Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Photo galleryBulletin – India romp to comprehensive victory
Verdict – Men in form deliver
On the Ball – Timeless Dravid
Commentary – Midsummer madness
Plays of the day – The right hand of Zak
Sehwag and Ganguly quotes – ‘It was very humid and hot’
Inzamam quotes – ‘The target of 282 was gettable’

Shahid AfridiOn his innings
It wasn’t easy. Making the runs was necessary. I made it with the grace of God.On going after Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh
I didn’t have a choice. They tried getting me out but I was fortunate.On why he doesn’t play bigger innings
My game is a risky one. My main aim is to help the team get off to good starts.About his captain’s confidence in him
The captain’s confidence is a big thing for me. When I wasn’tperforming in the first few games, I needed the faith of my captain. Ihad it, and hit a hundred today. His confidence is important for me.Inzamam-ul-HaqOn the team
This is a team game. Everyone works hard for a victory. They’reimproving everyday. The boys played positive cricket, believed inthemselves.On whether Ganguly’s absence helped
Let’s stick to questions about my team.About the line-up
The batting is flexible. Razzaq has batted in a number of positions. But thecombination is looking good.On which contribution was more vital, Naved’s or Afridi’sIt was not easy to get 250. Afridi’s innings was vital.Even Naved’s performance was very good.Rahul DravidWho was at fault
It’s no-one’s fault. One man played brilliantly, and we have to giveAfridi credit for it.On the decision to bat first
The decision wasn’t wrong. We know about the movement in the morning.We also know it spins later. But because they managed 100 in 15 overs,we lost the match.Was Tendulkar brought on too late
You have to back your quality bowlers. After Anil and Harbhajan, Ibrought on Tendulkar.About the batting
We had to build a bit and push things along. Kaif batted beautifully.Even Dinesh did very well for us.About the bowling
There wasn’t that much help for the faster bowlers but the spinnershad help, as you saw. But I though Zaheer bowled very well. Sevenovers for 34 runs in these conditions [was very good].

Samir Inamdar, the newly elected chairman of the Kenya Cricket Association, has said that one of his priorities will be to ensure that the team gets back its official ODI status. The quoted him as saying that he would bring up the issue in a meeting with Ehsan Mani, the ICC president.”I have received an invitation from the International Cricket Council president Ehsan Mani to [come to] London towards the ICC annual conference and we shall discuss the matter,” said Inamdar. “He wants to meet me but this issue will feature prominently because I think there is more to it. We will make a presentation and we hope that we will be given a hearing.”The ICC executive committee had, at its meeting in March 2005, recommended that Kenya be stripped of their ODI status, and Percy Sonn, the ICC vice-president, said that only a formal ratification remained to be done. “Kenya’s one-day status is gone. It will be done formally in London during the June 24-25 annual general conference.” If this does happen, Kenya will then be demoted to associate-member status and will lose the right to qualify automatically for the 2007 World Cup.Inamdar, though, was still hopeful that the decision will be reversed. “Tom Tikolo [the chief selector] and I will be fighting to preserve this status as being a necessary stepping-stone for any country, including Kenya, to proceed to Test status.”Meanwhile, Inamdar said that the government had made arrangements to fly in four Kenyan internationals – Steve Tikolo, Collins Obuya, Thomas Odoyo and Hitesh Modi – who have been selected for the ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia in Windhoek from June 2-4. Inamdar also expressed his satisfaction over the government’s decision to pay daily allowances to the players for the three-day game. “This is a good gesture by the government, especially the [sports] minister Ochilo Ayacko. We are pleased with the government for according cricket the seriousness it deserves.”

Canada 284 (48.1 overs, Davison 125, Billcliff 90) beat Namibia 282 (49 overs, Keulder 83, Sandher 5-57) by two runs
ScorecardsCanada got just the start they needed against a powerful Namibian side in the opening round of the ICC Trophy. A century by Man-of-the-Match John Davison, well supported by 90 from vice-captain Ian Billcliff, allowed Canada to set a big total. Namibia came within two runs of victory, but brave captaincy, coupled with five wickets at the death from Kevin Sandher, gave Canada a thrilling win.Canada were put into bat by Deon Kotze and immediately Davison celebrated Canada Day by smashing two boundaries off the first over. However Desmond Chumney was dismissed in the third, caught by Louis Burger off the bowling of Sarel Burger. The other opening bowler, Kola Burger, struck next, with Zubin Surkari judged lbw for 4, leaving Canada on 26 for 2 in the sixth over.Billcliff also started aggressively, taking two boundaries from Kola Burger’s fourth over. The fifty came up in the 11th over, and Davison reached his personal half-century (out of 73) four overs later. Davison treated the bowling of his counterpart, Kotze with scant respect, and the hundred came up in the 20th over. At the halfway stage of the innings Canada were 141 for 2.Davison completed a superb 86-ball hundred, including four sixes and 12 fours, and with Billcliff added 169 before he was caught by Stefan Swanepoel off the fourth Burger to bowl. His 125 equalled the third-highest innings by a Canadian in the ICC Trophy (Muneeb Diwan made 125, also against Namibia in 1996-97). Billcliff reached his half-century and brought up the 200 in the 35th over, but Namibia halted the Canadian acceleration with three quick wickets. When Billcliff fell for an excellent 90 in the 44th over a post-300 score seemed possible, but Canada failed to bat out their overs and it almost cost them dear.When Namibia batted, Don Maxwell made the initial breakthrough, bowling the dangerous Andries Burger for just 8. Sarel Bruger (42) and Keulder (83) however were harder to dislodge, but tight bowling meant they gradually slipped behind a challenging run-rate, and both were dismissed as they tried to accelerate.George Codrington, a late addition to the touring party, proved his worth as he came on third change and bowled his first five overs for eight runs, capturing the wickets of Danie Keulder and Gerrie Snyman. As the required crept towards double figures, Louis and Kola Burger were forced to hit out, which they did to some effect. Kotze came in and took up the challenge, taking on Davison, and hitting a quick 22.Davison persevered with the initially expensive Kevin Sandher, and that faith was rewarded as he grabbed wickets as Namibia hit out, taking his fifth with the final ball of the penultimate over as Canada squeaked home by just two runs.A win over one of the strongest teams in the group is the perfect start for Canada. Assuming that they have no trouble with Papua New Guinea or Oman (both crashed to heavy defeats), Canada can assure World Cup qualification with a win over Scotland or Netherlands.

