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India 523 and 233 for 6 (Dravid 72*) beat Australia 556 and 196 by 4 wickets
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Rahul Dravid took India all the way © Getty Images

Rahul Dravid turned in his second heroic innings of the match, as India etched out a magnificent four-wicket victory at the Adelaide Oval to go 1-0 up in the four-Test series – their first win in Australia since their triumph at Melbourne in 1980-81. Following up his 233 in the first innings, Dravid remained undefeated on 72 – and hit the winning runs, a cut off Stuart MacGill – as India nailed their target of 230 just after tea on the final day.In the end, the win came easily enough, with VVS Laxman providing the impetus to the innings with a breezy 32 of 34 balls, but for much of the day, it was a struggle, as the Australians fought all the way despite being severely hampered by injuries to two of their bowlers. Jason Gillespie walked off with a groin strain midway through his tenth over, while Brad Williams showed plenty of heart in bowling despite an injured left shoulder.In an intense and tension-filled morning session, the Australian bowlers came at the Indians with plenty of fire. Williams gave Dravid a thorough working-over, and was desperately unlucky not to nail him: Adam Gilchrist dropped the chance after Dravid edged a delivery which pitched perfectly in the corridor. Dravid was on 9 then, and India, who had already lost Akash Chopra early, trapped in front by Gillespie for 20 (47 for 1), would have been 73 for 2.The second wicket did fall soon after, but it was Virender Sehwag who fell, after making an uncharacteristically restrained 47, from 81 balls. With the runs drying up, Sehwag charged down the pitch to MacGill, missed, and was comfortably stumped (79 for 2).Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid took India to lunch, and well past it, with a 70-run stand. After missing out in his first two innings of the series, Tendulkar was far more assured this time around. He started off with a paddle-sweep off MacGill for four, then unleashed some confident drives and pulls whenever the bowlers erred in length. Williams came back for a second spell, and, despite bowling at a reduced pace of about 130 kmph, tested both batsmen with his reverse-swing. The partnership threatened to shut Australia out of the match when MacGill, who had until then bowled mostly from round the wicket, changed angle, and struck. Tendulkar failed to read a straighter one which pitched on middle-and-leg, shouldered arms, and was trapped in front for 37 (149 for 3).When Sourav Ganguly departed soon after, scooping a drive off Andy Bichel to Simon Katich at point for 12 (170 for 4), India needed a further 60, and Australia were back in the contest.Laxman changed the momentum of the match in a flash, taking full toll of the loose balls that MacGill threw up. Dravid had missed out on a couple of full tosses earlier, but Laxman made every bad ball count, caressing drives through cover and midwicket, and then cutting a short delivery to the point fence, as three fours came from a MacGill over.Dravid grew in confidence too, dispatching a long-hop from MacGill through cover, as the pair added 51 in quick time. Laxman played a shot too many and was dismissed soon after tea, mistiming a hoick off Katich to Bichel (221 for 5), but by then, with victory only nine runs away, the issue had already been decided. Parthiv Patel contrived to delay the moment, when he was bowled round his legs by Katich, but that only allowed, fittingly, Ajit Agarkar and Dravid – India’s heroes in this Test – to be together when the winning runs were hit.

New Zealand seem almost certain to complete their postponed tour of Pakistan between April 20 and May 18 now that Pakistan authorities have received a government assurance of safe passage for the New Zealanders out of Pakistan in the event of any problems.New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden aborted the planned tour in September last year in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.At the time he said NZC would fulfil its obligations to complete the tour when the environment was safer.In discussion with the Pakistan Cricket Board recently, he sought an assurance of safe-keeping for the New Zealanders on the tour, a commitment that has been achieved with the assistance of the Pakistan Government.New Zealand will play three Tests and three One-Day Internationals at Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.However, Snedden said arrangements had not yet been finalised. He has not yet received the Government assurance from the PCB and the tour has not been discussed by the board of New Zealand Cricket.But it will be on the agenda when the board meets in Christchurch on Wednesday of next week, before the first New Zealand-England ODI at Jade Stadium.Snedden said it would mean the New Zealand team faced a very tough schedule.The Test series with England ends on April 3. New Zealand then travel to Sharjah to play in the annual tournament there. From Sharjah they travel to Pakistan, and soon after returning they are due to travel to the West Indies although the tour itinerary has not yet been released.”I have talked to the players about it and they are not averse to touring Pakistan. They just want me to be satisfied about security issues,” he said.

