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Northern Districts moved to the top of the points table after they comprehensively beat Otago by nine wickets at the Whitestone Contracting Stadium in Oamaru. The win was set up by an impressive bowling performance led by seamer Graeme Aldridge, who picked up three wickets.Northern Districts captain James Marshall’s decision to field paid immediate dividends as Hamish Rutherford was run out in the first over. Aldridge then struck to pick up the wickets of Craig Cumming and Neil Broom to leave Otago struggling at 31 for 3. When Brent Arnel dismissed Aaron Redmond on the same score, Otago were in danger of being bowled out cheaply. However, a handy 50-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Ian Yardy, who top-scored with 26, and Derek de Boorder (23) carried Otago past 100. Both Yardy and de Boorder fell with the score on 115 and Otago were bowled out for a below-par 132.Australian imports Brad Hodge and David Warner opened the batting for Northern Districts and though Warner fell in the second over, Hodge looked in fine nick. He propelled the chase with a rapid 68 from 41 balls which included six fours and four sixes. He was given good support by Brad Wilson, who blasted 58 from 33 balls with seven fours and three sixes. The duo added an unbeaten 127 runs for the second wicket as Northern Districts raced to victory in the 14th over.

ScorecardIan Bell played wonderfully for his first hundred against Australia but it was tinged with controversy•Getty Images

England are well placed to earn their first series victory in Australia for 24 years, having already retained the Ashes, after a day of dominant batting at the SCG as they built a lead of 208. The record-breaking Alastair Cook led the way with 189, his third hundred of the series, and Ian Bell scored his first century against Australia with an elegant, albeit controversial, 115.Cook and Bell added 154 for the sixth wicket in the match-defining partnership and England’s command was cemented when Matt Prior joined to add 107 for the seventh with Bell. It was another chastening day for Australia, who couldn’t stem the flow of runs, and for Michael Clarke who now really knows the challenge ahead if he is the long-term captain.As he did at Brisbane, Cook went through a host of records and by the time he fell had 766 series runs, leaving him second behind Wally Hammond’s 905 in the 1928-29 Ashes for England batsmen. Incredibly, in an era when there are few tour matches, he also passed 1000 first-class runs for the trip and has now also spent longer at the crease in a series than any other England player.For Bell this was the innings he’d been waiting his career to play, converting his pristine form into that cherished hundred. He has never played better than on this trip and again he oozed class. His cover drives continually bisected the field with timing to beat the deep sweepers but it wasn’t an innings without controversy. On 67 he was given caught behind off an inside edge only for the decision to be overturned on review, even though there didn’t appear to be conclusive evidence, and Snicko later proved Bell had edged the ball.He was also dropped on 84, a firmly-struck return catch to Steve Smith, but was rarely troubled and reached his hundred with a back-foot push through the covers. While Bell didn’t sweat much in the 90s, Cook had a nervous wait on 99 when he flicked a delivery from Michael Beer towards short leg where Phil Hughes claimed the catch and the Australians began celebrating. Cook, though, stood his ground and TV replays showed the ball clearly bounced and Hughes was unsure before joining in late with the appeal.

Smart Stats

• Alastair Cook’s aggregate of 766 runs is the second highest by an England batsman in an Ashes series. The highest is Wally Hammond’s 905 runs in 1928-29.

• Cook’s century was his third of the series, making it the 23rd occasion that a batsman has scored three or more hundreds in an Ashes series. The previous occasion that an England batsman achieved this was when Michael Vaughan scored three centuries in 2002-03.

• The 154 run stand between Cook and Ian Bell is the fifth highest for the sixth wicket for a visiting team in Australia.

• England have passed 400 in four of the five Tests so far, which is the second time that a visiting team has achieved the feat. The last time England scored more than 400 on at least four occasions in a Test series in Australia was in 1928-29.

• Bell scored his first Ashes century in his 18th Test. He has now scored 11 half-centuries and one century at an average of 32.36.

It was the second time Beer had been denied Cook’s wicket after yesterday’s no-ball and in the spinner’s next over, Cook worked a single into the leg side to reach his hundred. He’d had a few other tricky moments, when he edged Shane Watson short of second slip on 87 then after passing his hundred nearly chipped Beer to midwicket, but it was a commanding display as he worked his way through the record books once again.England really put their foot on Australia’s throat when the second new ball was taken shortly before lunch as Cook and Bell both took advantage of the extra hardness. Clarke couldn’t find a combination that worked as he made seven bowling changes in 14 overs. Ben Hilfenhaus’s first over back went for eight then Bell played two perfect straight drives off Peter Siddle having taken time to play himself in. Bell knew this was the chance to make his good form count when it could make a real difference.He had so much time to play against the quicks and toyed with Beer’s length as he waited for anything short. Cook was also positive against the left-armer despite having a few more issues from the footmarks and drove impressively through the covers. Bell reached his fifty by using his feet against Smith – finally given a bowl in the 101st over – and launching him straight down the ground. By tea even Mike Hussey was having a bowl.Cook looked set to join Hammond as the only England batsman with two double hundreds in a series but finally edged a drive to Hussey in the gully. However, his dismissal barely hampered England’s progress as Prior played the perfect role to build England’s lead at a swift pace. He lofted Smith for six and peppered the off side in a 54-ball half-century and, after passing his hundred, Bell joined in with ever more expressive strokeplay until edging Mitchell Johnson to slip.The only sour note on England’s day was another failure for Paul Collingwood who can only dream of the form shown by Cook and Bell. He found the middle of his bat largely elusive during a 41-ball stay and Johnson’s first delivery of the day had reared to take the glove but looped fine of short leg. Collingwood wanted to be positive, which brought his downfall when he advanced at Beer and miscued his lofted drive towards mid-on where Hilfenhaus took a back-peddling catch.It was a huge moment of relief for Beer who gave the umpire a quick look, just to make sure, and this time was able to celebrate his first Test wicket. At that point the match was fascinatingly poised but it was the last time Australia had any grip on proceedings. Now they face a mighty task to escape with a draw.

Western Australia 6 for 319 (Voges 91*, Johnson 82*, Robinson 78) v Victoria
ScorecardMichael Hussey departs without scoring after being caught by his brother•Getty Images

There was no brotherly love for Michael Hussey as he and Marcus North both failed to secure their Ashes berths at the MCG. Instead of Hussey, who was caught for 0 by his sibling David, and North (17) setting up Western Australia, they relied on half-centuries to Wes Robinson, Adam Voges and Mitchell Johnson to take them to 6 for 319 against Victoria.Pressure is building on the incumbents after the naming of a 17-man squad for the first Test and Hussey and North did nothing to ease the scrutiny. The only good thing for them was the failure of the young batting specialists in Hobart.Hussey lasted 18 balls before pushing at the medium pace of Andrew McDonald and seeing the ball go to his brother at second slip. At least North managed some time in the middle, staying for 51 deliveries and hitting two fours, before David Hussey dived for his nick off Darren Pattinson.Robinson started slowly after the Warriors were sent in but grew more comfortable during his 78 while Voges took over after tea. Voges finished with 91 and Johnson gained some much-needed confidence ahead of the Test with 82 off 88 balls, including 12 fours and a six. Will Sheridan picked up the lbws of Mitchell Marsh and Luke Ronchi to finish with 2 for 55.

Batsman Wayne Madsen and fast-bowler Mark Footitt have signed new two-year contracts with Derbyshire.Madsen, 26, was born in South Africa and made his Derbyshire debut last year. In April 2010 he reached a career-best first-class score of 179, putting together an opening stand of 273 with captain Chris Rogers – a county record and scored 1,403 runs, four first-class centuries and averaged over 50 in one-day cricket in 2010.Footitt was a former Under-19 international for England and now 24, took 33 wickets in all competitions last year after joining from Nottinghamshire in 2009. “I am delighted to secure the services of two cricketers who could prove to be prized assets for the next two years,” said Derbyshire head of cricket John Morris.”In Mark Footitt we have a bowler capable of genuine pace who took promising strides forward in 2010. He is aiming to continue that development over the next two years into a front line first-class bowler. Wayne Madsen has brought great professionalism and an exemplary attitude to the squad as well as maintaining the happy habit of scoring centuries.”Both players are now working hard during the winter to attain the peak of physical fitness before no doubt testing each other out in the nets ahead of the 2011 season.”

