Wednesday, February 2, 2011

England lose sixth one-day international in Sydney by two wickets as Australia take 5-1 series lead

For all the longueurs of the past month, this tour has already gone down as a historic achievement by Andrew Strauss’ England. But Strauss and company have now created history for the wrong reasons as they failed to defend a total of 333 - the highest score they have ever made in defeat.

The Commonwealth Bank series has uncanny echoes of the summer of 2009, when a 6-1 defeat in the one-dayers made an anti-climactic postscript to England’s Ashes success. If their losing streak continues on Sunday, in the final match at the WACA, they will duplicate the scoreline this year.

On a sweltering night in Sydney, the match reached a breathless finish - and not just because the heat and humidity were so oppressive. In the final over of the match, Australian tailender John Hastings lined up a big drive at Chris Woakes, only for the ball to come flashing off his inside edge and down to the boundary for four runs that no fielding captain could possibly have blocked.

It was a cruel end for England, because that ball was probably only a quarter-inch from sneaking through and perhaps even bowling Hastings. There were already eight men out, and with only Shaun Tait left to do the job, Australia could perhaps have faltered on the final step. But England should have really closed the match out much earlier after Jonathan Trott had posted 137 - the second-highest individual score for an English batsman against Australia.

The aggregate of runs - 667 in the match - was the second-highest for any one-day international in Australia, and provided great entertainment for the crowd (even if only 19,479 turned out, leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground around half full). The ball kept flashing to the boundary all night, but it was probably the extra muscle behind Australia’s batsmen - who hit five sixes between them, as opposed to none for England - that made the difference.

If England have discovered a one-day star in this series, it must be Trott.

He would probably have started out as 12th man, had it not been for Paul Collingwood’s catastrophic loss of form. But he has now gathered 361 runs at an average of 72. At the present rate of progress, he is on track to become the fastest one-day batsman to 1000 runs, beating a record set by Viv Richards all the way back in 1980.

That “fastest” applies to the number of innings, not the rate of scoring. An accumulator rather than a dominator, Trott ticks along as quietly and invisibly as a personal pension plan. There were 64 singles in his innings, but only 39 dots - an impressively low ratio out of the 126 balls he faced.

But on such a sultry day, which Strauss described as “one of the hottest I have ever batted on”, flickering to and fro has its disadvantages. Trott was already cramping up in his 70s. Soon after completing his hundred, he had to call for a runner.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke challenged the umpires on this point, perhaps recalling Strauss’ refusal to allow Graeme Smith a runner when he cramped up during the 2009 Champions Trophy. But the International Cricket Council changed their guidelines on this last year, so Trott was not only allowed to stop running, but could then return to field and bowl four overs during Australia’s innings. This was a useful bonus, as Collingwood was unavailable after suffering a back spasm.

Collingwood’s absence from England’s fielding effort was significant in all sorts of ways. First, it was another reminder that this seven-match series is stressing both sides beyond physical endurance. (Australia’s Steve Smith was another man to require a runner after tweaking a hip muscle.)

Second, it highlighted the danger of going into a match with no spare bowler - which is how England would line up in the World Cup if they persist in their strategy of using Collingwood at No 7. Third, it might well have cost England victory, as his bowling would probably have been more economical than the combined work of Trott and Kevin Pietersen, who conceded 72 from their 10 overs.

Mind you, Woakes clocked up 73 against his name, and James Anderson - usually Mr Reliable - had figures of 10-0-91-1, the second-worst in England’s history after Steve Harmison’s 10-0-97-0 against Sri Lanka.

Every one of Australia’s top seven batsmen made at least 20, including Mitchell Johnson, who was promoted to No 4 and bashed a lively 59.

Clarke all but carried Australia home with 82, his best innings of the whole summer, before he was run out in the penultimate over.

England lose sixth one-day international in Sydney by two wickets as Australia take 5-1 series lead England,sixth,oneday,international,Sydney,wickets,Australia,series http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8298274/England-lose-sixth-one-day-international-in-Sydney-by-two-wickets-as-Australia-take-5-1-series-lead.html

Andrew Strauss reflects on 'bitter' defeat as England lose sixth ODI against Australia by two wickets

"And 333 is a good score on any ground. It was a good wicket but obviously we were not helped by Paul Collingwood not being able to bowl.

"We let them get off to far too fast a start and they were able to keep up the rate. It was very, very disappointing we were unable to restrict them to less than 333. But all credit to the way they played. In the end they walked out worthy winners."

As for Collingwood's situation, Strauss said: "He's okay. He had a back spasm so hopefully should recover fairly quickly. Otherwise, the rest of us got through the game okay."

England's one-day form ahead of the World Cup gives cause for concern, however. The team has been weakened by a rash of injury setbacks, with bowlers Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad all currently injured.

They should all return for the tournament on the subcontinent, starting next month, which will afford England the chance to field a stronger bowling line-up.

"I think in the World Cup we'll have to think about what the best balance is," Strauss said. "We thought this was the best balance to win this game of cricket.

"And when you score 333 that should be enough but all credit to how Australia played."

Strauss suggested the series against Australia has provided few pointers for how England should line up at the World Cup.

"It hasn't really because we've had lots of injuries and haven't been able to play our best side. That was the same for Australia as well.

"I think we've got a lot of talent in our one-day squad and I think we can do a lot of good things in the World Cup."

Trott had reason to see the match in more of a bittersweet light.

"Obviously it's nice to get a hundred," Trott said. "But it's more memorable when you win the game.

"Unfortunately we couldn't come away with a win today. You'd take 333 at the beginning of the day if you were given that."

Australia captain Michael Clarke showed the way with an impressive 82 in front of his home Sydney crowd.

"I thought we batted really well," Clarke said. "I did think 333 was going to be tough to get."

Clarke promoted Mitchell Johnson to bat at No 4 and was rewarded as the paceman scored a rapid 57.

"We had to take a few risks. I guess I punted on Mitch going up the order and trying to smack a few and he batted really well," Clarke said.

"He strikes a ball as clean as anyone and he's shown again tonight that when he gets his opportunity he's not only a very good bowler, he can do some damage with the bat as well.

"To be able to come out and chase those runs, I'm stoked with that win."

Andrew Strauss reflects on 'bitter' defeat as England lose sixth ODI against Australia by two wickets Andrew,Strauss,reflects,bitter,defeat,England,sixth,against,Australia,wickets http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8298411/Andrew-Strauss-reflects-on-bitter-defeat-as-England-lose-sixth-ODI-against-Australia-by-two-wickets.html

Australia v England, sixth one-day international in pictures

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/picturegalleries/8297836/Australia-v-England-sixth-one-day-international-in-pictures.html Australia v England, sixth one-day international in pictures Australia,England,sixth,oneday,international,pictures http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/picturegalleries/8297836/Australia-v-England-sixth-one-day-international-in-pictures.html

Australia v England - sixth one-day international: live

OVER 14: AUS 98/2 Ferguson 15* Johnson 7* Early shades of Johnson's heroics in the Perth Test as he unleashes over cover for four. We're unlikely to see a Trott, workman-like innings here (who by the way scored 64 singles in his 137).

OVER 13: AUS 92/2 Ferguson 14* Johnson 2* A tough task now for Australia as they chase their highest needed against England. The left-handed pinch-hitter will need a brisk 50 at best if they want to win this one.

Wicket Watson c Strauss b Yardy 51 AUS 87/2

A ripping catch from England's captain. Andrew Strauss stretches to his right at short mid-wicket and plucks a beauty off Yardy. Watson was looking to whip it through the leg where there was ample space but he's now back in the shed. In comes Mitchell Johnson!

OVER 12: AUS 87/1 Watson 51* Ferguson 11* Finn's bowling well here as they finally get themselves in tune with the pitch. Ferguson does give himself room to bludgeon his last for four.

OVER 11: AUS 81/1 Watson 50* Ferguson 6* First powerplay of the innings but Yardy's fast twirlers bring about three singles off it. Watson does bring up his fifty, off 32 balls, with a drive to long-on. Good stuff Watto.

OVER 10: AUS 78/1 Watson 49* Ferguson 4* Finn now replaces Anderson and a full ONE run off the over. That's 78 off the first 10 for Australia. Will England end up using eight bowlers like the hosts, do they have enough of them to bowl?

OVER 9: AUS 77/1 Watson 49* Ferguson 3* Michael Yardy replaces Finn and six off it. The heat must have got to the ABC crew as a burst of country and western replaces the smooth sounds of Jim Maxwell for a full over. No further dangers for the Australians.

OVER 8: AUS 71/1 Watson 46* Anderson at least stops the run of boundaries but Watson's carefree innings continues as Callum Ferguson enters the batting paradise.

Wicket WICKET! Haddin c Trott b Anderson 20 AUS 71/1

Haddin flicks one down the leg side and Trott catches emphatically. Haddin yet again fails to kick on from a start.

OVER 7: AUS 63/0 Watson 41* Haddin 17* One thing comes to mind, amid this cracking start from Australia. have Australia found a feared top-order combo for the World Cup? Eight more off Finn's over as Watson goes aerial, very aerial with one leg-side flick to the boundary.

OVER 6: AUS 55/0 Watson 35* Haddin 15* Despite the run-fest, still no sixes scored today at the SCG. Nevertheless, Watson throws the bat in Anderson's third over with four differing boundaries and a three for good measure. The highlights: a lifting cover drive and a lovely cut through cover. 19 off the over.

OVER 5: AUS 36/0 Watson 16* Haddin 15* Predictably, Steven Finn enters the fray after wayward Woakes's first two overs are flayed all over Sydney. The Middlesex paceman sends in a beauty second up, an outswinger that beats Haddin's outside edge.

OVER 4: AUS 32/0 Watson 16* Haddin 11* What you can do... Brad Haddin, on his home turf, dismisses Anderson with a well-timed cut first up as the runs continue to flow. Only 300 more for the Aussies.

OVER 3: AUS 25/0 Watson 16* Haddin 4* Woakes is getting a pasting here. Short and wide, Watson first picks up a leg slip four before pulling majestically for four through point on the sixth - possibly Woakes' last of this spell. James Tredwell and Luke Wright are on for Collingwood and Trott.

OVER 2: AUS 15/0 Watson 7* Haddin 3* The experience of James Anderson stops the early flow of runs on this flat track. Four leisurely singles ensue but more concern for England as Kevin Pietersen checks his hamstring. Oh well, at least he has nine days off at the end of the series before the start of the World Cup.

OVER 1: AUS 11/0 Watson 5* Haddin 1* Chris Woakes is given the new ball honours as Australia open up with two boundaries, including four wides. It's got a right field camp feel out there though: Paul Collingwood and Trott are currently off for treatment.

07.35 Jonathan Trott's 137 has given England the ascendancy but this Sydney pitch looks a belter for the batters. Are we in for another monumental run chase? We'll see.

07.30 Morning, everyone. And it's a great news for England fans despite Australia already having sealed the series. But there is still a World Cup looming and what better way to warm up for the sub-continent. For England have recorded their highest ODI total against Australia (333-6) and not a six in sight (also the highest one-day total without clearing the ropes!).

Australia v England - sixth one-day international: live Australia,England,sixth,oneday,international http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8271857/Australia-v-England-sixth-one-day-international-live.html

Ricky Ponting's comeback for Australia on track

Ponting batted for an hour in the SCG nets on Tuesday, the first time he had picked up a bat since the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

The right-hander will resume his recovery with another nets session today as he maintains his bid to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup, which starts later this month.

"Ricky Ponting had his first training session yesterday since having finger surgery after the Melbourne Test match. As part of his recovery this was a restricted session and he is expected to increase his training intensity in the lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup," Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said.

"He has had no adverse effect from yesterday's session and has trained again today during Australia's batting innings."

Ponting's fellow Tasmanian Xavier Doherty was, however, ruled out for the final match of the ongoing one-day international series against England due to a sore back.

Doherty suffered the injury during the Australia Day defeat in Adelaide and after missing the following two games in Brisbane and Sydney, will not make the trip to Perth for Sunday's closing match.

"Xavier Doherty developed some back pain during the one-day game in Adelaide on Australia Day and did not train in Brisbane which allowed his symptoms to improve," Kountouris added.

"He attempted some light training yesterday in Sydney and his back was again painful. As such he is unavailable for the remaining two games of this series.

"His return to cricket will be determined by monitoring his recovery over the next week."

Doherty had been drafted into the squad after Nathan Hauritz injured a shoulder in the second match of the series in Hobart.

With Hauritz's involvement in the World Cup in doubt, Doherty has been earmarked as his possible replacement in the sub-continent, although his injury may set back Australia's plans.

Ricky Ponting's comeback for Australia on track Ricky,Pontings,comeback,Australia,track http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/australia/8297759/Ricky-Pontings-comeback-for-Australia-on-track.html

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad's injury rules him out of one-day series but not as bad as first feared

England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad ruled out of rest of one-day international series against Australia Doubtful: Ajmal Shahzad has picked up a hamstring injury in Australia that puts in doubt his place in the England team for the forthcoming World Cup Photo: GETTY IMAGES

When Shahzad first pulled up, while bowling his eighth over in Brisbane on Sunday, it looked as though he could be out of action for a while.

Many observers questioned why he insisted on completing the final two balls (which became three when one of them was called as a wide). But little harm appeared to have been done. The scans showed this to be a minor tear, so minor that he may need only eight days to recover.

There was more good news concerning Chris Tremlett, who had reported pain in his side. But while Tremlett’s scan showed no sign of any muscle damage, the England set-up indicated that they would be cautious about returning him to the front line in Sunday’s final one-day international in Perth, which follows the sixth in Sydney overnight.

Shahzad’s rehabilitation must be the more immediate concern, as he is joining a lengthy absentee list among England’s 15 World Cup selections.

With Tim Bresnan resting his torn calf muscle at home, Stuart Broad still working his way up to full speed in the nets, and Graeme Swann recuperating from two back spasms, four of the seven specialist bowlers are missing.

James Anderson – who was given two short breaks from this tour – is the only first-choice seamer still standing. Michael Yardy and James Tredwell are also fit.

Assuming that Tremlett starts bowling again soon, he could yet come into the World Cup equation, as there is no guarantee that Bresnan will recover fitness over the next month. England have little time left for rest and rehabilitation, with their first full match on Feb 22.

Just to add to the sense of urgency, the International Cricket Council confirmed on Tuesday that England’s two warm-up matches — against Canada on Feb 16 and Pakistan on Feb 18 — can only be contested by players from the full 15-man squad. So if Tremlett or Chris Woakes is required to help out in those games, they will have to be substituted permanently into the party.

Meanwhile, Liam Plunkett is due to arrive in Australia on Wednesday after a horrendous journey that took him from St Kitts to Perth via Miami, London and Singapore.

If England decide to use four seamers at the WACA on Sunday — a logical enough tactic, given its reputation for pace and bounce — you would imagine that Plunkett would join Anderson, Woakes and Steven Finn in the XI.

Just to put into perspective how severe this injury crisis has become, England named nine seam bowlers in their World Cup 30 in mid-December.

Eight of those have either played some part on this tour, or — in Plunkett’s case — are on their way to do so. Poor Jade Dernbach, the ninth man, must be feeling very unloved.

England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad's injury rules him out of one-day series but not as bad as first feared England,bowler,Ajmal,Shahzads,injury,rules,oneday,series,first,feared http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8295577/England-seam-bowler-Ajmal-Shahzads-injury-rules-him-out-of-one-day-series-but-not-as-bad-as-first-feared.html

England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad ruled out of rest of one-day international series against Australia

Fellow quick Chris Tremlett was also ruled out of tomorrow’s sixth and penultimate one-dayer in Sydney after he also had a scan on a side strain today, although he was cleared of suffering a tear to a side injury.

The tall right-armer will be reassessed in the coming days and may be fit to return to action for the final game in Perth on Sunday.

“Shahzad has suffered the type of minor hamstring tear that required at least eight days of rest, and as such he will be rested,” an England and Wales Cricket Board spokeswoman said.

“He will remain with the England squad in Australia where he will be in the best to begin his rehabilitation from the injury.

“The England team are remaining cautious with Tremlett (who is not a part of the World Cup squad) despite the scans showing no sign of a tear.

“The specialists will take another look at him in the coming days and make a further assessment before the final game of the series in Perth on Sunday.”

England’s batsmen will be aiming to put a disappointing one-day international series behind them, and re-establish their dominance over Australia this winter, when they play the first of two dead rubbers in Sydney tomorrow.

After conceding the seven-game series with a 51-run defeat in Brisbane on Wednesday, skipper Andrew Strauss admitted that his batsmen had let the side down.

England have failed to find the consistency with the bat that marked their Ashes success earlier in the tour as they have been bowled out in all four of their defeats.

The tourists’ only success so far arrived in Adelaide when a century from Jonathan Trott guided them to 299 for eight – England’s highest score against Australia on their home soil.

Strauss has repeatedly lamented “soft dismissals” for his side’s problems and with the World Cup looming large there is little time left to rectify the issue.

With that in mind all-rounder Luke Wright admitted that England had plenty of incentive in the remaining two matches of the series, which concludes in Perth on Sunday, as they aim to go to the subcontinent with some improved form under their belt.

“It has been disappointing series, but no one knows that more than the batters – we want to put it right,” he said.

“It showed in the one game we won, when Trotty went on and made a big hundred. That’s what we did well in the Test matches, people got big hundreds and that’s why we won the series.

“We’ve played outstandingly well in one-day cricket for two years now, so very disappointed to lose the series but obviously we’ve still got a lot to look forward to.

“The next two games are very important for us going into the next World Cup.

“It’s a massive confidence game and any momentum we can get going into that World Cup is going to be a help.

“If we can go home and it’s 4-3 then we can take quite a lot from that. Australia are such a top opponent, especially here as well.” The 25-year-old all-rounder has been a regular part of the England limited overs squad for the past couple of years without pinning down a set role with either bat or ball.

His bits-and-pieces role has been underlined in the already-lost series against Australia during which he has played just one game – when he was the second top-scorer with 32 in last week’s defeat in Sydney.

Wright is, however, likely to return on the same ground tomorrow following the mounting injury count to England’s bowlers.

In their absence Wright, who bowled only two overs in his one match in the series, is likely to be given a more significant role with the ball and he is hoping to grab his opportunity as time ticks down toward the World Cup.

“Every time you play you give yourself an opportunity to make a statement and keep your spot,” he said.

“It only takes one game, a big hundred or a five-for to get a spot down.

“I’ve played just the one game but I’ve trained hard and I’m hoping to get the nod for tomorrow.

“All you can do is work hard and when you get your chance take the opportunity.

“You’ve always got a lot to prove in international cricket. It doesn’t take long for everyone to need a performance and you always want one.”

England seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad ruled out of rest of one-day international series against Australia England,bowler,Ajmal,Shahzad,ruled,oneday,international,series,against,Australia http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8295577/England-seam-bowler-Ajmal-Shahzad-ruled-out-of-rest-of-one-day-international-series-against-Australia.html

Monday, January 31, 2011

England seamer Liam Plunkett airlifted from Caribbean

And they are also the people most likely to find themselves stuck back at home - as Stuart Broad did last Christmas - while the rest of the team is living it up in the sun.

Broad spoke about his frustrating winter on Monday, for the first time since returning to Australia to complete his rehabilitation from a badly torn stomach muscle.

Being an uncomplaining type, he describes the experience with laconic humour rather than bitterness.

Even so, it must have been galling to commit so much industry to this tour, and then feature in only nine days of international cricket. Or six, if you discount the time Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott spent grinding out runs in the middle.

“It is the first time I’ve had to do a decent amount of rehab and it makes me realise you have to be as fit as possible because it is not much fun,” said Broad.

Asked whether he had been frustrated by his limited contribution to the series - which stood at two wickets and no runs - he replied: “I don’t really think of it as being those two Tests, I think of the 18 months that built the team that was able to win the Ashes, and I felt very much part of that.

“I only watched the first hour or so of the games I missed because I was starting rehab pretty early. But as an England supporter I was very proud of what the team achieved.”

