Western Warrior Murray Goodwin has been reported for an alleged breach of the Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour rule prohibiting detrimental public comment following comment attributed to him about selection criteria for the Zimbabwe cricket team.The charge, made by the Western Australian Cricket Association, will be heard by Mr Alan Sullivan QC from NSW, who is Deputy Senior Commissioner of the Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour Commission.Details are being finalised but the report will be heard as soon as possible.Under the Code, penalties for players found to have breached the public comment rule range from a reprimand, to a match ban, to a fine of up to $5750 for a first offence.

West Indians 404 for 5 dec and 246 for 5 (Samuels 109*, Ganga 25*) lead Zimbabwe A 242 by 408 runs
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The West Indians dominated the second day of their match against Zimbabwe A, finishing the day 408 runs ahead with five second-innings wickets in hand. The highlights of the day were impressive pace bowling by Vasbert Drakes and Jerome Taylor, and an easily compiled century from Marlon Samuels.In the morning Dion Ebrahim and Vusi Sibanda looked set to continue their good work of the previous evening against the fast bowlers, until Ebrahim, like his opposing captain, was beaten by a ball that kept low, and was adjudged lbw for 14. Ebrahim and Sibanda had added 45.Sibanda played some handsome drives down the ground and appeared to be learning quickly the art of building an innings, hitherto a major handicap to his development. He pulled Taylor for a superb six over midwicket, and then a powerful on-drive to the boundary, off the same bowler, brought him his fifty made off 78 balls. But shortly after, he fell on his face trying to chop down on a yorker from Taylor and became the third batsman to fall victim to an umpire’s trigger finger, out for 51.Barney Rogers and Stuart Matsikenyeri consolidated with a partnership of 96, with Matsikenyeri the more aggressive. Then Drakes broke through the middle order spectacularly, exploiting reverse swing with the old ball. First he knocked Rogers’ off stump out of the ground to dismiss him for 35, and three balls later bowled 17-year-old Elton Chigumbura for 0. Zimbabwe A were 187 for 5, with 68 short of avoiding the follow-on.This did not trouble the confident Matsikenyeri, who off-drove a boundary to reach his fifty, to the delight of his home crowd. But Travis Friend (4), playing well forward to Drakes, became the fourth lbw victim, and then Alester Maregwede (0) was bowled shouldering arms. Gavin Ewing, in at No. 9 despite going to Australia on a career batting average of over 50, was yorked for 4 by Taylor, who was finally giving Drakes a break after nine overs in the heat of the day.Taylor soon struck again, outdoing Drakes by knocking two of BlessingMahwire’s stumps out of the ground, bowling him for 2. Finally, Jordane Nicolle (3) was caught at the wicket off Chris Gayle, the first time a fielder had a hand in a dismissal during the innings. The total was 242, leaving Matsikenyeri not out with 84. He never looked in trouble against the swinging ball and could well have played himself into the Test team with this excellent innings.The West Indian fast bowlers stole the show, though, with Taylor taking 4 for 46 and Drakes finishing with 5 for 66. Rampaul showed real pace but was expensive. Although they had a lead of 162, the tourists chose batting practice ahead of enforcing the follow-on.Mahwire struck early, winning an lbw decision against Chris Gayle, who departed for 12, having lashed three boundaries off his previous six balls. Thus encouraged, Mahwire produced a superb swinging ball that totally flummoxed Wavell Hinds and knocked out his off stump for 9. The West Indians were 36 for 2.Carlton Baugh, promoted after failing to get a bat first time round, hit a bright 44, with 10 boundaries, off just 30 balls before snicking Nicolle to the keeper. The sixth lbw of the day – umpire Tapfumaneyi’s fourth – was Ramnaresh Sarwan to Nicolle for a rather laboured 10. In contrast, Marlon Samuels looked quite at ease, stroking the ball sweetly, helped once again by the failure of Ebrahim to protect his boundaries adequately.The West Indians were in a festive mood, and Ridley Jacobs had a big swing to be bowled by Ewing for 26 off 19 balls. Daren Ganga replaced him and boundaries came with monotonous regularity. Ewing failed to trouble the batsmen on a pitch that should have given him some help, and he did his Test chances little good in this game.Samuels achieved the rare feat of a century in a session, scored off 98balls, particularly notable since it took almost an hour for him to get tothe wicket.

