Stuart MacGill is tired of hearing that his style does not complement Shane Warne’s. At the SCG the pair operates as well as clock hands and MacGill has pleaded for a chance to continue a successful partnership that has appeared in only ten Tests.”Somebody needs to look at the numbers and realise this is not the first time Shane and I have worked well together and that after a certain number of wickets we have made a strong case to be a regular feature,” he said. “It’s disappointing that other bowlers can bowl in partnership and Shane and I can’t.”The combination bowled Australia to victory with 13 wickets against Pakistan in January and today seven wickets were harvested, MacGill capturing 4 for 39 and Warne 3 for 23 as they sparked a stunning collapse. In an era of abundance for Australian legspinners, the two first-rate performers have been used together sparingly, but the case for retention is growing, especially as the team is experimenting with back-up bowling options.In Tests where both bowlers have played MacGill has 48 wickets at 23.57 and Warne has 41 at 30.15. MacGill said he still wished he was given a chance during the winter in England. “Shane took 40 wickets on the Ashes tour and as far as an advertisement for a second spinner that’s as good as you are going to get,” he said. “It’s a question that will remain unanswered. I may not have fired a shot over there but we’ll never know.”While Warne and MacGill blew the World XI over, Glenn McGrath made the early indents with a testing pre-lunch spell of 2 for 11 from seven overs that pushed him passed Courtney Walsh’s fast-bowling world record of 519 wickets. McGrath said overtaking the mark was a “big honour” and he was already looking for the next milestone.”Courtney was a cricketer that I looked up to and admired, a freak of a player who competed for 21 years straight, hardly taking a break,” he said. “I can’t see myself catching the next two [Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan] but without doubt my next goal is to reach 600 Test wickets.”

It was better late than never for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) yesterday. A day after the regional one-day tournament, the President’s Cup, got started without a title sponsor for a third year running, a deal was sealed to rescue the cash-strapped regional body.Yesterday, the WICB and the local affiliate of international fast food giants, KFC, signed a three-year sponsorship deal worth $3 million, beginning immediately.According to Dane Darbasie, CEO of KFC franshice holders Prestige Holdings, the tournament will now be known as the KFC Cup. Darbasie also said the venture was not just being undertaken by the local KFC group, but was being shared with eight affiliates in the region-Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, St Lucia, St Vincent, St Kitts, Antigua and the Cayman Islands.”They, like us in Trinidad and Tobago, see this tournament and this sponsorship as important steps to getting the West Indies back to the pinnacle of world cricket,” he added. In response, Ellis Lewis, outgoing Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president and WICB director, said the KFC intervention “could not have come at a better time, given the limited resources at the Board’s disposal”.He gratefully added that the KFC sponsorship “gives the game in the region a boost, even as our great sport is currently being buffeted by the winds of controversy”.On that note, Lewis made veiled reference to yesterday’s joint statement by the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) which pledged to send the best players on the upcoming tour of Australia while the parties continue to attempt to resolve outstanding sponsorship issues.”And with this contribution to the limited overs competition from KFC,” Lewis ventured, “we may well have turned the corner.” No details of how the sponsorship money was to be distributed were available yesterday.The WICB’s chief marketing executive Darren Millien said: “Because of the late nature of the signing of this deal, those intricate details of the sponsorship will be worked out within the next 24 hours.” Millien said the unsponsored running of the one-day competition had cost the WICB “upwards of US$600,000” in each of the last two years.The KFC sponsorship will not cover those costs completely each year, but the marketing chief said: “You seldom get a sponsorship that is going to cover all of your costs. It will certainly help to defer some of the costs and allow us to focus on some other cricket-related activities.” WICB president Ken Gordon was unavailable for yesterday’s announcement at the KFC suite at the Queen’s Park Oval since he left yesterday to attend an ICC meeting in Australia.

