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A hurt Stuart Clark believes the Australians will usethe pain of defeat as a spur for the series-decidingTest in Adelaide on Thursday. Clark experienced hisfirst loss in whites with the national team in Perthon Saturday, which ended the winning run at 16.After the game the players spoke about the streak anda few of them got together over a beer to discuss theonly time they had worn the baggy green and notexperienced success. “This loss hurts as much as anyother loss,” Clark said. “It would have been a nicerecord, but losing is losing. It doesn’t matter how orwhere, whether it’s a one-dayer, a Twenty20 or a Test,it’s not a great feeling, and it drives a lot of us.”Clark had a fine match, picking up six wickets,including 4 for 61 in the second innings, and strikingan entertaining 32 as Australia fought to the finish.While Clark performed strongly, there were seriousconcerns over Shaun Tait’s inability to fire in thepace quartet.Tait, who was playing his third Test, delivered only21 overs for the game and did not capture a wicket.Brad Hogg is likely to return in Adelaide as Australiause a more traditional attack of three fast bowlersand a spinner.”Shaun hasn’t had much bowling,” Clark said. “He’s hada little bit in the one-dayers and Twenty20 and thereis a difference for Tests. He didn’t have the bestgame of his life, but he’s a quality player.”On the first day Tait started operating above 150kph,but his accuracy became an issue in subsequent spellsand his desire for a long bowl in the second inningswas ended by Australia’s slow over-rate. DespiteTait’s problems, Ricky Ponting was not overlyconcerned.”It’s pretty hard for someone coming in who has notplayed a Test for a while, trying to impress and dothe right thing,” he said. “He bowled 20 overs andprobably didn’t get the bowling right. The conditionscaught us off guard and the pace in the pitch wasn’tthere. Shaun’s pace through the game levelled out at145kph and above, that’s pretty good.”Clark and Brett Lee were impressive during the matchand Mitchell Johnson provided capable support, but thehome team was out-bowled by India’s swing men, whoupset Australia’s batting rhythm and exposed theirproblems when the ball moves around. Aiming for seammovement is more of an Australian trait than weavingit through the air, although they have been trying toimprove their methods since 2005.”It’s something we’ve worked on with [the bowlingcoach] Troy Cooley,” Clark said. “It’s important forsome places and one of the things to do to make usbetter cricketers.”Adelaide is a ground where reverse-swing is morelikely – Tait is particularly dangerous there in PuraCup games – and the pitch also helps the spinners,giving India a chance to level the series. “LikeMelbourne and Sydney, I suppose the conditions willsuit them,” Clark, who has complained previously aboutsurfaces not helping the home team, said. “Hopefullywe can play well and put them back on the back foot.”

Salman Butt continued to shake off a wretched Quaid-e-Azam trophy campaign. His second unbeaten half-century in three games helped Lahore Whites trounce Peshawar by 27 runs. Butt’s 58-ball 85 took his side to the top of the standings.His fellow opener Kamran Akmal also joined in to make a 40-ball 52 as the Whites notched up 163. In response, the struggling Peshawar – who now have one win in six matches – could not find a single batsman to score over 25. That meant the chase never really took off. Lahore’s bowlers picked them off at ease with Umaid Asif starring with four for 26 to break the back of the Peshawar chase. Ehsan Adil and Asif Ali took two wickets apiece as Peshawar were cleaned up for 136, with their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals officially extinguished.A century stand between Umar Amin and Zain Abbas wasn’t enough for Rawalpindi as they lost to Faisalabad, thereby falling out of contention for the last four. Amin and Abbas scored 67 and 62 respectively, with Sohail Tanvir adding a quickfire 32 off 16 as Rawalpindi surged to 193. It was, surprisingly, the international stars in Faisalabad’s bowling attack who were the most expensive, with Faheem Ashraf, Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah conceding a whopping 115 runs in their combined 11 overs.But Faisalabad gave the daunting chase a right go, thanks largely to a 43-ball 87 from Sohaib Maqsood, even as the top order fell cheaply around him. By the time he was dismissed, he had contributed 87 to Faisalabad’s score of 108, but 86 were still required off a mere seven overss, the balance firmly in favour of the hosts. But sensational hitting from Khurram Manzoor – who finished with an unbeaten 52 off 25 – and Ashraf helped Faisalabad sneak home with a ball to spare and strengthen their hold on a semi-final position.

