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Tony Dodemaide is convinced Michael Vaughan’s men can give Australia a run for their money come next year’s Ashes series in England.And the former Australia pace bowler is in a good position to assess the strength of the “old enemy”, who have been outclassed in every Ashes campaign since they last won a series in Test cricket’s longest-running contest back in 1986-87.For the past five years Dodemaide, 40, has been head of cricket at Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) but is set to return home later this month to become the chief executive of Western Australia.And on the eve of his departure from Lord’s, which he labelled the “Vatican City of cricket”, Dodemaide told AFP he expected a closely fought Ashes series in 2005.”I think it will be more competitive,” Dodemaide said at Lord’s as behind him potential stars of the future were put through their paces during one of MCC’s Easter coaching course in the indoor nets. “England have got talented young players coming through. They’ve got an attack which is gaining in confidence.”The England team has been developing over time. It does take time. It did in Australia, it took several years for players to come through and to understand what was required.”But Dodemaide, who played 10 Tests and 24 one-day internationals in the late 1980s and early 1990s, added that English cricket as a whole would not be fully convinced of a reversal in fortunes until they defeated Australia. “Everyone in England does measure themselves against the old enemy so next year is a pivotal time. But on this indication they should perform strongly. So it’s perhaps fortunate that I am going now because if England do beat Australia next year it won’t be a good place to be.”However, not everything is rosy in the garden of English cricket. Legendary Australia wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh, now an England selector, publicly questioned whether the players he managed on England A’s unsuccessful tour of India had the determination and passion required to play at the highest level.Marsh’s comments were all the more acute as he is also the head of England’s academy and charged with developing the country’s next generation of Test cricketers.But Dodemaide said that the structure of English cricket, with its 18 counties, made Marsh’s job harder than it was when he held a similar post in Australia. “We take a pyramid structure for granted. There are only six states [in Australia]. I recall playing my first game of Premier League Grade cricket in Melbourne and the captain said to me ‘keep going because you are only two steps away from Test cricket’.”Because there are so few available places and the competition tends to be much fiercer players do come to the party or they are weeded out quite early. I don’t think there’s less capability in England; in fact there should be more because there’s so many more players playing the game.”

It might have escaped your attention, but several thousand miles away from the controversies in Australia, another Test match is about to get underway: the deciding third match between South Africa and West Indies in Durban.Prior to this series, few gave West Indies much hope of upsetting South Africa at home, and yet they approach the third Test level-pegging at 1-1. They caught South Africa snoozing in the first at Port Elizabeth, with an allround batting performance (inevitably dominated by Shivnarine Chanderpaul), and in spite of a number of injuries, they clawed at South Africa’s coat-tails doggedly for much of the second in Cape Town.The injuries have taken their toll, though, and West Indies’ chances of claiming their first series win over South Africa since 1992 are looking desperate. Chris Gayle, whose laid back leadership style clearly suits this young side, broke his left thumb in Cape Town and will miss out, exposing an already shaky batting lineup. And there is enough doubt over Fidel Edwards (hamstring) to suggest that even if he does make the final XI, he won’t be firing on all cylinders.Neither, it seems, will Dale Steyn whose hamstring injury has limited his preparations for Thursday. “He’ll probably only bowl (in the nets) at about 70 percent,” Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach said yesterday. “He is making some nice improvement, but we’ll probably only have final clarity on the morning of [the Test]. (sic)”Should Steyn miss out, the decision South Africa take on his replacement could have a bearing on the future of their bowling attack. Shaun Pollock is tipped to return, but hot on his heels is Monde Zondeki, almost a decade his junior, who has been in blistering form this season.The most encouraging aspect of South Africa’s seven-wicket win in Cape Town was the return to form of Graeme Smith, who elbowed his way into rhythm with a pugnacious 85. The question of who opens with Smith continues to divide opinion though, and with Neil McKenzie ruled out with a calf muscle tear, Herschelle Gibbs (who was dropped in place of McKenzie in Cape Town) gets a recall.On the eve of the match, all eyes are on the Kingsmead pitch. With heavy rain over the past few days, the groundsmen are behind schedule and it could be another slow, low surface – which is not ideal for a series which deserves a competitive finale.TeamsSouth Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Paul Harris, Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini,West Indies (probable) Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Rawl Lewis, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell

Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain who is heading the unofficial Indian Cricket League, has said the tournament will go ahead despite pressures from various boards around the world.The ICL has been facing a slew of problems since its launch, from the active opposition of the Indian board to the massive wage bill incurred by promising dozens of players’ hefty packages that start at Rs30 lakhs (US$ 80,000 approx). But Kapil was determined to prove the doubters wrong.One key problem is the availability of grounds, with the BCCI barring the use of any of its facilities to the ICL. However, he claims to have found a functioning ground at Panchkula near Chandigarh. “We have done the pavilion and the lights will be ready,” Kapil was quoted as saying in the London-based . “The advertisements are running on Indian television, the publicity has started, and we have prepared the uniforms for all six teams.”We are very determined and very proud of what we are doing, which will promote the game of cricket and give many young players the chance to build a career. If people think they can block us, that’s fine. The best thing is just to wait and watch.”News related to the ICL has been trickling into the Indian media on a daily basis. It has conducted two camps so far, the second of which ended in Chennai on October 25, and is now planning regional camps in Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. The Kolkata camp, starting on Friday, will be overseen by Daryll Cullinan, the former South African batsman roped in to coach the Calcutta Tigers team.However the reported that the camp could run into difficulties because the venue, the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CC&FC), is an affiliated unit of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). It’s also one of the founding members of the CAB. The connection could force the ICL organisers to look out for another venue.The Calcutta Tigers currently comprises 13 players from the domestic circuit — seven from Bengal, four from Assam and two from Jharkhand – while the names of the five international players allocated for the side from the east zone will be announced in a couple of days’ time. Following the Kolkata camp the players will fly down to Mumbai for a round of warm-up matches before heading to Panchkula.Meanwhile there was some controversy surrounding ICL in Bhopal, in central India. Former Indian allrounder JP Yadav and Mohnish Mishra, another first-class cricketer, were not allowed to play in the All India Manish Agnihotri Memorial Cricket Tournament in Bhopal because of their alignment with the league.

Luke Pomersbach made one of cricket’s more unusual international debuts when summoned to stand in for Brad Hodge, who hurt his back in the dressing room, in the minutes before the start of Australia’s Twenty20 clash with New Zealand in Perth.Pomersbach, a middle-order batsman from Western Australia, was parking his car when he got a call from Australia’s team manager. “I don’t think I locked my car and my brother had to drop my stuff off,” Pomersbach told before he batted. “I’m still shaking, I can’t believe it. I thought it was one of my mates having a joke … I asked him whether he was joking, and he said ‘no mate get yourself to the rooms as quick as you can’.”He had no kit so had to borrow some until his brother Gavin was able to rush his own to the ground. Pomersbach settled himself with a couple of singles, launched a fierce six over midwicket and picked up 15 off seven balls before falling from the third-last ball.What is more remarkable is that Pomersbach is currently suspended by his state after breaking a curfew on a trip to South Australia last month and going out on a drinking session. He is not eligible to resume playing for Western Australia until December 14.

