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ECB Division One – Time games

Andover 169 (2pts) (R Miller 52, Brunnschweiler 33, Keighley 28, King 4-37)
Bashley (Rydal) 170-3 (21pts) (Thurgood 59, Loader 50, Knowles 34)
Bashley (Rydal) won by 7 wicketsBournemouth 142 (1pt) (Swarbrick 35, Goldstraw 5-42)
B.A.T.Sports 143-4 (19pts) (Banks 74*)
B.A.T.Sports won by 6 wicketsHavant 272-3 (12pts) (Perry 160*, Hindley 53, Gillies 31, Hibberd 3-76)
Calmore Sports 195-7 (5pts) (Goode 67, Bailey 64*, Hindley 6-87)
Match drawnBurridge 218-6 (4pts) (Cunningham 78, Jackson 34, Hawkins 32, Ford 4-67)
Hungerford 220-4 (20pts) (Laney 95*, Barr 43, Maier 36)
Hungerford won by 6 wicketsSouth Wilts 282-6 (11pts) (Rowe 170*, Lamb 32, Williams 29, Jansen 4-88)
Liphook and Ripsley 242-8 (10pts) (Smyth 71, Bulled 37, Wright 34, RIley 32)
Match drawn

Division Two – Overs games

Cove 238-4 (reduced to 200 in 42ovs) (22pts) (Randall 87*, Benham 86)
Trojans 133 (3pts) (Subnaik 40, Ashton 3-47)
Cove won by 38 runsEaston & Martyr Worthy 176-8 (6pts) (reduced to 162 in 45ovs) (Shaun Green 31, D Birch 26, Steve Green 26)
Hambledon 162-7 (20pts) (Kenway 72*, Turner 49*, Stone 4-27, Summers 3-28)
Hambledon won by 3 wicketsO.T. and Romsey 224-9 (6pts) (S Tulk 91, K Trodd 30, Allen 3-48)
Lymington 226-4 (21pts) (Treagus 80, Clemow 69)
Lymington won by 6 wicketsU.S.Portsmouth 313 (22pts) (Geogehan 92, Hounsome 52, Fulton 32, Quantock 5-75)
Old Basing 165 (5pts) (Dooley 27, Carson 3-24)
United Services won by 148 runsPortsmouth 302-5 (21pts) (reduced to 272 in 45ovs) (Cook 117, Keech 81, Dew 33, Frith 3-83)
Sparsholt 204-8 (7pts) (Frith 64, Mariner 38, Nichols 27, Savident 4-49)
Portsmouth won by 67 runs

Division Three – Overs games

Lymington II 196-7 (5pts) (reduced to 177 in 45ovs) (Holt 33, Tapper 31, Oliphant 3-45)
Alton 177-4 (20pts) (M Heffernan 98*)
Alton won by 6 wicketsHursley Park 164 (17pts) (Harris 47, Marks 26, Lowe 25, Hall 5-37, Paul 3-25)
Bashley (Rydal) II 132-7 (6pts) (Dean 43, Pardey 25, Halder 3-14)
Hursley Park won by 32 runsGosport Borough 217-2 (8pts) (Wateridge 100*, Adams 51*)
Havant II 218-8 (18pts) (Jones 55*, Hole 51, Benton 33*, Collins 4-53, Freeman 3-44)
Havant II won by 2 wicketsHook and Newnham Basics 219 (5pts) (Kaminski 40)
Winchester K.S. 220-3 (22pts) (Taylor 102)
Winchester K.S. won by 7 wicketsNew Milton 248-8 (22pts) (Griffiths 57, Hoare 34, Gargaro 31, Taylor 26, Howard 4-30)
Leckford 89 (4pts) (Dolman 5-28)
New Milton won by 159 runsPortsmouth II 239-7 (22pts) (Morris 54, Rogers 49, Bellchamber 36, Scott 26)
Paultons 88 (3pts) (Scott 5-12, Marston 4-25)
Portsmouth II won by 151 runsPurbrook 221-8 (20pts) (Pay 68, Hennessy 50, Repsold 33, Brittan 3-47)
Flamingo 150-8 (6pts) (Hitchings 46, Brewster 3-24, Hunter 3-24)
Purbrook won by 71 runsRowledge 252-6 (21pts) (Harland 66, Morrant 59, Mitchell 46, Poling 3-48)
United Services II 208-9 (6pts) (Kitching 73*, Braithwaite 48, Eichler 3-35, R Yates 3-43)
Rowledge won by 44 runsWaterlooville 197 (6pts) (Oliver 41, Baumann 40, Charman 4-46)
St.Cross Symondians 199-6 (22pts) (Barrett 50, Parker 49, J Adams 37)
St.Cross Symondians won by 4 wickets

Jacques Rudolph scored his third century in nine days as the South African A team romped to a 148-run victory over Kenya in a one-day match against Kenya at the Laudium Oval on Tuesday.The SA A team reached 274 for four in their 50 overs and theb bowled Kenya out for 126 in under 34 overs as Justin Kemp and Charl Langeveldt claimed five wickets apiece.Earlier in the day Rudolph, who made 109 for the Nicky Oppenheimer XI against India at Randjesfontein last Monday and 143 for the Titans against Free State in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, followed these scores with an unbeaten 134 against the Kenyans.Rudolph emerged as one of South Africa’s brightest young talents last summer and the rich vein of form he is presently mining must surely have marked him as a player with a bright international ahead of him.He may, however, have to wait his turn. The South African top three – Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis – have been equally prolific in recent weeks, but if the 20-year-old Rudolph continues to accumulate runs in this fashion he could well force his way into the South African squad to tour Australia at the end of the year.Apart from Rudolph, Martin van Jaarsveld made 67 while Kemp bludgeoned 40 off 32 balls as the Kenyan attack took a pounding.The Kenyans were unable make any kind of fight of it with only Steve Tikolo offering meaningful resistance as he took 79 balls to make 59. Kemp started the rot with the wickets of Ravindu Shah and Kennedy Otieno and then Langeveldt joined in as the South African pair scythed through the batting.Kemp finished with five for 35 with Langeveldt taking five for 25.

Gloucestershire batsman Matt Windows continued his remarkable run of success against Essex on the second day of the County Championship Division Two match at Bristol.Windows top scored with 107 as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 268, a first innings lead of five over their visitors.And that was his third hundred in his last three championship innings against Essex. He scored 151 in the 1998 game at Colchester and followed it up with 118 in last year’s match at Gloucester.It was also further confirmation that Windows, an England A tourist to Zimbabwe and South Africa two years ago, is growing into his new role at No 3 in the order this season, having batted at five for most of last summer.After a poor start to his championship campaign, Windows scored 54 in the victory over Middlesex at Lord’s last week and this latest effort was the ninth first-class hundred of his career.Gloucestershire coach John Bracewell said: “It was a very good innings from Matt, but we know he can push on and go a stage further.”He played very well at Lord’s, but was out just after passing 50 and now he was out after just passing his hundred. He is capable of playing really big innings.”Gloucestershire made a poor start to the day when they lost openers Tim Hancock and Rob Cunliffe, for four and two respectively, inside the opening seven deliveries.Hancock fell lbw on the back foot to Ronnie Irani and Cunliffe edged a Mark Ilott delivery to England captain Nasser Hussain at slip.Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne departed soon afterwards for eight, when he gave a return catch to Ilott.But Windows and Chris Taylor then revived the innings with a fourth wicket stand of 78. Windows cut, pulled and cover drove boundaries to all parts of the ground, while Taylor, who made history last week when he became the first player to score a century at Lord’s on his first-class debut, dug in at the other end.Taylor had moved to 18 when he fell to a slip catch by Stuart Law off Ashley Cowan in the second over after lunch.Windows’ fluent innings was finally ended in the 50th over when he drove a low catch to Darren Robinson in the covers from Tim Mason’s bowling.When Mark Hardinges was lbw to Danny Law for a duck soon afterwards, Gloucestershire had slipped to 173-6.But the lower order performed creditably to ensure a narrow first innings advantage.Jeremy Snape made an attractive 54 before he cut a Cown delivery to Robinson at point.Mike Cawdron was caught at the wicket by Barry Hyam off Danny Law for 28. Then Jon Lewis and James Averis went cheaply to Law and Ilott respectively.Reggie Williams, deputising behind the stumps for the rested Jack Russell, finished unbeaten on 28.Essex were then reduced to 22-2 by the close in their second innings. Paul Prichard and nightwatchman Hyam both departed in the same fashion as they edged Lewis deliveries to Alleyne at second slip.

ScorecardNatalie Sciver top-scored in England’s chase with 66•Getty Images

A series of moments of brilliance – rather than an excellent all-round performance – can take credit for England’s win in the first match of the multi-format Ashes series at Taunton. With Australia well set, they found four run outs to stifle the subdued tourists, before, following the loss of two quick wickets and the relative shakiness of 80 for 4, Lydia Greenway and Natalie Sciver shared 122 to take them within touching distance of their target in front of a 3000-strong crowd.On a fine pitch and with a rapid outfield, this shaped as an excellent toss for Meg Lanning to win. But Katherine Brunt is as forceful as she is canny with the new ball and had soon trapped both openers in consecutive wicket maidens. Elyse Villani made a flying start, with a stunning cover drive in the first over, before chipping simply to square leg, and Jess Jonassen – bumped up the order in place of the concussed Nicole Bolton – was starved of the strike and never got going, eventually dragging on. When Lanning was pinned in front in Kate Cross’s first over – although replays showed that the batsman had hit the ball – Australia had lost 3 for 10 in 32 balls.Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell were the architects of Australia’s revival, with a stand of 121 in 26 overs, ended only by the outbreak of England’s direct-hit-fest. Perry – surely the world’s finest all-round cricketer, whatever the format, whatever the gender – scored her sixth consecutive ODI 50 and anchored the innings. She traded heavily in boundaries, scoring from just 42 of the 96 balls she faced, punching brilliantly down the ground with straight checked drives and cutting spectacularly through the well-marshalled point region. Blackwell was watchful with flourishes, notably a flick through midwicket and drive down the ground.As the partnership crawled away from England towards the end of a productive batting Powerplay, Heather Knight, that adaptable, resourceful cricketer, brought it to an end with a brilliant direct hit from mid-off to dismiss Blackwell, the ball after she had driven past Knight’s fingertips. Jess Cameron looked fluent before being sent back by Perry when searching for a non-existent single and run out by Greenway at point.Australia stuttered through the final ten overs to finish with 238, 20 below par, in Perry’s eyes. After playing brilliantly – despite being dropped by Rebecca Grundy with a caught and bowled on 21 – she lobbed to Sciver in the deep, before Erin Osborne was run out by a direct hit from mid-on and Sarah Coyte by Brunt’s strong arm at fine leg and Sarah Taylor’s collection at the wicket.An attractive finish from Alyssa Healy – wristy and dexterous, especially when reverse-sweeping – took Australia somewhere towards a total Perry and Blackwell’s middle over fightback had deserved. Those England run outs perhaps masked a fielding display that had otherwise been a touch ragged.In reply, Charlotte Edwards pulled Perry’s first delivery for four but was soon on her way, dragging on, before Knight, who was very scratchy for 45 minutes, lobbed Coyte to mid-on, where Lanning took a fine catch. Amy Jones also never settled and was caught on the second attempt when hitting hard to midwicket.At the other end, Sarah Taylor had bristled with insouciance, scooping Coyte and unfurling a stunning extra cover drive followed by a pair of wristy flicks over midwicket off Holly Ferling – bowling with a remodelled action after a stress fracture to the lower back. Taylor’s pace had slowed by the time she was joined by Greenway – who struggled to lay bat on ball when she first came in – and eventually fell to a fine Healy catch when cutting.Sciver smote her first ball through the covers off the back foot and was soon into her stride, looking as comfortable as any on the surface. Greenway grew in confidence, unfazed by poor timing and a failed reverse-sweep, playing her strokes and eventually using her feet to hit hard down the ground.She fell slogging to midwicket, but only after consecutive boundaries, the second of which – carved over mid-on – took her to 50. Sciver was strong on the sweep and brutal on the drive, although was lucky on 37, when a direct hit came in as she lazily failed to run her bat in. Unlike her maverick, hard-hitting counterpart in the men’s team, Ben Stokes, she was already home. When Sciver sliced Osborne to mid-off, it was over to Elwiss, who slipped Osborne through the gap at point to inflict Australia’s first ODI defeat in 11 matches.The accepted wisdom is that England’s men won the 2013 Ashes by simply winning “the big moments”. They were not much better than Australia, and could easily have lost three of the five matches. There was a sense of that here; England were not excellent and at times made heavy weather of all three disciplines, but they had enough to see off Australia, who looked ring-rusty, having not played since November. It was not always pretty but it certainly was professional, and with one win and two of 16 points, off to Bristol England go, with a certain spring in their step.

