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Stuart Law, the Lancashire batsman who had expressed doubts about playing for the club next season, has signed a new one-year contract.”Stuart is an exceptional batsman and has just finished another great season for the club,” Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s cricket manager said. “His experience at both a domestic and international level is invaluable, and he brings a lot to the squad both on and off the field.”Law, 39, joined the county in 2002 and has been the club’s leading batsman with 7,141 first-class runs at an average of 58.53.”Lancashire is one of the biggest clubs I’ve even been involved with,” Law said. “I thought that Queensland had a big fan base, but Lancashire probably has the biggest in the world and the pressure for success is immense – which makes it an even bigger privilege to play for such a passionate county.”I’ve always wanted to play for Lancashire ever since playing League cricket for Littleborough in 1991-92, and I’m very grateful I’ve got the opportunity to continue my career at Old Trafford for at least another season.”Law will be taking part in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) later this month before spending Christmas in Brisbane, where he can inspect the newly opened stand named in his honour at the Allan Border Field.

Scorecard

There are just two “Tests” in which West Indies and Sri Lanka hopefuls can make an impression on their respective selectors. The West Indians did not have a good first showing. Yesterday at Guaracara Park, the Caribbean batsmen turned up but really didn’t play in decent November conditions. The result was 130 for 6 on day one of the first four-day “Test”.Even with the preparation moisture in the surface, the experienced West Indies A line-up had no genuine excuse for their weak showing. Coach David Williams and captain Sylvester Joseph had enough confidence in the strip to bat first when play was finally possible after lunch. The entire first session had been lost because of soggy sections in the bowler’s run-up at the southern end.And while there was not a great deal of sideways movement for the Sri Lankan seamers, Nuwan Kulasekara bowled a disciplined off-stump line and kept the ball up to the vulnerable West Indians. The result was five wickets for him. Four of those came in his decisive first spell of eight overs with the new ball when he took 4 for 15 runs. He feasted on the plethora of left-handers.Running the ball across them, he got opener Sewnarine Chattergoon to snick to Jeevan Mendis at third slip before he had scored; had Wavell Hinds edging to wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva for another duck; and induced a tentative Ryan Hinds to give a catch to captain Tilan Samaraweera at first slip. Kulasekara also trapped Joseph lbw as he shouldered arms to one that came back at him.The West Indians desperately needed someone to drop anchor. And for most of the post-lunch session, Devon Smith seemed to be that man. For just about two hours and 80 balls, he was patient and responsible in getting to 21. But in the closing overs before tea, he lost the plot, drove loosely at left-arm seamer Ruchira Perera and was bowled.Narsingh Deonarine, the fifth left-hander in the top six, went to tea with wicketkeeper Patrick Browne and the total on 55 for 5. The scores of missing fans at the Park were spared more agitated discussions among themselves about the state of the game in the region. Those who came in after work, though, saw some more encouraging stuff.Recognising the crisis their side was in, Deonarine and Browne set about sensibly starting a recovery. Aggressive counterattack was not necessary, just calm occupation. And that is what the left-hand right-hand pair managed to do in the final session – accumulate runs where available without taking unnecessary risks.Kulasekara was not as effective against them in that determined mood. Samaraweera tried five bowlers against them, including the spin pair of Sajeewa Weerakoon and Kaushal Lokuarachchi in tandem. Left-armer Weerakoon almost broke through when Deonarine had reached 28 and turned him through the hands of the forward short-leg fielder. It was a vital escape for Deonarine and Windies A.Together with Browne, he eventually added 64 for the sixth wicket in just under two hours. It was not eye-catching stuff, although both batsmen allowed themselves a few liberties as their stand grew. But Kulasekara was determined that they would not steal his thunder. Re-introduced for one final spell, he got Browne to play across a delivery which trapped him lbw. It was a misjudgment which tipped the balance more firmly in Sri Lanka A’s favour.

