Clarke rules out pitch doctoring in Australia

Australia's captain Michael Clarke has insisted that England will not be greeted by doctored pitches when they arrive down under for the return Ashes series. This is despite his side's dire results over nine Test matches in India and England in 2013, where surfaces have without exception been made to order for the home team.

England's coach Andy Flower had argued, at times politely and others forcefully, for the dry, slow strips played on across the five Tests that reaped a 3-0 margin for the hosts. The England captain Alastair Cook said such tactics were all part of home advantage in a contemporary Test series.

In a dry summer the chosen pitches had forced a strong Australian pace attack to work hard for their wickets while also aiding the superior spin of Graeme Swann. Yet Clarke, having seen his team subjected to all manner of humiliations and now dropped to No. 5 on the world rankings for the first time since August 2011, did not submit to the view that Australia would need to be equally precise at home.

"I think we've had enough success in Australia how the wickets are, so I don't see any reason to doctor them," Clarke said. "I want to see good even wickets, a good contest between bat and ball. It's how I think you play your best cricket, that's how the people watching get to see some great cricket, so I'm confident if the wickets are how Australian wickets are and we play our best cricket, we'll have success.

"In my time as an Australian player I don't think I've ever seen an Australian wicket change too much. Generally you know what you're going to get, so I don't see any reason why they will change that. You want a good, even battle between bat and ball and spin will definitely play a part as the wickets deteriorate in Australia, because it's nice and hot. To me that's how you see some great cricket.

"At the end of the day that's a part of international cricket; you tour around the world and play in different conditions. You need to find a way to adapt. Unfortunately for us now in India and in the UK we haven't been able to have success so we've got to keep working hard."

As he drank in the realisation of his first Ashes series win as captain, Cook acknowledged that his team had sought every possible advantage, and would not begrudge Australia doing likewise. "Of course home advantage gives you that choice to try as much as you can to push things in your favour," he said. "That's why its Test cricket, that's why it's home advantage and one of the beauties of Test cricket is you have to test yourself in different conditions.

"So when we get to Australia it'll be similar I imagine to 2010-11, those pitches which they will try to have suit them as well, but we've got some good memories of what happened there last time, and a lot of the similar players are there as well."

The captains' contrasting attitudes to the overseeing of home pitch preparation is in line with a wider theme. Australia prefer to play a more romantic, aggressive brand of the game, even if they have repeatedly tripped over in the pursuit of their ideal. But England are unapologetic about thinking negatively at times, reasoning that to push an opponent further from victory is to pull themselves closer to it.

"Australia should be credited a little bit for the way they've set the game up," Cook said of a dramatic final day at The Oval. "But at the beginning of the day we knew we had to make it as difficult as we could for Australia to push home what they were trying to do. We knew they were going to push for the win, and the harder we made it the easier it would've been for us to win, and that was proven."

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Taylor stars with bat and gloves

England 204 for 5 (Knight 69, Taylor 64) beat Australia 203 for 4 (Lanning 64) by five wickets
Scorecard

England took the lead in the women's Ashes series, and secured the one-day prize, with an expertly paced run chase at Hove. Needing 204 in 36 overs, in a match reduced due to a wet outfield, they eased home with 16 balls to spare after a second-wicket stand of 126 in 18 overs between Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor broke the back of the target.

Taylor, who struck 64 off 59 balls, enjoyed a fabulous all-round match having earlier pulled off a stunning piece of glovework to remove Jodie Fields who played a reverse sweep which was caught by Taylor as she anticipated the shot and dived full-length to her right.

Taylor said: "I couldn't believe that ball stuck in my glove, I saw it coming and just dived to stop it and get something on it and it just stuck, I think that's got to be the best catch of my career so far."

Charlotte Edwards fell early in the chase, driving to short cover, by Knight and Taylor were soon up with the required rate. The pair used swift footwork against the spinners and weren't afraid to hit the ball over the top. Their stand was a record second-wicket effort for England against Australia.

The pursuit wobbled briefly as three wickets fell for 29 but Lydia Greenway and Natalie Sciver added 33 to take England to the brink of victory and two more points.

"We spoke about being positive from ball one and with targets like that you've got to put the ball away if it's in your area," Taylor said. "It was brilliant to bat out there with Heather and to contribute to the win."