Broad rejoined the tour a week ago in an attempt to improve his cricket fitness (he has been working exhaustively in Nottingham Forest’s gym at the City Ground for the past two months), but he was never expected to rejoin the battle against Australia.

In any case, all remaining tension has gone out of this one-day series after England’s batting collapsed in Brisbane on Sunday night, allowing the Australians to take a decisive 4-1 lead with two games to play.

Broad has spent the past couple of days bowling in the nets at around 60 per cent, and intends to crank it up further before the end of the week.

But his real goal is to prove his fitness by March 22, the date of England’s first World Cup match, against Holland.

“I’d like to think there is no problem there at all, but I won’t know until I’ve bowled off my full run,” he says.

If England have missed Broad’s all-round skills, then his prickliness and drive would have been equally valuable during the limp tail section of this tour.

These were qualities he showed in Adelaide in early December, when he attempted to play on through one of the deepest muscle tears the England medics have seen.

“I bowled the first ball of my second spell in the second innings and felt like something had gone,” Broad said. “By three balls in, it was really throbbing, like a really deep stitch. I knew they wanted to bounce Clarke so I was running in and every ball was just getting sorer and sorer.

“I went off and the scan showed there was no chance of continuing. And when all the bleeding started coming — there was blood all down my side –- it was definitely a no-go. I tried to come back out and field for a bit, because knowing the wicket was quite flat, I thought I might be able to bowl dobbers like Paul Collingwood. But the next morning I couldn’t even get my arm over.”

It is a hard school, fast bowling. As Broad, Plunkett, Shahzad et al will all no doubt attest.

England seamer Liam Plunkett airlifted from Caribbean England,seamer,Plunkett,airlifted,Caribbean http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8293609/England-seamer-Liam-Plunkett-airlifted-from-Caribbean.html

England call up Liam Plunkett as bowling cover for rest of ODI series against Australia

England call up Liam Plunkett as bowling cover for rest of ODI series against Australia On the move: Liam Plunkett will leave England Lions in the Caribbean to join up with the squad in Australia Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Paceman Plunkett will leave the England Lions tour of the Caribbean to join the squad ahead of the seventh and final match in Perth on Sunday.

England's bowling stocks have been reduced to the bare bones in Australia with Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side strain) the latest players to be struck down by injury.

The duo will undergo scans tomorrow with fears they will join Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann, who flew home early from the tour last week, on the sidelines.

Shahzad suffered a hamstring injury during yesterday's 51-run defeat in Brisbane, which saw England lose the series after falling behind 4-1, while Tremlett did not take his place due to a slight side strain.

With those concerns, England have opted to rush Plunkett, who last played for England during the tour of Bangladesh in March, from the other side of the world although, he will be unable to make it to Australia in time for Wednesday's sixth match in Sydney.

England team director Andy Flower said: "Liam Plunkett has been part of the England performance programme and England Lions squad this winter so we are confident that he will be ready to play a role for England should the need arise.

"We are waiting for an update on the injuries to Ajmal Shahzad and Chris Tremlett but with our preparations for the World Cup starting in less than a fortnight we need to prioritise getting our World Cup squad members fit and ready for the start of the tournament.

"We have two games left in this series and will be looking to end the tour with strong performances in Sydney and Perth."

England were given some good injury news today with long-term absentee Stuart Broad revealing he was ahead of schedule in his return from the stomach injury he suffered during the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.

The injury forced the 24-year-old to return home before Christmas but, after flying back to Australia to step up his recovery last week, the right-armer is hopeful he will be fit to return in England's first warm-up game against Canada in Dhaka on February 16.

"My recovery is going very well, I'm probably a little bit ahead of schedule," he said.

"I've probably bowled about 50-60% yesterday and I've pulled up fine this morning.

"Hopefully by the end of this Australian tour I will have come off near to a full run-up. My aim is to try and play the first warm-up game of the World Cup which is still two and a half to three weeks away.

"I'm hopeful for that."

Despite the number of injuries that have beset his fellow bowlers Broad is confident that England will have a clean bill of health when they play their World Cup opener against Holland on February 22 in Nagpur.

"The injuries are pretty minor so I don't think that is going to affect any balance to the World Cup squad or anything like that, but obviously it is a little bit frustrating in this series to have lost as many players as we have," he said.

"It's been hard to find the right balance that we will go into the World Cup with. You can't do anything about injuries in sport that's just the way it happens.

"We've had a lot of cricket on this tour, I think we've done well with the amount of injuries we've had."

England call up Liam Plunkett as bowling cover for rest of ODI series against Australia England,Plunkett,bowling,cover,series,against,Australia http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8292451/England-call-up-Liam-Plunkett-as-bowling-cover-for-rest-of-ODI-series-against-Australia.html

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Australia v England - fourth one-day international: live

49.3 273/7 A single to Smith. 27 off three.

49.2 272/7 Smith edges a full one past Prior for four. 28 off four, which is, if anything, even more impossible.

49.1 268/7 Let's go ball by ball, just for a bit of fun. Lee misses the first and the batsmen run through for a bye. Would have been out if Prior had hit, but he didn't. 32 off five balls, which as we all know, is impossible.

OVER 49: AUS 267/7 Smith 41* Lee 34* Four to Smith as he plays his favourite shot, swivelling and pulling Anderson through square leg. And then - how many times has that happened today? - Lee skews it straight into the air, and it falls in between about four fielders. And so we come to the final over, which will be bowled by Chris Tremlett, with Australia still needing 33 to win.

Twitter Feel the withering rebuke of The Analyst on Twitter! "This ODI win will create more problems than it solves. Prior will carry on at 2 - wrong, Trott 3 - dubious, Bell and Morgan at 5&6 - dumb."

OVER 48: AUS 258/7 Smith 37* Lee 30* Tremlett returns; Lee hoiks, but straight up in the air! Who wants it? But it drops safe! Sweat is dripping off Lee's face as carves down to deep point for two more. Two more to Smith for a firm drive through the off-side - top work by Morgan on the rope, and Australia need 42 off two overs. Even though it won't have a bearing on the result, England have allowed Australia's lower order to rally again.

OVER 47: AUS 251/7 Smith 34* Lee 26* England just taking their eyes off the ball here. Short and down the leg side by Shahzad, and Smith helps it round the corner for three runs. Shahzad then bowls down the leg-side and Prior fails to gather. Three byes, plus one for the wide, and England have somehow contrived to concede seven runs off the ball of the over. That becomes nine off two, and then ten off three, but Shahzad applies the pressure with a series of excellent yorkers, and even though the fifty partnership comes up that over, Australia still need 49 off three overs. 44 from the five Powerplay overs, and Shahzad has finished with one for 58 off his set of 10.

OVER 46: AUS 239/7 Smith 33* Lee 19* Lee edges Anderson for four as the home crowd shuffle towards the exits. Some more singles, and then a really well-timed pull by Lee for four more, bisecting the two men on the leg-side boundary. Twelve off the over. Still not enough, but Australia showing their ticker. Australia need 61 off 4 overs.

OVER 45: AUS 227/7 Smith 32* Lee 9* Smith steps all the way across his stumps trying to paddle down to fine leg, Shahzad spots him and floats it in slower, but Smith still manages to get it away for two. Smith and Lee then think about a bye through to Prior, decide against, but Smith would still have been well out if Prior's underarm throw had been... well, not six feet wide of the stumps. Five off the over, and Australia need 73 off 5 overs.

OVER 44: AUS 222/7 Smith 28* Lee 8* Oh, Anderson. Take the damn wicket, will you? A bit more short stuff to Brett Lee; he misses at first, and then cuts it uppishly, high over point and bouncing just inside the rope. Four runs for that, and then one more from a toe-end into the leg-side. Anderson flicked the stumps with his fingers as his bowling arm came over, and as one of the most literal wicket-to-wicket bowlers in the game, I can tell you that that really will smart. Smith then jabs the bat down on a dastardly, in-swinging middle-stump yorker and gets three down to square leg, where Eoin Morgan saves the fourth with a well-timed slide. Good cricket, as men (it's always men) of a certain ilk like to observe: good ball, well played, and excellently fielded. I make that ten off the over. Australia need 78 off 6 overs.

OVER 43: AUS 212/7 Smith 24* Lee 3* Shahzad returns to administer what must be, at the very least, the antepenultimate rites. Smith flicks down to fine leg and hurries back for the second; Lee gets a short delivery and fends it just short of Bell at gully, and Australia need 88 to win off 7 overs.

OVER 42: AUS 207/7 Smith 20* Lee 2* This is where Twenty20 sails streets ahead of its 50-over counterpart. In Twenty20, the death is at least swift. Here, instead, we clatter on, possibly for another 40 minutes, with the result not remotely in doubt. Smith plays out a couple of dot balls before carving down to third man for two. Four off the over, and here comes the batting Powerplay, which is about as overdue as the end credits in Black Swan.

OVER 41: AUS 203/7 Smith 17* Lee 1* Still no sign of the batting Powerplay as Trott continues. Smith scampers through for a leg bye, but Lee struggles to lay bat on ball, only just managing to late cut the last for a single that keeps him on strike. Ninety-seven off nine overs is the equation, but there's really not much equitable about it.

Wicket OVER 40: WICKET! Hastings c Strauss b Anderson 1 (3) AUS 201/7
Short, fended straight into the air and out, out, out! Strauss with a simple catch at short mid-wicket! Nice tight over by Anderson, and he's rewarded with the wicket of Hastings, who looks none too comfortable with the short stuff. Brett Lee the new batsman as Australia need 99 off the last 10 overs. They're going out with a whimper here. Smith 17* Lee 0*

OVER 39: AUS 199/6 Smith 16* Hastings 0* John Hastings is the new batsman. Think of him as a kind of poor man's James Hopes. He won't face immediately, as Smith can't score off the last ball of the over. More than nine an over needed by Australia now, and James Anderson - remember him? - is going to return to mop up.

Wicket WICKET! White c Yardy b Trott 44 (64) AUS 199/6
White's long, ugly vigil comes to an end! Trott strikes again! Straight down long-on's throat as White tries to deposit Trott over the rope! That must surely seal it for England!