The refurbished Lord’s pavilion was today opened by Tom Graveney, the MCC’s president, after a seven-month, £8.2 million makeover. In a blend of the old and the new, Graveney was joined by Alastair Cook, the 20 year-old England A batsman who will be playing for MCC in the season’s opening match which was due to start this morning.Outside, the pavilion, which was originally opened in 1890, looks almost unchanged, with the exception of the restored viewing areas in the two turrets and the terrace at the very top of the building. But inside, aside from a complete redecoration, there has been considerable restoration, especially to the Long Room. The installation of new gas fires was particularly appreciated by the few hardy souls who braved cold wind and rain to turn up for the first day of the season. The refit has also been used as a good opportunity to move around the works of art. Adam Chadwick, the Lord’s curator, estimated that 70% of the MCC’s collection is now on show, a two-fold increase.”The refurbishment of the pavilion has been a complex, as well as expensive, project,” Roger Knight, the MCC’s secretary, said. “We wanted to improve every aspect of the building, from top to bottom, but needed to complete all the work in the gap between the 2004 and 2005 cricket seasons. Despite some unforeseen difficulties, I’m delighted that the project has been completed within our budget.” It might be churlish to point out that the entire pavilion was built in the same time over the winter of 1889-90 at a total cost of £21,000.Graveney was also understandably delighted. “I first played here more than half a century ago and, quite simply, I’ve never seen the pavilion looking better. For decades to come, spectators, officials and players will benefit enormously from the improvements which this great project has brought about. I congratulate everyone concerned in improving the pavilion in such a spectacularly successful way.”Members of the public can see the refurbished pavilion for themselves during a Tour of Lord’s. (Details are available from the Tours Office on 020 7616 8595 or via [email protected])

The Australian women’s team due to tour India for seven one-day internationals is all set to feature two identical twins. The selection panel announced a 13-person squad including Kate and Alex Blackwell. Alex has played eight ODIs but Kate, if selected to play in a match, will be making her debut. If this does happen, this will be the first pair of twins representing Australia in women’s cricket. Shelly Nitschke, the 27-year old left-hand bat, was named in the squad as replacement for Kris Britt, who made herself unavailable for personal reasons.Australia and India have met 14 times before in women’s one-dayers, with India winning just once. The only time India were successful was in 1995.The Blackwells will inevitably draw comparisons to the Waugh twins. But, they insist they aren’t the female equivalent of the more famous cricket twins. “I guess we are progressing along similar to the way Mark and Steve were early in their careers and we appreciate the comparison,” Kate told the Australian Associated Press. “We look up to them a lot but female cricketers should be recognised for themselves, not as the equivalent of Mark Waugh or Steve Waugh or Matthew Hayden or anybody.”While Alex has played two Tests and eight one-dayers, this tour is a first for Kate. “We were fighting for the same position and I got used to living up to what she had achieved.” she said. “I had seen her go through the steps (to get to international level) and I thought that if she could do it, I could do it. She’s a role model for me and we’re all really, really excited – it’s a big celebration day.”Squad 1 Belinda Clark (captain), 2 Karen Rolton, 3 Alex Blackwell, 4 Kate Blackwell, 5 Leonie Coleman, 6 Shelley Nitschke, 7 Cathryn Fitzpatrick, 8 Julie Hayes, 9 Melanie Jones, 10 Lisa Keightley, 11 Clea Smith, 12 Lisa Sthalekar, 13 Emma Twining

Michael Vaughan expects to be fit for England’s next triangular series match against Zimbabwe on July 1. He missed their game against South Africa due to back trouble – he said it was a "precautionary measure" – and Marcus Trescothick had stood in as captain.Vaughan back injury was suffered before Thursday’s defeat by Zimbabwe at Nottingham, and he played with the help of pain killers. Although he seemed to have recovered, he stiffened up again on Friday night and was taken to hospital on Saturday morning for a precautionary scan to try and assess the extent of the injury. The conclusion was that he is suffering from slight tissue or ligament damage.”On Thursday morning in fielding practice I managed to pull my back in some way but the adrenalin and looseness of being on the park got me through,” Vaughan told Sky Sports. “I travelled down to London on Friday and after four hours in a car I am struggling to bend at the moment. I’ve tried to warm it but I wasn’t quite ready for the South Africa game … I really wanted to play but [England physio] Dean Conway said it was too much of a risk with all the cricket we have to play in the next few weeks.”I had a scan which showed mainly tissue damage. Dean says that with acouple of days rest and treatment I should be all right for Tuesday’s game.”

