THOUSANDS of Lancashire supporters walked on the Old Trafford outfield, and many took home some pieces of turf, courtesy of the club, on the day of the Pro40 match against Middlesex -- cancelled due to overnight rain.

INDIA'S master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has dropped to his lowest ranking in 15 years in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after a disappointing series against Sri Lanka.

ENGLAND women go into the third and fourth NatWest Series one-dayers against South Africa at Shenley Park tomorrow and Thursday with a crushing psychological advantage after their record-busting match at Lord's yesterday, when openers Caroline Atkins and Sarah Taylor put on 268 together.

LOVERS of Lancashire cricket are to be given an opportunity to take home chunks of Old Trafford turf after the county's final match there on Monday Aug 17 before the whole outfield is dug up and replaced.

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE ECB

The England and Wales Cricket Board are delighted to announce enhanced deals for its broadcast contracts for the period 2010-2013. Sky Sports have won the rights to domestic and international cricket in England and Wales.

CRICKET South Africa lost more than £400,000 through fraud by one of their employees, and it was a happy coincidence that conviction was achieved in Johannesburg within a few days of the Test team wrapping up the series against England at Edgbaston.

THE fact that Michael Vaughan has slipped to 37th in the ICC Reliance Mobile world rankings and that Andrew Strauss, a theoretical successor, has dropped to 23rd says everything about the parlous state of England's batting, re-emphasising the need for a settled captain.

THE door has been opened for Kevin Pietersen to step up as England captain for all cricket after the resignation of Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood today.

LANCASHIRE announced today that their left-arm spinner Gary Keedy had been awarded a Benefit in 2009 after 14 seasons at Old Trafford. This is a more deserving cause than his team colleague Andrew Flintoff, one would think.

KENYA are to be reported to the ICC for abuse of umpires in their final warm-up match before this weekend's world twenty20 qualifying tournament in Northern Ireland.

ENGLAND UNDER-19

THE Tamworth batsman Jack Manuel has been drafted into the England Under-19 squad for the series against New Zealand at the age of 17 as cover for Alex Wakely.

NOW that England have picked Darren Pattinson -- the most speculative awful selection since Duncan Fletcher dragged out Ashley Giles for the first Ashes in 2006 -- they will have to stick with the Australian seamer when the squad for the third Test against South Africa is announced on Saturday.

LAST year's finalists -- holders Bromley and Kibworth, from Leicestershire -- have reached the last eight of the Cockspur Cup, and they have not been joined by Henley, who could partly blame a fund-raising ball the previous night for their 54-run demise against Waltham in Essex.

"The El Salvador weather is beautiful, the landscape stunning and cricket has the potential to be a winning formula with the country's sport-crazy people"    Philip Mostyn

THE cricket enthusiasts attempting to revive the game in El Salvador have appealed for equipment and playing materials to maintain an encouraging momentum in South America, despite what they see as "indifference" from the ICC.

THE Lancashire likely lad Andrew Flintoff has been named in England's 12-man squad for 2nd npower Test against South Africa at Headingley Carnegie, which starts on Friday.

MANY of us have forgotten in the scramble to welcome Twenty20 cricket that there is a price to pay. With millions of pounds coming on stream in India and elsewhere, there is bound to be a rise in cheating.

COLIN BATEMAN, DAVID LLOYD and IAN TODD preparing for 'tour de counties'

NEWS filters through of yet another ICC tour, but the only fatigue this one will cause will be to journalists not players. A small band of foolhardy scribblers are setting off on an Inter-County Cycle for charity later this summer around all 18 first class county headquarters, pedalling from the Brit Oval to Lord's the long way round.

By James Fitzgerald

FAST bowler Peter Connell burst on to the first class scene this week by taking 10 wickets in the match for Ireland against Holland, including a hat-trick in the second innings, to set up an innings victory in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match at Rotterdam.

THE United States could be the place to invest some time and money if Twenty 20 is to take a grip around the world. That is the view of the international coach Ian Pont, who has recently returned from a week's coaching in New Jersey.

By James Fitzgerald

PATIENCE, hard work and experience are the three things Bermuda's left-arm spinner Dwayne Leverock rates as the most valuable arrows in his quiver after taking 10 wickets in the 106-run victory against Canada at King City, Ontario, on Tuesday.