Shane Watson said helping Australia in their World Cup defence would make up for missing the Ashes, but he conceded he had little chance of opening the batting after Matthew Hayden’s return to form in the CB Series. Watson, who was recalled to the Australia squad for the tri-series finals against England, said he was confident his hamstring problems were behind him.”When I was ruled out of the Ashes series I knew the goal was to make sure I did everything I could to make the World Cup,” Watson told . “I missed out on the World Cup four years ago with my back injury, so I’ve been making sure everything’s right for the World Cup.”Watson said he was hoping to find a place in the middle-order given Hayden’s impressive form in the latter stages of the CB Series. “I loved opening [at the Champions Trophy],” Watson said. “I felt my cricket and my batting really improved especially at international level. I really did enjoy facing the best bowlers in the world with a brand new white ball.”Hopefully I do get another opportunity. Whenever that is, I’m not exactly sure, maybe in a couple of years. I’ll definitely put my hand up to do it again because I felt like it really helped my batting improve.”Watson admitted his desperation to prove his fitness for the Ashes actually lengthened his recovery time. However, he was pleased Andrew Symonds – whose own shoulder problem could now pave the way for Watson’s return – grabbed the chance in Australia’s Test line-up after Watson and Damien Martyn were out of the picture.”That’s the sad irony of sport at times,” Watson said. “For his sake I got injured and gave him an opportunity and he did extremely well and now it might give me a little bit more opportunity. Fingers crossed his recovery will go really well and he can play a part in the latter end of the World Cup.”

Just two days after Darren Gough’s return as Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath has performed a u-turn over his decision to leave the club and will now play for them in 2007 and Yorkshire are hopeful he’ll see out his contract.For much of the winter McGrath had made it clear he wouldn’t be playing for Yorkshire again, but the club had refused to terminate his contract. The issue was due to go before a mediation panel at Lord’s today, but that has now been cancelled after McGrath made up his own mind, which he admits was influenced by Gough’s return to Headingley.”I have known Goughy for years and regard him as a mate as well as a great cricketer,” he said in a statement. “He will breathe new life back into the dressing-room and I know the lads will run through brick walls for him. I am really chuffed he is coming back and will back him 100 percent.”The club has shared with him [Gough] their vision for the future of Yorkshire,” added McGrath. “Having fully considered my position I have decided to withdraw from the mediation which was due to take place today. I want to remain as part of the Yorkshire team and do not want to leave only to then regret my decision as Yorkshire go from strength to strength.”McGrath explained that despite the legal process his relationship with Yorkshire had stayed amicable throughout and that his heart remained with the club. Recent developments with player signings, including Jacques Rudolph, investment in the support staff and a pre-season trip also made McGrath believed the club had turned a corner.The chief executive, Stewart Regan, is relieved about the outcome. “This is the piece of news that Yorkshire members and supporters have been waiting for. We have said all along that Anthony was an important member of our squad and we were not prepared to simply let him walk away from a contract with three seasons to run.”After a turbulent winter, which included Chris Adams’ decision not to come to Yorkshire, Regan is now looking to the future. “We have worked hard to turn things around at Headingley and bring in some exciting players and we have proved to Anthony that we are ambitious and determined to bring success back to this club.”Most importantly we will create the right environment in which he can play cricket to the highest possible standard and be happy in so doing. This is a very good week for Yorkshire.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMatch package
Bulletin – Hayden sets up thumping victory
Verdict – A rebuilt opener
Quotes – ‘Australia didn’t permit themselves to be tested’ – Lara
Plays of the day – Lara smashes, Samuels swishes
Audio – Ian Chappell: Australia win comprehensively
Stats – Driving it straight and hard
Plays of the Day – The big hits and misses
Gallery – Powerful Aussies take control
Preview package
Preview – Underdongs don’t need to fear Australia
Stats – Ponting and McGrath have point to prove
Quotes – Lara upbeat ahead of Australia clash
News – A guide to the Super Eights

