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On Wednesday it appeared as if the dispute between the Kenya Cricket Association and the striking players had been resolved. But following talks yesterday, it looks as if it is more of a ceasefire than an armistice.The two stumbling blocks remain salaries and contracts. “We want all our oustanding allowances and the salaries from last month to be paid in full before we start everything on a clean sheet,” Steve Tikolo said. “We don’t want the same scenario to repeat itself in the future.”Tikolo estimated that each player is owed around $4000, and this includes bonus money still owed from the World Cup. Kenya were not expected to progress very far and so the board offered to let the players keep any prize money. As it was, they reached the semi-final. Almost all that money remains outstanding, even though it was paid to the KCA shortly after the event. The board maintains that there are tax issues which need resolving before it can pay out.This raises questions as to whether the KCA, which is known to be financially strained, can afford to meet this demand.Tikolo also said that the players wanted one-year extensions to their contacts which expired on September 30 – the board offered two-month extensions, explaining that it did not have sufficient funds to make any longer commitment.

Stuart MacGill’s poor showing in the field got the spectators’ hackles up &copyGetty Images

Adam Gilchrist refused to wave the white flag, but admitted that Australia would need a monumental effort to ensure that Steve Waugh’s farewell Test isn’t remembered as an ignominious defeat. “We never give up hope,” he said with a wry smile. “And we always give it our best shot.”Gilchrist reckoned that Australia, who have set the standards for everyone else to match in recent seasons, would need to emulate India to stand any chance of salvaging something from the game. “When we do get the chance to bat, we need to learn from the way they batted … very patiently and watching the ball closely.”Despite acknowledging that the team had been physically and mentally taxed, Gilchrist said that there was no dearth of spirit in the team. “We’ve stuck to our task, but have been undone by some outstanding batting,” he said. “And a few catches have gone down, which has been one thing that’s let us down this series. I’ve been as responsible as anyone else.”He rated the Indians as the toughest opponents that he had faced. “It’s been the toughest home series I’ve played in. It’s been a real challenge to find ways to get these guys out. It’s one of the best batting line-ups in the world, going back a long way.”Asked what India had done differently to other sides, he said, “What they’ve done is been able to bat for long periods against us. You could point to the absence of McGrath and Warne, and also to their exceptional batting. I think it’s been a bit of both. [Virender] Sehwag and [Akash] Chopra have also done a great job opening the batting.”As for the two men who meted out the punishment today, Gilchrist didn’t hold back on the superlatives. “VVS seems extraordinary each time we play him. We can’t work out why he then goes away, and is left out of the team [for the 2003 World Cup]. As for Tendulkar, it was inevitable that he was going to come good. He looked a bit tentative yesterday, but was back in the groove today. He looked like the class act that he is.”There was some disappointment at the booing directed at Stuart MacGill after he dropped both Tendulkar and Laxman during the course of the day’s play. “I can understand that there’s a lot of frustration at not being part of a fairytale, after all the hype going into the game. But it’s the soft option to boo, the cheap option.”Gilchrist played one of the all-time great Test innings, 204 not out, at Johannesburg two seasons ago, to set up what Waugh termed two days ago as the most impressive victory of his tenure. A reprise is needed tomorrow, or the day after, depending on when India close their innings, if Australia – and Steve Waugh – are to leave the SCG with anything more than tears and regrets.

