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Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, has said that Ricky Ponting was “out of order” when he questioned the umpire’s decision in the recently-concluded DLF Cup. Chappell was talking about Ponting’s argument with umpire Mark Benson, during the final league game of the tournament, when he recalled Sachin Tendulkar after incorrectly declaring him out.Though Chappell didn’t think highly about the Spirit of Cricket pledge championed by Australia and encouraged by the ICC, and called it “nonsense”, he felt that Ponting had crossed a line. “I know when I was a captain that the law stated the captain was able to check with an umpire on a point of law, and I think this is where Ricky’s wrong,” Chappell told , a Melbourne-based daily. “If you’re arguing on a judgement call, then I don’t think you should be doing that. I think it’s also in the way that you ask the questions.”Ponting was not reported for the offence because he had been called over to discuss the issue by the umpire and hadn’t broached it himself. But another offence like this one could see him miss a Test match. He had, previously in the same match, questioned a wide call too.”The spate of things seems to have been quite recent. Up until then, I thought he was controlling his temper pretty well. I’m pretty sure he’s aware of it, and he’s going to have to continue to be.”Chappell also added that the Ashes would be a decisive series for Ponting as a captain. “Particularly if England play well again, how he copes with this series will give us a really good clue as to whether his captaincy has gone up a level or two.”Australia won the DLF Cup by beating West Indies by 127 runs in the finals at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur. They will next head to India for the Champions Trophy beginning October 7.

Lancashire clinched the second division Championship title the day after losing to Leicestershire by four runs at Old Trafford. With Yorkshire losing against Northamptonshire, the Red Rose county maintain their position at the top of the table.After a slow start to their campaign they built some impressive momentum during the middle of the season, at about the same time as Durham’s flying start was tailing off. Mike Watkinson, the coach, was pleased to claim the title although wishes his team had clinched it against Leicestershire.He told BBC Sport: “We’re very pleased. Winning the division was a major goal for us . It’s a long season. Durham got off to a good start and we got rained off a few times but we always knew it would be a long old haul and we were strong enough to come through at the end.”We don’t have one batsman with 1,500 runs or one bowler with 70-odd wickets. Everybody’s chipped in. Mal Loye’s probably top of the hit parade and on the bowling front everybody’s contributed well.”It’s perhaps the first full season that James Anderson has had for us and he’s led the attack pretty well.Yesterday was a bit of a disappointing end to the season – it would have been nice to celebrate in front of our own supporters.”All three northern clubs – Lancashire, Yorkshire and Durham – have won promotion to Division One for next season, when the Championship changes to a two-up, two-down system for the first time.

Darren Lehmann, the Australian batsman, has insisted that he is the last of his kind of cricketer – the drinking and smoking sort – and has also promised he will be putting the booze on the backburner for a while.Talking to the media today in Adelaide ahead of Australia’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, a slimmer Lehmann cited less beer and plenty of bowling for Yorkshire in the English County Championship as the reasons for his healthier appearance.Lehmann, 34, said that Craig White, his Yorkshire captain and brother-in-law, had been a helping influence. “He keeps chucking me the ball, which is an absolute pain in the arse,” he said. “But I enjoy bowling, it breaks the day up, and I wish I took it up earlier, obviously, it would have been good.”We’ve been playing a lot of cricket over the last six months and obviously Yorkshire play every day,” he added. “So, it’s been really busy and I feel in really good nick, so hopefully I’ll keep that [weight] off for a while and keep the beers out of the cupboard for a bit.”Lehmann, who has played only 18 Tests but 102 one-dayers, also said that a new wave of professionalism was coming through in the game, and he has had to adapt to that. “To be perfectly honest, I’m probably the last of that bunch that played a little bit overweight and enjoyed a beer and a cigarette, which is good,” he said. “That’s the way it’s changing, it’s turned into a more professional sport.”His position as captain of South Australia also helped him. “I know here at the SACA we’re trying to develop a culture where we’re going to be as fit and strong as we can,” he said. “As a leader you’ve probably got to do that as well.”

