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149* v Pakistan, Hobart, 1999-2000
It was one of the great comebacks after Australia fell to 5 for 126. They were chasing 369 for victory and the top order, boasting plenty of experience with the Waugh brothers, Michael Slater and Ricky Ponting, had failed. Gilchrist, on the other hand, was playing in only his second Test and he and Justin Langer combined for 238 in 59 overs to set up the win. His unbeaten 149 took just 163 deliveries, and featured 13 fours and a six. Steve Waugh later said he looked like he was playing in his own backyard. It was the first of many times that Gilchrist would turn a game on its head.204* v South Africa, Johannesburg, 2001-02
An emotional man, Gilchrist cried on reaching one of many milestones in the innings after being the victim of a vicious internet rumour. He was brutal throughout the performance which at the time was the fastest double-century in Test history, his 204 coming from 213 balls. Eight sixes were thrashed, most over midwicket, as he showed his amazing power in a performance that would remain his highest.122 v India, Mumbai, 2000-01
It was 99 for 5 when Gilchrist walked in. Only Matthew Hayden stood his ground in the hot cauldron as Harbhajan Singh ran amok. In a couple of hours he changed the face the game and the contest. Sweeping, cutting and lofting, he raced to an 84-ball century, the fastest by a visiting batsman on Indian soil. Even if he was playing his first Test in India, the foreign conditions didn’t matter. He took risks, survived clear chances and half chances, but never retreated.113 v Pakistan, Sydney, 2004-05
The scorecard shows Stuart MacGill as the Man of the Match and Ricky Ponting as the dominant batsman with 207, but it was Gilchrist’s 109-ball century that really wrested the match away from Pakistan. It was his 13th Test hundred – he passed Andy Flower’s record for a wicketkeeper-batsman – and featured scintillating striking towards the end. He brought up the milestone with a straight six off Shahid Afridi and had raced within reach thanks to consecutive sixes pulled off Mohammad Asif. For Yousuf Youhana and Shoaib Akhtar, who had also been part of the Pakistan team Gilchrist destroyed in Hobart five years earlier, there was a touch of déjà vu.102* v England, Perth, 2006-07
Only Viv Richards has reached a century faster than the 57 balls it took Gilchrist on his home ground in the 2006-07 Ashes. On a boiling Perth day he sizzled, taking to Monty Panesar (24 runs in an over that started with a dot) and Matthew Hoggard in a stunning burst, which included 12 fours and four sixes. Had he known about the record he could have broken it, but no message came from the dressing room, and he was glad he didn’t get there. “Viv deserves that mantle as the fastest hundred,” he said.149 v Sri Lanka, World Cup final, Bridgetown, 2006-07
It’s one thing to blast runs in any old ODI, but only the best of the best save their finest moments for the biggest stage. Gilchrist’s 149 in the World Cup final gave spectators reason to remember the match for pure cricketing brilliance, not its farcical finish in the dark. After morning drizzle made the fans nervously check their schedules for the reserve day, Gilchrist reminded them why they were there. He belted eight sixes in his 129-ball display, and for a while it seemed he could make 200 even in an innings reduced to 38 overs. He was so mesmerising that occasional boos came from the crowd when he gave the strike to Matthew Hayden. Squash ball or not, this was undoubtedly the pinnacle of a glittering ODI career.

