Australian Steve Magoffin returned career-best figures as Sussex built a first-innings lead over Somerset.

Magoffin took 8-20 in Somerset’s 76 all out, with Jos Buttler (22) one of only three players to reach double figures

Chris Nash (46) and Luke Wells (30) put on 83 for Sussex’s first wicket, before Alfonso Thomas (4-67) initiated a slight home-side stumble to 116-4.

Rory Hamilton-Brown’s 77 from 90 balls, including two sixes, helped Sussex to 298-9 at close, leading by 222 runs.

Somerset, who are yet to taste victory in their five Championship matches this season, decided to bat on day one after captain Marcus Trescothick won the toss. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

They might have ended up on the losing side but Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid feels his team was “exceptional” against the Chennai Super Kings given that the conditions were not too ideal for the bowlers in their IPL match.

“Throughout the innings, we executed our plans with the ball well. I thought it was a pretty good score to defend…it was not easy in terms of bowling conditions as the ball was getting wet and sweating,” Dravid said after CSK chased down an imposing 186-run target to hand RR a five-wicket defeat.

“I thought the performance was exceptional today and particularly Jimmy Faulkner with the ball was superb show,” he added referring to the bowler’s effort of 3 for 20. Read more
Courtesy : ibnlive.in.com

Michael Hussey’s 88 off 51 balls nullified Shane Watson’s 101 as Chennai Super Kings went top of IPL 6 table following a five-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals at the Chidambaram Stadium here on Monday. This was Chennai’s fifth win in seven matches, while Rajashtan retained their fourth spot despite the result.

In pursuit of 186, the hosts lost Murali Vijay early for three. That brought Suresh Raina to the crease and he and Hussey took the Rajasthan bowling apart, adding 90 runs off 61 balls before Raina fell to James Faulkner for 51. That didn’t change anything for the hosts with Hussey continuing his onslaught.

However, Hussey and the in-form Ravindra Jadeja departed at 154 to put their team in a little spot of bother. Hussey was the victim of a direct throw from Rahul Dravid from backward point, while Jadeja was cleaned up by Faulkner for a duck one ball later in the 16th over. Read more
Courtesy : ibnlive.in.com

Banned bowler Mervyn Westfield will attend Monday’s appeal hearing of former Essex team-mate Danish Kaneria.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has used a High Court summons to impel Westfield to be a witness at the London hearing, where Kaneria will appeal against a lifetime ban from the sport.

Westfield said he did not want to take part in the hearing, which is expected to run until Thursday.

Westfield is currently banned from professional cricket for five years. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

England’s women will tour West Indies in October and November, when they will take part in a Twenty20 tri-series.

The tri-series, which also involves New Zealand, runs from 14-26 October, with all seven matches being played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Captain Charlotte Edwards’s side will then remain in the Caribbean to play three one-day internationals against the Windies, all in Trinidad.

Before then, England will host Pakistan and Australia this summer. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

All-rounder Rikki Clarke has committed his long-term future to county champions Warwickshire by signing a new four-year contract.

Clarke, 31, who has played two Test matches and 20 one-day internationals for England, started his career with his native Surrey.

Having left to join Derbyshire, he then moved on to Edgbaston in 2008.

Guildford-born Clarke is now contracted to remain with the Bears until at least the end of the 2017 season. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin will both fly home from Delhi on Saturday morning while their team-mates attempt to fight their way back into the fourth Test. Clarke will have scans on his back in Sydney after being ruled out of the Test before play on the first morning at the Feroz Shah Kotla, while Haddin has been released from the squad after arriving in India halfway through the tour as cover for the injured Matthew Wade, who missed the Mohali Test but was fit for Delhi.

Australia’s medical staff wants to monitor Clarke’s back problem, which has troubled him since he was 17, and his participation for Pune Warriors in the IPL must be in doubt given Australia’s busy winter schedule with the Champions Trophy and an Ashes tour. Clarke’s absence allowed Shane Watson to become Australia’s 44th Test captain and while Clarke was not seen on the team balcony during the day, the batsman Steven Smith said he was still active around the group.Read more
Courtesy : www.espncricinfo.com

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has called for strong collective performance, rather than reliance on key players, as he prepares to lead the team in his first ODI series as captain. Sri Lanka’s 1-0 Test series win over Bangladesh was largely founded upon the efforts of Rangana Herath, who took 12 wickets in the Colombo Test, and Kumar Sangakkara, who averaged 110 in the series. Herath has been rested for the first two ODI matches, while Sangakkara has, in the past, not been the force that he is in Tests.

Sri Lanka, who are also missing Mahela Jayawardene due to a finger injury, have named an inexperienced squad featuring three uncapped players, while Sachithra Senanayake, who is the only specialist spinner in the squad has only played seven ODIs. Vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal has played 50 ODIs, but did not have a regular place in the side in 2012, and Kushal Janith Perera, who may be called upon to open the innings, is only in his second international series. Read more
Courtesy : www.espncricinfo.com

Steven Finn took 6-125 but England’s batsmen struggled as New Zealand continued to dominate the final Test.

Fast bowler Finn dismissed Peter Fulton for 136 before taking four wickets in 14 balls after tea to equal his Test-best and dismiss the hosts for 443.

But the tourists lost captain Alastair Cook for four and Jonathan Trott for 27 and ended day two in Auckland on 50-2, some 393 behind New Zealand.

England now face a huge challenge to force a series-winning victory.

They would have been facing a bigger deficit but for a superb effort from the dogged Finn in the first hour of the final session. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk

Seamer Chris Rushworth will join up with Durham team-mate Dale Benkenstein in the MCC side to face Warwickshire in Sunday’s Champion County match.

Rushworth, who had the third highest bowling average in the 2012 County Championship, replaces the injured Alan Richardson from Worcestershire.

“It is a shame that Alan has had to pull out of the Champion County match,” said MCC manager John Stephenson. Read more
Courtesy : www.bbc.co.uk