Yorkshire are hoping to secure Headingley’s future as a Test ground for the next 15 years by signing a deal towards the end of this month.Robin Smith, Yorkshire’s chairman, hopes to complete what he called the staging agreement between Yorkshire and the ECB shortly, and warned against complacency considering the other county grounds battling for Test recognition.”I would be very surprised if the deal with the ECB is not concluded by the end of May, but that does not mean that we can take our finger off the pulse,” Smith told the . “We are very conscious of the challenge from other grounds such as Durham’s Riverside and the Hampshire Rose Bowl, and we can’t afford to be complacent with those venues around. The only thing that will guarantee Headingley’s long-term future as a leading Test venue is the type of world-class facilities we are trying to create.”Headingley, which hosted its first Test back in 1899 has since held 64 matches, but has recently come under criticism for being behind the times. It is due to host England’s second Test against New Zealand this summer, and a day-night game between England and West Indies in the NatWest Series.

The wait is over. American ProCricket (APC) officially introduced the first-ever professional league of its kind in the United States, unveiling local teams in eight US cities, with the official 2004 season scheduled to begin on Friday, July 2.ProCricket features a variety of changes to the game which are tailored to the US market. Among the new aspects of the game are three-hour long matches, characterized by “Fast n’ Furious Global Action,” and new ProCricket rules – including time limits and a version of the Designated Hitter Rule – to yield fast-paced, action-packed matches.ProCricket teams are initially being launched in eight cities nationwide, with inaugural 2004 sides of Chicago Tornadoes, Florida Thunder (Miami), Los Angeles Unity, New Jersey Fire (Bridgewater), New York Storm, San Francisco Freedom, Texas Arrowheads (Houston) and Washington DC Forward. Matches will be held at Minor League Baseball, college football and professional football stadiums and ballparks.The organisers claim that as many as 40 professional cricket stars from Australia, England, India, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa and The West Indies have been signed to play, along with around 120 US-based cricketers.They also claim that all matches will be shown on television, although the details are, as yet, not available.”We are excited to bring first class professional cricket to the vast segment of the US sports audience that has been thirsting for the game in this country,” said Kal Patel, APC’s chairman and commissioner. “There are over 30,000 active top club-level players playing cricket in local amateur leagues throughout the country, another 70,000 recreational weekend cricket warriors and over seven million American fans who currently follow both local U.S. and global cricket action.”The season consists of 24 matches, with two championship-round semi-finals (August 27 and 28) and a final on September 4. Tickets for all first-round games have been set at $6.95.

As an 18-year-old in 1982, Arjuna Ranatunga played in Sri Lanka’s very first Test, against England in Colombo. Fourteen years later, in March 1996, he tickled the winning runs to third man, to secure victory over Australia in the World Cup final at Lahore. If he had come a long way as a person, then it was nothing compared to the distance he had travelled with his team.In less than a generation, Sri Lanka had developed from international cricket’s whipping boys into a side capable of ruling the world, and Ranatunga’s influence had been felt every step of the way. Few players have been so obviously in command of a cricket team as Ranatunga, who would marshall his troops like a general on the battlefield. Like the best leaders, he instilled in his charges a victor’s mentality, all the while remaining on hand to leap to the defence of his players if the need ever arose.This outlook was reflected in his batting as well – strutting in at No. 5 or 6, he would delegate responsibility to the junior strokemakers in the top-order, who thrived on his trusting approach, but was always on hand to avert the intermittent crises that are part and parcel of a developing cricket team. Usually he would be successful as well.

Indians 190 for 1 (Sehwag 53 ret, Tendulkar 51 ret, Yuvraj 39*, Ganguly 37*) beat Sri Lankan Academy XI 187 (Wijeratne 46, Tendulkar 2-13, Balaji 2-21, Harbhajan 2-34) by nine wickets

The Indians warmed up for the Asia Cup with a comfortable nine-wicket win against a Sri Lankan Cricket Academy XI at the Nondescripts ground in Colombo. Chasing 188 for victory, the Indians cruised to their target in just 30.3 overs, with most of their batsmen having a decent outing.The only disappointments for the Indians were Rahul Dravid, who was caught behind for a first-ball duck, and Zaheer Khan, who sprayed the ball all over the place, bowling 16 wides in his eight overs.However, the rest all had useful outings. Harbhajan Singh was impressive in picking up 2 for 34, while Lakshmipathy Balaji and Sachin Tendulkar picked up a couple of wickets as well. For the academy side, which included three Test players – Michael Vandort, Dinuk Hettiarachchi and Hasantha Fernando – Sahan Wijeratne top-scored with 46, but a close second was extras, at 45.The Indians began the run-chase in style, with Virender Sehwag (53) and Tendulkar (51) smashing half-centuries before retiring to allow the others a hit. Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh were still there when the winning runs were scored.The Indians open their Asia Cup campaign with a match against the United Arab Emirates on Friday, before taking on Sri Lanka in their last group match on Sunday.

