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Nothing could prepare Nathan Bracken for the experience. The morning after he had celebrated his 100th one-day international for Australia with a series-levelling victory over New Zealand, Bracken and his Australian team-mates stood amongst the injured, the bereaved and the displaced from the devastating Victorian bushfires that local police fear have claimed 300 lives.”You can watch the reports and think you have an understanding of what’s going on,” Bracken said. “But it’s not until people are standing in front of you telling their stories that it really hits you.”The previous evening, the Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke proposed that the team fly to Melbourne to lend their support to the bushfire relief effort. Clarke’s call came on a day in which the Australian cricket community had raised an estimated $7 million for victims of the blazes, and was enthusiastically embraced by team-mates.But few could have envisaged the sights, smells and stories that would confront them. By Wednesday afternoon, having spent several hours at the Whittlesea emergency recovery centre and the burns unit of the Northern Hospital in Epping, a member of the squad phoned Cricinfo from the team bus. “I have never seen it more subdued in here.” he said. “It has been a confronting day for everyone.”Hours earlier, the Australians arrived in Whittlesea and met with victims and relief workers behind closed doors. The contrast could not have been more stark. On Tuesday, the Australians had roamed the lush green outfields of the Adelaide Oval, cheered and revered by a parochial South Australian crowd. Now, they stood amongst the scorched earth of rural Victoria, speaking with those who have lost loved ones and homes.”There are people who have spent their whole lives working for their home, and then saw it all taken away in 30 minutes,” Bracken said. “I was speaking to one lady who had lost her father, and she burst out in tears. All I could do was give her a hug. There is just a lot of people hurting.”There is an incredible spirit. I was speaking to two girls who had lost everything, and yet they were talking about giving their vouchers away to a friend of theirs who had lost her cousin. Family are helping family and neighbours are helping neighbours. Your heart goes out to all of them.”After lunch, the Australians reverted to what they knew best – a game of cricket against the locals, which brought much needed levity to those who have had little to smile about in recent days. The team then ventured to the burns unit at Epping’s Northern Hospital for an unannounced visit. Traumatised patients and exhausted staff apparently welcomed the distraction to mingle with their sporting heroes, and the opportunity to talk cricket, not fires.”It has been an amazing day in many ways, and we probably didn’t even see the worst of it.,” Bracken said. “We didn’t go to where the fires went through towns, but to where all the people were. It was unbelievably hard to hear all the terrible stories, and I can’t even imagine what it’s like for the firefighters and rescue workers who are having to go into these devastated areas. They’re the heroes.”The day ended with a flight to Brisbane ahead of Friday’s Chappell-Hadlee decider. The Australians are unlikely to make many changes to their line-up from Tuesday’s match in Adelaide. Which is not to say they are unchanged.

Combined Campuses & Colleges got their campaign off with a win, beating Guyana by 96 runs in Barbados. Chasing 319, Guyana could manage only 222. Resuming on 30 for 1, they were quickly down to 54 for 4 after Kevin McClean and Khismar Catlin struck early blows. Then Narsingh Deonarine and Royston Crandon revived hopes of a fightback with a 124-run stand; Crandon scored at nearly a run a ball in his a career-high 67 but was caught at deep cover off Ryan Austin. Crandon’s fall triggered a collapse, with Guyana losing four wickets for five runs. The penultimate two wickets came by way of run-outs and Austin – who took 3 for 50 off his 19.1 overs – wrapped up the win with the wicket of Deonarine, who made 86.Barbados completed an innings-and-66-run win over Windward Islands on the final day in Grenada. Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn picked up four wickets as Windward collapsed for 137 in their second innings, having begun the day at 9 for 1. Benn, who opened the bowling yesterday, finished with 4 for 38 off 19.2 overs, with Ryan Hinds and Tino Best picking two apiece. Opener Miles Bascombe top scored with 47, and the only others to offer some resistance were Darren Sammy (29) and Rawl Lewis (26) as the hosts failed well short of their poor first-innings effort of 192.Jamaica moved to the top of the table after gaining first-innings points against Trinidad and Tobago’s in Port of Spain. Jamaica, whose late stutter on the third day left them at 148 for 5, managed to overhaul T&T’s first-innings score of 202 early in the day. Wavell Hinds, overnight on 6, and David Bernard took the visitors to 247 for 6. Hinds hit eight fours and two sixes in his 52 before he was caught at first slip off Amit Jaggernauth. Bernard went on to score 75, while Keith Hibbert made an unbeaten 60 as Jamaica extended their total for 355 for 7, when they eventually declared with a lead of 153.T&T’s batsmen faced a testing time as Jamaica pressed for an unlikely win in the ran-affected game. The openers put on 55, but legspinner Gavin Wallace’s 2 for 14 off 13 overs – six were maidens – saw Jamaica close the game at 98 for 3 off 36 overs.

