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A report in The Sunday Times says that Darrell Hair will be backed in his legal action against the ICC for racial discrimination by Billy Doctrove, his fellow umpire during the controversial Oval Test in 2006.The case, which will be heard at the London office of the Tribunals Service, starts on October 1. Also expected to appear on Hair’s behalf are John Jameson, former assistant secretary of MCC, and Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies captain.Although Hair has remained on the ICC’s elite panel, he has not officiated in a major match since August 2006 and has been limited to a handful of Associate games. His contract with the ICC expires in March next year and will not be renewed.Hair will be represented by Robert Griffiths QC, an MCC committeeman, while he will be opposed by Michael Beloff QC.”I look forward to this matter being over and done with so my wife and I can get on with our lives,” Hair said.

David Hussey was in disbelief when he discovered he had earned his first Cricket Australia contract but the Victoria batsman knows there is still a long way to go before his dream of playing Test cricket is fulfilled. Hussey was one of 25 players to receive national deals, completing an exciting nine days after he was also named in the ODI squad to tour the West Indies in June.”It’s a stepping stone,” Hussey said of his new contract. “It’s one thing getting picked in the top 25 and another thing is playing. I desperately want an opportunity. It’s remarkable just one phone call gives you a lot of self-belief and self-confidence.”Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said Hussey had been “knocking on the contract door for the past few interstate seasons”, but it took his first thousand-run Pura Cup campaign in 2007-08 before he was finally included. However, with an established top six in the Test team and the record-breaking Simon Katich seemingly next in line, Hussey knows he must grab whatever one-day opportunities come his way.”There’s a lot of good batters floating around at the moment – Cam [White], Brad Hodge, Simon Katich, Shaun Marsh has been added,” he said. “For me it’s just basically making runs at the right time.”His Victoria team-mate White also held onto his contract despite not having played for Australia since February 2007. White considers himself primarily a batsman these days but he will be working hard on his legspin with no specialist one-day spinners in the squad.Stuart MacGill and Beau Casson, the only two frontline slow bowlers on the list, are not regular limited-overs players for New South Wales. White took a backseat to Victoria’s legspinner Bryce McGain in 2007-08, however he still averaged nearly eight overs a match in state one-dayers.”My bowling is probably going to be the avenue into more games for Australia, so that’s something I’ve got to do probably a little bit better,” White said. “I’ll probably get a bit more of an idea [of my role] when I get to the West Indies.”If White does find himself bowling more in ODIs – he averages only ten deliveries per game from his 16 appearances – he will be helping to fill the gap left by the newly retired Brad Hogg. Dan Cullen was one of the men Hogg tipped to take his one-day spot but the signs are not good for Cullen, who did not have his contract renewed despite a solid FR Cup season.”Of course it is a bit disappointing not to make the list this time round but I have great support at the Redbacks and there is still plenty of time left for me to play for Australia,” Cullen said. His South Australia team-mate, the legspinner Cullen Bailey, was also dropped from the national list after a disappointing year during which he was picked for only two Pura Cup games, taking one wicket.Bailey said: “2007-08 was a challenging season but I have learnt much across a range of fronts. My focus is now completely dedicated to what happens next. I am working hard to develop my game.”

