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The ICC could force Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to play a shorter programme of Test cricket in a shake-up of the current Test itineraries. ICC executives will meet in Lahore on October 15-16 to discuss possible changes to the Test programme, in which the ten Test nations currently play each other home and away over a five-year period.One option is to allow the top eight nations to continue with this structure, while Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, the two lowest-ranked sides, are handed a “modified programme” which could mean them playing only home Test matches.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, told a news conference in London today: “It may be that there is an option for radical change to the structure. We set out to challenge the current thinking and assumptions.”Speed’s statement follows a review conducted by the ICC after broadcasters and players complained about the high volume of cricket being played. But the ICC have decided not to remove Zimbabwe and Bangladesh from the future tours programme, having interviewed leading officials from all ten Test-playing nations, players’ association representatives, commercial partners and players.Another idea, for four teams to play in a second tier of Test cricket, was thrown out because of insufficient interest in the proposal and the financial implications on world cricket.”A small number of teams drive the economic health of cricket,” confirmed an ICC spokesman, “and if we pushed one of those out into a lower division, we risk cutting cricket off at the knees.”The ICC also took on board complaints from players – including the England captain Michael Vaughan – who had voiced concerns over the number of back-to-back Test matches they are expected to play. Speed confirmed: “The boards will seek to avoid back-to-back Test matches, and when that is not possible an extra day will be introduced so that we do not have a Monday finish followed by a start to the next Test the following Thursday.”Speed concluded: “That’s the decision of the chief executives and they are the people who put the schedules together – they are fully aware of the problems that back-to-back Tests present.”

The threat of being dropped has not weighed on Shoaib Akhtar’s mind during the current Bank Alfalah Cup, according to the Pakistan captain, Rashid Latif.

“I don’t think he [Shoaib] is feeling any pressure in this series. Other players have taken the pressure off him,” Latif insisted. “He has bowled impressively in both the matches and proved that he is still one of the best strike bowlers in the world. This tour could be the turning point of his career.”Shoaib was warned by Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia, president of the Pakistan Cricket Board, before the start of the series that the series would be the last chance to kick-start his career. Shoaib was dropped following Pakistan’s dismal performance in the World Cup.Latif said that the threat was not affecting Shoaib. “He is a match-winner and we’d like him to keep a low profile," Latif explained. "We’ve told each player not to fear failure, but to play positive and competitive cricket. So I don’t think he is under pressure to deliver.”Zia’s warning appeared to have done some good. In his first match of the series, Shoaib grabbed two crucial wickets for 19 runs in eight overs to set up Pakistan’s 79-run victory over Sri Lanka.

Indian medium pacer Zaheer Khan has been cleared of his ‘stressfracture’ and has been advised ‘one week’s rest’, according tonational selector TA Sekhar.Sekhar, who was authorised by the BCCI to get a bone scan done onZaheer’s problematic right shin, told PTI in Chennai on Tuesday thatthe doctors have ruled against any fracture on his leg. Zaheer wouldbe leaving for Colombo tonight to join the team.Sekhar said doctors at a private nursing home in Chennai haddiagnoised it as ‘compartment (calf muscle) syndrome’ and Zaheerrequired a week’s rest. "Zaheer would be his usual self before thefirst Test against Sri Lanka on August 14," he said.Zaheer had complained of pain on his right shin during the Coca-ColaCup tri-series in Colombo and was to come to Chennai for these testson August 1 but the team management retained him for the final whichIndia lost to Sri Lakna on August 5.

Jammu & Kashmir stormed into the knockout phase of the Ranji Trophywith a four wicket triumph over Himachal Pradesh in their final NorthZone league tie at the Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu. J&K finishedthird in the zonal standings with 24 points from their five games,behind Punjab (40) and Delhi (29).The win was enabled by a sporting declaration from Himachal skipperAnurag Thakur who set the hosts a fourth innings target of 251 in 77overs. An invaluable 138 from opener Ranjit Bali helped J&K across thefinishing line with more than 13 overs to spare. It was a spectacularrecovery by J&K who trailed by 140 in the first innings, narrowlyavoiding the follow-on.Resuming at 55/4, Himachal declared just over ten overs into themorning. In that period they exactly doubled their score, losing twowickets in the process. The closure was applied at the fall of onedrop Rahul Panta for a run-a-ball 66 (4 fours, 2 sixes).A 131 run third wicket stand between Bali and Ashwini Gupta (43) putJ&K firmly on the road to victory. After the latter’s departure at193, Bali carried on unperturbed until he was bowled by Nischal Gaurjust sixteen runs short of victory. His 138 arrived from 180 balls andfeatured 14 fours and 4 sixes. J&K lost two more wickets before thewinning runs came in the 64th over.

