High: 31°C | Low: 21°C		Wind: SW at 12 km/h, Humidity: 77%
Match	New South Wales (14) v England (14)	-	Date	12th November, 2006
Match Type	Three Day - Tour Warm Up	-	Umpires	Goodger, RD, Orchard, DL (AUS)
Toss	New South Wales	-	Decision	Bat
Result	Match Drawn	-	Venue	Sydney Cricket Ground - Scorecard
NSW	1st Inns: 9 for 355 Dec (Harmison 3/95)	-	2nd Inns:	6 for 194
England	1st Inns: 349 all out (Clark 3/50)	-	2nd Inns:

Day 1

New South Wales handed out a quality lesson to a rusty England on day one of the three day warm up and at stumps were 5 for 325. Phil Jaques, fresh from his 112 against England on Friday, scored another century before falling to Giles. Jaques added 155 with Simon Katich (68), while Michael Clarke contributed 50.

England leaked runs early on with both Harmison who conceded 76 runs in his first two spells and Hoggard 51 in 12 overs suffering. Harmison took the first wicket of the day when Cowan (28) played on, a touch of fortune for the out of form paceman. Flintoff on the other hand looked good and should have had Katich out for 14 but Marcus Trescothick failed to hold on to a regulation chance at first slip.

That was as good as it got in the first session for England and they had few ideas about how to stop Jaques, who hit 11 fours and two sixes in an innings spanning 157 balls at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The left-hander was finally removed when Harmison grabbed the ball from above his head at deep mid-off to give Giles his first wicket. Katich was Giles' second wicket of the day when Pietersen took a great running catch boundary.

Anderson who went for 16 in his first two overs including two consecutive fours recovered well, ending with figures of 1-45 from his 15 overs.

Henriques and Smith made sure that New South Wales ended the day on a high with an unbroken stand of 36 albeit at a slow run rate. Perhaps more importantly for the tourists Geraint Jones appears to have received the nod from Duncan Fletcher as he was chosen ahead of Chris Read. It now seems unlikely Read will start against Australia at the Gabba.

When England resume tomorrow they have 30 overs to bowl as only 120 overs are allowed per first innings ensuring the same fate that happened when they played Queensland four years ago doesn't befall them. Queensland elected to bat for two and a half day restricting the batting practice ahead of the Brisbane Test. Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken are all in the Blues side for the match, a tough test.

Day 2

Following a disappointing day yesterday, England recovered a little pride with a strong batting display three players contributing with half centuries. Pietersen remains undefeated on 80 along with captain Flintoff (48*), the two steering England to a respectable overnight total after the loss of Strauss (50), Cook (59) and Trescothick and Bell hardly troubling the scorer.

Steve Harmison who's early wicket helped the tourists recover some ascendancy finished with figures of 3 for 95, average by his standard but a marked improvement following the onslaught he suffered early on day one. Unfortunately most of the morning session was lost due to rain and with only 4.1 overs available play was limited and rather forced New South Wales into declaring but not before Anderson and Hoggard picking up wickets.

Trescothick's poor form continued when he fell for just eight runs, adding to the two he scored in Canberra, after playing on to Brett Lee. In contrast, Strauss looked composed and dangerous in a well crafted half century. Despite being hit early on in the chest by Lee he recovered to smash the ball to all parts of the ground with both Lee and McGrath suffering. Strauss was dropped by Clark in the gully, Bracken the bowler but the fielder made amends 18 runs later when he took a superb one-handed catch of his own bowling. Strauss' innings lasted for 57 balls and included eight boundaries.

With Cook trapped around the wicket by McGrath, Flintoff joined Pietersen and the pair took an inexperienced attack of Casson and Henriques to task ending the day undefeated and in a good position to attack tomorrow. Both Cook and Pietersen rode their luck early on but persevered to build a strong innings and invaluable time in the middle ahead of the first Test.

Day 3

I would like to write that England have gained the upper hand following Kevin Pietersen’s 122 but truth be told the last six wickets fell for 67 runs, a huge collapse considering the position they found themselves on at the start of day three.

Flintoff added 14 runs to his overnight score before playing on to Stuart Clarke who was comfortably the best bowler on show for New South Wales. He shared in a 116 run partnership with South African born Pietersen, both looking to take the game to the State side from the start. Play began half an hour earlier today following the delays caused by rain in the yesterday’s morning session.

Despite his obvious concerns against facing short pitched bowling early in is innings Pietersen re-grouped and fought his way back into form and for England to retain the Ashes he and Flintoff will have to perform consistently throughout. Pietersen came to Test cricket with a bang but has struggled of late, today’s performance will most certainly give him and his team-mates a timely boost.

Bracken accounted for Pietersen’s wicket, Lee taking the catch at mid on. With his departure the flood gates opened; the last four wickets falling for just 19 runs.

With a slender first innings lead Jaques immediately started as he had done in his previous two innings against England with a boundary off Hoggard. However he would not emulate his two centuries after Sajid Mahmood run him out while attempting a risky single. Simon Katich and Michael Clarke both out to impress the selectors ahead of Thursday’s team selection put on 114 for the third wicket before Anderson's double. Anderson finished the match with five wickets and was clearly the pick of the bowlers. Harmison is still a huge concern after another erratic performance.