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ScorecardAndrew Strauss battled hard for his hundred but Middlesex face defeat•PA Photos

Glamorgan ended the third day at Lord’s in sight of an innings victory despite battling centuries from Chris Rogers and England Test captain Andrew Strauss, which had helped Middlesex temporarily hold a spirited bowling attack, led by the impressive James Harris, at bay. Middlesex, who began their second innings needing to score 373 simply to make Glamorgan bat again, made the visitors toil hard under increasingly cloudless skies but an inspired late spell from Harris yielded two important wickets and left the home side teetering at 293 for 6. Their situation could have been a lot worse, had Glamorgan made the most of the chances that came their way.Though there was no overnight declaration, Glamorgan will have felt that victory was achievable with a day to spare when they arrived at the ground and their belief would have been lifted when Harris removed Scott Newman in the fifth over of the Middlesex innings. While their bowlers were visibly keen, Glamorgan’s fielding was far from perfect, however, and a series of lapses allowed Strauss and Rogers to repair the innings with a 173-run stand that lasted until well into the afternoon.On a pitch that flattened out considerably in the sunshine, neither Harris nor Graham Wagg, who shared the new ball and swung it consistently at a good pace, could force more than the occasional error from the batsmen. Half an hour before lunch, Rogers cracked Wagg in front of square on the leg side and, immediately afterwards, lurched into an extravagant drive at one that left him off the pitch, a thick edge flying low to Bragg’s right at third slip.The chance was spilled, however, and more fumbles were to follow when Strauss, who had just 30 at the time, was put down by Gareth Rees under the helmet at short leg off Will Owen’s bowling. The luck appeared to be entirely on the side of the batsmen, and in the next over – Dean Cosker’s first of the day – Rogers clipped low but in the air towards Wagg at midwicket, but the shot didn’t quite carry to the diving fielder.As the skies cleared and the day began to warm, the batsmen settled and began to score more freely. There are plenty of similarities in Strauss and Rogers’ styles, and they matched each other almost shot for shot to bring up twin fifties off 81 and 89 balls, respectively. It was then that Strauss started to take the initiative, pulling ahead of Rogers and moving on fluently but continuing to ride his luck. Beaten in the flight by Robert Croft as he jumped down the wicket when on 92, he went through with an attacking stroke and lobbed the ball up and over point to move within one stroke of his century.He reached the mark, from 151 deliveries, and promptly edged Cosker past a diving slip fielder as Glamorgan’s shoulders began to sag. They were given a tremendous lift not long afterwards, against the run of play, when Rogers tapped Cosker to Wagg at midwicket and Strauss committed himself to a chancy single. He was sent back late and easily run out as the ball was rocketed back to the bowler with the batsman stranded halfway down the wicket.When Malan got a touch on one from Cosker that held its line, the ball nestling safely in Wallace’s gloves, and Neil Dexter was felled by Owen Middlesex were once again under pressure. Rogers responded with some obdurate batting, and found a willing partner in Jamie Dalrymple, who helped add 60 for the fifth wicket to raise Middlesex’s hopes once more. Rogers raised his first century of the season from 175 balls and began to look increasingly imperious at the crease, particularly on the front foot.It appeared Glamorgan’s cumbersome day in the field would continue into the evening when, with just four overs left in the day, Harris finally found a clean edge off the stubborn Rogers’ bat, but once again Glamorgan’s fielders were found wanting. The chance was parried by Alviro Petersen at first slip, setting off a scramble among the close catchers and wicketkeeper around him, none of whom could hold onto it.The lapse leant a few extra decibels to the level of Harris’s joyous roar when, two balls later, he forced yet another edge and this time Cosker at third slip deflected the chance into Petersen’s waiting hands. It ended a 310-minute vigil from the Australian and just about put paid to Middlesex’s faint hopes of saving this game.A pumped-up Harris got rid of Dalrymple, trapped in front of his stumps, with the first ball of his next over to put himself on a hat-trick. John Simpson defended his first delivery to point to deny Harris the honour, but edged his second just short of third slip in the tense closing moments of the evening. Middlesex’s position wasn’t quite perilous enough for the umpires to grant an extra half-hour of play, but Glamorgan will expect to wrap up a morale-boosting win in the first session on Sunday.

