Shane Warne might be serving out a 12-month ban for using a banned diuretic, but his presence in the Australian team for the 2005 Ashes series is being keenly awaited in England. That’s the conclusion from a survey conducted by magazine.Seventy percent of respondents to the survey said Warne should be picked for Australia when he’s completed his 12-month ban. He might be the bane of English batsmen, but fans can’t wait to see the great leg-spinner back in action.John Stern, the editor of The Wisden Cricketer said, “People who love cricket want to see the big names and Warne is one of the greats. People will say [when] he’s served his ban, bring it on. Most English fans would love to see Warne play here again.”Not quite as many – 50 percent – believe England can win the series, with or without Warne, and slightly more than half would be happy if some on-field verbal conflicts were part of the entertainment.

Junaid Zia has pulled out of the Pakistan one-day squad to play New Zealand, citing the need to attend exams as the reason.Zia, the son of the board’s chairman, was a controversial selection in the first place, having taken only three wickets at an average of 42.33 in his four previous ODIs.However, he requested to be left out of the squad and his place was awarded to Umar Gul, who had been initially selected in the Pakistan A team for the one-day series in India, also involving Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.The first ODI is on November 29 at Lahore.

Henry Olonga has repeated his call for international teams to boycott Zimbabwe on moral grounds.His comments were a reaction to news that the England & Wales Cricket Board had delayed making any decision on its planned tour next year. “What is important is not just cricket but the continuing repression of the people in Zimbabwe,” Olonga told the BBC. “The country will lose as a whole if opportunities like this are not taken to try and highlight the plight of the people of Zimbabwe.”It would be pertinent for all countries that have a cricketing relationship with Zimbabwe to acknowledge the situation in Zimbabwe now. But I don’t think we’re going to get a strong stance from any other country than England.”Olonga admitted that were England to withdraw then the already precarious finances of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union would suffer, but he said that with other countries prepared to visit, it would survive.”It will have a financial impact on Zimbabwe cricket, but Zimbabwe is more than just a cricket team. It’s more than just television rights,” he explained. “It’s about five million people potentially facing starvation and that cause to me is more important than any cricket tour.”

Scorecard
Photo galleryDay 1
Bulletin – Honours even despite Flintoff’s fireworks
Verdict – Caught in two minds
Roving Reporter – Practising what he preaches
Day 2
Bulletin – Sri Lanka build towards domination
Verdict – A swing and a miss
News – Atapattu splits webbing of left hand
Quotes – ‘I assumed he was signalling to someone behind me’
Day 3
Bulletin – Samaraweera and Jayawardene increase England’s woes
Verdict – A red herring
Roving Reporter – Inflatable SantasDay 4
Bulletin – Murali and Fernando blow England away
Verdict – And the walls came tumbling down
Tillakaratne quotes – ‘We played positively’
Vaughan quotes – ‘Murali beat us fair and square’

Close Queensland 289 for 6 (Love 100, Law 99) v Tasmania
Scorecard

Martin Love notched a neat century while Stuart Law fell a run short but Queensland didn’t have it all their own way on the opening day of their Pura Cup clash against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. A 190-run partnership between Love and Law put Queensland in a strong position at stumps, as they finished on 6 for 289.However the Tigers remained well and truly in the hunt, taking four wickets for 31 in the final session. At close of play Wade Seccombe was unbeaten on 11, with Ashley Noffke on 19.Love, a former Test player, only briefly enjoyed his second Pura Cup century of the season. After facing 221 balls, Love was bowled by Gerard Denton, the Tigers fast bowler, without adding to his 100. Law was not so lucky. Chasing his first Pura Cup ton for Queensland since March 2001, Law came agonisingly close before he was caught at mid-off by Michael Di Venuto off Xavier Doherty, a left-arm finger spinner, for 99.The Tigers, who sent the Bulls into bat after winning the toss on a pitch renowned for producing runs, took two wickets for 40 in the opening session but endured the second empty handed. They clawed back after tea, with two of the four Bulls wickets rounded up by Damien Wright. Wright, who together with Doherty has been selected in the Prime Minister’s XI to take on India in Canberra next week, finished the day with 3 for 65 off 22 overs.Dan Marsh, the Tigers captain, said he was pleased with the day’s work. “I don’t think we bowled badly, I just thought they batted well,” he said. “I would say it’s pretty level. We have seen it’s a pretty good batting wicket out there, so no doubt the four wickets are going to be hard to get tomorrow. We have to bowl really well and then try and chase down whatever they’ve got.”Queensland captain Jimmy Maher agreed the match was evenly poised heading into day two. “All in all, it’s a pretty even day,” he said. “Close to 300 in a day and six wickets down … we look to press on tomorrow.”The Tigers are second on the Pura Cup ladder on 20 points, with the Bulls in third spot on 16 points.The match was preceded by a minute’s silence for cricketing legend David Hookes who died on Monday night. Flags flew at half-mast as players sported black armbands in a show of respect for Hookes.

