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Stuart MacGill claimed ten wickets for the match as Australia completed an impressive lead-up to Thursday’s third Test with a six-wicket victory over the University of West Indies XI in Barbados.Australia won with more than one session to spare, reaching 4-95 in its second innings after the University XI was bowled out for 162 with MacGill (5-45) completing his second five-wicket haul of the match.MacGill ensured he would be the first spinner picked for the Test at nearby Kensington Oval as Australian selectors decided on the most suitable attack with the return of spearhead Glenn McGrath.McGrath claimed 1-22, bowling 19 overs for the match in a solid workout before he returns to the Test arena for the first time this year as Australia tries to seal the series after winning the opening two Tests.Captain Steve Waugh was satisfied with the performance against a University XI clearly outclassed by the tourists, despite the presence of Test batsman Chris Gayle and former Test representatives Philo Wallace and Corey Collymore.The home team still threw some punches in the final session, claiming the wickets of Waugh (one), Andy Bichel (17), Martin Love (15) and Michael Clarke (47) as the Australians reshuffled their batting order.Clarke batted well but his procession towards a half-century in his maiden first-class appearance for Australia ended with a sharp stumping from the bowling of guest Kenyan spinner Collins Obuya (1-24).Brad Hogg was unbeaten on four, following his haul of 2-34 in the morning, but the left-arm wrist spinner is no certainty to retain his Test spot on Thursday as selectors consider MacGill as the support for a possible four-man pace attack.MacGill was on a hat-trick after removing Matthew Sinclair (one) and Obuya (0) with consecutive deliveries to continue his improving performances over the tour.The Australians will train on Wednesday at the University’s Cave Hill campus in their last major hitout before the Test

Lancashire will be confident of completing victory tomorrow after ending the third day in firm control of this match.They forced bottom of the table Essex to follow-on after gaining a first-innings lead of 187 runs and then captured three wickets to leave the home side still needing a further 77 runs to avoid an innings defeat.Victory would considerably ease Lancashire’s relegation worries and their cause today was assisted in chief by Glen Chapple who added two more wickets to his first innings haul of 4-71.Having dismissed Essex for 236, the visitors were given an immediate boost to their victory aspirations when Chapple removed Darren Robinson for a duck and then followed up by having Stephen Peters superbly caught low down at slip by Graham Lloyd for 3. That gave the red-haired pace bowler his 50th first-class wicket of the season and left the home side on a parlous 8-2 in the ninth over.A partnership of 68 between Paul Grayson and Stuart Law added some substance to a flagging innings but having reached 46, Law hooked Andrew Flintoff to deep fine leg where Joe Scuderi took a fine running catch to rekindle his side’s victory hopes. It was only the third time this season that Law had failed to score at least one half-century in a championship match.However Grayson continued in resolute manner showing studious defence to end the day 38 not out having batted for almost three hour to underpin his side’s 110-3 at the close.Earlier James Foster had offered dogged resistance in the Essex first innings batting resolutely for three hours to score 32. His eighth wicket serene partnership with Tim Mason produced 47 gritty runs in 26 overs and at one stage just two runs were added in nine overs.Foster batted throughout the morning session but was dismissed three overs after the interval when Lloyd clutched a difficult chance at slip before Peter Such joined Tim Mason for an invigorating last wicket stand of 47 in 15 overs that took their side to their only batting point when Mason struck Chris Schofield for his second boundary of his innings to bring up the 200. There was time for Such to sweep John Wood for 6 before the tail ender was fooled by Schofield’s wrong’un and was bowled for 21 offering no shot to leave Mason unbeaten on 41 and Essex asked to bat again.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu will look to captain Abhinav Mukund to give them a solid start•K Sivaraman

Where they finished last season
Runners-upBig Picture
Tamil Nadu began the last season not having made it to the knockouts for the last two years, without two big players in S Badrinath and KB Arun Karthik, were bottom-placed in their group after five matches and had regular captain R Prasanna ruled out for a few games with an injury. Then, like a switch had been flicked, new captain Abhinav Mukund, who has played five Tests, led a comeback that ended only when champions Karnataka proved too strong for them.”We hadn’t found ideal replacements [for Badrinath and Arun Karthik],” Abhinav said. “A lot of players were in their first seasons, or they were just trying to get their feet in first-class cricket, like [B] Indrajith or Vijay Shankar. But now, there are three of us in India A squad, a couple actually pushing for places [in the senior side].”Indrajith has been given a bigger responsibility as vice-captain, so, I think, with a mixture of Dinesh [Karthik] and Prasanna, and obviously Malolan [Rangarajan, offspinner] doing well with the ball, it’s definitely looking a lot more settled.”As bowling-coach-cum-player, former India bowler L Balaji provides the young and reinforced seam attack experience. Malolan will lead the spin attack, and Tamil Nadu will look to captain Abhinav, brothers Indrajith and Aparajith, and youngster Vijay Shankar to team up with the experienced Kathik and Prasanna for the runs.Players to watch out for
B Indrajith, 21 years old, is only into his third season of first-class cricket, but has already been made the vice-captain of the side. He scored 713 runs at an average of 44.56, including five fifties and a century in last year’s Ranji Trophy to finish third on the list of Tamil Nadu’s run-scorers.Over the last two seasons, Aswin Crist has emerged as one of the most promising pacers from Tamil Nadu. Abhinav called him the “quickest bowler in the team.” Crist finished with 15 wickets at 25.93 in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy, including four wickets in the semi-final against Maharashtra. At 21, he will be expected to lead the seam attack this time around.Coaching staff
Tamil Nadu have dispensed with WV Raman’s services, and have named M Sanjay, Raman’s assistant last year, coach. They have roped in RI Palani as cricket manager. Palani had played a similar, overarching role during the 2011-12 season, when they were finalists.The big news, however, is that of L Balaji being named bowling coach and player, if conditions suit his bowling.Preparation
Ahead of last season, Tamil Nadu had fitness and skill-training camps in Wayanad and Mumbai, but they have opted to train in Chennai this time. A major reason for that is the amount of cricket they have been playing in the build up to the Ranji Trophy. Apart from the highly competitive TNCA first-division league, most players have been playing in tournaments like the KSCA invitation, Buchi Babu and the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup. Aparajith, Shankar and Abhinav have turned out for India A matches.”I think we never had a problem with the lead-up,” Mukund said. “Chennai is known to have a very strong league structure. They are all playing a lot of games and there is no one short of match practice.”Team news
Left-arm seamer Prasanth Parameswaran has moved to Goa, while left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas hasn’t found a place in the squad for the first three games.Squad
Abhinav Mukund (capt), B Indrajith (vice-capt), Umashankar Sushil, B Aparajith, L Balaji, Bharath Shankar, DT Chandrasekar, Kaushik Gandhi, J Kousik, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ramaswamy Prasanna, M Mohammed, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil Shah, Vijay Shankar, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh.In their own words
“It [making the final last year] has changed the way a lot of people are looking at our team. Not only from the outside, but within ourselves we have got the inner belief that we can go on to do better things. The youngsters that have come in want to win, which is good.”

