The South African cricketer Lorrie Wilmot, who played 147 matches in a first-class career that spanned 28 years, has died in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, after apparently taking his own life.Wilmot, who was described by friends and colleagues as larger-than-life, was one of the lost generation of South African cricketers, denied the chance to play Test cricket by the country’s sporting isolation during the Apartheid era. He was selected to tour England in 1970, but when that trip was cancelled for political reasons, he never got another chance.With no international honours to compete for, Wilmot threw himself into provincial cricket throughout the 1960s and ’70s. He went on to captain Eastern Province and also played for Border. David Emslie, the chief executive of Eastern Province Cricket, grew up with Wilmot in the village of Salem near Grahamstown. “I’ve known him all my life,” he said. “He was a hugely respected cricketer and a larger-than-life character.” He was also renowned as one of the biggest hitters in the game, and once belted the Kiwi offspinner John Sparling for a six that carried some 120 metres.But Wilmot’s life after cricket had been an unhappy one, and in March 2003 he was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl. Mali Govender, a police spokesperson for the Grahamstown area, said it appeared that Wilmot had shot himself. His body was reportedly found by a neighbour, with a suicide note nearby, and though an inquest will be conducted, no foul play was suspected. Wilmot was thought to have been alone at the time of his death.He scored 7687 runs at 32.02 in his long career, with 12 centuries and a highest score of 222 not out.

England 121 for 3 (Trescothick 50) trail Carib Beer XI 129 (Hoggard 4-27) by 8 runs
Scorecard

England enjoyed a fairly low-key day in Bridgetown. Their second-string bowling attack skittled out the Carib Beer XI for 129 inside two sessions, and then all their top-order batsmen enjoyed some time in the middle. Perhaps most importantly, Marcus Trescothick finally found some kind of form – thought he was still well below his best – in making 50 and so more than doubling the aggregate of his previous seven innings on the tour.It took a while for England to take command of the day’s proceedings. Trescothick, standing in as captain for the resting Michael Vaughan, lost the toss and was asked to field first, and although Matthew Hoggard grabbed an early wicket when Xavier Marshall fended a rising delivery to Gareth Batty at short leg (31 for 1), Daren Ganga and Sylvester Joseph added 42 for the second wicket to stabilise the innings.But with six overs to go until lunch, England broke the back of the West Indian innings. James Anderson, who had been overlooked for the first two Tests, dented Ganga’s prospects of a Test recall by having him caught behind for 25, before Tonito Willett was trapped lbw for 1. Meanwhile Ashley Giles, who has been another peripheral figure on the tour so far, chipped in with the wicket of Dwayne Bravo as he misjudged a sweep, and England had removed three top-order batsmen in the space of 12 runs.The procession continued after the break. Denish Ramdin nibbled at Rikki Clarke to give Geraint Jones his third catch of the innings (93 for 5), before Joseph – who had played sensibly for his 36 – became Clarke’s second victim in quick succession (100 for 6). Giles then grabbed a second wicket as Dave Mohammed spooned a return catch for 7 (107 for 7).

There was plenty at stake in the match, despite England’s rather indifferent approach to their first two warm-up fixtures in Jamaica at the beginning of the tour. And for the young Test allrounder, Omari Banks, there was a chance to push for a recall after several months out with injury. This time last year, he helped West Indies to a world-record fourth-innings run-chase of 418 against Australia: today, he wasn’t quite able to reproduce that sort of an innings, but his 17 was nonetheless the only double-figure score that the last eight batsmen could muster between them, as Hoggard returned to sweep up the tail. But England’s bowlers were not at their best, and the low score owed more to poor batting than any outstanding performances with the ball.When England batted, all eyes were on Trescothick. His half-century was far from convincing. He had some early luck when he edged Jermaine Lawson behind only to be reprieved by a no-ball call, and enjoyed two more let-offs when he was dropped on 36 at mid-off by Tonito Willett and then again on 46 at cover. But the runs might just help his fragile confidence.Mark Butcher looked good for his 17 until he pulled Dwight Washington straight to Marshall at backward square leg, Paul Collingwood was equally assured until well stumped by Denesh Ramdin off Mohammed for 20, and Trescothick’s luck finally ran out when he was bowled round his legs by Banks.

