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Brian Bolus, the former England batsman and Test selector, is to take over from Kenneth Clarke MP as Nottinghamshire’s president in February 2004.Bolus played for Notts from 1963 to 1973, captaining the club in1972, and scored more than 25,000 first class runs in his 19-year career. He also played in seven Test matches for England between 1963 and 1964, averaging 41.33.Bolus became a Test selector in 1994 before being elected to the England Management Committee in 1997, and was then appointed as chairman in 1999. He became a non-executive director of the ECB in 1999.Albert Bocking, the Notts’ chairman, also announced that he will be retiring in February. “It has been an immense privilege and honour to hold this office in such a great club and something I could not have dreamt about when I arrived in Nottinghamshire 21 years ago," he said. “I will be standing down knowing that we have in place an excellent executive team and some very experienced and capable committee members.”Much has been accomplished during the past five years and despite recent setbacks on the field, I am confident the club will prosper in many ways in the future.”

Pace bowler Joe Dawes will continue his domestic one-day career for the XXXX Queensland Bulls in Friday’s ING Cup day/night match against the Western Warriors.Dawes was called into the squad that departed yesterday for Perth following Andy Bichel’s retention in the Australian Third Test squad.The strapping right-arm quick has not had a lengthy stint in the Queensland one-day outfit, playing one match last season, although he made his 2001-2002 debut in the win over New South Wales in November.Dawes is likely to enjoy an extended stint in Queensland colours for the next month with Bichel also included in the Australian one-day squad for the VB Series against New Zealand and South Africa this month.Bichel, opener Matthew Hayden and allrounder Andrew Symonds have been named in the Australian squad while Bulls opener Jimmy Maher will also enjoy a stint at the top of the order for Australia ‘A’ against New Zealand in Brisbane and Adelaide.Maher, who is 178 runs behind his Australia ‘A’ captain Darren Lehmann in career domestic one-day runs, will be in action at the Gabba on Tuesday, January 10, for Australia ‘A’ in a day/night clash against the Black Caps.Meanwhile Friday’s clash at the WACA will be Michael Kasprowicz’s 50th domestic one-day game for Queensland, joining Martin Love, Maher and captain Stuart Law as players to have achieved that mark.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Western Warriors, Jan 4, WACA: Stuart Law (c), Martin Love, Jimmy Maher, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, Brendan Nash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Joe Dawes, Nathan Hauritz, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz.

A strong fight back from Haryana after they were dismissed were for206 in their first innings saw them take an all important firstinnings lead against Orissa. 23 year old left arm spinner Sonu Sharmabowling the spell of his life captured 7/32 off 26.5 overs andscuttled out Orissa for just 165.Resuming on a shaky 17 for 3, Orissa lost their way completely. ThoughSonu Sharma did not pick up a wicket on the first day, he more thanamply made up by dismissing the remaining seven Orissa batsmen. SanjayRaul was the only batsman to offer any sort of resistance. Even Raulcould manage just 51 before he was undone by the guiles of SonuSharma.Though Raul’s innings took 151 balls, it was studded with 9boundaries.The fact that Sonu Sharma got six of his seven wickets either LBW orbowled spoke a lot about the discipline with which he sent down hisovers.In response, Haryana were cautious. Playing out 25 overs and scoringjust 93 runs, the visitors lost 3 wickets. At stumps, Jasvir Singh (32not out) and I Gainda (4 not out) were at the crease.

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The 2018/19 season was quite something for Watford. After a rather brilliant start to the campaign, things turned sour, fast. And while consistency will likely play a major role in their upcoming bout, here are five key dates that will decide whether they can clinch the seventh spot or not.

24 August, West Ham (H)

The Hammers are one of Watford’s biggest competitors in the chase for the upper part of the table. West Ham managed to finish above them last season, helped by beating them at Vicarage Road in the second part of the campaign. Accumulating points against their rivals early, especially since it also follows the game away at Everton, will be crucial for reaching their goals.

28 September, Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)

The very beginning of the season is going to be the real test for Watford. After a feisty August, September won’t be any different. Wolves away will be the grand finale of a deadly series starting with Newcastle (A), Arsenal (H), Manchester City (A) and ending with Wolves (A). Getting any points in this sequence is a must and would do wonders for their season.

