USACA vice-president Janjua resigns

Faizan Janjua, who was elected to his first term on the USA Cricket Association board of directors in March, has resigned from his post as vice-president after just over five months in the position. Janjua’s resignation was announced via Facebook on Wednesday night, and comes just five days after the USACA board was absent from the ICC’s town hall meeting for USA stakeholders in Chicago.”I knew from the get-go that it would be hard to work with the current regime of USACA,” Janjua wrote. “But I wanted to give it a shot. Now it is very evident that I can’t proceed with a very ill-managed organization. Therefore, I’m resigning as 2nd VP of USACA.”When contacted by phone on Wednesday night, Janjua told ESPNcricinfo: “There was no real effort to steer the organisation in the right direction. If you want to correct something, you have to recognise where you are doing wrong or where the problem is and they are not even willing to do that.”They think the whole ICC thing is being malicious toward USACA, which is wrong. Their responses to some of the questions raised by the ICC, they are not willing to answer them. They hide behind the USACA constitution and their answer to everything is, ‘We are governed by the USACA constitution.’ I think it’s very unlikely that they will be reinstated.” The ICC had suspended the membership of the USACA in June.According to Janjua, the USACA board’s absence from the Chicago town hall meeting run by the ICC on August 29 was an organised effort. Janjua says that during a USACA board meeting on August 25, the board decided not to attend the meeting because they claimed they were “informed of the town hall but not formally invited”. However, an ICC spokesperson denied the USACA claim that they were not invited to the town hall.”It is incorrect to suggest that the USACA was not invited to attend the Town Hall meeting,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo on Thursday. “The ICC wrote to the USACA president, inviting him and representatives of his board. This invitation was reiterated during ICC’s meetings with USACA in New York some weeks ago, and in correspondence following this meeting.”Separate from his USACA post, Janjua serves as president of the Northwest Cricket League and ran on the same ticket as Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference president Suren Gandavaram in the 2015 USACA election and won a vice-president post that had been vacated by Michael Gale who chose not to seek re-election. However, Gandavaram’s bid against Dainty failed, leaving Janjua without a major ally on the board and as a result he says he ran into steady opposition during meetings.”In one of the meetings, all of them jumped on me because I was asked by the ICC about the ghost leagues,” Janjua said. “I told them what was true, what was happening in my area because I am familiar with it. One of the leagues called Seattle Cricket League is not an active league and they did not like it.”Janjua, 45, first came to attention on the US cricket scene in 2012 when he was part of a five-man league presidents committee appointed by the USACA to oversee the appeals process filed by the 32 USACA member leagues who were barred from voting in that year’s election after the completion of a member leagues compliance audit. After all appeals were rejected, Janjua blasted the process, calling it a sham in an email to all USACA members.Janjua also was part of the six-man league presidents committee formed after the 2014 USACA AGM to come up with revisions to a proposed new USACA constitution after a vote to ratify the document was deferred at the AGM. The group’s proposals were put forward to the USACA board in January and were rejected outright. As a result, the 2015 USACA elections went ahead under the USACA constitution that has been in place since 2008. When asked why he pursued a spot on the USACA board after these experiences, Janjua said he was hoping to be an agent of change from the inside.”I gave it a shot but it didn’t work,” Janjua said. “The current board, they do not have the vision or the capacity to change anything. It has to be a different group. If people are hoping that these people will change, it’s not going to happen. They’ve been around for long enough and they know how to control the organisation. The ICC or someone else will have to come up with a different group of people, those who have the right idea and the vision to change cricket.”ESPNcricinfo attempted to contact USACA president Gladstone Dainty for a response to Janjua’s comments. An email and phone message left with Dainty were not responded to.

