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Allen Stanford, the Texas-based billionaire, has reportedly offered the England board a staggering US$100 million for five Twenty20 matches in five years against a West Indies all-star side.Stanford held talks with David Collier, the chief executive of the ECB, earlier this week where he offered $20 million for a match between England and a West Indies all-star team to coincide with the Independence Day in Antigua on November 1. If the match takes place, it will be the most expensive cricket match ever played.That offer, said a report in , could be spread over five years. “I talked to David about the first game and then how we could collaborate in the future,” Stanford said. “I said it could be an annual event, maybe we could come to Lord’s in 2009 and then alternate. I would be happy to make a five-year commitment.”When asked whether it meant a $100 million commitment, Stanford said: “I would be willing to do it. The money is real and I think we will get a game.”The offer was revealed in the English media a day after the start of the much-hyped Indian Premier League, to which Stanford is being seen as a counter-weight in some quarters.

The England camp have admitted that James Anderson had been warned twice for running on the pitch before he was removed from the attack for a third transgression in the third Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.Anderson, England’s record wicket taker in Test cricket, appeared incensed when Aleem Dar, the umpire, notified the England captain that Anderson was to be withdrawn from the attack after two balls of the 100th over of the innings.In an angry exchange that continued beyond the end of innings, Anderson appeared to insist that he had been warned only once previously.But an ECB spokesman later confirmed that Alastair Cook, the England captain, admitted he had been warned twice previously about Anderson running on to the protected area. The first warning came after three deliveries of the 61st over of the innings; the second after four deliveries of the 94th over. All the warnings were captured by broadcasters.Law 42.12 – a section headlined ‘bowler running on protected area after delivering the ball – states that, on the first instance of any infringement, the umpire shall “caution the bowler and inform the other umpire.” They should also “inform the captain of the fielding side and the batsmen.”If the bowler contravenes again, the umpire is obliged to “repeat the procedure indicating that it is a final warning.”Aleem Dar, who his officiating in his 101st Test as an on-field umpire, won the ICC’s umpire of the year award for three years in a row (between 2009 and 2011).While the England camp have suggested that the umpires could, perhaps, make their warnings a little more obvious, they have effectively accepted the sanction. Coming, as it did, with nine wickets down, and with Ben Stokes requiring only one delivery to finish off the innings, it did not adversely affect them. Anderson, whose querying of the decision probably stayed just the right side of the line separated between ‘inquisitive’ and ‘argumentative’ is unlikely to face further punishment.There may be concern, however, at Anderson’s habit of running on the pitch – a habit that appears to be of increasing interest to umpires – and his apparent fury with the world and almost all upon it once he takes to the pitch. It is understood a team-mate recently made it clear in the dressing room that some were tiring of the latter.There has been illness within the England squad in recent days and it may well be that Anderson – and Stuart Broad, who bowled far below his recent high standards here – have suffered as much as anyone and deserve some patience. No doubt Anderson’s anger stems from his burning desire to perform for the team that he has represented with pride for more than a decade. He has more than earned the benefit of any doubt.As a new England side emerges, though – an England side keen to engage with its supporters and in the first flush of enthusiasm for international cricket and all it entails – Anderson’s anger jars and appears oddly out of step.

ScorecardFile photo – Jalaj Saxena’s all-round contributions earned Madhya Pradesh•MPCA

