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Brett Lee has enlisted the help of Dennis Lillee as he attempts to overcome a “tough little period” in his career.In the absence of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Lee had been expected to spearhead Australia’s bowling in the recent Test series against India. But he managed just eight wickets in two matches, and suffered the humiliation of being hit for 201 runs in a single innings at Sydney.He was subsequently overlooked for the VB Series, and watched from the sidelines as his replacement Brad Williams bowled Australia to victory over Zimbabwe on Sunday.”People are asking questions about my pace, about no-balls and the fact that I’ve been hit for a lot of runs in these past two Tests,” said Lee, who bowled 37 no-balls in Melbourne and Sydney. “Bowling 18 no-balls in an innings is unacceptable, there is no excuse. I hope Dennis can help me solve the problem.”Lillee, whose fast-bowling academy in Chennai has helped to transform India’s fortunes, believes Lee’s problems may stem from the fact Australia does not have a bowling coach, unlike both its rivals in the current one-day series. Australia’s former left-arm seamer Bruce Reid is working with both India and Zimbabwe.Lee flew Lillee from Perth to Sydney after last week’s fourth Test to work with him at a training session. Apart from injuries and the occasional spell on the sidelines, Lee has been a regular in the Australia side since his debut against India four years ago. He has since developed into an intimidating, if unreliable, back-up to McGrath and Jason Gillespie, but is finding the next step up a hard one to take.

Positivism was the message England captain Nasser Hussain was throwing out after his side’s record one-day loss to New Zealand at WestpacTrust Stadium in Wellington.Despite the 155-run margin Hussain said he firmly believes he has the players to beat New Zealand.”Otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” he said.But he did acknowledge that the performance yesterday had not been good enough.”Today was a poor performance, there is no excuse for it all the way through. It was not a 90 all out wicket and it is not a 240 wicket, it is somewhere between those two.”Maybe if we kept them down to 180, and fielded a little better, and put in the energy that New Zealand put in we might have batted a bit more sensibly. But all departments were not good enough today,” he said.While the pitch had done a bit all day, New Zealand’s bowlers had put the ball in the right areas more often than the England attack, their fielders took better catches than England. And if things had been done better, New Zealand could have been 30/4.Hussain did not think some marginal umpiring decisions had impacted on the side.”We could have had 15 decisions go for us today and we’d have lost,” he said.

Hussain- we’ll pick ourselves up Photo Reuters

The formula was obvious, after all, as Hussain told the press conference, two games ago the English media had been saying England were a good side.The team did not go from being a good side to a bad one in two games, he said.”One thing that we have done in the last few years is we have picked ourselves up, we will have a chat and try to pick ourselves up.”It is part and parcel of being an England cricketer. You do have days like this and you have to pick yourself up. I firmly we have the ability in that room to beat New Zealand otherwise I wouldn’t be here and we showed that for large parts of the game the other day.”We were a better side the other day, today we weren’t and therefore I have to remind them of that and therefore ask them to be honest with me and ask them why we were all so flat and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”You have to focus in and do our job and not enough of us did that today,” he said.Hussain also explained the replacement of wicket-keeper James Foster by Marcus Trescothick. It had been to give Foster a break.”James Foster has been tired the last two or three days and he has talked to a couple of coaches about it.”He’s a young lad who’s come out of University where he played 15 games in a year and now he’s playing 50 games in a year so he was feeling it a little bit so we rested him today in the hope he’ll have fresh legs later on in the series, whether it be in the one-dayers or test matches or whatever,” he said.”Owais Shah came in because he’s a good young prospect and we’ll readdress the side when we look at conditions in Napier.”

Inspite of a seven wicket haul by Bengal’s S Pearuddin, a fighting centuryby S Banik helped Tripura salvage a draw on the third andfinal day of their East Zone Under-14 match againstBihar at the East Calcutta District Sports Council Ground inCalcutta on Thursday.Needing 249 for a win, Tripura made a disastrous start when they lostopener SD Burma (0) caught by by Himadri Pal off Pearuddin in the secondover. His partner D Dutta (5) departed soon after when he fell leg beforeto Pearuddin. Then S Banik (114) and Subhrajit Roy (12) took the score on to48 when the latter fell leg before to Sarnendu Pal. With the score boardreading 48 for 3, D Choudury (14) joined Banik to forge a 44 run fourthwicket stand in 12.2 overs. Then two quick wickets fell.But the partnership that saved the match for Tripura was the 63 run seventhwicket stand between Banik and BD Burma (8) which came in 26.2 overs. Banikfell after a 258 minute stay at the crease, faced 200 balls and hit19 boundaries.Thereafter BD Burma held the fort for Tripura. Burma was the ninth wicketto fall. But by that time he had stayed at the centre for 112 minutes andfaced 100 balls to score 8 runs. Tripura then trudged along to 194 for ninewhen the day’s play ended.Earlier on the second day, the Tripura first innings folded up at 159,giving Bengal a lead of 122 runs. In reply Bengal scored 126 runs in theirsecond innings, when the skipper Himadri Pal declared the innings. OpenersA Bhowmick (21) and Arindam Ghosh (21) added 29 runs in 7.3 overs. Then SMukherjee (28), S Gond (12) and S Pearuddin (12) chipped in with usefulcontributions with the bat.

West Ham could be without three key men for tonight’s crunch-match with Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg, with the Hammers currently one-goal down on aggregate.

You’d expect them to have an advantage of their home crowd tonight, but with star winger Jarrod Bowen missing, the job will just be even more difficult than it was before – and it could become even harder should two key players also join the English winger on the sidelines.

Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell are both awaiting late fitness tests to see whether they will be able to take part in the game tonight, after suffering injuries at the weekend against Aston Villa.

“I couldn’t tell you exactly if they’re fit,” West Ham manager David Moyes said yesterday. “They’ve done a little bit of light training. We’re trying to find out if they are fit, that’s really what it is – we’re trying to give them every opportunity to be fit.

“They didn’t train with the team today (Wednesday), but they have done a little bit with the fitness coaches. We’ll wait and assess them tomorrow to see how they are.

“I’ve not named the team and I’ll probably not do that until late tomorrow [Thursday] to see how they are.”

This news will undoubtedly leave the Irons boss nervous, especially as Antonio is currently the Hammers’ only natural option at striker, and after having another solid season for the East London club with him scoring eight Premier League goals in 28 games, Moyes will find it very difficult to replace him if he isn’t able to play tonight.

It’s not just his goals output that the Hammers will miss though, as he has also created seven more in the league this season, making on average 1.5 key passes per game – showing how important his creativity is for the club too.

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Meanwhile, 32-year-old Cresswell has started 22 games in the top flight, scoring once and setting up three, proving he is also still a key asset to the team, and his leadership will surely be missed in such an important game like this one.

In other news: Moyes must unleash “beautiful” £17.5m West Ham gem today, he creates “magical” moments

	Mitchell Johnson was pleased to finish the MCG Test with three late wickets and he will continue to keep Shaun Tait out of the attack when the Sydney Test begins on Wednesday © Getty Images

Mitchell Johnson ended a Test he was not sure he would play in with anenhanced reputation and the hope India’s batsmen would see him as a threatfor the rest of the series. A mid-match chat with Troy Cooley, Australia’sbowling coach, helped Johnson achieve more swing in the second innings andhis burst of three wickets finished the game late on the fourth day.However, Johnson had to survive a close battle to appear on Boxing Day afterthe push for Shaun Tait grew when he replaced the left-armer for theChappell-Hadlee Series. Johnson’s variety and tight control, which was afeature of the home fast bowlers in Melbourne, were crucial elements asIndia were dismissed for 196 and 161.”There was a bit of concern there [about my spot],” he said after the teamhad completed a recovery session at a Melbourne beach. “It took me bysurprise, being dropped from the one-day squad.”While Australia’s spin options are limited, there is strength in thefast-bowling stocks and the back-up is led by Tait, who remained in the 12-man squad for the second Test. There will be no way infor Tait in Sydney after the 337-run win in Melbourne, but Johnson is stillnot feeling secure about his place. After 11 wickets in three Tests he hasmade a promising start and is safe for a couple of games at least. Johnsondelivered an immaculate line outside off stump at the MCG, which was theplan to frustrate the Indians into rash shots, and he gave away less thantwo runs an over.In the first innings he opened with five maidens to Rahul Dravid and afternot picking up any wickets or much swing he talked to Cooley. The upshot wasa straighter wrist position on day four and some dramatic movement. MS Dhoniand Anil Kumble were caught behind in the same over, setting up a speedyfinish, and Johnson was proud to seal the win by bowling RP Singh.”Getting three wickets was a bit of a relief,” he said. “In the firstinnings I didn’t have any luck, so it was good to get those wickets at theend and to get it reversing was a good sign.”Fourteen victims in the one-day series in India helped demystify the opposition and he was notintimidated bowling to Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid and Ganguly. “Hopefully theIndians are thinking about me,” he said. “I just tried to back myself andnot think about who was at the other end. Once you start to think about whoyou are bowling to and how good they are you might struggle a bit.”Australia squad Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brett Lee, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait.

