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England’s likely Test attack was forced to work hard by an impressive Queensland batting performance on day one of their final warm-up match before the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. At stumps Queensland had reached 333 for four, with Martin Love capitalising on his two successful seasons at Durham to finish unbeaten on 124.Although England were heartened by the return from injury of both Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan, both of whom were making their first appearances of the tour, they found wickets hard to come by after Queensland, one of Australia’s strongest state sides, won the toss and decided to bat.Andrew Caddick was the pick of England’s bowlers in the early stages, accounting for openers Jimmy Maher and Brendan Nash after they had put on 60 runs for the first wicket. Nash was brilliantly caught in the gully by Marcus Trescothick as he tried to cut, and Maher after making 41 from just 46 balls, guided a lifting delivery in Caddick’s next over to Mark Butcher at third slip.But it was 36 overs before England made their next breakthrough, as two players with extensive English experience, Stuart Law and Martin Love, added 133 runs Flintoff took the first of two wickets. Law, on 68, got an inside edge on to his pad as he tried to drive, for Flintoff to take a straightforward catch.Andrew Symonds then joined Love to forge another century partnership, with Symonds contributing 47 off 65 balls before Symonds, cutting at a lifting ball, edged behind to Alec Stewart. Love’s unbeaten 124 included 16 boundaries and came off 233 balls on a pitch that is ideal for batting.

Veteran middle order batsman Aravinda de Silva will miss the first half of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia after requesting leave for personal reasons.De Silva, Sri Lanka’s highest one-day run scorer, who will retire from all cricket after the World Cup, will be unavailable for the first three games of the VB Series against Australia and England."Aravinda has sent a letter to the selectors, requesting leave for the opening part of VB Series," confirmed team manager Ajit Jayasekera from Bloemfontein on Friday.De Silva, now 37, who was recalled to Sri Lanka’s one-day side in August, scored 91 runs at 18.2 in Sri Lanka’s five-match series against South Africa.Sri Lanka’s three-man selection panel, headed by former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Guy de Alwis, was due to pick a 16-man squad for Australia earlier in the week but will now finalise selection on Monday when the team returns to Colombo.Wicket-keeper batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana is being seriously considered as de Silva’s replacement despite not being included in Sri Lanka’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup.Kaluwithrana’s international career looked to be over when that squad was announced but pressure is now being put on the selectors to reconsider theirdecision after a string of impressive domestic performances.Star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will be included in the squad but is also due to sit out the opening games as he recovers from a hernia operation.

The ICC’s decision to go ahead with the Champions Trophy in Pakistan has drawn sharp criticism from players’ associations in non-Asian countries, with South African cricketers leading the criticism of a decision backed by their own board. The reactions have mirrored concerns voiced at the meeting, with reports from Australia and New Zealand suggesting that their top players might not attend the tournament.The ICC, on its part, has waived penalties for player pull-outs.”The South African team are very disappointed with today’s decision and remain extremely concerned about safety and security in Pakistan,” Tony Irish, chief executive of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told . “We hope Cricket South Africa (CSA) will sit down with us and talk to us about whether they are seriously considering sending a team to the Champions Trophy in Pakistan or not.”Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) chief executive, was also disappointed with the decision. “We’ve gone through this with a fine-tooth comb and we don’t think the risk to go to Pakistan is acceptable,” he said on Friday. “I am very hopeful Cricket Australia will make that decision. It would be unfair to put that decision back on the players and it would be inconsistent to put that decision back on players given what’s happened in the past.”Marsh said despite the ICC’s measures, the ACA would maintain its recommendation to Australia’s cricketers not to play in Pakistan.Cricket Australia spokesperson Peter Young told the : “We’re not willing to send our players or team officials anywhere that is not safe. We will always reserve the right to put player welfare first.”An ECB spokesman was quoted by as saying it would have “further extensive discussions” with key stakeholders – including England players and Team England – following which the ECB “will be in a position to make a clear decision.”Kevin Pietersen has said he has concerns about travelling to Pakistan: “The ECB are coming together on – I think – August 3 or 4, having spoken to [chief executive] David Collier this morning, and he reassured me that the decision will probably be taken out of the players’ hands, which is great.”I really hope the players don’t have to take the lead, to be totally honest. But I don’t know, we’ll see the outcome of that meeting, whatever the decision is. If it’s taken out of the players’ hands then great. If not, then I’ll certainly make a decision.”Officials from Australia, New Zealand and England are believed to have informed the ICC board, which conducted a teleconference on Thursday to confirm the venue, that their players were concerned about the security situation in Pakistan and may decide to pull out of the tournament, which starts on September 11.New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Friday in a press release that it “is talking” to its players about the security situation in Pakistan following the ICC board’s decision to go ahead with the tournament.

