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Victoria 113 and 2 for 73 trail Queensland 341 (Noffke 82, Nye 57, Wise 3-63, Denton 3-65) by 155 runs
Scorecard

Ashley Noffke continued his incredible all-round season with 82 but during the innings was struck down with a hamstring injury that left him unable to bowl in Victoria’s reply. Noffke had top scored in Queensland’s 341 and by the close the Bushrangers had reduced their deficit to 155, reaching 2 for 73 with Nick Jewell on 40 and Brad Hodge yet to score.The extent of the problem with Noffke’s right hamstring is still unclear but his batting bonanza virtually assured him of the Man-of-the-Match award after only two days, following his first-innings 6 for 33 as Victoria crumbled to 113. Noffke is now in the remarkable position of sitting second on this year’s Pura Cup wicket tally and fourth on the batting list, where only Simon Katich, Luke Pomersbach and Michael Di Venuto are ahead of him.He built an important 98-run partnership with Aaron Nye, who made 57, and then Chris Hartley (33) and the rest of the Queensland lower order continued to frustrate Victoria. Noffke missed the chance for his second century of the season when he was removed by Allan Wise, who had the best of the bowling figures for Victoria with 3 for 63.Jewell and Rob Quiney made a much more promising start than in the Bushrangers’ first innings, adding 73 for the first wicket. But Nye showed Noffke was not the only allrounder capable of hurting the visitors, removing Quiney (32) and the nightwatchman Gerard Denton from consecutive balls in the final over. Hodge survived the hat-trick delivery but there was not much else to celebrate for Victoria on another day of Noffke domination.

Three of Bermuda’s squad members who should have appeared in their side’s Stanford 20/20 campaign are facing lengthy bans after failing a drugs test.”If any athlete has tested positive with us we then send a portion of the specimen to the government lab for confirmation,” Cathy Belvedere, a spokesman for the Bermuda Council for Drug Free Sports, told newspaper. “And if it is confirmed positive they then get a one year infraction.”They can apply for the domestic application whereas they won’t be able to represent Bermuda during that year but can go back to playing gymnastics, football, cricket or whatever sport they are involved in,” Belvedere added. “They would also have to agree to some counselling, but that’s only if there’s a positive find.”Although the identity of the players is not yet known, it was confirmed that two of the trio represented Somerset – one of Bermuda’s domestic teams – while the other is “a prominent member” of St George’s, the domestic champions.”All of the players [in the national team] were tested, but unfortunately not everyone cleared the process which has policies in place that all national bodies must adhere to,” Reggie Pearman, president of the Bermuda Cricket Board, said. “All of the players knew what was required of them and what the consequences were.”

Freed from the constraints of his ECB contract, Nasser Hussain has launched his career as a Sky TV commentator with a stinging attack on the ICC for their handling of the Zimbabwe crisis. His words are sure to have an impact on his former team-mates’ decisions, when they are asked later this year to tour the country.Hussain, who resigned the one-day captaincy after last year’s World Cup before throwing in the towel completely two months’ later, has described the ICC’s actions during the World Cup as "diabolical", adding that it was “a low point for world cricket, the ICC and the ECB”.”I can’t see how any side, Test or one-day, could possibly go to Zimbabwe and play cricket now,” he said during an interview on Sky. “There are a multitude of reasons – from the moral down to the fact that you’re not playing against their best side. And that’s just about selection of their team, let alone everything else that’s going on behind the scenes in the country.”At the height of England’s World Cup crisis last year, Hussain had an angry confrontation with Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, whom he accused of "hanging his team out to dry". An apology was subsequently offered by the ECB, but without Hussain’s knowledge, which merely infuriated him even further.”People would come into our room and say ‘whatever happens you’re going to Zimbabwe, it doesn’t matter what’s happening or what you think, we’re taking you there’," said Hussain. "The way they went about it and their attitude since about the whole thing has been very poor. I think if you go round asking people in general about what they think about it, they would agree.”

