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Jim Hilton, who played for Lancashire and Somerset in the 1950s, had died at the age of 77.Hilton, whose older brother Malcolm played for England, began his career at Old Trafford where he made eight appearances as a lower-middle order batsman even though he had been used as an allrounder in his many Second XI outings. Unable to break into the first team, he moved to Taunton in 1954 where he immediately secured a regular place, but the return of Brain Langford from National Service once again meant he was relegated to the sidelines. Although he played regularly in 1957, he quit at the end of the summer. Over four seasons he took 133 wickets at 26.48 for Somerset, with a best of 7 for 98 against Warwickshire.He then had spells as a professional at Scottish club Kelburne, Fleetwood, in the Northern League before finishing at Werneth. He subsequently coached and held an MCC advanced coaching qualification, and for three years was president of the Lancashire ex-players’ association. In his retirement he ran a pub. He was also a good footballer and had trials for Torquay United and Accrington Stanley.In 79 first-class matches Hilton took 134 wickets at 27.93 and scored 1093 runs at 10.93.

Anil Kumble, the Indian captain, is expected to be back on the field on Saturday morning after missing part of Friday’s play with a finger injury. Kumble was taken to hospital, where the deep cut on his left little finger will be treated – sources say it will need stitches, under local anaesthesia – sometime on Friday evening.The incident occurred during the second session of the third day. Fielding at short midwicket, Kumble hurled himself to his right for a difficult chance off Matthew Hayden but the ball grazed his finger. He was attended to by the physio and left the field, and later taken to hospital.Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over the captaincy for the rest of the day.The injury is another blow in a forgettable series for Kumble, who is yet to pick up a wicket in the two Tests he’s played, having missed the second Test in Mohali with a shoulder injury. He bowled 17 overs and conceded 53 runs at the Kotla before leaving the field.

Four Ireland players and three from Namibia have been chosen in an ICC Intercontinental Cup team of the tournament, ahead of the final between the two teams on Thursday.In addition, there are two players from Kenya and one each from Canada, the UAE and Bermuda. Only Scotland and the Netherlands are not represented in the team.”There have been some wonderful performances in the 2007-08 event and a remarkable number of close games,” said Richard Done, the ICC’s high performance manager. “It was also testament to the competitive nature of the tournament that we did not know who both finalists would be until the last day of the last match, between Kenya and Ireland at Nairobi Gymkhana earlier this month.”During the tournament, the members of the selection panel between them saw all the teams in action and all are hugely knowledgeable about Associate cricket, particularly the top sides.”It made for some interesting discussions in debating the make-up of the team and I think the time and thought that went into that process has yielded 12 guys who have all performed outstandingly well for their teams in the 2007-08 edition of the tournament.” Done said.”The idea of the ICC Intercontinental Cup is to give players from Associate teams the opportunity to play more of the longer form of the game and the four-day format has been very successful. I have noticed a lot of improvement in performances since this tournament was introduced in 2004.”Batsmen are demonstrating better concentration and technique, bowlers are showing more patience and the fielding is also improving. It’s really encouraging as we continue to close the gap between the Test sides and the top Associates.”Although this team won’t actually play any matches, I am pretty confident it could hold its own at a high level. This is a fine group of players named here.”

The ECB has rejected the MCC’s proposal to use high visibility pink balls in domestic limited-overs games in 2009. The MCC had suggested using pink balls as an alternative for white ones, which often get discoloured and can be difficult to spot in day-night matches.The MCC believes pink balls will be easier to spot for players and spectators, and have been conducting trials, most recently in the national club Twenty20 finals under lights at Cardiff two weeks ago. “We thought the pink balls worked”, the MCC’s head of cricket John Stephenson told the , “but the view of the ECB cricket committee was that they were little better than the white balls we use at the moment.”The decision was that pink balls didn’t add anything visually although they were something different.” The ECB, meanwhile, is considering experimenting with fluorescent yellow balls, similar to the colour used on tennis balls, in non-county games next season.However, the MCC are hopeful their proposal to use pink balls will be received favourably by other parties. “The IPL are quite interested in using pink balls and I am waiting to hear back from them”, Stephenson said. “I have also been in contact with Clare Connor, the ECB’s head of women’s cricket, and the ICC about the possibility of using pink balls in the women’s World Cup next year, so that’s another possibility.”We will continue to use pink balls because we believe that they retain their colour longer than white balls,” he said. “If we are going to play day-night Test cricket in the future then we are going to have to find a solution.”

