Amla, Zaheer, Watson nominated for top ICC awards

Zaheer Khan, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Shane Watson, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann have been nominated in each of the three top categories for the ICC's annual awards. The six players feature in the long-list of nominees for the Cricketer of the year, Test player of the year and ODI player of the year awards. In addition, there are 11 players who have been nominated in at least two categories.

The long-lists were put together by a five-man selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC cricket committee, Clive Lloyd. The other members of the panel were Mike Gatting, Danny Morrison, Paul Adams and Zaheer Abbas. The players were selected based on their performances between August 11, 2010 and August 2, 2011, a period that includes the ICC World Cup.

The winners of the individual player awards will be picked by "an academy of 25 cricket personalities" that includes a number of former players, representatives from the elite umpires panel, ICC match referees and members of the media.

This year's awards include 10 individual prizes, including the people's choice award that will be decided by cricket fans online, and three team awards: the Test and ODI teams of the year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the spirit of cricket. The awards ceremony will be held in London on September 12

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the awards are "a chance to look back on some of the great cricketing feats witnessed in the past year, including from our flagship event, the ICC Cricket World Cup".

The nominations

Cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson

Test player of the year: Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kevin Pietersen, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Sachin Tendulkar, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson

ODI player of the year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Mohammed Hafeez, Mahela Jayawardene, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Saeed Ajmal, Shakib Al Hasan, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Tim Southee, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson

Women's cricketer of the year: Cri-zelda Britz, Jess Cameron, Sarah Coyte, Charlotte Edwards, Shandre Fritz, Jhulan Goswami, Lydia Greenway, Bismah Maroof, Laura Marsh, Sara McGlashan, Anisa Mohammed, Shelley Nitschke, Leah Poulton, Poonam Raut, Stafanie Taylor

Emerging player of the year: Adnan Akmal, Azhar Ali, Hamish Bennett, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Colin Ingram, Abhinav Mukund, Wahab Riaz, Kane Williamson

Associate and Affiliate player of the year: Saqib Ali, Ashish Bagai, George Dockrell, Ryan ten Doeschate, Hamid Hassan, Nawroz Mangal, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Mohammad Shahzad, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary Wilson

Twenty20 international performance of the year: CJ Chibhabha 52 runs v South Africa, GC Smith 58 runs v Zimbabwe, JP Duminy 96* v Zimbabwe, SR Watson 59 v England, TT Bresnan 4 for 3 v Pakistan, TG Southee 5 for 18 v Pakistan, SA Fritz 116* v Netherlands Women

Umpire of the year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Kumar Dharmasena, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Kettleborough, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel, Rod Tucker

People's choice award: MS Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Gayle, Jonathan Trott, Hashim Amla

India tour of England 2011 / Fixtures

Date and Time	Match	Weather
Fri Jul 15 - Sun Jul 17 10:00 GMT | 11:00 local 15:30 IST	Somerset v Indians County Ground, Taunton	N/A
Thu Jul 21 - Mon Jul 25 10:00 GMT | 11:00 local 15:30 IST	1st Test - England v India Lord's, London	N/A
Fri Jul 29 - Mon Aug 1 10:00 GMT | 11:00 local 15:30 IST	2nd Test - England v India Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A
Fri Aug 5 - Sat Aug 6 10:00 GMT | 11:00 local 15:30 IST	Northamptonshire v Indians County Ground, Northampton	N/A
Wed Aug 10 - Sun Aug 14 10:00 GMT | 11:00 local 15:30 IST	3rd Test - England v India Edgbaston, Birmingham	13 - 21° C
Thu Aug 18 - Mon Aug 22 10:00 GMT | 11:00 local 15:30 IST	4th Test - England v India Kennington Oval, London	N/A
Thu Aug 25 09:15 GMT | 10:15 local 14:45 IST	Sussex v Indians County Ground, Hove	N/A
Fri Aug 26           13:30 GMT | 14:30 local 19:00 IST	Kent v Indians St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury	N/A
Mon Aug 29 13:30 GMT | 14:30 local 19:00 IST	Leicestershire v Indians Grace Road, Leicester	N/A
Wed Aug 31           17:00 GMT | 18:00 local 22:30 IST	Only T20I - England v India Old Trafford, Manchester	N/A
Sat Sep 3 09:15 GMT | 10:15 local 14:45 IST	1st ODI - England v India Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street	N/A
Tue Sep 6           13:00 GMT | 14:00 local 18:30 IST	2nd ODI - England v India The Rose Bowl, Southampton	N/A
Fri Sep 9           13:00 GMT | 14:00 local 18:30 IST	3rd ODI - England v India Kennington Oval, London	N/A
Sun Sep 11 09:15 GMT | 10:15 local 14:45 IST	4th ODI - England v India Lord's, London	N/A
Fri Sep 16           13:00 GMT | 14:00 local 18:30 IST	5th ODI - England v India Sophia Gardens, Cardiff	N/A

Johnson bowls Australia to 1-0 lead

Australia 192 for 3 (Watson 69, Clarke 53*, Ponting 53) beat Sri Lanka 191 (Randiv 41, Johnson 6-31) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Mitchell Johnson was Man of the Match for his 6 for 31 © AFP Enlarge
Related Links News : 'Calm' Johnson enjoys tough conditions Preview : Trial by spin for transitional Australia Matches: Sri Lanka v Australia at Pallekele Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of Sri Lanka Teams: Australia | Sri Lanka

Mitchell Johnson produced the fourth-best figures in Australia's one-day history to set his team on the path to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Pallekele. After losing the Twenty20s, Australia found a new spark with the arrival of the 50-over captain Michael Clarke, who attacked in the field and then helped steer the side home with Ricky Ponting after Shane Watson set up the chase.

