Jacques Kallis is confident that South Africa’s 229-run lead over New Zealand puts them in the driving seat after three days of the first Test. Kallis struck a vital, and often painful, 62 as South Africa fought back from 73 for 4.”I’d rather be in our seat than theirs,” Kallis told reporters. “The wicket is very much up and down and if we get enough balls in the right area we will put them under pressure. The new ball becomes a lottery, although it gets a little easier after that.”He added that he has been far from impressed with the pitches throughout the South Africa summer. “The whole summer I’ve been very disappointed with our wickets, they haven’t been conducive to attractive cricket. They’ve been hard-grafting wickets and it’s something we’ve got to look at seriously.”We’re getting big crowds in and we want wickets that are going to produce big scores. You want a fair contest where the batsmen feel confident about going forward.”Kallis was quick to heap praise on AB de Villiers, who struck a gutsy 97 before falling shortly before the close. “He played fantastically today,” he said. “It was the type of innings where you had to absorb and wait for the ball to get a bit softer, then he kicked on and played aggressively.”Unfortunately he got out, perhaps that was a little bit of impatience. He deserved a hundred, it’s a pity he didn’t get there.”Meanwhile, James Franklin, the New Zealand left-arm bowler, suggested that seeing off the South African bowlers early in the day would be crucial to their chances of getting to the fourth-innings target. “We want to get them all out as early as possible tomorrow, so that we can go about the run-chase the right way. The wicket seems to get easier as the day goes on.”

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

Brian Lara scored his second Test century against India, his second slowest innings ever for a score of 50 or more, and though it was not typically brilliant and free-flowing, it was an innings that typified his character and showed just how good a batsman he is under any circumstance. He gave up the big drive for failsafe defence, blunted rather than bludgeoned the bowling into submission and ensured that West Indies pulled off a rousing draw as the tail hung on at the death. They finished on 293 for 7, and garnered a result that they can well be proud of.Lara’s acumen was apparent early on when he decided to bat more than a foot out of his crease to the fast bowlers. This not only cut out any swing that the bowlers might be able to get, but also ensured that the umpires could barely consider giving an lbw decision in the favour of the bowler. What’s more, the bowlers were forced to alter the length they operated on, and this meant that it was Lara who controlled the proceedings.But if Lara was the epitome of control, some of his less illustrious colleagues were quite the opposite. Daren Ganga failed to pick a googly and shouldered arms, losing his off stump. Then Munaf Patel, bowling a superb line and length, pitched one up for the drive and got it to deviate just enough to take the outside edge of Ramnaresh Sarwan’s bat. Sarwan, who faced 10 nervous balls including two close lbw shouts, made just 1, completing a forgettable match where he picked up a first-ball duck in the first innings. At 52 for 3 West Indies were in deep trouble, when Lara was joined by Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Lara looked far from his best, on at least two occasions attempting to play forcing drives through the off side but only managing an inside edge past his stumps, but was skilful enough to tough it out and bring up his half-century. Just occasionally, though, the Lara magic was there for all to see – a couple of crunching cover-drives left fielders dead in their tracks, but those were exceptions in an innings characterised by watchful defence. Chanderpaul, who has been a thorn in India’s flesh on so many occasions in the past, placed a high premium on his wicket, batting with good sense and care.About an hour into the second session India finally separated Lara and Chanderpaul. The two had added 129 and were together for almost three hours, seeing off 43.4 overs. Ironically it was a rank bad ball that did the trick. Anil Kumble, who had doggedly run in over after over, sent down a full-toss outside the off stump and Chanderpaul’s eyes lit up. He attempted to smash the ball over midwicket but only managed a mis-hit that Irfan Pathan caught well at wide mid-on. Chanderpaul had made 54, and Dwayne Bravo walked out to join Lara.But Lara had made his mind up about what he wanted to do, and his powers of concentration in playing long innings are second to none in world cricket. India’s bowlers did their best to mix things up but there was simply no beating Lara’s broad bat. When the final session began, with Lara past a 100 it seemed as though he had done enough to seal the fate of this Test. But, in a late twist, Sehwag got a ball to drift in and pitch on off, and went past Lara’s sweeping bat and struck pad. Asad Rauf, the umpire, upheld an impassioned appeal and suddenly India were back in the game.Bravo had got his eye in and despite the fall of Lara’s wicket batted with authority and even a touch of panache. His down-the-wicket six over long off against Kumble was a bold stroke, coming as it did, so late in the day, when West Indies were desperately trying to hang on for a draw. But with only 10 overs left in the day Kumble struck, having Bravo caught off his pad by Yuvraj Singh at backward short-leg. Bravo’s 47 had ensured that the tail was left with only nine overs to survive.Kumble (42 overs) and Sehwag (30 overs) came in and despite weary arms and shoulders, made Denesh Ramdin and Ian Bradshaw play virtually every ball. There were plenty of shouts for lbws and close catches, and the umpires were tested as much as the batsmen, but in the end, India were left high and dry. The ball was tossed to Patel who bowled a probing over to Ramdin, and induced an outside edge only to see Dravid spill a catch that should have been taken. With barely five minutes left in the day Patel had his man, trapping Bradshaw in front of the stumps.If the rain that washed out the fourth day began the West Indian revival in this match, it was a Lara special that sealed the deal.

