Bob Woolmer’s wife did not want him to take the job as Pakistan coach in 2004 but she said there was no indication he was “scared” in the lead-up to his murder. Gill Woolmer also said in an interview with she thought the police investigating her husband’s death were doing a “good job” and she wanted a “speedy conclusion” to the inquiry.She told the paper Woolmer was not keeping a World Cup diary but was intending to write a book about his time as Pakistan coach, though it “is best if that book never appears now”. “If it is going to cause upset, it is not worth publishing,” Gill Woolmer said.Woolmer had sent his wife emails from the West Indies but there was “not even a hint in them of his being scared, or of anything to do with match-fixing,” she said. However, she was not keen for him to take the Pakistan role in the first place.”I said to him, ‘I cannot believe you are thinking of doing this’,” she said. “He knew the Pakistan side fluctuated in form, but he liked a challenge, and no one else tried to prevent him taking the job.”Gill Woolmer also praised Mark Shields, the chief investigator, for his efforts to find her husband’s killer. “Obviously I have not met Mark Shields but he seems to be doing a good job,” she said. “He is under stress and is tired and requires help because there are so many things to look into. We need to bring this to a speedy conclusion.”

Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith, the South Africa coach and captain, have had their contracts renewed by the South Africa board today for a further two years.Since returning from the World Cup in the Caribbean, following their disappointing semi-final against Australia, the criticism aimed at the coach has been unrelenting, but the board have put their faith in him.”The board wants to keep building morale so that we can get the Proteas where we want them to be – the best in the world,” Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive, said. “We believe that Graeme and Mickey can do the job at hand. Mickey presented his World Cup report to the board today, and we all agreed that the reasons behind the inconsistent performances of the Proteas needed to be addressed.”But Majola has stirred up the debate surrounding South Africa’s apparent mental weaknesses, an argument which many feel is the underlying problem of the team’s inability to beat Australia consistently. Especially in World Cups. To that end, the new role of team manager has been created.”Among these reasons are a lack of maturity among some senior players,” Majola said, “and a lack of the consistent mental toughness that is needed to take the Proteas successfully through an arduous World Cup. The board decided that among the measures to be taken will be the appointment of a team manager, in addition to the logistics manager.”We are going to draw up a profile and job description and then make the appointment as soon as possible,” he said. “The team manager must provide leadership qualities that will enhance the team and assist the captain and coach on matters such as mental toughness, discipline and public affairs.”A Cricket South Africa spokesman told Cricinfo that Smith’s role as captain “was more than just a job” and that his responsibilities off the field created an added burden. The role of team manager is aimed at alleviating some of those pressuresMajola said South Africa would now starting building for the future. “We will begin work immediately on planning for the next two seasons which includes the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September and the series next year against England and Australia.”We will also be continuing our efforts to build maturity in our emerging players, so that they fully understand both the rigours and the ethos of the international game.”

Ramnaresh Sarwan described West Indies’ mammoth loss at Headingley as “really sad” and said the players needed to be in a better frame of mind to challenge England at Old Trafford next week. However, he was confident the squad had enough fight in them to put up a decent contest.”It [Headingley] was really sad,” Sarwan told . “We’re making history for the wrong reasons. It was disappointing to know that I couldn’t go out there and help the guys. Having said that, I think they’ve got a lot of fight in them. I’m sure they’re going to give a better performance in the third Test match.”The team’s loss by an innings and 283 runs was their heaviest defeat in Tests and was further soured by the series-ending injury to Sarwan’s AC joint. Their three-day tour match against MCC at Durham would be vital if they were to improve at Old Trafford, Sarwan said.”Going into the next Test match, they need to be in some sort of form and a better frame of mind,” he said. “When I left everyone was pretty upbeat. They were disappointed that we lost. They had a hard training session the following day. They were in the indoor nets and did a bit of training outdoors as well.”Sarwan said he was in pain as he flew home to Guyana to begin his rehabilitation program. “It’s hurting. When I was coming on the flight, I was getting some pain,” he said after touching down at Barbados. “When I got off here, there was some more pain.”

