Eoin Morgan top-scored with 63 from 62 balls to revive England after a dramatic top-order collapse, as they secured a morale-boosting five-wicket victory over South Africa with three balls to spare at the Kensington Oval in Barbados

Cricinfo staff29-Apr-2010England 126 for 5 (Morgan 63) beat South Africa 125 for 5 by five wickets

ScorecardEoin Morgan rescued England from a sticky start to their innings•Getty Images

Eoin Morgan top-scored with 63 from 62 balls to revive England after a dramatic top-order collapse, as they secured a morale-boosting five-wicket victory over South Africa with three balls to spare at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.England were set 126 for victory, following a disciplined bowling performance led once again by Michael Yardy, who starred with 2 for 25 in four overs. But after 14 balls of their reply, they were in disarray at 9 for 3, with Michael Lumb failing for the second innings in succession and Kevin Pietersen falling for a first-ball duck in his first innings back in England colours since the tour of Bangladesh.But Morgan maintained his composure in another tricky situation, cracking six fours and two sixes to turn the tide of the innings, with his captain, Paul Collingwood (23 from 26 balls) providing stirling support in a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket.Collingwood eventually holed out to AB de Villiers at midwicket, leaving England needing 46 runs from 36 balls, and though Morgan struck a vast six to reduce the pressure, he then picked out Johan Botha at deep extra cover off Juan Theron to leave England in some strife on 105 for 5. But Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright ensured against further mishaps.South Africa had earlier struggled to assert themselves after winning the toss and batting, with their captain, Graeme Smith, needing 13 balls to get off the mark. With Loots Bosman pulling Stuart Broad to midwicket for 10 and Herschelle Gibbs running himself out for 1, South Africa mustered an insubstantial 27 for 2 in their six Powerplay overs.JP Duminy and Albie Morkel applied some late impetus with 30 and 32 not out respectively, from 21 balls, as South Africa hauled their total from 66 for 5 in the 15th over to 125 for 5 after 20. But thanks to Morgan’s solidity, it was an insubstantial total.

Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, will turn out for Essex in the upcoming Friends Provident Twenty20 tournament

Cricinfo staff20-May-2010Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, will turn out for Essex in the upcoming Friends Provident Twenty20 tournament. Styris was signed after the county’s deal with Yusuf Pathan fell through due to the BCCI’s decision to revoke the ‘No Objection Certificate’ which had been obtained to secure Pathan’s participation.Styris will not be available to Essex for the entire competition, which begins on June 1, as he will only join up with the team on June 10 – in time for the away game against Surrey – and his contract only runs to the end of the group stage, which ends on July 18. However, an option remains to extend Styris’s contract for the quarter final stage.”We are obviously delighted to secure the services of Scott,” said Paul Grayson, Essex’s first team head coach. “He is a vastly experienced cricketer and that is why we have signed him. He has shown good form for New Zealand and has the experience of the World Cup to offer.”Scott is a general allrounder and a good Twenty20 player and we hope he will make a big impact on the side. As a committed cricketer he knows how to play the game and is a canny one-day player. He could well prove to be a very astute signing for Essex”.Styris, 34, retired from Tests at the beginning of 2008 but remains an integral part of New Zealand’s limited-overs teams, having played 165 one-day internationals and 27 Twenty20 internationals. He also has a great deal of experience in English conditions, with stints at Durham and Middlesex, and is a veteran of domestic Twenty20 cricket, with 1733 runs and 63 wickets to his name.

It all went to prediction after South Africa won the toss on a road of a pitch at Warner Park. The top order capitalised on excellent batting conditions and a tepid display in the field to set a platform for a massive first-innings score

The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran18-Jun-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outGraeme Smith went on to pass 7000 Test runs and scored his 21st century•Associated Press

