MELBOURNE, Dec 28 AAP – Australia dismissed England for 270 on day three of the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG, enforcing the follow-on.Resuming on 3-97 in reply to Australia’s 6(dec)-551, England slumped to be in grave danger of losing a fourth straight Test this Ashes series.Allrounder Craig White fought a lone battle, making 85 not out as Australian fast bowlers Glenn McGrath (1-41), Jason Gillespie (4-25) and Brett Lee (2-70) and leg spinner Stuart MacGill (2-108) got among the wickets.Gillespie was the pick of the bunch.Australia captain Steve Waugh also chipped in with a wicket, taking 1-13 from four overs.England’s day started badly when it lost 3-7 inside the first hour as nightwatchman Richard Dawson (six), captain Nasser Hussain (24), and Robert Key (nought) came and went quickly.Australia held a first innings lead of 281 runs.

A marathon innings of 75 from 276 balls by Joseph Yovich dominated the first day’s play between Northern Districts and Central Districts at WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton.However, the loss of three wickets in the last hour left CD ahead on points on a day which never got above second gear.It finished with ND 221/6, having won the toss.The pitch offered some movement early on, but with good pace and reliable bounce it is a good batting surface on which a first innings par score should be at least 300.In their last home State Championship game, lost to Wellington by one wicket, ND surrendered so many easy wickets that a white flag could have been flown over the changing room. Hence the emphasis on survival today.James Marshall and Matthew Hart weathered the new ball well, putting on 46 for the first wicket before Hart was caught by Mathew Sinclair at third slip off Lance Hamilton for 13.The appearance of Yovich at No 3 was a surprise. He had scored only 127 runs at 18.14 in this season’s State Championship before today. A resolute 51 not out against Auckland in the last round prompted ND to give him a chance higher up the order.Yovich scored 11 fours, but needs to develop the ability to move the score along with ones and twos in order to take the initiative away from the bowlers.Late in the day, CD were convinced that Yovich had been caught behind, but umpire Peter Wright ruled that the ball had come off the pad. That was the nearest Yovich came to losing his wicket in a remarkable display of concentration that met the terms of his job description completely.With Marshall, Yovich put on 67 for the second wicket. Marshall fell lbw to give Andrew Schwass his 31st wicket of the season.Michael Parlane would have been the man to increase the tempo from the other end while Yovich dug in, but he holed out to deep mid on for 13 off Glen Sulzberger.Hamish Marshall joined Yovich for a fourth wicket partnership of 72, but took the same attritional approach to batting.The off spinners Sulzberger and Campbell Furlong bowled a long spell in tandem, conceding less than two an over without looking threatening. Neither batsmen attempted to disrupt line and length by using their feet.With less than an hour to go it seemed that a secure platform had been built, ready for acceleration tomorrow, but everything changed when Hamilton returned with the new ball.The left-armer took three wickets for 10 runs in a six-over spell, finishing the day with four for 64 from 20 overs.Hamish Marshall was first to go, caught at third slip by Ben Smith for an 83-ball 35. Scott Styris followed, caught at third slip by Sinclair for four.Furlong completed the trio of slip catches, taking Grant Bradburn at the second attempt before the batsman had scored.Hamilton swung the ball and maintained an attacking length. Michael Mason also bowled well, at least a quarter of the 33 runs scored off his 20 overs coming off the edge. He was unlucky to finish wicketless.It is vital for ND that Yovich stays there to reach his maiden first-class hundred tomorrow and that the ND tail supports him well. Durability is an asset, but not an end in itself.The day was marked by the announcement that Simon Doull will be unavailable for selection for the rest of the season. Though he has not ruled out a return to one-day cricket next season, the tone of the press release suggested that this was the end of a most distinguished career for one of ND’s most loyal and effective players.A Doull cameo with the bat would have enlivened today’s proceedings no end.

Derbyshire CCC have today secured the signatures of Adrian Pierson as Club Coach on a one-year contract, and Pakistani international cricketer Shahid Afridi as replacement second overseas player for the period of April and May 2003.Afridi, an aggressive all round cricketer, has signed initially for the first two months of the season, given that Nathan Astle is presently contracted to Derbyshire between June and September 2003.However, Astle’s chances of joining up with the Club have been the subject of debate following his recent knee injury, and Derbyshire await a report from New Zealand Cricket before taking any further action on a potential replacement for Astle, or an extension of Afridi’s contract, should it be required."Being able to sign an exciting cricketer such as Shahid is a further boost to the Club, and evidence that high quality players want to join our promising squad,” said Derbyshire’s chief executive John Smedley.”As coach, Adrian Pierson will continue the good work as we seek to perform to a high standard in all competitions.”