Australia captain Pat Cummins has conceded he is unlikely to feature in the Boxing Day Test and may not play again in the series after his team was able to secure a “pretty amazing” Ashes victory in Adelaide to retain the urn in just 11 days of playing time.For Cummins, who claimed six wickets in the match, it was his first game for five-and-a-half months as he recovered from a back injury and while he said he came through the game well back-to-back Tests was always unlikely for him.”I’m feeling really good, [but] as for the rest of the series we’ll wait and see,” he said. “We had a pretty aggressive build-up knowing that it’s the Ashes there to be won and we thought that was worth it. Now that the series has been won, there might be a sense of job’s done and let’s reassess the risk.Related

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“We’ll work it out over the next couple of days, I doubt I’ll be playing Melbourne, and then we’ll have a chat about Sydney. But certainly before the series it was, while the series was live, let’s take on the risk and have a crack at it, now it’s done, I think we’ll need to have a chat about it.”Jamie Smith and Will Jacks raised the slim prospect of a remarkable England chase on the final day in Adelaide but Australia always had runs in the bank, although had to contend with the loss of Nathan Lyon to what looked like a series-ending hamstring injury.However, Mitchell Starc claimed three wickets on the final day – the vital one of Jacks courtesy of a spectacular catch at first slip by Marnus Labuschagne – and Scott Boland closed out the match.”It feels pretty awesome. Yeah, amazing,” Cummins said at the presentation. “It’s a series we’ve been thinking about for a long time. It wasn’t easy today, but we got it done. It’s a pretty excited changing room in there.”The relentlessness of Australia’s attack stood out throughout the game, while the fielding was superb and Alex Carey produced another masterclass behind the stumps.”I think that’s when we’re at our best, this cricket team,” Cummins said about maintaining the pressure on England. “You can’t really rush things here in Australia. I think you kind of will it to happen, but it doesn’t really work that way. It’s good old-fashioned grind a lot of the time. I loved the toil from all the guys today. It got a little bit closer than I would have liked, but I’m pretty happy.”He also praised the way his team responded to various challenges that came their way, including the loss of Lyon. “I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud about in this group,” he said. “Nothing ever really happens perfectly, there’s always something that gets thrown up.”Over the last few years, this groups have shown [it can] just crack on. Even I missed the first couple of games, Steve stepped right in and it was smooth and seamless. There’s always things that crop up; Nathan Lyon doing his hammy with a couple of hours left today.”The boys just go, okay, that’s happened. Let’s crack on. What’s next? I think that’s one of the big reasons why we’ve had our success over the last couple of years.”On his own comeback, he added: “The last two months have been a bit of a grind. [I gave] myself every chance, but it’s all worth it when you get days like this, packed crowd and retaining the Ashes.”

Sri Lanka v England, 1st ODI, Dambulla, starts 1430 local, 0900 GMT

After the mayhem in South Africa, it’s now time to return to a calmer, longer format of the game. Sri Lanka and England have hardly had time to catch their breath, but immediately face a five-match, 50-overs series beginning in Dambulla on Monday.England shook off their stomach bugs to ease to victory in a warm-up on Saturday, but they will be hoping to shake off much more, too: memories of their match here four years ago when they were toppled for 88, and overhauled in 13.5 overs.Paul Collingwood – one of two survivors along with James Anderson – would, of course, rather forget: “When I have memories like that I usually blank them out,” he admitted. “I don’t remember too much about it other than it turned quite a bit and they knocked the runs off pretty quickly. There’s no point looking back, we need to look forward.”The last time the two sides met in a bilateral series in 2006, England were walloped 5-0 on home soil. Andrew Flintoff’s left ankle was out for the series then, and it won’t be available now. Mahela Jayawardene recognises that this big blow helps Sri Lanka – whose last home series ended in 3-0 triumph against Bangladesh in July. But he won’t be underestimating England, believing they are stronger than in 2006. “England will be a good challenge for us.”Muttiah Muralitharan’s injured bicep has ruled him out of the first three matches at least. Muralitharan has not played one-day cricket since taking Sri Lanka to the World Cup final in April, owing to a combination of rest and county commitments. In any case Sri Lanka are keener to get him fit for their ensuing trip to Australia but Dilruwan Perera, the offspinner, replaces him for now.”It doesn’t make that big a difference,” insisted Jayawardene. “We’ve toured without Murali and done well and we played without him for almost a year when he had a shoulder problem. When our guys are pushed to the limit we tend to come back strongly.”Chaminda Vaas has also not featured in ODIs since the World Cup but he did play the ICC World Twenty20, which Muralitharan missed with an elbow problem. Vaas is back now, but even so Sri Lanka will limit his workload.The allrounder Kaushal Lokuarachchi comes in ahead of fellow legspinner Malinga Bandara. Lokuarachchi, Loku to his team, had a successful tour of England with Sri Lanka A this summer with both bat and ball. A spin academy product, he has 30 wickets in his 19, mostly sporadic, one-day appearances.

