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Sussex and Worcestershire remain Glamorgan’s closest challengers at the top of Division Two of the County Championship after their match at Hove fizzled out to a draw

27-May-2010
ScorecardSussex and Worcestershire remain Glamorgan’s closest challengers at the top of Division Two of the County Championship after their match at Hove fizzled out to a draw. No play was possible before lunch because of rain which meant a total of 65 overs were lost on the final two days. Worcestershire were not prepared to declare and set their second-placed rivals a target with the pitch still playing easily and a temptingly short off-side boundary on offer.The visitors, who began the final day on 76 for 2, a lead of 212, batted through to finish on 205 for 6. The lead was worth 339 when the players shook hands at 4.50pm. Worcestershire dropped to fourth place as a result of Gloucestershire’s win over Derbyshire while Sussex, favourites to go straight back up at the start of the season, are now 16 points adrift of Glamorgan.At least Sussex stopped the rot after successive championship defeats had enabled Glamorgan to knock them off the summit. In addition, they might have discovered a useful back-up seamer in opening batsman Michael Thornely, who claimed his first two first-class wickets in a seven-over spell either side of tea.The 22-year-old, who had only previously bowled four overs in first-class cricket, struck with his 15th ball when Moeen Ali drove to short midwicket. Moeen had added 60 in 17 overs with skipper Vikram Solanki after the early loss of nightwatchman Richard Jones, who was superbly caught in his follow through by Corey Collymore.Solanki was enjoying what had become nothing more than an extended net as he passed 50 for only the third time in 13 Championship innings. But on 61 he pushed forward to Thornely and was surprised to see his off stump knocked out of the ground. He hit five fours and three sixes, all over the short boundary on the scoreboard side, in a 124-ball stay.The only other wicket to fall came when Alexei Kervezee top-edged a sweep off Monty Panesar and Robin Martin-Jenkins took a comfortable catch at backward point. Martin-Jenkins was playing his last championship game at Hove after announcing that he will retire from the game on July 19 after 15 years with the county to take up a teaching job at Hurstpierpoint College. The veteran, fittingly, led the players off to a standing ovation at the end.

Monty Panesar took his first five-wicket haul since September 2008 as Sussex beat Gloucestershire by eight wickets at Arundel

09-Jul-2010

ScorecardMonty Panesar took his first five-wicket haul since September 2008 as Sussex beat Gloucestershire by eight wickets at Arundel to go top of Division Two in the County Championship. Almost a year to the day since his heroics with the bat helped England save the first Ashes Test in Cardiff, Panesar took advantage of a wearing pitch to claim 5 for 44 in Gloucestershire’s second innings to give him match figures of 8 for 114.Panesar was well supported by offspinner Ollie Rayner, who took 3 for 24, but Gloucestershire folded abysmally under pressure as they lost their last seven wickets for 52 in 16 overs to be bowled out for 131 despite an unbeaten 89 from Hamish Marshall. Sussex lost both openers before passing their target of 50 in 11 overs and they now go five points clear of Gloucestershire at the top in their bid for a quick return to Division One.Panesar struck in his first over when his arm ball deceived Jonathan Batty. Gloucestershire, who had conceded a first-innings deficit of 82, had already lost Kadeer Ali, one of five batsmen to get ducks, when he was lbw playing no shot to Yasir Arafat. Chris Dent drove to second slip but from 27 for 3 Marshall and Alex Gidman led a brief recovery with a stand of 52.But when Gidman was superbly caught at short leg by Michael Thornely off Rayner, Gloucestershire’s innings nose-dived. Panesar defeated Chris Taylor’s sweep, had James Franklin taken at short leg and Jon Lewis at slip before claiming his fifth wicket when Vikram Banerjee fatally played back to a ball which scuttled through.At the other end it often appeared as if Marshall was involved in a different game. He played some superb back-foot shots off the spinners and hit 15 fours in 126 balls but there was negligible support at the other end. Gemaal Hussain drove to mid-off and last man Steve Kirby was taken at backward short-leg to give Rayner the final two wickets of an innings which lasted just over 40 overs.Earlier, Sussex’s last four wickets had added a further 75 runs but Robin Martin-Jenkins missed out on a century in his last championship appearance when he was caught at second slip for 78.
Yasir Arafat contributed his first half-century of the season whilst left-arm spinner Banerjee picked up 5 for 94, his second five-wicket haul of the season.

