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Fawad Alam was 24 years old when, at Colombo in July 2009, he scored a remarkable 168 on Test debut against Sri Lanka. However, he played just two more Tests thereafter before being banished from the squad for six long years.He turned 30 last week, and as if to celebrate, he is back in the reckoning. He is a member of Pakistan’s squad for the first Test against England, overdue reward for five solid years in which he has maintained a domestic batting average in excess of 50.Oddly, Fawad hasn’t been completely overlooked by the selectors in the intervening years. His career has included 38 ODIs and 24 T20s, although that format’s frenzied requirements are not exactly to his liking, as a highest score of 28 would imply. Test cricket’s tempo seems much more in tune with his strengths, and for that reason he sees the coming series as the chance for a new beginning.”I am feeling like I got a debut call for Test cricket,” Alam told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the first Test in Abu Dhabi. “Five years is a huge gap as I last played a Test when I was like 24 or 25. So this all makes me feel like I am picked up for the very first time and I have to re-gather my thoughts and I am excited for the chance.”Despite regular recalls to Pakistan’s limited-overs squads, neither the team management or the selection committee have ever made him a part of their long-term planning. His response has been to become a bona fide domestic giant, with 17 of his 23 first-class hundreds coming in the years since his exile. Though he tended to do enough in ODI cricket to warrant a place in the next series, he has always been easy prey for Pakistan’s selectorial whims. But any opportunity to play for his country is one that he embraces.”Its not about what is the right format for me, it’s about how I manage myself and how I switch myself for the respective format,” he says. “It is unfair to say that Test cricket is the right format for me. Whatever the chance I get in any format, that’s the best for me. “A good player is a good player who can play every format and adjust himself accordingly. I might not have been able to continue after 2009 but whatever chance I got I tried my best to give my best. My job as a professional player is to play cricket, whatever the role I am given, and I am out here to grab every opportunity.”Fawad Alam is back in the reckoning after six years•Getty Images

Alam’s long absence from the Test squad has been mitigated, in the selectors’ eyes, by the wealth of talent that has been at their disposal. The team has been unusually stable under Misbah-ul-Haq but the captain himself has hinted, at the age of 41, that this series might be his last, while Younis Khan won’t continue much longer either.”We never got to have a chance to pick him in the Test squad because there is a well-settled 15 men for the Test and we can’t afford to dislodge it,” Haroon Rasheed, the chief selector, said. “He had always been in our minds but we always wait for the room to fit him in.”Fawad had not expected to be named in the squad for the England series, but he is keeping his fingers crossed now that he has made it this far. “I am not sure if I will make into the playing XI but I can assure that I can do my best to make a difference with my performance. It’s entirely up to the team management but I am ready for anything.”His awkward batting stance has, he believes, been overplayed . He might not have the physique to crash boundaries at will but he backs himself in any situation. “The perception about having an old-school technique is bookish talk,” he says. “Whatever it is, old school or gold school, I don’t believe it. It has nothing to with the practical cricket as, whatever the way I play, I am scoring runs and that is much more important. If I am not scoring runs you have every right to point that out, but I am scoring runs, whatever the way I bat.”I understand we all get to improve every day, and I know the things I need to manage. So I can only say a player should be judged on his performance. That is the answer to everyone who doubts me.”

