Karachi: Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was on Saturday asked by Pakistan Cricket Board to pay the fine of seven million rupees imposed on him or forget playing in next month's Champions Trophy.

The fast bowler was served a legal notice on Saturday by the legal counsel of the board who said the fine had to be paid as per court orders or else Akhtar would be dropped from Pakistan's squad for the mega tournament.

"We have asked him to pay the fine or it would not be possible for us to retain him in Champions Trophy squad," PCB lawyer Tafazzul Rizvi said.

Akhtar was picked in the 15-member Champions Trophy squad by the selectors with the board saying it had decided not to link the fine payment issue with his selection.

But Rizvi said Akhtar will have to pay the fine as Lahore High Court which has suspended the 18-month ban on Akhtar had not waived fine payment nor given any stay order against it.

"There is no court order saying he should not pay the fine. Even if the court upholds his petition against the ban and fine it will be refunded to him but he has to pay the fine now," Rizvi said.

The fast bowler had responded to an earlier board notice that the court had not set any deadline for paying the fine and he would wait for the court decision on his petition which will be heard next month.

Akhtar, who has not played for Pakistan since last December, was banned for five years by the board in March on various counts of indiscipline but an appellate tribunal in June reduced the ban to 18 months.

He then filed a writ petition in Lahore High Court asking for the ban and fine to be overturned. The court suspended the ban but has not passed any order on the fine.

Rank

Country

Points

• 1 Australia 138
• 2 South Africa 115
• 3 India 113
• 4 England 106
• 5 Sri Lanka 103
• 6 Pakistan 100
• 7 New Zealand 83
• 8 West Indies 81
• 9 Bangladesh 0

New Delhi: Cricket Australia believes that China has the capability of becoming a cricket power to rival India.

According to The Age Cricket Australia is all set to take a leading role in teaching the Chinese to play the game and see the world's most populous nation as a vital frontier in the sport's expansion plans. And Twenty20 is seen as the best way of getting the Chinese hooked on it.

The Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and chairman Creagh O'Connor will visit Beijing during the second week of the Games, but the board's manager of global development, Ross Turner, began working with the Chinese through the Asian Cricket Council in 2005.

"With its population of 1.3 billion people and its changing economy, China can one day be a cricket power to rival India," Turner was quated as saying by the newspaper.

"It may not be in five years, but it will certainly be within a decade. China has such a strategic approach to everything. They won't be benchmarking against some atoll in the Pacific, they will be saying what is the world standard and trying to better it, seeking prominence and world recognition."

Meanwhile, a leading corporate and commercial lawyer Ian McCubbin, an expert in Chinese-Australian affairs, believes that the aftermath of the Olympics will present a crucial opportunity to capitalise on the Communist country's widening interest in western sports.

"I don't think the success of cricket in China depends on having hundreds of thousands of people playing it in the park on a Saturday afternoon. I think it depends on promoting it as a television product," said McCubbin, who is also a legal adviser to China Central Television Network.

"Look at India, and the commercialisation of cricket there. There is no reason why that can't happen in China. It's a growing economy, it's a changing economy, but it's also an economy that is becoming an avid consumer of western culture," McCubbin said.

In fact, Guangzhou will host the 2010 Asian Games, where China will compete in cricket and for which two cricket grounds conforming to ICC standards will be built.

Mumbai: West Indies' batting great Brian Lara named his daughter 'Sydney' because he scored his first Test century, a majestic 277, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) which Aussie cricket lovers fondly call 'Sachin Cricket Ground'.

It may be a coincidence that the third and final Test of the ongoing three-match series between India and Sri Lanka is being played at the P. Sara Stadium in Colombo and the name of Sachin Tendulkar's daughter is Sara, too. However, naming his daughter had nothing to do with the ground.

Tendulkar who needed 97 runs at the beginning of the match to surpass Lara's record of most Test runs, was dismissed for six in the first innings.

"After losing his wicket to rookie fast bowler Prasad leg before on Friday, he sat in the dressing room for a while, apparently disturbed. But he came back to his normal mood after listening to music," a member of the Indian team said from Colombo. "He was confident of setting a high score in this match but...," the source added.

