England in Australia

Opening batsman Justin Langer has ruled out any complacency by the Australian team ahead of next week's Ashes series opener against England. The Aussies have dominated cricket's oldest Test rivalry in recent years and warmed up with a convincing 3-0 win over Pakistan at neutral venues in Sri Lanka and Sharjah. Despite that, Langer believes the sense of anticipation among Australian supporters is as strong as ever. "Certainly, the times we have fallen into that problem of complacency, we've soon been brought back into line by different countries," he told. Tour match, Brisbane, day two of three: Queensland 563-7 (tea) v England Martin Love hit a double century as Queensland turned the screw on England in Brisbane. Love hit a six and 27 boundaries to limit England's batting practice before the Ashes series begins on Thursday. Ashley Giles was the sole England bowler to enjoy any success, taking the only three wickets to fall so far on the second day. England were not helped by some poor fielding, with five chances going begging in the morning session. Love was the main beneficiary, getting dropped four times.

Sri Lanka in South Africa

Tour match, Johannesburg, day two: Sri Lanka 315-5 (at close) v Rest of South Africa Sri Lanka's preparations for the forthcoming Test series were hampered by rain despite good batting by Hashan Tillekeratne and Hasantha Fernando. They shared an unbroken stand of 74 in the 26 overs of play possible on day two at the Lenasia Stadium, with the game now certain to end in a draw barring some enterprising captaincy. The tourists resumed on 226 for four, with Mahela Jayawardene on 66 not out but he added only 10 to his score before he was caught off medium pacer Jon Kent.

Miscellaneous

Jeremy Snape, the England all-rounder, has told that he is close to signing with a new club. The former Gloucestershire player, who has also played for Northamptonshire, has been tentatively linked with Leicestershire and Durham. But he said he could not reveal who he is currently in negotiations with. Snape said: "I'm not in a position to talk about it. I'm hoping to get it sorted out in a week or so. I should have some news for you then." Gloucestershire explained at the end of September that Snape's relationship with the club had been "very poor," and had decided to release him. Jan Burger hit a century for Nambia as they caused a shock bv beating Kenya in the first of a four-match one-day series on Saturday. Namibia had to chase a formidable target of 272 in their 50 overs in Nairobi, and they got there with two balls to spare. Burger's innings of 110 runs laid the foundation for the win, which will boost Namibia's hopes at the World Cup. The South African-born 21-year-old cracked 10 fours in his impressive display before he was bowled by Tony Suji in the 45th over. In three previous one-day internationals Burger had produced a highest score of 21. Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo top scored for his side with 88. The two teams next play each other on Sunday. The row splitting South Africa's sports ministry and cricket board escalated on Friday amid calls for the sports minister's resignation, a threat to report him to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and counter-accusations of "deliberate mischief-making". This week the United Cricket Board (UCB) released the minutes of an acrimonious July meeting with Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour just before the minister told parliament he endorsed a recommendation that the quota system for the higher levels of cricket be reinstated. Political parties including the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front (FF) have demanded Balfour's resignation following his remarks dismissing white South African cricket stars as not worth watching.

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