Zimbabwe’s route back to Test cricket may not have been finalised just yet, but their coach Robin Brown feels the day his side play a Test match again may not be as far away as people imagine.Despite putting up some late resistance, Zimbabwe were ultimately beaten comfortably, by an innings, in a four-day match against the Patron’s XI in Karachi. However Brown, who took over from Kevin Curran as coach in September last year, believes there are enough positives to draw on not just from this match, but other results in recent months.”Obviously, we’re very disappointed at not scoring enough runs and the result,” he said after the match. “Every match is a learning curve for us and is an opportunity to learn about different situations and experiences in matches, how to handle them, how to adapt. I’m happy with the way the guys performed.”Zimbabwe voluntarily suspended themselves from Test cricket in 2006 following concerns that their side wasn’t competitive enough at the top level, but according to the Future Tours Programme (FTP) they are due to host India for two Tests and three ODIs in May. Though the ICC has to take a decision on their status before they can play Tests again, Brown felt progress had been made.”We’ve had some good results in South Africa before this and we take positives from here as well. Test cricket is much harder of course, but we are getting useful experience and I don’t think we are too far away from competing on the Test stage,” he said.Brown was also confident that once Zimbabwe become a Test nation again, there is enough talent domestically for them to once again become a competitive side. “There is the depth of talent there. Schools cricket is very strong, the academies are up again and the U-19 sides are doing well. Guys in the team today have progressed from U-19 cricket.”Now when guys in the team go back to play first-class cricket in Zimbabwe, standards will definitely improve. Cricket will not die in Zimbabwe but it will improve.”

Worcestershire have signed a deal which will allow county cricket to be transferred to Kidderminster Victoria CC at 48 hours notice in the event of a repeat of last summer’s floods at New Road.The county will invest a total of £50,000 into the Chester Road ground over a five-year period which will initially be invested in improving facilities for players and umpires.”Our relationship with Kidderminster goes back many years and last summer they really helped us out when we needed it most,” Mark Newton, Worcestershire’s CEO, explained. “By the end of the summer it became clear that we needed to develop a robust contingency plan to deal with any repeat in future years and a key part of this plan is to secure an alternative venue at short notice in an emergency.”This agreement is initially for five years and will mean we can transfer 1st XI cricket at 48 hours notice if necessary.”

The international flavour in Indian domestic cricket is getting stronger and stronger with Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali being the two latest imports. They will turn out for Rajasthan in the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy as well as in the domestic one-day competition.Solanki, who was born in Udaipur in Rajasthan, plays for Worcestershire in the County Championship, and has been spoken about as being a strong candidate to lead Rajasthan in this year’s competition. He arrived in India on Wednesday along with Kabir and was received at the airport by Murali Kartik, the Indian left-arm spinner, who is an old friend of Solanki’s.This follows the news that Sarfaraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, is scheduled to conduct a seven-day coaching stint with Delhi’s fast bowlers. However, neither are firsts. Maharashtra have employed Darren Holder, the Australian, as coach for some time now, and Punjab used the services of Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistani captain. Technically, neither Solanki nor Kabir will be the first foreign players to compete in Indian domestic cricket.Nayan Doshi, who, like his father Dilip, also bowls left-arm spin, has turned out for Saurashtra, the state his family originally hails from. Nayan, who lives in England now and turns out for Surrey, is a British passport holder, so he would technically qualify as a foreign player. Jermaine Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler, has been recently linked with Maharashtra.The rules allow each state team to field up to three “professionals” – players from outside the state in the XI. Cricketers moving from state to another have to obtain a no-objection certificate from their home states, but, of course, no such thing exists for cricketers who come from outside the country.

Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu said Lasith Malinga’s lack of penetration, and the bowlers’ failure to execute plans has paved their path to decline, though the plans themselves remain robust.Sri Lanka had run hot in the first six months of 2014, winning all of their limited-overs tournaments, including an Asia Cup, a World T20 and an ODI series in England. However, they have been much poorer since January this year, losing bilateral series against New Zealand and now Pakistan, in addition to losing a quarter-final at the World Cup.

