Surrey are in talks with Brian Lara about joining the club "in some capacity" but are unable to confirm the West Indian great's prospective new role.

Being forced out of her job as a social services worker was a nightmare for Bronwen Jenkins. She was left suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and faced having her home repossessed and being made bankrupt.

The South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs has signed for Yorkshire and is set to represent the county in this year's Friends Provident T20 tournament.

Britain's businesses will suffer from a shortage of skilled workers in the next decade as educated foreigners quit the UK in large numbers, warns a report commissioned by the insurer, Friends Provident.

Q. Lloyds wrote to me in November, stating it was closing all my accounts. I have been with Lloyds for 12 years, have a overdraft facility, always been in credit and always had £5,000 to £17,000 in savings with them. I called the closure unit who said they were within their rights and did not have to provide a reason. I have spoken to several Lloyds' managers, who said they could not intervene.

Outlook: Has Legal & General's umbrella just sprung a leak? It might sound terribly technical, but there's more than meets the eye to Moody's decision to change the way it rates hybrid securities and subordinated debt instruments issued by banks. Before the financial crisis the ratings agency had taken the view that investors in this type of debt would benefit, at least to an extent, from support provided to a troubled bank by national governments or central banks. Now we know that ain't necessarily so. The EC thinks that bond holders should share the pain of a bailout.