Michael Clarke is not certain whether he will be fit to face Sri Lanka in Australia’s vital last Champions Trophy group match on Monday but has declared that he “will definitely be back for the Ashes”

Andrew McGlashan14-Jun-2013Michael Clarke is not certain whether he will be fit to face Sri Lanka in Australia’s vital last Champions Trophy group match on Monday but has declared that he “will definitely be back for the Ashes”.Even before David Warner decided to take swing at Joe Root last week, Clarke had enough on his mind as he tried to overcome a recurrence of his back problem which had ruled him out of Australia’s first two matches.Australia’s tournament hopes rest on Monday’s meeting with Sri Lanka at The Oval but it remains uncertain whether their captain will be able to return to the side. Clarke was not with the squad during the first two games – a defeat to England and an abandonment against New Zealand – and his linking back up with the team as they arrived in London was dominated by him dealing with the fall-out to Warner’s night out.However, there was time to ask Clarke about the state of his back and though he tried to make positive noises he was not giving any promises.”It is getting there,” he said. “I can sit here and say I will be 100% fit for the game on Monday. But I have been saying that for the last two games as well.”It is about judging my back every day. It is slowly getting better, there is no doubt about it, but I am as keen as ever to try to get on the field and help this team have some success.”George Bailey has led the side in Clarke’s absence and has struck two half-centuries, but the top order has been unconvincing. Before Warner’s enforced absence, his form had been poor and Shane Watson is also struggling for runs. Phil Hughes battled his way to an unconvincing 30 against England and was run out for a duck against New Zealand.

Khan Research Labs defeated National Bank of Pakistan by 10 wickets in the Ramadan T20 cup game in Karachi.

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-2013
ScorecardZain Abbas was adjudged the Man of the Match•PCB

Zain Abbas capped off a strong all-round performance, scoring an unbeaten half-century and bowling economically, to guide Khan Research Labs to a 10-wicket win over National Bank of Pakistan in the Ramadan T20 Cup in Karachi.Abbas got the crucial wicket of Aqeel Anjum just as NBP were beginning to settle and and bowled some tight overs, finishing with figures of 4-0-16-1. He hit seven fours and three sixes during his 58-ball 68 as KRL overhauled the 132-run target with 12 balls to spare.National Bank of Pakistan chose to bat and got off to a shaky start, losing their captain Kamran Akmal and Umair Khan in the second over to successive deliveries from the debutant, Usman Khan. With NBP struggling at 7 for 2, Anjum and opener Sami Aslam revived the innings with a third-wicket stand of 62 runs. Aslam struck three fours in his 32-ball 28, before getting caught by Ali Khan off Nauman Ali. Three deliveries later, Anjum also departed after hitting the ball back to Abbas.Hammad Azam struck a late 21-ball 33, but NBP were unable to build any other significant partnership, as medium-pacer Rahat Ali and left-arm spinner Nayyer Abbas dismantled the lower middle-order to restrict the batting side to 132 for 7 in their 20 overs.KRL remained comfortable throughout their run chase, as the openers Abbas and Mohammad Yasin struck boundaries at regular intervals to maintain the required run-rate. Yasin’s 50-ball 61 included eight fours and two sixes, and the pair reached the target in a little over 75 minutes.Abbas was named Man of the Match for his all-round performance.The win took KRL to second place in Group B, while NBP remain at the bottom, having lost both their matches so far.

The BCCI has appealed the ruling of the Bombay High Court which declared the appointment of the independent probe panel “illegal and unconstitutional,” in the Supreme Court of India

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Aug-2013The BCCI has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in India’s Supreme Court against the ruling of the Bombay High Court declaring illegal and unconstitutional the board’s appointment of the independent inquiry commission. The petition has claimed, among other issues, that the rules the board was deemed by the high court to have violated in setting up the commission were not mandatory or absolute.The original petitioners, the Cricket Association of Bihar, had already filed a caveat with the Supreme Court to enable it to be a part of any appeal filed by the BCCI.In the 13-page petition, the BCCI has sought to contest the High Court order on various grounds including its decision to entertain the PIL given the board’s status as a private body; it has sought to challenge the petitioner’s right to file a PIL and question the legality of the inquiry panel when it was not even part of the BCCI nor, therefore, subject to the findings of the inquiry commission. It has also sought to challenge whether the High Court could make a declaration when no relief of any kind was sought.In their 61-page order delivered last Friday, Justices SJ Vazifdar and MS Sonak had held that BCCI had violated its own constitution – specifically Rule 2.2 of the IPL Operational Rules, which mandated that at least one member of the league’s Code of Behaviour Committee needed to be on the inquiry panel. Although Sanjay Jagdale, the former BCCI secretary and part of the Code of Behaviour Committee, was on the original three-member commission, the BCCI did not name a replacement once he resigned. “In other words a commission cannot be constituted without at least one member of the IPL Code of Behavior Committee,” the order noted.However the BCCI’s contention in its petition is that while the High Court had declared that it was the board’s “prerogative” under the IPL Operational Rules 2013 to appoint an inquiry commission and not for the court to pass an order, “it has erred in commenting on and finding that the probe commission as constituted was against the internal rules of the Petitioner.”The BCCI is also contending that the IPL Operational Rules, which the High Court had said it (BCCI) had violated were not “mandatory” or “absolute” and the board had the authority to modify them. “It is submitted that rule 2 (1) of the said rules specifically states that ‘all complaints and/or breaches of the Regulations or charges of misconduct under the Regulations and any dispute between a player and franchise in respect of such player contract shall (unless BCCI in its absolute discretion decide otherwise) be decided by BCCI in the manner set out below’,” the SLP said. “It is submitted that the manner of setting up commission/panel as set out in the Operational Rules are not mandatory since they can by the express terms of the Rules themselves be altered by the BCCI.”It also stated that the High Court had failed to appreciate that the inquiry commission comprised two “independent” members. “It is submitted that the committee that was appointed comprised of two retired judges of the Madras High Court, who in fact are outsiders and no way can be said to be interested persons. While so, a Commission consisting of outsiders of the Petitioner (BCCI) with no office bearer or member of the Petitioner itself, being a member of such Committee would in fact be laudatory and give rise to greater transparency,” the SLP said.The Bombay High Court’s ruling, issued last week, was in response to the CAB’s Public Interest Litigation that the two-member panel set up to investigate allegations of corruption in the IPL was constituted illegally. The court had raised questions on the manner in which the panel was constituted, stating that the BCCI had violated its own constitution in the process.The court’s findings came two days after the BCCI’s probe panel comprising retired justices of Madras High Court – T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian had cleared Gurunath Meiyappan, one of the top officials at Chennai Super Kings, the franchise owner India Cements, Rajasthan Royals’ co-owner Raj Kundra and Royals’ parent company Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd of “wrongdoing”.

Nick Compton has signed a new three year deal to stay at Somerset, ending speculation about his future.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2013Nick Compton has signed a new three year deal to stay at Somerset, ending speculation about his future.With Compton out of contract at the end of the season, several counties were interested in tempting Compton away from Taunton but he has decided to stay in the Westcountry, despite the prospect of playing in Division Two of the County Championship next season.Somerset are in deep relegation trouble but Compton has remained loyal to the county who have helped his career flourish. He spent the first nine years of his career at his home county of Middlesex, averaging 34.14 in first-class cricket before a move to Taunton in 2010. Since the switch Compton has scored 3,677 first-class runs at 61.28.Compton’s progress culminated in his call-up for England’s tour of India in November 2012. He had to wait until the following tour of New Zealand for his maiden Test century. But despite back-to-back Test tons, a lean return series against New Zealand saw him dropped for the Ashes.Back in the Championship, he has scored 578 runs at 44.46 with two centuries and Dave Nosworthy, Somerset’s director of cricket who has endured some problems in his maiden season at Taunton, is delighted to have retained a key member of his squad.”The Club and I are very pleased to have secured Nick again for a further period,” Nosworthy said. “He is one of the best players in the country and makes a huge contribution to the club, not just on the field of play but also off it. We look forward to seeing Nick score many more runs at Taunton and beyond and we are happy to have secured a quality person and a quality player.”Compton added: “I’ve enjoyed my three years with the club and feel settled by having such a great team and support network around me. I’m aware of interest from other clubs but I’ve played some of my best cricket here and I’m grateful to the club and its members who have given me such great support. I want to continue to grow as a player so I can be at the top of my game over the coming seasons.”

