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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIsh Sodhi returned the second-best figures in the tournament’s history•Getty Images

Sydney Thunder needed to win against Adelaide Strikers to keep their Big Bash League title defence – which, at one stage, had looked stillborn – alive, a fortnight after Eoin Morgan’s famous last-ball six.In the end, after Strikers posted the highest score at Spotless Stadium, Thunder lost, and badly, ending their season. They were bundled out for 101, losing eight wickets for 22 runs in 29 balls, with six of them falling to the beguiling legspin of Ish Sodhi, who took 6 for 11 in 21 deliveries – the second-best figures in the tournament’s history.Slam Dunk, the old storyJason Gillespie has spent the season tearing what is left of his famous mane out at his team’s batting woes. Prior to this game, Ben Dunk and Brad Hodge had more than 240 runs each, but beyond them only Jake Weatherald had more than 100. Tim Ludeman fell early – to Carlos Brathwaite, leading to a brilliant celebr-appeal then that dab.They put on a stand of 92 from 55 balls. Dunk was dropped by Brathwaite at mid-on but went on to smash three sixes down the ground before being yorked by Shane Watson for 65. He ended his first season with Strikers with 364 runs and, in doing so, becomes the first player to make more than 350 runs in a BBL season twice; this was his third half-century to go with five thirties. Hodge also fell to Watson, caught at cow corner one ball after smoking it over that fielder’s head for six. He has indicated that he plans to carry on – whether with Strikers or not – and it’s easy to see why: his lowest score this season was 17.Ben Dunk set up Strikers’ total of 178 with a 40-ball 65•Cricket Australia

Five sixes, no foursThat’s Kieron Pollard’s style. Only Chris Gayle has more sixes in the history of T20 cricket than Pollard’s 437. He was instantly into his work, forehand-slapping Fawad Ahmed over long-on off his second ball, with just one hand on the bat. Then he knocked it about a bit, before hitting four more sixes from seven balls, then being run-out off the penultimate ball. Brathwaite was nailed over long-on, Clint McKay was crunched low and hard to deep midwicket, and Watson was hammered over square leg and long-on. He ended with his highest score of the tournament, and not a single four to his name.The golden armDespite their excellent total, Strikers looked a bit light on bowling. But then out came Michael Neser to start with a maiden at Kurtis Patterson, then Pollard, who bowled three overs in the powerplay, had James Vince caught behind thanks to a brilliant diving catch by the debutant wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Patterson rebuilt with Watson, who was starting to look in the mood, and Thunder were ahead of the rate. So Hodge turned to Jake Lehmann, who had never taken a professional wicket, but promptly had Watson caught at long-on to start the collapse. Hodge then tried another trick, giving himself an over, before Liam O’Connor bowled Patterson.The green bat and the Black CapWhether Brathwaite is a No. 5 in T20 is a question for another day. What he is is box office, and, as if to prove the point, out he ambled with a big green bat. But it did not do much damage, knocking just one single before he was done all ends up by Sodhi’s dip and turn, heaving wildly and missing by miles.Three balls later, Sodhi deceived Ben Rohrer, bowling him through a wildly unlatched gate. In his following over, Thunder lost three wickets in four balls to seal the deal. It was a mighty skilful showing from Sodhi.Where are they now?Out of finals contention. Both of them. Strikers’ win means that every team in this season’s BBL has won at least three of their eight group matches.

