Sussex’s wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior has signed a new four-year contract that will keep him at Hove until the end of 2007.Prior, 21, is rated as one of the most promising keepers in the country, and played a major part in Sussex’s historic County Championship victory last summer. He has been forced to compete for the wicketkeeping duties with his fellow England prospect Tim Ambrose, but was nonetheless selected to join the England Academy this winter.”This is great news for everyone involved with Sussex," said their director of cricket, Peter Moores. "Matt is a part of the fabric and lifeblood of a resurgent Sussex squad. His enthusiasm, talent and commitment make him a key element in plans for the future.”Prior himself was equally pleased with the deal. “I feel very privileged and honoured to be offered this contract and secure my future with Sussex," he said. "We had a fantastic season last year and I am very excited to be involved with the Sussex team for years to come.”

New Zealand have appointed Michael Sharpe as coach of the SouthIsland team, and Vaughn Johnson will take charge of the North Island side forthe State of Origin match on February 8.Sharpe is currently coach of the State Canterbury Wizards, who areplaying in the State Shield final this Friday against the StateCentral Districts Stags.Johnson, meanwhile, is the current coach of the State Wellington Firebirds, last year’s finalists in the State Shield, and winner of the title in 2001-02.Martin Snedden, the board’s chief executive, said they were continuing to look for opportunities for the country’s best coaches to gain experience at higher levels of the game. “NZC recognises the need to offer our top coaches fresh challenges and experiences to further their development," he said. “Both Michael and Vaughn are successful coaches at domestic level and this type of experience at another step up is beneficial to them and theplayers in their respective domestic teams.”The South Island team received a boost with the news that Nathan Astle will be fit to play in the match, even though an MRI-scan revealed he has some damage to the cartilage in his right knee.Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand team’s manager, said the scan had beenreviewed by Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Paul Armour. “Nathan has had a cortisone injection to help settle the knee," he said. "These two games will give medical staff an opportunity to see how his knee holds up to a game situation loading requirements. He will be reviewed again on Monday by Mr Armour and thenNathan and the New Zealand Cricket Medical panel will decide on an appropriate treatment programme and his availability for the South African Series.”

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA), in conjunction withCricket Australia, has today announced various tributes in honour ofDavid Hookes to occur across all levels of cricket this weekend in SouthAustralia.Tomorrow’s One-Day International between India and Zimbabwe will see theSACA’s president Ian McLachlan lead a minute’s silence before the startof play.Both India and Zimbabwe participated in a minute’s silence prior totheir match on Tuesday (January 20), therefore the SACA requested thisopportunity for a small tribute to David Hookes for the benefit of thefans attending tomorrow’s game.The One-Day International between Australia and Zimbabwe on Monday(January 26) will see the West End Redbacks join the two internationalteams on the Adelaide Oval, following the national anthem, to observe aminute’s silence.The Redbacks will wear their Pura Cup uniform and SACA red cap duringthe tribute.All Grade clubs, both men’s and women’s, will wear black armbands thisweekend and observe a minute’s silence prior to the start of each match.Flags at the Adelaide Oval will continue to fly at half mast throughoutthe weekend.

Northern Districts’ late run of form in the State Championship always had the potential to upset a Canterbury side without two of its key performers. New Zealand opener Michael Papps, and the recalled Chris Harris, who has been captain of the Canterbury side for much of the summer, were both missing.ND made that most apparent when choosing to bat first at Gisborne and scoring 330 for 6 by stumps. Nick Horsley provided the most significant substance to the innings by scoring 101 in 186 minutes, his third first-class century. With fine support from Matt Hart (64) and Jayden Hatwell (68), ND are well placed to make life distinctly sticky for the Canterbury when they bat.Chris Martin bowled especially well for Canterbury, taking 2 for 56 from his 21 overs, while Aaron Redmond took 2 for 72.Wellington, after being asked to bat first at the Basin Reserve by Otago, were caught in something of a No Man’s land by stumps. Their 262 for 6 was a reasonable score, but the number of wickets lost offered little chance of a much more substantial score, in a game in which Wellington must take at least first-innings points to keep alive their hopes of securing a final spot.The disappointing aspect for Wellington was that while every batsman got a start, none was able to provide a base from which to build a commanding innings. Neal Parlane’s 62 was the highest score, and the hope for Wellington, going into the second day, must be that Matthew Walker and Chris Nevin, the not out batsmen, can add to their 50-run partnership.Jeff Wilson continued to prosper on his comeback from injury with 2 for 50, while Matt Harvie took 2 for 62.Aaron Barnes said goodbye to Auckland cricket last summer, intending to spend more time in England for personal reasons, but his unexpected return has been a bonus for the side, none more so than today when he scored his second century in as many innings.Auckland are at the miracle level of permutations for securing a finals spot, but they scored 311 for 8 after being asked to bat first at Pukekura Park. Barnes scored 108, with 20 boundaries in his three-hour innings, while Rob Nicol threw down a solid anchor in batting for 339 minutes, facing 269 balls, to be 88 not out at stumps.Ewen Thompson, who had such a feast of wickets in the last game, took 3 for 35 before forced to leave the field with an injury. Glen Sulzberger took 3 for 60 and Lance Hamilton 2 for 79.

Two days after the Karachi one-day international, the post-mortem continued into how India pulled off the win and why Pakistan lost despite an amazing run-chase. In his column for Gameplan, the syndication agency, Shoaib Akhtar explained his disappointing performance with the ball: “Right from the first ball, I was having problems with my run-up, and they persisted right through the Indian innings.” Meanwhile, just one match into the series, Shoaib was sure who posed the biggest threat to Pakistan’s bowlers: “Rahul Dravid will be the most crucial wicket if we are to dislodge the Indians cheaply.”Writing for the same syndication agency, Ravi Shastri opined that Virender Sehwag’s form could be the decisive factor in this series. “Pakistan’s bowlers have not seen too much of him, so he has that element of surprise. His ability to play unorthodox shots can unsettle any bowler or coach – even the irrepressible Javed Miandad.”For Youhana, the greatest difference between this Indian team and the ones of the past was the never-say-die attitude of this outfit. Writing for the syndication agency TCM, he said: “I have not known Indian teams to fight like this one did when under pressure. I have played a few Indian teams in Sharjah, Dhaka and even Australia. This one refused to give up, and fought till the end.”* * *The Nation reported that Miandad was busy trying to instil some discipline in his two main fast bowlers. According to the daily, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami had long bowling stints, with Miandad watching out for no-balls and wides. The team had a three-hour practice session at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi, the venue of the second ODI, with Shoaib and Sami bowling almost throughout. Between them, Shoaib and Sami sent down eight no-balls and nine wides in Saturday’s five-run defeat.* * *According to Dawn, around 3000 policemen have been deployed for the Rawalpindi match. Talking to the daily, Syed Moravet Ali Shah, senior superintendent of police, said: “We will have 1500 police in and around the stadium while as many are on duty at other points in the city. We have set up barricades at the road leading up to the stadium and only those with valid tickets or duty passes will be allowed to go through.”The scanning of spectators will start from the parking lot through vehicle search mirrors after which there will be the walk-through gates. A final scan will then be done through handy metal detectors.”* * *Rameez Raja, the chief executive of the Pakistan board, sought to play down fears that the five-match one-day series would be one continuous run-fest with nothing in it for the bowlers. Speaking to The Nation, he said: “Three of the four [remaining] one-dayers are day-and-night games, and at night conditions are more suited to the bowlers, and batsmen would be facing swing, so it won’t be easy to score runs.”* * *LK Advani, India’s deputy prime minister, welcomed the idea of a visit by Atal Behari Vajpayee, the prime minister, to Lahore to watch one of the ODIs. He was quoted by Press Trust of India as saying: “If there is any such move, it will be a further step in improving ties between the two countries.”PTI also reported that the Indian team is scheduled to meet Gen Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s president, on March 17. Confirming the news, Ratnakar Shetty, the manager of the Indian team, said: “The team has been told that there would be a meeting with the President on March 17. We believe it is a get-together over tea. The timing is yet to be confirmed.”* * *The Times of India stated that Rahul Dravid and Murali Kartik used their time off on Sunday to visit the ancient site of Taxila, around 30 km north of Rawalpindi. Known as the City of Stones, the ancient city is famous for housing many Buddhist monuments.

Tim Lamb, the ECB’s chief executive, admitted that England will agree to tour Zimbabwe this autumn, but added that the players would go "with heavy hearts". It is the first time that any senior board official has admitted that the trip will only take place because of threatened penalties by the ICC.Reacting to the news that there was going to be a debate in the House of Commons on the subject, Lamb acknowledged that the only measure acceptable to the ICC – a ban by the government – was constitutionally impossible."A debate is being considered, but the government’s position is they have no legal powers to prevent us,” Lamb said. “We would prefer not to tour, and the players will go with heavy hearts.”The ECB is due to meet with Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, on May 4. The government’s opposition to the trip has already been tabled, and even if parliament passed a vote condemning the tour, that would be unlikely to satisfy the ICC, which demands nothing short of a government ban.”They can’t confiscate the players’ passports. Cricket is not state-run in England like it is alleged to be in Zimbabwe,” Lamb told the BBC. “We have a lot of sympathy with [the government’s] position that they don’t have the power to instruct us not to go.”But, he continued, the potential financial penalties left the ECB without any room for manouvre. “The downside and fallout from us not going could have a catastrophic effect on the fabric of the game in England and Wales. Any country that is in breach [of the ICC agreement] is liable for suspension.”

Muttiah Muralitharan, the world’s highest Test wicket-taker, has said that he wants to go out of the game on a high note, and cited the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean as his swan song.”I want to play till the next World Cup and try to win it and go off on ahigh note when I am retiring,” Muralitharan said after becoming the new record holder. “The world record means a lot to me and for Sri Lanka, but winning the World Cup in 1996, I would say, was the biggest achievement of my career. The World Cup was something different. You can’t forget that easily. It was tremendous. It is bigger than my individual performance in Harare.”At Harare, Muralitharan broke Courtney Walsh’s world record of 519 wickets from 132 Tests – which had stood for three years – when he took eight wickets in the first Test against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Sri Lanka won the Test by an innings and 240 runs inside three days to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. But he was aware that his mark would be surpassed. “Records are meant to be broken. Somebody else may break my record. It won’t stay for a long time.”But for the present moment he can relish the ‘world champion’ title, despite the fact that his bowling action has always been clouded with uncertainty.Muralitharan’s doosra had been reported to the ICC by Chris Broad as beingillegal and not within the laws of the game. But since the incident flaredup at the end of the three-Test series against Australia in March, Muralitharan made perhaps his first public statement on it.”The doosra has always been at the back of my mind. People have questionedme about it. I have done all the tests that are required and the reportshave gone to the ICC. At the end of the day what matters is what the report,the expert, my cricket board and what the ICC says.”Curiously, Muralitharan’s action has evoked rabid criticism or fanatical support since the first time he was called for throwing in Australia in 1995, a few months before Sri Lanka, led by Arjuna Ranatunga, beat Australia in front of a packed house at Lahore to lift the World Cup. Although Sri Lanka undertook two unsuccessful World Cup campaigns after that, Muralitharan has been devastating in the shorter game, and is gradually catching up on the400-wicket mark. With 360 wickets in 232 matches, he lies third behind Wasim Akram (502 wickets from 356 matches) and Waqar Younis (416 wickets from 262 matches).But it’s in Tests that Muralitharan has caused more damage. With his present average of nearly six wickets a Test, cricket pundits and experts predict that by the time he retires, he will have gone past the 600-wicket mark. To put the matter into perspective, if he carries on at his current wicket-taking rate, in 132 Tests (the number Walsh took for his record), he will have claimed 772 wickets.And with Shane Warne right behind Muralitharan on 517 Test wickets, the battle is on between the two great turners of the ball to become the leading spinner of all time. Australia comes to Zimbabwe after Sri Lanka’s second Test to play two Tests, following which they play Sri Lanka in two further Tests at home in July.

ScorecardThe Stratford-upon-Avon ground today resembled a mix between a tempest and a midsummer day’s dream as heavy rain forced the players off three times in between bright sunshine. However, in the 76 overs that were played, Lancashire progressed to 299 for 3, 200 behind Warwickshire’s 499, with Mal Loye unbeaten on 125.The small outfield meant a barrel load of boundaries yesterday, and even though the delays for rain slowed the game – and the outfield – down a touch, today was a similar story. In total, 123 boundaries have been struck in the game so far, and the likes of Loye, Stuart Law, and Dinesh Mongia, Lancashire’s latest overseas star, kept up Lancashire’s run-rate measure to measure to Warwickshire’s as they cruised towards the follow-on target.Loye provided the backbone of the Lancashire reply. After Mark Chilton edged Neil Carter to Mark Wagh at third slip for 13, and Alec Swann’s ungraceful 20 was ended by Ian Bell, Loye unleashed his usual array of unorthodox and unexpected strokes, including two successive short-arm pulls from Dougie Brown’s first two balls. He hit 16 fours in his 28th first-class hundred and did his best to prevent Lancashire from sliding to their sixth loss in a row this season.Law was unlucky to be given out when adjudged to be caught down the leg side by Tony Frost off the impressive Naqqash Tahir for a typically stylish 44. Indeed, Law and Carl Hooper will be a difficult double act to follow for Lancashire, but Mongia certainly made an impressive start, easing his way to an unbeaten 70, and being particularly savage on Warwickshire’s overseas player, Brad Hogg.While both players were playing in the World Cup final last year in front of a packed Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, today provided a slightly different scenario. Both players are fighting to get back into their national teams, but on today’s evidence, Hogg has a long way to go. He may be doing wonders with the bat this season, but he’s in need of a miracle or two with the ball. A pale shadow of his international form, Hogg wasn’t introduced until the latter stages of the day, and he bowled far too short and wide to gift Loye and Mongia easy runs in their unbroken stand of 137.

Cricket has grown in popularity in Zimbabwe and is now the second most popular sport in this soccer-crazy country. A lot of children in the high-density areas, who used to play football with home-made balls fashioned out of tightly rolled plastic bags, now play cricket with equally improvised equipment – tennis balls in place of proper cricket balls, dry maize stalks supported by bricks for the stumps.The massive upsurge in the popularity of cricket with the younger generation in Zimbabwe started after England’s (in)famous tour in 1996, when they were thrashed 3-0 in the one-day series. Many of these young people have grouped together and formed clubs, but their efforts have been hampered by lack of equipment and money. Many do not even have proper cricket grounds to play on, and instead play on fields which were once used for rugby and soccer.According to a Zimbabwean cricket follower who, unsurprisingly, wishes to remain anonymous, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has done little to assist most of the disadvantaged communities who have so much passion for the game. He says that the ZCU has imported equipment earmarked for development over the years, but this equipment doesn’t seem to have reached its intended beneficiaries. There have been complaints from several parts of the country that most of the equipment has been allocated to Takashinga, an all-black club from Highfield, a high-density suburb in Harare.The exorbitant cost of cricket equipment in Zimbabwe means that almost none of the newly formed clubs can afford to buy their own equipment – a quality cricket bat costs about US$100, and most of the newcomers to cricket come from the less-privileged societies in Zimbabwe and cannot afford such a luxury.Only two new stadiums with the facilities necessary to host first-class matches have been built by the ZCU since Zimbabwe gained Test status in 1992. These are Takashinga in Harare and Emakhandeni in Bulawayo, the construction of which is still underway.The ZCU recently announced that it had “frozen” all the assistance it had been giving to clubs through the provincial associations. Ozais Bvute, a controversial member of the board who was involved in the row between the ZCU and the 14 rebel players, told the Matabeleland Cricket Association that the ZCU was not a “bottomless pit”, and that clubs should source their own funding.As our correspondent points out, this latest move by the ZCU means that aspiring cricketers from disadvantaged communities will have to continue using improvised equipment. They will continue to play their matches on football pitches, use tennis balls for practice, and risk life and limb when facing real cricket balls without the necessary protective equipment.

Darren Lehmann, who selflessly offered his Test place to Michael Clarke, is Cricketer of the Year. The award is recognition of Lehmann’s belated, unlikely and romantic international purple patch, which is currently on hold after he injured his hamstring in the third Test at Nagpur.The 2004-05 edition of , published today, is a history-making edition: the front image of a roaring Shane Warne is the first full-colour pictorial cover in 141-year history. mourns the modern trend towards “McCricket”, calling for a stop to “back-to-back Tests, whistlestop tours, twoand four-Test series and all other dunderheaded attempts to jam Test cricket into a polystyrene carton and shove it down our throats as quickly as possible”. For its first 125 years, the five-Test series was cricket’s prestige forum. But Australia have played only one in the past three years and India one in the past seven. New Zealand last played a five-Test series 33 years ago, Pakistan 12 years ago and Sri Lanka have never played one. new editor Christian Ryan writes in his Editor’s Notes: “Only when Australia play England are we now assured the unique thrill of a five-Test series. And beware the hardheads: with their calculators for brains and cash registers for hearts, they are plotting to take even that away from us. Cricket tampers with its own crazy, bewitching rhythms at its peril.”The disappearance of the five-Test series is one of several troublesome issues confronted by a feistier, revamped edition. Cricket Australia (CA) comes in for the fiercest criticism. Of the board’s eagerness to play against a race-based Zimbabwean side, and its description of this year’s tour to Zimbabwe as “a tick in a box”, wonders: “Have Australian cricket administrators no heart, no moral existence at all?”Of the Sri Lankan offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s refusal to come to Australia last July, it says CA did not try hard enough to change his mind. “Anything, everything should have been done to make sure he felt comfortable … Australia is the only cricketing nation Murali has felt compelled to stay away from. History will judge us accordingly.”Kerry Packer’s Channel Nine network, the long-time broadcaster of Australian cricket, also comes under attack for televising its quiz show at the moment Shane Warne equalled the world bowling record in Darwin. It was Channel Nine, again because of rival scheduling commitments, who insisted on the bizarre 9.30am starts to this year’s Tests in Darwin and Cairns.”Packer’s priority has only ever been his own prosperity, not cricket’s,” it says. “But so long as the two went hand in hand, all was hunky-dory. In the past year, Packer has appeared happy to suck the game dry and give very little back … It makes you wonder whom cricket belongs to: Packer or the people. Maybe it’s time Cricket Australia reminded a certain billionaire who’s really Boss.”The 2004-05 edition of Wisden Australia is at 976 pages the biggest ever and the first – in Australia or England – to incorporate balls faced and boundaries hit in Test scorecards. Among several innovations is a new section called “Farewells”, women’s player profiles, a beefed-up back half and two new tables listing the full career records of every Australian Test and one-day player in order of appearance.Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack Australia 2004-05 is edited by Christian Ryan and published by Hardie Grant Books.