A career-best 178 not out from John Kent earned KwaZulu-Natal the draw to keep alive their play-offs hopes against the Eastern Province Jumbos in the SuperSport Series match which ended at Kingsmead on Monday.The 21-year-old’s near eight-hour rearguard action – during which he added 209 runs with the last five wickets – left the Jumbos facing an impossible run chase having earlier enforced the follow-on.When Kent finally ran out of partners, the Jumbos were left with the daunting equation of having to make 207 from 36 overs.They began as if they were seriously attempting the challenge – making 35 off the first five overs – but as soon as soon as wickets began to tumble with three going down in the space of three overs, they were happy to accept the offer of bad light.The draw means the rock bottom Dolphins can still qualify for the Super Eights against Border at Kingsmead in the final round of matches this weekend. A victory for the Jumbos would have ended their interest.And for that they have to thank Kent. He faced 359 balls and hit 26 fours inhis watchful stay after coming to the wicket on Sunday afternoon at 33 for two and having seen all the main batsmen back in the pavilion at 173 for five.He resumed on Monday morning on 65 not out and took his sixth wicket partnership with Errol Stewart to 57 before the latter became Wayne Murray’seighth wicket-keeping victim in the match.If the Jumbos expected that to be the key to unlock the door for them theywere sadly mistaken as the Bastow went on to share three more time consumingpartnerships.He put on 36 for the seventh wicket with Gulam Bodi before the latter wasfarcically run out when he failed to make his ground at the non-striker’send after the batsmen had collided in mid-pitch.But Kent continued serenely putting on 72 in an hour and a half with EldineBaptiste and a further 43 in an hour for the last wicket with John Bastow.Only Gary Gilder – who lasted just three balls before being castled byNantie Hayward – adhered to the Jumbos’ script.Justin Kemp finished with five for 69 in the innings but with the Dolphinsproving unexpectedly resilient the Jumbos had to settle for the draw.

An investigation is to take place into the World T20 Qualifier match between Afghanistan and Hong Kong played in Dublin on Tuesday.ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) noticed unusual betting patterns on the game and is to speak to leading betting firms, including Betfair, in an attempt to gain a greater understanding of what occurred.News of the investigation may take some of the gloss off Hong Kong’s five-wicket victory in the first qualifying playoff, which booked them a place at the 2016 World T20 in India.The match has not eliminated Afghanistan, though. They play Papua New Guinea on Thursday in the third qualifying playoff.

Liverpool look set to pip Celtic to a move for young Derry City attacker Trent Kone-Doherty.

The Lowdown: Doak move

It appears as if the Hoops will lose the services of young winger Ben Doak, with Liverpool closing in on a move for the Scot.

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Doak is yet to pen professional terms with the Hoops and the Reds appear to have taken advantage of that. Reports have suggested that Celtic could receive just £150,000 in compensation for Doak, who has been attracted over the possibility of working under Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.

The Latest: Kone-Doherty update

The Irish Independent shared a story on Wednesday morning regarding another exciting attacker, Kone-Doherty.

They claimed that the 15-year-old previously spent time training with Celtic, however, it looks as if Liverpool are going to win the race for his services as well after making an ‘assertive’ six-figure compensation move.

The Verdict: Hoops sick of Liverpool…

Celtic chiefs may well be sick of the sight of Liverpool in 2022 following this update on Kone-Doherty. It is unsure if the Hoops were willing to offer the Irish youngster a pre-contract deal ahead of his 16th birthday, but they clearly rated the attacker highly in order to bring him over to Lennoxtown and train.

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Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if Kone-Doherty will come in as a possible replacement for Doak, with the pair possibly now set to play alongside each other in the Reds’ academy next season.

In other news: ‘Worrying…’ – Sky Sports man claims ‘brilliant’ Celtic ace may now have suffered ‘bone damage’. 

Rob Key has pledged to investigate England players’ conduct during their mid-Ashes break in Noosa and described drinking heavily as “completely unacceptable” for an international cricket team.England travelled to Noosa, the affluent resort town on the Queensland coast, after their eight-wicket defeat in the second Test at the Gabba for a four-night stay which the team stressed was a “mid-series break” rather than a “holiday”. Brendon McCullum, the trip’s architect, said it was “excellent” and would allow England to head into the third Test feeling fresh.Key, England’s managing director, did not travel to Noosa and said that he believed his players had been “very well behaved”. But reports since their subsequent 82-run defeat in Adelaide have compared the trip to a stag do, and Key said at the MCG on Tuesday that he will “look into what happened” to determine whether any further action is required.Related