Inches of snow have fallen on the garden beyond, but tucked away here indoors the voice is that of golden-rayed summers long gone by. EW Swanton CBE – `Jim` to his global family of friends – will be 90 next month, but his thirst for fun is as undiluted as the gin and so-called tonic he proceeds to pour.He has been told he was a five-month-old baby in his pram on thepavilion balcony when W G Grace made 140 for London County atForest Hill in 1907, as a lad of nine he watched the glow in thesky over north London announcing the shooting down of a firstworld war German Zeppelin near Cuffley, Herts, and as a highlyexcited 12-year-old he visited the Oval in 1919 to see hisbeloved Surrey play Yorkshire and to fall hopelessly in love withcricket.Eight decades, 23 books, an estimated eight million words (mostof them as cricket correspondent of The Daily Telegraph) andcountless hours at the microphone later, his ardour for the gameglows with the same schoolboy intensity. When E W Swanton admits you into the office – part library, part museum, part den – of his idyllic 18th-century town house at Sandwich, nearthe Kent coast, you settle back in a leather chair, savour thatmelody of ice rattling on crystal glass and luxuriate in thesound of his master`s voice. And, oh, what a voice it is. As David Rayvern Allen describes it in E W`s latest book, Last Over: A Life In Cricket: “That beautifully produced brown, treacly voice with ecclesiastical overtones was – and is – compelling. A friend of mine, hearing the Swanton vowels for the first time, remarked that it reminded him `of a great uncle with a partiality for brown Windsor soup and gentleman`s relish`.”The imminent arrival of his 90th birthday – an improbable anniversary for so sharp a mind and so active a body – will be marked by all manner of tributes, most notably a three-part BBCradio series recalling the many highlights of his career and acelebration dinner in the Long Room at Lord`s blessed by the attendance of a veritable Who`s Who of cricket. He is, after all,”one of the great cricket writers of this century” in the opinionof John Major. “Not just his Telegraph articles . . . but hisbooks, as well, some of which I think are classics.”But for a summary of his life (so far), including tales ofBradman`s final innings, of heroes like Compton and Sobers, ofadventurous sea voyages and flying boats, of the grim years as aPOW, of how he came to miss the Bodyline Series, of his abomination of coloured clothing, of Basil d`Oliveira and his hatred ofapartheid, of his ill-concealed distaste for Kerry Packer and IanBotham, of the celebrated rows with Raymond Illingworth and EnochPowell, I have great pleasure in handing you over to E W Swanton.”I`m a sort of curiosity, that`s what I am. I can picture thescene in our garden when I picked up a cricket bat for the firsttime. I must have been four or five I suppose because I canremember the buses were still drawn by horses. My father sufferedfrom very bad eyesight – in fact he couldn`t get into the firstwar so he became a special constable – but he was treasurer ofForest Hill Cricket Club in south London. My mother helped lookafter the teas, as ladies did in those days – and still do, thankGod – so I grew up on the boundary ropes. At 14 my father mademe a junior member of Surrey and I saw the Test match betweenEngland and Australia at The Oval in 1921 from the pavilion,which was a marvellous thrill. As it happens, I`ve just completedmy 76th year as a member of Surrey.”A life vice-president of the MCC, founder of The Arabs touringteam and arguably the most famous and influential non-Test playing cricket personality in the world, E W Swanton was born of anera when journalists at Lord`s were equipped with an assistant todictate their copy (and another to fetch the ice for their cocktails) and when writers on overseas tours would take dinner inevening dress. “We had a few firebrands in the old days, butsports writing is completely different now. Very much sharper andless kind. Directly after the war, everyone was lookingfor heroes. That`s why Denis Compton was a hero like none other. He was what every mother wanted her son to be. The writingthen was more benevolent, but a great part of cricket`s mystique when I started was that the public liked to admire cricketers for what they were. Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, FrankWoolley were all nature`s gents. That feeling has rather gone nowand I feel the press has become far too intrusive.”Not that E W Swanton hesitates to meet controversy head-on whenthe occasion demands. He was bitter in his condemnation of SouthAfrica over the d`Oliveira affair, launched a withering attack onEnoch Powell in the letters page of The Spectator after thepolitician`s notorious `Rivers of Blood` speech, engaged in aprolonged feud with the then England captain Ray Illingworth -who had accused the scribe of “being such a snob, he doesn`t eventravel in the same car as his chauffeur” – and dismissed KerryPacker as “the anti-Christ”.Officially, he retired in 1975 but remains nothing if notopinionated. In Last Over, Allen notes: ” . . . at various timeshe [Swanton] has been called `overbearing` and `pompous`. Duringone commentary, when white smoke was seen billowing from a distant chimney . . . John Arlott turned to his colleagues and said,`Ah, I see Jim has been elected Pope`.” Arlott was speaking withaffection, however, for E W Swanton truly is the voice of cricket. “Ours is a slow-moving game and as such holds up a clearermirror to character than most,” he wrote in From Grace To Botham:A Century Of Cricket Fame. “We want to admire the stars forwhat they are as well as for what they do – which is why theexhibi- tionist antics of a few in recent times, giving theworst of examples to the young watchers on television, are soparticularly abhorrent.”He has been present at every great moment in cricket history,such as Bradman`s last innings when he was bowled by Eric Holliesand thereby denied the four he needed for a Test average of 100 -“I thought that [Jack] Fingleton and [Bill] O`Reilly were goingto have strokes in the press box, they were horribly unkind tothe Don” – except the notorious Bodyline tour of 1932-33, whichhe missed after being cricket-writing career.”I`d been covering a match between Yorkshire and Essex at Leytonin which Yorkshire, in the persons of Holmes and Sutcliffe, puton 555 for the first wicket. A world record. The Evening News,the Standard, an agency and The Star had to share the one publictelephone and old Swanton was the last. I missed the edition andthe editor at the time said, `Well, if the young fool can`t getus a story from Leyton, what`s he going to do from Melbourne andSydney?` So he deselected me and selected a chap called BruceHarris – the lawn tennis correspondent. Utter ignominy. When themonumental row started because we cheated, Bruce Harris latchedon to Douglas Jardine and Jardine was sensible enough to see he`dgot a spokesman for his views. I think if I had gone, I can`t believe I wouldn`t have condemned it. None of us wanted to believethey were doing what they were doing and since Bruce Harris gotsyndicated absolutely everywhere, everyone in England got the impression the Australians were squealers. It was an appallingthing.”Yet this has been a life of precious few disappointments, rathera life spent describing great deeds in great words. Harkunto Swanton on Sobers, his “favourite modern player . . one ofa large family from a little wooden house such as they have inBarbados and I saw him aged 17 playing his first Test in Jamaica.He aver- aged 57, I think it was, in Tests but if he`d been arun-grabber, if he`d put himself in at No 4 all the time instead of down the order, he`d have averaged 70, I expect. But thebest thing about him was that he never put a foot wrong. Heplayed the game hard and tough – as it should be – but scrupulously fairly.”Here, among his memories of Sobers and his collection of Wisdensstretching back to 1879 (including the battered 1939 version hekept with him in a Japanese POW camp), we must take our reluctantleave of E W Swanton for there is much work to be done before hecan flee the winter to enjoy his annual holiday in Barbados. Aswe crunch down the snowy path, from the drawing-room can be heardthe piano of his wife Ann, 85, an accomplished pianist who hasperformed with Sir Noel Coward and Sir Donald Bradman, while fromthe office E W Swanton is dictating his latest thoughts; and,yes, sounding remarkably like “a great uncle with a partialityfor brown Windsor soup and gentleman`s relish”.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

