Peter Martin, the opening bowler for Lancashire and, over a handful of matches, for England in the mid-1990s, has announced his retirement because of the knee injury that limited his first-team appearances in 2004 to ten.Martin, 35, explained, “I have battled all last season with the knee and feel now that due to this and following medical opinion, the time is right to bring my career to a close.” He added, “I’m immensely proud of my achievements such as they are, and thank the club for their support in realising my ambitions over the last 18 years.”During his time at Old Trafford, Lancashire won six domestic titles, including two NatWest Trophies. Martin was awarded his cap after a productive season in 1994 when he took 50 Championship wickets for the first time, an achievement he repeated three more times. He finished with over 600 first-class wickets, with a best of 8 for 32 against Middlesex at Uxbridge in 1997, where in helpful bowling conditions he snatched his first five wickets for eight runs in his opening spell.Mike Watkinson, once his captain and Lancashire’s manager, said: “Peter has had a great career and been an important member of the Club’s successes over the years. I also feel he was unlucky to have not played more internationals than he did.”Martin made his England debut against West Indies in 1995, in the 1000th one-day international, and won the Man of the Match award for his 4 for 44, figures he never bettered in a further 19 games. His Test career was subject to the foibles of the selectors and he never managed to cement a place. He took 17 wickets in eight matches. When England dismissed Australia for 104 to win by 19 runs at the Oval in 1997, the match that persuaded Mike Atherton not to resign the England captaincy, Martin took a steepling, swirling catch to dismiss Shane Warne. It was his last act as a Test player.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSuperSport Park lived up to its reputation of producing some exciting cricket as the match between the Titans and the Eagles went down to the wire with Ryan Bailey lofting Jacques Rudolph out of the park to secure victory for the Eagles with three balls to spare.A game that was destined to be drawn ended in excitement as Daryll Cullinan made a sporting declaration, setting a target of 248 in 53 overs. The challenge was accepted with Davey Jacobs (11), Gerhardus Liebenberg (31) and Boeta Dippenaar (54) going after the bowling. However, Bailey (75 not out) and Morne van Wyk (74 not out) saw the Eagles home with an undefeated partnership of 131. The only mistake the Titans may have made was the slow run rate in the second innings when they were looking for the declaration.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAt Kingsmead, in Durban, Shaun Pollock outshone his national team-mates as he secured the Man-of-the-Match award, having taken 7 wickets and scoring 66 runs in the match as the Dolphins beat the more fancied Western Province Boland team by a convincing margin of eight wickets. Ashwell Prince and Paul Adams held the Dolphins up for 33 overs in a 79-run partnership that looked threatening. Once Johann Louw had Prince caught at the wicket for 80, with JP Duminy absent hurt, the innings came to a close at 176 leaving a target of 135 runs. Doug Watson (64 not out) and Imraan Khan (31) gave the Dolphins a 75-run start, allowing Hashim Amla (31 not out), the new captain, to be at the crease when the winning runs were scored. However, there was bad news for both teams, with Mfuneko Ngam picking up a shoulder injury while Duminy broke a finger and Jacques Kallis laboured through a thigh strain.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNot even a power failure at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom could stop the Lions from beating the Warriors convincingly by 181 runs. As in the first innings, the Warriors’s batting woes continued with only Arno Jacobs (61 not out) able to come to terms with the balanced Lions attack. David Terbrugge took four second-innings wickets and was ably assisted by Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt, who picked up two each.

