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Stuart MacGill feels more at ease in the Australian squad under Tim Nielsen than John Buchanan, and he hopes to play until at least the 2009 Ashes in England. MacGill, who injured his knee at the team’s boot camp last year, said life was difficult for fringe players under Buchanan.”Buck was obviously focused on the 11 or 12 people who were going to win him a game at any time and I wasn’t a part of the team for most of it,” MacGill told the . “It wasn’t surprising I wasn’t top on the list of priorities.”It’s not a case of Buck not being my cup of tea. But I think I am going to really enjoy working with Tim because he’s really somebody who is trying to understand the way I am approaching my cricket. I really like Tim personally. I know that he respects the way that different people go about their jobs.”MacGill, 36, flies to Pakistan with the Australia A squad today and he expects to make a return trip there when Australia visit for three Tests in February. Barring any serious injuries – MacGill had elbow surgery during the winter but has recovered well – he wants to stay ahead of the young spinners Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey right through Australia’s hectic 18-month schedule.”I’d like to play for another couple of years,” he said. “Realistically speaking I think we’ve got an Ashes tour in a couple of years and that’s something I’m aiming for. The amount of workload next year would be daunting for any Australian bowler but I’d like to think I would play in an as many of those Tests as I want to.”Ricky Ponting was not expecting any problems to arise from MacGill becoming a permanent fixture in the team, despite MacGill’s temperamental nature and reports that he did not always get along with his team-mates. Ponting said Buchanan and MacGill had clashed on several occasions.”We knew they were going on in and around the team but they are grown men and they handled it the right way,” Ponting said. “It was always kept away from the rest of the team. I don’t think I will have to address it. I don’t think I will have to deal with Stuart at all.”

To compound Bermuda’s blushes following a 3-0 series defeat by Kenya, their allrounder, Lionel Cann, has been banned for two ODIs. Cann was found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his team’s three-wicket defeat to Kenya in Nairobi on Saturday in which he showed ‘serious dissent’.Cann stood his ground when the umpire, Ian Howell, gave him out lbw and only left the field when forced to do so by his captain, Irving Romaine. Cann then kicked over a dustbin after crossing the boundary rope and could be heard venting his anger from the dressing room.”This ban should serve as a message to players that this type of behaviour is not allowed,” Mike Proctor, the match referee said. “Such acts are completely unacceptable and on that basis I found the player guilty of the Level 2 offence.”Cricket is a sport which teaches us discipline and respect for an umpire’s decision. Anyone associated with this game has to respect its values and Laws and anyone being disrespectful has to be penalised.”

Hampshire surpassed their highest score of the season, and their biggest innings total in matches against Derbyshire. Needing a massive 373 to avoid the follow on, Derbyshire advanced to 188-2 by the close, just half way towards their task.Prittipaul lost his wicket early in the day, when Derbyshire took the new ball, however, some big hitting from Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shane Warne game the home side maximum batting points for the first time this season.Simon Lacey with 4-98 was the pick of the Derbyshire bowlers.Mascarenhas hit a huge six off Lacey and with 10 fours splayed the Derbyshire attack. Warne was equally belligerent as he sent two sixes into the adjoining flats.When Hampshire was finally out at 1:40, the visitors set about recovering. Makeshift opener Luke Sutton and Steve Stubbins put together 85 runs, before Shane Warne bowled the latter leg stump. Australian Michael Di Venuto then joined Sutton. Both reached their 50s, Sutton in a patient 145 balls, Di Venuto in a quick fire 63.The Australian attempted a cover drive off Mascarenhas, the catch being gobbled up by White, but Sutton who has only opened twice before this season was still unbeaten at the close.With the wicket showing signs of turn, Hampshire will be looking to their own Australian – Warne, and off-spinner Shaun Udal to force Derbyshire to follow on and give them an extreme outside chance of survival in Division One.At the end of the day, both teams joined members in a barbecue at the County Ground to celebrate its pending closure.