Scheduled pay meetings between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association have broken down, with the board claiming it is withdrawing from talks in order to prevent the players from being further embroiled.The two parties have been increasingly at odds over the past week, culminating in a bitter exchange over work conditions for female players that has led to CA being investigated by the FairWork Ombudsman.On Sunday emails between the ACA chief executive Alistair Nicholson and CA were leaked, with the strong suggestion that some clauses in women’s contracts were not altered because the ACA did not respond to CA. However the players association countered on Monday with claims to the contrary.”Cricket Australia is attempting to blame others for their own contracts,” Nicholson said. “Cricket Australia should stop blame-shifting and focus on resolving the issues in a constructive way. The suggestion that pregnancy guidelines were not issued because the ACA allegedly failed to communicate with CA is wrong on two counts. Firstly, we did communicate with CA and secondly the ACA does not currently have a right to veto female CA contracts or guidelines. To suggest so is just plain wrong.”As we have already stated publicly, the ACA was consulted regarding the pregnancy guidelines 18 months ago and expressed our concerns, as the published emails also show. The real reason the matter was not progressed to a satisfactory conclusion is because CA walked away from negotiations for a collective agreement with female cricketers. This meant the issue had to again be raised in our submission for a new MOU provided to CA five weeks ago.”Our submission highlights many of the great advances for female cricketers, for which we commend CA. It also rightly raises outstanding issues which must be addressed and we will continue to advocate for their satisfactory resolution in the current MOU negotiation.”Soon after, CA released a statement declaring it would not be attending meetings scheduled for this week. “Cricket Australia has determined that further discussions on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) should not be held this week, as intended,” the statement said.Cricket Australia is committed to a negotiation that is conducted in good faith between the two parties, but will not take part in a process which seeks to draw its players into a public dispute. Players deserve the opportunity to focus on the game, rather than being distracted by a negotiation that should be conducted in a professional and confidential manner.”Nicholson said the ACA was “extremely disappointed” at the breakdown of talks. “We are extremely disappointed Cricket Australia have walked away from the table, particularly so early in proceedings,” he said. “There are a number of very important issues for discussion, and these are best resolved at the bargaining table.”In our submission we highlight both the successes of Cricket Australia and also the need to have important and difficult conversations which involve critical issues for our members. We reject the implication of bad faith. We urge CA to return to the negotiating table for the benefit of the game.”In an earlier submission sent to all contracted players, CA’s team performance chief Pat Howard had warned against the players speaking publicly on MOU issues.”We will not debate this through the media — I do not want players becoming the meat in the sandwich as we saw at the ODI press conference last week,” Howard said. “This is a discussion about professional contracts that will not be helped by the media’s involvement. They want us to be divided, to turn this into a ‘bitter dispute’. That will only damage cricket and none of us wants that.”Howard was referring to a question asked of the captain Steven Smith and his deputy David Warner following the ODI series between Australia and New Zealand. That week the CA board had invited Smith, Warner and the coach Darren Lehmann to dinner with directors and management, at which CA’s views were expressed.”For us it was a good opportunity to meet the board and have a nice dinner with them and a good chat,” Smith had said of the dinner. “They took our points of view, we listened to them and it was nice to see everyone on the same page going forward and trying to get the best for our game moving forward.”CA’s submission to the players stated that the board no longer thinks all players should be eligible for a fixed percentage of Australian cricket revenue, preferring only to extend that right to the top 20 CA contracted players. It stated that the sustainability of domestic player wages was a problem.”International men are amongst the highest-paid sportsmen in Australia and CA believes this should remain the case in the future,” CA argued in its submission. “CA believes the players who contribute to financial returns should continue to share in those financial returns. CA believes retainers for international men should increase significantly compared to the retainers that were agreed on in the current MOU.”CA believes that international men continue to share in financial returns. International men contribute significantly to generating financial returns that are used to grow the game and should be rewarded accordingly.”State men’s payments are projected to be over 2.5 times the revenue generated by state men’s cricket in 2016/17. While state men’s cricket does not have the objective of generating financial returns, ongoing growth in player payments relative to the revenue generated by state men’s cricket is an issue of sustainability.”More broadly, CA alleged that maintaining the revenue sharing model would compromise efforts to better resource grass roots competitions and facilities. The board recently conducted an audit of all facilities around the country, and the chief executive James Sutherland has stated that finding adequate grounds was a problem for the expansion of the women’s game in particular. The CA chairman David Peever, a noted opponent of union involvement in the workplace during his time as managing director of the mining giant Rio Tinto’s Australian operations, has also pointed to further grass roots investment as key to his tenure.It is clear that CA would prefer to deal with the players directly, and the submission went as far as stating that the board no longer wished to provide an annual grant to the ACA, as has been the case since basics of the current pay model were thrashed out in 1997-98. “Given that Cricket Australia is an employer of the players and the Australian Cricketers Association is the collective bargaining agent for the players,” the submission stated, “we question the appropriateness of CA directly funding the ACA.”

