A British TV crew was ordered to leave Zimbabwe on Thursday night after the government claimed that they had entered the country illegally. According to officials, the two-member crew from Sky Television had “arrogantly” flown in, without government authority or permission from Zimbabwe’s mission in the UK.Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe’s information minister, said, “What makes the conduct of this crew appear deliberately contemptuous and thus reprehensible is the fact that before leaving Britain, the crew actually received a clear response from the department [of information] outlining the government position and expectation before its proposed visit.”Accordingly, the department requires that forthwith, the Sky News crew complies with our national laws … including the requirement that foreign media applicants secure permission to fly into the country for purposes of accreditation from their country of origin and work. Failure to comply would, naturally, trigger a decisive response from agencies whose duty it is to uphold the rule of law in the country.”That rule of law has been working overtime when it comes to foreign journalists. The BBC is already outlawed as a “terrorist organisation”, and forced to do their reporting out of South Africa. And in the past week, Mihir Bose of the and Telford Vice of the Reuters agency were both asked to leave the country. ‘s Andrew Meldrum is another to have fallen foul of the authorities.For their part, Sky denied that there had been any attempt to deceive the Zimbabwe government, saying that they believed that they had clearance to film a cricket-related story. “We are not sure that we are being thrown out,” said Adrian Wells, head of Sky’s foreign news. “We are just waiting to hear from the government to clarify what their attitude is. We are a bit surprised.”The Cricket Writers’ Club has already complained to the International Cricket Council about the draconian restrictions placed on journalists seeking to cover cricket in Zimbabwe. “Our members must be allowed to carry out their duties free from censorship, threats or bullying wherever they are working, and we call on the authorities to safeguard our rights,” said a statement earlier this week. “The International Cricket Council has a duty to ensure that our members, who promote and publicise the game of cricket, are treated with respect by all ten Test-playing nations.”

John Davison relaxed after his remarkable allround performance had helped Canada to a 104-run victory over USA in their Intercontinental Cup match at Fort Lauderdale and admitted that he should “probably should thank the ICC for giving this game first-class status”.Davison took 17 for 137 , the best first-class return since Jim Laker’s 19 for 90 for England against Australia at Manchester in 1956. His also made 84 in Canada’s first innings, the highest score of the match. The Intercontinental Cup is a new tournament introduced by the ICC to give international cricket’s second-string sides first-class experience.”To take so many wickets in any game of cricket is always terrific and it was a perfect wicket for spin bowling,” Davison told the Australian-based Advertiser. “I think too that we handled the pressure of three-day cricket perhaps a bit better than the US.”Davison admitted that he had been laid low with a stomach bug in the hours before the game, and was vomiting shortly before the start. “Certainly the heat didn’t help me too much,” he told the newspaper. “I lost quite a bit of weight during the game.”

There weren’t many close finishes in the latest round of Twenty20 Cup matches, as Kent, Leicestershire, Somerset, Derbyshire and Hampshire all collected the points in their matches.At Canterbury, an unbeaten 48 from Matthew Walker and 36 from Rob Key helped Kent to 163 for 6 against Sussex, who then bombed to 116 all out with Ian Butler taking 3 for 19 as Sussex went down by 47 runs. Darren Stevens hit a quick 31 in Leicestershire’s 150 for 7 at Grace Road, which was enough to beat Nottinghamshire. They crashed to 110 all out as Charlie Dagnall came up trumps with 4 for 22.A rapid 51 from only 32 balls by James Hildreth, along with 47 from Keith Dutch, boosted Somerset to 178 for 6 against Worcestershire at Taunton.An unbeaten half-century from David Leatherdale wasn’t good enough for Worcestershire, who were pegged back by Aaron Laraman. He finished with the impressive figures of 4 for 15.At the Rose Bowl, a blistering 52 from 22 balls by Dimitri Mascarenhas and a quick 46 from Michael Clarke helped Hampshire to victory against Middlesex. Hampshire posted a healthy 170 for 7, and Middlesex couldn’t keep up with the rate, despite an unbeaten 35 from Lance Klusener.James Bryant guided Derbyshire to victory against Durham at Chester-le-Street. After Durham struggled to 117 for 9, Bryant made sure the result was never in doubt with a run-a-ball 41 as Derbyshire cruised home with an over and a half to spare.
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England 313 for 5 (Flintoff 72*, Jones 22*) v West Indies
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

On a day of fluctuating fortunes for both teams, England took control of the fourth Test at The Oval, with half-centuries from Michael Vaughan (66), Andrew Flintoff (72 not out) and, on his Test debut, Ian Bell (70). Together, they extinguished West Indies’ hopes of a fightback after England had been reduced to a precarious 64 for 3 shortly after lunch.The rain and cloud cover that had been around in the morning gave way to sunshine and blue skies in the afternoon, and England’s batting brightened up accordingly: after Vaughan and Bell’s 146-run partnership had taken the fight out of West Indies, Flintoff took full advantage of the deflated attack when he came in to bat after tea, adding a further 77 with Geraint Jones to take England’s score to 313 for 5.In a stodgy morning session, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss had added a steady 51 for the first wicket before Strauss top-edged a pull off Jermaine Lawson and Fidel Edwards took a good catch at midwicket. Trescothick looked in good form, hitting six fours in his 30, but he couldn’t capitalise on his good start either, and chipped a catch to Ramnaresh Sarwan at square leg off a leg-stump half volley from Edwards (64 for 2).The West Indian fightback really took off in the next over, as Robert Key bottom-edged a short ball from Dwayne Bravo through to Carlton Baugh behind the stumps and was out for 10 (64 for 3). But that wicket brought Vaughan and Bell together, and after battling through a testing spell from Edwards, they set about tilting the game back in England’s favour.Bell had a jittery start to Test cricket, and was given a torrid time by Edwards. He needed the attention of the physio after being struck painfully on the shoulder by a sharp bouncer, but after getting off the mark with a sliced cut over the slips for four, Bell calmed down and started to play more confidently.Vaughan, growing in confidence himself, smashed Dwayne Smith through the covers in classic style to take England’s score to 99, and scampered through for a leg bye to bring up the hundred next ball, and then the batsmen really started to increase the tempo. Lawson was removed from the attack after a wayward three-over spell, and Vaughan climbed into Smith, hitting him for three fours in an over as England slowly started to take the game away from West Indies. On a pitch that is becoming better and better for batting, even the normally economical Chris Gayle went for runs, being slashed behind point by Bell and then driven and cut by Vaughan as the runs continued to flow.

Bell came into his own after tea, effortlessly easing Edwards behind point for a boundary in the second over of the session. Vaughan, meanwhile, brought up his 10th Test half-century, in his 50th Test, with a glanced four to fine leg, also off Edwards. Bell wasn’t far behind him, driving Corey Collymore a little airily behind point, and then pulling him through midwicket for consecutive fours to move to 46. He rode his luck, with a top-edged pull off Edwards falling short of Collymore at fine leg, but then brought up a maiden Test half-century with a drive through mid-off for four.Bell kept up the momentum thereafter, cutting Collymore for another four in the same over, and smashing Lawson through midwicket to take his partnership with Vaughan to 132 – England’s highest fourth-wicket partnership against West Indies at The Oval. Further boundaries from both batsmen off Bravo and Lawson carried England’s score past 200, but shortly afterwards Bell’s fine debut innings came to an end when he edged a rising delivery from Lawson through to Baugh (210 for 4).Flintoff wasted no time setting about the West Indies attack, and his first shot, a pull off Bravo, went for four through Lawson’s legs on the boundary. Flintoff followed that up with an unusually delicate glanced boundary, and, two overs later, a strong on-drive, both off Lawson. Bravo, Brian Lara’s bowling trump card in this series, struck back with the vital wicket of Vaughan, caught by Lara himself at first slip for 66 (236 for 5), but Flintoff was unfazed, pulling and driving Lawson for three more fours in the very next over.In next to no time Flintoff had rushed to a half-century off just 51 balls – he has now scored at least 50 in each of his last eight Tests – and for once he totally outscored Geraint Jones in their partnership, scoring 40 of their first 50 runs. Flintoff slowed down a little after reaching his fifty, as Lara tried to slow the scoring rate by keeping the old ball, but England are, yet again, in the driving seat, and it will take a notable performance from one of the West Indians for them to claw their way back into this match.

Cricket Australia is considering cancelling the annual one-day tri-series as part of a summer revamp to give spectators more certain schedules. The proposal could see limited overs games played before the Test matches, which would have set annual dates.”There has been quite a lot of discussion within Australian cricket over the last six months or so around the whole issue of the international program,” Peter Young, the Cricket Australia public affairs manager, told The Australian. “Building a program is a little bit like trying to play chess in three dimensions. It’s really hard and when you move one piece all the other pieces are impacted.”The six states will send in their suggestions to Cricket Australia by January and South Australia have already requested returning their Test to the Australia Day weekend. The Boxing Day and New Year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney are not expected to be moved but the VB Series could switch from a three-team tournament to Australia playing series against each touring side.Cricket Australia’s summer television and major sponsorship deals for internationals lapse at the conclusion of next season and have sparked the requests for change.

