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Young NSW batsman Michael Clarke will be aiming to score a century and lead his team to first innings points after a counter-punching partnership with Brad Haddin revived his team’s fortunes against South Australia today.The Blues finished day two of the Pura Cup cricket match at Adelaide Oval on 6-275, needing another 85 runs to take first innings points, with former Australian under-19 captain Clarke unbeaten on 94 and Don Nash on six.”Anyone who gets into the 90s wants to make 100 but that’s the least of my worries, we’re just looking to pass SA’s score,” Clarke said at the close of play today.In reply to SA’s 9(dec)-359, Clarke and Haddin came together with the score at 5-151 and NSW still in some danger of failing to reach the 210 needed to avoidthe follow-on.But an aggressive Haddin scored 55 in 61 balls, in an innings that included six boundaries and a six, before being caught at deep cover attempting to loft another boundary from leg-spinner Peter McIntyre.Clarke and Haddin shared a hard-hitting sixth-wicket stand of 110 in 89 minutes to take NSW to 6-261.Clarke’s 217-minute innings included 15 boundaries and he said the partnership with Haddin was enjoyable.”Brad was hitting the ball very well, I’ve opened with him in some of the one-day matches and he communicates well, he’s good to bat with,” Clarke said.He said a declaration some time tomorrow morning was likely if the Blues could overtake SA’s total.Opener Brett van Deinsen was also aggressive in his innings earlier in the day, hitting 11 boundaries and a six in his innings of 60.But Michael Slater, demoted to No.3 in the batting order, continued his shocking run of form, managing just 10 runs in an unusually subdued 46-minute inningsbefore being trapped lbw attempting to pull Paul Rofe.McIntyre and Rofe each finished the day with two wickets.Earlier, SA all-rounder Bradley Young scored his highest first-class score of 122 before SA declared its first innings, with NSW left arm paceman Nathan Bracken taking four wickets.

Ian Harvey – Hustled Leics to defeat Photo © AllSport

Gloucestershire, holders of the NatWest Trophy, showed the quality of realchampions as they beat Leicestershire by 10 runs at Grace Road – coming the day after they had beaten Worcestershire in their replayed match from the preceding round. In a dramatic turn-about they took their host’s last five wickets for just nine runs in three overs to grasp victory from apparent defeat.Leicestershire seemed to be sailing to victory with just 20 runs needed from the last five overs with five wickets in hand. Ian Harvey (4-40) had other ideas and wrecked their prospects by taking three of the last five wickets.In the morning Gloucestershire rode their luck with Kim Barnett (86)surviving two dropped catches before he had reached ten. Yet he and Chris Taylor (41) took the visitors to a healthy 210-8 and justified their decision to bat. The position looked even more healthy when Leicestershire lost two batsmen early on.Darren Stevens (55) and Darren Maddy (72 from 83 balls with five fours andtwo sixes) recovered the position, and powered Leicestershire to the brink ofvictory. Barnett’s catch to dismiss the latter off Harvey triggered the collapse. Nobody could stay around long enough to stop the rot and Leicestershire tumbled out for 200 runs in 48.1 overs.

Paddy Kenny has given his reaction to some news that he has now heard from Mehrdad Ghodoussi at Newcastle United.

The Lowdown: Staying at SJP

In an interview with The Athletic last week, Magpies co-owner Ghodoussi revealed the North East club will be staying at St James’ Park, instead of building a new stadium.

They will also be looking to expand the ground beyond its current capacity, as they continue to build for the long-term project.

The Latest: Kenny reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League goalkeeper Kenny has now given his reaction to the news, and the 43-year-old was nothing short of delighted:

“It’s a brilliant move, there is so much tradition there.

“Newcastle fans are really passionate fans, they sell out every week. I’ve played there before it’s amazing.

“The place has been electric since the takeover and you can only think that will continue.

“Expanding is a good idea. It’s almost the next stage of their development as a club.

“It’s always full so I’m sure Newcastle would have no problem filling an 80,000 seater.

“It’s a great stadium to go to now so imagine the noise if there are 80,000 in there, that will be special.“

The Verdict: Another step

The expansion of the stadium is another step towards fulfilling the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium’s ambitions of becoming a real powerhouse in English football, and then eventually on the world stage.