Daren Ganga lbw b Kumble 26 (51 for 2)
Ramnaresh Sarwan c Dhoni b Patel 1 (32 for 3)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Pathan b Kumble 54 (181 for 4)
Brian Lara lbw b Sehwag 120 (252 for 5)
Dwayne Bravo c Yuvraj b Kumble 47 (277 for 6)
Ian Bradshaw lbw b Patel 1 (291 for 7)

Don’t get carried away. Only the passage of time will tell if this is the start of the long-awaited turnaround in West Indies cricket or just a deceptively bright patch on an otherwise dark landscape.But the signs are encouraging.It is not just about being 2-1 up against India, the third-ranked team in one-day internationals, going into the final two matches today and Sunday at the Queen’s Park Oval. That statistic can be easily overturned in the next 72 hours, such is the unpredictable nature of the shorter version of the game, exacerbated by two teams highly susceptible to bouts of inconsistency.Yet it is significant that a squad previously incapable of coming out on the winning side of tight situations has prevailed in the last two matches against quality opponents. If nothing else, it emphasises how vital the mental aspect of the game is and puts into some perspective the value of the preceding series against Zimbabwe.The young, inexperienced southern Africans hardly presented a serious challenge to the home side. However, in being able to enjoy the winning feeling for more than just a day or two, players who had grown uncomfortably familiar with defeat were at least able to enjoy a succession of victories and dominance over the opposition.Even if it was a massive exaggeration to talk about the West Indies riding the crest of a wave heading into the first match, last week on Thursday at Sabina Park, the fact is, as everyone involved in competitive sport knows, a win is a win, whatever the quality of the opposition.Just two months ago on the tour of New Zealand, the Caribbean side could not turn hugely advantageous positions in two ODIs and the first Test into victories. As competitive as the Black Caps are, especially in their own conditions, there can be no doubt that the West Indies’ demise on those three occasions had more to do with their unfamiliarity with success than the excellence of the home team’s fightbacks.The storyline was just about the same in the opening match against the Indians, victory eluding their grasp at Sabina Park as opportunities literally slipped through their fingers, allowing Mohammad Kaif to hit the winning runs after Rahul Dravid’s hundred had taken his team most of the way home.Ironic, then, that it was the Indian captain’s fielding error in the final over in St Kitts on Tuesday that helped to ease the West Indies to their target.Slowly but surely, the West Indies are learning how to sustain the effort, to stay in the hunt and keep the pressure on worthy combatants in the belief, more than just the hope, that they will prevail.More than anything else so far, the chain of events in the pulsating final moments of Saturday’s second match in Kingston – when Chris Gayle urged Dwayne Bravo to bowl a slower ball after being struck for consecutive fours by Yuvraj Singh – revealed that the players are not just disinterested spectators to their own demise.Some of them at least are thinking about the game and developing alternative strategies. Sometimes they will work, on other occasions they won’t. But at least they seem to be doing much more on the field than just looking fashionable. It is very, very easy to read too much into this series so far. An inside-edge past leg stump by Yuvraj and India would have been 2-0 up after Jamaica. Two convincing performances by the visitors at the Oval and they would still win the series.Yet it is impossible not to feel at least the gentle cooling breeze of optimism after enduring the sweltering, oppressive heat of defeat for such a long time. In his seventh year as an international cricketer, Ramnaresh Sarwan has just played two of the finest ODI innings of his career, responding positively to the persistent urgings of his captain, his coach and the rest of team management for him to make a habit of carrying the West Indies innings through to the finish.The bowlers stuck manfully to the task in defending a modest total last Saturday, with the combination of Gayle and Marlon Samuels again proving effective on the lifeless Caribbean pitches.Shivnarine Chanderpaul played second fiddle to Sarwan on Tuesday, but his half-century was no less significant in taking the West Indies to victory while again restating the point that he is getting back to his reliable best with the burdens of captaincy off his shoulders.And what of the man who is back in charge? With just 54 runs from three innings in the series, it must be especially pleasing to Brian Lara for his team to be ahead at this stage.In keeping with the gambler’s instinct, his tactics can inspire and bewilder in almost equal measure. Yet his mere stature as one of the giants of the modern game obviously makes a difference to the home team and, it has to be said, the opposition.It still doesn’t solve the long-term captaincy issue, mind you. But that is another matter. If it seems excessive to be doing victory laps after success in two limited-over matches, keep in mind that this team is learning how to win.Their celebrations are therefore a combination of relief and exultation.The challenge now is to maintain such a high level of performance and competitiveness that the victory laps become redundant and that will take some time

Ian Bell, the Warwickshire batsman, has earned a recall to the England squad for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s on Thursday. Steve Harmison has also been named in a 13-man squad announced this morning which includes five fast bowlers and one spinner, Monty Panesar.”We have included five pace bowlers in the squad, because we need cover for Matthew Hoggard following the hand injury he sustained while with England A yesterday,” David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, told BBC Radio Five Live.”Matthew’s injury will be reassessed by our medical staff on Tuesday, and we will give him the maximum time he needs to prove his fitness because he is the most experienced member of our attack,” he added.There was no place for Jamie Dalrymple, however. Dalrymple was the sole bright light for England during their calamitous one-day 5-0 whitewash in the one-day series against Sri Lanka and was their second highest run-scorer. He further enhanced his credentials with a slick performance for England A yesterday where he took 4 for 61 to help dismiss Pakistan for 242, but the selectors have instead opted to attack Pakistan with pace.Bell last played for England against India at Mumbai. Although he was arguably England’s most solid batsmen in the preceding tour of Pakistan, he struggled in India with just one fifty in six innings.Regardless of Hoggard’s availability, there is added pressure on Harmison to return to something resembling his best. He missed the third and final Test against India in the winter, and the Test series against Sri Lanka this summer. Though he returned for the one-day series, his radar was sadly lacking and a worrying 24 wides were sent down.”Yes, without [Andrew Flintoff], there’s a great responsibility on our bowlers,” Graveney said, “so the likes of Harmison and Hoggard, if available, [have a lot of responsibility]. We had a difficult time against Sri Lanka, but we’re looking to change that for Thursday.”England squad:
Andrew Strauss (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Geraint Jones (wk), Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard, Sajid Mahmood, Steve Harmison, Jon Lewis, Monty Panesar.

