Worcestershire stumble after Miles four

Gloucestershire 181 for 2 (Roderick 88*, Gidman 57*) trail Worcestershire 194 (Oliver 52, Miles 5-54) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Promotion favourites Worcestershire endured one of their worst days of the summer in the Championship when dismissed for 194 by Gloucestershire on a seaming surface at New Road. Having come into the match with a game in hand and 43 points ahead of second-placed Surrey, they are already looking at a sizeable deficit after the visitors' smooth progress to 181 for 2.

Gloucestershire briefly wobbled at the start, slipping to 43 for 2 when Will Tavare was caught in the slips off Charlie Morris' second delivery, but Gareth Roderick seized the initiative, adding a fluent and substantial half-century to five catches behind the wicket.

The South African cruised to 88 not out with 15 fours off 107 balls and so far he has put on 138 with Alex Gidman, unbeaten on 57, in cutting the gap to a mere 13 after a day when most things went right for their side.

Gloucestershire became the first county to dismiss the Division Two leaders for under 200 in a first innings this season, despite the absence of Will Gidman through injury in advance of confirmation that he will be with Nottinghamshire in 2015.

One look at a grassy first-day pitch made it a straightforward decision for Alex Gidman to field first, after taking over the captaincy when Michael Klinger rested a neck injury prior to a make-or-break fixture in the Royal London Cup. With a quarter-final spot secured this week, Gloucestershire are looking to book a home tie by winning their final Group A game against Derbyshire at Derby next Thursday.

Another objective is to improve their form in the Championship. Injuries have been a major factor and apart from the absence of the younger Gidman, the attack here is probably as strong it has been following the last-minute registration of New Zealand offspinner Mark Craig.

With the ball consistently moving about off the seam, Craig Miles led the assault on Worcestershire with 4 for 54 and the other wickets were equally shared by Liam Norwell and Benny Howell.

The batsmen could quickly see trouble ahead, when Daryl Mitchell, the leading batsman in Championship cricket, registered his first duck in a season of 1,222 runs. He was stranded in front when a delivery from Miles kept low and ducked into his pads. Miles also removed Tom Fell with the first of Roderick's dismissals, but there was hope for Worcestershire as Richard Oliver collected a dozen fours from only 46 balls in maintaining his record of a half-century in each of his four Championship appearances.

Howell finally stemmed the flow when Oliver, on 52, was added to Roderick's haul and Worcestershire quickly slipped to 112 for 5, with Alexei Kervezee lbw to Norwell for 31. The only other higher-order contribution came from Ben Cox with 25 before he, too, was caught behind the wicket.

The ninth wicket went down at 149, but infuriatingly for Gloucestershire the last pair put on 46, the biggest stand in the innings. A missed chance in the slips allowed Shaaiq Choudhry to reach 27 not out and the No. 11 Morris made his highest Championship score before falling for 24, another victim for the Roderick-Norwell combination.

Matt Mason, Worcestershire's assistant coach, said: "It was probably our most disappointing day of the season so far. We were put in and it was tough to bat early on. Richard Oliver acquitted himself well but everyone else struggled. With the ball, we were disappointing as well, if for once I can criticise the bowlers."


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Ervine, Wood revive Hampshire

Hampshire 343 for 7 (Ervine 75*, Wood 61, Smith 56) v Kent
Scorecard

Sean Ervine made the best of a placid Canterbury pitch to ease Hampshire into the driving seat on the opening day of their Championship Division Two clash with Kent.

The 31-year-old Zimbabwean scored an unbeaten 75 from 110 balls to resurrect a Hampshire innings that, at 187 for 5, had threatened to seriously underachieve. With Chris Wood adding 61 from No. 8, the visitors recovered to reach 343 for 7 at the close.

Kent marked the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I by using a 1914 half crown for the toss, which Hampshire won and chose to bat first. On a docile wicket the visiting opening pair of Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry suffered little or no consternation in posting 71 for the first wicket.

Carberry steered a couple of his seven boundaries down through third man off thick edges, but otherwise looked untroubled until the introduction of offspinner Adam Riley, who struck with his fourth ball. Looking to whip a length delivery through midwicket, Carberry missed and was sent packing lbw for 39 but, despite a short break for rain, Hampshire were still sitting pretty at lunch on 90 for 1.

Kent regrouped in the interval and, with the first ball after the break, Mitch Claydon found the inside edge of Adams to dismiss the left-hander to an athletic take by wicketkeeper Sam Billings - the first of his four catches.

Kent made further mid-session progress when Doug Bollinger had James Vince caught at the wicket when attempting a back-foot force then Will Smith, having reached a 108-ball 50 with eight fours, played around one from Riley to go leg-before. Without addition to the total Liam Dawson nicked another catch to Billings to make it 187 for 5 but Ervine, resolute and punishing when anything short was on offer, stroked six boundaries on his way to a 59-ball 50.

Soon after posting their first batting bonus point Adam Wheater feathered one off Bollinger to give Billings another top catch and leave Kent believing they might polish the innings off in good time. Ervine had other ideas however, and he dug in together with Wood to add a workmanlike 124 for the seventh wicket inside 28.3 overs.

Wood hit six fours in his 74-ball half-century in a responsible stay in tandem with Ervine that left Kent wondering where their next wicket may come from.

It was veteran Darren Stevens who finally proved to be Kent's partnership breaker having Wood snaffled at slip by Ben Harmison to bring in Matt Coles - the former Kent allrounder - to face the handful of nervy deliveries before the close. Though Coles failed to get off the mark, he survived through to stumps with Ervine to send their side into day two of the 163rd Canterbury Cricket Week fixture with power to add.


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Davies responds to Foakes signing

Surrey 403 for 8 (Davies 147*, Solanki 93) v Leicestershire
Scorecard

Steven Davies scored his second Championship century of the season and Vikram Solanki hit 93 as promotion-seeking Surrey took control of their Division Two game against bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Put into bat on a green-looking pitch, Surrey recovered from a shaky start to post an imposing total of 403 for 8 when bad light ended play half an hour early. Davies was still there unbeaten on 147 off 168 balls having struck 22 fours off the toiling Leicestershire attack. It was a timely innings for Davies following the news that Surrey have signed Ben Foakes from Essex to add to their stockpile of wicketkeeper-batsman options

It was a boundary-laden day with a total of one six and 61 fours helping Surrey race to maximum batting points. Yet it had looked a good toss to win with conditions seemingly favouring the bowlers. And in the fourth over of the morning Nathan Buck produced the perfect delivery that swung away, found the edge of Zafar Ansari's bat and flew to Rob Taylor at third slip.

However, Leicestershire were initially unable to build on that as, despite the helpful conditions, the bowlers struggled with their lengths and a succession of half-volleys were sent flashing to the boundary by Solanki and Rory Burns, who shared a stand of 40 in six overs.

That stand was brought to an end with the score on 51 when Burns carved a catch to backward point off Charlie Shreck and when Tillakaratne Dilshan was lbw to Taylor for 8, leaving Surrey at 72 for 3, Leicestershire looked back in the game.

Not for the first time this season however, they failed to press home the advantage and Solanki and Davies joined forces in a fourth-wicket partnership of 135 in 26 overs. Solanki, who was fortunate to survive a confident lbw shout from Taylor when he had made 30, reached his half-century off 48 balls with nine fours, and with Davies also in attack mode the century stand was posted in 21 overs, 68 of the runs coming in boundaries.

Davies went to his 50 off 62 balls with 10 fours - four of them in one over off Buck - but he was dropped by Greg Smith at gully off Taylor on 61 as Leicestershire's disappointing day in the field continued. Then, out of the blue, Solanki had his stumps shattered by Taylor as he went for an expansive drive seven runs short of his century. He had faced 113 balls and hit 16 fours.

The in-form Jason Roy struck a quickfire 42 in a stand of 75 in 11 overs with Davies before dragging a ball from Ollie Freckingham back into his stumps. Gary Wilson was out for a duck but the 50th boundary of the day was struck by Gareth Batty off Buck before Davies completed his century off 114 balls with 16 fours.

Batty edged behind for 19 and Chris Tremlett hit a towering six in his knock of 22 before bad light brought a premature end to a day dominated by Surrey.


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More rain pushes back play at USACA Nationals

'Rain has been very frustrating'

Steady rain throughout Friday afternoon and evening has caused rounds three and four of the preliminary phase of the USACA T20 National Championship to be pushed back into Saturday morning. Group play was scheduled to wrap up on Friday evening, but thunderstorms have prevented more than half the games from being played over the first two days of the tournament.

The remaining matches in the group stage will now be played as 10-over games scheduled for 9 am and 11 am on Saturday morning. Weather permitting, semi-finals will take place for 2 pm and the final at 6 pm as originally scheduled. However, if weather continues to interrupt play, then the semi-finals could be scrapped with the two group winners playing in a tournament final to decide the title.

"It's not the ideal situation," Owen Grey, USACA board member and national championship tournament director, told ESPNcricinfo. "I feel bad more for the players and the regions because they really made the effort to be here, compete and have a good time. It is what it is. We just have to regroup and look into future tournaments when we schedule them."

The summer months in south Florida are considered hurricane season with bad weather and tropical storms a constant concern. Asked if the tournament should have been held in a different location at this time of year instead of the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Grey said that it's something USACA will take into consideration going forward.

"Looking at things and going back to the drawing board, the months of June through September is not ideal to try to conduct a tournament like this. It's a learning experience. Hindsight is 20/20 but looking at it there are other things we can take into consideration moving forward and it's something that we'll definitely evaluate."


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Anderson 'most skilful in world' - Cook

'Anderson most skilful bowler in world' - Cook

Alastair Cook has hailed James Anderson as "the most skilful bowler in the world" and the best "England have ever produced".

