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Mitchell Johnson is used to being quick, though usually it’s the speed of his bowling that attracts the most attention. On the fourth day at Seddon Park he did break the 150kph mark on a regular basis to drive Australia closer to victory, but of equal interest was how fast he reached a milestone. When Johnson rattled the stumps of Tim McIntosh, it was his 150th wicket in 34 Tests, fewer games than any other left-armer in history took to reach that landmark.Only eight left-arm pace bowlers have got there, and that includes Garry Sobers and Bill Johnston, who switched between seam and spin. At the head of the field is Wasim Akram, and after Johnson was told of his achievement he said he was thrilled to be in the same company as Akram, who took 41 Tests to get 150 wickets.”I used to watch him when I was younger and I guess you grow up and want to be able to do the things that guys like him did when they played,” Johnson said. “I used to watch the lefties when they were around, like Bruce Reid, and one day you hope you have the chance to do that. All us lefties do stick together I suppose.”Perhaps a greater compliment than the record came with the word of the opposing coach Mark Greatbatch, who watched on in dismay as Johnson skittled three of New Zealand’s top four batsmen with his speed, angle and unpredictability. Only Waqar Younis dismissed Greatbatch more times in international cricket than Wasim, whose key weapons were accuracy and swing.”He’s not the same left-armer as Akram but he looks like he can go up two or three gears on a flat deck, which is a real skill,” Greatbatch said. “He has that energy and that ability. It’s slightly different the way he did it as what Akram did it but it’s still the same quality.”The ball that beat McIntosh was 150kph and the first delivery that Mathew Sinclair faced was even quicker at 152kph. Johnson was keen to use the variable bounce in the Seddon Park pitch to unsettle the batsmen, pushing McIntosh back with a leg gully to get him thinking of a short ball, and he also kept one eye on the radar gun.”I think most fast bowlers do, you want to see where you are at,” Johnson said. “It felt good for me rhythm wise, the guys behind the stumps were encouraging as well, saying it was going through well. You always have a glance now and then. If you think you have bowled a quick ball, you have a look up. It’s nice to see when the ball is over 150, I don’t mind seeing that at all.”The batsmen didn’t like seeing it. After McIntosh, Johnson drew edges behind from the right-handers BJ Watling and Ross Taylor and put Australia in a strong position to aim for victory on the fifth morning. If Johnson has his way, the result will come quickly.

James Hopes and Lee Carseldine will return for Queensland to provide a much-needed dose of experience for the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria starting on Wednesday. Hopes is back after playing in Australia’s 3-2 win over New Zealand while Carseldine has been passed fit following a broken toe that ruled him out of the Bulls’ last regular-season game.While Western Australia won that match by three wickets, the Bulls were outplayed for most of the contest and their batting was a major worry as they were dismissed for 106 and 285. Craig Philipson, Nathan Reardon and Nathan Rimmington have been dropped from the 13-man outfit while the uncapped duo of Ben Dunk and Jason Floros have been selected.Dunk, a wicketkeeper-batsman, was outstanding in the Twenty20 competition and the allrounder Floros was part of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup win. “We’ll have a good look at the conditions and make our decision [on the XI] from there,” Queensland’s chairman of selectors Ray Phillips said.”There are a few things we’re considering so we’ll take our time to finalise things.” The squad will arrive in Melbourne on Monday and some of the players will attend the state cricket media awards.Queensland squad Ryan Broad, Wade Townsend, Lee Carseldine, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Chris Hartley (wk), Ben Dunk, Jason Floros, Chris Simpson (capt), Cameron Boyce, Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Chris Swan.

