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Andrew Symonds could return from his biceps injury even sooner than anticipated, with Australia revealing they might play him against Netherlands on March 18. That is nearly a week before the South Africa group match that was his original priority.Alex Kountouris, Australia’s physiotherapist, said Symonds’ rehabilitation was going so well there was a slight chance he could be ready ahead of schedule. “It’s unlikely but I won’t rule it out,” Kountouris told the .”The 24th [for the South Africa game] was what we were roughly looking at. If he happens to get ahead of time, we won’t discount that. He is making good progress. He is meeting all the rehab goals we have set, so he is on target to what we expected. We haven’t had any setbacks.”Symonds, who had surgery on his ruptured right biceps on February 4, continued his recovery with his first catching practice at St Vincent before Australia’s warm-up win over England. The previous day he faced genuine spin bowling for the first time since the operation.Kountouris said Symonds was keen to keep pushing himself harder but his biggest challenge would be when he started more strenuous activities. “The plan next week is to do the more dangerous things for him, which is throwing, bowling and more aggressive batting,” Kountouris said.Should Symonds make a surprise appearance against Netherlands, it would be exactly six weeks since his surgery. Some sports physicians said at the time six weeks was the minimum recovery he would need, although it was more likely to be a three-month injury.

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A six-wicket haul by seamer Jason Bennett helped bundle out Barbados for 139 and gain a first-innings lead of 63 on the second day at the Three Ws Oval. Barbados fought back to reduce the opposition to 138 for 7 in the second innings, leaving CCC with an overall lead of 201. Barbados never recovered sufficiently from their overnight wobble at 15 for 4, as Bennett returned to claim the wickets of Ryan Hinds and Dwayne Smith for 35 each. The last-wicket pair of Sulieman Benn and Corey Collymore added 30 in an hour to frustrate the bowlers before Shirley Clarke wrapped up the innings. In reply, CCC got off to a brisk start as their openers Romel Currency and Simon Jackson added 60 in just over 10 overs. Tino Best then struck back with three quick wickets for the addition of just one run and CCC were in further trouble as Benn later took three middle-order wickets to leave the match evenly poised. Best ended the day with figures of 4 for 39.
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Half-centuries by Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash, who remained unbeaten on 91, helped Jamaica gain a valuable first-innings lead of 69 against Guyana at Sabina Park. Nash faced 254 balls in his dogged knock, which included six fours and a six, before Jamaica were bowled out for 240 at tea. Hinds made 53 while Nikita Miller chipped in with 34, during which he added 81 for the seventh wicket with Nash to frustrate Guyana. Trevon Garraway and Veerasammy Permaul were the leading wicket-takers for Guyana, picking up four each. In reply, Guyana lost Gajanand Singh early for 2, but Assad Fudadin and Leon Johnson and remained unbeaten to end the day at 59 for 1.
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The second day’s play in St Maarten was hampered by poor weather where only six overs were possible. Rain forced the players off the field 23 minutes into the morning session, during which T&T added 12 to their overnight score with captain Rayad Emrit going on to score a half-century. Rain intervened again early in the afternoon and the umpires decided to abandon play for the day after a 4 pm inspection.

Derbyshire and Essex have progressed through to the final of the Twenty20 Floodlit competition.The second leg of the semi final between Derbyshire and Glamorgan at Derby produced a first for cricket as it was decided in extra-time after Glamorgan had won the full match to make it one leg each. The four-over-per-side decider went the way of Derbyshire as they defend 43, with Tom Lungley and Jake Needham producing tight overs, and restricted Glamorgan to six off the final when 11 were needed. Glamorgan had sealed the full match with five balls to spare after Richard Grant’s 50 and a rapid 34 from Ryan Watkins enabled them to chase down 157. Derbyshire’s innings was based around Travis Birt’s 51 and although it wasn’t enough, they held their nerve in extra time.Essex were left waiting for news of their final opponents after a comfortable six-wicket victory over Sussex at Chelmsford. Sussex failed to capitalise on an excellent start given to them by Chris Adams (51 off 23 balls) and Mike Yardy (36 off 33 balls) as they lost wickets regularly in the closing stages. Ryan ten Doeschate picked up wickets in each of his four overs to claim 4 for 24 as Sussex were pegged back to 181 for 8. Alastair Cook, drafted into the Essex side ahead of England’s ODI series, gave his side a rollicking start with 38 off 20 balls. After a flurry of wickets, Ravinder Bopara (58 off 35 balls) and ten Doeschate (38 off 20 balls) hurried their team to victory with 10 balls to spare.Essex meet Derbyshire in a two-legged final on September 13 and 15, with the first leg at Chelmsford. Sussex and Glamorgan feature in a third-place play-off over the same nights.