India Blue 330 for 8 (Sehwag 75, Yadav 65, Karthik 65, Raina 64) beat India Green 239 (Parthiv 53, Powar 3-45, Mishra 3-50) by 91 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Virender Sehwag’s prediction after winning the toss was spot on: India Blue racked up a mountain of runs, sparked by Sehwag’s 57-ball 75, and the spinners turned it on under the Motera lights to storm into the final of the Challenger Trophy. Parthiv Patel dazzled briefly but a succession of wickets jolted the prospect of a thrilling run-chase, as the Greens, attempting to chase down a target of 331 in 40 overs to qualify for the final, fell short by 91 runs.For the second day in a row India Green’s scarce bowling options were exposed as Sehwag, Arjun Yadav, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik made merry on a flat Ahmedabad track. Sehwag backed his decision to bat with a blistering innings: no bowler was spared as Sehwag cashed in during the first and second Powerplays, hitting 14 boundaries and a six .With Sehwag in such an attacking mood, Parthiv didn’t a chance taking the third Powerplay, but as soon as Sehwag backed away a straighter one from Iqbal Abdullah and lost his leg stump, the Greens captain took it. The run-rate dipped just slightly during those five overs, but Yadav and Raina made sure to up the tempo again with an 85-run stand. Both used their feet to the spinners and relied on the width from the medium-pacers.In what was otherwise evidence of the Greens’ scarce bowling resources, Manoj Tiwary was brought on to bowl his legspinners in the 31st over and was successful in getting rid of Yadav, who miscued a short delivery pitched outside leg to midwicket. Raina, after a crucial 92 in the series opener, hardly batted an eyelid as he raced to his 64 from 51 balls before slapping a long hop from Piyush Chawla to Tiwary at midwicket.Dinesh Karthik, who recently told Cricinfo that he could bat at any number , slammed his first delivery for four and raced past his fifty – amid news of his axing from the Indian side – to get the Blues past 300.

A canny Joginder Sharma nipped out the Green openers in no time before Parthiv and Rohit Sharma cashed in on the second Powerplay, driving and cutting boundaries exceptionally. Anything even fractionally short and wide was pounced upon by Rohit, whose firm back-foot play was pleasing on the eye, while Parthiv whipped trademark boundaries with ease.As long as Parthiv was smashing the ball around the Greens appeared in with a slim shot, but his dismissal for 53, run out by a Joginder direct-hit from deep midwicket as he attempted a suicidal second, dented the side’s chances. Sharma kept up the momentum with a leant-in straight six off Saurabh Bandekar and seemed certain for more before he was smartly stumped by Karthik off a Ramesh Powar wide down the leg side.Tiwary was left to steer a sinking ship but after spanking a couple of boundaries even he couldn’t cope with the pressure, making room to hit Powar and losing his leg stump. The two experienced spinners, Powar and Amit Mishra, shared six wickets and with Abhishek Nayar and Cheteshwar Pujara falling cheaply, the Greens lower order flayed the bat around in desperation. Raina picked up the final wicket as Munaf Patel slogged into the deep, sparking wild celebrations among the Blues.With the highest total of this year’s competition, and their spinners turning in a second successful evening on a flat track, the Blues made the best of the occasion. They’ve already defeated the Reds, and are through to the final courtesy a bonus point from their 88-run win over the Greens. But the final will be minus the incentive of national selection.

SuperSport Series

Nicky Boje was the hero with an unbeaten 81 to help the Eagles to avoid defeat in a thrilling confrontation with the Warriors at Port Elizabeth on Sunday. The Eagles captain held firm to help his side finish on 193 for 9. Somehow they survived for the draw after having been 88 for 6 at tea. Johan van der Wath lent welcome support to Boje, and Thandi Tshabalala survived three balls to finish unbeaten on nought but the Warriors just could not find the final wicket. They had been in control of the match from the start, with Colin Ingram and Johan Botha making 107 for the first wicket. Centuries from HD Ackerman and Arno Jacobs, who put together a stand of 219 in 65 overs, a Warriors record for the fourth wicket, enabled them to post a formidable 439, with young Tshabalala claiming a career-best 5 for 68. Despite 95 from Ryan Bailey and 51 from Boje, the Eagles could manage only 289, with Botha claiming 4 for 64, meaning that they conceded a first-innings deficit of 150. van der Wath led an Eagles rally, his 4 for 27 helping to limit the Warriors to 100 for 9 declared, but they were stuttering well short of their target of 251 before Boje took charge.The Dolphins produced a clinical allround display to dismantle the Cobras by an innings and 34 runs at Newlands on Sunday. Five-wickets from the young leg-spinner Tyron Pillay were instrumental in the Cobras’ second-innings subsidence, falling alarmingly from 91 for 4 at lunch to 139 all out. The Cobras had declared on 326 for 8 in their first innings, with Andrew Puttick making 91, after half of the first day’s play was lost to rain. They were made to look foolish though when the Dolphins recovered from 179 for 4 to post 499, with Lance Klusener scoring 121 and further half-centuries for Doug Watson, Johann Louw, Kyle Smit and the captain Ahmed Amla. It was a typically blistering innings from Klusener, who had earlier taken 3 for 86, occupying just 166 balls and containing 16 fours and two sixes. Louw coaxed valuable runs from the tail after his dismissal and the Dolphins opened up a lead of 173. With just over a day to knock over the Cobras the result never looked in doubt after Pillay had bowled Ashwell Prince before lunch.Paul Harris spun the Titans to a 114-run victory over the Lions at Benoni on Sunday. Harris claimed 5 for 81 to dismiss the Lions for 232 in their second innings, despite a battling unbeaten 54 from Shane Burger. Earlier G Toyana anchored the Titans’ first innings score of 303 with his unbeaten 91, and four wickets from Albie Morkel helped to limit the Lions to 233, with Justin Ontong scoring 83, to help the Titans gain a 70-run first innings advantage. Gulam Bodi’s 88 in their second innings 276 enabled them to set the Lions an unrealistic target of 347, and Harris soon made victory a formality.