Silly season has come early, again. But is it time to take Twenty20 more seriously? Surrey certainly think so – they hope success could turn their season around after a shocking start.They’ve got the pedigree to give it their best shot; winning it the first year and reaching the finals day in the other three competitions. Adam Hollioake was their captain in 2003, but they turned down his approach this year – that’s how confident they are in their youngsters.Twenty20, while acknowledged as a commercial and spectator success, has still often been dismissed hit-and-giggle, but it helped launch England’s campaign against Australia in 2005 – to Ricky Ponting’s peril after he had initially laughed the game off.One Australian who isn’t laughing now is Matt Nicholson, Surrey’s pace bowler, whose side have had the smiles wiped off their faces this year. “It’s a good opportunity to use this as a springboard for the rest of the season and get a momentum going,” he says. “Let’s start from now and look forward and look upwards.”But while England’s Ashes winners used the game to do exactly that, they also benefited from a first-choice first-class eleven. It may be too late for them to stage a complete turnaround, but the mid-summer madness of Twenty20 is perfectly timed for some relief, take a breather, mental time away from first-class.Surrey’s bowling is still probably too weak to help them turn round their fortunes in the Championship. Yet never say never; as Nicholson says: “Cricket is a confidence game. If we can get some confidence back in the line-up we can go forward for the rest of the season”.The players can see the lighter side, of course: even James Benning, who should be seriously thinking about England honours in the Twenty20 World Cup this September. Sometimes he doesn’t even do any pre-match preparations: “It depends what time I turn up. It’s a bit more relaxed.” All the same, an increasingly serious element is creeping in.

Chris Schofield, who’s been given a second life with Surrey after wandering lonely under a cloud for three years, is keen to be playing any kind of cricket these days. He’s not messing around. “I’m playing all the one-day games,” he says earnestly. “Things are looking up. I played the first two years of Twenty20 with Lancashire. I absolutely loved it and am looking forward to it again.”The game may be markedly different in tempo – and provides a huge contrast with the Tests that have just dragged on – but is it essentially that different? “Don’t forget the basics,” says Nicholson. Yet there are, naturally, differences. “While it’s competitive and you desperately want to win, “it’s not as hard on the body as the four-day game.”Most blokes have played enough cricket to realise if they’re playing a four-day game they have to put their head down a bit. If they’re playing a Twenty20 you’ve got to get on with it.”There are further differences in both batting and (all kinds of) bowling. For fielding, of course, you need to be as sharp as ever. How does batting differ? Benning’s top tips for batting are: “Keep to what you’re good at. Play strong cricket shots. Get in the gym. Watch the ball hard. And enjoy it. Keep in your comfort zones and expand your game through time and effort.”

Nicholson has these hints for pace bowling. “The key is getting the ball to move. If you’re bowling straight you’re probably in a bit of trouble. Offcutters or swinging the ball or a change of pace… if you’re moving the ball you’ve got half a chance of taking wickets which puts them on the back foot.”At the end, it’s a change of pace: a few in the blockhole, a few at their head. Variation, confuse them a little bit.”Spin bowling in Twenty20s is almost the polar opposite to first-class, at least for Schofield. As he explains: “With Championship cricket you try to float the ball up and make the batter make mistakes, whereas with one-day cricket you bowl a bit flatter. One-day, what you’re trying to do is not let the batters free their arms.”My main objective will be to just try and keep it down for a minimum. The wickets come anyway, it’s just trying to contain them. You bowl your four overs – to go for 30 or less you’re doing a good job.”The Surrey batsmen will be walking out to the Clash classic, London Calling. But it’s not just London who are calling for some good cricket. There is so much cricket that there is a danger of overkill – but not, it seems, for the short game, which is selling out fast. “Three hours is good for everyone,” says Schofield. “People can have a few beers then go out afterwards.”And it remains a good way in for new supporters, attractive to children – and of course to the money men. Packed crowds, sun and fun are what it’s all about and where it’s at. So, grab them before they’re all snapped up.