AB de Villiers has dropped another hint that he is willing to stay on as South Africa’s long-term Test captain, after his new-look team completed an impressive 280-run victory in the fourth and final Test at Centurion.De Villiers, who himself made a pair in the match and has averaged just 9.00 in his two Tests since taking over from Hashim Amla as captain in the aftermath of the second Test at Cape Town, praised the character shown by his players s they secured their first Test victory in ten matches since January 2015.”The guys were very fired up for this Test match,” de Villiers said during the post-match presentations. “It’s been a while since we won a Test match so we are obviously very excited about that and we will enjoy the celebrations afterwards now.”South Africa’s side featured five changes from the seven-wicket defeat in Johannesburg, in which they conceded an insurmountable 2-0 series deficit, and de Villiers singled out one of the new faces, debutant opener Stephen Cook, for particular praise, following his maiden century in the first innings. However, the star of the show was unequivocally Kagiso Rabada, whose match figures of 13 for 144 were the second-best in South Africa’s Test history.”We are very excited about some of the guys coming through and taking their opportunities with both hands,” de Villiers said. “Obviously Kagiso had a fantastic Test match, it doesn’t come around every day that you take 13 wickets in a Test so we are very proud of him, and obviously Temba [Bavuma] and Cooky have played their roles in this Test match, and Temba obviously in the whole series.”It’s a great team performance, coming back from 2-0 against a very solid England team, and we showed a lot of character and hopefully we can build on this now and in the future.”Asked about his own future in Test cricket, amid series-long speculation about his workload, de Villiers implied that he was ready to commit to the leadership, with South Africa’s next Test engagement coming at home against New Zealand in August.”Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m keen to move forward and the team is in a really good space, with a few guys coming through and enjoying their cricket. It’s a good place to be in, and it’s a bright future for us.”We’ve got a long way to go, it’s a bit of a rebuilding phase, we’ve lost quite a few players in the last few years, but the guys who’ve come through have shown a lot of character and shown us that they can take the team forward. I think there’s a bright future and we are looking forward to everything that’s going to come our way, and all the challenges.”Rabada followed up his first-innings figures of 7 for 112 with 6 for 32 second time around, including a destructive final-morning spell of 4 for 4 in 21 balls to bundle England out before the drinks break, and was deservedly named Man of the Match.”It was a bit up and down so the key was to hit the deck, bowl in a relatively good area and believe that you’d get your rewards,” he said. “It’s great to be in this environment, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do, and it’s great to play against a quality cricket team.””To take seven wickets this morning in the time that we did probably wasn’t part of my thinking in bed last night,” de Villiers admitted. “We were prepared to go to 5.30pm today and guts it out. They have a few match-winners in their team so we were wary of that, it wasn’t an impossible run-chase.”Alastair Cook, England’s captain, conceded his side had been second-best throughout the match.”It’s been a disappointing five days, we haven’t quite been on it, pretty much the whole five days,” he said. “We’ve hung in there without ever being able to get on top of South Africa. Credit to them, they played well, but we weren’t quite at the races.”Trevor [Bayliss, the coach] just described it as a limp batting performance, which probably sums it up perfectly.”

An exhaustingly muggy day in the field at Queens Park Oval in Port of Spain was sufficient reminder to England A that success in the Busta Cup will require hard graft and stamina.Thanks to their hard-working seamers, England A finished in a good position after a tough first day’s play against Trinidad and Tobago, with six wickets in the bag and the tail-end still to contend with.They had to work hard for their wickets under a boiling sun but with the sweat dripping off them they stuck to their task and for much of the day restricted Trinidad to just two an over. But the final session, using both the old then the new ball, saw the run rate increase with Lincoln Roberts opening his shoulders for a superbly entertaining 62.His picked off the runs effortlessly and when he was finally out, taken unawares by the first delivery in a new spell from Paul Franks, his tempo was maintained by Keno Mason, a nimble-footed wicketkeeper who used his judgement well in seeking out the scoring balls.England’s slow over rate kept them in the field half an hour after the scheduled close but even with the shine still on the new ball, the weary attack posed few threats.The bowler’s energy peaked during the afternoon session when Chris Silverwood, who bowled superbly from the time his skipper Mark Alleyne lost the toss and put his bowlers into action, had the slow scoring Imran Jan lbw for 24. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief since the 21-year-old left-hander, playing only his fifth game for Trinidad, had been at the crease for more than two hours and faced 104 balls, 54 of them spent with just one run to his name.The sigh was followed by a gasp when in the same over, Silverwood had Dennis Rampersad, who had made 27, dropped at second slip by Vikram Solanki. The fielder was distraught so when another chance came to him two overs later, off the same bowler, Solanki made amends, taking an excellent low catch a foot in front of him.It was Silverwood’s third wicket of the day and accounted for Richard Smith, filling in as captain for Suruj Raganooth who withdrew at the start after his father died overnight. Although he failed to add to his tally in the final session, his figures of 3-24 from 21 overs, ten of which were maidens, reflected a fine and whole-hearted bowling effort on a flat but pacy pitch.Nottinghamshire seamer Franks proved most effective in breaking up menacing partnerships. He missed out to Ryan Sidebottom in the first match in Grenada but when selectors decided to go with the same formation for Trinidad, including just one specialist spinner, it was Franks who got the nod.His first spell was disappointing though the electronic scoreboard obligingly failed to recall this fact when a power cut ruled it out of action, leaving the batting line up from the last time England played West Indies in Trinidad in 1998 frozen on the board for the entire day.Franks was undeterred and he returned to have Rampersad caught behind for 39 off a delivery that was veering wide of the off-stump. After tea he trapped the fluent Roberts lbw after he had hit nine boundaries from 88 balls.The slow outfield helped England’s cause early on – the morning session producing just 56 runs – but later, the Trinidadian middle order made good use of their local knowledge by hitting the ball over the top, Mason demonstrating the effectiveness of the tactic by pulling Alex Tudor for six over square leg in the closing stages.By the close, Trinidad had recovered well to 211 for six with Mason still there on 32. England’s bowlers have a demanding second morning ahead if they are to restrict the first innings total to 250, as planned.