Anderson comes into the fifth Test of the Investec series against India requiring just seven more wickets to equal Ian Botham's England record of 383. Cook, the England captain, admitted that Anderson might not have the pace of South Africa's Dale Steyn but suggested his ability to swing the ball both ways rendered him almost as dangerous.

"He is the most skilful bowler in the world," Cook said. "There have been some very good bowlers I've played with but, for pure out-and-out skill, there is no doubt. He is the best bowler England have ever produced.

"No disrespect to Dale Steyn, but the way Jimmy can swing the ball both ways - I don't think Dale can do that quite as well as Jimmy but Dale has the advantage of being able to bowl quicker. Dale has been the No. 1 bowler in the world for quite a long time in terms of the number of wickets he takes. He always picks up wickets. And those two are in the same class.

"Anderson will soon be the leading wicket taker in Test matches for England. That is quite a glowing reference. It's an amazing achievement. If he does it in this game, it will mean England are in a very strong position.

"You saw his guts and determination last week at Manchester when he was bowling when he wasn't very well. That was extraordinary. That pretty much tells me, tells everyone, what a bloke he is and to back it up with his talent and skill means he is a very fine bowler."

Cook also confirmed that Stuart Broad would play despite sustaining a broken nose during the Manchester game.

"We think he's going to be absolutely fine," Cook said. "You don't get a partnership like he and Jimmy Anderson have had without being a world-class bowler. They've taken over 500 wickets together. Any captain would want those two in the team if possible, so it's great news for us as a team that Broady has come through that blow."


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England adapt to keep Test in balance

England 92 and 110 for 6 (Winfield 35) lead India 114 (Gunn 5-19) by 88 runs
Scorecard

Test matches are often decided by a team's ability to adapt. Bowlers who can adapt to a flattening pitch, batsmen who can adapt to a change in the attack and captains who sense when the time is right to switch from defence to offence can all change the momentum of a cricket match as it ebbs and flows in its longest form.

In 50-over cricket, there's a limited amount of time to adjust a plan. In the T20 format, there's virtually none. It is worth remembering this when considering the one-off Test between England and India. It is also worth remembering that in this calendar year only two women's Tests will have been played.

And, while England are considered to be the experienced side in this contest, it is also worth pointing out that since India played their last Test match, in 2006, England have only played five.

After being fed a regular diet of limited-overs matches the players must change their tactics, find the physical stamina to bowl long spells or bat for sessions and summon the power to concentrate for long periods at the crease and in the field.

England seemed to have adapted their approach on the second day and gave themselves a chance to establish control. Jenny Gunn made the early breakthrough to claim a well-deserved five-wicket haul while Kate Cross and Sonia Odedra finished off the India tail.

Trailing by 22 runs after posting their lowest-ever Test score against India, the England batsmen came to the crease with a more positive attitude than they had shown in their nervous and tentative first dig. In the first seven overs on the opening day the hosts had scored three runs and lost a wicket; at the same point in their second innings they were 30 for 1. Not only had they adapted their mindset, they had also learned from their mistakes, playing straighter to India's seamers.

Although Heather Knight lasted just two balls, the Jhulan Goswami delivery that claimed her wicket was at least as good as any wicket-taking ball in this match: a quick, back-of-a-length, swinging delivery on the perfect line to entice the edge. Tammy Beaumont was less convincing, leaving her bat behind her pad as she attempted to defend against the left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht ten overs later.

Lauren Winfield seemed to have adjusted best, the debutant looking confident as she compiled 35 runs. But once Mithali Raj brought spinners on from both ends after lunch, the runs dried up for Winfield and Charlotte Edwards.

Raj has proved to be a canny tactician and, after bottling England up for several overs, the India captain offered up the more tempting pace of Shikha Pandey. Winfield took the bait, pulling Pandey's first delivery to the boundary and briskly collecting four runs off the next three balls. But Winfield attempted another pull of a shorter-pitched delivery that stayed low, missing it completely and becoming yet another leg-before statistic in a match that will surely set a record for such dismissals.

Pandey bowled just one more delivery before the heavens opened and offered another test of each side's ability to adapt and sustain concentration, this time around a two-and-a-half hour rain delay.

India were the clear winner of this particular challenge, Edwards playing a forward defensive shot to Bisht's first ball after the break and somehow feathering it to the keeper. When Lydia Greenway became the 16th player to fall lbw shortly afterwards, followed by an unconvincing Nat Sciver being bowled for another single-figure score, England had lost four wickets for the addition of 11 runs.

It was hardly surprising to see England retreat into survival mode at this point. It was, however, surprising to see the diminutive Bisht, on a pitch deemed such a green seamer that England chose not to select a specialist spinner, virtually shut down the naturally aggressive Sarah Taylor and the workmanlike Gunn and finish the day with the outstanding figures of 2 for 15 off 21 overs.

Taylor, certainly, understands the challenge. "This work will be for nothing if we don't kick on tomorrow and I think me and Jen have got to be the ones to stick around and keep pushing and just accumulating," she said. "I don't think we'll be looking to take the bowlers out of the attack at all.

"My cricket's probably matched towards the T20 style of cricket but actually it was one of those battles I relished and really enjoyed."

With a precarious lead of 88, England's chances of snatching victory will largely lie with Taylor and Gunn's ability to rein in their natural instincts and continue to adapt.


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Plunket Shield schedule announced

New Zealand Cricket has released the Plunket Shield schedule for 2014-15 and has said it has locked in a format for the domestic season for the next four years. The first round of matches will be played in late October, followed by two full rounds in December, and the remainder of the competition will take place from early February onwards.

"Our major associations told us certainty of scheduling was crucial, so this season's format will be in place for the next four years," David Cooper, the general manager of domestic cricket with NZC, said. "It's a key outcome from the Domestic Cricket Review, which is all about maximising entertainment and commercial opportunities, and supporting high performance.

"Recommendations from the review will be in place this year, to capitalise on public interest in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The Plunket Shield has been domestic cricket's most fiercely fought prize for 108 years, and is the testing ground for future Black Caps."

The schedule for New Zealand's domestic limited-overs competitions will be released in the next two weeks.

Plunket Shield 2014-15

Oct 23-26: Northern Districts v Auckland, Whangarei
Oct 25-28: Canterbury v Wellington, Christchurch
Oct 26-29: Central Districts v Otago, Napier
Dec 11-14: Wellington v Auckland, Wellington
Dec 11-14: Canterbury v Central Districts, Christchurch
Dec 11-14: Otago v Northern Districts, Dunedin
Dec 18-21: Canterbury v Otago, Rangiora
Dec 18-21: Northern Districts v Wellington, Hamilton
Dec 18-21: Auckland v Central Districts, Auckland
Feb 6-9: Wellington v Canterbury, Wellington
Feb 6-9: Auckland v Northern Districts, Auckland
Feb 6-9: Otago v Central Districts, Invercargill
Feb 15-18: Wellington v Otago, Wellington
Feb 15-18: Central Districts v Northern Districts, New Plymouth
Feb 16-19: Canterbury v Auckland, Rangiora
Feb 27-Mar 2: Northern Districts v Central Districts, Whangarei
Feb 28-Mar 3: Otago v Wellington, Queenstown
Mar 1-4: Auckland v Canterbury, Auckland
Mar 9-12: Canterbury v Northern Districts, Christchurch
Mar 9-12: Otago v Auckland, Dunedin
Mar 9-12: Wellington v Central Districts, Wellington
Mar 17-20: Central Districts v Canterbury, Nelson
Mar 17-20: Auckland v Wellington, Auckland
Mar 18-21: Northern Districts v Otago, Hamilton
Mar 25-28: Otago v Canterbury, Dunedin
Mar 25-28: Central Districts v Auckland, Napier
Mar 25-28: Wellington v Northern Districts, Wellington
Apr 1-4: Central Districts v Wellington, Napier
Apr 1-4: Northern Districts v Canterbury, Mt Maunganui
Apr 1-4: Auckland v Otago, Auckland


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Rain ruins first set of games at USACA Nationals

'Everyone's looking to make the Uganda tour' - Japen Patel

Central East Region was the big winner after lightning and rain caused the first set of games at the USACA T20 National Championship to end with no result. Central East was sent in to bat by the South East in the first game played on the main stadium wicket. They were reduced to 40 for 7 at the 13 over mark when lightning interrupted play. Legspinner Camilus Alexander had figures of 3 for 10 in three overs to put his side on a sure path to victory before they were thwarted by the weather as the teams split points.

North East Region got off to an impressive start against pre-tournament favorites New York before their match was interrupted in the 12th over. Aditya Mishra and Akil Husbands put on a 79-run stand for the first wicket. Mishra came out on top of an intriguing battle with former West Indies paceman Adam Sanford, hooking him for six on one occasion. He finished with 35 off 19 before he was stumped overbalancing on a sweep attempt against the offspin of Karan Ganesh. Husbands finished with 54 off 29, including six sixes, before falling to Rashard Marshall shortly before play stopped.

Central West rocked South West early on behind early strikes from pace bowlers Usman Shuja and Jasdeep Singh to remove both openers without scoring. Ravi Timbawala and Nisarg Patel added 68 for the third wicket to steady the South West cause. Nisarg was unbeaten on 54 off 29 balls including six sixes when the players cleared off the field with one ball to go in the 10th over. The players waited patiently after leaving the field in dry conditions following a siren alert from the lightning alarm system installed at the Central Broward Regional Park, but after 90 minutes a torrential downpour commenced and play was eventually called off for the first round of matches.

Rain and lightning continued on and off into the evening, causing the second round of matches to be postponed. They will now be played beginning at 9:30 am on Friday, with the third round starting at 1:30 pm followed by an evening slate of matches.


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India hold edge as 16 wickets tumble

India Women 87 for 6 (Gunn 4-13) trail England Women 92 (Niranjana 4-19) by five runs
Scorecard

The dawn of the fully professional era for England Women did not exactly unfold as planned.