Apathy among the public is the single greatest threat to cricket’s future in England, according to a survey conducted by a new sports lobbying group, The Sports Nexus. More than 2500 people were plucked at random from the streets of England and asked a variety of questions, many of which provided worrying responses.Of the respondants, 55% answered “Don’t know” when asked whether the structure of county cricket helped to create a competitive national side. Meanwhile 43% "didn’t care at all" about the fortunes of England’s Test team over the past decade. On a slightly more positive note, only 22% argued that cricket was no longer a major national sport in England and “will continue to decline”.The findings were revealed by The Sport Nexus at a breakfast seminar on cricket at London’s Savoy Hotel earlier this week, and among the more outspoken attendants was Michael Atherton, who is at the vanguard of cricket’s modernisation drive, in his dealings with the Cricket Reform Group.”The England & Wales Cricket Board realise the need for serious change," said Atherton, "and I think there’s a widespread belief that English cricket is at a crossroads. We can either meander along as things are or do something about it. Change must happen to get English cricket back to where it belongs.”Des Wilson, the ECB’s marketing chief – the man whose 17-page document recently outlined England’s stance on Zimbabwe – was quick to defend his organisation. “Things are not quite as bad as painted," he insisted, "and the ECB is at the forefront of change. I think people accept that we are not quite the bunch of old fuddy-duddies that we are sometimes made out to be.””It’s a myth to say cricket cannot change," added Wilson. “In fact it has changed more than any other sport.” He cited the example of the Twenty20 Cup, which was launched last year by the ECB despite serious reservations among several pundits and players alike. But it proved to be a resounding success, and has the ability to create a fresh interest in the game.

Australia’s steely resolve enabled them to win a crucial encounter at Colombo, and wrap up the five-match one-day series. Ricky Ponting was understandably elated after the match, saying, “That was a fantastic win.”Ponting said that his team’s triumph was built on the ability to “hang in” for as long as possible. “We had things going our way half-way through our batting innings, but things change around pretty quickly over here. At one stage, we were looking at about 260 … and ended up about 30 short. Then we were behind the eight-ball early with the ball.”But as I said to the guys out on the ground, the side that hangs in there the longest in this game will probably win.”Michael Kasprowicz was the declared the Man of the Match, and he said that the win came thanks to the unity within the side, and a defiance in the face of foreign conditions. “You can feel the emotion in the team that comes from achieving something special,” he said. “Playing in Australia, you know the conditions, but to come over here and play on turning wickets against unfamiliar spinners on lightning quick outfields – everything’s just so different – and I think that’s the challenge.”When asked about his bowling, Kasprowicz said, “I’ve definitely bowled better in domestic cricket, but never better for Australia.”Adam Gilchrist took six catches in the match, thereby equalling his own world record. Afterwards, Ponting said: “I know he was very happy with that. Equalling the world record in one-day cricket doesn’t happen every day.”He added that he wasn’t too concerned about Gilchrist’s barren run with the bat, and warned, “Gilly’s still batting well, there’s no doubt about that. He probably hasn’t scored as many as he would have liked in the last couple of games. But don’t worry, he’ll play well in the Tests.”Australia will probably rest a number of key players for the final match of the series tomorrow, with Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie and Ponting or Matthew Hayden the likely candidates to make way for Brad Haddin, Brad Williams and Simon Katich.Ponting confirmed this when he said, “Obviously we’ve got a few guys in the shed that haven’t played any cricket at all and a few that have only played a couple of games. We want to try and give most guys a bit of cricket.”

Daryll Cullinan, the Easterns captain, and Alfonso Thomas, the Northern Titans allrounder, have been found guilty of dissent during SuperSport Shield series match at SuperSport Park on Sunday.Cullinan was found guilty after questioning a number of umpires’ decisions on the first two days of the game. Thomas was similarly charged.The match has not been short of incident – it emerged that Pierre de Bruyn, the Eastern allrounder, had his bowling action reported by both umpires to the South African board as being suspect. de Bruyn has already been cleared twice by the board’s technical committee – most recently at the start of the 2003-04 season.