"Sachin then called Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma in the dressing room and all three started practising in the dressing room itself.

"The batting maestro is determined to break the record in the second innings and perhaps the day is not far off," the source added.

Mumbai: India coach Gary Kirsten is slowly coming out from the grief of his mother's death. His 64-year-old mother Gayl Hall passed away after a prolonged illness in Cape Town's Vincent Pallotti Hospital on Friday.

Accepting the consolation message, he said, "The funeral date is not yet decided. We are still working on the date but it is only going to held at the end of the week commencing tomorrow."

No BCCI official or Test captain Anil Kumble (his immediate association with India would be over on the conclusion of the ongoing Test match in Colombo) is likely to attend the funeral. "I don't think anybody from India would attend it. It is going to be a private affair," he further added.

Gary Kirsten is expected to be available for the five ODI matches following the Test series. The five-match ODI series starts from August 18 but Kirsten may join the Indian team in Sri lanka for the last three day/night ODIs (August 24, 26 and 29).

Karachi: Even as the PCB waits for a response from New Zealand Cricket on their plans of touring Pakistan later this month, national cricket coach Geoff Lawson says he would like to see the Kiwis here as it would give his team valuable exposure before next month's champions Trophy.

New Zealand is supposed to tour Pakistan from August 20 where they would play three ODIs before the Champions Trophy and the director cricket operations, Zakir Khan said they were expecting a firm response this week.

"Things are getting a bit difficult for us as we have to sell television rights for the series and make other logistical arrangements," he said.

Although, sources in the board say the tour is unlikely Lawson said he would like to see the New Zealanders tour Pakistan as otherwise it might affect Pakistan's preparation for the Champions Trophy.

"I hope they come because I have kept on saying it is safe to play in Pakistan. But even if they don't come there is nothing anyone can do and we will just have to go into the Champions Trophy with our own preparations," Lawson said.

Lawson said his players needed to play some competitive games before the Champions Trophy as every other nation was busy in engagements at the moment and would reach Pakistan for the tournament well prepared.

Colombo: It is seven and a half years since VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid performed the rescue mission at the Eden Gardens against Australia.

India are again hoping that the miracle can be repeated at P Sara Oval here on Monday when they resume their partnership of 30 with a lead if only 14. Laxman has a dodgy ankle and Dravid is struggling to find form.

That is the take of Harbhajan Singh when he told the post day three media conference that India are still looking to win.

"We are not out (of the match)," he suggested with a confident smile. "There is still a big hope on Laxman and Rahul.

"They are very capable of getting 100s and we are keeping our fingers crossed that both can get brilliant hundreds tomorrow. We will then have some sort of target to defend then. Let us see what can be done..

"Whatever we get – say a 150 runs or more (lead) we will try and manufacture a win out of this game. But let us see as the need is to bat really well tomorrow to get those runs."

Harbhajan admitted that Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman were still in a lot of pain.

"It is great the way they came out to bat. They felt it was important from the team's point of view that they should bat. Hats off to them. Having a serious injury and still they have come out to bat."

But he agreed that the failure of the opening partnership had been a disappointment.

"It would have been good if the openers had contributed," he said. "It is good to get a good start. But this didn't happen and we cannot do anything about that. It is why there is a need to have to play well tomorrow and make sure we get maximum runs we can."

The injury to Ishant Sharma though is a major blow to the attack.

"It is important to have your four bowlers fit when you are playing a Test. But unfortunately you cannot do anything about the (Ishant) injury. It could have happened to anybody. Losing him in the middle of the game is a setback. I think there were only three bowlers when we were bowling trying to get wickets on this flat wicket. Hopefully Ishant will be fit soon and he will be back soon."

Harbhajan was another to lend his support to the referral system.

"To be very honest I did not check the referral system decisions (today). But I feel that it is good for the game.. I believe it is very fair."

Michael Clarke is never shy to dash over to Ricky Ponting in the field with a fresh idea but in his first one-day international as captain, Clarke gained a new appreciation for the pressure Ponting faces. With three overs remaining, West Indies needed 13 with six wickets in hand and Clarke required several miracles.

The first came when Brett Lee sent down a stunning over that brought 1 for 1. The second occurred when Nathan Bracken bowled Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 53 from the last ball of the penultimate over, five deliveries after Clarke himself made an uncharacteristic misfield as the tension mounted.

The final piece clicked when Shane Watson kept the batsmen to singles in the 50th over when they needed eight runs to win. When Darren Sammy drove the last delivery to mid off, Clarke curled his clammy hands around the ball and ran in to the stumps at the bowler's end to ensure a one-run victory in his first match as ODI captain. His first comment after the game was: "Ricky can have it back."

The win means Clarke has a 100% success rate in charge of Australia after leading the team to victories in two Twenty20 internationals during the Australian summer. This time he was guiding a relatively inexperienced team that featured the debutant David Hussey, and third- and fourth-gamers in Luke Ronchi and Shaun Marsh.

Hussey contributed an important 50, while Marsh was Man of the Match in the opening game and Ronchi has been outstanding behind the stumps as Australia built their 4-0 series lead. Clarke said the success of the new faces was one of the most pleasing aspects of Australia's enjoyable trip.

"It was obviously going to be a tough tour to see how some new young guys went but they've certainly stood up," Clarke said. "The Test series was fantastic and we're obviously showing in the one-dayers that there's a lot of class back home playing first-class cricket."

However, it was one of Australia's most reliable old hands, Andrew Symonds, who set up the win with his 87 and earned the Man of the Match award. Similarly, West Indies counted on two of their most experienced men, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as they launched a chase that was well on track at the halfway mark.

But the loss of Gayle, who skied a catch for 92 when he unnecessarily tried to go over the top off Watson, proved to be an important moment. After West Indies' previous loss Gayle had harsh words for his middle-order batsmen but on this occasion he knew he had to take responsibility for the disappointing finish.

"I thought myself and Sarwan really set the foundation," Gayle said. "The manner in which I got out as well, I was very disappointed. I really take the blame for that, I should have carried on and get a hundred and see the team home."

West Indies' coach John Dyson said it was disappointing but not necessarily surprising that the world champions Australia prevailed in the tense finale. "Players do feel pressure and when they're in these sort of situations," Dyson said.

"Experience is a great thing to have behind you, you see Australia in a pressure situation when they are used to winning and they stay as calm as calm can be. Perhaps because our guys, because they are not used to winning, feel the pressure more."

There won't be a Lord's final send-off for Darren Gough. His former club Essex dumped Yorkshire out of the Friends Provident Trophy with an 87-run victory in the second semi-final at Chelmsford. The match was heading for a tight conclusion while Andrew Gale and Anthony McGrath were adding 94, but once Essex broke through the end was swift. The final nine wickets fell in a clatter for 49 and Gough was the last-man out, left to ponder what might have been.

The key was superb bowling from Danish Kaneria and Ryan ten Doeschate, who took three wickets apiece, with the latter having an innings to remember as he demolished the middle order. Essex like to defend totals on their home ground - they did so successfully four times during the Twenty20 qualifiers - backing their lively fielding and the wiles of Kaneria to make up for a lack of quick bowlers. It was a game plan that worked to perfection once Graham Napier lived up to his Twenty20 heroics with a 34-ball 61 and lifted them to 285 for 8.

The pressure Essex were able to apply in the field was due to the extra runs Napier's late assault provided. At one stage some sharp Yorkshire fielding, with two direct hits from Tim Bresnan, and wily bowling from Rana Naved left the home struggling to reach 250 despite Alastair Cook's controlled 95. But Napier is the talk of Chelmsford these days.

A couple of weeks ago he re-wrote the record books with 152 off 58 balls in the Twenty20 against Sussex and here was equally belligerent. The boundary ropes were in - especially on the pavilion side - but most of Napier's six sixes sailed comfortably into the stands. He fell in the final over, picking out deep midwicket trying for another maximum, but he'd done his job and 101 runs came off the final 10 overs. The momentum was back with Essex.

