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Beleaguered Burridge have engaged specialist contractors in a desperate bid to solve the acute drainage problem at their Botley Road ground.Contractors are slitting the entire outfield in an attempt to get the water away from the ground which currently bears more resemblance to a swamp than a cricket pitch.The heavy rain of the past fortnight has waterlogged the entire outfield.Burridge’s scheduled ECB Southern Electric Premier League match against Liphook & Ripsley on Saturday is already off.”It has become totally depressing to everyone at the club,” said Burridge chairman Richard Bundy.”We have spent many a man hour trying to get the water away, but we are up against nature and so far there is little we have been able to do.”We spent a lot of money last winter mole draining the ground and, because of the dry winter we had, were able to get out and do quite a lot of pre-season work.”But we’ve not been able to get any machinery on to the ground for the past fortnight because it is so wet.”Burridge have managed to play only one home Premier League game so far and lie third from the foot of the table, with one win (at Portsmouth) in four outings.Burridge 2nd XI have only managed to play three Hampshire League County Division 1 fixtures since May 11.

Lancashire Lightning’s home Norwich Union League fixture against Derbyshire Scorpions, which was originally scheduled for Monday 15th July, will now be played at Blackpool Cricket Club on Sunday 14th July with play starting at 1pm.The game was scheduled to take place just 48 hours after “Move”, a 3-day series of pop concerts sponsored by Virgin Trains. However, the addition last week of an extra date sees David Bowie playing at Old Trafford on Wednesday 10th July. This means an unforeseen increase in the scale of the stage and the additional time needed to dismantle the equipment has necessitated the switch of the Monday night game to an outground.The change to a Sunday afternoon game is designed to make it easier for members and supporters to attend the fixture in Blackpool as opposed to Monday evening.In order to assist Members with their travel arrangements, the Club has decided to provide free coach transport from Old Trafford to Blackpool CC. Places are limited and further details will be available from the Ticket Office from Monday 13th May on 0161 282 4040.

The difference between India and South Africa in the first Test was how well India had batted on the first day. South Africa bridged that difference with some effectiveness on the first day of the second Test, with the bowling attack tuned up and at full-strength.India were without Virat Kohli, ruled out on the morning of what would have been his 99th Test with upper back spasms. KL Rahul won the toss the first time he walked out as Test captain, though, and chose to bat. However, a returning Duanne Olivier and a rid-of-debut-nerves Marco Jansen ensured India were bowled out for 202 midway through the first day’s third session.At stumps, South Africa had cut the deficit to 167 and lost only Aiden Markram in the bargain.India’s innings comprised two distinct phases. Rahul’s masterful 50 held the top half together, even as wickets fell at the other end, and then R Ashwin’s 46 led the way as the lower order pushed the score beyond 200. But none of the partnerships India strung together were allowed to take root, chiefly due to Jansen.Mayank Agarwal and Rahul looked like they were building another solid platform, having put on 36 runs in the first hour. Immediately after the drinks break, though, Jansen bowled one across Agarwal, tempting him to drive even though it wasn’t a drivable length. Agarwal had been positive from the start – his first three scoring shots were all sweetly-struck boundaries – and did not let scoring opportunities go. He went for the drive, but only snicked it through to Kyle Verreynne, the wicketkeeper replacing the retired Quinton de Kock.With Kohli absent, the onus was on Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to steer India through. Both men came into this series under a bit of a cloud about their form and their places in the XI, but Olivier cut short any hope of a revival innings from either. Pujara got one that kicked off a length, took the shoulder of the bat and went to point. The next ball, Rahane poked at a back-of-length delivery that was well outside off and became catching practice for gully.Olivier’s speeds didn’t even hit the mid-130s, but the bounce he got from a length played a key role. Jansen got the same, with his height giving him additional leverage.3:58

Manjrekar: Techniques of Pujara, Rahane not making their lives easier

The Kohli-sized hole in the batting order meant Rahul and the returning Hanuma Vihari needed to rebuild. They did that for a while and had begun opening out when Kagiso Rabada and extra bounce did the job again. A back-of-length ball flew off the inside half of Vihari’s bat as Rassie van der Dussen at short leg leapt high to his left and clung on with arm stretched out full.The key strike came when Rahul chose the wrong ball to attack, just after reaching fifty. Jansen had pitched it short but Rahul didn’t account for the bounce perfectly, which meant his pull resulted in a top edge that was caught near the fine-leg boundary. Jansen then beautifully set up Rishabh Pant, getting the ball to leave the left-hand batter consistently before one held its line, and even came back a touch, to take an inside edge for the wicketkeeper.Ashwin had decided to play his shots, and he did so with élan, finding the boundary with beautifully-timed drives and flicks. But with partners running out, he was forced to manufacture scoring options, and one mis-timed slash meant Jansen had his fourth. An enterprising knock from Jasprit Bumrah meant India were not quite done, but they were never going to go too far.India’s bowlers tested South Africa’s top order, as they had done throughout the first Test too, and Mohammed Shami trapped Markram in front early too. And while Keegan Petersen got a life when he slashed at Bumrah and Pant couldn’t hold on one-handed to his right, a more serious worry for India was Mohammed Siraj walking off clutching his right hamstring during his fourth over, the penultimate one of the day. Siraj had given Dean Elgar a thorough working over, and shown exemplary control. If he is unable to bowl further in this game, his loss could be a crippling blow for India.

A drawn game between Central Zone and South Zone took both sides to the Bangladesh Cricket League final. Centuries from Amite Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Zakir Hasan helped South Zone take a 13-run first-innings lead after Central Zone made 481.Hridoy top scored with 122, striking 13 fours and four sixes in his 155-ball knock. He added 201 runs for the third wicket with Amite, who made 117 with 17 fours. Amite had earlier added 108 for the second wicket with opener Pinak Ghosh, who chipped in with 74.Left-hand batter Zakir piled on the runs after the two big partnerships, hammering nine fours and two sixes in his 109 off 185 balls. He was the last man out on 494 in 158.3 overs.Earlier, Soumya Sarkar and Shuvagata Hom made 150 and 152 respectively to help Central Zone to their big first-innings total. The pair added 193 runs for the fifth wicket; Soumya struck 12 fours and three sixes in his 292-ball stay while Shuvagata hit 18 fours in his 211-ball knock.Legspinner Rishad Hossain took 5 for 129 from his 34.5 overs, his second five-for in first-class cricket. Central made 99 for 4 in the final session, with Soumya top-scoring with 43. Rishad picked up two wickets.Sunzamul Islam picked up 11 wickets in the game•Walton

Left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam took a match haul of 11 for 145 to power North Zone to a six-wicket win against East Zone at the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi. Sunzamul took an eight-wicket haul in the second innings, but it was only after left-arm quick Shafiqul Islam took 5 for 35 in the first innings that helped North Zone control the game.North Zone bowled out East Zone for 166 before taking a 144-run lead. Tanzid Hasan made 91 with the help of 14 boundaries, while Mahidul Islam Ankon and Sharifullah contributed with 48 and 49 respectively. Ifran Hossain took 5 for 56 while Tanvir Islam took three wickets.Sunzamul then took matters into his own hands, taking 8 for 98 in East Zone’s second innings to help bowl them out for 254. It was the fourth occasion that Sunzamul took eight or more wickets in an innings.North Zone then knocked off the required 111 runs in 28 overs, with Junaid Siddique top-scoring with 38.

Alex Carey is determined not be overwhelmed by “the biggest game I’ll play” after having his Test debut confirmed against England at the Gabba next week as Tim Paine’s replacement.In a move that had been expected for the last couple of days, Carey has been preferred ahead of Western Australia’s Josh Inglis. He was told of the news by national selector George Bailey on Monday night but was only able to inform family and friends in the last 24 hours after also meeting with coach Justin Langer.”The phone started to blow up a bit this morning which is nice. Definitely feeling the love,” he said. “You hear the stories of the Ashes, I do understand the significance, but I’ve also got a job to do. I’ll focus on what I’ve done in the past to get to this moment and not be too overwhelmed by that. It’s the biggest game I’ll play and I’ll try to perform the best I can.”This is also for my dad who has been my coach, mentor and mate, my mum, my wife Eloise, kids Louis and Clementine, my brother and sister and all of those who have supported me. I will be doing my absolute best to make them and our country proud.”Carey has made just 153 runs in eight Sheffield Shield innings this season – with single-figure scores in his last five outings – but did score a century in the Marsh Cup before heading to Brisbane.He was due to be part of the Test squad for the postponed South Africa tour earlier this year and last season played for Australia A.”Alex has been a regular member of the national side in white-ball cricket, particularly in the one-day game,” Bailey said. “He is an excellent cricketer and a fine individual who will bring many great strengths into the team. He will be a very deserved holder of baggy green cap number 461.”Speaking yesterday about his relatively season, Carey said he remained confident in his form.”I feel like I’m hitting the ball well and although the runs didn’t come as I would have liked in the first part of the Sheffield Shield season I think consistently over the last couple of years I’ve been pretty solid,” he told RSN radio.He believes his extensive experience in limited-overs cricket – he has played 45 ODIs and 38 T20Is – will aid the transition especially when it comes to his work behind the stumps. He is also the current ODI vice-captain and took over the captaincy when Aaron Finch was injured in West Indies earlier this year so won’t feel out of place offering advice to the new leadership pair of Pat Cummins and Steven Smith.”Playing a number of games in the short format as vice-captain on the recent tour of West Indies I see it as another opportunity in that role but I’ll also offer what I can,” he said. “Playing alongside a lot of these guys in the past, even though it’s a different format, I’ll feel comfortable enough to say what I see.”Pat Cummins is now the captain which is so exciting for Australia, a quality person, quality player and Steve Smith alongside him, the group is in really good hands with a lot of senior players. Whatever advice I can give those guys I’ll definitely do that.”Carey’s confirmation means there are two selection questions left to be answered before the first Test. Mitchell Starc is expected to retain his place but faces competition from the in-form Jhye Richardson while it is between Travis Head and Usman Khawaja for the No. 5 berth.Australia’s planned three-day intrasquad match has been cancelled due to the poor weather in Brisbane to be replaced by indoor training and potentially some centre-wicket sessions.

It was a match where momentum swung sharply one way and then the other, but still left one feeling that West Indies were up against it. Ever since Pakistan had dominated the opening two sessions of the first day, reducing their opponents to 154 for 6, they kept snuffing out any West Indian resurgence. All those efforts came undone on a famous morning in Bridgetown, with the West Indies needing under 35 overs to blow Pakistan away for 81 and seal an astonishing 106-run series-levelling victory.The seeds of the win were sown during the course of the fourth afternoon when Shai Hope, who averaged little over 15 in eight Tests prior to this, negated the Yasir Shah threat to make a gritty 90 that stretched the lead to 187.”It was a collective team effort,” Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, said. “We got runs in the first innings which I felt was crucial, and we were able to back it up with a solid second-innings performance on that kind of pitch. I think credit must go to Shai Hope, and obviously our bowling department was outstanding the entire game.”We felt if we could give them anything in excess of 170, we were in with a really good chance on a day-five pitch. It was all about being patient, we needed to hit our lengths, and use our cutters, cross-seam deliveries, anything that would give us assistance off the wicket. We dropped one or two chances, an area we need to improve on, but it was still a strong collective team effort.”Holder’s one regret was Hope missing a maiden Test century. “His innings was outstanding. He likes batting here; I think he has two double-centuries at this ground. And it’s good he came here, playing his second Test match here, and went on to score a half-century. Unfortunately, he didn’t go on to score a hundred, I felt he deserved it, but that’s the way cricket goes. But I felt his innings was really crucial. He was patient and selective. He played on merit and was able to get a good score for us.”Misbah, for his part, refused to play up the troubles of chasing on a crumbling surface. “You can easily say that it’s about batting on a day-five pitch. But after getting them 150-odd for 6 in the first innings and letting them score 300-plus, we let it slip. Then, we were in control batting at 316 for 4, but could only manage a lead of 81. I think that made a huge difference, and we all knew even on the first day that it’s [the pitch] going to get worse.”So if we had managed a bigger lead in the first innings that could have made a difference. On the last day, all credit to the West Indian bowlers, they hit their lines, they bowled their heart out, and we really had no answers.”

Match facts

Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils
Mumbai, April 22, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:52

Hogg: Daredevils must bring Anderson and Nadeem back

Head to head

Last season: Both teams won their respective home games – Daredevils by ten runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla and Mumbai by a thumping 80-run margin in Visakhapatnam, their second home.Overall: It’s a stalemate with both teams having met 18 times and won nine each.

Form guide

• Mumbai Indians (First): beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets, beat Gujarat Lions by six wickets, beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets

• Delhi Daredevils (Fourth): beat Kings XI Punjab by 51 runs, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 15 runs

In the news

All of Mumbai’s wins have come while chasing, including their last game, where they made short work of Kings XI Punjab’s 198.Ambati Rayudu has returned to training after suffering a groin injury in Mumbai’s opening game, but is not yet available for selection. With Nitish Rana among the top run-scorers currently, it may be some time before Rayudu finds a spot again.

The likely XIs

Mumbai Indians: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rohit Sharma (capt), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Lasith Malinga/Tim Southee, 11 Jasprit BumrahDelhi Daredevils: 1 Sanju Samson, 2 Sam Billings, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Angelo Mathews/Corey Anderson, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Jayant Yadav/Shahbaz Nadeem, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Zaheer Khan (capt), 11 Amit Mishra

Strategy punt

• Two of Malinga’s three most expensive spells in T20 cricket have come in this IPL. While that raises the possibility of Tim Southee taking his place, if Mumbai do persist with Malinga, they may not want to bowl him in the slog overs. Malinga has gone at 8.80 an over in the Powerplay this season. It is significantly better than 11.47 in the slog – which is the worst he has fared in the last five overs across seasons. Malinga could also be used in the middle overs (7-15). Daredevils have a run rate of 7.33 in this period, the worst among all teams.
• There is a strong case for Daredevils to open with spin. Jos Buttler has scored at 7.23 an over against spinners this IPL, as opposed to 10.28 against fast bowlers. The numbers are starker for Parthiv Patel, his opening partner, who has scored at 9.36 an over against pace. Against spin, the number plummets to 5.55, along with four dismissals in as many innings.

Stats that matter

• Wankhede Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for Daredevils, having registered only one win, and four defeats, including in the last three times they played here.
• Both teams have proven to be death-over giants in this edition of the IPL: Mumbai have the best run rate – 12.26 – in the last five overs, followed by Daredevils, who have scored at 11.44 an over.
• Kieron Pollard has hit Amit Mishra for ten sixes, the most for a batsman against a single bowler in the history of the IPL.
• In this edition, Sanju Samson has scored at 6.09 an over against spinners, which is significantly lower compared to his scoring rate – 10.24 – against pacers. However, against Harbhajan Singh, Mumbai’s most capped player, Samson boasts better figures, with 74 runs off 54 balls across all T20s at 8.22 an over without being dismissed even once.
• Despite losing three out of their five matches, Daredevils’ net run rate, 1.16, is the best among all teams so far. The next best, 0.71, belongs to the second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUpul Tharanga and Kusal Perera struck a 65-run opening stand•Associated Press

Kusal Perera made a roaring return to Sri Lankan colours, cracking 77 off 53 balls to lead the hosts on a successful hunt of Bangladesh’s 155 for 6. That Sri Lanka had so few to chase was partly the work of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, who made breakthroughs whenever a partnership threatened, though they were helped to that end by off-colour Bangladesh batting.Mashrafe Mortaza, who as it turned out, was playing his penultimate game in the format, was by a distance the visitors’ best bowler. He claimed 2 for 32 from his four overs, and only one other bowler – Taskin Ahmed – mustered a breakthrough. Sri Lanka sauntered to the target with seven balls and six wickets to spare.This match was Kusal’s first international since his unseemly Test outing in Port Elizabeth, for which he was dropped from the Test XI, then subsequently axed from the limited-overs squads altogether. Having returned to national reckoning via good innings for Sri Lanka A, Kusal outlined his value to Sri Lanka in an innings that showcased a little batting nous as well as characteristic brutality. The bludgeoned drives and whipped pick-up shots over midwicket did eventually come, but not before he had laid low for the first four overs; and the big shots were, in any case, well devised as well as nicely executed. Instead of trying to clear fielders as Kusal often does, he strove to hit even his most ambitious shots into gaps.

Over-rate fine for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka were found to be one over short of their target in the first T20I, and have been fined by the ICC. While captain Upul Tharanga was fined 20% of his match fee, the rest of the team were fined 10%.

Having made only 5 off his first eight balls, Kusal smoked four fours and a six off his next seven, to help move Sri Lanka to 57 for none at the end of the Powerplay. Upul Tharanga, who had given the innings its initial impetus, departed in the seventh over, but Kusal stayed long enough to almost see the chase through. He reached his fifty off 31 balls, and when he fell in the penultimate over, Sri Lanka needed only nine runs, which they would proceed to gather over the next four balls. Seekkuge Prasanna was not out with 22 off 12 at the close.Though their bowlers responded poorly to Kusal’s shellacking, Bangladesh may reflect that it was with the bat that they made the more substantial mistakes. They had flown to 57 for 1 after five overs, for example, but then Sabbir Rahman ran a poor line to get himself run out, and Soumya Sarkar holed out in the same Vikum Sanjaya over. Suddenly, at 57 for 3, all that momentum they had developed was surrendered.Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan fell playing expansive shots to slow bowlers, who should, in fact, have been less effective on this track, which retained a little grass and had been rolled until hard. Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah put on 57 off 42 together to lift their side from 82 for 5, but could not quite crack enough runs through the back-end of the innings to lift Bangladesh to a winning score.Lasith Malinga was especially good through this period, giving away seven and eight in his last two overs, in which he took the wicket of Mahmudullah with a searing yorker, having also done the same to Tamim Iqbal with the second ball of the match.Rain before play had delayed the start by 45 minutes, but no overs were lost.

Middlesex have re-signed Brendon McCullum for this season’s NatWest T20 Blast campaign.McCullum, who made six appearances for Middlesex last season, will re-join in early July and be available for nine of Middlesex’s South Group matches.Middlesex’s use of Lord’s for T20 is limited. Two of McCullum’s appearances this term will be home matches under the floodlights at Lord’s on Thursday nights, against London rivals Surrey on July 13, and against Essex a fortnight later, with a capacity crowd anticipated on both occasions.McCullum will also feature in two of Middlesex home outground matches, against Somerset at Uxbridge and against Kent at Richmond.Middlesex are one of two counties to have taken advantage of the new condensed midsummer format by bringing in Dan Vettori, the former New Zealand spinner, as a specialist T20 coach; Derbyshire have followed a similar route with the appointment of another Kiwi, John Wright.Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, Angus Fraser, said: “We are naturally delighted to have Brendon back to play for Middlesex in this season’s NatWest T20 Blast.”Brendon had a hugely positive influence on the club in 2016 and I’m sure he will have a similar impact this summer.”Middlesex’s improved Twenty20 form last season saw them reach the quarter-final before going down to Northants at Northampton.

One by one, Bangladesh’s touring party walked to the centre of the Basin Reserve. First, it was chief selector Minhajul Abedin and BCB’s cricket operations chairman Akram Khan. Then a second and third group went with players and coaching staff. Any batting line-up will have concerns about a green pitch but for Bangladesh, that concern is mixed with a lack of confidence in overseas conditions and the pressure of extending their recent good form at home.For a team that doesn’t travel much outside its own surroundings to play Tests, the challenge seems magnified, especially for the batsmen. The sight of a lush, green pitch can be disconcerting but the visitors can take heart from the numbers. In the last three Tests at the Basin Reserve, teams have scored in excess of 500 three times, raking up the scores in the second and third innings of the match. The highest first-innings score in the last three matches has been 221.Bangladesh’s concern, therefore, should be more about strategy than the pitch: bowl first if they win the toss, and then bat as long as possible to make use of a flatter surface.Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, therefore, has laid down the marker for his batting line-up: to bring their overall consistency of home matches to an away Test match.”Our target would be to bring the home consistency to away Tests,” Mushfiqur said. “It is time that we prove ourselves in overseas conditions. The batsmen have to take the biggest challenge. Some of them like Tamim, Shakib and Mahmudullah have done well in Tests here in the past.”But now we need a collective effort from the batsmen, which we failed to do in the ODIs and T20s. We are capable, so this is our opportunity to do it. Our main challenge will be for the batsmen to set up the Test match for the bowlers. We have to put up a good enough total for the bowlers to defend.”Seven members of the Bangladesh Test squad have never played in this format abroad, including talented youngsters like Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Mehedi Hasan. There will be fewer expectations on the youngsters with most of the focus on the seniors in the batting line-up, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur.Mushfiqur’s technical strength will be important in dealing with seaming conditions while Tamim has the experience of playing for the Wellington Firebirds in the domestic T20 tournament. Much will also depend on how Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan stand up to New Zealand’s pace attack.Mushfiqur said he had advised his young pace attack to target the top of off stump instead of being too focused on the available pace and bounce.”Bowlers do get excited by extra bounce but the best ball here, like any other pitch, is one that targets the top of off stump,” Mushfiqur said. “We have tried to pass on this message to our bowlers and also told them that even a top batsman needs one ball to get out. The bowlers have to work hard here because New Zealand know how to handle these conditions.”When you know as a group that you can take 20 wickets, it gives a bit of satisfaction. But we are playing in a different condition and we haven’t played an away Test in a very long time. The pace bowlers have to take over the attacking role that the spinners have in home Tests. I believe that our pace bowlers have the ability to take 20 wickets if they bowl at their best.”Mushfiqur also said that younger players, like offspinner Mehedi Hasan and seamer Mustafizur Rahman, should not be subject to unrealistic expectations. Mehedi took 19 wickets in his debut Test series against England in October, picking up the Man-of-the-Series award. Mustafizur, who has been rested for the first Test, was recently named the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year.”I would request all to keep realistic expectations about Mustafizur or Mehedi Hasan,” he said. “These conditions are new for them so sometimes even someone like Mehedi gets confused. But I feel he is a smart operator, which enabled him to come to the senior team so quickly. Here, he will learn how to switch his roles with the fast bowlers becoming the attacking options.”