A maiden first-class double-hundred from captain Hamilton Masakadza helped Mountaineers salvage a draw against Mid West Rhinos at Kwekwe Sports Club

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2010
Scorecard
ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A maiden first-class double-hundred from captain Hamilton Masakadza helped Mountaineers salvage a draw against Mid West Rhinos at Kwekwe Sports Club. The visitors were bowled out for 191 in their first innings and forced to follow on, but Masakadza shared in partnerships of 77 with opener Tino Mawoyo and 130 with Mark Vermeulen to secure the result on his way to an unbeaten 208.Masakadza’s marathon effort made up for his erroneous decision to put Mid West Rhinos in to bat on a docile pitch after winning the toss. The Mountaineers attack, without Shingi Masakadza who was rested for this match after picking up a back strain, were put to the sword on the first day as Brendan Taylor and Gary Ballance put on a massive 227 for the first wicket.Taylor, who was dropped twice, was the first to his hundred just after tea but then slashed at a wide ball to be caught behind for 110. Mountaineers fought back through offspinner Prosper Utseya, who removed Ballance – for 104 – and Vusi Sibanda in the same over as the hosts slipped to 234 for 3. But the Rhinos were able to declare at a healthy 460 for 6 after half-centuries from Friday Kasteni and Malcolm Waller, and their seamers soon had Mountaineers in deep trouble.They had crashed to 45 for 5 before a late revival through Greg Smith and Utseya’s combined efforts. They put on 107 for the sixth wicket, both passing fifty, but once they were removed the tail soon folded and Mountaineers were skittled for 191, still 269 runs adrift of the Rhinos’ first-innings effort.Mountaineers’ batsmen showed much better application in the second innings, Masakadza and Mawoyo shaking off Jonathan Beukes’ second failure of the match with a counter-attacking partnership. Mawoyo was eventually removed for an 82-ball 55 that included five fours and two sixes, but Masakadza then found a willing partner in Vermeulen and they took Mountaineers to 223 for 2 at the close on the third day.Masakadza went to his hundred early the next morning and, though Vermeulen fell for 46, battling innings from the lower middle order aided his efforts to deny Rhinos victory. He surpassed his previous first-class best of 188, made against Mashonaland Eagles last season, striking 24 fours and three sixes to reach a double century shortly before the game was declared a draw.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval

Peter English01-Dec-2010

Match Facts

Kevin Pietersen was just starting to purr when he was dismissed in Brisbane•Getty Images

December 3, Adelaide

Start time 10:30 (00:00 GMT)

The Big Picture

England fought back to show character and ended up controlling the first Test, but they must build on their hard-won momentum to deliver more pain to the ailing hosts. Andrew Strauss already holds the urn so he has an important advantage in what has turned into a four-game shootout. The equation is simple: Australia must win more games than England to reclaim the Ashes.Given the state of the sides, a local victory will be hard work in Adelaide. The back-to-back games mean both outfits will have some weary men, and the bowlers face another back-breaking week on a surface that feels like paradise for the batsmen. At the end of the Gabba Test, Ricky Ponting couldn’t help but laugh at England’s second innings, which finished at 1 for 517. There wasn’t much else he could do after watching his bowlers provide fodder for Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott.It is extremely unusual for the hosts to be under such heavy scrutiny so early in a home campaign, but they must discover some sustained form to win some relief. Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris, the fast bowlers, have been included in the 13-man squad and have been trying to impress in the nets this week. The batting remains unchanged but once again this is an important game for Marcus North, the hit-and-miss batsman, and part-time spinner.The game here four years ago is still remembered as a nightmare or a magical dream, depending on your allegiance. England entered the final day at 1 for 59, with a lead of 97 and a chance to push for victory. Instead they were rolled by Shane Warne for 129 and Australia sped to a six-wicket victory. England never recovered and the result changed the series.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Australia DLLLW
England DWLWW

Watch out for…

Ricky Ponting was relieved when he was able to leave the Gabba with an unbeaten half-century on Monday. He did enough to show some much-needed form in the Test arena and convince himself he’s on target for a huge score. As Australia showed in the first game, they need their captain to fire, and will hope he does it on a ground he loves. Ponting is the leading scorer in Adelaide with 1433 runs, including five centuries and a high of 242, in 14 Tests.

