Adam Gilchrist cannot wait for the Ashes to start. “I would have been pretty keen to get into first-class cricket now,” he said, just as the NatWest Series ended, and a day before the NatWest Challenge one-dayers against England get underway. “With all due respect to the schedules and commitments every country has to the ICC’s five-year program, there’s been a lot of one-day cricket already,” Gilchrist is quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.”With the heightened awareness and eagerness everyone has for the Ashes, it would have been ripe for the picking to start on first-class cricket now,” said Gilchrist. “Everyone now is so keen for the Ashes – players and spectators. “The excitement level and anticipation for this series is just reaching an all-time high and that’s been increased again as a result of that (NatWest Series final) tie.”However, Gilchrist realised the need to play one-day internationals. “We play a lot of one-day cricket in Australia and that brings in a lot of revenue and we’re reliant on that,” he said. “So I can understand England wanting to cash in on the world champs being here. We’ll just have to make sure we get up for these games and get into the stuff that everyone’s waiting for.”Gilchrist guarded against reading too much into the result of the NatWest Challenge – whichever way it went. The final outcome of this series might not mean that one team is dominant or superior over the other,” Gilchrist said. “It might have just been that you happened to get your interpretation of the tactics or rule changes more right than the other, and we’ll all be learning.”When you think about what we’re doing, we’re totally changing the rules of cricket by bringing a 12th player into the game,” said Gilchrist, stressing that the innovations could make a significant difference. “There’s some pretty significant rule changes, and it could just be luck of the draw how you come out of it at the other end.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball

Andrew Strauss filled his boots against the Bangladesh attack for the third time in the NatWest Series as England comfortably sealed their place in the final with a five-wicket win at Headingley. Strauss was out with just one run needed, for 98, following Andrew Flintoff’s 4 for 29 which restricted Bangladesh after they made a promising start.Strauss attempted to finish the match in the grand manner, by reaching his century, but was bowled by Manjural Islam, the ball after hitting a six to get within two runs of his milestone (208 for 5). It was another impressive innings from Strauss and it is important that he now starts to take this form into the remaining matches against Australia – starting at Edgbaston on Tuesday.A target of 209 was never going to be enough to trouble England, especially when Strauss and Marcus Trescothick continued to gorge themselves on the Bangladesh bowling. Trescothick was in great touch again and it was a surprise when he got a feathered edge against Manjural for 43 – a relative failure against after his previous scores of 100* and 85 against Bangladesh in the tournament.Habibul Bashar was forced to turn to his spinners – Manjural and Mohammad Rafique – within the 15 overs and Trescothick took advantage and slog-swept into the Western Terrace (or Stand as it now prefers to be known). However, Manjural got his revenge when Trescothick tried another dab to third-man and got the thinnest of edges to Khaled Mashud (99 for 1).Flintoff was promoted to No. 3 but he again failed to make the most of his opportunity when he fell lbw sweeping at Rafique (134 for 2). Kevin Pietersen gave the Headingley crowd a brief glimpse of his power, clearing the midwicket boundary once during his 23, before finding long-on as he attempted to win the match quickly (182 for 4).

