Tag Futebol

“We know very well that if we win against India, it will be called an upset. We will try to play our best cricket”

Mohammad Isam01-Nov-20221:44

Shakib: ‘India one of the favourites – if we win, it will be an upset’

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has downplayed the team’s chances against India, who he feels are the “favourites”, but says he will try to produce an “upset”, when the two sides meet in the T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Wednesday. Shakib called on his young team to forget about India’s might and play with a “nothing to lose” mentality, as he feels Bangladesh are “not here to win the World Cup”.Asked what Bangladesh’s next target is after overcoming Netherlands and Zimbabwe, Shakib said: “We want to play well in the next two matches (against India and Pakistan), so if we can win one of them, it will count as an upset.Related

• Rahul Dravid throws weight behind KL Rahul: 'He's really well suited for these kind of pitches'

• Memories of 2016 lend edge to India-Bangladesh clash

• Under-fire Shanto and Mustafizur finally come good

• Zimbabwe fall short as Bangladesh win in chaotic final-over finish

“We will be happy to inflict that upset. Both teams, on paper, are better than us. If we play well, if it is our day, why can’t we win? We have seen Ireland beat England, and Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in this World Cup. A similar result will definitely make us happy.”As I said in Bangla before, India is the favourite team, they came here to win the World Cup. We are not favourites, we didn’t come here to win the World Cup. We know very well that if we win against India, it will be called an upset. We will try to play our best cricket.”These are usually not the words that fans would want to hear, particularly during a World Cup when emotions are high. India also have a better head-to-head record in T20Is, having won ten T20Is and lost only one against Bangladesh. Shakib feels India will be particularly dangerous at the Adelaide Oval, having played here 29 times compared to Bangladesh’s experience of playing in this venue only once.”I can’t say that (the day-night timing) makes it equally balanced (for both sides),” he said. “India have played plenty of matches in all formats in this ground [29 times, overall]. Only Taskin and I have played here from our team. Quite naturally, it is not the same feeling. We will try very hard to give our 100 percent, to get the best result for the team.”They have tied up teams below 160 in all their matches. We have to bat really well to get 160-170, which is a par score in this World Cup. We have to play really well against India’s bowling. They have some world class players.”He also praised his side for closing out tight matches, particularly the one against Zimbabwe in which Bangladesh were expected to struggle on the pacy and bouncy Gabba wicket. Instead, they defended 150 with consistent performances from the fast bowlers and won the game by three runs.”Most T20 matches are decided in the last two overs. It is important to hold on to the nerve,” Shakib said. “We are turning around from a time when we lost a lot of close matches. We are improving in that regard, by winning a couple of close games.”I am definitely satisfied (with our performance). We were playing well except for the game against South Africa. It can happen in T20s. We want to play well in the remaining matches, which is very difficult in different conditions and against different attacks. I believe our team is capable of playing well consistently.”He also hoped that Bangladesh’s 2015 World Cup memories at this venue, when their 15-run win over England took them to the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time, could inspire them.

The wicketkeeper-batter is flying back to Dhaka for “family reasons”

Mohammad Isam14-Jul-2021Mushfiqur Rahim will miss the remainder of Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe for “family reasons”, according to the BCB. He will travel back to Dhaka today from Harare. The visitors have an ICC Super League ODI series scheduled from July 16, and a T20I series from July 23.”The Bangladesh Cricket Board requests that all respect the privacy of Mushfiqur and his family at this time,” a BCB release said.Related

• Mushfiqur Rahim out of Australia T20Is after missing quarantine deadline

• Bangladesh bank on form, momentum ahead of ODIs

• Mushfiqur Rahim's break in doubt due to Australia series quarantine rules

Rahim played the one-off Test in Harare last week but, having injured his hand while batting, stayed off the field for most of the game. He was also initially supposed to skip the T20I series after the board granted him leave.He wasn’t named in the T20I squad against Zimbabwe but on Tuesday, chief selector Minhajul Abedin had said Rahim could be among the ODI squad players to stay back for the T20Is due to quarantine rules for the upcoming T20I series against Australia at home.The BCB and CA have agreed that everyone involved in the series must be in quarantine for ten days prior to entering the tour’s bio-bubble in Dhaka. As such, the selectors wanted Rahim and another player to be part of the bio-bubble in Harare, which is being considered as part of the ten-day quarantine.

He has been in constant touch with Unadkat, providing inputs about the pitch and team combination

Hemant Brar in Rajkot28-Feb-2020Saurashtra will miss Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting prowess during their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Gujarat, but his cricketing know-how is still very much with his domestic side.Despite being in New Zealand, Pujara has been in constant touch with Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat, providing inputs about the pitch and the team combination.”Cheteshwar has been carrying this team as much as I have been,” Unadkat said on the eve of the semi-final. “He was there with us for the first five-six games this season which was good. I have been in constant touch with him regarding how the team is doing, and he has also been asking me about things from there [New Zealand]. I had a word with him the last night for that matter, about how the pitch is and what the team composition should be going into this game. So he is very much in touch, and he does care a lot about this team and I am just happy that he is as much passionate for this team as we all are.”Pujara was instrumental in taking Saurashtra to the final last season. His unbeaten 67 against Uttar Pradesh in the quarter-finals helped Saurashtra pull off a record chase. Then in the semi-finals, he scored 45 and 131 not out against Karnataka to give his side a shot at the title. However, they faltered against defending champions Vidarbha in the final, making it their second defeat in the final in the last four years.ALSO READ: Saurashtra and Gujarat, familiar foesUnadkat, however, believes the current bunch will win a maiden Ranji title for Saurashtra in the next couple of years, if not now. “The one thing that I have been telling my team, and I would like to make it public now, is that I have told these guys that this is the group of players that is going to win the trophy for Saurashtra, be it this year, be it the next year, or two years from now. This is the group that’s gonna win the trophy.”What I tell the guys is not to take the added pressure just because we have lost a couple of finals, and what if we don’t win another final. Obviously, we are still one game away from the final, and I have been saying it’s one game at a time now, in the knockouts especially. Even if we reach the final, that will remain the same. I will tell the guys that we are already doing things we should be proud of as a team. It doesn’t really matter if we falter in one game. Obviously, I am as hungry as anyone else to win the trophy but having said that I am pretty much sure this group of players will do it at some point for Saurashtra if not now.”Jaydev Unadkat picked up 6 for 51 to stifle Himachal Pradesh•Shailesh Bhatnagar

The immediate hurdle for Saurashtra though is Gujarat, who had topped the combined Elite A and B groups and have been unbeaten so far. But, according to Unadkat, if his side can keep playing the way they have been, the can beat any side.”I believe on paper both teams are equally strong,” Unadkat said. “At the same time, it’s how we have played our cricket in the last two seasons, the brand of cricket we have played is something I am proud of and we continue that, I don’t think we cannot not beat any team, be this team or any other team.”Unadkat himself has been in great form this season and is currently the joint-leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 55 wickets at an average of 11.80 and a strike rate of 25.2. While that gives an impression it has been a one-man show, Unadkat clarified that’s not the case.”There has to be one strike bowler in the team who should be leading the attack,” Unadkat said. “It was Dhamendra[sinh Jadeja] doing it last year for us, and I have been doing that this season. I was doing well last season as well, that’s why we were bowling in tandem, which wasn’t the case this year but I still believe the way Prerak [Mankad] and Chirag [Jani] have bowled this season – they have 30 [32] wickets combined if not more than that – so I think they are supporting me well.”Yes, I have been taking the load of taking wickets, still it’s a bowling attack that’s balanced. Dharmendra has provided crucial breakthroughs, it has been just one or two breakthroughs that’s why it’s not visible that much but he has actually given us those crucial breakthroughs throughout the season. So, I just hope it continues like that and I don’t mind taking the extra load if they keep continuing doing the same job.”It’s my responsibility as a strike bowler that whenever the team requires, I provide the breakthroughs. This has happened two-three times this season that I have been able to do it and win the games. That’s why my performance is more visible this time. As far as my bowling is concerned, I am in a great mental space right now. I am not really worried about my own performance, I just want this team to win and I want to contribute to that. Side by side if I am taking wickets, that’s good for the team and for me as well. So I am just happy how things are going.”

Eighteen wickets fall on thrilling second day of first Test with West Indies in control against England

The Report by Valkerie Baynes24-Jan-2019West Indies 127 for 6 (Dowrich 27*, Holder 7*) lead England 77 (Jennings 17, Roach 5-17) by 339 runs
England were entitled to stride off the Kensington Oval after less than an hour’s play on day two with their chests thrust forward and grins on their faces, a job well done. They had, after all, restricted West Indies to a total of 289 on a pitch both captains wanted to bat on first.Three and a half hours later, the entrance to the field had become a dizzying turnstile for touring batsmen with shoulders hunched and jaws slack, trying to fathom what had just happened.What had just happened was an absolute demolition job as West Indies’ pace attack, led by Kemar Roach, bowled England out for 77, the lowest Test total to be posted in Bridgetown and 212 runs short of the home side’s modest first-innings score.Roach’s stunning spell of five wickets for four runs in 27 balls left England reeling at 48 for 6 and, with Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph contributing two wickets apiece, the scene ended in carnage for the tourists, who had only four batsmen reach double figures with none of them making it to 20.On a day when 18 wickets fell, however, there was much more to come as England’s Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali combined to put West Indies under some pressure at 61-5.Shimron Hetmyer, West Indies’ top-scorer with 81 in the first innings, threatened to steady the second with Shane Dowrich, until Hetmyer fell for 31 late on a spectacular day of action.Dowrich remained unbeaten on 27 at the close along with Holder (7 not out) as the West Indies held a lead of 339.After James Anderson had claimed 5 for 46 to move level with Ian Botham’s record of 27 five-wicket hauls for England, and Stokes’ 4 for 59, England looked to be in a comfortable position at the end of the West Indies’ first innings.Then came Holder and Roach.West Indies captain Holder had Keaton Jennings caught cheaply, slicing a drive straight to gully to send England to lunch at 30-1.At the resumption, Roach cut loose. He flummoxed Rory Burns and Jonny Bairstow, forcing both to chop onto their stumps. At the other end, Joe Root was lbw for 4.Roach then claimed the wickets of Stokes and Moeen with consecutive balls. First to go was Stokes with an lbw that withstood England’s review. But when Roach caught Moeen on the hop with a blazing short ball next delivery that found a thick top edge, Joseph was there, on the boundary at fine leg, to pluck the catch from mid-air and add to the day’s spectacle in thrilling fashion.By the time Roach had Jos Buttler caught behind by Dowrich off a short, sharp delivery it seemed as though mere moments had punctuated the West Indies quick’s haul and, in the scheme of things, they had.Joseph combined with Dowrich to dismiss Ben Foakes for just 2, while Sam Curran was bounced out, caught by Shai Hope off the bowling of Shannon Gabriel, before Adil Rashid was last to fall.While the day belonged to Roach, Moeen and Stokes added intrigue where no more was needed. As in the first innings, West Indies’ batsmen have so far failed to build on starts, with openers Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell falling early and Darren Bravo making a forgettable return to Tests after two years by adding just 1 to his first-innings total of 2.At stumps Moeen had 3 for 41 off 12 overs and Stokes 2 for 31 off 11.A talking point before the match was West Indies’ decision to pick just one spinner and four quicks, while England opted for two slow bowlers and left out Stuart Broad. Given the success of the home side’s fast bowlers, selection must remain at the forefront of England’s analysis.Anderson added Joseph’s wicket to his four from day one and Stokes ended West Indies’ first innings with the wicket of Hetmyer but, by the time Hetmyer fell again, caught by Buttler off the bowling of Curran, who had edged Broad out of the team, all that seemed so long ago.

Jake Ball said he hopes he “can bounce a few Aussies out” if he wins selection for the first Test in Brisbane

George Dobell in Brisbane20-Nov-2017Most players on the verge of their first Ashes Test might be hoping to emulate their heroes, but Jake Ball is hoping for the opposite. In one respect, anyway.Ball grew-up idolising Steve Harmison. Inspired by Harmison’s pace and hostility in the 2005 Ashes, Ball would take to the garden with his brother and “try to bounce him out”.But while he will not want to replicate Harmison’s infamous first delivery at the Gabba at start of the 2006-07 Ashes – the ball that went to second slip, a harbinger of doom for a grim series from an England perspective – he is still hoping to emulate the Harmison of 2005. And that means looking to bounce out the Australian batsmen.

Broad hit by golf ball

Stuart Broad escaped serious injury after he was hit by a golf ball while playing at Brisbane Golf Club on Monday. Broad was on the putting green when he was hit on the lower back by a stray ball hit by a member of the club. He did not require treatment and is not in any way an injury doubt ahead of Thursday’s first Ashes Test.

“I hope I can bounce a few of the Aussies out,” Ball said as he visited the Gabba for the first time on Monday. I have the height and bounce.”I showed in the first couple of games on the tour that I can extract extra bounce and the Gabba is renowned for being a bouncy pitch. Hopefully I can show that and nick a few of the Aussies off.”I’m in a really good position at the minute. I think we’re going to hit the ground running and I hope to surprise a few people. I think we’ve a really good chance.”Ball has emerged as a near certainty to play in the first Test over the last few days, which may surprise a few. He has a Test bowling average of 114, after all – he has only played three Tests and two of them were in India – and he has been limited to just 22 first-class deliveries on tour to date after spraining his ankle in Adelaide.But the spells he did bowl clearly made a strong impression. Trevor Bayliss rated Ball as the side’s “best bowler” in the warm-up match in Perth, while Jonny Bairstow reckoned he was the quickest of England’s seamers. At every state, the management have said they wanted him to play in Brisbane where his height and ability to hit the seam could be an asset.”I’m really confident in what I’m doing,” Ball said. “I’ve played club cricket in Australia. I’ve always had in the back of my mind that these pitches can really suit my style of bowling and bowling in Perth and Adelaide reinforced that.”He admits, however, that there was a moment when he feared for his Ashes prospects in the immediate aftermath of sustaining the injury.”There was a split-second where I felt something wasn’t quite right,” he said. “I had my eyes closed and I was thinking ‘Does it hurt?’ All sorts of thoughts go through your head.”It was a bit gutting, especially with bowling so well in the first couple of games.”But the medical staff have been amazing. The last couple of days in Townsville went really well and I got through 17 overs at full pace and a couple of sessions of fielding. I’m now 100% confident that I can get through a five-day Test. I’m in a really good position.”You dream about playing in the Ashes. To be here and have a chance of playing is amazing and if I do get the nod, I’ll go out there and give 100%.”We’re not intimidated. All the batters have dealt with 90mph pace before and they will deal with it again. They can talk it up, talk about their pace, but it’s nothing that we haven’t faced before. We’ll look to put the pressure back on them.”

On a day when the Lodha Committee handed over to the BCCI its first set of timelines for the implementation of its reforms, the Indian board has said it began the process of implementing them soon after the Supreme Court order on July 18

Arun Venugopal09-Aug-2016On a day when the Lodha Committee handed over to the BCCI its first set of timelines for the implementation of its reforms, the Indian board has said it began the process of implementing them immediately after the Supreme Court issued its order on the matter on July 18. This is a markedly conciliatory position from the BCCI – it is the first time it has admitted to beginning the process of implementing the recommendations – which had till now adopted a combative stance for the most part.The BCCI has till September 30 to, among other things, amend its rules and regulations, as per the Lodha directive issued on Tuesday. The first phase of reform, comprising recommendations on 11 topics with sub-divisions, is to be completed by October 15. In all, the court had given the BCCI a maximum of six months to implement all the recommendations, from the date of issue of the order.

Key reforms and deadlines in first phase

September 30
— Adopting amended BCCI MoA, and Rules and Regulations
— Amending constitutions of state associations
— Establishing 15-day gap between the national calendar and the IPL
— Amending the anti-corruption and related codes of the IPL
— Amending player-agent registration norms
— Deciding order of the rotational vote in states with more than one association
— Deciding on fund disbursements among members
— Establishing transparency of tenders
— Pondicherry to be made Associate member
— Setting in motion creation of players’ association
October 15
— Appointment of electoral officers at BCCI and state levels
— Reorganising the zones
— Various websites to be created/updated, including providing links to facilities in stadiums
— Handbooks to be made for differently-abled and age-group cricket

Despite the process being set in motion, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, who had met with the Lodha Committee on Tuesday to discuss the deadlines, indicated that the board’s reservations over the verdict remained; he said it would continue to pursue its legal challenge of the verdict.”Whatever BCCI is doing… the implementation process is going on; there is unanimous agreement on both sides that till – or if – the court stays it, this report is to be implemented,” Shirke told ESPNcricinfo after meeting with the Lodha Committee in Delhi. “The process [of implementation] is already going on. The process started from July 18.”The legal process [against the verdict] is a totally different matter; the implementation [of the recommendations] is a totally different matter. [Filing the review petition against the verdict] is a totally separate process. We have time till August 18 [30 days since the Supreme Court’s verdict]. We will file it whenever it’s ready.”According to a press release from the Lodha Committee, Shirke will have to furnish a report of compliance to the timelines by August 25. The BCCI was also directed to ensure “full transparency” of all tenders floated and bids invited by it, and all contracts entered into with effect from July 18. This will include the broadcast rights awarded to Star India for the two-match T20I series to be played in the USA later this month.The first list of recommendations to be implemented include adopting amendments to the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the BCCI, the amendment of constitutions of state and member associations, reorganisation of the zones, and setting in motion the creation of the players’ association.Shirke said the meeting had been “very good”, and that there was no acrimony in light of the remarks made by former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who was appointed by the BCCI to advise it on the Lodha verdict. “[There was] no problem,” Shirke said. “They are all justices of the highest court. What do you expect? People at a certain level can easily differentiate things.”How does Justice Katju’s [remarks] come up in this meeting? When the meeting was called for implementation of [the Lodha recommendations] how does he feature in that?”BCCI president Anurag Thakur, who is also a member of parliament with India’s ruling party, the BJP, couldn’t attend the meeting with parliament in session. Shirke felt Thakur’s absence was unlikely to attract contempt proceedings from the Lodha Committee, considering that he had a legitimate reason.”It is not a problem because he has already given a very valid reason,” Shirke said. “The parliament is on and the letter to that effect has already been submitted. According to me, that’s not an issue. If the committee feels it’s an issue then it’s for them to decide.”

Netherlands have picked 20-year old right-arm medium pacer Vivian Kingma and 21-year old batsman Rahil Ahmed for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League games against Scotland

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2015Netherlands have picked 20-year old right-arm medium pacer Vivian Kingma and 21-year old batsman Rahil Ahmed for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League games against Scotland. Right-arm pacers Timm van der Gugten and Ahsan Malik, who were part of the squad for the last Intercontinental Cup, have been excluded.

Netherlands squad changes

In:Thijs van Schelven, Vivian Kingma, Rahil Ahmed
Out:Timm van der Gugten, Daniel Doram, Ahsan Malik

Van der Gugten was Netherlands’ top wicket-taker in their last game against Papua New Guinea with six scalps. Malik was pulled up for a suspect bowling action the last time the two sides met, in the World T20 qualifiers, and is yet to be cleared to bowl in international cricket. Daniel Doram, the 17-year old left-arm spinner has also been left out of the squad and Thijs van Schelven has been called up.Netherlands will play a four-day game against Scotland at The Hague from September 8-11 as part of the Intercontinental Cup and then meet them for two WCL games in Amsterdam.Netherlands squad: Peter Borren (capt.), Wesley Barresi (wk), Rahil Ahmed, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Quirijn Gunning, Vivian Kingma, Paul van Meekeren , Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Michael Rippon, Thijs van Schelven, Pieter Seelaar.

Khulna Royal Bengals, playing in front of a packed Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, beat Rangpur Riders by nine runs and have turned around their flagging campaign with two wins in a row

Mohammad Isam25-Jan-2013
ScorecardKhulna Royal Bengals, playing in front of a packed Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, beat Rangpur Riders by nine runs. They have now turned around their flagging campaign with two wins in a row. Shahriar Nafees helped set up a competitive total on a pitch that was too slow for big hits before Shapoor Zadran rocked the top order of the opposition.The fightback made for excellent viewing too, as the Royal Bengals made 106 runs in the last 10 overs, after struggling for 44 for 4 in the first 10. The fielding display also helped stop the Riders, who had won their last two games quite handsomely, from clinching the tight game. Zadran, the Afghanistan left-arm fast bowler, bowled a mean spell to take three wickets in his first two overs, while Daniel Harris kept things tight with his medium pace.Riders’ Nasir Hossain continued his good form, but was the only batsman to put up a fight, hammering 70 off 49 balls with seven fours and two sixes. He found some support from Dimitri Mascarenhas, who was foxed by Sanjamul Islam to hand back the advantage to the Royal Bengals after their 33-run sixth wicket stand.Khulna’s Nafees batted like a captain should, taking responsibility of an innings that lacked direction. Lou Vincent fell early, and the Riders lost three further wickets, but Nafees assumed control. The emphatic pulled six he hit off Fidel Edwards, the same bowler who had struck his face two years ago, was symbolic of his confidence.Nafees scored 53 off 50 balls with five boundaries and two sixes, and added 70 runs for the fifth wicket with Harris, who stayed unbeaten on 48. Haris provided the final push to take his team to 150.

Jimmy Hansra will lead Canada’s 14-member squad for the Caribbean T20 in January

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-2011Jimmy Hansra will lead Canada’s 14-member squad for the Caribbean T20 in January. The team will be participating in the tournament for the third consecutive year, which will be held in Antigua and Barbados.Canada managed just one win out of four in last year’s edition, beating Hampshire, and finished fourth in their group. The squad will leave from Toronto on January 6 and start the tournament five days later against Winward Islands. The other teams in their group are Leeward Islands, Guyana and defending champions Trinidad and Tobago.Squad: Jimmy Hansra (capt), Rizwan Cheema (vice-capt), Manny Aulakh, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Salman Nazar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza Rehman, Junaid Siddiqui, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq

England’s wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, admits there is a strong temptation to start thinking of Ashes glory in the wake of a crushing innings victory in the second Test at Adelaide

Andrew Miller in Melbourne09-Dec-2010England’s wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, admits there is a strong temptation to start thinking of Ashes glory in the wake of a crushing innings victory in the second Test at Adelaide, but he also believes that this particular squad of players has learnt its lessons from previous campaigns and will not allow themselves any let-up in intensity until the task has been completed.Against Australia at Lord’s in 2009, and then in Durban against South Africa five months later, England won the second Test of a major series only to allow their opponents to draw level – in the first instance at Headingley, where England were routed inside three days after being brushed aside for 102 on the first morning, and then at Johannesburg, where Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel reaped the rewards that had eluded them in the first three Tests.”You learn lessons,” said Prior, who played in all four of those contests, having been ever-present in the side since the tour of India in December 2008. “If you’ve got a group of people who’ve stayed together for a while and experienced things together, you learn from them as a team and as a unit. Certainly, we learned a huge amount from that South Africa Test series. To have a really impressive victory in Durban and underperform horribly in the next game [sic] we take a huge amount from that and learn a lot from it.”You’ve got to be careful you don’t fall into the trap of too much back-patting too early,” he added. “The tour’s gone well so far but it’s all in the past now. We learned you can’t look far ahead and you have to take every game and every day as it comes. That’s why the danger would be to starting thinking ‘oh, we’re 1-0 up, we can win the Ashes’. All these comments start flooding in and it’s tempting to start thinking like that, but you have to guard against it and not get too carried away.”Nevertheless, England’s caution does not preclude them from taking satisfaction in a job well done. On Wednesday, Andy Flower allowed himself a rare moment of euphoria in describing the victory in Adelaide as “the perfect game”, and Prior admitted that the last day of that match was “probably the proudest moment for me on a cricket pitch”.”Losing the toss on a very good track, we knew we had a huge task ahead of us,” he said. “Trotty’s run-out set the tone for the whole match, Jimmy’s spell to get Ponting and Clarke early, and the way the whole fielding unit got behind the bowlers. The way the whole team gelled was fantastic and it was a pretty much the perfect game, but as Andy said, it counts for nothing if we go into the next game and throw away the lead we have.”We’ve got to make sure we guard against any complacency. In the past, we’ve played good cricket and pretty poor cricket in the very next game. We’ve set ourselves a benchmark and we have to try to maintain it for as long as possible and stay consistent. If you want to win big series, you have to play consistently. You can’t have one great game and one poor one. We’ll certainly be guarding against that and making sure we’re working every day as we have been and never take our foot off the gas.”Prior’s personal contribution to the series has been extremely limited. He suffered a golden duck at Brisbane as Peter Siddle stunned England with a first-day hat-trick, and beyond that, he was not called upon to bat again until the fourth day at Adelaide, when he made a quick-fire 27 not out to set up a first-hour declaration. However, so long as England are in command of the contest, he does not mind in the slightest.”All the time I’m not batting, we’re scoring a lot of runs and giving ourselves a good chance of winning a Test match,” said Prior. “From that point of view, I’m absolutely delighted with how things have been going. The minute you get to a place where the team’s goal and the team’s target is more than the individual’s, that’s a very powerful place to be, and that’s what we have right now. Every single man in that dressing room knows the team’s goals will come before anything else, and they’re more than happy with that.”The unity of England’s squad has been plain to see, from their defence of Kevin Pietersen after claims that he is an “outcast” to the relaxed cameos that the players have been putting in on Graeme Swann’s video diary. While it is often said that team spirit is an illusion created in victory, Prior believes it is a more complex process than that.”It’s a number of things,” he said. “There are so many little things that come together, and the minute you start forgetting about the one percenters, it becomes dangerous. It’s very easy to look at the 200s, the big partnerships, the individuals taking five-fers, but it’s putting your arm round a mate when he’s struggling, celebrating someone else’s success, genuinely enjoying Cook and KP’s double-hundreds. You see the guys on the balcony, and that excitement is not made-up, it’s not fake. It’s very, very real, I can assure you. We’ve got a whole load of good mates in the dressing room.”Anyone who’s played team sport has probably been involved in a team like that at some stage,” he added. “When you do have that team unity, it’s very special, but it’s not something that just happens overnight. It’s been two years in the making, and when you get it, it’s a very special thing and is something you have to protect and make sure that you keep looking after.”The process will continue on Friday when England play their final warm-up match at the MCG, against a Victoria side that will contain four debutants in Ryan Carters, Alex Keath, Tom Stray and Jayde Herrick. “We’ve got a big game against Victoria coming up tomorrow and that’s as far ahead as we’ll look,” said Prior. “You can fall into a trap if you start looking too far ahead.”The match will be notable for the inclusion of all three of England’s reserve seamers, with Chris Tremlett the favourite to take the place of the injured Stuart Broad for the third Test in Perth next week. However, Prior doubts that the conditions in this contest will be anything like those that are anticipated in Perth.”Not really played here before but looks like it could be quite slow, tacky,” he said. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how well it plays, but it doesn’t look as though there are going to be many gremlins in it.”England XI (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior, 7 Steve Davies (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Ajmal Shahzad, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 Monty Panesar.Victoria Cameron White (capt), 2 Ryan Carters, 3 Aaron Finch, 4 John Hastings, 5 Jayde Herrick, 6 Michael Hill, 7 Jon Holland, 8 David Hussey, 9 Alexander Keath, 10 Clinton McKay, 11 Tom Stray.