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Sturdy, strident and implacable, the graven image of Ricky Ponting now overlooks the nets at Bellerive Oval. His pull shot is frozen in time as it is in the minds of the millions who watched his storied Test career.Sadly for Hobart, the place of its Test match in the Australian cricket calendar is nowhere near as certain, with a concerted push for other venues such as Canberra to forge ahead next summer. For Ponting, the unveiling of his statue was thus a moment of bittersweet duality – on one hand the acknowledgement of his many achievements and Tasmania’s role in shaping them, on the other a very desperate battle to keep Hobart on the Test match roster.It is some years since Ponting lived in Hobart. He relocated to Sydney at the height of his international playing days, and in retirement has shifted down to Melbourne, about an hour’s flight away. But his memories of the Tasmanian capital, and also his hometown of Launceston in the north of the state, remain exceptionally fresh, and he is adamant that Bellerive should remain a part of Test match scheduling in future.Moreover, he thinks the ground deserves a better allotment of matches than currently offered. Only then, Ponting thinks, can Hobart’s cricket worth be truly measured.”There will be Test cricket here as far as I’m concerned – I think some of the criticism has been a bit unfair,” Ponting said. “What I would like to see is that Hobart and Tasmania get a Test match every year. It’s pretty hard to make assumptions on Tasmanian cricket or people coming to watch Test cricket in Australia when there’s no continuity about where the games are.”The Tasmanian public are being judged on Test matches against lower-ranked teams. Let’s have an Ashes Test match, let’s have a Test match against South Africa, let’s have a Test match against India here and then we can start making some judgements and comparisons with other venues around Australia. I’ve got my Tasmanian hat on obviously, but I think that’s really fair. And hopefully the Hobart and Tasmanian public turn out over the next few days.”Part of Ponting’s argument is that of the federalists who emanate from Australia’s smaller states. Any purely economic argument about cricket scheduling will invariably settle on fixtures in New South Wales and Victoria. Ponting echoed nothing so much as those who argued successfully for each state to retain some sort of representation on the CA board in order to prevent a drain of cricket from Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.”I think that’s vitally important in Australia,” Ponting said. “One of the great things about playing Test cricket in Australia is that you get to sample different conditions in every state – every state has their wicket conditions and characteristics are all different and that’s the great thing about the world game. It’s the same when you go to India and South Africa, the different conditions in the states and provinces – you’ve got different pitch conditions everywhere.”I hear the business side of it but as far as I’m concerned it’s more than that, it’s about the fabric of the game in our country. And we’ve got to do what we can to support the more traditional hosts, if you like, around our country. Let’s do whatever we can to help them out along the way.”One of Ponting’s wider suggestions was for greater consultation of what fans of the game desired in each state and country. “What we need to do is get out there to the public and ask them what they want out of a day’s Test cricket. Have we actually done that?” he asked. “Have we been to India and asked them what they want and why they’re not going to Test match cricket? I think that’s a good starting point.”We would love to see more people come to this game. And it’s not like Tasmanians don’t love their cricket, the Hurricanes’ Big Bash games they have here are sold out every game. So once again let’s get out and ask the public what they want out of a day’s Test cricket. Is it lower ticket prices and cheaper food at the ground? Let’s ask them what it is.”To that end, the Cricket Tasmania chief executive David Johnston outlined one of Hobart’s major problems – unlike Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in particular, it lacks a set place in the cricket calendar. So it is that Tasmania and Hobart have an ever greater number of tourists every year, but no sort of cricket pilgrimage tradition as enjoyed by many of the other states.”In general terms, if we can get a consistent place in the Test match or international programme in November or December every year, we can plan around it,” Johnston said. “The Big Bash is very successful, but it’s a different market, young families, mothers and children, so Test matches are more for traditionalists, we want to give both markets what they’re looking for.”One potential pathway forward is a day/night Test, something the state duelled for with South Australia before Adelaide Oval was awarded the honour. Ponting has been an arch traditionalist in many ways, but in the cause of retaining Test cricket at Bellerive, even his fixed ideas were more flexible about hosting floodlit matches at the ground.”I think Hobart and Adelaide were the last two for the day/night Test match we’ve just played,” Ponting said. “If that’s what it’s going to take down here then absolutely. We’ve heard from Cricket Australia the last few months about the right time, the right place for day/night Test cricket, and if attendances are down the next few days then it might be exactly what Hobart needs.”We’ve got unbelievable facilities here now, it’s world class with the stands, with the lights, it’s what you’d expect for an international cricket venue, so why not?”