Bangladesh stuttered to 208 for 7 as England’s bowling improved after a poor start with Flintoff leading the resurgence with another menacing spell. Javed Omar provided the backbone to the innings with 81 from 150 balls and Mashud brought some much needed late acceleration with 42 off 43.Omar’s innings was a model of concentration and he largely managed to eradicated the cross-batted shots that have been is downfall in this series. But at times it was questionable whether he was doing more harm than good to the innings. However, after their rapid collapse against Australia yesterday they can be forgiven for ensuring they batted out their 50 overs.Simon Jones gained a useful workout. He grabbed the first wicket to fall, when Shahriar Nafees edged a expansive cut to first slip, where Trescothick took a well-judged low catch (22 for 1).But Flintoff was easily the pick of England’s seam attack after they generally wasted the new ball in a lazy display of bowling and fielding. As Tushar Imran attempted to increase the scoring rate he chopped into his stumps after comfortably scoring at a run-a-ball (92 for 2). It was typical of so many Bangladesh dismissals on this tour, with a batsman doing all the hardwork then losing concentration at the vital time.Mohammad Ashraful had a perfect base to continue his scintillating form, but picked out Trescothick at midwicket from his first ball (92 for 3). Flintoff was then within a whisker of a hat-trick – although not as close as Tremlett last week – when Habibul Bashar just managed to get his pad outside off stump.But Bashar did not last much longer and became another victim of Paul Collingwood’s sharp fielding in the covers. Omar dropped the ball and set off for a single but Bashar’s dive was not quite enough to get him home as Collingwood’s underarm flick just clipped the stumps (112 for 4). When Aftab Ahmed was bowled by Ashley Giles, Bangladesh had lost all their momentum (138 for 5) but Mashud used his experience to ensure they at least passed 200 and gave England a decent chase.Although not the most convincing of England’s performances against Bangladesh, they still got the job done with plenty of time to spare. Now the attention turns firmly to Australia for the rest of the summer. Although Tuesday’s game has no bearing on the final, some important psychological points can be scored ahead of the Lord’s showdown.

Sri Lanka’s vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned his team they must not become too complacent against what is virtually a second-string West Indies team when they confront them in the first Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Tuesday, which will be Sri Lanka’s 150th Test.Sri Lanka dealt a psychological blow to the tourists when they shot them out for a paltry 110 runs in the two-day warm-up match played at the Nondescript grounds over the weekend and then replied with 382. All of their top order batsmen – with the exception of Jayawardene – made a decent score. The captain Marvan Atapattu made 77, Kumar Sangakkara 109 and Tilan Samaraweera 95 while left-arm bowler Rangana Herath captured three wickets for 23 runs in 15 tight overs.”It was a good game for us to get back into the groove. We haven’t played any cricket together for two-and-a-half months,” said Jayawardene who was dismissed for a duck. “We are getting Murali back after some time. Vaas is in good form and Malinga is bowling really well. We have the firepower but we have to be more focused and give 110 percent and not be complacent. We have to do the job once we get there.”Jayawardene said that the team were disappointed that West Indies are not at full strength for the Test series. “They have some really good cricketers and it would have been a brilliant series like the last occasion. But then again we have no control over such situations. It is out of our hands. We are playing the West Indies – that’s all we have to think of. We shouldn’t be thinking of whom the players are we are playing against. It’s another Test match for us. We are ready to go all out. It’s good to start playing cricket again for all of us.”He said the long break had done the team a world of good enabling players who have been nursing injuries to recover and make the others hungry for success. “We had a complete rest and did not think about the game for about three or four weeks. We had a good rest as a team and we are very eager to start playing cricket again. I think it is the right time for us to make a start. All the guys are in good nick, hopefully we can get it going. It’s all about how quickly we can get into the groove of Test cricket and how quickly we could jell together as a team again. There is a lot of cricket ahead of us so if we could get together quickly it will be great.”The other important things is we did pre-season training laying a lot of emphasis on fitness,” he continued. “It’s always good to have a long break because you can focus on your fitness training, which is very important. It helps you to stay fit and not have injuries during the season. We went through a very hard fitness regime for about five weeks and hopefully it will help us to play another 12-18 months of cricket which is ahead of us.”Sri Lanka will begin the series against West Indies under their new coach Tom Moody, their fourth in the past decade after Dav Whatmore, Bruce Yardley and John Dyson. “The good thing about our team is that we have always improved with every coach who has been with us in the past five or six years,” he added. “They always bring something to the team. With Moody also I hope we can do the same. We only had Moody for a couple of weeks but the team has reacted to him very well. He’s a very nice guy, easy to communicate. The young guys especially have enjoyed him being around which is a good thing. He is a coach who lets you do your own thing and monitors us. Whenever he feels that he want to come in and have a buzz, he will do that.”Jayawardene said that everybody was looking forward to playing under Moody as a team. “We had a fair amount of discussions with him. Last week we had a camp for about five days where we got a sports psychologist coming and talking to us about team values and things like that. There were a few new things that also came up. I think we’ll have to wait and see how things go. It is still early stages.”

