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Pakistan’s youthful inexperience was exposed by Steve Waugh’s Australians on the final day of this opening Test match, but Waqar Younis’s team gained respect for a performance that dented the world champions aura of invincibility.Australia eventually won by 41 runs, a slender margin of victory that wouldhave appeared inconceivable after their dominance during the first two days.However, a wonderful burst from Shoaib Akhtar, described afterwards by SteveWaugh as “one of the great spells of fast bowling,” and a dogged 88 from opener Taufeeq Umar yesterday had threatened a famous Pakistani victory.But Pakistan, needing just 137 with seven wickets remaining when the fifth day started, finally lost their nerve when Waugh gambled on the second new ball shortly before the luncheon interval. On 248 for five at the time, requiring just 68 more, they lost four wickets in the space of 23 balls.Glenn McGrath, Australia’s best fast bowler, who finished with three for 38 from 24.2 overs of plugging accuracy, wrapped up the game soon after the break as Faisal Iqbal (39), the last recognised specialist batsman, aimed an impetuous shot through the off-side to be caught in the covers.Whilst McGrath and Jason Gillespie – who claimed two wickets with the new ball before limping off the field with a calf injury, and possibly out of the series – had rushed the match towards its eventual conclusion, it was Shane Warne, the eventual man of the match, who had played the greatest hand.Clearly benefiting from a new slimline physique, he had passed ten wickets inthe game for the sixth time in his career – his largest haul since taking 11wickets against England at the Oval over year ago – when Misbah-ul-Haq (10) had been caught in the covers by Steve Waugh off a leading edge.He then grabbed perhaps the crucial wicket, although somewhat fortuitously as the ball struck Younis Khan marginally outside the line of off-stump, with the kind of well-oiled flipper that confounded so many batsmen in his pomp but has struggled to control since his shoulder operation.Younis, the most senior of the frontline batsman, had enjoyed a charmed morning when he was dropped on 33 as Mark Waugh’s butter-fingered nightmare continued with another two spilled slip chances today, Faisal Iqbal being the other beneficiary when he had scored just 13.Younis’s presence at the crease was a reassuring sight for his side and hisdismissal proved disastrous for their cause, opening up the lower order to the lethal final Australian attack with the new ball.Although Waqar claimed afterwards he was pleased with his side’s overallperformance, praising the youngsters for “some excellent cricket,” he must have been bitterly disappointed with the final collapse, especially the suicidal dismissal of the experienced Saqlain Mushtaq (1).Rashid Latif had just edged Gillespie’s first ball back to the wicket andPakistan needed to survive the handful of minutes before lunch without further losses. Afterwards the tailenders could have supported Faisal, who was batting well at that stage.But Saqlain charged down the wicket to McGrath, completely miscuing an uglysmear and was caught by Steve Waugh at short cover. Waqar (1) then feathered a catch into the gloves of Adam Gilchrist second ball and the frenetic Shoaib shouldered arms to the penultimate ball of the session.Steve Waugh claimed afterwards that Pakistan should be “proud of the manner in which they fought themselves back into the game” but said he felt comfortable going into the final day.”We were very confident going into the last day,” said Waugh. “Pakistan probably woke up for the first time believing that they could win the game and that put them under pressure. We could feel that they were more pensive today.”He defended his brother’s performance in the field, which at one time lookedlike it would cost Australia the game: “That just happens sometimes. He’scaught well for 125 Test matches and today he had an off day. I am not overly concerned, we will sort it out by the next Test.”Waqar hoped that his young side learned from the experience: “It was touch and go today, we just needed one partnership. It was disappointing but we played some excellent cricket during the course of the match and although we have lost the youngsters will have learned a lot.”

