Quaid-i-Azam Trophy

The Qaid-i-Azam Trophy (aka Quaid-e-Azam Trophy) is the premier first-class domestic cricket competition in Pakistan.

History

Named after Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, the Trophy was introduced in 1953 to help pick the squad for Pakistan's Test tour of England in the forthcoming year. The competition has been contested sometimes by regional teams, sometimes by departments, and sometimes by a mixture of the two. Seven regional teams competed in the first competition. However, in 1956-57, it was decided that Karachi and Punjab would have to enter three teams each, in order to make the teams more evenly matched. Karachi teams have dominated the trophy, winning 17 times.

Winners RUNER UP

1957/58	Bahawalpur	Karachi C
1958/59	Karachi	Pakistan Combined Services
1959/60	Karachi	Lahore
1961/62	Karachi Blues	Pakistan Combined Services
1962/63	Karachi A	Karachi B
1963/64	Karachi Blues	Karachi Whites
1964/65	Karachi Blues	Lahore
1965/66	Karachi Blues	Lahore Greens
1966/67	Karachi	Pakistan Railways
1967/68	Karachi	Pakistan Railways
1968/69	Lahore	Karachi
1969/70	PIA	PWD
1970/71	Karachi Blues	Punjab University
1972/73	Pakistan Railways	Sind
1973/74	Pakistan Railways	Sind
1974/75	Punjab A	Sind A
1975/76	National Bank	Punjab A
1976/77	United Bank	National Bank
1977/78	Habib Bank	National Bank
1978/79	National Bank	Habib Bank
1979/80	National Bank	PIA
1980/81	United Bank	PIA
1981/82	National Bank	United Bank
1982/83	United Bank	National Bank
1983/84	National Bank	United Bank
1984/85	United Bank	Pakistan Railways
1985/86	Karachi	Pakistan Railways
1986/87	National Bank	United Bank
1987/88	PIA	United Bank
1988/89	ADBP	Habib Bank
1989/90	PIA	United Bank
1990/91	Karachi Whites	Bahawalpur
1991/92	Karachi Whites	Lahore
1992/93	Karachi Whites	Sargodha
1993/94	Lahore	Karachi Whites
1994/95	Karachi WBlues	Lahore
1995/96	Karachi Blues	Karachi Whites
1996/97	Lahore	Karachi Whites
1997/98	Karachi Blues	Peshawar
1998/99	Peshawar	Karachi Whites
1999/00	PIA	Habib Bank
2000/01	Lahore Blues	Karachi Whites
2001/02	Karachi Whites	Peshawar
2002/03	PIA	KRL
2003/04	Faisalabad	Sialkot
2004/05	Peshawar	Faisalabad
2005/06	Sialkot	Faisalabad
2006/07	Karachi Urban	Sialkot
2007/08	SNGPL	Habib Bank

Karachi teams have won the Qaid-i-Azam Trophy 17 times, PIA 6, National Bank 5, Lahore teams and United Bank 4, Bahawalpur, Punjab and Railways 2, ADBP, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Habib Bank and Peshawar 1.

Cricket World County Player Of The Week - A Rashid

Yorkshire all-rounder Adil Rashid has been named as the Cricket World County Player Of The Week for the second week in a row following another excellent performance in the LV County Championship.

Rashid followed up his century and five-wicket haul against Hampshire last week with an unbeaten 157 and six wickets during the draw with rivals Lancashire.

Rashid's unbeaten innings again came after early wickets left his side in some trouble; he shared a stand of 168 with Gerard Brophy (99) and Yorkshire gained a first innings lead of 153.

Rashid had already picked up five for 97 when Lancashire batted, claiming the notable scalp of Indian batsman VVS Laxman and although the match petered out into a draw, Rashid was able to dismiss Lancashire opener Paul Horton in the second innings to cap a brilliant fortnight for him.

