The Zimbabwe Cricket Union has announced that all 15 rebel cricketers who are in dispute with the board have had their contracts terminated.The board met this morning and took the decision that, as the players had not returned to work by the Friday deadline it imposed, they were in breach of their contracts. In a press release, the ZCU said that it had informed the players’ lawyer of the decision.The ZCU went on to add that, while the players’ contracts had been voided, any of them who made themselves available for selection would be considered “subject to their commitment, form and fitness”.The statement concluded that the “ZCU firmly believes it has acted in accordance with best business practice whilst it has also always kept the door open for any willing and committed players to return to the fold.”The players’ legal representative Chris Venturas confirmed that the players were now going to take the ZCU to court. They maintain that as they had made themselves available for selection, they were not in breach. “We are taking them (ZCU) to court over this. We were just finalising our letter to the ZCU agreeing a mediation on the dispute when they dropped this bombshell on us,” Venturas said. “We decided right away we would go the distance and an advocate will be briefed as soon as possible.”We knew about their ultimatum to return to duties by May 7 but this was a shock in view of our impending written acceptance of mediation, which we were going to deliver on Tuesday morning and which they knew was going to happen.”The ZCU’s action means that a lengthy legal process is about to start, and it also effectively ends any lingering hope that this matter might be sorted without any more harm to Zimbabwe cricket. It also means that again Zimbabwe will field a woefully weak side for the second Test at Bulawayo which starts on Friday.

The Melbourne bouncer charged over the death of David Hookes will face a ten-daypreliminary hearing in November. Zdravko Micevic, 21, who has previously indicated he will plead not guilty to manslaughter, appeared briefly before the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.His bail was extended until November by Duncan Reynolds, the magistrate, andhe then left the court, hiding his face under a black jumper as he walkedpast the media. Hookes was allegedly knocked to the ground during a scuffle outside St Kilda’s Beaconsfield Hotel on January 18. He died soon after from his injuries, aged only 48.Hookes played 23 Tests and 39 one-day internationals for Australia, and wasfamed throughout the cricket fraternity for slamming England’s captainTony Greig for five fours in five balls on his debut in the 1976-77 Centenary Test at Melbourne.

Shoaib Akhtar has been named among Pakistan’s probables for the Asia Cup, while Shahid Afridi has been sidelined, it was reported today. The News quoted unnamed board sources saying that Shoaib’s inclusion in the side will depend on his fitness.The move comes after Shoaib had publicly admitted that he had “lost the urge” to play in the Asia Cup, and it would be a while before he represented Pakistan again. He expressed disappointment over the manner in which the board had treated him after the ribcage injury he sustained in the series against India. Shoaib’s comments sent the board into a tizzy, and they asked him to clarify his position.Interestingly, it was reported that the PCB had earlier told the selectors not to select Shoaib for the tournament on medical grounds. “We acted on the basis of a letter sent to us by Durham, who informed us that he needed periods of rest between matches to recover completely from his injury,” said Rameez Raja, the chief executive of the PCB. “We have told Shoaib clearly that if he claims he is fit he has to come down and undergo a stringent fitness test; only then will he be considered,” he added.Alarmed by the signals, Shoaib asserted that he was fit and ready to play, and that his rib injury had healed after he had taken a two-week rest. “I don’t know why they don’t trust me,” he said. “I am playing for my county Durham and performing well. If I am not fit would they play me?Shoaib had hurt his ribcage while bowling during the third Test against India earlier this year, but confounded the management by batting unhindered later in the game. His performance added fuel to rumours of attitude problems, as well as differences between him and Inzamam-ul-Haq about strategy. A medical inquiry was called for by the PCB – which had questioned the seriousness of the injury when Shoaib played for Durham shortly after – but the medical team confirmed Shoaib’s damaged ribcage. To complicate matters further, Shoaib aggravated the injury during a county game and was advised to rest until the injury had healed completely. Since then, counter to the PCB’s advice to rest, he has bowled for Durham.The selectors have sent the probables list to the PCB, which will release it shortly.

