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A magnificent 158 from Chris Benham took Hampshire into Division One of the Pro40 for next season after comprehensively beating Glamorgan at The Rose Bowl, in the tournament’s inaugural play-off. Set a sizeable 266 to win, Glamorgan were never in the hunt and they crumbled limply to 114 all out.The day revolved around Benham whose wonderfully attacking innings provided the perfect end to Hampshire’s summer. It was his second one-day hundred and by some distance his best innings for the club who he has played for since he was 10. Right from the outset, he took the attack to Glamorgan’s bowlers – particular to James Franklin, before using his feet to the spinners. Though the pitch was even and true for the seamers, there was no shortage of turn available for Robert Croft and Dean Cosker, but Benham’s poise and balance – not to mention his fearless strokeplay – was a cut above.To emphasise the quality of his strokeplay, no other Hampshire batsman passed 30 and six failed to even reach 10. And in 130 balls, he smashed 21 fours and a six. His captain, Shane Warne, was understandably elated at Hampshire’s elevation to the first division but reserved special praise for Benham.”I thought he played magnificently. It was one of the best innings I’ve seen all year and he took it away from Glamorgan,” Warne told Sky Sports. “Hopefully he’ll know what he has to do [to progress further]. I’m just proud of him – he’s a potential captain of the club and we’re lucky to have him.”Glamorgan’s reply began disastrously when James Bruce, who bowled an impressive line at decent pace, removed Richard Grant with his second ball. Warne, always unpredictable as a captain, threw Sean Ervine the new ball which brought immediate success when he removed Mark Wallace for 3. Though David Harrison crashed five fours in a breathless 28, there was scant support from the middle-order who folded in rather inevitable fashion. Appropriately it was Warne who took the final wicket of the summer, removing Cosker to hand Hampshire a crushing 151-run win.”It’s not easy getting up for it at the tail-end of the season,” Warne said, “and it all comes down to how much passion you’ve got. We’re hungry. Unfortunately we didn’t play well last year in the Pro40 and got relegated. We’ve got a really good squad, some young players and it’s a privilege to captain this club.”

With Australia needing a win to retain the Ashes there were some surprised people at The Oval when Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden trooped off straight after tea despite being 112 for 0. England were only to happy to retreat back to the dressing while, for once, the majority of the crowd will probably not have been to disappointed by the lack of action.But Langer defended the decision after the close, telling reporters: “We spoke about it briefly at tea-time. I asked Ricky [Ponting] and Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] what their thoughts were and they felt it was the same as any other Test match.”When we walked out to bat it was very dark. Andrew Flintoff was reverse-swinging the ball just before tea and we felt it was best to play him in the best conditions possible. Unfortunately it hung around for the whole session. But at this stage we’ve only lost half-an-hour, an hour. The way this series has gone most Tests have been decided in four days.”Take it from me, we were none for a hundred, we’d have loved to keep batting.” added Langer, “But, at the end of the day, the reality is when you weigh up the options every time it comes up the question is if you do lose a wicket early, the new batsman has to come in against a reverse swinging ball. It was very dark after tea. We’ve seen Flintoff bowl well in dark conditions against the new batsman.”For England the best part of the day came during the morning session when the tail wagged impressively after the early loss of Geriant Jones. Ashley Giles provided most of the frustration for Australia with one his typically gritty innings. He admitted he’d been taken aback by Australia’s move to come off for the light. “We were ready to start and we were a little bit surprised and shocked. Of course I hope they live to regret it but there’s three days left in this Test match, there’s a lot of time. We can’t, and Ricky Ponting can’t, afford to cloud watch.”

Stuart Law, the former Australian batsman, was today honoured by becoming one of the youngest life members of Queensland.Law, 35, now lives in England and plays for Lancashire in the English County Championship, but he spent 16 years with Queensland, in which time he led them to five Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup titles and two domestic one-day trophies, as well as becoming their most capped player and leading runscorer.At the annual Queensland Cricket general meeting today, Grant Law, Stuart’s father, accepted the award on his son’s behalf before Law himself spoke in a recorded message. “I had to ring the old man to find out the magnitude of what was bestowed upon me,” Law said. “To be recognised so soon after my retirement, well, I’ve just been blown away.”He added: “I played with my heart on my sleeve for Queensland and this will enable me to keep my foot in the door and have a say in the future of Queensland cricket. I believe we can still be the power force we’ve become over the last ten years. It’s a tremendous honour – I do still love Queensland cricket with all my heart and this will keep me close. Thank you very much.”Law retired from Australian domestic cricket at the end of last season to move to England to concentrate on playing for Lancashire. He played in 54 one-day internationals for Australia, but was selected for only one Test, against Sri Lanka in December 1995.

MCC is pleased to announce that there will be free admission to the men’s and women’s Varsity cricket matches at Lord’s on Wednesday 2nd July.MCC President, Sir Tim Rice, said:

“Following last year’s successful trial, we want to give everyone another opportunity to enjoy, free, some high quality cricket at Lord’s. The Varsity match is one of the game’s most famous fixtures. It has given many excellent players – from Mike Atherton to ‘Plum’ Warner – their first opportunity to shine on the public stage. I hope that a large crowd will come to the home of cricket to see some stars of the future – in both the men’s and the women’s matches”.