Andhra ran out easy victors by an innings and 20 runs on the final day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy match against Goa at Margao on Sunday. The win, worth eight points, takes them to joint second place in the zonal table at 11 points from two games. Goa are languishing at the bottom without a point.The hosts resumed at 249/5, needing to post a total of 351 if they wanted to make Andhra bat again. But a double strike in the fourth over of the day dealt a fatal blow to Goa’s hopes. Skipper Pravin Amre was run out for 11 and three balls later, seamer N Madhukar scalped the other overnight batsman Ananth Bhagwat for 41.From 277/8, Avinash Avare and Nitin Kalekar extended the proceedings with a 51 run ninth wicket partnership but Andhra finally cut short the resistance of the tail one minute before lunch. Goa finished at 331 with off spinner YS Ranganath bagging 4/59. Andhra next play Karnataka at Bangalore while Goa take on Kerala at Ernakulam, both from November 15-18.

Salim Dhanji, who was chairman of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association until January 2007, has contacted Cricinfo to confirm that rather than being absent from Kenya, he resigned on leaving for a two-year sabbatical in Australia.He also clarified the position regarding the ongoing review of the NPCA’s constitution. While NPCA officials have maintained to Cricinfo that there was no obligation on them to amend it to bring it into line with Cricket Kenya’s requirements, Dhanji said that was not the case.”I should also point out that as one of the persons that drew up the CK constitution, it was not only part of our mandate but our wish that all provincial bodies should and would amend their existing constitutions in order to bring them in line with the CK constitution,” he said. “To this end, during my tenure as the NPCA chairman, I set up a subcommittee to deal with this specific issue. If my memory serves me correctly, one John Moyi headed this subcommittee.”At the time of my resignation I was informed that the existing constitution had been amended and would be discussed at a meeting early in the New Year (2007).”Last year Moyi told Cricinfo, in response to suggestions that Dhanji had entered into such an agreement, that he was unable to answer and if he had done so it was “without our agreement”.The delays in obtaining the Nairobi clubs’ approval to constitutional changes has delayed elections, both for the NPCA and CK, for more than nine months and continues to rumble on.

Scorecard

For the second time in the match Matt Prior hauled Sussex out of a hole after the top-order slumped and set the platform for a final-day dart at victory. Luke Wright also played a vital hand as they added 115 for the sixth wicket and built an advantage of 278 to set up a fascinating finish. Mushtaq Ahmed’s 5 for 83 earned a 99-run lead as Kent did well to avoid the follow-on before striking back to reduce Sussex to 54 for 5 shortly after tea.It was a spirited resurgence from Kent who began the day on 65 for 6 and fell away to 122 for 9. Geraint Jones and Yasir Arafat added 82 for the last wicket and when Azhar Mahmood claimed two quick wickets, followed by Chris Adams going early in the final session, the game was alive for Kent.However, Prior continued from his first-innings 105 with a 67-ball half-century although he was given a life on 9 when James Tredwell dropped a tough chance at first slip. Prior earlier told Cricinfo: “I enjoy playing when there’s something on it in a pressurised situation…you know the amount of work you put into a certain innings and you do get reward out of it.” When playing well he is one of the crispest drivers of the ball and he repeatedly went straight down the ground while also unleashing his favourite square drive.Wright, who combined with Prior in a first-day stand of 82, kept up with him throughout the partnership. Wright is eager to develop his first-class batting to remove the tag of a one-day hitter and began the season with 155 against MCC. There was nothing other than pride riding on that innings, it was a different case here. His half-century came off 64 balls before the partnership was ended when Ryan McLaren found one to keep low at Prior. Wright was bowled by the final ball of the day from Tredwell, but it wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Sussex as it keeps the match moving.The complexion of the game changed throughout the day and as in the first innings Sussex’s collapse started with a run out when Carl Hopkinson was beaten for the second time in the match. It was ill-judged single as he dropped the ball into midwicket, where Joe Denly collected cleanly and had time to take aim at the non-striker’s end and still catch Hopkinson a yard short. Chris Nash was then well caught by Jones when he clung onto an outside edge in front of first slip.Michael Yardy was clearly unhappy about the decision he received from Jeremy Lloyds, slamming his bat as he trudged off, and on the stroke of tea Murray Goodwin was well caught from a top edged hook by Arafat at long leg. The onus was on Adams to steady the innings, but his footwork hasn’t looked quite right this season. He fell to another sharp catch, this time Martin van Jaarsveld at second slip, as he fished outside off stump against the deserving Mahmood.At that point the lead of 99 looked even more important. It hadn’t appeared as though Kent would be able to save the follow-on as Mushtaq continued to chip away, although it’s unlikely Adams would have enforced to allow Mushtaq final use of the pitch. He ended Tredwell’s stubborn 40 and then, in a wicket to give him plenty of personal satisfaction, had Mahmood taken at silly point.Jones played with patience he rarely showed for England – even when in good form he was never one to hang around – and took more than 50 balls to reach double figures. His innings only contained three boundaries, partly down to a slow outfield, and his fifty took 117 deliveries as he pushed Kent towards an unexpected batting point.Arafat is much better than a No. 11, pushed into that slot by the nightwatchman, but Kent have so many allrounders that he is often buried down the order. Once the follow-on was saved he opened his shoulders with consecutive boundaries off Chris Liddle. Mushtaq completed his first five-wicket haul of the season when Arafat inside-edged a googly and was bowled. Mushtaq operated unchanged during the third day, no doubt a sign of things to come for the final day of this match and the season ahead.

