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Shakib Al Hasan isn’t thinking about the impending spin battle with R Ashwin. What he is focused on instead is how best he can contribute to Bangladesh’s cause. The visitors have reiterated that their prime focus on this short tour is to do well as a team, with the batsmen and bowlers pitching in together.Shakib has a role to play in both aspects: a spell from him can change the course of a game while a typically rapid innings can help set up big scores for Bangladesh. Both happened in New Zealand but neither performance translated to a better result for the team, as they lost both Tests.”It is a challenge for everyone,” Shakib said. “Say, you score 250 runs and your bowlers do well, then 250 runs is lot of runs. But then you score 500 runs, but your bowlers give away that many runs. So the team can perform well only when everyone contributes. The team cannot win depending on one particular department. In New Zealand it so happened that one day we batted well and the other day we bowled well – but there was no joint contribution.”He stressed on the collective responsibility of individuals to ensure the team performed as a single unit. “Everyone has a contribution in it, even those who were new. The responsibility is everyone’s,” he said, emphasising on the last word.Shakib is the focal point of Bangladesh’s bowling attack, like R Ashwin is for India. While Shakib’s approach is different from the India offspinner, leading an attack is one of the few similarities they share.Shakib’s role as an allrounder has earned him much success but he was quick to brush aside any comparisons with Ashwin, given his predominant focus on batting and Bangladesh’s generally low volume of Test cricket in the last six years. Shakib was all praise for Ashwin’s rise as a spinner in the last three years, highlighting his control.”There is no competition,” Shakib said in Hyderabad, where the Test will be played from February 9. “I do not think of it that way nor does he. In fact I think no one thinks of it that way. He is doing well from his place and I am trying to do well at my end. The better I do the more help the team gets. The importance of a player differs from team to team. I will be happy if I get to contribute for my team in the role I am in.”He [Ashwin] has been bowling really well for India for the last 2-3 years. The control makes him different. He does whatever he wants to do with the ball. If you can do that, you don’t need to do anything else as a bowler. His control and the confidence makes him the No 1 bowler at the moment.”If Bangladesh are to make an impact in the Test in India, Shakib Al Hasan will need the support of other spinners like Mehedi Hasan Miraz•Getty Images

Despite his different role in the Bangladesh side, there is little doubt over Shakib’s importance as a bowler in all seasons and formats. Against England at home last October, he was instrumental in setting up the opposition and relentlessly hammering on a single line and length. Even in Christchurch last month, where New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner didn’t bowl an over, Shakib’s three-wicket burst gave Bangladesh a lifeline on the second day.He has, over the years, shown he can bowl long spells and his high-impact bursts have given Bangladesh’s bowling a much-needed edge. Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam are good additions to the bowling attack, and both may need to bowl spells that allow Bangladesh to control proceedings and not let India’s in-form batsmen take the game away from them.Shakib conceded that the biggest challenge was to contain the India batsmen. “You also need to think that they play spin well,” he said. “I think they are the best in playing against spin, so it will be a big challenge for us. If we can do well here it will boost our confidence for the Sri Lanka series.”Bangladesh’s bowling unit will revolve around Shakib at one end with Mehedi, Taijul and the pace attack trying to bring consistency into their game. As Shakib said, the buck shouldn’t necessarily always stop with him, and the responsibilities must be shared by the team.

