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The Wellington fast bowler Andy McKay and the Central Districts opening batsman Peter Ingram are in line for their international debuts after being named in the squads to take on Bangladesh next month. New Zealand will be without Shane Bond, Jesse Ryder, Kyle Mills and Grant Elliott, all because of injury.There was no place for Scott Styris or Aaron Redmond, both of whom played in New Zealand’s most recent limited-overs series against Pakistan in the UAE in November. BJ Watling also missed out on the Twenty20 squad having made his debut on that tour while the selectors could not find a place for Lou Vincent, despite his strong domestic Twenty20 form.McKay, 29, has been named in a 12-man group to take on Bangladesh in three one-day internationals in Napier, Dunedin and Christchurch. A left-arm fast-medium bowler, McKay is the equal leading wicket-taker in the domestic one-day competition this summer with 11 victims at 20.63.Ingram, 31, has been chosen in the one-day squad and the Twenty20 team to play a one-off international in Hamilton next week. Ingram has been on the domestic scene for nearly a decade and has been in outstanding four-day form this season, with 530 Plunket Shield runs at 75.71, although his one-day form has been less commanding with 154 runs at 30.80.”The teams have been selected with an eye to the T20 World Cup in the West Indies in May, and players for next year’s ODI World Cup in Asia,” selector Mark Greatbatch said. “We have picked two sides for Bangladesh, but our mid to long-term focus is on the two World Cup campaigns.”Twenty20 squad Brendon McCullum, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, James Franklin, Gareth Hopkins, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Daniel Vettori (capt), Ian Butler, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee.ODI squad Brendon McCullum, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori (capt), Jacob Oram, Ian Butler, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Andy McKay.

Mitchell Johnson has done some wonderful things this year but his captain Ricky Ponting insists he has never bowled better than during this week’s win over Pakistan in Melbourne. Johnson has finished the calendar year as the world’s leading Test bowler with 63 wickets at 27.42, nine victims clear of Graeme Swann.During 2009 he scored his first Test century and became the first Australian and seventh player ever to achieve the double of 500 Test runs and 50 Test wickets in a calendar year, after Vinoo Mankad, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Flintoff and Daniel Vettori. Johnson capped off the year with six wickets at the MCG and Ponting believes he is thriving without the responsibility of taking the new ball.”He’s got the most wickets for the year, hasn’t he, in Test cricket?” Ponting said. “Right at the moment, he’s doing everything spot-on. I said to him after our first-innings bowling, I think that’s the best he’s probably bowled for us. He’s continuing to get better.”One of the big things for Mitch is the fact he’s not bowling with the new ball. That is something that’s really good for him. We’ve seen at different times how dangerous and damaging he can be with the new ball, but I think we’ve seen here in conditions where the old ball does a little bit as well that that’s when he’s at his most effective.”The figures back up Ponting’s assessment. Although some of Johnson’s most venomous spells have been bowled with the new ball, including his destruction of South Africa in Johannesburg this year, so have many of his worst. In the 30 Test innings where Johnson has taken the new ball he has collected 74 wickets at 29.24 but in 28 innings when used as a change bowler he has picked up 63 victims at 26.65.In part that is due to his struggles to control the swing of the new ball and after his Ashes meltdown at Lord’s, he was stripped of the opening duties and reverted to first change. That move has not been a concern for Johnson, who is the most experienced member of Australia’s young attack and still considers himself its leader.”It didn’t faze me,” Johnson said. “I think I do a pretty good job first change, second change. I’ve come to the conclusion that at the moment I’m happy where I am. I’m still the leader of the attack even though I’m not taking the new ball and I’m really enjoying that role.”Whatever he’s done, it’s working. Johnson was named the ICC’s Cricketer of the Year for 2009 and finished the year with a controlled, consistent display of first-change bowling at the MCG. As important as his six wickets was the way he stifled Pakistan’s runs and he collected match figures of 6 for 82 from 40 overs.He set the tone for Australia’s quick demolition of Pakistan early on the fifth day when he picked up two wickets from two balls in the first over of the morning. Johnson bowled fast, on a good length and moving away from the off-stump line to collect a pair of edges from the right-handers Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq. Johnson did that damage with a ball that was 45 overs old and Ponting said that although Johnson was for now a first-rate first-change, he might return to new-ball duties at some point.”He fits in our team best as that first-change bowler and he’s proven in this game here that with an old ball he’s dangerous,” Ponting said. “He’ll continue to change things, he’ll continue trying to work on becoming a very good new-ball bowler as well and if he’s working hard on that there’s no reason down the track why he can’t become that. His record at first change has been great for us.”