New Zealand’s dominance on the first day at the Basin Reserve bore strong similarities to the opening day of the first Test in Dunedin. On that occasion, Bangladesh were bowled out for 137 and New Zealand finished the day on 156 for 4. Today Bangladesh collapsed for 143 and the home side were poised to take the lead, ending on 134 for 3. Chris Martin had taken 4 for 64 at the University Oval to lay the platform for a resounding nine-wicket win and, in Wellington, he took 5 for 65 to give New Zealand a firm grip of the second Test.The first-innings collapse was a severe blow to Bangladesh’s attempts to salvage something from a winless tour and it was triggered by poor shot selection against aggressive seam bowling. The Bangladesh batsmen had shown a lack of durability in Dunedin, lasting only 46.1 overs, and they repeated their failing with the last wicket falling in the 46th over. The New Zealand pace attack played their part; Chris Martin and Kyle Mills seamed the ball appreciably in windy conditions and Iain O’Brien, the first-change bowler, kept the pressure on. Martin, though, was the best of the three. He troubled the batsmen incessantly with pace, bounce and movement in both directions and picked up his eighth five-wicket haul in Tests.There was assistance for the fast bowlers throughout the day and New Zealand were given an early boost when Daniel Vettori won his ninth consecutive toss and put Bangladesh in. Before the start, Ashraful said he did not want to bat either, but found himself at the crease in the ninth over after Bangladesh lost early wickets.The Bangladesh openers needed to play with caution while the new ball was seaming and only needed to recall their century partnership in the second innings in Dunedin for inspiration. Instead Tamim Iqbal tried to unfurl shots even though he was constantly troubled by the away seam movement, especially when the length was short. His penchant for driving through the off side led to his dismissal, when he chased and edged a wide delivery from Mills to Mathew Sinclair at point.At 17 for 1, Bangladesh needed Habibul Bashar to negotiate the testing conditions but he too played an indiscreet drive away from his body and edged Martin to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum. The captain didn’t apply himself either. Ashraful tried to hit Bangladesh out of trouble and a couple of edges off Iain O’Brien flew between gully and the heavily populated slip and cordon while Matthew Bell grassed a sharp chance at short cover.Martin and O’Brien were relentless with the line on and just outside off stump and the batsmen weren’t disciplined enough to resist. Bangladesh slipped further courtesy two edges; Junaid Siddique to a ball that was too close to leave and Shahriar Nafees to one that wasn’t. The biggest blow came before lunch when Ashraful, on 35, was adjudged to have nicked a ball which brushed the pad on its way through to McCullum. Bangladesh went into the break on 86 for 5.There was no respite for Bangladesh after lunch either as Martin struck in his first over with a ball that nipped back into Mushfiqur Rahim and rapped him on the pads. Refreshed and buoyed by the immediate success, he increased his pace and intensity and Aftab Ahmed wore one short ball on the midriff and two more on his helmet.Aftab began uncharacteristically slowly, scoring 2 off his first 38 balls but started throwing his bat around, when he began to run out of partners. Mashrafe Mortaza, coming in at No. 11, swung at everything as 21 quick runs were added for the last wicket. New Zealand’s fast bowlers were so effective that Vettori bowled only 2.3 overs and picked up the final wicket – Mortaza holing out to long-on – of a purposeless Bangladesh innings.To regain lost ground, Bangladesh had to produce a spectacular bowling performance. They began encouragingly, taking two wickets for 35 runs before Craig Cumming and Stephen Fleming consolidated with a 83-run stand for the third wicket. The lack of a genuinely fast bowler who could hit the deck hard and exploit the bounce on this surface hampered Bangladesh and the New Zealand batsmen were not severely troubled after Mortaza’s opening spell.

