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Warriors bowlers Johan Botha and Rusty Theron are to undergo tests in Cape Town next week after their actions were reported by the match officials during last weekend’s SuperSport Series match against Dolphins at St George’s.”This is being done as a precautionary measure and the testing will take place in Cape Town under the supervision of the national bowling coach, Vincent Barnes,” a Cricket South Africa release said today.The latest move comes as another setback in the career of Botha (27), the South African ODI and Twenty20 vice-captain, whose doosra was deemed illegal by the ICC in May this year. Botha was initially reported by umpires Rudi Koertzen, Brian Jerling and Asoka de Silva after the fourth ODI between South Africa and Australia for a suspect quicker ball and doosra. He was subsequently tested at the University of Western Australia by Bruce Elliott; the same biomechanist who examined Botha’s action when he was previously called in 2006.Botha’s doosra was measured at 26.7 degrees by Elliott, and was banned until the bowler proved he could deliver it at a flexion limit of less than 15 degrees.But Botha received a go-ahead from the authorities to play in the World Twenty20 and the Champions Trophy after his offbreak (12.2 degrees) and arm-ball (11.1 degrees) measured within the ICC’s parameters. He has also since signed an IPL contract with the Rajasthan Royals.Right-arm fast bowler Theron and Botha managed match hauls of eight and six wickets respectively against Dolphins to take Warriors to the top of the points table with two matches played. Both players are currently involved in Warriors’ current match in East London against the Lions.

Despite all the positive talk after the first round of the Zimbabwe’s new domestic tournaments, the Sunday Mail has suggested that beneath the surface all it not as happy as it might appear.The story centres around the Matabeleland Tuskers who, it is claimed, have fired administrator Joshua Paul and replaced him with former selection panel member Vumindaba Moyo.As ever, the row seems to centre around a strategy which continues to cause fallout inside Zimbabwe, that of luring back former players and administrators as the game is rebuilt from the dark days of 2004 to 2007.The initiative has the full support of Zimbabwe Cricket, but some are less amenable to the idea that bygones should be bygones. Paul, so the paper claims, went too far in his approaches and was ousted by more hardline members of the Tuskers management.Stanley Staddon, the Tuskers’ chief executive, reportedly told a franchise board meeting ZC had ordered Paul to be dismissed, but Paul himself insists the order came directly from Staddon. When questioned by the Sunday News Staddon rather bizarrely said he had “no idea” what had happened to Paul. Staddon has history with the News, and has previously attempted to ban its reporters from covering matchesGiven that ZC has actively sought to mend bridges in the last year, it seems highly unlikely it would act in this way. Furthermore, from the outset ZC has maintained that the franchises have full autonomy, and so any interference from it would completely undermine its position.Moyo was one of the national selectors ousted after an ICC report criticised the lack of experience on the panel.

Nishant Shekawat’s 81 and Dilp Sagar’s five-wicket haul set up Bangalore Brigadiers’ (Urban) 26-run win over Mysore Maharaajas at the Gangothri Glades Ground. The opener Shekawat smashed seven fours and four sixes in his 49-ball knock to push his team to 140 in a shortened match. Robin Uthappa chipped in with 26 and the pair put together an attacking stand of 59 in 5.3 overs for the second wicket to lead their team to a formidable score in 14 overs. The Maharaajas’ chase got off to a poor start when they lost three wickets in an over to Sagar. He got the key wickets of KB Pawan and captain C Raghu to leave them at 26 for 3. Chethan William top scored with 36, but after he departed in the tenth over, the lower order crumbled to the left-arm spin of Narayanan Prasad, who took 4 for 14.The Brigadiers are tied on eight points at the top of the league with Bangalore Provident, who are ahead on net-run rate.An all-round performance from Stuart Binny helped Bijapur Bulls to an easy eight-wicket win over Mangalore United in Mysore. Binny was a tad expensive – conceding 10 an over – but he still took two wickets, including that of the Mangalore top scorer Rongsen Jonathan for 73. He then scored an unbeaten 48 off 31 balls to help chase down 179, with 16 balls to spare. Jonathan and Nikhil Haldipur (37) constructed the best stand of the Mangalore innings – 84 for the third wicket – to challenge Bijapur in the chase. But Mithun Beerala (61) and Gaurav Dhiman ensured an easy passage to the target with an opening stand of 93. Both made half-centuries – Dhiman’s was more ballistic as he smashed seven fours and three sixes in his 57, which came off 24 balls. They were separated in the seventh over, which gave Binny enough time to finish off the formalities with ease.

