Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Brisbane rain spoiled Australia’s chances in the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in December, but today they were saved some serious blushes against West Indies by two thunderstorms at the Gabba. Stuck in deep trouble at 5 for 43, Australia tiptoed from the ground relieved to escape a severe beating, if not a drenching.Desperate for a win to stay close to second-placed Pakistan, West Indies were bouncing after snapping up early wickets while defending a sub-par total that grew in competitiveness as the Duckworth/Lewis Method came into play. However, their hopes were sapped by the 141-minute break, with Australia hobbling at 2 for 12, and crushed by the abandonment, when the West Indian bowlers had them on the mat. Pedro Collins, who collected three searing wickets, and Wavell Hinds deserved to be the most hurt.With the target reduced to 195 in 28 overs, Australia lost two wickets in quick succession: Ricky Ponting was first trapped by a Collins inswinger before Andrew Symonds nibbled at one in the same over (4 for 26). Symonds has five ducks in his past six innings, but the run – or lack of runs – was the least of Australia’s concerns. Everyone in the home dressing-room wanted the heavens to open again as Michael Clarke bunted a pull straight to Marlon Samuels at mid-on (5 for 30). Australia’s wishes were granted 13 runs later, and as the players left the ground for the final time the only clapping came from the thunder.The chase began poorly when the comebacks of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist ended in similar ways, for identical scores. Hayden, refreshed from a week spent surfing cyclonic waves, still had his feet stuck in the sand when he played away from his body and edged Collins for 6 (1 for 8). Ian Bradshaw, the second piece in the left-arm opening pair, then induced an edge from Gilchrist with a terrific outswinger (2 for 12).An over later Kevin Mitchell junior, the curator, tractored his covers on to the field with the players taking their positions and the umpires conferring. A bulky man, Mitchell eventually convinced everyone, including the reluctant West Indians, to leave the arena before the first strikes of lightning and stand-shaking thunder.There were few shudders in the West Indies innings as Hinds, who adopted a batting style reminiscent of openers in the 1980s, anchored them to 263. Top-order batting has evolved over the years and batsmen playing themselves in during a one-day game now carries antiquated connotations. Hinds managed a fair combination as he tortoised while Chris Gayle hared, and discovered a smoother roller-blading motion as the innings wore on, finishing with 107 off 138 balls.Taking 88 balls to reach his half-century, Hinds increased the tempo in the second half with some powerful shots, particularly to midwicket, to collect his fifth ODI century. Both openers caused Australia trouble – Gayle rocketed West Indies to 22 in two overs – but Hinds was the slow-burning candle, lasting into the 48th over until he skyed Shane Watson to Adam Gilchrist (6 for 253).

Each time West Indies started moving ahead Australia dragged them back. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was as lively as the music that greeted his entrance, even though his only boundary was a six over midwicket off Symonds. Crabbing his way to 45 off 48 balls, Chanderpaul increased the scoring rate, and his 89-run partnership with Hinds threatened to do more than sparkle until he picked out Ponting at cover off Michael Kasprowicz (4 for 181).Kasprowicz’s next significant moment came with the amazing run-out of Marlon Samuels, the victim of a mix-up with Hinds. Running in from point, DamienMartyn threw to the bowler’s end, where Kasprowicz collected it off balance about two metres from the wickets. As he fell, Kasprowicz flicked the ball behind him on to the middle stump (5 for 210). A second piece of brilliance came when he dived forward for a stunning catch off Dwayne Bravo at long-off (7 for 260).Playing on his home ground, Kasprowicz’s bowling was also accurate and restrictive, while Gillespie proved expensive in his return from a calf injury, despite picking up three wickets. Ponting gave Brett Lee only four overs at the start, and called him back when Brian Lara came in. He quickly got his man to a doubtful Simon Taufel decision.Lara was on 6 when he rocked back to drive Lee through cover, and the Australians appealed in unison as the ball went through to Gilchrist. But replays showed it wasn’t close to the bat, and Lara stood his ground for several seconds before trudging off. He also fought to stay when the rain came, and suffered another unfortunate result.