The one result no-one expected in the Bridgetown Test, as the third day began, was a draw. But the greatest confrontation of the series – the one between the West Indies board and the English spectators over admission charges – can probably now be assessed. And both sides, in different ways, have lost.The thumping premiums demanded by the board for tickets bought outside Barbados failed to produce the threatened boycott by visitors. The ground has been booked solid for every day except the last (which may never happen). And local supporters, as is now the norm in Bridgetown Tests against England, have been totally outnumbered by English visitors.By charging foreigners prices that have edged close to $200 a day – far more than ever gets charged even in England, until now the most expensive place in the world to watched cricket – Caribbean cricket has eased its pressing financial problems. The payday here, and for the Antigua Test, is unlikely to be repeated this side of the 2007 World Cup. The board was right to the extent that the market was strong enough to bear the cost.This is a bonanza that makes a difference not merely to the game but to the whole economy of the islands. Every hotel bed on Barbados has been filled – assuming the late-night boozers do get back to their rooms eventually. Tourist officials do not expect this to happen until England’s next Test here.Against that, it is clear a great many visitors have found their own way round the price structure. The trouble with differential pricing is that it is a recipe for smart people to evade the system. Some 60% of the tickets were supposedly held back for Barbadians and other Caribbean nationals, and sold at normal prices.Though they were officially restricted to four tickets each, shrewd Bajans were able to grab the maximum for all their family members, and sell them on for less than the official prices, enabling them to turn a tidy profit and their English buyers to save on the official cost.There will still be a legacy of ill-will that may well linger at least until the 2007 World Cup, when England will in all probability be seeded into a group based in Barbados to try to maximise tourist revenue yet again.And the dual structure has certainly not brought Bajans back to the ground (though they are still following it avidly via TV and radio), so there is still what you might call cultural damage. Every Test ground has its own unique flavour. And the atmosphere at Kensington Oval is now uniquely insipid. Take away the palm trees, the rickety stands, the heat and the flying-fish sandwiches, and this could easily be Edgbaston.The low stands to the right of the pavilion remain mostly occupied by locals. But the old sounds of the Caribbean – the wit, the songs and the cheering – are entirely drowned out. Almost every other section of the ground is dominated by British tourists turning various shades from pink to scarlet. And three of them are given over to the mostly young, hard-drinking shouters colloquially known as the Barmy Army. For an outsider, though, it is not easy to judge which might be the official army and which might be organised by rival warlords.The real Barmies seem to be in the Michie Hewitt Stand, where a cheerleader with his back to the cricket leads them in chants which even to the trained ear are barely comprehensible. The look of utter bewilderment on the faces of the Bajan minority is hard to convey in words.Hundreds more were in the new Carib Beer Stand, getting through can after can of lager in the one section of the stand without shade. This is what anyone with experience of the tropics would call truly barmy. One group was dressed as schoolgirls; another, looking a touch more realistic, was in a neat uniform of panama hat, blue shirt and ties, doing passable imitations of MCC members. They were shouting and chanting as loudly as their rivals.The locals were equally bemused why, on an island where even the stuffiest Brits dress down, anyone would decide to dress up to watch eight-hour days in baking weather. The British used to send anthropologists to tropical islands to fathom the quaint customs of the locals. Now they send the people with the quaint customs. This method of cricket-watching is, I suppose, part folk-ritual, part quasi-religious cult, part harmless fun, part boorish idiocy.But successful tourist destinations like this one long ago learned to shrug their shoulders at their visitors’ antics, and count their money. And, one way and another, it has been rolling in like billy-o.

• Heath Streak (ZIM) needs 34 runs to complete 2,000 ODI runs
• Grand Flower (ZIM) needs 6 wicket to join the 100 ODI-wicket club
• Andy Flower (ZIM) needs 17 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
• Grand Flower (ZIM) need 165 runs to complete his 500 World Cup runs
• Heath Streak (ZIM) needs 10 wickets to join the 25 World Cup wicket-club

Waqar Younis will be asked to continue as Pakistan captain following a two-month stint in the job, said General Tauqir Zia, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.The board appointed fast bowler Waqar in April for atournament in Sharjah and a two-month tour of England. Under hiscaptaincy Pakistan reached the final in Sharjah, drew a two-Testseries against England and lost to world champions Australia in thefinal of a three-nation one-day competition.Waqar, who also captained Pakistan in a one-day match and aTest in 1993, has a 2-1 record leading the side in Tests and 10-5in limited-over internationals. He’s one of ten players to havecaptained Pakistan in the past ten years.”We’ve had our problems with captains, but Waqar is a veryhard-working man and has handled the side well,” Zia said. “Iwill keep him as captain as long as I feel he is fit mentally andphysically.”Zia said he wants to appoint the 29-year-old Waqar for NewZealand’s tour of Pakistan in September and the Asian TestChampionship, which runs from September to February. Waqartravelled straight to Australia after the tour to be with his wifewho is expecting a baby, Zia said.Meantime, Richard Pybus, whose contract as national teamcoach ran just for the England tour, has also been asked tocontinue, Zia said. Pybus will make his decision in the next tendays after considering his future at his home in South Africa.