Mahmudullah was celebrating his side’s four-run win over Chittagong Vikings, but the tension that was palpable when he was asked to defend six off the final over didn’t wear off even after the post-match presentation. The Khulna Titans captain said that his primary target was to keep Mohammad Nabi off strike but ended up taking his wicket off the last ball.This was the second time Mahmudullah sealed a tense win off the last over. In their first game against Rajshahi Kings, Mahmudullah took three wickets. Here too, he had three scalps and conceded just one run to take his side to No. 2 in the points table.”I don’t know, it just happened,” Mahmudullah said when asked about he managed to defend six runs all over again. “My hands are still sweating. I just tried to keep [Mohammad] Nabi off strike, but the Chaturanga [de Silva] wicket was also important. I got a lot of confidence after giving away a single off the first ball and then getting that wicket with the next ball.”I don’t want to bowl in the death overs but had to do so because my main bowlers had their spells finished. I have been successful on two occasions now, but it can be different in the next game. But I am ready to take the chance again.”But the emotion was contrasting in the Chittagong camp where captain Tamim Iqbal was livid. He didn’t single out anyone but he questioned the batsmen’s mindset after they wilted in the final over.”We will keep losing if we play this sort of cricket,” he said. “Maybe the batsmen doesn’t have problem with skill but there’s definitely something wrong in his head if he doesn’t understand something after sending 20 messages. We don’t deserve to play here if we have to do spoon feeding at this level. I don’t want to say the name, but I am talking about the batsmen.”He praised Mahmudullah’s nerve for bowling a tight final over of a chase, but said that it was for Chittagong’s to lose, and they did. “The match Riyad bhai won them, can only happen once every ten games. But he must be doing something right, now that he has done it twice,” he said. “Credit goes to him because he bowled well but I think we are more to blame for losing this game. We had two set batsmen in the middle with just six runs to win.”

Match facts

October 28-November 1, Dhaka
Start time 10.00am (0400GMT)3:40

Isam: Bangladesh have self-belief

Big picture

The fluctuating fortunes of the Chittagong Test will be a hard act to follow but, if Bangladesh continue to chase a win, the Dhaka Test could be another interesting affair. Having been beaten in an ODI series at home for the first time in two years, salvaging a drawn Test series with England would be the suitable finish for the home side.For that to happen, though, they need to do a few things properly. Bangladesh’s top seven is the strongest they have had in their history, which puts a lot of the onus on putting together a 400-plus total in the first innings to set up the game. It is an effort that is well within their grasp, particularly with their openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes showing good form.Both will be expected to put up at least one big partnership in this game, with Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim asked to make big on their starts, while Shakib Al Hasan must find a way to curb his recklessness. Sabbir Rahman, meanwhile, has recovered from stomach pain and can be expected to take on the second new ball while batting at No 7.England have also stuck with the top six that played in Chittagong. Ben Duckett is yet to show his wide-ranging skills while the more experienced Alastair Cook and Joe Root will expect to make runs in Dhaka. Gary Ballance could be a tense presence, fighting to extend his run in the side, but there won’t be the same issues with Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, who had a brilliant game in Chittagong.Stokes’ ability to reverse the ball could sway the game towards England, though he will need support from Chris Woakes and Steven Finn, who has been confirmed as a replacement for the rested Stuart Broad. England’s spinners will ultimately have to do the bulk of the bowling, especially Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. Zafar Ansari has been confirmed for a Test debut, replacing Gareth Batty.The Bangladesh bowling attack will bear a similar look in Dhaka too, with Shakib leading the pack. He will be glad to have the support of Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam, though the pace bowling department looks bare. Shuvagata Hom, for once, seems like a better choice as a spinner.The batting skills to tackle spin and reverse swing, and DRS, could be the theme of this Test match too, though rain, thanks to Cyclone Kryant over the Bay of Bengal, could cause interruptions. If there’s a full game, the hope is that it pans out to be another good contest.Mushfiqur Rahim discusses the pitch with Mirpur curator Gamini Silva•AFP

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)Bangladesh LDDDL
England WLWWL

In the spotlight

Mehedi Hasan left a mark on his Test debut by finishing the game with seven wickets. His first-innings performance was immense as he showed his ability to turn the ball at great lengths, as well as bowl the one that goes straight with the arm. Mehedi, however, would like to contribute more with the bat.The Chittagong Test ultimately belonged to Ben Stokes, who came of age with a superb all-round performance. His use of reverse swing and his footwork and patience when batting against spin were particularly encouraging. England are certainly a more powerful line-up with Stokes.

Team news

Bangladesh will be looking at three different options to replace Shafiul Islam. They could still go with a two-man seam attack by picking Subashis Roy, who would be making his Test debut. But the place is also open for Soumya Sarkar to play as a second seamer though his variety would be of less quality, or they could go for Shuvagata, who hasn’t had a great Test record.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt/wk), 7 Sabbir Rahman, 8 Soumya Sarkar/Shuvagata Hom, 9 Mehedi Hasan, 10 Taijul Islam, 11 Kamrul Islam RabbiEngland are set to hand a Test debut to Ansari, while Finn will take Broad’s place – meaning he has to wait to make his 100th Test appearance. Ansari is replacing Batty as England look to give Rashid another chance despite his indifferent performance in Chittagong.England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Gary Ballance, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Zafar Ansari, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Steven Finn

Pitch and conditions

After the Chittagong pitch was hailed for challenging the batsmen and bowlers, there is much interest in the darker surface in Dhaka, which has traditionally favoured the batsmen. Even if it helps the spinners, there won’t be the dramatic turn and bounce of Chittagong. There is some rain in the forecast on the second and third day.

Stats and trivia

• Mushfiqur Rahim will become the third Bangladeshi after Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful to play 50 Tests.
• Mushfiqur will also become Bangladesh’s most experienced wicketkeeper, beating Khaled Mashud who kept wickets in 44 Tests. Mushfiqur will be keeping in his 45th game in Dhaka.
• Jonny Bairstow now has the most runs for a Test wicketkeeper in a calendar year, beating Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower who made 1045 runs in 2000.
• A 2-0 series win for England would lift them above Australia to No. 3 in the ICC rankings.

Quotes

“The Dhaka Test will be played on a different soil altogether. We don’t know how it will behave but I just want our spinners to take advantage from the wicket and for the batsmen to be more responsible.”
“It was always the plan to play Ansari in one Test here. He has the ability to take the ball away from the right-handers and I’ve seen in the nets is he can bowl at good pace with good control. He can also bat as well, which is good.”

Ravindra Jadeja’s press conference was hilarious. It will most certainly be lost in translation, but it is worth reproducing it for the benefit of those who understand Hindi in its entire colour because what he said was instructive.He was talking about why India didn’t ever feel they were in threat of ceding the advantage despite there being three partnerships in New Zealand innings, especially the 124-run stand between Kane Williamson and Tom Latham.

Determined to learn, get better – Watling

On the feeling in the dressing room
“It was a tough day. We have to look forward to tomorrow and make sure we make the adjustments that are required. We need to improve, but I know the boys are determined. We are trying to learn [playing in] these conditions and figure out ways to score runs and take wickets. We’d definitely like to do things better tomorrow, and I know the boys are determined to do that.”
“There was definitely a bit more turn, but they have two quality spin bowlers and we lost wickets in clumps. We talked about that, we know it’s tough to start in these conditions, and we’ve definitely got to do that better in our second innings.”
Thinking of how to fight out a draw now?
“We’ve got to look at that first session tomorrow, try and restrict them and take as many poles as we can tomorrow morning. That’s our main focus at the moment, and then trying to deal with our second innings with the bat.”
On the pitch
“As you’d expect with a day three wicket there is a lot more rough, a lot more footmarks out there and it’s getting a bit slower in the middle of the track. But that is what you expect when you start the game. We know it is going to get tougher and tougher into day four and day five. No surprises there.”

And now realising where he was going, Jadeja stopped. What usually follows this is beeped on TV. Or asterisked as its loose translation in text here will be. What Jadeja meant was one big partnership is always expected but it is no big deal on such turning tracks because when a new batsman comes in and he sees the footmarks and the rough, he goes…That’s where he stopped himself. What usually follows in Hindi can be loosely – and very loosely indeed – translated to, “He goes holy f***.” Had he said the whole sentence it wouldn’t have been funny. The fact that he stopped himself was what made it hilarious. He stopped talking clichés and let himself go in a language he was most comfortable with, but also had the awareness to stop himself when he was about to say something he shouldn’t be.The way Jadeja spoke of how the match went showed the confidence India went into the match with. New Zealand tried their best, but in hindsight did they really stand a chance? The batsmen couldn’t pick from the hand which balls were going to turn and which were going straight on. Loose balls were few and far between. Fielding, especially catching, was at its best. On such a turning track six wickets were lbw, which in itself is testament to how accurate Jadeja and R Ashwin were.Jadeja said the accuracy bit was discussed with both Anil Kumble and Ashwin. “He [Kumble] told me to go wide on the crease and bowl around the sixth stump for the left-hand batsmen because there was rough there. He told me to target putting as many balls as possible in that rough because from there, some balls were turning and some were going straight. That would have created doubts in the batsmen’s minds, so that’s what we spoke of.”Ashwin and I spoke of bowling at the stumps. Adjust our lines so that after the turn the ball ends up on the stumps. We knew we’ll get maximum chances if we kept the threat of lbw or bowled alive. There wasn’t much turn from the stumps so our initial plan was to string together maiden overs. We needed to give up fewer runs and that would also create pressure on them. Finally we executed our plan.”Jadeja also said they were aware of the lack of experience in the New Zealand batting. He said they knew there weren’t many who could play a long chanceless innings.Jadeja’s biggest threat on such turning tracks is the straighter balls that he picks. New Zealand have said they don’t pick him from the hand, and they try to play him off the pitch. Jadeja wasn’t giving out his secrets although it is quite possible that on turning tracks it is the natural variation that carries balls straight. In the process he did compare this Kanpur track to the under-prepared tracks he grew up playing on in Saurashtra.”We didn’t have very well prepared grounds and pitches growing up. These are the kinds I’ve been brought up on, the kinds where there were no groundsmen and we were just practising,” Jadeja said. “The facilities we had were of that kind, so having played on such pitches, I’ve got an idea of how to bowl, which areas to bowl on, what speed to bowl at. From my childhood to Under-17, Under-19 till now, I’ve played on turners or unprepared pitches. Having played so much on them, I’ve got an idea now.”