Langeveldt rips through Free State

Boland were on 217 for two at the close of play after the first day of thefour day Supersport Series match after bowling Free State out for 102 runsearlier in the day on Friday. They have a first innings lead of 115-runs.Boland won the toss and elected to bowl, which proved to be the correctdecision as Free State were reeling at 31 for three. Right-arm seamer CharlLangeveldt took five for 19 in 11 overs – his first five-wicket haul infirst class cricket.Medium pace seamer Brad Player backed him up with three for 11 in six oversas Free State slumped from 89 for four to 102 all out – six wickets fell forjust 13 runs.Boland’s Pieter Barnard and James Henderson proved that the pitch had fewdemons as they poured on the misery. Barnard ended the day unbeaten on 108,his ninth first class century and Henderson scored a more sedate 76.The two put on 171-runs for the second wicket – a Boland record – whichleft their side in a commanding position to claim the win. For their effortsBoland gained four bonus points while Free State earned none.Barnard started brightly, moving to his 50 off just 64 balls. His centurywas reached with a smashing straight drive off left-arm spinner KosieVenter. It took 165 balls and included 11 boundaries.Henderson was caught at slip by Louis Wilkinson off Venter just as hestarted to accelerate the pace having paced himself steadily. His fifty wasreached in 208 minutes off 147 balls with six fours.Free State were the victims of their own poor form as they played looseshots. Eight of the ten wickets were caught behind square on a pitch thatbad little life and even less lateral movement. Only Morne van Wyk offeredany resistance, scoring 39 before edging one to Louis Koen at slip offPlayer.

There's no better time to take on the Aussies


Mudassar Nazar
Photo © CricInfo

If any one cricketer can walk on water then he’s Inzamam. He carried his test match form straight into one-day cricket. Pakistan was unable to take full advantage of this memorable innings as they fell a bit short of a commanding total. Who could have thought this burly chap would score over 8000 runs in one-day cricket when first chosen to play for Pakistan.


Inzamam drives for 4 through the off side
Photo © CricInfo

Pakistan elected to bat first on an ideal batting pitch. It used to be a rather benign one until it changed character once Alan Donald signed up for Warwickshire. All the test matches there started to finish within four days and most of the county batsmen started to take time off when it was their turn to confront the Mighty Donald. Ironically, Donald parted company with Warwickshire last season and this pitch has now changed character again.Pakistan started this game on the back of their victory at Old Trafford amidst some very unfair and strong criticism. If Pakistan players felt that English pundits were unjust, then they were justified. When a McGrath or Caddick stares down at batsmen its called ‘raw aggression’ but if Wasim and Waqar do it the English media call it ‘disgraceful intimidation’ and labels them as bad boys of world cricket.One cannot ignore that England lost the test because they had two bad sessions in five days and Pakistan’s skipper was good and aggressive enough to wrest the initiative well: Enough about the last test match. I just wanted to get it off my chest.


Afridi executes a perfect cover drive off Gough
Photo © CricInfo

Afridi started Pakistan’s innings in his own fashion. Though he is exhilarating but one knows nine time out of ten this excitement will be short and sweet. Just when English bowlers looked helpless and baffled, he gave it away. I just cannot understand why he can’t settle down after he has given his team such an impetus.Razzaq was unfortunately run out. His dismissal was a blessing in disguise for Pakistan. Inzamam, in great form recently, needs as many overs at his disposal as he can. This is a strong reason why I want him to bat at number three. Saeed after a circumspect start did settle down to play an important innings. Together, they systematically destroyed the England bowlers. None of the bowlers seemed in control of the situation. Why did England drop Robert Croft for this game? In the face of a decent Pakistan partnership they had no back up bowler to support their new ball bowlers.Inzamam and Saeed entertained the full house at Edgbaston in brilliant fashion. Some of their strokes down the ground were truly memorable. Alec Stewart, desperate for a breakthrough, brought back his best bowler Darren Gough. All his teammates were horrified when he spilled a simple return catch off Saeed. Pakistan lost their two stalwarts in quick succession and consequently lost momentum. At this juncture, I’d have promoted the in form Younis Khan in place of Youhana. Anyway, Pakistan missed this trick and unable to score around 300 runs, which at the half way stage, looked a mere formality. After the productive Saeed – Inzamam partnership, 273 for 6 was certainly well below Par.


Waqar Younis, leads his side to victory in the 1st NatWest ODI
Photo © CricInfo

Pakistan started their defense in some extremely bowling friendly conditions. England is heaven for fast and medium pace bowlers and when you invite them to bowl in the evening you are simply asking for trouble. Wasim and Waqar bowled excellent opening spells aided by the evening heavy atmosphere moving the ball disconcertingly, in the air and off the pitch. It must have been disheartening for England because their own bowlers looked like club class bowlers in the afternoon sunshine.Waqar, bowling at a brisk pace accounted for his old teammate Ally Brown when he angled the ball away. Trescothick was looking dangerous when the captain outfoxed him too with a slower delivery. Then Shoaib Malik and Saeed Anwar splendidly caught Stewart and Vaughan. After the initial burst from Wasim and Waqar, England were never in the hunt for this game.Razzaq and Azhar seemed at home bowling in this one-day game. Razzaq in particular bowled at a sharp pace and looked a class act. I feel he likes this form of cricket. Lo and behold, Pakistan’s fielding standard was excellent today too! Shoaib Malik who came on as a substitute is the best athlete in the team.Towards the end, Shahid Afridi made a mockrey of the batsmen who could not wait to get out of the ground. In just two games all of England’s frailties have been exposed and they look disjointed in the absence of Nasser Hussain. Pakistan on the other hand, is fully committed to their captain who once again gave a commanding performance. There is no better time to take on the Aussies.

Ed:Mudassar Nazar is a veteran of 76 tests and 122 ODIs. He is currently the chief coach of Pakistan’s National and Regional Cricket Academies. In view of the overwhelming interest of users in CricInfo’s articles, we have invited him to write for us.

Leicestershire dominate against Glamorgan

Leicestershire were on course for victory after forcing Glamorgan to follow-on on the second day of their CricInfo Championship Division One match at Grace Road.Replying to Leicestershire’s first innings of 372 all out Glamorgan were tamely dismissed for just 146, leaving the visitors needing 227 second time around to make Vince Wells’ side bat again.Only skipper Steve James, who carried his bat for 61, presented any real first innings resistance as Glamorgan lost their last eight wickets for 108 to all but confirm relegation to Division Two.Following-on James was one of two wickets to fall before the close, along with Matthew Maynard who registered a pair – dismissed twice in the day to James Ormond. By the end of day two Glamorgan had reached 126-2 still 100 adrift with Jimmy Maher going well on 78.James Ormond did the main damage in the first innings bagging four Glamorgan wickets in what could be his last championship match for Leicestershire.The new England cap claimed the wickets of Maher and Maynard in the space of four balls to instigate the Glamorgan collapse.Wells chipped in to claim the wickets of Adrian Dale and Robert Croft – his fifth duck on the trot – with consecutive balls after Mike Powell had surrendered tamely to Devon Malcolm.Ormond struck twice more at the start of his second spell to dismiss Mark Wallace and Andrew Davies.Neil Burns capped a good couple of day following his 111 by taking six catches in the innings to equal a Leicestershire record.The wicketkeeper resumed today on 66 with his county 274-7 but went on to score a 112-ball century with 18 fours.Leicestershire were eventually bowled out for 372 having added 98 in 75 minutes which was an impressive score considering they were 26-3 and then 93-5 either side of lunch yesterday.It took Leicestershire until just the sixth over of the morning to reach 300 and their third batting point.Ormond was the first wicket to fall bowled by Darren Thomas from a delivery that kept low and Burn’s innings – five minutes short of three hours – came to an end when he had his stumps rearranged by Andrew Davies’s first ball.Devon Malcolm spanked Thomas for a six before Carl Crowe was caught at silly mid-off.