Boeta Dippenaar underwent a successful two-and-a-half hour operation on his right wrist in Cape Town last night. “It lasted a little longer than we expected due to a complex nature of the ganglion,” said the South African’s physiotherapist, Shane Jabaar.Dippenaar was diagnosed with a dorsal ganglion ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand at Cape Town.”He stayed overnight for observation and he is in high spirits,” Jabaar said. “He will return to Cape Town after ten days for a follow-up consultation with the surgeon, thereafter, a decision will be made on the type of rehabilitation he will undergo. This rehabilitation process will determine for how long it will take him before he can return to competitive cricket.”

Sourav Ganguly has said that he is available to play for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu on January 3, after citing personal reasons for missing the match against Gujarat. Anil Kumble will play for Karnataka and while Virender Sehwag will play for Delhi, Gautam Gambhir was denied permission for the same.Ganguly made his decision after receiving instructions from the BCCI to play in the sixth-round match before departing for Pakistan. Parthiv Patel will also play for Gujarat against Mumbai. “Sourav informed us of the directive he received and confirmed that he will play in the January 3 match,” Saradindu Pal, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) secretary, told Indian Express. “We have decided to make Sourav the captain of the Bengal team for that match. The team will be picked on December 30.”Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said that the decision was approved by Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, and had the approval of Rahul Dravid, Greg Chappell and Kiran More, the chairman of selectors. “We have taken this decision as we thought that all players chosen for the tour will not be needed to play the opening tour three-day warm-up game on January 7,” said Shah. “We also wanted to give importance to domestic cricket.” More was upset that Ganguly chose not to play against Gujarat in the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy and wanted an explanation from him.India will leave for Pakistan on January 5 and will play a practice match in Lahore on January 7. The first Test begins on January 13. Ganguly, Kumble, Sehwag and Patel will join the team on January 7 after the completion of their domestic games.

Australia’s cricket authorities are determined that England’s Barmy Army supporters won’t outnumber the home supporters during next winter’s Ashes series, as the jostling for position continues ahead of the most eagerly anticipated tour in years.The Australia press has been speculating that as many as 40,000 English cricket fans will descend on Australia, raising concerns among some players that England’s Ashes defence will be like a virtual home series for the visitors. But Cricket Australia says it is confident Australian fans will not be shouted down by the vociferous Barmy Army.”The Aussie players are going to want to play in front of Australians, and we confidently expect that most people in the stands will be Australians barracking for Australia,” said Peter Young, a Cricket Australia spokesman.”That’s the way it should be, because it’s our country, and Australians should have as good an opportunity to see their team first-hand as we can provide.”There have been projections of huge crowds for the five Tests in November, December and January, and officials believe the refurbished Melbourne Cricket Ground – the principal venue for the Commonwealth Games in March – may break its own world record of 90,800 for the first day of the Boxing Day Test.”It’s going to be phenomenal,” Shane Warne told AFP on Wednesday. “We’ve just got to make sure it’s not a home Test for England. “[If] they’ve got 40,000 or 50,000 at [the MCG] and you’ve only got 20,000 or 30,000 Aussies it will be like a home ground for them.”CA’s marketing people have not yet projected a total crowd figure, but it is expected to be the most watched Australian Test series in history. Young said the reason for the delay in ticketing pricing was the complexity of dealing with “the most extraordinary customer interest we’ve ever encountered”.He said ticket prices and on-sale dates were the responsibility of the individual state associations and CA wanted to make sure everything was right before any announcement. “They own the pricing of the tickets and to get all of that lined up is bloody hard work and we’re not there yet.But Young was not about to turn the English fans away. “We hope that lots of UK visitors come Down Under,” he said. “It adds to the colour and excitement. We also hope that they leave lots of their pounds sterling here, and also that little urn here at the end, because we want it back.”England regained the Ashes against Australia for the first time in 18 years last September with a 2-1 series win.

The Standard Bank Pro20 innings of the season was played by AB de Villiers scoring 91 not out with seven sixes and five fours coming off 52 balls as the Titans beat the Lions by six wickets in a high-scoring gameat the SuperSport Park in Centurion.Winning the toss and batting first, the Lions put together a decent total of 179 for 4 in their 20 overs. Adam Bacher got the innings off on the right foot, scoring 52 from 37 but when he was brilliantly caught at extra cover by Aaron Phangiso one felt that the Gods were smiling on theTitans. Neil McKenzie got off to a slow start but once in his stride, was very strong on the leg side in his 66 off 48. Vaughn van Jaarsveld was aggressive in his 35 off 18 as they put on 83 in seven overs. Brendon Reddy was the pick of the Titans bowlers, getting rid of both van Jaarsveldand McKenzie in consecutive balls.The Titans innings could not have started any better with de Villiers launching the first ball of the innings into the crowd. The fourth ball received the same treatment and the home spectators sensed something special. And special it was; the second highest score in the South African competition with shots going to all parts of the ground. A square drive for six will long be remembered. One wonders why he is not in Australia with the Proteas. With a willing partner in Goolam Bodi (36 off 33) they put on 93 for the first wicket. It was, however the class ofde Villiers and the aggression of Gerald Dros (24 off 11) that put the Titans into a winning position with eight balls to spare and assuring them a home semi-final.The Dolphins won their first match in the Standard Bank PRO20 Series by defeating the Warriors by 11 runs at Kingsmead in Durban. Batting first, Doug Watson got the Dolphins off to a solid start as he struck nine boundaries and a six in a 23 ball 48. A 46 off 30 balls from Ahmed Amla, that included six fours and a six, saw the Dolphins getting to hundred in just 57 balls. Unable to sustain the run rate and wickets falling, the Dolphins could only score 65 in the final 11 overs, and finished on 165 for 7. Some good bowling at the end of the innings contributed to the Dolphins decline with Robin Petersen taking 2 for 23 and Justin Kreusch, 3 for 24.Some tight bowling by Yusuf Abdulla (2 for 20) and Andrew Tweedie (2 for 31) at the start of the Warriors innings put the batsmen under a lot of pressure. With the loss of Tyron Henderson (38) and Arno Jacobs (36), the game had slipped away from the Warriors, who ended on 154 for 6 and now prop up the bottom of the table.

The South African captain Graeme Smith says Australia do not have the strength in depth to rest key players and Arjuna Ranatunga believes the policy is “cocky and arrogant”.”From what we have seen in the past few games, they are more than capable of missing out on the final with the way Sri Lanka and South Africa have played,” Ranatunga told the . “You can see the way they crumble under pressure. When there is no pressure, they look really good and are tough to beat. But they panic under pressure and they looked awful and vulnerable the other night.”Ranatunga said Sri Lanka had a good chance to finish the VB Series on top after beating Australia in Sydney on Sunday. “I don’t think our players will worry if Australia are being arrogant. If they are cocky, that’s their problem, not ours.”Smith, whose side is preparing to take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday, said the Australian attack was exposed without their spearhead Glenn McGrath. Australia chose to rest McGrath at the SCG and Sanath Jayasuriya smacked 114 off 96 balls.”It shows how important McGrath is to their set-up … McGrath and [Brett] Lee,” he said. “I know McGrath hasn’t got many wickets but they’ve really bowled well up front this series and created pressure. It just maybe shows the depth is just like ours, it takes a while to get those guys up to a level they need to be.”The allrounder James Hopes was hammered for 65 runs off six overs by the Sri Lankans while Brett Dorey was substituted by Ricky Ponting after being smashed for 35 runs off four overs. Smith questioned why the Australians continued to ignore Jason Gillespie, despite his poor form in Australia’s Ashes tour of England. “I know he struggled through the Ashes but he’s a world-class bowler, and certainly it has been a surprise that he hasn’t even been spoken of much.”Smith was also surprised at the decision to rest Phil Jaques, who blasted an Australian one-day debut record of 94 against South Africa in Melbourne on Friday. “It’s a bit harsh on the boy,” he said, “but I guess they’ve backed Simon Katich from the start and it’s important to have a degree of consistency.”Consistency was a strength of ours through our success winning 20 games in a row in the last six to eight months, now we’ve lost a lot of those guys going home and it takes a while to build that experience and confidence at this level.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

