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Scorecard

A century by Adam Voges gave the home side the honours on the first day of South Africa’s three-day tour match at Perth. At the close, Western Australia were 5 for 306 with David Bandy unbeaten on 59, and Shawn Gillies on 10 to deny the South Africans from striking any early psychological blows.Voges and Marcus North blunted South Africa’s early assault with a 146-run stand, with North making 71. Voges, 26 – who hit a record 62-ball century in an ING Cup match last year – fell shortly after making his hundred, which came in 168 balls and included 17 boundaries.The South African bowlers made early inroads after Mark Boucher, standing-in as captain for Jacques Kallis, won the toss and chose to field. Charl Langeveldt made the initial breakthrough, bowling Justin Langer with a legcutter for 21. He then caught Chris Rogers (22) on the boundary off Andre Nel to reduce Western Australia to 2 for 51. Shaun Pollock capped a hostile spell, conceding just 10 runs in nine overs, with the wicket of Clint Heron, caught behind for 11.Rain interrupted play after lunch with Western Australia struggling at 3 for 73, and after the break, Voges and North pressed on resolutely to deny the bowlers any success. Resuming at 3 for 177 after tea, the pair immediately attempted to lift the run-rate and, finally, it was Langeveldt who made the breakthrough when Voges, on 101, attempted a straight drive and was caught by Garnett Kruger at long-off. Bandy, who struck his maiden half-century, and Gillies guided Western Australia safely through to stumps.Boucher replaced Kallis as captain after he had damaged a tendon in his left elbow. Kallis had originally sustained the injury while practising in the nets during the tour of India and was supposed to stand-in for Graeme Smith, who had hurt a finger in the final ODI against India at Mumbai. Shane Jabbar, South Africa’s physio, hoped Kallis would be fit to play the second warm-up game against a Western Australian XI on Sunday.

Boeta Dippenaar has urged Cricket South Africa (CSA) to revamp its racial quota system and focus on cricket rather than politics. Dippenaar, the new president of the South African Cricketers’ Association, wants administrators to choose players on cricket ability rather than race.His comments come in the wake of Charl Langeveldt’s decision in March to withdraw from the tour squad for India in protest at Andre Nel’s omission because of CSA’s racial transformation policy. Dippenaar worries keen youngsters may be deterred from aiming for international honours because of the policy.”If people had an aspiration to play for South Africa they will now think twice about doing so,” Dippenaar told Reuters. “I have always said the game should be surrounded by people with cricketing interests at heart and not people with political interests at heart. There’s a distinct difference.”We are on dangerous ground as soon as we start saying ‘x’ amount of players have to be white and ‘x’ amount of players have to be of colour,” Dippenaar said. “We don’t mind if the whole team is black if that’s the best team. Throughout the whole transformation process a lot of patriotism has been lost.”Dippenaar pointed to the example of England’s Kevin Pietersen, who left South Africa partly because of his disagreement with their policy on quotas. “No country can afford to lose a player of Pietersen’s calibre,” said Dippenaar. “That puts a question mark about whether we are doing the right things. We should never have allowed a player of his calibre to fall through our net.”

Chris Rogers’ hopes of replacing Justin Langer in the first Test have ended after he had his appendix removed in Perth on Thursday night. The unfortunate timing of the illness leaves Phil Jaques in an almost untouchable position to join Matthew Hayden when Australia face Sri Lanka at the Gabba from November 8.Jaques (13 and 167) and Rogers (9 and 17) went head-to-head in the first Pura Cup match of the season but now only Jaques, Brad Hodge and maybe Michael Hussey are contenders. Rogers was admitted to the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and had his appendix taken out using a laparoscopic technique.A WACA spokesman said Rogers would stay in hospital for another night and would look to resume playing in two weeks. The recovery will prevent Rogers from appearing in the Pura Cup match against Victoria in Melbourne from next Friday, which is the last chance to impress ahead of the Sri Lanka series.The Willetton allrounder Matt Johnston has been included in the 13-man squad for Western Australia’s FR Cup match against Tasmania in Perth on Sunday. He has started well in the Perth grade competition, scoring 179 runs at 89.50 and taking 4 for 44 in his only bowl.”Matt has received a reward for displaying outstanding form,” the coach Tom Moody said, “and he now has an opportunity to show his wares once again on the interstate arena.” Ben Edmondson, who injured his hamstring in the Pura Cup contest, was replaced by Daniel McLauchlan while Darren Wates also came into the squad.Western Australia FR Cup squad Justin Langer, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges (capt), Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Matt Johnston, Darren Wates, Sean Ervine, Shawn Gillies, Aaron Heal, Brett Dorey, Steve Magoffin, Daniel McLauchlan.

Despite being booed by supporters after England’s wretched nine-wicket defeat by South Africa, Michael Vaughan was adamant that he was not about to stand down as captain.Clearly affected by the hostile reception and the manner of the loss, Vaughan admitted that both he and Duncan Fletcher were under pressure. “I’m an honest guy who says my position is hugely in doubt due to my batting,” he said. “But I still believe I’m a very good captain. I’m not retiring.”It’s a horrible feeling to have walked off the field and get booed by a lot of England supporters, but rightfully so from the performance we put in,” he said. “I’ve been a supporter in a stadium, watched football teams that haven’t produced, and done exactly the same. I fully understand why they have given us that kind of reception.”With 130 runs from nine World Cup innings – and without a hundred in 85 ODIs either -Vaughan could hardly say he was anything other than disappointed by the outcome. “It’s a massive tournament, in which I expected us to turn up and produce something. I firmly believe that we have players with the talent and the attitude to do that on the big stage. We haven’t done that so we have to accept all the criticism that comes our way. It’s a very sad day for English cricket.”And as for his own position? “There will be many conversations in the days ahead,” he said. “There needs to be a lot of honesty after a very, very disappointing six months. As players we have to look at why we have performed to a standard that is unacceptable through the winter. The most important thing is to get a strategy to get English cricket back on track.”

Thirush Kamini is a commerce student at the Church Park school near Thousand Lights mosque in Chennai. She is a good student, a very good one, she avers, and has no problem coping with the pressure of balancing studies with, get this, playing international cricket.Part of India’s squad for the quadrangular tournament, Kamini, 16, is a legbreak bowler who debuted for India at the Asia Cup last December and won the player-of-the-tournament award for her eight wickets at 10.87 apiece. She has certainly got the support of her captain, Mithali Raj, who was sure that in Kamini India had a star-in-the-making.At nets, on the eve of India’s opening match against England, she bowled with a round-arm action and tried to the flight the ball pitching it right up to the crease. She had tripped over a practice ball the day before but, typically, dismissed it as nothing serious. Kamini began playing cricket with her father when she was nine years old but soon moved to the Sports and Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for some professional coaching. Playing with boys, for a while, she kept wickets. But by 2002, Kamini had decided that leg spin was the way to go. Though Shane Warne does not feature among her cricketing heroes – she likes Sachin Tendulkar and Karen Rolton – she will hope to get some of his magic when she comes in to bowl at Charlotte Edwards, Claire Taylor, Ebony-Rainford Brent and the other England batsmen.India’s net session went on for three hours with all members of the squad going through the batting and fielding drills before heading off to the swimming pool. England, on the other hand, had a light session late afternoon resting five players from the squad. Edwards, the England captain, said that the side had had two rigorous matches against India A and India B in the last two days so the nets session had been optional. A dilemma that the captain is facing is who should keep wickets in the game against India. Along with Jane Smit, the regular keeper, England have brought Sarah Taylor, a 17-year old wicketkeeper, who has averaged 50.50 in the five matches she has played for England.Asked which team will be the toughest opposition, Edwards said that India, being at home, and Australia, in their current form, are the favourites. “Women’s cricket is really looking good today. All the top four teams are very strong and on a day each can beat the other.”Australia play New Zealand on February 21 at the ITT Chemplast stadium while India take on England at Chepauk.

Lou Vincent, the New Zealand batsman, is in confident mood ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 though insists that, aged 28, now is the time for him to perform on a consistent basis.”It’s been my downfall before that I throw my bat a bit early on and make a monkey of myself,” he said in Johannesburg on Wednesday, “but in Twenty20 cricket, as an opener, the game is ideally set up for me. The new ball goes further and if I can set the run-rate going at a good rate and lay the platform for a big score then I’ll be satisfied.”If you look in the dictionary under Twenty20, it will probably say ‘a short game. You watch for three hours, you don’t fall asleep and you don’t ever leave your chairs. Three hours of wham! bam!’ That’s probably the longest definition ever in a dictionary and in Latin it probably just says ‘good times’.”But Twenty20 is fast and I’d like to see this tournament played every year.”Vincent is one of New Zealand’s more agile players, and he insists that fielding will have a vital role to play in the ICC World Twenty next week.”Fielding will make a massive difference, especially in a place like Durban,” he said. “It’s a bigger ground and the ball doesn’t travel so far down there on the coast, so it calls for a lot of twos when you are batting. The fielding side has to make sure they have their quicker guys on the boundary to attack the ball. The 10 or 15 runs they can save can be crucial at the end.”Vincent, who made an outstanding start to his international career in 2001, has since struggled to cement his place. Aged 28, he concedes that it’s now or never for him.”Early on, it’s an exciting time in your career and as you progress you have to adapt and learn as you go through all the ups and downs,” he said. “But then you come to the business end of your career when you’ve learnt the game and you need to keep improving. So I’m definitely taking this tournament very seriously, because I know that if I don’t perform I won’t be in the team.”It’s an exciting new era for us, we will miss Stephen Fleming, he obviously played a massive part in this team, but Daniel Vettori is taking over at an appropriate time, he’s been playing international cricket for the last nine or 10 years.”We’re all around 28 or 29 years old and it’s time for us, we’re all coming to the business end of our careers.”

Scorecard

Powered by a six-wicket haul by Lance Hamilton, Central Districts ended the domestic season in style claiming the State Championship title, defeating Wellington, the home side, by 113 runs at the Basin Reserve.Following a delayed start due to rain, Hamilton, the left-arm quick, engineered a dramatic batting collapse as Wellington crashed to 120 all out. It enabled Central Districts to surge to their maiden championship title, since it’s inception in 2001-02.Both sides came into the fifth day with honours even, but Wellington paid the price for not putting together useful partnerships as Hamilton ripped through the middle order. Neal Parlane was the first to be dismissed after a dogged 8 off 52 balls, bowled by Hamilton and he quickly accounted for Grant Elliot and Chris Nevin, caught behind by Bevan Griggs.Michael Parlane and Stu Mills stabilised the innings for a while, stringing together a partnership of 33 for the seventh wicket, but Parlane’s dismissal squandered all hopes of Wellington staging a miraculous comeback. Griggs too rounded up a good day, taking his fourth catch of the innings following Parlane’s dismissal. Michael Mason sent back Mills and Scott Rasmussen and Hamilton struck the final blow, dismissing Dewayne Bowden to finish with figures of 6 for 34.

Matthew Hoggard will have his back injury reassessed on Monday and is a doubtful starter for the second Test against India at Trent Bridge, starting July 27, after an MRI scan revealed irritation in a disc in his back.Hoggard was ruled out of the first Test currently underway at Lord’s after being sent to hospital following a back spasm. “His rehabilitation will be closely monitored over the next five days and he will be re-assessed by ECB medical staff on Monday,” the ECB said.”I feel mightily peeved,” Hoggard said in . “I bowled three balls and couldn’t run in to bowl any more. I kicked some stumps — not too hard or I could have ended up in traction — and realised straightaway that I wouldn’t be playing in the Test match.”Chris Tremlett was called up to replace Hoggard and made his debut today at the expense of Stuart Broad, the young Leicestershire fast bowler who many had tipped to play ahead of himEngland are now left without a single member of the 2005 bowling attack that won the Ashes. Andrew Flintoff is continuing his recovery from ankle surgery, Simon Jones is still only appearing in occasional one-day matches for Glamorgan and Ashley Giles is ruled out of another summer. It will also be the first time since the Oval Test against Australia in 2001 that none of Hoggard, Steve Harmison or Flintoff have lined up in a Test.However, Michael Vaughan would rather view the situation as a challenge than a concern. “It’s new and exciting to see,” he said. “It’s a brand new attack with no Harmison, Flintoff, Giles or Simon Jones. We had a great attack in 2005, but it’s new and exciting for us all to see how they react to playing in front of a lot of people, against a very good batting team. It’s going to be a great challenge for whoever plays.”While England have suffered a run of injuries to their bowlers in the last couple of years, Hoggard remained a constant member of the attack for 40 consecutive games until missing the final Ashes Test at Sydney in January. Since then he has also been hit by a run of injuries and missed two Tests against West Indies after picking up a groin strain at Lord’s in May.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been acquitted by the tribunal appointed to review their appeals against the drugs ban imposed on them by an earlier committee. The three-man committee, headed by Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim, voted two to one in favour of the acquittal. Haseeb Ahsan, former Test cricketer, and Ebrahim were in favour of the acquittal while the third member, Danish Zaheer, dissented.”This appeal committee holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence,” Ibrahim told reporters in Karachi. “The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws.”A 30-page plus judgement (to read the full text of the judgement click here) for released by the committee detailed the reasons for their decision and though they are extensive, one significant theme that emerges from it is problems with the workings of the previous committee.In particular, concern has been raised over the fact that while the original body was constituted to work within the guidelines of the PCB’s anti-doping policy, the punishment it decreed – and the benchmarks it derived them from – were based on the ICC’s anti-doping regulations.The ruling concludes that both players were able to prove ‘exceptional circumstances’, in that neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking. Crucially, it points out that ‘exceptional circumstances’, as defined by the PCB and the ICC were signficantly different and that while the previous committee used ICC’s definition of the term, it was bound to use the PCB’s.The role of the PCB in ensuring their players were not only fully aware of banned substances but also understood the literature that they had been provided has also been highlighted in the report. “It is plainly evident that neither Shoaib Akhtar nor Mohammad Asif were ever warned or cautioned against taking supplements,” the judgement reads.”Hence, this committee is of the considered view that both players have successfully established that they held an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances.”The report also includes an 11-page note of dissent from Zaheer, the third member of the committee. He points out flaws in the testing procedures carried out by the PCB and argues, on that basis, that the whole process should be repeated, new samples provided and fresh verdicts given.Bilal Minto, one of the lawyers representing Shoaib, told Cricinfo that the decision was a good one, but highlighted that the PCB had also let down the players. “We are very happy about the judgement obviously. But it is clear that the PCB’s level of educating players about anti-doping legislation is poor. As lawyers, even we struggled to make sense of their anti-doping regulations so expecting players to be able to understand it is not right.”Shoaib, banned for two years, and Asif, for one year, appealed after they were found guilty for testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone in dope tests that were internally conducted by the PCB at the end of September.

The ICC did not have any immediate reaction. “Malcolm Speed is currently in Uganda and we can’t comment on the issue unless we have all the details,” said Brian Murgatroyd, the ICC spokesman. “We need to go through the judgement and also get the PCB’s version before making any comment.”The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in charge of monitoring drugs in sport, said they needed to discuss the matter with the ICC. Frederic Donze, their media relations officer, told Cricinfo: “We will now review the reasons for the decision, liaise with the ICC and consider whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”The original tribunal which had imposed the ban was chaired by barrister Shahid Hamid and included Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan captain, and Waqar Ahmed, a doping expert.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Matthew Hayden ended the biggest drought of his career with a courageous century, and Justin Langer completed a hundred of his own as well, as Australia’s batsmen continued to pile on the pressure in their last-ditch attempt to snatch the Ashes from England’s grasp. But, for the second day running, the issue was not so much the runs compiled but the time lost to rain and bad light. By the end of a stop-start day in which just 45.4 overs were possible, Australia closed on 277 for 2, still 96 runs adrift of England’s first-innings 373.For the second day running, play ended in unexpected fashion, as Australia’s batsmen took an offer for bad light with 5.2 overs still remaining. The subtext was clear. Australia intend to build as big a first innings as possible, and unleash Shane Warne on the final day with eight men round the bat and the entire hopes of a country crushing down on the England batsmen’s shoulders.The day may have been dominated by rain, but it belonged unequivocally to Hayden. After a half-hour delay that set the benchmark for the day’s proceedings, he resumed his innings on 32 not out, a performance that had been perhaps the most tortuous of his 71-Test career. By lunch, however, he was growing in confidence on 60 not out, his bullying instincts reawakened by a crunching pull off Steve Harmison’s first delivery of the day, and a flogged drive for four off Matthew Hoggard. Tellingly, he had acknowledged neither the crowd nor his team-mates upon reaching his first half-century of the series, and his hundred duly arrived from 218 balls, with a trademark straight drive off Andrew Flintoff.

Though the scoreline would not suggest it, England’s bowlers remained disciplined and stuck to their guns on a pitch that has remained true throughout. Revelling in the overcast conditions, Hoggard was the pick of England’s bowlers in the morning. He should have struck with his first ball of the morning, but umpire Billy Bowden turned down an excruciating lbw appeal with Langer on 75. While Hoggard was probing away, Australia were never able to settle.Chaotic calling nearly resulted in a run-out as Langer found himself nose-to-nose with his partner at the same end of the pitch, while Hayden also survived a tight lbw call off Hoggard on 41. But slowly but surely, Australia manoeuvred themselves towards a position of potency, with Langer finally securing the hundred that his tenacious batting has deserved all summer, with a steer for four through third man off Harmison.Langer’s innings, however, wouldn’t last much longer than that. Only 34 balls were possible in a brief flurry after lunch, but in that time, Harmison rediscovered the rhythm and raucous lift that has eluded him for much of this series. Langer fenced a searing lifter over the slips for four to bring up 7000 Test runs, but in the same over he was gone, bowled off the inside-edge for a gutsy and brilliant 105.That proved to be the last act of the session. A violent cloudburst drenched the covers and led to a two-hour rain delay, but upon the resumption, Harmison was straight back into his zone, troubling Ricky Ponting with his extra lift and venom, before cramping Hayden with a tight line across his pads. Though he did not add to his wickets tally, he demonstrated that England’s resolve would not be buckled, in spite of the mounting tension.

In previous games, the time would have been ripe for a spell from Simon Jones at the other end, but instead Ashley Giles came on to apply a stranglehold and allow Flintoff to rest up for a burst of his own, as England realised that restricting the runs was of equal importance to wickets. Even so, Giles could have dismissed Ponting for 13, but Bowden this time failed to spot a faint inside-edge on a bat-pad opportunity.Sure enough, when Flintoff’s spell arrived he did not disappoint. With an hour of play remaining, Ponting hadn’t banked on Flintoff getting so much bounce from a ball that was now 72 overs old, and jerked his head back in surprise to Flintoff’s second delivery, for a diving Andrew Strauss to hold onto a fine catch in the gully. Australia’s quest for parity by the close had suffered a big setback, and as a pumped-up Flintoff tormented Damien Martyn’s outside edge, they opted to baton down the hatches, and come out fighting on the fourth day instead.By rights, Australia should be waltzing to victory in this game, and with almost 200 overs still remaining in the match, there is plenty time yet for them to turn the screw some more. But with more unsettled weather in the offing for tomorrow, the players appear to be bracing themselves for the fourth consecutive nerve-jangler of an unforgettable summer. Hayden, unbeaten on 110 at the close, epitomised an Australian team that had regained its composure and confidence. England – and the elements – have their work cut out over the next two days.

AustraliaJustin Langer b Harmison 105 (185 for 1)
Cramped for room, bowled off inside-edgeRicky Ponting c Strauss b Flintoff 35 (264 for 2)
Surprised by extra bounce, sliced push to gully