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Western Australia 323 and 4 for 199 (Hussey 54) drew with
Scorecard

Queensland won the right to host the Pura Cup final after Wade Seccombe’s 84 pushed them to an unbeatable position against Western Australia at the Gabba. Western Australia needed an impossible 354 in the final session’s 36 overs to win and finished at 4 for 199 in a draw that ended their season. Queensland will play New South Wales at the Gabba starting from Friday.Michael Hussey, who finished with three wickets, reached 54 and Chris Rogers, Murray Goodwin and Marcus North each got 45, but they were never close to reaching the massive victory target. Western Australia were frustrated by Queensland batting through the first session with Seccombe, who reached his highest score of the season, sharing valuable partnerships with Mitchell Johnson and Joe Dawes.The Bulls received further good news when James Hopes cleared himself for the final after shaking off a hamstring strain suffered during the match. “I’ve got close to full power back close to 40 minutes after it so they are just saying you’re tearing scar tissue which sometimes happens, so there’s no new injury,” Hopes said.Queensland have not beaten New South Wales in five finals since 1984-85, the last loss coming two seasons ago when the Blues won by 246 runs at the Gabba.

Suriname provided a major upset on the final day of the ICC Americas Division 2 Championship, not only beating odds-on favourites Bahamas, but doing so so convincingly that they leapfrogged them to the title and promotion to Division One.On the eve of the match, we wrote that “Suriname will need an extraordinarily comprehensive win to have any chance of overtaking the Bahamas”, and that’s just what happened. Needing only 83 to avoid being pipped to the title on net run rate even had they lost, Bahamas were utterly woeful as they crashed to 57 all out and a thumping 146-run defeat.Suriname did well to post 205, but on a good batting track it looked a below-par total. Shazam Ramjohn made 48 off 48 balls, but nobody else really dominated the attack. Bahamas’ reply was bemusing in its incompetence, with no batsman managing to reach double figures. Troy Dudnauth (5 for 21) and Carlton Baker (3 for 27) bowled unchanged for 20 overs, and by the time they finished their quota of overs the same was done and dusted.In the other game, Panama, who also finished level on points with Suriname and Bahamas, eased past Turks & Caicos Islands by 95 runs. In reply to Panama’s 188 all out, Turks & Caicos only managed 93. Panama’s Munaf Kachalia took the Man-of-the-Match award with 4 for 19, while Irfan Tarajia chipped in with 3 for 33 and 31 off 42 balls.

In 2001, Steve Waugh took his Ashes squad on a detour to Gallipoli, where they made an emotional pilgrimage to the place where 9000 Anzac soldiers died in an ill-fated First World War campaign. This year, Ricky Ponting’s men will stop off in Northern France to visit the battlefields of the Western Front.Although Gallipoli is synonymous with the Australian contribution to the First World War, there were four times as many men killed in France and Belgium. According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, the Australian squad will be based in Lille, from where they will visit the Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles and the town of Villers-Bretonneux, where Australian troops halted the German spring offensive in 1918.”People say we’re heroes and put us on a bit of a pedestal,” said Waugh during the 2001 trip to Gallipoli, “but realistically there are so many people who deserve more accolades than us. The soldiers who fought here are the heroes. We just go out and play sport and we’re good at it.”

