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How they were out

A stunning England fightback, with Andrew Flintoff leading from the front, and bad light were the major players on the fourth day at The Oval. With another 56 overs lost England are edging near to regaining the Ashes, but just as no day this series has seemed complete without a contribution from Flintoff the same can be said of Shane Warne. Australia were given one final sliver of hope to cling to as Warne removed Andrew Strauss in his first overRicky Ponting had been forced to turn to his spinners early, but even with them operating England were offered the light on two occasions. Unsurprisingly Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan nearly jogged back to the pavilion on both times. The Australians did not make a great deal of fuss but were not enamoured by the decision. On the resumption after the first stoppage the players tried to make their point by all wearing sunglasses as they walked to the pitch.But that was a rare moment of humour in another seriously competitive day, the majority of which brought a thrilling bowling performance from England. Flintoff operated for the remaining duration of the Australia innings and his total spell, taken from yesterday evening, lasted 18 overs. It was a spell of sustained, hostile pace bowling which none of the Australia batsmen were comfortable at facing. After Flintoff took his fifth wicket Hoggard ran through the tail as England claimed a completely unexpected six-run lead.With the weather playing such a significant part in this match Australia were relieved when play started on time following torrential overnight thunderstorms. However, their progress suffered an early blow when Flintoff removed Damien Martyn in his second over. Flintoff charged in from the Pavilion End and cramped Martyn for room with a short ball, which looped out to square-leg for Paul Collingwood to hold onto the catch.

When Vaughan opted for the new ball the umpires consulted about the light but, this time, the Australian batsmen opted to stay on rather than lose more precious time. That belated show of aggression was then followed by an attempt to push along the scoring rate as Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke started to play their shots.Clarke received a life when he edged a booming drive off Hoggard to Flintoff at second slip, who proved he was human after all by dropping the chance, which he attempted rather casually. However, Flintoff put that miss to the back of his mind and continued to charge in. Although Hayden appeared more comfortable against England’s other bowlers, his discomfort against Flintoff was clear as he refused to push forward.This ultimately cost him his wicket when Flintoff seamed a ball back into him which would have crashed into middle stump. Hayden knew his fate and was almost walking before the umpire raised his finger, as was Simon Katich two overs later. Katich received an almost carbon-copy ball, after a series of deliveries slanting across him, and this time replays showed leg-stump would not have been standing.Clarke, after his early life, was hanging on grimly, using all his efforts to try and see the ball amid the gloom and repeatedly played-and-missed at Hoggard’s probing outswing. Adam Gilchrist came out and played the only way he knows – by taking on the bowling, but his series has been characterised by rapid twenties. Flintoff’s line outside off stump has certainly troubled him, but so has Hoggard’s inswing. Gilchrist played across the line to what became the last ball before lunch – in a manner very similar to his second innings at Trent Bridge – to become the third lbw victim of the session.

The collapse continued after lunch when Hoggard also trapped Clarke in front – ensuring that another missed catch by Geraint Jones did not prove costly for England. Warne then top-edged a pull to Vaughan at mid-on and despite a juggle the catch was pouched as Flintoff gained worthy reward for another stunning display of aggression. Hoggard then took his cue to mop up the tail by dismissing Glenn McGrath for the first time this series and Brett Lee holed out at deep mid-wicket as he attempted to slog some late runs.Australia had lost eight wickets for 90 runs, but the celebrations from the crowd did not last long before Warne brought a dose of reality back to the day. With his fourth ball he forced Strauss to get an inside-edge to short-leg, dismissing the left-hander for the sixth time in the series.Vaughan played two flowing square cuts off McGrath, during a brief period when the light was good enough for the seamers, and only Warne caused many alarms. He spun a couple of deliveries past Vaughan’s edge while also finding considerable help from the footmarks. Warne is determined to finish his last Test in England on the winning side and although time is now against him he has the knack of pulling off the miraculous. England are now in the position of needing two sessions of batting to seal the Ashes and half those overs will be bowled by Warne.With this in mind, the cheer for the bad light was almost bigger than for any of Flintoff’s wickets on a day when the quirks of cricket were demonstrated to their fullest. A crowd who had paid considerable money to watch play were deliriously happy when they were watching nothing. Most of them want England to win the Ashes and they aren’t too bothered how they do it.

AustraliaDamien Martyn c Collingwood b Flintoff 10 (281 for 3)
Matthew Hayden lbw b Flintoff 138 (323 for 4)
Simon Katich lbw b Flintoff 1 (329 for 5)
Adam Gilchrist lbw b Hoggard 23 (356 for 6)
Full length, swinging back, would have hit leg stumpMichael Clarke lbw b Hoggard 25 (359 for 7)
Shane Warne c Vaughan b Flintoff 0 (363 for 8)
Glenn McGrath c Strauss b Hoggard 0 (363 for 9)
Brett Lee c Giles b Hoggard 6 (367 all out)
EnglandAndrew Strauss c Katich b Warne 1 (2 for 1)

As its inaugural season draws towards a close in early September, US ProCricket can look back on having achieved several firsts in US cricket — and a future that, while still uncertain, is decidedly more promising than first assumed.This was the first time that an independent national cricket league has established itself in the USA. It has been tried several times in the last decade, but most of those efforts ran out of steam almost before they started. That US ProCricket was able to do so in spite of efforts to derail it from inside and outside the US makes the achievement especially notable.The opposition to US ProCricket was especially fierce and unrelenting from the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) and, rather surprisingly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The USACA always viewed ProCricket with a jaundiced eye, seeing it as an encroachment on its sacrosanct turf. It did its best to prevent any cricketers with aspirations of representing the USA in internationals from playing for ProCricket. The attempt to blackball the new league was also energetically supported by the BCCI, which threatened Indian internationals with unspecified sanctions if they so much as touched bat or ball on American soil. The International Cricket Council tiptoed around these positions, first declaring it had nothing against ProCricket and then saying that what ICC member countries did with players under contract to them was their own business. This was a remarkable position considering that neither India nor the USACA had signed contracts with their players, but ICC’s calculated ambiguity seems to be more and more its style these days.How ProCricket was able to deal with this triple threat to its existence — what corners had to be cut, what plans drastically altered — is a saga all its own. ProCricket managed to survive these vicissitudes, and even introduced some innovations as it strained to complete its inaugural season. It put American cricketers on the same teams as its first-class overseas players, experimenting with a synergy that had never been tried in US cricket before. Its five-ball over compressed the 20-over format into 100 balls per innings, and "decimalised" scoring formulas. ProCricket was the first domestic cricket ever to be broadcast live on US television, as the DISH satellite network picked up its league schedule. And ProCricket was reported on in England, Pakistan, India and the West Indies, the first time that any cricket played within the USA has ever been seriously examined outside North America.This is not to say that ProCricket did not have problems. It did — and some of these were of its own making. Its public communications were often inconsistent, and sometimes abysmal, and its website was confusing. Facilities in some of the eight ProCricket team sites were poor, and management was lackadaisical. The recruitment process for both the overseas and local players was mystifying, and kept changing. Some of ProCricket’s innovations, like rotating international players between teams but keeping local players at their own league sites, seemed not to have been thought out in advance. It seemed at times that ProCricket was tripping over itself in its haste to be too many things to too many people, and this was producing an unnecessary angst in many of its ardent supporters. The last thing ProCricket needs is a US cricketing public that is turned off by an ill-conceived and badly executed programme. Yet this is precisely what might happen if ProCricket does not get its own house in order before its next season.On the whole, however, the portents for the future were hopeful for US ProCricket, and there is every reason to believe it will be become a permanent feature of the American cricket landscape if it can get its act together.ProCricket has already accomplished far more than its detractors had ever assumed. Next year, 2005, may be the season when it is able to fully come into its own.

