Smith best makes Gloucs pay

Essex 333 for 7 (Smith 149*) v Gloucestershire
Scorecard

Greg Smith's first County Championship century for Essex guided the visitors into a strong position on the opening day against Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Smith, the 30-year-old South African, hit an unbeaten 149 as his side ran up 333 for 7 after losing the toss. Owais Shah contributed 34 and Ben Foakes 32, while Will Gidman and David Payne claimed two wickets apiece.

Former Derbyshire batsman Smith was dropped on 19 by Michael Klinger at third slip off Payne and went on to face 274 balls, hitting 17 fours and a six.

With the skies overcast, Gloucestershire skipper Klinger elected to field first and saw his seamers bowl without much luck in the morning session. Gidman went past the bat on a number of occasions, but did have the satisfaction of bowling India Test player Gautam Gambhir off an inside edge for a duck with the total on 9.

It was 46 for 2 in the 15th over when Jaik Mickleburgh, on 26, was well caught by wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick, having got an inside edge to a delivery from Graeme McCarter, who had received a late call into Gloucestershire's team when Liam Norwell withdrew because of a groin injury.

Smith survived his second chance on 41 when Gidman failed to hold a tough one-handed catch at gully off Craig Miles and went on to a half-century off 98 balls, with four fours, having spent 21 deliveries on 48.

Shah looked in confident form as the pair added 80 either side of lunch. But with the score on 126 he played down the wrong line to Miles and was pinned lbw, having hit seven fours in a fluent 72-ball knock. Ryan ten Doeschate helped Smith add a further 45 in nine overs, contributing 24 to the stand, before edging Benny Howell to Roderick attempting to drive.

Smith moved relentlessly towards his ton and reached it with a sweet cover-driven four off McCarter, having faced 207 balls and extended his boundary count to 10 fours and a six. In his second season with Essex, Smith's previous best Championship score for the county was 42 against Hampshire last season. He played with increasing sureness and began to cut loose after reaching three figures.

Gloucestershire took the new ball in the 81st over with Essex 259 for 4 and Gidman struck with it as Foakes edged to Chris Dent in the slips. Foakes had ridden his luck at times, facing 84 balls and striking four fours in a stand of 94 with Smith. James Foster looked more assured, but on 26 edged Payne up in the air and Klinger took the catch running back from gully. Graham Napier fell to what proved the last ball of the day, caught by Dent off Payne for 10.

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Leics reliance on Eckersley shown again

Leicestershire 270 for 7 (Eckersley 106) v Worcestershire
Scorecard

Ned Eckersley hit his third Championship century of the season as Leicestershire recovered from a shaky start to reach 270 for 7 at stumps on the first day against Worcestershire at Grace Road.

Leicestershire, rooted to the bottom of the table without a win, have relied heavily on Eckersley throughout a disappointing season, and would have been in a poor way without his 106 off 249 balls.

The next highest scorer was captain John Cobb, who contributed 44 to a fifth-wicket stand of 92 with Eckersley. Then a brisk unbeaten 22 from Ollie Freckingham in the final few overs, helped the home side a second batting point.

After winning the toss Leicestershire found it tough going against some tidy seam bowling from Alan Richardson, Joe Leach and Jack Shantry. Greg Smith was caught at slip off Richardson for 1 in the fifth over of the morning, while Niall O'Brien led a charmed life making 31 off 59 balls.

He played and missed outside off stump on several occasions, survived two big lbw shouts and edged one delivery from Leach between wicket-keeper Michael Johnson and first slip Moeen Ali, who both left the catch to each other. Leach gained his revenge when he finally had O'Brien caught at second slip by Daryl Mitchell.

Eckersley survived a sharp chance to gully when he had made 16 and was also dropped by Moeen Ali on 29. But when Shiv Thakor and Tom Wells fell lbw to Shaaiq Choudhry and Shantry respectively, Leicestershire were in trouble at 94 for 4.