Umar Gul is hopeful of resuming bowling in a week © AFP

Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, is hopeful of returning to bowling in a week’s time after making sufficient recovery from an ankle injury which ruled him out of the tour of South Africa. Gul and Shoaib Akhtar were sent home from the tour to appear before a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) medical commission.”There is no pain in my ankle at the moment but the physiotherapist at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) has suggested that since my calf muscles are a bit weak, I need to do some exercises to develop them,” Gul told . “That should allow me to resume bowling in the next four or five days.”Gul was expected to play the second Test at Port Elizabeth after missing the first, but the team management decided against it, fearing that he might aggravate the injury before the World Cup. Gul added that his prime target was proving his fitness before the selectors announce the World Cup squad.”Playing the World Cup is one of my dreams,” he said. “In order to represent the country in the mega event with full force and fitness, I will be making all out efforts from hereon.”Gul has also signed a contract with English county Gloucestershire as their overseas player this season.

Narendra Hirwani: Spinning the ball for 23 years © Cricinfo

Narendra Hirwani, the former India legspinner, is set to retire from first-class cricket after 23 years in the game.”I am retiring from first-class cricket. I am specially thankful to Sanjay Jagdale, the national selector, my parents, my wife and to the people of Indore for their support and encouragement, which I have received during my nearly 23 years of career in first-class, Tests and one-day international matches,” Hirwani told PTI in Indore.Hirwani, 37, burst onto the international scene with a record 16 wickets in his first match, against West Indies at Chennai in 1987-88, and after four Tests he had taken 36 wickets, the most by any bowler at this stage of their career. A string of overseas tours followed, but Hirwani was unable to repeat that success in unfamiliar conditions. With the success of a certain Anil Kumble, Hirwani found it hard to sustain a place in the Indian side.In 17 Tests for India – the last of which came against South Africa at Kolkata in 1996-97 – Hirwani picked up 66 wickets, while in the one-day format he took a modest 23 from 18 matches. However, in domestic games he was a stalwart, finishing with 723 wickets from 167 matches, over 400 of which came for his home state of Madhya Pradesh. In the 1996-97 season he played for Bengal, taking 29 wickets at 23.13.Hirwani said he plans to set up an academy in Indore exclusively for grooming legspinners, adding that he has urged the MP government to provide assistance.

Andrew Symonds has shaken off an achilles injury and will leave for New Zealand on Wednesday© Getty Images

Andrew Symonds and James Hopes passed fitness tests for the one-day tour of New Zealand today while Matthew Hayden will have his immediate future sealed tomorrow. Hayden continues to recover from pneumonitis, a swelling condition of the lungs, and Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, has left the decision on whether he will join the squad until the last minute.”Matthew’s condition has improved and we will give him every chance to be fit by waiting until tomorrow,” Hohns said. The team leaves for the five-match tour on Wednesday and both Symonds and Hopes were assessed in Brisbane today.Symonds, who injured his Achilles tendon in the first VB Series final against Pakistan, was the greater concern while Hopes, the new Australia allrounder, complained of hamstring tightness during Queensland’s ING Cup loss to Western Australia on Friday. “Symonds and Hopes have been declared fit to travel to New Zealand after passing rigorous tests,” Hohns said.Australia play a Twenty20 international against New Zealand at Auckland on Thursday before the first 50-over match at Wellington on Saturday. The series concludes at Napier on March 5.

In our new series, My Australia tour, Indian cricketers of the past describe their experiences while touring Australia. In our first instalment, Karsan Ghavri speaks to Samanth Subramanian about the 1977-78 and the 1980-81 tours.

Dennis Lillee – more frustrated than a medium pacer © Getty Images

There’s so much to see in Australia, so many places to visit, that thetourism alone makes playing cricket there a unique experience. The wildlife was a big draw for me; to go to their well-maintained national parks and wildlife sanctuaries was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s also interesting for the way the Australians play the game on their own turf. They’re always very aggressive and in-your-face, although, as is well known, they never hesitate to be chummy off the field.In 1980-81, we were all – the Indians and the Australians – invited by Sir Don Bradman to his house for dinner. We sat at a huge oval table for dinner, and Dennis Lillee and Kapil Dev happened to be sitting next to each other. So Kapil just asked Lillee: “Dennis, why, every time you bowl, do you swear at the batsmen?”Lillee said: “Kapil, I’m steaming when I bowl express, and I look for a wicket with every delivery.”Kapil: “But I don’t swear at the batsmen, and I look for a wicket with every delivery too.”Lillee: “You’re not an express bowler. You’re just a medium-fast bowler. With express bowlers, the frustration comes out more. When you become an express bowler, you will do the same thing as I do now.”Ironically, Kapil went on to win the match for India at Melbourne. On the fourth day, he did not come on the field because he was injured. But in the last innings, Australia were three down, and I’d picked up two wickets in consecutive deliveries. So on the next day, Kapil came in on painkillers and ran through the side on a pitch of uneven bounce.The 1977-78 series was a very interesting one, because they won the first two Tests and we won the next two, and the fifth one involved us chasing a big target, which we lost by 40-odd runs.During that tour, Ashok Mankad was a member of the Indian team. He and Jeff Thomson were very good friends, always having a glass of beer after the game. Thomson used to give Ashok quite a few gifts, because Ashok was very fond of western music, and Thommo used to provide him with all the latest songs in the evening.On the field, however, the first thing he bowled to Ashok was a bouncer, followed by some colourful swearing. Ashok went down the wicket, tapping the pitch and meeting Thommo on his follow-through. He asked him: “Thommo, we’re friends, man!”Thommo said: “We are friends … but not on the field.”The Australians are aggressive cricketers, and they play hard and fight it out. But off the field, they’re nice guys, friendly and easy-going.

New Zealand’s failure to live up to the promise seen in its early rounds of the VB Series has been the biggest disappointment of their loss in the first final in Melbourne last night.New Zealand had its chances but a poor batting effort and the relentlessness of the South African batting ground New Zealand into the dirt, with the prospect that they may have had their last chance this time to achieve a second New Zealand victory in the history of finals of the tri-series.Newspaper comment in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa is included below:The New Zealand Herald: “A day which started reasonably brightly for Stephen Fleming’s side – with all team members reporting fit and well, clear skies and the coin falling in his favour – slowly turned into the match from hell, as the batting line-up short-circuited, leaving him with little hope of restricting the South Africans.”Fleming and Craig McMillan helped to partly rescue their side with a 109-run third wicket partnership.”But New Zealand folded in the second half of the innings and were all out with 2.1 overs unbowled.”McMillan patched together his most meaningful contribution of the series, striking 73 off 99 balls.”Fleming played an equally important hand with 50 off 79 balls.”But as well as the pair batted, they were possibly as much of the problem as the solution.”Their painstaking work averted immediate collapse, but by meandering along at a leisurely four an over, they consumed half the overs at their side’s disposal as they concentrated on establishing themselves and getting the total past 100.”The Sydney Morning Herald: “The Xhosa man from Alice, Makhaya Ntini, and his pace bowling partner, Lance “Zulu” Klusener, cut down New Zealand’s batsmen to pave the way for an overwhelming first final success by South Africa at the MCG last night.”The 24-year-old Ntini claimed 5-31, his finest return in a career of 37 limited-over internationals, while Klusener captured the crucial wickets of Stephen Fleming (50) and Chris Cairns (0) within five deliveries.”Capitalising on the foundations laid by their bowlers, Boeta Dippenaar (79no) and Jacques Kallis (59no) produced a record third-wicket partnership of 139 runs from 183 balls to complete the victory.”Deluge in Sydney permitting, the teams are scheduled to meet in the second final tomorrow.”New Zealand captain Fleming praised Ntini, saying: ‘He’s pretty slippery. He’s doing damage at the top with his variation and bounce. And he’s very accurate.'”Winning captain Shaun Pollock said: ‘We have started to play the way we know we can.'”As they led the South Africans from the MCG at the dinner break, man-of-the-match Ntini and Klusener (2-27) must have wondered at the extraordinary fortunes of a fickle game. The agony of their team’s 3-0 Test match losing series to Australia in December-January seemed an eternity ago.”Ntini was dropped after going wicketless in the Adelaide Test, while Klusener’s performances indicated he would have been omitted from the Sydney Test. He returned home to be with his pregnant wife.”New Zealand’s misfortunes escalated when paceman Dion Nash walked off after his first over, having aggravated an abdominal strain sustained when he fell heavily while batting.”The Australian: “South Africa placed a stranglehold on this summer’s tri-series title with a comfortable eight-wicket win over New Zealand in last night’s opening final at the MCG.”With Sydney’s wet weather threatening the remaining two matches, a one-nil lead could be enough to land the Proteas the $50,000 for the winner.”With no reserve days scheduled, matches cancelled due to rain can’t be replayed, which meant yesterday’s fixture carried even greater significance as it was the only one guaranteed of producing an outcome.”Sunday’s match, if required, has already been changed from a day-night fixture to a day game following a suggestion from the Nine network, which was eagerly agreed to by both teams.”Despite its significance, only 20,671 people bothered to turn up yesterday, which was 5000 less than the conservative figure Australian officials had predicted when they foreshadowed a financial shortfall of about $1 million.”The win was set up by Makhaya Ntini, who fortunately proved a final lacking in atmosphere and devoid of local interest does not have to do without a star.”His career-best one-day return of 5-31 not only won him the plaudits of his team-mates but earned him the adoration of the MCG outer to which he doffed his cap as he retired to the outfield after his 10th over.”It was a justified return for the 24-year-old from the Eastern Cape, who initially won fame as South Africa’s first black African Test player.”The Daily Telegraph: ” Australia, you’ve got a lot to answer for. Yesterday’s day-night ‘mockbuster’ final between South Africa and New Zealand was even duller than the most bitter Aussie fan could have predicted. Just 20,671 turned up at a strangely quiet MCG to watch the South Africans cruise to victory with ridiculous ease.”The Proteas, chasing 191 on a dream batting deck, took a 1-0 lead in the one-day finals series with 29 balls to spare.”It’s a pity the bonus point system didn’t extend to the finals, giving South Africa incentive to win inside 40 overs. We all would have been put out of our misery a bit earlier.”Full credit to South Africa for making it 16 wins from its past 17 against the Kiwis, but this will not be one for their greatest hits video collection.”Rapidly improving South African quick Makhaya Ntini produced the best one-day performance of his career to set up the win. It was shame the mood was so flat as he wreaked havoc.”Ntini took 5-31 off his 10 overs, striking twice early and then returning with a savage knockout blow.”The Mercury (Durban): “It is always possible to imagine a reversal in Sydney – scene of South Africa’s most humiliating one-day defeat this summer at the hands of the Aussies – but the Kiwis will have to do an awful lot better to make it happen.”On Wednesday, everything went right for the Proteas, even those little bits of luck that are often necessary for victory in limited-overs cricket.”Nevertheless, it is extraordinary that the recent record between two such evenly matched teams is so lopsided in favour of South Africa.”The Proteas’ sixth consecutive victory at the MCG rewrote that record to read 17 matches, one defeat, 15 wins and a washout (which would have been an SA win).”The Black Caps seem to have been far more aggressive against the Australians, and their 3-1 record in this series against the world champions bears testimony to that. But against South Africa they have been conservative, as if fearful of risking anything.”It was only when their one genuine match-breaker, Chris Cairns, took control in Brisbane, that the New Zealanders eventually broke their log-jam of defeats. But it took one of the best one-day centuries in years – from a starting point of 98-5 – to get them through to an unlikely win.”