3 December, Leicester City (A)

If Watford want to clinch seventh, they have to be able to beat Leicester, it’s as simple as that. This is a team that always gives them trouble, and points against them are scarce. If they want to get ahead of them next season, it starts by beating them away from home in December and then surviving the onslaught that follows.

1 February, Everton (H)

Everton are another extremely tricky opponent that absolutely has to be beaten if there are any improvements to be made in comparison to last year’s results. The Toffees are known to chip points off of Watford, but that has to be dealt with moving forward.

25 April, Newcastle United (H)

And finally, Watford’s bane – finishing strong. Newcastle might be their last chance to get on the board before the end of the season since that game is followed by West Ham (A), Manchester City (H) and Arsenal (A). This is the crucial part that might make or break their chances of finishing seventh.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

South Africa prevented a repeat of the summit clash between India and Pakistan in 2006, with a convincing 98-run victory in a rain-affected semi-final in Kuala Lumpur.South Africa’s bowlers picked up 8 for 67 on Saturday after play was resumed on the reserve day because of a monsoon shower, which brought a halt to the game on Friday, with Pakistan on 86 for 2 in 18.5 overs.The rain threatened to ruin play on Saturday as well for it had been pouring since the wee hours of the morning. On most grounds around the world, play would have been abandoned but the drainage at the Kinrara Oval is such that after the showers eased at 11.00 am local time, the ground staff had the ground ready for a 12.20 pm start. Pakistan needed 166 to win off 28.1 overs with eight wickets in hand at the start of play butSouth Africa’s medium-pace attack bowled a tight line and length and four quick wickets irreparably damaged Pakistan’s chances. The D/L target, which had to be kept in mind given the overcast conditions, spiralled out of control.The game turned in South Africa’s favour with the first ball – Pieter Malan slipped one down leg side and Bradley Barnes completed a sharp stumping after Umar Amin had over-balanced. The D/L par score, which was 91 for 2 after 20 overs, inched upwards following the first ball wicket. A second quick wicket put the D-L par score out ofPakistan’s immediate reach. Ali Asad was adjudged leg-before to Roy Adams though the ball had pitched outside leg.Pakistan were 95 for 4 but Ahmed Shehzad, who was on 40 overnight, was still batting and he briefly kept hopes alive through his fluent strokeplay. He reached his 50 with a lofted six against Yaseen Vallie but was lucky to get there because Jonathan Vandiar dropped a hard chance right on the long-on boundary. However, on 60, Shehzad fell while trying to raise the tempo, top-edging a slower delivery from Adams to Sybrad Engelbrecht at point.Shehzad had fallen after a brief stand of 29 and as has been the trend inPakistan’s innings another wicket fell quickly – Umair Mir bowled roundhis legs by Vallie – to reduce them to 124 for 6.The game as a contest was finished with Pakistan needing 128 with four wickets in hand and the remaining batsmen lost their wickets holing out in the outfield while trying to find the boundary. South Africa’s victory means that India, after waiting for more than 24 hours to know the identity of the other finalist, will face the team they beat during thegroup stages. South Africa, however, have improved remarkably since that six-wicket defeat and will pose a sterner challenge.

Brian Lara will retire from one-day internationals when West Indies are knocked out of the World Cup. Lara is likely to have only two matches left following the loss to South Africa at Grenada on Tuesday.”I think this is the end of my one-day career, for sure,” Lara said. “I honestly feel that my game is over and we should give it to one of the younger players. It’s really tough playing one-day internationals out there.”West Indies go to England for a tour in June and Lara said he would “love to sit back and watch and see the team do well”. “I want to leave a team that plays better,” he said. “And that is still my hope. These might be my last two one-day internationals but I still want to see the team moving out of this competition learning something from it and that’s all I can hope for.”Lara has played 297 ODIs and scored 10,354 runs at 40.60 with 19 hundreds and 63 half-centuries. His hopes of bowing out with a home World Cup victory have faded after a disastrous Super Eights stage and there has been heavy criticism of his captaincy.

