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Victoria’s close-season problems grew with a report in the Melbourne Age that out-of-contract fast bowler Mathew Inness was considering a move to either Western Australia or Queensland.The news comes in the aftermath of rumours that a number of players are looking to move on. Matthew Elliott, the former national opening batsman, is expected to switch to South Australia; allrounder Jon Moss has asked to be released from his contract so he can head back to NSW; and Ian Harvey is thought to be ready to leave if his contract demands are not met.Inness struggled for a first-team place last season, playing six Pura Cup matches and no one-day games. Less than two years ago he was being talked of as a potential national player. The newspaper said that Cricket Victoria were not optimistic about retaining him.”There’s been nothing serious, no talk of contracts or anything like that,” Inness said. “WA or Queensland would probably be two that suit my style of bowling. But I’ll suppose I’ll have to wait and see if there’s an opportunity at one of those two states because if there was a good opportunity, I’d have to seriously consider it.”

Brad Williams has chosen to stay at Western Australia despite considering a move back home to Victoria yesterday. The Western Australian Cricket Association made the announcement this afternoon that Williams, who had an injury-hit summer last season, would remain in Perth.”I am happy to be staying and getting down to business,” Williams, who has played four Tests, said. “It’s a pretty exciting time and I get the chance to take our young fast bowlers under my wing and lead from the front.”Western Australia were third in the Pura Cup in March and Williams, who moved west in 1999, said he wanted to lead them to a final. “It was a disappointing end to last season and I believe we can go one better,” he said.Tony Dodemaide, the WACA chief executive, said Williams was an important signing. “With an attack of Brad and Mathew Inness along with Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson, Brett Dorey and Beau Casson, the Warriors will have one of the most formidable bowling combinations in Australia,” he said. The move ended speculation Williams would head to Melbourne if he was offered a two-season deal with the Bushrangers.Shane Harwood and Ian Harvey were also deciding today whether to stay in Melbourne or nominate for the transfer pool. Harwood has been targeted by Tasmania while Harvey, a one-day international two seasons ago, is investigating his options. Ken Jacobs, the Cricket Victoria chief executive, is also hopeful of a decision from Brad Hodge, who has been chased by New South Wales.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a 13-man Pakistan XI to play a World XI in a charity day-night match at Lahore this Wednesday (Oct 15). The match is being organised by the Zindagi Trust, and all income from the game will go to the Trust.The World XI players will arrive in Lahore over the next 24 hours.World XI (from) Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana (Sri Lanka), Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh (India), Courtney Walsh, Jimmy Adams, Franklyn Rose (West Indies), Steve Tikolo (Kenya), Travis Friend (Zimbabwe), Neil Fairbrother (England), Dean Jones (Australia), plus two South African players to be named.Pakistan XI (from) Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Imran Nazir, Yasir Hameed, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Shoaib Malik, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar, Junaid Zia.

The expectations are so high that many of us are already bracing to be disappointed. How can this series live up to the last two between India and Australia, both classics, with evenly matched teams playing cricket of the highest quality? In fact, the last two Test series that India have played, against Australia and Pakistan, featured fabulous cricket. Can lightning strike thrice?The answer to that question rests with India. The Australians play consistently outstanding cricket, series after series, at home and away – that is why they are one of the greatest teams of all time. They did not, in fact, play much above themselves in those two series against India – it was India that turned those into such wonderful contests by playing out of their skins.Sourav Ganguly’s men have, in the past, risen to the big occasion after a disappointing lead-up to it. They reached the final of last year’s World Cup after being thrashed in New Zealand; they went to the verge of a series victory in Australia after a lacklustre show against New Zealand at home. They come into this series after a bad run in one-day tournaments. Can they lift themselves again? Or will Australia win their first series in India in 35 years?Examining Australia – outstanding bowlers, under-rated batsmen

