Rain pushes Surrey closer to drop

Surrey 59 for 2 v Warwickshire
Scorecard

Surrey's chance of staying Division One may have been slim anyway but they could do without the abrupt arrival of autumn keeping them confined to the dressing room for all but the first hour and a quarter of the first day of their match against Warwickshire.

Umpires Richard Kettleborough and David Millns gave proceedings e as long as possible to be considered worthy of resuscitation but with the city centre tower blocks shrouded in mist and the puddles on the outfield fighting a losing battle against persistent heavy drizzle they called it off a short while after the scheduled tea interval.

At least Surrey had the beginnings of a partnership to provide modest encouragement after Warwickshire had won the toss and put them in. They will resume with Hashim Amla and Vikram Solanki together, the third wicket pair having added 41 for the third wicket.

Keith Barker, the left-armer with one England Lions appearance whose lack of more substantial international recognition remains a mystery, bowled beautifully to take two early wickets, removing 18-year-old Dominic Sibley and opening partner Rory Burns, both leg-before to full, swinging deliveries.

Under a heavily overcast sky and with the floodlights on from the outset, conditions were far from easy and Barker continued to test the batsmen, controlling the swing skillfully. Even with Boyd Rankin rested, after his return from England duty, and with Chris Wright still injured, the availability of Chris Woakes and loan signing Maurice Chambers gave Surrey a fearsome attack to contend with on such a grim morning.

Yet Amla, who bagged a pair during Surrey's woeful and critical defeat against Somerset last week, brought his experience to bear this time, as did Solanki. Both batsmen left the ball judiciously and were beginning to look relatively settled when the weather closed in. With the floodlights casting obvious shadows, and therefore clearly taking over from natural light, it seemed only a matter of time before the umpires would have to call a halt. Yet both batsmen unleashed handsome boundaries, Amla driving Barker to long-off, Solanki despatching Chambers through extra cover, so they were clearly seeing the ball well enough. Rain, though, was only just behind.

Some 29 points adrift of safety going into the penultimate round, Surrey are pretty much doomed. Warwickshire, defending their title unsuccessfully, look nothing of the sort, with a 27-point cushion between themselves and next-to-bottom Derbyshire, who have only one match remaining, although they could in theory still be caught by Surrey.

That possibility will be removed in short order if they take maximum bowling bonus points and dismiss Surrey for fewer than 350 runs.

Warwickshire again had Jamie Atkinson, the former Durham UCCE wicketkeeper, behind the stumps, with both Tim Ambrose and his stand-in, Peter Mckay, both injured. The 23-year-old Atkinson, now based in Hong Kong but who has been playing for Dorridge in the Birmingham League, is on a two-match contract.

He is the 24th player Warwickshire have used in their Championship programme, which is four more than were needed last season, and the eighth to have appeared in only one or two fixtures, which is an illustration of the inability to pick a settled side that has dogged director of cricket, Dougie Brown, in his first season in charge.

Brown believes no county has had to contend with as many injuries as Warwickshire and feels those able to make it on to the field deserve recognition for keeping the side clear of the bottom three. "We have not put our best team in the field once and in the circumstances we have done really well to be as competitive as we have been," he said.

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Goodwin, Wright frustrate Essex

Glamorgan 103 for 2 (Goodwin 48*, Wright 44*) v Essex
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Essex were frustrated by the weather and Glamorgan's third-wicket pair as they went in search of a victory at Chelmsford to keep alive their hopes of winning promotion.

After winning the toss, Essex got off to the best possible start by removing the openers inside three overs but Murray Goodwin and Ben Wright put together an unbroken stand of 96 which helped carry Glamorgan to 103 from 42 overs when play ended prematurely because of rain.

Veteran seamer David Masters was responsible for Glamorgan's early woes, striking with the third delivery of the match when Gareth Rees shouldered arms and was bowled by a delivery that nipped back sharply. Then in his next over, Will Bragg miscued to Ravi Bopara with only 7 on the board to leave Glamorgan looking in serious trouble, particularly as leading batsman Jim Allenby was being rested ahead of Saturday's Yorkshire Bank 40 final with Nottinghamshire at Lord's.

But the experienced Goodwin, now on his 41st year, and 25 year-old Wright were to revive the innings with a determined partnership. Although they experienced a few anxious moments on a pitch and in conditions that did not make batting an easy task, they gradually gained the initiative.

