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Nasser Hussain insisted that England have been through a summer of positives, despite falling short of a series win against India after the final npower Test was abandoned at The AMP Oval due to a final day wash-out.England are unbeaten in their last three series, after drawing with New Zealand and India and beating Sri Lanka 2-0 earlier in the summer.”We are playing a lot better cricket,” the England captain said. “We have now got to move on from being a side that lost nearly everything to a side that finishes off games, which we haven’t quite done.”But there has been a lot of injuries and stuff, some pretty flat wickets as well. We have got to work out how to get 20 wickets, but there have been a lot of positives this summer – the coaching, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick.””A lot of it depends on injuries. If we can get some key bowlers fit, I think we have got a real good chance against Australia – the best chance we have had for a while.”The batting has clicked very well and if we can [now] sort out our other two disciplines, catching – which is going to be very important against them – and getting our fast bowlers quick and raring to go.”We are in much more confident mood but they are obviously the best side in the world, they have hammered South Africa, they have hammered everyone.”Hussain also heaped wholehearted praise on England’s coach. “I hope the ECB extend Duncan Fletcher’s contract because he is the singular reason why we are more successful. They should sort that out immediately because he is the finest coach I have played under.”Meanwhile India’s captain Sourav Ganguly pointed to his team’s achievement in coming back from their defeat at Lord’s, to have a chance after Headingley of winning the series.”We did not play well at Lord’s, but we knew there were three Tests to go and that we were a good side and I was happy with the way we played after that,” Ganguly said.”I thought we batted pretty well this series. I thought maybe we could have seen a bit better from the bowlers, but they have not got a lot of experience behind them and I hope they will learn from this tour.”We won the Test series in India, drew the one-day series in India, won theone-day series here and drew the Test series here so I think that will sum upwho was the best side,” Ganguly added.For all the runs scored by England’s man of the series Michael Vaughan, he insisted that the highlight of his series was with the ball.”Probably getting Sachin [Tendulkar] out [at Trent Bridge] to be honest,” Vaughan told Channel Four. “The runs are obviously delightful, but with my dribble of off-spin, to get a world-class batsman out like Sachin was pretty special.”I have been in pretty good touch all the way through. The wickets have been very flat, I have had a bit of luck, been dropped a few times – but I made them pay which is the main thing.”Rahul Dravid’s magnificent batting won him the man of the match award, and he was also made India’s man of the series.

ADELAIDE, Oct 17 AAP – Victoria needed to score 512 in four sessions for an outright victory after South Australia declared its second innings closed at 6-515 at tea on the third day of the Pura Cup match at Adelaide Oval today.Former NSW all-rounder Mark Higgs, in his first game for the Redbacks, scored an unbeaten 134 off just 133 balls to guide SA to its mammoth second innings score, an overall lead of 511 after Victoria led by four on the first innings.Higgs and Mike Smith (32 not out) put on an unbroken partnership of 67 in 50 balls before the declaration, including 18 runs from the last over, bowled by Ian Harvey, which included four no-balls.An angry Harvey, who was being heckled by the crowd throughout the over in which Smith brought up the SA 500 with a massive six over mid-wicket, walked in the opposite direction of the dressing rooms to remonstrate with a spectator after the Redbacks’ declaration.Wicket-keeper Darren Berry ran over to pull him back to the rooms when he was about halfway towards the fence where the spectator was standing.Ben Johnson top-scored for SA with 165 and shared a record second-wicket stand of 260 with SA skipper Greg Blewett, who made 103.Mathew Inness took 3-67 for the Bushrangers.

The World Cup 2003 is surely uppermost in the mind of the coach and captain and part of the preparation was to land in South Africa and prepare the team mentally for the challenges that lay ahead next year. The tour to South Africa would have been seen as a wonderful opportunity to get some valuable practice in and to formulate a strategy with the senior players. Every team in World cricket would have jumped at the chance to have a head start by playing under these testing conditions without the pressure of the World Cup being at stake. Somehow, in a matter of three eventful days at the Wanderers, certain dreams and aspirations have been rocked to the core.The batting was woeful throughout. At no stage did any batsman look like dominating the bowlers or mastering the conditions. Throughout the previous tour to South Africa, the Sri Lankan team showed a clear inability to adjust their techniques to meet the local conditions. Clearly nothing has changed. The top five still cannot score when faced with deliveries that target the area between the hip and Shoulder area. The reluctance to get forward and nullify any late swing is obvious to all who care to watch. Cricket is about absorbing and transferring of pressure and to do that batsmen have to score runs off bad deliveries. The Sri Lankan batsmen let them go. The unbelievable averages that some of the batsmen boast seems totally out of kilter with their ability to play the game outside of their own backyard. While some players are more equipped to handle fast bowling than others, every single player has a responsibility to have the courage to fight to the bitter end for his team and country. The lower order in this team certainly don’t know what "gutsing it out" is about. Someone like Murali would expect his top order to put their bodies on the line to take a catch off his bowling yet he displays a clear lack of commitment to their department.As far as the bowling goes, how can someone bowl 17 no-balls in a vital Test if he has done his personal preparation well and has left nothing to chance? The team needed him; he was the main striker who was expected to be the man to fight fire with fire-and he buckled. Poor Vaas. He has toiled year in and year out. What he lacks in pace, he makes up with swing and heart and will run in regardless. He is expected to lead the aggression and then catch it from all and sundry when he bats.Surely the running on the pitch by Pereira is not an overnight problem. How can this all of a sudden just happen? No, someone wasn’t watching him properly and it has crept up on them and has bitten them where it hurts most. With two of the front-line bowlers not sleeping well over their problems, the team will start to look around and play for themselves.The Test series will have an impact on the one-day matches, whether they like it or not. Confidence in your ability to do the job is not like a light switch that can be turned on at will. The captain will feel he has failed again in South Africa if he doesn’t get a big one soon. It has a knock-on effect. Sangakkarra and Attapattu look like the only men who will not be affected by the loss. Tillekaratne is never going to win a game for the Sri Lankans by playing the way he does. He can only delay the inevitable.Should the next Test go the same way, the Sri Lankans will be scarred going into the ODI’s and all the preparation that has gone before will be at stake.World cricket needs a competitive Sri Lankan team outside their own backyard. The challenge that awaits them at Supersport Park in the second Test should not be under-estimated.

