Surrey have signed a new sponsorship deal which could be worth as much as £2.5m to the club.Brit Insurance Holdings have agreed to back the club for three years, with the option for a further two, at an annual cost of £500,000. In addition, Surrey are all set to begin work on their £24m redevelopment of their ground, which will be re-named The Brit Oval.”This new partnership could not have come at a better time,” said Paul Sheldon, the club’s chief executive. “The support we will now receive will ensure that The Brit Oval maintains its pre-eminence as one of the world’s leading Test venues.”The redevelopment work will be concentrated at the Vauxhall End of the ground, where a new stand will increase the overall capacity by 4000 seats, to 23000.

Andy Blignaut will miss the second Test against Bangladesh at Bulawayo because of injury. In the first match Blignaut became the first Zimbabwean to claim a Test hat-trick.But during that first Test, which ended with Zimbabwe’s 183-run victory at the Harare Sports Club, Blignaut suffered a minor strain to his right thigh muscle. The Zimbabwe team management decided that he would stay behind in Harare to receive treatment and undergo rehabilitation, while the rest of the squad proceeded to Bulawayo for the second Test.Bradley Robinson, the Zimbabwe team physiotherapist, confirmed: “Andy will undergo fitness tests prior to the third one-day international against Bangladesh, at Harare on March 10. Of course, it will be a bonus if he is fit before then.”Zimbabwe’s selectors have brought in Stuart Matsikenyeri to replace Blignaut in the squad. They will name their team on Wednesday, after taking a look at the pitch at the Queen’s Sports Club.

Ashish Nehra has been named as Zaheer Khan’s replacement for the remainder of the Test series in Pakistan. Zaheer played the first Test, at Multan, but bowled only one over on the fourth day before retiring hurt with a hamstring injury in his right leg.Nehra had been part of the Indian one-day squad, but was forced to pull out after tearing the webbing on his left hand during the second ODI.India will almost certainly go in with three seamers in the second Test, which starts on April 5 at Lahore. With Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji sure to play, Agarkar and Nehra will fight it out for the third seamer’s spot.

Heath Streak has lauded Stuart MacGill’s decision to withdraw from Australia’s tour of Zimbabwe. He told The Melbourne Age “I respect Stuart for the decision he’s made.” MacGill recently pulled out of the tour saying he could not tour Zimbabwe with a clear conscience.”That’s his (MacGill’s) view on what he feels is morally and principally right,” said Streak. “With our stand-off now with the ZCU that’s basically what we feel. Morally and principally we are standing up for what we believe is the right thing.”At the same time Streak warned that the protest of 15 Zimbabwean cricketers should not be misconstrued. “We’ve got to be careful people don’t think we’re trying to encourage Australia and England not to come because that isn’t the case, but we want our issues resolved in a fair and transparent manner… If that doesn’t happen then I’m sure friends of ours that we’ve made during our international careers from all countries, not just Australia and England, will want to know more about what’s going on and how it’s being dealt with.”While newspapers have reported that several other Australian cricketers also have second thoughts about touring Zimbabwe, James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, has said that such a development is unlikely.

The Sri Lankan prime minister has added fuel to the raging controversy over Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action. Mahinda Rajapakse has threatened to sue the ICC over the controversial decision to outlaw Muttiah Muralitharan’s doosra.”The Prime Minister has decided to take legal steps against the ICC for banning [Muralitharan’s] doosra and today he has discussed it with some veteran lawyers,” said Rohan Welivita, the prime minister’s media secretary. “He thinks that all Sri Lankans need to support Muralitharan because he is a national figure.”Rajapakse’s announcement comes in the wake of a statement from John Howard, the Australian prime minister, who said that Murali chucked. Following this statement, Murali said he was contemplating boycotting Sri Lanka’s forthcoming tour of Australia. Mohan de Silva, the president of the Sri Lankan cricket board, then said that Murali could skip the Australian tour if he felt strongly about it. “If Murali makes a request not to go to Australia we will definitely give him that option. We will not force him to go to a country where he is not accepted.”Murali’s action has been under scrutiny for years now, but a recent study at the University of Western Australia found that the manner in which Murali bowled the doosra was a violation of the laws. The ICC subsequently instructed Murali not to bowl that particular delivery.However, the Sri Lankan prime minister has unconditionally thrown his weight in behind Murali. Rajapakse has said that Murali is a national asset and that he will do anything within his power, and that of the government, to defend him. One thing is now certain – this issue is not going to die down in a hurry.

