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Oh, no!
You are used to seeing him walk without much ado but you rarely see Adam Gilchrist walking away with a shrug, showing dismay at the umpire’s decision. Sreesanth’s previous ball was a tight one, not allowing Gilchrist freedom to swing his bat. The third ball of the match was a sharp inswinger. Gilchrist’s feet were in an awkward position as he inside-edged the ball on to his pads. However, Rudi Koertzen failed to hear it as he raised the dreaded finger in robotic fashion. It was a sad pitstop on Gilchrist’s farewell tour.Punter’s agony
This could be one of the worst slumps of Ricky Ponting’s career. And more than anyone, two Indians have been annoying him all summer. If Harbhajan Singh continued his torment of the Australian captain, Ishant Sharma doubled the suffering with his extra pace, movement and the bounce. He had bowled one the best overs to Ponting at the WACA last month, something Ponting acknowledged, and had his number once again at the MCG. The ball pitched short of a length, Ponting squared up but was beaten by the extra bounce and the edge flew straight into the hands of first slip.Planned to perfection
It was a perfect set-up. Brad Haddin had been trying to negate the spin by stepping out of his crease. Harbhajan Singh speared one down leg, Haddin stepped out and tried to sweep, but he missed and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took off the bails in a trice. Simon Taufel signalled a wide but Haddin wasn’t even waiting for the third umpire’s decision.Where were you, Mr Cricket?
Removing the helmet and raising the bat to all sections of the crowd arecelebrations typically reserved for a hundred but MichaelHussey was so pleased to reach his half-century that he made the most ofthe moment. True, it was a very important innings after Australia slumpedto 6 for 92 but Hussey averaged 55.90 coming in to the match. So why wouldhis minor milestone mean so much? Perhaps it was because he’s had a lean12 months in ODIs – he had not passed fifty in anODI since last February’s Chappell-Hadlee Series.Over and out
It all seemed to be going wrong for Ishant in his second over withthe new ball. A pair of edges off Matthew Hayden flew over the slip cordon tothe boundary, another delivery was driven for four to long-off and twoconsecutive no-balls were followed by an aborted run-up. Eighteen camefrom the over, enough to dent the spirit of most 19-year-olds. But Ishanthas already proved more mature than many teenagers, and his decision tokeep attacking brought a well-deserved wicket in his next over when he hadHayden caught behind.Speared in
155.9 kph. Now that came straight into Virender Sehwag from Brett Lee who had the batsman’s measure in the first over but was unlucky. This time Sehwag got his bat just in the nick of time to avoid the humiliation of seeing any damage to his woodwork.Shots of the day
Lee was rattled after Tendulkar hit him past square for a four. The next ball was 150kph just around the good length but the ricochet came off the bat at the same speed, hitting the boards. Resounding. Next ball: 151kph attempted yorker at his off stump. Tendulkar brings that heavy bat down and just guides it past the bowler’s right hand for another exquisite boundary.Hard luck
This one would be debated for a while. Tendulkar charged out to send one over the long MCG boundary off the last ball of Stuart Clark’s first over. It looked more of a slog and he missed miserably and in the process nicked it to Gilchrist. But Koertzen again failed to hear the edge, which was later confirmed by snicko. The Aussies couldn’t believe it and the crowd sighed a loud “boo”.To dive or not to dive
He was not sure if it would fly past just like Tendulkar was unconvinced about playing the stroke. Mitchell Johnson had bowled a slow off cutter and Tendulkar was in two minds but went for the drive over the inner circle. Lee stood his ground and then when he saw it was within reach, dived as if it was penalty shootout to pouch it high on his wrong side. Yes. What a catch.

There will be beach parties, street parties and house parties, at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens there will be live music, and by the time the clock strikes 12 the annual fireworks display at the Waterfront will blast Cape Town into 2016. And somehow, South Africa have to find a way to sit in silence amid all that sound.”It’s important for our team to stay a really tight unit and try and keep the noise out,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said after their Boxing Day Test defeat. “There will be a lot said, a lot written about and a lot of comments on Twitter and Facebook, and to try keep the noise out and keep in mind what this team is capable of is going to be the important thing for us.”New Year’s Eve celebrations aside, South Africa are dealing with a lot of distractions ahead of the second Test. Chief among them is the selection dilemma which has grown now that a third member of pace pack, Kyle Abbott, has experienced tightness in his hamstring.In-form Hardus Viljoen has been called up as cover but his 20 wickets in two matches still puts him last in a three-man queue led by Kagiso Rabada, who should replace Dale Steyn if his shoulder stays injured, and Chris Morris, who seems to have been picked on the basis that he can bat more than that he can bowl. If either Morris or Viljoen is capped, South Africa will field their most inexperienced bowling line-up in years, which Morne Morkel will lead.That is not necessarily a bad thing, especially as stubbornness to send senior players from the batting department back to domestic cricket is costing South Africa more. In 20 innings between them in 2015, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy average 16.75 and 14.00 respectively but are being retained on reputation.”When you have got players the calibre of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis, with proven records, performances under pressure and big hundreds when it counts, you know they are one or two innings away from a big score and you’ve got to keep believing in that,” Domingo said. “Whether it’s for five or 10 innings, I can’t tell you that. You’ve just got to believe that they are going to make a score at some stage.”AB de Villiers’ workload and Faf du Plessis’ lack of runs are two concerns for South Africa•Getty Images

