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Rameez Raja can rest easy. Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that the board had no immediate plans to change its chief executive. Media reports led to speculation that Abu Shamim Arif, a former bureaucrat, was set to replace Rameez. However, reports that a statement issued by the chairman’s office had cleared the air. “The PCB emphatically denies reports that refer to imminent changes in the PCB hierarchy,” it said. “The Board also denies speculations of differences between the Chairman and chief executive.”This comes in the wake of speculation that suggested that Shaharyar was unhappy with the fact that Rameez continued to do television commentary despite being the chief executive of the board. “The Chairman himself wanted to have the situation cleared after several reports on this issue,” said the report.These statements come just ahead of a scheduled hearing before the senate working committee for sports and culture. Shaharyar, Rameez and Wasim Bari, the chief selector, will appear before the committee to explain the reasons for Pakistan’s recent series loss against India. But, the chairman’s office was quick to add that this was a routine exercise. “This also happened after the 2003 World Cup. It is a routine exercise to which the board gives lot of importance.”Meanwhile, it was also announced that the PCB would soon make the budget statement for the Indian tour public. It will also advertise for certain executive posts within the board.

Division OneMiddlesex v Lancashire, Lord’s
Lancashire have another rare opportunity to put James Anderson to gooduse, before England filch him for the rest of the summer. He has recoveredfrom the ankle injury that kept him out of the last two one-day matches,and returns to the team alongside Gary Keedy. Now that Phil Tufnell hasfled to the jungle, Middlesex have struggled for spin options, but theyoung Pakistani legspinner, Imran Tahir, may be the answer to theirproblems. but the young Pakistani legspinner, Imran Tahir, may be the answer to their problems. Tahir plays for Norton-in-Hales in the North Staffordshire & South Cheshire League. Last season, he equalled the league record of 104 wickets, and in the process broke Norton’s old record of 97… as held by a certain Sir Garfield Sobers. He impressed during Thursday’s C&G victory against Northants, and is set to make his Championship debut.Nottinghamshire v Surrey, Trent Bridge
Nottinghamshire may be sitting pretty at the top of the CountyChampionship, but yesterday, had it not been for Paul Franks, they wouldhave slumped to the most embarrassing defeat in their history – againstLincolnshire. Franks, however, won’t be around to bail them out againstSurrey. He has aggravated a calf strain. Surrey have a couple of injuryworries themselves – they are waiting on the fitness of Ian Salisbury(finger) and Alex Tudor (knee). Even so, they remain confident enough toomit Graham Thorpe for the second match running.Warwickshire v Sussex, Edgbaston
Sussex’s Jason Lewry and Tony Cottey have both been passed fit afterinjuring themselves in the field during last week’s win against Kent.Lewry will play despite breaking his nose on Carl Hopkinson, as he ran into take (and hold) a catch, while Cottey’s bruised thumb should not hamperhim unduly. Warwickshire have been in prime batting form this season, butthey will be without one of their linchpins, Nick Knight, who hasundergone knee surgery and is replaced by Jonathan Trott. Watching fromthe Edgbaston stands will be the Kenyan legspinner, Collins Obuya, who isdue to make his debut next week.Division TwoGlamorgan v Gloucestershire, Cardiff
Gloucestershire, top of the table and fresh from a 324-run annihilation ofBuckinghamshire, are in prime form for their trip to Cardiff. They all butthrashed Durham in their last match (only for the weather to intervene)and the arrival of Jonty Rhodes has brought out the best in Tim Hancock,who blasted a career-best 135 in the C&G Trophy on Thursday. Glamorganwill be without their captain Steve James and Darren Thomas, both of whomhave both undergone knee operations. Much will be resting on MatthewMaynard, with two Championship hundreds to his name already this term.Yorkshire v Derbyshire, Headingley
Yorkshire have begun their Championship season in a fury after theirhumiliating relegation last season, and Derbyshire will be hard-pressed toresist them at Headingley. Michael Vaughan, with the grand total of 16runs in three innings so far this season, will be determined to mark hisappointment as England’s one-day captain with a sizeable innings. DarrenGough, however, will be missing after tweaking his hamstring againstEssex. Derbyshire have injury doubts surrounding Michael Di Venuto(hamstring) and Shahid Afridi (finger).Tour matchWorcestershire v Zimbabweans, Worcester
Zimbabwe were eased into their tour of England – by opposition andprotestors alike – with a ten-wicket victory over the BritishUniversities, but the real test begins at New Road. Grant Flower, who hassince spoken out in support of his brother’s black-armband protest in theWorld Cup, scored a century in that opening match, and with the first Testjust two weeks away, the onus is on Zimbabwe’s lesser lights to follow hisexample – Flower is the only man in the party with a Test hundred to hisname. South Africa’s allrounder, Andrew Hall, makes his debut forWorcestershire, after returning from the tour of Bangladesh.National League, Division TwoScotland v Somerset, Edinburgh
Another anticlimax, or a rapid return to the form that saw off Durham intheir inaugural fixture? Scotland were hammered back into their place byMarcus Trescothick in the C&G Trophy, and the sight of him marching out topick up where he left off (103 from 70 balls) may be more than theScottish bowlers can take.

