Middlesex 72 for 5 trail Warwickshire 608 for 7 dec (Knight 303*, Bell 129, Hogg 71) by 536 runs
Scorecard

What a difference a change of innings and a few clouds can make. After Warwickshire had rattled up a daunting 608 for 7 midway through the second afternoon at Lord’s, thanks largely to a triple-century from Nick Knight, they reduced Middlesex to 72 for 5 by an early close.The pitch seemed as spiteful to Middlesex’s batsmen as it had benign to Warwickshire’s. The only discernible difference was that sunshine had given way to increasingly low cloud by the time they batted, but that did not entirely excuse an abject performance. Neil Carter’s opening spell reduced Middlesex to 22 for 3 by tea, with Owais Shah’s already wretched match compounded by a first-ball duck when he inside-edged into his middle stump.Before the carnage, Knight had finished with an unbeaten 303, the second time in successive matches at Lord’s that a Warwickshire batsman has made a triple ton and only the fifth man to do so at Lord’s (see list below). The last – Mark Wagh, who hit 315 in 2001 – was the only man to fall yesterday, and how he missed out. On that occasion, when Warwickshire also passed 600, Middlesex batted out a draw. After their abject display this evening, they will be extremely hard pressed to do so again.Knight made well-paced progress, as he had done throughout the first day, accumulating quietly and efficiently rather than spectacularly. In all, 119 of his runs were singles and his only acceleration came against the new ball on the first morning and when the declaration – and his own landmark – were in sight this afternoon.Middlesex’s bowlers showed more purpose than they did on Wednesday, although sadly Shah’s captaincy was again unimpressive. If Andrew Strauss is absent for long periods on England duty, then Middlesex have to hope that Shah improves, and does so pretty quickly, or much of their progress this summer could be squandered.The persevering Nantie Hayward, who removed Ian Bell for 129, Jonathan Trott (3) and Jim Troughton for a duck in a hostile opening spell, got due reward for his efforts. Bell, reprieved several times yesterday, added only 10 to his overnight score.

Warwickshire’s collapse continued when Dougie Brown fell for 19 to the South African one-two, Hayward holding a top-edged hook off Lance Klusener, and they had then lost four wickets for 36. They had past 400 and were still in the driving seat, but Middlesex had dragged themselves back into the match.Brad Hogg’s arrival upped the tempo and snuffed out any Middlesex revovery. With Knight he added 150 in 100 minutes, Hogg hammering 71 from 75 balls. Jamie Dalrymple and Paul Weekes, Middlesex’s far-from-frontline spin twins, suffered the most, and only the declaration prevented Dalrymple from joining Weekes in conceding three figures. Why Chris Peploe, Middlesex’s young left-armer, warranted only ten overs, none of them yesterday, remains a mystery. As it was, Knight brought up his 300 with his 32nd four, and called off the torture.Carter’s opening burst meant that Middlesex were there for the taking, and shortly after tea when Dewald Pretorius had Ben Hutton caught by Bell at third slip for 17, it was 28 for 4. As the gloom descended over Lord’s, both meteorologically and among the few home faithful who remained, Weekes (who finished unbeaten with 32) and Dalrymple stopped the rot somewhat.But as the umpires prepared to offer the light, Brown struck the final blow of the day when Dalrymple went walkabout and was stumped by an underarm throw from Tony Frost.

Sachin Tendulkar has joined the debate regarding India’s opening pair for Tests, stating that it would be extremely difficult to pick between Aakash Chopra and Yuvraj Singh as the partner for Virender Sehwag in the coming season.Speaking to the media during the Indian team’s fitness training camp in Bangalore, Tendulkar said: “It’s going to be a tough call. Either way, somebody is going to miss out. Both are equally good. It’s going to be a difficult decision.”If you pick Yuvraj, you lose out on a very good opener. And if you pick Aakash, you lose out on somebody who is exceptionally talented. It’s a very tricky situation.”The opener’s spot has come into focus over the last few days, after Sourav Ganguly picked Yuvraj as Sehwag’s likely partner for the forthcoming home series against Australia. Sehwag himself disagreed with the move, stating the need for a technically sound, defensive batsman at the other end to balance his own aggressive instincts.Chopra did an exceptional job at the top of the order in Australia, blunting their pace attack and providing solid starts which India’s formidable middle order then built on. Chopra’s contribution to India’s success on that tour wasn’t lost on Tendulkar. “Chopra has done exceedingly well as an opener on two tough tours of Australia and Pakistan. In the recent past, he is one of the best opening batsmen,” Tendulkar said. “He looked very confident, solid and mentally tough. That’s what you require as an opener.”

