Suspended cricket officials have warned that Cricket-Aid, a tsunami charity set-up up by the board to provide emergency relief and rebuild housing, is in danger of collapsing after the sports minister’s decision to appoint an interim committee to manage the cricket board.According to the officials, one welfare centre for 200 tsunami refugees in Matara is now struggling to cope because it cannot be properly managed in the current impasse. A foster parenting scheme to care for 1000 children is also apparently under threat”We are obviously concerned as we have done some wonderful things and achieved something,” Chandrishan Perera, the public relations coordinator of Cricket-Aid told the Daily Mirror. “We are now desperate to sort things out. We’ve got to stick to our promises and commitment especially for the children.”Perera also voiced concerns that donors who have already pledged or who were considering a pledge will not adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ approach and freeze payments while the administration crisis continues. “It is difficult to gauge their [international donors] reaction”, he said.The charity’s chairman, Thilanga Sumathipala, has hit-out at what he calls “detractors parachuting in to run cricket”. “We have given hope to these people [tsunami victims] and we don’t want to hurt them. We are in the process of talking to donors and reaching a working arrangement in the best interest of the people”, said Sumathipala.Cricket-Aid’s future is also uncertain because questions have been raised over the legality of program’s NGO status. The government is believed to be in the process of launching an investigation into the charity’s registration.Meanwhile, the suspended executive committee has been partially successful in the first round of a legal fight with the government, successfully arguing in the Court of Appeal for a temporary restraining order preventing the sports minister from making any further orders over Sri Lanka Cricket during the next two weeks.Sumathipala’s committee has also complained in a media release of a politically motivated mud-slinging campaign, warning publishers to be wary of a “spurious and scurrilous set of concocted minutes purporting to be the minutes of the ICC Executive meeting in Delhi” that is being “maliciously circulated” in Sri Lanka.The media release claimed that the ICC’s president Ehsan Mani had confirmed to Sumathipala on Friday that the draft minutes of the Delhi meeting had not been completed. During the course of the two-day meeting, board members were briefed on the ongoing ICC Code of Ethics inquiry into Sumathipala’s links with the gambling industry.
South Australia 400 and 137 for 5 beat New South Wales 267 and 267 by five wickets ScorecardGreg Blewett, South Australia’s captain, is confident they can retain top spot in the table after a deserved five-wicket win against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval.Chasing 135 for victory, SA finished on 5 for 137, with Blewett hitting the winning runs to reach 65 not out. The win took them to 12 points, with two outright victories from three matches, and ahead of NSW and Tasmania, who are both on eight points.”We’re travelling beautifully,” Blewett said about his side’s progress under new coach Wayne Phillips. “We’re undefeated at this stage of the year, with two games away and one at home, and we’ve got Queensland here next week, who we’ve played pretty well against here. So we’re sitting well, and as long as we keep doing what we’re doing and not get too far ahead of ourselves, we can set ourselves up nicely for the latter half of the season.”SA started the day on 2 for 38, needing a further 97 runs to win, potentially a tricky target on a wearing last-day pitch, with Blewett and nightwatchman Jason Gillespie at the crease. But the pair put on a fifty partnership to take the score to 85 before Gillespie was caught driving at point off Stuart Clark.Gillespie’s 32 went with his 5 for 54 yesterday to complete a good allround match for him in his comeback from a side injury which had kept him out for five weeks.SA then lost Andy Flower, caught behind off Clark for two, and Mark Higgs, caught in the deep off Stuart MacGill for 23 off 20 balls, while attempting to finish the match with a six. MacGill had 1 for 28 from three overs today.Mark Cosgrove, 19, was named Man of the Match after making 118 in SA’s first innings. He was nought not out at the close, which came well before the scheduled lunch break, although he did not face a ball.Blewett said Cosgrove, who made his debut late last season, was an exceptional talent. “I remember when I first started out, I wasn’t that young, but I wouldn’t have dreamt of playing like he did,” Blewett said. “It’s very exciting for us to have a junior Boof [Darren Lehmann] in the making, hopefully.”Steve Waugh, NSW captain, also praised Cosgrove, who took a sharp catch at backward square leg to dismiss him for a golden duck in their first innings. “I think it was probably the best catch I’ve ever seen taken off myself when I’m batting, it was a freakish catch,” Waugh said. “Batting-wise, he looks an exceptional talent for 19, he hits the ball very nicely. He’s very similar to Darren Lehmann at the same age and that’s a big rap to put on a young kid.”Waugh said that SA had showed more desire to win than NSW, and had shown better concentration with the bat and sharper work in the field.
Zimbabwe were left facing an innings defeat at the Sinhalese Sports Club onSaturday after being forced to follow on 402 runs in arrears in the firstJanashakthi National Test.The tourists then suffered further damage in the second innings, asoff-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan plucked out two wickets to leave then on 64for two, still 338 runs behind with two days remaining.Zimbabwe’s second knock had started well enough, as the openers survived thefirst hour without loss. But teenage opener Hamilton Masakadza (28) then topedged a slog sweep and was well caught by Marvan Atapattu running back frommid-wicket.Minutes later his partner, Trevor Gripper (10), misread Muralitharan’sstraighter ball for the second time in the day to be given out caught behindby wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.Night watchman Travis Friend averted further damage by somehow surviving theremaining seven overs till the close with acting-captain Stuart Carlisle (22not out), despite frequent appeals from Sri Lanka’s hawkish close fieldersand some explosive off-breaks from Muralitharan.Muralitharan picked up six wickets in the day, to pass Malcom Marshall (376)and slip into eighth position in the all-time wicket-takers list, and posedthe greatest the threat to the batsmen on a wicket that is getting slowerand lower.He will surely continue to do so when play resumes on Monday morning after arest day forced upon the cricketing authorities by a government decree thatno sport be played on full moon (Poya) holidays.Zimbabwe will be none to pleased that the pitch will spend a whole day beingbaked by sun before their resume their apparently hopeless rearguard action.As it was skipper Carlisle showed frustration afterwards following a numberof dubious umpiring decisions that largely fell in favour of the home-side,starting with early let-offs for Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu onthe first day and continuing today in the Zimbabwean first innings.Gavin Rennie (35) was given out lbw sweeping Muralitharan when the ballwould have missed off-stump, Grant Flower (0) was dubiously adjudged caughtat silly point for a duck shortly after lunch, and Travis Friend (6)received a shocking lbw decision from umpire Riazruddin.The poor decisions did not all go in Sri Lanka’s favour. Andy Flower lookedlucky to survive two leg-before shouts on 34 when pinned to his stumps byswerving indippers from Chaminda Vaas and on the second day Kumar Sangakkaralooked unlucky to have been given out by the third umpire when televisionreplays appeared inconclusive.But Zimbabwe lack the talent to survive such misfortune and on balance theyhad the right to feel aggrieved.Carlisle, speaking with emotion but also trying to abide by ICC regulationsthat prevent direct comment on umpiring decisions, said: “As a fielding andbatting side we have been very unlucky on certain things and it really hasn’t gone our way. These important factors change games and make it difficultto lift the guys.”He had not given up hope of averting defeat though: “We sure are going totry our hardest to save this game. It is a pretty good batting pitch, but30s and 40s are not going to do it. Its up to the eight batters left to getreally stuck in and get some big partnerships.”Zimbabwe also had themselves to blame for their sorry predicament after somepretty ordinary shots in the morning and early afternoon, as they failed toconstruct any meaningful partnerships.Carlisle (10), who was dropped second ball of the day despite an acrobaticeffort from Sangakkara, was the first to go, as Jayasuriya held on to asharp chance at first slip (29 for two).Gripper (30) became Muralitharan’s first wicket when he was snapped up atfirst slip and with Rennie’s lbw decision Zimbabwe were left on 100 for fourat lunch.Grant Flower lasted just four balls afterwards before Craig Wishart (21) andAndy Flower (42) added 41 for the sixth wicket, the largest stand of theinnings.But Wishart then guided a short delivery from Nuwan Zoysa into the hands ofthird slip and Andy Flower cleaned bowled next over as he two-stepped downthe wicket to off-spinner Thilan Samaraweera (146 for seven).Heath Streak (26 not out) and Friend threatened a recovery but that nevermaterialised after Friend’s controversial decision and Zimbabwe were bowledout for 184.
It would seem time has stood still for Courtney Walsh. It was around thistime five years ago that he led an assault on England’s batsmen on this veryground that enabled West Indies to wrap up that third Test match of theseries in two days and a bit.Later during that series he went on to reach the landmark of 300 Test wicketsand today, having already become the highest wicket-taker in Test history, hepassed another significant milestone of 450 wickets.At 37, by the age most fast bowlers have passed their sell-by date, Walsh’sworkload has not diminished; at least not at the highest level of the game.His captain, Jimmy Adams, having put England in to bat, chose to keep him onto bowl for the entire morning session and Walsh’s response was with figuresof 3 for 23 in 13 overs.What makes his performance all the more remarkable is that the pitch thistime was not the ‘minefield’ that helped to condemn England to an inningsdefeat five years ago. Walsh on that occasion had claimed 3 for 54 and 5 for45.Today, he bettered the figures of that last five wicket haul on this ground.His 21 overs gave him a return of 5 for 36, a product of superbly controlledfast bowling. He moved the ball away, most effectively, from the righthanders with four of them falling to catches that came off the outside edge.Three of these batsmen, Mike Atherton, Andy Flintoff and Robert Croft playeddefensively at the balls that seamed away from them without getting behindthe line and were snapped up behind the stumps and at first slip in the caseof Flintoff.Graeme Hick, who has not always been convincing against top class pacebowling, once again showed his weakness and perhaps, more worryingly forEngland, has not done any good to his confidence. He was out to a very poorshot, playing from the crease he appeared to half-heartedly dab at the ball.The dismissal tested the agility of the slip cordon with the third slipknocking the ball forward to second slip to catch.Having got one good score against Zimbabwe, in three innings, he needed to beat the crease for a fair length of time today and get runs, if only to get inthe right frame of mind against an opposition that seems to get a hold on abatsman once they are on top.Having begun the summer’s Test series reasonably well last month againstZimbabwe, England’s batsmen reverted to the old habits of careless shots thathave brought about so many batting collapses in the past.Today, having got to a start of 44 for 1, they failed to consolidate theinnings. They lost six wickets in a space of just 68 runs. It was only thelate flourish from three tail-enders that added as many as 62 runs to boostthe total a little to 179. It now calls for tight bowling and fielding fromEngland to restrict West Indies’ score. Although, on 50 for 2 , the touristshave not got off to a flying start.
Arsene Wenger has done little to silence his transfer policy critics so far this summer, with his failed pursuit of Gonzalo Higuain and the Gunners’ only successful off-season acquisition of former Ligue 2 starlet Yaya Sanogo collectively epitomising the Frenchman’s stale and unrealistic approach in the transfer market over the last decade.
If it wasn’t for Chelsea and Manchester United being similarly dormant by their usual standards so far this summer, Arsenal’s very public but fatally flawed attempts to sign Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, and the fact deadline day is still just under a month away, there’s every chance the Gunners gaffer would be hung, drawn and quartered by now for failing to deliver on integral promises made to the Emirates faithful earlier in the season regarding a certain £70million summer kitty and the need for an established goal-scorer.
But we are all well aware of Wenger’s spendophobia by now, and to be honest, few Premier League fans would find it particularly surprising if the North London outfit started the season without breaking their rather miserly £16million record transfer fee on a new centre-forward, or even begun their campaign, with the Arsenal boss apparently eyeing the domestic title, without a single change in personnel.
Equally as concerning as Wenger’s rather limp, ineffective and outdated philosophy when it comes to signing new recruits however, is the Frenchman’s approach to letting players go. This summer alone, the Gunners have released Sebastien Squillaci, Andrei Arshavin and Denilson for free – three players who originally cost the club a collective £22million in transfer fees alone, and even more in wages.
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Over the past two years, instead of Arsene Wenger relinquishing any of the trio for nominal fees in a bid to recoup at least some of Arsenal’s original investments, Arshavin has performed a rather costly cameo role, with 26 Premier League appearances since summer 2011 costing the Gunners around £85k-per week, Squillaci has been the most lavishly paid reserve in England, mucking around at the Arsenal training ground for a £60k per week salary, and Denilson has plied his trade for two seasons consecutively in a completely different continent, on loan to Sao Paulo, with the Gunners still supplementing his £45k-per-week contract.
Overall, Arshavin, Squillaci and Denilson have cost the Gunners somewhere near the £50million mark, considering their three exits alone will save Arsenal £10million on next year’s wage bill, according to The Telegraph. And what does Wenger have to show for it? No silverware, no titles, not even a nominal outward fee to spend on yet another African or French-born teenager.
Park Chu-Young and Andre Santos can also be added to the list of Arsenal flops who the club failed to move on effectively, with both also leaving for free this summer. Santos, who joined the Gunners for around £5million, has been allowed to return to Brazil after attempts to flog him back to Fenerbahce in January fell on death ears, and Young, bought for £5.5million in 2011 and making just a single Premier League appearance since, was officially written off as a loss in the Arsenal account books last year.
Rather than learning from his mistakes, history is set to repeat itself, with Wenger lining up yet another loan move for Yohan Djourou next season despite the defender’s Arsenal career at this point being well and truly over. The same can be said for Francis Coquelin, who is now being farmed out to SC Freiburg after spending two years failing to break into the first team at the Emirates.
In fact, Arsenal’s only good pieces of business this summer come from two unlikely sources. Winger Gervinho and Goalkeeper Vito Mannone both received their fair share of criticism over a lack of quality during their stays in North London, the former earning specific boo-boy status last season, but they’ve collectively added £9million to Arsenal’s summer jackpot via their transfers to Roma and Sunderland respectively. The Ivorian in particular left for £7million – just £3million less than the Gunners bought him for in 2011.
Selling players for the wrong price – or for that matter, no price at all- is not a recent trend for the Gunners, or exclusive to Arsenal players belonging to the lower price ranges. Patrick Viera was sold for just £14million in 2005 and went on to play for Juventus, Inter Milan and Manchester City over the next six years of his career, claiming five Serie A titles and an FA Cup along the way, Thierry Henry left for Barcelona for £20million in 2007, despite his subsequent contract at the Nou Camp containing an £84million release clause, and Ashley Cole, upon refusing to sign a new contract, was handed over to divisional rivals Chelsea for £6million plus William Gallas in 2006.
The Telegraph revealed earlier this year that since Arsenal’s last trophy win in 2005, those departing from the Emirates, including the likes of Henry, Viera and Cole, as well as Kolo Toure, Jose Reyes and Cesc Fabgregas, have claimed 67 pieces of silverware between them at their respective new clubs, whilst Arsenal’s biggest fee received for a single player remains at just £30million.
But nothing highlights Arsenal’s inability to sell players better than the current situation at local rivals Tottenham. Daniel Levy is known for his negotiating skills, and whilst the Gunners have been selling established Champions League stars for around £20million a piece and often less, Spurs have flogged the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Luka Modric for in excess of £30million, despite their lack of proven track record on the European stage.
And now, Real Madrid are now offering £86million for Gareth Bale. The Welsh wonder is by all means an exceptional and rare talent that deserves such a groundbreaking price-tag, but his single sale to Real Madrid would trump Arsenal’s collective revenues for the departures of Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Samir Nasri – the club’s three biggest stars in the last five years – by nearly £10million. That’s the first team’s nucleus from 2008 to 2011, who all briskly jumped ship to divisional and continental rivals, sold for less than a single player at a club Arsenal have continually finished above in the Premier League since it’s incarnation.
Something quite simply doesn’t add up. At the bottom end, Arsenal are unable to turn around their stop-gap talents, largely due to the fact no potential suitors are willing to offer Gunners flops the same range of salary they received at the Emirates. It’s put the club in an impossible position in the transfer market, where they’re forced to let contracts run down instead of cashing in, which in turn restricts their capacity to sign new players because of their lofty wage bill.
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But most concerning is the top end of Arsenal’s roster, and the club’s inability to get full value for their want-away stars. They’re fast becoming a selling club, with a reputation for being soft around the negotiating table, for the rest of the European elite to exploit as they please. In fact, so many top class talents have left the Gunners in recent years, that Wenger is in a rare position this summer where he’s not obliged to sell anyone.
The Frenchman sees it as good news, and a justification for going back on his word regarding investments in new recruits this summer. I however disagree, as it suggests that Arsenal’s selling policy has been so fatally flawed, that the club now has no one to sell, even if they wanted to, and not enough talent on the roster to attract better players.
Until Wenger and Ivan Gadizis wise up in the transfer market, on the inward and outward front, it will be impossible for Arsenal to move forward.
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.
Peter Fulton is likely to open and Hamish Marshall will slot in at No. 3 in New Zealand’s first Super Eights match against West Indies on Thursday. Marshall should slip straight into the side when he arrives in the Caribbean as New Zealand’s top-order injury worries continue.Marshall replaced Lou Vincent in the squad after Vincent suffered a broken wrist during a practice session, while a hamstring strain should keep Ross Taylor out of Thursday’s game. Stephen Fleming said the enforced changes were not ideal but Fulton and Marshall had the ability to help New Zealand progress.”Pete is a different type of player [to Vincent] and if anything his form is outstanding,” Fleming told . “To leave him out of the first couple of games was incredibly difficult.”The positive is he gets a chance, and a consistent chance, to bat in one spot for a while. Pete’s played up and down the order knowing he was going to be a utility batter.”Fulton has only opened once in an ODI, on debut in 2004. He was in strong form in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in February but has only had one opportunity at the World Cup, making 47 against Canada.Fleming said coming to the West Indies and being asked to play immediately would be tough for Marshall, who made 80 in New Zealand’s domestic State Championship on Monday. “It’s going to be a big challenge for Hamish and certainly the team realises that,” he said.”We’ll do everything possible to make sure he’s ready to go. It’s a pretty important 36 hours but I guess knowing he’s going to play, coming off some runs at home and being back in the team will give him some energy and adrenalin.”Fleming said New Zealand hoped to put their eventful few days behind them and move on to the important business of trying to win Super Eights matches. “It’s been a dramatic week with Lou going and Rosco [Taylor] working hard on getting back, it has changed the balance of the side,” Fleming said.”But the core is still there and the bonus has been we’ve had six days to adjust – it hasn’t been thrown on us the day before a game so we’ve been able to prepare mentally for it. The best thing is the [first-choice] bowlers are still intact, they’ve been the usual suspects.”New Zealand’s match against West Indies is at Antigua and the hosts will have to play three days in a row after their game against Australia on Tuesday was interrupted by rain. West Indies would have to bat on Wednesday, the reserve day, before facing up to New Zealand barely 24 hours later.
Inzamam-ul-Haq’s decision to bat after winning the toss surprised many. It is the host captain and the coach who not only have a say in the preparation of the pitches, but also have better knowledge of the local conditions than anyone else.It was believed that the pitch was supposed to take turn later in the day and that made Inzamam put India in. But in the subcontinent, the matches are so tilted towards batting that anything less than 300 runs becomes an achievable target. Although the pitch did encourage some movement in the initial few overs of the first innings, using that condition to the hilt without wasting a ball remained the crucial factor.I have seen no bowler more dangerous than Irfan Pathan, who can make use of those helpful conditions. Under such conditions, most of the bowlers may beat the bat several times and appear good but Irfan gets wickets. Seldom does he miss out on such opportunities.Sreesanth, who struggled in the previous game, came out with flying colours at Rawalpindi. He mainly shaped the ball out, used the short-pitched delivery effectively and in the end bowled some good slower ones to bring in variety. His bowling speed, averaging 136 kmph, keeps the batsmen in two minds. He could be an asset only if he adds accuracy to his bowling. Apart from his bowling, what impressed me most was his attitude. For someone who was ill and down the previous day, he played the game with verve. It’s an irony in cricket that often when a player is coming out of a niggling injury or a brief illness, he puts up a performance which is above expectations.Sreesanth could learn quite a few lessons from these two outings. He must understand the significance of being preferred over more experienced colleagues like Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan. Opening the bowling for the country straightaway is a rare but great opportunity in one’s career. Only the bowlers who have missed out on it or messed up when the opportunity came would realise it.The Indians, after taking four early wickets, let Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan establish a decent score. One might even think that the bowlers could have done a better job from that position of strength. I believe the Indians missed a regular fifth bowler. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are effective on real turners but not on the flat wickets in Pakistan. It was risky to rely on them for 10 overs.Pakistan’s mindless batting continued from where they had left it in Peshawar. In this game, Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi’s wickets cost them the match. The wicket of Yousuf, the backbone of Pakistan batting, was too important to be lost so soon. One can understand Afridi’s dismissal as that is the way he generally plays, but Yousuf should have dropped anchor. His dismissal made things easier for India.Once it used to be a normal practice that the team would always bat first and put the pressure on the team chasing. These days, the batting conditions are so good that the team winning the toss wants to field first to let the bowlers make use of the early conditions. In hindsight, if Inzamam had opted to bowl, it could have been Asif who would have relished the conditions instead of Sehwag. Now with the series evenly poised and the next couple of games being day-night affairs, the teams’ think-tank must put their heads together to read the conditions well before picking the final XI.
An authoritative 62 from Belinda Clark eased Australia into the finals of the Women’s World Cup, as they completed a straightforward five-wicket victory against their arch-rivals England at Sedgar’s Park. At Centurion on Sunday they will either face India, in a repeat of the last men’s final, or New Zealand, in a repeat of the last women’s final.Either way, you would not bet against them retaining their title after this assured victory, inspired by the indomitable Clark, who won the toss and chose to bowl first, then wrapped up the match with the day’s highest score. The early damage was done by Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s triple strike, which left England’s top order in tatters at 21 for 3 and put paid to any hopes of a decent total. They went on to make 158, which a dominant Australia – who are still undefeated – had no difficulty knocking off.Arran Brindle and Clare Connor lifted England from their early nadir, but Connor’s dismissal precipitated another mini-collapse and England were in serious trouble at 106 for 8. Clare Taylor weaved some magic in the closing overs, hitting 29 – her highest one-day total – but Australia were not too stretched chasing three an over.The fearsome Fitzpatrick was immediately on the button, knocking over Laura Newton’s stumps with one which jagged back, and she added the in-form ClaireTaylor soon after, for a duck, inducing the edge through to a diving Julia Price, who threw herself to the right to pluck a fantastic catch.Charlotte Edwards was next to go. She had rattled up 13 from 23 balls and was looking settled until she, too, edged one which nipped back and held its line. England had much work to do: Connor (35) and Brindle (32) answered the call, rebuilding the innings, Connor hitting her highest total against Australia in 18 matches.But when they were both shot out, followed by Jenny Gunn and Nicki Shaw, England were back on the slide: they had lost four wickets for 14 runs (106 for 8). Taylor and Isa Guha (13) stabilised the innings later on butAustralia bowled with penetration and deserved their wickets.And their batsmen stood firm, Clark sharing two stands of 45 for the second and third wicket to set up the victory: Karen Rolton (14) and Mel Jones (15) proved more than worthy sidekicks as they strode to an inevitable victory. England’s attack lacked pace, venom and the injured Lucy Pearson. Theirfielding, as always, was something to behold, and Brindle pulled off two fine run-outs, but that alone was never going to be enough to derail the Australian juggernaut.How they were outEngland Chopped inswinger on to her off-stumps. Keeper dived wide to right for stunning one-handed catch. Held its line to find finest of edges. Aiming through midwicket, trapped plumb in front. Came down the track and missed the ball completely for an easy stumping. Ball turned slightly to hit leg-stump. Edged through to keeper who took another impressive catch. Missed the ball completely. Attempted to hoick a straight bowl over midwicket. Gave herself plenty of room, missed, and the ball went on to hit leg stump.Australia Push to cover-point, caught two feet short by direct hit Direct hit from point – out by a mile Swung and missed at a straight one Stopped on shot and spooned back Direct hit from fine-leg boundary
Recently appointed ING Captain, Cameron White, is to lead Victoria’s 2nd X1 in game 1 of the Cricket Australia Cup in South Australia from October 7-10.The team for the match at Adelaide Oval No. 2 has been confirmed and is as follows: