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South Africa will have to wait until the return series next month to try to steal the official No. 1 Test ranking from Australia, but captain Graeme Smith is boosted by the knowledge his side can beat any one in the world. The tourists could have taken top spot with a win in Sydney, but the dead-rubber defeat led to a 2-1 victory, giving the hosts a five-point lead at the top of the table.While Ricky Ponting said Australia “haven’t been that bad” over the past three weeks, the team fell heavily in 2008, and if they lose the three-match contest in South Africa they will no longer be world champions. Smith’s team was the best of the past year, but he was reluctant to say they were on top.”The ranking says not,” he said when asked if South Africa were No. 1. “We can hold our own with any team. That’s a comforting position. Rankings are a nice talking point, but we want to know we can arrive in a series knowing we are capable of beating a team.”Smith, who said the series had been the best of his career, is prepared for more Australian fightbacks in South Africa, but back-to-back victories remain a priority. “We’re the only team that has that opportunity,” he said, “so in six weeks it all starts again.”Ponting was relieved to have regained the winning feeling after a torrid period when the captain, selectors and team were heavily criticised. “We wanted to start 2009 on the right foot and we’ve done that,” he said. “I’m very proud of the way we bounced back. It’s always very hard in a serieswhen you’re 2-0 down. It says a lot about the character of the side to get off the canvas.”Australia almost didn’t make it, taking the final wicket in the 103-run win with 10 balls remaining. A storm was the first threat, but then the tailenders, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini, delayed things before Smith walked out at No. 11 to bat despite a broken finger. Mitchell Johnson was finally able to take the last wicket when he bowled Smith with an off-cutter.”It was tense, my heart rate was up for much of the afternoon,” Ponting said. “It was great to come away with a hard-fought win. We thoroughly deserved to win this game.”He also defended the side from the displays of the previous month. “It could have easily been a 2-1 result our way as well,” he said. “We haven’t been that bad. There’s been a lot of negativity around us. This can only be a really positive thing for us.”Peter Siddle was Man of the Match for his eight wickets, including 5 for 59 in the first innings, and Ponting praised the young bowling attack. Johnson also performed solidly while Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz chipped in.”To see [Siddle] coming through with a Man-of-the-Match award was very pleasing,” Ponting said. “Bollinger did well at different times, Andrew McDonald got crucial breakthroughs and Hauritz was steady and reliable.”

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Bengal’s chances of getting back in the reckoning for promotion to the Super League were boosted by a splendid performance from their medium-pacers at Eden Gardens. Tripura chose to bat in Kolkata, but their innings lasted only 26.5 overs. Ranadeb Bose took 5 for 19 in nine overs and was backed up by Ashok Dinda’s 3 for 37 and Sourav Sarkar’s 2 for 20. Only three batsmen made it to double figures, with Nishit Shetty, the former Mumbai player, scoring 38.”I feel I was a bit lucky today,” Bose, 29, told Kolkata’s . “Today I put the ball in the right areas and stuck to a plan. Picking up five wickets in the first spell does not happen regularly. I am very happy.”Bose, who crossed 200 wickets in 52 Ranji Trophy matches, dedicated his achievement to his coach Gopal Bose and father Ranajit Bose.Bengal also had a disastrous start – both their openers scored ducks – but Arindam Ghosh and Manoj Tiwary set the platform for a big first-innings lead. Tiwary scored nearly as much as what all of Tripura’s batsmen did and was unbeaten on 82 at stumps.”Tomorrow will be a crucial day [and] we would like to put up a good score,” said Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Bengal’s captain. “[Its] good that Manoj is back in form. That is a good sign for us.”