The final practice session of the Pakistan cricket team for Sunday’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 match against Namibia will be held on Saturday at 1000 hours at the De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley.Pakistan captain Waqar Younis will later hold a pre-match press conference at the Stadium at approximately 1200 hours. All the journalists are invited to attend the press conference. There will also be an opportunity for vision and pictures during training (1030hrs – 1200hrs approx).Samiul Hasan
Media Manager
Pakistan Cricket Team
Mobile + 27 83 5065 828

Oh dear. A cricket-loving nation hangs it’s head in shame. On Monday, after a disgraceful and unacceptable performance, Sri Lankan cricket fanssurrendered whatever slender hopes they had of winning the 2003 World Cup.Sanath Jayasuriya’s side can still qualify for the semi-finals. Indeed, theymost probably will, assuming they beat Zimbabwe next Saturday.

They will have to pray that the Kenyans don’t pull off another shock win andthat the Black Caps don’t win their remaining games against India andAustralia.But even if they do qualify, they hardly deserve a place in the last four.Moreover, they can only dream of progressing further – Australia and Indiaare streets ahead.

Both Super Six matches have identified glaring shortcomings in the side,problems that the management and selectors have spent four long years tryingto solve. They will not be easily overcome – the future looks bleak.Currently, a quintet of senior players – Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya,Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas – are doing allthe work. The rest can muster only sporadic performances of note. It’s fiveagainst eleven and only individual brilliance is winning them matches.Sri Lanka’s mantra under Dav Whatmore has been teamwork but when yoursupport bowlers cant bowl straight and the rump of middle order struggle toreach double figures then you are in serious trouble.

Amidst all the carnage, Vaas and Murali took five for 80 in 20 overs – asuperb effort in the circumstances. The rest hemorrhaged seven runs per overand the fast bowlers – Prabath Nissanka and Dilhara Fernando – squanderedany potential advantage of bowling first.Jayasuriya defended his decision to bowl first, claiming it was the “rightdecision but the bowlers didn’t put the ball in the right areas” and therewas some truth in that assertion: India’s fast bowlers may have createdmayhem during the first hour when the ball showed a willingness tomisbehave.

Amongst some of the dross served up by the young Nissanka and frustratingFernando, there were a handful of deliveries that darted off the seam,providing some justification to Jayasuriya’s controversial punt.Nevertheless, Sri Lanka have shown themselves to be a better side battingfirst, primarily because the bowlers, particularly the spinners, are betterable to absorb the second innings pressure than an alarmingly fragile middleorder.The key to Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup triumph was the capacity of a powerfulbatting line-up to hunt down any target. Opponents were so fearful of theirbatting firepower that they bowled first even when not justified by theconditions. India paid a heavy penalty for that in the Eden Gardenssemi-final.But the current batting line-up is not in the same league. There is talentbut the form of Mahela Jayawardene (16 runs in eight games), Russel Arnoldand even Kumar Sangakkara, who may well be batting in the wrong position,has been dreadful.These were the players groomed after the 1999 World Cup debacle but on theevidence thus far Sri Lanka would have been better served to persuade RoshanMahanama to delay his autobiography “Retired Hurt” and Arjuna Ranatunga toswap his parliamentary robes for whites.

Indeed, had Ranatunga had been present then, at least, some of the tacticalblunders would have been avoided. Jayasuriya’s on field captaincy has beenthe source of ridicule throughout the tournament and the time has surelycome for him to concentrate on playing rather than leadership.Off the field, in the comfort of the dressing room, the decision-makingcannot escape criticism either. Why was Jehan Mubarak picked ahead of themore experienced, more destructive and stronger minded Avishka Gunawardene?Perhaps his fielding is appalling but the suspicion remains that he was kepton the sidelines because of a personality clash with Jayasuriya.And why was Mubarak then literally thrown to the wolves by being asked tobat at the pivotal number three slot in his first game of the tournament?Could not Sangakkara, who bats there effectively in Test cricket, be a saferbet?And why was the run-less Jayawardene shunted out to bat at number four inthe second over with the innings already in crisis? There could not havebeen a worse time for the 25-year-old to reclaim his form.

The decision to bowl first, at least, had a sound rationale; even it was amassive gamble that backfired spectacularly. The other blunders aredeserving of very serious review. Who is making these decisions and why?Whether Sri Lanka can pull themselves together in time for Saturday remainsto be seen. By then they will at least know what they have to do.Traditionally they revel under the underdog tag but the suspicion remainsthat irreparable damage has been done.

