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In the first positive gains from USA Cricket Association’s (USACA) partnership with New Zealand Cricket (NZC), USACA has organised a training camp for December 18-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in which two coaches will be arriving from New Zealand to assist USA’s coaches and help them with enhanced training methods.”Dipak Patel, the former New Zealand offspinner, who has coached our Under-19 team as well as some of the New Zealand first class guys will be going along with Hamish Barton who played first-class cricket in New Zealand, and who is the head of the New Zealand cricket coach education team and our coach education programme,” said Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive.”Hamish was previously not only a first-class cricketer but also spent some time in South America, was the national coach of Argentina, and has a good knowledge of a number of the United States players.”Barton, 33, played 17 first-class matches for Auckland and Canterbury before going on to be player-coach for Argentina. He also played against USA at the 2008 ICC Americas Division One tournament.”As well as his coaching expertise, he can bring a background of what you do in cricket and what an overall coach education programme looks like,” said Vaughan. “So we are not just talking about a situation where Hamish works with the Under-19s or with the national team, but instead he can start to add value to the overall structures of US cricket, in terms of their coach education programmes and trying to give some advice or sharing the knowledge that we have in terms of training our coaches. We can do that for the United States as well and that’s obviously one of the benefits that USACA can gain out of a partnership with a full member of the ICC.”Barton and Patel will be making their way to the US to help the Under-19 squad prepare for January’s Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and helping the men prepare for their first assignment in February, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE.The 15-man Under-19 squad along with five reserves will take part in the camp alongside 23 senior players who are in contention for a 14-man squad that will be picked in January to travel to the UAE and then on to Nepal for the WCL Division Five tournament. The Under-19 squad will also have some assistance from NZC when they arrive before the World Cup. Teams must be in Christchurch by January 9, but USACA is looking to send the team a week early so they can get acclimatised and receive additional training.”I believe they’re arriving on the second or third of January,” said Vaughan. “They’ll have an additional week and will train at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre. I imagine Dipak and Hamish will be working with the team during that preparation phase. They will have already established relationships in the camp that will be held later this week, but they will be working with them in January as well. We’ll get them competitive games, whether they’re against New Zealand teams or against our Under-19 side who are in New Zealand preparing prior to the World Cup, so that they’re as well prepared as they can be.”The High Performance Centre, located at Lincoln University in Christchurch, will offer the USA Under-19 team the chance to utilise facilities that are virtually unavailable in America.”It won’t be an easy tournament for the United States,” said Vaughan. “We’re obviously getting involved now. It’s certainly late in the picture but this is a start of what we feel is a long term partnership so we’ll be doing what we can to optimise USA’s chances of a good performance in the tournament.”

Ricky Ponting is confident Ben Hilfenhaus has developed into a fast man who can excel in any conditions. Hilfenhaus is a swing bowler by trade but has shown Ponting that he can cope when the ball is not arcing around and the skills were on show with a Man-of-the-Match performance at the Gabba.While the haul of 2 for 50 and 3 for 20 in the innings win was not remarkable, he dismantled West Indies’ top order in a seven-over burst in the second innings and twice removed the captain Chris Gayle with lbw decisions. The ball swung at times but Hilfenhaus also showed he could bring his length back and still cause trouble, convincing Ponting he has swung from a specialist to an all-terrain operator.”He has and that comes with a bit of experience,” Ponting said. “I think I had him earmarked for a couple of series quite a while ago and you look at South Africa over there and the England tour we just returned from, they were series that I always felt he could play a big part in. But then if you look back to the Ashes there were a lot of conditions there that probably didn’t suit his style of bowling, but he managed to find a way to get the job done.”Hilfenhaus has just finished his ninth Test and has 34 wickets at 30.58, which have been achieved mainly as a support act to Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle. Twenty-two of those victims came in swing-friendly England and those performances made him realise he could cope as international bowler.”Towards the end of the England series I felt as though my rhythm was good and I was doing a job for team,” Hilfenhaus said. “That was the time I started to feel more comfortable and knew my role better.”He took the new ball at the Gabba and picked up Gayle on the second day before adding four wickets on Saturday. Ponting gave him only one spell in the final innings and that resulted in the removal of Gayle, who offered no shot to an inswinger, the played-on of Travis Dowlin and a miscued pull from Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Suddenly the tourists were 3 for 39 and had no chance of saving the game.”Today I’m even more pleased for him, to come out in the second innings and get the early wickets that we needed,” Ponting said. “I sort of put it on him to try and get Gayle out the way and he did at the start of the second innings. When you can ask a bowler to do a certain job for you and they can do it, regardless of what the situation the game is in or the conditions they’re bowling in, means they are executing really well. And that’s what you want as a captain.” Hilfenhaus has another chance to satisfy his captain’s demands in the second Test in Adelaide from Friday.