Andrew Leipus on Sachin Tendulkar’s injuries
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Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAIt isn’t easy coming back from injury, and nobody knows that better than Sachin Tendulkar, who, after injuries to his back and elbow, is now suffering from a shoulder injury. After he dropped out from the Test series in West Indies today, Cricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi spoke to Andrew Leipus to find out more about the injury. Leipus, once the Indian team’s physio, is now looking after Tendulkar, and explained how hard a toll such injuries take on cricketers.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA

Salman Butt continued to shake off a wretched Quaid-e-Azam trophy campaign. His second unbeaten half-century in three games helped Lahore Whites trounce Peshawar by 27 runs. Butt’s 58-ball 85 took his side to the top of the standings.His fellow opener Kamran Akmal also joined in to make a 40-ball 52 as the Whites notched up 163. In response, the struggling Peshawar – who now have one win in six matches – could not find a single batsman to score over 25. That meant the chase never really took off. Lahore’s bowlers picked them off at ease with Umaid Asif starring with four for 26 to break the back of the Peshawar chase. Ehsan Adil and Asif Ali took two wickets apiece as Peshawar were cleaned up for 136, with their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals officially extinguished.A century stand between Umar Amin and Zain Abbas wasn’t enough for Rawalpindi as they lost to Faisalabad, thereby falling out of contention for the last four. Amin and Abbas scored 67 and 62 respectively, with Sohail Tanvir adding a quickfire 32 off 16 as Rawalpindi surged to 193. It was, surprisingly, the international stars in Faisalabad’s bowling attack who were the most expensive, with Faheem Ashraf, Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah conceding a whopping 115 runs in their combined 11 overs.But Faisalabad gave the daunting chase a right go, thanks largely to a 43-ball 87 from Sohaib Maqsood, even as the top order fell cheaply around him. By the time he was dismissed, he had contributed 87 to Faisalabad’s score of 108, but 86 were still required off a mere seven overss, the balance firmly in favour of the hosts. But sensational hitting from Khurram Manzoor – who finished with an unbeaten 52 off 25 – and Ashraf helped Faisalabad sneak home with a ball to spare and strengthen their hold on a semi-final position.

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain and batsman has been named ICC Player of the Year at the ICC Awards in Mumbai. It capped a prolific evening for Ponting who was also earlier named Test Player of the Year and was included in both the ODI and Test Teams of the Year.”It has been a satisfying year personally and also for the rest of the team,” Ponting said. “For me to be a part of that success has been great for me. To see Mike [Hussey] win an award and so many other Australians to be nominated indicates that the team is doing well at the moment. It’s a great night for Australian cricket.”To captain Australia is something I love and never take for granted. We had to show a lot of character immediately after [losing] the Ashes,” Ponting admitted. “And since then we have managed to do that. We have set a new standard for ourselves, we’ve worked hard and thankfully it’s paying off for us at the moment… I think we learned a lot from that Ashes series and we are a better team for that so I think we will be a very difficult side to beat this summer.”The challenge for us now is to try to win the ICC Champions Trophy final on Sunday and then head back to Australia and try to win the Ashes back. It’s going to be a busy time but we are really looking forward to it.”During the voting period of August 1 2005 to August 8 2006, Ponting played 16 Tests and 20 one-dayers. In Tests he scored a phenomenal 1,791 runs at an average of 68.88, including two centuries in his 100th Test match, against South Africa in Durban.”It’s a great thrill, even to be nominated on the short-list but to walk away with two awards is something out of this world, something very special,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing that is very satisfying when you look back on your career in years to come. I’ll be able to spend more time enjoying it then.””On behalf of the ICC I would like to pass on my congratulations to Ricky for winning this award,” Percy Sonn, the ICC president said. “He has shown over the last year that he is the best and it is great that we have this opportunity to recognise that. He is a credit to his team and his country and through his talent and hard work, he is a role model for all aspiring cricketers and sportspeople of all descriptions.”Ponting beat off competition from his team-mate Michael Hussey, and Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) and Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka). Last year, the award was shared by Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis while in 2004 the award went to Rahul Dravid.