‘Shehzad played exceptionally’ – Azhar

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali lauded the consistency of his batsmen, as they chased down 252 with ease, to win their first ODI series in Sri Lanka since 2006. Pakistan’s top order has made runs all through the series. On Wednesday, Ahmed Shehzad hit 95 and Mohammad Hafeez scored 70.
“Shehzad played exceptionally,” Azhar said. “He played very positively and put the bad balls away. When Hafeez came, he played a crucial knock as they were putting a lot of pressure on us. He played like a senior player would play. We had a 100-run stand between them.”
Pakistan’s batsmen have also scored quickly throughout the series, notching run rates higher than six in each of the last two innings. “Once you have confidence that all the batsmen are in good form, you suddenly have a leverage to play fluently and take a few risks as well.”
The victory had been set up by Pakistan’s bowling, which has consistently been menacing through the tour. “When we got wickets we knew they lack a little bit of experience after Mathews – they didn’t have a lot of in form batsmen,” Azhar said. “When the wickets did come we knew that we can keep them to about 250 or 260.”

The team’s strategy has been brought into question through their limited-overs forays in 2015, as they have persisted with a substantial number of allrounders instead of fielding specialist bowlers. In this series, Pakistan’s bowlers have claimed 33 wickets to the Sri Lanka attack’s 15. Malinga, meanwhile, averages 37.50 this year.”I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot of issues with our planning and what we want to do with the ball,” Atapattu said. “Executing under pressure is something that concerns us. Plus we have played on good wickets. We’ve played on really good tracks starting in January this year when we started playing New Zealand in New Zealand.”We got six wickets in Kandy, but we haven’t got the wickets quite regularly as you would expect from Lasith Malinga. That’s something that we have missed. That’s one of the reasons we’ve lost the series.”Sri Lanka hit 252 for 9 batting first in the fourth ODI, but the ease with which Pakistan chased this total down suggested the target was at least 20 runs light. Atapattu said the absence of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara had left a considerable void in the side, but urged the young batsmen to begin converting their chances.”A lot of the batsmen getting starts and not going on to get a big score on basically flat wickets is disappointing. Most of them got starts and we needed a big one off one of them to get a big score or chase a big score. We got one when Kusal Perera got a 50 off 17 balls in Kandy. We haven’t had that frequently, and that is something people have to be responsible at the top of the order.”The exit of the two senior players has not just impacted the team’s batting, Atapattu said. “Missing two knowledgeable experienced players like that is going to be a bit difficult at the start, but life goes on. The young players have to take responsibility. Their capabilities and their thinking only surfaces when players like Mahela and Sanga leave. It’s a learning curve in terms of tactics and so on, but they are the ones who have to take Sri Lankan cricket forward. “Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep bowled only 2.2 overs on Wednesday, before leaving the field with a hamstring complaint. He will be assessed before the team can decides on whether to draft another player into the squad, Atapattu said.

Plans have been submitted for a major refurbishment to the Walker Cricket Ground in Southgate, Middlesex’s second home in recent years. The main clubhouse and neighbouring squash courts would be demolished and replaced with a purpose-built two-storey facility.”The plans are all about trying to secure the future of the ground," Chris Sexton, the Walker Ground’s administration director, told the Barnet & Potters Bar Times. "It has been here for over 150 years and we want to see it carry on. "It’s very expensive to maintain the cricket ground, so if we don’t improve facilities we may not be able to make ends meet.”Middlesex have increasingly regarded Southgate as their second home, and with fewer matches staged at Lord’s in recent seasons they have increased the numbers of games held there. Sexton would like to host even more Middlesex games.”One of the problems we have here is that although Middlesex like coming here, and enjoy the excellent pitch, the players have to sit in a tent to watch the game as we have no viewing facilities,” Sexton explained. “We have to cordon off their changing rooms from the public as well, which is not ideal for county cricket. We want them to continue to play here and this development will certainly help in that respect.”