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore has said that confidence was the key to their emphatic victory against India at Trinidad on March 17. Bangladesh have two more matches – against Sri Lanka and Bermuda – and are strong contenders from Group B to qualify for the Super Eight stage.Bangladesh dismissed India for 191 and then chased down the target with five wickets in hand. Whatmore said that the difference with this side was self-belief. “There is more self-belief,” Whatmore told AFP. “The Bangladesh side of two or three years ago might not to be able to overhaul the target of 192 against India.”A lot of these boys are willing to work a lot harder out in the middle in difficult periods. That’s the main difference. Our bowling attack has come along well. The fielding has improved and I was very pleased with what I saw [against India]. The catching is good. Our ground fielding is an area we would like to improve even further.”Bangladesh made it clear that they were not going to be pushovers by beating New Zealand and Scotland in their warm-up matches before stunning India.”We wanted to have very good preparations first,” said Whatmore. “We got to the West Indies before any other team. A particularly good game against New Zealand gave us confidence and we had another victory against Scotland. These games have given us confidence. In the bigger match, what we are trying to do is to replicate good things we did in previous matches.”Bangladesh’s chase against India was led by three teenagers – Tamim Iqbal, Saqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim – who scored half-centuries. Tamim had scored 46 off 48 balls in the warm-up game against New Zealand and pummelled India during his 51.”Tamim probably learnt his lessons from the match with New Zealand. He’s got a bit to learn still, but he has got the ability to be an asset to any team. Hasan’s learning and is learning pretty fast. So is Rahim. It was a very significant victory [against India]. It gives us a reasonable chance to go on and realise our first objective, which is to get to the Super Eight stage.”

A match dominated by the bat ended with more records as Somerset and Middlesex completed a run-feast at Taunton. Justin Langer was finally yorked for 315, 27 short of the Somerset record that he holds, but the home side set a new record for the highest score on the ground. Their 850 beat Lancashire’s 810 set in 1895 and was also the highest total in any match involving Somerset. Peter Trego helped boost the total with a run-a-ball 130, his fifth first-class ton. Middlesex, 250 behind despite scoring 600, needed to bat out just over two sessions and Ed Smith’s 103 ended the match in fitting style.Nottinghamshire, the division two favourites, laid down an early marker with a nine-wicket win against Leicestershire at Trent Bridge. The visitors led by 67 with five wickets remaining at the start of the final day, but any hopes of building a significant lead vanished when Tom New fell to the fifth ball. The wicketkeeper hadn’t added to his 57 when he edged Mark Ealham low to second slip where David Hussey took a fine catch. Ryan Sidebottom then wrapped up the tail with 3 for 18 in five overs, leaving a target of 111. Although Jason Gallian fell for 37, top-edging Claude Henderson, Bilal Shafayat and Mark Wagh completed the formalities.Essex comfortably survived two sessions to share the spoils with Derbyshire at Chelmsford. After the visitors batted on for 20 overs, Essex were set 376 but there was never any chance of them attempting the chase. Varun Chopra batted for two-and-half hours after both openers fell to leave Essex 36 for 2.

Steve Harmison completed an eight-wicket match haul as Durham made short work of Worcestershire on the final day at New Road. With just four wickets left, it was only a matter of time before the home side folded. When Gareth Batty fell to the brotherly combination of the Harmisons – Steve’s fifth wicket – the tail didn’t hang around long. Callum Thorp wrapped up the innings with three wickets and Durham bagged 20 points.It took Sussex less than 19 overs to knock off the 56 runs they needed to comprehensively beat Kent at Hove and open their Championship defence with a 22-point win. Richard Montgomerie completed an outstanding match, finishing undefeated on 33.Yorkshire showed their winter problems are well behind them with a crushing 346-run win over Surrey at The Oval. Scott Newman offered the lone resistance, falling 11 short of his second century of the match, although he benefited from the attacking fields as plenty of his runs came from third man. When Newman was seventh out the other batsmen had contributed just 36. Darren Gough took another three wickets, including Rikki Clarke who shouldered arms, but the leading performer was Matthew Hoggard as he found movement to remove the middle order. A decent crowd had turned out, but the Surrey fans among them will have left disappointed. Life back in the top flight hasn’t started well. “We could surprise a few teams this year along the way if we play this sort of cricket,” Gough said. “The body language was excellent throughout. I’m not saying we’ll play like that every game. We’re going to lose games but hopefully we’ll win games also.”Mal Loye’s century ensured Lancashire left Edgbaston with draw despite Warwickshire‘s dominance of more than half the match. After not enforcing the follow-on yesterday Gary Keedy had opened up the chance of a turnaround, but Warwickshire’s lower order extended the lead on the final morning before setting a target of 347 with Tim Ambrose’s half century. Alex Loudon struck early with his off spin, but a stand of 91 between Loye and Stuart Law guided Lancashire through the final session.