Ashley Giles has insisted that the England team would have been “strung up” if they had lost the second Ashes Test at Edgbaston. England tied the five-match series at one apiece despite a last-wicket stand on the fourth day that took Australia to within three runs of victory.Giles said England would have taken plenty of flak had they lost after reducing Australia to 175 for 8 on the third day, still needing 107 to win. “We’d have been strung up if Australia had won so we’re just happy it ended this way,” he wrote in his diary on the ECB website. “It’s fine lines because we were three runs away from being sent to the moon again as well.”Giles, after a wicketless first Test, bounced back with five wickets at Edgbaston, and was looking forward to the third Test at Old Trafford, which starts on Thursday. “It was nice to get a few wickets again, I thought I bowled all right and got a few runs in the first innings,” he wrote. “I did what I can do in many ways and in recent times that’s how I’ve had my success, by chipping in with wickets and a few runs. That’s what I’m about and I hope I showed that in this game.”Giles had been under tremendous pressure following his performance at Lord’s and acknowledged the backing he received from his family. “I’ve had a tremendous amount of support from my wife Stine and the family and it was nice that they could be there, he wrote. “It’s great because the stuff that goes around hurts them as much as it hurts me so I owe a lot to them.”

Steve Waugh said Ricky Ponting graduated as a Test captain with his century at Old Trafford and his “lesson in concentration and application” should force Australia into action. Writing in his column in the , Waugh said if the team didn’t follow Ponting’s lead “our hold on the Ashes is perilous”.”A draw was like a victory for Australia and this will be the mind-set the team take into the next Test,” he wrote. “England will view it as a lost opportunity and will no doubt torment themselves with what might have been.”Waugh said England again could not deliver the “killer blow” after controlling the tempo of the match. “Nevertheless, England are playing better cricket and the Aussies must raise their intensity to reverse the momentum,” he wrote.In 1997 Waugh, then the vice-captain, walked out at Old Trafford with Australia down 1-0 and scored twin centuries to draw Australia level. When Ponting marked his guard his side was in desperate trouble amid poor batting form, rumours of disharmony and a buoyant England backed by a madly patriotic crowd. In scoring a brilliant 156 Ponting took them within 24 balls of a draw, a result that was sealed by Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath.”Ricky Ponting led from the front in the final day of the Test as all influential leaders should,” Waugh wrote. “In time he will look back and see this as his graduation as a Test captain.”