Chris Tremlett has said New Zealand should be prepared for a short-pitched attack during the first Test after England Lions gave the batting line-up a working over on the second day at The Rose Bowl. There was one major exception for New Zealand as Aaron Redmond compiled a career-best 139, but Tremlett wasn’t overly convinced.Redmond took a blow from Graham Onions and also a couple of bruising hits on the body from Tremlett. “At times it didn’t look as though he fancied it too much so we got stuck into him but he’s got the bulk of their runs and has played well at the end of the day,” Tremlett said.”On a couple of occasions, the way he reacted to it, he didn’t look too comfortable against the short ball and I think that’s quite obvious from our point of view so we tested him. I’m sure those messages will go across to the boys for the first Test.”During the series in New Zealand the short ball was a tactic England tried with mixed results. Stuart Broad used it well in Napier, but sometimes it was overdone to players like Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum who weren’t afraid to attack.Redmond, who is now in line for a Test debut at Lord’s, said the short stuff is nothing less than he expected. “It’s all part and parcel of being an opener. If I was a fast bowler I would run in and bowl short to any batsman, it’s just the way they are. It’s also good practice for the future games.”Tremlett has been accused of not always bending his back but he was the pick of the bowlers on the second day. Onions produced some nippy away swing, but it was the bounce from Tremlett that caught the attention, and not only of New Zealand’s batsmen. “I’m certainly happy with my first couple of spells from the Pavilion End, I lacked a bit of rhythm from the other end but it was generally a pretty good day,” he said. “It’s probably not the best I’ve bowled all season but it’s good to put my name in the hat.”He doesn’t believe, though, there is much of chance forcing his way into the Test line-up with James Anderson, Matthew Hoggard – who didn’t impress here despite three late wickets – and Andrew Flintoff vying for a place.”There’s lots of competition. Anderson got some wickets today so he’s obviously bowling well and in contention for the first Test. [Stuart] Broad and [Ryan] Sidebottom bowled well in New Zealand so their places probably aren’t up for grabs so it’s just about being consistent and knocking on the door. Realistically I probably don’t think I’ve got a chance of playing in the first Test and the other thing is that Freddie might be back as well.”However, last year a strong performance for the Lions against India earned him a call-up to the squad and he played all three Tests of that series, impressing at stages against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. A difficult winter followed where he wasn’t selected for the Sri Lanka tour and then got injured after being a late replacement for the Test party in New Zealand when places became available.”I’d only really been bowling in the nets and hadn’t a chance to play any games. Then unfortunately I got injured. It was disappointing that I had to go home, but if my body had held up there would been a good opportunity but hopefully I’ll get a game this summer.”Last year it [the Lions game] got me in the frame against India and then I got called up and played in the first Test. These matches are important and you try to do as well as you can. Hopefully it shows the selectors what you capable of and that you are on form.”

Sydney Grade Cricket’s 111th season commences this Saturday 27 September, with a round of one-day limited-overs matches commencing at 9.30am. They will feature a host of New South Wales and Australian stars.At Bankstown Oval, Bankstown’s NSW and Australian captain Steve Waugh will go head-to-head with Western Suburbs’ young heir-apparent, Michael Clarke. Mark Waugh will captain both Bankstown, and his older twin, for the first time.At Manly Oval, Michael Bevan will spearhead Manly’s batting against a powerful Randwick Petersham side. The visitors’ batting strength includes the Blues’ Pura Cup Player of the Year Simon Katich, and 2001/2002 Grade Player of the Year Richard Chee Quee. They will test the Seasiders’ formidable bowling attack that includes State bowlers Shawn Bradstreet, Mark Cameron and Jamie Heath.At Drummoyne Oval, Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill and Speedblitz Blues batsman Matthew Phelps will make their debut for defending premier Sydney University. They will encounter staunch opposition from UTS-Balmain’s World Cup squad member Nathan Bracken, Blues opening batsman Greg Mail, and former Australia A all-rounder and Fijian star Neil Maxwell. Unfortunately, Greg Matthews is recovering from a shoulder operation and will not partner MacGill in his club debut.Other matches- Penrith v Eastern Suburbs at Howell: Hawkesbury v North Sydney at Owen Earle; St George v Sutherland at Hurstville; Fairfield-Liverpool v Northern District at Rosedale; Campbelltown-Camden v Blacktown at Raby; Mosman v Gordon at Rawson; and University of NSW v Parramatta at Village Green.

Michael Vaughan – England captain
I said at the start of the tour that we expected to win, but you can’t win any game without putting in hard work and getting accustomed to the conditions. You have to give the opposition as much respect as you possibly can. The first two weeks before the first Test, we didn’t have too many nets or training facilities because of the bad weather. But I put the 2-0 victory down to all the hard work we did in that period.This pitch definitely suited our style of play. The wicket in Dhaka was a passive slow pitch, which suited the Bangladeshis better. There was a bit more bounce here and all our four seamers exploited the conditions superbly. There were a couple of injuries which created opportunities for Richard Johnson and Martin Saggers, and Johnson especially has given the selectors a real headache. As for Nasser [Hussain], he showed the kind of character he is. He got no runs in Dhaka and so he put in a lot of hard work between the Tests. He worked on a few technical things in the nets, and it didn’t surprise me at all when he bounced back.Of the ten Test matches we’ve played this year, we’ve won seven. So that’s a pretty good indication of where we’re going. The wins are just starting to come and we have a really tough series against Sri Lanka ahead of us, which will be the perfect test of how far we’ve progressed. We are coming together as a team and learning to play with each other, although with all the chopping and changing through injury, it has been very difficult to keep the performances up.Duncan Fletcher – England coach
I’d give this performance about seven-and-a-half out of ten. I just think that through certain periods we didn’t quite perform to our potential. In one or two sessions, if we’d really looked at it, we could have played better.Dav Whatmore – Bangladesh coach
It was certainly a more convincing win for England. They played exceptionally well, although we handed them the advantage a little bit. Obviously we would have preferred to make a bigger fight of it, but when you get a couple of run-outs like that, things get a bit difficult.It very much becomes a mental game when you are so far behind the opposition by day four. It takes a superhuman effort just to dig in, dig in and dig in. Things like that don’t happen very often. It’s a very disappointing match for us, but we need support. This is not the time when we need people to say you’re terrible. We played nine days of Test match cricket against England. Two of those seven days England dominated, but you couldn’t say they dominated on any of the other seven days. I’d rather look at the bigger picture, than take the negative approach.In my experience in sport, if you are looking to improve from a position of weakness, it is never, ever, going to be a straight line upwards. It is how the team handle this sort of situation in the future that will determine how they shape up. I don’t think we should jump to conclusions – I still think the team has done pretty well.The short-pitched bowling was a good test for our batsmen. I don’t think they would have encountered a barrage like this before, on a wicket with a bit of variable bounce. We did pretty well in Pakistan and Australia, and they have some pretty nasty bowlers. But I think it was the variable bounce that was the enemy of the batsmen, rather than the length of the bowling.Sri Lanka will certainly be a stiffer test for England. I’m sure one or two of their batsmen will be in better nick, but England will give them a good fight.Khaled Mahmud – Bangladesh captain
People are looking too much at the outcome, but we’re really not focusing on that right now. Yes, we lost 2-0 to England, but I think we learnt a lot from it and under the circumstances we didn’t do a particularly bad job, at least in the first Test. As for the captaincy, that is up to the selectors. But I would very much like to continue.

Cricket Australia is considering cancelling the annual one-day tri-series as part of a summer revamp to give spectators more certain schedules. The proposal could see limited overs games played before the Test matches, which would have set annual dates.”There has been quite a lot of discussion within Australian cricket over the last six months or so around the whole issue of the international program,” Peter Young, the Cricket Australia public affairs manager, told The Australian. “Building a program is a little bit like trying to play chess in three dimensions. It’s really hard and when you move one piece all the other pieces are impacted.”The six states will send in their suggestions to Cricket Australia by January and South Australia have already requested returning their Test to the Australia Day weekend. The Boxing Day and New Year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney are not expected to be moved but the VB Series could switch from a three-team tournament to Australia playing series against each touring side.Cricket Australia’s summer television and major sponsorship deals for internationals lapse at the conclusion of next season and have sparked the requests for change.