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Zimbabwe lived to take the fight into a fifth day in the first Test against Australia at Perth, albeit assisted by two rain breaks, the second of which resulted in stumps being drawn with Australia needing only one wicket for victory.Australia had suffered from the absence through injury of Stuart MacGill and Jason Gillespie, and the rain just compounded that. In an effort to keep his players on the field in the final session, Steve Waugh took Brett Lee and Andy Bichel off, and used his slow bowlers in the quest for the last wicket. But Heath Streak and Raymond Price stood firm while adding 25 runs for the last wicket.Showers had been forecast, and during the middle session the cloud cover became dark enough for Peter Willey and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, the umpires, to ask for the ground lights to be turned on. At one point, the Australians were so keen to finish off the innings before the rain came that Brett Lee was running back to the start of his bowling mark.Zimbabwe had extended Australia’s agony by fighting back from the loss of five wickets for 16 runs during the morning session. Sean Ervine, who had already made an impact in his third Test by taking four Australian wickets in their first innings, showed he was a dab hand with the bat during an 83-run eighth wicket stand with Streak. Ervine made the most of the lighter weight of the Australian attack, which featured irregular bowlers like Darren Lehmann, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, before the second new ball was introduced. When it came, Bichel broke through with a beautifully-pitched inswinger that bowled him for 53.Andy Blignaut, who survived a pair, continued the attack and when tea was taken, he and Streak had added 38 runs with Blignaut hitting 22 off 26 balls. But three balls after the resumption, he missed a delivery from Lehmann, and was stumped by Adam Gilchrist.No sooner had Price arrived at the wicket than the rain that had been drizzly became heavier and the umpires, after a consultation, offered the batsmen the chance to leave the field. Seventy-four minutes were lost, before the players re-emerged for 41 more minutes of action. Then, the rain returned to provide a full stop to the day’s play.It had always been improbable that the Zimbabweans could survive for two days, even against the depleted attack, but the loss of a batsman as well set as Mark Vermeulen had been, caused a domino effect. He was entitled to feel some grief over his dismissal, as television replays showed that the ball from Brett Lee had not taken his bat but clipped his shirt instead on its way to Gilchrist. However the later batting damage was more due to poor shot selection than anything special from the bowlers. Stuart Carlisle, who had helped Vermeulen to add 99 for the third wicket, was unable to maintain his concentration. In the act of attempting a sweep shot to Darren Lehmann’s part-time left-arm spin, he top-edged the ball to first slip where Matthew Hayden took the catch.Bichel was then brought back by Steve Waugh to instant effect, his third ball trapping Craig Wishart leg before wicket when he had scored only eight. He soon added Tatenda Taibu, getting him to prod forward diffidently and edge one through to Gilchrist. With the score still on 126, Craig Evans played all around a straight ball from Lehmann to be bowled.At that stage, and then again after tea, the champagne corks were ready to be popped. But frustratingly for Australia, the rain proved to be Zimbabwe’s staunchest ally. All eyes will be on the weather forecasts tonight. Were Zimbabwe to escape from Perth with an undeserved draw tomorrow, Hayden’s world-record celebrations would be muted indeed.

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, has said that the elation of beatingAustralia at Headingley had been short lived in the aftermath of theLondon bomb blasts that left at least 70 dead and over 700 injured. Withthe sporting fraternity obsessed with the Ashes, Vaughan underplayed theimportance of the series in the light of Thursday’s terrorist attacks. Hesaid, “Cricket is not that important when you see those things. Normallywe wouldn’t have had the televisions on in the dressing-room, but we hadto keep them on because there were people that were in London that we allknow.AFP also quoted Vaughan as saying: “We haven’t tried to get too involvedin it, but we are trying to put things in perspective and we played a gameof cricket and there are far more important things in life than cricket.”The attacks occurred a day after London was awarded the 2012 OlympicGames, curtailing much of the celebrations. Vaughan shared the nation’sexcitement at the prospect of being host to the Olympics, and said, “Wewere thrilled for London getting the Olympics just the day before and Ithink it’s one of the best things to happen to English sport for manyyears. Then we arrived at the ground to see those scenes in London and itput sport and life in general really into perspective.”He hoped that his team’s success against Australia would alleviate some ofthe sorrow caused by the attacks. He said: “There’s obviously a lot ofunhappiness in London and around the country after what happened, but ifour victory over Australia has made a few people happy then that’s great.”As the NatWest Challenge moves to London for the last two games,authorities at Lord’s and The Oval said that both matches would take placeas scheduled, amid heightened security.

Sourav Ganguly wanted to celebrate his 10,000 runs with an Indian victory, but unfortunately for him he could celebrate only one thing – becoming the third man to get to the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam-ul-Haq. “I still don’t understand how we could lose a game after having them at 95 for 6,” he said, “Chasing 220 on a wicket which is not easy to bat on, so it’s a huge disappointment.”Ganguly didn’t agree that India were scoring at a slow rate in the early part of their innings. “It is not an easy wicket to bat on straightaway with the new ball as the ball stops and we had lost a few early wickets in the early part of the tournament. It was disappointing to not get a big score as when I open I look to do that and I was all set for today as it was a good platform to go and get a big score and push the team up.”Rahul Dravid, India’s new captain, thought that the failure to convert good starts into big knocks was the biggest impediment facing the Indian batting order. “We weren’t defensive, it’s just that we weren’t able to convert the starts,” he said. “People who were set couldn’t take it further. We fell a few runs short and it was due to Irfan’s [Pathan] knock that we at least managed 220. But we need to convert our starts especially in the middle overs and some of the batsmen need to bat in the end overs.”Dravid didn’t see anything wrong by bowling the in-form Nehra for his full quota because he had to break the Jayawardene-Upul Chandana partnership before it was too late. “We had to go for the killer punch and since Nehra had bowled well and had two overs left, I decided to bowl him at a trot. We needed the seventh wicket but that didn’t happen.”In the end the difference was Jayawardene’s cool and calculated strategy. “We believe that we bat down to No. 10,” said Jayawardene. “When Upul came in I told him that we needed to set small targets like five-over blocks and score at four or five runs an over. And whenever they got a wicket-taking bowler like Harbhajan [Singh] and Irfan we made sure we don’t lose a wicket. We were lucky to get good runs against Harbhajan and then we saw that we had hit off with our plan successfully.”At the 40-over mark we wanted to get to 160 but we were 176 after which it was just a run-a-ball for us. It was just a matter of taking singles from there and not lose wickets and we were lucky.”While Jayawardene’s was the innings of the day, earlier it was all about another under pressure batsman as Ganguly passed 10,000 ODI runs. “It was a big milestone. When I started my Test career in 1996 I was thought to be more of a Test player and in the next nine years to get 10,000 runs is obviously satisfying.”