There was little for Sri Lanka to feel happy about. One of the rare moments of celebration came when Muttiah Muralitharan dived to pick a spectacular catch to get rid of Gautam Gambhir, who was marching towards his double century. But Gambhir and Virender Sehwag had already heavily damaged the morale of the Sri Lankan bowlers with a brilliant 233-run opening partnership. The most disheartening aspect, probably, for the Sri Lankans was the slowness of the pitch, which gave the batsmen enough time to pick the gaps.”It was very tough to stop the flow of runs,” Trevor Bayliss, Sri Lanka’s coach, said after the day’s play. “You only had to be a fraction short and the batsmen could go on the backfoot and play an attacking shot. If you pitched it six inches further up they could come forward and drive. The scope for error wasn’t large.”Still, Bayliss admitted that the pitch had good turn and Murali was the lone bowler to extract appreciable spin. In the morning, the visitors had named three specialist spinners in Murali, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath, with the belief that the pitch would start cracking in the latter half of the game. It was not a wise decision as the Indian batsmen comfortably tackled the Sri Lankan trio, giving them no chance to dominate.”The wicket is very slow although there’s turn,” Bayliss said. But he felt the decision to field three spinners wasn’t a wrong one. “Maybe we could have done that [played another fast bowler instead of the third spinner] considering the two pace bowlers were our best bowlers today. They were able to bowl nice and straight and made it a bit more difficult to make runs. You never know. You have three spinners and you need to look forward to play well in this Test.”It was difficult for all three spinners and they stuck at it and kept trying things.Today wasn’t their day.”In that first hour in the morning when Sehwag was being circumspect, Sri Lanka’s new-ball pair of Chanaka Welegedara and Angelo Mathews exerted some control over the Indians but after than none of the bowlers pitched consistently on one spot or tried out different variations.Sehwag believed that it allowed the Indians to relax and go after the spinners. He cited the example of Mendis, who had troubled the Indians last year in Sri Lanka, when he was still an unknown entity. “In Sri Lanka he bowled in good areas and bowled different deliveries and that is why we struggled,” Sehwag said. “But we know his game well now and we tackled him better.”Sehwag was lucky after he was dropped on the third ball he faced, from Welegedara, but Mahela Jayawardene at first slip, towards whom the ball travelled, was distracted by the diving wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene. Though Bayliss didn’t blame anyone over the incident he pointed out the match, probably, might have headed in another direction instead of Sri Lanka staring at a strong possibility of bowling only once in the match.”That would have been nice to take that catch as it could have changed the complexion of the game. But they also have a quality batting line-up, so you never know. We could have put the next guy under pressure and taken a few wickets like we did in the first Test.”

Flying high
There’s been more chance of spotting Chris Gayle in the air than on a cricket ground over the past week, but he stood tall all day and seemed to avoid any nanna naps. Late in the afternoon, when even those who haven’t been flying from Jamaica are trying not to nod off, Gayle was alert enough to leap to his left to claim Michael Clarke’s edge at first slip. It was a stunning take off the bowling of Dwayne Bravo, who celebrated by running to third man for high fives with Jerome Taylor.This is your captain sleeping
Gayle must have been tired after lunch though. He decided to bring himself on when Bravo had been worrying Michael Hussey at the start of his innings. Two smart fours from Hussey woke up Gayle and he took himself off at the first chance, but not before Hussey had switched into gear on the way to 66.Unsuccessful review
The players didn’t have to wait long for the first call for the ICC’s newly installed umpiring review system. Ponting was 30 when West Indies doubted Ian Gould’s judgment on an lbw decision after the debutant Ravi Rampaul beat the captain. As a shower passed over the ground, the third umpire sent the decision back to Gould, who maintained his not-out verdict. Hawk-eye showed the ball clipping the top of the bails, but under the new regulations any element of doubt favours the on-field official’s decision.Six appeal
Most batsmen are put off hooking when there are two men back, but Ponting wasn’t overly bothered by the offerings of Rampaul. In the over before lunch there was a deep square-leg and a fine-leg when Rampaul pitched short and Ponting, who was unlikely to have heard the no-ball call, went at it hard. The ball sailed over Jerome Taylor at fine-leg and went for six, bringing up Ponting’s half-century.Sit-up, Shiv
At 35, Shivnarine Chanderpaul mustn’t feel like he has the stomach for Test cricket. During breaks in play he will lie on the ground and do sit-ups to tone his abs for the battles ahead. It looked like one of those schoolboy trainings sessions where punishment is handed out for dropped catches or misfields. Chanderpaul’s time in the field was fine but a few of his team-mates need some work including Sulieman Benn, who missed Simon Katich on 81 with a clumsy attempt at forward cover.Open season
Shane Watson’s lbw problems are not limited to England. Despite a strong one-day campaign in India, Watson’s return to the Test team showed a familiar problem. In the third over he didn’t offer a shot to a ball from Taylor that angled in and was lbw. In four Tests, Watson has fallen that way five times in six innings. Now he has to put up with at least a couple of days of people in New South Wales pushing for a return for Phillip Hughes.