Terrence Duffin, Sean Williams and Charles Coventry, all from Matabeleland, and medium pace bowler Waddington Mwayenga from Mashonaland were named in Zimbabwe’s 13-man squad for the first Test against India at Bulawayo starting on Tuesday.Of the quartet, Duffin, Coventry and Williams are likely to make their Test debuts while Mwayenga might have to wait as Zimbabwe look set to go into the match with three seamers and two spinners. Duffin is set to open the batting with Dion Ebrahim who impressed the selectors with his superb 169 against the Indians.A technically sound left-hand batsman, Duffin missed out on the two Tests against New Zealand last month due to a knee injury. He was unfairly left out of Zimbabwe Tests against South Africa despite impressive performances for Zimbabwe A against Bangladesh A as the selectors kept their promise to play Ebrahim in the two games.Brendan Taylor is expected to come in at No. 3 and Tatenda Taibu at No. 4. The selectors have to choose whether Hamilton Masakadza, who has been out of form of late, deserves another chance to redeem himself or to throw in the untried Williams. Masakadza scored eight at Mutare while Williams scored 10, but he impressed the selectors with his ability to bat for long periods — he was at the crease for more than two hours and faced 91 balls. Williams is also a useful left-arm spinner and is likely to get the nod.Coventry, a clean hitter of the ball seems set to be thrown in at No. 6, but worries still remain on his ability to bat for long periods. He top scored with a brilliant 74 in Zimbabwe’s four-wicket loss to India in their last match of the Videocon Cup and was Zimbabwe’s most consistent batsman during that series. That has led the selectors to give him a chance to show that he can perform at this gruelling level.Zimbabwe’s main worry is the fitness of their vice-captain and pace bowler Heath Streak, the only Zimbabwean bowler with the ability to trouble world-class batsmen. Streak underwent a minor operation last Saturday to remove a blood clot on his left shin after a ball hit him during the opening match of the Videocon Cup against New Zealand. Streak has not bowled since, and he will have a session in the nets on Monday. If fit, he will lead the bowling attack with Andy Blignaut and Blessing Mahwire, with left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa and offspinner Prosper Utseya in support.Utseya returns to the Test arena after impressing in the shorter version of the game. He played only one Test against Sri Lanka at Harare Sports Club in May last year, and has since then been ignored, being regarded more as a one-day specialist spinner. But his impressive performance in one-dayers, allied to legspinner Graeme Cremer’s failure to make a mark, has led to his being given another chance.A worrying factor for Zimbabwe is that Waddington Mwayenga is the only other pace option, but sources close to the selectors have said either Christopher Mpofu or Anthony Ireland will be called in to supplement the squad should the need arise.Zimbabwe Tatenda Taibu (capt/wkt), Andy Blignaut, Charles Coventry, Keith Dabengwa, Terence Duffin, Dion Ebrahim, Blessing Mahwire, Hamilton Masakadza, Waddington Mwayenga, Heath Streak (vice-captain), Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.

This has been no ordinary build-up to a Test match. But this is no ordinary Test. England are on the verge of reclaiming the Ashes after 18 years and Australia know that anything less than victory will send them home to face a barrage of criticism and some very tough questions. Given what is riding on the outcome both captains came across relaxed during their press conferences at The Oval, although it was easy to tell who was leading the series.”I’ll have a pint please,” quipped Michael Vaughan as he took his place next to the bar in room set aside for the interviews, which was crammed to the rafters with journalists, and cameras. This series (and more than ever this Test) is big news almost everywhere and the ECB media department has been working overtime to try and squeeze in all the hacks who want to cover the final chapter to this drama. Some should pack their umbrellas because they will be perched outside and, of course, most of England is praying for some help from the weather.The huge media presence is proof of the state of this series, as were the two press conferences given by Vaughan and Ricky Ponting. Vaughan was his languid self – while the country has been losing its head he has remained, outwardly at least, an image of calmness – and his interview was a run-of-the-mill affair.He admitted that the loss of Simon Jones opens the door for either Paul Collingwood or James Anderson to be a hero – although he gave few hints over which one will get that opportunity. “Simon is a big loss, he has bowled extremely well and it was going to be very hard to find a like-for-like replacement. Given the way he has bowled he is probably up there with the best in the world at the moment.”But it’s a great opportunity for Jimmy or Colly to come and a make name for themselves this week. It will be a tough decision to make on who comes in and we wish them well. There is no bigger match for someone to come in.” It is hoped that neither player is of the nervous disposition.Ah, yes, the nerves, a rare commodity around the country after the last three Tests. But what about Vaughan’s: “I’m fine at the moment but I’m sure I will have some tomorrow morning.”Once Jones was ruled out of the Test, many of the questions put to Vaughan have been based around two topics – Glenn McGrath and the weather. McGrath has now been passed fit after his afternoon workout but Vaughan said he is not concerned about things out of his control.”We have been very good at controlling everything that we can. We can only control our performances, not what the weather is going to do or whether Glenn is going to play. You know that whichever attack you face it is going to be strong. We really are focussing on our performance levels and we know that if we can continue to be a high standard we know can put them under pressure.”The Australia team is already under more pressure than it has felt since their reign as the world’s best began during the mid-nineties. While Vaughan did not have to field any particularly tough questions, Ponting certainly sounded like a man contemplating the worst. He is certainly aware that the reception back home will not be particularly accommodating if they fail to win this Test. “We will cop a bit of a hammering if we lose,” he said with a nervous grin.His Australian side has certainly shown its age on this tour and all the talk has been of the end of an era and a changing of the guard. But Ponting tried his best to dampen any thoughts that some players are facing a make-or-break Test. “We said at the start of the tour that a few of the older guys may be on their last Ashes tour but I wouldn’t like to say that anyone is playing for the future.”But what about his own position? If England reclaim the Ashes Ponting will go down in history as the Australian captain that ended an era of dominance. “I wouldn’t like to think that my position would be under threat and I’m not sure that one series defeat would be the end of an era.”We are a team, a very close team and if we do lose we will all be responsible for it at the end of the day. I will take a bit more responsibility because I’m captain. If we happen to lose this game I will put my hand up and say there are things I could have done differently but if we happen to win, things probably won’t be as tough on me as they could have been.”Ponting, though, was quick to end on an attacking note – maybe a sign of things to come over the next five days. “The way things have been said over the last four days you’d think we were 4-0 down, but we’re not. We got very close to winning the last Test and we nearly won the second. It’s gone England’s way at the moment but we have got a week to change that and change everyone’s thinking about the series.”Ponting finished by saying if Australia gets the result this game it will be the greatest series he has ever played in. He didn’t say what it would be if he didn’t. This series has lived and breathed on such fine lines. Getting very close won’t do for Australia this time. Tomorrow, at 10.30, the talking can stop.