Buoyed by the hugely successful tour by the Indian team to Pakistan earlier this year, the boards of both countries are planning further initiatives to ride on that momentum. According to a report in The Indian Express, the Pakistan board has proposed a match between the domestic champions of both countries, as well as one between the two top school teams.The report adds that the Indian board has agreed to the idea "in principle". Speaking to the daily, Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, said: “I spoke to Mr Dalmiya about two-three months ago and also wrote to him regarding this idea. Now only the dates and venue has to be worked out.”If the plan is implemented, Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions, will clash against Faisalabad, the holders of the Quaid-E-Azam trophy, in the inaugural edition, which could be held within the next six weeks. Shaharyar indicated that Pakistan was willing to host the game: “Faisalabad, our champions, also have a Test centre, so we will be more than glad to host this match. We are looking for a sponsor but even if don’t get one we will go ahead with idea.”The report also quotes Ratnakar Shetty, the joint secretary of the BCCI and the Mumbai Cricket Association, as saying that he was looking forward to the contest. “I really hope, for the sake of Mumbai cricket, that this proposal comes through. I will be really happy if it does fructify. It will be an honour to undertake the trip and be the first team.”

The Mumbai High Court will hear the case regarding ESPN-Star Sports and BCCI on Thursday, September 9. ESPN-Star Sports had earlier challenged the Indian board’s decision to award the four-year telecast rights, of matches to be played in India, to Zee Network. The matter was due to come up for hearing today, but was postponed, reportedly because the BCCI received the summons late. Also ESPN-Star Sports has sought more details and clarifications from the BCCI and Zee Networks.ESPN-Star Sports asserted that it was the highest eligible bidderciting the qualifying cretia in the BCCI’s tender. On July 7 the BCCIinvited bids for television rights to the next four years’ cricketplayed in India. That tender document stated: “The bidding will berestricted to broadcasters only.”Only those entities that have existing in-house production, telecasting units and channel network and have successfully telecast live and delayed International Cricket events of International standard for a period of at least two years (not as a Licensee) will be entitled to the Invitation to Tender and right to submit offers. Bid documents will be given to such entitiesonly.”ESPN-Star Sports contends that Zee Network does not fulfill thesecriteria.

After two months of keeping a nation and a half guessing about when he would be better, and what a tennis elbow really was, Sachin Tendulkar is fit enough to play cricket. Going into the third Test against Australia at Nagpur, the Indians suddenly have a selection conundrum that stems from his return. Australia, for their part, have brought Brett Lee back into the fray, including him in the 12 in place of Nathan Hauritz. But Adam Gilchrist stressed that the playing XI was far from decided, and that a final inspection of the pitch on the morning of the match will have a role to play.The pitch does have some grass on it, but quite clearly it has not been watered in days and should be fairly brown by the time the first ball is bowled. The curator insists this will be a sporting pitch, and Gilchrist called it an Australian kind of wicket, but there’s every chance it will become more Indian in the hours to come. Sourav Ganguly had called the curator from Kolkata before this Test, and requested that the authorities prepare a pitch that would favour the spinners. “But nothing much seems to have been done about that,” he said, nervous smile plastered across his face. And, nothing much can be done at this stage, for the grass can merely be trimmed, not shorn. This means that that there’s little chance that this strip will crumble even later in the game.That should suit Tendulkar just fine. He had a longish stint in the nets, and certainly did not hold back. Batting first in a net where only the spinners operated, he clouted several balls far and wide into the stands. Then, when he took on the quicker men, the punch – off front and back foot – sent the ball thudding back past the bowlers. “Even if I’ve scored two hundred in the last two Tests, there’s still pressure,” said Tendulkar in an interview recently, countering the assertion that his comeback to top-flight cricket after approximately two months makes it extra hard.

