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Most notable decision of the day
Ricky Ponting’s option to bat again created strong reactions from a lot of readers and many at the ground left early. England wished they could have gone home too. Ponting’s choice means the match should get to a fifth day, which will upset the tourists who are considering a day at the beach on Monday.Dismissal of the Day
James Anderson’s strong throw from fine leg beat Matthew Hayden by a couple of arm hairs and was helped be Geraint Jones’ quick glovework.Lowlight of the Day
The blips from the umpires that sent Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff off within six deliveries in the first session. Hawkeye reported the ball for Pietersen’s lbw was missing off stump by 6cm while Flintoff fell to a Brett Lee no-ball.Highlight of the Day
Oooh, aaah, Glenn McGrath. He gives the thumbs up to the crowd at fine leg after every wicket and there were six opportunities over the past two days. Today he gets two thumbs up.Shot of the Day
McGrath again. This time it’s for walking off and holding his back like an old man on painkillers. Many of us wondered whether he’d ever be back in this sort of form. Sorry, Glenn, for being a doubter.Surprise of the Day
Geraint Jones paddling Shane Warne for four from the last ball before lunch. Warne waited, went around the wicket and waited again, as he has done to end many sessions. This time he dropped short and it was England who left the field on a tiny high, which was wiped out after the break.Record of the day
It’s the biggest crowd in Brisbane of all time and there’s at least another day to extend it. The previous mark of 93,143, which was set during the Bodyline series of 1932-33, has already been dumped by the 117,322 who attended over the opening three days.

The England team will compete in an exhibition golf tournament to raise funds for victims of the recent earthquake in Pakistan.Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer proposed the golf day, pencilled in for December 4 at the Royal Palm Beach golf course in Lahore. Although none of the Pakistan players are golfers, former captain Wasim Akram may play. “I put forward the idea of four-ball contests, each with three businessmen and one cricketer, and am grateful to England team manager Phil Neale who agreed to the proposal,” Woolmer told AFP. “We will also invite Wasim Akram, who is an active golfer and after the contest the golf kit and players’ equipment can be put up for auction.”The earthquake, which struck on October 8 in the northern region of Pakistan, killed over 54,000 people. The United Nations has warned that the figure may double if substantial aid does not reach the region.

Glenn McGrath’s dismissal of Stephen Fleming was the critical moment of play on the fourth day. As the only batsmen capable of consistently batting for long periods and making huge scores, Fleming was New Zealand’s chance of being the hero he had hoped – probably prayed – for the previous day.Fleming’s presence at the crease is so reassuring that he gives his more fragile team-mates something to hold on to. During this whistlestop series they have had no driftwood to cling to since Jacob Oram’s fine century in the first innings at Brisbane. By conquering Fleming with his off-stump line, McGrath has ensured that Australia should take the Trans-Tasman Trophy as easily as collecting shells.Usually McGrath publicly targets the highest-profile opposition batsman before a series. It was unusual that he pointed at Nathan Astle this time, leaving Fleming to Shane Warne. Neither got their man over two Tests, but McGrath probably really had his eyes on Fleming. He has nailed him every time since the second innings at Brisbane.Before this match Fleming had averaged 55.23 in 15Tests since the Sri Lankan tour in April 2003, scoringtwo double-centuries and a 192. His potential danger to Australia was comparable with Brian Lara, Michael Vaughan and Michael Atherton, the regulars on McGrath’shit-list, in match-saving situations.Fleming joined the squad late to recover from illness,and battled to catch up. Michael Kasprowicz dismissed him second ball in his tour’s first innings before McGrath took over. Ricky Ponting first bowledMichael Kasprowicz, Warne and Jason Gillespie to Fleming yesterday,and he was well set when McGrath finallyarrived at the bowling crease.Stirred from fielding for so long, McGrath delivered a rising ballslightly above off stump that brushed Fleming’s bat,and he was again late in his downswing today. McGrathappealed forcefully to Steve Bucknor, who did nothingas the off bail had been tipped. It was the perfectdelivery for Fleming. McGrath had dismissed him forthe fifth time, equalling Warne and standing only onebehind Javagal Srinath as Fleming’s most successfultormentor.New Zealand were 2 for 18 as their captain walked off,and rain or natural disaster seemed their onlysaviour. By the time his pads were packed away it was4 for 34. Fleming must hope Chris Cairns, Chris Harrisand Andre Adams fly in this week for the one-daymatches with methods to lift a wounded squad.The scheduling meant that the series would always be decided intwo weeks, but the ease with which Australia will earnthe prize tomorrow will be frustrating for New Zealand. Sadly,Fleming’s main achievement has been to earn a wallhook in McGrath’s trophy room.