CloseZimbabwe 173 for 3 (Vermeulen 60*, Wishart 86*) trail WestIndies 481 (Lara 191, Price 5-199) by 308 runs
Scorecard

In another enthralling day at Bulawayo, Brian Lara dominated the earlyexchanges with a brilliant 191 and passed Sir Vivian Richards as theleading West Indian Test runscorer along the way. But Zimbabwe, led byCraig Wishart, fought back impressively from 31 for 3 to reach 173 for theloss of no more wickets at the close, by which time they were 308 behindWest Indies’ imposing total of 481.Lara dominated the day right from the start, as he raced to a breathtakinghundred. He and Ramnaresh Sarwan began with ease, picking up the singleseasily, until Lara decided enough was enough as he sped through thenineties. Blessing Mahwire pinned him down briefly on 98, beating himoutside off stump and forcing a few hurried strokes. But it only delayedthe inevitable, and Lara soon notched his 22nd Test century off 124 balls.He made it a deliberate policy to score his runs straighter than usual. Heproduced a number of superb drives between mid-on and mid-off, includingone remarkable six off Raymond Price when he made a last-second adjustmentand removed his bottom hand from the bat. Every now and then Lara showedhe was human, his closest escape coming at 136 when he edged a ball lowbetween first and second slip. The records came as well. A majestic drivethrough extra cover off Price took him past the 107 he needed to overtakeRichards as the top West Indian runscorer in Tests.His partners proved more fallible, though. Sarwan scored 65 before abat-pad resulted in a close catch to Mark Vermeulen at silly point offPrice (351 for 4). Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unlucky when Wishart took abrilliant diving catch at slip, and he was given out by umpire RudiKoertzen even though the TV replay showed that the ball only hit the pad(389 for 5).After Ridley Jacobs and Omari Banks fell cheaply, Lara was left with thetail, and he decided to step up the assault. He hit Price for twomagnificent sixes off successive balls, one of them a superb stroke overextra cover, but he was eventually out not long after lunch. Wishart hadbeen placed as a solitary second slip to block Lara’s glide to third man,which he tried again off Andy Blignaut only to edge a low catch (449 for8).The big wicket of Lara caused Zimbabwe to relax a little too much, as theyallowed the last two wickets to add a merry 32 before West Indies were allout for 481. Price finished with 5 for 199, and might have earned a placein the book of obscure records if his last over hadn’t produced his onlymaiden – how many bowlers in Test history have bowled 43 overs without asingle maiden? He bowled well with bounce and lift on a pitch starting tocrumble, and despite the obvious aim of the batsmen to hit him out of theattack.

Zimbabwe’s openers again made a poor start. First Vusi Sibanda tried toturn a straight one from Edwards to the leg side, and got a leading edgeto provide a simple return catch (5 for 1). Edwards then produced anaccidental beamer which hit Trevor Gripper on the hand as he defended histhroat. He took about five minutes to compose himself afterwards, and thatis the only excuse that can be offered for the awful stroke he played inthe next over. He tried to pull a ball from Merv Dillon that was not shortenough, and dragged it onto his stumps from outside off (10 for 2).To bad cricket, add the bad luck that has also dogged Zimbabwe. StuartCarlisle was comfortable at the crease before he played back to Edwards.The ball came off the inside edge, hit Carlisle’s thigh-pad, dropped tothe ground and then freakishly bounced back onto the stumps (31 for 3).Zimbabwe were in deep trouble, but Wishart and Vermeulen clawed them backon track and batted throughout the evening session. Vermeulen was forcedto use a runner after edging a ball from Dillon painfully into his thigh,a blow which restricted his strokeplay. It was determined batting againstaccurate rather than threatening bowling, with Dillon the most economicalperformer. Banks, in contrast, was rather rusty – but he was bowling forthe first time on the tour. He wasn’t helped by Lara’s numerous bowlingchanges, which prevented the attack from settling down.Wishart grew in stature and confidence, passing his usual danger area whenapproaching his half-century, and he even speeded up towards the close ashe neared three figures. It was quality batting, mentally as well astechnically, and Wishart, on 86 not out, will contemplate overnight thepossibility of his first Test century against a senior team tomorrow,having already scored one against Bangladesh.

