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Mike Hussey, the Australian batsman, will replace Jon Lewis as Durham’s captain next season. Durham will be Hussey’s third county side, after a successful three-year stint with Northants, and half a season with Gloucestershire this year.Hussey, who has also captained Western Australia and Northants, said he would relish the challenge: “There is a lot of young talent within the team and I’m really looking forward to helping them develop. I am convinced that Durham are more than capable of achieving promotion in both one-day and Championship cricket in 2005.”Martyn Moxon, the former Yorkshire and England batsman, who is now Durham’s coach, explained: "It was felt that a change in leadership would help the team’s progression. Mike will bring a new approach to the squad in addition to the wealth of experience he acquired as captain of Northants and Western Australia."Moxon praised Lewis, the outgoing captain, saying that he had done a superb job throughout his tenure, while David Harker, Durham’s chief executive, added that the club were looking to Lewis to support Hussey in his captaincy.There will be another Australian addition to Durham’s 2005 squad – yesterday they announced that Ashley Noffke, the 27-year-old Queensland fast bowler, was also being drafted in.

The Australian batsman Phil Jaques will join Yorkshire for the 2005 season after the county fought off competition from other clubs for his signature.Jaques, 25, has already played for Yorkshire this season, when he was brought in to cover Darren Lehmann’s international duties for Australia. And he established himself quickly, averaging over 58 in 19 innings in the Division Two championship, while he has also performed well in the one-day form of the game.”I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Yorkshire and I’m delighted to be going back next summer,” Jaques told the Stellar Group Website.”Everyone at the club made me feel very welcome and I was pleased to be able to repay them in some way with the runs I managed to score,” he added.”Hopefully next season we will be able to improve and launch a promotion challenge in both the four-day and the one-day games.”

In what has been an extraordinary season for Brian Lara, another magnificent performance was always on the cards. Lara brought up his maiden century against Pakistan on the first day of the first Test in Barbados – his previous-best being 96 in Trinidad in 1993.His 29th hundred makes him only the sixth batsman to score a century against all nine-Test-playing nations – after Gary Kirsten, Steve Waugh, Marvan Atapattu, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. However, Lara hasn’t managed to score a hundred in all Test-playing countries – he has missed out in India and Pakistan – and still needs some catching up to do before he can equal Dravid’s feat.Lara has now scored 523 runs in his last six innings at 87, which include three hundreds. He also equalled Don Bradman’s total number of hundreds, and stands fourth in the list of Test centurions behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Steve Waugh.The following table shows Lara’s performance against all Test-playing countries:

