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Having dominated seven of the nine days of cricket possible, Rahul Dravid had no reason to be overtly concerned. He admitted that the close-in catching had been a problem area but reiterated that to get close to winning what was effectively a four-day contest was “creditable”.”There were one or two close chances we could have held,” said Dravid about the performance of the catchers hovering around the bat. “These catches, on slow and low wickets when you are standing close to the batsmen, can be tricky. But the guys are working very hard on them. But to be honest, if we can pick one or two of these sharp chances, we can produce results in such close games.”It isn’t an issue that’s crept up only here. India in fact paid for their sloppy close-in fielding two Tests ago, when England levelled the series at Mumbai. The funny part of it was that India’s fielders had, just on the eve of the Test, spoken to Yajurvindra Singh, the former Indian cricketer renowned for being a specialist at short-leg, about the art. Dravid himself made a name for himself as a fine close-in fielder and he elaborated a bit more on what was required to excel there.”The key is to stay as low as possible and keep facing the batsman as late as possible,” he continued. “It takes a bit of practice and courage as well. “You need to do it for a while and enjoy it. You almost need to see yourself as an extra bowler who can make a difference. In some ways you got to see it as making a contribution. I always tell the guys once you have finished batting, who can be an extra arm for the bowling side.”Was he disappointed with his bowlers’ effort today? “I wouldn’t say that our bowlers are not able to give finishing touches. We managed to get 17 wickets on a track which was very slow and afforded only slow spin. It wasn’t easy, for the edges were not carrying. I knew the spinners would bowl more overs today. To get so close to a result in four days was creditable. There were limited ways you could get batsmen out on this track.”India will know that it’s only a matter of ironing out a few chinks before they taste success. “We have a reputation of being poor travelers but in the last two Tests we have come very close to winning on foreign soil,” Dravid justified. “We have shown that we can play good cricket abroad. That’s the focus.”

AB de Villiers has confirmed he wants to reduce his workload across all formats of the game and discussions will take place with Cricket South Africa in May as talk about his future swirled amid a report that he was considering retirement from Test cricket.De Villiers was responding to a story in the newspaper which claimed several former team-mates and friends revealed that de Villiers was contemplating quitting because of unhappiness with the South African system.In a pre-play television interview with Mike Haysman before the third day in Durban, de Villiers explained his concerns about the amount of cricket on his schedule, reaffirmed his commitment to the country but did not categorically deny the newspaper’s claims.”There are a lot of rumours flying around I hear, but for the last two to three years the only talk I’ve been doing is to keep myself fresh and to have a bit of rest here and there,” de Villiers said. “It’s always been the most important thing for me to enjoy my cricket. It’s just important to look at the schedule moving forward, that’s the talk in the camp and for me maybe not to play all kinds of cricket.”De Villiers admitted he is being stretched, especially as his workload is not limited to international cricket. “If I play all the IPL games the whole season, I do get a bit tired towards the end of the season,” he said. “That’s the only thing that I’ve been talking about in the last while. To keep myself fresh and to keep enjoying the game. I love representing my country and nothing has changed.”After the day’s play Mohammed Moosajee, the South Africa team manager, said that there were ongoing discussions about how to find de Villiers a break and a plan for the next year would be drawn up after the World T20 but for the rest of the season he will continue in all three formats.”When any international cricketer plays for 10 or more years, there is a concern about what happens when they stop playing,” Moosajee said. “AB is in constant contact with Russell [Domingo] and selectors to find opportunities to give him a break. He is still very much committed to playing for his country, it’s to look at the schedule for 12 months and see where we can give him time off.”That discussion will take place when new contracts are announced in May. Until the end of the season, he is committed to playing all forms. It’s all about getting the perfect balance. And getting the time to take time off.”Since his debut in 2004, de Villiers played 98 straight Tests before missing the July tour to Bangladesh for the birth of his first child. He also skipped the ODI leg of that series after he was banned for the first match for an over-rate violation and given time off after that. The South African management have been careful with ensuring de Villiers gets enough time off and have left him out of some bilateral series, such as the one to Australia last November, but they have also continually added to his job.De Villiers was forced to keep wicket in Tests after publicly stating he did not want to when Quinton de Kock rolled his ankle against West Indies last summer. He has since had to take over again after de Kock and his replacement, Dane Vilas, were both dropped. De Villiers has also had to bat a place higher than normal, No.4, because of the fragility of the current line-up and apart from Dean Elgar, has been the only batsmen to find form in the last few months. The burden may simply be getting too heavy.However, suggested it was a combination of exhaustion and irritation with internal policies, chiefly the transformation plan which is well-intentioned but threatening to derail some aspects of South African cricket. De Villiers was deeply affected by the selection controversy of the World Cup semi-final, which saw Vernon Philander picked ahead of Kyle Abbott.Similarly, Graeme Smith was reported to have been unhappy when the selectors insisted on Thami Tsolekile playing in the Test XI. CSA denied that Smith had threatened to quit over the fracas but three months later, Smith cited family reasons for his premature retirement.No comments have yet been made about the other two players who are also rumoured to be considering calling it quits. wrote that Dale Steyn, who has suffered several injuries since turning 30, and Philander, who is looking to county cricket, could also bid farewell to international cricket after the England series. Morne Morkel, the bowling partner, to those two was not asked about either of those but laughed off suggestion of de Villiers’ possible retirement.

Mahela Jayawardene admits Sanath Jayasuriya’s decision to put his Test match retirement on hold could be the decisive factor in his country’s World Cup bid.The 37-year-old Jayasuriya briefly retired from Tests last year before changing his mind and returning to the ranks. Despite his age, the veteran of the 1996 World Cup winning team is enjoying a new lease of life in the Caribbean and looked near his best during his 115 against West Indies on Sunday, his 25th one-day century.”We felt when you come into a World Cup year it’s important you play all the matches. When you play all the time it keeps you going so it probably was a good decision for him to come back and play Test cricket as well,” said Jayawardene.”He’s been brilliant. He’s working harder, he’s enjoying his cricket and he played some really good innings, not just the one you saw against the West Indies. He keeps going, that’s the character of the guy.”Sri Lanka, who were facing England in their latest Super Eights match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Wednesday, are being tipped as potential World Cup winners with their exciting mixture of youth and experience. Jayawardene, whose side crushed England 5-0 last year, believes that tour, where they also drew the Test series 1-1, was a crucial staging point in the squad’s development.”It was a brilliant tour for us but we’ve come a long way. From that start in England we’ve pushed on and played some really good cricket,” said Jayawardene. “The youngsters learnt a lot from that England trip. From there onwards guys like Lasith Malinga and Upul Tharanga have come up pretty well.”The 2006 series in England culminated in an emphatic eight-wicket win at Headingley where Tharanga (109) and Jayasuriya (152) shared a world record first-wicket stand of 286 as Sri Lanka won with more than 12 overs to spare.Jayawardene, who said that series had been the launch-pad for a run of form that has seen Sri Lanka tipped to repeat their 1996 World Cup triumph here, said he didn’t expect last year’s series to have too much of a bearing now. But he warned: “It depends if England is thinking about it.””For us it’s not an issue because we are playing in different situations, different tournament, different conditions and probably different personnel as well. Things have changed since we played England.”Sri Lanka enjoyed a crushing 113-run victory against hosts West Indies in Guyana on Sunday and Jayawardene, who scored a morale-boosting 82 in that match, said: “The mood is pretty good. The way we played against West Indies was very satisfying.

First Division

Darren Pattinson bowled his first over on the opening day at Trent Bridge at around 11.05 am and also bowled the final over at around 6.30 pm. During that time 20 wickets tumbled as Pattinson ripped Lancashire apart with a career-best 6 for 30 before Nottinghamshire were removed for 202. It was the second time in two matches that Lancashire had been involved in such a day, following their game against Durham last week. Pattinson took a five-wicket haul on his county debut in the opening match of the season against Kent, but had to move aside while Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad were available. With those two on England duty, Pattinson had another chance and responded in destructive fashion. Lancashire’s top order – missing Mohammad Yousuf who has had some minor visa issues – slumped to 16 for 4, and later the last six wickets went for 12. In between Stuart Law (55) and Steven Croft began a recovery but Mark Ealham started the second collapse by having Croft caught by Graeme Swann. Wickets continued to fall as Nottinghamshire slipped to 43 for 3. Samit Patel produced the best innings of the day, adding 93 with Mark Wagh (55), and Patel’s 74 off 71 balls took his team into the lead before Gary Keedy – the first spiner of the match – grabbed two quick wickets. Croft then swiftly wrapped up the innings with his medium-pace, although the lead of 89 is useful on a lively surface. The pitch inspectors are on their way for the start of the second day.Chris Tremlett continued the promising form he showed for England Lions last week with five wickets as Hampshire had a productive first day against Surrey at The Rose Bowl. He removed Jon Batty for a duck and returned to have Scott Newman bowled via an inside edge when he appeared set. Mark Ramprakash, searching for his 100th hundred, was caught behind for 17 as plenty of Surrey batsmen made starts without capitalising. Mark Butcher, well caught by Sean Ervine at midwicket, and Usman Afzaal fell in the forties despite being dropped three times between them. Matthew Nicholson’s 40 gave the total some respectability and the day ended on a positive note for Surrey when Jimmy Ormond removed Michael Carberry in his first over.The Somerset top order enjoyed the conditions at Taunton and Sussex endured a tough day in the field. James Hildreth scored his first Championship century of the season as the visitors were made to toil in typically batsman-friendly conditions. Chris Adams put Somerset in, perhaps swayed by last week’s match when Somerset were 23 for 6 against Hampshire. Neil Edwards was within touching distance of his own century but, having advanced out of the crease against Ollie Rayner, was run out for 99 by some swift work from Chris Adams at slip. Marcus Trescothick hit 74 with 11 boundaries before becoming Corey Collymore’s first Championship wicket.Click here for John Ward’s report of the first day’s play between Durham and Yorkshireat Chester-le-Street where Michael Di Venuto dominated with an unbeaten 184.

Second Division

Chris Taylor and Steven Snell hit centuries to haul Gloucestershire out of a hole against Worcestershire at New Road. The pair added 222 in 53 overs for the sixth wicket after the top order had fallen against the new ball to leave them struggling on 85 for 5. Simon Jones struck twice in his first spell, but Taylor and Snell carried the game away from Worcestershire. Snell began his cricketing life on the Isle of Wright and has now been preferred ahead of Stephen Adshead in the Championship. He reached his first century off 179 balls while Taylor hit four sixes in his 137 before being caught behind off Gareth Batty. But the momentum was now with Gloucestershire, a point emphatically hammered home by Mark Hardinges’ 43-ball half-century during the final session.Jonathan Clare continued the impressive form, which has earned him a contract extension, and his unbeaten 70 boosted a mediocre batting performance by Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens. The Glamorgan attack made early inroads as James Harris helped reduce Derbyshire to 66 for 3. Chris Rogers made 69 before being caught behind off David Harrison, but Clare and Graham Wagg (32) started the fightback with a stand of 50. Robert Croft worked his way through the tail to end with four wickets, including his 900th for Glamorgan. Matthew Wood fell early to Wagg, but Gareth Rees gave Glamorgan a solid platform to their reply.2nd dayJacques du Toit hit his maiden first-class century as Leicestershire piled up 527, their highest total for nearly two years, against Northamptonshire at Grace Road. He built on the solid work from the top order on the opening day, adding 129 with Paul Nixon (79) for the seventh wicket. Even when Nicky Boje removed them both the problems didn’t stop for Northamptonshire as Jermaine Lawson clubbed 35 off 29 balls at No. 11. Niall O’Brien built a solid response after Lawson removed Stephen Peters with a leg-stump yorker, finishing the day unbeaten on 76.

India have a new captain for the seven-match home ODI series against Australia, but they are “extremely unlikely” to have a new coach by then. Although the Board of Control for Cricket in India had initially hoped to appoint a coach before the series, the chances of that happening now appear slim and the appointment of a cricket manager is more likely.The BCCI advertised for the post of coach on leading cricket board websites on August 27 and set September 15 as the deadline for interested candidates to write in. Cricinfo has learnt that the BCCI has received close to 20 applications in all, both from India and abroad, for the post.However, the committee constituted to decide on the next course of action to be taken in appointing the coach may not be able to meet on September 27, the date earlier fixed for this purpose. The committee – comprising former Indian captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan, the board secretary, Niranjan Shah, the joint secretary, Mohinder Pandove and the treasurer, N Srinivasan – was constituted to pick the next coach. However, Gavaskar and Shastri are both in South Africa, commentating on the ICC World Twenty20, and are only likely to return to India on September 26 or 27.A top board source said it is already on the look-out for a cricket manager for the seven-match series. Even if the committee meets on September 27 and reviews the applications it has received, and short-lists candidates for the post, it will not be able to complete the interview process before the Australia series, which begins in Bangalore on September 29.”We will probably have to appoint someone as cricket manager for the home series against Australia,” the source said. “We are looking for likely candidates and could consider some of the Indians who have applied for the coach’s job.”The most prominent among the Indians who have applied for that job is Chandrakant Pandit, who had successful coaching stints with Mumbai, India A and Maharashtra. Recently, though, he was not released from his duty at Maharashtra, and was replaced as India A coach by Paras Mhambrey.With India enjoying considerably more success than was expected in some quarters at the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, the possibility of Lalchand Rajput – doing the job of cricket manager – getting an extension for the home series cannot be ruled out. However, there have been rumblings in some sections of the board that too many plum posts are going to former cricketers from the West Zone. With Sharad Pawar, the president, Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, and Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer, all coming from West Zone, it has been whispered that former players from Mumbai are getting more opportunities as managers and coaches than others. The BCCI is keen to show that it is not parochial in its appointments.Richard Done, Tim Boon, Kepler Wessels, Terry Oliver, Dave Nosworthy and Martin Crowe are some of the applicants for the coaching position from overseas.Done was once head of the Queensland Academy of Excellence, and took over as an ICC High Performance manager in 2004 when Bob Woolmer joined Pakistan and left the post vacant. Done recently interviewed for the job of Pakistan coach but lost out to fellow Australian Geoff Lawson.Oliver succeeded Bennett King as the Queensland coach in 2002 after King took up the West Indies job, but it appears that his candidature will be ruled out as the advertisement issued by the BCCI stipulates that candidates should have played “at least first-class cricket.” Oliver, who played club and grade cricket in Australia, never played first-class cricket.There’s also Tim Boon, the former Leicestershire batsman, who has served as assistant coach of the England team, who now coaches Leicestershire. A while ago the BCCI received an application from Boon, although Paul Maylard-Mason, the chief executive of the Leicestershire County Cricket Club, issued a statement saying Boon was not in the race for the India job. Maylard-Mason insisted that Boon was committed to Leicestershire. Sources indicate that Boon has personally indicated his genuine interest in the India job, but the Indian board will be wary given their recent experience with Graham Ford.Wessels, the former Australia and South Africa international, it is learned, reached Indian officials through a senior Indian cricketer, expressing an interest in the job. Wessels has coaching experience in England, with counties including Northamptonshire but has not coached an international team.Nosworthy, who coaches Canterbury, has in the past coached teams in South Africa, where he played first-class cricket for Border and Northern Transvaal.Crowe’s case is a curious one. His application was first forwarded to the BCCI by “a well-wisher” and Crowe said he had no idea that his CV had reached the BCCI. Later, though, he conceded he could be interested in the job under favourable circumstances.

