THE ICC have announced their compromise on the vexed Zimbabwe issue in Dubai today. During the two weeks when everyone in England pretends to like tennis, our real national summer sport -- cricket -- comes up with a stonking debate and a nice crisis to grab a few headlines.

THE debate among the world cricket countries on Zimbabwe lasted through into an extra morning when no decision was reached in Dubai today. That was because hours had been spent discussing the Pakistan forfeit farce at the Oval.

THE man said this would be the greatest day for English schools cricket, and he might be right, certainly for the 15 and 16 age group. MCC are to host a Bunbury English Schools Cricket Association representative match on the main ground at Lord's on Sept 10.

THE Middlesex all-rounder Gareth Berg has been prevented from bowling by a side strain, but he returned to batting for his club Radlett with a vengeance over the weekend, hitting a total of 312 runs in two innings.

THE behaviour of Australia's captain Ricky Ponting in Grenada led to a heavy fine and perhaps underlined the case for introducing yellow cards into top class cricket.

LADBROKES have opened a cheeky book for the fifth one-dayer against New Zealand at Lord's tomorrow, offering 16/1 against the game featuring five or more run-outs.

HARROW School had not so much been unbeaten this season as unchallenged with two first class batsmen in the side -- Sam Northeast, of Kent, and Gary Balance, of Derbyshire -- before they came a cropper at Bedford this week.

THE England and Wales Cricket Board announced today that they were suspending all bilateral arrangements with Zimbabwe Cricket, a move that followed similar action by South Africa last week.

THE West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has become yet another international player to be punished by the ICC for dissent at an umpire's decision. One wonders what will be happening when £1 million is at stake.

THE "increased visibility" of leading players in the English Twenty20 Cup as a result of the Indian Premier League must be exploited by the England and Wales Cricket Board in increase interest in the game, the Professional Cricketers Association have suggested.

MONEY means much, but is not everything, and Twenty20 does not produce the complete cricketer. This is part of the message delivered in a survey among the professional players in England and Wales.

THE former England seam bowler Phil DeFreitas is taking the Nottinghamshire Premier League club Papplewick & Linby to the later stages in their first year in the Cockspur Cup, excelling with the bat and ball.

WHILE the controversy continues over switch-hitting in cricket, an analyst called Terry Daly has made some points about kicking a football, with a focus on the expression 'weight'.

THE two sixes struck by Kevin Pietersen for England against New Zealand in the opening one-dayer of the series at Riverside caused a sensation, but his 'switch-hitting' was unfair and seems certain to be outlawed by the MCC.

THE Brit Oval has already grossed £1 million in ticket sales for Surrey's Twenty20 Cup matches after experiencing a huge demand from the public.

THE International Cricket Council, with commendable speed, today announced the schedule for the inaugural six-team ICC World Twenty20 qualifying tournament in Belfast in August.

SIR Allen Stanford has been as good as his word. England cricket has been coaxed into accepting a Twenty20 international commitment with about £82 million at stake over five years, including an annual four-team tournament in the United Kingdom, always involving England and the West Indies.

COCKSPUR CUP

READING'S reprieve in Group 12 of the Cockspur Cup did not last long, because they were thrashed by eight wickets in the third round at Oxford, the Home Counties League champions and current leaders.

THE traffic on the official website of the ICC World Cricket League Division Five tournament in Jersey on May 23-31 seemed to confirm the presence of extensive interest in international cricket beyond the major nations.