Cricket: Small to retire after 20th county season

GLADSTONE SMALL is to retire at the end of this year's Championship season, his 20th in the county game.

Small, 37, considered his future during a recent visit to Australia. "I have decided to give it one last go," the Warwickshire bowler said. "I still feel I have something to offer on the field."

Small, who played in 17 Tests for England, is expected to take up a full- time post in Warwickshire's marketing department next winter.

The first day of the England A side's four-day match against Mashonaland in Harare was washed out yesterday after heavy overnight rain. Water had seeped under the covers and left large tracts of the outfield under water. With a high water table and more rain forecast, there is some doubt about the play today.

n The Wisden Cricket Monthly Man of the Month award has gone to England's "Barmy Army" of fans on the tour to Australia. The magazine's prize has been renamed "Mob of the Month" in their honour.

n A Hindu militant tried to immolate himself in Madras yesterday to protest at the planned series between Pakistan and India.