A high-quality innings from Neil Fairbrother dominated the day’s proceedings at Colchester. The left-hander underpinned his side’s recovery after an indifferent start against Essex that saw opener John Crawley bowled for a duck in the second over of the day by Justin Bishop after he had won the toss.Then Andrew Flintoff fell for 18 before Fairbrother arrived to mastermind the rebuilding operation and ease his side into a more healthy position with a chanceless century. He faced 189 deliveries and hit two sixes and 14 other boundaries and rarely offered any display of a false stroke.The visitors, who are still threatened with relegation, were indebted to Fairbrother’s third wicket partnership worth 215 with Mark Chilton to provide the substance of their innings.Whilst Fairbrother completed the 46th first-class century of his career, his more watchful partner was dismissed for 98 having survived three chances.Chilton’s first life came with his score on 14 when Ashley Cowan spilled a chance off Ronnie Irani and he then remained at the crease when offering two catches with his score on 97.He was dropped by Stuart Law at slip off the bowling of Peter Such and in the off-spinner’s next over, he drove a ball to Stephen Peters at short leg where the ball rebounding off the fielder before ‘keeper James Foster just failed to complete the catch.However the batsman’s luck finally ran out one run later when Such gained deserved reward with Cowan completing a catch at short mid-wicket to end a patient innings.Irani, having earlier accounted for Flintoff, bowled Joe Scuderi off his pads for 14 and then ended Fairbrother’s vigil when the batsman glanced the bowler down the leg side to give Foster a diving catch.That left Lancashire on 296-5 and two runs later, Such produced a superb low catch off his own bowling to remove Graham Lloyd for nine and give the bottom of the table side their second bowling point.Jamie Haynes and Chris Schofield avoided any further problems easing their side to their third batting point late in the day as they closed on 316-6 wickets.

An interesting final day’s play is on the cards in the Buchi Babu allIndia invitation tournament between ONGC and TNCA President’s XI atthe AC Tech college ground in Chennai on Tuesday. At stumps on thesecond day on Monday, ONGC were 95 for two in their first innings inreply to the home team’s score of 383. A total of 289 runs in a daywith eight wickets in hand is a tough, but not impossible task. On theother hand, it is also possible for TNCA President’s XI to take eightwickets without conceding that many. All in all, it can be said thatthe match is nicely poised for a keen battle for the all importantfirst innings lead.Having resumed at 296 for five, TNCA President’s XI could not havebeen happy at getting only 87 runs on Monday morning. The overnightsixth wicket pair of Badri Attavar and D Dhandapani took theirpartnership to 151 before the latter was out for 62. Attavar wascomparatively subdued but got to 155 before he was leg before to Saif.He batted 426 minutes, faced 306 balls and hit 18 boundaries. Therewas some resistance from the tail but the home team’s total fell belowexpectations. Rahul Sanghvi finished the most successful bowler withthree for 90.ONGC were off a good start with openers Manoj Mudgal and Gagan Khodaputting on 52 runs off 12 overs before the former was out for 25.Skipper G Vadhera (3) did not last long but Khoda continued to go forhis shots. Shortly before close, he reached his half century witheight fours and a six. By close he had faced 67 balls and a lot willobviously depend on him as ONGC continue their run chase on Tuesday.Keeping him company is another run getter with the proper credentials,Virendra Shewag who has started off well, getting 13 runs off tendeliveries with two hits to the fence.