Sachin Tendulkar has rated the first-round exit in the 2007 World Cup as the worst moment of his professional career, and said the debacle was because the batting order “was not right”.India crashed out after defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the opening phase of the tournament, which took place at the end of Greg Chappell’s tumultuous two years as coach.”I felt our batting order was not right,” Tendulkar told the news channel . He has usually preferred to open the batting in one-dayers but was sent in at No. 4 in that World Cup. “It was a big tournament and we had a fantastic team. Everything looked well set but I felt our batting order was not right. This was one of the reasons (behind India’s early ouster).”He also spoke about his two stints as national captain, which are widely viewed as disappointing. “No regrets at all. Captaining is not about an individual but a team,” he said. “Of course it was painful whenever the team lost but losing the 2007 World Cup was more disappointing.”Tendulkar, who will complete 20 years in international cricket in four days’ time, said he was targeting the 2011 World Cup title. “Touch wood, my body is holding up nicely. Of course I’m looking forward to the 2011 World Cup and by God’s grace we should be able to achieve what we want to achieve.”

ScorecardAnother Zimbabwe Under-19 wicket goes down•Zimbabwe Cricket

It was another convincing showing by the Pakistan Under-19s as they beat Zimbabwe U-19s by 36 runs at the St John’s College Ground. After Azeem Ghumman had propped up Pakistan with a watchful 41, the bowlers, led by Usman Qadir, shot out the hosts for 115 by the 37th over.Put in by Zimbabwe, Pakistan lost Babar Azam early, but a 43-run partnership between Ghumman and Hammad Azam steadied them. While Hammad hit six fours and a six during his 52-ball 36, Ghumman managed just the one boundary in his 83-ball stay. Legspinner Tinotenda Mutombodzi and right-arm fast bowler Tendai Chitara were the stars for Zimbabwe with the ball, picking up four and three wickets respectively, as the visitors were bowled out in the 47th over.Zimbabwe never looked like having a chance in the chase, as left-arm fast bowler Abdul Ameer and slow left-armer Raza Hasan made light work of the top- and middle-order. Legspinner Qadir then took charge and, though Zimbabwe resisted with a 35-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Mutombodzi and Nathan Waller, his 3 for 41 helped complete the formalities.The next match is slated for Wednesday at the same venue.

Afghanistan, Ireland, Papua New Guinea and the USA booked their tickets to the ICC Under-19 World Cup after victories in Tuesday’s round of matches. Two more qualifying spots remain in now what promises to be an exciting finish to the nine-team tournament in King City.Afghanistan, who arrived late for the tournament due to visa issues, sealed their passage to next year’s event in New Zealand with a three-wicket victory over Uganda. Zakiullah Zaki’s 3 for 22 helped Afghanistan bowl out Uganda for 182 before they overhauled the target with 7.2 overs to spare.”I am very happy especially for the people back in Afghanistan,” said captain Shir Mohammad Shirzai. “It is a great achievement for the country. All the boys are really excited. It has been a dream to play in a World Cup against some of the big nations like India and Pakistan.”Ireland maintained their supremacy at the top of the points table after crushing Hong Kong by 93 runs. Captain Andrew Balbirnie’s 70, along with James Shannon’s unbeaten 68, helped Ireland post a competitive 252 for 7. Hong Kong were flattened for 159 in the chase with George Dockrell (6 for 19) and Liam Nelson (4 for 30) the wreckers-in-chief. Ashish Gadhia was left playing a lone hand for Hong Kong with 58.Balbirnie said his side was delighted to qualify for the main tournament. “It’s huge for us to qualify, particularly when we have got two games of our campaign still in hand,” he said. “Now the aim is to move on and win the tournament and I think we can do that as we have done really well here, apart from the loss to the USA. Our aim is to beat a Test playing nation at the World Cup. We know it will be a big task as we know how good players from those countries are.”He also thanked Phil Simmons, the senior team coach, who had been in Toronto during the tournament to watch proceedings. “It’s been really good to have Phil here as he is an experienced coach and player,” Balbirnie said. “He has been talking to us one on one to help improve our games and it has been great for him to be here.”USA made quick amends after their first loss yesterday, beating Netherlands comfortably by 33 runs at the Maple Leaf South-West Ground. It was all stops and starts once USA chose to bat, with Abhijit Joshi’s patient 26 being the highest score of the innings. The Netherlands bowlers maintained a tight line with Philip van den Brandeler (3 for 48) leading the way and Lucas Brouwers and Paul van Meekeren chipping in with two wickets apiece. Naseer Jamali provided some late ammunition for USA with a quick 25 to inch the score past 200.Thirties from opener Mels Hartman and captain Tim Gruijters looked to have put Netherlands on course during the chase before legspinner Saqib Saleem turned on the heat. Having provided USA with the first breakthrough by running out Dennis Coster, Saleem prised open the middle order and end any chance of a Netherlands fight. He picked up 3 for 42 as Netherlands were bowled out in the 46th over.”People don’t realise that cricket is growing fast in the USA,” said USA captain Shiva Vashishat. “But now that we have qualified for the World Cup, it shows the pace of its growth and popularity of the sport. We are looking forward to come hard at the bigger teams at the World Cup and do well. It will be a very good experience as we all want to make it to the senior team.”Papua New Guinea made light work of Vanuatu at the Maple Leaf North-East Ground, chasing down a below-par 194 with five wickets in hand. Batting first, Vanuatu got off to a positive start with openers Lazaro Carlot (40) and Walford Kalworai (38) putting on 68, but legspinner Charles Amini picked up 4 for 32 to undo the good work. Amini’s two middle-order wickets and two from the tail effectively ended any chances of consolidation from Vanuatu. Well-compiled thirties from Lega Tau, Sese Bau and Vagi Oala then steered Papua New Guinea home in the 42nd over, although it was Amini’s efforts with the ball that won him the Man-of-the-Match award.”I didn’t really expect to win the award,” said Amini, who was also part of the Papua New Guinea squad during the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. “We’re still not satisfied with everything we have achieved here – we want to win all our games and finish on the podium. I definitely want to get a chance to play at the World Cup again. I think we have the potential to do well as we have lots of stars in our team.”With Sierra Leone ejected from the tournament over visa issues, Canada picked up two points by virtue of a walkover.

Virender Sehwag, the India batsman who is undergoing rehabilitation after a shoulder injury, has targeted next month’s Champions Trophy for a return. Sehwag missed the World Twenty20 in June due to the injury, sustained during the semi-final of the IPL.He was operated on June 11, and was expected to be ruled out for 12 to 16 weeks. “I am hoping to play in the ICC Champions Trophy,” he said. “My rehabilitation is going well. But I can’t bat or throw yet.”Sehwag was at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore as part of his rehabilitation last month, and will report back on August 15 to get an assessment on how his recovery is progressing.India have had a great run in one-dayers over the past year, winning five bilateral series in a row, but injuries threaten their chances at the Champions Trophy. Their pace spearhead, Zaheer Khan, has already been ruled out of the tournament, and Sehwag’s availability is still uncertain.

When Great White Sharks patrol the Southern Seas, it’s not the quantities of their kills that count, but the certainties. The best and most dangerous predators can go days, even weeks, without feeding. It what happens when they finally scent blood that makes them the creatures they are.For three innings and 59 overs of the final Test at The Oval, Steve Harmison basked in the warmth of a sunny Oval outfield, superfluous to his team’s requirements, but lurking nonetheless, with a menace that is the preserve of only the biggest beasts. Up until that point he had bowled four overs in the first innings, and five at the start of the second – his impact deadened on a wicket as helpful to him as a sun-lounger to a barracuda.But then, on the fourth afternoon, with Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting beginning to work through their repertoire and – in Andrew Strauss’s admission – despair beginning to encroach on England’s thoughts, Harmison’s gills twitched and he was ordered in for the kill. His final-day contribution was devastating, sudden, and panic-inducing, as in two spells of five and six overs, he transformed the dynamics of the contest.Harmison’s second stint was the money shot, as he filleted Australia’s tail with three breakthroughs in 13 balls to take his summer’s first-class tally to 58 wickets at 20.58. But his first stint made the difference, as Hussey – his anxiety palpable as his Test career hung in the balance – immediately abandoned his calm accumulation in favour of panic.Sensing the hunter was about to turn hunted, Hussey carved madly at Harmison’s second ball before being hit on the bicep by the sixth, and the spell was only three overs old when he clipped the fatal single that caused his captain to be run out by Andrew Flintoff at mid-on. “I wasn’t expecting too many ultra-quick singles to be taken at that stage of the game,” said Ponting, through gritted teeth. But such is the impact that Harmison can effect.And that is especially true against Australia, for his reputation in Ashes cricket is as curious as they come. It will of course forever be recalled for two grotesquely contrasting performances – his first-day rampage at Lord’s in 2005, when he clanged Justin Langer’s elbow and drew blood on Ricky Ponting’s cheek, and his freeze on the first morning at Brisbane 18 months later, when Andrew Flintoff fielded his opening delivery of the series at second slip.But regardless of the accusations, most of them justified, of his apparent mental fragility, there’s scarcely an Australian who is willing to risk a bad word about him. The cricketers who have faced him recall and respect the hold he took of the key moments in 2005, and are able to accept – more readily than any Englishman – that in some environments he simply comes across as a (big) fish out of water.With that in mind, his contribution to this decisive final day mirrored the role he had played for England all summer – best described by Vic Marks in The Observer as England’s nuclear deterrent. From the moment he roughed up Phillip Hughes in Australia’s pre-series tussle against the Lions in Worcester, there had been a puzzling reluctance to unleash such mayhem on the enemy, and yet a great delight in parading him, Soviet style, from city to city in a show of the nation’s strength.It was a role that Harmison accepted with relish, for he knows full well the unease he can cause. “They don’t seem to be the confident Australia I’ve known,” he announced during that Worcester performance. “There are things you pick up on like body language. I’ve seen a little chink there. It is understandable because there are not the players in their side from bygone years.”It turns out that he had a point. Harmison has now played Tests in four separate Ashes campaigns – the same as Brett Lee and second only to Ponting among squad members on either side. Like Andrew Flintoff, his ultimate career figures will prove to be less than the sum of his potential; unlike Flintoff, it is hard to claim that he ever gave it his all.But that’s the thing with predators. They turn up when they chose, and generally when they know it is safe to do so. For all his innumerable flaws, Harmison has laid his hands on a brace of Ashes-winners medals, while securing a notch in fast-bowling folklore. It all adds up to the impression that he timed his feeding frenzies well.

Division One

Boeta Dippenaar on his way to 86 for Leicestershire•Getty Images

Division One leaders, Durham, established a stranglehold on their match against Sussex at Chester-le-Street after a strong performance from their batsmen on the opening day. They lost Mark Stoneman early for 5 – caught off Yasir Arafat – but that wicket was Sussex’s only success for a long time as Michael Di Venuto and Will Smith combined for a 235-run partnership for the second wicket. Di Venuto ended the day unbeaten on 141 but Smith was bowled by Corey Collymore for 101 shortly before stumps as Durham reached 264 for 2 at stumps.Nottinghamshire’s bowlers found the going tough at Taunton as a succession of Somerset batsmen got stuck in and led the hosts to 316 for 5 at the end of the first day. Marcus Trescothick, who became the first batsmen past 1000 runs for the season, dominated an opening stand of 45 with Arul Suppiah but was dismissed for 37 off 40 balls when he edged to slip. Suppiah carried on to score 51 and shared a 122-run stand with Justin Langer, who made 79. Somerset had a scare when they lost Suppiah, Langer and Wes Durston in the space of five runs, all to Ryan Sidebottom in a burst after lunch, but Zander de Bruyn and Craig Kieswetter struck half-centuries, in a stand of 108 in 28 overs, to lead their team to a strong position. Sidebottom was easily Nottinghamshire’s best bowler as he finished with 3 for 65 to push his claims for an England recall.Worcestershire’s patched up pace struggled to make the most of helpful conditions as local rivals Warwickshire reached 309 at new Road. Richard Jones and Gareth Andrews shared seven wickets, but the visitors’ innings was held together by three positive half centuries even if they paid the price for not building on the starts. The in-form Jonathan Trott, talked about as a possible England candidate, hit 67 before edging Jones to the keeper to leave Warwickshire on 160 for 5. Tim Ambrose, crucially dropped on 0 at square leg, and Rikki Clarke then provided the best stand of the innings as they added 116, Ambrose hitting 63 off 72 balls with 13 boundaries and Clarke reaching 50. However, both fell in quick succession – Ambrose caught off Matt Mason and Clarke bowled by Jones – as the last five wickets fell for 33.Click here for John Ward’s report from the first day between Lancashire and Yorkshire at Old Trafford

Division Two

A half-century from No. 11 Steffan Jones lifted Derbyshire from 233 for 9 to 303 on the first day against Kent in Canterbury. Jones is no mug with the bat – he has two first-class hundreds and six half-centuries – and he cracked 53 off 55 balls after Derbyshire had failed to capitalize after winning the toss. Chris Rogers provided a steady start with 53 and Wavell Hinds made 74 but no two batsmen stayed together long enough to forge a substantial partnership. James Tredwell cut through the middle order with 4 for 92 while Amjad Khan and Simon Cook took two apiece to give Kent the advantage before Jones’ late resistance in a stand of 70 with Jake Needham. Kent’s openers Joe Denly and Robert Key added 49 before Denly fell – pushing outside off stump – to the final ball of the day.Three Northamptonshire batsmen scored half-centuries but Middlesex’s bowlers, Steve Finn and Alan Richardson, took three wickets apiece to restrict the visitors to 288 for 9 at Lord’s. The visitors lost five wickets in the final hour to spoil the hard of the top order. Northamptonshire lost Stephen Peters for 13 but Ben Howgego and Rob White added 87 for the second wicket. White made 51 before carving to deep point and a wobble left Northamptonshire on 157 for 4. Alex Wakely and Nicky Boje, however, scored 61 and 55 to steady the innings but another stumble, after Wakely was dismissed by a full ball from Shaun Udal with the score on 254, gave the advantage back to Middlesex.Leicestershire suffered an early jolt against Surrey at The Oval, when Matthew Boyce was run out 1 by Chris Schofield to the third ball of the day, but the rest of the top-order batsmen weighed in to lead them to 291 for 4 at stumps. Greg Smith, on his first Championship appearance of the season, and Boeta Dippenaar added 139 for the second wicket but there was another period of uncertainty for Leicestershire when both batsmen in a short span. Dippenaar was out for 89 and Smith for 46 – after adding 5 runs in 90 minutes after lunch – both dismissed by Jade Dernbach, leaving the visitors on 153 for 3. HD Ackerman and James Taylor, however, forged another sound partnership too keep Surrey at bay. Ackerman was dismissed for 75 but Taylor remained unbeaten on 53.A brisk century from Alex Gidman, aided by solid contributions from the other batsmen, led Gloucestershire to a position of strength against Glamorgan in Bristol. Gloucestershire’s top-order batsmen gave their team a steady start after getting sent in but they kept falling after getting set. Adam Shantry picked up the openers – Kadeer Ali made 53 – while William Porterfield and Hamish Marshall went for 22 and 43. As a result, Gloucestershire were at 195 for 4 before Gidman converted his start into a substantial score. He added 118 for the fifth wicket with Chris Taylor and remained not out on 122 to steer Gloucestershire to 337 for 5 at stumps.