1888-89
A private tour which was not deemed to be a Test series until years later, so a number of those involved died never knowing they had played Test cricket. The touring squad, assembled by Major Wharton, contained few established players but were still more than good enough for a raw and equally inexperienced South Africa team, winning both Tests by large margins. In all, there were 16 matches against teams made up of anything between 15 and 22 players before the Test.
South Africa 0 England 2 Drawn 01891-92
Again a low-key and private tour which was only upgraded to Test status years later. To show how low-key, on the day the one-off Test started, England were also playing in Australia; three Hearne brothers played in the match, two for England and one for South Africa; and two players – Ferris and Billy Murdoch – were making their debuts for England after already representing Australia. Ferris took 13 for 91 in an innings win.
South Africa 0 England 1 Drawn 01895-96
Another one-sided series with England, a much stronger outfit under Lord Hawke, winning two Tests by an innings and the other by 288 runs. South Africa’s batsmen had no answer to George Lohmann. He took 15 for 45 in the first Test – including 8 for 7 and a hat-trick in the second innings – and then 12 in the second Test, including 9 for 28, and eight in the third. He finished with 35 wickets at 5.80, a record for a three-Test series unlikely to be bettered.
South Africa 0 England 3 Drawn 01898-99
England, again under Lord Hawke, were given a shock in the first Test, winning by 32 runs after conceding a 106-run lead on the first-innings. It was 132 not out from Pelham Warner, who carried his bat in the second innings, that spared England’s blushes. The second Test again had South Africa ahead on the first innings, Jimmy Sinclair taking 6 for 26 and then hitting 105, but set 246 to win, they managed only 35 in 22.4 overs. This was the first tour to feature first-class games outside the Tests.
South Africa 0 England 2 Drawn1905-06
Pelham Warner led a moderate England side in the first series since the Boer War, and South Africa took the lead after a battling win, their first, in the opening Test. Set 284, they were 105 for 6 before a stand of 121 between Gordon White and Dave Nourse rebuilt the innings. There were still 45 needed when the last pair came together but Nourse and Percy Sherwell steered them home. They recorded a more convincing nine-wicket win in the second match after bowling England out for 148 and 160, and secured the series in the third Test (which started after a one-day break) with a thumping 243-run victory, engineered by Tip Snooke who took 12 for 127. England gained consolation with a four-wicket win but South Africa underlined their dominance with an innings win in the last game. On matting wickets, South Africa’s legspin and googly bowlers were far too good for the England batsmen.
South Africa 4 England 1 Drawn 0

1907
The success in 1905-06 meant that the first major visit by South Africa was eagerly anticipated, but on turf wickets the spinners who had been so dominant at home were far less effective. Rain washed out the third (and final) day of the Lord’s Test with South Africa following on; at Headingley, Colin Blythe was the difference between the sides, taking 15 for 99 in a low-scoring game won by England; at The Oval, South Africa were 159 for 5 chasing 256 when bad light intervened.
England 2 South Africa 0 Drawn 21909-10
Henry Leveson-Gower’s side was weak in the batting department, although it did boast Jack Hobbs, and that was to cost them a hard-fought series. Hobbs finished with 539 runs at 67.37 but no other England batsman passed 300. South Africa took the first two Tests, Bert Volger’s 12 for 181 ensuring a tense 19-run success at Johannesburg. England fought back in the third with Hobbs, batting at No. 7, underpinning their chase with 93 not out. South Africa sealed the series with a four-wicket victory at Cape Town and then lost the final game. George Simpson-Hayward finished with 23 wickets at 18.26, the last time an underarm bowler played a major part in a Test series.
South Africa 3 England 2 Drawn 01912
South Africa were by far the weakest side in the ill-fated Triangular Series, which also featured Australia. They lost two of their three Tests against the Australians – rain saved them in the other – and were well beaten in all three games by England. SF Barnes was at his best, taking 34 wickets at 8.29, but South Africa’s batting was woeful, failing to pass 100 in three of their six innings.
England 3 South Africa 0 Drawn 0

1913-14
This was to be the last tour by any side for seven years, and South Africa were a team in transition while England sent their strongest squad yet under Johnny Douglas. England won the first two matches by an innings, Barnes taking 27 wickets at 9.77. He ended the series, and his Test career, with a record 49 wickets at 10.93, and 83 wickets in seven successive Tests against South Africa. Barnes polished off South Africa as they fell 91 runs short when chasing 396 in the third, but despite another 14 wickets from Barnes, Herbie Taylor, who was the outstanding South African batsman, batted his side to a draw in the fourth Test. The final Test, in which Barnes refused to play, was nevertheless won by England by ten wickets.
South Africa 0 England 4 Drawn 11922-23
Frank Mann led a reasonably strong side for the first post-war series but they went behind with defeat in the opening game, squaring the series in a gripping one-wicket win at Cape Town. Durban was marred by poor weather, and the fourth match, watched by a record crowd, also ended in stalemate. The decider, back in Durban, was played to a finish and Jack Russell, in what was to be his last Test, scored hundreds in each innings, the first Englishman to do so, to steer England to a 109-run win.
South Africa 1 England 2 Drawn 21924
Rain blighted the summer and South Africa’s batting was not good enough to cope with unfamiliar conditions. The series started in dramatic fashion when GM Parker was summoned from the Bradford Leagues and took 6 for 152, but South Africa then capitulated for 30 in 48 minutes. They batted much better second time round but still lost by an innings. Catterall followed his hundred in that defeat with another at Lord’s, but then Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Woolley all made centuries as England piled up 531 for 2 and won by an innings and 18 runs for the second time. South Africa followed on for the third successive Test when losing at Headingley, and then rain ruined the last two matches.
England 3 South Africa 0 Drawn 21927-28
A remarkably weak England side, led by Ronnie Stanyforth, who had never played county cricket, won the first two Tests and then drew the third. South Africa kept the series on the boil with a win in the fourth Test thanks to a hundred from HW Taylor and eight wickets from George Bissett. England, who lost all five tosses, were put in and after a close first innings, Bissett, aided by a strong wind, took 7 for 29 and South Africa squared the series with an eight-wicket victory.
South Africa 2 England 2 Drawn 1

1929
England’s batsmen managed ten hundreds between them in a well-fought series. The first two Tests were drawn – games were still only over three days – and despite a hundred from Tuppy Owen-Smith (who played rugby for England), South Africa lost by five wickets. The only one-sided match came at Old Trafford where Tich Freeman took 12 for 171 as England won by an innings. South Africa controlled the Oval Test, taking a first-innings lead of 234, but hundreds from Wally Hammond and Bert Sutcliffe secured a draw for England.
England 2 South Africa 0 Drawn 31930-31
England learned from their mistakes of 1927-28 and selected a much stronger squad, but still ended up losing the series. The one-eyed Buster Nupen, not South Africa’s first choice spinner, took 11 for 150 in a 28-run win in the first Test, and there followed four draws. The second Test in Cape Town was the first in South Africa to be played on turf as opposed to matting, while the fourth in Johannesburg was the last on matting. Rain affected three others games to varying extents and Deane, South Africa’s captain, retired mid series and was replaced by Horace ‘Jock’ Cameron.
South Africa 2 England 0 Drawn 31935
South Africa recorded their first series win in England with the only result of the summer coming at Lord’s where Xen Balaskas, a legspinner of Greek ancestry, took 9 for 103 and Bruce Mitchell made 164. England pressed hard for a series leveller but South Africa’s batsmen held firm, and in the final Test South Africa piled up 476 on a perfect pitch and England, who replied with 534 for 6, had no chance of forcing the win they needed. A successful tour ended in tragedy when former captain Jock Cameron contracted a fever on the boat home and died. He was 30.
England 0 South Africa 1 Drawn 41938-39
A series that will forever be remembered for the fifth Test in Durban which ended in a draw after ten days. It was enough to sound the death knell for timeless Tests. Wally Hammond, who had switched from professional to amateur, led England and he and Eddie Paynter both topped 600 runs in the series. The first two matches were high-scoring draws, but the third Test was won by England by an innings after South Africa collapsed for 103 in their first innings. South Africa had the best of the fourth Test – Hammond’s eighth successive correct call – but rain washed out the final day. With the series up for grabs, the fifth Test was deemed timeless. The pitch was perfect, and rain during the game baked it hard and made it, after rolling, almost as good as new. South Africa scored 530 and 481; England replied with 316 and, set 696, were cruising on 496 for 3 at the end of the ninth day. But Hammond realised they had to leave to catch their ship, and with rain in the air, he ordered his batsmen to hit out. At 4pm a thunderstorm hit Durban with England 654 for 5, 42 short of victory and that was that.