Early on, a few streaky shots dropped wide of fielders but as they gained the upper hand, the batsmen were helped by bowling that left much to be desired.

Masters was the exception because as usual, he dropped on an immaculate line and length which meant that few risks could be taken against him. But the rest of his colleagues were guilty of sending down too many wayward deliveries. Too often batsmen were able to let the ball go by without playing a stroke, something which must have left Essex skipper James Foster frustrated.

After a full morning's session, the clouds gathered during the lunch interval after which only four overs were bowled before rain sent the players scurrying to the pavilion. At that point, Goodwin and Wright had moved into the 30s and Glamorgan had reached 85 for 2 after 34 overs.

An early tea was taken but when play did eventually resume at 4pm, only a further eight overs of play were possible before more persistent rain put paid to the day's play with both batsmen within sight of their respective half-centuries. Goodwin will resume on 48 while Wright goes into action again with 44 to his name.

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Yorkshire's dream withering away

Yorkshire 109 for 3 (Gale 66) v Middlesex
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There have been several moments in the last few weeks that appeared pivotal in the title race, but Yorkshire may reflect on another frustrating battle with the weather as the day their Championship dream died. As news filtered through of Durham's domination of Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire were restricted to only 42.1 overs against Middlesex, denying them the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the Division One table.

Already trailing Durham by 27.5 points at the start of the match, that deficit increased by four points by the end of a dramatic day and left even the most optimistic of Yorkshire supporters - a rarity in itself - preparing for an inevitable disappointment. Having led the table by 25.5 points with four matches remaining, Yorkshire's fate could be sealed in the next 24 hours if they fail to secure enough bonus points and Durham complete an emphatic victory.

"It's not been a great day and if things go as they are doing, Durham might have it wrapped up by tomorrow night, which will be gutting," admitted Andrew Gale, Yorkshire's captain. "With the run they are having, what can we do? We're playing good cricket ourselves but we're not bowling teams out for 70 every week."

The day began badly for Yorkshire after they lost the toss in seamer-friendly conditions and quickly lost both their openers inside the first three overs, just as news was filtering in of Nottinghamshire capitulating to 78 all out at Chester-le-Street. Given they had subsequent rain and bad light interruptions, to finish on 109 for 3 would have been an impressive effort in any other situation than this.

Adam Lyth fell to the ninth ball of the match, lbw to a full-length delivery from Corey Collymore and was followed in the next over when Phil Jaques edged Tim Murtagh behind to leave Yorkshire on 1 for 2. Coming as it did only three days after the demoralising events of Saturday when their attempted victory chase against Sussex at Hove was washed out and Durham completed a remarkable triumph over Derbyshire, dressing room morale cannot have been very high.

Given that background, the desire, determination and skill displayed by Gale and Kane Williamson, Yorkshire's New Zealand overseas batsman, in forging a 97-run third wicket partnership was outstanding. Both batsmen had to live on their wits with both Collymore and Murtagh beating the bat on a regular basis during the early stages, before playing with greater flair as the ball got older.

Williamson, brought in late in the season to cover England calls, showed great resilience and was happy to defend while Gale played the more expansive shots, steadily reaching 14 off 79 balls before opening out to pull Collymore for successive fours just before the penultimate interruption. Having reached 66, only 15 runs shorts of 1,000 Championship runs this season, Gale was furious with himself after edging Collymore behind only six overs before bad light ended the day.

A year after fulfilling the demands of Geoffrey Boycott, the club president, in winning promotion to put themselves in position to win the title in their 150th anniversary season, Yorkshire are left praying for a remarkable turnaround in events if they are not going to end the summer empty handed.

"The weather is frustrating, but we can't do anything about that," said Gale. "The weather is always going to play a major part at this time of year, but it looks like Durham are getting more play than us again.

"It is difficult because the lads are looking at their phones and have one eye on what's going on, particularly when Notts were bowled out for 78 by lunch, but we are trying in this game to get a result.

"Maybe Notts will go out and perform tomorrow with the bat, they can't bat that badly again surely when you look at their batting line-up? We have to just concentrate on what we're doing and get ourselves into a good position."