Australia’s strong batting performance on the first day of their match against the Board President’s XI in Mohali had no impact on former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s view as to how the forthcoming Test series will go. Ganguly said, “India will win the series if they bat well.”Regardless of India’s revolving-door bowling attack, Ganguly said the venues of the two-Test series help the home team maximise its spin resources. “Bangalore may not offer assistance early for spinners, but there’s a bit for them later and Mohali has always been a good venue for us”, Ganguly said at the India Today Youth Summit in Delhi this afternoon.He picked Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara as the leaders of the next generation of Indian batsmen who have it in them to go the distance. Raina, while inexperienced in the Test format, has shown great improvement according to Ganguly. Pujara, picked for the first time in the Indian team to play Australia, has what Ganguly called a “terrific attitude towards batting. I’ve seen him with the [Kolkata] Knight Riders and he can bat all day, he just loves it.”As India’s strong middle-order draws closer to the end of its era, the team, Ganguly said, had plenty of options. “There is talent in Murali Vijay; there is talent in Yuvraj Singh. There are many other young players who have got talent, but it’s what they do with that talent that is important.”Ganguly, who was captain of the Indian team that kicked off India’s now-celebrated rivalry with the Australians in 2001, said his advice to current India captain M S Dhoni did not include making Ricky Ponting wait for the toss, a habit which had incensed Steve Waugh in the 2001 series. “The series is going to be really enjoyable and Ricky’s a great guy”, he said.Ponting and Ganguly were teammates at the Kolkata Knight Riders for the last three years, an association that will most probably end when the IPL hosts its latest player auction later this year. Ganguly said he agreed with Sachin Tendulkar about maintaining and building a team, but thought the IPL had “done well to leave player retention in the franchises hand, to make it their decision”.The most essential ingredient of every franchise’s team, according to Ganguly, was “identity”. He said, “So what happens if Tendulkar doesn’t play for Mumbai? If Tendulkar plays for Bangalore then it looks like something different, doesn’t it?”As one of the speakers in the Youth Summit, Ganguly’s brief speech was followed by an exchange with an audience made up mostly of university students. He spoke openly of the time he took over as India captain in 2000, which is when the match-fixing controversy first broke. “We had some worries once the news came out in the open. We would speak to each other but none of us knew what to do, or to deal with the situation – we’d not been approached or anything.”The six month break between seasons that followed made a difference, Ganguly said. “The BCCI decided to take players off the team and we got a lot of youngsters into the side. So we didn’t have to deal with those issues, but we had it at the back of our mind”.Ganguly said he had not come across any experience to say that matches were fixed “in my entire cricketing life personally, and I can vouch for that … Now I presume those guys, they know whom to approach. It’s not just about Pakistani cricketers but players all around the world. Maybe they can just judge someone’s character and know they might get through to one player and not another”.When he was asked if would ever like to coach the Indian team, Ganguly said, “Yes, not very shortly but at some stage of my life. I would really want to do it because anything connected with Indian cricket is an honour”.Ganguly also replied to a question about a ‘five-point programme’ on coaching that he would give to Greg Chappell, who had a controversial tenure as India coach from 2005 to 2007. “Don’t be too friendly with the media,” Ganguly said, “be honest with the players and don’t talk to them through the media, always work with players, get confidence out of players and stay on the backstage. The captain is the boss of the team.”

ScorecardKent captain Rob Key praised the character of Sri Lankan Malinga Bandara after the under fire wrist-spinner bagged season’s best figures of four for 42 to help skittle Hampshire for 204. In a must win game for both these relegation threatened sides, Kent lost opening batsman Sam Northeast for a third ball duck in reply but will go into day two on 15 for 1, trailing by 189.Bravely batting first despite heavy overnight rain in Canterbury and early morning cloud cover, Hampshire’s top-order found the going tough despite the weakened Kent attack. Without seven potential new ball bowlers through injury or departure, Key was forced to turn to military-medium seamer Darren Stevens and rookie paceman Matt Coles to open his attack.The pair, and Stevens in particular, performed wonders in restricting the visitors to barely two runs an over in the opening session. Stevens send down 15 overs unchanged from the Nackington Road End, seven of them maidens, and gave the hosts their first opening after 22.5 overs with the wicket of his former team-mate Michael Carberry who feathered a defensive push to the keeper to make it 37 for 1.With so few pace alternatives, Key turned to spin well before lunch and reaped the rewards when James Tredwell then Bandara bagged early wickets. Tredwell had Australian Phil Hughes (1) caught at slip then Bandara followed suit, having Liam Dawson snaffled to the last ball before lunch when edging an airy drive to give Martin van Jaarsveld one of four slip catches in the innings.Hampshire attempted to up their run-rate after the interval but, just as they looked set to crack on so Kent nipped out another wicket. Simon Cook claimed two in an over soon after the resumption to account for Michael Bates and Sean Ervine then Tredwell accounted for top- scorer Jimmy Adams for a stoic 84.Having faced 222 balls and batted four-and-a-half hours – following his marathon innings against Lancashire last week – Adams edged an attempted sweep onto his boot, only to see the all lob gently into the gloves of Geraint Jones. Bandara, dropped to the Kent second string only a fortnight ago after taking only 10 championship wickets at a princely sum of 604 runs, then ran through the tail and end the Hampshire innings by 4.20pm, much to Key’s delight.”My players have given everything for me this season, they’ve been top drawer and ‘Banda’ is amongst that group,” Key said. “It’s not been easy for him to be left out of the team when he’s perceived as our overseas pro, but he’s understood that there have been times when we just couldn’t go into some games with two spinners.”We have struggled getting out the tail-enders in recent weeks and ‘Banda’ did that brilliantly today, he stepped up to the plate when we needed him most.”

