Steve Waugh missed part of the Fifth Test at the SCG at the start of the year after straining his left hamstring, an injury that required at least a week's recovery. In the absence from the one-day squad of Test captain Mark Taylor, the board had its hand forced.

In the wake of the betting scandal furore, they found themselves being rushed into deciding whether the involvement of Warne and Mark Waugh in the affair should preclude either from captaining their country.

Speculation had been widespread at the time of the story breaking that the ACB would bar the pair from leading an Australian team and that younger candidates with unsullied reputations would be sought when Taylor and Steve Waugh stepped down or were nudged from their respective positions.

However, the Board was faced with little room for manoeuvre. Of the players chosen in the one-day squad, only the Waughs, Warne and Damien Fleming had been regular members of the Test side that had just beaten England 3-1. In Steve Waugh's absence, they named Shane Warne as their one-day captain with Mark Waugh as his deputy.

Warne, who had been called up to play in the final Test - his first since major shoulder surgery in April - had captained Australia in one previous One-Day International, against New Zealand in Sydney last season. 'I enjoyed the one game I did last year against New Zealand. I thought the guys gelled pretty well and we have got a good thing going in the one-dayers at the moment,' he said.

Warne, Mark Waugh and the former Australian manager, Alan Crompton, were due to give evidence at a Pakistani judicial inquiry into match-fixing in Melbourne on January 8, two days after Warne's announcement as temporary captain.

The golden summers of South Australia's Greg Blewett and Victorian Matthew Elliott continued to yield runs by the sackload and accordingly these two states set the pace in the Sheffield Shield ladder going into the new year. It will be hugely surprising to see either player omitted from the tour party for the Caribbean when it is announced on February 8.

Blewett in particular underlined his prodigious talent with unwavering consistency and scorching form before Christ-mas. After making a hundred and an unbeaten, match-winning 213 against England for the Australian XI in Hobart, Blewett became only the third Australian to pass 1,000 runs before Christmas, and the sixth to make four consecutive centuries.

His first-class scores to Christmas were: 175, 47, 31, 36, 143, 51, 158, 152, 169 not out and 213 not out. He had scored a total of 1,175 at an average of 147, including 525 runs against England for once out.

Blewett's 152 on the same ground 10 days earlier had helped to take South Australia to an innings victory against Tasmania. Having bowled out the locals for 180, the Redbacks declared at 475 for 9. David Fitzgerald (151) and Jeff Vaughan (121) cashed in too. Tasmania were bowled out a second time for 155, with Blewett's match analysis standing at 6 for 52.

Fitzgerald and Vaughan had another fruitful outing against Western Australia at the WACA, while Blewett was taking England to pieces in Hobart. Fitzgerald (167), Vaughan (157 not out) and Ben Johnson (75) took South Australia to 503 for 6 declared. Damien Martyn made 123 in the Warriors' reply of 354 for 8 declared with Justin Langer contributing 64.

The former Redbacks captain, Jamie Siddons, made the fourth hundred of the match before South Australia declared again on 209 for 6 but Western Australia held out until stumps, with two wickets in hand and their target well adrift.

The Warriors enjoyed the sweet taste of revenge against New South Wales at the WACA, beating their visitors by an innings and 16 runs. A fortnight after they had been bowled out in Sydney for 58, Western Australia turned the tables dramatically and skittled the Blues for 56 in just 25.2 overs and 112 minutes. Andrew Sainsbury top-scored with a mighty 14, while Brendon Julian took 4 for 15 in seven overs and Sean Cary snatched 4 for 9 in 4.2.

It was the 11th lowest score in the history of the Sheffield Shield and the second time this decade that a side has been dismissed in a session at the WACA.

Nor did the home side escape unscathed. Having lost their first two wickets without a run on the board, they then slumped to 64 for 5 before Rob Baker (80) and Julian (69) took them to 276, from which position they completed an innings victory.

Elsewhere, the former Queensland fast bowler Greg Rowell took 8 for 98 in the match for Tasmania against his old state at the Gabba, spearheading an eight-wicket victory in spite of two half-centuries from the former Test opener, Matthew Hayden.

The Waugh twins and Michael Slater all made centuries for New South Wales, as did Brad Hodge and the ex-Queensland opener Matthew Mott for Victoria but the two sides, captained by Mark Taylor and Shane Warne respectively, played out a stultifying draw at the SCG after the Vics had taken first-innings points.

Victoria made a better fist of things against Queensland in Melbourne, where they failed by just nine runs to reach the 301 they needed for victory. Despite a stand of 26 for the ninth wicket, they were beaten by the clock with a wicket in hand. Adam Dale took 7 for 40 for the Bulls in the first innings and Victoria's Brad Hodge made a hundred in the second. Jimmy Maher of Queensland and Matthew Elliott each made two half-centuries in the match.