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The Warwickshire director of cricket, Ashley Giles, has confirmed his club’s interest in signing Gareth Batty, the former England spinner who has been given permission by Worcestershire to approach other counties.”When a player of Gareth’s quality becomes available, you have to be interested,” Giles told PA Sport.Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Surrey and Middlesex are all keen on signing up Batty, 31, who also represented Yorkshire before joining New Road.Batty’s four-day form has been a disappointment this season, and he was dropped for Worcestershire’s game against Warwickshire. His one-day form has been good enough for him to be included in England’s 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy.

Australia 196 for 4 (Ponting 78, Watson 51) lead England 102 (Prior 37*, Siddle 5-21) by 94 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarcus North took a splendid catch at third slip to remove Andrew Strauss•PA Photos

Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson compiled more in a single second-wicket stand of 119 than England’s entire line-up managed in 33.5 overs of abject surrender, as Australia built on the efforts of their four-man seam attack to seize control of the crucial fourth Test at Headingley. Though England battled back in the final session by claiming three wickets in as many overs, including Ponting for 78, nothing could gloss over their humiliation in the opening exchanges of the day. A single pitiful session could well have cost them their chance to reclaim the Ashes.Shorn of the services of Andrew Flintoff, whose damaged right knee failed to respond to treatment, and already lacking the aggression and presence that Kevin Pietersen brings to their middle-order, England went into a Test without either of their kingpin players for the first time since the tour of Bangladesh in October 2003, and duly played in a manner befitting their opponents of six years ago. They had been handed a late fitness scare when Matt Prior suffered a pre-toss back spasm, which required the toss to be delayed by ten minutes as England finalised their starting XI, and the bewilderment in their ranks was as plain as it had been at 5 o’clock that morning, when a fire alarm at the team hotel had left them shivering in the Leeds drizzle during a mass evacuation.For most of the summer, Australia have been the team seemingly lacking in direction, but with a sniff of uncertainty in their opponents’ ranks, they at last had a bowling attack to exploit the situation. The decision to recall Stuart Clark for his first Test of the summer, in place of the spinner Nathan Hauritz, was a gamble that paid rich dividends. He marked his comeback with a pre-lunch spell of 3 for 7 in 6.5 overs, while Peter Siddle followed up after the break with 4 for 3 in 14 balls, to finish with the stand-out figures of 5 for 21. Each of the four bowlers claimed at least one wicket, with Ben Hilfenhaus desperately unlucky not to have pinned Andrew Strauss lbw with the very first ball of the match.Ricky Ponting continued his outstanding form at Headingley with 78•Getty Images

As it turned out, Strauss survived a mere 17 balls before squirting a fat edge off Siddle to Marcus North at third slip, whose stunning one-handed reflex catch was the catalyst for the performance that followed. Strauss had spent the final minutes before the start fretting over the fitness of Prior, who injured his back while playing football in the warm-ups, leaving Jonathan Trott on the verge of a debut and Paul Collingwood pencilled in for the wicketkeeping duties, and his mind was evidently some way from the action in the middle. The confirmation of Flintoff’s lack of fitness ended up being the very least of his worries.In the event, the only England batsman to show any spine was none other than Prior, who was out in the middle at least two sessions sooner than he might have anticipated, but gritted his way to 37 not out from 43 balls before running out of partners. One other batsman managed double figures – Alastair Cook, who was the mainstay of a flimsy top order with 30 from 65 balls – while the middle-order triumvirate of Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Collingwood showed worrying shortcomings in temperament and technique respectively.Hilfenhaus accounted for Bopara, earning due reward for his line, length and consistent swing when Michael Hussey collected a loose back-foot punch in the gully, and at 16 for 2, the stage was hardly set for the fragile Bell to make his mark. Mitchell Johnson responded to his arrival with his best and most hostile spell of the series. Threatening to bend the ball back into the right-hander at will, and finding a superb line to complement his subtle changes of length, Johnson tormented Bell’s outside edge before slipping in a wicked bouncer that was gloved through to Brad Haddin.Next in the procession was Collingwood, whose returns have faded alarmingly since his match-saving performance at Cardiff in the first Test. He couldn’t negotiate Clark’s sharp outswing, which he prodded limply to Ponting at second slip for a fifth-ball duck, and Clark claimed his second scalp in the space of 11 balls when Cook’s resistance ended with a low edge to Michael Clarke at first slip.