SAA Provincial Challenge

Northerns recorded a 9-wicket victory, completely outclassing Limpopo at Duiwelskloof on Saturday. Only three batsmen reached double figures in Limpopo’s first-innings 124, with Neil Wagner and Maurice Aronstam claiming four wickets apiece. Aronstam then continued his recent good form, scoring 95 to provide the backbone of Northerns’ 383, and youngsters Aaron Phangiso and Abram Ndlovu also scored half-centuries. Limpopo improved in their second innings mustering 259, Aronstam again impressive taking four more wickets, but this left Northerns with a meagre one-run target. The dismissal of Francis Nkuna to the third ball of the innings provided amusement but no threat to Northerns’ supremacy.

SAA Provincial Cup

Limpopo exacted revenge for their SAA Provincial Challenge thrashing the previous day recording a 21-run win over Northerns at Duiwelskloof on Sunday. Pieter Haasbroek and Hendrik Holtzhausen hit half-centuries at different ends of the innings to help Limpopo post 249, and a great team performance in the field limited Northerns to 228 in reply, despite an entertaining 56-ball 68 from Roelof van der Merwe.

Nathan Bracken has “chased” the bowling coach Bruce Reid around the world in the past couple of years as he rediscovered the swing that earned him a Test recall. Reid, who played 27 Tests for Australia, can expect another call before Australia meet the West Indies in Brisbane on Thursday after Bracken was promoted to the squad ahead of Stuart Clark.Bracken singled out Reid after he worked with him before touring India for a one-day series in 2003 and the relationship has continued to bring benefits. “He helped me out and basically got me on track swinging the ball,” Bracken said in . “Unfortunately, the situation was he signed with India so it became hard to do work with him in Australia because he was their bowling coach … and then he did work with other countries so it’s sort of been trying to chase him around the world to catch up.”Before the first Test Bracken wants to send Reid video footage of his action to “see what he thinks and see if there’s anything he can pick up”. Bracken is expected to get the nod over Stuart MacGill at the Gabba and is looking forward to targeting the West Indies’ left-handers.”I enjoy bowling to them,” he told the paper. “Growing up, my father was a left-hander so I always had plenty of practice. I wouldn’t put him on the same field as Brian Lara, but he tried hard.”Bracken has played only three Tests, all against India in 2003-04, but was part of the Super Series one-day side after a strong performance for New South Wales last summer. His bowling in Brisbane was particularly noticeable and he helped win the Pura Cup final against Queensland with a spell of 6 for 27 in the first innings. “It’s been good to me the last few times I’ve been up there,” Bracken said. “I’d love to see the same sort of wicket we played on up there, but I don’t think that will happen. It won’t be quite as green.”