'Immense' Taylor 200 forged out of adversity

Had the DeLorean from been available to Australia’s pace bowlers in Brisbane, they’d have been about as disoriented by the sight of Ross Taylor’s double century as Marty McFly was by news the Chicago Cubs had supposedly won the 2015 World Series.Taylor’s monumental innings, described as “immense” by New Zealand’s batting coach Craig McMillan and “one of the best innings I have seen” by his batting partner Kane Williamson, was an achievement made all the more admirable by the fact he had started this tour in truly grim touch.In Brisbane, Taylor had battled through a truly tortured first innings, and looked only marginally more sure of himself in the second. A duck and 16 in his two warm-up innings were likewise scant indicators that Taylor had it in him to construct the highest ever score by a New Zealand batsman against Australia, and the only double hundred ever made by a visiting Test batsman at the WACA Ground.There is no doubt Williamson played a key role in showing Taylor the way forward, playing so fluently and assuredly both at the Gabba and here that others were shown how Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon could be successfully tackled on their home turf. But Taylor also showed his own development by scoring in zones his previously dominant bottom hand might once have cancelled out.Unbeaten on 235 at day’s end, Taylor will hope to take New Zealand into the lead and a position to pressure Australia – certainly Williamson and McMillan are hoping he can.”I think it would be one of the best innings that I have seen,” Williamson said. “The tempo that he batted and the length of time that he has been at the crease has been outstanding and moving our team’s position forward. I know it is a tough ask but hopefully he can keep going a little bit tomorrow, build a couple of partnerships would certainly help us a lot, but certainly an absolutely fantastic innings so far.”I thought he was really calm out there. He just went about his work in a reasonably aggressive way and that’s when he bats at his best I think. To get that momentum in his innings from pretty much the word go – there were certainly some tough periods but he was playing so well. It was such a nice thing.”McMillan was part of the New Zealand side that so nearly forced a match and series win over Steve Waugh’s powerful team at this ground in 2001, a performance built largely on a record stand between Nathan Astle and Adam Parore. Taylor’s union with Williamson eclipsed their record, before the former went on to heights McMillan said he had always been capable of reaching.”I think it was an immense innings and it had been brewing for some time,” McMillan said. “He’d been a little bit short of time in the middle and runs, but what do they say? Form’s temporary and class is permanent. That got shown today. His concentration in the first two or three overs of the day really set the tone for the way he was going to bat.”His tempo was superb, hitting straight down the ground was something he’s worked really hard on in recent times just to open up that area that probably hasn’t always been a strength of his, but some of those straight cover drives were some of the best you’ll see from any player in the world.”You’d have to rank it right up there as one of New Zealand’s best Test knocks, with the conditions, with the match situation, you throw all that into the mix and it’s one of the best. There’s still a lot more batting to be done. He can go as long as the concentration stays strong. We want more partnerships from that lower order, guys to hang in with him, bat as long as possible and see what happens from there.”Williamson and Taylor were both highly successful in picking off more or less every bad ball the Australians bowled, an efficiency that allowed them to dictate terms all day and prevent the hosts from gaining momentum. McMillan said he had encouraged his men to stay positive throughout, ensuring that the bowlers knew they would be hurt if they strayed from all but the most disciplined of lines.”They’re attacking bowlers who come after you, but the upside of that is there’s scoring opportunities,” he said. “One of the impressive things from our guys over the last two days is how efficient they’ve been when they’ve been offered a scoring opportunity. They’ve hit gaps well and they’ve really put anything loose away, which has put that pressure back on the Australian bowling attack.”That’s a key when you’re facing a good attack that’s got extra pace is that when they miss, you’ve got to make sure you hurt them, you’re not looking just to defend and survive, you’re actually looking to score, and obviously Kane and Ross in that partnership did that beautifully today but it flowed right through the partnerships in the order throughout the day, and that’s something we’ll continue to be looking for.”

Rudolph, Salter keep Glamorgan afloat

Glamorgan 271 for 8 (Salter 73*, Rudolph 68) v Gloucestershire
ScorecardJacques Rudolph scored a half-century to keep Glamorgan in the hunt•Getty Images

