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ScorecardZafar Ansari top-scored for Surrey and then took the crucial wicket of Gary Ballance•PA Photos

Gary Ballance hit his second fifty in three days after being dropped by England but it was not enough to prevent Yorkshire from losing to Surrey by six runs in the Royal London Cup at the Kia Oval.Ballance survived an early drop by Gareth Batty when on 3 and looked like making Surrey pay when he got to 77, helping Yorkshire close in on a target of 266. But he then swept Zafar Ansari straight to deep square leg and the task of scoring 22 off the last 16 balls proved beyond the Yorkshire tail.Surrey had set them a challenging target thanks to an eighth-wicket stand of 66 in seven overs between Ansari, who finished unbeaten on 66, and Tom Curran, who made 44.Steve Davies had given Surrey a flying start with 39 off 32 balls but the innings almost stalled against some tight bowling from Steven Patterson, Yorkshire’s most dependable seamer, and Karl Carver, a 19-year-old left arm spinner making his List A debut.Patterson bowled Davies with his seventh ball and had a frustrated Jason Roy, who had made two centuries in his last three innings, caught at midwicket. Carver had Gary Wilson caught at mid-off and Kumar Sangakkara, who had struggled to 23 off 45 balls in his 506th List A innings, taken at square leg.Ben Foakes gave the innings some momentum with 44 off 52 balls but when he and Batty were both caught at mid-on off Glenn Maxwell and James Burke was caught and bowled by Matthew Fisher, Surrey were still labouring at 187 for seven.It was then that Tom Curran launched his assault. He made his intentions clear by driving Maxwell over long-off for the first six of the match and when the offspinner was kept on for what turned out to be an over too many he struck him for 4, 6, 4 off successive balls.When launching their reply, Yorkshire soon lost Andrew Gale, lbw to the impressive 17-year-old Sam Curran, but Alex Lees and Maxwell gave them a solid foundation with a second wicket partnership of 67.Lees made 28 and Maxwell 55, his second highest score for Yorkshire, and it looked as though Yorkshire would coast to victory when Ballance was sharing stands of 65 with Jack Leaning and 41 with Andrew Hodd.

Former India allrounder Manoj Prabhakar has been named Afghanistan’s bowling coach until the end of the World T20 in India next year. Prabhakar will join Inzamam-ul-Haq, Afghanistan’s head coach, in the support staff.”I am glad I can guide the Afghan team. They have immense talent and I am sure, in the years to come, the Afghanistan team would emerge as a force to reckon with in all forms of the game,” Prabhakar told . “They have shown a healthy keenness to learn the finer points of the game.”Prabhakar’s most recent coaching stint was with the Delhi state side, where he was sacked two days before the start of the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy season for making critical comments about the players and selectors.Prabhakar’s appointment comes in the wake of recent strong ties between the BCCI and the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The two boards recently signed an MoU with the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority to use the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex as their home ground.Afghanistan have shown a tremendous rise in their performances in the last six months. They won five of the seven completed matches they played in the World T20 Qualifier in Ireland in July to qualify for the main event, topped it by clinching a historic 3-2 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, whitewashed Zimbabwe 2-0 in the T20s, and recently won both T20Is against Oman in Abu Dhabi.Afghanistan are slotted with Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in Group B of the World T20 and only one of the four teams will make it to Group 1 to join England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies for the Super 10 stage.

Yorkshire 184 for 8 (39.5 overs: White 54, Brophy 54, Murtagh 3-34) beat Middlesex 183 for 8 (40 overs: Scott 54*, Pyrah 3-22)
ScorecardYorkshire overcame a late wobble to beat Middlesex by two wickets off the penultimate ball of their Pro40 clash at Headingley.They had seemed to be coasting as they reached 158 for 3 chasing a modest 183, with the required rate at around a run a ball. James Dalrymple’s dismissal of Gerard Brophy for 49 pulled the rug from under the innings as five wickets fell for seven runs. Tim Murtagh inflicted most of the damage with three wickets but Rich Pyrah (15 not out) kept his head to see Yorkshire across the line.Middlesex also suffered from a collapse, but theirs came at the top of the order as they slid to 61 for 5 before Ben Scott anchored a recovery with an unbeaten 54. Pyrah was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 22 off his eight overs.

