John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, has warned that Brett Lee might face legal action if he delivered a beamer on Australian soil. In the third one-day international between New Zealand and Australia Lee bowled a beamer to Brendon McCullum. “It is the fourth time this season that he’s beamed one of our guys. He’s been apologetic every time he’s done it,” Bracewell is quoted as saying by the ABC website.”He was apologetic when he came round the wicket and did it to Chris Harris, and Paul Wiseman, and he’s apologised twice to Brendon,” said Bracewell. “I’m not sure if he apologised to [Abdul] Razzaq. That’s a lot of apologies.”Bracewell believes that Lee could become the first cricketer to be taken to court for bowling a beamer following a recent incident that occurred in rugby league. Jarrod McCracken successfully sued the Melbourne Storm club, and their players Steve Kearney and Marcus Bai, for damages after his career was ended by a spear tackle. “I think it’s going to be more serious if it happens in Australia with the Jarrod McCracken call, if it does hit somebody,” said Bracewell. “That’s Australian law, the precedent’s been set there which is pretty dangerous for your country, not mine.”Lee, who apologised to McCullum after the offending delivery, has said, “Unfortunately the ball came out and it hit him, thank God it didn’t hurt him,” Lee said. “I know when I was beamed accidentally by Razzaq, your first impression is to go crazy. He [McCullum] lost it there for 15-20 seconds and I went up and apologised and said ‘I would never mean to do that’.”

Polly Umrigar

I rate Vinoo as one of the best left-arm spinners of all time. He could bowl on matting as well as on turf. The way he bowled at Feroz Shah Kotla was remarkable. If you look at the number of overs he bowled in the first innings and the number of runs he gave to take those eight wickets, his mastery over the Pakistan batsmen becomes clear.The Pakistanis, used to seamers, were comfortable against the new-ball pair of Lala Amarnath and GS Ramchand. But once Vinoo and Ghulam Ahmed came into the attack they began to struggle.On hard Indian wickets Vinoo used to bowl tirelessly, pitching it at the right length consistently, drawing the batsman out and deceiving him in flight. Vinoo was a master of deception in the air. Before the batsman had played a ball, Vinoo could judge as to where exactly to bowl to him. He normally attacked the off side with his flight, and he would get lbws with his faster ones, pushing the ball in with his arm.And so it was with the Pakistani batsmen, who were trapped one by one. To get 13 wickets in a match you need to have some class – and Vinoo was top-class.Fazal Mahmood

Vinoo was one of the most outstanding allrounders India has ever produced. He and I had played together for the Commonwealth team against the MCC at Ceylon earlier that year.In the Delhi Test Vinoo played havoc on Pakistan’s batting line-up. We were happily placed at 50-odd without loss in our first innings when he struck. He was simply unplayable throughout the match and, with the exception of Hanif Mohammad, he tormented all our batsmen with his deceptive bowling. He bowled with immaculate length and direction, spun it well, and intelligently exploited the soggy wicket. Often the ball came at us chest-high.Also, Vinoo was ably used by Lala Amarnath, who I think was one of the shrewdest Indian captains I have ever observed. Lala hailed from Lahore and had played with some of our players in the Ranji Trophy and zonal tournaments before Partition. He knew most of our cricketers and exercised his knowledge both on and off the field. Lala set an attacking field for his bowler, and Vinoo for his part was right on target from the first ball on.I would also put on record that we were playing our first Test, after having attained Test status only two or three months before. Our batsmen couldn’t cope with the pressure. But I am not offering an excuse to negate Vinoo’s great performance in the first Test. He was the best at Delhi.

