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The talk of Hove centred on how Steven Finn would react to being omitted by England. But Luke Wright was in no mood to ensure Finn had a soft landing on his Middlesex return

Tim Wigmore at Hove19-Jul-2013
ScorecardLuke Wright produced another impressive first-class innings•Getty ImagesThe talk of Hove centred on how Steven Finn would react to being omitted by England. But Luke Wright was in no mood to ensure Finn had a soft landing on his Middlesex return, with an unbeaten 151 to keep alive Sussex’s chances of preserving their unbeaten Championship record.The ghost at the Lord’s feast, Finn probably had visions of returning to his county to similar effect to the bowler squeezed out of last year’s showpiece Test. Then, Graham Onions took 9 for 67 for Durham, only his own hand, responsible for a brilliant run-out, denied Onions all ten.Finn began rather differently. Coming in at No. 10, he didn’t score in 16 balls as Monty Panesar neatly wrapped up the Middlesex innings. Far from being unleashed on the Sussex batsmen, Finn then had to bind his time. Second change. But he later said it was all part of the master plan: “I said that I didn’t want to take the new ball I thought the other guys should.”After 16 overs of waiting, Finn produced a brutal lifter with his fourth delivery to elicit an edge from Luke Wells. Three balls later, Rory Hamilton-Brown was dismissed by a similar delivery, the sort that Championship batsmen would once have been familiar receiving when each county seemed to possess a Caribbean quick.The rest of Finn’s spell produced the most compelling cricket of the match. Bowling noticeably faster than anyone else in the game, and generating stifling bounce, he harassed Ed Joyce and Wright for the duration of his ten-over burst.It has often been said that Finn doesn’t fit into England’s strategy of “bowling dry”, and, perhaps, this was further evidence of that: at times he over-pitched or dropped too wide, and himself admitted that, “there were a few too many four balls”. Yet there is a danger of focusing more on what Finn cannot – yet – do than what he can: namely, bowl with rare venom that makes him capable of troubling the best batsmen on the flattest tracks.Neither Joyce nor Wright have played Test cricket but, with Tim Murtagh and Corey Collymore bowling an unrelenting off-stump line while Finn let rip, they received a taste of Test match intensity here. It was a challenge that, just about, the two players were up to as they repaired Sussex’s innings from the rubble of 45 for 4. But only just: Finn had Joyce dropped at second slip, while Wright flashed over gully.Joyce and Wright are a delightful pair: the elegant Irish left-hander, classical in his shot selection and understated at the crease; while Wright bristles with intent in everything he does, always looking for an invitation to lash a drive through the covers. But a very effective pair they make: Joyce has 868 Championship runs at 86 apiece; Wright now has 517 at 74. After adding 110 with Joyce, Ben Brown added another 107 with Wright to edge Sussex into the lead.The manner in which Wright handled Finn was particularly impressive. He did not always look comfortable, but he is hardly alone in that.But, without falling into recklessness, he approached what could have been an overwhelming challenge – he arrived at the wicket with Sussex four down, needing another 221 runs to make Middlesex bat again and Finn letting rip – with an endearing positivity. At one stage Wright hit four consecutive Finn deliveries for four: a booming off drive; a rasping cut; an edge over the slips from a delivery with extra bounce; and then another straight drive to show it all hadn’t been a fluke.The acclaim when he reached his 11th first-class hundred with another lashed drive through the covers was well deserved; the cut shots he played whenever Finn dropped marginally short spoke of a batsman of far too much calibre to be written off as a Twenty20 specialist.While Wright has become a short-form player par excellence, this season, after arriving late following his IPL excursions, he has put his mind to the challenge of first-class batting. Middlesex know this better than anyone: he saved the Championship game at Lord’s last month in making 77 and 187. Wright knows he is unlikely to play Test but, two years on from his last ODI appearance, is surely worth another look in that format. Ashley Giles, the watching England ODI coach, would certainly have been impressive.For all Sussex’s recovery, Middlesex will still expect Finn and co. to end their unbeaten record this season: they lead by just 21 runs with four wickets remaining. But, whatever happens, Sussex will be heartened by Panesar’s spell of 4 for 16 this morning: if it proves the catalyst for him rediscovering his form then he should win an England touring spot to Australia. Despite likely defeat here, Panesar could yet – especially if Wright treats every county bowling attack as if they are Middlesex’s – win a Championship title too.