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said his side were lucky to still have a chance at winning the three-match ODI series, after two close matches against Afghanistan. Bangladesh won the first ODI by seven runs, and lost the second match on Wednesday by two wickets as Afghanistan aced a tense chase of 209.”We simply played very bad cricket in the two matches,” Mashrafe said, in a flat response when asked what had gone wrong with the side. “We luckily won the first match or else we would have lost the series by now. We are very lucky that we still have a chance to win this series. Maybe if we can learn from our mistakes, we can win the series.”The home side have faced a few problems in their first ODI series since November 2015. In the second match, their top four batsmen all got starts but none of them scored more than 38. The middle order imploded against Afghanistan’s spinners and the bowlers faded when the opposition batsmen applied themselves. Mashrafe was disappointed Bangladesh had not managed to get a score of around 230-240.”Our top four scored more than 20 but got out before they could cross 38,” Mashrafe said. “The wicket was good for 230-240 but unfortunately we got out after getting set. In ODIs one can’t get out after getting set.”Although we bowled well and put a good effort, maybe we could have attacked more and perhaps restricted the runs. You can’t just blame one department. You have to blame the team.”Mashrafe also defended Mushfiqur Rahim, who missed a couple of chances behind the stumps during Afghanistan’s chase. Mushfiqur missed an edge from Najibullah Zadran off Mashrafe’s bowling, two balls after Bangladesh had broken the 107-run partnership between Asghar Stanikzai and Mohammad Nabi. Then, in the 47th over, Mushfiqur missed an easy stumping chance off debutant Mosaddek Hossain with Afghanistan needing another 13 runs. Najibullah was the beneficiary again, and was at least a foot outside the crease when Mushfiqur fluffed the opportunity.”Actually if you keep blaming him for this match it will become difficult. Maybe we probably lost a chance with the stumping but this happens in cricket,” he said. “I have never seen that he has a problem mentally with keeping or cricket in general. I don’t think you should only blame him.”He has taken better catches than this in tough situations. I don’t think we lost the game after that missed stumping. I think we should have done better beforehand,” he said.Mosaddek’s performance was the only bright spot for Bangladesh. On his ODI debut, the 20-year-old allrounder showed the temperament to bat with the tail-enders during the 43-run tenth-wicket partnership with Rubel Hossain and was unlucky not to get a fifty. His offspin gave Bangladesh two breakthroughs.”When I brought him into the bowling attack, obviously I thought of bringing [Mahmudullah] Riyad first, but then I thought Mosaddek did well with the bat so he must be confident,” Mashrafe said. “I think he did a lot better as a bowler than what I had seen of him before.”He had an outstanding innings with the bat. If the others could have helped him a bit then we could have won this match.”

England batsman Alex Hales hopes that a return to white-ball cricket will have a rejuvenating effect on his game, as it did following a tough Test debut in South Africa at the start of the year.Hales is one of a number of England players cleared to play in NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day, with his county, Nottinghamshire, contesting the first semi-final against Northamptonshire. Hales said it would be nice to “free the arms” again after four Tests against Pakistan in which he averaged 18.12 with one fifty.Those numbers are remarkably similar to his first experience of Test cricket, when he averaged 17.00 with a high score of 60 over four appearances against South Africa. He followed that up by scoring 383 runs in five ODI innings – his breakthrough 50-over series for England – and is keen to mount a similar comeback, initially in T20 for Notts and then in the Pakistan ODIs.