Scorecard
The last time Warwickshire left Trent Bridge – last August – they did so having been bowled out twice in a day and as victims of an innings defeat. It was an embarrassing performance.What a difference a few months makes. This time, Warwickshire left with a fourth win in six games and as the top of the table side. That’s not a bad record for a team who were tipped as relegation candidates by most bookies.So, should Warwickshire now be considered as genuine championship contenders? Wins over Nottinghamshire and Somerset – pre-season favourites for the Championship – bode well, but winning the title may prove a bridge too far. For all their improvement this season – and they do look a stronger squad – the real tests lie ahead.The depth of their squad will be sorely tested in the coming weeks. For a start, Warwickshire are unlikely to see any more of Ian Bell or Jonathan Trott, who now depart on England duty. William Porterfield and Boyd Rankin will play the first two days of next week’s Championship game against Durham before leaving to represent Ireland (substitutes will be allowed).Jim Troughton should be fit to return next week but, with the likes of Neil Carter, Chris Woakes and Ant Botha unlikely to return from injury until the start of the T20 season, the depth of Warwickshire’s squad will be tested. Even in this game, Darren Maddy, 37 on Monday, was forced to bowl the most overs in one innings he has managed in his career. New Zealand offspinner, Jeetan Patel, has been signed as an overseas player for the T20.”That was a very good performance,” Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s director of cricket said afterwards. “All I told the guys was to remember the feeling we had when we left here last year. Bell played a class innings and we won the game with our first innings bowling: we went at them hard and it shocked them a bit.”We’re still improving. But, if you can go to Taunton and Trent Bridge and win, then you’re doing something right. It doesn’t make much difference who is top of the table at the end of May. But if we’re top at the end of July then I do think we can challenge, as we tend to finish the season strongly.”Nottinghamshire’s chances of retaining the title have clearly taken a heavy blow over the last couple of weeks . In due course, however, they will welcome back the likes of Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Neil Edwards, Darren Pattinson, Luke Fletcher, Andy Carter and Graeme White, and have proved mightily adept at bouncing back from adversity in recent seasons. It would be unwise to write them off just yet.At least Nottinghamshire made Warwickshire fight on the third day. Adam Voges and Paul Franks stretched their overnight stand to 174 – the club’s highest fifth-wicket stand against Warwickshire – with Franks registering his highest first-class score for six years. With a series of pleasing square drives and pulls, Franks looked set for his first century since 2005 until he edged one angled across him. Voges fell to an outstanding slip catch by Varun Chopra, diving full stretch to his right.A merry ninth-wicket stand of 54 between Andre Adams and Stuart Broad diverted the embarrassment of an innings defeat. Adams, racing to his third half-century in three games from just 29 balls, thrashed Naqaash Tahir for 16 in three balls at one stage, with a pulled six landing on the roof of the Fox Road Stand.In truth, however, such partnerships only served to highlight the lack of resistance the previous day and delay the inevitable. Nottinghamshire’s lamentable batting on the second day – and Bell’s excellence in Warwickshire’s first innings – had given away too much ground to make up. Set just 60 to win, Warwickshire cantered to victory in just eight overs. Bell, again timing the ball quite beautifully, underlined the impression that he is in wonderful touch. At one stage he took poor Charlie Shreck for four successive boundaries.Afterwards, Notts’ director of cricket, Mick Newell, declined to highlight his side’s batting frailties. “Our squad has been exposed a little,” he admitted, “but the difference was that we were out-bowled throughout the game. Rankin bowled a quick, aggressive spell; Maddy swung it and we weren’t able to cope.”But Newell and Giles admitted that Broad looked a little short of cricket going into the Test series against Sri Lanka. In the two Championship games he played last year, Broad claimed 19 wickets. This year, he’s managed just five and they’re coming at a cost of 44 apiece. “He’s not played any serious cricket since mid-December, so he’s still looking for his rhythm and form,” Newell said. “The Championship is there to get him back for England, but he’s definitely been a bit under-done and the two games he played have looked like extended nets.”Giles agreed. “He’s bound to be a bit under-done,” he said. “Trott, Swann and Broad are probably not quite there yet, but there’s another week until the Test starts, so they should be fine by then.”It was telling, however, that as spectators left Trent Bridge, Swann returned to the middle for some more bowling.

ScorecardJames Taylor and Josh Cobb both hit half-centuries as Leicestershire Foxes picked up their first points in the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition with a comfortable 32-run victory against Scottish Saltires at Grace Road.An unbeaten 81 from Taylor and a limited-overs best of 61 by Cobb helped the Foxes post a challenging 253 for 4 after being put into bat.The loss of two early wickets put the Saltires on the back foot and, despite a battling 50 from Ewan Chalmers, they could manage only 221 for 9 and slipped to their second defeat in 24 hours. Cobb and Jacques du Toit gave the Foxes the ideal start with an opening stand of 88 in the first 14 overs, with the Saltires’ bowlers failing to find the right line or length.Both players cashed in with some well-struck boundaries, with du Toit bringing up 50 with a four off Josh Davey in the ninth over. But the stand was broken when du Toit hit a full toss from Gordon Drummond to long-on.Cobb continued to bat well, reaching his maiden half-century in one-day cricket off 46 balls with eight boundaries before also holing out to long-on off Drummond (2 for 52). But Taylor continued his fine start to the season with another splendid innings, sharing a stand of 74 in 14 overs with veteran Paul Nixon.Taylor was not at his sparkling best, but kept the scoreboard moving with some clever placement as he and Nixon continued to keep the Foxes in command. Taylor reached his fifty off 55 balls but Nixon was out for 45, caught again at long-on off Davey.Davey (2 for 55) also claimed the wicket of 17-year-old Shiv Thakor for 13, but Taylor finished unbeaten on 81 off 76 balls, having hit just four fours. The Saltires were never really in the hunt for the target as Leicestershire’s seamers struck some early blows and only Chalmers offered any real resistance with a half-century off 67 balls.The next highest scorer was captain Gordon Drummond, who hit 25 before becoming ninth out off the bowling of Wayne White. Nadeem Malik finished with 3 for 44 and captain Matthew Hoggard 2 for 38 as the Foxes eased to a comfortable victory.

The Australian domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League, moved a step closer to its new and revamped avatar, with eight new sides announcing fresh and innovative team names and colours for the 2011 season which gets underway in December. The competition will feature sides based out of the main grounds in the capitals of each of the six Australian states. Melbourne and Sydney will house an extra team each at the Etihad Stadium, and the Sydney Olympic Park respectively.Cricket Australia’s Mike McKenna said the confirmation of team names was an important milestone in the league’s development. “Completing the process of developing team names is the first step in explaining to fans what the BBL will look like when teams take the field for the first time in December this year,” he said. “A lot has been achieved in a short space of time. While team names, colours and venues have been resolved, work is continuing on a number of other important features of the league, including team logos and uniform development, the competition match schedule, team and BBL operating structures, and the appointment of key personnel by teams.”The move to city, not state, names is a change from traditional Australian cricket. However in order to grow the game we need to move away from the existing state-based structure because we can’t increase the number of teams, and provide more opportunities for players, under the current system which is the core of our four-day and one-day cricket. It’s necessary we take this approach now so that BBL can help grow the game and evolve domestic T20 in Australia.”No-one’s underestimating the mountain of work that still needs to be completed before the tournament starts, including issues surrounding player allocation and private investment.”It’s critical we get the issue of private investment right before we roll out this new competition. We’ve got a meeting with all key parties from CA and the state associations scheduled which will look to finalise this issue and allow teams to continue discussions with potential investors.”In addition to the migration from a state to city-based franchise model, the BBL will also allow private ownership of the teams, though the modalities of investment are yet to be worked out. Despite the entry of private parties, state cricket associations are expected to retain a controlling stake, which is in contrast to the IPL, the biggest and most successful Twenty20 league. McKenna hinted that the focus of allocation will be on creating teams that are evenly matched.”As far as the allocation of players is concerned, we’ve come a long way towards working out the model by which players will be signed by teams,” he said. “We’ve been clear from the outset that we want an even spread of talent to give each team a chance to be successful.”

Cricket Kenya chief Samir Inamdar has cited differences between the players and coach Eldine Baptiste while criticising the national team’s performance at the World Cup thus far. Kenya suffered massive defeats at the hands of New Zealand, who bowled them out for 69, and Pakistan, against whom they went down by 205 runs.”The coach has his own way of doing things which did not go down well with some senior players,” Inamdar told . “But ultimately, the coach has a duty to do and the players as well have a duty. I hope they will overcome those differences and play well.”Though Kenya’s defeats have come against Test-playing nations, their spineless capitulation in each of their two games thus far has not gone down too well with the board. They are in the same group as Zimbabwe and Canada, teams they’ll be confident of competing better against, but their game thus far has lacked discipline. Their bowlers conceded 37 wides against Pakistan, while the batsmen have struggled to measure up to both pace and spin.”The board and I are disappointed by the performance so far,” Inamdar said. “I don’t mind losing to teams like New Zealand and Pakistan because they are obviously better than us but we should be competitive. We need to be seen to be fighting and scoring runs.”Inamdar said he’d spoken to the players. “We can do better. I have had a long chat with the team management. The chief executive (Tom Sears) returned home yesterday and we had a long chat as well and I expect them to lift themselves up in the remaining matches.”Obviously, they did not get the basics right. The batting and bowling was not good at all.”

The former England captain, Alec Stewart, believes that England’s World Cup campaign will not be seriously undermined by the prospect of a series defeat in Australia, so long as the frontline bowlers who are currently absent from the team use the opportunity to recharge their batteries midway through their gruelling winter itinerary.Stewart, who was England’s most-capped one-day cricketer until Paul Collingwood surpassed his tally of 170 appearances, played in four World Cup campaigns from 1992 to 2003, and captained the side on home soil in 1999. On two of those occasions – in the subcontinent in 1995-96, and in South Africa in 2002-03 – the tournament came hot on the heels of gruelling five-match Test series, and that is a pattern that has since been repeated with the World Cup and Ashes falling in the same four-year cycle.The current team is regarded as England’s best one-day outfit since 1992, but they once again appear to be suffering from the demands of an overcrowded itinerary. In the aftermath of an historic Ashes victory, they slumped to consecutive defeats in the opening three fixtures of their one-day campaign, and need to win all four of their remaining matches, starting at Adelaide on Wednesday, if they are to extend a run of 16 unbeaten series in all forms of the game, dating back to their tour of South Africa in November 2009.”The unfortunate thing is we always go to a World Cup after a long winter, so fatigue is a factor, but you can’t hide behind that,” Stewart told ESPNcricinfo. “They had a tough Ashes series that they built up to and won, and they’ve now got seven one-day games before coming home for three days then heading off to Bangladesh. It’s pretty full on, but they have to accept it and get on with it – which they will, as they are a very professional outfit now.”In mitigation, England have been missing the services of several players who will expect to slot straight into the starting line-up for their first match of their World Cup campaign, against Netherlands at Nagpur on February 22, and this, according to Stewart, is a blessing in disguise.Stuart Broad is currently recovering from a stomach muscle injury that he sustained while bowling during the second Ashes Test in early December; James Anderson is set to return to action at Adelaide following a ten-day home visit, while Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan will play no further part in the ODI series after suffering knee and calf injuries respectively.”A couple of good things have happened in a roundabout way,” said Stewart. “One is Broad’s injury, which means he will come back fresh, Anderson will be a little fresher as well, and as long as Bresnan and Swann come through their injuries, in a silly way England will have benefited before going off to the World Cup. I wouldn’t say we are favourites by any stretch, but this is a developing one-day side, and I still think we have a chance, because the frontline bowling attack will have had some rest.”I think England cover most bases,” Stewart added. “They are good in the spin department, they have good new-ball bowlers and good reverse-swing bowlers, but I’d like to see if we’ve got one more person who can hit the ball out the park, which you need to be able to do on the subcontinent. [Eoin] Morgan is tremendous, but we need someone who can clear the boundary ropes consistently, and it’s easier said than done finding one. You’d question whether Luke Wright would be in the strongest side, so that’s the only area where we may be fractionally light. But it is definitely our best shot.”

