All posts by csb10.top

Group A

Mohammad Sami picked up three wickets for Karachi Dolphins as his side romped home to a 103-run win over Lahore Eagles. Sami dismissed three key batsmen as Lahore finished at 206 for 9 in response to Karachi’s tall score of 309 for 3.Karachi were sent in to bat and the top four batsmen responded with half-centuries. Sarfraz Ahmed scored 76, while Saeed Bin Nasir scored an unbeaten 74. The openers, Shahzaib Hasan and Khalid Latif, also chipped in, scoring 63 and 64 respectively.An unbeaten 72 from Razeem Alam and fifties by Zeeshan Ashraf and Sohaib Maqsood helped Multan Tigers coast to a seven-wicket win over Bahawalpur Stags. Chasing a target of 265, Multan’s impressive batting took them home with five overs to spare. Ashraf and Maqsood led the way, adding 105 runs for the second wicket before Alam wrapped up the chase.Earlier, Bahawalpur who chose to bat, made 264, thanks largely to half-centuries from Bilal Khilji and captain Kamran Hussain who consolidated the innings after a dismal start. Offspinner Aamer Yamin was the most impressive bowler for Multan, finishing with figures of 5 for 65, his first five-wicket haul.Hyderabad Hawks registered a massive, 150-run win over Quetta Bears, riding on centuries from Azeem Ghumman and Rizwan Ahmed and a five-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti.Ghumman and Ahmed shared a stand of 144 for the second wicket, taking their side to 260 for 2. In reply, the Quetta innings folded for a meager 110 in 33.5 overs. Taimur Ali was the only batsman to make more than 30 as the Hyderabad bowling, led by Bhatti, dominated. Bhatti finished with figures of 5 for 30, while Ghulam Yasin and Zahid Mahmood picked up two wickets apiece.

Group B

An all-round performance from captain Khalid Usman helped Abbotabad Falcons beat Peshawar Panthers by 45 runs. Usman took 3 for 31 with his left-arm spin as Peshawar folded for 174 in reply to Abbotabad’s total of 219.Earlier Abbotabad, who chose to bat first, were tottering at 139 for 8 before Usman batted well with the lower order to take the score to 219. He scored 80 off 94 balls, including four fours and two sixes.Karachi Zebras registered an emphatic 92-run win over Lahore Lions. Opener Fakhar Zaman scored a quick century for Karachi and was ably supported by captain Faisal Iqbal as Karachi posted 314 for 6. The pair added 158 for the third wicket to effectively bat Lahore out of the match.In reply, Lahore were dismissed for 222 in the 45th over. The Lahore reply was shaky and although captain Azhar Ali and Fahad-ul-Haq tried to build the innings, the Karachi bowlers struck regularly to restrict them. Fast bowler Rumman Raees picked up three wickets for 21 runs for Karachi.A century from opener Awais Zia and an unbeaten 54 from Yasim Murtaza, who later picked up three wickets, set up a 66-run win for Rawalpindi Rams against Islamabad Leopards. Zia and Murtaza powered their side to a commanding 338 for 7.In reply, Islamabad fell short in spite of a hundred from Babar Azam, and were kept to 272 for 9. The chase began strongly but lost momentum after a cluster of wickets fell towards the end of the innings. Murtaza picked up 3 for 49, while Akhtar Ayub and Hammad Azam took two wickets each.

Match facts

January 25, 2013
Start time 2.30pm (1230 GMT)South Africa have gone from being favourites to underdogs•Associated Press

Big Picture

What’s better than a series win in the ODIs for a team that looked lost in the Tests not so long ago? A clean sweep, and that is what New Zealand will be aiming for when they meet a South African side that appears increasingly fragile.How the tables have turned. No one really gave New Zealand a chance and even the few reporters who had travelled to South Africa left before the series started. But the young side has a number of players who were not part of the Test failures; they showed resilience in the first ODI in Paarl, where the lower order helped the team nick a one-wicket win. The second win was more thorough: New Zealand posted 279 and applied enough pressure on the South African batting to trip them well short of the target.New Zealand have grappled hard with off-field issues in the past month but the wins have shifted focus from the missing players to those who have performed. Mitchell McClenaghan announced his entry into ODIs with a dream spell in the first game while Williamson recorded a big hundred in the second. However, a few of the bigger names would hope to put up some weighty performances and end the series on a high before England come calling.South Africa, on the other hand, find themselves in a strange position. They were outright favourites when the series started but lost key players and now the complexion of the team looks very different. No AB de Villiers, no Hashim Amla, a new captain in Faf du Plessis, fast bowlers in rotation, and they now appear to be the team lacking in focus – and are underdogs ahead of the match.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed matches only)
South Africa: LLWLL
New Zealand: WWLLL

In the spotlight

Martin Guptill started the tour with an unbeaten century in a Twenty20 match but hasn’t done much since then. He had scores of 1, 0, 1 and 48 in the two Tests and his run got worse with two ducks in the ODIs. His place in the team is likely to come under the scanner ahead of the England tour and this match is his last chance on this tour to reiterate his value.Graeme Smith is not the captain in ODIs but he would have to be the pillar to keep the shaky batting line-up together. He scored a half-century in the previous match but his run-out triggered a collapse, highlighting the need for someone like him to be in the middle for others to play around him.

Team news

South Africa may consider bringing in Dale Steyn to add zing to the seam-attack, while Aaron Phangiso is likely to make his debut as Robin Peterson was pulled out after splitting his webbing in the second ODI. Dean Elgar, who replaced an injured Amla, is unlikely to feature in the XI.South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Colin Ingram, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Farhaan Behardien, 6 David Miller, 7 Ryan McLaren, 8 Aaron Phangiso, 9 Rory Kleinveldt/Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.New Zealand are unlikely to change their winning combination.New Zealand: (probable) 1 BJ Watling, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Grant Elliot, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), 6 James Franklin, 7 Colin Munro, 8 Jimmy Neesham, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan.

Pitch and conditions

A flat deck is expected in Potchefstroom on what promises to be yet another hot day. The venue has been a happy hunting ground for the home team, who are yet to lose a match here.

Stats and Trivia

• The last time New Zealand won a three-match series 3-0 against a major team was in 2006-07, when they beat Australia at home.
• South Africa have never lost all the matches of a three-match series at home.
• Kyle Mills has more ODI wickets (210) than Morne Morkel (102) and Dale Steyn (96) combined.

Quotes

“We probably just have to be slightly more aware of what fielders are where. New Zealand have got some outstanding fielders.”
“We can’t underestimate how big a victory this is and, yes, it as a starting point but it’s still important to realise that we looked the giants in the eye and were able to come away with success.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Martin Guptill fell before New Zealand could open their account in the second innings•AFP

New Zealand will grasp any consolation after suffering the indignity of being bundled out for 45 in their first innings and avoiding defeat in two days will do for a start. They will resume the third day 133 runs behind with six wickets remaining after South Africa’s quick bowlers failed to repeat the havoc of the opening day.Their chief source of resistance came from Dean Brownlie, who struck a 44-ball half-century to be 69 not out at the close and collected a few bruises to show for his labours after goading Dale Steyn into a hostile conclusion to the second day. The bulk of Brownlie’s cricket until three years ago was played in Perth and it showed, too, as he prospered on the back foot, square of the wicket on the off side, in an enterprising post-tea innings.South Africa were architects of their own frustration as they dropped Brownlie, twice, and Brendon McCullum in the final session. Brownlie escaped twice at gully on 23, Dean Elgar and Alviro Petersen spurning opportunities presented by Steyn and Vernon Philander respectively. Jacques Kallis’ attempt to catch McCullum off Steyn at second slip was a worthier effort, but it all contributed to New Zealand adding 133 in the final session.New Zealand had batted doggedly up to tea, but they had lost Martin Guptill for nought, when he clipped Steyn to midwicket, and Kane Williamson, who looked in the mood for some prolonged blocking until a tempting short delivery from Jacques Kallis jagged off a crack to have him caught at second slip.New Zealand had lasted only 19.2 overs in the first innings and, if nobody seriously expected a repeat of that, they were vulnerable on a pitch showing signs of unreliable bounce. The strong winds which closed Table Mountain in the build-up to the game and cracked and crusted this Newlands surface threatened to have the final say.Only when Brownlie began to hit about him did McCullum’s mood lighten. For him to bear his responsibilities so heavily was unusual, but he was a new Test captain appointed in controversial circumstances, criticised in some quarters for an overly-optimistic attitude in batting first and then for placing excessively attacking fields in return. If he was ever going to begin a Test innings strokelessly, this was it.He fell lbw to Robin Petersen, his decision to review the decision owing more to his status and New Zealand’s plight than any realistic hope of overturning it. Daniel Flynn’s colourless innings ended with extra bounce from Kallis and an inside edge to the wicketkeeper.If South Africa were not hampering themselves by dropping catches, they were also making a hash of DRS. They failed to challenge umpire Ian Gould’s “not out” ruling when to have done so would have won an lbw decision while Williamson was on 4. They then wasted a review when Gould refused a catch at the wicket with Williamson on 9, the ball having brushed the batsman’s pocket.What followed almost brought DRS into disrepute. There was a delay of nearly five minutes before the third umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, gave his decision. In the background at square leg, as endless Hot Spot replays were studied, Hashim Amla’s long beard was shown as pure white and made him look like an ancient. There again, as we waited inexplicably for Dharmasena, none of us felt any younger.Final-session frustrations or not, South Africa must feel the Test is almost won. It was difficult on a summer’s day like this, with the Test entirely in command, for a South African player not to feel content, but Dean Elgar would not be happy with his world.All Elgar had to show for South Africa’s series-winning victory against Australia in Perth last month was a pair on Test debut. It was a tough ask, summoned to the tour late and expected to contribute to a series in the balance, and it proved beyond him.At Newlands, he resumed his Test career in rather gentler circumstances, but he could not take the opportunity. Five minutes before lunch, Trent Boult made one climb outside off stump and he edged it to the wicketkeeper. He walked off shaking his head, his prototype moustache accentuating a mournful countenance.Elgar got off the mark against his first ball, from Chris Martin, jabbing through square leg, but progression never really came. Two boundaries off Franklin in successive overs flew through slips and gully, one of them with only one hand on the bat. When he was 18, New Zealand could have overturned Rod Tucker’s refusal of Boult’s lbw appeal, but they failed to review.New Zealand’s seam attack had been on the short side on the first day and their ground-fielding had at times been deplorable. It would not take much to improve such standards and they did. Boult needed only one delivery to account for Alviro Petersen – the first ball of the second over. He had added three to his overnight 103 when he dragged on.At 38 years old and after 71 Tests, Martin is aware that not too many more top-order batsmen will fall his way before he calls time on his Test career. His long service was rewarded with three more good wickets. Faf du Plessis was caught at gully, searching for one, and he bowled AB de Villiers and Peterson in successive overs immediately after lunch before Smith’s declaration.Bare head glistening with sweat and thick white headband across his forehead, Martin bounded into the crease in the happy manner of a tennis coach at a private club, intent upon communicating enthusiasm before having a knock-up with the members. As far as New Zealand are concerned, the day amounted to more than a knock-up, it was one heck of a rally.

ScorecardGoa’s batsmen proved equal to the challenge of batting out almost the entire day to salvage a draw against Jharkhand in Jamshedpur. The bulk of the scoring was done by their import, Manvinder Bisla, the Man of the Match in this year’s IPL final, who struck a crucial 90. Jharkhand’s performer of the day was also a player who hit the headlines in the play-off phase of the IPL this season, Sunny Gupta, who was surprisingly picked by Delhi Daredevils in a knock-out match against Chennai Super Kings. The offspinner Gupta took six of the eight wickets to fall, with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who tops the Ranji wicket-charts this season, taking the other two. Their efforts weren’t enough to quell Goa, though, who had five batsmen besides Bisla making more than 20, and by the final hour Goa were safe. Jharkhand are in second place with 10 points after three games, and Goa have four after two.
ScorecardTripura mounted a brave effort in trying to surmount Services’ massive first-innings score of 563, but fell short to concede first-innings points in Agartala. Tripura have never scored 500 before but came mighty close thanks to a battling century from Abhijit Dey, whose previous highest first-class score was 37. He had support from Manisankar Murasingh, with whom he added 79 runs for the seventh wicket and by tea, Tripura still had a chance – 90 runs behind with three wickets in hand. However, quick bowler Shadab Nazar, playing his third first-class game, pretty much killed off Tripura’s chances by getting Dey bowled, and then striking off the next ball as well. Tripura wound up on 484, and had to be content with one point, while Services get three to move up to seven points and a share of the third spot.
ScorecardAmol Muzumdar completed his second century of the match on a dull final day against Himachal Pradesh in Nadaun, where Andhra took three points for the first-innings lead. It was Muzumdar’s 25th Ranji hundred, only behind Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Wasim Jaffer among active players. Andhra batted for nearly half the day before declaring, when the target had already been pushed to 390, leaving Himachal the job of batting out around 50 overs. There was some brief excitement as Himachal lost four early wickets before Varun Sharma and Amit Kumar calmly played out the remaining overs. The bright spot for Himachal on the day was medium-pacer Rishi Dhawan picking up his fifth five-for in 18 matches. Andhra and Himachal both have seven points after three matches.
ScorecardBoth of Kerala’s overnight batsmen, Abhishek Hegde and VA Jagadeesh, went to complete centuries on the final day of the game where there was little at stake against Assam in Malappuram. Kerala, having conceded the first-innings lead, had to force the pace and they scored at nearly four an over, but the 65 overs their bowlers had was not enough to bowl out Assam on what was still a flat track. Opener Pallav Das hit an unbeaten 92, and left-arm spinner K Sreejith took five though there was no real chance of an outright result. Assam continue to top the table with 16 points after three matches, while Kerala have two points from two games.

Marcus North has stood down as captain of Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers, citing his own struggle for form as a key reason for his decision. The move also comes after questions have been raised over the culture in Western Australian cricket following a lack of discipline in South Africa this month, where a number of Perth Scorchers players found themselves in trouble after a big night out on the town in the lead-up to a must-win Champions League Twenty20 match.The Test batsman Michael Hussey will lead the Warriors in their Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the MCG, starting on Thursday, while a decision is made on who will become the state’s full-time captain. Reports have also emerged from Perth that the former Test batsman Shaun Marsh will be sent back to club cricket to regain his lost form, although that has not been confirmed by Western Australia.North, 33, has been in charge of Western Australia for six years, during which time they have failed to win a title in any format, and he said the time was right to give up the job. He is keen to play on as a batsman but he will need to find some runs quickly, after scoring 12, 11, 0 and 0 in the first two Sheffield Shield matches of the season, and his last Shield hundred came in October last year.”I have thought long and hard about this decision but I feel now is the right time for Western Australian cricket to have a fresh voice and a new leader to take the Warriors and Scorchers forward,” North said. “My form in the past two and a half years since playing Test cricket has not been to the high standard I place on myself.”I want to enjoy my cricket without the pressure of captaincy and strive to be the best cricketer that I can be both personally and for the team. I have always said that a captain should be the player who is picked first and someone who has no concern about their place in the side.”I have been averaging 10 below my career first-class average for the past two seasons and the Warriors do not need a skipper who is struggling for form and finding it hard to justify their place in the side. In the T20 space, there have been times where I have felt the balance of the Scorchers has been compromised by my position in the team and some very good players have had to miss out, such as Paul Collingwood at Champions League.”This is my sixth year as state captain and I have given it a really good shot, but the reality is we have played in only two T20 finals in that time so I have not enjoyed the success everyone associated with WA cricket would have hoped for.”Western Australia are yet to win a Shield match this season and sit on the bottom of the table. The last time they won a domestic title was in the 2003-04 one-day competition and their last Shield triumph came in 1998-99.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEoin Morgan was the only batsman to dominate on a sluggish pitch at The Oval•PA Photos

Eoin Morgan swore allegiance to England’s Test team this week ahead of all other temptations. In the current climate he would be foolish to suggest anything else. There may be suitors from the IPL who do not entirely believe it and their appetite to find out more will only have been whetted by his dashing intervention at The Oval which took England back to the top of the ODI rankings.England beat South Africa for the first time this summer as their four-wicket victory with two overs to spare levelled the series at 1-1 with two to play. They also reclaimed the title of the No. 1 one-day side in the world, although this accolade could be short-lived. South Africa’s reign lasted three days and they may reign again by Sunday evening. Fortunately, the players keep these things in perspective. Some of the more rabid fans would be well advised to follow suit or their emotional highs and lows may prove terminal.Morgan made 73 from 67 balls, but he had a rock to lean on: Jonathan Trott, met by a target well within his comfort zone and bent upon batting through the innings. When the game was in the balance, at 64 for 3 in the 18th over, it would have been a toss-up which batsman South Africa most wished to dismiss next. Morgan could fearlessly slash and burn but Trott was the smouldering menace.By the time they removed either of them – Morgan offering a return catch to Robin Peterson, aiming over midwicket – England’s alliance of opposites had garnered 108 in 20 overs and the match was almost spent. The only surprise was that Trott did not see it through. He was out with England five runs short, 71 from 125 balls, as Wayne Parnell had him caught at the wicket. Parnell completed a niggardly spell but for Dale Steyn, back in the side, the pitch offered little encouragement.England’s chase had never looked entirely comfortable against a persistent attack and on a low, holding surface. But Trott created order out of discomfort; approaching his task like a librarian, ticking off every ball and stacking it neatly in alphabetical order. South Africa, probably 30 runs shy, could do little about it. “We were hoping for 250-odd,” said AB de Villiers, South Africa’s captain. “Most of the senior players got in and got out. That was the big sin.”Ravi Bopara was not so composed. He left to the sound of booing from the crowd, adjudged by umpire Kumar Dharmasena to be caught at the wicket for nought off Morne Morkel. He immediately turned to the DRS and the crowd only witnessed the fact that Hot Spot showed no edge. But the sound as the ball passed the bat was clearly audible – convincingly so – and the third umpire, Simon Taufel, correctly concluded that he had no clear evidence to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision.Bopara had bowled his bothersome medium pace skilfully in South Africa’s innings, conceding only 31 runs and claiming the wicket of Faf du Plessis in only his second completed bowling stint for England, following a full shift against Bangladesh at Edgbaston two years ago.It has been a fraught period for Bopara, his cricketing summer affected by domestic issues, and this will have helped to persuade him that much of his England career, especially at one-day level, remains ahead of him, but his pressing need in the last two matches is runs.

Smart stats

• England’s win is their third at The Oval against South Africa. It is the highest number of matches they have won at a particular venue against South Africa.

• James Anderson’s 4 for 44 is his 11th haul of four or more wickets in ODIs. It is his third-best performance against South Africa and his third-best at The Oval.

• Eoin Morgan’s 73 is his 17th half-century in ODIs. It is also his highest score against South Africa and his highest at The Oval surpassing his previous best of 61 against Pakistan in 2010.

• Jonathan Trott’s half-century is his 18th in ODIs. The strike rate of 56.80 during his knock is his second-lowest for a fifty-plus score. His lowest strike rate (55.31) also came against South Africa in Chennai in 2011.

• The 108-run stand between Trott and Morgan is the second-highest fourth-wicket stand for England against South Africa. It is also the fifth-highest fourth-wicket stand for any team in ODIs at The Oval.

Until Morgan shook the duvet, the cautious nature of England’s reply was summed up in the dismissal of Alastair Cook, who reached 20 from 47 balls when he pulled Peterson gently to deep midwicket, an nondescript delivery but a wicket achieved through a gradual build up of pressure.South Africa had to put in a workmanlike performance to post anything like a competitive total. Jade Dernbach held them back. His opportunities for England in limited-overs cricket this summer have extended no further than south London, but the moment he dismissed Hashim Amla, England’s scourge all season, ensured him of an influential day. South Africa’s last eight wickets slipped away for 91. England were sharper than they had been at the Ageas Bowl.Fresh from his 150 in the second ODI in Southampton, Amla made unflustered progress to 43 from 51 balls before Dernbach took advantage of limited footwork in his first over to bowl him between bat and pad. Until then, he had batted with tranquillity and purpose, his runs advance unnoticed like a night-time tide. One whip behind square against James Anderson was so wristy that you could swear he played it with the back of the bat.Dernbach, whose only other one-day appearance came against Australia , also on his home ground, was given an opportunity after England left out Tim Bresnan and overlooked the man who might have been viewed as his most like-for-like replacement, Chris Woakes. Dernbach has twice the forearms – as muscular and tattooed as a coal miner – but he is not twice the cricketer.Away from The Oval, it would have been a debatable choice. But on this slow surface he was in his element. He dismissed Dean Elgar for 42, an innings that never really took shape, with a delivery bowled out of the back of the hand leaving the batsman motionless and bowling him through the gate. He later had Parnell caught at the wicket in an over when the batsman had twice nicked him for boundaries through the vacant slip cordon.As the ball softened, South Africa laboured. Six players in all were bowled, emphasising that this was a pitch that rewarded a wicket-to-wicket attack. JP Duminy held things together until he fell at long off as he went big against the offspin of James Tredwell, who had also accounted for de Villiers as he sought out his favourite flick to deep midwicket.With Parnell on the card at No. 7, recovery was always liable to be painstaking for South Africa and they never broke free, Anderson wrapping up the innings with the last three wickets in seven balls to leave 20 deliveries unused.

ScorecardGlen Chapple continues to trouble the best batsmen in the county game•Getty Images

There may have been little for cricket fans to appreciate on a final day decimated by rain, but those arriving at Aigburth early will have witnessed a duel good enough to compensate for the later frustration.Two county captains, standing toe to toe, attempting to carry their respective sides to victory, provided an enthralling distraction from a disappointing result for both sides.Lancashire and Somerset both began the final day with hopes of securing a victory that would significantly lift their hopes at either end of the division one table. The key confrontation in settling the outcome would be the ability of Marcus Trescothick, Somerset’s outstanding batsman, against Glen Chapple, Lancashire’s ever-green seamer with more than 800 first class victims in his career.Their battle within the game lasted only 10 overs this morning as Somerset resumed on 22 for 1 needing a further 257 runs for victory. It should have set the scene for a compelling contest only for a lunch-time thunder-storm to end play with the game balanced after Somerset reached 93 for 3 with a minimum of 64 more overs in the day.In the end Chapple won their confrontation, securing an lbw appeal with a ball that kept low mid-way through an outstanding eight-over spell from the River End. Trescothick departed for only 27, although he had clearly relished the intensity of a contest that he has encountered all too rarely since problems with depression forced his retirement from international cricket in 2008.”It was really competitive, which is just what you want in county cricket,” admitted Trescothick. “It was two good players going at it and working hard for their individual teams. We are both captains of our clubs and we have to do our best. That’s what you thrive on, that’s the challenge you miss from international cricket and it’s great to get it in county cricket.”Chapple thought he had claimed Trescothick’s scalp in the fourth over of the day, inducing an edge which Paul Horton failed to hold above his head at first slip. Glaring at his Somerset rival in frustration, Chapple trudged back to his mark to try again.There was little doubt Trescothick was the wicket Lancashire craved most, judging by an over-enthusiastic appeal for a catch behind in Chapple’s next over. Trescothick stood in his crease, defiantly, while umpire Peter Hartley remained un-moved. The Lancashire captain succeeded on his third attempt when uneven bounce beat Trescothick’s outstanding hand-eye co-ordination and appeared to deal a serious blow to Somerset’s desire to chase down their target.That was further undermined when James Hildreth edged Kyle Hogg and Andrea Agathangelou dived from second slip to take the catch. The composure shown in the remaining 13 overs before lunch by Nick Compton, county cricket’s leading run-scorer, and Craig Kieswetter only served to heighten the anticipation for the remainder of the day.The weather intervened, leaving Somerset still behind Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Sussex in the race for the title, while Lancashire are only nine points ahead of the relegation places having played more matches that Worcestershire and Durham, who occupy the bottom two places in the division.”It’s been a pretty hard fought game all the way through,” said Trescothick. “It was evenly poised although it may have been more in their favour than ours with the scoring rates in the game, but who knows what could have happened if we’d have got a partnership together?”Peter Moores, Lancashire’s coach, was equally frustrated at being thwarted in their attempt to claim an all too rare victory this summer, but knows he has issues to address in the batting line-up. Dismissed for 63 against Worcestershire in the previous match, they slumped to 50 for 6 until Ashwell Prince’s brilliant century turned this match around.”We need people in form. We have had a bit of a strange season, we have had people playing well but not always turning that into runs,” Moores said. “That is something we have talked to the players about. There has to be a steel about them to turn that form into runs when they are playing well.”The lads are very determined. They know we need runs at the top of the order to put sides under pressure. There is a quality in the side. We haven’t finished in the top four of the Championship in the last three years without having decent players who play well under pressure.”

The batsman Aiden Blizzard has moved to his third state, Tasmania, in an effort to earn more chances in first-class and one-day cricket. Blizzard, 28, and the former New South Wales fast bowler Timm van der Gugten have been signed for next summer by the Tigers, who like all states must finalise their contract lists by the end of this week.Blizzard began his career in Victoria, where he was viewed largely as a Twenty20 specialist, and he moved to South Australia in 2010, hoping to find more opportunities in the longer formats. He grabbed his chances in his first year with the Redbacks, scoring 659 first-class runs at 34.68, but was given only three Sheffield Shield games last summer and was overlooked completely in the Ryobi Cup.He will be joined at Tasmania by van der Gugten, 21, who played his first games for New South Wales last season and has also played ODIs and Twenty20s for the Netherlands, thanks to his Dutch passport. The Tigers have gradually announced their contracted players over the past week and will confirm their remaining players on Friday.Western Australia and Queensland have already named their complete contract lists for next season, but Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales have kept the majority of their announcements for the end of the week.

Richard Gould, the Surrey chief executive, and widely tipped as a future chief executive of the ECB, has called for England’s Twenty20 domestic tournament to be scheduled throughout the summer and has predicted it could bring “a dramatic increase” in the number of people who watch county cricket.Gould’s call is contrary to the preferences of England’s professional players, who were in favour in a survey commisioned by the Professional Cricketers’ Association, of a high-profile IPL-style tournament with concerted efforts made to attract the world’s top stars.Surrey have endured a crazed fixture schedule which would find favour with nobody, in which they have hosted four T20 matches in five days, shortly after staging England’s NatWest Series tie against Australia.He called instead for the ECB to cater better to the public demand to watch cricket by creating sufficient space between matches for supporters to come to more than just “the occasional game”.As the ECB extends its survey on the future of the domestic game, the battle lines have clearly been drawn between those who want to seek a high-profile tournament and those, like Gould, who believe in a traditional county-cricket solution, using primarily Engliush players and playing the tournament over the season. In that way, he contends, it would be using England’s professional circuit to offer something distinct from the short and sweet tournaments elsewhere.The Gould method would necessitate players switching from one format to another incessantly but would make all forms of the game available to spectators throughout the summer. It would also arguably exacerbate problems finding overseas players, a situation that is becoming increasingly critical.Despite an unsuccessful campaign, Surrey pulled in almost 15,000 spectators for their match against Kent on Thursday – one of the biggest crowds in this year’s weather-beaten tournament – and saw a similar turnout on Friday for their defeat to Middlesex.”Having analysed the supporter data it is clear that the vast majority of the 15,000 supporters that saw us on the Thursday were not the same ones that came today because people do not have enough leisure time to come twice within such a short period,” Gould said.”Going forward we must provide a schedule that suits our customers, allowing sufficient space between matches so that supporters can come to most of the games rather just one or two, following the football and rugby models. Bigger crowds also make for a more compelling televised spectacle.”For Surrey supporters this also means making sure most FLt20 games take place on Thursdays or Fridays, although the preferred day of the week varies from county to county. If we can achieve all this, allowing people to come and watch more than the occasional game; then we have a great opportunity to dramatically increase the number of cricket supporters in this country.”Gould first unveiled his preference for a more spread-out T20 schedule to ESPNcricinfo. He also suggested that a rejigged FLt20, which next year will have to be fitted in around the Champions Trophy, could create a better balance in the fixture list.”It could also help those that regularly attend Championship cricket but currently have to endure a large part of the summer without it, having to make way for an exclusive diet of Twenty20. As a spectator sport we are working closely with the ECB to ensure that the needs of members and supporters are always the highest priority.”

James Pattinson, the Australia fast bowler, has said he is recovering well from a back injury that ruled him out midway through the tour of the West Indies last month. Pattinson will train at Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane from Tuesday, and he expects to bowl at 100% intensity by the end of next week.Pattinson hurt his back while fielding during the third day of the second Test in Trinidad. He was making a comeback after suffering a foot stress injury during the second Test against India at the SCG in January. He bowled 11 overs and took a wicket in the first innings, but didn’t bowl in the second. Though he isn’t back to full fitness, he was named in the squad for the ODIs against England and Ireland in June-July.”I’m bowling about three times a week now at about 80% intensity and building that up and hopefully (I’ll have) three weeks of going 100% in the nets before getting over to England,” Pattinson told .”I’m looking for a bit of match intensity, so hopefully I can get out there in the middle. It’ll mostly be white-ball practice with the one-dayers coming up.”The emergence of Pattinson and Pat Cummins has increased the pool of Australia’s fast bowlers and the competition for places in the squad. Australia’s coach, Mickey Arthur, hoped the Pattinson-Cummins combination would make their attack a force during the Ashes in 2013.With an Australia A tour of England later this year, Pattinson wants to get used to the conditions before the Ashes, if picked.”It’s an exciting time for Australian cricket at the moment with a lot of young guys coming through,” Pattinson said. “I don’t think we’ve played in these conditions before so it’ll be a great learning curve before the Ashes next year.”Hopefully it gives us a bit of an edge over the Poms and we can go over to the Ashes with one up over them.”