Australia's innings had initially been anchored by Meg Lanning's 69-ball 64 but at 126 for 4 was threatening to lose its way. Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell added 77 in 10 overs for the fifth wicket to lift them over 200, but it still did not prove enough.

The Ashes series, played across all three formats, now moves into the final phase with three Twenty20s

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Adventure almost vindicated for gambler Clarke

A few more runs on the board more quickly and a few more overs to bowl England out and Australia might almost have had a sniff of victory at The Oval

There are times when conservatism kicks in naturally. For Michael Clarke, that time arrived late on the final day at The Oval. Later than it would have for Ricky Ponting, or Alastair Cook, or MS Dhoni. It came gradually. Fielders had been stationed around the bat when Nathan Lyon was bowling, men in close on both sides, a slip and a leg slip. Slowly but surely, as the wickets didn't come with the rush that he desired, Clarke moved his men back. And back. And back.

By the time Shane Watson came on for his first over of the match, the fours were flowing, Kevin Pietersen was nearing fifty, and the last hour was approaching. Five men went back to the boundary. Then six. No slips. For the first time in a long time, captain Clarke was playing not to win but to draw. Such an approach is not his default setting. If it was, he would not have set England a gettable target, he would have told his men to bat for safety and then reassess.

In Mohali in March, when India were chasing 133 in a minimum of 27 overs, Clarke pushed unsuccessfully for victory. He could have used delaying tactics, slowed his bowlers down, taken time over his fields. That he did not, that he moved the Australians through their overs quite normally led to a situation in which Australia actually bowled nine overs more than were required. It is just possible that they might otherwise have salvaged a draw.

But there, a draw was of no value to Australia, for the series would stay alive only with an Australian win. At The Oval, there was no such series to play for. The urn was gone. Parity could not be achieved. But still there were reasons for Clarke to gamble. His men had not experienced a Test victory since the first week of the year. They had suffered seven losses and one draw in that time. If there was any possibility of giving the team the chance to win, it was worth taking.

3-0, 4-0 does it make a difference? Not in any material sense. Clarke could have been the first Australian captain to lead his team to four defeats in an Ashes series without a win, but that is a manufactured statistic. Other Australian squads have lost Ashes contests 5-1 or 4-1. Others - as Clarke well knows - have lost three Ashes Tests by an innings at home. 3-0, 4-0, this was never going to plumb those depths.

And so it was no surprise that Clarke tried to manufacture a result, tried to force a match that looked like petering out to a draw into a new direction. He sent Watson out to open with David Warner, installed James Faulkner and Brad Haddin as pinch-hitters, and gave Ryan Harris and Mitchell Starc licence to attack. Not all of those moves paid off. With hindsight, perhaps Chris Rogers might have picked the gaps in the field more effectively than others who tried to clear it.

A few more runs on the board more quickly and a few more overs to bowl England out and Australia might almost have had a sniff. By giving England the lure of a 4-0 victory, they enticed enough shots to claim five England wickets. It is difficult to imagine most captains in Clarke's situation allowing the opposition such a chance. Dismissing a team in one session is a remarkable goal but that Australia attempted it in search of that elusive win was in many ways admirable.

It was also symptomatic of Australia's wider approach. Day in, day out, their Test batsmen play at balls they should leave, lack patience, and try to force things. And when that risk-taking behaviour fails, they are inclined to go for double or nothing, chase good money with bad, as gamblers call it. The pay-offs can be great but the losses crippling.

England and South Africa are not the world's best teams by accident. Often they play for safety first, victory second. England certainly did on a dour day three at The Oval. Clarke often talks about consistency; his men will become a better side if they can adopt a little of that mentality in their general approach to Test cricket. On a day like this, such an approach was of little value to Australia. Clarke's gamble was necessary at The Oval.

"That's the way I'd like to see cricket played," Clarke said after the near-loss. "I'd certainly like to lead the Australian team playing in that type of manner. I think we had nothing to lose, obviously 3-0 down. And to me, even if you're not 3-0 down you've got to try to do everything you can to win the Test match. There's obviously the risk of losing and that was there today as well, but I think it was what we had to try and do.

"One team is going to win and one team is going to lose. That's the way I've always played my cricket. I try to win every game. Today there was a risk we might lose but I'm not scared of that risk."

