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It turned out into a thrilling Test match but Sri Lanka departed fortressGalle without their now customary early series win. England, understandably,were overjoyed and Sri Lanka’s sense of frustration and disappointment waspalpable. But there is no reason for them being so.

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As new coach John Dyson has been at pains to point out, Sri Lanka dominatedthe match. England’s tenaciousness kept them within sight but they werealways behind the eight ball. Were it not for poor weather and some verypoor umpiring, Sri Lanka would be 1-0 up.Some pundits have criticised Sri Lanka for their slow batting on day four.The criticism is harsh. Scoring runs was never easy, as the England’sspinners did bowl well, and Mahela Jaywardene was under pressure after arelatively lean spell during the last 18 months.Moreover, if rain had not washed out 31 overs on the fourth afternoon therewould have been plenty of time to force a win. You can take account of theweather but only to an extent. It is an uncontrollable factor not easilypredicted in a tropical country like Sri Lanka.Even considering the loss of valuable time, Sri Lanka would surely havewrapped up an important victory had they not been at the receiving end ofthe bulk of the bad decisions. England suffered too, the most glaringmistake being Marcus Trescothick’s caught behind decision in the firstinnings, but Sri Lanka have every reason to be peeved.The last day was littered with umpiring blunders: Dinusha Fernando hadMichael Vaughan caught off glove first ball of the day, Gareth Batty wascaught at bat-pad off a thick edge early on in his important rearguardeffort, and Ashley Giles should have been send packing at twice whenpalpably lbw in the last session.The most bizarre decision though was third umpire Gamini Silva’s not outcall just before tea when Sri Lanka claimed a catch off Paul Collingwood,who then went onto bat for nearly three hours. Darryl Harper referred thedecision to double check whether it was a bump ball, which replays showed itwasn’t, but Silva pressed the green button.Replays proved less conclusive as to whether the ball hit the toe or bat (orboth), but that should not have been Silva’s concern. The playingregulations are crystal clear. The third umpire may decide on whether thecatch was taken clearly or whether it was a bump ball. The television umpireis not there to make a judgment on whether the ball touched the bat.Sri Lanka were seething afterwards and with good reason. They are in theprocess of making a full complaint to the ICC. The fear is that theone-sided nature of the decision-making has created the potential for anexplosive test match in Kandy. Don’t be surprised if there’s excessiveappealing by both sides.The important thing from Sri Lanka’s point of view is to focus on theupcoming match. The good news is that they appear upbeat and positive, happyto see their prize spinner back taking a hatful of wickets and pleased towatch Jayawardene bat himself into form. Expect another closely fought Testin Kandy – and the now normal dollop of hillcountry controversy.

Tasmania have announced the following team for the ACB Cup match against Australian Capital Territory on 7-10 Jan at Canberra:Dene Hills (c), Chris Bassano, Graeme Cunningham, Andrew Downton, Andrew Dykes, Ben Hilfenhaus, Scott Kremerskothen, Scott Mason, Shane McDermott, Matthew Pascoe, Brad Thomas, Shannon Tubb.

Australian Glenn McGrath, Worcestershire’s pace man, produced an outstanding one man show against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.McGrath, who is not available next summer for the New Road club, finished with impressive figures of 6-90 when Warwickshire declared at 407-7 – a first innings lead of 144.Warwickshire decided to bat on for their maximum five batting points which they achieved in the last bonus over.In the process they lost three wickets when Anurag Singh, Neil Smith and Alan Donald became McGrath victims.In his 4.4 overs during the morning session his three wickets cost just ten runs.Singh was caught at first slip by Stuart Lampitt for 46, while Smith (5) fell to a catch to Vikram Solanki at first slip and Alan Donald (16) gave wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes a catch behind.In reply Worcestershire made a slow start with openers, Philip Weston and Elliott Wilson, putting on only 20 runs in 12 overs and at lunch were 32-0.

Scott Arfield is ‘nailed-on’ to return to the Rangers team for their Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade at the expense of Fashion Sakala. 

That’s according to the former Gers defender Alan Hutton, who was speaking to Football Insider.