Madhya Pradesh

Aditya Shrivastava was a big positive for Madhya Pradesh last season•MPCA

Where they finished last season
Fourth in Group A with one win and six draws in eight matchesBig Picture
In their second match of the season last year, Madhya Pradesh took a 116-run, first-innings lead on a green top and put themselves in a comfortable place to notch up an early win. All they needed to do in the second innings was post a target to shut UP out of the game. Instead they crumbled for 63. Set a target of 180, UP’s lower order kept their nerve for the six-wicket win.For MP, it was the beginning of a pattern that repeated a few times through the season, against Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and most critically, in their final league match against Bengal, a draw which snuffed out their chances of a knock-out place.It’s a weakness that captain Devendra Bundela says the team will work hard towards this season. “At crucial times when we had to click we fell short by a bit,” Bundela said. “This season, however, we are confident of a good performance.”Like last season, much of the onus, particularly in the run-scoring department will rest on the shoulders of the 37-year-old Bundela, off-spinning allorunder Jalaj Saxena, Naman Ojha, who played India’s last Test, and Mohnish Mishra. The bowling department, led by Ishwar Pandey, has a few youngsters, and Bundela is keen for them to make an impression.The side for the first two matches – against Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – includes young medium-pacers Puneet Datey and Yogesh Rawat, who were impressive last season, left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (their second-highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2014-15) and 18-year-old medium-pacer Avesh Khan, who made his first-class debut last season after representing India Under-19s in the 2014 World Cup. Udit Birla, who did not play a first-class game for MP last season, has been picked for the first two games. The squad also features uncapped opening batsman Rajat Patidar and wicketkeeper-batsman Ankit Dane as the 16th man.Players to watch out for
In Jalaj Saxena, Bundela and N Ojha, MP can count some of the most established names in domestic cricket among their line-up. The focus this season, however, will be on their youngsters – some of whom made their debuts last season.Twenty-two-year-old Aditya Shrivastava notched up scores of 91, 108*, 0 and 151 in the four first-class innings of his maiden season, including knocks against Karnataka and Bengal. Datey, an allrounder playing his first full Ranji Trophy season after a debut in 2013, was the leading wicket-taker for the side with 31 scalps in 14 innings at an average of 21.83. Rawat, who played five matches, took 15 wickets including a five-for against Bengal that allowed MP to enforce a follow-on in a crucial game. Another impressive performer was Avesh, who also finished with 15 wickets in five matches. Shrivastava, along with Datey and Rawat, were the positives of last season for MP, according to Bundela. With some experience behind them, the bowlers will be crucial in helping MP shut out matches.Coaching staff
Harvinder Singh Sodhi (coach), Mayank Agarwal (trainer), Balasaheb Tate (physio)Preparation
The preparation for MP’s main squad and reserve pool has included matches in the Nimbalkar Trophy in Pune, a tournament organised by the Vidarbha Cricket Association and a pre-season camp of 20 players.Squad
Devendra Bundela (capt), Naman Ojha, Avesh Khan, Ankit Sharma, Udit Birla, Ankit Dane, Puneet Datey, Harpreet Singh, Mihir Hirwani, Mohnish Mishra, Ishwar Pandey, Rajat Patidar, Rameez Khan, Yogesh Rawat, Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Shrivastava.In their own words
“We have wicketkeeping back-ups for Naman Ojha in Ankit Dane and Zafar Ali. The season is also quite long now so we have developed a good bench strength of fast bowlers.”

