The second day of the Pura Cup match against New South Wales and Queensland has been a day of cricket that young Blues all-rounder Mark Higgs (181*) will not forget in a hurry. He hit his way to the biggest innings of his career and etched his name firmly into the record books in the process.

When Higgs came to the crease at around 4:15pm yesterday, there was little to indicate what was to come from the left hander, his previous highest being only 34. He carefully batted his way through the afternoon, ending the day on 62 from 102 balls.

He later admitted to experiencing an attack of nerves overnight. But he showed few signs of any discomfort today; he resumed with a steady hand and used some good, solid strokeplay to keep the runs coming. He was dropped on 93 by Andy Bichel at mid wicket, before reaching his ton in the thirty-eighth over, just after the drinks break.

Several contributing factors helped him on his way to his mammoth total, including a batsman-friendly deck and a calm, experienced partner. He said it helped to concentrate on the team goal, rather than his own personal ambitions, a strategy which allowed him to focus his attention and settle the nerves.

"I got through a nervous period in the nineties and then I really felt a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I really started to relax as the innings went on and felt more comfortable playing my shots, it felt good," he said.

Blues captain, and Higgs' batting partner for much of his innings, Shane Lee (114), was no slouch in the run-scoring department either, racking up his highest score at the SCG and, together, the pair built a record-breaking fifth wicket partnership. The partnership finally ceased at a mark of 264 when Lee was caught by Andrew Symonds at mid wicket off Bichel's (2/134) bowling.

Brad Haddin (0) came and went quickly and, in the end, NSW declared at 6/499 in mid-afternoon.

Queensland began its first innings in pretty similar style to New South Wales yesterday, losing a wicket early before then setting about the task of accumulating runs steadily.

Their progress was relatively undisturbed until the thirty-fifth over, when controversy struck. It was then that off spinner Anthony Clark (1/17) delivered a ball to Martin Love (46) that was edged to Lee in the slips, and that drew a huge appeal that was upheld by Umpire Hair. Television replays suggested that the ball had appeared merely to bounce off his thigh above the pad without ever touching either glove or bat.

Then in the next over, the most enthusiastic of appeals for lbw from a Stuart MacGill delivery to new batsman Stuart Law (16*) brought just as much drama, the leg spinner needing to be cautioned by Umpire Brandon.

Contentious dismissal notwithstanding, Clark was certainly producing the best bowling of the afternoon, maintaining a good line and length to hamper Queensland's efforts and slow the run rate. By contrast, MacGill (0/45) did not seem able to settle into any kind of rhythm, and spent much of the innings watching his deliveries being knocked about the ground. It is difficult to pin down exactly why MacGill was failing to produce the goods today, other than that he was plying his skills on a pitch that is continuing to strongly favour the batsmen and is offering only a modest amount of turn. Depending on how much moisture stays in it tomorrow, the Bulls may be struggling to contain the Blues on such a flat deck.

Nathan Bracken (1/26) was the only other noteworthy performer. His foray into international cricket has not done him any harm and he displayed fine form again today. There is no speed gun at the match but he delivered some very quick balls early in his eleven overs and contributed significantly to the application of early clamps to the Queensland run rate.

By 5.30pm, thunder clouds were gathering overhead and it became a race to finish the nine remaining overs. The rain won, with play stopping only ten minutes later and five overs short of the required number for the day. Queensland ended at 2/113 and will be back to do it all again from the earlier than normal starting time of 10:38am tomorrow.

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