This is the best bowling attack Australia have ever brought to India. Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz are a formidable pace quartet, though at least one of them will be on the bench, with Shane Warne at the fittest – and perhaps the most motivated – he has been coming to India. When else in the last decade has a fit McGrath been uncertain of a place in the final XI, as he is now? Rumours before the warm-up game indicated that Gillespie and Kasprowicz were certainties for the Bangalore Test, with McGrath and Lee vying for the third spot. McGrath was sharper in the warm-up game at Mumbai, though, and seems to have wrapped that up.The spin back-up is weak – or at least the specialist component of it is. Nathan Hauritz, with a first-class bowling average of 44, and Cameron White, with 34, might be investments for the future, but don’t expect them to get a Test here. If Warne needs spin back-up, it will probably come from the part-timers in the team, with the left-arm spin of Michael Clarke, Darren Lehmann and Simon Katich, the last a wrist-spinner, likely to be deployed frequently, especially at Nagpur, where a result is unlikely, and the burden of the Australian specialist bowlers will need sharing.Australia’s batsmen lack star power compared to their last trip here, but not ability. The Waugh brothers were wonderful brands, with formidable reputations, but the less experienced batsmen in this middle order are no lame ducks. Katich, Lehmann and Clarke are all superb players of spin. Katich played Anil Kumble with ease at Sydney earlier this year, where his exquisite 77 not out, after 125 in the first innings, helped Australia save the Test and the series. Lehmann handled the Sri Lankan spinners, including Muttiah Muralitharan, quite comfortably earlier this year on their own turf. As for Clarke, the way he uses his feet against the spinners is a treat for the eyes, and his will be the most overdue Test debut of the year.And then, of course, there are the repeat visitors from last time. Matthew Hayden, who made 549 runs in the 2001 series – more even than VVS Laxman – is at the peak of his powers, and looks to dominate the bowlers from the outset. Justin Langer averaged just 32 in that series, but looked comfortable throughout at the crease. He has a Test average of 45, and 19 centuries to his name. Adam Gilchrist will be keen to prove that his century at Mumbai the last time around was not an aberration, but that his subsequent failures were. Damien Martyn was a tourist the last time around, but has since become a linchpin of the Australian middle order, and one of the prettiest batsmen to watch.Australia aren’t here to be pretty, of course. They’re here to win, and they have the weapons to do so. Can India match them?Examining India – class is permanent … but dammit, form is necessaryHow will India’s woeful one-day form this year affect their performance in the Test series? They will feel self-doubt, of course, and like confidence, that can perpetuate itself. If Australia come hard at them in the first Test, and take a win, India’s fortunes could spiral downwards in the rest of the series. Sachin Tendulkar’s injury looks set to keep him out of action for a while, and Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have been pilloried in the press for their poor one-day form.

But Test cricket, unlike one-dayers, allows batsmen to play themselves into form. Batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Laxman will not have the pressure of a limited-overs deadline when they walk out to the middle, and will be able to play themslves in. The longer they’ll play, the more confidence they will gain, and the more Australia will start to worry. Their 300-plus partnerships at Kolkata and Adelaide were the pivotal points of the last two series, and with Dravid certain to bat at No. 3 and Laxman, in Tendulkar’s absence, likely to bat at No. 4, they will again be India’s key batsmen. It was heartening for India, also, that Sehwag and Yuvraj got centuries in the practice game at Bangalore. Bowlers seal victories in Test matches, but batsmen set them up, and India have the batsmen to do the job.Their bowling is a worry, though. How long before Zaheer Khan breaks down again? How fit is Ashish Nehra, really? One of the matchwinning bowlers of the series against Pakistan, L Balaji, is absent due to injury, and the other, Irfan Pathan, is the strike bowler of a side he wasn’t even a part of a year ago. Ajit Agarkar, a matchwinner at Adelaide last year, is still inconsistent, more potential and hope than performance and trust. But India are unlikely to need more than two of them in any Test – Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are virtually certain to be India’s strike bowlers through the series.Kumble was India’s biggest matchwinner in the 1990s, and Harbhajan was an irresistible force the last time Australia toured India. The two of them have rarely bowled at their best together, but they will seldom be more motivated to do so. If any of the pitches are dustbowls, they will be difficult to overcome, but even otherwise, they will be hard to resist. The defining battle of this series may well between India’s attacking spinners and Australia’s counter-attacking batsmen.

