Ronnie Irani will miss Essex’s season opener against Yorkshire next week as he continues to recover from knee surgery.”My knee is still not quite 100% right after the operation I had last September,” Irani said. “The rehab has gone extremely well, but I will miss the Yorkshire game next week – which is a huge disappointment.”But I’m looking at the situation positively in the sense that we have a long season ahead and if I miss the first game of the season but play over the majority of the summer then I’ll be absolutely delighted with that.Irani targeted Essex’s first home game of season, against Somerset, starting on Wednesday April 28.

Sri Lanka will host the six-nation Asia Cup, to be staged from July 16 to August 2, it was announced today after they signed a hosting agreement with the Asian Cricket Council.Mohan de Silva, Sri Lanka’s president, told reporters: “We are pleased to announce that we have come to an agreement as to the details of this tournament, and we are looking forward to staging it in this country.”Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the Asia Cup organising committee, and Ashraful Huq, the chief executive of the ACC, flew to Colombo to meet with Sri Lanka officials. The pair also met with the Sri Lankan prime minister to confirm government support for the tournament.The Asia Cup, last played at Dhaka in June 2000, has been reintroduced after the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan. The ACC expects the tournament to now be staged every two years in addition to the Asian Test Championship.”Cricket in Asia was suffering because India and Pakistan were not playing,” said Dalmiya at a media briefing. “We need the four main teams in Asia to be playing against each other if we are to develop cricket in the region. We are confident that the tournament can be played every two years, but the current ICC 10-year plan leaves us with a very heavy schedule. This must be revised and we will be taking up the matter during the ICC board meeting in June.”The tournament will include two round-robin stages, starting with two groups of three. This will be followed by a Super Four stage, and then the final. A total of 13 one-dayers will be played, with nine matches to be played under lights. Three venues are to be used: Sinhalese Sports Club, Premadasa International Stadium and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.Schedule
Group A – Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong
Group B – Sri Lanka, India, UAE
Fri July 16 – Bangladesh v Hong Kong (SSC), India v UAE (Dambulla)
Sat July 17 – Pakistan v Bangladesh (SSC), Sri Lanka v UAE (Dambulla)
Sun July 18 – Pakistan v Hong Kong (SSC), Sri Lanka v India (Dambulla)

Wed July 21 – A2 v B2 (SSC), A1 v B1 (Premadasa)
Fri July 23 – A2 v B1 (Premadasa)
Sun July 25 – A1 v B2 (Premadasa)
Tue July 27 – B1 v B2 (Premadasa)
Thu July 29 – A1 v A2 (Premadasa)
Sun Aug 01 – Final (Premadasa)
Mon Aug 02 – Reserve day

The Asian Test Championships, which was last played in 2001, is likely to be revived. According to a report by Press Trust of India, Mohammad Ashraful Haq, the chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), stated that the tournament, which pits together all the Asian Test-playing nations, would resume in 2005 and would be held every two years. With the Asia Cup being a biennial event as well, this would ensure that either the Asian Test Championships or the Asia Cup is held every year.Haq was in favour of including the results from the Asian Test Championship matches into the official rankings, and also expressed the hope that this event could be fitted into an already packed international calendar. He also indicated that Pakistan were most likely to host the Asia Cup in 2006. A final decision on this is expected during the ACC’s general body meeting, which will be held in Colombo on August 1.The first edition of the Asian Test Championship was held in 1998-99, and was the only occasion when Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka all participated. Pakistan won that edition, beating Sri Lanka in the final. However, the Sri Lankans had their revenge a couple of years later – in a tournament from which India pulled out – when they thrashed Pakistan by eight wickets at Lahore to lift the trophy.

Clare Connor, England’s captain, led Sussex to victory in the Frizzell Women’s County Championship in Cambridge for the second year in succession. Sussex were undefeated in their five matches, recording wins against Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Lancashire, Kent and Yorkshire.Kent, skippered Charlotte Edwards, finished second after beating Yorkshire by eight wickets in their final match. Edwards was the leading run-scorer of the competition and remained unbeaten on 79.Somerset won division two and will gain promotion next year to the top flight. Surrey were relegated from division one, and Durham drop from division two into the Emerging Counties Cup next year.”I’m delighted with our performances this week and that we have retained our title," Connor said. "We have some great players in Sussex which reflects the tireless development work done by people throughout the county. I just want to take the winning habit to the matches against New Zealand now and to begin the NatWest women’s series on home soil will be fantastic”.

Ken Edwards, the chief executive of the Telstra Stadium, expects international cricket matches at the Olympic venue to be sellouts and thinks that the state-of-the-art arena will appeal to more than two million fans from Western Sydney.The Telstra Stadium has been chasing the rights to stage Test and one-dayers from next year, sparking outrage from traditionalists who have said that cricket should never leave the SCG.Edwards said that rugby league, rugby union and Australian Rules had all benefited immensely from playing marquee matches at the 80,000-capacity stadium, which has almost twice as many people as the SCG. “There is a very real opportunity to grow the game in Australia’s largest city – one that hasn’t been recognised, let alone seized on, by the SCG Trust.”We estimate there are over two million Sydneysiders, living west of Sydney Olympic Park who do not go to cricket at the SCG – it’s too far away and too hard to get to.”According to Edwards, the ARU, NRL and AFL relocated games to a better venue since they had identified the potential for growth with such a move. “Their faith has been borne out by the outstanding results they have achieved at Telstra Stadium in the last five years, with record crowds being set. The ARU and NRL have both set world record crowds for their games. The Swans have set a record crowd for AFL outside Victoria and last year had the highest attendance at a regular season game across the entire AFL competition.”In a report that Edwards presented, he also mentioned that an average crowd of more than 80,000 had attended the 18 rugby Tests held at Telstra since 1999. He said 700,000 more fans had seen live rugby Tests than otherwise would have been the case.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A triple strike in the first four overs of the match swung the game Pakistan’s way on the opening day of the first Test at Faisalabad, before a grim 97 not out from Thilan Samaraweera clawed back a modicum of respect for Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s fast bowlers were rewarded for their discipline as they tore the top order apart in a matter of minutes, and Samaraweera aside, the rest wilted in the face of some accurate pace and guile, as Sri Lanka limped to 233 for 7 at stumps.Shoaib Akhtar was deadly from the word go. He varied his pace and swing cannily and made the batsmen play at almost everything. Mohammad Sami also posed some searching questions early on before producing a really probing spell after tea, when he broke the partnership that had partially revived the Sri Lankan innings. Samaraweera gritted it out amid the ruins and strung together two crucial partnerships, but the damage had been done in the first fifteen minutes of the day and Pakistan were in control throughout.After electing to bat first, Marvan Atapattu lasted just three balls. An angled delivery from Shoaib pitched on middle, cut in a shade and struck the back leg. In his next over Shoaib lured Kumar Sangakkara into a back-foot punch, that took the edge and flew to Imran Farhat at third slip. Sami then produced a beauty to remove Mahela Jayawardene with a perfect outswinger and Sri Lanka were 9 for 3 before the spectators could even settle in their seats.Sanath Jayasuriya and Samaraweera set about repairing the damage in contrasting styles. Jayasuriya slashed wildly at anything wide of the stumps, and was extremely fortunate to be reprieved twice, while Samaraweera was more intent on preserving his wicket. Jayasuriya lived on the edge throughout his stay and struggled in particular against Abdul Razzaq, who pitched it on a good length and moved it away consistently. He was dropped twice off Razzaq: Inzamam muffed a low chance in the slips before Shoaib Malik reacted late to one that whizzed to him at gully. But Jayasuriya didn’t capitalise on these large dollops of fortune and fell to Sami soon after, swishing at a wide one. Asim Kamal found himself at the receiving end of the screamer which he juggled before clutching on with one hand (77 for 4).

