Webster and Carey rescue Australia after another top-order slump

Carey made 63 and Webster 60, while Alzarri Joseph took 4 for 61 as Australia were bowled out for 286 before bad light prevented the West Indies innings from starting

Andrew McGlashan03-Jul-2025Stumps Reckon you’ve seen this before? You wouldn’t be wrong. Australia’s top order again failed to inspire on the opening day in Grenada before Beau Webster and Alex Carey performed a familiar rescue act amid another crucial call by the third umpire and further fielding woes for West Indies.Australia were wobbling t 110 for 5 when Travis Head fell, the TV umpire ruling Shai Hope’s brilliant take clean, having earlier been 50 for 3 as a solid base vanished. Webster and Carey then added 112 in 25 overs and the game was threatening to run away from West Indies but they were able to chip away at the lower order and bowl Australia out for 286 inside 67 overs, with Alzarri Joseph claiming four wickets. To the home side’s benefit, light prevented Australia from having a brief bowl with the umpires taking the players off just as they returned to the field.Related

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Although not on the level of Barbados, there was assistance for the quicks – Roston Chase said he would have bowled had the toss gone his way – and suggestions that uneven bounce could play a part later in the game, particularly with the delivery which scuttled to remove Pat Cummins. So the true value of Australia’s first-innings total will only become clearer tomorrow, although it certainly felt competitive.Webster, who brought up an 87-ball fifty, again played superbly to follow up his vital second-innings performance in Barbados, and the runs he scored in the World Test Championship final. He was assured in defence and picked his moments to attack, including a slog-sweep for six off Chase and one of the shots of the innings when he laced Jayden Seales through the off side. But he was left frustrated when he gambled on a second run to deep point in an attempt to keep the strike and was beaten by Keacy Carty’s throw. It meant 300 proved out of reach.Carey lived something of a charmed life. He could have been run out on 10 and 51; was dropped by Shai Hope from an attempted ramp on 46; reached his half-century from 68 deliveries with an edge between the keeper and a wide slip; and edged wide of slip again on 55.Alzarri Joseph picked up four wickets in the innings•Associated Press

But he was also quick onto anything loose, showing the same counter-punching skills that have been so evident in his game over the last 18 months or so. In all, 46 of his 63 runs came in boundaries, including a swivel-pull for six off Justin Greaves only for him to cloth a long hop from the same bowler to midwicket when a significant innings appeared for the taking.Australia’s earlier batting performance had been dominated by unconverted starts. Sam Konstas put away a strong early pull shot and played with more urgency than in Barbados, but he was also beaten on multiple occasions, including three times in a row by Seales. There was also a flashing edge over gully against Shamar Joseph, which Roston Chase got a fingertip to, although it would have been a spectacular catch had it been taken. Konstas followed that with a sweetly struck cover drive.He and Usman Khawaja, who went to 6000 Test runs when he reached 2, had taken Australia to a promising 47 for 0 when the innings took on a very different look. For the second time in the series, Khawaja was lbw to Alzarri Joseph from around the wicket that proved a bail-trimmer when Khawaja went to the DRS. Four balls later, Konstas drove at the recalled Anderson Phillip, who had been preferred to left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, and edged behind for an unfulfilled 25.Beau Webster celebrates back-to-back fifties•AFP/Getty Images

Australia’s slide turned into 3 for 3 when Steven Smith, back in the side after the finger injury he sustained in the World Test Championship final, top-edged a pull against the lively Alzarri Joseph that flew high to fine leg where Phillip judged it very well. The scoreline read a familiar 50 for 3.The opening session ended with a dramatic over from Seales. Cameron Green, who had shaped up encouragingly even though he could have been run out on 16 if mid-on had collected cleanly, drove to cover where John Campbell spilled a regulation catch. But Green could still not make it through to the interval when, four balls later, he went for a big drive to the last delivery of the over and sent a thick edge to gully where Chase held it well.Head threatened to perform another rescue act but fell early in the afternoon following a brief delay for rain when the TV umpire, this time Nitin Menon, was back in focus as Hope took a brilliant catch low to his left when Head glanced a climbing delivery from Shamar Joseph. Hope was convinced of the catch but it went upstairs; unlike in Barbados, the decision went West Indies’ way and Head did not look thrilled as he walked off.Another quick wicket and Australia could have been bundled out but as they have tended to do, a couple of players found enough runs to give their high-class attack something to work with.