“NZC is talking to the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association (NZCPA) about player safety and security concerns following the ICC’s overnight decision that the Champions Trophy remain in Pakistan,” the NZC said. Justin Vaughan, the chief executive of NZC, said he would also discuss player concerns with the board as well as the safety and security reports upon which the decision was based.NZCPA executive manager Heath Mills had earlier slammed the proposal to go ahead with the tournament in Pakistan. “We believe this is a poor ICC decision … we can’t see how they have put player safety as their No. 1 priority and this is very disappointing,” Mills told New Zealand-based . “Our recommendation to our players is not to travel to Pakistan at this point in time. There isn’t one player I have spoken to who is comfortable about travelling to Pakistan at the moment.”The decision, though, was welcomed unequivocally by Pakistan’s captain Shoaib Malik. “It would have been a great loss for Pakistan cricket had the Champions Trophy been taken away from here,” Malik told . “I’m thankful to the cricket world for taking a decision that is great for the sport in this country.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said in Colombo that players opting to pull out would not be penalised, nor would their boards. He hoped the task force formed to assess the security ahead of the tournament would be able to convince players. “This is not something I treat lightly but we can manage it,” Lorgat said. “We will use this task team to ensure that we properly communicated with players who have concerns. We are making sure FICA is a part of the process to understand the situation.””We have to separate perception from reality. We will do our utmost to assure them that we would not go into an event where safety or security is going to be compromised.”We need to gain trust as event organizers,” Lorgat said, “and will do everything possible to ensure their safety and security.”

Damien Brandy hit a brilliant 149 as Leicestershire drew their Second X1 match against Warwickshire at Kenilworth.There was also an excellent century from John Maunders as Leicestershire piled up an impressive 413 for six declared in their first innings.Maunders has recently been released by Middlesex and is having a trial with Leicestershire in a bid to earn himself a contract at Grace Road.Coach Lloyd Tennant was full of praise for both players and said of Brandy: “It was fantastic knock and he never gave a chance. He was run out on 149, otherwise he would have still be batting now.”Warwickshire were then dismissed for 294 on the second day with the wickets shared around between a strong Leicestershire attack which included Matthew Whiley, Charles Dagnall and Jamie Grove.But with the pitch getting slower all the time a draw always looked the most likely result. Leicestershire eventually set Warwickshire a target of 313 in 72 overs, but they finished well short for the loss of only one wicket.