His inclusion allows Sri Lanka to assess him as an eventual replacement for Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayawardene knows already what Bandara can do, so now it’s time for Lokuarachchi to press his claims. “It’s good for us to try a few things right now, see what Loku has to offer and how we can have different combinations going forward.”Bell, untarnished by the World Twenty20, made a fluid century in the warm-up, while James Anderson bowled well yet again, taking three wickets. Ryan Sidebottom, recovered from a side strain, took the new ball and struck early. His first-change replacement, Stuart Broad, brushed aside memories of Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes, to take two wickets.All three pace bowlers acquitted themselves well under the eye of Ottis Gibson, England’s bowling coach for this tour. Allan Donald is unavailable owing to TV commitments in South Africa but Gibson – who has already worked at the ECB’s national academy in Loughborough – could be a longer-term candidate with Donald heading backto his former county Warwickshire.Phil Mustard, the sixth wicketkeeper England have used this year – no keeper won a central contract, either – is in line to open, as Matt Prior is out with a broken thumb. Much hype has surrounded Mustard since his eye-catching 49 in the Lord’s final for Durham, and Peter Moores has whisked him in, despite Dale Benkenstein, his county captain, urging caution in rushing him on to the international stage.Still, he arrives with 62 Championship victims under his belt this season, and 893 runs in limited-overs at a strike-rate of 111. Whether Paul Nixon, England’s forgotten keeper, feels slightly hard done-to is another story. Of the squad itself, Collingwood is excited: “All 15 players have a good chance of playing – and that’s the beauty of it. We believe we have the skill and depth here to win the series.”New regulations will take effect, namely that free-hits will be introduced for front foot no-balls; another fielder will be allowed outside the circle in Powerplays and the ball will be changed after 35 overs in each innings.”It gives the captains a few more options which in turn gives you a few more headaches and tactics,” said Collingwood. “With a third person outside the ring, it may help to bowl the spinners during that period. The free hit will also be exciting for the spectators and you may see the bowlers dragging their foot back a bit.”Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Jehan Mubarak, 8 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Dilhara Fernando.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Phil Mustard (wk), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ravi Bopara, 6 Paul Collingwood (capt), 7 Owais Shah, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Monty Panesar, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson.

Division One

Durham are on the verge of an unlikely survival in the first division after racking up a full hand of batting bonus points against Yorkshire at Headingley. Staring down the barrel overnight at 203 for 6, Dale Benkenstein and Ottis Gibson both struck centuries in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 220. Benkenstein has been the rock of Durham’s batting this season and his third century of the summer will go down as his most important, while Gibson displayed his rarely seen batting prowess. Durham’s cause was aided when rain arrived before tea and prevented any play in the final session. With Nottinghamshire claiming just a single point in their defeat against Sussex, both teams know that a draw here will see them both stay in the top flight.Lancashire endured a miserable day at The Rose Bowl as they saw the Championship claimed by Sussex and rain allowed just five overs against Hampshire. Iain Sutcliffe was bowled by James Bruce but this match is quickly becoming academic. However Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s captain, was quick to praise Sussex’s triumph: “Sussex have won more matches than us and are worthy champions so congratulations to them. There was no point in blaming the weather because we did all we could to win the Championship.”Ed Joyce fell one run short of a century as Middlesex stumbled towards the follow-on against Kent at Canterbury. After rain delayed the start until mid afternoon, Paul Weekes fell for 35 in his final first-class match. Joyce and David Nash added 107 for the sixth wicket but Joe Denly nipped in to break the partnership. Rob Ferley then struck to remove Chris Peploe before James Tredwell shifted Joyce for 99.For a full report of how Sussex scooped the Championship title inside three days by thrashing Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge click here.

