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ScorecardLuke Wood provided some more lower-order resistance but Nottinghamshire had little else to be happy about•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire were not really Championship challengers. Everybody knew that. As the county who still had an arithmetical chance of the title, their role in the grand scheme of things was to allow everyone to pretend for a day or two more. But with Yorkshire still five points short at start of play, it was faintly embarrassing for the title to be settled by 3.06pm on the first day.Yorkshire bundled out Middlesex in 33 overs and eyes turned to Trent Bridge to see if they could prolong the wait by gaining maximum batting points against Durham. Whoops, not from 73 for 7 they couldn’t. That they got to 204 and lasted 54 overs was something of a bonus at which point the title was duly settled when Harry Gurney swung blindly at Graham Onions, the stumps were shaken for the second time that over, and Onions had 5 for 56 to celebrate on his 33rd birthday.”That’s the worst we have played for a long time: we batted very poorly, bowled very poorly and fielded awfully,” Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s coach, said. “Rushworth and Onions, on a pitch that did a little bit, would be a challenge for most teams in the country and I thought they exploited what there was in the wicket very well.”By the close, Nottinghamshire’s designs upon runners-up spot had been dented by half-centuries for Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, leaving Durham 30 runs behind with eight wickets standing as they seek their first win in six matches. If Durham here and Yorkshire at Lord’s turn positions of authority into victories that could yet leave Warwickshire with the chance of a top-two finish. The manner in which Yorkshire’s closest challengers succumbed so swiftly on the opening day was slightly disturbing.Paul Collingwood, who has just agreed another year’s contract, as four-day captain once again we can safely assume, inserted Nottinghamshire on what he sensed would be a productive bowling morning. The skies were overcast, and perhaps the Nottinghamshire batsmen were downcast, this game coming less than 48 hours after their last-ball defeat in a memorable Royal London semi-final at the Kia Oval. You don’t get time to lick your wounds in county cricket. You barely get time even to know you are wounded.Peter Moores’ arrival in mid-season as assistant coach has been one of several factors in Nottinghamshire’s transformation from relegation possibles in June to potential runners-up, but even he would have needed a duffle bag of artificial stimulants to persuade Notts that they felt no hurt from another season when they have failed to prove their limited-overs prowess with a trophy.Jake Libby offered the chance of a fresh outlook, a batsman unharmed by events at The Oval. He made an immediate impact at the end of last season with a century on debut against Sussex, ruptured a cruciate ligament in the close season playing for Latrobe in Tasmania, and finally returned against Durham for his first Championship game of 2015. This time there was no achievement to cherish, a second-ball duck registered as he edged Chris Rushworth to third slip where Gordon Muchall, whose contract might not be renewed despite a decent season, held an excellent catch.That set the tone. Brendon Taylor drove to point and Michael Lumb became the first of four top-order victims for wicketkeeper Michael Richardson, both batsmen making only a single. There is always a consolation: at least Taylor could be confident that after a day like this he would not wake up in someone else’s car. Irishman Barry McCarthy picked up a couple of wickets on debut, given his chance because John Hastings is supplementing the Australia one-day squad. As Middlesex collapsed at Lord’s, Notts seemed set upon keeping pace at Trent Bridge.Onions probed in that angular way of his and Rushworth, burly, shaven headed and insistent – and the country’s leading wicket-taker – had the air of a better class of nightclub bouncer: not a man to mess with. Steven Mullaney and Luke Wood rebuilt with a stand of 92, Mullaney playing with sober intent, Wood with the freedom that had brought the summer’s most unexpected Championship hundred, against Sussex at Trent Bridge, but even Wood was careful against Rushworth with conditions in his favour. Thank you, Mr Rushworth, would you mind if I took the liberty of a single? Get in the queue, sonny, and await your turn with everybody else.