Derbyshire, buoyed by Nathan Astle’s signature, have today received further confirmation of the spirit within the Club, with Graeme Welch and Andrew Gait signing extensions to existing contracts.All rounder Welch, 30, has signed a 2 year extension – keeping him at the County Ground until at least the end of season 2005.Batsman Gait, 24, has signed a 1 year extension – ensuring his future until at least the end of season 2004."Hopefully we can continue to secure this Club’s major assets on the playing field – the future continues to look brighter by the day," Chief Executive, John Smedley.

Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist spinner, has been chosen in Australia’s third Test team for Thursday’s final match of the series against West Indies in Barbados. Stuart MacGill’s retirement in Antigua opened a spot for Casson while Brad Haddin will play despite carrying a broken ring finger on his right hand.”Beau’s been named in the eleven … it’s exciting for him,” Ricky Ponting told AAP. “He’s fitted in extremely well … he’s worked hard and now he’s got an opportunity to play in a Test, which is great.”Casson had a strong end to the Pura Cup season to prove to the selectors he was Australia’s best option behind MacGill, but he was not expected to play on the tour. He will be the country’s 401st Test representative and will be able to operate safe in the knowledge the team, which leads the series 1-0, has already recaptured the Frank Worrell Trophy.Ponting believes Casson has already benefited from his time with the squad. “He has come along in leaps and bounds as a person,” Ponting told . “He has been a little bit more outspoken than at the start of the tour. It has helped his bowling a lot, and if you talk to him, he feels he has become a more consistent bowler now than when he arrived, and this is a good sign for him.”I have had a pretty close look at him throughout this tour, and I have had a few good chats with him about his bowling. He is pretty eager to learn, but he’s well sorted to tell the truth. He knows his stuff pretty well, and it’s obvious he’s had a fair bit of help along the way.”Luke Ronchi was called into the squad as a shadow player for Haddin, who hurt his hand in the opening Test. However, Haddin refused to succumb to the injury and will battle through the pain in Barbados.Australia 1 Phil Jaques, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Beau Casson, 11 Stuart Clark.

Scorecard
In the end, it was a comfortable victory for Nottinghamshire, beating Durham at home by 23 runs. Following a dashing fifty from Samit Patel, Durham were still in the match until their middle-order collapsed during a crucial spell of spin bowling from Robert Ferley.Nottinghamshire batted on winning the toss and immediately faced up to the bowling of Shaun Pollock. Pollock’s first ball was uncharacteristically down the leg side, and gave away four leg-byes. His opening spell was not successful but he returned, rather surprisingly, not long afterwards and quickly took the wicket of Will Jefferson, whom he yorked for 24. He also dismissed Adam Voges for 2, finishing with 2 for 23 off his four overs – the best figures by any of Durham’s bowlers. Albie Morkel and Neil Killeen also took a brace each; Durham’s policy of frequent bowling changes had mixed results on this occasion.Patel was the standout batsman for Nottinghamshire, as he has often been this season. He made a dynamic start, pulling Matt Claydon for six over midwicket, and continued to pull, drive and scuttle up and down the pitch with great energy in scoring 56 off 45 balls. He found a good partner in Chris Cairns, another recycled former Test player in this match, who hit two sixes in an over from Liam Plunkett to take him to 16 off seven balls. When he holed out at long-on for 37, he had faced just 22 balls with a four and three sixes.Mark Ealham had an interesting innings, a six off his first ball and bowled by his second. Nottinghamshire eventually totalled 166 for 6, which all in all probably made them slight favourites.When they took the field, they struck a major blow when Andre Adams had Michael Di Venuto caught behind off his first ball. They might have paid for two dropped catches offered by Phil Mustard – one, remarkably, by the normally infallible Chris Read – but the opener failed to take advantage, being bowled slogging across the line for 18.The only time Durham threatened the home side’s total was when Dale Benkenstein (34) and Will Smith (41) were together and attacking the bowling with vigour and skill. They added 49 for the fourth wicket before Benkenstein was caught in the deep – and that was where it all began to fall apart for Durham.The required run rate rose steadily, the strokes became more frenetic and the wickets began to fall. Durham did have a possible trump card in Morkel, but the South African, a renowned big hitter, never got going: he managed just five runs off 12 balls as Nottinghamshire never lost their grip.Their unexpected secret weapon was Ferley, the left-arm spinner who is not a team regular and was in fact playing his first match for a month. With simple accurate bowling he took what turned out to be the three most crucial wickets – those of Benkenstein, Smith and Morkel – in four overs for just 17 runs. His spell was the turning point of the match, and it is time he received due recognition for his greatly underestimated contribution.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details