The former Australian prime minister John Howard, poised to take over as ICC president from 2012, has said India’s massive standing in the current game should not be feared but rather embraced. On the day Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), one fourth of the powerful Asian bloc, said it would not oppose his nomination, Howard sought to downplay concerns over India’s powerful status.”India is the second most populous country in the world, it’s cricket-mad, they are plusses,” Howard told . “I think it’s entirely wrong to look at the Indian involvement in cricket in a negative light. I think of those millions of people in India and the subcontinent … who play cricket. They play it with a passion and love it.”Over the last decade the Indian board’s power grew exponentially with its bank balance and as the rest of cricket fell in line there have been many to state their wariness. A former ICC president, Malcolm Gray, once warned that Asia’s ambition to hold one in three World Cups was not in the best interests of the game, while certain members of the ECB structure in the 2000s expressed concern. Howard’s comments came a day after Muttiah Muralitharan, the word’s leading Test wicket-taker, said he would have a difficult time convincing the Asian bloc of his capabilities.However, Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, told Cricinfo that any country had the right to nominate their choice for the post and it was not ethical for Sri Lanka to harp on incidents that had happened in the past. “We know that Howard as prime minister unruffled a few feathers calling Muttiah Muralitharan a chucker, but that is now a thing of the past,” he said. “We don’t want to harp on it any more. We have to look to the future and try to work cordially with whoever is elected to the ICC post. We have no control over people elected to that position.”Howard, who led Australia from 1996 to 2007, will have the position rubber stamped in June and will succeed India’s Sharad Pawar in two years. Responding to criticism that he lacked the required skills to hold the post of ICC president, Howard pointed to a 30-year political career. ”I think the fact I haven’t been involved in cricket administration is explained by the fact I had a day job which made that rather difficult,” he said.Howard’s nomination will be approved at the ICC’s executive board meeting in April and the position will be finalised at the annual conference in the middle of the year.

The inquiry committee set up the PCB to looking into the reasons behind the disastrous tour of Australia has held their second day of hearings in Lahore. The committee announced that it won’t meet again till the Pakistan national team returns from Dubai from their two Twenty20s against England next weekend.Pakistan have just completed a troubled tour of Australia, where they were blanked in each match in all three formats. Pakistan cricket is in turmoil after the tour: Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi was banned for ball tampering and there has been plenty of speculation over Intikhab Alam’s future as coach. Mohammad Yousuf, the initial tour captain, had said on returning to Pakistan that one player had disrupted team unity during the tour, without identifying who it was. Shoaib Malik, widely regarded as the target of Yousuf’s remarks, hit back by questioning Yousuf’s leadership abilities on Friday, and had demanded to be allowed to meet the inquiry committee.The six-man committee, headed by Wasim Bari, the board COO, questioned both Yousuf and Malik on Saturday, besides Intikhab, assistant coach Aaqib Javed and opener Salman Butt. It had began work on Friday by interviewing Afridi and the team manager Abdur Raqueeb.

Mickey Arthur’sresignation as South Africa’s coach came in the wake of increasing pressure from administrators over what they saw as the under-performance of the national team.Arthur quit in dramatic circumstances on Monday, reportedly following an “irreparable breakdown” in his relationship with Graeme Smith. But a source close to Cricket South Africa denied that a rift had developed between coach and captain.”This is not a Graeme issue,” the source told Cricinfo. “Graeme is not that powerful. It looks ugly because he has been through three coaches (Eric Simons, Ray Jennings and Arthur) and three convenors of selectors, but he is still a young captain.”Arthur also said his resignation had nothing to do with Smith. “This is not about Graeme,” he told the .”I have absolutely no issues with Graeme. We had and have a very sound relationship. It will all come out in the press conference tomorrow, as he’s flying down to keep me company.”Instead, it seems official reaction to South Africa’s comparative lack of recent success forced Arthur’s hand. The team won just one of the six Tests they played in 2009, and drew their home series against England this month.”Arthur doesn’t handle pressure well at all, and he is facing pressure from a few different sources on a few different issues,” the source said. “The board is questioning him on the team’s non-performance and on issues like transformation. Even though he has been getting frustrated with these questions, the timing of his resignation is strange.”However, Smith’s vice-captain, Ashwell Prince, disagreed that South Africa had performed poorly with Arthur at the helm. “He’s had five years in the job, and he’s taken the team to the top in both the Test and one-day rankings,” Prince told Cricinfo. “I wouldn’t have thought he would be under pressure to resign.”Despite their consistently high one-day ranking, South Africa have failed to win ICC events and have instead earned a reputation as the most reliable chokers in the game. Prince took a different view. “South Africa haven’t done as well as they would have liked in one-day and Twenty20 tournaments, but those events are tough to win,” he said.Whatever the reasons behind Arthur’s resignation, a selection dispute doesn’t seem to be among them. “I was very surprised,” South Africa’s selection chief and a former national coach himself, Mike Procter, told Cricinfo. “We had meetings last Tuesday, and there was no hint of anything like this. I didn’t have a clue.”South Africa’s Test and one-day squads for their imminent tour to India were announced last Monday. Neither squad contained the kind of shock selection that could force a resignation, and Procter said conflicts with Arthur were rare: “He was very good to work with from a selector’s point of view. Obviously, we had the odd disagreement over selection, but that’s normal.”Prince was equally bemused by Arthur’s decision. “For me, it’s quite a surprise,” he said. “I will miss him, because the team operates like a family. Just the other day we all had Christmas lunch together, along with our wives and children.”Corrie van Zyl, a former South African assistant coach, will take the team to India in a caretaker capacity. The source denied that Vincent Barnes had, as has been reported, been sacked or had resigned as bowling coach.Kepler Wessels, the former South African captain and Northamptonshire coach, is one of the contenders to replace Arthur in the long-term, as is the former England coach, Duncan Fletcher, who has served the team as a batting consultant in recent seasons. Arthur is reportedly hoping to further his career with an English county.