Yorkshire were out of the blocks at a nippy rate as Gale and Adam Lyth added 56. David Masters broke through when Lyth missed an ugly heave across the line, although umpire Peter Hartley erred as the ball had pitched outside leg. McGrath survived a huge shout for caught behind before he scored, but soon settled into a productive stand with Gale.

Against the first four Essex bowlers run came comfortably and James Middlebrook, the first spin introduced straight after the Powerplays, was deposited into the stands. Gale's half-century came off 54 balls, then Essex began to strangle the life out of the innings. Boundaries dried up against Kaneria's biting legspin, while ten Doeschate was equally hard to get away as he maintained a wicket-to-wicket attack.

Still, though, moments before the 30-over mark Yorkshire were 140 for 1 and the common equation is to double the score from that point. The visitors still had hope, but it changed in a flash. Gale suffered a moment of madness when he defended into the leg side and tried to take a single to the bowler. It wasn't a contest, but ten Doeschate still showed calmness to maintain the presence of mind to run at the stumps, rather than hurl the ball.

Yorkshire had taken a gamble in their approach, because Gale and McGrath never got ahead of the run rate which meant a tough job if wickets began to fall. It was a telling factor. McGrath carved high to extra cover, where ten Doeschate needed four attempts before holding the catch to the relief of the vocal home support.

It was ten Doeschate with ball in hand who claimed the next three; Gerard Brophy lbw pressing forward, Adil Rashid somehow edging a low full toss (a fine catch by James Foster) and Jacques Rudolph missing a swing across the line. It was the last of that trio that showed how Yorkshire knew the game was getting away from them. The remaining wickets fell to similarly hopeless swipes.

Cook's innings was the most prosaic of the day, but then not many of his efforts linger too long in the memory. He ticked along at his natural rate, picking off loose balls when they came along, particularly from Rashid. His fifty took 85 deliveries and he appeared set for just his second one-day century for Essex (his other was for England), but fell to Bresnan's second direct hit of the innings. Richard Pyrah had parried a fierce cut down to third man and Cook was coming back for a second when he was caught well short by a bullet throw.

When one set batsman departs it's important for the other to take over, but Ravi Bopara, who never found his timing, was given out caught behind in the next over. Essex were in danger of squandering the advantage, but in hindsight it was perfect timing as it allowed Napier a chance to stretch his arms. The Essex supporters gave him a standing ovation and they'll all be hoping he has a repeat performance in store at Lord's next month.

It is tempting to see the 1930s as the golden age of cricket writing in England. Neville Cardus had, according to "Crusoe", "made cricket readers of many who would not walk across the road to see a stump fly". In the Manchester Guardian, Cardus "cut his sharp epigrams from the most amorphous material". Crusoe himself - Raymond Robertson-Glasgow, a "miniaturist, and a master of compression", in the words of Alan Ross - had settled down at the Morning Post. In the Evening Standard you could read CB Fry, a classicist who focused on technique.

The land between poetry and geometry was the preserve of Yorkshire's JM Kilburn, who began his career in 1934 at the Yorkshire Post; Don Bradman was then the greatest batsman in the world, and Jack Hobbs made his 197th first-class century in his farewell year at the age of 51. In a tribute to the latter, Kilburn wrote, "When the sun shone and the runs came merely for the asking, [Hobbs] took them with a thankfulness beyond mere acceptance. Sometimes rain fell, and spin bowlers snapped their fingers in glee. Into their hutches the rabbits went tumbling, but Hobbs, amazing the world, remained firm at his end." The prose is spare, the details are visual, and the player is placed in his context with minimum fuss.

Kilburn was 25 then, and had already found his voice; he had done a stint at University, taught in a school, written some articles for Finland's Post, and was not unknown when he applied at the Yorkshire Post for a job. His name appeared regularly in the newspaper for his exploits as an offspinner and useful batsman in the Bradford League. The editor was a cricket fan, and that was that.