Australia 323 for 8 (Hayden 87, Lehmann 67) beat Zimbabwe 184 (Taylor 65, Lehmann 4-7) by 139 runs, and lead three-match series 2-0
Scorecard

It was never expected that any of the matches between Australia and the team supposedly representing Zimbabwe would be competitive: the only questionswere how much the Aussies would win by, and whether the Zimbabweans could avoid total humiliation in this second match at Harare. The answer to the first question was 139 runs, and to the second, yes … until the last 35 minutes, anyway.Tatenda Taibu put Australia in after winning the toss, and the main feature of their total of 323 for 8 was a third-wicket partnership of 137 between the two left-handers, Matthew Hayden and Darren Lehmann. Adam Gilchrist – another left-hander – made 20 of the opening stand of 26 after surviving an uncomfortable first over from Douglas Hondo, during which he edged a boundary that would have been a regulation catch to a third slip. He was caught off a no-ball on 18, but then skyed a catch off Hondo.Michael Clarke, promoted to No. 3, played some attractive drives before he played over a full-length delivery from Tinashe Panyangara and lost his leg stump. Australia were 43 for 2 in the eighth over and, incredibly, Hayden had only 2 off 14 balls.He was now joined by Lehmann. For a while both concentrated on the ones andtwos, but as their partnership developed the boundaries began to flow, although both found timing difficult at times. Hayden quickly followed Lehmann to his fifty, taking 72 balls against 57. They went into the sixties neck and neck, but then Lehmann tried an extravagant drive against Stuart Matsikenyeri and was bowled for 67 (180 for 3).Hayden weighed in with some powerful leg-side strokes, but he tried it once too often against Tawanda Mupariwa, holing out on the boundary for 87. In tighter circumstances it would be termed a soft dismissal, but again it was clear the Australians were not treating these matches seriously, as was the holding-back of Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn in the batting order. Martyn only entered at the fall of the fifth wicket, and Ponting at the sixth.The later batsmen batted with an abandon that would hardly be tolerated againststronger opposition, and wickets continued to fall, including one to the specialist batsman Brendan Taylor, bowling his gentle offbreaks. The one batsman to cash in was Jason Gillespie, whose unbeaten 33 was his best in one-day internationals.As usual Stuart Matsikenyeri tried to give Zimbabwe a brisk start, scoring27 of the opening stand of 48 before being caught at first slip offGlenn McGrath in the 15th over. A scoring rate of just above three an overwas useless for a victory attempt, but good enough as a face-saving exercise.Predictably Taylor got little chance in this innings to show the favouritefront-foot drives that he had displayed on Tuesday, but he battled on,working the runs when he could. Vusi Sibanda had a torrid time early on, but settled in to play some handsome strokes. However, as so often, he got out when set, driving Michael Kasprowicz straight to extra cover after making 23.

Mark Vermeulen, specialising in the lofted drive, scored 25 off as many balls,while Taylor nudged and dabbed his way along, adjusting his game with great maturity and skill. Finally he got a rare delivery pitched up to him, from Gillespie, and drove it sweetly to the boundary just to the on side of straight to reach his third successive one-day fifty. It took him 82 balls.Zimbabwe were 163 for 2 in the 36th over, but then Taylor swung a catch to long leg to depart for an admirable 65. Geoff Boycott frequently urges batsmen to add two wickets to the total to get a realistic assessment of their team’s position, but when Zimbabwe are batting you need to add rather more wickets than that. Just 21 runs later, the entire team was dismissed as, like lemmings, their batsmen plunged over the cliff, while Hondo was unable to bat after suffering a bad blow in the face while bowling his final over.Only Alester Maregwede kept his head, scoring 18 of those final 21 runs ingood style, ignoring the suicides at the other end. Lehmann enjoyed his gift of four wickets for seven runs, which when added to his earlier half-century earned him the Man of the Match award. All in all it was a pathetic end to what had otherwise been a doughty struggle by a greatly outclassed team – but it only went to stress that this match does not warrant official international status.