The tests conducted on Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action revealed that he was straightening his arm by 14 degrees while bowling the “doosra”, which is nine degrees more than is permissible for spinners under the guidelines of the International Cricket Council. has managed to get hold of the report submitted by Daryl Foster, the former Western Australia and Kent coach who was part of the team of experts which analysed Murali’s action at the University of WA recently. The Hindu has published snippets of the report, which claim that though his doosra is technically illegal, he should be allowed to bowl it “until a valid database is collected on the various spin bowling disciplines. The relatively minor level of elbow extension following remediation over the period from arm horizontal to release is not believed to give Mr Muralitharan an unfair advantage over batsmen or other bowlers.”Murali’s action came back into the spotlight after Chris Broad – the match referee when Sri Lanka played Australia – suggested all was not right with his doosra after the third Test in Colombo. Even after undergoing a period of “technique remediation” under Foster, the report says that Muralitharan still straightens his arm by 10.2 degrees (the limit previously imposed by the ICC for spinners was five degrees).The report also suggests that further research is necessary, including an analysis of the doosra as bowled by others. “Other offspin bowlers, in particular Harbhajan Singh, Saqlain Mushtaq and Shoaib Malik, all bowl the ‘doosra’ delivery, which suggests for comparison purposes that their ‘other one’ should also be analysed.”The ICC regulation which details that spinners can only bend their elbow five degrees – as opposed to ten for pace bowlers – has also come under the spotlight. “Murali, who has been tested more than any other bowler in the history of the game – 1995, 1999 and now – possesses different physical characteristics which make him a unique bowler,” says the report. “A straightening of ten degrees when he [Murali] bowls his ‘doosra’ is not excessive and that should not therefore be deemed advantageous.”We contend that because the speed of his upper-arm rotation is as fast, and in some cases quicker than, fast bowlers’, his level of acceptability for elbow extension should also be set at the ten-degree mark.”A case can certainly be made for some spin bowlers such as Muralitharan to have the same range of acceptability in elbow angle to that of fast bowlers. With no spin-bowling database to make a comparison, this would seem both a wise and prudent recommendation.”If Foster’s report does indeed come down on Murali’s side, the laws of cricket could be in line for yet another rewrite.

Nasser Hussain announced his retirement from all cricket at Lord’s at lunchtime today. In an emotional press conference, Hussain confirmed what all were expecting, that he is to call it a day. He revealed that he decided the time had come on Sunday, during the Lord’s Test, and that he wanted to go out on a high and not stand in the way of younger players coming through.Hussain opened up by thanking the assembled media for coming, and followed that by confirming his retirement from all forms of the game. “It’s a decision I’ve not taken lightly, I’ve been thinking about it for a number of months.” He added, “I had made my mind up on Sunday night, it was the right time to go.”He continued, “Age was catching up with me in my body and my mind, and the fire in my stomach was deteriorating. I was willing to fight that and the opposition, but not to fight against youth, in the form of Andrew Strauss and others like [Robert] Key, [Ian] Bell, [Ian] Ward and [Scott] Newman. They warrant consideration for selection.”On his last emotional and memorable day as a Test player, he said: “Monday was an incredible day, and it made my thoughts clearer. I’m proud to have come to my decision and be appreciated for all my efforts from when I was a young boy – a lot of good things have happened to me. To hit the winning runs through the covers with my favourite shot, to be batting with my close friend Graham Thorpe at the end, and to walk through the Long Room were great memories.”He also said that his decision could be called a selfish one. “Some of the criticism was close to the truth. Younger players should be pushing for a place. In some ways you could call it a selfish decision. I don’t like to go in the middle of a series, but I fear things will get messy in the future. At the moment, I feel clear and clean cut – I’m a happy person, and those around me are happy.”Hussain revealed he had spent the last couple of days talking to people close to him before finally making the decision to call it a day. “They said I deserved to go out on a high, and that I deserved to be happy. My decision was a gut feeling. I wanted to go on my terms, and I don’t want to hold up any young player, just because I’m a former England captain.

“I was looking for some reward for my hard work, and Monday gave me that. I’m emotional because it’s a big day in my life to give up the game of cricket, but it’s not because I am sad.”He added, “I spoke to Duncan Fletcher. He was adamant that I should go out in the way I deserved. He did not say ‘No Nasser I want you to stay,’ none of the selectors did that, nor did the captain.” He ended by calling Fletcher “an absolutely great man”, and by thanking his father, Joe. He said, “I hope he’s proud of me.”Regarding his future, it was later revealed that Hussain has joined Sky Sports as a commentator, but he insisted he would be taking a few weeks off and go away for a few rounds of golf before he starts his new life in the media.Hussain, 36, played 96 Tests for England, scoring 5764 runs at an average of 37.18. He also appeared in 88 one-day internationals. He was captain in 45 Tests between 1999 and 2003.