Dear Ian,Thank you for your very frank, though concerned, email to me.I will be equally frank with you, and as concerned. I have known you for many years and you know that I will call it as I see it, which is something you also do exceptionally well in your present profession. In fact, this is what makes you one of the best commentators in the world.Essentially, cricket is the core function of the Board On that basis, the Cricket Committee is our most important committee. This very simple view has not been adhered to and the Board previously spent most of its time on ancillary matters instead of addressing its core issues.We now start our Board meetings by focusing first of all on cricket. Our Strategic Plan, now being drafted, is based on our goal, our determination really, to re-establish the West Indies at the pinnacle of world cricket. Whatever is in harmony with that goal will be kept. Anything in our strategic plan that does not contribute to the development of West Indies cricket will not be considered.Given that approach, the Cricket Committee has to be at the centre of our plans, policies and programmes for cricket, not just the playing and player aspects, but in terms of our development.We need the Committee to meet face-to-face frequently to deal with the many issues confronting us now and to develop the blueprint for the future. The core of the Committee must be available and accessible and ready to meet in the Caribbean at short notice. Teleconferences are fine but right now they do not serve our best interests.This is why we rethought what we wanted from the Committee and how it should operate. We kept Clive (Lloyd) although at this period he is in South Africa but he will have other options later. Deryck (Murray) as deputy chairman is in Trinidad and the other core members are in Barbados, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Nevis.As a special advisor you and the other special advisors will get copies of agendas and minutes and if you could be physically present you would be welcome at all meetings. Efforts will be made to have teleconferences but these will be a desperate last resort for emergency use only.We value your experience, expertise and, more recently, your exposure. You have a major contribution to make to our planning and our strategy. However, it is very difficult to do this from distance or to coincide with your schedule and working hours. I will ask Clive and Deryck to make a special effort to keep our advisors informed, to seek your views individually or collectively, and to ensure that your perspectives enlighten our decision-making. You have my commitment on that.If you felt slighted, overlooked or insulted, you were not. Perhaps I should have explained better, but we cannot change the past. We can only move on and make the best use of the resources we have available. You are one.If this episode has served any purpose it has demonstrated to me the depth of your commitment which is as broad as your expanding knowledge of the game and your impact on it. You will always be one of us and your views will always be welcome. Feel free at any time to talk to me or write.I hope this helps to explain what I intended and that we can now agree to move ahead together in the interests of West Indies cricket.All the best,Julian R. Hunte