Mashrafe Mortaza has conceded that Bangladesh’s effort was scratchy, but said that his side will draw confidence from sealing their second-highest chase in T20s. Despite some hiccups, Bangladesh reached the target of 164 in 18.4 overs, after having overhauled West Indies’ 164 in the World T20 in 2007.”We were not up to the mark,” Mashrafe said. “We had that early run-out [of Soumya Sarkar] and if Mushfiqur [Rahim] or Sabbir [Rahman] didn’t get out at those points, we could have finished it in 17-18 overs. But good thing was that we didn’t panic at any stage, which we used to do in the past.”It is helpful to play in such wickets though I thought it was a scratchy performance. I think chasing this big total will give us more confidence. It is one of our biggest successful chases in T20s so the win is quite a relief. It wasn’t easy chasing 165 so I hope we can hold on to this effort.”Mashrafe was also pleased with the performances of Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman. They shared four wickets and gave away only 10 runs in the last two overs of the first innings. Zimbabwe were given a strong platform for a final push by a 101-run opening partnership between Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, but Al-Amin and Mustafizur pegged the visitors back.”Al-Amin was our best T20 bowler before his action was reported,” Mashrafe said. He is one of our best death bowlers. I have been saying that Mustafizur is unplayable. I think we have good balance at the death with Shakib and myself also there.”Mashrafe also said that he made a mistake by not using debutant Shuvagata Hom in the middle overs. Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman bowled four overs during that period while conceding 36 runs. Shuvagata was then sent into bat at No.4, ahead of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, but managed only six runs.”He is playing as a bowling allrounder. I could have brought him on instead of Mahmudullah or Sabbir. I sent him to bat at No 4 because I wanted to see him bat in these situations,” Mashrafe said.

Watching the Indians bat today reminded one of the wretched times they endured while touring abroad during the ’90s. The storylines were mostly the same: top-order crumbles to swing and seam, Tendulkar stands alone, lower-order support arrives before India stage some sort of recovery. Through the previous decade Tendulkar was India’s Atlas Abroad, constructing masterpieces amid the surrounding wreckage.There was an eerie familiarity when the scoreboard read: 2 for 1, 2 for 2, 14 for 3 and 65 for 4. It’s when you usually asked yourself “Is Tendulkar still batting?” (In the last five years you’d probably first ask about Dravid but he was rested for this encounter and that wasn’t an option). Luckily for the large crowd of Indians who’d landed up at Chelmsford the answer was a reassuring one, until he fell twenty minutes before stumps.Tendulkar’s wasn’t a flawless century, as two dropped chances indicate, but the beauty lay in its construction. The early salvos were emphatic – a feather-touch down the ground here, a delicate flick through midwicket there, a crackling square cut here, a dab to fine-leg there. It was a most assured counter-attack against a pumped up bowling attack making the most of the new ball. Tendulkar possessed the mastery that the rest lacked but he also displayed tremendous application under pressure, something the other batsmen fell short on. He was to later term the pitch as a “good” one and said it was mainly the wind factor that one needed to be wary of.It was his first first-class match in nearly two months but he paced his innings superbly. “Having been around for reasonable time,” he said with a particular emphasis on the word reasonable, “I know when to accelerate and when to hold back and be patient. I read the situation and it’s a lot to do with the way my body is moving, the way I’m thinking as well. You can’t go out everyday and try bang, bang, bang and say it’s my natural game.”Some good scores in the recent one-dayers have no doubt helped but a break of two weeks seemed to have produced not a jot of rust. “Till yesterday I was a little apprehensive, I wanted to go out and spend some time in the middle. I had reasonable net practise but in the match situation I wanted to be out there. Conditions are going to be different. I’m relieved I managed to play more than 200 balls.””It was important especially because after Ireland we didn’t play cricket at all, it’s almost a couple of weeks now. It puts you in a different frame of mind and it was important that I get back to reality with the Test matches just 4-5 days away. Scoring runs in Ireland really helped. The conditions were adverse and wickets were helpful. That South African attack is quite good and I managed to score runs there. I had a couple of big sessions at Hove, practising indoors and that helped.”A nudge to point, shortly after tea, took him to hundred and his reaction was instructive. On completing the run he began a big swing of the bat but stopped half-way through the motion. It’s just the start of a long tour, he seemed to be saying, and there will be plenty more bat-swings to come.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Mahela Jayawardene came within 26 runs of Brian Lara’s record for the highest Test score, Kumar Sangakkara fell 13 short of a triple-hundred and the two put on a historic 624 runs, the highest ever partnership for any wicket in Test or first-class cricket as Sri Lanka hammered home the advantage and pushed South Africa into a corner as the third day of the first Test ended.It was an amazing day’s cricket – one where the records tumbled with every passing hour. What will give the Sri Lankans no end of pleasure is the fact that the achievement of so many milestones did nothing to reduce their chances of forcing a result in this increasingly one-sided match.When Jayawardene was finally dismissed, bowled by an Andre Nel delivery that kept a touch low and jagged in there was a collective sigh of disappointment from the fans at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Only Lara’s two big innings – 400 and 375 and Matthew Hayden’s 380 were ahead of Jayawardene’s effort in the list of the tallest scores in Test cricket. On the way to 374 Jayawardene left many of the all-time greats, including the likes of Don Bradman, Garry Sobers and Len Hutton, behind. His innings was superb for the serenity and composure with which he accumulated runs. When the loose ball was on offer he was happy to cash in, with trademark flowing drives, especially the inside-out shot over the off side which he plays so well. In all this, though, no-one should forget Kumar Sangakkara, who made a career-best 287 in the record stand with his captain.First the records. It was the mark set by Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama that this pair was hunting down. Jayasuriya and Mahanama had added 576 in that famous Test against India in 1997 where Sri Lanka put on a mammoth 952 for 6 declared in response to India’s first-innings 537. But interestingly, this partnership has come in a Test that is very much live, whereas the previous one came when the match as a contest was all but over, and the game ended in a dull draw.The previous best in first-class cricket came all the way back in 1946-47 when Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad added 577 for the fourth wicket in the final of the Ranji Trophy and helped Baroda beat Holkar.But records apart, Sangakkara and Jayawardene had batted in such chanceless and emphatic fashion that South Africa could come up with little in terms of a response. There was one shout for lbw early in the first session but after that, it was a case of the runs being added with metronomic efficiency. There was barely a risk taken, and the pace was steady for almost the whole duration, after an initial stage when Sangakkara and Jayawardene were watchful. Jayawardene easily went past his previous best score, 242 against India, also made at the SSC, in 1999. Sangakkara too improved on his best, 270 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2004.The partnership record came, almost with an air of inevitability, soon after the lunch interval. It was a Nicky Boje delivery, slipping down leg, that beat Mark Boucher and ran away for byes that brought up the milestone. Even the South Africans, who have been at the receiving end of this massive 10-hour plus association, had to stop for a moment and join the celebrations as the firecrackers were set off in the stands.From there on the focus shifted to the individual scores of the two batsmen, and it was just after Jayawardene had brought up his maiden triple-century that Sangakkara fell. He drove at Andrew Hall and nicked to Mark Boucher, and could even manage a smile as he walked off for 287. The 624-run partnership had left Sri Lanka as the only team that could win from here on.It’s fair to say Jayawardene enjoys batting with Sangakkara, but he managed quite well even with Tillakaratne Dilshan. First he went past the highest score for a Sri Lankan beating the 340 Jayasuriya managed in the 1997 Test against India where the partnership record was set. Then came the 350. As the crowd built up in the ground, in anticipation of witnessing a world record being surpassed, came the anticlimax, with Jayawardene being bowled by Nel. Sri Lanka declared on 756 for 5, and the South Africans were just happy to get off the field. Hall and Jacques Rudolph, the openers, then negotiated a tricky passage of play, taking South Africa to 43 for no loss at stumps. But with two days to go in this match it’s tough to see Sri Lanka being denied victory, unless there’s plenty of rain.

