4th Aussie test: India again in trouble at 61-2

ADELAIDE: Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke hit masterful double centuries to drive Australia to 604 for seven declared before their bowlers reduced India to 61 for two at the end of second day of the fourth test Wednesday.

Sachin Tendulkar, who had scored 12 not out, and Gautam Gambhir, unbeaten on 30, were at the crease at stumps after the in-form Australian pace attack had dismissed stand-in India captain Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.

Already 3-0 down in the series after three emphatic defeats, India had laboured in the field in the morning as Clarke and his predecessor as Australia captain Ponting ruthlessly, and often stylishly, drove home their advantage.

Clarke, who hit a brilliant 329 in the Sydney test, made 210 and Ponting scored 221 in a record fourth-wicket stand of 386, albeit on a flat wicket at a sweltering Adelaide Oval.

They were separated two balls after lunch when Clarke was bowled by Umesh Yadav and three more wickets fell before Australia declared shortly after a Ryan Harris six had taken them past 600 seven overs into the final session.

“It was about trying to get to 600 and we still had plenty of time left in the day, which is pleasing,” Clarke told reporters.

“We scored quite quickly in our innings and to take those two key wickets today is a really good start for us but there’s a lot of work still to be done.

“It’s about as good a batting wicket as you’ll get so we’re in for a good workout.”

Paceman Peter Siddle made a good start to the job when he struck in the first ball of his first over to remove Sehwag caught and bowled for 18.

In the next over, Dravid was bowled for the sixth time in seven innings in the series, deceived by a Ben Hilfenhaus delivery that struck the Indian on his elbow and hit the stumps.

Indian paceman Ishant Sharma (0-100) was left grasping at the straws of history, recalling his country’s victory at the Adelaide Oval eight years ago.

“There is a positive, even in 2003 they scored 550-odd runs and we won the game from there,” he said.

“Everyone is positive and looking forward to a good next three days.”

After resuming at 335-3, Clarke and Ponting had passed their own record partnership for Australia against India of 288, which they set in the Sydney test, inside the first hour.

The next mark to fall was the all-time record partnership for the Adelaide Oval, which came when they exceeded the 341 that Eddie Barlow and Graeme Pollock shared in 1964.

Clarke brought up his second double century of the series just before lunch with two runs through mid-wicket, celebrating with his ritual kiss of the insignia on his helmet.

The 30-year-old took 361 minutes and 255 balls to reach the milestone with another imperious display, which included 25 fours and one six.

QUICKFIRE
Ponting was forced to wait nervously through the lunch break for his second double century against India at Adelaide after the 242 he hit in a losing cause in 2003.

The sixth double century of his career finally came courtesy of a trademark pull to midwicket for his 21st four in the 459-minute, 357-ball innings and the celebration left no doubt what it meant to the Tasmanian.

Clarke had already departed after being bowled between bat and pad by paceman Yadav, the first wicket to fall in more than three sessions.

The stand was two runs short of the Australian record for a fourth-wicket partnership of 388 set by Donald Bradman and Bill Ponsford at Headingly in 1934.

Mike Hussey, who had waited six hours and 20 minutes to bat, made a quickfire 25 from 33 balls before a brilliant Gambhir throw saw him run out.

Ponting followed soon afterwards when another pull shot off Zaheer Khan found a leaping Tendulkar on the boundary.

Spinner Ravi Ashwin’s carrom ball accounted for Peter Siddle (2) to give wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, standing in for banned India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, his first test catch.

Brad Haddin, who hit a six to open his account, had made 42 not out and shared a 71-run partnership with Harris (35 not out) when Clarke called them back to the dressing room. AGENCIES

Unnamed Pakistani left off list due to spot-fixing scandal

LONDON: The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has named only four Cricketers of the Year in its 2011 edition.

The revered publication has ritually recognized the five players who had the greatest impact on the English summer, only breaking with convention to recognize outstanding individuals WG Grace, Plum Warner and Jack Hobbs and during the first and second world wars when competitive cricket was on hiatus.

The traditional five-man list has been named every year since Hobbs’ nomination in 1926 but has been reduced in the 2011 edition after one of the selected players was caught up in last year’s spot-fixing scandal.

Following a News of the World investigation during the England versus Pakistan series, the International Cricket Council charged bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir with bowling deliberate no-balls and Captain Salman Butt with being party to events.

Asif is currently serving a seven-year ban, with two suspended, Amir a straight five years and Butt 10 years, with half suspended after being found guilty by an independent tribunal.

“If (the player in question) were exonerated, then it would be possible to reconsider the position,” said Wisden editor Scyld Berry.

