Rossington moves to Northamptonshire

Adam Rossington has completed a permanent move to Northamptonshire as they continue their rebuilding after being relegated from Division One. Rossington, 21, asked to be released from his Middlesex contract early after spending the second half of the 2014 season on loan at Wantage Road.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rossington, who came through Middlesex's Academy, took the gloves from Ben Duckett in the Championship and topped Northamptonshire's averages, scoring a century and two fifties, as they finished bottom of the table. He also impressed in limited-overs cricket, scoring 400 runs across the two short formats.

"I would like to thank Middlesex and Angus Fraser for allowing me to leave my contract a year early," Rossington said. "It's never an easy decision to leave the club you have played at since you were six but I feel it's the right move for me at this moment in time in order to play first-team cricket on a regular basis.

"I'd like to pass on my thanks to all the players I have played with and I'd also like to thank Mark Ramprakash, Jack Russell and everyone at the Academy for all their time and effort over the years. I wish Middlesex all the best."

Rossington, a former England U-19s wicketkeeper, was given his Middlesex debut in 2010 but made the majority of his 40 first-team appearances in T20 competition.

Middlesex's director of cricket, Angus Fraser, said: "It is sad for the club when a product of its own youth system moves on to another county but John Simpson remains Middlesex's number one keeper, which has not allowed Adam the exposure to first eleven cricket he is looking for. Adam is an extremely talented young cricketer and we all hope his career blossoms and he fulfils his potential at Northants."

Northamptonshire have already signed another young batsman in Josh Cobb from Leicestershire, and released several experienced players after suffering a chastening return to Division One for the first time in a decade. Alex Wakely, who missed the 2014 season with injury, has taken over the captaincy from Stephen Peters.

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Gale given further two-match ban

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale has been banned for the first two matches of the 2015 season after the ECB opted not to hold a formal hearing into allegations that he racially abused Ashwell Prince. Gale has admitted to "improper" conduct and will be required to take part in an anger management course.

The announcement amounts to an agreement between Yorkshire and the ECB that, while Gale's behaviour was unpleasant, he need not be branded a racist. Having conceded that his words "could have caused offence", Gale will miss the champion county match against MCC in Abu Dhabi and the first match of Yorkshire's Championship defence.

ESPNcricinfo had previously revealed that Gale's ban would be extended in return for the ECB sidelining the racial element of the case. Gale incurred an automatic two-match ban, due to a previous disciplinary breach, after being charged with a Level 2 offence for comments made to Prince in the Roses match at Old Trafford.

According to a statement from the ECB's Cricket Disciplinary Commision, Gale "acknowledges and deeply regrets that the words he used caused any offence and, in particular, that they could have caused offence as a result of the reference to the nationality of the person to whom they were made. Mr Gale wishes to express that this was absolutely not his intention."

Gale is understood to have sworn at Prince over the Lancashire batsman's time-wasting, telling him to "f*** off back to your own country, you Kolpak f******". Yorkshire rallied in response, giving Gale their full backing and bringing in lawyers to fight the case. As well as what is effectively a four-match ban, Gale was forced to miss the presentation of the Championship trophy after Yorkshire won the title at Trent Bridge.

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Narine withdrawn by WICB from India tour

Croft: I'm not surprised about Narine

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has decided to withdraw offspinner Sunil Narine from the entire India tour. A WICB spokesperson confirmed to ESPNCricinfo that Narine was being called back home after the CLT20 banned him from bowling having called his action illegal.

Clive Lloyd, the chairman of the West Indies selection panel, had said on Friday that the decision on whether Narine would remain in India for West Indies' upcoming limited-overs series' would be made in consultation with the WICB "in a day or so". Narine was suspended from bowling in the Champions League Twenty20 on Thursday, and is ineligible to play in the tournament's final on Saturday.

Suggesting that corrective measures to his action, if any were needed, should have been made earlier, Lloyd questioned the timing of Narine's suspension, saying the decision could be "destroying" to Narine and affect the team's chances on the forthcoming tour of India and in the World Cup.