In a significant development, the Indian government is about to pass a legislation stating that Doordarshan, the national broadcaster, and All-India Radio will get terrestrial rights for all cricket matches involving India, according to . The approaching deadline for bids for the BCCI’s television rights has probably hastened the government’s decision to approve this law.KS Sarma, the chief of Prasar Bharati (Doordarshan), said, “It will be mandatory for whoever gets the telecast rights for a cricket tournament featuring India to share the rights with Prasar Bharati.” However, the rights will only be terrestrial ones, which means that private broadcasters, such as ESPN-Star or Ten Sports will have full rights for homes with cable television.What’s notable is that the bid for terrestrial rights will be non-competitive. In theory, Prasar Bharati will receive the rights regardless of the price they pay. But Sarma said that the state-run broadcaster plans to bid for cable rights as well. His organisation’s contract, which was worth Rs2.5billion (US$54million), runs out next month, and the value of the next contract is expected to increase by 400%.With so much money riding on it, the rights issue has been a contentious one for a while. As early as March this year, Ten Sports and Doordarshan were involved in a dispute regarding the telecast of the India-Pakistan series. Doordarshan alleged that Ten Sports had demanded a much larger amount from them than Pakistan’s state-run television. After a seemingly interminable wait, both reached an agreement, but not before the government had indicated that cricket matches involving India should be broadcast by the national channel in `the public interest’. They had hinted then that a law would be passed to avoid future confrontations of this nature.

The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit will return to Kenya in January to interview a further 10 players as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of match-fixing resulting from the recent hearing which banned Maurice Odumbe.Martin Hawkins and Alan Peacock, the two ICC officials who have been in Nairobi since Tuesday, had rather a wasted trip. Most of the players they had hoped to speak to were either out of the country or refused to meet with them. Allan Kosgey, who represents the players, explained that his clients had been given insufficient notice of the visit.”I am discussing with my clients which dates would suit them,” Kosgey told Reuters. “We agreed that they will return in January to interview my clients [who] are happy to be interviewed at a future date which is convenient to them.”It is understood that Hawkins and Peacock did speak to Ravindu Shah, Brijal Patel, Lamech Onyango and Alpesh Vadher.

Ten Sports, the Dubai-based sports channel, has entered into a sponsorship deal with the Zimbabwe board. This new agreement, which includes sale of title sponsorship and advertising boards, would also cover India’s tour of Zimbabwe in October 2005.This deal guarantees a substantial increase in the income of the board. In April this year, the Zimbabwe government had deported the Sky News TV crew out of the country citing breach of media laws. However, Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, was pleased with the current deal and said, “This will allow us to continue with our development of the game in the country.”Peter Hutton, the vice-president of Ten Sports, was delighted at this latest development and added: “We have enjoyed a strong relationship with the board for many years now and are happy to assist in the development of cricket in the country.”