The Eckersley- Cobb partnership turned things round, with 24-year-old Eckersley reaching his half century and 1,000 Championship runs for the season as well. He looks like being the only Leicestershire player to do so. O'Brien, with 595 runs, is the next highest scorer in the averages.

Moeen broke the stand when he had Cobb caught at mid-off for 44 off 93 balls. But Eckersley brought up his century with a back foot four followed by a quick single off Graeme Cessford. It came off 222 balls and contained 14 fours. But he was sixth out at 226 chopping on against Richardson with the new ball.

James Sykes chipped a catch to short midwicket three overs later but Ben Raine, unbeaten on 16, and Freckingham, took Leicestershire to a second batting point and were still together at the close.

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Bihar's appeal a fresh legal hurdle for Srinivasan

In a move that could further delay the return of N Srinivasan as the active BCCI president, the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court verdict of July 30. The High Court had ruled that the BCCI had violated its own rules in the formation of the inquiry commission investigating the corruption allegations against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals and their owners, and the CAB contended in its petition that the High Court could have recommended an alternative method of investigation.

On August 7, the BCCI had filed its own SLP in the Supreme Court against the High Court judgment. In its 13-page SLP, the BCCI contested the High Court order, asking how the CAB's public interest petition could have been entertained when the Indian board was a private body.

The two-judge bench of Justices AK Patnaik and Jagdish Singh Khehar had asked CAB to file their reply by August 29. However in the wake of CAB's SLP, the hearing has been pushed back by a day and will be heard now on Friday. The CAB's SLP, filed on August 17, sought no interim relief.

The CAB's main contention in its SLP is that the High Court, having established that the BCCI had broken its own rules in setting up an investigation, could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations. The BCCI's inquiry had cleared Gurunath Meiyappan, who is Srinivasan's son-in-law, and Raj Kundra and the two franchises they were part of, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

In their 61-page order, High Court Justices SJ Vazifdar and MS Sonak had said that although it could not be firmly established, there was a "degree of involvement" of Srinivasan in setting up the original three-man probe commission.

In the SLP, the CAB asked, "whether the High Court, having found that the constitution of the Commission was not in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of Respondent No. 1 (BCCI), and having acknowledged that a key focus of the probe panel was a close relative of Respondent No.2 (Srinivasan), was right in refraining from suggesting a fail-proof mechanism to enquire into the facts leading to the publicly known allegations?"

During the High Court hearing, the BCCI legal counsel had argued strongly that the inquiry was set up under the IPL's Operational Rules. However, the judges had concluded that the BCCI had broken rule 2.2, which made it mandatory that at least one member of the IPL Code of Behaviour committee sat on the probe panel.

The CAB's lawyers also argued that they filed the SLP because the "reputation" of BCCI was at stake, and that the IPL scandal wasn't merely a question of disciplinary problems.

"…the High Court failed to appreciate that the IPL Operational Rules are only concerned with breaches of discipline that affect the IPL. The present matter deals with alleged violations that, if enquired properly, would likely bring into question various broader issues, such as the integrity of players (who may, after the IPL season, play under the India banner), nexus between administrators of the Board, administrators of IPL teams and players, and various other factors that have led to the sharp reputational crisis that faces Respondent No.1 today," the SLP said.

The important ground listed in the CAB SLP dealt with the powers given to the BCCI president whenever a probe committee is set up. "The relevant power is available under Rule 32, which on a reading makes it clear that the President of Respondent No.1 (BCCI) must lead such enquiry as the appointing authority, overseeing authority and the authority to whom such enquiry commission's report is to be submitted. In the present matter, given that the enquiry relates in large measure to the role of a close relative of Respondent No.2 (Srinivasan) who is also the de-facto President, and the team belonging to Respondent No.3 (India Cements) in which he is a key shareholder and Director, it is not possible to hold an enquiry that both appears and also is fair and transparent," the SLP said.

Although the BCCI was tight-lipped about the latest events, the Supreme Court order will carry a lot of significance. A decision favouring Srinivasan would facilitate his taking over as president immediately, ending the brief reign of the interim BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya.

However, any delay in the court proceedings is likely to have an impact on Srinivasan's tenure as the president. Under normal circumstances, Srinivasan would have officially sought the constitutionally allowed one-year extension (till September 2014) to his time as president at the board's AGM on September 30, but that will be under a cloud if his legal problems aren't cleared by then.

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Faisal Iqbal hopes to carve out spot for himself

Another tour, another opportunity and more hope for middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal to find his identity within the Pakistan team. Since his debut in 2001, Faisal operated mostly as a "replacement player", in the shadow of Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq, and was never able to cement his place in the team.

He has played 26 Test matches over the past 12 years. He last played for Pakistan in 2010 but was part of the Test squad for last one year without being part of the playing XI. He was retained in the squad for the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe but uncertainty looms over his chances to play. Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq ahead of Iqbal in the pecking order to occupy the middle-order spots, while Mohammad Hafeez and Khurram Manzoor will mostly be preferred to open the innings. Should he get the chance, the Zimbabwe Tests, he knows, could be crucial for his career.

"I always have been treated as a replacement in past. I was actually groomed to take over from Inzamam or Yousuf once they were done with their careers, but unfortunately I have been deprived," Iqbal told ESPNcricinfo. "For most of my career, since my [international] debut, I have kept waiting for a proper slot so that I could play as a permanent player, and I am obviously disappointed. But I am always optimistic and ready to grab the chance.

"It would be great to get games in succession to prove myself. I obviously won't be looking at Zimbabwe as an easy opponent as, for a batsman, it's all about one good ball. They are after all an international side and every run is important against them. I have plenty of experience and even scored an ODI hundred in Zimbabwe, so things won't be alien for me."

Iqbal, who is a nephew of former captain Javed Miandad, had a prolific career at junior level, from his time with the Under-15s. But his time with the seniors has, for the most part, been overshadowed by allegations of nepotism, something Faisal describes as a "daunting factor" and one of the major blows for his career.

"I might have been victimised in past and things have not been fair for me," he said. "I am a professional player and have never taken my cricket for granted. I have scored runs on the ground with my own hands, haven't I?"

He has often impressed on comeback: after his first recall in 2002, he scored 83 against Australia; then came 139 against India - the highlight of his career - which helped Pakistan to a 341-run victory in Karachi in 2006. In that fateful series against Sri Lanka in early 2009, he scored a half-century in his first innings back. His problem, though, has been consistency. A lack thereof has resulted in him being repeatedly dropped.

Faisal will be hoping to get his chance on September 3, when Pakistan face off against Zimbabwe in Harare for the first of two Tests. This time, he'll hope to make that good start and go on to build on it.

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Clarke rules out pitch doctoring in Australia

Australia's captain Michael Clarke has insisted that England will not be greeted by doctored pitches when they arrive down under for the return Ashes series. This is despite his side's dire results over nine Test matches in India and England in 2013, where surfaces have without exception been made to order for the home team.

England's coach Andy Flower had argued, at times politely and others forcefully, for the dry, slow strips played on across the five Tests that reaped a 3-0 margin for the hosts. The England captain Alastair Cook said such tactics were all part of home advantage in a contemporary Test series.

In a dry summer the chosen pitches had forced a strong Australian pace attack to work hard for their wickets while also aiding the superior spin of Graeme Swann. Yet Clarke, having seen his team subjected to all manner of humiliations and now dropped to No. 5 on the world rankings for the first time since August 2011, did not submit to the view that Australia would need to be equally precise at home.

"I think we've had enough success in Australia how the wickets are, so I don't see any reason to doctor them," Clarke said. "I want to see good even wickets, a good contest between bat and ball. It's how I think you play your best cricket, that's how the people watching get to see some great cricket, so I'm confident if the wickets are how Australian wickets are and we play our best cricket, we'll have success.

