane Bond and Lou Vincent. Bond, who collected 11 wickets in six games, and Oram (261 runs at 87) proved their fitness in style while Vincent’s three half-centuries made sure the spot of the retired Nathan Astle could be covered. Peter Fulton and Michael Mason were dropped from the touring squad for this series and the only extra is Daryl Tuffey, who has returned for the first time in two years after recovering from a shoulder problem.Apart from an experimental batting line-up, Australia’s main area to improve is the fast bowling, which struggled under pressure over the past month and was unable to threaten England during three consecutive losses. In a take on naughty-boy nets, the selectors refused to rest any of the fast men from the week-long trip and they will try to spend the time honing yorkers and closing-over tactics.The at-the-death problem was also exposed during the previous Chappell-Hadlee Trophy when Australia, who won the 2005 series 2-1, gave up totals of 320 and 332. In the six games played for the trophy recognising the two families, Australia have been successful three times and the deciding match of the inaugural series was washed out in Brisbane.Michael Hussey has been handed the captaincy in Ponting’s absence and he will look to improve on his one loss against West Indies in Malaysia last September. The opening day-night game will be followed by fixtures at Auckland on Sunday and Hamilton on Tuesday. By then New Zealand should have an idea of their World Cup prospects and Australia will be able to pass judgement on some of the next-generation batsmen.Australia squad Matthew Hayden, Shane Watson, Phil Jaques, Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey (capt), Adam Voges, Brad Haddin (wk), Cameron White, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath.New Zealand squad Stephen Fleming (capt), Shane Bond, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Brendon McCullum (wk), Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

Scorecard

Dominic Thornely and Ben Rohrer resurrected New South Wales’ slim hopes of a home final, driving the visitors 124 runs in front of Tasmania. Rohrer’s century on debut and Thornely’s fighting hundred ensured a Hobart decider was not a foregone conclusion with one day remaining at Bellerive Oval.The pair put the ignominy of the Blues’ first-innings 53 behind them in a 120-run stand after Thornely and Peter Forrest together added 144. Thornely, the stand-in captain, reached triple-figures for the second time in two games, which was a remarkable effort having come to the crease at 2 for 25.He batted for six and a half hours to compile 138 and somehow helped the Blues into a position where they could feasibly steal an incredible come-from-behind win. Rohrer, the debutant who only played because of Simon Katich’s late withdrawal, was unbeaten on 142 at the close, having made his century from 210 balls.The Tigers, who claimed 12 for 202 on day two, managed only 3 for 292 on day three as New South Wales set out to prove their collapse was an aberration. Forrest, in his second game, was out early for 61 but Daniel Smith (30) and Grant Lambert (44 not out) made valuable contributions.The Blues’ chances of reaching the final were boosted by Victoria’s loss at Brisbane and South Australia’s fightback against Western Australia. The only way they can host, however, is to set Tasmania a target on day four and bowl the Tigers out in around two sessions.