There was never any chance of play on the second day of the South Zoneunder-22 match between Kerala and Andhra at Kakinada on Friday.Cyclonic rains caused damage to the wicket and the outfield andumpires KG Lakshminarayan and S Balachandran, after severalinspections, called off play. Rain had ruled out play on the openingday on Thursday.

ScorecardTom Fell fell 17 runs short of a century•Getty Images

Tom Fell was cruelly run out for 83 as Worcestershire took the attritional approach in reaching 223 for 4 from 83 overs on the first day of their LV= County Championship match against Durham at Chester-le-Street.Fell had helped add 93 for the fourth wicket when his partner, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, played the ball to long leg, where Graham Onions fielded it in a sufficiently fumbling manner to create fatal indecision.Fell called for a third run, to which his partner initially responded before changing his mind when they were almost together in mid-pitch. Fell’s dive back into his crease was to no avail, ending a high-class innings, while Kohler-Cadmore was unbeaten on 46 when bad light ended play.”It was a very disappointing way to get out because I felt I was on for a hundred,” said Fell. “It was the sort of freak incident you have to laugh about, otherwise you would cry. The way Graham Onions reacted we thought it had gone for four, but suddenly the ball was flying in as we were stopping and starting. It was a big misjudgement and I hope it will never happen again.”It’s the first time I’ve batted here and the pitch wasn’t as tough to bat on as I’d been led to believe. It’s a bit slow and tacky and we would have fielded if we’d won the toss. So after losing it we feel we are in a good position.”Needing to win the last two games to have any hope of survival in Division One, Worcestershire skipper Daryl Mitchell set out to blunt Onions and Chris Rushworth after being put in when play began 30 minutes late.But after mounting a painstaking vigil all morning to reach 17 off 92 balls, Mitchell fell to the third ball after lunch. He played back to a ball from off-spinner Ryan Pringle which turned just enough to gain an lbw decision.Compared with his captain, Brett D’Oliveira had been positively fluent in making 36 out of an opening stand of 50 before falling lbw to Barry McCarthy.But with Fell playing himself in cautiously the score had advanced to only 67 off 33 overs at lunch.Joe Clarke helped Fell put on 42 before he edged Onions low to third slip’s right, where Gordon Muchall held a brilliant catch.An early tea was taken after rain arrived with Fell on 32 and Kohler-Cadmore on 6, leaving what would have been a 40-over final session had bad light not intervened.A rare false stroke from Fell saw him edge Jamie Harrison for four, but the drive through extra cover off the same bowler, which took him to 50 off 119 balls, was a shot of pure elegance.A hook in front of square off McCarthy was another text-book stroke and his third championship hundred of the season looked a certainty until his unfortunate dismissal.Ross Whiteley had moved comfortably to 16 at the close.