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“If there’s things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively then of course we’ll be looking into that,” Key said. “Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I’d expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. But from everything that I’ve heard so far, they were very well behaved.”I’ve read what’s been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they’re drinking lots and it’s a stag do, all that type of stuff, that’s completely unacceptable. I’m not a drinker. I think a drinking culture doesn’t help anyone in any stretch whatsoever.”I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was to get away and just throw your phone away, down tools, go on the beach… Everything that I’ve heard so far is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, had the odd drink. I don’t mind that. If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned… There’s lots of people there that might disagree with that, but that’s what we’ll find out.”Key also revealed that Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook had been warned by team management before the series, after they were filmed drinking at a bar the night before England’s third ODI in New Zealand. He said the incident had been a “wake-up call” for the scrutiny that the squad would come under in Australia, which he denied England had underestimated.”I don’t mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that I think is ridiculous, really,” Key said. “There wasn’t any formal action… I didn’t feel like that was worthy of formal warnings, but it was probably worthy of informal ones.”Key also confirmed that England had turned down the opportunity to play a warm-up match against Australian opposition in Adelaide ahead of the first Test, reasoning that they would have more control over a warm-up match involving England Lions at Lilac Hill, a club ground in Perth.Jacob Bethell looks set to come into the side for the fourth Test•Getty Images

“I don’t necessarily believe that had we just gone and played there then we’d now be 3-0 up in the Ashes,” he said. “Even with that, we’ve still got to get more out of our players… You’ve got to look at yourselves as a set up, I think. If your players are playing to their potential and they’re getting beat, that’s fine. But in this series so far, we haven’t done that.”He conceded that England have stripped back their support staff too far, leaving the set-up without a fielding coach for this tour. “When we started, I looked at the huddle on the first day at Lord’s [against New Zealand in June 2022] and there were 38 people in there… We wanted to strip all of that back and go, ‘Right, we want the messaging to come from just a few people’.”I don’t think the argument is to bring in loads of specialist coaches… [But] there’s probably a few spots where we’re weak in terms of our set-up at the moment, where we’ve stripped it back too much and there’s probably a few places we need to start bringing in some of that resource again.”Key described McCullum – whose contract he extended last year – as a “bloody good coach” and backed him to continue despite England’s heavy series defeat, and said that his own future as managing director is in the hands of the ECB’s board.Brendon McCullum and Rob Key look on at training•Getty Images

“The decision really for the ECB will be whether or not they want to rip it up and start again, or whether they want to evolve and whether we’re the right people to do that. Clearly, I believe that Brendon… He’s an excellent coach. His record is very good. This is only the third [Test] series we’ve lost in four years. His win record [25 out of 44 Tests as coach] is very good as well.”Clearly, we’ve mucked up on the big occasions, whether that was the home Ashes series, whether that was last summer against India… The big ones have eluded us. There’s been some brilliant moments along the way. I still feel like there’s plenty of life in this whole thing now, but we have to evolve. We have to make sure that we’re doing things better.”Key also implied that England had made a mistake by backing Ollie Pope as their No. 3 ahead of Bethell, saying: “You start looking at some of the decisions that we’ve made and think, ‘Should we have made a change there much sooner?’ I don’t think that’s right to speculate on who those people are at the moment, but they’re the things that you look at.”Bethell looks set to play in the fourth Test at the MCG on Boxing Day, and Key described him as an “incredible talent” with the potential to become a “world-class” batter. “I have no issue with him being able to go out and play a match-winning innings in the Ashes for us.”

The ICC will officially launch the Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur this Wednesday.The tournament takes place in Malaysia between February 17 and March 2 and will spread over three cities – Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor. Besides the ICC’s 10 Full Members and hosts Malaysia, five qualifiers – Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Ireland and Bermuda – will take part.The 16 teams have been divided into four groups with the top two teams progressing to the Super League quarter-finals while the two bottom teams from each group will play in the Plate Championship quarter-finals.The winners of the Super League quarter-finals will qualify for the semi-finals whereas the losing quarter-finalists will play in the Super League play-offs. The winners of the Plate Championship quarter-finals will play in the Plate Championship semi-finals while the beaten quarter-finalists will participate in the Plate Championship play-offs.

Mohammad Yousuf: ‘Viv Richards was the best player of this era. There is absolutely no one like him around’ © Getty Images

The spirit of Sir Viv Richards coursed through the National Stadium all day. His record for the most Test runs in a calendar year has stood for 30 years now, unsurpassed long enough for it to attain similar status as the legendary four-minute mile record. Mohammad Yousuf began the day 149 runs short of breaking it and ended it, less than a half-century away and one innings for the year left.Other records were broken or equalled though; nobody has now scored more than the eight Test hundreds in one year that he has, an honour previously held jointly by Richards and Aravinda de Silva. This was also his fifth hundred in five Tests, a feat Jacques Kallis has equalled and only the greatest, Sir Don Bradman, surpassed. As he spoke to reporters at the end of an ultimately disappointing day for Pakistan, he sensibly refused to be drawn into comparisons with Sir Viv.”Viv Richards was the best player of this era. There is absolutely no one like him around and breaking his centuries record is a huge thing for me. But I’ll admit I cannot play like him at all. Many people had pointed out that I can break his record number of runs this year too and it was on my mind. But he was a match-winning player unlike any. The bigger the bowler the better his batting would get.”Though he chose his Lord’s double as the best of his eight this year, the 102 he crafted on a sluggard of a pitch this afternoon was, like his batting this year, on a plane different to that of his fellow batsmen. Initially he struggled to adjust to the pace and indeterminate bounce but a clip through midwicket and a dab through point in the over after lunch suggested he was coming to terms with the surface. Thereafter, as batsman after batsman faltered, Yousuf glided on. As Pakistan inched on at under three an over, Yousuf floated to a hundred off 155 balls; of the 32 boundaries Pakistan hit, Yousuf’s wrists were responsible for 15.”I have been playing on pitches like this around the world for years now. If you have to make runs you should be able to make them anywhere. It is slow, some balls are keeping low and it will become difficult to score as the match progresses,” said Yousuf.Such has been his form, and Pakistan’s reliance on him – those slender shoulders have produced over 35% of Pakistan’s total runs scored this series – that his captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was moved to call him, in his column, Pakistan’s greatest batsman ever. Again, as regular as a cover drive, came the modesty. “I don’t think so. I mean Inzamam is such a great batsman himself and his record speaks for itself. I am grateful that he thinks it but Javed Miandad and Hanif Mohammad were very, very big players.”A few runs from the captain wouldn’t go amiss and his 18 today was another woeful struggle to relocate his groove. And when you become Daren Ganga’s first international wicket of any kind, you know that form has well and truly deserted you. The class, though Yousuf reminded everyone, is still with him.”When Inzamam scores runs, the team scores with him and does well. He has done it all, won matches, saved matches, everything. He is a little out of form at the moment and we hope he can get it back. But there is no player like him.” If this last year has been anything to go by, clearly there is one.

Bell: ‘To be bowled by the doc isn’t the most pleasant of feelings’ © Getty Images

After being heralded as England’s next great middle order hope for so long, Ian Bell’s burgeoning career was in danger of being completely derailed after a chastening Ashes series. Although included in the squad to Pakistan, he was unlikely to make the playing XI for the first Test. If any fortune resulted from Michael Vaughan’s knee injury, it was for Bell, who was thrust into the crucial one-down position.After scoring an accomplished 71, his fifth half century in nine Tests, he said of his knock, “It was a big one for me obviously with Vaughany’s injury and me not expecting to play this Test. It’s nice for me to get the confidence back. The wicket is exceptional, just a matter of time, I would have liked to have gone on and got a hundred, and I should have been still out there now, after getting in but I enjoyed going out there and spending some time in the middle.”He acknowledged that he had been out for form for some time before this innings, to the extent that he was even bowled by Peter Gregory, the team doctor, during practice. “It’s been hard work and a character-building experience. To be bowled by the doc isn’t the most pleasant of feelings. Fortunately, I went back to a few things that helped me, simple things like focusing on watching the ball, things that I was doing before last season.”His innings was more impressive because of the uncertainty over his place in the team. “Of course, it was a blow to not be part of team. I really want to establish myself and work hard for that, but what I realise is that there are a lot of guys vying for places, and I understood why I was going to be left out of this Test match. I just tried to make sure I got myself prepared just in case the opportunity came around and be in the best position if it did happen.”He enjoyed a little bit of luck in his 161-ball innings, being bowled by a slower ball from Shoaib Akhtar only to be reprieved by Billy Bowden’s call of no-ball. “At the time I was so focused and watching the ball that I didn’t realise the screen was still positioned for round the wicket for Trescothick. I didn’t pick it up at all. Luckily it was a no-ball and it didn’t make me look too much of a fool. It went high into the windows and if the screen was in the right position, it wouldn’t have made much difference. It was a fantastic ball and did me all ends up.”Bell’s 180-run partnership for the second wicket with Marcus Trescothick, captain for this Test, has put England into a strong position in the opening Test and Bell was quick to recognise his captain’s contribution. “Marcus really helped me out there, always talking to me. We ran well between the wickets and it was nice to be out there with someone of his experience. He was keeping it simple, watching the ball, playing as straight as possible, running hard, turning twos into three. He carried on the way he plays and captaincy hasn’t changed him at all. It was fantastic really to watch from the other end when he’s in such good form and stroking the ball so nicely. If I can learn off these guys at the top of their game it is a great help to me.”I was a little bit disappointed after last summer but I still back myself as a good player. I really want to prove to people that I can play at this level, and that I can do this for a long time.”Bell was also full of praise for the bowlers who did so exceptionally well to bowl out Pakistan for 274 on such a placid pitch, calling their performance “exceptional”. He added: “It was a pretty great performance and we had to capitalise on it. We are now in with a definite chance. It’s not a bad position to be in.”

