Australia’s answer to an allrounder of Andrew Flintoff’s calibre may not lie in the national or domestic sides, according to Alan Davidson, Australia’s last great allrounder. Davidson, the first Test player to take 10 wickets and make 100 runs in a match in the famous tied Test against the West Indies in 1960-61, has encouraged the national selectors to look further than the current crop.”I think the selectors are on the right track but should also be looking at people in the Australian Under-19s. In the meantime we just need to be patient,” Davidson, 76, told the . “People like Andrew Flintoff take years to develop. He’s done a lot of hard work and had a lot of expert coaching. That’s the difference between the superstars and the others.”In Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson, Australia currently have two potential greats in the making, but the players now find themselves thrust into the role of allrounder in the longer format of the game. “That’s a very difficult thing to achieve,” said Davidson, a former national selector. “There are prospects, but nobody who shows enormous potential. I think Watson’s a very fine young batsman but he’s got an awful lot to learn about bowling.”Both men have been given limited opportunities to prove themselves in Tests and Davidson said there was little gain in contriving an allrounder if there was not one commanding national selection.Davidson, who aggregated 1328 runs and took 186 wickets in 44 Tests, added that a true allrounder should be able to take five wickets in an innings and hit 70 or 80 when the situation demanded it. “In my view our last real allrounder was Gary Gilmour, but he had specialists like Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell around him who were great, and there wasn’t so much need for an allrounder.” Watson batted at No.7 behind Adam Gilchrist and bowled two overs in the first Test against the West Indies at Brisbane before breaking down with a shoulder injury, while Symonds’s first Test innings in almost two years was foiled by a running mix-up with Brad Hodge in Hobart. Neither Symonds nor Watson have contributed much with the ball, despite bowling first change, and Davidson is of the view that they should play as batsmen.

Justin Langer called the war of words build-up to Friday’s first Test “tame” and Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler, hoped Graeme Smith knew what he was doing. As the ICC stepped in to calm down the pre-series verbals Donald said he was worried for the South African team after Smith’s comments that Australia had lost its aura after the Ashes and they would be disappointed if there was no sledging.”[Smith] can handle himself fine, but my concern is for the rest of the team,” Donald told . “If his aim was to provoke the Aussies then he’s done that. I can understand what Graeme was trying to do … I just hope everyone else is behind him.”Langer told the paper he was surprised by the ICC’s request to follow the spirit of the game in the lead-up to and during matches. “Having just come from the Anthony Mundine and Danny Green [boxing] fights on Sunday night, it’s pretty tame compared to that,” Langer said. “It is part of the theatre of the build-up. The same things happen before the start of every series.”Michael Hussey said in there was history between the teams but the Australians wanted to stick to the “spirit of cricket” code they drew up and adopted. “They are two passionate teams who have a red-hot go, and in the heat of the moment I guess some things do happen,” he said.Cricket Australia is not worried by the ICC request and a spokesman praised the team for their behaviour in the past two years. “The banter that goes with the game, that’s fine, that will always be part of the game,” the spokesman Peter Young told the Sydney Morning Herald. “During the Ashes a lot of words were exchanged but the series was played in a competitive and sportsmanlike spirit.”Clearly there is no love lost between Australia and South Africa but there is no love lost between most sides and that’s fine as long as they get the balance right. The exhortation to our players is to play the game hard but fair, and by and large we think they’re getting that right.”

Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies captain, has been named as the new manager of West Indies Under-19s ahead of the World Cup in Sri Lanka. Adams replaces Roger Harper who left the position to take up the coaching role with Kenya.Zorol Bathley, the cricket operations manager of the WICB, told the : “We have appointed Jimmy because of his leadership skills and knowledge of the game and what goes on within the game.”Adams added that he was pleased to have a part to play with the future generation: “I’m excited about the role and I’m happy to serve West Indies cricket again. I’m excited to work with the boys and help to guide the next generation of West Indies cricketers.”His first role will be to co-ordinate the five-day training camp being held at the cricket development centre in Trinidad. The squad then leaves to play five matches against Pakistan Under-19s before the World Cup starts on February 5. West Indies’ first match is against the USA a day later.Adams played 54 Tests and 127 one-day internationals for West Indies in a nine year career.

The ICC will hear out an appeal by Shabbir Ahmed, the Pakistani medium-pacer, on January 19 in Dubai against the one-year ban imposed on him for having an illegal bowling action. Shabbir, 29, was banned last month by the ICC after he was reported twice in 2005 for a suspect action, the last time during the first Test against England at Multan in November. Saleem Altaf, Director Cricket Operations of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said the ICC would constitute an appeal committee to hear out Shabbir’s case.”I’ll be accompanying him for the hearing and we are confident we can at least get the one-year suspension reduced. We’ll contest the ban on the grounds that there is still no standard protocol for dealing with bowlers with suspect actions,” he stated. Shabbir’s action has been reported four times since his debut in 1999 and he is the first bowler to be banned for a year from international cricket under the new ICC bowling action regulations.Altaf said the PCB had asked Sarfraz Nawaz, former Pakistan international, to work for a ten-day period on Shabbir’s action before the appeal hearing. Sarfraz played 55 Tests and took 177 wickets besides grabbing 63 one-day wickets for Pakistan.”Obviously if we are going to plead his case we need to ensure we’ve some evidence when appearing before the committee that his action has improved. Sarfraz will work with him and then prepare a video of his modified action which we’ll submit at the hearing. We’ll also discuss the various protocols applied by the ICC to judge a bowler’s action,” he stated.Altaf said a strong case was being prepared in Shabbir’s defence, as it was obvious if the one-year ban remained his career could be finished. “We are heartened by the fact that Professor Bruce Elliot, the biomechanic specialist, in his official report has noted that Shabbir is capable of bowling within the ICC limit of 15-degree tolerance level for bowlers to extend their elbow,” he said. Shabbir has taken 51 wickets in 10 Tests and 33 wickets in 32 one-dayers.

Chris Cairns, one of New Zealand’s greatest allrounders, has announced his international retirement a year before he was expected to bow out at the 2007 World Cup. Cairns, 35, walked away from the Test arena in 2004 hoping it would extend his career, but he could not find regular rhythm as a one-day specialist and will now focus on his expanding business interests.”I still enjoy playing for New Zealand and want to leave at a time when that enjoyment has not diminished and when I feel that I am still performing at the top level and contributing to the success of the team,” Cairns said in a statement. “It is also important to retire at a time which allows NZ Cricket to develop other options well ahead of the World Cup.” Cairns’s farewell match will be the Twenty20 international against West Indies at Auckland on February 16.New Zealand will need two players to replace Cairns and he leaves with 4950 runs at 29.46 and 201 wickets at 32.80 in his 215 one-day matches. He was only 50 runs short of joining Jacques Kallis and Sanath Jayasuriya as the only men to reach the 200-wicket, 5000-run double, but his recovery time after games had increased while his impact had reduced.Dropped from last year’s South Africa tour, Cairns vowed to regain his place with the plan of pushing on to the World Cup, and he improved his fitness and returned to domestic cricket to prove his form. However, he struggled with the ball in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia and produced scores of 10 not out, 2 and 28 against Sri Lanka.Cairns will be best remembered for his ferocious limited-overs hitting – he belted 153 sixes alongside 87 in Tests – and New Zealand will also miss his penetrative seam bowling. He collected 26 fifties and four centuries, including one in the 2000-01 version of the Champions Trophy when he smashed an unbeaten 102 to defeat India in the final. His one five-wicket haul came against Australia at Napier in 1997-98 and he scraped to 200 victims when he added Tillakaratne Dilshan on January 3.John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, said Cairns would be missed. “He is very much the elder statesman within the team and plays an important role in mentoring players,” he said. “He has shown great commitment in returning to full fitness this season and I believe that he had the ability to push towards the World Cup.”Cairns, the son of the big-hitting Lance Cairns, made his debut as a 20-year-old in 1990-91 and would have played more if he was not hindered by regular injuries, particularly to his knees and ankle, which now has no ligament support. The wear and tear forced his Test retirement in England after 62 Tests, 3320 runs and 218 wickets.Until last year he was an automatic selection when fit, and he is expected to fulfil a contract playing club cricket with Bacup in the Lancashire League after finishing the current domestic season with Canterbury. He has developed business interests and has a proposal with the ECB relating to ball-by-ball video capture and analysis of all domestic cricket in England.