Half centuries from Jacques Rudolph and Andrew Salter rescued Glamorgan from trouble on the first day of their Championship Division Two encounter against Gloucestershire at Swansea.Glamorgan choose to bat after winning the toss but were soon in dire straits on 41 for 3 as Gloucestershire’s opening bowlers David Payne and Liam Norwell accounted for three of their top four inside the first 14 overs. But former South Africa international Rudolph gave some respectability to Glamorgan’s score with a knock of 68 before No. 9 Salter ensured their tail wagged with an innings of 73 as they reached 271 for 8 at the close.The match was just six balls old when Payne dismissed Will Bragg, who found a leading edge and was caught at mid-off, with just one run on the scoreboard. Rudolph and Colin Ingram added 40 for the second wicket but Gloucestershire were celebrating when Norwell removed Ingram and Aneurin Donald in the space of four balls – with both batsmen caught by Will Tavare at third slip.Shortly before lunch, Chris Cooke shouldered arms and was bowled by Benny Howell and when Graham Wagg drove Payne loosely to cover after the interval Glamorgan had stumbled to 106 for 5.Rudolph, however, remained steadfast, playing every ball on its merit and had scored his runs from 149 balls with 11 fours before nudging Jack Taylor’s offspin to slip, where Hamish Marshall held a sharp catch.Not for the first time this season, Glamorgan’s late order batsmen rallied to the cause with Salter and Mark Wallace adding 40 for the eighth wicket, before Salter found an unlikely ally in Kieran Bull, whose previous highest score was 12. The two youngsters, with a combined age of just 42, not only achieved career-best scores but also shared in the highest partnership of the innings as they put on an invaluable unbeaten 85 for the ninth wicket.The new ball came and went as Salter played some handsome strokes either side of the wicket and, as Glamorgan’s leading spinner, he would have been encouraged to see the ball turn more towards the end of the day.He has already struck eight fours, and when the second day gets under way his first objective will be to guide his team to a total in excess of 300 and score the 27 runs he requires for a maiden Championship century.

Australian flavour to Roses clash

North Group

Durham v Leicestershire, Chester-le-Street, 5.30Leicestershire head into a weekend double-header riding high after pulling off a remarkable heist – with a wicket from the final ball – to claim a tie against Yorkshire last week. They sit third in the congested North Group and have both O’Briens – Kevin and Niall – available before they join Ireland’s bid to qualify for next year’s World T20. Durham’s Scotland star Calum McLeod is also available before he heads off to the qualifiers.So crowded is the North Group that while Durham sit sixth, they are just two points behind second-placed Worcestershire and two ahead of table-proppers Derbyshire. As with the County Championship defeat to Yorkshire earlier this week, the injured Paul Coughlin is replaced in the squad by Jamie Harrison, who hopes to make his T20 bow three seasons after his maiden first-class and List A appearances for the club. Leicestershire face four Blast matches in ten days – as well as a Championship match against Kent – and have named a 15-man squad for this match, including youngsters Lewis Hill, Aadil Ali and Rob Sayer, as well as in-form former Durham man Ben Raine.Lancashire v Yorkshire, Old Trafford, 6.30The Roses clash, following one for the ages at Headingley last month which Jos Buttler’s outrageous 71 won for Lancashire, has a distinctly Australian feel, with Yorkshire’s Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch lining up opposite their World Cup winning team-mate James Faulkner. Lancashire have lost three of their four games since Buttler’s knock but still sit a point ahead of Yorkshire in the table – both are outside the top four – as they scramble for qualification. Finch will have fond memories of this fixture last season, when he smashed 88 in 55 balls to help Yorkshire to a five-wicket win.Aussies aplenty, but both sides are missing England stars, with Buttler unavailable for Lancashire and Adil Rashid joining Joe Root, Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance among Yorkshire’s absentees. Man of the moment Jonny Bairstow remains, but Liam Plunkett is injured, while spinners James Middlebrook and Karl Carver are called up in Rashid’s stead. Lancashire have named the eleven who lost by one run to Warwickshire last week, plus Tom Bailey and Saqib Mahmood.Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire, Trent Bridge, 6.30Seventh-placed Nottinghamshire can draw level with second-placed Worcestershire with a win but they will have to do without star men James Taylor and Luke Fletcher, who both picked up hamstring injuries in the Championship match between the two sides this week. Riki Wessels, playing his 100th T20 in England, will captain the side in Taylor’s place. Even with the group so tight, Nottinghamshire can barely afford another defeat if they are to continue their run of five consecutive home quarter-finals. Sam Wood and Will Gidman take places in the squad after missing out against Northamptonshire on Sunday. Worcestershire are hoping to win four away games on the bounce for the first time in this format.Birmingham v Derbyshire, Edgbaston, 6.30It is top plays bottom at Edgbaston as star draw Brendon McCullum makes his home debut for high-flying Birmingham Bears who have won six of their first eight matches and 12 of their last 14 in the format. They sit two points clear at the top of the North Group after their dramatic, traffic-defying, weather-beating one-run win over Lancashire last Friday. Birmingham have named an unchanged squad while Derbyshire – who are bottom of the group but just four points off second after an important victory over Nottinghamshire last week – have named a squad containing the 11 players involved in that game, as well as batsman Ben Slater.