FULL NAME: Brighton Tonderai Watambwa
BORN: At Harare, 9 June 1977
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland A (1997/98); Mashonaland (1999/2000 to date); ZimbabweBoard XI (1998/99 to date). Present club team: Harare Sports Club
KNOWN AS: Brighton Watambwa. Nicknames: Bulb, Spikey, Slim
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: Professional cricketerFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 28-30 August 1997; Mashonaland A v Mashonaland, at HarareSouth Country Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (updated April 2002)Brighton Watambwa is one of Zimbabwe’s young black pace bowlers who has improved steadily until he broke through into the Test team during 2001/02. This followed a real impact in the Board XI matches in the UCBSA Bowl Competition during the previous season. Tall and gangling, he generates a good pace and has developed his skills to the point where he is now able to trouble the top batsmen.Like most other emerging black players, Brighton has no family background in cricket. His interest first came at primary school, when he had the good fortune to attend Lilfordia Primary School a short distance to the west of Harare, where his headmaster was Iain Campbell, father of Test player Alistair. He started playing in about Grade Three, and many will be surprised to learn that throughout his schooldays he was better known as a batsman than a bowler, although he did bowl regularly and quickly. It was not until he played club cricket, where the limited-over game rules and promising players are so often placed in the lower middle order where they get very little opportunity to bat that he began to concentrate on bowling.At Lilfordia he spent three years in the school colts team and a further two in the seniors. He remembers scoring his first fifty in Grade Five but cannot remember his highest score. He does remember taking nine cheap wickets in an innings in one match. He did well enough to be chosen for the national primary schools team, which played a match against the previous year’s team. "That was hard cricket because they were a lot older than I and I wasn’t as quick as I thought I was," he says.For high school he attended Falcon College, nursery of so many of Zimbabwe’s recent top players. Unlike the others, though, he does not have very good memories of his cricket there. He played for his age-group first teams for his first three years there and the school second team in Form Four, before progressing to the first team for his final two years. "When you play for a strong side and someone always scores runs and someone always takes wickets, you have to share everything around," he says. His only representative cricket was for the Matabeleland Under-16 team in Form Three; he was injured during much of his final year when he might have had ambitions for the national schools team.He finished his schooling with a year at St John’s College in Harare in 1996, when he played Under-19 cricket for Mashonaland and was in the national squad for that age-group. He had a much more enjoyable year, succeeding mainly as an opening batsman, scoring several fifties and averaging in the thirties, and also bowling well enough to win the school’s all-rounder of the year award. He got full colours in one year, which he believes is a unique achievement. He also played in the Zone Six cricket tournament for Africa that was hosted by Zimbabwe that year.In his final two years at Falcon he played for Bulawayo Athletic Club without achieving anything outstanding, but when he moved to St John’s he joined Harare Sports Club and immediately struck gold with some fine performances, even recording a fifty in one match. He has stayed with the club ever since, with his best performance a six-wicket haul a couple of years back.After leaving St John’s he took a gap year in 1997, when he coached at Bryden School in Chegutu, and also made his Logan Cup debut for Mashonaland A. The following year he attended Rhodes University in South Africa where he played a lot of cricket and won a place in the South African Universities team after being joint top wicket-taker in the Universities Week.Back in Zimbabwe in 1999, he attended the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai with Dennis Lillee and played against the touring England A team. Shortly afterwards he was selected for the Zimbabwe Board XI in the UCBSA Bowl competition. He has played frequently for that team ever since, with the 2000/01 season proving his best. He remembers a particularly good match at Harare South the previous season, though, against Northerns, when he felt at the top of his game and bowled as well as he has ever done, yet took only three wickets."I think a bit of soul-searching has brought about an improvement this season," he said at the time. "I’ve had a bit of trouble with injuries in the past and I have come to accept that I had to change a few things in my action. I’ve done that, and since I’ve come back from injury I’ve been thinking a lot more about my game. I’ve slowed my run-up and brought about a slight change in my action, and they seem to be working out well for me." The need to slow down his run-up was first suggested to him by Robin Jackman when he was in Zimbabwe several years ago, and this was confirmed by Lillee and the Sri Lankan Rumesh Ratnayake who also coached him in Chennai, and followed him up when he played for the Zimbabwe A team in Sri Lanka during 2000/01.He is uncertain whether he is actually bowling as fast as ever he has done, as he recalls a school match for St John’s against Churchill where he feels he bowled as quickly as he has ever done. "But I think right now I’m bowling with more consistent pace than I have ever done," he says. "I’m a genuine swinger of the ball [predominantly away from the bat], though, and I think that’s my main strength. Most of my wickets are bowled or caught behind."He spent the 2000 season in Hertfordshire in England, playing for a club called Langbury. He took two five-wicket hauls for them and was their top wicket-taker. He has been injury-prone at times, struggling most with his groin and quadriceps. He is now a fulltime professional cricketer with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.Brighton was eased into Test cricket against Bangladesh, making their first tour of Zimbabwe in April 2001, replacing Henry Olonga. He began shakily, but took his first wicket when he had Naimur Rahman caught in the slips. He took nine wickets in the two Tests, and another three in the First Test against India in June, and looked to have gained a permanent Test place.Then came personal tragedy. In the Second Test against India, at Harare Sports Club, he took a crucial early wicket, but then tore a hamstring, limped off the field, and that ended his season. He was working hard to get fit for the new season, but then had knee problems, on top of which he tore a quadricep muscle in his right leg.When he was finally fit to play club cricket again in October, he was quickly put into the Board XI team as the selectors were eager to have him back in Test cricket. It proved to be a long, slow haul to recovery, but he was eventually selected for the tour to India in February. He had little success on the dead pitches there. He followed this with selection for Zimbabwe A in the triangular tournament in Namibia, where he found the pitches a little more helpful. He took a few wickets in Logan Cup cricket, but his main concern was to hold out until the end of the season without further injury, and then enjoy a long break to recover his strength.His batting is unrecognized to the point where he usually goes in at number eleven. His highest score in any class of cricket is 89 in a Country Districts match for Selous or Chegutu, teams he represented for winter cricket at times in the past. He has taken eight wickets in an innings two or three times, but never equalled his nine at junior school.When fielding, he prefers the covers but is usually to be found on the boundary when bowling. "I like fielding," he says. "It’s a very big part of my game. I’m very quick and I like to think of myself as a very good fielder as well."Cricket heroes: Dennis Lillee, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, "and I do admire Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, the genuine quicks in this world."Toughest opponents: "Andy Flower. Maybe Mark Vermeulen."Personal ambitions: "To play for Zimbabwe as soon as possible – and stay there! I want to open the bowling for Zimbabwe in both one-day games and Test matches. I’ll work on my batting, but I’ll look for my bowling to do the talking for me, because I am in essence a fast bowler."Proudest achievement so far: "My selection for South African Universities."Best friends in cricket: "I get on well with most guys and don’t really have a problem with anybody."Other qualifications: "I did my first-year Bachelor of Commerce and then dropped out to carry on playing cricket. My parents wanted me to go back to university this year, but then the ZCU offered me a contract and my parents agreed with that, so everything seems to be working out okay at the moment."Other sports: "At varsity I played a lot of soccer. I played a lot of hockey at school as well, and just generally all ball sports. I played a bit of rugby until I got a bit small for the heavy guys. The only sport I can say I never really liked is swimming. I’ve played tennis and I play a lot of squash nowadays. I now play social tennis and a little bit of soccer."Outside interests: "Reading, movies, music and junk food."