After the tug-of-war of the first four days, New Zealand ensured that there would be no final West Indies comeback by taking the last two wickets for 17 runs to go up 1-0 in the series. Shane Bond, the architect of New Zealand’s final surge, fittingly took the last wicket and bagged a five-wicket haul in his first home Test since December 2002.New Zealand began the day with two tailenders to dismiss and 44 runs to defend. Daniel Vettori prised out Ian Bradshaw, caught by Stephen Fleming at bat-pad. Bond followed up by bowling Jerome Taylor, who had struck two boundaries off Vettori to give a flutter of hope to the dressing-room, off the inside edge to end the match in the tenth over of the day. This 27-run win was New Zealand’s narrowest in terms of runs, beating their 40-run victory against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1962.Bond was adjudged Man-of-the Match for his matchwinning spell but New Zealand’s win was a result of several fightbacks over the course of the match. Scott Styris bailed them out of a first-innings debacle with a hundred and Brendon McCullum staged a recovery with Vettori in the second before Bond’s onslaught sealed the result.For West Indies, it was a familiar tale of what could have been. They had the perfect opportunity to win their first overseas Test, other than in Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, since beating England at Birmingham in 2000. But every time they wrested the advantage, their inability to build on it and shut New Zealand out of the game let them down. However, they can take heart from Ian Bradshaw’s performance on debut. With Jerome Taylor unable to bowl more than nine overs in the match because of a hamstring injury, Bradshaw shouldered the extra burden and bowled 57.1 overs, sometimes unchanged through an entire session, and picked up six wickets. In the second innings, Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga showed, during a 148-run opening partnership, that the Bond threat could be overcome. However, the middle order didn’t follow their lead and wilted against Bond’s pace, collapsing spectacularly to a 27-run defeat.

Ian Bradshaw c Fleming b Vettori 10 (251 for 9)
Jerome Taylor b Bond 13 (263 all out)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Both teams face a nervous wait for the conclusion of a pulsating final Test as Damien Martyn’s unbeaten 93 crept Australia to within 44 of their target with only four wickets remaining. Australia, who may not be able to use Justin Langer, seemed set for a comfortable chase during a brilliant 165-run partnership between Martyn and Michael Hussey, but when Hussey departed for 89 the side lost 4 for 39 to refresh a previously ailing South Africa over the last 90 minutes.Makhaya Ntini charged through Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne after Nicky Boje finally removed Hussey, and Jacques Kallis, a debutant captain under unfamiliar pressure, ended a dangerous drive from Andrew Symonds. The last three batsmen fell for nine runs in a dramatic turnaround as South Africa’s mood changed from one of impending defeat to hope of a first positive result in six Tests against Australia this summer.Through the chaos Martyn remained calm, like he had throughout an innings that was crucial to his career prospects, and Australia finished at 248 for 6. The reshuffled order meant Hussey was promoted to his preferred spot of opener and while his place was assured after his brilliant entry this summer, Martyn was at an important stage in a three-match comeback that was not convincing until today. Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, picked Martyn’s experience for this type of uncompromising situation and by stumps he had repaid them. On Tuesday he will aim for a 13th century and an Australian victory.Playing with casual determination, Martyn deflected the fast men and spent a lot of time taking runs from Boje, often through cut shots. This was the version of the player who wooed audiences worldwide before the Ashes blip that he worried had ended his career. Given an unlikely chance, Martyn waited until the third Test to reconfirm his capabilities as a match turner.He hit 12 boundaries and looked unflustered in his 184-ball stay that was crucial throughout the final two sessions, and Australia were relived that he was unbeaten at the end with Brett Lee on 9. The second new ball is due in nine deliveries and Ntini, who picked up 3 for 60, and Pollock will be dangerous on a surface that offers the most when the ball is hard and shiny.

