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Simon Jones has rejoined England’s one-day squad after undergoing a week of intensive rehabilitation on his knee problem. Jones was released from the squad after England’s opening match against Bangladesh, at The Oval, after suffering a sore right knee.He has been working at the academy in Loughborough and has now been cleared to take his place again for the remaining matches of the tournament. This began with training at Headingley ahead of tomorrow’s match against Bangladesh.Chris Tremlett, the Hampshire seamer, joined the squad in Jones’ absence and has performed well in the last two matches. He took 4 for 32, the second best figures by England player on one-day international debut, at Trent Bridge against Bangladesh, then took 1 for 53 against Australia at Durham.The England selectors will make a decision over the weekend as to whether Tremlett will remain with the squad now that Jones is fit again.

MPs are to hold an enquiry into the ECB’s decision to sell the broadcasting rights of cricket to satellite television.According to the , the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee will question ECB officials and broadcasters at Westminster on November 29. Speaking to the newspaper, the chairman of the committee, John Whittingdale, said: “There is still considerable controversy over the deal and differing accounts. I think it will be helpful to give the opportunity to all parties to state their position.”The debate to remove terrestrial coverage of cricket in the UK continues to rumble on, almost a year after the original announcement was made. The committee will also take evidence from the former ECB chairman, Lord McLaurin, and Chris Smith, the former culture secretary, who negotiated a “gentleman’s agreement” over the rights in 1999. Effectively, the deal allowed the ECB to partially sell rights to satellite broadcasters, but only on the basis that the majority of Test cricket would remain on terrestrial channels.The ECB have continued to defend themselves vehemently, stating that no terrestrial television company had offered more than 35% of the rights. Earlier this month, Colin Gibson, the ECB’s communication director, told the BBC: “The television revenue makes up 80% of our income. Had we not accepted the bid from Sky, who are a quality cricket broadcaster, we would have been faced with cuts of up to 40% in all areas of the game. This would have affected every level from grassroots right up to the England team.”

Neil McKenzie, the South African batsman, is joining The Hague Cricket Club in Holland for the 2005 season. He continues an impressive list of international cricketers who have spent time coaching and playing in Holland.McKenzie joins Chris Pringle, Andre Adams and Simon Doull from New Zealand and Gary Kirsten as The Hague Cricket Club’s most famous overseas players. McKenzie has just lost his central contract with the United Cricket Board of South Africa, after not appearing in international cricket since the final Test against New Zealand in March 2004. But he has continued to be a consistent scorer in domestic cricket, averaging 38 in the 2004-05 Supersport series for the Highveld Lions franchise, which he also captains.This coming summer is important for Dutch cricket, as they try to qualify for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies through the ICC Trophy, which will be staged in Ireland. Holland have previously played in the 1996 and 2003 World Cup tournaments.

Australia 517 and 2 for 194 (Hayden 68*, Martyn 52*) lead Sri Lanka 455 (Samaraweera 70) by 256 runs
Scorecard

Today, a day that rained water, wickets and runs, Australia muscledthemselves into a position whereby they might yet win a game that had lookedto be going nowhere. First they knocked over Sri Lanka’s lower order, thenthey knocked up a 256-run lead that should enable them to declare sometimein the morning. Little of it was pretty, all of it was pretty effective. Andso the stage is set for a fairytale.Tomorrow, an out-of-form legspin bowler will attempt to take five wickets towin a Test match and set a new world record. He must do so against a deepbatting line-up on a featherbed pitch with rain in the offing. For anyoneelse, it might seem impossible. For Shane Warne, the impossible is merely achallenge. Fairytales, grim and golden, are what happen when he wakes upmost mornings.It would be some kind of ending to what has been a funny kind of Test. Sixeshave been slugged and spectacular catches pouched. Three glorious hundredshave been struck. And yet somehow this game – this series for that matter -has failed to light up the imagination. It’s been fun to watch, hard tocare.Perhaps it’s because, no matter what Cricket Australia tell us, our bodiesstill tell us it’s the footy season. Perhaps it’s to do with the crowds, notmuch bigger – though several thousand decibels more enthusiastic – than youmight find on a Pura Cup Sunday. Or maybe it’s because we have spent most ofthe past fortnight talking about a bloke who, for all his wickets and wilesand gruff swagger, hasn’t bowled particularly well.Warne’s ball that got rid of Upul Chandana was actually one of hisbetter ones. The batsman, seeking to swing him over the leg side, wasdeceived by the flight and nearly lost his footing. Adam Gilchrist snappedup the stumping and No. 523 was in the bag, four more than Courtney Walsh,four fewer than Muttiah Muralitharan, one elusive five-wicket haul away fromimmortality.

