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At the end of first day of the first Test of the new year, India were 284 for three. It’s a position of some comfort, but India were anything but comfortable on their journey to the total. There was a catch off a no-ball, edges that didn’t carry, run-out chances, and dropped catches; all in all, a day of nerve-wracking cricket.Making the batsmen playBefore the match began, Steve Waugh empathised with the Indians, saying that he wouldn’t have liked facing Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. The two bowlers lived up to Waugh’s words, picking up the only three wickets that fell today, and always looked close to making another breakthrough. Although Lee was profligate with runs, he showed more control, and made the batsmen play more, than Gillespie. In the morning session, nearly half of all deliveries Lee bowled were let through to the keeper. That changed dramatically after lunch, when he made the batsmen play four out of every five deliveries.

Bowling a line wide of the stumps negated the good length Gillespie pitched on, and the batsmen left nearly 30% of everything he threw at them. But Gillespie ended with the wickets of Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, which came only when the batsmen were made to play at deliveries for sustained periods of time.Tendulkar’s on-side playIndia had lost two quick wickets when Sachin Tendulkar came out to bat. His own form wasn’t too reassuring, either. So far, Australia had worked to a plan; as long as they kept things tight, packing the off side with fielders, he would find ways to get himself out. But the Tendulkar who batted today was more resilient. Though he was troubled by Stuart MacGill, he played himself in, and didn’t try too hard to score runs on the off side. Instead, he took advantage of the 7-2 field, and scored a large number of his runs on the leg side, even though two-thirds off all the deliveries he faced were outside off stump.

The recall of Brendon McCullum to the New Zealand side has opened the way for promising former Central Districts wicket-keeper/batsman Peter McGlashan to move south.McGlashan, who made his first-class debut against Otago in the 2000/01 season, has indicated a desire to move to Dunedin to play club cricket and make himself available for representative honours.McCullum’s elevation has sped McGlashan’s progress and he will make his State Otago Volts appearance in Saturday’s State Shield opener against Wellington at Molyneux Park in Alexandra.Otago’s wicket-keeper in recent times, Martyn Croy, wasn’t available for selection before Christmas because of work commitments with the New Zealand Academy of Sport South Island and hasn’t yet played any club cricket this summer.McGlashan has played five first-class matches but has slipped down the Central Districts’ pecking order behind Bevan Griggs, Martin Sigley and last year’s New Zealand Under-19 gloveman Ian Sandbrook.

Sri Lanka’s promising young fast bowler Akalanka Ganegama was in devastating form as he guided defending champs Hatton National Bank to a comfortable 44-run win over Access Group in a key Mercantile `A’ division cricket match played at the Moors SC grounds on Saturday.Ganegama (20) knocked the fight out of the Access batting when he creamed off their top four batsmen for five runs, chasing an HNB total of 221 for eight off 50 overs. Ganegama’s victims included national players Aravinda de Silva (2) and Indika de Saram (0) as he finished with final figures of four for 29 off seven overs as Access were dismissed for 177 in the 38th over.Jeevantha Kulatunga in a late flourish slammed 41 off 42 balls inclusive of a four and three sixes to see Access to a respectable total.HNB sent into bat by Access, built their total around another national cricketer Tillekeratne Dilshan’s knock of 56 off 70 balls (6 fours).Sri Lanka players played prominent roles in guiding the fortunes of their respective companies to victory.At the Bloomfield grounds, Chaminda Vaas came up with a cameo all-round performance to see Seylan Bank to a convincing ten-wicket win over Singer.Vaas ran through the batting taking three for 13 as Singer were bundled out for 101 and then opening the batting, hit a sparkling unbeaten 72 off just 46 balls to see them home in the 15th over. Left-hander Vaas smashed two sixes and 11 fours in a fine display of power hitting.Sri Lanka vice-captain Marvan Atapattu and middle-order batsman Kumar Sangakkara hit fifties and shared a century partnership for Sampath Bank in their crushing 162-run win over East West at the NCC grounds.Sampath Bank rattled up the highest total of the day scoring 254 for 8 in 50 overs. Sangakkara made 51 off 79 balls (2 fours) and Atapattu, a stroke-filled 88 off 98 balls with one six and six fours as they shared a fourth wicket partnership of 112 off 22 overs.East West offered hardly any opposition being shot out for 92 in 31 overs with fast-medium bowler Aruna Bandaranayake capturing four wickets for 33.In the other match of the day, Janashakthi pulled off an 83-run win over John Keells at the Colts grounds. In reply to Janashakthi’s total of 182, John Keells could reply with only 99 with H.G.D. Nanayakkara taking 4 for 29.