Hampshire Hawks start their Norwich Union League Division Two campaign, when they entertain the Gloucestershire Gladiators at The Rose Bowl on Sunday.Robin Smith faces a late fitness test after damaging his finger in the recently concluded championship match, with Lawrence Prittipaul standing by.Jimmy Cook, Hampshire’s first eleven coach told the web site, “The lads are determined to go one better this season, after just falling short of promotion in 2001. A good start against the west-country boys will be just the fillip we need.”Hampshire chose from 12: James Hamblin, Neil Johnson, Derek Kenway, Will Kendall, John Crawley, Robin Smith, Giles White, Nic Pothas, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal, Alan Mullally and Lawrence Prittipaul.

There are only five matches on Sunday in the penultimate round of Norwich Union League matches, but there is something significant at stake in all of them to make sure they will be played with the intensity of cup-ties.The big two in Division One are involved, with Glamorgan Dragons set to take the title if they can go to Canterbury and beat Kent Spitfires. It was back in 1993 at this time of year that they took a similar journey when either Kent or Glamorgan could have won the title on the final day of the season. The Welsh county had a certain I.V.A Richards in their ranks at the time as they took the title in front of a crowd that had started queuing in the early hours of the morning.If the Dragons should slip up, Worcestershire Royals are ready to pounce. They are six points behind and know that only a win at Trent Bridge will keep them in the hunt. They will not be able to take too much solace from the fact that Nottinghamshire Outlaws are already relegated.The big match in Division Two is at Northampton where the Steelbacks meet the Essex Eagles. The Eagles allowed Surrey Lions to clinch promotion alongside Gloucestershire Gladiators when they lost by a mere two runs last week, but can clinch their own promotion with a win here. They are two points in front ot the Steelbacks. Should the home side prevail, the fight goes into the final week of the season.Lancashire Lightning go to Shenley to meet Middlesex Crusaders knowing that they cannot get into the promotion frame, but wanting to avoid a bottom four placing in League to avoid first-class opposition in the third round of the C&G Trophy next season. The same thought will be on Derbyshire Scorpions’ minds as they go to Hove to meet Sussex Sharks who, like the Crusaders, could escape that fate if all the results go in their favour.

Somerset Head Groundsman Phil Frost made his first visit of the season to the Rec at Bath on Friday, where Somerset will be playing Yorkshire in a 4-day championship match starting on June 13th.Phil spent the day watering and scarifying the wicket, as well as taking delivery of a heavy roller, which will remain at the Rec till after the festival is over."This year we will be able to have more time to complete our preparations at Bath, because there is no cricket at Taunton," he told me.For much of the year the outfield area at the Rec is used as a car park for Bath Rugby Club, and very little cricket is played upon the square apart from the Somerset matches.A sponsorship deal with local solicitors Withy King and matched funding from the local council looks likely to have guaranteed the future of the Bath Festival for the immediate future, but the local organisers will be hoping for fine weather and good support form local cricket followers.

