Heath Streak has fired a parting shot at the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, calling in today’s Daily Telegraph for Zimbabwe to be banned from all international cricket pending an investigation by the ICC.Streak, who arrived in England yesterday to take up his position as one of Warwickshire’s overseas players, claimed that the Zimbabwe board discriminated against players on race grounds.”I don’t think that other countries should be playing Test or one-day cricket against Zimbabwe, home or away, until the current crisis has been resolved,” Streak told the newspaper. He went on to say that it was the responsibility of the ICC to try and come up with a solution.”I hope that things are redeemable and that the damage can be repaired. But there is increasing polarisation between the two parties, and the longer the dispute goes on, the more difficult it’s going to be to get an agreement.”Players are being discriminated against because they are white, which is the main problem. But it isn’t purely a black and white thing. There’s also regional discrimination as well.”Streak added that he still harboured hopes of playing for Zimbabwe again, but admitted that without intervention from the ICC, the chances were slim. “The more players that leave, the more difficult it is going to be for Zimbabwe to be competitive again. I have to think about my family and my future. If I wait for the problems in Zimbabwe to be resolved and nothing has happened in six months’ time, then I may have missed the opportunity.”Streak also mentioned that he had received offers from New South Wales and Tasmania.

American ProCricket L.L.C. and EchoStar Communications Corporation announced today that DISH Network satellite TV will broadcast ProCricket’s regular season, all-star match, playoff and championship games on DISH On Demand Pay-Per-View (ODPPV) this summer. ProCricket is the first professional cricket league in the United States, with local teams in eight US markets, and now becomes the first US cricket organization to have its matches aired to a global audience.DISH’s ODPPV will begin offering ProCricket on Friday, July 23 with a match between the New Jersey Fire and the Florida Thunder. Eight additional regular season matches will be broadcast live on Fridays and Saturdays during the summer, with a replay of each match also available. ProCricket’s all-star game will be broadcast on Thursday, August 19. ProCricket’s 2004 Championship Round play-offs will be available on Friday, August 27 and Sunday, August 29. The final Premier Championship match will be broadcast Sunday, September 5.”As the first American professional cricket league, ProCricket is a great addition to DISH Network’s pay-per-view lineup,” said Susan Arnold, vice president of programming for DISH. “These exciting games are attractive to culturally diverse subscribers who rely on DISH for programming that blends the best from many nations."”We are pleased to partner with DISH to bring the debut season of ProCricket into living rooms across the nation,” said Kal Patel, chairman and commissioner for ProCricket. “DISH has proven to be the leader in televising international cricket in America, having aired the World Cup, so it is a natural fit to showcase US ProCricket games in the same TV venue.”DISH residential customers can purchase single 2004 ProCricket regular season and playoff games for $9.95 each. ProCricket’s final Premier Championship match can be purchased separately for $19.95. Residential customers also can elect to purchase a ProCricket Season.

Ravi Rampaul is to fly home early from West Indies’ tour of England, after failing to recover from a persistent shin injury. Rampaul, 19, played in three matches in the recent NatWest Series, but was forced to pull out on the morning of the match against New Zealand at Cardiff on July 3.A spokesman for the West Indies team said that Rampaul would be flying home tomorrow, and his replacement, Corey Collymore, would be flying in on Monday. Collymore, 26, managed just three wickets in four Tests during England’s series in the Caribbean, although he often bowled without reward.

Canada and Bermuda have named their squads to play the Intercontinental Cup tie at Sunnybrook, Toronto starting on August 13.There has been considerable controversy over the selection of venue, although the Canadian board insists that pitch will be fit and ready in time.It will be the first first-class game to be played in Canada since September 1951 when MCC beat Canada by 141 runs.Canada, who beat USA in Florida, are expected to beat Bermuda and progress into the semi-finals of the tournament to be held in Sharjah in November. Bermuda lost the other group match against USA last month.Canada squad John Davison (capt), Desmond Chumney, Subin Zurkari, Ashish Bagai, Manzoor Chaudhary, Haninder Dhillon Don Maxwell, Sunil Dhaniram, Kevin Sandher, Austin Codrington, Ashish Patel, Umar Bhatti.Bermuda squad Clay Smith (capt), Dennis Archer, Delyone Borden, Jekon Edness, Reginald Tucker, Oliver Pitcher, Dwayne Leverock, Irvine Romaine, Stephen Outerbride, Wendell White, Ryan Steede, Kevin Hurdle, Saleem Mukudden.

Terry Jenner, who played nine Tests for Australia but is better known as Shane Warne’s mentor, has criticised Australia’s selectors for omitting Stuart MacGill from the squad to tour India next month. Jenner questioned the idea of going with Nathan Hauritz and Cameron White to back up Warne, saying that India was hardly the right place to groom youngsters.Speaking to the newspaper, Jenner said, “It’s very sad that a bloke who has taken 150-odd wickets at Test level has been passed over for two guys who haven’t even been successful at first-class level. I would have thought that if you were to pick the best two spinners in Australia you’d have to pick MacGill as the second spinner.”You have to blood young bowlers for the future, but Hauritz has had no success and for someone like that to go to the most difficult place in the world for spinners – a place where Shane and Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] have averaged 40 or 50 – what hope does Nathan have?”Jenner reckoned that both Hauritz and White were picked with containment roles in mind. “But, in that case, they may as well have picked someone like Andrew Symonds to keep it tight because he bats and fields well, too,” he said. “Put it this way, I can’t imagine Hauritz keeping [Sachin] Tendulkar down for too long. My thinking is that if you don’t have one who’s good enough, you don’t take one at all.”Jenner’s views found support from two offspinners who had a fair degree of success in Indian conditions. Greg Matthews was instrumental in the Tied Test of 1986, and he said, “I find it amazing that, for the place where you have the most difficult conditions, a place where we haven’t been successful for 35 years, they’re taking one guy who struggles to make a first-class team and another whose stats don’t rate. Hauritz is a lovely young man but he played eight games last year for two wickets a game at 63 and they’re putting him up against the best in the world.”Gavin Robertson, who was the foil for Warne on the ill-fated tour of 1998, believed that Hauritz’s style was better suited for the one-day game. “You can’t bowl slow on subcontinental wickets, you’ve got to rip the hell out of the ball and make it drop quickly,” he said. “If you don’t, you’ll be in trouble. Nathan needs to spin the ball more. When you play a lot of one-day cricket you tend to underspin it. You really have to dig it into the dust and try to get bounce and spin, otherwise you’ll be in trouble.”

Aftab Habib, who represented England in two Tests in 1999, has been offered a contract by Leicestershire, whom he played for the last time they won the County Championship in 1998. Last month, Habib expressed his disappointment at not being fixed up with another county after his release by Essex at the end of last season.Habib, 32, had joined Essex in 2002 to re-establish his England career, but this never came about, as he averaged a lukewarm 38 in three summers at Chelmsford.Habib re-joins Leicestershire as they look to strengthen their middle order, after Darren Stevens left for Kent and the overseas player, Brad Hodge, announced he wasn’t returning in 2005.

Bob Woolmer has expressed his disapproval over Javed Miandad’s scathing criticism and termed it as “very disappointing”. Miandad had questioned Woolmer’s coaching methods and said that nothing much had changed since he took over as coach.Speaking to the media on the eve of the first Test, Woolmer was blunt with his reaction. “It’s very disappointing that a senior, very respected cricketer and past coach of the Pakistan cricket team comes out and criticises the team, the coach and everyone involved,” he said. “I find that rather disappointing coming from someone of his caliber.”Woolmer, who was blamed for experimenting too much with the side, found the remark even more confounding because Miandad had been in charge right before he took over. “[They were] harsh words from someone who had the team before I took over. It’s like … criticising yourself. He’s not working with me, he’s not in the dressing-room, he doesn’t understand what I’m doing or what I’m trying to do, so he’s really saying things from outside.”Woolmer then spoke about working together and, refreshingly, didn’t limit it to cricket. “Quite frankly, if Pakistan were to get together and unite the forces and harness all the forces they had, it would be a much better country for it.”

Zimbabweans 206 and 233 (Williams 82*, Morkel 6-66) drew with Combined Easterns/Northerns XI 275
ScorecardRain rescued the Zimbabweans as play was brought to an early close on the fourth and final day against the Easterns/Northerns XI at Willowmoore Park.Easterns/Northerns would have needed only 165 for victory after Morne Morkel took six for 66 to wreck Zimbabwe’s second innings – but, instead, the rain wrecked any chance of a result.After most of the third day had been washed out – only 21.1 overs were bowled -the Zimbabweans resumed the final day in a precarious position on 193 for 8: a lead of 82 with just two wickets remaining. In what little play they could muster between the showers on the final day, they managed to double that lead by adding 82 for the last two wickets. Their spearhead was again the indomitable Sean Williams who took his overnight total of 53 not out to an unbeaten 82. But then the rains came, leaving the match high and dry and out of the reach of the Easterns/Northerns.

John Major, the cricket-loving former British prime minister, has been made an honorary life member of the prestigious Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. A life-long cricket fan and current president of Surrey, Major is in India as a representative of the charity "Seeing is Believing", which aims to raise funds for blind people.The honour was conferred upon him during a gala lunch at the club’s headquarters at the Brabourne Stadium, which was Mumbai’s premier Test venue until a dispute in the 1970s led to the inauguration of the Wankhede Stadium, a few hundred metres down the road. Australia kicked off their recent tour of India with a three-day fixture at the ground.The lunch was attended, among others, by Sunil Gavaskar, Polly Umrigar and the former Pakistani cricketer, Intikhab Alam. “I am honoured to be amidst so many greats of the game," said Major. "I will cherish it forever.”

Ajit Agarkar has been called in to the side for the third one-day international against Pakistan as a replacement for the injured Laxmipathy Balaji. The selectors inducted Agarkar in the squad after Balaji suffered a rib injury during the second ODI at Visakhapatnam.”Ajit Agarkar could come to the side. We will decide about it,” Wright was quoted as saying to The Press Trust of India. This would be a comeback match for Agarkar, who last played against Bangladesh in December 2004. He has participated in 134 matches and taken 203 wickets at 27.84.India leads the one-day series 2-0 with the third one-dayer tomorrow at Jamshedpur.