On Wednesday, the ICC indicated that it was not about to review the international status of Zimbabwe. We asked for your feedback and here are a selection of your viewsKeep sending us your feedback

The ICC is basically gutless when it comes to the issue of Zimbabwe. When Malcom Speed says that the ICC does not make decisions on political grounds, he is really just passing the buck. If the ICC had one shred of moral integrity they would dismiss Zimbabwe from the organisation altogether. On top of that, there is the standard of cricket being offered by Zimbabwe to consider. There you have a compelling reason to withdraw Zimbabwe’s status of a Test-playing nation. I don’t really think many people in Zimbabwe care about the cricket anyway. Ask the 700,000 displaced citizens what their feelings are about cricket.
Geoff HodgkinsonI would have thought that England and any other major cricketing country could sponsor their failure to play against Zimbabwe. Forget the ICC – just pull out and let the ICC wear it. They won’t last long without Engand and Australia or any other country that refuses to play there.
Christopher Monie ICC is right not to interfere with internal politics. The countries who are calling for a boycott of Zimbawe have their own political agenda. Why single out Zimbawe – injustice to a section of the people in all these counries are common. It is a case of white man against black man.
OdumbeWith all due respect to Speed and the board of the ICC, any person that believes that sport and politics are separate have a distorted view of what a politician is trying to achieve and what the sports administrators want from them. The ICC is contributing to the plunder of the nation with the support of the outrageous claim that their decision won’t be based on politics. Fine, what about ethical, decency and self respect?
Vishal PillayThe ICC has brought our sport into disrepute. One gets the impression that even if the players have to step over corpses to access the stadium the ICC would insist that the matches still proceed.
Steve Pullinger “We don’t take decisions based on political judgments.” So said Malcolm Speed. Of course by doing so he just has and is basically saying its business as usual and sweep the growing furore under the carpet.
Martin RipperThe ICC should not impose a ban on Zimbabwe but instead impose heavy fines on countries not allowing Zimbabwe to travel to their country or cancelling their own tour to Zimbabwe.
Tahir MueenThe ICC should take a stand against Zimbabwe not just because of their poor human rights but because they are a joke at the moment. The ICC will have to do something about it soon because sponsers will soon realise they are not getting any value for their money as no-one is interested. The ICC won’t listen until, then so I think presure needs to go on the sponsers and TV rights.
Toni HillICC is right not to get involved in political arguments. However, individual countries can (and should) take stand on such issues. If they decide to do so, ICC should not take action against them. Many countries decided not to play with South Africa due to their aperthaid policy and that was right.
Gautam RayI do think that what Speed has decided is right. Game and politics shouldn’t be judged same. I agree with him 100%.
Faraz A ShaikhThrough its woeful display of inertia over the Zimbabwe issue, it is beginning to look as if the ICC is as incompetent as the government in Harare. If the grandees who run world cricket cannot comprehend that Zimbabwe need to have Test status revoked, if only for the sake of the players who must be punch drunk by now and the spectators who stay away in droves, then they should take up administrating tiddlywinks or similar. They are utterly gutless – even the International Olympic Committee seems dynamic in comparison.
David Payne

Ashish Nehra, the Indian medium-pacer, is returning home after being forced out of the Test series against Zimbabwe because of a back problem. Ajit Agarkar will be Nehra’s replacement for the two-Test series, beginning on September 13.”Nehra has that niggle on his buttock again,” said John Gloster, the India physio. “He felt he would not be able to complete two Tests so the management took a decision.” Nehra will spend three days in South Africa, en route to India, where he will undergo rehabilitation work with experts.”It is in his best interest for rehabilitation and getting alright for the Sri Lanka series,” added Gloster. “What it means is that it gives us a longer period of time for him to get on top of it. We’ve now got a nice window of five or six weeks before the Sri Lanka series when he really can get on top of it. He has to exercise and improve strength in those areas. But he should be alright for the Sri Lanka series,” he explained.Ajit Agarkar, who was on his way back to India after the end of the one-day series, had to disembark enroute at Johannesburg. “We still have to sort out a couple of things: one his luggage is pulled out from the aircraft and two, he is allowed back in Harare since he was carrying only a single entry visa,” said Amitabh Chowdhary, the Indian team’s manager.Harbhajan Singh, the Indian offspinner, had complained of stomach trouble and did not arrive with the rest of the squad to the Mutare Sports Club where Indians began their three-day game against Zimbabwe Board President’s XI.Gloster also sounded positive about Sachin Tendulkar’s recovery after undergoing surgery for a tennis elbow: “I spoke to him only yesterday. He is doing well with the strength work and looking to start batting properly on 14th or 15th. That is the loose plan at the moment,” said Gloster. “Strength is the most important component. He is the best judge of how he feels in terms of strength. I have to leave that for him, me being here and he being there. But I am more than confident of his appraisal of his situation.”