The second day’s play began badly for India, the Zimbabwean tail wagging merrily and pushing the score on to 287. Travis Friend was the party-pooper-in-chief for the Indians, making an unbeaten 60. As the day proceeded, however, things looked decisively up for the home side. Opener Shiv Sunder Das made his second Test ton, Rahul Dravid made an unbeaten half-century, and India reached 209/2 – still 88 behind.One cannot ascertain whether Das has a marked preference for oranges, but he certainly likes the ‘Orange City’ of Nagpur. In the 66th over of the day, Das leaned back and punched a Trevor Gripper off-break through the covers to bring up his second successive ton at Nagpur. The victims the first time around were Zimbabwe as well, so perhaps it is just the bowling then, and not the venue. Dravid, who amassed 200 when these teams clashed at the same stadium the last time around, was happy to pick up an unbeaten 57.It was on November 25th 2000 that Das brought up his maiden Test hundred. Stuart Carlisle will have bad memories of that match, but this one is shaping up to be just as bad. With Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly still to come, on paper, the best of the Indian batting sat in the pavilion for the entire day. Das, with his knock of 105 (203 b, 19×4 ) has made sure that Zimbabwe are on the back foot already. Unfortunately for the youngster, he chopped left-arm spinner Ray Price to Alistair Campbell at slip just before the close of play.The scoring rate may be an unimpressive 2.82, but it will not bother the Indians too much. The bowlers are tired, the wicket still very much full of runs, and an all-out attack on the third day beckons temptingly.Dravid clearly is not the man to take part in any such move. The Karnataka middle-order bat knows his place in the side, and indeed his role, and he was content just waiting for the loose ball. The Zimbabwean bowlers, unable to attack on this wicket, made the mistake of straying on the pads far too often and were duly punished. Dravid struck Brighton Watambwa beautifully through covers in the 72nd over of the innings to bring up his half century. The knock, that comes after a lay-off due to shoulder injury, included eight hits to the fence and came off 141 balls.Deep Dasgupta, who did not have a particularly good time behind the stumps, contributed solidly with the bat. Never one to score very quickly, Dasgupta had just one departure from dourness when he stepped down the track and hit Price straight back over his head for a six. Apart from that, it was very much a slow plod from Dasgupta.His vigil at the crease was brought to an end by a fine piece of bowling by the only spinner in this Zimbabwe team. Price, bowling around the wicket, bowled a tidy line, just short of a length and outside the off, spinning away a touch. Surprising Dasgupta, Price floated in an arm ball, the batsman shouldered arms and watched in amazement as the ball clipped the off-stump. Dasgupta’s 33 saw India reach 79 for the fall for the first wicket.But between the dismissals of Dasgupta and Das lay almost a whole day of attrition. Tomorrow India should shift gears. With Tendulkar at the crease, you can be sure that there will be a full house baying for boundaries. Whether the little master will oblige or not depends on how tidily Zimbabwe can bowl. If the bowling on the second day’s play is anything to go by, Nagpur can be sure that the advertising hoardings on the boundary ropes will take a bit of a pounding.

On a Friday where tight bowling was the order of the day, South Australia ground out 6/240 at barely two and a half runs an over after a struggle against tight,disciplined bowling from Tasmania on the opening day of the states’ Pura Cup contest at the Adelaide Oval.That they made as many as that was thanks to a Greg Blewett (70) and Jeff Vaughan (63) union of 115 for the fourth wicket in 162 minutes which absorbed much ofthe middle portion of the day. Blewett, who has found runs in recent times harder to score than the current West Indian top order, started cautiously and responsiblyafter SA lost three wickets for sixty before lunch. Blewett’s timing became crisper the longer he batted and it was perhaps only a little loss of concentration thataccounted for his demise, as he edged the persistent Ben Targett (3/54) to gully off the front foot half an hour after tea.Vaughan played in a confident vain from the word go, which was a good sign given that he has, in the past, been a sometimes edgy starter. He drove nicely on bothsides of the wicket in his three-hour long effort, before succumbing to an attempted glide to third man which went straight into the hands of second slip. It was anuntimely wicket as his senior partner Blewett had just gone and SA had fallen to 5/189.Redback debutant Mick Miller avoided the duck immediately but went to a refreshed Damien Wright in the next over and, with the new ball pending, SA were6/190 with an hour to play. Graham Manou had some tense moments, playing and missing at three in row from David Saker with the second new ball before helpingraise the fifty stand with Ben Johnson, who in the main drove with authority in his stay.Late in the day, Johnson edged a ball through third slip and gully for a boundary and then between gully and point off the next delivery for two. A frustrated Sakercouldn’t penetrate his defences completely and the left hander went to stumps with 37 against his name.Earlier, Tasmania’s bowlers snuck out three of the home side’s batsmen before lunch, with Shane Deitz (14) and David Fitzgerald (26) edging behind as they droveat the line, rather than at the pitch, of the ball. The prized scalp of Darren Lehmann (5) fell just before lunch, to a long hop from Targett which he casually hit tocover point. This was more a product of accurate bowling rather than huge sideways movement.As far as Targett was concerned he would have been well pleased with his day. Likewise Saker (1/59) bowled in workmanlike fashion with little success andWright (1/34) hustled and bustled in with enthusiasm as the run rate failed to reach any great heights.Tomorrow shapes as an interesting day and a potential launching pad for some exciting cricket, given that neither side has many points to its name in a season whichhas so far dogged both states with injury.

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side return to Premiership action today, with the Bhoys making the trip to Edinburgh for a midday kickoff against Hibernian.