Samaraweera inched his way towards a seventh Test fifty, nudging and pushing when the opportunity arose. He shuffled across the crease early in his innings, which nearly caused his downfall although Steve Bucknor turned down Razzaq’s huge appeal for lbw. But unlike Jayasuriya, Samaraweera chose to play along the ground on most occasions. Watching the ball closely, he played as late as possible and negated any movement off the pitch.He was much more at home against the spinners and even danced down the pitch a couple of times. When on 63, he suffered a bout of cramps that forced him to bat with a runner but he didn’t hold back against the fast bowlers late in the day. Rocking onto the back foot, he pulled Shoaib and Sami fiercely and even got a bit cheeky, with a series of controlled glides.After adding 68 with Jayasuriya, Samaraweera put on 65 more with Jehan Mubarak, who was not fazed by Shoaib’s hostility in spite of it being only his third Test. He displayed the maturity that the situation demanded, and a majestic pull was followed by two square drives as he clattered 12 off one Shoaib over. But he fell soon after tea, hanging his bat indecisively to a short one from Sami, as Inzamam latched on to a straightforward chance at first slip.Chaminda Vaas and Rangana Herath displayed some gumption to provide Samaraweera with some critical support, as he soldiered on towards his hundred. He needed three more when bad light stopped play, and unlike his previous three hundreds, which had all come in run-feasts, this innings helped Sri Lanka wriggle out of a really tight corner.Samaraweera’s knock ensured that Sri Lanka didn’t sink, but thanks to that devastating early burst, Pakistan still held the initiative at the close.

Scorecard

Michael Bevan collected his second century in two Pura Cup matches but the quality of his contribution was reduced by a late Tasmania collapse against South Australia at Bellerive Oval. Bevan, who shared a 179-run partnership with the opener David Dawson, guided the Tigers through a difficult first session to the safety of 1 for 196.But after Bevan fell to Mark Cosgrove, the South Australia fast bowlers Shaun Tait and Paul Rofe took the new ball and five wickets for seven runs. Tait was again impressive with his pace and movement, while Rofe pounced to remove Dan Marsh and Sean Clingeleffer in two balls. Tait then added his fourth wicket as Tasmania limped to stumps.Marsh won the toss and by lunch Tasmania were 1 for 40 after losing Jamie Cox. Dawson crawled to 73 from 243 balls, but at the other end Bevan played a flashy innings to add to his hundred against Victoria last week.

Ricky PontingOn the victory
To turn up and win today was just an awesome effort. We were in trouble early in the game at 5 for 70-something and to turn that around to win by nearly 500 runs says a lot about the team and their fighting qualities.On Glenn McGrath’s bowling
He bowled absolutely fantastically to get 8 for 24. The conditions are suited to fast bowlers, but he just bowled sensationally well. It’s his first five-wicket haul at the WACA.On his return from an ankle injury last year
His comeback has been brilliant and it’s always great to have guys like him around who are match-winners. We’ve got a lot of match-winners and he did a fantastic job today.On being captain
It’s a great feeling walking out leading a great Australian team. We know that we’ve achieved most things in the game, but the great thing about this side is we try to improve ourselves every day. With this Test match we’ve improved ourselves again.On the pitch
The wicket and the conditions have been great and the crowd support we’ve had over the past few days has been awesome. The Australian team loves coming to Perth.On his batting
If I could hold a few catches things would be going OK. I got a few runs, spent a bit of time in the middle. It’s been a frustrating period, but I said coming into this game that a big score was around the corner. I didn’t get a big score this time, but fingers crossed it comes next week.Inzamam-ul-HaqOn the result
It is very disappointing. On the first day they were 5 for 78, and we thought hopefully we’ll do well while batting.On the difficulty of the pitch
We have a lot of youngsters who don’t have a lot of experience and do not know how to concentrate. Hopefully they learn quickly for the next Test match.On his opening bowlers
Shoaib [Akhtar] and [Mohammad] Sami really bowled well and hopefully they continue this form.On Australia’s display
They performed very well and are the best team in world.

South Africa 273 for 7 (Rudolph 93, Dippenaar 79*) v England
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