The lowdown

Rangers are due to face reigning Serbian champions Red Star in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie at Ibrox on Thursday night.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst selected Sakala in the right-wing position for Saturday’s win over Aberdeen, with Arfield then replacing him for the final 31 minutes.

The Dutchman did say, however, that he benched the Canadian initially in order to give him something of a rest.

The latest

Hutton fully expects Van Bronckhorst to favour one of his ‘main men’ in Arfield over Sakala given the latter’s lack of end product.

“I think Arfield comes back in for Sakala, I think that would be nailed on,” the BBC Radio 5 Live man said to FI.

“Sakala for me, I’m watching him and you just want him to relax on the ball. Everything he tries to do, he tries to just smash the ball.

“He gets into really good areas, he picks up the ball well, he runs at people. Just that final pass, that final decision can sometimes let him down.

“Arfield, he’s one of the main men for me and Van Bronckhorst, especially on European nights.”

The verdict

Arfield only actually started one of Rangers’ six group-stage games – the 1-1 draw with Brondby back in November.

But he earned a spot in Van Bronckhorst’s line-up for both legs of the play-off clash with Borussia Dortmund.

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It was a somewhat tricky night for the 33-year-old in the second leg, though, as he missed a ‘big chance’, won only two out of seven duels and failed to complete either of the dribbles he attempted (via SofaScore).

But it’s possible that Van Bronckhorst values the defensive contribution he provides, with Arfield recording three interceptions in that game.

And on top of that, former Hamilton manager Brian Rice says the ‘magnificent’ £16,000-per-week veteran ‘is the only one’ in the squad who can make deadly runs from midfield.

In other news, Kevin Campbell offers his reaction as an injury blow emerges.

	Mushtaq Ahmed leads Sussex off after taking 13 wickets in the final match of the 2007 season … but will it turn out to be his last outing for the county? © Getty Images

Cricinfo has learned that the Pakistan board is set to block any of its players who have signed contracts with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League from playing domestic cricket overseas.As things stand, any player who wants to play abroad needs a No Objection Certificate [NOC] from their home board. But a PCB source told Cricinfo that Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who recently signed for Yorkshire, would not be getting an NOC. “This is in line with our policy on the ICL,” the source said. “All players who do sign up with it will not represent Pakistan or domestic sides in Pakistan and anyway, Rana was not a contracted player of the board.”Perhaps the most high-profile case is that of Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been instrumental in Sussex’s success in the last five seasons and who is due to return to Hove next month. Although he was granted an NOC, he has since signed with the ICL. “We are considering withdrawing his NOC, because when we provided it to him last, it was a month and a half before he signed up with the ICL,” the spokesman said.Sussex have said they are “working with the ECB and the PCB in order to clarify the situation” regarding Mushtaq.Yorkshire’s chief executive Stewart Regan said that the county had given Naved-ul-Hasan an ultimatum – will he take part in the ICL or will he play for Yorkshire? “If Rana takes part in the ICL, he will automatically forfeit his Yorkshire contract. What we don’t know is how much Rana is being paid by the ICL, or whether he has signed a legally-binding contract.”

Graeme Smith is aware of Bangladesh’s strengths, given their three-pronged spin attack © Getty Images

When they arrived in Guyana, South Africa were well aware that nothingless than six points would suffice as they sought to seal a place in thelast four of the World Cup. Having stumbled on home soil four years ago,failure is not an option for the team’s stalwarts, many of whom won’t bearound in four years time.Ahead of Saturday’s game against Bangladesh, South Africa are right oncourse to leave Georgetown with the perfect record that they desire,having held off Sri Lanka in a thrilling finish before outclassingIreland. Bangladesh, who upset India in the opening phase, haven’t comeclose to beating South Africa before, but Graeme Smith was taking nothing forgranted on a slow pitch that may aid the opposition’s strengths.”Bangladesh base a lot of their attack on their three spinners,” he said,no doubt aware of the six wickets that they combined for against India.”They have a very young batting line-up that has been a bit unpredictablethroughout the tournament. They have played aggressive at times and beendefensive at others. I think they are caught a little in between on howthey should play.”Victory over India increased the expectations back in Bangladesh tohigh-rise levels, and subsequent disappointments against Australia and NewZealand resulted in Habibul Bashar, the captain, being subjected to harshcriticism. Smith clearly doesn’t envy his opposite number, but suggestedthat such things might be par for the course now that Bangladesh are nolonger looked upon as a minnow.”Now that they are in the Super Eight, there is a lot of pressure on them fromback home to still carry on beating top teams,” he said. “It’s a differentenvironment for them now, with their nation believing they should bewinning these games more and more often.”South Africa had thumped India 4-0 at home in November, and there’s nodoubt that playing Bangladesh in their place represents a bit of a stepinto the unknown. “We watched a bit of the India game,” said Smith. “Theyare a team, that if you give them any chance, they will pounce at it. Youhave got to start really well against them, and put them on the back footas early as you can. You give them a sniff and they have got players who,under Dav Whatmore, have learnt how to win games.”Apart from the spin trio, Bangladesh’s hopes rest largely with the youngbatting line-up that eclipsed India’s much-feted one. “They are young andsometimes don’t think about the situation they are in,” said Smith, whohimself was pitched into the big time pretty early. “They play with thatsort of freedom.”Due to their unpredictable nature, they can get off to a fast start, butcan also collapse at times. I think it’s about remaining calm againstthese sort of teams, who are unpredictable.”South Africa have four games in the next 10 days, and with fatigue boundto become an issue, there might be a couple of changes against Bangladesh.Andrè Nel should come into the reckoning, with Charl Langeveldt likely tomake way, and Robin Peterson will also come into the equation if thethink-tank decides that Makhaya Ntini requires a small break before biggerchallenges.”There are crucial games coming up for us,” said Smith. “We have two gamesin Grenada against New Zealand and West Indies, and we need to step upgoing into the meat of the World Cup. We don’t want do-or-die gamesagainst bigger teams.”The winner-take-all game that they’d love is a final against Australia,but Smith is wary of looking too far into the future. “It’s the final mostguys dream of,” he admitted. “But the important thing is reaching thesemi-finals.”Bangladesh’s priority, as Whatmore said on Wednesday, is to avoidfinishing last in the Super Eights. It makes for a fascinating tussle,between an ever-improving side with everything to gain and another thattruly believes that they can go all the way after the heartbreaks of 1992and ’99.

Bangladesh have dropped Tapash Baisya and Nazmul Hossain from their 14-man one-day squad for the four-ODI series at home to Kenya.Shahadat Hossain, who has played in five Tests bit not in any one-dayers, has been drafted into the squad.Bangladesh Habibul Bashar (capt), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Manjural Islam, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain.

Brian Luckhurst: man of Kent for 51 years© Getty Images

Brian Luckhurst, the former England batsman who died earlier this month after a 51-year association with Kent County Cricket Club, has been laid to rest in the village of Alkham near Dover. Nearly 500 mourners crammed into the Church of St Anthony of Parmiers to pay their respects to Luckhurst, 66, who was buried on the final day of his term of office as club president.The local pub closed as a mark of respect, and after readings from Mr Luckhurst’s sons, the eulogy was read by his former Kent and England team-mate, Derek Underwood. “To be president of Kent County Cricket Club was without doubt the greatest honour and tribute that Brian could ever have achieved," said Underwood, "so it was tragic that he should be stricken with illness in his presidential year."Despite all the odds he fulfilled his duties and at times he went far beyond the call of duty and despite his pain and tiredness he was determined to enjoy and relish every moment of his year.” The congregation included a host of former Kent stars, including Mike Denness, Alan Ealham, David Constant, Chris Tavare and Richard Ellison.