Fernando, Dananjaya, Vandersay back in Sri Lanka ODI squad for Zimbabwe series

Dhananjaya de Silva has been dropped, while Wanindu Hasaranga’s availability will be subject to fitness

Madushka Balasuriya03-Jan-2024Avishka Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay and Akila Dananjaya have been recalled to Sri Lanka’s ODI squad for the three-match series against Zimbabwe. Kusal Mendis will lead the side, his first series since being appointed full-time ODI captain.Sri Lanka’s new selection committee, in their first assignment since being appointed, have made eight changes to the side that finished second-last at the ODI World Cup, with Wanindu Hasaranga, Pramod Madushan, Janith Liyanage, Nuwanidu Fernando and Sahan Arachchige also coming into the squad. Making way are Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha. There was also no room for Chamika Karunaratne, who had been named as a travelling reserve at the World Cup, and Angelo Mathews who had been drafted into the side midway through the tournament.Of those, de Silva’s exclusion was the one the selectors were compelled to address. De Silva has an average of 25.90 in 82 innings but it’s long been argued that he was being wasted lower down the order, with 43 of his 81 ODI innings having come at either six or seven – in efforts to shoe-horn him into the side. The selectors therefore felt his inclusion would only be warranted if a position opened up higher up the order.Related

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“We feel Dhananjaya de Silva can perform better in the top three, where he has time to bat longer,” chief selector Upul Tharanga said. “We’ve spoken to him about this as well and told him that even in club matches he should aim to bat in the top order. So if he is to make it back into the side it’ll be in the top three.”Hasaranga’s availability meanwhile is subject to fitness with the spin-bowling allrounder still recovering from hamstring surgery. He is expected to miss the first two ODIs at least. In his absence, Maheesh Theekshana will lead a spin-bowling unit that also includes Vandersay, Dananjaya and Dunith Wellalage.While Vandersay last played an ODI in January 2023, Dananjaya hasn’t turned out for Sri Lanka in any capacity since 2021. According to the selectors, both players’ inclusion in the side is a means of bolstering Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling stocks. Of the two, it is Dananjaya’s inclusion though that’s more curious.Dananjaya was an ever-present force in Sri Lanka’s attack, but following the remodelling of his bowling action he seemed to have lost some of his potency, which eventually led to his removal from the side. He has however been impressing in domestic cricket lately, but with spinners difficult to handle on Sri Lanka wickets, the selectors are hoping some international game-time will offer better insight into his current standing.”In the last couple of seasons Akila Dananjaya has been picking up wickets, and we also need a backup plan for the likes of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga,” selector and former Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis said. “With the next ODI World Cup in 2027 we need to find a way to give players on the fringes more game time. In domestic cricket the opportunity just isn’t there to see him tested like he would be internationally.”In terms of the batting unit, Avishka’s inclusion adds some much-needed firepower to the line-up and it is likely he will slot in at the top of the order alongside Pathum Nissanka. The middle order too picks itself with Mendis heading a trio that includes Sadeera Samarawickrama and new vice captain Charith Asalanka. It is for the sixth and seventh positions though that spots will be up for grabs.Sri Lanka have long struggled for consistent power-hitting lower down the order. Dasun Shanaka was meant to resolve that issue, but his form has been lacking over the past year. In Arachchige, Nuwanidu and Liyanage Sri Lanka hope they have three players capable of filling that hole, with all three having impressed domestically and in the Lanka Premier League in recent years.Dushmantha Chameera and Dilshan Madushanka, the latter fresh off his 21 World Cup scalps, will head up the fast-bowling unit with Pramod Madushan in as back-up.Sri Lanka ODI squad: Kusal Mendis (capt.), Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sahan Arachchige, Nuwanidu Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Janith Liyanage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Akila Dananjaya, Wanindu Hasaranga (subject to fitness)

Roger Binny set to replace Sourav Ganguly as BCCI president

Arun Dhumal, currently the BCCI treasurer, will take over as the IPL chairman from the outgoing Brijesh Patel

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Oct-2022Roger Binny, the former India allrounder, is set to become the new BCCI president, replacing Sourav Ganguly, who is not expected to have a position in the board any longer. Binny will assume charge on October 18, when the BCCI annual general meeting will be held, in Mumbai.Jay Shah, son of India’s home minister Amit Shah, will continue as BCCI secretary, the most influential position in the board. Rajiv Shukla will also stay on as the board’s vice-president.Along with Binny, there will be two first-timers in the new administration: Ashish Shelar, who served as Mumbai Cricket Association president between 2017 and 2019, will be the treasurer, and Devajit Saikia, currently secretary at Assam Cricket Association, will be the joint secretary.Another key appointment is that of Arun Dhumal, who is set to take over as the new IPL chairman, a post held since 2019 by Brijesh Patel, the former India batter, who will be forced to vacate the seat as he turns 70 soon [on November 24]. That is the maximum permitted age limit for an office bearer or administrator in the BCCI’s constitution.Dhumal, who became a BCCI functionary during the Ganguly administration, is the brother of former board president Anurag Thakur, the current sports and youth affairs minister in India’s central government.As a formality Dhumal will initially need to contest for a position for being a IPL governing council member. Also joining the governing council will be Avishek Dalmiya, son of former BCCI and ICC bigwig Jagmohan Dalimya. Avishek, who is the Cricket Association of Bengal president, will replace Khairul Majumdar, who will be nominated as the BCCI’s general body representative on board’s Apex Council.Binny, 67, has a lot of experience in cricket administration. He has served in different positions at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) over the years, and has been its president since 2019. Prior to that, Binny also was part of the KSCA administrations led by Patel and Anil Kumble (2010-12).Brijesh Patel will have to give up the IPL chairmanship because of the age-cap of 70 years•AFP

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Binny was the sole candidate for the BCCI president’s post so far with the deadline for filing nominations ending on Wednesday for the five office-bearers’ positions, which were meant to be contested at the board elections on October 18. As things stand, there will be no elections for any position after the top brass of the BCCI, including Ganguly, along with senior past and current administrators from prominent state associations, finalised a shortlist of people that will occupy key positions in the BCCI over a series of meetings in Delhi last week and one on Monday evening in Mumbai.Among those present at these meetings included former BCCI president and ICC chairman N Srinivasan, former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, former BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, and Delhi & Districts Association president Rohan JaitleyThe age-cap rule, which has led to end of Patel’s run, will also restrict 1983 World Cup-winner Binny’s tenure to one term of three years.This, despite the Supreme Court recently diluting several RM Lodha Committee recommendations. Including the big one, that any office-bearer who had held any post for two consecutive terms in the BCCI shall not be eligible to contest any further election in the BCCI without completing a cooling-off period of three years. Also, if a person has served two consecutive terms each in a state association and in the BCCI, or vice versa, without any break [12 years in total], such a person shall not be eligible to contest any further election in a state association or in the BCCI, without completing a cooling-off period of three years.That was a modification of its 2018 judgment, where it had ruled that an office-bearer would need to serve a three-year cooling-off period once they had served six years at a state association and/or the BCCI.If that rule had not been amended, the entire set of office-bearers in the Ganguly administration would have become ineligible to carry on in any capacity in the BCCI.However, the likes of Shah can now continue till 2025. He had taken over as BCCI secretary in 2019, when Ganguly was elected president, after board elections were held for the first time since Supreme Court mandated a new constitution, drafted as per the Lodha Committee recommendations, which were meant to overhaul the structure and running of BCCI.

