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Australia’s crown jewels, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, will make their long-awaited comebacks within 24 hours of each other, after their lengthy absences through injury and suspension.McGrath, who has undergone ankle surgery since his disappointing performance against Bangladesh last July, intends to play for a New South Wales second XI in a four-day game against Tasmania on February 9. The very next day, Warne’s year-long suspension for taking a banned diuretic comes to an end, as he joins Victoria’s second XI for the last three days of their fixture against Queensland.The initial target for both bowlers is a place in Australia’s Test squad for the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka, although it will be a tough ask for them to regain sufficient form and fitness in so short a time. After a five-match one-day series, the first Test begins on March 8 at Galle.Nevertheless, Ricky Ponting, who will be taking over from Steve Waugh as Australia’s Test captain, was buoyed at the prospect of having his champion bowlers available once again.”When you know you’ve got guys like McGrath and Warne to come back it is pretty exciting,” said Ponting. “Glenn’s probably been frustrated a fair bit over the last few months, having got back and then needing another operation on his ankle. I’m sure he’s dying to play again and get back into this Australian side.”Ponting hinted that the absence of Warne and McGrath was a major factor in Australia’s disappointing showing against India. “That was probably the most disappointing thing about this summer, the Test series against India, that we didn’t ever get a chance to have our full-strength bowling against their full-strength batting attack. That would, I’m sure, have led to even better cricket.”McGrath completed a bowling session in the SCG nets on Wednesday morning, after admitting on Sydney radio that he was confident about his ankle being right. An NSW spokesman added: “He’s a pretty good chance of playing in that second-XI match.”

Scorecard
New South Wales, the defending one-day champions, have only a mathematical chance of playing in the limited-overs final after Queensland pulled off a remarkable 25-run win at the Gabba. Defending a modest total of 229, the Queensland bowlers bowled NSW out for 204 in the 48th over. The loss left NSW with 14 points, nine behind second placed Victoria. Queensland lead the table with 22 points, with two matches to play.It was a stunning Queensland fightback after NSW got away to a flying start thanks to the clean-hitting of opener Phil Jaques (61 off 67). But from 1 for 89 in the 17th over, they lost a steady stream of wickets as the bowlers, led by Michael Kasprowicz (3 for 38) and James Hopes (3 for 34), tightened the screws.The pivotal moment came when Ashley Noffke produced a brilliant run-out off his own bowling to dismiss Mark Waugh (20 off 28) when the score was 5 for 158 in the 38th over. Mark had steadied the ship after brother Steve (16) had been caught behind off James Hopes. Hopes fittingly produced the final act by bowling Doug Bollinger with the first ball of the 48th over.That the match could be played out over almost the full 100 overs was testament to the efforts of the ground staff after a frightening electrical storm lashed the Gabba midway through Queensland’s innings, the highlight of which was an 83-ball 75 by Stuart Law. At 2 for 130, Queensland were on track to register an imposing score before the storm caused a 76-minute delay.Once play resumed, after the massive puddles drained away, NSW duo Stuart MacGill (2 for 28) and Stuart Clark (3 for 43) sparked off a collapse. Queensland lost their last eight wickets for 99 runs, including four wickets for only 12 runs a five-overs spell. It was triggered by Craig Philipson’s run out when his bat jammed in the wet grass when sliding for a quick single.Clark and MacGill built pressure from both ends and it was only the fine rearguard efforts of Nathan Hauritz (26 off 29) which got Queensland past 200. Law provided the initial fireworks by belting eight fours and a straight six to continue his rich vein of one-day form.

Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, has said that suspending England from international cricket was never really considered. On Wednesday, Mani watched the second one-day international at Harare Sports Club, when England beat Zimabwe by 161 runs."Talk of suspension was never on the radar," he told reporters. "The threat of suspension was a possibility, even if it was only a 1 per cent or 5 per cent or 10 per cent possibility. It could have been a terrible penalty, which would have hurt badly.”I felt terribly disappointed because the tour was hugely important for the development of cricket in Zimbabwe. The country has enough problems without adding another. The game would have gone backwards and that was my concern, not punishing England.”Mani is a resident of St. John’s Wood in London, close to Lord’s, and is aware of the antipathy in England towards the tour taking place. But at the same time, he supported the way David Morgan, the ECB chairman, has handled the entire affair. "He has gained a lot of respect in the ICC for the way he handled this issue. I could see that England were caught between a rock and a hard place, but he has been absolutely superb, honest and totally upfront with people. He has had to deal with a lot of domestic pressures, which is understandable because of the unique situation between England and Zimbabwe. The issue was not going to die down."Mani wants to meet with England’s players within the next few day to talk about all aspects of their experience of Zimbabwe. “It is very important to hear their views," he said. "I want to know what they think about the level of cricket in Zimbabwe and their experiences in the country so far.” England are due to play back-to-back one-day matches at Bulawayo over the weekend.