Scorecard

Back in May, when Nottinghamshire led the County Championship table after winning two of their first four matches, Chris Read was asked if he thought he had a team equipped to stay there. It was an unfair question to put to the rookie captain of a team just promoted, not least one with new players occupying three of its top five batting slots and two front-line bowlers likely to be unavailable for much of the summer, and while he was not about to demolish dressing room confidence by writing off their chances, he clearly had his doubts.So if Nottinghamshire do miss out on the big prize – and it looks odds-on now that they will – he might reflect in time that it probably was a task beyond them. Right now, however, it will be pretty hard to take.Midway through the afternoon session on day two, you may remember, Nottinghamshire, having bowled out Hampshire for 203, were cruising at 173 for 3 in reply. Having taken an eight-point lead into the last round of matches, it was a pleasantly comfortable place to occupy.Since then, it has all gone horribly wrong. Bowled out for 211 after losing seven wickets for 39, they have been unable to contain Hampshire’s second innings let alone take ten wickets. Day three began squarely to the visitors, who turned an overnight 102 for 1 into 376 for 5.The title has not yet eluded Nottinghamshire, whose simple requirement to win the game has not changed, regardless of what looks a certain victory for Durham over Kent at Canterbury. To do so, however, Read’s batsmen will have to pull off an extraordinary feat.Even were Hampshire to declare overnight – or lose their last five wickets without adding a run – Nottinghamshire would need to score 369 at close to four an over, some 119 more than their manager, Mick Newell, considered to be a gettable last-innings target, and with Imran Tahir, Hampshire’s prolific legspinner, itching to finish the season with another clutch of wickets to go with the 40 he has already, in the last six and a half Championship matches.It will not have helped Read to have three dropped catches playing on his mind, fate having cruelly chosen this day of all days to play havoc with his normally reliable glovework.The first of them, letting off Chris Benham on 5, was not easy, a ball from Charlie Shreck swinging away after clipping the edge to fall just out of reach of his right glove. But the chances offered by Nic Pothas on 39 off Samit Patel and Liam Dawson on 19 off Graeme Swann were, by Read’s standards, bread and butter.They weren’t cheap misses, either. Benham went on to reach 66 before Patel, the left-arm spinner, found just enough turn to dart one back to clip his off stump, while Dawson (48) and Pothas (104) have yet to be dislodged.Moreover, Read’s own skills were not the only weapon to desert him at the critical moment. Darren Pattinson, whose 47 wickets have been a major factor in making Nottinghamshire contenders, was able to bowl only six overs all day, Newell admitting that the former roofer turned sometime England bowler is exhausted. In the circumstances, Nottinghamshire supporters were questioning the point of having Stuart Broad on the club’s books, given that even the most critical match of his county’s season is not deemed important enough to interrupt his pre-England tour rest period.It left Charlie Shreck, Andre Adams, Patel, Swann and Mark Ealham to share most of the burden of bowling and with little success. Adams struck early to remove Michael Lumb leg-before, Swann turned one into Michael Brown’s pads to deny the opener what would have been an accomplished hundred, Ealham had Sean Ervine taken by Will Jefferson at slip and Patel accounted for Benham — but that was it.Not that it was all down to Nottinghamshire collectively running out of ideas on a slow and so-far fairly unresponsive pitch. Hampshire did bat commendably well, not least Pothas, whose 11th boundary, driven firmly through the covers off Patel, completed his 23rd first-class hundred off 176 balls.