Last year’s fixtures produced some outstanding cricket. A real highlight was the spectacular finish in the women’s game, with Cambridge winning a thrilling contest by 1 wicket.This year, on 2nd July, the women’s match will again be staged on the Nursery Ground, while the men’s match will be played, as usual, on the main ground at Lord’s.Singer & Friedlander Investment Management will be sponsoring both matches for the second successive year.Past Varsity matches have helped to bring many future Test stars to public prominence – including Oxford’s Colin Cowdrey (England), Martin Donnelly (New Zealand) and Imran Khan (Pakistan), and Cambridge’s Mike Brearley (England), Majid Khan (Pakistan) and Peter May (England).Sir Tim Rice added:

“Last month, MCC welcomed almost 9,500 schoolchildren, free, to the England v Zimbabwe Test at Lord’s.Over the last two days, we have been delighted to stage the Capital Kids Cricket Festival at the ground – to the delight of the 200 schoolchildren who have taken part.We want to maintain this momentum. In a fortnight’s time, we look forward to welcoming the largest possible number of people – including countless children – to Lord’s, for one of the most historic fixtures in world cricket.This reflects MCC’s determination to increase the number of young people who are introduced to cricket – for the long-term good of the game”.

AUCKLAND, NZ – All eyes are on star all-rounder Chris Cairns as the NewZealand cricket selectors consider their Test squad for the tour ofAustralia.With the tour of Pakistan almost certain to be cancelled in the comingdays, Sir Richard Hadlee’s panel is faced with re-selecting the squadfor Australia within the next three weeks.That would allow the players time to prepare for a build-up which couldbegin as early as October 23, and a touring schedule which starts inBrisbane on November 1.Cairns hasn’t played for New Zealand in nearly a year – going back aone-day international against South Africa last November – but waspoised to create the biggest re-shuffle in the squad picked for theaborted Pakistan tour.The 31-year-old was on the recovery trail after undergoing surgery torelieve a patella tendonitis problem in his right knee and was showingencouraging signs of being available for the Australian series.NZC fitness adviser Warren Frost said today Cairns was making steadyprogress towards a full recovery and was hopeful he would be availablefor selection.”Our goal is to try to have him right for Australia but we wouldn’t letthat goal over-ride the player’s best interests,” Frost said.”At the moment Chris is ‘smashing’ his leg, which involves working hardon his strength. Three times a week he’s bowling about eight overs offhalf a run-up, and he’s now running on grass as opposed to the gymnasiumtreadmill.”The only other lingering question is whether Hadlee’s panel will againoverlook batsman Matt Horne, whose 29-Test career has so far realisedfour centuries, including an innings of 133 in the third Test at Hobartin 1997-98.Horne struggled in his most recent Test against Zimbabwe in Wellingtonin December, when he compiled one and nought.He had a successful tour of India with New Zealand A, and can point tosome reasonable success in the international arena and a first-classaverage of 41.

ScorecardZafar Ansari top-scored for Surrey and then took the crucial wicket of Gary Ballance•PA Photos

Gary Ballance hit his second fifty in three days after being dropped by England but it was not enough to prevent Yorkshire from losing to Surrey by six runs in the Royal London Cup at the Kia Oval.Ballance survived an early drop by Gareth Batty when on 3 and looked like making Surrey pay when he got to 77, helping Yorkshire close in on a target of 266. But he then swept Zafar Ansari straight to deep square leg and the task of scoring 22 off the last 16 balls proved beyond the Yorkshire tail.Surrey had set them a challenging target thanks to an eighth-wicket stand of 66 in seven overs between Ansari, who finished unbeaten on 66, and Tom Curran, who made 44.Steve Davies had given Surrey a flying start with 39 off 32 balls but the innings almost stalled against some tight bowling from Steven Patterson, Yorkshire’s most dependable seamer, and Karl Carver, a 19-year-old left arm spinner making his List A debut.Patterson bowled Davies with his seventh ball and had a frustrated Jason Roy, who had made two centuries in his last three innings, caught at midwicket. Carver had Gary Wilson caught at mid-off and Kumar Sangakkara, who had struggled to 23 off 45 balls in his 506th List A innings, taken at square leg.Ben Foakes gave the innings some momentum with 44 off 52 balls but when he and Batty were both caught at mid-on off Glenn Maxwell and James Burke was caught and bowled by Matthew Fisher, Surrey were still labouring at 187 for seven.It was then that Tom Curran launched his assault. He made his intentions clear by driving Maxwell over long-off for the first six of the match and when the offspinner was kept on for what turned out to be an over too many he struck him for 4, 6, 4 off successive balls.When launching their reply, Yorkshire soon lost Andrew Gale, lbw to the impressive 17-year-old Sam Curran, but Alex Lees and Maxwell gave them a solid foundation with a second wicket partnership of 67.Lees made 28 and Maxwell 55, his second highest score for Yorkshire, and it looked as though Yorkshire would coast to victory when Ballance was sharing stands of 65 with Jack Leaning and 41 with Andrew Hodd.

