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Ricky Ponting put his hand up when it mattered most © Getty Images

Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, has said that he was both happy and relieved after playing a vital innings of 156, which helped Australia to secure a thrilling draw against England in the third Test at Old Trafford.Ponting denied the England bowlers for seven hours but his epic vigil appeared to have been futile when he gloved a catch to the wicketkeeper, eaving Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath to face four overs from Andrew Flintof and Steve Harmison. But both survived some gut-wrenching moments as Australia hung on for a draw.”I thought I had let the whole thing slip so the emotions have been up and down all day,” Ponting was quoted as saying in AFP. “I had a little tantrum when I got out and sat in the dressing-room with my head down for a while because I thought the game had slipped away from us. It was difficult enough for me batting out there against Flintoff and Harmison at the end,” said Ponting whose 156 was his personal best against England, “so having Glenn and Brett subject to it for four overs meant I didn’t have a lot of faith in them. But they managed to get through and do a fantastic job once again, as they have all series.”Michael Vaughan, the England captain, said that he was very proud of the way his side had played at Old Trafford. Having outplayed Australia for most of the Test only one wicket stood between England from taking a 2-1 lead in the series. “We were one wicket away from going 2-1 up,” he said, “and a lot of people will say ‘you must be disappointed’ but I’m very proud of the way the team have responded to going 1-0 down at Lord’s [where England lost the series opener by 239 runs last month]. Three weeks ago we were written off; we were out of the contest, 5-0 I kept on hearing. It’s now 1-1 with two to play.”Vaughan said that he was pleased with how the team had coped with tense situations in the series. “The team and individuals have shown a lot of character. We’ve got nine days to rest our bodies and minds. We will arrive next week at Trent Bridge fully focused and hoping to go 2-1 up there.”With Ian Bell scoring two fifties at Old Trafford and impressive performances from their bowlers, Vaughan felt that England had a very bright future because of the young talent in the side. “I think this England team can go as far as it wants to. We’ve shown, in the last two weeks, we’ve got a lot of character, a lot of ability and a lot of young players in the team which only bodes well for future.”Vaughan added that at no stage during the Test did he think that the match was won. “You can never think you’ve done it against Australia. There was a time when we took the ninth wicket and you’ve got four overs to go and you think you’ve got an opportunity. But those two [Lee and McGrath] hung in very well. I think we really used our resources well this week on this wicket, both with batting and bowling.”While a draw is never as good as a win, Ponting said that he was happy with how the team had rallied and salvaged parity from a grim situation. Rating his innings as one of his best, Ponting said, “That was one of my best knocks, not just a match-saving one. It is satisfying to put your hand up when it matters and do the things the team requires as a batter and as a leader. I don’t think a draw ever feels like a win but we worked extremely hard to sneak away. It was a long, hard day of Test cricket and an unbelievable Test match once again.”We have had to scrap and fight for everything; this is certainly the highest-intensity Test cricket I have played in for the last four or five years and you won’t find two better tussles than you have witnessed over the last two weeks,” said Ponting. “We haven’t done a lot right but they’ve been unbelievable games.”After being set 423 to win, Ponting admitted that victory had never been a serious possibility. “We thought if we could get through the first two sessions of play without losing many wickets an opportunity might present itself in the last session. If we had wickets in hand we could have had a go at it. We wanted to remain positive and at the end of the day we were only 52 runs away and we haven’t tried at all to win that Test match because we weren’t in a position to do that.”Australia’s batting has looked suspect all series and Ponting said that the performances of the top order weren’t satisfactory. “We’ve had two really good wickets to bat on in our first innings and we’ve only just managed to get to three hundred both times. That’s not good enough. We’ve got guys who are in good form and look good for short periods of time and they are just getting out. We’ve got to rectify that. If we actually start finding some form and hitting top gear you’d like to think the results would be slightly different.”Though the game ended in a draw, Vaughan said that England were dominant throughout the Test match and would take a lot of positives from the game. “We’ve been talking about psychological advantages and disadvantages all summer,” said Vaughan. “We can take a lot out of this game. We’ve dominated four days of Test cricket against the number one team in the world. I don’t think we lost any sessions.”Simon Jones, who took 6 for 53 in Australia’s first innings, was singled out for praise. “His [Jones’] bowling has come on in leaps and bounds since the Bangladesh series this season, said Vaughan. “To get six for 53 against the Aussies is a great effort.”Old Trafford was packed with 23,000 fans for the match and Vaughan was appreciative of their support. “I couldn’t believe how many people were outside the ground. It’s fantastic. It does show a respect for the two teams who are playing out there. They are playing good cricket, it’s great entertainment and the nation’s talking about it.”He said that he hoped that the last two Tests would do justice to the high-quality cricket that’s been on display so far. “I really do hope the final two games are as good as the last two because I think the series deserves that. Trent Bridge should be another classic, turn up.”

