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Graham Napier will miss the remainder of the 2010 domestic season after suffering a stress fracture to his back and Ryan ten Doeschate is out for six to eight weeks

Cricinfo staff25-Jun-2010Essex have been struck by two major injury blows, with Graham Napier to miss the remainder of the 2010 domestic season after suffering a stress fracture to his back and Ryan ten Doeschate out for six to eight weeks after tearing a calf muscle during Essex’s win over Somerset on June 16.The injuries are likely to have a detrimental effect on Essex’s Friends Provident t20 campaign, with the county currently third in the South Group points table. Napier is the highest English Twenty20 wicket-taker with 90 scalps in 67 matches, and in 2008 he hit an astonishing 152 against Sussex in the Twenty20 Cup which included a world record 16 sixes. He had taken part in just one game in this year’s competition, making 12 and taking two wickets in the early loss to Kent.”Having missed out on nearly the whole of the Friends Provident t20 campaign this comes as a real blow,” Napier told essexcricket.org.uk. “It will have to be a long and patient recovery, I now need to allow the back to settle and heal over the next twelve weeks.”If the healing process goes well I would look to be able to start playing cricket again in December, otherwise it will be at the beginning of the 2011 domestic season. All I can do now is support the team from the sidelines in our quest to become Twenty20 champions”.ten Doeschate, who turns 30 next week, had been in phenomenal form, averaging 73.75 with the bat, including a century, as well as picking up three wickets in this year’s Friends Provident t20. He has had a good season across all formats, with good returns in the County Championship and CB40 League, and topped the MVP rankings.”Both injuries are obviously a setback to our campaign,” added Paul Grayson, the Essex first XI head coach. “Ryan was having the season of his life and was really enjoying his cricket. Graham never really got a consistent spell in the side this season after being hampered by injury. However, when fit, Napier is as good as anyone with bat and ball.”Injuries are of course part of professional sport, and since these injuries the team have found that extra desire to win. These two injuries, whilst a blow to the side, give opportunities to other squad players to show their worth in front of huge crowds at Chelmsford.”This is now the business end of the season, we now have to deal with the situation and we remain confident that we can continue to compete and entertain in all formats of the game for the remainder of the season”.Grayson also outlined the difficulties in bringing in additional overseas players: “Under the current circumstances with visa applications it is becoming increasingly more difficult to bring in overseas players. Myself and the Essex Cricket Committee are continuing to work hard in the search for viable alternatives. We will do all that we can to further strengthen the team in the coming weeks.”

Bangladesh secured a confidence-boosting victory in their final warm-up match before the one-day series against England as they beat Middlesex by 141 runs at Lord’s

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's05-Jul-2010
ScorecardImrul Kayes added 143 for the third wicket with Jahurul Islam•PA Photos