Scorecard

Sussex hadn’t quite hit their stride in the early stages of their title defence, but that changed on the second day at Hove as they made full use of the play available on another rain-shortened day to leave Kent reeling on 65 for 6. Matt Prior’s 105, his 16th first-class century, pushed Sussex towards a handy first-innings total before the bowlers set about a Kent batting line-up lacking confidence.Kent’s top order subsided against Nottinghamshire last week, sinking to 13 for 4 in the first innings before eventually edging to 162, and a similar state appeared this time around. Joe Denly, his feet not moving early on, was caught on the crease by Robin Martin-Jenkins. Next ball was virtually the same as Martin van Jaarsveld repeated the first-ball duck he collected against Nottinghamshire.Matthew Walker fell to a stunning catch at gully by Carl Hopkinson when a full-blooded cut shot was plucked, two-handed, to his left leaving Kent on 20 for 3. James Tredwell, opening in place of the ill Robert Key, and Darren Stevens calmed the innings for a time, Stevens showing the range of strokes that has made his average of 32 such a frustration. He had more problems against Mushtaq Ahmed and gifted his wicket in loose fashion with a weak drive to gully off Luke Wright. Hopkinson’s second catch of the innings was much simpler than his first.Neil Dexter was Key’s replacement for this match but didn’t offer much confidence at No. 6 as he laboured for 24 balls. He, too, struggled against Mushtaq and it was little surprise when he was trapped lbw 15 minutes before the close. Mushtaq added Robbie Joseph, the nightwatchman, with another strong appeal even though Joseph was well forward in his defensive shot. The top order could learn from Tredwell’s resilience and there is plenty for him and the host of allrounders to do for Kent to avoid the follow-on let alone compete on first innings.”The success of this team has been built on fighting back from tough situations,” the Sussex coach Mark Robinson said. “I thought we fought hard yesterday, it was a hard-working type of wicket where batsman are never quite settled. Today the bowlers were excellent, Robin has taken on the new ball role like a true professional while Ragheb Aga and Chris Liddle are supporting him well.”Kent’s collapse also adds value to Prior’s innings. When he came in yesterday afternoon the innings was tottering on 103 for 4 but he played a compact and controlled innings, his first century since the unbeaten 126 he made on Test debut against West Indies last May. “It wasn’t a pretty hundred, but a real tough batsman’s innings,” Robinson said. “He battled hard and really deserved it.”Starting the day on 57 he drove and cut strongly as Kent’s bowlers failed to maintain a consistent line and length. Prior has said that he’d consider switching to playing as a specialist batsman if he thought it would be a route back to England for him and the correctness of his strokeplay made a compelling case. However, it’s unlikely Sussex will take the gloves off him – despite having the talented Andy Hodd in the wings – so Prior will have to continue combining both roles for the foreseeable future.Aga, the Kenyan medium-pacer who has played one-day internationals, provided valuable support for Prior in an eighth wicket stand of 76. He was eventually undone by one which climbed a touch outside off stump from Ryan McLaren. Prior then fell pushing at a neat away swinger from Azhar Mahmood, leaving Mushtaq to carry Sussex over the 300-mark.Mushtaq could have been run out three times in his short innings and shared a few words with his former Pakistan team-mate Mahmood in the process. McLaren ended the innings when he bowled Liddle, but 303 represented a decent recovery from Sussex. When the Kent top order was blown away, it began taking on even greater significance.

No more nervous nineties
Everything seemed routine with Sachin Tendulkar’s hundred until he took his helmet off and punched his fists in the air. Looking up to the skies, he let out a mighty whoop and held the gladiatorial pose for a few seconds. The standing ovation appeared to go forever, with Tendulkar acknowledging the various stands at what a banner called the “Sachin Cricket Ground”. He had endured seven nineties in 2007, including three innings of 99 in one-dayers, but the new year has brought more luck.Fire and frustration
Sourav Ganguly resembled an angry gardener when he was dismissed. Batting as if in a dream, he waltzed to 67 without worry when, against the run of play, he chipped to Michael Hussey at mid-off. Unable to control his frustration, he turned his back to the umpire, stood with his legs apart and smashed his bat against the ground as if digging a pit. He probably wanted to bury himself.Bhajji pulls one out of the hat
Just as it appeared that Tendulkar would need to shield the tail, with Harbhajan Singh starting a bit edgily, out came a sensational pull shot. Brett Lee dug one short and Harbhajan moved back and across before smacking it through midwicket for four. He even had his front leg in the air as he played it and a calypso in the background would have worked perfectly.Fabulous 400
A day after spilling two relatively simple catches, Adam Gilchrist finally brought up his 400th Test dismissal in the second session. Brett Lee’s offcutter forced Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s edge and Gilchrist accepted the comfortable take to become the second man after Mark Boucher to reach the milestone. No. 401 arrived two overs later when Anil Kumble fell the same way, but 402 was delayed when a top edge from Harbhajan bobbled from Gilchrist’s gloves after he leaped to intercept it.Tail turns the tale
Australian frustrations grew as India approached and then passed their 463. Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting had a lengthy chat with Harbhajan before uncharacteristic sloppiness in the field. Things grew worse when Ishant Sharma collected 23, which was 16 more than his previous highest first-class score, and the innings more than doubled his career haul of 15 in his first 17 matches.