What does become hard for the Indians is to choose whom to leave out to accomodate Tendulkar. On the eve of the match Ganguly said, “Ajit Agarkar will play. Parthiv Patel will not open. We are considering either Yuvraj Singh or Aakash Chopra as the opening partner with Sehwag.” This virtually means Mohammad Kaif is out of contention despite his fighting 64 at Chennai. There were also question-marks over the availability of Harbhajan Singh, who was down with viral fever on the eve of the match and was rated only a 50% chance of playing. If he is ruled out, Murali Kartik will come into the side.Meanwhile, Gilchrist knows that his team is better prepared, man for man, than any Australian team that has toured India since Bill Lawry’s series-winning team in 1969-70. Glenn McGrath has proved an extremely effective force in India – his record here in six Tests is better than his career average – and is well set to ensure this series is no different. He went wicketless in Chennai – only the fifth time in his 99-Test career – and will bend his aged Narromine back over to make sure he sets the house in order in his 100th Test: he has never gone wicketless in successive matches.But, this India-Australia series has refused to be defined by individuals or individual contests. The fact that rains denied India the chance to level this series in Chennai, with 210 runs to score, ten wickets in hand, and on a pitch that had eased out, makes this game all the more vital. This is a venue where teams usually resign themselves to a high-scoring draw. But, neither of these teams likes draws, or resigns, so the script could yet be an original one.India (probable) 1 Yuvraj Singh, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Harbhajan Singh/ Murali Kartik, 11 Zaheer Khan.Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Simon Katich, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11 Glenn McGrath.

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Rashid Latif could face disciplinary action after leading his team off the field in protest of what he termed was “an unfit pitch”. Leading the Karachi Blues in a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Faisalabad, the home side, Latif took the drastic step after Karachi had slumped to 33 for 4, and several of their batsmen had taken blows to the body.”I didn’t want any serious injury to take place,” Latif told The News, a Pakistan daily. “The pitch was not fit for a first-class match and the batsmen were getting bat on ball with difficulty due to the unusual movement and variable bounce.”I asked the players to come off after declaring the innings because the umpires were not allowing them to come off otherwise. Afterwards I gave in writing to the match referee that we could not continue the match on the pitch which was unfit and dangerous for the players.”Shafiq Ahmed, the chairman of the Domestic Tournament Monitoring Committee (DTMC), later announced that match referee Khalid Niazi had awarded the match to Faisalabad since Karachi had refused to carry on.Shafiq also refuted Latif’s claim that the pitch was not fit for a first-class match. “The pitch was not dangerous or unfit for play. It had moisture in it and there was a lot of grass on it but this can be expected in Punjab at this time of the year.” He stated that the Pakistan board would decide if disciplinary action would be taken against Latif and the entire Karachi team. “The umpires Rasheed Bhatti and Mian Aslam and the match referee will now send their report to the DTMC and the Pakistan board on the match and the incident and it will subsequently decide whether there is ground for taking disciplinary action against the Karachi team or its players.”

Shane Bond is aiming to return to international cricket in New Zealand’s home series against Australia in March. He is recovering from a stress fracture to his lower vertebrae at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre.Bond, 29, is working on his action, the cause of the problem, under theguidance of Ashley Ross and Dayle Hadlee. “I’ve really gone back to thedrawing board, and have broken things down,” he told . “You realise that some things, like a fault in your deliverystride, can stem way back to the start of your run-up.”Using the same bio-mechanic technology that helped to scrutinise MuttiahMuralitharan’s action, Ross and Hadlee have focused on four aspects ofBond’s action that need tweaking. “It’s a matter of getting comfortablewith those changes and I’m pretty close to that now.” Bond added. “Thehardest thing to do [is] getting the changes ingrained so they becomesecond nature. I’m probably about 90% there and it’s coming out allright, so I’m reasonably pleased.”One of the main changes is to remove his tendency to dive in late to thebowling crease. “I need to eliminate that as much as I can,” he said. “Therest of it is basically trying to get my hips and shoulders workingtogether so everything is working on one plane.”Bond hasn’t avoided matches altogether, and has been playing as a batsmanfor his club team in Christchurch, High School Old Boys-Collegians.Bowling will have to wait for the moment, though. “It’s up to me to get fit andstrong. I’ve trained really hard and if it doesn’t work out, then I canlive with that.” Ideally, he hopes to return as a bowler in a fewcompetitive games for Canterbury in January in a late bid for the homeseries against Australia. “If things go perfectly, I’d like to be available forthat series.”New Zealand could use a fully-fit Bond, especially after they werewhitewashed in the recently concluded two-Test series against Australia.

Michael Vaughan was pleased and frustrated in equal measure by the close of the second day’s play at the Wanderers. He burst back to form with a superb 82 not out, which rescued England from a mid-innings slump of five wickets for 16 runs, but by the close he was scratching his head in bemusement, after play was suspended 13 overs early due to bad light.”All we ask for is consistency, and I don’t think there have been consistent decisions made today," said Vaughan, whose side was asked to bat under heavy cloud cover, reminiscent of his debut here in 1999-2000, when England were reduced to 2 for 4 in their first innings. “It is always tricky in a situation like we had with cloud cover and a little bit of mizzle, but it was still pretty bright out there and we would have liked to have finished off the overs."The umpires have to make a decision," he added, "but at one o’clock, we were batting in indifferent conditions, and then the fielding captain asks for the light when they are in a bit of trouble, and the umpires accept. They just said it was off, and once they tell you, that’s it.”As a Yorkshireman, Vaughan is well used to batting in such dank conditions, and he admitted that the first hour had reminded him of being back at Headingley, not to mention being back where his international career all began, in 1999-2000. "I had a bit of déjà vu," he said. "There were quite a lot of memories to draw on." But, he added, it was definitely England’s day, as they closed on 411 for 8, having added 133 for the eighth and ninth wickets.It was a triumph of will for Vaughan himself, who had been horribly out of nick during the first part of his innings on the first evening. He crawled to 9 from 45 balls, and admitted that he had been working hard on his game overnight. "When I started out today, I wasn’t in any sort of form," he said. "I watched a few videos overnight, and went back into the nets this morning to try to iron out a little flaw which had crept into my technique. I had just been thinking of survival last night."Vaughan has spent the last week undergoing intensive one-on-one coaching with Duncan Fletcher, just as he had done last summer, when he suffered a similar rough patch of form. On that occasion, it paid handsome dividends, with twin hundreds against West Indies at Lord’s, and by the time he was joined by the tail, the benefits of his extra homework were beginning to pay off."A lot of credit has to go to Ash [Giles]," said Vaughan, "because he got our momentum going, particular after the third stoppage, when the sun came out, the wicket calmed, and the bowlers got tired. And when Harmy came out, I knew I had to play more positively. He’s a funny batter – he always says if he gets past the first three balls he is in!"

Andrew Symonds and James Hopes passed fitness tests for the one-day tour of New Zealand today while Matthew Hayden will have his immediate future sealed tomorrow. Hayden continues to recover from pneumonitis, a swelling condition of the lungs, and Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, has left the decision on whether he will join the squad until the last minute.”Matthew’s condition has improved and we will give him every chance to be fit by waiting until tomorrow,” Hohns said. The team leaves for the five-match tour on Wednesday and both Symonds and Hopes were assessed in Brisbane today.Symonds, who injured his Achilles tendon in the first VB Series final against Pakistan, was the greater concern while Hopes, the new Australia allrounder, complained of hamstring tightness during Queensland’s ING Cup loss to Western Australia on Friday. “Symonds and Hopes have been declared fit to travel to New Zealand after passing rigorous tests,” Hohns said.Australia play a Twenty20 international against New Zealand at Auckland on Thursday before the first 50-over match at Wellington on Saturday. The series concludes at Napier on March 5.