When Glenn McGrath trapped Brian Lara lbw on the second day of the Super Test at Sydney, he surpassed Courtney Walsh’s tally of 519 Test wickets to become the highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers in Test cricket. While it took Walsh 132 matches to take 519 wickets, McGrath’s 520th came in just his 112th match.Click here for McGrath’s career analysis.
Click here for the highest wicket-takers in Tests.

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has said that his team is ready to take on a resurgent India in the five-match one-day series beginning in Hyderabad on November 16.”We have come here on a good run and see this tour as a massive opportunity,” Smith told AFP after arriving in Mumbai. “India are a strong side with a bunch of young guys who are doing well. Sachin Tendulkar is also back in their side but I hope we continue to win.” South Africa have had an awesome run of form, blanking New Zealand 4-0 in the recent one-day series and winning 16 of their last 18 games with two matches washed out. India, too, have thrashed Sri Lanka 6-1 in the just completed one-day series.Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, said that they weren’t too worried about countering Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian wicketkeeper who was named Man of the Series for his 346 runs in seven matches against Sri Lanka. “We have studied his technique well and have some plans for him. We only have to wait and see how well we are able to execute them,” said Arthur. “The key to India’s fortune is the return to form of Sachin Tendulkar as he can really lift the team. Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell are doing a good job and we respect the Indian batting line-up in home conditions but we also back ourselves to win in India.”South Africa’s tour begins with a warm-up game on November 14 at Hyderabad followed by the first ODI on November 16. The remaining four matches are all day-night fixtures at Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai on November 19, 22, 25 and 28.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