As South Africa gear up for the match AB de Villiers said they have been working towards for the last “two to three years,” they have come to the conclusion that they have had enough. But enough in the best way possible.”There’s enough laughing, there’s enough stress, there’s enough nerves, there’s good cricket, there’s enough bad cricket. We’ve got a mixture of everything on the team. We’ve just got to find a way to win tomorrow,” de Villiers said. And do something no South African team has done before.The country’s history in the World Cup knockouts cannot be avoided, especially not on the eve of another match. For the squad, it means even though they may not look back on the under-achievements, others do it for them. Their choice is either to confront or avoid it, and they are doing both. The former publicly – Russell Domingo joked about the chokers tag; de Villiers recapped the blow-out in the 2007 semi-final against Australia which he put down to “over-analysis” – and the latter privately.De Villiers already has some idea of what he wants to see happen and it does not involve anything South Africa do not already do, or any outlandish demands on them. “We have certain strengths that we like to focus on. Strike with a new ball, try and bowl them out, and if we bat first, try and get a big total and put them under pressure,” he said. “No one is going to ask us if we played exceptional cricket when we win the World Cup, we’re just going to say that we won the Cup, so we’re just going to find a way to win the game tomorrow. All I can say is we’re not going to choke. We’re just going to play a good game of cricket tomorrow and come out on top. Simple.”On Monday night, South Africa held a festive team dinner, complete with a mock interview in which Wayne Parnell quizzed Domingo about his chances of playing – the coach confirmed he is very much in contention – and then cancelled their match-day-minus-one training session. They “played a few games in the park, had a good time and a laugh” because that’s what people who have done enough work in the nets and on the field, in front of a computer screen and with a calculator, do. Everything else that needs to be done can only be done on game day.”We know exactly what’s coming tomorrow. It’s an important game. It’s exactly what we’ve been working for the last two to three years. We’re very prepared for this and just ready to go,” de Villiers said.If that sounds a little too similar to what every South African team before this one has said, that’s because it is. But de Villiers has promised there are differences. As a player, he has been in this situation twice before. Now, at his third tournament, he is the captain and has taken it on himself to set the tone.”It’s partly my responsibility as a captain to lead in the way that I want the boys to go out there,” he said. “The way that I show energy together with a few senior players around me and the language we use, the kind of energy we show when we walk out, the things we do and the way we lead, will make it easy for the rest of the guys to follow and see what should be happening in the quarter-finals of a World Cup.”And what is it that should be happening? Explorer Mike Horn will give South Africa some answers when he gives them their pre-game pep talk. Whatever he told Germany in the lead-up to their Football World Cup final last year certainly worked.The preparation is done. The group stage is done. Even the bulk of the playing in this tournament is done. All eight teams left will hope the losing is done. And if it’s not, they will know they will be done. That’s really all there is to it.

Arafat Sunny’s four-wicket haul skittled South Zone for 122, after which East Zone eased to a six-wicket win in one of two opening-day matches of the BCL one-day competition.After deciding to bowl first in Mirpur, the East Zone bowlers never let any partnerships develop. Left-arm spinner Sunny took the wickets of Mohammad Mithun, Nurul Hasan, Sohag Gazi and Abdur Razzak to finish with 4 for 11 in seven overs. South Zone lost their last four wickets without adding a run.Apart from Sunny’s four, Nabil Samad took two wickets.East Zone took 26 overs to overhaul the small target. Litton Das top-scored with 45. Rubel Hossain took two wickets.In Fatullah, North Zone beat Central Zone by two wickets. The match ended in the final over when No. 10 Sanjamul Islam struck consecutive fours off Mahmudullah.North Zone’s chase was held together by Nasir Hossain’s 76 off 94 balls that had six fours and a six. He came to bat in the 17th over with the score on 56 for 3 and got out in the penultimate over with his side needing eight runs to win.Earlier Central Zone made 209 for 6 in 50 overs with Shamsur Rahman top-scoring with an unbeaten 76. He struck seven fours and a six in his 101-ball innings. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took three wickets while Nasir took two wickets.

	Rafiq does not own a British passport and his participation in Yorkshire’s team has forced the postponement of their match against Durham © Yorkshire CCC

