Shane Watson has bluntly stated his intention to win back his Test match opening spot, irrespective of the promising union formed by David Warner and Ed Cowan in the Australian vice-captain’s absence from the XI

Daniel Brettig15-Feb-2012Shane Watson has bluntly stated his intention to win back his Test match opening spot, irrespective of the promising union formed by David Warner and Ed Cowan in his absence.Before he departed Sydney to return to first-class cricket for New South Wales against Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield match at the WACA, Watson said he would be opening the batting for the Blues as a precursor to his bid to regain that spot for the national team.While an extended injury break due to hamstring and calf problems has made Watson mindful of managing his workload this time around, the prospect of moving down the order appeared a long way from his mind.”At the moment I’m going to open the batting [in Perth],” Watson said. “I’d love to be able to open [for Australia], but that’s where I’ve had the most enjoyment as a batsman and that’s where I’ve had the most enjoyment as a batsman, that’s where my game really progressed from, with the opportunity to open the batting. That’s really where I’d love to be able to bat, no doubt.”Ed Cowan, in Test cricket especially, and Dave Warner have done a pretty good job there. It’s going to be interesting to see where things pan out but I certainly do love opening, because that’s where I’ve had most success in my international career.”The absence of Watson, the vice-captain, coincided with a rich vein of form for the Test team under Michael Clarke’s leadership, and whenever he returns, either towards the end of the triangular ODI series or in the West Indies, it will be to a vastly different dressing room from the one he left. However, Watson’s primary concern will be to find the ideal balance between his muscular batting and shrewd swing and seam bowling, something he admitted did not “exactly work” in the months leading up to his injury.”I’ll have to keep an eye on that, definitely,” Watson said. “That’s something I’ve looked at in detail over the last few months, exactly how I’m going to be able to balance what I’m trying to do and keeping my body as good as it can as well throughout the period of playing a lot of cricket.”There’s no doubt playing consistently for four months, which I did throughout that period, it just ended up my body wasn’t agreeing with what I was trying to do with it. In the end it’s meant a lot of other things have been able to regenerate and I’ve been able to reassess where I was at and the things that didn’t go exactly to plan throughout that four-month period of playing consistently – a few mistakes that I did make throughout that period of time, I certainly won’t be making them again because I wouldn’t really like to be out for another three months again because it’s very frustrating.”So I’m going to have to continue to talk to Michael and Mickey Arthur and just try and balance my workload as much as I possibly can because what happened over the last little while didn’t exactly work so I’m just going to have to stay on top of things a little bit more, I think.”Joining Watson in Perth for the Shield match starting on Friday is the Test wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who remains surplus to the requirements of the limited-overs team despite having earlier been informed that he was being rested for the first three matches. Watson said he felt Haddin had been left “in limbo”, though the wicketkeeper himself seems more comfortable with where things stand.”I actually feel sorry for Brad at the moment,” Watson said. “He’s been left in a bit of limbo unfortunately. He doesn’t know which way he’s going, whether he’s been rested or being dropped. I really do feel sorry for him because someone who’s played an important role over the last five years in all forms of the game for Australia.”I think [he] definitely deserves to be told either way what his future holds, because I know if I was in the same position I’d be pretty disappointed if you’re being left in limbo a little bit. I think they should tell him either way and that’s for Test cricket also. It’s important for him just to be able to know which direction he is going.”I’ve been in different situations when [in] selection you don’t know exactly what’s going on. But for someone who’s been a big part and been the vice-captain for Australia on a number of occasions as well, I think that’s what he deserves.”

Jamaica made it six wins out of six by completing a clinical victory over Combined Campuses and Colleges in Bridgetown, Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2012
Scorecard
Jamaica made it six wins out of six by completing a clinical victory over Combined Campuses and Colleges in Bridgetown, Barbados. It was a team effort from Jamaica, with a string of useful contributions from the batsmen taking them to decent totals, and the bowlers hunting in packs to dismiss CCC cheaply.CCC were set a target of 321 runs, a tough ask in a season in which the highest fourth-innings total to win a game is 219. They managed to last only 56.1 overs and were all out for 166 early on the fourth morning. Legspinner Odean Brown picked up a five-wicket haul as CCC lost their last five wickets for only 23 runs.CCC had a chance to put Jamaica under pressure after bowling them out for 200 on the first day. Medium-pacers Jason Dawes and Jason Holder had taken three wickets each to inflict the damage. However, CCC failed to capitalise and crashed to 137 all out. Shacaya Thomas, who scored 78, was the only batsman who showed resistance against Jamaica’s persistent bowling attack.With a 63-run deficit to deal with, CCC were unable to restrict Jamaica’s top order, with Tamar Lambert getting a half-century. Although no one else got to 50, each of the top five made contributions, and Jamaica added enough runs to take the game away from CCC. Ryan Austin bagged five wickets but he too struggled to curtail the scoring and gave away 89 runs.Jamaica will face Guyana in the semi-finals, in Kingston from March 30.

Michael Clarke’s belief that the Bridgetown Test match could be won was forged six years ago in the middle of Adelaide Oval

Daniel Brettig at Kensington Oval12-Apr-2012Michael Clarke’s belief that the Bridgetown Test match could be won was forged six years ago in the middle of Adelaide Oval. He had been joined at the wicket by Shane Warne, Australia struggling for first innings parity with England on the fourth day of what seemed destined to be a drawn Ashes Test. Simply and clearly, Warne told Clarke the match would be won. On a scarcely believable final day, it was.Clarke carried that memory with him throughout the first Test against the West Indies, and echoed Warne in assuring his team that the Barbados match remained within their grasp. After a mighty struggle over the final two days, the visitors dragged themselves up from a position every bit as dire as the one occupied by Australia against England in 2006, and another remarkable victory was secured. It made Clarke only the second captain in the history of Test cricket to win a match after declaring behind.”I remember Warney telling me back then that with a day and a half left in the Test match that we would win the game and I was trying to work out how,” Clarke said of 2006. “At best surely we’d get a draw but he had no doubt in his mind. For me as a young player I thought ‘right-o, that’s my attitude, I’m going to win’. A few years on and I’m in the change rooms telling the boys we’re going to win this Test match. Hopefully a few of them believed me the way I believed Warney back then.”It shows, if you have that self-belief and belief in the inner sanctum and the guys that sit beside you that you find ways. That was the main thing I said to the boys today. I know it’s tough, I know we’re tired, I know there’s going to be issues of the foot marks, I know it’s going to be a tough run chase but find a way. Everyone and individually as a team we’ve got to find a way and we’ll win this Test match. Credit to the boys, they certainly found a way.”Australia are building a team to be reckoned with under Clarke, and he had little hesitation declaring the Bridgetown result the equal of any he had enjoyed. It was as much a victory over the conditions and late season lethargy as the opposition, a West Indies team that is gathering discipline, skill and experience but is still learning how to fight out the critical phases of a Test.”A just reward for hanging in, the team showing true character