At least, not until Pietersen gets going. Then, even Clarke finds within himself an ounce of conservatism.

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Faulkner criticises England tactics

James Faulkner has learnt the Australian art of sledging the English. Even after only four days of his Test career. Even when he hasn't taken a Test wicket. Even at 3-0 down in an Ashes series. Not surprisingly, Faulkner is a favourite of Shane Warne, the man who captained him at the Melbourne Stars, promoted him as a Test cricketer and presented him with his baggy green on the first morning at The Oval.

"The way they batted yesterday, they chose to bat that way. If you're 3-0 up there's no reason why you shouldn't push and try to be 4-0 up," Faulkner said after the washed-out fourth day at The Oval, and following a third day on which England had scored 215 in 98 overs. "That's their choice ... I know the fans get a refund for their ticket today but maybe they should've for yesterday."

There is no question that Faulkner was selected in part to see what he could bring to Test cricket and to assess him ahead of the home Ashes, and because it was believed that he would add some toughness to a side that had perhaps been lacking it. In the Sheffield Shield, Faulkner is a wicket-taker - he has picked up 111 in his past three seasons - but he found it tough going on day three against England, who took only 29 runs from his 12 overs but offered no real chances.

"It didn't surprise me. Any time they feel threatened they sort of go in their shell and play pretty defensive cricket. That didn't really surprise me at all," Faulkner said of England's approach. "I think when they come to Australia it's going to be played on our terms and I think they'll be in for a hell of a challenge back home."

Whether Faulkner is part of that home series remains to be seen. Graham Gooch, as England's batting coach, will have a major role in preparing his batsmen for the different challenges of an Ashes series in Australia, where the pitches are expected to have more bounce and carry. He said it was understandable Australia would be frustrated at the match situation but that England were comfortable with their position.

"The Australian fast bowlers have bowled exceptionally in the last two or three Tests and they've really put our top order under pressure," Gooch said. "Credit to them. Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle in particular have been exceptional. We'd have liked to be in a slightly different position, a more advanced position, but it didn't happen. It's not the end of the world. We're not frustrated, because we're the ones with three Test wins, they're the ones with nil Test wins.

"I don't think any team goes out there to bat slowly. Sometimes you find the conditions a little bit easier to score than others. We certainly would've liked to have scored quicker. But we want to compete every ball and play tight, and we didn't move the score along as we'd have liked. Sometimes that happens in Test cricket. Sometimes you score 300 in a day, sometimes it's a bit harder work."

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Naeem ton secures Bangladesh A win at last

Bangladesh A 324-6 (Naeem 121*, Raqibul 72) beat England Lions 319-7 (Balance 87, Vince 63, Al-Amin 3-70) by four wickets
Scorecard

Bangladesh A salvaged some pride from their disastrous tour, after they beat England Lions by four wickets in the third and final one-day game. Naeem Islam was the hero for the visitors, chaperoning the 320-run chase and getting an unbeaten century himself.

This was Bangladesh A's first win on tour, after they lost five matches to county sides and conceded the three-match one-day series to the Lions by losing the first two games.

Naeem's unbeaten 121 came off just 100 balls and was highlighted by 15 boundaries and two sixes. He was instrumental in maintaining a good run rate after Imrul Kayes and Raqibul Hasan added 58 for the second wicket. Raqibul, who chipped in with 72, and Naeem then added 104 for the third wicket. Naeem kept going, adding another 76 for the fifth wicket with Shamsur Rahman, and an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership worth 36 runs with Farhad Reza that eventually clinched the game.

The Lions bowlers didn't help matters, conceding 35 extras, of which 12 were no-balls. In the finishing stages, Ben Stokes bowled two beamers, and was promptly taken out of the attack by the umpires, Tymal Mills called on to finish the over. Stokes, however, was the most successful (albeit most expensive) bowler with 3 for 74.

The Lions' decision to bat first was again vindicated by their third successive 300-plus score in the series. Opener James Vince made 63 off 70 balls while Gary Ballance struck 87 off 102 balls with seven boundaries.

This time, however, their finishing wasn't as good as the last two games, with only James Taylor making 44 off 29 balls with three fours and two sixes. Al-Amin Hossain took 3 for 70 while Robiul Islam picked up two wickets for 60 runs.

