Farhat looking to cement place

Imran Farhat, the Pakistan batsman, has been around international cricket since 2001 but has never been a regular in the side for too long. In the last 12 years, he has only managed to play 53 ODIs at 32.45 and given the number of his matches he has opened with as many as nine partners.

Farhat's career has often been overshadowed by the fact that his father-in-law is Mohammad Ilyas, a key figure in the PCB over the past decade. "This is the notion I want to clear," Farhat said on sidelines of the training camp at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. "He [Ilyas] has his own status but I never took advantage of it. I would have been playing cricket for Pakistan even if we weren't associated. It is in front of everyone that whenever I make a comeback it is due to my domestic performances.

"I have been playing my own cricket and nobody is there to help at the pitch where you are on your own. I have my own goals and have always been very committed to my game and I never discuss it with him. If I perform it's good and if I don't, I never worry. Cricket is my bread and butter, and I want to play cricket and kept myself busy with it. Playing international cricket is like a reward against performances in the domestic cricket. The only reason I am in the team at the moment is my performance as I have scored enough runs to win a place."

Farhat is in fluent form at the moment. He marked himself with a triple-century in domestic cricket earlier this year and was recalled to the Test squad for the South Africa tour and retained for the ODIs as well. Since than Farhat has been looking to cement a spot in the top three. "I am much more experienced now and can manage any position and ready to play at any order [between 1 and 3] the team management wants.

"I am more confident than ever and working extremely hard," Farhat said. "I just want to make as much contribution as possible for my team whenever I get selected. However, the snub from national team has never been a frustration for me."

Pakistan had a targeted practice match during their training camp in Abbottabad with Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal hitting 92 and 66 respectively. Again, like in last five days, the camp was mainly focused on the batsmen, giving them ample practice before leaving for Scotland ahead of the Champions Trophy.

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Dwayne Smith back at Sussex for T20

Dwayne Smith, the West Indies allrounder, has been re-signed by Sussex as an overseas player for the Friends Life t20. Smith previously played in all formats for the county on a Kolpak agreement in 2008 and 2009, then as an overseas T20 signing the following year.

Smith hit 59 from 26 balls to help Sussex to victory in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup final, part of a limited-overs double with the Pro40 league, which they also won in 2008. Smith, 30, who is currently playing in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, will join former New Zealand international Scott Styris as Sussex's overseas players.

"I'm very happy to be joining Sussex again," Smith said. "I can't wait to get back to my second home and the lovely crowd at Hove."

Having played 87 ODIs, to go with 10 Tests and 17 T20 internationals, Smith last week missed out on selection for West Indies' Champions Trophy squad. Sussex, who were beaten semi-finalists in last season's FLt20, will begin their campaign at home to Surrey on June 28.

Sussex's professional cricket manager, Mark Robinson, said: "Dwayne has the ability to win games by himself with the bat, he is a more-than-useful bowler and he is one of the best fielders ever to have been seen at Hove. He is immensely popular with the players, the members and the sponsors and everybody is excited about his return."

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Responsible Napier rallies Essex

Lancashire 7 for 1 trail Essex 226 (Napier 102*, Procter 4-66) by 219 runs
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There are few more thrilling sights in domestic cricket than Graham Napier in full flow, demonstrating an ability for clean hitting that has been matched by few. It once earned him a lucrative contract in the IPL and, briefly, a place in England's Twenty20 World Cup squad back in 2009.

Now 33, and in the autumn stages of his career, he has belatedly found a consistency that many feared was beyond a player capable of destructive brilliance but rarely able to play responsible innings. It is a theme he has brought to an abrupt halt this summer, with a prolific start to the season that culminated in an unbroken century on a difficult Old Trafford wicket.

Arriving at the crease with Essex in trouble at 77 for 5 after Luke Procter, Lancashire's allrounder, claimed 4 for 8 in 28 balls either side of lunch, this was not a typical Napier innings. It lasted over two and a half hours and, by the time he had run out of partners, he had guided Essex to a respectable 226 by adding 99 priceless runs for the last four wickets.

