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Cricinfo staff05-Nov-2009The notion of a World Test Championship has been given further credence after representatives from the ICC Cricket Committee and the MCC World Cricket Committee met in Dubai to discuss the general landscape of the game, with specific reference to the place of Tests and ODIs in a broader context.The delegates present at the meeting included the current South Africa coach, Mickey Arthur, the leading umpire, Simon Taufel, and Tim May, the chief executive of FICA, and there was a general agreement that Test cricket must remain the pinnacle of the sport, and that a more meaningful context – such as some form of Test championship – would help raise interest in that format of the game.”It was a very productive and interesting meeting held in a good spirit of cooperation,” said Clive Lloyd, the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. “The MCC has some great cricketing minds on its committee, people with a huge amount to offer the game. And so do we at the ICC. It was fascinating to hear those views expressed in such a positive and engaging forum as this.”The findings of the meeting tally with an MCC survey, in which 1500 fans were polled in India, South Africa and New Zealand. More than 80% of Indian fans said that they were at least regular followers of Test cricket, but fans from all three countries believed that a World Test Championship would raise interest in the sport.A number of possible enhancements for Test cricket were discussed at the meeting, including the idea of day-night Tests, rebranding the concept of Test cricket, making the playing regulations more flexible from series to series while also remaining mindful of the long tradition of the game.The delegates also discussed the ODI format and how that needs to remain viable and popular. It was accepted that international cricket can and should sustain the three formats of Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals in the long term but that ODIs must redevelop their own identity with the balance between bat and ball improved.”I want to thank the ICC for the invitation to meet in this way,” said Tony Lewis, the MCC World Cricket Committee Chairman. “Some of the many things we at the MCC have worked on over the past 12 months – such as a Test match championship, umpire referrals and research into pink balls – we were able to share and express our opinions. It has been an excellent, rewarding workshop that has produced some good ideas.”The observations of this joint-meeting will be presented to the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee at its next meeting, which takes place in Dubai on 30 November and 1 October.Present at the meeting were:ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd (chairman), Mickey Arthur, Warren Deutrom, David Kendix, Tim May, David Richardson, Ravi Shastri, Simon Taufel, Mark TaylorMCC World Cricket Committee Tony Lewis (chairman), Geoffrey Boycott, Keith Bradshaw, Tony Dodemaide, Majid Khan, Shaun Pollock, Barry Richards, Michael Tissera, Courtney WalshAlso in attendance David Morgan (ICC president), Haroon Lorgat (ICC chief executive), John Stephenson (MCC assistant secretary) and Hugh Morris (England & Wales Cricket Board).

Mitchell Johnson has endured some tiring days in the field over the past 18 months