The much-anticipated attempt to rejuvenate one-day cricket took place under gloomy skies at Headingley, where a capacity crowd watched the new ODI rules come into effect for the first time. Sky Sports duly made its own contribution by introducing terms like “powerplay” and “supersub” into the cricketing lexicon. But with Australia’s waning dominance turning the match into a rather one-sided affair, cricket watchers were still left undecided as to whether the rules would make the games more exciting, or merely more confusing. This is what they saw:Vik the semi-sub
A sure shot question for trivia fiends three years from now. Vikram Solanki came on for Simon Jones right after Jones had completed an economical ten overs, thus becoming the first fully-functional substitute in cricketing history. The logic, one assumes, was that England would prefer the batting services provided by Solanki to that of Jones. In any event, Solanki sat in the balcony and cheered his captain and Marcus Trescothick to a facile nine-wicket win. Much like Jones did.The real supersub (well … somewhat)
Brad Hogg, the Australian supersub replaced Matthew Hayden, and had a slightly more useful day. Not only did Hogg send down six overs, he also picked up the wicket of Andrew Strauss, who for a change did not succumb to a Brett Lee yorker. Not that it mattered a great deal: Strauss was replaced by Michael Vaughan, who smacked an unbeaten 59 off 65 balls to seal the issue.Cryptic signals
Umpires Mark Benson and Rudi Koertzen were entrusted with the job of unleashing two more indecipherable signals on an unsuspecting public. Circles in the air denote the introduction of powerplays, while the bringing on of a supersub is signaled by the fingers of the left hand touching the palm of the right, a bit like the NBA ‘time-out’ sign. Watch out for more signals in the future, like the one that formally announces a change in Kevin Pietersen’s hairstyle, or the one that declares that Jason Gillespie’s bowling is now officially “garbage.”Powerplays that weren’t
Unhelpful conditions for the Australian batsmen, and a gettable target for Vaughan’s men meant that powerplay 3 (that’s the final block of five overs, for all you ageing purists out there) wasn’t really taken advantage of. Both Ricky Ponting and Vaughan finished off their powerplays at one go. Hopefully circumstances at Lord’s will be different.

Glenn McGrath has welcomed Kevin Pietersen to Tests by telling him to expect a different level of performance from Australia. Pietersen sealed his spot during the one-day series when he averaged 51.25 against them, but McGrath insisted he used the time to spot some flaws.”We have picked up a few things in the one-dayers, certain shots he plays, and I think we’ve got a pretty good game-plan ready to go,” McGrath said. “It will be interesting to see how he goes at the longer format of the game. The fact that he averages 50 in first-class cricket shows that he can handle it pretty well.”Pietersen is expected to join the batsmen Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell and Andrew Flintoff on Ashes debuts at Lord’s on Thursday and McGrath believed the situation would benefit his side. “England have a lot of guys who haven’t played against us before and they’ll realise it’s a different level when you play Australia,” McGrath said.It has already been a busy week for McGrath, who has also planned his 500th Test scalp and dismissed suggestions he has overtaken Dennis Lillee, who collected 355 wickets, as his country’s greatest fast bowler. “I wouldn’t put myself in the same class as Lillee,” McGrath told . “He was more of a showman in the Shane Warne sort of mould but I am a bit more reserved. Lillee had the whole package. There was an aura about him.”William Hill has listed Marcus Trescothick as the 9-4 favourite for McGrath’s milestone, but the bowler is happy if it is either opener. “To see the stump cartwheeling would be far better than getting a wicket caught at long-off,” he told , “but a wicket’s a wicket, and there are 499 that have gone before it.”

