Warne's broken rib hurts Hampshire

A fractured rib for Shane Warne and disciplinary breaches by three players dominated the headlines in an eventful off-field week for Australians in county cricket. Travis Birt's 84 for Derbyshire was the on-field highlight, while Michael Dighton contributed 60 in the same game and Andy Bichel remained a consistent performer for Essex.

The injury to Warne was a serious blow for Hampshire in their bid to win the County Championship for the first time since 1973. Warne fractured a rib on his right side while bowling in his team's draw with Lancashire at Old Trafford. Hampshire believe Warne will be sidelined for two to four weeks, putting him in doubt for the rest of the season as their last match begins on September 19.

Lancashire marginally took the honours in the draw as the Sydney-born opener Paul Horton made 152 and Stuart Law chipped in with 53. Sean Ervine, the former Zimbabwe allrounder who also plays for Western Australia, top scored for Hampshire with 103 not out. Hampshire are third on the division one table but they have played fewer games than the top two sides, Yorkshire and Sussex.

At Cardiff, Derbyshire enjoyed a 42-run victory over Glamorgan in a match that had no effect on the top of the division two table. Birt's second-innings 84 set up a chase of 269 for Glamorgan and the target proved too steep, leaving the home side on the bottom with only one win. Birt's up-and-down season has now yielded 724 runs at 38.10, while his Tasmanian team-mate Dighton was pleased to register his second half-century of the tournament.

Bichel has had a more consistent time with Essex, although his side is still a long way behind the leaders Somerset and Nottinghamshire in division two. In Essex's 114-run victory over Leicestershire at Colchester, Bichel claimed five wickets for the match to take his season aggregate to 25 at 21.80. He was unable to add to his run tally, providing a rare blemish in a year when he has scored two centuries and is averaging 62.60.

He was outstanding in Sunday's Pro40 match against Sussex at Colchester, however, when he struck a calm 43 not out as Essex struggled to 177 from 35.5 overs. Bichel followed up by removing both the Sussex openers cheaply and he finished with 3 for 48 as the visitors fell 26 runs short.

The season ended on a sour note for Somerset's Cameron White, who was found guilty of a level one conduct breach by the ECB this week for "showing disrespect" to ground equipment in a match against Derbyshire on August 5. White has left Somerset to prepare for the Australia A tour of Pakistan that begins next week.

He had a productive county season, scoring 1083 runs at 72.20 and taking 20 wickets at 32.75 to help his side settle at the top of division two. White's Somerset captain, Justin Langer, also had a level one offence registered against him this week for showing dissent towards an umpire a few days after White's misdemeanour.

Brad Hodge ended his season with a black mark against his name, also for dissent towards an umpire, in a Lancashire-Yorkshire clash earlier this month. Hodge has returned to Australia to focus on the Twenty20 World Championship following a disappointing first-class spell that brought only one score above fifty and an average of 32.18. His limited-overs form was much better as he scored three centuries and averaged 87.80.

Phil Jaques and Chris Rogers have both arrived home for Australia's training camp in Queensland after below-par county seasons. Jaques finished with 541 runs at 31.82 and Rogers made 402 runs at 30.92 as neither player improved their chances of becoming Matthew Hayden's new Test opening partner.

There were no such form concerns for David Hussey, who has the chance to build on his superb efforts for Nottinghamshire when Australia A take on Pakistan A next month. Hussey's 1259 first-class runs at 83.93 put him in third place on the overall tally and he confirmed that despite recently turning 30 he has his sights firmly set on higher honours.

"The Aussie selectors generally pick you at a later age, when you know your game a bit better," Hussey told the Sunday Age. "I believe if you do well on this A tour, you put yourself up in lights and you're next person in. That's what I want to do, play for Australia."