Jalaj Saxena took his fourth five-wicket haul in seven matches, also taking his season tally to 40 wickets, then strapped up his pads and struck 79 of the 201 runs Madhya Pradesh put up in the second innings. That meant Mumbai were set a target of 280 to win in Indore.Resuming their first innings at 72 for 6, Mumbai’s final four wickets contributed 90 runs. Still Madhya Pradesh stuck to Plan A. They used just two spinners throughout the innings – Saxena and Ankit Sharma, who both collect five-fors – to bundle Mumbai out for 162, and collect a substantial lead of 78.Mumbai took a hint from their first innings and started with a spinner of their own and reaped immediate reward. Vishal Dabholkar had Tanmay Srivastava stumped off the second ball of the innings. Saxena and Harpreet Singh temporarily steadied the ship with a 44-run stand before wickets fell in regular intervals thereafter to leave Madhya Pradesh at 110 for 5.Captain Devendra Bundela (42) and Saxena added 48 for the sixth wicket, but Saxena’s dismissal elicited a collapse as Mumbai bore into the lower order to bowl Madhya Pradesh out for 201. Shardul Thakur and Iqbal Abdullah picked up three wickets apiece.
ScorecardRailways, who had made only 182 in their first innings, bounced back on the second day to take a first-innings lead. Karn Sharma and Anureet Singh combined to take eight wickets as Andhra were bowled out for 114 in Delhi.Prasanth Kumar – the only Andhra batsman to score above 15 – offered some resistance with his 49, before Karn, who took his third five-wicket haul in as many matches, had him caught with the score at 92. The tail crumbled thereafter and Railways gained a lead of 68.But Andhra’s bowlers kept their hopes alive as D Siva Kumar removed Ashish Singh in the fifth over. Saurabh Wakaskar (38) and V Cheluvaraj (18) held things steady with a 58-run partnership, but B Sudhakar broke through and went on to take three further wickets to ensure Railways did not run away with the game. At least until Ashish Yadav came in at No. 8 and struck a counterattacking 55 to stretch the lead to 262 at stumps.
ScorecardA second consecutive day’s play was washed out without a ball being bowled in Tirunelveli. With hopes of an outright win fading away, both teams will be looking to garner first-innings points if play is possible on the final two days. Gujarat are second on the points table with 22 points, while Tamil Nadu are sixth.UP v Punjab – Punjab edge ahead in see-saw day

Mark Ramprakash continued to distance himself from a disappointing experiment as a Test opener by becoming the first English player to reach 1,000 first-class runs this summer.The Middlesex batsman scored his fourth century in nine innings, for a total of 700 runs, since he reverted to No 4 in the county team after losing his England place.Ramprakash made a polished 120 not out in four hours at Edgbaston to give skipper Justin Langer an opportunity to apply pressure on Warwickshire with a lunchtime declaration at 380 for eight.With nearly nine hours lost in the first three days, Middlesex scented an outside chance of exploiting uncertainty in Warwickshire’s batting after five Championship games without a win.Though Mark Wagh and Dominic Ostler made some headway, they wobbled at 125 for four until David Hemp instigated a strong recovery with an unbeaten 78.The former Glamorgan left hander found his touch in only his fourth Championship half-century of the season and went on to hit 15 fours. Dougie Brown provided the necessary support in an unbroken stand of 86 as Warwickshire closed at 211 for four.Warwickshire’s progress to the NatWest Trophy final has masked a poor run in other competitions and now they have injury problems before the Lord’s meeting with holders Gloucestershire next Saturday.Opener Nick Knight may need surgery on a damaged knee and, along with fast bowler Allan Donald, he will not play in next week’s Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road.

David Warner may find himself as stand-in captain of Australia for the first time in some of January’s limited-overs matches against India if Steven Smith’s current knee and hip niggles don’t clear up over the next two weeks.Smith is not in doubt for the Boxing Day Test against West Indies in Melbourne or the following fixture in the new year at the SCG. However, the selectors and team medical staff may elect to rest him from portions of the five-match ODI series against India in order to give him the best chance to be fit and limber for the February tour of New Zealand and also the Twenty20 matches to be played in the lead-up to the World T20 in India in March.The decision to rule Smith out of the opening rounds of the Big Bash League that sit between now and Boxing Day is an admission that his knee in particular will need careful management over the coming months. He has carried the problem since the latter part of the Ashes tour, saying the discomfort he faced while running could be “hidden” in Test matches. But it is likely to be more problematic in T20, the only format in which Australia are yet to win an ICC trophy.The coach and selector Darren Lehmann said further breaks for Smith would be discussed. “He keeps telling me he is 26 but [in Hobart] he was running as though he is 36. The pressure of captaincy is quite large. We have to look at that but we get a decent break now with two weeks off. He is not playing BBL so he gets a good break.”The ODIs are important to us and then the T20 World Cup so I can’t see him getting a break until the end of the summer, unless we play really well or the niggles get worse. I’m no medical expert but [rest] is what they are saying. They will say what he can or can’t do and if I disagree with it he plays and if I don’t he might not play.”Smith has impressed many within the team since being named full-time captain, fostering relationships off the field as well as providing sound judgment on it. Lehmann said Smith was handling the extra demands on his time with aplomb, while also utilising the advice of mentors such as Brad Haddin and Mark Taylor. Warner has also done well as deputy, compiling mighty scores against New Zealand while keeping some of his more outlandish traits in check at the right times.”Doing it easy – much easier when you win,” Lehmann said of Smith. “It was a tough series against New Zealand while this was a less stressful Test match, [but] he has been flying with the extra demands. He has good mentors and good advice from former captains who are helping with how to handle his time and the demands which are so much greater than just a player. Players love what he brings to the table.”Looking ahead to the MCG, Lehmann said he would be happy for Usman Khawaja to return to the team as an opening batsman, though would have to run that past Smith. The selectors have a difficult task ahead in finding room for the fit-again Khawaja after Shaun Marsh’s exceptional performances in Adelaide and Hobart, leaving Warner’s opening partner Joe Burns also needing to look over his shoulder.”We will have to see if Uzzy is fit and then we will have a dilemma,” Lehmann said. “If he is fit, having scored two hundreds in the two Test matches [against New Zealand] yes, you would think he would be in form to play. We need him playing. With a hamstring, we don’t want him playing Test match cricket if he is not fully fit.”He will have to be sharp in the T20 games and then we will make a decision from there. If he comes back in someone will miss out. We have to work out that is. I would [be happy with Khawaja opening] but the captain might not want that. We have to work out the best six and the batting order from there.”Not for the first time, Lehmann emphatically ruled out the prospect of dropping the allrounder Mitchell Marsh, insisting that the fifth bowling option was vital for team flexibility and cover for any injuries that might crop up. “There has been talk about 6 batsmen and no all-rounder,” he said, “but we saw in the day night Test against New Zealand where [Mitchell] Starc got injured that you need the all-rounder. We will certainly play Marsh.”

Scorecard
Delhi Giants scored an easy win over Ahmedabad Rockets after being set a paltry target of 108 in Panchkula. Avishka Gunawardene was unbeaten on 55 as the Giants lost only one wicket and knocked off the runs in 15.3 overs.The Rockets struggled right from the start, losing three wickets in the first four overs. TP Sudhindra got a wicket with his first ball as Sachin Dholpure inside-edged the delivery on to his stumps. Two run-outs pegged them back further: Wavell Hinds was caught short by an alert Ali Murtaza for 5 in the third over and Abhinav Bali knocked over Murray Goodwin’s stumps in the next.The 62-run fifth-wicket partnership between Damien Martyn and Sridharan Sriram revived the spluttering innings briefly, but the run-rate remained sluggish. Martyn tried to lift the momentum as he drove and pulled Shane Bond for two fours in an over. But Bond broke the partnership when he ran out Sriram for 32 in the 18th over.Three balls later Martyn, the innings’ highest scorer, was caught off Jai P Yadav. Reetinder Sodhi hit 11 off four balls to take the Rockets to 107. His six, slog-swept over midwicket off Yadav, was the only one of the innings.The Giants raced to 66 in their first ten overs, and though they lost Monish Mishra for 18, Gunawardene was in fine attacking mode. He took medium-pacer Rakesh Patel for 17 runs in an over, which included two sixes and a four. Gunawardene also reached his fifty with a six in only 36 balls. At the end of 15 overs, the Giants needed just nine more to win, and Bali finished it off with three successive fours.With this win, the Giants have four points and are on top of the table along with Lahore Badshahs, who have played a game less.

As it happened: Afghanistan v Sri LankaTwo teams, both doing a lot of things wrong. In the end, Sri Lanka did just about enough right and got on the points table with a 34-run (DLS method) win, preventing Afghanistan from recording their first World Cup win over a full-member nation. In the process, they also ensured that Lasith Malinga finally figured in an ODI win after July 6, 2017 – he had been part of 21 losses and one no-result in between.For Afghanistan, the day started well with the right call on the coin, but Hamid Hassan missed his lines and lengths completely upfront to concede 31 runs in his first two overs. Dawlat Zadran was better only in comparison and the ground fielding even worse than what Hassan dished out. If Afghanistan were in the contest despite all that, it was only due to one man: Mohammad Nabi. Nabi’s four wickets – including three in a chaotic over – put Sri Lanka in a hole they never quite got out of but rain and a revised target later, a batting effort even poorer than the Sri Lankans’ meant Afghanistan finished second best.WATCH on Hotstar – Kusal Perera’s punchy half-century (India only)Lasith Malinga savours the winning moment•Getty Images

But, chasing 187 in 41 overs after Sri Lanka were bowled out for 201 in 32.4, Afghanistan met with their old frailties: lack of patience, an obsession with big shots, and a failure to bat in phases. Hazratullah Zazai looked good – in his smash-everything way – early on, but despite a let-off when he skied Malinga only for Kusal Mendis to drop a sitter at deep square leg, he only managed 30 off 25 before Nuwan Pradeep had his number. Though it really was Thisara Perera’s wicket, as he followed Zazai’s mistimed hook and threw in the dive to grab the dipping ball at fine leg.That made it 44 for 3 – Mohammad Shahzad and Rahmat Shah had been dismissed earlier – and 57 for 5 was only around the corner, but amid a drizzle that didn’t really go away but never really threatened to push the players off the field either, Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran scripted a remarkable recovery.The pair, up against a bowling attack with more experience and nous than them, fought hard, played their shots but without much risk, and added 64 runs for the sixth wicket. A straight drive from Naib off Malinga was especially pleasing to the eye, though when they threw their bats, they mostly went aerial.But once Thisara got a gentle cutter to nip in big time to hit Naib’s off stump, the wheels came off the chase. Najibullah tried, farming the strike in the company of the tail-enders, and kept Afghanistan in the fight. who knows what might have been had he a partner he could depend on. As it turned out, he went for a run that wasn’t and could only trot off once Dimuth Karunaratne knocked the stumps down at the non-striker’s end. That, really, was the end of it. Malinga applied the finishing touches with two yorkers that took out the stumps, but Pradeep was the star of the bowling effort, his pace and the steep bounce he generated netting him 4 for 31, his career-best figures, and the Man-of-the-Match award.In the first innings, it was all about Nabi. Four times in five balls he looked like he had a wicket. Three of those times, he actually did. Sri Lanka, who started their 22nd over on 144 for 1, were suddenly 146 for 4 at the end of it. Nabi’s ploy was to go slow, slower, and slowest, and it worked like a charm on a grippy surface.Lahiru Thirimanne was the first of those three, waiting for Nabi’s flighted delivery on off stump to arrive, then pushing at the ball and under-edging on to the stumps. Next ball, Nabi had new man Kusal Mendis edging, but just past Rahmat at slip; the very next ball, it went to hand. A ball later, this time Angelo Mathews, nicked off to Rahmat off Shahzad’s pads. Just like that, Sri Lanka’s projected score on ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster dipped from 333 to 217.Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Hamid Hassan celebrate a wicket•Getty Images

It had started beautifully for Sri Lanka after they were put in. In overcast conditions, Hassan conceded 15 and 16 runs in his first two overs, and Sri Lanka were on their way till Nabi and Naib got together to stem the flow of runs.By the end of the tenth over, though, Sri Lanka were cruising, the 136-run rollover against New Zealand forgotten.True, Karunaratne was crawling, after carrying his bat through the collapse the other day, but Kusal Perera, opening instead of Thirimanne, was in fine fettle, chugging along in style. They put on 92 for the first wicket – the highest partnership in the game. Afghanistan’s fielding, average at the best of times, was fraying at the edges at that stage, and it was all Sri Lanka.The tide had to turn, and it did, and it was courtesy Nabi, who struck first ball of the 14th over. Karunaratne stepped out, swung, but never got any sort of connection to a ‘slower’, going only as far as Najibullah at long leg.Then came the three-wicket burst, and the meltdown was on. Hassan, after that awful two-over spell, came back and hit a beautiful length and aimed fourth stump. Dhananjaya de Silva succumbed, hanging his bat out and bringing Shahzad into business.Udana’s straight six off Nabi was really just an aberration as the wickets continued to fall. When Kusal nicked a reverse-sweep off Rashid Khan for 78, Sri Lanka were 180 for 8.That’s when the rain came down, kept everyone out for almost three hours, and when the game restarted, lasted four more overs and, courtesy Suranga Lakmal’s biggies off Dawlat, Sri Lanka got past 200. It was enough in the end.

Darren Berry, the Rajasthan Royals team manager, says there is a “real option” three of the team’s highest profile players will not return to Jaipur following a series of bombs that killed about 80 people in the city on Tuesday. Berry is having a four-day break in Goa with Shane Warne, Shane Watson and Graeme Smith and said the group had considered “getting on the plane and getting out of here”.”We are not comfortable at all,” Berry told the Sydney Morning Herald from Goa. “This is an extremely uncomfortable situation. Cricket has been good to me, but I have a wife and three kids back in Melbourne and they are less than impressed with the part of the world I am in.”Berry said there had been discussions with Warne over the seriousness of the situation. “I was talking to Warney this morning and asked: ‘If this blast had occurred a day before we were due to fly over here, would we still have come?’ He said there was no way we would have come.”It is terrifying. To think I was standing in the exact location the bombs went off only two days ago … it was a couple of kilometres from the team hotel. The whole country has gone into lockdown.”The IPL has refused to move Saturday’s match against Bangalore from Jaipur, but there will be an increased security prescence. “That is the part that scares me,” Berry said. “These games are getting big crowds.”People over here tell me this has nothing to do with cricket, it is political … but if some people are prepared to cause this type of damage, detonating bombs in peak hour to harm the most number of people possible … 50,000 people come to the stadium to watch the games.”

The former England captain, Tony Greig, believes that the England & Wales Cricket Board is right to resist calls for its contracted players to be allowed to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League, but has rubbished suggestions from the board’s chairman, Giles Clarke, that there are parallels between the current situation and World Series Cricket.Greig was one of the prime movers in Kerry Packer’s revolution, which changed the face of cricket forever in the late 1970s, and he never played again for England after taking part in the first competition in 1977-78. On Monday, Clarke warned England’s current stars, not least Kevin Pietersen, that a spell in the IPL could have a similar effect on their careers.Clarke told reporters at Lord’s: “Thirty years ago, Tony Greig thought it was important to play in World Series Cricket, and Ian Botham appeared to replace him from pretty much nowhere.” Greig, who played alongside Botham in two Tests of the 1977 summer, as well as the previous year’s one-day series against West Indies, described that version of events as “hogwash”.”I picked Ian Botham to play for England when I was captain and he was always going to replace me as England’s allrounder,” Greig told Cricinfo. “My joining WSC simply gave Ian a permanent position a little sooner than may otherwise have been the case.”Clarke’s attempt to draw a comparison with World Series Cricket is absolutely ridiculous,” added Greig. “We, the England players of the day, were being seriously ripped off by Clarke’s ECB predecessors who didn’t give a damn about the plight of the then-county and Test cricketers, especially where their remuneration was concerned.”Thanks to WSC they were forced to change their attitude,” he continued. “It provided me with the security the Clarkes of the day weren’t prepared to offer. All they gave us was a threat that, if we didn’t stay on, we wouldn’t receive our tax-free benefits. The situation now is very different because players are being well-paid and also have the security of the contract system that the Players Association worked so hard to implement.”Broadly speaking, however, Greig agreed with the ECB’s attitude towards the IPL, not least because he believes that England is in a much stronger position to build a sustainable Twenty20 competition. “Clarke is on the right track,” he said. “All he and his board has to do now is form the England Twenty20 Cricket League and play it sometime during the English summer when all the players from around the world will be available.”Unlike India, England is the perfect venue for an annual Twenty20 festival because, with very few exceptions, teams are out of season or touring England.”The Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans should consider doing the same in the Southern Hemisphere during their summer,” said Greig, “although their tournament will have to be along the lines of the Super 14 rugby tournament because the players from Asia and the Northern Hemisphere will be otherwise occupied.”

Hanuma Vihari scored his fourth first-class double-hundred as Andhra took comprehensive strides towards an outright win against Tripura in Valsad. Vihari went from an overnight 144 to an unbeaten 233 (482b, 17×4, 4×6) as Andhra declared on 524 for 5, having established a first-innings lead of 353.Bowling 47 overs, the left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh finished as Tripura’s most successful bowler, with figures of 4 for 166. With 42 overs left to bat out before stumps, Tripura lost three wickets, ending the day 165 for 3, still trailing by 188, with Yashpal Singh, their experienced import from Services, batting on 46.Half-centuries from Bipul Sharma and Sumeet Verma gave Himachal Pradesh a 76-run first-innings lead in a closely contested match against Chhattisgarh in Kanpur. Both teams ended day three with a chance of winning outright, with Chhattisgarh 175 for 4 and 99 ahead, courtesy an unbeaten 69 (156b, 7×4, 1×6) from opener Abhimanyu Chauhan.Himachal began the day trailing by 28 runs. Bipul scored 86 (179b, 4×4, 4×6) and Sumeet 68 (195b, 5×4, 2×6) as the pair stretched their overnight seventh-wicket stand of 60 to 130, before Himachal lost their last four wickets for 34 runs. Left-arm spinner Sumit Ruikar took two lower-order wickets to finish with figures of 7 for 112, his best in first-class cricket.Seamers Vinod Kumar and Sandeep Warrier shared seven wickets between them to help Kerala take a 56-run first-innings lead against Goa at the Brabourne Stadium. Goa, six down and 173 behind at the start of the day, got as close as they did to Kerala’s first-innings total thanks to Shadab Jakati’s 85 (162b, 13×4) from No. 8.Kerala stretched their lead to 210 by stumps, with Rohan Prem following up his first-innings century with an unbeaten 60 (128b, 7×4), and Mohammed Azharuddeen scoring 56 not out (101b, 7×4). The two came together after a three-wicket burst from Saurabh Bandekar had reduced Kerala to 54 for 4, and added an unbroken 100 for the fifth wicket. During the course of his innings – which was his fifth consecutive score of 60 or more – Prem went past Sunil Oasis to become Kerala’s highest-ever run-getter.A four-wicket haul from Sanjay Pahal helped Haryana enforce the follow-on against Jammu & Kashmir in Cuttack. Batting at No. 3, Pranav Gupta scored 94 (189b, 16×4), but J&K’s batting fell apart around him as they were bowled out for 262 in their first innings, 89 short of avoiding the follow-on. Opener Shubham Khajuria, who resumed on 48, only added four runs to his score before falling in the eighth over of the morning. He had put on 89 for the second wicket with Pranav. The wickets fell steadily thereafter, with only a sixth-wicket partnership of 65 between Pranav and wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht resisting Haryana for any length of time. With 19 overs left at the end of the day, J&K went to stumps 38 for no loss in their second innings.A century from Shamsher Yadav and a 90 from Nakul Verma helped Services defy Hyderabad at the Bandra-Kurla Complex, as they ended day three with reasonable hope of taking one point from a run-heavy game. Coming together at 116 for 3, after Services lost three wickets for the addition of only 39 to their overnight score, Shamsher and Nakul put on 84 before the latter fell for 90 off 178 balls (13×4). Even as wickets fell steadily around him, Shamsher remained at the crease through most of the rest of the day, before he was ninth out two overs from stumps for 104 (196b, 13×4, 1×6). Services were 360 for 9 at stumps, still in danger of following on, trailing Hyderabad by 220 runs, but with a fighting chance of saving the match. Seamer Ravi Kiran was Hyderabad’s most successful bowler with figures of 3 for 68.