Glenn McGrath is the only fast-bowling certainty as Australia try to fit four into three for the opening Test against New Zealand starting on Thursday. While Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz are widely considered to be fighting for one spot, Jason Gillespie’s place has become more contentious as the selectors try to juggle a trio of openers.”I would say McGrath is probably the favourite to start, and then it’s down the pecking order from there,” Adam Gilchrist, the vice-captain, told The Australian. “They all warrant a spot, but we all know the maths doesn’t work. I’ll be as interested as anyone when it comes to seeing that final position.”Lee’s one-day form has provided an incredibly persuasive case for inclusion after 14 months out of the side, but if he plays he will open and Kasprowicz, who took 47 wickets in 13 Tests last year, would be more suited to the role of first-change than Gillespie. The last time Gillespie did not take the new ball was in South Africa in 2002 when Lee and McGrath were preferred.Gilchrist said Lee’s bowling, which earned him 10 wickets in the ODIs, reminded him of the last tour to New Zealand when he was regularly at top speed. “His pace combined with good line-and-length bowling – good pressure-building bowling – is what’s going to be effective,” he said.Lee fired a 160.8kph delivery during his first over of Saturday’s final one-day match at Napier and Gilchrist told the Sydney Morning Herald he felt the previous ball at 160.4kph was faster. “It swerved up a bit as I tried to take it and it nearly hit me in the head,” he said. “I was very happy just to be there for the next ball.”Matthew Hayden finished two net sessions yesterday and continued to improve from a shoulder injury suffered during the second one-day match. But Gilchrist was wary of picking a four-pronged fast-bowling attack if Hayden was ruled out. “If Matthew wasn’t fit we’ve lost one of our most experienced players and best batsmen, so that is going to be a bit unsettling,” Gilchrist told the Courier-Mail. “We don’t want to tinker with it too much if we’ve already got forced changes.”

South Africa will play West Indies next week in a hastily arranged series of three one-dayers after both teams were knocked out of the World Cup in the group phase. The matches will take place at Tshwane University on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Both West Indies and South Africa will field the same squads that contested the World Cup."These matches are just what we need right now," said South Africa’s coach, Stephen Jones. "The World Cup has been a really good learning experience for our young squad and the three matches against the West Indies will give us the chance to work on areas of our game that were found wanting in the World Cup. What is clear is that we need to play a lot more competitive cricket, and the West Indies series is a step in the right direction."

Colin Gibson, the former director of communications at the Football Association, has been appointed in the equivalent role at the England & Wales Cricket Board, as the successor to John Read, who left the post last year.The appointment is the most high-profile part of the ECB’s revamp of their commercial and communications departments, and David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive, was looking forward to getting to work with Gibson."These appointments will complete our senior management team at the ECB, position ourselves to fulfil our sponsorship agreements, and enhance the ECB’s communications," said Collier. "They will enable the ECB to further develop the relationships with our partners to expand cricket in England and Wales at all levels.Gibson, a former sports editor at both the Daily Mail and the Sunday Telegraph, was forced to resign from the FA after just seven months in that role, after his attempt to cover up a sex scandal that rocked Soho Square.It was revealed that Gibson had offered to strike a deal with The News of the World, giving full details of an affair between Sven Goran Eriksson, England’s head coach, and Faria Alam, an FA secretary, on the condition that no mention was made of Mark Palios, the FA chief executive who had also had an affair with Ms Alam.That sordid chapter is closed now, however, and Gibson will take up his new position at the ECB on April 4. "It is a hugely exciting time for our game," added Collier, "and I’m delighted to have this calibre of staff on board."

Harbhajan Singh has slammed the International Cricket Council for the confusion over the legality of his bowling action and claimed that the allegations had had an adverse effect on his performance during the recent series against Pakistan. Harbhajan, 24, was reported for a suspect action twice in the space of three months and wondered how many more times he would have to undergo a similar procedure to get his action cleared.”It’s very frustrating for me,” he told the Press Trust of India, “as I have lost my mental peace for no fault of mine but just due to a mere drama by ICC. Instead of concentrating on the game, I am just passing the time to wait for a clearance from the ICC.”Harbhajan said his lukewarm performance in the one-dayers against Pakistan, where he managed just three wickets in five games, was because of the uncertainty surrounding his action. “I could not fully concentrate on the game due to my disturbed mental status,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are, but such a controversy always affects your performance.”Harbhajan’s action first came under scrutiny in 1998 before he was reported in December last year, on the tour of Bangladesh, and again in March during the series against Pakistan. “How many times [should] a bowler have to undergo the test, for which he has already been cleared,” Harbhajan asked. “I am playing international cricket for the last seven years and it is really frustrating that you have to undergo the test every time, whenever you are pointed out for the same suspect action.”Under the revamped bowling review procedure, Harbhajan had to undergo a biomechanical test within 21 days of his action being reported but the ICC had delayed the appointment of a panel, thereby hampering his plans of playing county cricket in England. “I wanted to participate in the English county championship,” he added, “but in such a state of mind how will I be able to do justice to the game and the club which I am going to represent.”

Latest bettingThe last time Pakistan won a Test match in the Caribbean, Salman Butt – the youngest member of the likely playing XI – was not even four years old, and that says enough about the challenge that Inzamam-ul-Haq and his side will face at Sabina Park against a rejuvenated West Indies side. Just weeks after being trounced by South Africa, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and his embattled crew administered a drubbing of their own in Barbados, and the dent to the Pakistani psyche would have been far worse but for Shahid Afridi’s rage against the dying light on the fourth day.Unfortunately for Pakistan, most of the fighting spirit in Bridgetown was confined to the dressing-room and the showers – if leaks from the camp are to be believed. It was a sad state of affairs for a team that had accomplished wonders in India by dint of sheer hard work and a refreshingly united approach.Deprived of the services of Inzamam, to suspension, and Yousuf Youhana – back home tending to his ailing father – the Pakistani batting was a shambles on a shirt-front at the Kensington Oval, a surface where the incomparable Brian Lara caressed and bludgeoned his way to 178 from just 172 balls. After that debacle, Yasir Hameed and Bazid Khan will make way as Inzamam returns, along with Shoaib Malik, who has served out a ridiculously light punishment for throwing a domestic game.Pakistan were undone in the first Test by the slingshots of Fidel Edwards – whose subsequent breakdown has seen him replaced by Tino Best – and the seemingly innocuous offspin of Chris Gayle, and also by their own refusal to pick Shoaib Akhtar.On a placid pitch where only extreme pace was likely to breach a batsman’s defences, neither the tireless Rana Naved-ul-Hasan nor the gangling Shabbir Ahmed looked remotely like running through a side, and neither offered even a smidgen of the intimidatory air that Shoaib brings with him. He may have days when he’s a liability, but as Matthew Hayden and Darren Lehmann – both know a bit about the art of batting – would testify, he can be frightening when in the mood.The bowling travails were worsened by the contempt with which Lara treated Danish Kaneria. Before the tour, Inzamam had talked of Kaneria being his trump card, but Lara – who has pulverised as great a spinner as Muttiah Muralitharan – quickly set about showing that it’s one thing to talk the talk, and quite another to walk it.Ominously for Pakistan, West Indies romped to victory with only Lara and Chanderpaul – utterly assured, and as ugly as ever during his second-innings 153 – making sizable contributions. The likes of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Wavell Hinds will be anxious not to miss out if Sabina Park offers similar batting delights.There has been Jamaican delight in plentiful measure for West Indies down the years. Since the genesis of the pace quartet in the mid-`70s, they have lost here only three times – twice to England (1989-90 and last year) and once to Australia (1994-95). That last defeat, masterminded by the gutsy batting of the Waugh twins, was possibly the most epochal result of the modern era, heralding the definitive shift in cricket’s balance of power.Pakistan themselves would do well to be blissfully ignorant of history. In their first outing here, in 1957-58, a young Garfield Sobers reeled off an undefeated 365 as the hosts strolled to victory by an innings and 174 runs. Almost 20 years later, a brave second-innings hundred from Asif Iqbal and eight wickets from the peerless Imran Khan weren’t enough to prevent a 140-run hammering. After the fiasco of Barbados, perhaps they can look to Jamaica’s most famous son for succour. After all, Robert Nesta Marley did inspire a whole generation with Get Up, Stand Up.

Mathew Sinclair has been named as Michael Papps’s replacement in New Zealand’s Test squad which is currently in Bangladesh. Papps dislocated his shoulder during a training session at Lincoln, an injury that will keep him out of action for four to six weeks.While it has yet to be determined whether Sinclair will open the innings or bat at No. 3, it is an overdue opportunity for him to re-stake his claim in the New Zealand side. He has been on the fringes far too long for a player with his run-scoring potential. He has had random chances in recent times to establish a more permanent place, but has not enjoyed the consistency of selection that others in the side have been given.The only player in the New Zealand Test squad to have scored two Test double-centuries, Sinclair had been told that he had matters of technique to sort out before earning more opportunities at the highest level. As a result he sought top-flight assistance with Glenn Turner, the former national captain and coach. Yet, too often those who have been preferred to Sinclair have been guilty of squandering their opportunities, and somehow managing to survive the selectorial axe.In naming the Test side for Bangladesh, Craig McMillan was left out, although he was still named in the one-day squad that was announced today. McMillan, Sinclair, Lou Vincent and Scott Styris have been the most obvious contenders for the two middle-order spaces available when Mark Richardson, Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle have been included.Vincent, who scored a Test century on debut, like Sinclair and Styris, has also been sent away to work on his game, and is yet to convince those in control that he is worth calling back. The situation of having players who can be put under pressure in this area of the game is uncommon in New Zealand cricket history, and is the result of intensified development work to create this very problem.Sinclair has an outstanding opportunity, especially before the tour of Australia, to make the most of his chance and to keep the pressure on McMillan. Aiding his cause was his selection as the player of the series after New Zealand A’s tour to South Africa. With cricket of a highly competitive level to bank on, Sinclair has it all in front of him, and the battle for places in the side promises to be one of the more appealing contests in New Zealand this summer.Another prospect was thrown into the mix today, albeit in a one-day sense, with the inclusion of yet another middle-order contender in Peter Fulton, the Canterbury Country left-hand batsman. He has made a significant impact on the domestic scene, and is the most recent New Zealander to have scored a first-class triple-century. Another tall player, he stands just short of two metres (6ft 6ins), so he can lookJacob Oram in the eye.

Fulton, like Sinclair, had a promising tour of South Africa, and was probably the most consistent of the New Zealand A batsmen, without ever cracking the sort of big score that Sinclair managed. But after injuring his shoulder in the last four-day match, he was rested from the first two one-dayers, only to return and top-score with 98 in New Zealand A’s thrilling attempt at chasing 297 in the third and final game. In the end the South Africans won by just four runs.Fulton said today that, like most players, reaching the international stage had been his goal and he was very excited to learn that he had been included in the side. He said he had thoroughly enjoyed the A system that New Zealand has embraced this year, with a series against Sri Lanka A earlier in the year being followed by the trip to South Africa, from which the players only returned home yesterday.”It’s good to play this standard of cricket, and I feel pretty well prepared. South Africa A were a really strong team, and it was the strongest standard of cricket that I have played,” said Fulton. “Hopefully, I will get a game or two over there but I am taking nothing for granted, I just want to make the most of it.”Fulton spent most of the New Zealand winter in England, playing forLowerhouse in the Lancashire League, and helped them to win the Worsley Cup. It was the first time in their 140-year history that Lowerhouse had won anything.”It was quite odd playing a club game and having 3000 people there when we won the final,” said Fulton, who scored around 1100 runs and took 60 wickets in regular club matches and one-day games during the season.The other feature of the one-day selection was the recall of Andre Adams, who impressed with the level of vitality that had returned to his game after experience with Essex in the County Championship this year.As expected, Stephen Fleming was not included in the one-day side, and along with Jacob Oram, will be rested in preparation for the tour of Australia that follows the Bangladesh trip. Daniel Vettori will captain New Zealand’s one-day outfit in his absence. John Bracewell, the coach, explained that the selectors were looking to broaden the captaincy experience available in the side, especially now that Chris Cairns is unavailable for Test selection.

England 162 for 2 (Bakewell 50, Watmough 50*) beat Australia 161 (Tredrea 54) by eight wickets
Scorecard

The women did one-day cricket proud at Lord’s yesterday when England gained revenge for Sunday’s defeat by beating Australia by eight wickets – Australia making 161 in 59.4 overs and England 162 for 2 in 56.2 overs.A crowd bigger than for many a mid-week county match applauded enthusiastically, especially towards the end, with England chasing runs against the fast bowling of Sharon Tredrea and the left-arm medium of Anne Gordon.Enid Bakewell and Lynne Thomas had given England a fine start by scoring 85 before a mix-up resulted in Mrs Bakewell being run out. Having bowled her left-arm spinners accurately for two wickets, she made a splendid 50.She was succeeded by Chris Watmough, a left-hander who gave a splendid exhibition of batting, hitting eight fours, including the winning hit. She had the experienced support of her captain, Rachael Flint, in a final partnership of 69.England made an encouraging start when June Stephenson had the formidable Lorraine Hill, century-maker in Sunday’s match, caught at the wicket on the leg side off the second ball. Fifteen runs later, Glynis Hullah, bowled Janette Tredrea, Jan Lumsden was run out through a smart return by Janet Allen and Mrs Gordon was caught at the wicket off the slow left-arm bowling of Mrs Bakewell.So Australia, probably nervous in the Lord’s atmosphere, had a disastrous first hour, but they were rescued by the strong arm of Sharon Tredrea, supported by Wendy Hills. Fortunately for Australia, Miss Tredrea was missed at the wicket when two. Otherwise, the match would have been over much earlier. These two girls changed the shape of the game, Miss Tredrea hitting as powerfully as a man, driving and making one superb square cut.The last Australian pair, Marie Lutschini and Wendy Blunsden, by admirable strokes and good running, added 32 for the last wicket.Both sides fielded and threw athletically and the only difference from a men’s match was the absence of genuine pace bowling and an inability to pierce a close-set field.

“Giles has to get through the second Test to get to the third.” This was John Buchanan’s verdict on Ashley Giles when he outlined Australia’s tactics of targeting Giles at Edgbaston, as reported by newspaper on Friday. “We understand his role,” continued Australia’s coach Buchanan, “so if we can erode that, it’s pretty important in the context of the whole series.”He’s a key part of [England’s] strategy for containing and also resting their impact bowlers. Therefore, if he’s not allowed to do the containment work, then it’s unlikely he can stay at the crease and then they will need to bring back their impact bowlers.”Australia have already successfully employed this strategy in the first Test at Lord’s, where their batsmen attacked Giles, hitting out against him for more than five an over for the duration of his 11 overs, in which he failed to pick up a wicket. And now they are determined to do the same next week.

James Sutherland, the chief executive officer of Cricket Australia, has expressed worries about the effect increased professionalism is having on the lives of Australian cricketers.”We send mixed messages,” said Sutherland in the 2004-05 edition of , which is published today. “We tell players: `We want you to be the best you can be. You need to do this, this and this to improve. We’ve got a training session at 6am and we’ll be back together at 3pm.’ But if it prevents players developing in other ways, what is that doing for them in real life?”Sutherland rejected suggestions that modern players do not have time to develop life skills beyond cricket. “That’s absolute crap,” he said. “These guys, they do not know what busy is. That’s a great pity. Players at state level shouldn’t go round thinking themselves in clover to the extent that they can simply fritter the winter away not furthering themselves.”But Sutherland did admit that only “10 to 20 players at any one time” earned enough money to justify the sacrifices they make in becoming cricketers. “That means there are 120 to 130 players making significant sacrifices that mean their transition when their cricket career is over will be difficult,” he said. “We haven’t got it right yet.”Sutherland’s interview with marks the 100th anniversary of the inaugural meeting of the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket, now called Cricket Australia. In it, he defends Australia’s controversial decision to tour Zimbabwe last May as “the lesser of two evils”.Sutherland said that if the Australian government did not approve of the Australian side playing against Zimbabwe – whose team was selected partly on the basis of skin colour – then it should have asked them to stay home. “If they’d said that … then we wouldn’t have gone,” Sutherland said. “If the government was serious about that and about the issues in Zimbabwe and an association by Australia as a country … then clearly it should have taken a much stronger stance.”Sutherland also revealed his thoughts on the Prime Minister John Howard’s claim that Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan throws the ball because “they proved it in Perth with that thing”. “I think it [Howard’s comment] would have been better left unsaid,” Sutherland said. “Needless to say, a Prime Minister’s comment will inevitably get airplay, and those about Muralitharan especially so. But I’m not sure the comments were directly responsible for Murali not touring. I don’t think he wanted to come.”Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack Australia 2004-05, edited by Christian Ryan and published by Hardie Grant Books.