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HOBART, Nov 22 AAP – New South Wales and Tasmania battled through a long and wintry day to share the honours in the Pura Cup match in Hobart today.At stumps on the first day the Blues, after being sent in, were 6-280.It was a day of attrition and fluctuating fortunes under grey skies, with a bitter wind sweeping the ground. As Tasmania relied entirely on pace, it didn’t end until 6.45 (AEDT).With the Bellerive Oval wicket lively and the Tasmanian bowlers mostly maintaining good line and length, the formidable Blues batting lineup never dominated.When Michael Slater (35) and Michael Clarke (one) fell just after lunch, NSW was a precarious 3-72.But Michael Bevan and captain Simon Katich stabilised the innings with a stand of 104.Bevan, who hit a double century against Tasmania in Sydney a fortnight ago, struggled with his timing and never got on top of the bowling.When he finally went for 70, cutting in the air to gully where Damien Wright took a juggling catch, he’d batted for 233 minutes. It was valuable, but hardly vintage Bevan.Katich, who regularly banqueted at Bellerive in his Western Australian days, played with greater assurance as he produced his biggest innings since moving to NSW.With Mark Waugh, he finally broke the shackles and ensured the Blues finished the day with a decent total.Katich timed his drives beautifully and never looked like getting out. His greatest discomfort came when Shane Watson forced him briefly off the field by slamming one into his groin.Waugh was uncertain early and needed 17 balls to get on the score board.But the longer he went the better he looked, though one French cut went perilously close to his stumps and he survived a vociferous lbw appeal.In between, he hit 10 trade mark boundaries before, and to his apparent surprise, he was given out caught behind off Wright for 48.Two runs later Katich gave workhorse Shane Jurgensen a deserved wicket when he was caught at third slip and the strong position NSW had worked so hard for had been eroded.Katich’s 84 took 243 minutes and included 11 fours.Brad Haddin (5) and Don Nash (12) will continue the battle tomorrow.Tasmania, which has struggled for wickets this season, kept up the pressure well and conceded almost nothing in the field.Adam Griffith, a husky 24-year-old from Launceston, made a promising first class debut and finished with 2-64. He should treasure the scalps of Slater and Bevan.

A reward for patience
You would think there are better ways to spend a Sunday than travel to the Shere Bangla National Stadium and brave the rain, hoping the monsoon would be kind enough to spare the tournament opener. Rain, at some point, was a certainty yet the crowds streamed in to fill the half where the less expensive stands were located. They spent the first hour and a half scuttling from their seats in the roofless stands towards shelter as it rained in short, but sharp, bursts. The toss finally happened around half past four but just as the Bangladesh players were preparing to take the field, the covers came on yet again, perhaps as a precautionary measure. Luckily the rain stayed away.One-man show
Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal opened the batting but for the first eight overs it was one man who kept Pakistan going at nearly six an over. Butt raced to 40 off 38 with balls with eight fours and at the same stage Akmal had managed to score only 5 off ten balls. Akmal, however, hit the first six, a slap over long-off in the 11th over.So nearly a dream debut
The 19-year-old Dolar Mahmud, a medium-pacer, came on to bowl his first over in ODIs with Pakistan at 51 for no loss. His first ball came slowly off the pitch to Akmal, who tried to play a forceful drive, and an inside-edge went perilously close to the off stump. Instead of striking first-ball, Mahmud had gone for four. However, he did come back to induce an edge and remove Akmal in his next over.Still at the IPL
Bangladesh’s sole representative at the Indian Premier League was left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak and his first over today was an extension of his IPL experience, where he went for 29 off two overs in his only match for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Akmal muscled his second ball for six over long-off and later in the over Butt caressed a square drive through cover. Eleven runs came off Razzak’s first over but he recovered to concede only 24 off his next 6.3, picking up three wickets in the process.

The briefest of innings
Younis Khan’s first innings of the tournament was a non-starter. He came in at the fall of Akmal’s wicket and was immediately at the other end for the first ball off the 13th over. Butt pushed off the back foot to midwicket and the batsmen set off for the single but Raqibul Hasan’s sliding stop to his right at midwicket made Butt send Younis back. He hurried to make his ground but his bat was just short as Razzak broke the stumps. Younis was gone without facing a ball.Two misses, one hit
Pakistan’s three biggest flops at the IPL were Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq. Afridi glimmered briefly today, striking one powerful pull before mistiming his several subsequent attempts at finding the boundary during his 20 off 17 balls. Malik’s innings, 9 off 19, contributed to Pakistan’s loss of momentum during the final overs. Misbah, however, shook off his awful form with Bangalore and struck 39 off 22 balls, including two sixes over long-on and deep midwicket.The final straw
The Bangladesh fans that came out to support their team went through a lot. They sat through the rain patiently and then watched Pakistan’s top-order rattle up a sizeable target. They had something to cheer about when Bangladesh’s bowlers took 7 for 55 in the final ten overs of Pakistan’s innings but that joy was short-lived as the run-chase failed to get off the ground. However, they stuck around even as wickets fell. Hopes of winning faded from difficult to practically impossible and yet they did not leave the stadium. Mashrafe Mortaza’s duck was the final straw. As soon as he edged Umar Gul, they started leaving though some stuck around near the exits. They started filing out again when Dolar Mahmud was bowled for another duck soon after.

Graeme Hick hit the 36th one-day century of his career as Worcestershire Royals marched to victory over Somerset Sabres in the first Division of the Norwich Union League at Taunton.The Sabres had set Worcestershire Royals a challenging 270 to win in their 45 overs, but Hick’s unbeaten 141, supported by 58 from Vikram Solanki and 64 not out from Ben Smith saw the Royals cross the line with almost five overs to spare.The victory leaves Royals level on points with Warwickshire Bears at the top of the first division of the Norwich Union League, and Somerset anxiously contemplating a relegation battle in the remainder of the season.The Sabres’ 269-8 from 45 overs was built on a fine all round team performance, with three batsmen hitting brisk half-centuries.Mike Burns, captain once again in place of the injured Jamie Cox and England’s Marcus Trescothick, won the toss and elected to bat. He would have been happy with his side’s start too, with Peter Bowler and young Matt Wood posting 45 for the first wicket before Bowler was lbw half forward to Bichel.Ian Blackwell accelerated for the Sabres, giving an exhibition of the awesome power that will surely take him into the international side sooner rather than later. Seven fours, and a straight six off Gareth Batty threatened to take the game away from the visitors. But the bowler responded by bowling the burly left-hander when he tried to pull a ball too full for the shot and Parsons and Holloway struggled to cope with the experience of Stuart Lampitt as the Royals fought their way back into the game.But Burns continued the momentum with a run-a-ball 50, also striking the off-spin of Batty over long-off for a six.When he was sixth out for 54 with the total at 226 and Dutch followed moments later it looked as though the Sabres innings might fall away. But Malvern-born Robbie Turner, who chose this match as his benefit game, will have done himself no harm when the collecting buckets came round, with a fine and selfless 53 from 45 balls.He had endured a slightly uncomfortable start, but made use of a short boundary towards the end, clipping Kabir Ali through mid-wicket and denting the figures of Aussie Andy Bichel and Anglo-Aussie Matt Mason in the final overs.The Royals reply started poorly too, with Bichel fencing at a short ball to offer a comfortable slip catch and raising home supporter’s hopes.But Hick loves batting at Taunton. It was here, 14 years ago, that he struck 405 not out and the small boundary and true pitches are meat and drink to him.The statistics of his innings tell the story; two sixes and 17 fours in a 114-ball exhibition of murderous stroke-play. All the bowlers suffered, with Steffan Jones conceding 80 from nine overs, including a straight six towards the end that had members of the press box scrambling for cover. Hick’s 100 came up in just 81 balls, and, on a day when England’s batsmen failed to chase a total, it was a timely reminder of his World Cup worth.In truth though, the bowling was pretty disappointing and the fielding little better. A depleted attack had whatever confidence they may have had shaken out of them as Hick allowed no room at all for error. Short balls were pulled with frightening power, and anything over-pitched was driven faultlessly.Vikram Solanki was hardly overshadowed as he moved to a stylish half-century. The Royals batsmen gave the Sabres medium pacers no room for error as they added 127 for the second wicket before Solanki fell to a good diving catch by Burns at mid-on.But any chink of light that Sabres thought they could see was eclipsed by Hick and Ben Smith, who eased to an attractive 64 not out, in an unbroken partnership of 139 runs that saw the Royals home.