Marlon Samuels will undergo independent analysis of his bowling action at the National Cricket Academy, at Loughborough University in England on February 11, after he was reported for a suspected illegal action by the umpires in the third Test between South Africa and West Indies in Durban.Due to the injury to Dwayne Bravo and absence of Chris Gayle, Samuels, a part-time offspin bowler, sent down 21 overs in South Africa’s only innings of the game. On-field umpires Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar and third umpire Brian Jerling reported their doubts over his action, especially with respect to his “fast” deliveries. Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, subsequently informed both the ICC and the West Indies team management of the report, as per the ICC regulations governing the reporting process.Samuels’ analysis will be performed by Dr Mark King, member of the ICC Panel of Human Movement Specialists. The outcome of the analysis is expected within 14 days after the tests, which was confirm whether the offspinner’s action is legal. Although only Samuel’s “fast” deliveries have been reported as suspect, the process requires his action, including the “fast” deliveries, to be analysed.If the analysis confirms that only Samuels’ “fast” deliveries are illegal, then he would be allowed to continue bowling in international cricket without using that delivery but subject to the warning that should he bowl his “fast” ball he would run the risk of being reported a second time.However, if this month’s analysis concludes that Samuels generally bowls with an illegal action, he will be suspended from bowling in international cricket until such time as he has corrected his action and submitted to a fresh independent analysis that concludes that his action has been remedied.Samuels has taken seven Test wickets at 127.00 apiece and 57 ODI wicket at 43.24.

Canterbury continued their momentum towards a Shell Cup semi-final place at Whangarei today. But not without the occasional tremor and many sideways glances at an interesting red/brown Cobham Oval pitch with a tinge of green that coloured the surface and the batsmen’s complexions.The Northern Districts’ batsmen’s down glances were particularly baleful as Gary Stead won the toss and gave them first look at the vagaries kept under covers through overnight and morning rain that shortened the match to 43 overs a side.A rollicking start by Daniel Vettori and Mark Bailey, picking 42 off six overs in the wake of Simon Doull’s early departure via a messy run out, was no sign of things to come. From 46 for one after eight overs, the tone of the match was set. At the end of 12, Northern were 49 for six and, despite a 37-run seventh wicket partnership between Grant Bradburn and Hamish Marshall, they were never likely to produce a total that was defendable even on a pitch whose holding qualities made scoring difficult.They reached 134. Bradburn, bowled for 47 off the last ball of the innings, and Daryl Tuffey added 30 for the last wicket but it was the sort of hit-and-miss batting that could hardly be described as setting an example to the top order.The Canterbury bowlers naturally enjoyed themselves, none more so than this season’s new international Chris Martin. His nine overs produced three for 18 and at times he seemed unplayable. A couple of run outs did not help the Northern cause.Some of the Northern bowlers had a happy time too. And certainly the Canterbury batsmen had as much trouble with the pitch as their Northern counterparts. In a similar pattern to the Northern innings, Canterbury went from 52 for one to 63 for four in the space of four overs as Daniel Vettori and Alex Tait complemented the good work Daryl Tuffey contributed at the start of Northern’s bowling effort.But they never had enough to defend. Chris Harris with an unbeaten 43 righted the innings and, despite a couple of glitches at the other end, Canterbury got home with a couple of overs and four wickets to spare.Vettori demonstrated that he is coming back, taking two for 23 off his nine overs. Tuffey took two for 14 off seven. Tait and Bradburn chimed in with a wicket each. Between them they forced Canterbury to fight all the way for the two points that take them into the top three of the Shell Cup.Gary Stead, commenting after the match on the conditions, said, “We’ll take the two points but it is an absolute disgrace that two teams with such proud one-day records should be subjected to playing on such a pitch.”

