Jaques won't give up on Test spot

Australia's contracted players 2009-10

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

	Phil Jaques' last act in Australian Test colours was a century in Barbados

Phil Jaques will continue to fight to regain his national spot despite suffering a setback in his recovery from a severe back problem when he was dropped from Australia's contract list on Thursday. Jaques has opened in 11 Tests for the team and scored 108 in his last match 11 months ago, but he was cut from the XI in India and returned home for surgery.

His comeback began towards the end of the season and did not go well, with him requiring a second operation on his back and Phillip Hughes capturing the vacancy created by Matthew Hayden's retirement. "It is obviously very disappointing," he said in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I suppose I have lost my contract because I've had injuries this past year. All I want to do is get back on the park. When I am fit and healthy I will put scores on the board, I know that."

Shaun Tait also missed out due to his battle with his body. A long-term hamstring injury kept him out for much of the season and he was passed by a young group of bowlers including Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus.

Despite his omission, Tait has been told by Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, that he remains in Australia's plans. "Shaun's been quite clearly told he's very much in the mix for one-day cricket in particular and he'll be closely considered once he's back to full fitness," Hilditch told AAP. "We hope he's going to play cricket for us in the next 12 months but it's still a bit uncertain when he's still not back to full fitness and training, so we'll just monitor that, how he progresses."

Australia have a hectic schedule over the next year and Hilditch said Tait could return via Australia A. "He took it extremely well, probably because he's such a great bloke," Hilditch said. "But underneath all that I'm sure he's hurting, but I'm also sure he'll come back strong."

Cool Rajasthan take humdinger

Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Durban

The Bulletin by Shwe Wai

Rajasthan Royals 145 for 7 (Quiney 51, Jadeja 42, Jayasuriya 2-3) beat Mumbai Indians 143 (Tendulkar 40, Nayar 35, Warne 3-24) by two runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Shane Warne got the all-important wicket of Sachin Tendulkar when the match was slipping away from Rajasthan

The spectators at Kingsmead were treated to yet another humdinger as the Rajasthan Royals prevailed by two runs in a see-saw encounter with the Mumbai Indians. Rajasthan were in control of the game for 14 overs before Sachin Tendulkar and Abhishek Nayar opened out and gave Mumbai hope. It all came down to the final over when Mumbai needed four runs but a combination of some incredible death bowling by Munaf Patel and panic running resulted in three wickets, incredible scenes and a third-place spot for Rajasthan.

When Nayar made room and lofted Johan Botha over deep extra cover in the penultimate over, Mumbai - who battled required rates crossing nine an over - suddenly needed six off nine deliveries. The following delivery, Nayar played all around a yorker, lost sight of the ball and ambled out of his crease, only to be run out by the keeper. The dismissal was as untimely as Mumbai's revival, which came a little too late and resulted in a last-minute scramble for the required runs.

Munaf had leaked 14 off his previous over but Warne was brave enough to toss the ball back to him for the final over. Munaf beat Dhawal Kulkarni off the first ball and then slipped in a yorker to trap him lbw. Chetanya Nanda pushed the third, a full toss, to mid-off but perished to a direct hit. That put Harbhajan Singh back on strike but he could only squeeze a single off the next ball. Three were needed off two balls when Lasith Malinga took strike but yet another suicidal single, this time to cover, closed out the match.

It took a good 15 overs for the chase to actually come alive. Mumbai were kept on a tight leash by some excellent restrictive bowling by Rajasthan, particularly the slower bowlers. The duo of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar - with 20 years of experience behind them - were silenced, to the extent that they had to settle for singles and an array of dot balls when the situation demanded at least a boundary every over to keep with the rising asking rate.

Much of that had to do with the early loss of wickets. At 23 for 3, Mumbai looked to their most explosive pair to give the innings a shove but the ball somehow just didn't find the boundary. The spinners were spot on target, varied their pace and slipped in the odd yorker. The boundary drought lasted 45 balls, before Tendulkar chipped down the track and lofted Warne over extra cover.

Bopara credits Gooch for Test success

England v West Indies, 2nd Test, Riverside, 1st day

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

	Ravi Bopara now looks right at home in Test cricket after a difficult start which included three consecutive ducks.

Chris Gayle is not enthralled by Test cricket, but for Ravi Bopara it holds a special place - and that's coming from a player who can be assured of making a fortune in the Twenty20 game. After listening to the depressing overtures from the West Indies captain, Bopara's youthful exuberance and excitement at his continued success was a timely reminder of the pride the five-day game can bring.

Sadly the crowd was as meagre as expected - the official figure of 5000 seemed very generous - and there are clearly issues the Test game needs to address to secure its future. That is a job for the administrators, but the players must play their part by performing with passion. The attitude of a young cricketer like Bopara can show the way.

"Playing in the IPL was amazing, it was a great experience and I'd love to do it again," Bopara said. "Then again, Test cricket is still the pinnacle of the game. The feeling I got at Lord's reaching a hundred and the feeling I got here, there's no better feeling. I don't know if that's because I had a bad run in Sri Lanka but as a young boy I've always wanted to play Test cricket. My heroes have done extraordinary stuff and you want to do what your heroes have done. All forms of the game are very important to me."

That poor run Bopara alluded to has made his re-emergence as a Test player even more impressive. When he was left sprawling in the Galle dirt in late December 2007, having been embarrassingly run out from slip by Mahela Jaywardene, it completed a pair for the match and three consecutive ducks. Bopara looked anything but a Test cricketer.

As he returned to the dressing room in Galle, he vowed to become better for the experience. "Sri Lanka was possibly the toughest part of my career. Not at one point did I feel uncomfortable, it just seemed to happen so quickly," he said. "I just kept getting out and kept finding ways to get out as well. But not for one moment did I think I wasn't going to play Test cricket again or it's the end for me. I knew I was going to come back and knew I was going to be a better player. From the moment I got run out in that last Test I went back into the changing rooms and said I knew what I had to do and I'm going to come back stronger.