The ECB and Cricket Australia have announced the Compton-Miller Medal will be awarded to the player of the series in the forthcoming Ashes. The new medal, named in honour of two of the greatest players of the post Second World War era, Denis Compton and Keith Miller, will be awarded in Ashes series from now on. It has been designed and manufactured by the Royal Mint.Attending the launch of the medal at Lord’s, on the eve of the first Test between England and Australia, was Marie Miller, the widow of Keith, and Denis’s son Richard Compton, who flew in from his home in South Africa.James Sutherland, the CEO of Cricket Australia, revealed that the idea of a Compton-Miller medal had developed after the memorial service for Keith Miller at Melbourne’s St Paul’s Cathedral. In a joint statement released by Lord’s this afternoon, Sutherland said: “We wanted an appropriate way of remembering Keith and it was Marie who reminded us of Keith’s great friendship with Denis Compton, his English alter-ego.”He added: “Keith, like Sir Donald Bradman, had the rare ability to capture the public imagination and the public’s affection.”David Collier, the ECB chief executive, added: “Denis Compton had the post War status of a matinee idol – with a love for life and a love of living life to the full. It was an attitude that he shared with Keith Miller and they became not only great rivals, but great friends. And that is what is so special about sporting contests between England and Australia. After this summer is over, great rivalries will have been established but also great friendships will have been forged.”Both England and Australia captains Michael Vaughan and Ricky Ponting were present at the launch, as were the Cricket Australia chairman Bob Merriman and the ECB chairman David Morgan.

Rageb Aga, Kenya’s stand-in captain, has warned that nothing less than victory will do, as they prepare for their Intercontinental Cup semi-final clash against Scotland, which begins in the United Arab Emirates on November 17.”It is vital for the future of Kenya cricket,” said Aga, 20, who has been handed the captaincy in place of Hitesh Modi, who is getting married in London on the final day of the match. “It is important that Kenya shows its potential and does well. The bigger picture for Kenya is attaining Test status and winning this tournament will be astepping-stone towards achieving this goal.”Kenya’s preparations have been clouded in controversy, with several of the country’s leading players going on strike after a pay dispute with the Kenyan Cricket Association. But Aga is eager to put the unrest to one side. “We have a blend of youthful exuberance and experience,” he said of his squad. “We are a team willing to take up any challenge and a team willing to work for each other.”Kenya’s match against Scotland takes place at Abu Dhabi, while the other semi-final, Canada against UAE, is being held at Sharjah. The final will take place at Sharjah from November 21.

Tickets for the traditional end-of-season Australian Rules Football game at The Oval on October 8 are selling well, with over 10,000 already sold for the event.The main attraction is the game between Grand Finalists the West Coast Eagles and local Perth rivals the Fremantle Dockers which starts at 2.40pm. That will be preceeded by a clash between the Irish AFL side, the Green Machine, and the British Bulldogs.AFL first appeared at The Oval in 1972 but the end-of-season exhibition only became a regular fixture in the late 1980s.And in 2006 the ground might host Major League Baseball (MLB) after it was revealed that officials of Surrey had held discussions with MLB representatives. “MLB is very interested in playing games in Europe,” Paul Archey, the organisation’s senior vice-president said. “We’re investigating possibilities in Europe where we may be able to play regular-season games as early as the 2007 season. There’s a lot of interest in us playing in London, and I think selling tickets would be the easiest part of it.”Tickets for the event are £20 and are available on Surrey’s website or 0207 582 7764

Australia’s dominance of the four-match Super Series has forced the ICC to abort a plan to stage it every four years. Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, downgraded the tournament from a regular event on the calendar following Australia’s 210-run Super Test victory at the SCG today.”For the concept to succeed it needs one team to stand out of the pack and be the best in the world,” Speed said. “We’ve seen that with Australia but it’s not something that we will put in on a regular basis or something we will play every two, four or six years. If a team emerges that justifies being called the best in the world we may take the opportunity to put the rest of the world together.”The move was a turnaround from the ICC’s public statements in the lead-up to the series. An ICC spokesman insisted the event was a trial and that no commitment had been made to play it on a regular basis in between World Cups and Champions Trophies.However, a press release on the ICC’s website said the organisation hoped the series would become a regular feature and was “planned to be played every four years”. “Every four years starting on 1 April 2005 the top team in the ICC Test Championship will qualify to play the Team of Champions in the ICC Super Series Test for a winner-takes-all prize,” the release said when the venues for the tournament were announced.Doubt over the future of the series was also shared with the issue of technology and Speed said the use of television replays for all decisions was still in the trial stage. “We will take a cautious approach with it and we’ve been quite careful with technology,” he said. “We will evaluate what happens here, just as we did after the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in 2002.”The World XI performances during the series were disappointing but Speed said there were no plans to recall the international status given to the Test and one-day games. “The board was happy with the decision and we’ve been criticised because some other matches 20 or 30 years ago weren’t given it,” he said. “We don’t go back to review decisions of administrators of the past and we don’t expect the ones in the future to review these decisions.”While the series is expected to be a commercial success because of the massive global audience, Speed was disappointed with the size of the crowds and said he wanted an extra 4000 spectators each day. “We also would have liked more runs from the World XI,” he said.