Prior did his best to rally the innings in his standard counter-punching style, but Stuart Broad found the going extremely tough in his over-promoted position of No. 7, and was extracted on the stroke of lunch when Katich at short leg scooped Clark’s third of the innings. Then it was over to Siddle to make mincemeat of a tail that had wagged regularly in the series so far, but was unable to make any headway at all with the momentum all in the bowlers’ favour. Graeme Swann laboured to a 15-ball duck which ended with a snick to first slip, while Harmison – back in the side at Flintoff’s expense – edged to the keeper to notch the 20th duck of his career, an England record he now shares with Mike Atherton.James Anderson did at least manage to extend his duckless run to 53 innings, but the scampered single that preserved his world record culminated in a leg injury that visibly reduced his subsequent effectiveness with the ball. He and Graham Onions were bounced from the crease in consecutive Siddle deliveries, whereupon Shane Watson clattered Anderson’s first two deliveries of the reply through point for a brace of fours in a style reminiscent of Michael Slater. Though Harmison responded by extracting Katich at leg gully with the fourth ball of his comeback, Ponting emerged to put his personal seal on the day with a smouldering and initiative-seizing cameo.Once again, Ponting came to the crease to a chorus of boos, but true to form, he turned the animosity to his advantage. Latching onto the slightest error in length, he pulled Onions’ first ball through midwicket for six, in an over that eventually went for 17 runs, as Australia’s fifty was brought up in just 39 deliveries. Ponting’s only let-off en route to his 63-ball half-century came on 32, when Bell missed a shy from the covers that would have run him out by five yards.For as long as he and Watson were in tandem, Australia’s dominance was absolute. Watson, revelling in his new opener’s role, cracked his third half-century in as many innings, and battered Harmison for four fours in nine balls as England’s bowlers completely forgot about the virtues of line and length. But then, almost without warning, they finally remembered to pitch the ball up, and with a hint of movement around that habitual 30-over mark, they succeeded in stemming the tide.First to strike was Onions, who pinned Watson lbw for 51 as he whipped across the line, whereupon Broad – for the first time this summer – opted to follow suit. Twice in four balls he angled the ball in from a full length, first to end Ponting’s stay on 78, and then to remove Hussey before he could get going. England created opportunities as the shadows lengthened, not least when Harmison, in a furious final spell, cracked Michael Clarke on the helmet and the glove from consecutive deliveries. But by the close, Australia’s hold on the Ashes was looking as sprightly as it has done since Cardiff.

The WIPA has announced that Nikita Miller and Nelon Pascal have breached their contracts with West Indies Players Management Company (WIPMC) by making themselves available for selection against Bangladesh in the first Test in Kingstown. WIPA, however, will not take any action against the two players.The WIPMC is a subsidiary of the WIPA, and controls the intellectual and image rights of the players.Dinanath Ramnarine, executive president of the WIPA, said the two players had breached their contracts. “They have signed over their IP and image rights to WIPMC and they cannot just accept an offer to play for the West Indies,” Ramnarine was quoted as saying by AFP. “The WICB must negotiate this with WIPMC. But we would leave this and just allow it to pass at this point, there are bigger issues to deal with.”We are an association that represents the players and we are not about the business of making it harder for them. Everyone has a choice as to what they do and those guys decided to play for the West Indies and we just have to respect this.”The WICB assembled a weakened string squad to face Bangladesh after 13 of its first-choice players decided to boycott the series following a dispute with the board. Miller was named in the XI while Pascal was left out.