There are ways of saying things and then there is the Faf du Plessis way of saying things. It’s considered rather than clichéd and direct without being dismissive, an especially important quality in a series like this.South Africa have dominated to the extent that Dale Steyn’s “quietly confident,” pre-series prediction that a 3-0 whitewash could be on the cards now seems a certainty. Apart from the first day of the first Test, Sri Lanka have failed to put up a concerted challenge to South Africa in any department and the sting of this series has long left the bee.Despite that, du Plessis did not disrespect the opposition and offered a measured explanation for their lack of fight. “We don’t see them as weak, we just see them as not being as good in our own conditions as we are,” he said.At the Wanderers, that will only be highlighted more. Even though the groundsman Bethuel Buthelezi, has said, “there won’t be as much in the wicket as there was for Stuart Broad last year,” he has promised bounce and carry and Sri Lanka’s batsmen will need to find a way to cope.Du Plessis’ advice to Sri Lanka is to be patient, because that is the only way to prosper on seamer-friendly surfaces. “In the batting department, they just haven’t had guys anchoring the crease and applying themselves for long enough. We also find the conditions challenging but we’ve just been more patient in waiting for the bowler to make a mistake,” he said.Sri Lanka’s pace pack, though, could have more to look forward to. Du Plessis remains wary of an attack that have made barred their teeth on occasion and that he thinks are not far away from biting. “They’ve got the seam bowlers in these conditions to challenge us, but they just haven’t done it consistently. If they start doing that then they can do exactly what we’ve done with them,” he said.South Africa’s aim is a whitewash, which they were not able to achieve in Australia as Australia showed up well to win the floodlit Test in Adelaide by seven wickets.”You don’t get opportunities like this very often so for me that becomes the focus – to try and make sure that we dominate a team we are on top of at the moment,” du Plessis said. “We had an opportunity in Australia, we didn’t take it – the pink ball is something the Australian team are quite successful with – but it’s another opportunity for us to try and go 3-0.”Apart from the unknown of a first day-night Test, South Africa’s quest for 3-0 Down Under was derailed by the distraction surrounding du Plessis’ ball-tampering hearing and ultimate conviction. Then, du Plessis was disappointed that took away from the team’s achievements.A similar thing has happened now, with Kolpak signings making the headlines and South Africa’s series win relegated to inside pages. Du Plessis has admitted he does not enjoy seeing performances brushed aside for bigger issues and would like to try and bring the actual cricket to the forefront again.”In this series, once again, we’ve played amazing cricket, we’re 2-0 up, dominating a team and there’s other stuff that influences and takes the shine off the performances and that is draining. In a perfect world, you don’t want that,” he said.”But it is what it is. We respect Kyle’s decisions. It’s now time for us to focus on this next Test match and look forward to how we can build a new bowling unit and see who are going to be the guys who will lead our attack in the next five years.”Wayne Parnell has been confirmed as Abbott’s replacement and du Plessis is looking forward to seeing his progression first-hand but he is also excited about the prospect of Knights’ quick Duanne Olivier, who may have to wait to make his debut but who is definitely in the long-term plans.”I’m excited to see how much Wayne’s game has improved. He played one Test for us last time and did really well, and I think he’s a better player than he was then,” du Plessis said.”Today was the first time I faced Duanne and there is just something there. I really like what I see. I also like a guy coming to the nets, picking up an old ball and starting to bowl with it. Generally you get guys wanting a new ball – obviously you want to impress – but he took an old ball straight away and was just getting stuck into his areas. It’s nice that he is 24 as well, there’s a future there. I am excited about the talent.”