On the eve of the Champions Trophy, Kenya’s internal squabbles continue to take their toll, with the recent hammering by India A in Nairobi the latest example that things are going badly wrong. The scale of the defeat by India A – Kenya were bowled out for 117 and 168 as India A amassed 517 for 4 – should have worried even the most optimistic supporter of the game in the country.Less than 18 months ago Kenya were in a World Cup semi-final. But rather than build on that success, the intervening period has seen them go backwards. Within days of the conclusion of that tournament, the players threatened to go on strike over pay ahead of a one-day series in Sharjah, and last month they boycotted training, again in a pay dispute. Reports indicate that some of the players have been forced to take pay cuts of up to 90% as the Kenyan board (KCA) struggles to raise funds.Maurice Odumbe’s five-year ban for accepting bribes from an Indian bookmaker hardly helped morale. The increasingly bitter row between the KCA and the two main provincial boards has also been divisive, and, perhaps most importantly, the side is ageing and there are precious few young replacements coming through.The current squad is certainly not short of experience, but is growing long in the tooth. Many of the players who have provided the backbone of Kenya’s success over the last decade are now well into their thirties, and while there are a few youngsters, with the exception of Collins Obuya none of them look as though they have what it takes to succeed at the highest level.When Odumbe was banned, the selectors drafted Brijal Patel, a 28-year-old, into the squad as his replacement. Patel is a veteran of 22 ODIs, in which he averages 18.53 with no fifties, and he has failed to make his mark despite repeated opportunities. The message his selection confirmed was that the cupboard is woefully bare, and his call-up was roundly condemned in Kenya. He marked his return with a duck against India A last week.One senior administrator told me that the main concern was the lack of any structure between age groups (the oldest of which is Under-19) and the senior team. The Under-19 side, a good indicator of young talent, failed to make last February’s World Cup, suffering an ignominious exit to Uganda in the qualifiers. But perhaps the most serious omission is the absence of a Kenya A side, meaning that players face a huge leap between club cricket, which is of variable quality, and the international game.The administrator explained that money earmarked for development had been squandered, and that the KCA had “for a decade lived off the quality of the side they largely inherited while doing little to build for the future”. Jimmy Rayani, the former chairman of the KCA, admitted in July that funds were limited and that money from the ICC intended for development was being used to pay players.Things are slowly improving. The Academy at Simba Union is finally fully functional, but making up for a decade or more of mismanagement will take some time to remedy. The ICC appears to have recognised the scale of the problem, and whereas Kenya were until recently seen as the obvious next Test-playing nation, those putting forward that plan have gone decidedly cool on the idea.In April, Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, warned that Kenya’s ambitions to be a full Test country would not happen unless internal squabbles were sorted and a credible national league put in place. In the intervening five months, no progress has been made, and it is hard to see how anyone could argue that they are ready to step up to the plate.That will come as a relief to the cricket-playing world, who are already faced with the conundrum of what to do with Zimbabwe, who are in virtual freefall, without snuffing out the game there altogether. Another lame-duck Test team is the last thing international cricket needs, and it wouldn’t help the game in Kenya either.Kenya’s day will come, and there are many people working tirelessly towards that goal. All they need is the KCA to start doing the same and the job would become so much easier.