It’s always the same in England-South Africa series. Just when you think you’ve got the script nailed, it gets dispatched off to Hollywood for a glamorous makeover, and all your pre-series plotlines are scattered to the wind.In 1994, South won a famous victory at Lord’s by the not-inconsiderablemargin of 356 runs, and were well set to wrap up the series at The Oval,only for Fanie de Villiers to aim that injudicious bouncer at DevonMalcolm’s head. Two years later at Cape Town, however, Malcolm was thescapegoat, as the last pair of Dave Richardson and Paul Adams belted SouthAfrica to an unassailable lead in a low-scoring decider.And then of course, there was the 1998 series. This time, South Africa were one-up and cruising in the third Test, and, as Tim de Lisle wrote in the following year’s Wisden, it was England who were “clinging to a precipice, in a hurricane, by one finger, while the baddie [took] leisurely aim, from a sheltered vantage-point, with an automatic weapon.” Not only did South Africa muff the shot, they allowed Robert Croft, Darren Gough and the No. 11 Angus Fraser to haul themselves back from the brink and, ultimately, back into a series that they went on to win 2-1.Leaving aside the twist of an altogether more sinister nature at Centurionin 1999-2000, it has been a fair bet that the side in command will relinquish the incentive before the series is up. The difference on this occasion, however, is that no-one is quite sure who took what out of that seesaw draw at Durban.In the immediate aftermath of the match, they was little doubt who wasmore pleased with the result. “South Africa got out of jail,” declaredMichael Vaughan, and Graeme Smith could hardly disagree: “We got a bitlucky at the end there.”Two days and one New Year hangover later, however, there may be somereassessment taking place in both camps. England did remarkably well tohaul themselves back from 139 all out on the first day, but as JacquesKallis demonstrated and Marcus Tresothick and Andrew Strass belatedlyrealised, there was no need for England to have slipped into quite such apredicament in the first place.Though he could hardly be faulted for his batting, the loss of AshleyGiles to a back spasm was a significant factor in England’s conceding afirst-innings lead of 193. Once the shine had gone off the new ball,England had no-one reliable to hold up an end, and so the effectiveness ofthe seamers was more or less halved. Giles did not bowl at his best in thesecond innings at Durban, but in mitigation, it was his first competitiveday of bowling in more than a week, and, spasms permitting, he is sure tohave a big role on a Newlands pitch that is expected to turn.Of greater concern to England, however, is the form of Mark Butcher, andto a lesser extent, Vaughan himself, who has managed just 53 runs in his first four innings of the series. Butcher was recalled after injuryahead of Robert Key, the man who had cashed in with 221 and an unbeaten 93not out against West Indies, but aside from an unflattering 79 at PortElizabeth he has struggled, and the vultures must surely be circling.Butcher himself feels a big score “is just around the corner”, and for themoment he retains the faith of his captain. “Butch played well in PortElizabeth for his 79,” said Vaughan, “although since then he hasn’tgot many runs. But I think we’ve seen over the last few years that he’s been agood player for us and pretty consistent.” Even so, his last Test hundredcame at Trent Bridge in August 2003, 16 matches ago.The issue of back-to-back Tests is sure to raise its ugly head again, especially with England expected to field the same XI for the third match running. But no matter how much of a strain it is for England’s seamers, no-one will be feeling the pinch – quite literally – like Shaun Pollock. In the closing stages at Durban, he suffered two agonising blows in consecutive balls from Steve Harmison, one on each index finger, but he was today passed fit with nothing more drastic than bruising.But even allowing for Pollock’s recovery, South Africa will still not be able to field the same team twice in two matches. Boeta Dippenaar, who struck an obdurate 110 at Port Elizabeth, has recovered from a knee injury, and takes the place of Martin van Jaarsveld, who batted with determination for his second-innings 49. Hashim Amla, who managed 1 and 0 in front of his home fans, earns a reprieve, while there could be a long-awaited debut for Charl Langeveldt, whose seven wickets for South Africa A destroyed England at Potchefstroom.If they are honest with themselves, South Africa might well have accepted this situation at the start of the series, especially now that they believe their great escape has stolen the initiative back from England. “We are the most relaxed we’ve been this series,” claimed Smith after a gentle early-morning workout. “We’ve had a nice practice here – it’s a bit cooler than in Durban – but every time you arrive at the ground you have to be on the button. We hope we can get it together for five days starting tomorrow.”South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs,3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Boeta Dippenaar, 6 Hashim Amla, 7AB de Villiers (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Dale Steyn.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 MarkButcher, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Simon Jones, 10 Matthew Hoggard, 11Steve Harmison.

The Ranji Trophy one-day tournament finals between Uttar Pradesh and Railways, slated to be held at the K.D Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday, will now be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.Ratnakar Shetty, Executive Secretary-in-charge of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that the unavailability of ground in Lucknow was the reason behind shifting the venue of the match.He said, “The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has written to the Indian Cricket Board that the state government is not releasing the ground for the match. So the match will now be held at the Wankhede Stadium on April 2.”However, cricket lovers in Kanpur vented their ire at the state government by burning the effigies of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister and RK Chaudhary, the Sports Minister at Civil Lines area near the Green Park stadium today. Fans and cricketers criticised the government’s decision, saying it was against the interests of the game in state.

Rina Hore, a former New South Wales player, has become the first woman to be appointed to the state’s cricket board. The six-member board endorsed Hore’s induction to the panel for “her skills and experience”, according to Bob Horsell, the chairman of the NSW board.Hore, who was also manager of the women’s under-19 team, was happy with her appointment and positive about the future. “In accepting the nomination, I thank people for their hard work that first led to a woman being nominated,” quoted Hore as saying. “Now that I’m on the board I look forward to working hard with a talented and committed group of people and continuing to promote women’s cricket.”While serving as vice-president of the Women’s Cricket Australia Board, Hore played an important part in bringing men’s and women’s cricket under one body.

Although not part of the official tour schedule, Sri Lanka played a match today against a Getty XI in the idyllic setting of Wormsley, Buckinghamshire. It would have been a light-hearted, social, affair but for one young batsman it was further recognition of someone expected to go a long way in the game.Sam Northeast, 16, who has been prolific for Harrow School and already made a mark for Kent 2nd XI, lined up alongside more household names such as Graeme Hick. But he was far from overawed as he struck a fine 62 against some of the bowlers who will front up at Lord’s next Thursday.However, for many, his innings will not come as a huge surprise. His progress has been charted from early school days where he broke records galore. If the hype is to be believed Northeast won’t remain anonymous for much longer.When he left Wellesley House in Broadstairs, his prep school, he’d racked up 19 centuries during his last term and earned a sport scholarship to Harrow. He played for the first XI at Lord’s when he was just 14 and, last summer, scored 96 on his Kent 2nd XI against a Derbyshire attack including Chris Schofield and Travis Friend.”Playing at Lord’s was a wonderful experience but probably making 96 for Kent against Derbyshire has been by best moment so far,” Northeast said late last year after picking up the Gray-Nicolls Trophy for the most outstanding school cricketer. “I played alongside Martin Saggers and he just showed his class.”Northeast’s path to first-class cricket is laid out in front of him, with only GCSE exams standing in the way, but he still recalls the day he witnessed one of the world’s worst recent tragedies. He was on tour in Sri Lanka with Harrow, and practising at Galle, when the tsunami struck. The quick thinking of Simon Halliday, their coach, saved the day but Northeast still thinks about it.”It crosses my mind now quite a few times how fortunate I have been and although I do not think it has changed me, I still find it hard to talk about,” he told earlier this week. “A very strong bond was created between that team.”He is certainly not a one-sport man, or boy, and still has the tough decision to make as to whether he leaves behind rugby. Roger Uttley, the former England coach who now works at Harrow, believes he could go far with the oval ball, too.The signs are, though, that cricket will be the one. David Parsons, England’s new spin coach, who worked with Northeast at Loughborough, told that he has star quality. “Sam is one of the most exciting talents and there is no reason why he should not go far. A fantastic ball player, very fit and a stroker of the ball rather than a hitter. He is Michael Vaughan-esque.”Those are views echoed by his Kent coach Paul Farbrace. “Sam is extremely talented but the thing that has struck me is his mental strength, he doesn’t get fazed by anything. He is very focussed at what he wants to achieve but remains level-headed at the same time. If he continues to develop there is certainly a Test cricketer in the making.”The word is that he will have played first team for Kent before this season is out, then it will be a case of balancing academic life with his playing career. It is easy to load young players with unfair levels of expectation but, so far, Northeast has taken everything in his stride. Watch this space.

Tyron Henderson, the East London allrounder, is set to leave South Africa for a stint with English county Kent. Kent recently released Justin Kemp in order for the South African allrounder to recover from niggling injuries and be fit for future one-day assignments as well as the 2007 World Cup, and in his place has stepped Henderson.Henderson, the Standard Bank Pro20 cricketer of the year in 2004-05, has a reputation of being a destructive batsman with a strike rate of 152.22 in Pro20 cricket. His canny fast-medium bowling has been seen as a plus. Against Western Province, he finished with the outstanding figures of 2 for 8 off four overs, the best figures by any bowler in Pro20 cricket. He has even represented his country’s A team as well as in the Hong Kong Sixes last season.Henderson has been slated for a Twenty20 debut against Essex at Canterbury on Tuesday, followed by games against Surrey at The Oval and Middlesex at Lord’s later in the week. Kent have also reported that he may play certain Pro40 limited-overs matches and the eight remaining county games.Henderson, who made his first-class debut for Border in 1998-99, has signed a contract to play for the Highveld Lions next summer.

Scorecard

South Zone defended a small target with enthusiasm and defeated North Zone by 30 runs in the league stage of the Deodhar Trophy at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The result meant that West Zone were ensured of the title with two league games yet to be played.Put in to bat on a seaming, bouncy pitch, South Zone struggled from 82 for 5 to post a modest total of 191 in 44.3 overs. But their new-ball bowlers fought back superbly to skittle North Zone for 161 in 46.4 overs.South owed their decent score to a patient half-century from S Badrinath. Half their side, including captain VVS Laxman, had been packed off cheaply, by the North pace bowlers led by Delhi youngster Ishant Sharma (3 for 51).Badrinath and wicketkeeper Tilak Naidu (31) put on 44 runs to stem the rot before Ashish Nehra came back for his second spell to polish off the tail. He ended with 3 for 27.North Zone, who needed to win the match with a bonus point to keep their slim title hopes alive, lost their top half for 49 against the South Zone’s new-ball attack led by Andhra’s KS Sahabuddin. He snapped up two wickets in his sixth over and finished with 4 for 30. North Zone will take on East Zone on March 10 while South Zone will clash with West Zone in the last tie on March 11.

Surrey have signed Anil Kumble as one of their overseas players for a key period of next summer. Kumble will arrive following India’s tour of West Indies, and will be available for eight Championship matches from July 14.He has previously had county stints with Northamptonshire and Leicestershire and continues Surrey’s tradition of signing high class spinner bowlers. Saqlain Mushtaq and Harbhajan Singh both played for the club last season.The Surrey coach, Alan Butcher, said: “Anil is recognised as one of the best bowlers in world cricket. In addition, his character and professionalism are also hugely admired. Any coach would welcome these qualities in his dressing room. His presence will be a huge mid-season boost to us next year as we attempt to gain promotion to division one.”Kumble added: “It’s great to have this opportunity to play for Surrey and it is something I am looking forward to immensely. This is a new chapter in Surrey’s history and I want to help them get back on track to being a Championship winning side.”