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Scorecard

David Hussey made a sparkling start to the season with a fine century as Victoria reached 5 for 291 against South Australia. The Bushrangers’ coach Greg Shipperd has been pushing Hussey for international honours and the batsman showed his skills during the 178-ball 104.Hitting 14 fours and a six that brought up three figures, he moved Victoria away from the early danger of 2 for 48 and pushed them towards a formidable target. Hussey had a willing partner in Cameron White, who struck a powerful 76, including a six over one of the Chappell stands off the legspinner Cullen Bailey.South Australia found some energy with the second new ball to restrict the damage and Hussey was bowled by Jason Gillespie to end the 152-run stand. In the next over Ryan Harris picked up White and it was the second time Victoria had lost two quick wickets.Robert Quiney (25) was run-out by Jason Borgas’ direct hit in the morning session and was followed by Nick Jewell (20) when he padded up to Mark Cosgrove.

ScorecardIndia A turned in a sound allround performance to humble Pakistan A by 130 runs in their limited-overs match in the Top End Series in Darwin. Opener Gautam Gambhir led the assault for India with an undefeated 142 which propelled them to 313. His 147-run opening stand with Robin Uthappa (72) laid the foundation for a big score. Rohit Sharma (47*) joined Gambhir after captain Venugopal Rao was dismissed, and the pair added 121 in the last 15 overs.Pakistan began poorly, with Rudra Pratap Singh and Shib Paul, the Indian seamers, making early inroads. Rafatullah Mohmand was the only batsman to cross fifty, while the rest succumbed, mostly to the spinners. Leg spinner Piyush Chawla finished with figures of 3 for 34 from his 10 overs while Rao chipped in with two wickets, including that of Mohmand for 84. Parthiv Patel, India’s wicketkeeper, too had a good outing, effecting five dismissals.

On how it unfoldedJust prior to the electricity problem, the light was deemed to be bad, andit was offered to the batsmen. They wanted to stay on the field. When thelights went out, they decided they would continue. The first ball afterthe lights went out, when VRV Singh almost got a wicket, they tried to stay ona little longer. But eventually they decided they wanted to go off thefield.Then, the lights came on after electricity supply was restored. When wewent out, the light had deteriorated and was at a lower reading from whenit was initially offered. Asad [Rauf] and I decided we would see what itwas like. We had an over from my end [Zaheer Khan]. Then, when [VRV] Singhbowled from the north end, it was decided that the light had deterioratedto the extent that it was unfit for play.There is a perception at times that it is only the batting side that needsto be taken into account, and that is correct to a degree. They are theones that will be offered the light, which they were. But sometimes, itgets to the stage that the umpires have to make a call, whether it’s unfitfor cricket or not.On whether the reading was the same as the initial oneI can’t give you a correct answer on that as replacement umpire. Asad wasleading the situation. He was using those guidelines that were used forthe past two days as well.On whether the batsmen were offered light the second timeThe light wasn’t offered to them again. We get to a stage when we’reunhappy with the lights and we offer it, and they say yes or no.On what conditions they deem unfit for playFor picking up the line of the ball, background plays a role. For the overthat came from my end, Asad was struggling to pick up the ball from sideon.

It was actually a pretty decent day for Australia. According to the coach John Buchanan the bowlers did well as a group, especially Brett Lee and Shane Warne,and Australia will just have to score 700 and dismissEngland for 150 on the last day to win.England were actually the ones who made the major mistake by batting Kevin Pietersen at five instead of higher up the list. “Rather than have other playersblunt the new ball for him, I can’t understand why he’s not up the order,” Buchanan said. Pietersen got 158 and Paul Collingwood, who holds the No. 4 spot, claimed a maiden double-century.Taking a look at the old-fashioned Adelaide Oval scoreboard, Australia are definitely suffering after England declared at 6 for 551 before Andrew Flintoffremoved Justin Langer to maintain the impressive drive. Glenn McGrath and Warne both earned records they would be wishing to forget, McGrath giving up more runs without a wicket than in any time in his career and Warne collecting his most expensive figures against England.Despite the one-sided nature of the opening two days Buchanan was upbeat. “When I look at all the bowlers I’m very happy with what they did,” he said, “the strategies that they chose, the execution of them.”McGrath spent time off the field fixing his boot inthe opening session to ease a heel problem. Althoughhe has not been complaining about the injury, hiseffectiveness was limited and his speed has droppedsignificantly on the flat surface. “He pounded down20-plus overs,” Buchanan said, “so, so far so good.”He returned 0 for 103.Warne gave up 167 runs for the wicket of Geraint Joneswhile Brett Lee also won praise from Buchanan for his1 for 139. “I think Brett’s bowled exceptionallywell,” he said. “He’s held his pace and bowled goodlines. It’s encouraging for the second innings and therest of the series.”The measure of Shane’s bowling is how many bad ballsthere were. He bowled a couple late yesterday when hegot tired and maybe a few today. His control has beenexcellent, he hasn’t got the rub of the green, a bitlike Brett.”Stuart Clark was the only bowler not to wincompliments from Buchanan and he was the man whoperformed the best. Throughout the first two days hetroubled England with short and full deliveries andadded three victims to continue his strong series.When Australia resume at 1 for 28 on day three theywill have heard Buchanan’s plan for success.”Hopefully we get a foundation partnership going,minimise risks and therefore your error rate issmall,” he said. Buchanan was realistic enough to noteit will not be his team dictating the terms.

With their leader restored at the head of the pack, Australia’s pacemen have stared down a pitch promising sore backs and nothing more. While the game’s frontline spinners twirled potential records in their minds, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz did well not to baulk at the damage the deck would do to theirs.Instead McGrath, used in five neat five-over spells, led Australia to a228-run lead on the first innings and reaffirmed his status at the top of the bowling heap. Until he ran through India’s high-quality batting line-up with 4 for 55 there were concerns that, at 34 and stepping back tentatively from ankle surgery, this could be the tour he ended on the scrap heap.McGrath helped Australia roll over the Indian top order, but they were forced to toil through the lower half, and he added only one wicket to his three on the second day. Forcing Harbhajan Singh to bunt a slow offcutter to Darren Lehmann at cover was nothing to compare with the two daggers he slipped through Aakash Chopra and Rahul Dravid on Thursday, but the method showed another old trick. The rest of the bowlers chipped in with wickets as well, but it was the olden-day work of McGrath, confident and assertive once more, that was the most impressive. He could even start sledging again soon.Throughout his career McGrath’s delivery, actions and haircut had stayed much the same. Like the heavy bowling boots he recently discarded, they were unfashionable but worked. Very well. For this Test, his 98th, he has tried lighter, hi-tech shoes and updated his mop to a style worn last summer by many of his team-mates. In everything but bowling the gangly McGrath has generally been a bit off the pace. In his defence, he missed last season’s catwalk.For almost a year the oohs and aahs came from ankle operations and recovery delays instead of Bay 13 and Yabba’s Hill. Missing both home series against Zimbabwe and India, he bowled for New South Wales late in the season like a county trundler. Doubters said he was too old to make it again. For a short time McGrath agreed.Before returning in Darwin against Sri Lanka he considered quitting, then delayed mortality in his comeback innings with five wickets. Still he was – insultingly, for he has more wickets than any Australian fast bowler – considered only a match-by-match proposition. On arriving in India he was nominated for the tour game and the whispers continued. Was it a bowl-off with Brett Lee? Or an opportunity to lube his joints? Whatever the reason, his head was down while the feet of Gillespie and Kasprowicz were up. The new ball stayed in his hand. Body willing, he will hold it until Nagpur, when he will become Australia’s first fast bowler to reach 100 Tests.By then he might also have created another milestone. If McGrath remains scoreless (as he did in the first innings here) until he strikes off another six victims, he will have 450 wickets – equal to his haul of Test runs. As a hard-practising batsman it would be one record he chooses to ignore.

Harbhajan Singh, India’s offspinner, has found himself involved in a different sort of controversy after leaving his hair uncovered in an advertisement. Members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the premier religious body of the Sikh community, took offence to Harbhajan’s action and sought an apology amid protests in Punjab.Activists of the Youth Akali Dal burnt an effigy of Harbhajan in Amritsar during a protest march led by the SGPC’s district president, Gurpartap Singh Tikka. Harbhajan was quick to issue an apology, but resented the SGPC going to the media. “If my action has hurt the Sikh community, then I feel sorry for it. I will take note of it [in future],” he told Press Trust of India. “It’s bad that the SGPC took up the issue in the media. If they had any problem, they should have called me like a son and told me. Their action was wrong. I respect the emotions of Sikhs and I never knew it will snowball into such a big issue.”Avtar Singh Makkar, the SGPC President who had sought an apology from Harbhajan yesterday, said he should have realised the importance of hair in the Sikh religion. “Our religion prohibits keeping one’s hair open,” he said. “We also strongly object to his appearing in the advertisement in this fashion.” Avtar Singh even suggested that Harbhajan take a leaf from Monty Panesar’s book, who despite being raised in England was a strict advocate of Sikhism.Harbhajan was quick to respond: “They compare me with Panesar, which is wrong. Comparisons should not be made in the first place, but if they have to, why doesn’t SGPC compare me with Yuvraj Singh and Gurdas Mann [both Sikhs who have trimmed their hair].”

Victoria have been bolstered by the return of Cameron White and Mick Lewis from Australian one-day duty for Sunday’s ING Cup match against Tasmania at Launceston. White will be back as captain and he said a win was crucial at the half-way mark of the competition.”Getting the points in Launceston will have us sitting in second position on the table and with plenty of momentum going in to the second half of the season,” he said. Tim Welsford was cut from the squad that comfortably beat Queensland last weekend.Victoria squad Jon Moss, Michael Klinger, Lloyd Mash, David Hussey, Liam Buchanan, Graeme Rummans, Grant Lindsay, Cameron White (capt), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Peter Siddle, Gerard Denton, Mick Lewis.Tasmania Michael Di Venuto (capt), Tim Paine, Travis Birt, George Bailey, Michael Dighton, Adam Polkinghorne, Dane Anderson, Adam Griffith, Xavier Doherty, Shannon Tubb, Ben Hilfenhaus, Darren McNees.

Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire were frustrated by the rain on the second day of their promotion tussle at Bristol.Only 16.4 overs were possible, during which time Gloucestershire moved from 13-0 to 73-1 in reply to Nottinghamshire’s 216.A draw is unlikely to be any good to either side in their bid to go up, and an unsettled weather forecast for the final two days of the game could force the captains to set up a contrived finish.No play was possible in the morning session. An attempt was made at 12 noon, only for the players to come off for bad light just as the first ball was to be bowled.The action finally started at 1.20pm and Nottinghamshire enjoyed success in the third over of the day.Dominic Hewson pushed forward at a David Lucas delivery and was caught by Guy Welton at short leg for three.That left the home county on 13-1 in the eighth over, but the next 13 overs produced 60 runs as Kim Barnett and Matt Windows cut loose.Barnett was the main aggressor with an unbeaten 41 from 65 deliveries, with six fours cracked through the off-side.All of them were taken off pace bowler Andy Harris, who was punished for offering too much width to his former Derbyshire colleague.Windows had a couple of boundaries, one off Lucas and one off Harris, in his unbeaten 18, which was good enough to take him past 1,000 first-class runs in a season for the second time.Windows has now scored 1,004 runs this campaign, with 14 of those scored for the First Class Counties XI against New Zealand A.

James Anderson seems increasingly unlikely to be fit in time for this winter’s Ashes series after it was revealed that his rehabilitation after sustaining a stress fracture of his lower back was not going well.Anderson’s injury was diagnosed earlier in the summer and he was placed in a support corset. Although that was removed six weeks ago, he has yet to bowl at anything like full paceHis recovery is being overseen by Dave Roberts, Lancashire’s physio, who told The Sunday Times that there was “no timescale” on his return to action. He added: “The emphasis is on trying to reduce the load on his lumbar region.”The article also hinted that Anderson might be working on remodeling his action after Troy Cooley, who was England’s fast bowling coach until May, warned that it would cause injury unless revised.That news contradicts what Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s manager, told Sky Sports News less than a fortnight ago. At that time he said that Anderson’s rehabilitation programme was “looking good,” and was “very positive”.However, a spokesman for Lancashire told Cricinfo: “It was never the club’s intention to rush Jimmy back into action before he was ready. We always knew it would be a very long and very slow recovery. Any earlier remarks about his progress from the stress fracture where meant in the context of the seriousness of Jimmy’s injury.”