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Brett Lee has given Australia a fresh fitness worry ahead of the third Test on Thursday, following his admission into a Birmingham hospital late on Monday afternoon after experiencing swelling and discomfort in his left knee.Australia’s physiotherapist, Errol Alcott, told reporters at the team hotel that doctorswere confident Lee would respond to treatment for the infection, but he remained in hospital overnight, and that he would not travel with the team to Manchester this afternoon. Lee is presently on an intravenous drip and Alcott described his condition as “comfortable”, adding that the injury to Lee’s left knee may have been related to a cut he sustained while fielding during last month’s first Test at Lord’s.Asked about Lee’s chances of playing in the third Test, Alcott added: “He’s 50-50but that’s what I always say.” The injury first came to light before Lee batted on Sunday when he complained of soreness. He went onto score an unbeaten 43 that almost guided Australia to a stunning victory in the second Test at Edgbaston, a match England won by two runs to level the series at 1-1.Australia, the winners of the last eight Ashes series, are already facing up to the absence of their fast-bowling spearhead, Glenn McGrath, who sustained an ankle injury in the warm-up before the start of play last Thursday. “Glenn is proceeding as well as expected,” added Alcott. “He had a scan today and that showed extensive ligament damage, but we knew that anyway.”If Lee was to be ruled out, it would be a huge blow to Ricky Ponting’s team, who do have the uncapped paceman, Shaun Tait, in their squad as cover. Prior to Lee’s injury, Australia selectors were already discussing the possibility of calling up the allrounder, Shane Watson, who is playing for Hampshire.

Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, has called for calm after England’s embarrassing drubbings in the last two NatWest Series matches. Despite a couple of woeful batting displays in which England have been bowled out for 147 and 101, Fletcher has urged the selectors not to make any changes to the team.”I’d like to see the side stay the same.” Fletcher said. “We’ve been through this with the Test side and it’s because they’ve stayed together and know their roles that they are functioning so well.”Even though there have been calls for specialist players to play in the side, rather than allrounders like Ian Blackwell and Anthony McGrath, who Bob Willis yesterday described as “average county players”, Fletcher is adamant he is taking England on the right path. “We have to find allrounders,” he stressed. “People talk about bits and pieces players, but all these allrounders in Australia and South Africa started out as bits and pieces players and they are now quality allrounders and that’s what often happens.”He continued, “You very rarely find a genuine allrounder straightaway. I’m sure at one stage Andrew Flintoff could have been looked at as a bits-and-pieces player and now he’s a quality allrounder – as you get experience that’s what happens.”Since the 2003 World Cup, eight players have made their one-day debuts. Rikki Clarke, Anthony McGrath, Jim Troughton, Richard Johnson, Rob Key, Kabir Ali, Andrew Strauss, and Geraint Jones have all been given a go, and Fletcher now wants to introduce some stability. “The reason for the low scores is that the side hasn’t stayed the same,” he said. “All the time we’ve had new guys coming in and they’ve not settled in the roles they are made to play.”Regarding England’s performances so far, Fletcher couldn’t hide from the poor batting, and stressed the importance of getting a good start. “Even if you’ve got an experienced middle order, it’s always important in one-day cricket that you have a good platform,” added Fletcher. “The openers or the top three have got to go out there and give us a good start.”England’s next match is tomorrow in a day-night match at Headingley against West Indies, who are still riding high from their seven-wicket win against England at Trent Bridge, and can effectively put England out of their own tournament if they win tomorrow.”I am quite happy with the start, but if you look at the table New Zealand are ahead so we need to win tomorrow to make sure we go back to the top,” Brian Lara, West Indies’ captain, said. “This game is still in the early stages of the tournament and we will be looking at it as a must-win situation for us and leave it at that.”He added: “Even then if England were to win their remaining matches after tomorrow there would be a slim chance they could still get in. But that is not our worry, our worry is that we win early up so we make sure we are in the final and give ourselves time to prepare during the remaining matches.”England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Geraint Jones (wk), 4 Andrew Strauss, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Anthony McGrath, 7 Ian Blackwell, 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Darren Gough, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Anderson.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Devon Smith, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Brian Lara (capt), 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Jermaine Lawson.

