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Shane Warne has been offered the chance to roll his arm over for theself-proclaimed “Harlem Globetrotters of Cricket” the Lashings club inEngland.The Kent-based club, basically a glorified social side paying good moneyto attract outstanding players, confirmed it was chasing the signaturesof Australia’s suspended leg spinner Warne and Zimbabwean runaway HenryOlonga, who is in hiding in South Africa.”I can confirm that Lashings Cricket Club has made direct approaches toboth players and we are at present awaiting responses from the agents ofOlonga and Warne,” said Lashings’ spokesman David Folb.”Our desire to sign Olonga is self-explanatory given his stance againstthe oppressive regime of his home country, Zimbabwe.”As far as Warne is concerned obviously we are aware of the delicateposition that he is in with regard to world cricket and understand theimplications of the ban that the player has received from the AustralianCricket [Board].”He will serve his ban from international cricket and this club cannever condone the misuse of drugs in any walk of life let alone cricket.However, his contribution to world cricket outweighs by some margin themore recent misdemeanour that has been committed and this is the reasonbehind our approach.”During his absence from Test and county cricket Warne would be aconsiderable asset to us not only from a playing perspective but also interms of coaching and other work within the community.”By playing for ourselves, he will still be able to retain involvementin the game while at the same time keeping himself in shape for some ofthe demanding challenges that he will face upon the cessation of hissuspension.”Warne is serving a 12-month ban for testing positive to a banneddiuretic.It remains to be seen whether Warne’s suspension will prevent him fromplaying for Lashings.Folb said feedback had been positive, not the least because Warne’sformer Australian Test and one-day team-mate Mark Waugh was due torepresent Lashings soon.Lashings – named after the English pub and the beach-bar in Antigua thatWarne and all the Australian players visit on tours of the Caribbean -have lured Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, CurtlyAmbrose, Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram into their team in the past.Meanwhile, Olonga said he would remain in hiding in South Africa becauseof threats to his safety.The fast bowler, who made World Cup protests with team-mate Andy Floweragainst human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, said he could not confirmreports that the Zimbabwean secret police were searching for him.”I don’t know what the facts are,” he told the South Africa BroadcastingCorporation.”I must be wise about my movements, about my location, you can’t ruleanything out.”I’m keeping low. It’s hearsay but they are warnings and I have takenthem seriously.”

Cricket administrators may be worried that the major rugby season in NewZealandis now stretching from late February to early November — perhapssqueezing cricketout of its traditional share of grounds that cater for the two sports.This year the national rugby championship will go into the first week ofNovember.One scenario for next winter has rugby starting with the usual Super 12from mid-or late-February, a longer mid-season period for internationalmatchesand theconsequent stretching of the NPC into mid-November.This would cause, at least at Eden Park, something of a log-jam withboth sportscompeting for playing and/or training facilities.Lindsay Crocker, the Auckland Cricket Association chief executive, isaware of theproblems — but he wants to regard them as challenges, and notnecessarily as yetanother case of big-brother rugby competing for the big prizes, andshovinglittle-brother cricket out of the way.”We feel it is our job to react to these problems, and we are,” saidCrockeryesterday.”It is probably a fact of life that rugby is making more demands on theplayingfields. That is happening at Eden Park, and at other grounds round thecountry.”We must accept that as a challenge.”In fact, when these problems have risen at Eden Park before crickethas been thebody that suggested the possible solutions. We have been the dynamic,the majorimpetus.”Crocker said that cricket had led the way to developing the portablepitch, and wastaking a leading part in the possible re-development of the Eden Parkouter oval tomake it suitable for international cricket.The main action would be to shift the southern boundary ( and with itthegrandstand and indoor school ) back into the car-park to give a longerstraightboundary. More spectator seating and amenities would also be required.The eventual follow-on to that would be to have test matches on theouter oval andone-day internationals on the main field.”We are working through the Eden Park board of control in thisdirection,” saidCrocker.”We regard the matter as being urgent, we would like to think we shouldbe close tothe target in a couple of years, but we still have to find out whetherthe up-gradingof the outer oval is physically and financially practicable.”In the meantime, the ACA is ear-marking grounds for possible use duringthe YouthWorld Cup tournament to be held in New Zealand in January-February.One new ground which could come into service for that World Cup event istheexpansive field at the North Harbour stadium, which will be used by theACA nextsummer.The pitch has been laid, sand-slit drains installed (regarded as betterthan those onEden Park No 1) and the North Harbour field may soon join Eden Park,CornwallPark and University Park, as the big-match centres in Auckland.These should serve Auckland well until rugby takes the ultimate step,cancelssummer and turns its sport into a 12-month enterprise.