New Zealand’s lower middle-order came through a test of character and application with flying colours today as they helped beat England by four wickets in what turned into a close call at the Lincoln No 3 ground today.New Zealand appeared to be cruising in their quest for 141 runs when a stunning opening partnership of 73 runs off 76 balls between Rebecca Rolls and Michelle Lynch had England reeling.But some poor shot selection by the batsmen created some unnecessary pressure as playing across the line became more the habit than it should have.However, the relatively inexperienced pair of Sara McGlashan and Aimee Mason shared an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 34 off 53 balls to see New Zealand home.Mason, who played her natural game of controlled attack, scored 15 off 23 balls while McGlashan hit nine off 33.New Zealand captain Emily Drumm said it had been yet another match where they were chasing a messy little total after getting a flyer to start with.The batsmen had not done enough to hold their wickets and were guilty of not standing up and taking responsibility.”Six wickets down were too many but I was still confident we would get there.”Sara and Aimee were young heads who led us home and they were not afraid to play their natural game,” Drumm said.Encouraging as England’s recovery may have been, they still had cause to be disappointed with their batting. They didn’t bat out their 50 overs, being dismissed for 140 in the 47th.A fine spell of bowling from Drumm knocked the stuffing out of the England top-order. She had Claire Taylor well caught at gully by Maia Lewis for 10. She then had Arran Thompson trapped leg before wicket for 12 while Laura Newton was bowled for eight.She took herself off after five overs with three wickets for eight runs.But any hope of respite was denied them by Haidee Tiffen. She may have struggled for 21 balls later in the game to be dismissed for a duck, but in the field she was outstanding taking three catches and providing the vital impetus for three run outs. It was a classy display which complemented the tighter bowling, especially of the spinners.Young left-arm spinner Rebecca Steele and right-arm off spinner Mason conceded only 46 runs from their 20 overs while picking up a wicket apiece. Mason did slightly the better statistically with one for 22.It was a disappointing effort from England. Laura Harper did bowl well to put the pressure on the New Zealanders at a vital stage of the game and she showed great control in taking two for 17 from her 10 overs, and Lucy Pearson’s second spell of four overs resulted in two wickets for six runs.Drumm said New Zealand hadn’t quite got the mix right with their bowling and while she regarded herself as half a bowler, she realised when the team for today had been named that she would have to be more than that.It was important for the young New Zealand bowlers to be exposed to international play and it was a case of having patience with them.”We have the talent but we have to put it together collectively,” she said.Drumm said she had brought back Nicola Browne deliberately because she had been disappointed with her first spell, and she had responded.However, the side was bowling too many wides and that was something that would be talked about again tonight and before the side’s next match.New Zealand’s fielding effort was also acknowledged and Drumm had been delighted the side held all their catches while their ground fielding was still developing.However, the effort of Tiffen in setting the standard for the side was setting a benchmark for the younger players, and Drumm said there couldn’t be a much higher benchmark.Steele had also bowled well and while she hadn’t been challenged yet, Drumm regarded her as an encouraging prospect.”She is tall and bowls from a tall trajectory, gets nice flight and puts the ball on the spot,” she said.New Zealand’s next game is on Sunday against India and England play Australia, also on Sunday.

