Taylor, Wessels pull Notts back

Nottinghamshire 259 for 5 (Wessels 78*, Taylor 78) lead Northamptonshire 248 by 11 runs
Scorecard

James Taylor and Riki Wessels hit half-centuries as Nottinghamshire claimed a first-innings lead over Northamptonshire but with more time lost on a rain-hit third day at Trent Bridge, the contest appeared destined for a draw.

At the close Nottinghamshire were 259 for 5, 11 runs ahead, with Wessels unbeaten on 78. That was the same individual score as Taylor hit in leading Notts' recovery from 30 for 3.

They had slipped into trouble after wrapping up the visitors' first innings for 248 within 19 balls of the resumption. Maurice Chambers and Azharullah were the last men to fall, both to Andy Carter, for the addition of just seven runs to the overnight total.

Alex Hales, Phil Jaques and Michael Lumb all fell cheaply as Notts began their response. But Taylor, overlooked for England's limited-overs squads but still in contention for a Test spot, changed the momentum.

He put on 91 for the fourth wicket with Samit Patel, who made 30, and brought up his half-century amid a flurry of four boundaries in five balls.

His partnership with Wessels was also worth 91 when he fell lbw to spinner James Middlebrook after a 151-ball knock that included 11 fours.

Wessels kept up the pressure and had hit 11 fours and a six in his innings when the latest of several showers during the day's play brought an early close. Captain Chris Read was also unbeaten on 17 at stumps.

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Hampshire make their title pitch

Glamorgan 224 and 185 for 9 (Bragg 74, Abbott 3-43) lead Hampshire 345 by 64 runs
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Both Hampshire and Glamorgan have identical records from their opening four County Championship fixtures but the nature of the respective matches and Hampshire's control of this contest suggests the two sides are destined for different ends of the table. Barring outrageously cruel circumstances, Hampshire will complete victory on day four and move top of Division Two.

Having taken a 115-run first-innings lead, Hampshire rattled off three wickets in 11 overs before lunch and, after a 98-run fifth wicket stand, took 3 for 4 before tea. But for a lengthy rain delay that cost 18 overs of the final session, the match was likely to end inside three days.

Hampshire have assembled the strongest squad in Division Two, with a proven batting line up and a bowling group now led by Kyle Abbott, who could prove the attack leader to take Hampshire to promotion. One day three he took his 17th wicket in his just his third full match of the season (the Surrey fixture was a rain-ruined non-event). The attack also includes Liam Dawson's useful left-arm spin. He sent down 15 overs on day three, conceded only 16 runs and removed Will Bragg and Graham Wagg. Hampshire also have depth with the very capable seamers David Balcombe, Raul Brathwaite and left-armer Chris Wood not playing here.

Balcombe played the first match of the season, where he and Hampshire struggled on a lifeless pitch against Worcestershire. But since then, they beat Gloucestershire well at Bristol and were in control of a rain-affected match at Derby. Essex could prove the main challengers for the Division Two title but it is difficult to see two other sides bettering Hampshire this season.

Their main opposition last year were the pitches at the Ageas Bowl, where only three results ensued, one of those a contrived chase that ended in defeat against Gloucestershire. Given more result wickets at home, and the pitch for this match has been conducive to a fair contest between bat and ball - Michael Carberry called it "encouraging" - and Hampshire have the tools to return to Division One.

Glamorgan have somewhat drifted the wrong way after an impressive opening round victory at The Oval - a result that is gaining more context with each Surrey performance. Rain saved them from defeat against Gloucestershire and they were not too far away from losing to both Worcestershire and Leicestershire.

It is no startling analysis to reveal that Glamorgan have struggled for runs; a common occurrence early-season but with their bowling attack performing well - the highlight being shooting Surrey out for just 81 - their batsman have failed to work them into good positions when opportunities have been presented.

Jacques Rudolph, the former South Africa Test batsman with bags of county experience chiefly with Yorkshire, has so far been an abject failure. Here he collected his sixth single-figure score in four matches. His two half-centuries at Leicester were only modest efforts on a pitch where the home side put up 500 in the first innings. Rudolph has not been the answer to Glamorgan's struggles at the top of the order. His dismissal on the third day was similar to his first-innings wicket: a stroke of little confidence from the crease and an edge behind the wicket.