This was expected, by many, to be a lop-sided affair between a team of full-time athletes, most with Test match experience, and a team containing eight players on Test debut. Between a side which has played two Tests in the preceding twelve months and a side which has not played a Test in eight years. Between a team which has won back-to-back Women's Ashes Series - and reached the finals of the most recent 50 over World Cup and World T20 - and a team which has slipped to seventh in the world in the shorter formats of the game.

Based on the opening day of the stand-alone Test at Wormsley, it was difficult to tell which side was which.

In fact, at one point in the afternoon, when India reached 40 without losing a wicket after bowling England out for 92 runs - their lowest ever Test total against India - it was the tourists who looked comfortable, in control and with the perfect opportunity to take a significant first innings lead.

India will undoubtedly rue the fact they squandered the chance to seriously press their advantage with the bat after their bowlers had performed so admirably. Instead of going on the offensive, India batted defensively and allowed the hosts back into the contest, losing 6 for 24 in the evening session. Thanks largely to the efforts of the excellent Jenny Gunn, who took 4 for 13 in 12 overs, the match now rests evenly poised, although India, trailing by five with four wickets in hand, still have the chance to establish a decent lead in the morning of the second day.

After Mithali Raj won the toss it was no surprise to see her elect to insert England and give her seamers the chance to bowl on a green-tinged pitch - a stark contrast to the slow wicket on offer here a year ago when England and Australia fought out a frustrating and slow-scoring draw. In the lead up to this Test the ECB asked for a more lively pitch to allow both sides to display their skills with bat and ball. They perhaps got more than they bargained for, with 16 wickets tumbling on a day when only seven players reached double figures.

The question of professionalism in the women's game must also include the location of future Tests. While the surrounds of Wormsley provide a stunningly picturesque backdrop, the remote location of the ground, the cost of travel and lack of nearby public transport must be an impediment to attracting crowds, particularly on weekdays.

As a result it is understood the ECB is considering moving future women's Tests to more accessible locations, with Lord's the likely venue for next summer's Test against Australia as part of the 2015 Women's Ashes Series.

India's opening bowlers certainly rewarded Raj's decision to field. The veteran Jhulan Goswami and Nagarajan Niranjana bowled intelligently and accurately, consistently delivering full-length outswingers that forced the England batsmen to play their shots but also regularly beat the bat.

The deliveries that jagged back were more than effective. Seduced by the balls that moved away, seven England players were trapped lbw - setting a new record for number of lbws in a women's Test innings - one was caught behind, and another was clean bowled. Only the final wicket, when Kate Cross was run out chasing a second run, which was never really on offer, provided any variation.

Although they had the advantage of greater experience, England's batsman looked somewhat nervous and uncomfortable at the crease, with the exception of Sarah Taylor, who compiled 30 runs - the highest score of the day - before she was trapped by one of Goswami's inswingers.

In contrast India's openers, Thirush Kamini and Smriti Mandhana, looked almost too comfortable - generally content to prod and defend. England had made the unusual decision not to play a specialist spinner and rely on their seamers to do the damage and, while Anya Shrubsole had two big appeals for lbw turned down in her opening over, it was not until Charlotte Edwards brought Gunn into the attack that the breakthrough was made.

Whatever happens from here, India's competitive display sends a message to the BCCI that there is talent here worthy of investment. If a semi-professional side can compete with players who now have the opportunity to train full-time together, it remains to be seen what could be achieved if central contracts were introduced to the India players.


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Tredwell spins out his other team

Kent 299 (Bell-Drummond 83, Billings 51, Arafat 4-49) beat Sussex 183 (Joyce 47, Tredwell 4-27, Claydon 3-26)
Scorecard

Kent retained their unbeaten tag in the Royal London Cup and stretched their Group B lead to four points with a hard-earned 59-run win over Sussex in a rain-affected clash at Canterbury.

A heavy shower during the break between innings coupled with a second shower early in the Sussex reply left the visitors in the driving seat when facing a revised target of 243 in 35 overs.

However, James Tredwell's seven-over stint of 4 for 27 - against the team he rejoins on County Championship loan later in the week - restored Kent's superiority and helped land a deserved fourth win, and with it, almost certainly, a home tie in the quarter finals.

Having restricted Kent to 299, the Sussex reply started uncertainly once Luke Wright fell in the seventh over. His rasping drive against Doug Bollinger picked out Ben Harmison diving to his left at cover point.

Three overs later, Chris Nash feathered a Darren Stevens away swinger to slip just moments before rain arrived for the second time sparking the loss of a further 10 overs.

After the resumption, Craig Cachopa, the young New Zealand-raised South African batsman, got his side ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis rate for the first time with a brace of fours off Darren Stevens.

Cachopa undid his good work in the next over, however, lobbing a simple catch to mid-off against offspinner Tredwell, who then trimmed the off stump of Ed Joyce as the left-hander made room to cut.

Kent pushed further ahead under Duckworth-Lewis when Calum Haggett snared Matt Machan lbw with the third ball of a new spell. Then, when Mitch Claydon returned to rearrange Ben Brown's stumps, any lingering hopes of a Sussex win evaporated.

Batting first having lost the toss, Kent would have expected to post in excess of 320 after a reasonably bright start on a parched, white pitch that appeared conducive to batting.

The hosts had 36 on the board before acting captain Sam Northeast instinctively followed and edged behind off a Lewis Hatchett leg-cutter that went down the St Lawrence.

Spitfires' second-wicket partners Daniel Bell-Drummond and Harmison repaired the damage with a no-frills stand of 69 in 13.1 overs that ended when Steffan Piolet's slower ball fooled Harmison into chipping a catch to long-off.

Fabian Cowdrey upped the run-rate tempo with an eye-catching 40, while Bell-Drummond posted his half-century from 60 balls and with four fours.

In tandem the pair added 74 in 11.1 overs before Cowdrey fell lbw when walking across his stumps and aiming to leg against Chris Liddle to make it 179 for 3.

With Bell-Drummond seemingly well established, Kent called their batting Powerplay soon after only for the young right-hander to clip the very first ball from Yasir Arafat straight to cover to go for 83.

Kent never re-established their momentum thereafter and, while looking secure in scoring ones and twos, a succession of batsmen perished when attempting anything more lavish.

Stevens was yorked when driving at Arafat, who then had Alex Blake caught on the deep cover ropes to finish with figures of 4 for 49 against his former county.

Sam Billings did his best to farm the strike in posting an unbeaten 51 off 39 balls with three fours and six, but two runs outs and two more miscues saw Kent dismissed with one ball of their innings remaining.

Billings, who has reaped 337 cup runs at an average of 168.5 - having passed 50 four times - was delighted by the win that guaranteed Kent's passage and a home quarter-final tie.

"The pitch got better as the night went on and the ball skidded on beautifully under lights, so for Sussex, it was a great toss to win, but our bowlers did superbly well to hit those difficult lengths," he said. "I felt we might have got 315 batting but, when anyone tried to accelerate they got out, and we were left having to rebuild.

"It was a hard pitch to just come in and go hard from ball one. I was happy with the way I played because I had to get in and work it around before I pushed on.

"The great thing is we won tonight, yet we might have been better in all facets of the game. We've got that improvement to come so, although we're a young team, we feel we can take on anyone right now.''


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Essex fightback denies Wheater

Essex 324 (Ryder 87, Westley 74, Bopara 51) beat Hampshire 319 for 9 (Wheater 135, Vince 79, Masters 3-51) by five runs
Scorecard

Essex clinched their place in the Royal London Cup quarter-finals with a thrilling five-run win over Hampshire at Chelmsford.

Half-centuries from Jesse Ryder, Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara had laid the foundation for their imposing total - but at one stage it did not look enough as Adam Wheater showed his liking for the home attack.

He struck a brilliant 135 runs from only 97 deliveries, which followed the century he scored against his former colleagues when the sides met in the County Championship at Colchester last month.

When Wheater was out, caught at mid-off by Graham Napier off Ryan ten Doeschate, his side needed just 55 runs from 10 overs, with six wickets intact.

His main accomplice was James Vince, the pair sharing in a partnership of 198 in 28 overs, a county record for any partnership against Essex in List A matches. They would have expected that stand to have carried their side to victory.

Essex skipper Ryan ten Doeschate said: "It was a fantastic win. While Wheater and Vince were together, it did not look good for us but we kept on fighting to get over the line.

"The first part of our mission has been accomplished by getting into the quarter-finals but now we want victory at Northampton to put us in line for a home draw.''

Vince made 79 from 83 deliveries, 26 of his runs coming in boundaries, before he fell to a superb catch by Tim Phillips at long-on - providing David Masters with one of his three wickets.

But Essex made things difficult for themselves by spurning opportunities to remove both batsmen.

Wheater, on 73, was let off as James Foster missed a comparatively easy stumping off Phillips with the total on 175, while Vince was put down by Kishen Velani on the square-leg boundary in the next over when attacking ten Doeschate.

The pair had come together after Masters had removed openers Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry in the space of three deliveries with the total on 48 in the ninth over.

After Wheater's dismissal, the Hampshire innings disintegrated and they fell behind the asking rate in the face of some fine ground fielding and tight bowling.

They lost five more wickets while adding 43 runs, including that of Chris Wood - who was run out by ten Doeschate off the penultimate ball.

James Tomlinson arrived with six needed to tie the match but he could only manage a single, ending any hopes Hampshire entertained by that stage.

Masters finished with 3 for 51 and Napier 2 for 58, the Essex attack having been handicapped earlier by Tymal Mills leaving the field with a muscle injury during his third over.

Essex had been put into bat and Westley and Pettini gave them a solid start with a stand of 80 before the latter was caught down the leg side by Wheater off Matt Coles with the last delivery of the 15th over.

Westley, fresh from his unbeaten century on Monday against Yorkshire, then took part in another productive stand of 81 in 13 overs with Ryder as they underlined the friendly nature of the pitch.

Both were run out. Westley had made 74 from 79 balls with the help of 10 fours when he failed to beat the arm of Danny Briggs attempting a second run, while a Wood throw from backward point saw off Ryder as he called Bopara for a single with the total on 219.

Ryder's approach brought him four sixes amongst his 13 boundaries, while contributing 87 from just 61 deliveries. After that, wickets fell steadily as Essex tried to increase their tempo further. Among them was Bopara, whose 51 from 52 deliveries contained just three fours, until Wood took a fine catch at mid-on to provide Tomlinson with his solitary success.

The last 10 overs of the innings produced only 56 runs for the home side at a cost of five wickets, all of which fell in the final eight overs.

Wheater said: "It was disappointing to lose after coming so close and being well placed to win. But now we can focus on our four-day game in the hope of getting promotion.''


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Blewett joins Australia as fielding consultant

Former Test batsman Greg Blewett has joined the growing list of ex-players called upon to help coach Australia, having been named as a fielding consultant for their next two tours. Blewett will work with the Australians for the one-day tri-series in Zimbabwe and for their matches against Pakistan in the UAE.

Australia have not had a permanent fielding coach since Steve Rixon left the support staff in January, although before the home summer they had appointed Mike Young on a short-term contract. The inclusion of Blewett continues the trend under head coach Darren Lehmann of bringing in ex-players as short-term consultants, tapping a wider knowledge base than may otherwise be the case.

Shane Warne was named as a spin consultant for Australia's World Twenty20 campaign earlier this year and worked with the side in South Africa ahead of the tournament. Muttiah Muralitharan was appointed as a coaching consultant in June in an effort to help Australia's spinners maximise their success against Pakistan in the UAE, and now he will be joined on the staff by Blewett.

"Greg was a brilliant fielder in his playing days and he will bring some fresh advice and ideas as well as a new voice for the players to hear from which is important for everyone's development," Lehmann said. "It will be great to have him on board in Zimbabwe and the UAE."

Although Blewett has spent much of his post-cricket career in the commentary box, he recently completed a level three coaching accreditation and worked with Australia A and the National Performance Squad at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane. Blewett said he was keen to help the Australians hone their fielding, especially with a World Cup coming up.

"I think Australia has built a good reputation for its fielding over the years and I'm looking forward to maintaining those high standards and hopefully continuing to improve," Blewett said. "That's always the goal.

"I'm really excited to be involved, particularly with a World Cup on the horizon and hopefully having some small impact. I'm also looking forward to the opportunity to work with Darren and the other great coaches that are part of the team setup, it should be fun."

Australia's first match in Zimbabwe is against the hosts on August 25. Their UAE tour starts with a T20 against Pakistan on October 5.


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O'Keefe ready for UAE audition

Spinner Steve O'Keefe is hoping his shoulder stands up to the rigours of a four-day match against South Africa A this week as he auditions for a possible place in Australia's Test squad.

O'Keefe will take the field for Australia A in Townsville in a match starting on Thursday, his first game for nearly five months, after he had a shoulder reconstruction at the end of the summer. However, the good news for O'Keefe's left-arm bowling is that it was his right shoulder that required the surgery, meaning that his main test will come if he has to dive in the field.

"It's as good as I can be," O'Keefe told the Daily Telegraph. "It's going to take six months for it to heal properly and the surgeon said it doesn't matter what I do in terms of strength or stretching, that's just how long the body is going to take naturally.

"I've done everything in my power to get it to a standard where I can bat and bowl, the only issue is diving on it [fielding] but I've been able to manage that. It's good enough to play, that's for certain."

If fully fit, O'Keefe would be difficult to ignore for Australia's upcoming Test tour of Pakistan in October, given the likelihood of spinning conditions there. Nathan Lyon was the only specialist slow bowler taken on Australia's most recent Test tour, to South Africa in February-March, but there is no question that at least two will be needed in the UAE.

O'Keefe was the leading wicket taker in the Sheffield Shield last summer, with 41 victims at 20.43, and over the course of a 40-match first-class career has collected 126 wickets at 24.52. He played seven T20 internationals from 2010 to 2011 but has been overlooked for Test duties while other left-arm orthodox spinners such as Ashton Agar, Xavier Doherty and Michael Beer have been chosen.

"I haven't had any feedback be it technical or mental but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why you haven't been picked," O'Keefe said. "I can understand why they've picked those guys in front of me. You certainly can't whinge. You have to improve your game and put performances on the board. It's as simple as it gets."


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Gamage called up as cover for Eranga

Right-arm seam bowler Lahiru Gamage has been called up to the Sri Lanka squad as injury cover for Shaminda Eranga, who has developed inflammation in his hip following the first Test against Pakistan. Gamage was with the Sri Lanka A team on their tour of England, but will arrive in Sri Lanka on Wednesday, and is available for selection for the match, which begins on Thursday.

Sri Lanka are likely to go in with a two-man pace attack at the SSC, with Dhammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedara the frontrunners to be in the XI, if Eranga is unfit. Gamage and rookie Binura Fernando are the other quicks in the squad.

Gamage, 26, plays for Chilaw Marians Cricket Club and has 93 first-class wickets at 33.58. He had taken 3 for 59 against England Lions in a high-scoring match in Taunton on August 6, and had had a five-wicket haul against Durham in another one-dayer two weeks prior.

Eranga is the third Sri Lanka fast bowler to have his place put in doubt by injury during the series. Nuwan Pradeep injured his ankle at training during the Galle Test, ruling him out of the SSC match, and Suranga Lakmal had already been ruled out of the series, also with an ankle injury.


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Counties could have gone bust - Collier

David Collier, the out-going ECB chief executive, has revealed that "seven or eight counties" could have gone out of business had the ECB not made changes to the running of the English game.

In a wide-ranging and exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo, Collier reflected on a decade in the role and admitted his regrets over the Allen Stanford episode, his true feelings over the lack of cricket on free-to-air television and his pride at the pioneering support that England has given to the funding of women's and disability cricket.

And while Collier conceded that not everyone in the game was sorry to see him go - "everyone is happy," is how he put it - he generally reflected with great satisfaction at the vastly increased stability of the game in England and Wales over the course of his period in charge.

That is understandable. When Collier was appointed chief executive of the ECB towards the end of 2004, the organisation was in debt, participation in the game was falling and England had not won the Ashes for nearly 20 years.

A decade later, the ECB has a surplus of £40m, participation has doubled, the Ashes have been won four times and, despite the recent decline, England have enjoyed spells at No. 1 in all three formats of the game. Of course there are negatives, too, but those facts are compelling.

That £40m surplus has caused controversy within the game, however, and created resentment towards Collier from some counties. The counties, many of whom have undertaken extensive redevelopment programmes, would like that money to be distributed among them to help with their debts.

But, as Collier explained, the ECB felt the need to insulate the game from unforeseen events, some which can make cricket seen very insignificant but could have had serious repercussions for the game, and that surplus actually exists to protect the counties

"So many events occur that are outside our control," Collier told ESPNcricinfo. "Consider the spot-fixing episode during the 2010 series against Pakistan or the Mumbai attacks in 2008. In my very first summer in the role, we had the 7/7 attacks and then 21/7. There was a real possibility that Australia would go home and not play the rest of the series.

"If that had happened, we would have had issues with broadcast partners, with sponsors and with the venues. Seven or eight counties would have gone out of business. It really could have been that bad. There were no reserves.

"The game is much safer now. Much more stable. We are in a position where the impact caused by big shocks can be more easily withstood thanks to our reserves and that means the game is more sustainable."

Collier was a good enough sportsman to captain the British Universities at hockey and cricket - "not many people have done that," he said with understandable pride - and played 2nd XI county cricket. A highlight was taking four wickets in five deliveries, including John Wright and Geoff Miller, while playing for Loughborough University against Derbyshire.

But it is not his personal achievements, the financial strength of the ECB or the success of the Test team that provokes most pride in Collier; not directly, anyway.

"My most emotional day in cricket came when I went to the Ken Barrington Centre at The Oval in 2005," he said. "And presented caps to our disability side.

"Women's cricket and disability have grown exponentially over the last decade. And yes, I am very proud of that.

"People sometimes talk as if money is all we care about. But it's that money that has helped us invest in better facilities for spectators, in better facilities for players, to ensure the on-going stability of the game, to invest in grass roots cricket and to lead the world in our development of disability cricket and women's cricket.

"Of course over 10 years I have made some mistakes and there are some things I would do differently. But when I look at where we were when I started and where we are now…"

Still, the financial health of the game is not what many will associate with Collier's time at the ECB. Rather, it will be the image of him glad-handing with Stanford, the disgraced Texan billionaire, when he landed his helicopter on the Nursery Ground at Lord's after he was brought into the heart of the English game in 2008 - billed as a saviour against the threat of T20 leagues around the world.

As history will forever record, England lost a million-dollar match against Stanford's All-Stars in Antigua, at the end of a week of one uncomfortable moment after another, then a few months later, ironically while England were playing a Test in Stanford's backyard of Antigua, his world came crashing down as fraud of astronomical proportions became clear.

Collier wishes he could turn back the clock, but insisted that the warning signs were not there. "With the benefit of hindsight, we wouldn't have done it," he said. "But you have to understand the context of the time: he was involved in the sponsorship of sailing, yachting and polo.

"He was triple A rated and had just been knighted. There really weren't the red flags people suggest. And, at the same time, the ICL was very active. There was a genuine danger from unauthorised leagues. Yes, the way it all panned out I regret it, but we acted with the best interest of the entire game at heart."

Generally, however, a good administrator is much like a good wicketkeeper: they only gain attention when they make a mistake. Nobody goes into cricket administration for the glamour or the praise. After a decade working diligently in the background - and Collier's habit of replying to emails at anything from 6am to 11pm betrays his dedication - Collier departs in the knowledge that he has left the game in a better position than he found it.


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Chopra returns in style as Warwickshire climb table

Warwickshire 218 for 2 (Chopra 92, Evans 43*) beat Surrey 153 (Dilshan 58, Patel 4-30, Gordon 3-25) by 111 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard

An unbeaten 92 by Varun Chopra and a whirlwind unbeaten 43 from 15 balls by Laurie Evans overwhelmed Surrey as Warwickshire brought alive their Royal London Cup campaign with victory by 111 runs in a rain-adjusted match at Edgbaston.

After a long delay in mid-innings, Warwickshire thrashed 84 in six overs to reach a challenging 218 for 2 and Surrey folded for 153 when set a Duckworth-Lewis target of 265 from 33 overs.

A fourth defeat in six games in Group B has killed off Surrey's hopes but Warwickshire are still in contention with away fixtures to come against Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire.

As a rehearsal for a further meeting in next week's NatWest T20 Blast semi-final, this was most likely an unreliable form guide. Both teams were without a number of high-profile players and the interference by the weather inevitably raised ifs and buts.

A sharp shower reduced the match to 48 overs per side and a deluge halted Warwickshire's innings at 134 for 1 after 27 had been bowled.

At this point the batting side would have been getting ready to accelerate through the gears, but after a delay of more than two-and-a-half hours, they had to embark on a mad thrash.

Although Jonathan Trott quickly perished, slogging high towards long off after making 31, Evans destroyed his former county's bowling. Opening up with successive sixes off Stuart Meaker, he dominated a partnership of 70 in 4.1 overs with Chopra.

In all he hit five fours, as well as a massive third six off Meaker, and in the mayhem Surrey's shell-shocked attack simply fell apart.

Even when the game was progressing under more routine circumstances, Warwickshire always gave the impression of being in control, starting with a stand of 89 before William Porterfield was caught behind for 36 off Tim Linley's first ball.

Chopra went on to hit 10 fours and a six from 99 balls as he continued a prolific run following a 10-day break since injuring a thigh muscle when making 86 not out against Essex in the Twenty20 quarter-final. In his last eight innings in limited-overs formats, he has scored 516 runs.

Only Steven Davies, with two sixes in a brisk 37, and Tillakaratne Dilshan promised anything as substantial as Surrey creaked under the pressure of a tough run chase.

While Davies was bowled in Jeetan Patel's first over, Dilshan went on to a cleverly compiled 58 from 60 balls until he was fifth out, top-edging Recordo Gordon to Trott at third man.

Patel finished with the best figures of 4 for 30 and Rikki Clarke completed a good day for former Surrey players with two wickets in successive balls and two catches.

Next time the teams meet, Surrey will be hoping to welcome back the likes of Kevin Pietersen, quarter-final matchwinner Jason Roy, specialist spinner Zafar Ansari and two pace bowlers, Jade Dernbach and Matthew Dunn.

Warwickshire, meanwhile, expect to have their England players, Ian Bell and Chris Woakes, available ahead of the one-day internationals against India and are also hoping to get Shoaib Malik back in their side after his performances in seven group games before he left to play in the Caribbean Premier League.

Dougie Brown, director of cricket at Edgbaston, is keen to have him back but added: "There are still visa and administrative barriers that need to be overcome, and we are still unsure as to whether this can be completed in such a short time."


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South Africa opt for substance over style

The expectation was that South Africa would flaunt their power against Zimbabwe, but the reality has been much different with the No. 1 Test team made to grind for every run

South Africa know how to get stuck in. They have done it three times in the recent past - Adelaide, Johannesburg, Colombo - and they have done it exceptionally well.

That also means they know how to get stuck. They did that in Harare.

There was no match to save, no series on the line and no menace. They were not playing on a strip of sandpaper or confronted with the craftiest opposition. But there was a 15-over period in the afternoon session where JP Duminy and Vernon Philander scored just nine runs.

That was one instance. There were others. For periods of the play, the run-rate hovered around one to the over. The default deliveries were either full but not fearsome or wide outside off stump and the default shots were the stoic forward defence or the haughty disregard that could be ignored the same the way the criticism is.

South Africa have managed to block out the chorus being uttered from the Centurion, the stands and even much of the media box. "This is not how Australia would have played," people are saying. They would prefer aggression to the safety-first South African way, especially when combined with the fact that South Africa are No. 1 and up against an attack that can best be described as workmanlike and a pitch that is sluggish but not suffocating.

Against those observations could be a curt South Africa reply along the lines of, "Well Australia are not No. 1 and don't have an eight-year unbeaten record on the road," but it has been little more measured. "It doesn't always have to look pretty," Faf du Plessis said. "This game is one of those situations where you do the hard yards and maybe people don't see it as flashy or it doesn't look like the No. 1 team in the world but it's what we know we need to do."

Why? Because South Africa ideally only wanted to bat once and bat long. "We made a decision that this wicket would be the toughest to bat on day five. We wanted to score all our runs in the first innings irrespective of how much time it took," du Plessis said. "We wanted to get as close to 400 as possible even though it took us longer than people think it should take us."

South Africa used up 10 hours and 39 minutes and 158.3 overs, but their lead of 141 may not be enough for them to record the innings victory they were after. No matter. They have Plan B. "If we could bowl them out for 200 or 250, and then knock off 100 or so runs, that will be fine," du Plessis said.

It may yet turn out to be just fine but until it is, South Africa have allowed Zimbabwe to hope and that is what they are being criticised for. Because of what they call their respect for the game and opposition South Africa do not see this outing as an opportunity to show off against a team who were not expected to push the match into a fourth day. But their deference has also led to them not searching for an opportunity to dominate, which is something they could have done irrespective of the conditions.

Run-scoring should not be as laboured as South Africa made it look even though the surface is slow and the bowling slower. There was enough on offer to keep things ticking over. South Africa's lead could easily have touched 200 if they had batted with the same intent Quinton de Kock did. He was the only specialist batsmen to show signs of life, charging the spinner and searching for singles.

In the end, South Africa's first innings run-rate of 2.50 was the slowest ever against their neighbours. It was also their third slowest in any innings in which they have faced more than 100 overs in the last decade, which sounds too complicated to really comprehend but Zimbabwe are happy to claim it as their doing.

"I give the credit to my bowlers," Stephen Mangongo, the Zimbabwe coach, said. "They stuck to their disciplines, they know their strengths and weakness and they are not 145kph bowlers, they are medium pace. It is always difficult for people to score when they bowl line and length all day."

And if you are South Africa, it can be made to look much more difficult than it really is.


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Bopara enjoys his chance to build rather than blast

England Lions 285 for 3 (Bopara 106, Taylor 103*) beat Sri Lanka A 283 for 6 (Chandimal 119, Finn 4-67) by seven wickets
Scorecard

To many observers, the England Lions top six contesting the Royal London triangular series against Sri Lanka A and New Zealand A loses little in comparison with the senior side as jostling for position begins in earnest with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand barely six months away.

Four Lions batsmen have already made hundreds in the tournament with Ravi Bopara and James Taylor the latest to achieve the standards set by Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow. It was enough to dispatch Sri Lanka by seven wickets with 21 deliveries to spare as they made light of a target of 284 on a pitch which was about as accommodating as New Road, rarely the most straightforward square for batsman, can get.

As soon as The Oval Test is concluded, it is one-day cricket all the way and, if few regard England as serious World Cup contenders, there is no doubting the abundance of batting talent in the shadow squad. Bopara looked visibly excited by their potential. "Every single player in the top six has definitely got a chance of being in that World Cup squad," he said. "Some of these young guys have improved so much."

Bopara is the one Lions batsman with an established place in England's one-day side, but coming in at No. 6 in a safety-conscious set-up is a role not always designed for satisfaction. For the Lions, he has been given the chance to bat at No. 3, an opportunity he has cherished, and his 106 from 101 balls in front of an appreciative Worcester crowd was an expertly-judged affair which left Sri Lanka without a win in the tournament. England face New Zealand, again at New Road, on Tuesday in a match that will decide the winners.

"It would be nice to be playing for Essex but getting experience at the top of the order for England certainly helps. It wouldn't be very helpful for me to come here at bat six. That's not me being arrogant or anything. Any batsman wants time at the crease. You don't want to be coming in to bat in the last 10 overs to try to spank it out of the ground every single time. I don't enjoy my cricket doing that sort of stuff."

England were assisted by some curious captaincy by Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka's century maker, who observed the legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna remove both Alex Hales and James Vince in a spell of 2 for 12 in five overs and was then not seen again until the 33rd over at which point the Lions were 175 for 2, Bopara and Taylor both had unbeaten half-centuries and with six an over needed the match was almost won.

By the time Bopara was stumped off Prasanna for 106, the third-wicket stand was worth 194 in 31 overs, and he had strutted his stuff, Taylor played with understated authority alongside him. Taylor might have fallen on 2 when Dushmantha Chameera's first ball reared at him with surprising venom only for a trio of off-side fielders to fail to make ground for the catch. He made excellent use of his fortune, his skilfully-assembled hundred seeping into the consciousness.

Prasanna's delayed return to the attack was particularly striking because three years ago on this ground, in an identical fixture, he took the new ball and included the Lions' top six in a return of 6 for 23 as they were dismissed for 108 and lost by 10 wickets. Sri Lanka were so impressed they immediately summoned him to the senior side although he has had limited success in his sole Test, against Australia in Pallakele, and a dozen ODIs.

"Did I play in that game?" asked Bopara when told of it. He was slightly relieved to discover he had not. Three of that top six - Hales, Taylor and Bairstow - did, and Hales succumbed again as he edged to the keeper. James Vince had been bowled in the previous over, Prasanna's second, his 32 impressive while it lasted but not lasting long enough, leaving him as the only member of the Lions top six still to pass fifty.

Chandimal's unbeaten 119 had sustained Sri Lanka. The innings came to life from 126 for 3 after 33 overs - David Willey conceding 16 off an over including a pulled six from Chandimal which took him to 50, Steven Finn spilling 18 from the next, Bhanuka Rajapakse sparking with four boundaries in an over during an adventurous stay at the crease.

An attempted sweep off Finn was just one shot that caught the eye - not the most respectful way to treat an England fast bowler who returned to London immediately after the game in the hope of making his international return against India on Friday in the final Test at The Oval.


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Westley, ten Doeschate flatten Yorkshire

Essex 291 for 5 (ten Doeschate 119, Westley 111*) beat Yorkshire 290 for 5 (Leaning 111, Masters 4-34) by five wickets
Scorecard

Jack Leaning's first century for Yorkshire in any form of cricket could not prevent his side crashing to defeat against Essex in a high-scoring Royal London Cup match at Scarborough.

The 20-year-old's unbeaten 111 helped Yorkshire to a challenging 290 for 6 off their 50 overs - but Essex opener Tom Westley and captain Ryan ten Doeschate plundered centuries of their own to give their team a five-wicket success.

Westley and his captain shared a mammoth fifth-wicket stand of 209 in 31 overs - a partnership only eight runs short of being the highest against Yorkshire for any wicket in one-day cricket. Westley's 111 was also his maiden List A ton, while ten Doeschate blasted 119 from 101 balls with nine fours and six sixes.

Essex's victory, with 25 balls to spare, moved them joint top of the table with Yorkshire, leaving both sides in with an excellent chance of making it through to the quarter-finals.

Essex head coach Paul Grayson said: "At the halfway stage we were slightly disappointed that Yorkshire had reached 290 but it was a good pitch and we felt we just needed one or two batsmen to take some responsibility - and Westley and ten Doeschate did so. I think we are well placed to make the quarter-finals but one more win should guarantee it.''

Sunday's torrential rain left large areas of the pitch under four inches of water with the chances of play on the opening day of the 128th Festival looking slim - but groundsman John Dodds worked wonders to ensure a prompt start for the 3,200 crowd under sunny skies and in a strong wind.

Although Adam Lyth made promising progress early on for the hosts, Alex Lees departed for 8 in the sixth over, his off stump being knocked back by David Masters, the pick of the Essex attack with 4 for 34 runs from his 10 overs.

Kane Williamson lunged wildly at a ball outside off stump from Masters, only to edge to wicketkeeper James Foster, then when Lyth was run out for a run-a-ball 38 by a direct hit from Kishen Velani, Yorkshire were 55 for 3.

However, Leaning joined captain Andrew Gale and the fourth-wicket pair steadied things up with some careful batting - with Leaning's boundary over mid-on the first in 11 overs. Gale was in an hour before striking his first four but in the same over that he drove ten Doeschate over long on for six he slapped a catch to Tim Phillips at backward point and departed for 45.

Adil Rashid soon became Masters' third victim to make it 154 for 5 but Leaning and Andrew Hodd rapidly advanced the score with a quickfire partnership of 109 in 12 overs.

Leaning's 50 arrived off 67 balls and, warming to his theme, he blasted Phillips over midwicket for six and four before hoisting a Graham Napier full toss high over the rope.

Hodd got a six with a remarkable reverse slog-sweep at Reece Topley but in attempting another similar shot he was bowled by Masters for 42.

Essex had lost much of their earlier control and Napier sent down several wides, his final over of the innings costing 23 runs and providing consecutive sixes for Leaning, the first of which raised his century off 97 deliveries with four fours and three sixes.

The final ball was belted over square leg for six by Bresnan, 124 runs gushing from the last 10 overs and Napier's 10 overs costing him 84 wicketless runs. Leanings innings spanned 99 balls and he hit four fours and four sixes.

The visitors got off to a dreadful start, their first three wickets going down for 15 runs in six overs. Mark Pettini was caught behind off the third legitimate ball of the innings from Jack Brooks, before Greg Smith and Velani departed in consecutive overs from Bresnan.

Westley remained firm at the top of the order, however, while Jesse Ryder took the attack to Yorkshire in style, hitting six fours and a six in his 36 off 27 balls before slapping Richard Pyrah to Lyth at point.

Then ten Doeschate launched himself into the bowling by driving Leaning, Pyrah and Rashid for sixes - just beating Westley to the 50 mark despite batting for 14 fewer overs.

The stand reached 100 in 16 overs and Essex were left needing 123 to win off 20 overs, the target drawing closer as Westley struck Steven Patterson for six and ten Doeschate pulled Leaning over midwicket for another maximum.

The Powerplay was taken at 203 for 4 after 34 overs and Yorkshire were powerless to stop the onslaught, ten Doeschate dashing to his century from 86 balls with seven fours and six sixes and Westley following him to three figures from 120 deliveries with eight fours and a six.

The skipper eventually fell by mishooking Patterson to Lyth with the score on 277 but it was all too late for the home side and Westley finished things off with a six off Adil Rashid, who went for 71 runs from 8.5 overs.


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Durston hundred lifts Derbyshire to win

Derbyshire 211 for 6 (Durston 108*, Hall 3-39) beat Northamptonshire 220 for 9 (Levi 62, Hall 43, Palladino 3-51)
Scorecard

A century from Wes Durston spurred visitors Derbyshire to victory over Northamptonshire at the County Ground and elevation into the top four in Group A of the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Derbyshire prevailed by six runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method, and have three games remaining in the group stage as they pursue a quarter-final place.

Durston's 108 inspired Derbyshire to reach an imposing 211 for 6 from their 32 overs, and the visitors then bowled with skill and patience to keep Northamptonshire shy of their revised target of 227, with James Middlebrook bowled off the final delivery of the game.

When Wayne Madsen won the toss, Derbyshire batted first but a torrential downpour halted play after just 8.1 overs. It took the groundsmen just over three hours to get the pitch in Northampton fit once more for play and, on resumption, Durston's powerful hitting, combined with the experience of Marcus North, saw them put on exactly 100 in just over 13 overs.

It helped that they were facing a weakened Northamptonshire attack that was missing England Lions' David Willey as well as the injured Steven Crook and Olly Stone.

Too many Northamptonshire fielders were put under pressure on a greasy outfield, which allowed Derbyshire to set a stiff target for the team who had won just one game in all competitions in the last month.

Mark Footitt quickly removed the home captain Kyle Coetzer for 10, bringing Richard Levi and Adam Rossington together.

The 21-year-old Rossington has made a favourable impression since arriving on loan from Middlesex, but when he skied a Durston long hop to Billy Godleman at square leg, having helped Levi put on 53 for the second wicket, Derbyshire were on top.

Wickets fell at regular intervals and when Levi went for an enterprising 62 off 66 balls, with 73 wanted off seven overs, the die appeared to be cast. Andrew Hall and Graeme White kept the hosts keen until a fabulous catch from Godleman in a swirling breeze at mid-wicket removed White.

Hall's boundary through square leg gave the home side some hope to leave 47 wanted off the last four overs. But Footitt conceded just four runs off the 29th over, leaving the South African too much to do.

When Hall was bowled by Cotton for 43 in the next over, Northamptonshire's chance had gone. Despite the penultimate over from Footitt costing 23 runs, Middlebrook could not hit a six from the final delivery.


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Amazon Warriors crush Zouks by eight wickets

Guyana Amazon Warriors 194 for 2 (Simmons 97, Guptill 66) beat St Lucia Zouks 189 for 7 (Fletcher 78, Charles 62) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A 154-run first-wicket partnership between Martin Guptill and Lendl Simmons ensured the Guyana Amazon Warriors made easy work of the St Lucia Zouks' 189 for 7 in an eight-wicket win for the Amazon Warriors on Sunday at Warner Park in St Kitts. The total represented the highest successful chase in the two-year history of the Caribbean Premier League.

The stand between Guptill and Simmons broke the CPL first-wicket record that was set only hours earlier by Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher, who added 139 at the start of the match after the Zouks were sent in to bat. The Zouks had a chance to nip the Simmons-Guptill partnership in the bud but Simmons was shelled by Liam Sebastien at long leg in the second over off Tino Best with the opener yet to get off the mark.

Simmons presented two more chances, on 45 and 64, with neither taken and eventually finished with 97. Guptill was caught on the boundary by Kevin Pietersen off Best for 66 in the 16th over while Simmons missed out on a century by unselfishly running himself out in the 19th over as Guyana hurried toward the target in a bid to boost their net run rate. Guyana got there with an over to spare and succeeded in jumping past the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel into second place on net run rate with both teams at 6-3.

Finishing second would allow Guyana to avoid having to play in the initial playoff match which will be staged between the third and fourth placed teams on the CPL table. The first place side after the regular season will receive a bye to automatically advance to the championship match.

At the halfway point of the first innings, the Zouks looked primed to end the season with three straight wins thanks to the stand produced by Johnson and Fletcher, who made 62 and 78 respectively. Navin Stewart came on late to bowl a crucial two-over spell which claimed both men two balls apart in the 16th over just as each batsman was setting up for a strong finish. Stewart also dismissed Kevin Pietersen in the 18th courtesy of a spectacular one-handed leaping catch by Guptill on the long-on boundary and finished with 3 for 22.

Ronsford Beaten conceded just eight runs in the 19th and three wickets fell in the 20th bowled by Krishmar Santokie to further dent St Lucia's chances of setting a target in excess of 200. Guyana's fielding and death bowling was sharper overall and by the end of the match it was the difference between the two sides, allowing the Amazon Warriors to come away with the win.


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Arafat five sets up Sussex win

Sussex 189 for 3 (Machan 47*, Joyce 46*) beat Somerset 193 for 8 (Ingram 72, Arafat 5-36) by seven wickets D/L
Scorecard

Yasir Arafat claimed five wickets against one of his many former clubs as Sussex boosted their hopes of a Royal London One-Day Cup quarter-final place with a seven-wicket win over Somerset in a match reduced to 33 overs per side at Taunton.

Arafat's 5 for 36 from seven overs kept the hosts to a modest 193 for 8 after losing the toss, Colin Ingram top-scoring with 71, while Nick Compton hit 42 and James Hildreth 42 not out.

Sussex were set a revised target of 189 under the Duckworth-Lewis system and eased home with 24 balls to spare thanks to an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 94 between Matt Machan, who made an unbeaten 47, and 46 not out from skipper Ed Joyce.

After a delayed 11am start was prevented by further rain, play began at 11.40am with the game initially reduced to 44 overs per side. Somerset quickly plunged into trouble as Marcus Trescothick played on, trying to leave the first ball of the second over, bowled by Arafat. The next delivery saw Peter Trego, who had scored centuries in Somerset's previous two games, caught behind down the leg side and by the time the rain returned after 5.1 overs the hosts were 10 for 2.

The action resumed at 1.45pm and, with the sun breaking through, batting looked a good deal easier. Ingram and Compton exercised caution, the latter enjoying a slice of luck on 28 when playing a ball from Chris Liddle onto his off stump without the bail being removed. Ingram swept a six off Will Beer as the total approached the 100-mark, but one run short Compton was lbw to Liddle falling across his stumps, having looked in little trouble.

It was 157 for 4 in the 27th over when Ingram ran himself out, calling for a second run to fine leg and beaten by Liddle's throw to the wicketkeeper. The South African had faced 74 balls and hit seven fours and a six.

Hildreth looked in good touch, but was unable to conjure up sufficient boundaries in his 43-ball knock and Somerset's hopes of a big finish were dashed when Arafat removed Lewis Gregory for 18, Tim Groenewald and Craig Meschede in the final over.

Sussex approached their revised target with gusto, Chris Nash pulling a six off Alfonso Thomas in only the fourth over, which ended with 33 already on the board. Luke Wright brought up the 50 in the sixth over by lifting Groenewald over midwicket for a maximum.

The opening stand was worth 86 when Nash was run out for 30 off the final ball of the 10th over, setting off for a single dabbed to short third-man and being beaten by wicketkeeper Alex Barrow's direct hit when sent back. The next over saw Wright, on 42, drive a return catch to left-arm spinner Leach, having faced 32 balls and hit six fours and a six. And Somerset were back in it when Craig Cachopa was caught by Gregory for 5, having skied Leach to mid-on.

Leach's figures would have been even better had Barrow not missed a simple stumping chance offered by Machan on 19, with the total 129 for 3. It was an error the home side could not afford and was symptomatic of a poor fielding display. Several catches went down as Machan and Joyce saw their side to a comfortable success, both pacing their innings to perfection.

Afterwards Arafat, who was twice on a hat-trick, said: "After losing our first two games confidence is growing all the time and we now have a great chance of reaching the quarter-finals."

Somerset's Leach added: `"No one should read too much into this result. The toss was important and it was always going to be difficult batting first, so we are determined not to let it affect the momentum we were building in the competition."


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ACC in line for downsizing

The ICC will take direct control of all regional cricketing activities across the world by limiting involvement of regional bodies, the ACC CEO Syed Ashraful Huq has said. The cutoff date is the end of 2015, after which the future of bodies like the Asian Cricket Council will be uncertain.

"I think they don't want to abolish the ACC wholly, but minimize the activities," Huq told the BBC Bangla Service. "It is not just the ACC but all the regional bodies - Africa, Europe, North and South America and Asia-Pacific - which will be directly controlled by the ICC.

"Twenty-one countries, apart from Test-playing countries, from Saudi Arabia to China - we have been working in their development work - coaches, umpiring and other areas of cricket. We have U16, U19, Challenge Cup, Premier Cup, but whether all these will stay or not, I am not really sure.

"[The change] is still in a discussion phase. We have been told unofficially that our activities will continue till the end of 2015. The commercial contract of the ICC will end at that time, so what will happen after that no one really knows. The ACC will remain as an organisation on paper. The headquarters might not stay."

According to Huq, the ICC will do the development work of all non-Test playing nations, as part of their vision to streamline cricket activities across the world. He questioned the Big Three's plan to downsize the global game, and felt that cricket would lose out to other sports. "The ICC is going to directly be in charge of the development work in the non-Test playing nations, something that we have been doing," Huq said. "I don't know what good it will bring by taking out the regional body. In the last World T20, four of the six non-Test playing nations were from Asia. It is the direct result of what we have been doing over the years.

"The ICC is being controlled by three countries - India, Australia and England. What they are saying is that there is no need for so many nations playing cricket. There are ten Test-playing nations and eight or 10 other nations that play cricket, but they feel that spending so much on the others is not bringing the desired results.

"But the fact is that they don't want to run cricket in many countries. I think we should focus on globalisation. Our main competitor is football but if we can't make all countries play cricket, how can we call it a global sport?"


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Hughes to captain Australia A

Phillip Hughes will captain Australia A in their second four-day match against South Africa A in Townsville this week after allrounder Moises Henriques was ruled out due to a groin strain.

Henriques led the Australians during their loss to the South Africans over the past week, but he was unable to bat in the second innings due to the groin problem he picked up.

He will return to New South Wales for rehabilitation and will be replaced in the Australia A squad by Victoria seamer Clint McKay.

Queenslanders Michael Neser and Cameron Boyce have left the squad to take part in Queensland's pre-season camp, although their state team-mate Peter Forrest has remained with Australia A.

That means left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe will likely play his first Australia A match of the winter and will be hoping to remind the selectors of the skills that made him the leading Sheffield Shield wicket taker last season, when he collected 41 victims at 20.43.

The second and final four-day match begins on Thursday.

Australia A squad Phillip Hughes (capt), Marcus Stoinis, Tom Cooper, Peter Forrest, Callum Ferguson, Matthew Wade, Peter Nevill (wk), Steve O'Keefe, Gurinders Sandhu, Chadd Sayers, Clint McKay, Jason Behrendorff.


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Zouks beat Tallawahs on Pietersen's 2014 debut

St Lucia Zouks 144 for 3 (Fletcher 49) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 143 (Walton 48, Mathew 3-15) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mervin Mathew's 3 for 14 set up a shock seven-wicket victory for the St Lucia Zouks over the Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday at Warner Park in St Kitts. The Zouks registered just their second win of the season while the Tallawahs wasted a chance to leapfrog the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel into sole possession of first place in CPL 2014.

The Tallawahs got off to a decent start after being sent in to bat as Chadwick Walton bashed five sixes on his way to top-scoring with 48 opening the innings. However, no one else in the top five made it past 10. Darren Sammy caused some middle order damage with the wickets of Owais Shah and Adam Voges for 8 and 4 respectively.

Mathew made further inroads with the wickets of Nkrumah Bonner for 10 and Andre Russell for 18 to deprive the Tallawahs their best chance of a strong finishing kick to the innings. Mathew dismissed Jerome Taylor on the first ball of the 20th for the last Tallawahs wicket as they were wiped out for 143, a paltry total considering the tiny boundaries at Warner Park.

After Daniel Vettori removed Johnson Charles in the fifth over for 16, Andre Fletcher and Kevin Pietersen produced a 60-run stand for the second wicket as the Zouks coasted toward the below par target. Pietersen's mere presence underscored how badly he was missed throughout the earlier part of a season in which the Zouks middle order routinely folded cheaply. Fletcher played with increasing freedom and finished with a game-high 49 off 35 balls before he fell leg before to Russell in the 13th.

Pietersen only made 23 by the time he was dismissed in the 16th to make it 119 for 3, but the stability he provided took pressure of the rest of the Zouks squad. Henry Davids (29 not out) and Sohail Tanvir (20 not out) finished off the match with ease as Tanvir clubbed two sixes in the 18th to finish off the game with 15 balls to spare.


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Clive Lloyd to head West Indies selection panel

Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd has been named the new convenor of the selection panel, which includes former fast bowlers Eldine Baptiste and Courtney Walsh as new appointees in place of Clyde Butts and Robert Haynes.

Former wicketkeeper Courtney Browne was retained on the panel, while West Indies coach Ottis Gibson also has a spot on the committee, as does the respective captain as a non-voting member. Lloyd's contract is for a two-year term.

The changes were approved at a WICB directors' meeting on July 12 in Antigua. "We welcome the introduction of Clive Lloyd - one of the true legends of West Indies cricket -to the selection panel for the first time," said WICB's director of cricket Richard Pybus. "We are also glad that an iconic fast bowler like Courtney Walsh, and highly-experienced, former international player and coach like Eldine Baptiste have accepted to perform this important function.

"Courtney Browne is retained on the panel as both selector and regional talent manager, with a specialist focus on youth and women's cricket."

The new panel will convene for the first time during the course of the week, with their first main task being the selection of the West Indies Test team for the home series against Bangladesh in September.


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Batting failures hurting India - Dhoni

This defeat will hurt us - Dhoni

MS Dhoni, India's captain, conceded that the failure of his specialist batsmen had been the biggest reason for England taking a 2-1 series lead with one Test left in the five-match series. Dhoni said that India lost the Old Trafford Test virtually in the first hour of the match, when India were reduced to an abysmal 8 for 4 after Dhoni had elected to bat.

Shortly after lunch, they were six down, and even though Dhoni, in the company of R Ashwin, put up a brave fight India could just manage a paltry 152. On Saturday, India once again folded easily in less than two sessions, to give Alastair Cook's team the advantage going into the final Test at The Oval, which starts on Friday. Importantly, after their thrilling victory at Lord's, India have failed to win a session convincingly.

"What is important is to put runs on the board," Dhoni said. "To some extent, Lord's and the performance of the eight, nine, ten and eleven so far in the series camouflaged the question of the top order not performing. But when you are playing with five bowlers, the fifth bowler actually has scored more runs for us. That actually puts pressure on, whatever the reason may be. May be a few of the batsmen are having a lean period at the same time. But overall we will have to put more runs on the board so that the bowlers can get the opposition out."

According to Dhoni, the failure of his batsmen in this Test was more exposed because the lower order, which had rallied in the first three Tests, also failed in Manchester. "First few Test matches, the performance of our batters got camouflaged," Dhoni said. "Stuart [Binny] got runs in the first Test match along with [Mohammed] Shami, Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] and others. No one really asked the question, we are playing with one batter less so is it up to the batsmen to take the responsibility. That trend continued forward with the batting department. It is just that the lower order did not contribute in this Test match so it seems we have not scored runs."

Dhoni said the India batsmen have to learn to play time and force the opposition to bowl to them rather than go chasing the ball outside their comfort zone. "Once you see off the first 20-25 overs, when the ball is hard and new, it gets relatively better for the batsmen to bat. You just have to pull the bowler towards you rather than going outside off and looking for the big shot. If you can look to push them to bowl to you actually you can control the swing much better and you can play your strokes. That is something to an extent we lacked.

"Also the fact we lost six wickets in the first half an hour and that had a very big impact on the game. A lot things had consequences in this Test match. Hopefully we will get the learning out of it and move into the next one which I feel will be very important to us."

Astonishingly, India batted a total of 89.4 overs across two innings compared to England's 105.3 overs. Once again Dhoni said the onus was on his batsmen to stand up and deliver especially since India were playing only six batsmen, himself included. "The batting department will have to improve, especially since we are playing a batter less," Dhoni said. "That extra bowler is actually contributing both with ball and bat. Still the top five or six batters will have to get more runs to make the bowlers feel more comfortable."

Dhoni defended playing six batsmen and an extra bowler, saying he did not have a choice. Asked as to whether it was now time to drop Ravindra Jadeja, who has failed consistently with both ball and bat barring his spirited half-century in the Lord's Test victory, Dhoni disagreed.

"Again the problem is who do you have to replace him?" Dhoni said. "Again you will fall back on the same thing of going with an extra batter and not having that fifth bowler when you really need him. That is how Jadeja plays. The more he plays the better he will get. We are hoping that it happens soon. We have seen glimpses of it. He will have to back himself to play the same kind of cricket. That is something that will give him the confidence. Hopefully he will keep hitting the ball."

In Manchester, Jadeja managed just one wicket on a pitch that offered good bounce. Moeen Ali, England's allegedly part-time spinner, struck four times to raise his series tally to 19 wickets.

Dhoni would not be forced to be drawn into comparisons, but pointed out that the biggest factor in Moeen's success was his persistence of maintaining length and lines. "He is quite a consistent bowler. He keeps pitching in the same areas. He is quite good and uses the drift," Dhoni said. "Why can't we copy him? It is a very difficult thing. He has his own trajectory. He keeps bowling in one area and is quite willing to bowl that way. He is very persistent with his lengths. The odd ball turns and the others are just straight. He wants to keep it very tight. And if you want to take him on you can try your luck otherwise he may get a wicket. Our bowlers are different. They have their own way of bowling. It is not easy to copy a bowler."

Moeen's success has raised the point about Indians being better players of spin and whether that is actually true. Again in this Test, the India middle order tried to charge him or play aggressively but failed.

Dhoni did not find any fault with that method. "It is important to be positive. We will lose a few wickets. At the same time we will have to put pressure back on him. If in doing that you lose a few wickets that is still good for you because that pushes the opposition to use their fast bowlers more. That is something we will have to follow. Pujara got a tough decision but others he bowled well to get them out."


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England jigsaw coming together

England's upswing has been pleasing for a number of reasons - but there are still ways in which the system could work better

#politeenquiries: Should Kohli be dropped?

Any victory would have been welcome. After the disappointment of Australia and the drubbing at Lord's, any sign that England had turned a corner was going to be greeted with relief.

But for England to win so convincingly, for England to win consecutive Tests for the first time since July 2013, for England to win within three days after losing the toss and with their younger players contributing so significantly, represented a genuine and heartening step forward in the development of this new-look side.

We should be cautious about reaching too many conclusions. That India lost nine wickets in 23 overs after tea on a blameless pitch spoke volumes about a side that was mentally broken. That a captain as experienced as MS Dhoni would charge down the pitch and slog to midwicket when he must have known that poor weather was forecast for days four and five was a dereliction of duty that will prove hard to justify.

Not since 2005 have India scored fewer runs in a Test and not since 1967 have they been defeated by England in three days. Whatever the rights and the wrongs of the Anderson-Jadeja incident, it appears to have distracted India and they have, arguably at least, won only one of the last 21 sessions of cricket between the sides. Suffice to say, England will face far tougher opposition.

But it is not long since England were thrashed by this India team at Lord's. And it not long since England bemoaned their lack of spin options and their lack of keeping options. It is not long since the doubts over Alastair Cook's future and the remnants of the Kevin Pietersen debacle dominated coverage of the team. So it now seems safe to conclude, albeit with some caveats, that a few pieces of the jigsaw are coming together for England.

The most pleasing aspect of this performance is not that Stuart Broad and James Anderson were close to their best with the ball. And it is not that Ian Bell looked something close to his best with the bat. While the contribution of such senior players was welcome, it should also be expected.

No, the most pleasing aspect was the contribution of the younger players who continue to deliver under pressure and continue to offer huge promise for the future.

The final day of this Test presented a significant challenge for them. The lead was still small at the start of the day and the experienced batsmen had already been dismissed. But Joe Root and Jos Buttler, two 23-year-olds with bright futures, first saw off the bowlers at their freshest and then accelerated against the second new ball and a seam attack lacking experience.

After showing his aggression at Southampton, Buttler showed his ability to defend here. It was not faultless - he was dropped on 34 and should have been run-out on 44 - but he has now contributed exactly the sort of innings required for his team in both his Test innings. It will be worth remembering such achievements when he has the inevitable less bright days.

Root, too, may face tougher challenges on quicker pitches and against better attacks. But he is fast developing into England's middle-order rock: capable of defending or accelerating as required and blessed with the change of gear to render him immensely value. He has already enjoyed a golden summer and there seems no reason it should be an aberration.

Then, with Broad unavailable, Anderson unwell - he was off the pitch for more than half an hour - and there being little lateral movement available for the bowlers, there was some pressure on the attack. They knew that the weather forecasts were poor and they knew that they might have only two sessions available in which to win this game. And, largely, they delivered.

It was not a perfect performance. While Chris Woakes produced a fine delivery to account for M Vijay - those who suggested he could only bowl the outswinger must have been surprised by the one that nipped back - and Chris Jordan ended the game with a nice bouncer-yorker combination, both young seamers struggled for the requisite consistency. England were blessed that Anderson, despite his illness, was able to take two top-order wickets: he has now bowled 30 balls at Virat Kohli in this series and dismissed him four times for a cost of seven runs.

But Moeen Ali continues to improve and impress in equal measure. The pace at which he bowls, the drift he achieves and the turn he can generate should render him an asset on any surface. He remains a work in progress - and continues to work on his doosra - but he has now become, in terms of days, the quickest England offspinner in history to 20 Test wickets: it took him 58 days. For a few minutes in mid-afternoon, his bowling average even dropped below that of his friend and mentor, Saeed Ajmal.

It is customary to only look for areas in which to improve in times of defeat. But if England really want to improve, if they want to make success the norm and not the exception, there are several areas in which they need to improve to give it the best chance of success. They are:

  • The Championship needs to be trusted and valued. It has, once again, produced a side that has taken to Test cricket quickly. But if the ECB keeps diluting it with Lions games, young player incentives and the like, the production line could be jeopardised.
  • The Championship schedule needs to be amended so that there are games throughout the season, not just at the start and end. This will provide more opportunities for spinners and test batsmen and bowlers in a variety of conditions. Domestic T20 could still be played on Friday nights; domestic List A cricket could still be played on Sundays. County squads need to be deep enough to play Championship cricket from Monday to Thursday.
  • Groundsmen need to be encouraged and trusted to produce pitches that offer pace, bounce or spin at times. At present, with groundsmen facing judgement from assessors every day, they tend to play safe with slow, low surfaces which provide assistance to modest seamers and bear little comparison to international cricket.
  • Unorthodoxy needs to be encouraged. What England still call "mystery" spin is a mystery no longer in most of the Test-playing world and, while a bowler like Lasith Malinga has proved good enough to win global events for Sri Lanka, such a young bowler emerging in England would probably still have the genius coached out of him.
  • The new ball is currently due after 80 overs in Championship cricket. It may well encourage spinners and make seamers work a little harder, if that was pushed back to 90 or even 100 overs.
  • The schedule of individual players needs to be monitored. While it may well be unrealistic to expect a significant cut in the international schedule - the game is dependent on a certain level of income - the current demands on the top players are unsustainable. Those of the squad required in all three formats are expected to spend around 300 days a years in hotels in 2015. There is no way they can be expected to be at their best for that period.
  • In an attempt to encourage young, English-qualified players, the ECB lobbied for tougher work permit criteria for overseas, Kolpak registrations and the like in county cricket. Combined with the incentives brought in to encourage younger players, this has resulted in a dilution in the depth of quality of county cricket. That risks creating a larger gap between domestic and international cricket and may well need changing. As the example of Saeed Ajmal at Worcestershire shows us, there can be great value for England in the appearance of overseas players in county cricket.
  • In the longer-term, the lack of cricket on free-to-air television represents a serious threat to the development of new talent in England. Already, England are uncomfortably reliant on players from the private school system or those brought up, in part at least, abroad. With so many other sports competing to capture the imagination of young people, it is essential cricket finds a way to appeal more widely. A domestic knockout T20 competition, perhaps incorporating the minor counties, might be one method to appeal to areas currently left untouched.

The last couple of weeks have been hugely encouraging for England cricket. But the sense remains that, all too often, victory is in spite of part of the system and not because of it.


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