Dale Steyn, the South African fast bowler, has taken joint No.1 spot in the ICC Test rankings with the Sri Lankan offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan after another match-winning performance in the second Test against India in Ahmedabad. Since October 2007, Steyn has picked up 75 wickets in 11 Tests, including two ten-wicket hauls at home against New Zealand. Muralitharan’s team-mate, Kumar Sangakkara, has been displaced from the top Test batsmen by the Australian Michael Hussey.Both Steyn and Muralitharan are tied on 897 points, with Muralitharan slipping below 900 points for the first time since June 2006. Steyn’s 5 for 23 demolished India for a paltry 76 in the first innings in Ahmedabad and he finished with match figures of 8 for 114. Steyn needed just 22 matches to reach the top, making him among the quickest to reach the summit. Former South African fast bowlers Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald took 33 and 41 matches respectively before they were No.1.Sangakkara’s disappointing two-Test series in the West Indies, during which he scored 95 runs, meant he slipped to third. Hussey, who moved up one place, is currently the only batsman with more than 900 points. Jacques Kallis, the South African batsman who scored his 30th Test century in Ahmedabad, has moved up two places and shares second spot with Ricky Ponting. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s match-winning 86 in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain has seen him move into joint seventh position with the Mahela Jayawardene.Having failed to register a series win after being held 1-1 by West Indies, Sri Lanka have dropped from third to fifth, one below England. India are under pressure to retain their No.2 spot and must win the third Test in Kanpur to maintain their ranking. A draw or a defeat will see them drop two places to fourth.For the full list of rankings,click here.

ICC Test Rankings – Batting

ICC Test Rankings – Bowling

LG ICC ODI Championship

22 Mar 2008

Hamish Bennett almost singlehandedly demolished the competition leaders Auckland, grabbing six wickets as Canterbury secured a three-wicket win at Eden Park Outer Oval. Bennett took 6 for 45 – his previous best in a one-dayer was three victims – and only half-centuries from Martin Guptill (51) and Rob Nicol (50) pushed Auckland to 178. Canterbury had some concerns of their own, wobbling at 10 for 2, but Shanan Stewart steadied the chase with 70 and they got there with nearly ten overs to spare.A blistering half-century from Ewen Thompson drove Central Districts to a five-wicket win over Northern Districts in Palmerston North. An 83-run stand from Thompson and Tim Weston was just what the home side needed after falling to 146 for 5 in pursuing 229. Thompson hammered four sixes in his unbeaten 62, which came from 36 balls and was his highest one-day score, while Weston made a career-best 77 not out. It was a fine day all-round for Thompson, who collected three wickets as the Northern Districts batsmen struggled to go on with their starts. Only James Marshall (65) was threatening and the defeat left his team in last place on the table.Stephen Fleming might have retired from ODIs – and probably soon from Tests as well – but he showed he still has plenty to offer in the limited-overs format with 93 as his team Wellington beat Otago by five wickets at the Basin Reserve. Grant Elliott had just as important a role, taking 5 for 34 in Otago’s 238, while Neil Broom top scored with 62 and Warren McSkimming chipped in with 59 for the visitors. But Fleming’s 96-ball effort guided Wellington into a winning position before he fell just short of a century, one of Bradley Scott’s three victims.

Two of Mumbai’s home IPL matches – on May 14 and 16 – are likely to be shifted from the DY Patil Stadium to the Wankhede Stadium, following speculation that the Mumbai Indians were unhappy with the commute from the team hotel to the venue in addition to the practice pitches at the new ground.The DY Patil Stadium, located in Navi Mumbai, involves a commute of roughly 40 km from the team hotel. The venue, allotted five of the seven home matches, hosted its first match on April 27. However, the franchise owners, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), fell short of confirming the move.”We cannot confirm or deny the move at the moment,” Kaushik Roy, president, branding, at RIL, told Cricinfo. The decision will be jointly made by the franchise and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).A Mumbai team official has also pointed out that the standard of the practice wicket at DY Patil ground was not similar to the actual wicket, something that the team was not happy with. It could’ve been one of the reasons why the team chose to practise at the Bandra Kurla Grounds on Saturday, instead of the actual venue.The DY Patil Stadium will, however, host the clash against Delhi Daredevils tommorow and the forthcoming match against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.This could be the second instance of a venue change in Mumbai, after the Cricket Club of India (CCI) backed out as hosts. The CCI, which houses the Brabourne Stadium, were apparently unhappy with an agreement between the IPL authorities and franchise owners that meant the franchise would acquire 80% of all seats, including those in the clubhouse. A bulk of the matches then had to be shifted to the DY Patil Stadium, with the Wankhede Stadium hosted the opening match. Since the Wankhede is currently under renovation for 2011 World Cup, the MCA said the stadium was not in a position to host ten matches along with the two semi-finals and the final.