Tamil Nadu 445 (Mukund 100, Karthik 72, Vijay 69, Ganapathy 67*, Badrinath 65) drew with Uttar Pradesh 447 for 8 dec (Shukla 178*, Parvinder 138, Balaji 5-114)
Uttar Pradesh progress to the final by virtue of first-innings lead
Scorecard

A monumental effort from Shivakant Shukla, the fourth-longest innings in first-class cricket, took Uttar Pradesh through to their third final in four years on a tense fourth day in Nagpur. Both teams fought hard till the end for the vital first-innings lead. UP were the favourites to knock off the required 193 runs at the start of the final day, but a spirited L Balaji and some careless batting turned the match into an edge-of-the-seat affair. However, Shukla continued unflustered, playing with intense determination to steer his team into the lead with only two wickets in hand.When Praveen Gupta, the No. 10 batsman, cover-drove Balaji for a boundary in the ninth over of the mandatory last 15, it sparked off manic celebrations in the UP camp. The pent-up tension of the final three hours – when not many moved from their seats – was released. The whole team ran on to the field, and the captains agreed to call off the game.Shukla had come to bat 87 minutes before stumps on the second day, and struggled his way to dusk. Two days later, he was still there, having batted with focus and guts, cashing in on the chances and half-chances that came his way during his 821-minute stay at the crease. His 178 came off 569 deliveries, but he didn’t let the slow scoring bog himself down mentally. He deservedly came back to the dressing room on the shoulders of his team-mates.Shukla and his partner for five-and-half-hours on Tuesday, Parvinder Singh, started confidently. The pitch was flat, and the attack – but for Balaji – not testing. TN came out with a plan – that of not giving away easy runs, and testing the temperament of the two inexperienced batsmen. In the sixth over of the day Parvinder nudged one to the leg side and brought up his first first-class century, vindication of the talent that had been tried only for 13 games since his debut first-class game in 1999-2000. The fresh bowlers and the little assistance the conditions offered them early in the day had no impact on the two batsmen as their partnership blossomed.When Balaji was brought back for a second spell, just before lunch, the stand had swollen beyond 250, and UP needed 120 more. The runs had started coming freely too: Parvinder had overtaken Shukla in scoring courtesy a four and a six in the same over off C Suresh. But Balaji finally produced the turnaround, getting a top edge: 462 minutes had elapsed since the last one. Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed the aptitude to hag around with Shukla, and UP went to the break as the favourites.Post lunch, Balaji got a change of ends, and got one ball to swing from around Bhuvneshwar’s pads. The batsman went to flick it, but it straightened enough to take the leading edge and lob to S Vidyut at midwicket. With 110 runs still required, the flashier Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar couldn’t afford to just throw their bats around. They had no clarity of purpose, and two ordinary shots later, TN were right back in the game. Chawla failed to clear mid-off, placed slightly deeper, off R Ashwin. Praveen, after having hit two streaky boundaries, went for a big hit to the leg side, and it was a formality for one of the three boundary-riders to gobble it up.Seventy-two runs were still required. Shukla was unbeaten on 141, in desperate need of company. Amir Khan, the wicketkeeper, was just the man to support a rescue act for UP, having done so in previous matches this season against Baroda and Karnataka. Shukla had enough confidence in Amir to not try anything desperate. As the eighth-wicket partnership continued to take UP towards safety, Tamil Nadu went for the third new ball, and with that back to their only weapon: Balaji. With a pulled boundary of C Ganapathy, Shukla reached his 150 minutes before tea. UP needed 41 in the last session, with three wickets in hand.Forty-one minutes into the final session, Shukla had batted 796 minutes – equalling the incredible effort by Shitanshu Kotak against Mumbai last season. Four minutes later he overtook Len Hutton and Sanath Jayasuriya too. Balaji, who had bowled 50 overs in the innings by then, came off a shorter run after tea, but was still the toughest to negotiate. Just when UP brought the target down to 25, he struck with a peach – a ball that started outside off stump and straightened to take Amir’s edge. Out came Praveen Gupta and he survived two close lbw shouts off the first two balls Balaji bowled to him.Shukla now started to dominate the strike, twice taking a single off the last ball of the over, and once hitting a boundary after the field was brought up. With the target at 17, Gupta got a half-volley from Balaji and he crashed it through the off side for four. He was an equal partner after that. There was more drama still. Shukla edged one off Ashwin with soft hands, but it fell short of gully – the third such instance on the day.While UP were ecstatic in the end, TN were graceful in defeat. The winning runs came in Balaji’s 54th over, but he was a winner – as coach WV Raman put it, he bowled himself into the ground. It was fitting that it took an effort as big as Shukla’s to outdo him.