Australia squad for Sydney

David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Peter Handscomb, Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Agar, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird
In: Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar
Out: Nic Maddinson, Chadd Sayers

Australia have dropped Nic Maddinson for next week’s Sydney Test, while left-arm spinners Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar have been included in a 13-man squad.Agar, the wunderkind of the 2013 Ashes tour, merited a place on the strength of 16 well-priced Sheffield Shield wickets in the first half of the season, including 10 against New South Wales at the SCG. O’Keefe has been the favoured left-arm option for some time, but must now prove his ability to stay fit for the lengths of time required following a string of calf issues.”We wanted a left-armer to go away from all their right-handers as well to give us options,” Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann said of Agar. “He got 10 in Sydney [Sheffield Shield game]. He has improved, we get feedback from JL [Justin Langer] and the guys have been watching him, they’ve been impressed with him. The hardest thing we’ve got at the moment is no Shield cricket, so you go with a bit of BBL form as well. So they’re not bowling as much as we’d like, but before that he was doing really well.”[O’Keefe’s] got to be fit and he’s playing now, so that’s the main thing. He wouldn’t want too many more injuries, he’d want to make sure he’s playing cricket. That’s the greatest thing we have now, young players coming through that are fit and ready to go. He did a really good job in Sri Lanka for us before he got injured. He knows he has got to be fit and ready to play each and every game.”Lehmann spoke warmly of Nathan Lyon following his strong display on the final day of the MCG Test, particularly the greater consistency shown by Australia’s most prolific offspin bowler. “I thought he was outstanding,” Lehmann said. “He bowled consistent line and length, which was up and down in the previous few Test matches, and he got through the middle order, so pleased for him.”I was just pleased the way he bowled today, more so than fourth innings winning the game, bowling that consistent line and length we’ve been after all summer. Three or four balls an over had been there, but today was a lot better.”Allrounder Hilton Cartwright has been retained in the squad, but there was no room for swing bowler Chadd Sayers, who had been part of the squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan. Lehmann said that Cartwright and Agar would both be under consideration in an all-round role.”If you play two spinners you normally need an allrounder, so that’s what we’re looking at,” he said. “Agar’s a genuine [allrounder], yeah. He has made Shield hundreds, and batted well in that Test match at 11, and has certainly got the talent to be a batting allrounder or a spinning allrounder, either way.”Maddinson was axed after struggling for impact in the first three Tests of his career, with scores of 0, 1, 4 and 22 in his four Test innings so far. “He has still got a bright future,” Lehmann said. “I thought he batted really well this game, he would’ve liked a bigger score. I thought he played well, got a start and could have gone on big and put pressure on the selectors.”Rather than recalling Shaun Marsh, Lehmann said the selectors had chosen to keep him playing T20 matches while retaining the services of the young Queensland opening batsman Matt Renshaw. “We decided to keep [Marsh] playing BBL,” Lehmann said. “Matt has done a reasonable job for us in the Test matches, so we’re going to go with that same opening combination for the last one.”

England have received a significant boost with the news that James Anderson will be able to join their Test squad in India almost immediately. Anderson, England’s leading Test wicket-taker, has not bowled since August after suffering from a shoulder injury and was omitted from the original tour squad with the proviso that he would be recalled if he was able to prove his fitness.He returned to bowling a couple of weeks ago and has come through every test and scan before being cleared for the trip. He is now expected to join up with the rest of the squad ahead of the first Test in Rajkot, which starts on Wednesday, and could be considered for the second Test in Visakhapatnam, starting on November 17.Hopes of arranging a warm-up game for Anderson have been abandoned, though. While the England camp have explored the possibility of finding Anderson a club game in India to play in with a view to establishing his match fitness, it is understood that the plans were vetoed on security grounds. England’s security advisors remain keen to keep the squad together at all times in order not to dissipate their protection detail.His return will still come as a huge relief to Alastair Cook. While Anderson may have lost some of the pace he had when proving so influential on the 2012 tour – MS Dhoni rated him “the difference between the two teams” – his control remains exceptional and he has an impressive package of skills. In 17 Tests in Asia, he has taken 55 wickets at an average of 28.29. Under Cook’s captaincy, that record is 25 wickets from seven Tests at an average of 22.64. He claimed 12 in the 2012 series.While it was the batsmen that most obviously let England down on the last day in Dhaka, it may also be relevant that England lost the first Test Cook has captained (and that is 54 in total) without either Anderson or Stuart Broad in his side.”It’s really good news,” Cook said. “He’s probably about a week ahead of where we thought he would be. He’s worked incredibly hard to get back. He’s got the all clear. Now he needs to come out here and acclimatise and get some overs in the nets.”It is a brave move from Anderson, too. Some bowlers in his position might look at such a tour, on pitches offering them little and against a dauntingly strong batting line-up, and conclude they might be better conserving themselves until the start of the English season and more friendly conditions. But that is not Anderson’s way.Whether he can retain his outstanding record against Virat Kohli remains to be seen. For a batsman of such obvious class, Kohli has an oddly modest Test record against England – he averages just 20.12 after nine Tests against them – with Anderson having dismissed him five times at an average of 15.40. While the suspicion remains that this will be the series that the dam breaks and Kohli corrects that record, Anderson’s experience of the conditions and ability to unpick batsmen’s techniques could prove an asset even before he returns to the team.”It’s great that he’s put the effort in,” Cook said. “Rather than maybe taking the easy option and coming back in July, he wants to make a difference in this series.”His experience of knowing how to take wickets in these conditions and passing that experience on to the bowlers will be great. He and Stuart Broad are big leaders of this bowling attack. They’ve done it since probably 2008 or 2009. They’ve been pushing this side forward and leading the bowlers. The number of wickets they’ve taken in all conditions is credit to their skills. It’s great to have them back and that experience will only help the other guys.”It’s certainly not ideal he hasn’t had a warm-up game. But if there’s one person who could do it, it’s Jimmy. He’s well aware of that challenge. He’s come back so much quicker than we thought he would. He’s up for this. He’s not just coming here to make up the numbers. Is it ideal? No. We’ve tried to find him a bit of cricket somewhere just to get some miles and overs in his legs, but we can’t. So we’ll just have to make do and we’ll see what state he’s in.”It is possible that Anderson’s return could alter the balance of England’s attack. While it remains likely they will go into the first Test with three spinners and three seamers, they may be tempted to play four seamers later in the series. More realistically, though, Anderson’s return might provide the opportunity to rotate the likes of Broad or even Chris Woakes to help them through such a condensed five-Test series.”Is there a chance of us going 4-2?” Cook said. “Yes, there is. But there’s also a very good chance of us going 3-3. It’s very hard to say without seeing the wicket.”England travel from Mumbai to Rajkot on Sunday and will next train on Monday.

England are facing an anxious wait to see if Joe Root will be able to take any further part in the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka.Root was forced off the pitch during the evening session of day two after complaining of an upset stomach. He was subsequently isolated from the rest of the squad to limit any chance of contagion, driven back to the hotel on his own and confined to his room.While the team management are hopeful that a night’s sleep will help Root make a swift recovery, they will be anxious to see how he is on Sunday morning. Such is England’s reliance upon him, their chances of chasing down their fourth-innings target on a demanding Dhaka pitch will be substantially diminished if he is rendered unavailable.He is rated the No. 3 Test batsman in the world, top-scored in England’s first innings and is the only member of their top four to reach 20 this series.Given that nobody else in the squad has reported similar symptoms and everyone has eaten the same food – due to security fears, the team are obliged to eat in the hotel restaurants every day and in the players’ dining room during the match – there is a theory that he may have contracted the illness in his role as the team’s ball polisher.Root is one of very few England players allowed to handle the ball when the team are in the field and it is noticeable that, after almost every delivery, it is returned to him to shine before it is returned to the bowler. As part of that process, Root often licks his fingers before transferring his saliva on to the ball. It is, therefore, possible that he could have picked up something from the ground or even the ball.England may have missed Root in that role already. While they have unlocked Bangladesh’s batting in previous innings by utilising reverse swing, it was noticeable on the second evening that their seamers were unable to gain any movement.

Pitch imperfect?
The message from the BCCI may have been on uniformity in pitch preparation, but doubts over the neutral-venues concept continued to be raised after the opening round of the Ranji Trophy. The Mumbai-Tamil Nadu opener in Lahli, a marquee clash in Group A, finished in a little over two days, with 34 out of the 38 wickets to fall taken by the fast bowlers.”It was basically a very green pitch,” Abhishek Nayar, who made an unbeaten 45 to help Mumbai scrape home by two wickets, told ESPNcricinfo after the game. “Initially, there was a very thick covering of grass that made it very tough for stroke-play. What made things more difficult was the outfield was super slow, so getting boundaries was not easy.”It wasn’t too different in Ranchi, where Chhattisgarh beat Tripura by nine wickets. While Yashpal Singh, Tripura’s most experienced batsmen, termed it a “rubbish pitch”, Sulakshan Kulkarni, Chhattisgarh’s head coach, also wasn’t pleased with the surface despite his side recording a historic win. “The wicket was up and down right from the start,” he said. “You are supposed to have consistent bounce to begin with, but here it was scooting low and shooting up right from the start. There wasn’t a blade of grass. Surely better wickets can be prepared. What’s the use of playing on these kind of surfaces even after adopting neutral venues?”Maharashtra’s loss to Jharkhand at the Karnail Singh Stadium, which was banned from hosting first-class cricket for a year in 2012, also threw the spotlight on the 22 yards. Kedar Jadhav, who scored two half-centuries in a losing cause for Maharashtra, was fuming after the game. “If a match gets over in close to three days, it is not a good sign for cricket. It has to be a good quality pitch, where you get four days of competitive cricket,” he told the . “The result does not matter. The match has to last for four days. That is how the quality of cricket in general will rise.”Uthappa, Gautam swap no more
One of the reasons cited for possible discord within the Karnataka set-up during the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy was that of Robin Uthappa and CM Gautam, two of their most experienced players, being in the middle of an unwanted restructuring. Karnataka began to alternate wicketkeeping duties between Uthappa and Gautam at the behest of KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel in order to facilitate Uthappa’s return to international cricket as a wicketkeeper-batsman. The decision, which gave Karnataka’s batting coach J Arun Kumar “sleepless nights”, resulted in a bit of friction as Gautam confessed that switching between fielding and wicketkeeping was a “little irritating”.In a bid to return to winning ways, the team management has made it clear to both players about their roles this time around. “Last season was a learning for me; I understood a little more about team chemistry,” Uthappa told the . “The chemistry works with CM keeping, and I respect that. For me, it was learning, and I’ve accepted that learning and grown with that.”Shreyas, Shardul boost for Mumbai
Mumbai will be boosted by the returns of Shardul Thakur and Shreyas Iyer for their second match against Baroda in Delhi. Shardul was called up to the Indian team as a late replacement for Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the eve of Mumbai’s opening game against Tamil Nadu, while Shreyas, last season’s highest run-scorer, missed the match because of a quadriceps injury.Vijay and Harbhajan at NCA
M Vijay has been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for a rehabilitation programme, and therefore will not be available to play for Tamil Nadu in the third round of the Ranji Trophy, starting October 20. The TNCA had earlier requested the BCCI to release Vijay, whose next international commitments, fitness permitting, will be the Test series against England, which starts on November 9 in Rajkot.Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh, who was initially not named for just the first fixture, will not lead Punjab in the second round too. Harbhajan is currently at the NCA for a fitness assessment.

India have retained 15 of the 17 players who formed the Test squad for the tour of West Indies, for the upcoming three-Test series at home against New Zealand. The players to miss out were allrounder Stuart Binny and seamer Shardul Thakur.Binny and Thakur played only one game in the Caribbean – the tour match against the WICB President’s XI. Binny was later included in the T20I squad for the matches against West Indies in the USA, while Thakur joined the India A team on their tour of Australia.Rohit Sharma is part of the Mumbai squad for a tour match against the New Zealanders in Delhi from September 16. When asked if Rohit would play, a Mumbai team official said they were waiting for confirmation from the BCCI about his availability.”Rohit is a fabulous player, immense talent he has got, but he hasn’t got a longer run in Test cricket,” chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil said after the selection meeting in Mumbai. “What we have seen with Rohit Sharma is, he has been picked for one Test and then rested an entire season and again picked. So the selection committee, along with coach and captain, have decided that whoever is be picked will be given a fair amount of chances.”Perhaps the biggest question ahead of the selection of India’s