Naseem Shah invited to rejoin PSL bubble despite Covid-19 protocol violation

Quetta quick had initially arrived at the tournament hotel in Lahore with a non-compliant PCR test

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2021After releasing Naseem Shah from the PSL only three days ago, the PCB has made a U-turn by allowing him to enter the team hotel in Lahore. The Quetta Gladiators fast bowler will be in isolation before flying to Abu Dhabi along with the contingent left behind by the first flights that carried 202 personnel on Thursday.Shah had initially arrived at the tournament hotel in Lahore with a negative Covid-19 test, but there was a problem. As per the Covid-19 protocols for the remaining PSL matches, all those traveling through chartered flights from Karachi and Lahore were directed to assemble at the team hotels on May 24 with negative reports from PCR tests taken not more than 48 hours prior.Related

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However, Shah presented a PCR report from a test that was conducted on May 18. So, upon the recommendation of the independent medical advisory panel for the PSL, the PCB released him from the competition.At the time, Babar Hamid, the director and commercial head of PSL 6, said “the PCB will not compromise on any violations and will expel the player or player support personnel irrespective of his stature and standing in the game if they are found to be flouting the prescribed protocols or regulations.” Things have changed a bit since then.After a meeting between the PCB and the PSL franchises, there has indeed been a compromise with Shah offered a way back to the PSL. All he has to do is clear a pre-isolation Covid-19 test, which will allow him to re-enter the team hotel, and then return back-to-back negative tests, which will give him the green light to board the flight to Abu Dhabi.

Kushal Malla becomes youngest half-centurion in men's ODIs

The 15-year-old broke compatriot Rohit Paudel’s record with a counterattacking fifty against USA

Peter Della Penna in Kathmandu09-Feb-2020The conveyor belt of teenage prodigies in Nepal has churned out a new sensation in the form of allrounder Kushal Malla, who on Saturday broke fellow countryman Rohit Paudel’s record to became the youngest player in men’s cricket to score a half-century in ODIs, during Nepal’s 35-run win over USA. Rohit had set the record in 2019 after making a fifty against UAE in Dubai, but Kushal bested him by making 50 off 51 balls at the age of 15 years and 340 days.Kushal entered the XI at the expense of Paudel, arriving at No. 6 with the score 47 for 4 after Nepal had been sent in. Three overs later they were 49 for 5 before Kushal commenced a thrilling counter-attack against USA’s medium-pace battery, bringing the crowd of 12,000 fans inside Tribhuvan University Stadium to their feet as chants of “Ku-SHAL! Ku-SHAL!” rang out around the ground.After a single to get off the mark, he struck four and six off USA’s fastest bowler, Cameron Stevenson, in the 22nd over. His sweetest strike of the day came three overs later when he drove captain Saurabh Netravalkar straight down the ground for his second six. He was spilled at mid-off when he offered a straightforward chance on 38 but made the most of it by clocking another six off Ian Holland’s medium-pace in the next over.A single took him to his half-century off 49 balls and he was so focused on the task at hand, rebuilding the innings during an 84-run partnership with Binod Bhandari, that he never raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd’s raucous ovation. He fell two balls later, pulling a short ball from left-arm spinner Karima Gore to deep midwicket.Kushal added to his batting exploits later in the day by contributing a superb spell of left-arm spin. He claimed the wicket of Elmore Hutchinson clean bowled to make the score 65 for 7 during USA’s failed chase of 191. He eventually ended with figures of 1 for 30 in 10 overs as USA were bowled out for 155. Despite Kushal’s all-round heroics, fast bowler Karan KC was named Man of the Match for Nepal after claiming 4 for 15, including the prized scalp of Holland for 75 as the ninth wicket when USA was threatening to rally in the final 10 overs.

