Neil Williams, the medium-fast bowler who played one Test for England in 1990, has died in hospital after short battle against pneumonia. He was 43. He suffered a stroke at his St Vincent home three weeks ago from which he never recovered.Williams’ one cap came when he was drafted into the England side for the final Test against India at The Oval in 1990 when Chris Lewis withdrew with a migraine. India amassed 606 for 9 and Williams took 2 for 148 – but the victims were Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin. Sent in as a nightwatchman on the second evening, he made 38 in a second-wicket stand of 74 with Graham Gooch, an achievement he rated higher than his two wickets. He was not considered for that winter’s Ashes series, and when not even summoned when injuries hit, it was clear that at 28 his chance had come and gone.Williams was born in St Vincent and was a quietly spoken player who was happy to let others grab the headlines. He emigrated to Britain when he was 13 and joined Middlesex after a season-and-a-half as an MCC Young Professional during which time he had been playing for Hornsey. A deeply religious man, when he first arrived at Lord’s he refused to play on Sundays.

He made his county debut for Middlesex in 1982, one of a number of Caribbean-born players to represent them in the 1980s – Roland Butcher, Wilf Slack and Norman Cowans, who also debuted in 1982, were among the others. Brisk rather than fast, Williams was accurate and had a dangerous late away-swinger, and in a 12-year career with Middlesex made 193 appearances, taking 479 wickets. He was a key part of four Championship-winning sides (1982, 1985, 1990, 1992) and in 1995, following a successful benefit, he moved to Essex where he played until 1998.In the winters he played three seasons for Windward Islands and also enjoyed one season with Tasmania in 1983-84. He was the coach of St Vincent’s Academy for Kids at the time of his death.Mike Brearley, his first captain at Middlesex, said he was a “modest, unassuming person who always did his absolute best for the team,” while Christopher Martin-Jenkins described him as a “courteous, friendly man brought up to believe in the precious traditions of fair play”. Former team-mate Angus Fraser said he was “a very talented bowler who, in another era and had he not picked up so many injuries, may have played for England a few more times.”

ScorecardThe Sri Lankans certainly aren’t having things all their own way as they prepare for the first Test against England, but decided to make a game of their warm-up clash against Derbyshire. After struggling to gain a foothold in their reply to Derbyshire’s 219, they declared 53 behind. The bowlers then suffered some tap, especially from Travis Birt, setting up the prospect of a final-day run chase.However, as with their wobbles against British Universities last week, it is the batting of the Sri Lankans where most interest lies. Facing up to the likes of Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff is hard enough at the best of times, but without form behind you it becomes even tougher.Four of the probable Sri Lankan top order for the first Test at Lord’s made a combined total of 12 runs between them. The inexperienced opening pair of Michael Vandort – needlessly run-out in a mix-up with Kumar Sangakkara – and Upul Tharanga were quickly followed back to the hutch by Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Much rests on the latter two and they are struggling for meaningful innings.Some respectability was restored by Chamara Kapugedera, a talented player who has already given Australia a taste of his skills, and Farveez Maharoof, who can play a key role with bat and ball. The pair added 66 and it was Maharoof’s dismissal to Kevin Dean that prompted Sangakkara to call the batsmen in.Derbyshire took up the challenge with gusto. Birt launched an all-out attack, including two fours and a six off Muttiah Muralitharan’s first three balls, as the innings raced along at five-an-over. Birt’s fun ended when he was stumped after 53 balls but, along with a more circumspect half-century from Chris Taylor, the lead sped past 200.It shouldn’t be long into the final day before Sri Lanka are given the chance to make amends for their first-innings flop.

Kabir Ali has been called up to replace Glen Chapple for England’s one-day series against Sri Lanka which gets underway at Lord’s on Saturday. Chapple has been forced out of the squad owing to an abdominal muscle strain he picked up in England’s win over Ireland on Tuesday at Stormont.Chapple, who made his one-day international debut in the match against Ireland, will return to Lancashire to receive treatment and misses England’s Twenty20 clash against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl today. Ali last played for England against India during the winter, with mixed success, and will join the England squad at Lord’s tomorrow.”Obviously it’s very disappointing for Glen,” said David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, “but everyone hopes that after receiving the right treatment at Lancashire he’ll be able to rejoin the squad and play a part in the latter stages of the NatWest Series.”England’s Twenty20 clash begins at 19.15BST this evening.

The proposed series of one-day matches between India and West Indies planned for North America is back on, although all the games are now likely to take place in Canada and not in the USA as originally intended.It is reported from Canada that a deal was done between the Indian board (BCCI) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) when their respective chairmen met during the ICC executive meeting at Lord’s this week.The series, which is likely to be played in Toronto in September, had been reportedly scrapped and the boards were said to be looking at alternative venues in the Far East. The sticking point was that the grounds in the USA had not received ICC clearance, but there are no such issues in Toronto which has already hosted one-day games.There are other issues which could prove a stumbling block, not least that the West Indies players are said not to have been consulted about their participation in the series which they need to be as it falls outside the ICC’s Future Tours Programme. The WICB, which is heavily in debt, will have to make separate financial arrangements with them.

Hailing Indian board’s decision of restoring the affiliation to the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA-1935) comprising the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, Lalu Prasad, president BCA and RJD supremo, said it was ‘a good development’ aimed at promoting cricket.”It is a good development. The restoration of affiliation to the Cricket Association of undivided Bihar is in the interest of budding cricketers of the two states.” Prasad said on Thursday. Prasad, who became the President of BCA formed after a separate Jharkhand state was carved out, said the decision would facilitate the two states to receive fund for promoting cricket. “Now the BCA elections will be held within three months and national and international matches would also be organised at the Moin-ul Haq stadium here with the cooperation of the BCCI.” Prasad said he would approach the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI ) to provide fund for the uplift of the Moinul Haq stadium in Patna.Referring to nine cricketers from Players Association in Bihar being taken into custody when they made attempts to storm into the meeting of the BCCI to seek affiliation to their association in Chennai, Prasad said the boys had gone to Chennai in “over-enthusiasm”. They were later released in the evening, he said.The BCCI had yesterday restored the affiliation of the BCA, which was looking after the state cricket before bifurcation of Bihar in 2000. But the implementation of the decision was subject to the approval by the Jharkhand High Court, which would hear the case filed by the Jharkhand State Cricket Association on September 1, Raj said.Meanwhile, Ajay Narayan Sharma, then secretary of the BCA, while welcoming the decision, said the players from Bihar had ultimately achieved “a great success” after prolonged struggle for getting affiliation to promote cricket in the state.

Duleep Mendis, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chief executive, has criticised South Africa’s decision to pull out of the Unitech Cup following a bomb blast in Colombo on Monday. South Africa’s withdrawal came after an independent security assessment by a Dubai-based firm said that “the current risk to the team is at an unacceptable level”.”I am amazed at their decision to return home,” Mendis told AFP. “The government put in place presidential-level security for the team, yet they were not convinced. They took advice from a Dubai firm which is even more surprising. I did not see anyone from this firm in Colombo, yet they prepared a security report within 24 hours sitting in Dubai.”The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) issued a statement fully supporting the decision while saying that it was an extremely difficult one to make. “This has been a very tense last three days” said Tony Irish, the Chief Executive Officer of SACA. “Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and I have been in constant contact with the team in Colombo while the process necessary for making the decision has taken place. It has been a very difficult time for the players, especially having to deal with the uncertainty of the situation.””At the end of the day, you have to rely on what the security experts say and base the decisions on that. The team’s security consultants, Nicholls, Steyn and Associates, have been very thorough and the independent ICC security consultants concurred with their security assessment. One cannot underestimate the difficulty of this decision, but it does show that Cricket South Africa places the emphasis on where it should be, namely the safety of the players and the national team.”

Scorecard

Bermuda completed a 2-0 series win over Canada with an 11-run win at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, inflicting the fourth defeat in four ODI matches played by the Canadians in the last month. Although they had the consolation of a victories in the Intercontinental Cup, the results are a major blow to Canada’s World Cup preparations.Irvine Romaine’s 101 was the anchor of Bermuda’s impressive 272 for 7, and although Canada batted much better than in other games, there were always slightly behind the clock and in the end the stiff target was just out of reach. Romaine, a powerful striker of the ball, slammed his hundred off 111 balls, hitting five sixes and 12 fours.The controversial decision by the Canadian selectors to omit their regular opening bowling combination of Henry Osinde and Umar Bhatti from this match surely had a bearing on the outcome. Austin Codrington did take the first three wickets that fell, but there was not the same control and power in the opening bowling as usual.The selection throughout the summer has been a mess, and although this was identified as a problem after last year’s failure in the Intercontinental Cup, nothing seems to have changed.One local observer noted: “There should have been a focus on preparing for the World Cup, realistically from the time Canada qualified in the 2005 ICC Trophy, but this has not been the case. Indeed since the 2001 ICC Trophy was played in the Greater Toronto area there has been a procession of coaches for the national side. Additionally, there have been three High Performance Managers in the past year; something which does not lend itself to a proper evaluation and selection process.”The section on Canada in the ICC Americas Annual Report for 2005-2006 indicated the new national coach was to have a say in the selection process. This does not appear to have been put in place.At least this time Canada batted with conviction. John Davison looked good for his 55, and then Ian Billcliff played a good innings that gave his side hope for victory. If nothing else, this match saw Canada reach a respectable total for the first time this summer. But it will be Bermuda who emerge from this brief series with hope for the World Cup. For Canada, time is fast running out to get out of first gear.