There was a time, not so long ago, when matches involving Bangladesh were an affront to Test cricket’s good reputation. Second-string teams would help themselves to career-best performances without so much as a by-your-leave, and at one stage Bangladesh had shuffled haplessly to 12 innings defeats in 14 matches.But to watch the way in which England have prepared for tomorrow’s first Test at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka, is to be convinced that that era is drawing to a close. Certainly Bangladesh’s Test record of 23 defeats in 24 matches is likely to get worse before it gets better, but there can be no doubt that the “Test” has been restored to the cricket that they play.In their two weeks in this country, England have been tested by the conditions, which have alternated between gaspingly hot and torrentially damp. They have been tested by the facilities (a solitary indoor net some 20kms to the north of Dhaka), and by some of the sights they have seen along the way. But most of all, they have been tested by the opposition, the majority of whom have been members of Bangladesh’s Under-19 squad. It augurs well for the future, and makes the present task just that little more enticing.Most observers are agreed that they have never seen a fitter or better prepared England squad that this. It is one from which complacency is a notable absentee, not least because everyone is too knackered at the end of a day to embrace it. And yet, despite all the gym sessions and throwdowns and shuttle runs, there are still some areas of preparation that cannot be covered by fitness levels, and these continue to cause England’s selectors sleepless nights ahead of tomorrow’s curtain-raiser.The balance of England’s attack is the central issue. Hardly an interview goes by without mention of Freddie Flintoff, the unquestionable linchpin of the team but a man who will not be making an appearance until the one-day series at the earliest. “With Freddie in the side, the team picked itself,” admitted Michael Vaughan in his pre-match press conference. In his absence, however, opportunity knocks for several fringe members of the squad.The most obvious beneficiary is England’s new No. 6 and first-change bowler Rikki Clarke, a man whose career trajectory has something of the Jimmy Anderson about it – in the early part of last season, he was still playing club cricket for Guildford. Now, however, he is now on the brink of his England Test debut, although the susceptibility of his seam bowling has created one or two knock-on effects in the lower reaches of England’s order.Most pertinently – and it is an issue that neither Duncan Fletcher nor Vaughan yet appears to have fully resolved – is the question of whether to play two spinners. Ashley Giles, who cut a lonely figure during last summer’s seam-dominated series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, has frequently mentioned how much he enjoys bowling in tandem with another slow bowler, and in Gareth Batty he seems to have hit upon a like-minded but subtly different partner. In the second innings of their recent warm-up match at the Bangabandhu, they shared six wickets – a performance that all but bowled England to victory.

But seam bowling on these slow, low pitches is back-breaking work, and England will be loath to entrust the entire load to just two front-liners. Matthew Hoggard, returning from injury, is guaranteed to start, while Steve Harmison’s height and pace have unsettled more than one batsman on this tour so far, even if he has not been whizzing past their nostrils as much as he might like. But, given the strength-sapping conditions, and the doubts about Clarke’s stock-bowling role, it is conceivable that Martin Saggers might sneak past Richard Johnson into the starting XI. As he and Hoggard demonstrated last week, when the Board President’s side collapsed to 57 all out, an ability to swing the ball is an asset that few Bangladeshis have as yet mastered.The batting is more settled, although Mark Butcher’s throat infection is a slight cause for concern. He had been expected to take part in an optional net session on Sunday afternoon, but was instead advised by the team doctor to rest, and so missed the sponsors’ pre-match dinner as well. However, he trained on Monday and has been given the go-ahead to play. Worryingly, his nominated stand-in is Paul Collingwood, who has faced just three balls all tour.The Bangladeshis, however, merely hope to use the coming days to display their game in a new light. For Dav Whatmore, their new coach and the man who masterminded a similar turnaround in Sri Lankan fortunes, victory remains improbable – it is the manner of their defeat that counts. “I don’t give a damn about losing,” he said. “I just want to be able to make a close and truthful evaluation of individual performances.”In their most recent Test, against Pakistan at Multan last month, Bangladesh were deprived of victory by a desperate last-wicket stand. Nine of that team remain for this Test, with two new caps added to the squad. The first of these, the left-arm spinner Enamul Haq junior, is just 18 years old and has attracted praise for the maturity of his bowling in the first match of the tour. But the other new boy, Aftab Ahmed, was derided by the local press as a kneejerk selection after his 45 in the same game. He is, they say, too much of a one-day slogger for such an important match. Such strictures are a measure of how far Bangladesh have come in so short a time.Bangladesh (probable)
1 Hannan Sarkar, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 Rajin Saleh, 5 Alok Kapali, 6 Khaled Mahmud (capt), 7 Khaled Masud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Tapash Baisya, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11 Enamul Haque jr.England (probable)
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