An elated Glenn McGrath is completely satisfied with his fitness and has declared himself “ready to go” for the first Test series against Sri Lanka. McGrath had gone into the tour game, between the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI and the Sri Lankans, under plenty of pressure after a less than satisfactory performance in the one-dayers in Zimbabwe.Though McGrath finished with modest figures of 1 for 25 in his 14 overs in the second innings, he was happy with the rhythm that he found. “I’m a lot more confident now than what I was before this match here. That’s the best my ankle has felt and the best I’ve hit the crease for the last two-and-a-half years and to me that was the secret to me bowling well.”McGrath also added a bit about his confidence levels, which seemed to have shot up exponentially. “My confidence is, yesterday morning compared to now, it’s 500% better. I’m so much more confident and couldn’t be happier at the moment.”Justin Langer, who captained the Chief Minister’s XI, revealed that he spoke a lot to McGrath before the game and adviced him to be a little patient. “I was really keen to encourage him and just tell him to be patient because he has got a bit down on himself. Again he is human and he probably hasn’t played much in 12 months. His confidence is down a little bit which happens to everyone, and probably never really happened to him throughout his whole career.”Langer termed McGrath’s performance as “fantastic” for most of the game, and said he would believed it wouldn’t be long before he was back to his best. “It’s like a Rolls Royce,” he added, “you’ve got to be a bit patient, get the oil going, I thought he just looked fantastic for this almost the whole game.”And he even suggested that McGrath should be given the new ball by adding, “If I was [Ponting], I’d give him the new ball. The boys get here tomorrow so no doubt we’ll talk about it. I just thought he looked as you always expect Glenn McGrath to bowl.”

Canada 250 for 9 dec and 250 for 4 dec (Dhillon 102*, Davison 78) drew with Bermuda 107 and 221 for 9 (Smith 53, Sandher 6-68)
Scorecard

Canada narrowly failed to secure an outright win in their league match against Bermuda in Toronto, but a draw was still enough to win them a semi-final berth in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Resuming their second innings on 91 for 2, Canada stretched their total to 250 for 4 before declaring, setting Bermuda an improbable victory target of 394. A more achievable goal for them was to bat out the rest of the day and achieve a draw, which they just about managed to do, scoring 221 for 9.Canada’s second-innings total was largely the result of Haninder Dhillon’s unbeaten 102 and John Davison’s 78. Davison spanked his runs off just 87 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes. He was finally dismissed by Dwayne Leverock, but Dhillon continued the run-glut, adding 110 for the fourth wicket with Ashish Bagai, who contributed 31. Leverock finally ended the stand when he caught Bagai off his own bowling (239 for 4). Dhillon, meanwhile, went on to complete his hundred off 138 balls, and the declaration came soon after.With 15 points already in the bag from the match, Canada needed only two more to go past USA and secure a place in the semi-finals of the competition. They did that when Bermuda’s fourth wicket fell, at 83. Clay Smith held the batting together with his 63, as Bermuda put up a much-improved performance in the second innings. Kevin Sandher, a left-arm spinner, ran through the lower order, finishing with 6 for 68, but the last-wicket pair of Jekon Edness and Kevin Hurdle offered stubborn resistance, and were undefeated at the close to ensure a draw.Canada join Scotland, the top team from Europe, in the semi-final stage of the competition. One team each from Asia and Africa will join them for that leg, which will be held in Sharjah in November.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

On a pitch that stayed as lively as on day one South Africa A managed to take a one-run lead at tea, and extended it to 66 when stumps were drawn 4.2 overs early due to bad light on the second day of this four-day match at Willowmoore Park. South Africa A ended up with 292 for 6.The day belonged to Ashwell Prince, the South Africa A captain, who recorded his 10th first-class hundred and also passed 4500 runs during his knock. The innings grew in stature after a shaky start, when he edged a few boundaries over the slips. Prince batted for most of the day but was out shortly before the end for 103, which included 18 fours. It was an innings of contrasts – he worked hard for his first fifty, then accelerated to the nineties before slowing down again as he approached three figures.Andrew Puttick was the silent partner in a stand of 152 after New Zealand A had early success with the wickets of AB de Villiers (14) and Justin Ontong (8). A push forward at James Franklin on 66 without playing a shot cost Puttick dearly, but he was replaced by Neil McKenzie who was in no mood for a go-slow, racing away to 22 off 14 balls.After tea the New Zealanders bowled a far better length, with Paul Wisemankeeping one end going while the pacemen bowled from the other. His 2 for 70 took him to 350 first-class wickets in his career. The tall Kerry Walmsley, extracting a lot of lift out of the pitch, and James Franklin both took two wickets.Prince admitted that the pitch after tea seemed to be a little more difficult, and this was echoed by McKenzie who was trapped lbw by Wiseman for a solid 65. Things continued to go pear-shaped for South Africa A after that, with Zander de Bruyn failing and Albie Morkel and Hashim Amla both struggling in the fading light.

