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National League Division One
TableGloucestershire 199 for 3 beat Glamorgan by seven wickets at Cheltenham
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Gloucestershire moved to the top of Division One with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Glamorgan. James Averis and Mark Hardinges claimed three wickets apiece as Glamorgan collapsed to 197 all out, and Gloucestershire eased to victory with seven balls to spare. Each of the batsmen made a contribution – Alex Gidman continued his fine form with 49, before Matt Windows wrapped things up with an unbeaten 54.Worcestershire 219 for 6 beat Surrey 140 by 79 runs at Guildford
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An understrength Surrey team surrendered their top spot in Division One with a 79-run defeat against Worcestershire at Guildford. Ben Smith produced a captain’s innings of 93 not out, with 10 fours, to ensure a decent total of 219 for 6, after James Ormond had grabbed two early wickets. Smith found good support from Andrew Hall, who added 87 for the fourth wicket, before Kabir Ali’s impressive return of 4 for 30 devastated Surrey’s reply. Matt Mason also picked up four wickets, with the only resistance coming from Adam Hollioake’s 33. Essex 203 for 6 beat Leicestershire 166 by 37 runs at Southend
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Will Jefferson’s 61 made the difference as Essex overcame Leicestershire in a low-scoring match at Southend. Jefferson cracked eight fours in his innings, and added 101 for the second wicket with Ronnie Irani, who threw in a robust 36. Jeremy Snape was the pick of the Leicestershire bowlers, and his 3 for 14 from nine overs might have made the difference. But Antonio Palladino, Graham Napier and Joseph Grant each claimed two wickets, and only Paul Nixon’s 40 provided any meaningful resistance. Yorkshire 197 for 8 beat Kent 179 by 18 runs at Scarborough
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Muttiah Muralitharan picked up two wickets on his Kent debut, but he was unable to prevent Yorkshire from recording their second win of the season. Craig White top-scored for Yorkshire with a watchful 47 off 82 balls, before Tim Bresnan and Chris Silverwood added vital runs at the bottom of the order. Ed Smith and Robert Key replied with an opening stand of 57, and David Fulton made 48, but Craven claimed 4 for 22 to secure victory.National League Division Two
Latest tableMiddlesex 238 for 5 beat Northamptonshire 234 for 8 by five wickets at Northampton
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Owais Shah’s 83 knocked the stuffing out of Northamptonshire, as Middlesex successfully pursued 235 for victory. Shah hit two sixes and six fours in 86 balls, after Andrew Strauss had launched the chase with a handy 40. Northamptonshire’s opener Tim Roberts had earlier made 64, his highest one-day score, and David Sales chipped in with 56. But Simon Cook took three wickets and prevented a handy total turning into an unassailable one.