"In my time as an Australian player I don't think I've ever seen an Australian wicket change too much. Generally you know what you're going to get, so I don't see any reason why they will change that. You want a good, even battle between bat and ball and spin will definitely play a part as the wickets deteriorate in Australia, because it's nice and hot. To me that's how you see some great cricket.

"At the end of the day that's a part of international cricket; you tour around the world and play in different conditions. You need to find a way to adapt. Unfortunately for us now in India and in the UK we haven't been able to have success so we've got to keep working hard."

As he drank in the realisation of his first Ashes series win as captain, Cook acknowledged that his team had sought every possible advantage, and would not begrudge Australia doing likewise. "Of course home advantage gives you that choice to try as much as you can to push things in your favour," he said. "That's why its Test cricket, that's why it's home advantage and one of the beauties of Test cricket is you have to test yourself in different conditions.

"So when we get to Australia it'll be similar I imagine to 2010-11, those pitches which they will try to have suit them as well, but we've got some good memories of what happened there last time, and a lot of the similar players are there as well."

The captains' contrasting attitudes to the overseeing of home pitch preparation is in line with a wider theme. Australia prefer to play a more romantic, aggressive brand of the game, even if they have repeatedly tripped over in the pursuit of their ideal. But England are unapologetic about thinking negatively at times, reasoning that to push an opponent further from victory is to pull themselves closer to it.

"Australia should be credited a little bit for the way they've set the game up," Cook said of a dramatic final day at The Oval. "But at the beginning of the day we knew we had to make it as difficult as we could for Australia to push home what they were trying to do. We knew they were going to push for the win, and the harder we made it the easier it would've been for us to win, and that was proven."

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Taylor stars with bat and gloves

England 204 for 5 (Knight 69, Taylor 64) beat Australia 203 for 4 (Lanning 64) by five wickets
Scorecard

England took the lead in the women's Ashes series, and secured the one-day prize, with an expertly paced run chase at Hove. Needing 204 in 36 overs, in a match reduced due to a wet outfield, they eased home with 16 balls to spare after a second-wicket stand of 126 in 18 overs between Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor broke the back of the target.

Taylor, who struck 64 off 59 balls, enjoyed a fabulous all-round match having earlier pulled off a stunning piece of glovework to remove Jodie Fields who played a reverse sweep which was caught by Taylor as she anticipated the shot and dived full-length to her right.

Taylor said: "I couldn't believe that ball stuck in my glove, I saw it coming and just dived to stop it and get something on it and it just stuck, I think that's got to be the best catch of my career so far."

Charlotte Edwards fell early in the chase, driving to short cover, by Knight and Taylor were soon up with the required rate. The pair used swift footwork against the spinners and weren't afraid to hit the ball over the top. Their stand was a record second-wicket effort for England against Australia.

The pursuit wobbled briefly as three wickets fell for 29 but Lydia Greenway and Natalie Sciver added 33 to take England to the brink of victory and two more points.

"We spoke about being positive from ball one and with targets like that you've got to put the ball away if it's in your area," Taylor said. "It was brilliant to bat out there with Heather and to contribute to the win."

Australia's innings had initially been anchored by Meg Lanning's 69-ball 64 but at 126 for 4 was threatening to lose its way. Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell added 77 in 10 overs for the fifth wicket to lift them over 200, but it still did not prove enough.

The Ashes series, played across all three formats, now moves into the final phase with three Twenty20s

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Adventure almost vindicated for gambler Clarke

A few more runs on the board more quickly and a few more overs to bowl England out and Australia might almost have had a sniff of victory at The Oval

There are times when conservatism kicks in naturally. For Michael Clarke, that time arrived late on the final day at The Oval. Later than it would have for Ricky Ponting, or Alastair Cook, or MS Dhoni. It came gradually. Fielders had been stationed around the bat when Nathan Lyon was bowling, men in close on both sides, a slip and a leg slip. Slowly but surely, as the wickets didn't come with the rush that he desired, Clarke moved his men back. And back. And back.