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

England chipped away at South Africa’s batsmen on an unexpectedly sunny third day of the fourth Test, reducing them to 306 for 6 by stumps. Matthew Hoggard’s four wickets, including the dangerman Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith, lit up proceedings. But, towards the close, a century from Herschelle Gibbs – his first for nearly a year – and 64 from Mark Boucher on his return to the Test arena brought more than a ray of light to their team: a positively beaming South Africa were back on top while none of England’s weary bowlers could find a consistent line. And, although Boucher fell in the last hour, Geraint Jones dropped Gibbs off the penultimate ball of the day, neatly summing things up for England.And their day began as it had finished: gloomily. Before the start of play, dark skies and the artificial light suggested some serious lateral movement was in the offing and Michael Vaughan made a positive declaration. But, no sooner had the players taken to the field after a delayed start, the sun came out, the floodlights came off and South Africa came to life asSmith and Gibbs took the attack to the bowlers on a pitch which had suddenly swung in favour of batting.They started solidly, and looked set for another big partnership as they rattled up a stand of 50 in 80 balls, each cracking a spate of fours as the bowlers struggled to find their line: Steve Harmison was replaced by James Anderson after bowling just two wayward overs. But Anderson could do no better and, in the first nine overs, only three of the 54 balls delivered would have gone on to hit the stumps. But finally Hoggard got one on target and Smith, forced on to the back foot, fell – literally – to his knees, and was trapped lbw for 29 (64 for 1). It was the third time he had been trapped lbw by a Hoggard inswinger in the last four innings – and England’s mood brightened as the sun blazed above.It became even more radiant when Jacques Rudolph flashed a widish delivery from Hoggard to Ashley Giles at gully. He was gone for 4, but what was a bad break for South Africa – as they wobbled on 75 for 2 – was also a hard knock for Giles: he dislocated his right thumb, holding on at the second attempt. He left the field for treatment, but he made a return later and even managed to bowl, albeit fruitlessly.But it was Hoggard’s third victim which England so desperately wanted: Jacques Kallis. Not for the first time this series, he had looked ominously set but Hoggard found a way through to his leg stump and Kallis was gone for 33 – a score England would have taken at the start of play (138 for 3). Dippenaar fell soon after, as Flintoff tempted him to edge to Marcus Trescothick at first slip for a good, low catch (149 for 4). Despite all the hoohah in the build-up to the game, Flintoff barely seemed troubled by his sidestrain, as he sent down 23 overs.It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the South African batsmen, however, in the afternoon: as a stand between Gibbs and Kallis yielded 63 runs and some cheer. Gibbs made his first half-century of the series – which included ten fours – and he went on to convert this to an unbeaten 136 by the close. They tucked in to some loose bowling from Anderson, who was out of sorts but, having not played a first-class match since the fourth Test in August against West Indies, his form was hardly a surprise. Harmison, with less of an excuse, also struggled to find his line, and – having been struck for a towering hooked six by Kallis – he limped off to have a scan on a damaged calf.AB de Villiers was the fourth scalp for Hoggard; after a breezy knock of 18, he top-edged a swivel hook down the throat of Giles who had been sheltering at long leg to protect his thumb (184 for 5). De Villiers found nowhere to hide, however, and his dismissal brought Boucher to the crease for his first, eagerly-awaited innings of the series. He didn’t disappoint: having been overlooked by the selectors for the first three Tests, this time all of the surrounding fuss was justified, as he stroked 64 off 90 balls. He looked at home and, my, how South Africa’s followers were glad to have him back in the fold as he brought up a century stand with Gibbs in the last hour, and then lifted them past the 300-mark.Yet, just before the close, as England’s bowlers were tiring, Anderson got a lucky break as Boucher inexplicably failed to roll his wrists over a cut shot which flew to Andrew Strauss at point (306 for 6). Gibbs was lucky to survive with two balls to go in the day, as he edged to Geraint Jones, who could only get a glove on it as he dived across Trescothick, who was better positioned at first slip. Now England will have their work cut out on the fourth day in polishing off the last four batsmen of a South African line-up which has been much bolstered since the first Test.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A solid century from Herschelle Gibbs lifted South Africa to 291 for 5 and into a 2-1 series lead as they defeated England by 108 runs in the fourth one-dayer at Newlands. On a belter of a pitch, Gibbs and Jacques Kallis posted a record third-wicket stand of 143, before Justin Kemp topped things off with 57 from just 36 balls. England then slumped to 35 for 3 in reply, and a lone stand of 75 from the inevitable Kevin Pietersen couldn’t rescue them as South Africa completed a convincing allround performance to win at a canter.In an unchanged South African side, Gibbs and Kallis came together on 50 for 2 after Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers had played well against the new ball. The third-wicket pairing played a patient game at first, before upping the tempo later on. Kallis fell for 71 attempting to do just that, as he chanced the golden arm of Paul Collingwood. But by this time South Africa were on 193 and, with seven wickets still remaining, the perfect platform for more fun had been set, and the in-form Gibbs was joined by the big-hitting Kemp.Gibbs’ century was his 14th in ODIs, and was well deserved. It was a mainly chanceless innings, although he survived one hairy moment as Darren Gough clung on to one which was sailing over his head – only for the momentum to carry him over the rope. But Gibbs stood firm, adding a host of sixes as he sailed to his century, until Collingwood took a comfortable catch on the cover boundary off Harmison’s bowling to end his reign (227 for 4).Kemp wasted no time, dancing down the track to launch Ashley Giles over long-on for six to announce his arrival. He added three more sixes, and four fours as he floored the accelerator to race along to 57, supported along the way by Ashwell Prince (14 not out). South Africa clubbed 98 runs for the loss of just two wickets in the last ten overs, as Kemp went on the offensive – clattering Kabir Ali for 20 from the final over of the innings – before Giles and Geraint Jones combined to run him out. But the job was already done.