Kilburn remained with the Yorkshire Post till 1976. For 42 years he was the voice of Yorkshire cricket; he wrote two books on the county and a biography of its greatest batsman, Len Hutton. Overthrows and Thanks to Cricket were two volumes of autobiography. A collection of his pieces appeared in Sweet Summers and In Search of Cricket.

Yorkshire cricketers were not renowned for their lightness of touch or flights of fancy. Neither was their finest writer. Kilburn's writing evoked Sutcliffe, Hutton and Boycott - sound, hard, correct, rather than flamboyant. Yet, like them he was capable of evoking the occasional gasp of surprise. His description of Maurice Leyland's bowling is sheer joy: "Leyland's bowling is mostly a joke, but it is an extremely practical joke."

Above all, he was a pure cricket writer, interested only in reporting the action on the field of play. No masala for him, no keyhole journalism, even when his bosses tried to get him to indulge in it to counter the stories appearing in the rival Daily Mail.

	Kilburn's writing evoked Sutcliffe, Hutton and Boycott - sound, hard, correct, rather than flamboyant. Yet, like them he was capable of evoking the occasional gasp of surprise

"Wherever a pilgrimage through the cricketer's England may begin, it must surely end, if the traveller has any sense of the appropriate, at the Scarborough in Festival time," he wrote in the final essay in his 1937 book In Search of Cricket. For Kilburn, that year meant more than cricket, for he married a family friend, Mary Robinson. "The annual Scarborough Cricket Festival had something to do with it," the Post noted coyly. Mary's father was an allrounder and president of the Scarborough Cricket Club. In later years, as Kilburn's eyesight began to fail, she took over his correspondence and wrote articles he dictated.

In an introduction to one of Kilburn's books, Matthew Engel captured the man and his methods: "He developed a punctilious method of writing, which he stuck to with exceptional determination. He wrote with a fountain pen very neatly on Press Telegram forms... after the War, the telephone came in, but that was not for Kilburn. He asked for - and carried enough clout to be given - a telephonist on each ground to dictate his words for him. Towards the end of his career, the quality of the Yorkshire Post-issue copy paper deteriorated and he gave up the fountain pen in favour of a ball-point. That was just about his only concession."

Cardus and, to a lesser extent, Crusoe continue to be read. Fry, whose work on batsmanship is a classic, is today almost a mythical figure for his all-round sporting, academic and intellectual accomplishments. Kilburn, more down to earth, and often more perceptive than the others is available in reprints. Thank God for that.

Suresh Menon is a writer based in Bangalore

The ICC must believe it's possible to fool all of the people all of the time judging by their outlandish performance at the latest executive board meeting.

When Zimbabwe arrived for the ICC meeting, their two priorities would have been to retain their elite status vote and keep their full share of the ICC monies. Amazingly for a cricket body that has been under a cloud for the way it has administered the game and handled finances, Zimbabwe Cricket extracted exactly those promises from the meeting, and in addition they don't have to perform to get paid.

The ICC, or at least the Zimbabwe apologists among the board members, said before the meeting the objective was to keep the game alive in a country that has been raped and pillaged by a rogue president (though those last were not the words they used). The ICC's sentiment is laudable, but for some time now the problem has been the serious question mark over the way ZC has been distributing the funds allocated to it.

A recent independent audit indicated possible shady dealings by ZC, and reports filed by visiting journalists suggest the game's infrastructure has been neglected by local officials. Consequently, the statement by the ZC chairman, Peter Chingoka, "We have decided to pull out [of the Twenty20 World Cup] in the larger interests of the game," rings pretty hollow. More like they pulled out of the tournament to keep everyone happy on a board renowned for its politicking and power-broking, and in return ZC retained all its perks.

Ironically, the best way for Zimbabwe to recover its cricketing credibility is via the Twenty20 game. There is no way their standard of play is good enough for either Test or 50-over international cricket, but in last year's World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa they had a meritorious victory over Australia.

Still, it appears Zimbabwe won't go short of cricket in the future. Following the meeting Chingoka flaunted ZC's windfall when, after explaining the ICC decision only pertained to the tournament in England, he said, "We are now looking forward to more tours and international cricket with our Asian friends, especially India." And it sounds like he won't have any trouble gaining "official" status for those matches in return for his extremely tainted vote at the ICC.

