Australia made a confident start to the third Ashes Test against England as Shane Watson's unbeaten fifty lifted it to 126 for one on a rain-disrupted first day on Thursday. The start of the match was delayed by six hours but Watson, recalled in place of Phillip Hughes, and Simon Katich played a series of crisp strokes to seize the initiative against a subdued England seam attack. Katich fell for 46 to off-spinner Graeme Swann but Watson had moved on to 62 at the close, including 10 fours, with his captain Ricky Ponting on 17. Australia, looking to level the series following its 115-run defeat in the last Test at Lord's, suffered a blow when wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, named in the side at the toss, was ruled out with a finger injury sustained in practice. The Australians asked England for permission to replace Haddin and the host agreed, allowing Graham Manou to make his debut. Ponting won the toss and Watson was promoted up the order to partner Katich, immediately looking comfortable in an unfamiliar role. He almost played on a delivery from Andrew Flintoff but welcomed Graham Onions to the attack with a perfect off-drive for four to bring up Australia's 50. England drops T20 event Next season's English county cricket program will feature just one Twenty20 competition after officials confirmed Thursday that plans for a second Twenty20 event had been scrapped. Instead the season will feature the four-day County Championship tournament, the P20 event and a revamped Sunday League one-day competition. The traditional 40-over Sunday League was a popular tournament throughout the 1970s and 1980s but has suffered in recent years from being shunted around the fixture program. Officials have yet to determine the exact length of the new Sunday League. But anything less than a 50-overs per side tournament would mean English county players were not taking part in a format that remains a staple of the international program. ECB chairman Giles Clarke said: “We canvassed a wide range of opinion and everyone was behind the principle of the primacy of Test match and County Championship cricket.