Somerset recorded their second championship victory of the season when they beat Glamorgan by an innings and 143 runs at Taunton earlier this afternoon.Resuming on 29 for 1 it was Nixon McLean carrying on where he left off in the first innings who claimed the first wicket to fall, when he tempted Adrian Dale to give a catch to skipper Mike Burns in the slips.His overnight partner David Hemp was next to go, when with the score on 58 he gave a catch to Rob Turner off McLean, followed two overs later by Jonathan Hughes who exited in exactly the same manner to give the West Indian the first three wickets to fall.The next three batsmen fell to the young all rounder Aaron Laraman who accounted for Mike Powell LBW in the twenty ninth over, he then bowled Mark Wallace two over later before tempting Robert Croft into chipping a straightforward catch to Ian Blackwell at mid wicket.Richard Johnson tempted David Harrison into giving a catch to Turner with the score on 111, and then in the last over before lunch Simon Francis took the prize scalp of Matthew Maynard after the veteran batter had scored 30.During the interval the rain fell down, but abated sufficiently for the players to return to the pitch, and in the fourth over of the afternoon session Alex Wharf edged Johnson to give wicket-keeper Turner his eighth victim of the match. Glamorgan were all out for 133 to give Somerset a well deserved victory.In the visitors second innings McLean took 3 for 38, to record match figures of 8 for 81 and take his championship wicket tally this season to 22, whilst Laraman completed a good all round performance by taking 3 for 20 from his six overs.At the end of the game Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "We deserved that victory, and we carried it out in a very professional manner .It was the ultimate in team performances with everybody contributing with bat and ball, but if I had to pick out one person then it must be Nixon McLean who bowled magnificently throughout the game."Chief executive Peter Anderson added: "I’m very pleased for the captain and the players who have not enjoyed the best of luck this year. They have played lots of cricket without success but they thoroughly deserved their victory today and well done to them all, it is exactly what was needed."

Craig White, the Yorkshire and England all-rounder has admitted that he was never 100% fit for the first three Ashes Tests.White has been omitted from the England squad – along with Ian Ward of Surrey -for the Fourth npower Test, which starts at Headingley on Thursday, after a disappointing run of form.”It’s a shame that I couldn’t perform as well I can but if you’re not 100% fit the Australians will find you out,” he told BBC Online.”I haven’t hit top form since I’ve come back and have only been able to operate at around 90%, which is not good enough against the Aussies.”White had developed into a pivotal member of England’s Test team in the previous 18-months, but managed just one wicket and few runs in the Tests this summer as he recovered from a back injury.”It’s always hard after you’ve been out of cricket for a while to rediscover your form, and that’s what happened with me,” he explained.But White is confident that he will be able to force his way back into the Test squad when he regains full fitness. He said, “I’ll go away and seek to bowl a consistent line and length, and try to hit top gear with my pace.”

Phillip DeFreitas needed just three deliveries to strike the first blow for Leicestershire at the start of their County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.The former England all-rounder needed to be in a hurry because the three balls were the only ones bowled on an opening day that was a virtual wash-out.After heavy showers had delayed play until mid-afternoon, Leicestershire won the toss and invited the home side to bat.Somerset opener Mark Lathwell left one ball from DeFreitas and defended against another before edging the third and being well caught by wicketkeeper Neil Burns, moving to his right.The drizzle was already falling again and home skipper Jamie Cox stood at the other end with hands on hips, clearly far from happy, as Lathwell trooped off to be followed by the other players.More showers soon made the outfield treacherous and umpires Vanburn Holder and Trevor Jesty eventually abandoned play for the day at 4.40pm.All-rounder Jason Kerr passed a fitness test to be named in Somerset’s team, while Scott Boswell was selected by Leicestershire in place of the injured James Ormond.

Oman are one step closer to replicating Afghanistan’s dramatic rise up the WCL ladder from 2008-09 after they stormed past Malaysia by 131 runs at Lugogo Stadium to top the WCL Division Three table. The result helped them secure their third consecutive promotion.Naseem Khushi was the latest player to make hay with the short boundaries at Lugogo, smashing four fours and eight sixes in an unbeaten 77 off 30 balls in a late surge that took Oman to 293 for 7, after they had been sent in. It was the third fifty of the innings and the quickest after 61 off 76 balls from Aqib Ilyas and 51 off 69 balls from captain Sultan Ahmed.Malaysia went pedal to the medal early in their chase in a desperate attempt to both win and do it fast enough to take their net run rate above Uganda and USA in order to avoid relegation. They reached 94 for 3 in 10.4 overs on the back of opener Anwar Arudin’s 33-ball fifty. His innings, however, ended when slingy fast bowler Munis Ansari had him caught behind for 57 off 35 balls at the end of the over. Malaysia subsided meekly thereafter to be bowled out for 162 in 33.1 overs.Ansari, who had struggled all tournament with just one wicket coming into the match, ended with 4 for 47 while legspinning allrounder Khawar Ali wiped out the tail to finish with 5 for 23.File photo – Rizwan Cheema’s 35-ball 42 was not enough for Canada to topple Singapore•Associated Press

Singapore completed a sweep of the North American contingent at Division Three with a two-run win over Canada at Kyambogo Oval. Canada still gained promotion despite an equal 3-2 record with Singapore thanks to a vastly superior net run rate, the tournament tiebreaker, while Singapore’s win ensured they avoided relegation.Their net run rate was worse than both USA and Uganda at 2-3, so a loss would have sent them back to Division Four but Canada collapsed with victory in sight. Chasing 167, they lost their last four wickets for 17 runs to be all out for 164 with 12 overs left unused.Singapore’s innings was anchored by Anish Paraam’s 58 off 75 balls at No. 3 after they had been sent in. But when he fell to to Bhavindu Adhihetty in the 32nd over to make it 147 for 7, Singapore’s tail lasted less than five overs, before they were wiped out by Adhihetty and Saad Bin Zafar, who finished with 3 for 10 and 2 for 39 respectively.Canada’s chase got off to a rocky start when Adhihetty fell for a duck off the third ball and they lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter. Allrounder Rizwan Cheema looked set to take Canada over the line with 42 off 35 balls, including five fours and two sixes, but he fell to Anantha Krishna with eight needed to win. The legspinner kept his composure under pressure to also dismiss Hamza Tariq and then Saad Bin Zafar with just four needed to win to put Singapore one wicket away from victory.Canada only lasted two more balls before last man Cecil Pervez was run out, going for a second run off Krishna, ensuring Singapore were spared relegation in dramatic fashion.Elmore Hutchinson’s half-century at No. 9 set up a dramatic finale at Entebbe to save USA from relegation•Peter Della Penna

USA saved their place in Division Three in similarly dramatic circumstances with a 13-run win over Uganda at Entebbe, sending the hosts back to Division Four.Set a target of 146 to win, Uganda needed to get to 141 in spite of a loss to stay above USA on net run rate. But USA’s spinners wreaked havoc on a track offering significant turn with Steven Taylor taking 5 for 32.When Taylor dismissed Frank Nsubuga for the ninth wicket in the 30th over, Uganda still needed 27 runs to overtake USA on net run rate and they nearly did it as tailender Henry Ssenyondo provided valiant support, lasting 42 balls, to captain Davis Karashani. With Taylor, Mrunal Patel (1 for 27) and Nosthush Kenjige (2 for 43) all bowled out, Taylor tossed the ball to pacer Jessy Singh for a steady diet of yorkers until one finally broke through Karashani’s defense and clipped leg stump to finish off Uganda for 132 in 43 overs.Though Taylor claimed five wickets, it was Elmore Hutchinson who took home the Man-of-the-Match honors after hitting 52 off 50 balls from No. 9. USA had been reduced to 104 for 9 in the 44th over but Hutchinson scored 39 out of the last 41 runs in a 10th wicket stand with Kenjige. The last over of the innings saw Hutchinson strike two fours and a six off Jonathan Sebanja in a back-breaking sequence that ended up being the difference in keeping USA up and sending the hosts down.Oman will play Canada in the tournament final at Lugogo on Tuesday. USA will face Singapore in the third place match at Kyambogo while Uganda and Malaysia will square off at Entebbe in the fifth place playoff on the same day.

Australia are hopeful that Ricky Ponting will fly to South Africa by Sunday, ahead of Australia’s opening ICC World Twenty20 match against Zimbabwe on Wednesday. However, even if he meets that time-frame – and that is no certainty – he will miss both Australia’s warm-up games against South Africa and New Zealand on Sunday.Adam Gilchrist, the acting captain in Ponting’s absence, was unsure when Ponting would arrive but was confident he would play some part in the two-week event. “We’re just waiting to see with Ricky,” Gilchrist told the Australian after the squad arrived in South Africa.”We’re not 100% sure when [he’ll fly out]. We’ll be in touch with him day by day and he’ll let us know what’s going on then. I wouldn’t think that he’s going to miss the whole tournament. I’m pretty sure he’ll be here at some stage.”Ponting did not leave Australia with the rest of the squad on Monday due to “private family reasons”. Gilchrist said Stuart Clark, who also remained at home to care for his ill son, was expected to join the group “in the next day or so”. Uncertainty remained over Shane Watson’s part in the tournament after he stayed in Brisbane to have a minor hamstring problem monitored.

