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Parthiv Patel is set to retain the wicketkeeping gloves for India’s fourth Test against England, which begins on Thursday in Mumbai. Wriddhiman Saha, who strained his left thigh during the second Test in Visakhapatnam, missed the third Test in Mohali, and is still recovering from the injury. According to a BCCI release, Saha has been advised rest.Fast bowler Ishant Sharma, whose wedding coincides with the Mumbai Test, has been released from the squad. Ishant, who was recovering from a bout of the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya, was not part of the squad for the first Test, but returned for the second and third Tests, though he could not edge either Mohammed Shami or Umesh Yadav out of the XI.Returning to the Test team after a gap of eight years, Parthiv opened the batting in Mohali, in place of the injured KL Rahul, and enjoyed a fruitful match, scoring 42 in the first innings and an unbeaten 67 in the second, to help India chase down their target of 103.

Anthony Alleyne top-scored twice for Barbados as his 88 and 186 helped them to a 292-run victory against Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain. Chasing 392 to win, T&T were bundled out for 99 with Kyle Hope top-scoring with 26. In the second innings, it was Kevin Stoute and Kemar Roach who did most of the damage – sharing six wickets between them.Alleyne’s 186 in the second innings was his maiden first-class century and helped Barbados to a position from where they could not lose. His partnership of 216 runs with Shamarh Brooks (76) for the second wicket took Barbados to 317 before the declaration came in the 72nd over.Montcin Hodge’s third first-class century helped Leeward Islands chase 369 against Guyana’s in St Kitts to win by four wickets on the final day.Guyana had earned a 135-run first-innings lead after Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored 81* to lift their score to 293. Hayden Walsh’s four-for then helped Guyana then bowled out Leeward Island for 158.Hayden Walsh took 4 for 56 as Guyana declared their second innings after lunch on day 3 on 233 for 8.Leeward Islands’ chase started off well. Opener Kieran Powell – who top-scored with 79 in their first innings – stitched a 93-run partnership for the first wicket with Hodge before being dismissed early on the final day. Hodge then combined with Nkrumah Bonner (82) to add 155 runs for the fourth wicket to take the home side closer to victory. Both were dismissed in quick succession but by that time, Leeward Islands were 60 runs away from victory and Jahmar Hamilton (49*) saw them through to the win.Nikita Miller’s five-for helped Jamaica bowl out Windward Islands for 64 in their chase of 106 in a low-scoring contest in Kingston. Shane Shillingford’s five-for in the first innings, followed by Larry Edwards’ 6 for 20 in their second put Windward Islands in a strong position as they bowled the hosts out for for 151 and 159. John Campbell top-scored with a crucial 67 in their second innings.Jamaica needed just 27 overs to dismantle Windward Islands for 64. Damion Jacobs chipped in with 3 for 17 in eight overs.

On a day that India lost the toss and conceded 311 for 4, there was little consolation for them at the end. Mohammed Shami, who had hobbled off during the middle session with what at the time looked like a hamstring issue, came back in the final session to continue bowling despite obvious discomfort. That he was even taking the risk, suggested it was not a hamstring trouble. India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed at the end of the day that it was a cramp, and that Shami was expected to bowl on day two.”As the physio has told us, it was actually muscular cramps,” Bangar said. “And he took an ice bath in that break [when Shami went off before tea]. He was fine to bowl after that. He is being monitored closely. And apart from the cramps, I don’t think there is much to it. Hopefully he will be fresher tomorrow. He will be fitter and raring to go tomorrow in the first session.”That Shami was available in the final session was part of the reason why India didn’t take the new ball even though they bowled 93 overs. In what should be a good sign for England, the ball was reversing even at 80 overs old, which was why India persisted with it, according to Bangar.”You must have noticed that at that time there was a lot of reverse swing on offer,” Bangar said. “Mohammed Shami was available to bowl, even Umesh Yadav put in a valiant effort. Once Shami was not available before tea and after tea for a particular amount of time, Umesh ran in well and got us that breakthrough [Root’s wicket on 124]. He was pretty impressive, getting the ball to reverse both ways. So was Shami. That was the reason we felt that the wicket-taking possibility with the old ball was higher at that point.”India dropped both openers in the slip cordon early on the first morning•AFP