Moments earlier, drift and bite and guile had looked non-existent; any spinwas so slow as to be almost incidental. Chandana, as if to emphasise thepoint, leant forward on one knee and slog-swept the greatest legspinner theworld has ever seen over mid-on for six. Still, adversity and Warne are oldsparring partners. You’d be a fool not to keep at least one eye on the tellytomorrow afternoon.Apart from anything, record or no record, a titanic finish might yet be onthe cards. A late flurry in fading light, with Matthew Hayden and DamienMartyn crashing 67 runs in the last nine overs, has afforded Ricky Pontingthe luxury of a possible declaration within an hour or so of tomorrow’sresumption. A couple of hours earlier things hadn’t looked nearly so cosy.The Australians began their second innings, 62 runs ahead, with an unfamiliarnote of caution. After Justin Langer departed early, nibbling at NuwanZoysa, only eight runs were added in six overs after tea. Chaminda Vaas andThilan Samaraweera, the part-time spinner, kept a stifling line and length.Ponting, in particular, found himself bogged down for long periods on hisway to 45.It fell to Martyn, in pristine touch, to unfurl his second masterpiece oftiming and placement for the match, skating to his half-century in only 51balls. Hayden eventually leapt into stride too. Not out on 68, he is ontrack for his second hundred of the match, a feat he has previously achievedagainst England in 2002-03 and which only seven men in Test history havedone twice. By the end, when Hayden and Martyn accepted the offer of badlight with nine overs still up their sleeves, talk had turned to victory.Victory seemed a purely hypothetical proposition this morning when heavyshowers delayed the start by more than two hours. Lunch was taken and playreduced to two extended sessions of almost three hours each. The only earlymoment of misadventure came when Romesh Kaluwitharana attempted to cut too close to his body, Warne juggling a high catch at slip off Glenn McGrath’s bowling.Otherwise the Sri Lankans meandered along at less than two runs an over, theirbatting as grey as the sky overhead. Gradually the sun broke through and theAustralians followed suit, courtesy of some probing bowling and predatoryfielding. Ponting led by example at second slip, plucking Samaraweera (7 for445) with a sharp diving catch to his left, then mirroring that effort withan awkward catch to his right off Vaas (8 for 455). Samaraweera fell for 70,the victim of a mean-fisted spell from Jason Gillespie, who had shaken himup in the previous over with a steepling bouncer that followed his head andalmost grazed his gloves.Chandana followed soon afterwards and Sri Lanka, resuming on 5 for 411, hadlost their last four for 10 when Lasith Malinga was run out for his thirdduck in three Test innings. Slow to set off for an easy single, he succumbedto an electric fielding cameo from Darren Lehmann. Not known for hisoutfield agility, Lehmann picked up the ball at deepish mid-on and hurleddown the stumps at the faraway non-striker’s end.With the forecast uncertain and the pitch unyielding, a draw still looms asthe likeliest outcome. But if Lehmann is capable of doing that, the SriLankans might well be thinking, anything is surely possible.Tomorrow, Shane Warne may just prove it.Christian Ryan is the editor of Wisden Cricinfo in Australia.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has changed its selection policy, giving more powers to the selectors in picking the team for each match and effectively clipping the wings of coach and captain. Under the new system, which began with the current Test against West Indies at Multan, a touring selector will finalise the playing eleven after consulting the team management.”The new policy is in line with that adopted by other cricket-playing nations like Australia and England,” Saleem Altaf, the PCB’s director of cricket operations told Reuters. “A selector will now remain attached with the team on tours and home series.”A source with the PCB cited the example of the selection of an allrounder ahead of a specialist seamer for the Multan Test.”For the second test, coach Bob Woolmer wanted to play left arm pacer Samiullah Niazi,” the source said. “But the majority view prevailed, that allrounder Abdul Razzaq should be retained from the first test team.”The new PCB regime, under Dr Nasim Ashraf, has been taking steps to ensure more professionalism in overall governance and team selections. One of the major decisions last month was to appoint full-time paid selectors after the World Cup next year to replace the existing committee, which works on an honorary basis.

Zimbabwe A 328 and 203 for 4 beat Bangladesh U23 157 and 151 by 233 runs
ScorecardZimbabwe A began their tour of Bangladesh with an emphatic 223-run victory over an Under-23 side at the Fatullah Stadium in Narayanganj. After winning the toss and batting, Trevor Gripper (81) and Vusimuzi Sibanda (68) added 108 for the first wicket, before Sibanda became the first of six wickets for the left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny.Sunny finished the innings with 6 for 76 from 27.5 overs, as the Zimbabweans were bowled out for 328. They really took command of the match on the second day, however, as Bangladesh U23 were skittled for 157 in reply. Naeem Islam (28) and Imran Ahmed added 31 for the first wicket before a dramatic slump left them teetering on 69 for 6. Sunny and Dhiman Gosh salvaged the innings with a 66-run partnership for the seventh wicket, but by the close, Zimbabwe had extended the lead to 264 by the close, with Gripper starring once again with 59 not out.They soon declared at 203 for 4 on the final day, leaving Bangladesh needing 374 for victory. Naeem top-scored with 44 off 115 balls, but eventually fell lbw to Gavin Ewing, who returned figures of 4 for 31. Gripper meanwhile completed a fine allround match by claiming 3 for 28 with his offbreaks.

