Scorecard

Tasmania cruised to top spot on the Pura Cup table with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over South Australia at Adelaide. The Tigers took just over 40 minutes to add the 47 runs they needed although Dan Cullen grabbed the chance for some bowling practice, claiming two wickets.The visitors reached 2 for 72 and Travis Birt made sure the small chase was successful, compiling an unbeaten 30 to sit alongside his first-innings 102. George Bailey, captaining Tasmania for the first time in a first-class match, was with Birt when the winning runs were struck.Cullen finished with 2 for 29 after bowling Michael Dighton for 9 and enticing Tim Paine (27) to nudge a catch to silly point. His efforts were little comfort for South Australia, who are in danger of ending the season winless with only a home game against Western Australia remaining.Tasmania are now in prime position to host the Pura Cup final for the first time, depending on the result of their match against New South Wales at Hobart next week. Ben Hilfenhaus, who took four wickets in the Redbacks’ second innings, said he was confident the Tigers could finish the season on top.”It’s pretty tight with the table,” Hilfenhaus told the at the close of day three. “All we’ve got to do is go out next week at home against the Blues and repeat the performance we’ve given here.”

South Africa 192 (Hall 67*, Johnston 4-40) beat Ireland 157 (Botha 40, Langeveldt 4-32) by 35 runs
ScorecardAndrew Hall produced a superb and timely allround performance to save South Africa’s blushes in their opening World Cup warm-up match against Ireland at the Frank Worrell Ground in Trinidad. Hall rescued his side twice, first with an unbeaten 67 from No. 9 after South Africa, the new World No.1s, had been reduced to 91 for 8 in the first innings; then with a spell of 3 for 30 from nine overs to set up a tight 35-run win.Before the match, South Africa had been lambasted as “chokers” by their former opening bowler, Allan Donald, and after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, they did their utmost to live up to the billing. Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis all tumbled to the medium-pace of Dave Langford-Smith, before the captain, Trent Johnston, got stuck into the middle order.South Africa lost four prime wickets for 11 runs to slip to 66 for 7, before Hall and Mark Boucher instigated a mini-recovery with an eighth-wicket stand of 25. But it wasn’t until desperation set in that South Africa clawed themselves back into contention, as Hall was joined by Robin Peterson (29) and the No. 11, Roger Telemachus (10) to add 101 priceless runs for the final two wickets.Even so, a target of 193 was eminently attainable for the Irish, even though they lost Jeremy Bray early on, caught behind off Andre Nel for 1. Will Porterfield provided the backbone for the chase with a doughty 37, enabling Andre Botha and Kevin O’Brien to add 54 for the fifth wicket to carry Ireland into the ascendancy as the final ten overs approached.But into the fray strode Charl Langeveldt, who scalped four of the last five wickets for just nine runs, as Ireland lost their nerve as South Africa demonstrated their greater knowhow.

Division One

Sussex were facing the prospect of a heavy defeat after they were asked to follow on for the first time in almost three years by Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Dale Steyn and Darren Maddy took three wickets each as Sussex slumped to 151 after Steyn had earlier boosted the home side’s total with a quick-fire 31. Sussex quickly fell to 14 for 3 before a stand of 85 between Carl Hopkinson and Chris Adams steadied the innings. But Maddy’s skiddy medium-pace claimed both and when Matt Prior, named in England’s 25-man performance squad, was lbw for 3, Sussex were in real trouble. Unlike last week, when Heath Streak declined to make Lancashire bat again, Maddy quickly stuck Sussex back in. Richard Montgomerie failed for the second time in the day and Maddy again proved to be a golden arm to leave Warwickshire in controlShane Warne showed he had lost none of his ruthless streak as he declared Hampshire‘s innings with Nic Pothas 15 short of a century and was immediately rewarded with two quick Surrey wickets at The Oval. However, Hampshire were stopped in their tracks by a mixture of bad light, drizzle and Mark Ramprakash. Warne played his part with the bat during the morning session, striking a breezy 48 before falling to a well-judged catch by Ramprakash on the cover boundary. After the declaration, 20 minutes before lunch, Dimitri Mascarenhas struck with his fourth ball as the in-form Scott Newman feathered a catch to Pothas. Jon Batty fell in similar circumstances before the innings was steadied by the experienced hands of Ramprakash and Mark Butcher who added 119. The light caused problems during the afternoon, preventing the first sighting at the bowling crease of Warne until nearly 6.30pm. In the end he sent down just three overs as Ramprakash eased to another half-century and there was an enticing battle awaiting on the third day.A painstaking century from Joe Sayers pushed Yorkshire slowly into the lead against their North East rivals Durham at Headingley. It was turgid progress but served Yorkshire’s cause well after Younis Khan had been trapped lbw for 42. Sayers’ hundred came off 318 deliveries and he has so far batted for more than eight hours. How Durham will be regretting their drop when he had just 3 on the first evening. The main stand came with wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy, who was the most fluent batsmen of the day making 80 off 110 balls. The partnership ended when Brophy stepped on his stumps against Steve Harmison as Durham hit back with a flurry of wickets. Sayers, though, couldn’t be shifted and Darren Gough helped add another 50 runs for the eighth wicket.