Brydon Coverdale at Adelaide Oval07-Dec-2009Mitchell Johnson has endured some tiring days in the field over the past 18 months. As the emerging leader in a bowling unit lacking experience, he has been asked to shoulder a heavy workload. The rewards have been a series win in South Africa and the title of ICC Cricketer of the Year; the downsides have included losses to India, South Africa and England, and questions over the attack’s ability to regularly bowl sides out.In Cardiff, Australia couldn’t knock over England’s tail and allowed the hosts to escape with a draw that helped define the series. In Perth, the bowlers failed to keep South Africa from chasing a near-world-record 414 and the visitors went on to win the series. In India, the attack toiled hard but couldn’t take 20 wickets in a Test until Nagpur, and even then Australia still lost the match. Johnson was a key part of the attack in all those games.Australia hoped their bowlers would have enough in the tank for a home series against the eighth-ranked West Indies and they did at the Gabba, where they were led by Ben Hilfenhaus. But on a fourth-day Adelaide pitch when Australia had hoped to be batting before stumps, West Indies applied themselves to reach 8 for 284. To make matters worse, the touring coach David Williams said his players had always believed Australia’s new-look bowling group could “be taken apart”.”From the very start we said that their attack is not very experienced,” Williams said. “We played poorly in Brisbane and their bowling was very, very good. In this game here we have showed a lot more application and commitment and the attack to me is one that can still be taken apart. It was evident today, apart from when the ball was swinging around a bit.”The perseverance of West Indies’ batsmen meant an exhausting day for Australia’s bowlers. Johnson sent down 17 overs in the three sessions and picked up 4 for 85, and after stumps he was physically and mentally drained. “I’m not feeling the freshest now but like I said … umm … I’ve just lost what I was going to say, sorry,” Johnson said. “It’s been a long day.”Part of the problem for Australia was that in addition to Hilfenhaus sitting out the game with a knee injury, Peter Siddle was only able to bowl eight overs due to hamstring tightness. Siddle stayed on the field but was used sparingly and the effective loss of one of the strike bowlers left Johnson and Doug Bollinger, as well as the spinners Nathan Hauritz and Marcus North, with plenty to do.”Sidds is an aggressive type of bowler and occasionally you saw that there might have been one or two that skidded through or kept low, but definitely when you have a bowler like that not being able to bowl it … puts an extra bit more work on the other bowlers,” Johnson said. “In the end we used two spinners so that worked as well.”The only problem was that neither of the slow bowlers, who operated in tandem for part of the day and sent down 41 overs between them, picked up a wicket. It was a stark contrast from the results achieved by the left-arm orthodox Sulieman Benn, who grabbed five wickets in Australia’s first innings.”They’re different style of bowlers,” Johnson said. “Benn’s a tall guy and gets a bit more bounce maybe than Hauritz and North. We bowled pretty good in patches and we had two spinners bowling at one stage and going pretty well. I think we did a fairly good job.”Only time will tell whether eight wickets on the fourth day will be enough for Australia. If not, they’ll be desperately hoping Hilfenhaus’ knee has improved in time for the third Test in Perth next week.

New Zealand might be the defending world champions but the trans-Tasman Rose Bowl is still out of their grasp after their six-wicket loss to Australia today at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University

Lynn McConnell25-Dec-2009New Zealand might be the defending world champions but the trans-Tasman Rose Bowl is still out of their grasp after their six-wicket loss to Australia today at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University.Today’s game combined the Rose Bowl and the last round of preliminary games in the World Series of Women’s Cricket and the Australians were able to achieve an unbeaten run through the tournament before the final on Saturday.From the moment New Zealand, who chose to bat first, lost Rebecca Rolls for one and Emily Drumm for eight, they were in strife.While Michelle Lynch (28), Maia Lewis (43), Haidee Tiffen (28) and Aimee Mason (33) all got going with some sensible but, inevitably, catch-up runs, the early losses, and then the loss of the last five wickets for nine runs in the space of 14 balls meant New Zealand’s 174 was hardly going to be competitive.It was Cathryn Fitzpatrick, the most prolific wicket-taker of the women’s cricket world who claimed the third five-wicket bag of her career, and the first against New Zealand, and Emma Twining, who achieved the best figures of her brief career with three for 31, who took control of the game.Fitzpatrick claimed both Rolls, leg before wicket, and Drumm, caught at gully and then sat back while other bowlers did their work in maintaining the pressure on the middle-order before coming back to more than pick off the crumbs at the end.Then it was the Belinda Clark-Lisa Sthalekar Show as they scored a record for the first wicket for the Australians against New Zealand of 125 before Clark was bowled for 67, scored off 87 balls, just three short of the 4000 run mark which has only been achieved by New Zealander Debbie Hockley in the past.Clark scored her 27th half century in One-Day Internationals off 68 balls while the pair brought up their 100-run stand off 126 balls in only 67 minutes.When Clark was out Sthalekar carried on and scored her third ODI 50, off 73 balls.New Zealand did have some satisfaction in removing Karen Rolton by virtue of a run out when she had scored 10 runs, although there was some concern that Rebecca Steele had knocked the wickets with her foot and removed a bail before taking off the remaining bail with the ball.Steele’s performance was one of the few points of satisfaction for New Zealand as the 18-year-old convert to left-arm spin bowling took two wickets for 29 runs in the first big test of her fledgling career.Clark said the Australians had set their sights on improving in every match they play in the competition and today had been the most solid performance they had strung together.While New Zealand was much more obviously trying to rebuild a side for the next World Cup, Australia too, had come to the tournament with three new players although Clark said Australia seemed to be able to fill holes in their side very quickly.Clark said she felt she was hitting the ball better than she was at the start of the tournament, and she had been guilty of throwing her wicket away a couple of times.Picking up Rolls and Drumm had been vital today, just as it was in their first round game and it was a clear sign that their strategy to both players was working.Clark said she felt Fitzpatrick had bowled as well in the last two years as she had at any other stage of her career.”And she has got such a good foil in Emma Twining,” she said.Clark thought the idea of a World Series had been a good one and it was a chance to play a lot of cricket over a period long enough to give everyone in the squad a game.”It is a terrific initiative and it is working well,” she said.Drumm said it had been very hard to build an innings when three top batsmen were out by the time 50 runs had been scored.”You can see two different teams out there,” she said.One team had great focus with pace and accuracy in their attack and one team that was trying to introduce people but who were not players capable of putting pressure on in the manner of the Australians.”We had very few options and their bowlers gave us nothing. There is a gulf in quality between the sides,” she said.The Australians were playing very good cricket and it was obvious they lifted themselves against New Zealand because when they played England and India they made mistakes that were never seen against New Zealand.”They are still beatable but we need to play to the top of our abilities to beat them,” she said.Drumm said the way the Australians batted at the start of their innings, the New Zealanders felt like bystanders for the first 10 overs.She did feel that Steele had been the find of the tournament for New Zealand and had done well in her first big test against the Australians.”She is a consistent bowler who varies her pace without bowling bad deliveries,” she said.