Bangladesh secured a confidence-boosting victory in their final warm-up match before the one-day series against England as they beat Middlesex by 141 runs at Lord’s. The success was set up by a 143-run stand between Jahurul Islam (88) and Imrul Kayes (77) which laid the platform for an imposing 301 for 7. The home side only briefly threatened while Owais Shah was making 61.In their opening practice match against Sussex the tourists had embarrassingly collapsed to 104 all out against a second-string attack. Middlesex also fielded a weak line-up and this time the batsmen managed to cash in to give themselves a valuable confidence boost before the first ODI, at Trent Bridge, on Thursday. The bowlers, led by Mashrafe Mortaza’s tight opening spell, then produced a solid performance as the spinners made inroads.However Jahurul, who made his Test debut against England in March, was the stand-out performer with an elegant innings and looked set for a hundred before lofting into the deep. But it was also an important performance from Kayes who had produced some turgid displays in the recent Asia Cup. Here he showed that he could find another gear as he struck three sixes in his 92-ball stay, albeit against friendly bowling.At the start of the innings all eyes were on Tamim Iqbal to see if he could reproduce the sort of display that lit up the Test match here in May when he wrote his name into the history books as the first Bangladesh century-marker at headquarters. He started brightly with a series of clumping drives as he raced to 28 off 20 balls, but then missed a wild swing across the line at Robbie Williams.Junaid Siddique, who had also impressed during that Test, fell three overs later when he clubbed a drive to mid-on to leave Bangladesh 50 for 2, but this time the innings didn’t descend into freefall. Kayes bedded in to provide the anchor, while Jahurul produced some attractive strokeplay, especially through the off side, to keep the scoreboard moving at a healthy rate.The bowling was unthreatening, but the pair maintained their concentration with Jahurul first to his fifty from a sprightly 42 deliveries then Kayes followed shortly afterwards from a more sedate 67 balls. Kayes departed when he tried to loft Toby Roland-Jones down the ground and skied a thick outside edge to backward point and Jahurul couldn’t clear the boundary either off Tom Smith’s left-arm spin.Shakib Al Hasan, replaced for this leg of tour as captain by Mortaza, made 38 and Mushfiqur Rahim hit the ball cleanly during the batting Powerplay before picking out deep square-leg as he tried to clear the Tavern boundary.Mortaza then made a breakthrough in his opening over when John Simpson dragged into his stumps and his new-ball partner, Shafiul Islam, picked up Jackson Thompson in the fourth over when the opener pulled to mid-on. Shah and Dawid Malan provided a platform for the chase as they added 87 in 14 overs, but not for the first time Shah was involved in a run out when he set off for a single then declined with Malan already committed.Shah was dropped by Mushfiqur Rahim on 57 as he charged Shakib, but two balls later the left-arm spinner had his revenge as Shah missed a sweep and was lbw. Tom Scollay’s first innings for Middlesex was an undistinguished affair which ended with a horrid swing to leg as the chase subsided with 10 overs to spare.

Having emphatically completed their 354-run victory against Pakistan in the first Test, England have named an unchanged squad for the 2nd match which begins on Friday at Edgbaston

Cricinfo staff02-Aug-2010Having emphatically completed a 354-run victory against Pakistan in the first Test, England have stuck with the men who delivered the job and named an unchanged squad for the second match, which begins on Friday at Edgbaston.Tim Bresnan, included as a late replacement in the squad for the opening game after Ajmal Shahzad picked up an ankle injury, retains his place with Shahzad being sent back to Yorkshire for their crucial Championship clash against Nottinghamshire to prove his fitness.The competition for the position of England’s back-up paceman is close, with Bresnan impressing during England’s away tour to Bangladesh before Shahzad got the chance to stake his claim when he made his Test debut against the same opposition at Old Trafford last month.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said he was impressed with England’s showing at Trent Bridge but echoed Andrew Strauss’s sentiments in calling for consistency.”Clearly we were delighted with the performance in the first Test but the key to consistency is building on that success throughout the rest of the series,” he said. “We saw a number of outstanding performances at Trent Bridge not only with bat and ball but also in the field and the challenge is to maintain those standards over the next three Test matches.”Tim Bresnan returns to the squad while Ajmal Shahzad will play for Yorkshire in their County Championship match commencing Tuesday. We would like to see how Ajmal gets through this four-day match given the recent ankle injury that saw his withdrawal from the first Test squad.”Bresnan’s inclusion is largely a formality with England settled on the four-man attack that proved so hostile in the opening Test and barring a late injury he is likely to remain on the sidelines.England’s unchanged squad could not be in greater contrast to their opposition who have dropped spinner Danish Kaneria and hauled veteran ex-captain Mohammad Yousuf out of retirement to bolster the batting.England squad 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn, 12 Tim Bresnan.