ScorecardWorcestershire nibbled into Glamorgan’s nine-point advantage in the battle ofthe last promotion spot in the County Championship by restricting Sussex to191 for 7 at New Road.While their Welsh rivals struggled, batting first against Derbyshire atCardiff, Worcestershire reduced the gap with two bowling points after being heldup by a Sussex teenager following his father into the county team.Luke Wells, son of former captain Alan, made a capable 62 in a little more thanthree hours on his first-class debut before Sussex, already promoted as DivisionTwo champions, lurched into trouble on a murky afternoon.Having looked comfortable at 131 for 2 until Murray Goodwin fell for 34 in adamaging second spell by Alan Richardson, they lost five wickets – includingWells – while adding 17 runs in 12.2 overs. The 35-year-old Richardson, now with his fourth county, came into the match with 50 Championship wickets this season and added to his tally with 3 for 34 from 22 testing overs.Worcestershire’s momentum eventually ran down as Andrew Hodd made an unbeaten31, putting on an undefeated 43 with young spin bowler Will Beer, who reached 22not out in his second Championship appearance. Bad light then ended play at5pm.Wells, a 6ft 4in left hander who has played for England at Under-19 level, waspositive at the start of his innings. A clip for three off Matt Mason’s firstball would have eased any nerves but it was not good for his partner when ChrisNash was lbw to the next delivery.Wells gathered confidence with three consecutive boundaries off Mason, butGareth Andrew checked Sussex’s early gallop in a fine spell which deserved morethan the leg before wicket dismissal of Ben Brown for 32. The second wicket produced 74 and this was followed by a stand of 54 before Goodwin attempted to cut the third ball of Richardson’s after-lunch spell and gave a catch to Vikram Solanki at first slip.Mason was unusually expensive in the morning but repaired his figures in a muchstronger second spell in which Luke Wright edged to second slip. With the England one-day all-rounder out for a fourth-ball duck, Sussex suffered a another blow when Wells, having slowed noticeably after reaching 50 with nine fours, drove hard at Richardson and sliced a catch to gully.Sussex are without four of their leading players and their middle orderstruggled against seam movement. Yasir Arafat was quickly lbw to medium pacerJames Cameron and James Anyon became another victim for Richardson with a nickto second slip.

Final
ScorecardMoises Henriques and Mitchell Starc starred with bat and ball respectively as Australian Insititute of Sport beat India Emerging Players convincingly by 29 runs in the Emerging Players Twenty20 final. Batting first, the Australians posted 162, thanks to Henriques who contributed 72 and James Faulkener who scored 44. Their 72-run stand for the fourth wicket set them to a competitive score. Henriques hit three sixes and two fours in his unbeaten 41-ball knock. The Indian top-order stumbled to Starc, whose early strikes reduced them to 27 for 3. Cheteshwar Pujara resisted with 38 but the lack of partnerships affected the Indians as the hosts narrowed in on victory. Peter George and the offspinner Glenn Maxwell took two wickets apiece to support Starc.3rd-place play-off
ScorecardEven a 116-run opening stand wasn’t good enough for South Africa Emerging Players as they fell short in their chase of 149 against New Zealand Emerging Players in the third-place playoffs. Batting first in a match reduced to 18 overs a side, New Zealand were helped to 148 by another century stand, between Jamie How and Dean Brownlie. Brownlie made 56 off 39 balls while How remained unbeaten on 71, off 51 balls, hitting five sixes. The pair added 101 for the second wicket before they were separated in the 12th over. CJ de Villiers was the most effective bowler for the South Africans with 3 for 29. The South African openers, Reeza Hendricks and Davey Jacobs, made half-centuries to get the team off to a strong start. But it came apart when the left-arm seamer Neil Wagner struck twice in an over. Michael Bates then removed Jacobs, and the South Africans were struggling to keep with the asking rate. In the end, they could only manage 133, having come that far.