Mashrafe Mortaza’s departure for New Zealand has been delayed owing to a bout of fever

Cricinfo staff29-Jan-2010Mashrafe Mortaza’s departure for New Zealand has been delayed owing to a bout of fever. He was due to leave Dhaka this evening along with team-mates Shahadat Hossain, Mahmudullah and Aftab Ahmed to link up with the limited-overs squad.The Bangladesh Cricket Board did not confirm when Mortaza, who was recalled to the Bangladesh limited-overs squad after a seven-month lay-off, would depart.Mortaza underwent knee surgery after the tour of the West Indies last year and was forced to miss the home Tests against India and the tri-series, also featuring Sri Lanka. He was officially named captain before the team departed for the West Indies but since the first Test of that tour, when he suffered the injury, Shakib Al Hasan has led the team in his absence.The tour begins on February 3 with a one-off Twenty20, followed by three ODIs.

The IPL has tweaked the much-derided timeout system, with each team now able to call for a two-and-a-half minute break once any time during each innings

Cricinfo staff18-Feb-2010The IPL has tweaked the timeout system it introduced last season, with each team now able to call for a two-and-a-half minute break once any time during each innings. It is a more flexible system than in the previous year, when there was a seven-and-a-half minute break at the end of the 10th over of an innings.”The timeout will allow teams to confer amongst themselves at crucial time in the game as needed,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said on his Twitter feed. “It will help them re-strategise.”The previous timeout system had come in for criticism from several quarters, including Sachin Tendulkar, who said it hampered the momentum of a team in a Twenty20 match.On a day when Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne raised concerns about playing in the IPL this year during to security threats, Modi emphasised that the tournament’s organisers are working hard on ensuring players’ safety. “Security is always our top-most priority,” he said. “All our actions over the years have demonstrated that. We are working with all round the clock.”Security fears regarding the IPL have intensified over the past few days after a string of statements from the 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda’s operational arm in Pakistan, issued a warning to “the international community” not to send its representatives to major sports events being staged in India, including the IPL.