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It is a great gesture as well to stay at St. James’ Park, a ground that the Toon Army have become attached to as their home, which they will now hope can become a fortress over the next few years.

Nonetheless, increasing the capacity will also attract more fans to the games, not just locally, but from around the world as well if they are successful, which will only help the Tyneside outfit build further.

In other news, find out what big transfer update has now emerged from NUFC here!

A maiden double-century capped a remarkable year for Sourav Ganguly © AFP

The third day’s play of the final Test between India and Pakistan was bland comparedto the excitement on the first two. Therefore, when Sourav Ganguly addressed the media afterPakistan had moved to within 58 runs of avoiding the follow-on, most of thequestions centered around his maiden double-century a day earlier that had enabled him to better his Test-best after a gap of ten years.”I have been trying to get a double hundred,” Ganguly said. “I have been close a fewtimes in the past, but didn’t get it. It is good that I managed to do it in animportant game.”Ganguly began his innings with India in a state of bother at 44 for 2, a situation that quickly worsened to 61for 4. He then provided the steady hand during an overwhelming 300-run stand with Yuvraj Singh and ensured that India drove home the advantage by piling up 626. It was an invaluable contribution considering that India, leading 1-0 inthe series, were in trouble in the first session. Ganguly echoed that view by labelling it one of his more “important innings”.”We were 61 for 4 at one stage and from there we got to 600. So I think from thatpoint of view and in the final Test of the series it was an important innings.”Pakistan batted solidly on the third day, scoring 283 runs for the loss of only fourwickets but Ganguly felt that the morning session on the fourth day could determinewhether or not the Test has a result.”It [the pitch] does a bit early morning and this is the last batting pair. Soif we can get an early breakthrough tomorrow and the way this wicket is behaving, it willnot be easy for the lower-order batsmen. That is why the morning session will becrucial.”The double-century came during the last month of what has been a remarkable year forGanguly. He has scored 932 runs in 16 innings so far in 2007, making it his mostprolific year in Test cricket but he played down claims of it being the “best yearof his career.””I think in the year 2000 I got seven one-day hundreds, so that wasa good year too. My first year in international cricket was asuccessful one. This has been a good year and I hope I can have some more good timein the middle.”Ganguly’s life in the middle has been a fairytale since his comeback against South Africa last year and refused to get drawn into speaking about his forced exile during Greg Chappell’s tenure as India’s coach. According to Ganguly, his return to the team as a player, and not captain, had nothing to dowith his improved form with the bat termed this fairytale a phase he would like to continue for a while.”I don’t think it was a good time, those eight months [out of the team]. It is justthat I have played well [now] and it has kept on getting better. Even when I not wasgetting runs, the efforts have been the same. It is just that I am a bit moresuccessful now.”

Scorecard

Kate Blackwell top-scored in the Breakers’ win © Getty Images

New South Wales Breakers survived a late collapse to stumble across the line by one wicket in a thrilling first final at Melbourne’s Central Reserve. The Breakers looked set to overhaul Victoria Spirit’s 136 and needed only two runs with three wickets in hand.But the loss of 2 for 0 within nine balls put the game back up for grabs until a wide and a single nudged New South Wales home. The Breakers, last year’s champions, were well led in their chase by Kate Blackwell (41) but Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s 4 for 29 from ten overs ensured a tight finish.Fitzpatrick began well, taking two wickets as New South Wales stumbled to 2 for 16. But Blackwell steadied and pushed her side close enough to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three finals series.Victoria’s batsmen struggled to convert starts and were bowled out in the 47th over. Charlotte Anneveld and Rene Farrell claimed three each as the home side failed to build a threatening partnership. Jessica Cameron, 17, top-scored with 28 but she was one of five in the innings to reach double-figures and fall short of a big score.