From October 8, West Indies will play five ODIs and a T20 against India, before three Tests. Narine's bowling ban is restricted only to the Champions League and other BCCI-run tournaments like the IPL, but the decision to remove him from the tour means scrutiny on him has now extended into international cricket as well.

"I am very disappointed because he is an exciting cricketer," Lloyd said on Friday, at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, where West Indies played a warm-up game. Lloyd made his comments before the decision had been taken. "The point is, just like [Muttiah] Muralitharan, because your action is different, doesn't mean that you are throwing.

"We have to take a look at things and assess the situation. We don't want to make any rash decision as such. We will discuss it. The board [WICB] will probably take it from there. We will have to inform the board. We can't take decisions just like that. They have to be informed."

The West Indies squad leaves Mumbai on October 6 for Kochi, which will host the first ODI on October 8.

Lloyd said the WICB and the West Indies team management had been told that Narine would be under the scanner in India by a source whose identity he would not disclose. "Before we came here we were told that they were going to call Narine, so it's quite obvious that something must have been said somewhere," he said. "I really can't tell you that [who it was] but I can tell you it's a highly reliable source, because we have to make contingency plans for things like that just in case it happens," Lloyd said, adding that the West Indies cricket fraternity would back Narine.

Lamenting the timing of the suspension, "just before an important series against India and the World Cup that follows", Lloyd said he could not really understand the need to raise questions over the legality of Narine's action when "he has been bowling in the same manner" for years.

"He has been bowling over the years with the same sort of action. Now all of a sudden it has changed. What has changed, I don't know," Lloyd said. "You can't just ban him from bowling just before an important tour like this and with the World Cup coming up. It destroys the individual's ability as such and I think you may end up destroying someone's career.

"This guy has been doing well playing for KKR for the last three years. If you look at his action, he has been doing pretty much the same and I want to know what is it that has been found that they ban him and not say something like, 'Listen, you have a bit of a problem and you have to rectify it.'"

Lloyd compared the situation with that of Pakistan offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who has been suspended from bowling in international cricket. "All of a sudden, this guy [Narine] who is supposed to be one of the best bowlers around - like Ajmal for that matter, how many Test wickets does Ajmal have? - and all of a sudden his bowling action is suspect. My point is something should be done before all this comes to this point.

"It can destroy a team. You want to know if this is being orchestrated because if you lose your main bowler then it puts some pressure on the selectors and the team and so on."

Lloyd also questioned the Champions League T20 regulations and procedure, which has proven to be rather ambiguous.

"Nobody has told us anything. Nobody has written a letter. That is the thing about it. Something should be said to us. We are left high and dry. All of a sudden, the guy is not playing in a tournament he has played for the last three years. What are you then saying about the tournament then? Are you saying that the tournament has probably previously allowed people who have got bad actions to play?"

Asked if the ICC, which has been tightlipped over the issue since it doesn't govern the Champions League, should step in and get in touch with the WICB, Lloyd sad he hoped it happened soon. "I think it's wrong the way they have gone about it and I have been involved in the ICC for years [as a match referee and technical committee chief] and I think you cannot just ban a guy just like that. This is a guy who has played for us all over the world, not only in the West Indies. All of a sudden, this guy has got a suspect action. I am not happy, I would like to strongly say that."

Kumar Dharmasena, a leading umpire on the ICC Elite Panel, has been involved in three of the four cases of suspect actions being reported in Champions League. So, Lloyd said, he was not sure if that indirectly meant Narine would be reported in international cricket.

With the ICC taking a hard stance on illegal actions in the last six months, the WICB was likely to be wary. Ian Gould, another Elite Panel umpire, will be one of the match officials for the ODI series in India. Gould was among the umpires who reported offspinners Sachithra Senanayake and Ajmal, both of whom were later banned from bowling in international cricket, earlier this year.

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Grayson questions umpires on Ajmal

Paul Grayson, the Essex head coach, said English umpires should have called Saeed Ajmal for chucking this season.

