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Match facts

January 24-28, Adelaide Oval
Start time 1030 (0000 GMT)Virat Kohli has shown there is batting talent in India beyond the established seniors•AFP

Big Picture

Four weeks ago, the first Test started in Melbourne on Boxing Day amid great expectations of a closely-fought tour and India’s best chance of pulling off a series win in Australia. Now after three Tests, none of which have lasted five days, the best India can hope for is a consolation victory in Adelaide. They will do so without their captain MS Dhoni, who was suspended after India’s loss in Perth due to slow over rates, and under the guidance of the stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag. At least Adelaide Oval is a venue that will give the Indians hope: in their past two Tests there, they have managed a win and a draw.As is so often the case in dead rubbers these days, there are plenty of sub-plots to keep things interesting. There is the question of whether leadership will bring out the best in Sehwag, who has had a disappointing tour with only one half-century. There is debate around the future of VVS Laxman, the most vulnerable of the seniors in India’s middle order. And there’s the ongoing hundredth hundred saga.For Australia, Michael Hussey has announced his intentions to play on for the next Test tour, but the last Test of the home summer is traditionally a time for farewells, so for Australia there is the chance, albeit slim, that Ricky Ponting or Brad Haddin might call it quits after the game. There is the matter of whether Shaun Marsh or Ed Cowan can score a big hundred to secure their place whenever Shane Watson returns.There are enough reasons to watch this Test over the next five days. Now let’s just hope the match lasts that long.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Australia WWWLW
India LLLDW

Players to watch …

Last time the Adelaide Oval hosted a Test match, Nathan Lyon‘s main job was to cut the grass. Now his brief is to bowl offbreaks to some of the world’s best handlers of spin. It has been a remarkable rise for Lyon, who joined the groundstaff in Adelaide last summer before being plucked out of net sessions by the state coach Darren Berry to play in the South Australia side. The rest is history. Expect plenty of support for Lyon in his first Test at his adopted home venue.Virat Kohli has shown that there is batting talent in India beyond the seemingly untouchable seniors. He is yet to make that big hundred that will really launch his Test career but his 44 and 75 at the WACA were impressive contributions as wickets tumbled through India’s two innings. He should enjoy batting at the Adelaide Oval, where he can make himself a permanent member of the Test side with a maiden century.

Team news

The offspinner Lyon will return, and the only question for Australia was which of the fast men would make way. The answer came on the day before the match: the left-armer Mitchell Starc was squeezed out and was named 12th man. Starc was impressive in Perth but still falls below Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris in the pecking order.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Nathan Lyon.Dhoni’s suspension will mean the inclusion of the backup wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, while R Ashwin should return after the ill-fated experiment of using Vinay Kumar as a fourth seamer at the WACA. A progressive selection panel would consider giving Rohit Sharma a chance at the expense of the out-of-form Laxman, but India’s selectors are expected to stick with the proven Laxman.India (possible) 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav.

Pitch and conditions

The Adelaide Oval pitch is usually viewed as a batsman’s paradise, but often there is something in it for the fast bowlers early on the first day. “It will always produce spin later on as the game goes,” the curator Damien Hough said. “Normally there will be a little bit of inconsistent bounce on days four and five, so I wouldn’t expect anything else.”The forecast for the match is hot and sunny for all five days, with temperatures expected to hit 37C on the first day.

Stats and trivia

• Virender Sehwag has captained India in three previous Tests, for two victories and a draw
• Ricky Ponting needs 81 runs to reach 13,000 in Test cricket
• Should Australia win, it will be their first series whitewash against India since 1999-2000
• Australia have won just one of the past four Adelaide Tests

Quotes

“Anything less than a 4-0 defeat of this powerful Indian team will be a disappointment to all of us.”