Lancashire’s joy at reaching the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup was shortlived as Essex taught them a lesson in the 40-over format, winning by eight wickets at Old Trafford. Batting first after winning the toss, Lancashire limped to a below-par 154 for 8, and were well beaten with more than seven overs to spare. Iain Sutcliffe topscored with 54 and Mark Chilton anchored the remainder of the innings with 48 not out, but Sajid Mahmood, the No. 10, was the only other batsman to reach double figures as Essex’s spinners, led by Danish Kaneria (3 for 24) scythed through the innings. In reply, Grant Flower made 66 in even time and Ravinder Bopara completed the job with 45 not out. James Anderson, with 2 for 36, was the pick of Lancashire’s attack.

Yorkshire held their nerve against Worcestershire to secure a 14-run win. Ian Harvey and Craig White used all their experience to put in two excellent displays of death bowling. Despite a 117-run stand between Kabir Ali (67) and Zander de Bruyn (82) the asking-rate continued to climb to over nine an over. White bowled Ali and had de Bruyn caught by Tim Bresnan. Ian Harvey used his slower-balls to good effect and the lower-order batsmen couldn’t find the boundaries needed. Yorkshire’s innings was based around a captain’s innings from Anthony McGrath. His 74 from 94 balls lifted Yorkshire from 88 for 4 after Michael Vaughan had been bowled by de Bruyn for 9.Surrey overcame the experience of the one-day specialists Gloucestershire to secure a three-wicket win at Bristol. Click here for a full match report.Middlesex left themselves with too much to do against Northamptonshire as Paul Weekes’s 105 proved in vain at Lord’s. Click here for a full match report.Kent eased into the quarter-finals with a thumping 127-run win against Derbyshire. After squeezing into the second round with their last-ball victory over Durham, Derbyshire did not put up much of a fight at Canterbury. Geraint Jones spent some welcome time in the middle as he cracked 70 from 75 balls. Matthew Walker hit 56 from 74 balls and Darren Stevens boosted the total with a brisk 47 from 42 deliveries. Derbyshire slumped to 27 for 5, as Martin Saggers claimed three wickets, and never threatened to approach their target with all the Kent attack chipping in.Warwickshire thoroughly outplayed Leicestershire as a superb performance in the field carried them to an 83-run win at Edgbaston. Dougie Brown rocked the Leicestershire top-order with a three-wicket burst to put the skids under their run-chase. Brown’s spell reduced them to 16 for 3 – and they never recovered – with Ian Bell and Alex Loudon also taking three wickets each. Heath Streak played his part, bowling eight overs for just 13 runs, after hitting a quick-fire 28 from 27 balls to lift Warwickshire’s total past 200. Nick Knight anchored the innings with 69 but a middle-order wobble left them grateful for the ninth-wicket stand of 55 between Streak and Tony Frost.

Andrew Flintoff and Brad Hodge starred for Lancashire as they progressed into the next round with a six-wicket win over Essex at Old Trafford. Flintoff took four wickets – including Grant and Andy Flower – to restrict the Essex scoring-rate. The rest of the Lancashire attack took a wicket each and only Ravinder Bopara (42) made much of an impression with the bat. James Foster and Tim Phillips tried their best to lift the tempo but the target was always comfortable. After Alex Tudor struck twice, to remove Mal Loye and Stuart Law, Hodge played a perfectly paced one-day innings, adding 112 with Mark Chilton, before Flintoff finished the job.Hampshire powered past Glamorgan by six wickets at Cardiff. An unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 130 between Nic Pothas and Kevin Pietersen made light work of a potentially testing target of 215. Pothas and Pietersen joined forces after Hampshire slipped to 89 for 4. Simon Katich fell first-ball and Simon Jones removed Shane Warne and Chris Tremlett – both sent in as pinch-hitters. But Pothas reached his second one-day century while Pietersen launched four sixes in his 64-ball 69. Sean Ervine starred with the ball, his 5 for 50 meant Glamorgan’s tail could build on a platform of 150 for 4, after Michael Powell was dismissed 56.Yorkshire v Northants at Headingley
Warwickshire v Kent at Edgbaston
Surrey v Hampshire at The Oval
Lancashire v Sussex/Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford (Sussex play Notts tomorrow)