South Africa 0 England 1 Drawn 4

1947
In a boiling summer, crowds flocked to matches in unprecedented numbers as the post-war passion for any sport continued. The year was dominated by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich, who both passed 3500 runs, and although South Africa were in the firing line more often than not, they battled hard and competed throughout. Alan Melville, their captain, scored hundreds in the first three innings of the series and deserved to steer his side to victory in the opening match when they finished on 166 for 1 chasing 227. At Lord’s, in front of their adoring home supporters, Compton made 208 and Edrich 189, Doug Wright took 10 for 175, in an innings win, and both batsmen scored hundreds in a seven-wicket win in the third Test. Len Hutton made a hundred in a ten-wicket win at Headingley, and the summer concluded with a gripping game at The Oval where South Africa, with Bruce Mitchell making 120 and 189 not out, finished on 423 for 7 chasing 451. It was a year to be a batsman: Compton made 753 runs, Edrich 552 (and 16 wickets), Mitchell 597, Dudley Nourse 662 and Melville 569. v
England 3 South Africa 0 Drawn 21948-49
Humiliated by West Indies in 1947-48, MCC drew up rules with meant they would always send the best side available, and that was fortunate as they played a tight series, winning 2-0 thanks to narrow victories in the first and last Tests. The win in Durban went down to the wire, England scrambling home by two wickets in the last over. Batsmen largely dominated thereafter, and it was only some bold captaincy from Nourse, looking for a series-levelling win, that enabled England to sneak a three-wicket victory in Port Elizabeth after being set 172 in 95 minutes. Seven batsmen averaged more than 50.
South Africa 0 England 2 Drawn 31951
Dudley Nourse’s 208, made with a fractured thumb, laid the platform for South Africa’s win in the first Test where, despite being skittled for 121 in their second innings, they bowled England out for 114 to win by 71 runs, their first win for 16 years. At Lord’s South Africa were trapped on a wet wicket and Roy Tattersall (12 for 101) spun them to defeat on the third afternoon. England won the third Test by nine wickets, Hutton finishing on 98 not out, two short of what would have been his 100th hundred. After a high-scoring draw, the decider at The Oval went to England by four wickets, but only after Hutton had become the first batsman to be given out obstructed the field in a Test.
England 3 South Africa 1 Drawn 11956-57
As was too often the case during the decade, play was on the whole slow and the captaincy too cautious. More than 100,000 watched the first Test where Trevor Bailey (5 for 20) bowled out South Africa for 72 and gave England a 131-run win, and they were again dismissed for 72 in the second, Johnny Wardle taking 12 for 89, as England went two-up with a 312-run victory. Hugh Tayfield’s 8 for 69 was not enough to prevent England battling a draw in the third Test, but in the fourth he took 9 for 113, bowling unchanged for five hours, as England lost their last five wickets for 39 to lose by 17 runs. The final Test was played on a poor, relaid pitch in Port Elizabeth and Tayfield squared the series when he grabbed 6 for 78 as England, chasing 189, made 130. On the third day of the game only 122 runs were scored. Tayfield finished the series with 37 wickets at 17.18, Wardle with 26 at 13.80.
South Africa 2 England 2 Drawn 11960
A series overshadowed by the no-balling of Geoff Griffin at Lord’s. In a damp summer, South Africa were no match for England and lost the first three Tests by large margins in conditions which favoured the seamers. It was not until the fifth Test that South Africa passed 250. With the game dominated by fierce debate over throwing, Griffin’s hat-trick at Lord’s was overshadowed when he was no-balled 11 times. He never played Test cricket again although he remained on the tour as a batsman. Even the draws at the end of the series were dreary, South Africa set stiff targets which were always beyond them. Fittingly, rain ended the last day of the summer early.