Leicestershire have signed Dillon du Preez, the South African quick bowler, as their second Kolpak acquisition in a week.du Preez was the highest wicket-taker in the Supersport Series with 55 wickets at 16 and Leicestershire coach Tim Boon says he will be a valuable addition to the attack.”He swings it away from the right hand batter, almost in the shape of Darren Gough,” he told . “He has a strong set of values, and he’s really keen to learn and fit in.”Leicestershire recently brought in Jermaine Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler, as another part of their bowling unit for the 2008 season. They need to fill the hole left by Stuart Broad who moved to Nottinghamshire.

Group A

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were eyeing a possible climb to the top spot as they gained a 131-run first-innings advantage over ranking leaders Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) at the NBP Sports Complex. The hosts dismissed WAPDA for 312 after compiling 443 in their first innings. The lead was stretched to 190 as NBP moved onto 59 without loss in their second innings. Resuming on their overnight 121 for 3, needing another 173 runs to avert the follow-on, WAPDA achieved their first objective but fell considerably short of the lead. Nawaz Sardar, overnight on 32, added only three runs to his score and his fourth-wicket stand with Aamer Sajjad ended at 77 runs. Aamer then added 84 with Bilal Khilji before Zulqarnain Haider chipped in with 33 runs to reduce the deficit further. For National Bank, Wahab Riaz excelled with figures of five wickets for 93 runs in 29 overs while seamer Tahir Mughal picked up 3 for 71.Habib Bank Limited (HBL) took a big step towards returning to the top against Lahore Ravi at the Lahore Country Club. After obtaining a first-innings lead of 105, HBL declared their second innings at 212 for 7, gibing them an overall advantage of 317 runs. Fahad Masood set HBL’s victory in sight by picking up 4 for 13 in seven overs as Lahore Ravi crashed to 58 for 4 in their second innings, still 260 runs away from a win with six wickets standing.Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) are still 175 runs behind Faisalabad with only one wicket intact at the Sargodha Stadium. Replying to Faisalabad’s 521 for 7 declared, SSGC made 346 but lost nine wickets on the way. Saeed Bin Nasir showed the way with a composed 73 and Mohammad Zafar hit 81 while Ahmed Zeeshan, the wicket-keeper, missed his century by just one run.Placed at the bottom of the Group A table and with six successive defeats, Pakistan Customs hit 446 for 6 against Multan at the Gymkhana Ground, requiring a further 121 runs to match Multan’s first-innings total. Customs’ imports from England domestic cricket finally came good in the form of Rawait Khan (62) and Bilal Shafayat (99) while former international Zahoor Elahi scored a 191-ball 132 to boost his team’s score. The 36-year-old Elahi batted for almost four and a half hours while hitting 23 fours in his 28th first-class century.Sialkot reached a comfortable 346 for three but still trail Hyderabad by 69 runs at Jinnah Stadium. Their innings was powered by a 158-run opening partnership between Kamran Younis (90) and Naeemuddin (122*) before a useful contribution from Faisal Khan allowed the hosts to post a strong reply.