Group A

Mohammad Irfan starred with a match haul of 11 wickets to hand KRL their first win of the competition•Associated Press

Khan Research Laboratories registered their first win of the competition, thanks to a 11-wicket haul from Mohammad Irfan at the National Stadium. Karachi Whites, who were bowled out for 87 in their first innings, faced a deficit of 421 at the start of the second. Their put in a far improved display, with half-centuries from captain Shadab Kabir (54), Afsar Nawaz (64) and Akbar-ur-Rehman (75) but Irfan accounted for each of them, and more, to seal victory by an innings and 107 runs. Tariq Mahmood added to KRL’s tally, taking 3 for 45, as the lead gained by them in the first innings proved too imposing for Karachi to overcome.An unbeaten 178 from Salim Elahi rescued Habib Bank from a precarious situation at the start of the day, to a relatively comfortable position at stumps. In pursuit of Water and Power Development Authority‘s 411, Habib Bank were staring down the barrel at 79 for 4. But Elahi stayed firm at one end and guided the innings to safety, stringing a 141-run stand with Abdur Rehman (45) for the fifth wicket and a 67-run stand for the ninth with Danish Kaneria. The effort helped Habib Bank post 354, and concede a lead of 57. WAPDA, in their second innings, were 7 for 1.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited are in an excellent position to win their second game of the tournament, as Lahore Shalimar were four down for 134, still 279 adrift after following on at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Lahore began the day on 158 for 5, and were boosted by contributions from the lower order, which took them to a score of 296. Captain Ali Raza made 69, Saad Nasim chipping in with 30 and the extras added up to 44. Bowlers Asad Ali and Rizwan Akbar grabbed three wickets each to ensure the damage inflicted on Lahore still remained extensive, and the repairs after following on compensated only for a minute percentage. Raza was unbeaten on 38, but Lahore lost a wicket at the stroke of stumps to inch closer towards defeat.Pakistan International Airlines had ended day two on even terms against Pakistan Customs, but seized advantage on the third day in Karachi, thanks to Fahad Iqbal’s 92. Fahad was involved in a game-turning seventh-wicket stand of 119 with Anwar Ali (44) and took his team to 323, a healthy first-innings lead of 96. PIA then rocked the Pakistan Customs top order; Ali Imran took two wickets to help leave them in trouble at 46 for 4 at one stage – Pakistan Customs had lost three wickets for nine runs. But captain Mohammad Hussain (22 not out) and Mohammad Nabi (16) eased the nerves with an unbeaten 39-run stand to end the day at 85 for 4, still 11 runs adrift.