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Group A leaders Himachal Pradesh finished the first day in Ranchi on a commanding 387 for 1 and appear set to seal a place in the semi-final. Jharkhand put Himachal Pradesh in and, after a slow start, the visitors began to dominate. When wicketkeeper-opener Manish Gupta was dismissed, HP were on 42 for 1 in 15 overs but Sangram Singh and Bhavin Thakkar added 345 runs at a healthy run-rate – 4.60 an over – to put their side on top. Sangram scored his second double-century in successive innings, and Thakkar brought up his third consecutive ton. Their stand beat the previous second-wicket record of 222 for HP in the Ranji Trophy. Two hundred and twenty runs came in boundaries, and only Jharkhand’s opening bowlers went for less than four an over.
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Goa and Haryana are the likely contenders for the second place in Group A, and a lower-order stand of 78 between India spinner Amit Mishra and Dhruv Singh gave Haryana the edge after the first day at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Top-order batsmen Rahul Dewan and Sunny Singh scored half-centuries but three strikes from Saurabh Bandekar, aided by two from left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati, left Haryana on 197 for 7. Bandekar picked up three wickets in his 26-over spell. Goa, however, were frustrated by an unbroken eighth-wicket stand that lasted 26.4 overs. Dhruv made a career-best 33, while Mishra finished the day unbeaten on 48.Goa coach Dodda Ganesh rued the missed chances. “The players should realise that at this level the opponents will make you pay for your mistakes. Had we taken our chances, we could have been in a good position,” Dodda told the .
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A five-wicket haul for Tinu Yohannan gave Kerala the advantage on the first day against Jammu & Kashmir at Fort Maidan in Palakkad. Yohannan struck thrice as J&K were reduced to 34 for 4. Shafiq Khan, the visiting team captain, held the innings together with his half-century, and around him the other middle-order batsmen chipped in to ensure the bottom-ranked team got to a respectable score. Mohsin Iqbal hit six fours in a 22-ball 28, Samiullah Beigh made a patient 32 and Ahmed Nizam scored 24. Yohannan dismissed Khan and last-man Sameer Ali; left-arm spinner Sreekumar Nair had 3 for 51 in his 11 overs.Sony Cheruvathur, the Kerala captain, was all praise for Yohannan. “He really bowled his heart out today,” he told the . “And, I am glad we got the opportunity to bowl first on this track. I certainly would have bowled if I had won the toss.”Madhya Pradesh 196 for 9 (Dholpure 59, Nadkarni 3-26) v Services
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Services, with no points from three games, performed impressively against Group B leaders Madhya Pradesh after choosing to field in Delhi. A joint effort from their bowlers kept MP to 196 for 9. The visitors, though, could have been dismissed for less: they were at 32 for 5 and 68 for 7.The innings started disastrously for MP. The openers fell in the first three overs from Pankaj Kumar, and captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar was dismissed for a duck by Rakesh Kumar as they slumped to 10 for 3. Devendra Bundela played out 47 balls for his 20, and Brijesh Tomar 37 for 3, but they both were out to off-break bowler Sachin Nadkarni. Naman Ojha, Zafar Ali and Sanjay Pandey got into double figures as MP resisted, but it was Sunil Dholpure and Shantanu Pitre, Nos. 9 and 10, who revived the innings. Dholpure faced 142 balls for his 59, while Pitre was not out on 36 along with Yogesh Golwalkar, who will resume on 12.Scorecard
Assam overcame a shaky start to reach 183 for 4 on the first day in Nagpur. The recovery was led by Jacob Martin, the former Baroda batsman, who batted nearly five hours for his unbeaten 69. He put on 68 with Deepak Sharma, who made 44, and an unbroken 76 with Sarupam Purkayastha, whose 26 took 100 balls. Earlier, Mohammad Hashim and Umesh Yadav struck to reduce Assam to 39 for 3. Pritam Debnath, making his first-class debut, was dismissed first-ball in the first over of the match.

Matthew Hoggard, the fast bowler discarded by theEngland selectors during the tour of New Zealand eightmonths ago, has set himself a target of getting backin the Test side by July’s home Ashes series. But Hoggard, 31, admitted the odds were stacked against him.”The selectors have almost said to me it would be abackward step picking me,” he said. “Obviously Englandhave moved past me at the moment and have got somegood youngsters in the team. I’m at the back of thequeue at the moment.”Hoggard, who was on a flying visit to Asia at the weekend to play foran All-Stars team in the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes, saidhe was interested in playing in next year’s IndianPremier League (IPL). But he added that his priority wasto start the next English county season in style aheadof the Ashes.”There’s a massive summer coming up. There’s nothingmore than I want to do is put the three lions on myshirt if it’s playing against Australia, or playingagainst Zimbabwe or Bangladesh,” he said. “It onlytakes an injury to someone or a lack of form tosomebody else to open up a chance. If you’re the guywho’s knocking loudest on the door, then hopefully thedoor will be answered and you’ll be asked to come in.”Hoggard, sixth on the all-time England bowling listwith 248 wickets at 30.50 in 67 Test matches, arguedagainst the perception he had become too one-dimensionalfor the top level as a prolific outswing bowler. “People have been saying that ever since I’ve been in the England Test team,” he said. “I think I’veevolved.”I think I’m more canny than just running upand bowling away-swing. I’ve proved that by takingwickets on the subcontinent and at some of theharshest places to go.”In 2005, Hoggard played an important role as Englandwon the Ashes for the first time in more than 18years. After a quiet start, he took nine wickets inthe fourth and fifth Tests and shared in a memorableeighth-wicket partnership with Ashley Giles as Englandscraped home in the fourth match at Trent Bridge totake a 2-1 series lead.He hopes that his contribution last time out will beremembered when the selectors choose the bestcombination to win the Ashes back in 2009. England’sbowlers will again be looking to make the most of home conditionsto expose weaknesses in the Australian battingline-up.”The good thing about our swing bowlers in 2005 wasthat we were all different,” he said. “I was a moreconventional swing bowler, Freddie was a hit the deckreverser and Simon Jones was a skiddy reverser. Ittested out the Australians’ technique because we hadso many different kinds of bowlers.”As he prepared for his first winter at home in almosta decade, Hoggard said he would enjoy the time inYorkshire with his wife Sarah and baby son Ernie. However, he said he would be dreaming of being part of what would be his fourth Ashes battle.”Every game back in 2005 was special,” he said.”Probably my strongest memory was the Old TraffordTest match where the Australians were out on thebalcony, celebrating a draw. They were so happy thatthey managed to draw against England. I think thatgave us the belief that we could beat Australia andthat’s what we did.”

Like a couple of bickering school children, India say Australia were too defensive in the first Test and the visitors believe the home team didn’t try to win from an enticing situation. As the teams battle for any advantage following the Bangalore draw, Brett Lee is in no doubt over who will enter Friday’s second match in Mohali in the more confident mood.Lee said before practice on Wednesday that the way India batted on the final day, chasing 299 in 83 overs, was revealing of their outlook and insisted Australia were the only ones trying for victory. “It appeared they didn’t want to go after the total and were happy to have a draw,” Lee said. “It shows we’re playing in the right style of cricket that the Aussies want to play.”There are a lot of things India can say – that they had a mental win – but we were very happy with the way we played. We can take a lot of positives from the way we played.”After the match, Zaheer Khan said he had never seen an Australian team that was so defensive, citing their restrictive field settings and slow batting in the second innings. Lee maintained his team was the most aggressive. “The way we look at it is they didn’t take our 20 wickets either,” he said. “So I’m not worried about that.”Australia’s bowlers planned a meeting on Wednesday to discuss ways to improve their tactics and how to stay focused against the tailenders. The 80-run partnership between Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer in the first innings turned India’s total from a wonky 232 for 7 into a useful 360 and was the point where Australia’s dominant position slipped.”As a whole bowling group we probably weren’t patient enough [against the tail],” he said. “The wicket wasn’t capable of getting the ball above shoulder height, so the whole scare tactic, the intimidation, wasn’t playing a cause because the wicket was so dead.”We have to make sure we have better plans. Sometimes the tail wags, it wagged when we were batting as well.”Australia have a concern over Stuart Clark’s right elbow and he will not bowl until Thursday. The injury prevented him from throwing over-arm in the first Test and if he is ruled unfit, the left-arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger, who toured West Indies earlier in the year, and Victoria’s Peter Siddle will be considered for a debut.Lee recovered well from delivering 37 overs in Bangalore and was not concerned that he and Clark combined for only three wickets in the game. “I was really happy with the way the ball came out, I couldn’t have asked for anything else,” he said. “It would’ve been nice to look up at the scoreboard and see a three or four-for, but that’s cricket.

“As the opening pair we just need to make sure we’re creating as many chances as possible, and we did that, especially on the last morning. Provided we’re doing that, then we’re happy.”The lack of carry to the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has been a problem for Australia – he conceded 39 byes – and has resulted in the repositioning of the slips cordon. Catches behind the wicket are a staple dismissal in Australia, but they are rarer in India, especially with the visitors employing an at-the-stumps line.”The hardest thing over here is you notice pretty much from the first couple of overs that the ball doesn’t even carry through to the keeper,” he said. “So you’ve got the keeper who might stand back 25 yards, and take the ball around chest or waist height, and all of a sudden the pace hasn’t changed but the distance has. He might be at 15 yards and the reaction time’s a lot quicker.”Closer slips mean the fielders have to work in a smaller area, reducing their impact. “The further you go back the more space you can cover, so that’s one thing to be aware of as a bowler,” he said. “The ball that might usually go to second slip might be actually going past second now because they’re so close.”Lee also wants to make greater use of the new ball, which he has learned swings for a maximum of six overs. “You see how the Indians bowl, seam up the first two or three overs then they hold it across the seam, so it gets the ball roughed up and starts to reverse,” he said. “It’s one of those things which we have to make sure we understand the way it works over here.”While the main record expected to come out of the second Test is Sachin Tendulkar becoming the game’s highest run-scorer, Lee will move into fourth place on Australia’s list behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee with one more wicket. He currently sits alongside Craig McDermott with 291 victims in 69 matches.”I never really thought I’d be encroaching on 300 Test wickets,” he said. “To be level with the great Craig McDermott is something I’ll always cherish. How many I’ll get, time will tell. I’ve got to focus on looking forward to the next three, four, five years.”

Glamorgan have finally broken their silence about last week’s sudden departure of chief executive Mike Fatkin, although there remain a number of unanswered questions.Although Fatkin left last Wednesday, it has taken eight days for there to be any official comment, during which unease has risen among the county’s membership. In that time Sophia Gardens’ long-standing groundsman, Len Smith, has also stepped down without any real explanation.”I have greatly enjoyed the 22 years I have spent at Glamorgan cricket, including the last 12 as chief executive, but for a number of reasons I believe that now is the right time to be moving on,” Fatkin said in a prepared statement. “There have been some differences of views lately in terms of the direction which the club should be taking and this makes the timing all the more appropriate for both parties.””Mike has been an outstanding servant to Glamorgan cricket,” club chairman Paul Russell said. “What the club has achieved under his leadership has been truly remarkable. I am sorry to see him leave but I understand his reasons for doing so.”The references to differences of views will only fuel speculation within the county about the loss of two long-serving individuals so soon before Cardiff hosts its first Test match next July.

