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Air Marshal Nur Khan, the former Pakistan cricket board president, has died in Rawalpindi. He was admitted to Combined Military Hospital on December 12 and was suffering from anemia and a chest infection, a hospital source told ESPNcricinfo.Khan served in top positions in cricket and hockey. He served as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan from 1980 to 1984. He was never afraid of executing innovating ideas and his achievements as an administrator are well known in Pakistan cricket, hockey and squash circles.The idea of getting the Asian counties to contest an Asia Cup, floated by another former PCB Chairman Abdul Hafeez Kardar, was shelved due to political tensions with India. But Khan was instrumental in making the tournament a reality in mid ’80s. He was also part of the organizing committee of the 1987 World Cup and was credited with bringing some of the World Cup matches to Pakistan.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) registered a nine-wicket win against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Gaddafi Stadium, to move into joint-top position with WAPDA on the points table. PIA bowled out ZTBL for 223, after they resumed on 116 for 3. The bowlers all chipped in, but Ali Imran was the pick with 4 for 57. That left PIA a paltry target of 12, which they knocked off in 4.2 overs. Anop Santosh was out for a duck, but Sheharyar Ghani sealed the win with two boundaries. ZTBL are not far behind PIA and WAPDA on the table – they are just three points behind, slotting in at No. 3.Sialkot held on for a close win against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. The hosts had needed 130 runs to win on the final day, with eight wickets in hand. They fell six runs short, despite a hundred from their opener Afaq Raheem. Sialkot’s fast-bowling trio of Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Abbas and Prince Abbas did all the damage. While Imran finished with the best figures of the innings, 4 for 87, Mohammad Abbas took his match haul to 10 with three second-innings’ scalps. Apart from Raheem, none of batsmen who played on the final day managed to get past 30. The win was only Sialkot’s second in nine games.The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) v Habib Bank Limited (HBL) match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad finished in a draw. On the final day, NBP went from 181 for 3 to 484 for 6. The highlight of the day was Kamran Akmal’s century, while Qaiser Abbas and Hammad Azam put on an unbroken 76-run stand for the seventh wicket, as the match ended without the third innings of the game being completed. HBL took three points from the game, for taking the first-innings’ lead. Both teams are placed in the middle of the points table.

ScorecardJayde Herrick and Glenn Maxwell combined to run through Tasmania’s top order and give Victoria the edge at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The pair picked up six wickets between them to reduce Tasmania to 67 for 6, before Alex Doolan stalled Victoria’s charge with an unbeaten 73. Doolan was kept company by Luke Butterworth, who ended the day on 42 not out. Their unbroken stand stood at 103 at stumps, with Tasmania still 192 behind.Earlier in the day, Victoria pushed on from 299 for 6 to 362, on the back of a century from Matthew Wade. Victoria lost Clint McKay off the third ball of the morning, but Wade and James Pattinson – who remained unbeaten on 27 – made sure the side got past 350. James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty and Evan Gulbis finished with three wickets each for Tasmania.

Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed, labelled corruption in cricket “terrible” and admitted to “suspicions” about Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after the no-ball scandal was revealed.”I didn’t realise what kind of man he was,” Butt told the court on his current feelings towards Majeed, as his lawyer Ali Bajwa QC neared the close of his opening defence.”But now with the things that have come out I think I have misjudged somebody completely. I just took his word and trusted him. I knew him for a long time and never thought there would be another side to him that would be this bad.”Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.Butt admitted he was suspicious of his former team-mates honesty in the Lord’s Test when the published their expose. “The suspicion was there but I never wanted to believe it,” was as much as Butt would say.When Bajwa inquired as to Butt’s feelings on what he was accused of, he said: “I would never do that. Cricket is my passion. Look at what I am getting accused of (£2,500 of money found in his room). I’m earning every match nearly four times that. It’s a very bizarre thing.”I have always played my cricket with passion and I try to do well, to win. Players in the sub-continent know what the difference is when we do well and when we don’t do well. If we do well it’s really good and we have all the luxuries available. But if we don’t do well the reaction is not like people in the west know about. “When Bajwa prompted Butt for his thoughts about corruption in cricket generally, he replied: “It’s a terrible thing to do. It’s not very good for the game or for the country. And it speaks of the man’s character himself.”The case continues.