Mohammad Yousuf has arrived in Birmingham but not in time to take part in Pakistan’s training session at Edgbaston this afternoon and he remains a doubtful starter for the second Test against England

Nagraj Gollapudi and Andrew Miller04-Aug-2010Mohammad Yousuf has ruled himself out of contention for the second Test against England at Edgbaston, after arriving in the country less than 24 hours before the start of the match on Friday. Yousuf missed Pakistan’s final practice on Thursday afternoon as he rested up in the team hotel following a flight from Lahore, and always looked like a doubtful starter despite Pakistan’s desperation to get back into the series following their 354-run hammering at Trent Bridge.”I have just arrived after a long flight. I will not be training. I will wait for the management to tell me what their plan is,” Yousuf had told Cricinfo immediately after arriving in Birmingham.Later in the evening he had a short and informal meeting over a cup of tea with the tour selection committee comprising Salman Butt (captain), Waqar Younis (coach) and Yawar Saeed (team manager) at the team hotel. “Considering the heavy monsoon across Pakistan Yousuf told us that he could not practice outdoors for the last 10-15 days,” Butt told Cricinfo. “So obviously we felt that was not enough match preparation.”Butt added that Yousuf can now set his sights on the third Test at The Oval beginning on August 18. “He can relax for now and steadily get back into the groove in the next week and also during the two-day practice game against Worcester,” Butt said. Asked if he was a certainty for the final two Tests, Butt said a player with Yousuf’s pedigree would walk into any team if he was fit.After the heavy defeat in Nottingham, Butt came out in support of his young batsmen – Azhar Ali and Umar Amin – only to be told moments later that Yousuf had agreed to come out of retirement following an SOS call to join the squad. During his press conference prior to the meeting, Butt said he was comfortable having Yousuf back, but had needed to be convinced of his mental state as much as his form before the Test started.”I am sure he would’ve picked up the bat at some point because even he knows he is coming to play a Test match,” Butt said. “He has to tell me what kind of physical state he is in because it has been a quite a lot of travel for him.””I would love to have the guy with the most runs in Pakistan and the most hundreds by any Pakistani batsmen,” he added. “I would definitely like to use his experience. But it will depend on what kind of state he is in because I don’t want to be unfair to anyone. It is a professional outfit, you’ve got to get people going when they say they are 100 percent ready for it.”Butt admitted it was a far from ideal situation for the team to have to complete their final training with such a key position still up in the air, especially at a time when they are trying to level the series.”Everybody knows that this is the type of show that has been coming out of Pakistan previously as well as recently,” he said. “This is something that can change. It should be more pre-planned and people should know beforehand who is going to come, who is going to play, but players really don’t have a choice. [But] it happens with other teams as well. Yes, it happens to Pakistan more often.”Though Yousuf brings with him a wealth of experience and class there remains the danger of rekindling the destructive atmosphere that developed during the tour of Australia where Yousuf was captain and Pakistan lost every match. Butt, though, wants to start afresh rather than think about the past.”If he can do us something good that will be good for the team,” he said. “And there is also a chance for the youngsters to go to him, speak to him and get something from his experience and benefit from that. I hope that his presence has a good effect on the rest of the guys especially the young batsmen.”

Glamorgan seamers James Harris and Huw Waters dragged their side back into contention by sharing six wickets in the County Championship promotion battle against Sussex at Hove

