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ScorecardNeil McKenzie scooped Andy Carter for consecutive fours in a dramtic final over•Getty Images

Hampshire will have an opportunity to win their second Friends Life t20 title in three seasons after a dramatic victory over Nottinghamshire sent them to a third consecutive Finals Day. Neil McKenzie, who had been woefully out of form in the competition until this evening, was the man largely responsible for squeezing an improbable victory from a match that appeared to have slipped away from them, finishing 79 not out from 49 balls.The 36-year-old South African – Hampshire’s star when they beat Somerset in the final two years ago – stole the glory from Samit Patel, whose 60 and three wickets looked likely to be the match-winning performance after Hampshire began the 17th over still needing 46 runs with six wickets down.But against a relatively inexperienced Nottinghamshire attack, lacking the injured Darren Pattinson and, of course, with Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann unavailable, McKenzie and his captain, the equally wordly Dimitri Mascarenhas, found a way to do what was needed.This was despite McKenzie pulling up lame after two balls of the final over, requiring James Vince to run for him with 11 still needed off what remained. Remarkably, he hit two consecutive fours on one leg, before more confusion ensued with the next ball. Carter’s attempt to run out McKenzie’s runner at the non-striker’s end failed, even though he hit the stumps, but his effort to hit the other set kept the ball live and allowed Mascarenhas to get back for a second.This levelled the scores, which meant that McKenzie had only to survive the last ball to win the match on fewer wickets lost. In the event, he pushed the ball through the infield and it ran away for four as Nottinghamshire accepted their fate. Hampshire know already they will face Somerset in their semi-final in Cardiff on August 25.It was tough luck on Nottinghamshire, who wound up relying on 23-year-old Andy Carter and 21-year-old Jake Ball to bowl under enormous pressure at the end. Neither has the benefit of many games under his belt and Ball – nephew of former England wicketkeeper Bruce French – had only bowled one over in the format before this match.McKenzie had stepped up the pressure by lifting Harry Gurney over the leg-side field into the Fox Road stand for six and Ball went for 11 in the 18th over, although it was by no means a poor one. Merely Mascarenhas had too much know-how.Another six off Gurney by McKenzie in the 19th effectively swung the game Hampshire’s way, leaving a heavy responsibility on Carter that ultimately proved too much.Nottinghamshire could not quite believe how the match had slipped away from them, particularly after Patel’s third over had claimed the wickets of Sean Ervine, well caught on the boundary by Alex Hales, and the dangerous Glenn Maxwell, who was stumped second ball. At that point, Hampshire were 78 for 5 in the tenth over, still 101 short of their target, and with Jimmy Adams, James Vince and Simon Katich all out of the picture too.As Patel ecstatically celebrated his third wicket, when Liam Dawson fell for 30, to another catch in the deep in the 16th over, the odds still seemed to be stacked in the home side’s favour. But McKenzie, whose six previous innings in this year’s competition had netted 47 runs in total, had other ideas.Nottinghamshire’s total had taken some hard work to accumulate on a pitch offering little pace on to the bat. They had started badly, losing Hales to the second ball of the match, which was a bit of a comedown after the 99 he made for England in the Twenty20 international against West Indies in front of a similar crowd on this ground last month.The setback was corrected, after a fashion, as Riki Wessels launched an extraordinary assault on Mascarenhas that yielded 18 runs from the first four hits of the second over before the next flew up in the air and landed in the hands of Danny Briggs at third man.Sanity returned in the third over and on a surface that was exploited for the most part pretty effectively by Hampshire’s bowlers, particularly Dawson and Briggs, Nottinghamshire never enjoyed another over so productive. Briggs conceded only two boundaries in his four overs and the wicket of Adam Voges in the last of those was richly deserved.To anyone in the crowd of 11,127 who had seen Scott Styris blast Sussex into Finals Day on Tuesday evening, Michael Lumb’s 39 off 32 balls and Voges’s 33 off 26 probably seemed a little pedestrian. Fluent strokeplay was never easy, however, and it was telling that the four overs immediately after the Powerplay phase added only 23 runs.By that point, 80-3 after ten, Nottinghamshire had suffered another blow when James Taylor cut the offspinning allrounder Maxwell’s second delivery straight to the fielder at point.In the circumstances, Patel’s 60 off 33 balls was all the more commendable. Lumb departed off the second ball of the 11th over, caught at point off Mascarenhas, but Patel and Voges added 60 off the next seven overs, with Patel the first batsman to start finding the boundaries with the frequency needed to put pressure on the bowlers. There were no hugely high-scoring overs but after Voges, who was dropped by Maxwell at long-on on 23, ultimately holed out to long-off, the last two overs put on 30 runs, of which 17 came from Patel, who cleared the ropes for the only time in the 20th over before he was out attempting to do so again.

Alviro Petersen will not field in the Headingley Test, but will bat again if required, after sustaining a grade one strain to his right hamstring. He will require seven to ten days to recover but should be fit fot selection for the thrid Test at Lord’s, which starts on August 16.The results of Petersen’s scans were received by the South African team management on Saturday morning and they confirmed assistant coach Russell Domingo’s statements late yesterday afternoon that the injury was “not too serious.” Jacques Rudolph will be likely to open with Smith in the second innings.Petersen scored 182 runs and spent eight hours and 53 minutes at the crease over the first two days of the Test. It is understood that the damage was done while Petersen was playing a cut shot in the eighth over of the morning.Petersen reached for a short and wide ball from James Anderson to usher it over the slips and in so doing, hurt his hamstring. He did not receive treatment immediately and only called for the physiotherapist after passing his previous highest Test score of 156.A series of stretches and some pills allowed Petersen to continue to lunch. He lasted five overs after lunch before nicking off on 182. In total, Petersen batted for 24.4 overs after the injury was sustained.Although he did not limp noticeably at any stage during his innings, he did appear uncomfortable in parts. Faf du Plessis, who was drafted into the squad on Tuesday after Albie Morkel was ruled out, took his place in the field during the start of England’s innings.Petersen also suffered an injury at the beginning of the tour, when he hurt the joints in his left foot while out on a jog. He missed the first tour match against Somerset in Taunton as a precaution but returned to bat against Kent three days later.He is the fourth South Africa player to be injured in England. Mark Boucher’s lacerated eyeball in Taunton ended the veteran wicketkeeper’s career, Marchant de Lange’s lower back spasms ruled him out for six weeks and his replacement Albie Morkel is currently carrying an ankle injury, which made him unavailable for consideration in this match. 1.30pm, August 4: This story was updated with information on the state of Petersen’s injury

England’s gap at the top of the ICC Test rankings has increased after the annual update of the table, but they can still be overhauled if South Africa win the series that starts on July 19.Following the refresh to the table, which sees results before 2009 wiped off to give more emphasis on recent form, South Africa have slipped to third behind Australia – that is partly due to a lack of recent Test action for them. However, any margin of victory against England over the three Tests will see them reach top spot.For England any victory will also see them hold onto the No. 1 position they attained last year by whitewashing India, but they can also maintain their ranking with a drawn series. England are currently in 122 points with South Africa on 113.South Africa, though, are unperturbed by their shift. “It was the only way we were looking at it, that we have to win the series to go No.1,” Russell Domingo, the assistant coach, said. “So it doesn’t make a difference to us where we are ranked now.”Australia are currently sandwiched between the two teams, following their successful run in Test cricket under Michael Clarke. Since he took on the captaincy from Ricky Ponting they have beaten Sri Lanka away, drawn in South Africa, drawn at home to New Zealand, whitewashed India and beaten West Indies in the Caribbean.South Africa’s fall to third is because, annually, the oldest results are no longer counted – in this case from 2008-09 – and it was in that period that they won both in England and in Australia. At the same time England’s ranking has improved because that home defeat to South Africa and the away defeats in India and West Indies are no longer counted in the rankings calculations.Elsewhere, India and Pakistan have changed places. Pakistan, despite a 1-0 defeat in the three-Test series that finished in Sri Lanka on Thursday, have moved up to fourth and MS Dhoni’s side, No. 1 this time last year, are now down in fifth place.For the full rankings tables click here.

