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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Adam Gilchrist ruined New Zealand for the second time in two Tests with a brilliant, brutal 162 and Australia’s bowlers were almost as cruel as they bullied a wilting top order. The start was delayed by rain, adding to the washed out opening day, but the scoring pace of Gilchrist and Damien Martyn in a record 256-run partnership gave them oodles of time to wrap up the series.Wet weather or a Laxmanesque double-century are really the only things that can save New Zealand from slipping to a 2-0 deficit after they hopped to 122 for 4 at stumps on day three. Gilchrist was again to blame. At Christchurch he swung the game away from the Kiwis with Simon Katich, and today he grabbed it powerfully alongside Martyn’s beautiful strokeplay, allowing Ricky Ponting to declare at a mountainous 570 for 8.The total was swiftly set up in the hour before lunch with a mind-blowing display of power hitting as Gilchrist blasted 51 from 35 deliveries and New Zealand haemorrhaged 90 runs. After the break he slowed a touch as the field spread, adding 66 from 62, but the upshot was his 15th Test century at a strike-rate of 111 with five sixes and 22 fours. The barely believable has become weekly.Gilchrist’s punishment overshadowed an exhibition from Martyn, who stayed true to his graceful nature and celebrated a career-high 165. Together they stripped their opponents in a record sixth-wicket partnership against New Zealand in 182 minutes. It was mean, explosive and sustained. Martyn went to Iain O’Brien at 503 and Gilchrist bunted back to James Franklin at 557, but Ponting extended the torture until Shane Warne slapped his fifty. He is not a captain fond of donations.Stephen Fleming’s dire series continued when he offered no shot to Glenn McGrath and was lbw in the opening over. An already exhausted side, needing 420 to avoid the follow-on in a four-day match, enjoyed the aggressive fields but not the attack. Short balls were ordered as Hamish Marshall was pushed to the back foot, and Craig Cumming’s pull shot again led to his removal. Michael Clarke then popped up to upend Nathan Astle as stumps neared.A day that ended in dark conditions began in similar light. The umpires saw the rain and fog and expected no play until after lunch so Gilchrist went swimming with his son. When the clouds cleared quickly an 11.30am resumption was decided and calls to mobiles rustled up the players. Gilchrist made it to the ground in time to rush on his gear and walk out to the middle for the 60-minute session.Adjusting quickly from the paddling, Gilchrist lined up Chris Martin once he raised his half-century. A clipped four through point was followed by a hooked six and a back-foot boundary through cover: three balls, 14 runs. Martin seemed in more trouble when he dropped short and Gilchrist aimed a cut. There was relief when Hamish Marshall intercepted it and further frustration when it bumped out as he hit theground.

Franklin was next for punishment – three fours in one over – as Gilchrist closed on his century before lunch. He was slightly delayed and waited until the first over after the break with a late cut off Daniel Vettori. He moved from 50 to 100 in 29 balls; it was bludgeoning and breathtaking. Next ball he pierced the wicketkeeper and first slip with an edge, straining New Zealand necks.Vettori, who bowled 47 overs for two wickets, masters most Australia batsmen, but not their wicketkeeper. Gilchrist’s third six of the innings was belted high, long and straight. The next, two balls later, bashed into a blue fence over mid-on shortly before lunch. The fifth, again off Vettori, took him to 143. When Gilchrist fell to Franklin his summer of runs in four Tests against New Zealand included 126 at Brisbane, 50 at Adelaide, 121 at Christchurch and 162 today. Imagine if Australia had second innings.While Gilchrist paraded his muscles, Martyn eased boundaries as he woke up in the same form that earned him 106 on day two. Calm in all conditions, he kept to himself and coolly increased his score despite the distraction of his partner. Martyn’s 150 came from 250 balls, with 23 fours, and his intensity soon dropped. Unfortunately his highest Test effort will be overlooked by everyone but the purists. Martyn sparkled while Gilchrist crashed and New Zealand cracked.How They Were Out
Australia
Martyn c McCullum b O’Brien 165 (503 for 6)
His best Test score ended with a push and a nick to a ball that moved away.Gilchrist c&b Franklin 162 (557 for 7)
Popped a return catch in a meek end to a mammoth innings.Gillespie b Franklin 162 (559 for 8)
Bowled slogging to leg.New Zealand
Fleming lbw McGrath 0 (9 for 1)
Padded up to one coming back in the first over, Rudi Koertzen thought it would hit off.Marshall c Gillespie b McGrath 18 (55 for 2)
Attacked with short bowling, he hooked to fine leg and Gillespie ran out of the shadows to take a lunging, low catch.Cumming b Kasprowicz 37 (78 for 3)
Aimed a pull towards midwicket that didn’t bounce as much as he expected and dragged an under-edge on to the stumps.Astle c Warne b Clarke 9 (108 for 4)
Clarke came on in the gloom to replace Gillespie and Astle drove hard to Warne, who snapped the sharp offering at first slip.