Division Two

The batsmen continued to dominate at Cardiff as Glamorgan finally found some run-scoring form in the closing stages of the season against Gloucestershire. Daniel Cherry completed his first century of the summer and added 144 for the second wicket with Ben Wright before Wright became a rare wicket for Hamish Marshall. When Cherry was dismissed by Vikram Banerjee, David Hemp, Glamorgan’s new captain, took control with a handsome century, his third of the season and passed 1,000 Champinship runs. The lower order contributed a series of useful partnerships, especially Ryan Watkins, who helped Hemp add 98 for the sixth wicket. Glamorgan eased into a 72-run lead with the help of a mammoth 78 extras, which included 42 runs from no-balls.In the 70 minutes play that was possible at Grace Road, Essex were frustrated in their attempts to bowl Leicestershire out inside the follow-on target as John Sadler and James Allenby continued their unbeaten fifth-wicket stand. Allenby, who is making his Championship debut, was again impressive as he withstood all that Essex could throw at him. Sadler ended the truncated day 11 short of his first Championship ton of the season.However, with Worcestershire‘s game against Northamptonshire being rained out at Northampton, with no play possible, Essex are on the verge of clinching promotion. Worcestershire somehow need to engineer a win on the final day and hope for an extraordinary chain of events at Grace Road.The season is drawing to a tame conclusion at Derby after rain restricted play to 34.5 overs between Derbyshire and Surrey. However there was enough time for Wayne White to continue his promising Championship debut as he added the wickets of Neil Saker and Nayan Doshi to his two scalps from the previous day. Saker and Tim Murtagh had added 70 for the seventh wicket to reduce Surrey’s deficit to 90.

At least in the eyes of Kim Hughes, former Australian captain, there is no need for debate: Andrew Flintoff is, belatedly, the new Ian Botham and could go even further. And Hughes should know; he was captain during the 1981 Ashes series that Australia lost 3-1, a series remembered as `Botham’s Ashes’.”I try not to think about ’81 because it gives me nightmares,” Hughes told the Sydney-based Sun-Herald, “but as soon as I saw Flintoff, I thought, that’s Both (Botham). It’s Both all over again. He’s a mirror image, but … he’s a bigger man physically than Ian and looks even more of an athlete.”Flintoff has had an exceptional all-round series this summer, scoring 322 at 40.25 and taking 19 wickets before the final Test at The Oval. Fourteen summers ago, Botham scored 399 runs, took 34 wickets and 12 catches (Flintoff has taken three).But more than just the figures, says Hughes. “Flintoff and Both – they thrive on pressure and a competitive situation. It’s their presence. As an opposition captain, you’re not too sure what is going to happen. You’re thinking, shit, if this bloke bats for an hour, he’s not going to be blocking them back and he’s not going to be 10 not out. He’ll have taken the game away from us.”He dismissed the notion that both players were lucky. “Botham had a tremendous belief in himself and he was jammy, flukey. Flintoff is exactly the same. It happens too often just to be luck. They create luck. When they’re batting, they get an inside edge but it doesn’t hit the stumps. When they’re bowling, someone gets an inside edge and it does hit the stumps. You think, you lucky bastard. But it keeps happening.”And Hughes, who had a wretched series in 1981 averaging only 25, suggested that Flintoff could even surpass the considerable achievements and legend of Botham. His bowling, said Hughes, is quicker than Botham’s and he has now become a genuine strike bowler. Botham, on the other hand, found swing with the new ball but became a stock bowler later in the innings.He added that Flintoff’s batting, while comparable in strength with Botham’s, possessed a sounder technique. But he said Flintoff had to keep performing at his current level for a few more years to confirm his standing as an all-time great.”Flintoff could be a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. England has had some fine players over the years, but none of them since Both have had the magic that Ian had. Flintoff has got it. We’ve got a great in Warne and now England have a champ of their own. Flintoff could end up being a player we’re still raving about in 50 years. He’s that good.”