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Jonathan Batty’s unbeaten 102, his fourth century of the season, guided Surrey to a comfortable draw on the last day against Durham at Chester-le-Street. Surrey had been set an improbable target of 447 after a remarkable late onslaught from Liam Plunkett, who belted five sixes in his unbeaten 59 from 44 balls. Plunkett then took the first wicket to fall, that of Scott Newman for 34, before Ottis Gibson extracted Mark Ramprakash’s off stump to give his side a massive lift. But without the injured Steve Harmison, Durham’s attack lacked the penetration and the game meandered to the close.Ryan McLaren was the star at Edgbaston for the second time in a fortnight, as Kent exploited seaming conditions to dismiss Warwickshire for 213. McLaren took a hat-trick earlier in the month as Kent secured the Twenty20 Cup, and he was on target again with 4 for 42. Martin Saggers jagged the ball around for figures of 3 for 53, and Warwickshire’s best resistance came from Luke Parker, who made 49. Martin van Jaarsveld, who took the final wicket, chipped in with five catches. In reply, Rob Key compiled a bullish half-century, as Kent reached the close on 108 for 1.Adil Rashid took one step closer to securing a winter tour berth with England as he rescued Yorkshire’s innings with his maiden first-class century against Worcestershire at Kidderminster. It was a crucial innings too – Yorkshire had at one stage slipped to 125 for 5 in seamer-friendly conditions – but Rashid’s effort, from 152 balls with 17 fours, ensured a healthy total of 319. Click here for John Ward’s report.

Owais Shah made a spectacular and timely unbeaten 177 to show the selectors he’s in form ahead of England’s seven ODIs against India against Northamptonshire. Shah added 196 for Middlesex’s third wicket with Ed Joyce, who made 106, before exploding into action with 17 fours and three sixes as wickets fell away around him. There is little chance of a result after just 9.2 overs over the first two days at Northampton, but Middlesex were in some trouble at 36 for 2 when Shah and Joyce came together. And after Joyce had been dismissed by David Wigley, they stumbled again; Eion Morgan made a second-ball duck, and Jamie Dalrymple and Ben Scott both went cheaply too. Shah, however, found useful support in Chaminda Vaas, who was run out for 28, as Middlesex reached 380 for 7 at the close.Andy Caddick burst into action after two days of inactivity at Cardiff, grabbing two early wickets with the new ball and returning to dismiss Mark Wallace for 16, to give Somerset control against the Championship stragglers, Glamorgan. At 92 for 6, Glamorgan were deep in the mire, but Alex Wharf and Robert Croft pulled them round with a vital half-century stand for the seventh wicket.

After unprecedented scenes during last year’s Somerset-St George’s Cup match, the Bermuda Cricket Board has brought in two top English umpires to officiate in this year’s game.Retired Test umpires David Shepherd and Mervyn Kitchen will take charge of a two-day game which in among the most fiercely competitive in the world.Randy Butler, the secretary of the local umpires’ association, was less than thrilled at his men missing out, and he had a warning for both teams:”I just hope they realise the seriousness of abiding by the ICC’s code of conduct because these guys are very experienced and will not tolerate any of the nonsense that we saw in Cup Match last year or fans running onto the pitch.”

Geraint Jones is still hurting from his disappointing Ashes debut, but he hopes to pay back his team-mates if picked for the second Test. While his performance was highlighted by two simple dropped catches in the second innings, Jones was criticised by commentators for a performance that included an irresponsible dismissal – he pulled Glenn McGrath to Jason Gillespie at mid-on – when England wanted to hang on for a draw.However, Jones, who will face pressure from Nottinghamshire’s Chris Read, said he deserved a spot at Edgbaston next Thursday. “There are always those worries but I hope that one performance will not be detrimental to the way I’ve performed,” Jones told the . “It still hurts. I was disappointed to miss those two chances but the rest of the summer I’ve been keeping as well as I ever have.”Allan Border, a former Australia selector, said the display of Jones was “clearly a worry”. “He will need to improve or I would be looking closely at his position within the team,” Border told .Jones hoped the bad patch was just a “blip” after earning his spot against New Zealand last year and holding it through the successful South Africa series. “I know myself that I’m good enough,” he said. “To miss those two chances did hurt a lot, but that’s part of the game. When you think you’ve got everything under control, cricket bites you hard.”

Pieter Strydom, a former South African international, has been named captain of the Eastern Cape for the next season. Strydom, nicknamed “Striker”, had played two Tests and 10 one-dayers for South Africa in the 1999-00 season apart from captaining Border for several years.Reunert Bauser, the CEO of the Eastern Cape franchise, said that Strydom’s experience of captaining Border for a number of seasons was one of the main reasons for the appointment. iAfrica.com quoted Bauser as saying, “He is a shrewd captain and his all-round ability with both bat and ball has earned him the respect of many an opposing team.”Reacting to the appointment Strydom termed it as a “challenge” and added, “I am proud to be named to lead the franchise for next season. I hope my captaincy and the results we achieve will repay the faith the Board have in me.”Strydom, 34, was born in the Eastern Cape and studied educated at Grey High School, which also has Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbe and Nicky Boje on its alumni rolls. Strydom shifted to Border in 1992-93 and played as vice-captain to Peter Kirsten for a few years. He took over as captain in 1997-98 and carried on for six seasons.Under his captaincy, Border reached the SuperSport final in three consecutive years apart from making the final of the Standard Bank Cup in 1999. last year, he surprisingly lost the captaincy to Justin Kreusch.Strydom’s best bowling in first-class cricket was 4 for 12 against Northerns at Centurion Park, while another highlight of his career was the 6 for 17 that he snared against Western Province in 2001-02. In 2002-03, Strydom played his 100th first-class match and was awarded a benefit year as well.

Rashid Latif has escaped punishment for his controversial open letter to the ICC last month, as the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed he would be retained as captain for the home series against Bangladesh in August.Latif, who led Pakistan during their 2-1 NatWest Challenge defeat against England last month, had invited trouble when he claimed that match-fixing was still an issue in international cricket. He claimed that the current laws, particularly in the first 15 overs of one-day matches, invited “fancy fixing”.”It provides a chance for the bookies to approach top-order batsmen to achieve unusual scores and affect the complexion of competitive matches,” wrote Latif, a statement that contradicted the ICC’s official line that match-fixing was a thing of the past. Latif was quick to apologise to the PCB for breaching their code of conduct and that seemed to have done the trick.”We have accepted Latif’s apology and the matter is closed,” said Tauqir Zia, the PCB chairman. “As long as Latif is doing fine he will remain captain and I must admit at an age when most of his colleagues are retired he is doing well.”Latif had planned to retire after the World Cup, but was persuaded to stay on to oversee Pakistan’s rebuilding process. It now seems he may be at the helm for some time yet. “We want to appoint a captain on a long-term basis,” added Zia, “and there are options before us. Anyone suitable can be appointed captain at a time when it is necessary.”Bangladesh play three Tests and five one-day internationals during their tour of Pakistan, which begins on 17 August.Click here for Latif’s letter to the ICC

X-rays have revealed CLEAR Black Cap, Daniel Vettori, has not broken his ankle after he fell awkwardly when fielding off his own bowling in Canberra.The left arm spinner fell in the 18th over of New Zealand’s second match of their tour of Australia against the ACT Invitation XI.However, while Vettori has not broken any bones, it appears his ankle may be quite badly sprained.”We’ve been advised by the experts that by tomorrow we’ll have a much clearer indication of just how bad the sprain is,” says Manager Jeff Crowe.”Obviously it’s a concern, but we’re going to wait and see how Dan progresses over night rather than speculating at this stage about different scenarios.”One hour after tea the ACT XI were 226/3. Shayne O’Connor had picked up two wickets and Chris Cairns one.

Match facts

November 25-29, 2015
Start time 0930 local (0400GMT)

Big picture

After grey, blustery and mostly cricket-free Bangalore, the teams have moved to the geometric centre of India and the promise of a Test match free of interruptions under clear, cloudless skies. India ended day one of the second Test in a position of great cricketing and psychological strength, but there has been no action in the ten days since. Though the effects of India being 1-0 up cannot have dissipated entirely, there is a blank-slate feeling to the start of the third Test. Let the series begin, again.The portents suggest India are favourites to take an unassailable 2-0 lead. The pitch is dry, the afternoons will be hot, and there are definite signs that India will play three spinners. Most of South Africa’s batsmen are yet to find their feet on this tour. Worse still for the visitors, Dale Steyn, their one bowler capable of neutralising any sort of surface, is almost certain not to feature.South Africa, however, are the No. 1 Test side in the world for a reason. Their batting might not have clicked just yet, as a collective unit, but there is too much quality in their line-up for the situation to become irremediable. AB de Villiers is in the frightening position of being both in form and due for a big one. Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis cannot keep failing in tandem forever. All South Africa need is one big partnership, or two biggish ones, to post their first big total of the series.They can also take heart from their performance in Mohali. The match ended in three days, and India won by a sizeable margin, but South Africa still managed to bowl them out twice, for 201 and 200. If the Nagpur pitch turns out similar to the one in Mohali, it could narrow the quality gap between the spin attacks rather than exaggerating it. India know this phenomenon well. Over the last decade, some of their most significant away wins have come on green pitches that have allowed their seamers to compete on an even footing with pace attacks of greater all-round quality.India’s batsmen, moreover, have spent precious little time in the middle so far. Apart from M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, none have yet faced 100 balls in the series. If there is any rustiness, South Africa will want to exploit it quickly, particularly if India play only five specialist batsmen.

Form guide

(last five completed games most recent first)
India DWWWL
South Africa DLDDW

In the spotlight

The last time he batted at the VCA Stadium in a Test, Hashim Amla made an unbeaten 253 that set South Africa up for a famous innings win. Amla has struggled so far on this tour, but he has an exceptional record in India – 873 runs at 79.36, with four centuries – and proven ability against spin. A solid contribution from their captain could be just what South Africa needs to spark a revival.The same Test match witnessed the debut of Wriddhiman Saha, who was forced to play as a specialist batsman thanks to an injury crisis in the squad. Having served a long apprenticeship under MS Dhoni, Saha is now India’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper. Though he has contributed a few spunky knocks with the bat in his short career so far, India’s batting line-up still looks a little thin with Saha slotting in at No. 6. He has an excellent first-class record, with nine hundreds and an average of nearly 44, and the confidence of his captain. He needs to translate that into Test cricket to be able to play what is a pivotal role in making India’s five-bowler strategy work.

Team news

India have a squad free of fitness worries, and the one selection call they are likely to have to make is the question of whether or not to play three spinners. With conditions not suited to his medium-pace, India will most likely leave out Stuart Binny, which opens up a slot either for the legspinner Amit Mishra or for an extra batsman in Rohit Sharma. If conditions seem particularly conducive to spin, India could even play both Mishra and Rohit, leaving out Binny and Varun Aaron.India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Varun Aaron.JP Duminy’s offspin often does the job of supporting South Africa’s main spinner, but if the pitch shows signs of taking turn early, they might just include Simon Harmer or Dane Piedt to bowl alongside Imran Tahir. Dale Steyn’s continuing groin troubles have more or less ruled him out of contention, leaving Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott as the leading candidates to partner Morne Morkel in the seam attack.South Africa (probable): 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Stiaan van Zyl, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Hashim Amla (capt), 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Dane Vilas (wk), 8 Simon Harmer/Dane Piedt, 9 Kagiso Rabada/Kyle Abbott, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir.

Pitch and conditions

Asked about the Nagpur pitch on the eve of the Test, Hashim Amla said it looked like “a good cricket wicket, one that we kind of expect in the subcontinent”. Then he chuckled. Amar Karlekar, the curator, has himself said the pitch would start turning by tea on the first day. Lack of bounce was a concern during the last Test played at this ground, in 2012, but Karlekar is confident there will be no repeat of the bore draw witnessed on that occasion.Nagpur has enjoyed sunny weather and clear skies in the days leading up to the Test. Winter has not set in yet, but the mornings are likely to be cool, before temperatures rise to an afternoon high in the low 30s.

Stats and trivia

• Ajinkya Rahane has played only four Test innings in India so far. His scores in those four innings are 7, 1, 15 and 2.
• Imran Tahir is one wicket short of 50 in Test cricket.
• South Africa won at least one Test on four of their five previous tours to India.

Quotes

“I played only one Test match here, it went well for me. [I showed] lots of patience, something that at that point in time was probably out of my character. It was something that I discovered about myself. I hope the wicket doesn’t play like that in this game because it ended up being a very boring Test match.”
“When I took over the captaincy, one of the ideas was to give me a bit more time, especially when we fielded first, to bat at 4. But you never know. We’re a team in a little bit of transition, with a couple of new faces, so we’re still finding the perfect batting order. So yes, there’s no reason I couldn’t bat at 3 at some stage.”

Tim Bresnan has signed a new two-year contract with Yorkshire that will keep him at Headingley until 2009.Bresnan, 22, has taken 131 first-class wickets at 31.81 since 2001, and last week hit a career-best 126 not out for England Lions against the touring Indians at Chelmsford. He was recently named in England’s 30-man preliminary squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championships that take place in South Africa in September.”I’m delighted to pledge my future to Yorkshire,” said Bresnan. “The arrival of Darren Gough, as captain, and Martyn Moxon, as director of cricket, has been really exciting for all of the players here. The club is going from strength to strength and this is the place where I want to play my cricket. We’ve got some massive games around the corner and a chance to win a trophy for Yorkshire’s loyal supporters.”Moxon said: “It is great news that Tim is staying with us. He’s popular in the dressing room and works hard for the team. Although people class him as a bowling all-rounder, the hundreds he scored at The Oval and in the recent England Lions match show that his batting is getting better all the time.”Stewart Regan, Yorkshire chief executive, said: “Tim is a quality allrounder and an important part of the club’s future. This is why we are all delighted he has signed a new deal, which will put an end to recent newspaper speculation surrounding his future. Tim has had a taste of international cricket and wants more England caps and I am sure those will come if he continues to improve and work hard. He belongs in a cap with a White Rose on it.”

The great and the good of the ICC meet in London next week, but this week it was the turn of the Federation Of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) to hold their annual general meeting.”The meeting of the member player associations, conducted over two days in London, considered issues ranging from cricket operations, relationships with stakeholders and FICA commercial and administration matters,” Tim May, FICA’s chief executive, explained. “The discussions involved a diverse range of voices from the cricketing world and there were detailed and healthy debates concerning a number of key issues.”FICA’s annual meeting is very valuable for our member associations. In addition to attending to the statutory and constitutional requirements of an annual meeting – it gives each player association a fantastic forum in which to express their views and for the group to reach positions on both operational and commercial matters.”FICA has been very much at loggerheads with the ICC on the issue of player burnout of late, and the Future Tours Programme was very much at the forefront of discussions. FICA members decided to approve a revised model of compliance for member countries to consider at the ICC meeting.The revisions include:

Chris Schofield has been released by Lancashire. Schofield, a legspinner, made his debut for his native county in 1998, and picked up ten wickets in two matches. Schofield, 25, played two Tests against Zimbabwe in 2000, and was one of the first batch of players who were centrally contracted to the ECB. But his accuracy and consistency have let him down since – to the extent that he rarely bowled for Lancashire in 2004.”Chris is an extremely talented cricketer who has perhaps not reached his full potential at the club,” said Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s manager. “We feel it is an appropriate stage in his career for him to seek pastures new and play more regular first team cricket.”Jamie Haynes, the reserve wicketkeeper, has also been given his marching orders as Lancashire reshuffle their pack following relegation from the first division of the Championship. Haynes, described by Watkinson as “a tremendous servant”, will be replaced by a new signing in 20-year-old Gareth Cross. Cross, who bats in the middle order, made his debut for Lancashire 2nd XI during 2002, and played league cricket in Melbourne last winter.Three other players, all of them allrounders, have been brought in: Steven Croft, Andrew Crook and Simon Marshall. Croft, 19, is a graduate of the Lancashire Cricket Academy. He played for Blackpool CC and Lancashire 2nd XI this season. Crook, an offspinner, will join his brother Steven at Lancashire. Andrew, 23, stepped up from the 2nd XI twice in 2004 to play for the first team.Marshall, 22, offers another legspinning option following Schofield’s departure. He joins the full-time staff after an outstanding season with Lancashire’s 2nd XI. He took 9 for 47 against Nottinghamshire in July, the second-best figures by a Lancashire bowler in the 2nd XI Championship.Warren Hegg has agreed a new contract for 2005, although it hasn’t yet been decided whether he will continue as captain. Tim Rees, Paul Horton and Oliver Newby have all agreed new contracts. Horton and Newby joined Lancashire at the end of 2003, while Rees signed in 2002.