Pleased with the “nice build-up” to New Zealand’s tour of Bangladesh, Daniel Vettori does not except anything less than series wins in the Tests and one-day internationals. A 3-0 sweep in the ODIs will elevate New Zealand to No. 2 in the ICC rankings, which Vettori said would be special.Despite whitewashing Bangladesh at home during their visit to New Zealand in December-January, Vettori said away conditions provided a tougher challenge. “I think most countries who come to Bangladesh know they are in for a difficult time. Their record may not be great but they have [Mashrafe], Mortaza, Shahadat [Hossain] and Abdur Razzak and it is a nice bowling line-up in their own conditions. They are going to be a formidable opposition for us. We expect to win the series but we also know that it is going to be a tough challenge.”Bangladesh’s recent results – they haven’t won against an ODI against Test-playing nation since the World Cup in 2007 – does not inspire confidence but Vettori was wary of a shock defeat. “It looks like that from the results so far but if you look at the Bangladesh players from an individual level you have got some guys who have performed at the world stage,” he said.”We all know Mohammad Ashraful can play and on his day he can be a world-beater. Their reputation or their results may not be what they wanted but we still look at them individually and they are exciting. If we are not on top of our game then they can upset us. That’s the thing we are trying to avoid here.”Vettori took 20 wickets in the two-Test series during New Zealand’s previous visit in 2004, and expected typical subcontinental surfaces on this tour. “I think it will have plenty of runs in it and as it wears it will start to take some turn,” he said. “I think we got that covered with myself and Jeetan [Patel] and guys like Scott Styris and maybe Jesse Ryder would bowl stock seamers.”We are pretty comfortable with the conditions and it is like anywhere you turn up you have to adapt to what’s going on. Bangladesh know their conditions better than anyone and it is up to us to make sure that we are on the same level as them.”New Zealand play a warm-up game on October 7 ahead of the ODI series, which starts two days later in Mirpur. The Tests begin on October 17.

Former England opener and Cricinfo contributor David Lloyd has called on the Lancashire League to scrap the long-standing arrangement whereby clubs pay for a professional player to boost their ranks.Lloyd speaks with authority about the Lancashire League. He made his debut for Accrington in 1963 as a 16-year-old and played regularly for them before and after his first-class career. He returned to play for them in a few games this summer at the age of 61.In the heyday of the league some of the biggest names in the game turned out, but the admission of overseas players into the first-class ranks and the spread of the paid professional to clubs across the country has made attracting big names all but impossible. That, allied to the financial problems facing many sides, caused Lloyd speak out.”In my opinion professionals are unsustainable in the league,” Lloyd told the Lancashire Telegraph. “It’s such a burden to continue to try and find the money and a number of clubs, financially, are on the edge.”Last summer, Lloyd highlighted the financial crisis threatening the future of his own club. “Even after the success we have had this year we are still in quite a parlous state,” he told the paper. “We have had an unbelievable season and the support has been fabulous but we are still not making money and we are having to work hard to get things right.”It’s pretty obvious that that the days of a crackerjack professional have gone because they are elsewhere and another unsatisfactory thing is that with so many professionals coming and going there are that many sub pros, which is another complication for clubs. I’m not saying knock it on the head straight away, but it might be worth having a moratorium for a season or two to see how it goes and starting a debate.”Perhaps it will be an incentive for the amateurs to do more.”

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The experienced pair of Charlotte Edwards and Claire Taylor rescued an experimental England line-up from an early wobble chasing South Africa’s 158, to maintain their unblemished record this summer with a six-wicket win and ease to a 4-0 series lead.With the series already secured, England sent in Beth Morgan and Jenny Gunn at the top of the order, instead of their usual places lower down, and the pair put on a solid 40 before England lost 4 for 18 mainly through Ashlyn Kilowan.But although Kilowan finished with 3 for 19 – Gunn, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Laura Marsh – South Africa’s attack couldn’t penetrate the doughty defences of Edwards and Taylor who guided England home with an unbroken stand of 101. Taylor reached 37 not out, while the in-form Edwards caressed her way to 58. The other Taylor, Sarah, will have to wait another match to attempt her world record, but she and England can afford to wait for it.Earlier, Alicia Smith had provided substance for South Africa, making a solid 68 and Shandre Fritz added a handy 31, both falling to run-outs. England bowled well as a unit to systematically dismiss work their way through the line-up however, and there was a wicket on debut for 16-year-old Anya Shrubsole. Though Shrubsole opened the bowling, the pace bowler had to wait until the end to close the innings, as the tailender Marcia Letsoalo was snapped up by Isa Guha.The series concludes at Chesterfield on Monday and South Africa will be encouraged by the determined batting shown by Smith and Fritz and their initial bowling efforts. But with England in such dominant form, the home side are well on course for the clean sweep.

Why Shoaib Malik shouldn’t open
The last time he opened Pakistan’s innings was in Gwalior, against India on November 15, 2007. Salman Butt took first strike then and was out lbw second ball to RP Singh for a sifar (zero). Seven months later, Malik walked out once again with Butt. Malik’s partner lasted three balls this time, out edging Afzaal Haider – for a sifar. The captain might want to give up opening aspirations for the sake of a young teammate.Left-armed compliment
Pakistan’s troubles against left-arm spinners are well-documented. From Vinoo Mankad to Ray Bright to Maninder Singh to Phil Edmonds to Nick Cook to Ashley Giles to Mohammad Rafique to Monty Panesar, Pakistan have always seemed to bat for the cause of the most unglamorous variety of spinners.With that in mind, Hong Kong went with a smart strategy: packing their side with left-arm spinners, much like the Bangladesh side of not so long ago. Nadeem Ahmed, Najeeb Amar and Munir Dar gave away 120 runs in 27 overs, and Nadeem accounted for the wickets of Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi.Dodgy decision of the day
Nadeem, playing his second ODI, had everything going for him and looked good for a five-for when he finished his seventh over, his figures at the stage reading 7-1-33-4. But he was taken off at the end of the 28th over with Pakistan’s score at 158 for 6, and brought back in the 43rd over. Sohail Tanvir and Fawad Alam had settled in by then, and got stuck into Nadeem in his ninth over, which went for 12 runs. Nadeem didn’t get to bowl his 10th. Had he taken a fifth wicket, he would have become the first Hong Kong bowler to do so; in any case his 9-1-51-4 were the best bowling figures for Hong Kong.Baptism by fire
This was the first international match – and the second first-class match – for Hong Kong’s Irfan Ahmed, 18. And he got in the way of a intent to get off the blocks. Iftikhar Anjum got his first ball of the match to nip in sharply, beat Irfan’s defenses, and end his innings in exactly one delivery. The bat had come down at an angle, and Anjum made sure Irfan would have enough time to ponder over the backswing.Stretcher for two
In the 28th over of Hong Kong’s innings, Zain Abbas tried to crack Shahid Afridi through the covers and caught a helmetless Younis Khan smack on the head. The ball rebounded and went into the covers. Zain, himself cramping and batting with a runner, had taken down a player.A stretcher was called for – it wasn’t clear whether for Zain or Younis – and Umar Gul, fielding at the boundary, hitched himself a ride to the centre. Both Younis and Zain decided to go off, and shared the ride out. Younis, though, came back after a few overs to bowl, and managed to take a wicket too.

Salman Taseer has resigned from the three-man Appellate Tribunal, which is hearing Shoaib Akhtar’s appeal against a five-year ban imposed on him by the Pakistan board, citing his commitments as the Governor of Punjab, a post to which he was appointed on May 15.”The chairman of the board [Nasim Ashraf] will now appoint someone to replace Taseer after consulting the head of the tribunal, Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh,” a PCB official told the .Taseer’s resignation comes days before the tribunal was set to reconvene on June 4 to resume their hearing into Shoaib’s appeal. The tribunal had, last month, suspended Shoaib’s five-year ban to allow him to take part in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League.The tribunal was constituted by the Pakistan board in April, and is headed by a retired justice, Farrukh, who was the former Judge of the Lahore High Court, and also includes former Test cricketer Haseeb Ahsan.