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Mickey Arthur, who has asked for “fast and bouncy” pitches in the build-upto this Test series, admitted that South Africa had been comprehensivelyoutplayed so far at the Wanderers. While praising the Indian bowlers, heaccepted that his team hadn’t executed their gameplans well enough,leaving India 311 ahead on a difficult pitch with three days remaining.”They bowled very, very well, but there was no way that we should havebeen bowled out for under a hundred,” said Arthur, speaking to the mediaafter the second day. “India showed us the right lengths to bowl on thispitch. We have not got our lengths right throughout this Test. Over thelast two months, we have played a lot of one-day cricket, and yesterday inparticular, we largely bowled one-day lines and lengths.”That admission begs a question. While India warmed up for the Test with afour-day game at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom, the South Africans took iteasy. Of the top eight, only Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince had playedfour-day cricket this season, and complacent preparation could well comeback to haunt the hosts.Rather than focus too much on his own side’s shortcomings, Arthurpreferred to praise the resilience that the Indians have shown after beinghammered 4-0 in the one-day series. “We knew that they had been badlywounded after the one-day series, and we discussed every day the prospectof them fighting back,” he said. “Hats off to them for the way they haveplayed so far, and all credit to their bowlers in particular.”The pitch got a lot quicker today than it was yesterday. Yesterday, therewas a little time to adjust but today, things seemed to happen a lotfaster. At the same time, some of the shot selection and the applicationwasn’t perhaps where it should have been.”The bowling too was ordinary was vast stretches of India’s second innings,and Arthur agreed that the plans to target certain batsmen hadn’t quitecome off. Sourav Ganguly was expected to be set up with the short ball,but he showed oodles of courage and application to make 51 not out and 25over two innings. “We had our plans, but we couldn’t execute themproperly,” said Arthur. “But hats off to Sourav, he came in and did a verygood job.”The South African innings was doomed from the moment they slumped to 5 for3, and the frailty at the top of the order that saw them drubbed 3-0 byAustralia continued to trouble them. “It is a worry, but we have fullconfidence in the personnel we have,” said Arthur. “Today was a poor dayoverall, and everyone has owned up responsibility for what happened. Wehad a chat about it in the evening, and hopefully, there are big scores tocome soon.”Shaun Pollock’s 400th wicket was completely overshadowed on a day ofIndian dominance, but he remained confident that South Africa could pulloff an implausible victory. A session in the ice bath stopped him fromattending the press conference, but Pollock sent through a message thatsaid: “I’m chuffed to have got 400 Test wickets. I am hoping to get moretomorrow and help South Africa win this Test match.”It will need someone to play the innings of a lifetime for that to happen.

The Barmy Army is considering cancelling its tour of Australia after members were “treated like schoolchildren” by security staff at the Gabba. The group’s founder Paul Burnham said if things continued in the same vein the tour could be abandoned.”Absolutely. We are waiting to see how it develops before giving advice to people coming over [from England] for the Sydney and Melbourne Tests,” Burnham told . He said he was infuriated that the Barmy Army’s official trumpet player Billy Cooper was escorted from the ground on Thursday, given that Cooper had been given permission to play.”I flew over to Melbourne in May and talked to Cricket Australia about the trumpet,” Burnham said. “We were told he would be able to play at the ground and he was quite good for stopping the Mexican wave. We were getting some pretty positive vibes back and then all of a sudden he’s been ejected.”He played his trumpet in the morning and it was fine. We got our third wicket [in the second session] and suddenly he was asked to leave the ground. Everyone was having a really good time, there was a great atmosphere in the ground, we sat next to the Boony Army guys and there was some great banter. Now the whole thing is ruined.”