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

Sanath Jayasuriya blitzed 114 from 96 balls to power Sri Lanka to 309 © Getty Images

Australia suffocated under a massive total set up by Sanath Jayasuriya’s century-making return from a shoulder injury as Sri Lanka sealed their second win of the VB Series. Jayasuriya’s brilliant 114 from 96 balls bounced the tourists to a massive 7 for 309 and while Australia felt in touch on a couple of occasions they were unable to conquer the unusual situation and lost by 51 runs.Trying a strange line-up that omitted the in-form Phil Jaques and Glenn McGrath, Australia were punished for their experiments as their back-up seamers were thrashed and the opening batsmen missed their chances to push for longer stints in the current roles. Sri Lanka carried the vibe of their wonderful batting performance into the field and Australia suffered a poor start – the required run-rate was already above seven at 3 for 41 in the 13th over – to place too much pressure on the rest of the order.Michael Clarke spent ten balls on zero before making a useful 67 and when he was partnered by Andrew Symonds, who crashed 31 in 32 balls, Australia were hopeful, but as Symonds departed to a horrible mix-up at 6 for 184 the cause was downgraded to hopeless. Sri Lanka, the world’s No. 7 team after a poor run in New Zealand and India, have beaten both of their top-two rivals in the past week and this success was due to the clever changes of pace from their seamers, the spinning problems created by Malinga Bandara, who captured 4 for 58, and Jayasuriya’s inimitable strokeplay.”Everything is falling in place and everyone wants to keep going the way they are going,” Marvan Atapattu said. “It’s all about winning habits. There was a time when we couldn’t chase 225, but everything falls into place when you’re winning.”Jayasuriya left the one-day tour of New Zealand earlier this month after falling in the shower and hurting his shoulder, but he showed no signs of discomfort – or slipping – as he flayed his third century at the SCG. Arriving in Sydney on Friday, Jayasuriya shook off the jetlag with a 39-ball fifty and his hundred arrived 46 deliveries later to give his side a stunning start against the world champions.In a 163-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara, whose sweet 78 from 95 was delicious support, Jayasuriya lifted a sleepy start with a burst of fierce boundaries once Nathan Bracken and Brett Lee finished their opening spells. Brett Dorey was thrashed for 34 off four overs and quickly Supersubbed while James Hopes went for 36 from three, including 19 from his first, as Sri Lanka reached 100 in the 16th over.The onslaught forced Ricky Ponting, who refused to delay the Powerplays, to bring back both Lee and Bracken, who collected 2 for 40 from nine, to stop the demolition and he spent the remainder of the innings constantly reshuffling. The changes didn’t worry Jayasuriya and he continued to trouble Australia until he started to cramp.Jayasuriya’s boundary blasting – he hit ten fours and four sixes – ended when he played a weary shot and was stumped off Brad Hogg at 2 for 187. Sri Lanka used the platform extremely well and careered past the 300-mark thanks to Mahela Jayawardene’s 56 off 48 balls and a late 31 from Marvan Atapattu.Ponting also adjusted his batting line-up after the early problems and Brad Haddin was employed at No. 5, pushing Symonds and Michael Hussey back to seven and eight. Haddin was the most comfortable of Australia’s batsmen until he was bowled between his legs by Muralitharan’s doosra for 41, but the gamble stole time from his senior and regular team-mates.Haddin makes way for Adam Gilchrist this week after a two-game stint and there will be further questions over the make-up of the opening pair following Jaques’s 94 in Melbourne on Friday and the failures of Damien Martyn and Simon Katich. Ponting worried about his batting order after the previous match and his concerns remained tonight.Under severe run-making pressure, Australia could not find regular fluency and needed James Hopes (43) and Brad Hogg (22 not out) to prevent a Sri Lankan bonus point. What they really wanted for such a big chase was an in-form Jayasuriya.

Australia
Damien Martyn c Kulasekara b Vaas 8 (1 for 16)
Ricky Ponting c Muralitharan b Perera 13 (2 for 26)
Simon Katich c Mubarak b Perera 13 (3 for 41)
Brad Haddin b Muralitharan 41 (4 for 110)
Michael Hussey run out 0 (5 for 111)
Andrew Symonds run out 31 (6 for 184)
Michael Clarke c Muralitharan b Bandara 67 (7 for 188)
Brett Lee c Dilshan b Bandara 3 (8 for 197)
James Hopes c Vaas b Bandara 43 (9 for 257)
Nathan Bracken c Atapattu b Bandara 0 (258)
Sri LankaJehan Mubarak c Haddin b Lee 2 (1 for 24)
Sanath Jayarsuriya st Haddin b Hogg 114 (2 for 187)
Kumar Sangakkara c&b Symonds 78 (3 for 227)
Leading edge trying to play to legMahela Jayawardene b Bracken 56 (4 for 280)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c&b Clarke 6 (5 for 289)
Russel Arnold run out 6 (6 for 297)
Chaminda Vaas c Hussey b Bracken 2 (7 for 309)

