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Torrential rain brought an abrupt end to the Hundred match at Headingley between Northern Superchargers and Birmingham Phoenix with just 62 balls possible in Phoenix’s first innings. With puddles forming on the outfield the umpires were left with no choice but to call a halt to proceedings after a heavy shower engulfed Leeds.It was frustrating for the hosts who had got themselves into a decent position during the play that was possible with Reece Topley removing opener Jacob Bethell for 0 in his opening set of deliveries.That brought England star Ben Duckett to the middle and he introduced himself with a ramped shot for six before hitting an unbeaten 34 off 26 balls before the rain came.Spin also played its part with Matthew Short removing Dan Mousley and Shadab Khan in quick succession with England’s Adil Rashid claiming the wicket of Jamie Smith who was bowled for 13 with the visitors 84 for 5 at the close.England batter Harry Brook was also involved after making himself available for Superchargers’ opening fixture, following the conclusion of the Ashes on Monday.

Durham 433 for 8 (Lees 195, Clark 82) lead Gloucestershire 316 by 117 runsAlex Lees gave the England selectors a gentle nudge after scoring his third century in as many innings to guide Durham into a strong position against Gloucestershire in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash.Lees anchored the innings with a flawless knock of 195, posting his highest score as a Durham player since his move to Seat Unique Riverside in 2018. Graham Clark provided the perfect complement with 82 as the two shared a stand worth 195 after the hosts were reduced to 109 for four in reply to Gloucestershire’s 316.The two batters rebuilt the innings and propelled Durham ahead in the game, having skittled the visitors’ tail within the first half-hour of day two. It allowed Brydon Carse to tee off late in the day to push the hosts into a 117-run lead at the close with two first-innings wickets remaining.Resuming on 280 for six, Gloucestershire put their foot down before the arrival of the new ball. Zafar Gohar smashed three boundaries off Carse’s first over, while Josh Shaw cleared the rope with a huge strike over long-on against Parkinson to earn a second batting bonus point.Durham answered fire with fire as Carse responded with a hostile spell to make the breakthrough. Shaw could only glove behind to Robinson down the leg-side and the next ball was too good for Matt Taylor. Zaman Akhter survived the hat-trick ball and another barrage from Carse before the arrival of the new ball.Ben Raine then wrapped up the innings within three deliveries with the new Kookaburra in hand by bowling Gohar and pinning Dominic Goodman lbw, securing maximum bowling points for the hosts.Shaw made quick inroads for the visitors to remove Michael Jones, but Lees responded by taking the attack to the Gloucestershire bowlers. The left-hander shared a stand worth 67 with Scott Borthwick before the Durham captain picked out substitute fielder Jack Taylor as he aimed to clear the short boundary, presenting Shaw with his second wicket.Lees worked his way to his fifty from only 56 balls, but Durham had issues at the other end when David Bedingham emulated his captain’s dismissal falling three balls before the lunch break. Ollie Robinson continued the procession after the interval as fell caught and bowled to Goodman, leaving Durham in trouble at 109 for four after losing three wickets for 32.The home side required patience at the crease and Lees duly delivered without taking any risks on his march to three figures. He showed composure in a slow grind through the nineties before bringing up his third hundred of the term after striking Gohar straight down the ground to the fence.Clark offered a useful foil at the other end to support the former England opener. After a period of consolidation, the two batters upped the ante and cranked up the pressure on the Gloucestershire bowlers.James Bracey turned to a variety of options, but could not stop the onslaught from the fifth-wicket stand, especially from Lees who powered his way to his highest score of the season by passing 150 with three-straight pulls to the boundary against Akhter.Ben Charlesworth took the ball in the 70th over and finally broke the stand for 195 when Clark drilled the ball straight to Chris Dent at short mid-wicket, falling narrowly short of a deserved century. Carse and Lees guided the hosts to their third batting bonus point before the new ball.Matt Taylor found his rhythm from the off with the new ball to end Lees’ brilliant knock for 195 and then Raine first ball to give the visitors hope of skittling the hosts late in the day. But, Carse stamped his authority in the final hour, reaching fifty from 45 balls and smashing three sixes in the process, ensuring Durham ended the evening in command closing in on maximum batting points.