Ajmal played a key role in helping Worcestershire to promotion in the County Championship but Grayson said his Essex side would have won promotion instead if umpires had been brave enough to report Ajmal.

In nine Championship matches this season, Ajmal's action was not officially questioned and he helped Worcestershire to five victories and four draws with key performances that saw his side top the Division Two table for most of the season, much to the surprise of most observers.

But on international duty for Pakistan, Ajmal's action was reported almost immediately on their tour of Sri Lanka and he was subsequently banned from bowling by the ICC.

"I wish one of our English umpires had the bravery to call him early season," Grayson said, having seen his side fall eight points short of second-placed Worcestershire. "He's been called for chucking; it's illegal.

"Speaking to a lot of umpires on the circuit, they all talk about him chucking it, but whether they had that support from the ECB; I'm not sure why they weren't prepared to call him."

It was thought Ajmal would merely prop up Worcestershire who were largely expected to struggle in the Championship last season. But instead his 63 wickets 16.47 saw Worcestershire only miss out on the Division Two title during the final round of the season.

"I've no doubt that if Worcestershire didn't have Ajmal, we would have gone up this year," Grayson told BBC Essex. "They've struggled in the second half of the season when he was supposed to be away with Pakistan.

"I don't want to sound like we're being bitter, but I do believe we should have gone up this year."

2014 was the second year in succession Essex have finished third in the table having entered the final round of matches with a chance of promotion. It consigned them to a fifth year in Division Two having been relegated in 2010.

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes subsequently said the club would welcome back Ajmal to New Road next season if he is cleared to bowl again by the ICC.

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Can Cooper barrel into contention?

Tom Cooper is in elite company. His one-day international average of 48.80 is higher than that of Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke and Dean Jones. It's not quite up to Michael Bevan levels, and of current Australians George Bailey is also ahead of him, but there is no doubt that Cooper's figures are impressive.

The only thing is, all his runs have been scored for the Netherlands. That in turn means the majority have come against other associate nations - his top five scores all been at the expense of either Afghanistan or Scotland. There was an unbeaten World Cup fifty against West Indies in 2011, and 47 against England in the same tournament, but opportunities against top nations are scarce.

Cooper hopes that will change one day, for as much as he has learnt from going Dutch, he would rather wear the yellow of Australia than the orange of the Netherlands. Or, better still, a baggy green. To that end, he hopes that 2014-15 will be a repeat of his strong 2013-14 season, a summer in which he was second only to Marcus North on the Sheffield Shield run tally with 881 at 51.82.

But first comes the Matador Cup, the one-day tournament that begins on Saturday and runs through most of October. Cooper was among the top 10 run scorers in the competition last year, with 294 at 49.00, and his efforts across both formats earned him an Australia A call-up this winter. Now he has to ensure that last year was not an anomaly.

"It doesn't matter if you do well one year and not the next," Cooper told ESPNcricinfo. "The challenge for me this year is to go out and do it all again. I had some decent form in the Australia A series and now just chomping at the bit to get into the season and hopefully re-enact what happened last year."

Cooper's Australia A selection led to an unbeaten one-day century in Darwin, and a pair of first-class half-centuries against South Africa A in Townsville. But he knows that big hundreds are required to take his game to the next level, the kind of scores his South Australia team-mate Phillip Hughes keeps accumulating match after match, season after season.

"That's where I'd like to take my game," Cooper said. "It's just a matter of consistently scoring those runs and once you get a start, turn them into big scores. There's no better example than what Hughesy has done over the last couple of months and forcing his way back into the side. It's unbelievable what he's done. It makes you want to do it yourself."

But there are some things Cooper has done that Hughes has not: played in a World Cup and a World T20. They were opportunities that arrived through the fact that his mother, Berni, is from the Netherlands. In fact, it was her idea that Cooper apply for an EU passport to make it easier to travel in Europe and perhaps play county cricket, and from there he was rapidly propelled into the Dutch side.

"I had no idea up until six or seven years ago, Mum mentioned the idea more for the travel side of things than cricket," he said. "It's been a great opportunity to play in a couple of World Cups and experience things that not many people get to experience in their life. It doesn't get any bigger on the world stage than that.