By the time Shane Watson came on for his first over of the match, the fours were flowing, Kevin Pietersen was nearing fifty, and the last hour was approaching. Five men went back to the boundary. Then six. No slips. For the first time in a long time, captain Clarke was playing not to win but to draw. Such an approach is not his default setting. If it was, he would not have set England a gettable target, he would have told his men to bat for safety and then reassess.

In Mohali in March, when India were chasing 133 in a minimum of 27 overs, Clarke pushed unsuccessfully for victory. He could have used delaying tactics, slowed his bowlers down, taken time over his fields. That he did not, that he moved the Australians through their overs quite normally led to a situation in which Australia actually bowled nine overs more than were required. It is just possible that they might otherwise have salvaged a draw.

But there, a draw was of no value to Australia, for the series would stay alive only with an Australian win. At The Oval, there was no such series to play for. The urn was gone. Parity could not be achieved. But still there were reasons for Clarke to gamble. His men had not experienced a Test victory since the first week of the year. They had suffered seven losses and one draw in that time. If there was any possibility of giving the team the chance to win, it was worth taking.

3-0, 4-0 does it make a difference? Not in any material sense. Clarke could have been the first Australian captain to lead his team to four defeats in an Ashes series without a win, but that is a manufactured statistic. Other Australian squads have lost Ashes contests 5-1 or 4-1. Others - as Clarke well knows - have lost three Ashes Tests by an innings at home. 3-0, 4-0, this was never going to plumb those depths.

And so it was no surprise that Clarke tried to manufacture a result, tried to force a match that looked like petering out to a draw into a new direction. He sent Watson out to open with David Warner, installed James Faulkner and Brad Haddin as pinch-hitters, and gave Ryan Harris and Mitchell Starc licence to attack. Not all of those moves paid off. With hindsight, perhaps Chris Rogers might have picked the gaps in the field more effectively than others who tried to clear it.

A few more runs on the board more quickly and a few more overs to bowl England out and Australia might almost have had a sniff. By giving England the lure of a 4-0 victory, they enticed enough shots to claim five England wickets. It is difficult to imagine most captains in Clarke's situation allowing the opposition such a chance. Dismissing a team in one session is a remarkable goal but that Australia attempted it in search of that elusive win was in many ways admirable.

It was also symptomatic of Australia's wider approach. Day in, day out, their Test batsmen play at balls they should leave, lack patience, and try to force things. And when that risk-taking behaviour fails, they are inclined to go for double or nothing, chase good money with bad, as gamblers call it. The pay-offs can be great but the losses crippling.

England and South Africa are not the world's best teams by accident. Often they play for safety first, victory second. England certainly did on a dour day three at The Oval. Clarke often talks about consistency; his men will become a better side if they can adopt a little of that mentality in their general approach to Test cricket. On a day like this, such an approach was of little value to Australia. Clarke's gamble was necessary at The Oval.

"That's the way I'd like to see cricket played," Clarke said after the near-loss. "I'd certainly like to lead the Australian team playing in that type of manner. I think we had nothing to lose, obviously 3-0 down. And to me, even if you're not 3-0 down you've got to try to do everything you can to win the Test match. There's obviously the risk of losing and that was there today as well, but I think it was what we had to try and do.

"One team is going to win and one team is going to lose. That's the way I've always played my cricket. I try to win every game. Today there was a risk we might lose but I'm not scared of that risk."

At least, not until Pietersen gets going. Then, even Clarke finds within himself an ounce of conservatism.

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Faulkner criticises England tactics

James Faulkner has learnt the Australian art of sledging the English. Even after only four days of his Test career. Even when he hasn't taken a Test wicket. Even at 3-0 down in an Ashes series. Not surprisingly, Faulkner is a favourite of Shane Warne, the man who captained him at the Melbourne Stars, promoted him as a Test cricketer and presented him with his baggy green on the first morning at The Oval.