The Caribbean islands might resort to floating hotels to cope with the influx of tourists during the 2007 Cricket World Cup. West Indies – winners of the first two editions in 1975 and 1979 – have never hosted cricket’s showpiece event before, and there have been fears in some quarters that the infrastructure on the islands will be stretched beyond its limit.But an Agence France Presse report quoted Teddy Griffith, the West Indies Cricket Board president, as saying that at least a few among the eight venues chosen might opt for wave-splashed accommodation options. He said, “There is the possibility, maybe the probability, of using some floating hotels.”Griffith was anxious to add, however, that the idea didn’t necessarily mean that fans would have to shell out a small fortune for rooms aboard huge cruise liners.The tournament is expected to do wonders for the economies of the region, with the hosts’ share of the gross revenues expected to be around US$100million. The tournament will feature 16 teams, and 51 matches over almost two months.

Michael Powell, the Glamorgan batsman, was today released from England’s NatWest Series squad with the news that Marcus Trescothick passed a fitness test.Powell was called up as cover before the first game, against New Zealand, which was washed out at Old Trafford. Trescothick was doubtful with an ankle injury ahead of that match, but has now recovered. Powell will now be able to play in Glamorgan’s National League game against Surrey on Sunday.Powell, 26, nearly made the original squad, but missed out at the last minute, and has missed out again. He played against England for Wales in the warm-up match at Cardiff last week, scoring 49 as Wales lost by six wickets.

Matthew Hayden’s two centuries in the second Test at Cairns meant he closed the gap behind Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid to just seven points in the PwC batting ratings, although he remains in third place.Hayden scored 117 in Australia’s first innings, and followed that up with 132 in the second. His efforts have also moved him into third position, behind only Don Bradman and George Headley, on the list of the most prolific century-makers in Test cricket.Hayden has now made 20 centuries in 95 innings, while Headley managed a slightly better rate of 15 in 60 innings, and Bradman scored 29 in 80 innings. However, Hayden has surpassed Bradman in becoming only the eighth player, and the third Australian behind Allan Border and Greg Chappell, to score a century in both innings of a Test more than once. Hayden previously scored 197 and 103 against England in the first Ashes Test of the 2002-03 series at the Gabba.During his second-innings hundred against Sri Lanka, Hayden also passed 5000 Test runs, and has now increased his average to 58.15, which is the highest of any current Test player.Australia have five other batsmen – Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Darren Lehman and Justin Langer – in the top 21, and Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne occupy fifth and sixth place in the bowling.

David Leatherdale, Worcestershire’s veteran allrounder, has extended his one-day contract for another year. Leatherdale, 36, made his debut for Worcestershire in 1988, and after ending his first-class career in 2003, his benefit year, continued to play one-day cricket.Leatherdale has chipped in with some valuable innings in the National League and C & G Trophy this season, where he is averaging 41, but his main contribution has been with the ball. He has taken 11 wickets in the National League, at an average just under 30, and is averaging just 9.80, with five wickets, from four C & G Trophy games.”It can’t be easy coming into the side after maybe a week or more away from the team but David has done a superb job for us and still leads by example," said Ben Smith, Worcestershire’s captain. "I am glad he is going to be around again next season. He is also still a key part of our bowling unit, and his fielding still sets the standard for the rest of us.”

On Friday, the Zimbabwe selectors will name the team to take on England in five one-day internationals. Steven Price takes a closer look at some players who should make it to the 15-man squad based on perfomances in the Faithwear one-day competition Tatenda Taibu The Zimbabwe skipper scored an unbeaten 121 against Matabeleland in the first match but he is leading a troubled Mashonaland side and that has adversely affected his performances. He has scored only 17 runs in the last two matches but is a class act and should do better.Mark Vermeulen The Matabeleland top-order batsman has finally got his head right and has led by example with scores of 75 against Mashonaland, 91 against Manicaland and 105 against Namibia, giving him an average of 90.33. His form on the international scene had plunged alarmingly and it is good to see him scoring runs. Christopher Mpofu The tall Matabeleland pace bowler has been magnificent in the three matches for his province. He picked up 6 for 42 against Mashonaland in the first game and never looked back – his tally now stands at 11 in the competition. He is surely putting into practice the tips he got from Damien Fleming at the Commonwealth Bank for Excellence in Brisbane where he was attached for a month. Gavin Ewing He only played two Tests for Zimbabwe before the crisis broke out and should be given a chance in the shorter version of the game. He scored 56 not out against Mashonaland, his batting average stands at 93.00, and he has proved effective with his offspin which has gained him five wickets. He can make the team as an allrounder.Brendan Taylor He is part of a troubled Mashonaland side and that has seen him score 66 runs with a high score 52 but is certainly capable of doing better.Kuda Samunderu The youngster has been in good form, from the first game when he scored 43 against Matabeleland, he has an average of 37.00 in the three matches.Stuart Matsikenyeri He has been the outstanding batsman for Manicaland with an average of 69.50 and a high of 80 not out – hopefully he can transform that onto the international scene.Vusumuzi Sibanda In great form for his province with a high score of 64, he is the best in a team of average players with a batting avarage of 45.50. He is another player who has failed to replicate form for his province onto the international scene.Other players who have an outside chance of being picked are the Matabeleland top order trio of Tinashe Hove, Terrence Duffin and Wisdom Siziba and the Midlands bowling trio of Ian Nicholson, Innocent Chinyoka and Hillary Matanga.

England 227 for 1 (Strauss 120*) trail South Africa 337 (Rudolph 93, Dippenaar 110) by 110 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A stroke-filled century from Andrew Strauss put England in control of the first Test at Port Elizabeth. By the close on the second day England had motored to 227 for 1, only 110 adrift after earlier bowling South Africa out for 337.The Johannesburg-born Strauss prospered as the South African bowlers pitched a little too short, feeding his favourite cuts and pulls. There were 13 fours in his century, but only the last one, which took him to three figures, came in the V down the ground. Strauss, who also hit 112 in his first Test, against New Zealand at Lord’s in May, is only the second man to score centuries on his home and away debuts for England: the other was the Indian prince KS Ranjitsinhji, at the end of the 19th century. The only others to do it are Harry Graham, Kepler Wessels and (earlier this year) Michael Clarke for Australia, the West Indian Lawrence Rowe, and Azhar Mahmood of Pakistan.Strauss did the bulk of the scoring in an opening partnership of 152 with Marcus Trescothick, most of it in overcast conditions – the floodlights were powered up for the last half-hour. He has settled so well to international cricket that it was actually a shock to realise that this was his first Test innings overseas. Ominously for South Africa, Strauss’s previous seven Tests, all at home last summer, ended in victory.The last Englishman to look so instantly at home in the Test arena was … Trescothick. He was in subdued mood here, content to let the balls missing the stumps whistle harmlessly past. There were a lot of those from Makhaya Ntini, whose natural line veers away from the left-handers, and rather too many early on from the debutant Dale Steyn, who mixed raw pace (touching 92mph at times) with eight no-balls, and retired, abashed, after his first five overs cost 33.Trescothick posted the hundred partnership – this pair’s third in only eight Tests together – with an uppish but solid cover-drive. That was about as close as South Africa came to taking a wicket before tea, after a nervous pre-lunch spell in which Ntini, in his 50th Test, clattered Strauss on the shoulder (it flew off for four leg-byes), and then had him thick-edging just short of the wicketkeeper and first slip.For the second day running no wickets fell in the afternoon session, but the opening stand was finally broken at 152. Steyn, returning after that chastening opening spell, bent a fast yorker into Trescothick’s middle stump after he had made 47 from 140 balls.The scoring rate then slowed, a combination of the ball softening and Mark Butcher’s desire to play himself in after a disappointing outing in the only warm-up match, against South Africa A. But Strauss’s century lit up the gloom, and put England firmly in the box seat.

Earlier South Africa had done well to add 64 to their overnight 273 for 7. Most of the runs came from Boeta Dippenaar, who made 110 and put on 63 with Thami Tsolekile. Steve Harmison again looked short of a gallop, and after an hour’s play Dippenaar slashed him to third man for his 11th four, to reach his hundred from 228 balls – his third Test century, but his first against England. That was followed by a near-repeat of Jacques Kallis’s dismissal yesterday, as Harmison overpitched an attempted yorker which Dippenaar didn’t seem to pick up – but this time the Harmison range-finder was fractionally off, and the ball sailed past the stumps.The end, when it came, was swift: South Africa’s last three wickets clattered for 13 runs in 19 balls shortly after the first drinks interval. Dippenaar’s long innings finally came to an end when he drove at a widish one from Simon Jones – only his third ball of the day – and edged it straight to Trescothick at slip (324 for 8).Tsolekile, after grafting to 22 from 83 balls, went in the next over, skying an attempted slog off Ashley Giles to be well caught by Andrew Flintoff, running back from slip (327 for 9). Steyn showed some batting aptitude in his first Test innings, unfurling a couple of neat off-drives for singles, then opening his shoulders and belting Giles into the stands at long-on for a satisfying six. Giles had his revenge next ball, though, having Steyn smartly caught bat-pad by Strauss at short leg.Off hared Strauss, to prepare himself for that first innings on overseas soil. The suspicion was that, on a sluggish pitch which is likely to get progressively slower and lower, South Africa’s 337 was some way short of a par score. And England’s fine start has only reinforced that feeling.Steven Lynch is the editor of Cricinfo.

Zimbabwe Cricket has issued a statement denying reports that Max Ebrahim, its chief selector, had been luring players away from Takashinga, one of the country’s leading club sides. But, in a remarkable about-turn, it admitted that it had been doing so all the time.Ebrahim had been accused of telling Takashinga players that if they remained at the club then they would not be considered for national selection, a charge he angrily denied. But now it emerges that the switching of players has been happening as part of a policy decision made by the board and that Ebrahim was acting on orders.”For a number of years, we have had this provision in every player’s contract that they are subject to such movement in their best interest of continuing to play at the highest possible level and in the interest of the quality and standard of the league,” Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman said. He added that the move had resulted from Takashinga’s boycott of the national league in support of Mashonaland’s dispute with the board.”It was imperative therefore that [the players] remained competitive,” he added, insisting that it was only ever going to be an interim measure.Takashinga and Old Georgians stood firm in the dispute with ZC over its expensive rebranding exercise. Stephen Mangongo, Takashinga’s chairman and Ebrahim’s predecessor as chief selector, has been engaged in an increasingly bitter war of words with the ZC and there is every indication that ZC’s action is aimed at undermining Mangongo as well as acting as a thinly-veiled threat to any other clubs considering joining the revolt.The statement refers to a deployment exercise, but it is strange that this has only come to light now after many players reported they had been approached in a less than official way. Cricinfo has been contacted by witnesses to players being contacted by ZC officials, and this explanation is far too convenient. If it was a genuine policy decision, then why wasn’t it made public at the outset?Whatever the whys and wherefores, Takashinga ended its dispute over the weekend and so, ZC stated, all the players who had been moved elsewhere would be returned to it.So ends a bizarre and unsatisfactory fortnight. The players are back where they started and the Zimbabwe board has sent out a clear signal that anyone not toeing the party line will face similar Draconian action.