The highlight of Ronnie Irani’s benefit year – a professional kickboxing and martial arts show – is to be held at Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre at Chelmsford on October 4. It will feature Europe’s leading kickboxers battling it out for European and World Title bouts in a televised event, plus martial arts and weapons demonstrations. All proceeds are in aid of the Ronnie Irani Benefit Fund.Ronnie won’t be taking part himself, especially as he has just had a major knee operation, but he is usually the first in the ring. Since moving to Essex from Lancashire, he has used kickboxing as a way of preparing for the past six seasons.”I really enjoy kickboxing and find the training helps to develop many of the fitness attributes which I need for my cricket training,” Ronnie said. “As a teenager I found that the martial arts training involved with the kickboxing helped give me focus and direction and I feel it is a great thing for youngsters and all ages to get involved in.”Tickets go on sale from tomorrow and are available from The Fitness Academy Martial Art Centre, Church Road, Boreham tel. 01245 467680 and Terrence Hill Bespoke Tailors Maldon Road Great Baddow tel. 01245 471193.

*Tamil Nadu restrict HyderabadTamil Nadu restricted Hyderabad to just 199 on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai.Winning the toss, Hyderabad opted to bat first. Wickets fell fast, and four batsmen were back in the pavilion with just 64 on the board. There followed a slow partnership between D Vinay Kumar and Arjun Yadav. Yadav made 71 off 176 balls, with nine fours and a six, and was the top-scorer of the innings.Yadav fell just before the close of play. At stumps, Hyderabad were 199 for five, with Vinay Kumar unbeaten on 56 off 176 balls, and M Srinivas on 0 off three balls. For the home side, skipper Robin Singh bowled impressively, returning figures of 14-8-12-2.*Kerala crumble on Day OneGoa made the most of its advantage with the toss, bowling Kerala out on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match at Panaji on Monday.Opting to field first, Goa had Kerala in many problems when three batsmen fell for 12 runs. The biggest partnership of the innings came from Ajay Kudva and Sreekumar Nair, who put on 82 runs for the sixth wicket.Kudva fell first, having made 46 off 118 balls. Nair was the ninth wicket to fall; he made 51 off 145 balls. The innings folded for 199, in 77 overs. For Goa, Avinash Aware, Narayan Kambli and Husen Khalid picked three wickets each. In reply, Goa were 22 for no loss at stumps.*Venugopal Rao holds Andhra togetherY Venugopal Rao hit an unbeaten 74 to hold the Andhra Pradesh innings together in their Ranji Trophy league match against Karnataka at Kurnool on Monday.Winning the toss, Andhra Pradesh elected to bat but lost one opener early. There were, however, a string of significant scores all through the batting line-up. GN Srinivas made 39, and Fayaz Ahmed scored 48.At the close of play, Andhra Pradesh were 251/5, with Venugopal Rao batting on 74 and RVC Prasad not out on 2. For Karnataka, Dodda Ganesh was the best bowler, picking up two for 46.

Former India batsman Ajay Jadeja has quit as coach of the Delhi Ranji Trophy team, and has said that his “opinions or inputs don’t matter” to the Delhi and District Cricket Association. Jadeja was appointed during Delhi’s controversy-filled run-up to the 2015-16 domestic season and did not travel with the side for their first Ranji game against Rajasthan in Jaipur. Reports suggest that former Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya is one of the contenders to replace Jadeja.DDCA president Sneh Prakash Bansal had told PTI that Jadeja missed the game because his son was unwell and denied speculation that his absence was due to Amit Bhandari’s appointment as assistant coach. Jadeja, too, denied his absence was related to Bhandari’s appointment, but said he was disappointed with the manner in which DDCA had appointed a few members of the support staff.”I have read in the newspapers that the reason I have not travelled with the team is because Amit Bhandari has been appointed assistant coach,” Jadeja told the . “I would like to clarify that this is not the reason. It is sad to see that once again, players are being used to settle personal scores in the DDCA.”Now, it seems the DDCA is back to working on its own and does not need the services of anyone appointed by the government nominees or otherwise. No one within the organisation seems to have a problem with this way of functioning.”Obviously, my opinion or inputs don’t matter to DDCA. I wish Delhi cricket the best.”Jadeja was appointed coach by nominees of the Delhi government, who stepped in after factions within the DDCA named three different probable squads for the Ranji Trophy. That was one of the issues in a pre-season camp mired in controversy, with nobody to oversee the preliminary nets at Feroz Shah Kotla and no certainty over who was running the team. Jadeja said he accepted the position to try and ensure that players would not be disadvantaged by the controversies in the DDCA.”I am extremely thankful to all the people instrumental in my getting involved with Delhi cricket. As I understood the developments, the government nominees had got involved after the fiasco of the three different lists of probables being proposed and the different factions claiming to be in control,” he said. “My purpose, I thought, was to see that cricket could carry on and the players would not be disadvantaged. That was the only reason for I being involved. I don’t belong to any faction in the DDCA.”Delhi’s problems were further compounded by selection controversies in the last couple of weeks. Ishant Sharma was left out of the squad because he didn’t answer DDCA’s call or text, and was selected for the first game a day later, even though he had stated he would be unavailable for the match. Allrounder Rajat Bhatia, who has represented the side for more than a decade, was excluded. Earlier, there was no clarity on whether Gautam Gambhir or Unmukt Chand would lead the side. Senior players like Virender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas had transferred to other teams ahead of the season.

Late to the party
Junaid Siddique has spent most of the ICC World Twenty20 warming the Bangladesh bench, but was finally given an outing in their last match of the tournament. He showed no fear, coming down the track at Sohail Tanvir, who has been Pakistan’s bowling find, and then pulling a short ball high into the stands at midwicket. Mohammad Asif also came in for some rough treatment when he over-pitched, and Bangladesh may just have been wishing Siddique had played earlier.Time to consolidate
Pakistan’s spinners struck back with quick wickets and most teams would have taken at least a few moments to reassess the situation before deciding on their next move. However, Siddique was having none of it. Two balls after Bangladesh lost a third wicket in three overs he came down the pitch and launched Mohammad Hafeez handsomely over long-on for consecutive sixes. By the time he was caught on the boundary he had Bangladesh’s highest individual score of the tournament.Take a blow
Mashrafe Mortaza hasn’t been too fond of getting in line when he’s at the crease, walking away towards square leg and aiming some agricultural heaves over midwicket. It was more of the same here, but on one occasion when Mortaza backed away Umar Gul followed him with a well-directed bouncer. Mortaza took a blow flush on the helmet. He picked up a leg-bye and unsurprisingly didn’t last much longer.Asif goes slow
Asif didn’t hit anywhere near top gear, perhaps aware that Pakistan had done the hard work and qualified for the semi-finals. His opening spell was barely medium pace, and he struggled with his line. When he returned for a second stint, however, wickets had tumbled and the batsmen were trying to see out the innings. He bowled an ultra-slow slower-ball at Mortaza, who found himself in a complete tangle and lost his leg stump. But it wasn’t Asif’s most distinguished spell of the tournament.When everyone else laughs
It’s a sight that makes team-mates and spectators cringe then giggle; a batsman getting hit in a very delicate area. Imran Nazir went to pull the third ball of the innings from Mortaza but failed to make contact and was struck right on the spot. He went down in slow-motion – and struggled to get up again. Fellow players gathered around and the physio came out to see what he could do, however there aren’t many options for this type of injury. After a couple of minutes Nazir decided he couldn’t carry on and hobbled off, and still had to stop half-way to catch his breath. He then spent a few minutes doubled up on the boundary edge before returning at the fall of the fifth wicket and guiding his team home.Butt goes to sleep
Bangladesh fought until the end of their involvement in the Twenty20. They executed a bizarre run-out against Salman Butt, who swung the ball into the leg side and completed a single before turning and thinking of a second. His partner, Nazir, sent him back and the throw was coming safely to the wicketkeeper’s end. Mushfiqur Rahim collected and noticed Butt was slow returning to his ground. He threw the ball to Mortaza who calmly removed the bails and Butt was gone.

Michael Vaughan continued to struggle for runs in his return to cricket today, amid speculation he could line up with his England team-mates in a tour match against Western Australia on Saturday. Vaughan was out for nine for the ECB National Academy in their game against the Western Australia Second XI at Perth.But there were some better signs for Vaughan, who batted for almost 40 minutes in his second innings since returning from a knee injury and later fielded for 50 overs. He faced 21 balls and struck one boundary through the leg side before spooning a catch to mid on. A week ago, he made a seven-ball duck for the academy in his first game back.David Parsons, one of the Academy coaching staff, said: “I don’t think his batting is an issue. He’s looked really sharp in the nets and I think he is feeling pretty good. He’d have liked to spend a little bit longer at the crease today, but I think he is feeling in pretty good shape at the moment.”Speculation has been rife all tour that Vaughan was being lined up for a comeback in the latter stages of the Ashes campaign, and Duncan Fletcher didn’t entirely rule out the possibility that he, or one of his academy colleagues, could come into the reckoning at Perth. “I’d say it’s unlikely,” he told reporters in Adelaide this morning. “We picked the side to come on this tour and we’ve got to stand by those players, but we want to see how Vaughan comes out of today’s match.” reported that Vaughan was likely to line up for England in their two-day tour match against Western Australia at the WACA this weekend. Vaughan had been expected to play for Bayswater-Morley in Perth grade cricket on the weekend but the club’s coach David Baird told the paper otherwise. “I was told he would not be playing for us because he would probably be playing for England,” Baird told the newspaper.Vaughan has been ruled out of Friday’s festival match at Lilac Hill as a precaution, because it was feared that four days of cricket in five would be too much of a strain on his knee at this stage of his recuperation.

Moin Khan will captain a strong Pakistan squad in the Hong Kong Sixes at Kowloon Cricket Club on October 22 and 23. Naved Latif, Riaz Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez and Yasir Arafat – all with international experience – are also in the seven man party.The remaining two places are taken by Tahir Khan and Kamran Hussain. Pakistan will line up in Pool B for the preliminary round of the matches, alongside India, South Africa and West Indies. They have previously won the tournament on four occasions and are most successful team along with England.Squad Moin Khan (capt), Yasir Arafat, Naved Latif, Riaz Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Tahir Khan, Kamran Hussain.