Like Ponting, Kevin Pietersen produced a bright start in Brisbane, with 43 when the conditions were at their toughest on the opening day. Just as he was starting to shine brightly he pushed at Peter Siddle and edged to second slip. Pietersen is desperate for a big contribution and will start at Adelaide sans moustache, which makes him look hungry for runs instead of 1970s fun. The arena is Pietersen’s favourite – although that might have changed slightly after his rain rant yesterday – but he has mixed memories from four years ago. He conquered Warne in the first innings with 158, but was bowled trying to sweep on that fateful final day in 2006-07.

Team news

Australia’s bowlers are the most nervous groups of players in the country and Mitchell Johnson has already had his card marked unfavourably. Ponting has confirmed Johnson has been dropped from the side after his ineffective performance at the Gabba, with Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger vying for his place. With a gap of only three days between Tests, the fresh men could provide a huge boost for the already weary side. Expect Bollinger to come in for Johnson, which lengthens Australia’s tail, while Ben Hilfenhaus also struggled at the Gabba and will be under pressure from Harris.Australia (probable) 1 Simon Katich, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Marcus North, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Xavier Doherty, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.England’s bowlers also found the Gabba pitch tough work but only injury will force them into a change. Steven Finn showed he could extract some extra bounce out of lifeless surfaces, while Stuart Broad and James Anderson also had bright patches. The key for England is to get something out of their highly-rated spinner Graeme Swann, who struggled in the opening game.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn.

Pitch and conditions

This will be the first Test in charge for the curator Damian Hough, who has replaced Les Burdett after his four decades at the ground. Hough expects a traditional Adelaide wicket, which means lots of runs and some unpredictable bounce late in the game. “Every year we have been able to produce a sporting pitch,” Hough said. “There have been eight results in the last 10 years so I think the characteristics haven’t changed.” The forecast for the opening day is mostly fine, with a top temperature of 30C, while Saturday’s maximum is expected to be 35C.

Stats and trivia

• The last time Australia drew at the Gabba, they followed up with a four-wicket defeat in Adelaide. That was against India in 2003-04. England last drew the opening Test of an Ashes tour in 1998-99, which they followed with losses in Perth and Adelaide
• After last week’s run-fest, when Cook became the highest scorer at the Gabba with his 235, the players will have to do a lot better to beat the ground’s high mark. Don Bradman’s 299 is the top score, while England’s best is Paul Collingwood’s 206 four years ago
• Two players involved in the match will start it with batting averages of more than 200 at the venue. Brad Haddin’s mean is 245 in two Tests, while Collingwood’s is 228 after one match.
• Australia have won 16 of 29 Tests against England at Adelaide, while the visitors have succeeded on eight occasions. Their last victory there came in 1994-95, when Devon Malcolm and Chris Lewis bowled the hosts out for 156 in the final innings.
• Only four of the specialist bowlers in both squads have played Tests in Adelaide. Johnson has played there three times, while Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and James Anderson have played there once.

Quotes

“The bottom line is we’ve got to find 20 wickets in the game and we’ve got to pick the bowlers who we think are best equipped, skill-based wise and physically, to get that job done.”

Solidity against pace during the 181-run opening partnership helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said

Siddhartha Talya 03-Jan-2011Solidity against pace during an 181-run opening partnership and positive batting against spin to up the scoring rate helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said. Chopra batted determinedly to make an unbeaten 115 in conditions that offered plenty of assistance to the Tamil Nadu bowlers, and was well supported by Vineet Saxena as Rajasthan finished the day on 236 for 1.”We were not surprised when we were put in to bat, but we applied ourselves well,” Chopra told ESPNcricinfo. “We had a huge opening partnership and that really deflates the opposition. Once we got settled in, we tried to just continue for as long as possible.”In overcast conditions at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, with moisture on the pitch, there was swing and movement on offer for Tamil Nadu’s four-pronged pace attack. “L Balaji bowled very well, he bowled in the right areas consistently. So did C Ganapathy to start with. They bowled tightly and in the right areas, and both were quite effective. It’s just that they couldn’t really get a breakthrough and that’s what put us on the front foot. But there wasn’t a dull moment when the fast bowlers were on.”And it wasn’t just the movement. The ball wasn’t really coming on to the bat and it got better once the day progressed.”The good bounce in the pitch as well as the movement on offer meant Chopra had to be very conservative in his shot selection. He left a number of balls bowled in the channel outside off. “When the bounce is good and the ball is carrying to the keeper, you need to be very sure about where your off stump is. That’s what happens when you are batting well.”The seamers shared 59 overs today and conceded runs at just above two an over. The circumspect approach against the seamers had to be compensated with a bit of aggression against the slow bowlers. The Rajasthan openers targeted Suresh Kumar, who went for 81 in 21 overs.”On a track like this, you need to score runs against the spinners. That’s because the fast bowlers are not going to give you anything. There wasn’t much in the track for the spinners today. So that was the reason why we tried to up the ante against their only offspinner, and were successful.”Chopra praised his opening partner Saxena, whose 72 followed up a decisive century against Mumbai in the quarter-final. “He’s batted well throughout this season. He is someone who provides solidity at the top, his batting suits the longer format of the game, he’ll leave the ball, he knows his strengths and he sticks to them.”Rajasthan qualified for the semi-final based on a first-innings lead against Mumbai, and Chopra said batting big was the way to go in the ongoing contest. “We need to be very cautious to start with, the second new ball is only a few overs old. We’ll need to see off the first hour, or hour-and-a-half. We need to bat for as long as possible and put them under pressure.”Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar sustained an injury when he was struck on the pads off an inside edge and had to retire hurt, but Chopra was confident he would be able to bat on the second day.

Rajasthan would press for quick runs on the third morning so that they can increase the required rate and put further pressure on Tamil Nadu

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera04-Jan-2011
Scorecard
Rajasthan’s captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar will have to make the important decision of when to declare tomorrow•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

How much is enough for Rajasthan? They are on 485 for 5 and there are two days left to go in this semi-final. They need time to bowl out Tamil Nadu or else the game will be reduced to one decided on the basis of run-rate. That the pitch has eased up considerably has only muddled the equation Ideally, Rajasthan will press for quick runs on the third morning so that they can increase their run-rate and put further pressure on Tamil Nadu.Today morning was all about consolidation. The pitch was expected to ease up after an hour and though Rajasthan lost their nightwatchman, Aakash Chopra and Robin Bist strove to preserve wickets. Tamil Nadu upped the ante; the bowling, led by L Balaji, was disciplined and the fielding was sharp. With Chopra continuing to be solid outside off, even the right-hand seamers went around the stumps to try a different angle. Chopra square drove the left-arm seamer Suthesh to the point boundary and the singles had started to come more freely when he got out: he tried to work a length delivery from S Sam to the on side, but got a leading edge to gully.Bist then donned the attacking role, off driving and on driving Sam for successive boundaries, and just when he was in stride, he was adjudged lbw when he missed a pull against R Sathish and was hit marginally outside off stump. Rashmi Parida was the set batsman and he tried to break free with a crashing cover drive but S Badrinath intercepted smartly at short extra cover to leave Rajasthan at 388 for 5. It was a crucial moment but Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who limped off the field last evening after edging a drive to his foot, came out with a runner and, in the company of the enterprising Ashok Menaria, propelled Rajasthan towards a large total.While Kanitkar shored up one end, Menaria, the former India Under-19 captain who hit a ton against Mumbai in the quarter-finals, increased the tempo with several attacking shots. He punched off the back foot and square drove when the ball was pitched up and kept the scorecard ticking over. He clouted the spinners for couple of sixes and hit nine fours as 92 runs came in the last session. The second new ball, in particular, leaked runs as the pair stole 26 from the first five overs.”We will bat for a few overs more tomorrow and set up a stiffer target,” Chopra said at the end of the day. “The pitch has eased up and it might come down to run rate but Tamil Nadu will have to contend with the pressure of a large total.”

Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, says he is enjoying his return to the team after two years and is confident of carrying his recent form in to the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has made the most of his surprise re-call to the West Indies side. He had not played international cricket since 2008 when he was included in the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2010, but grabbed the opportunity, scoring a half-century in the second Test of the rain-hit series, and was included in the World Cup squad.In the ODI series against Sri Lanka, played in January 2011 after being rescheduled, Baugh got scores of 28 not out and 49, giving notice of the threat he poses as an aggressive lower-order batsman. “I see every game as a major opportunity to make a contribution to the team and to West Indies cricket,” Baugh said. “I am really focussed on the job and I am making strides forward. Since I returned to the team unit I have a more positive outlook on my game.”With no other specialist wicketkeeper in West Indies’ fifteen for the World Cup, Baugh is almost sure to be a part of the starting XI, a situation that didn’t seem likely three months ago. West Indies appeared to be grooming young wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, but after he failed to improve his form with the bat – he averaged 17.66 in 14 ODIs in 2010 – the 28-year-old Baugh, who was an important member of Jamaica’s winning side in the 2009-10 Regional Four-Day Competition, was called up.Baugh says he has made some changes to his game since he last turned out for West Indies in 2008. “I have made a few changes to my approach and the way I do things. I try not to put too much pressure on myself and not burden myself with too much. I look to go out and play my natural game and stick to the team plans.”I am in pretty good form and I will be looking to take that form in to the World Cup. I know what is required of me behind the stumps and with the bat, and I am clear in my mind how to go about doing the job.”West Indies go in to the World Cup having slipped to No. 9 in the ICC one-day rankings and have not beaten a Test side in an ODI since June 2009. They play two warm-up games, against Kenya on February 12 and Sri Lanka on February 15, before their first match of the tournament, against South Africa on February 24.

Lancashire have signed the Sri Lanka allrounder Farveez Maharoof for the 2011 domestic season

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2011Lancashire have signed the Sri Lanka allrounder Farveez Maharoof for the 2011 domestic season and the club expect him to be available for the whole summer after he drifted out of the national side.Maharoof, 26, played the last of his 94 ODIs last June against India and missed out on a place at the World Cup. He has also appeared in 20 Tests, but the last of those was in 2007 so he’s unlikely to come into consideration for Sri Lanka’s tour of England.”I am really looking to playing for such a great club like Lancashire and excited by the challenge of contributing towards a successful season,” Maharoof said.” “I’ve had a good domestic season in Sri Lanka and I believe a season of county cricket will be a fantastic learning experience that will help me develop as a player.”Lancashire were preparing to go without an overseas player for the season due to the mounting legal costs of getting their planning application for Old Trafford approved, but a major hurdle was cleared last week when they were given the go-ahead to begin the development work.”Farveez has a track record of getting important runs and picking up vital wickets. He’s available to us for the full season and will be a competitive addition to our squad,” Peter Moores, the Lancashire coach, said.In first-class cricket Maharoof has three centuries to go alongside a bowling average of 32.28 and he should also be a useful player in Twenty20 where his economy is 7.40.Lancashire begin their season with a match against Oxford University on April 2 before their opening Championship match against Sussex, at Liverpool, on April 8.

Australia allrounder Steven Smith will not be taking up his IPL duties with Kochi Tuskers Kerala after it was decided he should fly home to undergo ankle surgery

Daniel Brettig14-Apr-2011Australia allrounder Steven Smith will not be taking up his IPL duties with Kochi Tuskers Kerala after it was decided he should fly home to undergo ankle surgery. Smith has experienced left ankle pain through the Australian summer, and will now have the problem dealt with, to be fit in time for Australia’s pre-season camp in July and the tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa that follow.”Steve has had long-standing, minor pain in his left ankle during the Australian summer,” team physio Alex Kountouris said. “This is considered an opportune time to have surgery on the ankle. It will take place next week so he can adequately prepare for the upcoming Australia season.”Smith’s withdrawal is a blow for Kochi, one of the IPL’s new franchises, who are winless after two matches. While doing little with the bat, Smith showed considerable promise with the ball in the just-concluded series against Bangladesh, delivering a remarkable sharp legbreak that ripped between bat and pad to castle Shakib Al Hasan.”I’m pretty happy with the way I’m going. I feel good in everything I’m doing in the nets and in games,” Smith said during the series. “Every time I’m bowling in a game it’s going to help me, every time I get that opportunity. So at the moment that’s pretty much what it’s about for me, gaining control in games under pressure.”Smith was scheduled to join Kochi with team-mate John Hastings, as a host of other players including Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee and Shakib Al Hasan, make their way to various IPL franchises following Australia’s 3-0 victory over Bangladesh in the limited-overs series that finished on Wednesday.

The decision to exclude Sulieman Benn from the West Indies squad was made because of reports from the team management on his behaviour during the World Cup, according to Clyde Butts

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2011The decision to exclude Sulieman Benn, the left-arm spinner, from the West Indies squad for the series against Pakistan was made because of unfavourable reports from the team management on his behaviour during the World Cup, according to Clyde Butts, chairman of the West Indies selectors. The reports were, he said, pertaining to “off-field” incidents involving Benn.”He [Benn] did not have a very good report from the World Cup and we felt he needed some time to recuperate from that and all the situations that happened there,” Butts said at a press conference in Providence. “He has been spoken to. We have sat with him, the selectors and the coach, for a long time in Barbados when we had the camp and we actually explained everything to him.”Benn, 29, has had a string of disciplinary problems since debuting for West Indies in 2008: he was suspended for two one-day internationals for an incident involving Brad Haddin during West Indies’ tour of Australia in 2009, and then during South Africa’s visit in 2010 he received another ban for an altercation with Dale Steyn and was also sent off the field in a one-dayer by his captain Chris Gayle for refusing to do what the captain asked.Despite his indiscretions, Benn was awarded a central contract by the WICB for 2010-11 and Butts indicated that his omission might not be long-term. “The Board is actually supposed to reach Benn and decide how we’re going to move forward from there,” he said.In the absence of Benn, Devendra Bishoo, the 25-year-old legspinner, has been selected as the lone spinner in West Indies’ squad for the first Test against Pakistan. Butts said the selectors had considered picking two spinners given the nature of the track in Providence, but decided one would give the team more balance. He also said Bishoo, who was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series against Pakistan, should be fit for the Test, despite concerns over his fitness after the one-day series, but there was a contingency plan in case he is not able to play.

A brilliant all-round performance by Preston Mommsen was not enough to earn Scotland victory in their Clydesdale Bank 40 opener at Chester-le-Street

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2011
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A brilliant all-round performance by Preston Mommsen was not enough to earn Scotland victory in their Clydesdale Bank 40 opener at Chester-le-Street. The visitors lost by five wickets as Gordon Muchall’s unbeaten 95 off 97 balls carried Durham home with 10 balls to spare.South Africa-born Mommsen, 23, who hails from Durban and arrived at Gordonstoun School in 2006 on a cricket and rugby scholarship, came in at No. 7 and smashed 73 not out off 54 balls as Scotland took 94 off the last eight overs to reach 215 for 7. But Muchall’s innings, which built on a quickfire 50 from Ben Stokes, saw Durham to 219 for the loss of 5 wickets.Mommsen helped Scotland stage a tremendous recovery from 93 for 6, although even that was relatively healthy after Graham Onions took wickets in each of his first three overs to have the Scots reeling on 16 for 3. When he came back for two overs at the end of the innings, Onions’ last two balls were both hit for six by Mommsen, who now works in Edinburgh and plays for
Carlton CC.He also had figures of 2 for 20 in five overs with his offspin, while Middlesex’s Josh Davey took 2 for 18 in six overs, but bizarrely neither player completed their allocation. Gordon Drummond turned instead to his quicker bowlers when Durham needed 47 off six overs and Muchall plundered a series of boundaries.Allrounder Majid Haq also performed well for Scotland, bowling his offspin tightly and contributing 30 to a seventh-wicket stand of 77 in 13 overs with Mommsen. When Haq holed out at deep square leg, well caught by Durham’s Scot, Kyle Coetzer, Gordon Goudie helped to add 39 off the last two overs.Ian Blackwell and Gareth Breese conceded only 53 runs in 16 overs of spin for Durham but their troubles started when they turned to Ben Harmison to bowl the 33rd over. Five of his first nine balls were wides and the over cost 15, then Ruel Brathwaite came under fire at the other end as he was brought back to earth a day after his five-wicket haul against Sussex.Durham looked like coasting to victory as Stokes, batting at No. 3, hit a 36-ball half-century, but when he pulled Davey to deep midwicket they lost their way. Dale Benkenstein was brilliantly caught by Richie Berrington, high to his right at midwicket, and two overs later Mommsen struck again when Blackwell chipped a return catch.But at 145 for 5 in the 28th over Breese went in and his unbeaten 24 helped Muchall complete the task.

Geoff Cook, Durham’s wily director of cricket, is canny as well as wise and there was never any danger of his eluding him even though Durham had ended Lancashire’s unbeaten run in emphatic fashion