Burnham said it was also disappointing that seat allocations meant thousands of England supporters were scattered all around the Gabba, which made them feel “not very welcome at all”. He said “an awful lot” of Barmy Army members had not bothered to attend the second day, instead watching the match from their hotel.Burnham, who came up with the idea of the Barmy Army during the 1994-95 Ashes tour, said Cricket Australia were ruining the spirit of the game. “They believe the Barmy Army will help England win so it just seems everything is geared to try and make sure there is no fun in the game,” he said. “We just want to come over and have a good time … not to be treated like schoolchildren.”We’ve come back to the country where the Barmy Army started 12 years ago. We are a group that has supported the sport over the last three tours, spent millions of pounds and we are treated like this.”

England Women’s opening batsman, Laura Newton, has been announced as Charlotte Edwards’ vice-captain throughout their campaign leading up to the 2009 World Cup.”I’m really honoured to have been asked to join the management team and support Charlotte and Richard [Bates] in any way I can,” a delighted Newton said. “I aim to provide the backing that they both require in any way I can and I’m really pleased to know that I’ll be involved in the international set-up between now and the next World Cup.”Newton made her one-day international debut in 1997 against South Africa, followed by her Test debut against India two years later. She was voted the Player of the Series against South Africa in 2003 for her two consecutive fifties, and was England’s third leading run-scorer in last year’s one-day series against Australia – including a fine 61 in the decider at Taunton. She also played a pivotal role in helping England regain the Ashes.”I’m really looking forward to working with Laura in her new role,” Edwards commented. “I know she’ll compliment me well with her style and having worked with her in the past I am confident it will be a great partnership.”Head Coach, Bates, said that Newton was one of England’s “most experienced players” and possessed “the right character and qualities needed to compliment our newly appointed captain, Charlotte Edwards”.England face India this summer, in a two-Test and five-ODI series which begins with the first Test on August 8 at Grace Road, Leicester.

International matches will be played at the Gabba next summer after XXXX, Queensland Cricket’s long-term sponsor, agreed to remove signs to their beach cricket series. Cricket Australia, who is backed by a rival brewer, wanted each state to sign a sponsorship agreement to avoid ambush marketing at the stadiums or they would be ineligible to host games.Queensland Cricket reached an agreement this afternoon following an emergency meeting with the beer company, which has sponsored the state association since 1993. “XXXX put the interests of the cricket-loving public ahead of their commercial interest,” Graham Dixon, the Queensland Cricket chief executive, said. “We had been working towards this for a number of months with a view to meeting next week’s deadline imposed by Cricket Australia and were disappointed that this final stage was played out in the media.”Queensland Cricket will be required to “partially compensate” XXXX for the loss of the rights. “All the states can focus on whether the broader policy that we are being asked to sign is in the best interests of state cricket or whether it will undermine our ability to attract sponsorship revenue and ultimately affect grassroots cricket,” Dixon said.Dixon denied claims the issue revolved around ambush marketing by XXXX against one of Cricket Australia’s main sponsors. “It is difficult to imagine how a company which has backed cricket in this state to the tune of $10 million over a period of more than 13 years and has iron-clad legal entitlements to display signage at the home of the game in Queensland could be accused of ambush marketing,” he said.”XXXX Gold Beach Cricket is clearly differentiated from any Cricket Australia competition and therefore cannot possibly be ambush marketing.” The series features retired players from Australia – the Cricket Australia director Allan Border is the captain – England and West Indies in a modified game on the sand and is telecast by Channel Ten.

