Simon Jones has been passed fit after recovering from a stomach bug, and is certain to play in the second Test at Durban, which starts on Boxing Day. Jones had withdrawn from practice at Kingsmead on Friday morning, complaining of a bug which struck overnight, but he made a rapid recovery on Saturday.The news was the perfect birthday present for Jones, who turned 26 today. It was Jones who sparked England’s recovery on the fourth day at Port Elizabeth, first grabbing a spectacular outfield catch to dismiss Graeme Smith, then taking four important wickets when he bowled.Probable England line-up for second Test
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Simon Jones, 11 Stephen Harmison.South African squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Hashim Amla, Andrew Hall, Shaun Pollock, Charl Langeveldt, Thami Tsolekile (wk), Nicky Boje, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn.

Scorecard

Mike Hussey and Perth’s oppressive heat combined to subject Victoria to another tough day in their Pura Cup match against Western Australia at the WACA. At the close, Western Australia were 6 for 414, a lead of 259, with Hussey unbeaten on 202.On a day when temperatures as high as 42 degrees were recorded in Perth, Victoria wilted. A brief shower during the tea break helped reduce some of the heat, and the 20-minute delay which ensued would have been welcomed most by Victoria’s bowlers. But is was temporary respite.The star was Hussey, who completed the second double hundred of his career shortly before bad light brought a premature end to the day. He smashed 31 fours, and moved to within 10 runs of 7000 in the competition, offering only one chance, when on 131, but Shane Warne spilt the slip catch.It was a day to forget for Warne, who ended with 1 for 84, although none of the bowlers seriously threatened to check Hussey’s progress. Resuming on 0 for 129, Justin Langer was caught behind by Peter Roach off Michael Lewis for 76 inside an hour, but Chris Rogers (40) carried on where he had left off before falling to an outstanding diving catch by Warne.Hussey and Ryan Campbell then combined for an 88-run sixth wicket partnership, Campbell taking on the aggressive role with a 62-ball 46.

Younis Khan, recently appointed Pakistan’s vice-captain, is upbeat about the Indian tour, and inspired by the memory of his father and the words of Imran Khan. Younis’s father had died last month, and he intends to dedicate this series to his memory.”Just a day before he passed away I spoke to him [my father] on telephone and he kept on telling me that I had a lot more to give to Pakistan," said Younis, speaking to . "That I should work harder on my game and be more responsible in my approach to life." Younis, who caught the first available flight home as soon as he learnt of his father’s death in Perth, has never played a Test against India.”It was my father’s greatest desire to see me always perform well when I went out on the field in the Pakistan colours," Younis continued. "He was a very patriotic person who didn’t like it whenever we lost or I failed to do well."Younis was appointed vice-captain in place of the experienced Yousuf Youhana. Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, had backed Younis to be the captain of the side after expressing disappointment over Inzamam-ul-Haq’s captaincy in Australia. “When a legend like Imran backs you publicly, it means something and it’s a big boost," said Younis. "I try to play my cricket like him [Imran] without taking too much pressure.”The Indian tour is a high-profile one and as the vice-captain I would like to see the team return home leaving a very good impression behind with the Indian people as good human beings and good sportsmen."

India 449 (Sehwag 201, Laxman 79*, Kaneria 5-127) and 25 for 0 need 358 more runs to beat Pakistan 261 for 2 (Younis 84*, Hameed 76, Afridi 58) and 570
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Pakistan made a concerted push for a series-equalling victory on thefourth day of the Bangalore Test, bowling, batting, and then bowling againin an attempt to speed the game towards its conclusion. Pakistan firstbowled India out for 449, getting a lead of 121, then three of their batsmen rattled uphalf-centuries as they put up 261 for 2 to extend that lead to382, and Inzamam-ul-Haq finally inserted India back in for six oversbefore stumps. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir managed to see the dayout, leaving Pakistan a minimum of 90 overs on the morrow in which to tryand bowl India out.Pakistan would have left themselves more time to bowl at the Indianbatsmen in the evening had they been able to capitalise on a near-perfectstart to the morning session that yielded them three quick wickets andleft India tottering at 396 for 9. But VVS Laxman, having lost threetailend partners to the scorching pace of Mohammad Sami and clevervariations of Danish Kaneria, finally found some support in the form oflast man Anil Kumble. Laxman and Kumble detained Pakistan for 19 overs,added 53 runs for the last wicket, and extended the Indian innings beyondlunch.Shahid Afridi was the man who finally brought an end to the Indianinnings, bowling Kumble with his superfast change-of-pace ball. Afridithen padded up and emerged with Yasir Hameed, and proceeded to make up forlost time by lashing a half-century off just 26 balls, the fastest by aPakistani batsman in Tests, and the joint second-fastest overall. Irfan Pathan and Laksmipathy Balaji had no answer to Afridi’s belligerence, and Pathan’s attempt to bounce Afridionly resulted in the fielder at deep square leg having to retrieve theball from the boundary several times. Pathan’s woes continued when hepalmed an Afridi hit over the boundary for six, giving the batsman hisfifty. It was electric stuff, and Pakistan were back in the hunt.Sourav Ganguly had to resort to the legspin of Sachin Tendulkar to try andquell Afridi, and Tendulkar, bowling from round the wicket with thelegside boundary manned as if to stop an invading army, soon had Afridistumped for 58 (91 for 1). Indeed, after having sped quickly out of theblocks, Pakistan found themselves in marshy territory for a while againstthe leg-stump line of Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, and at one stage lookedto be taking up too much time.