Another cornerstone of experience in the New Zealand women’s cricket team, the TelstraClear White Ferns, Nicola Payne has decided to retire from international cricket.Payne made her announcement at her St Albans club prizegiving evening in Christchurch last night.A double-international, having played for the Netherlands for 10 years before qualifying for New Zealand in 2000, she has played 65 One-Day Internationals and in the recent World Series of Women’s Cricket played at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre (HPC) at Lincoln University she achieved her career highest score of 93 in a memorable performance against India.However, the cost of that innings was a hamstring problem and that was just one of the warnings the 33-year-old had received that the time was right to think about her playing career. She had also had other niggles, including calf muscle problems and they made it harder to try and maintain fitness levels.”I’ve had a good run of 14 years. I had 10 years with the Netherlands after my debut at the 1988 World Cup and then four years with New Zealand.”Why wait until you get dropped?” she asked.Payne said that people tended to forget that the women’s game was still very much amateur and players still worked for 40 hours a week as well as doing their preparation for cricket.”The time contribution is a big thing and cricket is something that you can’t do by halves,” she said.”I felt like the time was right. I’m looking forward to doing some other things instead of training every day.”One of those things will be devoting more time to her coaching of cricket.That will allow her to adopt some of the strategies for herself that she has observed under New Zealand coach Mike Shrimpton.”I’ve always played under Mike and have learnt a lot from him, not only as a player, but as a coach.”It is great the way he can analyse a game and he is always looking at ways to improve performance. He has done a fantastic job,” she said.Payne said New Zealand Cricket’s approach to the women’s game had also been very supportive and the HPC at Lincoln had become something of a home for women’s cricket.”It is a fantastic venue.”As far as women’s cricket is concerned the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at the complex will be a special place because of the winning of the CricInfo Women’s World Cup. Payne wasn’t on the field but was part of the team for the tournament.”I didn’t feel any less involved by not being on the field. It was a really special experience and what we had in that team was special,” she said.Her highest score earlier this year was a personal highlight, even if retirement now meant she could not achieve the goal of scoring a century for New Zealand.The benefit of the World Cup success was still being felt with what could be called a trickle-down effect as players from the New Zealand sides returned to their provinces and clubs to pass on the knowledge they had received. That was important, she said, because it helped give a much better understanding of the game.While New Zealand would always struggle against Australia the quality of players was coming through and she felt support needed to be given to younger batsmen.”It takes longer for batsmen to develop and so long to understand batsmanship, how to build an innings, the need to have patience and determination, even in the one-day game because it was still crucial to a solid performance.”Payne had made her decision because it still offered enough time to get a new opener before the next World Cup in 2005.”There are some great opportunities now for people to put their hands up, but it is important for them to feel they are being backed,” she said.

As was the case yesterday, Australia won two of the three sessions, ending the extended second day in complete control of the first Test at Georgetown. In the morning Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting effortlessly wiped out West Indies’ first-innings total, and then after Vasbert Drakes had triggered a spirited West Indies fightback either side of tea, Adam Gilchrist and the tail snuffed out the revival. Trailing by 252, West Indies will have to bat well on a pitch which is showing signs of wear to avoid an innings defeat.Resuming on 120 for 1, Langer and Ponting cruised past the West Indies first-innings total before lunch without ever looking anything other than in complete, untroubled control. Langer reached his hundred first, his 14th in Tests, and Ponting followed suit shortly before lunch. The West Indies bowlers huffed and puffed and Brian Lara switched them around to try and work some magic – it was all in vain. It wasn’t pretty for anyone bar the partisan supporter, but it was ruthlessly clinical.The afternoon session continued along the same lines, and so impotent was the bowling that it was a surprise when the breakthrough finally came. Ponting rather wearily tried to drive at Drakes, but only edged low to Marlon Samuels at first slip. Ponting made 117 and added 248 for the second wicket with Langer (285 for 2).Four overs later Drakes struck again. Darren Lehmann put all his not inconsiderable bulk into smashing a short, wide delivery but substitute fielder David Bernard dived far and wide to his right at point to take a superb two-handed catch. An incredulous Lehmann departed for 6 (300 for 3).By now Langer was tiring in the heat, and the new ball did for him when he probed off the back foot at Drakes and nicked the ball to stand-in wicketkeeper Wavell Hinds. Langer made 146, smashing 19 fours and two sixes (319 for 3).Steve Waugh and a strangely subdued Gilchrist restored order, and the grinding down process continued through to tea. Waugh departed soon after the break for an unconvincing 25, trapped leg-before by Merv Dillon (349 for 5), and when Brad Hogg fell lbw to Pedro Collins for 3 shortly after (362 for 6) West Indies tails were up.But their bowling was frustratingly ordinary, and it was Andy Bichel who led a seventh-wicket stand of 85 which snuffed out West Indies’ embryonic recovery. When disciplined bowling was needed to prise open the tail, Lara had to watch his pace attack send down a string of half-volleys and longhops. Even the fielding disintegrated as the day wore on. It was depressing viewing.Drakes gave West Indies a late hurrah when he had Bichel well caught by Hinds for 39 as he tried to run a ball that was too close to him down to third man. (448 for 7) A grinning Hinds hurled the ball up with relief. He was clearly struggling with his new role, and 18 byes plus a dropped catch – Langer shortly after he had reached his hundred – told its own story.Gilchrist, who had looked more like his old gung-ho self after passing fifty, ended with the tamest of dismissals, patting a held-back half-volley straight to Jermaine Lawson when he had made 81 (473 for 8). Jason Gillespie (7) and Brett Lee (20) perished in a flurry of swipes and swings as quick runs became the priority as dusk approached.Drakes’s performance in the heat, on a featherbed, and with little effective support from the other end, was truly admirable. A latecomer to Test cricket – he only made his debut last December at the age of 33 – he alone looked threatening. It was the first five-wicket haul by a pace bowler in a Test at Bourda since 1991.There was just time for Australia to open their attack with Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg as Waugh tried to keep West Indies on the rack in fading light. Hinds and Devon Smith survived, Smith’s youth giving him the confidence to drive and loft MacGill for three fours in an over.Australia are buoyant, West Indies have the air of a defeated side, two of their first-innings heroes (Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ridley Jacobs) are walking wounded, and the pitch is misbehaving. The omens are not good for WestIndies.

