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Somerset’s hopes of defending their title are now slimmer than a catwalk model following a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Northamptonshire at Taunton. David Sales struck 62 not out from 42 balls to take his side home with three balls remaining. Justin Langer made 97 off 60 balls to lift Somerset to 188 for 6 and set Northants a stiff ask. But, despite Charl Willoughby’s restrictive 3 for 30, the visitors responded in style.Glamorgan and Warwickshire had to make do with a point each when rain washed out their match at Cardiff after just three overs. Preparations were made to have a six-over-a-side thrash but another deluge put paid to those ambitions. The match was finally abandoned at 9pm.

North

No change at the top as Nottinghamshire maintained their winning ways, beating Yorkshire by seven wickets in the final over at Headingley. In truth, the result was hardly in doubt with Stephen Fleming and Graeme Swann at the helm, giving them a decent start. Yorkshire were then in trouble at 22 for 3 – and had reached only 50 for 3 by the ten-over mark – but some powerful hitting lifted them to 160. Yet it wasn’t enough.Leicestershire dispatched Derbyshire for the second time in a fortnight to give themselves a chance of making the quarter-finals. HD Ackerman’s 41-ball fifty boosted Leicestershire to a par 161 for 6, and then some tight bowling at the death helped them to an 18-run victory at Leicester. Steve Stubbings gave Derbyshire their best chance with a fifty but when he holed out to long-on the momentum seeped away from the innings and Leicestershire grabbed the points.

Rain left Natal 63 runs shy of what would have been their first win in a first-class match this season.Instead, the match was drawn as Natal’s progress was halted at 198 for four in search of a target of 261 with 36 overs still to be bowled.The home side earned their shot at victory by efficiently wrapping upGriqualand West’s second innings for 222 after they had resumed on 167 forfive. Griquas scored 279 in their first innings, to which Natal replied with241.That meant Griquas’ last five wickets, which tumbled in 17.1 overs, wereworth just 55 runs. As has been the trend throughout this match, battingerrors rather than penetrative bowling caused most of those wickets to fall.The last of them belonged to 20-year-old number seven Johan Louw, whoconverted his overnight 14 into a solid 50, his maiden first-classhalf-century in only his second match.The visitors’ most stubborn partnership on the final day was mounted by Louwand Zahir Abraham, who added 49 for the eighth wicket.Natal’s run chase was entertainingly sparked by Ahmed Amla, who went afterGriquas’ mediocre bowling with gusto to score 69 off 115 balls with ten foursbefore being trapped in front by medium pacer Louw ten overs from theenforced close.The elegant Amla rode his luck and was dropped three times, each time offthe bowling of off-spinner Martyn Gidley and twice by the bowler himself.Amla’s dismissal ended a fourth-wicket stand of 55 shared with his captain,Dale Benkenstein, who took over the aggressor’s role impressively to finishwith 42 struck off 53 balls, including two fours and three sixes.Griquas were hampered by the absence of fast bowler Wayne Kidwell, whorequired four stitches after splitting the webbing between his thumb andforefinger while fielding.

Silly season has come early, again. But is it time to take Twenty20 more seriously? Surrey certainly think so – they hope success could turn their season around after a shocking start.They’ve got the pedigree to give it their best shot; winning it the first year and reaching the finals day in the other three competitions. Adam Hollioake was their captain in 2003, but they turned down his approach this year – that’s how confident they are in their youngsters.Twenty20, while acknowledged as a commercial and spectator success, has still often been dismissed hit-and-giggle, but it helped launch England’s campaign against Australia in 2005 – to Ricky Ponting’s peril after he had initially laughed the game off.One Australian who isn’t laughing now is Matt Nicholson, Surrey’s pace bowler, whose side have had the smiles wiped off their faces this year. “It’s a good opportunity to use this as a springboard for the rest of the season and get a momentum going,” he says. “Let’s start from now and look forward and look upwards.”But while England’s Ashes winners used the game to do exactly that, they also benefited from a first-choice first-class eleven. It may be too late for them to stage a complete turnaround, but the mid-summer madness of Twenty20 is perfectly timed for some relief, take a breather, mental time away from first-class.Surrey’s bowling is still probably too weak to help them turn round their fortunes in the Championship. Yet never say never; as Nicholson says: “Cricket is a confidence game. If we can get some confidence back in the line-up we can go forward for the rest of the season”.The players can see the lighter side, of course: even James Benning, who should be seriously thinking about England honours in the Twenty20 World Cup this September. Sometimes he doesn’t even do any pre-match preparations: “It depends what time I turn up. It’s a bit more relaxed.” All the same, an increasingly serious element is creeping in.

Chris Schofield, who’s been given a second life with Surrey after wandering lonely under a cloud for three years, is keen to be playing any kind of cricket these days. He’s not messing around. “I’m playing all the one-day games,” he says earnestly. “Things are looking up. I played the first two years of Twenty20 with Lancashire. I absolutely loved it and am looking forward to it again.”The game may be markedly different in tempo – and provides a huge contrast with the Tests that have just dragged on – but is it essentially that different? “Don’t forget the basics,” says Nicholson. Yet there are, naturally, differences. “While it’s competitive and you desperately want to win, “it’s not as hard on the body as the four-day game.”Most blokes have played enough cricket to realise if they’re playing a four-day game they have to put their head down a bit. If they’re playing a Twenty20 you’ve got to get on with it.”There are further differences in both batting and (all kinds of) bowling. For fielding, of course, you need to be as sharp as ever. How does batting differ? Benning’s top tips for batting are: “Keep to what you’re good at. Play strong cricket shots. Get in the gym. Watch the ball hard. And enjoy it. Keep in your comfort zones and expand your game through time and effort.”

Nicholson has these hints for pace bowling. “The key is getting the ball to move. If you’re bowling straight you’re probably in a bit of trouble. Offcutters or swinging the ball or a change of pace… if you’re moving the ball you’ve got half a chance of taking wickets which puts them on the back foot.”At the end, it’s a change of pace: a few in the blockhole, a few at their head. Variation, confuse them a little bit.”Spin bowling in Twenty20s is almost the polar opposite to first-class, at least for Schofield. As he explains: “With Championship cricket you try to float the ball up and make the batter make mistakes, whereas with one-day cricket you bowl a bit flatter. One-day, what you’re trying to do is not let the batters free their arms.”My main objective will be to just try and keep it down for a minimum. The wickets come anyway, it’s just trying to contain them. You bowl your four overs – to go for 30 or less you’re doing a good job.”The Surrey batsmen will be walking out to the Clash classic, London Calling. But it’s not just London who are calling for some good cricket. There is so much cricket that there is a danger of overkill – but not, it seems, for the short game, which is selling out fast. “Three hours is good for everyone,” says Schofield. “People can have a few beers then go out afterwards.”And it remains a good way in for new supporters, attractive to children – and of course to the money men. Packed crowds, sun and fun are what it’s all about and where it’s at. So, grab them before they’re all snapped up.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndre Russell whacked 46 off 20 balls•Getty Images

Needing a win to stay in contention for their first Big Bash League semi-finals, Sydney Thunder turned out in style and sank Sydney Sixers in front of a record crowd. Thunder had lost their previous four games, missed their preferred opening partnership, but produced a clinical performance with the bat to post the season’s highest score. Quick contributions from Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, and Andre Russell powered Thunder to 202. The bowlers then dismissed Sixers for 156 to cap off an impressive all-round performance.Thunder are now safe, so long as one of the Melbourne teams lose their final games, or else they enter the murky world of net run-rate. Either way, in keeping their side of the qualification bargain, Thunder pulled the plug on Sixers’ season.It was not all plain sailing, though. To remain in contention for finals themselves, Sixers had to win inside 16 overs. And when Nic Maddinson was joined by Brad Haddin in pursuit of 203, Hussey, playing his final game in Sydney, looked anxious, and with good reason. Thirty of Maddinson’s first fifty runs came in sixes, and he was swinging with such power that the back of his bat simply flew off as he tried to drill offspinner Chris Green down the ground.