XI for the first Test is about who will open. M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan opened in the first Test on the tour of West Indies, but Vijay was injured for the second Test and KL Rahul took his chance and made 158 in Jamaica. Vijay was then left out of the third Test while Rahul and Dhawan opened, but returned for the final match in Trinidad, where he was slotted to open with Rahul before rain ruined the game.Cheteshwar Pujara, who was replaced by Rohit in the third Test against West Indies because India were playing five bowlers, and then did not bat in the fourth Test, returned to form by scoring 166 and 256 at No. 3 in the ongoing Duleep Trophy in Greater Noida.The squad contains three spinners – R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra – and four seamers – Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – giving India the option of several combinations should they choose to play five bowlers.The series against New Zealand is the beginning of a home season in which India will play 13 Tests until March next year. The first match against New Zealand will be played in Kanpur from September 22, while the second and third Tests will be held in Kolkata and Indore.India are currently ranked No. 2 on the ICC Test rankings, only a point behind Pakistan, while New Zealand are placed seventh. India had briefly occupied the No. 1 ranking during the Test series against West Indies, following Australia’s 3-0 defeat to Sri Lanka. They had a chance to consolidate their top spot with a win in the fourth Test in Port of Spain but the match was drawn because of rain and a wet outfield, and Pakistan climbed to No. 1 having drawn their series against England 2-2.Squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, M Vijay, Umesh Yadav

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook continued his fine form with another half-century•Getty Images

The worm turns again. There is some wonderful Test cricket being played at the moment and the Edgbaston Test could bubble up into a humdinger after Alastair Cook and Alex Hales wiped out Pakistan’s lead with an unbroken stand of 117 on a day that England showed commendable resilience.Cook closed on 61, during which he become England’s leading run-scorer across all formats – overtaking Kevin Pietersen – although of more immediate relevance was the assurance with which he played, reaching fifty off 67 balls. Hales was less fluent, but showed the determination he had against Sri Lanka earlier in the season and brought up his fifty from 116 balls off the final delivery of the day. The century stand was this pair’s first in Test cricket, in their 18th innings together, and England’s first since Cook and Moeen Ali in Abu Dhabi last October.Pakistan’s eventual advantage of 103 was good, but perhaps short of what they would have hoped for late on Thursday before Azhar Ali edged the final delivery of the day. In total, their last eight wickets fell for 143, with the last five managing just 42 as the flimsy lower order was exposed once Misbah-ul-Haq’s diligent half-century was ended.England’s seamers bowled well (Moeen was only entrusted with two overs in the day) although James Anderson was ordered out of the attack after encroaching on the danger area for a third time – the second time in the year he had been removed having also transgressed in Johannesburg. But by then Pakistan were eight down and England were able to soak up his absence. Chris Woakes continued to impress to finish with three wickets while England earned another scalp through their fielding when Yasir Shah was run out.Unlike the opening day, England’s openers were able to start in sunshine and the surface remained placid. The Pakistan seamers fed Cook with too much width early on and the fifty stand came up in the 15th over, with Cook contributing 36 of them. The pace did not slow, aided by Hales also finding his groove after some hard work, notably when he flicked Yasir over the leg side. There was little help for Yasir, although he did spin one to bring an lbw appeal against Hales which went to review but had pitched outside leg.It was Hales who took England into the lead with a textbook back-foot punch off Sohail Khan who struggled to replicate his first-innings performance. Mohammad Amir was the pick of the quicks, but Misbah will need a telling contribution from Yasir on the fourth day. When the players walked off, with nine overs unbowled due to various delays, there was a very different feel to the match than a few hours earlier.A key element to this match could yet be the control England managed to exert with the ball, meaning that even when wickets were not falling the innings did not run away from them. The third morning, which began with Pakistan 40 adrift, started in a similar manner to the previous day with them willing to soak up the pressure: Anderson’s opening five-over spell cost just four runs and while Pakistan had plenty of wickets in hand they were content, but their approach did mean the lengthy tail remained a get-out for England if they could break through.Younis Khan was slightly less jumpy than in the first two Tests but could not escape his rut, providing England their first wicket of the day when he glanced Woakes down the leg side – a similar dismissal to the first innings at Old Trafford off Ben Stokes.Misbah continued to leave and defend against some tight bowling, only occasionally breaking free when he drove Stuart Broad for consecutive boundaries, in a manner very similar to how he has played throughout this cluster of England Tests in the last eight months. By lunch, the runs had started to come more freely.Asad Shafiq started brightly at Lord’s but has been slightly less productive since and could not break the shackles in an 18-ball stay before losing his off stump when Broad made a delivery nip back which he was late on. At that point, Pakistan were yet to take the lead and England sniffed a chance to keep the Test even.Not for the first time, Sarfraz Ahmed’s appearance brought energy to the innings, both in his punchy strokeplay and eagerness to keep the strike rotating. Misbah’s early caution was also rewarded as he moved from 7 off 39 balls to a half-century off 93, although one of his boundaries came when an edge flashed past Joe Root who was stood at a very close third slip.His dismissal had a dose of bad fortune about it, although Anderson was unlikely to see it that way, when he defended at a ball which then came off pad and boot into the stumps. It gave England an opening at the lower order and brought a period where the umpires were in the thick of the action.A superb piece of fielding from Woakes at deep square beat Yasir attempt to come back for a second, Jonny Bairstow doing well to gather the throw and break the stumps with his elbow – a dismissal which led to a thumbing of the Laws: it was perfectly legal, a run out can be completed by hand to arm providing the ball is under control.Amir’s wicket also needed the intervention of the TV umpire when Woakes rightly thought the lbw shout had struck pad first, while Sohail was lbw walking across his stumps at Broad. By then Anderson had been removed from the attack by Joel Wilson, following further feedback from the third umpire, and his over was completed by Steven Finn who was destined to end wicketless again when Cook added to England’s list of dropped catches by shelling Rahat Ali at slip. It was the last moment that did not go right for them.

ScorecardMustafizur Rahman was absent for Sussex after playing one game [file picture]•BCCI

Tom Smith played a key role with bat and ball as Gloucestershire kept their hopes of defending the Royal London One-Day Cup alive with a 51-run South Group win over Sussex at Cheltenham.In a match billed as must-win for both lowly placed teams, the hosts posted 242 for eight after losing the toss, Michael Klinger contributing 46 and Smith 43 not out. Chris Jordan claimed three for 55 and leg-spinner Will Beer two for 38.In reply the Sharks could manage only 191 all out, despite an excellent unbeaten 87 from 21-year-old Harry Finch, left-arm spinner Smith taking 4 for 26 from his ten overs.Sussex were not helped by the absence of their overseas pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman who is now in England but who picked up an injury after his first game for the county – one in which he was termed “a very special bowler” by his captain Luke Wright after demolishing Essex in the NatWest Blast.The result took Gloucestershire to four points from five games, while Sussex remain on just two.Gloucestershire lost wickets too regularly to gain much momentum to their innings. Chris Dent had already been dropped when falling early on for ten and it was 49 for 2 when Ian Cockbain was caught behind for eight in the ninth over.Hamish Marshall’s disappointing last Cheltenham Festival ended when he was bowled off inside edge by Jordan for 11 before Beer struck a major blow in the 22nd over.Klinger had looked in prime form moving to 46 off 66 balls, with 6 fours, when adjudged lbw pushing forward. It may have been a case of the ball striking pad before bat, but the Gloucestershire captain was clearly unhappy with the decision.Beer also removed Benny Howell for 19 and when Graeme van Buuren was bowled by Jordan for 38 off another inside edge Gloucestershire were becalmed on 155 for 6 in the 35th over.Kieran Noema-Barnett (29) hit the only six of the innings over mid-wicket off Danny Briggs, but it was Smith who did most to bolster the modest total, facing 46 balls and hitting 3 fours.Young wicketkeeper Patrick Grieshaber contributed a bright 20 at the death, but Gloucestershire looked to be short of a par score.Soon, however, the home bowlers were striking back. Ed Joyce mistimed a back-foot shot to be caught at mid-wicket off Matt Taylor and when Craig Miles had Philip Salt caught behind it was 19 for 2.Dangerman Luke Wright played a poor shot off Taylor on 18, chipping a catch to mid-on and Gloucestershire were right in the game at 43 for 3 in the ninth over.Chris Nash was bowled off a bottom edge by Smith for six, but Finch and Ben Brown than gave Sussex hope with a stand of 70 in 19.4 overs before Brown, on 39, square drove Howell to Cockbain at backward point.When Smith had Chris Jordan caught behind for 14, Sussex were left needing 84 off the last ten overs with only four wickets in hand.Smith then took a fine caught and bowled at full tilt after Jofra Archer had skied the ball back over his head and had Ajmal Shahzad well held at deep mid-wicket by Dent.Beer was run out and when last man Briggs was bowled by Howell, it left Finch, who faced 115 balls and hit 8 fours and a six, high and dry after a fine personal effort.

England will host Ireland for two ODIs in 2017, in a move described as “an historic stepping stone for Irish cricket”. The fixtures, one of which will be at Lord’s, represent the first bilateral series between the sides, as well as the first time they have faced each other in England.Under the previous agreement between the ECB and Cricket Ireland, England played a biennial ODI in Ireland. Next year they will instead host Ireland at Bristol, on May 5, and Lord’s, on May 7, as part of their build-up to the Champions Trophy. The development is a further boost for Ireland as they seek greater engagement with Full Members and a calendar that can help them challenge for World Cup qualification via the ODI rankings.Ireland’s captain William Porterfield, who has led calls for more opportunities for his side, described the series as “absolutely massive”, while Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, thanked the ECB for helping to bring it about. Ireland are also due to host New Zealand and Bangladesh for a six-match triangular series in May 2017.”We would like to extend our sincere thanks to ECB for their support in bringing this series to fruition and, in particular, giving us the opportunity to play a two-match series in England for the first time,” Deutrom said. “Rounding the series off at Lord’s will, of course, make this truly memorable for everyone involved.”We have set out our stall to make cricket a mainstream sport in Ireland and perhaps one measure of that is for the Blarney Army, whether living in Ireland or England, to arrive in their thousands to paint the Home of Cricket green in front of a worldwide TV audience.”England were Ireland’s opponents in their first ODI, in Belfast in 2006, and they have met twice in World Cups but this move signals a greater degree of commitment from the ECB to helping their Associate neighbours. It is understood that part of the decision for England to host the games was in order to save Cricket Ireland the set-up costs.”This series will represent a historic stepping stone in the development of Irish cricket and give further impetus to the growth of the game in Ireland as a whole,” the ECB’s chief executive Tom Harrison said. “There’s always been a friendly local rivalry between Ireland and England on the sporting field and this is a great opportunity for cricket matches between the two countries to enjoy even greater status and profile.”Ireland recently played a two-match series against Sri Lanka and will host Afghanistan and Pakistan this summer, before playing ODIs against South Africa and Australia later in the year. They were added to the ICC ODI rankings last year, giving them a chance to secure automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup by reaching the top eight, but had struggled to arrange a competitive fixture list.England had previously only played one-off fixtures against Ireland, in Belfast once again in 2009, then at Clontarf, in Dublin, two years later, followed by matches in 2013 and 2015 at Ireland’s new home, Malahide. Ireland’s only win over England came at the 2011 World Cup, when they pulled off the highest successful chase in the competition’s history in Bangalore.”It’s absolutely massive for us to have the opportunity to play against England in a series,” Porterfield said. “What makes it extra special is the fact that one of the games is at Lord’s – where every cricketer dreams of playing.”I’m certain we’ll have a lot of support there from both the Irish living in London and travelling over from Ireland. There’ll be a great atmosphere and it will be one which the team will relish playing in front of.”Teams travelling to play England are also coming over here now to play series too so hopefully that trend will continue. We are getting more and more international fixtures with games against Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia and South Africa still to come this year, and England, Bangladesh and New Zealand confirmed already for next year.”