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Marcus North made his breakthrough first class century when he protected Western Australia against Queensland quick Ashley Noffke’s wrath on day one of the Pura Cup cricket clash at the WACA.North’s resistance was the main reason the Warriors finished the opening day at 8-305 after a blistering display by the ACB-contracted Noffke.The right handed paceman claimed 4-69 including the prized early scalps of Warriors captain Simon Katich and his deputy Mike Hussey.North chose the perfect moment to notch his maiden ton with Katich (0) and Hussey (2) back in the rooms and only five runs on the board.The upright left-hander defied the Queensland attack for 231 minutes to compile 106, eclipsing his previous first class high of 60.He struck 17 fours and was involved in partnerships of 87 with Murray Goodwin and 89 with Kade Harvey before falling offering a thick edge to Bulls keeperWade Seccombe off Noffke.He said after the game the difficult position the side was in when he strode to the crease had added gloss to his maiden century.”It felt really great. I just tried to go out there and follow the team plan which was to build partnerships,” he said.”The ball just got bigger as the day wore on and to get a hundred along the way was a real bonus.”It’s definitely the highlight of my career, no question.”It’s always good to get a hundred at any level of cricket, but your first first class hundred is what you’re always striving for and I think today it came at a good time and helped WA win the day.”Former Zimbabwe international Goodwin continued his impressive start to the season with a much-needed 68.Goodwin, who smashed 141 in the Warriors’ last game against Tasmania, batted for 204 minutes after coming in with the score 2-5.He became highly-touted Queensland left armer Mitchell Johnson’s (2-47) first Pura Cup wicket when he was caught by Andrew Symonds at point.Bulls veteran Michael Kasprowicz toiled all day but only managed the one wicket, that of last minute call-up Kade Harvey to end the all-rounders plucky resistance.Harvey, who came into the side today to replace virus-ridden all-rounder Brad Hogg, made 31 before he edged Kasprowicz to Jimmy Maher in the slips.

Johnson rouses crowd one final time

Ever since Andy Bichel pulled him up one day at Queensland training, Mitchell Johnson has always concentrated on making sure he didn’t end a spell or match on a bad note.
After being battered by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the first innings of what became his final Test, Johnson turned on the speed and menace one last time to bounce out Tom Latham and Martin Guptill. In those same moments, though, he knew the decision to walk away was right.
“Nice feeling. Definitely put a smile on my face. I still knew I’ve made the right decision even when I was out there and playing like that. I still knew,” he said. “But I really enjoyed it and to play in front of my friends and family, a pretty amazing feeling when the crowd is right behind you.
“The sound that’s going through your ears and emotion running in a few times. Pretty focused on the job. Was hoping for a few more wickets, was nice to finish with a trademark of my career and [Guptill] caught in close like that – really wanted to finish like that and it’s good when you can.”
Johnson was then carried off the field by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, the men who will carry on as the team’s pacemen without him.
“When the boys picked me up that was probably a bit more emotional – I didn’t really want them to do it. They’ve been so great through my whole career, been so supportive and really enjoyed playing cricket with those guys. A little tear in the eye when they picked me up.”
True to Bichel’s instruction, Johnson had finished well.

As he foreshadowed before the WACA Test against New Zealand, Mitchell Johnson has had enough.In the lead-up to the match, Johnson said he was happy to keep playing “as long as I’m performing well and doing my job in the team then mentally I’m feeling pretty good”, but this week, Johnson has been conclusively tamed by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, returning the figures of 1 for 157, the most expensive by an Australian bowler in all Tests in Perth.His manager Sam Halvorsen was in the Australian dressing rooms on the fourth evening, as Johnson reached the painful decision to end his Test playing days. He conceded afterwards that he was quite simply no longer enjoying the hard days in the field epitomised by this match, the fourth highest scoring Test ever to be played in Australia”I’m really happy with my decision and I just lost that hunger in the end to play out on those tough days, that’s where my decision came,” Johnson said, watched by his wife Jessica, captain Steven Smith, and teammates Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. “That’s something I used to really enjoy about Test cricket, the challenge of those really difficult days out there and I just wasn’t enjoying it out there.”The first innings bowling was my final decision. Spoke to Jess my wife about it and my manager Sam and Smithy and Boof and spoke to the boys and let them know last night that I was finishing up in all forms. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a year now to be honest, on and off. The World Cup I thought that was a good time to go out in one day cricket but also with young guys in the team I also felt like I could help them through. But ultimately I felt like I couldn’t compete at this level any more and lost that hunger.”Johnson’s retirement rounds out a sequence of six exits from the national team around this year’s unsuccessful defence of the Ashes in England. Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin all left the stage before the home summer, and Johnson had admitted to thinking about joining them, only committing fully to playing a few weeks before the season began.He admitted he had spoken at length with his mentor Dennis Lillee about his future during that period, and while his mentor felt it was possible to keep going for several more seasons at reduced pace while concentrating on consistency and movement, the 34-year-old pushed back with the view that he had been born to bowl fast, and would not enjoy the game if he could not.”I spoke to him in the six weeks I had home before this series and he said I at least had another three or four more years left in me,” Johnson said. “Not bowling at 150kph but doing similar to what he did. Just bowling at that lower pace but doing something a bit more with the ball but at the back of my mind I was thinking I only want to bowl fast – that’s how I’ve bowled my whole career.”That was something I remember Brett Lee talking about before his retirement. He said basically he just wanted to bowl fast and if he ever got to the point where he couldn’t bowl fast than he was done as well, so I felt like I was on that wave length as well, but we had a pretty good discussion about it. I sent him a message this morning and he’s been a huge part of my career.”A shattering event in Australian cricket, the death of Phillip Hughes last year also weighed heavily on Johnson, while he also found himself bowling on pitches far less lively than those he had been helped by in previous summers. “Definitely there was a part of me that struggled after Phillip’s death and probably affected me for a long time and probably still does,” he said. “But the final decision was more just the hunger and those tough days I didn’t want to be there.”That’s not very fair on the team and that’s how I play cricket, I always play 100%. Really happy and proud I was able to go out there and finish off really well and having that weight lifted off your shoulders and just go out there and have fun and cherish the moment.”Wickets are definitely getting harder and harder and flatter but it might have played a little part day in and day out, some days you feel like a bowling machine. But I really did enjoy the challenge even though sometimes it felt like an unfair advantage to batters. Never complained about it, and always gave it 100 per cent.”Johnson has played 73 Tests, claiming 311 wickets for Australia, behind only Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee. He was the key figure in Australia’s 5-0 Ashes sweep in 2013-14, claiming a staggering 37 wickets across the five Tests and leaving an indelible mark with his pace and intimidation.”That was definitely a huge moment in my career and it’s something that I guess I would have had regrets if I hadn’t come back from there,” he said. “I spoke to my wife about it and something I really wanted to work hard on coming back into the team and I really enjoyed that challenge and it really made me excited about playing cricket and coming back from injury [in 2011-12] and working really hard and I guess testing myself.”I felt like I hadn’t given my best at that stage in my career and felt like I had a lot to give. The last couple of years were really exciting for me and just became really confident in my ability and in my action. Learn to become more comfortable in myself. Wasn’t content but just knew what I needed to do and what it took to be your best. It was an exciting time throughout my career and something I will always cherish and always have those memories.”A follow-up performance in South Africa further enhanced Johnson’s reputation as one of the most frightening fast bowlers to have played the game, but his returns have trailed off gradually since, and after struggling for impact in the two Tests of this series against New Zealand he has decided to finish – doing so before the inaugural day/night Test in Adelaide, a concept he has been notably sceptical about.His decision has also coincided with the maturing of Mitchell Starc, who has developed consistency to go with his pace and swing and has notably outdone his more senior left-arm paceman at the WACA Ground. The dual use of Starc and Johnson in the same attack has been a source of considerable selection angst for several years, no more so than against England when they struggled for role definition as two strike bowlers in a four-man attack.

ScorecardSuhrawadi Shuvo, the Bangladesh Under-19 captain, triggered a late collapse and claimed five of the last six wickets to fall as his team successfully defended 233 against Pakistan Under-19 to square the five-match ODI series two-all.After losing their first four wickets with only 49 on the board, Pakistan were within sight of victory at 183 for 4 thanks to a 134-run fifth-wicket partnership between Ali Asad (106) and Umair Mir (64). The collapse – with the home side losing six wickets for 37 runs including the last three for only one run – completed a remarkable comeback by Bangladesh who were precariously placed at 57 for 3 after opting to bat.Marshall Ayub and Mahmudul Hasan put on 126 for the fifth wicket after Mithun Ali, Bangladesh’s opener and wicketkeeper, had scored 33. Ayub hammered 88 runs off 91 balls with five fours and a six while Hasan chipped in with a valuable 44 to enable their team post a respectable total.In reply, Dolar Mahmud tore through the top order and finished with four wickets for 40 runs before Shuvo, following a resurgent knock by Asad, bowled Bangladesh to victory to level the series 2-2.The fifth and final match of the series is to be played here at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex Stadium on Friday.

Australia’s departing players have no worries about the side dropping from the top of the world rankings after spending the past decade keeping them there. And Ricky Ponting believes the group of low-profile replacements is capable of stepping into the gaps created by three of the country’s longest-serving performers.As the Australians accepted the applause for a 5-0 victory from a heaving SCG, Ponting spoke to Michael Clarke about the responsibilities of the new generation, which faces its first Test challenges against Sri Lanka and India towards the end of the year. “Make sure the next time we play an Ashes series we give it our best shot for the same result,” Ponting told Clarke, who scored two centuries in the contest.”For the next few years hopefully it’s Clarke and I and Michael Hussey leading our country. I see it as a pretty exciting time.” Ponting also expected players such as Adam Voges, who was in the squad for Perth, and the bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus would help replace Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer.”It’s not so much the unknown because I’ve got a good feeling about the next crop,” he said. “When you get young players in the squad there’s excitement around. The nucleus of this group will still be together and I can see us being a very dominant team.”The last time Australia lost three significant figures they suffered five years of misery, but Warne is confident the trough will not be repeated. In 1983-84 Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Greg Chappell retired on the same day at the SCG and the side struggled to recover.However, Warne believed Australia were currently so far ahead of the second-best side that the next batch of players would be able to hold the lofty position. “We’re very fortunate that first-class cricket in Australia is a good breeding ground for talent,” he said. “There are some wonderful cricketers out there.”It’ll be interesting to see which way the selectors go. Will they go for some 30-year-old players to replace us, or will they go for some youth? It’s a good time to get some younger players into the Test side while it’s been so successful and there is a decent gap between the next best side.”Warne said he would watch with interest “over a beer” to see how the team developed. “I don’t think Australia will come back to the field,” he said. “They’ll replace us three guys and I’m sure Australia will keep playing good cricket and winning.”Australia’s Ashes cleansweep has contributed to a 12-game winning streak that began at the MCG in 2005. Ponting said it would be a good tribute to the retiring players if they aimed to beat the mark of 16 set by Steve Waugh’s side in 2001, but Warne hoped it would stay untouched.”I bought a print for $35,000 that was for 16 in a row, so hopefully it rains in a couple of the next Tests,” he said. “Or maybe I’ll have to buy the next one when they win 17.”When we won 16 in a row I didn’t think it would happen again. To be on the verge of doing that again, and to have won 16 out of 17, that’s an amazing journey and a testament to the quality of players we’ve got.”Australia became a dominant team with the performances of Warne, McGrath and, later, Justin Langer, and Warne believed they first reached the new level in 1995 when they became unofficial world champions by beating West Indies. “We played some excellent cricket before that, but in ’95 we started to dominate rather than just win,” he said. “Once we beat West Indies over there we’ve dominated international cricket, except for a couple of hiccups – once in India and the 2005 Ashes – along the way. In general, we’ve dominated world cricket.”

Zimbabwe’s disgruntled players have announced that they will not travel to Bangladesh for the Afro-Asia A-team tournament in January unless their demands, including for the dismissal of Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute and payment of monies owed to them, are met. They also said that the Under-23 side will not travel to South Africa to play in domestic cup matches in February.Last week, the players decided to resume training so that they would be prepared for the tournaments, but they changed their minds because of what a spokesman described as “the ongoing failure of ZC to address players concerns, both contractual and governance”. The spokesman said that the organisers of the two events should urgently make alternative plans.The decision was made at a meeting of all 37 nationally-contracted players on Wednesday. “We made a 100% decision not to go,” said Blessing Mahwire, the ZPCA chairperson. “We will still play club and provincial cricket in Zimbabwe, but we are giving the Bangladeshis as much notice as possible so they can invite another country. We are aware of the impact we will make, but we have been forced into it.”The change of heart has come because of the remarkably high-handed way that Zimbabwe Cricket has dealt with the players in the last ten days. Despite the delicate nature of the situation, ZC shut its offices without notice a fortnight before Christmas and they are not expected to re-open until mid January. Players’ fuel and car allowances were withheld, meaning that some had to run up to 12km to training sessions, and ZC officials refused to carry out any negotiations despite repeated requests for meetings by the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers’ Association.”It’s a financial issue,” explained Clive Field, the ZPCA chief executive. “These guys are crying out for help, but if they can’t see a viable career in cricket they’ll have to earn a living doing something else. It’s vital that we try to keep cricket going in Zimbabwe, but these are professional sportsmen who have to make a living.”What happens next is up to the ZC,” he added. “The players have made their position clear. They are sticking to the original list of concerns, including that Chingoka and Bvute must go.”

The government of India has banned cricketers and other sports stars from displaying the national flag on any of their sporting equipments. The federal home ministry cited the Flag code of India which mentions that the tricolour should not be used on costumes or embroidered on cushions, handkerchiefs and dress material.The government decree has left many bemused including Sunil Dutt, India’s sports minister. “I personally feel the cricketers should use the tricolour as the national flag,” he told AFP. “It acts as a morale-booster. But I have to follow orders. It is the home ministry which takes decisions with regard to issues involving use of the national flag.”The announcement means that Sourav Ganguly will have to go without his usual pair of gloves with streaks of saffron, white and green. Sachin Tendulkar will also not be able to sport his helmet with the tricolour embossed in front. Tendulkar and Ganguly have agreed to follow any instructions from the government. Bishan Bedi, the former Indian captain, also backed the move and said, “The national flag is most important and should be duly respected. You can’t put the helmet with the India flag alongside your shoes. I don’t see it as a motivation tool, national pride or patriotism. It’s all in the heart.”But Yuvraj Singh could’t hide his disappointment. “I take great pride in playing with the national flag on the helmet,” he said. “It’s a different feeling altogether.”

The Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI lost three wickets for five runs late on the second day to leave Bangladesh with a slim hope of reviving their fortunes after another poor batting performance. At stumps the Chief Minister’s XI were were 32 for 3, with an overall lead of 82. Unless the Bangladesh bowlers cause more havoc early on the third day, their batsmen will be left with a daunting fourth-innings target.Manjural Islam, the left-arm seam bowler, caused the early problems for the Chief Minister’s XI when he had Nick Berry out for a duck in the first over of the second innings. Then, in his third, he took the key wicket of Michael Clarke for 1. In between Islam’s two wickets, Ian Redpath was bowled by the medium-fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza for a duck in Mortaza’s first over.Ashley Williams and Kenneth Vowles stopped the rot and were unbeaten on 13 and 16 respectively at the close. The slow portable pitch made runscoring extremely difficult, so the first-innings lead of 50 conceded by Bangladesh could well prove to be a crucial factor.Bangladesh struggled throughout their innings to make any impact against a side which is not even a first-class combination. They were bowled out for 139 – hardly the ideal preparation in the last match before their first Test on Australian soil.Hannan Sarker was the sole figure of defiance. He batted 128 minutes for his 34 – the top score of the innings – but in doing so he highlighted the battle with concentration that the Bangladesh players have had ever since making their appearance on the Test stage. Nurtured on one-day cricket, they have still to acquire the temperament to play consistently long innings.At lunch Bangladesh were 56 for 3, but they had slumped to 120 for 8 by tea. Alok Kapali scored 21 and the last pair offered some token resistance, but it was too little against an attack which played to the conditions perfectly. Eight bowlers were used by Northern Territory, and while he picked up only one wicket for seven runs, Brian McAdam, the former North Melbourne AFL player, bowled 10 overs for that.Bradley Hatton took 2 for 20 off his 12 overs of medium-pace, while the Australian one-day offspinner Nathan Hauritz took 2 for 32 from 21 overs.Day 1 Bulletin

New Zealand Cricket’s injury curse has struck again with Daryl Tuffey the victim this time.The big fast bowler who made such a fine impression last year when required to fill in for more experienced bowlers who had injury problems, has had a long wait for a Test opportunity on this tour but has suffered a strained hamstring and is to be covered by Auckland pace bowler Chris Drum.Drum will fly to Perth tomorrow to be cover for the CLEAR Black Caps in Perth for the third Test.While Drum will be contesting a Test place with the more favoured Chris Martin it is reward for Drum who impressed last year before suffering a cruel broken collarbone when fielding during the second Test against Pakistan at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe said it was a sad blow for Tuffey.”Daryl’s been waiting for his chance on this tour and I have to say I really feel for the guy,” he said.The selectors preferred Chris Drum over Wellington’s James Franklin because of his ability to bowl into the wind.New Zealand’s chairman of selectors Sir Richard Hadlee, who is in Hobart, said: “If required we think Chris Drum, rather than James Franklin, is the better option for bowling extended spells into the wind.”In Perth the wind tends to blow down the ground.”Tuffey will not bowl again in the second Test and will most likely require a runner when batting.His injury will be reassessed tomorrow and a decision will then be made as to whether he is fit enough to be in contention to play in the third Test.If not, he will return home at the end of this Test.

ScorecardSri Lanka Under-19 and Pakistan Under-19 had to settle for a draw for the second game in a row, meaning that the two-match series ended 0-0.Sri Lanka, having been inserted, made the early running in the game, as a century from their captain Charith Asalanka powered the hosts to 305. Asalanka, who had scored a double-century in the first Test, struck 15 fours during his 124. Sixteen-year-old medium-pacer Sameen Gul was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 3 for 56, while 15-year-old Hayatullah collected 3 for 81.Pakistan, in reply, lost early wickets to fall to 71 for 5, but half-centuries from Hamza Khan (81) and Hasan Mohsin (60) steadied the innings. However, no other batsman contributed with a meaningful knock, as a four-wicket haul from fast bowler Geethal Malinga bundled the team out for 252.It meant the hosts had a lead of 53 in hand, but with just over 30 overs of play remaining in the game, their chances of forcing an outright win remained unlikely. The team managed their way to 119 for 5 before stumps were called, with Shammu Ashan top-scoring with 46.

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

A match that appeared to be drifting inexorably in Pakistan’s direction inthe afternoon session was left tantalisingly poised after a 115-runpartnership between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and VVS Laxman pushed India backinto contention. Shoaib Akhtar bowled with tremendous pace to dismiss bothopeners, and there were two wickets too for Sohail Tanvir on debut, butafter slumping to 93 for 5, India would have been satisfied to end the dayjust three runs adrift.Dhoni and Laxman eased the immediate pressure with scampered singles, apattern broken only when Dhoni cut Mohammad Sami powerfully for four.Laxman then played two magnificent strokes down the ground off Tanvir, andDhoni greeted Danish Kaneria’s reintroduction with a savage cut for four,but at tea, it was still Pakistan that were dictating terms.The complexion of the game changed after tea though, with Dhoni’s straightswat off Kaneria revealing India’s positive intent. Laxman laced somegorgeous shots down the ground and through midwicket, while Dhoni muscledthe ball through the off side field whenever he was afforded the width.Shoaib Malik rotated his bowlers often, using Shoaib’s pace in shortbursts, and both batsmen were largely content to see him off. Even then,the runs came at four an over as the partnership mounted rapidly. A pushthrough cover took Dhoni to 50, but his movement thereafter was hamperedby the ankle that he had injured in Jaipur.John Gloster, the Indian physio, came on to give it some strapping, but itwas clearly a factor as he charged a Kaneria leg break to get the thinnestof edges through to Kamran Akmal. His 57 had spanned just 93 balls, andbeen the dominant part of a partnership similar to that which saved theLord’s Test for India in July.Laxman eased to his own half-century soon after, Anil Kumbleplayed one flamboyant square drive off Shoaib, and the fag end of the day wasall about consolidation. When the umpires offered the light at thescheduled close, with Pakistan well behind the over-rate, both Laxman andKumble had little hesitation in walking off.The situation when Dhoni arrived to a raucous ovation had been verydifferent. Rahul Dravid, who had played some lovely shots in his 38,saw his off stump knocked back by a Tanvir delivery that pitched onmiddle and leg and left him a shade. Coming soon after Ganguly’s departure- bowled off the inside edge to give Tanvir his first Test scalp – it puta severe dent in India’s hopes of establishing a first-innings lead.The unlikely figure of Mohammad Yousuf had provided a telling blow minutesearlier. A sizeable crowd had cheered Sachin Tendulkar all the way to thecrease, but when there was a mix-up between him and Dravid over going fora second run, Yousuf’s throw to the keeper found him inches short.Another run-out, albeit a much more bizarre one, had precipitated the endof the Pakistan innings in the morning. Neither Munaf Patel nor ZaheerKhan could break through with the relatively new ball, and after 40 moreminutes of being thwarted, Kumble brought himself and Ganguly on.And it was off Ganguly’s bowling that the 87-run partnership – a Pakistanirecord for the ninth wicket against India – was finally broken.Misbah-ul-Haq, who had faced 243 balls for his 82, played one to point andset off. He seemed to have made his ground when Dinesh Karthik’s throwcame in. But rather than get his body in the way, Misbah chose airborneevasive action and the ball struck the stumps. When the third umpire handed down his decision, the crowd erupted.It took Kumble just two balls to clean up Kaneria, leaving India’s vauntedbatting line-up to chart their own course on a pitch predicted to be at itsbest for batting on the second day. Though Karthik went before lunch,fending at a Shoaib delivery that moved away, Dravid and Wasim Jafferproceeded to put on 56 without too many alarms.Shoaib was the biggest threat, combining the odd unplayable delivery withsome wayward stuff. Clearly unhappy with the landing area on the pitch, heasked for sawdust, changed his boots and then kicked a ball away infrustration on his followthrough when he couldn’t find rhythm.The second coming proved to be luckier. Dismayed to see Billy Doctroveturn down a leg-before appeal against Jaffer in the opening over of theinnings, he returned to thud one into the pads at serious pace. In theensuing 6.2 overs, India would lose 4 for 22 and stumble towards an abyss.Fortunately for them, neither Laxman nor Dhoni were in freefalling mood.