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Nottinghamshire have handed contract extensions to Mark Ealham and Andrew Harris which will keep them at Trent Bridge until the end of 2007.”They were very influential in our success and deserve to be rewarded,” Mick Newell, the county’s director of cricket, told BBC Sport. “Their experience and enthusiasm were very important in the dressing room.” Ealham and Harris were star performers for Nottinghamshire last season, sharing 103 wickets.”We do have an ageing squad and we have to be very conscious of that,” said Newell. “It will soon be time to introduce fresh blood into the team – but having older and wiser heads around will help the youngsters to progress.”Ealham, who topped 50 wickets in a season for the first time and won his first championship medal, said: “I’ve enjoyed two great seasons with Notts and still remain as keen to play cricket as when I started my career. This club is going places, and I have no intention of missing out on that.”Harris, whose career has been hampered by injury troubles, took a match-winning 6 for 76 as Nottinghamshire clinched the title. “I’m delighted to have signed the extension and am looking forward to helping the squad collect more silverware,” he said. “My personal target is to play for another five years.”

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has declared day-night Test cricket “here to stay” after the conclusion of the inaugural floodlit match at Adelaide Oval, a popular success despite its meagre three-day running time.A crowd of 123,736 poured into the ground across those three days, and similarly strong television audiences made it a spectacle to delight broadcasters and administrators alike. But the verdict of the players was always going to be critical to the future of the concept, and in the glowing words of McCullum and his opposite number Steven Smith there was ample evidence that the game’s elite practitioners will be comfortable with doing this kind of thing more often.The only reservation raised by both McCullum and Smith was the amount of grass left on the Adelaide Oval pitch, which they agreed was the major factor in the game’s short time span. But they were equally adamant that players would be able to adapt with greater experience, with the added incentive now of having played a Test match in front of such a celebratory and voluminous gathering.”It’s a great concept,” McCullum said. “As pink ball cricket evolves as I am sure it will grow into a global game and I think we will see the pitches probably won’t have quite as much grass on it. The thing about day-night Test cricket is it is meant to allow Test match cricket to be played at night time, it is not meant to be to change how Test cricket should play.”There was a fraction too much grass on it, I think we saw under lights that the pink ball probably responded a little bit much, but I would say that because I am a batter. Overall it was a roaring success and 120,000 people over three days, people are voting with their feet and I think it’s here to stay, which is great.”In general, spectators would want see results in games. And will want to see captains start to try and force results. Sitting in changing room after hard fought Test win that’s what’s most memorable as a cricketer. Sometimes fighting draws are great and I think we’ll find captains will try and push home some advantage to get Test victories.”Smith was naturally relieved after seeing out a series victory over a fast-finishing New Zealand, and he had little hesitation in describing the contest as a “great” one. “The whole Test match was a great innovation, it was a great spectacle,” he said. “To get 120,000 people through the gates in three days is absolutely amazing. I thought it was a great spectacle and a great Test match.”It was a game that was dominated by the bowlers. New Zealand’s bowlers bowled just as well as ours. But it was one of those games – if you got yourself in you could still score runs, it just wasn’t to be this game for a lot of the batters, we got starts and couldn’t go on with it. I think the contest is there if you’re willing to have a game plan and bat some time you can certainly score runs.”Like McCullum, Smith noted the thick grass coverage presented for the pink ball, but was happy enough to live with that after finishing the match as a narrow winner. “I think the wicket here compared to the two Shield games that have been played on it and particularly the pink ball shield game we played, it looked like the grass was a bit more lively,” he said. “I think it was the same height as the grass in the Shield game but it was probably just a tad greener.”That created a little bit more movement for the bowlers and kept the ball together and swinging for a long period. But I think it was great to see something different, the first two Test matches were dominated by the bat, so it’s great to see something different and see the bowlers coming into their own.”

