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Ottis Gibson will fill in for Donald as England’s bowling coach in Sri Lanka. He leaves on Tuesday.England have asked Allan Donald to make his short-term role as bowling coach a permanent one but Warwickshire have also asked him to join as a coach, while he has committed himself to provide commentary in South Africa at the same time England are touring Sri Lanka.Gibson would be a forerunner for the permanent role should Donald opt for Warwickshire. Gibson, however, has said he would love to work with West Indies.While the England role is obviously higher profile, Donald would be away from his family more than if he returned to Edgbaston, where he enjoyed much success as a player.It is believed Donald is discussing both coaching roles while in South Africa during England’s failed Twenty20 campaign. The team will fly straight to Sri Lanka on September 22.

Paul Nixon, the 37-year-old former England wicketkeeper, has signed for the Indian Cricket League.”This is an exciting opportunity to end what has been a remarkably eventful year for me,” Nixon said. “I would never have imagined 12 months ago that I would get the opportunity to go on two England tours, and I always saw that as a bonus and a tremendous honour to play for my country.”Nixon was selected by England for the one-day series in Australia following the Ashes, and also for the World Cup. But, at 37, he realizes his chances of further international recognition are probably over.”I now have two big goals to look forward to in my career, playing in this Twenty20 league and the captaincy of Leicestershire,” he said. “This is perfect timing because India is the Mecca of cricket and interest in the Twenty20 game is extremely high due to the success of the national team in becoming world champions.”The league, which begins on November 30, features the likes of Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Stuart Law overshadowed another dismal batting display by Nasser Hussain as Essex took control of their County Championship Division One match at Kidderminster against Worcestershire.The Australian right-hander struck a superb 189 after the England captain, struggling for form this season, made just 10.Essex finished the day on 461 for 9 from 114 overs in reply to Worcestershire’s 302.Hussain, nine not out overnight, added just a single to fine leg before he pushed forward to a Kabir Ali delivery which he edged to wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes.With Hussain’s departure came the arrival of the rampant Law. He and Paul Prichard, who was 10 not out overnight, added a solid partnership of 166 in 37 overs.The partnership was ended when 19 year-old paceman Kabir tempted Prichard into playing a loose drive, the batsman being caught at backward point by David Leatherdale.Prichard, who dislocated his left thumb while fielding a shot from Worcestershire centurion Paul Pollard, made 74 from 171 balls (nine fours, two sixes).Despite the departure of Prichard and Ronnie Irani, who was removed by paceman Stuart Lampitt for 14, Law continued in to his fourth championship hundred of the season, the 100 coming from 136 deliveries with 17 fours.It was his 25th first-class hundred for Essex and the 47th of his career. It was also his second ton of the season against Worcestershire, having smashed 133 not out against them at Chelmsford last month.Law did inject a few scares into the Essex camp before reaching his ton. A couple of shots wentclose to Graeme Hick in the slips.Nevertheless, once into three figures he continued to hog centre stage.In tandem with Stephen Peters (67), Law added 185 in 41 overs – an Essex fifth-wicket record against Worcestershire. Peters eventually played on to left-armer seamer Alamgir Sheriyar after having made his best score of the season.Sheriyar made it two in the over by bringing Law’s magnificent innings to an end, with the assistance of an excellent one-handed catch by Vikram Solanki low down at cover. Law’s 189 included 30 fours off 243 deliveries in 338 minutes.After that Essex steadily began to subside, but 76 extras helped their account nicely.Kabir Ali, with 4/114, was Worcestershire’s best bowler.

Ian Butler’s meteoric rise into the stratosphere of international cricket continued apace today with his inclusion in New Zealand’s team for the first National Bank Test against England starting in Christchurch next Wednesday.The Northern Districts fast bowler has been included because he has “something special”, according to selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee.He said it was only natural that at 20 years of age that he was inexperienced.”But you can only gain experience by playing,” he said.And while Butler had bowled only nine expensive overs during the recent Test series, he would be a different prospect in the Test match.”He has a very good attitude and he is something a little special,” Hadlee said.The team is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Ian Butler, Chris Cairns, Chris Drum, Matt Horne, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Mark Richardson, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.A significant factor in Butler’s advance was his performance for ND against Wellington under the eye of CLEAR Black Caps skipper Fleming, who bore the pain of one ball that hit him on the hip causing him to require x-rays to see if there was any damage.Fleming’s say had been significant in the selection of the side.Hadlee said: “The selectors asked Stephen Fleming to appraise Butler when he faced him in the last State Championship match. Fleming reported that Butler bowled fast and was difficult to deal with and this confirmed the selectors’ view that Butler should be given an opportunity at Test level.””His input is valuable in our final assessments,” Hadlee said of Fleming’s involvement. Field setting in Tests would also make Butler a different prospect.Butler’s inclusion has meant his ND team-mate Daryl Tuffey has missed inclusion in the side.Tuffey had done very well for the one-day side but the selectors wanted to inject a little more pace and firepower, especially in the absence of Shane Bond, Hadlee said.Cairns has told the panel that he would like to take the new ball in the Tests and Hadlee said he could see him fulfilling that role, although at the same time he said he didn’t expect Butler would be bowling into the wind.Drum will return to the scene of his unfortunate broken collar bone last summer against Pakistan at Jade Stadium and he gained his place in the side after his consistent success in New Zealand conditions and this is reflected in his State Championship figures this season of 28 wickets at an average of 10.71.”Over his first-class career Drum has the impressive statistics of 187 wickets at 17.34. Chris has an ability to bowl into or down wind, swings the ball, and is able to produce consistent line and length for long spells,” Hadlee said.The choice of Vincent ahead of Mathew Sinclair came down to who performed best in tough conditions in Palmerston North in a recent State Championship game and Vincent had played the more significant innings.”Mathew has done what has been asked and scored runs in domestic cricket but he had four misses in his last four innings,” he said.Andre Adams had been considered but coach Denis Aberhart said he still had work to do in the longer form of the game in terms of his patience and application.The squad is selected for the first Test only and Hadlee said he did not think it would be affected by whatever pitch, drop in or natural, that the Test was played on.

Straight up
Straight boundaries come easy to Sachin Tendulkar, with drives that look so simple and neat. But it was surprising to see him go for the slog. Stuart Clark pitched it short outside off, the ball was about 132kph, but Tendulkar, instead of pulling it square, swatted it straight over the umpire’s head.Bhajji cools down
After the tirade of hostilities he’s faced on this tour, Harbhajan Singh’s had enough. While Tendulkar made the Australians sweat in the Brisbane heat, Harbhajan cooled himself down by sitting on an ice box. That must have surely helped him walk sedately to the crease amid the boos at the Gabba, home to Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.Tackling Tendulkar
Australians love bodily contact, and among their favorite sports are Australian rules football and rugby. Michael Clarke might be slim but he made use of his rugby skills to pin down the unstoppable Tendulkar. Gambhir pushed the ball towards mid-on and Clarke tried to stop it in his followthrough. One hurdle: Tendulkar was standing to his left . Clarke ended ramming straight into Tendulkar, who was turning back, and pinned him to the ground. Good ‘n you mate, the Aussies might have said; however, it didn’t stop Tendulkar from making runs.What might have been
Ricky Ponting ordered his men into an onfield huddle before the match to outline his plans for the do-or-die encounter. The inspiration might have passed on to his players, but it wasn’t grabbed by the captain when Tendulkar fired a square drive on 7. Ponting had placed himself at a catching position in front of point and the ball sped to his right at a comfortable height, but it was going too quickly and didn’t stick. An amazing catch would have lifted the team; Ponting’s men had to look elsewhere for the spark.Paying the price
Irfan Pathan was turning out to be ineffective against the Queenslanders Hayden and Symonds, who were steadily repairing the early damage done by Praveen Kumar. As Australia neared the 100-run mark, Pathan offered room and Hayden drove it hard towards cover. The batsmen ran for a tight single. Suresh Raina at short cover tried to intercept but it was Yuvraj who picked the ball at mid-off; he had a aim at the stumps but missed, and the throw beat Dhoni and headed to the boundary.

Kent have signed Azhar Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder, on a two-year deal. Mahmood has applied for British citizenship and is expected to hear confirmation in the near future meaning he will be an English-qualified player.Mahmood has previously had successful stints with Surrey, but is excited by the opportunity presented to him at Kent. “This is a big move for me in more ways than one,” he said. “I look back on my days with Surrey with great fondness, but the opportunity to utilise my British passport and join a county such as Kent is one that will provide a fresh challenge for me and it’s something I’m really looking forward to.”Kent has always been a county that I have respected and will now become my cricketing home. I will be giving it my all, on and off the field. Robert Key and Graham Ford have plans for the club and I want to work with them and the rest of the squad in building on 2007’s success.”Key, the captain, said that Mahmood will add to the depth in Kent’s squad as they aim to build on their Twenty20 success from last season. “We are thrilled to have secured Azhar’s services. He is a proven cricketer of the highest level and will bring a vast amount of experience to our squad. He has been successful in all forms of cricket and, in our recent discussions with him, has shown a real desire to bring further success to Kent.”

4th dayShane Warne could miss the rest of the English season after fracturing a rib while bowling in Hampshire‘s draw with Lancashire at Old Trafford . He will be out for at least three weeks, a major blow for Hampshire, who are seeking their first Championship title since 1973. The game had draw all over it from the start, but Paul Horton pushed on to a career-best 152 and Luke Sutton hit his second century of the season to guide Lancashire to full batting points.Rob Key and Martin van Jaarsveld made centuries as Kent and Worcestershire shared the points in an inevitable draw at Canterbury. There was no change for the bottom three, though, as Surrey didn’t manage to fit in a ball against Sussex who watched Yorkshire slide past them to the top. They have a game in hand, though.3rd dayFor John Ward’s report on the third day at Scarborough, where Yorkshire played gloriously to crush Warwickshire inside three days click here.

3rd dayDerbyshire held their nerve to bowl out Glamorgan at Cardiff just when the home side were looking good for their second win of the season. Heading into the final session, Glamorgan needed 60 with six wickets in hand, but added just 18 of those before being blown away by Ant Botha’s five-for and three wickets for Tom Lungley.Nottinghamshire will hope that their last six pairings can triumph where Glamorgan failed, in easing the last 104 runs they require to beat Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge. A team effort took Northants to 229 in their second innings, leaving Nottinghamshire to chase 232. The visitors were boosted by removing Stephen Fleming for 50 shortly before stumps.Jerome Taylor blew through Essex‘s defences with five wickets, and he was well supported by David Masters (4 for 40) as the home side crumbled to Leicestershire at Colchester. Varun Chopra was caught at slip off the first ball of the day off Masters, who will be an Essex player next season, and resilient fifties for Ryan ten Doeschate and James Middlebrook were the only consolation for them. Leicestershire then reached 52 for 2 and a final-day run-chase may be negotiated between the two captains.A draw is likely at Lord’s where Middlesex reached 305 for 7 before declaring, although a late Gloucestershire collapse to 97 for 5 keeps the game interesting. Andrew Strauss made 75 and Ed Smith 69 before Middlesex lost 4 for 1 in the middle order. Chaminda Vaas and Murali Kartik added 64 to hasten the declaration, then Kartik impressive with the ball with two wickets leaving Gloucestershire 208 behind.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out