Leicestershire v Derbyshire at Leicester
Leicestershire progressed to finals day with a fifth successive win, but controversy marred their achievement as Derbyshire protested – in vain – about a disputed boundary catch in the closing stages of a gripping run-chase. Nineteen runs were needed from 11 balls when Steve Selwood hoisted the ball to Brad Hodge at long-on, who took a fine catch, but appeared to stumble across the rope in doing so. The umpires, however, were unmoved, and with six runs needed from the final delivery, Neil Gunter could only manage a four. Hodge had been in the thick of the action all day – his 37 from 20 balls had been the impetus for Leicestershire’s total of 171. At least the argument dispelled all doubts about the counties’ desire to do battle in this competition.
ScorecardGloucestershire v Glamorgan at Bristol
Gloucestershire rampaged into the finals of the Twenty20 Cup with a 100% record, and underpinned their favourites tag, thanks to a ferocious assault from Craig Spearman, who cracked 88 from 37 balls in a display of clean hitting that if anything was more anarchic than his opening partner Ian Harvey’s 100 from 50 balls against Warwickshire on Monday. Spearman was on course to break Harvey’s record by a distance, when he was stumped while aiming for his 15th boundary. But Gloucestershire’s 221 for 7, the first 200-plus score in the competition, was beyond Glamorgan’s reach, despite Matthew Maynard’s 69 from 36 balls.
ScorecardHampshire v Surrey at Southampton
Surrey had the luxury of resting several of their most potent players, but were still able to protect their unbeaten record against a meek Hampshire side with nothing to play for but pride. Scott Newman’s run-a-ball 59 was the highlight of an insubstantial Surrey innings, but it was more than enough to see off Hampshire, as Adam Hollioake picked up 5 for 21 in his three overs, including Simon Katich for 45.
ScorecardNorthamptonshire v Warwickshire at Northampton
Warwickshire had been on the receiving end of quite a pummelling in Monday’s fixture against Gloucestershire, but they re-established their credentials with a magnificent display that secured their tickets to the Atomic Kitten concert on July 19. Nick Knight, once again, was at the vanguard of the onslaught, with 69 from 47 balls, as Warwickshire hurried to 202 for 5, the second-highest total in the competition so far. Northants over-reached themselves in trying to keep up, and could not recover after slumping to 67 for 5.
ScorecardLancashire v Durham at Old Trafford
Shoaib Akhtar’s Durham debut turned into a pocket version of his Oval annihilation at the hands of Marcus Trescothick, as he was slapped over backward point for six by Stuart Law, and drilled for a second six off his final ball. His attempt to redeem himself as a pinch-hitting No. 3 also backfired – he fell to John Wood for a first-ball duck. But Lancashire’s total of 144 was eminently gettable, and while Phil Mustard remained, Durham were on course. Carl Hooper, however, picked up 4 for 18 with his offspin, and Durham were unable to conjure eight runs from the final over.
ScorecardWorcestershire v Somerset at Worcester
Gareth Batty smacked 87 from 48 balls, including six sixes and five fours, as Worcestershire finished with a flourish against Somerset. Batty, who had been dropped on 7 by Keith Dutch, powered Worcestershire to 161 for 5, before Nantie Hayward bounded in with three swift wickets to wreck Somerset’s reply.
ScorecardYorkshire v Nottinghamshire at Headingley
A frenzied assault on the midwicket boundary by Michael Lumb and Matthew Wood carried Yorkshire to an unassailable 196 for 5 at Headingley, although Nottinghamshire did their best to scale the heights, falling 18 runs short as Tim Bresnan bowled three batsmen in the 17th over, including Jason Gallian, around whom the run-chase had been built. Kevin Pietersen muscled in with 44, but Lumb and Wood, who added 101 in nine overs, including 28 from Samit Patel’s solitary over, were worthy victors.
Scorecard7.30 starts
Essex v Middlesex at Chelmsford
Umpire Allan Jones, standing at square leg, had to be led from the field with a suspected broken wrist after incepting a savage pull from Andy Flower, as Essex thumped their way to a two-run victory in a pulsating floodlit encounter at Chelmsford. Flower finished with 83 from 53 balls in a total of 175 for 5, a total that proved just out of Middlesex’s reach, despite a spirited bout of biffing from Abdul Razzaq, Ed Joyce and Simon Cook.
ScorecardSussex v Kent at Hove
There wasn’t an awful lot to play for at Hove, with Sussex and Kent both trailing in Surrey’s wake, and other teams better placed for that runners-up spot. And when Kent collapsed to 114 all out, with three wickets to Jason Lewry, the rest was a formality. Bas Zuiderent’s partnership of 80 in nine overs with Chris Adams was the highlight of a simple run-chase.
Scorecard