Rodney Marsh, considered by many to be Australia’s greatest wicketkeeper, has said that he is “100% English now in terms of cricket” after being made an England selector.Speaking to the , Marsh said: “If I’m still a selector when England next play Australia [in 2005] then I’ll be rooting for England to win.”Marsh, who had once unflatteringly branded England bowlers as a bunch of “pie-chuckers”, has run England’s academy for promising players since its inception. He had previously held a similar post in Australia where he was responsible for nurturing the careers of several members of current Australian side.Marsh said that, contrary to popular belief, there were several talented young cricketers in England. He said that Chris Read, Nottinghamshire’s wicketkeeper, was a “helluva lot better wicketkeeper-batsman than I was at the same age of 24”.Read made his England debut in 1999 but, following a shaky start, was dropped after three Tests. He subsequently became a member of England’s Academy squad in Australia last year, coached by Marsh, and is now seen as the leading contender to succeed Alec Stewart in the England side.Ironically, Marsh was, at the start of his Test career, dubbed ‘Iron Gloves’, after some poor displays during the 1970-71 series against England in Australia. He said about Read: “If he can continue to work on his game, then by the age of 36, the time I retired, he might well be as good as anyone.”Marsh wasn’t making any selectorial predictions, though. “As in all new positions, if you’re half-smart, you keep your ears open and your mouth shut for a little while.”He said he was not blind to the claims of older England candidates but insisted: “If you have a young fella and an old fella and they’re equal – then you’ll always go for the young fella. This is not rocket science. It’s common sense. The trouble is that cricket is a game that is confused by people all over the world.”Marsh added that the key to improving England’s international fortunes was creating an environment which produced mentally tougher cricketers.”We need a culture that isn’t soft. When you have people prepared to be hard, prepared to lay down everything for the team, then England will have not just 11 players ready for Test cricket but 30 guys to choose from.”

Former captain Wasim Akram was omitted from Pakistan’s 26-man cricket training squad ahead of the Asian Test Championship, said Pakistan chairman of selectors Wasim Bari.Leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, a member of this year’s tour party to England, also was left out. Bari said selectors want to field younger players in the opening match of the championship against India starting Aug. 30 in Multan, Pakistan.”The first match is at home and we wanted to start a rebuilding process,” Bari said in an interview. “It’s no indication that Akram’s career is over – this squad is for a training camp not the Tests, but we are looking to the future.”Akram, 35, has played 102 Tests and is Test cricket’s fourth highest wicket-taker with 414 wickets. A left-arm fast bowler, he is currently playing for Lashings Cricket Club in England. Akram said he will fly to Pakistan tonight to ask about his future.”It’s disappointing but I will keep going as I just want to do my best for my country,” he said. “I badly want to pass Kapil Dev’s (wicket’s total of) 434 so I still want to carry on playing.”Mushtaq’s place in the squad goes to Danish Kaneria, who made his Test debut against England in November, Raja said.There was no recall for former captain Moin Khan, while fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, also playing for Lashings, was included for the camp running from Aug. 6-29.

Sydney Sixers’ senior pro Brad Haddin has called for a reinstatement of some form of the Champions League T20, on the day it was announced that the Big Bash League prize money was being bolstered through compensation funds for the cancellation of the tournament three years before its television contract expired.The BBL, due to commence on Thursday with a Sydney derby between Thunder and the Sixers, has had its stakes raised by the addition of an extra $600,000, up from $290,000 last summer, though the vast majority of this will go to the clubs rather than their players.In the latest episode of an ongoing haggle over money between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association, the board wanted any player prize increases to come out of the player payment pool already set aside for male contracted players, rather than the CLT20 compensation, a figure believed to be between $80 and $100 million.