Wasim Akram returns to Frizzell County Championship action on Wednesday, when Hampshire host Somerset at The Rose Bowl.Ten of the side that played in the rain-effected match against Gloucestershire at Bristol remain, with only James Tomlinson being replaced by the Pakistani in the starting XI.Dimitri Mascarenhas, came through an ex-ray after he was struck on his foot as he was struck on the foot by a ball from Peter Martin in the National League match at Old Trafford on Sunday.Ed Giddins is fighting back to fitness and has started bowling in the nets. If all goes well, he could be in contention for selection for the Scotland match on June 1.Team: Derek Kenway, John Crawley (capt), Simon Katich, Robin Smith, Will Kendall, Nic Pothas (w-k), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Wasim Akram, Shaun Udal, Chris Tremlett, Alan Mullally.

West Indies have brought fast bowler Daren Powell into their 15-man squad for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka as a replacement for the injured Jermaine Lawson. Lawson is struggling to recover from the back injury he sustained during the Antigua Test against Australia.Allrounder Ryan Hurley was named in the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury.Brian Lara said that his aim was to build on the three successive wins over Australia. “Sri Lanka are not as strong as Australia,” he told reporters, “although of course they have a couple of match winners, but we are looking to keep up the standard we achieved in the last three one-day games.”West Indies Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, David Bernard, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Ryan Hurley, Omari Banks, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Daren Powell, Ricardo Powell.

Steve Waugh has promised fans that Australia would “put on a good show” when his side takes on bottom-ranked Bangladesh in the first of two Tests at Darwin this week.”We haven’t played much cricket in the past four or five weeks, so it should be a good contest,” said Waugh, in a remark that can fairly be called an exaggeration of pre-match non-committal neutrality. “We expect it to be a Test match and we’re going to play as hard as we can. I don’t know what the result is going to be, but we play as if it’s going to be a tough Test match.”Odds of 17-1 are being offered on Australia winning the Test within one day, but Waugh dismissed such speculation, saying that it was “more a problem for the media. It’s exciting. It’s a new venue for us all. We’ve never played Bangladesh in a Test before, in a Test series, so we’re looking forward to the challenge of playing up here.””At this stage of Bangladesh’s experience, to play against the supposed top five in world cricket is important,” added Waugh.Bangladesh added a second tour win to their kitty when they beat the Northern Territories Chief Minister’s XI by two wickets yesterday, and Waugh said that was “good to see. Emerging sides … need a lot of match practice. They’ve played a couple of good games and I’m sure their form is okay.”Waugh refused to reveal the intended combination of the side at Darwin, stating merely that it would be as balanced a side as possible. “The West Indies was a bit different because the wickets were slow and low. We needed an extra bowler,” said Waugh. “If we think we need that, we’ll go with that mix again.If he scores a century in either of the two Tests, Waugh achieves the personal milestone of having notched up a hundred against every Test-playing nation. “I haven’t played a Test match against these guys and neither has any of the other players, so to score a hundred is something to look forward to, but there’s a lot of work to be done before that,” said Waugh.”It’s going to be a big crowd up here and we want to put on a good show,” he added. “Bangladesh may play well and you never know, that’s what sport is all about. It doesn’t matter if you beat them by a massive margin or a single run, that’s whats it’s about.”