Chris Rogers, the former Australia opener, has signed a one-year deal with Somerset who will become his fifth English county.Rogers retired from international cricket after the final Ashes Test at The Oval in August and his highest score, 173, came during the series at Lord’s although that was also the match where he was forced to retire hurt after suffering dizzy spells in the second innings.Somerset have said that Rogers is set to bat at No. 3 next season, meaning the opening partnership will remain Marcus Trescothick and 21-year-old Tom Abell who made 726 runs at 36.30 in 2015 and won the LV=Breakthrough Player award.”I’m really pleased to be joining a club of the stature of Somerset,” Rogers said. “I have always enjoyed playing cricket in England and as soon as I heard that Somerset were interested I wanted to make it happen. There have been quite a few Australian players who have done really well down at Taunton and hopefully I can add my name to that list. I’m looking forward to the challenge and can’t wait to get started.”Somerset held onto their Division One status in the Championship although were not secure until the final round. Their batting has continued to lean heavily on Trescothick and James Hildreth, who scored 1284 and 1390 runs respectively in the 2015 season, although the emergence of Abell was a significant development.Matthew Maynard, Somerset’s director of cricket, hopes Rogers’ wealth of experience will rub off on the younger players. “Chris Rogers is an outstanding batsman with an excellent attitude towards the game. He will score runs on the field and will have a positive impact off it as well. He is an excellent professional and our young players will learn a lot from him.”Rogers has previously played county cricket for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and most recently Middlesex until 2014. However, his connections with Middlesex ended in somewhat controversial circumstances when he became embroiled in an Ashes ticket scheme where a company Rogers co-founded was offering hospitality packages for sale.Somerset also announced the signing of 18-year-old wicketkeeper Ryan Davies from Kent. He has played for England Under-19s having joined the Kent Academy as a 13-year-old. Somerset have struggled for a regular wicketkeeper since the double loss of Jos Buttler to Lancashire and Craig Kieswetter to injury-forced retirement.Alex Barrow played six Championship matches in 2015 but averaged just 13.33 and the county subsequently signed New Zealand wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi and the former Hampshire gloveman Michael Bates.

Shaun Tait, who took an indefinite break from the game, is feeling refreshed and planning to return without worrying about how fast he bowls. Tait, 25, walked away following his unsuccessful return to the Test team in January, citing physical and emotional exhaustion.”In the last two weeks I’ve started to feel like myself again,” he said after being named in the Australian Cricketers’ Association FR Cup team of the year. “I’m thinking about cricket more and thinking about playing cricket again. It’s a good sign.”The one big thing I have learnt about myself is I do enjoy cricket. It is a part of my life and will be a part of my life for the future.”Tait told the he was “feeling normal again”. “For a long time before I made the decision and then after, especially, I just didn’t feel normal,” he said. “It was all surreal in a way. It’s a hard thing to explain. You just don’t feel yourself.”After being picked for his third Test, against India in Perth, Tait went wicket-less and had a sore hamstring, which followed a long recovery from elbow surgery. “Obviously there’s a lot of stress on the body,” he said. “It started to affect me mentally as well.”I just wasn’t enjoying playing cricket. Even when I was back playing for the Redbacks I wasn’t enjoying it. I was just going through the motions for the sake of it. I was thinking everyone else is busting their guts except for me and I’m just not even feeling like playing when I’m playing for my country.”Australia’s next domestic season begins in October and at the moment it looks like Tait will be part of it with South Australia. He has not set a return date but when he comes back he will have a different approach. “I’m not going to worry about the speed gun as much as I used to,” he said.”I’m my own worst enemy. Everyone talks it up. Everyone looks at me for one reason. That I can bowl fast and that’s it. I’m going to work on other parts of my game as well.”Tait has also received advice from Brett Lee. “His trick was bowling better lines and just worrying about being a mature bowler rather than trying to be the fastest bowler of all time.”

Australia and Zimbabwe met 12 times before the first Test series, six of those in World Cup matches, and the first encounter gave Zimbabwe one of their finest moments when Duncan Fletcher led Zimbabwe to victory at Trent Bridge in 1983. That, however, remains their only win to date.

1999-2000

Wisden Almanack | Cricinfo
It took eight years after they had secured Test status for Zimbabwe to meet Australia in a Test, and when they did the result was much as expected. Australia won the match by ten wickets and then strolled to a 3-0 whitewash in the one-dayers. Both Steve and Mark Waugh made centuries in the Test and limited-overs games respectively, while Glenn McGrath picked up six Test wickets. Zimbabwe fought well, but were clearly outmatched and made basic mistakes at crucial moments. For the Australians it marked the start of a record-breaking run of success.
Test: Zimbabwe 0 Australia 1
ODIs: Zimbabwe 0 Australia 3

2000-01

Wisden Almanack | ?Cricinfo
Zimbabwe arrived in Australia for the tri-nation Carlton Series on the back of a one-day series draw in New Zealand, and although they only won one of eight matches, they lost two others – one each against West Indies and Australia – by one run. The victory came when they bowled West Indies out for 91 defending 138, Heath Streak leading the way with 4 for 8, but in their final match they almost pulled off one of the great one-day wins, falling one run short of Australia’s 302 for 5 when needing 14 off the last over.

2002

In a sign of things to come, Australia pulled out of a proposed tour citing security and safety issues.

2003-04

Wisden Almanack | Cricinfo
Streak led a side already weakened by retirements, and while they lost both Tests – by an innings and 175 runs at Perth and by nine wickets at Sydney – they fought hard all the way, taking the game at the WACA into a fifth day. Matthew Hayden made the headlines there, breaking Brian Lara’s world record in scoring 380, but it was all rather low key. The public’s reaction to the unseasonable Test series was tepid, with an aggregate crowd of 18,363 over four days at the SCG and 24,051 over five days at the WACA a week earlier. Zimbabwe stayed on for the VB Series, which also included India, but failed to win any of their eight matches, although they within three runs of beating India thanks to hundreds from Sean Ervine and Stuart Carlisle.
Tests: Australia 2 Zimbabwe 0

2004

Wisden Almanack | Cricinfo
Coming against backdrop of serious internal rows between Zimbabwe’s players and board, which meant that Tatenda Taibu replaced Streak as captain, and considerable political unrest, Australia again came under massive pressure to boycott the tour on moral grounds. In the end they went, although Stuart MacGill stayed away for reasons of conscience. That did not bother Dean Jones, who signed a contract to commentate with a promise not to mention politics. “I’m just there to watch the cricket and I don’t give a rat’s arse what he does about his country,” he said. The tour was supposed to include two Tests, but they were scrapped when Zimbabwe suspended itself from Tests on the eve of the first match. The three ODIs were brought forward, Australia won them all without ever looking that interested, and Ricky Ponting described the Zimbabwean team as “pretty ordinary”, which is Australian for terrible.
ODIs: Zimbabwe 0 Australia 3

Shoaib Malik may well be opening in the Test series against England this summer but he doesn’t seem unduly concerned about taking on the best pace attack in the game in a still unfamiliar role.”I have no problems with opening. Basically I want to play for Pakistan and any position I don’t really care. I have been asked to open and I am happy to do it. If I have to do it in England I will do,” Malik told Cricinfo. Though his career as opener has experienced an uncertain start, there were signs, after a match-saving maiden Test hundred against Muttiah Muralitharan and others in Colombo, that he might be getting used to the role. “I guess I am more comfortable doing it now. That century was really special and more so because it saved the Test. Muralitharan is always a test but just as bad was the heat.”With that century, Malik now averages 42.60 (higher than his career average) from seven Tests and 11 innings as opener; the record includes two half-centuries as well, against India and the West Indies. Malik’s promotion to Test opener was the Pakistan management’s much-debated solution to one of the oldest ailments in Pakistan cricket – the lack of a solid opening pair. Though he made his first appearance as opener against West Indies last year, he was only installed as a semi-permanent choice in the last home season.In three Tests against England, he helped Pakistan – with Salman Butt – to three fifty-plus partnerships though he failed to go beyond 39. As Pakistan now visit England, in vastly different conditions, they will hope for more from Malik. “Opening there will be a different experience but we will have to get used to it during the practice matches, get used to the pitches, the weather, the swing. I’m not sure the county experience I’ve had (with Gloucestershire) will be that relevant.”Although he hasn’t fully recovered from elbow surgery, he has begun light training at the conditioning camp. “I haven’t started batting or bowling yet. That will have to wait another eight days or so, but my elbow is pretty much fine now.”There is little doubt he will play, but whether he continues to do so as an opener is still uncertain. Rameez Raja, a former Pakistan opener, told Cricinfo recently that though Malik was a gifted player, “he might struggle as opener in English conditions.” The view is backed up, though not in such absolutist terms, by Wasim Bari, chairman of the national selection committee.Bari told Cricinfo, “He is a very talented player and extremely versatile. And though he can switch positions in ODIs – he is also an excellent fielder and good spinner – in Tests, I feel it is more advisable to have specialist openers. I don’t know if the experiment with him will work long-term. You need specialists in that position.”Bari’s selection committee has, of course, been criticised for not being patient enough with specialists such as Salman Butt, Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat though the former wicketkeeper defended the changes, pointing to Pakistan’s impressive recent successes. “People keep talking about openers but look at the results we have had. Pakistan has won three Test series in a row against good opposition which is a good record. Opening is a problem area yes, but there are others as well, such as poor fielding and running between the wickets. All these areas need to be looked at too.”Whether Malik continues to open or not, Bari admits, is ultimately up to the captain and coach but if he doesn’t, Pakistan can still choose one combination from three left-handed openers for the series. Farhat, Butt and Umar have all been included in the list of probables – the latter two making a comeback into the team after time out of it – but Bari doesn’t seem entirely convinced by any of them.”This game is all about confidence and when we dropped Butt, he just didn’t have any confidence. Ideally a break from the game when you’re low on confidence will do you good. We did the same with Mohammad Sami; if you play a player when they are low, they are likely to suffer more.”Taufeeq looks good other than when he is playing in Tests. The pressure seems to affect him in Tests and it is all about pressure. But hopefully he can prove himself. Basically, there’s very little difference between the players. Whoever is more confident at the time needs to be picked.”