The problems facing Zimbabwe Cricket as it struggles to retain players was highlighted with the announcement of a 44-man list of contracted players. The most notable absence was that of Brendan Taylor, the hero of the World Twenty20 win over Australia a year ago.Confusion surrounds the decision. Trevor Mutangadura, the board’s general manger, told the Standard that his omission was because he “left for England without signing a contract with ZC”.However, this contradicts what Cricinfo was told in June. In response to an article suggesting that Taylor was on the verge of walking out, the board sent a terse email stating that the report presented ZC as “an overbearing organisation that is unreasonably denying Taylor leave to play overseas … nothing can be further from the truth.”It continued: “At the end of the season, the players are allowed to play in whichever country they accept an offer from, since ZC stands to benefit if the players remain exposed to a high level of play. We remain supportive of all our players and said as much in our letter of May 7 to Taylor, part of the last paragraph of which reads: ‘We would therefore encourage you to complete your obligations as per the dates outlined and we remain supportive of whatever direction you so decide your career to take’.”The reasons also make little sense as sources state that Elton Chigumbura, Blessing Mahwire and Ed Rainsford are also in the UK and have not signed new contracts but are named in the list.The confusion extended to new national coach Walter Chawaguta who told the Sunday News that he wasn’t sure what the situation was with Taylor.However, a ZC source told Cricinfo that there was a contract waiting for Taylor and that “he can come anytime and walk into the team”.There are suspicions that the public exclusion of Taylor is evidence that the hard-liners within the board who were behind the removal of Robin Brown, Chawaguta’s predecessor, are flexing their muscles regarding team selection. It is believed that Brown clashed with them regarding the number of black players in the side, and the expectation is that Chawaguta will be far more amenable to their suggestions.Zimbabwe contracted players Prosper Utseya (capt), Tatenda Taibu, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Hamilton Masakadza, Vusimusi Sibanda, Tawanda Mupariwa, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Keith Dabengwa, Raymond Price, Christopher Mpofu, Elton Chigumbura, Sean Williams, Edward Rainsford, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Timycen Maruma, Graeme Creamer, Taurai Muzarabani, Johnson Marumisa, Regis Chakabva, Friday Kasteni, Blessing Mahwire, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Alestair Maregwede, Eric Chauluka, Trevor Garwe, Admire Manyumwa, Steady Musoso, Alois Tichana, Patient Charumbira, Prosper Tsvanhu, Silent Mujaji, Philimoen Kadzitye, Samuel Mwakayeni, Forster Mutizwa, Mbekezili Mabuza, Bonaparte Mujuru, Michael Chinouya, Bothwell Chapungu, Tinashe Hove, Tendai Chisoro, Remembrance Nyathi, Stephen Nyamuzinga, Cephas Zhuwao, Bernard Mlambo.

Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach, has been recruited by the ICC to try and ensure that the best players turn up for the Champions Trophy, to be held in September in Lahore and Karachi.Lawson, who has been a consistent advocate for international teams coming to play in the country, left Pakistan for Australia in the early hours of this morning. He will also visit New Zealand and will be gone for approximately 12 days, addressing the nations’ concerns as part of an ICC task force.”The ICC made the request about ten days ago,” Mansoor Suhail, a PCB spokesman, told . “He has been living here and he is Australian so it is a good thing. He will go meet players and tell them what it is like here.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said later that the Lawson move had been a spontaneous one. “Geoff Lawson offered to join us,” he said. “He lives in Lahore so he has a better sense of what is transpiring in Pakistan. He has decided to join us and go and talk to those players, member boards and convey his confidence to those people. It wasn’t an invitation from the task force. It was just some people discussing it personally and thought it might be worthwhile him going.”The trip is to be funded by the ICC’s task force, which has been in Pakistan assessing venues and security arrangements ahead of the tournament. “It is a very logical thing to do,” Suhail said. “They are funding the trip and hopefully it will assuage the concerns of leading players and convince them to come here.”Lorgat said on Monday that the task force would visit Australia, New Zealand and England in an attempt to convince the players to tour Pakistan. One group, which will be led by the ICC’s David Richardson, will meet with Cricket Australia on Friday, with Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke representing the team.Creagh O’Connor, the Cricket Australia chairman, James Sutherland, the chief executive, and Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, will also be part of the proceedings. New Zealand officials will be visited on Thursday while another ICC group, headed by Lorgat, will go to England, where South Africa are playing, early next week.The task force has taken considerable input from Lawson as well as David Dwyer, the team trainer and another Australian, during their time in Lahore. Lawson had recently expressed delight over the “positive voices” coming from Australia and New Zealand, after umpire Simon Taufel said he was willing to tour and Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, made remarks supportive of playing in Pakistan.Following the ICC board’s decision last month to go ahead with the tournament in Pakistan, players’ associations in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa had raised concerns over the security situation, even warning of a possible boycott. Similar doubts were echoed by the international captains Graeme Smith, Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting.