Stewards tackle a streaker during the match at Wellington© Getty Images

Ricky Ponting, Australia’s captain, has called for an urgent review of security measures at grounds in New Zealand after some of his players were hit by missiles thrown from the crowd during the first one-day international of the current series at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium, which Australia won by 10 runs.Play was held up a number of times after some of the Australian fielders – among them Glenn McGrath and Simon Katich – told the umpires they had been hit by plastic bottles.”Someone’s going to get hurt,” said Ponting at the after-match press conference. “A full plastic bottle hitting someone in the eye or the back of the head – we don’t want that. You have to have more security guys around the players on the boundary. They’ve got to have some sort of power – get the police involved, whatever.”Katich got into a tense exchange with a section of the crowd at the Westpac Stadium after catching Brendon McCullum on the boundary. Holding the ball aloft in the direction of the crowd, Katich let out some verbals at those who had thrown full plastic beer bottles in his direction. That incident followed a verbal altercation between McGrath and a security guard after McGrath misjudged a catch on the third-man fence. That eventually led the guard being removed.McGrath, who was named the Man of the Match for his fine spell, admitted that he had over-reacted. “I had, an altercation might be the right word, with a security guard on the fence,” McGrath said. “But I was a bit fired up at the time, so I probably should accept 50% of what happened there myself.”Five years ago Steve Waugh, when he was Australia’s captain, threatened to take his players off the field after similar crowd disturbances in New Zealand.

Grant Flower’s return has strengthened Zimbabwe’s squad, who return to Australia, to take part in the VB Series against Australia and India, starting next month. Flower missed the earlier Test tour due to a broken finger.Also returning is Douglas Hondo, who damaged a thigh muscle before the Test series against Australia started, and wasn’t able to play. Heath Streak will captain the side with Tatenda Taibu as his vice-captain.Streak said the one-day series was another opportunity for the talented young players in the Zimbabwe squad to develop their skills. He said, “we know that this tournament will be another step up in terms of intensity against the teams that met in the final of the World Cup in March.”Geoff Marsh, the Zimbabwe coach, welcomed Flower back to the side. “He and players like Heath Streak, Stuart Carlisle and Craig Wishart form a group with more than 500 one-day international caps between them. Add the talent of younger players like Taibu, Andy Blignaut, Raymond Price, Mark Vermeulen, Sean Ervine, Travis Friend and Douglas Hondo and we have a squad that is capable of doing well against two of the best one-days teams in the world.Zimbabwe open their tour with a match at Perth against Australia A on New Year’s Day with another match against Australia A in Adelaide on January 7, following a January 4 match against Western Australia. Their first VB Series game is a day-night match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 11.Squad 1 Heath Streak (capt), 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 5 Craig Wishart, 6 Stuart Carlisle, 7 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 8 Andy Blignaut, 9 Sean Ervine, 10 Grant Flower, 11 Travis Friend, 12 Douglas Hondo, 13 Blessing Mahwire, 14 Ray Price.

