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ScorecardTrott’s wonderful season continued, though he fell seven short of another hundred•Getty Images

Worcestershire always hoped that a fast bowler named Jones would lead their attack this season, but most supporters thought it would be former England seamer, Simon. Yet it was Richard Jones who produced a career-best performance in Warwickshire’s first innings to give his side some cheer on another trying day.Jones, bowling at a brisk pace and moving the ball both ways, was the only member of Worcestershire’s attack to harness the helpful conditions and bowled a number of utterly unplayable deliveries.Warwickshire still hold the dominant position in this match, however. A total of 443 on this pitch is enormous and, if the weather holds, Worcestershire’s first priority will simply be to avert the follow-on. But Jones’ contribution at least provided some encouragement for the future. And, after such a disappointing season, the focus at Worcestershire is very much on finding silver linings and hope.It may turn out to be a defining day in Jones’ career. Now aged 22, he has long shown promise and was selected to represent England Under-19s in 2005-06. A succession of injuries and, perhaps, a certain natural reticence, delayed his progress, however, and he was desperately close to cricketing oblivion only a few months ago.He was not initially offered a new deal at the end of last season but, after impressing with his hard work and skill in training over the winter, Jones convinced the club to offer him a summer contract. Such has been his improvement – and the side’s need to recruit – that he has now signed until the end of the 2010 season.The only disappointment was the failure of his more experienced colleagues to follow his example. Gareth Andrew and Imran Arif, in particular, delivered far too many poor balls, while Matt Mason’s lack of pace allowed the batsmen too much time to adapt. The performance of Steve Davies, standing-up to Mason’s medium-pace, also suggested Surrey’s new keeper has some work to do before he can be considered for Test duty. Conditions were not easy, but it is unthinkable that the likes of Chris Read or James Foster would have conceded 16 byes.Worcestershire’s biggest impediment, however, was Jonathan Trott, who was simply masterful. In conditions that all his team-mates struggled, his bat appeared as broad as a barn door. He countered the movement by playing late and straight, but ensured he capitalised on anything short or over-pitched with a series of booming cuts and drives. It was a performance that demonstrated the technique and temperament that could, perhaps, be utilised by England as they seek to solve the conundrum of who should bat at No. 3 in the Test side.None of his colleagues could prosper against a ball swinging prodigiously. Ian Bell fell in just the third over of the day, trapped by a delivery that kept horribly low, before Ian Westwood’s admirable innings was ended after he failed to recover his ground having seen his partner, Trott, slip over as he turned for a second run.Jim Troughton edged an attempted drive before Tony Frost cut a long-hop to point and Tim Ambrose and Chris Woakes were both undone by lovely outswingers and edged to slip. Finally Trott, within sight of his sixth first-class century of the season, failed to get his foot to the pitch as he looked to drive and edged another outswinger to slip.With the weather so unsettled, Warwickshire may rue their decision to bat on once they gained full batting bonus points. 69 overs have already been lost to rain and Warwickshire need to win this match if they are to lift themselves from relegation danger. They managed only 20 balls before play was abandoned for the day, though Naqaash Tahir, who has now signed his new contract, found enough movement to suggest Worcestershire will face a tough struggle on the final two days of this game.

South Africa’s domestic season will start earlier than usual this year due to the Champions League, scheduled to be held in India from October 8-23. The CSA said in a press release that the season would commence earlier – in September as opposed to October – with the SuperSport Series starting on September 17.The two South African representatives in the Champions League, the Cape Cobras and the Eagles, will play two matches each next month in an attempt to avoid fixture congestion.”There have been no changes to the formats of any of the three competitions – the four-day Supersport Series, the 50-over MTN Domestic Championship and the Standard Bank Domestic Pro20 – but what has changed is that the domestic professional season will start in September,” the CSA release said.”This has been done to accommodate two SuperSport Series fixtures each for the Cape Cobras and the Eagles who will be out of the country for much of October as CSA’s representatives in the Champions League tournament in India.”The Champions League will be played across Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore and will feature 10 other domestic Twenty20 teams from across the globe – Victoria, New South Wales (Australia), Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils (India), Sussex, Somerset (England), Wayamba (Sri Lanka), Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies) and Otago (New Zealand).The Cape Cobras have been placed in Group C along with IPL runners-up Bangalore and New Zealand domestic Twenty20 champions Otago and the Eagles will up be up against Twenty20 Big Bash winners New South Wales and English champions Sussex in Group B.

