Australia’s one-day captain Ricky Ponting says his team’s confidence can only have been boosted by their stunning 10-wicket win over England in the first VB series final at the SCG.”To walk off the field and have the game won inside 13 overs was amazing,” Ponting told Sky Sports. “The beginning of the innings set the tone. There was a little bit in the wicket. It bounced around and swung, which is unusual, but the three fast bowlers did a good job, Warney (Shane Warne) did a good job and the fielding was top notch.”We’ve done well in one of the two innings of a game over the last few weeks but today we put it all together and it is really pleasing. We’ve been below our best lately but we’ve put it together today and you can only get your confidence up from playing games like today.”England’s captain Nasser Hussain admitted that England will need to improve massively if they are to avoid humiliation in the finals, the second of which is at Melbourne on Saturday.”It was a terrible day at the office,” Hussain said. “We were completely outplayed – they played exceptionally well. The wicket seemed to do a little early on. There was definitely some bounce and we struggled and lost wickets regularly.”Then when they came out in that situation they had licence. The press will say 12 overs but the game was gone by then. They got confidence and you have licence when chasing a score like that, but it was difficult early on.”We’ve just got to get the embarrassment factor out of our system. To play in front of a full crowd and lose like that was embarrassing. Not many in the team had a good game and everyone needs to look at their own performances to see where they can improve.”Meanwhile Shane Warne was delighted to end his last one-day spell at he SCG in the best possible style – with the wicket of Paul Collingwood from his last ball.”It’s always nice when you win,” Warne enthused. “It was my last one-day international in Sydney which has been a special place in both forms of the game. It was my first game back so I was a bit nervous and apprehensive but I’m happy to be back.On today’s evidence, Warne’s last bow in home one-day internationals will be at his home ground, the MCG, on Saturday.”It will definitely be my last one-day in Australia – if we win,” Warne added. “It’d be great to finish off in Melbourne and to walk off after a victory would be perfect.”Brett Lee, who began England’s demise with the early wickets of their two openers, admitted they were crucial breakthroughs.”All the bowlers did a great job but it was good to get a couple of early wickets,” said Lee, who took three for 29.”Consistency-wise I’m probably bowling my fastest, but that comes down to rhythm because I’m not trying to bowl fast. The target was to get early breakthroughs but to have them four for 30 was great.”

Marlon Samuels has been ruled out of the World Cup, but the gifted Jamaican batsman may be appearing in the opening round of the Carib Beer Cricket Series on Friday.Samuels was withdrawn from the West Indies team after a report submitted to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) by Dr Akshai Mansingh following an MRI scan on his left knee.In an interesting twist, there were suggestions that the 22-year-old Samuels could make himself available for Jamaica.Mansingh told the Jamaica Observer that Samuels was free to play in the regional first-class tournament until what he termed further medical evaluation."He (Samuels) will require further evaluation and this is being recommended to take place overseas. Arrangements by the WICB are being made for this to happen. Until then the choice of playing is his ," Mansingh said.Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) sources said Samuels was expected to turn up for training with the Jamaica 16-man Carib Beer squad yesterday and today.