Paul Collingwood has been named England’s vice-captain for the tour of Bangladesh

Andrew Miller21-Feb-2010England’s coach, Andy Flower, has said that Alastair Cook must concentrate on being his own man as he prepares to lead the team on their tour of Bangladesh, which gets underway with a one-day warm-up against a BCB XI in Fatullah on Tuesday.Despite confirming that Paul Collingwood will serve as England’s official vice-captain for the five-week trip, Flower is adamant that Cook is sufficiently worldly-wise to shoulder the leadership burden without having to lean too heavily on his senior colleagues.”The most important thing for Alastair Cook is that he is quite clear in his own head how he wants to lead the side,” Flower told reporters prior to the team’s departure from Dubai. “Also, how will he deal with the eternal challenge for cricket captains, of leading a team while also making sure that your own game is in order, which is very important.”Following the decision to give Andrew Strauss a break ahead of the English season, Cook was named as England captain for a trip which includes three ODIs and two Tests. It was a move that met with considerable opposition, not least because Cook has not been entirely certain of his place in the side of late. He had been short of Test form until a timely run of scores in the recent series in South Africa, but he was 12th man in this week’s Twenty20 series in Dubai, and will lead England into next week’s three ODIs without having featured in a 50-over match since November 2008.”I think he’s content with his batting,” said Flower. “One of the healthy things about Cook is that he’s always looking to improve. He’s done some really good work with Graham Gooch, who he respects and I respect tremendously, and they’ve worked really well together. If you couple his slightly altered technique with the determination and ability to deal with pressure that he’s always had, you’ve got a strong package.”Flower added that he expected nothing less than victory in the five matches of the tour, but felt that the pressure to win straightaway would not faze Cook. “I shouldn’t think it will be playing on his mind at all,” he said. “He will have thought about both series, and talked about both series already, but it would be wrong to look that far ahead. As a sportsman, you control what you can control, and looking at the end result of a five-week tour is not the way to do with that.”Should injury or illness afflict Cook during the tour, Collingwood will now be the man who takes charge, despite admitting that he doesn’t want a full captaincy role again having found the job difficult during his time as one-day leader in 2007-08. He is nevertheless an experienced and level-headed figure to have alongside a young captain, and he has also been in impressive form through England’s recent overseas trips, beginning with the Champions Trophy and continuing on the tour of South Africa which concluded last month.”The last time Colly captained the one-dayers, it took a lot out of him, and he doesn’t want to put his name forward in a medium to long-term capacity for the captaincy,” said Flower. “But he knows this would only be a stop-gap measure. As he said [on Saturday], if someone gets injured he’s quite happy to step into the breach.”Flower added that Kevin Pietersen had also come into consideration for the role, despite some well-publicised differences of opinion between the two during Pietersen’s shortlived stint as captain in 2008. “We had to consider all options as possible leadership candidates, and he was one of them,” said Flower. “But in the end it was a simple cricketing decision.”Collingwood did a good job in the Twenty20s, and it does take a while to get up to speed as captain, so the more you get used to thinking in that way, the better,” said Flower. “With some of the Twenty20 cricket we’ve played with Colly captaining, he’s feeling more comfortable.”The fact that Pietersen’s run-scoring is so important for England may well have played a part in the management deciding not to burden him with the vice-captaincy. He showed a pleasing return to form in the 1-1 series against Pakistan with two impressive innings – an unbeaten 43 followed by a 40-ball 62 – after admitting he has found it tough since returning from injury.”Both his innings were superb innings,” said Flower. “The first in a more controlled fashion, certainly after he got himself in, playing second fiddle to [Eoin] Morgan which doesn’t happen very often. And yesterday it was the more dominant Pietersen we are more used to seeing. It was great to see him hitting the ball as cleanly as that and looking more confident and balanced at the crease.”The squad which gathered in Bangladesh on Sunday included an extra name in Craig Kieswetter, the Somerset wicketkeeper-batsman, who was added to the party following his impressive form for the Lions, with a view to a possible role in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April and May. Ajmal Shahzad, the Yorkshire paceman, who began his international career with two wickets in his first over against Pakistan, is also part of the group.”Kieswetter impressed everyone when playing against the national side the other day, and from chatting to the Performance Programme coaches and Lions coaches, he’s been very impressive,” said Flower. “The England selectors have been quietly watching him through the England summer, and he has performed well. He’s trained hard, he’s lost weight, he’s got stronger and fitter, and he’s shown in his performances the sort of hard-hitting capability that we need at the top of the order.”