29-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Glamorgan seamers James Harris and Huw Waters dragged their side back into contention by sharing six wickets in the County Championship promotion battle against Sussex at Hove. Harris reached 50 wickets in a season for the first time in his career while Waters produced an inspired burst of 3 for 2 in twenty balls after lunch just when it looked as if the leaders would take control.Sussex slumped from 166 for 3 to 250 all out in the afternoon session, losing eight wickets for 84 runs to concede a first innings deficit of 50. After tea 17 overs were lost to rain and Glamorgan closed on 37 for 1, an overall lead of 87 going into the final day.Their best chance of winning the game and closing the twenty-point lead Sussex had going into the match will be to score quickly in the first session on Monday although their hopes suffered a setback before the close when Australian left-hander Mark Cosgrove fell for 9. Cosgrove, who made 142 in the first innings, was superbly caught one-handed by Chris Nash on the square leg boundary off Yasir Arafat.Six batsmen earlier fell to leg before decisions, the first of them Nash who had added five runs to his overnight 14 when he was squared up by Harris in the fourth over of the day. Dean Cosker could have been celebrating twice in his first over but skipper Mark Wallace missed an easy stumping to reprieve Ed Joyce on 26 and Ben Brown was dropped by Waters running back from mid-on.Brown made his third successive Championship half-century, studding his run-a-ball 58 with 11 boundaries, but after adding 72 in 16 overs he was bowled by Jim Allenby playing across the line. Murray Goodwin maintained the attacking tempo as Sussex scored 136 runs in the session but the game changed the first ball after lunch when Harris had Goodwin leg before.Joyce, who added just three runs in 30 minutes after the interval, played back to Harris for 56 and Luke Wright became Waters’ first victim when he was bowled offering no shot. Waters picked up Mike Yardy and Arafat in successive overs and the tail was mopped by left-arm spinner Cosker.Andy Hodd, who had held the lower order together with 26, was leg before offering no shot and James Anyon fell in similar fashion to end the innings, Monty Panesar having fallen to Allenby in the previous over.

Teenager Nathan Buck took a starring role to spearhead a Leicestershire fightback on the first day of their final home County Championship game of the season against Gloucestershire at Grace Road

08-Sep-2010
ScorecardLeicestershire dominated the second day of the County Championship game against Gloucestershire at Grace Road to keep alive their slim chances of promotion. After dismissing Gloucestershire for 159 Leicestershire moved into a commanding position by reaching 147 for 1 at stumps to lead by 283 runs.Greg Smith was still there at the close on 70 having shared stands of 69 with Matt Boyce and 78 with Jacques Du Toit to complete an impressive day for the home side. But it was a feeble batting performance from Gloucestershire who still harbour hopes of snatching the second promotion place from Division Two. After the start was delayed for 45 minutes because of early morning mist and damp conditions, Gloucestershire lost their last eight wickets for 105 runs in 45 overs.It would have been an even lower total but for a determined innings of 61 from Hamish Marshall. The next-highest contribution came from opener Jonathan Batty who made 29. Batty began the day on 24 with Gloucestershire 241 behind at their overnight 54 for 2. But having added five runs to his score Batty was caught behind off Matthew Hoggard to bring to an end a third wicket stand of 71 with Marshall.It proved to be the last partnership of any substance as the Gloucestershire innings subsided in the face of some accurate bowling from Leicestershire’s seamers and spinners. Nathan Buck picked up his third wicket of the innings when he squared up Alex Gidman to find the edge and provide wicketkeeper Tom New with another comfortable catch.Marshall however remained defiant reaching 50 off 72 balls with eight fours. But the turning point came when Nadeem Malik dismissed both Marshall and Chris Taylor in the last over before lunch leaving Gloucestershire in disarray at 117 for 6.It was turgid fare after the break as Gloucestershire scored 38 runs in 21 overs before spinners Claude Henderson and Jigar Naik both took two wickets in an over. Henderson caught and bowled James Franklin for 23 and then had Jon Lewis lbw. Naik then brought the innings to an end by having Ed Young taken at slip and Anthony Ireland caught at mid-on.Naik finished with 2 for 9 off 3.5 overs while Henderson conceded only 17 runs in 18 overs for his two wickets. Buck claimed 3 for 47 and two wickets fell in an over on four occasions.Leicestershire tightened the screw even further as Smith and Boyce confidently put together a partnership of 69 that ended when Boyce mistimed a pull off Franklin and was caught at mid wicket. But there were no more alarms as Smith reached 50 off 89 balls and, along with Du Toit, steered Leicestershire safely through to the close and into a match-winning position.

