Ponting angered by England tactics

Ricky Ponting delivered a stinging critique of England's gamesmanship after a contentious final session in which the hosts' 12th man and physiotherapist made multiple visits to the centre. The Australian captain's comments were tantamount to an accusation of time-wasting by an England side attempting to save the first Test, and will do little to defuse tensions between the two sides following a fractious day's play at Sophia Gardens.

Hostilities between the camps commenced before a ball was bowled on Sunday, with Mitchell Johnson and Kevin Pietersen involved in a verbal altercation after the latter hit balls in the direction of the Australian fast bowler. They continued after the commencement of play, with Andrew Flintoff temporarily standing his ground to a Ponting catch at second slip, and again when Stuart Broad and Peter Siddle bumped shoulders in the final session. A pitch invasion staged by a pair of protesters further added to the intensity of the occasion.

But the controversy most likely to linger was the involvement of Bilal Shafayat and Steve McCaig, the England 12th man and physiotherapist, who made appearances in the 102nd and 103rd overs of the innings despite scant evidence that the batsmen, Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar, called upon their services. Shafayat ran gloves and water to the batsmen - receiving a none too subtle chirp from Ponting for his troubles - while McCaig briefly checked on their physical condition at a time when Australia was desperately pressed for time to claim a victory that, barely an hour before, appeared an inevitability.

Speaking after the match, Ponting expressed his frustration over England's apparent stalling tactics, reprising memories of his vocal disapproval of England's use of substitute fielders during the 2005 Ashes series. An Australian team spokesman confirmed they would not make an official complaint, although Ponting invited the ICC's match referee, Jeff Crowe, to review the incident.

"I don't think it was required, he changed [the gloves] the over before and I don't think they'd be too sweaty in one over," Ponting said. "I'm not sure what the physio was doing out there. I didn't see anyone call for the physio to come out. As far as I'm concerned, it was pretty ordinary, really. But they can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game. It's up to them to do what they want to do.

"A few guys were questioning the umpires, a few guys were questioning the 12th man, but it's not the 12th man's fault. Someone from upstairs was sending him out there. That's where it needs to be taken up. There was nothing there that we could do out on the ground. We had to get them off as quick as we could and get a couple more overs.

	They can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game. It's up to them to do what they want to do

"I was unhappy with it, but it lasted a couple of minutes, and we got them off the ground. I don't want to make that big a deal with it. I'm sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy, as they should. It's not the reason we didn't win. We've got to look at those reasons."

Andrew Strauss, the England captain, denied his side had contravened the spirit of cricket, insisting that the reasons for Shafayat's presence on the playing field in the dying moments of the game were legitimate.

"There was a lot of confusion, to be fair," Strauss said. "We first of all sent the 12th man out to let Jimmy and Monty know there was time left, and not the overs. Then there was drink spilled on Jimmy's gloves, and he called up to the dressing room and we weren't sure if he needed 12th man or physio. If Ricky is upset, that's a shame.

"Our intentions were good. We weren't trying to deliberately waste a huge amount of time. Those weren't our tactics. Those two were playing very well out in the middle and the reality of the situation is that Australia didn't take the final wicket and we got away with a draw."

Both captains sought to defuse the Johnson-Pietersen and Broad-Siddle rows. "It was just a few guys on the ground taking each other's space," Ponting said of Johnson's verbal exchange with Pietersen. Strauss, meanwhile, insisted the match had been played in a good spirit. "I don't think there were lines crossed," he said.

England pull off great escape

	James Anderson and Monty Panesar steal a single to guide England to safety at Cardiff © AFP
Related Links Players/Officials: James Anderson | Paul Collingwood | Nathan Hauritz | Monty Panesar | Graeme Swann Matches: England v Australia at Cardiff Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of England and Scotland Teams: Australia | England

James Anderson and Monty Panesar produced the most important innings of their lives as England's final pair survived 11.3 overs to pull off a thrilling escape at Cardiff. When Paul Collingwood fell for a monumental 245-ball 74 England still trailed by six, but once Australia had to bat again, valuable time was taken out of the game leaving Andrew Strauss and a packed Cardiff nervously clock-watching. The Australians threw everything into the final hour in an electric atmosphere with the crowd cheering the two unlikely batting heroes as though the Ashes had been won.

A vital moment came when Anderson collected consecutive boundaries off Peter Siddle to finally erase the deficit. It meant that two further overs would be lost from the remaining allocation, but there was yet another twist. Australia had bowled their overs quickly during the final hour, which meant it came down to a clock-watch situation for the batsmen. The crucial mark was 6.40pm: at that point it meant there was no time for Australia to start a run chase.