Amla is not faring much better, with a 2015 average of 22.81 and the extra pressure of captaincy. Having been reluctant to lead before – he even stood down as ODI vice-captain in 2011 – his current lack of form has only fuelled speculation he may want to step aside again but he maintains he won’t. “I definitely want to continue. I’ve enjoyed every minute of captaining,” Amla said. “It’s just been disappointing not to get the runs. But in the middle of a Test series like this, I am getting more and more hungry to get runs on the board.”His cause is not being helped by controversial comments from former captain Graeme Smith, who remains close to many players in the side and does not seem to be offering Amla much support. In one analysis, Smith said the team “needs leadership to be strong and to make good decisions for the team”, in another he sensed “a few rumblings in the South African camp at the moment”.Domingo darted in to shield Amla from scrutiny over what Smith said but it was not overly convincing. “Smithy is entitled to his opinion,” Domingo said. “From what I am aware, it seems a pretty happy camp. They are not happy with the performances but they are all supporting and backing each other and supporting the captain 100%. The issues or the gripes that [Smith] is perceiving – I’m not too sure where they are coming from.”They are coming from the rumours of AB de Villiers’ early retirement, which even Smith has hinted at, despite de Villiers saying he just wants to manage his workload. On the BBC’s Test Match Special, Smith said “his interview wasn’t that convincing” and, since he remains very friendly with de Villiers, he would know.The selectors have already taken a step to ease de Villiers’ concerns by including Quinton de Kock in the squad for the second Test. They have not confirmed that de Kock will play, or if he will keep, but it seems a poorly kept secret that he will and that South Africa believe it will be the solution to all their batting woes. It will not.Although de Kock is in form, he is man in form. De Villiers has already showed South Africa they need more than that, even more than two. De Kock cannot ease the concerns over the top two, he cannot help Amla or du Plessis or Duminy find form, and he cannot single-handedly stop the noise. For that, South Africa need to ring the New Year in by putting on a better performance at Newlands. Then, given the high percentage of English supporters expected at the ground, it will be quiet.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSylhet Superstars recorded their first win of the season•BCB

Ravi Bopara brought Sylhet Super Stars their first win of the BPL season, beating Comilla Victorians by four wickets with two balls to spare in a hard-fought contest. Bopara took four wickets and later struck 50 of 38 balls, which was also his first meaningful contribution with the bat.Had he stayed till the end, the contest may not have been as exciting. As it was Abu Hider, the 19-year old left-arm seamer took back-to-back wickets in the final over including Bopara’s to leave the equation at three needed off three balls. Nazmul Hossain Milon defused the tenions with a six to secure the victory.It was a difficult end for the man who led Comilla’s defence. Hider claimed the first breakthrough in the sixth over, inducing a top edge from Mominul Haque which was called for and caught by wicketkeeper Liton ADas amid four other fielders in the vicinity. Sylhet still had Dilshan Munaweera, who hammered Mashrafe Mortaza for a six over square leg, en route to 36 off 26 balls. It was Hider again that made the incision as Munaweera cut straight to point.Bopara, promoted to No 3, joined Mushfiqur Rahim and stabilised the innings with an 87-run partnership which ultimately proved match-winning.Sylhet were 76 for 2 after 10 overs, needing a relatively straightforward 89 more. Bopara and Mushfiqur struck four fours in the 14th and 15th overs, to reduce the chase to a simple 45 off the last 30 balls.Mashrafe conceded a boundary off the first ball of the 16th over, but then missed a great chance to run Mushfiqur out when he had three stumps to aim at and the batsman nowhere near safety. As if to emphasise the good luck Sylhet’s captain had, Mushfiqur was dropped the very next ball. Two balls, two chances and two reprieves. Eventually, Kulasekara bowled him with an inswinger for 47 off 31 balls.Earlier when Comilla batted first, Liton Das sent the crowd into frenzy as he got Comilla off to a quick start. It began with a streaky four off the second ball of the match, the edge burst through Munaweera at slip. Liton’s next five fours were quite convincing. He flicked, drove inside out, carved past point and tonked one over mid-off to provide 42 out of the 56-run opening stand with Imrul Kayes. Liton was dismissed by Bopara in the seventh over, to signal the momentum shift.Bopara then took out Mukhtar Ahmed and Shuvagata Hom in the ninth over to leave Comilla in a bit of crisis at 66 for 3.Kayes, who was batting well within himself, got a reprieve. He jammed the bat down on a Munaweera delivery in the 11th over, the ball then rolled onto the stumps but did not topple the bails over. Kayes and Ashar Zaidi then added 62 runs for the fourth wicket though the latter, on 9, survived a chance when Nurul Hasan misjudged a catch at midwicket and overran the ball.Kayes smacked Rubel Hossain for a four over mid-on soon after, and followed it up with a six off Bopara, who completed his second four-for in T20s. Zaidi finished with two fours and a six in the final over, but his 53 off 36 balls could not bring his side a victory