Winning after enforcing the follow-on a special achievement – Shakib

The Bangladesh captain said his side had had a lot to prove after their 2-0 defeat in the West Indies in July

Mohammad Isam02-Dec-2018Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan called his side’s victory over West Indies in the second Test in Mirpur – capped by enforcing the follow-on and winning by an innings for the first time – a special achievement. The win helped the hosts seal a 2-0 series victory.What made it special was how Bangladesh turned their fortunes around after suffering a series defeat by the same margin back in the West Indies only four months ago.Shakib said he had demanded the best from his players, having delivered them a message to not forget how poorly they played against the same team in July. He said he was happy to see them respond strongly.”This is the first time we enforced the follow-on in more than 100 Tests in 18 years, which is definitely something special,” Shakib, who has been involved in ten of Bangladesh’s 38 innings defeats, said. “We haven’t done this against smaller teams, so to do it against a higher-ranked side is an achievement. We obviously had a lot to prove after losing to them in that manner [in July]. I think we have done that at least at home.”I would thank my team-mates and the coaching staff, for believing that it was possible. I was quite demanding of my players in this series. I wanted a lot from them. I think everyone contributed in their own way, but I saw everyone really wanting to contribute to the win.”The series defeat in the West Indies was particularly scathing for Bangladesh as they were bowled out for 43 in the first Test, the lowest Test total since 1974. Bangladesh’s combined batting average of 12.60 was also the lowest in 63 years by any side, and even though they did wage a comeback by winning the ODI and T20I series, Shakib said a stronger riposte was always going to come through a Test series win over the same opponents.”We never expected such a performance in the West Indies,” he said. “We held discussions after the Test series defeat there, and then came back strongly in the ODIs and T20Is.”Since we didn’t do well in the Tests [there], we had this opportunity to do well at home. We wanted people to at least understand that it was a performance in their home conditions, and see that we could do the same in our home conditions.”Shakib also praised his batsmen for making the most of good batting conditions in the first two days of this Test. Mahmudullah struck his third Test hundred, a bloody-minded 136 that spanned over six hours, while debutant Shadman Islam, Liton Das and Shakib himself struck half-centuries.”Our batsmen have done well on good wickets,” Shakib said. “Both sides [Bangladesh and Sri Lanka] made plenty of runs in the Chittagong Test in January. Afterwards, we have played mostly on tough wickets, at home and in the West Indies. Even the opposing side didn’t reach 500. It is not right to blame the batsmen all the time.”In this game, they believed in the plan put in front of them. We no longer prepare flat wickets on which we are expected to score 500 and draw the game. We try to win every game, and this changed mindset has taken us to a better place as cricketers.”

Northants miss out on promotion and rue Trent Bridge go-slow

If they had avoided a five-point deduction for a slow overrate at Trent Bridge, Northants would have pipped Notts for promotion. As it was their final victory had a bittersweet taste

Press Association28-Sep-20172:24

Championship round-up: Somerset stay up, but despair for Middlesex

Northamptonshire’s ninth victory of the season, completed with some ease in benign batting conditions at Grace Road, had a bitter-sweet element for the men from Wantage Road.Events at Hove, where Nottinghamshire needed only to draw with Sussex to confirm they would take the second promotion place from Division Two, meant that Northamptonshire finish the season third – and it will be little consolation that no team has made more of its’ collective ability.Northants were left to particularly rue the five-point deduction suffered after defeat at Trent Bridge in late August for a slow over-rate. It was a tough time for Northants in the field as they suffered several injuries, including that of the captain Wakely, with Rory Kleinveldt taking over, and to bowl in stifling conditions on the hottest spell of the season.Without that penalty, however, Northants would have finished level on points with Notts – and ahead of them on wins.As for Leicestershire, they were consigned to a winless season.Northants head coach David Ripley said: “We’ve really played well through the back end of the season, in some adversity, including in this game with losing Rory Kleinveldt.”It is frustrating that nine wins isn’t enough, especially with the points deducted in Nottingham – we deserved the deduction, but the circumstances were extraordinary.”The bowlers did a remarkable job, Richard Gleeson at the end of the season has been outstanding, Ben Sanderson has been Mr Consistency, and Rory Kleinveldt has taken 50 wickets – winning games is about taking 20 wickets, and more often than not we’ve done that.”We’ve got some good players, and they’ve all contributed, but of there’s an area we’re looking to improve it’s in the batting and turning good scores into big, match-winning scores. We’re talking to Luke Procter – we need to recruit someone who can challenge our batters for a spot, and him coming in would do that.”Alex Wakely’s Northants side came so close•Getty Images

Perhaps in sympathy, the conditions were very much in favour of the visitors, as has been the case throughout this game. Batting has been at its most difficult in the first hour or so of the morning, when the ball has swung and seamed, so the fact a saturated outfield outfield prevented play starting until 12.40pm was ideal for Northants, who began the day needing another 180 to win with ten second innings wickets in hand.By the time play began, a bright sun had taken any menace out of the atmosphere and indeed the pitch. Northants did lose Rob Newton, the opener pushing lazily at a wide delivery from left-arm seamer Dieter Klein to edge a catch behind, but Procter and Wakely added 121 for the second wicket in good time and – an early possible run-out of Wakely aside – without real alarm before Wakely top-edged a pull and was well caught by Sam Evans at deep backward square.Two more wickets fell after the break, Richard Levi palpably leg before swishing across the line at Callum Parkinson – the young left-armer very much one of Leicestershire’s few positives this season – and Procter, with a hundred very much on the cards, also leg before to a Raine delivery that kept a little low.Procter, on loan from Lancashire, had a fine match at the top of the order, dismissed only once in making 176 runs.

Napier leaves Colchester a big-hitting farewell

Graham Napier’s big-hitting exploits have been a feature of a long county career and he have his home Colchester crowd a treat with a big-hitting farewell hundred

Will Macpherson at Colchester07-Aug-2016
ScorecardGraham Napier gave his hometown crowd a treat•Getty Images

This looked, for a long time, looked like being remembered as or maybe even But Graham Napier was among his people, here at Castle Park, his homeground in Colchester, where he was born.The crowd was sparse, and most of them seemed to be discussing their latest bout of gout or their latest round of bets. Even more of them seemed, in tones sterner still, to believe that they were watching the last day of the Colchester Festival, ever.All the more reason, then, for this to be Napier, by the standards of the shires, has always been a cricketer with a touch of Hollywood about him, so after a typically tenacious five-for in Sussex’s innings and – vitally for a fierce competitor – with plenty still worth fighting for, he made a marvellous draw-securing 124, the seventh first-class ton (and first since 2013) of a career that will be long-remembered in these parts.When that draw – which surely felt like a win, and takes Essex top of Division Two by a point – had been declared and he’d had time to ditch his pads and his whites, he wandered over, shaking plenty of hands on the way, hugged his mother and kissed his wife, all the while smiling wearily; the local lad done good.The most impressive aspect of Napier’s innings was his ability to rein in his instincts for some of his trademark tonk. He was patient, reading the match situation, nudging and nurdling his way to seven from his first 40 balls. Having lost Ryan ten Doeschate for a century every bit as good as his own, Napier continued to accumulate in the company of David Masters, who defended as though his life depended on it during a 28-over partnership that put the result beyond doubt.Only after tea, following 20 overs of graft for the pair and with the game safe, did he open those burly shoulders, punching through mid-on, sweeping the spinners and bunting to cow. Having brought up his century with an ugly top-edged sweep that went through the hands of the running square-leg, he nailed wicketkeeper Ben Brown down the ground for three sixes in four balls, before becoming the wicketkeeper’s first professional wicket – caught at long-on.The bearhug Masters was given up on arrival of the ton appeared as if it might never end. Free from the shackles of that embrace, Masters took 30 from ten Brown deliveries, in his old mate Napes’ spirit.”It’s been an emotional game,” Napier, affable as ever, reflected. “To walk off the field with five wickets and a hundred to my name, at what is just a lovely place to come and play cricket, knowing it’s the last time I’ll walk off on this ground: it’s a fairytale. This is my first club, I’ve played here since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and in the Colchester area generally.”After lunch was a tough session. The longer we batted, the less we had to bowl, so that was on my mind! I get huge amounts of pleasure from playing that way, batting against my instincts. I think it sums up what four-day cricket is about. This is why we play it and love it; it’s my favourite form of the game. Four days of tough cricket, and it’s going down to two hours before the end before we know what the outcome would be. That’s hugely satisfying.”There was nothing certain, of course, about this being such a happy ending for Essex when Ashar Zaidi, moments after being dropped at long-off, slogged to the man at cow. They were 170 ahead, shortly before lunch, and out ambled No. 8 Napier to join ten Doeschate, who had earlier lost James Foster to the first ball of a new Jordan spell after 45 minutes of resistance.This, from ten Doeschate, was not merely a captain’s innings. It was the sort of captain’s innings a captain plays when the team he captains have just signed another potential captain: Varun Chopra in this case. He made 109, across five-and-a-half hours, a triumph of nose-to-the-ground dogged defence, until he was surprisingly bowled round the legs by Luke Wells.He had milked singles, propping miles forward with soft hands and defending with the splice and only playing strokes – cuts, flicks and jabbed drives – when they were absolutely on offer. He had done brilliantly to survive 27 overs on day three, let alone take the game within 55 overs of its conclusion. Napier, fortunately for him, did the rest.Perhaps Chopra won’t captain Essex next season after all. Ten Doeschate’s side, despite all three of their wins having come with Alastair Cook in the XI, remain very well placed for promotion. Before that, they have quarter-finals – starting on Monday in Nottingham – in both white-ball competitions.There was little more Sussex and Luke Wright, who remained cheerful as ever, could have done. By the end, Danny Briggs was bowling medium pace and the wicketkeeper was being sprayed to all parts, and before then Wright had tried leg theory, spin twins and everything in between. A pitch that had looked ready to break up just remained too true, and the batting too good.As the afternoon drifted on Sussex, just like everyone else, realised a win was beyond them, and they might as well just settle for a part in a day that will live long in the memory.