Players support Carters’ charity Batting for Change

Each six hit at the SCG had a touch more significance as the players personally pledged AU$775 to Sydney Sixers’ wicketkeeper Ryan Carters’ charity Batting for Change. In its second edition, the Batting for Change cup was retained by Thunder, after their opening night win at Spotless Stadium in December.
In total, 17 sixes were hit, raising $13,175, which will take Batting for Change to within $10,000 of their target of $120,000.
Shane Watson hit three sixes, raising $2,325, while Andre Russell’s supreme display saw him clear the rope four times. Remarkably, within 19 balls, Sixers captain Nic Maddinson – a long-time supporter of Batting for Change – had overtaken as the hosts set about chasing Thunder’s 202.
Carters founded Batting for Change ahead of BBL03. He raised around $30,000 for Heartland School in Kathmandu in the first season, and $108,000 (Sixers played two extra games as they reached the Grand Final) for the education of 500 women in Mumbai in BBL04. This season, the charity has been raising money to fund bachelor degrees for another 500 women at the SPRJ Kanyashala Trust in Mumbai, as well as for 100 women in rural Sri Lanka.
The charity works by taking pledges – say, $10 – from donors for every six hit by the Sixers during the BBL season.

Green proved an unlikely staller for the Thunder. Brought into the attack with Sixers on the charge, he had Haddin caught sweeping second ball and conceded just five runs in his first two overs. Maddinson’s blitz ended when he was caught brilliantly by a diving Henry Nicholls at long-on off legspinner Fawad Ahmed the following over. Sixers were 118 for 4 in the 13th over, and they added very little to that.With the bat, Thunder could have done little more. Watson, promoted to open in the absence of Usman Khawaja and Jacques Kallis, veritably ghosted to 66 off 41 balls. Hussey anchored the innings, while Russell was in brutal form, fearlessly clearing his front leg and throwing his hands to launch four sixes in the death to propel Thunder.Despite a torrid start to the tournament, Watson has been in fine form in 2016. This innings was marked by his staples: hard-hit pulls, booming front-foot drives, attractive cuts, slog-sweeps to the spinners and three stunning sixes too. All good signs with the World T20 around the corner. Either side of sending Doug Bollinger sailing down the ground, he went after Nathan Lyon, nailing him over cow corner, then long-on. Aiden Blizzard, who joined Watson at the top, pulled a Johan Botha half-tracker for a six, but fell to the first ball of the seventh over, Sean Abott’s first.Watson built for six more overs with Hussey, before he was caught at long-on attempting another biff. Hussey was smart as ever, pulling boundaries behind square and running with the speed of a man half his age. It was a surprise to see Nicholls come in at No.4 before Russell, but the New Zealander did not last long, miscuing Lyon to backward point.Russell then set to work immediately, with a violently-pulled six followed by a magnificently orthodox cover-driven four off Ben Dwarshius. Jackson Bird was then belted for a six, before Russell got stuck into Bollinger. There was a six over cow corner, a drive through cover, and a pull despite taking his eyes off the shot contained in a single over, the 18th. It took a moment of genius to eventually dismiss Russell as Botha tossed up catch on the long-off fence to his alert team-mate Jordan Silk. A cameo from Ben Rohrer then took Thunder past 200, where they looked safe.After Michael Lumb fell early, Sixers’ chase was all about Maddinson. He was in sublime touch and looked set to pull off a heist, even if not quite quickly enough. He struck Russell for successive leg-side sixes, then gave Fawad the same treatment down the ground. Watson was next to be sent for a six and a four, before the debutant Nathan McAndrew was bullied.Green, however, arrived and slows things up, while Fawad attacked the new batsmen. Slowly but surely, Sixers’ dominoes fell, and Thunder completed the job.

The declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan has cast a shadow over the national team’s tour of India, but is not expected to result in the tour being called off.The Pakistan Cricket Board is yet to come out with an official statement – that could happen after the country’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, addresses the nation later on Saturday – but a senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the series would not be affected at all because it is taking place in India.The Pakistan team is in New Delhi, having arrived in India on November 1, and is expected to leave for Guwahati tomorrow. “As far as we are concerned, we have not received any instructions from the PCB,” Ehsan Malik, the team’s media manager, told . “We are continuing to do what we have been doing.”

