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Andrew Strauss has been cleared of injury after being struck flush on the helmet by a bouncer from Brett Lee during England’s second innings in the fifth Test at Sydney.Strauss was taken to a hospital nearby soon after for precautionary scans but team officials released a brief statement saying there was no serious damage. James Anderson later told reporters that Strauss was fine. “He’s all right. He’s wandering around the dressing room with a bit of a lump on his head but apart from that he’s ok,” Anderson said.Strauss was struck in the third over of England’s innings and as the ball crashed into the protective plastic covering covering his temple, he immediately fell to the ground. The blow prompted initial concern among Australian players, several of whom rushed to his aid while medical help was called. Strauss hadn’t opened his account at the time, though he recovered sufficiently to make 29 before being dismissed by Stuart Clark.Shane Warne, at first slip when Strauss was hit, admitted the players had been worried as he was struck. “He got hit really hard so we all went up and made sure he was OK. There was some concern and once we knew he was OK we went back and he played pretty well after that.”

Brett Lee and Shaun Tait should be unleashed on the England batsmen in a fast-bowling partnership reminiscent of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, according to Ian Chappell. Writing in his column in London’s Chappell said the extreme pace and late swing of Lee and Tait would be the best way to rattle England in the first Test starting at Brisbane on Thursday.”Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee were always certain selections for the Gabba but I would round out the Australian pace attack with the explosive Shaun Tait,” Chappell wrote. “Lee and Tait, L & T, pace and more pace. My mind wanders back to 1974-75 when another L & T combination, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, pace and more pace, produced a Brisbane blitz that quickly changed the dynamics of an Ashes series.”The Gabba is the fastest and bounciest pitch in Australia and that is the ground where the Lee and Tait combination is most likely to work.” Chappell said using Lee and Tait would also help Shane Warne.”With the [potential] loss of Watson, Australia are likely to opt for a more conservative pace attack of McGrath, Lee and [Stuart] Clark, one attacking bowler and two miserly metronomes,” he wrote. “This could force the England batsmen to attack Shane Warne, the correct way to play the champion leg spinner.”However, play Tait instead of Clark and this means the balance is in favour of aggressive pace bowling and the requirement to score quickly off Warne won’t be so great; push and prod at the leg spinner with a bit of bounce in the pitch and batting life expectancy recedes faster than Brisbane’s twilight.”Tait, who left the field with leg cramps on day two of England’s tour match against South Australia, returned on day three and bowled six overs.

Scorecard

Jimmy Maher posted his highest first-class score and Martin Love nailed his fourth century in a final as Queensland tightened their grip on the Pura Cup at the Gabba. On a tremendous third day for the Bulls and an awful one for Victoria, the home side lost only two wickets – Maher for 223 and Love for 169 – to go to stumps preparing their victory speech at 3 for 584.A 297-run partnership between Maher and Love, the former state junior team-mates, set up the Bulls’ ride in a five-day match they have only to draw to end their three-year sequence of finishing second. Maher, who has been inspired by the victims of Cyclone Larry in north Queensland, brought up his double-century a ball after Love reached three figures shortly before lunch and enjoyed an animated celebration.Maher went on to beat his 217 for Glamorgan in 2001 before edging Mick Lewis, who had figures of 1 for 125, and leaving with 29 fours from his 385 balls. Queensland were in extreme comfort at 2 for 454, but they added 71 more through Shane Watson and Love, whose only error came when he hit a catch to Nathan Pilon off Nick Jewell from his 291st delivery.Queensland were forced to field for three days against Victoria in the 2003-04 final when the hosts scored 710, and the home side was intent on delaying their opponents for as long as possible. Watson was unbeaten on 73 and Clint Perren reached 24, with the state’s highest score of 687 against New South Wales in 1930-31 approaching.”I wasn’t thinking of pulling out at 711, put it that way,” Maher told . “That day we got hammered into the ground. Let me put it this way – I’ve got a pretty good memory. In saying that we want to win the game outright.”

The West Indies national team have called for the resignation of Bruce Aanensen, the WICB’s chief executive who has been in office for less than three months, highlighting what seems an almost irreparable divide between players and officials.In a strongly-worded letter, originally posted on caribbeancricket.com, to Dinanath Ramnarine, the chief executive of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), the players wrote that they were highly offended that Aanensen publicly labelled them as incompetent.”We are now left with the rather difficult situation of determining whether as players we would be able to continue working with Mr. Aanensen,” the letter concluded. “Unfortunately, given the unfair and frankly thoughtless nature of his comments we would not be keen in having any further interaction at a professional level with Mr. Aanensen. From Mr. Aanensen’s comments, for which, significantly, he has made no withdrawals or apologies, we would find it virtually impossible to engage him in any meaningful manner.”Gordon, who leaves office in 12 days, responded to Ramnarine, who forwarded the players’ letter along with a few asides of his own, by saying that he was not satisfied by the letters as there was no justification in the charges made.But he rounded on Ramnarine, accusing him of being “frequently abusive to Deryck Murray [WICB director] and his team at negotiations.” Gordon wrote: “You have stated at meetings with one of our board members and two executives of WICB present that I am a liar. You have since denied saying so, while everyone present heard your comment …”Reacting to the attack by the players, Aanensen said that he was anything but happy about it though he added that his response would be measured and forthcoming at the appropriate time. About the charge of calling the players “incompetent” following the second Test, Aanensen told the : “I had discussions with some of the players long after that interview [in the second Test] was done and I got no sense of animosity from them.” He accused Ramnarine of wanting to unleash an assault on him. “[He] thought that [the players’ letter] was a good support mechanism for his assault.”

It’s hard to know where Tatenda’s Taibu’s future lies at the moment.In the year since he walked away from Zimbabwe cricket he has had spells in Bangladesh and England. A month ago he stated that he would not return to Zimbabwe to play and hinted that his future lay in South Africa. But after being rebuffed there, he returned home, suggested that he had been misquoted and stated he might again be around to play for Zimbabwe. Barely had the ink dried on those reports than he popped up in Namibia at the weekend keeping for them.”I wanted to be away from the politics in Zimbabwean cricket, and at the same time remain active in competitive cricket, so Namibia is good for me at the moment,” Taibu told the BBC in yet another about face. “I’m going through the contract at the moment and should sign it in the next couple of days.”Taibu is only playing for Namibia in South African domestic cricket – it would take him five years to qualify for the national team.There is an strong feeling inside Zimbabwe that as his options run out, he will be back, and most believe that will be as soon as the tour of Bangladesh next month to enable him to reclaim his place ahead of the World Cup.Last week, Themba Mliswa, the man whose alleged threats sent Taibu and his family into exile, claimed the pair had made up. The only remaining obstacle seems to be the presence of Peter Chingoka at the head of the board, but given Taibu’s ever-changing moods, by next week they may well be on speaking terms as well.

Desmond Haynes, the former West Indian opener, has thrown his hat in the ring for the Indian coaching job. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that its panel, comprising Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Ranbir Singh Mahendra and Jagmohan Dalmiya, would interview the short-listed candidates on May 19 in Delhi. The others in the frame are Greg Chappell, Tom Moody and Mohinder Amarnath.Haynes, who is the secretary of the West Indies Players’ Association, coached the Barbados team in 2002, and has also chaired the National Sports Council of the island.Sandeep Patil, who was earlier short-listed for the job, has withdrawn from the race. He conveyed this to the board in a written response to an invitation to be interviewed. John Emburey, the former England offspinner, was also connected with the job, but he too has expressed his inability to take up the post were it to be offered to him.

Stuart MacGill, who picked up a knee injury during Australia’s five-day boot camp in the Queensland bush recently, feels the problem may interfere in his Ashes preparations. MacGill has resumed training for New South Wales after missing the first state practice session, but by his own admission, was more than concerned about an “avoidable” incident at the age of 35.”I’m going to have things go wrong with me this summer, that’s for sure,” MacGill was quoted as saying in the . “I don’t really need to go into a season already carrying something that was probably avoidable.The camp was designed with certain objectives in mind and I’d say those objectives were achieved. I just think we probably could have achieved those goals in a different format.”Having recently recuperated from surgery to his right knee, MacGill conceded that the latest injury left him quite sore. With the Ashes around the corner, MacGill hoped he would fully recover to be a part of Australia’s attempt to win the urn back. “Unfortunately the timing has not been great,” he said. “I am going to ease my way into things, and my intention is to be bowling at my peak and being ready to go when the NSW season starts in four or five weeks. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to take it a little bit slower than I had hoped to at this point.”Ricky Ponting has publicly said once more that England are very susceptible to wrist spin, and MacGill – with 39 wickets in six Tests against them – refused to shirk away from his predicament. “Now is not a time for me to be stepping out of the game because I’m sore. I can’t really afford that in my career. I’m 35, and every day I’m out of the game is shortening my career. I can’t have that. If I’m ever omitted from the team and a second spinner is picked, I want it to be because they are better than me.”

Exactly two years to the day he entered the offices of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Gregory Shillingford closed the doors for the final time yesterday.The WICB terminated the services of Shillingford, its chief executive officer (CEO), in an action the board said followed consideration of a report on his performance conducted by its review and assessment committee, a review of the evaluation process, and comments from each board member.Barbadian Roger Brathwaite, who joined the WICB in May as chief marketing executive, will act as CEO until a replacement is appointed for the Dominican.Information reaching NATIONSPORT suggested that Shillingford’s performance was under review for some time now and the entire board was unanimous in its decision to part company with him.Efforts to contact him at home in Antigua and later on his mobile phone yesterday provide futile. Wes Hall, president of the West Indies Cricket Board, is in Sri Lanka.NATIONSPORT further understands that the board had outlined various targets for the CEO to attain, but under review it was felt by the board these were not being met.After this, efforts were made to reach an amicable solution between the WICB and the CEO. There were discussions back and forth over a settlement and it is still not sure if this was agreed to. The WICB is said to have acted on legal advice as the event unfolded.Just a few weeks ago, media reports surfaced indicating that Shillingford had resigned the post, but he was quick to refute these. Only last month, another employee, Laurie-Ann Holding, resigned as senior marketing manager (merchandising and rights).Shillingford started his tenure under former WICB president Pat Rousseau. He replaced Steve Camacho in the post, but yesterday’s sudden bombshell again shows that there is never a dull moment in West Indies cricket on and off the field.In recent times, West Indies cricket has been bombarded with several reports of indiscipline by players, attacks by foreign coaches on the goings on at the Shell Academy in Grenada, and now what appears to have been a split between a senior official and the executive.

