Pink ball, white clothing

The three fixtures of the just completed penultimate round of Sheffield Shield matches were each played as day-night matches, using a pink ball though not coloured clothing.

This was not the first time such an experiment has been tried here. A decade or so ago I recall watching South Australia play Western Australia, though I believe they used a red ball. 

That experiment hasn't been repeated until now, when declining interest in and minute attendances at Sheffield Shield matches here and Tests elsewhere have encouraged another go. This time with a pink ball.

If all goes well (and it's not clear what the assessment criteria are) we may even see day-night Tests at some time in the future. 

Last night I went to the (almost complete, we're told) Adelaide Oval to watch the last session of the 

SA v NSW match. Unlike Australia at Cape Town overnight the Redbacks weren't able to take the final wicket which a would have given them an outright win and much needed points in their quest for a Shield final berth. After the Blues led by 4 on the first innings, they were unable to convert a second innings revival into victory.

This situation has echoes of last season, where a good Redbacks start was frittered away in the last couple of matches and the team, admittedly in a very tight competition slipped from Top of the table to last.

One more round remains, with an away match (not day-night) in Hobart. This year a Ricky Ponting-less Tasmania are not playing well, so an outright win is not impossible, but without Johan Botha - the best Redback bowler yesterday - suspended for a match (apparently subject to appeal/reviewe) it may be improbable.

South Australia 288 (Ferguson 97, Zampa 48, O'Keefe 5/89) & 280 (Cooper 89, Ferguson 59, Raphael 53, O'Keefe 6/70) drew with New South Wales 292 (Patterson 81, Nevill 71, Carters 65, Botha 4/70) & 9/207 (Carters 84, Botha 4/51): Sheffield Shield at Adelaide Oval. NSW 2 pts, SA 0.

<a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-domestic-2013-14/engine/match/669219.html">Scorecard </a>

Update(s)

Yesterday was fine and not too hot so I got off the couch, gave the cricket on TV a miss and went walking.

After D3 of the matches in these parts Ian Bell's 192/275b (1x6, 22x4) and Paul Collingwood's 89/117b (1x6, 10x4) have ensured that Australia A 230 & 3/128 are struggling against the England XI 523 .

In the Sheffield Shield Tasmania scraped home by 1wicket against NSW , Mike Hussey's second innings 118 muted the sceptics' voices and helped Western Australia to a strong position against Victoria , while South Australia lost 5/19 in yet another collapse , which allowed Queensland to win by 5 wickets .

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Another good day for England, and bad ones for key Australians

England 5/335 (89 ov, I Bell 121*, P Collingwood 74*, A Cook 60) lead Australia A 230 by 105 runs with 5 1st inns wkts in hand: tour match D2/4 at Hobart.

By reducing England to 5/137 Australia A secured the initiative but then surrendered it as Ian Bell 121*/158b (1x6, 15x4) and Paul Collingwood 74/128b (1x6, 9x4) regrouped against some inceasingly toothless bowling.

There are still two days to go, so a result (aka England victory), despite Bellerive's reputation (which Bell and Collingwood are in the process of confirming) as a good batting track, seems likely.

A highlight of the Channel 9 telecast (which was truncated for the second day running) was the incisive analysis of Richie Benaud, who is still as sharp as the proverbial tack. Worth tuning in just for this.

In the Sheffield Shield matches Tasmania need 90 more runs with 7 wickets in hand to beat NSW at the SCG, at the MCG Victoria 3/77 are making heavy weather of chasing WA's 368 (Mitchell Johnson 121*) while at the Gabba SA are squandering their narrow first innings lead over Queensland : 223 & 4/32 plays 196.

First day of Australia A & Sheffield Shield matches provide few grounds for local optimism

It can't be often that four first class matches are played at the same time in Australia. Even though almost every notable Australian player is appearing either for their state or for the A team, the first day's play in each game produced few positives for supporters of the national team (not to mention the selectors) with the First Test a week away..

England XI 1/22 trail Australia A 230 (S O'Keefe 66, S Smith 59, C Tremlett 4/59 by 208 runs:
Tour match D1/4 at Bellerive Oval Hobart).

Channel 9 are televising the most important match, which it incorrectly billed as a "Test". In a chilly Hobart Australia A struggled against the England second string bowling attack in conditions which were initially favourable to bowlers.

