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Hampshire sunk to a two day defeat against bottom club Derbyshire in the Frizzell County Championship at The Rose Bowl. Dominic Cork’s side outplayed Hampshire at both batting and bowling in what was a disapointing display by the home side.Derbyshire’s last four wickets added a further 155 runs to their first innings overnight tally, as Nathan Dumelow led the charge with a run a ball career best 75. Dumelow hit 13 fours and a six and was aided by some loose bowling and poor fielding including two apparently straightforward catches being dropped.Dimitri Mascarenhas was the pick of the Hampshire bowlers as he toiled in the heat in an attempt to stem the tide. Chaminda Vaas in his first Championship match took 4 wickets. James Bruce proved expensive, but he was the unlucky bowler to see chances go astray as butterfingers seem to rule.With a lead of 198, Derbyshire soon got amongst the Hampshire batting, four wickets fell for 24 runs, with Cork again being the main protaganist. John Crawley came in with a runner and held up the visitors progress for a while, but only Simon Katich held his end in resolute fashion.Chris Tremlett hit three fours and a six in a bright 30 to take Hampshire past 150, but the inevitable happened shortly after tea.

Former Leicestershire player Jonathan Dakin has become the latest player to join Essex as part of the Club’s rebuilding programme in their quest to regain their mantle as one of the country’s leading counties.Born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, the 28-year-old all-rounder made his debut for his former county in 1993 and was a regular member of both their championship and one-day squads.Standing 6’6″ tall, he is a powerful left-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler with a highest score of 190 against Northamptonshire in the championship. Last season, he topped the Leicestershire first-class bowling averages with 16 wickets at 26 runs apiece in his seven matches.Chief Executive David East said: “Jonathan is currently playing in Tasmania and is delighted at the prospect of joining us. We all believe that he can play a full part in taking the county into Division 1 of both league competitions, as he is a proven performer at that level. We expect him to prove a shrewd capture.”

Could Alastair Cook pull out the reverse sweep during the Test series against Pakistan? For one of England’s most orthodox batsmen, and an increasingly rare link back to the traditional form of Test batting, it would appear an unlikely prospect. But the importance of England not becoming bogged down by Pakistan’s spinners has been pinpointed by Paul Farbrace, the assistant coach, as a key route to success this winterCook is one of three left-handers likely to be part of England’s top seven at the start of the series. His opening partner is set to be Moeen Ali, while Ben Stokes will bat at No. 6. They are going to be facing two spinners, legspinner Yasir Shah and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar, turning the ball into them with fields that are likely to stifle their leg-side scoring options.England had an early taste of such a tactic during their opening warm-up match when, on occasions, the Pakistan A spinners – the two who bowled the most, Zafar Gohar and Mohammad Ashgar, were left-armers – had a seven-two leg-side field.England have previously been criticised for their obsession with the conventional sweep in Test cricket, instead of hitting straight down the ground, and Farbrace said that playing straight should be the preferred option in the first innings. However, he believes that all variations of the sweep could have a key part to play, especially deeper into the Test matches.”Second innings, the sweep is going to be a huge part of the game,” Farbrace said. “Even [in the first warm-up], we saw to the left-handers with a seven-two leg-side field bowling into the stumps, it might be that the left-handers have to learn to reverse to get the ball into the offside, just to manoeuvre the field.”People talk about ‘you’ve got to play straight’ but all you’re looking to do with the reverse sweep is play it once or twice to manoeuvre the field. What the best batsmen do against spin is manoeuvre the field to where they want the fielders to be to create gaps to knock the ball into. That’s something you have to do. On slow pitches, you have constantly to be rotating the strike and getting the ball into gaps.”The biggest danger, Farbrace says, is when a batsman becomes stuck at the single end, giving a spinner the time to work him over. After the warm-up match Mark Wood conceded how England will have to play a different game compared to their expansive Ashes cricket, but it must not go from bash to block.The 2007 vintage of Alastair Cook attempts a rare reverse sweep•Getty Images

“The bowler builds pressure, fielders around the bat, and eventually you bat-pad one and you get out,” Farbrace said. “The key for our batters is, one, to adapt to the conditions very quickly and have the options to play the sweep, reverse sweep, whatever it might be. Even hitting over the top, down the ground, all of our batsmen have got to have that option within their game as well.”England’s 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan in 2012 will be a regular reference point, but since then they have drawn in Sri Lanka and won in India so their record in subcontinental conditions – which the UAE can be bracketed as – is not as bad as some would make out.In two of the victories – Colombo and Mumbai – the now absent Kevin Pietersen was to the fore making 158 and 186 with astonishing strokeplay, including the switch hit, and quick footwork that did not allow the spinners to dominate.However, Cook was also immense, making 94 against Sri Lanka and three centuries in India. He played to his strengths, working off his pads, playing square into the off side and picking off anything that was dropped short. So the odds of Cook moving away from his method are slim. The first innings of the recent Ashes series was also instructive when he tried to attack Nathan Lyon early on and edged a cut. His is the long game. For anything more extravagant from the lefties, you probably need to look to Stokes.But not over-hitting has been a key message from short-term consultant Mahela Jayawardene who is working with England until the end of the first Test. The outfield in Sharjah for the first warm-up match was slow, reducing value for shots, but England’s batsmen are being told not to get frustrated.”Rather than trying to hit the ball harder because the ball is not getting to you as easily as it might do at home, the key is to let the ball come a bit more, hitting more under your nose, actually looking to bunt the ball into gaps,” Farbrace said. “If you see a long hop, the natural reaction is to pull it as hard as you can…[Jayawardene] is talking about letting the ball come, hitting it as late as you can, guide it into gaps. You’re only going to get one [run] anyway.”We saw people whacking the ball hard still only getting ones. Rather than whacking it and nicking behind, just guide the ball. They are the very simple things that he’s talked about. And it is simple. There’s nothing rocket science about what he’s talked about. He’s just offered some of his thoughts.”How many of those thoughts England’s batsmen implement, only time will tell.

New Zealand will want to iron out their top-order batting woes when they host Bangladesh in Test and ODI series over the next four weeks. The lack of a steady opening Test pair has been a problem that dates back to the early 1990s for New Zealand, and the lack of a consistent combination at the top seems to have now infiltrated the one-day game. The recent tour of South Africa was another disappointing one for New Zealand, and their poor starts were probably the biggest cause for concern.There were high hopes that the selectors had found a viable opening combination for the Tests in Craig Cumming and Michael Papps. Cumming showed some form – before having plates inserted into his face after being hit by Dale Steyn in the second Test – but the opening stands in the two matches were 16, 12, 26 and 4. This was largely due to Michael Papps, who had a record-breaking domestic season in 2006-07 but was unable to cope with the pace of the South African attack. His failure to reach double figures in the Tests gives the selectors a major headache. Do they persevere with him or bring in yet another opener? Jamie How had a great one-day series at No. 3 in South Africa, and is used to opening. On the other hand the Wellington captain, Matthew Bell, has scored a huge number of domestic runs already this season and has international experience, having appeared in 13 Tests between 1998 and 2001. Whatever the selectors decide, it is important to find a combination and stick with it, as England will provide tougher competition when they arrive in February.The one-day opening problem has emerged in the wake of the retirements of Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, and Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum have been used since then. In South Africa, the first wicket contributed 12, 9 and 7, but despite the poor return McCullum seems to be maturing in the position; in the Chappell-Hadlee Series he opened with 96. However, having two dashers at the top carries the risk of exposing the middle order too early.Even if New Zealand can’t sort out these issues, they are still favoured to beat their next opponents. Bangladesh’s World Cup victory over India was seen as a turning point for them, but they haven’t come close to repeating that performance in any form of the game since.Bangladesh come to New Zealand after a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka, where they were defeated by more than an innings in all three Tests, and failed to win an ODI. The tour opens with a one-day match against Northern Districts in Hamilton on the 16th, and the ODI series will be held between Christmas and New Year. Dunedin’s University Oval, which has come in for criticism after a first-class match was completed inside two days there, will host the first Test from January 4 before the series is completed in Wellington.One major concern for the new coach Jamie Siddons, who was appointed in October, is that the team was dismissed within 50 overs in each match, and it is something he is working on. “If you can stay at the crease long enough, then you’ll score a lot of runs, whether it is one-day cricket or five-day cricket,” he told tigercricket.com. “So we’re going to practise not getting out; we’re going to practise still being aggressive cricketers, innovative cricketers, and along the way we’ll win some games.”It is in the limited-overs formats that Bangladesh will offer the most resistance, although Mohammad Ashraful’s side is relatively inexperienced. “For the one-day series, it’s a very young side, very inexperienced, but full of enthusiasm,” Ashraful told NZPA. “That can go a long way to winning games.”Despite the inexperience of their opponents, New Zealand will remember Bangladesh’s defeat of India, which helped seal a spot in the World Cup Super Eights. However, things in New Zealand are different to the Caribbean and Bangladesh will have to adapt to the conditions to be competitive. They will not be able to rely as much on their spinners, and a great deal of responsibility will be placed on the pace spearhead, Mashrafe Mortaza. Tutored by the West Indian Andy Roberts, Mortaza has played 25 Tests, taking 59 wickets. He has to build on this record during the two Tests in this series. He has 91 wickets at 29.70 in 69 ODIs, with a respectable economy-rate of 4.6, and will be crucial as Bangladesh try to exploit the weaknesses of New Zealand’s shaky top order.

Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s record-breaking middle order lynchpin, is a definite non-starter for the first Test against South Africa at Centurion Park, due to begin from January 11, and may end up missing the entire Test series.Yousuf was due to leave for South Africa today, joining his team-mates late after returning from performing in Saudi Arabia, but is unable to do so now as his wife is due to give birth some time between January 12 and 19.”Yousuf’s wife has undergone some complications in her pregnancy and is due to undergo surgery either on 12 or 19 January. Therefore he is unlikely to be available for the first Test,” a PCB spokesman told Cricinfo. A board statement was later released after discussions with the batsman, confirming that he will miss the first Test and possibly the second.”Mohammad Yousuf requested that he needs to be with his wife at the time of her surgery which is expected to take place either on the 12th or 19th of this month depending on her condition. In case the surgery takes place on 12th, the batsman will leave on 14th January to join the team in South Africa whereas he will leave on 21st January in case the surgery takes place on 19th.”If he doesn’t make it for the second Test (beginning Janauary 19), it is unlikely that he will play the third either. A source close to the team told Cricinfo, “If he misses those two then expecting him to come back without practice for the third is unreasonable and he may find it tough going.” Yousuf also missed two ODIs in the series against the West Indies in December due to his wife’s condition.The development is a considerable setback to Pakistan’s chances in South Africa, where his presence in a relatively weak batting line-up was thought to be crucial. Yousuf was Pakistan’s best batsman by some distance last year, and among the best in the world. Statistically, he had no equal, scoring a record 1788 Test runs with nine hundreds in 11 Tests, another record.It also compounds a mildly worrying start to the tour for Pakistan. Umar Gul, Pakistan’s best bowler in the last six months, only bowled three overs in the warm-up game against the Rest of South Africa, before being pulled off with an ankle strain. Bob Woolmer told Cricinfo though that he should be fit to play the first Test.”He has seen a doctor who does not think it is anything more than strained ligaments. We will have a further scan to eliminate the chances of bruising to the bone but he should be fine for the first Test,” said Woolmer.The news isn’t so bright for Shoaib Malik who has sustained a “grade one ankle injury” and will be out for a minimum of two weeks. Abdul Razzaq, Pakistan’s all-rounder, has already been ruled out of the Test series. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, didn’t bat on day two of the warm-up game, as he was suffering from a chest infection but the problem, according to Woolmer, is not a serious one.

Pakistan have lodged an appeal against the ICC’s one-year ban on Shabbir Ahmed. “We have filed an appeal with the ICC against the ban,” Salim Altaf, the director of operations of the Pakistan board, said.Shabbir became the first bowler to be banned from bowling in international cricket after an assessment by the University of Western Australia confirmed he had an illegal action. The ICC announced the decision on Monday and Shabbir has 14 days to appeal.Altaf said the Pakistan Cricket Board had material from biomechanic experts to support its case, adding that not all of Ahmed’s deliveries were found to be illegal. “We sent Shabbir to Australia for tests in October and a letter from Daryl Foster, the bowling expert, which we have received on Thursday, showed not all of his deliveries were beyond the allowed limits.”Under new ICC rules, a bowler is allowed 15 degrees to straighten his arm, the limit visible to the naked eye. The ICC would now form a review group to hear Ahmed’s appeal, Altaf said. He was first reported and suspended earlier this year but returned to international cricket following remedial work on his action and a full bio-mechanical analysis that showed he had made necessary adjustments to his bowling style.But 29-year-old Shabbir was reported a second time, during the first Test against England at Multan in November. He was reported under the revised ICC bowling regulations by Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden, the on-field umpires, and Asad Rauf, the TV umpire.Under the new ICC process, a bowler reported and assessed as bowling illegally for a second time within two years of the first period of suspension receives a mandatory one-year ban. “I hope to get justice because this whole episode has made me a depression patient,” Shabbir said, who has considered quitting the game after the ban.

John Buchanan, Australia’s coach, feels that the change in the bowling laws could give bowlers greater variety, and this, in turn, would make batsmen play differently. The ICC’s recent law-change for what constitutes a legal delivery had been criticised by past and present players, but Buchanan’s positive assessment meant that the ICC had at least one of modern-day cricket’s most influential figures on its side.After comprehensive testing, the ICC recommended that bowlers could straighten their arm up to 15 degrees. Muttiah Muralitharan’s doosra, a delivery that some reckoned explored that boundries of legality, was tested at 14 degrees earlier this year. Buchanan said that if Muralitharan’s delivery, as well as others, was now permitted, it would add to the game.”I believe it’s exciting what Murali, Harbhajan and Shoaib, and whoever else that has been under investigation, what they do in their bowling,” Buchanan said to AFP. “If bowlers can actually increase the variety of the type of deliveries they can bowl, then that’s a good thing for the game, because that means batsmen have got to counter that with their own skills.”It may mean that captains have got something else to work with. In a sense I think there’s a real gain in it if it’s handled correctly.”Policing bowlers has also been an issue raised by people with an interest in the game. Shane Warne recently asked, “I think it might [create confusion]. How does an umpire tell if it’s 12 degrees, 10 degrees, nine, 13, 14, whatever it is when it happens like that?”Tim May, a representative of the ICC panel that recommended that the law be changed, said that advanced technology and stricter guidelines would be put in place next year. He added that bowlers would have a fresh start with regards to reports for suspect actions.

Don Bradman’s baggy green cap, as worn during the 1946-47 Ashes series, has been sold for £35,250 at an auction in London. The buyer, a private Australian collector who lives in London, said he plans to add the cap to his private cricket collection but also hopes to display it in Australia.”As we were getting ready to auction the cap off, there was a hum of excitement in the room,” said Rik Pike, a spokesman for the London auctioneers, Christie’s. “And the bidding took a couple of minutes. After we sold it, there was a clap in the room, which you don’t always have.”Bradman’s teammate, Keith Miller, claimed the pair swapped caps before the first Test against England in November 1946, but Christie’s is sure of its authenticity. A bat, used by Bradman to score 232 in the fifth Test at The Oval in 1930, was sold for £29,375 to another collector.

Aggressive Eastern Province fast bowler Nantie Hayward has been added to the South African squad for the Standard Bank One-Day International against India in East London on Friday, bringing the total number in the home party to 15.It is understood that national selectors will meet again in East London to reassess their squad, at which point the numbers of travelling players may be trimmed.Hayward’s selection as a one-day bowler will raise some eyebrows. Although he is among the quickest bowlers operating South Africa and highly-regarded by his peers for his attitude towards batsmen, there is a school of thought, which includes former South African captain Kepler Wessels, which holds that the restrictions of limited overs cricket, particularly those regarding wide balls, could count against him.Beset by personal problems last summer, Hayward had a difficult time of it, but it now seems that he has sorted out his private life and on the evidence of his first-class efforts this summer it appears that he has regained his control.Quite why the selectors have chosen to expand their squad once again is not entirely clear, but if Hayward does play on Friday – and there seems no reason to bring him into the squad if the intention is not play him – then close attention will be paid to his bowling.The new squad: Shaun Pollock (capt), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Kemp, Nicky Boje, Boeta Dippenaar, Charl Langveldt, Nantie Hayward.

All it took was a few drinks in The Oval dressing room after the Investec Test series for Joe Root and David Warner to end the simmering feud that burst into being on the last Ashes tour.They were so proud of it, they even marked the occasion on Twitter, fists pointing to the camera, Warner grinning broadly while Root, who normally cannot keep a smile off his face, gave a strikingly poor imitation of a boxing tough guy.Both elevated to their respective vice-captaincies, they had provided a picture to suggest that the game was in good hands.That relaxed humour was very much in keeping with an Ashes series that has been contested in excellent spirits, with sledging within acceptable boundaries, and no signs of the boorishness that since the ICC took moves to stamp it out at the World Cup has largely receded.It all began on a fractious night in the Walkabout Bar in Birmingham when Warner was accused of making an “unprovoked physical attack” on Root following England’s 48-run win over Australia in the Champions Trophy at Edgbaston.After the ECB lodged an official complaint, Warner publically apologised for aiming a punch at Root but was suspended all the same by Cricket Australia.Warner’s attempts to explain his actions at the start of the Ashes series were bizarre: lots of stuff about how Joe Root had offended him by stealing the wig he was wearing and using it to do an impression of Hashim Amla.Root responded: “Disappointing to have my character questioned – those who know me realise how ridiculous Warner’s excuse for hitting me sounds but that’s his choice to try and justify his actions.”As the story refused to go away, it was enough to make you squirm, but a few drinks after Australia won by an innings and 46 runs at The Kia Oval on Sunday, and England’s winning margin was trimmed to 3-2, the path to reconciliation looked well and truly oiled.