West Indies coach John Dyson has said that despite his team losing the Test Series against Bangladesh, he expects competitive performances in the three-match ODI series. “This is a totally different game now,” Dyson said. “We’re playing 50-over cricket, not five-day cricket. The two Test matches were closely fought, it wasn’t a case where we were thrashed in either of the matches. We could have won both so I don’t think there’s much in it.”Though the Test squad was made up of replacement players – following strike action by the more reputed names – Dyson said he was not disappointed with the way they performed. “For guys who had little experience in international cricket to come forward like that and play as well as they did, I think they did pretty well,” Dyson said. “They’ve played some good cricket so far, unfortunately we weren’t able to get across the line and win the Tests.”The first two ODIs will be played in Dominica on Sunday and Tuesday, and Dyson hoped the pitches would nullify the Bangladesh spinners and aid the West Indian pacemen. “I’m looking forward to the one-dayers. What I’d like to see is a hard, pacy, bouncy wicket,” Dyson said.Given the statistics from the two Test matches in St Vincent and Grenada, the Bangladeshi spinners – led by captain Shakib Al Hasan – have been dominant. They took 33 of the 40 wickets with Shakib and Mahmudullah, both picking five-wicket hauls. The duo along, with Enamul Haque jnr, who featured in the second Test, worked over the West Indies batsmen with relative ease.Contrastingly, fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy were the standout performers for the hosts. Roach, who debuted in the first Test, was the highest wicket-taker for West Indies with 13. He bowled with disconcerting pace and bagged an impressive career best 6 for 48 in the first innings in Grenada.Sammy also had impressive returns by picking up back-to-back five wicket hauls. In the first match, Sammy took 5 for 70 in the Bangladesh second innings, and followed it up with identical figures in Grenada.It is no surprise, therefore, that Dyson is keen on a pitch which will offer some assistance to the pacers with the West Indies squad comprising Roach, Sammy, David Bernard, Nelon Pascal and Gavin Tonge.

Peter Trego scorched his way into the record books yesterday, smashing a 54-ball hundred to power Somerset to chasing down 476 to beat Yorkshire – the second-highest Championship chase and the eighth-highest in first-class cricket.”Without a shadow of a doubt that was the innings of my life. I hadn’t got a great deal of runs and I was feeling terrible against the red ball,” Trego told the . “I have worked really hard in the nets, but to be honest it was just about survival. But the bowler [Ajmal] Shazad gave me a few verbals and I thought: ‘I am going to go after you here’ and the ball turned from a pea [into] a balloon.”These sort of days can hopefully only help me to get where I want to be in my career. It was only through my impatience and petulance that I ever left the club in the first place, but I don’t regret anything because days like today would not be possible without that part of my character, today wouldn’t be possible.”Watching, briefly from the other end during his 24, was Trego’s captain, the former Australia batsman Justin Langer, who has not discounted the 28-year-old an international call-up.”The way Trego played was incredible,” he said. “In the past he might have thrown it away but he started to take it more seriously. He could certainly play international cricket.”In the past he would have got out after he got 50 and we would have drawn or lost. At one point he played a fancy little dab shot and I said ‘If you had got out like that I wouldn’t have picked you because you are not taking it seriously’.”