"The way they batted yesterday, they chose to bat that way. If you're 3-0 up there's no reason why you shouldn't push and try to be 4-0 up," Faulkner said after the washed-out fourth day at The Oval, and following a third day on which England had scored 215 in 98 overs. "That's their choice ... I know the fans get a refund for their ticket today but maybe they should've for yesterday."

There is no question that Faulkner was selected in part to see what he could bring to Test cricket and to assess him ahead of the home Ashes, and because it was believed that he would add some toughness to a side that had perhaps been lacking it. In the Sheffield Shield, Faulkner is a wicket-taker - he has picked up 111 in his past three seasons - but he found it tough going on day three against England, who took only 29 runs from his 12 overs but offered no real chances.

"It didn't surprise me. Any time they feel threatened they sort of go in their shell and play pretty defensive cricket. That didn't really surprise me at all," Faulkner said of England's approach. "I think when they come to Australia it's going to be played on our terms and I think they'll be in for a hell of a challenge back home."

Whether Faulkner is part of that home series remains to be seen. Graham Gooch, as England's batting coach, will have a major role in preparing his batsmen for the different challenges of an Ashes series in Australia, where the pitches are expected to have more bounce and carry. He said it was understandable Australia would be frustrated at the match situation but that England were comfortable with their position.

"The Australian fast bowlers have bowled exceptionally in the last two or three Tests and they've really put our top order under pressure," Gooch said. "Credit to them. Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle in particular have been exceptional. We'd have liked to be in a slightly different position, a more advanced position, but it didn't happen. It's not the end of the world. We're not frustrated, because we're the ones with three Test wins, they're the ones with nil Test wins.

"I don't think any team goes out there to bat slowly. Sometimes you find the conditions a little bit easier to score than others. We certainly would've liked to have scored quicker. But we want to compete every ball and play tight, and we didn't move the score along as we'd have liked. Sometimes that happens in Test cricket. Sometimes you score 300 in a day, sometimes it's a bit harder work."

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Naeem ton secures Bangladesh A win at last

Bangladesh A 324-6 (Naeem 121*, Raqibul 72) beat England Lions 319-7 (Balance 87, Vince 63, Al-Amin 3-70) by four wickets
Scorecard

Bangladesh A salvaged some pride from their disastrous tour, after they beat England Lions by four wickets in the third and final one-day game. Naeem Islam was the hero for the visitors, chaperoning the 320-run chase and getting an unbeaten century himself.

This was Bangladesh A's first win on tour, after they lost five matches to county sides and conceded the three-match one-day series to the Lions by losing the first two games.

Naeem's unbeaten 121 came off just 100 balls and was highlighted by 15 boundaries and two sixes. He was instrumental in maintaining a good run rate after Imrul Kayes and Raqibul Hasan added 58 for the second wicket. Raqibul, who chipped in with 72, and Naeem then added 104 for the third wicket. Naeem kept going, adding another 76 for the fifth wicket with Shamsur Rahman, and an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership worth 36 runs with Farhad Reza that eventually clinched the game.

The Lions bowlers didn't help matters, conceding 35 extras, of which 12 were no-balls. In the finishing stages, Ben Stokes bowled two beamers, and was promptly taken out of the attack by the umpires, Tymal Mills called on to finish the over. Stokes, however, was the most successful (albeit most expensive) bowler with 3 for 74.

The Lions' decision to bat first was again vindicated by their third successive 300-plus score in the series. Opener James Vince made 63 off 70 balls while Gary Ballance struck 87 off 102 balls with seven boundaries.

This time, however, their finishing wasn't as good as the last two games, with only James Taylor making 44 off 29 balls with three fours and two sixes. Al-Amin Hossain took 3 for 70 while Robiul Islam picked up two wickets for 60 runs.

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