He resisted his naturally attacking instincts until the 163rd ball of his innings, when he finally cut loose and pulled Glen Chapple for six, and by the time he added the second maximum to reach his century he had been dropped three times. Just to underline the importance of his innings for Essex, they finished on a high with Reece Topley surprising Paul Horton with extra bounce from the final ball of the day.

"I'm getting older so you mature a little bit and you have greater experience," said Napier, whose unbeaten 102 took his tally to 340 Championship runs in six innings this season. "If I'd been in that position a couple of years ago, I may have played a rash shot and thrown my wicket away, so valuing my wicket comes into it, but also the responsibility of coming in at number seven.

"I haven't done that for Essex for a long time and that brings responsibility as a player because it's a key role. If you can hang around, bat with the tail, you can create an environment where you can score runs but also keep us batting as long as we can."

For the early part of the day it appeared ball would dominate bat on a green-tinged wicket with far greater bounce and carry than those featured in Lancashire's draws with Kent and Worcestershire already this summer. Procter was particularly effective from the Pavilion End and claimed the prize wicket of Alastair Cook, edging behind trying to drive, in his final match before resuming England captaincy duties.

Procter should have claimed five wickets but Napier, on 9, was dropped by Horton at first slip. It was a costly miss with Napier going on to demonstrate the art of batting with the tail. Sajid Mahmood showed intent on his return to Lancashire several months after his acrimonious departure before holing out in the deep to give left-arm spinner Stephen Parry, playing his first Championship appearance since 2009 in place of Lions-bound Simon Kerrigan, the second of two wickets.

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Rashid proves agreeable for Yorkshire

Yorkshire 332 for 5 (Rashid 120*, Ballance 107) v Somerset
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According to Adil Rashid, he and Yorkshire have "come to an agreement". That was something Ajmal Shahzad could never claim. Shahzad was packed off for what was perceived as a headstrong insistence on his right to be a free spirit. There is reason to anticipate that Rashid can write a happier ending.

To keep faith with their talented production line of Asian cricketers, Yorkshire need that happy ending as much as Rashid does.

"We have come to an agreement." How many times have such words been uttered in Yorkshire cricket over the decades only for them to be worthless by the next morning? Perhaps they were more uncompromising times. There was something in Rashid's unbeaten 120 on a gloriously sunny Headingley day that promised much, the conviction of his crouching, thou-shall-not-pass defence; the rasp of his cuts; his wristy working of the leg side, a most un-Yorkshire skill that one.

Two England selectors were at Headingley, Geoff Miller and James Whitaker. Their interest will have primarily been in Gary Ballance, Rashid having long disappeared off their radar as his command of his legspin faltered, but they could not fail to be impressed by the sight of an allrounder seemingly more at peace with his game. A career that has involved three England tours and an experimental use as an attacking Twenty20 bowler might one day - although not imminently - have a second coming.

"Yorkshire Are Ruining Me" was the headline last month, as Rashid complained that his captain, Andrew Gale, did not understand legspin, that he needed more faith in his ability if he was to express himself and that if he had another year like 2012 he would be "dropping down, down, down and gone". The irony was that he had made the comments in January and by the time they became public knowledge, a better understanding was already in place.

"Everything's sorted," Rashid said. "We're all getting along nicely. This season my confidence has been quite high so I'm looking to carry that on and perform day in, day out. You have your good days and bad days but I'm in an okay place.

"I was looking for a bit of freedom to play my game. It was about the fact that you know your game and you have been playing long enough to know what to do. It was about all about communicating with the captain and the coach and coming to an agreement."

Part of the problem was that when it came to Yorkshire stereotypes, Rashid could compete with the best in his ability to be monosyllabic. Such introversion hardly seemed the natural accompaniment for a player yearning to attack, whether he had a ball or a bat in his hand.