A fine display of South African pace bowling has all but won the first Castle Lager/MTN Test at Kingsmead with Pakistan leading by 11 runs with two wickets in hand.With the new ball due at the start of play on day four South Africa will not be put under too much pressure to take a 1-0 lead in the two match series, and take a step closer in heading the ICC Test Championship table.Asked to follow on after being bowled out for 161, still 207 runs behind, Pakistan once again made a solid start with a patient but much-needed 50-run opening partnership in 28 overs between Taufeeq Umar and Saleem Elahi. They protected the remaining batsmen from the new ball, but once set should have gone on to bigger things.With the departure of Elahi on 18, edging Makhaya Ntini to third slip, wickets fell regularly with no one able to build on a good start.Umar on reaching 39, the same score he made in the first innings, might count himself unlucky to be given out leg before to Nicky Boje, but he was partly to blame having gone back to a ball that he should have been well forward to.Younis Khan batted with some purpose to score 30, but with his team in trouble he should never have been chasing a Jacques Kallis bouncer well above his head.Inzamam-ul-Haq was just starting to free his arms when he scooped Boje into the covers.Yousuf Youhana showed glimpses of the form he displayed in Zimbabwe but could not resist the short-pitched balls. Having twice mistimed pulls into the gaps, he fell cutting a high, wide delivery down the throat of third man. Having reached 42 he should have made sure of a big score.Faisal Iqbal looked out of his depth, and it was only a matter of time before heplayed down the wrong line for Kallis to uproot his leg stump for 17.Abdur Razzaq, having gone through to 1,000 Test runs, showed signs of class but once Youhana had gone he played one aggressive shot too many, pulling at another short ball from Mornantau Hayward. He may have the fleeting satisfaction of putting Hayward over square leg for six, but he should have shown more determination in fighting his teams’ cause.Saqlain, not picked for his batting abilities, fell in failing light to Shaun Pollock leaving Kamran Akmal (21) and Waqar Younis (2) to hold out until the close.The South African bowlers once again held a good line and length. Having made quick work of bowling Pakistan out in the first innings they stuck to their task, taking ten wickets in the day’s play.Ntini was unlucky not to pick up five in the first innings, as both Akmal and Waqar were dropped off his bowling while Hayward picked up his first 5-fer in wrapping up the tail.Ntini again engineered the breakthrough that started the regular fall ofwickets in the second innings, but left the field late in the afternoon withwhat is thought to be a muscle strain.Hayward, Boje and Kallis took two wickets apiece with Kallis the most impressive of the three, taking 2-30 from 17 overs. Barring any rain South Africa should have this one in the bag.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Kumar Sangakkara’s marathon 232, the third double-century of his career and thefourth-highest score against South Africa, handed Sri Lanka control of the second Test in Colombo. An early strike from Chaminda Vaas, and a double-wicket maiden from Sanath Jayasuriya just before the close, then tightened their grip on the game as South Africa closed on 116 for 3.Herschelle Gibbs had worked feverishly hard to overcome his ankle injury,but he came into the second Test with no match practice for many months – hardly ideal preparation for the deciding match of a series. Vaas allowed him no time to shake off the early-season rustiness with a peach of an inswinger first ball that would have knocked back middle stump (1 for 1).Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s new round-armed pace sensation, or “pocketrocket” as he is described by his coach, bowled a remarkable first over thatincluded five wicket-taking outswingers and one rank full-toss to leaveMartin van Jaarsveld utterly perplexed. But the shock value of his weirdaction wore off soon and van Jaarsveld and Graeme Smith settled in.Their next moment of alarm came when Thilan Samaraweera claimed a catch offvan Jaarsveld, on 13, at slip off Rangana Herath. But the TV replaysindicated that the ball may have brushed the turf, and the batsman was given the benefit of the doubt. Thereafter South Africa, with Muttiah Muralitharan safely out of the way, ticked along smoothly.But just when the day appeared to be drifting towards a quiet end, Jayasuriya’s magic arm struck twice in his first over. First, van Jaarsveld(51) mistimed a drive to cover moments after reaching his third Test fifty,and then Nicky Boje, the nightwatchman, was bowled through the gate (109 for3).Smith, who finished on 49 not out, and Jacques Kallis sweated their waythrough the last five overs, leaving South Africa with a fight on their hands to reach the follow-on target of 271 on the third day – although, in such draining conditions, Sri Lanka would probably bank the lead and bat again.Earlier, South Africa’s pace bowlers, led by Shaun Pollock, dragged theirteam back into the match by bowling out Sri Lanka for 470. Samaraweera’s top-edged hook six minutes before lunch proved to be the trigger for a rush of wickets. Five wickets tumbled for 26 as Sri Lanka, who had looked set for a mountainous total, slumped from 392 for 4 to 437 for 9.When Sangakkara finally succumbed to tiredness after nine hours ofconcentration and focus, flashing at a wide delivery and edging to slip,Pollock celebrated with a mixture of joy and relief: Kallis hadgiven Sangakkara a letoff at slip on 57 off him, and Pollock had missed a difficult one-handed return catch off his own bowling this morning when Sangakkara had reached 177.