Hayden lies in wait © AFP

Sourav Ganguly certainly isn’t expecting any favours from the Australian bowlers when the first Test of the four-match series against Australia gets underway at the Gabba in Brisbane tomorrow.”I expect to get a few,” he said with a smile when asked whether he thought Australia’s bowlers would target his perceived vulnerability against the short ball. “We’re all prepared for that.”With torrential rain buffeting the area this morning, and further showers predicted over the next few days, the bowling attacks could well hold sway on a 22-yard strip that was tinged with travel-sickness green on the eve of the match.Steve Waugh, for one, wasn’t writing off India’s chances. “They have bowlers who can swing the ball,” he said, “and you can’t say the same about too many teams in international cricket.” Whether Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra can pitch it in the right areas against a formidable batting line-up is another matter altogether.”We’ve been practising on that,” said Ganguly, talking about the ideal length to bowl to the Australian batsmen. “A good ball is a good ball to any batsmen, regardless of whether it’s Matthew Hayden facing, or someone else. We need to hit the right areas of the pitch.”Ganguly admitted that the team had performed pretty poorly in the warm-up matches against Victoria and the Queensland Academy of Sport. “It takes time to get used to the new conditions … on the positive side, most of the batsmen were hitting the ball quite well.”He was also at his diplomatic best when asked whether the series would be special because his side would be the last to test their mettle against Steve Waugh. “It’s going to be a special series anyway,” he said. “We’re the only team to have beaten Australia in the past five years … I have a lot of respect for him [Waugh]. He’s taken them to another level in his years in charge, and I’m sure Australian cricket will miss him when he leaves.”Waugh admitted relief that the speculation was finally over. “Everyone knows what the deal is now, and we can just get on with things,” he said in typically acerbic fashion. Both captains will also get on with the toss in the time-honoured fashion this time, with none of the gamesmanship that plagued the last series between these sides. “Captains have to set the right example when it comes to the way Test cricket is played,” said Waugh, suggesting that both men will walk to the middle together tomorrow morning.Australia go into the game without Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, but Waugh was emphatic that the resources he had – Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken to back up Jason Gillespie and Andrew Bichel – would be enough to “knock the Indians over”. Even with grey clouds still dominating the horizon, Stuart MacGill will get a look in.India’s selection dilemma centres around the spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. Only one will play, and Harbhajan – hero of the 2001 triumph, and one of the individuals mentioned by Waugh as posing a special threat – should be the one. Ajit Agarkar, the only Indian pace bowler with previous experience of Australian pitches, should also start, with neither Irfan Pathan nor L Balaji having scythed through the opposition in the tour games.Sadagoppan Ramesh should open the batting with Virender Sehwag, having been one of the few batsmen to strike any sort of rhythm so far on this tour. Ganguly and Wright also have 24 hours to sort out a batting order. VVS Laxman played his best innings against Australia at No. 3, and there’s a good chance that he’ll be asked to do so again, with Rahul Dravid moving down the order to lend extra solidity in the event of the openers failing again.The focus of most Australian eyes tomorrow will be Sachin Tendulkar, 12 years on from the tour that established him as one of the brightest stars in cricket’s alltime firmament. “Special players like him have a way of working around whatever plans you make,” said Waugh. It’ll take some truly special work from Tendulkar if India aren’t to leave the Gabba with a fifth successive defeat. Tendulkar and rain – in that order – offer India the biggest hope, on a pitch where the bowlers should be into the swing of things from ball one.Australia (probable): 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Andy Bichel, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Brad Williams, 11 Stuart MacGill.India (probable): 1 Sadagoppan Ramesh, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 7 Ajit Agarkar, 8 Parthiv Patel (wk), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