Rudolph's opening partner, Gareth Rees, also collected his sixth single-figure score of the season, a duck as a full James Tomlinson delivery speared past him. Murray Goodwin played a hideous stroke just before lunch, driving to edge to a diving Carberry in the gully. Goodwin is yet to find the form of last season that triggered a contract extension.

When Goodwin fell, Glamorgan had lost three wickets with the score on 9 and a three-day defeat was looming large. But at least one of their top-order players is in steady form. Bragg made a match-saving 91 not out against Worcestershire and here compiled a 75-ball half-century with 10 boundaries that was a nod to his slightly boom or bust style. He is a strokemaker. Hampshire bowled a little straight at him.

Bragg and the more obdurate Jim Allenby added 98 for the fifth wicket, making progress that suggested Glamorgan could set a tricky target. It was even healthier at 158 for 4 until Stuart Walters leaned much too far outside off for a defensive stroke and edged to second slip.

Tea came at the wrong time for them. After the interval, Allenby added only four before being trapped lbw by Abbott and Bragg made only two more before edging Dawson to Michael Bates. With both batsmen dismissed within seven balls of each other, Hampshire were changing up gears again and Abbott removed Mark Wallace for a duck - Glamorgan would have banked on their dependable captain to boost their lead which at just 64 is currently far too slender to cause Hampshire any problems in the fourth innings.

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Essex upset Sri Lankans on murky night

Essex 161 for 5 (Cook 71, Foakes 51) beat Sri Lankans 146 for 9 (Chandimal 3-31, Newby 3-36) by 22 runs (D/L method)
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Sri Lanka were given a harsh introduction to the challenge of English conditions as they subsided to a 22-run loss on the D/L method on a damp night in Chelmsford.

In dank conditions that could hardly have differed more from those found in the sub-continent, Sri Lanka were undone by a second-string attack that included three man making List A debuts for Essex and, unlikely though it sounds, a fine catch by Monty Panesar.

Indeed, while Sri Lanka might have expected to struggle against seam bowlers in these conditions, they lost four wickets to the Essex spinners with Panesar, playing his first List A game since August 2012, taking two wickets as reward for a spell full of variation; not a description that could always be applied to him.

But perhaps his key intervention came in the field. With Dinesh Chandimal threatening to turn the game in his side's favour, Panesar held on to a sharp catch at long leg off a full-blooded hook to all but seal the match.

In truth, Panesar misjudged the chance a little, over-running the ball and almost seeing it sail well over him. But so impressive was his adjustment that he was able to cling on to the ball far above his head and end Sri Lanka's last realistic hope of victory.

It meant that an Essex side missing almost its entire first-choice attack beat the side crowned World T20 Champions just over a month ago in a match reduced by rain to 21-overs a side.

It would be wrong to read much into this defeat, though. After rain caused a five-hour break in play, Sri Lanka opted to give several part-time bowlers a run-out - Lahiru Thirimanne had previously only bowled 60 deliveries in his List A career - and conditions were probably on the borderline of acceptability with a slippery outfield and a pitch offering substantial help to the seam bowlers.

Oliver Newby, a loan signing from Lancashire, made the key inroads. After having Kusal Perera trapped leg before, he produced an unplayable delivery - one that pitched on middle and moved like a fast leg-break - to take the edge of Mahela Jayawardene's bat.

With Tillakaratne Dilshan bowled by what appeared to be a deliberate arm ball from Panesar - he changed his action often and appeared to push that delivery into the batsman with a lower arm - and Greg Smith holding one back to deceive Thirimanne and then seeing Angelo Mathews held in the outfield, Sri Lanka were never able to exploit an attack that included Matt Salisbury, a 21-year-old on List A debut, and Reece Topley, who was enjoying his first bowl of the season following a stress fracture.

