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Rangers have now submitted an opening offer in an attempt to welcome Danny Rohl’s first Ibrox signing in the January transfer window, according to reports.

Rohl waiting for "right timing" in January window

Rohl has steadied the ship at Ibrox following Russell Martin’s disastrous tenure. The Gers’ victory over St. Mirren was as resolute as it was solid, as they ensured that the visitors’ late strike was nothing more than a consolation goal. Now third in the Scottish Premiership and six points behind leaders Hearts, the title race is far from over as far as Rangers are concerned.

Up next, Rangers travel to face Celtic in the Old Firm derby in what is always a crucial game. Given the Hoops’ recent struggles, Rohl’s side should see their trip to Celtic Park as the perfect opportunity to get one over on their rivals.

Looking ahead to the game, Rohl told reporters: “Our belief is there. When we look at the moment, except from the 2-1 defeat (at Hearts), we took a lot of points.

“We had some great performances, we had also some performances where not everything was good. Now we go with confidence. It’s a huge game, but we are prepared for this. I think this is what we want to see.

“In this game it’s important that we are strong. I think it’s important that the ref is strong in this game as well. If we do this, we will have a fantastic game.”

The German also looked ahead to the January transfer window, admitting that Rangers will be waiting for the “right timing”, saying: “I think we know the window is not easy, but we are on front foot.

“What it means at the end, let’s see. We cannot influence everything, but we are at the moment clear. We know that in some positions, we have to wait for the right timing.”

Rangers submit offer to sign Emil Bohinen

On the transfer front, Rohl will be looking for his first signing and whilst names such as Jens Hjerto-Dahl have been mentioned as of late, it may well be another player who arrives before any others.

Subscribe for Inside Transfer Insight on Rangers Dig deeper into Rangers’ January transfer picture—subscribe to the newsletter for focused transfer analysis, agent-move breakdowns, and practical takes on how potential signings like Bohinen or exits such as Raskin could reshape the squad and title bid.

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According to Calcio Spezia, as relayed by Sport Witness, Rangers have now submitted an offer to sign Emil Bohinen from Genoa in a move that would see the defensive midfielder cut his loan spell at Venezia short in Serie B. The Norwegian has also reportedly changed agents recently in what could be quite the hint about his plans for the future.

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It’s not a great surprise that the Gers are chasing a midfield reinforcement, given just how often Nicolas Raskin finds his name in the transfer headlines.

If Rangers lose the Belgian in January, then they will need to find the right replacement. Whether that comes in the form of Bohinen, who has played in Serie B this season, remains to be seen though.

Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the ODI series against England as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury.A call will be taken on Steyn’s availability for the T20s at a later stage, with the aim to have him fit for the Australia T20s in March and the World T20 which follows that. Kyle Abbott, who suffered a hamstring niggle in the Centurion Test will also miss the first ODI against England with Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada likely to be rested for some of the matches.”They definitely won’t play all five games,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said. “We will look to bring one or two new fast bowlers in.”That means South Africa are likely to add to their one-day squad, which currently only has Chris Morris as back-up to the bowlers. Wayne Parnell, and Hardus Viljoen, who are playing for the A side in a warm-up match against England on Saturday, could come into contention. Vernon Philander, however, will not.Philander tore ankle ligaments in the warm-ups for the second Test against India in Bangalore in November and has missed seven Tests as a result. He was expected to recover by mid-January but is still “two to three weeks away from competitive cricket”, according to Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager . Philander is unlikely to make an international appearance this season.Moosajee is more optimistic about Steyn, even though the exact nature of the shoulder injury, which followed a groin strain, has not been discovered. “All initial scans were clear but when symptoms did not improve, we discovered a reaction in the bone itself,” Moosajee said. ‘This is very rare in fast bowlers as it is usually caused by trauma. We are treating it conservatively because he is a fast bowler and we know we have the World T20 coming up.”Steyn is still receiving treatment in a hyperbaric chamber and is being monitored every two weeks. Moosajee is “confident he will make a full recovery” and that in “six, eight or 10 weeks when he is fit, will be bowling as well as he ever has”. He also emphasised that Steyn’s current niggle is “not career-threatening.”