Uttar Pradesh

Praveen Kumar takes charge of Uttar Pradesh•Getty Images

Where they finished last season
After starting the Ranji Trophy with a win over Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh went on to lose three of their remaining seven matches to finish seventh in Group A, just ahead of Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir.Big Picture
After making it to the quarter-finals in 2013-14, UP managed only two wins last season, just avoiding relegation. To add to that, none of their batsmen featured among the top 50 run-scorers and their leading wicket-taker, Praveen Kumar, was 45th overall.UP have had a stronger bowling unit in recent times than batting with Praveen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, RP Singh and Piyush Chawla. They will be without Bhuvneshwar for at least the duration of the South Africa ODIs and T20Is, leaving much of the responsibility on new captain Praveen and Chawla, since RP Singh has moved to Gujarat and Imtiaz Ahmed is not in the squad. So the challenge for the younger bowlers such as chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and medium-pacers Amit Mishra and Ankit Rajpoot will only get steeper.In the batting line-up, UP will bank on opener Tanmay Srivastava and the pressure will not cease for the inexperienced middle order – they relied a lot on Eklavya Dwivedi last time. They will be desperate for the return of Suresh Raina, who didn’t play a single Ranji match last year. This time he might be back in November, unless he gets a surprise call for the South Africa Tests.Players to watch
Sarfaraz Khan made his name in IPL 2015, after making numerous school records in Mumbai. Known for picking the gaps in the shorter formats with unorthodox shots, Sarfaraz’s main challenge will be to adapt to the four-day format. He was a part of the India squad for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. He was dropped by Mumbai last season, soon after his first-class debut, after scoring only 95 runs from three matches, but followed that with 111 runs at a strike rate of 156.33 in his maiden IPL season. How UP will use the teenager will be interesting to watch.Twenty-year-old chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav also made his first-class debut last season just after being named among the 2015 World Cup probables. With Chawla the lead spinner and Ali Murtaza not in the squad, Kuldeep could move up the ranks this time. He got only five matches last season and is known to bowl good lengths with control and variations under his belt, including the wrong ‘un. He impressed against Bangladesh A in the third one-dayer recently with figures of 6-0-29-2, taking the wickets of Mominul Haque and Liton Das.Coaching staff
UP have a new coach this season in Rizwan Shamshad, replacing Venkatesh Prasad. A former middle-order batsman, Shamshad played most of his 108 first-class matches for UP between 1990 and 2006, scoring over 7000 runs with 19 hundreds at an average of 46.Preparation
In the lead-up to the season, there has been much happening with the UP squad. Seventeen-year-old Sarfaraz Khan switched from Mumbai to UP and the experienced RP Singh left his native state to join Gujarat. And to weaken UP’s middle order further, Parvinder Singh made the switch to Tripura.Team news
UP have named three uncapped players this season – Almas Shaukat, Deependra Pandey and Israr Khan. Shaukat made his name as an opener at the Under-19 and Under-22 levels and Pandey is an offspinner. “We didn’t have an offspinner and other teams have left-hand batsmen so we thought that would pinch us earlier,” Praveen said of Pandey’s selection. Israr is a fast bowler Praveen is confident about. In addition, there are six players in the squad of 16 who have played under ten first-class matches each.Squad
Praveen Kumar (capt), Eklavya Dwivedi (vice-capt), Umang Sharma, Mohammad Saif, Tanmay Srivastava, Himanshu Asnora, Almas Shaukat, Sarfaraz Khan, Akshdeep Nath, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Israr Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Deependra Pandey, Ankit Rajpoot.In their own words
“The team is good, there are good fast bowlers and we have added some batsmen. There is a good mix of senior players and youth from Under-19 and Under-22 level, so it’s a good team. There was a good preparatory camp in Noida, we focussed on fitness.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s effort to host a home series received another jolt with the West Indies turning down an invitation to play a one-day series later in the year.After being rejected by Australia, India and Sri Lanka for security reasons and scheduling problems, the PCB has now been told by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that they can’t undertake a tour in August due to prior engagements.The PCB had invited West Indies and New Zealand to play a three-match ODI series in August to give its team some practice before the Champions Trophy in September. This would have also helped the PCB recover from the financial setback suffered due to the postponement of Australia’s tour in March. Bangladesh are currently in the country for a five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 international to cover for Australia’s pull-out.”Yes, the West Indies board has informed us that since they are already committed to play some games in Canada in August, they can’t accept our invitation,” Shafqat Nagmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, said. “We have sent a fresh invitation to New Zealand asking them to come and play a full five-match one-day series instead of three ODIs. We are awaiting a reply from them.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Mashrafe Mortaza played an innings that was as entertaining as it was invaluable as Bangladesh averted the follow-on, and potential disaster, after their top-order had made a mess of things. For a time it seemed that Bangladesh’s bungling might just make up for the loss of nearly two full days due to rain at Chittagong, but Mortaza’s spunk took them towards safety as they replied to India’s first-innings 387 with 238 and then had India at 44 for 2 with one day left to play.When the day began, half-an-hour late thanks to more rain, the task before Bangladesh should have been a relatively simple one. There was also encouraging news that Anil Kumble, suffering from high fever, would not bat and, more importantly, would be unlikely to bowl on the day. Bangladesh then furthered their cause by quickly getting rid of Zaheer Khan, and then Mahendra Singh Dhoni, forcing India to declare their innings on 387 for 8, having added just three to the overnight score.From there on, Bangladesh’s top-order needed only to bat sensibly to reach the 187 needed to avert the follow-on. But, as they have done often in the past, the leading lights chose the path of recklessness. Javed Omar can be spared the rod for he was unlucky to be given out lbw to a ball from Rudra Pratap Singh that appeared to have pitched outside leg, but the rest of the top-order have plenty to answer for.Habibul Bashar chopped hard at his second ball and managed a duck as the thick edge flew fast and straight to Sachin Tendulkar, who snatched a good reflex catch above his left shoulder at first slip. Bangladesh’s 20 for 2 was given a facelift by a 27-run third-wicket partnership between Shahriar Nafees and Rajin Saleh, but once again an error in judgment tripped the batting side up. Nafees (32) went hard at a full ball from Zaheer Khan and edged to slip, where Tendulkar took a catch tumbling to his left.Mohammad Ashraful, obviously eschewing his natural positive game, came out of his shell briefly and fatally, gliding a short, wide ball from Rudra Pratap that was slanting away from him towards gully. Dinesh Karthik leapt to his left and snapped up an athletic catch, leaving Bangladesh at 58 for 4. Suddenly the follow-on target did not seem so attainable.Saleh, who had been getting nicely behind the line of the ball and not attempting anything fancy, found a solid ally in Saqibul Hasan, making his debut. Saqibul was a bit more positive than his partner – striking consecutive square-drives off VRV Singh to the fence – but no less careful. It was finally an attempted defensive shot that did for him, as he stood on tip-toe and tried to keep out a climbing ball from VRV, only to see the ball head onto the stumps off the bat.When Saleh (41) fell, finding Sourav Ganguly at point off a cut shot to a wide ball that gave Ramesh Powar his first Test victim, and Khaled Mashud was given out lbw to a full ball from VRV that might just have brushed bat on the way to pad, Bangladesh were tottering at 122 for 7. Then came the first of two partnerships – both centred around the talismanic Mortaza – that changed the complexion of the game.Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique, both aggressive cricketers, and clearly people who have aninstinctive feel for reading a game of cricket, quickly realised that hanging about wasn’t going to see their team limp past the follow-on mark, even on a pitch that was still good for batting. They launched into some fearless, if occasionally chancy, hits, primarily targeting two areas – square of the wicket on the off side and straight down the ground – and added 27 at a run-a-ball. Just when it looked like they would, between them, take Bangladesh to safety, Rafique fell, smartlystumped overbalancing as he tried to heave Powar out of the ground.Mortaza found a surprisingly useful batting companion in Shahadat Hossain, who began slowly and carefully but opened up as the follow-on target neared, jamming two boundaries through point. Hossain provided half a chance just before the follow-on was averted, when Powar almost held on to a miscue at mid-on, but the matter was settled soon after. Hossain slashed Zaheer over slip and punched the air in delight as Bangladesh forced India to bat a second time in this Test. It mattered little that he fell soon after, bowled by a Tendulkar googly, for the 31 runs he made were crucial in a 77-run ninth-wicket partnership.Mortaza, buoyed by the fact that the follow-on had been averted, continued to stroke the ball freely, and was last dismissed, top-scoring with 79 from 91 balls with seven fours and three glorious sixes before being cleaned up by a full ball from VRV. Bangladesh had managed only 238, but it was enough to give them some breathing space.That breathing space then turned into cause for celebration as Wasim Jaffer completed a pair for the Test, skewing an awkward pull to mid-on off Shahadat, bringing Rahul Dravid out to the middle before a run was on the board for the second time in this Test. In the first dig, Dravid had immediately stamped his class, dominating the bowlers, but that was not to be late on Monday evening. He flicked Shahadat beautifully through on, and looked on in shock as Saleh leapt full length and plucked the ball out of the air one-handed at square-leg.At 6 for 2, leading only by 155, India momentarily found themselves in position of vulnerability, after dishing it out virtually all day. But Tendulkar, along with Karthik, ensured that no further damage was done as India rode out the day to end on 44 for 2, an overall lead of 193. One day remains, and if what has gone so far is any indication, it’s likely to be either really interesting, or one spent watching puddles form in the outfield.

Bangladesh have named a 15-man A squad for their tour of Zimbabwe which starts next month. Tushar Imran leads the party with Mushfiqur Rahim as his vice-captain.The tour runs from June 12 to July 10 and the squad includes Nafees Iqbal, who scored a memorable 141 against Australia on their recent tour. Internationals Tapash Baisya, Hasibul Hossain, Enamul Haque and Alok Kapali also make the trip.Rahim was the captain of Bangladesh at the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka and was recalled for one Test against Sri Lanka before again being left out.Squad Tushar Imran (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Alok Kapali, Nafees Iqbal Khan, Nazmus Sadat, Mehrab Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Forhad Reza, Abdur Razzak Raj, Enamul Haque, Mahmud Ullah Riad, Tapash Baishya, Hasibul Hossain, Shafaq Al Jabir, Mahbubul Alam

With five days to go before the deadline expires for all parties in the US cricket disputes to jointly resolve their disputes and present a mutually agreed team to the ICC for the Americas Under-19 and the Intercontinental Cup tournaments, Major League Cricket Inc (MLC) has stepped forward with an 11th-hour proposal ensure that a representative team from the USA will be allowed to participate in the Americas U-19 tournament in Canada in August 2005.In its letter addressed to the US Council of League Presidents (CLP) and the USA Cricket Association (USACA), MLC notes that “…in the likely event of these matters not being resolved by July 8, the question is what to do with all the U-19 cricketers in the USA who will be denied an opportunity to play with their peers in Canada.”To resolve the situation in a timely fashion, MLC is offering its services as a “temporary USA contact and coordinator” whose main function will be “to work with the CLP, USACA and all other US- based parties to come up with a representative U-19 team from the USA that will be acceptable to ICC and the Americas Under-19 tournament committee.”MLC states in its letter that its offer is being made “with full respect towards, and without prejudice to, any of the parties or issues involved in the USA cricket disputes.” The letter explicitly states that MLC is “fully prepared to relinquish its role as USA contact and coordinator …as soon as agreement is reached between all parties on an appropriate procedure for conducting [future] US team selections.” MLC says that “[it] is aware of the complex issues underlying all the disputes in US cricket, and would like nothing better than to see these matters resolved by direct dialogue and open communication.” Its offer is intended to keep US cricket in the international arena while the issues in US cricket are being resolved by all parties, and is intended in the spirit of US cricket.It would clearly be in the interests of both CLP and USACA to accept MLC’s offer, since it would allow them more time to work out their differences and still enable the U-19 youngsters from the USA to participate in their Americas tournament. How the ICC will react is not clear at this point, but if CLP and USACA do not have any objections to the MLC proposal, MLC’s offer would fall within the guidelines set down by Malcolm Speed and there is reason to hope that ICC will allow a USA team to play in the Americas U-19 tournament under these circumstances.

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.