South Group

Somerset v Gloucestershire, Taunton, 5.30Gloucestershire’s dramatic last-ball defeat to Surrey at Kia Oval on Wednesday leaves them a point and a position behind sixth-placed Somerset, leaving plenty riding on this game as the group stages reach the business end. Gloucestershire boast the tournament’s joint leading run-scorer – Michael Klinger with 520 – and wicket-taker – Tom Smith with 20 – but captain Klinger said after the defeat to Surrey that they now need to win all of their remaining fixtures to qualify for the knockouts.Recent history, however, is not in Gloucestershire’s favour. Somerset have won the last five fixtures between the two teams, including last month’s five-wicket win in Bristol. For Gloucestershire, Liam Norwell – is replaced in the squad by Miles Hammond, while Somerset add Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory to the XI that were pipped by Glamorgan at Taunton on Sunday.Surrey v Middlesex, Kia Oval, 6.30The first London derby of 2015 takes place after the two bottom sides in the South Group enjoyed contrasting midweek home games. Surrey will be in confident mood; Azhar Mahmood’s last-ball six against Gloucestershire gave them their second win on the spin, and they’ve won seven of their last eight against their rivals from across town. Mahmood, meanwhile has 11 more T20 wickets against Middlesex than anyone else (32) and has dismissed skipper Eoin Morgan six times in the format. Only the seven times Zaheer Khan’s has snared MS Dhoni gives a bowler more dismissals of a single batsman in T20 cricket.For Surrey, Freddie van den Bergh has been added to the 13-man squad for the win over Gloucestershire, while bottom-placed Middlesex, seeking to avoid a sixth consecutive defeat, have overhauled the squad that was thrashed by Sussex at Lord’s on Thursday. Mitchell McClenaghan is out with a badly broken and dislocated finger, while experienced men James Franklin and Nick Compton make way, with Ryan Higgins, Nick Gubbins, George Scott and Gurjit Sandhu all vying for places in the side.Hampshire v Glamorgan, Ageas Bowl, 7.00pmThese two sides are jostling for position in mid-table in the South Group. Hampshire – who have qualified for the knockout stages for the last five seasons – are battling to avoid losing three consecutive T20s for the first time since 2007 and the only change to the squad for the defeat to a Jesse Ryder-inspired Essex last Friday is the absence of allrounder Liam Dawson, who has headed to Chelmsford on loan, while Joe Gatting is expected to make his first T20 appearance of the season in place of the injured Sean Ervine.Glamorgan’s hopes of qualification for the knockout stages took a boost with their outstanding win at Taunton last Sunday but in that game they bid farewell to South African Wayne Parnell, whose stint with the county ended. Graham Wagg misses out with a lower back injury, while England U-19 star Aneurin Donald – who is available after completing his A-Levels – is in line to make his T20 debut.Sussex v Kent, Hove, 7.00pmSussex thrashed Middlesex at Lord’s on Thursday – their fourth win on the spin – to go top of the South Group but Kent, who have played a game less, can overtake them with a win in front of a sell-out crowd at Hove.Kent will be without death bowling specialist David Griffiths for the rest of the campaign after he underwent surgery on his back this week, but they welcome back Sam Billings from England duty, as well as Matt Coles and Darren Stevens, who sat out their clash with the Australians with minor injuries. Stevens needs just eight runs to become the first man to 3000 domestic runs in English cricket, while Oxford MCCU captain Sam Weller – a 20-year-old pace bowler – is also named in the squad for the first time. Sussex have named an unchanged squad.

