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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.”

Sachin Tendulkar has called Nasser Hussain a “great tactician” and followed it up by saying that Hussain was one of the best captains he had played against. Tendulkar, on holiday in England, told BBC Radio that the cricket world would miss Hussain.Tendulkar also said there was nothing wrong with Hussain’s tactics of asking Ashley Giles to bowl a negative line during England’s last tour of India. “Whatever he did was within the regulations of the game — there was no stage where he broke any laws. He was a great tactician,” said Tendulkar. “He was one of the best captains I’ve played against and a tough character. I’m sure people in England, and all over the world, are going to miss a character like him.”Tendulkar is the latest in a long a long line of cricketers to pay tribute to Hussain. “He was one of those guys that fancied being in very tough situations, similar to Steve Waugh,” said Allan Donald. “Hussain was a tough opponent who never backed down from a challenge.” Donald also expressed surprise at Hussain’s decision to retire. “I must say it’s a bit of a shock. I thought he was going to finish the series against New Zealand and West Indies and finish on a high at the end of the summer.”The way he batted at Lord’s was typical of Hussain at his very best, and I think he’s in really good form at the moment,” said Donald. “But everybody comes to that crossroad. I’ve been there and maybe I didn’t finish in such a great way for myself. But he probably wanted to be seen finishing on a high.”Jimmy Adams, the former West Indian captain and a master of the barnacle-on-rock school of batsmanship, also expressed surprise at Hussain’s decision to call it quits. “I think it’s strange he’s retiring seeing as he’s just scored a Test hundred,” he said. “There must be reasons outside cricket because his cricket looks to be pretty good at the minute. Only Nasser knows how he feels and it can’t have been an easy decision considering his recent form. But what better way to leave Test cricket?” There’s no disputing that.

The just released findings of the Review Committee set up by the PCB to investigate the performance of the Pakistan team at the World up has done an excellent job – of ingeniously shifting the onus of failure away from the Board. That indeed may have been their unwritten mandate, but can shifting of the blame absolve the Board of any responsibility?To be fair to the PCB, and to General Tauqir, the problems with Pakistan cricket pre-date the recent World Cup, and indeed the present cricket set-up. It is not a question of one match, tournament or a series. The origins of present troubles date back to the match-fixing allegations that surfaced in the early and mid-90s. These sharply divided the team between the whistle-blowers and the accused. The fissures were deepened by lingering rivalries over the captaincy issue along the already existing fault lines and have hung over the team ever since. This is, of course, only part of the problem. The main problem is structural.Pakistan cricket has alternated between spurts of achievement and periods of stagnation and sterile performance, when either the team was in transition when talent shrank and dried up, or it under-achieved despite its capability.To an extent, this has been the story of most other cricket teams as well, that is until recently. But world cricket has changed beyond recognition. And Pakistan unfortunately has not kept pace with it, and this is the other half of the story of what happened at the World Cup, which, I am afraid, the Review Committee has missed entirely.Increasing pressures and opportunities of competitive cricket, the introduction of neutral umpires which has levelled the playing field, and enormous money brought by television and sponsorships is forcing as well as enabling cricket administrators everywhere to organize and run cricket on scientific, efficient and modern lines to stay in the game. It has involved multiple challenges – imaginative organization of domestic cricket, academies and grounds, the appointment of coaches, managers, analysts and physios, training of umpires, and the appointment of selection committees etc. And above all, what is most important, it has helped the delineation and demarcation of everyone’s precise and autonomous role to ensure effective coordination and to avoid over-stepping and intrusion of authority.On a symbolic level it is like all those countless names that scroll by at the end of a movie whose role in the direction, screen play, special-effects, musical score etc significantly contributes to the success or failure of the show. This is not meant to be an extended metaphor, but I am presenting it simply by way of illustration, to make the point.So how can the Board evade responsibility for what happened at the World Cup?I have said before, I am not holding General Tauqir personally accountable, some of whose actions have been good, but certainly a major responsibility for the World Cup debacle and what is wrong with our cricket lies at the door steps of the PCB, its set up and method of operation. But as Imran Khan wrote in his article, there does not seem be an adequate acknowledgement or self awareness of what has happened and that does not inspire much confidence about the future.Our cricket team has been having problems of varying degree ever since the departure of Imran and Miandad. They were extraordinary sportsmen who provided exceptional leadership to the team both with their superior achievement as well as exemplary inspiration and motivation. The team had potential for similar under achievement and infighting then as now but these individuals managed to overcome or transcend these weaknesses.But times were different. Modern cricket has become fierce and brutal. The ways Australians have used the technology to study weaknesses of the opposing players and launch a relentless attack on them virtually strips them naked and demolishes their confidence. After grinding the opponents psychologically, the battle is half won. The opponents are defeated even before they come to battle. The Australians have turned the game into warfare. It is significant that they themselves are very fond of comparing their approach to a surgical operation, as it has become fashionable with them to use the word `clinical’ in describing their match-winning strategy, indeed a term that is now beginning to be parroted by lesser teams as well though not equally convincingly.In Australia we do not hear the coach, selectors and the chief executive or the head of their cricket board giving statements every day. While in Pakistan, everyone is busy contradicting each other and speaking authoritatively or deciding about issues falling in other people’s areas of responsibility. Aussie cricket is being run on professional lines by those who know the game through long and active association. And there is a certain stability, continuity and predictability. Coaches and selection committees, for instance, do not change every day.It is not like in Pakistan where cricket administrators have always been appointed, as I have said before, on the strength of their personal connections with the political leadership of the day. They have always claimed to have great personal passion for the game, which in some cases has indeed been true. But that is where their qualifications begin and end. We all love the game, but does it qualify us to run the game?Since this is a piece about the organizational aspects of the game, I have refrained from discussing individuals, whether players or administrators.I would conclude with a suggestion and here again I am not pointing any fingers of blame or responsibility. I think now that we have had an enquiry into the performance of the team, we need a similar assessment of the PCB itself, especially whether the way it is organized and being run, is it fit to meet the challenges of modern cricket?The roles of all the constituent units and institutions, specially the chief executive, selection committee, the coach, the manager as well as the method of team selection, have to be examined and reformed, where necessary, and the competence of individual officials has to be appraised, and changes made where desirable.There is no better person better qualified to head this task than Imran Khan.Ed: Touqir Hussain is former Ambassador of Pakistan to Japan