The Bushrangers play South Australia in two one-day practice matches on Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th October at the Albert Ground.The squads for the matches are as follows:

It finished how it had started six weeks ago in Dambulla. The first twotests might have been edgy and attritional but the last test was gloriouslyemphatic. Sri Lanka produced their best performance since the Asia TestChampionship in March 2002 as they overwhelmed England by an innings and 215runs – a whopping hammering by anyone’s standards.

Michael Vaughan, England’s skipper, held his hand up afterwards and admittedthat his team had been fairly and soundly trounced. "Sri Lanka appliedpressure on us for almost every day of the series. We fought hard but thereare only so many punches you can take. Today was the knockout." The analogywas apt for Sri Lanka had jabbed away at their opponents all tour, wearingthem down slowly but surely. Finally, after two days in the field in thebaking sun in Colombo followed by sleepless nights as the Taj Samudra hotelthrew noisy late night parties, they dropped their defences. Sri Lanka tookaim and finally landed a killer punch.Not surprisingly it was Murali that was responsible for the bulk of thecarnage in the second innings, as England were skittled for 148, theirlowest total against Sri Lanka. His 4 for 64 extended his series tally to 26and justly earned him the man of the series award. His was a trulyexceptional performance. We are used to his brilliance, but this was in adifferent league. England arrived confident of handling him; they leftflabbergasted by his wrong’un.Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, said simply: "He creates mystery wheneverhe comes on and the other bowlers feed off that mystery." Vaughan was gladto see the back of him: "The one thing about the West Indies is that theydon’t have a Murali…that will make a difference."England, lulled into a false sense of security by his injuries before theseries in 2001 (groin) and 2002 (shoulder), were surprised by the quick pacewith which he bowled and, particularly, by the amount he turned his wrong’un. Many pundits have referred to it as a new delivery, but Murali has beenbowling it for years. Now though it’s been perfected and it makes him a verydangerous bowler.

But Murali was not the only star on that final one-sided day. DilharaFernando, back in the side after recovering from a back injury, provided theattack with that extra cutting edge. He was not express in pace because of aside injury that required an injection, but he was nevertheless potent:Vaughan was deceived by a slower ball, Ashley Giles had his stumpsrearranged by a reverse swinging Yorker and Andrew Flintoff was surprised bysome extra bounce. For the first time in the series Chaminda Vaas had aproper seam bowling partner.Perhaps with hindsight – to be fair to Hashan Tillakaratne he had apparentlychampioned Dilhara’s cause in Kandy only to be overruled – he should haveplayed in Galle and Kandy too, although Dinusha Fernando did score apriceless fifty in the second test.The bowlers killed England off but it was the batters that drained theirresolve. At times it wasn’t pretty but it was nevertheless mightyimpressive. Sanath Jayasuriya provided an entertaining start, batting withfresh vigour after two tentative Test matches, to set the stage for ThilanSamaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene, who piled up a massive 262 in 543balls for the third wicket.Samaraweera was picked for the series as a specialist batsman, but lurkingdown at number six and seven he’d struggled to make an impression. A rarechance though at number three, as Marvan Atapattu nursed his injured hand,was snapped up. Samaraweera is a man that likes to control his own destiny.He’s not supremely talented but he makes up for that with sheerbloody-mindedness. He was fortunate to be dropped on 12, 46 and 98, and allthree Test tons have been scored on the pancake flat SSC pitch, but he nowdeserves a proper run in the side.

The performances of Jayawardene and Dilshan were also of great significanceto a team that had suffered from middle order jitters for the best part of18 months. Jayawardene’s slump was most pronounced in the one-day game, buthe had still failed to knit together a really substantial Test score sincehis hundred against England at Lord’s in May 2002. Talk of him being droppedfrom the Test team though was quite frankly absurd. He started cautiously adoggedly in Galle with a grinding second innings knock and improved witheach innings he played to become Sri Lanka’s highest scorer in the series.The team looks so much healthier with him on song.Dilshan’s second coming was a revelation and a true bonus. After 2 ½ yearsout of the team he bounced back with two fifties and one superb century thatnearly set-up and Sri Lanka win in the hill-country. His positive andattacking intent – some of the credit for which must go to the coach whogave him free licence to play his shots – forced England onto the back footand played a major part in the series win.Thus, despite Sri Lanka’s disappointingly negative approach in Kandy, wherethey refused to take the game by the scruff of the neck, Sri Lanka finishedthe series in very good shape. You can sense some of the old confidencereturning. The Aussies had better be on guard because their Feb/Mar tour isnow going to be very tough indeed.