Clive Lloyd has called for increased use of technology to help umpires in decision-making. Delivering the Colin Cowdrey Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s, Lloyd suggested that umpires should be given the same aids that television offers its viewers.”How can it be right to ask an umpire to take a split-second decision based on his own eyesight and hearing while everyone else then judges that decision having made use of technology designed for the purpose?”It is time to use technology to the full extent,” Lloyd added. “Umpires should be able to defer to the precision of Hawk-Eye, particularly in determining whether a batsman is lbw, whether there has been a bat-pad catch, and whether a batsman is caught behind the wicket where there’s dispute over whether the ball has or has not been played.”Currently, technology is being used only for line decisions, and to help the on-field umpires with controversial catches taken close to the turf. There have been suggestions to allow both teams a certain number of appeals per day against decisions made by on-field umpires, and Lloyd, currently among the ICC’s panel of match referees, felt that would be the right way to use technology. “I know there are problems about the time this will take,” Lloyd said, “especially if a team is inclined to excessive appealing. But it should be possible to design restrictions on appealing to the use of technology, monitored by the referee.”The other issue that Lloyd was concerned about was the domination of the game by a few countries, leading to more and more no-contests. “World cricket must decide whether it is to consist of occasional riveting battles between three or four super cricket nations like Australia, England and South Africa and one-sided, poorly-attended intervening series between the strong and the weak, or whether it’s prepared to do what is necessary to build up the number of competitive Test-playing nations.”The solution, he said, lay in spreading the funds to the lesser nations, so that they could build sufficient infrastructure. “The ICC should effect and oversee the equitable distribution of funds between developed and under-developed countries. Currently, countries such as my own West Indies are seriously disadvantaged and, as a result, infrastructure development and player development are falling behind.”Despite individual exceptions, for sometimes great human character or talent overcomes all obstacles, there is a correlation between national economies and the performance of their sportsmen and women – it’s inevitable. It means the strong helping the weak and if they do, they will strengthen the whole international game. If they don’t, three or four countries will end up endlessly playing themselves – and everyone will lose patience with that.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Sri Lanka’s dream run continued in Dambulla with an emphatic display that oozed confidence. Despite making wholesale changes and resting four key players, including their captain, Marvan Atapattu, who scored a matchwinning 97 not out in the third match, they cantered past South Africa’s 235-run total with nearly four overs and seven wickets to spare, thanks to a controlled and stylish unbeaten 74 from Kumar Sangakkara.Sri Lanka’s run-chase started well with Sanath Jayasuriya teeing off with a cover-drive and a sweetly timed leg-side clip to the boundary after surviving a good lbw shout. But a mix-up while running between the wickets pushed them onto the back foot, as Jayasuriya, responding late to a hesitant call for a quick single to mid-off, was run out by two yards (14 for 1).Thereafter, Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis, who took the new ball in place of the discarded Alan Dawson, kept things tight as Avishka Gunawardene and Saman Jayantha, Atapattu’s nervous replacement, played and missed frequently, and struggled to dispatch the bad ball.Fortunately for Sri Lanka, South Africa were having another bad catching day. Gunawardene, on 13 and 32, was missed twice at slip by Jacques Kallis. Both chances were difficult: the first was a low diving effort and the second, off a full-blown square-cut, whizzed to his right.After 10 overs, Sri Lanka were 36 for 1, but, gradually, Gunawardene started to settle and find the boundary with meaty tonks over mid-on and forcing strokes through the off side. He reached his 11th one-day international fifty from 61 balls, and when drinks arrived, Sri Lanka were on target on 73 for 1.But, first ball after the break, Gunawardene wafted at a delivery fromMakhaya Ntini and feathered a catch to Mark Boucher – his 250th in one-dayers. He could have had victim No. 251 too, but was unable to hold onto a thin nick off Jayantha in Nicky Boje’s first over. Boje’s bad luck continued in his second over when Jayantha was perilously close to being out lbw.But after the let-offs, Jayantha started to relax. He had laboured for 48 balls before hitting his first boundary, but now began to strike theball more freely. When he bent down on one knee and swept a massive six over midwicket, he was rubbing salt in Boje’s wounds.Sangakkara had fewer qualms, and settled quickly into his stride, keeping things simple and rotating the strike without fuss. South Africa were fast losing control of the game as 65 runs were milked from 85 balls. By the time Jayantha skied a catch into the deep, having made 46 from 73 balls, Sri Lanka were trotting home comfortably (138 for 3).Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, andSangakkara finished off the job clinically with an unbroken 98-run stand from just 90 balls. Jayawardene ended up on 48 not out from 45 balls.