"Just to compete against the best teams in the world, if you play against South Africa and see how AB de Villiers goes about his game, and just being there watching them play and prepare, and getting to rate yourself at that level. If you do well it gives you a lot of confidence to know what you're doing and that you're somewhere around the mark."

The tournament nature of the World Cup will be reflected in the Matador Cup again this year; it begins on Saturday, when South Australia take on New South Wales at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, and defending champions Queensland host Victoria at the Gabba. Then for the next three weeks, it's all one-day cricket before the Sheffield Shield begins on October 31.

Given Cooper's success in the Shield last summer, and the fact that new Test batsmen such as George Bailey and Alex Doolan have failed to fully grasp their opportunities, it is not out of the question that he could find himself in contention for a baggy green over the next year. If that were to happen, he would have to forgo the Dutch orange, but it would not be a hard decision to make.

"As a kid it's always been a dream to play for Australia," he said "I've been fortunate that I've been able to have so many experiences with the Dutch and get a taste of it. But as a kid, playing for Australia was that No.1 goal that I wanted to do and still want to do."

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Mills declines 'attractive' Essex offer

Tymal Mills, the left-arm fast bowler, has turned down an "attractive" new contract with Essex.

He has had an injury-hit career since making his debut against the Sri Lankans in 2011, managing just 29 first-class matches to date where he has taken 52 wickets at 35.59 although has often been touted as an England prospect.

In 2013 he gave England a scare when he struck Graeme Swann on the hand during the warm-up match involving Essex and was also taken to Australia to bowl in the nets at the start of the return Ashes in an attempt to prepare for facing Mitchell Johnson.

Mills made six Championship match appearances in 2014 before a back injury in late July limited him to just one subsequent outing.

"It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to leave Essex. I want to thank the club for giving me my introduction into professional cricket and in particular to John Childs, for my time spent on the Academy, and then Chris Silverwood, who has helped me no end since turning Professional.

"I am excited for the next chapter in my career and wish the club all the best moving forward."

Paul Grayson, the Essex head coach, told the club's website: "We are of course disappointed that Tymal has decided to leave the club, especially as he is one of our own from the Essex Academy.

"There was an attractive new contract offer on the table for him but he has decided to reject and continue his career with a new club."

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Marshall 57 sets up series-clinching win

Bangladesh A 239 (Marshall 57, Litton 46, Muzarabani 4-33) beat Zimbabwe A 208 (Sibanda 37, Waller 52) by 32 runs
Scorecard

Bangladesh A clinched the three-match unofficial ODI series over Zimbabwe A with a 31-run win in Fatullah. They made a successful comeback to win 2-1, going down by 17 runs in the first game and winning the second one by six wickets.

Batting first, the home side were bowled out for 239 runs in 50 overs with captain Marshall Ayub scoring 57 off 78 balls with six fours. After the openers Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das added exactly 50 for the first wicket, Marshall saw three more wickets fall until joined by Mosaddek Hossain in the 28th over.

They added a 54 for the fifth wicket before Marshall was out 61 balls into the partnership. Mosaddek made 25 while Farhad Reza and Nurul Hasan contributed 32 and 19 respectively. For Zimbabwe, pace bowler Taurai Muzarabani took four wickets while Tafadzwa Kamungozi picked up two.

In reply, Zimbabwe A slipped to 68 for 4 in the 17th over and the innings never had any momentum as only one batsman carried past 50 and no one put together a decent partnership until the ninth-wicket pair of Luke Jongwe and Tafadzwa Kamungozi added 44 runs. Malcolm Waller top-scored with 52 while Jongwe made an unbeaten run-a-ball 35. Elias Sunny and Mominul Haque took three wickets each for Bangladesh A.

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Rohit set to miss West Indies ODIs

Rohit Sharma, who missed the Champions League Twenty20 due to multiple injuries, will be unavailable for the limited-overs' leg of India's home series against the West Indies. Rohit is likely to be available for the three-Test series, starting October 30, that follows the five ODIs and one-off T20.

Rohit was initially ruled out for four weeks, which meant he could have recovered in time for the last two ODIs and the T20 game. But though his fractured finger has healed, it is understood he will take three more weeks to recover from his shoulder injury. Sharma is being monitored by BCCI physios at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

It is also understood that neither the player nor the selectors are willing to rush him back to international cricket considering the major assignments that follow the West Indies series. The selectors and the team management believe Rohit will be a vital cog during India's winter tour to Australia and the World Cup to be staged in Australia and New Zealand in February-March. As a result, he will not be considered for selection for the first leg of the series against West Indies. The ODI and T20 squads will be named on October 4.

Ajinkya Rahane, who scored his maiden ODI century while filling in for Rohit in England, should continue to partner Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, while the selectors are likely to persist with Murali Vijay as the back-up opener.

Rohit could be asked to prove his match fitness before he is selected for the Test series. If he recovers as per schedule, Rohit could feature in the Duleep Trophy semi-final if West Zone beat East Zone in their quarterfinal. If West Zone do not qualify for the Duleep semis, Rohit might be selected in the Board President's XI, which will face the West Indians in a three-day tour game in Kanpur from October 25.

Rohit played only one of India's five Tests in England and had to cut short his tour after fracturing his finger in the field during the second ODI.

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Bird, Arafat sign for Hampshire

Hampshire have announced two overseas signings for 2015, with Jackson Bird joining for the first half of the season and Yasir Arafat set to play limited-overs cricket.

Bird, who has played three Tests for Australia, will be available in all formats for three months ahead of his potential involvement in the Ashes. His ability to swing the red ball will be valuable in April and May, with Hampshire returning to Division One of the Championship. Bird was due to play for Northamptonshire this season but was prevented from appearing by injury.

Arafat will make Hampshire his sixth county - equalling Marcus North's record for an overseas player - and be available for Royal London Cup and T20 Blast games. Arafat played for Sussex in 2014 and has previously turned out for Kent, Lancashire, Somerset and Surrey.

The former Pakistan international, a regular in T20 competitions around the world, is married to an Englishwoman and lives in Kent but Giles White, Hampshire's director of cricket, suggested Arafat's "qualification status may allow him to play as a local during his time with us".

"We're delighted to have Jackson and Yasir on board for next season - they will both add a lot of quality to our bowling attack and hopefully they will help us build on a successful 2014 season," White said.

"Jackson comes highly recommended and at a time of the year that is likely to suit his style of bowling, we are looking forward to having him about and hope he has a positive influence on our return to Division One. Yasir has the flexibility to play all of our one-day cricket, boasts an excellent record and has committed to the club for further campaigns."

South Africa seamer Kyle Abbott played a big role in Hampshire's 2014 promotion campaign, taking 36 wickets at 20.33, and Hampshire could attempt to re-sign him for the second half of next season. Abbott's availability will be dependent on his involvement with South Africa, who are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka and Bangladesh during the English season.

"Kyle Abbott is someone we will continue to keep in touch with as he fitted into the group exceptionally well this year and has voiced a desire to return if international commitments allow," White said.

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Umpire Ghouse dies aged 83

Mohammad Ghouse, who officiated in eight Tests and two ODIs in the 1970s and '80s, died in Chennai on Monday.

Ghouse, 83, made his first-class debut as an umpire in a Ranji Trophy match in 1968-69 and went on to officiate over 18 seasons. His first Test as an official was in his hometown, between India and New Zealand, in 1975-76.

Ghouse officiated at a time when the system of neutral umpires didn't exist. As a result, he was involved in a controversy when England protested against his appointment for the Mumbai Test in the winter of 1981. When India objected to David Constant's appointment for the first Test in England the following year, it was considered to be payback from the Indian establishment.

After Ghouse retired as an umpire, he served as the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's umpires sub-committee and as a BCCI match referee. On behalf of TNCA members, president N Srinivasan expressed "profound sorrow and grief" at his demise.

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