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Durham blitz brings title a step closer

Durham 207 for 8 (Mustard 77, Collingwood 53*, Adams 4-49) lead Nottinghamshire 78 (Harrison 3-4, Rushworth 3-24, Onions 3-30) by 129 runs
Scorecard

It was surely fitting that Paul Collingwood should steer Durham away from trouble in their crucial match against Nottinghamshire.

When Collingwood was appointed captain of Durham's Championship side in July 2012, the team were bottom of Division One and without a victory that season.

But, little over a year later, Collingwod has helped transform them and, as captain, led them to 13 wins in 20 games. If they win this match, they will have won a club record five Championship matches in succession and, more importantly, a third title in six years. Coming into this game requiring a maximum of 21 more points, they now require a further 17, in the unlikely event that Yorkshire should take full points from their final two games. For Collingwood, who earlier in his career was known as a reluctant captain, it is a remarkable achievement.

It is even more remarkable bearing in mind the obstacles he has faced. Coming into this season, Durham had the disadvantage of a 2.5 point penalty for breaching the salary cap last year and financial constraints that prohibited the signing of an overseas player. Injury then robbed them of the services of senior batsman Dale Benkenstein, while the head coach, Geoff Cook, suffered a heart attack in June that cast a cloud over the club for several weeks. Thankfully, Cook is recovering well. England calls, Lions calls and injuries have all added to the burden.

The obstacle on this occasion was a tricky pitch. Until Collingwood came to the crease, 15 wickets had fallen within the first 48 overs of the day and there was an outside chance that Nottinghamshire, despite having succumbed to their lowest score since 2010, might take a first innings lead. The highest stand of the game had been only 20 and no individual player had surpassed 17. Andre Adams, who claimed 4 for 27 in an excellent 13-over opening spell, was proving as demanding as ever.

But first with Scott Borthwick and then with Phil Mustard, his predecessor as captain, Collingwood put the quality of this pitch into perspective. In a style that would be familiar to those who witnessed his many rearguard innings for England, Collingwood refused to be drawn into pushing at anything wide and, in allowing the ball to come to him, avoided the hard-handed prods that undid so many others.

While others drove, he deflected; while others chased, he nudged; while others perished, he was patient. It is no coincidence that he survives into day two having batted longer than anyone else.

Perhaps just as importantly, Collingwood's partnership with Mustard - 121 runs in 35 overs - will have alleviated Durham's concerns about the possibility of incurring a points penalty for preparing a poor pitch. While Jack Birkenshaw, the ECB's Pitch Liaison Officer, will return to watch the second day's play before reaching a verdict on this surface, there is no chance whatsoever that the maximum sanction of 24 points will be imposed. Even the lesser sanction, eight points, is highly unlikely.

While it is true that the pitch offered assistance off the seam, to define it as "excessive" - the criteria by which it could incur a penalty - would be harsh. In truth, some excessively poor batting and some admirable bowling were the more relevant ingredients in a day that, in all, saw 18 wickets fall. The early start and autumnal weather might also be relevant and it is worth noting that a similar Durham attacked bowled out Derbyshire for only 63 on Saturday. In such conditions, they pose a desperately tough challenge.

Perhaps Nottinghamshire's decision to bat first was questionable. Given the reputation of this surface as something approaching a seam bowler's paradise, choosing to bat at 10.15am in mid-September was something of a surprise. To be fair though, Durham have batted first in every Championship game on the ground this season whether they have won the toss or not, so perhaps Nottinghamshire's attempt to adopt a similar method was not so far wide of the mark as the scoreline suggests. Collingwood later confirmed that Durham, too, would have chosen to bat first.

The execution of the decision was far more at fault. Faced with some probing bowling from the excellent pairing of Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth, who have 63 and 51 wickets respectively this season, Nottinghamshire produced a feeble performance. Some batsmen - such as Samit Patel and David Hussey - pushed too hard at the ball, some - such as Riki Wessels - played around the ball, some - such as Chris Read or Adams - missed slogs and some - James Taylor - did not play a stroke at all.

It was a wretched display of batting and resulted in Nottinghamshire being bowled out 20 minutes before lunch for their second-lowest total this century (following the 59 they made against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge in 2010) and their lowest ever against Durham. James Whitaker, one of the England selectors, can only have left more impressed with Onions, though whether he feels performances in such conditions are relevant to the challenges to come in Australia is debatable.