Earlier, Sri Lanka’s decision to field first with a new-look pace attack had been in danger of backfiring as South Africa galloped out of the blocks. But a mid-innings wobble, when three wickets fell for two runs, pegged the South Africans back. Shaun Pollock then nursed the South Africans back into the game with an intelligent 52 not out.In the absence of Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa, the new ball was entrusted to Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando, who were a touch wayward in their first spells as South Africa started rapidly with Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs adding a run-a-ball 47 for the first wicket. Gibbs had made 27 when, not for the first time in the series, missed a pull and was bowled, the ball just clipping the off bail (47 for 1).Kallis strode out at No. 3 in his 200th game, as South Africa reverted to a more traditional top order, ending the experiment with pinch-hitters. He pulled a majestic six off Fernando but was then uncorked by a jaffa from Farveez Maharoof that nipped back sharply off the seam and crashed into off stump (61 for 2).Smith, facing growing pressure but apparently safe as captain until the end of the Champions Trophy, knuckled down with Jacques Ruldolph and scored freely off the part-time spinners. The pair added 52 runs in 65 balls. But just when the South Africans were taking full control, cruising on 113 for 2, Maharoof ran out Rudolph (24) with a swift pick-up and direct hit running in from cover.Smith, who had scored 46 from 64 balls with four fours, fell two overs later, when he missed a sweep off Kaushal Lokuarachchi, who has beenconfirmed as Muttiah Muralitharan’s replacement for the ICC ChampionsTrophy. Lokuarachchi needed just two balls to send back Jean-Paul Duminy, who shuffled across his stumps and was trapped plumb in front of the stumps (115 for 5).Pollock and Boucher scrapped hard and were able to consolidate, adding64 runs in 104 balls. They threatened a late-innings disintegration similar to Wednesday’s game, as Boucher was bowled and Lance Klusener (12) was stumped in the final 10 overs, but Pollock shepherded the team sensibly through till the end, squeezing 49 runs from the final five overs.The runs appeared crucial at the time, but Sri Lanka had read the pitch well in the morning. It was a beauty and with confidence sky-high, Sri Lanka clicked their 15th win in their last 16 matches. South Africa, meanwhile, have lost their last nine games and travel to Colombo looking forward to the end of a nightmare tour.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has stressed that the ongoing dispute between the two companies who own joint rights to broadcast Pakistan’s international cricket will not affect local viewers’ ability to watch the upcoming tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and the Test series against Sri Lanka that follows.Reports in several newspapers yesterday suggested that the broadcast of the matches was in jeopardy after the Dubai-based Ten Sports initiated legal proceedings against ARY Digital. The two parties paid the PCB US$43million last year for a five-year contract to show all international matches. The Board expressed concern over the dispute, although it stressed that it remained a neutral party and was not cited for any violations of contractual obligations by either broadcaster, although it would be willing to act as a mediator.But Abbas Zaidi, a PCB official, confirmed to Wisden Cricinfo that “There is no possibility that the matches will not be shown. The parties involved are all reasonable and I am sure they will come to a solution that pleases everybody.”Zaidi added: “We don’t want to make any other comment on the nature of the dispute, it is a legal issue and it is a matter for the courts to decide.” Some reports had alleged that the PCB might look for alternative broadcasters if the dispute threatened to go unresolved, but Zaidi said that he had been misquoted in some newspapers. “I said no such thing, and we are confident they will be able to sort this out.”, a Karachi-based daily, reported today that an official spokesman for one of the channels had also played down fears that the matches would not be broadcast. The newspaper quoted him as saying, “The broadcast will not be affected at all by our problems. All the matches would be telecast as per schedule. We are committed to abiding by our contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The dispute will now be decided in the court.”The nature of the dispute, it seems, lies in the agreement. ARY entered into the partnership with Ten Sports in order to benefit from their cricket expertise and financial muscle, in trying to establish a presence in the Asian market. Ten Sports, meanwhile, is setting its sights on the European market, where ARY is already well established.An industry source explained: "The joint agreement covers basically those matches held in Pakistan, organised by the PCB. They are broadcast simultaneously off the same feed. But for the recent tri-nation tournament in Holland, Sony Setmax bought the rights and then sold them to ARY Digital. Setmax and Ten Sports are competitors in India, and Ten were not happy, after having failed to get the rights for the tri-nation tournament, that ARY bought them off their competitor. Their partnership is based on mutual trust – that Ten Sports will help ARY out in Asia and ARY will assist them in Europe – and Ten Sports feel that their trust has been breached to an extent, by ARY dealing with their competitor." The source added that while this doesn’t form the central basis of the ensuing legal proceedings, it is the underlying reason for what has occurred.This dispute is reminiscent of the broadcast-rights dispute between Pakistan TV (the state broadcaster) and GEO TV, a local cable channel, last November. That disagreement led to the first one-day international between Pakistan and New Zealand not being broadcast – the first time in Pakistan’s television history that a home international was not shown live. At the time, the PCB was forced to bear the brunt of much of the criticism for the fiasco, and it was suggested by some at the time that the PCB’s then-chairman Tauqir Zia was forced to step down due, in part, to the dispute.

Rajin Saleh
On playing South Africa
In a one-dayer, anything can happen, so we want to play good cricket.On being a young team
We have some young cricketers who have come through and they’ve done welland I hope they do well tomorrow.On being made captain
It was a suprise and it brings pressure. But I don’t feel the pressure because of the players around me.Dav Whatmore
On Saleh being made captain
He’s been vice-captain in our last three series and it was probably the logical step-up for him. In the past three series, there have been matches when he’s stepped up and captained the team. The support he’s got from the other senior players has been wonderful. He’s fully attacking and leads by example. This kid would run through a brick wall for you. It’s another game for him. It may be his first as captain and the youngest captain of Bangladesh. But we have a job to do tomorrow and he has to work at it.On South Africa
Their confidence can’t be good. It’s not often they’ve played in a five match one-day series and lost all five, so it can’t be that good. But they’re probably pretty happy that they’re playing Bangladesh and no matter what we say, we’re still ranked down the bottom.On their own tactics
We have our little reasons for playing and trying to perform as well as we can and to be as totally relaxed as possible. A lot depends on what we do first, batting or bowling. But in many ways it doesn’t matter, you just have to be up for the game and we’ve had five full matches, which was a pretty good competition lead-up, and lost the one against Scotland. But our boys are in competition-mode in pretty similar conditions. I want to win. There’re always positives to come out of any game, but we go out in every match to win. We feel if we totally relax, let our natural ability take over and enjoy the contest, we will be in good competitive frame of mind to push the opposition as much as possible.On the team spirit
The spirit is good and the morale high. We exposed three youngsters through the under-19s and that’s been a wonderful knock-one effect for the whole team.