The closing overs were in the hands of Nathan Hauritz - who rose above all the pre-match concern over his quality to claim three final-day wickets and six in the match - and Marcus North. Anderson, outwardly calm while inside he must have been churning, blocked confidently but also picked up vital runs to just edge the lead ahead further. Meanwhile, Panesar, the most unlikely of batting saviours, watched the ball like a hawk. Having left expertly against the quicks he played with soft hands against the spinners, and one of the biggest cheers of the day came when he square cut North for a boundary.

However, while Anderson and Panesar were there at the end to soak up the acclaim the escape wouldn't have been possible without one of Collingwood's most determined innings for his country. He came in early after Kevin Pietersen lost his off stump, shouldering arms to Ben Hilfenhaus, and soon faced an England card that read 70 for 5. He found vital support from Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad and particularly Graeme Swann, who overcame a peppering from Siddle, to share a 20-over stand.

Collingwood fought with very ounce of the grit that makes him such a valuable player. He survived some early scares against Hauritz when an inside edge fell just short of Simon Katich at short leg and another delivery almost rolled back onto the stumps until Collingwood stepped on it. He went 31 deliveries after lunch without scoring, but unlike some of England's other batsman he isn't someone who gets overly twitchy when his own score his moving along.

Collingwood's fifty came off 167 balls, the slowest by an England batsman since Nasser Hussain against West Indies in Port of Spain during the 2004 tour, but the pace of his innings mattered not a jot. His only mistake proved his downfall as he chased some width from Siddle and Mike Hussey took a juggling catch in the gully. He could hardly believe what he had done and couldn't even bring himself to remove his pads as he watched the two tailenders defy Australia. Collingwood isn't a superstar; he doesn't fit into the hero mould, but here he was both.

Ponting admitted it was a tough result to take and Australia were ahead of the game virtually throughout the final day. Pietersen, who had an early-morning confrontation with Mitchell Johnson during the warm-ups, never settled against the swinging ball as the quicks probed away on the full length that causes him problems. His troubles ended when he completely misjudged the line from Hilfenhaus and didn't offer a shot. It was excellent bowling from Hilfenhaus, who had been shaping the ball away and made one hold its line, but Pietersen's back lift and footwork are currently not in sync.

	Matt Prior chose a forgettable shot to fall to Nathan Hauritz © Getty Images

In the eighth over of the session it was time for Hauritz and he was in the wonderful position of being able to bowl with men around the bat. He immediately found more turn, and posed a greater threat than England's spinner managed over two days, and made one bounce a touch more against Andrew Strauss as he tried to cut.

While the England captain can perhaps be partly excused his shot as the cut is a legitimate option against the offspinner, the same can't be said for Matt Prior. He had already flirted with danger by dabbing Hauritz through short third man and had also been beaten twice outside off stump by clever changes of pace and flight. Trying to go through the off side again he was undone by extra bounce and gloved a chance to slip.

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Flintoff fought against his natural inclination to attack, playing watchfully against Hauritz as he accompanied Collingwood for 23 overs. The out-of-sorts Johnson, who was later horribly wayward with the second new ball, broke through when Flintoff pushed at one going across him and before tea Broad had also gone, trapped leg before playing back at Hauritz.

For Hauritz it appeared he would provide the ultimate response to his critics by securing a Test victory until he tired slightly in the tension-filled closing stages. Collingwood and Swann took a large chunk out of the evening session, with Swann completing an impressive match with the bat. Shortly before tea he was given a peppering from Siddle who sent down a violent over that struck three painful blows - two on the glove and one on the elbow - which required the physio to come out twice in three deliveries.

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His runs were also crucial as England ate away into Australia's lead before he went for a pull against the impressive Hilfenhaus and was palpably leg before. Collingwood now had just two bowlers for company and when he departed an Australian victory looked assured. England, though, dug deep, deeper perhaps than many thought Anderson and Panesar could.

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However, despite the scoreline still reading nil-nil the reality is that England were a distance second-best for much of the match. Australia have shown that, despite the loss of many greats, they are a unit of huge desire who will take some beating. At least this time, though, it won't be a whitewash.

Tamim century puts Bangladesh in charge

Bangladesh moved towards safety in the first two sessions before accelerating in the last to take control of the game. Tamim Iqbal hit his maiden century and shared a 146-run stand with Junaid Siddique to hand Bangladesh a 252-run lead by the end of the fourth day's play in St Vincent. However, if they don't manage to bowl out West Indies on the final day they might wonder if they had erred by not scoring at a faster clip today.