OVER 38: AUS 196/5 White 42* Smith 15* Four more for Smith as he cuts powerfully past point's right hand! Twenty minutes of Smith might make this interesting. But while he's undoubtedly adept at flaying the ball inelegantly to the boundary, he's not quite as good at rotating the strike. But that's just imbecilic from Prior, gathering the ball after Smith misses a pull, hitting the stumps with a pointless shy and granting an overthrow. Not a bad over for Australia, and still a batting Powerplay to come...

OVER 37: AUS 186/5 White 40* Smith 9* Trott continues. Reckon he might have found his niche here. Bit of a luxury having him as your sixth choice, no? Why not drop one of the seamers and have him as a fifth bowler in India? (Note to reader: I'm joking.) Smith pulls robustly through mid-wicket for four and then drives for two, but still only seven off the over.

OVER 36: AUS 179/5 White 40* Smith 2* Yardy's outta there after that expensive over, and in steams Tremlett instead. Smith's off the mark first ball with an off-side carve for one, but White can't get a run off any of the last three balls of the over. Good, tight stuff from Tremlett, and England are surely on the cusp of sealing the deal here.

OVER 35: AUS 176/5 White 39* Smith 0* White blocks the last ball of the over. 124 needed off 15 overs.

Wicket WICKET! Hussey c Bell b Trott 28 (34) AUS 176/5
Oh, Hussey's furious! On a length from Trott, who remarkably is still bowling, and Hussey simply lifts it straight to deep cover! Bell takes a couple of steps towards the ball and pouches it! An angry swish of the bat from Hussey as he walks away. Just as Australia were gathering some momentum, England make the breakthrough! Steve Smith the new man.

OVER 34: AUS 172/4 White 38* Hussey 25* Right, it's gear-cranking time! White lifts Yardy over cover for four, and then repeats the shot off the last ball. A filthy wide and a dribble of singles, and that's Australia's most productive over of the innings. Twelve off it!

OVER 33: AUS 160/4 White 29* Hussey 24* Is Trott going to continue? He is. Dot ball to Hussey, and then a couple down to fine leg as he edges onto his thigh pad. Oh, it hit Prior on the pad as well as it went through! That's got to go down as another drop, I'm afraid! Still, only the three from Trott's over, and Australia do need to give it some hammer now, you feel.

OVER 32: AUS 157/4 White 29* Hussey 21* Still, on the bright side, that human paean to excellence, Mike Yardy, is back in the attack. White tries to ramp the ball over his shoulder, and gets three for it. He then dances down the pitch, and gets a thick edge that thuds into Prior's right pad! It went so quickly that it seems mightily unfair to put it down as a drop, but it's there in bold, so there we are. Yardy then produces a very slow, very full toss off the last ball of the over. It reached a startled White at thigh height, and all he could do was pat it back. Nifty bowling by Yardy. More drinks, and Australia need 7.94 runs an over to wrap up the series.

OVER 31: AUS 150/4 White 26* Hussey 18* Master Strauss has seen enough from his yeoman Trott to grant him another over. Hussey inside edges again for two, a single here, a single there, and it's seven from the over. It's not very 'Sky Sports' of me to say so, but I'm afraid this is hardly the most riveting fare. Not that Jonathan Trott bowling to Cameron White using a bat made entirely of edges is in any way disappointing, but having been virtually present when England won the Ashes, and when Europe won the Ryder Cup, let's just say this is shaping up to be one of my quieter days.

OVER 30: AUS 143/4 White 23* Hussey 14* Hussey inside edges past his stumps! Two down to fine leg, a couple of other singles as Tremlett keeps it tight, and that run rate's pushing up to eight an over. At some stage, one or both of this pair are going to have to do a Richard Keys, and 'smash it'.

OVER 29: AUS 139/4 White 22* Hussey 11* Jonathan Trott's going to bowl. A little shudder went up my spine as I typed that. So, what did that Trott over produce? A) A series of Joel Garner rib-ticklers, pinning the batsman back in his crease before a lethally quick yorker sears through his defences? B) The full house: a ripping leg-spinner, a top-spinner, a flipper, a doosra, a carrom ball and finally a wicked googly that spins past the bat and tickles the top of leg stump? Or C) A series of medium-pace dobblies speared in at leg stump that White and Hussey can simply step back and loft over extra cover? When White tries the shot, substitute fielder Luke Wright saves a boundary with a sensational sliding stop on the rope. When Hussey does it, it drops just out of the reach of Pietersen, and he gets two.

OVER 28: AUS 132/4 White 18* Hussey 9* That's just stupefyingly awful cricket all round. Bit of a long hop by Tremlett, an ugly bottom-handed bunt through mid-wicket by Hussey, and a comical misfield on the boundary by Pietersen to give him four. As he slid to stop the ball and throw it inside the rope, the ball hit his own shoulder and rebounded back over the rope. Pietersen cares scantly enough to smile as the crowd barrack him.

OVER 27: AUS 126/4 White 17* Hussey 4* Goodness, has Cameron White just timed one? Down to fine leg for two runs? He has, you know. A few more singles, but nothing to alarm England in the slightest. Collingwood finishes his seventh over, and Chris Tremlett's going to return to the attack.

OVER 26: AUS 121/4 White 14* Hussey 2* White flukes another one over cover. Not sure exactly which edge of the bat that took, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near the middle. This is skilful stuff by Shahzad, a yorker outside off stump, and then a slower ball on the stumps, and White can score off neither. That run rate's creeping up on Australia like an unpaid gas bill. Hussey won't have much time to play himself in.

OVER 25: AUS 118/4 White 12* Hussey 1* It's tough to see Australia winning from this position, but you can easily see England losing it, if you take my meaning. Collingwood continues, and White really hasn't looked himself out there yet. He's barely middled one, which perversely is making him try to hit the ball harder and harder. Just a single each to White and Hussey, though, and Collingwood is currently sitting on the outstanding figures of one for 17 off six overs. Australia need 7.3 an over at the halfway stage, which would be entirely feasible with wickets in hand, but England, you feel, just need to keep their eye on the ball to reduce their series arrears to 3-1.

Wicket OVER 24: WICKET! Watson c Prior b Shahzad 64 (72) AUS 116/4
Could that be the breakthrough that wins the game for England? Shahzad strangles Watson outside off-stump! It might even have been a wide if Watson had left it. But having drilled the ball through mid-off for four the previous ball, he was in no mood to tarry, and an attempted wild swish finds a faint little tickle, and England can barely contain their delight! What a vital wicket! White 11* Hussey 0*

OVER 23: AUS 109/3 Watson 59* White 9* She kills herself. Natalie Portman kills herself. That's how it ends. It's a Swan Lake parallel, you see? She kills herself in order to attain a more perfect beauty. "I'm perfect," she breathes as she takes her final, glorious gulp of air. Preposterous. Five off Collingwood's over, including an ugly leg-side wide that he's fortunate doesn't disappear to the boundary. Prior with some tidy work there.

OVER 22: AUS 104/3 Watson 57* White 7* Shahzad is back, and is that an eensy weensy bit of reverse swing? Still, Watson drives out to deep cover for two runs, and then knocks the ball into the off-side for one more. Tight single that, might have been interesting if Bell had managed to make a mess of the stumps with his throw. The last ball definitely does reverse though! Big, expansive drive by White outside off stump, and he ends up missing it by a mile as the ball tails back into him. Seven an over now the required rate.

OVER 21: AUS 101/3 Watson 54* White 7* Collingwood's bowling an excellent spell here. Not only is he keeping the scoring down, the batsmen struggling to pierce that irritating inner ring, but he's looking a real wicket-taking threat too. The odd one comes back in, the odd one keeps low, and the upshot is just one off the over. When will the batsmen feel confident enough to attack Collingwood?

OVER 20: AUS 100/3 Watson 53* White 7* White lofts Yardy over mid-on - although not entirely convincingly - for two runs, before a low full toss scoots under Matt Prior and away for two byes. Twenty overs bowled, Australia need exactly 200, and England are on top at Adelaide.

OVER 19: AUS 94/3 Watson 52* White 4* Right, a couple more overs before I reveal the ending of Black Swan and deprive its makers of around £8.50 in box office revenue. Another lovely juicy over by Collingwood, exemplary line and length and just a little bit of nip, and two singles are all Australia can squeeze from it. Big LBW appeal off the last ball as Collingwood brings one back and takes Watson on bat and pad at roughly the same time, but there's enough doubt there for Watson to be given not out and for Strauss to decline the review.

OVER 18: AUS 92/3 Watson 51* White 3* Watson gets to a fine fifty - and overtakes Jonathan Trott as the highest runscorer in this long and pointless series - by cutting Yardy for one. White then tries to swipe over the leg-side, ends up skewing it over cover, and it only just lands safe with Shahzad bearing down on the ball! Five from the over, and Australia need exactly 6.5 runs per over.

Wicket OVER 17: WICKET! Clarke b Collingwood 15 (27) AUS 87/3
WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? The Ginger Laker strikes! Watson looks none too comfortable with Collingwood's off-cutters, inside-edging through his legs for a fortuitous single. Clarke is nowhere near as fortunate, though, and as the ball nips back through his gate it flicks the top of middle stump! A nonplussed Clarke strides back into the pavilion! Advantage England again! White the new man. Watson 49* White 0*

OVER 16: AUS 86/2 Watson 48* Clarke 15* That's a much better over by Yardy, straightening up his line and making it harder for Watson and Clarke to milk easy singles into the leg side. There are even two or three stifled LBW appeals as Watson props forward. Eventually he turns it down to fine leg for a couple. Three from the over, and that's drinks.

OVER 15: AUS 83/2 Watson 45* Clarke 15* Strauss's flirtation with Collingwood (in cricketing terms, obviously, this isn't some wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance) ends after one over, and Shahzad comes back. And it's a good over, four singles from it. Still, Australia took 38 off those five Powerplay overs, and the game is well and truly alive as Yardy begins his second over.

OVER 14: AUS 79/2 Watson 43* Clarke 13* Michelle Yardy steps into the attack. After spending a couple of weeks treating his gentle rubber darts with the kind of caution you would normally regard radioactive waste, Australia look to have the measure of him now, which doesn't exactly bode well for six weeks of World Cup. And so it proves, Clarke and Watson helping themselves to five ones and a two. Seven off the over.