Send us your viewsNearly three months after the ICC charged West Indies with the responsibility of helping to resolve the bitter infighting which led to the USA Cricket Association being suspended from world cricket, Cricinfo can reveal that no progress has been made.With the ICC’s AGM due at the end of June, a mere six weeks offers scant time in which to make any headway into resolving the situation, leaving USA facing an indefinite period in international isolation.”We’ve had some preliminary discussions with some people in USACA and a meeting with the president a few days ago,” Bruce Aanensen, WICB’s chief executive, told Cricinfo. “We have come up with what we feel is the best approach to [help] the United States. While we have been given this mandate by the ICC, we can’t simply walk into another country if they don’t want us there. And therefore we are trying to break some ice, to find out the best way to find a resolution to this problem.”The ICC suspended the USACA at the beginning of March after hotly-disputed elections and a controversial new constitution left two factions claiming to control the game. In one corner USACA, headed by Gladstone Dainty, in the other the rival Council of League Presidents.The ICC asked the WICB to intervene and the USA will not be considered for readmission to the fold until the West Indies board are satisfied all is well. But, as Aanensen implies, there is little they can do until the USACA become more transparent.”Gladstone Dainty is merely [on] one side of the fence; the USA factions and leagues are on the other, and we just want to get both parties to agree,” Aanensen admitted. “We have been asked by the ICC to help. We would like to come in and hear [from] all parties concerned to understand the issues involved, and then move to help them resolve them.”It is actively on our agenda,” Aanensen said. “We are trying to sort an agreement, within a month at the latest, to talk to all parties to see how we can help.”

Bangladesh’s 62 against Sri Lanka was depressing but there have been much worse … here are the lowest team totals since World War Two

26 – New Zealand v England Auckland, 1954-55
England took a first-innings lead of 46 in the second Test of the series, but on a far-from-difficult pitch, New Zealand were bundled to an innings defeat in 104 minutes. England’s pace attack of Frank Tyson and Brian Statham, the brisk seamers of Bob Appleyard and the spin of Johnny Wardle (who finished with 5-5-0-1) found little resistance, and once John Reid and Bert Sutcliffe, New Zealand’s two quality batsmen, had departed cheaply (Sutcliffe’s 11 was the only score in double figures) the rest folded. It was – and remains – the lowest Test total, beating South Africa’s two scores of 30 against England in 1984-95 and 1924.42 – New Zealand v Australia Wellington, 1945-46
New Zealand again, this time in their first Test against Australia (and their last for another 27 years). “It had been so wet in Wellington for a week before the scheduled start on March 29 that it was not feasible to mow the outfield,” Walter Hadlee, New Zealand’s captain, explained. “The pitch was saturated and a new one was cut out alongside the prepared one.” He won the toss, batted, and his side reached 37 for 2 on the stroke of lunch – then lost eight wickets for five runs. Naturally we are disappointed,” Hadlee said with all the understatement of those less media-savvy times. “We failed and that is all there is to be said.” It was the same story in the second innings, 54 all out and an innings defeat.

42 – India v England Lord’s, 1974
A bizarre match. The first three days were hot and sunny, and midway through Saturday’s play India were 131 for 0 in reply to England’s 629. By the close, they had been bowled out for 302 and were 2 for 0 following on. “There are lots of runs left in the pitch,” wrote John Woodcock after the rest day. But the morning was overcast and the ball, which had done little, suddenly started moving significantly, both off the pitch and through the air. In Geoff Arnold and Chris Old, England had two bowlers ideally suited to the conditions. In 70 minutes Old took 5 for 21, Arnold 4 for 19 and India were routed. They only lost nine wickets as Chandrasakar was injured and so unable to bat, but it made little difference.46 – England v West Indies Port of Spain, 1993-94
England began this innings with a chance for victory. Their only solace by the end was that they had avoided their lowest Test score, by one run. The damage was done on the third evening. Mike Atherton fell lbw to the first ball of the innings, and the level of incompetence thereafter was best illustrated by Mark Ramprakash’s crass run-out to the fifth ball of the same over. It was downhill from then on and an hour later England closed on 40 for 8. “It was the worst hour of my life,” reflected Atherton, the situation made worse by the fact that England had been in control of the match throughout and needed just 194 to pull the series back to 2-1. In The Independent Martin Johnson wrote: “There were rumours that England’s sponsor Tetley Bitter would double its financial support if its name was removed from the team shirts.”47 – New Zealand v England Lord’s, 1958
Heavy overnight rain meant that New Zealand were caught on a drying pitch and against Jim Laker (4 for 13) and Tony Lock (5 for 17) they were almost clueless. Again, Reid and Sutcliffe were the main line of resistance, Sutcliffe’s dogged 18 the top score. Reid swished Lock into the Tavern Stand for six and then holed out to mid-on trying another big hit, Sutcliffe opted for defence, while Lock polished off the tail with 4 for 1 in 49 balls. New Zealand fared little better in their second innings, scoring 74, and with 22,000 in the ground and the match over by 3.30pm, the two sides played an exhibition match.