West Indies didn't allow them to get away at a frenetic, match-controlling, pace with disciplined line-and-length bowling but perhaps Bangladesh were worried about repeating their first-innings collapse and opted for the safety-first tactic; they didn't try to quicken the scoring until post-tea.

Tamim started the third session like a runaway express, hitting David Bernard to all parts of the ground - a crunching pull hopping on one leg and a thunderous wallop over wide mid-off being the highlights - but fell, going for the fifth boundary in the over. With his exit, the momentum started to slowly shift and when Siddique fell, squeezing Darren Sammy to gully, it slowed down further. And with Mohammad Ashraful falling cheaply, yet again, Bangladesh were forced to return to the cautious route.

Before his late blitz Tamim had steered the side calmly, playing almost out of character. In the past, he has paid for his over-aggression but today, he was careful not to cross that line. He looked for his favourite off drives and didn't flinch from cutting if the ball was short. When Tino Best hurled sharp bouncers at him, he swayed away calmly but when it was short and wide enough to cut, he went for it. Post lunch, he grew more sedate, concentrating on defense and singles, and fetched the odd boundary to reach a century off his 206th ball - the most he has ever faced in a Test innings - with a push in the direction of point.

He did have his share of luck, though. He was on 34 when Floyd Reifer, the West Indies captain, dropped a sitter at slips off Sammy and, while on 76, Omar Phillips dropped another easy chance at midwicket with Ryan Austin bowling.

Siddique gave him company after lunch and started the session with two cut boundaries against Kemar Roach, but he too settled down to score at a gentle pace. With the bowling looking unthreatening as the session wore on, he picked singles easily without breaking much sweat. He looked to get on the front foot for his drives and appeared set for his maiden hundred, but the new ball found him out as he edged Sammy to gully.

Tamim had Imrul Kayes for company for much of the first session. Kayes chose to stay rooted to the crease, intent on blocking everything thrown against him. He was aware of his off stump and left many a delivery alone, only defending what he had to play at. However, he lost patience when Austin tempted him with a flighted delivery and drove it straight to short cover.

For their part, West Indies stuck gamely to their task on hand on a slow pitch. Sammy and Kemar Roach attacked the left-handed batsmen from round the stumps, punctuating the length deliveries coming in with ones that straightened outside off stump. It was a game of patience. Sammy, in particular, was disciplined and was unlucky to go wicketless in the first two sessions. He saw Tamim being dropped at slip and, in the same over, produced another edge only to see the ball fly between slip and gully. He went past the outside edge on a few more occasions but found some luck in the last session, removing Siddique with a full delivery that moved away and inducing Raqibul Hossain to drag an attempted pull onto the stumps. However, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan steadied the innings after the loss of three quick wickets with an unbeaten stand of 54. They rotated the strike well, ensuring the lead kept growing, and will look to take it beyond 300 tomorrow to set the hosts a challenging target.

Sammy was well supported by Roach, who attacked mainly from round the stumps today. He had tended to push a tad too much across to the left-handed batsmen in the first innings but he switched the angle today and kept it fuller than the rest. He even slipped in a couple of very good yorkers but they were well dug out by Tamim. He dragged a few short in the second session before the spinners Austin and Nikita Miller took over the burden.

Austin did his part; he flighted his deliveries from a high-arm action and attacked with men crowding the bat. The suffocation nearly worked when Tamim slogged him across the line to wide midwicket but it fell safely. He continued to chip away relentlessly, never afraid to flight the ball but couldn't break through. Miller bowled a flatter trajectory and didn't taste any success. It would be interesting to see how Bangladesh spinners bowl on the final-day track. That could determine the fate of the match.

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Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

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Iqbal Qasim appointed chief selector

Former Pakistan spinner Iqbal Qasim has been appointed chairman of a new, restructured national selection commitee. Former Test cricketers Saleem Jaffer, Ijaz Ahmed, Azhar Khan and Mohammad Ilyas have also been appointed members. Two co-opted members, Asif Baloch and Farrukh Zaman, have also been included to make it a seven-member panel, but they will not have a vote on selection, and are only expected to provide input.

As had been expected after the previous committee was disbanded, the board has streamlined the selection structure by making just the one committee responsible for all selections, senior and junior. All major regions in Pakistan have been represented; Zaman ostensibly looks after the NWFP region, Baloch after Balochistan and the rest over Sindh and Punjab.

