Steve Waugh has dropped a hint that Stuart MacGill is likely to be named in Australia’s XI for the first Test against India at Brisbane which starts tomorrow (Thursday).Although the Gabba track is green and widely expected to favour the seamers, Waugh argued that it was vital to have a balanced attack. And he added that MacGill will still get turn even on a grassy pitch.Waugh’s views were shared by Kevin Mitchell, the groundsman, who said there was a “real good even grass coverage” that should produce “good bounce and pace”. But he added that there would be enough in the pitch for the spinners.MacGill’s inclusion would probably mean that Nathan Bracken would be left out of the side.Australia were boosted by the sight of Adam Gilchrist at training after he missed Tuesday’s session because of a viral infection. “He’s a bit run-down but he should be fine,” Errol Alcott, the team’s physiotherapist, told reporters.And Brett Lee joined in the practice, although he is unlikely to be fit until the third Test. He has recovered from strained stomach muscles and ankle surgery, and will make his return for New South Wales at the weekend.Australia (probable): 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Steve Waugh (capt), 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Andy Bichel, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 Brad Williams.

Ricky Ponting’s magnificent double-century was remarkable not just for the sheer number of runs he scored, but also for his complete mastery over the Indian bowlers. Unlike his 242 at Adelaide, which came off a mere 352 balls, this innings was crafted over a longer period – 458 balls – but was an equally commanding performance.What stood out was his impeccable footwork: not once in the entire innings was he caught on the crease. Ponting also adapted superbly to the slowish pitch: he was circumspect on the front foot, a wise move considering the fact that some deliveries stopped on the batsmen, but was devastating whenever he rocked back. A strike-rate of 1.5 runs per over when playing forward, and 5.4 when playing back, tells the story. It wasn’t as if the Indians offered him too many short balls either: there were just 12 of them, while another 43 pitched just short of good length. However, Ponting was good enough to convert many of the 342 good-length balls he received into short ones by his excellent footwork.

He did offer a chance early on the third morning, but that was one of very few false strokes that he played. Of the 458 balls he faced, he was in control of 398 of them – that’s nearly 87%. The bowler who troubled him the most was Anil Kumble, against whom his in-control percent was a relatively lower 81%.In sharp contrast to Ponting’s commanding batting display was the scratchy effort by Steve Waugh, who was twice reprieved by the umpires and yet managed just 19 from 69 balls. He was troubled by Kumble as well, managing an in-control percent of 72% against him, but the bowler who had him all at sea was Sachin Tendulkar: of the 10 balls he faced, Waugh failed to read six of them, including a googly which he shouldered arms to and was rapped plumb in front.

Retravision Warriors fast-bowler Michael Clark will find out tonight if he needs surgery on his spine.Clark met with Orthopedic Surgeon Michael Alexis in West Perth this morning to discuss the results of his MRI Scan completed on Wednesday.The news was not good. The MRI scan showed an abnormality in disc 4-5. This is the same disc that suffered stress fractures in May 2003.Clark will have a more comprehensive CT (cat) scan this afternoon on the troubled disc to ascertain whether he needs a screw inserted into the disc.Alexis will inform Clark tonight on whether he requires surgery. As such Clark will not be available to the Media today, as he will not know his immediate future until tonight.Clark re-injured his back playing in an ING Cup match against Tasmania in Launceston on February 1st. He immediately flew home.

Shane Warne has made his first appearance on a cricket pitch for 12 months, after hiring the Junction Oval at St Kilda – the venue of his 2nd XI comeback match next week – for a secret training session.Warne was accompanied by friends and several members of St Kilda Cricket Club as he bowled for 45 minutes against a variety of leftand right-handed batsmen. According to those who witnessed the session, Warne had few problems finding his range, despite his lengthy lay-off. The session did not contravene the terms of his suspension because it was not classified as official team training for the St Kilda squad.”The track was turning quite a bit, he was getting quite a bit of bounce and loop,” said David Johnstone, St Kilda’s chairman of selectors, who looked on in an unofficial capacity. “He seemed really happy with what was going on, and tried some normal [leg breaks], some slower and faster ones, some flippers and wrong’uns and stuff out of the front of the hand. I was standing right out there with him and he looked in good form.””He doesn’t look like he’s been out for long,” said one of the batsmen who faced him, the young left-hander Justin Gale. “He looks pretty fit. There’s not many spinners of his class going about in Melbourne grade cricket … and he bowled a different [type of] delivery just about every ball. Everything seemed to be coming out all right to me.”The session is unlikely to attract the controversy that surrounded Warne’s last public attempt to train, when he was invited to join the Victorian squad soon after his ban was announced. On that occasion, Cricket Australia stepped in and banned Warne from participating in all forms of cricket, apart from charity and testimonial matches.Cricket Australia have since praised the way Warne has stuck to the terms of his ban. “Shane and his manager have been meticulous in ensuring they comply,” said their spokesman, Peter Young, who explained why they had stepped in over his appearance with the Victoria squad. “A player suspended under the Cricket Australia anti-doping policy can’t receive any support from official cricket. Shane [couldn’t] train at the MCG because members of the public can’t.”