How they were out

Kumar Sangakkara c Boucher b Hall 287 (638 for 3)
Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw b Steyn 45 (751 for 4)
Mahela Jayawardene b Nel 374 (756 for 5)

The injury-hit Sri Lankan squad got something to cheer about after Sanath Jayasuriya’s MRI scans showed no serious tendon damage from his shoulder dislocation. Described as “very lucky” by his doctors, he is now set for a quick return to the field, possibly against India on Wednesday afternoon, assuming the swelling and soreness of the injury can subside in time.Jayasuriya’s high-risk decision to bat in the first one-day international against India created concern that he might have aggravated damage to his rotator cuff, the most important tendon in the shoulder joint, but the scans only revealed a build-up of fluid. The final report from the MRI scan is to be reviewed in Colombo on Monday by Dr David Young, Sri Lanka Cricket’s Melbourne-based surgeon.”The doctor told him he was very lucky,” confirmed Michael Tissera, SriLanka’s manager. “There appears to have been no tendon damage and only some fluid build-up in the joint. We are not sure at this stage about exactly when he will be able to return but he will definitely play again in this tournament.”Jayasuriya sat out the team’s two-and-a-half hour training session on Monday morning and is almost certain to miss Sri Lanka’s game against West Indies on Tuesday, although Marvan Atapattu was keeping his cards close to his chest at a media briefing: “We will assess his position tomorrow and if he is fit he will obviously play. There is a good chance of Upul [Tharanga] playing and opening if Sanath cannot play.”Sri Lanka have also been boosted by the news that Nuwan Zoysa’s back injury, which forced him to be sent to Colombo for assessment, has turned out to be a back spasm and not the feared strain or stress fracture. “We sent Zoysa to Colombo thinking there was a back problem but it seems to have been just a back spasm and he feels much better now,” revealed Atapattu. “We will assess him when we get back to Colombo with a full fitness test.”Chaminda Vaas’s hamstring injury is also responding well to treatment,although Atapattu made it clear that his return would be delayed until he was really needed: “Chaminda has progressed a lot and has been receiving treatment from CJ Clarke [the physiotherapist] every day. We will keep him for the more important games and will try to delay his comeback as much as possible.”