Essex leapfrogged Gloucestershire into second place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B with a six-wicket win at Bristol

Cricinfo staff24-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Essex leapfrogged Gloucestershire into second place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B with a six-wicket win at Bristol. The home side could muster only 184 for 8 on a slow pitch, despite an unbeaten 70 from James Franklin, as Chris Wright (3 for 43), Ryan ten Doeschate (2 for 30) and David Masters (2 for 26) maintained a tight line and length. Essex were given a good start in reply by Ravi Bopara (45) and Mark Pettini (37), before Grant Flower (45) and Matthew Walker (32) did their bit to clinch victory with an over to spare.It was dour fare for the crowd, but a precious result for the Eagles, who now stand a chance of reaching the semi-finals as at least the best second-placed team in the three groups. The Gladiators were unable to gain much momentum, having been put in to bat, after an opening stand of 46 in eight overs between Alex Gidman (20) and Will Porterfield (27).The only other partnership of note was between Franklin and Steve Snell (32) for the fifth wicket after a collapse to 65 for 4. Franklin came in at the fall of the first wicket when Gidman was dismissed in the eighth over and had to battle hard throughout, reaching his half-century in the 37th over, having faced 77 balls and hit only two fours. Gloucestershire could hit only eight fours and one six, lofted straight by Franklin in the final over of the innings off Tony Palladino.Essex timed their run chase well on a night of few batting thrills. Bopara coped with the conditions better than most and was clearly aggrieved to be given out caught behind off David Payne having faced 42 balls and hit seven fours. Pettini was content to push ones and twos for the majority of his 69-ball innings, which ended when he was yorked by Gidman’s first delivery of the match with the total on 92.That was in the 23rd over and Gloucestershire still had a glimmer of hope. But Flower had sensibly taken time to gauge the pace of the wicket and Walker added some vibrancy to the innings at just the right time. The Gladiators bowlers did not enjoy much luck, particularly Steve Kirby, whose first six overs cost only 14 runs.But the partnership of 74 between Flower and Walker proved all-important. Flower was caught behind attempting to pull Jon Lewis and Walker then fell to a slip catch, but by the fall of the fourth wicket only 15 runs were needed and Essex eased home.

If Kent go on to suffer relegation this season, they will surely rue the first day of this Championship match at Edgbaston

George Dobell at Edgbaston 31-Aug-2010
ScorecardDarren Stevens took three early wickets but Warwickshire ended the day in a strong position•PA Photos

