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Former Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle has joined the long list of those driven into retirement by infighting inside the country’s cricket community.”I have now officially retired from the game,” he told reporters in Harare. “I was fed up by what is happening and I just walked away. I’m tired of the politics. I’d rather be away from them.”Phil Simmons is dead right. We can’t be having people who do not know which side of the bat is up at the helm of cricket. As for the players, it’s not their fault. You cannot expect them to perform when all this is happening around them. I feel sorry for the younger players, they have nothing else to do outside cricket. They’ll rather stay put under the prevailing condition and still have their cars and fuel coupons.”We have just lost to Kenya and there is a danger of losing our Test status if we keep on losing.” His retirement follows that of Craig Wishart last month.Carlisle, 33, played the last of his 33 Tests against New Zealand in August, exactly a decade after his ODI and Test debuts against Pakistan. He scored 1615 runs at 26.91, including two hundreds, and also played 111 ODIs, making 2740 runs at 27.67.He said he will look back on his career with mainly happy memories. “We definitely had some good times, as an individual and with the team. I’m proud to be the only Zimbabwean to score an ODI and Test hundred against Australia, and my three ODI hundreds have been very special.”Carlisle has gone into business, but says he feel he still have something to contribute to cricket. “There are senior guys like me around. We do not have to play. We can coach and do other stuff. A lot of guys want to do that. But we can’t do that under the present set-up.”

Australia’s coach, John Buchanan, has scotched suggestions that today’s match between Australia and England would give an insight into the teams’ prospects for next summer’s Ashes series. There has been a familiar sense of optimism surging through England’s ranks, thanks to their recent successes in Tests and one-dayers, but Buchanan is not getting caught up in the hype, saying that this match was only a fleeting moment.”I’m not convinced about that,” Buchanan told AAP, when asked if the match was an indication of the future. “It’s a snapshot in time. It makes a statement about this particular match. Nothing else. There’s a lot of time before the Ashes series, a lot of change will happen to both teams between now and then. I don’t think this game will have any bearing.”But Duncan Fletcher looked at it differently. He believed English cricket was changing, and that the team had a pretty good chance of putting one over Australia. “This is probably the best opportunity we’ve had in a long time to topple the Aussies,” Fletcher said to the . “Winning the World Cup and the Ashes would be the ultimate dream. Any decent coach would tell you the same thing.”But something special is happening in English cricket. We really do want to become the best side in the world.”It was a thought mirrored by Darren Gough, who added that neither victory nor defeat could hide the fact tht England had improved. “I don’t think we have to beat them to know that England have progressed in both forms of the game. We have a good one-day side and the Test side is playing some excellent cricket, but we’ll only get a true test of how close the sides are when they play against each other in a five-Test series.”Even when I’m not playing I want England to beat them. It’s always going to be that way,” said Gough. “There will come a time when England beat Australia all the time and the Aussies will be thinking the same.”