Somerset bounced back to winning ways in the Yorkshire Bank 40 by beating Glamorgan by three wickets with 10 balls to spare.

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2013
ScorecardPeter Trego’s 72 from 66 balls was a strong start to the chase•Getty ImagesSomerset bounced back to winning ways in the Yorkshire Bank 40 by beating Glamorgan by three wickets with 10 balls to spare.Responding to Glamorgan’s 245 for 9, which included an unbeaten 75 from Ben Wright, the hosts looked well placed as Peter Trego hit 72 and Dean Elgar made 51. But they slipped to 203 for 7 before Craig Meschede and Max Waller both hit career-bests to see Somerset home.After being put into bat, Glamorgan openers Will Bragg and Mark Wallace added 31 before Meschede had Wallace caught by wicketkeeper Barrow. Jamie Overton entered the attack in dramatic fashion with two wickets in his first over. His first delivery had Chris Cooke caught at short midwicket by Elgar and four balls later, Bragg clipped him to Trego at third man. Meschede claimed his second wicket when Jim Allenby edged a wider one which Barrow dived to catch with his right hand.Waller tightened Somerset’s grip on proceedings when Murray Goodwin drove him straight to James Hildreth at short midwicket and the visitors found themselves 97 for five in the 21st over. Marcus North drove Overton to the boundary but on 46 was caught at gully by Hildreth.When Wagg was run out by Waller with a direct hit in the 30th over Glamorgan were on 143 for 7 as Dean Cosker came to the wicket to join Wright. Cosker drove Steve Kirby to the boundary to bring up the 150 soon after which Wright went to his half-century with a boundary to third man off the same bowler.The eighth-wicket partnership was worth 89 when Elgar brought it to an end, Cosker caught at mid-off by Overton for 37. Three balls later Elgar had Michael Hogan caught at long on by Hildreth as Glamorgan ended their innings on 245 for 9, Wright not out 75 from 57 balls.In reply, Marcus Trescothick and Trego added 41 before the Somerset captain was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Wagg for 13. Nick Compton scored four before being caught at first slip trying to cut Simon Jones.Trego went to his 50 with three consecutive fours off Cosker as he and Elgar started to dominate proceedings. Elgar brought up the Somerset 100 with a lofted boundary off Allenby.Trego had moved onto 72 when he was was bowled by North, his third-wicket partnership with Elgar adding 95 runs. Elgar went to his maiden Somerset 50 in the 27th over but one run later was caught at deep mid-wicket by Wright off Cosker.Hildreth was lbw five balls later and Cosker, who took 3 for 41, struck again with the first delivery of his next over when Suppiah was bowled for six.Meschede hit 24 off the 33rd over bowled by Jones, which included two sixes to bring Somerset right back into the game.When Barrow was bowled by Wagg, the young allrounder was joined by Waller and the pair stayed at the wicket together to see Somerset to 246 by which time Meschede was unbeaten on 40, with Waller not out 25.