As if the Zimbabwe charade wasn't enough for one meeting, the ICC excelled itself by also declaring the England victory over Pakistan at The Oval in 2006 has now been deemed a draw instead of a forfeit. After almost two years of acrimonious debate and legal posturing, the ICC executives declared that "in light of the unique set of circumstances the original result was felt to be inappropriate".

	No matter how Pakistan feels they were wronged at The Oval - and there is some sympathy for them regarding the way the on-field matter was handled - there is no more appropriate punishment for a team that refuses to play on than to have the match awarded to their opponents

No matter in what way Pakistan feels they were wronged at The Oval - and there is some sympathy for them regarding the way the on-field matter was handled - there is no more appropriate punishment for a team that refuses to play on than to have the match awarded to their opponents.

Throughout the 129 years of Test cricket prior to the Oval, many teams have been wronged. And many more were angered over the way matters conspired to harm their chances of victory, but none ever refused to play on. In the end common sense always prevailed - until all sanity flew out of the Pakistan dressing room window at The Oval and they refused to play on. A forfeit was the only conclusion to be drawn from Pakistan's actions that day and only the ICC could come to any other decision.

The ICC's structure means it often doesn't react quickly to issues, and smouldering embers regularly turn into raging bushfires. The structure also encourages board executives to think of their country first and the game last and consequently the ICC has had a number of ignominious days in its chequered history. However, this latest meeting surpassed all their previous efforts and it now seems as though the only ones they are fooling is themselves.

Fifteen wickets fell on the second day of the Intercontinental Cup match between Canada and Bermuda at King City and, even though Canada collapsed to give the visitors a slender first-innings lead, their bowlers put them back on top by the end of the day. Canada were dismissed for 228, Dwayne Leverock taking 5 for 69 with his left-arm spin, in reply to Bermuda's first-innings score of 237 but their spin attack reduced the visitors to 78 for 5 in the second innings by stumps.

Canada began the second day on 14 for 0, trailing by 223 runs. Their openers Geoff Barnett and Abdool Samad started steadily, adding 21 runs in the first six overs. The partnership was broken on 35 when Samad, trying to play a delivery from Ryan Steede on the leg side, was caught by Chris Foggo at short square leg. The second-wicket stand began to consolidate Canada's position but Leverock struck two quick blows to dismiss Barnett, caught at cover, and Trevin Bastiampillai, held by Foggo at short square once again. Canada had slipped from 76 for 1 to 77 for 3.

The partnership between Canada's captain Ian Billcliff and Arvind Kandappah began to shift the momentum towards the hosts. Kandappah did not follow the cautious approach of the top order and attacked Leverock instead. He scored boundaries all round the ground and hit a straight six over the sight screen to go into lunch on 43 off 29 balls. Billcliff provided the stability at the other end and Canada were 121 for 3 at lunch.

Kandappah got to his half-century off 38 balls after the interval but a back injury forced the 37-year old to retire hurt shortly after. Canada's momentum was broken and a steady stream of wickets followed. Sunil Dhaniram was bowled by Stefan Kelly by one which moved in as he tried to play aggressively, while Leverock found a way through Saad bin Zafar's defences.

Billcliff alternated between caution and aggression, scoring his fifty of 111 balls, but as wickets fell around him he scored at a quicker pace, hitting sixes over long-on. When he got out for 56, lofting a catch to George O'Brien at deep cover, Canada were 10 runs short of Bermuda's total with one wicket in hand. Kandappah returned to resume his innings but didn't face a ball as Henry Osinde offered a return catch to Rodney Trott to give Bermuda first-innings points.

Bermuda's openers, Foggo and Oronde Bascome, had made ducks in the first innings but they provided a steady start against Canada's new-ball attack, Osinde and Eion Katchay, by extending the lead to 49.

The introduction of spin sparked the collapse. Bascome was caught and bowled by Karun Jethi and Foggo's attempted sweep against Dhaniram landed in Billcliff's hands at slip. Bermuda went from 40 for 0 to 48 for 3 when Barnett caught Outerbridge, Bermuda's top-scorer in the first innings, for a duck at cover. James Celestine batted aggressively, hitting two fours and two sixes in his 22 but eventually edged Jethi to the wicketkeeper.

Bermuda's captain Irving Romaine and Rodney Trott performed damage control, batted nine out of the remaining ten overs with caution. However, Saad bin Zafar ended Trott's resistance, 1 off 30 balls, in the final minutes of the day by bowling him with a quicker ball.

Buoyed by South Africa's recent success in Pakistan and India, Mickey Arthur, their coach, believes he has a side that knows the demands of touring. South Africa had identified their Test team early on in Arthur's view, keeping in mind the tough tours on hand.

"This process has been going on for two years, looking ahead of this tour. We obviously looked at India in India, which is a series we've just come through," he said after rain curtailed their match against Middlesex at Uxbridge. "Then England in England and Australia in Australia ... they don't come much harder than that. That's three tough tours in a row. We needed to get a team ready for that and this process started about two years ago. I'm very confident we've put together a competitive side. We've been pretty consistent in selection and the guys know their roles."

Though there's plenty of hype around the South African pace outfit, Arthur said there was no room for overconfidence. "There's no chance of that. For me, it's going to be how they handle this build-up mentally. It's a young side: our two strikers, [Morne] Morkel and [Dale] Steyn, haven't been tested with the amount of media hype that's got into them.

"I think the guys deserve to be tipped that high. We've worked hard over two years to get out balance right but at the end of the day it counts for nothing. It's about how we're going to bat and bowl."

Steyn has made all the headlines in the last year, taking 88 wickets at 16.38 in 14 Tests since 2007. He's only had one game before the Tests and despite turning out a frenzied, at times wayward, and wicketless outing, Arthur wasn't too worried. "It's going to be interesting to see him but I'm confident he'll do well," he said. "He does come in [to the series] with a slightly high profile when you look at the amount of media work he's done in the last couple weeks. Let's see how he handles it and channels it into his body.

"It's just a case of getting his sharpness back. We saw how he bowled in two-and-a-half spells yesterday and we'll have another two net sessions which will be pretty intense. I don't think you can do too much more about that. The styles of Steyn and Morkel are going to be something special this summer."

Morkel has only played two warm-up matches since injury curtailed his stint with Yorkshire a couple of months ago. With Makhaya Ntini not gaining assistance from both the Taunton or Uxbridge pitches and Steyn keen to bounce the batsmen rather than outfox them, Morkel's restrained approach was impressive.

"We didn't want our guys to over-bowl," Arthur said. "You've got to get the balance right, between bowling too much and too little, and we feel we've got it right. Morne bowled in Taunton where he had a niggle and here he stepped it up a bit. He worked a little on his no-balls, having bowled too many in Taunton, he got a wicket with one here but he certainly bowled less."

Paul Harris, the left-arm spinner, hasn't really applied any pressure in the tour games. "Some of the shots that these guys played against him, I can't see too many of England's top six playing," Arthur said. "I do think we'd be sitting in a fool's paradise if we didn't think England would target him. He's allowed our quicks to rotate. If I was a strategising in the other camp I'd probably be looking at taking him on. That's something he's going to have to deal with when it happens. And it will good be an opportunity for him - you can step up to the plate or back down, and he's definitely a character to step up."

	England are probably where we were a year ago, in terms of the make-up of their side and getting their combinations right, in terms of reflecting and bringing new faces in. They're a very, very good Test side at the moment. It's going to take a lot of beating

Spin hasn't always been a strong part of South Africa's cricket culture, but Arthur was firm about the decision to stick with Harris instead of playing another seam bowler. "Any good Test side has to have a spinner that can play a role and we've given Harry our backing. Even last year at the Wanderers the temptation would have been to play Polly [Shaun Pollock] on a wicket that was green but we kept faith with Harry because we want to make sure he knows he belongs. It was part of a process for us. You obviously want to get to No. 1. You're playing four teams that play in the subcontinent and you need a spinner in your side."

Perhaps most pleasing, in terms of this tour, is that the first Test is being played at Lord's. South Africa have won their last three Tests there, and Arthur felt it was very good for them to start off the four-Test series at the home of cricket.

Michael Vaughan's injury scare has also dominated the local news columns and Arthur, comparing the England captain to Graeme Smith in terms of having an aura about him, singled him out as a definite threat. "He's like Graeme in that he commands a tremendous amount of respect and any team England put out without Vaughan would be weaker," Arthur said. "He's special to England and brings calmness to the side. And he's a fantastic captain and I understand how important it is for Peter [Moores] to bring him out on Thursday."

Arthur also felt his opposition was in a transition phase. "England are probably where we were a year ago," he said, "in terms of the make-up of their side and getting their combinations right, in terms of reflecting and bringing new faces in. They're a very, very good Test side at the moment. It's going to take a lot of beating."

Jamie Alter is a staff writer at Cricinfo

The forecast for the third and final day's play at Uxbridge wasn't encouraging and, true to form, the cold English rain settled in and hovered over the ground long enough for the umpires to call off play at 1pm. Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, wasn't too disappointed that his side missed out on one last shot at acclimatising themselves before the Test series gets underway at Lord's on Thursday, and both teams settled for a draw.

A light drizzle delayed the 11am start and, after a brief let-up, the umpires decided on 1pm resumption. With 45 minutes to countdown the rain returned and refused to leave. A few brave spectators sat it out in the bleachers under umbrellas and raincoats until the match was called off, and slowly made their way out of the ground.

South Africa will take positives from the hundreds from Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince, though another expensive outing from Paul Harris, the left-arm spinner, wouldn't have been too encouraging. For a depleted Middlesex, Eoin Morgan's sparkling unbeaten century was the brightest part of an otherwise average outing.

The first of four Tests starts at Lord's on July 11.

Jamie Alter is a staff writer at Cricinfo

The Champions League is still in the planning stages but one clear strand that has emerged is a hardening of positions vis-à-vis the unofficial Indian Cricket League. Cricket Australia has joined the BCCI and Cricket South Africa in adopting a strong position against allowing players associated with the ICL to participate in the proposed Champions League.

"We have made clear our position in respect to the ICL from the start," James Sutherland, CA's chief executive, told Cricinfo. "We don't support competitions that are not properly authorised by the home body and we wouldn't support that in our country. But we understand the problems for some other countries which are in a predicament."

It appears now that England, with around 25 ICL cricketers playing for 15 of its 18 counties, will have to take a tough decision on the Champions League though there have been attempts to break the deadlock with a suggestion that players who took part only in the inaugural ICL tournament, possibly unaware of the consequences, be considered for the event. "It's too early to really comment on that. It's not something I feel comfortable talking about right now," said Sutherland, who was part of the negotiations that took place here on Thursday between the boards of Australia, England, India and South Africa.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is also understood to be already exploring other options, including accepting an offer to take part in another, similar tournament.

The Champions League is proposed to be held in the 10-day window between the ICC Champions Trophy and Australia's first Test in India starting October 9. That will most likely clash with a scheduled practice match on Australia's tour and raises the possibility of a conflict of interest for the two Australians - Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden - who are part of the Chennai Super Kings, which qualified for the Champions League.

Sutherland, though, said Cricket Australia will speak to its players on the issue. "One of the things that is really critical for us is to ensure the best possible preparation for what will be a really big Test series. We know that playing India in India is always going to be very tough and I am sure our players will want to ensure the best possible Test series. So we will have to talk to the players and the coach about what the best preparations are going to be.

"The purpose of discussions during the course of last few days was to just progress those a little bit, put them on the table, and have a bit of a debate on some of the more contentious issues and try to smooth that through," he said.

Sutherland said a final picture on the Champions League would become clear only after further discussions, though another official who attended Thursday's meeting told Cricinfo that the competition would be held at three venues in India, with Jaipur and Delhi "on the confirmed list" and a decision pending between Mohali and Bangalore as the third venue.

Ajay Shankar is deputy editor of Cricinfo