A round-up of the preliminary quarter-final matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that took place on March 12

Cricinfo staff12-Mar-2010
ScorecardHalf-centuries by Pritam Debnath and Parvez Aziz helped Assam coast to a seven-wicket win over Railways in Indore. Chasing 156, Debnath and Aziz added 135 for the opening wicket to set up the win. Debnath scored 55 off 48 balls before he fell in the 16th over while Aziz top scored with 75, off 51 balls. Earlier, the Assam seam-bowling trio made early inroads, reducing Railways to 62 for 5. But a 73-run stand for the sixth wicket between Shreyas Khanolkar and Dhiran Salvi pushed Railways to a respectable score. Salvi remained unbeaten on 60, off 31 balls while Khanolkar fell three short of his fifty. In the end, the score of 155 wasn’t adequate as Assam coasted home. They will play Delhi in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
ScorecardA pair of forties by Rishi Dhawan and Hemant Dogra and a combined bowling effort helped Himachal Pradesh beat Jharkhand by 11 runs in the first preliminary quarter-final in Indore. Chasing 160, Jharkhand kept enough wickets in hand but couldn’t go past the finish line. After being put into bat, Dogra and Dhawan added 44 for the third wicket, before Dhawan and Vineet Indulkar added another 48 for the fourth. Yaju Krishanatry, the right-arm seamer, was the most effective bowler with 4 for 31. Jharkhand went at six an over in the first ten overs but couldn’t keep with the required rate. Rajiv Kumar and Shiv Gautam came together at the 17th over needing a further 55, but they fell short by 11 runs. Himachal will play Tamil Nadu in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

S Badrinath, the Chennai Super Kings batsman, said that despite the tough time in the league phase, his side never doubted that they would make the semi-finals

Cricinfo staff22-Apr-2010S Badrinath, the Chennai Super Kings batsman, said that despite the tough time in the league phase, his side never doubted that they would make the semi-finals.”To be honest, not even at one stage we really thought that we would not make the semi-finals. We were positive all through and it showed. We were really optimistic. That’s how it has been,” Badrinath told .At the halfway mark of the league stage, Chennai’s campaign was going downhill with just two wins from seven matches. They then turned around the formbook, winning five of their return games to enter the semis on net run-rate.”It has been a mixed bag for us. We have lost some games, won some, and also finished some games really well. We have won from unbelievable situations,” Badrinath said. “The journey has been with lots of ups and downs for us this season and it is good to be there among the top four in the end. We are playing some good cricket at the moment and hope to continue in the same manner.”With Matthew Hayden in poor form, and MS Dhoni missing in action in the middle stages with injury, Badrinath shouldered extra burden in the middle order. He did reasonably well, scoring 305 runs at an average of 33.88.”It has been a good season for me. The position where I bat, it is not easy to score fifties and hundreds, but [it is easier to get] 20s and 30s. But I feel I have done well at number four, finishing the game for my team and in the process got a couple of fifties too,” he said.Badrinath has for long carried the tag of Test specialist, and few expected him to succeed in the shortest format, but Chennai backed his abilities and he is thankful for the support. “I have always had the self belief. I felt that whatever you do people are going to be after you. I did not let it affect my game. I should also credit the team management of Chennai Super Kings who had faith in me and signed me up,” he said.Badrinath felt he had learnt a lot from his overseas team-mates, like Hayden and Michael Hussey. “It’s the longevity and the attitude they play with. If you are going to be a world-class player and how long you can sustain and the attitude.”I had a chat with Hussey while he was trying to break into the Australian side at an age when most are at peak. What was he thinking? He just said that he wanted to enjoy the game. You learn different thing every time and that is how you evolve as a player. That is what matters to me.”Badrinath’s transition from being a technically sound, but restricted player to an innovative batsman has been aided by his ability to play unorthodox strokes such as the scoop shot. “The scoop shot has been my strength. It is not easy to play as you have to use the pace of the ball. You have to practise it over the years. I worked a lot over it,” he said.Chennai have made the semi-finals in each edition of the IPL without going all the way, but Badrinath believes his side has a good chance this year. “It’s been the last match which has given us confidence as we have seen the ups and downs. We have become mentally tough. We have seen the pressure. It’s hard. We have a good chance to win this time.”