The new-look South Africa team take another step forward in Chittagong on Thursday when the first Test against Bangladesh gets under way at the MA Aziz Stadium.The squad arrived in the bustling coastal city mid-morning on Wednesday and had a nervous wait for their playing kit and luggage that had been sent by road from Dhaka on Tuesday night.It was a mighty relieved Manager Goolam Rajah who welcomed the truck to the hotel just forty minutes before the team was to leave for training. “I was getting a little worried, we would have had to share kit with the Bangladeshis,” he joked.A journey that should not take more than seven hours had taken fifteen hours thanks to a mechanical failure in the truck.The first thing the team noticed upon arriving at the ground was the bare, rock-hard outfield. The pitch was not a lot different, devoid of any grass and baked hard. There are numerous cracks throughout the length of the strip and they could be hazardous for batsmen as the Test unfolds.It’s been 28 Tests since South Africa played two spinners. The last time was on August 6, 2000 in the third Test against Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo when Paul Adams and Nick Boje both played.The scenario is rather similar this time, Adams is back in harness having played in South Africa’s last Test, a convincing win over Pakistan at Newlands over New Year this year, and orthodox left-armer Robin Peterson is also in the mix.Should they both play then the decision will revolve around which of Andrew Hall, Alan Dawson and Charl Willoughby gets the nod as the third pace bowler.All three bring strong claims to be included. Hall showed in the ODI series that he has mastered bowling on these sluggish pitches and of course he is a seriously good lower-order batsman.Dawson took 11 wickets in the TVS Cup and was named Man of the Series. He has great control over pace and length and is the in-form man.Left-armer Willoughby brings extra pace and an ability to swing the ball late, however he has not played since the opening match of the triangular tournament where he endured a baptism of fire against the rampant Indian batsmen.Of course there is the option of playing one spinner and including two of the above three mentioned seamers, with the Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph to provide support to either Adams or Peterson.One thing is certain; there will be new caps.Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Nicky Boje and Nantie Hayward all played at Newlands in January, none are on this tour.Jacques Rudolph looks likely to make a long-awaited and richly-deserved Test debut, 33-year-old Dawson could be rewarded for his good form and Willoughby and Peterson are also on the brink of playing at Test level for the firsttime.Add to that Graeme Smith who will be leading his country for the first time in just his ninth Test match.One area that both teams will have no control over is the weather. Storms, called “nor’westers” in Bangladesh, have brought heavy rains and destructive winds to the country over the past week and more are predicted for the Chittagong area over the next four days.

After Sri Lanka ended the second day in the first Test of the threeTest series at the Galle International Stadium well on top, Sri Lankancaptain Sanath Jayasuriya declared it as a total team effort by hisside. "It was a good overall team effort. I am happy that we managedto bowl them out for less than 200. It was crucial to get them outbefore too long," said Jayasuriya."After getting the cream of the Indian batting out yesterday, wewanted to just to finish them off under 200 and the bowlers did justthat," remarked the Sri Lankan captain.Dilhara Fernando made life difficult for the Indian batsmen byfinishing with a five-wicket haul. Jayasuriya’s side in the recentpast has depended on Muralitharan a lot in the bowling department, buttoday Fernando rose to the occasion,"It was a grassy wicket and conditions were ideal for a bowler likeDilhara. So he made use of the conditions and things went on reallywell for us," said Jayasuriya.After the wonderful display in the field, the Sri Lankans had to batwell to end the day on top. Their batsmen did just that and Sri Lankaended gaining considerable advantage, "After the good performancewith the ball it was the responsibility of the batsmen to do well andI thought all of us batted well."Jayasuriya himself ended the day with a century and, analyzing theIndian bowling, he said, "Srinath bowled well in his first spell. Weknew we had to see him off in his initial burst and then when I was inthe middle I got a lot of width from both sides of the wicket and Ithought of making the most of the opportunities."Harbhajan Singh picked up the first Sri Lankan wicket but failed toput the brakes on the Sri Lankan batsmen despite bowling a marathonspell of 27 overs. "He’s a good bowler. You can’t underestimate him.He’s the type of bowler who can really turn the ball. More than himmaking any mistakes, I thought we handled him well," remarkedJayasuriya.Though Sri Lanka ended the day in a good position, Sri Lankan coach,Dav Whatmore cautioned his players. "You haven’t won a Test Matchuntil you have really won it. What we are trying to do is to get agood advantage and then try and extend that advantage. It’s a verytricky pitch and batting last on this track will be very difficult, sothere’s a lot to play for tomorrow."