and fight and not giving up,” Clarke said. “I think whatever happened this afternoon, whether we won the game, drew the game or lost the game, I think we certainly showed a lot of fight, a lot of character. We tried to win the Test.”We did everything we could to try and win the Test match and it’s very, very rewarding now sitting in the change rooms with that bunch of boys that we got the result we were after…after a lot of hard work, a couple of days with, I guess, our backs to the wall. But to be able to fight and get a result like that, that’s as special a win as I’ve had in my career.”This is as good as I’ve had, no doubt, because we had our backs to the wall for the first three days of the game. And the spirit and the character, I guess of the guys in the change room is what drives you, I guess, as a captain to make a bold decision, to declare when I declared. The confidence around me from everybody in that group, there wasn’t one bit of fear of losing that Test match, it wasn’t spoken about.”From day one of the Test all that’s been spoken about is what we have to do to win this Test match. And a lot of time it’s easier said than done, especially when a team gets 450 on the board in the first two days, you get some time taken out of the game with the light, so full credit to every single player and support staff person in that change room.”The Australian team is beginning to bear the stamp of Clarke – relentlessly positive, adventurous, tactically agile and skillful. He said the team was learning more about how to best operate under pressure, meaning the lapses that occurred in Cape Town against South Africa and Hobart against New Zealand are now growing less likely to occur. It is also benefiting from the balance between the brash youth of David Warner, and the poise of older heads like Michael Hussey, so calm in the chase as he had been in Adelaide six years ago.”I think we are just learning more and more about each other every day, especially under pressure,” Clarke said. “We’re working out what guys require to perform their best under pressure. We’re seeing guys stand up when they get an opportunity to play Test cricket. We’re seeing some old hands and some old legs still pulling tricks out of the bag to help us win games and Huss is a great example of that.”We’re putting in really good team performances. You’re not going to be successful individually every single time you walk out to bat or walk out to bowl. But I think the team we have at the moment, the players we have around the group at the moment aren’t bothered about themselves. They care most about the team winning and doing whatever they can to contribute to success. In my mind, there’s no coincidence the team’s doing well because we’re all putting the team first.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Worcestershire have confirmed that Saeed Ajmal will not be able to join them for the Friends Life t20 due to international commitments with Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2012Worcestershire have confirmed that Saeed Ajmal will not be able to join them for the Friends Life t20 due to international commitments with Pakistan.ESPNcricinfo reported earlier this month that Ajmal would have to pull out of his contract because of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka and that trip is now set to take place between late May and mid-July. The FLt20 tournament begins on June 12 with the group stages finishing on July 8.Ajmal played for Worcestershire last year and was their best bowler in the FLt20. He claimed 16 wickets in eight games, conceding fewer than six runs an over and averaging 11.37 per wicket.Worcestershire’s director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, said: “Losing a player of Saeed’s quality is a big disappointment, however, we are extremely active in finding a replacement for the t20.”Ajmal’s Pakistan team-mate Junaid Khan, the left-arm fast bowler, is still waiting to find out whether he will be given permission to join Lancashire for the second half of the season including the FLt20.