Wood ready to ‘charge in’

Mark Wood, Durham’s England pace bowler, believes that a successful operation on his ankle problem has allowed him to be consistently faster with the ball. Wood has missed much of the season recovering from injury but is hoping to make an impact on Finals Day before returning to England’s ODI squad to face Pakistan.
“My speeds I think are up to where they were before but a bit more consistent,” he said. “My ankle was not allowing us to do that, I was getting a bit of pain in the back of my ankle and I couldn’t consistently be as quick as I wanted to be. Now that’s gone, I’ve no longer got the bone that was irritating us, it means I’ve got a pain-free ankle and I can charge in and slam that foot down.”

“It’s going to be nice come back to what is a big day for the club and be able to free the arms,” he told ESPNcricinfo ahead of Finals Day at Edgbaston. “The last couple of training sessions have been nice to hit a white ball and put the disappointment of the Test series behind me.”It’s a big day for the club but it’s also nice, when you have a tough time, to step out of the international arena and come back to a county you love.”It’s a similar situation to South Africa, I had a really poor Test series and then bounced back pretty well in the 50-over stuff. So it’s a situation I’m pretty familiar with, I know I’ve been in it before and dealt with it well, so hopefully I can find some form in what’s going to be an exciting ODI series.”Hales made strides in his second Test engagement, with scores of 86, 83 and 94 in five innings against Sri Lanka, but was then given a working over by Pakistan’s seam attack. His place in the Test side for tours of Bangladesh and India will therefore be up for debate but could be bolstered by heavy one-day scoring.Stuart Broad has also been made available for Notts on Finals Day, while Yorkshire have Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance back from England duty and Durham include Ben Stokes and Mark Wood in their ranks, but Hales was refusing to take Northamptonshire – the only side to have previously won the tournament – lightly.”All four teams are strong on paper… If you look down through Northants batting line-up, it’s incredibly dangerous,” he said. “I guess that’s the beauty of Finals Day, whichever team turns up has a chance of winning it.”Lining up against Nottinghamshire will be one of the most in-form limited-overs batsmen in the county game. Last month, Ben Duckett scored 448 runs at an average of 224.00 during England Lions’ tri-series with Pakistan A and Sri Lanka A and he also led the T20 scoring for Northamptonshire as the 2013 champions qualified for a third Finals Day in four years.Duckett has been tipped for a place in England’s white-ball teams and, although he missed out on selection for the Pakistan series, he has been encouraged to keep pushing for a place after speaking to the national selector, James Whitaker. He also said he believes he can fulfil his ambitions of playing for England while at Northamptonshire.”The reason I got picked for the Lions was the form I’ve had for Northants,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “People look at us as a small side but we do it every year… as a one-day side, we’re very strong. The way you get seen for England is playing on the big stage like this, moving to another club they might not get to Finals Days and we’ve had three in four years. So for me personally, in one-day cricket, I’m at a great county.”I’ve spoken to selectors, before and during the Lions, just trying to score runs. The one-day side at the moment is unbelievable for England, and they have been for the last 12 months, which is why it’s going to be so difficult to get into that side. But I saw James Whitaker yesterday and he said, keep doing what you’re doing, try and score runs and there might be a chance in the winter.”If you get a match-winning score on a big stage like this, it’s going to be noticed and that can only be good.”

All six territorial boards of the West Indies Cricket Board will find representation for the first time in the upcoming Regional Women’s Tournament, comprising the limited-overs format, starting Thursday. Leewards Islands will field a team for the first time in the tournament, while Windward Islands will play as a single unit, also for the first time.Windwards earlier had each of its four nations – Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada – playing as individual teams when the regional tournament was an eight-team competition. That changed in 2015 when Windwards fielded only two outfits – North and South.”We want to welcome Leewards Women into the fold and are looking forward to them playing a valuable role in the expansion of the women’s game in the region,” Josina Luke, WICB project officer for women’s cricket, said. “We have spent the last year working with the Leewards in the development of this squad, following a decision by our directors to have them involved this year, so this is another step towards strengthening the base of the women’s game in the region and expanding our talent pool.”The banding together of the talents of the Windwards Women helps us to streamline our tournaments and bring greater competitiveness to the overall women’s game, as the ultimate aim is to create a stronger West Indies Women’s team with a view to winning more global titles.”Leewards will be captained by Shawnisha Hector, the Antiguan pacer, while Afy Fletcher, the West Indies Women’s legspinner, will lead Windwards.The tournament, this year, will comprise the Super50 as well as Twenty20 competitions. “We want to broaden the pool of players for the West Indies Women’s team, bearing in mind two important things,” Luke said. “First, we are well-placed for automatic qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup next year in England and want to remain on that trajectory with important series in the ICC Women’s Championship later this year against England at home and India on the road. Also, we want to fortify our squad in the T20 format, so we can continue to put forward the kind of performances that enhance our position as World champions.”The tournament will begin with the Super50 competition. Barbados, the defending champions, will face Trinidad & Tobago. Leewards will take on five-time champions Jamaica, while hosts Guyana kickstart their campaign against Windwards. Each of the teams will meet the others once in the round-robin stage, which will consist of five matches of 50-overs-a-side. The teams with the maximum points will clash in the final, on July 17.The T20 tournament will take place four days later with three games on each match day, all of them at the Guyana National Stadium, before a final round of play-off matches to determine positions on July 25.SquadsBarbados: Shaquana Quintyne (captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Keila Elliott, Allison Gordon, Reshelle Griffith, Malissa Howard, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Shakera Selman, Charlene Taitt, , Shanna Thompson, Tiffany ThorpeGuyana Tremayne Smartt (captain), Shemaine Campbelle, Shabika Gajnabi, Erva Giddings, Melanie Henry, Mandy Mangru, Plaffiana Millington, Subrina Munroe, Kaysia Shultz, Heema Singh, Latoya Smith, Akaze Thompson, Lashuna Toussaint, Kavita YadramJamaica Stafanie Taylor (captain), Alecia Bookal, Shanel Daley, Keneshia Ferron, Chinelle Henry, Corrine, Howell, Natasha McLean, Jodian Morgan, Chedean Nation, Roshana Outar, Tameka Sanford, Jerona Walcott, Vanessa Watts, Rashada WilliamsLeeward Islands Shawnisha Hector (captain), Jasmine Clarke, Melicia Clarke, Davanna Claxton, Kimberly Dookhan, Amanda Edwards, Sherma Jackson, Rozel Liburd, Terez Parker, Grace Persaud, Kerisha Powell, Jenisen Richards, Eldora Sylvester, Saneldo WillettTrinidad & Tobago Merissa Aguilleira (captain), Kirbyina Alexander, Reniece Boyce, Britney Cooper, Rosalie Dolabaille, Stacy Ann King, Lee Ann Kirby, Shenelle Lord, Anisa Mohammed, Selene O’Neil, Kamara Ragoobar, Karishma Ramharack, Amanda Samaroo, Rachael VincentWindward Islands Afy Fletcher (captain), Stacy Ann Adams, Holly Charles, Roylyn Cooper, Nerissa Crafton, Krisani Irish, Qiana Joseph, Juliana Nero, Akeira Peters, Rosilia Registe, Yasmine St. Ange, Glendeen Turtin, Rackel Williams, Swayline Williams

Before the current triangular series in the Caribbean, Chris Morris had played 11 ODIs, bowled 80.3 overs, taken 13 wickets and conceded 6.36 runs an over. In the two matches he has played in this tournament, he has bowled 14 overs, not taken a wicket, but given away just 48 runs, at 3.43 an over. He credits the difference in his economy rate to the IPL, and to his Delhi Daredevils captain, Zaheer Khan, who helped him make small changes to his technique and mindset.”I had a little bit missing in my action just before the World T20. I was sliding a lot of balls down the leg side so I did a little bit of technical work on that,” Morris said. “And then, just watching the way Zaheer thought, how his brain patterns were when he was bowling. It was about keeping a lot calmer and focusing on what I needed to do with the ball and my action at the time. I did a little bit of work with him but it was more of a mental shift for me.”The results of those changes showed at the IPL, where Morris was one of only 11 bowlers with an economy rate of seven or less, and one of only two who maintained that economy rate bowling more than 20 overs. In total, he bowled 44 overs at an economy rate of 7.00; Mustafizur Rahman’s 61 overs were only slightly more economical at 6.90 runs to the over. Overall, Morris has gained “a lot more consistency” as he seeks to secure the allrounder’s spot in South Africa’s starting XI.Morris started the series as the preferred choice, ahead of Wayne Parnell, but a hamstring niggle kept him out of South Africa’s next two games and afforded Parnell the opportunity to show off the domestic form that earned him an international recall. Parnell was also miserly with the ball in hand but his inability to contribute to the batting line-up opened the door for Morris to return and play alongside him in the fourth match.There, Morris was promoted to No.3, to act as a pinch-hitter after South Africa’s openers got them off to a strong start. His quickfire 40 helped take South Africa to the first total over 300 in the series. Although Morris recognises the value he can add as a batsman, he still sees his primary role as being part of the bowling attack and fulfilling a unique role in the middle overs.”I’m a first-change bowler. That’s my role in the team. It’s quite a specific role because we’ve got a lot of plans put in place for certain batsmen,” Morris said. “It’s a role that I quite enjoy – it’s a difficult one but I like taking it on the chin and just going with it.”While Morris did not give away exactly what this job requires of him, the evidence so far suggests that he has been asked to act more as a containing bowler than an attacking one. With Kagiso Rabada and Parnell (or Kyle Abbott) taking the new ball and setting the tone, Morris has to follow-up and often bowl in tandem with one of the spinners, who have proven to be the chief wicket-takers in the Caribbean conditions so far. That may change in Barbados, which is expected to offer something for the seamers.Robin Peterson, who plays for the Barbados Tridents in the CPL, called the Kensington Oval “the Wanderers of the Caribbean,” which should make Morris and Co. feel a little more at home. “It’s vital to adapt early doors. The sooner you adapt, the more you can control what’s going on but I am looking forward to bowling on it and maybe getting some extra pace and bounce,” Morris admitted.It could also mean Morne Morkel may make a first appearance in the series but that may present another problem – it could come at Morris’ expense. Given the way Morris has performed so far though, he may be able to keep South Africa’s most experienced paceman on the sidelines a little longer.

