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The ZCU has admitted that the rebel cricketers are eligible for recognition during the board’s annual awards, to be held on August 5 at Harare Sports Club.It is not clear whether the ZCU will consider the players for the awards, but a spokesperson for the board accepted that as the players were part of the team during the 2003-2004 season, they would eligible.Ray Price is front-runner to land the Most Outstanding Player award for his sterling performance with the ball. Price was Zimbabwe’s leading wicket-taker in Tests last season with 30 wickets. He hit top form during Zimbabwe’s tour to Australia where he took 6 for 121 runs in the second Test at the SCG in October 2003. He continued with his terrific form at home against West Indies, grabbing a career-best 6 for 73 in the first Test at Harare Sports Club.Heath Streak should also be in the reckoning for his all round exploits, although it is inconceivable that the ZCU would honour a man who is at the centre of the row. During the year, Streak passed 200 wickets in both Tests and ODIs. He also scored his maiden Test hundred, an unbeaten 127 in the first Test against West Indies at Harare Sports Club.Other contenders for the award, which was won by Andy Blignaut last year, are allrounder Sean Ervine and new skipper Tatenda Taibu.Teenage sensation Tinashe Panyangara is favourite to walk away with the Most Outstanding Under-21 Player. Panyangara made his mark during the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year when he took 6 for 31 during Zimbabwe’s sensational victory over Australia. The 19 year-old Panyangara also posed threats to experienced batsman during the Sri Lanka and Australia tour towards the end of the season.Another player who should be considered for the award is Tawanda Mupariwa. After being controversially left out of the Under-19 World Cup team, Mupariwa made his international debut against Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI at Harare Sports Club and quickly made an impact with two wickets.

A pile of prizes went to Ashley Noffke on Saturday night as he gained more rewards for his outstanding domestic season with Queensland. Noffke, the third Australian to collect the 50-wicket, 500-run first-class double, claimed his second consecutive Ian Healy Trophy for the state’s Player of the Year.There was not much competition for Noffke after the Bulls finished last in the Pura Cup and missed the finals of the one-day and Twenty20 competitions. Noffke led the first-class batting with 741 runs at 46.31 – Ryan Broad was second on 566 – and the bowling with 51 wickets, 36 ahead of the second-placed Michael Kasprowicz. It was the first time a player had topped both Queensland lists since Ron Oxenham in 1936.The returns pushed Noffke to international Twenty20 and one-day debuts and he should be a certainty to tour the West Indies with Australia in May. “I’m really happy I was able to put it all together this season,” Noffke said.”It’s disappointing we didn’t get the results we were after, but cricket is a game of roundabouts. It can be a long year when things don’t go according to plan, but everyone stuck together really well and that’s the true test of a side.”Noffke also picked up the state’s award for the Pura Cup and the players’ player prize while James Hopes won the FR Cup gong and Shane Watson was recognised for his belligerent Twenty20 batting. The Australian representative Jodie Purves collected the women’s trophy for scoring 214 runs at 30.57 and claiming 16 dismissals in the national league.

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Is there a venue where you can get closer to your heroes than WhitgiftSchool? The question came to mind at lunch, as impromptu games took place infront of the hexagonal brick pavilion and Surrey players shoutedencouragement to the young players from their balcony. The kids soonreturned the favour. When Surrey returned to the pavilion having bowledLancashire out for a mere 210, the children lined up on the outfield to clapthem off. Gloriously, not a single steward told them to get off the pitch.By the end of the day you sensed that the Lancashire players would havehappily have given Surrey directions off the pitch, and added a few otherinstructions too. Surrey went to their beds with a deficit of only 64,thanks largely to a partnership of 102 between Mark Ramprakash and ScottNewman. It wasn’t always a barrel of laughs – there was a certain amount ofsheer grind after tea – but both played some classy drives. Newman inparticular delighted the crowd; so much so that when they applauded one fineshot he thought he’d reached 50 and celebrated a run early.The Whitgift ground is almost in miniature, with a pavilion so small that itcan hold only the home team – the Lancashire players have to change in tentsalongside. The bank that slopes down to the pitch teems with picnickers who,meander around the pitch at the intervals, rubbing shoulders with thebowlers as they do their stretches.Not that Martin Bicknell or Jimmy Ormond needed much warming up. Bicknelltook the first Lancashire wicket in only the third over of the day,straightening Mark Chilton up with a good length ball that carried to firstslip. Ormond followed up in the next over, sneaking the first ball backthrough Iain Sutcliffe’s defences.There is no doubt that the pitch here undulates – from one angle it lookslike a badly laid rug. But although the bounce was variable it never stayedparticularly low and it was the amount of lift that the Surrey bowlersgenerated that seemed to throw Lancashire into confusion. Jamie Haynes andDinesh Mongia were both out to poor shots and suddenly Lancashire were fourwickets down in only the ninth over.Only Chris Schofield prevented a total rout. After his false coming asEngland’s Messianic leg-spinner, Schofield is now re-defining himself as abatting allrounder. He rode his luck today, dropped in the covers on 7and in the slips on 8, but refused to let the team’s situation get himdown. He hit eight fours on his way to a half-century, more than a couplewith a powerfully swatted pull shot that the slip cordon mimicked himadmiringly.For a while Schofield had the company of Glen Chapple, who set about ruiningOrmond’s figures, including six boundaries from just two overs. TheSchofield/Chapple partnership doubled Lancashire’s total, but when Chapplewafted to second slip, Azhar Mahmood moved in and picked off the stragglers.

While the Australian board are concerned about the state of the new stadium in Hyderabad, where the team will play its only warm-up game of the Indian tour, confusion abounds about their opponents. The BCCI announced that Australia will play the Board President’s XI, but the Mumbai Cricket Association insist that the game was awarded to them. The final decision will be known tomorrow.SK Nair, the secretary of the board, confirmed that the selectors had put forward a proposal to allow the BP XI side to play against Australia. Mumbai will be playing against Rest of India in the Irani Trophy and the selectors thought that it would be a good idea to give more players a chance before selecting the Test squad. “It was originally Mumbai,” Nair told Wisden Cricinfo, “but the suggestion by the selection committee was also considered. There were a few players who missed out of the Rest of India side and so the selectors wanted to give them a chance. A decision will be taken tomorrow.”On the other end of the see-saw, Lalchand Rajput, the secretary of the MCA, insisted that Mumbai will play the game. Rajput said: “We received the letter about 15 days ago and the match between Mumbai and Australia is going to be a benefit match for Vijay Mohanraj, the former Hyderabad cricketer. We have even got letters from the Hyderabad Cricket Association and PMG, who are sponsoring the game.”There are valid arguments for the BP XI to play the game. Players like Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, who have been rusty of late, can use it as a chance to get back into the groove. Also Zaheer Khan and Lakshmipathy Balaji can return after recovering from injuries. Without this opportunity, the Indian team will go into the first Test at Bangalore without any match practice.The bottom line, though, is that Mumbai were promised the game by virtue of being the Ranji Trophy champions.

It was always destined to be a day of Aussie runs – why else would the start of play have been delayed by the appearance of a green-and-gold banner behind the bowler’s arm, bearing the urgent request: “Mum, send Imodium!”? But the warning came too late for Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist. Their rollicking 167-run partnership came at such a rate this morning that there was never any prospect of reaching the dunny in time.Runs, and lots of them, are what Indian crowds appreciate the most. But when Australia resumed at 316 for 5 this morning, the stands began to swell with the optimistic assumption that Australia had had their fill – or most of it, at any rate. So it was with some simmering disappointment that they were made to wait until the stroke of lunch for their first breakthrough.Even the scoreboard operator seemed to be feeling the strain, as he acknowledged Gilchrist’s half-century by flashing up the message: “Congratulations, Haidee Tiffen – 50 not out”. Tiffen, for the record, is a New Zealand women’s allrounder, who made 56 on her last (and first) appearance at Bangalore in December 2003. Who knows which of the city’s copious databases they dredged that particular graphic from.It was all getting too much for the besieged national TV network as well. They were awarded the rights to this series as a last-ditch measure, following the breakdown in communications between the BCCI and its primary suitors, and thecobbled-togetherness of it all meant that there were bound to be a couple of wobbles along the way.Mike Atherton, primarily out here as a newspaper correspondent, was press-ganged into service as a commentator, while the producer only arrived midway through the first day, after being airlifted from a family holiday in Turkey. The upshot was that India’s armchair fans spent much of the morning watching a re-run of Kenya’s 1996 World Cup victory over West Indies, among other such gems. Mind you, after being subjected to the vacuous soap-star-turned-anchorwoman, Mandira Bedi, during Sony’s coverage of the Champions Trophy, the Indian public are well used to such irrelevances.What they missed during that hiatus was the continuation of an innings of utter serenity from Clarke. His personal fan club, those Imodium-seekers above the sightscreen, had been so convinced that he would reach three figures that they had come armed with a second banner reading “On ya Clarkey, 100 on debut”. It required a bit of black tape and a hasty scramble for the scissors, however, to adjust the banner in time for his 150.Clarke’s eventual demise geed the home support up no end, as they suddenly awoke to the prospect of witnessing their own batsmen in action. The Mexican Wave, more commonly associated with boredom and frustration, now carried the resonance of an expectant volcano, as an urgent drum-beat echoed across from the bleachers at midwicket.Not for the first time in the day, however, it was the travelling band of 200 or so Aussies who had all the more to crow about. A pair of exceptional deliveries from Glenn McGrath, including the ball of the match to dislodge Rahul Dravid, and those little splodges of yellow began to vibrate in adulation once again. But the counter-roar was massive and defiant, as the home support responded with ecstasy to every push for two into the covers.Special mention, however, must go to the lone Indian voice that rang out above all others, all throughout the day, as he sung merrily to himself in a disturbing falsetto, utterly oblivious to the concerned looks from his neighbours (not to mention the men in white coats hovering at the entrance to the stand). Among his favourite numbers were “Kaspa has only got one ball”, “MrLaxman, do it for me”, and “Knick-knack paddy-whack, these Aus-sies are going home.”With such a devoted support behind them, and an even bigger crowd expected as the weekend approaches, there can be no giving up of the ghost just yet. Not when there’s a follow-on looming and a Mr Laxman in the side, at any rate.Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

