It was the latter movement that did for him when Chris Cairns deduced what he was up to and had him leg-before.With those two gone it was catch-up time again The last 10 overs yielded only 46 runs. England have not worked out a way of taking the necessary advantage of the death. Their game plan appears to be to send in Andrew Flintoff for a slog If he does not come off, nor do the team. As plans go, it is simple and ineffective.The total was never likely to be sufficient, but England have come back all winter from such hopeless causes Astle was swiftly into the gallop. It was a model innings for a one-day opener – hit the throttle hard early on, settle down to see out the innings and leave enough in the tank for a bash at the end if necessary.That was the precise design. Astle's 50 came in 42 balls and 46 of them were in boundaries The Kiwis then wobbled awhile. They have previous in this matter when the line is in sight and the thought will have recurred that they had already blown a 2-0 lead.From 80 for 3 – Craig White coming to England's party for the first time this series with two quick wickets – Astle and Craig McMillan shared a partnership of 100.That seemed to be that until Hussain brought back Darren Gough for one last burst before he goes to put his feet up in his Buckinghamshire pile.

It worked.Gough puffed out his chest, speared one through McMillan and at last earned an lbw verdict He then fooled Cairns into driving sloppily to mid-off. It is one of cricket's continued mysteries that Cairns should be such an intelligent bowler and such a reckless batsman.The Kiwis seemed briefly to have made matters difficult for themselves and needed 10 from the past two overs. The penultimate over was to be bowled by Flintoff and memories of his derring-do in Bombay when he nervelessly delivered the final over to win the match, sprang to mind. Would the shirt come off again? Astle, who has overtaken Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Aravinda de Silva in the list of one-day century-makers, interrupted such thoughts by hitting the first ball for six over long-on and the fifth for another over square-leg.New Zealand 3, England 2. 100: 170 min, 127 balls, 12 fours, 3 sixes.NEW ZEALAND WON BY 5 WICKETSUmpires: R S Dunne and D M Quested.Man of the match: N J Astle.. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has signed a new three-year contract, the club confirmed today.

At Christmas Lee Dixon was contemplating an unwelcome gift – a retirement present. The veteran full-back, struggling to recover from a persistent knee injury, feared his time at Highbury was up. Having long decided that after Arsenal he would give up football, it seemed his career was over. "I was struggling even to manage a training session and I didn't think I'd ever get this far. My knee kept breaking down and around Christmas, I thought it was probably the end. I hated to think, after 14 years at Highbury, I was just going to fade into the background because of a niggling injury." But, encouraged by Ars? Wenger, he persevered and is tonight in line to make his first start since May."It's been hard work, but worth it," Dixon said His return is timely.

Arsenal have 11 players unavailable, including seven defenders. With Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ashley Cole injured and Juan Duarte ineligible, either Dixon, Lauren or Edu will be pressed into service at left-back. "I made my debut there for Burnley reserves," said Dixon, adding: "but that was 20 years ago and I've not played there since."Injuries and suspensions mean Igor Stepanovs, at centre-back, and Gilles Grimandi, in midfield, can expect rare starts but in attack, at least, Wenger has options. Either Dennis Bergkamp or Kanu will partner Thierry Henry, with Sylvain Wiltord expected to play on the right flank. Leverkusen, with Carsten Ramelow returning, should be at full strength."A win is vital but morale is high and we believe we can do it," the Arsenal manager said.