Simon Katich says he has no hard feelings towards the Australia selectors after spending nearly two and a half years out of the Test side. Katich finally earned his recall in a 15-man squad to tour the West Indies following a record-breaking domestic summer during which he made 1506 Pura Cup runs at 94.12.It might take an injury to one of the established top six for Katich to play his first Test since late 2005, however he is just pleased to be back in the mix. “The last time I was dropped I knew I deserved to be,” Katich told the . “I wasn’t playing well enough. I had a poor Ashes series and I was bitterly disappointed.”I do know my game a lot better now. I have experienced a lot in that time. Having been in and out of the team has taught me a lot of lessons. This time around I probably appreciate it a lot more. I know that the older you get, the more you realise that you just never know when the end is near.”Despite his outstanding year Katich was still surprised to receive the call, given the quality of players in the Test frame in recent years. It is fair to say he was not half as shocked as his New South Wales team-mate Beau Casson. The left-arm wrist-spinner moved from Perth to Sydney last season and struggled with a shoulder injury, collecting seven wickets at 72 before improving in 2007-08 and being chosen as the back-up for Stuart MacGill in the Caribbean.”I’m a little bit hazy,” Casson said while sitting beside Katich and Michael Clarke, Australia’s vice-captain, at an SCG press conference after the announcement. “I feel on cloud nine. I’m not sure if it’s actually real. Just sitting next to those guys was a huge thrill. I idolise those guys.”Casson said he had taken a little while to settle in at New South Wales but was now confident with where his cricket was heading. “In the first year in a team, you are a little bit timid, not showing your full personality and lacking self-belief,” Casson said.”But it’s been great with Simon [Katich], he has given me a chance and given me the confidence to be Beau Casson. My girlfriend has made it incredibly easy for me. It’s been a fantastic ride. I was down in the dumps last year with the shoulder and Sally kept me up through all the down times.”The same elation was not so evident when Ashley Noffke reacted to his inclusion in the Test squad. Although he was pleased to take another step towards a baggy green that eluded him during the 2001 Ashes tour and his 2003 trip to the Caribbean, Noffke had other things on his mind when the team was announced and he spoke to the media outside a hospital on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.”My three-year-old daughter Breanna was going in to get her tonsils out this morning so the focus was on that really and how she was going to react,” Noffke told . “I didn’t even know when it was being selected. It was a pretty traumatic thing for her to go through. Even though it is minor in the scheme of things I didn’t really enjoy today very much.”After collecting a sensational double of 51 wickets at 19.03 and 741 runs at 46.31 in the Pura Cup, Noffke is likely to be Australia’s first-choice reserve fast man in the West Indies. That means Ben Hilfenhaus, who was also picked, is unlikely to see any Test action. But after a summer that brought a disappointing 28 wickets at 43.82, the Cricket Australia-contracted swing bowler was simply pleased to be considered.”It shocked me at first, and probably still is,” Hilfenhaus said in the . “I thought I would spend the winter playing some golf and working out in the gym. It’s obviously a real buzz. It tells me the selectors have real faith in me.”

Barry Richards, the former South African batsman, has said that Twenty20 should become a global competition featuring teams from a number of cities.”If you had 16 or 20 sides you could float it around the world and you could sell it into America and Canada,” Richards told BBC Sport. “You could have a team from Toronto, a team from Miami, teams from Cape Town and London. You could have the best players, not representing a country but a town.”It would be the 200 or 300 best players in the world and it’s up to the franchise-holders to decide who are the best players. You always associate Test cricket with the best players but it’s not the case anymore. If you’ve got 15 in each side then we can see all the Australians that are not playing that are good enough to play Test cricket.”Richards comments are hardly likely to be warmly received by the authorities in some countries, but the rapid growth and remarkable popularity of the format where it has been tried means that his ideas are not as far-fetched as they might have been even a year ago.Richards has been at the forefront in recognising the need for the game to appeal to new markets and audiences if it is to prosper. At the Cowdrey Lecture in 2003, he urged the authorties to consider where cricket would be in 20 years, and said that it had to revise traditional thinking in favour of new concepts that stimulated the young.

Pakistan’s continuing troubles with their opening combination have forced the selectors to call up Khalid Latif and release Mohammad Hafeez from the 15-man squad to face South Africa in the third ODI in Faisalabad on Tuesday.Pakistan have tried two opening combinations in two games so far and Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal have provided starts of 18 and 1. Hafeez was dropped for the second ODI and the highest score by an opener remains Nazir’s 16 in the first ODI.The 21-year old Latif has been on the fringes of selection to the senior squad for some time now. He first came to national attention when he led the Pakistan U-19 team to victory in the 2004 World Cup in Bangladesh.He was unlucky to miss out on selection for the ICC World Twenty20 despite impressing during the various training camps held before the tournament. But solid performances in the recent home series against Australia A have finally paid off.Latif ended the three-match ODI series in September as the leading scorer on either side. His tally of 228 runs included one fifty and a spectacular unbeaten 142 in Lahore as Pakistan successfully chased 332 against an attack that included Jason Gillespie, James Hopes and Dan Cullen.”We are struggling with an opening pair at the moment,” Salahuddin Ahmed, the chief selector, told Cricinfo. “We are already playing Kamran as an opener to make place for an extra bowler.”Latif is a very good, upcoming youngster and was in brilliant form against Australia A recently. He fully deserves his place in the squad. Hafeez has been released and he will go back to regain his form in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.”It is understood that Latif will not play in Faisalabad but may get an opportunity later in the series. Still, Pakistan are likely to go in with their third different opening pair in as many matches; Nazir’s continuing run of poor scores means Yasir Hameed will most likely open the innings with Akmal.And in light of an impressive bowling performance in the second ODI, Pakistan will not risk Mohammad Asif for the third game. Asif sat out the first two matches with an elbow injury that flared up during the second Test in Lahore.

Marvan Atapattu will miss the tsunami relief fundraising game in Melbourne on Monday because his two children have fallen ill. Atapattu had hoped to catch Sunday’s flight to Australia but abandoned those plans on Saturday night. "Marvan will miss the game because his children were hospitalised on Saturday," confirmed Ray Illangakoon, Sri Lanka Cricket’s media manager.Muttiah Muralitharan, making his return to international cricket after a five-month layoff, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Chaminda Vaas will now represent Sri Lanka in the Asian XI, which will also be missing Sachin Tendulkar (elbow) and Shoaib Akhtar (hamstring) because of injury.

Guyana 211 and 22 for 0 trail Barbados 246 (Bradshaw 81, Hinds 52) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Ian Bradshaw, the Mr Level-Headed of Barbados’ cricket, saved his country from a near embarrassment yesterday. Showing the value of a sound, calm approach, and more significantly, choosing the right ball to despatch, the reliable allrounder put up his hand to bail Barbados out of troubled waters on the second day of their Carib Beer Challenge semi-final against Guyana.When he strode onto the Carlton Club immediately after lunch, Barbados, responding to Guyana’s 211, were in tatters on 101 for 6 and seemingly intent on duplicating the horrors of the embarrassing collapses they went through at the same venue two months ago.When he returned to the dressing room just after 4 pm to a deserving ovation from a fair-sized Saturday evening crowd in which the support for either team was about the same, his skilful innings of 81 had carried Barbados to an insignificant, but handy first-innings advantage of 35.The fact that Barbados were able to make 246 was largely a measure of Bradshaw’s ability to counter the spin of Mahenadra Nagamotoo and Neil McGarrell that posed such a big threat in the pre-lunch session. It was also due to a wonderful support effort from Ryan Austin. He might have made only 14, but it was very important that he was able to solidly defend for an hour-and-three-quarters in a face-saving eighth-wicket partnership of 66 with Bradshaw that was finally broken when Barbados were one run shy of Guyana’s total.While most of those before Bradshaw were unable to cope with the experienced spin twins, the slimly-built left-hander made Nagamootoo and McGarell pay dearly for the leg-stump line on which they opted to concentrate. Bradshaw carted them for four sixes, two against each, with three landing on the roof of the club pavilion and the other just to the left of the Guyana dressing-room.It was only the lack of partners that induced Bradshaw into attempting anything rash. Left with No. 11 Pedro Collins, he chased at a wide ball from pacer Reon King and was well caught low by the diving wicketkeeper Derwin Christian. By then, Tino Best’s breezy 21 had assisted Barbados’ cause, and a few of those who went before him should take a leaf out of his book when it comes to batting responsibly.While wickets were falling, captain Ryan Hinds batted impressively for 52 off 98 balls, stroking eight attractive boundaries before King trapped him lbw.For the first two hours, Barbados were thoroughly outplayed, mainly against fast-medium Esaun Crandon and leggie Nagamootoo, but some of it was caused by their own undoing. While the runs flowed, the rate of wickets and the mode of some dismissals were alarming.Spectators were still filing into the ground when an uncertain Wayne Blackman padded up to his fourth ball and was lbw to Crandon. The noise that reverberated 15 minutes later seemed to suggest there were ten times more people than were present at the time. The uproar was over a horrific, cross-batted non-descript stroke Dwayne Smith attempted to a ball that didn’t have the length for such a stroke. As he missed and the ball uprooted his stumps, Smith walked off the ground to a host of uncomplimentary remarks from those in the pavilion.Things returned to a sense of normalcy as captain Ryan Hinds and Dale Richards batted with all the assurance in the world. Richards stroked five fours in his 29 before he paid the price for moving back to Neil McGarrell’s left-arm spin, and was lbw. Floyd Reifer arrived to replace Richards, hit a confident boundary before gifting his hand with a casual return catch to Nagamootoo. It was the first of three wickets for regional first-class cricket’s highest wicket-taker who dealt Barbados a cruel blow with a double-strike on the stroke of lunch.Alcindo Holder, short of runs since the first three matches, made 16 before falling to a bat/pad catch at forward short-leg, and next ball, Patrick Browne edged a tentative defensive prod. It made way for Bradshaw, and the rest was history.His heroics has set the stage for a second innings contest in which the winner will earn a place in the next weekend’s final, to which it appears that Cup champions Trinidad and Tobago are certain to advance.

Surrey have finally lost patience with Alex Tudor, and despite his 10-year history with the club, have released him with one year left on his contract. Tudor played in only one County Championship game for Surrey this season, as a back problem limited him to 2nd XI and club cricket for Spencer, where he played as a specialist batsman.”Alex has been struggling with his fitness for a while now,” said Paul Sheldon, the club’s chief executive, “and unfortunately he has only been able to complete one Championship game this season. Alex has been a wonderful servant to the club over the past ten seasons and we all wish him the very best in the future.”Tudor, now 26, made his England debut against Australia at the age of just 20 in Perth in 1998/99 series where he picked up the wickets of both Waugh twins. But even then, injuries had already started to plague him, and he had to withdraw from the fourth Test of the series with a hip problem.He retained his place for the first Test of the next home series, against New Zealand at Edgbaston, and although his bowling was not of the standard he’d have liked, it was his contribution with the bat that created headlines. He hit an unbeaten 99 as England beat New Zealand by seven wickets. It was the highest-ever score by an English nightwatchman, and helped win him the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year award.”Following a phone call from the chairman of cricket I was told I was being released,” said Tudor. “Surrey has been my home for the past ten years and I am sad to be leaving. It has always given me enormous pleasure and pride to be a Surrey player and I have always given 100% both on and off the field for the club.”I have recently seen a specialist who has diagnosed my injury and we are both confident that I can regain my fitness in the next six months and continue my cricket career in 2005.”His Surrey release may well be a chance for Tudor to make a new start – free from injury, he will be hoping – although with his injury record it must be doubtful whether any club will risk offering him a long-term contract.

Andrew Flintoff has begun the slow path back to bowling fitness with a few gentle overs during Lancashire’s training and is targeting an England return as early as the first Test against New Zealand on May 15.Flintoff has been undergoing a very cautious rehabilitation since the ankle operation – his fourth – he had late last year and his four overs, off two or three paces, was the first time he’d bowled since the ICC World Twenty20 in September. His recovery programme has included a spell with the England Lions in India, where he played two one-day matches as a batsman, and he is now preparing for Lancashire’s pre-season trip to the UAE.”I’ve had a good few weeks, I was in India for three weeks with the Lions and the academy of Lancashire and this morning was the first time I’ve turned my arm over,” Flintoff told . “I bowled off about two or three paces for four overs and it feels fine, but I think the acid test is when I get back playing properly, probably halfway through the summer to see if stands up to what it needs to.”I’m hoping to start the season fully fit batting and bowling. I think the first game we’ve got is at the Oval for Lancashire.”However, a possible international return during New Zealand’s visit in May is a far more positive prognosis than had previously been suggested. Flintoff was expected to spend much of the summer with Lancashire with a possible comeback against South Africa for the second series of the season – at one stage the following winter tour was the target.”I’m going to have to perform for Lancashire to put my name in the hat for England,” he said. “So first and foremost I’m concentrating on this Dubai trip and starting the season well for Lancashire and hopefully I can be playing on May 15 at Lord’s.”If Flintoff’s pre-season trip with Lancashire goes to plan and he doesn’t suffer any reaction in his ankle he is also expected to play for MCC against Sussex in the season-opening fixture at Lord’s, starting on April 10.

A cricket board investigation has been launched into allegations of drunken misconduct by two Sri Lanka players – allegedly Avishka Gunawardene and Kaushal Lokuarachchi – during the ICC Champions Trophy last month. said that Sri Lanka Cricket had been prompted to take action after being “tipped off by well-informed sources” that the two players were involved in a late-night drinking binge mid-way through their rain-interrupted match against England.Mohan de Silva, the cricket board president, confirmed to Wisden Cricinfo that a disciplinary probe was already underway: “Investigations have been started. We have instructed the disciplinary committee to look into these allegations and they are making preliminary enquiries now before the players return from Pakistan,” he added.The allegations had surfaced soon after Sri Lanka’s early exit from the Champions Trophy but were not taken seriously at the outset after being flatly denied by Ajit Jayasekera, the team manager at the time, and coach John Dyson.De Silva refused to confirm the identity of the two players and insisted that the decision to drop both Gunawardene and Lokuarachchi for Sri Lanka’s second match in the Paktel Cup had not been triggered by the inquiry.Lokuarachchi was last year banned for four months from all forms of cricket after his involvement in a tragic late-night driving accident. Legal proceedings are still continuing in the case.

Division One

Ed Joyce celebrated his England one-day call-up with a fine unbeaten 154 for Middlesex at Southgate, as Yorkshire squandered a commanding position with a dire collapse in the morning session. After resuming on 337 for 5, Yorkshire lost their last five wickets for 18, with Chris Silverwood finishing as the pick of the attack against his former team-mates, taking 6 for 51 in 22.2 hostile overs. Jason Gillespie responded by trapping Ed Smith lbw with the second ball of Middlesex’s reply, but Joyce added 131 for the third wicket with Ben Hutton to put the innings back on track.Durham revived their fortunes on the second day at Edgbaston, as Dale Benkenstein was joined by a furiously wagging tail to leave Warwickshire playing catch-up. At 73 for 5 in reply to 208, the match was evenly poised, but Benkenstein added 70 for the sixth wicket with Phil Mustard, before Ottis Gibson lifted his side into the ascendancy with an uncharacteristically measured 81 from 150 balls. As Benkenstein continued to accumulate, eventually finishing on an unbeaten 144, Graeme Onions chipped in with a useful 40 before grabbing an early wicket as well. Nick Knight and Ian Bell put the innings back on course with a stand of 53, but Bell’s late dismissal tipped the scales firmly in Durham’s favour.

Dmitri Mascarenhas led the way for Hampshire as they lorded it over the county champions, Nottinghamshire, on a one-sided second day at the Rose Bowl. The day didn’t start so auspiciously for Hampshire as Charlie Shreck shredded the tail with figures of 5 for 94, but from that moment on there was no looking back. Mascarenhas took 4 for 25 from 12 overs, and was ably backed up by Billy Taylor and James Bruce, before Dominick Thornley wrapped up the tail. Notts were all out for 147, a deficit of 254, but Shane Warne’s decision not to enforce the follow-on was amply justified when John Crawley and James Adams piled on the runs in an unbeaten 96-run stand.

Division Two

3rd dayGlamorgan edged ever closer to victory on the third day at Derby, as the spin pairing of Robert Croft and Dean Cosker twirled their way through Derbyshire’s defences, sharing six of the seven second-innings wickets to fall. Michael di Venuto resisted as best he could with a doughty 183-ball innings, but when he was sixth out for 95, the writing was on the wall. Earlier, in an ominous indication that the conditions were in the bowlers’ favour, Glamorgan lost their last seven wickets for 90, including Mark Cosgrove who was unable to add to his overnight 233.2nd dayGraeme Hick and Ben Smith extended their fifth-wicket partnership to 330 at Taunton, as Worcestershire racked up a vast total of 618 against Somerset. Hick was eventually dismissed for 182 leaving Smith to push on to 203, one run shy of his career-best score. Charl Willoughby was the pick of Somerset’s beleaguered attack, finishing up with 6 for 104 in 33 overs, although Keith Parsons was instrumental in whittling through the tail, as he finished with 3 for 33. By the close, Somerset were fighting hard in reply on 199 for 3, with Wesley Durston (89 not out) closing in on his second first-class century.For a full report of Surrey against Leicestershire at The Rose Bowl click here