England took three wickets in the morning – including both Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis for ducks – and four more in the evening session to grab the honours on the first day at Port Elizabeth. South Africa regained some ground by batting through the afternoon without losing a wicket, but their final score of 273 for 7 represents a disappointing effort on a slow pitch.England’s heroes were the irrepressible Andrew Flintoff, who bounded in and bounced out three wickets, and Matthew Hoggard, who started off with the early wicket of Smith, with the second ball of the day, and grabbed two more late on with the second new ball as England worked their way through South Africa’s long batting order.For South Africa, Jacques Rudolph made a patient four-hour 93, and put on 112 for the fourth wicket with Boeta Dippenaar. Dippenaar remained unbeaten with a solid 79, from 193 balls, by the close.The wicket of Smith, who started last year’s series in England with double-centuries in both the first two Tests, was a major psychological blow. After winning the toss, he lasted only two balls before fending Hoggard to third slip, where Andrew Strauss took a good catch in front of him as it faded downwards, and South Africa were reeling at 0 for 1.AB de Villiers, making his debut at 20, lived up to his reputation as a strokemaker, easing Steve Harmison for a four through the covers and then, when the next ball was pinged in shorter, leaning back and clattering it to the third-man boundary. Rudolph was no slouch to start with, collecting two leg-side fours as Harmison strayed.The second-wicket pair prospered for more than an hour, until Flintoff broke through in only his second over. He brought one back at de Villiers, who was struck on the pads after a breezy 28, and Simon Taufel raised the finger despite suspicions that it might have been a little high (63 for 2).Michael Vaughan immediately brought back Harmison, and this shrewd move paid immediate dividends, as Kallis seemed to lose sight of a 92mph screamer that hit his off stump on the full (66 for 3). Harmison, suitably bucked, thudded one into Dippenaar’s pads, but this time the umpire’s hand stayed in his pocket.

Rudolph and Dippenaar then dug in, frustrating the bowlers during a long, hot afternoon, and surviving a probing spell from Ashley Giles, the only specialist spinner in the match. Rudolph had a couple of narrow escapes: early on he’d flicked Hoggard just past Graham Thorpe at short leg, and later on Strauss was under the helmet when a similar half-chance scuttled through off Giles. Apart from that, though, Rudolph’s closest call came when he glanced Harmison fine, but the speed of the ball took it beyond the grasp of the diving Geraint Jones for his tenth four.Dippenaar, meanwhile played compactly, collecting most of his runs square of the wicket on the off side. He escaped a close shout for leg-before by Harmison before he’d scored, but by the end of the session was leaning back to lance Flintoff over point for four.They had lifted the score to 178 when Rudolph’s long vigil finally came to an end. He was in sight of his fifth Test century when he moved to 93 by turning Flintoff to the midwicket boundary for his 14th four. But the next ball, from round the wicket, was shorter, and Rudolph flinched away from it. It touched something on the way through – probably sweater or arm rather than bat or glove – and the appeal was turned down by Darrell Hair. But the delivery had done its job: Rudolph was shaken up by it. The next ball was of a similar length, but a little wider, and Rudolph nicked it through to Geraint Jones. There was no doubt this time, and Rudolph trudged off after 192 balls of defiance.Zander de Bruyn soon followed, misjudging one from Flintoff that knocked back the top of his off stump (192 for 5), but then Shaun Pollock – rather surprisingly elevated above the recent Test centurymaker Andrew Hall in the order – chanced his arm for a bright 31.But the second new ball did for Pollock, as he edged a probing delivery from Hoggard straight to Marcus Trescothick at first slip (253 for 6). Hall soon inside-edged Hoggard into his stumps (261 for 7), then Hoggard almost rounded off the day in the perfect fashion when Dippenaar edged low into the slips, but Trescothick couldn’t quite cling on to the low half-chance, which scuttled away for four to take Dippenaar to 78.So Dippenaar survived to fight another day. But England, with a still-newish ball at their disposal tomorrow morning, will be the happier bunnies in Port Elizabeth tonight.Steven Lynch is the editor of Cricinfo.

An illness that restricted Andre Adams’ domestic season has struck again and he will miss the third one-day match against Australia at Auckland tomorrow. Recalled to the squad on Wednesday, Adams will know by Sunday if he will stay with the team for the fourth game at Wellington.Lou Vincent has joined the Kiwis as a fielding substitute, but the selectors have not replaced Adams in the 13-man squad. A New Zealand spokesman said the side would be named after a look at the Eden Park pitch tomorrow morning. The news gives Jeff Wilson, who was hit for 57 off six overs on Tuesday, extra hope of retaining his place as Adams was expected to charge back into the line-up.John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, has indicated that Daryl Tuffey could be dropped for the third ODI due to lack of form. Tuffey, who played in the previous two one-dayers, has managed to take just one wicket at 120. “Tuffey is good enough cricketer to know he is missing the target areas and if you miss by six inches against Australia, they’re going to put you away,” Bracewell told New Zealand Press Association. “The problem is we’re not missing by six inches, we’re missing by a foot and a half.”New Zealand Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Michael Papps,Craig McMillan, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Chris Cairns, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Jeff Wilson, Kyle Mills, Daryl Tuffey.