On Friday Andrew Strauss became the first English batsman for 35 years to score a century in his maiden Test innings. “Strauss joins an elite quartet after composing historic score” read The Times headline, as the punsters of Fleet Street queued up to join him in a waltz.Not since John Hampshire hit a century against West Indies in 1969, also at Lord’s, has an English batsman reached the milestone in his first innings. Graham Thorpe, another left-hander, made an unbeaten 114 in the second innings of his debut Test, against Australia, in 1993.Hampshire, however, never came close to another century in the remainder of his eight-Test career. “Strauss’s innings was a lot better than mine because I was absolute crap”, he told The Mirror. “I nicked everything and I didn’t hit anything in the middle all through my innings. But I was proud of it, of course I was. I got my just desserts though, they left me out for the next Test. I had only played in the first place because they had injuries.” That aspect, at least, sounds familiar.Strauss looked nervous in the 90s, and took over 40 minutes to score the final 10 runs to reach his hundred. He was very lucky to survive an inside-edge off Chris Martin that actually clipped his off stump, and slashed a hard chance to gully when on 95. He finally drove Martin through the covers for his 12th four to reach a century off 199 balls.”The odds were in Strauss’s favour,” wrote Michael Henderson in the same newspaper. “The pitch was good and the bowling, all too frequently, was not. He plays for Middlesex so there was nothing unsettling about his presence on the game’s greatest stage, as there can be for others. Yet the runs still take some getting and he got them, somewhat methodically for some tastes but with no lack of conviction.”Strauss added 190 with Marcus Trescothick, his stand-in captain, against an attack that looked competent, but by no means dangerous. “Others have started well, including Ed Smith last season,” said Christopher Martin Jenkins, The Times’ chief cricket correspondent, “but not since Trescothick has it looked so abundantly clear that a Test batsman of substance has arrived for England.””And if England win this Test match, what about Trescothick?” wondered Martin Johnson in The Telegraph. “The stand-in captain has barely put a foot wrong here, which makes a change from critics of his batting complaining that he barely puts a foot anywhere. When Strauss makes a century the word “waltz” rarely fails to make it into the headline, but if Trescothick attempted an evening of waltzing, there would be a lengthy queue outside the chiropodist the following morning.”Strauss was not even in the original squad to play in the first Test atLord’s, but was handed his debut because of Michael Vaughan’s withdrawal through injury. His performance will now give the selectors and Vaughan, assuming he is fit, a lot to think about when picking the squad for the second Test.”Will the recently-mooted plan to move either himself or MarcusTrescothick down to No. 4 now be forced upon England?” asked Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail. “Will an extra batsman’s slot be needed to accommodate Nasser Hussain, who will now feel under even more pressure?””So the cat has been placed very firmly among the pigeons”, added Mike Selvey in The Guardian. “As Strauss was completing his hundred,Nasser Hussein had been watching from the team balcony and no doubt reading the runes. One reason not to change a side is a fear of the unknown. Now though, the pressure is on him, the most vulnerable of the England batsmen, to continue to prove himself.”The day did not belong only to Strauss. Chris Cairns is the closest thing New Zealand has produced to a superstar since the days of Martin Crowe, and Richard Hadlee before him. Had his career not been blighted by injury, he may even have surpassed their achievements. Against England on Friday he smashed 82 off just 47 balls, a rate of scoring not often achieved even in one-day matches.With his third six, Cairns surpassed Viv Richards’s record number of sixes in Test matches, and had another record, also held by Richards, well within his sights. Had he scored 18 off the next nine balls, he would have surpassed Richards’s record for the fastest Test hundred. It was not to be, however, as soon after hitting Andrew Flintoff into the stands past extra-cover, he skied the same bowler to Steve Harmison at fine leg.”Cricket has a few dull, earth-bound records, but this is not one of them,” said Tim de Lisle in The Times. “A six is more than just the most runs you can make from one shot. It is also the most damage you can do to a bowler’s self-esteem and it is the biggest thrill you can give a cricket crowd. When Cairns was batting, it was a different match.”Liam Brickhill is editorial assistant of Wisden Cricinfo.