The Championship match between Glamorgan and Northamptonshire continued to be a realdogfight as Glamorgan after being bowled out for 220 fought back gamely to dismissNorthants for 172 to win by 55 runs with Michael Kasprowicz taking 6-72, including a spell of 4-39 bowling unchangedfor 14 overs after tea.The Australian`s fine bowling saw the Welsh county to their first Championship win of theseason and they were also indebted to a seasons best 73 from Jonathan Hughes and an unbeaten50 from Robert Croft, who astutely marshalled some tailend resistance, adding 80 forthe last two wickets with Michael Kasprowicz and Alex Wharf. In the end, these proved to bevital runs and with the conditions still helping the bowlers,this left Northants chasing a tricky target of 228.In the opening overs, it looked as if the gods were not smiling on Glamorgan. Firstly DavidHarrison, who had been so impressive on Saturday, was forced out of the attack after damaging afinger as his hand hit the stumps as he ran in to bowl his fourth ball. Then Kasprowicz hadboth of the Northants openers caught in the slips, but each time the big Queenslander hadoverstepped the crease.However, the luck change in Kasprowicz`s next over as he clean bowled Rob White, and then in thefollowing over he dismissed Hussey as the left-hander cut a ball into the hands of Dean Coskerin the gulley. Phil Jacques and Jeff Cook survived a few scares before Croft came on andimmediately had Cook well caught by Powell at first slip. After receiving treatment onhis hand, Harrison returned to the attack and removed David Sales as he attempted to flick one offhis legs.Northants took tea on 102-4, still needing 126 with six wickets in hand, but the gamedecisively changed complexion in then overs after the interval, firstly as Dean Cosker brilliantlyran out Mark Powell as the young batsman tried to scramble a single. Then Jacques who had reachedhis fifty with six fours and a six, edged Kasprowicz to the wicket-keeper Wallace as he attempted a cut .The lion-hearted seamer then claimed two more victims as he trapped Tobin Bailey leg before, andthen forced Carl Greenidge to spoon up a catch to Jonathan Hughes at short-leg. Kasprowicztook his sixth wicket when he clean bowled Ben Phillips, and then David Harrison returned to the attack,and with his very first delivery, he applied the coup de grace as Alex Wharf held onto a steepling catchas Nel holed out at mid-off to give Glamorgan a well deserved victory.Earlier, play had resumed with Glamorgan 78 runs ahead with six second innings wickets inhand. Hughes duly reached his half century of the season after strikingnine boundaries, but shortly afterwards he lost his partner Matthew Maynard whofell to a fine one handed catch by a diving Mark Powell at cover point.Five overs later Glamorgan lost their second wicket of the morning as Mark Wallacewas leg before shouldering arms to Andre Nel. But Hughes continued to playfreely and was two runs short of a career best when he was adjudged leg beforeplaying forward to Carl Greenidge. Only one run had been added when David Harrisonwas stumped as he advanced down the wicket to Jason Brown, to leave Glamorgan on140-8.As in the first innings Robert Croft defended resolutely, but the Glamorgan captainwas not afraid to punish any wayward deliveries. Kasprowicz also lent useful support,and the Australian mixed caution with aggression, striking Brown high over mid-wicketfor six.The pair had added fifty in 14 overs when in the third over after lunch Kasprowiczedged a delivery from Nel to the wicket-keeper, but any thoughts that Northants mayhave had over quickly finishing off the innings were dispelled by Alex Wharfwho flicked Phillips nonchalantly off his legs for a six over square-leg. Croft remainedresolute at the other end and reached a most deserved half century after over two hours at thecrease, glancing Nel for a single. But next ball Wharf edged Nel to Sales at first slip havingadded a valuable 30 for the final wicket with his captain to set up the run chase in the finalinnings.

English county club Northamptonshire has re-signed Australian Mike Hussey as its overseas professional for next season. The announcement of the Western Australian batsman’s return for 2002 comes on the heels of a sensational first year with the county.By any measure, Hussey’s performance in 2001 was a brilliant one. The 26-year old not only became the first batsman in six years to cross the 2000 first-class run barrier in an English first-class season, but also emerged as his team’s leading run-scorer in all competitions. Just for good measure, he registered a triple century, two double centuries, three other centuries, and 16 half-centuries at the top of the Steelbacks’ order.Interest in the Western Australian’s services from at least two other counties was reportedly high by the end of the northern summer, but Northants quickly completed its negotiations on the new contract. Hussey agreed to terms before flying home last Sunday to Perth, where he is about to embark on a new Australian domestic season.”We’re obviously very pleased that Mike has committed himself to us at such an early stage,” said Northamptonshire Chief Executive, Steve Coverdale.Subject to being free of any commitments with Australia’s national team at the time, Hussey will return to Wantage Road in either late March or early April.