West Indies have been hit with a penalty for a slow over-rate during the first Test against England at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2012West Indies have been hit with a penalty for a slow over-rate during the first Test against England at Lord’s, which they lost by five wickets. West Indies captain, Darren Sammy, was fined 80% of his match fee, while his players received 40% fines.Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, imposed the fines after West Indies were ruled to be four overs short of their target, when time allowances were taken into consideration. Sammy admitted that with fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel and Fidel Edwards struggling he had resorted to bowling part-time spinner Marlon Samuels to try and bring the over-rate up as England closed in on victory.”Shannon went out with back spasms and Fidel was not at his best, so Marlon had to fill in some overs and make up some time,” Sammy said.The ICC’s code of conduct governing minor over-rate offences states that players are to be fined 10% of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount. Sammy could also face a one-match suspension if he is found guilty of one more minor over-rate offence in Tests during the next 12 months.

Captain Veerasammy Permaul led West Indies A’s fightback in the second unofficial Test, helping them gain a slender lead over India A after the visitors had taken the honours on the first day

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2012
Scorecard

Awana departs for the Caribbean

Parvinder Awana, the seamer who played for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, left for the Caribbean on Sunday to join the India A squad. He was held up due to visa issues. Awana was named as a replacement for the injured RP Singh prior to the tour but, according to reports, it took a while for him to be granted a transit visa through the UK.