Group B

Karachi Blues were struggling at 41 for 3 against Lahore Shalimar as they chase 352 for victory at the Sheikhupura Stadium. Lahore compiled an impressive second innings total of 329 runs after gaining a slender first-innings lead of 22. Reduced to 112 for 5 at one stage, Lahore were rescued by Ahmed Butt (75) who shared an 80-run sixth-wicket partnership with Ali Raza (60). Needing a strong foundation for a march towards victory, Karachi were left reeling by the Lahore bowlers as they need a spirited, and improved, batting performance to have any chance of gaining maximum points.Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) thrashed third-placed Islamabad by an innings and 54 runs inside three days at the Diamond Cricket Club Ground and took top spot in the group for the first time this season. With a first-innings lead of 222 runs, SNGPL had Islamabad reduced to 102 for 9 after seamer Asad Ali grabbed 10 wickets in the match. However, Raja Kashif delayed the inevitable with an aggressive 53 off 59 balls and added 66 for the last wicket with Yasin Bari (22*).Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have every opportunity to displace SNGPL at the top after they first grabbed a 153-run first innings lead and then left Quetta tottering at 166 for 6 in their second innings at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium.Abbottabad posted 440 for 9 in their first innings to take a big lead over Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Riaz Kail scored a career-best 153 off 231 balls with 17 fours and three sixes while useful contributions from the middle and low-order enabled Abbottabad to race past 400.KRL were looking towards an innings-victory over Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. Powered by Yasir Arafat’s 6 for 54, KRL had Peshawar bowled out for 131 runs in the first innings thus gaining a 321-run advantage. Following on, Peshawar were 205 for five in the second innings and still require another 116 to make KRL bat again.

South Africa 232 and 86 for 1 dec (Benade 51) beat Netherlands108 (Loubser 5 for 37) and 50 (Loubser 3 for 22) by 159 runs
ScorecardSouth Africa crushed Netherlands on the final day of the one-off Test at Rotterdam, to win by 159 runs with Sunette Loubser returning match figures of 8 for 59 from 54.3 overs. Netherlands crumbled twice on Tuesday – they lost their final six wickets for 19 runs in the first innings, and then were all out for 50 in the second, after South Africa set them 211 to win.The visitors rushed to 86 for 1 from 22.3 overs before declaring to leave Netherlands an ask which was way beyond them. Susan Benade led South Africa’s run-glut, with 51. South Africa weren’t always on top in the match, though, after a first day wobble to 159 for 5.However, this score was soon put into context when they showed their true class on the last two days (with the third day washed out).The result is bound to put into question the value of Netherlands playing another Test. This form of the game is already played infrequently, and while the side’s first outing in this game was promising to begin with, it quickly unravelled.

Scorecard

Greg Mail, who was a late addition for New South Wales, registered his first Pura Cup century since 2005-06 to give the Blues a healthy lead of 278 at the MCG. At the close of the third day the Blues had 6 for 281 with Dominic Thornely on 48 and Matthew Nicholson out for 20 from the last ball.It was slow going once again – the run-rate has been below three for the entire match – until Nicholson and Thornely added a brief spark. Nicholson’s 16-ball flurry ended when he clipped Bryce McGain to midwicket where Rob Quiney took an excellent catch, giving McGain just reward for his day of hard work.Mail contributed to the leisurely pace, scoring 125 from 276 balls as Victoria’s attack plugged away with only occasional success. He only played because Ed Cowan withdrew with an ankle injury, and would be pleased with his contributions of 43, 125 and 1 for 12. There was no express delivery from Mail, who struck eight fours in his stay of nearly six hours.He was stuck in the 90s for some time before reaching triple-figures, which was a relief in his first game since his horror 2006-07, when his top score from five matches was 27. He eventually edged an attempted drive to slip off McGain, who was clearly Victoria’s best bowler and finished with 4 for 83.McGain became the first man to dismiss Simon Katich for less than 50 in a Pura Cup game this season when he deceived the batsman with a straighter ball. Katich misjudged the line and feathered a catch to the wicketkeeper, departing for 10 and adding the first blemish to his outstanding first-class summer. Phillip Hughes enhanced his developing reputation with 51 before he flicked McGain to Brad Hodge at midwicket just before lunch.After the break the other of New South Wales’ young top-order prospects, Peter Forrest, was dropped by the bowler McGain only to be run out from the same delivery. After the ball eluded McGain, Forrest took off for a gettable single but his partner Mail was oblivious, and Shane Harwood at mid off threw to the wicketkeeper who removed the bails with Forrest still halfway down the pitch.It was a rare moment of excitement on a quiet day that the Blues used to set up their tilt at a fourth-day victory. The Bushrangers might need to lift the tempo of the match when they are set a target on a final day that could be interrupted by Melbourne showers.

Australia are determined to avoid mentioning a record that is taking on the he-who-must-not-be-named characteristic of the villain Lord Voldemort. With the four-day crushing of India, Ricky Ponting’s team is only one win from equalling the world record of 16 consecutive Test victories.Like any potential naming of Voldemort in the books, it seems that anyone in the team who dares raise the milestone is greeted with loud shooshing and terrified looks over shoulders. The players insist the record, which was set by Steve Waugh’s sides between 1999 and 2001, was not talked about during the Sri Lanka series last month and Ponting said it wasn’t discussed in the lead-up to Melbourne and won’t be in Sydney.”We didn’t speak about it all – there was not one mention going into this game – which is the way I prefer it,” he said. “There’s no doubt it is something we could all be really proud of if we achieve it, but there’s a lot of hard work and great play before that.”We played well here and hopefully we can go to Sydney and play even better. If we do that record will be even closer.” Ponting will have to wait a week to see if there are any repercussions for breaking the in-house ban.However, after the 337-run demolition at the MCG, Australia’s prospects of another win in Sydney are strong. Anil Kumble was not sure what went wrong for India, which makes it hard for the team to recover before Wednesday’s second Test.”It hurts, not just as an individual but as a team, that we haven’t put up a good show and I can tell you we will address that and try to put up a better show in Sydney,” he said. “It’s important that as a collective unit we come out there and do the job. Everyone is equally disappointed.”Kumble said the problems were “mainly a mental thing”, but he was also confident a more friendly pitch at the SCG would help his batsmen against the restrictive Australian bowling. Cluttered fields were set to wear down the Indians on an MCG wicket offering slow, low bounce.”You have to give credit to the way they bowled,” Kumble said. “They put pressure on the batting and I’m sure Sydney will be a better wicket in terms of stroke-making. We have stroke-makers and I’m sure the ball will come on to the bat better in Sydney.”Ponting knew how difficult the chase of 499 would be after seeing his batsmen grind in the second innings. When he declared late on day three he had no doubt India would fail to achieve the target, but he was surprised by the ease of the success.”I expected it to be really hard work, we knew it was going to be hot,” he said. “I felt with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who have been known to bat for long periods on wickets like that, that it might have been really tough.”He believed the 135-run opening stand on the first day, which was the largest of the match, set up the victory on a pitch he rated the hardest to bat on of any of his Tests in Australia. Matthew Hayden, the Man of the Match, was responsible for carrying the first innings with 124, but he also picked up a back problem.Hayden said it was “nothing a Panadol wouldn’t fix” and was not worried about backing up at the SCG. Australia’s comprehensive performance means only injury will force changes and by sealing the win so quickly they have another day to recover from any niggles. India appeared to need a much longer turnaround to sort out their troubles.

Scorecard

Persistent rain in Sydney gave New South Wales and Queensland their first points of the FR Cup as the match was abandoned with the Bulls sitting at 4 for 127. The fourth and final rain stoppage came in the 28th over as Ryan Broad (55 not out) was trying to set the Blues a challenging target.He had survived a tough new-ball period after the Bulls chose to bat and fell to 3 for 44. Aaron Nye provided a flicker of entertainment for the spectators who braved the conditions, belting 43 from 44 balls before skying a catch to Nathan Hauritz in the outfield from what proved to be the final ball of the match.The no-result meant Queensland’s under-strength attack – Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz are injured – earned a reprieve against a New South Wales line-up boasting Phil Jaques, who is pushing for a Test call-up. Both sides had lost their opening one-day games and the Blues now sit fourth on the table ahead of the fifth-placed Bulls.