On the bright side, it should enable Nottinghamshire to leave in good time for the YB40 final against Glamorgan at Lord's on Saturday. The start times on each day of this game have been brought forward to 10.15am to enable Notts to catch an 8pm flight booked for Friday. There seems little chance of them missing it and a contingency plan has been put in place to allow them to fly on Thursday. Graeme Swann, who will feature in the side on Saturday, was in Durham to bowl in the nets with the white ball.

One man travelling in the other direction - a little further, actually - was Ben Stokes. The allrounder, who had been on duty with England, underwent a scan on his hamstring at 8am on Tuesday morning and, after receiving an all clear, embarked on a 313-mile drive from Southampton to Durham, where he replaced Usman Arshad in the side. Within minutes he was batting and, attempting a firm drive at a wide ball, was caught at third slip without scoring.

Fortunately for Durham, they were rescued by Collingwood and Mustard. While Collingwood, save one lofted on drive and a powerful pull, played few memorable strokes, Mustard accelerated after a slow start and, as Notts' bowlers became more tired and frustrated, reeled off a succession of firm drives. His individual score was only one fewer than Notts managed in total.

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Faisalabad 'ready for the big stage'

With their visa trouble firmly behind them Faisalabad Wolves, only the second Pakistan team to participate in the Champions League, are upbeat about their chances in the tournament after two weeks of "thorough" preparation.

"We have been practising since two weeks. For a week we prepared at the local ground in Faisalabad, before moving to the National Cricket Academy in Lahore where we spent another week," said vice-captain Mohammad Salman. "So, we have been thoroughly preparing for this tournament. We were very confident of participating in this tournament."

Faisalabad aren't shy of international experience, with Misbah-ul-Haq and Saeed Ajmal in their ranks, but Salman voiced faith that in the youngsters making a mark as well. Two of them, Asad Ali and Ehsan Adil had made their Pakistan debuts this year.

"Barring Misbah and Ajmal, we mainly have young and upcoming cricketers in our squad," he said. "The teams that we beat at the domestic level had many superstars and still we managed to become the [Pakistan domestic T20] champions. It only shows how much potential our young players have and I am confident they are ready for the big stage."

Their opponents, Otago Volts, are the only team in the qualifiers who are not from the subcontinent and in hopes of minimising the unfamiliarity of overseas conditions, they had undergone training in Sri Lanka.

"We had a preparation camp in Sri Lanka where we got used to the conditions and it was great, especially for the guys who hadn't been in the subcontinent before," their captain Brendon McCullum said. Their coach Vaughn Johnson seconded him by saying, "We played four full matches in Sri Lanka and the guys did a pretty good job of handling the heat and humidity there. We played on some spin-friendly wickets and our batsmen seemed to stand up to the challenges reasonably well."

Otago lost all their matches in their only previous outing in the CLT20, back in 2009, but McCullum was hopeful of an improved showing this time around. The side has nine players with international experience, including Hamish Rutherford, who made 171 on Test debut earlier this year, offspinner Nathan McCullum and Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate.

"I think if we're playing outside of Chandigarh, we'll probably be underdogs," McCullum said. "But since here the wicket is slightly faster and bouncier than the normal Indian tracks, we can be confident that we have the right team to exploit the conditions."

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Bangladesh disappointed at Test ranking

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim was disappointed to see his team slip to 10th in the Test rankings after Zimbabwe entered at No. 9, having played enough Tests to qualify to the table.

Zimbabwe's victory against Pakistan also meant that they were lifted to 34 points, a significant lead over Bangladesh who have ten. From the time they reinstated themselves as a Test team, Zimbabwe have won three out of 10 Tests. Bangladesh have played 11 during the same period, winning just one.

"It is normal for a team to go up the ranking table when they do well," Mushfiqur said. "For us however, it is very disappointing that they came back two years ago and crossed us. We have a great opportunity to beat New Zealand in the upcoming Test series. Even if it doesn't better our position in the rankings, we will know that we have committed fully."

There was a lot of interest among the Bangladesh players during the fifth day of the second Zimbabwe-Pakistan Test. Having played so much cricket against each other, there is a sense of camaraderie between the two sets of players apart from the strong rivalry.

Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan said Bangladesh have to follow Zimbabwe's example in October when New Zealand arrive for a two-Test series. "Zimbabwe has played well and it is reflected in their rankings," he said. "We have to do the same and that has to be against New Zealand."

Fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza added that domestic competitions should be taken seriously as well. "We need to play more first-class cricket, and give more priority to the National Cricket League," he said. "Batsmen will have to improve on scoring a century and bowlers have to try to bowl much better. Because we play so few Tests, we have to make best use of the opportunity."

Though most of the players have been doing well individually in the Dhaka Premier League, Mushfiqur hopes to play a four-day match after they are released by the clubs.

"There's nothing better than match practice, and some of us play together in the clubs," he said. "I am hoping for a longer-version match just after we leave the league, ahead of the Test series. If that doesn't happen, we would like to train on the Chittagong wicket.

"We had passed on a message to the players that performance in the Premier League will be vital for our preparation against New Zealand. It will give us the self-confidence."

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Chavan, Munde seek MCA office

Two politicial heavyweights from Maharashtra, including chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, have expressed their interest in taking the plunge into Mumbai Cricket Association's administration.

On Monday, a day before the clubs' deadline for submitting their respective representative for the MCA elections to be held on October 18, Chavan was nominated by Mazgaon Cricket Club. ESPNcricinfo understands that Stylo Cricketers, another cricket club affiliated with the MCA, is set to pronounce Gopinath Munde, the Bhartiya Janata Party's (the principal opposition) deputy leader in Lok Sabha, as their representative for the elections.

Interestingly, it was the same club that had nominated former Maharashtra chief minister and union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, whose death in July 2012 had paved the way for Ravi Savant to be the interim president for the last 14 months. Despite their political rivalry, Chavan and Munde are likely to join hands for the MCA elections.

While MCA old-timers believe it is a matter of time before Chavan announces his intentions "to be the next MCA president", the Mazgaon CC secretary Shahalam Shaikh said Chavan hadn't made up his mind yet. "Chavan agreed to fill in the void created by Deshmukh's untimely death and represent our club at the MCA elections," Shaikh told ESPNcricinfo. "Whether to contest or not is entirely his own decision and he hasn't yet conveyed it to us till now."

It is expected that while Chavan will file papers for the president's post, Munde will contest for one of the two vice-presidents' posts. If at all Chavan faces resistance, it will be from another political heavyweight Sharad Pawar, the former MCA, BCCI and ICC chief. Though Chavan's and Pawar's political parties run an alliance government in the state of Maharashtra, both the leaders have waged a war of words against each other of late.

It is expected that Chavan and Pawar will strike "some sort of a deal" ahead of the elections, but the Bal Mahaddalkar panel, a powerful group in MCA, stood firm behind Pawar. "As of now, Pawar has made his intentions clear of returning to the MCA and we firmly back him as our leader," Nitin Dalal, MCA joint secretary, said just after the panel's first official meeting with voters.

If elected, Chavan and Munde will join a long list of political figures heading various cricket boards in India. Seven of BCCI's 27 affiliated units are headed by political figures. The MCA, one of the most prestigious provincial cricket bodies in the world, too has had a long tradition of politicians at the head. Barring the exception of former Test cricketer Madhav Mantri (1987-88 to January 92) and Savant (August 2012 till date as interim president), all the presidents over the last 50 years have been politicians.

While Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya are already voters in MCA along with senior state minister Narayan Rane, Nitin Sardesai, a member of legislative assembly from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, will represent Dadar Parsi Zorastrian Cricket Club.

MCA's biennial elections have been delayed by three months and are slated to be held on October 18. The last date for filing nominations is October 11. The MCA elections are held for president, two vice-presidents, two joint secretaries, treasurer and 11 managing committee members.

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Series win means a lot to team - Clarke

It was fitting for a one-day series that has felt distinctly unloved that Michael Clarke was presented with his trophy in front of a near empty Ageas Bowl on a chilly September evening.

For a few reasons this series, although played in front of near full-houses, has not felt as though it has captured the imagination. The weather, which ruined two matches, England's decision to rest five key players and the general fatigue that follows an intense Ashes campaign were all contributing factors.

However, Michael Clarke was not going to allow such excuses to dampen his delight at claiming a trophy, their first in any format in England since winning the one-day series in 2009 by 6-1 margin.