Punjab 159 for 4 (Sodhi 51) trail Railways 355 (Ali 80, Vineet 5-91) by 196 runs
Scorecard
How they were outLike they have done all season, Railways summoned every ounce of collective responsibility and fought back when the game was drifting away to regain their dominant position at the end of the second day’s play at Mohali. After adding only 68 to their overnight total, Railways were soon made to look inadequate by the Punjab openers, but four crucial strikes in the post-tea session shifted the balance comprehensively in their favour.For the second day running, the tea break proved to be the fulcrum that tilted the game. Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Ravneet Ricky had waltzed through the second session with some merry drives and cuts and the Railways bowling, despite their variety, appeared to lack the penetrative quality. The pitch had gradually turned into a benign pancake and Sodhi began in a turbo-charged vein. Ricky joined soon and the two eased the score to 94 for 0 by tea.But Madan Yadav, a left-arm spinner whose action resembles Sunil Joshi, produced a four-over spell in which he varied his length, pace and angle, and undid both batsmen to even the contest. Harvinder Singh then produced a fizzer of a bouncer and Kulamani Parida ripped out a sharp offspiner. Punjab had lost four wickets for 34, their last recognised pair were at the crease, and thoughts of the first-innings lead were rapidly evaporating.If Sodhi was culpable of going too far back in his crease and cutting straight onto his stumps, after an innings where powerful punches were interspersed with uncharacteristic restraint, then Ricky was simply reckless. He had frozen his scoring shots initially in his innings and grafted hard to get into his stride. Soon he drove and flicked confidently and attacked the spinners with some lofted drives, one of which soared for a massive straight six. But adventurous forays turned into mindless risks and a needless swipe off Madan across the line cost him his wicket. It was symbolic of both their careers so far – promising much initially but not managing to kick on.Ankur Kakkar had no clue when confronted with a mean, straight, screaming bouncer from Harvinder and the prod ballooned up to the left of the slip cordon. Jai Prakash Yadav had the time to charge to the ball and pull off an acrobatic catch diving forward (109 for 3). Gaurav Gupta offered no shot to Parida’s good-length ball that turned appreciably and Pankaj Dharmani was left with the massive task of reproducing a defiant classic, like the one he managed in the semi-final against Mumbai.The highlight of the morning was Raja Ali continuing his tenacious innings and adding some valuable runs with the tail. A journeyman cricketer who has nine years of domestic cricket behind him, Ali survived several lucky moments on his way to 80. For the second day in a row, VRV Singh charged in and caught the splice on several occasions but groaned and cussed as catches went to ground. Ricky and Dharmani fluffed chances and a few more edges flew wide of the slips. Sudheer Wankhede, the wicketkeeper, chipped in with a cheeky 35 as Railways harboured hopes of reaching the 400-mark. The tail, though, disappeared in no time with Vineet Sharma wrapping up the last man to finish with a five-wicket haul.The Punjab tail, though, may need to do much more if they have to have any chance of defying a Railways bunch whose combined effort appears to be exponentially greater than the sum of the parts.How they were outRailwaysKhaonolkar lbw b Gagandeep 9 (292 for 6) Missed one that came in after pitching. Wankhede c Sawal b Rajesh 35 (345 for 7) Pushed at one that kicked up from a good length. The edge was easily snapped up at first slip.Ali c Dharmani b Vineet 80 (355 for 8) Hesitantly pushed at one that seamed away and edged straight to the wicketkeeper.Harvinder b Rajesh 1 (355 for 9) Tried to cut a straight one but the ball kept low and crashed into his stumps.Parida b Vineet 0 (355 all out) Comprehensively beaten by an indipper that cut him in half and hit idle stump.Punjab Sodhi hit wicket b Madan 51 (102 for 1) Attempted to cut off the back foot but went too far back and struck the stumps with his bat. Ricky b Madan 47 (109 for 2) Couldn’t connect while trying a swipe across the line. Kakkar c JP Yadav b Harvinder 2 (109 for 3) Received a well-directed bouncer and fended it to the left of third slip where Jai Prakash Yadav completed an acrobatic catch.Gupta lbw b Parida 13 (136 for 4) Didn’t offer a shot to a good-length ball on off stump.Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is on the staff of Cricinfo.