Former India allrounder Manoj Prabhakar has been named Afghanistan’s bowling coach until the end of the World T20 in India next year. Prabhakar will join Inzamam-ul-Haq, Afghanistan’s head coach, in the support staff.”I am glad I can guide the Afghan team. They have immense talent and I am sure, in the years to come, the Afghanistan team would emerge as a force to reckon with in all forms of the game,” Prabhakar told . “They have shown a healthy keenness to learn the finer points of the game.”Prabhakar’s most recent coaching stint was with the Delhi state side, where he was sacked two days before the start of the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy season for making critical comments about the players and selectors.Prabhakar’s appointment comes in the wake of recent strong ties between the BCCI and the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The two boards recently signed an MoU with the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority to use the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex as their home ground.Afghanistan have shown a tremendous rise in their performances in the last six months. They won five of the seven completed matches they played in the World T20 Qualifier in Ireland in July to qualify for the main event, topped it by clinching a historic 3-2 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, whitewashed Zimbabwe 2-0 in the T20s, and recently won both T20Is against Oman in Abu Dhabi.Afghanistan are slotted with Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in Group B of the World T20 and only one of the four teams will make it to Group 1 to join England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies for the Super 10 stage.

Yorkshire 184 for 8 (39.5 overs: White 54, Brophy 54, Murtagh 3-34) beat Middlesex 183 for 8 (40 overs: Scott 54*, Pyrah 3-22)
ScorecardYorkshire overcame a late wobble to beat Middlesex by two wickets off the penultimate ball of their Pro40 clash at Headingley.They had seemed to be coasting as they reached 158 for 3 chasing a modest 183, with the required rate at around a run a ball. James Dalrymple’s dismissal of Gerard Brophy for 49 pulled the rug from under the innings as five wickets fell for seven runs. Tim Murtagh inflicted most of the damage with three wickets but Rich Pyrah (15 not out) kept his head to see Yorkshire across the line.Middlesex also suffered from a collapse, but theirs came at the top of the order as they slid to 61 for 5 before Ben Scott anchored a recovery with an unbeaten 54. Pyrah was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 22 off his eight overs.

Brian Lara advised his players to be “focussed mentally and physically” as they prepare for the next 18 months of cricket.Lara, who has been through the rigours of international cricket for 15 years, said the upcoming period would be crucial, as the West Indies look to rebuild a team for the long-term future of the side. “We will have burn-outs and we will have injuries at some time, but the exposure the West Indies team will be getting will be very important and I hope that the guys will see it necessary to get themselves fully focussed-mentally and physically. It’s necessary for us to play and wind our way back to the top.”The West Indies are presently in Malaysia where they face Australia and India in the DLF Cup Tri-Nation one-day series next week. They will move on to the Champions Trophy in India in October and November and, from there, on to Pakistan for three Tests and five ODIs. In January, they return to India for five one-dayers and will be home for the 2007 World Cup in March and April.They then have four Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals on the summer tour of England. After England, there will be the international Twenty20 series, Test tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Test visits from Sri Lanka and Australia from March to June, 2008. Lara cautioned that fatigue and injury would always be factors. “Burn-out will always be a factor and there will always be a concern. I hope, however, that the guys don’t miss the most important parts of the two-year period.”We want to play cricket. We are languishing near the bottom of world cricket in both forms of the game, so we need to play cricket to lift our game, and we need to start winning to lift our spirits.”

Ricky Ponting has said that the engrossing Ashes series could be a precursor to an even more vibrant encounter when Australia take on the World XI in October’s ICC Super Series. Currently locked at one-all, the ongoing series between England and Australia has already swung both ways; England stand to win it for the first time since 1986, and Australia have expressed horror at the thought of relinquishing the trophy. It has made for a dynamic tussle.After the World XI teams were announced, Cricket Australia released a press statement by Ricky Ponting. “It will be an amazing experience to play against a side of this caliber and I think for those players in the World XI, it will be an equally exciting prospect to play in a team alongside the game’s greats,” AFP reported. “No doubt the Australian public is talking about the tight Ashes battle that we’re currently in, and hopefully, that can whet people’s appetites for even more great cricket in October. We’ve spent some time on the bus journeys around England, trying to predict the World XI. There’s no doubt that this is a highly impressive line-up.”The Test opposition includes Brian Lara, Andrew Flintoff, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Steve Harmison and Virender Sehwag – all of whom have dazzled against Australia. The Test and one-day series have been given official status to add purpose to their dazzle, and are the prime draw in the cricketing calendar after the Ashes until India tour Pakistan in 2006.James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said that this was the biggest cricket event Australia had held since the World Cup in 1992. “This is the ultimate sporting contest – the best team in the world against a team of the world’s best players. The ICC World XI is a star-studded line-up and we are looking forward to seeing how Australia’s challenge against the ICC World XI will unfold. We have seen over the past month or so the intense excitement and interest that surrounds a genuine contest between two evenly matched teams. England is challenging Australia and we are going to see the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Kevin Pietersen taking them on again in October at the Super Series.