Yusuf Pathan, Irfan’s older brother, starred with 5 for 52 in West Zone’s three-wicket victory against Central Zone at Gwalior. Tejinder Pal Singh scored 79 after Central Zone lost the toss but received no support as they were dismissed for 180 in just the 38th over. Parthiv Patel led West Zone’s reply with 46 but they had collapsed to 97 for 6 before Bhavik Thaker (35), Rohit Sharma (31 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (26 not out) stemmed the rot and saw their team safely through to 181 for 7.South Zone clinched a three-wicket win in a low-scoring match against East Zone at Indore. After winning the toss, East Zone were restricted to 183 for 9 in 50 overs. Laxmi Ratan Shukla top-scored with 43 and Rohan Gavaskar was the only other batsman to cross 30. Vinay Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 38 and Vijaykumar Yomahesh, back after the Under-19 World Cup, chipped in with 2 for 39. South Zone began their chase badly, slipping to 46 for 4, before Hemang Badani (45) and Chandrashekar Raghu put on 92 runs for the fifth wicket. Raghu went on to score 60 and had all but sealed the victory when he departed on 169 for 7.

You would be forgiven for thinking that beating England and India in succession would be among any Pakistan cricketer’s most cherished achievements but not Younis Khan. Writing on Bigstarcricket.com recently, Younis rated the recent Test and ODI series win over Sri Lanka as the best of Pakistan’s recent wins, including those at home against England and India.”I think this latest victory against Sri Lanka at Kandy is the best of the lot in my opinion because, to win a one-day and Test series in Sri Lanka is a great achievement. The win at Kandy was huge and better than those over England and India for a variety of reasons.”I say this because after nearly losing the first Test, it required a lot of character for us to come back in Kandy but that’s exactly what we did and even there, we were 109 runs behind after the first innings. The bowling of [Mohammad] Asif and [Abdul] Razzaq really got us back into the match. They bowled tremendously well. Not just that but everybody was saying that the pitches were dodgy and some also questioned Pakistan’s batsmen, so with all that in mind it was a satisfying win,” Younis explained.Younis also revealed that his vital 73 not out, which marshaled the run-chase in Kandy, was inspired in part by Damien Martyn’s gritty, matchwinning century against South Africa in the third Test in Johannesburg. “I was happy to score 73 not out to help us over the finishing line. In fact, the night before, I was sitting in my hotel room watching Damien Martyn batting against South Africa and I was inspired by how he grafted away for his team in a tight position. He ended up with a hundred and helped Australia win the match. It made me think that I should go about my innings like Martyn and play a good knock for my team. I’m a very big fan of Martyn’s and of Rahul Dravid also. I think the three of us play in quite a similar way as we are all slow starters but can play our shots once we are set.”With an important tour to England looming in the summer, Younis insisted Pakistan were strongly placed to do well. “The teams start as 50-50 but if Shoaib Akhtar comes back as fit as he was against England before, and the signs are he will, I think it might tip the balance in our favour, 60-40. Why not? We already have a very balanced team and Shoaib will make a big difference when he comes back.”And as one of the few Pakistani batsmen in recent years with some county experience (he had a brief, largely unsuccessful stint with Nottinghamshire last year) Younis said he was keen to further his county experience before Pakistan’s tour, revealing that three county teams including Lancashire had shown some interest in him. “It’s too early to say yet whether anything will come of it, but I would welcome a two-month spell in county cricket before our tour of England. It would be good experience to get acclimatised to the English wickets after batting for six months on the slower-paced subcontinent pitches.”

