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Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka spinner, has no plans to retire and intends to play both Test and one-day cricket for at least two more years.The past six months has seen several high profile names bow out of the game – Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath the two most notable. But Muralitharan, a youthful 35, has no such desire.”I will have to call it a day some time. But I am hoping to play for at least another two years and see how good it is and how my fitness is,” he said. “I need to be involved in the game to be fully motivated and interested.”He is but a spring chicken to his team-mate Sanath Jayasuriyra, though, who turns 38 at the end of June, and Muralitharan is adamant age should not be a factor in limiting a player’s career.”Sanath is very fit and although he is nearly 38 he can play in any ODI side. He can play as long as he is fit,” Muralitharan said. “And knowing Sanath he looks after himself so well. And [Chaminda Vaas] is just 33. [Courtney] Walsh played until he was 37 or 38, [Curtly] Ambrose too played well into his late 30s and [Glenn] McGrath was 37 when he retired.”I don’t think Vaas should be looking to retire. He should maintain his fitness and continue and should be looking at the next World Cup too. As for [Russell] Arnold, maybe he thought it was time. He was somebody who was in and out of the side and it is only he who knows what the best time is to quit. I think he has realised it is now.”Muralitharan is second on the all-time list of wicket-takers in Test cricket with 674, trailing Warne’s 708. He is also placed second in one-dayers with 455, just 47 behind Wasim Akram.

Geoff Boycott, the former England and Yorkshire batsman, has expressed his concern over Michael Vaughan’s future with England. The England captain continues to struggle with his persistent knee injury, which first forced him out of England’s tour of India. He hasn’t played since, and has only recently returned to the nets.”You can put as much spin on it as you want but it is worrying,” Boycott wrote in his column for the BBC. “England need him for the Ashes – they need him back now – but they definitely want him in Australia. After all, he was the leader when we won the Ashes back.”No team likes to lose its leader, that is no reflection on Andrew Flintoff, but you don’t want to lose your chief.”On Sunday, David Graveney attempted to allay fears over Vaughan’s fitness in an interview with BBC Radio Five Live. “I’ve seen him batting in the nets so things are going in the right direction,” he said. “Michael Vaughan is a crucial part of our team and I haven’t had any information to suggest that there’s anything dramatic happening.”Yet Boycott is concerned that Graveney’s optimism is masking the seriousness of the situation. “No-one wants to write off his career – he’s 31 and in his prime so nobody within the framework of the team will want to be negative, and quite rightly so,” Boycott said.As at Lord’s, Andrew Flintoff will captain England in Vaughan’s absence in the second Test at Edgbaston on Thursday.

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Owais Shah guided Middlesex to a comfortable six-wicket win, condemningKent to their fifith straight Twenty20 defeat. Shah’s unbeaten 59 allowed Middlesex to coast home with 16 balls to spare and he received good support from Ben Hutton in the match-sealing stand of 72. Kent’s batting again struggled and they needed Simon Cook’s 33 from 17 balls to reach as many as 144. Chris Peploe and Jamie Dalrymple shared five wickets between them.Lancashire condemned Derbyshire to a hefty 66-run defeat at Old Trafford with a match-winning all round performance from Brad Hodge. Lancashire reached 164 for 8, Hodge top-scoring with 44 from 34 balls, but Tom Lungley bowled a superb spell of restrictive medium-pace to ensure the tail could not race away. However, Derbyshire struggled for any momentum, after Michael di Venuto fell early, and Hodge completed a near perfect game with 4 for 17.Somerset squeezed home with a ball to spare, by five wickets, against Northamptonshire in a match reduced to 12 overs per side. At 55 for 1 Somerset were crusing to their target of 96 but suffered a mini wobble. Keith Parsons kept a cool head, making 32 from 24 balls, to secure the two points. When Northants batted Andrew Caddick was miserly, taking 2 for 12 from three overs, and James Hildreth also snapped up two.