In theory, Australia are far from beaten in this Test match. They are Australia, after all, the many-headed hydra of international sport, the team that produces new heroes as old ones fall by the wayside, and whose infectious self-belief has kept England in thrall to their superiority for the best part of two decades. But if the demeanour of Simon Katich was anything to go by at the close, there’s no point in holding out for any miracles. Australia believe they are beaten in this Test match, and some time in the next three days, they expect to hand over the Ashes.In theory, Australia’s renaissance began in the closing overs of the second day, when they hauled themselves back into contention with three cheap English wickets in the space of 30 balls. But when this notion was put to Katich, he patted it back with more insouciance than he had managed throughout his battling first-innings half-century.”We’ve still got a fair bit of work to do, but obviously we’ve got to keep fighting hard,” said Katich, with far less feeling than might appear on paper. “Today didn’t go to plan, but cricket’s a funny game. We’ve just got to make sure we hang in there, and try to restrict England to as little as possible so that, second-time around, we can hopefully make amends for today.”It was clear that Katich was speaking more in hope than expectation, for Australia’s day had been as deflating as anything they have suffered on a chaotically up-and-down tour. The evisceration of their batting – for the third first innings out of five in this series – has left them with no place to hide on a bone-dry surface that, in Katich’s estimation, is already playing like a fourth-day wicket. With the weather set fair and England 230 runs to the good with seven second-innings wickets in hand, Australia realistically face negotiating days six and seven if they are to emerge with the result that saves their series.On the evidence of the second day, that promises to be a tough task indeed. Having neglected to include their specialist spinner in Nathan Hauritz, the turn, bounce and potential of Katich’s own part-time wrist-spin merely intensified his growing sense of foreboding. “I thought we were spinning the ball a fair bit, Northy [Marcus North] and I,” he said. “We were getting our wrist position just right and it was spinning a bit. I think you expect the wickets over here to turn, because I know in the last series they spun from day one.”Unfortunately for Australia, Graeme Swann is lurking and licking his lips after his second telling four-wicket haul of the series, and to judge by the spitting turn he has so far extracted, he has the stage from which to boss the closing stages of this contest. “We know it’s going to be tough work,” said Katich. “Whenever you bat last in a Test match you understand that. You can always assume the wicket will get worse, but who knows what’s around the corner?”Mitchell Johnson was one of five wickets to fall to spin on the second day•PA Photos

Swann has endured a puzzling summer – his personal confidence has not visibly diminished in the slightest, although up until today, he had claimed a mere six wickets in four Tests – four of them in support of Andrew Flintoff at Lord’s, and one of them arguably the finest ball he will ever bowl, to gate Ricky Ponting in the second innings at Edgbaston. For the remaining 87.5 overs of his series, however, he has been as close to anonymous as any bowler on either side – one other wicket at a cost of 322 runs.But when Stuart Broad referred to Swann as a “world-class spinner” it was both in acknowledgement of what he is capable of when he gets his pace and flight spot-on, and also in expectation of what he can pull off when his turn to bowl comes again. He was, after all, exceptional in his 14 overs today. Every ball was a hand-grenade, and some of the deliveries that spat past the left-handers’ edges made Shane Warne in the Sky commentary box purse his lips in recognition (and, no doubt, envy).It is somewhat ironic that England’s Ashes hopes are once again invested in the superiority of their spin attack, because – with due acknowledgement to Monty Panesar’s rearguard in Cardiff – as an outfit they were soundly duped ahead of the first Test, when they picked both their spinners on a pitch that was predicted to be a Bunsen, and watched them amass a match total of one wicket for 246 runs. Hauritz, Australia’s forgotten stalwart, managed six times that number in fewer overs.But as the final furlong approaches, it’s the slow lane that could be the fast track to success, as Broad pointed out while looking on the bright side of England’s three late dismissals. “The way those wickets fell, Cooky got a ball that really turned and bounced, so it gives us encouragement as a bowling unit as well. We’ve got to take the positives of being 200 ahead, because tomorrow is the biggest day in this Test match and we can really set up this series.””We know it’s going to be hard work but that’s the beauty of Test cricket,” said Katich. “You don’t expect it any other way and there’s an Ashes up for grabs. It’s easy to mope around and feel sorry for yourselves but hopefully we can pull off something special. Three wickets is better than none and we’ll all go again in the morning, and restrict England as little as possible.”

Luke Pomersbach has escaped a jail sentence but has been banned by Western Australia until the end of the 2010-11 season after admitting to assaulting a police officer during a drunken rampage. However, Pomersbach could be back in action for the Warriors as early as January 2010, if he meets certain conditions outlined by the state.Pomersbach pleaded guilty to six charges in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday, including driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of .08 and obstructing police. He was fined $3500 and had his driving licence suspended for six months over the series of events in the Perth beachside suburb of Scarborough on Sunday night.The charges included assaulting one of the police officers who tried to arrest him after a series of traffic incidents, although the policeman suffered only minor injuries after being pushed by Pomersbach. But while Pomersbach was not sentenced to jail, the Western Australian Cricket Association has banned him from representing the state in any form of cricket until the end of the 2010-11 season.His resumption date could be brought forward to January 1, 2010, if Pomersbach attends all medical and counseling sessions as required by the WACA and strictly adheres to the terms of his playing contract. The WACA has also fined Pomersbach $10,000, of which $5000 may be suspended if he satisfies their requirements, and banned him from training with the state squad until at least October 1.Until then, Pomersbach will train under the supervision of an individual nominated by the Warriors coach Tom Moody and he would remain eligible to play for his club side Gosnells. Moody was one of several cricket identities who provided character references for Pomersbach in court, along with Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer and Geoff Marsh.Pomersbach, who has played one Twenty20 international for Australia and appeared for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, had been drinking on Sunday before he drove his Toyota Prado and crashed twice on his way home. He pleaded guilty to failing to stop, failing to accompany police, having a blood-alcohol level in excess of 0.08, assaulting a public officer, obstructing police and escaping legal custody.Police said Pomersbach crashed his car into the back of a parked vehicle and then drove away before crashing into a loaded rubbish skip, shunting it into a pergola attached to a house. The police then followed a trail of oil to Pomersbach’s house, where he was arrested.However, police said Pomersbach then struggled with the officers as he was being placed into the police car and pushed one officer into the window of Pomersbach’s house, breaking the window. Police said Pomersbach then ran away from the officers and was eventually tracked by a police sniffer dog and found in sand dunes.

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam has said his team are in a good position to pick up a consolation win in the three-Test series, after setting Sri Lanka a high target of 492 for victory at the SSC.”We are in a better position to win, compared to the other two,” said Intikhab. “In the last two Tests, every time we got into winning positions, we lost while batting second. This time we are bowling second. With 309 runs still needed, naturally we have a better chance of winning this Test. It’s been a very absorbing Test match and it has still got a long way to go. We’ve still got to get seven more wickets and they need to score the runs.”Alam said the pitch had something for the bowlers, provided they bowled flatter through the air. “The wicket has got a bit easier but the odd ball does turn. It’s not a wicket where you can flight the ball, you need to push the ball through the air and then you’ll get a little bit of turn.””Though we have lost the series it is extremely important for us to win this match. It would give a great boost and confidence to the side.”According to Alam the series had helped Pakistan acclimatise back into the five-day fold, having played only seven in the last two years before arriving in Sri Lanka. “I am not one who makes excuses but we haven’t played much Test cricket in the past two years,” he said. “When you play too much ODIs and Twenty20 cricket all the time, it takes time to get into the groove of Test cricket. You need a lot of determination and a lot of patience, it’s a different game altogether. These three Test matches will go a long way for us.”Pakistan’s spinners Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik accounted for 11 of the 13 Sri Lankan wickets to fall, and Alam justified the selection of two specialist slow bowlers. “The reason why we played two spinners is that we were hoping to win the toss and bat first,” he said. “But it happened the other way round. They won the toss and put us in so we succeeded in the sense that on a wicket like this which has a very dry surface, spinners will play a huge part.”