Mohammad Amir’s legal counsel has requested the ICC’s three-man tribunal examining the charges of spot-fixing to take more time to study the case before announcing its verdict. The closing statements of the six-day hearing were presented on Tuesday morning and while the verdict was expected later in the day, Amir’s laywer Shahid Karim was hoping for a deferment.”We have requested the judges to look at the case carefully and properly and with due consideration before they announce the verdict,” Karim told . “This is up to them, and if they have looked at it with thought and consideration, then after we finish they’ll tell us if the verdict is announced today or at a later date.”I am satisfied that the hearing has been very good and impartial, and I can say from our point of view at least we are hopeful. The onus is now on the judges.”Amir, who was alleged to have bowled no-balls to order in the Lord’s Test, was philosophical. “When the nation’s prayers are with you, you don’t feel so scared and there is hope. It’s been difficult to sleep over the last few nights but my eyes are open now and when good news comes I will hopefully be able to close them properly.”We are satisfied with how things have gone, and my family’s prayers are also with me. I’m feeling good and am hoping for some good news.”

Former Worcestershire and Northamptonshire middle-order batsman Jim Yardley has died in Canada. He was 64.In 260 first-class matches spanning 16 seasons he scored 8287 runs at 25.81 with five hundreds, and also held 232 catches mainly at slip.”He was not a prepossessing player, but he had guts, immense application, and an infinite capacity for scoring runs to and through third man,” wrote John Arlott. “A good sense of humour and a dedication the game enabled him to enjoy it and play it more effectively than men superficially greater gifts.”Yardley made his county debut in 1967 and became a regular in the Worcestershire side midway through 1968 despite failing to pass fifty all season. He only showed glimpses of his form in 1969 although again held down a regular place, but he repaid the county’s faith in 1970 with 762 runs at 40.In 1971 he passed 1000 runs for the only time in his career as well as hitting this maiden hundred when he made an unbeaten 104 against the touring Indians. He was capped in 1972 despite a wretched summer, slightly alleviated by some good limited-over performances.He was a key member of Worcestershire’s Championship-winning team in 1974 but after another ordinary summer in 1975 he was released and moved to Northamptonshire.In seven seasons at Northamptonshire his form rarely rose above the ordinary – he managed only one hundred in 107 first-class matches – but he was again able to hold down a regular place. However, by 1982 he was out of favour and after a season in the 2nd XI he retired.Although his one-day form was also mediocre – his highest score in 205 innings was 75 – he played in four Lord’s finals, winning once, the 1980 Benson and Hedges Cup.He emigrated to Canada in 2002.

