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Auckland had New Zealand batsmen Lou Vincent and Scott Styris back in the side but it made no difference as the home team continued its abysmal form this season. Dismissed for a paltry 170, Auckland was never going to trouble Wellington, who cruised to an eight-wicket victory in 29.5 overs. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, led the way with 66 not out, while young opener Jesse Ryder again impressed with 49. Michael Parlane continued his good season with 29 not out. In Auckland’s innings, again it was left to Rob Nicol, who has fought a lone hand this season, to salvage pride with 61. Mark Gillespie was the best of the Wellington bowlers with 3 for 21 off nine overs.Canterbury moved to the top of the State Shield table with their seven-wicket victory against strugglers Northern Districts. Northern posted a meagre 201 off 50 overs, with only Hamish Marshall (58) passing 50. Recently retired international Chris Cairns showed there was still life in the old dog with 3 for 45 off 10 overs. Canterbury were untroubled and cruised to victory in the 35th over. Craig McMillan experienced a welcome return to form with 88 not out while Shanan Stewart posted an unbeaten 44.

ScorecardRight-arm pacer Mudassar Bukhari claimed career-best T20 figures of 4 for 7, as Netherlands routed UAE by 84 runs in Dubai. Bukhari’s burst and assistance from Michael Swart and Paul van Meekeren reduced UAE to 7 for 5 within four overs, the lowest five-down score in all T20Is.Mohammad Usman, the only UAE batsman to move into double figures, then launched a counterattack with an unbeaten 49 off 44 balls, including four fours and three sixes. However, it only offered scant consolation for UAE. Michael Rippon cleaned up the tail as they folded for 73 in 16.4 overs.The match, though, was set up by forties from Wesley Barresi and Peter Borren. The pair added 77 for the third wicket before they were dismissed in a space of three balls, in the 18th over. Earlier, opener Stephan Myburgh hit 35 off 26 balls to give Netherlands early impetus. They eventually finished with 157 for 5, which proved 84 too many for UAE.

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Multan returned to the Gold League of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in style with a thumping 269-run victory against Islamabad in the final of the Silver League at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.At the start of the fourth day, Multan needed just four wickets to complete the formalities, and Islamabad, who were struggling at 79 for 6, were in no mood to resist. Bazid Khan was run out without adding to his overnight 17, while Ashar Zaidi, Rauf Akbar and Zohaib Ahmed all fell for single-digit scores. Azharullah took two of those wickets to finish with match figures of 5 for 75, while Abdur Rauf was the most successful bowler in Islamabad’s second innings, taking 3 for 44.

Make no mistake, Adelaide has been the scene of concerted pitch doctoring this week. In departing from more than 140 years of history by scheduling a day-night Test, Cricket Australia have veered away from another tradition down under – letting the ground staff have full control over the preparation of the wicket.The Adelaide Oval turf for Friday’s Test has been micromanaged in consultation between CA, the oval’s curator Damian Hough, the broadcasters, ball manufacturers, and the players themselves. Faced with the reality of using a pink ball that lacks the durability of its red equivalent, the board, the venue and the players have agreed upon a surface offering more grass than usual in Adelaide, helping the ball to be preserved while also offering more movement to bowlers.Its qualities were tested when near-identical pitches were prepared for two Sheffield Shield matches in Adelaide earlier this season, the first a day-night affair between South Australia and New South Wales in which the likes of Steven Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon all took part. There were some raised eyebrows about the way the pitch preparation has been decided more or less by committee, but positive feedback by the players about the way the surface played has allayed much of the earlier anxiety.”This match is three years in the making from an Australian cricket perspective,” CA’s head of operations Sean Cary told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve had the three rounds of Sheffield Shield cricket, and we’ve tried to come up with the best conditions that are going to not impact the balance between bat and ball.”We don’t want either the bat or the ball to be in favour, but what we’ve done with Damian Hough, and he’s worked diligently in his wicket preparation, is to make sure the surrounds are favourable to the ball not being scuffed up as much.”We’re confident that what he’s learned from the last two Shield rounds, one day-night, one natural-light Shield round, the feedback he’s got from the captains, including Steve Smith the current Australian captain, is that they’ve been really complimentary towards his wickets, and they’ve said ‘we’d love to have this sort of wicket for a Test match’.”

Net bowler pinged on the head

A net bowler has been treated for a lacerated ear after being struck on the head during Australia’s training on Wednesday night. Mitchell Marsh batted in the nets and launched the pink ball straight back at the bowler, who was struck on the side of the head. Training was briefly halted and the bowler was treated for a lacerated ear by Australia’s team doctor, Peter Brukner.

For Hough’s part, he was less eager to paint this as a pitch prepared entirely to suit a cricket ball, but admitted its composition was out of step with Adelaide’s usual fare. “Leaving a bit of grass on it, we’re hoping it will assist the quicks, and the ball will come onto the bat nicely,” Hough said. “But having a bit of a coarse, thatchy grass should hopefully, going on the two games we have had so far and the pink ball Shield matches, it should be able to bite into that grass and get some spin.”As a former member of Hough’s ground staff, Lyon is uniquely placed to discuss the vagaries of the surface. He and his NSW spin bowling offsider Steve O’Keefe were pleasantly surprised by the amount of spin on offer via the even covering of grass, while also noting that pacemen and batsmen alike were able to prosper at times – although with the added possible difficulty of facing a brand new ball under lights.The presence of only two evenly grassed drop-in pitches alongside the Test strip has made for a decidedly lush square and outfield, meaning the game is unlikely to see much in the way of reverse swing. Adelaide is thus about to witness a very different Test match to what the Oval’s faithful are used to, both underfoot and overhead.”It’s a little bit different, a little bit more grass on it, a more even coverage and a thick bed of grass. There’s a little bit more there for everyone, it won’t be a typical flat Adelaide pitch that we are used to,” Lyon said. “In saying that we played here a couple of weeks ago and it was the perfect wicket.”Damian Hough is a great curator and produced that wicket for the Shield game and spoke to myself, Dave Warner and Steve Smith before and after the Shield game to get our feedback. I know we all gave positive feedback to Damian. The ball held up pretty well when we played here a few weeks ago, it doesn’t have that abrasive effect and it will be quite hard to get it to reverse. I dare say it will look after it pretty well.”As much as this match is a contest between Australia and New Zealand to decide the outcome of this series, it is also devised as a piece of advertising for the concept of day-night Tests. Cary noted the presence of a wide variety of cricket luminaries and administrators at the ground, with Pakistan already believed to be in talks with CA about taking part in another day-night match down under next summer.”We’re breaking the ice so to speak,” Cary said. “There’s going to be plenty of interest from other member boards around the world, we’ve got a number of CEOs from other countries here to witness this event, and I’m sure if they can see the positives, a full house at Adelaide Oval for the duration of the match and great viewing audiences at home, then I’m sure this will be a product other countries will be really interested in.”So it is that the Adelaide Oval wicket has been doctored by committee, though not for the usual reasons of trying to engineer a victory for the home side. Where usually such a practice would be cause for howls of derision from those Australians who believe each groundsman should be left to do his job in peace, this time around the endgame is more commercial than parochial.

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Luke Pomersbach’s maiden first-class century gave Western Australia a reason to cheer briefly before Doug Bollinger helped consign them to a 275-run loss to New South Wales. Bollinger played a part in ending what he started, finishing with 5 for 38 as the Blues grabbed the three wickets they needed and dismissed the Warriors for 193 before lunch.Bollinger had set up the victory with a hat-trick that cut Western Australia to 6 for 78 on day three and he returned on the final morning to have Steve Magoffin caught behind. Dominic Thornely made the outcome official when he bowled Ben Edmondson with his first ball, leaving Pomersbach unbeaten on 102 from 111 balls.Pomersbach’s resistance was aggressive – he clubbed 14 fours and three sixes – but he had too few partners remaining. Brett Dorey was the first to go on day four, giving Beau Casson his only wicket for the match. The comprehensive home loss gave Western Australia the worst possible start to the summer after they appointed a new coach and new captain during the off-season.

Ricky Ponting had just completed the most significant Test victory of his 33-match reign and still he could not escape from his lowest moment as leader. The swift recovery to return Australia to the top of Ashes battles was exceptional, but it did not stop thoughts of England in 2005 and the loss that ultimately helped reinvigorate the side.Ponting was the first to bring up the England defeat and revealed the model for success in this series had been set up barely a week after they returned from The Oval. All of Australia’s contracted players were called to Melbourne for a meeting to dissect the mistakes of the campaign and their suggestions led to the appointment of more coaches, vows to improve preparation and a desire to make sure nobody could beat them.”That’s where all the cricket that we are playing now started,” Ponting said. “There was a burning passion in the boys to make themselves and the team better.”Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, was poached from the United Kingdom, the role of the fielding expert Mike Young was expanded and Richard McInnes, a full-time analyst, was added to the support staff. The upshot has been a side that did not make the critical errors that affected them in England and they have succeeded in the first three Tests.”We made a lot of mistakes last time and I couldn’t see this team making the same mistakes again,” Ponting said. “We haven’t made anywhere near as many in this series. Last time we bowled lots of no-balls, our fielding was sloppy and whenever we had partnerships we managed to lose a wicket and let England back into the game.”This time we haven’t done that. Once we’ve had a partnership going we’ve generally made it a big one. We just haven’t given England the opportunities to compete with us.”Andrew Flintoff’s side has winded Australia occasionally but not found a way to floor them and the series has been decided in 15 days. Ponting’s supreme batting, developing leadership and the squad’s meticulously researched field settings have been essential and he is determined not to ease up in Melbourne or Sydney.”We’re pretty satisfied at the moment and probably will be satisfied for the next few days,” he said. “But we want to win every game we play.” Since the Ashes they have been successful in 14 out of 15 games – the miss was a draw in Perth against South Africa – and they will start at the MCG on a 10-match streak.

The speed of the series being decided has been stunning but it has not surprised Ponting, who believes he is in charge of a side performing as well as they have for a “long time”. “For it to be over is a great result,” he said. “To watch how we played in each Test, then we’ve deserved to win in three.”Australia’s ageing side has been criticised for its Dad’s Army qualities and Ponting was disappointed with predictions from some former Test players who doubted their ability to re-claim the urn. Proving critics wrong has been a motivating factor over a number of years and it has been used successfully again.”The guys concerned have made it a mission of theirs to play a big part in the series,” Ponting said. “At different times they have been magnificent. I have no idea when they are retiring but hopefully it’s a long way off. I’ve played with some of them my whole career, so it would be a sad day.” Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne were important figures in the match as Australia secured the 206-run victory and the screams of success could still be heard from the dressing room four hours after the game.Despite the high levels of celebration, Ponting was not concerned with Australia’s ability to refocus in a week in Melbourne. “I won’t be happy if we lose a Test here and I’m sure the other players are in the same boat,” he said. “With all the hurt that carried over from the last series, I’m sure they’ll prepare well.”

The Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardian of the game’s laws, is seeking clarification from the ICC over the controversial issue of graphite-backed bats, after a week in which England’s debutant, Owais Shah, scored 126 runs with a similar make of bat that Ricky Ponting, Australia’s captain, was recently asked to change.The Kookaburra “Kahuna”, which Ponting has stopped using, and “The Beast”, which Shah waved in India, have a thin strip of graphite running down the spine, an accessory which contravenes Law 6.1 – “the blade of the bat shall be made solely of wood”.During last week’s first Test at Cape Town, Ponting had reverted to a conventional bat, and expressed surprise that Shah had been allowed to play with the graphite-enhanced version.”He can’t use it, he’ll be suspended,” said Ponting. “It was supposed to be banned as of the 12th of this month, which was the last one-day game the other day. That was all the feedback I received from Kookaburra and everybody else, but guess what I’m using in Durban then!”Roger Knight, the secretary and chief executive of MCC, felt that without clear guidance from the ICC, umpires were being put in an awkward position. “[The graphite backing] does not strengthen [the bat] but does stiffen it,” he told listeners to BBC’s Test Match Special, “which probably means it exerts more power.””The patent application refers to the back of the blade being carbon graphite and, as it says in the laws, the blade must be made solely of wood. We have no authority to tell umpires how to umpire the game but there is quite a lot of questioning of us as to what umpires should do.”At international level it’s very much the ICC which has to implement the law. If they want to put in place a playing condition they are of course entitled to do. We have made our ruling on whether it complies or not – we are waiting for the ICC and other bodies to implement it.”

Indian batsman Virender Sehwag has said that teams can consistently post over 200 in Twenty20 matches if they are prepared to bat out 20 overs. Speaking ahead of the Indian team’s departure for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, Sehwag said that teams tend to get the strategy wrong by going for quick runs early, often getting bowled out before the allotted quota of overs.”The plan should be to play out the full 20 overs,” Sehwag told PTI. “A score of 200 is on the cards if a team plays out the full quota. I have seen this happen often in England where I have played this format.”Sehwag was ignored for the tour of England owing to a loss of form. He spoke about how he had been preparing himself for the tournament, simulating the conditions the Indians would expect in South Africa, in terms of the pace and bounce of the wickets.”I have been doing yoga,” he said. “I want to control my game and aggression during the match days and hopefully I will do well. I have been practicing with synthetic balls on cement courts to get used to the bounce. I have also practiced against yorker-length balls as bowlers tend to get thrashed to all parts of the park. Therefore they are bound to resort to bowling yorkers and bouncers.”Sehwag added that the spinners will have an important role to play, taking the pace off the ball to make the batsmen check their strokes. “Hitting slower balls would not be easy and spinners have been successful in this game. I would also like to contribute with my offbreaks.”Commenting on the team composition, Sehwag said India’s lack of experience at the Twenty20 level shouldn’t count against them as a few members of India’s young squad had been exposed to the format in England. He captained India in its only Twenty20 international, against South Africa in Johannesburg last December and won.”Only five or six of us have not been playing but at this level one should be able to play in the tournament straightaway,” he said. “It’s good that youngsters are getting chances which will stand them in good stead when they have to assume bigger responsibilities.”

Uganda will be confident of putting the seal on the latest stage of their much-publicised progress up the world rankings when they meet Argentina in the final of the World Cricket League Division Three in Darwin on Saturday.While Uganda were expected to make the final, Argentina have proved the surprise package, especially considering that they lost their opening game to outsiders Italy. They squeezed through the group stages and then beat the fancied Cayman Islands in the semi-finals.Joel Olweny, Uganda’s captain, said that, despite his side’s unbeaten record in the tournament, his team remained wary of Argentina’s capabilities. “We respect Argentina as opponents because by qualifying for the final they’ve proved that they deserve to be where they are,” he said. “And we’re aware about their progress to the final so we won’t take them lightly and will try to be as clinical as possible.”Uganda go into the game as the favourites, and they have far more experience. Six of their squad played in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, and the team also participated in the 2005 ICC Trophy”It’s all about clicking together and producing a match-winning performance as we are neither short of experience at this level nor quality,” said Olweny. “I’m hoping that the batsmen will rise to the occasion and carry forward the good work done by the bowlers and fielders.”Argentina’s strength has been its bowling, with three of their team – Estaban MacDermott, Gary Savage and Diego Lord – in the top ten wicket takers.MacDermott said he hoped his bowlers will try to exploit any potential weaknesses in Uganda’s batting line up. “Our bowlers are in form and their batsmen are struggling. So it’s a straightforward strategy, I guess. But they have the experience of playing in big tournaments and have the ability to bounce back anytime,” he said. “We’ll give it our best shot in the final as we have nothing to lose. We have qualified for Division 2 and if we manage to win the final, it would be a perfect icing on the cake.”

South African cricket found itself in the middle of yet another selection row when Graeme Smith, the captain, and Mickey Arthur, the coach, had a showdown with Haroon Lorgat, the convener of South Africa’s selection committee, just before the start of the Newlands game on Sunday over the exclusion of Andre Nel and the selection of Andrew Hall in his place.The tiff happened just 15 minutes before the toss and the matter was presumably on Smith’s mind as he walked out to open the innings. Significantly, he was dismissed off the second ball and could later be seen on the team balcony, a furious expression on his face. His mood could hardly have been lifted by his team’s top-order batting.Nel had starred in the crushing 157-run victory at Durban, scythingthrough the Indian middle order on his way to superb figures of 4 for 13.He hurt a finger yesterday, when a spike on his shoe made contact duringhis follow-through. But having passed a fitness test this morning, he wasalmost certain to play until Lorgat intervened.Smith reacted furiously, and Jacques Kallis and Gordon Templeton, the media manager, had to calm him down, before Mark Boucher also tried to make peace. At one stage, Kallis appeared to be waving Lorgat away.South African cricket has been routinely plagued by discord over selection policy between successive team managements and the national selectors.