The standoff between the Indian Premier League and the media over controversial guidelines for covering the inaugural tournament looks set to ease after a meeting between officials of both sides on Monday. The IPL has toned down some of its earlier restrictions, especially benefiting the print media, though it has not relaxed its ban on websites covering matches from the ground, nor its ban on news agencies supplying websites with images.It was also disclosed that the date for submitting accreditation forms would be extended beyond the original April 8 deadline.”We have successfully concluded with them [media representatives] the way forward and there are no issues on the table,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said after the meeting in Mumbai. “New media guidelines are being issued this evening, and will be published [on the IPL website].””It was two-way traffic at our discussions and it was a happy ending,” Pradeep Vijayakar, vice-president of the Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI), said.Barry Parker, South-East Asia bureau chief of Agence France Presse (AFP), told Cricinfo that he and the international media coalition that also includes AP and Getty Images are waiting for the written version of the new guidelines before they decide on their next step. Parker had earlier said the terms and conditions as existed “don’t allow us to cover the event.”The day’s bad news was reserved for websites, whose representatives will be granted accreditation for the tournament but not match tickets, enabling them to report on pre- and post-match activity but barring them from the press box during play. This, IPL officials said, is because the league wishes to protect the portal rights it has sold to an American firm.The other contentious clause that remains is preventing news agencies from selling their pictures to websites, who will have to source images from the IPL database. Modi said the IPL’s planned photo database would integrate resources that can take about 10,000 photographs on a single day at various venues.”That makes things difficult,” Parker commented. “There’s more than one issue as far as the AFP is concerned.”However, there was resolution on other major contentious issues, largely surrounding use of images. Contrary to the earlier guidelines, the IPL will not have the rights, free and without restrictions, to all photographs taken at the matches; and news organisations will not have to upload on the IPL site, within 24 hours, all images taken at the ground. The IPL has also allowed newspapers with their own web publication to upload six different pictures on their online photo galleries in addition to the pictures published in print.

The IPL also relaxed its limit of accreditations for each organisation – there will now be two accreditations each for reporters and photographers from any media house.”There has been a misunderstanding to a certain extent as far as the guidelines and there was no clarity on the guidelines,” Modi said.The original guidelines, published last week, had provoked widespread outrage in the media. The influential Editors’ Guild of India criticised the “prohibitive conditions” that it said were “unprecedented and unacceptable to the Indian media.”The SJFI had also issued a statement expressing “alarm and concern” over the IPL’s conditions and asked that the “unfair and unethical restrictions being placed on the media be withdrawn unconditionally”.