Charl Willoughby claimed 4 for 60 as Somerset bowled out Lancashire for 259 on the opening day of their County Championship clash at Taunton

07-Sep-2010
ScorecardCharl Willoughby claimed 4 for 60 as Somerset bowled out Lancashire for 259 on the opening day of their County Championship clash at Taunton. The figures took the South African’s first-class wicket tally for the season to 50, a landmark he has achieved in all of his five seasons with Somerset, and raised hopes of a victory that could keep alive their title hopes.Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul (56) offered much resistance before the last two Lancashire wickets added 90, Gary Keedy making 34 and Sajid Mahmood 29. By the close Somerset had replied with 54 for 1, Marcus Trescothick falling to Keedy for 33.Willoughby produced a fine nine-over opening spell from the Old Pavilion End, sending back openers Tom Smith and Paul Horton with only 32 runs on the board. It was 77 for 3 when Mark Chilton was lbw moving across his stumps to Alfonso Thomas and 126 for 4 when Steven Croft was run out by Peter Trego as he was sent back by Chanderpaul attempting a single to square leg.Chanderpaul moved to his half-century in typically stubborn manner off 72 balls, with seven fours. But he then departed in totally uncharacteristic fashion, top-edging a reverse sweep off Murali Kartik to Trescothick at slip.From 153 for 4, Lancashire slumped to 169 for 8 as Willoughby removed Gareth Cross and Kyle Hogg either side of Kartik pinning Luke Procter lbw. News of Nottinghamshire’s struggles at Trent Bridge had reached Somerset, rekindling their hopes of a first ever Championship title. But they were then frustrated as Mahmood and Keedy added 34 for the ninth wicket.Mahmood became the second batsman to fall to the reverse sweep after hitting six fours, but Keedy went on to share another stand of 56 with last man Simon Kerrigan, who battled away for 80 balls to make an unbeaten 16. Keedy was bowled by Ben Phillips when the new ball was taken, having faced 87 deliveries and hit five fours.The left-arm spinner then did his side another big favour by having Trescothick caught at short midwicket by Smith just as he was looking to cut loose. Arul Suppiah and night watchman Thomas saw Somerset through to the close, but on a green looking pitch their team will need to bat well tomorrow to gain a meaningful first innings advantage.

Harbhajan Singh has said that India’s effort to save this Test from the depths of 5 for 15 showed why they were the No. 1 team

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2010Harbhajan Singh has said that India’s effort to save this Test from the depths of 5 for 15 in their second innings showed why they are the top-ranked Test side in the world. “This is what the No. 1 team can do; anyone can come and perform. We believe in each other. Everyone felt that if Ishant [Sharma] and VVS Laxman can win the game in Mohali, why can’t Harbhajan Singh go out and make 60-odd, and Laxman score 150 for team India and save the game?We have lots of self belief and that’s why we are the No. 1 side.”Harbhajan won the Man-of-the-Match award for his batting exploits, something he never dreamed he would do in a Test. “May be in the one-dayers I thought I can get a chance to go up the order, slog a few, get a quick 50-odd and be the Man of the Match.He also felt that Chris Martin was the real Man of the Match for his devastating spell on the fourth day. “Hats off to this guy (Martin) for he bowled his heart out on this flat wicket. For me he is the Man of the Match; to take five wickets on this pitch was something really special.”Harbhajan has talked in the past about his team-mates have always believed he could get a Test hundred, and they shared his joy after he finally reached the landmark. “Now I know how it feels to get a hundred. I was really thrilled and excited. It helped us save the Test. You must have seen how the players were enjoying each other’s success. When I got my hundred everyone was in the balcony to support me. That was a great sign.”He was effusive in his praise for Laxman. ” toh Laxman hi hai (Laxman is the man for a crisis). I was just supporting him. He was the reason I got my hundred; He kept saying I am batting really well and to concentrate this over, then the next over and then the next. If he was not on the other side, things could have been different. He batted superbly. He was little unlucky with his decision, else he would have got his hundred as well.”Both Laxman and Zaheer Khan fell to poor umpiring decisions today, and Harbhajan was asked his opinion on the Umpire Decision Review System. “As a bowler, I don’t mind if that system comes. We had it in Sri Lanka and I quite liked it as I got couple of wickets. But I am no one to decide on this. Big people decide; my job is to just bowl, bat, and field. That’s the best I can do.”Harbhajan said a lot of the credit for his innings should go to Laxman, who told him what shots to play and what shots not to play. “He told me to not to play on-the-rise shots; that was the only thing I looked to avoid on this pitch. I was just waiting for the right kind of ball in my area where I was comfortable to hit my shots.”The lifeless pitch was reason why India decided not to declare and push for the win. Daniel [Vettori] bowled 35-36 overs to take two wickets. And you saw the replays of them to see what sort of decisions they were. There was nothing in the pitch. We made the right decision of not declaring.”Harbhajan also reiterated his pre-match statements that New Zealand are a good side, saying one bad series doesn’t make them a bad side. “I think it [the performance in Bangladesh] was over-hyped in New Zealand. We also lost to Bangladesh in the World Cup. That doesn’t make us a bad team. When two teams play, one will win and one will lose.”