5/66, with 31 of those contributed by late replacement Ed Cowan, suggested that Australia's batting depth is much less than many people think. Only Steven Smith and Steve O'Keefe enhanced their reputations. Smith's 59/121b (1x6, 5x4) reinforced the view of those who, like me, think he is essentially a batting allrounder, while O'Keefe's 66/116b (2x6, 6x4) helped restore the home team's fortunes to a moderately respectable 230. At stumps England, who are fielding the same batting lineup for the third game on the trot (doesn't Eoin Morgan deserve a run?), are 1/22.

Sheffield Shield

In Sydney day 1 of a low scoring match saw New South Wales 97 & 0/18 trailing Tasmania 125 by 10 runs with 10 2nd inns wkts in hand . For NSW Simon Katich made 1, Shane Watson 6 (he's 13* in the second innings) and Brad Haddin 10, while for Tasmania Ricky Ponting made 7. The quick bowlers turned in good figures: Doug Bollinger's 3/25 provided some good news (though neither Nathan Hauritz nor Xavier Doherty -the two supposed contenders for the Test spinner's role - have had a real opportunity to show what they can do).

In Perth Western Australia, with 6/319, are comfortably placed against Victoria thanks to Wes Robinson 78, Adam Voges 91*and, most welcome, Mitchell Johnson 82*. Alas, both Mike Hussey (0) and Marcus North (17) failed, which will probably give them both a sleepless night or two and encourage the national selectors to keep thinking hard about the composition of the Test XI.

In Brisbane, where fewer big names are playing, Queensland are 2/27 in reply to South Australia's modest first innings of 227 .

Testfest: India win, Australia gain upper hand, Pakistan regroup

At Kanpur India completed an emphatic victory over Sri Lanka

At the Gabba on D2 the natural order of 2000s Test cricket things was restored as Australia pulled ahead by batting on to 8/480 dec and then taking five West Indies wickets for only 134.

At Dunedin on D4 Pakistan fought back against NZ with the ball to leave the match tantalisingly poised.

PS In Hobart the Tasmania v South Australia Sheffield Shield match was drawn after rain intervened.

Cricket catchup

Have returned home after a few weeks away visiting family. Didn't get to see much cricket except for a snippet or two of highlights on TV, so have been catching up since my return.

Jet lag recovery enabled me to watch some India - Aust ODIs in real time, including nos 5 ( masterly Tedulkar innings not enough- just - to deny Aust) and 6 (Aust demolishing Indian top order early).

For details of the 7 match series (which a progressively injury riddled Aust won 4-2) see here .

Since I returned it's been hot - correction very hot - so didn't get to see as much of the SA - Qld Sheffield Shield match as I'd have tried to do in more moderate conditions.

I did spend, with a handful of other spectators, a little time at the Oval on the last day when SA wasn't able to convert its comfortable first innings lead to an outright victory. There didn't seem to be a lot of energy in either side's play. This was understandable to some extent after four high 30degC days, yet disappointing that the Redbacks didn't attack more, especially when it was clear early on that the Bulls weren't going to go hard for victory.

Scorecard .

Both sides are going to play a 50 overs game at Alice Springs on Saturday: no respite from the heat there!.

Sheffield Shield final winds up domestic season

I've been watching the final of the Sheffield Shield. Victoria dominated throughout, secured a reasonable first innings total (510 is barely par for these 5 day attritional contests) then bowled Queensland out for 200. Disappointed as the Bulls would have been this was at least an improvement on their 506 run first innings deficit against Victoria a week before.

Both sides went through the motions of a second innings but the game, which the Bulls needed to win to knock the Bushrangers off their unbeaten perch, fizzled out. Perhaps Martin Love , the last man standing of the side which first won the shield for Queensland , thought otherwise, though his apparel (inc at least two shirts, sunhat and cap, as the photo above shows) gave the Fox Sports commentators something to talk about in the slow passages.

Victoria deserved to win, even though the Bulls had three key players (Ashley Noffke, Ryan Harris and Chris Swan) unavailable because of injury. The Bushrangers' talent pool was deep enough to cover international call ups to Andrew McDonald and Bryce McGain: they were able to omit a recent England Test player .

Scorecard

During the telecast Fox Sports interleafed some archival footage, including some of the last time South Australia won the Shield by hanging on for a draw against Western Australia, who were on top throughout. I was there and remember the tension building as the last few South Australians hung on grimly as the April light faded. (Interesting to note that only Mike Hussey of the 22 players in that match is still playing).