Two of Bangladesh’s most exciting young prospects were watching a Dhaka Premier Division league match in progress on the eve of the tri-nation Under-19 tournament final last month, when they were asked who, in their opinion, was the best U-19 side in the world at the moment. Sakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal took about half-a-second each to decide and then replied almost in the same breath: “I think we are.”The next day Sakib turned in an outstanding allround show while Tamim, an opening batsman, unleashed some trademark fierce shots as their side rolled past Sri Lanka in the final at the Bangladesh Institute of Sports (BKSP). It completed a highly successful year for the youth side, who lost just three matches and won 13 in all U-19 competitions. They played in Australia, India and at home and their list of conquests included the reigning U-19 world champions Pakistan, as well as Australia, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa and Zimbabwe.The results haven’t gone unnoticed and, as a result, a serious challenge is expected when the U-19 World Cup gets underway in February. The fact that almost the entire squad possesses first-class experience, places them right at the top of the list of favourites. While interest in youth sides can be casual at best in most Test-playing nations, here in Bangladesh it is a little different. Young blood is seen as the harbinger of all the beautiful future cricket dreams of this success-starved nation and the present U-19 side has managed to spark genuine enthusiasm in this regard.After winning their last three matches of the Afro-Asian competition against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and South Africa, the Bangladesh side then made went on an eight-game winning spree with victories over England (thrice) and Sri Lanka (twice) in the league phase of the tri-nation event in Dhaka. This was the longest winning streak by any Bangladeshi national side and, by the time the toss of the final was in progress, Tamim, Sakib and a couple of other names had already evoked enough curiosity in some 20-odd cricket journalists to dash down to the BKSP. They didn’t want to miss a single ball. For a few who had followed their progress it was more a case of being there while Tamim batted.Tamim is the younger brother of the Test opener, Nafis Iqbal, and comes from a cricket-oriented family. Their uncle Akram Khan is a living legend of Bangladesh cricket while another uncle Afzal once represented the Bangladesh U-19s. However, the youngest of the lot is a bit different. He bats left-handed unlike the others and to put it bluntly, he is a butcher with the willow and is probably the hardest and biggest hitter of the ball in domestic cricket. Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, was there when he blasted a 71-ball 112 against England in the tri-series and was heard uttering approvingly, “outrageous”. The happy-go-lucky teenager also reportedly has fans in Sri Lanka where he had toured with the High Performance squad last year. To call him exciting would be an understatement.While Tamim is the crowd-puller, the undoubted star of the team is another left-hander, Sakib. I had taken Wisden’s youth special, where his name featured in the elite list of 21 to shape the future of world cricket, to the ground. I wanted to give it to him before the final so that he could understand the responsibility he has to shoulder on wearing that green and red cap but I could not hand the magazine over in time and looking back, I’m glad I didn’t. He took three wickets with his left-arm spin, pulled off a run-out and a catch and then strode in imperiously with Bangladesh on 51 for 1 chasing 217. In his next 86 balls, he pulled, drove, cut, swept and cleared the fielders to notch up exactly 100, never looking in any hurry and departed four runs shy of victory. The boy who nonchalantly sings to himself before going out to bat is as natural as cricketers come and apparently doesn’t need reminding what is expected of him.Despite Tamim and Sakib’s presence, what makes this unit a formidable one is its balance. The calming influence in the team’s top order is provided by Raqibul Hasan and Mehrab Hossain (Jr.) while Shamsur Rahman and the captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, the only player with Test experience in the side, are there to fall back on any time. There is no real tail with a host of allrounders battling for a promotion up the order. The pace bowling department is not the team’s strength but both Dollar Mahmud and the left-armer, Kamrul Islam, have the pace to hurry opposing batsmen.Once the shine is off the new ball, then the spinners take over and here Rahim has a real headache because there are around eight blokes with one hand up and wanting to bowl. Mind you, all are proven wicket-takers. If you are looking for left-arm spin, then there is the enviable choice to make from Sakib, Nabil Samad, Sohrawardi Shuvo and Mehrab. For a bit of offspin there is Rezaul Islam to turn to. Close fielding is an area where they can excel also.They head for the World Cup with performances behind them. All the players have been given the chance to experience the pressure of the Dhaka Premier Division and all have been among the runs and wickets at every level they have been exposed to. They have played non-stop cricket around the world over the last 12 months and have trained in earnest under the fatherly tutelage of their coaches, Allister de Winter and Nazmul Abedin Fahim. Their body language exudes the spirit and confidence of a winning team. While watching the Bangladeshi run-chase in the final, a relaxed fellow journalist remarked: “I don’t feel any tension. The only thing possible and certain is a Bangladesh win. How long before we feel as comfortable with the main side in action?”When Bangladesh beat Australia in the Plate final of the last World Cup, it was viewed as a major upset. The present team, which does not have a single face left from the 2004 tournament, have emerged as one of the teams to beat going into this year’s competition by virtue of their on-field exploits and not through any emotional analysis. If they don’t make it to the last four of the Cup phase, consider that an upset.

With the Mumbai pitch fracas still fresh in people’s minds, all eyes were on the Green Park wicket at Kanpur, where South Africa face India in the first of the two Tests on Saturday (Nov 20). But Rahul Dravid and John Wright didn’t dwell too much on the importance of the pitch as they spoke to the media after the first net session.Dravid acknowledged that crystall-ballgazing about pitches was not one of his strong points. “I am not good at reading wickets,” he said, “but it doesn’t bother me much, as at the end of the day we have to do well whatever the wicket.” But Wright elaborated, feeling that it would take turn at some point during the game. “The wicket doesn’t have a great deal of pace in it – that’s the feeling you get while standing in the nets. It’s going to take turn at some point of time definitely, but when that will happen is hard to tell.”Wright denied that the team had a hand in giving instructions to the curators about the kind of pitch they wanted. “Not as far as we are aware of. The only thing we have asked right throughout the season was wickets that were good batting tracks. Obviously against Australia we didn’t want tracks with lots of sideways movement: if you get it, you get it, but not play into their hands.”Wright said India shouldn’t repeat what “we did at Nagpur”: what he wanted was a good pitch that would last five days and then “allow the match to take its course so that both sides have the opportunity. Once you start messing around you’ve got a problem.”Wright was confident that India would pick at least spinners, although he acknowledged that the combination of three spinners and one seamer had worked in the last Test against Australia at Mumbai. “Whether or not an extra one [spinner] will play we will only decide tomorrow. I will have to say that the three-one combination worked well in Mumbai in those conditions, but here it’s different. It was sunny yesterday, but with the mist out this morning you might need the extra seamer, so we will have to look into it.”Neither of them wanted to comment on the Sourav Ganguly affair, pointing out that “the ICC rules don’t allow us to speak on the issue”. Ganguly, in fact, popped in for an evening batting session, raising the possibility that Mohammad Kaif, the local hero, might miss out if Ganguly does turn out to be available for selection. Wright admitted: “It would be nice if Kaif could play, considering that he is a local boy. Obviously he has done a fantastic job this year by coming in and playing really hard – he has battled well in all conditions, and it’s a hard decision to make.”Dravid felt that teams these days are arriving in India well-prepared for action, and that they wouldn’t be able to take the South Africans lightly. “We will also have to improve our game and realise that just because we are playing at home we can’t bowl sides out. We need to play better and be smarter.”Aware that his batsmen have been finding it difficult to score runs, Wright said that he was assured of the class of his players. And he denied ever raising a doubt over the mental application of his players. “Where did you hear that?” he asked. “My point was about being hungry, and you would say that about any side. When you are playing at this level you need to have the hunger, the attitude. We have reached a stage where we need that hunger and that attitude that keeps the team going.”

Clea Smith, the Victoria fast bowler, will replace the Test player Sarah Andrews in the first of three one-day internationals against India at Adelaide on Saturday. Australia, who sealed the one-off Test by an innings earlier this week, will be looking to continue their hold over the tourists in back-to-back matches at St Peter’s College over the weekend.Jodie Purves, the wicketkeeper who scored an unbeaten 43 on Test debut, is also due to play her first ODI after the side was announced today. Karen Rolton leads the team while Lisa Sthalekar, who was Player of the Match in the Test, is her deputy.Australia, who beat India by 98 runs to secure the World Cup last year, have played their opponents 22 times for 18 wins. The third match will be held at Adelaide’s Woodville Oval on Tuesday.Australia Karen Rolton (capt), Lisa Sthalekar, Alex Blackwell, Kate Blackwell, Melissa Bulow, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Michelle Goszko, Julie Hayes, Shelley Nitschke, Jodie Purves (wk), Clea Smith.

Pakistan have included both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif in their provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup, despite uncertainty remaining over their doping cases.Shoaib and Asif were cleared last month by a Pakistan Cricket Board committee of taking the banned steroid nandrolone knowingly, having previously been banned from cricket for two years and one year respectively.However, the World Anti-Doping Agency has since challenged the lifting of the ban, while the PCB insists that both are eligible to play. Asif is at present in South Africa with the rest of the Pakistan squad, while Akhtar is due to fly out on Thursday after being named as a replacement.Wasim Bari, the chief Pakistani selector, said: “As far as we are concerned both Asif and Akhtar are free to play. We will cross the bridge when it comes.”Bari added that he was confident Pakistan would fair well in the tournament: “We have a decent side and if we improve our fielding we can match any side in the world”.Shabbir Ahmed, the quick bowler who recently served a one-year ban for an illegal bowling action, is also included in the provisional squad for the tournament, which Pakistan won in 1992. The final names will be announced on February 13, and the side will be captained by Inzamam-ul-Haq.Pakistan squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Danish Kaneria, Yasir Hameed, Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Abdul Rehman, Salman Butt, Faisal Iqbal, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Rao Iftikhar, Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Khalil, Bazid Khan, Mansoor Amjad, Zulqarnain Haider, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq, Hasan Raza.

Brett Dorey, the Western Australia fast bowler, is expected to be fit for the ING Cup game against Victoria on Saturday despite suffering a leg injury yesterday. Dorey complained of tightness in his quadriceps during the five-wicket win against Victoria and left the field, but he showed promising signs during a recovery session this morning.The Western Australia selectors named an unchanged squad for the return fixture against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. The Australian players Damien Martyn, who scored 110 yesterday, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist and Mike Hussey will all make the trip.Tim Paine is in line for an ING Cup debut after replacing Michael Dighton, the opening batsman, for Tasmania’s match against New South Wales at the SCG on Sunday. Dighton broke his hand during the two-wicket loss to Queensland at the Gabba on Friday.Western Australia squad Justin Langer (capt), Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Adam Voges, Darren Wates, Peter Worthington, Brad Williams, Beau Casson, Brett Dorey, Michael Clark.Tasmania squad Travis Birt, Michael Di Venuto, Ricky Ponting (capt), George Bailey, David Dawson (wk), Tim Paine, Scott Kremerskothen, Damien Wright, Xavier Doherty, Adam Griffith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Adam Polkinghorne, Shannon Tubb.

ScorecardThe name Compton has a long history with Lord’s and today it was back up in lights as Nick Compton, Denis’s grandson, struck his maiden Championship century to haul Middlesex out of trouble on the third day against Kent. He arrived after three early wickets during the morning session and, after initially playing second fiddle to Jamie Dalrymple, pushed Middlesex towards their eventual lead of 353.Last week Compton notched his first first-class century but, without trying to take anything away from Oxford UCCE, the bowling attack would not have been as testing as that on offer at Lord’s. His previous best in the Championship had been 40, on debut, against Worcestershire in 2004 and conditions weren’t easy when he arrived. The ball was still swinging considerably, but he quickly began to rotate the strike with Dalrymple, the senior partner, who steadied the Middlesex innings after it had slumped to 45 for 4.When Dalrymple departed, falling across the crease against the impressive Robbie Joseph, Compton took the innings under his young wings. Boundaries were limited but he sprinted hard between the wickets and when he connected with a big shot, he did so in style. A handsome straight drive into the pavilion loosened the shackles and he immediately appeared calmer at the crease.Understandably the tension mounted as three figures approached and he nearly edged Simon Cook twice while on 96. However, in the next over, from Min Patel, he danced out of his crease and smashed the ball over mid-off and into the Warner Stand to break through the 100-mark off 184 balls. A jig of delight followed as his team-mates and the crowd rose for a standing ovation. The giant electronic scorecard – a feature that certainly wasn’t around in the days of his grandfather, when he scored the last of his Lord’s hundreds on August 28, 1957 – flashed up the figures and he led the players off at tea.The significance of this innings goes beyond just the personal and historical factors as it put Middlesex in an increasingly strong position. The top order stuttered as they attempted to build on their 25-run first-innings lead with Kent’s seamers, especially Joseph and Amjad Khan, maintaining the pressureAlready one down overnight, following the late loss of Ed Smith yesterday evening, Middlesex quickly lost their other opener, Ben Hutton, when he miscued a pull for the second time in the match. There was useful movement for the pacemen as the sun struggled to pierce the morning could cover, but Owais Shah middled a couple of sumptuous cover-drives and was more compact than his rather skittish affair in the first innings. However, he could build on the promising start as he was beaten for pace by Khan – a slight lack of bounce – to be pinned in front, leaving Middlesex 45 for 3.The score hadn’t moved when Kent struck another major blow by removing Ed Joyce. Fresh from his 130 on Wednesday, Joyce was left needing to produce another sizeable innings but drove loosely at Joesph and Martin van Jaarsveld continued his excellent catching form with a sharp take at second slip.However, Dalrymple showed the composure and correctness that gained him A team recognition in the winter. He was quick onto anything off line, particularly through the offside, and brought up his fifty from 64 balls. His innings, though, was quickly overshadowed by Compton who, with valuable support from the busy Craig Wright, pushed the lead over 300.A determined start by David Fulton and Robert Key has left Kent needed 311 more runs and set up a fascinating final day, in what has been a superb advertisement for hard-fought county cricket. Today, though, was all about one of the most famous names in cricket making a 21st century appearance in the middle of the most famous ground in the world.