As Australia stretched their lead past the 200-mark on the second afternoon at Lord’s, the memories of their desperate start to the tour were becoming ever more distant. Remember those four defeats in a week, against England (twice), Bangladesh and Somerset? One man on the pitch certainly did. England’s substitute fielder, James Hildreth.Australia must have thought they’d seen the last of Hildreth when he blasted 38 off 24 balls as Somerset successfully chased an astonishing 343 in 50 overs at Taunton. But there he was again, standing at point, ready to give England a much-needed breakthrough by clinging onto a half-hearted steer from Ricky Ponting. In fact, he’s managed one more catch than England’s golden boy, Kevin Pietersen, has taken in three attempts.Somerset are the only county not in action this week, so they were the logical source for a substitute – but Hildreth, 20, is a fine fielder in his own right. He is not the first county cricketer to make a mark as substitute fielder – or to coin the current phrase, Supersub. Paul Weekes, the Middlesex allrounder, had his moment of fame at Lord’s in 1995 when he clung on to two chances at short-leg as England beat West Indies.And where were you when Ben Spendlove, the Derbyshire batsman, also held two catches at short-leg, against South Africa at Edgbaston in 1998? He had been recommended to the England camp by Dominic Cork, his then-captain, who was returning to Test cricket in the same game.And another Derbyshire man, Chris Adams, also picked up a brace, dismissing Navjot Sidhu and Sanjay Manjrekar against India Old Trafford in 1990, a full nine years before made his Test debut. He went on to represent England on five occasions, but Weekes and Spendlove never made it to the Test arena. Hildreth has shown enough glimpses of his talent to suggest he might have an international career – but whatever happens he will always be able to say he held a catch for England.

Graham Thorpe, the former England middle-order batsman, has announced that he plans to retire from all forms of the game at the end of the season.Thorpe, who recently decided to quit the international scene after being left out of the England squad for the current Ashes series, cited physical constraints as one of the reasons for this decision and said he didn’t have “much left in the tank”.”I have decided the time has come for me to retire,” Thorpe, 36, told the . “It is an emotional moment and there are many things I will miss, but I feel comfortable that this is the right decision.”Thorpe, who scored 6,744 runs during his 100-Test career, said he was available for Surrey until the end of the season and plans to take up a coaching position in Sydney next year but a long-standing back problem means he will play only in an emergency. “In purely physical terms, I don’t want to go through another season of taking painkillers and having injections for my back,” he said. “There is no point carrying on for the sake of it. I just haven’t got that much left in the tank.”

Australia’s selectors responded to the Ashes defeat with a dramatic cull that included dropping Damien Martyn from the Test side and Matthew Hayden from the one-day outfit for next month’s Super Series. Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie have been cut from both squads as Australia plan to use the limited-overs matches to begin their preparation for the 2007 World Cup.After months of speculation about new faces the selectors decided spring was the right season to begin the regeneration process. Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said “We consider it is time to make some adjustments to the [Test] batting line-up after some disappointing results in England”.Shane Watson joins Brad Hodge and Stuart MacGill in the 13-man Test squad for the six-day match against the World XI starting on October 14. “Watson gives the squad added flexibility,” Hohns said. “We can choose to play two spinners if the pitch looks like it will offer them something, or we can play four bowlers with Watson providing a fifth option.”Martyn, who averaged 19.77 in the Test series against England, held his place in the one-day side that has also been given a shake for the three matches against the World XI from October 5-9. The fast bowler Shaun Tait has been added while Nathan Bracken and James Hopes have earned recalls in selections that show their potential as defenders of the World Cup in the West Indies.”We are really looking to the Super Series as the start of our preparations for 2007,” Hohns said. “We have re-jigged the one-day side to what we hope will provide a range of options to take on a formidable World XI side as well as forming the nucleus of the 2007 squad.”Hohns did not rule Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Hayden out of World-Cup contention but insisted it was time to move forward. “We are looking to include players who can bat, bowl and field and Hopes fits that bill perfectly,” Hohns said. “He gives us another all-round option, and can open the batting if required. He stood out over summer – he won the ING Cup Player of the Series award – and we are confident that he can add a new dimension to the team.”Gillespie, who struggled on the tour of England, said he was extremely disappointed to miss out on both Super Series squads. “My goals are to focus on training and preparation for the start of the summer with the Adelaide Buffalos and the South Australia Redbacks,” Gillespie said, “and put some good performances together with the view to give the Australian selectors every reason to select me.”Test squad Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Hodge, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Stuart MacGill.One-day squad Adam Gilchrist (wk), Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait.