Michael Vaughan: his team is running itself © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan praised a consummate team effort, as England launched into the celebrations of an historic summer of achievement. "It has been a tremendous summer," said Vaughan. "We have played good cricket, but it has been hard work. To get 20 wickets at each of the Test matches grounds is fantastic."By winning the final Test at The Oval by 10 wickets, England carried their unbeaten run to 10 wins in 11 matches, including seven consecutive wins in a single summer. Only two England sides in history have equalled that run of form, which was last achieved by Percy Chapman’s team, against West Indies and Australia in 1928-29.”It has been a real team effort," added Vaughan. "We have seen new guys come in and play well. Every single player in the dressing-room has played a huge part in our success, and we will celebrate in the proper manner. It will not sink in for a few days what we have done this summer.”Vaughan’s own form has been patchy – one glorious match at Lord’s, in which he scored back-to-back centuries, has been balanced by more modest returns elsewhere, but with the team more or less running itself, he was able to reflect on a very happy summer’s work. “I am pretty fortunate,” he said. “I have a very good set of players here and I am just one who leads them out into the middle. We are getting the rewards for our hard work.”

Brian Lara: refusing to quit© Getty Images

His mood was in stark contrast to that of Brian Lara, who vowed not to throw in the towel despite presiding over the whitewash. "England played really well, and congratulations must go to them," he said, but added that he was not about to walk away from the team. "I want my employers to know that I am here, willing to serve them in whatever capacity.”I’ve seen captains in the past who have given up when they’ve been sacked," said Lara, whose role has been under ferocious scrutiny all summer. "I’m going to be around for a long time – I’m willing to do whatever job the West Indies Cricket Board wants me to do. It’s my duty to be there to be an elder statesman in the West Indies cricket team for quite some time to come as long as I remain as an asset to the team."West Indies have now lost nine of their last ten Tests against England, a side they once dominated so ruthlessly, and Lara admitted there would be no easy solution to West Indies’ problems. "It’s going to be very difficult to get a quick fix after a result such as this," he said. "We set a lot of targets in the dressing-room, but we achieve less than 50% of them.”We’re asking some very young guys to do a big man’s job and they need every bit of help possible,” he added, suggesting that a psychologist should be employed to help them come to terms with their responsibilities. "Each individual needs to be worked on to ensure they understand what international cricket is all about.

John Scholes, who coached the Victorian Bushrangers to two Pura Cup finals during his tenure as coach from 1996-2001, died of a heart attack earlier today. He was 53.John “Barrel” Scholes played 62 times for Victoria, compiling 3201 runs at an average of 30.78. He captained Victoria for the first time when just 21, one of the youngest to do so. After his retirement as a player, he achieved much success as a coach, leading the Bushrangers to the Mercantile Mutual Cup in 1998-99 and consecutive Shield finals (1999-2001).Ken Jacobs, Cricket Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer, said that Scholes was aunique person who would be sadly missed. “I think today Victoria lost one of its greatest ever cricketing sons. John’s contribution as a player, junior andsenior coach, as well as mentor to many young Victorian cricketers, will quitesimply never be matched.”Scholes leaves behind his wife, Diane, and children, Shannon and Adam.