It is, perhaps, a sign of the times that, just as the County Championship season should be reaching a peak, the demands on its resources are at their greatest. Maurice Chambers’ loan signing demonstrated so.

George Dobell at Edgbaston28-Aug-2013
ScorecardMaurice Chambers made an immediate impact for Warwickshire•Getty Images

It is, perhaps, a sign of the times that, just as the County Championship season should be reaching a peak, the demands on its resources are at their greatest.Over the next couple of weeks, teams vying for the title or fighting to avoid promotion and relegation will lose players to England, Ireland and Scotland. Other players will be rested after the rigours of international campaigns. Few of the Ashes-winning squad will make another appearance in the county game this year.All of that is understandable. The England team pays the bills for the county and the recreational game and it is entirely reasonable to demand the players are used and rested as the team management see fit. Equally, it is quite appropriate for Ireland and Scotland to call upon their best players as they seek to progress in world cricket.But there is a downside. The endless withdrawals – be they for Lions game or international fixtures – that stretch through the season, not only threaten the integrity of the premier domestic competition, but threaten to drive a wedge between the international game and the county game. And if that happens, the difficulty of county players taking the step-up to international cricket will grow.There was a time such withdrawals were masked by the presence of experienced, older players or strong overseas or Kolpak registrations. But now, with young player incentives and tougher work permit criteria, that depth has been diminished.With such factors combining, the dilution of the county game is both obvious and dangerous. It may well, in time, return to bite the England set-up. You could construct a strong argument to suggest it was one of the key mistakes made in Australian cricket a decade or so ago.Certainly Warwickshire are a shadow of the team that won the County Championship title last season. As well as having lost seven players to various England squads at some stage of the season (Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes, Varun Chopra, Boyd Rankin, Chris Wright and Keith Barker, four of which are absent from this match) they have lost Freddie Coleman (to Scotland) and William Porterfield (to Ireland).In this game, they are further weakened by injuries. Their captain, Jim Troughton (back) is absent, two of their leading allrounders, Rikki Clarke (ankle) and Woakes (who hurt his thigh batting for England) are absent, several seamers – such as Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Wright, Richard Jones, who has joined on-loan despite carrying an injury – are absent as are two spinners in Chris Metters (who has been released due to injury) and Paul Best. As a result, their attack in this game consisted of a 20-year-old – Tom Milns – and two other seamers – Recordo Gordon and Maurice Chambers – with two first-class wickets between them this season.But such setbacks offer opportunity. In this game, Warwickshire drafted in Chambers, unwanted at Essex, on loan in a deal that stretches to the end of the season. Chambers, a 25-year-old longer on talent than achievement at this stage of his career, bowled with impressive pace and decent skill and discipline to suggest he may be able to persuade another county to invest in him. He will hope to follow the path of former team-mate Wright, who benefitted considerably from leaving Chelmsford and working with former Essex bowling coach Graeme Welch, who is now at Edgbaston. At present, Warwickshire are interested more in finding a solution to their availability crisis and have looked little further ahead than that.But they have opened talks with unsettled Somerset keeper, Jos Buttler. They are one of three clubs to have made an approach for the player and are likely to have offered him the chance to keep in all white-ball cricket if he joins. The difficult economic times are likely to result in far less movement in this year’s close-season than has been the case in the previous two or three years.It appeared for the first half of the day that Sussex would take full advantage of Warwickshire’s weaknesses and winning an important toss on a flat, dry pitch. Though they played and missed a few times, Chris Nash and Luke Wells put together a composed opening stand of 121 taking full toll of anything straying in line or length and of an unusually short boundary. Indeed, with Warwickshire struggling for pitches after a busy season, they were required to gain special dispensation for the 49-yard boundary on the Eric Hollies Stand side of the ground. Wells, tall and upright, was strong on the drive, while Nash, dropped by Jeetan Patel on 24 at slip off Gordon, cut particularly well.But Sussex squandered much of their hard work. After Nash played slightly across one, Sussex subsequently lost 6 for 39 runs in 21 overs as their middle-order surrendered their wickets in an array of soft, impatient strokes.If Michael Yardy, undone by late swing, was the victim of a fine delivery, Wells, caught at mid-on as he mis-timed a flick to the leg side, and Rory Hamilton-Brown, caught at short mid-on at he skipped down the wicket and attempted to drive, had less excuse. Ed Joyce fell to a loose drive at a wide ball, Matt Machan top-edged a pull and Ben Brown, caught on the crease, looked as if he were beaten for pace.At that stage it appeared Sussex, who are still outside contenders for the Championship title, might struggle to gain even a couple of batting bonus points. But Chris Jordan, perhaps the signing of the season, and Will Beer, demonstrated the patience and determination that so many of their top-order colleagues failed to exhibit, in adding 83 unbeaten runs for the eighth wicket before stumps. It was Jordan’s second half-century of the campaign, to complement his 51 Championship wickets.The Warwickshire attack, green as it was, were impressively tight and, in Chambers and Gordon, had bowlers of considerable pace. The pitch may well provide help to spin later in the game, presenting quite an opportunity for Will Beer and, perhaps, highlighting the absence of Monty Panesar for Sussex.

Refreshingly, no one at the County Ground made a secret of their interest in the game unfolding at Chelmsford between third-placed Essex and Glamorgan

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Wantage Road18-Sep-2013
ScorecardRob Key overcame a tough start to make his fourth Championship hundred of the season•Getty Images

Refreshingly, no one at the County Ground made a secret of their interest in the game unfolding at Chelmsford between third-placed Essex and Glamorgan.Northamptonshire are an honest county who have thrived on frank self-assessments of their short-comings. They have already failed in accruing maximum bowling points, despite the career best efforts of James Middlebrook who took 6 for 78 and, with rain set to hamper the game further, 400 in the home side’s first innings inside 110 overs is an absolute must.It was a day that belonged to Kent – who gained full batting points – particularly the trio of Rob Key, Brendan Nash and Darren Stevens who took turns to pass 1,000 Championship runs for the season. Key and Nash marked the occasion further by registering centuries that overlapped each other in both time and quality. The pair came together following the departure of Daniel Bell-Drummond in the eighth over of the day and put on 134 runs in the next 25.4 overs.A scoring rate of 5.22 suggests domination from the duo with the bat – and there were times when both treated the bowlers with such malice that you thought you were watching a scene from Casino (all that was missing was a dissenting Joe Pesci). But Northamptonshire cannot have endured a more luckless period in the field than they did in the first hour.Atmospheric conditions and a lively pitch were always going to lend to an eventful morning. The ball swung, seamed and bounced – Azharullah getting one delivery to do all three; catching the shoulder of Key’s bat and flew high above the head of third slip.But after having his outside edge caught on countless occasions, while his inside edge was beaten, twice, without consequence, Key began to make the most of his good fortune. As the sun came out, he rid himself of any indecision, planted his front foot and began hitting the ball with more purpose as he searched for atonement for a scratchy start.He owes his mid-morning transformation to Nash, who took the onus off his partner with some timely boundaries that led to a shift in impetus that stayed with Kent through to stumps. Lee Daggett, whose first seven overs cost just 17 runs, was hit for 23 in the last two of his opening spell. Azharullah followed an over after he was involved in a war of words with Key, who took great delight in crashing the bowler, on the up, through cover to take him to his fifty.A single off Hall took Key to 70 and into four figures for the season, before Nash joined him with a four down the ground off Crook which also brought up his fifty.Key fell soon after lunch, completing his century with a brace of sixes in three balls – the first of which flew out of the ground over midwicket and required replacing – before sweeping Middlebrook to first slip, via his foot. The disparity between the fluency of his first and second half of his hundred was evident in the 102 and 47 balls it took to bring up each, respectively.Nash continued on, batting with a grace that he’s not often creditted for. His game is one honed through trial and error, but he is capable of the odd flourish one would attribute to a player who has represented West Indies. His flat six over point off a bouncing delivery from Crook was outrageous.He slowed in the nineties, as Crook pushed him onto the back foot. On 91, he defended a rising delivery that then popped over his shoulder and cleared the stumps by a whisker. Six overs after entering the nineties, he left it for the fifth time this season.Finally it was Stevens, on 995 runs going into this fixture, who joined Nash and Key with a single, before moving to his fifty thanks to a drop from Daggett, who failed to hang on to a lofted catch while running from mid-off to mid-on.Daggett would eventually atone as he removed Stevens 14 runs later, but by then Kent were well on their way to further frustrating Northants by passing 400 and, more importantly, holding onto their ninth wicket till the 112th over.

Full text of BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur’s letter in response to claims of his being in contact with an alleged bookie

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2015Dear Mr Srinivasan,The BCCI has received intimation from the ICC ostensibly under your direction that I should keep away from one Mr Karan Gilhotra who is a ‘suspected bookie.’ The intimation further states that the information is unverified. I have earlier been the joint secretary of the BCCI under your president-ship and I am now secretary, BCCI. I only wish that you had shared the list of ‘unverified suspected bookies’ with me and other colleagues so that we could identify such persons and keep away from them. I have known this person who has been active in the political and cricketing activities in Punjab and adjacent states. I had no knowledge or any clue about his ‘activities as a suspected bookie.’It is curious that intimation about my having known this ‘suspected bookie’ was brought to the ICC notice by your friend Mr Neeraj Gundhe. Mr Neeraj Gunde incidentally is circulating to the media in Delhi the details of documents against your critics in the BCCI. He operates on your behalf. A procured complaint and an ICC advisory based on ‘unverified information’ was issued at your behest on the eve of the BCCI working committee meeting. It was intended to be a counter offensive on your behalf, since you have not reconciled with my election as secretary, BCCI. I would request at least now share with me or other colleagues in BCCI the list of suspected bookies in India, so that we may keep away from them. You may also share this information with your family members, whose involvement in betting has been proved.Since the ICC advisory to me had been made in public, I would be making this letter to you public.With regards,Yours sincerely,Anurag Thakur

Azhar Ali said the series win against Zimbabwe boosted the team’s confidence, and also gave him ample belief as captain ahead of the upcoming series against Sri Lanka

Umar Farooq01-Jun-20151:33

Coming to Pakistan was about playing cricket – Whatmore

After leading Pakistan to a 2-0 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, Azhar Ali has said the victory boosted the team’s confidence, and also gave him ample belief as captain ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka. Pakistan, playing their first home series in six years, whitewashed Zimbabwe in the two-match T20 series and also won the ODI series.Azhar, who was appointed ODI captain after the World Cup, had lost his first assignment 0-3 to Bangladesh in April. However, he not only won his first home series as captain but was also the leading run-scorer with 227 runs at 75.66. He also became the first Pakistan captain to make a century in a successful chase in ODIs.”It’s been an exciting and emotional series for many reasons,” Azhar said. “It became important for us, as many of us never played in Pakistan, and winning makes it more significant because it gives you confidence. I know the opponent wasn’t as big but they played good cricket against us and eventually a win is a win and this will definitely help us move forward.”I’m happy that I was able to carry out the responsibility of captaincy very well and score runs as a batsman. I always try to make myself feel as a batsman while batting but obviously there are a lot of things going on in my mind. But I think to be a good batsman, you have to be your own captain first. I always go in with the same sense, which was the reason I was successful in this series.”To develop confidence you have to win and it becomes a habit only when you start winning games consistently. You don’t have to bother who the opponent is but it is the belief that makes you win. So this belief has to build in our players, which is very important.”Since the World Cup, Pakistan have made extensive changes to their squad in a bid to rebuild the side. The transition saw some experienced hands – Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Sami – return to the team, while many youngsters got a chance as well. The experiment was seen as necessary to find the best combination.”These players have been waiting for a long time after performing in the domestic circuit,” Azhar said. “So the idea is to induct them gradually and test their skills at this level. But at the end we have to figure out the best combination by mixing it up with experienced players. We all know that we are facing a tough challenge to qualify for the Champions Trophy so we have to find the right combination in both the bowling and batting departments who can finish the game well.”Pakistan are presently facing a dearth in their bowling resources: Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan and Sohail Khan are all injured, and Saeed Ajmal has been left out of the side. Sami, Hammad Azam and Anwar Ali helped Azhar win the series against Zimbabwe at home but it may not be enough to take on Sri Lanka in their upcoming series.”There are a lot of injuries in our bowling department and I am hopeful that all the players will be available for selection. This will help us find our best combination looking at the conditions in Sri Lanka,” Azhar said. “We are also going through a tough time after the retirement of some senior players but the players coming up are talented enough to be considered. They have the temperament and are performing well but the only thing is to give them an opportunity.”I am optimistic they will blossom, but you can’t notice the result with one or two series, one needs to be given one or two years to establish themselves. Soon we will be able to fight with any team in the world with the same level of competitiveness which is required for modern cricket.”Babar Azam, the 20-year-old batsman, made his debut in the third ODI and scored 54 off 60 balls. His composed innings under pressure, when Pakistan had lost three wickets for 36 runs, helped post a decent target of 296. “The highlight of the series against Zimbabwe was the young batsman Babar Azam who played well under pressure,” Azhar said. “These are the innings that reflect how much potential he has in him. It was a tough innings to play and I am happy that we found players who can perform under this kind of pressure.”

Leicestershire seamer Ben Raine took a wicket with the final ball of the game to secure a tie

ECB/PA26-Jun-2015
ScorecardBen Raine conceded just five, and claimed a last-ball wicket, in the final over to earn a share of the points•Getty Images

Leicestershire seamer Ben Raine took a wicket with the final ball of the game to secure a tie in a game when it looked as though a superbly paced innings in difficult conditions by Jack Leaning had seen Yorkshire to victory.With Leaning watching from the non-striker’s end after scoring 48 from 30 balls, Raine pinned Adil Rashid leg before with a well-pitched up delivery to delight the Grace Road crowd.”It feels like a win, to be honest, because we felt we were 10 to 20 runs short of a competitive total,” said Raine. “But we fought to save every run and took some brilliant catches, and it just goes to show you should never, ever give up.”Badly needing two points to improve their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals, the Vikings named a side that included England players Jonny Bairstow and Rashid, as well as fit-again Australian opener Aaron Finch, resuming his place at the top of the order after recovering from a bruised lung suffered in a 2nd XI Championship match earlier in the week.

Insights

Ben Raine said this felt like a win for Leicestershire and given their position in the match and the table it should. One point for them near the top of the table in a match they seemed set to lose is a bonus. For Yorkshire, who desperately needed a win, this tie could well have killed off any lingering hopes they had of a top four finish. It’s a shame really because Yorkshire have played two strong matches in their last three and are perhaps just beginning to find form.

Leicestershire welcomed back New Zealand international batsman Grant Elliott, as well as destructive Ireland international hitter Kevin O’Brien, a key member of their T20 line-up this season.Andrew Gale chose to bowl first on a slow, low track, and his seamers kept Leicestershire under pressure from the start. Foxes’ skipper Mark Cosgrove holed out to Glenn Maxwell in Matthew Fisher’s first over. Maxwell also took a good low catch running in from deep backward square to see the end of Kevin O’Brien off the bowling of Will Rhodes, and the Vikings continued to take vital wickets, with only Andrea Agathangelou giving the innings any real impetus before being run out for 40.The Foxes bowlers struck back quickly when Clint McKay had Finch leg before for just 2, but Bairstow, in ever increasing gloom, timed the ball superbly, hitting Raine for a six and four off consecutive balls before being bowled by Raine.Maxwell was also threatening to take the game away from Leicestershire when he was brilliantly caught at midwicket by Jigar Naik off the bowling of Ollie Freckingham, and the Foxes continued to fight to save every run.Leaning, though, played with real maturity in placing his shots and running hard, and received good support from Rhodes. Between them they looked to have done enough, but Rhodes was well caught low down by Naik, Richard Pyrah was caught at long-on, and Raine’s final over was good enough to secure the tie.

A second successive innings of substance by Glenn Maxwell carried Yorkshire to a 32-run win under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in their Royal London Cup tie against Durham

ECB/PA02-Aug-2015
ScorecardGlenn Maxwell put in another impressive performance•Getty Images

A second successive innings of substance by Glenn Maxwell carried Yorkshire to a 32-run win under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in their Royal London Cup tie against Durham at Chester-le-Street.The Australian followed his 111 in the win at Worcestershire by making an unbeaten 65 as Yorkshire replied to Durham’s 43-over score of 224 for 7 with 130 for 2 in 24.3. The light drizzle which had been falling for some time grew heavier but Yorkshire were always well ahead under DLS after Maxwell raced to 50 in 36 balls.After morning rain delayed the start by 75 minutes Durham were put in by Alex Lees in the absence of Andrew Gale with a wrist injury. Liam Plunkett took 3 for 40 in his nine overs against his former team, for whom Graham Clark top-scored with 42.With 13 runs in three previous Royal London innings, Clark timed the ball as impressively as in scoring 91 in the Twenty20 clash at Headingley. But with ten overs remaining he became over-anxious to accelerate and skied a catch to point to give Plunkett his third wicket.Gordon Muchall’s unbeaten 35 off 26 balls was the second highest score, achieved through orthodox strokes while others tried to improvise.With Steve Patterson particularly miserly, Durham had only 13 on the board after five overs before Mark Stoneman picked up successive balls from Tim Bresnan over the leg side for six and four. The next ball was a slower one outside off stump and Stoneman steered a low catch to Maxwell at backward point.Plunkett, coming on second change, bowled just back-of-a-length round the wicket to left-handers Phil Mustard and Scott Borthwick and after conceding only six runs in his first three overs he removed both for 32. Mustard was caught behind when trying to steer to third man and Borthwick skied to deep midwicket.Paul Collingwood drove Adil Rashid for six before his next foray down the pitch resulted in an easy stumping for Andrew Hodd.When Yorkshire began their reply Lees risked a single to mid-off and failed to beat Ryan Pringle’s direct hit. When Durham gambled by bringing on Borthwick for the 14th over Maxwell went straight into overdrive, scoring most of the 36 the legspinner conceded in three overs, including two sixes over long-on.Hodd edged an attempted cut off Borthwick to depart for 20, but Gary Ballance reached 26 in keeping Maxwell company until the rain arrived.