The issue of player payments in the Bangladesh Premier League was brought up at the end of the Comilla Victorians – Sylhet Super Stars game, with Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahid Afridi giving contrasting versions. While Comilla’s Mashrafe indicated that all payments to his team-mates were made on time, Afridi, who plays for Sylhet, said that some players told him about their dues.The BPL’s policy, like the 2013 edition, is to clear 50% of all player payments before the tournament begins, 25% during the tournament, and the rest within one month of the tournament’s final, which in this case will be January 15, 2016.Mashrafe said that the Comilla franchise had made 75% of the player payments before the due date of December 11. “All members of our team were paid 75% of the money,” Mashrafe said. “They were supposed to pay us by December 11, they paid us last night. As far as I know, the foreign players have been paid in full though there might be one or two issues. We have no complaints about payment since we got it last night.”Afridi, however, said that some players, without mentioning their names, had told him that they had not received any payments. Nonetheless, he welcomed the BPL and said that if the payment issues were cleared, the tournament would attract more players.”At the moment some of the other players mentioned they didn’t get paid yet,” Afridi said. “The cricket board this time took a responsibility and I must give credit to the BPL and the Bangladesh Cricket Board. They organized this tournament well, and I personally enjoyed it. If they sorted out the problems with the guys, money-wise, hopefully each and every player will come from anywhere and enjoy the BPL.”

Scott Styris will finish his county season a week early after New Zealand became worried that a series of niggling injuries could harm his preparation for the Twenty20 World Championship. Styris has had problems with his lower back, knee and calf during his seven-week stint at Durham and will play his final game for the county against Hampshire this weekend.Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand team manager, said their priority was to ensure Styris was fit for the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa in September as well as the international season that follows. “In spite of having had a month off before taking up the contract, Scott has had a number of injury issues while with Durham,” Crocker said.”We have decided that he needs to return to New Zealand so we can begin working on his fitness and rehabilitation, ahead of our busy international season. While he is still able to play in a limited capacity, we feel that seeing out his contract to 31 July could potentially limit his chances of being fit for the ICC World Twenty20.”Styris also hurt his back last year while playing at Middlesex and he aggravated the problem at the Champions Trophy. That led to him missing the home series against Sri Lanka and the start of the CB Series, although when he returned he was in fine form and was New Zealand’s leading run-scorer at the World Cup.However, New Zealand gave him a clean bill of health leading into the 2007 county season and before Styris joined Durham Crocker said he had no concerns over the allrounder’s fitness. In his four first-class games so far this season he has struggled for form, scoring 191 runs at 23.87. Styris will have just over a month to prepare for the World Championship before New Zealand depart in the first week of September.

Brendan Taylor, who took Zimbabwe to a thrilling two-wicket win against Bangladesh with a last-ball six, was full of praise for his partner Tawanda Mupariwa. The pair added a record 81 for the seventh wicket, with Mupariwa scoring 33 and giving valuable support to Taylor, the only recognised batsman at the crease.”I should give him (Mupariwa) credit for a job well done because he really was gathered up from the time he came into play and showed good skills that really helped us to win”, Taylor told , a Zimbabwe daily, at the end of the match. “It really feels great to be in the winning team and this was just a sweet victory.”Mupariwa was run-out in the penultimate ball of the final over, and Taylor said that his biggest challenge was to maintain his focus despite the dismissal. “There was a big blow when Mupariwa injured his ankle as he tried to run back to the crease and with the partnership that was going on so fine, and only a ball to go”, he said. “I just kept on telling myself to be calm and I managed to control myself, especially at the last three balls where I had to take the game ball by ball.”With Zimbabwe leading the series 2-1 with two games remaining, Taylor said that this would be the ideal opportunity for his country to clinch the series.”At a stage like this we cannot afford to slacken and in the next game (on Friday) we really have to give it our all because we believe we are going to win. We are at home and we have to show that we are capable of pleasing our fans as did Bangladesh last year.”In the previous ODI series between the two sides, Bangladesh won 3-2 in front of their home crowd, coming from behind after they lost the first two games.

Mickey Arthur, the newly appointed coach of South Africa, has asked his team to stick to their own gameplan on the tour to Australia in December 2005.”When we play against them at the end of the year I want the team to play our own game and not try and follow their play,” Arthur was quoted as saying in News24.com website. “When they bat at four runs per over I don’t want us to try and bat at four-and-a-half runs to the over. We should not worry about what they do, but rather play to our own strengths and as well as we possibly can.”The tour includes three Tests and a triangular series also involving Australia and Sri Lanka, and Arthur said that there was a possibility the team might leave a week early to fit in an extra warm-up game before the first Test, which starts on December 16. “We’d like to play such a game at the WACA where the Test is being played. The match against Western Australia can’t be played on that pitch because it will then be prepared for the Test.”Speaking about Australia’s below-average one-day show against England, Arthur said, “There seem to be a few cracks in the ODI team, but with the return of Shane Warne their Test side is still tops. What I do like, however, is that they are increasingly being put under pressure and they don’t seem to handle it very well. Their major problem is that the senior players are not performing as expected.”