An unbroken 123-run partnership between Lal Kumar and Kashif Bhatti lifted Hyderabad to 293 after they had collapsed to 170 for 7 on the first day against Quetta at the Niaz Stadium. Kumar hammered 12 fours and two sixes to reach his maiden first-class century. He found support in left-arm spinner Bhatti who remained unbeaten on 54, his maiden first-class half-century. Their fightback brought Hyderabad back into the game after Quetta’s opening bowlers Gauhar Faiz and Arun Lal had rattled the top order with three quick wickets. Rizwan Ahmed and captain Nasrullah Memon tried to rebuild the innings but fell in their thirties before Kumar came to Hyderabad’s rescue.Armaghan Elahi, the left-arm fast bowler, put Abbottabad on top on the opening day of their Division 2 encounter against Pakistan Television at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Pakistan Television had a poor start to their debut season in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, as Elahi removed their openers cheaply. Yasim Murtaza and Awais Zia staged a mini-recovery to take the score to 90 for 3, but both fell within two runs of each other. The lower order could not resist for long, and Elahi returned to take two more, finishing with 4 for 32. Left-arm seamer Saad Altaf had Abbottabad in some trouble at 16 for 2, but opener Ghulam Mohammad and captain Wajid Ali ensured no further damage was done, ending the day only 88 runs in arrears.Ashraf Ali made a patient half-century as Lahore Ravi crawled to 198 for 6 at the end of the first day of their game against State Bank of Pakistan at the Lahore Cricket Association Ground. Ashraf’s unbeaten 55 came off 163 deliveries, as he played the anchor role for Lahore to perfection. Mohammad Naved and Mohammad Rameez, the opening bowlers for State Bank, took two wickets each, as did fellow fast bowler Bilawal Bhatti.Lahore Shalimar held the advantage at the end of the first day against Peshawar at the Sports Complex in Mardan. Peshwar were asked to bat and they looked set for a formidable first-innings total after their top order delivered a solid start. Opener Mohammad Fayyaz (50) and Naved Khan (47) added 73 for the second wicket while Sajjad Ahmed top scored, remaining unbeaten on 78 at stumps. However, the middle and the lower orders failed to build on the platform as the Lahore bowlers struck back. Left-arm seamer Emmad Ali led the way with three wickets as Sajjad could only watch his partners return to the pavilion one after another in relatively quick succession. Emmad was well supported by the rest of the bowling line-up. At one stage, Peshawar lost five wickets for 20, and it seemed they would get bowled out for under 200. But Sajjad was helped by No.10 batsman Waqar Ahmed, who made 25, and Peshawar finished the day on 263 for 9.

England’s cricketers have returned from their top-secret pre-Ashes bonding camp, which took them to Bavaria in southern Germany. The players departed last Thursday for the five-day trip organised by Reg Dickason, the team’s security officer, with only Andy Flower and his closest management aware of the destination beforehand.The players were told just to bring passports and walking boots and leave mobile phones behind, so there was no tweeting from Graeme Swann or Kevin Pietersen during the trip. They have spent the last few days near Nuremberg taking part in mental and physical challenges including boxing, hiking and abseiling.The trip was rounded off on Tuesday by a visit to the memorial site at Dachau, the first of Hitler’s concentration camps where more than 40,000 people died during the twelve years of its existence from 1933-1945.”Following our trip to Flanders last year, this was an opportunity for the players to spend time away from the cricketing environment, learn more about the wider world and develop ourselves both individually and collectively,” Andrew Strauss, the England captain, said. “It was a tough but rewarding five days and I know every player has gained greater insight into themselves, their own team environment and environments outside cricket.”The visit to Ypres before last year’s Ashes didn’t go without a few hitches as Andrew Flintoff missed the team bus one morning while Ravi Bopara forgot his passport and neither incident went down well with the team management. So far, at least, this latest expedition appears to have gone smoothly.Having completed an arduous season last Wednesday, when they secured the one-day series against Pakistan with victory at the Rose Bowl, the players weren’t thrilled with the prospect of the secret trip, but can now put their feet up for a few weeks before the squad comes back together ahead of leaving for Australia on October 29.