Ashley Giles, the former England left-arm spinner, will join the England Performance Programme (EPP) squad in India as the team’s official spin coach.”I’m really looking forward to the opportunity of working with the players involved in the EPP,” Giles said. “It’s exciting to be so hands-on in a coaching role, particularly with my new position as director of cricket at Warwickshire.”It’ll be great to get back involved in the England set-up after being forced out early through injury and being around an England dressing room again in India will be a fantastic experience.”Martyn Moxon, the director of cricket at Yorkshire, takes on the role of batting coach for the four-week high performance camp, which encompasses two weeks of intensive training at Mohali, followed by two weeks at the MRF Academy in Chennai.

If you look at the track record of India’s national selection committee over the last few months, it is next to impossible to pick a trend and predict who they will plump for on Tuesday when they pick the team for the Twenty20 World Championship to be played in South Africa in September. Will they pick a squad on policy – youth over experience, Improvisers over orthodox players – or will they stick with the tried and tested players who have performed in Tests and one-dayers?The biggest headache, dealing with massively experienced big stars who have made names for themselves in longer versions of the game but are untried in, and perhaps unsuited to, Twenty20 cricket, has thankfully been taken out of their hands. When Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly ruled themselves out of the long list of 30 probables, they gave Dilip Vengsarkar and his four colleagues a golden chance.On Tuesday we will know how, if at all, this chance has been taken. There are growing signs that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Twenty20 squad, having settled into the vice-captaincy of the team in longer versions of the game. He would be a natural choice for successor.The strongest indicator of the clarity of the selectors’ thinking will come when they decide on Virender Sehwag. He was left out of the Test team to tour England on the back of poor performances in limited-overs cricket, despite having an above average time in Tests. Now, when it comes to picking a team for a version of the game closer to ODIs, where Sehwag’s record has been far from flash, what will they do? Since being dropped from the national side Sehwag has struggled elsewhere, not making a mark in some matches in America, and failing to hit it off in the KSCA invitational tournament in Bangalore, where he is currently representing ONGC.If you look at it logically – and that is not something you can consistently accuse the national selectors of – then Sehwag’s place in the Twenty20 squad may be in doubt. Having said that, there is no sense in proving a point merely for the sake of consistency, and Sehwag should find a place in the squad merely for the brand of cricket he plays.What is not in any doubt, however, is the case of Irfan Pathan. His struggles have continued on India A’s tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya, a level of opposition against whom you would expect him to get wickets by the bagful. But even there he is being overshadowed by lesser lights, such as Tamil Nadu’s Yo Mahesh.Another potential stumbling block is the case of Harbhajan Singh but he has been among the wickets in county cricket in England, and should find a place in at least the Twenty20 squad, if not also the ODI squad.