Earlier Alastair Cook bludgeoned his way to a half-century to help Essex overcome a poor start. For a good portion of his innings, Cook mistimed the ball horribly, surviving near misses on 32 and 37 and barely managing a clean stroke. It took him until the 19th over of the innings to register his 50.

But he gained in fluency as his innings progressed and, having reached his 50 from 44 balls with a scooped sweep for six off Perera, he embarked on a run that saw him score 22 from five deliveries. If the highlight was another scooped six, he also demonstrated his growing range of strokes with a powerful pull for four and a drive down the ground.

But the most eye-catching batting of the innings came from Ben Foakes. The 21-year-old has been seen as a future England keeper for some time and here showed his batting class with a half-century from just 30 balls. He slog-swept successive sixes off Dilshan and timed the ball unusually well off his hips. It was only the second List A half-century of his career, but contained a good deal of promise.

Cook and Foakes added 82 for the fourth-wicket in nine overs to help Essex recover from the depths of 21 for 3 in the seventh over. After Mark Pettini was trapped in front, Smith's loose drive was beaten by a straight one and Ravi Bopara was caught on the crease by one that nipped back having been set up by one that nipped away by the impressive Suranga Lakmal. His first four overs cost only eight runs.

But while Sri Lanka conceded only 46 from their first 10 overs, the final 11 of the Essex innings cost 115. In tricky conditions, it was to prove too much.

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Borthwick learns from the master

Durham 137 for 2 (Borthwick 84*) trail Sussex 505 for 9 dec by 368 runs
Scorecard

This game seems destined to end in a draw, with more than 100 overs lost so far and Sussex, the only side with a puncher's chance of victory, requiring 18 wickets or some generous collusion in the time remaining. Three extra points will not be a great deal of help to either side at their respective ends of the table but, on a personal level, the experience at Hove on the third day may come in useful for the two batsmen who spent much of it dodging the showers.

Scott Borthwick's chances of retaining his place as England's Test spinner appear to be slim, with Moeen Ali favoured as a batsman able to turn his wrist over in a spare moment, but while Borthwick has only taken three Championship wickets so far this year, runs may be more important to his case. He scored 1000 of them after being promoted to No. 3 for Durham last season and this was his first significant knock of 2014.

Most of his unbeaten 84 came whilst batting alongside Kumar Sangakkara, who was able to offer the perspective of a Test No. 3 during their chats between overs. Borthwick could still find himself lining up against Sangakkara when the first Test against Sri Lanka begins next month but here the two shared in a 103-run partnership that was to the benefit of Durham, helping guide the depleted champions towards a safer promontory in this match.

Afterwards, Sangakkara said Borthwick's innings was "just what you want from a number three", which is quite a compliment from someone who has batted there 186 times in Tests. Borthwick, meanwhile, described Sangakkara in the more modern argot as an "absolute cricket badger", for his propensity to impart wisdom about the game during rain breaks or when taking his new team-mates out for dinner.

"He's fantastic to bat with, so relaxed and calm, always helping me along the way," Borthwick said. "It was an absolute honour for me to bat with him and get a hundred-run partnership. Hopefully we can double up tomorrow, and he gets in and I can stand at the other end and watch him blaze it everywhere."

Sangakkara joined Durham for two Championship games in order to ease him into English conditions - though he dutifully stressed his commitment to helping the club while he is here. After making 0 and 14 against Yorkshire last week, he watchfully made certain of a more extended outing this time. With the players on and off repeatedly during the morning and afternoon, this was the perfect warm-up for an acclimatising Sri Lankan - if only in the figurative sense.

He survived a couple of chances off Steve Magoffin, one an edge that flashed through the hands of Michael Yardy at slip when he had 20, and was struck a wince-inducing blow on the box by the same bowler. For the most part he confined himself to leaving, defending and nurdling, though there was a glimpse of something more flowing when he drove Luke Wright to the cover boundary to move into double figures. He might have had a moment of fond reflection when facing the bowling of Jon Lewis, whose only Test was Sri Lanka's last win in England back in 2006.

Borthwick also had his tougher periods against Magoffin, who extracted more bounce than either Lewis or James Anyon, and steered several thick edges either short or wide of the slips. There were plenty of pleasing strokes intermingled, however, including consecutive boundaries off Anyon to move to fifty and a pitching-wedge pull over the short, leg-side boundary that sailed into the members' stand and back out again.

While the skies around the ground looked ominously empurpled - to borrow a description usually reserved for Alex Ferguson's cheeks - for most of the day, initially the rain fell elsewhere. Sussex declared their first innings on 505 for 9 and Anyon took a wicket with his first ball before ten minutes were lost to a brief shower. The morning session was further curtailed as the pitch received another quick spritzing on the brink of lunch but it was only when they went off for a fourth time during the afternoon, with 45.2 overs bowled, that the rainfall was allowed to have won.

Durham's third-wicket pair came together after an avoidable run-out with the score on 34. Borthwick called for a second after pushing into the covers, before changing his mind upon seeing Wright rapidly collect and return his throw. Keaton Jennings was left stranded mid-pitch, casting reproachful glances in his partner's direction while haltingly continuing towards the dressing rooms, as Borthwick inspected the state of his shoelaces.

The running between Sangakkara and Borthwick early on was just as scatty: Durham's temporary overseas signing could twice have been dismissed by direct hits in the same Anyon over. Sangakkara only played four scoring strokes before lunch, one a leg glance to the boundary from his second delivery, prompting a Sussex member to query: "How many Test runs has this Sri Lankan fella got?"

The answer is 11,151 but only 520 (at 30.58) of them have come in England. He will be hoping to improve on that after this reconnoitre, whilst also further impressing his credentials on the Sussex membership.

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Vince matches sparkle with grit

Hampshire 330 for 8 (Carberry 66, Dawson 64, Vince 61) lead Glamorgan 224 (Wallace 67*, Ervine 3-36, Coles 3-39, Abbott 3-66) by 106 runs
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James Vince has attracted attention for his natural stroke-making ability but he kept his instincts in check with a circumspect innings to steer Hampshire into a three-figure lead over Glamorgan. But Vince was the third player to go no further than the 60s as the visitors kept the game from racing away by fighting back with the second new ball.

Vince is a joy to watch, with his languid, fluid style producing effortless drives and flicks but there was little opportunity for such strokes on a day of showers that interrupted play regularly until after tea. It was during the final session that Glamorgan gained their rewards for not allowing Hampshire to find the progress of the first evening, taking 5 for 53 after a new ball was requested at the earliest opportunity.

Vince passed 500 County Championship runs for the season during his 61 - only Daryl Mitchell, with 532, has more in the country and he has faced almost double the number of balls - but this innings came at a strike rate 20 lower than his overall mark so far this season. It was difficult for the batsmen to settle, with four rain breaks before tea, and the new side to Vince's game was required to continue Hampshire's progress.

Vince has worked hard to tighten his technique with Hampshire first-team coach, Tony Middleton - who has overseen the majority of Vince's career - after recognising the need to become more consistent in four-day cricket. He has moved across his stumps slightly and resisted temptations outside off stump - in general selling his wicket dearer. His work was rewarded with over 1000 Championship runs last summer and selection on the England Lions tour to Sri Lanka.

The new season has seen his best form to date in four-day cricket, with a match-winning 144 against Gloucestershire at Bristol and 159 at the Ageas against Surrey. Runs at the right time, with England places available.

Here he demonstrated the vital characteristics for international cricket, temperament and discipline, while still finding time to please the eye; a straight-driven four of Graham Wagg just before lunch the pick of his eight boundaries. He also demonstrated smart batting against left-arm spinner Dean Cosker. Vince took him over mid-on, prompting the fielder to go back and Cosker to shift his line a touch wider, allowing Vince more space for his flowing blade, which sent a second boundary wide of mid-off.

But the first delivery of the second new ball saw Vince caught on the crease and lbw to Wagg for 61. It prompted a Hampshire slide, with Wagg also getting Joe Gatting to naively drive outside off stump and edge to Mark Wallace.