Smart stats Sri Lanka's seven-wicket defeat is only their sixth in 34 home ODIs when they've won the toss and chosen to bat since 2000. Mitchell Johnson's 6 for 31 are his best figures in ODIs, and the fourth-best by an Australian. In 31 ODIs in Asia, Johnson has taken 60 wickets at an average of 20.41. In ODIs outside Asia, he has 98 wickets in 69 matches at 28. Australia won with 71 balls to spare, which is their second-best in Sri Lanka, and their fifth-best in any ODI against Sri Lanka. In 16 ODIs in 2011, Shane Watson has scored 959 runs at 68.50 and a strike rate of 115.26, with two hundreds and seven fifties. The 101-run partnership between Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke is only Australia's third century stand for the third wicket in Sri Lanka.

The first ten overs of the match seemed like an extension of the T20s, as Sri Lanka's openers gave their side a strong start with a 54-run stand. After the first wicket fell, though, the rest of the day belonged to Australia. Most surprisingly, given all the talk in the build-up to the game, it was aggressive pace bowling that set the tone for the match.

Such was the expectation that spin would be the dominant force that Johnson was the sixth bowler Clarke turned to after losing the toss. He struck with his third delivery, and ran through the middle order to finish with 6 for 31, his best limited-overs figures and an effort surpassed only by Glenn McGrath, Andy Bichel and Gary Gilmour for Australia.

Sri Lanka's 191 was a sub-par total on a good pitch but against the spin of Ajantha Mendis, who bamboozled the Australians in the second T20, a successful chase was far from a done deal. And while none of the batsmen were completely comfortable against Mendis, they generally found a way to survive, and handled him far better than they had two days ago.

For Watson, the method was simply to use his might. He struck six sixes in a brutal innings, twice clearing the boundary against Mendis and twice off Suraj Randiv, and he was at his best against the slow men when he got his front foot to the pitch of the ball. He had one life on 46 when, next ball after a six over long-off, he cut Mendis straight to point, where a listless Suranga Lakmal dropped a sitter.

Perhaps Lakmal was still thinking about the previous over, in which he had leaked 12 runs against Watson, who was merciless with his pulls when the seamers dropped short. Watson eventually departed for 69 of the 81 Australia had at the time, via a top-edged sweep off Randiv. Despite his 51-ball blitz, Watson didn't always pick the spinners, although he was a picture of composure compared to his opening partner, Brad Haddin, who managed 12 off 18 balls.

Haddin found Mendis harder to read than a Sinhalese newspaper. He played inside balls that turned away, and outside offbreaks, poking his bat forward with little more than hope. It was only a matter of time before Mendis had his man, and the wicket came when Haddin didn't pick a delivery that turned in through the gate and bowled him. It could be a tough tour for Haddin unless he finds a way to handle Mendis.

Fortunately for Haddin, the bowlers had ensured a gettable target. And the addition of Clarke and Ponting gave the middle order some starch. They combined for a 101-run partnership, both reaching half-centuries and showing that their experience could be a key factor in the series, albeit that their efforts in this match came without a great deal of pressure.

Ponting fell just before the victory was sealed, bowled for 53 as he tried to sweep Randiv, but Clarke stayed until the end. It was a calm innings from Clarke, who finished unbeaten on 53, having marshalled his men well in the field.

Dilshan and Upul Tharanga, who was returning after serving his three-month suspension for failing a drug test, put together a good opening partnership, but that ended when Tharanga (34) was bowled trying to cut Xavier Doherty. A big gap had been left on the off side, tempting Tharanga to play against the spin, and the plan succeeded.

The part-time spinner, David Hussey, struck soon after when Dilshan, on 29, threw his wicket away by lofting to mid-off. That was the first wicket in a costly spell for Sri Lanka, in which they lost three wickets for 13 runs. Mahela Jayawardene flashed at a wide one from Johnson and was caught low to the ground by Haddin, before Johnson deceived Sangakkara (16) with a fullish slower ball that was driven to short cover.

And when Clarke hurled his left hand out to snare Dinesh Chandimal for 12 off the bowling of Doug Bollinger, Sri Lanka were 101 for 5. A quick yorker from Johnson rattled the stumps of Jeevan Mendis for 2, before Angelo Mathews had a brain-freeze and was caught at mid-off, trying to send Johnson over the boundary.