All the world may be a stage, but Pakistan proved they aren’t merely players in a shining performance which glistened from start to finish and comprehensively wiped out England. Kamran Akmal struck his second successive century and the middle order chipped in to blast Pakistan to a heady 353 for 6, before the bowlers cleaned up the visitors for 188 to win by a whopping 165 runs. It was a thoroughly polished non-contest.Akmal smeared the bowlers to all parts, Mohammad Yousuf battered his way to fifty and Abdul Razzaq clattered an unbeaten 51 from 22 balls to set England a daunting run-chase. It was one that they had to make without their big-hitting superstar Kevin Pietersen, and his absence told – although he would have had to have pulled something quite special out of the bag to rescue England after Pakistan mauled their bowlers.Akmal and Yousuf shared a stand of 104 for the third wicket, then Razzaq and Inzamam-ul-Haq added 78 in just 40 balls. More good news for Pakistan: they may just have resolved their opening duo conundrum finally, too, with Akmal and Butt putting on another decent stand – this time, 74. In this series they now average more than 50 per innings for the first wicket. That will do.What won’t do is England’s bowling performance. Again they were under par, again they were punished accordingly. James Anderson’s ten overs went for 72, and he was wicketless just like Steve Harmison who was hit for 62 from his eight.A woeful display it may have been, replete with wide after wide, but credit must be given to Pakistan’s batsmen. England tried the short ball, and the fuller ball; they tried the wider ball, and the straighter ball. All had little effect as Pakistan’s batsmen exploded out of the blocks … and then kept on exploding with a joyous display of powerful clean hitting.Akmal was in particularly fine touch, batting out of his crease as early as the eighth over, and dispatching all that came near him with a series of strong shots off both the front and the back foot. As Akmal charged on in his own merry way to another century – which included a let-off from Paul Collingwood with a caught-and-bowled chance on 69 – Yousuf joined in the fun, twice hitting Plunkett for two fours behind the wicket early doors.In fact, the whole team rolled up their sleeves to take England to the cleaners. Shahid Afridi, on his return from suspension, chipped in with a cameo of 31, including some typically booming sixes. But he was cut off in his prime after a mix-up with his partner, Yousuf, who ran him out, and then was responsible for his own downfall when, on 68, he fell in similar style.Razzaq applied further salt and firmly rubbed it in during a painful Plunkett over which read: one, dot, four, four, four, six. At the other end Inzamam eased his way to 45 from just 35 deliveries. England were sharp in the field all the while but Trescothick was left to regret his decision to field, and then some.The target was always going to be a tall order and England’s reply got off to a poor start and they were wobbling at 47 for 3. The required run-rate of seven an over crept up from the very beginning as Trescothick played out a maiden from the first over. And things didn’t get much better from there as the rate rocketed with England failing to put together a partnership of any note.Shoaib Akhtar may not have a wicket to his name, but his run-out of Matt Prior kicked off proceedings. Rana Naved took the next two to set England in trouble. Then Mohammad Sami’s wicket maiden sent Andrew Strauss to join his chastened team-mates in the shed. Andrew Flintoff followed for 36, bowled by Yasir Arafat and Paul Collingwood holed out for 19 as Shoaib Malik joined in the party, striking in his first over.At 122 for 6, England were flailing and needing a wildly unlikely nine-and-a-half an over for victory. Ian Bell, the Supersub, made an unbeaten 37 at the death, but Malik struck twice more to end with 3 for 29, while Afridi took two wickets of his own to sink England without a second thought to give Pakistan a 2-1 series lead.Defeat for England equals their heaviest-ever loss, which was against West Indies in 1994. Doubtless Duncan Fletcher will have a few icy words to add to England’s chill as they headed for early icebaths to reflect on a job badly done. Pakistan now have a hand on the one-day trophy after coming up brightly today.

PakistanSalman Butt c Flintoff b Plunkett 29 (74 for 1)
Younis Khan c Jones b Plunkett 0 (84 for 2)
Kamran Akmal c b 109 (188 for 3)

Shahid Afridi run out (Collingwood/Jones) 31 (234 for 4)
Mohammad Yousuf run out (Collingwood) 68 (272 for 5)
Inzamam-ul-Haq b Flintoff 45 (350 for 6)
EnglandMatt Prior run out (Ahktar) 2 (22 for 1)
Marcus Trescothick c Inzamam-ul-Haq b Naved (40 for 2)
Vikram Solanki c Khan b Naved (40 for 3)
Andrew Strauss lbw b Sami 23 (79 for 4)
Andrew Flintoff b Yasir Arafat 36 (101 for 5)
Paul Collingwood c Butt b Malik 19 (122 for 6)
Geraint Jones c Yasir Arafat b Afridi 14 (140 for 7)
Ian Blackwell c Sami b Afridi 14 (145 for 8)
Liam Plunkett b Malik 7 (186 for 9)
Steve Harmison c Afridi b Malik 1 (188 all out)