Brian Lara, only seven weeks after smashing the world Test batting record, has promised to resign as captain if West Indies do not beat lowly Bangladesh in the second Test at Sabina Park, which starts today.”If we don’t win,” Lara announced at a pre-Test news conference, “then I don’t think I’m going to lead the team to England. If we don’t beat Bangladesh in five good days of cricket in Jamaica, I think we need another leader.”Lara was urged by many in his homeland to give up the job during West Indies’ recent 3-0 thrashing by England. He appeared to have fought off his critics with his brilliant 400 not out in the fourth Test of that series.Now, after West Indies trailed Bangladesh on first innings on the way to a scratchy draw in St Lucia, his leadership is again under intense scrutiny. Even a draw in the second and last Test, it seems, will not save him.His former coach Bryan Davis, the West Indian Test opener of the 1960s, criticised the timing of his threat to quit. “Lara must shoulder some of the burden for the poor showing of the team but I don’t think he should have spoken out at this time,” he said. “The timing of the decision is poor. While I understand how Lara feels, I can’t agree with his statement at this time. I feel it is premature. Certainly to say this before the match is not good. A statement like that is putting a lot of pressure on himself and his team.”Lara has lost nine, drawn six and won only two Tests since beginning his second stint as West Indian captain a year ago. His overall record is almost as dismal: 19 defeats, nine victories, seven draws. But if his leadership has not inspired his troops it has at least had an uplifting effect on his own batting. In 35 Tests as captain he has hit ten hundreds and averages 61.72.Lara is hopeful the bouncier Sabina Park track will suit his team, although he did make a point of offering the following cautionary advice to his four-man pace attack.”I hope what they don’t do is think that because it’s quick and bouncy we need to intimidate the Bangladeshi batsmen,” said Lara. “We are going to get the bounce and the pace out of it. We just need to bowl the right line and length.”Fail to do that, and the repercussions for Caribbean cricket scarcely bear thinking about.

The fragility of the English weather was further enhanced when, after a perfect spring day on the opening day of the Frizzell Championship match between Glamorgan and Hampshire, rain delayed the game until after lunch, with 38 overs taken off the days tally.Hampshire soon made up for lost time, losing the in form Nic Pothas to the sixth ball of the day brought together Dimitri Mascarenhas and Wasim Akram, and together they compiled 39 runs in quick time.Wasim was out for a smart 23, and then Mascarenhas took charge. With Shaun Udal as his partner he flayed the Glamorgan bowlers to all parts. He was particularly cruel to Robert Croft hitting him for four large sixes, one which cleared the pavilion area. The pair put on an unbeaten 105 runs in just 16 overs. Mascarenhas completed a magnificent century in 76 balls, his second fifty taking just 20 deliveries.The century marked John Crawley’s declaration, the tally of 531 for 7 declared was the largest Innings total for Hampshire against the Welsh county.Hampshire claimed two wickets in 46 overs when Glamorgan batted, but they created more chances, some which were dropped, which should have put them into a stronger position.Chris Tremlett took the early wicket of Adrian Dale, and Hemp was spectacularly caught by Will Kendall in the gully from Mascarenhas.With the weather forecast against the match, Paul Terry’s side will be hoping they will get enough time to make inroads into the home batters.

Phil Tufnell has won a recall to the England squad for the Fifth npower Test at The AMP Oval.CricInfo diarist Tufnell is expected to battle it out with Robert Croft for the role of spinner at The Oval, but the Middlesex man’s 11-wicket haul in the last Ashes Test at The Oval will put him in pole position for a place in the starting XI.”Phil’s record at the Oval has obviously been taken into account, but it is not the only reason," chairman of selectors David Graveney explained. “He’s also an outstanding left-arm spinner and his track record this season reflects that.”With Mullally omitted after sustaining a side strain at Headingley, and Alex Tudor a doubt with a rib injury, Leicestershire’s Jimmy Ormond wins a first call-up. Somerset’s Richard Johnson is retained.Neither Graham Thorpe nor Michael Vaughan have been recalled, with the selectors needing more assurances about their match fitness.”The longer players go between playing, the harder it is to select them so we decided not to look at either Graham or Michael,” Graveney revealed.Both Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart (who revealed in his CricInfo diary that he hopes to continue playing for another couple of years) have been retained despite speculation about their future.”I’ve always said right from the outset that we would pick the strongest possible teams for these two Test matches,” Graveney said. “I’ve had conversations with them both and we’re due to select our touring parties for the winter over the next few days and by the time we’ve had those meetings we will know what the two individuals want to do.”Full squad: Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain (capt), Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Alec Stewart (wkt), Alex Tudor, Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, James Ormond, Richard Johnson, Robert Croft, Phil Tufnell