Sri Lanka’s 2010-11 domestic season began with the Under-23 Youth Tournament Division 1 matches being played over three days instead of the usual two as in the past. Sri Lanka Cricket tournament committee chairman, Ravi de Silva, said that the idea to make it a three-day tournament came from the selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva, who wanted the younger cricketers to get used to playing for longer hours in the middle. He however stated that it would not enjoy first-class status because of the age limit.”It is a brilliant idea because this age group is the platform for young cricketers to build their future careers,” Ravi said. “We want the players to play longer innings and for bowlers to bowl longer spells. It has been done for the longevity of Sri Lanka cricket.”The tournament got off to a flying start with former Sri Lanka Under-19 World Cup captain Ashan Priyanjan hitting twin centuries for Tamil Union against Colombo Colts in a drawn match at Havelock Park. Premier League Tier A champions Chilaw Marians showed they had plenty of talent in their reserve bench when their U-23 side thrashed Burgher RC by an innings and 68 runs at the BRC grounds. Offspinner Umesh Karunaratne’s match haul of eight wickets coupled with Buddhi Samarawickrame’s cautious unbeaten knock of 111 off 235 balls contributed to the victory.Ragama CC and Bloomfield also began their campaign in style with victories over Moratuwa SC and Air Force SC respectively. The left-arm spin of Sameera Perera (match haul of 10 for 123) and Kaushalya Gajasinghe’s century (123) were responsible for Ragama’s win at De Soysa Stadium in Moratuwa.An opening stand of 193 between Nipun Karunanayake (100) and captain Madawa Warnapura (93), laid the foundation for Bloomfield’s victory at Rifle Green. Despite running up the highest total for the week – 403 for 9 declared, Sinhalese SC ran short of time to pull off a victory over Seeduwa Raddoluwa CC at the SSC grounds. SSC had the visitors on their knees at 160 for 9 in their second innings after forcing them to follow-on, but with the ninth wicket falling off the penultimate ball of the match, the last ball was negotiated safely much to the relief of Seeduwa Raddoluwa.The legspin of Sanka Ramesh Abeyruwan (match haul of 7 for 63) and fast bowling of Suresh Wickrema (match haul of 6 for 139) proved decisive but not quite.Moors SC held the strong Nondescripts CC to a draw at NCC grounds. Moors captain Chaturanga de Silva (97 and 41) and Yasoda Lanka (86 and 78) ensured Moors come out honourably despite NCC gaining a 104-run first innings lead.

Peter Borren, the newly-appointed Netherlands captain, has backed his team to upstage Scotland in the upcoming Intercontinental Cup fixture in Deventer. Netherlands will be fielding a depleted side with some players unavailable due to injury and work commitments, but Borren said his side has the wherewithal to improve their position in the points table – they are currently placed fifth – with a win.”I think we certainly have the bowlers to take 20 wickets in the match,” Borren said. “The trick for us will be scoring the runs and I will be looking to our top order to give us a good start. If one can score a century and two or three others support him with 50s then I think we will be in a very strong position.”It can be a difficult transition from one-day cricket, which is what we have mostly been playing, to the four-day competition. Our batsmen will have to build innings and take it one session at a time in order to occupy the crease and spend some time out in the middle.”Scotland are placed second, eight points behind Afghanistan, and a win against Netherlands will take them to the top. Scotland, who won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2004, have seven players in their squad who are on full-time contracts – Richie Berrington, Qasim Sheikh, Gordon Goudie, Majid Haq, Steven Smith, Ross Lyons and Moneeb Iqbal.Netherlands (squad): Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Barresi, Tom de Grooth,Mark Jonkman, Ruud Nijman, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Steven deBruin, Adeel Raja, Wilfred Diepeveen, Berend Westdijk, Floris Kingma, RifaizBakas.Scotland (squad): Gordon Drummond (capt), Dougie Lockhart, PrestonMommsen, Qasim Sheikh, Richie Berrington, Neil McCallum, Gregor Maiden,Majid Haq, Moneeb Iqbal, Matthew Parker, Gordon Goudie, Ross Lyons, SimonSmith.