Frizzell County Championship Division One

Surrey 245 for 3 v Kent at The Oval
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Mark Butcher led from the front with an unbeaten century as Surrey ended a stop-start day against Kent in a commanding position. Butcher, leading the side in the absence of Adam Holliaoke who withdrew when his father was taken ill, made an unbeaten 117 from in 191 balls. Graham Thorpe, pressing for an England recall, made 68 as the defending champions raced along at almost four an over until bad light ended play early.Essex 6 for 2 v Lancashire 218 at Chelmsford
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Essex’s Zimbabwe-born Australian Scott Brant (4 for 39) bowled them into a good position against Lancashire at Chelmsford. Lancashire won the toss and were soon regretting their decision to bat as they slumped to 34 for 4, Brant taking three of the wickets. Stuart Law, who left Essex in acrimonious circumstances two years ago, hit back with 80 but received scant support as Lancashire were dismissed for 218. It wasn’t over, however, as Peter Martin struck twice to reduce Essex to 6 for 2 when bad light stopped play. Paul Grayson was bowled first ball shouldering arms and then James Foster fell to a good catch by Jamie Haynes at short leg three balls later.Leicestershire 72 for 1 v Warwickshire 253 at Leicester
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Poor catching from Leicestershire and a maiden championship fifty from Waqar Younis helped Warwickshire to fight back at Grace Road, but bottom side Leicestershire still ended the day in a good position. Only Nick Knight (66) made any real progress as Warwickshire collapsed to 193 for 9 after winning the toss, David Masters claiming 5 for 53. Darren Stevens at slip put down Waqar before he had scored, and it was the most costly of several misses as Waqar went on to score 52, adding 60 with Alan Richardson for the last wicket. When Leicestershire replied Virender Sehwag started with a bang, smacking 30 off 21 balls before being bowled by Melvyn Betts.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoDerbyshire v Yorkshire 314 for 7 at Derby
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An unbeaten 102 from Craig White, playing only his second Championship match of the summer, spearheaded Yorkshire’s recovery at Derby after they had been struggling on 78 for 4. With Michael Lumb (93), who was yesterday named in the provisional Academy squad for the winter, he added 195 for the fifth wicket before Graeme Welch (5 for 74), who had done the early damage, returned to grab another two wickets.Northamptonshire 20 for 3 v Hampshire 125 at Northampton
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Hampshire were swept away in 53.1 overs in a day of showers and cold winds at Northampton, with only Robin Smith (41) showing any kind of application. Smith and John Crawley (21) took Hampshire to 83 for 2 before eight wickets fell for 42 runs. Northamptonshire’s celebrations were short-lived as Michael Hussey, Mark Powell and Jeff Cook all fell in the first five overs of their reply to leave Hampshire with a good chance of battling back.Somerset 100 for 2 v Gloucestershire 228 at Taunton
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Somerset took the honours on a pulsating first day of the west-country derby, bowling Gloucestershire out for 228 and then reaching 100 for 2 at the close. Somerset’s decision to field looked to have backfired as Gloucestershire reached 173 for 3, but their last seven wickets added only 56 as Nixon McLean, Aaron Laraman and Mike Burns finished with three scalps each. Somerset fared little better as they slumped to 12 for 2, and it should have been worse but Craig Spearman dropped James Bryant (29*) before he had scored. Bryant went on to add an unbeaten 88 for the third wicket with Jamie Cox (56*).Worcestershire 218 v Durham 100 for 8 at Worcester
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A day of 18 wickets at Worcester is bound to have pitch inspectors dashing up the motorway from Lord’s. Worcestershire paid for England’s decision to release Steve Harmison from the one-day squad – he took 4 for 50 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 218, only Ben Smith (73) offering any resistance. But Durham were brought back down to earth as Mark Harrity (3 for 35) and Matt Mason (2 for 42) ripped through their top order to put Worcestershire back in control.Varsity Match
Oxford 162 for 1 beat Cambridge 190 by 73 runs at Lord’s
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Jamie Dalrymple must wish he could play against Cambridge all the time. Less than a week after his double-hundred and six wickets in Oxford’s Varsity match victory, Dalrymple smacked an unbeaten 105 as Oxford romped to a 73-run win in the one-day match at Lord’s. Neil Millar grabbed 5 for 23, including two wickets in the final over, as Cambridge were dismissed for 190. Oxford were strolling home on 162 for 1 when bad light ended play. Oxford’s ladies completed a 1-2 for the dark blues, bowling out Cambridge for 56 in front of a good crowd on the Nursery ground and passing the score without losing a wicket.

It’s been a long wait, but at last New Zealand’s summer gets underway today in Brisbane.Circumstances have meant that it is not the start New Zealand expected to be making in Pakistan.But there is no doubt that it is the prospect of the Australian tour that has been whetting the appetites of Kiwis.The return of injured players, Daniel Vettori, Dion Nash and Shayne O’Connor, all of whom are playing in today’s opening game against the Queensland Academy of Sport, has been keenly awaited.Vettori is the key factor. He is clearly the best spinner New Zealand has, by the length of Auckland’s Queen Street.He offers skipper Stephen Fleming so much in terms of attacking options and, while still young by international spinning standards, his cricketing intelligence makes him a prime asset for the side.This four-day game is the first occasion since Zimbabwe last year that he has played anything other than limited overs cricket and it is an important test of the rehabilitation work he has done to get back into Test mode.Nash is a less clear case. His back has been an ongoing concern and while he has done so much impressive work in recovery, it is still to be put to the test, and there is more of a feeling of fragility over his return. New Zealanders are hoping for the very best for Nash because he has so much to his competitive nature, and backs that with performance, that he is an important part of the side.O’Connor too, is a big plus. He was just starting to settle into the role of front-line bowler last summer when he suffered a knee injury. He had increased his pace and was utilising more consistent swing to be a more complete bowler.His recovery has not been so daunting but his progress will also be watched closely as he is shaping as an important factor in New Zealand’s Test attack equation.Chris Cairns’ advance from knee surgery is being measured back at home in a match for the New Zealand Academy against their Australian counterparts, but if weather in Christchurch this morning is anything to go by, it may be another day of reduced opportunities for him.He is to join the New Zealand team in Canberra for its second game.CLEAR Black caps coach Denis Aberhart said: “The benefits of this tour opener not being a first-class match is that we can agree to play 12. This will allow us to give as many players as possible competitive cricket.”We have decided to play an extra seam bowler rather than an extra spin bowler or batsman because we expect hot weather and we can more easily manage the bowlers’ workload in what will be the players’ first outing on grass.”After a couple of days practice the players are really looking forward to getting the tour underway,” Aberhart said.