One of the things that Steve Waugh will long be famous for is his possibly apocryphal remark to Herschelle Gibbs in the 1999 World Cup that he (Gibbs) had just dropped the World Cup when he put down a simple catch off Waugh at square leg. Well, Sourav Ganguly has now revealed that Waugh tried the same tactic on Ganguly – and it backfired.In a forthcoming book called Ground Rules, excerpts from which were released in the Kolkata newspaper The Telegraph, Ganguly has written about how Waugh’s attempt at smart talk rebounded in the historic Kolkata Test of 2001.Describing the final day of that Test, Ganguly wrote: “Just before tea on the final day when they were only three wickets down, I dropped a sharp chance off Steve Waugh at backward short leg. Maybe if he had said nothing, the game would have drifted to a draw, the result that appeared to be its natural conclusion. But Waugh could not resist the chirp, ‘You just dropped the Test, mate.'”Sometimes sledging can work against you and, on this occasion, it had the effect of geeing up the Indians. Immediately after tea, Harbhajan Singh got Waugh out and Rahul Dravid gave him a sendoff from slip asking who had given away the Test match now.”Australia were 1-0 up before that Test; they ended up losing 1-2. So much for mental disintegration.

ScorecardMashonaland completed their anticipated victory over Matabeleland in mid-afternoon on the fourth and final day of the match. They bowled Matabeleland out for 292, and won by 131 runs.Mashonaland didn’t bowl particularly well, and there were good knocks of 64 from Mluleki Nkala and 62 from Gavin Ewing, but there was not the self-belief required to chase a target of over 400. Eight of the batsmen reached double figures but none were able to produce the major innings required.Jordane Nicolle, the Matabele who was controversially included in the Mashonaland team after being omitted by his home province, took 4 for 61, but bowled far too many bouncers, as did Andy Blignaut, who will have to sharpen up his act with the imminent arrival of the Australians.Day 3 Bulletin

PointsTableGauteng 156 for 8 (Bacher 90*) beat Border 164 for 8 (Pope 77*, Kruger 3-21) by 7 wickets (D/L Method)
ScorecardGauteng, needing the win and a bonus point to get the prized home semi-final spot, sent Border in to bat on what appeared to be a difficult pitch. Border managed 164 in 45 overs due to an undefeated 77 from Steven Pope. No one else came to grips with some excellent bowling, the overcast conditions, and the slow pitch.Garnet Kruger took 3 for 21 in his nine overs and was well supported by all the bowlers with only Derek Crookes taking some stick, going for 18 runs in his final two overs.With 11 overs bowled, and Gauteng at 39 for 2, the rain had the players off the field for 84 nervous minutes before play resumed with a revised target set at 152 off 39 overs. More importantly, to achieve the bonus point the runs had to be scored in 31.2 overs.With wickets falling all around him Adam Bacher took it on his own shoulders to score a magnificent 90 off 91 balls, including 23 off his last seven balls, to take Gauteng to the win in 30.4 overs.North West 144 for 4 beat KwaZulu-Natal 142 (Coetsee 3-39) by 6wickets
ScorecardNorth West comfortably beat a lacklustre KwaZulu-Natal by a healthy six wickets, and moved above Free State at the bottom of the table.Batting first, Natal stuttered to 142, bowled out in 44 overs. Werner Coetsee, with a career best 3 for 29 was the pick of North West’s bowlers.In no great rush to chase the target, North West showed far more application, and cruised to a win in 31.5 overs to much appreciation and celebration from a small crowd.Griqualand West 244 for 3 (Bosman 99*, Hector 65) beat EasternProvince 171 (Jacobs 62, Kruis 3-22) by 73 runs
ScorecardGriqualand West, with something to prove, went after the Eastern Province bowling to score 244 for 3 in 45 overs, with Loods Bosman failing to score an impressive hundred by just one run. Running out of overs, his knock came off 57 balls after his 50 had come up in just 39 deliveries.Eastern Province recovered to 114 for 4 after being 15 for 3, with Arno Jacobs (62) and James Bryant (37) restoring some pride. Four run-outs then caused their downfall and handed the game to Griquas as they were bowled out for 171. Deon Kruis, in what was probably his last game, ended with 3 for 22.The win took Griqualand West, sponsored by De Beers, well above Free State in the table – a result worth its weight in diamonds.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is threatening to sue the International Cricket Council (ICC) over its decision to withhold US$2.5 million in World Cup payments because of the NZC’s forfeiture of its game in Kenya.According to NZCity News, Martin Snedden, NZC’s CEO, has asked the ICC to make the payment, failing which he intends to take recourse to legal action.Snedden said that India, Sri Lanka and England are also suffering because of the claims that the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), which represents the Wold Cup sponsors, has put forth. According to Snedden, the legal process begun by this could take up to a year to get resolved.