"The responsibility for them is to spot and nurture talent from the grassroots to the Test arena," Wasim Bari, director HR and adminstration, told Cricinfo. "We have streamlined the process by making one committee responsible for all selections."

Qasim, who was a member of the selection committee until the 2007 World Cup, has been appointed in an honorary post. He is a senior employee with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and it is believed that his role will not be a day-to-day one. As such, in a break from recent practice, he is an honorary head and will not be a full-time paid selector unlike the last two selection committees where the chairman and other members were all full-time, professional selectors. It is not clear yet, however, about the status of the members, though it is likely they will remain full-time paid professionals.

There remains a sense of continuity, however, with the retention of Jaffer, who was part of the two previous selection committees, and Ilyas, who headed the last junior selection committee. Ijaz Ahmed is also a part of the existing board set-up, working at the National Cricket Academy.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had earlier disbanded the national senior and junior selection committees after Abdul Qadir, then the chief selector, resigned from his post claiming he wasn't allowed to carry out his duties. The new committee will be responsible for selection matters with effect from August 1, 2009.

National Selection Committee: Iqbal Qasim (chairman), Saleem Jaffer , Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Ilyas, Azhar Khan (members), Asif Baloch, Farrukh Zaman (co-opted members).

Royals confident against depleted Chennai

Jaipur, May 3: Now that the Chennai Super Kings have lost their aura of invincibility, a buoyant Shane Warne and his Rajasthan Royals teammates are optimistic of pulling off their fifth straight win when they host the MS Dhoni-led side in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Sunday.

Having won all their previous matches, the Chennai side looked invulnerable till Friday night when Delhi Daredevils duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir tore them apart, much to the delight of the Rajasthan Royals.

Since their first match defeat against the Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals' graph has shot upwards and fresh from their win against Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne's men are ready to come hard on the depleted Chennai side.

"We don't want to be the fourth team in the semifinal. We are looking for fifth win and one more will place us comfortable. Then we would like to carry on for as many more wins as possible. Our aim is to remain at the top," said Darren Berry, coaching director of the Rajasthan Royals.

The hosts have the resources and strategy to realise their dreams and their strategy of surprising the opponents has paid rich dividends too. Asking Swapnil Asnodker to open the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders was such a ploy that paid off well.

South African Graeme Smith has added to the batting depth, while Shane Watson has proved to a fine investment. With Yousuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja lending excellent support, the hosts' batting looks compact.

The bowling department does not look bad either. Apart from Warne who has always been threat to every batsmen, pacers Watson, Munaf Patel, Sohail Tanveer and Sidhartha Trivedi have proved that they have the variations to keep batsmen guessing.

The support in bowling comes in shape of Pathan, Dinesh Salunkhe and Jadeja who have been used as surprise package by their shrewd skipper.

In fact, the going for Rajasthan Royals has been so smooth that the only England player in IPL and Twenty20 specialist Dimitri Mascarenhas could not be accommodated in the scheme of things despite the fact that he is rated very highly by former Hampshire team mate and skipper Warne.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings now need to bounce back after tasting their first defeat. They have been dented by departure of Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram even though Kiwi Stephen Fleming is expected to bolster their batting lineup, while Dhoni's mere presence is enough to intimidate the bowlers.

Their bowling attack boasts of names like Makhya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan and though they could not rein in the the Sehwag-Gambhir duo on Friday night, they would be eager to put behind the setback when they take to the field on Sunday.

Fit Tendulkar: Need of the hour for Mumbai Indians

Mumbai, May 3: Rampaging Delhi Daredevils, who have shot to the top of the table and are firing on all cylinders, take on the wobbly Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League clash at the D Y Patil Stadium on Sunday in hot and humid conditions.

The home team has sorely missed its captain and injured icon player Sachin Tendulkar in their first five matches and the none-too-encouraging news is the master batsman is still not feeling 100 per cent fit.

A lot hinges on Tendulkar's availability for the tie if Mumbai Indians are to stun the high-flying Delhi outfit captained by another icon player in the Twenty20 League, Virender Sehwag.

Tendulkar played his first match on Friday, albeit against a team made up of his own teammates, after more than a month and fielded for the whole of the opposition's 20-over innings and also batted.

He is to take a final call on whether he is fit to play the match only on Sunday and the hosts are hoping fervently he's available to play his first competitive game since turning our for India against South Africa in the first Test at Chennai in March-end.

In his absence, the team has struggled to put together decent totals on board and strike at opportune times to put the opposition under pressure. The end result is that Mumbai Indians, for which Reliance Industries had paid the highest auction amount among all eight teams, are currently placed seventh.