Sudbrook CC, semi-finalists in both 2000 and 2001, defeated reigning champions Madisons from Northamptonshire in tense final of the ECB Indoor Six-a-Side Championship at Lord’s.The Welsh Champions, electing to bat first in the Final at the MCC’s Indoor School, built up a formidable score with three of the first batsmen each being forced to retire having reached an individual score of 25.Andrew Harris was caught at mid-off from a miss-timed drive for 22, the first and only wicket falling at 113. Despite coming together for just the last over, Robert Voke and Ian O’Leary kept the scoring rate going with 13 as Sudbrook reached 126 for one from their allotted 12 overs.Madisons were seeking to become the first club to successful defend their title, but after a bright start they lost four wickets in three overs to reach 64 for four after the seventh over. Two wickets for Ian O’Leary, one from captain Mark O’Leary and a direct hit run out by Voke firmly put the initiative in Sudbrook’s favour.When Marcus Steed was clean bowled to give Mark O’Leary his second wicket, Madisons, at 77 for five, looked dead and buried. However, experienced captain Richard Dalton set about trying to recover a lost situation and with a combination of finely placed shots began chipping away at the lead.He survived one chance and took the game into the last over requiring 12 runs to win. A four from the first ball kept the tension high. One run came from the second ball and Dalton seemed to have gained another life as a hard off drive from the next was palmed by Voke but Carl Morgan reacted like lighting to dive and complete a caught and bowled to give Sudbrook victory by six runs. Richard Dalton scored 44 and added 43 runs for the last wicket.Bob Cherry, Chairman of the ECB Clubs & Leagues Sub-Group, presented the trophy to Mark O’Leary and mementoes to each of the two finalists, the scorers and umpires. Ian O’Leary was named as the Player of the Day for his record bowling performance of being the first player to take four wickets in an innings at the National Finals, and following this up with 2-27 in the Final.Sudbrook wicketkeeper Ross Lewis won the Fielder of the Day Award for a fine performance including two stumpings and two catches standing up.Semi-Finals:
Sudbrook 80 for 0 (Mark O’Leary 25ret) beat Walkden 79 for 5 (Richard Slater 42 not out, Ian O’Leary 4 for 13) by 6 wicketsMadisons 83 for 3 (Rob Williams 26ret, David Hawkes 24 not out) beat Canterbury 82 for 6 by 3 wicketsFinal:
Sudbrook 126 for 1 (R Lewis26ret, C Morgan 26ret) beat Madisons 120 (R Dalton 44) by 6 runs

The Eastern Province Cricket Board Amateur Department received a major boost when the central government through the United Cricket Board of SA made available an amount of R 11 904.76 for the previously disadvantaged premier league clubs.This money is geared towards uplifting the standard of cricket through coaching at those clubs.The clubs who will benefit from this funding are Gelvandale, Motherwell, Northville and United Cricket Clubs.On site to present the cheques to the clubs are Mr.Tono Mle, who said the government is to be commended for this effort. "This money will be of great help as some of these clubs will be undergoing winter coaching programmes. We also wish to appeal to our local companies to follow suit as government and government alone cannot make it happen. We need to establish a partnership so as to ensure that we achieve excellency in all various spheres."

JOHANNESBURG, March 20 AFP – When Chris Scott sits down to watch the World Cup final at the Wanderers on Sunday, few people will realise what a big part this virtually unknown man has played in the outcome of the game.For 32 years, except for a three-year break from 1996, Scott has been the groundsman at Wanderers and there is nothing he does not know about the famous venue.”I know just about every blade of grass here,” Scott said ahead of the final.His face is weather-beaten by hours under the African sun and his numerous pictures of famous tussles between South Africa and arch rival Australia, bears testimony of his commitment to prepare a perfect pitch.”I like to think of these grounds as a stage. The players are the actors, and I am a stage manager. Once play starts, however, I stay in the background,” he said.At Wanderers, there are 10 pitches with different wickets having been used for the five World Cup games which have already been played.Made from a special clay and compacted by hours of rolling, the preparation of the middle is an exact science.One of the most important aspects is to get the moisture content just right.”If the moisture content is too high, you get a soft pitch, which gets damaged by the batsmen, the bowlers and the ball. If it’s too dry, it can crack, giving the ball an uneven bounce,” said Scott.The amount of grass growing also plays a huge roll on how it will perform.Wanderers has traditionally been a fast pitch, favouring medium and speed bowlers.For the final, however, Scott is planning a batsman’s pitch which he hopes will produce total scores in the region of between 250 to 280 runs.”I want to give the 32,000 spectators and the 1.25 billion people watching on television a batting spectacular,” he said.A testament to Scott’s ability was three years ago when, after only one day of play during a rain-drenched Test against New Zealand, he was named man of the match.”It’s probably the only time ever a groundsman has been awarded that particular honour,” said Scott.But the World Cup has been the highlight.”For 32 years I have waited for a World Cup final to be played here. The final is the be-all and end-all of cricket. The pressure on a groundsman is immense to do it right,” he said.”For me its a dream and a nightmare come true.”