Australia were not switched on tonight. There were fumbles, there were missed direct-hits, there were poor throws, and India – who at times batted equally sluggishly – were let off the hook. Michael Clarke, nursing a sore hamstring himself, called the fielding effort horrible and said that Australia will need to be much better if they are to win matches in the rest of the competition.More than the others, there were three crucial moments where Australia slipped. Early on in MS Dhoni’s innings, Ricky Ponting fumbled before hitting the stumps at the non-striker’s end, allowing Dhoni ample time to make his ground. Then, with 29 to defend off 22 balls, Ravindra Jadeja was all but run out but for Ryan Harris’s poor throw from point. In the next over Dhoni was dead again, only for Clarke to miss a direct hit from an arm’s length.”I think it’s concentration more than anything,” Clarke said. “If you look at myself, Ricky Ponting and also Dave Warner, we fumbled a few balls tonight, and we are better than that. You can’t blame anyone else when you are not performing as well as you like. We just got to make sure we are concentrating, and we are ready for every ball. It [Adelaide Oval] is as nice a ground as anywhere in the world. It’s a beautiful outfield, very flat. We have no excuses for our performance tonight. We just weren’t good enough.”Clarke couldn’t say if this lack in concentration could be put down to fatigue from a long season, but he said he was not queuing up to rest. “It’s international cricket, another chance to play for Australia, and you want to perform every single time you do that,” Clarke said. “Has it been a long summer? Well it has been a great summer for us so far. I can only talk about me personally: I feel like I am hitting the ball sweet, I feel I am training hard, and I am really keen to play every game at the moment.”Like all the guys, no one wants to rest. It’s just about managing the workloads, and making sure we are putting guys on the park that we think can help us win the game, [that ones that] give us the best chance of winning the game. If there is a time that we feel boys are a little tired, we would do that [rest players] as we have done with Michael Hussey. It’s just about assessing the team.”Both of India’s win against Australia this season have come in games where Matthew Wade has been pushed down the order. Clarke joked this was the last time it had happened. “I think Wadey can play in both areas,” he said. “He is good against fast bowling and he is good at the top of the order, and he is good at the death and he has done that for Victoria. Just a bit of a change in the order. I thought we’d try something else tonight. Did it work? We did pretty well, we made 270, we could have made a few more runs. But that’s the way it goes.”Clarke and Australia have a big day on Monday. Clarke will have his sore hamstring scanned, and they have to select the team for the next few games. “I’ll probably have a scan tomorrow, and then we’ll go from there. It’s a little bit sore, I have just had some ice on it. Fingers crossed, hopefully everything is okay.”