Johann Myburgh scored 88 off 58 balls to lead Hampshire to a competitive total against Windward Islands, after which Hamza Riazuddin’s four-wicket spell helped secure a narrow victory, and with it a spot in the Caribbean T20 final. Hampshire had a solid start to their innings, with Jimmy Adams and Myburgh adding 47 in 6 overs before Adams was run out. Myburgh provided the acceleration, striking six sixes during his half-century, while James Vince made 36 off 32 balls. Myburgh, who was eventually bowled by Mervin Matthew with the score on 160, was the only batsman dismissed by a Windward bowler. The other three wickets in the score of 166 for 4 were run out.Windward lost Johnson Charles early but Andre Fletcher and Devon Smith steadied the chase. They didn’t score at breakneck speed but they led Windward to 75 in the 10th over, when Riazuddin struck for the first time, getting Smith caught behind. Keddy Lesporis was run out for 6 but Windward were still in it, at 114 for 3, when the 16th over began. In that over, Riazuddin ripped out three wickets, reducing the innings to 116 for 6, and severely broke Windward’s momentum. Riazuddin finished with 4 for 15, and even though Matthew blasted 27 off 15, Windward fell four runs short.Trinidad & Tobago’s passage to the final was easier as they beat Jamaica by eight wickets with 13 balls to spare in the second semi-final. The result ensured T&T’s qualification to the Champions League later this year by virtue of being the best Caribbean side in the competition.Jamaica’s innings failed to take off as wickets fell regularly and the run-rate struggled to rise over six. The top four batsmen fell for less than 20 and strike-rates of less than 100. Wavell Hinds and Andre Russell provided some stability, scoring 23 and 36, but the tail folded after their departures. T&T legspinner Samuel Badree, who opened the bowling, finished with 1 for 15 in four overs, while Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine picked up two wickets each. T&T needed only 137 to set up a summit clash with Hampshire.The top order did the job, with Adrian Barath making 37 and Lendl Simmons contributing 51. Darren Bravo continued his impressive form, scoring 25 off 19 balls at No. 3, to lead T&T to 140 for 2 in the 18th over. Of the six bowlers Jamaica used, only Jerome Taylor took a wicket.

Mohammad Rafique, Bangladesh’s veteran left-arm spinner, says his performances in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka are the worst of his career.Rafique has picked up a solitary wicket in the two Tests at a cost of 272 runs, and has also gone for over four runs an over as Bangladesh have been roundly thrashed. “So far it has been my worst-ever performance in Test cricket. I bowled 35 overs in the last Test without any success,” Rafique said. He remains six wickets short of becoming the first Bangladeshi to take 100 Test wickets.And the situation might not get any better in Kandy, where Bangladesh arrived to play the third and final Test, beginning from July 11. The pitch has traditionally favoured seamers. “Murali can turn the ball on glass, so the condition doesn’t matter to him. But bowlers of our calibre should get some assistance from the wicket which was also not the case in the first two Tests and I think it will be the same here,” said Rafique.Rafique, who was greeted on entry to his hotel room by a number of monkeys who attacked him, said the failures of his batsmen had made his job tougher and that of Sri Lanka much easier.”I think if our batsmen are able to manage at least 300 runs, then it could have been a different story for the bowlers. Actually the Sri Lankan batsmen played us freely after our poor scores in both the first innings. Another reason is that we played too many one-day games in the last year. We have to work hard to get our basics right in Test cricket,” he said.Rafique added that he did not want to be considered for the subsequent one-day series against the hosts due to a family commitment.