At one stage, when Ajay Ratra and Dinesh Mongia were cantering alonguninhibitedly, Rest of India looked certain to overhaul Baroda’s totalcomfortably and establish a daunting first-innings lead. But then aBaroda left-arm orthodox spinner decided to leave his stamp on thematch. A Buch-mark, so to speak.Valmik Buch, who had found little success on Day Two, took four of thelast six wickets to fall, finishing with figures of 34.3-11-94-5. Hisperformance was significant; on a pitch that was hurriedly prepared inthree days, spin may decide the outcome of this match.Baroda broke the Mongia-Ratra partnership only at a score of 264 whenIrfan S Pathan had Ratra leg-before for his first wicket of the match.Sarandeep Singh offered a return catch to Buch to depart at 285 and,with Rahul Sanghvi falling and 299 and the tail dangerously exposed, acollapse looked imminent.Mongia, however, batted with assurance and a resolute Debasish Mohantyto register a century. His 125, when it ended, included 14 fours andthree sixes and, more importantly, helped Rest of India to hobble pastBaroda’s first innings total.When Mongia finally departed at 323, Buch snapped up Tinu Yohannan andShalabh Srivastava in rapid succession. The innings crumpled at 331,giving Rest of India an anaemically thin lead of 13 runs.Even though opener Satyajit Parab fell to Yohannan for 3, Barodamarched stridently forward in the second innings. Captain ConnorWilliams followed up his first-innings ton with another superlativeeffort; hitting 13 fours and a six, as he exploded to 83 off only 122balls. Williams found sedate support from Nayan Mongia, who scored anunbeaten 31.Day Three closed when Sarandeep Singh picked up Williams’ wicket.Baroda will thus start Day Four at 124 for two. On a badly preparedtrack that may crumble at any instant, every run that Baroda scoreswill count heavily against Rest of India in the final chase.

Shane Watson says there is no chance he would consider giving up bowling this early in his career, although he concedes Test cricket is on the backburner for him after his latest hamstring injury. Watson hopes to be back playing for Queensland within a month but will not rush himself into contention for international selection before he is ready.His former coach John Buchanan said the allrounder should consider playing as a specialist batsman to ease the strain on his fragile body. “No way, that’s never crossed my mind,” Watson told . “I love bowling too much. I’m still only 26 and I’ve still got quite a few years under my belt.”But the big question is how much cricket he will play in those few years. Watson missed the entire Ashes campaign last season with a series of recurring hamstring problems and sat out the start of the ICC World Twenty20, also with hamstring trouble. The muscle failed him again in his comeback match as he broke down while bowling his fourth over.Buchanan and Jimmy Maher, Watson’s captain at Queensland, both said he should consider giving up bowling, while Ian Chappell said Australia could not risk choosing Watson again until he had survived a full domestic season without injury. “It’s not annoying everybody giving me their opinions,” Watson said. “It’s amazing for me. It’s pretty overwhelming how many people are concerned and care about me.”Watson said he would not make the same mistake as last year when he kept pushing himself to get fit as each Ashes Test approached, only to aggravate his injury on several occasions. “Test cricket is on the backburner for me,” he said. “The most important thing for me is to get some cricket under my belt, get some workload with my bowling and play some games.”Trefor James, Australia’s team doctor, said Cricket Australia would consider sending Watson to Germany to consult a soft-tissue expert who this year successfully treated the ongoing hamstring problems of the Australian rules footballer Max Rooke. “It’s very minor but I think he needs to have a continuous time playing,” James told the , “partly for his confidence and partly for the benefit of the team that he is not having to go off during games all the time.”