Vince and Liam Dawson had taken Hampshire to 196 for 2 and a position to build a match-winning first-innings lead - batting once would be preferable with the potential for more time to be lost. But a game Glamorgan attack, notably shorn of Michael Hogan who is in Australia with his wife and new-born child, persisted well and forced Dawson into an error, slashing off the back foot to a ball not short enough for the stroke and edging behind. It was a first Glamorgan wicket for Tom Helm, a loanee from Middlesex who only turned 20 five days ago and was asked to open the bowling.

Dawson went for 64 and followed Michael Carberry with a weak dismissal. Carberry's fluency of the first evening, where he helped Hampshire tick along at three-and-a-half an over, was completely absent on the second morning and he added just four runs to his overnight total. Jim Allenby is a dangerous bowler to drive off anything but a very full length; Carberry leaned out to play through the covers and sliced a catch to backward point.

Allenby later had Matt Coles dismissed fourth ball in exactly the same fashion and, in between, forced Sean Ervine to play on for another middling score that demonstrated how Hampshire had coughed up the chance to take a stranglehold on the match.

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Super Kings sign David Hussey as replacement

Australian batsman David Hussey will replace Dwayne Bravo in Chennai Super Kings' squad for the rest of the 2014 IPL season. Super Kings announced it on their official Twitter account. They also retweeted Hussey saying, "Just recd some amazing news!!!!! Can't wait until tomorrow.... Get in there!!!!"

The 36-year-old Hussey, who has played 69 ODIs and 39 T20s for Australia, has plenty of IPL experience, having featured in 23 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders and 36 matches for Kings XI Punjab in previous seasons. In all, he has scored 1206 runs at an average of 25.65 and a strike rate of 122.93, with four half-centuries.

Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, was ruled out of the tournament after injuring his shoulder while fielding against Kings XI Punjab during Super Kings' first match in 2014.

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Rejigged tour can help Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka may have their best chance of winning a Test series in England for many years. A schedule more sympathetic to their needs, an opposition in transitional mode and confidence gained from success in Bangladesh has given Sri Lanka an optimism not always shared by some of their predecessors.

The English leg of their tour begins on Tuesday. Sri Lanka will take on an Essex side including Alastair Cook in a 50-over game in Chelmsford, with further warm-up matches scheduled against Kent and Sussex ahead of the international fixtures which start in a week.

But while Sri Lanka's record in England is not encouraging - they have not won a Test in England since 2006 and have never won a series of more than one match in the country - circumstances are a bit different this time. On both their 2006 and 2011 tours Sri Lanka played the Test section of the tour ahead of the limited-overs section.

This time, however, they will have had a far greater chance to acclimatise to conditions. They will have been in Ireland or England for more than a month before the first Test and will have the opportunity to play their stronger suit - the limited-overs games - ahead of the Test series.

They also find an opposition lacking some of the pillars of its success in recent years - the likes of Andy Flower, Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott - and having just enjoyed a memorable double-success in Bangladesh, where they followed victory in the Asia Cup by winning the World T20.

"We have started training a bit earlier than usual because we know the English conditions are not going to be easy for us," Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, said on Monday. "If we can adapt ourselves as soon as possible, I am pretty sure the team will come good. The conditions and the weather are the main challenge we face.

"We are not trying to be complacent against an England team having made all of those decisions. Yes, they might be missing star players like Kevin Pietersen, but they still have enough potential to beat any team on any day, especially playing under English conditions. They will be very hard to beat.

"You know what happened in Bangladesh: they beat us quite easily in the sub-continent conditions, so you cannot be complacent and just have to go hard at them."

"The confidence levels are very high," the coach, Marvan Atapattu agreed. "This team comes with confidence and success."

Certainly if the batsmen play as straight as the tour management did when deflecting questions about Paul Farbrace's departure, they should fare well. Mathews did not believe the suggestion that Farbrace, who resigned the Sri Lankan coaching role to take the assistant coach's job with England just weeks before the tour, had any team secrets to impart and dismissed the idea that any of his squad resented the decision.

"We respect his decision," Mathews said. "He is a good coach and was part of our success. He was with us for a short period of time, not a very long period of time, but in those few months, he was pretty good. Everyone has his own choices. He has made his choice and we wish him all the very best.

"When it comes to an international cricket team, there are no secrets. You have so many videos of all the players, of the support staff as well. We had guys like Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga come into the team, but you cannot really hide them from playing international cricket.

"Everyone knows a little bit about the opposition, so I don't really think he has all the inside information."

But Sri Lanka hope that the appointment of Chris Adams, the former Surrey coach, might provide an insight into England's players and tactics. Adams joined up with the team on Monday and will spend the rest of the tour with them. Kumar Sangakkara will also join up with the squad on Wednesday or Thursday, having completed his short stint with Durham.

"Chris Adams is to give me the information I need to know, about venues and players, during this tour," Atapattu explained. "We will try to pick his brains to improve our game and lend our support to the players. Yes, we will try to get inside information from him."

Sri Lanka's record in English conditions probably still leaves them as underdogs going into the Test series. But Peter Moores and Co face a far from straightforward test at the start of England's new era.

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Craig, Davidson added to Australia umpires panel

Shawn Craig, the former Victoria batsman, has been promoted to Australia's National Umpire Panel and will officiate in state matches during the 2014-15 season. Craig and former New South Wales grade cricketer Greg Davidson are the two new additions to the 12-man group, replacing Tony Ward and Ian Lock from last summer's panel.

The panel provides the umpires for all domestic cricket played in Australia and does not include those Australians on the ICC's Elite Panel of Umpires - Steve Davis, Bruce Oxenford, Paul Reiffel and Rod Tucker. Cricket Australia's senior manager of cricket operations, Sean Cary, said Craig and Davidson had earned their places on the panel through strong performances.

"Both Shawn and Greg have extensive involvement in cricket and long playing careers before progressing to umpiring," Cary said. "Their promotion is a reward for hard work and the critical role our state associations play in developing high-quality officials.

"Australia has a proud history of producing quality umpires who have gone on to international honours after coming through our state and development pathways. We believe there is significant potential in this group to continue that."

Craig, 40, played 20 first-class matches for Victoria from 1996 to 2001 and was a first-grade cricketer for St Kilda until 2006-07. Davidson, 43, played 21 seasons for Parramatta in Sydney's grade competition, before retiring after the 2007-08 season.

2014-15 National Umpire Panel Gerard Abood, Ashley Barrow, Shawn Craig, Greg Davidson, Simon Fry, Mike Graham-Smith, Geoff Joshua, Mick Martell, Damien Mealey, Sam Nogajski, John Ward, Paul Wilson.

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Kayes double ton puts South Zone on top

South Zone's Imrul Kayes lit up a dull day in Mirpur with his maiden double-hundred in first-class cricket. His 204 pushed North Zone virtually out of the contest on the third day of the BCL final.

South's lead has now swelled to 446 runs, and they are in position to dictate terms, with seven wickets and two days remaining. They batted out the entire third day, making 410-3 with Imrul's double and Mithun Ali's eighth first-class hundred.

Early morning rain delayed the start of play by 45 minutes, but it hardly deterred the South Zone openers. Anamul Haque fell after adding 57 for the first wicket, followed by an 80-run second wicket stand between Imrul and Soumya Sarkar, who made 41. The latter was needlessly run out in the 38th over, after Imrul called for a single and Soumya hesitated before he was caught well short of the crease at the striker's end.

Imrul batted with less patience than Mithun, who hardly put a foot wrong. The pair had to constantly tackle the in-form Taijul Islam and Sanjamul Islam, both left-arm spinners bowling in tandem in the afternoon session. Imrul smashed nine sixes and 20 fours in his stay at the crease, lasting one minute short of six hours, while Mithun struck 13 fours and five sixes in his unbeaten 111.

The 254-run stand between Imrul and Mithun hardly had a glitch, except for Imrul popping half-chances close to short-leg, cover and long-on. The last of those didn't make North Zone captain Nasir Hossain happy and he expressed himself quite loudly, with Imrul batting in the 190s at that point.

Soon, Mithun reached his hundred with a cover-driven four and Imrul tucked the ball around the corner to reach his first double-hundred. His previous best score was 138. Imrul said he always had a dream to reach the milestone, and that his team's dominance on the third day had taken them to a great position.

"I am feeling really good," Imrul told the media. "I had a target to score a double century for a while now. Actually, not being able to score a double-century in the current scenario, being a top order batsman, one isn't able to get that acceptance so this was required. When another batsman scores a double hundred, it feels bad. I tell myself, 'why can't I do it?'

"The match is completely in our hands. If we can bat for two sessions tomorrow we will give them the bat. We know that if we draw we will win the game."

Imrul's dominance of Taijul looked risky at times, but he was always in control with his shots along the ground, even when he struck them straight to mid-on or mid-off. He struck five of his nine sixes off this left-arm spinner, never letting him settle for too long. He struck two sixes off Sanjamul and one each off Subashis Roy and Nasir Hossain.

He explained that since the left-arm spinner was bowling with some flight, he took it upon himself to use his feet. "Actually I played to the situation," Imrul said. "If he gave me flight, any batsman will automatically go down the wicket.

"Taijul has been bowling well in the last year. There are many quality left-arm spinners so in four-day cricket if we get in an attacking mode and play him normally, we can easily negotiate him. First I saw that if a batsman stretches out to play him on the front foot it will be very dangerous for him. If you use your feet against him, it will be easier."

Taijul ended with figures of 1 for 109 off 27 overs while Farhad Reza took the wicket of Imrul late in the day, when the batsman hooked the ball straight to deep fine-leg.

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'Started pondering Test future after NZ series' - Sammy

Darren Sammy, the West Indies all-rounder who announced his retirement from Test cricket yesterday, has said his decision wasn't a fallout of his being replaced as captain by wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin.

Sammy, whose decision to call time on his Test career came hours after he was axed as captain, said he had been thinking about it for a long time. "After the New Zealand series [which West Indies lost 2-0] I sat down with the team management and the selectors and then told myself that we cannot continue like this. Probably my career is on the line. I was very serious about it," Sammy told ESPNcricinfo.

"It was a difficult decision. If you have been playing cricket as a kid, all you have been dreaming of is to represent your team in Test cricket and I have been fortunate enough to do it. But I thought it was the right time for me to move on. I feel it's time the West Indies Test team continues to move in a new direction, under a new leader."

Extending his support to Ramdin, who led Trinidad and Tobago into the semifinals of the regional four-day championship, Sammy had a word of advice for him as well. "Denesh has been captaining regional teams with distinction but it (leading West Indies) is a difficult job," he said. "Leading guys who come from different cultural backgrounds and getting the best out of them. I wish him all the best as he tries to the lead West Indies Test cricket forward into a new era."

Despite marking his Test debut with a seven-wicket haul in the second innings at Old Trafford or having been heckled as perhaps the slowest-ever West Indies new-ball bowler, Sammy, the first cricketer from St Lucia to play Test cricket, will be most remembered for having led the West Indies when a player revolt marred Caribbean cricket in 2010.

"When I was asked to lead the team when it was in disarray, it was the most challenging phase for me," Sammy said. "There was no way I could not have accepted the job. To get the bunch to play as a unit, earn their respect and then lead them towards a new direction has been a memorable journey. From what I have contributed, I hope I have done my bit and it's time for somebody else to carry on."

Sammy, who has had a moderate run in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad this year, stressed that his best as a limited-overs cricketer was yet to come. "I am sure we all have a part to play to take West Indies cricket forward in whichever format we are playing in," Sammy said. "I am pretty much available in one-day and T20 cricket and hope my services will be utilised. I have my best years of cricket ahead of me and look forward to contributing to West Indies cricket. I am still fit. Probably I might not look fit but I am fit. I wish I can keep on playing my role in West Indies cricket."

Sammy thanked the West Indies cricket fraternity and his family for their support. "I respect this great game a lot and I have always given my best, whether it was in the dressing room or when I have trained," he said. "I thank all my teammates and support staff and administrators for all their support. I would also like to thank all my friends and family for standing beside me, especially my wife Cathy."

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