Randiv and Nuwan Kulasekara rebuilt with a 60-run partnership for the eighth wicket, but Randiv became Johnson's fifth wicket when he holed out to long-off. Later in the same over - the 39th of the innings - Johnson came around the wicket and knocked back the off stump of Ajantha Mendis to secure his first six-wicket haul in an ODI.

The fightback quickly fizzled out when Kulasekara (34) pulled to deep midwicket, where a low catch from Michael Hussey gave Brett Lee his 350th one-day international wicket. It was just another happy moment for the Australians on their best day of the tour, and on one of the finest days of Johnson's international career.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s PP1 PP2 PP3 Last 10 overs NB/Wides Sri Lanka 157 24 3 58/1 23/2 (10.1-15) 14/1 (39.41.1) 0/1 (41.1) 0/2 Australia 117 12 6 60/1 26/0 (12.1-17) - - 0/2

England in control after seamers strike

England 84 for 0 (Strauss 52*, Cook 27*) trail India 224 (Dhoni 77, Broad 4-53, Bresnan 4-62) by 140 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Tim Bresnan continued his fine form and produced a superb delivery to remove Rahul Dravid © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links News : Bresnan's bouncing bomb bursts Dravid's dam Players/Officials: Tim Bresnan | Stuart Broad | MS Dhoni | Andrew Strauss Matches: England v India at Birmingham Series/Tournaments: India tour of England Teams: England | India

It's a mark of the high standards which England now set that India's eventual total of 224 felt a few too many after the pace attack had made short work of the top order, but the openers reached 84 without loss to ensure England remained firmly in control at Edgbaston. The visitors slumped to 111 for 7 before MS Dhoni rediscovered his form with a counter-attacking 77 as Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan shared eight wickets to do the bulk of the damage.

Andrew Strauss won his first toss of the series and was happy to insert - as his opposite number had twice done in the series - but though conditions were helpful the pitch was slow and the Indian batsmen mostly aided in their own demise. The only real exception was Rahul Dravid, removed by a wonderful ball from Bresnan moments before lunch, while Virender Sehwag's return lasted one ball and Sachin Tendulkar fell for 1 as England surged either side of the interval.

If it wasn't for Dhoni this match could well have been over as a contest already, but India still have a huge task to keep the series alive after Strauss and Alastair Cook made a significant dent in the total during the final 23 overs. Strauss reached his first international fifty of the season as the pace bowlers struggled to make an impression and Amit Mishra didn't pose many problems.

England's quicks, on the other hand, are a handful in most conditions so a well-grassed pitch and cloudy skies just added to the threat. James Anderson wasn't quite at his best, but Bresnan continued to demonstrate his development as a Test cricketer - and it's worth remembering his place was only confirmed when Chris Tremlett was ruled out on Tuesday - while Broad's resurgence shows no sign of abating.

Yet it wasn't perfect from the home side. While Dhoni and Praveen Kumar were adding 84 in 14 overs there was a strange loss of direction in the field. Strauss was very quick to go on the defensive to Dhoni, at one stage with eight fielders on the boundary, and the bowlers diverted from their successful strategy. As with the Broad-Swann stand at Trent Bridge it showed the impact of a positive approach and India were served well by the captain coming out of his shell. Dhoni had taken 16 balls to get off the mark, and India were going nowhere as the main batsman had departed in a rush, but he burst into life with a string of boundaries and the strut so often associated with his batting hinted at returning. His fifty came from 62 balls and included three mighty sixes to various corners of the impressively redeveloped ground.

Still, Dhoni's innings only papered over the ever-expanding cracks in India's batting. It would have seemed inconceivable at the start of the series that such a strong line-up (even allowing for the missing Sehwag and other injuries) would have failed to pass 300 in five innings. Sehwag's return couldn't have been briefer when he failed to lower his hands and gloved Broad's first delivery to the wicketkeeper. The umpire, Steve Davis, initially said not out and Strauss was swift to call for the DRS, which clearly showed the mark on HotSpot. Sehwag was seemingly carrying the hopes of a nation on his dodgy shoulder, but the odds were always stacked against him having an impact even if he's one player who often goes against convention.

Smart stats India were dismissed under 300 in the team first innings for the tenth time in Tests since January 2009. Seven of these occasions have come in the last nine innings. Stuart Broad picked up four or more wickets in an innings for the eighth time in Tests and the third time in his last five innings. In 16 previous innings, he had just one four-wicket haul. MS Dhoni's 77 is only his second half-century in 2011. He has now scored 223 runs this year at an average of 20.27. Virender Sehwag was dismissed off the first ball he faced. It is the fifth time that he has been dismissed off his very first delivery. The 113 runs added for the eighth and ninth wickets is the fourth-highest aggregate partnership runs for the eighth and ninth wickets for India against England. Since the Brisbane Test in November 2010, England have bowled out the opposition team in 17 out of 19 innings. The only two times they failed to bowl out the opposition were in rain-affected matches against Sri Lanka. The half-century opening stand for England is only their second in Tests this year. The previous fifty-plus opening stand came in the Sydney Test in January. Andrew Strauss' half-century is his first in nine innings after his 60 in the Sydney Test in January 2011. In eight innings prior to this one, he scored 129 runs at an average of 16.12.

Given the form of England's pace attack, a grassy pitch and cloudy skies, further wickets seemed there for the taking but India responded solidly. Gautam Gambhir, also returning from injury after the blow to his elbow at Lord's, had already collected two boundaries in Anderson's first over and moved along at a pace more akin to Sehwag's. Dravid, who wasn't given much of a break despite a return to No. 3, showed the judgement and skill that made him India's stand-out batsman in the series.

However, as India were sensing stability England burst through as Bresnan, who had bowled with nagging accuracy and immediately located the right length for the pitch, was rewarded when Gambhir inside-edged a drive onto leg stump. Tendulkar was greeted with the cheers that have followed him throughout the series and Anderson was recalled immediately to target someone he has removed seven times.

This time, though, Anderson had to settle for a helping hand in the wicket when Broad found the outside edge and he held the catch at third slip. It was the third time in the series that Broad had removed Tendulkar, whose 100th hundred is proving elusive, and India's problems didn't stop as Dravid received an unplayable leg cutter that took off stump in the final over of the session. England have had to work hard to dislodge Dravid in this series and Bresnan won't have bowled many better deliveries in his career.

Suresh Raina was again unconvincing as the quicks toyed with him before he loosely drove over a delivery from round the wicket, then Laxman joined the list of poor shots when he flicked a pull straight to long leg much as he did at Lord's. Mishra, who replaced the injured Harbhajan Singh, was batting high at No. 8 and soon edged a drive to give Broad his fourth.

The innings was at its low point, and England will have expected to be batting by tea, but India responded with some gusto. Praveen more than played his part with an idiosyncratic innings which included crunching drives and haphazard defence. The partnership was ended when Praveen top edged a pull off Bresnan, but it again needed DRS to confirm the edge after Davis said not out for the second time.

Given the ultra-defensive fields set by Strauss it was ironic that Dhoni's resistance was ended when an edge flew to the one close man - Strauss, himself, at first slip. The innings was ended when Cook, at silly point, managed to cling onto a well-timed punch that lodged in his elbow. When a team is playing confident cricket those are the sorts of things that go their way. One more good day can seal the series and No. 1 spot.

Injured Malinga out of Twenty20s against Australia

	An injury has ruled out Lasith Malinga from the Twenty20 series © PA Photos Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Shaminda Eranga | Chamara Kapugedera | Lasith Malinga | Dilruwan Perera | Chamara Silva Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of Sri Lanka Teams: Sri Lanka

Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, has not been picked for the national team's two-match Twenty20 series against Australia, starting August 6 in Pallekele, due to an injury. Malinga was named in the list of 20 probables for the home series, but was left out of the Twenty20s to get back to fitness for the five-match ODI series starting on August 10. Sri Lanka have drafted in uncapped allrounder Shaminda Eranga while Angelo Mathews takes over as vice-captain following the axing of Thilina Kandamby.

Also missing from the 16-man squad is batsman Chamara Kapugedera, who was part of Sri Lanka's World Cup squad but wasn't picked for the limited-overs matches on the tour of England. Dhammika Prasad, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Mathews and Eranga comprise the pace department . Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv are the frontline spinners, and the hosts also have Jeevan Mendis as a spin option.

Making a return to the national team are offspinning allrounder Dilruwan Perera, who last played an international game in February 2008, and middle-order batsman Chamara Silva, who played in the World Cup. Tillakaratne Dilshan was named captain for the entire tour. The limited-overs series are followed by three Tests.

Sri Lanka squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Suranga Lakmal, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Chamara Silva, Shaminda Eranga.

India's crown slipping Another injured bowler was just one of MS Dhoni's problems as he watched the second Test slip away

t was the day India feared could arrive from the moment Zaheer Khan limped out of the Lord's Test after three hours. Through a mixture of hardwork, talent, patience, perseverance and helpful conditions, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth did everything they could to keep the contest alive. However, as the Trent Bridge wicket calmed down on a sunny day, England took control with India deprived of Harbhajan Singh through injury.

The marks of pain were so harsh that at the end of the day the visitors walked back to the dressing room like prisoners going trudging to their cell with their ankles shackled. The sessions became increasingly worse for India as the day wore on; 106, 124, and then a crushing 187 runs were scored in each of the blocks making it a huge 417 runs in the day. The ease with which the unbeaten pair of Matt Prior and Tim Bresnan tucked into the India bowlers simply exposed an exhausted attack that had tried everything and could only accept the superiority of England's batsmen.

Ian Bell might be remembered more for his silly walk-out on the stroke of tea, but he played an unforgettable innings. It was in the first session that he snatched the game away. Ruthlessness has been a characteristic of the greatest sides in the history of the game, be with the ball or the bat, and so far in this series it has been England who have displayed more of it.

After their shocking collapse the previous evening, India needed to take a few quick wickets to stop England building an advantage. They removed Andrew Strauss but that was it. Harbhajan pulled a stomach muscle early on and, after nine ineffective overs, wasn't available for most of the day. For the second time in two Tests India were down a frontline bowler.

Even though the pitch wasn't taking any turn, and Harbhajan has been struggling in this series, he was needed to do a holding role ahead of the crucial second new ball. Instead, MS Dhoni was forced to resort to the part-time spin pair of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina who leaked easy runs.

It was a day when India's heavy workload in recent weeks - there was a three-Test series in the West Indies which all bar Sreesanth from this frontline attack played in before coming here - started to catch up with them. This is the fifth Test Praveen and Ishant are playing in six weeks. Praveen has bowled 221.3 overs while Ishant has delivered 223.5 in that period. Test cricket builds character and both men have shown they can learn but bodies can only handle so much. They are also missing their leader in Zaheer.

"For Ishant and Praveen, this is their fifth continuous Test back-to-back; they've been doing a lot of bowling for us," Rahul Dravid said. "They bowled over 60 overs at Lord's, 40 overs here again in three days. It's been hard, it's been tough on these guys and England bat deep.

"They've got some very good batsmen who can capitalise when your bowlers are tired. We wanted breakthroughs with the new ball and that happened. We got three wickets quickly but then the bowlers got tired, they'd bowled so many overs. England batted well and cashed in, so that was always going to put us under pressure once the bowlers got through that initial spell."

India are still the world's No. 1 side according to the ICC rankings but unless they dig deep into their reserves over the next two days they are unlikely to be there much longer.

Harbhajan Singh was the latest India bowler to pick up an injury and was restricted to nine overs on the third day © Getty Images Enlarge

Related Links Players/Officials: Harbhajan Singh | Praveen Kumar | Ishant Sharma Matches: England v India at Nottingham Series/Tournaments: India tour of England Teams: England | India

Battered finger to keep Ponting out of the slips

	"Every time I copped a bit of a knock on it, it was almost like I was re-breaking it again" © AFP Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Ricky Ponting Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of Sri Lanka Teams: Australia | Sri Lanka

Ricky Ponting has given up the Australian captaincy and now it seems he is bidding farewell to the slips cordon.

Continuing troubles with the finger Ponting fractured during last summer's Ashes series mean he will not be fielding in the slips on the tour of Sri Lanka.

The little finger on Ponting's left hand remains an unpleasant sight, having been operated on twice and knocked around numerous times in the field during the World Cup campaign that brought his Australian captaincy tenure to an end.

While the digit has benefited from Ponting's first extended holiday for some years, its relative tenderness will mean the new captain Michael Clarke will need to look elsewhere for a second slip fielder, where Ponting has traditionally stood in Tests ever since the spot was vacated by Mark Waugh in 2002.

"Maybe down the track [I will field in the slips again]," Ponting told ABC Radio. "It's going to be a confidence thing for me as well, I need to know that I can move quickly for balls low to my left and not worry about copping a nasty one on the end of the finger again.

"I won't start there in the one dayers we've got coming up, but if I'm confident and I'm not getting any pain in the finger, and the captain thinks I'm one of the best slip fielders we've got, then I could be back in there one day.

"I had two screws and a wire put in it before the World Cup, just to get through and be able to play in that tournament. I got through fine batting in the World Cup, fielding was a bit of an issue, every time I copped a bit of a knock on it, it was almost like I was re-breaking it again, so I went back home and had the screws and the wire out.

"It's a lot better now, I've got a lot less pain in every movement than I had before, and certainly the batting I've done in the last couple of months I haven't noticed it at all so that's a really good sign."

Looking ahead to Australia's demanding schedule over the next 12 months, Ponting said it was important that the team took small steps towards improvement, concentrating on lifting itself to No. 4 in the ICC's Test rankings before looking any further.

"I think the most important thing for us right now is we don't necessarily talk about getting back to the No. 1 ranking, because we've got to get to No. 4 first, then three, two and one," Ponting said. "So we'll take small steps at the start, I think we've got enough quality players around the group for us to get back to No. 4 pretty quickly.

"We learned some lessons last year on disciplined Test match cricket, I think England were more disciplined than us and played better Test match cricket than us, and if we can learn from the mistakes that were made last year, that'll go a long way to helping us become a better cricket team this year."

While Ponting acknowledged the loss of Simon Katich, he argued the future of the Australian team was promising, particularly given a developing battery of fast bowlers from which to choose.

"A notable out with Simon Katich not being in the contract list, so you'd think Phil Hughes will slot into that spot," he said. "I'm looking forward to working more with him on his game and helping him develop into a very good international cricketer which I think he can be. With Usman Khawaja around the group as well I think he's someone who's got that real Test match technique that you can build a player around, which is a really good sign for us, that's what we need as a batting group.

"The fast bowling stocks around Australia at the moment, if you look at our young guys, are probably as good as they've been since I've been playing the game. Pat Cummins, [Josh] Hazlewood, [Mitchell] Starc, [James] Pattinson, Ryan Harris is still relatively young in international cricket but at his best is as good as anyone, Peter Siddle, [Mitchell] Johnson, we've got a real good group there at the moment, and we've got to nurture them, keep bringing them on. But you read those names out and you think there's enough ability there for us to win our fair share of games."

Ponting and Clarke will depart for Sri Lanka on Thursday as part of the limited overs component of the squad. The Twenty20 players are in Colombo ahead of two matches against the hosts from Saturday.

Hot Spot to undergo testing

The company behind Hot Spot will undertake tests to see whether the cameras can be tricked by the use of artificial substances on the edge of the bat. There is a belief among players that Vaseline can reduce the chances of a thin nick showing up, although it has only ever been rumoured that such tactics are used.

Concerns about the effectiveness of Hot Spot came to the fore when VVS Laxman survived a caught-behind appeal on the second day at Trent Bridge. England were convinced there was an edge but Laxman was equally convinced he hadn't hit it. The third umpire said there was a noise but it wasn't clear from where. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, sparked controversy by tweeting the suggestion of Vaseline and Stuart Broad was later asked and admitted checking the edge of Laxman's bat but finding nothing.

Warren Brennan, the owner of Hot Spot, has previously said the device's accuracy is around 90-95% and can be impacted by such things as bright sunshine and the speed of the bat in the shot. He now says that it is possible that a substance like Vaseline could reduce the technology's effectiveness and tests will be conducted to try to find conclusive results.

"I would imagine that Vaseline would restrict the friction of the ball hitting the bat so if you reduce the friction you are going to reduce the Hot Spot," Brennan told ESPNcricinfo. "That is pure and simple physics. From what I can remember, quite often the outside of the bat has a layer of some sort of coating.

"Now if you put extra layers on the bat that might do the same thing. As long as it is a harder type of surface then you will get the Hot Spot. But if it is a soft, absorbant type of material then that will probably reduce the friction. It might take us a week or even longer to test all possibilities."

The other theory is that bat stickers on the edge of a blade can also help reduce the chances of a Hot Spot showing up - by showing one, long heat signature down the side of the bat - but Brennan said it is likely to work the opposite way and actually increase the visibility of individual marks.

"What I noticed last week when I was at Lord's was these stickers down the side of certain players' bats," he said. "When I looked at it through the cameras it actually looked like a Hot Spot, four or five little white spots. That was quite unusual so it must have be some sort of logo or the sticker. Through the infra-red I could see those spots.

"I just don't know why a manufacturer would put it on the side of the bat that would make it look like a Hot Spot. I had this conversation with the ICC less than a month ago and told them that we are noticing some of these stickers tend to reflect heat a bit like a mirror. The ICC said if that is the case they might have to look changing the regulations so that the side of the bat does not have any advertising, no stickers and no logos. But that is still a work in progress."

There have been a number of occasions when Hot Spot has proved inconclusive in caught-behind decisions. During the Ashes Kevin Pietersen survived at Melbourne, which incensed Ricky Ponting, while at Sydney Ian Bell survived an appeal which Snicko - which isn't used with the DRS - later suggested was out.

Hot Spot has been made a mandatory piece of technology for the DRS system following the ICC's meetings in Hong Kong last month, where it was also decided to make Hawk-Eye optional. The infra-red cameras have shown themselves to be especially effective at proving bat-pad catches and whether a batsman has been hit pad first in an lbw appeal, although in this series DRS is not being used for any leg-before decisions.

Bell recalled after bizarre run-out

Ian Bell was given out by the third umpire, but MS Dhoni withdrew the appeal during the tea break © Getty Images Enlarge

Related Links Analysis : Bell at his best leaves India gasping Features : Dhoni's gesture turns boos to cheers News : Teams agree right decision was made Audio/Video: 'It was completely honest mistake of mine' - Bell Players/Officials: Ian Bell | MS Dhoni | Praveen Kumar | Eoin Morgan | Abhinav Mukund Matches: England v India at Nottingham Series/Tournaments: India tour of England Teams: England | India

The contentious run-out of Ian Bell at the stroke of tea on the third day, which threatened to erupt into the biggest controversy of the series, was overturned during the break after MS Dhoni withdrew the appeal.

At the stroke of tea, Bell's run-out on 137, after having left the crease before the ball was dead, was on the verge of becoming a major point of dispute between the two sides. During the break, England captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower went to the Indian dressing room to ask MS Dhoni if the run-out decision could be overturned. The Indians agreed to withdraw the appeal.

At the resumption after tea, Bell and Eoin Morgan walked out to cheers from a surprised and appreciative crowd, which just a few minutes earlier had booed the two umpires - a small section of the crowd even chanting, the word 'cheat' - and then the Indian team as it made its way out, with Strauss and his men standing on the balcony of their pavilion clapping the Indians onto the field.

It all began when Morgan flicked the last ball of the 66th over, from Ishant Sharma, to deep square leg where Praveen Kumar tumbled over trying to field. The batsmen, having taken the third, appeared to be unsure whether the ball had reached the boundary. Morgan held up his arm to Bell, who jogged halfway down the pitch and then continued walking down. The throw from Praveen eventually came in to Abhinav Mukund, who took off the bails and appealed for a run-out. By that time, Bell had punched gloves with his partner and was heading towards the pavilion.

The umpires checked again with the Indians as to whether they had appealed. When the Indians said they had, the third umpire was asked to establish whether the ball had crossed the boundary. The two batsmen, who had reached the edge of the field, were asked not to leave the ground.

Other recalls You'll struggle to find an identical incident, but Tony Greig and Alvin Kallicharran came pretty close. It was the last ball of the day's play at Port of Spain in 1973-74. Bernard Julien defended just past Tony Greig at silly point, and Kallicharan walked off assuming it was stumps. Greig ran Kallicharan out, and after crowd trouble, and a meeting between the umpires, the captains and the board representatives, the appeal was withdrawn. Kallicharan added 16 to reach 158, West Indies won by seven wickets. For a change, not a run-out. In the Golden Jubilee Test, in 1979-80, Gundappa Viswanath was convinced Bob Taylor was not out when ruled caught-behind, and insisted he be called back. Taylor's match-turning partnership of 171 with Ian Botham was worth only 85 when Viswanath made the gesture that earned him a lot of respect. India lost by 10 wickets Keen not to repeat a much-regretted similar decision by Paul Collingwood, Andrew Strauss did what his team's coach Andy Flower thought was too generous. In a Champions Trophy game against Sri Lanka, he called back Angelo Mathews who was given run out after a collision with Graham Onions, who was not in the wrong at all. Mathews added only one to his 51, and England went on to win by six wickets.

There was a delay of eight minutes as the third umpire reviewed the replay and decided that the ball had not crossed the boundary. The decision of "out" flashed up on the screen, and the Indians left the field to heavy booing from the crowd. The Sky TV coverage showed during the incident as well on its nightly news, a clipping of Bell walking towards fourth umpire Tim Robinson and saying what sounded like, "He called over." In his media conference, however Bell said he did not hear any umpire calling 'over.' The Sky TV audio track also has no sound of the umpire calling over. The only time the word "over" is heard on that piece of video tape, comes from Ishant who, after the bails are dislodged, is heard asking in Hindi if the over had ended and whether it was time for tea.

Just over an hour after the incident, an announcement was made on the stadium's public address system, explaining the incident to the full house at Trent Bridge. The crowd heard that after Strauss and Flower asked Dhoni to withdraw the appeal, he went across to his team-mates and sought their view. The team agreed to recall Bell to the crease and the decision was made known to the England camp. The announcement stated that the ECB thanked the Indian team's gesture to withdraw the appeal against Bell and asked the crowd to show its appreciation. Once the announcement ended, applause rang out all around Trent Bridge.

Speaking after the day's play, Bell was appreciative of India's decision to reinstate him, and admitted that it was naive on his part to leave the crease with the ball still in play. "From Praveen's body language, it looked like that had gone for four," Bell told the Star Cricket channel. "Probably naïve on my behalf, but taking into account the spirit of cricket and everything, this was probably the right decision. It wasn't until we [Bell and Morgan] reached the boundary rope, when the umpires asked us to wait, that I knew something was on. It's fantastic the way India have gone about this. The captains and coaches got together, and were asked if the decision would stand. Duncan Fletcher and MS Dhoni went back to discuss it with the team and came back to us, and I got the nod."

Rahul Dravid said the Indian team was in unanimous agreement that the decision had to be reversed. "In the laws of the game, if you follow them strictly, that was out, but it didn't feel right in the spirit of the game," he said. "There was a team discussion during the tea interval, Dhoni and Fletcher convened the meeting, and Dhoni led it. There was a feeling of unanimity that we should reinstate Bell because the spirit of the game was important, and that getting him out in that way would contravened the spirit ... If this had happened to our guys we would not have been happy about it. So all of that was discussed."

There was appreciation from the ECB chief executive David Collier and the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, both of whom acknowledged the appeal for the run-out was a valid one. "The withdrawal of a valid appeal at the tea interval was made in the spirit of cricket by the India team and demonstrates the true spirit in which the game of cricket should be played and the excellent relationship between the ECB and BCCI," Collier said in a statement. "On behalf of the ECB I wish to express the England and Wales Cricket Board's grateful thanks the BCCI and the India team."

Lorgat said the withdrawal of the appeal showed great maturity on the part of India. "The initial appeal and umpire decision may have been acceptable to the letter of the law, the decision by India captain M S Dhoni and his team -as well as the Team India coaching staff - to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity. To see players and officials uphold the Great Spirit of cricket, which has underpinned the game for more than a century, is very special."

England's batsmen flatten India on 417-run day

England 221 and 441 for 6 (Bell 159, Pietersen 63, Morgan 70, Prior 64*) lead India 288 by 374 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Ian Bell mastered the Indian attack but was also at the centre of a controversy at tea © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Ian Bell | MS Dhoni | Eoin Morgan | Kevin Pietersen | Matt Prior Matches: England v India at Nottingham Series/Tournaments: India tour of England Teams: England | India

For two days, the swinging and seaming ball dominated the bat at Trent Bridge, and eleven wickets fell. On the third, the trend was reversed, emphatically. Faced with adversity - England trailed by 43 at the start and lost Andrew Strauss with the deficit still 10 - Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen played memorable counterattacking innings, batting with the confidence of champions during a 162-run partnership plundered at 4.47 runs per over. Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior then converted England's lead from healthy to practically unassailable with aggressive half-centuries, capitalising on wayward bowling, ragged fielding and listless captaincy. At stumps England led by 374 with four wickets in hand, having scored 417 runs in the day, and India's chances of winning or saving the match were slim. England's cricket was simply superior to India's, before and after the flashpoint that caused chaos minutes before tea.

England's lead was 187 with seven wickets in hand, when Bell, batting on 137 with the mastery of Yoda, made a rookie's assumption that ended his innings, temporarily. Morgan flicked the last ball before tea towards the square-leg boundary, where Praveen Kumar dived to try to save it. And he did, though he didn't think he had. Praveen then took his time to get up and throw the ball towards the wicketkeeper's end, by which time Bell had gone to the non-striker's end, jogging at first and then walking, either because he thought it was a boundary or that tea had been called. The throw reached Abhinav Mukund and he took off the bails, after which the umpire called over and handed Ishant Sharma his sweater. India had appealed for a run-out, though, and after a long delay, while the decision was referred to the third umpire, Bell was given out.

The Indian team was greeted with boos from the Nottingham crowd as play resumed after tea. But suddenly Bell walked out to bat and there were cheers. During the tea interval England's captain and coach, Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, had asked Dhoni if he was willing to withdraw the appeal. India had been within their rights to appeal for the run-out, and Bell was out according to the laws, but Dhoni agreed to let Bell resume his innings.

Bell added only 22 runs after the drama before he edged Yuvraj Singh to slip. During that time, though, Morgan took charge, finding the boundary frequently during a 104-run partnership. India's flagging intensity in the field plunged further. While most were still debating the run-out that wasn't, Morgan raced past fifty, off 62 balls, with a straight six off Harbhajan Singh.

Smart stats England's aggregate of 417 runs in the third day's play is the second occasion that they have scored 400 or more runs in a day's play after the 407 runs scored against Australia on the first day at Edgbaston in 2005. Ian Bell's 159 is his third score over 150 and his 15th century overall. It is also his first Test century batting at No. 3. Bell's strike rate of 77.18 is third on the list of his best strike rates for 100-plus scores in Tests. It is also the fourth-highest strike rate for an English batsman for a 100-plus score at Trent Bridge. The 162-run stand between Bell and Kevin Pietersen is the third-highest for the third wicket for England in Tests against India. The partnership run-rate (4.47) for the Bell-Pietersen stand is the second-highest for 150-plus stands for England in Tests against India. Matt Prior brought up his half-century off only 38 balls. Ian Botham holds the record for the fastest fifty by an English batsman against India when he scored his fifty off 28 balls. It is the ninth occasion that England have managed three century stands in an innings against India. The previous such occasion was at Lord's in 1990.

The second new-ball gave India false hope as Morgan and the injured Jonathan Trott fell in successive overs from Praveen. Prior and Tim Bresnan, however, added an unbeaten 102 runs for the seventh wicket at 5.56 runs an over. Their hitting boundaries at will turned the contest into a bout between a boxer in his prime and an opponent unable to defend himself. England had scored 187 runs in the final session. Whether the Bell incident affected India's psyche after tea or not, there was a drastic decline in their performance. In the 90 overs England batted today, they hit 52 fours and two sixes.

The platform for England's dominance, however, had been laid well before tea. A combination of sunshine and the use of the heavy roller meant that batting conditions were as good as they had ever been over the previous two days. And Bell, batting at No. 3 because of the shoulder injury to Trott, thrived in them. His shot selection and placement were precise, his timing faultless.

Bell had a strike-rate of over 70 against every specialist Indian bowler, an indication that no one troubled him. He cut when there was width, drove straight when the length was fuller and flicked and glanced when the line was too straight. And there were plenty of opportunities to do so. The scoring was all around the wicket and India were powerless to prevent the glut of boundaries. By lunch, he had scored 84 out of England's 130, and built a lead of 63 in Pietersen's company. Unlike Bell, though, Pietersen had not been fluent before lunch.

On the previous two days, there was a wicket in the first over after lunch. Today, there was a four from Bell. And then Pietersen found his fluency, driving Ishant on the up to the straight boundary, and switched into formidable mode. He attacked Ishant again, moving inside the line to glance, pulling with power and driving fiercely to long-on in the same over.

The ensuing passage of play was a blur of boundaries: Bell guiding wide balls to third man and Pietersen glancing towards fine leg. Bell got to his century off 129 balls, England reached 200 in 52.1 overs. India had some respite when, against the run of play, Sreesanth found Pietersen's edge, after which he bowed to the crowd, who had been giving him a hard time. Morgan, however, didn't fall cheaply this time and began a partnership with Bell. And then the drama began.