Division One

Points TableOnly 58 overs were possible at Edgbaston on the second day of Warwickshire’s match against Surrey. James Anyon and Dougie Brown both took three wickets to leave the visitors on 225 for 9. Both sides need points to secure their first-division status for 2006.

Division Two

Points TableThe match at Grace Road between Leicestershire and Derbyshire ended in an inevitable draw. After rain prevented any possible play yesterday, there were further interruptions to the final day’s play, but not enough to prevent Derbyshire being bowled out for 193 to confirm their place at the bottom of Division Two. Stuart Broad took 3 for 46 for Leicestershire.Murali Kartik took ten wickets to give Lancashire a comfortable victory, and promotion to Division One. Full report here.

It will take more than a Duleep Trophy hundred for Sourav Ganguly to make it back to the Indian one-day team. The national selectors kept their faith in the team that won the first two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka and overlooked Ganguly despite the fact that he had proved both form and fitness with a Duleep Trophy century for East Zone against North Zone recently. Kiran More, chairman of selectors, and his panel deliberated for less than half an hour and announced an unchanged squad of 15 for the next three matches.Where this leaves Ganguly, and his one-day career, is not exactly clear. “He is fit but does not figure in the team at the moment,” said More at a press conference following the announcement of the squad. “We have selected the best side possible for the next three matches. Sourav is a great player. We have tremendous regard for his outstanding performance as batsman and captain, and things are not in his favour at the moment. We realise he has not done that well of late, but he is a strong character and I am sure he will bounce back strongly. It is not fair to say that his one-day career is over, we can’t do that to anyone. We have great regard for him but we feel the youngsters are doing a good job. They must be given enough opportunity to gain experience before the World Cup.”It is clear now that various factors – fitness, attitude and fielding among them – are being considered with one eye on the 2007 World Cup. “It will not be fair to field a player with three or four caps in the World Cup. He should have played 20 to 25 games and be reasonably experienced by then,” More said. “We have enough options at the moment and are looking to have a pool of 22 players from whom we can pick the final World Cup squad.”More called the meeting, which was also attended by Rahul Dravid, the captain, and Greg Chappell, a “good” one, and added, “We have been having discussions for the past two days. The team has done very well in these two one-dayers, they have performed outstandingly. The body language is excellent, which wasn’t there earlier. And the fielding has been great. There is a long way to go – we still have five matches to play in this series, but the signs are extremely promising.”Meetings involving key decisions, like the one taken today, have been fractious and long-drawn out affairs in the past, and board secretary SK Nair’s statement claiming, as always, that the decisions taken were unanimous, would have normally been met with cynicism. However, it has been reliably learnt that on this occasion there really was no dissenting voice to the suggestion from captain and coach that the same squad be retained for the next three matches.The selectors, sources reveal, were impressed with the commitment and performance of this squad and decided not to make any cosmetic changes. When More addressed the media he also made it clear that he would divulge the names of players considered for selection, and that any conversations he may or may not have had with players and officials would remain confidential.While this is not necessarily the end of the road for Ganguly, if the team continues to perform like it has in the last two matches it will only become progressively harder for him to make his way back into the squad. The squad for the last two matches of the seven-match series will be picked in Ahmedabad on November 6.India squad Rahul Dravid (capt), Ajit Agarkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Gautam Gambhir, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Y Venugopala Rao, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Yuvraj Singh, S Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Jai Prakash Yadav.