England had picked up two early wickets to peg South Africa back after Michael Vaughan won the toss and sent them in. de Villiers had time to launch Harmison over midwicket for six, but Gough trapped him lbw in front of middle-and-leg for 9 before he had the chance to do further damage. South Africa were 18 for 1, which became 50 for 2 after Kabir sent down a straight one and pinned Smith plumb for 16.Then came the onslaught, and South Africa took firm control at Cape Town after tabling the highest total in an ODI between the two sides. England could not respond to the mountainous task and, as they lost three wickets for three runs, the writing was on the wall, authored by Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock. The fiery Ntini was again on song, removing Geraint Jones and Marcus Trescothick, while Pollock (10-0-35-2) scalped Michael Vaughan for a duck as England lurched to 35 for 3.Jones was the first to go, having rattled up 19 from 20 balls, as his flamboyant swing at Ntini’s widish delivery sailed through to Mark Boucher (32 for 1). This started the rot. Vaughan fell next, his edge off Pollock rocketing to Kallis at first slip, and Trescothick departed soon after, for 13, as Ntini sent his middle and leg stumps flying.England were in deep trouble, and in need of a sturdy rescue act from Andrew Strauss and the form batsman, Pietersen.But Strauss drove Andre Nel to Prince for 17 and Ian Bell made just 2 before edging thinly to Mark Boucher off the final ball of an expensive Jacques Kallis over. Kallis, having been taken to the cleaners by Pietersen with two fours and a six, mopped up as he dismissed Bell as England wobbled to 92 for 5. Pietersen set about engineering the run-chase, but his rampant innings came unstuck on 75. He launched Nicky Boje’s left-arm spin for a four and two sixes, but next ball he fell hooking as de Villiers held on at deep midwicket.Kabir was run out shortly afterwards, and then Ntini picked up his third victim as Giles chipped up to Pollock at cover. Giles’ 20 was, tellingly, the second-highest score for England behind Pietersen’s 75 – and there was no way back from 175 for 9. Boje applied the finishing touch, as Harmison spooned to Nel at long-off to end the first one-sided match of the series to date. There are now three matches left in a see-saw series, and England will head to East London on Wednesday to try to level the series.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It wasn’t the best of starts but the Pakistanis will be content that they managed to get started at all. The opening day of the their Indian odyssey had a number of elements: bad light, 2.4 overs of play, steady rain, pleasant sunshine, a sneak preview of left-handed flourish, a steady procession of soft dismissals before Asim Kamal led the revival with a typically doughty 43. The BP XI fought back whenever the scales appeared to be tilting and kept the Pakistanis down to 165 for 5 when stumps were drawn.Its hard to imagine that any of the six previous Pakistan teams to have visited India for a full tour can have begun in such a picturesque setting. Overlooked by the snowcapped Dauladhari range, the HPCA Stadium at Dharamsala provided a perfect backdrop for the Pakistani batsmen to gain maximum momentum against a bowling attack that lost its only specialist spinner, Ramesh Powar, after he delivered four overs. Yet, four of their top five batsmen gave it away after groping their way into the groove and Younis Khan, the fifth, fell to a casual poke off the second ball he faced.Half the day was swallowed up by bad light and incessant showers. Inzamam, on his 35th birthday, chose to bat and his openers – Taufeeq Umar and Salman Butt – were hardly troubled in the initial exchanges. Rudra Pratap Singh, the left-arm seamer, occasionally swung it away a shade and beat the bat while the other Singh – Gagandeep – was more intent on pegging away at the stumps. Both Taufeeq and Salman cashed in on the loose offerings as full balls down the pads were flicked away with Saeed Anwar-like flourish.Powar was introduced in the 10th over and his generous flight, with the ball almost labouring to get to the other end, induced the batsmen into taking chances. Butt unleashed a ferocious straight loft to the second ball he faced with the ball rapping Powar flush on the fingers. Powar managed to finish the over but couldn’t bowl for the rest of the day.Butt, though, wasn’t as lucky four balls later when Taufeeq was caught ball-watching and made no attempt to respond to his call for a second run. Butt was stranded in mid-pitch and soon started his walk back after Gangandeep’s throw found the stumps. Younis might have expressed a desire to play his cricket like Imran Khan, a man who has backed him for the captaincy, but his second-ball duck wasn’t the ideal beginning to a crucial tour. Younis wafted at one wide of off stump and the edge was taken brilliantly by an acrobatic Niraj Patel at second slip (55 for 2).

Yousuf Youhana’s 18-ball stay had sparks of magic, moments of laziness and finally ended in a stroke that bordered on the reckless. Attempting an extravagant drive through extra cover, he misread the line from Shib Shankar Paul and inside-edged an easy catch to the wicketkeeper. Inzamam and Kamal didn’t venture into any extravagant shotmaking and efficiently scored off the long-hops and wide balls. Powar’s absence meant that the medium pacers were further burdened and more loose deliveries appeared as the day wore on.Inzamam fell right at the end of the day, lbw trying to sweep the part-time spinner Venugopal Rao, as another position of strength was frittered away with an air of over-confidence. Kamal too was extremely lucky to be there at the end after surviving an extremely close appeal to a reverse-swinging Gagandeep yorker. However, Kamal, who has found himself regularly overlooked despite playing a few crucial knocks, ensured that he gritted it out till the end and will hope that the skies stay clear for him to compile a big knock tomorrow.Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is on the staff of Cricinfo