As expected, England and Australia will contest the world’s first Twenty20 international next summer, as part of the 2005 Ashes tour. (The first by men, anyway. England’s women are playing one against New Zealand later this summer.) The match will take place at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl on June 13, as a curtain-raiser to the NatWest Series, which will also feature Bangladesh, whose maiden Test in England will start at Lord’s on May 26.The ten-match one-day NatWest Series will be followed a further three one-day fixtures, also against Australia, before the main event of the summer gets under way. The five-Test Ashes campaign starts at Lord’s on July 21, and, happily for the players involved, there will be plenty of breathing space between the matches.The second and third Tests at Edgbaston and Old Trafford will be back-to-back affairs, but the other games all have a ten-day break between them. With England and Australia set for their most evenly contested series in years, this should reduce the danger of player burnout.

npower Test series

May 26-30 1st Test v Bangladesh, Lord’s
June 3-7 2nd Test v Bangladesh, Chester-le-Street

NatWest Twenty20 International

June 13 v Australia, Rose Bowl

NatWest Series

June 16 England v Bangladesh, The Oval
June 18 Australia v Bangladesh, Cardiff
June 19 England v Australia, Bristol
June 21 England v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge (D/N)
June 23 England v Australia, Chester-le-Street (D/N)
June 25 Australia v Bangladesh, Old Trafford
June 26 England v Bangladesh, Headingley
June 28England v Australia, Edgbaston (D/N)
June 30 Australia v Bangladesh, Canterbury
July 2 Final, Lord’s

NatWest Challenge

July 7 v Australia, Headingley
July 10 v Australia, Lord’s
July 12 v Australia, The Oval

npower Test series

July 21-25 1st Test v Australia, Lord’s
August 4-8 2nd Test v Australia, Edgbaston
August 11-15 3rd Test v Australia, Old Trafford
August 25-29 4th Test v Australia, Trent Bridge
September 8-12 5th Test v Australia, The Oval

The rain came back to wreak havoc on the final day of play in the latest round of the County Championship. In the one match where the rain stayed away, a superb 156 not out from Andrew Symonds that carried Kent to 297 proved to be in vain, as time ran out and the game was declared a draw. Play began at 5.00 pm for Worcestershire against Surrey at Worcester, where Graham Thorpe guided the tail through some nervy final overs to secure a draw.In Division Two, no play at all was possible at Cardiff, where Glamorgan had reached 258 for 7 in reply to Durham’s 466, or at Derby, where an unbeaten 88 from Andy Flower had seen Essex bat smoothly to 222 for 3, and both games ended in draws. Hampshire moved to 259 for 8 against Yorkshire, picking up an extra batting point, before the heavens opened once again, and Leicestershire, who were docked 1.5 points for their slow over rate in the match, drew with Somerset at Taunton without a ball bowled on the final day.

Frizzell County Championship Division One

ScorecardDay 1: No play due to rain

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Day 1 report: Lewis mops up Sussex at a rainy Arundel – Wisden Cricinfo
Day 2 report: Mushtaq keeps Sussex in the game – Wisden Cricinfo
Day 3 report: Sussex slide to embarrassing defeat – Wisden Cricinfo

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Day 1 report: Rain prevents Surrey from pushing self-destruct button -The Times
Day 2 report: Surrey dazzled by the skill of Kabir – The Guardian
Day 3 report: Moore and Peters flay weak Surrey attack – The Independent

Scorecard
Day 1: No play due to rain
Day 2 report: Powell’s patience rewarded – The Daily Telegraph
Day 3 report: Warks pile on pressure points – The Guardian

Frizzell County Championship Division Two

Scorecard
Day 1 report: Tremlett makes his mark with early scalp of Wood – The Times
Day 2 report: Jaques gives Yorkshire acceleration – The Daily Telegraph
Day 3 report: Jaques raises Rose standard – The Guardian

Scorecard
Day 1: No play due to rain
Day 2 report: Glamorgan blown off course – The Western Mail
Day 3 report: Wharf and Thomas to the rescue – The Times

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Day 1: No play due to rain
Day 2 report: Derbyshire’s progress grinds slow – The Times
Day 3 report: Flower in full bloom – The Telegraph

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Day 1: No play due to rain
Day 2 report: Inspired Maddy fails to take full advantage – The Times
Day 3 report: Cleary does damage – The Telegraph

A volatile Sikh with a fast bowler’s temperament, and a willowy legspinner whose polio-crippled arm became a deadly weapon. Bishan Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar were the two most famous members of India’s all-conquering spin quartet of the 1970s, and a partnership of opposites whose very diversity made their union stronger.Bedi was a master of deception. He finished with a vast haul of 1560 first-class wickets, more than any other Indian bowler, and all of them were garnered with his stealthy array of flighted, loopy, spinning deliveries – some quick, some slow, all potent and beautifully delivered from the purest of bowling actions. His passion for the game was plain for all to see, and he made a bristling and bold captain as well.Chandrasekhar’s style could hardly have been more different. With a big bounding run-up and a whippy seam-bowler’s action, he would fizz topspinners, legbreaks and googlies at his bewildered prey, many of whom would be beaten for pace as much as guile. He was the master of the unplayable delivery, and as such, he became India’s greatest overseas matchwinner, with 42 wickets in five famous victories.Together, Chandrasekhar and Bedi gave India’s bowling a much needed cutting edge, and they are destined to be remembered as one of the finest partnerships to have graced the game.

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Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni cracked valuable centuries as India A thrashed Pakistan A by 121 runs at the Nairobi Gymkhana. With this victory, India A qualified for the final and will take on either Kenya or Pakistan A on August 21.The Pakistanis were to rue their decision of sending the Indians in as Gambhir and Dhoni flogged the bowling to all parts. Their 207-run stand, which came in just 32 overs, provided a solid base for the rest of the batsmen to work on. Gambhir smacked ten fours and three sixes in his 113-ball effort before falling while trying to increase the tempo. His effort won him the Man-of-the-Match award.Dhoni’s 120 came in 122 balls and it contained ten fours and two sixes. Along with Ramesh Powar, he put on 61 runs in rapid fashion and the two propelled India A past the 300 mark. Powar made 33 in just 19 balls. For the Pakistanis, Riaz Afridi, the opening bowler, had a forgettable day as he was smashed for 72 in his ten overs. However, his opening partner, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, came away unscathed amid the welter of run-making and finished with 4 for 44.The Pakistanis’ reply got off to a terrible start, with Shadab Kabir out for a first-ball duck. Amit Bhandari and Shib Shankar Paul, the medium-pacers, struck vital blows as the Pakistanis wilted under the pressure of chasing such a massive target. The match was all but over when they were reduced to 136 for 8, but Qaiser Abbas (58) and Mansoor Amjad delayed the inevitable with a 51-run stand. Pakistan A finally folded for 209, losing by a huge margin of 121 runs.Kenya face a must-win situation in their game against the Indians today. They suffered a setback to their chances when Maurice Odumbe was ruled out of the game due to a toe injury.

PCB Patron’s XI 353 for 5 v Zimbabweans
Scorecard

It was another day of frustration for Zimbabwe’s bowlers as a PCB Patron’s XI rattled up 353 for 5 at the close of the first day of the tour match at Lahore. On Tuesday, the Zimbabweans were flayed by a Chairman’s XI, conceding 398 runs for two wickets. This is a four-day match, and tomorrow is likely to see the Patron’s pile on the agony.The day started promisingly when the Zimbabweans won the toss, and got better when Edward Rainsford removed Faisal Athar in the first half hour. But thereafter it was men against boys. Bazid Khan, son of Majid Khan, and Naumanullah both scored half-centuries, and former Test batsman Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain, made 130 before becoming Graeme Cremer’s third wicket of the tour. Misbah cracked 12 fours and seven sixes in his innings.

Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan allrounder, will seek the opinion of biomechanics experts at the University of Western Australia with regard to his bowling action. Malik’s action had come under scrutiny in October and the matter was reported to the International Cricket Council.Malik sustained an injury to his right wrist on the current tour of Australia and didn’t play in the one-day game against the Chairman’s XI on Tuesday. As a result of the tendon strain, he was unable to take part in the team’s fielding sessions at the WACA on Monday.Malik’s bowling action had come under the scanner in October 2002 when he was reported by Simon Taufel and Jeff Crowe, the match referee. That led to a review, and remodelling, of his action before Malik was cleared to play.Under the existing procedures, Malik would have to work with human-movement specialists appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board before a full report is submitted to the ICC. However, Bob Woolmer felt that there was no serious problem with Malik’s action and that it could be remedied with advice from Bruce Elliott or Daryl Foster, two of the human-movement specialists an the University of Western Australia.”I know what the problem is,” Woolmer told . “I spoke to the biomechanics chap in England and he told me what the problem is and it’s very easy to sort out. No-one ever does it [bowl with a kink in the action] deliberately. It’s just something that happens within his action.”

Western Australia 512 (Campbell 144, Rogers 95, North 70, Wates 53) lead Queensland 2 for 195 by 317 runs
Scorecard

Ryan Campbell clattered 144 and took Western Australia to a mammoth 512 all out in their Pura Cup match against Queensland at the WACA ground in Perth. In response, Queensland totted up 2 for 195, thanks mainly to a quickfire 76 from Jimmy Maher.Campbell, the star of the day, was severe on all the bowlers and Nathan Hauritz, the recently-capped offspinner, came in for special tap, as he was hit for three sixes in one over. Brad Hogg (44) and Darren Wates (53) ensured that Campbell had good support and Western Australia breezed past 500.Campbell’s innings included eight sixes and included a century in a session: in the morning passage he rattled up 112. Campbell shared in a huge 184-run partnership for the eighth wicket, with Wates.When Queensland replied, they were able to post a healthy 2 for 195 at the end of the day. Maher, the Queensland captain, made an invaluable 76 at the top of the order before skying Hogg to Wates. Clinton Perren, the other opener, made 41 before dragging a Wates delivery back on to his stumps. After the fall of Maher’s wicket, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson consolidated to ensure that no further wickets were lost on the day.