Canada have joined the Twenty20 bandwagon and will host their first tournament in Toronto on May 17 and 18. Eight teams from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia will compete.”In the light of what is happening in the IPL in India at the moment, what we are undertaking in Canada is a major step to restore this sport to its former glory which it enjoyed till ice hockey replaced it,” the board’s CEO Atul Ahuja said.Ahuja was present at the launch of the IPL in Bangalore last month and said that the owners of the franchises had indicated a willingness to send teams to Canada. “All of them … promised to send Twenty20 teams to Canada in the summer to help us groom players. We have a huge talent from the South Asian and Caribbean communities in Canada.”However, if they do, the sides are unlikely to bear much resemblance to those playing in the IPL at the moment and most of the high-profile players will be on international duty elsewhere.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has all but ruled out the India-Pakistan series, given the short window ahead of India’s limited-overs tour of Australia, which begins on January 12.”It’s 19th already and even if a decision comes in the next week, it might not be possible to host a series in such short notice,” Thakur said at the press conference in Delhi, where the ODI and T20 squads for the tour of Australia were announced.He, however, said the onus of making that call rested with Pakistan, who are the hosts for the series in accordance with the MoU signed between the BCCI and PCB. “This is not a decision for us to make,” Thakur said. “It is for Pakistan to make should the Indian government grant permission. But, given the situation today, it appears difficult.”The series has remained in limbo for a while now with little progress made in the last few weeks. While the Pakistan government has green-lit the series, there has been no word from its Indian counterpart yet.