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Australia began the New Year with a new-look line-up, but it was a veteran and a returning legspinner who ensured that the first day ended in the old dominating fashion. As they had on Boxing Day, Pakistan stepped promisingly ahead as they were carried by Salman Butt’s first Test century, but the topple began in the third session, and Glenn McGrath and Stuart MacGill scattered seven wickets.MacGill, playing in only his ninth Test alongside Shane Warne, overshadowed the game’s greatest wicket-taker, and McGrath reminded Ricky Ponting that he was worth the wait with three. The two Big Macs dumped Pakistan from an envious 1 for 193 to a comparatively disastrous 9 for 292 before they accepted a bad-light offer with eight overs remaining.Ponting was handed five bowlers to play with in a test-tube attack as MacGill and Shane Watson replaced Michael Kasprowicz and Darren Lehmann for thisdead-rubber Test. But Ponting had too many toys in the opening sessions, and the crease was crowded with experiments. The backlog meant McGrath didn’t start his second spell until 4.07pm. He had been missed, and immediately leapt into Butt (4 for 241) before knocking back Naved-ul-Hasan (7 for 261) and Shoaib Akhtar (8 for 261) in a satisfying spell.The change in MacGill after his first wicket was extreme. Yasir Hameed welcomed him back for his first Test since Kandy last March with two fours in his first over, and after six he was leaking a run a ball. His day changed when Younis Khan drove him straight to McGrath (2 for 193), and from then on he again looked like a Test bowler with the sort of sharp spin that’s rarely spotted on a first-day pitch.Employing two slips at times and bowling in tandem with Warne after tea, MacGill watched Yousuf Youhana push a tame catch to Warne at first slip (3 for 209), forced Asim Kamal to slog to Jason Gillespie at mid-on (5 for 241), and picked up Shahid Afridi with a waist-high full-toss that flew to McGrath on thesquare-leg boundary. It was traditional legspin of big turn and the threat of wicket-taking bad balls. His fifth arrived with Danish Kaneria’s edge to Gilchrist, a fierce celebration and the knowledge that wickets in the Pura Cup do sometimes get noticed.While choosing MacGill was an instant success, judgment of the allrounder Watson, who became Australia’s 391st Test player, must wait until he hasshown both facets of his game. Pakistan made four changes – three down to injuries and illness – from Melbourne, and only Hameed provided batting value to a side that lost both previous Tests inside four days.Pakistan’s only positive after tea was Butt’s century, as they spoiled an ideal opportunity to post an intimidating first-day total. Hameed – who survived two reprieves in Gillespie’s first over when dropped by Warne and Gilchrist – and Butt upset a large home crowd expecting submission with bright and controlled resistance through a 102-run opening stand.Butt played the innings Pakistan had wanted from him all tour with a composed display when measured against those of his team-mates. The cheeky smile the moment after the ball trickled into the boundary showed the relief and joy of his maiden Test century.Unlike the rest of the order, Butt paced his innings and was rewarded for tempering his approach. Steady before lunch, he increased his tempo, first bringing up his half-century, and then his highest Test score as he sped towards three figures. At Melbourne he reached 70 as Pakistan briefly scared their rivals, and Australia were in a tight spot thanks to this talented 20-year-old. Pulling Warne to midwicket for his fifty, Butt accelerated to 82 with four boundaries, including three in an over behind point off Watson, before Warne and MacGill almost slowed him to distraction. The pair were stifling, but he managed to stay in control, although he almost departed to the ball that brought up his hundred, an ugly swipe which dropped centimetres short of the diving McGrath at deep square leg.The applause was deserved, but what Butt needed was another half-century in support. Instead he was part of the rush to the dressing-room instigated by twoAustralian bowlers desperate for recognition after waiting their turns.Peter English is Cricinfo’s Australasian editor.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has indicated that both he and Yousuf Youhana will bat up the order in the remaining one-day matches in the VB Series. Inzamam has been batting at No. 5, while Youhana has been slotted a position below that so far in the tournament.”We had dropped a place down in the batting order after analysing theproblems we were facing in Australia,” Inzamam explained. “But after reviewing the scenario now, I have no hesitation in admitting that we should have batted up the order. In the coming matches, therefore, we will bat on our originalpositions. It’s all about learning from your mistakes and moving on.” Pakistan play their next match against Australia on Sunday.Inzamam insisted that the two had dropped down so that they could holdthe innings together in case of a top-order collapse. “Our thinking wasthat if we come in the middle of the innings, we would be able to holdthe innings together in case of a collapse which we expected against afocused Australian bowling in tough Australian conditions.”But I am glad that youngsters like Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik and nowKamran Akmal proved us wrong and showed the world that they have thecapacity, talent, potential and mettle to handle the pressure and perform.”Inzamam further argued that the changes in batting positions were forced on the team as they had lost the option of playing Malik as a bowler because of his suspect bowling action. “To have a sixth bowling option, we had to play MohammadHafeez, who is also an opener. And when we decided to send Akmalas a pinch-hitter, naturally everyone had to sacrifice one position. Kamran was send up so that he could pick up some runs besides allowing us to strengthen our batting which has always remained suspect, at least in Australian conditions.”The stats show why it’s in the team’s interest for Youhana to bat up the order: in the 42 matches when he has batted at No. 3, he averages 56.77. At No. 4 he scores 38 runs per innings, while he has batted at No. 5 in 69 matches, averaging 35.81. With Inzamam, the contrast isn’t so stark – he averages 40.66 at No. 4 and 41.20 at No. 5.Looking ahead to Pakistan’s next big series, against India in February, Inzamam said that the confidence-levels of the young players would be high after their performances in Australia. “The key to success in India will be self-belief and self-confidence which the youngsters have acquired by excelling here. If you recall, Indian batsmen won the series in Pakistan because they had performed well in Australia. International cricket is all about taking the pressure and I am sure that today’s investment will benefit Pakistan cricket in years to come.”

