Cricket

The judge hearing the arbitration case between Rajasthan Royals and the BCCI has issued a six-week stay on the franchise's expulsion from the IPL, effectively allowing it to continue to function as a part of the league for that period of time, ESPNcricinfo has learnt. The six-week duration also suggests the team could take part in the players' auction, which is scheduled for January 8 and 9 next year, casting a potentially devastating cloud over the IPL's fourth season.

While the stay order is in place, the BCCI is also prevented from doing anything that might prejudice Rajasthan, for example changing any of the league's rules. "There will be no interference with them [Rajasthan] exercising rights under the franchise agreement," Justice BN Srikrishna, the designated arbitrator, told ESPNcricinfo. "They will be allowed to participate in the auction."

The BCCI, however, will contest the decision by moving court - possibly as early as Wednesday - as a cautionary step. A top board official told spoke of how the BCCI already feared the worst. "This is a major and significant development," the official said. "This could go anywhere now."

The arbitrator's order is an interim relief order, which is often granted to allow the party claiming it has been wronged - in this case Rajasthan - the opportunity to keep doing business while the case is heard. There is also a provision for such an order to be challenged in the High Court, and Justice Srikrishna said the BCCI would probably appeal to the High Court and the matter could even reach the Supreme Court based on appeals and judgements. These appeals are independent of the arbitration hearings, which will continue under the judge.

Rajasthan welcomed the latest development. "We have received the interim order passed by Justice BN Srikrishna, the learned arbitrator who has been appointed by the both parties. We are extremely grateful for the speed and urgency shown by him, and we are reviewing the order and assessing it's full implications," Raghu Iyer, the franchise's spokesperson, said.

The BCCI decided, on October 10, to end the franchise's IPL affiliation on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to "shake the very foundation of the tender process", as the notice put it. The two sides then decided to settle their dispute over the termination through arbitration on November 15 after Rajasthan had filed a case in the High Court challenging the board's decision to take the step unilaterally.

Both parties argued their case before Srikrishna, the agreed-upon arbitrator for the case, for three-and-a-half days.

The arbitration hearing of the Kings XI Punjab franchise, the second team in the IPL to be summarily terminated along with Rajasthan, will begin tomorrow, also being presided by Justice Srikrishna. A Punjab spokesman said the Rajasthan development could benefit their hearing. "This is a good piece of news for us," he said. "It is probably what may be the outcome of our abritration hearing as well."

The Rajasthan hearing began on November 24 and given that Srikrishna announced his stay within a week, Punjab were expecting a result "within four working days". This, the official said, meant that the BCCI could have nine, if not all ten teams participating in the player auction on January 8-9. "What will happen to the players if teams that sign them up are suddenly out of the IPL? Then they could well go to court and the IPL could just sink into court battles."

This had happened he said, due to the BCCI's "mismanagement" of the IPL's internal difficulties.

The Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) will not be a part of India's upcoming Test tour of South Africa. Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket South Africa confirmed the news to ESPNcricinfo saying, "[We] will definitely not be using it."

Majola who was in Dubai for the ICC Chief Executives Conference did not explain what had led to the decision but a CSA official said the main reason was, "India are not keen to use it".

Corrie van Zyl, the South Africa coach, said his team had been expecting this development, given India's stance on the issue. South Africa have used the UDRS in other home series, most recently against England in 2009-10. "We are not going to use it and thats the end of it," he said. "I like UDRS and it does eradicate a lot of decisions that are wrong, which can only be good for the game.

"I'm not disappointed, I almost knew it was not going to happen in any case, so it's not a major disappointment, and it will still be a very good series without it."

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, had said in October that the UDRS needed to be implemented consistently and that technology was the way forward in cricket. "I think if the UDRS is going to be successful it needs to be implemented properly by the ICC and not on a 50-50 basis like we have seen so far," he had said. "It must be used all of the time and not for selective series' like we see now."

India have played a series in which the UDRS was used only once - in Sri Lanka in 2008. They struggled with their referrals on that tour, getting only one review right, while Sri Lanka successfully challenged 11 decisions. Since then the UDRS has been used in Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand and West Indies and has found favour with several captains and players. The Indians and the BCCI, however, are firmly opposed to the system, even though the ICC have approved its use in principle during the 2011 World Cup.

MS Dhoni, the India captain, reiterated his reluctance to accept the system during the recent home series against New Zealand, calling for the standard of on-field umpiring to be improved instead.

Gary Kirsten, India's coach, will accompany the players who are to leave early for South Africa so they can acclimatise for the upcoming tour. Eric Simons, India's bowling coach, will take over the coaching duties for the final two one-dayers against New Zealand as Kirsten heads home.

"He [Kirsten] will leave early along with first bunch 8-10 players," a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. Among the players departing are captain MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat. It is also likely that Suresh Raina will be rested for the final two one-day games of the New Zealand series, and will join the players who are departing early, after Dhoni publicly expressed concern about his workload during the third Test against New Zealand.

Kirsten and seven of the players will leave on December 6, while Dhoni and Harbhajan will join them two days later, with Raina also likely to leave on the same flight.

The players will initially train at Kirsten' cricket academy in Cape Town before moving to Johannesburg to join the rest of the squad, which will arrive in South Africa on December 12, two days after the New Zealand ODI series ends. The three-Test series begins at Centurion on December 16.

The Indian board had recently granted permission for some of the players to leave a week in advance, after Kirsten made a request for them to do so. The coach felt that in the absence of India not playing any warm-up matches before the first Test, it was imperative players be sent early to get used to the conditions. Kirsten had sent in his request earlier this year, stressing to the board that the players needed time to acclimatise and also adjust to the pitch conditions in South Africa. However, the board took months to consider the request, mostly because of any potential objections the broadcaster might raise about devaluing the New Zealand ODI series, before giving permission earlier this month.

"We have a lot of work still to do on the specifics of technique prior to the Test series. The players will need time to adjust their techniques to get comfortable with the conditions," Kirsten said. "The BCCI has approved the early departure of some our players to South Africa to have sufficient time to prepare properly for a very important series."

Kapil Dev has said MS Dhoni's team has the ability to win the World Cup in 2011 but will have to ensure that it finds a settled combination and keep its bowlers free of injuries. In an exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo, Kapil, who was captain when India won the World Cup in 1983, said too many changes taking place before the World Cup could harm the team's thinking.

"They have ruthlessness, they have talent and ability," he said of the team, but added, "too many injuries are taking place." Their key focus, he said, should be on improving fielding and running between wickets.

One reason for the bowlers' frequent injuries was, he felt, that their training was not suited for their skill. Kapil said he spent time through his 15-year career working on his legs. "The gym is good enough for batsmen and other kinds of bowlers. But for the fast bowler, someone who has to bowl day in and day out , around 10 to 20 overs, you need strong legs.

"These boys should spend a lot of time on running, like a marathon. Your body should be tuned to that." Injuries to fast bowlers, Kapil said, happen "when you have more muscle on top and your legs cannot support them."

Kapil, India's most successful fast bowler with 434 Test wickets, said he focussed on his running during the off-season - then pointed out that nowadays there is barely an off season for cricketers. It was the BCCI's responsibility, he said, to prevent cricketers from burning out - cricketers themselves were unlikely to take that call due to the financial benefits of a career in the game. "The boys walk into the team and they perform well in the first year. Then they play all kinds of cricket. They have Test cricket, they have Twenty20, they have one-day cricket … the pressure is so much, and the young boys don't want to lose the money because they have struggled so much, almost 6-7 years to come to this level.

"They don't want to miss a penny wherever they get a chance, so they don't want to miss matches... If you tell a fast bowler 'you take rest and don't make money', I think mentally no sportsman will be ready for that. So it's up to the administration to see how much cricket our boys play."

The recent increase in an Indian cricketer's workload has come from the IPL. Kapil, who was associated with the rival, unauthorised Indian Cricket League, said cricketers need to have more control over the IPL. "Definitely, without any doubt [there is a need for cricketers to have more control]. And not just be there on the board, but cricketers have to take the front seat." That, he said, was how he saw his role in the ICL.

He said he did not regret being a part of the ICL. "No, I think it was absolutely correct because the ICL has given the cricketers a push. If the IPL has come today, it's a compliment to the ICL, so it's not something wrong."

One of the biggest advantages of the new leagues was the financial benefits they gave to players. "Earlier there were only 10-12 cricketers in India who used to make money; today 300-500 cricketers can make a living out of cricket. I am happy something new began and those types of leagues are going to come up in the country."

In the aftermath of the spot-fixing controversy, Kapil said one way of preventing the rise of the player-bookie nexus was to ensure younger players were mentored and advised by their seniors. "You need good people to handle them (young players) and keep talking to them... They need more advice about becoming true cricketers, basically from senior cricketers who take pride to play for the country."

 Michael Clarke is confident of overcoming a long-standing back injury to play in Thursday's opening Ashes Test, but Australia have called in Usman Khawaja as cover. Clarke did nothing more than walk some laps at the squad's opening training session on Monday and he must bat at training on Tuesday to hold his spot.

His injury, and the call-up of Khawaja, provides the hosts with the potential for more disruptions before such a crucial occasion. "I'm still a little bit stiff and sore, hence me not training today," Clarke said. "Our plan was for me to have a bat tomorrow and then another good hit on Wednesday. The battle is to get as close to a hundred per cent as possible for Thursday. I'm pretty confident that I'll be right."

Ricky Ponting said it would be hard for Clarke to prove his fitness without batting but at the same time he wants to give his vice-captain as long as possible to get right. Clarke is one of the few local batsmen who is in form this summer and his record in Ashes Tests is excellent. He averages 55 in 15 games against England and Australia are desperate for him to provide stability in an order that has faltered.

"He's been in this situation a few times the last couple of years," said Ponting. "He's had niggles but been able to come back most times. Alex [Kountouris, the team physio] has made it clear he wants him to bat tomorrow [Tuesday] and Wednesday. If he doesn't bat tomorrow it'd be hard for him to be considered for the game, but we will definitely give him as long as possible."

"I've played 64 Test matches with it now, I haven't missed a Test, touch wood," Clarke said. "It's not so much batting, it's more waking up daily. Some days are better than others. I get that feeling when you get out of bed."

At training he crouched down gingerly to pick up a bat and Kountouris said a decision couldn't be made until after he went into the nets. "Until he bats tomorrow we can't be absolute 100% sure that he's right to go," Kountouris said.

The back disc injury, which has bothered Clarke regularly throughout his career, resurfaced during his century for New South Wales. He batted again in the second innings, scoring an unbeaten 39 to save the game, but hasn't been able to do anything at full intensity since.

He said once he starts an innings the adrenaline covered up the pain. "It's more just discomfort in general than at a certain time," he said.

Clarke was last floored by the problem in 2009, when it kept him out of a one-day series against India, and it also affected him during his first Ashes tour. "I remember in 2005 it happened the first ball fielding at Old Trafford," he said. "I didn't field for the rest of the Test but I batted in the two innings. I've played international cricket with discomfort because of my back, but it hasn't ruled me out of a Test match as of yet."

The extra significance of the Ashes has contributed to Clarke's cautious approach. "No doubt it being a big series, I guess that's probably why we're taking it a little bit slower and why I didn't have a bat today," he said. "It's a five-Test series as well so there's a lot of cricket ahead of us. We're just trying to do everything possible to make sure I'm fit for Thursday and then available for the whole series."

Steven Smith, the legspinning allrounder, is in the squad but the selectors have looked to Khawaja as specialist batting cover. Khawaja, who will link up with the squad in Brisbane on Monday evening, travelled to England for the Pakistan series in July and was a strong contender to make the slimmed-down version of the squad until his double failure in Australia A's match against England in Hobart last week. If he plays he will be the first Muslim cricketer to have represented Australia.

"As there is some doubt over Michael Clarke's fitness for the Brisbane Test match, it was felt prudent to bring a standby player into the squad," said Andrew Hilditch, Australia's chairman of selectors. "Usman has been added as a result of his strong recent domestic form and the National Selection Panel's belief that should the opportunity arise he has the ability to perform well at the international level.

"We intend to give Michael as much time as possible to prove his fitness and a decision on his availability will be made in consultation with the team's medical staff after the next two days of training."

Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath have won the elections for president and secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, and Venkatesh Prasad has claimed one of the three vice-president posts, potentially ushering in a new era in cricket administration in India. Their group, formed a few weeks ago, swept aside the challenge led by the incumbent president, Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the former maharaja of Mysore, winning 22 of the 24 seats up for grabs.

Also elected from their group, as the other two vice-presidents, were former India seamer Roger Binny and Bangalore-based industrialist Sadanand Mayya .

The elections were held through Sunday in the KSCA's clubhouse at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium. Counting began late in the evening and Kumble's win was known well before it was officially announced. He spoke to reporters and claimed victory and, while not formally announcing an agenda, said he would come up with a blueprint for the association over the next few days.

"Our idea is to make the KSCA a model association," he said. "The challenge is to ensure that we deliver. We'd like to include all the members' inputs."

"It's a victory that will change the perception of sportsmen entering sports administration," Binny - a World Cup winner in 1983 - told PTI. "Personally for me, this is one of the sweetest victories in an election." He said cricket would be a priority, with the main goal being "to improve the standard of cricket in Karnataka and develop a great infrastructure at the grassroots level."

Kumble, Srinath and Prasad have all held administrative posts with the BCCI and the ICC. Kumble was named the chairman of the National Cricket Academy in September, while Srinath has been an ICC match referee since 2006.

Prasad, currently the bowling coach with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, has coached the India Under-19 team and the Karnataka Ranji team and was the bowling coach of the national side for two years. He has an administration management degree from the Asian Cricket Council, and is now on assignment with the ACC to help promote the game and develop talent in countries that do not have a cricket playing tradition.

India have picked wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and seamers Umesh Yadav and Jaidev Unadkat for the three-Test series in South Africa, which begins on December 16 in Centurion. Zaheer Khan makes a return to the squad after being ruled out of the ongoing third Test against New Zealand because of a groin strain, but he, along with four other senior players, will miss the first two ODIs of the series against New Zealand.

Gautam Gambhir will lead the ODI team in the absence of MS Dhoni, who had said he would request the BCCI for rest after playing non-stop since the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year. Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were the other players rested for the ODIs against New Zealand due to "injury concerns, which require attention and rehabilitation".

Unadkat, the left-arm seamer from Saurashtra, had been drafted in as Zaheer's replacement for the third Test while Yadav, who is currently playing for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy, impressed during the IPL with Delhi Daredevils and made it to India's squads for the World Twenty20 and the tour of Zimbabwe. Saha, who plays for Bengal and has represented India in one Test, is fresh from a century against Assam in the Ranji Trophy Super League.

Saha will also make his ODI debut, having been included in the squad for the first two games against New Zealand. Dinesh Karthik, who has been the usual replacement for Dhoni in the 50-over format, was not selected. Saha, whose glove work is highly regarded, will have at least two games to prove his batting skills before the selectors pick probables for the World Cup.

Allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who last played for India in June, made his return to the team for the ODI series. Pathan is having a good domestic season with Baroda, smashing 89 off 42 balls against Gujarat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and scoring 195 off 138 balls against Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. He performed with the ball as well, pickng up ten wickets in a defeat against Uttar Pradesh.

Dhoni, on the eve of the ongoing third Test against New Zealand in Nagpur, had asked for rest for players like himself and Suresh Raina ahead of the tour of South Africa.

India coach Gary Kirsten had stressed the need for a few players to depart early, at least a week ahead of the Test series, not only to acclimatise but also understand the ground conditions better. The BCCI agreed to send some players early to South Africa to make up for the absence of practice games ahead of the Test series, even if at the expense of participation in the ODIs against New Zealand. Despite Saturday's announcement of senior players being rested, it is still unclear as to who would make the trip to South Africa before the others.

India face New Zealand in the first of five ODIs on November 28 in Guwahati.

Squad for first two ODIs v New Zealand: Gautam Gambhir (capt), M Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Saurabh Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja.

Squad for South Africa Tests: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Jaidev Unadkat, Pragyan Ojha.

ndia 436 for 9 (Harbhajan 85*, Laxman 74, Vettori 4-123) lead New Zealand 350 by 86 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Harbhajan Singh packed in enough carnage in the last eighty minutes or so to leave a tenacious unit demoralised. For more than five hours, New Zealand had worked hard with the ball and had been spectacular in the field, but VVS Laxman's Hyderabadi stroke-play in front of his home crowd and Harbhajan's power hitting left them stunned.

New Zealand could say they managed to control the Laxman situation, getting him out before India could get into a lead, for they took the next three wickets without much delay. Harbhajan, though, went on to score 85 out of the 110 runs that came while he was at the wicket, hitting five sixes and seven fours, and had set himself up for a second century in two innings.

If India weren't leading already when Laxman was dismissed in the first over after tea, it was thanks to the flying Kiwis, Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, who put in outrageous dive after outrageous dive to make sure the odd loose balls didn't get the deserved punishment. That, added to Daniel Vettori's bowling - almost like a bowling machine with a brain - and the swing from the fast bowlers with both old and new ball, had handcuffed India.

Laxman tried to break free from the shackles through cultured yet outrageous shots, and Harbhajan wasn't about raw power either. He timed the shots as well as top-order batsmen, and manoeuvred the strike too. One short of 50, he refused three singles, in order to shield Sreesanth, suggesting he had more than that landmark - his third such effort in the last three innings - on his mind. And he did have much more on his mind. Fourteen overs later, the two were still together, had added 69 runs, and had taken India to a sixth score of 400 in their last six first innings.

As the last-wicket stand went on and on, New Zealand toiled away cluelessly, their shirts out of their trousers, their tired faces telling the story of a hard-fought day, and the Indian batsmen, dressed up to take the field, waited. It's possible they would have looked back and thought how for the best part of the first two sessions, such free-flowing batting hadn't seemed possible.

New Zealand began the day with a big deficit in prospect, but managed to delay that possibility. Not through defensive fields, but through controlled aggression. Their ground fielding was backed by Ross Taylor's one-handed blinder to remove Sachin Tendulkar.

A sign of intent came through their taking the new ball the moment it became available, despite how they had rendered stroke-play difficult with the old one. The new ball worked through good swing bowling from Tim Southee, who trapped Rahul Dravid with one that shaped to swing away but went on with the angle after pitching. Thirty-nine overs until then had yielded just 81 runs.

Unlike Dravid and Tendulkar, though, Lamxan struck the ball cleanly even though he struggled for a healthy strike-rate. He wasted little time in hitting two crunchy boundaries off Martin, but a combination of smart field-sets and sharp fielding kept Laxman quiet.

With time, though, Laxman started finding the gaps, especially with the new ball. The turnaround perhaps began with the straight flick from wide outside off, off Brent Arnel, taking him to 37 off 97. Then the bat face opened precisely with cover-drives, the wrists started turning precisely to beat the field on the on side, and just to reiterate that we were in Hyderabad, that straight-flick from wide outside off was repeated. He was now 70 off 141.

New Zealand hadn't yet given up. They latched onto the opening given by Suresh Raina, who lofted Vettori into a densely populated on side, with 10 minutes to go to tea. They rediscivered the enthusiasm that Laxman had almost suppressed. In Vettori's next over, McCullum and Williamson went diving to save two boundaries. In the first over after tea, Martin removed Laxman with a ball that jagged back in from back of a length.

The next three wickets came without much fuss either side of a rain break, but by then Harbhajan smacked a couple, had an odd edge land safe, and was about to stun New Zealand. Immediately after Pragyan Ojha ran himself out, Harbhajan took the matters into his own hands. He danced down and lofted Vettori over long-on for back-to-back sixes to spread the field all over the place.

Then Harbhajan began farming strike, batting like a proper batsman. New Zealand's response was to bounce Sreesanth when Southee got a full over at him, hitting the No. 11 thrice. Still Harbhajan stayed away from reckless hitting, and decided to take the fast bowlers on himself, letting Sreesanth face spin.

And some taking on he did. He walked down to Arnel and lofted him for a dead-straight four, then pulled him for a six, and slogged him over midwicket when the field came up for the last ball. There was no pattern in there that New Zealand could plan for. A slog would be followed by a proper shot, and Vettori ran out of ideas.

Harbhajan wasn't sated, and cajoled old friend Sreesanth to stay with him till stumps. Given the tired faces, the only consolation for New Zealand perhaps was that their openers didn't have to face an awkward spell of 20 minutes.

Michael Clarke's back and the form of the batsmen are Australia's biggest issues ahead of the first Ashes squad announcement in Sydney on Monday. Clarke's long-standing disc problem flared in his century for New South Wales and he winced in pain during his second-innings 39, which secured a draw for the Blues on Saturday.

Clarke has dismissed the complaint as minor, but his reactions and the speed of his running showed it was serious. It is unlikely he will be risked for New South Wales against Tasmania this week, but at least he knows he is in form.

Apart from Marcus North, Clarke is the only Australia batsman to own a century in the domestic competition this summer. Since returning from India, North has first-class scores of 10, 101, 19 and 1, while Michael Hussey managed just three runs in two Sheffield Shield innings against South Australia. Hussey did produce an ODI half-century against Sri Lanka, but he has registered only 112 runs in his past six Test innings. Both Western Australians have strong supporters in the selection panel.

The opener Shane Watson got starts of 20 and 15 against Victoria while Brad Haddin finished that game strongly with a patient and unbeaten 61. In HobartRicky Ponting collected 32 and 5 during a match occurring at the same time as England's batsmen, particularly Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, were running into strong form.

While his team-mates struggled to find their touch in the domestic arena, Simon Katich hadn't even made it that far due to a thumb broken in India. Katich turned out for his grade club Randwick-Petersham on Saturday and scored 94, which was a promising sign, but the intensity can't be compared to what he will face at the Gabba on November 25. His next step is to play for the Blues in their Shield game at the SCG on Wednesday.

Australian selectors have been reluctant to include extra batsmen in their home squads unless they are covering for injured men. If Clarke's fitness is already a significant concern Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson are the most likely candidates. Khawaja, who toured England with the Test squad during the winter, has the stronger claims due to his 339 first-class runs at 84.75, which put him second on the domestic listbehind Andrew McDonald.

The players have another round of Shield matches this week - and an Australia A game against England - but the performances will come too late to influence the selectors for Brisbane. Cricket Australia's marketing commitments mean the team will be named on Monday, 10 days before the opening Test. Andrew Hilditch, the selection chairman, will announce the squad at the Sydney Opera House in a free event, which will give an indication of how much local interest is in the series.

Hilditch spoke last week about wanting only four fast bowlers in the squad, but the excellent return of Ryan Harris in Hobart over the past week may convince him to pick a 13-man outfit. Queensland's Harris, who is back after knee surgery, took a career-best nine wickets for the game and had the bonus of starring in front of Ponting.

Mitchell Johnson remains Hilditch's preferred man as attack leader and Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Hauritz are the other bowling certainties. Peter Siddle is fit but not yet firing after a back stress fracture, but he has been a favourite of the panel over the past two years. He has 13 domestic wickets in three matches, including four against the Blues.

Like Katich, Doug Bollinger played in Sydney grade cricket on Saturday, taking 1 for 30 in his first game since hurting his stomach in the Mohali Test. It's not ideal preparation for facing England, but Bollinger is not alone in being under-done.

Likely squad Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris.