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A baggy green of Keith Miller will be auctioned alongside three other Australian players’ Test caps in Melbourne on June 28. The hat of Miller, who died as the country’s greatest allrounder in October 2004, is expected to receive bids of $20,000, according to .The caps of Tim Wall, the fast bowler who appeared in 18 Tests from 1928-29 to 1934, Wally Grout, the great wicketkeeper of the 1950s and 1960s, and Geoff Dymock, the Queensland left-armer, will also be offered. “In any given year, we might auction around three or four baggy green caps, which are as close to the holy grail of Test cricket as one can get,” Charles Leskie, the auction house representative, told the news agency.Miller retired from Tests in 1956 after playing 55 matches, taking 170 wickets and averaging 36.97 as a batsman. A signature of Fred Spofforth, `the Demon’ who earned Test cricket’s first hat-trick, is another of the 420 lots of sporting memorabilia for sale.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The sign writer who etches the names on the Lord’s honour boards will be earning overtime after Ian Bell became England’s third century-maker. Bell’s third ton of his stop-start career lifted the team beyond the 500 mark and built on a career-best performance from Paul Collingwood. England’s control was cemented by three wickets in the final session, with Steve Harmison taking two in one over and Liam Plunkett the other, making it a memorable day for the Durham contingent.Bell was on 97 when Harmison was run out, but Monty Panesar showed a straight bat to survive six balls before Bell scampered the final single. Andrew Strauss declared the moment Bell reached three figures and Harmison exploited a patched-up Pakistan top three. His line wasn’t at its best, but for one over he found his range. After Salman Butt fell to a conventional edge Harmison unleashed a fierce lifter which was spectacularly pouched at third slip. It was a lesson in catching for Pakistan, from ironically a team that dropped nine last time they played a Test at this ground.There is never a good time to fail in a Test, but a low score here for Bell could have had serious long-term effects. Andrew Flintoff is expected back for the second match at Old Trafford, while Collingwood and Alastair Cook have cemented their places for the long haul. Bell had no option but to show his presence in the only way that matters – runs on the board.He didn’t have to wait long to enter the fray as Mohammad Sami uprooted Cook’s offstump with the new ball to end a record fourth-wicket stand of 233. Bell’s nervous tension was clear with a leaden-footed poke at his first ball, which scurried to third man, but unlike last summer against the Australians he played it with soft, rather than hard, hands.With their early wicket, Pakistan were only one more strike away from getting a second chance and rattling through England. However, as with the opening exchanges yesterday, Sami and Umar Gul wasted the new ball and offered Bell a series of legstump sighters which went through square leg. Within the blink of an eye Bell was in the twenties at a run-a-ball and Pakistan had missed their prime opportunity.

Along with kick-starting Bell, Pakistan’s waywardness allowed Collingwood to hit top gear from the word go. Unbeaten on 109 overnight, Collingwood quickly brought out his trademark clip through midwicket and threaded the offside with some powerful drives and cuts. The fifty partnership arrived at nearly seven-an-over and England, after an early setback, were back with all the momentum. Pakistan will feel aggrieved, though, as another decision went against them with Simon Taufel missing a clear edge by Collingwood off Sami on 131.Inzamam-ul-Haq turned to his spinners, but surprisingly it was Shahid Afridi given the first crack and he was promptly pulled for two fours by Collingwood, who had raced past his previous best of 134, made against India at Nagpur in March. That was, for the large part, a backs-to-the-wall effort, but this was an expansive and aggressive Collingwood that showed his development at Test level.Bell has rarely exuded outward confidence at the top level, but had been settled by his brisk start and was by no means a silent partner as the century was brought up in the first session. However, Pakistan made it harder for the batsmen after the interval and just 69 runs came between lunch and tea. Bell and Collingwood took few chances – aware of the flimsy batting in the pavilion – while Pakistan didn’t actively hunt for wickets although Kaneria’s flight and bounce created a fascinating passage of play.Collingwood lost his momentum before being beaten by a perfect legbreak and when Geraint Jones and Liam Plunkett left quickly Bell was with the tail. He played a couple of delicate late cuts but never departed from the orthodox technique that he is known for. Nerves would have jangled when Panesar strode to the middle, but he has history of guiding players to hundreds. He impressively partnered Collingwood at Nagpur to an equally important century and the England balcony looked more nervous than him.England have done everything right so far and have found their Test-match groove. But this match continues to bear an uncanny resemblance to Sri Lanka’s visit here back in May. England blew their chance on that occasion and must learn from that and nail Pakistan while they are down.