Ricky Ponting is trying hard as captain. He became Australia’s 42nd Test leader in February, but has had a disrupted start to his stint with family illness and a thumb injury that ruled him out of the important matches in India. He is attempting to make up the time. In a rush again today, Ponting was stumped within a few clean hits of his first century as captain.The Australians have, over the last few years, believed that Test runs should be scored at four an over. Australia weren’t treading water when Ponting arrived, but the going was tough and he quickly set about accelerating to the required rate.Apart from the first two overs, Justin Langer had been patient and calm in conditions ordered to stifle. Galloping to 23 after 12 deliveries, he adjusted his pace and walked a further 61 from the next 57 overs until tea. Where Langer breathed steadily, Pontingbreezed in and blew out.The offspinner Paul Wiseman was selected especially for the Adelaide pitch, but an average of 43 over 22 Tests made him an excellent target for Ponting, who lifted him over midwicket three times early in his innings. He hit eight more fours in his 79balls, and his two pulls off Chris Martin were as crisp as the white wine in the corporate tents.Before the series Ponting said he wanted Australia to put together a huge first-innings total, and he had the opportunity to achieve it himself without further damage. The half-century was brisker and brighter than his effort at Brisbane, but the hurry was again hisundoing.Swiftly closing in on Langer after giving him a 44-over headstart, Ponting aimed to land Daniel Vettori in the Chappell Stand at midwicket. As quick as his feet had been throughout, he was beaten outside off stump and was far enough down not to wait for David Shepherd’s decision.New Zealand’s bowlers had waited all day for the batsmen’s mistakes, and had been gifted their second. Throughout the day their bowling was a mixture, and all three wickets fell to the spinners. Of the fast bowlers Martin bowled too short during the middle session and too wide towards the end, while James Franklin was consistently too full. It is unlikely that Langer dreams of sending so many half-volleys to the cover fence as he did from Franklin today. Twice he hit Franklin for four fours in an over. While they were expensive in parts, New Zealand contained in patches and the day had a hot and sleepy feel.Langer’s explosions against Franklin topped an innings of sweat. By adding more fight than frills he had stayed longer than Ponting, battled through post-lunch cramps and was rewarded with his 20th Test century. Ponting had clipped along sweetly at almost a run aball, but missed out again.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The second day of the Chittagong Test exemplified not only what Bangladesh could achieve with application, but also how they let situations slip through their grasp. At the end of it, India, dismissed for 540, were in firm control, but had to put up with stiff Bangladeshi resistance for most of the day. After removing five batsmen in the morning, Bangladesh were held up by Sourav Ganguly and the Indian tail in the second session. Then, after tea, Bangladesh protected their wickets stoutly on a pitch becoming increasingly difficult to bat on, but lost three wickets in the final overs to end on 54 for 3.Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique bowled with intelligence before lunch. They removed most of the middle order, including Sachin Tendulkar with the first ball of the day. After doing most of the work, they allowed Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to add 128 runs with Ganguly. Bangladesh then survived for nearly an entire session before the spinners breached their defences. Though defeat appeared inevitable, it was satisfying to see Bangladesh finally put up a fight.Mortaza had set the tone for his team’s defiance with the first ball, bringing it in to trap Tendulkar for 36. He then removed Rahul Dravid for 160 with one that lifted and kissed the edge of the bat en route to the wicketkeeper. Not long after, VVS Laxman was outsmarted by Rafique, and patted a delivery back to him. Then Dinesh Karthik and Irfan Pathan took liberties with his left-arm spin and paid a price.

After lunch, the bowlers slackened and frittered away their advantage. Ganguly added 53 with Kumble, and then rotated the strike as Harbhajan took toll of the bowlers. The ball was repeatedly smashed to the fence, and at times over it, as 75 runs came in 11 manic overs. Ganguly, 12 short of a hundred, then unsuccessfully tried to clear the long-on fence (540 for 9). His last century was a rousing 144 at Brisbane in December a year ago.Just as it seemed that Bangladesh were going through the motions once again, they returned to the crease and showed the backbone they missed sorely in Dhaka. Nafis Iqbal and Javed Omar survived testing spells from the new-ball attack. Irfan Pathan often appeared close to breaking through, but found the openers unshakable. Zaheer Khan was also unsuccessful in his attempt to rattle them. Only when the spinners came on did cracks appear.Kumble made the ball fizz off the strip and left the batsmen groping. To counter the variable bounce, the openers played him off the front foot. It did not do them much good. One delivery caught the edge of Iqbal’s bat but was put down by the wicketkeeper. Omar pushed at another that turned and flew to Dravid at slip (48 for 1). He had faced 78 balls for his 10. Mortaza, sent in as night-watchman, then padded up to a straight one and Iqbal, after defying India 91 balls for his 31, gloved a turner by Harbhajan to Gautam Gambhir at short leg (54 for 3).Bangladesh had fought bravely, but simply did not have the resources to counter India’s firepower on a wearing track.

