Gilchrist showed no interest and Mark Waugh appeared to say “Oh, no” when the umpire’s finger went up. The new batsman Lance Klusener was caught and bowled off the very next delivery ­ Bichel taking a sharp catch ­ and the spine of South Africa’s order was broken.McKenzie went on to hit 67, Mark Boucher made a spirited 43 and though Shaun Pollock and Mornantau Hayward added 44, South Africa were dismissed for 277, a total made to look pathetic as Langer and Hayden carved out another century opening partnership.A memo on how best to play South Africa’s opening bowler Allan Donald was apparently mistakenly pushed under a journalist’s hotel room door the day before the Test. It focused largely on his bowling, and under batting it simply said: “Kaboom”. The wayward memo pointed out that Donald “is not on top of his game” and although he was capable of bowling “line and length at pace”, the Australian batsmen could “wear him down by being patient”.

It also added that Donald “can over-attack at times which gives us plenty of scoring opportunities”.Langer and Hayden wasted no time trying to wear Donald, and Pollock, down. The captain conceded 41 runs from 10 overs, Donald 34 from his nine while Hayward went for 33 off five overs. Sunil Gavaskar has taken another swipe at England’s approach to the game, dismissing it as only “good for people suffering from insomnia”. Thank God, it was a three-Test series and not a five-Test one, for Indian cricket would have lost a great number of spectators seeing this fare dished out.”Why our cricket board is keen on having a five-Test series when England visit India next is beyond comprehension for, without a doubt, they are the most unattractive and boring side to have played cricket in India.”Have a look at all the previous series when England played here. Except the 1993 contest that India won 3-0, the others have been battles of attrition full of dull cricket from both sides – mainly initiated by England – and have been good only for people suffering from insomnia.”It was another eminently forgettable series and we must thank our stars that the next England tour is in 2006.”. John Gregory, the Aston Villa manager, and Patrick Vieira, the Arsenal midfielder, must wait through the holiday period before learning if they are to be charged by the Football Association after Boxing Day incidents. However, both must still wait until the new year before learning their fates.

An FA spokesman confirmed: “We are waiting to receive the reports from the officials.”Gregory was ordered out of the dug-out at Villa Park by the referee, Andy D’Urso, after verbally abusing the referee’s assistant, Ray Gould, over a 34th-minute penalty awarded against his team.Gregory, who was handed an 11-match touchline ban two years ago for comments made to D’Urso and was warned about his future conduct by the FA in March, realises he could face FA action.”I must have hit a nerve with the linesman because he took umbrage at my comments and now I suppose that I’ll be in trouble again,” he said.”That is not something I’m proud about but I was only stating my opinions and I think I’m entitled to do that. The linesman concerned had made two gross errors in a short space of time.”When I queried whether I could return to the dug-out in the second half, I was told no. So no doubt I will be reported in Mr D’Urso’s comments to the FA.”After the game, Gregory said of D’Urso, who had been hit by a throw-out from Peter Schmeichel which led to Liverpool scoring their first goal through Jari Litmanen: “He showed superb control to bring the ball down like that. After that, I honestly feel it was a bit rich when he shouted: ‘Go on Jari, stick the ball in the net’.”Vieira was involved in two controversial incidents at Highbury, with Graeme Le Saux booked for an ugly knee-first challenge on the Frenchman that precipitated a brawl.While Le Saux could have been sent off, that incident will not be studied by the FA as the referee, Graham Barber, dealt with it. Barber, however, is not believed to have witnessed the encounter between Vieira and Hasselbaink shortly beforehand, but it was seen on television and a picture appeared in some newspapers, which could lead to the FA asking its video advisory panel to look at a replay.Graeme Souness’s attempt to sign Andy Cole from Manchester United is running into money trouble at Ewood Park over the England striker’s wages. The Blackburn manager hoped to push through a deal on Boxing Day, using the £8m-plus transfer funds he has available, but he is now facing problems matching Cole’s terms.Although Blackburn will pay the fee United are looking for, the board is thought to be unwilling to give a long-term deal to Cole, who is 30 and will want a huge financial package. Against that, they must balance the fact that a failure to back Souness might lead to a falling-out with their manager.Blackburn are the main bidders for the out-of-favour England international.

Aston Villa are also thought to be interested, although they must sell before they can buy.. Leeds United Football Club confirmed yesterday it is ready to offer its disgraced player Jonathan Woodgate an improved contract that will see his pay rise by thousands of pounds a week. After the trial, in which Woodgate, 21, and his team-mate Lee Bowyer, 24, were cleared of assaulting Sarfraz Najeib, an Asian student, their manager, David O’Leary, criticised them for “failing to behave as professional footballers should”.But Peter Ridsdale, the Leeds chairman, said yesterday that the players were “valuable assets” and the club had to renew their contracts or risk losing them on a free transfer. “This is not about rewarding either player for their conduct,” he said. “The club has a policy that when players come within two years of the end of their contracts we start negotiating to extend that agreement.”These two players reached that stage last summer but we told their agents that there would be no negotiations until the outcome of the legal proceedings. Now the trial is over, we have said to the agents that discussions can begin.”Both players, who were fined by the club after the case, are on four-year contracts due to expire in 2003.