It all went to prediction after South Africa won the toss on a road of a pitch at Warner Park. The top order capitalised on excellent batting conditions and a tepid display in the field to set a platform for a massive first-innings score. At the helm was Graeme Smith, who made a fortuitous century, supported by valuable contributions from Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and some ordinary catching. It was hard work for the hosts who had to derive inspiration from themselves rather than turn to a barely audible crowd, going by the disappointing numbers on the opening day.Despite the fielding, it was an efficient performance from South Africa. Smith did not allow himself to get bogged down and managed to keep the scoreboard moving with singles and twos. He was also allowed to settle in early, play co-pilot to Petersen in the opening session and then take charge from there on.The West Indies seamers failed to pick on his prime weakness, which is the ball that darts back in from a round-the-wicket line. He has suffered in the past to left-arm quicks, but though West Indies didn’t have one of their own, none of their right-armers changed their line of attack to create opportunities. Also missing was the slower off cutter from Dwayne Bravo which has foxed him in the past.Bravo pitched it too full and wide outside off and Smith found his groove as he planted his right foot across to the pitch of the ball to put it away through the gaps. Bravo strengthened the off side field with a short cover but Smith beat that as well, even slashing one safely over gully. He pinched easy singles to the off side and with the ball coming on to the bat easily, he was able to rock back and pull deliveries from outside the off stump. Shane Shillingford tucked him up on a few occasions with his round-the-wicket line, also restricting him with a silly mid-on, but Smith was willing to be patient, focusing more on steady accumulation.The aggression was on show only as he neared his century. He tonked the part-timer Narsingh Deonarine for consecutive sixes over long-on to pass 7000 Test runs, before sweeping the same bowler to fine leg to bring up his 21st century. It was a comeback of sorts for Smith after suffering hand and elbow injuries over the last few years.Luck favoured him on at least three occasions. A thin leading edge fell short of slip shortly after lunch, a chipped sweep was fluffed by Shivnarine Chanderpaul at square leg when on 79 and a thin edge brushed Denesh Ramdin’s gloves on 112. It wasn’t just Smith who got away. Hashim Amla, who added 112 with Smith for the second wicket, was let off on 14 when a thick outside edge sailed past Chris Gayle, who was too late to react at second slip when Kemar Roach was in the middle of an encouraging second spell.Roach struggled with no-balls – six of them – in his opening spell. With the older ball, his accuracy improved but not his discipline. The over-stepping bug didn’t leave him, but he did create some opportunities with a hint of reverse swing. Usually, bowlers find it easier to use the shiny side of the ball to get the ball back in, but Roach tried to move it away from the right-hander and as a result Amla was unsure of his off stump. Roach started pitching the ball up a lot more, trying to extract swing with the cloud cover to assist him.That was perhaps West Indies best chance of breaking through. Shillingford was the best bowler on view, getting turn and tucking up Smith from both sides of the wicket. The batsmen weren’t afraid to use their feet, but it didn’t deter him from flighting the ball. He got the wicket of Amla, edging to slip before tea. He started tiring in the final session, as he dropped the ball short to Smith and was spanked through the off side.West Indies didn’t take the new ball, despite Roach coming on for a new spell. He managed to get the crucial wicket of Smith, dragging one from outside off and edging to his middle stump. South Africa had the well-set Kallis at the crease at the end, with AB de Villiers for company. Kallis had set off in fifth gear, scoring his first 22 runs off just 16 balls, but as the final session wore on, he struggled to pick the gaps.Kallis may have struggled to get going towards the end, but at the start of the day, Petersen’s fluency was the highlight. Ravi Rampaul managed to extract some away swing but was too often wide of the off stump, allowing Petersen some flowing drives through the off side. When Rampaul banged it in short, Petersen pulled past square leg. He used his feet against the spinners and even bent down to unfurl the slog sweeps. A fine catch by Roach, running forward from long leg, ended his innings on 52. Had West Indies pounced on more such opportunities as Roach did, the balance would have been more even at the end of the day.

Surrey’s woes continued as they sank to a 39-run defeat at the hands of a buoyant Sussex at The Oval

The Bulletin by Liam Brickhill20-Jun-2010

ScorecardSurrey’s woes continued as they sank to a 39-run defeat at the hands of a buoyant Sussex at The Oval. For the visitors, all of the top order bar Matt Prior contributed in a total of 158 for 7, Brendon McCullum top-scoring with 34. Surrey’s batting folded after Rory Hamilton-Brown had been removed after a fiery 13-ball 24, with 21-year-old legspinner Will Beer taking the wickets of Steve Davies and Andrew Symonds in a parsimonious spell to earn the Man of the Match award before Chad Keegan brought the game to a swift end with three clean-bowled dismissals.Things had looked much brighter for the home side when they began their chase on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Chris Nash was asked to open the bowling with his offspin, but the experiment was a disaster as first Davies thrashed him firmly through the covers and Hamilton-Brown then lifted him for two monstrous sixes to take 18 from the over.Sussex regained some control as Keegan’s first over went for just six, but Robin Martin-Jenkins waivered in both line and length and Surrey raced to 36 in the first three overs. Goodwin, captaining in Michael Yardy’s absence, continued to cycle his bowlers, with Dwayne Smith replacing Keegan and James Kirtley brought on for Martin-Jenkins. Kirtley’s introduction brought immediate success as he got a ball to rear up and hurry Hamilton-Brown’s pull, the resultant top-edge being snaffled easily by Goodwin himself, running back from square leg.Surrey could soon have been in even deeper trouble when Mark Ramprakash swept Beer and the ball looped off the outer half of the bat towards fine leg, but the fielder spilled the tough, dipping chance. Ramprakash could make nothing of the second life, however, falling soon after to a superb stumping by Andy Hodd as he over-balanced while looking to nudge Martin-Jenkins away.Hodd has the experience of both Prior and McCullum in the squad to draw upon but looked a superb ‘keeper in his own right today, as not a chance went begging behind the stumps and not a single bye was given away.Surrey began to slide with Ramprakash’s dismissal, Symonds falling second ball as he aimed to clear the infield and Davies falling in similar fashion two overs later for 35 – the highest score of the innings – to give Beer his second wicket and leave his side in some strife at 74 for 4 in the 11th over.With the required run-rate climbing, Stewart Walters got going with a cracking pull off Kirtley that raced to the midwicket boundary almost before any of the fielders could move, but then found Keegan at deep square leg trying to repeat the stroke off Smith.Nash’s re-introduction then sealed the result, with Gareth Batty and Younis Khan – who will no doubt have been somewhat distracted by his snubbing for Pakistan’s Test and Twenty20 squads for their England tour – perishing within four balls of each other as they tried to reach the boundary, and Surrey were dead in the water at 97 for 7 with just 24 balls left. It was left to Keegan to administer the final blow, as he steamed in to shatter the stumps of Nos. 8, 9 and 11 to bowl Surrey out for 119.Surrey had looked a far more competitive side in the field than with the bat, with Chris Tremlett’s menacing pace and bounce accounting for Prior early on before Chris Schofield did his best to asphyxiate the middle order.After McCullum and Goodwin fell in consecutive overs to slow bowlers, Smith, who hit the most sixes for Sussex in this competition last year, was soon into his stride, lifting Symonds over square leg with nonchalance and then cracking him into the second tier of the stands beyond long-on to move into the 20s.Sussex lost a wicket as the partnership was beginning to look threatening as Smith played over the top of a full delivery from Schofield to be bowled for 23 with the score at 99 for 4 and Hodd could have been run out soon after when Nash stepped down the wicket to thrash Tim Linley to Schofield at long-off and a second run was called for, unwisely, after a slight misfield. Linley couldn’t hold on to the return from the deep, which would have had the batsman out by at least a foot, but made amends soon after when he speared in a yorker which struck Hodd’s pads in front of the stumps as he shuffled across to attempt a scoop.There were the usual histrionics from Andre Nel, particularly when he had Nash ducking and weaving in his second spell, but in between the showboating and the steely glares Nel also showed some guile and experience to keep boundaries to a minimum at the death.Tremlett, too, continued to impress. Joe Gatting sent the fifth ball of his second spell scything over the turf to the cover boundary where, much to the amusement of the crowd, it bobbled over the rope and struck one of the Lionesses cheerleading group (thankfully, not mid-routine). But the tall fast bowler struck back immediately to have Gatting easily caught by third man running in from the boundary after an intelligent change of pace.But that was as good as it got for Surrey, whose shoddy limited-overs batting means they continue to languish in the bottom half of the South Group points table.

WV Raman, the former Indian opener, will be coach of the Bengal cricket team from September this year after a four-year stint as mentor of Tamil Nadu

Cricinfo staff21-Jul-2010WV Raman, the former Indian opener, will be coach of the Bengal cricket team from September this year after a four-year stint as mentor of Tamil Nadu. He takes over from former India allrounder, Roger Binny, who oversaw an indifferent previous season for Bengal.Raman, who had previously coached Bengal in 2001, said he wanted to shift from Tamil Nadu as they had a well-established young unit. “After four years, a time comes to decide whether you need to continue or not,” he said. “If you look at it, I sort of revived Tamil Nadu and now a young side is doing duty, which can last for another seven-eight years. That being the case I thought I will have a change. What could be done to rebuild the Bengal side?”This will be Bengal’s fourth coach in four years, with two of Raman’s immediate predecessors – Utpal Chaterjee and Binny – having lasted only a season each.”In fact, Bengal wanted me two years ago,” Raman said. “I thought I cannot leave Tamil Nadu in the midst of them getting into the groove. I did not want to leave half way through since the job what I wanted to do was not complete.”When asked whether former captain Sourav Ganguly would play in the Ranji Trophy, Raman said “Ganguly might play one-dayers for Bengal, if he is going to play in the IPL next season.”