At the end of last week whilst the Sabres were up in Scotland the rest of the squad and some of the Academy students took part in a `Superstars’ competition back at the County Ground.Assistant coach Mark Garaway told me: "We didn’t have any cricket and as the weather hadn’t been so good we decided to end the week with something that would involve some of the players normal fitness routine activities with one or two extras added for fun."The teams of three undertook a range of different challenges including a gym based triathlon, where one of the team sprinted 500 metres, another cycled 500 metres and the third covered the same distance on one of the rowing machines. Other activities were barrel lifting, tyre rolling, and a final multi activity training session.The winning team had a distinctly west country flavour about it and was led by Devonian Matt Wood and included Cornishman Piran Holloway and Ross Dewar who hails from Dorchester, who were all presented with `Mr Universe’ garden gnomes!Winning captain Matt Wood told me: "It was pretty hard work but great fun and a good way to end the week off for us. Hopefully there will be some cricket for me next week and I can’t wait to get back out in the middle again."Somerset Seconds play a two day friendly in Bristol on Monday and Tuesday next week, and then return to Taunton on Wednesday to play Hampshire in a 3 day Second Eleven championship match.

ECB and the counties have extended their partnership with BBC Local Radio around the country to provide unrivalled audio coverage of the new Twenty20 Cup.

All the five launch-day matches on June 13 will be streamed live online, as will the complete opening weekend line-up and many of the games through the June group stages of the competition. Finals Day from Trent Bridge on July 19 will be broadcast on BBC Radio Five Live, and streamed online.

The links can be accessed from the Live Audio section on ecb.co.uk (as well as county websites and BBC Local Radio sites) and will be updated to allow you to keep right up to date with all the action in this exciting new domestic event.

And if you’re a fan of either Worcestershire or Northants and want to hear suitably partisan coverage of their opener at New Road, then you’re in luck as you can listen to either BBC Hereford & Worcester or BBC Radio Northampton with both stations streaming live commentary.

There will also be live coverage of the official Twenty20 curtain-raiser between south coast rivals Hampshire and Sussex from a sell-out Rosebowl courtesy of BBC Radio Solent, as well as the capital derby between Surrey and Middlesex from the AMP Oval on BBC London 94.9.

To complete the first-day line-up, you can listen to BBC Radio Nottingham’s coverage of Nottinghamshire up at Durham, or BBC WM as Somerset host Warwickshire at Taunton.

Twenty20 audio schedule:

Fri June 13
Durham v Nottinghamshire
BBC Radio Nottingham
Somerset v Warwickshire
BBC WM
Worcestershire v Northamptonshire
BBC Hereford & Worcester
BBC Radio Northampton
Hampshire v Sussex
BBC Radio Solent
Surrey v Middlesex
BBC London 94.9

Sat June 14
Yorkshire v Derbyshire
BBC Radio Derby
Surrey v Essex
BBC London 94.9BBC Radio Essex
Gloucestershire v Worcestershire
BBC Hereford & Worcester

Mon June 16
Leicestershire v Yorkshire
BBC Radio Leicester
Nottinghamshire v Lancashire
BBC Radio Nottingham
Glamorgan v Northamptonshire
BBC Radio Wales
Kent v Hampshire
BBC Radio Solent
Surrey v Sussex
BBC London 94.9

Simon Jones, the England fast bowler who ruptured his knee ligaments on the first day of the Ashes series last November, has made an impressive recovery from reconstructive surgery, and intends to play for Glamorgan’s second XI on August 6.Jones suffered the injury while sliding to prevent a boundary on the first morning of the Brisbane Test last year. He had made a good impression up to that point, bowling with pace and picking up the early wicket of Justin Langer, but when his studs snagged in the sandy outfield, his knee took the full weight of his body and left him needing an operation to rescue his career.When Jones turns out for Glamorgan’s second XI at Panteg, it will be almost nine months to the day since the injury, but if he proves his fitness in that match, he could even return to first-class action at Sophia Gardens the following week.Jones has had to watch the likes of James Anderson, Richard Johnson and Steve Harmison move ahead of him in England’s pecking order. But Duncan Fletcher, Jones’s former coach at Glamorgan, has long rated his potential, and if his knee holds up, he could soon be pushing his way back into the reckoning.