Michael Vaughan has announced his intention to stand down as captain of England’s one-day side with immediate effect. Vaughan, whose place in the ODI side came under scrutiny following a poor World Cup, will not be retiring from limited-overs cricket, but anticipates that the focus for the remainder of his career will be on captaining the Test side, particularly with a view to reclaiming the Ashes in 2009.Vaughan, 32, has been in charge of England’s one-day fortunes ever since Nasser Hussain stepped down in the wake of the 2003 World Cup. He has led the side in 60 matches, winning 32 and losing 22, but in that time, he has been unable to establish his credentials as a one-day batsman. His career average is a meagre 27.15 from 86 games, and he has never made an ODI century.His hold on the one-day captaincy was weakened during the recent World Cup in the Caribbean. He managed just 130 runs in England’s first eight games of the tournament before massaging his figures somewhat with a quickfire 79 against West Indies at Barbados, and in the field he was unable to inspire his side in the wake of the infamous “Fredalo” incident in St Lucia.”Since our disappointing performances in the World Cup, I have been giving careful consideration as to what is the best way forward for the England one-day team and my own role within the side,” said Vaughan in an ECB statement. “I reached this decision some time ago, but I did not want to announce it until after the end of this Test series to avoid it becoming a distraction to the team.”However, due to intense speculation in the media about my future, I feel it is important to make my intentions clear now. Our priority is to build a one-day squad able to compete strongly at the next World Cup, and I firmly believe that the interests of the team will be best served if I step down and allow another player to gain additional experience of captaincy in the one-day international arena.”I am committed to continuing as England’s Test captain for as long as I can be successful in the role,” added Vaughan. “I enjoy the job and I also believe that I will be able to form a strong working relationship with whoever is appointed to the one-day captaincy. I will continue to play one-day cricket for Yorkshire and it is not my intention to retire from ODI cricket as a player. I do, however, fully appreciate that the new captain will need a period of time to establish his own authority over the team.”Vaughan recognises that the grievous knee injuries that forced him out of the game for 18 months will not stand up to the constant rough-and-tumble of ODI cricket, especially as it is another four years until the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent. However, his hold on the Test captaincy has been consolidated since his return to the side. He cemented his place as a batsman with a century in his comeback innings at Headingley, and has since overtaken Peter May as England’s most successful Test captain, with 21 wins in 35 matches.On Friday, England’s selectors announce their squad to take on West Indies in two Twenty20 matches and three ODIs. Paul Collingwood, who made his fifth Test century at Chester-le-Street on Monday, is widely tipped to take over Vaughan’s role, although Kevin Pietersen is also considered to be in the running.

ScorecardLeicestershire secured their first win of the Pro40 with a comprehensive 27-run win against Middlesex. Jim Allenby’s career-best 91 led a strong batting display then the Leicestershire spinners forced the home side to collapse after Ed Joyce and Ed Smith opened with a stand of 133.As the partnership between Joyce and Smith rattled along Middlesex were up with the rate and the seamers were being dispatched around Lord’s. Joyce has been batting in the middle order in recent one-day matches but. moved up to open. he cracked 13 boundaries in his 59-ball innings.However, the introduction of Claude Henderson changed the game as he bowled Joyce and Smith and quickly followed up by having Eoin Morgan caught. Jeremy Snape removed Owais Shah, Middlesex’s last real hope of making an impression, and Stuart Broad sealed the result with three at the end.Leicestershire’s innings was based around a series of useful partnerships. HD Ackerman and Paul Harrison opened with 64, Ackerman taking 80 balls for his 83. Allenby then needed just 77 balls for his powerful innings and added 111 with Paul Nixon for the fourth wicket.