Not since 1989 have Australia sent a spinner to England and expected so little. Twenty years ago the leggie Trevor Hohns, who would become more notable as Australia’s successful selection chairman, was the slow-bowling specialist in a pace-dominated squad. He wasn’t picked for the first Test, but was employed in the next five matches of the 4-0 triumph, impressing and surprising with 11 wickets at 27.27. If Nathan Hauritz matches that over the next three months he will be allowed to jig on a balcony at The Oval while swinging a stump and blowing smoke rings.Hauritz and his contemporaries started their careers admiring Shane Warne’s all-dancing routines, but are now caught in an un-choreographed discipline in which uncertainty is the only guarantee. Life in England is going to be hard for Hauritz, just as it would have been for Jason Krejza, Cameron White, Jon Holland, Beau Casson or any of the other fringe spinners mentioned for national service since Warne retired with his re-gripping of the Ashes in 2007.After more than a decade – and four England tours – of stability, Australia began interchanging their slow-bowling stocks like AFL players until the selectors stuck with Hauritz, a 27-year-old offspinner in his second life as an international following a shooting star ending to his initial experience. Fortunately for Hauritz, success in his genre is now determined on a scale more familiar to those who remember Hohns and the 1980s. Back then a couple of wickets an innings were fine if the main bowlers were firing and anything more was toasted with showers of beer.”I haven’t minded it,” Hauritz said of the tense spin situation, during a driving holiday from Sydney to Queensland’s Hervey Bay before leaving for the Ashes. “The one thing is it has made more competition for spots, and you just enjoy your time there all the time. There’s such a good breed of fast bowlers coming through who are at the same stage, and when those fast bowlers are picked the side wins. The focus is a little bit off the spin bowling, but there’s always a spot for a spin bowler in a Test match. We’re just part of the unlucky situation coming after Warne and [Stuart] MacGill.”There has always been talk of a tight spinner’s club, where all secrets are shared, but despite the common aims of the country’s twirlers, there doesn’t appear to be a strong bond. “We don’t really keep in contact with them,” Hauritz said. “We say g’day when we play against them, but there’s not much said about it. At the end of the day, you’re all trying to play for Australia and stay there and play for a long time.”In England Hauritz’s main competition will come not from another specialist, but three part-timers who prefer to bat. Marcus North, Simon Katich and Michael Clarke are likely to be handed extended opportunities during the series, particularly if Hauritz struggles for impact in Cardiff, where the pitch is predicted to turn. Mostly this trio will be seen as bowlers who can help the over-rate and offer rest for the fast men. Any wickets, along with those from Hauritz, will be treasured.Hauritz has been given the closest thing to stability in the hope he can become a consistent contributor. A national contract followed an extended run in the one-day team and his status as the country’s No. 1 was confirmed when he outlasted Bryce McGain to earn the Ashes job. For the past eight months Hauritz has travelled with the side, playing sometimes and training a lot. In South Africa he watched McGain’s nightmare debut of 0 for 149 off 18 overs, a performance which left Hauritz as the last spinner standing.”No, I never thought that could be me,” he said of McGain’s international entry. “It was tough to watch. That was his journey, he was destined to bowl there. He had to accept and deal with it the best he could. It’s always tough to see a fellow team-mate go through that. It can only make you stronger from there, I believe, having been through that sort of thing myself. When I came back from India [in 2004] I had a few days like that and it made things very tough.”In his first Test Hauritz captured five wickets, including Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, but there were two problems: Clarke ripped six second-innings breakthroughs in 26 balls, exposing the relative lack of impact from the specialist, and Australia lost. When he returned to Queensland Hauritz slid out of state cricket and by the end of the summer was a club bowler. Feeling as flat as his trajectory, Hauritz wanted a change and in 2006 moved to New South Wales with no promise of any action. Slowly, benefitting from hard work and good fortune, he increased his position and last year was elevated to the Test team when Krejza hurt his ankle before the second match against New Zealand.With four wickets, he convinced himself that he could be an international bowler, but the selectors remain unsure when to use him. He was dropped for Perth, called back in Melbourne – he tricked a sweeping Jaques Kallis for his favourite wicket of the summer – held his spot in Sydney and watched the series in South Africa from the dressing room.He re-entered through the one-day side, appearing in every game in South Africa and the UAE. “It was fantastic to play, and great to have the backing from Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke,” he said. “It was tough not playing in the Tests, but I always said it’s much better to be there than not be there.”It is the brief of Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, to monitor Hauritz on tour, which seems insufficient considering Cooley’s main duties revolve around the position of Mitchell Johnson’s wrist and getting the attack to deliver reverse-swing. At home Hauritz relies on Murray Bennett, a left-arm orthodox who gained three Tests in the 1980s, and John Davison, the South Australian turned Canadian turned Centre of Excellence spin coach. Trent Ryan, a Queensland assistant who stuck with him during his troubled summers at the Bulls, also stays in touch.These are not the usual names associated with slow bowling in Australia, but Hauritz is not a modern style of operator. There is rarely sharp spin, no outlandish tricks and he is regularly called a defensive bowler, a trait recalled by Ian Chappell, who said containers should be limited to the shipping industry.”At the end of the day I’m always trying to take wickets, but sometimes the situation is you have to bowl a role,” Hauritz said. “They might not attack you, you might have to just bowl a line. Or the wickets might not turn as much and you’re easier to face. I never go out to think I’m not going to take wickets, or bowl defensive, I’m always just trying to bowl consistent, tight and take wickets.”He tries not to read the criticism and when describing his bowling classes himself simply as “a spinner”. “I don’t really know if there is such a thing as an attacking spinner or a defensive spinner,” he said. “I just think there’s a spinner. I bowl offspin, that’s what I see myself as.””I spoke to Stuart MacGill at length about this. He said: ‘There’s a difference between being aggressive and bowling poorly.’ I see that when the game comes into the fourth or fifth day I can be more aggressive and set more aggressive fields, and bowl different lines. Early on, I bowl tighter lines with more defensive fields, it’s part and parcel of the game.”These are the methods that worked before Warne flicked his wrist and they might be successful again. Hauritz hopes they are in England, where he played a season with Nelson in the Lancashire League in 2005. The pitches were wet, sticky and easy to bowl on. This time he wants them dry and dusty.Twenty years ago it was a hot summer in England and Hohns was able to benefit in between the stints of the more celebrated fast men. His most memorable moment was bowling Ian Botham with a flipper at Old Trafford and at the end of the series the 35-year-old retired. Hauritz will push for similar opportunities and wish that by the conclusion of the contest he will still have a say in the direction of his career.