In a dramatic about-turn Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been included in the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of Australia following a request made by the sports minister Gamini Lokuge.Atapattu will join the team as the fourth opener – alongside Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga and Michael Vandort – increasing the tour party to 17 players. Atapattu was originally selected in the squad on the belief that he met the national selection committee and thrashed out his problems. But Atapattu refused to attend as long as Ashantha de Mel was the chief selector.The matter was then taken up by Lokuge who summoned the national selectors and the hierarchy of Sri Lanka Cricket to sort out the issue. The outcome of the meeting was that the minister would speak to Atapattu and, if he was willing to tour Australia, he should be included in the team.Atapattu asked for time to make a decision on the offer and was abroad on an official assignment in Rome. On his return on Thursday he met Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Duleep Mendis and informed him that he was available for the tour to Australia. “I met Duleep and we spoke about the terms and conditions under which I will be playing. I was satisfied with them and I told him that I was available for Australia,” said Atapattu.Atapattu’s return to the national team marks the end of a six-month ordeal which began with the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean where he, although being a member of the team, was not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches in the tournament. He was then overlooked for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and when the selectors named him for the home Tests against Bangladesh, Atapattu pulled out saying that he was not mentally prepared to play Test cricket.Atapattu then wanted Sri Lanka Cricket to release him from his central contract and went onto play a season of league cricket in England with Lashings. He was subsequently left out of the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament and the recently concluded one-day series against England.”We would welcome Marvan into the team,” said captain Mahela Jayawardene. “He is experienced and has done so well for Sri Lanka that you always welcome a guy like that. It all depends on how keen and committed he is to the team. That is the most important thing.”Sri Lanka leave for Australia on Tuesday and the first Test starts at Brisbane on November 8.

With his hulking frame and that rare ability to belt the cover off a ball, Andrew Symonds doesn’t look like the sort of character to suffer from insecurity. After all, he’s played 154 one-day internationals over the course of an eight-year career, and was an integral member of the 2003 World Cup-winning side. But when it comes to Tests, he just can’t get it right. In ten attempts, he averages 19.06 with the bat and 45.44 with the ball, and admitted today that his selection for the third Test squad at Perth took him completely by surprise.”I was really shocked. In the last few weeks, I’ve been trying too hard, but then I got the call-up,” said Symonds, who was dropped at the end of the South Africa tour in April after managing just two fifties and a three-wicket haul in eight consecutive Tests against West Indies and South Africa. “I had the baggy green out a few days ago and I looked at it and smelt it and wondered if I’ll ever wear this again. And I suppose now I’m a couple of days away from finding out. I’m pretty excited.”Symonds famously flirted with England selection in the 1990s – a fact he was none too pleased to be reminded of today – but as he said at the time, he’s a fair-dinkum Aussie and his love for his baggy green is all the proof he could ever need. “I love the smell of it,” he said. “It smells of sweat and beer.” He loves it so much, in fact, that he wore it throughout Australia’s training session at the WACA this morning. “The boys were ribbing me a bit,” he said, “but I said I might not get a chance to wear it again. I’ll be wearing it whether I’m playing or not for the next couple of days.”The inability to translate one-day form into the Test arena is not a unique problem, but Symonds is one of the game’s most high-profile and talented sufferers. “You are just so keen to do well,” he said. “It’s sometimes hard to say ‘bugger it, I’ll go out and play’. You’re not playing backyard cricket, you’re playing for Australia and so it’s not necessarily that simple. You have to learn your game, and learn your psyche on how you play your game.”Just this morning I was in the bathroom putting sun-cream on, and the coach said: ‘I want you to play freely’. That’s what I need – a free spirit sort of attitude. Don’t worry about results. Results look after themselves if you just go out there to enjoy yourself.”

It’s ironic really, because Symonds has rarely been accused of being anything other than a free spirit. He was famously dropped ahead of Australia’s defeat against Bangladesh at Cardiff last year after an all-night bender which ended at 8am and culminated in him falling off a wheelie-bin during the squad’s pre-match warm-up. Now, however, it is exactly that sort of attitude that he now needs to fall back on, if and when he gets his opportunity at Perth from Thursday.”My mindset is that I need to be a little more carefree with my intensity,” Symonds said. “I guess the hype and the build-up [to a Test] is a bit more intense, and I probably tried a little too hard last year and ended up clamping up for whatever reason. I have to be careful with how I approach it. I play my best cricket when I’m not thinking too hard. I just watch the ball and hit it. Whether I play the one-day way or the Test way is irrelevant. I’ve got to find the way that suits me best.”Andrew Flintoff would doubtless agree with such an attitude. He and Symonds briefly played together at Lancashire and are kindred spirits in more ways than one. “The conversations me and Freddie tend to have aren’t about cricket,” Symonds joked. “But watching him, you can see from his successes that he’s probably a similar type of player. He’s instinctive. It’s about training hard and then going out there to react.”

Regardless of how hard Symonds tries to loosen up this week, there is one aspect of the Perth Test that is sure to create a new knot in his stomach. Australia are just one win away from regaining the Ashes. “You can’t help but think about it can you?” he said. “The coach addressed us [about that] this morning. It’s a big part of all our lives, but if you look at it like that, does it become a distraction?”It’s okay to think about it, but we’ve just got to keep our minds on the job. The feeling in the dressing room is very positive. I’d much rather be in our rooms than theirs. Coming from behind is very hard, and there’s not that intensity of ‘must win, must win’.”Life, by all accounts, has been pretty relaxed in the Australian camp since the Adelaide Test. The squad enjoyed a barbecue at Justin Langer’s place last night, which was an opportunity to get to know the team’s newest squad member, Adam Voges. “We had a couple of beers, and he’s an easy-going sort of a bloke.”But, Symonds said, the abrupt retirement of Damien Martyn had left “a bit of a void” in the team. “He’s one of these blokes whose character slips in and out of the day. He’d come out with a little one-liner that’s quite funny. He’ll be missed. But we just hope he’s happy because we haven’t had much contact with him. It was a shock, but that’s Marto as well. We just hope he’s taking it easy.”Australia’s fans will hope that Symonds takes it easy this week as well. That way, his true Test character might finally be able to shine through.

Arthur Milton, the last man to play both football and cricket for England, has died at his home in Bristol. He was 79.Born and raised in the West Country, Milton was a stylish batsman who made his debut for Gloucestershire in 1948 and was an ever-present until he retired aged 46 at the end of 1974. He was a natural at any ball game: a fleet-footed winger who went off to Arsenal, he also played golf, tennis, even bet on the dogs better than his team-mates.Blond and slight, was the last of a rare breed – the double cricket/football international. His one appearance for England at football was in a 2-2 draw with Austria in 1952. In his first Test, against New Zealand at Headingley in 1958 Milton – opening the innings with a rugby cap in Mike Smith – collected 104 not out. That won him a place on the following winter’s tour of Australia, where the opposition was rather more ferocious than the outclassed New Zealanders, and Milton struggled, as did his fellow double international Willie Watson. Milton finished his six-Test career with 204 runs at 25.50.He was happier batting for Gloucestershire, which he did until he was in his mid-forties. He finished with more than 32,000 runs and 56 hundreds in first-class cricket, most of them from the top of the order, while his tally of 758 catches emphasises his value in the field, where he was a star close in, especially at short leg. A Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959, in retirement he became a postman in the Cotswolds.

“There are so many reasons for the sadness we all feel,” said John Light, the county’s chairman. “Anyone who can play both cricket and football to international level has to be especially gifted and indeed Arthur was. He attributed his soccer success to the passing accuracy of his inside right partner at Arsenal, Jimmy Logie. There was no Logie however in the Aston Gate mud. Arthur came home from Arsenal and gave impetus to the Cities promotion drive. The extra dimension he brought ensured promotion.”He made cricket seem so easy, playing largely off the back foot he always seemed to have so much time. Running between the wickets was his forte. Was there ever a better runner between the wickets? Cover fielders were exasperated as “roll and stroll” Arthur took single after single. ‘I have never seen this man Milton take a difficult catch,’ said a not-very-expert cricket-watcher. What he should have said was ‘I have never seen Milton make a catch look difficult’. Such was his anticipation and sure handedness he was outstanding close to the wicket.”