Stuart Broad believes England ended the second day in a “really positive” position on an Edgbaston pitch that he described as one of the slowest he has encountered in his 94 Test matches on home soil and a “nightmare” for a fast bowler.Ben Stokes, England’s captain, publicly requested “fast, flat wickets” for this summer’s Ashes series but the Edgbaston pitch has been on the slow side across the first two days. “Hopefully it’s not a trend for the whole series,” Broad said at stumps, speaking to broadcasters.”How can I be polite? It’s a very slow, low surface that saps the energy out of the ball, would be the nice way to put it,” Broad added. “It’s been pretty characterless so far – a bit soulless. But ultimately you can only judge it towards the end of a Test match and see how it develops.”It’s certainly one of the slowest pitches I can remember bowling on in England. I think there was a stat that, for the Aussies in the first 10 overs, it moved the least-ever recorded. It has certainly been hard work for the seamers.”Ultimately, we’re looking to entertain and have fun and get the crowd jumping, and it’s quite a difficult pitch to get plays-and-misses on and nicks to slip and stuff… these sorts of pitches are your worst nightmare when Steve Smith walks to the crease, to be honest.”Australia reached stumps trailing by 82 runs with five first-innings wickets remaining after Usman Khawaja batted through the day for an unbeaten hundred. But with Pat Cummins – who has averaged 11.71 in his last 40 innings – due in at No. 8, Broad believes England’s toil resulted in “a really good day”.”The game is nicely poised: we’re one or two wickets away from the tail,” Broad told the BBC’s . “It’s been a hard, gruelling day on a pitch that’s offered very little so far, but for us, being 90-odd ahead with five wickets to get, and trying to get in a position where we’re not batting last on that pitch is a really positive place to be.”He added to Sky Sports: “To still be 82 runs ahead of Australia with Pat Cummins and the tail next, we’re pretty happy. Things could happen pretty quickly for us in the first hour tomorrow… to pick up their key batters relatively cheaply, we’re pretty happy.”Australia have scored at 3.30 runs an over in their first innings compared to England’s scoring rate of 5.03, and Broad believes that the “clash in styles” will make for an intriguing series.”I think that’s the nature of the pitch slightly, to be honest,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t feel like the sort of pitch you’d have eight slips and gully, and the sort of pitch that you can play really extravagantly on.”I think the great thing about this series is both teams have got quite a clear style of play and both teams will stay true to how they’re going to play that. So I think they [the teams] probably clash in styles, but that will make for exciting cricket.”

Is India’s ODI top six loaded with too many right-handers at the moment? Former head coach Ravi Shastri seems to think so and would like to see at least two left-handers in India’s top six for the ODI World Cup later this year.”You need to strike the right balance. Do you think a left-hander will make a difference at the top? It does not have to be opening, but in the top three or four. You have to weigh all those options. Ideally, in the top six, I would like to see two left-handers,” Shastri told .With Rishabh Pant not playing any competitive cricket this year due to injuries suffered in a car accident, India have lost a key left-hander in one-day cricket. They have gone with Ishan Kishan for a few games this year. Ravindra Jadeja is another option but he doesn’t have a lot of experience batting in the top six. Yashasvi Jaiswal made it to India’s Test squad for the West Indies series, but his name remained absent from the ODI list.Related

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The World Cup is set to start on October 5. Pant, if he gets fit in time, will likely get his place back, but what are the other left-handed options?”You have Ishan Kishan. In the wicketkeeping department, you have Sanju [Samson]. But the left-handers, you have [Yashasvi] Jaiswal, Tilak Varma. There is enough left-handed talent that can replace any senior player at the moment.”Shastri was also adamant that India needed to form a pool of youngsters and get them in the mix ahead of the World Cup. While he voiced concerns about India’s red-ball depth, he was pretty happy with talent coming through in white-ball cricket.”There are so many youngsters. There is Jaiswal and, I might miss out a few here, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera. There is [Sai] Sudharsan, who played so well in the [IPL] final. There is Jitesh Sharma,” he said.”Among the bowlers, there is a crop of young fast bowlers. Quite a few, there is Mukesh [Kumar], names do not come to my mind now. But, there are at least four or five who can be groomed around that 135kmph-140kmph mark. So I am not worried about the talent in white-ball.”You have a lot of injuries these days. I always like a pool of 15-20. You should always be prepared, you should have a plan B, plan C.”Shastri: Sanju Samson is a “match-winner”•BCCI