“That’s why I didn’t pick anyone else instead. But as things stand, we don’t feel we can choose him. It’s all very sad.”
The news somewhat overshadows those nominees who will appear in the book, with Tamim Iqbal, Eoin Morgan, Chris Read and Jonathan Trott all receiving the accolade.

Bangladeshi Tamim and Irishman Morgan are the first players from their respective countries to make the Wisden list and Read are recognized for his role in leading Nottinghamshire to the LV County Championship title.

Trott, meanwhile, was an expected pick after a prolific year in Test and one-day cricket for England in his first full year as an international.

Alastair Cook missed out on selection as his Ashes heroics fell outside of Wisden’s parameters, but he has been honored by appearing on the cover of almanack, pictured celebrating his century in the Sydney Test. AGENCIES

Clarke appointed Australian captain

SYDNEY: Michael Clarke was appointed Australia”s Test and one-day captain on Wednesday, a day after Ricky Ponting bowed to pressure and quit after the country”s World Cup exit.

Long seen as heir-apparent, the stylish batsman, who turns 30 on Saturday, will jump into the role immediately, leaving this week for a tour of Bangladesh.

Ponting will also be on the plane, taking orders from his former deputy, after being named in the squad to play three one-dayers.

Shane Watson will be Clarke”s vice-captain with Cameron White remaining the Twenty20 skipper.

“First of all can I say what an honour it is to be named captain and also a huge surprise to see Ricky stand down,” Clarke said at a press conference.

“I was very much unaware of where he was at and didn”t know he was going to stand down. It was a huge surprise to me.

“I know Ricky will allow me to do my job to the best of my ability,” he added. “We want to be the best team in all forms and that is going to take time.”

His Test reign will start in August when he skippers a tour of Sri Lanka.

Clarke, though, is not popular with Australian fans, and polls published Wednesday showed how cool the public are to him.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, only 26 percent of 21,000 respondents in an online poll favoured him to be the new captain.

In the Sydney Daily Telegraph, a survey of 8,500 readers placed him a distant third behind Shane Watson and Michael Hussey.

Ponting insisted Clarke was the right man for the job, and vowed to give him all the support he needed.

“He has done nothing wrong when has stood in for me over the past few years and his record in T20 cricket speaks for itself,” he said in a column for The Australian newspaper.

“I will be there in the background for him if he needs me, but from today the Test and one-day teams will be his and I will be one of many players who follow him onto cricket grounds all over the world.”

Asked how he will feel taking orders from a man who used to be his deputy, Ponting replied: “I”ve taken orders most of my life, I”m pretty used to it.”

Clarke was also endorsed by cricket legend Richie Benaud.

“I”d have Clarke, he”s vice-captain, he”s done well the times he”s been captain,” Benaud told the Nine Network.

Clarke made his professional debut for New South Wales as an 18-year-old in the 1999-2000 Australian domestic season.

He made the jump to the national one-day team in January 2003 against England at Adelaide and was chosen to make his Test debut against India at Bangalore in October 2004.

He thumped 151, helping Australia to victory, invoking comparisons to past Australian greats Doug Walters and Mark Waugh.

Since then, he has gone on to play 69 Tests, scoring 4,742 runs, including 14 centuries, with an average of 46.49. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, Clarke has captured 21 wickets.

In the one-day game, he has collected 188 caps and 5,928 runs at an average of 43.58, with 52 wickets to his name.

A part-time underwear model and a regular in the social pages, Clarke was formerly engaged to model Lara Bingle and controversially returned to Sydney during Australia”s tour of New Zealand in March 2010 for “personal reasons”.

It followed Bingle deciding to sue her former lover Brendan Fevola for disseminating naked pictures of her, which ended up in a women”s magazine.

Clarke later called off his wedding plans. (AFP)

Lights off as ”Earth Hour” begins

HONG KONG: Australia’s Opera House was the first of many global landmarks to go dark on Saturday as “Earth Hour” got under way with hundreds of millions of people around the world set to switch off their lights.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris and the world”s tallest building in Dubai will also have their lights turned off for 60 minutes as part of the remarkable event in which people reflect in darkness about how to fight global warming.

“The amount of power that”s saved during that time is not really what it”s about,” Earth Hour co-founder and executive director Andy Ridley told in Sydney, where the movement began in 2007. “What it is meant to be about is showing what can happen when people come together.”

Ridley said a record 134 countries or territories were on board for this year”s event, which organisers have dubbed the world”s largest voluntary action for the environment.

Other landmarks going dark for the hour are Times Square in New York, Beijing”s “Bird”s Nest” stadium that hosted the 2008 Olympics, the London Eye Ferris wheel and Brazil”s Christ the Redeemer statue.

The lights were being turned off from 8:30 pm local time around the world.

The event kicked off in the Pacific, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, and was then set to roll into Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas as it followed the descending sun.

In Australia, organisers said an estimated 10 million people, nearly half the population, took part, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge another of the landmarks to go dark.

Originally designed as a symbolic act to heighten awareness of everyday energy use, organisers this year asked people to also commit to an action, large or small, that they will carry through the year to help the planet.

As part of the longer-term commitment, Dalian city in northeastern China will spend 1.5 billion dollars planting 340 million trees and Chengdu city in the southwest will make up to 60,000 bicycles available for public rental.

Ridley said Earth Hour, organised by global environment group the WWF, this year would also focus on connecting people online so they could inspire each other to make commitments to help protect the environment.

Hong Kong”s neon waterfront dimmed, while in Singapore all decorative lights were switched off and non-critical operational lights lowered at Changi Airport for an hour. The airport said the effort would result in energy savings equivalent to the total amount of electricity consumed by a four-room apartment over three months.

In Japan, which is reeling from a huge earthquake and tsunami that struck this month, several thousand people and a hotel-turned-evacuation centre in the northeast marked Earth Day.

“People in Japan will have a special feeling this year when they turn the switches off,” WWF spokeswoman Hideko Arai told ahead of the switch-off. “We will not only think about climate change but also the people who need energy in the disaster-hit areas,” she said. (AFP)

Australias record run-chase sinks England

England 333-6 in 50 overs (J. Trott 137, A. Strauss 63)
Australia 334-8 in 49.2 overs (M. Clarke 82, M. Johnson 57, S. Watson 51)

Australia won the nail-biting sixth one-day international against England by two wickets on Wednesday in Sydney Cricket Ground, racking up a record 334 for eight wickets to take a 5-1 lead in the series.

After a Jonathan Trott century helped England post their highest ever ODI score against Australia of 333-6, the home side batted their way into contention, needing six to win off the final over with two wickets in hand.

Tailender John Hastings edged a boundary off the second delivery from youngster Chris Woakes to hand Australia victory with four balls to spare, the home side making 334-8.

It was Australia’s record run chase in an ODI and extended their lead over the tourists in the seven-match series to 5-1 with one game to play.

Captain Michael Clarke’s late season return to form continued as he smashed 82 from 70 balls to lead the unlikely chase, with late support from David Hussey, who made 38.

The final match takes place in Perth on Sunday.

Paul Collingwood retires from Test cricket

England batsman Paul Collingwood said on Thursday that he will retire from Test cricket after the final Sydney Ashes Test against Australia.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said Collingwood, 34, would remain as England’s Twenty20 captain and play for England’s one-day team. Collingwood’s announcement comes in the midst of a poor Ashes series, scoring just 83 runs from six innings at the number five batting position. Collingwood’s announcement comes in the midst of a poor Ashes series, scoring just 83 runs from six innings at the number five batting position. Representing England at Test level has always been a dream of mine and I’ve been fortunate enough to have enjoyed some amazing highs throughout my Test career, Collingwood said in a statement. I am proud of the fact that I have always given my all for the England Test team, he added. Collingwood made his Test debut in 2003 against Sri Lanka at Galle and has earned 68 caps. The Durham right-hander has scored 4,259 runs in Tests at 40.95 and taken 17 wickets. England retained the Ashes after beating Australia in last week’s fourth Melbourne Test and is on top in the current final Sydney Test, set to become the first England team to win a series in Australia for 24 years. Collingwood led England to their first-ever success in a global tournament when his team defeated Australia by seven wickets in the World Twenty20 final in Barbados last May.

Pacific countries became first to mark start of 2011

SYDNEY: New Year revellers around the planet began welcoming 2011 in a blaze of fireworks and parties Friday, temporarily banishing the misery of extreme weather that has struck across the world.

Countries in the Pacific became the first to mark the start of the year as a crowd of about 1.5 million crammed Sydney”s foreshore, drawn in record numbers by afternoon sunshine ahead of fireworks on the Harbour Bridge – even as Australia’s northeast battled devastating floods.

In Europe, crowds were set to throng landmarks like London’s Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower, following a big freeze that paralysed travel and cut power and water supplies for tens of thousands.

And New York workers were scrambling to plough snow out of Times Square for the famous New Year countdown, after a blizzard dumped 32 inches (80 centimetres) on the city and surrounding areas.

Party-goers carrying blankets and camping equipment began descending on Sydney harbour more than 12 hours before the main fireworks display at 1300 GMT, with new arrivals turned away as early as 3pm (0400 GMT).

Extreme, 43 degrees C (109 F) heat brought the risk of wildfires near Adelaide, while celebrations in the country’s north were muted by floods that left vast swathes of land underwater and forced thousands to leave their homes.

The tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati, just east of the international dateline, was the first to welcome in 2011 at 1000 GMT. The deeply religious community of about 6,000 had been set to mark the occasion with village church services.

New Zealand, which has experienced a mild heatwave over the festive period, moved into 2011 soon after, with a fireworks spectacular in Auckland as part of a celebration themed “Hot in the City”.

Further south in Christchurch, hit by a powerful earthquake in September, officials only approved celebrations after late checks and modifications, including removing the city cathedral’s crucifix in case it fell on revellers.

In Asia, about 400,000 were expected at a glittering fireworks-and-laser display along neon-lit Hong Kong’s harbour, while millions of Japanese will visit Shinto shrines to “purify” themselves.

Although Lunar New Year is a much bigger event in the continent, thousands will brave Beijing’s cold for the countdown at an up market shopping centre, while about 7,000 were expected at a kite-flying event in central Shanghai.

Seoul was to observe Buddhist tradition with a bell at Bosingak traditional pavilion rung 33 times by 11 civilian delegates in turn, watched by up to 100,000 revellers.

Midnight marks the beginning of year 100 on Taiwan’s calendar, and was to be celebrated with Taipei’s biggest ever New Year fireworks costing 60 million Taiwan dollars (two million US) and a concert by pop idols.

Thousands of people will jam Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake for midnight, while the “Bangkok Countdown” outside a glitzy mall – where major anti-government protests took place this year — is the centrepiece of Thailand’s celebrations.

In Myanmar, democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, released this year after more than seven years of house arrest, called for the country”s people “to struggle together with new strengths, new force and new words in the auspicious new year”.

Revellers in Indian financial and entertainment capital Mumbai – scene of a 2008 attack that killed 166 people – were given the go-ahead to party through the night, despite intelligence about a possible New Year militant strike.

Meanwhile 250,000 people will throng the banks of London’s River Thames to hear Big Ben chime the last midnight of 2010, the traditional sound of the British New Year.

Millions of others will crowd landmarks like Rome’s Colosseum and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, as well as Paris”s Champs Elysees and the Puerta del Sol in Madrid.

Earlier, organisers were forced to cancel a giant January 1 snowball fight in Berlin after 8,000 signed up, while in New York this week, people wrote down and shredded bad memories of 2010 in Times Square for “Good Riddance Day”.

Locals, tourists celebrate Christmas on Bondi beach

SYDNEY: Locals and tourists flocked to Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Saturday to spend Christmas Day surfing and soaking up the sun.

Tens of thousands of people hit Australia’s most famous beach every year to celebrate.

Before mid-afternoon on Saturday, the sand was already packed with sunbathers wearing festive costumes.

“When people finish their lunch today it’s going to get massive. Probably anywhere between 50 and 100 thousand people will be down here,” local lifeguard Drew Lambert from North Bondi Surf Club told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Alcohol is banned on Bondi Beach, but lifeguards still have to warn revelers against swimming under the influence.

Bondi has become a popular spot for tourists and backpackers to meet with fellow travelers.

Assange gets Gillards support : WikiLeaks

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said on Friday that WikiLeaks did not commit any criminal offense in the country by releasing secret documents. Talk to media in Sydney, she said that we have received the advice and the advice is that there had been no breaches of Australian law.

Gillard has been criticized by WikiLeaks supporters and some members of her Labor government for subjecting prejudice on Assange in any future criminal case. Assange was released on bail in Britain on Thursday while he awaits a possible extradition to Sweden where he was charged for sex crimes.WikiLeaks has provoked fury in Washington with its publications of secret U.S. cables and vows to make public the 250,000 embassy documents it had obtained. The cables include details of overseas installations that Washington regards as vital to national security.

Answering a question Gillard said that she did not receive any advice about changing the laws to deal with similar leaks in the future.

Iran not rogue state, nuke programme "deterrent": cables

SYDNEY: Australia is at odds with its major security ally the United States over Iran, saying it is not a “rogue state” and its nuclear weapons programme is for deterrence, not attack, according to U.S. cables released by WikiLeaks.

The documents, published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday, also reveal that Australia’s top security organisation believes Tehran sees a “grand bargain” with the United States as its best way to ensure national security.

But the Office of National Assessments (ONA) shared Washington’s fears that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons could lead to conventional or nuclear war, noting a conflict between Israel and Iran was the greatest challenge to Middle East stability.

The ONA was also concerned that nuclear proliferation in the Middle East may drive Southeast Asian nations to pursue their own nuclear capabilities.

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