Jon Culley at Chester-le-Street01-Jun-2011
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Geoff Cook, Durham’s wily director of cricket, is canny as well as wise and there was never any danger of his eluding him even though Durham had ended Lancashire’s unbeaten run in emphatic fashion to take a 17-point lead at what is effectively the half-way stage of the County Championship, in matches played if not duration.Durham completed their third consecutive 24-point win 20 minutes after lunch on the final afternoon, by which point it was clear that Lancashire had given up the ghost. Glen Chapple’s side have a game in hand but the demands of the Friends Life Twenty20, for which the Championship now pauses, are likely to put a bigger strain on their small squad than Durham’s.But Cook dismissed talk of the pennant returning to the Riverside, where it resided for two consecutive years before Nottinghamshire claimed it back, even though his team have already amassed 14 centuries and his bowlers 135 wickets.”We have played on some surfaces that have been testing for the bowlers and the batsmen have revelled in those conditions,” he said. “Three innings wins reflects the quality and variety of the bowlers that we have. It is the first time Durham has played two spinners regularly, we have managed to call upon Graham Onions and Stepen Harmison intermittently, Callum Thorp has been terrific and Liam Plunkett played a role at the start.”This win has given us a bit of a lead but I don’t think it has any particular significance. Lancashire still have a game in hand but the pattern of the Championship this season is that everybody seems to be beating everybody else.”And while forecasts of what lies ahead invariably refer to unforeseen twists, the reality is that setbacks tend to occur. Durham have one to deal with now after Ben Stokes, the potentially world class allrounder who appeared to have reached another level with his 185 here, suffered a dislocated finger, complicated by ligament damage, that will keep him out of action for six to eight weeks.Stokes, who is 20 on Saturday, sustained the damage in the field late on Monday, attempting to catch at ball cut hard at him in the covers. It is a blow for Durham but equally to the player, who had impressed England selector James Whitaker so much with the quality of his batting and bowling here. A call-up to the one-day side was beginning to look a strong possibility.”Ben has had a superb start to the season. He is a real talent and has made a fantastic improvement in the last month in terms of his mental approach,” Cook added. “It is disappointing for him, disappointing for Durham and disappointing for the England selectors if they were thinking of including him. But he still has years and years in front of him.”It is really sad that Ben’s season has been interrupted as it has. He was coming into form with both bat and ball, and it is no coincidence that his batting was improving as his bowling was improving as well.”That has given him real confidence. He was able to offer something with bat and ball, in some ways that took the pressure off him, and he was making some real contributions. But he is such a natural player that he will pick his game up very quickly when he comes back.”Happily, Paul Collingwood is ready for action in the Twenty20, although he will not discover fully how well his knee has recovered from surgery until he has experienced proper competitive action.Collingwood’s availability is a timely bonus, although another plus for Durham is the size of their squad, especially next to Lancashire’s. Where Cook is able to bring in four or five fresh faces for the Twenty20 and rest the same number, Lancashire’s small squad offers much less scope for rotation, especially when England’s Jimmy Anderson and allrounder Farveez Maharoof, who has been drafted in to Sri Lanka’s plans, are taken out.”We have 17 players and the scary thing is that if we pick up a few injuries we will be under a bit of pressure,” the Lancashire coach, Peter Moores, admitted. “I’d like more cover, I’d like an overseas player and we are looking at what can be done in that regard. But it has been clear that we have a cashflow problem.”Those on the field yesterday, for the first time this season, seemed to be a little lacking in fight, as if the task of batting through, three down and still 204 behind overnight, looked too much to them.Gary Keedy, the nightwatchman, had the right attitude, surviving for 67 minutes on the final morning before temptation got the better of him and he was bowled trying to sweep Ian Blackwell, his fellow left-arm spinner.Mark Chilton, his overnight partner, had already gone, caught behind trying to withdraw his bat when Mitch Claydon found some extra bounce. But it was what came after Keedy that will have disappointed Moores.Steven Croft was beaten by a fast, full delivery from Onions that hit him on pad, but Gareth Cross was trying to cut Blackwell and Tom Smith was caught at slip sweeping. Both dismissals would have struck Moores as avoidable. Five wickets had gone for 24 and, eight down at lunch and still 140 behind, survival was off the agenda.Soon afterwards, Chapple’s uppercut off a short ball from Claydon dropped into the hands of deep backward point and Blackwell picked up his fourth wicket by bowling Kyle Hogg.”I’d like to have seen us bat for longer,” Moores said, stating the obvious. “It was a pitch where there was always a ball there for you, that would catch you out because it bounced a bit more or kept low, but it was a pitch where if you got in you could be difficult to get out, as Ben Stokes and Dale Benkenstein proved in that excellent partnership. But sometimes you have to accept that a team has played better than you over the four days.”Beaten captain Chapple echoed those words. “We’ve got to take it on the chin, we were outplayed. We still competed, the effort was superb throughout, but the quality of our bowling wasn’t as good as it has been, mine included. It’s one performance, one loss, that’s all. We’re still confident because we’ve had a fantastic start to the year and you’re not going to go through a season without losing a game.”He praised Durham, but with a caveat. “They’re just playing really good cricket, but there are a lot of squads out there who are strong. Things can change quickly. Their batsmen are hot at the moment. They’re making the right decisions, they’re timing the ball. But that can change. I wouldn’t write anybody off.”