ScorecardThis was a meeting between the top and bottom teams in Division One of the Championship, and for most of the day each side played to their billing. Worcestershire, batting first, rarely looked capable of reaching 200, even before the one-time England paceman Liam Plunkett, now demoted to fourth seamer in his county’s reserve attack, suddenly found his form again with six wickets. But the visitors were not totally without a sting, as their own bowling spearhead Kabir Ali shattered the top order when Durham batted, before equilibrium was restored by close of play.Both teams were rather depleted, due to the imminent Test series and also the England Lions match. Durham were without their usual spearhead of Steve Harmison and Graham Onions, but they have good reserves of seam bowlers, as was soon evident.Callum Thorp, an adept at swinging the ball in the right conditions, did so with skill, and his third ball resulted in a big lbw shout against the Worcestershire opener Daryl Mitchell. He was well supported by Mitchell Claydon at the other end, and after ten overs only five runs were on the board, one of them a wide by Claydon, for no wicket – a sign not only of superb bowling but also of the batsmen’s grim determination to stay in. Then the eleventh over saw Thorp straying to leg: four leg-byes were followed by a leg-glance for four by Mitchell, and the bowler was rested after seeing the figures of his opening spell ruined to the extent of 6-3-7-0.But the pressure to score told on batsmen living in the Twenty20 era, and Alexei Kervezee, attempting to nudge a good ball from Thorp’s replacement Mark Davies to third man, ended up giving second slip a simple catch. Mitchell’s patience also expired; he slashed and was caught at the wicket off Plunkett for 13 off 59 balls. At least they had seen off the opening bowlers, but had little to show for it personally. Plunkett was the most profligate of the four seamers before lunch, sending down some loose deliveries off which the starving batsmen fed avidly.Ben Smith was the only batsman before lunch who seemed able to handle the bowling, playing some good strokes, especially on the off side. He lost Moeen Ali (9 off 40 balls) to a good high catch in the slips, and had an impressive 21 off 32 balls at the interval, when the total was 60 for 3. Briefly the batsmen flourished during the afternoon with some brisk running between wickets, but against these bowlers in these conditions it did not last. Both fell in quick succession – Smith bowled for 33 by a superb ball from Claydon that went right through him and removed his off stump, and David Wheeldon (7) to an ill-advised slash outside the off stump, giving a catch to the wicketkeeper Phil Mustard, who otherwise did not enjoy too happy a day behind the stumps, several times conceding byes.This left the visitors reeling at 80 for 5, but help was on its way from the Australian al-rounder Ashley Noffke, promoted to No. 6 in this match. He played a wise game, content to wait for the loose delivery and then hit it effectively. He was helped by Gareth Batty, who was very uncertain at first, but recovered to score 19 before being bowled off stump by Plunkett, who was now finding his rhythm. The pair added 57 valuable runs.Kabir Ali replaced Batty and, after surviving a chance in the slips after tea, saw Noffke through to a most admirable 50 off 117 balls. Without addition, though, the Australian skied an attempted pull off Plunkett to the keeper, and immediately Kabir was surprised by a fast lifting ball from the same bowler and fended it tamely to gully. Their departure left Worcestershire at 187 for 8. The inspired bowler quickly beat and bowled Chris Wheelan without scoring, and then polished off the innings when Matt Mason, after several abortive attempts to give the slips some catching practice, finally succeeded and departed for 2, leaving Josh Knappett, Worcestershire’s understudy for Steve Davies as wicketkeeper, unbeaten with 4. Worcestershire were gone for 193, and Plunkett had 6 for 63. His three fellow seamers had done a fine job, but had to make do with just one wicket apiece.Matters were not plain sailing for the Durham batsmen, either, and Worcestershire’s collapse paled into insignificance compare to the astonishing start to the Durham innings. In the third over, still without a run on the board, Michael Di Venuto played a ball from Kabir on to his stumps, and next ball the same bowler produced an even better delivery to remove Will Smith’s off stump. However, he sprayed the hat-trick ball down the leg side. Mason, not to be outdone, then bowled a flyer that Gordon Muchall edged to the keeper, Kyle Coetzer by now having scored a single to get his team off the mark.Durham fought their way out of trouble at one run for three wickets in the manner of champions, however, as Coetzer and Dale Benkenstein played calmly, hit the loose ball crisply and kept the score moving without taking any risks. Within minutes the confident response of the two batsmen had restored the feeling that the county champions had the situation back under control after a minor hiccup, and they took Durham through to 40 for 3 at the close without a moment’s further concern.