Scorecard
Steve Harmison took six wickets to make it four wins out of four for Durham, whose best-ever start to a championship season shows no sign of abating. This time it was Lancashire who were put to the sword in a convincing nine-wicket win. The visitors started the third day in fine form, jolting out the last five wickets for just 38 runs as Lancashire slipped to 173 all out. Harmison took four of the five wickets in a return of 6 for 52, with match figures of 9 for 84. Andrew Flintoff was his first victim of the day, trapped lbw for 55 after adding a lucky 13 to his overnight score, including two fours off Mick Lewis; the dismissal of Lancashire and England’s talisman triggered the collapse. Flintoff may have considered himself unlucky to be given out by the umpire, Steve Garrett, a Nottinghamshire policeman on the reserve list, when he was way down the pitch. But there was nothing lucky about the honest Harmison’s bowling, and he was rewarded accordingly, adding Warren Hegg, James Anderson and Muttiah Muralitharan to his list of victims in quick succession. Lewis removed Dominic Cork at the other end, leaving Durham to chase just 35. Jon Lewis fell cheaply – Anderson inducing his edge for 5 – but that was a mere hiccup and Mike Hussey and Paul Collingwood sealed the match without further alarm.
Scorecard
Yorkshire fought back superbly in their second innings against Leicestershire to set up an intriguing final day at Grace Road. By the close the visitors were on 261 for 3 after Leicestershire declared on 261 for 9, a lead of 403, which they assumed would be more than enough. But the gritty Anthony McGrath led Yorkshire’s charge, posting an unbeaten 70, with Michael Vaughan adding 55. Dinesh Mongia was Leicestershire’s topscorer with 70, and he was strongly supported by Paul Nixon, who struck 68. The Yorkshire bowlers shared the wickets around and had chipped away at the majority of them before declaring. Yorkshire will start the final day needing a further 143 runs for victory, but Leicestershire will also fancy their chances of taking the seven remaining wickets for their first championship win of the season.
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Alastair Cook and Ravinder Bopara spared Essex’s blushes on the third day at Northampton, with a stand of 177 for the second wicket. Cook was unbeaten by the close on 131, along with Andy Flower (44 not out). Essex’s first innings had earlier crumbled to 178 all out, with Johann Louw mopping up the sorry tail early in the morning to finish with 6 for 51l, but the visitors made a much better showing in their second innings to post 282 for 2 by the close. Heads fell when Louw again struck early, as Will Jefferson feathered through to the reserve keeper Kiki Wessels for 11. Although they are still 92 runs behind, they will be in much better spirits than yesterday. But tomorrow is when it counts, and they still have a whole day to survive.
Scorecard
Worcestershire are strongly placed to seal victory at New Road. After shooting out Derbyshire for 314 in their second innings, the hosts will require just 99 runs for victory when they get their second innings underway on Saturday. Derbyshire’s first innings closed early when Kabir Ali held a return catch off Ian Hunter, with just three runs added to their overnight score of 290. They followed on and were soon in trouble again when Matthew Mason trapped Steve Stubbings lbw for 7. But then Michael di Venuto and Jonathan Moss made a game attempt to rescue the visitors, adding 67 for the second wicket. Di Venuto strode on to 51 before he fell to Ali, inducing a minor collapse as 100 for 2 became 115 for 4, Chaminda Vaas claiming two quick wickets lbw. Moss went on to make 75, and Luke Sutton (45) and Graeme Welch (63) also batting well lower down the order. Nevertheless, it’s more than likely that their valiant efforts will be in vain.

Division One

TableAn impressive bowling performance secured Essex a 39-run win over Worcestershire. As Stephen Moore and Graeme Hick were adding 66 for the first wicket, Essex’s 203 for 9 did not look like being enough. However, the part-time medium-pace of Will Jefferson claimed two scalps – including Hick – while James Middlebrook weighed in with three. Earlier, Jefferson top-scored for Essex with 39, as none of the Essex batsmen could convert solid starts.Northamptonshire eased to a five-wicket win against Gloucestershire after an opening stand of 166 between Martin Love and Tim Roberts. Love remained unbeaten on 97 and guided Northants through a mini wobble as the winning line approached. Gloucestershire had been rescued from 69 for 5 by Mark Hardinges’ 63 after Ben Phillips had taken three quick wicketsMiddlesex made the most of the flat Southgate pitch to amass 314 for 5 against Nottinghamshire, enough to give them a 31-run win. Paul Weekes hit a run-a-ball 106 and Scott Styris gave the innings real momentum with 82 from 64 balls. Ed Joyce added the final flourish as his unbeaten 41 came from only 18 deliveries. Notts were forced to play their shots and lost wickets at regular intervals. Samit Patel’s 82 was entertaining but came too late to change the course of the matchHampshire cruised to a seven-wicket win against Glamorgan with more than seven over remaining. Nic Pothas gave their run chase the ideal base with an aggressive 76 and Craig McMillan guided Hampshire home in style with a rapid 49. Shaun Udal and Shane Warne had restricted Glamorgan’s innings, following a positive start from Robert Croft and Matthew Elliott. Croft top-scored with 88 but was short of support.