Preview of the match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria27-Apr-2013Match factsSunday, April 28, 2013
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)MS Dhoni will be key with his ability to hit slower bowlers with ease•BCCIBig PictureKolkata Knight Riders were within touching distance of Chennai Super Kings just a week ago when the two met in Kolkata. Now, Super Kings are second on the table and are cruising ahead, while Knight Riders are still struggling to take off. They are seventh on the table at the halfway stage and need a massive turnaround in the remaining matches to finish in the top four. It will have to start in Chepauk, Super Kings’ fortress that teams are increasingly finding hard to breach.With the solid presence of Michael Hussey at the top, Super Kings’ powerful batsmen are being laid ideal platforms in every game. MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja are not being pressurised to resurrect innings and when they start attacking, they are not the easiest to stop. Their bowling, however, can sometimes be slightly vulnerable and the line-up lacks a top-quality pacer up front.Knight Riders could focus on these supposed frailties, but they have plenty of their own. Yusuf Pathan’s spot in the side is both a mystery and an embarrassment and makes one wonder about the depth of patience the management have, because as an investment, he is not making any sense. Then, apart from their big three, no one really has shown any consistency for the team to rely upon. In Chennai, the focus will again be on their bowlers and their ability to counter the local batting threat. Since the game is in Chennai, the offspinner Sachithra Senanayake will have to sit out this game due to the ban on Sri Lankan players.Form guideChennai Super Kings: WWWWL
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLLW
Players to watchIn Super Kings’ last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, MS Dhoni raised the game against a tough opposition. He single-handedly neutralised the Dale Steyn threat and bailed his team out. He is one of the few batsmen who can change gears without warning and especially thrives against slower bowlers, mysterious or not.Jacques Kallis, one of Knight Riders’ marquee players, bowled and batted with energy against Kings XI Punjab, showing no signs of the injury that had put his participation in doubt. He picked up two valuable wickets and scored a well-planned 37 just when the team needed it. Knight Riders will have one thing less to worry if he can lend similar all-round prowess in future matches,Stats and trivia Suresh Raina is one short of becoming the second batsman to hit 100 sixes in the IPL. Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine have both taken 14 wickets this season. But whereas Narine bowls at an economy rate of 5.65, Bravo is expensive at 8.47Quotes”If we keep on winning, we will be in the top half. We have the belief.”

A round-up of the quarter-final matches from the Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2013
ScorecardDelhi crushed Gujarat in Visakhapatnam to enter the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, first rolling them for 126 and then knocking off the meagre target with over 21 overs to spare. Seamer Sumit Narwal triggered the Gujarat collapse, removing both openers after they had strung together a partnership of 40. Narwal went on to five wickets in an economical seven-over spell, and received support from new-ball bowler Parvinder Awana and Rajat Bhatia as Gujarat went on to score just 86 more runs in 25 overs after the opening stand was broken. Delhi lost opener Dhruv Shorey early in the chase, but the rest of the top order contributed cameos as they cruised home. Gautam Gambhir finished unbeaten on 44, the top-scorer in the game.
ScorecardKerala put on a dominating show with the bat, to ease past Punjab by 46 runs, and secure their place in the final four. Punjab chose to bowl, and made a decent start, reducing Kerala to 51 for 2 in the tenth over. However, one of the openers, VA Jagadeesh, hung in there and went on to make a career-best 119, that set a firm platform. Sachin Baby, batting at No. 6, launched from that platform, scoring a maiden List A century. He finished unbeaten on 104 runs from 70 balls to take Kerala to 320. For Punjab, Gurkeerat almost played a similar role to that of Jagadeesh, but was run out on 99 to dent Punjab’s chances. Their hopes took another big blow when Yuvraj Singh was out to Prasanth Parameswaran for a golden duck. Mandeep Singh kept them going with a steady 81, but they still fell well short, bowled out in the 48th over.

Australia’s bowlers were made to toil for wickets on the opening day of their second warm-up match against India A in Chennai

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2013
ScorecardGautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma struck form on the opening day against the Australians•ESPNcricinfo LtdAustralia’s bowlers were made to toil for wickets on the opening day of their second warm-up match against India A in Chennai. After deciding to bat, India A were led by their captain Gautam Gambhir, who struck a hundred only days after being dropped for the first two Tests against Australia. It was his first first-class hundred since his 116 against Bangladesh in January 2010.He was accompanied by Jiwanjot Singh in an opening partnership of 67 before Jiwanjot edged Xavier Doherty to Shane Watson at first slip. Gambhir was going strong and brought up his half-century with two consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Ashton Agar. His innings also ended with a catch to Watson, giving Moises Henriques his only wicket for the day.Rohit Sharma, also eyeing a place in the Test squad, struck form with a half-century that included eight fours and three sixes. Rohit and Abhishek Nayar were dismissed in consecutive overs from Doherty, the only Australian bowler to show any signs of success against the Indian batsmen.India A were 272 for 4 and Manoj Tiwary and CM Gautam put on 66 and batted until stumps. Tiwary was unbeaten on 77 and Gautam on 34. Tiwary’s innings was competition to Rohit’s half-century as the two are on the fringes of the India Test squad.Opening bowlers Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle bowled 30 overs together, including nine maidens, but failed to pick any wickets. Spinners Nathan Lyon and Agar were expensive in their spells, Lyon conceding 97 in his 20 overs and Agar conceding 78 runs at six runs per over.

Pakistan came within one wicket of compensating for a calamitous batting performance in the Under-19 World Cup quarter-final against India. Their captain Babar Azam said the narrow loss was very disappointing

George Binoy in Townsville20-Aug-2012Pakistan came within one wicket of compensating for a calamitous batting performance in the Under-19 World Cup quarter-final against India. They will now begin the contest for fifth place by playing West Indies on August 22.Having travelled north from Brisbane to Townsville, Pakistan were playing at the Tony Ireland Stadium for the first time. It had rained in the early hours of Monday and the skies were overcast. Yet, unlike most sides when playing strong bowling attacks at this venue, Pakistan chose to bat after winning the toss.The first hour has often yielded several wickets. England were 61 for 4 against Australia, and India were 50 for 4 against West Indies. Pakistan were 0 for 2 in the first over today.”We’ve been batting well [in the World Cup], so we’d thought we’d bat first, make 250,” Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain, said when asked why he did not choose to bowl. “But that did not happen, early on the boys played some bad shots and we got out for a low score – we made 136.”The first two wickets weren’t to bad balls or bad shots though. Sandeep Sharma’s swing from leg to off stump made the left-handers Sami Aslam and Iman-ul-Haq play and edge to second slip. The duty of stablising the innings was left to Azam.”When two wickets fell, I just decided to play carefully and try and take the team towards 250,” he said. “But I couldn’t do it, when I got to 50 I played a loose shot and got out.”Having seen off the more potent threats from India’s seamers, Azam had just brought up his half-century when he chipped an offbreak from Baba Aparajith straight to Unmukt Chand at midwicket, the softest of shots.”We thought if we made 150-160 we could beat India, we had that much confidence in our bowling,” Azam said. “Our score was too low, but we still managed to take it until the final overs.”Defending 137, Azam’s confidence in his bowlers was not misplaced. The first wicket to fall – Chand for a duck – was via a spectacular catch on the backward point boundary and every fielder and substitute ran towards Ehsan Adil to congratulate him. Two edges were caught in quick succession. After five overs Pakistan had India at 8 for 3.”In the first five overs we dismissed three batsmen. I thought we could make a comeback,” Azam said. “There was a partnership and at the time we thought the game was slipping. But again the boys came back and we tried really hard.”India recovered through a partnership between Aparajith and Vijay Zol, but just when an Indian win seemed an inevitability, Pakistan claimed 4 for 7 to reduce India to 127 for 9. The next seven overs were fraught with tension as India’s last pair successfully toiled towards the target. “When the boys came back, and nine batsmen were out, we thought we could win the match,” Azam said. “The bowlers gave 100% but it didn’t happen. Sandeep Sharma and Harmeet Singh played really well.”We’re very disappointed. We had confidence against India, having played them in the Asia Cup – one match was tied and the other we won. When seven runs were remaining, we thought we could get the last wicket and win. When two runs were remaining, everyone was a bit down. A lot of us were very tense out there.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and India in Pallekele

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria03-Aug-2012Match factsSaturday, August 4
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)Dinesh Chandimal has scored 47 runs in four matches•AFPBig PictureSri Lanka handed over the series to India in Colombo with two failed attempts at defending the target but can end the series – this is also, surprisingly, their last ODI this year – on a positive note in Pallekele. They beat India in the second ODI in Hambantota and came close in the third ODI in Colombo, and if they get help from the cooler and cloudier climes of Pallekele, where India have never played, their medium pacers could be a handful.However, in conditions that haven’t favoured the bowlers, the difference between the two teams has been the batting. India have four batsmen among top five run-getters in the series to Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who is already out of the tournament with a finger injury. With Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene not firing, Sri Lanka’s young batting – especially Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne – has lacked leadership to take full advantage of India’s weakness in bowling. In the fourth ODI, India’s part-time bowlers returned with the figures of 22-2-112-5 – a glaring example of where Sri Lanka lost their way.Although India have already won the series, the problems that have plagued them in the past have surfaced again – Virender Sehwag remains erratic, Rohit Sharma’s form has not yet returned and Manoj Tiwary is India’s second most successful bowler in the series despite playing just one game. With a tough season looming, MS Dhoni would hope for some signs of improvement- and some clues to his best XI – along with a win in Pallekele.Form guideSri Lanka LLWLW (Completed games, most recent first)
India WWLWWWatch out for…Irfan Pathan came in as a replacement for Vinay Kumar in the series but has done well with both bat and ball. He scored a crucial 34 not out in a match-winning partnership in the third ODI, but more importantly, he has got the ball to swing. He has bowled with an economy of 5, which is the best among India’s seamers, and has picked up three wickets.Sri Lanka’s fielding has consistently been the best among the Asian teams, but in the current series the fielders have dropped a number of catches at critical moments and they have also given a lot of extra runs in overthrows. In the previous game itself, the team conceded two boundaries when the fielders failed to backup shies at stumps.Team news MS Dhoni had success with his seven batsmen formula in the previous match, and could continue with the same, which would mean another chance for Rohit. Ashok Dinda has played two games without creating much impact and could be replaced by Umesh Yadav.India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashok Dinda/Umesh YadavAngelo Mathews indicated in a press conference that fringe players might get a chance. It could mean a game for Chamara Kapugedara and offspinner Sachithra Senanayake, both of whom haven’t played in the first four matches.Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Lahiru Thirimanne/Chamara Kapugedara, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Pradeep, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana Herath/Sachithra SenanayakeStats and trivia India’s bowlers have had only three five-wicket hauls in the last five years in ODIs, worst among all Test playing countries. Sri Lanka have most in this period – 19. MS Dhoni is 17 runs away from becoming only the sixth batsman to score 2000 runs in India-Sri Lanka ODIs.Quotes”The numbers [Ashwin’s figures] have not been bad; the ball is coming out really well and whatever I’ve been working on has also come out very well.”
.”We’ve dropped quite a few catches in this series and I think that cost us the series. Especially, against the Indian batting line up, you can’t drop that many catches.”
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Australia’s blueprint for sustained supremacy in world cricket is being informed and inspired by the New Zealand All Blacks’ enduring domination of international rugby