Captain Veerasammy Permaul led West Indies A’s fightback in the second unofficial Test, helping them gain a slender lead over India A after the visitors had taken the honours on the first day. Permaul grabbed five wickets with his left-arm spin and was well supported by the rest of the bowling crew – each of the five bowlers bagged at least a wicket. Cheteshwar Pujara, captaining his team, impressed once again, scoring his third half-century in as many innings but even he couldn’t prevent West Indies from bowling India out for 202.Veerasammy Permaul picked up 5 for 58•West Indies Cricket

Seamer Shami Ahmed brought an early end to the West Indies innings on the second day, removing opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who had batted out the opening day, for 66. He then trapped Devendra Bishoo in front to finish with 4 for 48 and keep West Indies to 217.But India were under pressure early in the chase. Abhinav Mukund, who bagged a pair in the first unofficial Test, was lbw to seamer Jason Holder for 8 while Shikhar Dhawan was cleaned up by Delorn Johnson for a duck. Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, however, tried to bail India out of trouble. Pujara took the bulk of the strike in the 74-run third-wicket stand but Permaul struck to undermine the hard work.Permaul, who made a quick 36 in West Indies’ innings, had Rahane caught at slip for 18 before taking a return catch from Rohit Sharma to dismiss him for 1. Pujara brought up his half-century with a six over long-on off legspinner Bishoo, but he too fell to Permaul, edging to the wicketkeeper. Manoj Tiwary, who had added 27 with Pujara, followed soon.Wriddhiman Saha and the lower order, though, stepped up. Saha added 38 with Rahul Sharma. Rahul then put together 32 with Shami. The last four wickets added 79 runs for India, but Permaul completed the innings by dismissing Shami and Ashok Dinda and bagged a five-for.West Indies were six without loss in the second innings, a lead of 21.

Ed Cowan, the Australian batsman, just happened to be living in Cirencester because of his heavily-pregnant wife. He made a first-class debut for Gloucestershire and promptly won his county cap.

Alex Winter at Cheltenham11-Jul-2012Ed Cowan, seen here batting for Australia, did not have to wait too long for his Gloucestershire cap•AFP

It was quite a matter of convenience that Gloucestershire were able to employ the services of Australia Test opener Ed Cowan. But right place, right time is so often the making of so much success. Just ask Darren Bent.Gloucestershire just happened to be the county where Ed Cowan decided to stay with his heavily-pregnant wife, Virginia. He is in England for an Australia A tour and Cricket Australia were keen for him to get some cricket before their fixtures begin at Derby on July 27.Cowan is staying in Cirencester, a 16 mile trip from Cheltenham, and got in touch with Gloucestershire who signed him for six matches. But this is his only County Championship appearance. As such, his debut was greeted with the presentation for his county cap. It is quite conceivable that he could never play for Gloucestershire again. It is a disgrace, a debasement of the capping system.But maybe a cheap cap is worth a few bonus points. Cowan’s unbeaten 51 helped Gloucestershire towards their first in just over half a day’s play. Bonus points could be the only reward from this match given the forecast.”Ryan ten Doeschate was joking with me,” Cowan said. “He said it took him six years to get his Essex cap and I’ve just turned up to earn mine. But I respect the policy they have here and it’s very special to be playing my first first-class game for the club. Any time you’re capped by a county it’s a pretty special moment.”Rob Nicol, the New Zealand batsman, will be the next recipient of a Gloucestershire cap when he arrives to play for the rest of the season next week. But this week Gloucestershire have the services of a very determined man who recognises he has work ahead of him to prove his worth at Test level.”The Ashes is something that would be very special to be a part of,” Cowan said. “But we’ve got some landmark series before then. I feel I’m good enough to be in that Test team and not just chipping in but dominating games for the team. I’m yet to prove that but I look forward to doing that. And It’s nice to be playing cricket over here a year out, getting used to different conditions and different balls.”Cowan said the chance to play at the famous Cheltenham festival – which all Australians have heard of apparently – was a factor in him approaching Gloucestershire. And he immediately had a chance to bat on the college ground as Alex Gidman won the toss: possibly Cowan’s only chance to bat here.The recent weather saw the members’ car park at the college lawn end declared off limits. The wicket, although appearing a fine surface, also showed signs of the poor summer. “Having played a little bit in the UK before, it reminded me of an early season wicket,” Cowan said. “There’s not a whole heap of pace there, it’s not really conducive to a huge amount of strokemaking but not great for bowling either. But I think it will quicken up as the game goes on. I think it will turn, too. Harbhajan Singh has already spun a couple.”Cowan seemed to struggle on occasions to pick Harbhajan’s length and he conceded just 15 runs from his three spells, the last a single over before the umpires sensibly suspended play before rain brought stumps.James Foster, Essex’s captain, only gave Harbhajan six overs. Curious given that he caused problems to Cowan, a left-hander, who survived a strong lbw appeal, and that the Essex attack began to toil in a 108-run second wicket partnership between Cowan and Dan Housego – another who received his Gloucestershire cap this season. He was making his return after a shoulder injury and played a controlled innings.He struck a sumptuous cover drive off ten Doeschate through the covers before inside edging another drive for four more to bring up his half-century. But trying to play a length ball from Reece Topley into the leg side lost his middle stump.The wicket inhibited Cowan, who didn’t score for another 19 balls. He finally got going again with a mistimed cover drive for a single before manoeuvring Harbhajan to fine leg to bring up his 142-ball fifty.He walked off unbeaten having shown admirable composure in at times difficult weather, for a period against the new ball, and throughout facing the opening pairing of Topley and David Masters who together sent down 30 overs for 66 runs.Gloucestershire were in the right place at the right time to inherit the services of a fine player. And they may have hooked Cowan for the future. “I’ve really loved the dressing room and the coaching structure,” Cowan said. “It’s a really impressive set up and definitely a place I’d like to play some more cricket.” Perhaps that cap wasn’t hastily awarded after all.

For a long time, this was a day dominated by two excellent maiden Championship hundreds but Toby Roland-Jones and injudicious shot selection from Surrey’s batsmen ensured Middlesex’s victory target was limited to 254.

Tim Wigmore at The Oval17-Aug-2012
ScorecardRory Burns made his first Championship hundred to get Surrey back into the game•PA Photos

For a long time, this was a day dominated by two excellent maiden Championship hundreds, from Rory Burns and Arun Harinath. However, a combination of excellent seam bowling from Toby Roland-Jones and injudicious shot selection from Surrey’s batsmen ensured Middlesex’s victory target was limited to 254.By the close of an intriguing day they had reached 45 for 1 in pursuit. After Chris Rogers and Sam Robson exploited some loose bowling from Jade Dernbach, with Rogers creaming consecutive boundaries through the covers, Gareth Batty claimed him lbw. While Rogers only appeared to be half-forward, he was visibly angered by the decision – so much so that he may face disciplinary action for dissent. With him dismissed, Surrey may consider themselves slight favourites to secure their first championship win since the first game of the season, especially if their spinners can exploit some uneven bounce, of which there were glimpses.However, Burns and Harinath will always remember this as the day they registered their maiden championship hundreds. They reached the landmarks batting together, with Harinath’s century coming only three balls after Burns’ in a five minute spell before lunch.The experience was extra special because of the close friendship between the two. “It was a very special moment, especially to do it with Arun,” Burns said. Harinath added: “We’ve spent a lot of time together and we room a lot. He’s younger than me and I’ve seen him grow up.” He also admitted that, “I would not have liked to have sat on 98 or 99 and it was nice to get it just before lunch”. Even the normally relaxed Burns admitted to being “a little bit nervous” before reaching his hundred.The two centurions combined to add 217 runs for the second wicket, a Surrey record against Middlesex. Both Burns and Harinath displayed steely temperaments and commendable levels of concentration, while steadily accumulating at a strike-rate fractionally over 50. The understanding between them was particularly apparent in their aggressive running, which earned Surrey perhaps 15 runs in quick singles and sharp twos.However, while Burns and Harinath combined to turn around Surrey’s position in the match – and, they will hope, their championship season – their performances had very different personal values. For Harinath, aged 25 but with a previous best Championship score of 63 – against Middlesex at The Oval more than two years ago – the innings could reinvigorate a career that threatened to be stalling. While he has always had obvious qualities of adhesiveness, today he showed a more expansive side with his straight driving and impressive use of his feet against spin.Burns’ century, significant as maiden Championship hundreds invariably are, felt more like a natural progression after a season in which he has illustrated that he has the technique to flourish in Surrey’s perennial problem position of opener. There is a running joke at Surrey that every season Chris Adams says an opener is his priority, but he can’t ever find one. Well, perhaps he now has. After being bowled leaving his first ball as a Championship opener, against Lancashire at Guildford, Burns has been highly impressive and has already withstood the Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire attacks to make fine 70s. Compact, well organised, and particularly strong steering the ball through the offside or off his hips, there is a tangible sense of class in Burns’s batting.But both centurions will regret their dismissals, which exposed Surrey’s flaky middle order to the second new ball just when they appeared to be edging towards a position of impregnability. Harinath fell to a superb catch from Chris Rogers, who reacted smartly after Adam Rossington had spilled his edge; Burns’s 121 was ended when he unwisely attempted to play across the line to the tenth ball of the second new ball, only to be beaten by Roland-Jones’s seam movement.Roland-Jones exploited the opening magnificently. As Burns said, “he does enough consistently to get wickets” bowling a relentlessly nagging line and generating late seam movement. Roland-Jones took three wickets in ten balls with the second new ball, and his figures of 5 for 39 from 24 overs were well deserved. Understandably given his height – 6ft 4in – and county, there have been comparisons with Steve Finn. However, a more apt likening would be to his director of cricket, Angus Fraser, with whom he shares an aptitude for long spells and a penchant for parsimony.Well as Roland-Jones bowled, Surrey’s batsmen failed to follow the example set by Harinath and Burns as they collapsed from 230 for 1 to 341 all out. If they do fail to win, they will regard this as a bad missed opportunity, because, besides Roland-Jones and some reasonable support from Steven Crook, Middlesex’s bowling seldom threatened, with Tom Smith’s left-arm spin bereft of incision. Burns and Harinath certainly wouldn’t have envisaged reaching their tons off bowlers as unthreatening as the occasional legspin of Dawid Malan and Joe Denly.As is too often the case, Surrey’s middle order was too ambitious, too early. Rory Hamilton-Brown and Jason Roy followed Burns only in missing full deliveries attempting to work to leg, while Zander de Bruyn, after some powerful drives in his 23 hinted at a return to form, played a reckless shot outside off-stump. Skipper Batty, whose off-stump was castled by a Roland-Jones delivery that jagged back, could at least say he had little culpability in his dismissal. The same could be said of Murali Kartik, trapped lbw to a shooter from Steven Crook – a sight Surrey would probably have enjoyed more than Middlesex.Sensible batting from Steven Davies, with a sweetly timed backfoot punch for four standing out, ensured Surrey were still able to set Middlesex 254. Though Davies only made 44 before slogging Tim Murtagh to long on, his was an important innings. Especially after Craig Kieswetter’s excellent form in the “reserve Ashes”, Davies needs to amass some significant innings to retain his place as England’s reserve Test wicket-keeper when they tour India.

Should Warwickshire manage to emerge from this match with their sixth win of the season, they will deserve to be County Champions

Jon Culley at Edgbaston23-Aug-2012
ScorecardDawid Malan continued his development in first-class cricket with an excellent hundred•Getty Images

Should Warwickshire manage to emerge from this match with their sixth win of the season, they will deserve to be County Champions. With a deficit of 305 to take into the final day, to which Middlesex will hope to add at least 50 with five wickets in hand, they face a tall task.The bedrock for Middlesex’s total came in the form of a stand of 203 between Chris Rogers and Dawid Malan, both of whom made accomplished centuries. Well though the two left-handers batted, however, Warwickshire know they could have bowled better on a pitch offering good bounce and carry.There were good spells, notably by Chris Wright with the new ball and by Boyd Rankin just after tea, but not enough of them. It will have been particularly disappointing to them that Ian Blackwell’s left-arm spin did not account for a single wicket in 26 overs.Rogers made 109 and Malan is 138 not out and barely offered a sniff of a chance during the 46 overs or so that they were together. Warwickshire will surrender the Division One lead if they fail to win and Sussex complete a victory at Taunton, which seems likely, although the advantage of a game in hand will maintain Warwickshire’s position as favourites. Sussex, though, would have won six times to their five.Middlesex were seen as contenders themselves at one time, although their realistic target has been to finish in the safe ground in the middle of the table. In that respect, the experience brought by Rogers, the 34-year-old Australian who joined them from Derbyshire two years ago, has been vital.Rogers is with his fourth first-class county. His latest century is his third of the season and 55th overall, of which 30 have been scored in England and eight for Middlesex. He is close to 1,000 runs during the current season and his career aggregate now exceeds 18,000, which are impressive statistics for a batsman whose colour blindness has been said at times to impair his ability to pick out the red ball if the backdrop is not in clear contrast.Although he might have been out on 33 when an uppercut off Rankin cleared Keith Barker on the third-man boundary, he played impressively well. But then so too did Malan, who survived a hostile spell from Rankin just after tea and needs only another six to pass his career best of 143.Twice Warwickshire thought they might take the upper hand. After they had been bowled out for 333, which gave them a lead of 46, a penetrative spell with the new ball from Wright had Middlesex quickly in trouble, bringing wickets in his first and third overs. He drew Sam Robson to play at a ball that left him outside off stump and was rewarded when Tim Ambrose took the catch, and struck again when Joe Denly flashed at a wider delivery and was caught superbly by Rikki Clarke, whose leap at second slip to pluck the ball out of the air seemed unaffected by the abdominal strain that is preventing him from bowling.But then Rogers and Malan bedded in and their progress was serenely without alarm, for the most part until Rankin, returning after tea for third spell, at last began to find the right length. The Irish quick bowler finished off Rogers with his third ball, which was cut to slip, and followed up two overs later when Neil Dexter, the first innings centurion, took liberties with a ball outside off stump and fell victim to William Porterfield’s excellent reactions at gully.Rankin then tempted Adam Rossington to pull with two fielders placed in anticipation of the shot and was rewarded with a top edge that Darren Maddy did well to get under.At this point, Middlesex’s lead was 206, which did not threaten quite such a daunting run chase. However, Rankin’s third success was the last of the batch in a contest that has generally seen wickets taken in clusters. Malan, who made his name initially as an aggressive one-day batsman but is maturing into a sound middle-order player in the four-day game, maintained his concentration after completing his second century of the season off 158 balls and found another useful ally in Gareth Berg.Berg is unbeaten on 53 in a partnership so far worth 99. The new ball is due but Middlesex will hope to add another 50 to their total at least on the fourth morning and probably bat Warwickshire out of the game.

Virender Sehwag has been appointed captain of North Zone for their Duleep Trophy game against West Zone that begins in Chennai on October 6

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2012Virender Sehwag has been appointed captain of North Zone for their Duleep Trophy game against West Zone that begins in Chennai on October 6.Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were also included in the 15-man squad. The decision was taken at a zonal selection meeting at the Delhi and District Cricket Association on Monday. Sehwag had earlier been named the captain of Delhi’s Ranji Trophy squad for the 2012-13 season.The five internationals are currently on national duty in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and the selection committee also announced their replacements, should India qualify for final, which is on October 7. The replacements are Ian Dev Singh, Rahul Dewan, Uday Kaul, Vipul Sharma and Gurvinder Singh.North Zone squad: Virender Sehwag (Delhi, captain), Gautam Gambhir (Delhi), Virat Kohli (Delhi), Yuvraj Singh (Punjab), Shikhar Dhawan (Delhi), Paras Dogra (Himachal Pradesh), Rajat Bhatia (Delhi), Mayank Sidana (Punjab), Harbhajan Singh (Punjab), Nitin Saini (wicketkeeper, Haryana), Ishant Sharma (Delhi), Parwinder Awana (Delhi), Harshal Patel (Haryana), Vikas Mishra (Delhi), Rishi Dhawan (Himachal Pradesh).