Rashid will now join up with the England squad for Twenty20 and One-Day International duty and it can be only a matter of time before he is handed a Test cap.

Other contenders for the award included Murray Goodwin, who scored a triple-century for Sussex against Somerset, and Michael Lumb, who scored a double-century for Hampshire against Nottinghamshire.

Cricket World County Player Of The Week - Adil Rashid

Yorkshire all rounder Adil Rashid has been chose as this week’s Cricket World county Player of the Week after a brilliant all round performance in the county championship.

Yorkshire had waited the entire season to date for a win in the county championship but finally triumphed against Hampshire this week. And the Tykes were somewhat struggling in their first innings as the match was looking like it could be a tight encounter as they were teetering on the brink being bowled out at 268 for seven.

However, Adil Rashid came to the crease and hit an unbeaten 117 in partnership with Ajmal Shahzad as they pushed Yorkshire’s score to 524 all out. Rashid then starred with the ball aswell in the second innings as they bowled out Hampshire for 252 to win by an innings and 22 runs, Rashid finishing with a haul of 5 for 41.

Rashid’s all round performance meant that Yorkshire not only claim their first win of the season, but they move out of the bottom three in the county championship aswell. This has helped their survival chances no end, and Rashid’s heroics may well be looked upon as a turning point in Yorkshire’s season.

There were a number of performances of high quality this week, notably Dwayne Smith smashing 59 from 26 balls to help Sussex win the Twenty20 Cup, but for his feat, in the face of adversity, Rashid receives the prize.

County Cricket Round-Up

LV County Championship Division One, day two

Hampshire's innings against Somerset at The Rose Bowl finally came to an end when they were bowled out for 548. The runs came from Jimmy Adams, who made 147 while there were half-centuries for Liam Dawson (55), Michael Lumb (68), Dominic Cork (52) and Imran Tahir (77 not out). Off-spinner Omari Banks picked up four wickets and Somerset were struggling at stumps, stumbling to 98 for three, all three wickets falling to Imran Tahir.

LV County Championship Division One, day three

Yorkshire produced another staggering fightback against Warwickshire at Scarborough. Reduced to 99 for seven in reply to 320, 102 not out from David Wainwright and 85 from Gerard Brophy enabled them to take a first innings lead by being bowled out for 328 despite Shanthakumaran Sreesanth returning five for 93. Warwickshire closed on 111 for three, Ian Westwood unbeaten on 58.

LV County Championship Division One, day four

Nottinghamshire's title bid suffeed a hit when they closed against Worcestershire just seven runs short of victory, although reaching 351 for seven was an admirable achievement in itself. Worcestershire set up the run chase by declaring their second innings on 242 for six, Moeen Ali making 84 not out and Alexei Kervezee a brisk 30. Worcestershire reduced Nottinghamshire to 15 for two but weren't able to continue to take wickets, being denied victory by half-centuries from Alex Hales (55), Samit Patel (55), Ali Brown (84) and Chris Read (70 not out). Andre Adams almost forced the win with an unbeaten 29 in 19 balls at the death but it wasn't to be.

LV County Championship Division Two, day one

At Centerbury, Surrey batted well to close on 261 for four against Kent. The platform was set by an opening partnership of 171 between Jon Batty (96) and MIchael Brown (88) before Kent hit back, two wickets apiece from Amjad Khan and Phil Edwards ensuring that four wickets fell for 90 runs.

LV County Championship Division Two, day two

Middlesex took control against Gloucestershire by bowling them out for 196 at Lord's. Gloucestershire were never in the hunt in reply to Middlesex's 342, only Chris Taylor, with 47, resisting. Murali Kartik led the way with three wickets.

LV County Championship Division Two, day three

Essex remained firmly in control of their fixture against Leicestershire, asking the Foxes to follow on. Despite an unbeaten century from James Taylor, who made 112, Leicestershire's 344 was inadequate after Essex's day two declaration at 517. Danish Kaneria returned figures of eight for 116. Leicestershire lost the wickets of Paul Nixon (4) and Matthew Boyce (14) to give Essex hope of a victory on the final day.