If Kent go on to suffer relegation this season, they will surely rue the first day of this Championship match at Edgbaston.With Warwickshire on the ropes, Martin van Jaarsveld, at slip, spurned a chance offered by Imran Tahir off the bowling of James Tredwell. The batsman had just 18 at the time and, had it been taken, Warwickshire would have been dismissed for 195.It wasn’t the easiest chance. But van Jaarsveld seemed to have it within his grasp and, had he been able to cling on, Warwickshire would have finished without a batting bonus point for the fourth match in succession and the eighth time in 11 games.As it was, however, the momentum of the game shifted. Warwickshire’s tenth-wicket pair of Tahir and Ant Botha added 118 in 25 overs. Their stand transformed a day that Kent had, to that point, utterly dominated and Warwickshire – and Chris Woakes, in particular – hit back strongly with the new ball when Kent began their innings. It’s far from impossible that it could prove to have been a defining day in the battle to avoid relegation.This is certainly going to prove a crucial match. The two teams started the game level on points with only Essex below them in the table. While Kent have a game in hand over Warwickshire, neither side can afford to give the other any ground. Warwickshire, in particular, need to win.Any hopes of victory had all but receded when they were reeling at 107 for 7 shortly after lunch. The brittle top-order batting that has proved their Achilles heel all season haunted them yet again as their batsmen struggled against the swinging ball and their own lack of form and confidence.Darren Stevens was the unlikely destroyer. With Kent missing Amjad Khan, who has reacted to news of the club’s inability to keep him by saying he didn’t feel in the right frame of mind to play for them, Stevens took the new ball and bowled throughout the morning session. That admirable 15-over spell realised 3 for 30, with Stevens swinging the ball consistently and compensating for his gentle pace with a probing line and length.If Ian Westwood, reaching for one without moving his feet, and Varun Chopra, who played around a straight one, had some cause to regret their strokes, there was little Darren Maddy could do about the ball that dismissed him. Pitching on middle, it demanded the forward defensive shot he offered, but swung away late to take the outside edge. It was fine bowling, by any standards.Meanwhile Jim Troughton, who has now not passed 50 in 26 championship innings, and Richard Johnson prodded pad-first at a straight one, before Rikki Clarke changed his mind about pulling and top-edged a simple chance back to the bowler. Laurie Evans, who was released by Surrey a few weeks ago and is on trial at Edgbaston, resisted for over an hour, but them appeared to lose sight of a full delivery and was bowled.From that low point, however, Warwickshire began to regroup. With resistance first mustered by Woakes and Botha, their last three wickets added a further 187 runs, earning their side two bonus points and a foothold in a game that had almost slipped away from them.Though Woakes was beaten by a sharp off-break and Neil Carter steered a wide one to point, Botha and Tahir counter-attacked intelligently against an attack that was left looking a little one-paced and lacking in variation.It wasn’t just the runs that were scored as the manner in which they were scored that so upset Kent. Tahir, who has been dismissed for a duck five times in this Championship season, has few pretensions as a batsman, but here went after the bowling with such relish that he hit seven fours and four sixes in his 72-ball stay.While two of those sixes, pulls off Tredwell, were somewhat agricultural, the others, a cover-drive off the medium-pace of Simon Cook and a clipped six over long-on off Tredwell, were almost classical. It was the third first-class half-century of his career and his first for Warwickshire.Botha’s was a more polished performance. While this was his first half-century of the campaign, he showed his pedigree by negated the swinging ball by playing admirably straight and timing the ball sweetly. Together they set a new 10th wicket record stand for Warwickshire against Kent, surpassing the 73 posted by HJ Pallett & T Forrester at The Angel Ground, Tonbridge, in 1897.It’s far from the first time this season that Warwickshire have been grateful for the lower-order’s runs. Indeed, their tenth-wicket pair have recorded more century and half-century stands than the first-wicket partnership. It is often remarked upon around these parts that the hosts sometimes appear to be batting in reverse order.Botha and Tahir pair may yet go on to play a large part with the ball. This game is being played on the same pitch used for Monday’s CB40 game against Scotland and Warwickshire expect it to encourage the spinners appreciably.The tail-end resistance appeared to knock Kent’s confidence. Not only did they drop Tahir once again, this time when he had 61, but their ground fielding became ragged and their heads appeared to drop.Confronted by Woakes, now bowling with a bit more pace but no less control or swing, they were soon in trouble when they began their reply and resume on the second day with Tredwell, their second nightwatchman, at the crease.Joe Denly, leaving one that nipped back, was bowled by the first ball of the innings, while Rob Key played around another swinging delivery in Woakes’ next over. Cook, perhaps unlucky with some low bounce, also missed one that nipped back.With batsmen as accomplished as van Jaarsveld and Stevens still to come, there is a great deal of cricket left to play in this match. But Kent have already squandered a golden opportunity to put this match – and their relegation fears – to one side and their failure to take it may come back to haunt them.

Cricinfo looks ahead to the three-match ODI series between India and Australia

The Preview by Sriram Veera16-Oct-2010

Match Facts

Sunday, October 17, Kochi

Start time 9:00 am (0330 GMT)Michael Clarke had a poor Test series. Will the ODIs bring a change in his fortunes?•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Michael Clarke will lead Australia in the ODIs, and he’ll feel the pressure. There has been an intense debate in Australia about the future, including captaincy. There appear to be three camps: Ponting loyalists, Clarke aficionados and the anyone-but-Clarke club. The third should worry Clarke. His poor performance in the Tests this tour has added more fuel to critics who believe Clarke rarely performs when the team needs it. Australian captains have been tough; Clarke is seen as a bit of a show pony by his critics. This three-match series will give him another opportunity to silence them.In India, there is no such debate. There are those who put MS Dhoni’s success down to luck but they haven’t reached a critical mass. And even they can’t put forward an alternative name for captain. Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar put it thus: “Dhoni is a guy who does things that are supposed to be done and leaves the rest to fate. He doesn’t try to control everything. That is his greatest strength.”The series will be a contest between two men – one itching to prove that he is the man for the future, and one whose future in the pantheon of successful Indian captains is already secure. If only the weather allows them. Australia haven’t been able to practice in Kochi, the venue of the first ODI. Their players, during this time, have been tweeting about spending their time in the gym and wishing the rain would stop.

Form guide

(most recent first)
India LWLWL
Australia WWLLL

Watch out for…

Just when Callum Ferguson was establishing himself in the ODI line-up and looking ahead to securing a place in the Tests, he twisted his knee in the Champions Trophy final and had to sit out for a while. The Champions League, the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa, was his comeback and he starred with two half-centuries, finishing fifth on the tournament run tally. The best thing going for him is that there seems to be almost no one in Australia who doesn’t rate him highly. This ODI series should help him kick-start his ambitions and others’ hopes.R Ashwin’s time has surely come. A stable head, calm temperament and rapidly developing skill-set puts him right up there in the reckoning for a spot in the playing XI. The all-round development has been visible: He developed a carrom ball and has now honed it to perfection, he uses the crease more intelligently and has already developed a reputation of bowling in the Powerplays. His development hasn’t gone unnoticed. “He is used to bowling in the Powerplays. He is an aggressive bowler, he has the variety and he is always ready to bowl whenever you throw the ball to him,” Dhoni said at the end of the Champions League. “He wants to perform; he has grown as a player over the last three IPLs.”

Team news

Shikhar Dhawan, the only surprise call-up in the Indian squad for the series, is likely to make his ODI debut.India (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Virat Kohli/Rohit Sharma, 6 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Munaf Patel.Doug Bollinger is the senior-most fast bowler in the squad but is yet to fully recover from the abdominal strain that ruled him out of the Bangalore Test. He hasn’t bowled since picking up the injury and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit for Sunday’s match. Fast bowler Mitchell Starc could make his debut in case Bollinger misses out.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Michael Clarke (capt), 4 Shaun Marsh/Callum Ferguson, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Steve Smith, 8 James Hopes, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger/Mitchell Starc.

Pitch and conditions

The unrelenting rain has put the first ODI under threat. We have to wait and watch whether it will clear up in time to allow some play. The consistent rain has affected the pitch preparations and it will be interesting to see how it plays.

Stats and trivia

• India have a poor record of chasing against Australia: They have lost 34 games and won only 17 while batting second against them.
• MS Dhoni has 225 ODI dismissals as a wicketkeeper and stands sixth in the all-time list. He needs nine more dismissals to go past Ian Healy.
• Clarke averages 43.03 in ODIs but it dips against India: he averages 37.83 and has scored one hundred from 25 games against India. He averages 33.88 against the Indians in Australia while it jumps marginally to 38.57 in Indian conditions.
  

  Quotes

  “Boys are just looking at some video footage of the Indian players.”
  
  “We need this rain to stop asap … I am very frustrated.”
  

Virender Sehwag, as optimistic and positive a soul as any in the Indian dressing room, looked on the bright side after the day’s play

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2010At the end of the opening day, India wouldn’t have been sure whether to feel satisfied after a hard day’s work or slightly let down over passages of play when they let things drift. They did splendidly to recover from a barren opening session that cost 95 runs, but then conceded 57 in an hour to Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey. Hussey fell to a poor stroke and Ponting, on his favourite Indian ground, was denied another hundred by Suresh Raina’s part-time offspin. But by the time play was called off for bad light, it was hard to escape the feeling that MS Dhoni had played the occasional-bowler card a few overs too many.Virender Sehwag, as optimistic and positive a soul as any in the Indian dressing room, looked on the bright side after the day’s play. “We’re happy with the score,” he said. “The way they started, we thought they might make 350 or so. We’re especially happy with the wicket that Raina took, when Ponting looked set for a hundred.”After the paltry crowds in Mohali, Bangalore provided a much more raucous atmosphere. Ponting was greeted by boos – though Shane Watson claimed later not to hear them – and every Indian wicket whipped the crowd into a frenzy. “In Bangalore, people usually come to see Tests and cheer India,” said Sehwag. “So we’re very happy. Hopefully, they’ll come for all five days.”The players went off three deliveries after the new ball was taken, but there was no grumbling from the Indians, with overcast conditions expected for much of the five days. “We just ask them to stay consistent,” said Sehwag. “Then it’s fair for both teams.”Once again, India wasted the new ball. Zaheer Khan was perhaps still feeling the effects of his exertions in Mohali, while Sreesanth overpitched consistently early on trying to get the ball to swing. When he got the right shape, the length was wrong and then continued in his later spells when he bowled some fine deliveries without quite stringing together a great over.In Indian conditions, Zaheer has invariably been more effective with the older ball, while Sreesanth, too, helped India win a game in Kanpur last year with telling spells of reverse swing. There was no dramatic action with the old ball here though, with spinners bowling in tandem for much of the afternoon. “Because of the ground conditions, which are wet, and the side wickets not being dry,” said Sehwag when asked about it. “If they dry up, then reverse swing will be a factor.”India were dealt a blow in the morning with the late withdrawal of VVS Laxman, though Sehwag insisted that the decision to go with young blood in Cheteshwar Pujara was the right one. “He [Laxman] tested in the morning and he said his back was still stiff and sore. We didn’t want to take any chances. If something goes wrong, we can’t even get a fielder for him. So it was the right decision not to play.”Having experienced his own dip in form in South Africa in 2006-07 – he was axed after the final Test in Cape Town – there was some sympathy from Sehwag for Marcus North, fighting for an Ashes place and unbeaten on 43 overnight. “I think he’s batted really well in this Test,” said Sehwag. “At the moment, he’s looking comfortable. But tomorrow morning, we’ll be looking to put more pressure on him.”Unlike at Mohali, where dropped catches proved rather expensive, India were tidier in the field on Saturday. There was still some sloppy groundfielding, especially from those the wrong side of 30, but the catches taken by Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Sehwag represented a big improvement on what was on view in the opening Test.With a new ball in hand on Sunday and the tail to come, a quick wrap could put India in a commanding position. For that to happen, they’ll need to shake off an old habit and use the new ball effectively under cloudy skies.

MS Dhoni, India’s captain, has said the on-field umpires must step up and make better decisions

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2010MS Dhoni, India’s captain, has said the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) should not be implemented unless it guarantees 100 percent accuracy, and that the on-field umpires must step up and make better decisions.”It is not something that gives cent per cent results,” Dhoni said. “It is not always correct. “If I am going to buy a life jacket which does not come with a warranty, that’s a bit of a hassle for me especially with the huge amount of money you have to spend for the DRS system coming into the game.”Instead of spending so much money on a system that cannot guarantee results, Dhoni felt the umpires needed to perform better instead. “There are two gentlemen standing on the ground as umpires. They are professionals and paid to do their job. They have got support from the TV umpire. So it is surprising to see them making some of the mistakes. They have to step up and perform.”Dhoni, however, said that he would be happy to use the UDRS if it becomes foolproof. “I would prefer some kind of warranty behind it. (The) moment it comes, I am all for it. For now, they have to improve on the technology.”India have opposed the UDRS ever since their failed experiment with it during their 2008 tour of Sri Lanka. The Indians struggled with their referral and got only one right, while Sri Lanka successfully challenged 11 decisions.Sachin Tendulkar has opposed the UDRS in the past, and last month Dravid made statements along the same lines as Dhoni. “If it can be proved that technology is foolproof there is no harm in it,” Dravid said. “There is a lot of ambiguity as to what kind of technology is available. In some series, you don’t get the same cameras, slow motion cameras and other equipment, and that’s the sort of thing which creates ambiguity. If we can have a common sort of system in every series, I see no reason why we cannot have it.”The technology has found support from one big Indian star though. “I am a big fan of UDRS,” Virender Sehwag said last week. “I want it to be there for the India-New Zealand series, India-South Africa series and in the World Cup. But this is my personal opinion. I was given out a few times when I was not out and in such a situation could have gone in for a referral that would have helped me continue to bat.”

Michael Hussey has admitted that Australia will have one eye on the heavens come the final day of the second Test at Adelaide

Andrew Miller at Adelaide06-Dec-2010Michael Hussey has admitted that Australia will have one eye on the heavens come the final day of the second Test at Adelaide, as they resume their second innings on 4 for 238, a deficit of 137 runs. A gutsy day’s batting from Australia was undermined by the last ball before stumps when Michael Clarke fenced Kevin Pietersen to short leg, leaving Hussey – and the weather – as their best hopes of escaping with a draw and going to Perth next week with the series all-square.England declared early on the fourth morning on 5 for 620, meaning Australia began their second innings with a 375-run deficit. For a while it seemed that they might reach the close with seven wickets still intact, when a tropical storm swept through the ground to bring an abrupt halt to the afternoon session. However, the weather cleared almost as quickly as it had arrived, and after a 57-minute delay, the teams were able to get back out onto the field.Hussey will resume his innings on 44 not out alongside the under-pressure Marcus North, who has yet to face a ball, and he said that another deluge would be very gratefully received. “A little bit of rain would help, that’s for sure,” Hussey said. “I don’t think we can look at the weather too much, we’ve just got to try and concentrate on batting as much time as we can and hanging in there. We’re going to need a bit of luck, the conditions are pretty tough for batting at times, but certainly, a couple of hours of rain would help our cause.”Australia’s bid for salvation may also have been aided by a stomach muscle strain that Stuart Broad sustained during the afternoon session. Though he returned to the field after treatment and produced some energetic work on the boundary’s edge, he did not bowl in the latter stages of the day, and was earlier seen wearing a brace in the nets and looking very immobile as he went through his motions with the England back-room staff.Graeme Swann, who is England’s likeliest matchwinner on a wicket offering considerable turn out of the footholes, played down the extent of Broad’s injury in his typically off-hand manner. “I don’t actually know [if he’ll be able to bowl],” said Swann. “I assume so because he came back on the field so I assume his time off was just being spent with the medical staff, having his hair done or something.”In Broad’s absence, Steven Finn produced one of his best spells since his six-wicket haul at the Gabba, finding a hint of reverse swing with the old ball, and Swann backed him to play a big part on the final day. “Reverse swing is very hard to control and for a young lad to be able to control it like he did, he bowled exceptionally today,” said Swann. “He hits good channel, gets good pace, especially at the end of the day, but he’s a relatively robust young man so there’s no surprise that he can do that.”Hussey, meanwhile, set his sights on another marathon rearguard innings, in a series in which he is emerging as Australia’s only reliable batsman. “I’d be lying if I said I loved it, but it’s certainly rewarding to come in in a pressure situation and get your team into a position to win the match or save the match,” he said. “It gives you a lot of satisfaction. I wish I could come out like Bradman and smash them everywhere, but unfortunately the game doesn’t work that.”We’ll have to wait and see [if we can save it],” he added. “We’ve got a lot of hard work to do before we can think about that, but if we can draw the match, England will see it as a loss so that’s got to drive us on. We’ve certainly been outplayed, no question, but if we can get away with 0-0 it will be a great result for us. But we’ve got a bit of hard work to do, maybe a bit of luck and hopefully some weather to help us along the way.”

England’s coach, Andy Flower, says that the satisfaction of securing the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years will not be allowed to distract from the main business of wrapping up a 3-1 series win

Andrew Miller in Melbourne30-Dec-2010England’s coach, Andy Flower, says that the satisfaction of securing the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years will not be allowed to distract from the main business of wrapping up a 3-1 series win, as the team prepares to head to Sydney to face an opposition shorn of their one remaining all-time great player, Ricky Ponting.Flower’s determination to remain grounded through the good times and the bad has served his squad well in recent times, not only in this series where England had to bounce back from a heavy defeat in Perth, but also in the 2009 Ashes when Australia squared the rubber in the fourth Test at Headingley, leaving England needing to win at The Oval to regain the Ashes, which they did so in emphatic style.This time the challenge is somewhat different, with the main objective of the tour already wrapped up, but while Flower admitted that the celebrations in the MCG dressing room after the fourth Test had been “really special”, he reiterated his determination that England should now push on to become the No. 1 side in the world. And that means refocusing on Sydney as soon as the hangovers have cleared.”I am very proud of the way the guys have played throughout this tour, and the Melbourne performance was an outstanding one,” said Flower. “I’m sure the players feel that way. But we also realise that there’s a lot of cricket ahead on this tour, and a lot of cricket to be played in this fifth Test. We came out here to win this series – and we’ll be doing everything we can to do that.”While previous England teams have regarded the Ashes as the be-all and end-all, Flower showed his determination to do things differently in the aftermath of the 2009 win, when the squad’s celebrations were curtailed by a flight to Belfast. The same principle was in evidence on the morning after Melbourne, with a few sore heads around the team hotel, but there was certainly nothing to rival the carnage that followed the first of England’s three victories in four rubbers, in 2005.”We had some really special times in the changing room yesterday afternoon,” said Flower. “I know for all the cricketers those are times you cherish, when they’ve fought hard and come out on top. Then they can enjoy each other’s success, and each other’s company for a little period of time in the sanctuary of the dressing room. The families joined us for a short time, and the guys enjoyed having their loved ones around too to share it with.”I’ve seen a few of the guys, but there are some conspicuous by their absence,” he added. “They did celebrate yesterday but they also realise their responsibility to the team and the team’s reputation, so I’m sure they’re all fine. We celebrated yesterday, and it’s time to move on now.”Flower recognises that the challenges for modern-day international cricketers come in ceaseless waves. Beyond the immediate goal of victory in the Sydney Test, there is the prospect of a seven-match ODI campaign, followed swiftly by the World Cup in the subcontinent – and England, with five consecutive series wins in that form of the game, not to mention victory in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in May, believe they are ready to make a serious bid for the title for the first time since 1992.”Everyone involved in this tour will feel a lot of pride about the way the guys have played, but I think it’s much too early to be feeling satisfied, that’s for sure,” said Flower. “There are other things out there for us to achieve – and we want to climb the ladder in the world rankings. We’re still ranked three or four in the world, and there are a lot of things out there for us to aim for.”Despite the euphoria of the MCG win, the form of Paul Collingwood is the one major concern that England have going into Sydney. So far in the campaign he has made just 70 runs in five innings, and has not passed fifty since the first Test against Pakistan in July. Eoin Morgan is the man waiting in the wings should the management decide that new blood is required in the middle order, but Flower insisted that England would not be making changes for the sake of it.”I’m not over-concerned about Paul Collingwood,” he said. “He’s had a bit of a tough series. He got a couple of 90s in the first-class games, and looked in good order. His top score is a 40 in Adelaide, when again he looked in good order. But yes, his job is to score runs – like all of our batsmen – and he’ll be looking to do that in Sydney.”He’s an experienced cricketer, a tough bloke – and he adds in all sorts of ways to our side,” added Flower. “I don’t feel tempted to experiment. People’s careers are a very serious business, and you don’t experiment with them.”