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam believes his team is now mentally equipped to handle any sort of situation and has grown stronger from the disappointment suffered two years ago in the inaugural World Twenty20 final, which they lost to arch-rivals India by just five runs.”I was commentating when we lost and it was very disappointing,” Alam said after the team’s training session on Tuesday evening, ahead of the warm-up game against India at The Oval, which will be their final practice fixture before the tournament proper begins on Friday.Alam hopes the players involved in that pulsating final two years ago, played in front of a sellout crowd at the Wanderers, have learnt from that episode and moved on. Back then Pakistan needed 54 from 24 balls with only three wickets in hand but Misbah-ul-Haq almost turned the game on its head with some sumptuous strokeplay. 13 were needed off the final over and Misbah punished the inexperienced Joginder Sharma with a huge six to an easy full toss. But on the third ball, trying to scoop it over fine leg, he miscued and was caught by Sreesanth.”I’m sure the boys and Misbah have got over what happened in the final two years ago. And after two years we are now more mentally prepared to handle such a situation,” Alam said.Alam is also not worried by the fact that none of the Pakistan players featured in the second IPL, as they were barred by the PCB from playing the tournament in the wake of the tensions between India and Pakistan post 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. When the tournament was moved out of India – over security reasons – the Pakistan players were hopeful of returning but IPL officials said it wouldn’t be possible as the squads had already been finalised earlier. “Our players not figuring in the IPL has no bearing in this tournament,” Alam said.Pakistan haven’t played much cricket of late apart from the ODI series against Australia in the UAE. The rustiness of their players was pretty evident in Monday’s practice game against South Africa, which Pakistan lost by 59 runs. Except for offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who bowled economically and opener Ahmed Shehzad, who made 31, none of the Pakistan players showed any sort of form. Alam admitted the players were still coming to terms with foreign conditions and there is no way out except to understand each player’s responsibility. “We are still settling down. I wasn’t really proud of our performance yesterday. It takes at least a week’s preparation for a team to get attuned to the conditions but there is nothing to be worried about.”According to Alam, for Pakistan to become consistent the key is their senior players, starting with their captain Younis Khan, need to perform. “I’m expecting a great deal from Younis Khan. Then we have people like Salman Butt, Misbah, Shahid Afridi, who can hit the ball and are tailor-made for this kind of cricket.”Afridi, never shy of speaking his mind, said he would want to make the same impact like in the previous World Twenty20, where he was one of the top bowlers. “I was one of the best bowlers in the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup. I will do my best once again and I’ve been doing well with the ball in the last few years for Pakistan. As for the batting, I know people expect a lot from me and luckily I’ve had a few decent knocks against Australia recently.”

Bangladesh have had two consecutive defeats in their warm-up matches but captain Mohammad Ashraful believes a good start in the World Twenty20 could take them beyond the Super Eights stage. Bangladesh are grouped with India and Ireland, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the Super Eights stage, and Ashraful is confident of his team’s chances. “Our first goal is the Super Eights, but if we have a good start against India [at Trent Bridge on Saturday], it will give us the confidence of going far in the tournament,” Ashraful said.Bangladesh lost to Australia by 38 runs on Monday and to Sri Lanka by six wickets on Tuesday, but Ashraful did not seem too perturbed. “It’s been a good workout for us,” he said after Tuesday’s game. “This is a format in which any side can beat the other. It’s not a lottery but everything depends on how a team plays on that particular day.”Allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was also pleased the preparations before the main tournament, but called for a better effort in the fielding department. “Our preparation has gone well so far I think,” Shakib said. “We fought all the way and created winning situations. This has boosted our confidence. Against Sri Lanka we did not bat well but the bowling brought us back in the game. We were in fine batting form against Australia and were going at 10 an over for most part. Our fielding has not been up to the mark yet so we need to work on that. It is a bit windy in England and we I think we have to adjust to that when we field.”Shakib returned impressive bowling figures of 4-0-18-2 against Sri Lanka and was quite consistent with the bat as well, however, the world’s No. 1 ODI allrounder was not prepared to sit on his laurels. “Twenty20 is still a new format for me and I have not played that many games,” Shakib said. “I have done well in ODIs but we’ll see how it goes in this tournament. The practice matches give us an indication of where we are and having made a few runs and taken wickets, I am going into this tournament very confident.”Meeting India in the first match of the group would surely bring back memories of the 2007 ODI World Cup match at Port of Spain where Bangladesh won by five wickets to dump India out of the competition but Shakib was more focused on Saturday’s clash.”Yes, we do talk about that match and it lifts us no doubt,” Shakib said. “However, this is a totally different format and conditions are different. We have to field well to win matches and get the batting and bowling plan right. How we prepare is very important.”