Shane Watson, the Australia vice-captain, has said his side bowled so well to Sri Lanka’s batsman that they would have won the first Test in Galle even if they had lost the toss and fielded first.After his side took a 1-0 lead in the series, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke said he felt the toss had been critical, and decried a pitch on which that was so. But Watson said the Australia bowlers had been so disciplined and balanced in their work that bowling first would not have made much difference.”To be able to win a Test match in Sri Lanka is a really good effort,” Watson said. “I know batting first helped the cause but we did bowl very well as a group throughout the whole Test match and in the end I don’t think it would have mattered that much whether we batted or bowled first.”I thought we bowled as well as we have for a number of years. We were able sustain pressure for a long time and make it hard for Sri Lanka to score runs.”On a turning wicket, Australia’s seamers accounted for 13 wickets in the Test, with Watson getting three in ten balls during a spell of reverse-swing bowling in the first innings, and then two in the second, including Kumar Sangakkara’s scalp with a snorter of a short ball. He pointed to the performance of the fast bowlers as an example of just how well they had done as a bowling unit.”We did get the best of the conditions batting first, but for our quicks to have an impact, especially in the second innings provides some confidence to us fast bowlers that will play a big part in the next two Tests.”As a batting unit we have to capitalise on our starts; there’s no doubt Michael Hussey batted beautifully in conditions where we didn’t know what a good score was.”Ricky Ponting’s absence from the second Test will be a blow to Australia’s efforts to secure the series, as much in the field as with the bat, after he held a pair of rasping catches in the first innings, but Watson said the circumstances opened up an opportunity for Shaun Marsh.”It will have some impact losing someone who has won 100 Test matches, which is a phenomenal achievement really, but it gives Shaun Marsh an opportunity as well. He has been batting beautifully over the last six months; he has a number of gears as a batsman and over here against the spin and the pace that will be important. That is the exciting thing about Ricky going home.”Tillakaratne Dilshan is adamant he won’t change his aggressive style of batting after a pair of low scores in Galle, and Watson said that suited Australia. He pointed out that Ryan Harris had made Dilshan look decidedly uncomfortable by moving the ball in to him, denying him room to play through the off side..”It’s the way he plays isn’t it, he’s always batted like that and he’s always backed himself. There’s no doubt the ball coming back in to him provides a different ballgame compared to the ball going away from him so he can free his arms. So hopefully he keeps playing the way he does and we’ll be able to execute our plans the way we did, like Ryan Harris in the second innings especially. Hopefully as a captain he won’t have too much impact throughout the series.”

Tough debuts of the day
England gave out three new caps before play as James Taylor, Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick were named in the XI. Taylor was the first to have a chance to impress, and much is expected of the Leicestershire batsman, but he couldn’t shine on this occasion despite his fine form in county and England Lions cricket. Facing Boyd Rankin, in the ultimate little-and-large duel, he got underneath a pull and top-edged to square leg. Taylor wasn’t alone, though, as none of England’s new faces enjoy a great day. Ben Stokes faced 10 balls for 3 and Scott Borthwick’s first over was taken for 13 courtesy of Kevin O’Brien.Welcome of the day
Much had been made of Eoin Morgan’s return to Dublin as England captain, but he was given a warm reception by the home crowd when he walked in at No. 4. His boundaries, though, weren’t greeted with quite the same affection as he moved to a swift half-century and threatened to take the game away from his former team-mates. However, Paul Stirling found Morgan’s leading edge and made excellent ground to his left to take the return catch and the crowd gave Morgan another warm hand.Team-mate duel of the day
Steven Finn and Stirling both play their county cricket for Middlesex and came face-to-face as Finn shared the new ball at the start of Ireland’s chase. After a first-ball wide Stirling wasted no time in making a mark as he cut a six over deep cover, but two balls later Finn had his revenge when Stirling couldn’t resist playing a huge heave across the line and the top edge looped to cover.Tactical run out of the day
After an afternoon of frustrating rain delays play finally resumed with Ireland needing another 87 off 10 overs. William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien were at the crease, but they really needed a certain Kevin O’Brien there. Off the second ball of Borthwick’s over Porterfield nudged the ball into the leg side and ambled out of his crease. He turned to try and get back as Borthwick fielded quickly off his own bowling but couldn’t quite reach the crease. For Ireland, though, there was no point Kevin O’Brien waiting around to bat and in he strode at No. 4. When he launched his third and fourth balls in the stands Clontarf was rocking with chants of ‘easy, easy’ from boisterous local support.Ball of the day
While Kevin O’Brien was in the middle Ireland were winning this match, but he had no answer to a pinpoint yorker from Jade Dernbach which zoomed in on middle and leg stump as he tried to bring his bat down. Dernbach had just bowled a series of slower deliveries, which are his trademark in one-day cricket, but showed the skill to immediately change up a gear. It was just the latest display of the nerve that has impressed England’s selectors in the early days of Dernbach’s international career. And, vitally for a bowler who is used at key moments, he relishes the challenge.