Without a win in the Standard Bank Series and without their captain, Kenya lit up St George’s Park on Wednesday night with a quite astonishing 70-run victory over India.It was, without doubt, one of the three greatest moments in the history of Kenyan cricket, following the 1996 World Cup upset of the West Indies and the 69-run win against India in Gwalior in 1998.It was a victory achieved against all expectations and, although one hesitates to use the term in the match-fixing era, against all the odds. The Kenyans played out of their skins, none more so than Joseph Angara who took the new ball, did not concede a run off his first four overs and fitted in the most prized wicket in cricket, that of Sachin Tendulkar for 3, during his opening spell.Angara was to come back into the attack later to snaffle Jacob Martin and Reetinder Singh Sodhi and effectively snuff out India’s last remaining hopes and he finished with three for 30 to claim the man of the match award. But it was much more than a one-man show with most of the Kenyans contributing in one way or another.Last Friday Kenya had been bowled out by India for just 90 as they lost to India by 10 wickets in a match which failed to stretch to half of the game’s allotted 100 overs. On Sunday their batting improved against South Africa, but they still lost by nine wickets and they had to go into Wednesday’s game sans captain Maurice Odumbe, banned for two matches for remarks made about umpire Dave Orchard.The Kenyans were perilously close to losing all credibility, but they batted well to reach 246 for six with Kennedy Otieno (64), Ravindu Shah (50) and Thomas Odoyo (51) all reaching the half-century mark.The Indians were loose in the field, giving the impression that they thought all they had to do to win was to get to St George’s Park on time. Still, few would have betted against their dazzling top order failing to reach the target, but the innings simply did not get going.Tendulkar was out in the sixth over, Sourav Ganguly (24) and Martin (36) both looked to have played themselves in before getting out, but as often as India tried to get up, Kenya kept on knocking them down again.Tony Suji accounted for Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh with successive balls and there was a quite magnificent catch from Collins Otieno, diving, one-handed low to his right at point, to get rid of Sodhi and although the Kenyans contrived to drop no fewer than four catches as the ball swirled in the air late in the innings, they had still had enough to spare to win quite comfortably.In point of fact, Kenya’s fielding went to pieces a little in the last 10 overs as they seemed to panic as the prospect of victory loomed. They also had more cause for complaint about Orchard who once again failed to call for a television replay which would have shown him that Harbhajan Singh had been run out by a direct hit.As well Kenya played overall, though, it cannot be stressed enough how poor were India. They rested three players – Virender Sehwag, Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar, but, more importantly, they seemed to have left their competitive spirit back in the team hotel.Kenya’s win will have done wonders for their cricket. It has also brought a Summer Spice Series, which was starting to verge too close to predictability for comfort, back to life. Certainly, when Kenya play again in Cape Town against South Africa on Monday, this win should assure a crowd somewhere near close to capacity.Ganguly was at a loss to explain what went wrong afterwards. “It’s difficult to find reasons for losing,” he said, adding a little later that he hoped “it’s a kick in the backside for us”.”We played poor cricket for 100 overs,” said Ganguly. “All credit to them. They batted well and fielded brilliantly apart from a few missed catches.”Steve Tikolo, the acting captain, was “over the moon. This is right up there with the West Indies win in the World Cup.”The Kenyans had done it, he said, for their missing captain and manager Mehmood Quraishy who is in hospital awaiting heart surgery.

Former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar has called for the selectors to scrutinise MS Dhoni’s role in the Indian team, and not merely as captain. Agarkar felt the selectors should look at Virat Kohli’s performance as the Test captain by comparison, and make a call on Dhoni’s role in the limited-overs format after the ongoing South Africa series.

‘Dhoni way too practical at times’

Ahead of the five-match ODI series against South Africa, Agarkar said he was “delighted” that India’s squad was boosted by the genuine pace of Umesh Yadav, something he felt was lacking in the T20Is.
“MS Dhoni keeps saying you don’t need to be a fast bowler, you need to be a good bowler, but it has been shown in T20s, you need bowlers with quality. They [ fast bowlers] can and will have bad days in the shorter format. And that’s where I think the selectors need to almost put their foot down at times with MS Dhoni. He is, at times, way too practical, which doesn’t work for the team anymore.
“You would rather have someone [like Umesh] who can make a difference with those one or two wickets which can change the game rather than someone who is going to bowl line and length all day.”
India’s medium-pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma and S Aravind collectively managed just the one wicket in the two T20Is played, while conceding over eight, nine and 12 an over respectively.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo ahead of India’s ODI series against South Africa, Agarkar said “the selectors need to have a closer look at what MS Dhoni is doing, not just as captain, but as a player as well”.Agarkar was especially concerned by Dhoni’s declining individual form. “He has been a great player for India, but you don’t want him to become a liability for the team. And he needs to perform a lot better than he has [been]. Just because he has done it over the years, doesn’t mean it’s okay for him to fail.”Agarkar was also highly critical of Dhoni’s decision to bat at No.4 in the one-day format, insisting that such a move would be “unfair” on somebody like Ajinkya Rahane and “would not work for the team.”‘I’m not convinced he should bat at four,” Agarkar said. “Just after a World Cup, you’re now trying to develop your team for the next World Cup. Four years is a long time, but for Dhoni, towards the end of his career, to put himself up, I’m not sure about it. You can understand if there are batsmen who can’t bat 3 and 4. But there is Ajinkya Rahane, who has been one of your best players in Test cricket and I don’t think he can bat lower than four in ODIs yet, unless he changes his game over his career.”Dhoni seems to have lost that ability of going out there and smashing it from ball one. He obviously takes his time. But he batted up the order in Bangladesh, and India still lost the series. All his career when people wanted him to bat up because he is so good and has that destructive ability, he has always maintained that he wants and needs to bat at No.6, where he can handle the pressure.”It’s a hard job batting at 5, 6 and 7. I’ve seen Yuvraj and MS himself do it for so long, but that doesn’t mean that it changes at this stage in his career. You’ve got to have guys who are good at certain numbers. And at the moment MS by promoting himself, is getting a Rahane or anyone else who bats there, into trouble. I would still have Raina and Dhoni at 5 and 6, so contrary to what a lot of people have said, I don’t think Dhoni should be batting at four at this stage in his career.”Agarkar believed the selectors might have some big decisions to take at the end of the ODI series against South Africa, on the future of the Indian team in ODIs and T20Is.”Looking at the results, India have generally been good in ODIs, but you’ve lost the World Cup semi-final, then you’ve lost in Bangladesh where Dhoni was captain twice, and you’ve now lost a T20 series. Yes, the T20s can go either way very quickly so you don’t want to judge someone, but for Dhoni this is a big series,” he said.”The selectors maybe need to look at where the Indian team is heading because Virat Kohli has done well as captain in Test cricket so maybe the selectors need to make that call after this series.’

Club captain Adam Lallana says he could stay at Southampton for the rest of his career after signing a new long-term contract.

The 24-year-old put pen-to-paper on a new five-and-a-half year deal on Thursday evening, tying him to the south coast outfit until 2018.

It is more good news for the Saints following new deals for Kelvin Davies, Rickie Lambert, Morgan Schneiderlin and Jason Puncheon in recent weeks.

With the club quickly adapting to life under new boss Mauricio Pochettino and all but assured of Premier League safety, things are looking up for a side that was in League One just two years ago.

Lallana, who joined the Saints as a schoolboy, is excited about the future and can see himself staying at the club for the rest of his playing days.

“I’m absolutely delighted,” he told the club’s official website. “To commit my future to the club for the next five years is something I’m really happy about.

“I can’t wait to work with the new management team and the lads to continue our progress in the Premier League. It was an easy decision for me with the direction the club is going in.

“I’ve been at the club since I was 12 and – being honest – I can only see my future lying with Southampton Football Club.

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“If someone was to say that I’d end my career playing for Southampton in the Premier League then I’d snap your hand off for it.”

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Dwayne Bravo lamented the sorry state of West Indies cricket, saying “too much politics” was killing the game in the Caribbean, and that the administrators needed to take a hard look at themselves.Bravo, who was asked about the team’s innings-and-212-run loss to Australia in the first Test in Hobart, said it was painful to see West Indies slip to one big loss after another despite having the personnel to compete. He pointed the gradual decline to a host of factors, including external interference and lack of infrastructure.”We’ve got the players to be up there with the best in the world, but there are a lot of things going on,” said Bravo, who is in Australia to play for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. “We don’t have proper grounds, proper nets or a proper academy. All these things are a part of our downfall.”The relationship between players, board members and management staff needs to get stronger and tighter. They need to have a lot more honesty. There are a lot of dishonest people in charge at the moment.”Bravo did not mince words when he said it was time administrators stopped talking up a glorious past and started looking ahead. His remarks follow those of Michael Holding who said the WICB was “dysfunctional, untrustworthy and not liked by the employees,” while Brian Lara squarely laid the blame on the administrators for “bad governance.””It’s painful to see this is the stage our cricket has reached, [given] at one point in time we were the best team in the world,” Bravo said. “If those in charge keep harping on about the past and not trying to do anything for the present then we’ll always have these type of interviews, we’ll have back and forth with ex-players saying this and current players saying that. The rest of the world will go on and we’ll always be backwards.”Bravo, who was West Indies captain until the tour of India in October 2014, was sacked after the team abandoned the tour midway over a payment dispute with the WICB and the West Indies players’ association. He was also subsequently left out of the World Cup squad and has not played an ODI since October 2014. He announced his Test retirement in January and said that he took the decision after not getting a chance to play the longer format after 2010.”Until earlier this year, I was still interested to play Test cricket, but I have yet to hear anything from any selector, what their plans are for me, what my position is,” said Bravo. “I just decided it’s time to move on with my life and try to channel my energy in different places. I would have loved the opportunity to play Test cricket again but since being dropped back in 2010, I never got the chance and I just decided to call it a day.”Despite being in the mix only for the T20s, Bravo said he had not given up hope on playing ODIs again. “I’m not shutting down my opportunities to represent West Indies, I still 100% want to play for West Indies in one-day internationals and T20s.”

Rob Key and Andrew Hall laid the foundations for Kent’s victory in what was the first match of the Pro40, following last night’s washout.The pair put on an opening stand of 62 which proved the turning point at Grace Road after they had dismissed Leicestershire for 175.Hall made 31, while Key reached 63. It was then left to Darren Stevens to knock off the runs; he made an unbeaten 42 as Kent cruised home with 37 balls to spare.

The Indian board has favoured limiting umpires’ jurisdiction © Getty Images

Following The Oval row, the Indian board has decided to support moves to dilute the powers of the umpires. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, affirmed that the power of international umpires should be curtailed following the forfeited Test.”For the sake of spectators, television viewers and the game’s sponsors, no match should be called off and certainly not by the umpires,” Shah told reporters. “Any decision to forfeit a Test should be made by the match referee or the International Cricket Council (ICC).”Shah was of the opinion that any umpire or team refusing to play without “sufficient reason” should be penalised heavily. “An umpire who abandons play without sufficient reason should be sacked,” he said. “Similarly, teams walking off and forfeiting matches should be penalised and made to pay heavy damages. Unless there are unforeseen circumstances like bad weather or riots, it is the right of spectators and sponsors to see the match go on.”The Indian board will await a ruling on Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire at the centre of the controversy, by Ranjan Madugalle, the Sri Lankan match referee, before taking a stand over Hair’s future. The Pakistan and Sri Lankan board have called for Hair’s removal from the ICC’s Elite Panel.Hair, meanwhile, received support from Dennis Lillee, the Australian legend, who felt players must respect the umpire’s decision. “Whether you like it or not, you have to abide by the umpire’s ruling,” he said.”I was always taught to accept the umpire’s verdict. The authorities should back the umpires.”

Ian Bell: “It doesn’t matter what XI is on the park…it would be nice to see Glenn McGrath playing” © Getty Images

As England prepare for the deciding game of the Ashes next week, Ian Bell, England’s No. 4, has said his side will not be concerned if Glenn McGrath returns from injury. McGrath, 35, has missed two of the four Ashes Tests this summer, including the last match at Trent Bridge. Such is England’s buoyant confidence after brilliant performances in the Tests since Lord’s that they are hoping to prove a point or two to their decade-long nemesis.”I believe that’s the feeling in the changing room,” Bell told . “It doesn’t matter what XI is on the park, and in a way it would be nice to see Glenn McGrath playing at The Oval.”Errol Alcott, the Australia physio, told the he was unable to predict whether McGrath’s injured elbow would last the Test even if he was passed fit. “It’s very hard to imitate those stresses,” he told the paper. “Unless you can put them into first-class cricket to play a game and subject them to similar forces out in the middle, it’s very hard to know with any certainty.”Alcott said McGrath’s condition was improving and he wasn’t feeling much pain in everyday activities. “Now we just need to step up to the next level of stress and that’s out in the middle,” he said.England sides of the 1990s might have wilted under pressure at the prospect of McGrath returning for such a crucial match, but Bell says this team will be inspired by his presence. “If we can regain the Ashes and their best team is on the park that’s the best thing for us. That would be fantastic. Whichever XI is out on the field we’ll go and out play good cricket like we have done all series.”The bullish talk is indicative of an England side who now expect to perform well against Australia. Bell, 23, said he has revelled in his first taste of Ashes cricket. “Playing in this Ashes has made me realise what I need to do to become a better player. I’ve enjoyed every minute of this and I’m looking forward to having a good game at The Oval to finish it off. You are testing [yourself] under pressure, more mentally really rather than technically.”Indeed, it was McGrath who reminded Bell of his brilliance at Lord’s, bowling him for just 6 in a remarkable spell which reduced England to 21 for 5. He struggled in England’s win at Edgbaston too, but two patient fifties in the third Test at Old Trafford boosted his confidence.”That’s what I’ve learnt in this series: every ball is going at 100mph and you’ve got to be switched on all the time. In future I hope – because of this experience – to play situations in a slightly better way.”Bell has been released by England to play in Warwickshire’s C&G final on Saturday against Hampshire at Lord’s as he and England gear themselves up for one final fling at Australia. “I wouldn’t argue if it rained all week but I’m pretty sure, the way these last three Test matches have gone, there’s something else in store,” said Bell. “I’m pretty sure it will be a nail-biter again.”

ScorecardCanada took a step closer to the Americas Championship with a hard-fought win over Bermuda at the National Sports Centre. In reality, the margin of victory (3 wickets with 5 balls to spare) should have been more comfortable, but a combination of a late Bermuda rally, and some indisciplined batting from the Canadian middle order took the game to the wire.Needing 195 for victory after Bermuda had posted a total of 194 for 9 in their 50 overs, Canada were at one stage poised for an emphatic victory at 167 for 1 in the 43rd over. But then they slumped spectacularly to 181 for 7 in the 48th over. Finally, Maxwell and Codrington steered clear of any further disasters to see Canada home with 5 balls remaining.Earlier Bermuda had struggled against some accurate Canadian bowling, and were heavily reliant on a fifth wicket partnership of 94 runs between skipper Clay Smith (62) and Saheed Mukuddem (62 not out) that eventually took Bermuda to 194 for 9 in 50 overs. They came together in the 19th over, with the score on 60 for 4, and were eventually separated in the 42nd over. Only one other Bermudan batsman got into double figures, Glenn Blakeney, with 19.The Canadian spin attack spearheaded by John Davison (2 for 28 in 10 overs) and Sunil Dhaniram (0 for 23 in 10 overs) gave nothing away, while seamers Ashish Patel (3-36) and Austin Codrington (4-47) picked up wickets at both ends of the innings.Canada’s reply was built around a solid half-century from Ian Billcliff (54), with valuable support coming from Surkari (46) and Chumney (39). For Bermuda, Dennis Archer bowled well to return figures of 4 for 24 in 7 overs, but until the last minute drama, the bowlers had struggled to make inroads into the top-order Canadian batting.Canada now meet the Cayman Islands tomorrow, and a win will ensure their second Americas Championship title, after their win in 2000, with an unbeaten record in this tournament.
ScorecardAt St. David’s cricket ground, the United States scored a convincing 107-run victory over Argentina, and kept their slim Americas Championship title hopes alive. To successfully defend the title they won in Argentina two years ago, USA have to beat Bermuda tomorrow, and hope the Cayman Islands pull off a huge upset and defeat Canada.Sent in to bat, the United States piled on the runs in the early part of their innings and made 275 all out in 47.4 overs. Aijaz Ali top-scored with a sparkling 89, and good contributions came from Richard Staple (46), Clayton Lambert (42) and Steve Massiah (32). The pick of the Argentina bowlers was Diego Lord (3-62).In reply, Argentina got off to a sound start thanks to the openers Gaston Arizaga (35) and Matias Paterlini (23), who put on 59 for the first wicket. After their partnership was broken though, wickets fell at regular intervals, and it was only thanks to a entertaining and hard-hitting half-century from Malcolm Van Steeden (52) that took Argentina to 168 all out in 44.1 overs.For USA, Zamin Amin, the left-arm spinner who later won the Man of the Match award, took the first five Argentine wickets to fall and finished with 5 for 31 off his 10 overs. Nasir Islam was the next bowler to shine with 2 for 18 in 9 overs.
ScorecardThe Cayman Islands clinched one of the four available World Cup Qualifying Series spots with a comfortable 7-wicket win over an improved Bahamas outfit. The Caymans still retain a mathematical chance of slipping into one of the three direct qualification places, should they beat Canada on Sunday, and do so well enough to so their run rate is boosted sufficiently to pass Bermuda.The Bahamas batted with purpose and posted a respectable 184 all out in 49.4 overs at the Southampton Oval. In deep trouble at one stage at 62 for 6, skipper Gary Armstrong (31) and Khamenauth Seeram (41 not out) shared in a fine seventh-wicket partnership of 64 to take the Bahamas out of trouble.Pearson Best (4-44) and Saheed Mohamed (3-26) were the best of the Caymans bowlers.A magnificent opening stand of 112 between Christopher Wight (53) and Steve Gordon (61), later named man of the match, set the stage for the Caymans victory. Pearson Best then completed a memorable all-round performance, weighing in with 44 not out.

Sussex are in talks with Mushtaq Ahmed to extend his contract with the county beyond the end of this season. Mushtaq has already taken 52 Championship wickets, and Chris Adams, Sussex’s captain, said at the weekend that he was confident that a deal could be struck.”If they really want me I would like to stay,” Mushtaq said. “I don’t like changing clubs, I prefer to stay with old friends and Sussex have made me and my family very welcome. Peter Moores and Chris Adams are great people. Even when you are not doing well they still treat you the same and try and encourage you.”