Following the Hoops’ disappointing exit from European competition in midweek, the 56-year-old manager will certainly be hoping for a much-improved result and performance from his side at Easter Road – especially as Celtic could take a six-point lead at the top of the table with a victory over Shaun Maloney’s outfit.

So, will Postecoglou make any changes that started the 2-0 loss to Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night? Here’s how we think Celtic could line up against Hibs, as well as the latest team and injury news…

With Celtic not appearing to have any fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s clash, although Kyogo Furuhashi and David Turnbull do remain unavailable for selection, we predict that Postecoglou will make eight changes to the side that lined up against Bodo/Glimt.

Three of these changes come in the back four, with Liam Scales, Stephen Welsh and Anthony Ralston making way for Greg Taylor, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Josip Juranovic coming in at left-back, centre-back and right-back respectively.

There are a further two changes in the middle of the park, with Nir Bitton making way for club captain Callum McGregor, while Matt O’Riley – who Russell Martin dubbed a “two-footed” and “intelligent” player – gets the nod ahead of the Tom Rogic, and Reo Hatate also returns to the XI.

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In attack, Giorgos Giakoumakis is the only of the front three to retain his starting spot from midweek, with Daizen Maeda – who The Celtic Analysis dubbed a “great presser” – and James Forrest making way for Jota and Liel Abada on the left and right-wing respectively.

In other news: Huge blow: Ange drops fresh 5-word injury update, Celtic fans will be devastated

	Not crossing the fence: Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his commitment to England © Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen has insisted no amount of money will tempt him to join the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite offers coming his way to play in the multi-million dollar tournament, Pietersen says he’s focused on his England career, which is too important to him.No England player was involved in the first IPL auction as the tournament clashes with the start of the county season. However, interest was shown in a few leading stars such as Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff.”I know there is interest and, yes, there have been offers, etc etc, but it’s not something I’m particularly interested in,” Pietersen told . “Money’s not really too important, it’s not as if I need money right now,” he said. “I’m really enjoying doing what I’m doing. I love playing for England, I love playing for the spectators.””England has given me a fantastic opportunity to a fantastic life at the moment. So I’m fully committed 100% to playing for England, to winning games for England, to scoring thousands more runs for England.”Earlier, Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, had indicated that future editions of the tournament might be rescheduled in order to avoid a clash with England’s domestic season.

Bob Woolmer experienced the highs and lows of the South African team through the ’90s © Cricinfo Ltd

Gill Woolmer, the widow of late Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, has offered her good wishes to the South African team as they prepare to take on Australia in the World Cup semi-final in St Lucia. On the eve of the clash between the top two one-day sides, she urged the team to win it in memory of Bob Woolmer, quoting “do it for Bob – I hope they win”, referring to his stint as coach of South Africa in the 1990s.South Africa have a chance at redemption after they were lost out in a thrilling tie in the 1999 semi-final at Edgbaston. South Africa needed one to get off four balls with one wicket in hand before a farcical run-out ended their World Cup campaign, as Australia edged ahead on net run rate. The result left the South Africans devastated ,and Woolmer later referred to that moment as the darkest in his career. Woolmer, who later took over as coach of Pakistan, was murdered in Jamaica after Pakistan’s early exit from the World Cup.The team has been flooded with good luck messages from several supporters in South Africa, including ex-players. , a South African daily, forwarded over 1000 SMS messages of support from readers to the team.”They must play like they played against England,” Helen Zille, the Cape Town mayor, was quoted as saying on the website . “We’re all with them, behind them, holding our breaths and supporting them all the way.”Gary Kirsten, the former South African opener who also played in the Edgbaston semi-final, also extended his wishes, as did the father of current opener AB de Villiers. “It’s just going to be a mental battle,” Kirsten was quoted on the same website. “We’ve got the players. We chased down 438 not so long ago – and they’ll still have that in their memory.””AB said we have a very good chance of whipping them and they’re all in very good spirits,” said de Villiers senior. de Villiers slammed 92 against Australia in a group stage match in St Kitts recently.