Shortly before the Indian players boarded the team bus, Zaheer Khan had a brief chat with Vikram Solanki, the captain of England Lions. The discussion centred around the first ball of the fifth over this morning, when a Zaheer bouncer clattered into Solanki’s helmet, bruising his left cheek.Team-mates at Worcestershire last year, the two have known each other for a number of years. It was Solanki who suggested to his county that they sign up Zaheer, a decision that led to Worcestershire being promoted to the first division. It also helped Zaheer regain his fitness and develop into a mature bowler with more variations in his armoury. It was no surprise that the moment the bouncer struck Solanki, Zaheer ran up to him to check if everything was alright.Solanki faced the media with his left cheek plastered. “I probably won’t describe the over as interesting,” he said with a grin, “I think there’s enough said if you just look at me.” Yet, despite the early blow, from which he recovered immediately, he stuck it out to score 60 and ended as the top scorer. It wasn’t a flamboyant innings, paling in comparison to Luke Wright’s fireworks at the other end, but was important in shoring up the innings at that point.”Wright was brilliant,” he said about his more adventurous partner. “I have had the pleasure of playing with him on an A tour. The batting pretty much went to plan. He struck the ball cleanly and put the Indian bowlers under pressure. It’s nice to see them come and do the job straight away against an international team.”It was a good toss to lose and I think we had the better of the batting conditions. It would have possibly gotten a little harder to score later. It was a slow pitch and would take spin. It would have been nice if we had got the full quota of overs. It’s a shame that the weather got us again.”Leaving aside the vicious bouncer, neither Solanki nor Wright had any trouble against India’s seam attack. Wright soon took Zaheer apart, in an almost vengeful way, and then turned his attention to Munaf Patel, the most insipid of the trio. “They’re coming off a great Test series and it takes a different approach to bowl in one-dayers. I wouldn’t at all under-estimate the Indian attack. Even for those who didn’t play the Tests, it’s their first couple of games on tour. If I was in India’s position I’d like to believe they need a couple of good sessions to be ready for the first match.”

Indian board president Sharad Pawar has said that plans for an international Twenty20 tournament would be unveiled within the next “10 to 15 days” as the BCCI stepped up its response to the Indian Cricket League (ICL).”We don’t see any threat from the ICL,” Pawar told AFP. “The BCCI has been working for the past two years [on a tournament] that will involve current players, newcomers, retired players and foreign players. We will be announcing our plans in the next 10-15 days.”It had been reported that the BCCI was on the verge of forming a two-tier cricket league – the Professional Cricket Leagues – that would involve domestic leagues in four countries and an international league. It was believed to be along the lines of professional football, with clubs being able to hire players from wherever they like to play in a Twenty20 format. Cricket Australia (CA) was believed to be involved in the process and the International Management Group (IMG), the event manager, was putting it all together.Echoing warnings from other administrators, Pawar said Indian players who joined the ICL risked being excluded from official cricket. “The ICL is a purely commercial proposition. It doesn’t do what the BCCI does for cricket at all levels in India. The players associated with the BCCI have to choose in which direction they want to go.”The ICL, bankrolled by Subhash Chandra, who owns Indian media company Zee Telefilms, planned to hold Twenty20 tournaments between six teams for the next three years. ICL officials said they had signed up several international stars and 44 Indian first-class cricketers, adding that more top players from around the world were expected to join.Former Test captains Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq lead the ICL roster that also included Pakistan players Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat, and South Africans Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje. South African allrounder Andrew Hall and former Australian batsman Damien Martyn have also been linked to the ICL.

Morne Morkel, the young fast bowler, has been included in South Africa’s 14-man squad for a two-Test series in Pakistan next month. He is the fifth pace bowler in the side after Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn and Andre Nel while batsman Jean-Paul Duminy has earned his first Test call-up.Morkel, 22, has been in good form in the ICC World Twenty20 at home, taking eight wickets in four matches at an average of 11.00. He made his Test debut against India in December as a replacement for the injured Steyn.National selection convener Joubert Strydom, when accouncing the squad, stressed on the importance of the series for Herschelle Gibbs. “The two Tests will allow Herschelle Gibbs the opportunity to establish himself as Graeme Smith’s regular opening partner,” he said. “We also feel it is important for JP Duminy to gain experience of the Test match environment and of cricket on the sub-continent generally.”This is a settled Test squad that developed very well in the home Test series last season and it is important that they continue to grow ahead of very demanding away series against India, England and Australia in the course of the next 15 months.”South Africa depart for Pakistan on September 25, the day after the World Twenty20 final. They will play a three-day warm-up match in Karachi starting September 27 followed by Tests in Karachi from October 1 to 5 and Lahore from October 8 to 12. South Africa’s squad for five one-day internationals following the Test series will be announced after the Twenty20 tournament.South African Test squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn.