Division One

Anthony McGrath’s defiant century took Yorkshire to a decent lead ahead of the final day at Old Trafford. After the early loss of Joe Sayers (6), the senior pairing of McGrath and Craig White added 183 before McGrath fell just before the close, to take Yorkshire to 192 for 2, with White making 78 not out. Earlier, Luke Sutton had made his way to 151 not out, just about reaching the 150-landmark before the Lancashire innings came to a close on 441, to give Lancashire a first-innings lead of 96.Shane Warne opened up Hampshire’s contest against Middlesex at Lord’s with a positive declaration as soon as his team had reached 400, and taken maximum batting points. Nic Pothas’s third century of the season compensated for the early loss of Michael Carberry in the day’s fifth over after adding just a single to his overnight 103. Sean Ervine contributed a forthright 42 before edging the new ball to first slip, but Pothas pressed forward and reached three figures with a Chinese cut. In the next over Warne carved the ball to the cover fence and promptly jogged off the park, aware that Hampshire need to win this match to maintain pressure on the top-of-the-table teams.An intriguing final day is in prospect at Edgbaston after Nottinghamshire‘s openers made inroads into their mammoth target of 404. Darren Bicknell and Jason Gallian shared an unbeaten stand of 88 to set up a tester tomorrow. Bicknell had reached his fifty by the close, with Gallian making 30. Warwickshire had earlier made their way to 230 for 9 before declaring, Mark Wagh topscoring with 70.

Division Two

Craig Spearman made his second century of the match – and just missed out on his 150 for the second time – to take Gloucestershire to 272 for 2 by stumps, a deficit of six runs. He and Phil Weston put on 227 for the first wicket as Gloucestershire worked their way towards parity. Matthew Nicholson eventually grabbed both openers, but they were to prove the only wickets for Northants on a frustrating day for their bowlers at Northampton.Surrey strode to an emphatic victory at at New Road, crushing Worcestershire by an innings and 108 runs to keep their title contention firmly on track. Ahzar Mahmood took 4 for 53 to start Worcestershire’s slide and then Ian Salisbury (3 for 36) and Anil Kumble (2 for 28) wrapped up the tail between them. Vikram Solanki offered the only resistance of note, his 56 propping up the home side for a while, but the rest of the wickets slid away, until they were all out for 165. Rikki Clarke had earlier lifted Surrey’s total past 500 with a firecracking 40 not out.Derbyshire stand on the brink of victory following another authoritative day against Somerset at Derby. The visitors have just three more wickets left in their pursuit of a further, and unlikely, 179 runs. Cameron White is still there, though, having already gamely fought his way to a valiant 197 and he will be Somerset’s biggest hope tomorrow. Steffan Jones is Derbyshire’s most successful bowler so far this innings, taking three wickets to bring his match haul to seven.

• Ashes history: 1861-1888
• Ashes history: 1890-1914
• Ashes history: 1920-1938
• Ashes history: 1946-1970
• Ashes history: 1970-1989
• Ashes history: 1990-present

“In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, RIP. NB The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia.”Australia’s first victory on English soil over the full strength of England, on August 29, 1882,inspired a young London journalist, Reginald Shirley Brooks, to write this mock “obituary”. Itappeared in the Sporting Times.Before England’s defeat at The Oval, by seven runs, arrangements had already been made forthe Hon. Ivo Bligh, afterwards Lord Darnley, to lead a team to Australia. Three weeks later theyset out, now with the popular objective of recovering the Ashes. In the event, Australia won thefirst Test by nine wickets, but with England winning the next two it became generally acceptedthat they brought back the Ashes.It was long believed that the real Ashes – a small urn thought to contain the ashes of a bailused in the third match – were presented to Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. In 1998,Lord Darnley’s 82-year-old daughter-in-law said they were the remains of her mother-in-law’s veil,not a bail. Other evidence suggests a ball. The certain origin of the Ashes, therefore, is the subject of some dispute.After Lord Darnley’s death in 1927, the urn was given to MCC by Lord Darnley’s Australian-bornwidow, Florence. It can be seen in the cricket museum at Lord’s, together with a red andgold velvet bag, made specially for it, and the scorecard of the 1882 match.The text on the urn is as follows:-When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.

For Lara, it must be an increasingly deflating experience, never mind the usual empty platitudes about learning from this latest setback and staying positive and focused ahead of the next match. What else can he say at a post-match ceremony, that we should forfeit the remaining Tests and play 12 ODIs instead so that everyone can return to preparing for the World Cup?Maybe I’m reading too much into it, especially from this distance, but a little exchange with Dwayne Bravo while both were standing in the slips during the formalities of Pakistan’s second innings appeared much more revealing of Lara’s true feelings. Bravo, who 29 months after his Test debut has not yet experienced what it is like to be in a winning Test team, seemed in the mood for some playful old talk with his fellow countryman, except that Lara wasn’t particularly accommodating and at one point in the brief exchange looked as if he was uttering a few stern words.Again, it may have been nothing, but you never know. It must be galling for Lara to have now scored 5226 runs in vain for West Indies. Vain in the context of at least not losing Test matches (something he has been talking about more and more over the last few months), though clearly not futile in terms of the sheer delight he has brought to fans of the game around the world for the incomparable elegance and style with which he embellishes an insatiable appetite for runs.Some of Lara’s greatest performances – the 688 runs with a double-century and two other hundreds in three Tests in Sri Lanka in 2001 stand out-have come in the midst of comprehensive defeats. In the single-mindedness of youth and the desire to rack up more and more runs and records, the legacy of being a champion batsman in a woeful Test team isn’t all that relevant, because the mind says there is still time to make a difference in the winning column.But time is running out, and even if the evidence of his 33rd Test hundred and third in as many matches against the Pakistanis reaffirms his pre-eminence among contemporary batsmen worldwide, Lara is increasingly haunted by the stark reality that too many of his runs are only of personal statistical value.Like millions of Indian cricket fans and their obsession with Sachin Tendulkar, many Trinis now don’t seem to mind too much that the West Indies have been beaten again, so long as their hero has gotten another hundred.Those indulging in that short-sighted consolation would do well to appreciate, as Lara certainly does, that his Test career has, maybe, another couple years to run and that the game, and the team, are always bigger than the player, never mind how great that player is.Click here to send us your thoughts.

Scorecard

England fans were heartened to see Steve Harmison fielding on the final day of England’s tour match against South Australia, as the game petered out to a draw. Harmison pulled out before the start of the match at the Adelaide Oval on Friday with a side strain.But England could have used his bowling as South Australia’s top order created problems, batting their way to 2 for 164 before the teams agreed to finish the game an hour early. Matthew Hoggard and James Anderson – who both spent time off the ground – were unable to have the same impact with the new ball as they had in the first innings.Daniel Harris, who finished unbeaten on 71, and Matthew Elliott (55) put on 94 for the first wicket before Anderson pulled in a one-handed catch at midwicket to claim Elliott from the bowling of Monty Panesar. Kevin Pietersen picked up the only other wicket, that of Cameron Borgas for 27, shortly before the teams shook hands.England were dismissed for 415 immediately before lunch, after Sajid Mahmood entertained the crowd with some lusty hitting on his way to 41 from 46 balls. He took to the South Australia spinners, Cullen Bailey and Dan Cullen, striking a six from each of them as England lost 4 for 112 in the morning session.Geraint Jones added 19 to his overnight total before Cullen had him caught at bat-pad for 33, while Andrew Flintoff kept the scoreboard ticking over until he was bowled attempting a slog off Bailey for 47. Mahmood was stumped off the part-time spin of Darren Lehmann and when Anderson was caught behind off Bailey for 9 the tourists finished their innings with a lead of 168 runs.The signs were good for England earlier in the match, when Ian Bell (132) and Paul Collingwood (80) put together a 178-run partnership on day two. Each of the top six that will line up in the first Test at Brisbane have scored at least one half-century during the warm-up matches, while the bowlers – with the exception of Harmison – have clocked up useful miles.