Scorecard
Mitchell Marsh scored an unbeaten half-century to lead Australia Under-19 to a series-leveling win on the third day against India Under-19 at the WACA in Perth. Chasing a score of 130, Australia reached the target with six wickets in hand.The hosts began the day on 19 for 0, needing only another 108 for victory. The Indian bowlers, however, caused a scare by taking early wickets. They took four wickets for 14 runs to reduce Australia to 4 for 40. Harshal Patel picked up 3 for 32 with the new ball. Patel Marsh, though, ensured there was no further damage. He scored 69 off 102 balls and shared a 90-run stand with James Garrett to complete the victory.”When we were 4-40 we were in a bit of strife but Joel [Garrett] and I put on a good partnership and it got us over the line in the end,” Marsh said. “It’s been a great tour for everyone and that’s why we have these types of series so we can learn and adapt to different situations.””Coming over to Perth we knew we were 0-3 and we really wanted to get a win on the board and the boys came together well,” Marsh said. “The wicket was a lot bouncier and Kane Richardson bowled extremely well in the first innings of this match taking five wickets which was a great reward for him. He worked hard in Hobart but things just didn’t quite go his way.”Kane Richardson was named Player of the Match for his five-wicket haul. “Hobart was a bit disappointing, not just for myself but for the whole bowling group – we didn’t really execute what we wanted to – but as soon as we got over here and into training we really emphasized hitting our lengths and tried to make the batsman play,” he said. “We tried to get them to play all the time or where ever possible and it paid off for us this game.”Australia coach Brian McFadyen said it was a learning experience for the players. “It was a really impressive turn around from when we were in Hobart,” McFadyen said. “To be honest, I don’t think we really expected to come here and win two games and to win them convincingly was a very pleasing result.”I was really very, very impressed with how our guys were able to talk about delivering plans, and one of those plans was using their feet to spinners, but more importantly, their courage to actually integrate that into their game, experiment with it and further develop those skills, learning from the experience. To see that these players are prepared to make adjustments to their game and have the courage to apply that in a match situation was really pleasing.”

Phillip Hughes has gained another trophy from a bling-heavy summer after picking up the Steve Waugh Medal as New South Wales’ Player of the Year. Hughes, who has returned from a highly successful debut Test tour of South Africa, was limited to seven Sheffield Shield games for the Blues, but was the runaway winner ahead of Aaron Bird, the fast bowler currently suspended for an illegal action.Votes from all three domestic competitions were combined, with Hughes finishing 72 ahead of Bird on 231. At 20 he was the youngest winner of the medal and added it to his Sheffield Player of the Year and Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year gongs during an unforgettable 2008-09.Before his three Tests in South Africa, which included two centuries in Durban, Hughes scored 891 runs at 74.25 in the Shield, winning him the Blues’ four-day award ahead of Burt Cockley. There were also 288 runs for Hughes in the FR Cup and his collection of 188 in the Twenty20 came at a strike-rate of 121.29.Nathan Hauritz, the Australia offspinner, was the FR Cup Player of the Year for his eight wickets and an economy rate of 4.09. The opener Leah Poulton won the Belinda Clark Medal as New South Wales’ leading women’s player in 2008-09. She collected 376 runs at 41.77 in the successful Women’s National Cricket League campaign before being part of Australia’s World Cup squad. The Rising Star Awards went to the fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and the spinner Erin Osbourne.