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Following the impressive display by their batting team-mates, Maharashtra’s bowlers came to the party and routed a woeful Rajasthan for 86 and 191 en route to an innings and 250-run win at Ratnagiri. Rajasthan, reduced to 42 for 4 at the close of the second day, crumbled against Anupam Sanclecha and Aditya Dole, the opening bowlers, and Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner. Sanclecha removed Mohammad Aslam with his third ball of the day and added two more victims to finish with 5 for 54, while Dole and Bahutule shared the other five. Still 439 in arrears, Maharashtra could only muster 191 in their second innings, as Bahutule, opening the bowling, and Dheeraj Jadhav, known for his stylish batting more than his part-time offbreaks, seized seven wickets to complete a crushing victory, and help their side gain five points.
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After being dismissed for 145 in their second innings, Andhra’s bowlers took five Saurashtra wickets to keep their chances of a win alive going into the final day at Rajkot. Set 274 to win, Saurashtra slipped to 127 for 5 as Venugopal Rao, the host captain, lead the way with two key scalps and changed his bowlers around to good effect. Only Shitanshu Kotak, unbeaten on 57, offered resistance and held the key for Saurashtra. Sandeep Jobanputra, the left-arm fast bowler, and Rakesh Dhurv, the left-arm spinner, took 3 for 78 and 3 for 7 in Saurashtra’s impressive bowling effort.
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Chasing 122 to beat Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka slipped to 54 for 5 before stumps were drawn on day three at Kanpur. Karnataka’s bowlers combined to bowl UP out for 194 in their second innings, with Sunil Joshi (3 for 41), Chandrashekar Raghu (2 for 35), R Vinay Kumar (2 for 26) and KP Appanna (2 for 22) sharing the spoils. Shivakant Shukla top-scored with 47 in an inconsistent UP innings. Shalabh Srivastava and Praveen Kumar, UP’s opening bowlers, picked up two wickets each to keep their side in the hunt.
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Mayank Tehlan turned his overnight century into a maiden double, and Rajat Bhatia added three figures of his own as Delhi posted 493 against Baroda at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Overnight on 108, Tehlan began the day with a series of boundaries and though he lost Virat Kohli early, was offered solid support from Bhatia in a 149-run stand for the fifth wicket. Four deliveries after he stole three off Yusuf Pathan to get to 200, Tehlan fell to the same bowler, but Bhatia (106) ensured the effort was not lost and shouldered a feeble lower order before he was last man out. Pathan (4 for 103) and Rajesh Pawar (4 for 149) were the only bowlers to have any effect on Delhi.
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Gaurav Vashisht, Haryana’s young offspinner, took a career-best 6 for 24 to spin out Tamil Nadu for just 149 at Chennai. In a 25-over spell, which included 15 maidens, Vashisht ran riot over TN’s middle and lower order, after Joginder Sharma set the tone with three wickets at the top. In reply, Sumit Sharma and Ankit Rawat, Haryana’s openers, added an unbeaten 31 to extend the lead to 149 by stumps.
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Powered by Niraj Patel’s career-best 173, Gujarat took a 205-run lead over Hyderabad and removed two of the home side’s batsmen to finish the third day in Uppal firmly in the driving seat. Overnight on 109, Patel forged the lead with Bhavik Thaker (56) and despite a middle-order wobble, Gujarat posted a commanding 406. Pragyan Ojha and Inder Shekar Reddy, Hyderabad’s left-arm spin duo, accounted for eight wickets between themselves. In response to Gujarat’s total, Tirumal Suman and Anirudh Singh, Hyderabad’s captain, were dismissed.
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A 133-run sixth-wicket stand between Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai’s veteran batsman, and Wilkin Mota, the rookie allrounder, took Mumbai to within 81 runs of Punjab’s first-innings total on the third day at Mohali. Punjab began the day well, removing Vinayak Mane, Bhavin Thakkar and Sahil Kukreja (43) in the first session, and adding two more in the second, but Muzumdar joined forces with Mota, all of four matches old, to steady the ship. Muzumdar finished unbeaten on 86, while Mota fell to Ishan Malhatra on the last ball of the day. Amanpreet Singh, the right-arm medium-fast bowler, was the most successful home bowler with 3 for 54.

Pakistan’s Under-19 team completed a 5-0 drubbing of their Australian counterparts with a nine-wicket win – with 160 balls to spare – in the last game of the series in Mirpur. As has been the trend throughout the series, the Pakistanis outplayed Australia in every aspect, bundling them out for 128 in just 30.4 overs, and the knocking off the runs in less than 24 overs for the loss of just one wicket.The only thing that went right for the Australians was the toss, but their innings soon faltered as Pakistan struck repeatedly with the new ball. The first five wickets went down with only 51 on the board, and only Dom O’Brien, the wicketkeeper, offered any resistance, scoring 41. Adil Raza, a right-arm fast bowler, finished with 4 for 36 while Jibran Khan’s left-arm spin fetched him 3 for 10.Pakistan lost an early wicket in reply, when Imad Wasim was trapped in front for 1, but Ahmed Shehzad, the in-form opener, blasted an unbeaten 99 from 97 balls as they swept home with plenty to spare.The fourth game, at the same venue, hadn’t been as one-sided, though ultimately Pakistan prevailed by five wickets. After winning the toss, Australia managed 214, thanks largely to a 58 by opener Jeremy Smith and O’Brien’s 44.Pakistan stumbled in reply, sinking to 79 for 4 and 127 for 5, but were bailed out by an undefeated 89-run stand for the sixth wicket between Usman Salahuddin (55 not out) and Jibran Khan (44 not out). They finally ensured that victory was achieved with 13 balls remaining.

Brian Lara has demanded his batsmen rediscover their killer instincts in the remaining five one-day internationals against Zimbabwe. West Indies enjoyed back-to-back wins by five wickets and 98 runs against the tourists at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Saturday and Sunday but Lara, in his third spell as captain, wants to see bigger contributions from his batting line-up.”We lost too many wickets on Saturday chasing 152, and on Sunday, we were almost bowled out,” said Lara. “We have to start thinking about 300 runs-plus for the remainder of the series and then I’ll definitely be happy about it.”I think we have been a little slow off the mark because it’s our first couple of games back after the trip to New Zealand and you can tell by the way that some of the guys have been playing. They are still feeling their way, but I am sure that by the time the series resumes next weekend in Guyana, we are going to have all the guys pumped up and really going.”Lara’s decision to drop down the order to six has been the topic of some debate, but he indicated it was part of his side’s tactics to expose some of the players in preparation for the upcoming series against India next month. “The top four or five batsmen should dominate the batting in these 50-over games,” said Lara, who celebrates his 37th birthday on Tuesday. “If this takes place, the lower order batsmen will not get a knock, so I am trying to get some of the guys lower down the order to get a knock.”Terrence Duffin, the Zimbabwe captain, acknowledged his side were on a learning curve and expects to see them improve by the time the series is over. “After getting a few early wickets, I think we did well to keep them down to 242. We lost too many wickets too early. We’ve got a few days before the next two matches, and it gives us some time to go and polish up.”The series continues on May 6 and 7 at Georgetown’s Bourda Oval when the two teams contest back-to-back matches. They will also play the first limited-overs international under lights in West Indies at Gros Islet’s Beausejour Stadium on May 10 before the series ends with a double-header on May 13 and 14 at Port of Spain’s Queen’s Park Oval.

The ECB has received nominations from two candidates to succeed David Morgan as ECB chairman when he becomes ICC president next year. Giles Clarke, the Somerset chairman, and Mike Soper, the ECB deputy chairman, will now contest a ballot of all first-class county chairmen and chairman of the MCC.The favourite is Soper, the former chairman of Surrey, who has been proposed and seconded by Sussex and Derbyshire. Clarke, Somerset’s often outspoken chairman, was the driving force behind the board’s decision to sell TV rights to BSkyB.On the face of it, Soper’s candidacy is surprising given his ongoing health problems. Diagnosed with bone cancer, Soper was given six months to live in 2001 but has battled through and now believes he has at least four years left. He optimistically says he’s been assured “that within that time a vaccine will come out”.”I’m trying out different drugs,” he told The Guardian. “Some work, some fail – they’ve put me on a steroid which means I have to go to the gym every day. But I will die of bone cancer, so you can see why I’ve become passionate. This is my final ambition but this would be only the start because there are so many things I want to do within the game.”Soper unsuccessfully challenged for the post in 1997 when he lost out to Lord MacLaurin, and there is no doubting his passion for the game and his initiatives while at Surrey were bold and, in the main, successful.”I still love the four- and five-day games but I believe you’ve got to get the youngsters to watch. I started watching when I was eight or nine with my dad. I wasn’t prepared to sit there for three days and kids today won’t either. I want to get young people in – even free of charge if necessary – because everyone remembers his first game. Then they come back.”There was talk that Bill Morris, the former union leader, had been asked to throw his hat into the ring but yesterday he ended speculation by announcing he was not standing.A decision on who will replace Morgan will be announced on August 28.

The much-touted Major League Cricket Interstate Cricket Tournament which was due to be held next week in Florida has been postponed because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Wilma. The event will now start on November 30.The decision came after talks between MLC officials and Broward County officials. The local authorities explained that all their resource was committed to the local clean-up and that staging the festival was not really an option against that backdrop.Parag Harolikar, the MLC operations manager, said that while the news was disappointing, it would allow “all the teams to better prepare for the tournament and for better chemistry among team members.”