One of the difficulties India’s selectors face is that they cannot possibly watch all the domestic cricket that happens before picking a team. In the case of the Twenty20, they cannot even proffer that excuse for they did watch the domestic Twenty20 tournament in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. There, they would have seen the clean hitting of S Anirudha, and the all-round showing of Karan Goel. They would have Niraj Patel’s ability to play the percentages and finish games, and Yusuf Pathan’s brand of utility cricket. But will they remember any of this, and pick a squad full of fresh, out-of-the box selections, or will they just run with the usual suspects, some of whom may not even be keen on this form of the game?The selectors, who will meet via a teleconference as Vengsarkar is in England while his four counterparts are in India, have a simpler task when it comes to picking the squad for the seven ODIs against England and the one-off ODI against Scotland in Scotland. The return of the Test specialists – Wasim Jaffer, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Ranadeb Bose – automatically frees up space for the inclusion of Ajit Agarkar, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. Piyush Chawla was a revelation during the ODIs against Bangladesh, took 3 for 47 against South Africa in Ireland and has continued to pick up wickets for India A. Gautam Gambhir, who is in England but has not got an international game, made a century in the last ODI against Bangladesh and followed it up with an 80 against Ireland. Both will consider themselves desperately unlucky if they fail to make the cut.Once again, though, the selectors will have to jog their memories a bit. For it has been more than a month since India last played an ODI, and the victory in the second Test at Trent Bridge, and the possibility of a Test series win, should not cloud their judgment when they pick the team for the forthcoming ODIs.Twenty20 probablesVirender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth, Manoj Tiwary, Ajit Agarkar, Karan Goel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rajesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Munaf Patel, Niranjan Behara, Praveen Kumar, Anirudha Srikkanth, Ramesh Powar, Robin Uthappa, Niraj Patel.

Scorecard

A century from Hashim Amla and Mark Boucher’s unbeaten 64 boosted the South Africans to 329 for 8 at close on the first day of their three-day warm-up match against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Fatullah.Both teams named 12 players [with 11 fielding and 11 batting], which also happens to be the strength of South Africa’s squad at present, with opener Neil McKenzie and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson due to join later. Tamim Iqbal was not part of the BCB XI, still suffering from a broken thumb, and veteran Habibul Bashar was also not included.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, opted to bat after winning the toss. JP Duminy, who starred in the middle-order during South Africa’s ODI cleansweep over West Indies, opened the batting along with his captain. However, both failed to make an impact and were snared early by left-arm bowler Syed Rasel, who had missed most of the Bangladesh’s New Zealand tour due to a dislocated left collar bone.South Africa recovered from 35 for 2 thanks to a century stand between Amla and Jacques Kallis. Amla did the bulk of the the scoring during his stint at the crease, he scored 103 off just 120 deliveries as South Africa moved from 5 for 1 to 169 for 4, when he fell to Enamul Haque jnr. Haque also dismissed Kallis and finished the day with figures of 2 for 71.Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers got themselves some batting practice, but both perished in the 30s. Farhad Reza staked his claim for a Test debut with three wickets, removing de Villiers before getting rid of Johan Botha and Morne Morkel for ducks. Mark Boucher fought hard and added an unbroken 55-run stand with fast-bowing sensation Dale Steyn, who contributed 19.This is South Africa’s only practice game ahead of the two-Test series, and a few quick runs on the second day could be handy for the visitors before letting the bowlers get their rhythm against a line-up which contains several national team regulars.

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Alastair Cook – 5
Provided important ballast in both innings of the Wellington win, but was subdued for the rest of the series, as New Zealand’s seamers probed a familiar failing outside off stump. His catching at Hamilton, however, was a revelation – particularly the screeching swipe at point that dismissed Stephen Fleming in the first innings. At Wellington, he became the youngest England cricketer to register 2000 Test runs, so there’s plenty time to iron out his technical glitches.Michael Vaughan – 5
A series tally of 123 runs at 20.50 will be seriously troubling to England’s captain, who never really looked out of form but somehow succumbed to more than his fair share of aberrations. His departure triggered or intensified collapses in each of the three Tests, never more drastically than on the first morning at Napier, when England slumped to 4 for 3 on a blameless pitch. As a leader, however, he re-established his credentials thanks to England’s come-from-behind victory, in particular through the ruthless sacking of his senior bowlers, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard.Andrew Strauss – 6
Saved his career at the last ditch in Napier, an achievement which speaks volumes about the hidden resolve that lurks within such a phlegmatic character. Yet another of the top six who was there or thereabouts all series – a pair of pretty 40s kept his pot boiling in the first two Tests, but were hardly the returns to justify his reinstatement ahead of Owais Shah. A lifetime-best 177 was much more the ticket. He’s still not quite as compact as in his 2004 heyday, but the confidence that comes with such success cannot be underestimated.Kevin Pietersen – 7
Produced the most domineering innings of the series, just when England most desperately needed it, and in so doing, ended the most worrying slump of his short and spectacular career. He’d gone ten innings without so much as a half-century until he climbed into a counter-offensive at Napier, and turned the tide of the Test. Prior to that, Pietersen’s fortunes had bottomed out in the second innings at Wellington, where he was run out for 17 via a deflection off the bowler’s fingertips. After that sort of misfortune, someone was doubtless going to pay.Ian Bell – 6
The fluency of his second-innings hundred at Napier took the breath away, and once again begged the question, why can’t he back himself to play with such freedom when the pressure is really on? According to Cricinfo’s scorers, he laid bat on ball for each of his first 99 deliveries of the innings, and middled the majority of them, particularly when driving through the covers or down the ground. He did much the same for his only other half-century of the trip – a carefree 54 not out at Hamilton while the contest crumbled around him. England have invested a lot of faith in his development, and rightly so. But he needs to start setting the agenda soon, rather than following the leader.

Paul Collingwood – 6
Faultlessly middle-of-the-road throughout the tour. He wasn’t best pleased to be demoted to the No. 6 position, only a year after recording an Ashes double-century, but responded with three half-centuries in his first four innings of the series, including the anchor role in the pivotal partnership of the tour, with Tim Ambrose at Wellington. Hasn’t reached three figures since the Durham Test in June, ten matches ago, which will bother him. He had a hit-and-miss time in the slip cordon, not least when Ross Taylor edged onto his calf in the second Test, but he’s still among the safest of England’s new breed of catchers.Tim Ambrose – 8
Without his fearless counterattacking century at Wellington, England would have been dead and buried before the halfway point of the series. It was a hugely influential performance from a man in the most scrutinised position in the team, and he responded as if he didn’t have a nervous bone in his body. His wicketkeeping was also sound – if a shade on the silent side – and though he had a couple of wobbles at Wellington, in particular a missed stumping off Jacob Oram, he looks set for a long and prosperous stint in the side. Mind you, much the same was said of Geraint Jones and Matt Prior after their early-career hundreds. An impressive start, but when you’re the England wicketkeeper, there’s no place to hide.Stuart Broad – 8
A ballsy performance from a cricketer of immense talent and promise. As an up-and-coming fast bowler, Broad’s game has an ugly streak that belies his angelic features, and that trait proved invaluable in inhospitable conditions on the penultimate day at Napier, when he more or less carried his tiring pace-bowling colleagues. His selection ahead of Harmison was a punt that paid off handsomely for England, and his abilities as a No. 8 batsman cannot be underestimated either. Without his gritty 42 in the first innings at Napier, Pietersen might not have had the faith and patience to haul England back into the game.Ryan Sidebottom – 9
The player of the series by a country mile. Sidebottom excelled himself in each and every Test – a hat-trick at Hamilton, closely followed by his maiden ten-wicket haul. Another vital five-for to wrap up the Wellington Test, and then his defining spell at Napier, when he bowled unchanged between lunch and tea on the second day, taking five wickets in the session and seven in the innings – yet another career-best performance. He has surged past 50 wickets in his first full year of international cricket, and is hungry to make up for his six years in the wilderness. His batting at No. 9 was not to be under-estimated either. England have unearthed a very complete cricketer.

James Anderson – 7
His recall for the second Test, at the expense of Hoggard, was controversial, but when Anderson responded with a wonderful spell of hostile, fast, full-length swing bowling, England must have wondered how they had coped without him in the five years since his debut. It all went a bit flat thereafter, sadly. An untimely ankle injury, sustained while playing football, reduced his effectiveness and at Napier, he was cannon fodder even for the desperate Matthew Bell. When it swings, Anderson makes it sing, but all too often he has no Plan B.Monty Panesar – 6
Capped his series with a seventh five-wicket haul, but Monty’s belated success couldn’t quite gloss over a disappointing tour. He was unlucky with dropped catches at Wellington, but didn’t exactly earn the right to complain with the shoddiness of his own fielding, which regressed horribly after a season of notable improvement. Nevertheless, he is closing in on 100 Test victims, and he’s only just completed two years in the team. It’s not a bad return at all, and compares very favourably with his counterpart, Vettori, the closest thing to a role model on the international circuit.Steve Harmison – 2
Loose and listless in his solitary outing, it was no surprise when Harmison was singled out as a scapegoat for England’s first-Test defeat. England have been unable to shake him from his torpor, and when Vaughan offered him a meagre four overs in the second innings in Hamilton, the graffiti was all over the dressing-room wall. Harmy, go home.Matthew Hoggard – 4
Not quite as culpable as his colleague, but he still paid the price for his worst Test performance since the tour of Sri Lanka four years ago. Down on pace, and wayward as well, he looked like a man who needed more overs under his belt. County cricket will offer him the chance for redemption next summer, but such is the success that Sidebottom is currently enjoying in that crucial holding role, it’s hard to see how he’ll force his way back without a spate of injuries.

Usually by the end of March Ashley Noffke knows what is happening with his off-season plans. Previous winters have involved stints in England or business duties, family time and fishing trips, but this one threatens to include the tour of the West Indies in May.Noffke’s outstanding first-class collection of 51 wickets at 19.03 and 741 runs at 46.31 – he became the third Australian behind George Giffen and Greg Matthews to capture the 50-wicket, 500-run season double – has him hoping to be part of his second Caribbean adventure with the national team. After such a strong campaign the expectation is he will be in the squad when it is named this week, possibly as early as Wednesday.While picking up a host of trophies at the Queensland awards dinner on Saturday, including the Player-of-the-Year prize, Noffke made it clear he was ready to add to the one-day and Twenty20 debuts that came in 2007-08. “Throughout the year I was thinking, ‘how am I going to get into the Test team?’ Halfway through I came to the conclusion Test cricket wasn’t going to happen this summer.”I love playing one-day cricket and I love playing Twenty20, but I want to play a Test and I want to show my wares over the long game. Whether or not I get an opportunity for that soon, or if I’ve got to wait another season, I don’t feel age is a barrier.” Noffke turns 31 in April but is not concerned when he looks at players such as Stuart Clark and Michael Hussey, who received later-in-life-opportunities.A remodelled bowling action and extra attention on his always-productive batting has turned Noffke into a major force. Even Simon Katich, who struck a record-breaking 1506 Pura Cup runs, could not feel more upset than Noffke if he is omitted from what will probably be a 15-man touring party.If Noffke is picked it will be his third trip with the squad after being a late call-up for the 2001 Ashes tour and completing the 2003 visit to the Caribbean. Injuries over the next few years intervened and led to the technical overhauls.Noffke returned to the international set-up for the Twenty20 against New Zealand in December, taking 3 for 18, and hit back from a poor opening in his ODI debut on his home ground in February. “The first two and a half overs were some of the most regrettable bowling I’ve bowled,” he said. “It’s funny how body and mind can let you down at times. I’d worked so hard over a long time to achieve that specific moment.”Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting offered support, but it was Adam Gilchrist’s advice that was memorable after Noffke let 19 runs escape in 12 balls. “Gilly ran up to me and said: ‘If you took a wicket in your first couple of overs we would have thought you were a big head.'”The good-natured teasing was successful. “It calmed me down a little bit,” Noffke said. “I was thinking, ‘if I don’t pull my socks up and start bowling like I know I can, I’m not going to get another opportunity’. After those couple of overs I settled down and bowled as well as I’d done throughout the year.” He finished with 1 for 46 off nine, but was squeezed from the side when Clark came back.The rest of the season was spent trying to revive Queensland without squad success, but his individual results remained strong. While some of his team-mates considered deals with the Indian Premier League, Noffke hid himself from the talk and did not register for the second auction. “At end of the day I didn’t want to let myself know too much about it,” he said. “I just want to play cricket for Australia at the moment.”Another season with the English county Middlesex is a possibility, but that depends on the events of the next week. “I’m waiting to see what’s happening with the tour,” he said. “I’m still contemplating going to Middlesex as long as they want me, but that’s if I’m not selected for the West Indies – I’d be pretty disappointed if I didn’t go.”