Kevin Pietersen has signed a four-month central contract with the ECB and will be “reintegrated” into the England team after a process of reconciliation has been completed. The announcement could pave the way for Pietersen to be included in England’s touring squad to India, although that has not yet been decided on.Andy Flower, the England coach, will determine when Pietersen will return fully to the fold, once the 32-year-old becomes available for selection. Pietersen said that he hopes to play for England again “as soon as possible” and committed himself to international cricket until the 2015 World Cup.”It’s been a horrible situation for all involved but it’s time to move forward,” Pietersen said. “All being well I’ll be back in an England shirt as soon as possible.”I am committed to completing the reintegration process we have agreed over the coming weeks and resuming my England career in all formats, hopefully until the World Cup in 2015, as long as my body allows. I want my son growing up seeing me playing for England and I hope one day he will put an England shirt on himself.”I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to my team-mates, all England supporters and the ECB for the situation that has arisen over the last couple of months. Thankfully we have drawn a line under it and can move forward. Although it has been covered in the statement, I’d like to make it clear that at no time did I share tactical information with any of the South Africans.”Giles Clarke, the ECB’s chairman, said: “Kevin has signed a central contract today. Andy Flower will determine the progress of the reintegration process. It could be soon, it could be much later.” He added that Pietersen’s contract could be extended to the full year once the agreed process had been completed.Clarke also expressed confidence that Flower, who has supported the hard line taken against Pietersen, will not be disillusioned by the attempts to begin afresh and predicted that he will remain as England’s coach until at least the World Cup in 2015.Pietersen was dropped from the side in August after sending what he admitted were “provocative” texts about the former England captain Andrew Strauss to members of the South Africa team. He was left out for the deciding Test of the series at Lord’s, amid concerns about “trust and respect” within the England squad.Pietersen later apologised to Strauss privately but was not included in England’s squad for the World Twenty20, despite reversing his one-day retirement, or the Test party for India.The ECB has now said, however, that it has received a “binding assurance” from Pietersen that the messages, which were actually sent via BlackBerry Messenger and have since been deleted, were not derogatory of Strauss and did not contain advice on how to get him out, as had been alleged.An ECB statement said: “ECB and Kevin Pietersen confirm that agreement has been reached concerning a process for his reintegration into the England team during the remainder of 2012. Upon completion of the programme, the England selectors will consider Kevin for future matches.”Kevin Pietersen has apologised to Andrew Strauss and wishes to express to all those who support England his regrets at the impact the recent controversies have had on the England Team. He now wishes to put the events of the summer behind him and to focus on regaining his place in the England Team.”With regards the issue of the BBM messages, due to the fact that Kevin had not retained the BBM messages, this matter has been successfully concluded through a binding assurance provided to ECB by Kevin. Kevin conceded that the messages exchanged were provocative. ECB is satisfied, following receipt of this binding assurance, that to the best of his recollection, Kevin did not convey any messages which were derogatory about the England Captain, the England Team Director, the ECB or employees of the ECB. Furthermore, there was no tactical information whatsoever provided to members of the South African touring party.”England begin their tour of India towards the end of October, with a four-Test series to be followed by two Twenty20 internationals. They will then return to India in January for an ODI series before departing for a tour of New Zealand in February.

Lancashire suffered their second defeat in as many days at Newlands as they fell 66 runs short at the hands of a strong Western Province side.Western Province batting first notched 230 for 8 in their 45 overs thanks mainly to opening batter Neil Johnson who scored 107. The WP side were looking set for an even bigger total but the vital run out of Johnson and tight bowling from Gary Yates, Chris Schofield and Peter Martin put Lancashire well in the game at the interterrible start losing Driver, Roberts, Fairbrother and Lloyd in the first six overs to leave them at 11 for 4.A revival was then sparked by Mark Chilton and Joe Scuderi but this partnership was ended when Mark Chilton was harshly given out LBW for 20. If ever a captains innings was needed it was now, Warren Hegg once again deputising for the injured John Crawley decided the best form of defence was attack and along with Joe Scuderi set about restoring some pride to the teams total.Warren Hegg was finally out for a gutsey 61 and Scuderi followed for 27, along with a brave knock at the end from Chris Schofield who injured his back when bowling, the lower order fought well before being all out for 164.