Nasser Hussain used to be regarded as an angry young man. How times have changed. Now he is generally regarded as an intelligent, respected man of substance following his four-year – and reasonably successful – stint as as England captain.This visual account of Hussain, out at the same time as Stewart’s autobiography, allows a comparison between the two and it would not be unfair to Stewart to suggest that Hussain is destined to remain the more interesting character, likely to be written about and analysed for years to come.Focusing on his career’s main turning points – starting off as a spinner with England prospects, his double century against Australia at Edgbaston, England’s successful tours of the subcontinent and unsuccessful tour of Australia – the film offers a decent insight with lengthy, instructive interviews with the man himself, his father, brother and sister and former England captains David Gower, Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart.Apart from the footage of Hussain out with team-mates at a restaurant in Sri Lanka, which resembles the painful humour of TV sitcom The Office, this account of Hussain’s life is well-packaged and penetrative. It leaves you waiting for a substantial autobiography which surely must be just around the corner.

New South Wales 9 for 350 decl. and 4 for 299 dec. (Mail 152*, Phelps 62) beat South Australia 129 (Flower 44, Nicholson 5-36) and 495 (Lehmann 237, Manou 130, Higgs 50; MacGill 4-144) by 25 runs
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Darren Lehmann’s magnificent 237 – off just 238 balls – wasn’t quite enough as New South Wales held on for a thrilling 25-run victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Needing 521 for victory, South Australia were in the box seat at 4 for 434 midway through the morning, only to lose three wickets – including Lehmann’s – for five in an engrossing passage of play before lunch.Mark Higgs, who contributed two to a partnership of 64 with Lehmann, kept the momentum going after his departure with a fine 50, but when he played on to Matthew Nicholson, it was all over.Predictably, the morning was all about Lehmann’s one-man show, and his intriguing tussle with Stuart MacGill, who he had walloped with disdain the previous afternoon. Resuming on 149 not out, Lehmann raced from 150 to 237 in just 55 deliveries, slamming 14 fours on the way. It was an exhilarating effort that kept South Australia in the hunt to pull off the greatest run chase in first-class history – surpassing the 9 for 513 Central Province made to beat Southern Province at Kandy in Sri Lanka just over six weeks ago.But when Lehmann whacked a MacGill delivery to Steve Waugh at cover, South Australia stuttered. Lehmann trudged off, clearly furious with himself at having left the door ajar for New South Wales. When Michael Miller was leg before to MacGill soon after, and Nicholson trapped John Davison in front, the comeback was complete, with South Australia precariously placed at 6 for 439.Higgs put together useful partnerships with Mark Cleary and Shaun Tait, but they weren’t quite enough to drag South Australia across the line. For New South Wales, MacGill emerged with some credit after his mauling at the hands of Lehmann, finishing with 4 for 144.For New South Wales, the defending champions, the equation is now simple. If Tasmania fail to pick up any points in their final game against Victoria, and New South Wales manage an outright victory against Queensland, they will qualify to take on Victoria in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For South Australia, only pride will be at stake when they play Western Australia in their final outing. Lehmann can console himself with a seat on the plane to Sri Lanka.

Shoaib Akhtar has been called before a medical inquiry commission, as the Pakistan Cricket Board investigates the spate of injuries that affected their prospects of victory in the recent Test series against India.In the third Test in Rawalpindi, Shoaib pulled up in his followthrough with a reported back injury and a damaged wrist. He took no further part in Pakistan’s attack, although he was later fit enough to crack 28 not out from 14 balls. But he reacted strongly to accusations that he had faked his injuries. “You need the whole body to be perfect when you bowl,” he said. “It is different when you are batting. I am surprised how someone can think I was not badly injured.”Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, was nonetheless critical of Shoaib’s attitude, and four other players – Moin Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul – will have their fitness assessed by the medical commission.The PCB chief executive, Rameez Raja, was adamant that no fingers were to be pointed. “The commission has not been constituted to find a scapegoat and punish him,” he insisted. “It has been constituted to find why so many players got injured and what can be done in future to prevent so many injuries.”The other objective is to help the players get their names cleared from the general perception that they faked their injuries, if they were genuinely injured.” But, Rameez added, the implications would be serious if anything sinister was proven. “I must make myself very clear, that if it was proved some players did fake their injuries, they will be taken to task.”

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West Indies scraped their way to an unconvincing one-wicket win in the opening one-dayer against Bangladesh in St Vincent. After Bangladesh laboured their way to 144 for 8 from 50 overs, thanks mainly to a reviving ninth-wicket stand of 62 between Khaled Mashud and Mohammad Rafique, West Indies made a meal of knocking off the runs, and only just made it.Play was delayed for 15 minutes after some overnight rain, but once the captains tossed, Ramnaresh Sarwan had no hesitation in putting Bangladesh in, and that paved the way for Tino Best to make a spectacular start to his one-day international career. Best took consecutive wickets with the third and fourth balls of the match, but missed out on the hat-trick.The two men to go were Shahriar Hossain, caught by Chris Gayle at first slip, and Habibul Bashar, the captain, who played a horrible swipe across the line to be trapped lbw. Manjural Islam Rana was lbw to Fidel Edwards in the following over, and Bangladesh had staggered to 5 for 3.Rajin Saleh and Mohammad Ashraful then made a recovery of sorts, putting on 40 before Ashraful nicked Edwards to Ridley Jacobs for 17 (43 for 4), then Saleh was caught behind off Ian Bradshaw for 20 (51 for 5). Alok Kapali stuck around for a while until he was caught by Best off Bradshaw (52 for 6), and that temporarily let the floodgates open again.Best returned to bowl, and bounced out Mushfiqur Rahman, who fended a lifter to Sylvester Joseph in the slips (79 for 7). Khaled Mahmud was then beaten by pace, chopping Best onto his stumps for a duck. At that stage, Bangladesh were in all sorts of bother at 82 for 8, but Mashud and Rafique rescued them with a steady partnership to give Bangladesh some respectability, and in the end, what turned out to be almost a winning total.

West Indian hopes that Gayle might produce one of his whirlwind innings to wrap up the game quickly were dashed when he was caught behind off Tapash Baisya for a duck (7 for 1). Joseph, in at No. 3, didn’t last long either, as he was also caught by Mashud, off the bowling of Mahmud, for 7 (46 for 2). Shivnarine Chanderpaul couldn’t impose any authority on the bowling, and after a struggle he was trapped in front by Manjural Islam Rana for 15 (81 for 3).Ricardo Powell was the only top-order batsman to master the bowling, scoring 52 from 64 balls, with six fours. But just as he was looking to accelerate, he was bowled by the impressive Mahmud (83 for 4). Sarwan played positively and eased West Indian nerves with two fours and a six, but Bangladesh refused to lie down, and Sarwan was caught by Rahman off Saleh for 22 (119 for 5).The wickets kept on coming. Dwayne Smith was stumped off Manjural for 2, Ridley Jacobs was run out (again by Manjural), then Dwayne Bravo was also caught short of his crease, all in the space of three overs. West Indies had lurched to 126 for 8, and that simple stroll to victory was threatening to go way off course.West Indies still required 19 for victory, with only two wickets left – and Best was then lbw to Manjural, playing across a straight one. Bangladesh sensed a famous victory, but Bradshaw and Edwards kept their cool. Bradshaw eased the tension with a six over midwicket off Saleh, and he and Edwards scrambled West Indies home with one wicket and 20 balls to spare.

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Tillakaratne Dilshan’s patient 66 helped the Sri Lankans overhaul a modest fourth-innings target of 187 and record a confidence-boosting win in their tour game against the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI at Darwin. Russel Arnold, with 34, and Thilan Samaraweera, with 32, also contributed to the chase.Dilshan came in at the fall of Mahela Jayawardene’s wicket, at 59 for 2, and things got a bit wobbly when Thilan Samaraweera was run out after colliding with Dilshan halfway down the pitch (80 for 3). But Dilshan and Russel Arnold ensured against any collapse as Arnold’s quick scoring, including six boundaries, was an ideal foil for Dilshan’s solidity, and the 79 that they added set up the win.For the Northern Territory, Ian Redpath, the medium pacer, was the most successful bowler, and finished with 2 for 22. Glenn McGrath, who recently recovered from an injury, was extremely satisfied with his performance (1 for 25 off 14 overs) and claimed that he was “ready to go” for the Test series.With the first Test beginning in Darwin on July 1, the Sri Lankans will take many positives out of this game. Kumar Sangakkara’s double-hundred was a perfect start for his tour and Lasith Malinga, the medium pacer, and Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner, had impressive outings with the ball.

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