A week after Australia called off their tour to Bangladesh citing “security fears”, former Australia captain Ian Chappell has said the ICC needs to step in and coordinate security efforts. He also said he believed the decision might have been a “little different” had a similar situation arisen ahead of a tour to India.”The ICC and the cricket boards need to set up a committee, which has a security background,” he said on his bi-weekly show Chappelli Calls It on ESPNcricinfo. “It’s got to get information from all the countries and relevant parties but by doing that you are taking it out of the hands of the individual boards, who look at different situations differently.”Chappell said while it was easy to “say no” to a tour to Bangladesh, the prospect of “far greater ramifications” of a pull-out from India would make it “not so easy” to make a similar decision. “The obvious one is about India, they will be very reluctant not to tour India. If it was the IPL, for instance, and the decision was on the heads of the individual players, it would be interesting to see what decision was taken then.”I guess it’s very hard to ignore government advice on matters of security,” Chappell said. “The question I would ask is if the same situation was occurring on a tour to India, what would happen then? That makes me wonder if the decision might have been a little different. As long as you have the individual countries making that decision, whether we will or we won’t, you’re always going to have a situation where you are going to say for a tour to Bangladesh, it’s pretty easy to say no. For a tour to India, not so easy to say no, because the ramifications are far greater.”As the fate of the tour hung in the balance after Cricket Australia received specific information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about a possible security risk to Australian interests in the country, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan assured that Australia would receive “unprecedented levels of security” if they made the trip.Hassan went on to say: “Risks of untoward occurrences and threats are an unfortunate reality in today’s world and can happen anywhere. That is why we have placed utmost importance on preventive methods and action.” Chappell said he has sympathy for Hassan’s position and believes the episode should prompt the formation of a body that can make an independent assessment of a country’s security situation.”Whoever is saying that is quite right, we have had some terrorist incidents in Australia in recent times, that is the way of the world at the moment,” he said. “At the 1996 World Cup, Australia were reluctant to go to Sri Lanka. They were guaranteed head-of-state type security, it even got to the point where they talked about flying them in in the morning and flying them out in the evening, and still Australia refused to partake in that game.”

Almost everyone, either openly or secretly, had a good laugh when Kapil Dev called those who joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) “the cream of the country”. That was because the players picked by the ICL did not promise a competitive league. But now, at the start of the first-class season, looking at the situation in terms of the loss to the Ranji Trophy rather than the ICL’s gain, the impact of the exodus seems huge; and it is only natural that it dominates pre-season thoughts.Moving from one Indian domestic season to another has long been a seamless transition, with not many changes, or changes that place too slowly to be noticed. It is usually difficult to identify the start of one season from another, but the huge exodus to ICL – about 15% of the total workforce – means this time will be different. When in two days’ time Bengal play Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens, more than 10 regular players from both sides will be missing. Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Maharashtra, almost every team has been affected by the migration. The teams hit by ICL have never been too far from the semi-finals, which makes this one of the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.It will be interesting to see how they cope with the predicament they find themselves in. “Cricket doesn’t stop with a few players”, has been the general, outwardly brave attitude of the teams severely hit. But only on the first morning will we know if Railways can do without JP Yadav, if Bengal without Deep Dasgupta, Baroda without Rakesh Patel, Punjab without Dinesh Mongia and UP without Shalabh Srivastava. This season will test the resilience of Indian domestic cricket and the supply of talent from junior cricket.Not a pointless exercise
From this season, holding on to a draw will get teams a point. What used to happen earlier was once a side had conceded the lead, it would play devil-may-care cricket in the second innings and get bowled out, in turn handing four easy points to the leading team. That usually hurt other teams in the group competing to make it to the semi-finals.Another aspect the BCCI might want to look into is that the team is awarded no points for gaining a first-innings lead if it eventually loses the match. This keeps the teams from going for outright wins, once a lead is attained.Getting the order right
The decision to schedule the Ranji Trophy before the Duleep Trophy this season, has meant that Ranji will have an early start on November 3. It also means the best performers can be picked for the Duleep Trophy for playing in an inter-zone tournament should be an apt incentive for performing well in the inter-state tournament.