Shoaib Malik has pulled out of Pakistan’s critical encounter with India in the Asia Cup after failing to recover from dehydration. Speculation had surrounded Malik’s place in the side yesterday, after he failed to turn up for practice because he was receiving treatment. He eventually arrived, drip on his arm, had a discussion with selectors and announced himself fit to play. In a surprising move, the selectors then publicly announced the playing XI a day before the game, choosing to name Malik in the side.With Malik pulling out, though, Misbah-ul-Haq, the vice-captain who was not even in the team this time last year, will now take over as captain, while Nasir Jamshed will take his place in the side as opener.Malik suffered initially from dehydration following his hundred against India, but he played in Pakistan’s next match against Sri Lanka, scoring a fifty but taking 30 overs to do it. But there has been little improvement in his condition, despite a few days’ rest. He took a fitness test at the National Stadium just before the toss, but was visibly suffering.”I am ready for the captaincy,” Misbah told reporters yesterday, at which point Malik’s place was unclear. “When you are vice-captain you always are ready for nearly everything, so I am ready for it. I will take along the team with me and win the match.”Pakistan have also called up Saeed Ajmal, the offspinner, for his debut as well as giving Abdur Rauf his second ODI.

Rajiv Shukla, the vice-president of the Indian board, has responded to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s complaint about having to play back-to-back matches in the Asia Cup by saying that the players were aware of the tournament’s schedule and that they could have opted out if they needed rest.”If a player wants rest, he can inform the board and we’ll be happy to send replacements,” Shukla said. “The schedule of Asia Cup was known well in advance.”Shukla cited the case of Sachin Tendulkar to make his point. “Sachin had informed us well in advance and hence he was not picked.” Tendulkar was not selected for the tri-series in Bangladesh as well as the Asia Cup after failing to recover from a groin injury.The Asian Cricket Council, which organised the tournament, also said that the schedule was known in advance. “After the schedule was finalised, six weeks before the tournament, we had sent the programme to all the concerned boards including India to give us their approval,” Ashraful Haque, the ACC chief executive, told PTI.”The schedule was approved by all the boards, so I don’t see any reason of complaining. Tight schedules are part of international cricket now.”Dhoni, after India’s seven-wicket win over Bangladesh yesterday, had said: “Back-to-back games make it really tough for the players. I am not really happy with the schedule: two teams are playing back-to-back games, and two teams are not.”Under these conditions it is really tough, you are playing cricket throughout the year, and then you play back-to-back matches. You could make out from the start that the intensity was not there.” India had played two matches in as many days against Hong Kong and Pakistan with a one-day break before their match against Bangladesh.Meanwhile, the Indian team spent the day cooling off at a resort 30 kilometres away from Karachi. “We had decided there would be no cricket talk today,” Aravind Ganguly, the manager of the Indian team, told PTI. “There was no cricket in our minds as we decided to relax completely.”However, the team will be back in the grind tomorrow. “From tomorrow it will be back to business and preparing for the rest of the tournament.” India now have two more days to prepare for back-to-back matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka on July 2 and 3.

Dave Richardson, the ICC’s acting chief executive, is satisfied with the security situation in Pakistan “at this time” and has said the ICC is “comfortable” with Pakistan hosting the Champions Trophy in September.”The security situation anywhere in the world is very fluid, it can change from time to time,” Richardson said ahead of the Champions Trophy’s launch ceremony in Lahore. “At this time we are comfortable with the decision that Pakistan has the ability to host the event and the fact is that we are proceeding with the arrangements.”Richardson, ICC president Ray Mali and other ICC officials are currently in Pakistan and besides inspecting the three Champions Trophy venues – Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi – they will be meeting officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the government.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) had recently expressed reservations on the ICC’s decision to host the event in Pakistan. “There may be some players, organisations and member countries who might express some (security) concerns from time to time,” Richardson said. “But what must be remembered is that safety and security of players, teams, officials and spectators is always the concern of the ICC.”We will be monitoring the (security) situation on a daily basis from now on until the conclusion of the event and those parties who have concerns about the situation would be apprised,” he said.The ICC’s executive board will be meeting in Dubai later this month and Richardson said the Full Member countries will discuss the security situation in Pakistan. “The board will make a decision as to the staging of the event because the Champions Trophy is one of the most important events in cricket calendar and it pits the best against the best.”In March this year, Australia postponed their tour of Pakistan due to security fears which forced the PCB to invite Bangladesh for a five-match one-day series. Sri Lanka is the alternative venue in case the event has to be shifted from Pakistan.Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, was also present at the launch and said the competition would be the first major ICC tournament in Pakistan since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. “The Champions Trophy is very important for cricket in Pakistan, not only we are expecting high quality cricket, it will be the first major event after a long, long time.”Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the PCB, said the tournament provides the chance for Pakistan to show its passion for cricket. “This tournament will also play a vital role in contributing to Pakistan’s development programme which is already finding its feet.”The Champions Trophy is slated to begin on September 11and features the top eight teams in the ICC one-day rankings.