Group B

Quetta proved no match for Rawalpindi, losing 15 wickets on the third day to lose by an innings and 192 runs in Islamabad. Rawalpindi have now won two in two in the competition. Quetta began the day on 116 for 5, but seamers Mohammad Rameez and Rashid Latif tore through the line-up, dismissing them for 148 and splitting five wickets each. Latif was brilliant throughout, and returned to haunt Quetta after Rawalpindi had enforced the follow-on – they led by 381 in the first innings. The two seamers were again ruthless. Rameez played an excellent supporting role, taking 3 for 67, while Latif stole the show, accounting for six Quetta wickets to finish with career-best figures. Quetta had slid to 133 for 8 before Faisal Irfan (30 not out) and Arshad Khan (28) were involved in a frustrating stand of 46. Latif, however, brought it to an end and dismissed the last man to inflict a demoralizing defeat on Quetta.Abbottabad will look to force a win against Hyderabad at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, as they finished day three with a lead of 385 and four wickets still in hand. They began the day in a position of control, but a lower-order recovery from Hyderabad, Shoaib Lagharai (47) and Lal Kumar (31) chipping in with useful contributions, limited the first-innings lead to 137. Left-arm spinner Khalid Usman took 5 for 51 to put Abbottabad on top, but the match began to slip out of their grasp. Kumar was impressive with the ball, rattling the top order with four wickets, as Hyderabad appeared to have pulled things back at 119 for 6. But Usman starred in an allround effort, remaining unbeaten on 63, and added an ongoing 129 with Riaz Kalil (65) to end at 248 for 6 at stumps and restore the advantage.Peshawar and Faisalabad ended the third day on even terms in Sargodha, and a draw seems the most likely result. Faisalabad, starting the day on 263 for 7, folded for 316, securing a first-innings lead of 84. However, Peshawar, led by Fahad Ali’s 110, hit back to finish the day 129 runs ahead. Ali’s innings was laced with 18 fours and a six and he was assisted by Mohammad Idrees (41) in a stand of 80. But both batsmen had been sent back by stumps, and Peshwar finished on 213 for 3. With two new batsmen at the crease, Faisalabad might sense a chance of pushing for victory but they only have a day left.Karachi Blues are favourites to seal victory against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground. Seamers Mohammad Sami (2 for 72) and Tanvir Ahmed (4 for 89) cleaned up the lower order to bowl Islamabad for 236 in the first innings and gain a lead of 160, which enabled their team to enforce the follow-on. Though Islamabad put in a better effort the second time round, they finished with 135 ahead and only two wickets in hand at stumps. Tanvir was again the chief wrecker, taking 4 for 71, and was supported by Fahadullah Khan and Tariq Haroon, who grabbed two wickets each. Each of the top six Islamabad batsmen got starts, but only one, opener Umair Khan, managed to score a half-century. Karachi would want to ensure they clean up the tail early tomorrow to give their batsmen a small enough target to scale down.The going was slow at the Jinnah Stadium, as the game between Sialkot and Multan appeared to be heading for a draw. Multan led by 13 at the start of the day, and consolidated that to 226 at stumps for the loss of five wickets, but not without hiccups. Suleman Ali took a brace and Babar Ali retired hurt on 15, and at 91 for 4, Multan were in trouble. But Naved Yasin rose to the challenge, making an unbeaten 77 and built valuable stands with wicketkeeper Gulraiz Sadaf (38) and Kahif Naved (30 not out). The middle-order recovery, which featured partnerships of 70 and an unbeaten 66, took Multan to a position of safety with a day to play.

Somerset have signed Middlesex batsman Nick Compton on a long-term contract after he had asked to be released from his contract at Lord’s because he wanted a fresh challenge. Compton, who was his county’s top run-scorer in the 2009 season, is also the grandson of England cricket and football international Denis Compton.”I am very excited about joining Somerset, a county I have always had great respect for,” Nick told . “I would like to thank them for sharing their vision and it was that vision that made my decision an easy one. I look forward to being part of the reason we achieve our goals at Somerset next year at beyond.”Brian Rose, the director of cricket at Somerset, admitted there was a need to strengthen their batting, after former captain Justin Langer confirmed he would not be returning to the county next season.”Nick is a player we view as having the ability to bat in our top three and be with us for many years,” Rose said. “In 2006, Nick had an excellent season, scoring six hundreds in Division One of the County Championship, and he went on the England A tour so we think he can be a great asset to our batting line-up.”This summer he had a very strong season, particularly in one-day cricket, and he was also solid in the Championship. He will join our crop of talented young players such as Jos Buttler and Chris Jones. He has mainly opened in his career, but he could bat at three or Arul Suppiah could drop down. That is an issue for our new captain Marcus Trescothick, who rates Nick highly.”In fact, Rose said that while the team was in India for the Champions League Twenty20, he became aware of Nick’s possible departure from Middlesex. “We acted quickly to secure his signature as we have high regard for his ability,” Rose said. “Marcus Trescothick and I share the opinion that Nick can improve rapidly in the Somerset environment and go on to higher honours.”Trescothick was delighted with the signing of Compton. “He is a good player in four-day and one-day cricket,” Trescothick said. “After a hugely promising start to his career, he encountered the problems a lot of batsmen, including myself, have gone through as bowlers start to work you out. But he seems to have come through that period now and I believe he will be a big asset.”Compton was born in South Africa, but is England qualified. He made his one-day debut for Middlesex in 2001 and played his maiden first-class match three years later. He also represented England Under-19 and won the Denis Compton Award as Middlesex’s most promising young player in 2001, 2002 and 2006.Somerset finished third in the Division One points table for 2009, and most recently made it to the second phase of the Champions League in India.