The Athletic’s Crystal Palace correspondent Matt Woosnam has been reacting to details regarding the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea next month.

The Lowdown: Palace’s road to Wembley

The Eagles booked their place in the last four of the competition with an impressive 4-0 win over Everton prior to the international break.

Patrick Vieira’s side have also defeated Millwall, Hartlepool United and Stoke City en route to Wembley, avoiding Liverpool and Manchester City in the semi-final draw.

Palace still have two Premier League fixtures to fulfil before thinking about the meeting with Thomas Tuchel’s side, with full details of the semi-final now confirmed, as per the Eagles’ official website.

The Latest: Semi-final details

Woosnam took to Twitter on Friday morning, relaying the date and kick-off information for supporters.

Palace will take on Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday 17 April at 16:30, with Woosnam labelling the kick-off time as ‘appalling’ for Easter Sunday.

The Verdict: Not ideal

It would make sense for the game to commence earlier due to travel on what will be a busy day, but that won’t be the case for Palace fans making they way across Londin.

Liverpool and Manchester City meet on Saturday 16 April in a 15:30 kick-off, with both clubs also unhappy about having to play the semi-final in the capital due to travel restrictions from the north-west.

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Hopefully, no Palace fans wanting to go to the game will miss out, with season ticket holders set to get first choice when tickets go on sale.

In other news: Another Palace star now wanted by Eddie Howe this summer; has same agent as 6 Newcastle players

A ninth wicket partnership of 82 runs between Avinash Yadav (60 notout) and Praveen Gupta (44) helped Uttar Pradesh to gain the firstinnings lead on the second day of their four day Vijay Merchant Trophy(under-16) final against Delhi at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta onSunday.Resuming at 42 for two in reply to Delhi’s 155, UP lost wickets atregular intervals. Aris Alam batted doggedly for 226 minutes and faced180 balls in compiling 39. He hit seven fours. Taheer Abbas, who hadretired hurt on Saturday, resumed at the fall of the first wicket onSunday but was out for 33. The middle order offered little resistanceas Kuldeep Rawat and Abhinav Bali got among the wickets. At 127 foreight, UP were still some distance away from the Delhi total.However, Yadav and Gupta put up some stout hearted defence and alsokept the score moving. Even the second new ball, taken after 90 overswith the score at 143 for eight, did not disturb their composure. Thepair took the score to 209 before Gupta was out to Niraj Sharma. Hefaced 102 balls and hit eight fours. The partnership lasted 31.5overs. Last man Devendra Singh then helped Yadav add a further 28 runsoff 17 overs before he was out for ten. Yadav remained unbeaten withan invaluable 60. He faced 163 balls and hit eight fours. The bowlinghonours were shared by Kuldeep Rawat (4 for 48) and Abhinav Bali (3for 45). Delhi, facing a deficit of 82 runs will start their secondinnings on Monday.