All to play for at Northampton but the draw has to the most likely outcome in the match between Northamptonshire and Glamorgan. Replying to the home side's 350, Glamorgan reached 383, James Allenby and Michael Powell both making 55 before Monty Panesar picked up three for 55. Northamptonshire had yet to gain a lead when they lost Rob White for nine to close on 19 for one in their second innings.

NatWest Pro40 Division One

Sussex smashed their way to a very competitive score of 277 for six against Durham. Murray Goodwin led the way with 77 after running out captain Mike Yardy but the real fireworks came from Dwayne Smith, who crashed three fours and four sixes on his way to 54 in just 30 balls. Ed Joyce also weighed in with 49 as Will Gidman and Ian Blackwell both picked up two wickets. The home side then pulled off a staggering 193-run win by bowling the Dynamos out for just 84, James Kirtley grabbing five for 26; Durham's innings only lasting 24.1 overs.

Pakistani spinner on top of English county cricket

With the last round of the English County Cricket Championship coming up on Thursday (September 16), and Warwickshire already having been declared the 2004 summer's winners, Pakistan's veteran leg-break and googly bowler Mushtaq Ahmed leads the table of top wicket-takers in first-class matches during the current season. His tally from 16 appearances is 81 wickets, taken at 26.98 runs apiece.

Last summer too, the now 34-year-old Mushtaq was the leading wicket-taker in England, bagging a total of 103 in first-class games and leading his county Sussex to an ultimate Championship victory. So far in 2004, Sussex have only been able to attain the fifth position in the Division One points table

ALL Nations Test States

Test Cricket

Test matches are a subset of first-class cricket. However, the step up in required skill from normal first-class cricket to Test cricket is considerable, with many players who excel in the first-class game proving unable to handle Test cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams which have "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). As of 2007, ten national teams have been given Test status, the most recent being Bangladesh in 2000.

• A list of matches defined as Tests was first drawn up by Australian Clarence Moody in the 1890s.
• Representative matches played by simultaneous England touring sides of 1891-92 (in Australia and South Africa) and 1929-30 (in the West Indies and New Zealand) are deemed to have Test status.
• In 1970, a series of five "Test matches" were played in England between England and a Rest of the World XI. Although initially given unofficial Test status (and included as Test matches in some record books, notably Wisden), this was later withdrawn and a principle was established which states that official Test matches can only be between national sides.
• The series of "Test matches" played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971/72 do not have Test status.
• The commercial "Supertests" organised by Kerry Packer as part of his World Series Cricket enterprise and played between "WSC Australia", "WSC World XI" and "WSC West Indies" from 1977 to 1979 have never been regarded as having official Test match status.
• In 2005 the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place in October 2005 between Australia and a World XI was an official Test match. This ICC decision was taken despite precedent (e.g. the ICC's earlier ruling on the 1970 England v Rest of the World series) that only matches between nations should be given Test match status. Many cricket writers and statisticians, particularly Bill Frindall, have decided to ignore the ICC's ruling and have excluded the 2005 match from their records.

Test Cricket Playing Nations

Order	National team	Date of first Test Match	Notes
1	Australia	March 15, 1877
	England		Consists of players from England and Wales.
3	South Africa	March 12, 1889	Did not participate in international cricket between March 10, 1970 and April 18, 1992 due to the international reaction to apartheid.
4	West Indies	June 23, 1928	Consists of players from a number of Caribbean nations and dependencies.
5	New Zealand	January 10, 1930
6	India	June 25, 1932	Before Indian independence in 1947, consisted of territory of the Indian subcontinent that are now Pakistan and Bangladesh.
7	Pakistan	October 16, 1952	Before Bangladeshi independence in 1971, included territory that is now Bangladesh.
8	Sri Lanka	February 17, 1982
9	Zimbabwe	October 18, 1992	Suspended from involvement in test cricket between June 10, 2004 and January 6, 2005, and currently since January 18, 2006.
10	Bangladesh	November 10, 2000