ScorecardMark Cosgrove’s hundred rebuilt Leicestershire’s innings•Getty Images

Mark Cosgrove led a Leicestershire fightback against Kent that saw the visitors rally from 19 for 3 to go in at stumps on day one sitting pretty on 340 for 8.Cosgrove, the free-scoring 31-year-old South Australian, hit his third century in successive Specsavers Championship games against Kent and featured in a record fourth-wicket stand in matches between the two counties with Mark Pettini.Despite losing the toss, it was Kent who enjoyed the opening exchanges as Leicestershire lost both openers within 20 minutes of the start. Paul Horton, the ex-Lancashire stalwart, pushed at a Darren Stevens leg-cutter to edge behind and give Sam Billings – fresh from his IPL stint – a first catch of the season.Four balls later Angus Robson drove loosely at a wide one from Matt Coles only to pick out Daniel Bell-Drummond at cover point who snaffled a catch diving forward and slightly to his right.Ten runs on, visiting skipper Neil Dexter went lbw for a single. Prodding half-forward in defence, he was deceived by a slower off-cutter from Stevens that thudded into the former Kent allrounder’s front pad.The visitors broke the shackles thereafter as experienced fourth-wicket pairing Cosgrove and Pettini counter-attacked to post Leicestershire’s 100 by the 28th over. Cosgrove drove nicely but also picked up numerous easy runs with steers to the vacant third man area. His 55-ball 50 came up just before lunch and included eight fours.Shortly after lunch, Pettini also reached a half-century from 84 balls and with eight fours as the pair posted a record fourth-wicket stand for Leicestershire matches against Kent moving past the previous best of 162, set by Albert Lord and John King at the Aylestone Road Ground, Leicester in 1923.Cosgrove marched on to reach his century from 127 balls and with 15 fours having scored 122 in the reverse fixture in Leicester back in April.Pettini also looked set to reach three figures but, three runs short of the milestone, he nicked the second ball of the day from occasional legspinner Joe Denly into the gloves of Billings. The dismissal ended a stand worth 218 with Cosgrove, who went in at tea unbeaten on 111.Cosgrove’s fun came to a surprising end shortly after the resumption and following an extraordinary piece of glovework by Kent’s Billings that sent him packing for 119. After aiming yet another glide down to third man, Cosgrove set off looking for a single only to be sent back by Niall O’Brien at the non-striker’s end. Cosgrove slipped when turning and was stranded two yards out of his ground when Sean Dickson’s poor throw was deflected onto the stumps. Stood three yards away and with his back to the wickets, Billings used one glove to back-flick the ball onto the timbers and complete the dismissal.Kent entrusted Matt Hunn with the second new ball down the Nackington Road slope, a move that paid dividends with his third delivery when the 22-year-old snared Niall O’Brien leg before.Stevens returned for a third spell at the Pavilion End and had Ned Eckersley caught behind. The right-hander was drawn into an ill-advised push drive by an away-swinger that feathered the outside edge.At the start of the day Kent made four changes to the side that beat Derbyshire on Wednesday. Tom Latham, Billings, Hunn and Stevens were all welcomed back in place of Alex Blake, Adam Rouse, Adam Ball and Mitch Claydon.The visitors made only two changes with Aadil Ali and Tom Wells making way for Eckersley and James Sykes.