It was a remarkable finale to the season, the title race going down to the last ball of the last match. The day ebbed and flowed but in the end Lancashire fell agonisingly, tantalisingly short of ending 73 years of waiting for a Championship. The title was Sussex’s, but it was a damned close-run thing.Lancashire’s quest ended in heroic failure after a nail-biting season finale at The Oval. Having been set a county record 489 to win against Surrey, Lancashire fell 24 runs short as their last remaining hope, Dominic Cork, was bowled by Murtaza Hussain for 47 with the shadows lengthening and four-and-a-bit overs remaining.On what the groundsman Bill Gordon told Cricinfo was “still a decent track”, Lancashire lost two early wickets before VVS Laxman and Stuart Law set them on their way. At lunch they were 178 for 2, up with the asking rate of five an over, and they continued that pace in the afternoon, despite losing Laxman for a superb hundred. The match turned in the penultimate over of the afternoon session when Jade Dernbach removed Law and Steve Croft.Lancashire’s tail refused to buckle. Glenn Chapple made 29 and Sajid Mahmood 26, but Surrey continued to chip away to keep Sussex and Lancashire supporters on tenterhooks. When Oliver Newby was dismissed by Jade Dernbach for 4, Lancashire were still 37 runs adrift with only the No. 11 Gary Keedy to come, and valiantly though they tried, the requirement was just too much.The Championship trophy and cheque for £100,000 had been waiting at Hove but ECB officials were poised to rush back to London. In the end Cork sized up a sweep shot, Murtaza defeated his flailing bat, and the dream was over. At the end of it all, Lancashire’s captain Mark Chilton was in tears. “I am proud of what our guys have done today,” he said. “They’ve been fabulous. I thought to even get close was a phenomenal effort …the lads are just broken.”Meanwhile Sussex’s victorious captain, Chris Adams, had been looking on nervously in the Hove dressing-room. “It’s been the most excruciating afternoon,” he said. “We were panicking like hell in there.”Sussex had earlier completed their side of the bargain by wrapping up a comfortable win over an already relegated Worcestershire at Hove. The visitors resumed on 190 for 5, still 129 short of making Sussex bat again, and showed some fight to frustrate the home support and to extend the game to the brink of lunch.

Almost inevitably it was Mushtaq Ahmed that broke a fifth-wicket stand of 117 when he bowled Moeen Ali for 85, but still Worcestershire refused to lie down. Gareth Batty and Kabir Ali put on 43 for the sixth wicket before Robin Martin-Jenkins bowled Kabir and then Mushtaq completed his second five-for of the match when Batty was well stumped by Andy Hodd. Adams took a good, low slip catch, again off Mushtaq, to remove Richard Jones and the victory was sealed when Mushtaq, who finished with 7 for 132 and match figures of 13 for 225, had Nadeem Malik caught of a bat-pad at silly point.With the Lancashire result still to come, Adams, the captain, spoke to a large crowd on the PA to thank them for their support. “It’s strange,” he said. “People have turned out in huge numbers, we’ve said thanks to and we can do no more … we just have to sit and wait.” it proved to be a long wait as well.Adams praised the contribution of Mushtaq who he admitted he had “bowled into the ground … not that he’ll mind.” He continued: “It’s not only his ability, it’s his commitment, his desire to keep bowling overs. He just turns up and keeps churning out the overs and waning to take wickets. He’s a fabulous character and he inspires so many of the other players. It’ll be a sad day when he goes.”Sussex’s players all hugged each when the last wicket fell other but the celebrations were muted as the title was still not confirmed as theirs. The win took them above Durham but they could still have been caught if Lancashire had pulled off their remarkable rearguard.After a washout yesterday the match between Hampshire and Yorkshire at Headingley was abandoned.

Final Championship Table

The man who endorsed Bennett King as coach of the West Indies team four years ago has regrets today.Dr Rudi Webster, who suggested to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that King would be a good choice after observing him at the Shell Cricket Academy in 2000, also feels that King should be given his walking papers if his record doesn’t improve.”I’m seeing a side of him now that I didn’t recognise,” Webster said. “His motivation when he was at the academy was very different from what it is now. I think he saw the academy as a stepping stone to a higher level, so he was really excellent.”Webster was speaking during a conference for senior Caribbean sports journalists at which he said King sent his application and his CV to him before it was forwarded to the WICB.”I’m sorry to say that I’m the person who recommended him to the WICB,” Webster said, also expressing his displeasure over certain comments made by King. “Having achieved his goal, and having been given the enormous power he has, and being an academic coach who describes people like some of our great players, and some of the great Australian players as dinosaurs.”Dinosaurs. I think that is the greatest insult from someone who has not had any achievement in international cricket, just two or three titles with Queensland. We have a fellow in Barbados, Hendy Springer, who has six or seven wins.”I think it is dreadful that someone like that could say such things about these great players and his great cricketers from Australia when he himself has achieved nothing in international cricket.”

Indian board president Sharad Pawar has said that plans for an international Twenty20 tournament would be unveiled within the next “10 to 15 days” as the BCCI stepped up its response to the Indian Cricket League (ICL).”We don’t see any threat from the ICL,” Pawar told AFP. “The BCCI has been working for the past two years [on a tournament] that will involve current players, newcomers, retired players and foreign players. We will be announcing our plans in the next 10-15 days.”It had been reported that the BCCI was on the verge of forming a two-tier cricket league – the Professional Cricket Leagues – that would involve domestic leagues in four countries and an international league. It was believed to be along the lines of professional football, with clubs being able to hire players from wherever they like to play in a Twenty20 format. Cricket Australia (CA) was believed to be involved in the process and the International Management Group (IMG), the event manager, was putting it all together.Echoing warnings from other administrators, Pawar said Indian players who joined the ICL risked being excluded from official cricket. “The ICL is a purely commercial proposition. It doesn’t do what the BCCI does for cricket at all levels in India. The players associated with the BCCI have to choose in which direction they want to go.”The ICL, bankrolled by Subhash Chandra, who owns Indian media company Zee Telefilms, planned to hold Twenty20 tournaments between six teams for the next three years. ICL officials said they had signed up several international stars and 44 Indian first-class cricketers, adding that more top players from around the world were expected to join.Former Test captains Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq lead the ICL roster that also included Pakistan players Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat, and South Africans Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje. South African allrounder Andrew Hall and former Australian batsman Damien Martyn have also been linked to the ICL.

India are set to play a two-day practice game against a Kwazulu Natal Invitation XI ahead of the second Test against South Africa on Durban, starting on December 26. The match will be held at Northwood Crusaders Cricket Club, starting on December 22.Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, had talked about the considerable gap between the first and second Tests and how important it was for the players to keep themselves match-fit. “A lot of our guys have been sitting on bench and they could easily lose form, so it’s important to keep them in loop,” Vengsarkar had said. He’d stressed that such a game would benefit a player like Munaf Patel, the fast bowler who’d missed the first Test owing to a sore ankle.KZN Invitation XI Rivash Gobind (captain), Imraan Khan, Ross McMillan, Martin Bekker, Cedric Mabuya, Michael van Vuuren, Darren Smit, Robert Frylinck, T Pillay, Saidi Mhlongo, Ugasen Govender, M. Serame, Coach: Y. Ebrahim

How important was it personally to follow up the 148 against Pakistan with an innings of real substanceIt was very important. The 183 not out [Jaipur] was very satisfying because the conditions were so different. Against Pakistan, we had batted first, but in this case, we were chasing a very big total.Did it give you extra satisfaction that three of your innings against Sri Lanka involved being there at the end of a run-chase, a familiar Achilles Heel of Indian sides in the past?I’m just happy that I fulfilled the responsibility that was given to me by the team management. It doesn’t matter whether it was batting first or chasing, I did what I was asked to do.How have you adjusted to being shunted up and down the order?It’s been a new thing for me. I’ve batted at a lot of different slots in the past few games, as high as No.3 and as low as No.8. But I’m getting used to it now.How have innings like the 148 and 183* affected your life, and added to the pressure?There’s always pressure to do well when you play for your country, but when I get to the middle, it all disappears. I never think of such things while batting.Which bowler have you found the hardest to face since making your debut?I think all international bowlers can test you. But Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Bond were certainly testing.How hard do you work on fitness, given the double-role that you have to play?We work very hard. It also depends on the preparation you do in off-season, and also the in-season training that we do with Greg King.Do you feel your wicketkeeping has improved, and do you think you might get a chance in the Test team now? I’ve worked very hard on improving my keeping, but that’s a question you should ask the selectors. When I’ve been given a chance in ODIs, I have done well. Hopefully, I can do well if given a chance in Tests too.Are there any areas of wicketkeeping that you have worked on specifically? Mainly just footwork. I’ve been concentrating on that.Is it difficult keeping to the likes of Harbhajan on Indian pitches? Of course. Both Anil bhai [Kumble] and Harbhajan are a real challenge. But personally, I find keeping to Veeru [Sehwag] even more difficult. Don’t ask me why! (smiles).How do you account for the dramatic turnaround in India’s fortunes since Zimbabwe?That’s a question that Greg Chappell, as coach, is best equipped to answer (laughs).