Match facts

Saturday June 6
Start time 1800 local (1700 GMT)Rohit Sharma could open the Indian innings again•Associated Press

Big Picture

The mis-hit scoop from Misbah-ul-Haq continues to serve India even in the second World Twenty20. Being the top seeds by virtue of winning the inaugural edition, India get to be in the group that has two relatively weak teams, Bangladesh and Ireland. Their place in the Super Eights should be a mere formality.Bangladesh have the ability to succeed in the shortest format. They started the last World Twenty20 with that promise, beating West Indies in the league stages to qualify for the Super Eights and earn a higher seed in this edition. But they are yet to win a game since that win.They may be favourites for one of the two Super Eights slots from Group A but it’s against India, not Ireland, that they will want to put up a special show. They need not struggle for motivation: in the past they have tended to raise their game against India. Look no further than the World Cup in 2007, when they were responsible for knocking India out.The shrewd planning and format of the tournament, though, means this game is most likely to count for nothing – unless Ireland spring up a surprise. For if, as expected, India and Bangladesh go through to the second round, they neither carry any points nor get an easier group in the Super Eights by the virtue of having won both matches.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLLL
They have shown flashes of brilliance with the bat in the warm-up games (including a score of 206 against Netherlands), but against tougher opponents those flashes have been too short-lived even by Twenty20 standards. Their bowling is the main area of concern, and was at its worst when Australia plundered 219 against them.India LLWLW
A modest run of recent results for the world champions owes to their poor record against New Zealand. They are yet to beat New Zealand in Twenty20s, and the last two defeats came in the Southern Hemisphere. The trend continued when they lost to New Zealand even in their first warm-up game, but they will take heart from the thrashing they handed Pakistan.

Watch out for…

In the warm-ups Rohit Sharma batted as if he has been batting in England for a long time now. That too, filling in for Virender Sehwag as an opener. His 53-ball 80 against Pakistan was a perfect opener’s innings in a Twenty20 chase.In a tough chase against Australia, after his flashier mates had come and gone, Shakib Al Hasan kept Bangladesh alive but ran out of partners. India will have to be careful against Bangladesh’s best player in all forms of cricket.

Team news

If the weather helps seamers – and rain is forecast – Bangladesh could go for an extra seamer, given the quality of their part-time spinners. While Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain are almost certain, the choice is between Shahadat Hossain and Syed Rasel.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Mohammad Ashraful (capt.), 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Raqibul Hasan, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Rubel Hossain, 10 and 11 Shahadat Hossain/Naeem Islam/Syed Rasel/Abdur RazzakIndia are yet to decide on their combination, largely due to shoulder injuries to Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. Zaheer bowled in the nets, but Sehwag didn’t bat. If that is an indicator, Rohit could continue opening. India might choose not to rush Zaheer back, this not being a crucial match.India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt./wk), 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 and 10 Irfan Pathan/Praveen Kumar/RP Singh/Zaheer Khan, 11 Ishant Sharma

Pitch and conditions

Trent Bridge has been a high-scoring venue in the warm-ups. The weather, though, was cloudy today with temperatures in the teens. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Stats and Trivia

• This will be the first Twenty20 meeting between India and Bangladesh. They qualified in separate Super Eights groups in 2007.

Quotes

“I don’t think this team is about flukes any more. They have done the work. We have really good depth in batting and bowling now.”

“From the media’s side it is important that they report responsibly. If some statement has been made that there’s been infighting, I think it’s not true, it’s irresponsible.”

The resting of first-choice players during major international series is causing concern for the Australian Cricketers’ Association and reducing the value of top-level limited-overs contests. Australia are currently playing a series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates without the captain Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Mitchell Johnson, who are back home preparing for the tour of England from June.”The ACA has said for many years that international sport should always be the best against the best,” the chief executive Paul Marsh told the . “Unfortunately, for workload reasons, a high proportion of one-day internationals and Twenty20 games now don’t provide this contest. As such we are definitely concerned about the impact of resting the game’s biggest drawcards.”For those players in all three Australian teams, who are our most important players, the current schedule is unsustainable. They are away from home for roughly 10 months per year and this places a huge stress on players and families.”The changes in personnel for tours such as the one to the UAE alter the status of the Australian side from the best in the country to an outfit including more representatives from the fringes. “Some see this as a good thing as there are more players getting the opportunity to represent Australia,” Marsh said. “We don’t necessarily agree with that.”The opportunities for more players to represent Australia are a by-product of a volume of cricket that prevents first-choice players being able to play in all scheduled games. If the volume of cricket played was at a more reasonable level, I don’t think we’d see anything but our best available teams selected.”Postponed tours to Pakistan have contributed to the backlog of games, which means Australia will play almost non-stop from September 2008 to early in 2010. “If the fans think there is too much cricket then attendances and TV ratings will drop and revenue streams such as media rights and sponsorship will fall,” Marsh said. “Our view is that the amount of Test cricket is about right, but cricket needs less one-day games.”

Not good enough for the IPL, but Paul Collingwood is England captain again•Getty Images

Paul Collingwood has been confirmed as England’s captain for the ICC World Twenty20 and will lead a squad including James Foster, Robert Key, Graham Napier and Eoin Morgan as the selectors continue to unveil a new way of thinking.”I am really excited about captaining this squad as it will be in front of our own fans here in England,” Collingwood said. “At the end of the recent Caribbean tour it was well known that I wanted some time to think it over but now I am looking forward to the tournament. We have a talented squad with some new faces and there is the added incentive for everyone of a Lord’s final.”Morgan, the Ireland and Middlesex batsman, earns his first England call-up as does Napier while Foster and Key return after long periods out of the international scene. Foster’s recall for the first time since 2002 means there is no place for Matt Prior in the latest change to the wicketkeeping position.”Foster’s selection is about the pressure you put on as a wicketkeeper behind the stumps,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, explained to reporters at Lord’s. “His glovework is impeccable, and [by standing up] he creates a new kind of pressure for our bowlers, a lot of whom take the pace off the ball. And he’s improved his lower-order batting as well.”Key has been rewarded for his impressive domestic Twenty20 record with a chance to open the batting and selected ahead of his team-mate Joe Denly. Napier, who played his first match in the IPL on Friday, hit the headlines last summer when he smashed 158 for Essex and Sussex.Samit Patel, dropped from the one-day series in the Caribbean for being unfit, has been overlooked again as Miller said he still hadn’t reached his targets. “Samit hasn’t improved from when he was deselected. It’s disappointing but we have rules and regulations and are going to stand by them. We have insisted on fitness.”Tim Bresnan who was named in the Test squad two days ago also misses out, but Andrew Flintoff has been included subject to him recovering from his knee injury and Luke Wright is recalled.Collingwood returns to the captaincy less than a year after resigning alongside Michael Vaughan and just a matter of weeks since he said he didn’t want the job. Although he had some success as one-day captain – notably a series win away against Sri Lanka – he also had his fair share of problems.

During the first World Twenty20 in South Africa he miscounted Andrew Flintoff’s overs during one match meaning he didn’t bowl his full quota. The following summer against New Zealand he was at the centre of controversy for not recalling Grant Elliott to the crease after he’d been run out after a collision with Ryan Sidebottom.He has spent the last two weeks unable to get a game for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, but there were not many other realistic candidates although there was some thought they should have been adventurous and handed it to Key or Dimitri Mascarenhas. However, his non-selection in the IPL did not concern Miller.”He’s gleaned an awful lot on strategies and techniques at the IPL,” said Miller. “He’s a bright fella and we know his abilities. He’s not played in the middle but he’s been netting and practicing, and done a lot of preparation work. It’s not been about learning to bat and bowl, it’s how to invent and create, and he’s quite excited.One batsman who has continued to develop over the past two seasons is Morgan, who follows in the footsteps of Ed Joyce in swapping the Irish top for an England one. Morgan was short-listed in the 30-man squad three weeks ago while playing for Ireland in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers, a decision which Ireland were understandably frustrated at, but Miller had no doubts as to where the batsman’s loyalties now lie.”He’s always had a passion to play for England. He’s always said right from the start that he wants to play for England, and has shown over the last two or three years that he’s inventive and creative and he’s proved to the selectors – and opposition too – that he’s going in the right direction, this is a mix of experience and youthful exuberance in this side, and he fits into that category so we’re quite excited about it.”Squad Paul Collingwood (capt), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Robert Key, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Eoin Morgan, Graham Napier, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright

Western Australia have embarked on an ambitious recruitment drive after a disappointing 2008-09 season that saw them finish fifth in the Sheffield Shield and Ford Ranger Cup competitions, and a lowly sixth in the Big Bash Twenty20 tournament. The WACA has approached five players from New South Wales, four of whom are fast bowlers, and at least one Queenslander as they look to overhaul their side for next season.Western Australia’s five New South Wales targets – Mark Cameron, Josh Hazlewood, Burt Cockley, Mitchell Starc and Usman Khawaja – are all under contract with the Blues for next season. Hazlewood, an 18-year-old fast bowler from rural New South Wales, is regarded among the top prospects in Australian cricket, and has previously been approached by Western Australia and Queensland. Cameron and Cockley, meanwhile, have been recruited to play in the IPL this year, while Khawaja is rated by many as a batsman of international potential.Western Australia is also understood to have expressed interest in a Queensland paceman – possibly Grant Sullivan or Ben Cutting – in a bid to bolster their fast bowling ranks. The WACA’s recruitment drive comes amid reports of possible tension between the coach, Tom Moody, and several players after a disappointing 2008-09 campaign.Several states are believed to be interested in Adam Voges and Luke Ronchi, both of whom underwhelmed for the Warriors last season. However, the two have outlined their preference to remain in Perth. Ronchi, who made his one-day and Twenty20 international debut during Australia’s 2008 tour of the Caribbean, was dropped from the Western Australia first XI towards the end of last season, while Voges averaged just 22.72 in 10 first-class matches in 2008-09. Voges recently stood down from Australia’s one-day tour of South Africa after it conflicted with his wedding plans.Meanwhile, New South Wales are close to finalising their acquisition of Shane Watson from Queensland. Watson, the Australian allrounder, will move to Sydney to be closer to his partner.

Match facts

March 6-10, 2009
Start time 10.00am (08.00GMT)

Big Picture

If the mutual tours constituted one big series the score would be 2-2, which highlights just how closely matched these teams are. Instead, Australia hold a 1-0 lead and with victory in Durban they can claim the series and retain the No. 1 Test ranking, which looked like disappearing across the Indian Ocean following South Africa’s triumph in Australia.The short four-day turnaround after the Wanderers Test probably favours South Africa, whose more mature attack is used to bouncing back quickly after tough five-day contests. Australia’s young fast men left Johannesburg sore and exhausted but happy with their result and if they can regain their spark by Friday they will enjoy the pace and bounce at Kingsmead. The result might be unpredictable but all anybody can hope for is as tight a game as these teams have become used to putting on recently. If the contest between bat and ball is anywhere near as even as it was in Johannesburg, the fans will be in for a treat.

Form guide (last five Tests, most recent first)

South Africa LLWWW
Australia WWLLW

Watch out for

Morne Morkel was criticised for his inconsistency at the Wanderers, although he did bowl a few cracking deliveries. At Kingsmead, the extra bounce should make him even more of a handful when he gets it right. The pressure will be on Morkel to lift his game; his brother Albie has been called into the squad and the two are highly competitive. The last thing Morne would want would be a Waugh-like situation where the established brother made way for the new one to make his Test debut.Simon Katich has been Australia’s top-order rock in the past 12 months and his double failure in Johannesburg was a rare slip. The inexperienced members of the batting line-up performed strongly but men like Phillip Hughes and Marcus North could yet have an up-and-down introduction to Test cricket so it will be vital for Katich to provide stability through the remainder of the series.

Team news

South Africa haven’t changed their line-up at all in the four Test they have played against Australia recently and despite the loss in Johannesburg that’s a trend that is likely to continue. Their 12-man squad lost Lonwabo Tsotsobe to injury and Albie Morkel was included as his replacement. But the coach Mickey Arthur is keen to back his existing pace attack on the bouncy Durban pitch and the spinner Paul Harris is also expected to retain his spot despite never having played a Test at Kingsmead.South Africa (likely) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Neil McKenzie, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.For all their injuries and last-minute squad additions, it is likely that Australia will go in with the same 11 that triumphed at the Wanderers. Peter Siddle has a foot problem and Ben Hilfenhaus is battling a sore back and the group has two fast-bowling cover players, Brett Geeves and Steve Magoffin. However, the captain Ricky Ponting expects Siddle and Hilfenhaus to play, which would leave their only decision as whether to include either of their specialist spinners, Bryce McGain or Nathan Hauritz. The medium-pacer Andrew McDonald could be the man in danger if a slow bowler is preferred but with rain around Durban on match eve, an all-seam attack again seems likely.Australia (likely) 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Marcus North, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Andrew McDonald, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Peter Siddle, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.

Pitch and conditions

Kingsmead always offers plenty of bounce and pace and there’s no reason to expect anything different on this occasion. There was rain on the morning before the match and a chance of thunderstorms on the first day.

Stats and Trivia

• Australia had recent form on their side at the Wanderers but neither side can claim the upper hand at Kingsmead, where there has been one win each and a draw in the three Tests between Australia and South Africa in the post-apartheid era
• Since 2002, only two slow bowlers have collected at least three wickets in an innings at Kingsmead: Shane Warne and Anil Kumble
• In Hashim Amla’s eight Test innings against Australia in the past three months, he has been out in the 50s four times and is yet to capitalise on his strong starts

Quotes

“It was interesting to see what they thought were the real problem areas for them in that [Johannesburg] game. I don’t want to tell you what I think they are because they’ll read about them.”
“The team sat together and we were pretty open and honest with where we were and what we wanted to achieve. I think that’s the manner of the group, it’s come a long way in terms of maturity.”

Phillip Hughes is barely 20; Bryce McGain approaching 37. Hughes is a farmer’s son for whom cricketing greatness seemed assured; McGain a city-dweller who almost abandoned the game for a career in IT. Hughes, the bachelor, might have stepped from the pages of GQ; McGain, the single father, would not look out of place at a meeting of the G8.The superficial differences between the uncapped duo may be immense, but Hughes and McGain are looming as the pivotal members of the Australian touring squad for South Africa. Barring unforeseen circumstances, both players should find themselves in the starting XI for the first Test on February 26, and stand to be the major difference between the side soundly beaten by South Africa in Perth and Melbourne, and that which aspires to retain its No. 1 ranking in hostile territory.Untold column inches have been devoted to Hughes’ batting exploits since his first-class debut for New South Wales last season. A redoubtable, unorthodox strokemaker with an insatiable appetite for runs, Hughes was deemed to be of baggy green calibre before he received a baggy blue. His 1,570 runs from 17 first-class games attracted much excited chatter among Australian cricketing circles, particularly as Matthew Hayden’s position in the Test side became increasingly untenable, and no less a judge than Justin Langer believes him ready to shoulder the responsibility of opening the Australian innings.Ricky Ponting was hopeful Hughes would establish a solid partnership with his state skipper, Simon Katich, over the coming weeks. “Obviously he’s a very driven and motivated young bloke who wants to be very successful for Australia,” Ponting said. “He’s certainly done that for New South Wales. We hope he can be what we’re looking for at the top of the order. He’ll be jumping out of his skin, there’s no doubt about that. He’ll be pretty nervous and pretty excited. Most of us older guys will probably have a good sleep on the flight, but I’d be surprised if he had a sleep.

“I actually had a good catch up with him at the Border Medal. Justin Langer and I had a chance to have a drink with him that night and have a bit of a chat about his cricket and his batting. It was good to learn a little bit about him and see what he’s all about. There is a lot of knowledge for me to pass on to guys like him. That will be my job over the next week leading into the first Test, to spend as much time with these young guys as I can and pass on whatever I can.”McGain will presumably require less nurturing, even though his international resume is identical to Hughes’. At 36, McGain, the Victoria legspinner, is the oldest member of the touring party, and brings with him decades of experience from the parks of Melbourne and, more recently, the stadiums of Australia.McGain’s importance to Australian cricket cannot be overstated. Not since Stuart MacGill’s retirement during last year’s tour to the West Indies has the team had at its disposal an attacking legspinner, and with major series against South Africa and England looming – neither of whom are known for their prowess against wrist-spin – McGain will be called upon to provide variation and relief to an attack that lacked both in 2008. And just as crucial, McGain can buy the selectors time as they attempt to unearth Australia’s next long-term slow bowler.”It’s always nice to have a very good and highly skilled legspinner in your side,” Ponting said. “There’s every chance that he could just be that factor that we need over there. We know that over the years Shane Warne had a great record against the South Africans, and at different times had them under a spell. Hopefully Bryce, if he gets a chance to play in the Test matches over there, can do a great job for us and be a wicket-taking option.”