Does this man really need a rest?© Getty Images

As an Indian cricket writer, there are few better things than watching India on tour. And when the tour is Bangladesh, it is obviously India winning on tour. Yet, when India had just wrapped up a comprehensive but largely unexciting 2-0 win in the Test series, it was tough to focus on the one-dayers. Not because the work was any less demanding, or because the matches were any more one-sided – if anything, Bangladesh had a better chance to make a good fist of things in the shorter version of the game – but because VVS Laxman wouldn’t be about.At a time of bounty for Indian cricketers – every one of the newcomers on this one-day tour have been guaranteed at least two matches by the captain and coach – it is unbelievable that Laxman was not given a go. It is now common knowledge that he did not want to be ‘rested’. Even the remarkably media-shy Laxman went on record to say that he was remembered only when he scored runs. That no-one backed him when he was going through a lean trot and needed the support most.The merits of his omission barely merit mention. But, because the selectors routinely seem to pick him as the fall guy, the one person to leave out when they need a spot to either try out youngsters or make way for one of their zonal candidates, it bears repetition. Not long ago – but obviously too long ago in the fickle minds of selectors – Laxman scored three one-day hundreds in the VB Series in Australia, and a further crucial ton in a deciding match in Lahore. For most in the Indian team this would have been enough to cement a place in the team.Many reasons can be advanced for Laxman’s omission, and the selectors are the obvious target. But, Sourav Ganguly has fought harder for lesser men. Could this have anything to do with the fact that Laxman’s value to the team is best utilised at no. 3 and that the captain wants this very spot? This is not an effort to further conspiracy theories about unrest in the team, and yet, this is the only reasoning that bears any scrutiny. With Sachin Tendulkar not budging from the opening slot, and Virender Sehwag being a sure-shot to open, Ganguly has to bat at no. 3. Is this the real reason why Laxman is missing out?The logic that Laxman was being rested may be good enough for the board secretary to announce soon after a selection meeting, but it will not stand up to to questioning by a serious cricket enthusiast. With a tough home series against Pakistan looming, Bangladesh would have been an ideal platform for Laxman to get some runs under the belt, and confidence going. But no, the selectors would rather plump for Dinesh Mongia and Sridharan Sriram.Mongia has done well in county cricket, but no-one should forget he went to England to play league cricket for a little-known club team, and then got his chance at a decent level because Carl Hooper else was unavailable. He was nowhere in the reckoning then. Sriram has put in impressive performances with with Tamil Nadu and India A, and deserves another go at the highest level. But, if you sat a table with Mongia and Sriram, they would be the first to admit that they are not in the same class as Laxman. They deserve a chance, but not at Laxman’s expense.When Laxman left Dhaka, he did so in the full knowledge that he was going to return home and turn out the next day for Hyderabad in a Ranji Trophy match against Punjab, who have done exceptionally well this season. He rattled off 79 in a first-innings total of 233 and then 60 out of 149 to lead his team to victory. Will Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, please tell us why a man who was "rested" needed to go out and play for his state side?Laxman does not need rest. Not when there is a month-and-a-half gap between this one-day series and India’s next assignment. He needs time out in the middle. He needs scores. And for once he needs to be told that he is an invaluable member of this Indian team. But perhaps no-one will give him that because he is not the sort to demand it, either directly or indirectly.His rare outburst, when he was "rested", should have been enough of a warning to the selectors. This is a man who is crying out for help, but has too much pride to ask for it. And why should he, after the matchwinning performances he has put in? It is typical of the man. Not a week ago, I tried to re-introduce myself to Laxman, thinking he may have forgotten the few times we’ve met. "You first interviewed me at the India Pistons ground in Madras in 1999, during the Buchi Babu tournament, and wrote something about me being an enigma," he said. That was before the 281 in Kolkata that changed his life. I barely remembered it, and yet, countless media interviews later, he did.Perhaps that’s why all of us – selectors, team-mates, coaches and reporters – take him for granted. Because he won’t, for a second, blow his own trumpet at a time when, it seems, words speak louder than deeds.