Substance over style works for Dernbach

Middlesex 161 for 9 (Dernbach 3-59, Batty 2-23) trail Surrey 338 (Murtagh 3-54, Collymore 3-72) by 177
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On a day where the sun shone bright and the sky remained spotless, Middlesex produced an inept batting display to leave themselves with one first innings wicket remaining and a deficit of 177 runs.

Collectively, the Surrey bowling unit operated with a determined nature that would have buoyed Graeme Smith. It must be said Smith rotated them well - Chris Tremlett in particular responding positively to the four over shifts he was given - but Middlesex will know their own batting sold them short. Many have championed their bowling attack but there was undoubtedly going to be games where the batsmen would be needed to make something happen. This is one of them.

Zander de Bruyn started the morning with the bat and showed good intent to push Surrey on, as Tim Murtagh swung a delivery past Steven Davies' inside edge and rapped him on the pads, in front of middle and off, to send him on his way. Murtagh was reliable as ever, but Steven Finn was off-colour, seemingly concentrating solely on pace; the giveaway being a handful of leg side wides. His third and final wide, before he was taken out of the attack, was particularly unbecoming of a Test bowler.

Pennies for the thoughts of Andy Flower and David Saker; both present at Lord's today, surely running the rule over the four international quicks present, past and future. Toby Roland-Jones represents the latter and he was more convincing today, claiming his first wicket of the match with a devilish back of a length ball that made a play for de Bruyn's shoulder, but made do with the thumb of his glove.

Surrey will know they left runs in the track as Corey Collymore, an international of the past, and Paul Stirling shared the last four wickets. Head coach Chris Adams preaches "hard cricket" and he will not be happy that the last six wickets only added 71 runs, but what he can't fault is the response with the ball.

Middlesex's innings started at a greater pace to Surrey's dreary first go, but where the visiting side left well - particularly day one centurion Rory Burns - the hosts found themselves falling for temptation. Chris Rogers took a brace of fours off Jade Dernbach before he chased a wide, full length delivery from de Bruyn and only succeeded in diverting it rather violently onto his middle stump. His replacement Joe Denly also seemed nonplussed by Dernbach until he made one just duck in, which the batsman - head falling to the offside - could only meet with pad.

One of England's preliminary 30 for the ICC Champions Trophy, Dernbach failed to make the whittled down 15 as Ashley Giles went for substance above style. There's no doubting his talents; his armoury of slower balls, cutters and back-of-the-handers seems both a gift and a curse. His slower-ball did make an appearance and had Dawid Malan baffled briefly before the ball dipped just wide of his toes and onto his bat.

But Dernbach has shown this season that he has a clear appreciation of the sub-plots of long-form bowling. After Robson was squared up neatly by de Bruyn and Malan unluckily adjudged lbw to Gareth Batty's first ball when it seemed there was bat involved, Dernbach produced a mini-spell of pressure which pressed home Surrey's advantage.

Neil Dexter edged him to Vikram Solanki in the slips before Dernbach produced an in-swinging yorker to greet Paul Stirling on his County Championship debut. Regardless of how many more times Stirling dons the whites in county cricket, he'll struggle to face a better ball - especially first-up.

Roland-Jones swatted two fours before giving Tremlett a return catch for his first wicket, while Simpson's chip to mid-on should rightly earn him some blank stares and coarse words from anyone with Middlesex's best interest at heart.


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Pakistan regroup for Champions Trophy camp

Pakistan's six-day conditioning camp ahead of the Champions Trophy began on Friday in Abbottabad. On the opening day at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, the team had a two-hour session, spending most of it in physical and fielding drills.

The stadium is at an altitude of 1260 metres above sea level, surrounded by hills, and the players wanted to ensure they acclimatised themselves with the conditions first. The forecast suggests that temperature will stay pleasant through the day, but could drop to single figures at night.

"The mood is pretty good here," Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan head coach, told reporters. "We are very keen to extract as much as we can in the six days by training in the conditions, which are similar to where we are going to play much of our cricket in the next two months.

"We decided to come to Abbottabad, with its obviously cooler conditions, as it's very warm in Lahore at the moment. We have also prepared pitches with grass on them to try and simulate conditions like those in England. While one cannot recreate it exactly, this is the best we have."

The day started with fielding drills as Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq had a rigorous slip-catching session while rest of the players went through regular fielding practice. There wasn't much bowling as the groundstaff worked on preparing the centre pitches for batting practice on Saturday.

Except Junaid Khan, all players picked for the Champions Trophy arrived for the camp, while five emerging fast bowlers were also called in to train with the national squad. Junaid, who lives in Swabi, about two hours away from Abbottabad, is expected to join the squad on Saturday.

Thirty minutes into the camp, Javed Miandad made an appearance. He said he was there to motivate players and had come on the request of the PCB chairman.

One of the sidelights of the day was the race between Nasir Jamshed and Saeed Ajmal. The usual sprinting drill was amusingly converted to a competition between the two, with the 35-year-old Ajmal beating the 23-year-old Jamshed by a big distance, leaving the latter out of breath.


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Dougie Brown berates Hove wicket

Sussex 416 for 7 (Wells 96, Brown 82*, Rankin 3-60) trail Warwickshire 453 by 37 runs
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This is a hard-fought game between two excellent sides. The prospect of a fourth day in glorious conditions at Hove should inspire excitement. If it does not, it is no reflection on the players.

"For people who maybe don't quite understand the game, they're probably wondering why we're bleating on about the pitch and stuff but in fairness: is that a first-class pitch? I would doubt it to be honest. We always thought the pitch would at some stage deteriorate. That might be at some time next month," Warwickshire coach Dougie Brown said.

"It just killed the game completely. There's nothing in there for anybody, batters included. Speaking to our batters it's actually almost impossible to get the ball off the square. How you're ever going to get a result on surfaces like this I just do not know, particularly when you use a heavy roller as well and deaden it even further.

"I just feel sorry for the people who've come to watch two very, very strong sides playing. What's happened is the conditions haven't really allowed for entertaining cricket.

"It'd be a bit like, in football terms, going out to watch some of the best teams playing and playing on grass that was a foot long. You can't apply your skills like you could do on any normal occasion so that's been disappointing. I don't know about docking points or whatever, that's not for me to say."

And it was hard to argue with Brown's assessment at the end of another day that, despite the high calibre of players on display, seldom rose above the turgid. It was just as well that the beer festival brought over 20 different ales - more than the 17 wickets to fall so far - to enjoy.

The only bowler to rise above the conditions was Boyd Rankin. While Chris Wright displayed perseverance, and Chris Woakes parsimony, Rankin was comfortably the most threatening of Warwickshire's quick bowlers and deserved more than the three wickets he snared.

During one over in the morning session, he might have had a hat-trick. Luke Wells was denied a century by a yorker that made a wreckage of the stumps he protects with such care; Matt Prior was beaten for pace and could have fallen lbw first ball; and Ed Joyce was dropped by Tim Ambrose from a legside bouncer.

Rankin retired from Ireland duty last year and has declared his ambition to try and pursue a Test career with England. That must be considered very unlikely - he is nearly 29 and has a bad record with injuries (he was here returning from ten weeks out with a stress reaction in his foot) - but when he bowls with the hostility and searing bounce he showed here, it doesn't seem inconceivable that England could show interest in Rankin as a reserve, tall impact quick bowler, behind Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett.

Brown certainly thinks it is possible: "Obviously going out to Australia, the conditions out there would suit him immensely. He's a big tall lad - 6ft 8in - he bowls very fast, he bowls aggressively and when he's on form there's very few bounce bowlers in world cricket better than him."

Rankin can do subtlety too, varying his angle by switching between over and around the wicket and using his yorker as an occasional weapon of destruction, as Wells could attest to.

After his early morning spell, it fell to Matt Prior to awaken spectators from their happy slumbers in the deckchairs. Three crunching drives off four Wright deliveries oozed purpose, but Wright soon had Prior caught by his friend and onetime Sussex colleague Tim Ambrose to a ball that moved late. And, to judge by the quality with which Ben Brown cut the ball in his unbeaten 82, another Sussex wicket keeper could one day also interest the ECB.

For now, their attentions are better turned to the merits of reinstating the heavy roller - a measure designed to mimic Test match conditions but one that risks undermining the pleasures of picturesque county grounds like Hove.


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Vince ton smashes Essex

Hampshire 254 for 1 (Vince 129*, Carberry 65) beat Essex 244 for 7 (Quiney 71, Napier 50) by 9 wickets
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A magnificent century from James Vince carried Hampshire to a crushing nine wicket victory over Essex in the opening Yorkshire Bank 40 match of the new season at Chelmsford.