England 3 South Africa 0 Drawn 21964-65
Mike Smith’s side won the series but the signs of how good the South Africans were to become were clear. England won the first Test after piling on 485 for 5 and then Fred Titmus and David Allen, who shared 35 wickets in the series, spinning South Africa out twice on a deteriorating wicket. England were poised for victory in the second Test only for Colin Bland to defy them with a gutsy hundred. The third and fifth Tests were drawn, and England had to cling on in the fourth where they finished on 153 for 6. The obdurate Ken Barrington made 508 runs at 101.60.
South Africa 0 England 1 Drawn 4

1965
South Africa’s last tour for 29 years and one which seemed at the time to herald the start of a golden era for South African cricket. The three-Test series in a split summer was superb. England held on, seven down, in the Lord’s Test; at Trent Bridge Graeme Pollock played one of the great innings, making 125 in 140 minutes in damp, bowler-friendly conditions, and then his brother Peter took nine wickets in a 94-run win. The Oval Test was set for a thrilling climax with England on 308 for 4 chasing 399 when a thunderstorm struck.
England 0 South Africa 1 Drawn 21968-69
MCC went as far as naming a side, but were lambasted for leaving Basil D’Oliveira out despite a big hundred at The Oval. When Tom Cartright withdrew from the squad, D’Oliveira was drafted in but that infuriated the apartheid government in South Africa and they made clear that the Cape-coloured D’Oliveira was unwelcome. South Africa’s prime minister John Vorster fumed: “This is not the team of the MCC … it is the team of the anti-apartheid movement.” There was no backing down and the tour was scrapped.1970
The end of the pretence that normal sporting relations were possible. Despite government pressure and massive public disquiet and threats of violence, the tour was on until as late as May 23 when the board finally, and reluctantly, accepted that it was not possible to guarantee the safety of the tourists or spectators.

Kent have been given planning permission by the local council for extensive redevelopment of their Canterbury headquarters.”We are delighted that, after two years of detailed work and extensive consultation, we have been granted approval for our redevelopment plans at the St Lawrence Ground,” Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, explained. “It’s no longer possible to survive as a first-class county on the basis of income from cricket alone.”The proposed developments, which include a hotel, conference facilities, fitness centre and retail outlets are designed to generate sufficient funds to upgrade the ground and secure our future. We are confident that the outcome will be a facility in Canterbury which will not only be of significant benefit to the local community, but will be a ground of which members and everyone connected with the city of Canterbury can be justly proud.”The final hurdle to clear is that the club’s membership have to approve the scheme at a special meeting.

The Pakistan Board says it will try to persuade Shahid Afridi to withdraw his decision not to play any Test matches until the 2007 World Cup.Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, told the Karachi-based “We think he has taken an emotional decision because he has been playing Test cricket regularly now for the last one year. And we are going to speak to him about it and ask him to change his decision.”Afridi announced his ‘retirement’ from Test cricket recently, citing the increasingly hectic international schedule as the main reason for his decision. But Shaharyar felt Afridi had taken the decision under pressure after failing in a couple of matches.”The strange thing is that since making his announcement he has been under more pressure because everyone is saying he should also be available for Test matches. Even people in Abu Dhabi who met him told him to take back his decision. So we are hoping he has already realised his mistake.”Various parties have already tried to change Afridi’s mind. Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, made an effort to speak to him in Abu Dhabi, in order to persuade him to reverse his decision. Cricinfo has learnt, however, that Afridi remained unconvinced after their discussion. Additionally, Afridi’s hometown cricket association, KCCA (Karachi City Cricket Association) has also publicly urged him to reconsider. Wasim Bari, chief selector, has reiterated in recent statements that Afridi is still up for selection in both squads for the tour to England as has not informed the PCB in writing of his decision.One factor likely to play a part in any discussions is that of central contracts. Pakistan’s cricketers, Test and ODI, are on rolling central contracts, divided into three categories based on seniority and experience. Afridi is in Category A, whereby he earns Rs 200,000 a month. But if he doesn’t change his mind, this position, says Shaharyar, is likely to be reviewed when the new contracts are handed out in July.”He is a very good player and we want him for both forms of the game. We can’t have players picking and choosing when and what they want to play. But if he wants to skip Test matches then we have to see what sort of contract he should be given. Currently all the players to whom we’ve given contracts are available for Test and ODI cricket. Afridi is not an automatic choice for Tests but his availability is important for us.”Afridi is currently due to play for Ireland in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, though he missed its opening match after his daughter fell sick. The decision to play for Ireland, soon after complaining of a heavy workload, has not endeared Afridi to PCB officials either. One said he was surprised Afridi was going to play for Ireland, “given that he said he was too tired at the moment and wanted to spend more time with his family.”

It wasn’t the greatest day on which to break a world record. Australia was switched on to the one-year anniversary of the Bali bomb blast and the start of the Rugby World Cup, but Matthew Hayden and his innings of 380 at Perth managed to elbow their way into the consciousness of Australians when they awoke to read their daily newspapers today.Peter Roebuck, in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age:”Matthew Hayden has put his name in the record books alongside the sweetest names the game has known.”None of them, not Don Bradman nor Garry Sobers nor Len Hutton nor Brian Lara, has scored more runs in a Test innings than this tall and muscular Queenslander. He has proved himself worthy of this company.”None of them has batted with the command shown by the Australian opener when his feet are moving. None of them hits the ball as hard or with a straighter bat. None is as strong, none was blessed with greater stamina. None was as full of desire in the middle years of their careers.”Hayden had to wait a long time before he was treated with the respect the rest claimed as young men. Dismissed not so long ago as a slow-witted banana-bender, Hayden has emerged as a batsman of beautiful brutality. Sustaining a plunder that began on the Indian subcontinent in 2001, he wore down and eventually destroyed an attack that could hardly be called a defence.”But Roebuck also made the point: “Through the glory of the moment, though, comes a nagging sense of unease. What does it all mean? Take the manner in which the two most significant landmarks were passed. By the time Hayden had reached 334, the Zimbabweans were on their knees and Trevor Gripper was sending down undemanding off-breaks…”Of course the notion that Bradman and the rest scored their runs against tight and fresh attacks operating on helpful pitches is false. Nonetheless, there was always a feeling the teams belonged on the same field. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the teams appearing in Perth. Test cricket has compromised its most precious asset – its legitimacy.”Although it was hardly Hayden’s fault, this was not so much a contest as a demolition. Among the Zimbabweans only the captain has earned his stripes as a Test player. Hayden was not wrenching runs from a reluctant opponent. He was taking sweets from a child. Test status has been spread around in an attempt to widen the game and to secure votes on the governing body.”Malcolm Conn, The Australian: “Rejected by the Australian Cricket Academy in his youth, Matthew Hayden yesterday strode to the pinnacle of greatness with the highest score in 126 years of Test history.”Driven by an iron will and a refusal to accept failure, the powerful Queenslander’s resurrection became complete in Perth yesterday when he scored 380 in the first Test against Zimbabwe, beating Brian Lara’s 375 scored against England in Antigua in April, 1994.”Yesterday was the ultimate triumph for a bold young man considered by experts who followed his early development as too ungainly and heavy-footed for Test cricket.”Robert Craddock, The Daily Telegraph: “Fifteen years after he was told he had no future as a first-class cricketer, Matthew Hayden yesterday claimed the game’s most coveted individual record . . then dedicated it to the memory of Bali.”The Queensland outdoors boy scored a world record 380 against Zimbabwe in the first Test at the WACA, beating the previous highest Test score of 375 scored by West Indian Brian Lara against England in Antigua in 1994.”Modern cricket has become overloaded with numbing statistics but this is truly special and quite appropriate that arguably the greatest side in cricket history now has a milestone that will stand as eternal testament to the cavalier way they play the game.”The farmer’s son from Kingaroy, who still finishes most of his sentences with ‘eh?’ has gone where none of the 2367 men to play the game have gone in 1637 Tests since cricket began in 1877…”A modest opposition and a lifeless wicket were the portents for a Hayden hurricane but, even given the conditions, some of his power play was simply awesome.”John Townsend, The West Australian: “RECORDS are made to be broken but Matthew Hayden used a sledgehammer to smash the Test batting mark at the WACA Ground yesterday.”While Zimbabwe wilted but never surrendered under the most clinical batting barrage in Test history, Hayden guaranteed himself cricketing immortality.His 380, the 17th triple-century in Test ranks and the highest in nearly 130 years and 1660 matches, has given him a raft of records and confirmed his standing as one of the world’s three best batsmen. ..”Few observers doubt Zimbabwe is competing out of its league during this inaugural Test series but Hayden only had one opponent – himself – as he batted flawlessly for more than 10 hours.”