OVER 13: AUS 72/2 Watson 39* Clarke 9* Went to see that Black Swan last night. What a preposterously stupid film. Tripe masquerading as art. You see, it purports to be about ballet and beauty and perfection, but if you boil it down, it's really just a film about Natalie Portman's cha-cha. In fact, it was so bad I'm considering giving away the ending so nobody else can go and see it. Any objections? That's a decent start by Collingwood, but Watson times a late cut to perfection and ruins it by getting a boundary.

Twitter Michael Vaughan on Twitter: "England looking well set to win the ODI. Only a Watson hundred can save the Aussies."

OVER 12: AUS 66/2 Watson 34* Clarke 9* Whack! Watson swings Tremlett's slower ball over mid-wicket for six! Mid-on went back onto the fence, so Watson simply went wider of the man, and England need to beware here. A decent yorker from Tremlett gets Watson off strike, but Clarke gets his first boundary by flicking a shortish ball down to fine leg. Dangerous times for England, and so Strauss brings on the man for whom danger is his middle name: Paul Collingwood. It's not actually danger, it's David, but close enough.

OVER 11: AUS 55/2 Watson 27* Clarke 5* Watson gets his dancing shoes on! He swings Shahzad through the line, and it sails over mid-on for four. That wasn't a remotely bad ball by Shahzad, not too full, not too short, but Watson got enough height and distance on it to clear the man. The next one's a little streakier, over mid-off this time, but it still has enough to run away for four more. Good over for Australia, who now need 245 from 39 overs at 6.3 an over.

OVER 10: AUS 45/2 Watson 18* Clarke 4* Short from Tremlett, and Watson squeezes it through backward square leg for two, Pietersen on the boundary making the sliding stop. A short extra cover comes in for Clarke, which is a smart move in any form of cricket. Clarke steps across his stumps and turns in to mid-on for one, before Watson cuts with bat askew, down to third man for two. That's the end of Powerplay One, and it's been a good one for England.

OVER 9: AUS 39/2 Watson 13* Clarke 3* Clarke's off the mark, forcing off the back foot for three. Watson, meanwhile, is getting itchy feet, and tries to smash Anderson over mid-wicket and into the eighth dimension, but ends up scuffing it along the ground to deep mid-wicket.

OVER 8: AUS 34/2 Watson 11* Clarke 0* Watson gets a single into the off-side off the first ball of Tremlett's over. Clarke's happy to use the rest of the over as a sighter, though, leaving three of his five deliveries. One off the over, and at this stage of their innings, England were 53 for one. England have taken wickets with the new ball, which is what they needed to do, but still that missing fifth bowler will be giving Strauss a mild impending headache.

OVER 7: AUS 33/2 Watson 10* Clarke 0* Clarke defends his first ball. Wicket maiden for Anderson, and Australia need 267 off 43 overs at a rate of 6.2.

Wicket WICKET! Marsh c&b Anderson 1 (6) AUS 33/2
Anderson strikes! Again Marsh is a little early on the shot, a simple forward push to a simple good-length delivery by Anderson, bowling round the wicket. Did it stick in the pitch? Did Anderson hold it back a touch? Did Marsh just misjudge it? In any case, it popped up for a simple return catch, and as Michael Clarke strides to the wicket England have a marvellous opportunity to haul themselves back into the Longest One-Day Series In History.

OVER 6: AUS 33/1 Watson 10* Marsh 1* Marsh off the mark first ball. End of a fine over by Tremlett, who you sense must be desperate to go home nonetheless. He's not in the World Cup squad, and he's only playing because two of England's first-choice bowlers are currently enjoying the free Qantas peanuts

Wicket WICKET! Haddin c Strauss b Tremlett 20 (16) AUS 32/1
Gone! Tremlett works the slower ball! Haddin never looked comfortable that over, inside edging down to fine leg for four, and then fortunate not to play on. But Tremlett has him next time, cutting his fingers across the ball and tempting Haddin into driving far too soon. Strauss pockets the catch at short extra-cover! That's fine bowling from Tremlett, and the dangerous-looking Haddin departs!

OVER 5: AUS 28/0 Watson 10* Haddin 16* That's four! Haddin again swings high over mid-off. And four more! Cut through point. Haddin's tactic, clearly, is to give himself room and swing. The Tufnell approach, you might call it. After going for nine off his first three balls, though, Anderson pulls it back.

OVER 4: AUS 18/0 Watson 9* Haddin 8* Shahzad still bustling in off his short run and giving the batsmen the hurry-up, regularly penetrating the 90mph barrier. Haddin again tries to back away and swipe over the in-field, but Shahzad cleverly threads the gap between Haddin's swinging arc and the off-side wide mark (a rhyme curiously rejected by most of the great poets of history) and bowls another dot ball. Haddin connects that time, though, swinging over mid-off for four.

OVER 3: AUS 13/0 Watson 8* Haddin 4* Now! Is that a drop? Not quite! Watson flicks uppishly into the leg-side, and it falls just short of Eoin Morgan at deep mid-wicket and squirms under his lithe, diving frame for four runs. Watson then chops to backward point, and Haddin would have been completely and utterly out if Collingwood's throw had hit the stumps! A suicidal single, and Haddin had virtually given up on making his ground there. Two let-offs for Australia that over.

OVER 2: AUS 7/0 Watson 3* Haddin 4* Shahzad to bowl the second over, and it's a good one. Tight line and a good length off his short run, and all Watson can do is chop one down to third man. Haddin then gets a thick inside edge that runs away through square leg for three ill-gotten runs. The rest of the Australian batting line-up, by the way: Marsh, Clarke, White, Hussey, Smith, Hastings, Lee, Doherty, Bollinger.

OVER 1: AUS 3/0 Watson 2* Haddin 1* A slip and a short cover in for Watson, who gets off the mark with a controlled edge down to third man. Swing for Anderson, though, who squares up Haddin with some late curve. Watson tucks the ball off his thigh to mid-wicket for one more, before Haddin backs away to try and carve Anderson over the covers, Anderson follows him down the leg side, and Haddin almost chops on to his stumps.

07.34 The sun is still out, but the lights are on at Adelaide as Shane Watson and Brad Haddin stride to the wicket to try and knock off those 300 runs. Opening the bowling for England on his return from dribble-wiping duty at home, it's James Anderson.

Twitter Simon Briggs on Twitter: "Collingwood found a bit of form here (27 from 27) which means that if England return to five bowlers, it's probably Bell who misses out"

07.25 Hold your dingo dogs, though. England may have biffed their way to a halfway decent total, but it's come at a price - they've only picked three specialist bowlers, with Collingwood and Yardy as the hired help. The pair batted at seven and eight as England packed the batting order, but it does leave Andrew Strauss short of options in the field. Reckon we might see a bit of Kevin Pietersen as well, if Australia's tactics were anything to go by. Between them, Steve Smith, David Hussey and Xavier Doherty - yep, he's still around, too - took seven for 98 off 21 overs. The pace bowlers claimed one for 197 off 29.

07.20 Hello! The big news - leaving aside for the time being a pundit on a string - is that this flat pancake of a one-day series appears to be alive still. Australia need 300 to win at Adelaide after a vaguely assured batting display by England.

The good: a mature century by Jonathan Trott, a barnstorming innings of 67 from 58 balls by Matt Prior at the top of the order, finally justifying his selection ahead of Steve Davies, and some full-blooded hoiking at the death by Paul Collingwood and Michael Yardy. Collingwood only made 27, but along the way not only did he pass 5,000 ODI runs, but he middled one for the first time on this tour, smacking Brett Lee over mid-wicket for six.

The bad: In increasing order of ineptitude, a forgivable failure by Andrew Strauss, an execrable loft to long-on for 12 by Kevin Pietersen, and an unremarkable two-ball duck by Ian Bell, who edged Steve Smith - yep, he's still around - through to Brad Haddin.

The ugly: Eoin Morgan, who looked well set on 24 when he tried one of his snap-o'-the-wrists reverse-sweeps, but ended up skying it straight to point.

Still, 299 should be enough. Then again, we said that at Melbourne.

Australia v England - fourth one-day international: live Australia,England,fourth,oneday,international http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8271851/Australia-v-England-fourth-one-day-international-live.html

Andrew Strauss backs England to turn series around after victory over Australia in fourth one-day international

Having lost the first three one-day internationals to an Australian side chastened by Ashes defeat, England secured a 21-run win in Adelaide built around Jonathan Trott's anchor innings of 102.

Trott's efforts pleased Strauss but it was the contributions for previously out-of-form players like Matt Prior (67), Paul Collingwood (27) and Michael Yardy (39no) that gave the skipper cause for optimism.

Asked if an improbable 4-3 series win could now be achievable, Strauss said: "I don't see why not.

"We absolutely desperately needed a victory and we were very determined to do so, but we needed a couple of good performances.

"Jonathan Trott's hundred was a very high quality innings and we probably could have got more than our 299, but that is generally a defendable total here and the bowlers did a good job.

"Matt Prior did brilliantly too. To come in after two ducks and play so positively showed his attributes. He played some good shots down the ground and scampered between the wickets to put the Australians under pressure.

"We needed Colly to get back into form and he came in in a good position where he could play some shots which will help him. Michael Yardy also played in the inventive way he can, which was good to see."

Trott was also pleased to have notched a second one-day hundred having been left short on 84 no in Sydney last time out.

"We spoke before the game about getting big partnerships and I'm glad to have done that," he said.

"(Boundary hitting) is something I've been working on very hard to improve and it's important to have those options.

"You're learning all the time with this game but keeping the basics and doing them well is always important."

Andrew Strauss backs England to turn series around after victory over Australia in fourth one-day international Andrew,Strauss,backs,England,series,around,after,victory,Australia,fourth,oneday,international http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8283401/Andrew-Strauss-backs-England-to-turn-series-around-after-victory-over-Australia-in-fourth-one-day-international.html

England keep series alive with 21-run victory in fourth one-day international against Australia at Adelaide Oval

A fortnight ago, Trott would have been on the outside of England’s plans for the World Cup - the batsman most likely to find himself carrying the drinks in Nagpur on Feb 22. Now the selectors must be wondering how they can possibly drop such an unstoppable run machine.

He found a backer in Michael Clarke, the Australian captain, who said “The earlier Jonathan gets in, the more it suits him and allows him to play his natural game. I thought he held the innings together well and allowed the others to bat around him.”

Clarke also admitted that he had asked the umpire, Marais Erasmus, whether Trott had been guilty of obstructing the field. This was a silly mix-up, in which Matt Prior called a run but Trott was more worried about whether the ball - which had deflected off his body - would knock into the stumps.

There was a farcical moment when Trott, Prior and Lee all found themselves falling over each other at the striker’s end, like students in a telephone box. Trott then looked up in a panic, shoulder-charged Lee, and sprinted up the pitch in such a way that he was protecting the non-striker’s stumps from a direct hit.

In the long run, Trott’s success will open a debate over whether England can afford to play a “steady Eddie” at No 3 in Asia, where aggression in the first 20 overs is normally the way to go.

But over the rest of this tour, the pressure will be on Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell to justify their places in England’s top six, especially now that Prior has found some form as an opener.

After two successive ducks, Prior struck a dynamic 67 to put England on the right road. But Pietersen and Bell both failed, falling in the same over to Steve Smith’s second-rate leg-spin.

England’s recent run of poor form - which still leaves them struggling with a 3-1 deficit - clearly stems from mental exhaustion. Pietersen, never a man for the small occasion, was particularly culpable when he holed out at long-on. The demanding team management of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower won’t let him live on the glories of 2008 forever.

England’s innings might have stalled after their promising start - a recurring trope in this series - if they hadn’t dropped Luke Wright to fit in an extra batsman. As it was, they wrung a handy cameo out of Paul Collingwood, batting as low as No 7 for the first time in six years.

Collingwood began scratchily but swung Brett Lee for a giant six to kick-start his innings. His 27 from 27 balls might not sound like much, but it was his highest score in all cricket since the second Test, also on this ground.

Chasing 300, Australia came out of the blocks at a decent lick. This was the sort of slow, dry pitch where the faster you bowled, the faster you tended to disappear, and both Watson and Brad Haddin got a few early howitzers away off the seamers.

Taking the pace off the ball was the best solution, and the dribbly seamers of Collingwood and Trott were perfect for the middle of the innings.

Between them, the medium-pacers accounted for three wickets - not tailenders, but Australia’s Nos 4 to 6 - while conceding only four runs per over.

When Cameron White tried to pick one up into the crowd, but only holed out to long-on, England knew they had finally got themselves into a winning position.

Four late claims for World Cup chance

»Nasser Hussain
Nick Knight had been England’s preferred one-day opener for three years, but he hit a form trough just before the 1999 tournament started, and suddenly Hussain (pictured) was there. The new opener was the leading run-scorer – 194 at 64 – in a grim campaign when England failed to utilise home advantage.

»James Anderson
Anderson was only 20 when he made his debut in 2002 the one-day series during a disastrous Ashes tour, producing record-breaking figures of 10-6-12-1 in his seventh match. Subsequently led England’s wicket-takers in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa with 10 at 22.50.

»Paul Nixon
Preferring to be known as “the Badger”, the 36-year-old Nixon replaced Chris Read for the one-day series in Australia, although many other wicketkeepers had been tried. A tally of 193 runs at 38.60 in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean was a more-than-decent effort.

»Jonathan Trott
England started the Commonwealth Bank series with the idea that Trott might be the spare World Cup batsman, but his properties as a run-machine, highlighted by Wedesday’s vital century, have moved him ahead of other contenders such as Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood.

England keep series alive with 21-run victory in fourth one-day international against Australia at Adelaide Oval England,series,alive,21run,victory,fourth,oneday,international,against,Australia,Adelaide http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8283140/England-keep-series-alive-with-21-run-victory-in-fourth-one-day-international-against-Australia-at-Adelaide-Oval.html

Cricket World Cup 2011: bowling attack holds the key to winning the World Cup, says Kevin Pietersen

Cricket World Cup 2011: bowling attack holds the key to winning the World Cup, says Kevin Pietersen Hard at work: Kevin Pietersen says England's skills have improved dramatically over the past year Photo: GETTY IMAGES

With the Ashes urn sitting alongside the World Twenty20 prize, Pietersen’s next wish is to reach the pinnacle of the 50-over format in Mumbai in April.

While England’s form has been patchy in the one-day series against Australia, Pietersen expects that to change when the first-choice bowling line-up of James Anderson, Stuart Broad (stomach injury), Tim Bresnan (calf) and Graeme Swann (knee and back) reunites for the World Cup. The squad’s rise over the year has convinced Pietersen that England are capable of winning the event for the first time.

“The batsmen have improved, the fielding is top notch, our catching is incredible and our bowling is so skilful,” Pietersen said in Brisbane. “We’ve shown Australia up in a huge way, with the difference in our bowling attack to their bowling attack this summer, with reverse swing and the skill at which we’ve gone about our business. Our skill levels are really, really good.”

England have reached the finals of three World Cups but the closest they came to winning was in 1987, when Australia beat them by seven runs at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. However, this outfit is conditioned to breaking down barriers, having collected the Twenty20 trophy in the West Indies last year and then raised the urn in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

“The team has been amazing through the last 12 months, winning in the Caribbean, winning the Ashes, winning on Australia Day [in Adelaide] the other day was magnificent for us,” Pietersen said. “To cap off the 12 months with a 50-over World Cup would be pretty surreal. The boys are absolutely buzzing for it.”

The series in Australia is England’s last official on-field engagement before their hectic schedule turns them home for three days. They then head to Bangladesh for a couple of warm-up matches and the opening exchanges of the World Cup.

Players who have been with the squad since November have started to feel flat and a mixture of fatigue and a post-Ashes hangover contributed to the slow start to the limited-overs campaign. Life in the subcontinent will be even more hectic as the sides that reach the final in Mumbai face more than six weeks of navigating through Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India.

“Our schedule is ridiculous going into this World Cup,” Pietersen said. “It has been for England teams for a very long time. And that’s probably why England have not done well in World Cups.” The proximity of the Ashes tour and the World Cup, which both traditionally run in a four-year cycle, was a major reason for the unusual scheduling of back-to-back Australia-England Test series in 2013-14.

England’s exact World Cup itinerary is currently unclear after the stadium at Eden Gardens, which was due to host the match against India on February 27, was ruled unsuitable to host such an important encounter. “That was the huge game for us, for everybody,” Pietersen said. “So, yes, it’s disappointing, but it might work to our advantage playing at a ground where there’s not 120,000 [spectators] but 50,000.”

Whatever happens to England during the World Cup, Pietersen will be returning to India after the tournament. He was signed for US$650,000 by the Deccan Chargers IPL side this month, a fee which was less than half his US$1.55million price from Bangalore in 2009. The new value ranks him below his team-mates Dale Steyn, Cameron White, Daniel Christian and Kumar Sangakkara.

“It’s not a mere $650,000,” Pietersen said. “I’ve always said whatever you get in the IPL is an absolute bonus. We’re fortunate enough to have five weeks, and who earns that kind of money in five weeks? Nobody, unless you’re Rooney or Lampard or Ronaldo or John Terry. You look at it and just say, ‘We’re very fortunate’.” Despite his complaints about England’s draining schedule, Pietersen had no second thoughts about rejoining the IPL, preferring to cash-in rather than rest or play county cricket ahead of the international home summer.

“You’d be a fool not to put your name into the hat,” he said.

“All the England lads put their name in the hat for this IPL because you never know what’s round the corner. You want to potentially earn as much as you can earn, as well as making as many friends as you can along the way.”

Pietersen also faces a different Indian experience after admitting he didn’t know where the Deccan franchise was based. He will be spending most of his time in the information technology hub of Hyderabad, which could be valuable after his latest online misadventure.

He was furious that the winning bid of his Twitter auction to support Queensland’s flood victims was a fake. Initially Pietersen was hugely satisfied to learn his prize of a trip to Perth for the final one-day international against Australia next Sunday (Feb 6) had sold for £31,800.

When the winner was contacted he claimed his account had been broken into, leaving Pietersen hacked off. “It is so frustrating and disappointing that somebody can do that,” he said. “It’s as low as it gets, like looting a store after it’s been flooded.” Pietersen was left hoping one of the other bidders would make another offer in time to fly to the game. “I could only do what I’ve done,” he said. “I haven’t done absolutely anything to warrant this kind of thing.” The fourth one-day international in Brisbane turned into a fund-raiser for those affected by the devastating floods a fortnight ago, which killed 22 people and caused £2.5 billion of damage. Pietersen said the quick clean-up of the city — “it doesn’t look like anything has happened” — was “absolutely incredible”.

Australia’s players visited schools around Brisbane on Friday that were affected by the disaster and Michael Clarke, Australia’s captain, said the scene put his glamorous life in perspective. “We’ve seen so many houses where the actual structure was still there but the whole inside was destroyed, empty,” he said. “It was a little bit like a ghost town.”

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James Anderson: seeing results of the Queensland floods has put our minor problems into perspective

James Anderson: seeing results of the Queensland floods has put our minor problems into perspective Impact: Jimmy Anderson is hoping to gain some momentum by winning the remaining games in the one-day series against Australia Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The TV footage was distressing to see, and all the more so because we were in the same country and felt a connection to this city. We played a Test in Brisbane in November, and spent a week eating in the restaurants and wandering around the city.

Now we are back here, for Sunday’s one-day international, and it is heart-wrenching to see the evidence of what happened. It’s most obvious down by the riverbanks: the Gabba is quite near the river, and when we are driving across we can see the watermarks on the bridges, and the trees that have been killed.

The centre was not as badly affected as some other areas, but there is still quite a bit of cleaning up to do. Now that the weather here has taken a turn for the better, people have begun work on what will be a long process of restoration.

When the guys are starting to whinge about feeling tired, it sometimes takes a reality check to kick you back into gear, and remind you how lucky you are to be playing cricket for your country. Now we’ve only got three games left before we go home, which is not really a hardship for us.

It’s true that, when I came back from my short break at home, I could see hints of tiredness in the squad. For guys who have played pretty much every game, people like Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott, the tour has been hard on them physically and mentally. Hopefully I brought some energy into the team in the last game, not just with my bowling but in the field as well.

I’ve forgotten all about the Ashes now, it just feels like such a long time ago. I’m not denying that retaining the urn was a great thing for us, but while some people might see this one-day series as meaningless, that’s not our view at all.

Not only do we want to gain some momentum going into the World Cup, but we want to keep climbing in the one-day rankings as well. Our goal is to be No 1 in all forms of the game, so there’s still a lot riding on the series.

Of course, three nights at home between this tour and setting off for Bangladesh is not ideal. But we knew at the start of this trip that it would be a long one. Now, most of the guys are looking forward to arriving in the sub-continent, because it’s very exciting to be going to a World Cup.

Having said that, I welcome the fact that the next Ashes series won’t be scheduled alongside the World Cup, because a tour of Australia is such a big series that it does take a lot out of you. You want to be as fresh as you possibly can for such a big tournament.

Look at the last World Cup. We left Australia on a high note, after winning the one-day series, but the whole tour had been a long and draining experience for us and people wanted to get home.

The tournament in the West Indies proved to be disappointing. Duncan Fletcher resigned as coach and we had a few disciplinary things going on, so there were some distractions.

This time, we’re much better prepared. The balance of the side is looking really good, when you think that we’ve got Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad still to come back. Trott has brought his ability to tick over in the middle part of the innings, and we have options with our part-time bowlers.

If we can get some overs out of Trott and Paul Collingwood it does give us more options: we can look at the conditions for each match and decide whether we bring in another batter or specialist bowler.

This World Cup will be played in three countries and there won’t be a single formula for success. Teams are going to have to adapt, and it could well be the most versatile squad that comes out on top.

James Anderson: seeing results of the Queensland floods has put our minor problems into perspective James,Anderson,seeing,results,Queensland,floods,minor,problems,perspective http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/8290350/James-Anderson-seeing-results-of-the-Queensland-floods-has-put-our-minor-problems-into-perspective.html

Cricket World Cup 2011: Asia pace will test Jonathan Trott's staying power

Cricket World Cup 2011: Asia pace will test Jonathan Trott's staying power: Jonathan Trott Setting the pace: Jonathan Trott may struggle against spinners and medium-pacers on the subcontinental pitches Photo: AFP

You can face the same sort of delivery that Harold Larwood would have bowled without exhuming him. But one thing that cannot be done is to make Jonathan Trott face his own bowling on a slow pitch in Asia.

And that is what England would like to do before the World Cup: to see how Trott would bat without any pace on the ball, when delivered by a spinner or a medium-pacer like himself.

He can bat through an innings, like nobody else in this fatigued England side; he can bat until the cows come home. But could he force the pace at the knock-out stage of the World Cup?

England would never dream of going into a one-day tournament with a settled XI, but whereas in previous World Cups this has been because some of England’s one-day batsmen have been so unproductive they have had to be dropped, this time it is because Trott has made an irresistible case.

He has stopped England being dismissed in less than 50 overs by Australia, and therefore he cannot be dropped, even though those suspicions remain.

It would be so convenient if Trott can grow into the No3 position, rapidly, as a batting all-rounder.

For although he hasn’t bowled on this interminable tour until now, Trott has plenty of experience of one-day bowling and was cheerfully doing the job at the death for Warwickshire when he forced his way into the England Test side and had more urgent matters.

If he and Paul Collingwood can be relied on for 10 overs between them, every time, England will bat deep and only have to pick four bowlers out of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann and Mike Yardy.

When there is pace on the ball, Trott is fine, working all the angles on the leg side. But when he has to put pace on the ball, the options are limited.

He doesn’t do sixes: six-hour vigils, yes, but not sixes over the rope. He has yet to hit his first in Test or one-day internationals, although the slog-sweep that he unleashed during his Adelaide century could be the portent of one.

But it was when David Hussey came on with his part-time offbreaks that we had an earnest of what might await in the World Cup: not in the qualifiers against Netherlands and their like, or even against India wherever that qualifier might be staged now that Kolkata’s Eden Gardens has been stripped of its plum fixture — and (don’t forget the politics) the president of the local association taken down a few pegs.

But in a semi-final against a team packed with spinners on a turning pitch, all of England’s top three of Andrew Strauss, Matt Prior and Trott are going to labour without pace on the ball.

Even though he had posted his hundred, Trott at Adelaide failed to get a single one of Hussey’s four offbreaks off the square and chopped on the last of them.

As with all batsmen, there is one thing that cannot be coached once he has passed his teens: the ability to run down the pitch at spinners with certainty. This has to be programmed in from an early age, and is with Asian batsmen, as a rule, but not those from England and the southern hemisphere.

If England’s top order are bogged down by spin in the World Cup, the truth is that only Kevin Pietersen can bale them out. And the trouble there is that Trott and Pietersen have no history of partnerships together; two men from similar backgrounds have been like poles repulsing so far.

Their only major partnership to date ended with the poles at the same end and Pietersen run out in the Centurion Test, which England only just saved thereafter.

Trott is so absorbed in batting through an innings that ‘calling’ sometimes seems to be a distraction. But at least this is an excess of what has nowadays become a rare virtue.

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Australia v England, fourth one-day international in pictures

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England v Australia, fifth one-day international in pictures

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Steve James: England Ashes hero Simon Jones swings back to his best form

There was more, though, because his last wicket then ensured a tied game. So it was time for a “super over” decider. Naturally, Jones was Hampshire’s nominated flinger. He took two wickets in three balls. You can claim no more than two dismissals in a super over and Hampshire required only one to win.

The stunning thing was that Jones looked impossibly fit. He has clearly shed pounds. He looked as slim and lissom as he did in 2005 when he helped to slay the Australians.

To think that the last time Jones graced an international arena was the penultimate Test of that Ashes series at Trent Bridge is to confront a tale of sporting tragedy. Injury robbed us of a reverse-swinger as devastating in that series as Waqar Younis had ever been.

At 32 and with a list of injuries that could yet prompt a special issue of The Lancet, Jones will not play another Test. But he did play one County Championship match at the end of last season, recording figures of 22-5-60-4 against Warwickshire, including the wicket of Ian Bell. And I thought he should have played against South Africa at Headingley in 2008 when in fine form for Worcestershire.

Instead England chose an Australian roof-tiler called Darren Pattinson. Enough said.

But could Jones still play one-day and T20 cricket for England? The thought suddenly occurred while watching him perform on Eurosport. (There was plenty of room for contemplation as the trite commentary simply had to be turned down.) He was that good and that exciting.

It would hardly be a novel arrangement for a fast bowler. Take the Australians Brett Lee and Shaun Tait. You only see them appearing for four or 10-over spells these days.

It seems that the real quicks can manage only such spells. The Ashes series involved mainly fast-mediums. Then, suddenly, in the first T20 Lee, Tait and Mitchell Johnson were steaming in together.

In truth, that is a situation most fast bowlers have mischievously craved for time immemorial: lots of money for very little work.

That is because bowlers don’t actually like bowling. Certainly not the prospect of bowling. (Not that batsmen always like the prospect of batting either, mind; thus the existence of nightwatchmen).

No happier group of people will you find than a set of bowlers just informed that their captain has won the toss and elected to bat: feet up and time for a cup of tea.

Some in the Glamorgan dressing room could not disguise their glee. I would sometimes point out that, while they were celebrating, I was contemplating facing someone like Courtney Walsh. And that they might have to face him later, too. That soon shut them up.

But could England employ Jones on a similar short-game basis to Lee and Tait? Like the Australian pair, that would suit his body right now. He is not quite as quick as them, but he is quick enough. He can touch 90mph when roused. And he is definitely more skilful and accurate than Tait.

Among fast bowlers, England currently have impressive strength in depth, but they also have a fixture list so arduous that it might worry Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Last Sunday they were missing an entire first-choice attack.

If Jones can string some games together in the summer, he might well merit consideration. And why not?

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England spinner Graeme Swann ruled out for rest of ODI series in Australia and will fly home due to back injury

“There is no point keeping him here any longer,” Andy Flower said. “It is unlikely he will be able to play any part in this series at all.”

Could Flower perhaps have been more proactive on this? Swann has already been hors de combat for more than a week, and a little time off has always seemed like a commonsense solution, especially when you consider the irrelevance of this tacked-on one-day series.

Alec Stewart, the former England wicketkeeper, has actively welcomed news of Swann’s latest twinge. “As long as [Tim] Bresnan and Swann come through their injuries, in a silly way England will have benefited before going off to the World Cup,” Stewart told the Cricinfo website.

But Flower has other reasons to be worried. For one thing, he has said before that Swann’s form dips when he spends any length of time out of the game. For another, Bresnan’s torn calf may involve as much as a four-to-six-week lay-off, which would put him right up against the start of the tournament on Feb 19.

Even though the World Cup doesn’t get going for real until the quarter-finals, which start on March 23, bowlers need time to rediscover rhythm and full bowling fitness after a tricky injury like this one.

Take Stuart Broad: even though he has been turning his arm over gently for a week or two, on his return from a torn stomach muscle, he won’t be risked in a match until the players arrive in Asia.

England feel obliged to put a brave face on this Australian one-day series, for fear of being portrayed as whingers. After all, many of these players have volunteered, of their own free will, to play in the Indian Premier League rather than rest in April.

But the way injuries have been stacking up - at a rate of one or two per game if you count the Australians - it’s clear that the crazy scheduling is hurting England’s chances of lifting the World Cup for the first time.

Flower was asked if he would be pleasantly surprised to go into the first matches of the tournament with a fully fit squad. The short answer was yes.

“Given we have only three nights at home between the two tours, it is possible we might not have 15 fit guys,” he said. “The timeline will be tight for Swann and Bresnan.”

The decision to take Luke Wright to the World Cup as a spare batting allrounder has left England a little short of bowling back-up.

Assuming that most of the pitches encourage a two-spinner attack, they only have James Tredwell and Ajmal Shahzad in reserve.

Flower has said before that the games are quite a way apart, giving him a chance to call up an injury replacement if anyone should suffer a serious problem. We can assume that Chris Tremlett will be on standby at The Oval, while another group of alternative options will be involved in the England Lions tour of the West Indies.

Flower described this as “a slight complication, because they will be quite a long way away”.

If the worst comes to the worst, England will have to hope for a re-enactment of Alastair Cook’s call-up five years ago, when he was rushed from Antigua to Nagpur, and scored a century on Test debut.

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Andrew Strauss admits batting has to improve for World Cup after defeat to Australia in one-day series

Andrew Strauss admits batting has to improve for World Cup after defeat to Australia in one-day series Work to be done: Andrew Strauss is aware that England have to imporve their batting ahead of the World Cup after another defeat to Australia Photo: EPA

The tourists won the Ashes in emphatic style but have failed to reproduce that form in the shorter format, slipping to a decisive 4-1 deficit in the seven-match series after a 51-run loss in Brisbane today.

A string of poor totals with the bat has been at the heart of Strauss' side's failings, and he said: ''We're very disappointed with how we've played as a batting group. There's been a lot of talking but talking doesn't bring results - guys have to bring it to the middle.

''We want the guys to play positively, We've got the World Cup coming up and I'd hate to see guys go into their shells but it's decision-making - when is the right time to attack and the right time to defend - and we haven't done that well enough. The reasons for that, I'm not sure.

''We've played very badly, we could have won the first two games and probably should. We haven't played smart cricket.

''We've got two games to get momentum for the World Cup.''

Young all-rounder Chris Woakes provided a rare bright spot on the day with six for 45, the best ODI figures by an England bowler on foreign soil, and Strauss continued: ''He obviously showed talent and it shows the future's bright for us.''

Woakes himself added: ''I was pleased with my performance with the ball, it was one of those days when it seemed to go my way, but it would have been sweeter if I was on the winning side.

''I'm pleased with my own performance but it's just a shame we're out of the series.''

Australia skipper Michael Clarke, whose 54 out of Australia's 249 all out was the top score of the match, said: ''I'm excited to contribute, it's been a while since I made 50.

''To win the series is fantastic, the boys are stoked.

''I thought when I got out that if we could scratch out 230 or 240 we were in with a chance, I thought 249 was a pretty good score.

''Everybody contributed, a few guys got starts with the bat and guys chipped in with two wickets.''

The match also saw another significant amount of money raised for the flood relief effort in the surrounding Queensland area and Clarke concluded: ''That's the most important thing really, the turnout today was fantastic.

''The game of cricket has raised so much money. England have been fantastic too, they've donated a few things.''

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Chris Tremlett rewarded with incremental England contract for Ashes heroics

The 29 year-old was seen as something of a surprise selection when team director Andy Flower named his Test party to tour Australia, but he took his chance brilliantly following Stuart Broad's injury, taking 17 wickets in the series as he played the last three Tests of England's 3-1 triumph.

Incremental contracts are awarded on a points basis, with players needing to reach 20 points to be awarded one.

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Sean Ervine stays at Hampshire after Zimbabwe World Cup about-turn

Cricket World Cup-Sean Ervine stays at Hampshire after Zimbabwe World Cup U-turn No change: Zimbabwean all-rounder Sean Ervine is staying at Hampshire after rejecting the chance to play at the Word Cup Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The all-rounder was named in his country’s preliminary 30-man squad and, having agreed to return to the international fold following his retirement in 2004, was then selected in the final party of 15.

That would have rendered the 28 year-old an overseas player for county cricket purposes and spelled the end of his career at the Rose Bowl, where he has been a key figure in recent years – including during last season’s victorious Friends Provident t20 campaign.

Now, having had time to consider the impact on his personal and professional life, Ervine has opted to withdraw from the Zimbabwe squad in favour of returning to Hampshire.

The decision means he will almost certainly not add to his international record of five Tests and 42 one-day internationals.

Ervine said: “After having had time to reflect on all of the circumstances, I have realised that this is not the right time to leave Hampshire.

“I have a great relationship with this club and its supporters and I feel like part of a family. Hampshire is my home, so much so that I am planning to get married there next year. I do not, therefore, want to be away for long periods of time.”

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England in Australia: Paul Collingwood down but not out as he eyes World Cup salvation

He has not entered so low in the one-day side since 2005 and the past month of demotions indicates the 34 year-old’s strength is weakening.

While he remains the Twenty20 captain, he left before being pushed from the Test side after managing only 83 runs in the Ashes, and is now battling for time in the format he has been most suited to.

In England’s current state, whenever they require another specialist bowler - they relied on three front-line seamers in Adelaide - Collingwood will be the most vulnerable batsman.

“Is the writing on the wall? Is that what you’re trying to say?” he said. “We will have to see what conditions are like. I’m desperate to get in the side, like every other batsman. It will be interesting to see what combination they go with.”

The long-awaited Ashes success in Australia has made this slump easier to deal with for Collingwood, who failed to make a significant impact on the Test series.

“Of course you get down, this is your job,” he said after the side landed here for Sunday’s fifth one-day international.

“You feel you are letting your team-mates down. It doesn’t only affect you, it affects your family, because there is a lot of pressure on what we do, but the older you get the more you try to keep things in perspective.”

By his count, he has had four “horrible bad runs of form” at international level and this trough is mild compared with his state of mind during the tour here in 2006-07.

Being bowled by a straight ball from Xavier Doherty in Sydney on Sunday was nowhere near as deflating as his dismissal to Andrew Symonds in Adelaide four years ago.

“I plinked it to mid-off trying to hit it over the top and I remember literally sitting in the locker - in it - just nearly in tears,” he said. He had scratched three off 17 balls in that one-day international before England were dismissed for 110, adding to their despair after suffering an Ashes whitewash.

“There have been plenty of low points along the way,” he said. “It was ridiculous [in 2006-07]. I went from that point thinking, ‘I can’t even bat any more’, to getting man-of-the-match awards. It can change quickly.”

Four years later he is hoping the encouraging display in Adelaide - “It was good to get past 20, I haven’t done that in a while” – will be the start of another run of success. England would welcome the improvement from one of their previously major influences as they attempt to claw back a 3-1 deficit.

“It’s so frustrating not being in good form,” he said. “But I honestly think it is just around the corner, so hopefully [Wednesday] was the spark that I needed.”

His bowling is often valuable and he showed his effectiveness on the sluggish Adelaide pitch that should be similar to the surfaces on offer during the World Cup. He is also versatile enough to deliver seam up or cutters, the more likely method for success in the subcontinent.

On Wednesday he bowled Michael Clarke with one angling in, finishing with one for 22 off seven overs before leaving the ground with stomach cramps. He could be a threat at the Gabba as the fifth bowler in humid conditions, especially in the evening when the ball swings sharply.

“It’s important [to have a second string], I want to contribute, want to win games for England,” he said. “It’s a great way to take the pressure off in many ways from your batting. But ultimately my role in the side is to score runs and that’s what I want to get back to.”

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Pakistan spot fixing trial: tight restrictions put the squeeze on tribunal verdict

Pakistan spot fixing trial: tight restrictions put the squeeze on tribunal verdict - Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt Under suspicion: Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Amir (L) Mohammad Asif (Back C) and Salman Butt (R) Photo: AFP

Look at official inquiries in Britain. Start by appointing Sir John Somebody — and there is your guarantee that nobody will dig too deep. He will be, in cricket imagery, ‘a safe pair of hands’. He can be relied on to lift the lid a little, find a transgressor or two, then lower the lid again so that life can go on much as before.

In the same way, the three judges of the ICC tribunal have been given narrow parameters that don’t risk upsetting the applecart. They are focusing on last August’s events surrounding the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s. Many strange, even inexplicable, occurrences have taken place in professional cricket over the last two decades, but these will not be taken into account.

Why? Specifically, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit has always concentrated on prevention: on lecturing the young cricketers of tomorrow about the evils of this world. The unit hasn’t been given the resources to catch cricketers at the bidding of bookmakers or, therefore, the official encouragement to do so. Much more convenient all round to keep the lid on: then the stakeholders, the major sponsors, are not scared away.

What the three-man tribunal has been left to judge is the evidence of apparent wrongdoing during that Lord’s Test, when a News of the World reporter was videotaped in the act of giving £150,000 in cash to some Pakistan players’ agent, Mazhar Majeed. In return, Majeed said he would arrange for Pakistan’s two opening bowlers, Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Asif, to bowl no-balls at specific moments in the Lord’s Test.

In the event, Amir bowled two no-balls early in the Lord’s Test, and in both cases he overstepped by a margin that astonished some observers, including the umpire Tony Hill of New Zealand. The fact that he overstepped twice in such a short passage of play was notable in itself: in the three previous Tests, Amir had bowled a total of three no-balls.

As part of Amir’s defence, a conversation has emerged between his captain Salman Butt and Pakistan’s coach Waqar Younis — shortly after Amir had overstepped a long way when bowling a bouncer at Jonathan Trott. Butt said this was a tactic to stop Trott lunging forward to negate the swing that Amir was obtaining. If nothing else, this was against the spirit of the game, as a deliberate attempt to injure the batsman by illegal means.

Butt has also tried to account publicly for the fact that £29,000 was found in his room after the Metropolitan Police had raided the Pakistan team hotel on the third evening of the Lord’s Test. He has explained it away as cash allowances — to which all international players are entitled, with more for the captain — and appearance fees.

The verdicts will be delivered in Doha, Qatar: not the sort of place cricket had in mind when it first thought of neutral venues. The three-man tribunal consists of Michael Beloff, QC, the chairman of ICC’s Code of Conduct commission; Judge Albie Sachs of South Africa and Kenya’s former Attorney General Sharad Rao.

It may be hard to recall the ill-feeling which grew up between the England and Pakistan sides during the one-day series that followed the Lord’s Test, but real bad blood there was — and the start of a brawl between Trott and the Pakistan bowler Wahab Riaz.

England’s players came close to unilaterally refusing to finish the series after the Pakistan board chairman, Ijaz Butt, laid himself open to ridicule by claiming that England’s players had taken bookmakers’ money in the Oval international. Even though this case is due to be put to bed before the World Cup, it is just as well the two countries have been drawn in different groups.

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