Follow-on poses morning threat for Gloucestershire

ScorecardChris Dent defied Leicestershire•Getty Images

Gloucestershire still needed 17 runs to avoid the follow-on, with two wickets remaining in their first innings, when bad light ended play early on the third day of their county championship match against Leicestershire at Grace Road.It was an impressive effort from the Leicestershire seamers, following on from a similarly determined showing from their batsmen in compiling a first innings score of over 400 on a wicket which, while slow, has also had plenty in it for the bowlers.Resuming on 22 for 0, Chris Dent and Will Tavare took the score on to 51 before Tavare, perhaps a little unfortunately, was given out caught down the leg-side by wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien off the bowling of Ben Raine.Heavy cloud made the light less than ideal, and Gareth Roderick appeared not to pick up the well-pitched up delivery from Wayne White that knocked out his leg-stump for 1. At 52-2, Gloucestershire were wobbling, but Chris Dent and Peter Handscomb steadied the visitors’ nerves with the first century partnership of the matchDent was dropped by Angus Robson at first slip off Raine on 34, a difficult chance high to the fielder’s left, but Rob Taylor, back in the side due to an injury to Charlie Shreck, and Clint McKay then picked up four wickets between them for just 30 runs to keep the Foxes in with a chance of enforcing victory.Handscomb had just gone to his 50, from 99 balls, when he pulled a short ball from Taylor straight into the hands of Rob Sayer at deep square leg, and the left-armer followed up by trapping first Dent (73 from 186 balls) and then Hamish Marshall (5) leg before wicket.McKay then induced Benny Howell to push at a delivery which swung away, and wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien held the edge. Jack Taylor got off the mark by launching off-spinner Sayer for a straight six, but after an hour’s break for bad light, when 11 overs were lost, attempted to loft McKay through the offside and was caught at cover.Raine bowled James Fuller with a well-pitched up delivery in the following over, but with five overs remaining, umpires Nick Cook and Nigel Cowley decided the light was again too poor to continue.Taylor said there was still enough in the wicket for the Foxes to go on and win the game. “There’s still a bit in it and we probably didn’t bowl as well as we should have done in the first session. The Handscomb wicket got us going, and after that we bowled pretty well. “We’re in a nice position now, and if we can get two quickly tomorrow morning we’re driving the game and in control.”Handscomb admitted he was disappointed with the manner of his dismissal. “I don’t usually play that shot, but Chris Dent’s innings was invaluable. The first 20 minutes tomorrow will shape how the game pans out.”

Injured Adil out of Bangladesh ODIs

Pakistan seamer Ehsan Adil has been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against Bangladesh after sustaining a hamstring injury. Umar Gul, who had been omitted by the selectors for the ODIs, will join the team as his replacement. Adil is the fourth Pakistan player to be ruled out of the series after Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah had pulled out due to injuries.It is understood that Adil picked up the injury during training ahead of the first ODI on Friday, which Pakistan lost by 79 runs, only their second loss to Bangladesh in ODIs. The bowler was expected to regain his fitness before the second match on Sunday, but has failed to do so.”It was expected that he would get fit ahead of the second ODI but his recovery didn’t go well,” Haroon Rashid, PCB’s chief selector, told ESPNcricinfo. “He has been called back and Umar Gul is being sent as an immediate replacement.”Adil, 22, made his international debut in February 2013 and has played two Tests and six ODIs since then. He played a couple of games in the World Cup, including the quarter-final against Australia, but did not have much success, managing two wickets for 62 runs in 12 overs.Umar Gul missed the World Cup after sustaining a bruised tendon in his left ankle following the first ODI against New Zealand in Dubai in December 2014. This will be his fourth comeback since the knee surgery that forced him out of action throughout 2013.

England delay naming side for 2nd Ashes Test

England are to delay announcing their side for the 2nd Test Match againstAustralia in Adelaide until tomorrow morning.The Hampshire batsman John Crawley, who suffered heavy bruising to his righthip during England’s match against Australia ‘A’ in Hobart at the weekend,will undergo a fitness test at the Adelaide Oval tomorrow prior to Englandnaming their starting line-up.

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