Cricket lost one of its most dedicated and colourful servants on Wednesdaywhen Krish Mackerdhuj, the first black president of South Africa’s UnitedCricket Board (UCB), died in hospital in Durban. He was 64.Mackerdhuj underwent knee surgery on Saturday, and seemed on the mendbefore showing signs of heart congestion on Tuesday. He suffered a fatalheart attack in the early hours of Wednesday morning.Not the least of Mackerdhuj’s achievements was the important role he playedin South Africa landing the right to host the last World Cup. Ali Bacher,the former UCB managing director, explained: “He and I went to Lord’s inFebruary 1993 for a 12-hour meeting on future World Cups, and he played akey role in South Africa securing the 2003 World Cup.”Bacher described Mackerdhuj as a “champion for non-racial sport andcricket”, and an “outstanding ambassador for South African cricket”. Heexpanded: “We had a warm and close relationship. Before unification he wasperceived as a hard-liner, but he was a soft, compassionate person.”Ray Mali, the current UCB president, also paid a fulsome tribute. “SouthAfrican cricket has lost a visionary leader,” he said. “Krish played a keyrole toward unity, both in his position as president of the [non-racial]South African Cricket Board and the UCB. His strength, determination andspirit were inspirational to all as he led South Africa into theinternational fold. He was a fine man and a wonderful leader.”Mackerdhuj, a chemist by profession, crowned a successful career in cricketadministration when he was elected the South African board’s president in1992. He remained in the position until 1998, and was then appointed SouthAfrica’s ambassador to Japan, a job he took to with relish and held untilthe end of 2003.Cassim Docrat, the chief executive of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union,summed up Mackerdhuj’s important place in the history of South Africancricket. “The first part of his involvement in sport was in the struggle,”he said. “He believed all South Africans should be equal in sport, and thatnon-racial sport could only be played in a free South Africa.” Docrat saidthat Mackerdhuj was a vital figure in the 1991 unification of a previouslyracially divided game in South Africa: “He was pivotal, and he was theright man for the job of UCB president.”Mackerdhuj was an eloquent and persuasive speaker, and a skilled negotiatorwhose lively sense of humour in the midst of heated debates was often hismost effective weapon. He was an executive member of the apartheid-eraSouth African Council on Sport, and served as National Sports Congressvice-president. He was presented with the State President’s award forsports administration by Nelson Mandela in 1994.Mackerdhuj’s funeral will take place in Durban on Saturday. He leaves hiswife, Sminthara, and two sons, Prashim and Arvin.

As Mumbai and Tamil Nadu toil in the morning sun at the Wankhede Stadium, Swamiji walks past me. He is not the kind of man you would expect to see at a cricket match. Lean and white-haired, he wears a cream satin lungi and kurta. An elegant red tilak adorns his forehead.Swami A Parthasarathy is a specialist in Vedanta. And yes, that has plenty to do with sport. Sportstars go to him regularly in an effort to become better at their game – Geet Sethi, former Billiards World Champion, paid him one such visit a short while back. But what draws him to cricket?To begin with, he used to play it. "I played cricket in my youth," he tells me, "and just when I had started to represent Madras in the early 1950s, I left it." He is 76, but looks anywhere from one to two decades younger. The secret of his vitality – and the area in which he has helped many sportsmen in his time: concentration."The human mind is always wandering," Swamiji – as he is known – tell me. "That affects concentration, which is vital for a human being and even more so for a sportsperson. Vedanta helps you concentrate better. What makes you lose concentration is the nature of the mind, which is constantly worrying about what happened in the past and anxious about what is going to happen in the future."In the process of controlling the mind, peace of mind is achieved. Swamiji elaborates: "players are very tense: thinking about past failures or future selections, the cricketer’s mind is always lost." He says that when there is peace of mind one becomes more productive.So what is the route to peace and productivity? Swamiji says: "At the Vedanta Academy in Malavli, in Maharashtra, we have developed this scientific course by which we try to teach the student to achieve the balance between peace and productivity."Swamiji has never worked with any particular cricketer individually, but he had conducted a session for Sourav Ganguly’s men during the India-Australia Test match at the Wankhede in 2000-01. He had spoken to them about the three Cs. "I told them how to concentrate, how to be consistent and how to cooperate with each other."What about sports psychologists? Don’t they teach players the same things? "They are mad men," Swamiji retorts, "some of the psychiatrists attend my sessions themselves." His face turns red, and before he can lose his peace of mind, I change the subject.In all his years of watching cricket, I ask him, how has cricket evolved? Swamiji says that during his time the cricket was more relaxed, but "unfortunately these days there’s a lot of money involved in professional cricket". He has no problem with cricketers earning money – but he feels that the financial stakes can make a cricketer anxious about his performance, and thus affect the way he plays.Swamiji says that there is scope for improvement even in a player like Sachin Tendulkar. "He [Tendulkar] is also a human," Swamiji says. "Where he differs from others is in his talent, but when it comes to concentration, he too needs to train more."