Ump, you are being watched
Lack of feedback and proper appraisal has long been the umpires’ grudge in domestic cricket. Starting this season, every decision made by them will be logged and there will be an appraisal for umpires based on reports from the umpiring officer, the match referee and the captains. The umpiring officer will be assisted by the video-feedback system.But that is not where the umpiring officers’ work ends. Off the field they will have to guide the umpires on the match management; communication and team work; professionalism; preparation; and fitness, diet and appearance.Welcome to the big league
Orissa and Himachal Pradesh (HP) are the teams promoted to the Super League this season. HP, the Plate League champions, and Orissa, the runners-up, have made it on the back of dominating performances last year. While HP conceded a first-innings lead once last season – trailed Orissa by 51 runs – Orissa’s record was unblemished. But they will know this is a different league and to stay here for more than one season they will have to considerably up their performance.**First-round matches
Himachal Pradesh v Saurashtra in DharamsalaMumbai v Karnataka in MumbaiTamil Nadu v Maharashtra in ChennaiOrissa v Uttar Pradesh in CuttackPunjab v Andhra in AmritsarBengal v Hyderababad in Kolkata*Delhi v Rajasthan in Delhi**The two matches will start on November 4.

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) have announced a 20-member squad for three practice matches against international sides in the build-up to the group stages of the Champions Trophy. Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner, will lead the side against New Zealand and South Africa on October 11 and 13 respectively while Wasim Jaffer, the Indian opening batsman, will be in charge against Australia on October 15.The squad includes promising middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who played in the Challenger Series in Chennai as well as Zaheer Khan, the Indian fast bowler, who has signed up for Mumbai this season. Fast bowler Kshemal Waingankar, who enjoyed a good stint with the Australian Centre of Excellence in the Emerging Players tournament earlier this year has also been included.The selection committee informed that the Mumbai probables for the Ranji Trophy would be named after the practice games. Mumbai’s opening Ranji Trophy game starts on December 1, against Hyderabad.Squad Wasim Jaffer, Vinayak Mane, Nilesh Kulkarni, Rohit Sharma, Nishit Shetty, Bhavin Thakkar, Vinit Indulkar, Amol Muzumdar, Avishkar Salvi, Vinayak Samant, Zaheer Khan, Wilkin Mota, Abhishek Nair, Rajesh Verma, Omkar Gaurav, Praful Waghela, Kshemal Waingankar, Moondeep Mungela, Iqbal Abdullah, Aniket Redkar

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to send Shabbir Ahmed to Australia to evaluate his action before seeking a final clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC).Shabbir was reported for the third time in his career in May against the West Indies and has not bowled in a representative match since then. After an initial delay when the PCB considered whether or not to send him abroad for remedial action, it was decided that Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, would work with him in Lahore.Woolmer has since reported an improvement in Shabbir’s action, telling the PCB recently that it now falls within the specified ICC regulations. But the PCB is keen to test his action one final time, before going to the ICC.PCB official Abbas Zaidi told Reuters, “We have decided to send him to Australia to work with experts. We will decide on the dates soon.”Zaidi added, “Woolmer has worked on his action and there is improvement but before seeking final clearance for his action from the ICC he will go to Australia.”Shabbir has been an integral part of the Pakistan team since being recalled in 2003, more than three years after making his debut. He was reported for the first time after his debut against the West Indies and then reported again in New Zealand in January 2004.Pakistani officials are eager to get the 29-year-old’s bowling action cleared before the vital home series against England in November.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the schedule for Australia’s tour, which takes place at the end of the year. Australia will only have one warm-up match in India after the Champions Trophy – a three-day match against a Board President’s XI.A BCCI committee will meet tomorrow and Monday (July 18 and 19) to finalise the venues of the matches, as well as those of the Test series against South Africa which follows the Australia tour. Delhi, which was slated to host one of the Tests against Australia, has now officially pulled out of the race after indicating their inability to finish the renovation of the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in time for the match. The Test is now likely to be shifted to Eden Gardens in Kolkata.Australia’s last tour of India, in 2001, was an epic confrontation between the world’s two leading teams, with India eventually winning 2-1.Australia in India, series schedule:
September 30 – October 2 v Board President’s XI
October 6-10 v India, 1st Test
October 14-18 v India 2nd Test
October 26-30 v India 3rd Test
November 3-7 v India 4th Test

On the eve of Pakistan’s departure for their short tour of England, Rashid Latif, the captain, has said that the trip will have major implications for the process of rebuilding which has started following their World Cup humiliation.Several senior players were left out in the aftermath of the World Cup and the policy of picking youngsters paid off when Pakistan acquitted themselves well in the Bank Alfalah Cup in Sri Lanka last month. “I am more than satisfied with the team’s performance since I took over," Latif told reporters, "but the England tour will test the skills of these youngsters because of changed conditions.”Despite being a short tour of three one-day matches, this tour will have long-term implications and results will guide us how the rebuilding process is shaping,” Latif continued. "We are the underdogs and a lot will depend on how our batting performs because our bowling is as good as England’s."Javed Miandad, Pakistan’s coach, said that he had been satisfied with the progress since he took over ten weeks ago, but the real test was about to come. “All the youngsters are hungry for success and want to take permanent positions in the team and I think with this kind of attitude the day is not far off that we would succeed against tough opponents."