Brian Lara’s press conference
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Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAAfter West Indies took the honours of a rain-hit first day in St Kitts, a pleased Brian Lara addressed the media and said the batsmen had prepared differently this time around. He was upbeat at their performance but hoped they could kick on and make this start count. Chris Gayle, who missed out on a hundred again, felt that Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Ganga would carry on their strong position and spur West Indies on to a large total. Cricinfo’s Siddhartha Vaidyanathan reports from St Kitts. Listen in!Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
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Several leading figures in the dispute which has thrust US cricket into turmoil have challenge comments made by Gladstone Dainty, the USA Cricket Association’s chairman, in an exclusive interview last week on Cricinfo.A number of Dainty’s responses were questioned, none more so than his claims that a number of winning candidates in the recent board election were disqualified because they had not submitted paperwork and payments on time. Opponents of Dainty claim that some candidates, who won their region polls, were subsequently illegally disqualified on what they insist was a bogus technicality of not submitting background checks and a $15 administration payment on time.Polam Reddy, the newly-elected chairman of the Council of League Presidents (CLP), told Cricinfo that he did submit his documentation and payment before the deadline. “I faxed, mailed and even left a telephone message to the treasurer that I had done so,” he said. “And on top of that they even cashed my check … once they cashed it, they endorsed my application.”That claim is supported by Laks Sampath, a director for the North West region, who added that all three individuals disqualified – Nafis Ahmad and Prosanta Guha were the others – had met the deadlines and had their checks banked by the USACA. Even Selwyn Caesar, the board’s treasurer, confirmed that the faxed applications had been received within the deadline. “Does the cashing of the check indicate acceptance of candidacy?” Sampath said. “We believe so, and would think an arbitrator would too.”There is also additional doubt over the closing date by which the applications and payments should have been made. Dainty claimed that the closing deadline was February 9 (all the above three disqualified candidates claim they sent their documentation by February 8 anyway). But the form was only published on the USACA website on February 3, and four days later Caesar admitted that the deadline should be extended to February 10. On February 9, Caesar himself confirmed that the faxes had been received, although the original documents had not. There were also claims that some candidates were not made aware of the need for the extra procedures until the very last minute.The state of the USACA’s finances – described by Dainty as “healthy” – is also queried, as is his claim that the board’s books have always been available for inspection but that “no member club has made a request” to examine them.”As the duly elected Director from the North West I have personally requested for itemised statements of each and every expense that was reported in the last financial statement,” countered Sampath. “To date I have not received even a courtesy response.”There is also confusion surrounding the CLP. At a meeting in April, 19 of the 26 league presidents who attended unanimously endorsed Reddy as its new chairman, replacing Michael Dupigny. That should entitle him to an ex offio position on the USACA executive board, but Dainty has refused to accept the decision on the grounds that Reddy should not have been allowed to stand as he had already been disqualified from office by the USACA.Reddy countered that he was democratically chosen and that who is elected chairman is not down to Dainty. But, as things stand, Dainty still regards Dupigny as the CLP’s representative on the UCACA executive. That one extra vote is crucial to him retaining a working majority.

The poor weather which has blighted the one-day series between New Zealand and South Africa looks set to continue. The omens are not good for the fifth match, scheduled to be played on Saturday at Eden Park, with a tropical cyclone forecast to hit the North Island in the early hours.Spectators – well, those brave enough to attend – might have been left huddled under cover, but New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has been left counting the losses.”Weather has affected just about every game but we’ve managed to get them all played,” Martin Snedden, NZC’s chief executive, told reporters. “The problem has been that people have been put off buying tickets before the game because they have been unsure just how much play they’ll see.”Snedden admitted that the board’s profits had taken a hammering, but stressed that things had to be kept in perspective. “I have been watching the news every night and seen the devastation of the floods in the southern parts of the North Island,” he said. “What we are going through is nothing compared to what so many people are going through and we’ve got to realise that life goes on outside the cricket arena.”

ADELAIDE, Feb 20 AAP – Prime Minister John Howard today said it would be a great shame if Shane Warne was banned from cricket.Warne faces a possible two-year ban from the game after being charged with testing positive to the banned diuretics hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride on January 22.Warne’s drugs case hearing will be held tomorrow in Melbourne by the Australian Cricket Board’s three-person anti-doping committee.Warne returned home from the World Cup in South Africa last week without bowling a ball after being informed of the positive test.His defence, so far, was that he was given a weight loss tablet by his mother, Brigitte, and was unaware it contained the banned substances.If Warne is exonerated, he could be back in the Australian World Cup squad for its pool match against Namibia on February 27.Mr Howard said the rules must be upheld at Warne’s drugs case hearing but added it would be sad to see him go.”He’s facing a tribunal and I don’t think it’s fair for someone in my position to express a view either way, except to express the hope he’s dealt with fairly and justly,” Mr Howard told Adelaide radio station 5DN.”It would be a great shame if we lose his services.”On the other hand there are rules that need to be upheld and I would support the rules being upheld.”I just hope that he (Warne) doesn’t break them.”

Chris Bassano announced his arrival on theChampionship stage with a brilliant unbeaten 186 thatsteered Derbyshire past the follow-on target at theCounty Ground.The 25-year-old made the highest score on Championshipdebut by a Derbyshire batsman and has so far been atthe crease for 13 minutes short of nine hours withoutoffering a chance.It was a highly impressive demonstration ofconcentration and application by the South African-born player whose only previous first-class appearancewas against the Pakistan tourists last month.Last season, he played second XI cricket for threecounties including Gloucestershire and made anunbeaten 100 for the West Country club who endorsedhis potential when Bassano was recommended toDerbyshire by his father Brian.He certainly looked the part and his innings will havegiven the county a huge lift after some poor battingdisplays this summer.He shared a stand of 202 with Steve Stubbings who made126 and added another 110 with Rob Bailey. Bassano,who went to university in Tasmania and holds a Britishpassport, brought up the 411 follow-on target with asquare cut boundary and has so far hit 27 fours andtwo sixes.Derbyshire had taken only five batting points thisseason – the lowest in the Championship – but theytucked away another four in this innings of 432-5which represents their highest total of the season.Once again, the pitch provided nothing for any of thebowlers and, so far, 992 runs have been scored for theloss of only 13 wickets and a draw on the final daylooks inevitable.

A boost from the boss
Kolkata Knight Riders’ co-owner and Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, who cheered and danced as his team got off to a victorious start, was missing when they came down crashing against the Chennai Super Kings in their third game. This time he didn’t miss the action, and came down to the dugout before the start of the game to personally greet each player.Duck, wait and hit
Runs were coming at a trickle for Kolkata – at least by Twenty20 standards – when Shaun Pollock brought himself on for his second spell in the 11th over. David Hussey had already smashed him over extra cover, and Pollock bowled a slower bouncer on the final delivery. Hussey did not pick it initially, and he looked set to let it go. But the ball took ages to arrive, by which time the batsman adjusted, and a last-minute dab, almost out of the wicketkeeper’s gloves, set the ball running to the boundary.A quick bite, Sanath
No doubt the television producer is under pressure to drag out the top performer and put the camera in his face for a mid-innings or post-match interview, but in the mad rush one still needs be logical. Sanath Jayasuriya was the star in the field for the Mumbai Indians, but he also opens the innings and was rushing back to the dressing room to change and pad up in the break. But the television guys cut short his progress requesting him for a quick chat. Obviously the Sri Lankan legend was annoyed. Mumbai coach Lalchand Rajput settled matters and Shaun Pollock, the second-best performer, faced the camera instead.Missing revenge
Chasing 138, Mumbai had been reduced to 25 for 3. Ashok Dinda had dismissed Manish Pandey for a duck and Robin Uthappa should have been his second victim. Uthappa slapped a short delivery to the left of backward point, where Debabrata Das reached out, but the ball didn’t stick. Das had fluffed the chance to avenge his dismissal – Uthappa took a catch to his left at point to end the debutant’s innings on 29.Come on Billy, raise that finger …
… would have been the refrain from the Kolkata crowd when Murali Kartik rapped the batsmen twice on the pads and led loud appeals from the home team. But umpire Billy Bowden didn’t budge. Perhaps Sourav Ganguly should have considered a change of ends for the spinner.Coincidences
Till today’s game, Sanath Jayasuriya’s quiet time in the IPL hadn’t helped the cause of the Mumbai Indians. But after his four-over spell, his figures read 3 for 14, uncannily similar to his 3 for 12 off seven overs against India in the 1996 World Cup semi-final at the same ground. He took two catches then, and the 38-year-old showed he was no slouch, pouching two, the first of Sourav Ganguly at wide slip ample proof the reflexes were still top-notch.

Craig Wright and Trent Johnston, the Scottish and Irish captains during the World Cup in the Caribbean, may have experienced different fortunes at the tournament, but both are unequivocal in the belief that their countries will only progress up the cricketing ladder with hard cash, not soft soap.Last Friday, Wright declared that his troops may have hit a “glass ceiling” and risked slipping backwards, without “significant financial assistance.” Then, within 24 hours, following his team’s emphatic defeat by India at Stormont, Johnston issued a resonant cri de coeur. “We have got to put professional contracts in place, so that players can get back to the standard we set in the West Indies, when we had a schedule of 24/7 cricket,” he said. “Without that, we are amateurs with jobs and families to worry about and it is always going to be tough.”The issue of how best to develop the emerging nations remains a taxing dilemma for the ICC, which meets this week in London. Yet there is one obvious solution to the present monetary shortfalls faced by the likes of Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Kenya. Namely, that the sport’s governing body should kick Zimbabwe out of international cricket, withdraw its annual payment of $10m to the ZCA, and tell Peter Chingoka, the chairman of the latter organisation, that it is grotesque that he should expect to be subsidised indefinitely.At a stroke, the move would finally demonstrate that the ICC has some connection with the real world and recognises that questions of morality and ethics should not be left solely to the politicians. After all, the reigning global champions, Australia, have already refused to tour Zimbabwe, with the support of their prime minister, John Howard, and it seems probable that the West Indies A squad’s imminent visit to the African country will also either be cancelled or feature such a depleted Caribbean party that any subsequent matches staged in Harare or Bulawayo will be rendered meaningless.In which light, what do Zimbabwe bring to the table to justify their Full Member status? Even in purely cricketing terms, they are a second-rate proposition, without the likes of Henry Olonga, Heath Streak, the Flowers, Andy and Grant, and Sean Ervine. But, in the wider scheme of things, their continued participation in international cricket is abhorrent: a glaring contradiction of all the social, political and multicultural values which are supposed to be enshrined in the ICC’s constitution, but which have been left to wither on the vine under the inadequate stewardship of the council’s chief executive, Malcolm Speed.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that cricket is fairly trivial in the grand picture of discussing Mugabe’s myriad crimes. And yet, the ICC is struggling at the moment to properly finance its associate members, a state of affairs which will doubtless be raised at Lord’s over the next days, as the panjandrums pick over the bones of the calamitous World Cup, which finished in darkness but not before sufficient light had been shed on the organisers’ collective blundering to ensure that the event will be remembered with derision.From which perspective, if Speed and his colleagues decided to call an abrupt halt to Zimbabwe’s presence in the ranks then that $10m could be the catalyst for professionalizing the game in Scotland, Ireland and beyond.I spoke last week to Roddy Smith, the chief executive of Cricket Scotland, and he estimated that half-a-million pounds a year would guarantee that his organisation could place 12 to 15 players on contracts, as well as pay for any foreign tours which the Scots are keen to pursue. Given that the Irish are in a similar position, we can conclude that a £3 million leap of faith by the ICC would allow both Celtic nations to establish a full-time structure for the next three years, at which stage they would have to demonstrate to the authorities that they have forged commercial and local authority partnerships within their own territory as a means of moving towards self-sufficiency.Nobody, least of all Smith, is asking for hand-outs, but it should be obvious to even the most blinkered ICC placeman that if cricket is to expand beyond its present pool, it has to invest in missionary work rather than simply be content to throw the minnows a couple of ODIs every summer.Heaven alone knows, the ICC badly requires an injection of credibility. What better way than by expelling Zimbabwe, whose politicians have sparked anarchy for the sport ever since 2003? And by rewarding those nations with ambitions to transcend the goldfish bowl and advance into the big pond.