Australia’s batsmen say they are planning to dominate Monty Panesar from the outset of this year’s Ashes series. Panesar was one of the stars of England’s recent home Test series win over Pakistan, and is generating considerable interest ahead of the Ashes, with Australia’s cricketers singling him out in their pre-series talks.”He’s a terrific young bowler, a terrific young character and has an obvious passion for the game and he’ll add a real flavour and touch to this series,” Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said. “Like any new spinner we haven’t seen before we’ll try to get on top of him before he gets on top of us but a lot of that will be dictated by the conditions and the match scenario.”Simon Katich, who is trying to bat his way back into the Australian Test team after being axed after the first Test against West Indies almost a year ago, rates Panesar highly. “I faced him last year on the Ashes tour and I was impressed,” Katich said at the Australian team camp. “Monty is a bowler who tries to give you a bit of air. He does try and turn it. He is bowling genuine wicket-taking balls and knocking good players over.”Panesar may have his critics as a batsman and an out-fielder, but he is highly rated by national team coach Duncan Fletcher. “As a finger spinner there is probably no one to match him in world cricket at the moment – his control is very, very good,” Fletcher said.Stuart MacGill, the Australian legspinner, believes Panesar’s guile and variety will add plenty to the England bowling attack, which was dominated by its reverse-swinging pace attack in the last series between the two teams. “I think the more variations in personality, approach and background that you can incorporate into your team set-up, the more able you are to deal with a variety of situations,” MacGill said last week. “Monty’s certainly got an approach that will help any team he’s in. He’ll definitely help the England side out just by being there. His approach is different to the other guys in the side and I think that’s very valuable.”

“The time has come for Australia to drop Matthew Hayden,” according to Michael Slater. Hayden, who hasn’t made a century since July 2004, still has the confidence of Ricky Ponting, but Slater, his former opening partner, said it was time for change with the Ashes at stake.”He’s struggled to make runs all series, as he did in 2001 in English conditions,” Slater said in the . “In truth, he has been out of form for 12 months.” What Slater did not add, however, was that the treatment he was recommending was the exact same fate that he himself suffered in 2001. Back then, he was dropped for the Oval Test to make way for Justin Langer, and never played for Australia again.After struggling in the past three Tests, Australia have received a boost with Glenn McGrath, who missed Trent Bridge with an elbow injury, declaring himself fit for the series-deciding fifth Test starting on September 8. “I’ve improved out of sight,” McGrath said in the . “Errol Alcott is again weaving his magic. If I don’t quite make the Essex match then I’ll definitely be right for The Oval.”Slater said he would promote Simon Katich to replace Hayden and draft in the allrounder Shane Watson, who is playing at Hampshire. “[Simon] has done the job in four-day cricket and in one-day matches and has the technique to cope well,” he said. “Watson gives Australia a fifth bowling option, something England have had all series.”In the past four Tests Hayden has managed only 180 runs with a top score of 36 and his lack of productivity has been a crucial factor in the side’s lack of success. However, Kim Hughes, the former Test captain, agreed with Ponting and said Hayden should be retained.”You’ve got to persevere in that instance,” Hughes said in The Australian. “You know Matthew has had a fantastic record. It’s not so much that he’s struggling to get started. He’s getting in. He’s doing the hard yards and then just getting out.”Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, told the Courier-Mail it was too early to speculate about the line-up. “It is a concern we are 2-1 down and we will have to pick the best team to give ourselves the best change of winning,” he said.Slater also suggested recalling Stuart MacGill to exploit England’s weakness against legspin, even if it meant dropping Shaun Tait, who took three wickets on debut at Nottingham. “Australia must do something to change things because right now they are staring down the barrel at losing the Ashes,” Slater said. “I believe we will lose unless the selectors make changes.”