I was amazed when it was tested because you could see everything so clearly. It's a similar system to that which Warwickshire are thinking of using but Surrey are being forced to use the lights inside the ground because the Oval is such a big playing area."The ICC Trophy third place play-off between Scotland and Ireland in Kuala Lumpur was abandoned for the day yesterday due to a thunderstorm, with Scotland on 56 for 1 from 19 overs. If play is not possible today, Ireland will win by virtue of scoring more points in the group stages and go through to the 1999 World Cup finals in England.. Officials from three organisations are to meet to investigate the case of a banned sprinter who was picked for the World Indoor Championships last month. Doug Turner was selected for the British squad to compete in Paris despite being under a three-month ban imposed by the Scottish Games Association in January for testing positive for an illegal stimulant. The British Athletics Federation, which selected the squad, had not been told of the ban and has requested more information from the SGA, as has the world governing body, the International Amateur Athletics Federation.A BAF spokesman said: "A meeting is being held between the SGA, the Scottish Athletics Federation and the BAF on 23 April to discuss the matter."We have requested further information in writing from the SGA, and the IAAF have requested of us the same information."Turner was caught using an illegal stimulant in the New Year professional sprint in Edinburgh.. Steffi Graf yesterday postponed her comeback after a knee injury, pulling out of this month's Hamburg Open where she could have faced the new world No 1, Martina Hingis. "My long break from the game means I have to be careful about my preparations which will take a bit longer." Graf said.

''I don't want to put my good recovery in any danger by coming back too soon." Graf, the Wimbledon champion, lost the No 1 spot to the Swiss teenager at the end of last month. The Hamburg tournament starts on 29 April.Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic broke three little bones in the middle finger of his right hand but will try to continue playing in tournaments.Ivanisevic, ranked No 5 in the world and winner of 19 career titles, slammed the door on his finger at his apartment in Split. Doctors suggested that Ivanisevic should take a one-month break from the game, but he said: "I have no intention to stay away for such a long time.''Andrei Pavel, of Romania, caused an upset by defeating the Wimbledon champion, Richard Krajicek, yesterday in a second- round match of the Gold Flake Open event in Madras, India.Pavel, who lives in Germany but plays Davis Cup for Romania, overpowered the Dutch top seed 7-5, 6-3, to move into the quarter-finals.. Newcastle yesterday refuted claims that they have received a staggering pounds 20m offer from Barcelona for the England captain, Alan Shearer.

The Magpies' pounds 15m world record signing had been linked with a move to the Spanish club as replacement for the Brazilian star Ronaldo, who is said to be on his way to Italy before the start of next season, but these reports have been shot down by the Newcastle chief executive, Freddie Fletcher. "The position is that we know nothing about it. We have not received any offer for Alan Shearer," he told ClubCall."We bought Alan Shearer because we believe he is a world-class player, not to make any money out of him by re-selling him. Alan Shearer will not be for sale from Newcastle United at any price."Barcelona are managed by the former England manager Bobby Robson, who at one stage was favourite to succeed Kevin Keegan at St James' Park.He will need a world-class striker if Ronaldo is lured to Italy by either Lazio or Juventus, who are both reported to have made pounds 30m offers.However, Newcastle's manager, Kenny Dalglish, is ready to rebuild the side he inherited from Keegan in January around Shearer. Shearer returned to his Tyneside roots in a blaze of publicity last summer when Keegan signed him from Blackburn.He is Newcastle's leading scorer despite missing two months of the season through injury and made his comeback from a third groin operation in 10 months last weekend, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.Franz Beckenbauer will travel to Switzerland with the German football federation executives next week in a bid to persuade European governing body Uefa to back Germany's bid for the 2006 World Cup.The former World Cup winning captain and coach has been given a leading role in the German federation's campaign to host the finals.Both England and Germany, who are involved in a battle to get crucial Uefa support, will meet officials from the governing body in Geneva on 17 April.Uefa believes Europe should put forward just one candidate to soccer's world governing body, Fifa, which makes a decision on the venue in the year 2000.South Korea and Japan were involved in a bitter and expensive battle to host the 2002 event and were eventually awarded the finals jointly.Uefa wants to avoid a similar situation in Europe. But the Germans have ruled out any ideas of a joint bid with England.Last weekend the Fifa general secretary, Sepp Blatter, made it clear Fifa did not require Uefa to back just one candidate.