Group B

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s five-for kept UP in the match against Bengal after they folded for 62•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

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Irfan Pathan’s all-round show powered Baroda to victory against Saurashtra on another day for bowlers to savour at the Moti Bagh Stadium. Cheteshwar Pujara was the only Saurashtra batsman to come to terms with the track, making 71 (next highest 15) before he was the last man out as his side was rolled over for 137. It has been a match has swung from one side to the next, and Saurashtra’s batting let them down once again after their bowlers had wrung out a first-innings lead on Tuesday. Irfan took the opening wicket before grabbing the final three in the space of six deliveries. Firdaush Bhaja also finished with four, running through the middle-order. Baroda lost three batsmen in their chase of 141 but Irfan blasted a 45-ball 65 to clinch the win which dented Saurashtra’s hopes of making the quarter-finals
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Twenty-two wickets went down on a manic day at the Green Park Stadium, after which Uttar Pradesh had a slight edge over Bengal. Fast bowler Ranadeb Bose ripped through the UP top order in the morning with a five-wicket haul that helped bowl out the home side for 62 in only 24.1 overs. That gave Bengal a handy 131-run lead, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed exactly what Bose did to keep UP in the match. He grabbed five of the first six wickets to limit Bengal to 104. Manoj Tiwary and Sourav Ganguly both fell for ducks and it was 56-run eighth-wicket stand between Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Sourav Sarkar that helped Bengal reach triple digits after they were struggling at 35 for 7. UP made a relatively solid start to the chase of 236, finishing at 53 for 2. Bose, though, predicted a much more closely-fought second innings, as the wicket had eased out. “I am in no mood to enjoy the five-wicket haul as the match is not over yet,” he told the . “We still have to get eight wickets. The wicket won’t help as much as it did on the first two days. Remember, lightning doesn’t strike twice. Uttar Pradesh can’t be bowled out for 62 again. But we have to win this match.”
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A solid bowling performance from Delhi pushed them towards a win that will take them five points clear of fourth-placed Baroda. Medium-pacer Parvinder Awana took five to scythe through Maharashtra’s first innings, keeping them to 163. Even that needed a brisk 39, including eight fours, from No. 10 Jitendra Patil. Forced to follow on, Maharashtra finished the day at 32 for 1, still a long way from making Delhi bat again. Among the few moments to enjoy for Maharashtra was getting rid of overnight batsman Mithun Manhas for 170, the addition of only four runs.

Group A

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It was still an even game between Hyderabad and Railways at the Uppal Stadium. Again the batsmen took their time to make the runs; M Suresh’s 329-minute 64 guiding Railways to a satisfactory 305. Alfred Absolem, the ICL returnee, was the most effective of Hyderabad’s bowlers finishing with a five-for. Hyderabad replied with a patient effort, opener Shashank Nag taking 144 deliveries for his 51 before being dismissed in the day’s final over. Anirudh Singh made a measured 41, and in partnership with Nag, took Hyderabad to 99 for 2.
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Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were involved in an intense tussle for the first-innings lead in Surat. Gujarat lost their final five wickets for 19 runs to make a modest 234. This after the overnight pair of Bhavik Thaker and Sunny Singh added 71 runs on the day. The HP top-order collapsed, with four of the top five falling in single digits. Vinit Indulkar (49) and an unbeaten 65 from the experienced Paras Dogra kept HP’s chances of gaining three points by overhauling Gujarat’s total alive. It is Gujarat who hold the edge, though, as they need only two more wickets while HP need 60 runs.
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Basanth Mohanty’s four wickets left Orissa poised to taking the first-innings lead against Punjab in Chandigarh. Orissa’s final three wickets extended the innings to 283, thanks to Alok Sahoo’s half-century. Punjab’s top-order flopped in reply, with Ravi Inder Singh being the only one of the top six to cross 20. Basanth scalped the first four wickets to reduce Punjab to 74 for 4. It was then the turn of Debashis Mohanty to do the damage, striking three blows to push Punjab to 114 for 8.Click to read Nagraj Gollapudi’s bulletin of the second day’s play between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu.