TableIan Ward blasted 93 from 75 balls helping Sussex power to a seven-wicket win over Durham. Chris Adams supported him with 58 from 49 balls as Sussex won with more than 15 overs to spare. Durham’s batting stuttered along as James Kirtley took four wickets. Dale Benkenstein top-scored with 57 but their total of 195 was never going to be enough on a good batting strip at Arundel.Darren Maddy made an unbeaten 107 as Leicestershire beat Warwickshire by seven wickets with eight balls to spare. He added 100 for the first with with Tom New to put Leicestershire on track. They had reduced Warwickshire to 43 for 4 and would have expected to chase less than 200, but Jonathan Trott (93 not out) and Alex Loudon (51) led a recovery for Warwickshire. Ashley Giles made a successful return to action following his hip injury, taking 1 for 44 in his nine overs.Scotland earned themselves a thrilling tie against Derbyshire when Dewald Nel scampered a single from the final ball at Derby. Dougie Lockhart’s unbeaten 88 from 98 balls enabled Scotland to recover from 55 for four, but it wasn’t quite enough to get them past the winning post. Michael di Venuto’s 112 was the mainstay of Derbyshire’s 220 for 8 and Ant Botha scored a rapid 33 towards the end of the innings.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union has changed its PR tack in the face of adverse publicity which dogged some of its senior officials during the aborted ICC hearing in Harare. Whereas before it relied on bluster and the pro-government Daily Herald to get its message across, now it appears to be undertaking what almost amounts to a charm offensive.The ZCU has been without a website for more than a year, and local journalists have hardly been wooed in the way that most other national boards try to get them “on message”. But in the last few days the ZCU has announced that it will have a weekly column in a local paper and the Independent has carried an interview with Ozias Bvute in which he looked to get across the point that he was not the pariah many have made him out to be.Until now the board has continued to maintain that there is a conspiracy against Zimbabwe cricket and has cut off any media source it sees as being against it or its senior officials. That’s the way things are done in Zimbabwe, and the BBC has been banned in its entirety for daring to criticise the Mugabe government.Wisden Cricinfo, which used to run the official ZCU website, has received the ZCU cold shoulder, and Peter Chingoka has told reporters that the ZCU will not longer have any contact with us. So questions go unanswered, and even offers to allow Chingoka to have his unedited say are ignored.The Independent at the weekend cited examples of how it had recently posed questions to Chingoka about an incident of alleged intimidation only for him to go straight to the Herald – where a unchallenging reception was guaranteed – with his side of the story. But no longer.The interview with Bvute was revealing for what he didn’t say more than what he did. He was at pains to explain his side of recent events and the circumstances surrounding the breakdown of the relationship between the rebels and the board.But in a separate article explaining how the board sought to get across itsw side of the dispute with the rebels, the Independent’s Itai Dzamara couldn’t help but suspect that all was not as it seemed. “We were frank on this one,” he wrote. “It didn’t sound right. Period! Both parties must have had skeletons in their cupboards. I mean the ZCU board and the white players. But certainly, in the chronology of events as related by the union, we smelt a rat!”There were enough questions raised during last week’s truncated hearing in Harare for even the board to realise that loudly and repeatedly maintaining that all was well in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary would no longer suffice. However, it has not yet grasped that merely smiling and giving newspapers your side of the story is not enough. But it’s a start.

One of the most common remarks made whenever a New Zealand cricketer gets injured is that misfortune never seems to hit other countries in the way it hits New Zealanders.While it might seem that the fates have conspired against New Zealand in these matters the truth is, of course, a little different.New Zealand’s lack of playing numbers, by comparison to most other countries, leaves it vulnerable to the loss of its key players to injury.But when considering the effects on other countries, ponder the plight of Australia’s Jason Gillespie.This man has to be a case of a walking medical textbook on sports-related injuries if ever there was.His latest mishap occurred during the just-completed Test match in Colombo against Pakistan.He tore a calf muscle and now faces the prospect of missing the first Test in the Ashes series at Brisbane starting on November 7.Gillespie, you will recall from last summer, was the one bowler capable of getting right in among the Kiwi batsmen during that result-less series.Fortunately for the Australians, they have a production line of bowlers well capable of ensuring the English have no respite whoever they face in Brisbane.But try this for a list of injury complaints, three foot injuries, stress fractures in the back, a shoulder injury, a groin injury, a side injury, another back injury, a crook hamstring and never to be forgotten, the broken leg he suffered during his horrific collision with Steve Waugh in Sri Lanka in 1999.All of these have afflicted Gillespie since 1997.Yet in that time, he has still managed to play 34 Tests and take 126 wickets at the healthy average of 26.36.While New Zealand bowlers might have suffered more debilitating and career-ending injuries, most notably Geoff Allott and Dion Nash, the fact remains they are not alone in the wear and tear they suffer, and nor is New Zealand alone with the problems of fast bowler breakdown syndrome.