The day of reckoning looms in the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 championship stakes, with the top four going head to head.Unbeaten leaders Alton will be virtually assured of the title if they bag a 12th successive win, but if they slip up against near neighbours Rowledge, Ventnor could sneak in.But the Islanders, beaten only once in early June, face a testing time of their own against fourth-placed Trojans at Steephill.Alton, effectively 21 points clear at the top, parade a full strength side, while Rowledge’s prospects of winning probably hinge on Australian left-hander Justin Larrascy, whose 798-aggregate has bundled Trojans’ Erasmus Hendrikse off the top of the Premier 3 run scoriung charts.Alton spin duo Julian Ballinger (29 wickets) and Ben Jansen (23) arguably hold the key.South African Hendrikse, meanwhile, gets an opportunity to make his mark on the Steephill shirtfront, where Ventnor are launching their own promotion bid.Nigel le Bas misses the Ventnor boat trip.Talented Paultons all-rounder Tony Richman bids to improve on his 334 runs and 24 wickets against Waterloovile – one of several matches affecting the relegation zone.Basement boys Flamingo visit Havant II, Portsmouth II travel to Hook & Newnham Basics, and Hambledon host Hungerford at Ridge Meadow.A indoor soccer injury has put Martyn Isherwood out for the rest of the season and weakens Leckford’s prospects of a key win at South Wilts.

Australia 364 for 2, Brisbane 2002-03
Scorecard
The day started well enough when Nasser Hussain had a change of luck and won the toss, but things then got immediately worse when he bizarrely opted to bowl on a typically good Brisbane batting track. In among a host of dropped catches and wayward bowling, Matthew Hayden raced to 186 not out and Ricky Ponting smashed 123. Add to that a horrendous knee injury to Simon Jones, and it couldn’t hardly have been any worse. England lost the match by 384 runs, and predictably the series, 4-1.England 122, South Africa 64 for 1, Johannesburg 1999-00
Scorecard
England took a new-look squad to South Africa and included three debutants in the series opener at The Wanderers. But their youthful optimism soon turned into a horrible realism when Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock blew the top order away to leave England in tatters at 2 for 4. One of the new faces, Michael Vaughan (33), along with Andrew Flintoff (38), managed to creep the score to 122, but South Africa reached to 64 for 1 at the close and they didn’t look back. England went down by an innings and 21 runs.England 175, Pakistan 13 for 0, Lahore 1987-88
Scorecard
They were out for revenge after Pakistan had edged the five-Test series earlier that year, but Mike Gatting’s team were torn apart by Adbul Qadir, who took a breathtaking 9 for 56 as England crashed to 94 for 8. Neil Foster and Bruce French saved some face with 57 for the ninth-wicket, but 175 all out from 83 overs was not the best of starts. They could not recover and lost the game by an innings and 87 runs, and lost an ill-tempered series 1-0. England 159, West Indies 85 for 0, Sabina Park 1985-86
Scorecard
Riding high after series wins against Australia and India, England were brought back down to earth with a bump by an awesome West Indies pace attack. Patrick Patterson took 4 for 30 on an opening day in which England collapsed from 120 for 5 to 159 all out in just over 45 overs. And to make things worse, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes ended the day on 85 for no wicket to set up a 10-wicket win in a 5-0 clean sweep. England 131, West Indies 14 for 0, Trinidad 1973-74
Scorecard
England travelled to the Caribbean looking to make amends after a 2-0 series defeat to West Indies that summer, but it didn’t quite go to plan. In the series opener at Port-of-Spain, Keith Boyce (4 for 42) started the rot as England were skittled out for 131, despite a fighting 37 from Tony Greig. Roy Fredericks and Lawrence Rowe ended the day on 14 for 0 and West Indies went on to win the Test by seven wickets. However, England later fought back to win the fifth and final Test, drawing the series 1-1.England 134, Australia 8 for 0, Brisbane 1958-59
Scorecard
England travelled to Australia in 1958-59 as clear favourites having not lost a series for seven years. Many considered the England side one of the best of all time. But Peter May’s team received a rude awakening in the Brisbane opener when they were rattled out for a miserable 134. Alan Davidson, Ian Meckiff and Richie Benaud took three wickets each, and Australia went on to a win a low-scoring Test, and made a mockery of their underdog tags in a 4-0 series win.Australia 292 for 2, Brisbane 1946-47
Scorecard
The scoreline wasn’t too bad for England, but the fact that Don Bradman was not given out when England thought they had him caught by Jack Ikin at second slip when he had made a scratchy 28 was. It was a big moment in the series and later proved to be a turning point. Bradman ended the day on 162 not out, and went on to make 187, while Lindsay Hassett also cashed in with a hundred. Australia were eventually bowled out for 645 and England capitulated to an embarrassing loss of an innings and 332 runs, and lost the series 3-0.