Haddin bats for Lyon’s World T20 place

Nathan Lyon is the best spin bowler in Australia across all formats and should be allowed to demonstrate it at next year’s World Twenty20. That’s the view of Brad Haddin, who said Lyon did not have anything to prove to selectors in the game’s shorter formats despite his continued absence from the ODI and T20 squads.
“He’s the premiere spinner in Australia isn’t he?” Haddin said. “He’s been bowling outstanding for the last 18 months whether it be a white ball or a red ball, he just hasn’t had much opportunity to play with the white ball. But his form over all forms of cricket is outstanding.
“I don’t think Nathan has to do anything different to be honest, his bowling’s been exceptional for a long period now and every time he gets an opportunity with the white ball it’s no different. Just the way the schedules are hasn’t had much opportunity to play with the white ball, he was outstanding during the Matador Cup and he was great for the Sixers last year. I’m a bit biased, I think he’s the premiere spinner in Australia.”

While Haddin said he felt players were “pretty content” with present prize money levels, he urged CA to work at refashioning a global club T20 competition that provided added incentives for teams to perform in the BBL. “It’s disappointing that it’s not there,” Haddin said. “It’s a great tournament, and with the Sixers we are lucky that we have got a couple of really key Australian players who enjoy coming back for the tournament as well.”It’s a massive carrot; you can’t hide behind that fact, for state associations and Australian cricket as well. From a players’ point of view, and NSW Cricket and the Sixers, we’d like to see something go ahead. You can’t get past the fact it is an attractive tournament to play in. I hope they find something to replace it, because it’s a great carrot for not only international players but domestic players to get to play in a different country but also to play all around the world.”The CLT20 was founded as tournament jointly run by the boards of India, Australia and South Africa in 2008, and won a 10-year television deal worth $900 million with Star Sports off the back of the success of the inaugural IPL earlier that year. However it did not draw in the TV ratings or advertising revenue the broadcasters had hoped for, leading to a deal to conclude it ahead of the contract’s 2018 expiry.The proliferation of T20 leagues is a major undercurrent to the problems faced by the West Indies, something Haddin acknowledged by noting that most of the region’s best players would be turning out in the BBL this summer rather than the concurrent Test series. Haddin did not seem overly fussed by the decline of the West Indies Test team.”That’s their choice,” he said of the likes of Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo. “If you want to see the best of the West Indies come to the Big Bash. We’ve got Andre Russell, I think he was player of the tournament in the IPL this year, so there are some talented West Indians out there, they just happen to be playing Big Bash and not Test cricket.”If the [Test matches] only go for two and a half days, there’s obviously days where there’ll be Big Bash scheduled, I think the concept of this tournament’s just been getting bigger and bigger every year. If the West Indies have been playing the way they have last Test – I think they’ll come out and show some fight in the next two – but it’s an opportunity for people to come and see some young cricketers and also some of the greats in the Big Bash.”Since his Test retirement, Haddin has tried his hand at several pursuits, and admitted he could now see himself carving out a career of several years as a T20 freelancer. “I’m pretty lucky I finished my Test career with no niggles and my body’s in good shape,” he said.”It’s a great opportunity to go and play Twenty20, you only have to prepare for one form of the game, and if someone’s bowling really fast I can stand outside leg and have a swing and say I was trying to move the game forward and not be scared!”This is the start of my campaign now to move forward and hopefully play all around the world. I’m just excited about the Big Bash, it’s going from strength to strength and getting bigger every year.”

There is a lot of debate on whether Rahul Dravid did the right thing in not enforcing the follow-on in the third Test against England but I feel it was the correct decision under the circumstances.Winning a series in England is always a difficult preposition and Dravid must have kept India’s past record in mind while taking the decision. It is not often that India win a series in England and to have played it safe was quite understandable.A 2-0 margin would have been definitely better and I think Indian team could have won the last Test at the Oval with one extra bowler – spinner Ramesh Powar. If with seven batsmen they could make 664, I feel with one less they could have still made 600.Powar would have utilised the turn on the pitch. Sachin Tendulkar was turning the ball a mile with his off breaks, and Kevin Pietersen too was able to turn the ball. India certainly missed a second spinner. But to win against England in England is a difficult proposition and that is the reason I rate this Test series victory by the Indian team quite high on my card.The difficulty of winning in England is because their players are capable of exploiting the conditions better than the visitors. The victory is doubly sweet because Test cricket is the genuine form of cricket and it’s a game of thinkers. You have to think before every ball and from session to session with constantly changing conditions – weatherwise and pitchwise.Obviously, there will be a comparison between this 1-0 series victory and ours in 1971 by the same margin. Ours was obtained basically through spin bowling while this has come about due to swing and seam bowling though Anil [Kumble] also performed admirably.Compared to this team, which I feel needs to pep up in the fielding department, ours was a better fielding outfit. We hardly dropped a catch. Dravid’s team, however, is much stronger in batting with the fab four – the captain, Tendulkar, Sourav [Ganguly] and [VVS] Laxman – forming the fulcrum who guided youngsters [Dinesh] Karthik and the rest.In one area this team was blessed – in the opening partnerships between Karthik and Wasim Jaffer – as compared to ours in 1971. Harking back to our triumph in 1971 I must say that when we set out to the West Indies we were considered the weakest team and even when we won people said it was a flash in the pan, and the real test awaited us in England.The then Test series win over England was also remarkable in that almost every team member contributed to it, unlike in the West Indies when Sunil [Gavaskar] and Dilip [Sardesai] played lead roles.The present victory, in the middle part of the English summer as compared to ours in the most dry part, too can be attributed to the team playing as one unit with almost every member contributing to it. They showed tremendous team spirit and single-mindedness.The weather gods were kind to us in the build-up to the ’71 series. All our practice matches against the various counties were unaffected by weather. It helped us get acclimatised.We also played very positively, even in the first Test at Lord’s when we strove hard for victory even when the chips were down. Chandra bowled exceptionally well when we won at the Oval in the final Test. And there was the close-in brilliance on the field of Eknath Solkar.I remember an anecdote about Ekki. Alan Knott, England’s wicketkeeper, used to mark his guard by lifting the bail and using it like Shivnarine Chanderpaul does now. Ekki had noticed it and when Knott came to bat in the second innings, he found the bails missing. Ekki, after seeing Knott’s discomfiture, as most cricketers are superstitious, took them off his pocket and placed the bails on the stumps and Knotty marked his guard. But he was out second ball, caught brilliantly by Solkar off Venkat. Knotty was certainly disturbed by Ekki’s prank. And this was a very crucial wicket.Another incident comes to mind when I recall Chandra’s match-winning spell. I saw Derek Underwood play three balls from him comfortably and decided to re-introduce Bishen Bedi into the attack and he dismissed the batsman immediately.John Price came out to bat and after seeing him play Bedi comfortably I decided to bring back Chandra into the attack and he trapped Price leg before. These are just two instances where everything clicked.Talking about the present, this team needs to improve its fielding and catching. But I am happy to see it being openly aggressive and not averse to giving back to the rivals. We used to do it discreetly but present day players adopt the in-your-face style opposition even if it’s all captured by the TV cameras. You can’t take it lying down, an you?The victory was very important especially for the five seniors who are unlikely to be around when India visits England next. With the current hectic schedule one cannot visualise them being around five years later. They should be preserved and not used in Twenty20 events and against minor opposition like Zimbabwe which are ideal to field youngsters with an eye on the future. The seniors need to be used against stronger teams like Australia, Pakistan, South Africa and England.

Yorkshire supporters grew used to infighting through the 1970s and 80s, but after success on the pitch a few years ago, it now seems that there is again some serious unrest off it.A report in the Yorkshire Post claims that Anthony McGrath, one of the senior players, is about to walk away after asking to be released from his county contract. It says that he has grown disillusioned with the club’s managementMcGrath, 31, was unavailable for comment, while Stewart Regan, the county’s chief executive, told the paper: “I have nothing to say at the present time and I’m not going to comment on speculation.”The latest upheaval appears to have been caused by the decision to part company with Richard Blakey, the former player turned coach. There is a feeling that he has been made a scapegoat for the club’s poor performances.If McGrath does move on, then he might be followed by Michael Lumb, who is said to be attracting interest from Hampshire.The Yorkshire Post also noted that the county is likely to re-sign Jason Gillespie for another season despite some less-than-impressive returns for them. In 14 first-class matches he took 36 wickets at 33.61. he is likely to be joined by Younis Khan, although the county declined to confirm or deny whether he had been signed.

Shane Warne has told the Trent Bridge groundsman to “keep his mouth quiet” after suggesting the fourth-Test pitch would suit seam instead of spin. Warne, who has a stunning record at the ground with 21 wickets in three matches, said Steve Birks should be concerned only with preparing the surface.”The wicket looks pretty good, contrary to what the groundsman wants to try and say,” Warne told . “He should just worry about getting a good wicket up. He should keep his mouth quiet, that’s what he should do.”Warne was upset with Birks’ comments in the earlier in the week. “One thing is certain as far as the Test pitch is concerned,” Birks said, “there shouldn’t be anything in it for that spinner of theirs until the fifth day.”With 20 wickets and 204 runs in the opening three matches, Warne will again be a crucial member of the side contemplating a bowling attack without Glenn McGrath, who has an elbow problem, for the second time in three Tests.

Scorecard
An unbeaten century by Andrew White and some lusty hitting from Trent Johnston has put Ireland into an excellent position on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup match at Deventer. White scored 152 not out, while Johnston slammed a run-a-ball 60 as Ireland amassed 388 for 8 declared. Netherlands made the worst possible start when they came out to bat, 188 behind, losing Feiko Kloppenburg for a four-ball duck.Earlier, Ireland made a positive start to their batting, although they lost Dominick Joyce early, bowled by Edgar Schiferli (38 for 1). Jeremy Bray and Andre Botha added 50 for the second wicket in quick time, before Bray became Schiferli’s second victim when he was caught by Darron Reekers for 29 (88 for 2). Botha fell soon after for a well-paced 42 (103 for 3), but Peter Gillespie (31) and Kyle McCallan (26) provided White with some good support as he raced towards his hundred.Johnston came to the crease with the fall of the fifth wicket at 235, and quickly set about the tired Netherlands bowlers. With White, he added 124, smashing six fours and three sixes before he tried one shot too many against Schiferli and was bowled (359 for 6). Schiferli bowled impressively, and was the pick of the Netherlands bowlers, taking 4 for 70 in 20 overs. John Mooney did not last long, trapped lbw by Schiferli, but Naseer Shaukat stayed with White until he brought up his 150, when the declaration came.Feiko Kloppenburg, unusually pushed up the order to open, fell in Shaukat’s first over and Netherlands closed at 0 for 1. They will have a lot of work to do tomorrow if they are to stop Ireland from securing a famous victory.

Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has warned Shoaib Akhtar that his international career could be over unless he improves his behaviour.

Zia, who rarely minces his words, left no-one in any doubt about his opinion of Shoaib, the world’s quickest bowler. “Let me make this clear,” he said. “If Shoaib does not improve his behaviour and general discipline, he has no place in the team … his cricket is finished.”Shoaib, 27, was one of eight players dropped after the World Cup, although he has since earned a reprieve, after being drafted into a preliminary squad of 21 for Pakistan’s one-day triangular series in Sri Lanka. During the World Cup match against England at Cape Town, he bowled one ball at Nick Knight that was clocked at more than 100mph, but the majority of his recent headlines have centred on irresponsible behaviour and indiscipline.Zia stressed there was no place in the Pakistan team for players not willing to give 100% commitment. “Regardless of whatever the selectors might think or plan, in my book, if Shoaib can’t improve his attitude and become more focused on cricket, his career is over. The Board and myself have supported him all along and spent a lot of money on his welfare, even when match officials reported his action.Shoaib, who was reported three times for throwing before it was discovered he has an abnormally flexible elbow, has a long history of clashes with team managers. “He was allowed a lot of latitude because we thought he was a genuine match-winner,” said Zia. “But he let the country down badly in the World Cup.”