The series against Australia A will offer Pakistan selectors a timely opportunity to gauge the fitness and form of key fast bowlers Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul.Haroon Rashid, Pakistan A team coach, told the Karachi-based daily, , that the series of two four-day matches and three limited-overs matches was being taken very seriously as it would allow the selectors to assess the fitness and form of players before the important home series against England.”The fitness and form of Sami and Umar Gul is of prime importance to us,” explained Rashid, “because both have not played against tough opposition for a while now and they will be tested out in this match.”Sami has not played any international cricket since he injured his heel during the one-day series in India in April. He subsequently underwent surgery to remove corns from his heel.Gul, meanwhile, has not played competitive cricket since April 2004, when after bowling Pakistan to victory against India in the second Test at Lahore, he suffered career-threatening stress fractures of the back. Although he returned to competitive action during the domestic Twenty20 tournament earlier this year and looked fit and in form, the selectors are understandably eager to give his back a more rigorous four-day workout before deciding on whether to risk him against England.The series is expected to be a competitive and closely-fought one given the relative strengths of both sides. Pakistan want to give their players some match practice before the home series against England and India and have decided to pick ten players with Test experience in their squad.Their opponents also boast a wealth of international experience. Brad Haddin, captain and wicketkeeper, has played 10 one-day internationals for Australia; Mike Hussey has joined the squad after an immensely successful ODI series against England; and the highly-rated allrounder Shane Watson and Nathan Bracken have also played for the senior Australian side.The first four-day game begins at Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi from September 11.

Griqualand West won a remarkable – and brief – game at Benoni against Easterns by 258 runs. After 23 wickets fell on the first day, Griqualand resumed their second innings on 163 for 3, a lead of 310. They stretched this 402 by the time they declared on 255 for 8. Easterns, bowled out for 70 in 19 overs yesterday, were never in the hunt and none of their batsmen reached 30 as they fell to 144 all out, medium-pacer Alan Kruger taking 6 for 46.Free State moved into a first-innings lead against North West on a truncated day at Bloemfontein, finishing the day on 250 for 6, a lead of 14 runs. The top six all made good starts, but Petrus Koortzen was the only one to reach his fifty, leading the way with an unbeaten 81 from 134 balls.Zimbabwe Under-23s staged a spirited fightback on the second day against Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth. First, they took nine wickets for just 105 runs to dismiss Eastern Province – who had started the day on a commanding 115 for 1 – for 222. Then, trailing in the first innings by 60 runs, they reached 147 for 4 by close of play, with Colin de Grandhomme and Stuart Matsikenyeri adding an undefeated 79 for the fourth wicket.

The Bellerive Oval pitch will be well-suited to Stuart MacGill’s legspin in the second Test against West Indies starting on Thursday, according to the groundsman. MacGill, who was passed over for the left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken in the first Test at Brisbane, is pushing for selection and the Hobart pitch is expected to be a turner.Cameron Hodgkins, the Bellerive Oval curator, believes the surface will assist the spinners over the last days of the match. “I expect it to be slowish day one, day two and three,” he said. “When it hardens up a bit the ball should come onto the bat a bit. And if it does go to four and five then you would expect, with the natural deterioration of the wicket, some variation and turn out of footholes.”MacGill has 169 wickets in 34 Tests at 27.78, averaging five wickets a match, and claimed nine victims in his last Test outing against the World XI last month in Sydney. MacGill, 34, has been deemed surplus to requirements to the national team over the years because of the availability of world record holder Shane Warne.But even Warne has been championing MacGill’s cause, saying he believes he and his spin partner can inflict more pain on the tourists. “If conditions suit down there, I’m sure we can do well like we have in the Super Test,” Warne said last week. “Both of us are bowling better now than we have before.”The statistics show West Indies have a history of weakness facing legspin bowlers. Warne has captured 54 wickets in 17 Tests against West Indies at 30.18, while MacGill has 48 in 12 matches. If MacGill is included in the second Test team Bracken is the obvious choice for 12th man duties despite his impressive four-wicket haul in the second innings at the Gabba.