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Lancs close in despite another Moeen ton

Worcestershire 287 and 166 for 5 (Moeen 101*) lead Lancashire 441 (Smith 84, Procter 76) by 12 runs
Scorecard

Lancashire look poised to take another step towards promotion from the Division Two, despite the best efforts of Worcestershire batsman Moeen Ali on day three at New Road.

The England Lions left-hander became the first batsman to score two hundreds in a match for Worcestershire for three years as they limped to 166 for 5, a slender lead of 12 after Lancashire had made 441 in their first innings. With one day of the match remaining, it would appear Worcestershire's hopes rest solely on Moeen's shoulders.

The home side were quickly in trouble, with Kyle Hogg having Matt Pardoe caught behind, while Lancashire captain Glen Chapple had his opposite number Daryl Mitchell lbw inside the first eight overs.

Moeen shrugged off the double blow and looked a class apart as he accelerated to a half-century while taking 18 runs from an over by rookie offspinner Arron Lilley. Although more conservative at the beginning of his second 50, he picked up the tempo again in reaching the close on 101 not out with 11 fours and three sixes from 142 balls.

Thilan Samaraweera, Tom Fell and Ross Whiteley gave him some support but further wickets for Tom Smith, Chapple and Lilley edged Lancashire closer to a seventh win in 12 games.

Earlier they secured maximum batting points for the first time in the campaign as Smith brought his injury-hit season to life with 84 from 125 balls and Luke Procter reeled off a fourth consecutive half-century. Worcestershire's bowlers failed to maintain any level of intensity when Smith and Procter added 136 in 35 overs.

It proved to be no advantage at all when Simon Katich, having raced to a century in 86 balls on the previous afternoon, steered Jack Shantry's first delivery of the day straight to Samaraweera at gully. With the Australian gone for 105, there was not much between the teams on the scoreboard but the game quickly ran away from Worcestershire as Smith, in particular, found his range against some wayward bowling.

The allrounder's first half-century of the summer came up in only 75 balls and by lunch Lancashire were in the driving seat with a lead of 116. Procter's rich run of form took him to 76 before a miscontrolled shot off his legs sparked a quick wrap-up with the new ball, Alan Richardson and Graeme Cessford taking the last four wickets in 45 minutes after lunch.

Shantry did well to hold a low chance from Procter at wide mid-on off Richardson and wicketkeeper Ben Cox picked up three catches, the best when he stretched to his right to reach Smith's leg-side deflection off Cessford (4 for 73).

Richardson had to bowl 33 overs - twice as many as Cessford - for a return of 4 for 102 which put him on 49 Championship wickets for the season.

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Dhaka League set for 'players by choice' transfer

The Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League's lottery-based player transfer will be held on Sunday. The complex method devised by the BCB is called "players by choice", and will end a six-month wait for Bangladesh's professional cricketers who can now look forward to a September 3 start to the 2012-13 league.

The first-time system, however, is complicated, and some clubs are still confused about certain rules after a demonstration on Friday. It has been formulated after many of them demanded a level playing field, faced with exorbitant salary demands from the players. Each club will pay the players for one season, the period of their contract.

The 12 Premier League clubs will pick their choice of players from the 189 divided into seven categories - A+ (fixed salary of Tk 22 lakh), A (Tk 15 lakh), B+ (Tk 10 lakh), B (Tk 8 lakh), C (Tk 5 lakh), D (Tk 2.5 lakh) and E (Tk 1 lakh) [US$1 = 77 taka, 1 million = 10 lakh].

The clubs will first have to take part in a lottery to determine their calling number in each of the 15 rounds for categories A to E. In each round, the club which drew first in the lottery will have first choice of players. Each round will have a separate lottery.

For the topmost category, A+, the draw will see the interested clubs taking part only until the four players - Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain - are recruited. "For example, if six clubs take part in the A+ category's calling, two will miss out," said Jalal Yunus, chairman of the Dhaka metropolis cricket committee, the BCB sub-committee which runs the Dhaka leagues.

Once the top bracket is taken care of, the clubs will have to pick 11 players from the next five categories (A, B+, B, C and D). Each club can recruit a maximum of two players from category A, three from B+, four from B, three from C, four from D and four from E. At least one player has to be picked from category E.

Clubs won't be allowed to pass on their calls in categories A to D, but it is allowed for category E. The BCB didn't clarify if passing is allowed for category A+ players.

Listed players who are not called will be considered as "free", and can be registered by any club. The same is applicable for unlisted players.

The system is styled after the draft in American sports, except for a few details. Usually, the players in the Dhaka Premier League change club allegiances every year through an exchange which lasts two to three days. The BCB has confirmed this will be the only season when they will use the "players by choice" method, and from 2013-14, the transfer season will return to its normal ways.

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Root's sweep, Woakes' drive

Award of the day

Kevin Pietersen was awarded a silver bat by Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, on the out-field during the lunch interview to recognise his achievement of becoming England's leading run-scorer in the history of international cricket. It was another reminder of Pietersen's immense contribution to England's success over recent years and how far the team have come over the last 12 months: this time last year Pietersen was out of the side due for disciplinary reasons.

Review of the day

At Old Trafford, the Australians missed an opportunity to dismiss Pietersen when he walked down the pitch at Shane Watson and missed his attempted flick to leg. The appeal was turned down on field and Pietersen was so far out of his ground that the Australians declined to ask for a review. However, a minute later, a signal from the dressing room told Michael Clarke the decision would have been overturned on Hawk Eye's projection. So when at The Oval a similar appeal was turned down - Peter Siddle to Pietersen walking down the pitch - Clarke thought he would try his luck. Alas, on this occasion, Hawk Eye showed Pietersen had been hit outside the line of off stump and Kumar Dharmasena's decision stood.

Sweep of the day

There are English fans who wake up in the middle of the night sweating in a panic because they've just dreamt that England have decided to bring the sweep back. Over the last few years it is a shot that made even the most accomplished English batsmen look like a bloke they'd selected from the pub. Joe Root missed out on those times, he clearly doesn't know what sort of psychological torture a sweep shot can do to his nation. With England coasting on a dull pitch, Root played the sweep to Nathan Lyon, took the edge and ensured that the conventional sweep-shot dismissal is not dead in English cricket.

Start of the day

This has been a tough match for debutants. Quite apart from Simon Kerrigan's stage-fright, the new seamers on each side - Chris Woakes and James Faulkner - found little to encourage them in this desperately slow pitch. But, facing his first ball in Test cricket, Woakes drove Mitchell Starc beautifully for four through extra-cover - left knee on the floor, confident follow-through and the sweetest of timing - to underline the impression that he is a highly talented batsman who just might be able to forge a career at this level irrespective of his success as a bowler. He was the first England player to start his Test career with a boundary since Richard Johnson, the Somerset and Middlesex seamer, did so against Zimbabwe in Durham in 2003.

Gesture of the day

For the first time in a Test, the England team wore a charity logo on the collar of their shirts to raise awareness for Cricket United Day. The day saw the three biggest cricket charities in the UK - The Lord's Taverners, Chance to Shine and the PCA Benevolent Fund - join forces to help raise awareness and create a lasting legacy from the Ashes. Many spectators also wore blue to show their support and the charities soon ran out of the t-shirts they were selling to raise funds. The England players have signed their shirts and they will now be auctioned off for Cricket United.

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Ganguly to head Bengal's coaching committee

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has been named chairman of Bengal's cricket coaching committee. The committee's primary job will be to organise coaching camps in Bengal to develop the cricketers in the state.

Ganguly was previously head of Bengal's cricket development committee, which included former cricketers Ashok Malhotra and Arun Lal.

According to PTI, Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya said that that particular committee was unnecessary at the moment. "As of now there's no need of cricket development committee," Dalmiya said. "If need be, we will once again call the committee."

Malhotra will take over as coach of the Bengal senior team for the 2013-14 season, replacing former India batsman WV Raman, who had cut his term short last month citing family reasons.

Malhotra, a middle-order batsman, had played seven Tests and 20 ODIs between 1982 and 1986. He was prolific on the domestic scene for Bengal though, at one time the record holder for the most runs in the Ranji Trophy: 7274 at 52.49 with 18 hundreds. After retiring, Malhotra had a run as a Test selector.

Bengal had a poor last season in the Ranji Trophy, winning only one game in eight and losing four to finish seventh out of nine teams in Group A.

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