New Zealand batsmen Mathew Sinclair and Matthew Bell have both scored centuries in the tour match against the ACT President’s Eleven at Manuka Oval in Canberra.At tea on the final day of the three-day game, the Kiwis were two for 320 in reply to the ACT team’s 6(dec)-439.Sinclari was out for 145 when trying to force the pace just after lunch.At tea Bell is on 107 and Nathan Astle is on 22.Earlier today, Test spin bowler Daniel Vettori was ruled for up to six weeks with an ankle injury and is likely to miss at least two Tests against Australia.A replacement hasn’t yet been named.

Taking to Twitter in sharing his article for Foot Mercato, journalist Santi Aouna has shared a big update on transfer chief Fabio Paratici’s future at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: PSG eye move…

As Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain eye a replacement for sporting director Leonardo, who has become disillusioned with his job at the Parc des Princes, Paratici is reportedly one of the candidates to replace him.

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It is believed that the Italian is a target ‘in particular’, with contacts even taking place in recent months between both Paratici and PSG (Foot Mercato).

Tottenham’s chief was appointed as the north London club’s managing director last summer, overseeing all football-related matters on the pitch while chairman Daniel Levy takes a less hands-on role in the running of Spurs.

Paratici has been at the centre of mixed reviews for his transfer activity in the past but has been described as potentially ‘crucial’ in ‘giving a chance’ for Antonio Conte’s appointment as manager to work (Liam Twomey, The Athletic).

The Latest: Journalist drops big Paratici update…

Taking to Twitter, Aouna said that ‘new contacts took place this week’ between Paratici and PSG over the club’s sporting director role.

In his corresponding Foot Mercato article, the journalist explained that the 49-year-old is ‘tempted’ to quit Tottenham, apparently not taking too kindly to Conte’s ‘recent criticism’ of Spurs’ winter transfer window.

The Verdict: Potential big blow for Spurs

Paratici’s relationship with Conte, although allegedly tainted somewhat right now, could be a crucial factor in keeping the former Chelsea boss at Spurs, especially considering that the Lilywhites chief orchestrated his appointment in the first place.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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This news of him being tempted to leave north London less than a year after his arrival could inadvertently throw Conte’s future at Tottenham into question also.

Bearing this in mind, Paratici’s potential departure may not be the best thing in the long run for Tottenham.

In other news: Tottenham make pre-summer move as they chase ‘massive’ signing for Conte, find out more here

Poor run: Kevin Pietersen’s quiet series against West Indies means he drops one place in the rankings © Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen has lost his No.1 ranking in one-day internationals after a lean series against West Indies. He made 42 runs at 14 in the three matches and has been replaced on the top spot by Ricky Ponting, even though Australia haven’t play since the World Cup.Pietersen slips to second place, with Mike Hussey in third, but a strong series for him against India in August came lift him back to the head of the list. Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues his progress up the rankings and is now fifth overall. He has moved past the injured West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was unable to take any part in the series against England.Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s golden tour has lifted him four places to 13th after a Man-of-the-Series performance of 202 runs, including an unbeaten 116 at Edgbaston. In the bowling, Daren Powell’s 4 for 40 at Trent Bridge has pushed him into the top 20 for the first time. Their efforts helped West Indies close the gap on England in the one-day rankings to one point.West Indies now have the opportunity to heap further pressure on England as they travel to Ireland to take part in a quadrangular series with the Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland in Dublin and Belfast. A win over Ireland on July 14 will edge them even closer to England.With every game in the quadrangular series carrying ODI status, there is an opportunity for the players from those top Associates, as well as the West Indies, to make moves up the rankings.That means the likes of Scotland’s Ryan Watson, Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien and Darron Reekers of the Netherlands will be hoping to make advances in the batting ranklings while Majid Haq of Scotland, Kyle McCallan of Ireland and the Netherlands’ Billy Stelling will want to make progress in the bowlers’ equivalent.Also, Scotland can join its Associate rivals Kenya and Ireland on the ODI Championship table if they beat West Indies in Dublin on July 12. Already boasting the requisite win rate in excess of 60 per cent against the top Associates, the Scots will secure a place on the main table by beating a Full Member.