Glenn McGrath has not played cricket since the World Cup in April, but he has now started training for next year’s Indian Premier League © Getty Images

Glenn McGrath has started some light training for his stint playing Twenty20 matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year. However, McGrath said he did not want the shortest form of the game to eat away at the Test and ODI schedules in world cricket.”Hopefully there is room for all three forms of the game but we’ll wait and see,” McGrath told . “I think in India anything to do with cricket is going to be successful. The effect it will have on Test cricket or one-day cricket, hopefully it won’t be negative.”It has got the potential in the same way one-day cricket has been to Test cricket, run-rates are a lot higher. But I guess it also has the potential if it gets too big and starts going to markets like the US and Europe and other places, I would hate to see it take the spot of Test cricket and one-day cricket.”McGrath was pleased to be able to play a role in developing cricket’s following and he was looking forward to playing with or against other international stars in the IPL. “To have players like myself and Shane Warne and Stephen Fleming, it’s more of an ambassador role to give it a bit more credibility,” he said.”People coming to watch the game are probably not your mainstream cricket fans so it’s bringing more people to the game which is great.” McGrath, Warne and Fleming will be part of a pool of players who can be signed up by privately-owned franchise teams in the IPL, which is scheduled to have its first tournament in April next year.

Trevor Jesty brings out a box of balls after the on-field umpires called for change© Getty Images

The fourth and final Test took an unsavoury and controversial twist midway through the afternoon session, as the umpires changed the ball after becoming unhappy about how its condition had altered. At the end of the 56th over, bowled by Danish Kaneria, Darrell Hair went over to Billy Doctrove and was seen pointing at the quarter seam. The fourth umpire, Trevor Jesty, then brought out a box of balls and the England batsmen, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, were allowed to choose the next one to be used, in accordance with the Laws.Law 42.3 states that in “the event of any fielder changing the condition of the ball unfairly … the umpires shall award five penalty runs to the batting side.” The Law explains that it is “unfair for anyone to rub the ball on the ground for any reason, interfere with any of the seams on the surface of the ball, use any implement, or take any other action whatsoever which is likely to alter the condition of the ball.”The only exceptions to this rule are polishing the ball, removing mud from it and drying a wet ball on a towel. Playing regulation 42.1.2 (b) for this series also says: “In the event that a ball has been interfered with and requires replacement the batsman at the wicket shall choose the replacement ball from a selection of six other balls of various degrees of usage (including a new ball) and of the same brand as in use prior to the contravention.”To confirm that this had been the umpires’ decision to change the ball five runs were added to England’s total, which umpire Hair signalled by patting his right hand to his left shoulder. Soon afterwards, Bob Woolmer was seen marching towards the match referee’s office before returning to the dressing room where he talked to Waqar Younis.Inzamam-ul-Haq appeared visibly incensed during the ball change and though it isn’t clear what was said, Umar Gul was withdrawn from the attack thereafter. The incident caught the commentary team by surprise as well and Rameez Raja, the Pakistan expert on the team, sounded clearly upset. Others, including Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton stressed the hope that the umpires had actually spotted someone in the act of tampering with the ball rather than presuming that marks on the ball indicated that it must have been tampered with. There is no TV footage of anything untoward being done to ball.This isn’t, of course, the first time a ball tampering controversy has disrupted cricket contests between the two countries. Pakistan’s victorious tour in 1992 was blighted by a stream of accusations and inferences that they tampered the ball to obtain the reverse swing which ultimately helped them clinch the series.Before these intriguing moments, Pakistan had struck a third blow when Gul trapped Alastair Cook lbw, breaking an impressive third-wicket stand of 103 with Pietersen. Cook had played with more assurance after lunch while Pietersen had continued with his ultra-aggressive intent. However, the ball was starting to reverse swing and Cook was beaten by an excellent delivery. But that was just the start of the drama.