But Pollock, by far the best of the South African bowlers in this series,was rewarded for all his hard work with excellent final figures of 4 for 81from 30 overs on a placid pitch. If his colleagues – especially Makhaya Ntiniand Nantie Hayward – had shown the same skill and control, South Africa wouldnot have conceded the intiative again.It was Pollock who found the edge of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s bat tobreak through after lunch (399 for 6), and Hayward who sent RomeshKaluwitharana packing after a nick from a swivel-pull was safelypouched by Mark Boucher (416 for 7). Ntini tidied up his figures a touch asRangana Herath chopped one onto his stumps (437 for 9).But it wasn’t all plain sailing for South Africa, on another afternoon of sweltering 39-degree heat, as Upul Chandana cobbled together 40 and frustrated them, putting on 33 for the last wicket with Malinga. Chandana flew out of the blocks with a flurry of meaty boundaries, before South Africa dropped the field back and reduced the scoring to a crawl. Finally, though, with the innings meandering to a tedious standstill, he tried to launch Boje into downtown Colombo and was stumped: Sri Lanka finished on 470.In the morning, after Vaas, the nightwatchman, had fallen to the secondnew ball for 10, Sangakkara batted briskly, with no hint of nerves as he cruised through the 190s. But that was hardly surprising because he has now doubled up all of his last three Test centuries – the last two were his 230 against Pakistan in 2001-02 and 270 against Zimbabwe this May.It was a fine innings, during which he curbed a natural instinct forattack as South Africa plugged the gaps and tried to wear down his patience.He interspersed solid defence with his full repertoire of stylish strokes,scoring an equal percentage of his runs on either side of the wicket andfinishing with 31 fours and one swept six. It was his second-highest score, and only Don Bradman (299 at Adelaide in 1931-32), Eddie Paynter (243 at Durban in 1938-39) and Mahela Jayawardene (237 at Galle last week) have made higher scores against South Africa.Off the pitch, it was announced that Muralitharan, who pulled out yesterday morning, would fly to Australia tonight for surgery. He was already ruled out of the five-match one-day series that follows this Test. However, until his shoulder is opened up, it is not clear quite how long he will be out of action.