Division One

Darren Lehmann fell three runs short of Yorkshire‘s highest individual score in his final match for the county, but they are well on course for first division survival as Durham fell to 203 for 6 in reply at Headingley. Lehmann’s mammoth 339, a career-best and his second triple first-class century, had a large part to play in Durham’s increasing gloom, and he was well assisted by Michael Lumb, who fell two short of a deserved century. Lehmann became the first Yorkshire batsman to score 300 since the great Herbert Sutcliffe in 1932 and he faced 403 balls, striking 52 fours and three sixes. Gary Scott and Garry Park each hit 77 but Deon Kruis took three wickets to begin the Durham slide, and Jason Gillespie added two of his own.Darren Stevens became Kent‘s third centurion as they continued to make hay against Middlesex at Canterbury. The home side built on their efforts to reach 603 for 6 before declaring shortly after Stevens reached the landmark. He was unbeaten on 126, and received support from Geraint Jones, who made 59 as Middlesex wilted in the heat. Rob Ferley then heaped on the misery for Middlesex, reducing them from the promising position of 92 for 1 to 136 for 4 in a three-wicket burst which removed Ben Hutton, Owais Shah and Ed Smith.For a full report of Sussex‘s key clash against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge click here.For a full report of Lancashire‘s crucial match against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl click here.

Division Two

Lee Goddard and Graham Wagg’s seventh-wicket stand of 181 lifted Derbyshire to 385 and they had a Mark Ramprakash-less Surrey in some trouble by the close at Derby, having reached 208 for 6.The nineties proved too nervous for both Goddard (91) and Wagg (94) but their fight bodes well for the young pair. Half-centuries from Scott Newman and Mark Butcher added some respectability to the Surrey total, but the mood was not improved when Butcher had to retire hurt on 51.Gloucestershire sealed maximum batting points by coursing to 525, capitalising on their efforts of the first day at Cardiff. Alex Gidman fell eight short of a century, but there were no such alarms for Mark Hardinges, who reached his ton, his second of the season, before falling one run later. Glamorgan‘s Daniel Cherry and Mark Wallace chipped away forcefully at the deficit, putting on an opening stand of 147 before Wallace edged Steve Kirby for 64.Essex built on a solid first day at Grace Road to put them in prime position to claim promotion. James Foster added his eighth first-class hundred before being trapped lbw by Nick Walker for 115 and Andy Bichel provided some lower-order fireworks, biffing 75 from 104 balls with eight fours and four sixes. Bichel then struck two early blows to leave Leicestershire in trouble at 21 for 2, before Darren Robinson (80) and John Sadler dug them out with a commanding third-wicket stand of 109. Sadler remained unbeaten on 71.Monty Panesar ripped through Worcestershire‘s line-up with a five-for to bowl them out for 284, 61 runs behind Northamptonshire, and dent their promotion hopes. He was supported by Jason Brown, who took three wickets, and there were two victims for Steven Crook. The openers Stephen Peters and Chris Rogers increased Northants’ advantage to 85 by the close at Northampton .

16 – The number of times Australia have beaten New Zealand in the last 18 ODIs between the two teams3 – The number of half-centuries for Daniel Vettori in ODIs. Two of them have come against Australia – at Christchurch in 2005 he scored 83, his highest in ODIs103 – The seventh-wicket partnership between Vettori and Jacob Oram – it’s New Zealand’s third-highest for that wicket in ODIs, after the 115 that Lee Germon and Adam Parore added against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1996, and Parore and Dipak Patel’s 111-run stand against West Indies at Kingston.28 – The number of runs Daniel Vettori leaked in his last four overs after conceding just 13 in his first six52 – The number of runs Australia scored in their last ten overs, despite having six wickets in hand after 40 overs15.21 – Hamish Marshall’s average in his last 21 ODIs.51.98 – The average partnership between Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn in ODIs. In 62 innings they have added 3015 runs46.36 – Andrew Symonds’ average in ODIs won by Australia. Of his 25 fifty-plus scores, only one has been in a losing cause18.36 – Glenn McGrath’s bowling average in ODIs against New Zealand. In 27 matches against them he has taken 53 wickets

Central Districts v Otago
A staggering 466 runs were scored on the first day at Napier, thanks largely to a career-best 217 from Ross Taylor. Many pundits were picking Taylor to be part of the New Zealand squad playing Sri Lanka and he showed why, scoring his runs off just 212 balls with 26 boundaries and two sixes. Magnifying his innings was the fact of the other Central batsmen only Bevan Griggs passed 30, scoring 75 in a third-wicket partnership of 158. James McMillan continued his impressive start to the season with 4 for 82. Central might even feel a little disappointed with their total of 394, given that Otago had cruised serenely to 72 for 1 at stumps, Sean Haig and Aaron Redmond the not-out batsmen.Wellington v Northern Districts
A far more sedate day’s play was taking place in Hamilton, where last season’s runner-up Wellington cruised through to stumps at 351 for 4. A toothless Northern attack could do nothing to upset the visitors, particularly Matthew Bell, who scored his 17th first-class century before being dismissed for 101. Joining in the run feast were the Parlanes, with Michael scoring 61 and Neal unbeaten on 66. Chris Nevin chipped in with an even 50. Graeme Aldridge was the best of a disappointing attack with 2 for 69.Canterbury v Auckland
Canterbury put the yawns on everybody by limping through to a sleep-inducing 251 against home side Auckland at the Eden Park Outer Oval. Only discarded New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton quickened the pulse with a well-made 68 off 99 balls. Michael Papps scored 21 on his comeback from injury. Andre Adams was Auckland’s best bowler with 3 for 57 off 25 overs. Tim McIntosh, the Auckland opener, scored four runs off the only available over before stumps.