Ian Westwood scored the only half-century of the match to guide bottom side
Warwickshire to a seven-wicket victory over fellow County Championship
strugglers Essex at Southend

06-Aug-2010
ScorecardIan Westwood scored the only half-century of the match to guide bottom side
Warwickshire to a seven-wicket victory over fellow County Championship
strugglers Essex at Southend.The visiting captain struck 61 to steer his side to their third success of the
summer after they had been left with a target of 155. Westwood combined a solid defence with the occasional flourish as he gathered his runs from 130 deliveries with the aid of six fours.The opener was finally undone by Australian leg-spinner Bryce McGain when he
was trapped lbw playing back with Warwickshire still requiring a further 37. But Jim Troughton and Rikki Clarke were to see them to their target without further alarms.Darren Maddy also played a significant part in the visitors’ win, helping
Westwood add 82 in 26 overs for the second wicket before he edged David Masters
to Tim Phillips in the slips. Earlier, Essex managed to add a further 81 after resuming on 78 for 6. That was due largely to the efforts of Matt Walker and Masters.After Phillips had been removed early on by Boyd Rankin, the eighth-wicket pair
added 46 against a diet of pace without looking in serious trouble. The mystery was why Westwood waited so long to introduce spinner, Imran Tahir, into the attack as they dug in. When he did so, Tahir wasted very little time in claiming the remaining wickets.With the seventh delivery of a new spell, he had Walker taken at slip by Clarke
to end a resolute innings that spanned 111 balls and brought him 39 runs. Masters became an lbw victim in Tahir’s next over after he had struck 34 with the help of five boundaries, before Andy Carter suffered the same fate.Tahir’s three wickets came in the space of 22 deliveries at a personal cost of
seven as he finished with figures of four for 20 from 8.4 overs. Jimmy Ord became an early scalp of Masters, caught at slip, when Warwickshire set off in pursuit of victory. But Westwood and Maddy’s productive partnership virtually put paid to any victory hopes Essex may have entertained as they carried the total into three figures.Both were then dismissed in the space of half a dozen overs, Maddy falling for
39 against Masters, but, by then, Essex were resigned to a defeat that saw them
extract only three points from the match and leave them with an enormous task to
avoid relegation, having played more games than those struggling around them.Warwickshire, despite gaining 19 points, are still rooted to the bottom of the
table, but at least they will go into their next game against Nottinghamshire at
Trent Bridge with renewed hope.

When Charl Willoughby removed Phil Mustard in mid-afternoon at Chester-le-Street, Somerset went top of the Championship table but it is still far too early to tell who will finish in that prized position

Andrew McGlashan at Chester-le-Street14-Sep-2010
ScorecardSomerset’s bowlers did an impressive job on the second day at Chester-le-Street•PA Photos

When Charl Willoughby removed Phil Mustard in mid-afternoon at Chester-le-Street, Somerset went top of the Championship table but it is still far too early to tell who will finish in that prized position. The visitors, though, aren’t going to die wondering with Marcus Trescothick’s free-flowing 75 leading a quick-scoring reply as Somerset reached 226 for 4 at the close and within sight of a useful advantage.With Nottinghamshire having lost so much time at Old Trafford they are facing an uphill task to secure the 22-point win that gives them the title regardless, so Somerset may not need a maximum bonus-point victory here, either. Their best chance is to bat positively, following Trescothick’s lead, and then hope that Durham’s fight diminishes as the season draws to a close. The scoring rate of 4.77 shows that is their plan as James Hildreth and Peter Trego continued to unfurl their shots despite three quick wickets falling for 48 in seven overs.Trescothick’s fifty came from 65 balls and he was doing as he pleased with some friendly bowling, although the West Indian Ruel Brathwaite bowled an energetic spell on his Durham debut. It was Trescothick’s attacking instincts that brought his downfall as he drove at Ben Harmison – the brother of Steve who, like a host of Durham bowlers, is injured – and edged through to the keeper.Arul Suppiah had pushed a return catch to Liam Plunkett to end an opening stand of 48, but Nick Compton added 84 with Trescothick for the second wicket. Compton played some superb off-side shots, but immediately after hitting his ninth boundary was given lbw against Harmison. Somerset continued to lose their way when Craig Kieswetter played a horrid shot across the line at Chris Rushworth to leave them 180 for 4. There is a fine line between aggression and recklessness, but neither Hildreth or Trego went into their shells. It made for compelling cricket.Yet, this title race could still come down to the autumn weather. The North East was certainly the place to be on Tuesday as a bright and breezy September day meant valuable playing time, with only a brief shower during the evening session. The irony probably wasn’t lost on Somerset, either, that Nottinghamshire walked off at Old Trafford with the sun shining.On a flat pitch it was a commendable effort from Somerset’s attack as their seam bowling is in the workmanlike rather than fearsome bracket. Steve Kirby’s arrival from Gloucestershire for next season will boost their resources considerably. Here, though, Ben Phillips collected four, Willoughby three and Trego a important brace shortly before lunch.Alfonso Thomas bowled without any luck on the opening day but claimed a deserved wicket in the third over of the morning when Dale Benkenstein’s fine innings ended as he pushed away from his body and edged low to Trescothick at first slip. It gave Somerset their first bonus point and closed the gap on Nottinghamshire to just one.Gordon Muchall’s almost three-hour vigil ended with a thin edge to the wicketkeeper off Phillips. Harmison continued his promising finish to the season with an obdurate innings as he and Ian Blackwell added 57 in 16 overs for the fifth wicket. Blackwell, whose average this summer is a modest 32, lived dangerously with a wild, end-of-season, swipe against Willoughby and also drove short of cover before playing around one from Trego to depart lbw.Trego, a valuable cricketer who could find himself on the Lions tours this winter, then delivered Somerset their second bonus point, lifting them level with Nottinghamshire, when Harmison’s resistance ended with a weak pull that looped to square leg.Trescothick employed the twin spin attack of Suppiah and Murali Kartik to reach the second new-ball quickly and the move paid off when Scott Borthwick edged low to first slip against Phillips’ first ball back. Plunkett was lucky to make 11 as Willoughby beat him three times in a row before an edge flew to second slip, then the Championship lead was secured when Mustard inside-edge into his stumps. It was still Somerset’s advantage at the close, but it remains a three-way fight for the trophy.

Round-up of the third day’s action in the Faysal Bank T-20 Cup 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2010Azeem Ghumman’s quickfire 59 set the Hyderabad Hawks on their way to a seven-wicket victory over Lahore Eagles at the Gaddafi Stadium. Chasing a stiff 178, Ghumman, who captained Pakistan Under-19s at the World Cup earlier this year, blasted nine fours and two sixes and added 91 in seven overs for the first wicket with Sharjeel Khan.Hyderabad briefly lost their way after the opening stand, losing three wickets cheaply and had Faisal Athar retired hurt. Thirties from Rizwan Ahmed and Aqeel Anjum, however, safely carried them to their first win of the tournament, with two balls to spare.Lahore seemed to have the upper hand after their captain Taufeeq Umar, who last played for Pakistan in 2006, played through the innings for a 78. No one else from the top seven provided him much support, but No. 8 Junaid Zia smashed four sixes and two fours to raise 47 from the final 14 deliveries.In the day’s second match, Rawalpindi Rams beat Karachi Zebras by 28 runs. The defeat knocked Karachi out of the tournament and left Rawalpindi facing a knock-out clash with Sialkot Stallions to determine who will progress from Group B.Rawalpindi were struggling at 30 for 3 when 36-year-old Naved Ashraf, in his 19th season of first-class cricket, provided them the momentum with a quick 45 which included four sixes and two fours. There were no other big contributions but a string of twenties pushed Rawalpindi to a challenging 172.Four boundaries from Khurram Manzoor in the first two overs gave Zebras’ chase a brisk start, but he fell to left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir for 19. No. 3 Babar Rehman perished in the third over, and following a burst of hitting from Hasan Raza -now 28 years old but famous for being the youngest Test debutant – there was another slew of wickets which left them at a hopeless 73 for 5, a position from which there was no comeback.Lahore Lions eased to a 36-run win over Peshawar Panthers at the Gaddafi Stadium after their openers, Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad, had propelled them to a challenging total. Asked to bat, the Lahore openers gave their team a solid foundation in a 113-run stand in just 11.2 overs. Jamshed smashed eight fours and two sixes in his 79 while Shehzad’s innings was laced with six fours and one six. That wasn’t all. Umar Akmal came in and played a typically aggressive knock, carting eight fours in his 52. Thanks to his onslaught, Lahore reached 206 and it proved adequate.Peshawar, in their reply, failed to emulate the start provided by the Lahore openers, with the first wicket falling on 16. The Lahore bowlers struck at regular intervals and while there were contributions that promised much, the highest, unfortunately for Peshawar, was 35 from Zohaib Khan at No.8. Wahab Riaz shone with the ball for Lahore, taking 3 for 15 as Peshawar folded for 170.

Points Table

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

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* Top three IPL teams will qualify for Champions League

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Sharad Pawar, the ICC president, has vowed to clean the game of corruption and also reiterated the governing body’s commitment to sustaining Test cricket

Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore06-Oct-2010Sharad Pawar, the ICC president, has vowed to clean the game of corruption and also reiterated the governing body’s commitment to sustaining Test cricket.Pawar was speaking at the ICC Awards in Bangalore, at a time when the game is still mired in the spot-fixing scandal which broke in late August during Pakistan’s tour of England. Three leading Pakistan cricketers – captain Salman Butt, and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – were provisionally suspended by the ICC and will have their appeals heard at the end of this month in Qatar.”Cricket is going through a difficult time, but we will sort it out,” Pawar said, warning that anyone found guilty of corruption would not be spared. “Whoever it is, however towering a figure in world cricket, we will not compromise.”Pawar also addressed fears regarding the priority of Test cricket in the face of increased popularity of the Twenty20 format. Three West Indian cricketers who are sought-after Twenty20 players – captain Chris Gayle and allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard – turned down central contracts and New Zealand Cricket carved out a window in its calendar to accommodate the lucrative IPL.”We will never let Test cricket die,” Pawar said, a day after a VVS Laxman led India to a heart-stopping one-wicket victory over Australia in Mohali. “We will consult senior members of the cricket world, and come up with suggestions.”One suggestion the ICC came up with was to have a Test league running over four years ,with the top four teams taking part in a play-off event to determine the champions. There have also been proposals to stage day-night Tests to draw larger crowds, but the concept has been held up because of problems with the colour and type of ball to be used.Virender Sehwag, the Test Player of the Year, also stated his preference for the five-day format over the limited-overs versions of the game at the awards ceremony.

Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell both enjoyed some valuable time in the middle, but the rest of England’s batsmen failed to make use of a good batting pitch in their second warm-up game

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2010
Scorecard
Paul Collingwood enjoyed returning to the venue of his highest Test score•Getty Images

Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell both enjoyed some valuable time in the middle, but the rest of England’s batsmen failed to make use of a good batting pitch in their second warm-up game. Adelaide Oval would have seemed the ideal venue for key men to get runs under their belts, but Australia’s newest Test bowler, Peter George, made life difficult for the top order.Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott are the two men England would like to see fire in the second innings; they are the only specialist batsmen who have not yet recorded a half-century on the tour. As they had in Perth, the visitors again played their best XI, a strong indication of how seriously they are taking the practice matches still a fortnight from the first Test.Collingwood’s 94 was a positive sign, as he enjoyed returning to the venue of his highest Test score, but he missed the chance for a century when he edged to gully off the fast bowler Jake Haberfield. He scored his runs quickly – he took only 116 deliveries – and his partnership with Bell helped England recover from a shaky 4 for 95.The early wickets came mostly through George, who played the Bangalore Test in October but is likely to have been overtaken by Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris, who have come back from long injury lay-offs, in the queue for a place in the Gabba Test. George began by removing Andrew Strauss, who was caught down leg side for 4, before he added Trott, who on 12 miscued a pull and gave George a return catch.George had all three wickets when he came back after lunch to have Cook caught behind for 32, and England were in a hole at 3 for 63. Kevin Pietersen and Collingwood began the rebuilding process but Pietersen departed for 33, the victim of a clever take at deep square leg, where his hook was caught on the boundary by Aiden Blizzard, who tossed the ball back in the air while he fell out of play, and snaffled it again after stepping back in.If that was a sign that it was not England’s day, it was ignored by Collingwood and Bell, who combined for a brisk 131-run partnership. Bell was bowled by Ben Edmondson for 61 before the left-arm spinner Aaron O’Brien picked up a couple of lower-order wickets that encouraged a declaration from Strauss at 8 for 288 late in the day.However, England’s bowlers didn’t have any success in nine overs before stumps. South Australia closed the day at 0 for 26, with James Smith on 16 and Daniel Harris on 10, and the fast men will need to find whatever help George (3 for 65) located in the surface if they are to enjoy their day in the field on Friday.