Following their most successful season ever Somerset County Cricket Club today announced that the following new contracts have been offered:-
Keith Dutch, Ian Blackwell and Steffan Jones all 3 years,
Keith Parsons and Matt Wood both 2 years,
Jason Kerr and Joe Tucker both 1 year.
Fast bowler Jamie Grove, who joined the Cidermen from Essex two years ago has had his contract mutually ended, whilst another fast bowler Ian Jones has also been released.Twenty three year old fast bowler Simon Francis, who has been released this season by Hampshire has joined Somerset. The former England under 19 player made his first team debut for the south coast side in 1997 and played in nine first class matches in 2000 taking 15 wickets at an average of just over 40 runs a piece.Somerset have also announced that the former Hampshire reserve wicket-keeper Mark Garaway has been appointed Regional Academy Director working from the Somerset Centre of Excellence at The County Ground.Part of his duties will include being responsible for the Somerset Second XI, but his overall responsibility is for the identification and development of young players throughout the South West Region.Twenty nine year old Garaway lived for a time in West Somerset, commences his duties on October 29th 2001.Speaking earlier this evening Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me, “On the back of a very successful season what we are trying to achieve is to retain a balance between proven players we currently have on contract, but allowing us room to manoeuvre should we wish to make changes to the playing staff.”With regard to the release of Jamie Grove the Chief Executive said, “Jamie wanted to play regular first team cricket and we couldn’t offer it. He is young enough to go and look elsewhere so we agreed to let him go.”The Chief also confirmed that Jamie Cox has signed to return to Taunton next season and will continue in his role of captain.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSteven Croft lifts the NatWest Blast trophy as Lancashire broke their duck•Getty Images

There have been many disappointments and much heartbreak along the way, but Lancashire have clinched their first limited-over silverware since 1999 with a 13-run victory over Northamptonshire in the final of the NatWest T20 Blast.Since that 1999 success in the Sunday League, Lancashire have been defeated 15 times in the latter stages (quarter-finals, semi-finals or final) of limited-overs competitions. Five times previously they had reached T20 finals day and twice they had been thwarted in the final. It is no wonder they have earned a reputation as domestic cricket’s version of South Africa.So perhaps Ashley Giles will become known as the man who performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on Lancashire. In his first year in the role of director of cricket at Lancashire, Giles has overseen promotion (it would take a miracle to deny them at this stage) and this success.This was a triumphant homecoming for the former Warwickshire coach. A few months ago, after Peter Moores was sacked as England coach, Giles was told not to bother applying for the role. His record was tainted, he was told. The world had moved on.But this was a reminder that his record, at county level at least, is exceptional. His last season at Warwickshire, in 2012, saw the club win the County Championship, while two years before that, they won the CB40 trophy. He has surely wondered many times how different the course of his career might have been had England not choked so dramatically here in the final of the Champions Trophy in 2013.It is, therefore, not surprising that some at Edgbaston want him back to fill the vacancy of chief executive. Giles insists that he is thinking of nothing other than his role at Lancashire – and to see the anxiety etched on his face in the closing stages of this match, it would be hard to disagree – but he was burned by his period as England coach. Rarely given the chance to select the team he wanted, he has admitted that he would like his long-term future to involve more management and a bit less coaching. One day, he may well make a fine successor to Andrew Strauss as England’s director of cricket.Lancashire owed this success, in large part, to the stand of 77 their openers posted in the first nine overs of the match. There are those at the club who feel that Alex Davies could go on to enjoy an even better career than Jos Buttler and here – with 47 from 26 balls – the 21-year-old produced the most fluent batting of the day. He fully deserved the Man of the Match award.Certainly he demonstrated a fine cricket brain and wide range of stroke. Showing that he had learned from the batsmen’s struggles in the semi-finals, he tried to engineer more pace on to the bat from this slightly begrudging pitch by standing outside his crease and, while others slogged and heaved, he rarely tried to hit the ball too hard. Three times in the opening three overs he square drove for boundaries and, when Azharullah came on, he danced down the pitch and drove him over mid-off for another.It was always likely that spin would play a dominant role in the final but Davies refused to let Graeme White settle, twice driving him over mid-off in his first over – once for four and once for six – and helping Lancashire post 67 from the first seven overs.At one stage it looked as if they would score in excess of 180. But Shahid Afridi, appearing at Finals Day due to the benevolence of a local sponsor and his own goodwill, and David Willey bowled beautifully, and Lancashire lost four wickets in eight balls at one stage.Liam Livingstone was bowled through the gate by a googly that turned prodigiously, James Faulkner drove to extra cover – not the first time his driving has got him into trouble this summer – and Karl Brown was caught down the leg side.But Arron Lilley, an offspinner in whom the England selectors are taking interest, ensured some late impetus, helping Lancashire take 24 from the final two overs and give Lancashire a total that, in comparison with the other first-innings scores on the day (131 and 115) looked highly competitive.If Northants were to go close, they probably required one of their openers to make a substantial contribution. But Richard Levi mistimed to mid-off and David Willey top-edged to midwicket – both men given a quite unnecessary send-off by the graceless Faulkner – and while Afridi and Josh Cobb swung merrily for a while, Lancashire always appeared to have a dozen too many.Faulkner bowled with tremendous skill and heart – despite sustaining what appeared to be a dislocated finger when Afridi thumped the ball back at him – and the spinners were predictably frugal conceding just 67 runs in their combined 10 overs.But perhaps it was the performance of George Edwards, playing just his sixth T20 match of the summer, and Gavin Griffiths, who made his T20 debut earlier in the afternoon, that will provide most satisfaction for Lancashire supporters. Both bowled with skill, control and calm in circumstances in which others might have struggled. Both have long careers in front of them for the club.Whether Giles does remains to be seen. But such issues can wait. After many years of near misses, Lancashire have their limited-overs trophy and, after the pain of losing the England job, Giles has eloquently and classily proved his point.