Another name that Shastri was quite vocal about was Sanju Samson. The Kerala batter has been in and out of the India side but has been included in the squad for the ODIs in the West Indies next month. Shastri likened Samson to a young Rohit Sharma and felt the wicketkeeper-batter could be the “match-winner” India are looking for.”There is Sanju [Samson], who I believe is yet to realise his potential. He is a match-winner. There is something that is missing. I will be disappointed if he does not finish his career all guns blazing. It is like when I was the coach, I would have been disappointed if Rohit Sharma had not played in my side as a regular Test player. Hence, his opening the batting. I feel similar with Sanju,” he said.Shastri felt that with a number of youngsters ready to knock the door down, India should get started on succession planning. “There are seniors ready to be phased out and there are youngsters ready. No question about it when it comes to T20 cricket. Lesser in 50-over cricket and even fewer in Tests,” he said.”Because of the IPL, you see an abundance of high-quality, young, white-ball players. But, one should not get carried away by that and think they should be automatic red-ball choices. No, I would rather see the red-ball record. I would sit with the selectors and find out more about who the [red-ball performances] were against, in what conditions, what are their strengths, what is the temperament of the bloke like.”For me, temperament is key. It is paramount. Does the guy have the stomach for a fight? When it gets hot in the kitchen, is he is ready to bite the bullet? These are qualities I look for in a [Test] player. When I use the word fearless as a coach, these are the qualities that make a fearless cricketer. Backing his own ability and his strengths, and not wavering.”Luckily for India, the volume of players that play the game, compared with other countries, [is high]. I think you should always have a strong bench across formats.”Shastri was confident that India go into the ODI World Cup at home as favourites, and could “win this one” if they got the balance of the side right. “They are playing at home. I think they are one of the favourites. I am telling you now; I think they can win this one. Provided they get the right balance of experience and youth. And there is enough time to identify the squad that you want. And if you get your full-strength side, I think India are favourites, with England and Australia.”

Somerset 412 (Kohler-Cadmore 130, Rew 89, White 5-103) lead Northamptonshire 255 and 66 for 1 by 91 runsJames Rew gave another demonstration of his immense potential as Somerset built a strong position on the third day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Northamptonshire at Taunton.The 19-year-old wicketkeeper contributed 89 to help the home side extend their first innings total from 199 for four to 412 all out, a lead of 157. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, unbeaten on 95 overnight, fell for 130, his first Somerset century, and the pair shared a fifth-wicket stand of 164. Jack White finished with five for 103.Northants faced a tricky 20 overs before the close to start their second innings. They closed on 66 for one, still 91 runs behind, having lost Ricardo Vasconcelos and seen fellow opener Hassan Azad forced to retire hurt.The start had been delayed until 2pm by heavy morning rain. But after that there were no interruptions and spectators saw a lot more cricket than a bleak Coronation Day weather forecast had suggested.Rew, on 22 when play began, might have been dismissed in the first over as he called for a suicidal single to mid-wicket off White and was relieved to see Rob Keogh’s throw miss the stumps at the bowler’s end.The run brought up Somerset’s 200 and put Kohler-Cadmore on strike. If the former Yorkshire player lost any sleep over being five short of a hundred overnight, it didn’t show as he took a pace down the pitch and despatched White back over his head for six.A cavalier century had occupied just 72 balls and featured 16 fours and 2 sixes. Rew cover drove Jordan Buckingham for four and two to bring up the hundred partnership before the second ball change of the innings almost paid instant dividends for Northamptonshire.With his score on 43, Rew was dropped at second slip by Azad off White, a routine chance at waist height. The England Under-19 starlet went on to a 94-ball fifty and brought up the 250 with a slog-swept four off Keogh for his seventh boundary.Kohler-Cadmore’s thumping back-foot four through the off-side off Buckingham put Somerset into the lead before Rew hit Keogh for a straight six to take the stand to 150.Having reined himself in, Kohler-Cadmore repeated the shot off the same bowler. But Keogh took revenge when Somerset’s centurion clipped a sharp catch to Vasconcelos at mid-wicket, having faced 102 balls and extended his boundary count to 18 fours and 3 sixes.Lewis Gregory played positively for 23, helping Rew add 45 before being bowled advancing down the pitch to Tom Taylor.Rew’s typically patient contribution ended with the total on 346 when he was bowled looking to reverse sweep the left-arm spin of Saif Zaib. The youngster had proved the perfect foil for Kohler-Cadmore, eventually facing 171 deliveries and striking 9 fours and a six.Tea was taken at 354 for seven, with Somerset 99 ahead. Northants took the second new ball immediately after the interval, but 25 more runs were added before Kasey Aldridge, on 24, played inside the line and was bowled off stump by White.Craig Overton had produced some lusty blows and Jack Leach brought up 400 with a two off Buckingham, celebrating the fourth batting point by hitting 3 fours in the same over.Overton fell for 26 to a fine catch above his head by Sam Whiteman at long-on off White, who completed his five-for next ball as Peter Siddle was bowled having a swing.With Northants’ second innings total on 16, Azad had to leave the field following treatment on a hand. Overton’s first three overs went for 20 and he was quickly replaced by Siddle with the score 30 without loss.The pitch had lost much of its early greenness and was offering little in the way of seam movement. It was no surprise when Leach was introduced to try and extract some spin as early as the tenth over.Overton may not have been at his best with the ball, but he produced a stunning left-handed catch at backward short leg off Leach to dismiss Vasconcelos, who had looked untroubled in moving to 26, with the total on 63.