The purpose of Hussey was on display as the zinc on his nose wore off when sweat dripped down his face. Despite gaining a trio of early reprieves, he uncovered some cracking pull shots and sweet cover drives mixed with determined defence during his 197-ball innings that included 12 boundaries. Hussey’s second half-century of the match came from 140 deliveries and he drove the chase again in the final session with his hard running and careful placement.His early performance was not a smooth one and he could have been dismissed to lbw appeals from Andre Nel on 0 and Pollock on 5. Both were rejected by Steve Bucknor, and Hussey was also lucky to escape an edge to Mark Boucher off Makhaya Ntini on 19. The mistakes were costly and South Africa finally got their man when Boje trapped him playing back with the score on 198 and the target less than 100.Symonds came in and thrashed a brutal 29 off 26 balls that reduced the aim further and just as a fast finish seemed likely he edged Kallis to Boucher. Hitting a six over cover, driving fours and pulling two more boundaries, Symonds eased the pressure on his team-mates before leaving as quickly as he arrived at 224. Gilchrist then fell first ball, Warne went with a similar edge to Ntini and the South Africans were back.After reaching 258 in their second innings, the home side’s push for victory started well when AB de Villiers took a sharp diving slips catch to a Matthew Hayden nick from Ntini before Ricky Ponting (20) collected a fine inside edge to an unconvincing drive off Kallis. With the score at 33 for 2, Kallis deserved to be pleased, but he was hindered by an illness to Nel, who was visibly struggling and able to deliver only two overs before leaving the ground for treatment.Australia also had their problems with Langer after he was hit in the head by Ntini with the opening ball of the first innings on Saturday. Reports ranged from him batting No. 4, which didn’t happen, to playing if the team really needed him or not at all. He turned up at the ground late in the day dressed in street clothes and as the wickets fell did not pull on his whites.There was no doubt about the performance of Lee as he finished off South Africa’s innings in only 15 balls this morning, knocking over Boucher for 63 and Ntini for 0. The smooth end gave Australia some useful momentum, but despite an impressive push by Martyn and Hussey the game had ebbed again by stumps.

Australia
Matthew Hayden c de Villiers b Ntini 0 (0 for 1)
Ricky Ponting c Boucher b Kallis 20 (33 for 2)
Michael Hussey lbw Boje 89 (198 for 3)
Andrew Symonds c Boucher b Kallis 29 (228 for 4)
Adam Gilchrist c Boucher b Ntini 0 (229 for 5)
Shane Warne c Boucher b Ntini 3 (237 for 6)
South Africa
AB de Villiers b Clark 4 (9 for 1)
Boeta Dippenaar c Hayden b Clark 20 (55 for 2)
Herschelle Gibbs c Martyn b Warne 53 (100 for 3)
Ashwell Prince c Symonds b Warne 9 (120 for 4)
Jacques Rudolph c Gilchrist b Clark 0 (140 for 6)
Shaun Pollock c Gilchrist b Lee 44 (186 for 7)
Nicky Boje c Symonds b Warne 4 (194 for 8)
Mark Boucher c Gilchrist b Lee 63 (258 for 9)
Makhaya Ntini b Lee 0 (258)

New South Wales’ slow bowling stocks have received another boost with Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist spinner, announcing today he will leave Western Australia. Casson was the Warriors’ first-choice ahead of the one-day international Brad Hogg in the Pura Cup last summer, but he has decided to fight for a spot in Sydney alongside Stuart MacGill, Jason Krejza and Nathan Hauritz, who is also chasing greater opportunities.Tony Dodemaide, the Western Australia chief executive, was disappointed to lose Casson, who took 17 wickets at 54.23 in the Pura Cup in 2005-06. “If Beau wants to go to the next level, he won’t do that by bowling in the nets in Sydney,” Dodemaide said. “We pulled out all stops to try to convince him to stay. I think he will struggle to get more opportunities ahead of MacGill and Hauritz than he would for WA where he is the No. 1 choice in first-class cricket.”MacGill is the Blues’ main spinning weapon while Steve O’Keefe and Krejza filled the support roles last summer. Last week Hauritz opted to move south after being attracted by the state’s “spin bowling culture”.”The prospect of having left- and right-arm wrist spinners is exciting,” Trevor Bayliss, the NSW coach, told . “Our spin bowling stocks at that level haven’t been all that deep, but with Beau coming and quite possibly Nathan, it creates some competition.”One of the reasons we went after Beau is the SCG wicket is conducive to wrist-spin bowling. We think Beau has got that potential to go further than just state cricket. He’s the right age.”