Ben Hutton struggled to contribute consistently for Middlesex in recent years © Martin Williamson

Middlesex’s Ben Hutton and Richard Johnson have both announced their retirement with immediate effect.Johnson, 32, had two spells at Middlesex either side of six years with Somerset. He made three appearances for England in 2003 and 2004, winning the Man-of-the-Match award in two of them. He was in the reckoning for a cap almost a decade earlier but he had to withdraw from the 1995-96 tour of South Africa after picking up a back injury. The previous summer he had hit the headlines when he took all ten wickets in an innings against Derbyshire. He returned to Lord’s in 2007 but was unable to force his way into the first team.Hutton, 30, never quite fulfilled his early promise but he became a solid county batsman, passing 1000 runs in 2004 and 2005. Midway through 2004 he was appointed Middlesex captain but that seemed to seriously affect him in 2006. The side was in turmoil and the burden weighed heavily on his health. Although Ed Smith took charge in 2007, Hutton was unable to regain his place in the side.”It’s with great regret that I decide to finish with the game,” Hutton said. “A lack of first team opportunity has made it a difficult season to enjoy and it seems sensible, at this point in my life, to pursue something more progressive and enhancing. It is important that Middlesex’s many talented young batters are given an opportunity and I do not want to stand in their way.””Both Ben and Richard have been excellent players and great supporters of the club and very much wish to remain a part of the Middlesex family,” said Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s chief executive. “Ben took over the captaincy in July 2004 under difficult circumstances and did a fantastic job through to the end of the 2006 season.”Jono started his cricket with Middlesex at the age of 11 and although he disappeared to Somerset, all at Middlesex followed his progress carefully and were delighted when he was capped for England.”Both Ben and Jono provided much needed experience to, and were instrumental in the club capturing the Second XI Trophy this season and the club thank them both for their hard work and wish them both every success in the future.”

‘ It’s always tough to sit and moan about a wicket when you’ve lost, but in terms of an international tournament I don’t think the wicket was of a good standard today’ – Smith © AFP

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, slammed the pitch at the Brabourne Stadium after his team folded for just 108 and lost to New Zealand by 87 runs, suggesting that the wicket was not up to the mark for an international tournament. “Batting second was very, very difficult,” he said. “It’s always tough to sit and moan about a wicket when you’ve lost, but in terms of an international tournament I don’t think the wicket was of a good standard today.”Interestingly it was Smith who won the toss and chose to put New Zealand in. He pointed to the much-talked-about dew factor when explaining this decision. “Last year we were here in November and there was a lot of dew,” he said. “Dew was a big factor. The wickets played quite well then. This wicket was going through the top, it was turning almost square.”Smith also suggested that his decision to put New Zealand in, one that backfired on him in the end, was based on what he saw of the early matches played in this tournament. “In the first two games the sides which batted first really struggled. In those games it seemed like the ball came on better in the second innings,” he said. “Today it was the total opposite. It just deteriorated from 10 overs onwards. The pitch broke up, the ball turned a hell of a lot.” He added that captains might need to assess things differently in the rest of the tournament. “We’re just going to have to read a pitch, go by the gut feeling on the day and stick by that. I don’t think the pitches are going to provide a 100 overs of good cricket.”When Smith was done criticising the pitch he trained his sights on the ICC for the scheduling of matches in this tournament. “It’s a bit tough to work that out. You have eight days to the next game and then two games in three days. It could have been spaced a lot better,” he said. “Who knows what the ICC’s thinking was when they scheduled the games this way. The gap gives us a chance to regroup but ideally we would have liked to be playing a lot sooner than we are.”When asked if his team’s shot selection could have been better, Smith said there was little wrong with the way his batsmen played. “I don’t think the shot selection was that bad. Some guys could have waited for the ball longer, others went after balls that were there to cut and ended up nicking.” he said. “When a wicket’s like this you end up changing your whole gameplan and end up missing out on something. I think our shot selection was fine, we just needed to grind a bit more.”In contrast, Stephen Fleming did not slam the pitch as Smith did. “Yes, the pitches are a bit different this time around, from what we usually experience in India. As the tournament progresses, it is going to be tough on the viewers and in this respect I can understand Graeme’s complaints. But our job is to play in whatever pitches given to us and play accordingly.” And he certainly adapted better than anyone else on the day.Fleming also conceded that he was not entirely sure that his team had enough runs on the board, but grew more comfortable after seeing how the pitch behaved as the second innings progressed. “I was afraid a bit as we lost nearly five overs in our innings,” he said. “We were aiming 220 to 230, which we thought was really competent in this pitch. It was a bit tough to concentrate as wickets were tumbling at regular intervals at the other end. Once we saw the ball stopping a bit off the wicket, we realised that we are in with a chance in this game.”

