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Match facts

November 27-December 1, 2015
Start time 1400 local (0330 GMT)4:32

Ponting: Don’t see a lot change in strategy

Big Picture

Back in 2009, the MCC World Cricket Committee discussed its concerns about the future of Test cricket. “Except for certain icon series, such as the Ashes, Test cricket throughout the world, and in particular the lower-ranked nations, is in very real danger of dying,” the committee said in a blunt statement. It went on to recommend that day-night Test cricket be trialled as a means of keeping the game alive. After six years and countless tweaks to the pink ball, that recommendation is about to come to fruition. One of the sport’s oldest venues, Adelaide Oval, will play host to the newest concept in Test cricket. For the first time in 138 years, a Test match will be played with a ball that is not red. For the first time in 138 years, a Test match will be played at night.It is a significant moment in the history of Test cricket but it also represents a continuation of the evolution of the game. The first Test match was timeless, with four-ball overs and a red ball; Test No.2188 will has a five-day limit, six-ball overs and a pink ball. One of the key mysteries is how the pink ball will perform. Will it swing, and for how long? Will it seam? Will it discolour too quickly? Will the players be able to see it properly in the evening? And will the spectators? Whatever the case, trials at Sheffield Shield level have satisfied Cricket Australia that the Kookaburra pink ball is sound enough to be used in a Test match. There have also been concerted efforts from administrators and groundstaff to ensure a non-abrasive Adelaide Oval pitch to preserve the ball as well as possible.The change has been made largely for fans, so they can watch on TV in prime time or head to the ground after work to catch the second half of the day’s action. But it is the players who must deal with the subtle differences in how the ball will move, and how visible it may be. And the players from Australia and New Zealand do so in this Test with a series on the line. Australia have already done enough to retain the Trans-Tasman Trophy by taking a 1-0 lead after two matches, but New Zealand could yet escape with a second consecutive drawn series in Australia if they win in Adelaide.And as well as being the start of a new era for Test cricket, it is also the dawning of Australia’s post-Johnson period, with Mitchell Johnson’s retirement after the Perth Test altering the look of their attack. His departure also completed a series of retirements during 2015 with Michael Clarke, Ryan Harris, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers also having ended their Test careers. Now in the space of five months they have lost 523 Test wickets and 20,323 Test runs of experience. The times they are a changing.

Form guide

Australia: DWWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)

New Zealand: DLWLW

In the spotlight

Mitchell Starc has in the past spoken of his dislike of the pink ball, but his record with it suggests he ought to change his tune. In his only two pink-ball day-night Sheffield Shield games, Starc has collected 15 wickets at 13.80, and notably both of those matches were at Adelaide Oval. The retirement of Mitchell Johnson has left Starc as the clear spearhead of the attack and if his record is any indication, he may begin the post-Johnson era by strengthening that claim even further.With scores of 23, 23, 1 and 17 so far in the Test series, Martin Guptill needs to provide New Zealand with something more. And maybe this is his opportunity. His only two fifty-plus scores of the tour have come in the practice matches in which the pink ball was used. Against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra last month he scored 94 and against the Western Australia XI in Perth he managed 103 before retiring to allow others a chance. Guptill is renowned as a dangerous one-day striker and perhaps the pink ball, which some observers say is more similar to the white ball than it is to the red, might suit him.

Team news

Australia must make at least two changes due to the retirement of Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja’s hamstring injury. Shaun Marsh comes in for Khawaja, with Steven Smith likely to move up to No.3, and Peter Siddle is the probable replacement for Johnson, having been 12th man in the first two Tests. James Pattinson would likely only get a look-in if the selectors were worried about Josh Hazlewood’s workload. Steve O’Keefe has been released from the squad to play in the Sheffield Shield despite his remarkable record with the pink ball – 18 wickets at 18.22 from three day-night Shield games.Australia (possible) 1 Joe Burns, 2 David Warner, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Adam Voges, 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan LyonAn unchanged New Zealand XI had appeared likely until captain Brendon McCullum hinted at the pre-match press conference that there could be changes. Neil Wagner took five wickets and Mitchell Santner four in the practice match in Perth – where admittedly 13 wickets were taken due to the playing conditions – and might be a chance of playing. Trent Boult bowled without apparent discomfort at training on Wednesday and is expected to play, having struggled with back soreness following the Perth Test.New Zealand (possible) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt), 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner/Mark Craig, 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Matt Henry/Neil Wagner, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

More grass than usual has been left on the Adelaide Oval pitch in an effort to help prevent rapid deterioration of the pink ball, and that may also mean the ball seams and spins. The lack of abrasiveness will also likely make it hard to extract reverse swing. The forecast for the match is for warm weather and possible rain towards the end of the game.

Stats and trivia

• Starc’s record with the pink ball is outstanding but so is that of Josh Hazlewood, who in two day-night Shield games has taken nine wickets at 15.44
• The pink-ball records of Australia’s batsmen vary greatly: the extremes are Steven Smith with an average of 219 from two innings and Joe Burns, who has an average of 9.00 from six innings
• The second Test in Perth was the fourth-highest scoring Test match of the 400 that have been played in Australia

Quotes

Steven Smith on the idea of day-night Test cricket
Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain

England 391 for 4 (Strauss 152, Collingwood 112*, Trescothick 85) defeated Bangladesh 223 (Ashraful 94, Collingwood 6-31, Tremlett 4-32) by 166 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Paul Collingwood has been described as many things in his time as an international cricketer – the best drinks waiter in the country, the finest point fielder since Jonty Rhodes, England’s best one-day finisher since Graham Thorpe. But comparisons with the great Viv Richards have been few and far between … until today, that is. Because, by clubbing an unbeaten 112 from 86 balls and following up with 6 for 31 from 10 probing overs, Collingwood became the first one-day cricketer to do the double since Sir Viv himself, at Dunedin in 1986-87.His efforts ensured that Bangladesh were brought back to earth with a mighty thud after their heady triumph against Australia on Saturday, although an extraordinary onslaught from Bangladesh’s pocket battleship, Mohammad Ashraful, ensured that the margin of victory was less emphatic than it perhaps ought to have been.It was Ashraful’s century that sealed that famous victory at Cardiff. Today, however, he survived his first delivery in freakish circumstances, when a hat-trick delivery from England’s debutant, Chris Tremlett, landed on the top of his stumps and bounced away to safety. Understandably convinced that his luck was in, Ashraful proceeded to smear all of England’s seamers, not least a bewildered Steve Harmison, to all parts of the ground in a brilliant cameo of 94 from 52 balls.For a while, Michael Vaughan wore the same furrowed brow that had been Ricky Ponting’s preserve in the latter stages of Ashraful’s last innings. But there was one subtle difference. England, through the efforts of Collingwood, Marcus Trescothick and, especially, Andrew Strauss, had rattled along to a massive total of 391 for 4 – the second-highest score in one-day history. Glorious though Ashraful’s efforts were, they were every bit as futile as his brilliant Test hundreds against Sri Lanka in 2001 and India last winter.It wasn’t until Collingwood and his reduced pace entered the attack that England re-established their stranglehold. He bowled Ashraful with a slower ball in his third over and followed up with the wickets of Habibul Bashar and Aftab Ahmed from consecutive deliveries. Javed Omar chopped onto his stumps for a dogged 59 and Khaled Mashud was well caught down the leg-side by Geraint Jones, before Collingwood capped his day by bowling Mohammad Rafique with the final ball of his spell. That completed the best figures by an England bowler in one-day history, and the best allround performance by anyone, ever. Tremlett, who impressed throughout with his pace, bounce and accuracy, swept up the tail for the fine figures of 4 for 32.Ashraful’s intercession aside, it was another emphatic statement of intent from a ruthlessly focused England side. Vaughan produced his fifth correct call out of six to guard against an awkward run-chase in the twilight, but from the moment Trescothick strode out to resume his love-in with Bangladesh’s seam attack, a second upset in four days was never remotely on the cards.

Trescothick came into this match with the small matter of 445 runs to his name in three innings against Bangladesh; by the time he was dismissed, heaving Nazmul Hossain high into the covers, he had added a further 85 from 65 balls. He treated all bowlers with equal disdain, but it was the hapless Tapash Baisya who came in for the greatest abuse. His seven overs were smeared for a whopping 87 runs – the worst economy-rate for any spell of five or more overs in one-day history.It was something of a surprise when Trescothick failed to reach his fourth hundred in as many innings, but once he fell with the score already on 141, there was no pussyfooting around from England. Vaughan fell for an eighth-ball duck and Andrew Flintoff holed out to long-off for 17, but Collingwood’s arrival ensured that the early momentum was not lost.Collingwood instantly set about reproducing the sort of scampering, chivvying innings that had rescued England in their Twenty20 victory over Australia last week. In all he clobbered five sixes and ten fours from 86 balls, and by the latter stages of the performance, the big question was whether England could become the first side to top 400. In the event they failed by nine runs, but no-one will be counting the small change after entertainment of this quality.The biggest revelation of the innings, however, was Strauss, who raced along to his highest one-day score of 152 from 128 balls. While Trescothick was blazing away, he seemed utterly pedestrian by comparison but towards the end of the innings, he unveiled an audacious improvisatory streak with a series of superb inside-out clips that flew away for four through fine leg. He was eventually trapped lbw with one ball of the innings remaining, but by then England had laid down an emphatic gauntlet, both to Bangladesh, but more pertinently, to the chastened Australians, whom they now face in a tasty encounter at Durham on Thursday.

Legspinner Shahzaib Ahmed took five wickets to help shoot out Australia Under-19 for 78 in the second one-dayer in Sheikhupura. Pakistan then cruised to a nine-wicket win as they chased down the target in 11.4 overs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.Captain Sam Robson’s decision to bat backfired as the Australians slipped to 16 for 4. Kane Richardson and Jamie Smith helped stage a mini-recovery with a 43-run stand, but another collapse saw the last six wickets fall for 19 runs. Shahzaib was the star for Pakistan with 5 for 21 and was ably supported by the rest of the attack.The Pakistani opening batsmen, Ahmed Shehzad and Shan Masood, put on a rapid 76 to take their side to the brink of victory. They were helped in their cause by the indisciplined Australian bowlers who sent down 12 wides and overstepped on three occasions.The Australians had put on a better show in the first match on Thursday which they lost by seven wickets after setting a target of 199. Left-arm-spinner Imad Wasim was Pakistan’s wrecker-in-chief with five wickets while Shehzad and Masood laid the platform for the win with the bat.The remaining three one-dayers will be played at Mirpur, with the next game on Tuesday.

The ICC have confirmed the appointment of the Appeals Commissioner who will hear Sourav Ganguly’s case. Tim Castle, a New Zealand barrister, has been named in the role.Ganguly, the Indian captain, was suspended for two Tests by the ICC match referee Clive Lloyd for his team’s slow over-rate during Saturday’s one-day international against Pakistan, which breached one of the ICC Codes of Conduct. As this was Ganguly’s second such trangression of the year, he was handed an automatic ban and he will miss both Tests against South Africa if the punishment is upheld.Castle, meanwhile, has over 30 years’ experience in the areas of litigation, representative sport, national and international sports administration and management. He will have up to seven days to review a video of the match, Lloyd’s reasons for banning Ganguly, and also Ganguly’s grounds of appeal.If the decision on the appeal does take a week, Ganguly would be eligible for the first Test at Kanpur. But theoretically, a decision to uphold the suspension could be taken a day before the Test, which would leave Rahul Dravid with some last-minute reshuffling.

Division One

Warwickshire 320 for 5 (Trott 128) v Gloucestershire 254
Scorecard
Jonathan Trott made his first hundred of the season and Ian Bell continued his fine form with a classy 79, as Warwickshire eased into a promising position on the second day at Gloucester. By the close they led by 66 runs with five wickets remaining, after cashing in on an attack lacking the services of Jon Lewis, who is away on England duty. The innings didn’t start so promisingly, as both openers, Nick Knight and Michael Powell, fell cheaply, but Trott and Bell made amends with a third-wicket stand of 151. Alex Loudon chipped in with 47 to take Warwickshire into the lead, although their day was spoiled slightly when both he and Trott fell in quick succession late in the day, to the spin pairing of Upul Chandana and Ian Fisher.
Scorecard
Middlesex batted throughout the final day at Lord’s to draw with Surrey. For a full report see Match of the Day.

Division Two

Scorecard
Matthew Hoggard struck an unbeaten 64 as Yorkshire clung on for the draw at Headingley. With nearly three hours’ play remaining, Yorkshire had just two wickets left, but they stood firm, losing just one wicket in the process as they snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat. When the final over of the compulsory last 15 finished the Yorkshire players roared with delight … only to realise that as Lancashire had got through their overs so quickly, there was time for one more. When that was safely negotiated, the celebrations started again. Lancashire added 46 in the morning: Mark Chilton allowing Stuart Law to make his fifty before declaring with Yorkshire left to chase an unlikely 382. and nearly three sessions to defend. And they were soon in trouble at 24 for 3, James Anderson striking twice. He finished with 7 for 166. But just as the visitors were turning the screw, Ian Harvey and Craig White set about saving the match for Yorkshire, with a stand of 76. After they fell within four runs of each other, Ian Dawood went soon after and Lancashire were scenting victory. But Phil Jaques and Richard Dawson threatened to ruin Lancashire’s party with a seventh-wicket stand of 68. And another late partnership – of 45 between Dawson and Matthew Hoggard for the ninth wicket – boosted Yorkshire and they clung on, with Deon Kruis also unbeaten on 13.
Scorecard
Worcestershire made quick work of finishing off matters against Somerset on the final day at Bath. Somerset lost Andrew Caddick early, with just one run added to their overnight total of 151 for 9, and Stephen Moore hunted down the runs in fine style, with an unbeaten 66 from 75 balls. Neither was Ben Smith hanging around – he rattled up 41 not out from 39 balls. Worcestershire did lose two wickets in pursuit of victory – Simon Davies made 1 and Graeme Hick 17, each falling to Caddick – but the result was a formality.Durham 505 beat Essex 106 and 380 (Adams 103, Davies 5-86) by an innings and 19 runs
Essex put up a much better fight than they had shown in their first innings, but they were still powerless to prevent Durham from storming to their fifth victory of the season. Having followed on a massive 399 runs in arrears, Essex resumed on a ropey 12 for 1 overnight, and when Alistair Cook fell for the addition of just two runs, it seemed as though they might struggle to surpass their first-innings 106. Dale Steyn, however, had other plans. Sent in as a nightwatchman, he displayed an unheralded stickability and glued the top-order together with a career-best 82 – had he made just another three runs, he would have doubled his career tally. But he and Andy Flower both fell with the score on 146, whereupon James Foster came in to shore up the remainder of the innings with a deadpan 78. At 202 for 7, Essex were already dead in the water, so Andre Adams decided to have some fun, belting 103 – his second first-class century – from just 78 balls. Essex came close to avoiding an innings defeat, but the gulf between first and second in this division is yawning.

Andrew Symonds’ eventful season has continued with him shoulder charging a streaker while batting in the second final in Brisbane. Symonds, who was at the centre of the Sydney Test controversy, was standing at the non-striker’s end when a man entered the field and began dodging security guards and players.When the spectator ran near Symonds, the batsman moved across and bumped into him in a shepherding action more familiar to the Brisbane Lions Australian rules team when it plays at the Gabba. The force of Symonds’ shoulder sent the man to the ground and security and police swarmed before taking him from the field.Symonds, who sometimes trains with the Brisbane Broncos rugby league team, remained unflustered and went to talk to his partner Matthew Hayden. The ICC’s Level 4.2 regulation covers “physical assault on another player, umpire, referee, official or spectator”, but it is highly unlikely Symonds will be punished. The streaker faces a maximum fine of A$3000 for the ground invasion and police also intend to charge him with willful exposure.”I’d just got out, so I was sooking,” Ricky Ponting said. “I haven’t seen it yet, there’s been a bit of talk and laughter around the dressing room, but I haven’t spoken to Symmo about it.”Another naked man ran towards Harbhajan Singh later in the innings but turned away before reaching the offspinner. This time the players let the security guards take care of the offender.Symonds is not the first Australian to have had an altercation with a spectator. Greg Chappell once whacked a streaker on the backside with his bat after the man ran on to the field and shook the batsman’s hand. Terry Alderman, the former Australia swing bowler, was less fortunate than Symonds when he tackled an English fan during the 1982-83 Ashes series, dislocating his shoulder and not playing a Test for 18 months.

Twenty20 cricket is set to become an official part of the ICC international calendar from 2007 onwards – and England could be named as hosts of the inaugural world championship in 2009 – after a deal was struck on the second day of the ICC executive board meeting in Dubai.There had been much scope for disagreement before the meeting, with the powerful Indian board especially sceptical about a form of the game that has drawn massive crowds across the globe since its inception in 2003.But with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh keen to make a belated submission to host the fifty-over World Cup in 2011, the opportunity arose for a compromise to be reached. As a result, the Asian bloc have been given until April 21 to make their hosting submission for 2011, and England in the meantime have set their sights on hosting the first mandatory Twenty20 tournament in 2009.”There was potential for an impasse on these two issues with several of our members holding strong views,” admitted Ehsan Mani, ICC’s president, “but this approach has allowed us to map out a way forward on these important topics to try and reach consensus. The programme of ICC events from 2007 to 2015 will now be considered again in April.”The deals were put forward as the ICC thrashed out its package of events for 2007 to 2015. Under the new arrangement, there will be a major event every year, with a shorter eight-nation Champions Trophy set to take place on a biennial basis from 2008.An invitational twenty-over tournament has been pencilled in for next year but, as a demonstration of their willingness to host the Twenty20 tournament, and to win over the Asian bloc, England have proposed to withdraw their application to stage the 2015 World Cup, and will instead bid for 2019. Australasia and Asia are now the two regions in the reckoning for the forthcoming World Cups in 2011 and 2015.