Division Two

Ronnie Irani hit a career-best 218 as Essex piled up a mammoth 584 for 7 against Glamorgan at Chelmsford. He reached his double century off 329 balls and passed his previous best of 207 with an on-driven six off Alex Wharf. He and Ryan ten Doeschate came within four runs of achieving a new sixth-wicket record for Essex, but ten Doeschate pulled a long-hop to Robert Croft at fine leg after reaching 148, his best score for Essex. Glamorgan’s bowlers were finally put out of their misery after 167 overs in the field, but the openers quickly realised there were still plenty of runs on offer. Matthew Elliott and Daniel Cherry opened with 139 and Elliott ended the day 15 short of his century after facing 127 balls.Wickets continued to tumble at Lord’s as Middlesex claimed a first-innings lead of 47 against Northamptonshire. Alan Richardson finished with four scalps as Middlesex claimed a lead of 47, which would have been more without Lance Klusener’s 44. Johann van der Wath took his seventh wicket of the match – Nick Compton playing no shot – before a long rain break during the afternoon. When the players returned for a brief session before the close Northamptonshire struck two vital blows to keep the match wide open.A 98-ball hundred from Craig Spearman was wasted by Gloucestershire as their batting collapsed to hand Nottinghamshire the ascendancy at Bristol. Spearman and Kadeer Ali added 146 in 35 overs for the first wicket, but once Andy Harris broke through the innings fell away. Spearman was removed by Ryan Sidebottom shortly after reaching his ton and Paul Franks took three middle-order wickets. Rain ended the day early but Gloucestershire were facing a sizeable deficit. Earlier, Nottinghamshire had fallen one run short of full batting points as Ashley Noffke claimed six wickets, including Samit Patel for 89.A captain’s innings from Darren Robinson helped pull Leicestershire ahead of Somerset at Grace Road. He added 154 with Australian Jim Allenby after nightwatchman David Masters fell early. Somerset fought back as Robinson and Allenby went in quick succession, but Tom New and Mansoor Amjad formed another solid stand of 117. New, who started the season with runs against Nottinghamshire, supported the more aggressive Amjad who hit 12 fours in his 67. Charl Willoughby eventually removed Amjad, who will soon leave for a Pakistan training camp, but not before Leicestershire gained a narrow lead.

Division One

Phil Jaques and Stephen Moore combined for an opening stand of 234, and Vikram Solanki also hit a hundred, as Surrey’s woes continued on a tough first day against Worcestershire at New Road. Jaques was in typically belligerent form, bringing up his ton off 126 balls, and his innings eventually included 17 fours and two sixes when he was caught behind off Matthew Nicholson. But Surrey’s bowlers continued to toil with Moore crossing to a hundred for the first time this season before being stumped off Ian Salisbury. Although Salisbury provided the breakthrough it was an unproductive day for the spinners with he and Chris Schofield going for 165 off 44 overs. With the openers having done their job, Solanki reached three figures shortly before the close and Surrey had another day to forget.Mark Chilton struck his first century of the season as Lancashire fought back from a poor start during a closely contested encounter with Durham at Chester-le-Street. Chilton’s 115 was vital for Lancashire after they’d slipped to 63 for 3 – with Brad Hodge out for 1 – following their decision to bat first. The recovery began slowly, but Chilton’s fourth-wicket stand of 140 alongside Stuart Law built during the afternoon until, with Law – dropped on 5 by Will Smith – appearing set for another large score, he fell to Ottis Gibson for 60. Chilton, though, went to his hundred from 185 balls before being stumped off the last ball before tea. Luke Sutton and Glen Chapple pushed their side closer to 300 during the evening session, while former New Zealand offspinner Paul Wiseman collected his second wicket. Bad light ended player 14 overs early.Centuries from Joe Sayers and Anthony McGrath made it a tough day for Kent as Yorkshire built a strong first-innings position at Tunbridge Wells. The pair added 204 for the second wicket with Sayers hitting his third Championship ton of a fruitful campaign and McGrath his first to follow his fine one-day form. McGrath was marginally faster to three figures, 220 balls to Sayers’ 233, but was trapped by Andrew Hall three balls after reaching the landmark. Sayers remained unbeaten through to the close and, despite a failure for Younis Khan, Yorkshire are ideally placed to push onto a monstrous total.Sussex failed to make the most of a solid start against Hampshire at Arundel although Mushtaq Ahmed’s late fifty redressed the balance somewhat. Chris Nash and Richard Montgomerie laid a foundation of 105, but Shane Warne and Chris Tremlett shared the top four wickets as Sussex slipped to 130 for 4. Chris Adams (52) and Andrew Hodd (28) added 77 then another four wickets fell for 26 after Shaun Udal removed Adams. However, Mushtaq brought out the long handle and swung a 43-ball 54, adding 69 with Luke Wright, to edge Sussex over 300. He fell to the final ball of the day, bowled by Stuart Clark for his first scalp, while the bowling honours went to Warne and Tremlett.

Division Two

2nd daySeventeen-year-old James Harris has already produced the goods with the ball this season, now he as shown his ability with the bat becoming the youngest Glamorgan player to score a Championship half-century. His unbeaten 87, alongside a stand of 185 with Robert Croft, who made 115, meant Glamorgan reached the heights of 429 after being 193 for 8 on the first day against Nottinghamshire at Swansea. Croft’s hundred, his seventh in 341 first-class matches, took 158 balls but it wouldn’t have been possible without Harris’s support. He faced 224 balls and was not all defense, either, striking 11 boundaries before Dean Cosker fell for 30 to leave him 13 short of a memorable century. Nottinghamshire were strongly placed in reply at 143 for 1, but Cosker nipped out Jason Gallian (78) and, crucially, Stephen Fleming for eight via a brilliant catch at slip. However, the final say went to Harris as he trapped Mark Wagh lbw and removed Chris Read with the last ball of the day.Derbyshire continued to control their clash against Gloucestershire at Derby after declaring on 500 for 9 and taking five wickets. Ant Botha built on Steve Stubbings’ opening-day century, adding 93 with Greg Smith and 85 with James Pipe, but was run out two short of his ton. When Simon Katich eventually ended the innings, after 157 overs, his bowlers set about making full use of the total under their belts. From 83 for 1 Gloucestershire slumped to 120 for 5 as Tom Lungley took three wickets, including Chris Taylor for a third-ball duck.1st dayRonnie Irani’s runs will be sorely missed by Essex, but in Ravi Bopara they have a run-machine of the present and future, or at least until England take him away. He hit his second consecutive Championship ton to give Essex the honours against Northamptonshire at Chelmsford on the day Irani announced his retirement. Bopara was dropped twice, on 0 and 90, before reaching his hundred, with a powerful cut, off 182 balls. His knock included a six over long on and he ended the day four short of his career-best. He added 116 for the second wicket with Varun Chopra, a stand broken by a sharp catch from Stephen Peters, a former Essex player, at slip off Jason Brown. Grant Flower then provided solid support, in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 182, as the home side accumulated steadily.Somerset overwhelmed Leicestershire on the opening day at Taunton, racing into a lead of 189 after skittling the visitors for 168. Steffan Jones grabbed 6 for 61, ripping through Leicestershire’s middle order. The paltry effort was put into stark perspective when Marcus Trescothick and Neil Edwards sped past the total shortly after tea and both went onto post centuries. Edwards’ came first, off 114 balls, followed by Trescothick’s second of the season and he had time to pass 150 before the close. Somerset screamed along at nearly six-an-over and Stuart Broad, who conceded 84 off 12 overs, will be wondering if he timed his return from injury correctly.

Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, has criticised the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for not developing any kind of domestic infrastructure for quality cricketers to come through to the international level.Since they arrived in England in May, West Indies have won only two limited-overs tour matches and one international Twenty20.”It’s time someone woke up and realised what is needed,” Holding, now a commentator, told BBC Sport. “I think many years ago they just sat down and the cricketers kept coming through and they thought they were doing their job – they weren’t doing anything. It was just a natural thing that was happening in West Indies cricket at that time.”And now that they actually have to try to do something they haven’t got a clue what to do.”These remarks echo what Brian Lara had said about his interest in what West Indies was doing at the grassroots level. “I don’t see anything in that direction,” Lara said. “It doesn’t matter who is the coach or who is playing – if the infrastructure isn’t there, you’re not going to produce the cricket you want to see.”Meanwhile, after West Indies’ 79-run defeat in the first one-day international against England, Dr Keith Mitchell, the Grenada Prime Minister, said that it was no longer possible for Caribbean governments to remain uninvolved in the running of the game as they were already involved with the huge amount of money they had invested in the development of facilities.”Certainly, governments do not want to be involved in the selection of players, of teams and so on but to say that we should not be involved is ridiculous because we’ve already been involved significantly by the level of investment on behalf of the taxpayers,” said Mitchell, who is the chairman of Caricom’s sub-committee on cricket.Mitchell also said that governments had been dragged into interfering in cricketing issues like the contracts case between the West Indies Players’ Association and the WICB. “It is clear that we have no choice sometimes but to offer advice and, again, that’s the role of the Prime Ministerial sub-committee,” he said.

Bangladesh have sounded out Dave Houghton as a possibility to fill their national coach vacancy, though the Zimbabwean would be a reluctant candidate.Houghton, Derbyshire’s coach, admitted this week an informal approach had been made, but said he would have to think hard about working abroad after relocating his family, including his parents, in England. The Bangladesh board have also spoken to Richard McInnes, Australia’s team performance analyst, who coached Bangladesh development teams for two years until 2005.The resignation of Dav Whatmore has left Bangladesh with a sizeable gap to fill, though their cricket infrastructure has improved dramatically under Shaun Williams, the Australian director of cricket acting as temporary coach during the current tour to Sri Lanka.Houghton would be an ideal national coach for Bangladesh, because he is a gifted individual well accustomed to backs-to-the-wall life with Zimbabwe and now Derbyshire. In fact he did a remarkable job coaching my club Radlett in Hertfordshire for two years, especially in 2003 when they won the London 50-overs knockout competition – the Evening Standard Trophy — as rank outsiders. Radlett’s path to the Oval final included away victories at Teddington and Wimbledon, the champions respectively of Middlesex and Surrey. Houghton’s knack as a coach to maximize the ability of every player could hardly be better illustrated.Houghton captained Zimbabwe in their early days as a Test nation and later during his time as their coach he achieved a better record in the World Cup than England’s.After the World Cup finished in April all four Asian countries lost their coaches. Sri Lanka were first to make an appointment, hiring the Australian Trevor Bayliss. That leaves India, Pakistan and Bangladesh still looking.

Auckland officials have asked the ICC for permission to include Colin de Grandhomme as one of their contracted players for the 2007-08 season.de Grandhomme represented Zimbabwe at Under-19 level but left the country and is now based in New Zealand. He played four State Championship matches and two one-dayers for Auckland last season.”He’s making New Zealand his home, has declared he wants to play for New Zealand,” Mark O’Donnell, Auckland’s coach, told the New Zealand Herald. “It’s just a question of how representing Zimbabwe affects him.”If the ICC rules against de Grandhomme he will be ineligible for the contract as he will have to be considered an overseas player and his place will go to someone else.