After the game, the Man of the Match Andrew Symonds and the two captains spoke to the media:Andrew Symonds
On his innings
I just wanted to play straight, and Damien and I both played it straight, which meant they had to try and get us out, which meant we would get some bad balls as they were under pressure to take wickets.On his confidenceMy confidence comes from if I do things right early on in the innings. If I get that right and get about 20, I feel I can go on and take the game by the scruff of its neck. It’s nice to give people that show some faith in you results. I want to play as many games as I can. I have to keep playing good cricket.Stephen Fleming
On the match
Unfortunately the first 20 overs were our worst. In a match against such a good side you can’t afford to fall a long way behind, and we tried to catch up too quickly, so you make it worse for yourself. We’ve done that before. It’s all about the pressure and the tempo of the game, and we didn’t get it right today. I think two or three things didn’t go our way today, but often you need to play better for them to go your way. We couldn’t put a partnership together until the end, and by then it was too late.On whether Australia will win the tournament
I think there’s some very good sides out there. I think Australia are favourites, there’s no doubt about that, but on these one-off occasions it doesn’t take much to be wrong for an upset to be caused. But Pakistan, with the talent they can harness, and even England, the way they played in the last series, are contenders. There’s a lot of cricket to be played before we can get a winner, but I’d definitely say Australia are favourites.On New Zealand’s five-match losing streak against Australia in ODIs
It’s a good run for them, but I’m looking forward to getting back to New Zealand and Australian conditions.On the New Zealand team
We’re very happy with the direction we’re heading with this team. We’ve had a bad day today against the world champions, and by no means does that make us a bad side. We’ve had a good summer one-day-wise.Ricky Ponting
On whether Australia are on a roll like in the World Cup
I don’t think you can ever say "on a roll". We have not played that many games together. The fast bowlers today did a fantastic job and got us early wickets. It was a very good win.On Glenn McGrath’s return
He’s going along quite nicely and his results will show that. I know he won’t let the side down. He bowled beautifully today, and the first three wickets were everything to do with us winning the game. He’s never going to let you down.On whether Brett Lee will play in the semi final
All the fast bowlers today did a fantastic job. They will make it difficult for him. If we play Sri Lanka in the semi final, Brett has a very good record against them.On Andrew Symonds
He gives us everything. He’s the best fielder in the world. He has come a long way in his one-day cricket in the last few years. He can go in at any situation and do well.

Scorecard
Sunny Singh and B Bist cracked contrasting hundreds as Haryana erased most of the deficit on the second day at Udaipur. Having restricted Rajasthan to 301, Haryana lost only two wickets in their response and were 36 runs adrift at the end of the day. Bist stroked 14 fours in his steady knock of 110 while Sunny was more aggressive in his 138-ball 108.
Scorecard
Jammu & Kashmir collapsed for just 140 as Kerala took a commanding 288-run lead on the second day at Palghat. Prasanth Chandran, the medium-pacer, snapped up two early wickets but it was the two left-arm spinners – Sreekumar Nair and Suresh Kumar – who did most of the damage, with seven wickets between them. Nair, who had made a fighting 132 in the first innings, had dream figures of 3 for 5 in 4.1 overs as they mopped up the last six wickets for only 38. Dhruv Mahajan, the J&K captain, saved a more embarrassing scoreline with a patient 78. Kerala were 109 for 3 in their second innings with Nair unbeaten on a solid 29.
Scorecard
Vikramjeet Singh helped Himachal Pradesh gain a 57-run lead on the second day against Jharkhand at Jamshedpur. Singh, the medium-pacer playing his 12th game, finished with five victims as Jharkhand were kept down to 218. Sumit Panda, the Jharkhand captain, rescued them from a precarious position at 96 for 7, and his counterattacking 83 took them past the 200 mark. Himachal were 33 for 1 at stumps.
Scorecard
Amit Dani’s four-wicket haul put Goa in control at the end of the second day’s play against Tripura at Agartala. Goa were still 120 runs behind, with five wickets standing, with Dani, the medium-pacer, ending the day with 4 for 49. Ramaswamy Prasanna held the innings together with an unbeaten 64. Earlier, Goa had extended their total to 278, with Shami Asnodkar falling one short of a gritty hundred. Sujit Roy, the offspinner, was the pick of the Tripura attack and claimed 6 for 60.
Scorecard
After restricting Vidarbha to 184, Services began in confident fashion at the Palam A Ground in Delhi. Narender Singh and MP Reddy, the openers, got through 29 overs as Services ended the day with 68 for no loss, trailing by 116. Earlier, Yashpal Singh and Arun Sharma has snapped up four wickets apiece and kept Vidarbha below 200.