But Younis Khan, who could do no wrong in this match, batted brilliantlyonce again to add 84 not out to his first-innings 267. With so manyfielders on the leg side, Younis spent the better part of his inningsimprovising, mostly with excellent reverse-sweeps. After being reverse-sweptseveral times, Kumble was not amused when Younis suddenly changed hisstance and the grip on the bat and clubbed him over the cover fielder, asif he were a left-handed batsman, for a boundary. Kumble’s one consolationwas the wicket of Yasir Hameed for 78 (183 for 2), his only wicket of thematch.Pakistan would have dearly loved at one least wicket before close of play,and there is every reason to believe that Inzamam would have donesomersaults across the field had one of his opening bowlers managed to getSehwag out. Indeed Sami, who has bowled his heart out in this game, didcome close, producing a nasty lifter that Sehwag fended off with hisgloves, but the ball just fell short of gully.Even so, there was much to commend about Pakistan’s effort, the dedicationand resolve in the ranks being symbolised by Sami, who bowled unchangedfor ninety minutes in the morning; the intelligence by Younis, who battedinventively, and by Inzamam, who had to have his thinking cap on all day;and the raw aggression by Afridi, who has had a real impact on the sidesince being drafted in at Kolkata. Even if they cannot force a resulttomorrow, there are still many things of value that Pakistan will takeaway with them from this series.How they were outIndia Tried to cut a short ball over point but couldn’t clear the fielder. A massive swipe at a legbreak ended in the hands of mid-on. Swung across the line at Kaneria and was adjudged to have got a thin bottom edge. Beaten all ends up by a faster ball.Pakistan Charged down the track, missed, and was stumped by yards. Caught on the crease by an incoming delivery.

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.

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.

West Indies bowler Jermaine Lawson has been reported for a suspect bowling action, the ICC confirmed on Sunday. Lawson’s action was called into question by the match officials after the first Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and they immediately reported him.The report was submitted by the umpires Simon Taufel, Nadeem Ghauri, third umpire Peter Manuel and fourth official Ranmore Martinez who were concerned about the angle of Lawson’s elbow.”The match officials had concerns with potential elbow flexation when viewing the bowler’s action with the naked eye,” explained the ICC match referee, Mike Procter. “This assessment has led the team of officials to request the ICC to commission a biomechanical report into the bowler’s action in accordance with the new process introduced earlier this year.”In accordance with the ICC’s recently revised bowling review process, Lawson’s action will now be analysed by a human movement specialist at the ICC within the next three weeks. Video tapes of the match will also be submitted for analysis. After the analysis is completed, the biomechanical expert will report back to the ICC, confirming if the action is legal. Lawson will be free to play international cricket in the meantime.

Ricky Ponting arrived in Mumbai after missing the first two Tests of the series with a broken thumb. He will not be fit in time to play the third Test which starts in Nagpur on October 26, but hopes to play a part in the final Test at Mumbai. Ponting addressed his first press conference of this tour, and as usual, had plenty to say.

On Sachin Tendulkar’s absence
I guess his absence has been disappointing for the spectators. And as players, we want to be judged against the best. Probably we have not played the best Indian team so far. I am notsure. Some of the Indian players will regain their confidence now that he’s back. How well he is prepared is a different story. I am not sure how much batting he has been doing behind the scenes. There is pressure on him to come back and play because of the way the series is placed at the moment.On his own preparation
I don’t want to rush into things. I will be working hard, probably harder than anybody. First and foremost I have to see how my thumb reacts after a couple of batting sessions. I was actually wondering if I would be able to take part in the series at all. I had a pretty ordinary series here in 2001. I wanted to play a big part in this series as a batsman and captain as well. That’s the hardest thing to do. Even harder was to sit back and see Australia win. I know what it means to me and the rest of the team to win a Test match in India. The cricket played so far has been outstanding. We are in a good position. It’s frustrating that I will just have two innings to prove myself in India.On the fuss about Australia’s batsmen “walking”
It’s blown out of proportion. I think all batsmen walk at some stage in their career. Some times it’s just a reaction thing. Sometimes you really don’t have control over it and some times it’s like what Adam Gilchrist does. He’s made up his mind to walk all the time. I have not heard that from the other Australian players. Well, I read the other day that Damien Martyn is now a walker, because he was caught at first slip!On Australia’s approach to playing in India
In Sri Lanka we played tough, disciplined and patient cricket. That’s the way we have to play in this part of the world. Things can change very fast if you move away from your game plan. What has been pleasing to me so far is that the guys have been very disciplined in executing their plans. Even the field placements have been different from the past.

Neil Carter has signed a new one-year contract with Warwickshire, thus ending speculation about his future. Michael Powell is also expected to extend his contract with the county until 2006.Northamptonshire and Derbyshire had both expressed an interest in signing South-African born Carter, 29, who eventually chose to remain with the county who he has played for four years since leaving Boland.But claims in the suggest that Carter, a seamer, was only offered the new contract after Warwickshire failed in their bid to sign another seamer, Jon Lewis, who plays for Gloucestershire.However, Carter’s position would have been strengthened by the loss of his team-mate, the 21-year-old Graham Wagg, who was banned earlier this month from playing for Warwickshire until 2006 after failing a drugs test. And, to further bolster his claims for a new contract, Carter was his county’s second-highest wicket-taker after Dougie Brown in 2004, taking 27 wickets at just over 44.