One of Australia’s many enviable attributes is the strength in depth they have developed in their squad. They have just won a series in India – where they hadn’t won for 35 years – without their captain and leading batsman. Brett Lee can’t find a place in the starting XI, and if Darren Lehmann, one of the bestplayers of spin bowling, steps aside once Ricky Ponting returns, the audaciously nimble-footed Michael Clarke awaits. Meanwhile for Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two of the teams vying to jump onto Australia’s lengthy coat-tails, this Test should provide them both with a clearer idea of the talent on their respective benches.The Sri Lankan camp has recently shown, admirably, an ability to adapt to a post-Murali world. Their series in Australia might have been lost, but progress was made – and in Lasith Malinga, the speedster with the freakish, slingy action, a unique, albeit raw, diamond was unearthed. Sri Lanka took further heart from their victories over South Africa at home, and particularly against Pakistan at Faisalabad, where the left-arm wiles of Ranjan Herath and the pace and swing of Dilhara Fernando proved the strength their attack can muster. But there is considerable progress still to be made, especially over five days. Today, in the windy dustbowl of Karachi, they got a taste of just how difficult the process of adjustment will be after Murali finally mooches off into the sunset.The pitch, despite some early-morning movement, wasn’t exactly as seam-friendly as Sri Lanka’s batsmen made it look yesterday, but the cause wasn’t helped by some indifferent performances from key bowlers. If Fernando was hot for a session at Faisalabad, he was very cold for all of today, and this contrast has marked much of his career. When he arrived on the scene in 1999, he was a refreshing break from past Sri Lankan pacemen: he was tall, rustically well-built and quicker than most, hovering menacingly on the speedometer in the mid 80s and low 90s. He developed a superb slower ball – with a unique spread-finger grip – and the priceless ability to reverse-swing the ball. But injuries to his back, and continuing problems with his run-up, have resulted not only in a drastic loss of pace – he nestled in the early 80s today – but also effectiveness. At Karachi, where he should have been trying to build on his Faisalabad burst, Fernando sent down 13 harmless overs, struggling both with his line and length.With Chaminda Vaas having an off day and Herath unable to extract significant spin, Sri Lanka’s attack had a bare look about it, and only Farveez Maharoof occasionally threatened. The reliance on Murali has been so great in the past – he has taken 257 wickets in 32 Sri Lankan wins, and 35 of their 37 Test wins have come since his debut – that it is only natural that they will experience difficulties without him. In all probability, there will be a few more days like this before the likes of Maharoof, Fernando and Malinga can start winning Test matches.Their ineffectiveness shouldn’t take too much away from a determined Pakistan batting line-up. If Abdul Razzaq has rekindled hopes that he is more than just a stock bowler behind Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, then Younis Khan will also be hoping to look on this match as a rebirth. Like Razzaq, Younis’s career has had question-marks attached. Today’s century was his sixth in Tests, his third against Sri Lanka and only his second at home, but it was only his second score above 50 in his last seven matches. His innings showcased the strokes that had him rated so highly early in his career. There was the expansive flourish of his one-kneed cover-drives, the punch of his shots square of the wicket, and the ungainly but highly effective sweep. In addition, there was one magnificent pull off Fernando, to reach his fifty, which added a calypso flourish to what had been, with Imran Farhat at the other end, a distinctly Caribbean display of batting in the morning.There were signs, too, in his 124 of the intelligence – particularly in his change of pace as Inzamam settled down – that once prompted Rashid Latif to identify him as a potential leader. Younis’s two fighting fifties against Australia in Colombo in 2002 – more valuable than some of his centuries on flat tracks against the weakened attacks of West Indies and Bangladesh – seemed to back up that idea. But after a disastrous slump in form since, amid increasing doubts about his ability to perform at the crunch, he had lost his way. This was his first Test in over a year, and his 15th at the problematic one-down position. His record at No. 3 was ordinary, although he said after this innings that it was the position in which he feels most comfortable.Younis may or may not be the long-term solution to the problem, but at least there are now some options. Yasir Hameed was touted as the one to watch last year, and he and Asim Kamal – brusquely dropped after his failures last week – both deserve a look-in. Shoaib Malik might be worth a try there too. And if Taufeeq Umar returns to open, then the competition is likely to heat up even more. But today, at least, Younis Khan grabbed his chance to be Pakistan’s second unlikely hero in two days. And as an indicator of the depth of your squad, that can’t be a bad thing.Osman Samiuddin is a freelance journalist based in Karachi.