ScorecardGraham Onions’ four wickets put Durham back into the match against Lancashire but Paul Horton’s dogged innings held his side together•Getty Images

To paraphrase that north-eastern philosopher Terry Collier, of The Likely Lads fame, the homes of Lancashire and Durham supporters have hardly been filled with jollity and merriment this season. In Bacup and Blaydon, expectations have had to be adjusted downwards as the teams who have bagged the title in three of the last four years have failed to muster a championship win between them in 13 attempts.So it was not surprising that the first day’s play at Chester-le-Street saw both sides exhibit the batting frailties that have bedevilled their early seasons. Eighteen wickets fell, and by no means all of them could be explained by the pitch or the atmosphere, helpful as the latter was.For the sixth time in nine completed first-class innings this year Durham were dismissed for under 164 and their 102 all out was their lowest total since they managed a mere 90 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2008.For their part, Lancashire have been bowled out for fewer than 200 six times this season and it astonished few pundits when they lost four wickets, all of them to the resurgent Graham Onions, in reaching 19. Paul Horton and Luke Procter then ground out 44 runs for the fifth wicket but even that most modest of revivals was stifled when Procter played an uncharacteristically loose cut to Ben Stokes.Horton ploughed doggedly on, though, batting throughout the 40 overs faced by Lancashire. Helped by Gareth Cross, Glen Chapple and Kyle Hogg, he batted , making 31 not out off 103 balls, and by the close Lancashire had carved out an advantage of 39 runs. For all that he was bowled by a Jamie Harrison no-ball when on six and dropped at slip by Gordon Muchall off Stokes when 11, Horton’s was a gutsy effort, well befitting the man who batted nearly eight hours to save a game against Warwickshire less than a fortnight ago.The consequences of his vigilance may be considerable here too: an advantage of 50 runs could be decisive in this match.”Paul’s effort was brilliant because to come away with 30 out there is like getting 50 or 60 in normal conditions,” said Procter. “He held the innings together and people batted round him. Kyle Hogg’s still there and we’ve a chance of building a vital lead.”Nevertheless, when wickets fall with such a clatter, suspicious eyes are directed towards the pitch or the atmosphere, and there was certainly enough in the conditions to encourage Chapple’s decision to bowl first on winning the toss.However, the first four Durham wickets all owed more to batting error than any other factor, with Hogg taking three wickets in six balls, the best of them that of Stokes, who edged a catch to Cross when trying to take the bat away. Will Smith, though, was bowled round his legs and Muchall simply chased a wide one – which he thought he didn’t touch. Mark Stoneman had begun the decline by steering Chapple straight to Simon Kerrigan at square leg.Dale Benkenstein and Paul Collingwood added 44 runs for the fifth wicket – precisely as Procter and Horton did in the late afternoon – but any hopes of prolonged circumspection dissolved when the Zimbabwean edged a slash off Procter to Cross.That was the start of a remarkable spell for Procter, the Oldham-born medium-fast bowler, who profited from the increasingly heavy atmosphere to take a career-best five for 17. Collingwood was lbw for 25 when half forward to Procter as Mustard’s side lost their last four wickets in just 7.3 overs of the afternoon session.Rain prevented Lancashire beginning their innings for nearly two hours, but if the clouds were higher when the game resumed, the threat of Onions was in no way diminished.As if attempting to batter his way into the England side regardless of rotation policies or player fatigue, the Durham seamer extracted enough movement from the wicket to persuade both Stephen Moore and Ashwell Prince to give slip catches. Karl Brown was trapped on the crease by one that came back into him and Croft departed having played an ugly slash.Perhaps the Lancashire batsman was not prepared to wait for the ball “with his name on it”, although as Horton could later testify, it doesn’t half help if that delivery is a no-ball.

Faf du Plessis has been asked by Cricket South Africa not to play for Somerset in the Friends Life T20. He will now stay at home and play for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A and join South Africa’s Twenty20 tour to Zimbabwe.”The period that Somerset want him for is when we have some tours of our own,” Mohammad Moosajee, South Africa team manager, told ESPNcricinfo. “Faf features in the selectors’ plans for those tours so it would not be possible for him to go.”Du Plessis has played 21 ODIs for South Africa and is currently taking part in the IPL, having been signed by Chennai Super Kings for $120,000 in 2011. He will also play for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A in June before South Africa’s T20 side travel to Zimbabwe for an unofficial tri-series that also features Bangladesh.The loss of du Plessis is another blow to Somerset’s plans for the Flt20. They signed Albie Morkel and hoped to bring in Chris Gayle as a second overseas player. But Gayle reneged on his deal and agreed to be available for West Indies’ ODI series against England, potentially making his international comeback after more than a year’s absence.Morkel, who will not be part of the four-day matches against Sri Lanka A, has been given the green light by CSA to play for Somerset. If Morkel is selected for South Africa’s T20 squad to tour Zimbabwe, though, Moosajee said Somerset would have to release him for that period.Along with losing Gayle, Somerset have a string of injuries with captain Marcus Trescothick out with an ankle injury and only 12 fit players available at the moment. They were forced to cancel a second XI match with Gloucestershire this week due to a lack of players.Somerset were also asked by CSA to limit the workload of Vernon Philander, the South African bowler who has taken 18 wickets in four first-class matches.Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, said he “thought there was a possibility” that du Plessis would be barred from joining them. “We’re still exploring the market but I think I must have run over a whole road of black cats.” Along with Trescothick, Somerset are currently without bowlers Adam Dibble, Gemaal Hussain, Steve Kirby and batsman Jos Buttler.Somerset will keep a close eye on Pakistan’s potential series against Australia. It will no longer be hosted by Sri Lanka and if the tour is postponed, players may become available for the second half of the season.

Brett Sipthorpe is the man in charge of preparing the pitch at the Basin Reserve for the third Test between New Zealand and South Africa. One look at the Wellington sky will tell you that he has a job on his hands as grim as the clouds above him. The surface has not seen the sun since the past weekend and with rain forecast for Thursday, is likely to remain under covers until the Test starts on Friday.Luckily, Sipthorpe has seen this all before. The last Test played in Wellington was preceded by four days of rain. That match featured Pakistan and played out in competitive fashion with two first innings scores of over 350 with Pakistan fighting for the draw on the final day to seal the series. The current strip should offer more of the same.”The pitch is in the same state as it was for the Pakistan Test and it played really well in that match,” Sipthorpe told ESPNcricinfo. “We had an idea this weather was coming and so we had the pitch pretty well prepared on Sunday. It was hard enough to play on on Sunday.”Sipthorpe cannot use the same special equipment that is used in South Africa, where a tent is often erected over the pitch and drying equipment used. “If we try any of that, the wind will just blow it away. We had winds up to 130 kph here and if that happens and we have a tent up, it would wash-out everything.”Early preparation is therefore the only option, which is what Sipthorpe has done. He doused talk that the weather will result in a seamer-friendly strip, saying that it is more likely to foster an even contest. “Hopefully we’ll have some time to knock any colour out of it. It’s nice and hard and even though it may assist fast bowlers, if we have time to work on it, it should play well.”Sipthrope said the home camp had not given them any special instructions on the type of surface they should prepare, and even if they did, it would not be taken as gospel. “The Basin pitch has been very similar the whole time,” he said. “We are quite proud of the way it plays and we are not going to change our recipe.”He is not the only one who was forced to change plans because of the weather. Neither team has been able to train outdoors, or even at the Basin, as practises have taken place at the indoor Wellington School of Cricket at the Westpac Stadium instead. Not men to complain, neither Daniel Vettori, nor Morne Morkel said the weather had their respective camps feeling down, but they certainly implied it.”Obviously it makes it tough not to be able to go outside,” Morkel said. “Working indoors is very different to the conditions we will be up against, but at least we get the opportunity to break a sweat and get out of the hotel a bit.” While Vettori was a little more dry in his assessment. “It was exiting to get back here. It was not that exciting to train indoors but hopefully we get out at the Basin tomorrow.”Edited by Tariq Engineer

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Once Graeme Swann dismissed Mahela Jayawardene it was only a matter of time before England won the Test•AFP

In the end it was a breeze. Whatever doubts England might have had about chasing 94 to win the second Test at the end of a tormented Asian winter did not manifest themselves as they gambolled to a victory that, for the moment at least, preserves their status as the No. 1-ranked side in the world.Lurking memories of their collapse to 72 all out, in pursuit of 145, in Abu Dhabi barely two months ago were banished as Alastair Cook proceeded from the outset at a one-day rate and Kevin Pietersen added a lighthearted singalong to his majestic first-innings century. England had it all wrapped up within 20 overs, levelling the series at 1-1 and preventing Sri Lanka from achieving their own first Test series win for three years.It was a steamy Colombo day – one reading showed 42C – so hot that holidaymakers along Sri Lanka’s coast would be dragging sunbeds into the shade. England lost their captain, Andrew Strauss, for nought, bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan as he met one that turned with ponderous footwork and an angled blade, and Jonathan Trott followed lbw to Rangana Herath as Sri Lanka successfully asked for a referral, but they were not about to wilt in the sun.Sri Lanka, who had added another 60 in the morning session, relied entirely upon their spinners in recognition that the P Sara pitch had finally become the minefield that many had long forecast. Cook signalled his intent by driving and cutting Dilshan for successive boundaries and scored 30 of England’s first 40 runs. When he cut three times in one over at Herath, and missed the lot, Sri Lanka must have realised there would be no miracle.Then Pietersen came over all Frank Sinatra, confident again to do it his way, gliding down the pitch to loft Herath straight for six. Appropriately, the match ended with Pietersen v Dilshan, reviving memories of the contretemps over Pietersen’s switch hit. Mahela Jayawardene brought the field in and challenged Pietersen to win it with a six and he did so, launching the ball over midwicket. What did he think of April Tests in Colombo when the climate was at its fiercest? “A joke,” Pietersen said, ingenuously.Sri Lanka, six down overnight, lost three wickets in a rush, but Angelo Mathews countered briefly to turn an overnight lead of 33 into something a little more substantial. Their chief tormenter was Graeme Swann who had rolled in, sunglasses not quite disguising a scampish intent, to turn the game with two wickets in the penultimate over of the fourth day. He spun the ball viciously at times on a pitch that, for him at least, finally had become the spin bowler’s friend.Samit Patel also chipped in with his first wicket of the match when Herath anticipated Swann-like turn, found Patel-like turn instead and offered the simplest of chances to James Anderson at slip.For Sri Lanka, the onus rested once more on Jayawardene. Swann, who took 6 for 106 to finish with ten wickets in the match, finally removed him an excellent ball which turned and bounced to hit the glove and lob easily to Cook, plunging forward at short leg. It was the end of a polished defensive innings – 64 from 191 balls with only four boundaries.Jayawardene made 354 runs in four innings with two centuries and his stock has rarely been higher. It was easy to carp that Sri Lanka had not helped themselves by a scoring rate not much above two an over, but only Pietersen, whose rapid century had created the time in which England could win the game, had played with any panache on this pitch and to try to ape Pietersen in that mood would be to fly too close to the sun.Two overs later and another Jayawardene followed, this time Prasanna, coming in two places lower at No. 9 thanks to Sri Lanka’s recourse to nightwatchmen on the previous two evenings. It was a briefly unimpressive stay, ended when he tried to sweep and was bowled around his legs.Mathews’ survival owed much to a calamitous morning for Cook at short leg. Three times in five overs Swann had expectations of dismissing Mathews to a nudge to short leg, but Cook failed to cling to two low chances and then a third fell wide of him as Swann looked as dangerous as at any time on England’s winter tours.There was further frustration for England, too, when Mahela Jayawardene, on 58, was adjudged lbw by umpire Asad Rauf only for the decision to be overturned on review when the TV umpire, Rod Tucker, spotted an inside edge.As wickets fell, Mathews eventually had little choice but to formulate an attacking response, but eventually an erratic surface betrayed him as Steven Finn made one stick in the pitch and Mathews, intent upon advancing to drive, could only chip into the leg side. England’s run of failures were soon to be put behind them.

Michael Clarke is confident his role on the selection panel that dropped Ricky Ponting from the ODI side will not lead to tension between Ponting and himself. Clarke is a member of the five-man group headed by John Inverarity that ended Ponting’s one-day international career earlier this week after deciding they needed to plan for the limited-overs team’s future.However, Clarke and Ponting will have to work closely together as the No. 4 and 5 batsmen during the Test tour of the West Indies in April after Ponting confirmed he wanted to play on in the longer format. Clarke did not shy away from his role on the panel and said Ponting, who had made five single-figure ODI scores in succession, understood that the decision was not personal.”I’m 100% part of the selection panel,” Clarke said. “That’s part now of the captain’s job. We’ve made this decision as a panel. It is tough not having the great Ricky Ponting out there playing for us but that’s the decision we’ve made. Obviously the 2015 World Cup is something we’ve spoken about as a panel. I’m 100% a part of that.”Ricky was captain of the team for a long time and although he wasn’t a selector he played a big part in selecting the XI players that took the field. I remember getting dropped after the Test match in the West Indies and Punter was the one who came and told me I hadn’t been selected. He knows it’s certainly not personal. I’m very confident our friendship is a lot stronger than that.”Australia will play their first match in the post-Ponting ODI era against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday. That Tasmania is Ponting’s home state has been cause for some debate over whether he should have been given a farewell match – the Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jaywardene said there was usually scope for farewell games in his country – but Clarke said there was no reason to think Ponting had played his last match for Australia on home soil.”He’s going to play a lot more Test cricket I hope,” he said. “So there’s going to be plenty of time for Ricky to play international cricket for Australia.”Although Clarke has played 38 one-day internationals without Ponting in the side the feeling will different this time, knowing that his absence is permanent in this format. Not only is Ponting Australia’s most-capped and highest-scoring ODI player, he has offered much in the way of off-field support, both as a sounding board for the new captain Clarke and as a mentor for younger players.Ponting even took on the captaincy in his final two matches when Clarke was injured, while many former leaders might have been reluctant to return to the job in similar circumstances. Clarke said it was odd to think of an Australian one-day dressing room without Ponting after his 17-year career in the format.”It certainly is [strange],” he said. “He’s certainly going to be missed. I’ve been great friends with Punter for a long time and that certainly won’t change. But I’ve also played a lot of one-day cricket with him and it’s going to feel really weird looking around the field and not seeing him there.”I’ll miss his guidance out on the field, his guidance off the field, his friendship, his experience around the group, his knowledge of this game. They’re things that no matter much talent you have as a young player, the experience and knowledge of the game you need to learn.”Ponting’s departure will also force a reworking of Australia’s top order. The nature of the line-up will depend on whether Shane Watson is named to play in his first match back from injury, but it could be that Watson and David Warner open with Michael Clarke at No.3 and Matthew Wade slides down the order.

Shaun Marsh has been told to return to the Sheffield Shield to regain his form after being dropped from Australia’s ODI squad. The Queensland batsman Peter Forrest has received his first call-up and Ryan Harris will resume his one-day international career after both were named in Australia’s 14-man squad for the first three games of the tri-series with India and Sri Lanka.As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Brad Haddin has been rested from the start of the series, his place taken by the Victoria gloveman Matthew Wade. And there was no place for the allrounder Steve Smith, who the national selector John Inverarity said “needs to do more” to establish himself.The squad includes four men aged over 34 – Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee and David Hussey – and Inverarity said it was vital for the development of newer players that they had the chance to play alongside such experienced men. He said next year the focus would shift more towards developing a squad for the 2015 World Cup, but for now including a few younger players was adequate.One of those was Forrest, 26, who is leading the Sheffield Shield run tally this summer with 581 at an average of 58.10, justifying his decision last year to head north from New South Wales for greater opportunities. His Ryobi Cup form this season has been less impressive, with 176 runs at 29.33, but Inverarity said it was a matter of giving Forrest a taste of the top level.

Australia ODI squad

Michael Clarke (capt), David Warner, Ricky Ponting, Peter Forrest, Daniel Christian, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Matthew Wade, Brett Lee, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay, Mitchell Marsh

“With Peter Forrest, we’ve been looking and saying there will be some time in, say, the next three years when we’re going to be without Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey,” Inverarity said. “So we’re looking to develop three or four or five young batsmen and invest some opportunity there. Peter Forrest has had a very good Sheffield Shield season thus far, I think it’s three centuries that he’s made. He’s certainly a player at the moment who we’re looking for all-round development.”Mitchell Marsh, Clint McKay and Daniel Christian were among the other players who will be given an opportunity, but others weren’t so lucky. Shaun Marsh is coming off a horror Test series against India and Inverarity made it clear Marsh had not simply been rested, but needed to go back to Western Australia and prove himself again.”Shaun as we’ve all seen is a very talented player,” he said. “At the moment he’s in a difficult period. We’ve all seen that. We think the best way that he can recover his form is out of the spotlight in Shield cricket. We look forward to him doing well in that and coming again.”Nor was there room for Smith, who was ranked highly in Cricket Australia’s contract list last year but now finds himself out of the team in all three formats. And the South Australia batsman Callum Ferguson was not included, his strong early-season form in the Ryobi Cup seemingly having been overshadowed in the selectors’ minds by a disappointing Big Bash League.”Callum’s form this year has not been convincing,” Inverarity said. “In terms of his general batsmanship and being in good nick, he’s not. I don’t think it’s wise selecting somebody when they’re actually not playing well.”Steve Smith is a very promising player, with his potential for batting and fielding and bowling, we really hope he will develop in the future. But I think he needs to do more. He needs to do more with his batting and his bowling to establish himself.”The only specialist spinner in the squad is Xavier Doherty, which could mean a greater bowling workload for David Hussey. And in the pace attack, Harris will play his first ODIs since 2010. At the top of the order, Michael Clarke will need to decide who opens with David Warner, with no obvious opening partner named. One possibility is Wade, who will make his ODI debut with Haddin resting for the first three games – and possibly more.”We’ve got an open mind about that,” Inverarity said when asked if Haddin would return later in the series. “Brad has had a pretty gruelling time, being a wicketkeeper-batsman. He had the Test matches in Sri Lanka and South Africa, against New Zealand, against India, and Brad is due for a bit of a lighter load.”No vice-captain was named with Haddin rested and Shane Watson still unavailable due to injury, and a decision on Clarke’s deputy was likely to be made once the squad assembled. Initially the squad won’t include Mitchell Marsh, who is joining the group ahead of the third match in order to allow him to play Western Australia’s next Shield fixture. The ODI series starts on Sunday at the MCG when Australia take on India.

Andrew Flintoff, the former England captain and allrounder, has revealed he went through a phase of depression during the 2006-07 Ashes in Australia, where, as captain, he was at the receiving end of a 5-0 whitewash. Flintoff admitted he wasn’t aware then of what exactly he was suffering from, but the illness drove him to drink and lose his love for the game.A year earlier, Flintoff was the toast of the nation for helping England regain the Ashes after 18 years.Flintoff is now among several high-profile cricketers, particularly from England, who’ve been plagued by the illness during their playing careers. Flintoff, who quit the game in 2009, will explore the problems suffered in private by sportsmen in a BBC 1 documentary: .”I was having a quiet drink with my dad Colin on Christmas Eve 2006 and as we made our way home I started crying my eyes out,” Flintoff told the . “I told him I’d tried my best but that I couldn’t do it any more, I couldn’t keep playing. We talked and, of course, I dusted myself down and carried on. But I was never the same player again.”I was captain of England and financially successful. Yet instead of walking out confidently to face Australia in one of the world’s biggest sporting events, I didn’t want to get out of bed, never mind face people.”Flintoff took over the captaincy from the injured Michael Vaughan after the 2005 Ashes win and enjoyed mixed results. He helped England square the Test series in India in 2006 and the expectations grew when England landed in Australia at the end of the year. It was also the same series in which his team-mate Marcus Trescothick suffered a breakdown at the start of the tour due to depression and separation anxiety and never played for England again after that.After leading England to a come-from-behind win in the one-day tri-series in Australia, Flintoff handed the captaincy back to Vaughan before the World Cup. Flintoff was stripped of the vice-captaincy after a drunken night out following England’s defeat against New Zealand in a World Cup match in St Lucia, which culminated in falling off a pedalo.”The whole time I was on the field and throughout that World Cup all I could think about was that I wanted to retire,” Flintoff said. “I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I knew when I got back to my room I couldn’t shut off, which is why I started having a drink. It got to the stage where I was probably drinking more than I should.”All I wanted was for the doctor to tell me what was wrong but no one suggested it was depression.”He said his condition was so serious that even victory meant nothing. “There’s a certain sense of shame when I remember sitting in the dressing room after winning a one-day international in the West Indies,” he said. “The lads were celebrating and I didn’t want to be a part of it, I didn’t want to do anything but sit on my own in the corner.’Cases of depression in modern sport aren’t uncommon and Flintoff admitted that he wasn’t as aware of the problem as he should have been. “Because sporting stars earn high salaries and have a privileged life compared to the majority of people, there’s a perception that they can’t possibly suffer from mental health issues. They don’t want to seem ungrateful or whingeing and may be hiding their suffering rather than getting help for it.”Besides Trescothick, other England players who’ve admitted suffering from depression include Flintoff’s close friend Steve Harmison, Michael Yardy and Matthew Hoggard. New Zealand players Iain O’Brien and Lou Vincent have also suffered similar problems.