Brad Williams, the Australian fast bowler from Western Australia, has joined Durham as a replace for Mick Lewis for the remainder of the season. Williams, 30, has played four Tests and 25 ODIs for Australia and his career-best first-class figures are 7 for 64.Martyn Moxon, the Durham coach, said: “It’s great that we have been able to secure someone of Brad’s talent and experience to join the Club at this stage of the season.”The closing weeks will be hugely important for us, especially as the fight for promotion to the first division is remarkably close and with just six National League matches left we’ve got everything to play for. Brad’s international experience will undoubtedly contribute to the continued development of the younger members of the squad.”Durham are top of the Second Division of the County Championship as they chase promotion to the top flight. Williams is the third Australia fast bowler to play for Durham this summer after Lewis and Ashley Noffke.

Tamil Nadu 481 and 306 (Ramesh 97) drew with Railways 342 and 117 for 5 and progressed to the Ranji trophy final
Scorecard
At Chennai, Sadagoppan Ramesh made up for his first-innings failure with a steady 97, as Tamil Nadu cruised into the final of the Ranji Trophy. No result was possible in their semi-final against Railways, so Tamil Nadu’s first-innings lead took them through. Having gained a 139-run lead, Tamil Nadu didn’t try to force the issue. Sridharan Sriram (38) and Dinesh Karthik (48) chipped in with useful knocks as Ramesh steered the ship to complete safety. Kulamani Parida, the offspinner, and medium-pacer Jai Prakash Yadav snapped up four wickets apiece, and Tamil Nadu finally finished with 306. A target of 446 was never on the cards, and Railways were reduced to 15 for 4 within the first eight overs. However, Raja Ali and Siddharth Varma held on and the match petered out to a tame draw. In the first innings, Sriram and Karthik had starred in a 211-run stand that put Tamil Nadu on course to a huge total. Railways fell short by a long way, despite Yadav’s fighting 116. Tamil Nadu, for the second year in succession, will take on Mumbai in the final and will be out to avenge their loss at the Wankhede Stadium last year. The final will be played at Chennai from March 26.Madhya Pradesh 258 and 315 for 5 (Abbas Ali 90*, Ojha 54) beat Orissa 318 and 253 by five wickets
Scorecard
Madhya Pradesh chased down a target of 314 on the final day at Cuttack and got the better of Orissa in an absorbing contest. They began the day at 84 for 2, and all the batsmen played their part. However, Syed Abbas Ali clinched the issue with a crucial 90 off just 75 balls, and MP cruised home with five wickets to spare. Ali smashed eight fours and four sixes in his fiery knock. The pendulum had swung each day, with Pravanjan Mullick and Sanjay Raul the star turns for Orissa. Yogesh Golwalkar, the legspinner, led MP’s fightback in the first innings with 6 for 95, then Ali shut Orissa out completely with his timely innings on the final day.Maharashtra 592 and 11 for 0 beat Haryana 236 and 364 (Adhav 5-125) by 10 wickets
Scorecard
Maharashtra romped into the Plate Group final with a comprehensive ten-wicket win over Haryana at Pune. Kiran Adhav, the left-arm spinner, finished with a five-wicket haul as Haryana managed 364 in their second innings. That left Maharashtra a target of only nine runs, which the openers duly knocked off. The victory, though, was made possible on the second and third days as Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Deeraj Jhadav and Satyajit Satbhai amassed hundreds and helped Maharashtra pile up a massive 592. Shafiq Khan’s 114 in the first innings was the standout effort for Haryana, but it wasn’t enough in the face of such a daunting total. Maharashtra will face Madhya Pradesh in the final of the Plate Group. And both teams, by virtue of their semi-final wins, will now play in the Elite Group next season.

The following are the arrangements for the South African ICC CWC squad from17th to 23rd FebruaryMon 17th Feb: No practice.Tue 18th Feb: No practice. Media access upon request through media managers.Wed 19th Feb: Travel to Bloemfontein.
Development clinic Grey College.
2pm-4pm. Media InvitedThu 20th Feb: Practice at Goodyear Park from 9am. A player may be available to media after practice.Fri 21st Feb: Media Conference at Holiday Inn Garden Court Bloemfontein 9am.
Practice at Goodyear Park from 10am. Session closed to all media.Sat 22nd Feb: South Africa vs Bangladesh, Goodyear Park 10am.
Post match media conference.Sun 23rd Feb: Squad to go to respective homes.

ICC Trophy tournament newcomer Uganda has delivered the shock result on day two of warm-up action here in Toronto. The Division Two team, ranked second-last in the official seedings for this event, confounded all expectations with an exciting 31-run win over highly fancied Ireland at the Eglinton Flats West ground.For most of the morning, though, the Africans – who have formed a team in their own right this year after previous experience as part of the East and Central Africa combined side – had looked to be struggling. In the face of typically accurate pace bowling from Mark Patterson (4/23), Paul Mooney (3/28) and Adrian McCoubrey (1/20), they crashed to a dismal 5/37 at one point. In the end, it was effectively only spirited lower order resistance from Frank Nsubuga (37) and Richard Mwami (23) which saw them reach a total of 144. A stubborn last wicket partnership of 17 between Tendo Mbazzi (14*) and Richard Okia (3) was also crucial.Notwithstanding the stabilising effect of a plucky innings from Desmond Curry (22) in its middle stages, Ireland’s chase never progressed smoothly. Intelligent bowling from the Ugandans – especially a brilliantly economical Mbazzi (2/16) and J Kwebiha (3/19) – frustrated their normally unflappable opponents into error. The Irish also made a strong contribution to their demise with disappointing running between the wickets; the loss of three of their top seven batsmen to run outs indicative.Following a disappointing exhibition with the bat yesterday, Fiji swung its order around to useful effect in its 20-run victory over Germany at the adjoining field at Eglinton. Taione Batina (43) and Iniasi Cakacaka (30) constructed an excellent partnership of 64 runs for the fourth wicket while all-rounder Neil Maxwell (19*) swung the bat lustily, even causing a five-minute hold-up for a lost ball at one stage from his lower-than-normal station of number nine. Germany’s bowling was persistent; leg spinner Jakob Bumke (2/31) and lightly-built medium pacer Badar Munir (2/17) particularly impressive during the closing stages of the innings.For a time, middle order batsmen Younis Khan (30) and Gerrit Mueller (26) raised hopes of a second upset in the space of the one sunny afternoon at tree-lined Eglinton. But superb bowling from Johnny Hussain (3/20) quickly caused the innings to unravel.Namibian opener Riaan Walters (72) continued his impressive personal lead-up form with the key innings in his team’s five wicket win over Malaysia at King City. After electing to bat first, the Malaysians were restricted to a modest 8/153, only Mohammed Yazid Imran (35) and Marimuthu Muniandy (29) truly coming to terms with the conditions. Backing up fine form from twenty-four hours earlier, Bjorn Kotze (3/41) and Lennie Louw (2/16) again bowled brilliantly, and excellent support came from Rudi Scholtz (3/28) with the new ball.Inspired by Walters, the Namibians’ victory then arrived with more than ten overs to spare. Albeit that two wickets from Chew Pok Cheong (2/31) and tidy spells from Yazid Imran (1/15) and S Vickneswaran (1/20) ensured that it never became a totally one-sided stroll in the King City park.Pre-tournament favourite Scotland rounded out the day with a convincing 133-run win over Papua New Guinea at Kitchener. Greig Williamson (58) was the chief contributor to the Scots’ total of 202, but only three players failed to reach double figures in an even overall performance.Aukoma Nova (23) and Rarva Dikana (18*) fought valiantly amid the reply, but the Papua New Guineans were never really a match for their opponents. This was confirmed in emphatic style by the pace bowling of John Blain (4/17), whose return of four wickets in the space of just four overs scuttled all prospects of a close finish. Asim Butt (2/25) and David Cox (1/10) also bowled well.The on-field action pauses tomorrow to make way for the tournament’s opening ceremony. Play in the tournament itself then begins on Thursday, with the match between Scotland and Fiji shaping as the most appealing fixture among the six scheduled.