Brad Haddin’s elevation to the Australia Test squad has forced New South Wales to boost their keeping stocks by picking up Peter Nevill from Victoria. The arrival of Nevill, who was behind Adam Crosthwaite and Matthew Wade in the Bushrangers’ plans, will push Daniel Smith for first-team appearances as Haddin steps up following Adam Gilchrist’s retirement. Smith played three Pura Cup matches last season as cover for Haddin, but he has also played as a specialist batsman.The Blues handed a deal to the fast bowler Burt Cockley who, like Nevill, is aged 22. Cockley made his Pura Cup debut in February after impressing in the Sydney grade competition. Craig Simmons, Tim Lang and Martin Paskal were left off the 19-strong full-contract list. With ten other Blues players on Cricket Australia deals as well, the state list has been afforded a strong emphasis on youth, with seven rookies also in the fold.Rookies Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Stephen O’Keefe, Steven Smith and David Warner were rewarded with full contracts after strong seasons. Hughes averaged 62.11 in seven first-class matches, including his initial century in the successful Pura Cup final. He was vice-captain of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup side this year and won the state’s rising star award.Khawaja, a left-hander, was the leading run scorer at grade level, making 1134 runs at 59.68. On Pura Cup debut he made a mature 85 at home in February against the eventual finalists Victoria. Smith, a leg-spinning allrounder who was also in the national Under-19 squad this year, has the chance to further push his claims for a regular spot after debuting in both Pura and FR Cups last season and impressing in the Twenty20 competition.Josh Hazlewood, the 17-year-old fast bowler who was the youngest member of the Australia Under-19 World Cup squad this year, earned a rookie contract, as did Daniel Burns, a left-arm orthodox bowler who was also at the youth World Cup, and former junior internationals Sam Robson, a legspinning allrounder, and Mitchell Starc, a left-arm fast bowler.James Crosthwaite, Adam’s brother and like him a wicketkeeper, also picked up a deal after representing Scotland and ACT. Joshua Lalor, a left-arm fast bowler, and the left-hander Scott Henry complete the rookie set.The New South Wales chief executive David Gilbert is happy with the depth of the squad but warned that every player must play his part. “The absence of our Australian players will make the 2008-09 season a very challenging one,” Gilbert said, “so it will be imperative that the younger players rise to the occasion.”The Blues have lost three players from their 2007-08 group. Matthew Nicholson announced his retirement earlier this year while Aaron O’Brien and Tom Cooper have both transferred to South Australia. The Redbacks were also chasing Greg Mail and Grant Lambert but both decided to stay in New South Wales for study or family reasons.Squad Aaron Bird, Mark Cameron, Burt Cockley, Ed Cowan, Scott Coyte, Peter Forrest, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Greg Mail, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Dominic Thornely, David Warner.Import Peter Nevill.Rookies Daniel Burns, James Crosthwaite, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Henry, Joshua Lalor, Sam Robson, Mitchell Starc.Players on the transfer list Craig Simmons, Tim Lang and Martin Paskal.

The Karnataka – Hyderabad encounter petered out to a tame draw on the fourthand final day at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore. When ‘play’ wascalled, openers Daniel Manohar and Nandakishore were at the crease with 9and 0 respectively. Having been forced the ignominy of a follow on,Hyderabad showed that their batting had more stuff than was on display intheir first essay. Manohar, who grafted well, was caught at forward shortleg off the bowling of Sunil Joshi just one run short of his fifty. Thisbrought Ranji Trophy star VVS Laxman to the crease.The day belonged to the him, and he celebrated his recall to the Indian team by scoring an unbeaten century. In the previous season, Laxman made over a thousand runs in the Ranji Trophy. His innings of 100 not out (159 balls, 11 fours, 1 six) helped Hyderabad reach 233 at stumps. In the meantime, Nandakishore was snared by Anand Yalvigi for 43. Vanka Pratap (26 not out) and Laxman (100 not out) saved Hyderabad the blushes.

Monde Zondeki, the South African quick bowler, has talked about how difficult he found it to join the recent tour of India after the controversy that surrounded the squad selection.Zondeki’s domestic figures from 2007-08 – 54 wickets at 20.16 for the Cape Cobras – certainly show he was good enough to earn selection for India, but his place came about after Charl Langeveldt withdrew from the squad. Langeveldt had been selected ahead of Andre Nel, who is now playing for Essex, as Cricket South Africa needed to maintain their quota allocation. However, Langeveldt didn’t feel mentally able to go on the tour, something that Zondeki can sympathise with.”It’s wasn’t easy for me to accept my selection for that tour,” he told the . “Not easy at all. It was an awkward way to be selected. It wasn’t the way I’d hoped it would happen. It wasn’t an easy decision to go. It was hard for me to accept. In the end I just didn’t want there to be any more controversy.”The thing is, I did have a really good season. I talked to the coach [Mickey Arthur] and he said I should see it as reward for that. He helped me a lot.”Zondeki didn’t end up playing in any of the three Tests as the series was drawn 1-1, but has arrived for his county stint with Warwickshire in confident mood and will provide a much-needed cutting edge. Warwickshire only escaped with a draw in their first Championship match against Worcestershire because of rain on the final day. But how long Zondeki will remain available is still unclear with South Africa touring during the second half of the summer.”I’ve talked to Dale [Steyn, who played for Warwickshire in 2007] about playing here and I’m not expecting quick and bouncy wickets,” he said. “I know that I’m going to have to work hard and I know I’ll have to look after myself. He really enjoyed it.”I’m looking forward to it. The main reason I’ve come is to learn. I want to suck up as much information as possible. Pretty much every bowler who has come to play county cricket has improved and the chance to work with Allan Donald was too good to miss. It was him who contacted me and he is a major reason for coming.”Clearly, too, it won’t harm his international ambitions to get regular cricket ahead of South Africa’s four-Test series which starts in July. “There’s a good chance that I will be selected,” he said. “By the time they arrive, I should have got the hang of the conditions. If I do well here, I have a great opportunity.” Warwickshire should make the most of him while they can.

England will have a review reinstated after the supplier of Snicko technology admitted an operator error may have cost them the wicket of Alex Carey on the opening day of the Adelaide Test.ESPNcricinfo understands that Brendon McCullum and Wayne Bentley, England’s head coach and team manager respectively, held talks with Jeff Crowe, the match referee, after the close of play to air their grievances. The ECB will also encourage the ICC to review their systems to improve their decision-making processes in future.TV umpire Chris Gaffaney upheld Ahsan Raza’s on-field “not out” decision after Carey, on 72, flashed at a ball from Josh Tongue outside off stump. There was a clear spike shown on the Real-Time Snickometer (RTS) several frames before the ball had passed the bat. “There’s a clear gap, no spike,” Gaffaney said.But Carey, who went on to score 106, admitted after play that he thought he had hit the ball, saying he had “a bit of luck” and was “clearly not” a walker. BBG Sports, the supplier of RTS, later suggested that an operator had “selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing” and took “full responsibility for the error”.David Saker, England’s bowling coach, said on Wednesday night that the dressing room has harboured concerns about the reliability of RTS all series. “We shouldn’t be talking about this after a day’s play, it should just be better than that,” Saker said. “In this day and age, you’d think the technology is good enough to pick things up like that.”The ICC’s playing conditions allow player reviews to be reinstated at the match referee’s discretion if a player review “could not properly be concluded due to a failure of the technology”. There is precedent for the decision from England’s tour to India in early 2021, when Ajinkya Rahane was incorrectly given not out in the second Test in Chennai.Related