*East Zone*Bengal complete eight-wicket winAs Bengal left-arm spinner took six wickets, his side went on to win their Ranji Trophy league match against Assam at Kolkata on Monday.Overnight on 147/6, Assam collapsed in the face of sustained spin from Chatterjee and off-spinner Saurashish Lahiri (4-65). Barring the 83 from PK Das at the top of the order, none of the batsmen could even cross 50. The visitors were consequently bowled out for 206.Set a target of 157, Bengal reached it easily, losing only the openers along the way. Nikhil Haldipur made an unbeaten 51 and skipper Rohan Gavaskar 40 not out. Bengal collect eight points from this outright win.*Tripura draw with BiharSurviving some hiccups along the way, Bihar held on to draw with Tripura in their Ranji Trophy league match at Agartala on Monday.Tripura, at 50/3 overnight, went on to make 249 in their second innings boosted by another fine knock from C Sachdev. Sachdev, however, missed a century for the second time in the match, falling for 96 made off 170 balls.Set a victory target off 232 off 17 overs, Bihar had no option but to play for the draw. That too seemed in jeopardy as three wickets fell in four overs. T Rehman and N Ranjan finally held on till the end, taking their side to 59/4 at stumps. S Shukla was the Tripura bowler who rocked Bihar’s second innings, taking four for 24 off eight overs.*South ZoneSharath, Badani star for Tamil NaduSharing 196 runs for the fourth wicket, Sridharan Sharath and Hemang Badani took Tamil Nadu to a strong position at the end of Day Two in their Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka at Bangalore.Losing opener Sridharan Sriram early in the day, Tamil Nadu’s fortunes revived with a mini-stand between Hemant Kumar and Badani. Karnataka dismissed the former just before lunch, but Sharath and Badani then combined for their mammoth partnership. Sharath made 113 off 173 balls, while Badani struck 124 off 234 balls. At the end of the day, Tamil Nadu were 357/5, with skipper Robin Singh and TR Arasu at the crease.In the other South Zone match, Venkatapathy Raju brought Hyderabad surging back into their match after being dismissed for a low first-innings total by Kerala. Raju returned figures of 23-9-42-6 as Kerala collapsed for 125, with only Sunil Oasis (47) showing any resistance. At stumps, Hyderabad were 124/2, with Vanka Pratap and Anirudh Singh unbeaten on 23 and 17 respectively.At Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh were comfortably placed at the close of play on Day Two. Bowling Goa out for 270 in their first innings, with Tanveer Jabbar making 107, Andhra Pradesh ended the day on 184/1, with skipper MSK Prasad unbeaten on 74 and LN Prasad Reddy on 28.*North Zone*Services draw with Jammu & KashmirSet a total of 306 to win, Services opted for a safe draw and three points in their Ranji Trophy league match at Delhi on Monday.Jammu & Kashmir, 133/4 overnight, went on to score 242 in their second innings. The innings revolved largely around wicket-keeper Arshad Bhatt, who made a patient 98 off 177 balls. Bhatt came in at the fall of the fourth wicket and stayed till the end, becoming the tenth wicket to fall. He was also Arun Sharma’s fifth wicket; Sharma took five for 39.Services started steadily but lost openers K Chawda and PMS Reddy within the space of 29 runs. Thereafter, Jasvir Singh and Yashpal Singh played well. The former made 54 off just 55 balls, while Yashpal Singh made an unbeaten 51. At stumps, Services were 202 for the loss of four wickets.*Himachal Pradesh play unimaginative cricketDespite being in a position to declare and set Haryana a sporting target, Himachal Pradesh opted to bat out most of the day in their Ranji Trophy league match at Rohtak on Monday.Overnight batsmen Rajiv Nayyar and Sangram Singh, both in good form, made the most significant scores of the innings. Sangram Singh fell for 54, made off 94 balls. Nayyar, as has been his wont, occupied the crease dully, making 102 off 314 balls, with 13 boundaries.Himachal skipper Varinder Sharma never enforced a declaration, so that when they were finally bowled out for 270 (made off 101 overs), Haryana were set a target off 347 off 20 overs. The match petered out into a dull draw, and the only excitement of the day was provided by Amit Mishra, who took a hat-trick by claiming Varinder Sharma, Amit Sharma and C Kumar off successive deliveries.*Punjab draw with DelhiA match that saw two high first-innings total, the Ranji Trophy league tie between Punjab and Delhi at Amritsar ended in the expected draw on the fourth day.Punjab, still continuing their first innings on the fourth day, were finally bowled out for 441, with Amit Bhandari picking up 7-92 for Delhi. The visitors, on batting again, could not repeat their first-innings heroics; barring a resolute 75 from Pradeep Chawla, no batsman could really get going, and the innings was declared at 198 for nine.Set a target of 257 off 16 overs, Punjab inevitably played for the safe draw and reached stumps at 58 for one. Delhi, by virtue of their first-innings total, collect five points from this match, while Punjab collect three.