Vince smashed an unbeaten 129 from 93 deliveries and shared in an opening partnership of 156 in only 17 overs with Michael Carberry as the visitors surpassed the target with 10.2 overs to spare.

Their blitz on the Essex bowlers saw them raise the 100 in a mere 9.2 overs with Reece Topley and Sajid Mahmood suffering most. Mahmood, making his first appearance for the county following his move from Lancashire, conceded 34 runs in his first two overs while Topley went for 26.

Vince needed just 27 deliveries to record his half-century and a further 44 to move into three figures with the help of 15 fours and a six. By then, he had lost Carberry for 65 made off 51 balls and containing eight fours and a six. He departed when giving a return catch to Graham Napier but that proved Essex's solitary success as Jimmy Adams, with an unbeaten 29, helped Vince to see them home. In all, Vince hit 17 fours and a six and was just two runs short of equaling his competition best.

Hampshire's triumph came after a late surge from Napier and Greg Smith had led Essex to what appeared a challenging total. They added 93 in 51 deliveries for the sixth wicket after coming together in the 31st over with the total on 143.

Napier, fresh from his heroics in the Championship victory two days earlier when he scored an unbeaten 78, made 50 from 29 balls before he was caught on the boundary from the last ball of the innings. Napier's effort contained two sixes and five fours while Smith made 43, which included a six and six fours from 33 deliveries until he was bowled by Chris Wood..

Earlier Australian left-hander Bobby Quiney struck a fluent 71 from 87 balls with the help of six fours and a six. His effort ended when he was bowled by Hamza Riazuddin after sharing in half-century stands with fellow opener Tom Westley (34) and Mark Pettini.

But there was no joy for Ravi Bopara who had hoped to celebrate his inclusion in England's Champions Trophy squad. He was bowled attempting to attack left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, a dismissal that completed a miserable week for him with the bat. In the Championship match against Hampshire, he failed to reach double figures in either innings and in eight trips to the middle this season, he has only once topped fifty.


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Gidman and Howell set up victory chance

Gloucestershire 280 and 16 for 0 need 172 more runs to beat Leicestershire 250 and 217
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Gloucestershire looked on course for their first win of the season at the end of the third day against Leicestershire at Grace Road. They bowled out the hosts for 217 in their second innings to leave a victory target of 188, and had reached 16 without loss off seven overs by the close.

Will Gidman took 4 for 39 and Benny Howell 3 for 39 as Leicestershire limped along at just over two runs an over throughout the day. Ned Eckersley top scored with 45 and there were only two partnerships 50 or better, with the home side completely shackled by an accurate Gloucestershire attack on a slow paced pitch. The result was that Leicestershire added only 185 runs in 87 overs to their overnight 32 for 2, falling well short of the sort of target they hoped to set Gloucestershire.

It did not take Gidman long to make the first breakthrough of the day when he had nightwatchman Ollie Freckingham lbw in his second over of the morning. That brought in Ramnaresh Sarwan, and he survived a sharp chance to wicketkeeper Cameron Herring off Howell when he had made 9.

But Eckersley, having added 25 to his overnight 20, was not so fortunate against the same bowler, beaten by a swinging delivery that clipped the off stump. At 69 for 4 it was an uphill battle for Leicestershire but Sarwan and Josh Cobb buckled down to share a stand of 76 for the fifth wicket.

Cobb occasionally chanced his arm and, having just cleared mid-off with one shot, followed it up by taking successive boundaries off Craig Miles to raise the half-century partnership. But just when it seemed Leicestershire had steered their way out of trouble they hit the buffers again, with three wickets falling for 12 runs in seven overs.

Cobb was the first of them, caught low down at midwicket off Howell for 43 and Sarwan followed in the seamer's next over. The Leicestershire captain was bowled off an inside edge after scoring 44 off 141 balls with six boundaries.

Shiv Thakor was bowled round his legs by Jack Taylor before Matt Boyce and Jigar Naik shared a stand of 50 to take Leicestershire past the 200 mark. But the second new ball brought a quick end to the innings as Gidman and Miles put the finishing touches to an impressive Gloucestershire bowling performance.


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Goodwin shores up Glamorgan advantage

Lancashire 123 and 104 for 4 (Hogan 3-29) trail Glamorgan 242 (Goodwin 69, Kerrigan 4-48, Anderson 3-63) by 15 runs
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As part of Glamorgan's community programme, schoolchildren from Ysgol Llandrillo yn Rhos and Ysgol Llangelynnin were invited to the Rhos-on-Sea ground on the second day of this match. They provided a guard of honour and played games of Kwik Cricket in the lunch interval. For the rest of the time they watched the two teams compete at a rather slower tempo as they fought for dominance in this excellent advertisement for Division Two cricket.

One hopes that the young enthusiasts learned that this game does not have to be played at a helter-skelter pace in order to be absorbing. Maybe one or two of them understood the value of Murray Goodwin's 69 in Glamorgan's first innings total of 242, which gave the home side a lead of 119. Whatever their national loyalties, one hopes that they appreciated the skills exhibited by James Anderson in taking 3 for 63 and Simon Kerrigan in bagging 4 for 48 to limit that advantage. Finally, one or two may have stayed behind as Ashwell Prince and Simon Katich defied the Welsh side's attack for well over an hour to give Lancashire supporters hope that they may yet turn around a match in which they have been more or less second best throughout.

For while this day's play was not "cricket for the connoisseur", a phrase implying very specialist knowledge that has nothing but mere alliteration in its favour, it was cricket for those who realise that there is more to the modern game than a free hit and a freebie. By the close of play Lancashire had scrapped their way to 104 for 4 and were still 15 runs behind. Yet for all that the late dismissal of Prince turned the match significantly in Glamorgan's favour, it is still by no means clear what the outcome will be or even when that outcome will be reached. Excellent.

Cricket is settling into its charming rhythms and this was also a Thursday to sharpen the appetite for the next five months - and for the English summer too. "The trees are coming into leaf / Like something almost being said," wrote Philip Larkin in one of the late Peter Roebuck's favourite poems. As this match's beguiling architecture subtly changed, the pleasure and involvement of the good crowd was almost palpable as they accustomed themselves to what, for many of them, will be a glad season indeed.

For example, it is difficult to think that many sessions of Championship cricket will be more tenaciously fought than was this second morning. Every hard-won run was treasured by Glamorgan's batsmen and Kerrigan's successes could not have been more warmly greeted had they been vital breakthroughs in the business end of the summer. Standing firm against Anderson, who left not an ounce of effort in his England kitbag, was Murray Goodwin, squat, pugnacious and skilled. Glamorgan's decision to sign the Zimbabwean after he had racked up just 360 first-class runs for Sussex in 2012 may yet come to be seen as one of the coups of the summer.

Just when Glamorgan's superiority threatened to become dominance, Kerrigan had a driving Jim Allenby pouched at midwicket for 46. Three more wickets left Glamorgan eight down with a lead of 70 at lunch, by which time the spectators needed a break almost as much as the players. Goodwin reached his fifty soon after the resumption and was last out, attempting to work Hogg through third man. He had batted 206 minutes and faced 134 balls. It was a noble effort, the type of innings the professionals admire.

The one certainty about Lancashire's second innings was that it needed to be a better, ballsier effort than their first. Even in conditions which assisted swing bowlers, that 123 was not really halfway towards a par score and for all that the Red Rose have achieved two substantial first-innings leads this season, their top order is pretty flaky. So it proved again. Michael Hogan caught the edge of Luke Procter's bat with the final ball of the fifth over and brought one back off the seam to pluck out Karl Brown's middle pole. In between, Mike Reed, 6ft 4in tall and exhibiting plenty of well-directed aggression, had Paul Horton taken by Wallace. That left Lancashire on 49 for 3 and there were still 25 overs left in the day.

Katich and Prince approached their task in the manner of international cricketers who have proved themselves in the fire. They mastered Wallace's bowlers even if they did not bully them, and it seemed they would both survive to face another morning. Then Prince padded up to the third ball of Hogan's final over and Tim Robinson raised his finger. Nightwatchman Anderson helped Katich ensure that there were no further losses before the close. The crowd trooped homewards.


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Crook steals lead after Peters ton

Kent 271 and 6 for 0 trail Northamptonshire 303 (Peters 106, Crook 62, Shreck 4-80) by 26 runs
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Northamptonshire may not be Division Two leaders straight out of left-field, to slip into baseball parlance, but their hot streak has caught plenty by surprise. A century from their captain, Stephen Peters, and a by-now-familiar flick of the tail helped them to a slim advantage at the halfway point of a keenly contested match against Kent, as they pursue a third win out of four that would only fuel promotion talk on the bleachers.

Northants have been here before and, having missed out by a single point in 2009 and 2011, they might be forgiven for fearing what Yogi Berra, the marvellously muddled former Major League catcher, once called "déjà vu all over again". David Ripley, who succeeded David Capel as coach last year, was involved with the club on those previous occasions but said "choking" was not a problem he is worried about this time around.

"Promotion is a target we think is achievable, especially with the start we've made," he said. "The belief is there that we can do it. I'm confident we can. It's partly a relief to come out and play well, when you've put the work in. Having got those wins in the bank, got ourselves at the top of the table, that's great - we didn't envisage being where we are but we'll take it because we've played well."

Ironically, Northamptonshire's preparations for the season focused on improving a disappointing recent record in one-day cricket - an area in which Ripley felt they "had the most to gain" - and one of the signings who has done so much to help them top the table, Steven Crook, was brought in with that aim in mind. Here, Crook hit 63, his third half-century in four innings since returning from Middlesex, to go with three wickets on the first day, as Northamptonshire recovered from 150 for 6 to post 303.

"It ain't over, til it's over," is another Berra aphorism and one the Northamptonshire lower order appear to have taken to heart. In four first innings, their last four wickets have added 648 runs - more than doubling the score on two occasions - although the picture at Canterbury was distorted slightly by Rob Newton batting at No. 11 after suffering a groin strain while fielding on Wednesday. That meant they fielded a last man with an average of 38.95, rather than the usual 21.07 of Trent Copeland.

Crook's contribution was second only to Peters, who recorded his 30th first-class century and the first by any Northamptonshire player this season. While their bowling attack has regularly treated the opposition like skittles, top-order runs have been a little less forthcoming. In April in England, that is not altogether unsurprising but this was the third time Peters has passed fifty and his batting, as well as his leadership, is likely to be crucial if Northants are to stay the course.

"He's been outstanding, he really has," Ripley said of Peters, who is in his first season as captain. "His example batting, you've only got to see how dearly he sells himself in games like we've seen today. He's steely, competitive, loves it when it's tough. He's spoken very well with the team, tactically he's been very good and a lot of the impetus we've built, he's helped us get it going."

The engine required a little turning over at the start of the day and it would be inaccurate to say that the morning session took place under a blanket of cloud only in that a blanket suggests a degree of warmth. That didn't stop Peters from batting in shirt sleeves and, if the goose pimples helped focus the mind, it certainly wasn't a bad idea.

Peters was involved in the two most substantial stands of the innings - putting on 63 with both David Sales and Crook - but it was his temperament and focus in the face of testing spells from Kent's raggedy old stagers, Charlie Shreck and Mark Davies, that really set the tone.

Ripley said Northants had expected a tough encounter and an important test of their credentials in this fixture and, by the time the sun finally came out in the late afternoon, they had stolen a few more bases. "We've always had good four-day skills," he said. "We've been there and gone close before and there's a feeling that we can be there again."


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McCullum, Taylor leave IPL early

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and his predecessor Ross Taylor have been released early by their IPL franchises and will join the tour of England ahead of schedule.

Neither player has had much involvement in the IPL with McCullum playing one match for Kolkata Knight Riders, after recovering from the hamstring injury he picked up in the final Test against England in Auckland, and although Ross Taylor has appeared five times for Pune Warriors he has made just 63 runs at a strike-rate under 100.

McCullum is due to arrive in England on Friday so could yet be available for the opening tour match against Derbyshire, which starts on Saturday, while Taylor is expected over the weekend. Both players were previously set to arrive shortly before the match against England Lions at Grace Road next week. Kane Williamson was due to the lead the team in McCullum's absence.

New Zealand players have an agreed five-week window where they can appear at the IPL and when Mike Hesson, the coach, was asked about missing two senior players for the start of the trip he even sought to see it in a positive way. "I'm actually quite happy with it because with a squad of 15 it's quite hard to get everyone a game," he said.

It has become a feature of the May Test series England, which clashes with the IPL, that senior players from the visiting team have arrived late. It has previously happened with Sri Lanka and West Indies leaving them precious little time to adjust to the conditions.

McCullum, who took over the captaincy from Taylor late last year, had a productive series against England in March, but Taylor struggled for fluency on his return after opting out of the South Africa tour following the loss of the leadership. During a radio interview after the visit of England he said that he was still not entirely comfortable back in the set up.


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Ashington's Wood returns with success

Nottinghamshire 320 and 145 for 5 (Wood 3 for 36) trail Durham 471 (Smith 153, Wood 58) by six runs
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There was a time when a match-turning contribution from an Ashington fast bowler was commonplace at Durham. Though with Steve Harmison's decline, such days have been had been consigned to the past.

But here Mark Wood, playing only his third Championship match - coincidentally, all have been at Trent Bridge - followed a career-best performance with the bat with a spell of 3 for 11 in 22, with all of his scalps a Test batsman. Describing himself as "a family friend" of Harmison and a product of the same Ashington club, Wood has the rare gift of pace that earmark him as a cricketer of rich potential.

He can bat, too. He defines himself as a bowling allrounder but, earlier in the day, reached his maiden Championship 50 with a pulled six and dominated a last-wicket stand of 71 in only 12.2 overs with Graham Onions. It was a partnership that not only extended Durham's lead to 151 but may well have had a deflating effect on Nottinghamshire's morale.

But on a wicket that has, at times, appeared painfully flat - the return of the heavy roller is far from universally popular among county spectators - it was Wood's incisive bowling that may have had the greatest impact. Wood, by some distance the sharpest bowler on display in this match, belied the easy-paced surface to persuade Ed Cowan to nibble one angled across him, trap James Taylor attempting to play a straight one through square leg, and then, most impressively, have Samit Patel caught off the glove as he tried to deal with a bouncer. It was a spell that cut through the Nottinghamshire top order and provided Durham with an excellent opportunity to claim their second win of the season. Nottinghamshire resume on the final day with half their second-innings batting dismissed and still trailing by six runs.

Such was Wood's contribution, he could well be forgiven for questioning why he has not played more regularly. On his last appearance, here last August, he claimed 5 for 78 to help his team to a 16-run victory, but then found himself dropped for the next game.

"I'm pleased to be here," Wood said afterwards with a smile. "It seems to be the only place a get a game. Of course I was disappointed to be dropped last year. But I understood the reasons. We have a good attack who had done really well so when Ben Stokes came back I missed out. Hopefully this time, if I get a couple more wickets, I can make my case even stronger."

Wood was quick to admit he was building on foundations laid by Will Smith. Smith, who batted for 505 minutes for his 153, blunted the attack at their freshest and the pitch at its most helpful to establish a platform from which the lower-order could build. It paid a higher dividend than even he can have hoped, though, when the last five Durham wickets added 323 runs to the total. He finally fell, caught at mid-on, after he attempted to whip Patel's left-arm spin through midwicket.

"Smith has been the difference between the sides," Wood said. "And he's the reason we're the favourites in this game. He showed great concentration and the work he did made it much easier for me."

While Wood led the way in the last-wicket stand, punching Patel for one lovely four through mid-on and carving Graeme Swann over extra cover for another, Onions also played his part. He thumped one back past Stuart Broad and drove Swann square as Durham kept Nottinghamshire in the field for 157.3 energy-sapping overs.

But it is Wood's bowling that may, in time, be of interest to the national selectors. He is not particularly tall or strong-looking but, from a short, straight run with an unusual start - a pronounced push off his back leg which, he says, is a technique learned from sprinters - he generates impressive, skiddy pace. He can reverse swing the ball, too, and showed an encouraging cricketing brain when talking about his wickets.

"We had just got the ball reversing when Cowan edged that one that left him," he explained. "With Taylor, we put the man behind square for the pull and, when we had him expecting the short ball, I pitched it up. And then with Samit, I hid the ball so he couldn't tell which way it was going to swing and then surprised him by bowling a bouncer."

Gareth Breese, who had already contributed a useful 44, followed up with the wicket of Steven Mullaney - surely the only cricketer with Hooters as a bat sponsor - sharply caught off a fine arm ball, while earlier Alex Hales, back when he should have been forward, lost his middle stump.

Michael Lumb, timing his drives sweetly on either side of the wicket, remains and looks in good touch, but he has a great deal of work ahead of him if Nottinghamshire are to salvage a draw from this game.

At least Nottinghamshire had encouraging news of their England players. Broad bowled with increased pace and purpose on the third day. He finished with his third successive four-wicket haul in successive innings and would not have been flattered by a fifth. Just as importantly, he reported no adverse reaction to his 31 overs and confirmed that he would take a full part, with bat, with ball and in the field, in the remainder of the game.

Swann came through unscathed, too. While he finished without a wicket, he did see two chances go down off his bowling - he was the guilty party on one occasion - and was the most economical of the Nottinghamshire bowlers. Perhaps there were a couple more full tosses than we are used to but, bearing in mind it was his first bowl in competitive cricket since the elbow operation, this was a pleasing return.


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Chopra matches Trott's class

Warwickshire 276 for 4 (Chopra 87, Trott 87*) v Sussex
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When someone next decries the worth of county cricket, it should offer this day as a snapshot of its virtues. As if sun, deckchairs and a five-day beer festival weren't enough, there was also the cricket at Hove to be enjoyed, featuring an England spinner with 164 Test wickets against two of the most reassuring sights in England's Test batting line-up - and another man who might, in time, join them there.

Jonathan Trott is often depicted as a dour Mr Dependable, but his unbeaten 87 included several shots that, had they could from any other bat, would have elicited purrs. A respectable off-stump delivery from Andrew Miller was emphatically dispatched over long on for six; the next ball, a refined late cut went to the boundary too. It was not a sight that Sussex's skipper Ed Joyce, who had shelled a hard, but eminently catchable, chance in the slips when Trott had 1, would have relished.

Trott had a familiar ally in a 131-run stand with Ian Bell, who was captaining Warwickshire in place of Jim Troughton, missing with a shoulder injury. Grown men may still have nightmares about Bell's shot first ball in Ahmedabad - caught at mid-off attempting to harrumph the ball out of the ground - but it would seem that Bell is not one of them: he shimmied down the wicket to his seventh ball, from Chris Nash's offspin and lofted him over mid-on for four. There were a few further examples of graceful footwork later against Monty Panesar.

While Bell and Trott are two Test batsmen of the highest order, it was to Varun Chopra's great credit that he looked barely less assured at the crease. Playing attractively, especially on the offside, it was a matter of considerable surprise when Chopra fell for 87 attempting to cut Chris Nash's useful offspin, and was so denied a century to go with his match-saving effort at Taunton last week. But he had still made his mark, becoming the first man to pass 500 runs for the season, and must have eyes on the batting Holy Grail of a thousand before the end of May.

Nick Compton, the man who almost passed that landmark last season, is now an established Test player, and it looks eminently possible that Chopra, 25, will become one too: an extra cover drive off Panesar was timed with the crispness one would associate with an international player. There are legitimate questions over whether elements of Chopra's game - principally his tendency to play with his bat away from his body and occasional dalliances with driving uppishly - would be a hindrance at Test level, but if he continues to score with such proficiency an opportunity will be forthcoming.

While a knee injury cost Sussex their premier fast bowler, Australian Steve Magoffin, Chopra still had to encounter a highly disciplined attack: even on a flat track in near-perfect batting conditions, Sussex limited Warwickshire to under three runs an over.

Panesar was typically probing but endured a disappointing day, seldom threatening his England team-mates and, attempting to find the rough outside legstump, even delivering two leg side wides in one over. He has now claimed only one wicket for 238 runs so far this season.

That Sussex ended on near-parity, despite the serenity with which England's Test batsmen played, owed to Chris Jordan. Jordan may have begun his Sussex career with 6 for 48 at Leeds but, if anything, he was even more admirable here, consistently hostile throughout the day. A fiery spell with the second new ball earned the rare distinction of claiming Bell fending off a short ball and he promptly claimed nightwatchman Chris Wright too. Bell later said "it's certainly a different game if you hit the pitch that bit harder", suggesting that Warwickshire intend to replicate the method that earned Jordan his success.

Jordan should have had another wicket, too, but Mike Yardy shelled Tim Ambrose in the slips in the day's final over. No one begrudged him a quick visit to the beer festival after play.


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Waller confirmed as Zimbabwe coach

Andy Waller, the former Zimbabwe batsman, has been confirmed as the country's new head coach. He will take up his post after the Bangladesh tour.

As revealed by ESPNcricinfo Waller will replace current acting national coach Stephen Mangongo with Mangongo becoming Waller's assistant.

Waller, 53, played two Tests - both against England - and 39 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1987 and 1997. He became coach of Namibia before being appointed Zimbabwe coaches manager in 2009. He then joined Midwest Rhinos as head coach before coming to the UK to work at Eastborne College.

"Waller takes over the reins at a time when the demands on our performance are very high," Zimbabwe Cricket Board chairman, Peter Chingoka, said. "We are confident that the strategy he presented to us and his unique style of coaching will yield positive results."

Waller said he had high expectations: "We have a busy calendar of tours and our performance needs to start reflecting the preparation that goes into these games. My long-term focus is to build a team of the future and I am looking forward to working with the boys."


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Brewer to revisit Nursery End deal

Derek Brewer, the MCC chief executive and secretary who arrived at Lord's a year ago, will next week discuss a new offer from Rifkind Levy Partnership (RLP) for the development of the Nursery ground.

RLP outbid MCC in 1999 for the head lease on the disused railway tunnels that run inside Wellington Road at the northern end of Lord's. They have been attempting over the past 14 years to build apartments - and lately a hospital building - at the Nursery End in return for a cash offer to MCC. This has amounted to £100 million plus £10m to the cricket charity Chance to Shine. The latest offer, which Brewer says he will "forensically" examine, is £75m for a reduced development, enabling the club to retain 66 car parking spaces and a compound for television crews.

The property developers have also stipulated that there would be no encroachment on the Nursery ground, which MCC believes to be "sacrosanct". Mike Griffith, the club's president, has been particularly adamant that this area, the club's second ground, should be retained purely for cricketing purposes. This is also a stipulation of the ECB for allocating major matches.

The original development committee, which was wound up in controversial circumstances in 2011, advocated that flats could still be built if the Nursery ground, traditionally played on by Cross Arrows and other assorted sides, was enlarged. The thinking was that it could enable Middlesex to play one day matches there and hence prevent over-use of the main square.

The fact that the Victorian tunnels, still in good condition, fell out of MCC's control has led to much contentious debate, resignations and sackings over a six-year period. The original development committee, including 11 eminent members such as Sir John Major, Mike Atherton, Tony Lewis and Lord Grabiner, worked in conjunction with RLP to come up with a £400m proposal for a wide-ranging redevelopment. The "Vision" for Lord's.

As Brewer emphasised at the annual meeting, clubs like Hampshire and Lancashire are now particularly well run and present a threat to MCC's continuing staging of two Test matches a year. Various members suggested that an offer should be made to RLP for the head lease of the tunnels, but Oliver Stocken, MCC's chairman, has been told that they are not for sale. Hence the dispute is set to rumble on. Nick Gandon, formerly the director of Chance to Shine and the leader of the requisitionists seeking to stage a special general meeting that would examine the termination of the "Vision" is still set on collecting the necessary 180 signatures of members.

Given that the club's 18,000 members will not be presented with a full proposal by the club for another year, they will have time to mull over whether to accept any offer that will be made direct to them.

Robert Leigh, MCC treasurer, says there is no need to sell off what he terms "the family silver". The members now have to decide if they would prefer to take this particular form of a pot of gold.


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Essex look to Cook for assistance

Hampshire 197 and 77 for 2 lead Essex 254 (Napier 74, Cook 59) by 20 runs
Scorecard

Such is the professionalism of the England team these days that there has never been a higher expectation that when England players return to their county sides in the Championship, they will deliver. That was certainly the case for Joe Root in Yorkshire's victory at Durham and here, Essex need Alastair Cook to bring some stability to their season.

Cook's status, as England's captain, could hardly be more proven. He strolls around Chelmsford with an easy charm which tells of achievements already secured and challenges to come. Essex value his presence all the same as they seek to arrest a disturbing start to the season.

Halfway through this match, Hampshire, strongly fancied for promotion, have edged to a lead of 20 runs, their second innings creeping along at two-an-over. They lost Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams to David Masters' new-ball spell, Carberry falling to a fast catch by Ben Foakes off the meat of the bat at forward short leg.

It would be understandable if Essex, an innings defeat against Northamptonshire still fresh in the mind, are already hankering after Cook to produce a matchwinning response in the fourth innings. He will be back with England in a flash, but at the moment temporary assistance is welcome.

Cook batted in an orderly fashion as if intent upon gently attuning his mind to the approaching demands of two back-to-back Ashes series. He proceeded without much ado for more than four hours - 176 balls for 59 - before James Tomlinson found a little swing around leg stump and had him lbw.

"It's been Alastair at his most restrained," observed one Essex member as she gazed over the sunlit River Cam at lunchtime. The observation came with a wistful sigh as if she would like to mother him. She sounded like a proud parent, recognising that her offspring had grown up and gone on to better things, but half wishing she could have held back the clock.

At 73 for 6, Essex were in a pickle, the score doing little for the well-being of Paul Grayson, the coach, who was unwell. But Cook stayed on long enough to add a few appealing condiments. The bracing ingredients came, though, from Graham Napier, who struck 74 from 105 balls to give Essex a useful first-innings lead of 57. Their last four wickets added 181.

Napier lost his T20 world record for six-hitting last week when Chris Gayle struck 17 in one knock in his IPL rampage for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Napier had hit 16 for Essex against Sussex Sharks in 2008 and Essex actually delayed a practice session at Northampton to watch Gayle take his record.

Napier felt obliged to pronounce himself "a bit gutted", which is presumably even worse than gutted, on the grounds that some of the bones are left in, but he is an easy-going, uncomplicated sort who will not fret that he has lost part of his place in cricket history - he still jointly holds the first-class record for most sixes in an innings. He found the going strikingly easier than anybody (at least until Tim Phillips hit with gusto for 40 from at No. 10), although there was only one six, a pick-up over midwicket off the left-arm spinner Danny Briggs.

Over lunch the first sun warning of the summer was given on the Chelmsford public address. These are routinely made on county grounds whenever the temperature creeps above about 14 degrees. No sooner was the announcement made than the sun went in and a chill wind took hold again. Such warnings are probably just as well when Cook bats because famously he never sweats and could presumably create a misleading impression. It is a wonder Health & Safety have not banned him because of it.


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Harris suffers recurrence of hamstring injury

James Harris, the Middlesex seamer, has aggravated the hamstring injury he picked up during the opening Championship match of the season and has been ruled out for another two weeks starting with the local derby against Surrey this week.

He picked up the original problem against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge during his first-class debut for Middlesex, but had been passed fit to return against Cambridge MCCU last week where he took four wickets in the game and struck an unbeaten 43.

He then played in a friendly 40-over match against the Unicorns, the team made up of players without professional deals that will compete in the YB40, during which he felt further problems with his left hamstring

Angus Fraser, Middlesex's managing director, said: "Everybody at the club feels sorry for James who is desperate to get his time at Middlesex off and running. But we are all confident that this is just a minor setback and that he will have a major role to play in our season as it develops.

"At the moment we have the fast bowling resources to cope with James' injury and it will be great to get him back fully fit for when Steven Finn departs for England duty."

Although Middlesex will be able to call on Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Tim Murtagh for the Championship match against Surrey the following four-day fixture against Warwickshire could be more of a challenge if Harris is still sidelined because Roland-Jones has been named in the England Lions side to face New Zealand.


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Thakor fifty helps turn day around

Gloucestershire 31 for 2 trail Leicestershire 250 (Thakor 75, Howell 5-57) by 219 runs
Scorecard

A stand of 125 between Shiv Thakor and Matt Boyce put Leicestershire in the ascendency on day one at Grace Road. The pair made half-centuries to stage a recovery from 52 for 5 before two late wickets as Gloucestershire came out to bat for nine overs made it Leicestershire's day.

Gloucestershire looked like taking control and Benny Howell claimed career-best figures of 5 for 57 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 250. But from where they were in the morning session, Gloucestershire will feel they let an opportunity slip.

Thakor and Matt Boyce sparked comeback to claim two batting points. Thakor top scored with 75 and Boyce also made a half-century before veteran Claude Henderson thumped 33 off 30 balls.

But it was 24-year-old allrounder Howell made the biggest impact of the day. Before this match Howell, in his second season with Gloucestershire, had taken only nine first-class wickets with a best return of 2 for 37 against Northamptonshire last season. He had bettered that by lunch, picking up 3 for 17 runs in a superb eight-over spell.

The home side were already in difficulties when Howell came on as first change. Michael Thornely was bowled by Will Gidman with the second ball of the day and Niall O'Brien soon followed after edging behind off David Payne.

Howell, finding some away swing with his medium pace bowling, then had Ramnaresh Sarwan caught at gully, trapped Ned Eckersley lbw offering no shot to a ball that straightened before bowling Josh Cobb off an inside edge.

With half the side out in the space of 22 overs, Leicestershire were staring down the barrel. But for the second Championship game in succession, Thakor and Boyce dug in to bring some respectability to the batting. They stayed together for 44 overs, Thakor reaching his 50 off 110 balls with seven fours plus an all run five. Boyce went to his half-century off 120 balls with four boundaries.

But both fell quickly after tea. Howell had Boyce caught at slip and Thakor was also caught low down by Hamish Marshall cutting at a ball from offspinner Jack Taylor.

Howell then picked up his fifth wicket when Jigar Naik edged to slip but Henderson's quick-fire 33 brought some valuable late runs.

And the day ended well for Leicestershire, with Robbie Williams trapping Chris Dent lbw and Ollie Freckingham having Dan Housego caught behind as Gloucestershire closed 219 runs behind.


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Mitchell Marsh to be recalled for Champions Trophy

Mitchell Marsh will return to Australian duty for the first time in more than a year when the national selector John Inverarity names his squad for the Champions Trophy ODI tournament that precedes the Ashes in England.

Following a year in which he was sent home from the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane and then disciplined further for his part in the Perth Scorchers' Champions Trophy misadventures, 21-year-old Marsh earned his place with a handful of storming domestic limited overs displays for Western Australia.

In five matches for the Warriors last summer he cracked 278 runs at 69.50, including 104 from 96 balls against Tasmania at the WACA ground as the hosts narrowly missed the final. This innings followed a hamstring injury that cruelled a significant portion of Marsh's summer.

Marsh made his most recent international appearance in a Twenty20 against India in February 2012, and played his lone ODI in South Africa in late 2011.

He has largely flattered to deceive in first-class matches thus far, but it is in 50-over fixtures that he has been most consistent, averaging 39.90 with the bat and 24.85 with the ball across 27 matches.

The remainder of the Champions Trophy squad will be largely as expected, the experienced batsman Adam Voges included following his century against the West Indies at the MCG and the fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile rewarded for a strong limited overs season.

George Bailey, who served as Michael Clarke's stand-in when he missed numerous ODIs towards the end of the home summer, will be appointed vice-captain.

The squad does not include numerous players taking part in the concurrent Australia A tour of the British Isles, including James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin.

Champions Trophy squad: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey (vice-capt), David Warner, Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

More to come...


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Stokes still on England radar

Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, has been offered encouragement by the England management that he can win a return to international contention after being sent home from the Lions' winter tour of Australia for disciplinary reasons.

In February, Stokes and Kent's Matt Coles were punished for "contravening their conduct obligations" and dismissed from the touring party, after a second offence that coincided with Andy Flower's arrival in Australia to check on the Lions. Stoke recently met with Flower, England's team director, and Ashley Giles, who is in charge of the limited-overs sides, and was told to stay out of trouble and focus on his game.

"They told me it's not a clean slate but a cross has not been put through your name either," said Stokes, who played five ODIs and two T20 internationals for England in 2011. "Just keep playing your cricket and keep performing, that was the message."

Stokes' untimely return from Australia attracted unwelcome headlines for the second time in his career - in December 2011 he was arrested for obstructing a policeman in his duty, in what was believed to be a drink-related incident. On this occasion, Flower, Giles and England's managing director, Hugh Morris, have moved quickly to remind him of his responsibilities.

"People have made their minds up as to what happened and you can either believe it or not," Stokes told the Sunday Times. "I've got to learn from it. I'm not putting it behind me, it's always going to be on my mind, but I now know what Andy Flower, Ashley Giles and Hugh Morris want from the players they want to pick.

"It was an eye-opener. It has given me a lesson not just in cricket but in life. You learn by your mistakes, I guess, and if any situation comes along again that resembles those two, I'll know the right thing to do. We've got to remember we are role models for kids and think of the impression we give them as professional sportsmen."

Having long been considered one of England's most-talented prospects, his international career stalled after elevation to the limited-overs sides as a batsman two summers ago. A finger injury that required three operations was a major setback and then a back problem hampered him in the early part of last season but his bowling has continued to develop, complementing a first-class batting average of 37.13.

"You would have to run over it with a truck to damage it now," he said of his right index finger. "Getting it fixed then was the right thing to do because otherwise I probably wouldn't be bowling now. When I first started bowling for Durham I was a bit of an 'I'll-give-it-a-go' sort of guy but last year I was given a lot more responsibility, bowling in more high-pressure situations, and that helped my confidence and consistency. I tend to swing it. Mind you, if you can't swing it up here in Durham, you probably can't swing it anywhere."

Batting at No. 5 and coming on first-change with the ball for Durham will give Stokes the chance to press his England case in both suits. Performances on the pitch and a more mature attitude off it will also have to go hand in hand.


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Bangladesh need six wickets to level series

Zimbabwe 282 and 138 for 4 (H Masakadza 46*) need another 263 runs to beat Bangladesh 391 and 291 for 9 dec (Mushfiqur 93, Nasir 67*, Shakib 59, S Masakadza 4-58)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor's pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win. At the end of the fourth day of the second and final Test, Zimbabwe were 138 for 4, chasing a 401-run target set up by Mushfiqur Rahim's 93.

The Zimbabwe captain's wicket was the one Mushfiqur would have wanted more than the seven runs by which he missed his third Test hundred. After umpire Ian Gould lifted his finger, it was easy to see and hear what it meant to the fielding side which was screaming for joy. Zimbabwe were 96 for 3, with their best batsman and captain out of the equation with a day remaining.

Malcolm Waller also fell to Ziaur for 15, missing a straightening delivery as his lack of footwork shackled him to the crease. Shingirai Masakadza was sent in as the nightwatchman at 118 for 4 with more than 15 overs remaining in the day, a strange decision but one which ultimately paid off. His elder brother Hamilton held his own at the other end, unbeaten on 46 off 94 balls.

Zimbabwe started the fourth innings positively but in the tenth over, Regis Chakabva played inside the line of a Shakib Al Hasan delivery which spun past to strike off. Vusi Sibanda fell soon after for a 50-ball 32, driving one straight to Sohag Gazi at short cover off Shakib.

Mushfiqur would thank his lucky stars that finally bowlers other than Robiul Islam stood up. Ziaur bowled a 10-over spell, mainly focused on being accurate. He hardly has pace like he did a few years ago, but managed to bring in his shoulders to generate speed. Shakib and Gazi bowled tightly too, both using a typical left-arm spinner and offspinner's line. There was hardly a loose ball.

Bangladesh declared about an hour after lunch on 291 for 9, going ahead of the home side by exactly 400 runs. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Nasir Hossain hit their second fifties of the game.

Nasir stretched the lead with the tail, making an unbeaten 67 and scoring most of the 40 runs that came after lunch. Apart from his effort, Bangladesh's dominance was also due to captain Mushfiqur's attentiveness to the situation.

He made 93 before being brilliantly caught at gully by Sibanda off Hamilton Masakadza, and his persistence was crucial to his side's staying power. Along with Nasir, he had to see off the first half-hour, which has often produced wickets in Harare. Though they hardly found boundaries because the home side had deep fielders on both sides, they played carefully. Zimbabwe bowled wide too, and the batsmen cut out the rash shots.

Mushfiqur and Nasir were happy picking up singles until the captain began to open up with a mistimed scoop and a slog-sweep - both off Elton Chigumbura. He had earlier hit a cover drive that sped to the boundary but the wicket had slowed down, and bounce was also on the low side. He and Nasir added 84 for the sixth wicket, back-to-back 80-plus partnerships for Mushfiqur, after his fifth-wicket stand with Shakib on the third evening.

Taylor missed the long hours put in by Keegan Meth, who is out with a right knee injury. He was seen sitting on the sidelines with his feet up and knee strapped. Hamilton Masakadza, bowling medium-pace, took three wickets but was never going to be as big a threat to the visitors. Kyle Jarvis did not bowl with the venom of the first Test, but Shingi Masakadza remained steady and picked up four wickets.

Had the Zimbabwe bowlers put up a better show even on the fourth morning, the Test match could have remained competitive. Bangladesh got most of what happened on the fourth day their way, though there again was the odd leg-before decision that they were denied. They would still take it, given they are closing in on a Test win for the first time in nearly four years.


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Attacking Warner brings relief to Delhi

Delhi Daredevils 164 for 5 (Warner 51*, Dinda 3-31) beat Pune Warriors 149 for 4 (Finch 37, Uthappa 37, Yadav 2-24) by 15 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A counter-attack in the middle order from David Warner and a miserly 18th over in the chase from Umesh Yadav brought some relief for Delhi Daredevils in the form of a victory in the battle of the bottom-placed teams this season. The win was only their second, as the Pune Warriors bowlers faltered after making inroads into Daredevils' batting order and the batsmen struggled to step up when it mattered against some impressive fast bowling at the death in the chase. Warriors now find themselves at the bottom of the table in what is a third poor season in a row.

Raipur is further from Delhi than it is from Pune (1253 as opposed to 1025 kilometres), but on its IPL debut the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Daredevils and got the result they desired. Warner restored their faith in the side with a surge he launched in the 13th over of the Daredevils innings and retained the tone during a stand of 53 with Kedar Jadhav that took his side to 164. Yuvraj Singh and Luke Wright looked on track to chase that down until they ran into Umesh, whose skillful use of alterations in length and pace accounted for both wickets and all but consigned Warriors to their seventh defeat.

Warner was charged with the responsibility of leading Daredevils' recovery after the loss of Virender Sehwag and Unmukt Chand in a space of three deliveries. He did that successfully by reserving the harshest treatment for a spate of poor deliveries offered to him by the Warriors bowlers, who generously pitched on a length. And he was powerful enough to comfortably clear boundaries longer than there have been at other venues this season.

He began with a clean, straight six off legspinner Rahul Sharma, then pulled IPL debutant Kane Richardson over deep midwicket. Ashok Dinda's failed attempts at bowling the yorker resulted in three fours drilled down the ground in one over, before Richardson, in the penultimate over, was struck, again, over wide long-on and his head. The 19th over cost 21 runs, including another straight six by Jadhav, who, too, was severe on the length ball. The last five overs yielded 63 runs, 34 of those from the last two.

Robin Uthappa and Aaron Finch have been a productive opening pair and their 72-run stand gave Warriors a strong platform. Both were dismissed, Finch albeit unluckily, by deliveries bowled down the leg side by Irfan Pathan in the 11th over, but Yuvraj and Wright batted fluently. Yuvraj unleashed a stylish drive and cut off Irfan in his next over, collected a couple of boundaries past fine leg, while Wright flat-batted the seamers past the ropes on two occasions.

The stand was worth 50 in 45 balls at the start of the 18th over, when 37 runs were needed. Umesh began with two dot balls to Wright, one of them a yorker, before slipping in a slower one to deceive the batsman, who holed out. Yuvraj was only able to score two runs off the next two, and top-edged one straight to deep square leg when Umesh dug in a short delivery to finish the over. Steven Smith can be a finisher, but 35 runs off two overs was a task that proved beyond him.


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Warwickshire last pair thwart Somerset

Warwickshire 158 (Thomas 3-29) and 427 for 9 (Chopra 108, Ambrose 65, Clarke 61*, Evans 55, Leach 5-63) drew with Somerset 406 (Petersen 136, Buttler 119*) and 266 for 4 declared (Compton 105*, Kieswetter 59*)
Scorecard

Dougie Brown hailed Warwickshire's "incredible strength of character" as their tenth-wicket pair survived for 21.1 overs to deny Somerset victory at Taunton.

Rikki Clarke and Oliver Hannon-Dalby resisted for the last 78 minutes of the match to help the champions escape with a draw and leave Somerset, winless after their first three games, sitting sixth in the Division One table.

In a pulsating finish to a high-quality game that should underline the attraction of county cricket, the Warwickshire pair resisted - with a mixture of luck, application and pure determination - an impressive spell of surprisingly quick bowling form 19-year-old Jamie Overton as Somerset pressed for victory.

In the end, though, the lack of experience in the attack showed - Warwickshire were not forced to play at enough deliveries in the final hour - and Clarke, in particular, provided another demonstration of his growing maturity and reliability in batting out the final 45 overs of the game.

"They showed exactly what Warwickshire is about," Brown, Warwickshire's director of cricket, told ESPNcricinfo afterwards. "They showed that we play as a team and for the team and we never accept defeat. We have something at Edgbaston that you just can't buy: it's called team spirit and we leave here taking great encouragement from this performance."

Somerset may consider themselves unfortunate. Oliver Hannon-Dalby was inexplicably reprieved by umpire Nick Cook after he had clearly edged the impressively hostile Jamie Overton to the substitute keeper Jos Buttler with 11 overs to go and the umpires also made the bewildering decision to take the players off for two overs for bad light just as the sun came back out from behind the clouds. It cost Somerset two overs.

But they will also rue some self-inflicted errors. Somerset spurned at least four catching opportunities on the final day - Clarke was the beneficiary on two occasions; one a straightforward chance to James Hildreth at slip - and must also reflect on the wisdom of not enforcing the follow-on towards the end of the second day of the match.

Somerset led by 248 runs after the first innings but, instead of asking his bowlers for another burst on the second evening, with 13 overs left in the day, Trescothick instead decided to extend his side's advantage. He might also have declared Somerset's second innings earlier.

"It was a brilliant advert for the county game," Trescothick said phlegmatically afterwards. "It was a great game and it was on TV.

"You always reassess your decisions, but I don't regret the follow-on decision at this stage. The bowlers were tired and the pitch was flat. No-one means to drop catches, but we missed some crucial opportunities and that cost us."

Warwickshire also deserve much credit. While the pitch remained comfortable for batsmen and the bowling attack was somewhat green - it included two teenage seamers and a 21-year-old spinner - to resist for 144 overs was remarkable. It was the highest score Warwickshire have ever made in the fourth innings of a first-class match and is believed to be their longest ever fourth-innings in terms of overs faced.

It says much for the positive outlook in the Warwickshire dressing room that, despite chasing a target of 515, they did not abandon victory hopes until their sixth wicket fell. That ambition may have counted against them, though, when Tim Ambrose's fluent half-century was ended when he top-edged a pull - Hildreth caught it running back from slip to within 10 yards of the third man fence - and Laurie Evans' excellent three-and-a-half hour show of defiance was ended when he chased a wide one and edged a cut to slip.

Earlier Varun Chopra - missed on 94 when he drove a tough caught-and-bowled chance back at Alfonso Thomas - completed the 12th first-class century of his career and Chris Woakes, batting at No. 6 in this game (Warwickshire utilised a nightwatchman in their second innings) with an idea to his potential role with England, composed a pleasing 42. They still only finished 88 runs short.

With so much to admire, then, it is a shame that the drama was overshadowed by some disappointing umpiring. While everyone accepts that human frailty comes with the territory, the standard of decision-making in this match was so low that it threatened to compromise the meaningfulness of the encounter. So many important decisions were wrong - some of them far from difficult - that the game took on an element of chance.

Quite apart from the men given out incorrectly - there were several but Nick Compton, William Porterfield and Chris Wright, given out lbw on the last day to a ball that would have bounced over the stumps, could feel particularly aggrieved - the umpires also made a horrendous mess of the light issue.

First they insisted that play continue in the rain - Woakes was bowled in remarkably gloomy conditions - and then took the players off just as it stopped and the light brightened. By the time Cook, by some distance the worse of the two umpires, utilised the TV coverage to review two appeals for catches - neither was out - it appeared that even he had lost confidence in his decision-making.

At least Jack Leach will remember this game with more affection. Leach, 21-year-old and playing his third Championship game, used to be employed to park trolleys in a branch of Sainsbury's supermarket in Taunton, but here took his maiden five-wicket haul as he was rewarded for his control and persistence; 24 of his 44 overs were maidens. It seems safe to assume he left those trolleys in good areas.

But while Leach demonstrated admirable control, he is not a big turner of the ball - he was reliant on the foot-holes when bowling Chopra, sweeping, behind his legs - and he lacked the bite to inflict the fatal blow. While delighted with his own performance, he admitted the result "felt like a loss" afterwards.

"We batted badly in our first innings," Brown said. "But we bowled well in both innings against a batting line-up that is Test class from one to six and we batted well in the second innings."

It seems neither of Warwickshire's last-wicket heroes will play their next game. Clarke, who pulled a hamstring, will not play in the Championship match against Sussex starting on Wednesday, while Boyd Rankin will come in for Hannon-Dalby. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell will also play.

Craig Kieswetter, who was forced off the field at lunch having sustained a blow to his right-hand when standing up to the stumps off Peter Trego, is also an injury doubt for the next match and will require some sort of scan to ascertain the extent of the damage. In Buttler they possess a remarkably keen and able deputy.


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Rubel Hossain down with chicken pox

Rubel Hossain has contracted chicken pox, becoming the latest Bangladesh seamer to suffer a physical setback. He will miss the limited-overs leg of the Zimbabwe tour, after picking up the illness on Friday.

Rubel had earlier been rested for the second Test due to a shoulder niggle, and had gone down with fever on the first night of the second Test.

"We cannot send him back now because the disease is contagious and he has to travel by plane, plus he is weak now," said team manager Tanjib Ahsan Saad. "But after he recovers, which is expected to be six to seven days, he will most likely travel back home."

With Rubel out, the remaining seamers are Robiul Islam, Ziaur Rahman, Sajidul Islam and Shafiul Islam. The team management may retain Robiul for the ODIs, following his good form in the ongoing Tests.

Meanwhile, Shahriar Nafees and Enamul Haque Jr left Harare for Dhaka on Saturday evening to make way for Abdur Razzak and Shamsur Rahman, who will join the limited-overs squad.


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Lancs blunted by Nash hundred

Kent 244 (Nash 50, Powell 57, Anderson 4-57) and 178 for 2 (Nash 100*) drew with Lancashire 395 for 7 dec (Katich 93, Brown 87, Croft 64*, Prince 58)
Scorecard

On the evidence of this match, both Lancashire and Kent are going to struggle to take 20 wickets on a regular basis this season. Even if rain had not taken out two sessions a draw would still have been the likely result and Kent played out the final day with Brendan Nash continuing his strong early season form with an unbeaten hundred, although he had to work hard against James Anderson.

Kent were on the edge of a wobble when Robert Key was given caught behind off Glen Chapple although the former captain was clearly unhappy with the decision and stomped off the field hitting his pad with his bat. Another quick wicket, with the deficit still more than 100, would have opened a door for Lancashire but it never came despite Anderson's efforts.

Last season, his first for Kent, Nash averaged over 47 - no mean feat in a wet summer - and his hundred in this innings followed three consecutive fifties to start the season. Nash innings rarely stick in the mind and there is more than a hint of Kent's coach, Jimmy Adams, in the way he plays. There will not be much flamboyance, but he is providing plenty of substance to the top-order.

James Tredwell, in his second game as Kent captain, knows his team can improve but he praised their resolve. "We faced a few challenges in this game and have come through them pretty well," he said. "The first day was probably ideal bowling conditions in the end, having won the toss and had a bat, but we came through that with real fight, then again on this last day. Lancashire have a high-class bowling attack. It was really tough at times on the first day but the resolve was great."

The pitch was on the sluggish side, which did not help attempts to force the pace, but the way Lancashire batted late on the third day and into the final morning showed that brisk run-scoring was possible. Simon Katich, who fell to the first ball he faced today, Steven Croft and Chapple were able to play with freedom because of the platform they were given - so it is difficult to be too critical - but the bowling attack is going to need as much time as possible to force results.

However, Gary Yates, Lancashire's assistant coach, was delighted with the team's approach. "We are pleased how we are playing, and frustrated that we lost quite a bit of time to the weather," he said. "Maybe if we had more time we may have been able to force a result. But fair play to Kent, they batted well and we never really got into a position to force a victory.

"We would like to have had at least one win, but we have played good disciplined cricket and if we continue to do that we will get rewarded with victories sooner rather than later.

"Momentum can be picked up throughout the season and we have played really, really solid cricket. We have set up first-innings leads in both games and without the rain I think we would have set up victory in at least one of those games."

Most of Lancashire's threat with the ball on the final day came from Anderson, who was outstanding, looking a class above the other bowlers (although Kyle Hogg and Matt Coles were excellent), as an England bowler should when he returns to county cricket. He conceded one run in his first seven overs, had Sam Northeast - a talented young opener - playing and missing at four balls in one over, hammered Michael Powell's foot with a rapid yorker and had a high-quality contest with Nash yet still ended wicketless.

Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner, was Lancashire's other main hope on the final day after the declaration following a heavy shower, which left 79 overs remaining in the game. He made the first breakthrough, taking Northeast's off stump with a lovely delivery, but there was not a huge amount of assistance from the pitch and Nash played him excellently.


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Magnificent Root secures stunning victory

Yorkshire 177 (Root 49, Onions 5-63) and 339 for 6 (Root 182, Rashid 50*) beat Durham 237 (Mustard 70, Bresnan 4-41) and 275 for 4 dec (Stoneman 109, Benkenstein 61*) by four wickets
Scorecard

Joe Root produced arguably the most substantial innings of his fledgling career to banish the pessimism that had fallen prematurely upon Yorkshire's season and leave Durham contemplating the sort of defeat that Riverside folklore had deemed all but impossible. Root got out with the scores level, to a ball delivered by Callum Thorp off a few paces, but as he had 182 at the time and Yorkshire won by four wickets from the next ball, he will be forgiven that.

History was entirely on Paul Collingwood's side when he declared Durham's second innings late on the third day and left Yorkshire needing 336 for victory. No opposing side has ever successfully chased a target of that magnitude in Chester-le-Street and this was April, with the trees still barely in leaf and the council mowers leaving ruts in the nearby parks.

But Root, young of body but mature of brain, has already displayed a prodigious appetite for big challenges. Durham will rue two close calls that might well have turned the game as he neared his century. Had he been adjudged run out on 87, when Mark Stoneman struck direct from point, or given out caught off the glove by Paul Collingwood on 93, when he skittishly reverse-swept Will Smith, the story might have been very different.

But it was not. Those blips apart, his certainty was striking. When Yorkshire secured the fourth-largest run chase in their history with 6.1 overs to spare - all of them achieved in the past eight years - Root was gingerly strapping off his pads, protecting a finger battered by Chris Rushworth during his six-hour stay, after guiding Yorkshire to a victory that few imagined was within their compass. An enterprising unbeaten half-century by Adil Rashid also played its part, allowing Root the liberty to play within himself after tea.

Collingwood, Durham's captain, was magnanimous in defeat. "We have seen an exceptional innings today by Rooty. I really think it's so impressive how a young lad can play an innings like that. We threw everything at him and he came through it. He has a steady head and a superb technique. The rhythm of his innings, everything about it, was exceptional. I've got absolutely no qualms about the decisions. The run-out was probably too close to call and, as for the catch, I was appealing for lbw as well.

"I still don't know the pitch well enough and as a home captain I should do. This has taken me by surprise. In the past year we have bowled sides out for less than 150 repeatedly to win games on similar-looking pitches. Unfortunately this pitch just seemed to die in pace."

One of the enduring images of England's winter is of Root blocking. He blocked in Nagpur and he blocked again in Auckland. Measure it in terms of sun block and his entire winter was factor 50. It was rarely pretty, but he fulfilled his protective role perfectly. On this occasion, he made do with factor 15 and let himself live a little.

Sometimes you watched this mere slip of a lad committing every sinew to England's cause in the winter and feared he might never play a shot again. Thrown into England's ranks so young, his game was narrowed down into an obsessive battle for survival.

Root placed the innings above his double century against Hampshire last season, a defensive innings between the showers to save a game. "I set out my stall at the beginning of the season to start to win matches for Yorkshire and I'm really pleased I managed to contribute," he said. "England definitely stood me in good stead. I have definitely grown because of it. I just try and play the situation and if that means bat long, I try to bat long. The pitch was a lot deader than it was on the first couple of days."

Yorkshire lost three wickets by lunch. Chris Rushworth removed Alex Lyth and Phil Jaques - the latter to a fifth-ball duck - in the space of one over, and Andrew Gale has also persished, an attempted cut at Keaton Jennings which flew to Collingwood at slip.

Then Jonny Bairstow's love-hate relationship with the pull shot continued. It got him out twice in the match, Ben Stokes was the bowler second time round as Bairstow again tried to pull with control and picked out the finer of two catchers. But Root reached his hundred, only his fifth in first-class cricket, with an off-drive against Scott Borthwick and by tea the rate was down to 3.5 runs an over.

Stokes, looking fit and fired up, found a bit of swing ahead of the second new ball to dismiss Gary Ballance, who was caught at the wicket with 102 needed. But Rashid played with attacking intent, so enabling Root to tick along and - almost - bat through to victory. When the second new ball came, Yorkshire's target was down to 53 from 24 overs - and Root lashed Rushworth's first delivery with it to the cover boundary. It was some statement; it was some innings.


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Leach sucks life out of Warwickshire

Warwickshire 158 and 144 for 3 (Chopra 81*) require 371 more runs to beat Somerset 406 and 266 for 4 declared (Compton 105*, Kieswetter 59*)
Scorecard

At first glance, it may appear Warwickshire are in something of a tight spot in Taunton. At second glance, too.

It is true that they would have to break a variety of records if they are to overhaul their victory target of 515 in a minimum of 143 overs. Not only have they never scored more than 417 to win in the fourth innings of a first-class game (they made 417 for 2 to defeat Glamorgan in 1983, with Andy Lloyd making a century and Alvin Kallicharran a double-century), but only one team in the history of first-class cricket has managed as many as 515. And West Zone's 541 to beat South Zone by three wickets in the Duleep Trophy final in Hyderabad in February 2010 was played over five days. For Warwickshire the draw is the more realistic target. And even that is ambitious.

But, if ever a side was to chase down 500, these may be the circumstances. On a pitch that remains flat and even-paced and against an attack that contains two teenage seamers and a 21-year-old spinner playing his third Championship match, Warwickshire's openers constructed an opening stand of 108 with such ease that a Somerset side not unacquainted with snatching defeat from the jaws of victory could have been forgiven a few nervous moments. Had William Porterfield not been the victim of a disappointing decision - he was deemed out to a catch at short leg despite the ball not coming within six inches of his bat - Warwickshire might have resumed with all ten wickets in hand.

As it was, Jack Leach - who may well find himself third choice left-arm spinner at the club once George Dockrell is fit and Abdur Rehman returns - claimed two wickets in two balls in the dying overs of the day to snuff out any hopes that might be building in the Warwickshire dressing room. Jim Troughton, who looks as if he may be suffering vertigo batting as high as No. 3, left one that pitched in line and would have hit leg stump - a fine decision from the umpire - while Ateeq Javid, as timid as a rabbit in a box of foxes, prodded his first ball to silly point. Warwickshire will resume on day four requiring another 371 to win. It is a most unlikely proposition.

Leach was impressive. While Warwickshire's spinner, the former New Zealand international Jeetan Patel, dropped short relatively often and was hit over the top on several occasions, Leach's control was so good that seven of his 15 overs were maidens. He is only on a summer contract and may find opportunities at Taunton limited but, on this evidence, there is no reason he should not enjoy a future at this level.

The fact that Varun Chopra remains into the fourth day may yet prove crucial, however. Such is his willingness to play away from his body, that bowlers must feel they are always in the game against Chopra. But, far more often than not, he connects with his back-foot forces, his cuts and his drives off front foot and back that their hopes must often turn to despair. There are few more elegant players in England.

But, at a higher level, against faster bowlers capable of generating more bounce, one wonders whether it is a technique that would serve him well. It may prove that Chopra is one of several Warwickshire players - the likes of Rikki Clarke, Chris Woakes, Tim Ambrose, Keith Barker, Boyd Rankin and Chris Wright could all be grouped in the same category - who might be considered as top-end domestic cricketers, but not quite able to command a permanent position in the international side. From a county perspective, it is the perfect balance.

Certainly it was interesting to compare Chopra and Nick Compton, who made a century earlier in day to help Somerset to a declaration about an hour before tea. While Chopra is happy to aim strokes through point and cover, Compton leaves with admirable discipline in an attempt to eradicate risk from his game. Chopra may have more scoring opportunities and appear more elegant but Compton - for now, at least - looks the more compact, solid and likely to see off a hostile new-ball attack.

To be fair to Compton, he did demonstrate a few more aggressive strokes as he accelerated in an attempt to set up the declaration. He brought up his century - the 19th of his first-class career - with a beautifully struck six into the old pavilion and also unveiled some pleasing square drives and cuts. The manner in which he celebrated his century suggested his appetite for runs remain far from sated. With Craig Kieswetter, who batted fluently, he added 134 in 27 overs, looking increasingly comfortable against Warwickshire's tiring attack.

Woakes, who demonstrated the virtue of moving the ball both ways by trapping Alviro Petersen to one that nipped back off the pitch and James Hildreth to one that swung in, was the pick of the bowlers, though Wright delivered a sustained spell of short-pitched bowling that might have bothered a player less assured than Compton.

The sight of Clarke leaving the pitch with a hamstring strain was not encouraging for Warwickshire. While he insisted it was not a serious problem, he must be a doubt, as a bowler at least, for Warwickshire's match against Sussex starting on Wednesday.


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