Elections to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), due on September 8, could see changes at the top with Vijay Mallya, the Bangalore-based industrialist, offering his support to a campaign against the ruling faction. The campaign, headed by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, seeks to remove the bloc led by Brijesh Patel.Mallya, whose businesses include Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries, takes the first step towards his direct involvement with cricket by being made president of the Select Cricket Club, of which AV Jayaprakash, the former international umpire, is secretary. Mallya has used his financial clout in other sports, including horse racing and football.At the moment it is unclear if Mallya can hold office but, should he wish to make an entry into cricket, his home state of Karnataka – and the Select club – would be an obvious starting ground.Mallya’s declaration of support for Wadiyar has been welcomed by former cricketers Erapalli Prasanna and Syed Kirmani, who have been pushing for a change of guard saying the present administration lacked transparency. Wadiyar, in a statement where he also referred to having received Mallya’s backing, promised to better the administration of the association in all aspects and spoke about delinking team selection from private cricket academies or coaching camps.Patel, KSCA secretary and a former Indian Test batsman, has been part of the board’s ruling bloc for nine years. He refused to comment on Mallya’s stand.

Bangladesh’s search for a national coach looks set to continue after it was reported that Jamie Siddons, an assistant coach with the Australian team, was out of contention for the role.”I don’t think he [Siddons] has any chance because his terms and conditions do not match our limits,” Gazi Ashraf, chairman of the Bangladesh board’s cricket operations committee, told the , a Dhaka-based newspaper. “It apparently looks like we have to make a new start. We have some new candidates in line but everything is in preliminary stage.”Bangladesh shortlisted three names for the role but John Harmer, also from Australia, is the only one to have made a presentation to the board. Dave Houghton, the former Zimbabwe captain, had withdrawn his candidature last month citing family reasons.The board has been looking for a national coach since Dav Whatmore had refused a two-year contract extension after spending four years with the team. Whatmore’s last assignment was the home series against India in May. Shaun Williams has been interim coach of the team since the the away series against Sri Lanka in June and July.

Middlesex’s Ben Hutton and Richard Johnson have both announced their retirement with immediate effect.Johnson, 32, had two spells at Middlesex either side of six years with Somerset. He made three appearances for England in 2003 and 2004, winning the Man-of-the-Match award in two of them. He was in the reckoning for a cap almost a decade earlier but he had to withdraw from the 1995-96 tour of South Africa after picking up a back injury. The previous summer he had hit the headlines when he took all ten wickets in an innings against Derbyshire. He returned to Lord’s in 2007 but was unable to force his way into the first team.Hutton, 30, never quite fulfilled his early promise but he became a solid county batsman, passing 1000 runs in 2004 and 2005. Midway through 2004 he was appointed Middlesex captain but that seemed to seriously affect him in 2006. The side was in turmoil and the burden weighed heavily on his health. Although Ed Smith took charge in 2007, Hutton was unable to regain his place in the side.”It’s with great regret that I decide to finish with the game,” Hutton said. “A lack of first team opportunity has made it a difficult season to enjoy and it seems sensible, at this point in my life, to pursue something more progressive and enhancing. It is important that Middlesex’s many talented young batters are given an opportunity and I do not want to stand in their way.””Both Ben and Richard have been excellent players and great supporters of the club and very much wish to remain a part of the Middlesex family,” said Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s chief executive. “Ben took over the captaincy in July 2004 under difficult circumstances and did a fantastic job through to the end of the 2006 season.”Jono started his cricket with Middlesex at the age of 11 and although he disappeared to Somerset, all at Middlesex followed his progress carefully and were delighted when he was capped for England.”Both Ben and Jono provided much needed experience to, and were instrumental in the club capturing the Second XI Trophy this season and the club thank them both for their hard work and wish them both every success in the future.”