Bangar was hopeful India could turn things around on the second morning. “The game changes very quickly,” Bangar said. “A couple of wickets – obviously they are four down at the moment – a couple of wickets and we could make inroads quickly and wrap them up hopefully within a session and a half. So you never know in cricket. It’s just day one and we would have still been in a good position had we taken probably six wickets and conceded 30 or 40 fewer runs.”Instead of the second morning, though, India had the chance of making those early inroads on the first day when they dropped both the openers early. “The first session of day one of a Test match, there is always something in the wicket,” he said. “Whether you bat first or bowl first you have to make the first session count. Send the right message across. Couple of dropped chances unfortunately didn’t allow us to make those early dents into their batting. They have been actually losing their openers pretty quickly in the couple of Test matches they have played [in Bangladesh]. That set us back a little bit. By lunch we still managed to take three wickets, but we would have taken that at the start of the Test.”On a day that questions were asked of India’s bowling on a pitch that was not turning big, fielders dropping catches and a few of them generally looking listless, the batting coach was left to answer the press conference. He put up a brave face, saying England made the most of the conditions, but also ended it with a rider “on day one”, which could suggest conditions are expected to get worse for batting significantly. “Had we taken those catches our bowlers would have asked questions about their middle order pretty early in the innings,” Bangar said. “Apart from that, due credit to their batsmen who applied themselves really well and made full use of the conditions on offer here on day one.”

Match facts

Friday, October 7, Dhaka
Start time 1430 local (0830 GMT)

Big Picture

The three-match ODI series against England will be Bangladesh’s quest for a seventh successive bilateral series win at home where they have been unbeaten for two years. Their latest success came against Afghanistan at the start of this week, which was Bangladesh’s first ODI series of 2016.Bangladesh have lost only three matches out of 20 encounters at home since November 2014. Tamim Iqbal has been their highest scorer during this period while Mushfiqur Rahim and Soumya Sarkar aren’t too far behind. Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza have been Bangladesh’s best bowlers but they will be missing Mustafizur Rahman who is recovering from shoulder surgery.England have so far been as respectful as a visiting team should be against such opponents but it would be hard to ignore their sparkle since the 2015 World Cup. They have displayed this summer how different an ODI unit they have developed themselves into. They might lack Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales, but the likes of James Vince and Ben Duckett give hope that the back-up will come good. There is also a lot of faith placed on Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, who now have senior roles in the side for at least these three matches.Moeen Ali can provide in-depth knowledge on Bangladeshi cricketers and conditions having played here in two domestic tournaments. His friendship with Tamim could also come in handy for Moeen’s bowling as well as for injecting some bonhomie between the two sides.Bangladesh and England have only played two ODIs, in the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, after their last ODI series in 2010, but this is the meeting of two teams on the rise over the last 18 months. Cricket hasn’t seen many new rivalries but this ODI series has all the makings of sparking one.Bangladesh security forces drill ahead of the game•Getty Images

Form guide

Bangladesh: WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England: LWWWW

Players to watch

Tamim Iqbal has batted well against England in the past, and is also in great touch. His last innings was a blazing century against Afghanistan. There will be a lot riding on the good start that he provides from the top order.If Jos Buttler keeps wickets on Friday, he will be England’s first wicketkeeper-captain in ODIs for 13 years. His main challenge, in that case, would be to maintain his batting rhythm to combine with his other two important duties.

Team news

Imrul Kayes has been preferred to Soumya as Tamim’s partner in the opening slot. But there is unlikely to be any place for Al-Amin Hossain and Nasir Hossain in an otherwise settled Bangladesh XI that beat Afghanistan in the third ODI on October 1.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Mosharraf Hossain, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Taskin AhmedEngland are set to make six changes from their last ODI, with Hales and Morgan missing, Joe Root rested from the tour, Mark Wood injured and Chris Jordan omitted. Vince is likely to take Hales’ place while Duckett is certain to make his ODI debut. Adil Rashid and Moeen are also set to return, leaving Liam Dawson, Sam Billings, Jake Ball and Steven Finn on the bench.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 James Vince, 3 Ben Duckett, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (capt / wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Adil Rashid

Pitch and conditions

Rain is forecast for Friday afternoon so both teams could pick their XIs at the last minute, after taking a look at the pitch as historically, the Mirpur square has had a tendency of changing slightly with moisture around.

Stats and trivia

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Bangladesh have picked the uncapped Mosaddek Hossain in the 13-man squad for the first two ODIs against Afghanistan to be played on September 25 and 28. However, there was no place for Al-Amin Hossain, with Shafiul Islam making a comeback in the side.

Changes in ODI squad

IN: Mosaddek Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Taijul Islam
OUT: Al-Amin Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Liton Das, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Anamul Haque, Arafat Sunny, Jubair Hossain

Mosaddek had played a solitary T20I earlier this year against Zimbabwe but he has been long considered as a potential international player due to his strong domestic performances; his first two first-class hundreds were both double-hundreds. He has also been consistent in the Dhaka Premier League, especially in the 2016 edition in which he made 622 runs in 14 matches at an average of 77.75 for champions Abahani Limited.”Mosaddek has done very well in domestic cricket, which includes the longer-version tournaments, in the last two years. He did well in the Dhaka Premier League and we feel he is ready,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said.Shafiul last played an ODI in November 2014 while Al-Amin has played only three ODIs since 2015. Al-Amin took 25 wickets in the DPL at an average of 23, while Shafiul took 11 wickets from 10 matches at 37.27.Rubel Hossain and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam returned to the side after missing the ODI series against Zimbabwe last November. Mustafizur Rahman (injured), Liton Das, and Kamrul Islam Rabbi, however, missed out from the squad.Minhajul said that there were a few “negatives” doing the rounds about Al-Amin but did not elaborate. He only said that Shafiul’s fitness was better than Al-Amin’s.”Al-Amin has not been altogether removed from the teams. We have the England series coming up too, and he is in our pool,” Minhajul said. “There were a few native things that have come up about Al-Amin, plus there’s some talk about his fitness.”There was nothing about whether the coach likes or dislikes Al-Amin. There’s a vast difference between Al-Amin and Shafiul’s fielding ability too. Shafiul improved his fitness during the camp. He is an experienced bowler.”He also said that they would be adding Taskin Ahmed to the squad if the ICC clears him from his banned bowling action. Taskin, along with Arafat Sunny, gave his bowling action reassessment test on September 8 in Brisbane.”We haven’t heard from the ICC regarding Taskin’s test result. It was supposed to be given today,” Minhajul said. “If he is given the go-ahead, he will be an addition to the squad. If it is the other way around, we will discuss what to do with the team management and maybe add another pace bowler.”Squad for first two ODIs: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mosaddek Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan (vice-capt.), Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt.), Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain

Match facts

August 6-11, Bulawayo
Start time 0930 local (0730 GMT)

Big Picture

A week ago, Zimbabwe were wondering how to stay alive in the first Test against New Zealand. Now, they will be thinking about saving the two-match series and denying New Zealand a chance to claim a cup from the first leg of their self-termed African safari.Victory for Zimbabwe and a share of the spoils seems improbable unless they are able to correct perennial problems that creep into their approach, almost all of which stem from a lack of game time. Their struggle to build partnerships and bat for long periods of time will be crippled further by the absence of Hamilton Masakadza, who will miss the Test with a back injury. Their attack’s battle to sustain pressure over extended periods also result in them falling behind early on. They have showed the ability to fight back, but that will probably not be enough against a more complete New Zealand unit.For New Zealand, a second victory and a clean sweep would be the perfect start in their search for more consistency after they lost ground to Australia. It will also give Kane Williamson a solid foundation on which to build his captaincy and sound a warning to South Africa that they could prove a challenge. Coach Mike Hesson could not find too many “work-ons” after the first Test but Trent Boult’s pace – which averaged in the late 120s – and the spinners’ returns will be areas to zone in on.The other area of interest will be the venue itself. Queens Sports Club will host back-to-back fixtures in a test of the ground staff’s ability to turn around quickly. The outfield, which was sluggish for the first Test, would have been trimmed and may be a little quicker while the pitch itself is expected to be slow, low and flat. With school holidays and a long weekend, crowd numbers could be higher, especially as Bulawayo does not know when it will see Test cricket again.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WLLWW

In the spotlight

After crashing to 36 for 4 and 17 for 4 in the first Test Zimbabwe’s top order will want to give their team a better start. Their ability to cope with a swinging new ball and a hostile short ball will be under particular scrutiny after Tim Southee and Neil Wagner used those tactics to run through them. In the absence of Masakadza, the responsibility will fall on Tino Mawoyo and Chamu Chibhabha.Apart from Trent Boult bowling below pace, the only aspect of New Zealand’s game that they may want to work on from the first Test is their spinners. While Mitchell Santner was economical, Ish Sodhi was expensive and with long spells likely to be needed on a flat track, he will need to tighten up and try to stifle Zimbabwe’s batsmen a little more.

Team news

The biggest blow to Zimbabwe is Hamilton Masakadza’s injury. Opener Tino Mawoyo has recovered from a hand injury to take his place at the top of the order alongside Chamu Chibhabha. Peter Moor is in line for a Test debut in place of Regis Chakabva who battled tonsillitis during the first Test. Although Chris Mpofu looks fit and firing, Donald Tiripano and Mike Chinouya are likely to keep their places with John Nyumbu coming in as a second specialist spinner.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Tino Mawoyo, 2 Chamu Chibhabha, 3 Sikandar Raza, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Prince Masvaure, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Peter Moore (wk), 8 Graeme Cremer, (capt) 9 Donald Tiripano, 10 John Nyumbu, 11 Mike ChinouyaNew Zealand confirmed the same XI for the second Test which means no experiments to play Jeet Raval, Doug Bracewell or Matt Henry before they head to South Africa.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Neil Wagner

Pitch and conditions

While Neil Wagner extracted a surprising amount of bounce from the surface for the first match, this one is expected to offer nothing of the sort. The teams are likely to face a hard, flat strip, which will keep run-scoring slow and make wicket-taking difficult. The fielders will not be able to enjoy any respite from the weather either. Temperatures will remain in the mid-to-high 20s and the skies will be cloudless.

Stats and trivia

• Kane Williamson and Tim Southee will be playing their 50th Tests individually
• Five years ago this week, Zimbabwe returned to Test cricket after a six-year self-imposed exile and won their comeback Test against Bangladesh. Craig Ervine and Tino Mawoyo are the only players who took part in that match who may be involved in this one

Quotes

“We spent a day at Heath Steak’s farm. We managed to get out of the hotel which is good. It was awesome to get out and see a bit of Zimbabwe. We saw a pretty cool sunset and got some relaxing time before a pretty big five days ahead.”
.”The good thing is that we have had one game already. The guys have had a good look at how they got out. The guys have done some work. There’s a little bit more grit needed, a little bit more application and time to suss out conditions.”
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ScorecardJohn Simpson celebrates his winning hit•Getty Images

John Simpson celebrated his 28th birthday by blasting Middlesex to a sensational two-wicket Specsavers County Championship win against Somerset at Taunton after 96 runs had been needed off the final eight overs.An enthralling game seemed to be heading for a draw when Tim Groenewald took four wickets to help restrict the visitors to 185 for 5, chasing 302 to win.But Simpson, with 79 not out off 80 balls, including four sixes and five fours, and James Fuller produced a stand of 86 off less than eight overs. A Craig Overton over went for 23 and, although Fuller fell, Middlesex wrapped up victory with just two balls to spare.The winning hit was a six over fine leg by Simpson off Jim Allenby after eight had been needed from the final over. The Middlesex wicketkeeper, who had claimed nine catches in the match, threw both arms in the air in celebration.Nick Gubbins contributed 76 to the run chase and, although Groenewald finished with five for 90, Middlesex took 23 points to Somerset’s three after four exceptional days of Championship cricket.Simpson said: “I’m almost speechless. The feeling of elation when that ball went for six to win the game was unbelievable. Jim Allenby was swinging the ball into my pads, so I just went with the swing. At first I thought it was going to be a one bounce four, but the ball kept on travelling over deep backward-square.”Credit the whole team because we never gave up trying to win. After a period of consolidation, James Fuller’s innings provided a real lift and I was able to finish things off.”I’m not sure how I am going to celebrate my birthday. We are staying down for the T20 game on Friday night and there is talk of golf in the morning. By then I will either be hungover or very tired.”Set 302 to win from a minimum of 46 overs, the visitors made a promising start and were 108 for one in the 17th over when Overton took a stunning catch at third man to dismiss Dawid Malan.Gubbins and Malan had produced an array of attacking shots to add 76 for the second wicket. Then Malan got a top edge off Groenewald and Overton made 30 yards running to his left before diving full length to hold the ball two-handed inches off the ground.Gubbins had faced 70 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes, when he miscued a back-foot forcing shot off Groenewald to Allenby at deepish extra-cover.When George Bailey was bowled by a perfect Groenewald inswinger for four it was 155 for 4 and Middlesex had to think twice about chasing a target of around seven an over.Allenby cemented Groenewald’s good work with an economic spell from the River End, earning reward when pinning James Franklin lbw for 28.The departure of the skipper at 185 for 5 seemed to signal the end of Middlesex victory hopes. But Simpson and Fuller changed all that with an astonishing assault, Fuller hitting three sixes and two fours in his vital knock.Jack Leach struck twice in the closing overs to increase the tension, but it was Simpson’s day.Earlier, the hosts had extended their second innings score from an overnight 348 for 6 to 446 for 9 declared, Peter Trego making 138, three short of his best score on his 200th first class appearance.Groenewald and Leach shared an unbroken tenth-wicket stand of 42, using up valuable time, but it still seemed a generous declaration by Chris Rogers against his old county in excellent batting conditions.In fact, it produced a wonderful finish and Championship cricket at its best.Somerset director of cricket Matthew Maynard said: “I am proud of our players. It was a fantastic game of cricket and we have come up just a bit short. We took a gamble on using a green pitch, knowing we would be asked to bat first, and the lads gave everything. Losing Jamie Overton was a blow.”Overton pulled out of the game midway through an over on the second day and will miss the Lions series against Sri Lanka next week. Somerset will investigate his lower back injury over the next few days but are hopeful there is no stress fracture.

Afghanistan’s attempts to gain more ODI fixtures leading into the September 2017 cut-off for 2019 World Cup qualification is likely to gather steam with a proposal in the works to secure annual bilateral matches against India and teams touring India beginning next year.”If we sign the MOU which we sent to India, potentially Afghanistan Cricket Board will be in a better position than where we are right now, scheduling ODIs with India and scheduling ODIs with teams traveling to India on an annual basis,” ACB chief executive Shafiq Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “But still it will be bilateral ties. If a traveling team to India wants to play us in India, it is totally up to them.”Stanikzai said the draft had been presented to BCCI president Anurag Thakur in May and further discussions had during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh. The BCCI officials have not yet commented on the proposal.With Afghanistan shifting their home ground from Sharjah to Greater Noida, outside Delhi, Stanikzai said Afghanistan were well placed, geographically and rankings wise for fixtures against India and sides touring India in the same way Ireland had secured more ODIs against teams touring England.”Since induction into the FTP, a larger challenge arose for Afghanistan,” Stanikzai said. “A is arranging fixtures with Full Members and B is funding it and finding funds to accommodate your needs. The expectation of the Afghanistan people has grown immensely. Afghanistan Cricket Board is under tremendous amount of pressure by not having fixtures with Full Members. Comparatively, Ireland has obtained 14 [11] fixtures with Full Members.”The advantage Ireland has is geographical and teams traveling to England getting quality cricket against Ireland … but Afghanistan is a totally different story… For us, being in the FTP, yeah the window has opened but the challenges are much greater.”A strategic plan unveiled recently by the ACB set targets for Afghanistan to be a top-six ODI team by 2019 and a top-three team in both T20Is and ODIs by 2025. Stanikzai was confident it could be achieved, considering Afghanistan’s rapid growth on and off the field. He, however, said the gains would be stunted, if there weren’t enough fixtures against Full Members.”The biggest challenge for us for the time being is the competition structure or the fixtures for Afghanistan to compete against Full Members,” Stanikzai said. “That’s somewhere we are lacking and somewhere we need the support from ICC, or maybe Full Member boards should realise they need to make this great game more globalised and take it into the Associate world.”Afghanistan team is rapidly growing and the flow that Afghanistan national team currently is in is quite brilliant. If we don’t get any fixtures – we don’t have any confirmed fixtures after our Holland game for the rest of the year – so we are in danger of losing the flow, the momentum we have gained so far in the last nine to 12 months.”Stanikzai hoped that the problem would be fixed if the proposed 13-team ODI league was ratified. In particular, he believed a guaranteed set of 36 fixtures would open up big sponsorship opportunities. He said that tours like Afghanistan’s current trip to both Scotland and Ireland eat up a large chunk of resources, which could be offset if Afghanistan had more teams to market and compete against.”Afghanistan needs to be considered in a very exceptional case,” Stanikzai said. “Obtaining UK visa cost me USD 80,000 for the team. We don’t have a UK High Commission in Afghanistan. We need to travel to India and obtain visas. Going there, staying there, it took us 21 days to obtain UK visa to make this tour possible. Playing Scotland and Ireland is costing us more than USD 350,000.”If we are to host a Full Member, we are able to cover 80-90% of the costs but if we are traveling to play any other Full Member and they are asking us to cover our own passage, it is an extra burden on us. So things need to balanced. Either we need to be in a regular competition, which this 13-member ODI league will help us quite drastically and prosper quite hugely, and the Test league is also another good prospect for us.”

ScorecardKevin O’Brien’s run out was a blow for Leicestershire [file picture]•Getty Images

Birmingham Bears maintained their progress towards a home quarter-final with a comfortable victory against the Leicestershire Foxes.Put in by Ian Bell after the Bears’ skipper won the toss, the Foxes struggled to come to terms with the pitch from the start of their innings. Captain Mark Pettini was first to, skying an attempted forcing shot high over extra cover. Sam Hain turned and, running back towards the boundary, held a well-judged running catch.Mark Cosgrove went in the next over, playing too soon at a well-pitched up delivery from Rikki Clarke and chipping a simple catch to midwicket, and the home team could ill-afford Kevin O’Brien running himself soon afterwards. Cameron Delport dug out a yorker from Mark Adair, and looked up to see O’Brien charging towards him. The startled South African sent the Irishman back, but having gone at least three-quarters of the way down the wicket, O’Brien had no chance of beating Adair’s throw when the young seamer picked up the ball, turned, and hit middle stump.A 20 minute rain break gave Delport and Umar Akmal time to think about their approach, but soon after the re-start the left-handed Delport drove at Adair without any conviction and gave Clarke a straightforward low catch at extra cover.With the score 25 for 4 the Foxes were in deep trouble, and it looked to have worsened when Akmal swept Jeetan Patel to deep midwicket where Hain, running in from the boundary, looked to have held a low catch. Akmal waited for the decision though, and to the Bears dismay, umpires David Millns and Billy Taylor decided they could not be sure the catch had been held before the ball had touched the ground.Lewis Hill slog swept Recordo Gordon high over midwicket for six, and with Akmal, had compiled a partnership of 53 for Leicestershire’s fifth wicket when he tried a scoop Adair down to fine third man – a shot he had played successful two balls earlier – and succeeded only in lifting the ball straight into the gloves of Luke Ronchi behind the stumps.Akmal quickly followed, a leading edge off Jeetan Patel flying high towards backward point where Ateeq Javid held the catch to leave the Foxes on 80 for 6 in the fifteenth over. Tom Wells and Neil Dexter took the score on to 116, including 18 from a Gordon over, before Dexter holed out off the same bowler, and though Wells continued to hit hard, with the ball not coming on to the bat, could only take the Foxes up to a total of 125 for 7.Captain Bell then lead the way for the Bears, compiling an opening partnership of 51 in under six overs with Sam Hain to give his side an outstanding start to their reply.Hain lost nothing in comparison, hitting four beautifully timed boundaries before cutting O’Brien chest-high to Akmal at point. When Will Porterfield was bowled by Ben Raine soon afterwards, a delivery which seamed past the outside edge to hit off-stump, the Foxes might have thought they were back in the game, and they might have been so had Laurie Evans not survived a caught behind shout off Raine before he had scored.With time in hand, however, Evans could afford to play himself in, and having done so, the hard-hitting right-hander accelerated impressively, catching his captain and then taking the Bears home by hitting O’Brien for consecutive boundaries and then a straight six, going to his half-century in the process.

Graeme Welch is rejoining Warwickshire as bowling coach after losing out on the same role with England to Essex’s Chris Silverwood.Welch served as bowling coach at Edgbaston for four years from January 2010, during which time the club won the County Championship title in 2012 and the Clydesdale Bank 40 in 2010.He left the club in 2014 to take up a role as elite performance director at Derbyshire but when that did not work out he subsequently moved to Leicestershire as assistant coach in September 2016 only for them to finish bottom of Division Two in the Championship.Welch’s reputation as a bowling coach remains unblemished, however, and Warwickshire were quick to hail his return as the next step in a coaching reshuffle that saw Alan Richardson released from the role last month.Ashley Giles, sport director at Warwickshire, said: “Graeme Welch is an outstanding bowling coach who was part of an excellent coaching team that delivered trophies at Edgbaston.”In our view he is one of the very best bowling coaches in the game and it came as no surprise to us when he was recently connected with the position of England bowling coach.”We are delighted that he has chosen to return to Edgbaston where he will not only be responsible for getting the first team back to winning ways but also building a bowling academy equipped to develop a new generation of bowlers, from all backgrounds, capable of delivering continued success in all formats for Warwickshire and the Birmingham Bears.”Welch said: “I have enjoyed my time at Leicestershire, but the chance to return to Edgbaston was one I could not turn down. I have been lucky enough to be part of successful Bears teams in the past as both player and coach and am very excited by the challenge of building a bowling academy which will bring success to the club on a sustained basis.”Leicestershire responded quickly to fill the vacancy, appointing John Sadler, who initially rejoined them as Second XI Coach last winter before taking charge of first team affairs alongside Graeme Welch for the final three matches of the 2017 season. Sadler and Paul Nixon, Leicestershire’s new coach, played in the same Foxes side and were both key members of the team that in the early years had the most successful record in the country.