Ashley Giles, the England spinner, has targetted a return to cricket next month and hopes to be ready for the Test series against Pakistan beginning on July 13. Hip and hernia problems ruled Giles out of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting at Lord’s tomorrow, but the veteran was confident of putting his injury misery behind him.”We think we have got to the bottom of my problems. It seems to be a dodgy groin,” Giles, 33, told reporters. “I’ve had the hip problem and the hip problem is still there. Which came first – the groin or the hip? One could have had an effect on the other. But hopefully we’ve got to the bottom of it and hopefully in five weeks I can start playing cricket.”Apart from Giles, Michael Vaughan and the pace trio of Stephen Harmison, Simon Jones and James Anderson have all been sidelined with injury. England have a hectic schedule leading upto this winter’s Ashes series in Australia, and Giles called for every player to be wary of burnout, a hot topic in recent times. “We have to keep the key players fit,” he said. “It puts more pressure on the senior guys still in the side. The one we are talking about is Andrew Flintoff. You can’t be losing Andrew Flintoff coming into the Ashes. He’s that much of a good player but it’s a difficult balance.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, added that blooding youngsters would be key to England’s success in Australia. “We see some of the young guys like Alistair Cook who we think will be playing a part in Australia. We need to give him as much experience as we possibly can,” he said. “We have some fantastic depth. Now our job is difficult for the right reasons, that we have lots of people to select from. I mentioned the word rotation some months ago and we have to deliver our guys physically fit to play Australia because that’s what the cricketing public deserve.”On the series against Sri Lanka, Giles said: “Over here you are looking to dominate with your quick bowlers. Sri Lanka are not used to playing the ball at chest height, particularly against somebody quick like Andrew Flintoff. Murali’s going to be a handful. It might be his last trip to England. We all love to see him bowl and hope he has a relative amount of success – but that England win three-nil.”

Division One

4th dayNo surprises at Edgbaston where Hampshire consigned Warwickshire to an expected defeat. Warwickshire started the day at 69 for 2 needing a further 338 for an unlikely victory. Instead, their batting collapsed and they lost by 193 runs. While most batsmen managed to get a start, none could hold it together and Nick Knight ended up the topscorer, with just 34. Wickets were shared, with Chris Tremlett (3 for 50) the most successful, and the job was wrapped up inside 100 overs.3rd dayA brisk hundred from Justin Kemp powered Kent to a 151-runlead on the third day against Yorkshire at Canterbury.Resuming on 196 for 3, Martin van Jaarsveld (82) and Matthew Walker(60) put on an excellent fourth-wicket stand of 118. And thoughRichard Dawson removed both batsmen in quick succession, Kemp stoodtall, smashed five sixes and nine fours. He received good support fromNeil Dexter (39) who, though only 21-years-old and playing in hissixth first-class game, already has two fifties to his name. Together,the pair put on a vital 81-run partnership to hand Kent a very usefullead of 151 going into the final day.A good day for Middlesex restored some balance to their game against Durham at the Riverside but it is still unlikely to be enough to save them. Although Durham are still firmly in control of proceedings, helped by a fourth-wicket stand of 86 between Jon Lewis and Dale Benkenstein, Middlesex chipped out the last seven wickets for 91 runs. Chris Silverwood did the damage with 5 for 47, well supported by Alan Richardson who took 4 for 50. Middlesex were left chasing an unlikely 386, and by the close they 87 for 4.

Division Two

4th day Daniel Cherry and David Hemp put on a second-wicket stand of 172 as Glamorgan made sure of the draw against Leicestershire. After following on, Glamorgan had started the day at 37 for 1 but Leicestershire failed to make significant inroads into their batting, thanks to the efforts of Cherry and Hemp, who each made fifties. Hemp was eventually out nine short of what would have been a well-deserved hundred, while Cherry made 86. Mark Cosgrove made certain the points were shared with an unbeaten fifty.3rd dayAt the County Ground, Gloucestershire completed their second win of the season, beating Northamptonshire and leapfrogging them in the process, just to rub it in. Gloucestershire started the day at 8 for 1, needing a just 94 more runs for victory which they knocked off quite comfortably to win by six wickets. Their captain Jon Lewis was understandably delighted with the win, completed inside three days, and he told reporters: “Northamptonshire are a decent side and to beat them so convincingly is great for us.” But they weren’t so delighted with being docked one point for a slow over-rate. A sporting declaration from Essex has increased the chances ofa result against Somerset, after Ronnie Irani and Andy Flowerboth continued where they left off last night to add a further 118runs on the third day at Taunton. The home side’s batsmen lost bothopeners cheaply, but Cameron White and James Hildreth both hitattractive fifties before Keith Parsons (59*) and Will Durston (69*)carried Somerset to a commanding 346-run lead.Ray Price and Nadeem Malik’s plucky tenth-wicket stand of 60 nearlypulled off a stunning victory for Worcestershire, before IanHunter took the final wicket to hand Derbyshire a tense35-run victory on the third day at Worcester. Earlier in the day,Kabir Ali gave Worcestershire the upper hand with a brilliant burst of7 for 43 as Derbyshire collapsed to just 149 inside 41 overs. But, inchasing 210 for victory, Worcestershire’s batsmen stumbled to 114 for9 thanks to some penetrative bowling from Steffan Jones (4 for 62) andGraeme Welch (4 for 33). Though Price (56) and Malik took their sideclose, it was too little, too late.