On a day when Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan saved Indian blushes, it wasHarbhajan Singh – whose cavalier 47 in the final session exasperated thebowlers – that came to address the media. The official line was that bothmen were too exhausted, though it didn’t stop them jogging around the parkwith their team-mates as the evening shadows lengthened across SedgarsPark.Harbhajan sounded bullish after contributing his bit to a determinedfightback. “We can take a lot of confidence from today’s battingperformance,” he said. “When you make 300 runs in a day, it’s abig positive. One of our goals coming into this game was to make 300 runsin a day. That has been achieved. Now we need to do well with the ball aswell. The way Sourav [Ganguly] and Irfan [Pathan] batted was veryheartening.”He refused to point the finger at any of his top-order mates, whoseslipshod batting against the pace of Morne Morkel had India reeling at 69for 5 at lunch. “I feel it’s always just a matter of one innings,” hesaid. “All these batsmen have been successful in the past, and there’s noreason why they can’t score again. I think once they make runs in oneinnings, they will start contributing regularly.”If we play to our potential in the Test matches, the seamers and spinnersas well as the batsmen, we can do a good job against South Africa. I’mlooking forward to bowling here. I don’t know if it will help thespinners, but it will be good to get a long bowl before the first Test,should I play in that match.”One person who won’t be playing any part at the Wanderers next week isMorkel, but surely the day’s not far off when he’ll get his first nationalcap. He had figures of 4 for 29 before lunch, finishing the day with 4 for74. Had Vaughn van Jaarsveld not spilled Ganguly in the gully, and JacquesRudolph not dropped Zaheer Khan late in the day, the figures would havebeen even more impressive.When asked about the experience, Morkel called it a privilege to bowl tothe likes of Sachin Tendulkar. “They were my heroes growing up,” he said.”I was lucky enough to be able to play against them today, and to get themout was very special. I can go home now and sleep well tonight, knowingthat I have gone a good job.”Allan Donald had written recently that he considers the 22-year-old MorkelSouth Africa’s next potential fast bowler, and there were definitelyshades of the man they called White Lightning as he scythed through thetop order using pace and bounce as his primary weapons. “I had my ownlittle plans for them,” he added. “I had an idea what lengths to bowl tothem. I wanted to hit the deck hard and get it to climb. I could’ve had afive-for but unfortunately, a couple of catches did not stick.”On a day where he did very little wrong, the Indians will be grateful forthose small mercies.

Shaharyar Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), says he hopes that the forthcoming Test and one-day series with England will improve his country’s image – both on and off the field.”I think the series against England is important for our safe image because England is the first side other than the subcontinental sides to play in Pakistan for five years,” Khan told AFP. England were the last non-South Asian side to play in the troubled cities of Karachi and Peshawar in 2000 before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States sparked security fears about Pakistan. “Tension was at the peak after 9/11 because no team was ready to tour Pakistan,” he added. Khan has been a former foreign secretary and high commissioner [ambassador] to India and the United Kingdom.Australia and the West Indies refused to tour Pakistan, citing players’ safety concerns and the series were played at neutral venues in 2002. New Zealand, who postponed their tour of Pakistan a week after the 9/11 incidents, had to cut short their revised schedule after a bomb blast outside their team hotel in Karachi killed 14 people in May 2002. That followed South Africa and India’s refusal to play a five-day Test in Karachi where bomb blasts and ethnic violence has killed scores of people in the last five years.England, too, have refused to play a Test in Karachi over security fears and agreed to play only one limited-overs international in the southern port city on the current tour. “England had and still have security concerns but I think that, after providing them security assurances and taking good care of them, we hope our image will improve as a safe country,” said Khan, who took over as cricket chief in December 2003.Khan said India’s tour of Pakistan last year was the first step in improving Pakistan’s image. “I remember that the wives of Indian stars Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid did say that they would not like their hubbies to tour Pakistan over security fears.” The PCB not only hosted India without any problems but earned a record 22 million dollars from the series, India’s first in Pakistan for 14 years. “Now England will play a one-day match in Karachi and we are sure India will play a Test in Karachi,” Khan said.Khan also said Pakistan’s team can improve its Test image. “England is on a roll after their Ashes win and if Pakistan beat them they too can get a place among the top teams. Let the best team win and people enjoy the intense competition in the series.”Pakistan and England clash in the first of three Tests at Multan, starting November 12. The Tests will be followed by a five-match one-day series.

Zee Telefilms are almost certain to reject the Bombay High Court’s proposal to submit fresh bids for India’s cricket rights. Both Zee and ESPN-Star Sports – who went to court in protest against the granting of the rights to Zee – have been given time till Tuesday to decide whether they want to table new bids.According to a report on indiantelevision.com, it appears that Zee will inform the court on Tuesday of the strength of their original bid. ESPN-Star had questioned the eligibility of Zee’s bid, citing their lack of experience in cricket telecasting, and a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice DS Bhandari and Justice DY Chandrachud will preside over the matter.According to the report, Zee is unlikely to enter into equity collaboration with a foreign partner, ruling out the chance of a joint venture with AOL Time Warner for the sports channel which is set to be launched on Octiber 2.The much-anticipated Test series against Australia starts on October 6, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India will want the rights dispute resolved well before that. The High Court had proposed that fresh sealed bids be submitted with the Registrar General of the High Court on Wednesday, with the understanding that the rights would be given to the highest bidder. Further, there would be no scope for appeal afterwards.Zee has already made an initial payment of $20million to the BCCI.