South Australia crumbled to be all out for 149 on the opening day of its season-opening Pura Cup cricket match against Victoria at Adelaide Oval today.All five Victorian bowlers took at least one wicket, with paceman Will Carr the star.Carr finished with 4-42, including a spell of 3-7 in 3.2 overs after lunch to skittle the SA lower order.Leg-spinner Cameron White and paceman Michael Lewis took two wickets each, with Mathew Inness and Ian Harvey chiming in with one scalp apiece.White was impressive, finishing with 2-18 from 12 overs, superb figures considering he conceded nine runs in a loose first over.He made the vital breakthrough of SA captain Greg Blewett, who top-scored with 36, just before lunch.Blewett was given out lbw, although he could be considered unlucky as he was well forward when he was struck on the front pad.That broke the Redbacks’ best partnership of 39 runs, which Blewett shared with SA’s NSW recruit Mark Higgs (33).Higgs, who scored 33, was the only other SA batsmen to get more than 20.The SA tail performed woefully as the Redbacks lost 6-24 in the last 19 overs of the innings.

DV Subba Rao, the man who conducted the inquiry set up to investigate the bribery scandal, has said in his report that there is prima facie evidence against Abhijit Kale to justify a deeper probe. A key element in his findings were the repeated phone calls made by Kale to the selectors concerned, Kiran More and Pranab Roy.A copy of Subba Rao’s report was presented by the BCCI counsel during the Mumbai High Court hearings regarding Kale’s plea to revoke his suspension. The report revealed More’s statement that Kale made phone calls to him in June and July, offering him Rs 10 lakhs (approximately US$21,900 ) for a place in the Indian side. Kale’s counsel, Janak Dwarkadas and Vineet Naik, countered this by claiming that Kale had merely wanted to apprise the selectors that “his shoulder injury had healed and he was fit to be included” in the team.Kale had allegedly also called Roy five times and had once met him at an airport in Mumbai to offer him the same amount of money. Roy apparently reprimanded Kale for making this “nuisance offer.”More also said that Kale’s mother had come to his house in Vadodara with an offer. He said, “Mrs Kale also visited my Baroda [the previous name of Vadodara] house in my absence and spoke to my wife.”More disregarded the visit, he said to Subba Rao, because he thought it to be the anxiety of a mother, and said that he had seen such obsessive behaviour in the relatives of other cricketers as well.Subba Rao recommended to the BCCI that they appoint another committee to “go into much more depth” in the matter. “A player persistenly phoning selectors is itself not proper,” he said, “and phoning for selection is worse. Kale’s mother visiting More’s Baroda residence further points the needle of suspicion against him.”To Kale’s claim that his mother had only gone to Vadodara to hand over his fitness certificate, Subba Rao observed that the journey from Thane – where she resides – to Vadodara is at least seven hours. “If it was only to give the letter certainly that could have been sent by post or fax.” Kale’s reply to this was that he could not get the fax number, which is why his mother made the trip.

Pitches like that on which India and New Zealand played out a frustrating three-wicket win to the home team did nothing for cricket.That was Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s of the game which saw New Zealand take 37.4 overs to score the 109 runs it required to claim the first victory in the seven-game National Bank Series.For the Indians it was just a continuation of the frustrating surfaces that have been dished up to them in New Zealand on the tour.Ganguly did admit, like New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming before him, that the pitch looked as if it would play a lot better than it did.”This sort of thing doesn’t help anybody. People come to watch cricket,” he said.And with only 100 runs to each side, people would be coming to watch the games in the future.The conditions also gave false confidence to the bowlers in the sides.The pitch, played on one of Eden Park’s portable pitches proved to be two-paced, to have variable bounce and shot-making was not easy.India did have a chance in the game and Jacob Oram, who was 27 not out at the end, had gone very close to getting out leg before wicket to Anil Kumble but India just couldn’t pull off the win.”Due credit to him [Oram] he hung in well in both innings, in Hamilton and here but a few decisions this way, that way could have changed the game,” he said.Javagal Srinath’s presence had been good for the side and he had proven again he was a class act while taking four wickets for 23 runs in his 10 overs.Ganguly said it wasn’t only the confidence of his players that was down, the New Zealanders were also struggling, this despite the fact they had grown up in these conditions.The winning of the series would be done by the side which best responded to the task of batting better in the remaining game, he said.