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Peter Anderson was back at his desk at the County Ground on Friday morning after attending a meeting in London on Thursday.Acting on behalf of the eighteen first class counties Mr Anderson, along with Stephen Coverdale of Northamptonshire and David Collier from Nottinghamshire had met with ECB Chief Executive Tim Lamb.Mr Anderson told me: “The major issue under discussion was how we can arrest what is perceived to be the dumbing down of first class cricket. The first-class counties perceive the problems as twofold. Firstly, central contracts deny local members the opportunity to see top-line players, and secondly in some sections of the press County Championship cricket is seen as inconsequential to international cricket.”The counties are concerned that the number of contracts increases from 12 to 20, and that if England have additional overseas tours which start in early October and end in late March, centrally-contracted players will be unavailable to their counties.”The Somerset Chief Executive continued, “One of the avenues that we are looking at is that an agreement should be struck with the Professional Cricketer’s Association that is under employment law acceptable by Brussels, that eight players qualified for England must be on the pitch at any one time. In effect this would mean that three overseas players could be used by the counties.”One idea that we are starting to talk through is that you could have any number of overseas players on short term contracts who would be available to play during the year as long as there were eight England qualified players on the pitchwe feel that this would make the game more attractive.”Another subject under discussion was the probability of having a wage cap for players salaries.Mr Anderson said: “What is happening at present is that good county players who won’t play for England are being poached by more wealthy counties, and therefore wages are being driven up.”Clubs like Somerset can’t compete in this wage spiral, neither can the game as a whole, so something has to give. The problem at the moment is that county players cannot earn more than the lowest paid England contract players.”This might be all right from the England perspective but it actually restricts counties from being competitive by signing players to fill gaps when they feel that they are going to be weak in their current team.”The Somerset Chief Executive is due to go to London again on January 23rd, to a meeting to discuss the future structure of first class cricket.”We will also be looking to try to rationalise the growing problem of the interface between first class cricket and the recreational game. For instance do we need Second XI, Under-19 and Board XI cricket, and do we need to put so much emphasis on Premier League cricket, all of which costs lots of money?”

In scorching heat the Zimbabwean captain won the toss and elected to bat on a damp wicket at P. Saravamuttu Stadium in Colombo today. It was a brave and confident decision when one considers the watering of the wicket yesterday morning and the was heavy overnight rain. Gus Mackay’s faith in his batsmen was paid off as Zimbabwe batted patiently in the morning, taking the score to 71-1 at the lunch interval.As is traditionally the case at the P.Sara Stadium, the ball moved prodigiously for the first hour of play and all the BCCSL XI seamers looked dangerous. Prabath Nissanka, returning from an ankle injury that he sustained in the U19 World Cup, lacked direction in the early overs and took some time to find his rhythm. His opening partner, Charitha Buddhika, however bowled splendidly, moving the ball both ways off the seam whilst consistently maintaining a good length.During the first hour the Zimbabwean openers, Neil Ferreira and Gavin Rennie, primarily looked to defend. Just when it seemed that that they were going to surface unscathed from the first hours play Kaushalya Weeraratne replaced Prabath Nissanka and immediately struck, dismissing an unlucky Gavin Rennie for 6 runs.Gavin Rennie, one of Zimbabwe’s main batsmen on this tour, was desperately disappointed to be given out, when the ball appeared to have just flicked his pads on the way to young wicket keeper, Prasana Jawardena. Nevertheless the wicket brought to crease, Mark Vermeulen, who changed the tempo of the Zimbabwean innings.Tall and upright in his stance Vermuleun adopted a positive approach from the start, taking the attack to the Sri lankan bowlers whenever they overpitched. When spin was introduced in the form of Niroshan Bandarathilaka he immediately grasped the initiative with a well struck boundary through the legside.At lunch Vermulen had progressed to 37 off 58 balls (4×4) and his patient partner, the left handed Neil Ferreira, had scored 18 off 84 deliveries. With the pitch now drying quickly and conditions becoming perfect for batting, Zimbabwe have a great opportunity to set a competitive target.

Phil Hay has dropped a worrying update on Leeds United’s ongoing case regarding Jean-Kevin Augustin.

What’s the latest?

In a post on Twitter on Tuesday, The Athletic correspondent revealed that, over two years after the centre-forward’s now-infamous loan move to Elland Road in January of 2020, the case between RB Leipzig and Leeds United regarding the disputed transfer of the 24-year-old was finally set to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport – with a final decision on the matter expected to be made in the not too distant future.

However, in a further post, Hay went on to suggest that FIFA’s original decision that the Premier League side were in the wrong regarding the Frenchman’s transfer would not appear to bode well for Leeds’ chances of winning their hearing with CAS.

In his tweet, the journalist said: “FIFA felt that the letter of the contract, as well as the spirit of it, was in Leipzig’s favour.”

Radrizzani will be livid

Considering just how much money hangs in the balance for a player that, regardless of the result of the CAS hearing, will not be joining Leeds, the suggestion that the Whites will more than likely fail to get themselves off the hook for the £18m transfer fee of Augustin is sure to have left Andrea Radrizzani livid.

Indeed, the 24-year-old – who is now valued at just £1.35m by Transfermarkt – endured a torrid spell at Elland Road, featuring for a grand total of just returning to Leipzig at the end of his temporary contract on June 30 2020.

However, with Leeds having agreed an £18m deal to sign the former France U21 international if they were to go on and achieve promotion that season – which they subsequently did, albeit after the striker had returned to Germany due to the suspension of the footballing season that year – Leipzig believe that the Whites still owe them the agreed price for Augustin, while the English outfit claim that the hitman’s contract had ended prior to them securing promotion.

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But, with FIFA having already sided with the Bundesliga club, as Hay suggests, it does not look as if Leeds will be getting off lightly for Augustin – something that will certainly come as a great annoyance to the Whites hierarchy.

AND in other news: Sold for £900k, went on to be worth £27m: Leeds had a shocker on “unbelievable” 31 y/o

Ricky Ponting played in Tasmania’s latest FR Cup game but will not reappear in the Pura Cup © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting will not play in Tasmania’s Pura Cup match against Western Australia starting in Hobart on Monday. Ponting has been withdrawn from the Tigers line-up at the request of Cricket Australia.Many of Australia’s front-line players have niggling injuries or are resting during the rare lull between the Sri Lanka Test series and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy games. Ponting played in Tasmania’s one-day match against the Warriors on Saturday but Cricket Australia’s “no-risk” strategy has meant he will not take part in the four-day contest.”The call’s been made by the Australian team physio and chairman of selectors,” Tony Harrison, the Tasmanian Cricket Association deputy chairman and a Cricket Australia director, told . “We’ve been aware he’s been carrying a couple of niggles this season and he’s got a busy six months coming up, so it’s just part of player management.”Tasmania squad Michael Dighton, Michael Di Venuto, George Bailey, Travis Birt, Daniel Marsh (capt), Luke Butterworth, Sean Clingeleffer (wk), Jason Krejza, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Ben Hilfenhaus.Western Australia squad Chris Rogers, Justin Langer, Adam Voges (capt), Michael Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brad Hogg, Sean Ervine, Mathew Inness, Steve Magoffin, Darren Wates, Ben Edmondson.

The hunt is on for the next Muttiah Muralitharan © Getty Images

The frequent visits of former Australian offspinner Ashley Mallett has sent out a clear message that Sri Lanka are on the hunt for a successor to Muttiah Muralitharan. Four bowlers from the national spin academy will be sent to Australia for a month in February next year to undergo intensive training and to gain experience. The four spinners are yet to be finalised.Mallett was assigned as consultant spin bowling coach for Sri Lanka on a three-year contract since April, which commits him to four visits to the country each year, with each visit not longer than two weeks . His duties include coaching spinners from all levels and training coaches. Ruwan Kalpage, the national spin bowling coach, is also working alongside Mallett in setting up an ongoing structure for the development of spinners.”In the main we are also looking for a replacement for Murali,” said Mallett. “Just in case he falls over and breaks his leg, we’ve got to find someone pretty quick. We’ve got a number of people in the mix but nothing definitive yet. We’ve got a lot of terrific talent in the cubs and juniors. I like to see an ongoing structure which other countries have got. “Mallett said that he initially saw more than 600 spinners before pruning it down to four squads of 12 each – cubs, juniors, colts and seniors. He said that there were no age restrictions because he wanted it to be flexible.”There are still blokes we haven’t seen,” he added. “This time around we did a little bit more moving around from Colombo. Next time round in April, I want to work the four squads with the flexibility of adding and sometimes subtracting from them.”Tom Moody was talking the other day about the amount of talent he has seen in this country. He said it is the best in the world. It’s incredible. There is an incredible amount of raw spin talent that needs guidance. They spin the ball hard, but there are a few technical things that are inhibiting their progress. A lot of the guys are front-on; the arms of the leggies [legspinners] are a bit too high. These are things you can easily sort out especially when they are young. That’s why we are putting in a structure which will be an ongoing thing long after I stop coming.”Mallett’s recipe to become a successful spinner was to spin the ball hard and have a lot of patience.”You should also have a strong base to get the energy going up and over,” he continued. “The more time you can spend on the front foot the more raise you can get on the ball. Have a look at Warney [Shane Warne] and Murali. They spend a lot of time on the front foot. Saqlain [Mushtaq] spent so much time on the front foot you wondered when he was going to let go of the ball. He didn’t have rhythm in his run up. He ran like a duck but landed strongly, spent a lot of time and got a lot of rip. That’s for blokes who genuinely spin the ball. You don’t want fellows who wouldn’t spin flat off the pitch. We want blokes who genuinely spin. Monty Panesar is one good example.”Mallett said the understanding of spin bowling in the subcontinent was good, as was in Australia since the arrival of Warne.”In the mid-eighties if a fast bowler came along and was square-cut to the fence, they would say it was a great shot,” he said. “If the spinner got hit down the ground, that was a bad ball. That was the mentality. That mentality still exists in South Africa today.”In Sri Lanka the understanding of spin bowling is good. But there are blokes who need help in coaching to understand what’s required in young people coming through. It’s a very important part of our brief to touch the coaches and make sure that we are on the same wavelength in coaching expertise.”Mallett played 38 Tests between 1968 to 1980, in which he took 132 wickets. He runs the Spin Australia academy at the Adelaide Oval and has worked with spinners in the last 25 years in Australia, with stints in counties and academies in England and South Africa.