Mohammad Yousuf has said he has obtained a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Indian Cricket League, which will pave the way for him to return to international cricket for Pakistan. The batsman said he had submitted the certificate to Wasim Bari, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s human resources director.”I have submitted an NOC from the Indian league and it’s now up to the authorities to clear my way to play international cricket,” Yousuf told AFP. “I have handed the letter over to the PCB and now wait for their reply as I desperately want to play for my country.”Bari said he had received a written confirmation from Yousuf. “We have to verify this letter and put it before the PCB chairman (Ijaz Butt),” he said.Yousuf had met PCB officials Bari, Mohammad Naeem and Zakir Khan at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, last week and informed them of his resignation. After producing the resignation letter, the officials said they would act only after hearing the ICL’s response to him quitting, though without specifying that an NOC was needed.Yousuf had signed up with the ICL in 2007 but was lured out of the contract by the PCB administration of the day. However, legal wrangles denied him an IPL contract in 2008 and he rejoined the ICL in November. That virtually ended his career with Pakistan but the latest development, it is believed, could see him returning sooner rather than later. The PCB had stated that they would consider the return of the ICL players on a case-by-case basis.His team-mate Abdul Razzaq also said he had quit the ICL.

Former Test umpire and chairman of the first-class umpires’ association Peter Willey has welcomed the ECB’s decision to call time on the use of light meters in most county cricket.”It has been decided that we go back to the way it was before meters, that the umpires decide if it is unfit, unsuitable or unsafe to continue playing, and I think it stops all the argument,” Willey told the Wisden Cricketer. “We were just relying on numbers instead of common sense and experience. Now we just say we [the umpires] don’t feel it’s fit and I feel the majority of the umpires are comfortable and happy with that.”Explaining the move, ECB umpires’ manager Chris Kelly said: “The use of light meters is superfluous now following the changes to the bad light playing condition. Light meters will only tell an umpire if the light has got worse or better, it won’t tell them whether it is safe or unsafe to play on. That is now for them alone to decide using their experience and judgement. It’s all about safety for players and officials.”Light meters will, however, continue to be used in international fixtures and matches involving counties and the touring teams, as those games are played under ICC playing conditions.

South Africa have included their vice-captain Johan Botha in their 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 beginning on June 5 in England and are confident he will be eligible to play after the offspinner was reported for a suspect action.Botha was reported for a suspected illegal bowling action by match officials after the fourth ODI against Australia in Port Elizabeth in April. He will undergo a bio-mechanical assessment of his action, but is eligible to play international cricket at the discretion of Cricket South Africa (CSA) while the test results are pending.”He hasn’t been cleared yet but we are confident and positive that he will be,” Gerald Majola, chief executive of CSA, told Cricinfo. “Of course, if he is not cleared, we will have to ask for a replacement.”Bruce Elliott, a professor with the University of Western Australia, had tested Botha last Thursday as per the revised ICC procedure. “We don’t have the results yet, but we hope to have some numbers by the end of the week.” Elliott told Cricinfo.There were no new faces in the squad which comprised players who enjoyed success against Australia over the summer. Yusuf Abdulla, who made his Twenty 20 debut against Australia in Centurion, was rewarded for his outstanding performances in the domestic tournament and for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL with a call-up. Abdulla is currently the IPL’s highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in seven matches.”Our cricket is entering an exciting period,” Mike Procter, South Africa’s chief selector said. “We are top of the ODI rankings but have never won a major trophy and this presents the opportunity to do so in a limited-overs format.”The players are all in good form and it is particularly pleasing to have so many quality all-rounders at our disposal. As always there are a couple of unlucky players and that emphasises the excellent competition we have for places. Form in the Standard Bank Pro20 domestic competition was a key factor in our selection process and it was encouraging to note how high the standard of our domestic cricket is at the moment.”South Africa coach Mickey Arthur was “delighted” with the squad. “It is a team with plenty of options – great depth to the batting and plenty of bowling options. It is also an outstanding fielding unit.”Squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Johan Botha (vice-capt), Yusuf Abdulla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe.