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I was expecting a closely contested final at Durban on Friday but evenas the Indian innings drew to a sorry close, I knew that my hopes weregoing to be dashed.After both Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly fell cheaply, only Sehwaglooked capable of taking the fight to the South African camp. The Delhilad impressed me a great deal during his sweet cameo. The way in whichhe played some of the shots gave me the impression that he will be readyto lead the Indian batting when Tendulkar and Ganguly hang up theirboots.

Sehwag has modeled himself after Tendulkar and on occasions thesimilarity between the two is striking. He is a pronounced backfootplayer and a side-on batsman, which makes his batting look veryimpressive. Sehwag’s partnership with his idol following the dismissalof the Indian skipper sure made for interesting viewing.Ganguly was dismissed when he tried to break the shackles that ShaunPollock and Nantie Hayward had imposed. The two South Africans quicksbowled with great discipline, keeping the ball where the fourth stumpwould have been. This made it difficult for the Indian duo to unleashtheir wide array of shots. Starved of any width for six overs, Gangulyin desperation tried to make room for himself and hit over the top. Buton a pitch where the ball was not coming on to the bat, he onlysucceeded in edging a catch to Boucher. Pollock, for his part, couldn’tcontain his joy when his policy of denial finally worked.Tendulkar too was not allowed to dominate – he only made 17 off the 40balls he faced despite stroking three elegant boundaries. He too fell toa desperate shot; trying to cut a ball that was not quite there for theshot to be played. The South Africans had done excellent groundwork andthey carried out their plans to a T on the day. Once they had silencedthe two big guns the match was theirs for the taking.Rahul Dravid again made a fighting 77, displaying his solid battingtechnique and cool temperament. But then his innings was never going towin us the match. His technical excellence is going to be more importantin the Test series that is to follow. If you were to ask me, Rahulshould bat at No.3 in the three-match series ahead of VVS Laxman.This also brings me to another important point I would like to make.Considering the vital role that my fellow Karnataka statemate will playas a batsman in the Tests, I was baffled to see him ‘keeping in thefinal two one-dayers. Was the risk worth the gains; I, for one,definitely don’t think so.In my opinion, Deep Dasgupta should have done the job that was entrustedto him by the selectors. The young man from Bengal is a specialist’keeper and only by giving him greater exposure can we turn him into abetter player. Dasgupta is also in the Test side and by telling him towarm the benches, the team management was not doing his confidence anygood. The think-tank would do well to remember that two of the world’sfinest ‘keepers – Rodney Marsh and Ian Healy – were also never thoughtto be any good during their salad days. It was only with experiencegained by greater exposure in the international arena that they maturedinto the world-beaters they later proved to be.As for the squad announced for the Tests, I feel that the selection offive seamers was totally unnecessary. In any case, we can play only amaximum of three seamers and so I felt that five were one too many. Theselection of Connor Williams as an opener too was a huge surprise to me.The Baroda Ranji captain has no experience playing in the internationalarena and I feel that it is not a very clever idea to expose him to theSouth Africans quicks.Coming to the selection of Sameer Dighe as the first-choice ‘keeper, Ifeel it must serve as a wake-up call to Dasgupta. Nayan Mongia wouldmost definitely have been the best choice but then it is commonknowledge that he is not in the good books of either the Indian captainor the senior players.

Before signing off, let me say that that though the tri-series might nothave not given much joy to the Indian team it has at least underlinedthe fact that our best chance of winning the Tests lies in playing bothour spinners. All the South Africans have struggled to read bothHarbhajan and Kumble. I can therefore confidently predict that if weplay the duo and if our batsmen do their bit, India will at last havethe chance to savour their first win in the rainbow nation. Here then iswishing Sourav Ganguly and his men the very best ahead of the Testseries.

Zimbabwe amassed a huge total of 542 for the loss of 7 wickets beforedeclaring their innings half an hour after tea. At stumps Bangladesh had reached 57 for the loss of Javed Omar.Zimbabwe added 306 to their overnight total for the loss of 4 further wickets, with three of their batsmen scoring centuries. Trevor Gripper completed his on the first day, while Craig Wishart and Andy Flower managed their centuries today.Both Zimbabweans scored quick runs against the ordinary Bangladeshi attack. Wishart, who missed his century by four runs in the Dhaka Test, fulfilled his dream here playing all around the wicket and giving no opportunity to any bowler to settle down.During his 150-minute stay in the crease he reached the rope 11 times and hit two great sixes to score 114. His valiant compatriot Andy Flower notched up his 12th century in scoring 114 not out.Flower played his natural game and was brilliant to watch all through. He was hurt when on 70 and had to return to the dressing room, butafter Marilier’s fall he came back and reached his hundred comfortably.Marillier got his second fifty (52) in Bangladesh before falling to Aminul. It was the bowler’s maiden Test wicket, gained with the help of Basher’s catch.Zimbabwe declared on reaching 542 when there were eighty minutes of the day was remaining. Both Mashrafe and Enamul took two wickets each.Bangladesh lost an early wicket, that of Javed Omar, who got an edge off Heath Streak to Andy Flower for 8. His runs came from two boundaries in Travis Friend’s opening over.Al-Sahariar and Habibul Bashar batted prudently in the final session for the total to reach 57 by the close of play. Al-Sahariar is not out 25 and Bashar 21.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said Sunday he wasraring to compete in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.”I am in good physical condition right now but am workinghard to be in top shape by the time the World Cup comesaround.”Wasim felt that Pakistan had all the ingredients that make agood team except for fielding which he said neededimprovement. “All the players will have to concentrate onthis area if we have to win the World Cup.”He said that Pakistan would have an edge in the World Cupbecause they’ll be touring South Africa for a Test seriesahead of the tournament. “This will be a big advantage aswe’ll become quite familiar with the conditions in the leadup to the Cup.”Wasim backed coach Mudassar Nazar who has now been appointedtill the World Cup. “Mudassar is a good coach and he hasbeen able to forge unity in the team which is a good sign.”The all-rounder called upon the cricket-playing countriesnot to be afraid of touring Pakistan in the wake of the warin neighbouring Afghanistan. “There are no security problemshere and we have a good cricketing atmosphere. Besides thewar is being fought in another country.”He blamed the foreign media of not presenting the realpicture of the situation in Pakistan to the outside world.”There are just no problems in our country.”New Zealand had refused to tour Pakistan in September citingsecurity risks, a decision that led to the Pakistan CricketBoard suffering heavy financial losses. However the Pakistancricket chiefs heaved a sigh of relief last week after theWest Indies, following some initial hiccups, said “yes” to aTest series here early next year.

The Standard Bank u/13 Cricket Week started on Monday with fifteen teams from 13 provincial teams battling it out on the cricket fields.STANDARD BANK UNDER 13 USSASA CRICKET WEEK being played in the Durbanand Districts area this week.
Boland vs North West played at Tills Crescent
North West 137 / 7 (N.Gordon 32, D.Duvenhage 2 / 16, H.van der Merwe 2 / 25)Boland 115 (R. Baumgarten 55, B.Kumedi 3 / 19)
Result: North West won by 22 runs
Border vs Northerns played at Kingsmead
Border 130 / 7 (M.J.Marquand 33, A.Mkontso 23, A. Mkwambi 22, L.Mbele 4 / 16)Northerns 134 / 2 (T.Thema 62 n.o. M.Joubert 53 n.o.
Result: Northerns won by 8 wickets
Easterns vs Northern Province played at DPHS
Easterns 209 / 9 (C.Cronje 96, G.Roos 3 / 47, T. Monyamane 2 / 28, N.Manako 2 / 29 )Northern Province 172 / 9 (T.Monyamone 29, H.de Villiers 31, J.Bekker 27, T.Sheasby 2 / 21, S.Dlamini 2/ 22,B.Landberg 2 / 28
Result: Easterns won by 38 runs
Free State vs Zimbabwe played at The Oval
Zimbabwe 216 / 8 (V.Chaitezvi 64, S.Torr 55, L.Modise 4 / 29)Free State 145 (W.Stevens 43, B.Hunt 2 / 21, K.Meth 2 / 18, R.Higgins 2 / 33)
Result: Zimbabwe won by 71 runs
Natal vs Griquas played at Crusaders
Griquas 133 / 10 (P.Myburgh 52, D.Mbatha 4/ 10)Natal 135 / 7 (J.Vandiar 23, C.Hauptfleisch 44)
Result: Natal won 3 wickets
Gauteng vs South Western Districts played at Berea Rovers
South West Districts 110 / 9 (M.Botha 39, G.Thompson 4 / 21)Gauteng 103 (F.Nixon 20, K.Carelse 3 / 16, M.Botha 3 / 14)
Result: South Western Districts won by 8 runs
Eastern Province vs Western Province played at Hoy Park
Western Province 197 / 4 (A.Kritzinger 121n.o. R. Desai 39 n.o. Hilpert 2 / 42)Eastern Province 138 / 8 (K. De Villiers 65, Y.Reme 20, B.Viret 3 / 42, M. C – Jones 3 / 15)
Result: Western Province won by 58 runs

Sri Lankan sports minister Johnston Fernando has reappointed the recentlyresigned interim committee to run the affairs of the cricket board untilfurther notice.Ten days ago the newly appointed sports minister had called for theresignation of all non-elected sports administrations, including cricket,athletics, gymnastics and Wushu.Having put on record his preference for democratic sporting bodies andjustified his call for resignations by arguing that the interim members werepolitical appointees, Fernando seemed likely to appoint a new look interimbody for a specified time until fresh elections.But after a week of intense lobbying, no date for the Annual General Meetinghas been set, and no significant change in the committee’s composition wasmade.Vijaya Malalsekera will remain as chairman, whilst former fast bowlerAshantha de Mel is the only member to have not been reappointed from the oldsix-member committee.Two new members have been added: leading lawyer Nalin Ladduwahetti andformer Athletic Association president and leading businessman AriyaKannangara.The previous members Michael Tissera (vice-chairman), Kushil Gunasekera(secretary), Sidath Wettimuny (member) and Mani Jayasinghe (member) retaintheir earlier responsibilities.Peoples Alliance (PA) sports minister Laksmann Kiriella had appointed theinterim committee eight months ago following the dissolution of the cricketboard, then headed by businessman Thilanga Sumathipala.

Kaushal Lokuarachchi, a former Sri Lanka under 19 World Cup cricketer tooknine wickets for 50 runs with his right-arm leg-spin to dismisse Kenya for234 in the drawn two-day game between the Development Squad and the touringKenyan cricketers at the NCC grounds on Sunday.Kenya replying to the Development Squad first innings of 281 for ninewickets declared were all out in 65.3 overs, a total they would not thoughtof when the openers put on 106 off 19.1 overs. Lokuarachchi bowledunchanged for 24.3 overs for his nine wickets. He was deprived of thehonour of taking all ten wickets in the innings when Amila Perera,Lokuarachchi’s left-arm spin partner, ran out Martin Suji from shortmidwicket.Only three bowlers had previously taken all ten wickets in a match at thisvenue, M.N. Samsudeen for Combined Services against Pakistan Eaglets, andtwo other NCC bowlers Malcolm Spittel and Annesley de Silva in the divisionI Sara trophy matches.It was an excellent piece of leg-spin bowling by Lokuarachchi on a pitch,which hardly afforded any assistance to the spinners. Until he came on tobowl, the Development Squad bowlers had looked helpless on a placid battingtrack where Kenyan openers Kennedy Otieno and Ravindu Shah pulverised theattack to the tune of 106 runs off 115 balls.Lokuarachchi broke the opening partnership by having both Otieno and Shahcaught behind the wicket by Rally Tissera in his opening over. Then bowlingwith tight control went onto destroy the rest of the batting. From themanner the majority of the batsmen got out, it was due to sheer frustrationmore than anything else.Otieno hit a rapid 70 off 60 balls comprising one six and 13 fours. He gotoff the mark with a square cut over point for six and his next six scoringstrokes were six fours. He raced to his half-century off 30 balls andlooked in a murderous mood driving and pulling anything that was pitchedshort. The Development Squad opening bowlers Dharshana Lokuhettige andLasith Malinga paid dearly for not keeping the ball up to the batsman andwent for 118 runs off 19 overs.Skipper Anushka Polonowita delayed bringing on Lokuarachchi into the attackuntil the 20th over, and no sooner was he introduced, the Kenyan battingwas made to look rather ordinary.Shah made 29 off 63 balls, Steve Tikolo 36 off 41 balls (6 fours) andThomas Odoyo 26 off 29 balls (5 fours), but none had the patience to staylong enough to build an innings.”The young leg-spinner put pressure on our batsmen. For a leg-spinner, hebowled with discipline. It is something we have to learn,” said Kenyancoach Sandeep Patil.”It was a good practice match. Ideal weather and a very good pitch. We area one-day side and our batsmen will have to learn to play long innings inthe middle. From an opening partnership of 106, to be all out for 234 isnot the type of batting we are capable of. We should look at our battingquite seriously.At home we play in conditions of 18-20 degrees. The conditions here aredifferent, but we can’t give conditions as an excuse. We must try to adjustto them very quickly,” he said.”It was a good fifty-fifty pitch and to bowl on such a surface and get ninewickets is a commendable effort,” said Sri Lanka ‘A’ head coach and managerRoshan Mahanama.”Kaushal concentrated on his length and he bowled the googly. He is theAnil Kumble type of bowler. He needs to keep on playing because legspinners mature late. He has the potential, but he must work on hisbowling, especially the leg-spin,” said Mahanama.Mahanama also complimented opening bat Jehan Mubarak for scoring a century.”He made full use of the opportunity he got to make a hundred. He has beenscoring runs at different levels of the game and is a good investment forthe future,” he said.Kenya next take on Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first of three four-day unofficialTests beginning at the Saravanamuttu Stadium on Thursday.

New South Wales cricket has suffered a major setback ahead of Sunday’s ING Cup Final against Queensland with the news today that batsman Graeme Rummans has tested positive to the banned masking agent probenecid.Rummans, 25, has been withdrawn from the Blues’ team to play in that match and will appear before the Anti-Doping Committee of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) in Melbourne next Thursday. He faces the possibility of a two-year ban from interstate and international cricket at that hearing.”Obviously, you don’t like to hear of this sort of thing in any sport,” said David Gilbert, Chief Executive Officer of Cricket New South Wales.”But our focus (with Graeme) now is on the hearing itself next Thursday.”Gilbert added that steps have been taken to ensure that the development will not distract the Blues from the defence of their domestic one-day title when they take the field at the ‘Gabba this weekend.Rummans’ appointment with the three-person committee comes after he was found to have produced a positive reaction to probenecid following a state training session in late December.Probenecid is a drug taken primarily to manage gout and is occasionally used in combination with antibiotics to treat a small range of infections. Its presence on the list of drugs formally banned by the ACB is a result of its ability to hamper the detection of other prohibited drugs in a person’s bloodstream.Rummans, a left handed strokeplayer from the St George club in Sydney, has played a total of 21 first-class and 25 one-day matches for New South Wales since making his senior debut for the state in 1997-98. He was the captain of the state’s colts team in 1996-97 and 1997-98, and also toured Zimbabwe with an Australian Academy team in 1998-99. His solitary first-class century was registered in the second match of that tour.Only one player in Australian history has previously returned a positive result under the system of random drug testing of state players that operates under the auspices of the ACB and the Australian Sports Drug Agency.Ultimately found guilty of an offence in his use of the banned steroid nandrolone, then Western Australian paceman Duncan Spencer was suspended from interstate and international cricket for a period of 18 months by the ACB in April.Late this afternoon, Rummans indicated that he would be contesting his case and said that he welcomed the opportunity of a hearing to prove his innocence.

LAHORE: Allied Bank and Pakistan PWD recorded victories in the first round action of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy but not a single ball was bowled in seven other matches on the final day on Tuesday because of rain.Allied Bank collected maximum points against Multan at Multan Cricket Stadium by an innings and 33 runs when they dismissed the home team for 251 in their second innings. Multan, who conceded a 284-run first innings lead, had resumed the day at 184 for seven. Off-spinner Arshad Khan picked up three wickets for 63 runs to finish the match with figures of seven for 117.Pakistan PWD outclassed Dadu at the UBL Sports Complex by 97 runs. Off-spinner Aftab Ahmad picked up four wickets for 13 runs while medium-pacer Shakeel-ur-Rehman bagged four for 52 as Dadu, chasing 246 for victory and starting the day at 117 for five, were shot out for 140.At the National Stadium in Karachi, hosts Karachi Whites were held to a draw by Bahawalpur, who after conceding a 160-run first innings, were 321 for five when the match ended. Opener Mohammad Rashid top scored with 80 that came after 205 minutes of batting during which he received 177 balls.Only 25 balls were bowled at the Saga Cricket Stadium in Sialkot where the home team progressed from an overnight score of zero for one to 10 for one against Gujranwala who had to settle with three first innings lead points.The second round action will begin from December 27.Scores in brief (close of play on day four of four):Group-IAt Sports Stadium, Sargodha:
National Bank: 171 (Sajid Ali 57, Akhtar Sarfaraz 39, Ahmad Hayat 4-50, Mohammad Sarfraz 3-21) and 89-4 (Saeed Anwar 22, Naumanullah 20, Mohammad Sarfraz 3-33)
Sargodha: 218 (Majid Saeed 62, Mohammad Farrukh 31, Mushtaq Ahmad 5-54)
Result: Match drawn (Points Sargodha 3, NBP 0)At LCCA Ground, Lahore:
LCCA Blues: 195 (Latif Gohar 40, Ali Hussain 39, Shahzad Butt 26, Farooq Iqbal 3-14, Moazzam Ali 3-65) and 28-0 (Musharraf Ali 17 not out, Ali Hussain 7 not out)
Faisalabad: 352 (Asif Hussain 121, Ijaz Mahmood 50, Sami-ul-Haq 42, Wasim Haider 42, Sajid Ali 6-82)
Result: Match drawn (Points Faisalabad 3, LCCA Blues 0)Group-IIAt Multan Stadium, Multan:
Multan: 158 (Zeeshan Khan 31, Arshad Khan 4-54, Ata-ur-Rehman 3-38) and 251 (Mohammad Fazil 91 not out, Mohammad Ali Niazi 82, Arshad Khan 3-63, Tanveer Ahmad 3-57)
ABL: 442-8 declared (Bilal Asad 151, Naved Latif 120, Aamir Hanif 50 not out, Usman Tariq 33, Azhar Abbas 4-114)
Result: ABL won by an innings and 33 runs (Points: ABL 12, Multan 0)At National Stadium, Karachi:
Bahawalpur: 167 (Ahsan Raza 31, Nasir Khan 3-42, Owais Athar 3-55) and 321-5 (Mohammad Rashid 80, Ahsan Raza 44, Hasnain Raza 36, Kamran Hussain 35, Bilal Rana 34 not out)
Karachi Whites: 327 (Maisam Hasnain 116, Fahadullah 85, Rizwan Saeed 36 not out)
Result: Match drawn (Points: Karachi Whites 3, Bahawalpur 0)At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi:
Pak PWD: 116 (Saad Wasim 53, Athar Laiq 4-39, Kashif Ali 4-46) and 196 (Iqbal Imam 34, Saad Wasim 31, Athar Laiq 6-34, Khair Ali 3-69)
Dadu: 66 (Shakeelur Rehman 5-15, Ali Raza 3-23) and 149 (Mohammad Saleem 52 not out, Shahid Qambrani 36, Aftab Ahmad 4-13, Shakeel-ur-Rehman 4-52)
Result: Pak PWD beat Dadu by 97 runs (Points: Pak PWD 12, Dadu 0)Group-IIIAt Lahore Country Club, Muridke:
Customs: 276 (Naseem Khan 92, Shadab Kabir 44, Azhar Shafiq 34, Danish Kaneria 5-71) and 165-8 (Naseem Khan 40, Hanif Malik 35)
Habib Bank: 244 (Akram Raza 43 not out, Khaqan Arsal 37, Atiq-uz-Zaman 33, Imran Ali 4-70, Abdul Rauf 3-86)
Result: Match drawn (Points: Customs 3, Habib Bank 0)At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore:
LCCA Whites: 353 (Aamir Sajjad 153, Mohammad Hussain 51, Wahab Riaz 31, Waqas Chughtai 4-111)
Sheikhupura: 397-6 (Mohammad Salim Mughal 137 not out, Mohammad Islam 69 not out, Waqar Ahmad 40, Maqsood Raza 33)
Result: Match drawn (Points Sehikhupura 3, LCCA Whites 0)At Saga Ground, Sialkot:
Gujranwala: 280 (Kamran Younis 61, Iftikhar Ahmad 51, Imran Tahir 5-88) and 275 (Mohammad Khalid 60, Fayyaz Ahmad 42, Asim Munir Butt 38, Tahir Mughal 4-89, Shahid Khan 3-85)
Sialkot: 231 (Faisal Khan 88, Shahid Khan 44, Naved Arif 5-67) and 10-1
Result: Match drawn (Gujranwala 3, Sialkot 0)Group-IVAt Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi:
Rawalpindi: 133 (Babar Naeem 91, Rao Iftikhar 4-37, Saad Janjua 3-22, Mubashir Nazir 3-36)
ADBP: 311-8 (Hafiz Majid 83, Faisal Naved 62, Javed Hayat 57, Mohammad Fayyaz 3-59, Mohammad Akram 3-62)
Result: Match drawn (Points: ADBP 3, Rawalpindi 0)At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar:
Peshawar: 414 (Mohammad Jahangir Khan 168, Mohammad Fayyaz 68) and 125 (Imranullah 4-48, Sharif Asadullah 3-60)
KCCA Blues: 288 (Sajid Hanif 91, Khurram Manzoor 73, Imranullah 53, Nauman Habib 4-80)
Result: Match drawn (Points: Peshawar 3, Karachi Blues 0)At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi
PIA: 196 (Kamran Sajid 52, Bazid Khan 45, Mahmood Hamid 32, Jaffar Nazir 5-44) and 1-0
KRL: 238 (Saeed Anwer Jnr 93, Intikhab Alam 42, Umer Gul 6-97)
Result: Match drawn (Points: KRL 3, PIA 0)
On Monday:
Wapda beat Service Industries by 10 runs at At Gymkhana Ground, Okara:
Wapda: 136 (Tariq Aziz 64, Imran Adil 3-38, Mohammad Irshad 3-49) and 177 (Adil Nisar 69, Mohammad Irshad 4-38, Asim Butt 3-36, Imran Adil 3-50)
Service Industries: 110 (Hammad Tariq 24, Faisal Irfan 6-29) and 193 (Rizwan Ahmad 51, Rehan Raffique 30, Mohammad Irshad 30, Kashif Raza 4-48, Waqas Ahmad 4-58)
Points: Wapda 12, Okara 0
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Bing Crosby might have been dreaming of a white Christmas, but Steve Waugh was still dreaming of a whitewash after the first day’s play in the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG. Waugh won the toss and then sat back as Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer each compiled hundreds and, in the process, broke a 95 year-old record. By the close, Australia had reached 356 for three with Langer unbeaten on 146 and Waugh relieving pressure on his own place in the side with an innings of 62 not out.Australia, already three-nil up in the series, made two changes from the last Test in Perth. Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill replaced the injured Shane Warne, while Martin Love made his Test debut at the expense of Darren Lehmann who was unable to shake off his leg infection. With Alec Stewart failing to recover from his bruised hand, James Foster was included to keep wicket for England with resulting changes to the composition of the rest of the side. They opted to play an extra batsman with John Crawley returning in place of Alex Tudor while Andrew Caddick was recalled for Chris Silverwood.This left England’s attack looking thin, with only four recognised bowlers in Caddick Steve Harmison, Craig White and off-spinner Richard Dawson. The same paucity could not be detected in the Australian batting line-up as Hayden and Langer made full use of a pitch promising plenty of runs when Waugh won the toss.Hayden has been in unstoppable form during the series, but he did offer the odd moment of hope to England’s bowlers who far from disgraced themselves during the morning session. In the first over he hooked Caddick just over Harmison’s head at long leg for a boundary and another opportunity went begging when Crawley failed to sight the ball at deep backward square leg and it bounced in just front of him before going over the rope.The Queenslander, averaging 94 in the first three Tests, was also inconvenienced in the ninth over of the morning when struck a blow on the knee by Caddick. However, he took only a short time to recover before going on to pass the milestone of 3,000 Test runs including 400 in the current series. He also survived a convincing shout for lbw when Dawson was introduced into the attack for a single over just before lunch.The score had reached 88 without loss at the interval before the Australian batsmen cut loose in the afternoon session, adding a further 147 runs. Hayden and Langer, drawing inspiration from one another, broke the ground record of 126 for an opening partnership in Australia-England Tests established in 1907/08 by Monty Noble and Victor Trumper.When Hayden went to his hundred off 138 balls with a somewhat fortunate shot to the fine leg boundary, it was his third in the series and twelfth in Tests. He acknowledged the applause of a crowd in excess of 64,000 but perished 11 balls later when he was caught at mid-ff by Crawley off the bowling of Caddick.Langer’s hundred came up in three balls less than Hayden’s as he took a six and a four off consecutive balls from Dawson. Not for him the nervous nineties as the man who has been forced to play second fiddle to his opening partner emerged in his own right. He displayed his composure when three wickets fell in relatively quick succession at the other end.After he had lost his opening partner, Langer watched as Ricky Ponting chopped a ball from White onto his stumps and then, ten overs later, saw Damien Martyn edge a ball from the same bowler low to first slip where Marcus Trescothick held on to a good catch. That reduced Australia to 265 for three and there was a glimmer of hope for England.That was extinguished by Langer and a defiant innings from Waugh. There has been much speculation that the Australian captain’s international career is drawing to a close, but he obviously has other ideas. He did survive an awkward moment when it seemed that he had edged the sixth delivery with the new ball from Caddick low to Butcher at slip, but the third umpire ended lengthy deliberation in Waugh’s favour.His fifty came from only 49 balls and now he will want to at least double that personal tally before leading Australia to an unassailable first innings total. He and they are well on the way and England’s depleted attack will not be looking forward to trying to stop them with any confidence.

SYDNEY, Jan 27 AAP – South Africa’s World Cup players, adopting the motto of “No Regrets”, have been holding hands and hugging trees among the serene mountains and valleys of the Drakensberg, near Durban.Well, not quite hugging and holding, but they have been bonding, clearing their heads before they attempt to make amends for shooting themselves in the foot twice against Australia in 1999.The Proteas spent three days orienteering, white-water rafting, bike-riding, golfing, drumming and hearing nice words from a psychologist late last week as Australia took care of England in the finals of the tri-series.First on the agenda for Shaun Pollock’s side was orienteering. Armed with a set of instructions, a pencil, a balloon, a compass, and, in case they went missing (like they did in the semi-final in `99), a two-way radio, they headed for the hills for two hours. They all came back.Knowing the last Cup was in their grasp until they choked, the Proteas settled on `No Regrets’ as the theme for this campaign.Herschelle Gibbs, who dropped Australian captain Steve Waugh and the Cup at Headingley, and Allan Donald and Lance Klusener, involved in the brain explosion of a run out in the semi-final, might have taken more convincing than most.Regrets? They’ve got more than a few.After orienteering, the Proteas did a drumming workshop, had dinner and played games. Lovely. Next day, they went on a 15km mountain bike ride.Team psychologist Clinton Gahwiler spread his wisdom, there was a survivor course and then they all headed for the preferred domain of international cricketers with time on their hands, the golf course.Day three dawned for more golf, river rafting and another session with Gahwiler. He’s a busy man. Shaun Pollock shot an even-par 72 off his six handicap before the team had a three-course dinner.A biathlon scheduled for Saturday was cancelled.South Africa has since returned to the nets, currently undergoing a three-day skills camp in Cape Town. Australia leaves for Johannesburg on Thursday.Rather than bonding, a fair few of the Australians – Glenn McGrath (back), Jason Gillespie (elbow), Michael Bevan (groin) and Shane Warne (shoulder) will be more intent on healing.Australia’s first game is against Pakistan on February 11.