At 25, he is looking - and sounding - more confident in himself. Batting conditions had not entirely eased when Rashid came in at 89 for 4 but he shared in a record Yorkshire fifth-wicket stand at Headingley of 207 in 62 overs with Ballance, whose own hundred, a pugnacious affair ended when he fell lbw to a full delivery from Steve Kirby, played a major part in reshaping the match by the close. This looks to be another belting batting surface and Yorkshire will be well aware that Derbyshire made 475 in their first innings here last week and lost.

Batting Rashid at No. 6 should be part of the New Deal. "I haven't batted at six for a long time. It was nice to have that responsibility," he said. This was his fifth first-class century and his first for four years, an indication of lost time.

Somerset had a fruitful morning. When Rashid came in, four wickets had fallen by the 26th over, Phil Jacques had just been pouched by Marcus Trescothick at first slip and, if Trescothick had held a low catch when Jaques was 22, the situation could have been direr. The first three wickets had fallen to wicketkeeping catches by Jos Buttler, the best of them a diving effort to dismiss Adam Lyth.

Rashid and Ballance proved that the stability which Joe Root had brought to Yorkshire's season with the two most domineering innings of his life - back-to-back hundreds to drive home victories against Durham and Derbyshire - had not necessarily departed with him. Somerset's day became wearier by the hour and long before the close the disposition of the Yorkshire members was once again almost as sunny as the weather.

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Holders Hampshire downed by Davies

Surrey 229 for 1 (Davies 127*, Smith 74) beat Hampshire 228 (Ansari 4-46) by nine wickets
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Steven Davies fired a career-best 127 not out as Surrey claimed a convincing nine-wicket win over reigning champions Hampshire at The Oval. It was Davies' sixth one-day hundred, coming in 81 balls.

He and opening partner Graeme Smith, who scored a quick-fire 74 from 75 balls, shared an opening stand of 162 in 21 overs after Zafar Ansari helped to restrict Hampshire to a modest 228 all out with a career-best of 4 for 46.

Surrey already had 43 on the board by the end of the fourth over of their reply, with Davies warming up by pulling James Tomlinson for six. Nine overs later, Davies simultaneously took the hosts to three figures in addition to bringing up his half-century, which came off 43 deliveries.

Smith, meanwhile, eased to a 36-ball fifty in the fifteenth over before he was caught at wide long-on off Liam Dawson six overs later for 74, though not before lifting Hamza Riazuddin back over his head for six.

Davies moved to 98 with a second six off Michael Carberry and in the 26th over, brought up his hundred, continuing his fine start to the season, with ten fours and three sixes. Vikram Solanki also chipped in with an unbeaten 22 as he and Davies saw Surrey home with more than eight overs to spare.

Earlier, after winning the toss, Hampshire were indebted to Sean Ervine's 63 from 70 deliveries for their total of 228. James Vince and Jimmy Adams overcame the departure of Carberry, to a thin edge off Jade Dernbach, to give the innings some early impetus.

But after Vince was caught at deep square leg off Jon Lewis in the ninth over, the visitors became bogged down against the spin of Ansari and Gareth Batty.

With George Bailey and Adams both holing out to long-on, Hampshire were 89 for 4 in the 18th over. Ervine then took charge, initially by bringing up the hundred for the Royals with a straight six off Gary Keedy.

Dawson and Ervine added 54 in nine overs for the fifth wicket before a superb catch, at short extra cover by Smith off Ansari, drew a line under a resourceful knock of 36 from Dawson. Ansari struck again when Adam Wheater was stumped two overs later, though not before Ervine, on 31, was dropped off a bottom edge off Batty.

After Chris Wood had been run out at the non-striker's end by Davies, Ervine brought up a 61-ball half-century with the second of two successive fours through midwicket off Dernbach. But Hampshire's innings slipped away after Ervine, looking to launch Ansari into the pavilion, was bowled.

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Nash proves just enough for Kent

Kent 239 for 8 (Nash 98) beat Warwickshire 238 (Chopra 65, Patel 50) by one run
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Brendan Nash's best one-day performance for Kent proved decisive as they squeezed past Warwickshire with a frantic one-run victory at Edgbaston.

Nash, the former West Indies batsman, made an unbeaten 98 that lifted his side to 239 for 9. Warwickshire slumped to 185 for 8 in reply with 55 wanted from six overs but Jeetan Patel ensured a fluctuating contest went down to the wire

Patel set about the bowlers with two sixes and six fours in a whirlwind 27-ball innings that threatened to pull off a dramatic rescue act for Warwickshire. It eventually came down to the last ball and two runs needed, but Patel's heroics in making 50, his best one-day score, came to nothing when we was run out by Adam Ball.

Kent were well in charge when the spin bowling of James Tredwell and his 21-year-old partner Adam Riley knocked Warwickshire off course. Riley crucially dismissed William Porterfield lbw for 47, and Tredwell captured the prized wicket when Varun Chopra was well caught at mid-off after making 67 in his build-up for England Lions duty later in the week.

While Chopra played a measured innings, it was a mixed day for Warwickshire's other England candidates, either those in the Test team or others pushing for selection. Ian Bell looked in imperious form in making 35, driving successive sixes off Mark Davies over long-on, but failed to clear midwicket off Matt Coles. Jonathan Trott made only 3 before nicking a catch off Davies.

This came on top of a testing time for Chris Woakes and Chris Wright. The new-ball bowlers, who will be with Chopra in the Lions squad to meet New Zealand at Grace Road on Thursday, conceded 101 runs between them, although Woakes did pick up a couple of wickets.

Kent may have promised more than they delivered after losing the toss. Rob Key made a brisk start with 44 until pulling offspinner Patel to midwicket, and as much as Nash kept the board ticking over, he struck only seven boundaries from 106 deliveries.

Others attempted to be more destructive, notably Adam Ball with five fours in a rapid 28 and Coles with successive sixes off Woakes in reaching 20 from 11 balls.

That Kent were unable kick on in the middle overs of their innings was mostly due to Darren Maddy on his first appearance of the season. Maddy, 39 later this month, took two wickets in five balls and held three catches, the first of these removing Key after a stand of 85 with Nash.

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North hundred too much for Middlesex

Glamorgan 280 for 3 (North 137) beat Middlesex 254 for 9 (Berg 75, Owen 3-48, Hogan 3-57) by 26 runs
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Marcus North hit a brilliant 137 not out as Glamorgan made it two wins from two matches in this season's Yorkshire Bank 40 by overpowering a below-par Middlesex by 26 runs at Lord's.

Glamorgan skipper and former Australia batsman North led from the front. He hit 16 fours and three sixes in his 98-ball innings and featured in an unbroken stand of 156 in just 16.3 overs with Jim Allenby, who scored 69 not out from 50 balls.

Opener Will Bragg also contributed a 72-ball 62, riding some early luck against the new ball after Middlesex had decided to bowl first on an excellent surface.

Bragg's partnership of 86 in 16 overs with North got the Glamorgan innings going again after they slid to 38 for 2 when Mark Wallace was caught at first slip and Chris Cooke, later in the same over, was run out by Joe Denly's direct hit from cover.

Dawid Malan, Chris Rogers and Paul Stirling all briefly threatened to do something spectacular at the top of the Middlesex batting order but Will Owen took three wickets in 18 balls from the Pavilion End, after Allenby had initially removed Rogers.

And, with slow left-arm spinner Dean Cosker also putting in a tight spell, it was only a matter of time from 110 for 4 - despite Berg's late hitting - before Glamorgan's victory was confirmed. Berg made a brave 75 from 57 balls but it only served to reduce the margin of victory.

It was a fine effort by Glamorgan, who had totalled 285 for 7 from their 40 overs in the previous day's 28-run win against Yorkshire at Colwyn Bay but then had to endure a near five-hour journey to London from north Wales before waking up to prepare for this match.

Rogers, fresh from his match-saving County Championship double hundred against Surrey, produced some eye-catching strokes in his 22 before being caught off a leading edge at cover, but Malan had already survived a stumping chance on 35 when he fell at the same score, lifting a catch to point off Owen.

Denly went for 11, caught at the wicket driving loosely at a wider ball from Owen, who then struck a crucial blow for his team by bowling the hard-hitting Stirling for 36 through an ugly legside heave.

Neil Dexter drove one six over long on against Michael Hogan in his 24, but Hogan soon had him caught at deep cover and Berg was then left with only the tail for company. He hit Owen for two defiant sixes but saw wickets continue to tumble as John Simpson was caught at deep mid-off, Josh Davey was held at deep midwicket and Toby Roland-Jones also hit a catch into the deep. Berg was finally ninth out, bowled by Hogan after hitting six fours besides his two sixes.

The North-Allenby partnership was far too much for Middlesex. Hardly anything got past the bat, once they both got their eye in, as they took full advantage of a superb batting pitch and Middlesex's attack was beginning to look very ragged by the time the overs ran out.

The last five overs of the innings brought 60 runs and, in all, 180 runs were plundered from the last 20.3 overs only for the loss of Bragg, who was athletically held by a diving Tom Smith at backward point off Davey.

North's first six was swung over midwicket off a Dexter full toss, just before Glamorgan's 200 arrived in the 34th over, and he later added a powerful hit into the grandstand off Roland-Jones's penultimate ball of the innings.

Allenby, too, produced some meaty blows as he went past 50 from 39 balls, including a full-blooded club over wide long on from a couple of steps down the pitch against an astonished Corey Collymore.

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Alice Springs to host Ashes tour match

Alice Springs will host an international cricket team for the first time in 13 years after Cricket Australia announced England would play a tour match there during the 2013-14 Ashes. Traeger Park is set to host a two-day game between England and the Cricket Australia's Chairman's XI on November 29 and 30 after the original venue, Manuka Oval in Canberra, had to withdraw due to scheduled resurfacing work.

The last time an international team played in Alice Springs was when the West Indies side led by Jimmy Adams played a one-day match there against a Northern Territory Cricket Association Invitation XI in November 2000. The England game will take place after the first Ashes Test in Brisbane and before the second Test at Adelaide Oval.

"When we were informed that Canberra could not host this year's Chairman's XI fixture, we wanted to bring the match to an iconic part of Australia," Andrew Ingleton, CA's executive general manager of game and market development, said. "Alice Springs, set against the backdrop of the MacDonnell Ranges, is an iconic part of our great country and an ideal setting for the game."

Matt Conlan, the Northern Territory's minister for sport and recreation, said it was exciting for the territory to be part of the Ashes battle.

"The Ashes is one of the biggest events in Australian sport and for Alice Springs to have a slice of the action in between the first and second Tests of this highly anticipated series is incredibly exciting," he said. "It's been 13 years since Traeger Park hosted an international cricket team and I'm delighted this drought we now be broken in November."

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Trescothick blitz sees Somerset cruise home

Somerset 184 for 2 (Trescothick 87, Trego 75*) beat Unicorns 183 for 8 (Elstone 75*, Meschede 2-15) by 8 wickets
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Marcus Trescothick blasted eight sixes in a whirlwind 87 to lead Somerset to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Unicorns in a one-sided game at Taunton.

The hosts needed only 15.3 overs to chase down a target of 184, with Trescothick making his runs off just 49 balls and opening partner Peter Trego smashing 75 not out off 38 deliveries, with 10 fours and four sixes.

Scott Elstone's 75 not out was the backbone of a Unicorns total of 183 for 8 after losing the toss. Tom Lancefield hit 38, while Craig Meschede was the pick of the Somerset bowlers with two for 15 from his eight overs.

The result was never in doubt once Trescothick and Trego cut loose with a brutal attack on the Unicorns bowlers. Trescothick hit four sixes off consecutive balls from Josh Poysden and three in succession off Garry Park. He was finally caught at long-off and the successful bowler Paul Hindmarch had Jos Buttler taken at backward square-leg off his next ball.

But by then the outcome had been settled. Trescothick ended with seven fours to go with his abundance of sixes, at times appearing to flick to ball over the ropes with nonchalant ease.

Despite the best efforts of Lancefield and Elstone, Unicorns were never able to gain the necessary momentum to their innings in excellent batting conditions.

Former Surrey batsman Lancefield impressed at the top of the order, finding the boundary four times in his 42-ball innings. But Trego struck twice in the first seven overs, sending back Lewis Hill and Michael O'Shea with only 32 on the board.

Lancefield departed with the score on 65, caught behind to give Meschede the first of his two wickets. The second was former Somerset favourite Keith Parsons, also taken by wicketkeeper Buttler, for a third-ball duck, having received a rousing ovation from home fans.

In between Meschede's wickets, leg-spinner Max Waller had Park caught at deep square off a slog sweep for 22 and it was left to Elstone to boost a modest total with some quality shots, including a six over long-on off Lewis Gregory.

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Taylor ton hands Notts opening win

Nottinghamshire 287 for 4 (Taylor 108) beat Northamptonshire 204 for 8 (Patel 3-30) by 83 runs
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James Taylor hit a fine century as Nottinghamshire opened their Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign in some style with an 83-run win over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. The difference in quality was marked as the visitors, fielding six internationals, batted with real purpose, Taylor scoring 108 off 102 balls, before an efficient job with the ball.

Taylor's century, plus 95 from Samit Patel, saw Nottinghamshire post 287 for 4 from their 40 overs with Northants failing to get going as they fell short of a first win. Andrew Hall hit an unbeaten 58 but it was too late as Patel combined his performance with the bat with the ball taking 3 for 30.

Chris Read called correctly electing to bat, and, after Michael Lumb fell to Trent Copeland in the second over, the visitors made hay on a decent surface.

Alex Hales assumed the dominant role in the initial stages with the initial eight powerplay overs finishing with the score at 48 for 1. Hales reached his 50 off as many balls, two runs after being badly dropped at short fine-leg off Hall, but his innings ended when he aimed a crude swipe at Steven Crook. That brought in Patel and, in collaboration with Taylor, the pair added 149 in under 18 overs.

Taylor's first 50 was relatively sedate, taking 69 balls, but he accelerated markedly to his century with three figures coming up in a further 29 deliveries before he picked out long-on shortly after to give Crook a second wicket.

Patel, dropped twice before reaching 40, was in full flow by this stage but fell five short of his own century, off just 66 balls, when he skied a return catch to Copeland in the final over.

The hosts' reply started promisingly as Stephen Peters, with 21, and Kyle Coetzer, 30, put on 50 in the Powerplay without any undue fuss but their good work quickly unravelled.

Peters, advancing down the pitch to Patel, had his stumps rattled and the same fate befell Coetzer who had his leg stump removed by Jake Ball in the next over. Two then became three as Alex Wakely missed a rashly attempted reverse sweep off Patel and at 63 for 3 a tricky task suddenly looked very difficult indeed.

David Sales then steered a short, wide offering from Ball to backward point as what was 59 without loss before Peters fell, became 64 for 4.

Ben Duckett didn't hang around too long as he gloved a pre-meditated switch hit to Read and Crook was stumped in Graeme Swann's first over. Hall and James Middlebrook provided some belated resistance with 58 and 43 respectively in a partnership of 97 but it was all in vain.

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