A stroke-filled 69 by opener J Arun Kumar and some timely rearguardaction by the seventh wicket pair of B Akhil and D Ganesh helpedKarnataka to score 231 for seven off 92 overs at stumps on the firstday of their South Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Kerala atthe Nehru stadium in Kochi on Wednesday.Winning the toss, Karnataka lost Mithun Beerala (8) and BarringtonRowland (5) with only 49 runs on the board. Arun Kumar and VijayBharadwaj (18) initiated a recovery by adding 54 runs for the thirdwicket off 18.5 overs. Arun Kumar, who had dominated the scoring sofar, left at this stage. He faced 129 balls and hit nine fours and asix.Arun Kumar’s departure triggered off a mini collapse. Bharadwaj whostruggled for 89 balls to get 18 with only one boundary hit, wasfourth out. He was followed by AR Mahesh (6) and wicketkeeper VSTNaidu (23) and Karnataka were suddenly struggling at 144 for six.Akhil and Ganesh however performed the rescue act with a seventhwicket partnership of 74 runs off 23 overs. The stand ended whenGanesh was run out for 41. He faced 74 balls and hit five fours and asix. Akhil remained unbeaten with 45 at close, having faced 94 ballsand hitting four of them to the ropes. Keeping him company was skipperVenkatesh Prasad (2).

Division One

A solid hundred from Mal Loye, aided by a typically pugnacious and aggressive fifty from Glen Chapple (82) led Lancashire to a powerful 388 for 7 on the opening day against Durham at the Chester-le-Street. After losing Ian Sutcliffe early, Loye found support in Mark Chilton (44), Stuart Law (45) and Luke Sutton (39*). But it was Chapple who took the game away from the hosts. His 82, from just 73 balls, included 14 fours and a couple of sixes to hand Lancashire the advantage on day one.Hampshire dismissed Sussex for 212 on a seamer’s pitch at Southampton, thanks to Sean Ervine and Dominic Thornely’s three wickets. Chris Adams anchored Sussex manfully with 64, which spanned three hours; though he found support from Carl Hopkinson (45) there was little of substance from the rest. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, making his first appearance of the summer, injected some life into proceedings with a run-a-ball 38. Before today, Thornely had only taken 10 first-class wickets in his career with New South Wales, to give him the impressive figures of 3 for 38. Sussex struck back immediately, however, as Rana removed Michael Brown with the first ball of their reply, to leave Hampshire wobbling on 34 for 1.Middlesex v Kent – full bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at Lord’s.Dropped catches and mixed fortunes hampered Yorkshire on the first day of their match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Jonathan Trott (43) was given two lives before even reaching double figures, and Alex Loudon ought to have been run out for 34. He went on to make 73. Making his debut for Yorkshire, Jason Gillespie lacked the venom which he displayed for Australia against Bangladesh and managed just one wicket, that of No. 10 Neil Carter. Missed chances aside, Warwickshire’s young batsmen – Loudon and Jim Troughton who both top-scored with 73 – played sensibly, edging their side to 316 before Troughton was the last man out. Anthony McGrath, who had taken an excellent catch at gully, was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 62.

Division Two

A pair of magnificent hundreds – one from an old-stager and the other a bright prospect – led Essex to the imposing total of 400 for 3 against Glamorgan at Cardiff. Having been put into bat, Essex stumbled to 60 for 2 before Andy Flower (154*) and Ravinder Bopara (159) demolished Glamorgan’s bowlers. Their stand of 339 was a record for any wicket against Glamorgan, who must now be questioning the wisdom of inserting the opposition on such a flat track. Though Simon Jones – in his comeback game – leaked runs, he bowled with aggression and pace and was unlucky to go wicketless. The day, though, belonged to Flower and Bopara who flayed the home attack to all parts.Mark Ramprakash and Mark Butcher powered Surrey to a dominating total of 320 for 4 against Leicestershire at Leicester. Ramprakash (113) made the most of the benign pitch and, though he was dropped on 31, played with his customary class and shared in a 162-run partnership with Butcher who remained unbeaten on 75. Butcher, who was injured for most of last season, never looked fluent but nevertheless batted with great skill and determination.Four fifties from Somerset’s batsmen – including two blistering knocks from their lower-order – led them to a dominating total of 406 against Worcestershire on the first day at New Road. The home side began well, removing Marcus Trescothick for a duck, John Francis for 27 and Matthew Wood to leave them struggling on 67 for 3. However, Cameron White continued his early season form with a pugnacious 65 from 81 balls and Wes Durston played solidly for his 74. The innings was given great momentum with two fifties from Richard Johnson and Peter Trego – both of whom made 51 – who swung lustily to hand the advantage to Somerset and power them past 400.