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has said that he has been working on a new type of delivery, which he will bowl in the series against England early next year. Ajmal told that he didn’t get a chance to experiment with the delivery during the World Cup 2011 and was now saving it for the England series in the UAE.”I didn’t bowl it (in the World Cup) because I wanted to stick with my best and most reliable deliveries in such a high profile tournament,” Ajmal said. “I’m saving it for the series against England.” He refused to reveal any details about the new delivery calling it “top secret”.Ajmal had a successful tour of the West Indies earlier this year where the home batsmen struggled to pick his doosra on pitches that spun sharply and tested the wicketkeeper as well. Ajmal felt that Mohammad Salman was impressive behind the stumps on the tour.”Mohammad Salman was able to do a great job. The wickets in the West Indies for the Tests were very difficult for wicketkeepers, as there was a lot of turn and bounce, but Salman did an excellent job. Adnan Akmal is also a very impressive and tidy wicketkeeper. These guys are very competent.”Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez also had their bowling actions being called into question by some West Indies commentators on the tour but he brushed them aside. “They can say what they want but the ICC has cleared our actions and of course umpires and referees are there too. It’s within the rules. As far as Hafeez is concerned, he does not even bowl the doosra. He bowls a very good delivery that goes straight on and batsmen find hard to read.”Commentators can say all they want, but all those who have been cleared by the ICC are still bowling. Harbhajan and Botha have had their actions queried in the past and are still bowling. I really don’t know why they keep targeting us.”Ajmal, currently playing for Worcestershire, said that he has been working on his batting as well. “Shahid Aslam, who was serving as the assistant manager and batting coach, has worked with me on my batting. It’s beginning to pay off. Here at Worcester too, I’ve been working on my batting with the coaches and hopefully, we’ll continue to see an improvement.”Ajmal will turn 34 in October but said that he has not thought of retirement at all. “My aim is to become Pakistan’s best bowler and also, to be the top bowler in the world. Only after that will I consider retiring from the game.”I plan on creating an academy for youngsters in my home city of Faisalabad. I want to give something back to cricket and give young players an opportunity to learn the game and refine their skills.”

ScorecardSuresh Raina’s sparkling ton was the only bright spot for India in Taunton•Getty Images