Match facts

Friday, October 2, 2009
Start time 2:30 pm, 12:30 GMT

Big picture

It’s battle rejoined. Just in case there hadn’t been enough of England facing Australia in recent months, the semi-final of the Champions Trophy has thrown together a rematch. There shouldn’t be much these two sides don’t know about each other, but the intrigue of this meeting is that it’s a straight knockout. Most expected Australia to be here, but few imagined England would still be in the tournament.For a while it looked as though Australia would blow their chance of progressing as the batting came to a screeching halt in their chase against Pakistan. However, Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz did just enough – Australia were through when they levelled scores off the penultimate ball – and another meeting with the old enemy was an added bonus.Australia will bring with them memories of the 6-1 win in the recent one-day series, while England will say that result doesn’t matter anymore. “We thrashed them the last time we played them,” said Graeme Swann, England’s team joker. The truth, as is often the case, lies somewhere in the middle. Australia clearly have the upper hand in recent contests, but England’s resurgence since arriving in South Africa means they have a good chance of extracting revenge.England may secretly be relieved that Australia scrambled the final bye, which meant they wouldn’t have to face Pakistan’s mixture of spin and reverse swing on a slow, wearing Centurion pitch. Not that Australia’s attack will be easy, but at least there won’t be any of the unknown. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The teams probably know each other a little too well at the moment.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)England – LWWWL
Australia – WNWLW

Team news

Though Matt Prior took part in training on Thursday, he was still feeling the effects of his virus, and England have received ICC permission to replace him in their squad with Worcestershire’s Steven Davies, who flew into South Africa as cover last week. England also have concerns over Stuart Broad, who has a torn buttock muscle. He went for a scan and appeared in discomfort while the team trained in Centurion. If he misses out it will probably mean a recall for Graham Onions, but the loss of Broad’s batting could allow Adil Rashid into the mix, especially given the spin-friendly conditions. Rashid may come into the permutations anyway as a replacement for Luke Wright.England (probable): 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Joe Denly, 3 Owais Shah, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Steven Davies (wk), 7 Luke Wright, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson.David Hussey has been called into the squad, but it would be asking a lot for him to play straight away. Australia are likely to retain the balance they used against Pakistan and will know what to expect from conditions.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Callum Ferguson, 6 Cameron White, 7 James Hopes, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Nathan Hauritz, 11 Peter Siddle.

Watch out for…

It was Graeme Swann who enabled England to save face in the home series when he took 5 for 28 at Chester-le-Street and this could be the match where he comes into his own in this event. So far England’s quicks have done the damage, but if the Australia-Pakistan match is any indication spin is going to play a key role. Swann relishes the battle and has had plenty of success in recent months while Australia continue to have a dodgy record against offspin.Brett Lee was outstanding during the series in England where he hit top speed and swung both the old and new ball. He will feel he has a hold over the English top order and provides Ricky Ponting with a strike weapon at any stage of the innings. Reverse swing was evident in the Pakistan match and if there’s one bowler capable of exploiting the movement it is Lee.

Pitch and conditions

England scored 323 on an excellent batting surface against South Africa, but the pitch for the previous game between Australia and Pakistan was a tough one for run-scoring. The thunderstorms have stayed away since the Australia-India game and the last thing a semi-final needs is rain.

Stats and trivia

• Just in case anyone forgot – because it was a long time ago – Australia beat England 6-1 in the series that finished two weeks ago.
• However, the last time these two met in a global semi-final England came out on top in the 2004 Champions Trophy, at Edgbaston, where the home side eased to a six-wicket win. Michael Vaughan believed that result laid the base for the following year’s Ashes victory
• Australia, though, can point to the last Champions Trophy, in India, when they cruised to a six-wicket victory in Jaipur during the qualifying stages. England produced one of their well-rehearsed batting collapses as they fell from 83 without loss to 169 all out.