In what could be a setback to Lalit Modi in his battle against the BCCI, the Indian board has decided to retain the three-member disciplinary panel appointed to probe the charges against him

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2010In what could be a setback to Lalit Modi in his battle against the BCCI, the Indian board has decided to retain the three-member disciplinary panel appointed to probe the charges against him. Modi’s lawyers had objected to the presence of IPL chairman Chirayu Amin in the panel, claiming Amin may have a grudge against him.According to Modi, Amin was part of a consortium led by Pune-based construction company City Corporation that took part in the auction for the two new teams in March 2010. “It was Modi who had disclosed publicly that Amin was an investor who formed a part of the Pune consortium that made an unsuccessful bid for the two franchises this year,” PTI quoted the notice sent by Modi’s lawyers as saying in July.However, the board approved Amin’s presence on the panel at its special general meeting, ratifying the three-man committee’s tenure till the case against Modi is heard completely. The BCCI’s constitution requires the disciplinary panel to be constituted at every annual general meeting which the board had initially failed to do, but formally did so today.Modi had earlier also disputed the presence of Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, in the panel. Manohar duly recused himself, and was replaced by Jyotiraditya Scindia. However, according to Ratnakar Shetty, the board’s chief administrative officer, the BCCI’s constitution makes it mandatory for its President to be on the disciplinary committee. Accordingly, Manohar will now be part of the panel except for the Modi case.Besides Amin, the other members of the panel are Arun Jaitley and Scindia, who are both politicians heading their respective state cricket associations.

This match is being used to mark the 40th anniversary of one-day internationals but both teams are focussed on their World Cup planning

Preview by Andrew McGlashan at the MCG15-Jan-2011

Match Facts

January 16, Melbourne

Start time 14.20 (03.20 GMT)Shane Watson will be crucial to Australia’s one-day side•Getty Images

The Big Picture

This match is being used to mark the 40th anniversary of one-day cricket, which began back on January 5, 1971 when Australia faced England at the MCG after the scheduled Test was abandoned due to rain. How times have changed. Floodlights, coloured clothes (and colour TV), white balls, Powerplays, HawkEye, the switch hit and much more. What hasn’t changed, though, is Australia’s desire to win and they haven’t been doing a lot of it lately.The Twenty20 victory on Friday was a welcome change of fortune and now the one-day series is the last chance to prepare before heading to the World Cup next month. But with the squads having to be named by January 19 in reality there is one game before the players will know their fate. Judging by the Australia selectors there are a few spots still up for grabs so there’s plenty riding on performances at the MCG for the likes of David Hussey, Xavier Doherty and Shaun Tait.England are a pretty settled unit after an upturn in their one-day form over the last 18 months. They will welcome back Andrew Strauss, who wasn’t part of the Twenty20 squad, but he’s the only change. James Anderson isn’t around until the fourth match in Adelaide having popped home for a rest but Chris Woakes has already shown his ticker on his Twenty20 debut.England’s World Cup record since 1992, when they lost in the final against Pakistan, has been dire yet they are more than an outside bet this time. They beat Australia 3-2 during the English summer, which gave them some valuable hints for the Ashes, although they were rattled by the pace of Shaun Tait in the latter part of that contest. They won’t want to concede any ground to Australia.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WLLLW

England WLLWW

Watch out for…

David Hussey has only played 23 ODIs in his career, and he has one more chance now. A decade ago such batsmen were part and parcel of Australia cricket, the lost generation of Stuart Law, Jamie Cox, Martin Love and the like, but given their current problems it’s amazing Hussey hasn’t had more opportunities. With one match remaining before the World Cup, is it do or die, or are the selectors going to take him anyway? Runs on his home ground would certainly help.It’s easy to forget that Kevin Pietersen wasn’t part of England’s last one-day series after being dropped against Pakistan in August. He didn’t take it well, as his Twitter outburst proved, but he’ll come back in wanting to show that he’s a central part of England’s best 50-over side. In his absence, Eoin Morgan has cemented his standing as the matchwinner and both Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell have shown enough form to warrant an extended run, but Pietersen will be vital on the subcontinent.

Team news

Is this a World Cup shoot-out? The selectors want to have a look at a few players before naming their final squad but they won’t learn much from one match. Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle have been rested, while Nathan Hauritz was never set to play this match according to Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors. It might mean that Hauritz, who remains in Sydney for now, has already earned his World Cup place and the selectors want to have another look at Xavier Doherty.Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Michael Clarke, 4 Cameron White, 5 David Hussey, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Steven Smith, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Xavier Doherty, 10 Doug Bollinger, 11 Shaun Tait.England know their best one-day team, but in the absence of James Anderson (rested) and Stuart Broad (injury) there will be a chance for a combination of Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Woakes and Chris Tremlett to enhance their claims. Andrew Strauss will be back to open and lead the side after his Twenty20 break and has been one England’s most consistent one-day batsman recently. The in-form Ian Bell could slot in at No. 3 meaning Kevin Pietersen at four.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Steven Davies (wk), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Michael Yardy, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Chris Woakes, 11 Ajmal Shahzad.

Stats and trivia

• England haven’t lost a one-day series since being beaten 6-1 by Australia after the 2009 Ashes. In that time they’ve beaten South Africa, Bangladesh (twice), Australia and Pakistan.
• The two teams have met 20 times at the MCG with Australia ahead 13-6 with one abandonment, although the most recent fixture was a win for England in 2007 when they took a 1-0 lead in CB Series finals.
• Andrew Strauss scored 806 runs at 57.57 from 14 matches in 2010
• In the last series between the two teams Shaun Tait returned for the last three matches and took eight wickets at 12.37.

Quotes

“I see them as wicket-taking bowlers. It’s not a bad problem to have when you have three strike bowlers in one squad.”
“Momentum heading into the World Cup’s crucial. Both sides will be very up for the series and to be thinking ‘ah well, we won the Ashes’ will take away from our intensity.”

The former Australia captain Ian Chappell has called on Ricky Ponting to resign from the Test captaincy in the wake of England’s Ashes-sealing victory in the fourth Test at Melbourne

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2010The former Australia captain Ian Chappell has called on Ricky Ponting to resign from the Test captaincy in the wake of England’s Ashes-sealing victory in the fourth Test at Melbourne, and has warned that if he does not take the decision himself, he could run the risk of being pushed out of the door by the selectors. Australia’s next Test campaign after the Ashes is the tour of Sri Lanka in August.Ponting admitted in the wake of England’s innings-and-157-run victory at the MCG that he “does not have much of a case” to present to the selectors, having presided over his third unsuccessful Ashes campaign, the most by any Australian captain since Billy Murdoch in the late-1800s. In the course of the series his batting form has collapsed, with a tally of 113 runs in eight innings, leading Chappell to suggest that he has passed his “use-by date”.”I’ve said all along that this should be the end of his Test captaincy reign,” Chappell told ESPNcricinfo. “I think he should be given the opportunity to defend the World Cup as a captain, but I just hope he makes the decision himself. I’d hate to see Ricky Ponting get pushed, I’d rather see him jump than be pushed. So, I hope he makes the decision and preferably he makes it himself, but if he doesn’t I hope that Cricket Australia suggest to him that it might be better if you went of your own volition, rather than us having to push you.”Ponting remains the most successful Australian captain of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests since 2004, while as a player he has taken part in 99 victories, the most by anyone in history. However, since the lost of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne at the end of the 2006-07 Ashes, closely followed by other key team-mates such as Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, his record has faltered, with the Melbourne defeat being Australia’s fifth in their last seven Tests.”I think he has been terrific, and he has probably delayed this day,” said Chappell. “This day was almost inevitable when you lose the standard of player that they lost three and four years ago. If you’re being realistic, there was going to be a lot of doom and gloom around the corner.”I think that has been delayed because of the form of Ricky Ponting, and the strength of Ricky Ponting as a captain,” Chappell added. “But there comes a time for all captains, there’s a use-by date, and when it’s time to move on, it’s about new players and a new captain. Sadly it’s come on the end of a loss, but that’s the way things work in sport.”