A gaffe in paperwork has thrown Yorkshire’s Twenty20 Cup campaign into chaos, forcing the postponement of their crucial quarter-final clash against Durham at Chester-le-Street, when Yorkshire’s 17-year-old offspinner, Azeem Rafiq, was deemed by the ECB to be ineligible to play.Rafiq, a former England Under-15 captain and the youngest to have played in the Twenty20 Cup, represented Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on June 27, helping to lift the club into the quarter-finals. However, two hours before their match today against Durham at Chester-le-Street, the ECB called it off when it transpired that Rafiq, who came to Pakistan about seven years ago, was not registered to play first-class cricket. Furthermore, his presence in the country was also under question as he doesn’t hold a British passport.Should Yorkshire’s game against Nottinghamshire be made null and void, the ECB’s Cricket Discplinary Committee could replay it.”ECB made it clear to both counties that in view of the alleged ineligibility of Azeem Rafiq that it was possible that the panel could order the replay of any match or matches which could affect any quarter-final,” a press release from the ECB said. “The ECB are convening a meeting of the panel as a matter of urgency so that any relevant matches will be played before Twenty20 finals day at Southampton on July 26, 2008.”According to a disconsolate Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire coach, Rafiq’s mistake was to miss a minor point on one of his forms. “Obviously it’s a very complicated set of rules,” he told Sky Sports. “As I understand it he was on our list as [a player] but as an academy player rather than a full-time player. He needed to have signed a piece of paper that he agrees to sign a rules and regulations of the ECB. Unfortunately he [didn’t sign it] and that’s where the problem arose. Since then it appears his status in the country [is also] under question.”The problem then was that the player is not qualified as an English cricketer, so if Yorkshire had applied for registration, they would have had to de-register Rana Naved [the Pakistani allrounder] to be able to play Azeem Rafiq in the game against Nottinghamshire.”Clearly there is a precedent from a Worcestershire-Gloucestershire game where a match was replayed, but the panel has wide-ranging powers and that can lead into all sorts of areas – whether that be fines, disqualification, replaying the match, it is up to the panel to determine.”A point of confusion, if not concern, is the delay in the ECB’s handling of the matter. Moxon implied that the board knew of the situation 24 hours after their match against Nottinghamshire but David Collier, the ECB’s chief executive, insisted that the affair only came to their attention early this morning.”The fact was, we didn’t know – we pointed it out to Yorkshire in terms of his ineligibility. That was only found out very first thing this morning,” he said. “It was found out from our own internal department who were checking on players’ registrations, and it did not appear there was registration with this player [Rafiq].”The consequences are complicated, not only for Yorkshire but for Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan who could suddenly be handed a lifeline into the quarter-finals should Yorkshire be thrown out of the competition. It was a possibility to which Moxon appeared to be resigned. “As I understand it there’s going to be some kind of hearing,” he said, “so we’re hanging on by our fingernails at the moment.”Durham had sold 6000 tickets for today which will now need to be refunded. “Through no fault of our own, and without feeling too sorry for ourselves, we seem to be suffering all round,” said Geoff Cook, the Durham coach. “We have to wait until the process is sorted out between Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and, I think, Glamorgan, and then we will expect to play the winners here at the Riverside. It’s very complicated, very sad for the game and very sad for the competition. I feel very sorry for the lad involved.”

Canterbury were put through their paces today at Jade Stadium in fitness tests, in one of the few summer-like days of the season to date.A full programme over the next fortnight has been set up for the under-performing side of the last couple of seasons, and with the prospect of having international players available for the start of the summer, and perhaps later, coach Michael Sharpe is keen to have the side hitting the State Championship running and ready to take every opportunity they can.Early points may well be vital with so much international cricket on later in the summer.After their full training session today, the players were being given tomorrow off as it is a public holiday in Canterbury. They will have club cricket on Saturday and then a two-day trial match at Hagley Park on Sunday and Monday.Tuesday has been set aside for pool rehabilitation and peripheral activities with sports psychology and nutrition on the agenda.The selectors are looking to name their team on November 22.Sharpe said there is good all-round strength in the region this year and after the good first seasons last year for Wade Cornelius, Michael Papps, Shanan Stewart and Peter Fulton, he is looking for them to build on that and to benefit from having the international players for the first two matches of the year.”They always add something to the team and it is good for the young players to rub shoulders with them,” Sharpe said.”It is very, very good to have them for some of our play and when they move into the internationals it gives others chances.”The recent good form shown by Canterbury sides in the national age-group competitions was starting to bear fruit by strengthening up the next tier of the game.Players had enjoyed a lot of club cricket on grass so far this summer, especially when compared to other regions and it was a case of everyone getting into the groove and going forward together he said.