Marlon Samuels is adamant he is the man to revive West Indies’ embattled batting line-up when he returns from a two-year suspension for links to an Indian gambler. Samuels, who was banned by a West Indies Cricket Board disciplinary committee for discussing team information with Mukesh Kochar and later approaching him to pay a hotel bill, will be eligible to return to cricket on May 9 next year and is confident of being promptly reinstated to the regional team.Samuels has consistently maintained his innocence over the charges, and his belief that the WICB disciplinary committee were pressured into delivering a guilty verdict by both the board and the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. He told the hearing last year that phone taps in which he was recorded discussing bowling and personnel changes were never intended to assist in gambling, and that the $1,238 paid by Kochar for a hotel room in Mumbai was intended as a loan after his own credit card was declined.A four-man panel consisting of Richie Richardson, Justice Adrian Saunders, Lloyd Barnett and Aubrey Bishop voted 3-1 that Samuels had violated the ICC’s code of conduct, but stated the Jamaican batsman had not acted “dishonestly or in a corrupt manner” and that he “is an honest cricketer … [who] has never betted on cricket matches”. Richardson, one of the three panel members to rule against Samuels, later said he regretted his decision and argued that the minimum two-year sentence set down by the ICC was “unfair”.Samuels has maintained a low profile during his suspension, having abandoned his original plan to conduct a judicial review of the verdict through the Antiguan courts. He has spent much of the last 18 months in the gymnasium preparing for his re-entry to cricket – which coincides with the second week of the World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean – where he hopes to revitalise West Indies’ misfiring top- and middle-orders.”It’s always hard to see your team lose,” Samuels told Cricinfo. “I’m a West Indian and that will always be my team. I hope Chris Gayle will pick up his troops and take them to bigger and better things. I watch a lot of games and a lot of tapes. It has been very frustrating sitting and watching cricket all this time, but I am hoping to come back better than before. I will definitely come back with a stronger frame of mind.”Most definitely my intention is to return to the West Indies team. I have trained very hard and been very disciplined while I have been out of the game. The two years will be over soon. I want to bat No. 4 for West Indies. That is where I always wanted to bat, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get that opportunity. I am very much looking forward to batting again with guys like Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan. I think I could have a positive impact.”Samuels is not alone in making that assessment. Clyde Butts, West Indies’ chairman of selectors, is buoyant about the exiled batsman’s international prospects for a year that will include Test series against South Africa and Sri Lanka.”Once Marlon’s suspension is over and he’s playing cricket again he will be considered,” Butts told Cricinfo. “Of course, the performances have to be there. When Marlon was suspended he was just starting to score a lot of runs and look the part. He’s someone who could strengthen the middle order and he also offers part-time off-spin.”Samuels insists he has no regrets over his dealings with Kochar, whom he befriended during a limited-overs series in Sharjah in 2002. He claims his tapped telephone conversation with the Indian gambler before a one-day international against India in Nagpur two years ago did not amount to corruption, and Kochar’s settling of the hotel bill in Mumbai two weeks later was the result of Samuels being short of cash when a paid television appearance was cancelled at short notice.”I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it has really been one man against the world,” he said. “An appeal would not have worked. I had a lot of telephone conversations with all kinds of people, and they told me an appeal would be a waste of time. Why would I do anything different? Anyone in that situation would have done the same thing. There have been past players come out and say things about me when they have done the same things themselves. The entire world has seen my case and know that I am innocent.”It is nine years ago to the month that Samuels, then 19, made his Test debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, the same venue where West Indies will attempt to improve their Frank Worrell Trophy prospects this week. Memories of confrontations with the Glenn McGrath-led Australian attack evoke in him both pleasant memories and sadness. He had hoped to make a third tour of Australia.Samuels achieved notoriety at the conclusion of the 2000 series when he asked Steve Waugh, the then-Australian captain, for a piece of his famous red rag. Waugh obliged, and Samuels to this day counts the tattered piece of cloth among his most treasured items. “To me, he is one of the greatest players I have seen,” he said. “That red rag is very special to me. It will die with me. I have it in a glass case inside my house so when my career is over I will have something to show the world. He is a great Australian icon.”I would have loved to be making my third tour of Australia and giving Ricky Ponting a good run for his money. I have great memories of being there as a 19-year-old making my debut. It was good to see (Adrian Barath) scoring a century also as a 19-year-old and I wish him all the best. I wanted to go there as a fearless cricketer and approach the Test matches as if they were club games for Melbourne in Jamaica. I was just trying to play the ball, not the name that was Glenn McGrath.”Just how Caribbean and international audiences will greet the return of a player linked to gambling remains to be seen, but Samuels is hopeful of a positive response. He is spending the last few months of his suspension in the company of family, whom he expects to see less of from May 9, and mentally preparing himself to return to cricket’s elite competitions. “I know that when cricket starts again I will be away more often, so I am using this time now to do the things I want to,” he said. “When the time comes to play again, I know I will be ready.”