Sharad Pawar, the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, will stand for the post of president of the BCCI in the elections on September 29. Pawar was nominated from Punjab on Saturday.Considering the rotational policy of the BCCI with regard to the presidential elections, it was the turn of states in the North Zone to nominate their candidates. Those selected is usually from the area itself – Pawar, of course, is a West Zone man.There is a precedent for such zone-hopping, though – in 1993, IS Bindra, a resident of Chandigarh in North India, was elected from the West Zone, and in 1990, Madhavrao Scindia, who is from Madhya Pradesh in Central India, was elected from the North Zone.Speaking to , GS Walia, the treasurer of the Punjab Cricket Association, said: “Since the situation was fluid and no one from the North was coming forth to fight the elections we decided to nominate Pawar to attend the meeting from our side.”

MCC has announced a further £1 million investment in ground improvements at Lord’s, less than a year after an $8.2 million refurbishment of the pavilion.The Indoor School and the Mound Stand will benefit from the expenditure. The School will have a new Supergrasse playing surface installed, while the Mound Stand, which was opened in 1987, will have its distinctive marquee-style rook replaced as the existing structure has reached the end of its lifespan.”These projects reflect MCC determination to continue investing in Lord’s, to ensure that our world-famous ground retains its world-class status,” explained Roger Knight, the MCC’s secretary and chief executive. “We want the ground to look at its best both for the coming cricket seasons and, looking further ahead, for the archery competition in the London Olympics of 2012.”Both projects will start at the end of the summer and are expected to be completed by the start of next season.

Division One

Points TableShaun Udal spun Hampshire to a convincing win against Warwickshire by an innings and 86 runs, ahead of the teams’ C&G trophy final on Saturday. Starting the day on 145 for 4, Nick Knight moved through to his second hundred of the season, but he was the sixth wicket to fall when Dimitri Mascarenhas trapped him LBW for 116. Warwickshire’s first innings subsided quickly, apart from some lusty blows from Machaya Ntini, crumbling to 258 all out. Following on, they faired no better, as Udal took his season-best figures of 6 for 44, as Hampshire dismissed the visitors for a lowly 232 to take them to the top of the first division.Glamorgan hold a slim lead of 158 against Nottinghamshire with just one wicket left in hand, at Cardiff. Nottinghamshire were earlier bowled out for 283, with Dean Cosker grabbing 4 for 57 to give the visitors a first-innings lead of 132. Glamorgan, who were dismissed for just 151 in their first innings, stumbled to 94 for 5, but a sixth wicket partnership of 118 between Mike Powell and Alex Wharf steadied their innings. Powell fell four short of his hundred but Wharf ended the day undefeated on exactly 100, with Glamorgan on 290 for 9.Middlesex lost their last four wickets for 59 runs, as Gloucestershire dismissed the visitors for 297 to hold a slender first-innings lead of 36. Malinga Bandara ended with 5 for 71, his best figures of the season. All Gloucestershire’s batsmen got useful starts in their second innings, but only Kadeer Ali went on to capitalise: he top-scored with 61, as the hosts ended the day on 261 for 6, with a lead of 297.

Division Two

Points TablePaul Collingwood enhanced his claims for selection in England’s squad ahead of the fifth Ashes Test next week, with an unbeaten and patient hundred, his sixth of the season for Durham. He came to the wicket after Jimmy Maher had been dismissed for 7. Two further wickets fell to leave the home side struggling on 59 for 3, but Collingwood combined with Dale Benkenstein, who also struck a century, in an unbeaten partnership worth 204. Earlier, Derbyshire were bowled out for 326 with Luke Sutton remaining unbeaten on 55. Durham lead by 167 runs with seven second-innings wicket left in hand.Lancashire gained a slim lead of 12 in their match against Northamptonshire, as they were bowled out for 301. James Anderson dismissed both Martin Love and Robert White cheaply to leave Northants tottering on 33 for 2 in their second innings. But Uzman Afzaal and Bilal Shafayat then put on 183 to stabalise the innings: Afzaal struck his second century of the season, falling three short of 150, and Shafayat made 80. David Sales struck 77, as the home side went to stumps on 361 for 6, with a lead of 349 runs.Gareth Batty struck 46, and Kabir Ali an unbeaten 37, as Worcestershire were bowled out for 290 against Leicestershire, who had yesterday compiled 405 in their first innings. Leicestershire, in their second innings, were forced to consolidate after losing three quick wickets with just 77 on the board. Tom New struck 49 before Kabir Ali bowled him, and Aftab Habib was left unbeaten on 52 as Leicestershire reached 197 for 5 at stumps, with a lead of 312.