ScorecardAn aggressive unbeaten 113 by Mahendra Dhoni put Jharkhand in command on the opening day of their encounter with Orissa at Jamshedpur. Orissa were dismissed for 110 after a six-wicket haul by Shekhar Rao, and 2 for 27 by Sumit Panda. Debasis Mohanty struck back at Jharkhand though, dismissing both openers for very little. From then on the bowlers had no answers to Dhoni’s boundary-filled batting, and Jharkhand raced to 147 for 2. Just how dominant was Dhoni today? Of the the 105 runs he put on with Rajiv Kumar for the third wicket, Kumar’s share was 15.
ScorecardHimachal Pradesh were poised to overtake Jammu and Kashmir’s inadequate first-innings score of 93 and take complete control of the game at Dharamasala. Himachal, at 85 for 2, were led by Sandeep Sharma, who made 46 before Abid Nabi bowled him, while Sangram Singh remained unbeaten on 23. Earlier, Vishal Bhatia dismissed four lower-order batsmen, as Jammu and Kashmir lost their last five wickets for seven runs.
ScorecardSandip Maniar picked up his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to help Saurashtra bundle Kerala out for 117 at Palakkad. Kerala then fought back to have their opponents at 146 for 6. Maniar struck on the fourth ball of the morning, and then picked wickets regularly, not allowing the batsmen to build on their starts. He ended with 6 for 55. But, like Kerala (1 for 2 and 37 for 3), Saurashtra too had a rocky start (34 for 3). However, a patient 45 by Sagar Jogiyani and a couple of 20s by middle-order batsmen helped them take the lead.
ScorecardHaryana were skittled for 154 by Vidarbha at Nagpur, but struck back hard to have their opponents reeling at 42 for 5. A few Haryana batsmen got off to starts but could not push on from there as the bowlers plugged away and picked wickets at regular intervals. The highest stand of the innings was the 54 that Shafiq Khan (18) and Deepak Joon (29) put on for the seventh wicket. When Vidarbha came out, a torrid reception was in store. Joginder Sharma and Sachin Rana shared five wickets to reduce them to 18 for 5. Only Amit Deshpande survived, scoring a defiant 24.
ScorecardRamaswamy Prasanna held Tripura together with an unbeaten 84 as they scraped to 182 for 7 at Agartala. Arun Sharma led the way for Services with 4 for 61, and had the batsmen in serious trouble at 98 for 6. But Rajib Dutta hung around, and added 47 with Prasanna before departing. Services were denied a further breakthrough because Tushar Saha, unbeaten on 14, added another 37 runs with Prasanna.
ScorecardAfter dismissing Goa for 198, Rajasthan made steady progress at Jaipur, reaching 43 without loss. Sumit Mathur notched up his best figures in first-class cricket with 6 for 40 to send Goa tumbling. Among his victims was Swapnil Asnodkar, the captain, who scored 59, and Amit Dani (38). By the end of the day Rajasthan were 155 runs behind, but with all their wickets intact.

Ricky Ponting has expressed his appreciation of the International Cricket Council’s efforts to root out illegal bowling actions from the game. Ponting made his comments after the match between Pakistan and West Indies in Brisbane, where Mohammad Hafeez was reported by the umpires and the match referee.According to , Ponting was happy that the ICC were no longer taking the soft option. “They’ve spent a lot of money on it, technology at different times to be able to I guess get a closer look at some of the suspect actions around the world,” he was quoted as saying. "It is good to see now that they are patrolling it very closely and I’m sure that anyone that’s outside those boundaries will be pulled up pretty quickly.”Ponting was also insistent that the ongoing wrangle with Cricket Australia over a pay deal wouldn’t result in his team losing focus. Cricket Australia has proposed a new payment scheme which has yet to be accepted by the players’ representatives.”Hopefully this whole thing can be sorted out, and obviously what we want is nice smooth negotiations to occur,” said Ponting. "It doesn’t look like that’s the way right now but it’s not always the way in any sort of business negotiations, so I’m sure it will sort itself out.”As I said, we as a player group have got other things to worry about, and that’s to perform well tomorrow.”