Daniel Brettig in Chelmsford26-Jun-2012Australia’s blueprint for sustained supremacy in world cricket is being informed and inspired by the New Zealand All Blacks’ enduring domination of international rugby. Encouraged by the rugby grounding of Cricket Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard, Michael Clarke’s team and the pathway beneath them are being shaped with New Zealand’s century-old dominance of the oval-ball game as a major influence.As part of Australia’s push to rise again in the world rankings, all Cricket Australia contracted players are now assessing themselves according to the individual player program used by the All Blacks in the lead-up to their 2011 World Cup victory. Earlier this month, New Zealand rugby’s high performance director Don Tricker and their player development manager Mike Anthony were the keynote speakers at CA’s sports medicine and coaching conference in Canberra.CA are also looking closely at the relationships fostered by the All Blacks with New Zealand’s five Super Rugby professional club teams, to better aid the movements of players and coaching philosophies between the states and the national team. Much as Super Rugby added another layer to a system that had once flowed seamlessly from provincial sides to international level, so Twenty20 club teams are adding complexity to the task of managing players from state cricket to ODIs and Tests.Howard told ESPNcricinfo he aspired to the sort of long-term performance level that New Zealand have kept up for decades, despite being among the smallest nations playing the game. A similar goal was outlined in last year’s Argus review.”I try to refrain from going to rugby because obviously it’s where I’m from, but on a world scale the All Blacks are very hard to compare against – a nation of four million people who over a 100-year period have been extremely dominant in a world sport,” Howard said ahead of Australia’s ODI series against England. “They constantly innovate, and they turn players over a reasonable amount, so there are some learnings there for us.”One of the central tools being brought over from New Zealand to Australia’s cricketers is the individual player plan used to assess performances, strengths and weaknesses. These questionnaires allow the players’ own views of themselves to be cross-referenced with coaching and selection judgements, resulting in more rounded and constructive discussions of ways for each player to improve.”We have adopted it and it’s gone quite well,” Howard said. “So very much being player-led, the players take their individual player plans and look at where they’re performing well, or areas to improve on, and we obviously support it with the coaches and the sports scientists to address those gaps. Also for the coaches to say ‘we thought your strengths were here, you think they’re there, let’s actually use that as a discussion to assess the reality’. It is a good affirmation for some players and coaches to look at different parts of players’ games.”New Zealand have used it for a couple of years and the fact is that the players get the input into really being able to sit back and assess their own game. I think that’s an important part of reflecting. They’ll often think about their core skill, but whether or not they’re physically in great condition, mentally in great condition, assessing all the parts of their disciplines where they can look for that edge to get into the team.”Just the ability to reflect is important, and to a certain point it doesn’t matter where it comes from, as long as it comes from a sound place with some reasonable background. Someone else has nicely tested it for us, which is a great thing.”In Canberra, Tricker and Anthony presented to the nation’s coaches on how New Zealand had created the right environment for success. Howard said that while CA could take plenty of succour from the All Blacks’ ability to stay at the top of rugby despite repeatedly facing other larger countries, he acknowledged that New Zealand’s focus on the game and its smaller geographical area made several of their measures more easily employed.”There’s no magic bullet, and funnily enough they used that term as well. You need to have a combination of things to make sure your environment is something that helps you excel,” Howard said. “But we’ve got to take their processes and try to take them over a far larger geographical area. New Zealand is a little bit like England, a little bit smaller, and obviously the geographic divide of Australia means you have to run those different satellites a little more strongly.”But they were very big on player plans, dealing with sports medicine but also sports medicine being a balanced part of decision-making – it can’t drive decisions but it helps form them. Those things were very good messages and support coaches making good decisions and in a cricket sense coaches with their selection panels.”They presented very well, had some very similar ideas and concepts for where we want to go, and also some things that we’re already doing, so the confirmation of our methods was also good for us. Obviously they come from a very successful environment. It was pretty meaningful.”Howard’s non-cricket background has proved to be an asset for CA in combination with experienced cricket minds like those of the coach Mickey Arthur and the national selector John Inverarity. He said the search for outside ideas had so far been fruitful, though always leavened by the need to adhere to basics.”Don Tricker, the guy heading up New Zealand rugby, has a softball background. And the fact he came from an environment outside rugby in that country, was huge,” Howard said. “The ability to come in and question things is a good thing. We’ve got some guys on this tour from outside as well, so I think it’s important to assess yourself against your competitors, but also other sports.”

Northamptonshire took an iron grip on the third day of their County Championship match against Gloucestershire