"For a lot of people this series doesn't mean a lot, but to this team it meant a great deal," he said. "We haven't performed as well as we would have liked as a one-day unit in the UK over the past couple of years and all the boys have worked exceptionally hard. It's a great reward for that hard work. Everyone in our changing room was extremely excited and so we should be, we deserve this win."

Clarke was doubtful for the deciding match after another flare up of his chronic back problem, which has been a talking point throughout the tour. Although not moving entirely freely - and he admitted the back was "pretty sore" after the match - he contributed 75 in the series-defining stand of 163 with Shane Watson.

"I certainly wouldn't have taken the field if I thought I was going to let the boys down," he said. "If I couldn't perform at my best I wouldn't have taken the field, but I certainly didn't want to miss this game. My back was certainly sore over the last few days and it's quite sore now, but we won so it was worth it. It was nice to contribute as well, I had the easy job standing at the other end to Watto - the way he played made my job a lot easier. It's a nice feeling to be sat here as winners of the series."

For Watson, who became a figure of fun during the height of his lbw and DRS issues in the Tests, this was a pleasing way to conclude a tour where, barring a niggle at the tail-end of the Durham Test, he has been able to stay injury free. "It's always nice when you day turns out well," he said. "Everyone knew how important it was to win the one-day series. It's a really exciting time in Australian cricket to see how we are evolving."

Clarke will now return to Australia - which may not feel like home after such a stretch overseas - but only for two weeks before, fitness permitting, he takes the one-day squad to India for a seven-match one-day series. That does not seem ideal ahead of another Ashes series, although care is being taken by the selectors not to repeat the mistakes of 2010-11 when a similar trip meant very little preparation time for the Tests, but Clarke sees this one-day team as an equally important element.

"The India series is pretty important to is, we want to get back to No. 1," he said. "We need to get more consistent away from home and this series was a good start."

Eoin Morgan, meanwhile, was left to reflect on England's self-inflicted damage in the first half of the run chase with the run outs of Kevin Pietersen and Luke Wright for ducks which undid an impressive final 20 overs with the ball.

"At one stage, they looked like getting about 350," he said. So to restrict them to under 300 on a very good wicket, we felt it was a chaseable total. It was disappointing not to get closer, or even over the line. Two run-outs don't help. We lost wickets throughout the whole innings, didn't have a substantial innings from any individual or a big partnership."

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DRS set to dominate ICC meet

The decision review system (DRS), along with the playing conditions at the 2015 World Cup, is set to dominate the proceedings at the two-day ICC chief executives' committee (CEC) meeting in Dubai on September 16 and 17. Although the ICC has discontinued to publish the agenda and the results of the CEC from this year, it is understood that the meet will see a divided house with England and Australia joining hands to take on the other front led by India with support from the sub-continental neighbours - Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh - especially on the topic of the referral system.

England and Australia both had reasons to feel aggrieved about the DRS during the recently completed Ashes series. Jonathan Trott was given out lbw on review at Trent Bridge despite an apparent edge, while Usman Khawaja's caught behind dismissal in Manchester during the third Test was upheld even though replays showed daylight between bat and ball. Hot Spot's inability to detect fine edges also created confusion, and towards the end of the series, its evidence was routinely ignored by the third umpire. Geoff Allardice, the ICC operations chief, met with the two sides before the fourth match in Durham to address some of their concerns.

It is understood that the pair of David Collier, the ECB chief executive, and his Cricket Australia counterpart James Sutherland is expected to put forward a series of proposals at the CEC to make the DRS more consistent.

According to an official privy to the ECB-CA plan, both members want to continue utilising the DRS in bilateral series despite its shortcomings. During the latest Ashes, one visible hindrance to the DRS was the amount of umpiring errors. To remedy that, both England and Australia want the ICC to enhance the clarity in the communication between the third umpire and the on-field umpires.

"Based on evidence during the Ashes some conversations between the match officials were unintelligible because of language barriers and the ECB and CA want the ICC to create a mechanism where the match officials can communicate between themselves and the broadcaster without creating much confusion," the official said.

Another proposal is to make the role of the television umpire a specialist role. During the Ashes, the ICC had conducted trials allowing the third umpire instant access to TV replays which could help him overrule mistakes committed by the on-field official. During the Old Trafford Test, England umpire Nigel Llong sat in the back of the TV truck, where he received a direct feed of pictures to help him improve the quality of decision making using instant technology.