Amidst the euphoric scenes which greeted the Scottish Saltires’ heart-stopping victory over Lancashire at Old Trafford on Monday, it was easy to forget that, once again, as on so many occasions during the last five years, the bowlers had stepped up to the mark, where the batsmen had previously failed. In three Friends Provident Trophy outings this, ahem, spring, the Saltires have managed totals of 73, 169 and 155; one doesn’t exactly have to be Stephen Hawking to deduce that these kind of scores are never going to win you more than perhaps one match in every ten, which begs the question of why there exists such a glaring discrepancy between the practitioners of the two disciplines.The statistics simply serve to reinforce the dearth of truly first-class batsmen in these parts. Fraser Watts has amassed more than 125 appearances for Scotland, and averages less than 23. Gavin Hamilton, an allrounder who no longer bowls, accumulates less than 30 an innings as well. Ditto the rest of the Saltires line-up with not one single person higher than 28 and 29, whilst, in England, only one Scottish player – Durham’s Kyle Coetzer – is currently performing regularly on the 1st XI stage. By contrast, Ireland are exporting an increasingly rich seam of ability to the counties: Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce are at Middlesex, Niall O’Brien at Northants and Boyd Rankin at Derbyshire, and the Irish boast an exceptional future star in 17-year-old Paul Stirling, who struck a massively assured 70 in the FPT last weekend. There has to be a reason why the Saltires have deep bowling resources, yet struggle to post competitive targets with the bat. What is it?Craig Wright, the former Scotland captain, has no doubt that the pitches in his homeland offer a compelling answer. “It is far easier for us to produce bowlers than batsmen up here, purely due to the conditions which young players grow up experiencing. Indeed, it will always be difficult for us to produce confident, technically assured batsmen when they grow up playing on soft, seaming wickets, on which they cannot trust the bounce of the ball,” said Wright. “In addition, our wickets up here do not bounce, so our batsmen never learn to play off the back foot. Therefore, when our lads have to go and bat against professional bowlers who are operating at 85-90mph, on surfaces which bounce waist high and above, we tend to be found out.”This is why we need to ensure that our youngsters train in facilities which have even bounce, an also that they play enough cricket at a young enough age against good opposition. That’s why we have arranged the tours [to South Africa] and put in place two-day games for the under-17s against English opposition.”On the other hand, it is much easier for us to produce bowlers because the conditions have much less influence on how a bowler goes about his business. Whereas, when one of our batsmen faces a Scottish club bowling attack on a poor wicket, he is virtually playing a different sport from the one facing Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson & co in Manchester.”Wright makes several valid points, but that still doesn’t properly explain how somebody such as Watts can look so stylish for short spells and then depart in anti-climax so frequently. One might also wonder why the Scots should seem to rise to the occasion on their away journeys without being able to replicate the same standards at the Grange.”It’s a mystery,” says Wright. “Conventional wisdom would say we should do better in home conditions where the ball seams around more, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I can’t speak for the other guys, but I’m not sure there is anything in the theory that they are inspired more by the surroundings down south, I don’t buy that. But maybe some of them feel under less pressure than when in front of an expectant home crowd.”Wright and his confreres will strive to maintain the momentum established by the defeat of Lancashire. But until the foundations are laid more adequately by their top order, the majority of supporters will forever be fearful a collapse is just around the corner.

The story of the collar-grabbing incident, when John Wright confronted Virender Sehwag during the NatWest Trophy in 2002, has been doing the rounds again, courtesy extracts from Wright’s recently-launched book, . It has raised quite a few eyebrows, some even accusing Wright of leaking dressing-room stories. But the incident was revealed by Rahul Dravid as far back as May 2005 in .Dravid talks about Wright’s mood before that Sehwag dismissal, how the coach felt frustrated by Sehwag’s “silly shots” and how he intended to “have a go” at Sehwag if he got out in the same manner again. “This happened at The Oval during the NatWest Trophy. John [Wright] had been talking to us about how Viru [Virender Sehwag] was batting really well, playing great shots, but also playing silly shots and getting out. That was getting to John. He said to me, ‘If that guy gets out to one more bad shot I’m going to really have a go at him.’ In the next match Viru went out and played a silly shot and got out. And when he walked back into the dressing-room, John actually grabbed him by the collar and shook him. It created a bit of stir in the dressing room. The thing was the incident was quickly forgotten and neither Viru nor anyone else took offense. We knew how badly he wanted Viru and the team to do well. We knew it frustrated him when people did not play up to their potential. It was an incident that showed us just how badly he wanted us to win. There were absolutely no hard feeling after the incident; and perhaps he and Viru got on much better after that, if anything.”In the same issue of WAC, Virender Sehwag also heaped praise on Wright, saying how “he was more of a friend”. “Our culture teaches us to respect our elders and with someone like a coach you need to be particular about your behaviour. But with John it was different: he was more of a friend. We could laugh at him, plays pranks. But he was also a thorough professional, very demanding, and very passionate about what he did. More than anything, he was very good at understanding the character of a player. When people doubted my abilities, John was aware of my mental strengths and never talked about altering my batting technique. In fact, on playing days our interaction was minimal. He has a back problem and he knows that my mom has a bad back too. On match days he would ask me, ‘How are you? How’s your mom’s back? How are we going to play today?’ I will never forget one thing he told us: the difference between a good player and a great player is performance. Great ones perform consistently and good ones do it off and on. And I will miss looking at John’s face when somebody plays a bad shot during a tight match. It was something.”