Dammika Prasad, the 22-year-old fast bowler, is the only newcomer to the Sri Lanka Test and one-day teams picked for the tour of Bangladesh starting later this week.Prasad, a right-arm fast bowler has played in only 22 first-class matches since his debut in 2001-02 but within that period has captured 80 wickets at the impressive cost of 22.85 runs apiece.He is the only new face in two squads of 15 players picked separately for the series of three one-day internationals and two Tests in Bangladesh.The surprise element in the selections is the dropping of Russel Arnold and the retention of veteran Sanath Jayasuriya in the one-day squad – but not for the Tests. Arnold returned to form by scoring half-centuries in the last two matches of the VB Series against Australia, which Sri Lanka lost, but he fails to find a place in the one-day or the Test sides.Jayasuriya, 36, is by far the elder statesman of the team and has recovered from a nagging dislocated shoulder. It is, therefore, a surprise that he has been chosen for the shorter, fast-paced version of the game, and not the Tests.However, champion offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan – who has made his intentions clear about playing one-day cricket – has been picked only for the Tests. With captain Marvan Atapattu and Chaminda Vaas rested from the tour, the responsibility of leading the side has fallen on the shoulders of Mahela Jayawardene who will have Kumar Sangakkara as his deputy.Along with Jayawardene and Sangakkara, seven others – Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Malinga Bandara, Farveez Maharoof, Prasad and Dilhara Fernando – have been picked for both versions of the game.Sri Lanka will have a new pair of openers for the Test series with Tharanga and Michael van Dort being named in the Test squad. There are also recalls for wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, allrounder Hasantha Fernando and legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi. Maharoof, who was forced out of the Australian tour with a leg injury, has regained his place for the Tests and one-dayers while Jehan Mubarak has been retained for the one-day matches.The Sri Lanka team, which returns from a tour of Australia today, will immediately for Bogra, Bangladesh. They open the tour with matches at Bogra on February 20 and 22 followed by the final ODI at Chittagong on February 25. The Tests will take place at Chittagong from February 28-March 4 and at Bogra from March 8-12.One-Day squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-captain), Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Jehan Mubarak, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Hasantha Fernando, Dhammika Prasad, Dilhara Fernando, Ruchira Perera, Akalanka Ganegama, Malinga Bandara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi.Test squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-captain), Upul Tharanga, Michael van Dort, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Farveez Maharoof, Dhammika Prasad, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Samaraweera, Sajeeewa Weerakoon.

John Dyson’s long-term future as Sri Lanka’s coach remains uncertain, but the cricket board has indicated a willingness to offer him a fresh contract. Dyson and the board are expected to sit down for contractual discussions before the team’s departure to New Zealand later this month.There has been lingering confusion over Dyson’s future since the end of the year. Leaks to the media from high sources in Sri Lanka Cricket’s executive committee first indicated an unhappiness with his performance and a possible search for alternatives. Then came an announcement a few weeks later that a new contract would be offered.Dyson’s contract was due to expire at the end of March 2005, after the previously scheduled Pakistan tour which was shifted forward after the Zimbabwe player crisis, but he has returned to Sri Lanka for the start of national team’s training, and agreed to look after the team in New Zealand during April.”I am looking forward to the New Zealand tour now,” Dyson told reporters on Friday night. “It’s going to be difficult playing there at that time of year and the boys are going to have to dig very deep and be at their very best – hopefully Australia will trounce New Zealand and make it a bit easier for us!”At this stage I am still in discussions with the cricket board about my contract and I hope to have talks with them in the next couple of weeks before New Zealand to clarify a few matters. Before the end of that tour I hope we will know exactly what is happening.”From a personal point of view, I’ve really enjoyed my time with the team thus far and I think the results have been pretty good. But there are a lot of things to consider, including family issues, which are very important for me and need to be addressed.”Mohan de Silva, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket, meanwhile, told the newspaper on Thursday that “in all probability he [Dyson] will be offered a fresh contract for up to a year although no final decision has been made”. de Silva denied rumours of a pay cut, but suggested that any fresh contract would include a “win bonus system”.Dyson was a surprise appointment straight after the 2003 World Cup, and was not Sri Lanka’s first-choice candidate. But although some players were initially wary of his lack of coaching experience, they appeared to warm to his style during the course of 2004, a year in which they climbed up the ICC’s Test and ODI tables.However, despite Sri Lanka’s success on the field, there have been murmurings of discontent emerging from the board’s committee-room. But this is not new: Dav Whatmore spent nearly six successful years coaching the national team over two stints, and there wa almost always division in the committee-room over his performance and future.In recent weeks the rumour mill has been working overtime, with several high-profile names discussed in the cricket community and media as possible alternatives, including Steve Waugh, John Buchanan, Geoff Marsh, Tom Moody, Gus Logie and Peter Moores. Some Sri Lankan names have also been tossed around, including Rumesh Ratnayake and Roy Dias.