Quotes

“England are playing some pretty good cricket of late, but we know their strengths and weaknesses and have been able to exploit them in the past. Now it is a matter of doing that again.”
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Division Two

Aggressive batting from the Derbyshire openers gave them a chance of a final-day push for victory against Middlesex at Uxbridge after Nick Compton’s fine century kept the home side afloat. A win is important to keep Derbyshire in the promotion race so Chris Rogers and Wayne Madsen wasted no time in building on a 48-run lead after Middlesex had declared at nine down and the lead closed on 244. Rogers and Madsen added 181 in 31 overs with Madsen moving to 89 to go alongside his 167 in the first effort. Middlesex had been indebted to Compton for keeping in touch with the visitors as he made 178. He and Gareth Berg (70) added 135 for the fifth wicket to stabilise the innings from 122 for 4. When Compton was bowled by Tim Groenewald, Middlesex were one short of a fourth batting point and Adam London came out with a broken finger. He hit his first ball for four before Shaun Udal declared.Gloucestershire’s promotion hopes have taken a blow as they face conceding a major deficit against Glamorgan in Cardiff. A number of batsmen made starts without capitalising and they closed on 251 for 7, still 159 runs behind. The innings made a rocky start at 13 for 2 then Kadeer Ali and Alex Gidman fell to Jim Allenby to leave Gloucestershire 111 for 5. James Franklin (66) and Stephen Adshead (48) staged a recovery as they added 90, but after seeing off the main bowlers fell to Mark Cosgrove and Jamie Dalrymple respectively. Glamorgan’s last pair of Robert Croft and Garnett Kruger had earlier managed to secure a fifth batting point.Mark Pettini, the Essex captain, attempted to breathe life into the match against Northamptonshire as he declared behind after his middle order had staged a fightback at Chelmsford. Essex are more desperate for a win than the visitors, so it will be down to them to bowl Northamptonshire out, and David Masters gave them hope with two early wickets. For much of the day, Northamptonshire were in control as Essex’s top order struggled. Alastair Cook laboured over a 23-ball duck before being caught in the gully and they were 21 for 3 when Tom Westley fell to David Lucas. Pettini and Matt Walker steadied the innings, but both fell to spin as Monty Panesar and Nicky Boje made inroads. However, the depth of Essex’s batting came to their aid as Ryan ten Doeschate hit 75 off 74 balls – his fifty taking 30 deliveries, with Boje twice going for 16 in an over – and Pettini declared after the second batting point. Masters then trapped Stephen Peters and Paul Harrison leg before, but a draw is still the favourite outcome. Northamptonshire won’t mind that.Kent secured the Division Two title when they reached 250 against Derbyshire and Mark Pennell watched the action at Canterbury.

Division One

Sussex were battling to stay on level terms against Yorkshire in their relegation fight at Hove. The visitors’ tail had performed impressively to lift them to 403 with David Wainwright ending unbeaten on 84 and Ajmal Shahzad making a career-best 88. Shahzad then starred with the ball, too, as he had Michael Yardy caught at midwicket for a stubborn 58 and trapped Carl Hopkinson lbw first ball to leave Sussex on 165 for 4, but Murray Goodwin and Rory Hamilton-Brown played well until the close. Yorkshire had begun on 274 for 7 after an even first day, but Sussex couldn’t break through as Shahzad and Wainwright took their eighth-wicket stand to 157 before Hamilton-Brown removed Shahzad. Although Azeem Rafiq went without scoring, Matthew Hoggard hung around long enough to take the total past 400. Sussex started well in reply, but Chris Nash fell to Wainwright after an opening stand of 68 and Joe Gatting – who hit ten fours in his 46 – was lbw to a full ball against Hoggard.Chris Benham’s 100, in just his fourth Championship match of the season, led a Hampshire recovery against Durham at the Rose Bowl as they aim to keep themselves out of the relegation dogfight, although two late wickets still left an outside chance of them needing to follow-on. Benham and Nic Pothas added 152 for the fifth wicket after the home side limped to 114 for 4 against Durham’s spinners. After an opening stand of 52 life got tricky for Hampshire when Ian Blackwell had Liam Dawson caught behind and then trapped Michael Lumb lbw for 6. Scott Borthwick, the young legspinner, then played his part as he removed James Vince for his maiden first-class wicket and soon added Jimmy Adams for 57. However, Benham and Pothas fought off a full-blown collapse and Benham reached his first hundred of the season. Borthwick, through, struck again late on when Benham was caught at slip and nightwatchman David Griffiths couldn’t survive against Liam Plunkett.Worcestershire made the most of another flat pitch at Taunton and Daryl Mitchell fell two short of a triple century against Somerset. John Ward watched the action.

Afghanistan’s impressive showing in their opening Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe XI in Mutare has given coach Kabir Khan a chance to hit back at critics who had said his team was fortunate to feature in the competition and were unprepared for the challenge.Wednesday’s draw against Zimbabwe followed an encouraging performance at April’s ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa. Afghanistan fell one win short of gaining a place at the 2011 World Cup but they secured ODI status. In Mutare, an authoritative performance helped them take nine points on account of their first-innings lead, compared to three for Zimbabwe.”Some people thought we may have been lucky to finish in the top 10 at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier and that it was a fluke, but I think that we are going to be one of the top teams in this tournament,” Kabir said. “People said that they thought we could only play one-day cricket and that we would be trying to hit every ball, but we have proved them wrong as well. We have answered a lot of critics and showed that we rightly qualified for this.”We are really pleased at how we did in our opening first-class game. I never expected that. Our warm-up matches in Kabul helped us a lot and we played very professionally here. It looked like we had been playing the game for a long time.”Kabir singled out Noor Ali for praise. Noor and Zimbabwe XI captain Tatenda Taibu scored a century in each innings of the match. “It was a great effort from Noor Ali and he was very professional in the way he batted. I hope the way he is playing he will score a lot of runs at this level,” Kabir said.Taibu was also impressed with the performance of Afghanistan and he said they were a lot better than he expected. “They batted very well in defence, but they could probably work on putting away the bad ball, as they missed out on some of the bad balls that we bowled,” Taibu said.The 26-year-old felt the Intercontinental Cup would help develop the game in Zimbabwe. “The competition is definitely good for our players as they get to play against different teams in different conditions,” Taibu said. “It is good for the up-and-coming players and it will put pressure on the players in the national team and create some competition for places.”I am always saying to myself, whether I am playing club cricket, first-class cricket or cricket for my country, that I should try and enjoy it, so it was a good thing for me to get away from the real pressure where everybody is looking at you… It was a good track for batting. They were one man down, as one of their bowlers got injured very early on in the game and we took advantage of that.”

The National Cricket Academy (NCA) lads today showed that they trulyhave come of age. Having lost openers Sridharan Sriram (8) and ShivSunder Das (12) cheaply, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh came to thewicket. And the two did not part till the job was all but done. At theend of the day, the NCA had 350/5 to their credit and had secured thevital first innings lead.At 21/2, Vasu Paranjpe, the coach of the NCA team must have been aworried man. Although Yuvraj Singh is a mighty clean striker of theball, one is never sure how long he will stay at the wicket. Today, hespent 160 minutes at the crease. That was enough to make a thumpingcentury. Although a tough catch was dropped at forward short leg whenhe was on 82, Yuvraj never really gave anything away. Playing withsupreme confidence, Yuvraj scattered the bowlers to all parts of thepark. Indian left arm spinner Sunil Joshi, flown in especially forthis match found himself at the end of a severe lashing. The Karnatakatweaker sent down just 8 overs, and that was slammed away for 36 runs.The highlight of that dual being a straight six that left not only thecricket field, but in all likelihood the neighbourhood as well.While Yuvraj was blazing away at one end, Mohammed Kaif was carving aplace out for himself at the other end. Playing with the solidity andtechnique that saw him tackle the South African quicks, Kaif, shut thedoor on anything the Indian Airlines bowlers sent at him. Whether itwas the mediumpace of Dodda Ganesh or the spin of Nikhil Chopra, Kaifhad no problems whatsoever. Tapping the ball neatly into the acres offree space, Kaif grafted his way to a well made 50.When Yuvraj Singh was on 93 there was a buzz around the ground. NikhilChopra was bowling to the lad, attempting to play on his nerves. Aclean swing later, Nikhil Chopra had his hands on his hips, as hewatched the ball sail over the ropes. From 99 to the three figuremark, Yuvraj cantered an easy run and waved his bat animatedly to thedressing room. He had taken the NCA well out of the woods with hisknock.After crossing his hundred, Yuvraj continued in the same vein,striking the ball cleanly. On 114 he flashed hard at a ball from DoddaGanesh well outside his off stump. Loud shouts for caught behindensued and the dreaded finger went up. The young man was notimpressed. Around the ground people concurred that the ball lookedlike it went past the outside edge. The one man who mattered however,thought it was out. Yuvraj Singh exchanged a few words, none of thempleasant I’m sure, with the Indian Airlines stumper Vijay Dahiya ashe made the long walk back to the pavilion. His spanking ton included14 shots that skidded across the turf to the fence and three cleanhits that cleared the ropes by a fair bit.Not distracted by the loss of his partner, Kaif took on the battlewith renewed concentration at 188/3. He found an able partner insouthpaw Gautam Gambhir. While Kaif stymied the bowlers at one end,Gambhir kept the scoreboard ticking over at the other end. Taking norisks, Gambhir moved swiftly on. When the loose ball was on offerhowever, he put it away efficiently. In no time, he had a half centuryto his name and the NCA XI had taken the crucial first innings lead.After the first innings lead was taken, there was very little to playfor. This might have had something to do with Kaif’s dismissal on 98.After playing carefully at a series of deliveries that came in to him,Kaif guided a ball leaving him straight to the hands of Murali Kartikat point. Kaif’s knock was an invaluable one in the scheme of things.With Yuvraj blazing away, the NCA desperately needed someone to keep acool head and play a long innings. Kaif did just that.Gambhir was trapped LBW earlier, and this brought Reetinder SinghSodhi (29) and Rakesh Dhruve (19) to the crease. The two managed tostay together till bad light called of play well before the scheduledclose.The fact that the Indian Airlines team had four bowlers who haveplayed for India and yet could not contain the colts from the NationalCricket Academy bodes well for Indian cricket. Sunil Joshi, MuraliKartik, Nikhil Chopra and Dodda Ganesh certainly had the ability to dobetter than concede 333 runs in a day. However, they never lookedinspired enough. Big names playing for corporate team just could notmatch up to youngsters trying to make a name for themselves. Havingtaken the first innings lead, the NCA XI are almost certain to make itto the finals of the Buchi Babu Invitation Tournament 2000. However,at the end of the second day’s play of this semifinal, it was cricketand not the NCA XI that was the biggest winner.

Partnership of the dayAndrew Strauss and Alastair Cook aren’t exactly known for their high-octane strokeplay, but as they blazed through the first two sessions at rate of four an over, Ashes records were scattered before them like pigeons from the outfield. By the time they were eventually separated on 196, they had surpassed Hobbs and Sutcliffe, no less, as England’s best opening partnership in an Ashes Test at Lord’s (182), and had posted the highest first-wicket stand in England since Colin Cowdrey and Peter Richardson at Trent Bridge in 1956 (204). Ominously, it was England’s best in any Ashes Test since Graham Gooch and Mike Atherton put together 213 at Adelaide in 1990-91. That series ended as a thumping 3-0 defeat.Delivery of the dayMitchell Johnson’s 59th of the innings, which pitched in line from over the wicket to the left-handed Cook, and thudded into the back patch of an overbalanced defensive shot. Funnily enough, Johnson nailed Cook in identical fashion on the penultimate day at Cardiff to set Australia up for their thwarted victory bid. There was no joy in his reaction this time, however. By the time he remembered to aim the ball at the stumps, Johnson had already leaked a whopping 67 runs. But at least the lesson sunk in quicklyReception of the dayAndrew Flintoff’s emergence from the pavilion, helmet in hand as is his wont, to lap up the warm acclaim of the Lord’s faithful, 24 hours after announcing his impending retirement. The crowd rose as one to welcome him to the crease, with England in more of a predicament than their scoreline of 317 for 5 would suggest. His nerves were allowed to settle with a second-ball leg-stump half-volley that he guided easily through midwicket, but before he could capitalise he was gone, caught by Ricky Ponting as Ben Hilfenhaus curled the old ball off his outside edge.Overstep of the dayA double-whammy of disappointment gave Strauss a let-off on 48. With Ben Hilfenhaus probing his off stump, England’s captain planted his front foot and snicked firmly through to Brad Haddin, who made all the ground he needed but could not scoop the opportunity six inches from the turf. It did not matter, however, because Hilfenhaus’s boot had crossed the front line by a few precious millimetres.Drop of the dayMike Hussey in the gully with Strauss on 105, and the score on 270 for 3. On the first morning at Cardiff last week, it was a Hussey special in the same position that removed Cook and sparked Australia’s bowlers in life. This time his fingertips could not extend far enough, and a loose slash from Strauss fizzed away through fine leg for four. To judge by what followed, had the captain fallen then, England really would have been in trouble.Dislocation of the dayAt first it appeared Nathan Hauritz had merely given Andrew Strauss a second life on 52, albeit to a very tough return chance. As the ball deflected away to the boundary’s edge, however, it quickly became apparent that the situation was much worse for Australia than just a let-off. Hauritz clasped his right hand in agony and signalled for help from the dressing-room, and the TV cameras zoomed in on the painful truth – the tip of his spinning finger had been bent completely in the wrong direction. Happily a trip to the quack revealed no break, and he returned to the field for an eventful final hour of the day.Soft dismissal of the dayPaul Collingwood saved the Cardiff Test by batting from his crease for five-and-three-quarter hours, and 245 balls. After that level of obduracy, it’s little wonder his feet were a bit itchy today. He was never quite able to settle into a changed role today, as his bat-face closed on a succession of over-ambitious nurdles into the leg-side, and eventually, in a moment reminiscent of Kevin Pietersen’s dismissal at Edgbaston last summer, he shuffled down the track and slapped the spinner Michael Clarke straight to mid-on for 16.Shy of the dayRicky Ponting had Strauss in his sights at the non-striker’s end when, with England’s captain on 96 and backing up urgently in a bid to reclaim the strike and reach his hundred, he failed to notice his opposite number hurtling towards the ball at mid-on. Belatedly Strauss dabbed his bat back towards the crease as a furious shy came in, and had the ball hit it could well have been curtains. But it did not, and instead it zipped fast and flat across the outfield, and away through third man for four overthrows. Ponting grinned wryly as well he might. It was that type of a dayKPism of the dayHis propensity for daft dismissals is becoming a bit of a running joke, but Pietersen so nearly gave his wicket away twice in consecutive balls before tea. First he played Hilfenhaus down into the crease off the back foot, and as the ball popped up towards his nose, it needed every ounce of his wavering self-control to resist the urge to pat the ball away with his gloved hand, not once, but twice. In the end the ball rolled safely into his pads and away from the stumps, but Hilfenhaus was not finished. His next delivery was a sharp and impressive bouncer. Pietersen flapped into a defensive/aggressive hook, and was incredibly lucky that his top-edge fell safely out of the keeper’s grasp.

Steve Harmison followed up his hostile performance for England Lions at Worcester on Wednesday by questioning the mental resolve of the Australian tourists, whom he believes are the least confident squad he has encountered in four Ashes campaigns.”This is my fourth time against Australia and the one thing I picked up on the day before the game is that they are not as brash and confident as they normally are,” Harmison told reporters at the close. “I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it is to do with the side gelling together or whether they don’t have the big players of recent years, and the confidence you get from that.”Harmison has himself suffered from crises of confidence in past Ashes series, notably at Lilac Hill on his maiden tour in 2002-03, when he bowled 16 wides including seven in his first over alone, and then at Brisbane in the first Test four years later, when his first delivery of the match landed in the hands of Andrew Flintoff at second slip.But at New Road on Wednesday, he rediscovered the pace, bounce and aggression that made him one of the stars of the 2005 campaign, as he picked up figures of 3 for 67 in 22 overs, and landed a glancing blow on the helmet of Australia’s young star, Phil Hughes, whom he later dismissed for 7.”They don’t seem to be the confident Australia I’ve known,” said Harmison. “I think there is only Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee who have played more Ashes Tests than myself in the two squads. There are things you pick up on like body language. I’ve seen a little chink there. It is understandable because there are not the players in their side from bygone years.”There is definitely something to work on for England and, if we can bat well, we have half a chance to win the Ashes back.”England’s selectors are set to announce the squad for the first Test on Sunday, and though Harmison himself admits he is unlikely to be involved from the start, his desperation to play for England again was apparent in his performance, and on Thursday morning he was understood to have had a long chat with the national selector, Geoff Miller.”They’ve seen I want to play and can cause Australia problems. It is up to them whether they want to pick me or not,” said Harmison. “I probably would not play at Cardiff. That would be a pleasant surprise. All the talk is of playing two spinners down there. But if the chance came, I would jump at it. I’d love to play. I’m desperate to play for England.”I couldn’t be disappointed about not being in the 16-man performance squad because the way England have bowled in recent Tests. I didn’t fit in. Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan have bowled well, and been the pick-out bowlers at the start of the summer, Ryan Sidebottom is fit, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are bowling well enough and Freddie [Flintoff] is back fit.”But I want to play for England – and the day I stop wanting to play for England is the day I tell them that I’ve had enough.