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Murali is now a frill seeker

How desperate can Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan be to have his contract as Lancashire's overseas player extended?

When Lancashire appealed for a volunteer to dress up in green lederhosen, frilly shirt, knee socks and Tyrolean hat for a photo-shoot on behalf of the German lager company who are sponsoring their day-night matches in the CGU National League this season, only one agreed.

Murali duly appeared in full William Tell gear on the front page of the Manchester Evening News' sports section alongside a story in which he proclaimed: ``I am enjoying it here so much that I would like to play again in 2000. It is up to Lancashire but I want to come back.''

Lancashire, meanwhile, are being strongly linked with Shane Warne, apparently now available for around L120,000 a season.

So, if taking 37 wickets in three championship matches and getting dressed up for the sponsors does not get the considerably cheaper Murali the nod, there is an alternative. He can always borrow the lederhosen again and audition for the Jagermeisters, the oompah band which provided a surreal accompaniment to play during Lancashire's floodlit game against Essex at Old Trafford last week.

David Smith is used to the sporting pressure cooker, having played Test cricket for England at Sabina Park, Jamaica. He has experienced nothing, however, like the occasion that awaits him today.

Smith, the former Surrey, Worcestershire and Sussex batsman, will take to Silverstone for the race after the British Grand Prix in his role as a driver in the GT Championship with Ian Jacobs Racing.

``To be part of the British Grand Prix meeting is awesome,'' said Smith, whose Venturi car features, appropriately for an ex-cricketer, the names Lara Croft and the striking character from the computer game Tomb Raider. ``Motor racing is just as big as cricket was for me now. It's almost a full-time thing. Ultimately, I'd love to race at Le Mans.''

Vodafone have given everyone connected with the England squad a complimentary mobile phone, but the sequential block of numbers that goes with them has led to a few interesting wrong numbers.

When one caller pressed an incorrect digit, hoping to speak to selector Mike Gatting, Kent's ample all-rounder Mark Ealham quipped: ``Sorry mate, right figure - wrong number.''