The row surrounding the future of Kevin Pietersen at Nottinghamshire has taken another turn with a report in today’s Daily Telegraph that he is now expected to stay at the county.Last month, Pietersen publicly stated that he had played his last game for Nottinghamshire. "I cannot play for Notts any more,” he said. “I have told them and if they do not allow me to leave I shall have to take legal action. A number of counties are interested in me. I would prefer to play in the First Division.”But with a year remaining on his four-year contract, Nottinghamshire have understandably been determined to hold on to Pietersen, one of England’s rising stars. Pietersen threatened legal action, the county responded by insisting that he had no grounds on which to base a legal case.And today, David Collier, Nottinghamshire’s chief executive, reinforced reports that Pietersen would honour the last year of his contract. “He has not indicated that he will not be fulfilling his obligations and we have heard nothing about an industrial tribunal," he told The Daily Telegraph. "We feel there is a principle at stake and even if any action were started we would vigorously defend our position.”Opinions among the county’s fans appears divided as to whether someone who is seen by many as a disruptive influence should stay, but almost everyone backs the county’s hard stand."Some believe they should banish a clearly unhappy and seemingly disruptive influence from their ranks, while others contend that the player might have been better handled," wrote the Nottinghamshire Evening Post. "Whatever the case, the hope remains that Pietersen will see sense, make up with Nottinghamshire and treat us all to another vintage summer. But don’t hold your breath"”Before he let his views be known, I was one of his top fans," one supporter told the paper. “I felt the Trent Bridge admission price was worth it just to see him bat. But now I wouldn’t go down the local park to watch him.”

The England & Wales Cricket Board will be letting out a collective sigh of relief today after it was announced that Zimbabwe’s 10-week tour of England and Ireland, which starts later this month, has been given the go-ahead.”I am delighted we have been given the definitive green light from the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) for the tour to go ahead,” said Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the ECB. “This guarantees a full international programme for the summer, including the first-ever Test Match to be held at Durham’s Riverside Ground. With Zimbabwe, South Africa and Pakistan touring, I look forward to another great summer of international cricket.”After weeks of anxious waiting for a decision by the Zimbabwean government’s Sports and Recreation Commission, Peter Chingoka, the chairman of the ZCU, finally received a telephone call on Friday approving the tour from Anthony Mandiwanza, the commission’s chairman.Chingoka would not confirm the go-ahead until he received the official letter, but a reliable source said on Saturday: “I can tell you that approval for the tour has been received, but it won’t be released officially until the Sports Commission letter arrives.”The ZCU have spent anxious weeks awaiting the decision, because it was feared that the government of Robert Mugabe might intervene to stop the tour in response to England’s boycott of Harare during the recent World Cup. There had been widespread speculation that the regime might have decided on a tit-for-tat retaliation.But Mr Mandiwanza told AFP: “We have a clear mandate at the commission in decision-making. And we deal only with sport, not politics.” He added that the delay in advising the ZCU was because he had been away, and for no other reason, and he emphasised there had been no input by any government ministry. This was contrary to previous statements from his director-general, Elias Musangeya, who said the matter had gone first to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture.The team is scheduled to leave Harare on April 29. They will play two Tests – at Lord’s and the inaugural one at Chester-le-Street in Durham – and a triangular one-day series which also includes England and South Africa.

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A fine 102 by Salman Butt wasn’t enough to win the game for Jacques Kallis Invitational XI, as they went down by three runs against a South Africa XI at Newlands in Cape Town. Requiring 259 for victory, the Kallis XI made a spirited chase, but despite handy contributions from Lance Klusener (44) and Brian Lara (31), they fell marginally short.Earlier, the South Africa XI racked up 258 after winning the toss, with half-centuries from Graeme Smith, Ashwell Prince and Shaun Pollock. The Kallis XI also included Mfuneko Ngam, the right-arm fast bowler who is attempting a comeback after repeated stress fractures in the legs for the past four years. Ngam was expensive but polished off the tail to finish with 3 for 57 from 7.1 overs. Allan Donald and Mohammad Sami took two wickets each.The run-chase began poorly for Kallis XI with AB de Villiers being dismissed for a duck, but Butt anchored the innings with his 144-ball knock which included eight fours and a six. The middle order didn’t contribute much, with Kallis himself getting just 10 off 32 balls. Though Klusener threatened a revival with a 38-ball blitz, the target turned out to be just beyond reach.The second game of the two-match Jacques Kallis benefit series will be held at Centurion on Sunday.