Both Dwayne Bravo, West Indies’ stand-in captain against Ireland, and
their matchwinner Darren Sammy believe the local fans can give the
team a vital edge during the World Twenty20

Andrew McGlashan at Providence Stadium01-May-2010Both Dwayne Bravo, West Indies’ stand-in captain against Ireland, and
their matchwinner Darren Sammy believe the local fans can give the
team a vital edge during the World Twenty20. An almost full house at
Providence watched the hosts recover from an uncertain position with
the bat to post a comfortable 70-run victory.The crowd swelled as the opening day of the tournament progressed and
by the time West Indies began their innings the stands were packed and
noisy. When the middle order fell away they feared a repeat of the
collapse that cost them the warm-up match against New Zealand, but
Sammy stepped forward with a 17-ball 30 before capping a fine
all-round display with four catches and figures of 3 for 8.”The home advantage will play an important part and once our fans get
behind us it really gets us going,” Bravo said. “They were a bit
disappointed during our warm-up game, but tonight showed we are a much
better team than we showed then. I know for the next game against
England there will be a bigger crowd still and it’s always important.
We can use that to our advantage.”Bravo was handed the captaincy at the last minute when Chris Gayle
withdrew with a muscle strain. For a while it looked to have
destabilised the team, but the home side were very impressive with the
ball and in the field as they overwhelmed their Associate opposition.”Obviously losing Chris at the beginning was a bit of a setback but I
think we regrouped well as a team,” Bravo said. “We knew how important
this game was for us to get off to a winning start. It was great to
see how we played and I’m sure a lot of people will be happy.”We got off to a good start, faltered in the middle and finished
strongly at the end and that’s the most important thing. Getting over
130 with their batting line-up and our bowling attack I would back my
team any day and I knew we were good enough to go and defend that
total.”There was a far more downbeat assessment from William Porterfield, the
Ireland captain, who was left knowing this was a chance to notch
another major scalp. Porterfield was caught at second slip off the
second ball of the innings as Ireland stumbled to 13 for 3 before a
short rain break and there was no way back for them.”It’s not just the fact we lost, but the way we lost especially with
the bat,” he said. “It’s pretty disappointing being bowled out for 68,
it doesn’t matter who you are playing against or what conditions were
like. You don’t have any excuses.”The way we bowled and fielded we were right in it after 20 overs so it’s
a massive missed opportunity. We were really struggling after the
first 10 balls losing three wickets and it set us right on the back
foot.”However, he was already looking ahead to Ireland’s next match against
England on Tuesday knowing there is still a chance that his team can
progress. “If West Indies pull off a result [against England] then it
comes down to a shoot out between ourselves and England to get into
the Super Eights so there’s still a massive amount to play for.”

Plays of the day from day five of the first Test between England and Bangladesh at at Lord’s

Andrew Miller at Lord's31-May-2010Catch of the day
England were a frustrated outfit in the first half-hour of play. With the ball hooping nicely under overcast skies, they believed that a breakthrough was only a matter of time, but with Shakib Al Hasan and Junaid Siddique getting into line to each and every delivery, the overs were ticking by and the vital shine on the new ball was being scuffed with every delivery. But then, at last, from what Michael Vaughan declared on air to be the “worst ball of the morning”, Steven Finn offered up a long-hop outside off stump, and Shakib cracked it fiercely out to point, where Eoin Morgan barely had time to react. The ball, however, popped up invitingly off the base of his palms and was snatched at the second attempt.Bowler of the day
Once again Steven Finn’s height, pace and accuracy proved to be an irresistible combination for a Bangladesh batting line-up that battled hard but lost wickets in clusters whenever their opponents got on a roll. In the first innings, Finn had come within a whisker of a five-wicket haul, only for James Anderson to sweep through the lower-order and deny him his place on the honours board. Second time around, however, Finn got the rewards for his endeavours with 5 for 87, and he might well have become the first England bowler since Ian Botham in 1978 to make his mark on the ten-wicket board, had his strange habit of falling over in his followthrough not persuaded Andrew Strauss to save his 6’7″ frame from self-harm. MCC were relieved that he did so – back in April, an online promotion had offered a full refund in the event of any bowler taking ten wickets, and Lord’s was looking at a £42,000 dent in their coffers had Finn claimed one more scalp.Aberration of the day
Perhaps Bangladesh already felt that the chance of the draw had gone, but the manner in which their innings ended was soft in the extreme. Mahmudullah, a man with a Test century to his name, had batted with aplomb for 48 deliveries, and with the No. 11, Robiul Islam, camped at the other end, he needed to see out five more balls to take his team through to lunch, a vital milestone in their bid for a rare Test draw. But when Tim Bresnan banged in a short ball, Mahmudullah couldn’t resist having an airy mow, and Matt Prior behind the stumps clung onto a thin top-edge. It meant that England were left with exactly two sessions in which to chase 160. Had the final pair been able to extend the target up towards 200, their bowlers might just have had a chance to exert some control.Image of the day
On a Bank Holiday Monday, with a wonderfully (and let’s be honest, unexpectedly) entertaining Test match heading into its decisive final day, the marketing folk at Lord’s came up with a masterstroke. By announcing that tickets for the final day would be £10 for adults and free for kids and OAPs, they lured the undecided masses out of their houses, with some 9200 people queuing for half a mile down the Wellington Road to gain entry. What is more, those that made the effort were rewarded with a rare treat, the chance to wander on the hallowed turf, no less, during the lunch break. It was speculated that this was the first occasion that the crowd had been invited onto the field during an ongoing Lord’s Test since play was interrupted by a bomb scare back in 1973. But in other parts of the world, including South Africa and New Zealand, such scenes are a regular and welcome feature of the Test experience. Let’s hope it sets a similar precedent here.Innings of the day
Despite making a healthy impression with the bat, Andrew Strauss hasn’t had the most enjoyable of returns to the helm. His captaincy seemed off the pace during Bangladesh’s spells of dominance with the bat, and it’s hard to escape the feeling that he regrets taking his hand off the tiller during an eventful start to 2010. But on the final afternoon, he enjoyed a bit of a release, wrapping up the Test with a free-flowing 82. The first ball of the innings, from Shahadat Hossain, was cut ruthlessly for four, and after 11 deliveries he was cruising on 20 not out. A century might just have been within reach as the end of the match drew nigh, but in his haste to seal the deal before tea, he snicked a thin edge to the keeper.Finale of the day
Strauss’s dismissal did at least give the crowd the chance to see a quick cameo from Kevin Pietersen, and he didn’t undersell the theatrics. After arriving to a standing ovation, KP was quickly into his stride, cracking consecutive boundaries through square leg and backward point, before striding forward into an exaggerated forward defensive, to loud “oohs” from the stands and a broad chuckle from Strauss on the balcony. A single stole the strike and brought the scores level, but a brilliant over from Shakib tied him to the crease and robbed him of the moment of glory. By rights, tea should have been taken at that point, but Billy Bowden rightly allowed common sense to prevail, and it was Jonathan Trott who whipped the winning boundary through midwicket.