2009 Scotland v Australia [ODI], 1st ODI - Grange CC, Edinburgh, SCO

Scotland v Australia

Toss: Scotland won the toss and elected to bowl.
Umpires: Hill, AL (NZL) - Ramage, IN (SCO) - Third Umpire: Unknown
Man of Match: Hussey, DJ (AUS)

1st Innings - Australia batting

Australia batting

BATSMAN	HOW OUT	MEDIA	RUNS	BALLS	4s	6s	S/RATE
Watson, SR	c Watson, RR b Nel, JD		68	43	9	2	158.14
Warner, DA	c Petrie, MJ b Nel, JD		0	5	0	0	0
Clarke, MJ	b Goudie, G		16	28	2	0	57.14
Hussey, DJ	c McCallum, NFI b Berrington, RD		111	83	10	5	133.73
White, CL	c Goudie, G b Watson, RR		19	30	0	1	63.33
Voges, AC	c Sheikh, MQ b Drummond, GD		72	64	0	4	112.5
Paine, TD	not out		29	38	5	0	76.32
Johnson, MG	b Goudie, G		1	2	0	0	50
Lee, B	c Haq, RM b Goudie, G		5	3	1	0	166.67
Hauritz, NM	c Berrington, RD b Goudie, G		9	5	0	1	180
Nannes, DP	b Goudie, G		1	2	0	0	50
Extras	b: 4, lb: 1, wd: 6, nb: 3		14
Total	All Out, 50.0 Overs		345	6.90 runs/over

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Warner, DA), 2-67 (Clarke, MJ), 3-104 (Watson, SR), 4-143 (White, CL), 5-257 (Hussey, DJ), 6-319 (Voges, AC), 7-323 (Johnson, MG), 8-330 (Lee, B), 9-342 (Hauritz, NM), 10-345 (Nannes, DP)

Scotland bowling

BOWLER	OVERS	MAIDENS	WICKETS	RUNS	WIDES	NO-BALLS	ECON. RATE
Nel, JD	8.0	0	2	74	2	3	9.25
Goudie, G	10.0	0	5	73	0	0	7.3
Berrington, RD	7.0	0	1	55	1	0	7.86
Drummond, GD	10.0	2	1	35	0	0	3.5
Watson, RR	5.0	0	1	28	0	0	5.6
Haq, RM	10.0	0	0	75	1	0	7.5

1st Innings - Scotland batting

Scotland batting

BATSMAN	HOW OUT	MEDIA	RUNS	BALLS	4s	6s	S/RATE
Hamilton, GM	c Watson, SR b Hussey, DJ		38	50	5	1	76
Watts, DF	b Nannes, DP		24	28	3	1	85.71
Watson, RR	b Lee, B		10	15	1	0	66.67
Sheikh, MQ	c White, CL b Hauritz, NM		2	11	0	0	18.18
Berrington, RD	b Lee, B		25	30	5	0	83.33
McCallum, NFI	c Paine, TD b Johnson, MG		24	41	3	0	58.54
Haq, RM	c White, CL b Watson, SR		7	13	0	0	53.85
Drummond, GD	c White, CL b Watson, SR		12	35	2	0	34.29
Petrie, MJ	c Lee, B b Watson, SR		0	6	0	0	0
Goudie, G	b White, CL		3	7	0	0	42.86
Nel, JD	not out		0	2	0	0	0
Extras	b: 0, lb: 5, wd: 5, nb: 1		11
Total	All Out, 39.3 Overs		156	3.95 runs/over

Fall of wickets: 1-51 (Watts, DF), 2-68 (Watson, RR), 3-82 (Sheikh, MQ), 4-82 (Hamilton, GM), 5-130 (Berrington, RD), 6-133 (McCallum, NFI), 7-151 (Haq, RM), 8-153 (Petrie, MJ), 9-156 (Drummond, GD), 10-156 (Goudie, G)

Australia bowling

BOWLER	OVERS	MAIDENS	WICKETS	RUNS	WIDES	NO-BALLS	ECON. RATE
Lee, B	9.0	1	2	38	2	1	4.22
Johnson, MG	7.0	1	1	27	0	0	3.86
Nannes, DP	7.0	1	1	20	2	0	2.86
Watson, SR	6.0	0	3	29	1	0	4.83
Hauritz, NM	5.0	0	1	13	0	0	2.6
Hussey, DJ	2.0	0	1	6	0	0	3
Voges, AC	3.0	0	0	18	0	0	6
White, CL	0.3	0	1	0	0	0	0

Result: Australia won by 189 runs

Clock ticking for 50-over cricket

When one-day cricket first hit Australia in the late 1970s, some were suggesting it would spell the end of the traditional longer form of the game.

The brain-child of businessman Kerry Packer, it was a massive jolt to cricket administrators, who scrambled to shore up the long form of the game.

But now it is the 50-over format that is under pressure, with the resurgence of Test cricket and more particularly, the impact of Twenty20 since it recently exploded on to the world scene.

The latest blow has been delivered by the England and Wales Cricket Board, which has abandoned its domestic 50-over competition from next year and replaced it with a 40-over format.

Former Australian coach John Buchanan knows well all forms of the game, but he remains positive about the prognosis for the 50-over format.

"There's no doubt that the 50-over competition has been in serious need of revamping for some time and that's now been accelerated by the advent of 20-over cricket," Buchanan said.

"I personally believe that there's still room for all three forms of the game.

"But that would only be the case if indeed the 50-over game became more like the 20-over game.

"In other words, more back into a derivative of 20-over cricket as opposed to being a derivative of Test cricket."

Buchanan says he does see a future for international 50-over cricket, but it needs some tinkering.

"When Packer revitalised the game through the 50-over format in the late '70s, it was a breath of fresh air for everybody," he said.

"But that format has continued to service the game for the last 30 years and there's no doubt that it does need change. I think if it doesn't change then it's on its way to extinction."

Buchanan notes that in the Twenty20 format, teams are based around cities, regions or franchises, whereas 50-over and Test matches are international competitions.

He sees that as a crucial difference that must be retained for 50-overs to survive.

"It will face extinction if administrators don't understand that they've actually got three separate products which they can bring to the market place and that you can cater for a whole range of different market segments," Buchanan said.

"The argument against it at the moment has been player workloads and how can players manage to cope with all those demands.

"That's where administrators need to carefully step in and work out all the scheduling, how that will all work, because I think it can work."

It does seem the administrators, like Cricket Australia spokesperson Phillip Pope, are taking notice.

Pope says there is still a lucrative market for the 50-over game despite the meteoric rise of Twenty20.

"Fifty-over cricket's been very good to the world of cricket. It is the format that the broadcasters have loved for the past 30 years and we believe will continue to enjoy loving," he said.

"Television viewers still love watching one-day international cricket. During a summer's afternoon, the majority of people watching television are watching one-day international cricket," he said.

"Internationally, the kind of sponsorships that you see coming into the International Cricket Council for events like the upcoming Championships Trophy and the World Cup, held in the Indian sub-continent in 2011, are massive and important for grass roots cricket all over the world.

"So cricket is in an enviable position in that it has a number of formats that complement one another, the newest of which is the Twenty20.

"But it's still fair to say that 50-over cricket is exceptionally successful, from a commercial point of view and in terms of interest in the game."

Haris Ayaz spins Medicam to victory

KARACHI: Off-spinner Haris Ayaz turned out to be the star for Medicam Cricket Club once more enabling his team to register a three-wicket win over Cantt Sports in their Group B fixture of the 24th PPL Trophy Karachi Gymkhana Ramazan Festival Cricket Tournament here at the Gymkhana's Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Haris, operating with the new ball, returned the exceptional figures of three for 10 off four overs to skittle the top-order of Cantt Sports who could only managfe 113 for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Medicam CC survived some anxious moments before romping home in the 17th over.

Cantt Sports opted to bat after winning the toss but they lost early wickets and were unable to score briskly. Number four Sharjeel Ashraf held their innings together with a defiant 36 off 43 balls but he didn't receive any support from the other end.

Naeem Tayyab's little cameo at the end lifted Cantt Sports total in the excess of 100 something that looked unlikely after the top-order collapse.Besides Haris, fellow off-spinner Salman Ali also bowled well to pick up a coiuple of wickets for 24 runs in his four overs.

The target of 114 in 20 overs didn't look challenging one for Medicam CC, who have been playing quite well of late. But some fine bowling by the trio of S M Zafar, Naeem Tayyeb and Mohammad Nasir pegged them back and the match became wide open after those early wickets. Cantt Sports sensed an unlikely victory when Medicam CC lost their seventh wicket with 16 runs away from their target. Ariz Kamal kept a cool head, scoring an unbeaten 21 off 22 balls with number nine Tanvir Ahmed keeping his company till the end to prevent any more drama.

Fast Bowler M.Asif Is Back

Karachi: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has gone from bright new hope to fallen star in the space of just two years and his latest troubles could spell the end of his career.

The 25-year-old paceman was on Monday identified as the player who failed a drugs test during the April-June Indian Premier League (IPL) and now faces a lengthy ban from the game.

It may prove to be the last twist in a career which was tainted by a first doping row in 2006, a fight with fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar in September last year and a 19-day detention in Dubai on charges of possessing an illegal drug last month.

Former captain Wasim Akram said Asif is another example of a career which has spiralled out of control.

"Boys like Asif come from small towns and they are unable to handle the fame and money so they get distracted and I'm disappointed at the fate such a talented bowler has met," said Wasim.

When cricket lost some of its innocence...

There has never been any doubt over Asif's talents with the ball.

When he dismissed legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar during his match and series-winning seven-wicket haul in Karachi in January 2006, he was instantly compared with Australian master quick Glenn McGrath.

Asif followed it up with 17 wickets to help Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 2-0 two months later.

Nominated as one of the International Cricket Council's emerging players of 2006, he was hailed as the "bowler of this generation" by none other than legendary Pakistani all-rounder Imran Khan.

Asif hails from a village called Machikay, near Sheikhupura, a small town in central Punjab which also produced medium fast bowler Rana Naved-ul Hasan.

He caught the selectors' eye with a burst of 7/35 for Sialkot in a first-class match in 2005 and was handed a ticket to Australia with the Pakistan national team.

His first international outing at Sydney proved a forgettable experience as his 18 overs in Pakistan's third loss in as many Tests went wicketless.

But the determined novice worked hard to ensure it was not his last, undergoing a short stint at India's MRF pace academy under the eagle eye of former Australian legend Dennis Lillee.

He showed signs of improvement by taking ten wickets in a first-class match against Ashes-winning Michael Vaughan's England in November 2005.

Injuries to his back and elbow stopped him showing his true potential, however and he missed Pakistan's first three Tests in England in the summer of 2006.

He finally arrived with a bang at the Oval, grabbing 4-56 to help Pakistan gain the upper hand before his team ended up forfeiting the game in a protest over ball-tampering allegations.

He was expected to lead Pakistan's attack on Indian pitches during the Champions Trophy before the dope test saga unfurled.

He and fellow paceman Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for nandrolone.

Akhtar was banned for two years and Asif for one year but the bans were however overturned on appeals.

Asif promised that he would learn from the first pitfall, but recent developments suggest otherwise.

Alam backs Pakistan to win Champions Trophy, says momentum is with team

KARACHI - Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam has backed his team as favourites for winning the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in South Africa in September.

Despite the disastrous tour of Sri Lanka, Alam said the momentum is with Pakistan.

“We lost the Test and one-day series in Sri Lanka but won the last three games of the tour. Those results were very important and now the momentum is with us ahead of the Champions Trophy,” said Alam.

However, Alam admitted that Pakistan would have to play really well to succeed in the eight nation tournament, in which it shares the group with India and Australia.

“Australia and India are two of the world’s best teams but in a way it’s good for us that both of them are in our group,” The News quoted Alam, as saying.

Alam said his boys were looking forward for battle against arch rivals India.

“A match against India is always a big one and the team is planning to go all out for a win against them,” he said.

Pakistan has never won a game in ICC tournaments like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy against India.

Alam believed that Australia would be vulnerable in the tournament, particularly after their morale-shattering Ashes defeat against England.

“For Australia, Ashes is the ultimate thing. Their morale would be really low and I believe that would be good for our cause,” he added.

Commenting on the selection committee’s controversial decision to include tainted fast bowler Mohammad Asif omitting experienced all-rounder Abdul Razzaq from the 15-man squad, Alam said Asif will add strength to bowling line-up.

“We certainly need a bowler like him. Asif will add to our team’s strength. He is fully fit and has played plenty of cricket in the last five or six months,” he said.

Clarke happy to play with Ponting

Michael Clarke is happy to continue playing for Australia as Ricky Ponting"s deputy.Ponting fuelled debate over his long-term future as skipper upon returning to Australia after his team"s Ashes defeat by suggesting he would be prepared to play on even if he was stripped of the leadership.Clarke will captain the side in Friday"s (today"s) one-day match against Scotland in Edinburgh, plus two Twenty20 matches and three one-dayers against England while Ponting takes a break.Ponting is expected to return to England for the last four matches of the series."At the end of the day, he"s our leader and has been for my whole career," Clarke said."I"m blessed that I get this opportunity when he"s not here to do that fill-in role, but Punter"s our leader and I"m more than happy to keep playing under him."Ponting, Australia"s all-time leading Test run-scorer, has said he is open to the idea of Australia having two captains, with Clarke leading the one-day and Twenty20 teams.Ponting has experience of the two-captain scenario himself, having led Australia to World Cup glory in South Africa in 2003 when Steve Waugh was still Test skipper.Asked if he would fall on his sword if he felt Clarke was a better Test captaincy candidate, Ponting said he would.But Clarke did not believe any of those scenarios were on the cards at the moment."To me, we don"t have to worry about that because Ricky"s our captain," Clarke said."I"m lucky with the relationship I"ve got with Punt. No doubt he"s our leader, but when he needs to have time off or misses a game, as vice-captain I get this chance.""I"ve spent a lot of time with Rick over the last couple of years of being vice-captain. I"ve tried to get as close to him as possible and I"m blessed that I get this opportunity to captain for the two Twenty20s and three one-dayers."My goal is to try and get five wins, so when the skipper comes back we"re in good form for him."While heartened by support from Cricket Australia following his team"s 2-1 Ashes series defeat in England last weekend, Ponting admitted the buck stops with him and, after surrendering the urn in 2005 and 2009, he has to be prepared for criticism.But Clarke said it should be the entire team copping the flak."The criticism of us as a team is probably fair enough, we didn"t get the result we wanted," Clarke said. "It"s the whole team out there on the field and there was times we all didn"t perform individually and as a team as well as we"d like, so I think the criticism needs to go to the team."I know it"s not one person"s fault. Ricky"s been a fantastic leader throughout my whole career. He was inspirational at times during this Ashes series and he wanted to win as much as anybody."Personally his performances were outstanding, so I think criticism is fair, but it needs to be towards the whole team, certainly not one person."

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Aug2009

The contest veered between bat and ball, dominating certain passages and providing the limited crowd with entertaining viewing, but, at the end of the day, New Zealand had their backs firmly to the wall.
The match was intriguingly poised with Sri Lanka at 295 for 4, but Thilan Samaraweera, with help from Chamara Kapugedera, powered Sri Lanka into the box seat with a breezy 72-run stand. Then the tail imploded - five wickets went down for 27 - to let slip a position from which they could have batted New Zealand out of the game. Samaraweera's fourth century of the year, though, guided the home side past 400, and the Sri Lankan quick bowlers struck thrice early to grab back some of the momentum the visitors had seized.
A limp reply from New Zealand, which included the haphazard dismissal of Martin Guptill, left the middle order with too much. Dammika Prasad, taking the place of Nuwan Kulasekara, struck with his first ball to get Tim McIntosh, though replays suggested he was lucky. Thilan Thushara needed no such help in getting Daniel Flynn to nick one that pitched outside off stump and held its line.
Guptill showed brief resilience, playing some cracking on-side strokes, to race to 29 from 26 balls. Then Thushara tested him with a series of bouncers. Guptill hooked one for four. The next ball reared into his ribs and he gloved it to fine leg. A man went out to deep square leg. Three in a row followed and Guptill was visibly torn between leaving or pulling. Then he got another short one and fell for the trap, getting a top edge straight to the fielder placed back. On air, an incensed Danny Morrison called it "brainless cricket".
Ross Taylor led a passage of recovery with Jesse Ryder, adding 85. Taylor took his time, playing out 31 deliveries for 10, before opening up with some aggressive shots through the off side off Prasad. He survived an extremely tight call on 30 against Muttiah Muralitharan but continued to sweep the spinner. He was dropped on 56 off Murali, but was left looking from the other end as spin accounted for Ryder, popping to short leg, and Jeetan Patel, edging to slip.
Unfortunately for New Zealand nobody could match Taylor's defiance and shot selection and the tourists found themselves struggling for survival. New Zealand had brought themselves back into this match well after lunch after Samaraweera made 500 look a distinct possibility, but their top order failed to reciprocate.
Without Samaraweera, Sri Lanka would have really struggled. Iain O'Brien put New Zealand on the right track with a good first spell of quick bowling on an unresponsive track, dismissing Mahela Jayawardene when a hundred seemed inevitable, but the visitors again sat back to allow Samaraweera flourish. A sumptuous on-drive for four - taking him past 1000 Test runs this year - set the tone for his innings along. The eighties were a blur as Samaraweera unfurled slow-motion pulls past square, spiffy drives past cover and a couple of deft dabs.
Samaraweera slowed down after Jayawardene's dismissal, facing 14 balls when on 99, but eventually reached the landmark, after 277 minutes at the crease, with a push between cover and point off Martin. The next ball was hooked for six, a release of adrenalin. A classy drive past cover followed off Jacob Oram, who continued to bowl without pace or menace, after which Samaraweera clouted Jeetan Patel for consecutive fours, unafraid to go over the top. Kapugedera, who enjoyed a life on 9, eased his way to 35 before miscuing to mid-off four minutes before lunch.
New Zealand came out after the interval and turned in their best passage of the match. Chris Martin began the session by bouncing Prasanna Jayawardene, who top-edged to long leg. Then Patel struck, first getting Prasad to poke to slip and trapping Herath lbw next ball. His fourth victim was the man of the moment, Samaraweera, who gloved a reverse-sweep to depart for an excellent 143.
It was an inning of insatiable determination and skill, and New Zealand - like Vettori had hoped - didn't manage to learn from it. Taylor will need much of the same determination shown by Samaraweera to help New Zealand leave Colombo without suffering the sort of crushing defeat they experienced here in 1998.