Greg Lamb, one of Zimbabwe’s most promising young players, has not been heard of in Zimbabwe this season and several readers have asked what has happened to him. One of them, Robin Mence of England, tracked him down in his own country. Robin has written a brief article for us.Greg Lamb, one of the inaugural intake into the CFX Academy, is currently in the UK. After two successful Logan Cup seasons and an `A’ Tour to Sri Lanka, he is currently awaiting a shoulder operation to have a screw inserted into his shoulder joint after a dislocation which occurred whilst fielding in a match during the English summer season.Greg has now had three consecutive summers in England, all in Surrey with Brook CC, Walton on Thames CC and Cheam CC respectively. His exploits at club level have brought him to various counties’ notice and this year he played second-eleven cricket for Kent CCC, Hampshire CCC and Gloucestershire CCC. He played mostly for Kent and is doing some winter training with the county. Always known for his batting, his off-spin is also developing well and, whilst once considered the most talented young batsmen in Zimbabwe, is now most certainly an all-rounder of huge potential.Greg is currently undertaking a Business Studies and Human Biology Course at Guildford College of Education. He is also working for Majestic, the Wine Merchants, but assures me that these two disciplines have not made him consider converting his parents’ tobacco farm to a vineyard despite the buoyant South African wine industry. After his operation Greg will be visiting his parents over Christmas and the New Year.With the current injury preventing any cricket for the foreseeable future, he is intent on regaining fitness and completing his current academic course. The injury is to his left shoulder and therefore should not hinder his bowling or throwing in the future. He expects to be fully fit for the 2002 English summer season with Cheam CC and Kent 2nd XI.Then he plans a return to Zimbabwe to compete for further representative honours. He feels frustration at his inactivity, particularly with Doug Marillier and Barney Rogers currently playing well. Indeed, with these three young talents Zimbabwe should be well covered, for the next decade, in the off-spinning all-rounder department.

Easterns maintained their increasing stranglehold on Zimbabwe domestic cricket with a seven-run win over Westerns in the final of the Twenty20 cup at Harare Sports Club.Easterns total of 142 for 9 was almost entirely down to Hamilton Masakadza’s 57-ball 82 not out, and his eighth-wicket stand of 43 with his brother, Shingirai, was the only partnership of note.Westerns were on course while Keith Dabengwa (42) and Gregory Strydom (38) were adding 62 for the third wicket but Prosper Utseya put the brakes on the innings and the last five wickets fell for 27 runs.Unsurprisingly, Masakadza was named Man of the Match and Player of the Tournament. He hammered 101 in the opening game of the competition and followed with 50 in the second match.Easterns won the Faithwear Cup and the Logan Cup in 2006-07, and so are now holders of all three major titles. Cricitics, however, have pointed out that the side is not representative as few, if any, of the players are local and are Harare-based cricketers imported for the competition. There were also concerns of the standard of the cricket on offer.Sadly, yet again, despite being rebuked by the ICC in 2006-07, Zimbabwe Cricket proved unable to provide the media with scorecards for many of the games, with the result that the competition’s profile was tarnished and reports of games minimal. That was reflected in dire turnouts for matches.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indies’ middle-order batsman, is all set to be named as captain for their next month’s tour of England, replacing Brian Lara.Lara is likely to face the axe after West Indies’ unimpressive World Cup performance, one where they have lost their first four Super Eights matches.There are chances Lara, who will play his last two one-day internationals this week, may not be selected at all for the tour of England in May where the West Indies play four Tests and three one-day internationals.”I think the two names of Sarwan and Daren Ganga have appeared. Sarwan has been the vice-captain, so it’s up to the board to decide on the recommendations made by the selectors,” said former captain and current manager Clive Lloyd.Sarwan has been Lara’s deputy since 2003 and many believe he is the right choice to carry the West Indies team forward. Sarwan last week suggested he was ready for the responsibility.”If given the opportunity I will grab it with both hands,” said Sarwan, 26, who may get a chance to follow his fellow Guyanese Rohan Kanhai, Lloyd, Alvin Kallicharan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as West Indies captains.He has led the West Indies in four one-day internationals, winning three. Ganga has led the West Indies A team and skippered the Trinidad & Tobago side to a domestic tournament win in January this year. When asked of Lara’s chances not being selected at all, Lloyd replied: “That is up to the selectors, I am not among them.”

Steve Bucknor’s potentially explosive comments, relating to production companies tampering with video footage to undermine umpires, have caused a stir around the cricket world. While no umpire has come out in support, and television producers expectedly brushed aside his comments, there is an undercurrent of unease in the broadcasting fraternity.”I thought it was a surprising comment,” Peter Hutton, a vice-president of TEN Sports, told , while suggesting that it was not even technologically possible to tamper with live video footage. “There’s not enough time to doctor or change things. But clearly you can get shown things from different angles. Most TV umpires know what angles can be made available to them and would insist on seeing everything possible. Sometimes all angles aren’t available because, for example, there might be a player or umpire in the way. As a TV company you can’t guarantee that every angle will be available to the umpire at every incident, and that may be frustrating for someone in the position of third umpire. I certainly would be hugely surprised if anyone did this with malice or with an intention behind this.”But while it might be impossible to alter the nature of the images, there were voices that hinted at television companies selectively controlling the information being made available to the third umpire. “The more technology ICC uses, the more they hand over responsibility to the television producer. The position of the mat is the producer’s responsibility and that can definitely be tampered with,” said Harsha Bhogle, the Indian broadcaster. “Even coming to TV replays that the third umpire sees, suppose there is a 24-camera coverage, you might have 8 cameras dedicated to recording replays. The pictures you get depend on the skill of the cameramen and the skill of the editor in choosing the right replay to show, and finally the director taking a call to show it. If the director is either incompetent or biased, then that is a problem because he controls what the third umpire sees.”One broadcaster, speaking on the condition of anonymity, concurred with Bhogle and even added that, “there have been suspicions in the past that producers, especially from certain countries, have been a touch too patriotic, and have withheld replays that went against home teams.” The problem will exist as long as the ICC use television companies as allies in the decision making process. Then there is the in-built economics of production itself: for the television producer, the primary aim is to produce the best quality broadcast at the lowest possible cost. This means that he would be reluctant to add a camera at midwicket, for example, if it did nothing to increase the quality of the viewing experience, even if it helped give the umpire a better view.

Although few people openly back Bucknor’s claims, there haven’t been too many accusations of this kind. In late 2004 John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, made similar allegations against Channel 9, who were broadcasting the Chappell-Hadlee series in Australia. Bracewell suggested that Hawk-Eye pictures of a certain delivery had initially shown the ball pitching in line and hitting the stumps, but subsequent depictions of the same delivery showed the ball pitching outside the map. “It’s absolutely irresponsible reporting,” Bracewell was quoted as saying. Paul Hawkins, the originator of the technology, insisted that Hawk-Eye images are tamper-proof: “There is no way for a production company to `tamper’ with Hawk-Eye’s decision. They either show it or they do not.”It is next to impossible to prove – one way or the other – Bucknor’s charge that television producers are deliberately making umpires look bad, and also influencing the decision-making process by showing replays of only certain angles, selectively leaving out others. But, the fact that he has made these statements has brought to the public domain something many have suspected for some time now.In all this, umpires around the world were keen to keep a low profile. When contacted Simon Taufel and David Shepherd declined to comment, while Rudi Koertzen was unreachable.The International Cricket Council, who have strict guidelines on the matters their members are allowed to comment on, didn’t have much to add either. Brian Murgatroyd would only proffer “no comment” when attempts were made to get a reaction to Bucknor’s statements, but he and his team certainly have plenty to think about now.