The ICC has asked all its match referees and umpires to be “assertive and proactive” in dealing with slow over-rates and verbal abuse as it looks to build on the “feel-good factor” that cricket has gained with the thrilling Chennai Test between India and England. It is also looking at options to impose stronger penalties against offending teams.”After the recent Test match in Chennai, there is a real feel-good factor about the game,” the ICC’s chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, said. “Verbal abuse and slow over-rates have the potential to impact negatively on the way the game is perceived. Both issues need to be strongly managed and the ICC is now looking at options to encourage better over-rates and strengthened sanctions against offending teams.”The issue of slow over-rates had been the subject of debate during the Test series between India and Australia in October, when Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, was forced to bowl his part-time bowlers in a crucial phase of the fourth Test in Nagpur to avoid sanctions from match officials. Indian newspapers reported on Wednesday that Chris Broad, the match referee for the series, had, in his official series report to the ICC, put some of the blame for those delays on Indian batsmen.The Indian dailies, the and , reported that Broad also blamed both captains for being involved in long discussions with fielders and bowlers, and batsmen and fielders for “spending an age” in putting on protective equipment and taking additional drinks breaks.”The Indian batsmen were constantly slow in getting onto the field at the fall of a wicket, therefore affecting the slow over-rate,” the reports quoted Broad as writing. “No matter how many times I asked for them to hurry up, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other without registering.”Not once during the series did we finish a day’s play on time at 4.30 pm. On most occasions, the additional half hour was used and we also lost a number of overs from the game that could not be bowled.”Broad was also critical of facilities, especially of handling of movement around the sightscreen, in Mohali, which hosted a Test during the India-Australia series and is the venue for the next match between India and England. “This is the biggest headache in moving the game forward as no sooner do we get the game flowing does somebody gets up and either walks in front of the screens or stands up over the screens when the bowling is from that end,” he wrote. “No matter what is said to the ground authorities, it seems impossible to stop people moving! I am at my wit’s end!!!” Broad also said the location of the match referee’s room at the stadium was not ideal, while stating he rejected the first two options provided to him.IS Bindra, the president of the Punjab Cricket Association, said the sightscreen issue had been rectified. “I think it was minor aberration in a five-day affair. But at the same time, it should not be repeated,” he told . “Besides, we have installed mega-sized sightscreen this time, even though it cost us some 500-60 seats.”

South Africans 8 for 320 dec (de Villiers 129, McKenzie 69, Amla 59*) v Western Australia
Scorecard

AB de Villiers is another player the South Africans don’t have to worry about entering Wednesday’s first Test after he fine-tuned with a century against Western Australia’s 2nd XI at the WACA. After Hashim Amla’s hundred in the tour opener, he scored 59 not out and the tourists received a further boost with de Villiers and Neil McKenzie finding form at the right time.de Villiers, who retired on 129, and McKenzie combined for a 124-run third-wicket stand after the tourists, who won the toss, slipped to 2 for 29. They recovered quickly and finished with a comfortable 8 for 320 declared at stumps on the first day of the two-day fixture.McKenzie collected a well-earned 69 while de Villiers flexed with 18 fours and three sixes during his 181-ball innings. Amla continued his strong start to the tour and at the end of the day the only batting concerns were the short stays of Graeme Smith, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher.An elbow problem kept Smith from the first encounter and he hit two boundaries in his 17 deliveries before being bowled by Drew Porter for 2. The South Africans’ second wicket fell when Prince (10) was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Justin Coetzee, who finished with 2 for 56. Boucher (13) departed in the second session, hitting Chris Thompson to deep square-leg, and it was left to Amla and de Villiers to add another 72 before de Villiers retired.The tourists received some good news in the morning with the fast bowler Morne Morkel, who sprained his ankle on Wednesday, passed fit to play. He joined Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Paul Harris in a full-strength bowling attack. Steyn and Ntini both scored 4 late in the day while Harris was unbeaten on 11.