Cricket has a rare tradition of allowing players to judge those whopronounce verdicts on them. During the domestic season in India,captains of both teams, and the match referee, submit a report assessingthe umpires and expectedly, not all the comments are flattering. Theirreports of the 2003-04 season, a copy of which is available withWisden Cricinfo, make for remarkable reading.The most interesting case concerns the fourth round Ranji Trophy matchbetween Andhra Pradeshand Mumbai. Sairaj Bahutule, the Mumbai captain, was scathing in hisreport. In his report on the first day, he wrote, “It was a flat wicket. [The Umpire]did not have much work to do throughout the day but at the end of theday Mr. Gomes made very silly mistakes. This gives an impression that hecame under pressure . Bad judgment of light. After stopping the game,within 2 minutes [of] the time [that the] batsmen reached the boundary line theumpires asked them to start the game. I am surprised the light improvedin two minutes – what a judgment – 2 balls later he again stopped and welost a wicket. Such kind of umpires’ eyesight should be checked.”As the days progressed, the reports got worse. “I think this kind ofumpires are spoiling the games all over India,” wrote Bahutule.”Naturally the game is not going to improve. We understand that one canmake [a] mistake, but not [that] one does not know ABCD of the game.”I do not know whether my report is going to be considered, but Iam doing my duty as a captain to inform the board,” wrote Bahutule ofFrancis Gomes, one of the umpires standing in the match. “It is a pity,I have been playing for a long time and see many umpires on the fielddespite their getting bad reports.”But, in case you think the traffic was one-way, have a look at what theumpires report said of the players for the same game. “The behaviour ofMumbai players, particularly Sairaj Bahutule and Robin Morris, was veryrude. They used abusive language and advanced towards the opponents andumpires in aggressive manner. Chandra Kant Pundit [sic, Mumbai’s coach] shouted at thetop of his voice. The captain threatened to spoil the umpires report andgive zero mark.”And then the match referee weighed in with his comments. “At the end ofthe game I had received a complaint from the umpires. The attitude ofMumbai players was not up to the mark. For Ranji Champions they weretrying to pressurise the umpires unduly for getting first-innings leadin close match.” Close match? Mumbai made 504 for 6 declared and Andhraresponded with 298 all out. Does Rahul Sapru, the match referee,genuinely believe that is a close match?While this match drew the juiciest comments, there were several othersin a similar vein. Mandar Phadke, the Goa captain, had this to say in oneof his reports. “Three lbw decisions were not up to the mark. Thesedecisions showed the lack of knowledge of both umpires regarding [the] lbw law.Too many controversial decisions given. Mr. Choudhury has absolutely noknowledge regarding lbw rule. The knowledge of both umpires regardingdecision making is absolutely zero. Both umpires were not able to handlepressure. Such umpires should not be allowed to officiate in RanjiTrophy matches.”But it’s not just Ranji Trophy matches that have come under thescanner. Anil Kumble made his views quite clear when he filled out hisreport after leading India A in a Challenger Trophy match. “Poorstandard of umpiring in such an important and high profile tournament.”The umpires in question were Narendra Menon and SP Gupta. Sourav Gangulytoo did not mince words. “The umpires were too ordinary,” he wrote,after leading Rest of India in the Zal Irani Cup match against Mumbai.For international flavour there is the report filled out by Lanka deSilva, captain of the Sri Lanka A team which played against India A.Umpire BA Jamula was the man in question. “Fast bowler Lasith Malingawas warned “not to hit the batsman” when he was bowling. With all duerespect it is up to the batsman to avoid being hit, especially a middle-order batsman (40 not out). The umpire cannot ask the bowler not to hitthe batsman unless it is deliberately and continuous initimidatorybowling which it clearly was not.”How much weight these reports carry when it comes to postings umpiresreceive is not entirely clear. Umpire K Parthasarathi, for example,clearly did not think they meant much. During the Services v HimachalPradesh match he left the ground with 20 overs remaining in the day, andreturned in civvies, abandoning his shoes and umpire’s uniform. When oneof the players complained, he is alleged to have told them they couldreport the matter to the BCCI for all he cared.At the end of the year, the board has a thick file full of reports onumpires written out by players and match referees. If you speak to theumpires, they tell you that the captains report is simply a device bywhich captains let off steam and lash out at umpires for their own poorperformances. The players say it’s the only way they can complain abouta panel of umpires that is badly trained and worse motivated. The truthlies somewhere in between.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

The Indian cricket board has finally announced the itinerary for this winter’s home Test series against Australia and South Africa. A four-Test series is scheduled to begin against Australia at Bangalore on October 6, with further matches scheduled for Chennai, Nagpur and Mumbai. Kanpur and Kolkata will host the two Tests against South Africa in late November.India’s Test series against Australia is widely being billed as one of the showcase match-ups of the past decade. On their previous visit in 2000-01, Australia led 1-0 in the three-match series and had forced India to follow-on at Kolkata, when VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid turned the game – and the series – on its head with a wonderful 376-run partnership. Australia went on to lose 2-1, and have not won a series in India since 1969.The current evenness of the two teams was emphasised when they met again in Australia last winter for an eventful four-Test series that was drawn 1-1. The finale came at Sydney, where Steve Waugh bowed out as Australia’s captain, even though it had been his long-stated aim to be victorious on Indian soil.South Africa had been pencilled in for just a one-day series, because it had been feared there would be no time to complete a full tour. But in the end, they have opted for a two-Test stopover, with the one-day games deferred until next year.Australia tour
30 Sep – 2 Oct v Indian board president’s team, Hyderabad
6-10 Oct First Test, Bangalore
14-17 Oct Second Test, Madras
26-30 Oct Third Test, Nagpur
3-7 Nov Fourth Test, Bombay
South Africa tour
14-16 Nov v India A, Jaipur
20-24 Nov First Test, Kanpur
28 Nov – 2 Dec Second Test, Calcutta