England’s wounds have hardly had time to heal since their mauling inthe third Test against Sri Lanka, but Shane Warne believes that theywill only emerge stronger and tougher against Pakistan later thissummer. Speaking at the launch of his new poker website, PokerCricket.com, Warne said:”It’s the one series they’ve got before the Ashes so it will make alltheir players really hungry. I expect a very good showing.”Thoughts are already turning, of course, to this winter’s showdown inAustralia, and Warne hopes that Monty Panesar will be on the plane,despite mounting speculation that his fellow spinner won’t be able tocope with the crowd pressure.”If Monty keeps fielding like he has, I’m sure he’ll be a crowdfavourite in Australia.” But if Monty keeps fielding like he has -fluffing at will – he may not be much of a dressing-room favourite.Still, Warne believes Panesar has no option but to continue as he is.”The more you try and fight them, if you get upset with them, the moreit can actually affect you. You can have a joke with them and fun withthem.”If it’s not so surprising that Warne favours Panesar, what may come asa shock to English tacticians is his backing of another spin wizard:Merlyn, the bowling machine. Ominously, he claims that Merlyn – thevery machine designed to help English batsmen learn to combatWarne-like whirlers in last year’s Ashes – leaves him holding all theaces.”I think it helps me,” he revealed, “because it does these sillythings with balls that spin that far and people say ‘How do I playthat?’ and that helps me. So the more they use that the better Ireckon.”One thing he does say which will come as some comfort to the Englandline-up is that he has no plans to develop any new balls just now.”There’s nothing in the pipeline at the moment,” he said – but is thisjust a double bluff? Either way, he’s doubtless going to cause Englandenough problems come this winter – and beyond.He hasn’t yet ruled out playing in the 2009 series, as Richie Benaudrecently said he hoped he would do. Speaking of Benaud, thesilver-haired septuagenerian was the surprise choice for who Warne wouldlike to play him in the upcoming musical of his life.The work, imaginatively entitled Shane Warne: The Musical, iscurrently being penned by the Melbourne-based comic Eddie Perfect. Hehad been undecided whether to let Warne know or not, but news travelsfast and Warne already knew about it – and he’s not necessarilypleased.

“It depends on what sort of spin he wants to put on it, doesn’t it? Hecan be factual, he can not be factual. He can exaggerate it. I don’tknow, I haven’t thought it through whether I like it or don’t like it.But I don’t like it how people can do books on you … anyone can writea book on anyone, I don’t like that law. I don’t like that people cando things about your life without consent, I don’t think that’s fair.”Neither does he think the ticketing fiasco in Australia has worked outparticularly fairly, although he recognises the need for CricketAustralia to have put some policies into place, regardless of how theywere eventually executed. “There’s a 40,000 stadium – you don’t want35,000 Englishmen and 5,000 for Australia, it’s a home ground forEngland.”Not that he will take much notice when the Barmy Army start up. “Ithink because I’ve copped it so much, sledging doesn’t get to me. TheEnglish have got the best songs. Sometimes they overstep the mark butI think generally it’s maybe a bit of fun.”And fun is what it’s all about for Warne, who hasn’t ruled outappearing in the 2009 Ashes. “It’s all about enjoyment. If you enjoywhat you’re doing, keep doing it, if not it’s time to do somethingelse.”He has to retire at some point – and his poker venture will, he hopes,provide a business interest, but in the meantime, how many more Testvictims would he like to go with his 685 to date? How many is enough?”Never enough! Whatever it is in life, it’s never enough.”