John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, has hinted that the fast bowler Tim Southee, who starred in the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, could be in line for a Test debut against England in Napier this week, as New Zealand look to bounce back from Monday’s 126-run defeat in the second Test at Wellington.Southee took 17 wickets at 6.64 to take his New Zealand team to the semi-finals in Malaysia, a performance that earned him the Man-of-the-Tournament award. Prior to that, he had impressed with his pace, control and temperament during his Twenty20 debut against England at Auckland, where he finished with 1 for 38 from four overs.Though he is still nine months short of his 20th birthday, Southee was added to New Zealand’s third Test squad as cover for Kyle Mills, who reported soreness behind the left knee after the Wellington defeat. Bracewell, however, suggested he was not simply there to make up the numbers.”He’s a class bowler and the selectors have been watching him for some time,” said Bracewell. “They believe he’s ready for the job. If the surface is as predicted at Napier, there will be something in it in the first session, then after that it will be reasonably flat. The defining factor will probably be swing bowling, and at the moment England have the edge on us in that department.”All of England’s bowlers, apart from [Steve] Harmison, swing it, and swing it reasonably late,” he added. “We really have only got Kyle Mills who swings it on a consistent basis. Therefore, having that extra option of genuine swing might put the balance back on an even keel.”After their exertions on a flat track in Hamilton, New Zealand’s senior bowlers were visibly off the pace at Wellington, in particular Chris Martin, whose three wickets came at more than 50 apiece. “We are happy with our bowling depth but we are looking for an extra day in terms of recovery,” said Bracewell. “There’s a bit of wear and tear, from the consistent cricket that Chris and Kyle have had over last season. We’ve got options around the squad, but there’s time to get these two close for the next Test.”Bracewell’s temptation to tinker with his attack was no doubt prompted by the success of England’s revamped line-up. Out went the two stalwarts, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, and into the fray came James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both suffered at the hands of New Zealand’s strokeplayers during the one-day internationals, but bounced back to play major roles in England’s victory.Peter Moores, England’s coach, was delighted with the impact his new attack had made, and gave a clear signal that Anderson, Broad and Ryan Sidebottom would take some shifting now that they’d earned their places in the starting eleven. “The lads who have got possession, that’s always a strong place to be,” he said. “If they keep playing well they’re going to give themselves a great chance of carrying on.”It was quite a tough decision to make that change, especially on Matthew Hoggard,” said Moores. “He’s at an age where he’s still got a lot of bowling left in him, which is good for us because we’ve got to make a squad which is very competitive. I don’t think there was any complacency in the squad before the changes, but the thing about competitiveness in any job is that it’s good because it keeps everyone pushing forward.”Bracewell was also impressed with what he saw from England, and claimed he hadn’t been surprised by the impact of the new incumbents. “I felt that Anderson is a class bowler, a genuine swing bowler, and this was a ground for swing bowling. He got taken to in the last two one-dayers, but that’s the nature of one-day cricket. Broad has bowled a heavy length throughout the one-dayers, and once again he went a little square in the last one. But both of them are good bowlers. They bowled well as a unit.”New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, had been openly critical of the Wellington pitch prior to the second Test, feeling that the extra pace and bounce it provided would play into the hands of England’s bowlers. But Bracewell took a slightly different stance. “To tip the balance in our favour, we would have liked to play two spinners, but it was an excellent pitch,” he said. “The defining moment in the match was we didn’t bowl well to Tim Ambrose.”Ambrose is England’s only centurion in the series to date, while New Zealand have only Ross Taylor’s 120 at Hamilton to look back on. “Both sides would have liked to have seen more hundreds in the matches,” said Bracewell. “But that’s a testament to the bowlers on both sides, not necessarily the wickets. They bowled magnificently throughout the series. It’s not all about going out there and getting double hundreds. The intriguing cricket comes when a bowler scalps the opposition and probes their weaknesses.”One player who has been unexpectedly well probed is Kevin Pietersen, who is in the midst of the worst run of form of his career. He hasn’t reached fifty for 10 consecutive innings, and Bracewell believed that England were suffering as a result. “He’s a class player, and a point of difference player. He scores at a rate that generates results, and every Test team needs one of those players. We’re really pleased with how we’ve bowled to him, and cut him down in terms of strike-rate and put pressure on him.”Even so, Bracewell accepted that, following the Wellington defeat, the pressure had now shifted to New Zealand ahead of the Napier decider. “England didn’t come over to draw against New Zealand, they expected to win,” he said. “They were odds-on favourites, heavily so, and if we can knock them over, we’ll be delighted.”

England 244 and 4 for 144 (SC Taylor 64) beat Australia 154 and 9 for 231 dec (Sthalekar 98) by six wickets
Scorecard

England retained the Ashes in style thanks to Claire Taylor, whose second fifty of the match drove them home to a stylish six-wicket win in the final session after Karen Rolton’s daring declaration backfired. When the embers of the sole match are raked over Australia may rightfully rue being given only one chance to recapture the prize but England deserve credit for playing to win, and succeeding, when a draw would have been enough.They owe much to Isa Guha who finished with match figures of 9 for 100 and was on for her second five-for when Rolton called her batting troops in at 9 for 231, leaving England needing a mere 142 but gambling big with her side having only one throw. They made some inroads with a few wickets but Taylor played a mature hand which trumped everything the Australians – with two of the world’s fastest bowlers in Emma Sampson and Ellyse Perry – had to throw at them.In actual fact it was Lisa Sthalekar who troubled them the most for the second time with the ball having failed just short of her second Test hundred. Resuming on 95 not out, she had a licence to drill the ball anywhere she liked, having promised that the nineties would not be nervous but bold.Her Warne-like contributions of cunning spin and handy Ashes runs in a losing cause must not go unrecognised, and she and Shelley Nitschke made sure the match went into the final session by getting the ball to spin back a long way and troubling the England batsmen.The final session began with England seven wickets remaining needing 45 runs which was hardly tense and although they lost Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway, Claire Taylor and the captain Charlotte Edwards fittingly brought home the Ashes with Taylor striking the final four.The win may not be as widely reported in England as the men’s 5-0 defeat was but that won’t stop the women celebrating long into the night.”We really gave it our all throughout the match,” Rolton said. “We had a disappointing first day but there were several stages with both the bat and ball where we were able to get ourselves back into the match. There was a lot of positive cricket played.”A glowing Edwards said: “I’m delighted, almost lost for words. To beat Australia in Australia is a fantastic feeling. We had always said we would come out here and aim to win this match in order to retain the Ashes and that’s what we did today.”I’m so proud of all my players. We have played some fantastic cricket over these past four days to continually have the upper hand over Australia and to pull through and secure victory today was a great effort.”

Injured Tare to miss quarter-final

Mumbai captain Aditya Tare will miss his team’s quarter-final against Jharkhand in Mysore after failing to recover from a finger fracture sustained during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition. Allrounder Abhishek Nayar will stand in as captain, and Mumbai have included wicketkeeper batsman Eknath Kerkar as Tare’s replacement in their 15-man squad.

Bengal’s consistency this season can’t be overstated. They won two games in the league stage and lost none, and their only blip came in the first game against Karnataka when they dropped first-innings points. Bengal never conceded the lead thereafter, and eventually went on to finish second in Group A. A graph of their performance would reveal a smooth upward stroke gaining height with every game. Minus the backstory it would be easy to believe such an impressive performance was borne out of a harmonious set-up that nurtured the winning habit. But there was very little that was harmonious about Bengal’s build up to the season.Their pre-season tour to Sri Lanka was tarred by reports of alleged infighting, culminating in Laxmi Ratan Shukla stepping down as captain and Manoj Tiwary replacing him. Then there was the spat between Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir in Delhi and the controversy over an ‘underprepared’ Kalyani pitch after the two-day finish against Odisha. Bengal also had a revamped bowling attack that had no place for veteran offspinner Saurashish Lahiri, and had Pragyan Ojha making his first appearance for the team. The batting unit also had a fair bit of green about it. So what went right for the team?”I would say Sairaj Bahutule has played a very important role along with [Cricket Association of Bengal president] Sourav Ganguly because he also chips in with his valuable inputs [on] how to go about as far as all these things are concerned,” Tiwary told reporters after Bengal’s practice session ahead of their quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh at the Brabourne Stadium. “Other support staff like [bowling coach] Ranadeb Bose and [fielding coach] Joydeep Mukherjee have made sure our team doesn’t get distracted with all this things.”Tiwary said controversies were inevitable in Bengal, and so the players had to work around them. “Each and every season in Bengal, you know, there are a lot of unnecessary controversies which are not required,” he said. “This time around we made sure each and every one is focused in their job.”It’s a kind of a challenge you can say. Along with batting and bowling in the middle this is also a challenge for us to just to handle things better off the field. It’s important for a captain or any individual to be as calm as possible and think of the things which are related to cricket only rather than wasting energy on other things.”Tiwary said the senior players pulled their weight and that in turn rubbed on to the younger players. Ojha and Dinda have topped the bowling charts with 33 and 31 wickets respectively, but Tiwary was particularly pleased that the selection punts on youngsters like offspinner Aamir Gani, preferred to Lahiri, and seamer Mukesh Kumar had come good.”It’s important we [seniors] take extra responsibility to perform consistently and this season our performance in the Ranji Trophy we have been very consistent,” he said. “Bowlers, especially Dinda and Ojha, have contributed a lot. Mukesh is a find for Bengal for the season. Our team looks very confident and balanced.”According to Tiwary, Sudip Chatterjee – the team’s highest scorer with 712 runs – and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran had the potential to play Test matches for India. “[Sudip] is a determined youngster. He has that hunger to do well. It’s that desperation [that has contributed to his success],” Tiwary said. “Along with him, Abhimanyu Easwaran is one of them. They have the potential [to play for India]. It’s just that they have to be on the right track and work the way they are working.”Tiwary is carrying a niggle in his right calf but he felt playing through pain was a small price for the joy that a Ranji Trophy title offered. “It’s a very important match for Bengal cricket, so you will have to [play through pain] at times,” he said. “I don’t think every cricketer is always 100% fit. It’s important to get through the pain. I have been jogging a lot, touch wood nothing will happen.”[A Ranji title] is due as well. This is the best period of Bengal cricket. The chances of getting the trophy are much higher. But we have to take it as another match and not put too much pressure.”Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, have had an intriguing run to the knockouts. Having started off in reasonably solid manner, they went through a phase where they won successive games against Baroda and Railways before losing the next two. Then, in a must-win game against Andhra, they grabbed seven points and scraped through to the quarter-finals by virtue of a better net run rate than Gujarat. This was welcome respite for a side that had missed out a knockout berth by a whisker last season.”Qualifying for the knockouts was our first aim when we started off,” Madhya Pradesh captain Devendra Bundela said. “Our first two games didn’t go well but we made a good comeback. Of course there was the disappointment of last year so we put in more effort and concentrated harder this time. We have also had the same group of players over the last three-four years, so there is good bonding. We will play with three medium pacers and two spinners tomorrow.”Both captains were united in their assessment that the Brabourne pitch had decent grass cover and would offer assistance to the seamers early on before going on to become a good batting surface.