Jimmy Maher has laid his name before Australia’s selectors again and hit Queensland closer to another first-class final to boot with a dominant display of batting on the opening day of the Pura Cup match against New South Wales here in Sydney today. The prolific left handed opener led a run-feast, piloting the Bulls to the imposing scoreline of 1/325 by stumps.In combining brilliantly with fellow upper order players Martin Love (101*) and Brendan Nash (60), Maher (151*) made it a horror day for the home team, which requires points from each of its last two matches to retain any hope of making the competition final.And his 17th first-class century also couldn’t have harmed his chances of being elevated into the Australian one-day squad – expected to be named on Sunday – which will shortly tour South Africa.”I’d love to play for Australia; that’s what we all play for and I know that I am batting very well at the moment,” said the 28-year-old after play.”I feel good about the way I’m playing (and) the way I’m hitting the ball.”When Queensland captain Stuart Law won the toss at the start of the day and decided that his side would bat first on a benign pitch, it gave Maher the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his talents. Albeit that he survived at least three anxious moments, and never really felt for his own part that he was completely settled at the crease.”It was hard work, it was a real battle today (and) I never felt 100% in at any stage,” said Maher.Maher’s resilience, over 283 deliveries and 348 minutes, brought him the milestone of 1000 first-class runs for the season and assisted him in surpassing his previous highest score (of 44) at the Sydney Cricket Ground. And, more importantly for the Bulls, it also helped produce partnerships of 134 runs for the first wicket with Nash and an unbroken 191 for the second with Love.The latter stand was Queensland’s all-time best for the second wicket at the SCG.With Nash, the left handed Maher started the innings relatively slowly against accurate bowling from Nathan Bracken (0/51) and the luckless Stuart Clark (0/70).Maher even survived a huge caught behind appeal on 1 and was then dropped at both 7 and 29 when tough chances in the slips were spilt by Corey Richards and Michael Clarke respectively.But it wasn’t too long before a change came over the game, with both batsmen growing in confidence as soon as they started to score their first boundaries of the day.A lapse in concentration ultimately accounted for Nash in the middle session – as he spooned a drive to Shane Lee at mid on from the bowling of namesake Don Nash (1/45).But Maher continued to play impeccably even after that setback. The ever-elegant Love helped him compound the punishment for the New South Wales bowlers and fielders with some outstanding strokeplay of his own.Maher struck a nervous patch in the nineties, remaining marooned on the mark of 97 for as many as 16 deliveries at one point before scampering through for an expertly judged single. He also hovered on 99 for a time in the lead-up to a misfield by Nash at mid on that permitted another single in the last over before tea.But he found little else acting to slow his progress, and a near-perfect day for the Bulls – only an outright victory away from guaranteeing themselves a home final in three weeks’ time – was then sealed when Maher registered his 150 and Love his century in the closing minutes.

ScorecardAfter they were put in, Easterns soon crumbled to 68 for 5 before Pierre de Bruyn (18) and Godfrey Toyana (40) restored some hope and helped them to 197 for eight after 45 overs. In a tight bowling display from all the Boland bowlers, Wallace Albertyn stood out and was the main wicket taker with 3 for 24.Boland were well on the way to a victory, but some slow batting from Albertyn, and the big wicket of Con de Lange (57 off 69 balls) falling with 13 runs required off the last 12 balls, cost them dearly as they went down by four runs.Earlier in the innings, Chad Baxter had set Boland for what looked like a win with 51 off 67 balls, while Andrew Hall took the Easterns bowling honours with 3 for 31.

England’s tour of Zimbabwe will go ahead as scheduled despite the media ban imposed on journalists. Thirteen English journalists, including those from The Times, the Daily Telegraph and the BBC, were yesterday denied entry into Zimbabwe to cover the series.The England & Wales Cricket Board felt that they could not abandon the tour as that might result in severe penalties from the International Cricket Council, whose rules do not cover matters related to media accreditation.Michael Vaughan condemned the ban, terming it “totally wrong”. Vaughan was quoted in the as saying, “I’m flabbergasted by the decision. Whether you like the media or not, they have a huge role to play in the game. Through giving the game exposure and with TV rights they bring the game 60% of its income.”However, he confirmed that the team wouldn’t pull out of the tour because of this ban. “There’s something very wrong if our media can’t get in to cover a tour,” he said. “I don’t know how a cricket tour can be called a cricket tour when our media aren’t involved. I wouldn’t pull out because of it, but I’m in contact with Richard Bevan, the Professional Cricketers’ Association rep, asking for advice.”Bevan, though, wasn’t sanguine about whether the matter could be solved. “We’re extremely disappointed in the decision to ban certain newspapers and broadcasters,” he said. “It’s an unacceptable position for the game to be in. I know there are significant discussions taking place but I’m not optimistic.”