It was a remarkable finale to the season, the title race going down to the last ball of the last match. The day ebbed and flowed but in the end Lancashire fell agonisingly, tantalisingly short of ending 73 years of waiting for a Championship. The title was Sussex’s, but it was a damned close-run thing.Lancashire’s quest ended in heroic failure after a nail-biting season finale at The Oval. Having been set a county record 489 to win against Surrey, Lancashire fell 24 runs short as their last remaining hope, Dominic Cork, was bowled by Murtaza Hussain for 47 with the shadows lengthening and four-and-a-bit overs remaining.On what the groundsman Bill Gordon told Cricinfo was “still a decent track”, Lancashire lost two early wickets before VVS Laxman and Stuart Law set them on their way. At lunch they were 178 for 2, up with the asking rate of five an over, and they continued that pace in the afternoon, despite losing Laxman for a superb hundred. The match turned in the penultimate over of the afternoon session when Jade Dernbach removed Law and Steve Croft.Lancashire’s tail refused to buckle. Glenn Chapple made 29 and Sajid Mahmood 26, but Surrey continued to chip away to keep Sussex and Lancashire supporters on tenterhooks. When Oliver Newby was dismissed by Jade Dernbach for 4, Lancashire were still 37 runs adrift with only the No. 11 Gary Keedy to come, and valiantly though they tried, the requirement was just too much.The Championship trophy and cheque for £100,000 had been waiting at Hove but ECB officials were poised to rush back to London. In the end Cork sized up a sweep shot, Murtaza defeated his flailing bat, and the dream was over. At the end of it all, Lancashire’s captain Mark Chilton was in tears. “I am proud of what our guys have done today,” he said. “They’ve been fabulous. I thought to even get close was a phenomenal effort …the lads are just broken.”Meanwhile Sussex’s victorious captain, Chris Adams, had been looking on nervously in the Hove dressing-room. “It’s been the most excruciating afternoon,” he said. “We were panicking like hell in there.”Sussex had earlier completed their side of the bargain by wrapping up a comfortable win over an already relegated Worcestershire at Hove. The visitors resumed on 190 for 5, still 129 short of making Sussex bat again, and showed some fight to frustrate the home support and to extend the game to the brink of lunch.

Almost inevitably it was Mushtaq Ahmed that broke a fifth-wicket stand of 117 when he bowled Moeen Ali for 85, but still Worcestershire refused to lie down. Gareth Batty and Kabir Ali put on 43 for the sixth wicket before Robin Martin-Jenkins bowled Kabir and then Mushtaq completed his second five-for of the match when Batty was well stumped by Andy Hodd. Adams took a good, low slip catch, again off Mushtaq, to remove Richard Jones and the victory was sealed when Mushtaq, who finished with 7 for 132 and match figures of 13 for 225, had Nadeem Malik caught of a bat-pad at silly point.With the Lancashire result still to come, Adams, the captain, spoke to a large crowd on the PA to thank them for their support. “It’s strange,” he said. “People have turned out in huge numbers, we’ve said thanks to and we can do no more … we just have to sit and wait.” it proved to be a long wait as well.Adams praised the contribution of Mushtaq who he admitted he had “bowled into the ground … not that he’ll mind.” He continued: “It’s not only his ability, it’s his commitment, his desire to keep bowling overs. He just turns up and keeps churning out the overs and waning to take wickets. He’s a fabulous character and he inspires so many of the other players. It’ll be a sad day when he goes.”Sussex’s players all hugged each when the last wicket fell other but the celebrations were muted as the title was still not confirmed as theirs. The win took them above Durham but they could still have been caught if Lancashire had pulled off their remarkable rearguard.After a washout yesterday the match between Hampshire and Yorkshire at Headingley was abandoned.

Final Championship Table