On going past Murali as Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker
I’m obviously proud of that achievement. It’s been a few years since I made my debut against India in Sydney, and back then I was happy to get one wicket, forget 500. It’s something to tell the grandchildren.On the day’s play
We toiled hard, created a lot of chances, even took a wicket off a no-ball. I think it’s the best I’ve ever bowled in India. I troubled all their batsmen, and there were a few chances that didn’t go to hand. If I continue to bowl like that, hopefully I can play a big part in this series.On the dropped catches, and whether the conditions might have contributed
None were really easy. We’re usually renowned for turning games by taking such chances, but not one stuck today. To mention heat and humidity would be an excuse. Hopefully, this won’t happen again during the rest of the series.On Australia’s chances of winning the match
If we can make what India make in their first innings when we bat, I think it’ll be a great game. We’re going to fight back. On the prospect of Murali taking back the record
Let me just bathe in it for a while, OK [laughs]? Look, Murali will probably end up with 1000 wickets. But whether I hold the record for two weeks or a month, it can’t be taken away from me. It’s something to hang your hat on.On when he plans to call it quits
I don’t want to stop yet. The key thing is enjoyment. I’ve retired from one-day cricket, but I think I can play Tests for a while yet. You have guys like Anil Kumble, Harbhajan [Singh], Murali and Saqlain [Mushtaq] who have shown that spinner can play both forms of the game. They’ve proved that the guys who reckoned that there wasn’t even a place for spinners in first-class cricket didn’t have any idea what they were on about.On the response from his opponents and team-mates
Rahul Dravid came in and shook my hand even before he’d faced a ball. I thought that was a great moment, and it said a lot about the spirit in which this series is being played. Sehwag shook my hand too, and Kumble and Yuvraj (Singh) came in to the room later. Also John Wright. I’d like to thank all those guys.My team-mates? Well, you could see that they were really happy for me.On the extra aggression when he bowled to Sehwag
I wanted his wicket [smiles]. He was the man to get today the way he was smacking us across the park. He has an eye like a dead fish (laughs). If you bowl anything half-loose, he’ll smack it. It’s great entertainment.He got away with a few as well. But he was just too good for us today. Hopefully in the second innings, we’ll be too good for him.On how he’s soldiered on despite several rough patches
Oh look, I’ve had some great times too. Been really lucky to do something I really enjoy – not many people get that chance. I’ve made a few bad choices, and I’ve learnt my lessons. I’m 35 years old now, got three kids. It’s great that my wife is here to see me go past the record. But if we lose this game, the world record itself will be a bit of a downer.On how he accounts for his comparatively poor record against India, given his outstanding figures against other subcontinental teams
I’ve been inconsistent against India, mainly when I’ve been over here. The first two times I came here, I was carrying injuries – the shoulder the first time and trouble with my spinning finger on the last tour. But I also think they play me really well. I just hope I can carry on like I bowled today and cause them a few more hassles.

Dilhara Lokuhettige (also known as Lokuhettige Danushka Dilhara) is the only new face in the 14-member Sri Lanka A squad to take on West Indies A in two unofficial Tests at Dambulla and Kandy starting on June 23.Lokuhettige is a hard-hitting right-hand batsman and effective right-arm medium-pace bowler who came to prominence when he scored the fastest fifty of last season, off just 22 balls, for Moors against Air Force on his home ground at Braybrooke Place.Lokuhettige, 24, won selection for some consistent performance over the past few seasons. Since making his first-class debut in 2000-01, he has scored 1682 runs at 27.76, with one century and four fifties, and also captured 134 wickets (27.51) from 58 matches. He started off with Antonians SC and then moved to Galle CC before joining Moors in 2003-04. “We think that he has the potential to develop into a good allrounder,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors. “That is why we have picked him.”The rest of the squad remains unchanged from the one that played in the four unofficial Tests against England A and Pakistan A, with the exception of Shantha Kalavitigoda, Thilan Thushara, Anushka Polonowita and Thilina Kandamby. The last three failed to make it to the 25-member pool owing to poor performances in the last series, while Kalavitigoda has been omitted because of an injured shoulder. “Kalavitigoda is nursing a shoulder-muscle injury,” said Kaluperuma. “He has not recovered 100%. We decided to rest him to give him time to recover to full fitness.”Kalavitagoda, the right-hand opener, made an instant impact in the only match he played against England A, scoring an impressive 83, a knock which put him on the flight to New Zealand where he went onto make his Test debut at the age of 27. Kaluperuma also said that his committee decided to stick by several tried and tested players who had appeared for Sri Lanka in order to give them an opportunity to regain their places in the national side ahead of the West Indies series that will follow the A tour.He added that for the two-day practice game against West Indies A on June 19-20 at Moratuwa, the selectors would concentrate on picking players from the Under-19 team who are members of the 25-member A-team pool, namely Harsha Vithana, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Charitha Jayaweera and Gihan de Silva. “We don’t want these players who have been identified as future talent to be thrown into the deep end at once,” said Kaluperuma. ” We want them to come up gradually and make the grade.”The 25-member A-team squad is currently under training under the watchful eyes of coach Stan Nel and the new manager Anura Tennekoon, the former Sri Lankan captain.Sri Lanka A squad
Russel Arnold (capt), Prasanna Jayawardene (vice-capt, wk), Avishka Gunawardena, Ian Daniel, Michael Vandort, Jehan Mubarak, Gayan Wijekoon, Malinga Bandara, Suraj Mohamed, Dilhara Fernando, Ruchira Perera, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Sajeewa Weerakoon, Malintha Gajanayake. Standby players: Upul Tharanga, Nandika Ranjith, Priyankara Silva, Gihan de Silva.

Division One

3rd day
Not a great day for Chris Read nor for his county, Nottinghamshire, who slipped to a 41-run defeat against Sussex. After battling their way back into the game, Sussex went on to record a cracking victory set up by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (4 for 29) and Jason Lewry (3 for 23). Mushtaq Ahmed also contributed 3 for 58 to bowl out Notts for 120 and consign the champions to what had seemed to be an unlikely defeat. Resuming on 111 for 3 this morning, Sussex made it to 247 thanks to a vital 42 from Matt Prior, leaving Nottinghamshire to chase 161. But their innings was in immediate disarray when Jason Gallian had to retire hurt on 10. As wickets tumbled he made a return to the crease, only to fall for 15 (148 for 7). A ninth-wicket stand of 68 between Ryan Sidebottom and Mark Ealham, who made 52, briefly gave Notts promise, but was not enough.Hampshire are strongly placed heading into the final day at Edgbaston, having bossed proceedings for another day. They set Warwickshire a mountainous 407 after racing to 218 for 6 declared with James Adams leading from the front – he made 85 in just 105 balls, including five fours and three sixes. By the close, Warwickshire had managed to crawl to 69 for 2, still 338 runs adrift. This morning, in their first innings, Warwickshire’s lower order subsided under the force of a Shane Warne assault, losing Dougie Brown early and then the last four wickets fell for just 13 runs. Warne ended with 5 for 52.2nd day
Darren Lehmann fell seven runs short of a double century as Yorkshire and Kent piled up the runs at Headingley. Yorkshire made 382. Undaunted, Kent’s Robert Key and David Fulton put on 153 in a commanding opening stand. They each made fifties, but Yorkshire took three quick wickets to leave Kent on 196 for 3 by the close.Graham Onions took 4 for 82 as Middlesex‘s batsmen failed to cut the mustard against Durham. Owais Shah topscored with 68 but Middlesex were bowled out for 242, handing Durham a first-innings advantage of 106. By the end of the day Durham had stretched their lead to 186 runs and, with eight wickets left, they will be confident of boosting that to well over 400.

Division Two

3rd day
Leicestershire continued to pile on the pain for Glamorgan, forcing them to follow on after bowling them out for 297 in reply to their 525. By the close Glamorgan had made 37 for 1 and still require a further 191 runs to take them to parity. Today it was Claude Henderson who did the damage, with 4 for 77. Daniel Cherry and Michael Powell made half-centuries for Glamorgan, but their team will need more strong batting performances tomorrow to save the game.2nd day
Four players recorded centuries on day two as Somerset and Essex piled on the runs in their match at Taunton. Keith Parsons (153) and Peter Trego (102) took their seventh-wicket stand to 202 before a late flurry of wickets. Somerset made 471. Andrew Caddick then placed Essex in danger of following-on by reducing the visitors to 80 for 3 in reply. But the experienced campaigners Andy Flower (104 not out) and Ronnie Irani (108 not out) steadied the ship in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 202 as Essex closed on 282 for 3.Northamptonshire must have wished that Jon Lewis had been called into the Test side as he wrecked their top order at Bristol with a thrilling 4 for 35 from 16 overs. Northamptonshire now have a lead of 100 runs but just one wicket in hand, and Gloucestershire will back themselves to register their second win of the season tomorrow.Derbyshire continued to go from strength-to-strength in their match against Worcestershire. They lost Steve Stubbings before the close but are still strongly placed, at 54 for 1, a lead of 114 runs. Vikram Solanki struck a century and Steven Davies made 49 to take Worcestershire to 278, a first-innings deficit of 60. Ian Hunter led the rallying call with 4 for 92, while Steffan Jones added 3 for 58 to hand Derbyshire the advantage.

Queensland have made two changes to their batting line-up ahead of their Pura Cup match against South Australia at Brisbane starting next Friday, promoting Ryan Broad and the uncapped Greg Moller. The team was humiliated by an innings and 45 runs in their game against Western Australia this week and now sit second-last on the Pura Cup table.Lachlan Stevens, the opener who averages 22 from his five games this season, has been dropped from the 12-man squad along with Grant Sullivan, the fast bowler who did not play the Western Australia match. Broad’s one-and-only outing in 2006-07 yielded scores of 1 and 2 but he was preferred to Stevens as an opening partner for Jimmy Maher for next week’s clash.Moller, 24, impressed the selectors with 120 and 97 for the Queensland Academy of Sport against the ACT last month. The season has got better and better for Moller, a right-hand batsman, after he missed the first four matches of Brisbane’s grade competition due to knee surgery. He will warm up for his potential first-class debut by playing alongside Shane Watson for Redlands in club cricket on Saturday.Pura Cup squad Jimmy Maher (capt), Ryan Broad, Shane Watson, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, James Hopes, Greg Moller, Chris Hartley (wk), Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke, Daniel Doran, Nathan Rimmington.

John Wright, who has experienced the best and the worst of Indian cricket during his five-year tenure as India’s coach, has asked for some time and space for Greg Chappell, his successor, to make a difference to the Indian team.Chappell has had a stormy start to his tenure and the publication of a confidential email in which he had declared Sourav Ganguly “mentally and physically unfit” to lead India, has inflamed passions and polarised opinions. Despite an uneasy truce imposed by the Indian board, observers visualise a difficult period ahead if both Chappell and Ganguly stay in their current positions.Wright, however, was confident that Chappell would be able to work his way through. “There will always be a couple of bumpy issues along the way when you are in a coaching situation,” Wright said, “but I am sure the coach and team will be able to work together.”Wright refused to get into discussions about Chappell’s methods, saying that coaching styles differed from person to person. When asked if he was too soft on some of the players, Wright said: “The bottom line from my perspective as a coach is I work in my way. I know that several people made judgments on how I approached the job and generally it’s from their perspective. I know the way I did the job and I feel we made progress. At the end of the day you do it the way you want to do it. I certainly don’t have qualms about not being hard in the job.”I think you have to ask the players about those sorts of things. I had several years with the team – I enjoyed it, I loved the fans over there. It was probably my most enriching cricketing experience. We took the team to a certain stage and Greg and his team should take it a bit further forward.””My last seven months with the one-day team – the form was poor and Greg’s going about sorting that out. I know that they can play and they’ll get the results,” he said. “I always felt that India could be number one. They’re ranked third in the Test rankings and one-day form can turn around very quickly, as we showed in the World Cup [in 2003] and the ICC Champions Trophy [in 2004].”