47 – West Indies v England Kingston, 2003-04
In the nine years since England’s humiliation at Port-of-Spain, West Indies cricket had gone into sharp decline, and from 13 for 0 early on the fourth day, they lost ten wickets for 34 runs. Steve Harmison shredded them with 7 for 12, and it seemed the side had hit a new low. It later emerged that West Indies had trained once in the five days leading up to the match, instead attending psychological sessions, ironically watching motivational videos of basketball legend Michael Jordan stressing the importance of practice. And as the post-mortems started, several West Indies players were found joining in parties in the stands.51 – West Indies v Australia Port of Spain, 1998-99
The moment when the reality of a decade of decline finally hit home. In the first Test West Indies were set an improbable 364 to win, but they never came close. Within an hour they had slumped to 16 for 5, and were left to claw their way past some of Test cricket’s most unwanted records, aided by nine overthrows gifted by the Australians. In 19.1 overs and 102 minutes, they were humiliated. “Cricket is my life,” Brian Lara, the captain, said afterwards. “I think it’s important that before I retire that I lead West Indies back on the way to the top.” He did his utmost for the rest of the series, which was eventually drawn 2-2 thanks to three Lara centuries of matchless brilliance. But the Trinidad debacle still lingered. “Afterwards there was some angry finger-pointing and heated words between players and officials, while the mercifully small crowd swarmed round the pavilion and shouted, `Fire them, fire them,’ to no-one in particular,” noted Paul Weaver in The Guardian. Others shouted `Rubbish’ to everyone in particular.

52 – England v Australia The Oval, 1948
The Times reported that England’s batting was deplorable while Australia’s bowling, fielding and catching was superb. In two hours and 25 minutes on a drying – but far from treacherous – Oval pitch England were blasted away by Ray Lindwall (6 for 19). Only Len Hutton, who opened the innings and was last man out for 30, showed any kind of technique. The next highest score was Norman Yardley’s 7. Australia found the going much easier and closed on 153 for 2, but the day is best remembered as the one on which Don Bradman was bowled for a second-ball 0 in his final Test innings.53 West Indies v Pakistan Faisalabad, 1986-87
Another West Indies low, but this one stands out as it came at a time they were the unchallenged world No. 1. In the opening Test they took a first-innings lead of 89 and were left chasing 240. But on a crumbling pitch Imran Khan blasted out both openers and then Abdul Qadir exploited the conditions to the full to take 6 for 16. It was West Indies’ third defeat in 54 Tests. They bounced straight back with an innings victory in the next Test.53 Pakistan v Australia Sharjah, 2002-03
Pakistan’s dismal effort came 24 hours after they had been bowled out for 59 in a ‘home’ match at Sharjah (sides refused to tour Pakistan in the aftermath of September 11). The conditions were uncomfortable – both days were played in sweltering heat – but that didn’t bother the Australians. Pakistan succumbed to “a feeble procession of wafts and drives” reported The Guardian. “It feels a little bit hollow I must admit,” said Steve Waugh, Australia’s captain, as he rubbed salt in a gaping wound. “You expect to work a little bit harder to win a Test but we’ll still take it.” It was the lowest two-innings total (112) in Pakistan’s 50-year Test history, and they were in effect defeated by Matthew Hayden’s 119. It was the fourth lowest match total by one team in Test history.54 New Zealand v Australia Wellington, 1945-46
54 West Indies v England Lord’s, 2000
54 Zimbabwe v South Africa Cape Town, 2004-05
Three scores tie for 11th. The first was the second innings of New Zealand’s first Test against Australia mentioned above. The second came on a remarkable second day at Lord’s where spectators saw all four innings of the match. England, replying to West Indies’ 267, were bowled out for 134, but the high fives had hardly finished before West Indies’ own second innings was falling apart at the seams. Andy Caddick bowled 13 overs unchanged from the Nursery End and took 5 for 16, including 5 for 7 in 9.5 overs after tea. West Indies made 54 and England went on to win a nail-biter by two wickets on the third evening. Zimbabwe’s score against South Africa was amassed in a little more than the first session at Cape Town, and by the close South Africa had underlined the massive gulf in class between the sides by scoring 340 for 3, a lead of 286. It broke the record for the biggest lead on a first day’s play in a Test match (England, 233 v Australia at Lords in 1896).

The Indian board (BCCI) has made a few changes to the schedule of the touring Australia and Pakistan teams, due to visit India later this year.According to the revised schedule, Australia and India would play the fourth of their best-of-seven ODI series on October 8 at Chandigarh’s Sector-16 stadium, originally to be held at Guhawati.Guhawati would instead host the first ODI against Pakistan. The switch came about as the Haryana association wanted to host their allotted match – the opening ODI against Pakistan – at Chandigarh instead of Faridabad, the earlier proposed venue.According to the BCCI’s rules, one city cannot host than more than two matches in a series. Mohali, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, was already allotted a match for the Pakistan series.In order to accommodate the changes, the dates for the Pakistan tour has been advanced by a day, with the first ODI on November 5 instead of November 6 and the second on November 8 instead of November 9.Apart from the seven ODIs, Australia are slated to play a yet-to-be-confirmed Twenty20 tie against India during their visit from September 25 to October 20 while Pakistan will play five ODIs followed by a three-Test series between November 1 and December 12.The revised schedule:Australia’s tour of India Sept 29: 1st ODI at Bangalore (D/N), Oct 2: 2nd ODI, Kochi, Oct 5: 3rd ODI, Hyderabad, Oct 8: 4th ODI, Chandigarh, Oct 11: 5th ODI, Vadodara, Oct 14: 6th ODI, Nagpur, Oct 17: 7th ODI, Mumbai (D/N), Oct 20: Twenty20 tie (yet to be confirmed).Pakistan’s tour of India Nov 2: Practice one-day match at Delhi, Nov 5: 1st ODI, Guwahati, Nov 8: 2nd ODI, Mohali (D/N), Nov 12: 3rd ODI, Kanpur, Nov 15: 4th ODI, Gwalior (D/N), Nov 18: 5th ODI, Jaipur (D/N), Nov 22-26: 1st Test, Delhi, Nov 30-Dec 4: 2nd Test, Kolkata, Dec 8-12: 3rd Test, Bangalore.

Division One

Mushtaq Ahmed bowled Sussex to an expected success at Horsham on Sunday, to wrap up the game within three days. They needed just three wickets – with Steve Harmison unable to bat because of his hernia problem – as Durham began the day 200 runs in arrears. They managed to add 98 today, before losing by an innings and 102 runs. Mushtaq ended with 4 for 77 and Robin Martin-Jenkins mopped up with 2 for 35. Fifties from Ottis Gibson and Dale Benkenstein could not help Durham.The win means Sussex go top, at least temporarily, while the leaders Yorkshire were held up by more rain against Warwickshire at Edgbaston – completing a miserable, wet weekend for them.

Division Two

At Taunton, play was delayed until 4pm and then just two runs (in extras) were added by Northamptonshire before bad light stopped play. It would have been a frustrating day for Somerset who have their visitors three down in the second innings and trailing by 161 runs.Rain, meanwhile, obliterated the third day at Trent Bridge, with Nottinghamshire frozen at 271 for 4 and heading for a draw with Gloucestershire after a first-day washout.

Worcestershire have begun the long process of renovating New Road after the ground was hit by two floods this summer. The club are taking the opportunity to lay new drainage in an attempt to help in the event of further flooding.The surface of the square has been skimmed to remove all the unwanted grass, thatch and contaminants before it is scarified and seeded. The practice area will receive the same treatment. The top layer of the outfield will also be removed and 250 tonnes of top dressing and 1000kgs of seed will be applied. While the work on the outfield is being undertaken, additional underground drainage will be installed at the pavilion side of the ground.”The severity of the deposits left from the second-highest flood at New Road has actually given us the opportunity to carry out some very extensive renovation to the entire playing area,” head groundsman Tim Packwood said. “It is very strange to see the ground looking like a ploughed field at this time of year but we have to take a long term view and try to repair it in time for the 2008 season.”The cost for this work alone will pass the £50,000 mark but I do believe we will end up with better wickets and a quicker drying outfield in the future. We need to take advantage of the growing period over the next three months and establish a strong grass growth before the winter sets in.”