If the forthcoming Test series goes well for Andrew Strauss and England, Somerset should be top of his Christmas card list. After finding form in the first innings, he made the most of his second knock with an unbeaten 109 as India were left with precious little to take from the match other than Suresh Raina’s 103 earlier on the final day.However, like in the first innings where Arul Suppiah outshone the England captain with a career-best 156, the limelight was taken away by another Somerset batsman as Peter Trego hammered a 57-ball 85 off the struggling Indian attack before the home side, somewhat sympathetically, declared at tea to allow the visitors another brief innings. At least Gautam Gambhir and Abhinav Mukund eased themselves to an unbroken 69 before another shower ended the match, and India headed to London with their tail between their legs.Trego arrived with Amit Mishra on a hat-trick but wickets were soon a long way from the legspinner’s mind as he was left watching the ball sail regularly into the stands. Trego’s half-century came up with the third of four consecutive leg-side sixes, and the umpires twice needed to find replacement balls. At one stage Mishra had bowled three overs for 61 and it went from a being a tough warm-up for the tourists to something of an embarrassment, although they will try to play down the significance.It was no surprise that the home side didn’t enforce the follow-on after the Indians were bowled out and the Somerset opening pair again made comfortable progress. Zaheer Khan didn’t take the field – and neither did Sachin Tendulkar – but the team manager insisted he was purely resting which seemed an odd decision after a wicketless first innings where Zaheer looked in far from peak form. And if he didn’t want to show himself to Strauss again, that suggests the pressure has shifted.The remaining Indian bowlers went through the motions and the pattern was similar to the first innings. Munaf Patel was steady but unthreatening while Sreesanth was expensive. Strauss dominated the scoring, although not quite in the fashion of the opening day as Suppiah rode on the confidence of his first-innings hundred.Strauss had barely an alarm as he cruised past fifty and tucked into some friendly bowling. He took three consecutive boundaries off Sreesanth, who kept dropping short, and also came down the pitch at Mishra to drive him for a straight six – many more of those would follow. Trego’s onslaught meant he was quickly catching Strauss, but the England captain went to his hundred from 122 balls with a late cut shortly before tea.Mishra had provided the Indians with momentary relief when he claimed two wickets in two balls but they were costly successes. His figures would soon take an even greater hammering, probably leaving him wishing he hadn’t broken the opening stand. Suppiah lost his shape when he came down the pitch and got an outside edge to backward point then James Hildreth edged a legbreak behind first ball.Earlier, Raina gave the Indians their one bright spot for the match as he raced to an unbeaten century to lift the visitors to 224. He added a final-wicket stand of 84 in 12 overs with Munaf of which the No. 11 contributed six. Raina needed just 37 balls to go from his fifty to a hundred as he cut loose after Sreesanth had lost his off stump to become Charl Willoughby’s sixth wicket.Rania drove, pulled and flicked five sixes which damaged Willoughby’s figures while Alfonso Thomas also took some punishment. His hundred arrived from 110 balls courtesy of a misfield at mid-off but he didn’t have the chance to add many more as Munaf was lbw to legspinner Max Waller soon after.Raina’s innings – and Yuvraj’s duck on the second day – will have sealed the debate over India’s No. 6 spot for Lord’s. Strauss probably would not have minded having an extended look at Raina, someone England haven’t faced before in Tests. He has gained more than he may have expected from his brief stint in the south-west.

Scorecard
There were cricket matches abandoned across the country on Sunday, and Sri Lanka’s Tour Match against Essex at Chelmsford was one of those to fall foul of inclement weather. Less than 13 overs were bowled before persistent rain led to an early end after lunch on day three, although that was still enough time for 17-year-old seamer Reece Topley to rattle the tourists’ top order with two quick wickets as they reached 38 for 3 in their second innings.Topley had first-innings centurion and likely Test debutant Lahiru Thirimanne caught behind in his second over before Maurice Chambers removed opening partner Tharanga Paranavitana for a single. In the very next over Topley got rid of Dinesh Chandimal and Sri Lanka were staring at a repeat of their final day capitulation at Cardiff, having been reduced to a perilous 10 for 3.But Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera stood firm until the lunch break and, ultimately, the end of the match, putting on an unbeaten 28 in 10 overs. With Tillakaratne Dilshan unlikely to feature in the third Test at the Rose Bowl, Sri Lanka will be looking to their other senior batsmen to step up their games, and as such Sangakkara’s performance in this match will have been heartening to them.”There is no change at this stage,” Sri Lanka coach Stuart Law said of Dilshan’s recovery from a fractured thumb. “His thumb is still in a splint, he is also in some discomfort at this stage and the medical team have said that he is highly likely to miss the Test. So the game against Essex has proved very useful because it’s allowed a couple of our batsmen to get amongst the runs.”Young Lahiru Thirimanne, who is only 21, batted well in our first innings and hit 104 before we retired him out, which was a good indication that he was hitting the ball as good as he could. It was also great for Sangakkara to get out there and score 153 runs in the first innings and that will do his confidence no end of good.”A lively Chelmsford pitch showed that the frailties in Sri Lanka’s batting remain, however, and they are still susceptible to pace and bounce – as the 6′ 7” Topley showed while collecting match figures of 6 for 34. “He has bags of talent and we are delighted with his progress,” said Chris Silverwoord, the former England seamer and current bowling coach at Essex. “He has a big heart, is quick to take on advice and works hard at his game.”It’s very encouraging to see the level of progress he has made so far and he’s made a very encouraging start to his career, but he knows there is a lot of hard work ahead of him yet.”

Terry Jenner, the former Australian legspinner and noted bowling coach of Shane Warne, has died after a long period of ill health. He was 66.Taking part in nine Tests for Australia between 1970 and 1975, reaping 24 wickets at 31.20, Jenner found life difficult following his playing days, and in 1988 was jailed for embezzlement related to gambling debts. He re-emerged in middle age as the mentor of Warne, helping to mould a prolific talent and then popping up for a chat and a coaching session whenever Warne needed a tune-up. This role was as fruitful for Jenner’s public rehabilitation as it was for Warne’s bowling.”Very sad day, since hearing the news of my great friend TJ’s passing. My sympathy to all his family – the great man will be missed – RIP !,” Warne tweeted on the evening of Jenner’s death. “He gave up so much of his time for cricket and spin bowling – he was an amazing man – full of knowledge and wanted to share it.”When Jenner emerged from prison, he was quickly given the chance to work as a spin bowling mentor at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide, where Rod Marsh had recently been installed as coach. Jenner was put in touch with Warne, then a pudgy youth with two Tests and one wicket to his name, and a pivotal relationship was formed.”He’d been in prison before I got to Adelaide and he had no confidence,” Marsh told . “I got him into coaching at the academy and that got him some of his self-confidence back.”Having Shane as one of his boys to coach was really significant for him and that gave him almost a reason to live, he was so ashamed about what had happened.”From there he went from strength to strength, he coached in so many countries and did a great job in England, he was over there every year and basically became the spin coach for the ECB.”The peaks and troughs of Jenner’s life had for a while seemed confined to the cricket field, where he had to work assiduously to keep his leg breaks under control while also assenting to the whims of his captains. Starting in Western Australia, Jenner moved alongside Ashley Mallett in 1967 to Adelaide, where he would accumulate 389 first-class wickets at 32.18. Differences with authority were common, while the seeds of a heavy gambling habit were sown that would ultimately see him placed behind bars 20 years later.Rehabilitated by the academy and Warne’s arrival, Jenner maintained a hectic lifestyle between 1992 and 2010, coaching and commentating widely while also becoming synonymous as a gregarious presence in cricket, notably through his hosting of the Adelaide Test match breakfast.”Working with Shane changed everything,” Jenner said in 2010. “I was out there earning the respect of people and the good news is that I felt like I’d redeemed myself for the downs I had.”His visits with Warne often took place at times when Warne’s technique or attitude were at a low ebb. Among the most notable sessions was a heart-to-heart at the beginning of the 2005 Ashes, after Warne had struggled for torque and traction in his early season stint with Hampshire. He was also at Adelaide in 2006 to offer advice between innings before Warne engineered the most stunning of English collapses in the second Test.Others to benefit from Jenner’s tutelage included the prolific Indian Anil Kumble, who struggled on Australian pitches in 1999-2000 but returned far more handsome figures in 2003-04 after being advised to vary his pace.”He was probably the best coach I’ve ever worked with,” said Marsh. “I don’t know what the definition of coach is in the dictionary but he had it. He could explain what was wrong with a bowler better than anyone and then explain how to fix it better than anyone.”Jenner suffered a massive heart attack on April 7 last year in England and flew home to Australia with a doctor by his side. Failing health shed kilograms from Jenner’s frame and ended his days of coaching and travelling, but he made sure to visit Adelaide Oval during the December Ashes Test. Operating at a mere 15% of heart capacity, Jenner was increasingly restricted to time at home, but remained keenly interested in the game.Marsh visited Jenner a few days before his death and said he had continued to worry over the prospects for young spin bowlers in the 21st century game.”We talked about it last week, he said ‘it’s a shame there aren’t more coming through of the required standard, and one regret I have is that not enough people really know about spin bowling’,” Marsh said. “All the work he did with other coaches, he would be disappointed some of those other coaches he worked with haven’t been able to relay the message 100%.”His health continued to deteriorate into 2011, until he died at 12.15pm local time on May 25 in the beach-side suburb of Brighton. Jenner’s funeral will be held at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, May 31.