Brian Lara advised his players to be “focussed mentally and physically” as they prepare for the next 18 months of cricket.Lara, who has been through the rigours of international cricket for 15 years, said the upcoming period would be crucial, as the West Indies look to rebuild a team for the long-term future of the side. “We will have burn-outs and we will have injuries at some time, but the exposure the West Indies team will be getting will be very important and I hope that the guys will see it necessary to get themselves fully focussed-mentally and physically. It’s necessary for us to play and wind our way back to the top.”The West Indies are presently in Malaysia where they face Australia and India in the DLF Cup Tri-Nation one-day series next week. They will move on to the Champions Trophy in India in October and November and, from there, on to Pakistan for three Tests and five ODIs. In January, they return to India for five one-dayers and will be home for the 2007 World Cup in March and April.They then have four Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals on the summer tour of England. After England, there will be the international Twenty20 series, Test tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa, and Test visits from Sri Lanka and Australia from March to June, 2008. Lara cautioned that fatigue and injury would always be factors. “Burn-out will always be a factor and there will always be a concern. I hope, however, that the guys don’t miss the most important parts of the two-year period.”We want to play cricket. We are languishing near the bottom of world cricket in both forms of the game, so we need to play cricket to lift our game, and we need to start winning to lift our spirits.”

Ricky Ponting has said that the engrossing Ashes series could be a precursor to an even more vibrant encounter when Australia take on the World XI in October’s ICC Super Series. Currently locked at one-all, the ongoing series between England and Australia has already swung both ways; England stand to win it for the first time since 1986, and Australia have expressed horror at the thought of relinquishing the trophy. It has made for a dynamic tussle.After the World XI teams were announced, Cricket Australia released a press statement by Ricky Ponting. “It will be an amazing experience to play against a side of this caliber and I think for those players in the World XI, it will be an equally exciting prospect to play in a team alongside the game’s greats,” AFP reported. “No doubt the Australian public is talking about the tight Ashes battle that we’re currently in, and hopefully, that can whet people’s appetites for even more great cricket in October. We’ve spent some time on the bus journeys around England, trying to predict the World XI. There’s no doubt that this is a highly impressive line-up.”The Test opposition includes Brian Lara, Andrew Flintoff, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Steve Harmison and Virender Sehwag – all of whom have dazzled against Australia. The Test and one-day series have been given official status to add purpose to their dazzle, and are the prime draw in the cricketing calendar after the Ashes until India tour Pakistan in 2006.James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said that this was the biggest cricket event Australia had held since the World Cup in 1992. “This is the ultimate sporting contest – the best team in the world against a team of the world’s best players. The ICC World XI is a star-studded line-up and we are looking forward to seeing how Australia’s challenge against the ICC World XI will unfold. We have seen over the past month or so the intense excitement and interest that surrounds a genuine contest between two evenly matched teams. England is challenging Australia and we are going to see the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Kevin Pietersen taking them on again in October at the Super Series.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ashley Giles powered England to a comprehensive victory in the opening Test at Lord’s. He collected 5 for 81 – his first five-for in this country – as West Indies were bowled out for 267 in their second innings, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul again left stranded not out on 97.England secured a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series mainly thanks to Giles, who later collected the Man of the Match award. He took the crucial wicket of Brian Lara before lunch, and despite Chanderpaul’s innings, in which he fell three runs short of what would have been his second century of the match, the game was wrapped up shortly before tea when Andrew Flintoff had Fidel Edwards caught behind.West Indies had resumed at 114 for 3 following a short rain delay this morning, and they started confidently as both Chanderpaul and Lara took advantage of any bad balls they received. Lara, in particular, found that playing his natural aggressive game was the best form of defence against Stephen Harmison, slashing a wide ball behind point, and clipping the next delivery off his legs for consecutive boundaries to bring up the fifty partnership. Lara had a slice of luck in Harmison’s next over, though, as he just managed to kick the ball away from his stumps after a vicious lifter came off his ribs and bounced back towards the wicket.West Indies had another scare after the morning drinks break when a ball from Hoggard spat off a length, hit Chanderpaul painfully on the elbow, and looped to gully. England appealed for the catch, thinking the ball had come off the glove or handle of the bat, but Daryl Harper was unmoved. Chanderpaul was in some discomfort, but soldiered on after some treatment from the West Indies physio.However, England then struck the vital blow, as Giles took his 100th Test wicket with a ball that turned sharply to beat Lara’s attempted drive and cannoned into middle stump (172 for 4). Giles was in the middle of an inspired spell, and six overs later he undid Bravo with a flighted ball that he tapped back for an easy return catch (194 for 5). Ridley Jacobs survived a close shout for lbw first up, but in the next over he edged Hoggard straight to Graham Thorpe in the slips, and the England bowlers had their tails up (195 for 6).Harmison was aggressive after lunch, whizzing the ball past Omari Banks’s nose and then throwing down the stumps after Banks had tapped the ball back defensively a few deliveries later. Banks was rightly given not out, though both of his feet were in the air when the ball hit the stumps, he had already made his ground and was taking evasive action. However, Harmison made amends in his next over as he beat Banks for pace and bowled him all ends up (200 for 7).Tino Best then completely lost his head after a few words with Flintoff at first slip, and was stumped two balls later after charging down the wicket at Giles, and England were making steady progress towards the finishing line (203 for 8).

At the other end, Chanderpaul went to a heroic, but ultimately futile, half-century with consecutive boundaries off Harmison, and kept the runs flowing with three boundaries in three balls off Hoggard two overs later. He had taken a number of blows to the arms and hands in his innings, and received yet another painful hit, on the inside knee for a change, from Simon Jones that had him calling for the physio once again.But Chanderpaul had other problems, namely that he was running out of partners. Pedro Collins was out his depth against Giles as he struggled gamely for 38 deliveries, surviving a multitude of lbw shouts, a stumping, and an appeal for caught behind, before eventually becoming Giles’s fifth victim when Geraint Jones took advantage of a second stumping chance (247 for 9).Chanderpaul raced into the nineties with consecutive fours, behind point and through the covers, off Simon Jones, as the clouds rolled in over Lord’s, but Edwards, who had clung on for 24 balls, then edged Flintoff behind to Geraint Jones to signal the end of the match, and start England’s celebrations.

A change in direction for former New Zealand women’s selector Kirsty Flavell will result in her standing down from her national selection role.Flavell has been appointed the coach of the Canterbury women’s team for next season.She will take up the position from July 1.The former international batsman, and the first woman to score a double century in Test matches when scoring 204 against England in 1996 which is still the record score for a New Zealand woman, has been on the New Zealand panel over the past two years.Flavell played in 38 one-day internationals for New Zealand and in six Test matches while also playing 33 first-class and 33 one-day matches for her Canterbury side.Canterbury’s director of coaching and development Richard Hayward said: “I am delighted that Kirsty will be coaching the Magicians. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position and we look forward to seeing the team develop under her guidance.”We acknowledge the contribution made by Vicki Burtt during her two-year term as coach. Whilst Vicki did not reapply for the position, she will continue to be heavily involved with the development of women’s cricket in Canterbury”.

* India’s top pacemen to train under LilleeThe fast bowlers in the Indian team for the upcoming one-day triseries have all been told by Indian coach John Wright to undergo aspecial training stint with legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee at theChennai-based MRF Pace foundation. Senior quick Javagal Srinath hasthough been allowed to stay back at Bangalore.”Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Reetinder Singh Sodhiand Harvinder Singh will undergo a special stint under the watchfuleyes of (Australian pace guru) Dennis Lillee at Chennai from September14-17,” BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele told cricketnext.com.”Wright had advised us on this matter at the selection committeemeeting (to pick the squad at Mumbai on September 7), but at that timeLillee’s scheduled arrival had not been finalised,” he added.Prasad, Khan, Nehra and Sodhi have all been named in the 15-man squadfor South Africa. Harvinder is reportedly one among the five stand-byswho could get a call-up if one of the main players is found to beunfit.It must be remembered that a column on appeared on CricInfo, dated 4September 2001, that advocated this very move.* Mumbai HC dismisses claim challenging clothing sponsorship contractThe Mumbai High Court on Tuesday dismissed the appeal filed by GayatriArts, a city-based company, challenging the BCCI’s decision to awardclothing sponsorship for international matches for the next threeyears to the International Management Group (IMG). Gayathri Arts hadcontended that the contract be scrapped as they had made the highestbid of Rs 90 crore. But Justices Ajit Shah and Sharad Bobde dismissedthe appeal as they found that no contract was concluded between BCCIand the company.* BCCI name manager for SA tourDr MK Bhargawa of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association has beennamed the manager of the India team for South Africa, according to areport in cricketnext.com. “The president has decided that Dr Bhargawawill be the manager,” BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele told the site. DrBhargawa had managed the team when India visited Australia in1999-2000.”Yes, there was some talk that Shivlal Yadav (former Test off spinnerand national selector and current secretary of the Hyderabad CricketAssociation) may be sent as manager, but finally the president haschosen Dr Bhargawa”, Lele added.* Young bowler in hospital after being hit on the eyeK Kaushik, a 19-year-old medium pacer, playing in the Moin-Ud-Dowlahtournament lost an eye after being hit by a full-blooded drive onTuesday.Kaushik, appearing for Districts XI on Tuesday, was bowling to SudhirWankhede of the Railways when the latter stepped out and smashed adrive straight back at him. It hit Kaushik on his left eye after hefailed to get out of harm’s way. He was immediately shifted to ahospital where doctors operated upon him. They could not howeverconfirm whether the youngster would regain his vision.

KL Rahul, the 23-year old India batsman, is set to make a comeback to top-flight cricket with the India A team when they play Australia A in two unofficial Tests in Chennai. Despite a century the last time he batted in Test cricket, there are doubts over his standing as first-choice opener.He had fallen ill prior to the Bangladesh tour in June, and has been shy of match practice in first-class cricket since. Add to that Shikhar Dhawan staking a claim for the opening spot with a breezy 173 against Bangladesh, the next few weeks in Chennai could be crucial for Rahul.”It was very disappointing to miss out on a Test match, especially when you’ve just started playing Test cricket. But things like this happen. I’m just looking forward to playing these matches,” he said during a media session in Chennai on Saturday. “I haven’t been playing a lot of cricket; the last time I played days [first-class] cricket was the Ranji Trophy final. So it’s been a while since I’ve played days cricket so it will be an ideal opportunity.”The conditions here are tough and it’s going to test my fitness. I’ve been working hard in Bangalore, training with the NCA trainers. So I’m looking forward to this opportunity to get back and scoring runs to the team”It would help that he will be playing against an Australia A side that has several players who have tasted international cricket. Rahul believed A team cricket was important to a young player’s development because it provides an idea of how demanding international cricket can be.”It’s a game of bat and ball in international cricket as well. But there you’re playing the best players of their country, they’re all professionals and the margin of error is very less. So those are the few things that are different from Indian [domestic] cricket,” Rahul said. “The gap is mostly the mental aspect. The pressure and the things you go through mentally and emotionally. Physically, when it comes to playing cricket, there isn’t a big difference. I mean when you go abroad you have to play different on different wickets. But that’s the challenge as a cricketer.”When we toured Australia last year in mid-June, that was my first India A tour, and you get a fair idea of the kind of conditions and the kind of pressure you’ll have to face when you play international cricket, when you’re playing against the best XI from a different country. So the competition is very high. The pressures are different from what we face in India in Ranji Trophy. It just builds the character of a player and gets him fairly ready for international cricket.”While Rahul was attempting to renew ties with international cricket, Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer is hoping to come good on the promise he showed while playing in the IPL. He was the only uncapped batsman to score 300 runs in IPL 2015. Shreyas has shown pedigree in the longer format as well. He was Mumbai’s top-scorer in the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 with 809 runs at 50.56 with two centuries.”I don’t change my cricket,” Iyer said. ”The only thing that I need to change is my mental skills because from T20 to one-day and Tests, the format is very different. I’m getting used to it. It’s not very tough for me because I play on my instincts. Just stick to your basics and process, just keep that right and everything else will follow”Shreyas thought his promotion to the India A squad was based on his IPL showing and credited the tournament for the exposure it give fledgling players. ”I just went on with the flow. That performance has basically helped me get into the India A team. It’s [IPL] a really big platform for a youngster like me because you can just go and explore and you get full freedom from your coaches.”Rahul, though, was quick to point out that there was more to being selected for India than just performances in IPL and the now defunct Champions League T20.”It’s not the end of the road. There are so many more opportunities, so many more tournaments that we can prove ourselves,” Rahul said. “There’s Ranji Trophy, we play [domestic] 50-overs and 20-overs cricket and there are a lot of other opportunities to make a mark and come into the selectors radar. [Suspending] CLT20, I don’t think will make a difference. It was a great platform for guys to perform. But I’m sure there are more opportunities for teams to do well.”

Sunil Narine, the West Indies offspinner, has been reported for bowling with a suspect action during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.Narine finished with figures of 0 for 24 in the Pallekele ODI, which Sri Lanka won by 19 runs based on the Duckworth-Lewis method. The match officials’ report, handed to the West Indies team management after the game, cited concerns about the legality of Narine’s deliveries.Narine will need to undergo testing on his action within 14 days, and will be permitted to continue bowling until the results of his testing are known.This is the first time Narine has been reported in an international game, though he has undergone scrutiny of his action during the IPL and the Champions League T20. He was reported twice in two matches during the 2014 edition of the CLT20, forcing him to miss Kolkata Knight Riders’ final against Chennai Super Kings.Though he was free to bowl in international cricket, West Indies withdrew Narine from their tour of India to allow him “the opportunity to have his action assessed and plan his return to cricket”. West Indies left him out of all their subsequent international assignments until they picked him for the 2015 World Cup. Though he had remodeled his action in the interim, Narine pulled out of the tournament, saying the return would be “a little too much too soon”.Narine endured further trouble with his action during the 2015 IPL – he was first cleared to bowl in the tournament, reported and sent for a re-test, banned from bowling his offbreaks, and then cleared again, with a “final warning”.The Sri Lanka tour was Narine’s first international tournament since August 2014. He picked up four wickets at an average of 18.00 in the three ODIs, while conceding 3.34 runs per over.