As Kevin Pietersen was skipping through his early matches as England captain, spreading the love wherever he went, there was a gentle warning – wait until you get to India. After a 158-run defeat in the opening one-day international, as England conceded their highest total, he has been left in no doubt about the task ahead for his team.The only part of the day that went England’s way was the toss, but Pietersen’s hope that there would be early movement for the quick bowlers vanished as quickly as the ball to the boundary. He was soon on the retreat, but was helpless against Yuvraj Singh’s breathtaking assault during the fastest century England have conceded in ODIs.”If you stand and watch an innings like Yuvraj played and Sehwag you have just got to take your hat off to the way they played,” Pietersen said. “It was an amazing batting pitch. You just need to touch it and it goes for four… and a bit harder and it goes for six. You’ve got to say well done, they played super cricket today.”Pietersen refused to switch into panic mode after one match, but with just three days until the next game in Indore there is little time to turn the performance around. “We’ll sit down and see where we made a few mistakes,” he said. “You’ve got to try to make sure you go over what you’ve done not so well and regroup. There’s six games left in the series and we want to bring some real good cricket to Indore.”England opted for a single frontline spinner, Samit Patel, and planned to target India with their fast-bowling quartet. It was a format that worked impressively against South Africa, but conditions in Rajkot were a world away from late-season England and the extra pace of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison played into India’s hands.However, Peter Moores said he thought the attack could have hit the visitors harder. “Our bowlers didn’t bowl consistently all the way through. They could have been more aggressive with the ball,” he said. “We have got some quick bowlers who are tall and generate enough bounce. We thought the wicket would do a little bit early on but actually you never know it for sure.”

Sachin Tendulkar has said the senior players in the Indian team must be respected for the “major contributions” they have made over the years. Tendulkar, who recently became the leading Test run-scorer, said the decision on retiring from international cricket should be made by the players, whom he felt will know when the time is right.The seniors – Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble – were under intense scrutiny by the media after poor performances in the 2-1 defeat in the Test series in Sri Lanka. Ganguly, who was not picked for the Irani Trophy, announced the Tests against Australia will be his last international appearance for India.”Lack of respect towards senior players doesn’t happen anywhere,” Tendulkar told the news channel NDTV. “We all know when to move away from the sport. But people have their opinions. Sometimes these opinions are not correct. But one is made to believe that this is the right opinion. The individuals will take their decisions when they feel it’s the right time.”Tendulkar said he was “surprised by Sourav’s [Ganguly’s] decision to quit”. “I am sure it must have taken him a long time to reach there. And it’s a big decision. But if he feels that it is the way to go, then we all should respect his decision.”Tendulkar and Laxman played crucial innings to save the first Test against Australia in Bangalore. Tendulkar then became the highest run-scorer in Test cricket during his 88 in the second Test in Mohali, while Ganguly went past 7000 Test runs during his 16th Test century in the same match, which India won by 320 runs.

The abrupt removal of VVS Laxman from the captaincy of Deccan Chargers, the IPL team, has been criticised by his close associates as disappointing, unethical and unfortunate. The team management has responded by saying the decision to replace him with Adam Gilchrist was part of their efforts to be more competitive next season.Laxman declined to comment on the franchise’s decision. “At the moment, I am preparing for the Australia series [the first Test starts in Bangalore on October 9], which is a very important one,” he told Cricinfo. “I don’t want to talk about this issue now because I don’t want any distraction to come in the way of the Test series.”However, Vijay Mohanraj, the former Hyderabad batsman and an employee of Deccan Chargers during the inaugural IPL edition, has slammed the franchise for Laxman’s “unethical removal”. Robin Singh, the former Deccan coach, described the ouster as “disappointing” and “sad for VVS” – Robin has been replaced by Darren Lehmann.Mohanraj, who was a manager with the team before leaving at the end of the season, claimed Laxman was not informed or consulted about the removal. “They are being very unfair to Laxman,” Mohanraj told Cricinfo. “They should have sounded him out last year itself, and consulted him over the issue. It is very unfortunate that one of India’s leading cricketers is being treated this way. The way he has been removed is unethical. This is not the way to do it.”But Tim Wright, the new chief executive of Deccan Chargers, told Cricinfo that “Laxman had a talk with the management” about the changes and denied allegations that the batsman came to know of his ouster through an email.”I am certain that Laxman will feel a sense of disappointment at the decision, and I understand that,” Wright said. “I want to make it clear that this decision was not against Laxman. With players of the calibre of Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris and the group of four Indian cricketers who are in the national team, including Laxman, the idea is to be more competitive in the next season of the IPL.”Robin Singh said he was aware that changes were being made in the team. “I was aware of the discussions which had been going on for a while about some new appointments,” he told Cricinfo. “Definitely I will be featuring in some capacity in a role that is suitable and in line with what I would like to do. We will have to sit and have a mutual agreement on that.”Laxman’s association with the Deccan Chargers did not get off to the best of starts when the franchise withdrew an application for his ‘icon status’, which would have entitled him to a fee that is 15% more than the team’s highest signing. This move enabled the team to sign Andrew Symonds, the Australian allrounder, at US$ 1.35 million while staying within the US$5 million cap on player purchases.Laxman then missed eight of Deccan’s 14 matches during the IPL’s inaugural edition due to a wrist injury. The team finished last, winning only two of their 14 matches, despite a star-studded line-up.Afridi later said Laxman was unable to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the game. “At times Laxman lost the plot on the field,” Afridi said. “Twenty20 cricket is not his forte. Adam is more comfortable in this type of cricket.”In his response to Afridi’s comments, Laxman said: “Probably it is time someone told Afridi that a captain can only be as good as the team and to blame only me is totally out of place. The truth is that the team did not perform to its potential. Every player should take the blame for it and try and comeback strongly in the next edition instead of blaming each other.”

ScorecardNondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) gave their coach, Samath Perera, a fitting farewell by winning the Under-23 Youth Tournament Division 1. NCC beat defending champions Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in the three-day final played at the SSC in Colombo.The match ended in a draw, but NCC won as they had gained a first-innings lead. SSC scored 290 in reply to NCC’s 420. They finished the match at 82 for 3 from nine overs in the second innings chasing 378.Put in to bat, NCC had the game all but sewn up when they finished at 368 for 7 by the end of the first day. The innings was dominated by Hashan Gunathilleke, who scored 104 off 204 balls. Opener Demintha Dahanayake made 82, and strong batting from the late order pushed the total from 278 for 6 to 420. SSC lost their openers with only six runs on the board, but never recovered despite a 111 from Shalika Karunanayake. At the end of the third day, they could total only 290 and the final day was only of academic interest as NCC batted a second time without enforcing the follow-on. Left-arm spinner Milan Fernando took 11 wickets for SSC.Coach Perera, a former NCC player, ended his four-year stint with NCC on a winning note. “We lost eight of our top players from last year as they were overage and I had to handle a totally inexperienced side,” Perera said. “We lost our first match to Air Force and the game against Kurunegala YCC was washed out. Despite all these shortcomings the boys worked hard to achieve this success.” Perera leaves NCC to undertake a new post as coach of one of Kandy’s leading schools Trinity College on a two-year contract.

ScorecardKhurram Manzoor played a captain’s role with a 127-ball 115 to guide Pakistan Cricket Academy to a series-clinching six-wicket victory over the Zimbabwe Board XI in Harare.Zimbabwe went in to the final day leading by 172 in the second innings with seven wickets in hand and a realistic chance of at least avoiding defeat. But poor bowling allowed the tourists to stroll home quite easily at the end.Resuming overnight on 210 for 3, Zimbabwe added 94 as they struggled against the new ball, especially the pace and swing of right-armer Anwar Ali, whom the top-order had handled quite comfortably on day three. Timycen Maruma, who looked good when the Zimbabweans were offered the light yesterday afternoon, added just four before he was bowled by Ali for 60.The only batsman on the day to face up to the Pakistanis was Graeme Cremer (35).The pick of the bowlers, whom Manzoor rotated cleverly, was the offspinner Raheel Maheed, who dismissed Sam Mwakayeni, Regis Chakabva and Prince Masvaure to end with a four-wicket haul.Pakistan Academy cleaned up the Zimbabwe tail 20 minutes after lunch, facing a target of 267. They did that with aggression, their opening batsmen Raheel Majeed and Manzoor putting on 91. Majeed was particularly belligerent with 63 from 43, smashing six fours and two sixes. Fawad Alam, fresh from his first innings century, scored nine before he was caught behind by Regis Chakabva off right-arm seamer Mike Chinouya. But from there it was smooth sailing for the tourists, runs coming too softly against a weak attack.Manzoor stepped up a gear up as the bowling deteriorated; the line and length was atrocious and there was no genuine pace ball from the seamers. He found the boundary eight times in his innings, falling to left-arm seamer Prince Masvaure, drawing a reflex catch from Tafadzwa Ngulube. But he had done enough for his side.Masvaure also removed Ali Asad for 39, but Naeem Anjum (28) and Anwar Ali (2) saw the tourists home.