ScorecardBrad Hodge enhanced his prospects for a place on the New Zealand Test tour with an unbeaten 140 as Victoria’s batsmen dominated the opening day against Tasmania. Hodge, who made 204 in the last match against South Australia, is a contender for a national spot if Darren Lehmann is overlooked, and he made a big impression at the MCG in front of the selector Andrew Hilditch.Victoria produced a cracking performance to rack up 4 for 388, but Hodge was the standout, hitting 20 fours and two sixes in 182 balls, and shared partnerships of 92 with Jonathan Moss and 127 with Cameron White (50 not out).Desperate for a win to stay in touch of a Pura Cup final berth, Victoria began strongly as the openers Matthew Elliott and Jason Arnberger steered them to 148. The stand was the pair’s 16th century partnership in their 50th Pura Cup match together, but neither posted three figures. Elliott, who was dropped on 33, played on to Adam Griffith for 89 while Arnberger slipped to Damien Wright on 60. Griffith and Wright both picked up two wickets.

ScorecardWestern Australia fought back after Shane Deitz and Daniel Harris put on 165 on the first day of the Pura Cup game at the WACA. WA claimed four wickets for just 20 runs to set South Australia wobbling at 5 for 234. But Callum Ferguson (35 not out) and Graham Manou (23) rescued SA, lifting them to 6 for 295 by the close.Deitz made a successful return to SA’s top side but narrowly missed a century as they dominated the opening two sessions against WA. Facing a four-man pace attack after Justin Langer sent the Redbacks in, Deitz and Harris (82) responded with a carefully crafted stand against some wayward bowling. Deitz had replaced Tom Plant for the match and was dismissed ten short of three figures when he bottom-edged a pull from Steve Magoffin.

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Sixteen wickets tumbled on the second day with Mumbai holding a slight edge in the Ranji Trophy semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium. Having bundled out Punjab for a paltry 126, Mumbai found themselves at a precarious 69 for 5, before Nishit Shetty eked out valuable runs late in the day and extended the lead to 237.Resuming on 42 for 2, Punjab were jolted at regular intervals by a the varied Mumbai attack. Sairaj Bahutule led the spin attack with a superb 4 for 20 and was backed up well by Nilesh Kulkarni (3 for 18) and Ramesh Powar (1 for 15). Dinesh Mongia, the Punjab captain, and Pankaj Dharmani shared a 40-run stand for the fifth wicket, but the lower order came apart in the face of spin.Gagandeep Singh was the most effective bowler for Punjab in the second innings as well and he pegged the top order back with three quick wickets. Rajesh Sharma, the offspinner, then weaved his web and pocketed three of the middle-order batsmen. But Shetty, the hero of Mumbai’s triumph in the 2003 final, raced to 33 off 41 balls and took the lead past 200.Punjab have two factors going in their favour. This season several teams have prospered when confronted with tricky fourth-innings targets even after collapsing in the first innings. Also, Yuvraj Singh, after making a duck yesterday, may decide to impose himself on the game and take Punjab to the final. To beat Mumbai in a knock-out game may require just that kind of magic.