Zimbabwe’s policy of having colour quotas in the national side had been a problem for some years, Andy Flower, the country’s former captain, told the Australian Associated Press today. Flower had just arrived in Adelaide to join the South Australia team he will play for this summer.Flower said that while he hadn’t been involved for a while, the issue had been what he described as “a bone of contention” for some years. “Some believe it’s the right way forward and some disagree. There are various schools of thought and there has certainly been an element of it over the years, and probably is now.”But while Murray Goodwin, now playing for Western Australia believed that was why some members of the side playing in Perth had been included, Flower believed all the players in the side now, vice-captain Tatenda Taibu and fast bowler Douglas Hondo deserved their places.”The guys that are there at the moment are [good enough],” he said. I have played some cricket with a lot of those guys. Zimbabwe is a very young side, the sooner those guys get in there and face up to stiff competition, the better. Guys like Taibu and Hondo have done pretty well in short stints in international cricket and I hope they carry on their learning experience.”Flower, who had decided to leave Zimbabwe, said it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to go back there at the moment. “But I have strong feelings for the country and I hope things turn around there. A lot of the decisions being made there at the moment by the hierarchy are poor decisions,” Flower said.

Chris Harris’ second century of the season has put Canterbury in a commanding position at the end of the first day of their State Championship contest against Northern Districts in Gisborne.The visitors are 333 for six, with Harris unbeaten on 103.ND will be regretting their decision to give Canterbury first use of a greenish pitch when play started an hour late after mopping up operations had been completed.There was occasional lateral movement, but nothing that posed a great threat to generally disciplined batting from Canterbury. The pitch got flatter as the day went on, but had sufficient pace to enable the batsmen to time the ball well.Debutant opener Shanan Stewart impressed in the first session. He scored 57 in a relaxed and confident manner. ND 12th man Simon Doull, doubling as summariser on Radio Sport, commented on the way in which Stewart got well forward, the perfect antidote to whatever threat the pitch had to offer.Stewart was harsh on slow left-armer Bruce Martin, driving him successively for four and six.Canterbury skipper Gary Stead made 62 in aggressive manner, though he rode his luck offering two chances to Mark Bailey at second slip off Joseph Yovich after lunch.A criticism of the Canterbury top order would be that too many batsmen got out when established.At 202 for five, ND had the chance to finish Canterbury off for under 300, justifying the decision to field. The sixth wicket partnership of 104 between Harris and Gareth Hopkins put paid to that.Harris reached his century with a sweep off Martin. He has received 182 balls and has hit 11 fours and two sixes. It is the eleventh century of his career and during the innings he passed 5000 first-class runs in his career.The pace of Harris’ innings varied according to the quality of the bowling. He was quick to punish anything loose, especially if it was short. He worked more accurate bowling around, rarely allowing the bowlers to settle. His form this season – 366 runs in five innings – suggests that he should not be regarded as solely a one-day specialist.ND skipper Robbie Hart changed the bowlers around regularly in an attempt to make a decisive breakthrough. Graeme Aldridge was economical. Yovich bowled with pace and suffered from fielding lapses. Scott Styris harnessed the conditions best, finishing the day with 18-6-33-3. Grant Bradburn was unusually expensive. Martin bowled four overs for 31.The most disappointing was Daryl Tuffey who needed a good day in order to impress the selectors in advance of the first Test in Hamilton next week. He searched unsuccessfully for a consistent line and length and remains plagued by over-stepping problems.ND coach Bruce Blair remained optimistic at the close of play. He told CricInfo that the decision to put Canterbury in was based more on the form of the bowlers than any expectation of help from the pitch. He praised the performance of Styris and defended the below par performance of Tuffey.”He’s been sitting around in Australia for the past month wihout much cricket under his belt. We’ve got to get him back into the groove.”Blair was impressed by the performance of Stewart.”He looked to play positively when the ball was in his zone and he has had a good start to his first-class career.”He sees the emergence of players like Stewart as a vindication of the Academy system.”The shift to developing fewer players, but of higher quality, has been the way to go.”Blair sees 370 to 380 as par for the course on a good batting surface.”The onus will be on us to get out there to show the same positiveness and confidence as Canterbury.”If this is to be achieved, ND will have to remove Harris at an early stage. It has been his day, not for the first time this season.