Dave Richardson, the ICC's chief executive, had said that the exercise would help avoid incidents like the Stuart Broad one during the Trent Bridge Test, when the England allrounder edged Ashton Agar but stood his ground. Aleem Dar, the on-field umpire, failed to detect the edge and Australia, having exhausted their reviews, were left frustrated and annoyed.

The other suggestion England and Australia want to discuss is if the DRS is just there to clear up a howler then a team should not lose a review when it becomes an umpire's call. "Because the margin of error is so minimal between an out and not and an umpire's call," the official said.

However, England and Australia feel not all umpires can adapt quickly to the challenges of being a television umpire. Collier and Sutherland are expected to discuss the issue with Simon Taufel, ICC's umpires training and performance manager.

However constructive their suggestions sound, England and Australia still need India, the staunchest critic of the DRS, on their side. What might make their defence of the DRS weak is the admission of Warren Brennan, the Hot Spot inventor, who stated that tests carried out recently on various modern bats revealed protective coatings across the edges of bats unquestionably diminished the thermal signatures.

Such a reasoning can only enhance India's doubts over the DRS being far from 100% foolproof, a condition they have set in order to accept the referral system. It is understood that N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, had a separate meeting with the representatives of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the sidelines of the Asian Cricket Council held in Chennai on Saturday, to garner support.

The other contentious topic the sub-continental teams have become wary about is the use of two new balls in ODIs. The rule came into force from last October after the ICC Cricket Committee recommended it. However, all four Asian countries believe such a rule has proved to be deterrent to their slow bowlers, who play an integral part in the team structure. Not just India, a team like Sri Lanka is heavily reliant on its slow bowlers and is opposed to the two-ball rule only because the hard ball does not allow the spinner to grip the seam properly.

Bad light is another topic member countries are concerned about and there is supposed to be unilateral appeal to the ICC to change the playing conditions to make use of the floodlights at grounds wherever available.

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Kapp makes Bangladesh crumble under pressure

South Africa 109 for 4 (Du Preez 52, Khatun 2-7) beat Bangladesh 106 for 4 (Rahman 42, Ahmed 40, Kapp 2-20) by 3 runs
Scorecard

Bangladesh women crumbled under pressure with two run-outs and gave two more wickets to Marizanne Kapp in the last three overs to concede the third T20 from a comfortable position as South Africa whitewashed the series 3-0.

Chasing 110, Bangladesh were cruising at 79 for no loss at the end of 14 overs after a solid start, from Rumana Ahmed and Ayasha Rahman, and needed another 31 at less than run-a-ball. But run-outs of Ahmed and No. 3 Lata Mondal triggered a top-order collapse and made them succumb under pressure. They needed 18 from 18 and Kapp conceded only two runs in the 18th over and got Salma Khatun stumped for 1 on the last ball of the over. Shabnim Ismail added to the pressure from the other end by giving four runs, leaving the visitors requiring 12 from the last over.

Kapp came back and was hit for four on the first ball by Fargana Hoque. After a single and a dot ball, she got rid of the other opener, Rahman, for 42 and out of the remaining seven required, Bangladesh only managed three from the last two balls.

Earlier, South Africa chose to bat but lost both openers for low scores - Trisha Chetty for a duck and Lizelle Lee for 11. Captain Mignon du Preez steered them to safety with her third T20 fifty. Kapp accompanied her with a 55-run stand before du Preez fell for 52. Alexis le Breton's two fours and Kapp's unbeaten 24 took them to 109. Khatun particularly troubled the South Africa batsmen at the beginning and end both as she took wickets in her first and last overs and conceded only seven runs in four overs.

South Africa coach, Hilton Moreeng, was very pleased with the team's performance. "If we knew that the result would be 3-0 at the start of the series we would have taken it," he said. "We are building as a team and it was important for us to start this home series well, especially by playing good cricket and learning from every game that we play."

Even though Bangladesh kept the pressure on South Africa while bowling, they couldn't handle it while batting in the end.

"I must give credit to Bangladesh," Moreeng said. "They put us under pressure very early; the first two overs were maidens and we were a wicket down. The partnership between Kapp and the captain put us back where we wanted to be and we had to settle for 109, which required us to go out there and bowl well."

The two sides will now play three ODIs starting September 20 in Benoni.

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