Australia’s disappointing World Cup campaign continued today when they failed to qualify for the Super League, even though they beat Sri Lanka. Bangladesh also bowed out after their heavy defeat to India, while South Africa scraped through thanks to a narrow one-wicket win against England.A three-run victory over Sri Lanka was not enough for Australia to progress to the next stage. In order to make it through, they needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 97, but couldn’t manage it. Australia finished level on points with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, but lost out because of a poorer net run rate.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, finished top of Group A and will now face India, South Africa and West Indies in Group One of the Super League. The second group will be contested by England, New Zealand, Pakistan and Zimbabwe.Australia will contest Group One of the Plate Championship with Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland. The other group will be Bangladesh, Canada, Ireland and UgandaEngland made it through as winners of Group B, despite losing by one wicket to South Africa at Chittagong. They lost their last six wickets for 31 runs to be all out for 189, despite 63 from Steven Davies. Vaughan van Jaarsveld scored 76 for South Africa, who edged home on 190-9 despite 3 for 35 by Tim Bresnan.Lastly, Pakistan beat West Indies by 169 runs – both teams go through to the Super League.Full reports and scorecards to follow.

Mumbai 236 for 0 (Jaffer 121*, Mane 105*) trail Tamil Nadu 294 (Karthik 109*) by 58 runs
Scorecard

Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Mane gave a lesson in partnership-building as Mumbai reached a commanding 236 for no loss at the end of the second day’s play at Chennai. The openers’ batting approach was a direct contrast to yesterday, when the Tamil Nadu batsmen had created their own pitfalls on a featherbed of a pitch.When play began this morning, MR Shrinivas hung on for 52 balls and added 25 with Dinesh Karthik. They were completely at ease in their 53-run stand and nudged the score towards the 300 mark. However, Nilesh Kulkarni was brought on after the medium pacers failed to strike, and trapped Shrinivas with a quicker one in his second over.And there began Tamil Nadu’s grind, under the blazing sun. Mane started in a great hurry, pulling Shrinivas to the midwicket fence in the second over of the innings. A few more neat drives followed, before he nearly paid the price for going after every ball. An inside edge missed the stumps by inches, and Ramakrishnan Ramkumar grassed an uppish flash off the very next ball. A few balls later, he flashed again, and this time, Karthik only managed to get his fingertips to it. Mane was on 15 when he survived these nervy moments, and that was the last whiff of a chance that either batsmen offered.Mane creamed three consecutive fours of C Ganapathy, and that set the tone for the rest of the day. Jaffer, who had had a quiet day till then, latched on to the momentum. A silken straight-drive off Shrinivas loosened the leash, and he deftly used the angles against the spinners. Two shots stood out for their exact placement: a delicate sweep off Sridharan Sriram, who was firing it in on leg stump with a strong leg-side field, and a late cut that beat both third man and deep point.Jaffer took just 55 balls to race from 50 to his hundred. There was a smooth air about the whole innings, with hardly any shots played in the air. Jaffer rated this knock, which included 17 fours, as one of the best innings of his career. “The 314 that I scored in my second first-class game was special,” he said, “but this one will rank as one of the best. I have played in three Ranji Trophy finals and have missed out on scoring a hundred in the previous ones. I was extremely keen to get this one.”Mane’s century, his third on the trot, was characterised by some well-controlled sweeps. There was a patch after tea when he swept almost every ball from the spinners, sometimes picking it from way outside off. Fittingly, he reached his hundred with a swept single, and was eager to cash in on his great form and carry on for much more. “I was disappointed when I didn’t make a double-hundred in the semi-final,” he said. “I will try and get a big one this time.”Those are ominous words as far as Tamil Nadu are concerned. This was the highest partnership for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu, and thoughts go back to March 1996, the last time a Ranji Trophy final was played in this stadium. On that occasion, Karnataka kept Tamil Nadu on the field for the best part of three days, and pummeled 620 for 8, before romping to the title. And to realise how bad things could still get for Tamil Nadu, you only had to listen to Jaffer say: “It would be great to get a second triple century.”

Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, whose 141st edition is published on Thursday, April 8.Ponting is the first recipient of the new Wisden accolade, started as a counterpart to the traditional Five Cricketers of the Year award, which dates back to 1889. This year’s Five Cricketers include two Englishmen – Andrew Flintoff of Lancashire and England, and Chris Adams, the Sussex captain – two South Africans – Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten – and the Australian Ian Harvey.No-one can be among the Five more than once and, with the arrival of the new honour, the Five are once again being chosen on the time-honoured criterion “influence on the English season”.But the Leading Cricketer award can be won an unlimited number of times. The almanack has also named The Wisden Forty, including Ponting and his 39 nearest rivals, based on their form in 2003. The list includes 14 Australians, seven South Africans, five Indians, four Pakistanis, three Englishmen – Flintoff, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan – three Sri Lankans, two New Zealanders and one each from West Indies (Brian Lara) and Zimbabwe (Heath Streak).Ponting shares the cover with his predecessor as Australian captain, Steve Waugh. This follows Wisden’s first-ever pictorial cover in 2003, which featured Michael Vaughan. This year, the front has been redesigned to re-incorporate the famous woodcut by Eric Ravilious. Readers who object to pictures on the cover (or to Australians) can write off to Wisden for a picture-free version.The Notes
Wisden’s Notes by the Editor, cricket’s traditional fire-and-brimstone annual sermon, breaks with precedent by praising the game’s administrators. Matthew Engel – returning as editor after three years’ absence, spent mainly in the US – says “the game has been better run for the past few years than at any time in history”.But Engel then attacks both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the current crisis involving Zimbabwe and the Champions Trophy tournament, scheduled to be held in England in September.Describing Zimbabwe as a “wretched tyranny”, he says the majority of cricketing countries will earn “the contempt of thoughtful individuals across the globe” if sanctions are invoked against England for refusing to tour there. But he adds that the English position has been “incoherent and inconsistent” and says the ECB’s plans for the Champions Trophy look like producing something “between a squandered opportunity and a total fiasco”.

Engel points out that the competition is due to go on almost until October – far later than any major cricket has ever been staged in England – and that the final will be at The Oval rather than Lord’s. Even The Oval will not be properly ready: it is being rebuilt for the 2005 Ashes. He adds that the England team will be “knackered” after a non-stop six-month programme, thus endangering any prospect of a home win to build popular support for the game.Engel also criticises the ECB’s domestic opponents, the Cricket Reform Group, headed by the former England captains Mike Atherton and Bob Willis. After analysing their manifesto, which proposes a greater emphasis on club rather than county cricket to produce England cricketers, he concludes: “I am gobsmacked that Mike and Bob expect English cricket to be more competitive by becoming more amateur.”The Articles
The lead article of Wisden 2004 is a graceful tribute to Steve Waugh, the most successful Test captain of all time, by the former England captain Nasser Hussain. Another ex-captain, Mike Atherton, profiles Graeme Smith as one of the Cricketers of the Year.The other articles all add to the long tradition of Wisden as a repository for some of the best writing in sport. They cover such subjects as the future of wicketkeeping, Over-Forties in Test cricket, the role of players’ agents and a comparison of the lives of footballers and cricketers. (“I reckon the only advantage they have over us is that their game lasts 90 minutes not five days,” says Graham Thorpe, the former England Schools midfielder and current Test batsman.)There is a tribute to Sussex, the county champions, by their former captain, and trenchant journalist, Robin Marlar. The weatherman Philip Eden shows that 2003 was not quite such a long, hot summer as people believe. This year’s book reviewer is Barry Norman, who chooses No Coward Soul, the biography of Bob Appleyard, by Stephen Chalke and Derek Hodgson, as his book of the year.The Round the World section includes reports from inside one of Saddam Hussain’s palaces on the Baghdad Ashes (four for the first landing of the marble staircase, six for the second landing), from the salt plains of East Timor and the lava fields of Rwanda, where the players learned about volcanic bounce the hard way. The Chronicle section reports on Darren Gough’s debut in The Beano and on the player who missed most of the season after breaking his collarbone – in the fathers’ sack race.And Wisden also attempts to answer the one cricketing question the book has never tackled before: What

Andy Blignaut has announced he is determined to “give it my all” over the next three summers with Tasmania, after becoming the second of Zimbabwe’s 15 unwanted white players to sign with an Australian state.Blignaut will arrive in August to begin a three-year contract with Tasmania. David Johnston, chief executive officer of the Tasmanian Cricket Association, said Australian selection was not out of the question for the combative allrounder.”There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before that all occurs, but there is some thought that he would like to do that,” said Johnston.Blignaut is viewed by some, with a certain amount of wishful thinking, as the perfect replacement for Shane Watson who has moved home to Queensland. Watson is a genuine No. 4 at Pura Cup level; Blignaut’s main asset, by contrast, is his feisty pace bowling. His aggressive lower-order strokeplay can be considered a bonus. “I think he goes part of the way to replacing Watson,” was Johnston’s verdict.He remained coy about whether or not Tasmania would succeed in persuading Michael Bevan to move south from New South Wales. Bevan recently lost his Cricket Australia contract and a lucrative switch to Tasmania would make up for part of the drop in income.”We have been talking for two or three weeks now, so we are getting fairly close to the end of it,” said Johnston. “We are hoping to hear something from Michael’s management company in the next few days.”Michael Slater is also reportedly reconsidering his options with NSW. He played only three Pura Cup games last summer because of illness and is believed to be unhappy with the deal NSW have offered him. He could potentially give up on his playing career altogether and move permanently into the commentary box.Blignaut, who has taken 51 wickets and averages 24 with the bat in his 15 Tests, is one of four Zimbabweans expected to play in the Pura Cup this summer. Andy Flower is playing for South Australia and Murray Goodwin and Sean Ervine for Western Australia.

Stan Nell, an Australian coach, has been recruited as the coach of the Sri Lanka A team for their forthcoming tour of England, according to The Island, a Sri Lankan daily. Nell, who coaches Monash University in Victoria but also has previous experience of coaching in Sri Lanka, is set to join the A squad in June.Nell’s appointment swells the Australian contingent looking after various Sri Lankan squads: the national team is coached by John Dyson, while Shane Duff is their fitness trainer, and CJ Clarke, the physiotherapist.Hemantha Devapriya, the A-team coach over the past four years, will now join the Sri Lankan Academy which is about to commence its second programme after being opened in 2003.Nell has worked in Sri Lanka previously with the Indoor Cricket Foundation and John Keells in the Mercantile competition.

After helmet-cameras and player-mics in the inaugural competition last season, this year’s Twenty20 competition is to experiment with the use of umpire microphones, to enable commentators to communicate with officials in mid-match and allow viewers a unique insight into how decisions are made.”This is a major development for cricket broadcasting,” said Barney Francis, executive producer for Sky Sports, “as fans at home have never enjoyed such access to the umpires. Our commentators will be able to discover the reasons behind the decisions, the conditions out in the middle, plus the umpires’ own opinions on the way the match is progressing. It should make fascinating viewing.”Second seasons are always the most difficult for successful innovations, but on the evidence so far, the Twenty20 Cup is proving just as popular this time around. With two weeks to go, advance sales for tickets have already topped the 80,000 mark – nearly a third of the total audience at matches last summer.The game between Surrey and Kent at The Oval, reduced to a 6000 capacity due to reconstruction works, has already sold out, while over 10,000 tickets have already been sold for Middlesex v Surrey, at Lord’s on Thursday, July 15.”We are delighted,” said Tom Harrison, the ECB’s marketing manager. “Domestic cricket has not had an advance ticket sales culture in the past and it is something we are very keen to create. My message to fans is, `buy now to avoid disappointment!'”For any fans who are still undecided, maybe Warwickshire’s new initiative will tilt the balance. To capitalise on the new wave of female fans, the county is introducing speed-dating to its entertainment, in which members of the opposite sex have until a wicket falls to chat each other up.