Zimbabwe A completed their brief tour of Namibia with a 100% record after wins in both one-day matches as well as the one-off Twenty20 international and a warm-up game. The tour, scheduled to help Namibia get ready for next month’s ICC World Cup Qualifiers, gave both sides a good workout.In the first ODI, Namibia posted 235 for 9, thanks largely to Jan-Berrie Burger’s 108, while Admire Manyumwa took 4 for 31 in his 10 overs. In reply, Mark Vermeulen’s 80 was well backed by Charles Coventry (46) and Timycen Maruma (44) as Zimbabwe A won by three wickets with eight balls to spare.The following day, Zimbabwe recovered from a collapse which had them at 36 for 6 before Maruma’s 67 and Shingirai Masakadza’s 46 helped boost them to 189. Again Manyumwa was the star with the ball, taking 6 for 40 as Namibia were dismissed for 149 in the 41st over.Those games had been preceded by a Twenty20 clash in which Zimbabwe A had raced to 189 for 9 in their 20 overs, based on a good team effort more than any single contribution. Namibia were always off the pace and were finally bowled out for 144 in the 20th over.The trip started with a straightforward nine-wicket win over a Namibian Invitational XI. The home side floundered after a decent start and eventually managed 179, and their bowlers were then taken to the cleaners by Maruma and Erick Chauluka (51*) in an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 144. The in-form Maruma finished on 100 not out, reaching his century off 68 balls.

Standing tall
Daren Powell did well to survive the second evening as nightwatchman, but he wasn’t expected to be around for long this morning. However, it ended up taking most of the session to remove him as he completed his longest Test innings both in terms of time and balls faced. He even started to think like a batsman, too, asking for an extra drink of water and a change of gloves. Many people have said he is better than an average of seven suggests, and he showed what can he achieved when he puts his head down.Walk away, Stuart
Stuart Broad really should know how to behave around umpires. His dad, Chris, is an ICC match referee after all. But he needs to be careful with his appealing as he has a habit of not turning around to see the decision. It’s partly youthful enthusiasm which shouldn’t be knocked, but officials note these things. When he struck Brendan Nash with a yorker he was sure it was lbw and raced into his follow through and towards the wicketkeeper. Only when level with the stumps did he look at Daryl Harper, who by now was stood at mid-on. That replays showed it was hitting leg stump won’t have made Broad feel any better.Feeling queasy
Steve Harmison wasn’t quite himself for most for most of the day as he struggled with heat sickness. Towards the end of his fourth over he nearly threw up at the end of his run and after chatting with team doctor, Mike Stone, he left the field. At least it wasn’t quite as dramatic as when Neil Smith was sick in the middle of the pitch during a World Cup match against UAE in 1996. They really needed the sawdust on that occasion.Get out the hockey pads
This is the sort of pitch to make a wicketkeeper cry. They are waiting to see whether the ball will climb at shoulder-height or stay down by the ankles. Matt Prior was caught out by the grubbers plenty of times, and by the time the third or fourth one shot past him (just missing the helmets, which would have been five runs) all he could do was smile – and maybe curse a bit. However, he did seem to have a bit of a problem bring his legs together quickly enough. He wouldn’t have made a hockey goalkeeper, but then they do wear huge oversized pads.Chanderpaul in a trot
Two innings without a half-century – is Shivnarine Chanderpaul in a slump? He ground his way to 20 in Kingston and although there’s nothing unusual in that, the fact he didn’t kick on was. Now here in Antigua he couldn’t even get going, drawn into a loose drive against Stuart Broad. Bowlers the world over will be hunting down Broad’s mobile phone number to ask him how he did it. Some have bowled at Chanderpaul for days on end without making an impression.Why bother with the pitch
Ridge, what ridge? The channel on a good length made a few balls misbehave, but it didn’t account for any of the wickets. That Graeme Swann grabbed five of England’s scalps showed that there was more than one way to skin a cat on this surface. And for the wicket of Denesh Ramdin he took the pitch out of the equation all together. Having had Ramnaresh Sarwan caught at midwicket he threw the next one up so much it was a low full toss, which Ramdin – to his own disbelief and also Swann’s – chipped straight back to the bowler. Can’t blame the ridge for that.