Simsek: ‘The only option available is that he [Atapattu] has got to have surgery now’ © AFP

Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan captain, has been ruled out of the three-Test series in England beginning in April because of a recurring back injury.Jehan Mubarak will replace Atapattu while Mahela Jayawardene will lead the side with Kumar Sangakkara as his vice-captain. Atapattu missed the home series against Pakistan but was picked in the 16-member squad for England subject to a fitness Test.Following the news Atapattu said: “It is so sad that I am not able to make the tour. England is a special place for any cricketer to perform. On my part I am reaching the end of my career and would have loved to make some runs there,” but added, “Health comes first before cricket.”Atapattu was the leading scorer for Sri Lanka on their last tour to England in 2002 topping the Test batting with 277 runs at 55 from three Tests and a highest score of 185 at Lord’s. It was in England that he also made his highest one-day international score of 132 not out at Lord’s, to help Sri Lanka win the triangular series in 1998, an innings which he still regards as his best in this form of the game.Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, told AFP. “When he sat out of the Pakistan series we were expecting that he would recover in time and be available for the tougher challenge in England, but he has failed to recover. Obviously it’s a severe blow for us. He was our best batsman in England four years ago in the Test series and with him out we will find it extremely difficult to fill that slot.”Tommy Simsek, the physiotherapist, said that Atapattu may have to undergo surgery if he wanted to prolong his career. “Marvan’s problem was that the disc bone on his back was touching a nerve and we were hoping that it would heal naturally with rest, but a scan a few days back revealed that there’s no improvement,” said Simsek. “The only option available is that he has got to have surgery now.”

Chris Harris is batting again and should be throwing within three months © Getty Images

Twenty20 may not yet have a presence in New Zealand, but four Black Caps took the chance to hone their skills in cricket’s latest craze in England on Tuesday. East Grinstead Sports Club’s picturesque oval played host to the county side Sussex and a Lashings World XI containing Chris Cairns, Chris Harris and the Marshall twins, James and Hamish.Only one Twenty20 match has been played in New Zealand, which was the inaugural international against Australia in February, and Harris said after that game he believed there was a place for it back home with 5pm starts. Cairns, the Man of the Match, was in fine touch, hitting a brisk 37 with two towering sixes down the ground, and delivering a tight spell that included a wicket with his third ball.Harris was stumped cheaply after a typically scratchy start but, significantly, showed no ill-effects of the shoulder injury he suffered in December when he bowled, and rattled Sussex’s Carl Hopkinson with a change of pace. Harris is not able to throw, but said he expected to be ready in two to three months. New Zealand’s one-day tri-series in Zimbabwe is less than three months away.James Marshall had some reason to feel hard done by after Hamish not only got to bat ahead of him, but had a bowl as well. James was given regular overs last season for his province Northern Districts, but it was Hamish’s action at training that caused Richie Richardson, the Lashings captain, to ask why he did not get a go for New Zealand.With his very first delivery, Hamish had Luke Wright caught at deep mid-on by James. If Hamish can develop his medium pacers it would be an asset to New Zealand with Harris and Nathan Astle in the twilight of their careers.The Lashings XI was a mix of past and present internationals. Herschelle Gibbs and Greg Blewett were at the top of the order, VVS Laxman and Rashid Latif batted in the middle and Javagal Srinath and Vasbert Drakes took the new ball. The Lashings total of 144 was good enough for an eight-run victory and the ominous six boundaries taken by Ian Ward and Murray Goodwin off the first two overs of Sussex’s chase counted for little at the end.

New Zealand’s hopes of getting a good start to their women’s Test match with India at Vapi, took a blow, almost from the outset. Asked to bat on a pitch that offered little suggestion of how it would play, the lost two key wickets to disappointing decisions.Kate Pulford, one of the opening batsmen, was adjudged to have edged the ball behind when her bat was well away from the ball after only five balls and her fellow opener, Maria Fahey was given out caught bat-pad off her toe. The road to recovery was a slow grind and the scoring rate barely reached two runs per over throughout the 94 overs bowled.Katey Martin, who was one of six New Zealand women making their Test debut, settled in for the long haul. There was a significant disappointment when Maia Lewis, New Zealand’s captain, started aggressively but was caught out from the bottom edge for only nine runs.Martin was joined by Haidee Tiffen and they grafted their way to 81 before Martin, in sight of a half-century on debut, played back to Neetu David, the left-arm spinner, and was caught behind for 46, scored off 139 balls in 176 minutes of batting.The message was to build partnerships, but at every stage they seemed to be developing, a wicket was lost. Tiffen produced a monumental display of control, given her attacking bent, and by stumps she had batted for 264 minutes for her unbeaten 38.New Zealand were disappointed that they had not been able to score faster and at stumps were left in No Man’s Land on 141 for 7. The pick of the Indian bowlers was Nooshin Al Khadeer who took 3 for 36 from her 27 overs. Neetu David took 2 for 37 from 29 overs.