Scorecard

Western Australia moved to the top of the Pura Cup table with an innings and 107-run victory against Victoria at the WACA. Half-centuries to Matthew Elliott and Jon Moss slowed the Warriors, but Brad Williams and Darren Wates each picked up three wickets to lead their side to a comprehensive win.Mike Hussey became the first batsman in Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup history to carry his bat while scoring a double century as Western Australia made 464. Hussey collected his highest score for the state with 223 not out, his second double of the season, and passed 7000 competition runs to move to fourth on Western Australia’s most prolific list.After the match Cameron White, the Victorian captain, admitted that it was an abysmal performance by his side. “It was pretty embarrassing really, I think the scoreboard tells the story doesn’t it. After such a terrific year last year with the batting where we made a ridiculous amount of runs, we just haven’t been able to back it up.”Western Australia now have 24 points in the Pura Cup, followed by Queensland (22) and New South Wales (20), while Victoria are struggling with just 12. White agreed that the chances of Victoria regaining the title they won last year were extremely slim, but insisted that they wouldn’t give up. “It gets tricky but there’s still enough points there left for us probably,” he said. “[But] we’re going to have to play some pretty decent cricket to get somewhere back towards talking about that [the title] again.”Meanwhile, Justin Langer, the Warriors’ opener, was expectedly elated with his side’s performance, but also expressed surprise at the way Victoria capitulated. “It’s a pretty good wicket now, I’m surprised we bowled them out for 200 or so today for sure. They had a lot to play for going into this game, as we did. They’ve got a very experienced side, so I’m surprised how well it went for us today.”

Michael Clarke has been named Australia’s Player of the Year at the annual Allan Border Medal count in Melbourne. Damien Martyn won the Test Player of the Year honour, and Andrew Symonds is ODI Player of the Year.Clarke, 23, polled 54 of the votes, ahead of fellow batsman Damien Martyn (51) and wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist (41) in third. The votes were cast byteammates, media and umpires in Australia’s Test and one-day matches over the past year. Among his outstanding performances were Test centuries in his first matches both away and at home, 6 for 9 in India and two one-day centuries as an opener.Votes were cast from Australia’s tours of Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Europe and India last year, last year’s home winter series against Sri Lanka and the home summer against New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies. Damien Martyn was rewarded with the Test Player of the Year award for striking two centuries and a 97 against India, and two unbeaten centuries against Pakistan.Symonds pipped Clarke and the fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz to the honour of being named ODI Player of the Year. All three players got 15 votes, but Symonds took the honours as he was ajudged his side’s best player across four matches, while Clarke was best in three and Kasprowicz’s votes came from just two games.Strong performances from Symonds, 29, in Australia’s 3-2 victory against Sri Lanka in March helped him to win the title. He took 2 for 34 and struck 40 runs in the fifth match at Colombo.Clarke, however, may consider himself unlucky not to have taken the award. He struck two centuries and a 97, as well as taking 5 for 35 against Sri Lanka, while the eventual winner Symonds rounded off his season with a disappointing run of five ducks in six innings in the VB series against Pakistan and West Indies.Winners
Australian One-Day Player of the Year – Andrew Symonds
Australian State Player of the Year – Andy Bichel
Australian Young Player of the Year – Mark Cosgrove
Australian Woman Player of the Year – Karen Rolton
Australian Test Player of the Year – Damien Martyn
Australian Cricketer of the Year – Michael Clarke