Close to 362 days will pass before the matter formally requires resolution. But, after hitting a second successive century to guide Australia into a commanding position on the third day of the Second Test in Melbourne today, it’s safe to assume that Matthew Hayden has already been excised from South African cricket’s Christmas card list.Hayden (138) batted with the authority of a headmaster today, devastating the tourists’ attack with an innings that helped him create a new statistical feat alongside Justin Langer (85) at the top of the order and to shatter even more records upon his opening partner’s departure.By stumps, the strongly-built Queenslander’s assault had not only yielded for him the greatest number of Test runs scored by an Australian in thecourse of a calendar year. Nor simply permitted him, in concert with Langer, the chance to own the three highest opening partnerships in Testhistory by a pair of left handers. Not merely granted him 1000 first-class runs for the Australian domestic season either.Instead, it had also laid the foundation for yet more Australian domination, leading the home team’s ascent to a total of 9/487 – and a lead of 210runs – by the end of another extended day.Not even Melbourne’s previously-sullen skyline remained in sympathy with the South Africans’ position as a 202-run opening blitz was followedby substantial innings from Steve Waugh (90) and Damien Martyn (52) besides. That Waugh was dropped twice – at 24 and 39 – by short legfieldsman Boeta Dippenaar only compounded the sense of frustration.It was as well for the Proteas that Waugh was eventually run out for 90 – a world-record tenth experience of finishing a Test innings within 10 runsof a century. And that they claimed a number of wickets in bursts, foremost among them those of Ricky Ponting (22) and Hayden in the space offive deliveries on either side of lunch.To their undying credit, the tourists showed great heart through the two closing sessions as their best two bowlers, Allan Donald (3/103) andNantie Hayward (2/109), blunted Australia’s charge. Hayward was especially impressive, vengefully unsettling several members of the Australianmiddle order with the sort of short-pitched bowling to which he has already been subjected himself in this series. Donald, the unlucky man bothtimes as Dippenaar’s attempts at diving catches were grassed, also performed stoutly in the face of adversity.Like Langer, who perished to a mistimed hook at Donald only 15 runs short of another century of his own, Hayden ultimately became the victim ofaggression as he launched a delivery from spinner Claude Henderson (1/108) to deep mid on.Yet his progression to a total of 1388 runs for the calendar year (equal third-most by any Test player in history and seven more than the tally thathad made Bob Simpson’s haul in 1964 the previous best by an Australian) had already set the tone for the day by then.And, from a team that generally embodies all the qualities of Ebernezer Scrooge once it establishes command, there were to be few concessionsthereafter.Not even umpire Darrell Hair’s controversial decision to send Waugh reluctantly on his way – after wicketkeeper Mark Boucher had appeared todisturb the stumps before a ball thrown in superbly by Herschelle Gibbs at cover point did the same – could really alter the balance.More than a double century of runs behind already, and again about to be confronted with the task of defying a rested Australian attack for aconsiderable period, South Africa’s fate is unenviable.

Australia captain Steven Smith will stay at No. 3 in the batting order in the absence of the injured Usman Khawaja, opening up a spot in the middle order for the day-night match in Adelaide.The squad for Adelaide will be named on Wednesday, and Smith’s pronouncement makes it likely that the selectors will opt for a middle-order option. While Shaun Marsh is favourite for the role, George Bailey is among the leading run-makers in the Sheffield Shield this summer and would add useful knowhow to a young team, while Glenn Maxwell is highly regarded if enigmatic, and made 98 and 38 in the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia at the MCG.”It depends who comes in but I think I’ll probably bump myself up to No. 3 with Usman being out,” Smith said. “I’ll keep that spot warm for him until he comes back.”Australia have other selection queries following the retirement of Mitchell Johnson, the indifferent form of Mitchell Marsh, and the heavy workloads endured by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in Perth. James Pattinson, James Faulkner and Moises Henriques have all been mentioned as possible inclusions.Smith stated his dissatisfaction with the Kookaburra balls used in this match, with an extraordinary 11 replacement balls required across the Test outside the usual allocation. However he expressed optimism that the pink ball would hold up well in Adelaide under conditions carefully concocted to support it.”It’s just up to the powers above me to sort that out with Kookaburra,” Smith said of the red ball. “It was a little bit disappointing the way we had to change so many balls throughout this Test match. I think it wastes a lot of time and it’s always different as a batter or a bowler to change the ball continually, to get in a rhythm. So hopefully they can resolve those issues.”We played the Shield game with the pink ball in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago and the ball stayed together pretty well. I think there was eight millimetres of grass on that wicket and it’s likely to be a pretty similar wicket for the Test match next week. Hopefully saying that the ball stays in shape the same way it did a couple of weeks ago.”As for the WACA pitch, which hosted the fourth highest scoring Test ever played in Australia, Smith said he was disappointed by its lack of life, but equally had no intention of handing too straightforward a chase to New Zealand on the final afternoon. The final target of 321 in 48 overs was never realistic, even before rain arrived.”It would have been nice to get about 360 off about 65-70 overs,” he said. “It was obviously pretty hard, I thought they bowled really well. As we saw there at the back end, the wicket was still extremely good so I didn’t want to give them much of a sniff. The two guys out there at the end, we’ve struggled to get them out this Test match. Well, Kane in both Test matches.”Traditionally the wicket out here has had a lot more pace and bounce. Going into the game that’s what the groundsman indicated it was likely to be like. It didn’t turn out that way unfortunately. I was a bit disappointed with the way the wicket played. It was really tough to take wickets. So I don’t think there was much more we could do.”