Shashikala Siriwardene will lead Sri Lanka Women in the Women’s World Twenty20 and the preceding T20I series against India, which starts from February 24. Siriwardene has recovered from a thumb injury she suffered during the side’s tour of New Zealand in November last year, which ruled her out of two ODIs and the following T20I series.The squad for India includes uncapped allrounders Hansima Karunaratne and Harshitha Madavi, although the latter will only join the squad for the Women’s World T20, which starts on March 15. The experienced trio of allrounder Eshani Lokusuriyage, batsman Yasoda Mendis and left-arm medium-pacer Udeshika Prabodhani have made their way back to the side after missing the New Zealand series.Achini Kulasuriya, Chamari Polgampola, Hasini Perera, Maduri Samuddika, Anushka Sanjeewani, who had a disappointing tour of New Zealand, were left out, although Samuddika and Sanjeewani have been added to the list of standbys for the tournaments.Sri Lanka’s tour of India comprises three ODIs and as many T20Is, which will be played in Ranchi between February 15 and February 26. Sri Lanka have been slotted in Group A of the 10-team Women’s World T20, alongside Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland. Their World T20 campaign kicks off against New Zealand on March 15. The top two teams from the group will progress to the semi-final stage.Sri Lanka T20I squad: Shashikala Siriwardene (capt), Chamari Atapattu, Yasoda Mendis, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Dilani Manodara, Prasadani Weerakkody, Ama Kanchana, Eshani Lokusuriyage, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Nilakshi de Silva, Hansima Karunaratne, Nipuni Hansika, Harshitha Madavi*

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that it would not be entering into performance-based contracts with India’s cricketers for the time being. After a meeting with senior players in Delhi it was decided that the existing contract system would continue for another year.At the moment players receive a retainer and a flat fee per Test and ODI. The BCCI had earlier proposed a system in which players received smaller retainers but were rewarded heavily for winning matches and series. The players were not in favour of this system, and the BCCI, for the moment, has decided to stick with the old contracts system.This means that players can receive contracts in either A, B or C category. The A-category contract comes with an annual retainer of Rs 50 lakh (US$124,000), the B-category contract is worth Rs 35 lakh (US$87,000) and the C-grade works out to Rs 20 lakh (US$50,000).”Existing player contract system will continue. Four senior players met the Contract Committee today and they have agreed to continue with the prevailing system,” Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI said. The contracts committee, comprising Shah, N Srinivasan, the treasurer, Shashank Manohar, a vice-president of the board, and Inderjit Singh Bindra, the president of the Punjab Cricket Association, met Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble in Delhi.”The gradation committee will sit towards the end of this month or by October first week to finalise things,” said Shah. “It will also decide how many players will come under its purview but the players are happy with the existing system.” In the past the gradation committee has included the coach, the chairman of selectors and senior board officials. Given that India do not have one overall coach at the moment, it’s unclear who all will be on this committee.