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Crowe’s decision means that England will have two reviews available to them on the second day in Adelaide, with Australia set to resume their innings of 326 for 8. It may be scant consolation to them given Carey was able to bat on and score a further 34 runs after being incorrectly given not out.The ICC has two approved “sound-based edge detection technology” suppliers: RTS, which is used in Australia, and UltraEdge, which is used in the rest of the world. Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, said on Thursday morning that umpires “can’t trust” RTS and suggested that UltraEdge is superior.”This technology that we are using here is simply not as good as technology that’s used in other countries,” Ponting said while commentating on Channel 7. “You talk to the umpires, they’ll tell you the same thing. They can’t trust it.”They’ve got a third umpire sitting up in there that’s got to make decisions based on what he’s seeing that the technology is providing, and sometimes they have a gut feel that it’s not right. “That can’t happen. You’ve got to be able to trust the technology that’s in place.”The ICC did not respond to a request for comment.

Somerset are hoping to secure the services of Zander de Bruyn, the South African allrounder, as a Kolpak player. The club are waiting for the outcome of a meeting a Lord’s to discuss his registration.de Bruyn has played three Tests for South Africa, the last of which was against England at Port Elizabeth in 2004. He has had a previous stint in county cricket with Worcestershire and remains a consistent performer on the South African domestic scene.”Zander comes highly recommended by both Jimmy Cook and Neil McKenzie, who has played alongside him,” Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, told the club’s website. “He fills the role that Cameron White and Neil McKenzie filled for us last year in tha he will come in at number five, either when the second new ball is being taken or when we need somebody who can stay at the wicket.”In the 2007-08 SuperSport series de Bruyn made 712 runs at 39.55 and also managed 12 wickets at 42.Somerset have Justin Langer as their overseas player for 2008 as they aim to build on their promotion to Division One of the Championship.

Scorecard
Trinidad sent CCC crashing from their overnight 185 for 3 to 275 before completing a nine-wicket win to move into second place in the Carib Beer Series.With only 36 needed for victory, Trinidad lost William Perkins for 12, after which Dwayne Bravo struck a boundary down the ground to complete the formalities.Earlier, CCC went through the first half-hour of the morning session without alarm, but the situation changed when Chadwick Walton was caught at second slip by Perkins off Richard Kelly for 58. Kelly struck two overs later, when Perkins pouched an edge from Kurt Wilkinson, who could not open his account.Amit Jaggernauth, the offspinner, ended a fledgling partnership between Craig Emmanuel (15) and Floyd Reifer. Ravi Rampaul, who went on to get the Man-of-the-match award, then dismissed Kevin McClean and Jason Bennett in quick time. Meanwhile, Reifer reached his half-century when he slogged Dave Mohammed over midwicket before Jaggernauth dismissed Kavesh Kantasingh. Mohammed, though, got the better off Reifer when he was caught at mid-off.
Scorecard
Ramnaresh Sarwan’s superb 150 enabled Guyana to stretch their first innings score to 415 and claim a 211-run lead, after which their bowlers, led by 3 for 56 from seamer Esuan Crandon, left Leeward Islands on a verge of an innings defeat in St.Thomas.In their reply, Leewards slipped to 51 for 4, with Crandon dismissing opener Shane Jeffers and Tonito Willett for five and eight respectively. Runako Morton, the Leewards’ captain, blitzed an unbeaten 80 off 112 balls with six fours and two sixes and added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with Steve Liburd (30) to briefly steady the innings, but their stand ended when Liburd was run out.Crandon then proceeded to dismiss Jahmar Hamilton for a duck before offspinner Zaheer Mohammed took two tail-end wickets.Looking to build on their lead, Guyana lost Crandon in the second over after adding two runs to their overnight score of 299 for 6. But Sarwan, who began the day on 89, soon brought up his century, and made his way to 150 after adding 103 runs for the eight wicket with Mohammed (43). Liburd was the most successful Leewards bowler with 3 for 46.

ScorecardAlex Blackwell slammed 112 off 114 balls•Getty Images

Australia Women shrugged off the disappointment of losing the T20I series by handing India Women a 101-run thrashing in the first ODI in Canberra.Australia, opting to bat, rode on a 180-run stand for the third wicket between Alex Blackwell and Ellyse Perry. Blackwell top-scored for the team, stroking a 112-ball 114 with 12 fours, while Perry chipped in with 90 off 118 balls. Their efforts lifted Australia to a competitive 276 for 6.Perry then contributed with the ball, collecting 4 for 45 to run through India’s top and middle order, as the visitors failed to gather any momentum in their chase. Harmanpreet Kaur top-scored with 42, but no other player managed more than 25, as India folded for 175 inside 47 overs.