Sri Lanka 139 for 1 (Jayantha 74*) beat Zimbabwe 136 (Vaas 4-38, Murali 4-32) by nine wickets
Scorecard
The harsh realities of international cricket caught up with the new,enthusiastic but very raw Zimbabwe team, as Sri Lanka overwhelmed them by nine wickets shortly after lunch in the second one-day international at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. It was Chaminda Vaas who set the ball rolling by taking the first four Zimbabwean wickets, and then a dominating innings of 74 not out from Saman Jayantha sealed the match with 29.4 overs to spare.It was men against boys. After Zimbabwe had been bowled out for 136, Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayantha plundered the hapless Zimbabwean seamers, producing an array of dazzling strokes including a sliced six over cover by Jayasuriya off Hondo. The shell-shocked bowlers were quite unable to find their line and length, and their only breakthrough came on the stroke of lunch, when Jayasuriya (31) grew a little over-confident and skyed the suffering Tinashe Panyangara to mid-off (84 for 1).The scoring rate slowed for a while as Marvan Atapattu settled in, but with the dominant Jayantha still going strong, there was no repeat of Tuesday’s close encounter. Zimbabwe’s bowlers were totally outclassed, and only Prosper Utseya, who conceded 11 runs off his 17 balls, could claim to have escaped severe punishment. The Zimbabwean bubble, apparently, had been well and truly burst.On a hot, sunny morning, Sri Lanka won the toss for the second match running and again put Zimbabwe in to bat. Their opening partnership lasted a mere four balls. There was not a run on the board when Vusi Sibanda moved awkwardly across his stumps and was trapped lbw by a delivery from Vaas that straightened. His opening partner Brendan Taylor, who is generally more comfortable off the front foot, struggled for two runs in 29 minutes before fending a short ball from Vaas into the slips (20 for 2).Vaas was bowling superbly. He removed Dion Ebrahim for 16, via a gloved catch to leg gully, and Elton Chigumbura for a duck, as he drove a low catch to short extra cover. At 27 for 4 the situation looked bleak, and much rested once again on Tatenda Taibu. A couple of his early strokes bore a hint of desperation, but he was not prepared to let the bowlers call the tune.Taibu received good support from his former schoolmate, Stuart Matsikenyeri, although they relied mainly on drives and quicksingles, as the Sri Lankans gave them little to pull or cut. But the partnership came to a disappointing end as Taibu swept Jayasuriya, tried to take a second run to a misfield, and was caught just short of his crease by an accurate return from the substitute fielder Rangana Herath. He made 35 and Zimbabwe were 76 for 5.After that, it was a steady decline for Zimbabwe. Matsikenyeri was stumped for the second match running, as he charged down the pitch to Muttiah Muralitharan for 18, while Alester Maregwede made10. He hit Murali for a six over long on, but was deceived next ball and trapped lbw by a top-spinner.Utseya drove Murali for six to record his first runs in international cricket. He went on to make a creditable 25 not out, and shared a lively ninth-wicket partnership of 26 with Douglas Hondo, who was eventually given out lbw by a massive spinner from Muralitharan that hit him on the back pad.Vaas returned to finish off the innings, but Murali did the job for him, despite being treated with considerable confidence by youngsters who perhaps were less aware of his reputation than many of Zimbabwe’s batsmen of the past. Apart from that pair, Sri Lanka’s bowling lookedrather thin, but in this match it scarcely mattered.

Gold Bond ResultsNext Vauxhall Corsa Jackpot
To be won on 30th May 03Results Week 17 – 25/04/03

£5000 Jackpot – XX0292 Mr J Lynch£500 BB4506 S A Flower£200 ZZ2210 E Walker£200 A.5846 Mrs I Gray£100 FF6077 Mrs Pickering£100 K.2731 Mr Robinson£100 V.3950 C Gaskell£100 N.6531 Mr Cowgill£100 S.4328 Mrs Cutter£100 Y.6202 Mrs Bekett£100 J. 2987 S Leech

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