Auckland’s win over Northern Districts highlighted a topsy-turvy day in the State Shield. Auckland was aided by Mssrs Duckworth and Lewis after the only black cloud in the country perched over Eden Park late in the day. In fairness, Auckland looked comfortable chasing, being 188 for 2 in 37.4 overs after Paul Hitchcock (108) posted a hard-hitting century in 99 balls. When the downpour came the revised target was 177 so Auckland won by eight wickets. Earlier, Northern posted a competitive 267 thanks mainly to captain James Marshall’s stylish 87. He was run out on the last ball of the game attempting a cheeky bye. Twin brother Hamish looked untroubled getting through to 39. Mayu Pasupati was best of the bowlers with 4 for 46.Peter Fulton fell from a great height yesterday as part of a Canterbury team thrashed at home by lowly Central Districts. Fulton, the player of the recently completed series against Sri Lanka fell lbw third ball to Michael Mason for no score. Canterbury was dismissed for 109 as Ewen Thompson and Lance Hamilton both finished with figures of 4 for 22. Central had no problems knocking off the total in 24.2 overs, with Ross Taylor (55) and Geoff Barnett (52) not out after an unbroken 91-run stand.Wellington was taken for a wild ride at Carisbrook by Otago, which demolished the previously unbeaten team. Otago seamer Warren McSkimming took a match-winning 5 for 9 off 7.3 overs as Wellington was skittled for a paltry 81 in 28.3 overs. McSkimming dismissed Chris Nevin off the first ball of the match and things scarcely improved for Wellington thereafter. Otago passed the total in 19.3 overs with Neil Broom (18) and Jonathan Trott (7) the not out batsmen. Luke Woodcock top scored for Wellington with 20 while Aaaron Redmond scored 34 for the home team.

Net loss: the rotational policy contributed to Matthew Hayden’s poor run© Getty Images

Australia’s controversial and disrupting one-day rotational policy is “dead and buried”, according to the selector Allan Border. Border said the panel would choose the best team for each match after the strategic resting of players affected the side’s VB Series continuity and contributed to Matthew Hayden’s slump.”As selectors we have to take a little bit of the blame,” Border said on Inside Cricket. “I think the rotation has not worked. We’ve had a fair bit to do with it and we’ve taken a bit of flak for it, but I think it’s dead and buried.” Border said if players needed a break they would be rested, but not be rotated. “I just think, going forward, we pick our best side.”The policy was first used in 2001-02 when Australia missed the series finals, and Steve Waugh was dumped as one-day captain. This summer the top players were juggled in the six preliminary matches before the panel picked their A-list for the deciders, which included Michael Clarke as opener instead of Hayden.Border said Hayden’s 42 runs in four innings and the overall below-par batting were examples of the disruption. “Hayden and Gilchrist only batted together once in that one-day series and they’ve been a pretty good partnership over a number of years,” he said. “From little things like that we didn’t get a continuity of team. [Instead of] blokes knowing their roles and getting used to them, they were all over the place.”Border said Australia, who were yesterday confirmed to play the World XI in three one-day matches in October, would have to lift for the five-game series against New Zealand, the No. 2-ranked team. The first match is at Wellington on February 19.

Rumours about Sourav Ganguly signing up with a new marketing agency have gained ground, with a rediff.com report suggesting that Nimbus, a sports production company, have clinched the deal with a Rs 60-crore offer (US$12.5 million approx) over a five-year period. Ganguly’s current contract, with Percept D’Mark, expires on September 22, and according to the report, Nimbus is likely to announce its deal with Ganguly on the same day. The report also states that Ganguly would be guaranteed the entire amount even if he does not remain captain of the Indian team over the five-year period.Rumours about Ganguly signing up with Nimbus have persisted for more than a month, even though Harish Thawani, co-chairman of World Sports Nimbus, had denied them in early August. The had quoted him as saying: “We have given no such proposal to Ganguly, nor are we contemplating to. There is no resolution even in the company board of taking cricketers on board for celebrity management.”

The drawn Test match in India prompted a lot of discussion amongst my friends and family and I am sure it did with you as well. So, this week we will have more of an international flavour as I try to give some insight into a captain’s dilemma regarding declarations.The timing of the declaration is key and there are several points you take into consideration. Enough time to bowl the opposition out is a major factor and although we gave ourselves a day and a bit, it is not nearly enough on a benign surface. Here lies another dilemma because if the pitch is still good for batting, it means you must set a very challenging total to avoid losing comfortably. This would have been the reasoning behind England’s extended second innings; they could not afford to lose. Very often the best declarations gives the opposition a chance of winning so their approach to batting is different and maybe not as cautious.Hussain also knew it was going to take a huge performance from his bowling unit to level the series so he would have looked at his options. Naturally, spin was going to be his main weapon and he had two in his ranks. Despite Giles’ five-wicket haul in the first innings the jury was still out on whether he could complete the Test with another big workload on the final day. His spinning partner Dawson was in his second Test match and although he has acquitted himself very well so far, he has only been playing first-class cricket for six months.There probably is enough there to make a captain uncertain but just in case there is not, he would have looked at his other options. Hoggard is leading the pace attack and is still very inexperienced particularly on an unresponsive pitch. Flintoff backed him up in a role that is foreign to him. Taking the new ball in international cricket is no easy task. Taking it in India is an unenviable one but taking the new ball with no prior experience is a huge ask for the young Flintoff. The reason Flintoff is there at all is because White is not fully bowling fit. It is enough to cast doubt even over the most adventurous captain.As Hussain pondered over his decision, some statistician would be emphasising how prolific the Indian batmen are on home soil and he would be thinking the series could be lost here and it would not be true reflection on England’s near dominance of the Test. Right, the decision is made. We will try to win but we will not give India even an outside chance because we cannot lose.I predicted this and knew that our only chance of winning was to be bowled out cheaply in our second innings leaving India a fairly modest total to chase. They would have been tempted and may have lost their top five in the bid to chase runs. Considering that they might be still 80 runs or so short of their target, I will then back the bowlers to clean up the lower order with some determined and `fired up’ fielders behind them.If the situation occurs again, I am confident that Hussain will be more adventurous and England will go all out to square the series. The difference is that England can afford to risk losing in an attempt to win.

After losing his first game as Leeds United boss at the weekend, Jesse Marsch faces a quick turnaround when his side take on Aston Villa at Elland Road on Thursday night.

The Whites fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Leicester to further bring them into a relegation dogfight, and Marsch will need to quickly find a way to inspire some change.

And, one way he could potentially do that, is by turning to one of the club’s brightest academy prospects: Sam Greenwood.

With just 12 minutes of Premier League football to his name this season – his sole outing came in the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal at Elland Road towards the back end of last year – it’s fair to say the 19-year-old hasn’t exactly had much of a look-in.

And, considering the Whites’ top-flight status is in serious jeopardy, it would certainly be a bold call for Marsch to throw Greenwood into the deep end, but it might be the kind of exciting gamble that just gives everyone around the club, including the fans, a much-needed lift.

According to Football Insider previously, the teenager is someone who has been making waves behind-the-scenes, and that he left a great impression with former boss Marcelo Bielsa.

The report said: “But one of the cheaper, less-heralded signings of last year has the United coaching staff at Thorpe Arch increasingly convinced he has a massive future ahead of him.

“A Leeds source has told Football Insider that teenage forward Sam Greenwood has blown Marcelo Bielsa and his backroom team away with his promise and potential to be a bona fide Premier League star.

“To say the 19-year-old is highly thought of is an understatement, with the word “phenomenal” regularly used to describe him behind the scenes.”

In his debut season campaign at Elland Road, Greenwood bagged 12 goals in just 18 games, playing in a number of different roles, including up front, behind the striker and further back as a central midfielder.

And, he’s got a big fan in former Leeds ace Noel Whelan, who said: “(He’s) another player who possesses an immense amount of ability. To have a weapon like that in your side is great. You can see the ability he has but the free-kicks are about the hard work he puts in on the training ground and for that he deserves to be praised.”

Given his deadly ability from set-pieces, and his versatility in playing a number of roles, Greenwood possesses a number of characteristics that mark him out as a very intriguing prospect for Marsch to develop at Elland Road.

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While Gelhardt of course is the name on everybody’s lips, it’s his academy teammate who may be the more exciting out of the pair given just how well he seems to have impressed behind-the-scenes.

If given the chance, he might even overtake Joffy in the pecking order.

Meanwhile, Leeds are eyeing this attacker…