Darrell Hair has dropped his racial discrimination case against the ICC.The surprise announcement came on the seventh day of the tribunal at the London Central Employment Tribunal. An ICC spokesman confirmed to Cricinfo that there had been no agreement made with Hair and that the decision was “unconditional”.”Darrell Hair withdraws his allegation of racial discrimination against the ICC board, members and staff,” Robert Griffiths QC, Hair’s barrister, told the media. “Mr Hair has undertaken to work with ICC management in accordance with the rehabilitation programme over the next six months.”Hair is contracted to the ICC until March 2008 but Cricinfo has learned that he then has to be given 12 months notice, so in effect he remains an employee until March 2009. He will continue to umpire international matches, but not those involving Test-playing countries. The ICC board will meet in March to discuss the results of Hair’s rehabilitation and decide whether he can return to elite umpiring, and if so, on what terms.”This is really about getting back to umpiring top cricket matches,” said Mr Hair’s solicitor, Paul Gilbert. “Darrell feels relieved and glad it’s all over, and he does feel this is in the best interests of all parties. What we have now is a future for Darrell that leads to the possibility of his return to top-level umpiring.””We are pleased the issue has been resolved,” Ray Mali, the ICC’s interim president, said. “We had no option but to defend these serious allegations.””I’m very pleased that this claim has been unconditionally withdrawn,” Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, told the BBC. “I think in six months we’ll have a better idea [about his future as an umpire], it’s a matter for the board, which is a very diverse group generally with strong and differing groups, so a lot will depend on the rehabilitation programme and his attitude towards it.”For the next six months he will umpire matches at Associate level. I can’t speculate as to whether he will return to umpiring Full-Member matches or not”

A hurt Stuart Clark believes the Australians will usethe pain of defeat as a spur for the series-decidingTest in Adelaide on Thursday. Clark experienced hisfirst loss in whites with the national team in Perthon Saturday, which ended the winning run at 16.After the game the players spoke about the streak anda few of them got together over a beer to discuss theonly time they had worn the baggy green and notexperienced success. “This loss hurts as much as anyother loss,” Clark said. “It would have been a nicerecord, but losing is losing. It doesn’t matter how orwhere, whether it’s a one-dayer, a Twenty20 or a Test,it’s not a great feeling, and it drives a lot of us.”Clark had a fine match, picking up six wickets,including 4 for 61 in the second innings, and strikingan entertaining 32 as Australia fought to the finish.While Clark performed strongly, there were seriousconcerns over Shaun Tait’s inability to fire in thepace quartet.Tait, who was playing his third Test, delivered only21 overs for the game and did not capture a wicket.Brad Hogg is likely to return in Adelaide as Australiause a more traditional attack of three fast bowlersand a spinner.”Shaun hasn’t had much bowling,” Clark said. “He’s hada little bit in the one-dayers and Twenty20 and thereis a difference for Tests. He didn’t have the bestgame of his life, but he’s a quality player.”On the first day Tait started operating above 150kph,but his accuracy became an issue in subsequent spellsand his desire for a long bowl in the second inningswas ended by Australia’s slow over-rate. DespiteTait’s problems, Ricky Ponting was not overlyconcerned.”It’s pretty hard for someone coming in who has notplayed a Test for a while, trying to impress and dothe right thing,” he said. “He bowled 20 overs andprobably didn’t get the bowling right. The conditionscaught us off guard and the pace in the pitch wasn’tthere. Shaun’s pace through the game levelled out at145kph and above, that’s pretty good.”Clark and Brett Lee were impressive during the matchand Mitchell Johnson provided capable support, but thehome team was out-bowled by India’s swing men, whoupset Australia’s batting rhythm and exposed theirproblems when the ball moves around. Aiming for seammovement is more of an Australian trait than weavingit through the air, although they have been trying toimprove their methods since 2005.”It’s something we’ve worked on with [the bowlingcoach] Troy Cooley,” Clark said. “It’s important forsome places and one of the things to do to make usbetter cricketers.”Adelaide is a ground where reverse-swing is morelikely – Tait is particularly dangerous there in PuraCup games – and the pitch also helps the spinners,giving India a chance to level the series. “LikeMelbourne and Sydney, I suppose the conditions willsuit them,” Clark, who has complained previously aboutsurfaces not helping the home team, said. “Hopefullywe can play well and put them back on the back foot.”

Virender Sehwag said that the Indian team would take tremendous confidencefrom their victory in the Pro20 game, and praised both his bowlers andbatsmen for the six-wicket victory at the Wanderers.”We clicked in both batting and bowling,” said Sehwag. “It’s a team game,doesn’t matter who performs. An Indian win is what matters.”It was India’s first experience of the Twenty20 format, with the inauguralWorld Cup less than a year away, and Sehwag was delighted with theexperience. “It’s an exciting form of the game and it’s very fast-paced,”he said. “You can learn with experience, and I’m sure that the Indianpublic will enjoy it when it’s held there.”Sehwag added that India’s first domestic Twenty20 tournament would help inpopularising the format. “It’s important to play it at the domestic levelbecause you can’t go into the World Cup next year without experience. Theselectors too can gauge which are the Twenty20 players.”Dinesh Karthik, whose unbeaten 31 fetched him the master blaster award,basked in the glow of the performance. A six off the first ball of thefinal over bowled by Robin Peterson set up the win, and Karthik suggestedthat it had been part of the plan, with nine needed from six balls. “I wasconfident that I could pull off a big shot,” he said. “I had it all workedout in my mind. I knew there were a couple of areas where to hit.”Karthik indicated that India had always been in control of the run chase.”It was important that someone put up their hand and did well,” he said.”Viru gave us a good start and Dinesh [Mongia] played very well andconsolidated. It was important to get off to a good start and from thereon, we did pretty well.”Karthik has played as a specialist batsman on the tour, with MahendraSingh Dhoni keeping his place behind the stumps, and he distinguishedhimself with some superb stops in the outfield today. “The team managementtold me that I would be required and what was expected of me, and Iprepared well,” he said. “It was fantastic of them to tell me what wasexpected of me.”I really worked hard on my fielding and the results were there. I don’twant to be a liability on the field. I want to make sure that I’m one ofthe top three fielders in India. Even if I play as a batsman, I can stopruns in the field.”If I was competing as a wicketkeeper, my mindset would be different, butnow as I’m competing as a batsman I have more opportunity to do well. Ihave six slots to push myself into the team.”Sehwag had to face the inevitable questions about being stripped of thevice-captaincy for the Test series. “I don’t feel any pressure,” he said,when asked how he had responded. “If I’m not vice-captain, it does notmatter. I’m happy with whatever the selectors have decided.”VVS Laxman, who will now be Rahul Dravid’s deputy in the Tests, arrived inJohannesburg on Friday morning, and Sehwag said that his arrival wouldgive the team a boost. When asked to comment on Sourav Ganguly’s selectionin the squad, he suggested that too much shouldn’t be made of it. “He’llcome in like any other member [of the team],” he said. “There will be nospecial treatment. His record is very good, and he’s played here before.He knows how to handle pressure at any time.”

Duncan Fletcher has resigned as England coach. “This has been a difficult winter for the team and for me personally,” the head coach of eight years said in a written statement. “I feel it is in the team’s best interests over the long term that I should move on.” After a woeful winter, David Morgan, the chairman of the ECB, refused to say whether Fletcher would have been sacked anyway.The most successful coach in his adopted country’s history leaves immediately after the dead game against West Indies on Saturday. By the end of that match a temporary replacement should have been announced – though the ECB have not ruled out making a permanent appointment at that stage. The first home Test against West Indies begins on May 17, so the need is urgent.The leading candidate as stand-in is Peter Moores, a uniquely successful coach of Sussex and the current director of the national centre of excellence. “I am sure he’s a strong candidate,” the board’s director of cricket operations John Carr said.It seems unlikely that any of the other suggested contenders – led by the successful Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody – would accept a temporary appointment. Morgan described Moores’ work in his first winter with the academy as “excellent”, but refused to speculate on a replacement. “We are well down the track of identifying someone who will come in, be a selector in Duncan’s place and be in position quite quickly,” Morgan said.It transpired that Fletcher first offered his resignation to a board official on April 10, the eve of England’s laboured win over Bangladesh. “Obviously we were aware of the importance of keeping that information highly confidential through the tournament, in the best interests of the England team performing in the World Cup,” Carr said. The players were told at training this morning.The deadline for appointment of a permanent coach was set by Morgan at July. “But I believe that we can move far more quickly than that.” One possible barrier to an early announcement is the Schofield review of England’s desperate winter, which included the second Ashes whitewash. The report is not expected until mid to late May. “We are in contact with Mr Schofield to establish the direction of the recommendations regarding the England management,” Morgan said.Appointed in a climate of despair in 1999, Fletcher has been by far England’s most successful coach. He raised the Test side from the bottom of the ICC’s table to become arguably the world’s second-best Test team. “Our performances in the Test match arena have been transformed,” Morgan said. “I believe Duncan Fletcher has done a tremendous job for us. But the last winter has been a difficult one and a disappointing one.”England’s only experience of temporary coaches ­is woeful. Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting took charge after the 1999 World Cup, a showing described by as “not so much disastrous as farcical”. It was that mess that Fletcher inherited when he took over later that summer, so it seemed faintly bizarre when Morgan described the stand-in solution as “elegant”.One-day performances, however, have remained miserable under Fletcher. England won just 42% of limited-overs games against serious Test sides during his time, as opposed to more than half before.The chairman of selectors David Graveney, a man often sidelined in controversial circumstances by Fletcher, described his departure as “very sad”. Morgan praised the outgoing coach’s work behind the scenes. “Duncan was instrumental in persuading the ECB and the first-class counties to introduce central contracts and provides an excellent legacy for his successor.”

But more recently Fletcher has been hit by criticism, mainly for inflexible selection policy and apparently poor preparation for the Ashes. Always disdainful of the press, they turned against him over the winter, with even this year’s calling for his departure.A recovery in the CB Series in Australia had left Graveney calling for an apology from the press. But this time it was the ECB which was saying sorry. “I would like to apologise for the manner of our exit from the World Cup,” Morgan said. “We’ve been unsuccessfully in yet another World Cup and I apologise.”The resignation means that five Test sides are either looking for a new coach or likely to have to do so soon. Bob Woolmer’s murder leaves Pakistan bereft, Tom Moody is expected to end a successful stint with Sri Lanka at the end of the Cup, while Dav Whatmore has made noises about looking for a new challenge away from Bangladesh. India and Greg Chappell parted ways after things went horribly wrong in the Caribbean.Morgan dismissed speculation that any of these candidates had already been tapped up. “I can assure you that the board had not approached anyone in advance of finalising the position with Duncan Fletcher.” The future of the rest of a much-criticised coaching team – the bowling coach Kevin Shine and assistant Matthew Maynard – is unclear.Morgan has a clear vision for England’s one-day future. “It would be very easy to say we need to look four years ahead and start again and have yet younger people playing,” he said. “I don’t believe that is the answer. I do believe we need to re-address our policy on the one-day game both domestically and internationally”.So, he was asked, was England’s strategy at the World Cup flawed? “With the benefit of hindsight the answer must be yes.”