ODI rankings

Team	Matches	Points	Rating
Australia	54	7038	130
South Africa	47	5718	122
New Zealand	45	5103	113
Pakistan	39	4330	111
Sri Lanka	56	6162	110
India	56	6092	109
England	46	4703	102
West Indies	50	5028	101
Bangladesh	44	1962	45
Ireland	13	354	27
Zimbabwe	36	779	22
Kenya	11	0	0

Click here for player rankings

Kevin Pietersen shies at the stumps at a dry Lord’s on the eve of the match © Getty Images

The weather again looks set to play a big part in the second ODI at Lord’s on Saturday.Rain washed out the first match at Cardiff on Wednesday with Pakistan set for victory, and the forecast for London tomorrow is poor.England are in desperate need of a one-day miracle after winning only three of their last completed 16 ODIs – and one of those was against Ireland – as well as losing eight home matches on the trot.Darren Gough told the BBC that, unsurprisingly, confidence in the team is low.”England have lacked belief in the ability of some of the players. That’s down to not knowing whether they’re going to be part of the squad because they’re not winning and there are always going to be changes. It would have been nice if we’d got all the players who are going to play in the Champions Trophy or the World Cup and had a good run together. But since last year we’ve been split up through injuries and different players coming in. Everyone’s been playing for places.”Kevin Pietersen also spoke to the BBC, telling them that the influx of new players had created its own problems.”In a Test if you lose a session – or even two – you can still win a match, whereas in a one-day game with the inexperience if you lose 10 overs you lose the game. It’s a case of knowing when to turn it on, when to be ruthless and when to be clinical. We’ve got that approach in the Test matches but we’re struggling to find it in the one-dayers.”Andrew Strauss, meanwhile, explained that the policy was now to go for a steady rather than spectacular approach. “We’ve tried a few combinations,” he said. “We were looking at the attacking opener at one stage and we’ve tried a couple of people in that role and that didn’t quite work out for us. Maybe we’ve just gone back to trying to get more of an assured start and setting a platform for the middle order players.”Marcus has played that attacking role at the top of the order for a number of years now and done very well and it’s not as if the other players at the top of the order can’t hit boundaries, but wickets in hand are very, very important in one-day cricket.”Pakistan, meanwhile, were encouraged by their Cardiff performance after the problems of the previous ten days. “We have fielded well, certainly bowled well … I’m not sure how well we’ve batted yet,” Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach observed. “What has happened in the past we want to put behind us. Cricket is the most important thing for all of us at the moment, and we will be concentrating on that. But I suppose it is an interesting psychological motivating factor for the team. They are very determined and are playing some very good cricket. This is an interesting time in Pakistan’s cricket history.”

South Africa convincingly beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets, with 29.4 overs still to be bowled, after an opening stand of 155 between Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith,.From winning the toss, the South Africans retained control of the match. Makhaya Ntini’s pace and length was once again the problem for the Bangladesh top order. The line and length from Shaun Pollock added to the pressure with only 23 runs coming off the first 10 overs.After the first wicket went down for 26, Bangladesh never recovered and soon found themselves five down with 57 on the board and half the overs gone.A couple of small partnerships and a bit of a flurry at the end of the innings restored the innings to 154/9.Tushar Imran, Tapash Baisya and Manjural Islam showed that they were more adept at attacking than defending. Tushar aggressive from his first ball, lofted consecutive boundaries off both Allan Donald and Lance Klusener. With Dale Benkenstein coming on to bowl, Tushar’s eyes opened too wide and was caught chasing a very wide ball for 23 off 31.Manjural swinging down the line from way outside the leg stump, scored 13 off 18 balls including two boundaries before being run out.Baisya’s contribution was a couple of boundaries and a big six over mid wicket from the bowling of Donald. He ended on 35 off 46 balls.For the rest Bangladesh have to decide if they want to just bat out the 50 overs, or play more attacking cricket. At the top end of the order far too many balls are being left from which runs could be scored off.Pollock, Donald and Klusener all bowled well but it was Ntini who claimed 3/28 who was the pick of the bowlers.A target of 155 was never going to cause the South Africans any problems.Smith and Gibbs started aggressively with Gibbs in chase of his fourth, and record, hundred in as many innings.Gibbs was ruthless on anything that resembled a bit of width. Although dropped, in the thirties, by Tushar, he went to his 50 in 39 balls including 10 boundaries.Gibbs had his record bid bungled by a four run wide from Alok Kapali. Instead of needing four runs, out of the six needed for the win, he now had to score a boundary to set the new record and also score South Africa’s fastest hundred in a One-Day International.A powerful drive down the field was cut off by the fielder racing round from wide long on, and the run taken ended the match with Gibbs stranded on 97 off 66 balls including 19 boundaries and Smith on 48 off 58 balls including 5 boundaries.One shuddrs to think what would have happened had South AFrica batted first.