25-May-2012
ScorecardNorthamptonshire took an iron grip on the third day of their County Championship match against Gloucestershire despite an unbeaten century by the visitors’ Hamish Marshall.Gloucestershire managed to avoid the follow-on before they were bowled out for 268 with former New Zealand international Marshall making a brilliant 117 not out from 196 balls. Northants then extended their lead to 389 as they closed on 246 for 5 with Scotland international Kyle Coetzer making 86 off 127 deliveries including two huge sixes over midwicket.Gloucestershire began the day on 156 for 6, 255 runs behind their opponents and needing another 106 to avoid the follow-on, with Marshall resuming on 49 and wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty on 9. Marshall quickly completed his half-century off 105 balls with a single off David Willey with the sixth ball of the day.Batty, however, was unable to add to his overnight score before he walked when he was caught by his opposite number David Murphy after edging Lee Daggett.Ed Young failed to score off five deliveries before he was trapped lbw by Willey but Marshall and Ian Saxelby hung in to add 90 for the ninth wicket. This set a new Gloucestershire record against Northants, going past the previous best of 84 made between David Graveney and Brian Brain at Bristol in 1981.Marshall completed his 20th first-class century off 165 balls but Saxelby was to perish on 30 when he was pinned lbw by Con de Lange. James Middlebrook finally brought the Gloucestershire innings to an end with the final ball before lunch when Liam Norwell edged him to Northants captain Andrew Hall at first slip.Middlebrook threw his wicket away on 19, 18 overs into Northants second innings, when he chipped Will Gidman straight to Saxelby at mid-on. But fellow opener Stephen Peters completed his half-century in the third over after tea off 99 balls as Northants steadily extended their advantage.But he departed on 58 when he gloved his attempted reverse sweep off New Zealand international Kane Williamson to Marshall at slip. Coetzer went on to reach 50 off 93 deliveries but his superb knock came to an end when he smashed Saxelby to Williamson at midwicket.David Sales then retired hurt on 33 after seemingly pulling a muscle running a single towards the wicketkeeper’s end. Alex Wakely was then stumped by Batty off Williamson before Willey launched the same bowler to Saxelby at deep square-leg with the last ball of the day.

The Mumbai Cricket Association’s academy has been virtually shut for the last seven months because of a lack of support staff, the chairman of the committee that oversees the academy has claimed

Tariq Engineer25-Feb-2012The Mumbai Cricket Association’s academy has been virtually shut for the last seven months because of a lack of support staff, Lalchand Rajput, the chairman of the committee that oversees the academy has claimed. Built at a cost of Rs 20 crore in 2007, the indoor facility was originally supervised by the former India batsman Dilip Vengsarkar, with former India wicketkeeper Chandrakant Pandit being the director of the academy.However Vengsarkar withdrew from the MCA after losing the election for president in July, 2011, while Pandit had to resign as director after joining the managing committee. Rajput, the former India batsman, told ESPNcricinfo that the MCA has not even appointed a replacement for Pandit yet.”There is no support staff yet,” Rajput said. “There is only one bowling coach, Pradeep Sundaram. There is no coaching director. There is no batting coach. There is no physio. There is no trainer. No video analyst. Nothing.”Rajput said he has sent eight emails to the secretaries of the MCA, but all them went unanswered. Their silence was the reason he took the matter to the press (the academy’s lack of staff was first reported in the , a tabloid, earlier this month).The MCA responded to Rajput’s public comments by issuing a show-cause notice, asking him to explain his actions. Rajput said he would be replying to the notice in the next few days and that he didn’t see why he should be criticised for airing what is his view of the situation.While MCA officials did not respond to phone calls from ESPNcricinfo, association joint-secretary Nitin Dalal told that the support staff would be appointed by the end of February (India’s domestic season ends in March). “The appointment of support staff at the indoor academy is on our priority list,” Dalal said.According to Dalal, the costs of hiring staff has contributed to the delay. “From this year onwards, we have started paying the support staff of various teams on a yearly basis instead of season-wise compensation,” he said. “So, we had to consider those costs as well. That is why there was a delay in appointments.”Former India captain Ajit Wadekar was critical of the MCA’s decision to issue a show-cause notice to Rajput. “Instead of taking concrete action, the MCA has issued show-cause notice,” Wadekar said. “If you are not listening to the man who is in-charge of the academy [Rajput], then who will you listen to? It is the MCA’s money in the end but it is sad to see it going down the drain in this manner.”When you can spend hundreds of crores in refurbishing a stadium [Wankhede], why can’t you do these small things?”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran