Scorecard
Preview – History beckons for England
Day 1
Bulletin – Flintoff weighs in after the bell
Verdict – England in evolution
Day 2
Bulletin – West Indies collapse
Verdict – Harmison the final piece in England’s jigsaw
Records – Most runs in an over
Day 3
Bulletin – England reach their seventh heaven
Verdict – Anderson shines on a golden day
Big Picture – The celebrations start
Quotes – Lara vows not to walk away

Lancashire 311 (Hooper 77, Cork 77*, FIsher 5-114) are level with Gloucestershire 311 for 8 dec
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Lancashire’s slim hopes of avoiding relegation finally disappeared shortly after 4pm, when an attempted hook from Andy Crook was held in the deep by Ian Fisher at a damp Old Trafford. It gave Gloucestershire their second bowling point, ensuring their own safety, and consigned the pre-season title favourites to the drop.A delayed start did not help Lancashire’s cause, and when play did start an hour late, they faced an almost impossible task. They needed to score either 300 for 2 or 400 for 5 or better, thus depriving Gloucestershire of vital bonus points, and then force a win. It was always going to be beyond them.Mark Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe made a cautious start, reaching 40 for 0 at lunch, and they took that to 87 before the dismissal of Chilton for 47 triggered a collapse in which Lancashire lost four wickets for 23 runs.Carl Hooper and Glen Chapple stopped the rot in a fifth-wicket stand of 44 before Martyn Ball bowled Chapple for 10, his third wicket of the day. Hooper offered some dogged resistance, and Dominic Cork ensured that the home supporters had something to cheer with a 70-ball 77 not out, which included six sixes. But the real battle was by then over.In addition to taking the crucial catch, the Yorkshire-born Fisher finished with 5 for 114.

England 118 for 3 (Trescothick 64*, Flintoff 21*) v Sri Lanka – play abandoned for the day
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Persistent drizzle, which forced the players from the field shortly before one o’clock, lingered long enough to prevent play restarting, and so everyone will be back at 10.15 tomorrow to try again. England will resume on 118 for 3 with 18 overs of their innings remaining. The break came at a bad time for them, as Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff were finding their form in a fourth-wicket stand so far worth 48. After negotiating the perils of a damp pitch, England will have to do so all over again in the morning.With the toss even more important than usual at this time of year, Sri Lanka gained a distinct early advantage when Marvan Atapattu called correctly and had no hesitation in putting England in on a pitch that was expected to encourage the seamers early on. Farveez Maharoof was the pick of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, conceding just 19 runs in his 10 overs, and he was unlucky to pick up only one wicket, as two potential catches were put down.And indeed, by the end of the day, Michael Vaughan could count himself lucky that his England side had only lost three wickets, as Sri Lanka’s slipshod fielding let them off the hook. But Vaughan himself had another personal shocker as – his 74 against India in the last NatWest Challenge game at Lord’s notwithstanding – his poor one-day form continued. Vaughan moved too far to the off side in an effort to counter Nuwan Zoysa’s prodigious swing, but his plan backfired as Zoysa fired in a straight one to knock back middle stump (44 for 2).Earlier, Trescothick and Vikram Solanki had made a steady start. The first boundary, a thick edge down to third man from Solanki, came up in the fourth over off Nuwan Zoysa, who recovered next ball with one which jagged back after pitching outside the off stump. Trescothick rounded off a mixed over as he stroked a thumping cover-drive for four.Solanki had made a solid start to his innings, slapping four fours in his 18, but Maharoof struck back with an inswinger that took the inside edge of Solanki’s bat on its way through to Kumar Sangakkara (29 for 1).Andrew Strauss struggled to score on the seamer-friendly wicket, and was lucky to survive as long as he did, with an uncontrolled hook just evading Sanath Jayasuriya’s outstretched arms at midwicket. Clearly frustrated, Strauss took on Maharoof’s arm, and was caught inches short when Sangakkara whipped the bails off (70 for 3).That was one of the only bright pieces of fielding from the Sri Lankans, and the third miss came when Flintoff had scored only a single. Driving at a length ball from Vaas, he got a thick edge to Mahela Jayawardene at first slip, but a simple chance went down.At the other end, Trescothick went to his fifty, from 74 balls, with a flick to midwicket off Upul Chandana. As the grey clouds started to roll in, and a thin veil of drizzle covered the ground, Flintoff got going with a powerful sweep for four that almost hit the umpire Billy Bowden as it flew towards the boundary. He followed that up by lofting Jayasuriya’s first ball over midwicket. But just as Flintoff was starting to flex his muscles, the clouds relaxed theirs, and ended play for the day.

As the day wore on, you wondered whether it would have made the slightest bit of difference if right-wing vandals – who desecrated the Wankhede Stadium pitch in 1999 to kill off hopes of an India-Pakistan Test being played there – and their pickaxes had been given the freedom to vent their frustrations on this surface. You also questioned the curator’s assertion that this was a new pitch, and not some drop-in turf of 1939 Timeless-Test vintage specially flown in from Durban.On a surface that carried all the threat of a fluffy pillow, India’s bowlers toiled with patently unspectacular results. Murali Kartik didn’t bowl all morning, and Anil Kumble resorted to coming from round the wicket in a bid to perplex rather than attack, while Harbhajan Singh let off steam by slamming the ball into the ground after a fumble in the outfield, and sarcastically clapping his first wicket.The batsmen showed little initiative save for the middle session, and the engrossing tussles that lit up the recent series against Australia were conspicuously absent. Then, faced by batsmen who were brimful of confidence and brio, all three spinners thrived, when they weren’t being hammered. Here, faced with the cricketing equivalent of ten men behind the ball, India had neither the creativity nor the explosive power to break through.South Africa’s batsmen don’t deserve criticism, though. Rank outsiders when they first arrived, they have fulfilled their aim of consolidating first before attempting to realise loftier ambitions. But as they plodded along, an enthusiastic holiday crowd was reduced to cheering Sachin Tendulkar’s pick-up-and-throws from the fine-leg fence, and breaking out into arbitrary Mexican Waves that hinted at signs of life that the game had long since lost.If the Gabba in Brisbane is the pitch with something for everyone, then this Green Park special can surely be nominated in the nothing-for-anyone category. This was among ten pitches relaid under the supervision of experts from New Zealand a couple of years ago. If the snooze-fests against New Zealand at Mohali and Ahmedabad last year and this Test are any indication, someone needs to take a long hard look at the experts’ qualifications. If those are above board, then one can only conclude that the gulf between intention and execution is as wide as the Bering Strait.Andrew Hall, whose laborious 454-ball vigil for 163 couldn’t quite displace Mudassar Nazar – cricket’s Tortoise King managed 114 from 449 balls and 591 minutes against England at Lahore in 1977-78 – from the top step of the slow-scoring Hall of Fame, was one of two men likely to keep sepia-tinted images of today’s play. He reined in his natural aggression to outdo Jackie McGlew, who had been as adhesive as his name suggests during an somnolent 105 that spanned 575 minutes at Durban in 1957-58 – 13 minutes fewer than Hall was at the crease.Like Hall, Zander de Bruyn was infinitely patient and impressively composed. With nearly ten years of first-class cricket behind him, he showcased the form that fetched him 1048 runs at 65.5 in the last domestic season. Offering as he does a seam-bowling option, the 29-year-old de Bruyn could well be the workhorse allrounder that South Africa have lacked since Brian McMillan – he of the bucket hands at slip – exited Test cricket in 1998.For Green Park’s old-timers, Hall’s effort was still more entertaining than ML Jaisimha’s 505-minute crawl to 99 in 1960-61. While McGlew, a man who liked to play his strokes, had been under orders from selectors, Jaisimha’s steps were paralysed by the fear of losing to Pakistan. That same trepidation contributed to the wretched 58 (300 minutes, 252 balls) made by Rizwan-uz-Zaman, plodder supreme, at Ahmedabad in a match otherwise remembered for Sunil Gavaskar’s 10,000th run.There will be some rose-tinted spectacles that look back and view such encounters as intriguing games of cat-and-mouse. But for those unfortunate enough to have to pay for the privilege of parking their bums on seats – Pakistan managed a munificent 110 runs in the day during Rizwan’s magnum opus – it can’t be much fun, not when both cat and mouse appear to have been sedated on a pitch fit only for sticks of dynamite.

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Iqbal Siddiqui shone with both bat and ball as Maharashtra romped home to a comprehensive innings victory in the bottom-of-the-table clash with Assam at Aurangabad. Siddiqui, who played the lone Test for India against England back in 2001, made a stroke-filled 59, which included six fours and three sixes, before snapping up three wickets and rocking he Assam top order. Kiran Adhav, the left-arm spinner, picked up three more and Assam capitulated for just 153 in their second innings. Earlier, Maharashtra had stretched their total to a round 400 with Dhruv Mohan completing his century and adding 62 crucial runs with Siddiqui.
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Rajamani Jesuraj’s seven-wicket haul on debut was followed by a crucial 99 from Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan as Tamil Nadu seized control against Punjab at Chennai. Jesuraj picked up four out of the five wickets this morning, and despite contributions from Ankur Kakkar and VRV Singh, Punjab fell 26 runs short of Tamil Nadu’s first-innings total. Tamil Nadu began shakily in the second innings with Sadagoppan Ramesh, the former Indian opener, falling in the first over – but Vidyut steered them to safety with help from Subramanium Badrinath (43 not out). After a string of easy victories, Punjab were staring at defeat for the first time this season.
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On a day when Venkatapathy Raju announced his retirement from first-class cricket, Uttar Pradesh had victory in their sight after their opening bowler, Salabh Srivastava, ripped through Hyderabad’s batting. Srivastava claimed three of the top five, including dismissing Ambati Rayudu for a second-ball duck, before returning to clean up two of the tailenders. Vinay Kumar defied UP for his 165-ball 75 but couldn’t muster any partnerships of sizeable proportions.
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Despite half-centuries from Robin Uthappa and Sudhindra Shinde, Karnataka struggled on the third day against Delhi. Most of the Karnataka batsmen got starts but, unlike the Delhi batsmen, none converted it into a big score. Uthappa made a patient 88, that spanned 210 balls, while Shinde, who has been in and out of the side, gave the innings some impetus with his 89-ball 52. But Shinde fell to Ajay Jadeja late in the day and Karnataka lost two more wickets before stumps were drawn, giving Delhi a whiff of their first win this season.
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Naman Ojha and Devendra Bundela led Madhya Pradesh’s fightback after they were asked to follow on against Railways at Indore. After being dismissed for 207 in their first innings, when they came unstuck against the offspin of Kulamani Parida, MP made a bold reply the second time around. Ojha, who had made 67 in the first innings, stitched together partnerships with Amay Khurasiya and Bundela and MP were just six runs adrift at the end of the day.
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Amol Muzumdar’s composed 131 guided Mumbai to a comfortable position against Gujarat at the end of the third day at the Wankhede Stadium. Muzumdar, who resumed with 56, and Nishit Shetty shared an important 132-run stand for the fourth wicket, and Mumbai cruised past Gujarat’s first-innings total of 232. Even after Muzumdar finally fell the Mumbai lower order collected 91 runs in quick time and managed to extend the lead to 235. Sairaj Bahutule claimed the openers in the final session, and Gujarat still need to score 133 more to avoid an innings defeat.

The Oval will host a Twenty20 match between Asia and the Rest of the World on June 20 to raise money for the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami. The game has been given the go-ahead by the ICC and the ECB, and Brit Insurance, the ground sponsor, has pledged a “significant donation.””We are delighted to be able to play a small part in helping to rebuild the shattered lives of the victims of this terrible disaster,” said Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive. “A large number of our Asian friends and supporters will have an opportunity of seeing some of their greatest heroes in the first Twenty20 event of its kind.”The match at The Oval is just one of the several that have been organised to help the tsunami relief efforts. On January 10, Melbourne hosted a one-day international between Asia and the Rest of the World which raised more than £6 million for tsunami relief. And later this month, New Zealand are set to play a World XI captained by Shane Warne to fill the gap created by the Sri Lankan team that has returned home to help their countrymen who have suffered the effects of the tsunami.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath devastated Pakistan’s top order after Andrew Symonds corrected an early batting wobble and helped Australia take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three VB Series finals at the MCG. Lee provided the pace and McGrath the accuracy to strike three times in the first three overs, and put Pakistan on the defensive immediately.As hard as Pakistan tried through Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, whose flame was short and bright, they were unable to rise from the dreadful start. Both sides struggled in the opening ten overs on a pitch offering valuable bowling help, but Pakistan experienced the greater danger.The memory of Lee swiftly charging in to bowl at 150kph will linger for a long time in the minds of the batsmen and spectators. Lee struck in his first and third overs with beautiful deliveries to remove Salman Butt leg-before – although Butt insisted he hit it – and clean-bowl the in-form Yousuf Youhana (3 for 9). In between, McGrath, playing his 200th match, dismissed Kamran Akmal to a lazy pull for his 299th career wicket. He became the eighth bowler to collect 300 when Mohammad Hafeez skyed a pull that had much height and little distance, which Shane Watson took easily (4 for 27).McGrath’s record was one of a small collection of fine displays that were scattered around an unusual number of stumbles in the showpiece event. The occasion visibly affected both sides, but Australia’s fright at 3 for 53 was settled by Symonds’s brutal and sensible 91, and then vanquished by their opening bowlers.Inzamam and Malik played themselves in before swinging to pick up Pakistan. Both registered half-centuries in a futile fightback. The runs were made carefully, but when it was time to let loose they could not keep pace. Lee came back in the 31st over and soon added the crucial wicket of Inzamam (5 for 118). Inzamam has been the most consistent player of the series with five fifties, but Pakistan needed his first century.In desperation, Malik and Afridi spectacularly opened their shoulders and cleared the rope before failing in the delicate balance to keep their heads. Malik found Darren Lehmann at mid-off and when Simon Katich caught Afridi, who chopped 26 from 15 balls, in the deep the match was decided (8 for 171). Lee finished with the satisfying figures of 3 for 23 off 10 overs but Symonds was Man of the Match.

While Australia’s fast bowlers were in step, they were given initial breathing space by Symonds, who showed what a difference a medal can make. Before winning the Australia One-Day Player of the Year award on Monday, he had five ducks in six innings and was lined up for plucking alongside the dropped Matthew Hayden.In 50 overs of up-and-down cricket, Symonds hauled Australia to safety after the top three were sent packing, but on his departure at 213, the innings was once again unsteady. Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, who were both on hat-tricks, were responsible for curtailing the galloping in a team performance that contained moments of brilliance, crazy lapses and a collision. The upshot was a restricted total of 237 that supporters of the underdog believed was a job well done.Symonds’ self-belief was quickly evident when he warmed up with two powerful off-drives and a pull, and he looked as dangerous as during his 143 not out against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. With his helmet covering the frizzy hair that would make Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons break into song, Symonds became the main event. He was strong and delicate in hitting seven fours in a display that Australian fans had waited for all summer.Afridi was the only bowler to really trouble Symonds, who survived a couple of strong lbw appeals – the umpires were reluctant to raise their fingers throughout the innings. Symonds and Damien Martyn shone in a 137-run partnership that steadied the rocking innings. Martyn was the support act for his partner’s attacks and managed a smart 53 without a boundary until he was stumped off Afridi (4 for 190). Darren Lehmann replaced Martyn and was caught-behind first ball to an embarrassing reverse-sweep.Michael Clarke was preferred to the out-of-form Hayden as opener, but the move was less successful than Hayden’s series average of 10.5. After a rocky start in swinging conditions it was Clarke who was out for 9, lbw playing back to Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who stayed on tour rather than return for his father’s funeral (1 for 29). Adam Gilchrist went to a fine jumping catch by Razzaq. He and Ricky Ponting were unsettled in strange cases of early nerves on the big stage.Naved had an eventful match along with his bowling team-mate Mohammad Khalil. The pair collided in the field, forcing Khalil off to hospital for X-rays on a suspected dislocated shoulder. Naved then combined for a gallant 45-run partnership with Iftikhar Anjum at the close. Pakistan’s response against the world champions was brave, but again the challengers fell short.Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo.

