Kent’s director of cricket, Ian Brayshaw, has turned down the offer of an extension to his contract, and will not be returning to Canterbury next season.”I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Kent,” said Brayshaw, who is to return home to Perth after two years. "I shall take with me many happy memories and am confident that the club will continue to perform at the top of English county cricket for many years to come.”Kent finished third in the Championship last season, and put a bad start to 2003 behind them to finish mid-table in Division One, although they still face relegation in the National League unless they can beat Warwickshire on Sunday. “The playing staff contains some highly talented cricketers who offer the club a really exciting future,” said Brayshaw. "In Simon Willis and Chris Stone the club have two excellent coaches.””Ian has made a huge contribution during his two years at Kent," said their chairman of cricket Mike Denness. “He has left us with his thoughts regarding the best possible coaching structure for the future. We will be giving these full consideration over the next few weeks before making any decision regarding his successor.”

The controversy sorrounding the alleged bribe offer to Indian selectors fromIndian cricket was been rocked by a potentially damaging controversy involving Abhijit Kale, a prolific batsman in domestic cricket. Allegations surfaced this evening that he had offered two Indian selectors Rs 10 Lakh (approx. US$21,860) for a place in the India A side. Kale denied the charge emphatically, but the Maharashtra Cricket Association said that Kale would be barred from turning out for the state until his name was cleared.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Indian board, refused either to deny or confirm the allegation, saying that the BCCI’s lawyers were studying the matter seriously. “This matter has serious legal ramifications,” he told Wisden Cricinfo: “I will make a statement on it tomorrow.”Earlier in the day, NDTV, a news channel, had reported Professor Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s joint secretary, as making the allegations against Kale. The Press Trust of India, a news agency, quoted Shetty as saying: “The player had offered to pay money to a couple of selectors for a place in the India A team. I can assure you that stern action will be taken against the player.”Kale went on television and denied these charges vigorously. Speaking to NDTV, he said, “I am surprised by these allegations. I have played cricket for ten years and have scored 24 first-class centuries, and my record speaks for itself. There is no need for me to do all this.” Asked by Zee News if he had offered money to the two selectors concerned, Kiran More and Pranab Roy, Kale said, “I have never spoken to them.”Balasaheb Thorve, the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, said that Kale would not be considered for selection again until he was cleared by the BCCI. “We shall not consider a tarnished player for selection,” he said. “However, we shall go by whatever the BCCI decides.” Maharashtra are scheduled to open their Ranji Trophy season with a plate-group match against Saurashtra at Rajkot on Nov 23. India A’s first match against the Sri Lankan tourists is also scheduled to begin on the same day, at Ahmedabad.Yajurvindra Singh, a former India player and the chairman of selectors of Maharashtra, told Wisden Cricinfo: “I am surprised by this news. I do not think Kale has the resources to offer this kind of a bribe.”Abhijit Kale started out as a prolific batsman in Mumbai’s age-group teams, but shifted to Maharashta where he soon became their leading batsman. After a couple of prolific Ranji seasons he made his way into the Indian set-up, but was discarded after a solitary one-day international, in which he scored 10.

Chris Liptrot, the Worcestershire fast bowler, has been forced to retire from professional cricket at the age of 23 because of a persistent back problem.Liptrot made his debut in 1999, but since then his performances have been limited due to his back problem. He played 30 first-class games, taking 69 wickets at an average of just over 32 with a best of 6 for 44 against Warwickshire in 2000.Mark Newton, Worcestershire’s chief executive, said: “Chris has taken this decision after a great deal of medical advice. We are very disappointed for him, but fully respect his decision.”Liptrot is the second player to leave the club recently following Anurag Singh’s switch to Nottinghamshire last month.

Indians 266 for 9 dec and 116 for 2 (Chopra 55*) drew with Victoria 518 for 8 dec (Hodge 264, Harvey 71)
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Brad Hodge showed up the lack of bite in the Indian bowling attack, hammering a superb double-hundred as the three-day match between Victoria and the Indians petered into a draw. Cameron White finally declared Victoria’s innings at 518 for 8, shortly after Hodge fell for 264. It left the Indians with almost three hours to bat out, which they did quite comfortably, with Akash Chopra (55 not out) getting some useful practice and Sadagoppan Ramesh further strengthening his case for inclusion in the Test team.The first two sessions belonged to Hodge, though, who scored 111 out of the 170 runs scored by Victoria today. His batting was punctuated by plenty of drives down the ground, as the Indian bowlers erred in length and served a generous dose of half-volleys. Zaheer Khan and L Balaji felt the heat early in the day, as Hodge repeatedly drove them in the V between mid-off and mid-on. Balaji provided the only cheer of the morning session for the Indians, trapping Ian Harvey in front for 71 to end a 161-run stand for the sixth wicket, but White joined Hodge to further prolong the Indian misery.Hodge reached his double-century off 309 balls with his 26th four, a pull to the midwicket boundary off Balaji. Harbhajan Singh had another listless day, with White tonking him for a six and Hodge driving and cutting him for fours.Sourav Ganguly had no option but to resort to the part-time bowlers, and it was Virender Sehwag who finally got the breakthrough, when Hodge edged a drive and was snapped up by Rahul Dravid at first slip (518 for 7). Hodge and White added 125 for the seventh wicket. Four balls later, White was on his way too, fishing at one outside off stump from Zaheer and nicking to Parthiv Patel, who latched on to the catch on his second attempt. The declaration came soon after, with Victoria achieving a first-innings lead of 252.The Indian innings began with Sehwag getting off to a boundary-ridden start, lofting Mathew Inness over mid-off and cutting Harrop behind point. The entertainment didn’t last long, though, as Harrop trapped him in front with one that nipped back and kept a trifle low (24 for 1).Ramesh and Chopra ensured against a collapse, adding 90 for the second wicket. Chopra, out for just 2 in the first innings, redeemed himself with a well-compiled half-century. He was cautious early in his innings, scoring most of his runs with steers to third man. The circumspect approach was shunned only when David Hussey came on to bowl his offspinners – Chopra swept and then lofted him over midwicket for fours. Ramesh holed out to deep square leg late in the day for 36, allowing Dravid to come in and score his first run of the match.

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New Zealand took two quick wickets to ensure that they maintained the momentum they had gained with their batting effort against Pakistan inthe second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. After scoring 366, they had Pakistan struggling at 52 for 2 at stumps, still trailing by 314 runs.New Zealand benefited from two innings by Mark Richardson (82) and Jacob Oram (97) that were deserving of centuries, but were denied by momentary, but fatal, lapses in concentration. Richardson, who was immovable for all but the last ball of his innings, batted for a phenomenal 439 minutes. But disappointing as his dismissal may have been for him – he slapped a wide ball from Shabbir Ahmed to Yousuf Youhana at point – there was no doubting the value of his innings, as it allowed Oram and Daniel Vettori to plunder the tiring Pakistan attack, of which Shoaib Akhtar was the best, taking 5 for 48.Richardson got out just before lunch in the extended morning session of 150 minutes. New Zealand added only 101 runs in that time for the loss of Richardson and, earlier, Robbie Hart (19), who played a leg-glance off Shoaib Akhtar that was picked up at leg gully after 20 runs had been added to the overnight score (171 for 6).But just before Richardson’s dismissal, Oram had upped the scoring rate, getting down the wicket to the legspin of Danish Kaneria and lofting him for runs. With Richardson, he added 76 for the seventh wicket, in the process scoring the second half-century of his career.After the break, the Pakistan attack lost its fire. Shabbir bowled a long spell with the wind and was guilty of feeding Vettori’s strength, bowling repeatedly outside off. Meanwhile Oram continued to attack Kaneria, hitting him through the off side with little difficulty. He used his height and reach well, and was out against the run of play, playing a lazy drive off the back foot and edging a ball from Shabbir to Moin Khan (327 for 8). Oram may have missed out on his maiden Test century, but he demonstrated most emphatically that he could step into Chris Cairns’s shoes as a quality allrounder.

Akhtar finished with a five-for although he could not claim to have beenoverbowled. The more onerous workhorse duties fell on Mohammad Sami, Shabbir and Kaneria. They bowled more than 30 overs each, while the lack of use of Abdul Razzaq, who bowled 18 overs into the wind yesterday, was understandable. Shabbir took 3 for 87 from his 37 overs.Not satisfied with his batting effort, Oram returned to dismiss Imran Farhat, caught by Hart for 20 (27 for 1). Ian Butler bowled with fire, and while he was not as quick as Shoaib, his pace caused problems for Taufeeq Umar, who was hit on the helmet while trying to avoid a bouncer.Yasir Hameed wasn’t comfortable against Butler either, especially as the bowler found sideways movement from the pitch. Butler soon nailed him for 3 with one that nipped back from outside off (30 for 2). New Zealand missed an opportunity to get a late wicket when, Hart missed a chance from Youhana off Daryl Tuffey.

ScorecardClaire Taylor scored an impressive 90 as England’s women continued their good form with a 124-run win against an Eastern Province-Border Invitation Women XI.After winning the toss, England A made a steady start with Charlotte Edwards scoring a careful 40, and Jane Smit contributed 26. The key partnership, however, was between Taylor and Lydia Greenway, who hit 22. The pair added 79 for the fourth wicket.England’s score of 225, in 42.4 overs, proved far too much for the EP-Border, who nevertheless used up all 50 overs to reach 101 for 9. Beth Morgan took 3 for 24 and Jenny Gunn claimed 2 for 18.It represented a good work out for England ahead of the first one-day international tomorrow.

The delegation from the Indian cricket board (BCCI) arrived in Lahore on Monday to iron out the few remaining problems ahead of next month’s Test and ODI series in Pakistan.”They have arrived in Lahore to assess security and other aspects of the tour,” Zakir Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) operations general manager, told reporters . "We have already committed that we will provide the best security to the Indian cricket team. It’s a reconnaissance tour, and besides security they will assess different aspects of the tour, which include ground and accommodation facilities.”The delegation was sent in response to concerns raised by some of the Indian side about the levels of security in place for the trip.”We are here with open minds and besides security assessments we will inspect cricketing arrangements which have been a routine before an international series,” Amrit Mathur, the board’s media manager and a member of the delegation, told reporters. He refused to answer questions about comments attributed to Sourav Ganguly regarding safety concerns.The delegation returns on February 14 at which time they will submit their findings. Assuming there are no major problems, the itinerary for the trip will be finalised almost straight away.

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After two washouts on the opening days, and 37.1 overs on the third, the deluge returned to Bulawayo to wipe out the fourth day’s play at the Queens Sports Club. Bangladesh, however, will not be complaining, after slumping to 88 for 5 in what little time has been available.Bangladesh had started brightly enough on Saturday, with Hannan Sarkar and Shahriar Hossain adding 64 for the first wicket. But then five wickets tumbled for 23 runs, including the captain, Habibul Bashar, who at least scored his first four runs in his new role, after collecting a pair at Harare last week.With one day remaining, there is no doubt that this match will finish as a draw – only the second time in 28 matches that Bangladesh will have avoided defeat. As was the case against Zimbabwe at Dhaka in November 2001, rain will have had the major say.Zimbabwe 1 Dion Ebrahim, 2 Trevor Gripper, 3 Stuart Carlisle 4 Grant Flower, 5 Sean Ervine, 6 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 7 Travis Friend, 8 Heath Streak (capt), 9 Raymond Price, 10 Douglas Hondo, 11 Blessing Mahwire.Bangladesh 1 Hannan Sarker, 2 Shahriar Hossain, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Rajin Saleh, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Mushfiqur Rahman, 7 Manjarul Islam Rana, 8 Khaled Mashud (wk), 9 Mohammad Rafique, 10 Tapash Baisya, 11 Alamgir Kabir.

In addition to the possibility of roping in Geoffrey Boycott as a batting coach, officials at the National Cricket Academy will try to get Jonty Rhodes to give the new generation of Indian cricketers a fielding lesson or two. India’s fielding was certainly up a notch or two in Australia and Pakistan, with Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh responsible for some superb stops in the field, but Sunil Gavaskar – who had come down from Mumbai last week to help inaugurate the new batch at the NCA – reckoned that a special touch wouldn’t be amiss for the fielders of the future.”And who better than Rhodes?” asked Brijesh Patel, the NCA’s director. Patel revealed that Rhodes had made himself available in the first week of June. “He has given us a specific period because he has to return home to be with his wife who is expecting,” he said. “We have informed him about our terms and conditions and it’s up to him now to consider it. But we are hopeful that he will come.”Rhodes sprang into cricket’s consciousness – literally – a dozen years ago, when he was responsible for the spectacular run out of Inzamam-ul-Haq in a World Cup game at the Gabba in Brisbane, an airborne achievement forever immortalised by pictures taken by the few photographers who had gathered outside the boundary rope.

Clive Leach, the former chief executive of Tyne Tees Television, has been appointed as Durham’s new chairman.”I am honoured to become involved with Durham, one of the most innovative and exciting counties in cricket”, said Leach. “The North East has always been important to me and I hope that through my business and cricketing background I can help realise the Durham dream of having a successful team, developing the Riverside and hosting regular high-profile international cricket.”Long-time followers of the county may remember Leach from his playingdays. He played for Durham between 1960 and 1964 after four years of first-class cricket with Warwickshire and was also the professional for Bishop Auckland CC between 1960 and 1963.Leach has strong links with the North East having started his 30 years in television working with Tyne Tees. On his retirement from television in 1993 he was Chairman and Chief Executive of Yorkshire Tyne Tees plc. In 2000 he was awarded the CBE for services to training and education.”On behalf of Durham CCC I would like to welcome Clive Leach to the Board”, said outgoing chairman Bob Jackson. “It has been a privilege and a challenge for me to be chairman of the club over the last year and I am looking forward to working with Clive in my role as vice-chairman.”Durham’s chief executive David Harker added: “The club has conducted a wide-ranging and comprehensive search for a nationally respected business leader with strong North East links and a love of cricket. I believe that in Clive we have found the ideal candidate.”