Lancashire 96 for 4 v Essex
ScorecardNews that Tom Smith’s back operation promised to be a success lifted a grey Manchester day•Getty Images

As the clans gathered at Cardiff and Yorkshire ran through Warwickshire quicker than stomach trouble on a campsite, one did not have to be a cricketing paranoid to think that the main action was taking place many miles away from Emirates Old Trafford this damp Monday.The only optimistic note of the grey afternoon was struck when it was reported that Tom Smith ‘s back operation had been a success. Smith was appointed Lancashire captain in February but has been able to lead his team in just one championship game this season.Yet the 25.4 overs that were possible on the first day of Lancashire’s Division Two match against Essex were important to players in both teams. By common agreement Lancashire produced their worst championship cricket of the season in last week’s grimy draw against Northamptonshire. Glamorgan, third, may trail by 50 points but they have a couple of games in hand and still have to play Lancashire twice. Ashley Giles will be on the lookout for the least speck of complacency among his players.And as Glamorgan fought their own battle against the weather in the urban pastoral of Queen’s Park, Chesterfield, they may have been heartened to hear of Lancashire’s struggle to a very moderate 96 for 4 against Essex on a day when James Porter added Paul Horton and Karl Brown to the 15 opening batsmen he had already sent packing this season.Porter bowls with a commendably high action and he is not scared to pitch the ball up. Those qualities may have led to him being milked for a few boundaries as the openers added 48 in 8.2 overs on the first morning but they also helped him achieve his successes.The first of these came when Horton pushed forward at a ball which moved enough off the seam to catch the outside edge and fly to the safe hands of Jesse Ryder at first slip; the second arrived just two balls later as Porter’s bounce surprised Karl Brown with the resulting nick being safely cupped by second slip Liam Dawson.If that catch helped Dawson feel that he belonged in the first game of his one-month loan from Hampshire, what happened over the next 15 overs may have turned him into an adopted son of Southend. Summoned into the attack by James Foster in the 16th over of Lancashire’s innings, the slow left-armer’s third ball had Alviro Petersen leg before for 14 when he played back to a delivery to which he might have gone forward.Having lunched on a moderate 92 for 3, the home side’s innings trespassed into outright mediocrity when Ashwell Prince tried to pull the first ball of the afternoon session to the boundary but only bottom-edged it onto his stumps. That gave Dawson his second wicket of a day which was soon to be cut short by the weather. A typically pugnacious clout over mid-on by the new batsman, Alex Davies, was the last scoring shot before a shower sent the players back to the pavilion just before two o’clock.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has delayed its probe into allrounder Marlon Samuels’ alleged bookie connection, which was raised by the police on West Indies’ tour of India in February 2007. Julian Hunte, the WICB president, has said that they cannot investigate the matter until they know the nature of the charge against Samuels.The ICC had asked the WICB to investigate Samuels after receiving a report from its anti-corruption and security unit. The ICC said the report contained allegations that Samuels indulged in “inappropriate activity” and behaved in a manner that was “prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket”, and asked the WICB to submit the results of the investigation by January 31, 2008.”What the WICB has done is to write to the ICC, asking them for a copy of the report, so that we will know what Samuels has been charged with,” Hunte told the . “The WICB will await receipt of the report to enable it to determine how it proceeds to carry out an investigation, if any, in terms of the Samuels affair.”Hunte refused to comment on whether the investigation would hinder Samuels’ chances of selection for the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa later this year.”I honestly do not know … and this is the honest, possible truth. A lot depends on the selectors, a lot depends on when the investigation is started, and they are so many imponderables that it would be wrong for me to speculate,” Hunte said. “What I can promise, whatever we put in place will be fair and transparent, and Samuels should have no fear.”On February 7, the Nagpur police had charged Samuels with sending team information to Mukesh Kochar, an alleged bookie, on the eve of the first one-dayer in Nagpur on January 21. At the time, Samuels defended himself and said he had known the man for many years and he was a family friend. The ICC allowed Samuels to take part in the World Cup and beyond, pending a final assessment.

Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, has criticised the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for not developing any kind of domestic infrastructure for quality cricketers to come through to the international level.Since they arrived in England in May, West Indies have won only two limited-overs tour matches and one international Twenty20.”It’s time someone woke up and realised what is needed,” Holding, now a commentator, told BBC Sport. “I think many years ago they just sat down and the cricketers kept coming through and they thought they were doing their job – they weren’t doing anything. It was just a natural thing that was happening in West Indies cricket at that time.”And now that they actually have to try to do something they haven’t got a clue what to do.”These remarks echo what Brian Lara had said about his interest in what West Indies was doing at the grassroots level. “I don’t see anything in that direction,” Lara said. “It doesn’t matter who is the coach or who is playing – if the infrastructure isn’t there, you’re not going to produce the cricket you want to see.”Meanwhile, after West Indies’ 79-run defeat in the first one-day international against England, Dr Keith Mitchell, the Grenada Prime Minister, said that it was no longer possible for Caribbean governments to remain uninvolved in the running of the game as they were already involved with the huge amount of money they had invested in the development of facilities.”Certainly, governments do not want to be involved in the selection of players, of teams and so on but to say that we should not be involved is ridiculous because we’ve already been involved significantly by the level of investment on behalf of the taxpayers,” said Mitchell, who is the chairman of Caricom’s sub-committee on cricket.Mitchell also said that governments had been dragged into interfering in cricketing issues like the contracts case between the West Indies Players’ Association and the WICB. “It is clear that we have no choice sometimes but to offer advice and, again, that’s the role of the Prime Ministerial sub-committee,” he said.

Division One

Phil Jaques and Stephen Moore combined for an opening stand of 234, and Vikram Solanki also hit a hundred, as Surrey’s woes continued on a tough first day against Worcestershire at New Road. Jaques was in typically belligerent form, bringing up his ton off 126 balls, and his innings eventually included 17 fours and two sixes when he was caught behind off Matthew Nicholson. But Surrey’s bowlers continued to toil with Moore crossing to a hundred for the first time this season before being stumped off Ian Salisbury. Although Salisbury provided the breakthrough it was an unproductive day for the spinners with he and Chris Schofield going for 165 off 44 overs. With the openers having done their job, Solanki reached three figures shortly before the close and Surrey had another day to forget.Mark Chilton struck his first century of the season as Lancashire fought back from a poor start during a closely contested encounter with Durham at Chester-le-Street. Chilton’s 115 was vital for Lancashire after they’d slipped to 63 for 3 – with Brad Hodge out for 1 – following their decision to bat first. The recovery began slowly, but Chilton’s fourth-wicket stand of 140 alongside Stuart Law built during the afternoon until, with Law – dropped on 5 by Will Smith – appearing set for another large score, he fell to Ottis Gibson for 60. Chilton, though, went to his hundred from 185 balls before being stumped off the last ball before tea. Luke Sutton and Glen Chapple pushed their side closer to 300 during the evening session, while former New Zealand offspinner Paul Wiseman collected his second wicket. Bad light ended player 14 overs early.Centuries from Joe Sayers and Anthony McGrath made it a tough day for Kent as Yorkshire built a strong first-innings position at Tunbridge Wells. The pair added 204 for the second wicket with Sayers hitting his third Championship ton of a fruitful campaign and McGrath his first to follow his fine one-day form. McGrath was marginally faster to three figures, 220 balls to Sayers’ 233, but was trapped by Andrew Hall three balls after reaching the landmark. Sayers remained unbeaten through to the close and, despite a failure for Younis Khan, Yorkshire are ideally placed to push onto a monstrous total.Sussex failed to make the most of a solid start against Hampshire at Arundel although Mushtaq Ahmed’s late fifty redressed the balance somewhat. Chris Nash and Richard Montgomerie laid a foundation of 105, but Shane Warne and Chris Tremlett shared the top four wickets as Sussex slipped to 130 for 4. Chris Adams (52) and Andrew Hodd (28) added 77 then another four wickets fell for 26 after Shaun Udal removed Adams. However, Mushtaq brought out the long handle and swung a 43-ball 54, adding 69 with Luke Wright, to edge Sussex over 300. He fell to the final ball of the day, bowled by Stuart Clark for his first scalp, while the bowling honours went to Warne and Tremlett.