How they were out

Alastair Cook b Sami 105 (321 for 4)
Paul Collingwood st Akmal b Kaneria 186 (441 for 5)
Geraint Jones lbw b Kaneria 18 (469 for 6)
Liam Plunkett c Farhat b Kaneria 0 (473 for 7)
Matthew Hoggard lbw b Afridi 13 (515 for 8)
Steve Harmison run out (Yousuf) 2 (525 for 9)

Salman Butt c Strauss b Harmison 10 (28 for 1)
Faisal Iqbal c Collingwood b Harmison 0 (28 for 2)
Imran Farhat b Plunkett 33 (65 for 3)

Twenty matches to go before the World Cup … This is how the Indian team would be looking at one-day cricket till March next year. And when the time comes to play that first World Cup game, India should feel that they have looked at all the options available and have picked the best 15 players for the tournament.I would like to think that the selectors are still looking and their net is spread wide to include players showing either sparks of talent or strong performances. At the end of the 20 matches, the Indian team should consist of a unit that has been formed after a genuinely exhaustive exercise that would have lasted for more than a year. The team that goes to the West Indies should be a team where each player has proved his worth, regardless of his age, his past or his experience.Based on these thoughts, I believe there should not be too much scrutiny of the team selected for the tri-series in Sri Lanka next month. Dinesh Mongia, who played in the last World Cup, is back in the Indian team after a long absence. There are various stories floating around regarding his selection, but I look at it as maturity on the part of the selectors. They have showed that although youth is an important consideration in their planning, they are not obsessed with it. This selection is on performance alone, though, quite interestingly, it is based on performances during the English county season.Suddenly, performances in county cricket have become more and more relevant for the Indian team selections, with Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan also staking their claims by playing for counties. This also means that the Indian players who do not play county cricket are somewhat disadvantaged. Mongia would clearly not have been back in this Indian team if not for his participation in county cricket.With India playing round the year and having international commitments even in June, July and August, and with our domestic season finishing much before that in April, there are no match opportunities in India for the fringe players to make a strong case for selection, unless he is influential enough to get a county contract – a situation that the BCCI could make note of.Anil Kumble’s unbelievable perseverance as a bowler has got him back in the reckoning for one-day cricket, a possibility that was almost ruled out two years back as focus had shifted to youth and energy in the field. Though he has not been picked in the team for Sri Lanka, you can quite clearly gauge that he is a strong candidate for the World Cup. By not selecting him in the team but by keeping him well informed about their long-term plans with him, the selectors have shown the virtue of communication. The importance of a dialogue between players and selectors can never be underestimated.Kumble is not in the India one-day team but he is not unhappy or hurt, for he has been motivated by the words passed on to him by the men in charge. This contact between players and selectors helps keep the harmony in the dressing room. Kumble has now reached a stage in his career where he does not need one-day match practice to excel in that form of the game.It is going to be a tough outing for India as they take on South Africa and Sri Lanka in testing weather conditions. Even after the 4-1 loss in the last one-day series in the West Indies, there is no denying the fact that India is still a very good one-day team. And unlike that series, they will be hoping that this time they return with more answers than questions.

Scorecard

A five-wicket haul by West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor followed by a merciless assault by Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels helped Jamaica decimate Bermuda by nine wickets in their Stanford 20/20 match in Antigua. The West Indies trio proved too hot to handle for the World Cup qualifiers as Jamaica eased to their target of 75, getting there in only the sixth over.Taylor finished with fantastic figures of 5 for 10, which included a three-wicket burst in the space of four balls in his third over. Jermaine Lawson too kept the batsmen under check at the other end with some incisive seam bowling as Bermuda were tottering at 26 for 4. Oliver Pitcher and Delyone Borden made a recovery of sorts, adding 30 before another burst of wickets let them down. Pitcher top-scored with 19 as his side were bowled out for 74.Bermuda caused some early jitters, as George O’Brien bowled Xavier Marshall for a duck. Samuels earned a reprieve, skying his first delivery to extra cover, only to be dropped by Pitcher. From then on, it was Jamaica all the way with Gayle smashing four sixes in his unbeaten 40 off 22 balls. Samuels smacked five boundaries in his unbeaten 25, as Jamaica booked their place in the quarter finals.
ScorecardTravis Dowlin, the Guyana opener, hit an unbeaten half-century to guide his side to an easy eight-wicket win over Montserrat in their Stanford 20/20 match in Antigua. Dowlin and Narsingh Deonarine (31 not out) reached the target of 116 with 21 balls to spare in front of a capacity crowd which had a large Guyanese contingent.Choosing to bat first, Montserrat struggled to force the pace against the slow bowlers, led by former West Indies spinners Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell. Montserrat had an encouraging start, with their openers Nesta Piper and McPhearson Meade adding 46, picking runs of the seamers. The spinners then came into play, sharing five wickets between them to restrict Montserrat to 115 for 8. Guyana made a steady reply, with Dowlin opting to graft it out instead of going for the big shots.Guyana will now meet Jamaica in the quarter-finals next Friday.

What have baseball-style throws, golf balls, baseball bats and gym-style mats got to do with cricket? On the surface, not a lot, but India’s elite cricketers have made use of all of the above at various times during the innovative training camp that will come to a close tomorrow as the team gears up for cricket’s most arduous challenge – contests against Australia (and West Indies), albeit in the neutral environs of Kuala Lumpur.After a mishap that involved overenthusiastic fans and a barbed wire fence yesterday, it was expected that the six players assembled for the last leg of this camp would go through the training drills in the empty concrete bowl that is the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But in the morning, with fielding practice first on the agenda, the more sylvan settings of the B ground adjoining the main venue once again rang out with adrenaline-fuelled shouts as the players worked on throwing the ball.Dinesh Mongia, who spoke to the media later, said: “Greg [Chappell] spoke about the use of the hips, not just the shoulder and the arms. He spoke about using the whole body in a throw, and how it’s much better than just using an arm or something like that. So we are working on that.”Greg said that if the skill is right then there would be less injuries and the outcome is much better. So today’s morning session was about that.”Thilak Naidu, once on the verge of national selection and a Karnataka stalwart, watched the goings on with great interest, and spoke of the influence of Mike Young on teams worldwide. The old-timers may have considered it sacrilegious at first, but the American baseball coach undoubtedly played an enormous role in taking Australia’s ground-fielding – and especially the throwing – to another level.Naidu himself couldn’t speak highly enough of Young, whose methods he has watched in person once while in Australia. Mongia, when pressed to mention the major difference between this and previous camps, spoke quite animatedly about the greater emphasis on skill, and not just in the fielding department.”Previously, two or three years back when John [Wright] was there, he was more into physical fitness and all that. I guess that was also very crucial because John brought all that in. Now I think that Greg and Rahul [Dravid] are very keen for the skill work.”The skill-work that Mongia spoke off involved a session with golf balls and a stump in the morning. The batsmen fronted up on a concrete pitch, and played their shots armed with a solitary stump as the dimpled ball was pinged down at them from a distance far less than 22 yards.The extra bounce tested both footwork and reaction-time, and there was more of the same later in the afternoon when the bowling machine came into play on the main ground, with the ball coming down at the batsmen from the sort of height once associated with the likes of Joel Garner and Vincent van der Bijl.Mongia, who has been around a while, added that the extra height from which the ball was delivered made all the difference. “It is something new because with the bowling machine at that height. I think it’s about ten feet and with the ball coming out at that height, it’s really good practice.”

Considering that Australia will most likely play the tall trio of Glenn McGrath, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson, the practice certainly won’t go waste, even if the pitches in Malaysia aren’t expected to replicate the trampoline bounce that once characterised the WACA in Perth.And as Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar took their turn in the nets, and in front of the bowling machine, Dravid, Mongia and Sachin Tendulkar moved back to the B ground for slip-catching practice. Ian Frazer, armed with a baseball bat, kept the edges coming, and a narrow cordon struggled initially to get their bearings. Once they did though, there were some stunning reflex takes, with Mongia – who has never looked like a consummate athlete – earning applause from the two legends for a couple of audacious one-handed grabs.He knows though that it’s his batting and bowling that will come under intense scrutiny with many others biding their time on the sidelines. “In last two to three years, I have worked hard on my bowling, batting and fielding, so I obviously want to prove a point as an allrounder,” said Mongia, who earned a recall largely on the strength of his performances for Leicestershire in the county season. “I have spoken to Greg and Rahul and they think that I have a role to play as a bowler as well.”With Australia having struggled at times against more guileful left-arm spin from Murali Kartik, Mongia may yet have a crucial role to play in Malaysia. And after the Sri Lanka triangular fell victim to bomb blasts and poor weather, the opportunity to swap baseball bats and stumps – innovative as such drills may be – for a 3lb willow and 5 ½ ounces of stitched leather will be a welcome one indeed.

What should be made of Glenn McGrath? With the ball he’s all accuracy – zeroing into a good length, just outside off, moving it away, cutting it in. He plays the percentages like nobody else and if ever there’s a robot that bowls seam, it better be named “Pidge”. It’s the reason why he’s unique.With a journalist facing him, things are different. He’s gung-ho, has no qualms about making predictions and throws punches left, right and centre. Yesterday he thought Australia would clean up the Ashes 5-0; today he’s “in the best form of his life”. Soon he may start talking about leading Australia to the soccer World Cup.McGrath was asked a number of questions about his fitness at Australia’s pre-tournament media briefing at Delhi. Just a few minutes earlier Ricky Ponting, his captain, had spoken about “monitoring his progress” through the tournament, keeping in mind the Ashes. McGrath seemed to have no such worries.”The way my body and everything is going at the moment, it’s as good as I’ve ever felt,” he said casually. “I’ve had a lay-off after my ankle injury, it’s been six or seven months. It was late in my career but I’ve got over any niggles, strengthened up and had a good off season. I want to be in basically the best condition of my life and knock a few over, get a few more wickets. Look out for me.”But surely there’s no way he’s going to risk an injury before an all-important Ashes campaign? “I’ll be going 100% flat out,” he said. “I’d like to improve with each game. I haven’t considered the Ashes or World Cup. For me it’s about getting overs under the belt – the more I bowl the better I get. I want to get overs in the nets and bowl a lot of deliveries.”When asked about his bowling partners and whether they could handle the challenge of the Indian conditions, McGrath was confident again. “You look at the team we have at the moment – Brad Hogg is doing really well, Dan Cullen has a lot of talent, Brett Lee is doing great, Nathan Bracken has experience in these conditions, Mitchell Johnson is such an exciting prospect,” he said. “We have every base covered. These are exciting times for us.”My biggest strength is knowing my own game completely,” he said. “The advice I give to any youngster is to know your game well – work on your weaknesses and rely on your strengths. To me it’s a simple sport we tend to complicate. I think with this team we have the experience of the older guys and enthusiasm of the young guys. It’s a great mix. Hopefully, in a month’s time we will be flying back to Australia with the trophy under our belt.”The moment he said “hopefully” will remain one of the highlights of the media session. Just when we expected something like “we’re going to win every single game by a margin of 100 runs at least”, McGrath actually gave a small allowance for Australia winning the Champions Trophy. Surely the chaos in the hall had got to him as well.

ScorecardThe final day’s play between Kenya and Bermuda at the Nairobi Gymkhana was abandoned after an inspection by the umpires at 1pm local time. Although there had been no rain since the early hours, the ground was saturated and it was apparent from the off that there was little chance of play.With this, Kenya lost an opportunity to finish Bermuda off. Bermuda had needed 53 runs to make Kenya bat again, with eight wickets in hand and two days to go, when rain rendered any further play impossible.The result means that Bermuda have to beat Netherlands to have any chance of qualifying for the last four.