Iftikhar Anjum picked up six wickets to lead Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited to an innings-and-28-run win over State Bank of Pakistan at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Opener Mohtashim Ali was the only batsman to offer any resistance, battling his way to 51 as wickets tumbled around him. The next highest score was 18, as Anjum struck regularly to deny SBP any momentum. He ended proceedings by bowling No.11 Saad Altaf first ball to finish with figures of 6 for 37 as SBP folded for 123 in their second innings. The victory takes ZTBL to joint-first in the points table with 57, tied with Pakistan International Airlines.A confident half-century from Nadeem Akhtar led Abbottabad to a six-wicket victory over Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The day began brightly for Rawalpindi, as the overnight pair of Jamal Anwar and Yasim Murtaza took their side past 200 with some aggressive batting, both scoring half-centuries at quicker than a run-a-ball. Their dismissals, within a run of each other, sucked the belief out of Rawalpindi and the last five wickets fell for just 45 runs. Ikramullah Khan made the vital breakthroughs, snapping up Anwar for 51 and then Murtaza for 57. Abbottabad made a horror start to their chase, losing three of their top four batsmen for just 15, but Akhtar and Wajad Ali counterattacked. By the time Ali fell lbw for 48, his side were in sight of victory and Akhtar took his side home. They needed just 22.5 overs to make 158, with Akhtar unbeaten on 83 from just 66 balls, having struck 12 fours and two sixes.Hasan Raza and Fahad Masood combined to lead Habib Bank to a surprise victory over table-toppers Pakistan International Airlines by 243 runs at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Captain Hasan Raza’s unbeaten 141 lifted HBL to 361 in their second-innings, leaving PIA to chase 306 for victory. They never got close as Masood ripped through their top order to leave them gasping at 39 for 6. The final four wickets offered little resistance as PIA disintegrated for 62 and crashed to their first loss of the season. Masood finished with 6 for 28 from 11 overs.Faisalabad‘s bowlers fought back on the third day at the Jinnah Stadium but the massive first-innings deficit meant they still ended the day with 380 runs required to beat Sialkot and eight wickets in hand. Sialkot made a strange decision not to enforce the follow-on, despite securing a 279-run first innings lead and the fact that their bowlers had just bowled 6.5 overs in the morning. They batted for 45.3 overs instead and Faisalabad restricted them to 147 for 7 on which score they declared. Mohammad Ayub was aggressive and scored 84 off 116 balls but medium-pacer Naseer Akram and left-arm spinner Shoaib Shah struck regularly, and ensured the run-rate was just 3.23. The big first-innings lead, though, meant Faisalabad were left chasing a huge total, and they lost their openers to medium-pacer Mohammad Imran in the 13 overs they had to bat at the end of the day.Contributions from Mohammad Kashif and Mohammad Ijaz, and regular strikes from the bowlers helped Islamabad extend their advantage over Karachi Blues at the National Stadium. Karachi finished the day still five runs behind with six wickets in hand in their second innings. Kashif and Ijaz took Islamabad’s score from 301 for 6 overnight to 398. Kashif scored 51 off 92 balls while Ijaz took 121 balls to score 45. Azam Hussain dismissed Ijaz and completed a five-wicket haul. Karachi’s second innings was hampered by wickets falling at regular intervals. Asad Baig scored 50 but none of the other batsmen could kick on from starts and Karachi ended the day on 129 for 4.Khurram Manzoor made his third hundred of the season as National Bank of Pakistan extended their advantage over Water and Power Development Authority to 303 runs with four wickets in hand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. WAPDA started the day in a strong position at 186 for 3, but lost two early wickets to slip to 196 for 5. A sixth-wicket partnership of 51 between Ali Azmat (34) and Bilal Khilji (22) temporarily right the ship, before the last five wickets tumbled for 25 runs, giving NBP a first-innings lead of 88. After Umar Amin retired hurt without facing a ball, Manzoor took control, lashing a dozen fours as he raced to 101 from 119 balls before being bowled by Ali Azmat. NBP ended the day on 215 for 6 with one day to go.

Mitchell Johnson’s season is almost certainly over after he underwent an operation on his left foot. Johnson could be out for up to five months, which would also rule him out of Australia’s next overseas tour to the West Indies next March and April, and the long lay-off will make it hard for him to force his way back into the Test side in the foreseeable future.At 30, Johnson was already under pressure to hold his place after a disappointing tour of South Africa, where he took 3 for 255 during the two Tests, and in the past 18 months he has taken 35 Test wickets at 45.71. Younger fast men like James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc are now set for a summer of opportunities, along with the teenager Pat Cummins.Johnson had surgery to repair ligaments around his big toe on Thursday in Melbourne. He has had a series of investigations and specialist consultations over the past week, after he returned from the tour of South Africa with the problem.Before he left Perth on Wednesday, Johnson said he was not going to let the injury end his career.”I’m definitely going to be back,” Johnson said. “I’ve heard a few reports that my career’s over due to form – not because of this injury … I just laugh at it. I’m only 30 years old and I’ve got plenty of cricket left in me. I’m going to take a lot of positives out of this [injury layoff].”In a statement, Cricket Australia confirmed that the initial specialist advice was that Johnson would require surgery to repair damaged soft-tissue structures around his left big toe.”Mitchell will travel to Melbourne … to be reviewed by specialist doctors and will most likely need surgery, which is expected to keep him out of cricket for four to five months,” the team physio Alex Kountouris said. “The program for his recovery will be assessed following any surgery.”Australia’s captain Michael Clarke said in Brisbane that Johnson may be able to make the time off work for him, allowing him to clear his head and work out how to be a more consistent cricketer in the future.”It’s obviously disappointing to lose Mitchell for such a long period of time, because I’ve always said he is a wonderful talent and someone I love having around the group in all three forms of the game,” Clarke said. “I think it could have a good impact to be honest. It will give him more time away from the game to clear his head and get himself fit and strong.”Injuries I’ve seen in the past with a few of our players, that time off has helped them come back bigger and better. I don’t see it as that big a deal with Mitch. It’s disappointing on behalf of the team that he’s not going to be around and available for selection, but in regards to his own individual career I see no reason why he can’t get back to his best if not better after the operation.”It was during the Australia’s series-levelling victory at the Wanderers that Johnson’s foot problem became apparent, when he stumbled while taking off for a run during Australia’s chase. Johnson was hobbling for the rest of the innings but stayed at the crease until the target was reached.

ScorecardJames Pattinson plucked the last three wickets as Victoria won with 16 balls to spare•Getty Images

Victoria claimed a first outright victory of the season by 55 runs as Tasmania fell a mere 16 balls short of salvaging a draw on the final day of the Sheffield Shield match in Hobart.Chasing 318 to win, the Tigers were bowled out for 262, last summer’s Shield winners suffering a third consecutive outright defeat to start their title defence.James Pattinson, Jayde Herrick and the off spinner Glenn Maxwell nabbed three wickets each for the Bushrangers, Pattinson nipping out the last three with the second new ball as the clock ticked near to stumps.The Tigers’ final day defiance had been led by the opening batsman Steven Cazzulino, playing in place of the injured Mark Cosgrove. His front elbow was prominent in a fighting innings, but wickets fell regularly at the other end.Ed Cowan snicked an off break to slip, Nick Kruger was lbw on the back foot, and George Bailey and Evan Gulbis were both undone by full, curving Herrick deliveries.Allrounders James Faulkner and Luke Butterworth gave the Tigers a slim chance of victory in the final session, before the final four wickets went down swifty.Matthew Wade, the Bushrangers’ gloveman, was named man of the match for his two important innings, while the Tasmanian captain George Bailey was reprimanded for showing dissent towards the umpires’ decision to decline an appeal against David Hussey on day three.

ScorecardMohammad Nabi was resolute as Afghanistan drew with UAE•ICC

UAE were on course for their second win in the Intercontinental Cup when they had Afghanistan six down with more than 40 overs to get the remaining wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. But Mohammad Nabi played out 153 balls, and along with Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari took Afghanistan to a draw.It was always going to be a matter of survival for Afghanistan, as they were left chasing 363 in a little less than a day. Given the way Afghanistan’s lower order had collapsed earlier in the game, all odds were on a UAE win when they had the visitors 82 for 6 in 36.1 overs. Nabi had scored a century batting up the order in the first innings, but only came in at No. 7 in the second by which time Afghanistan were 71 for 5. He only got 35 runs but it was the time he spent at the wicket which mattered.For company, Nabi had first Stanikzai who used up 53 balls for his 10, and Shenwari who played a remarkably patient innings of 6 off 78. They ended up reaching 131 for 7 by the end of the day leaving them just behind UAE in the Intercontinental Cup table.UAE had started the day on 213 for 5 with their main dilemma being when to declare. Afghanistan, though, took the option away from them, running through the tail and bowling the hosts out for 228. They could not carry any momentum from that late fightback into their innings, and were reduced to 30 for 3. Javed Ahmadi followed up his 80 in the first innings with 49 in the second but he was only one of the top six to make a contribution. Afghanistan shuffled their batting order, with Mirwais Ashraf and Hamza Kotak moving up the order. Ashraf negotiated 70 balls for his 10, but Afghanistan still needed a rearguard from the lower order.

Chris Woakes has said that England are not alarmed by the way their batsmen misfired in the first practice match against Hyderabad Cricket Association XI. England lost their top four batsmen within 50 runs and it was left to Ravi Bopara and Woakes to take the visitors past 200, which ultimately proved beyond the home side.”We would obviously have loved to put up a bigger score,” Woakes said. “They fielded very well and pulled off some brilliant catches. There was some poor shot selection. We are not worried. It was a decent win in the end.”Woakes took the new ball along with Steven Finn and followed up his 46 with two middle-order wickets in the 56-run victory. Woakes felt that he could improve with the bat despite playing a major role in England’s recovery after their specialist batsmen, apart from Bopara, had failed. “We [Bopara and I] had a good partnership going and we adjusted well to the conditions. Obviously it would be nice to bat higher up the order. But whatever the slot, it doesn’t matter much.”Having batted for more than an hour and bowled seven overs in the game, Woakes felt that it was difficult to get used to the conditions early on. “It is an honour to take the new ball for England. It was good. The wicket was a bit two-paced and the length was very important.”The new rule of taking two balls looks good. The ball keeps shape a lot longer and with the ball not changed towards the end you have a good feel of it through the innings. The ball did start to reverse towards the end and that I think would happen here because of the outfield.”England will play another practice game against Hyderabad on October 11 before taking on India at the same ground in the first match of the ODI series on October 14.

Muttiah Muralitharan has said he hopes another IPL franchise will sign him now that the BCCI has terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Murali, who retired from all forms of international cricket after the 2011 World Cup, was bought by Kochi in the January 2011 auction after he played the first three IPL seasons for Chennai Super Kings.”I am hopeful that if they [Kochi] are not playing, some other franchise will take me as I am fit and playing this format continuously,” Murali told in Colombo. “I want to play two more years in IPL.”The BCCI announced that Kochi were terminated because they had failed to submit a new bank guarantee for 2011, which the board said was an “irremediable breach” of their contract. The players contracted to Kochi have a three-way contract, which includes the BCCI as a party, and N Srinivasan, the new board president, said an arrangement would be made that is viable for the players.”What will be the consequences of the termination and the future of the players, as well as whether to play with nine teams, all these things will be decided by the IPL governing council,” Srinivasan said. “The players’ interest will be safeguarded. BCCI will not leave the players in the lurch. We will find an equitable solution that is viable both for the players and the BCCI.”Muralitharan said he expected the board to make adequate arrangements for the players. “If the BCCI has decided something, then we can’t do anything,” Muralitharan said. “But I hope they will arrange something for the 20 contracted players of the franchise. It’s a three-party agreement and we have our contract with the BCCI too.”While playing for Chennai, Muralitharan took 52 wickets in 46 games across the IPL and Champions League Twenty20. However, he played only five of Kochi’s 14 games in the 2011 IPL. “I think Kochi did not need my services much,” Muralitharan said. “My experience with Chennai Super Kings was far better. Kochi did not play me much.”Steve O’Keefe, a left-arm spinner from New South Wales who was signed on by Kochi last season, said he was disappointed he did not get to play for the franchise at all. “It would be a shame if I were to go home without playing [for them] considering that last year [IPL 2011], I didn`t play a game,” he said. “I was disappointed [for not playing a game] and if they scrap the team I’d be even more disappointed.” O’Keefe is currently in India with the New South Wales side for the CLT20.

ScorecardWill Gidman and Yasir Arafat played starring roles for their respective teamson a fiercely-contested opening day of the County Championship match betweenGloucestershire and Surrey at Cheltenham.Gidman rescued the home side from a precarious 117 for 5 after winning thetoss by continuing his fine season with 85, sharing half-century stands withRichard Coughtrie (15) and Jack Taylor (39) as the home side reached 286 allout.But Arafat ensured Surrey were also rewarded for their labours by taking 5for 86 from 24 overs, testing all the batsman with swing and pace off the pitch.Tim Linley also bowled well without much luck to return four for 59. The visitors were left with an awkward three overs to bat at the end of the day and closed on 13 without loss.It was a day of see-sawing fortunes. Gloucestershire began well as HamishMarshall and Chris Dent put on 41 before Marshall edged Arafat to Gareth Battyat first slip. Dent departed for 12 with no further addition, also pouched by Batty at firstslip off Jade Dernbach (1 for 51), but Chris Taylor then hit 17 in helpingKane Williamson take the total to 102.Their stand ended when Chris Taylor, who had survived a couple of chances,edged a back-foot defensive shot off Arafat to wicketkeeper Steve Davies, whoalso accounted for Alex Gidman (13) off the same bowler to make it 116 forfour.When Williamson, on 39, gave Batty his third slip catch, opening the faceagainst Arafat, Surrey were right on top. But Will Gidman has been getting runsand wickets in his first season after moving from Durham and the left-handeragain proved resolute.Coughtrie was content to play a support role as the pair took the score to 176and was furious with himself for cutting a short ball from Linley straight toJason Roy at backward point. Jack Taylor then played positively, hitting seven crisp boundaries as Gloucestershire progressed from 176 for 6 at tea.He fell to the first overwith the second new ball, caught behind off Arafat in similar fashion tonamesake Chris earlier. Will Gidman reached his fifty off 117 balls, with seven fours, and would surely have made a century had he not run out of partners. Jon Lewis scored nine in astand of 36 before being caught at point off Linley, who had beaten the bat onnumerous occasions through the day.Ian Saxelby was quickly caught at second slip and Gidman was forced to hit out,sacrificing his wicket to a boundary catch off Linley with last man David Payneat the other end. He had faced 160 balls and hit 13 fours.

A more established cricket structure has helped Namibia reach the World Twenty20 qualifiers after finishing in the top two of the Africa Division One Twenty20 tournament. They last made international headlines when they qualified for the 2003 World Cup but are ready to get back on the biggest stage, with better organisation backing them this time.”The national team have a more professional approach towards the game,” Johan Rudolph, the Namibia coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We have also been able to contract some players on a full-time basis.”Unlike many African Associates, Namibia have been able to invest money in the game. As part of the ICC’s High Performance Programme (HPP), they receive funding from world cricket’s governing body, but there is also a small contribution from the government, a larger sponsorship from cellular telephone company MTC and small donations from others.”We started in a garage which we used as an office and put into place a development program, financial budgets and administrative policies and procedures,” Laurie Pieters, chief executive of Cricket Namibia, said. “This has now grown so that we have a dedicated office with a chief executive, development manager, national cricket coach and 12 staff, including development co-ordinators and officers as well as a full-time ground curator with ground staff.”While the infrastructure has steadily got better, the cricket has yo-yoed between successful and disappointing. Namibia all but disappeared off the scene after the 2003 World Cup, where they failed to win a single match. Since then, they’ve taken small steps, first by qualifying for the Intercontinental Cup at the end of 2006, the HPP in 2007 and eventually playing in the final of the Intercontinental Cup against Ireland in the 2007-08 season.However, they have since dropped down to the World Cricket League Division Two and suffered a disappointing 2009 World Cup qualifier campaign, where they scraped through to the Super Eights and then finished last. Now, having been selected to play in the Intercontinental Cup again this year and with their success in the twenty-over version of the game, Namibia are aiming for a more steady progression, especially since their rebuilding phase is just about complete.”After the 2003 World Cup many of our players retired,” Pieters said. “However, we had a core group from which we could build another squad. Further to that there were promising Under-17 and Under-19 players who have graduated. We now have a settled squad, eight of whom have full-time contracts.” The likes of batsman Jan Berrie-Burger and allrounders Bjorn Kotze and Gerrie Snyman, who were in their early 20s during the 2003 World Cup, are now the senior players of the side. Youngsters such as Louis van der Westhuizen have come up the ranks from the Under-19s and are establishing themselves in the side.Together, that youth and experience combined almost flawlessly in the Twenty20 tournament in Kampala, where Namibia won eight matches before losing to Uganda in the final. Twenty-over cricket has been earmarked as the format in which smaller nations will be blooded in cricket. Despite that, only two slots have been made available for next year’s World Twent20 in Sri Lanka, and Rudolph thinks that all teams will “need to be on top of their game and be very lucky to qualify for this one.”He also does not want the country to focus on the shortest format only. “I don’t believe this is the only format for the Associates to be involved in. The longer version is where you learn the game and playing only T20 cricket can send the wrong message to the Associates,” Rudolph said.While matters off the field have improved, on the park Namibia still have a battle to fight when it comes to playing enough four-day cricket against quality opposition. “You can only practise so much and only play so much club cricket,” Rudolph said. “You need to create opportunities for teams to play against stronger opposition.” Namibia compete in South Africa’s amateur competition, which will become a semi-professional league from this season, exposing them to first-class cricket. They finished in last place in the competition in the 2010-11 season.