Division One

Worcestershire held on for a nine-run victory against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge after the home side nearly turned the match on its head. Graeme Hick’s 81-ball 93 propelled Worcestershire to 225 then Kabir Ali and Doug Bollinger reduced Nottinghamshire to 46 for 5. However, David Hussey (75) and Chirs Read (59) added 118 for the sixth wicket to keep hopes alive. But Ali returned to remove Hussey and claimed two more tail-end scalps for his five-wicket haul and send Worcestershire top of the table.

Division Two

Somerset notched their first Pro40 win of the season with a 32-run success against Derbyshire at Taunton. Charl Willoughby’s three wickets blew away Derbyshire’s top order and when Ian Blackwell bowled Simon Katich (34), to break a stand of 59 with Michael Dighton, Somerset had the result under control. A solid batting display led them to 251, as Marcus Trescothick (56) and Justin Langer (59) struck rapid half-centuries on the high-scoring ground.Eoin Morgan and Jamie Dalrymple produced a well-paced chase as Middlesex won the London derby against Surrey at Lord’s. Morgan fell four short of a century, but shared a match-winning stand of 129 with Dalrymple, who completed the win with an unbeaten 54 and 10 balls to spare. Owais Shah, waiting to find out if he makes England’s one-day squads on Monday, steadied the innings with a 51-ball 50 after both openers fell early. Surrey’s innings was based around a series of useful innings – Mark Butcher top-scoring with 50 – but although the top eight all reached double figures no one went on to produce a major innings.

About a year and a half of difficult negotiations was finally settled in 15 hours of urgent talks which ended in the wee hours of yesterday morning. And West Indies cricketers finally have the chance to be covered by retainer contracts.The major announcement was made yesterday at the Carlos Street, Woodbrook office of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon by himself and West Indies Players Association (WIPA) boss Dinanath Ramnarine.Addressing the local and Caribbean media, Gordon said eight to ten players still to be named by the WICB, would be put on a one-year retainer starting from May 1 this year.He said in the interim, the 13 players selected to play against Zimbabwe in the seven-match one-day international series starting in Antigua on Saturday, would be given match/tour contracts. West Indies will be led by Brian Lara who it was also announced yesterday had been appointed as skipper for the third time.Both sides, entangled in various tense contract and sponsorship negotiations since November of 2004, heralded the agreement as a landmark one.”This is history for West Indies cricket,” Ramnarine said. “For the first time we set out a framework to deal with disputes In the past we operated in a very ad hoc way. This framework really deals with the board and the players as equal partners. So we are equally responsible for the future of West Indies cricket.”Gordon praised the negotiating teams of both sides-the WICB’s headed by Deryck Murray and which also included Desmond Haynes and Barry Thomas and the WIPA quartet of Ramnarine, David Abdullah, Kusha Harracksingh and Roland Hosein.Murray, a founding member of WIPA and currently a WICB director, also expressed his pleasure with the final outcome. “It is great that we have reached this point in West Indies cricket at this stage. It is one of the steps that we need to put in place to help our cricket to move forward.”Murray, recently appointed to conduct the final phase of the negotiations which had been started by outgoing WICB CEO Roger Brathwaite, ventured further to say: “It’s just one step and it’s almost the beginning of a new relationship between the board and the players. The agreement is relatively easy to sign But making it work to the advantage of the players, the public, all the stakeholders of West Indies cricket is extremely important and it is the beginning of the process I think it’s really the beginning of the resurgence of West Indies cricket.”Disagreement over the final terms of the retainer had threatened to disrupt the start of the Zimbabwe series, with the newly-constituted WICB Cricket Committee, headed by former captain Clive Lloyd, issuing two ultimatums for the conclusion of negotiations.According to Ramnarine, at the heart of the impasse was the matter of compensation for the players over intellectual property rights. Describing the final agreement on the Memorandum of Understanding, code of conduct, retainer contracts and match/tour contracts for non-retained players as, “fair and reasonable,” Ramnarine said that give-and-take on both sides was required.”We have recognised the financial situation of the Board. We have also taken into consideration the position of the team, the performance of the team. There are some performance-based incentives which we have agreed to.”The WIPA boss was also moved to praise his WICB counterparts. “I have to say credit to the board. I’ve criticised the Board at times, but I think that you ought to be fair. And I think the Board has negotiated in good faith. Yesterday both parties compromised and were prepared to do that and hence the reason we were actually able to reach agreement.”In particular, Ramnarine paid tribute to outgoing WICB CEO Roger Brathwaite and former president Wes Hall for the roles they had played in framing the documents and initiating the process, respectively.Neither Gordon nor Ramnarine would say what the contract package-inclusive of a lump sum and match/tour fees-would be worth. But Gordon said his board was determined to fulfill their responsibility. “We’ve had to make some assumptions. We hope those assumptions will be justified by events But we are committed to making this work.”And asked whether the retainer agreement could put an end to major disputes between the WIPA and the WICB, Ramnarine responded: “It’s a fair statement What we did not have in place prior to these agreements was a mechanism to deal with those conflicts. What we have in place is a mechanism to deal with them. There are going to be issues that we disagree on no doubt it (But) we have found a way how we deal with them We just have to deal with it with mutual respect.”

Daren Powell, the West Indian fast bowler, is expected to sign for Glamorgan and play the rest of the season in England, according to a report on the BBC website.Glamorgan have been in talks with Powell and hope the 29-year old West Indian fast bowler will be signed in time for the side’s first Natwest Pro40 match against Derbyshire on July 16. Powell is currently in England, playing for the touring West Indies.”We wanted someone playing here already and the West Indies squad was the first port of call,” said Adrian Shaw, the Glamorgan coach. “He’s slightly slower than Fidel Edwards but still bowls at around 85 miles an hour and has got a much more solid action.”He looks as though he’ll stay fit and play a lot of cricket. He’s a strong lad and a much improved bowler.”Powell has played 22 Tests for the West Indies and has played overseas for Gauteng in South Africa. He previously had a brief spell with Derbyshire in 2004.Meanwhile, Glamorgan allrounder Damien Wright has returned to Australia for an ankle surgery. The county are without the services of Simon Jones and England A seamer David Harrison, both suffering from injuries.Jones is struggling with a knee problem while a back problem has ruled out Harrison for the rest of the season. Powell would join a young attack that includes 17-year old James Harris and 20-year old Huw Waters.

Michael Lumb, the left-handed middle-order batsman, has chosen not to renew his contract with Yorkshire and is to join Hampshire in 2007.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Yorkshire,” Lumb said, “but felt the opportunity to take on a fresh challenge to reignite my desire to play at the highest level was too much to turn down. I would like to thank everyone involved with Yorkshire for the help and support they have shown me over the years and sincerely wish the club well for the future.”Lumb, 26, made his debut for Yorkshire in 2000 but has struggled with consistency and was dropped in 2005, although he did show renewed signs of his class with a career-best 144 in 2006.”We are very disappointed to lose a player of Michael’s undoubted ability and potential,” Stewart Regan, Yorkshire’s chief executive said. “Despite lengthy talks to persuade him his future was at Headingley, we fully respect his decision to leave.”

Nicky Peng will be joining Glamorgan for the start of the 2006 season, after turning down the offer of an extended contract at his native county, Durham.Peng is a product of the Durham Academy and signed as a professional in 2001. However, a loss of form in the latter half of the season has meant that he struggled to regain his first-team place.”Although we are disappointed that Nicky is leaving we understand his reasons for doing so,” said Martyn Moxon, Durham’s head coach. “We are fortunate that we have a number of young batsmen who are emerging from our development squad, which will mean even greater competition for places in 2006. We would like to wish Nicky every success at this important time in his career.”On his move, Peng said: “This was a very difficult decision to make. I am very grateful to Durham for giving me the opportunity to play first-class cricket. However, at this point I feel that I needed a new challenge and to give myself the best opportunity to play regular first-team cricket.”