England have begun their tour of Australia with a 58-run defeat, going down to the ACB Chairman’s XI for the first time in the traditional opener to the Ashes series at Lilac Hill. The home side made 301 for seven, the highest-ever total in this annual fixture against Australia’s tourists, and England subsided to 243 all out.England lost Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher in the first three overs to leave England struggling on 11 for two, but Nasser Hussain (65) then joined Robert Key (68) to add 135 runs in 21 overs, reviving England’s hopes of victory. But the two were dismissed within four overs of each other, and that effectively terminated England’s challenge.The last five wickets fell for just 33 runs in nine overs, with only Alec Stewart (35) playing a further innings of substance. There were five wickets for Western Australia’s slow left-arm bowler Brad Hogg, and two apiece for Michael Clark and Paul Wilson.England had not helped their cause with a wayward performance in the field as the Chairman’s XI racked up their imposing 50-over total. Both Stewart and James Foster missed chances behind the stumps, and Steve Harmison bowled 16 wides in his seven overs, including eight in one over that lasted 14 balls. Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Caddick also struggled, while the sixth-wicket pair Mike Hussey and Kade Harvey added 152 runs in just 21 overs.England could draw some encouragement from the performance of Simon Jones, who managed eight overs and took two wickets, including one with his first ball, on his return from the side injury sustained on his Test debut at Lord’s in the summer.The Chairman’s XI started well, with the left-handed West Australian opening pair Chris Rogers and Marcus North putting on 57 for the first wicket. Hoggard then accounted for North, who had made 22 when he gave a straightforward catch to Hussain at cover. Jones struck 12 runs later, forcing Rogers (30) to give a catch to John Crawley at gully.After Harmison’s nightmare, Ashley Giles steadied England with three wickets as the Chairman’s XI slipped to 122 for five. Ryan Campbell (14) and Hogg (0) fell in the same over, followed by the former Test batsman David Hookes (10).Harvey then joined Hussey to provide huge entertainment for the 10,000 capacity crowd before Hussey (69) became Jones’ second victim after being dropped by Foster earlier in the over. Harvey’s 114 came off just 88 balls and included six sixes before he was caught on the boundary in the final over by Trescothick.

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis Thursday said the suicide bomb attack has ruined his team’s excellent performance and halted the progress it was making.”It is a shame what happened Wednesday. I feel sorry for everyone who was affected by the terrible events. But as far as cricket is concerned, our achievement has gone in the background,” the skipper said from Lahore.Pakistan were odds-on favourites to wrap up the second Test well inside five days after they destroyed New Zealand in three days to win the first Test by a record an innings and 324 runs. Pakistan also swept the three-match one-day series. But with the Test series restricted to just one Test, it will not be officially recognized as a series. According to ICC ruling, two or more Tests constitutes a series.That implies that Pakistan was denied an opportunity to narrow the gap with the West Indies in the ICC Test Championship table. Pakistan are lying seventh while the West Indies are sixth.Pakistan also defeated Bangladesh and the West Indies before clinching the Sharjah Cup to maintain an unbeaten run this year.”All our hardwork in the series and preparations for the second Test went out of the window. It has also abruptly halted the improvements we were making as a team. “Naturally the stoppage is temporarily but the momentum is broken. I think we would have been a different team had we played the second Test which I am confident we would have won with ease. “But we all are professionals and will lift ourselves, realize the tasks ahead and get down to business by forgetting whatever happened though it will be difficult,” he said.Waqar admitted this players were still in a state of shock. “I have talked to some boys but they are not talking cricket. The subject remains the bomb blast. “I am also affected but you see life has to move on. The sooner we get out of this hang-over, the better for us. The boys need to get mentally fit as soon as possible because in cricket you need to be focused and tension-free to perform and excel,” he said.The fast bowler said had he been in New Zealand’s place, he would have followed the advice and instructions of his board. “The boys have complete faith in the PCB. If we had been told to carry on, we would have without slightest of resistance of objection.” Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar also left for England on Wednesday.REUTERS ADDS: The PCB sought the support of the ICC and its member countries on Thursday to ensure that Pakistan is not isolated as an international venue.”I have spoken to the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed and our viewpoint was that the (ICC) member boards should hold on before giving any policy statements to allow the situation to settle down,” PCB director Brig Munawar Rana said.”We ourselves are upset by this incident,” said Rana. “We can now only regroup and hope for the best. But we need the support of the ICC and member nations in this regard.” “… we realise the incident has put Pakistan cricket back and could have negative effects in the future, and this is why we want the ICC and member nations to hold on and wait for things to settle down and allow us to regroup.”

The game of cricket is coming together this weekend to raise money for SportRelief, the new fundraising initiative from Comic Relief and BBC Sport. TheEngland Cricket Team will be joining cricketers across the country from every level of the game by Paying to Play cricket on 15 and 16 June.Over the past few months the nation’s footballers and rugby players have given their full support to Sport Relief by raising money on their respective Pay to Play weekends. This weekend cricket will be holding its own Pay to Play event in aid of Sport Relief.On Saturday 15 June, every member of the England Cricket Team will be paying£100 to play at the 3rd npower Test Match at Old Trafford. Many of the firstclass counties are also joining in with this exciting initiative and will bePaying to Play during their matches this weekend.Sport Relief is a new fundraising campaign that aims to unite the world ofsport to raise money for vulnerable children and young people here at home and across the world by inspiring the whole of the UK to get active during this year’s great summer of sport. The campaign will run up to Saturday 13 July and culminate in a block busting night on BBC One of sport, celebrities, entertainment, and fundraising.England Captain, Nasser Hussain said: “This is a great cause and as Englandcricketers we are delighted to give it our full support. Good luck to allthe cricketers taking part in Pay to Play this weekend.”

Two sensational catches from Australian Daniel Marsh won a nail-biting CricInfo Championship game for Leicestershire at Grace Road.In a thrilling finish which could have gone either way, they beat Lancashire by six runs with a day to spare. The win, their first of the season, earned them 16 points and lifted them off the bottom of the First Division table.In a low-scoring match there was no doubt that Leicestershire’s hero was Marsh, son of the former Australian wicket-keeper Rodney.He followed up his first innings knock of 71 with an unbeaten half-century in the second innings as Leicestershire were dismissed for 169, leaving Lancashire a victory target of 211.Then he claimed two valuable wickets at vital times with his left-arm spin before taking the two stunning catches at the end when the visitors again looked to be edging to victory.First he dived forward to hold a mistimed pull from Mike Smethurst inches above the ground at mid-wicket, and then held on to a breathtaking catch at slip when Glen Chapple edged a swinging delivery from Jon Dakin.It had been a brave effort from Chapple who scored 44 off 85 balls with four boundaries after arriving at the crease with Lancashire at 139 for six.At one stage they seemed to be cruising it. They were 113 for two in the 31st over with John Crawley having hit a half-century during a partnership of 90 with Ryan Driver.Then he edged a ball from Devon Malcolm to wicket-keeper Neil Burns, and in Malcolm’s next over Neil Fairbrother chopped a short-pitched delivery into his stumps.When Marsh had Driver caught off bat and pad in the last over before tea, Lancashire had lost three wickets for eight runs in four overs. Chapple’s knock put them back in the hunt – but Marsh’s catching proved decisive.

Durham narrowly avoided becoming the first county to suffer a points deduction for a slow over rate before their match against Gloucestershire at Chester-le-Street was abandoned.Under the new rule counties have to bowl 16 overs an hour and after every game they lose a quarter point for every over they fall short. The rule does not apply if they have fielded for less than four hours in the match, and when rain halted Gloucestershire’s second innings at two for one, the 2.2 overs Durham had bowled had taken them six minutes over the four-hour mark.Their over-rate was minus one, which meant they would have lost a quarter of a point had play not resumed. Consequently they rushed through 2.4 overs when they re-started at 4pm before bad light intervened. The scorers quickly calculated that their over-rate was now spot on 16 an hour.Play began at 12.10 and Durham added 23 runs in five overs before declaring on 255 for seven when Paul Collingwood fell for 68, chopping a ball from Jon Lewis into his stumps. Wicketkeeper Andy Pratt was left on 28 not out for the second time in the match.Needing 300 in 71 overs, Gloucestershire lost Tim Hancock to the eighth ball when he pushed forward and had his off stump removed by Neil Killeen. They were on two for one when rain arrived at 12.50, and moved on to six for one on the brief resumption.

In a breath-stopping, heart-thumping finish, India pulled off a stunning 10-run win over South Africa at Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday night and entered the final of the Champions Trophy.South Africa are a professional side. The Indians are a feisty bunch. South Africa are a tight-knit one-day unit. The Indians are unruly talents. South Africa are fit, athletic and skilled enough to beat anyone. The Indians are determined and have enough cricket sense to hold their own against the best. It’s clichéd but, on the day, it was a triumph of flair over skill.With back-to-back centuries Gibbs had a chance to put his indelible stamp on the tournament. By retiring hurt on 116 (119 balls, 16 fours) with his side still needing 70 runs for victory, Gibbs gave India the tiniest window of opportunity. Not very different from the time he famously dropped Steve Waugh and got told, “you’ve just dropped the World Cup, mate.” The Indians, applying pressure took a vice-like grip on the game after Gibbs left the field. And yes, Gibbs’ departure did cost the South Africans the Champions Trophy.It would take a cruel man, however, to lay all the blame for South Africa’s defeat on Gibbs’ weary, dehydrated shoulders. The opener had done a great deal, slamming a brisk ton to set up the best possible foundations for his team.It was Gibbs’ opposite number, Virender Sehwag, who turned the tide. Bowling his flat, quick off-spin, Sehwag did what the frontline Indian spinners could not do. He tied down the South African batsmen at the death, picked up crucial wickets, bagged three for 25 and walked away with the Man of the Match award for the second consecutive game.With Graeme Smith perishing early on to a spectacular catch by Yuvraj Singh, flying high to his right at point, Jacques Kallis was at the wicket in just the fourth over of the day. Yuvraj’s effort was an early indicator of what people call fire in the belly; of what Imran Khan called ‘playing like cornered tigers’.A masterful batsman, Kallis kept the scoreboard ticking over at an even clip from the moment he was in, taking no chances yet scoring freely.Gibbs, who seemed perfectly at ease for the best part of his innings, suddenly started to suffer from severe body cramps. At first a runner assisted him but, unable to grip the bat, he was forced off the field in the 37th over of the innings. Nevertheless, South Africa were 192/1 and still clear favourites.Just two runs later, Jonty Rhodes was brilliantly caught by yet another full length drive from Yuvraj. Boeta Dippenaar played the sweep to Harbhajan Singh and Kumble snapped up the catch on the fine leg fence. Then Mark Boucher (10) also perished sweeping, top-edging an easy catch to Yuvraj. What is normally the most productive shot against spin for the South Africans proved their downfall.Even Kallis, whose controlled 97 (133 balls, six fours, one six) certainly deserved a hundred, could not deliver the 21 runs South Africa needed for victory in the last over of the day. The air was thick with tension and could have been cut with the proverbial butter knife. Just minutes before the final over began, Zaheer Khan had sent down a fiery penultimate over, keeping the ball in the block-hole and denying Klusener the opportunity to score.Kallis began the final over by nonchalantly launching Sehwag into the stands at mid-wicket. Fifteen needed from five balls then. Kallis tried to repeat the stroke, top-edged to the ‘keeper and India were one inch closer.Klusener, who had crossed over while the catch was being taken, battled hard but could not free his arms and managed just four more runs off the over before hitting Kaif a catch off the last ball of the innings. Yet again Klusener had been unable to produce those mighty blows that had been a feature of his batting some years ago. He managed only 14 off 21 balls, failing to hit a single boundary.Earlier, the day began with a touch of surprise, as South Africa went into the big game with Makhaya Ntini ahead of the experienced Steve Elworthy and debutant Robin Peterson in place of Justin Ontong.Sehwag batted as though he started on a hundred not out and not zero. Hitting the ball as cleanly as he had against England, the fiery opener got the crowds roaring. Two square drives, two pulls and one straight drive had raced off the flashing blade before even seven overs were completed.Sourav Ganguly certainly looked in sparkling form. After beginning with a slash that just evaded the slip cordon the Indian skipper unveiled the pull, the shot he plays with least comfort, slamming Ntini to the fence in front of square.But someone sauntering near the boundary ropes said it seemed too good to be true and as though he’d been overhead, Ganguly went for an audacious hook and sent a Ntini short ball straight down Dippenaar’s throat at deep backward square leg.And then, while Sehwag motored on at one end, the Indian batting spluttered, chugged like an old jalopy and seized up at the other end. VVS Laxman made a pretty 22 before having a forgettable waft outside the off to be caught behind. Sachin Tendulkar, unusually reticent for 16 off 29 balls was run out by a tremendous bit of fielding from Rhodes, the man who has inspired kids to say, “when I grow up I want to be a fielder.”India found themselves in trouble on 135/4.Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj began the recovery. Dravid, sensible as ever, kept the scoreboard ticking over with a series of well-placed drives while Yuvraj provided the impetus with his sprinting between the wickets and audacious strokes. It’s not often that a batsman comes down the wicket and belts Allan Donald through mid-wicket and then kills the follow-up bouncer with a lightning pull that dents the advertising hoardings. Yuvraj did just that, blasting his way to a remarkable 62 (72 balls, six fours). Dravid made 49 invaluable runs and India, despite losing three tail-end wickets in one Pollock over, ended with 261/9 from 50 overs.Despite what the pundits and punters had to say, this proved enough to secure a famous victory.

Sohag Gazi is the first offspinner in Test history to bowl the first over of a Test match on debut, and the first debutant spinner to do so in 103 years.The surprise move didn’t ruffle Chris Gayle, though, who lashed the first ball of the match for a six, on his way to 18 runs in the opening over. Gazi removed Gayle soon after but despite his best efforts, West Indies scored more than four an over on the first day and are poised for a big total. This, after the hosts gave up the momentum they had gained at the end of the first session, picking up three wickets.Bangladesh had to wait out a full session for their next wicket, as both Kieran Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul helped themselves to centuries. As the day progressed even the more experienced Bangladesh bowlers looked short of ideas, and later liveliness.This was Bangladesh’s first Test of the year, and none of the front-line bowlers, barring Shahadat Hossain, have played enough first-class cricket recently to be physically prepared for staying on the field for a long time. With the wicket easing up, more hard work lies ahead for them. Shahadat and Rubel Hossain were costly as they have been throughout their careers while Shakib Al Hasan was simply steady, mainly because the allrounder finds it tricky to switch between long stints as a Twenty20 bowler to bowling long spells in Test cricket.”The wicket flattened out after the lunch session, but there was turn in the first hour,” Gazi said after the first day. “We will try to bowl them out as quickly as we can. We don’t have any sort of targets because the wicket is flat. We will try to keep them to as low a total as possible.”But it was the first session which showed Bangladesh in a positive light. Mushfiqur Rahim had decided quite early, in fact the day before, that it would be Gazi who would open the bowling regardless of who takes first strike for West Indies. So despite the inevitable attack, Gazi was only encouraged by his captain and to his credit, the debutant kept giving the ball flight. “He told me that Gayle wasn’t comfortable with my bowling, that’s why he gave me the charge. He said keep doing what you’re doing.”I was prepared to bowl the first over, whether Gayle took the strike or not,” Gazi said. “It was my bad luck that I got hit for two sixes in the first over. I was going to bowl my second over, and I just wanted to bowl dot balls. I didn’t really think of who was on strike.”The first-ball six was a jolt for Gazi, but he wasn’t frazzled. “Anyone can hit a six, I wasn’t expecting that exact shot. The ball I got him out turned slightly, because there was turn on the pitch in the first session. He tried to lift me over mid-on but mistimed it.”After he had picked up Gayle’s wicket, Gazi added that of Darren Bravo before Shahadat Hossain accounted for Marlon Samuels. But they hit a wall in the form of the Powell-Chanderpaul partnership during the middle session and lost their way in the final two hours.With West Indies sitting on a strong position after the first day, questions will be asked about the need for three off-spinning allrounders – Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam and Nasir Hossain. The trio bowled 16 wicketless overs and Gazi’s introduction to international cricket could spell the end of Bangladesh’s defensive ploy of employing eight batsmen and playing three similar allrounders. It is now clear that all three would have to make major contributions with the bat in the next four days to be automatic picks in the near future.