ScorecardMahmudul Hasan with the series trophy•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Three wickets from captain Mahmudul Hasan coupled with a fluent fifty from opener Saikat Ali helped Bangladesh cap off a successful series against England, with a narrow eight-run win at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.Having lost back-to-back games, Bangladesh were hoping to sign off on a high note and Saikat, who was recalled after sitting out the last game, justified Mahmudul’s decision to bat first. He hit six fours during his 72-ball stay and put on 77 for the second wicket with Amit Majumder as the hosts looked to take the upper hand. But repeated strikes from Matt Dunn and Nathan Buck, both of whom finished with three wickets apiece, meant Bangladesh were limited to 206.England were off on the wrong foot during the chase, as the openers departed with the score on 13. But fighting forties from Charlie Roebuck and Jos Buttler revived the innings, and the 64-run fourth-wicket partnership looked to have got the visitors back on track. But once Roebuck was sent back by offspinner Mahmudul, Buttler soon followed. Ben Stokes and Azeem Rafiq looked to make it a nervy end, but Mahmudul and Shaker Ahmed ensured the 5-2 scoreline in favour of Bangladesh with five balls to spare.

Ireland captain William Porterfield has been named the ICC Associate Player of the Year at the ICC Awards ceremony in Johannesburg.The voting academy chose Porterfield over other top Associate players including Canada’s Rizwan Cheema and the Netherlands duo of Edgar Schiferli and last year’s winner of this award Ryan ten Doeschate.During the 12-month voting period, Porterfield played for Ireland in 11 ODIs making two centuries and two half-centuries. His batting average was 46.80 with a strike rate of 77.10. As captain he also led Ireland to nine victories in those 11 matches.In the four ICC Intercontinental Cup fixtures played during the voting period, Porterfield averaged 38.14 with the bat, scoring one century and one half-century.Porterfield, 25, also led Ireland to the Super Eight stage of the ICC World Twenty20 this year and helped it to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 after winning the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in South Africa in April.Upon collecting his award in Porterfield said: “It’s been a fantastic year for us. This award caps it off on a personal note but it’s great for the team to be going to the World Cup having won the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier early this year.”This award is great for Irish cricket and it shows how much we have done on the field. If we continue onwards and keep on making improvements in that department then other awards will follow.”The Associate Player of the Year Award was one of eight individual prizes given at this year’s LG ICC Awards. It was announced by Charlotte Edwards, last year’s ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.The Associate Player of the Year award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in all international matches of the outstanding cricketers from the teams outside the ICC Full Members.