ScorecardBarbados began the fourth day of their game against Leeward Islands at 34 for 1, needing 244 more to win, but quickly fell apart. They lost eight wickets for 52 runs in the space of two hours, the damage caused by a medium pacer and an offspinner bowling in tandem. Wilden Cornwall took 4 for 15 from 14 overs while Omari Banks, who has performed his share of heroics on the international level as well, took 4 for 23 in 11.1.Barbados began the day well, though. Dwanye Smith and Sherwin Campbell took the score to 62 before Smith was caught behind off Carl Simon. Then, Cornwall came into the attack. He trapped Campbell lbw for 28 with his second ball, and from then on, it was a procession.
ScorecardA damp outfield prevented play from taking place at New Amsterdam, and for the third day in a row, not a ball was bowled.

Two days after SBS announced that it would be covering the Ashes in Australia, the Seven Network has confirmed that it would broadcast all the one-day matches from the series.But while the announcements ended weeks of speculation that the games would not be able to be viewed from Australia, the government was under pressure to review anti-siphoning laws designed to ensure major sporting events are shown on free-to-air television.”Seven and SBS have stepped up on this occasion and will deliver the Ashes Test series and one-day series to all Australians, not only the 23 % of people who subscribe to pay television," Seven’s chief executive David Leckie, said. "This obvious defect in the anti-siphoning regulations must be fixed immediately. The government in Australia needs to urgently close this loophole to ensure that coverage of future sports events are not at risk of being siphoned off exclusively to pay television.”John Howard, the prime minister, welcomed the SBS decision which, he said, would mean the "vast majority of the Australian viewing public will be able to watch this important sporting event free of charge”. Howard had put pressure on free-to-air broadcasters to bid for the series in the light of speculation that pay-TV channel Fox Sports would win the rights.Proposed changes to anti-siphoning laws currently before federal parliament would allow pay-TV operators to buy the rights to an event 12 weeks before it takes place, compared to the six weeks which is the case now.

Pakistanis 190 for 2 (Shoaib Malik 81*, Salman Butt 70) beat India A 189 for 7 (Raina 55) by eight wickets
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Flushed with confidence after their series-equalling heroics at Bangalore this week, Pakistan launched the one-day leg of their tour of India with similar panache, as they swept to a facile eight-wicket victory over India A at Hyderabad. After winning the toss and bowling first, the Pakistanis were always in command, and eventually wrapped up victory with four overs to spare.Pakistan’s bowling performance was tight and disciplined, and exemplified by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who plucked out both openers in a strangulating first spell. Suresh Raina, the Indian Under-19 batsman, fought back with a brisk 55 from 65 balls, but none of his colleagues could convert their starts, as Pakistan chipped away all down the order.Needing a stately 190 from their 45 overs, the Pakistanis had no need for a helter-skelter opening to their innings, and had added 47 for the first wicket when Mohammad Hafeez was run out for 16. If India A thought that would be a turning point for their fortunes, however, they were sorely mistaken. Out to the wicket strode Shoaib Malik, with a point or two to prove after his omission from the Test series, and with Salman Butt dropping anchor, he proceeded to lay waste to the bowling.In all, Shoaib struck four fours and four sixes in an unbeaten 81 from 78 balls, and the pair had added 137 for the second wicket when Salman was bowled by Ranadeb Bose with just six runs needed for victory. A quick single from Abdul Razzaq and a lofted legside four from Shoaib levelled the scores, however, before Shoaib strolled the winning runs to ensure that Pakistan enter the first one-day international at Cochin on Saturday brimful of confidence.