USA 297 for 9 dec and 183 (Leverock 7-57) beat Bermuda 201 for 8 dec and 165 (Smith 65, HR Johnson 5-38) by 114 runs
Scorecard

Dwayne Leverock: the man can dance, and boy, can he bowl!© ICC

With USA in a comfortable position at the start of the final day, leading by 237 runs with six wickets in hand, one would have thought that the visitors would add a quick 60 or 70 runs to their total and get the home team to face a few overs before lunch . If that was the plan it went astray. Just after play, heavy rain delayed play for 71 minutes, and that was followed by the unexpected..In just less than 15 overs USA were bowled out for 183, adding just 40 runs to their overnight total. The one-man wrecking crew responsible for this was the left-arm spinner, Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock. His haul of 7 for 57 in just 16.2 overs was a welcome birthday gift for the big allrounder, who celebrated his 32nd birthday a day earlier.Bermuda was given a target of 280 for victory, and with extra time added for the rain delay, it was estimated there were 88 overs remaining to play. But if Bermuda had any plans of chasing this total, USA’s opening bowlers, Charles Reid and Howard Johnson, put an instant stop to that, both capturing wickets in their first over.It was left to Clay Smith, Bermuda’s captain, and Leverock to construct a rear-guard action.But Johnson continued his fine bowling, when he was brought back into the attack, capturing the wicket of the defiant Leverock, who occupied the crease for 78 balls and contributed 23 to the total.Smith continued to battle for the draw and Denis Archer offered some support but when Nasir Javed got Smith to play on it was all but over for Bermuda. His innings of 65 in 161 balls included seven fours. Johnson was Team USA’s best bowler, with figures of 17-3-38-5.The win now gives USA a chance of advancing to the semi-finals in Dubai. To do this they must hope either for a Bermudian victory in Toronto next month against Canada, or for no result game due to rain. They picked up 32 points while Bermuda earned 16.5 bonus points.The Man-of-the-Match award, which easily could have gone to Smith if Bermuda had drawn the match, went to Steve Massiah for his brilliant century in USA’s first innings.The final match between Canada and Bermuda will be played in Toronto, August 13 to 15, 2004.

Bashley (Rydal) cricketers have been nummed by the loss of their 23-year old team-mate Dale Middleton, who was found dead at his Lymington home on Friday evening.Middleton was an talented and extremely likeable all-round sportsman, who also played soccer for Pennington in the Bournemouth League. He had been due to play for Bashley 2nd XI at New Milton on Saturday.He represented Hampshire Under-17s and Under-19s as a left-arm spinning all-rounder and in recent seasons had developed into a useful `pinch-hitter’ in limited-over matches.”Dale was hugely popular around the Bashley club and in his Pennington footballing circles,” said club captain Matt King.”We talked about postponing the South Wilts and New Milton games on Saturday as a mark of respect, but the players felt they just had to go out and play.”All the Bashley teams – and their New Milton rivals – wore black armbands as a mark of respect to Dale this weekend.