De Lange added to Amazon Warriors squad

Marchant de Lange will replace Lasith Malinga in the Amazon Warriors squad, while Jeevan Mendis has been named as a replacement for the injured Justin Ontong for the Barbados Tridents

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2015South Africa fast bowler Marchant de Lange has been confirmed as a replacement for Lasith Malinga, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury, in the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad ahead of the start of the Caribbean Premier League on June 20. Also, Sri Lanka allrounder Jeevan Mendis will replace the injured Justin Ontong in the Barbados Tridents squad.Umar Akmal, the Pakistan batsman, and South Africa allrounder David Wiese will also join Amazon Warriors midway through the tournament to replace Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thisara Perera, who are expected to play for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in a five-ODI series beginning on July 11.Two more squad changes were also announced by the CPL. Young wicketkeeper Nicolas Pooran has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury and has been replaced in the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots squad by Shane Dowrich.Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has also had to withdraw from the tournament due to his commitments with Bangladesh, who host three ODIs against India followed by a home series against South Africa that runs through August 3. His place in the St Lucia Zouks squad will be taken up for the first four games by Eddie Leie for the first four games before Nathan McCullum joins the squad for the remainder of the tournament.

Chanderpaul's son to make first-class debut

West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son, Tagenarine, will make his first-class debut at the age of 16

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2013West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son, Tagenarine, will make his first-class debut at the age of 16, for Guyana against Leeward Islands in the regional four-day competition in Antigua from February 9.Tagenarine has been selected as an opener for Guyana, who are captained by spinner Veerasammy Permaul.Tagenarine, like his father, is said to be a patient batsman, hard to dislodge and capable of spending a lot of time at the crease.Shivnarine had also made his first-class debut for Guyana as a teenager, when he was 18. He is currently playing the Bangladesh Premier League and will be away during the course of his son’s debut.The competition has been dominated by Jamaica for the past five years. Guyana last won the title in the 1997-98 season.

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