Division Two

2nd daySeventeen-year-old James Harris has already produced the goods with the ball this season, now he as shown his ability with the bat becoming the youngest Glamorgan player to score a Championship half-century. His unbeaten 87, alongside a stand of 185 with Robert Croft, who made 115, meant Glamorgan reached the heights of 429 after being 193 for 8 on the first day against Nottinghamshire at Swansea. Croft’s hundred, his seventh in 341 first-class matches, took 158 balls but it wouldn’t have been possible without Harris’s support. He faced 224 balls and was not all defense, either, striking 11 boundaries before Dean Cosker fell for 30 to leave him 13 short of a memorable century. Nottinghamshire were strongly placed in reply at 143 for 1, but Cosker nipped out Jason Gallian (78) and, crucially, Stephen Fleming for eight via a brilliant catch at slip. However, the final say went to Harris as he trapped Mark Wagh lbw and removed Chris Read with the last ball of the day.Derbyshire continued to control their clash against Gloucestershire at Derby after declaring on 500 for 9 and taking five wickets. Ant Botha built on Steve Stubbings’ opening-day century, adding 93 with Greg Smith and 85 with James Pipe, but was run out two short of his ton. When Simon Katich eventually ended the innings, after 157 overs, his bowlers set about making full use of the total under their belts. From 83 for 1 Gloucestershire slumped to 120 for 5 as Tom Lungley took three wickets, including Chris Taylor for a third-ball duck.1st dayRonnie Irani’s runs will be sorely missed by Essex, but in Ravi Bopara they have a run-machine of the present and future, or at least until England take him away. He hit his second consecutive Championship ton to give Essex the honours against Northamptonshire at Chelmsford on the day Irani announced his retirement. Bopara was dropped twice, on 0 and 90, before reaching his hundred, with a powerful cut, off 182 balls. His knock included a six over long on and he ended the day four short of his career-best. He added 116 for the second wicket with Varun Chopra, a stand broken by a sharp catch from Stephen Peters, a former Essex player, at slip off Jason Brown. Grant Flower then provided solid support, in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 182, as the home side accumulated steadily.Somerset overwhelmed Leicestershire on the opening day at Taunton, racing into a lead of 189 after skittling the visitors for 168. Steffan Jones grabbed 6 for 61, ripping through Leicestershire’s middle order. The paltry effort was put into stark perspective when Marcus Trescothick and Neil Edwards sped past the total shortly after tea and both went onto post centuries. Edwards’ came first, off 114 balls, followed by Trescothick’s second of the season and he had time to pass 150 before the close. Somerset screamed along at nearly six-an-over and Stuart Broad, who conceded 84 off 12 overs, will be wondering if he timed his return from injury correctly.