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago Pakistan cricket was buoyant. Test and one-day whitewashes at home to Bangladesh had been followed by back-to-back wins over South Africa in the first two games of their five-match one-day series. Seven days – and three straight defeats – later, the all-too-familiar concerns and criticisms are back.The rumour-mill is in full swing. Stories have circulated that several players embarked on a late-night drinking binge hours before Sunday’s deciding ODI at Rawalpindi, which Pakistan lost by seven wickets; Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Malik were supposedly sighted at a fashion show late on Saturday evening; and Pakistan’s batting, which was often suspect against Bangladesh, was torn to shreds in the fourth and fifth ODIs and the subject of fierce media criticism.To add to the troubles Inzamam-ul-Haq, their new captain, tore a hamstring on Friday and is now doubtful for Friday’s first Test. “It was disappointing to lose three matches in a row and the series in this way,” he told reporters. “We were not expecting it to end this way. We need to now pay special attention to our batting and will need more experience for them.”Inzamam was cautiously defensive when asked about the presence of the two Shoaibs at the fashion show. “Our curfew timing is 11pm,” he explained. “I think they were back then but if anyone breaks the discipline, action will be taken against him.”With Yousuf Youhana another doubt for the first Test – again with a hamstring strain – in normal circumstances Rashid Latif would be favourite to regain the captaincy which he was stripped of last month – but he has publicly said that he intends to miss the two-Test series. That would put Younis Khan and Abdul Razzaq in the frame as likely stand-in skippers.

Scorecard

Another magnificent century by Jacques Kallis led South Africa to a dramatic four-wicket victory against West Indies at the Wanderers. After Chris Gayle helped his side to an impressive 304 for 2 with an unbeaten 152, South Africa sneaked home with only two balls to spare to take the series 3-1.The climatic ending was set-up by a wonderful penultimate over by Ravi Rampaul – in which he dismissed Kallis and conceded only one run. South Africa still required eight runs off the final six balls, but eased home, helped by some dreadful West Indian fielding. They will now fly home sick of the sight of Kallis, who hit six centuries against them on the tour.Kallis stroked 139 from 142 balls, his highest one-day score, including 11 fours and three sixes. His innings was an imperious mixture of orthodox strokes and savage blows, including one towering smack off Ryan Hurley, which landed 10 rows back beyond the longest boundary.Kallis paced the recovery to near perfection after West Indies were in the ascendancy, especially once Graeme Smith fell for an entertaining 58 off 60 balls. He was bowled trying to cut Gayle (133 for 2), ending a sprightly 102-run partnership with Kallis after the pair had come together following Herschelle Gibbs’s early exit (31 for 1). Boeta Dippenaar and Kallis were forced to consolidate and the required run rate rose towards eight an over.Yet the departure of Dippenaar, caught in the deep by Rampaul off Hurley (187 for 3), sparked a South African revival, led by Jacques Rudolph. He cracked three early boundaries and, crucially, was dropped on 20 by Merv Dillon at mid-off, from a Corey Collymore over that went for 12 runs.The tide was turning South Africa’s way and Kallis made hay, racing to a century – his 12th in one-dayers – off 115 balls. He accelerated further, heaping punishment on Hurley and Rampaul in particular, just as he had done to Collymore earlier in his innings. When Rudolph fell for 35, off only 28 balls, he and Kallis had put on 90 runs in little over ten overs (277 for 4).By then the required rate was down to a run a ball and victory was South Africa’s for the taking. However, a sensational catch by Brian Lara at midwicket dismissed Lance Klusener for only 4 (285 for 5), and two overs later Rampaul, who bowled well throughout, produced his marvellous late effort, during which Kallis holed out to Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the deep (296 for 6).

Gayle was charged with bowling the last over, only for his fielders to let him down. Shaun Pollock’s blast through the off-side should have yielded two runs at the very most, but Hurley comically slipped on the dewy surface and conceded a precious four. Next ball, Dillon contrived to turn a one into a two, allowing Pollock to smash a six over mid-off to clinch the match – and the series. All in all, as so often on the tour, West Indies’ fielding let them down when it mattered.Their loss was especially sickening for Gayle, who earlier lit the Wanderers up with his swash-buckling innings. He broke West Indies’ highest one-day individual score against South Africa, including 12 fours and three eye-catching sixes.Chanderpaul, who scored 85, offered deft support in a record-breaking opening stand of 193, before Ricardo Powell upped the ante in the last 10 overs, notching a searing 49 not out off only 24 balls.Lara would have been confident that a score of over 300 was enough to steal a draw in the series, especially after his comments that teams bowling second under the lights have an unfair advantage. However, rather than serving as a confidence booster ahead of the England series, this result capped a disappointing and ultimately forgetful tour.

As if his transformation into a national hero wasn’t enough to be getting on with, Andrew Flintoff has been appointed an honorary selector as he prepares to play his 50th Test in front of an adoring home crowd at Old Trafford.Flintoff’s allround heroics set up an excruciatingly tight two-run victory for England in the second Test at Edgbaston on Sunday, and now he is to be called upon to assess the conditions at Old Trafford before England decide on their final XI for tomorrow’s third Test.The temptation to name an unchanged side must be strong, but England are toying with the idea of giving a debut to the tall Hampshire seamer, Chris Tremlett, whose key attributes of bounce could play a part on a rock-hard Old Trafford pitch.”We just want to see the conditions and have a good long chat with Freddie [Flintoff],” Michael Vaughan told reporters on the eve of the match. “It’s his home ground. He knows the conditions better than most, certainly over the last year or so.”We haven’t played that much here so we are going to try to use his experience and see which is the best way to go,” added Vaughan, whose Yorkshire team-mate Matthew Hoggard would appear to be the most likely candidate to make way if Tremlett were to feature in this Test.”We want to have a look at the options of normal swing [Hoggard’s speciality], reverse swing, bounce [Tremlett], all the areas that you cover in a normal game of cricket. “We probably won’t decide until the last minute.”Flintoff’s Man-of-the-Match performance at Edgbaston included bowling figures of 7 for 131 and crucial innings of 68 and 73. “It’s difficult to say if there’s more to come from him,” said Vaughan. “He didn’t get five-for and he didn’t get a hundred. That’s the one area where he could get better, but it was an incredible game for the team and it was certainly a magnificent game for Freddie.”England’s latest victory was their first in a “live” Ashes Test since the opening match of the 1997 series, also at Edgbaston. “I always think momentum’s great but it can be difficult to deal with,” explained Vaughan, whose dream of becoming the first England captain in nine series to win the Ashes is still alive.”Everyone said Australia had the momentum going into Edgbaston, but for the first three days we dominated the game and it was only that last morning where they came back into it. You really do have to wipe the slate clean and make sure we go into this game fresh.”Vaughan’s concerns in the captaincy department are as nothing compared to his batting woes. He has scored just 32 runs in four innings, but was philosophical about his bad trot. “When you are playing well and getting a lot of runs that kind of form has to come to an end,” he said. “When you get a run of low scores that has to come to an end.”You can’t keep getting low scores. You work hard, keep doing the right things, and it will change in the middle, it has too,” added Vaughan who scored three hundreds in the last Ashes series, in Australia in 2002-03. “Sometimes you have to give credit to the bowlers. They’ve put all the batsmen under pressure.”

Day 3
Scorecard

A four-wicket burst by the legspinner Cullen Bailey orchestrated a lower-order collapse as Pakistan A conceded a first-innings lead of 79 on the third day of the Top End Series match against Australia A at Darwin. Mohammad Hafeez anchored the innings and fell 20 short of what would have been his first double-century in first-class cricket. Abdur Rehman, the left-arm spinner, took two wickets in successive overs late in the day as Australia finished at 2 for 57, with an overall lead of 136.Earlier, Hafeez and Shahid Yousuf continued their good work from yesterday and made the most of the drop-in pitch which favoured the batsmen. The pair added 78 before Yousuf was trapped leg before to the Australia offspinner Dan Cullen for 71. After captain Misbah-ul-Haq departed 13 overs later, Bazid Khan and Hafeez had a good partnership going till Mitchell Johnson got the prized scalp of Hafeez, caught behind by Brad Haddin. His knock included 19 fours and three sixes. Pakistan felt the pressure when Hasan Raza was dismissed soon after with the score at 5 for 353, but Bazid and Mohammad Salman restored some order with a 52-run partnership. Bazid reached his half century, but his dismissal, trapped leg before to Bailey, sparked the collapse. Bailey ran through the lower order, picking the last three wickets to fall and finished with figures of 4 for 71 as Pakistan finished with 431. Johnson had the next best figures of 3 or 93.Australia got off to a steady start in their second innings, with the openers Chris Rogers and Phil Jaques putting on 53. However, they were jolted by a double strike by Rehman, who first had Rogers caught by Rafatullah Mohmand. Mark Cosgrove didn’t last long, and was caught for two in the fag end of the day.