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

Justin Langer hangs his head after getting out © Getty Images

Another pulsating day ended with England in control of the third Test, although Australia fought back after being made to follow on shortly before lunch. Indeed, until Ricky Ponting was run out after tea, Australia were looking relatively untroubled, their battle to wipe off a first-innings deficit of 259 aided by the absence of Simon Jones with an ankle injury.But Ponting was soon followed by Damien Martyn, although Michael Clarke and Simon Katich avoided any further mishaps in the final hour. Australia hadn’t followed on for 17 years, but that moment came when Simon Jones finally removed a stubborn Brett Lee to claim his fifth wicket this innings, his fourth of the morning.Australia started the day in tatters, and they were further shredded by Jones who ripped through them in an action-packed 90 minutes that would give football a run for its money in the excitement stakes, and then some.But in this game, there was no half-time break for Australia who were relentlessly pursued by an England pack with an ebullient Jones at the helm. With the momentum with them, everything went their way – including Andrew Strauss’s wonder catch to remove Adam Gilchrist just as he was starting to fire. Gilchrist was Andrew Flintoff’s victim in a morning which otherwise belonged to Jones.He struck twice in two balls to rock Australia just as they were beginning to hit out, with Gilchrist and Simon Katich launching a daring counterattack in the first half hour, with an array of ambitious shots. Michael Vaughan turned to Jones hoping for some more of his first-over magic. And Jones did not disappoint: with just his second ball he conjured up Simon Katich’s wicket, who flashed a loose delivery to one of the two gullies. Shane Warne fell next ball, sending a leading edge to cover after being turned inside out.

Simon Jones struck twice in two balls, just as Australia were beginning to hit out in their first innings © Getty Images

Flintoff popped up for a quick cameo, helped by Strauss’s ace of a catch. With Gilchrist well set, something special was required to prise him out, and this arrived when he flashed hard to second slip where a diving acrobatic Strauss strained all his sinews and stretched out his left hand to cling on by his fingertips.Back to the main act and, for his next trick, Jones cleaned up Michael Kasprowicz with one which pitched on middle and swung away. Then came Lee’s assault – brief, but battling: he clattered 47 from 44 balls, including three sixes, as he and Shaun Tait put on 43 for the tenth wicket. But Jones had one last trick up his sleeve and he removed Lee at third man. After such a morning of ooh-and-aah inducing magic, England held all the aces.But a shell-shocked Australia pulled themselves together, with Langer and Hayden grinding out a gritty opening stand of 50, just their second half-century partnership this series. They played patiently and watchfully but after reaching 50 there was little time for celebration when Hayden flashed one off Flintoff – in the first over of a new spell – straight to Ashley Giles at gully. It was the only wicket to fall by tea in a period of consolidation for Australia. Hayden made 26.Flintoff could have had Langer, too, on 37 when the batsman flashed an edge hard to Strauss at second slip at chest height. But Strauss, who had already taken two decent catches, put down the sitter. It is so often the way.Langer went on to make 61 and his was a fighting knock, as he withstood a barrage from Steve Harmison in particular, who found swing and a troubling good length. His gutsy innings was played with courage with Australia firmly up against it. Shortly after tea, though, his battling stand came to an end when the ball brushed his glove and found Ian Bell at short leg off Ashley Giles.Ricky Ponting wasn’t for lying down, either, and he batted well with some convincing strokeplay and was in sight of his half-century when, on 48, he fell in the first over of another change in the bowling – although how he was out was not, perhaps, how England would have expected, as Damien Martyn pushed to cover and called for a quick single.