Only a marginally superior net run-rate is keeping them above cellar team Bangalore Royal Challengers. The batting has flopped by and large, shown by the fact that Robin Uthappa who is yet to make a half-century is the leading scorer for the team with 155 runs to his credit.

The coming to form of West Indian all rounder Dwayne Bravo in their previous tie at Kolkata could not have happened at a more opportune time for the beleaguered team's confidence.

But other top-notch international stars like Sanath Jayasuriya, bought for a little less than a million dollars, has flattered only to deceive at the top order. Stand-in captain Shaun Pollock, already retired from international cricket, has tried his level best without much success to keep the team going.

The booting out of the performing Harbhajan Singh from the tournament has left the team short on spin skills too and it has been left to the vastly experienced Jayasuriya to lead the slow bowling attack with his crafty left-arm spin.

With the youngsters in the team failing, barring the spunky all-rounder Abhishek Nair, the team has scored only one victory in five ties, against Kolkata Knight Riders, which should galvanise it to take on the well-balanced Delhi outfit.

Delhi, on the other hand, have their top-order functioning like a well-oiled machine with Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan all coming good.

They have a sound middle order too with the likes of Rajat Bhatia and Mithun Manhas, two stout-hearted performers in domestic cricket which has won Delhi the Ranji Trophy earlier this season, having enough power in their tanks to bail out the team if the top order fails to get going.

The joining of South African batsman A B de Villiers, who cracked a superb double hundred against India at Ahmedabad in the second Test won by the visitors last month, and Pakistan captain Shaoib Malik has added meat to the already strong batting line-up.

The pace attack is top-class with Australian great Glenn McGrath, a largely unwanted man at the auction despite his fabulous record in international cricket, and the highly talented Pakistani Mohammad Asif spearheading it to a nicety.

Added to this fabulous duo are Sri Lankan Farvez Maharoof, a genuine swing bowler, home grown left-arm bowler Pradeep Sangwan and Tamil Nadu's V Yomahesh, who add variety to the strong pace attack.

The only area where the team seems to be lacking is in slow bowling, especially after Daniel Vettori left the side for national duty, with Sehwag looking by far to be their best bet with his wily off spinners.

Another factor that could play a big role is the intense heat and humidity as the match is to be played from 4 pm, the first in Mumbai after two night games on April 20 and 27, against Bangalore and Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad.

All in all, Delhi Daredevils seem to be carrying too much firepower for the comfort of Mumbai Indians even in a Twenty20 clash and are firm favourites.

Yuvraj leads jittery Kings XI on the ramp

Chandigarh, May 3: They can wreck opponents with the ball or set a stadium alight with batting pyrotechnics but the Kings XI Punjab cricketers learnt that walking down the ramp and making a fashion statement is a different ball game altogether.

The boyish shyness and reluctance was more than evident when some of the players took to the ramp, organised by a leading fashion brand in the lawns of a city hotel in Chandigarh on Friday night.

Apart from captain Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shaun Marsh, Mahela Jayawardene and VRV Singh were among those who participated in the event.

The fashion show did not have a great beginning when a model fell down not realising the ramp had ended. After that other models walked the ramp showcasing the brand's spring summer collection 2008.

Later, with popular Punjabi numbers playing in the background, it was the turn of the cricketers to take the centrestage.

However, nervousness and reluctance was writ large on the faces of many and they even tried to seek shelter behind their captain.

Wearing a brown printed T-shirt and white trousers, Sarwan had to be pushed twice on to the ramp by Yuvraj and though VRV was himself terribly shy when his turn came, he also joined his skipper to push the West Indian batsman.

Sarwan had barely walked two steps when he came back and hid behind Yuvraj. Dressed in green shirt and a jeans, medium pacer VRV had barely walked half the ramp, which was already about half the size of a normal ramp, when he smiled at the audience down below and swiftly turned back to be in the comforting company of his teammates.

Wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene also did not look comfortable in walking down the ramp and was quick to beat a hasty retreat. Left-handed medium pacer Irfan Pathan may have participated in fashion shows earlier but he too did not look that confident and was eager to return to his the company of his teammates.

The saving grace for the Punjab team was their captain Yuvraj, dressed in light cargo pants and dark shirt, walked the ramp with grace and ease.

Unlike others, he did not find himself out of place. Shaun Marsh, Australian import in the team, also looked confident in his striped light-green shirt and walked the ramp with perfection.

Later, the cricketers greeted the audience in Punjabi and invited them to witness Saturday night's match at Mohali against Kolkata Knight Riders.