Ricky Ponting’s wicket came at the perfect time for England © Getty Images

Ponting ran hard from the non-striker’s end, but the substitute Gary Pratt – on for the injured Simon Jones who had been taken to hospital – threw down the stumps from a tight angle. A frustrated Ponting stormed off and levelled some choice words at anyone and everyone in earshot.It was another huge wicket for England and they were to pick up another in Flintoff’s next over. Perhaps unsettled by the departure of Ponting, Martyn fished at a loose one outside his offstump and nibbled through to Geraint Jones. A miserable series for Martyn continued – and he can’t have been looking forward to facing Ponting in the dressing room after the run out – although he could not complain about this decision. It was a clear edge.England were looking for just one more wicket before the close to add the icing on a very sweet cake indeed. But it was butterfingers not buttercream that was to mark the last action of the day, when Geraint Jones missed an easy stumping off Michael Clarke with the batsman on 35. Clarke added four more before Australia unblinkingly took the light 20 minutes before the end.This could prove a costly miss with Australia 37 runs from wiping out their deficit and six wickets still in hand. England know they can never write Australia off, but they will be the happier of the two teams this evening.

Australia1st inningsMatthew Hayden lbw b Hoggard 7 (20 for 1)
Ricky Ponting lbw b S Jones 1 (21 for 2)
Damien Martyn lbw b Hoggard 1 (22 for 3)
Justin Langer c Bell b Hoggard 27 (58 for 4)
Michael Clarke lbw b Harmison 36 (99 for 5)
Simon Katich c Strauss b S Jones 45 (157 for 6)
Shane Warne c Bell b S Jones 0 (157 for 7)
Adam Gilchrist c Strauss b Flintoff 27 (163 for 8)
Michael Kasprowicz b S Jones 5 (175 for 9)
Brett Lee c Bell b S Jones 47 (218)
2nd innings
Matthew Hayden c Giles b Flintoff 26 (50 for 1)
Justin Langer c Bell b Giles 61 (129 for 2)
Ricky Ponting run out (sub G Pratt) 48 (155 for 3)
Damien Martyn c G Jones b Flintoff 13 (161 for 4)

Adam Gilchrist is playing … but has second thoughts© AFP

Australia’s Test team appears increasingly uneasy about playing cricket against an understrength, predominantly black Zimbabwe side, with Adam Gilchrist, the vice-captain, revealing that he is “really confused” about whether or not the tour should be abandoned.In his unghosted column for Fairfax newspapers, Gilchrist wrote this morning: “I’m confused. Really, really confused … Having arrived in Zimbabwe several days ago and having had the chance to experience first-hand the mood of the country, I’m no more certain as to what is a right or wrong decision.”The revelation represents a significant turnaround from Gilchrist’s previous forthright insistence that the tour should proceed. It comes only four days before the first Test is scheduled to begin in Harare.”The moral question has been presented to us over and over again, and I guess we’ve made public our answer by fronting for the tour,” he writes hesitatingly. “We feel we can tour Zimbabwe, or any country, and not be seen to be supporting the local political regime. It’s a game of cricket.”But Gilchrist then issues what could be interpreted as a cry for help: “If those in the game of politics want to overrule, please go ahead as that is your mandate, and I’m sure we would follow your lead.”He says the Australian players have spent “many hours thinking of the people of Zimbabwe who have reportedly suffered. The knowledge of alleged heartache and pain felt by many has registered deeply with the members of our team and has only made our decision-making more difficult.”Meanwhile Darren Lehmann, the only Australian player until now to have hinted publicly at serious concerns within the team, said he decided not to boycott Zimbabwe after speaking with Andy Flower, their former champion batsman. “I had a good chat with him before coming and he thought it was good to come for the people, that they’d certainly get a kick out of seeing the Australian team here,” said Lehmann. “He said: ‘You’re not political pawns, you’re a cricket side.’ That sort of confirmed my thoughts, and I’m here now.”Until today, that was Gilchrist’s position too. In his column of three weeks ago, the day after Stuart MacGill announced his conscience-based decision to make himself unavailable, Gilchrist wrote: “I believe I can do more good by completing the tour … I’m sure that our presence will be welcomed by local Zimbabweans.”Back then, he said Zimbabwe had been a “competitive” side and it would be “a shame” if they were lost to world cricket. Today he seems less than upbeat about the country’s cricketing future. He notes that Zimbabwe’s national newspaper, preoccupied with South Africa’s successful bid for the 2010 soccer World Cup, devoted only “one small column of match reports” to this week’s second Test slaughter by Sri Lanka’s cricketers.”It’s no secret that soccer is the most followed sport in these areas,” Gilchrist writes, “and now … I suspect cricket will be under even more strain to survive.” He concludes his column with the words: “Call me a fence-sitter if you like, but please don’t call me neglectful or naive, as some have, about what’s taking place around us. Perhaps just really, really confused.”As the minutes count down, and the realisation sinks in that Australia are poised to play a Test match against a team seemingly chosen primarily on the basis of skin colour, it would seem that doubts, fears and tensions that have previously lain dormant can no longer be shrugged off.

India, currently second-favourite to win this World Cup, are in an extremely luxurious position now, secure in the knowledge that their opponent in the semi-final will be the relatively weak Kenya. Even so, they should not take that match against Kenya lightly, considering the fickle nature of one-day cricket and the huge repercussions that would stem from losing a World Cup semi-final.But before that, India have a serious appointment against New Zealand at Centurion on Friday, and although India could not care less about the result of the match, New Zealand has to do all the hard work to qualify for the semi-final. I don’t, however, expect the Indian think-tank to rest players and make it easy for New Zealand. Sourav Ganguly and John Wright have been on the right path in following the policy of not breaking a winning combination and although some may say that they might rue this policy towards the end of the World Cup, I feel the Indians are right on this point.

© CricInfo

Arguably what India ought to have done is to give the likes of Ajit Agarkar a chance before the World Cup – or possibly in the league stages, for if an Agarkar short of match-practice has to replace somebody at short notice, he may be targeted by the opposition – to India’s detriment.Having said that, I still maintain that it has been a case of “so far so good” for the Indian team, and in preparing for the final, they must dare to try out a few new things. The last thing India want to do is look predictable against a team like Australia in the climax of cricket’s most important competition.In my eyes, the only team that has looked like stopping Australia in their tracks is New Zealand. Stephen Fleming is as astute a captain as they come, and he must spend much time working out strategy ahead of every game. Fleming will need to be flexible with his planning as he could be accused of coming up with just a Plan A and no Plan B. When his plans pay off, it looks simply superb; look how the Kiwis used Shane Bond to demolish the Australian batting. But we also saw the inability of the Kiwis to go for the kill, and you just cannot give a team like Australia a second chance.

© Reuters

Fleming is the one who knows a lot about playing and winning against Australia, so I’d like to see, for added spice in this World Cup, New Zealand beat India on Friday and then make the first semi-final a trans-Tasman affair. That may work out in favour of the Indians too, for there is a very good chance that New Zealand could knock out the mighty Aussies in the semi-final.Speculation aside, for all that to happen, New Zealand has to beat India at Centurion. Bond will have to produce yet another dream spell to counter the likes of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. If New Zealand manages some early breakthroughs, then the game is half-won.I sincerely hope to see Chris Cairns bowling against India; his bowling not only ensures a balance to their side but also helps his performance with the bat. Cairns has been a genuine match-winner for New Zealand and ranks up there along with Nathan Astle in utility value. Fleming’s inventiveness is an added edge, although I am not sure I would like to see Daniel Vettori open the innings against India; a cheap early wicket is just the last thing New Zealand need in such a crucial game.

Gloucestershire’s excellent Championship form continued as Mark Alleyne’s side put themselves into a commanding position against Nottinghamshire.With Matt Windows (174) and Chris Taylor (148) taking their third-wicket partnership to 306, a record stand against Notts, Gloucestershire pushed on to build a big lead.Jeremy Snape helped himself to an unbeaten century as the visitors’ bowlers again erred in line and length, reaching the landmark in only 96 balls and striking a six and 11 fours.Skipper Alleyne too looked in good form, driving powerfully in front of the wicket for his 72 before he was fifth out at 502.The declaration finally came at 608-8, giving Gloucestershire a formidable lead of 286. Nottinghamshire’s woes continued as they lost three early wickets.Acting captain Darren Bicknell fell in the second over to Alistair Bressington for a duck and Greg Blewett’s miserable match continued as he bagged a pair, edging Averis to Ball at slip. Averis also claimed the wicket of first innings centurion Paul Johnson, also without scoring, to leave Notts on 10-3.Guy Welton batted defiantly for his 30 but after Kevin Pietersen had been caught down the legside by Russell off Bressington the opener lost his off stump to Alleyene to reduce the visitors to 54-5.John Morris was defiant, making a well crafted 54, but wickets continued to tumble and with the extra half-hour looming Chris Read became the sixth man out, leaving Alleyne with the easy decision to take the half-hour.Morris finally fell to Alleyne, eighth out at 125, and with Greg Smith run out it was left to Stephen Randall and Nadeem Malik to defy the Gloucestershire bowlers in a tense last five overs with Notts on 139-9, still 147 runs behind.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWelcome to Wales, land of rain and anxiety. Cambridge scientists recently concluded that it is here where the United Kingdom is at its most neurotic. And it is here where Australia did their utmost to prey on those nerves and insist against all logic that even though they must embark upon a seemingly impossible pursuit of 412 on the fourth morning, and the pitch is both turning sharply and bouncing irregularly, they are not quite dead in the Cardiff Test. They are. They must be.Pessimism can cling to a side with recent memories of an Ashes whitewash. England initially made rapid headway as they sought to turn a formidable first-innings lead of 122 into a bridgehead for victory and a 1-0 lead in the Investec Ashes series. The impetus from bundling out Australia in their morning spread into the batting of Ian Bell and, less obviously, Joe Root in the afternoon. And even as the lead built, millions of England supporters looked on and spoke of “only”.The lead was only 200, 300, and 20 minutes from the close, with great relief, 400, as England’s No. 10, Mark Wood, swung the offspin of Nathan Lyon towards the River Taff for six and then reverse lapped him for four to applause from the England balcony. The wickets remaining slipped to only eight, four, two. But by the close of the third day, an awkward spell in which Bell, Root and Ben Stokes had their wicket struck in turn and Australia felt a glimmer of hope, Wood, a tail-ender with a sense of fun, had an unbeaten 32 from 18 balls and England were out of sight. Finally, there was not an “only” to be heard.Australia like to speak of the highest Test run chase ever pulled off in England, of Headingley 1948, of Don Bradman and of 404 for 3. Even that would not be enough now. The forecast for Sunday is indifferent, but as the Welsh have it, it is not expected to rain old women and sticks. This excellent game deserves a winner and logic suggests that it is England.Four wickets for Lyon were deserving of respect, if an expected reward on a dry pitch offering considerable turn. Australia’s bonus was Mitchell Starc. When he left the field for the last time, the clock had gone beyond six o’clock and a bowler whose first ball of the day had seen this lissom left-armer hop gingerly through the crease in mistrust of an ankle injury had got through 16 overs, logged Alastair Cook and Stokes in the wickets column and, at 92.8mph, had clocked the fastest ball of the match. Impressive stuff – but he might miss the Lord’s Test as a consequence.Australia were not averse to playing on England’s insecurity. New ICC regulations might make sledging a risky business, and not before time, but nobody said anything about mind games. Lyon and David Warner more than once held conversations at the point in the crease where Stokes, idiosyncratically, likes to sweep the crease in a semicircle. Brad Haddin had more appeals than the Salvation Army.It would be tempting to term the pitch treacherous, but considering its particular difficulty to Australia, whose batsmen are brought up with pace and bounce, perhaps it was actually suffering from excessive loyalty. It has also produced magnificent entertainment from the outset.It had taken England only 14.5 overs to polish off the last five Australian wickets, 44 runs added in the process, and although the stand-out performer was James Anderson, who provided a brief exhibition of new-ball bowling to log 3 for 43, every England bowler took a wicket in what had been a consistently focused display.The sense that batting might remain a taxing business was encouraged when Alastair Cook, England’s captain, failed for the second time in the match, driving at a gentle, wide outswinger from Starc which was well picked up by Lyon, low at backward point. He seems, perhaps temporarily, to have abandoned his habitual insistence of making bowlers bowl at him in a desire to buy into England’s much-vaunted commitment to enterprising batting.If Cook could rue a puff of dust from the footholes, Gary Ballance had more reason for frustration. Two excellent swinging deliveries from Starc left him fortunate to reach lunch unbeaten – but still on nought. Ballance might have reached the interval, but that first run never came as soon after the resumption he received a climbing delivery from Josh Hazlewood and gloved to the wicketkeeper.Bell’s three hundreds won him the Man of the Series award the last time the Ashes were contested in England, but who had been bereft of form with six scores of 0 or 1 in his last nine Test innings. It was a timely moment for him to regain form. He drove sublimely through the off side from the outset, two early boundaries against Starc setting the tone from a half-century of elegant ambition. There were 11 boundaries in his 60 before he became Mitchell Johnson’s first victim, expecting inswing but beaten by one that seamed away.Bell’s authority briefly rubbed off on Adam Lyth, whose slog-swept six against Lyon summed up his rising ambition. Lyon, though, gradually unravelled his game and outdid his defensive poke for Michael Clarke to hold a wonderful springing catch to his left at slip.At 207 for 4, England’s lead was already 329, but the loss of Root, bowled by a nip-backer from Hazlewood, was the start of an uncomfortable period in which four wickets fell for 38 in nine overs. Jos Buttler might have regretted this reverse sweep more than most as Lyon had him caught at the wicket; Stokes’ controlled 42 ended with a drag-on as Starc scudded one through; Broad flung his head skywards and reached deep mid-off, running in. Wood banished the nerves.Australia had begun the morning at 264 for 5 and might have shrugged off the loss the nightwatchman, Lyon, as he fell lbw to Wood, immaculate in line throughout, but the dismissal of Shane Watson that preceded it was drainingly familiar as he played across his front pad against Broad. For Watson, it was another Test match 30 and a striking record of 28 lbw dismissals in 108 innings, unmatched for a player of such longevity. He left with mournful, pursed lips, as if he could not believe that fate had conspired against him once more.Haddin was a danger, memories of his productive last series against England still fresh, but Anderson found prodigious movement both ways and it was not long before Haddin edged an outswinger to the wicketkeeper. Johnson clipped Broad to midwicket and Australia’s innings came to a close when Anderson had Starc expertly held by Root, diving to his left, one of five England slips stationed for a catch, an attacking flourish they clung to, refusing whatever the doubts around them to let the talk of “only” enter their thoughts.

ScorecardMolly Strano picked up 5 for 15 to restrict Melbourne Stars Women to 9 for 85•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

This game had been identified as ‘the one’ for the Women’s Big Bash League. It was the tournament’s first fixture at the MCG, its first on Channel Ten’s flagship channel – all on a Saturday afternoon at the end of the holiday season. Central to the fixture’s sporting appeal was the presence of Meg Lanning, captain not only of the Melbourne Stars, but Australia’s national side too, and the world’s best batsman. But she was on the wrong side of the result as Sophie Molineux anchored a low-scoring chase that Melbourne Renegades won quite comfortably.On a number of levels, things didn’t start terribly well. The MCG naively decided a single general admission gate would be adequate, leaving many – perhaps 2000 – punters outside for the start of the match. Only the quickest to their seats would have seen Lanning, who fell caught behind prodding half-forward to Molly Strano’s spin in the second over of the match. She had made just 2, on what was supposed to be her day.By the second ball of Strano’s next over, the Stars had lost three more wickets. Natalie Sciver was bowled off the penultimate ball Shabnim Ismail’s second over. A ball later, Emma Inglis fell in almost identical fashion, castled by a full, straight, skiddy delivery from the diminutive South African – fresh off the plane and playing her first game of the competition. Then came the scalp of Katie Mack – the only Star besides Lanning with more than 100 runs in their eight WBBL matches to date – who was trapped by Strano.In the blink of an eye, the Stars, having chosen to bat, were 4 for 8. The only saving grace was that Mignon du Preez safely defended the hat-trick ball from her compatriot Ismail. It was largely thanks to du Preez that those queuing outside got to see a game at all. \\She nudged and hurdled her way through the middle overs, first in the company of Kelly Applebee, then Kristen Beams. The first boundary only arrived from the innings’ 64th ball, a du Preez edge off Briana Binch, and only two more followed (the innings also contained 63 dots).Having cleaned up the top order, Ismail and Strano returned to lop off the Stars’ tail. Hayley Jensen was caught and bowled by Strano, then Ismail had du Preez caught at mid-on. Strano bowled the last over and got the wicket of Beams, with a tossed up delivery as she was caught well low down at mid-off, and then struck with the wicket of Gemma Triscari, who was trapped plumb in front as Stars managed just 9 for 85 in their 20 overs. Strano was rewarded for her accuracy with remarkable figures of 5 for 12.Defending a paltry total, Lanning’s Stars did just about everything right. Seamers and spinners alike bowled tight, probing lines, the team were energetic and vocal in the field, Lanning set aggressive fields and they fielded like demons, led by their wicketkeeper, Inglis, who claimed two excellent stumpings. Sciver’s second ball was full and wide, and Dane van Niekerk – who had just sliced the parsimonious Triscari over point for four – advanced and was smartly stumped by Inglis.Kris Britt never got going, and when Beams gave one some flight, she was also stumped. 17-year-old Sophie Molineux – opening, having batted No. 11 in her previous WBBL knock – stuck about and looked increasingly fluent, but after 13 overs, the Renegades were still not halfway there, and the Stars, improbably, were on top.Then the pressure began to tell. 11 was taken from Beams’ last over, including a beautiful lofted drive for four from Danielle Wyatt, while Alana King’s following over cost eight, including a pair of missed run-outs. With the running increasingly suicidal, those two run-outs happened in the following overs; Molineux was carelessly caught short as she failed to pick up Wyatt’s tip and run, while Sarah Elliott simply set off when there was never a run on offer.Wyatt’s stay at the crease began eventfully, when she was hit on the back of the helmet by a full-blooded Molineux drive, but she kept her composure to see the Renegades home when requiring a run-a-ball. She hit a stunning cover driven four and was joined by Ismail, who thrashed around briefly before being run-out in the final over. But Wyatt’s push into the off-side off the innings’ penultimate ball, and another, final scampered single saw the Renegades home.